28 BULLETIN 664, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
Starting with but a few cars, it finally consisted of 65. Sometimes 
it attained a speed of 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 
had 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 
egos 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 handled shipments is very complex. Traffic has 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 houses 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- 
