MOOBE’S BUBAL NIW-YOBKEB, 
<3AN. IS 
Hantfllagical. 
TRANSPORTATION OF FRUITS. 
Permit me to make use of your valuable 
columns to call the attention of fruit growers 
to two items of great interest to them. 1 re¬ 
fer to the high rate of freight charged for 
transporting fruit, and to some of the abuses 
connected with the handling of it by said 
companies. 
At present fruits are classed among the 
highest rate of freight, under the excuse that 
it needs greater care and a high rate of speed 
in order to insure prompt delivery. 1 admit 
that the excuse seems plausible ; the theory 
is well enough, but, unfortunately for the 
owner; of the fruit, the practice is the excep¬ 
tion, not the rule. 
The quantity of fruit grown at present is so 
large that a thorough reform is needed, and 
can be procured only by the united efforts of 
grower . A few years ago the arrival of ten 
car-loads of peaches oh one line was consid¬ 
ered an incident worth mentioning ; but now 
the arrival of one hundred is common, and 
even 225 have been received on ono line in a 
day. A few years since six cars loaded with 
be: rice on one line in a day was a sure indi¬ 
cation of low prices; but now thirty have been 
received without affecting the market as 
seriously as the former six did. Yet the cost 
of transporting them is about the same. This 
ought not to be, for the usual order of doing 
business is, the larger the quantity to be 
transported the cheaper it can be done, but 
this does not seem to be the case with fruit. 
To illustrate this point and make it more 
plain, let us look at the peach growing inter¬ 
est of Delaware at present, and see how they 
am compelled to pay for transporting their 
fruit to New York market. All persons wish 
ing to send their peaches to New York must 
charter a car for that purpose. The only ex¬ 
pense to the Company in preparing these cars 
is to arrange them with shehdngs made of 
rough boards. The chartering party must 
pay the price of the ca.r in advance, but be at 
all the expense of loading and unloading the 
same. 
From Dover, which is about the center of 
the State, the price per car is £100. Calculat¬ 
ing that 25 cal's make ono train, it will give 
the railroads £2,500 for the use of one loco¬ 
motive and attendants for ten hours’ service, 
including stoppages. If I mistake not, the 
average cost of running an engine to a loaded 
train is $1.80 per mile. Calculating the dis¬ 
tance from Dover to Jersey City to be 180 
miles, it would cost the road $234 to deliver ■ 
this train in Jersey City, leaving a margin of j 
profit to the road of $2,226 on a single engine. 
Then tako an average of three trains per day, 
which is a low calculation, it. will give them 
a revenue of $6,708 per day; or, to get at I 
some idea of the amount received by these, 
lines during the past season, let ua average 
the. number of trains at 100, which I think is 
about correct; it will give them a revenue of 
$350,160 on peaches. From this statement 
any one can see what immense profit is de¬ 
rived in forwarding this fruit at these rates. 
The same may he said in regard to the car¬ 
rying of small fruits, such as berries, grapes, 
etc., etc., although not to such mi extent; 
but it is feo large, that, these lines could well 
afford to do it for much less than the present 
rare-. In regard to the latter fruit, the niods 
may assist in loading, but they do not unload 
the cars, depending upon the carters of the 
fruit to do it for them. 
1 am thus particular to show your readers 
that these companies arc at less cost to trans¬ 
port fruit than anything else they cany, and 
am prepared to show that the claim for extra 
compensation for speed and care is un¬ 
founded. 
In regard to the care spoken of, and for j 
which they charge extra, it is a fact well ; 
known among fruit dealers that there is no t 
class of goods that receive so little, for it is 
the. general custom of all the principal hues ] 
that carry these large quantities to demand 
the freight in advance, and repudiate, as far 
as they can, all the responsibilities* of common 
carriers. This is the case with the peach 
cars, the chartering party being compelled to 
sign a release to the road of all responsibility, 
with the single exception that the line agrees 
to deliver the carat its destination. 
Any ono can sec from this statement, that 
as the roads refuse to be responsible for the 
safe delivery of the fruit, there is no neces¬ 
sity for their being at any expense to protect 
it; consequently it receives only the care that 
accident furnishes it. This non-responsibility 
feature of transportation companies is a sad 
one for fruit growers, and .unless a mighty 
effort is made soon, it will do more to destroy I 
fruit growing than anything else; for it is I 
well known among the employes, and among 
a large class of dishonest persons who take 
j advantage of it, and plunder the cars at even," 
! opportunity. On some lines these thieves do 
{ nob hesitate to attack a ear, break it open, 
and steal all they can while the- train is de¬ 
layed. This I know to be a fact; and it is 
done while the officials on the train know 
that it is being done. Home may think 
this an exaggeration, but it is not so; it is al¬ 
most an every-day occurrence on some lines, 
| and any one can see at a glance that as these 
officials are fully aware that, the companies 
are not responsible for the fruit, they need 
not care about it. 
