34 UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO STUDIES 



the same rate. 1 Labor was higher in Colorado and without a consider- 

 able difference in the raw and manufactured goods, furniture could not 

 be finished in Denver. 2 



Cement and Terra Cotta 



Fire brick, cement and terra cotta works in Denver had each similar 

 experiences to those of the other industries already mentioned. The 

 fire brick company could not enlarge its market on account of the unfa- 

 vorable freight rates. The cost of manufacturing this commodity in 

 Denver was somewhat higher than at the Missouri River points as the 

 coal had to be hauled in and labor was higher. After the article was 

 manufactured, however, the rates from Denver to points in Idaho and 

 Montana were the same as the rate to those .points from places on the 

 Missouri River. 3 This condition confined the fire brick made in Denver 

 to the local market. 



Much the same condition confronted the manufacturers of cement 

 in Denver in the years preceding 1885. The firm could not sell its 

 product in Salt Lake as the rate from Denver to Salt Lake was about 

 the same as the rate from the Missouri River to Salt Lake and hence, 

 the manufacturer at the River who could produce more cheaply had 

 the advantage over the Denver manufacturer. The freight rate from 

 Denver to Albuquerque was the same as the rate from the Missouri 

 River to the same point. This was true generally of the rates to points 

 in Mexico. In 1885, the freight rate on cement from Denver to Chey- 

 enne was lower than the rate from the River to that point but the Denver 

 company could not sell cement in Cheyenne. Mr. Evans, the secretary 

 of the company, stated that he thought the merchants in Cheyenne were 

 getting rebates at that time, and that the public schedule did not obtain. 

 He said his company had nearly closed a contract for three cars in that 

 city, but the Union Pacific learned of it and cut the freight rate so that 

 the company lost the contract and the cement was hauled from the Mis- 

 souri River. After the factory had been started in Denver, the freight 

 rate on cement from the Missouri River to Denver was greatly lowered, 

 whether to injure the factory or not the secretary said he did not know. 4 



The terra cotta stone works were built in 1881 and the product was 



1 Evidence, Special Railroad Committee, p. 91. * Ibid., p. 142. 3 Ibid., p. 35. * Ibid., p. 42. 



