FREIGHT RATES AND MANUFACTURES IN COLORADO 1 7 



but the name had recently been changed to the Denver Manufacturing 

 Company. When this was explained to the agent he said, "The name 

 will kill this thing because you are manufacturers." 1 



Mr. Light asked to be allowed to ship in carload lots and then asked 

 if they would make him a special rate on what he shipped south of 

 Emporia which was a pool point. The railroad would then get a haul 

 to Denver and half way back to Kansas City and none of the goods would 

 be sold in the territory of the pooled roads. This proposition was de- 

 clined on the ground, according to the statement of the freight agent of 

 the company, that Mr. Light was a manufacturer. The reply from 

 Topeka was unfavorable as had been anticipated. 



As an indication of the policy of the railroads toward the development 

 of manufactures in the Rocky Mountain region at this time the following 

 incident is worth noting. Mr. Light bought a carload of blankets 

 in Philadelphia in 1884. The freight on these blankets was $175 from 

 Philadelphia. Of this amount the cost of freight from Philadelphia 

 to Chicago was $45, and from Chicago to Denver, $130. For the first 

 half of the journey the freight was one fourth of the total, the second 

 half, from Chicago to Denver, three fourths of the total freight cost. 2 



The efforts of the Union Pacific to build up Cheyenne and interfere 

 with the progress of Denver which had been the policy of that railroad 

 in the early days lasted till some time previous to 1885 and the rates 

 enjoyed by the merchants in that town were much more favorable than 

 the rates granted to the Denver dealers. Goods shipped to Georgetown 

 and Central City came via Cheyenne. The Union Pacific would not 

 make the same rate to Denver as it was a pool point and Cheyenne was 

 not. If goods were shipped to Denver the Union Pacific would get only 

 one fourth of the freight, but if shipped to Cheyenne, this road would 

 get all. Such a condition prevented the increase of manufacture and trade 

 in Denver. If the Union Pacific hauled to Denver, it would get one 

 fourth of the freight, but if it hauled to Ogden, it would get all the freight. 

 This condition accounts for the lower rates from the Missouri River to 

 Ogden and Salt Lake than to Denver. 



Mr. Light formerly manufactured whips in Westfield, Massachusetts. 



1 Evidence, Special Railroad Committee, p. 83. 2 Ibid., p. 84. 



