28 BULLETIN 664, r. S. DEPARTMENT OE AGRICULTURE. 



Starting with but a few cars, it finally consisted of ('>.">. Sometimes 

 it attained a speed <>i" 45 miles an hour. The special car under ob- 

 servation in this train contained 400 cases of eggs. It was of the 

 wooden underframe type, with its load buffed with straw and 



braced with lateral braces under the cases. It traveled approxi- 

 mately 1.200 miles, transferring from western to eastern lines in the 

 vicinity of Chicago. On arrival at the seaboard terminal the load 

 bad not shifted an inch, and the damage, including lightly checked 

 eggs, was less than 3 eggs per case. 



By actual observation of eggs in cases during the haul, by the con- 

 dition of the cases and the eggs reaching the terminal, and by ex- 

 perimental work in the testing laboratory, it has been found that 

 shocks have very little effect on the eggs unless the tips of the fillers 

 break or bend, thereby permitting the wall of the filler to come in 

 contact with the end or center partition of the case. Laboratory 

 observations as well as those made under commercial conditions indi- 

 cate that cases held rigidly permit less damage to their contents than 

 when play is given. For example, when 296 foot-pounds of energy 

 in the form of 6 blows had been distributed evenly over the end of a 

 case held against a bumping post, 1.33 per cent, or approximately 5 

 eggs per case, were broken. Repeating the experiment, except that 

 the case was placed 6 inches from the bumping post and hence 

 traveled that distance after every blow, 12.22 per cent, or approxi- 

 mately 45 eggs per case, were damaged. In either case, damage was 

 light until the tips of the fillers were distinctly bent. After they had 

 flattened completely the eggshells were mashed. Apparently the 

 same principles hold good when the cases in transit are subject to 

 shocks; hence the need of strong filler tips, good, symmetrical cases, 

 and tight stowing in the car. 



HANDLING AT THE TERMINAL. 



The terminal problem in most of the eastern cities in which the in- 

 vestigators bandied shipments is very complex. Traffic h;is grown 

 to such an extent that the terminal facilities are often inadequate 

 for the proper handling of the volume received. Where congestion 

 occurs (PL VIII. fig. 2), extra gangs are placed in bouses and 

 on piers already crowded, making confusion and haste unavoid- 

 able. In the height of the egg season in New York City, 

 both sides of a station pier are, day after day, lined with floats, 

 and the driveway is filled with wagons or trucks, while outside other 

 wagons are waiting to get in. When the tide is high and the de- 

 livery plank is sharply inclined (PI. VI, fig. 1), it would seem 

 almost impossible to prevent serious loss. Nevertheless, damage of 

 any sort at the terminal was very rarely found, and it was the opinion 

 of the investigators who had followed all phases of the transporta- 