In regard to the care given to berries, etc., 
the same system of carelessness is practiced. 
On some lines they do not furnish a single 
person to unload, but open the cars to all 
comers, who take such marks as they see fit. 
A clerk requires the signature of the cartmen 
for the number token, which in many cases is 
not correct; and owing to the rush, this de¬ 
livery clerk has littlo or no chance to know 
whether the number is correct or not. 
Just at this point the reader could have a 
good chance to see how much care Is be¬ 
stowed upon the fruit. He could see, per¬ 
haps, a dozen or more persons rush in a car 
as soon os opened and seize upon any mark of 
crates they do not wish, and throw it where 
and in what shape they choose, until they 
reach their own. In some instance!. I have 
seen several cases lay bottom bide up on t he 
floor of the car; in fact, there is no care 
whatever paid by the companies to the fruit, 
for no one is there to attend to it save the one 
clerk, who has no time. According to this , 
showing of facts, can any one of your read- : 
era see where a just claim for extra care 
comes in ? I can not. 
In regard to time, as another excuse for 
charging high rates, let us look at that point 
and see if the demand is not equally ground¬ 
less. All fruit trains have a running time 
which is regulated to suit the hours that are 
best adapted for the sale of the fruit; uud 
growers are assured the fruit shall be deliv¬ 
ered as agreed upon. As the officials have i 
the privilege of arranging the time, and can j 
deliver it at that time if they choose, there is 
no just excuse for its not being delivered as 
agreed upon, except in cases of accidents I 
over which they havo no control. Now if 
these lines agree with tho growers to deliver 
their fruit on the time stated, for a price | 
agreed upon, why should they not pay for 
the loss these growers sustain, when the fruit 
is not received at the time ? Is it any more 
than fair that these lines should be made to 
keep ( heir part of the agreement as well as 
the grower, or pay for the damage sustained 
by their failure ? This is a very important 
item to fruit growers, but one they look after 
tile least. 
It is almost impossible to get at the accu- i 
rate amount lost by these delays, exdfept you 
make a general calculation, which I, and oth¬ 
ers, have calculated will amount to at least 
20 per cent, on the sales of peaches and ber¬ 
ries ; and in order to realize the vast amount 
of money lost this way, we will take an in¬ 
stance of each reduced to dollars and cents. 
the simple fact that the returned freight was 
included in the bill for the delivery of the 
fruit; and the pretext of returning them 
free is a delusion, raised on purpose to shirk 
their responsibility for the safe delivery of 
them to their owners, Is it at all probable 
that any line would transport thousands of 
bulky packages free when it cost them more 
to handle them than when full ? I think not. 
This is one cause of their charging such a 
high rate of freight on these two articles, 
and results, in t he loss of so many packages. 
Having received their pay in advance and 
announced their determination not to pay 
for any that are lost, the natural result is 
that the officials care nothing for them, but 
will move them out whenever it suits their 
convenience ; or should a car be needed by 
the road before it reaches the destination of 
these packages, all are thrown out to find 
their way home as best they may. 
I contend that this system and practice is 
wrong ; that every package forwarded should 
be liable for its own cost, and that the line 
forwarding it should be held responsible for 
ifs safe deliver}' to the owner; that empty 
packages should be receipted for and deliv¬ 
ered to their destination with as much cer¬ 
tainty as if full of fruit; then none but those 
returned would be charged for, whereas now ' 
all are paid for, when hundreds of berry 
crates and thousands of baskets are never 
returned. 
I have got another feature of this business 
to present, showing how it reacts upon inno¬ 
cent parties. It is customary among those 
merchants who sell small fruits on commis- j 
sion to guarantee the return of these empty 
packages to the lines that transport them, i 
and pay for those they do not return. When 
a line gives a receipt for their delivery there j 
can be no question on that point ; but many i 
linos give no receipts, consequently the state¬ 
ment made by the merchant is questioned 
by the owner, unless the whole number ar¬ 
rived at their destination iind were received 
by their owner Even when the receipts are 
shown it docs not always satisfy the owners 
if any of the packages are missing; and 
some will insist that the merchant should 
pay them for those they say are lost and the 
merchant present the claim to the companies 
for payment; if they refuse to pay it, either 
prosecute the claim at his own expense or 
sustain the loss, thus ignoring tho entire re¬ 
sponsibility of the Vine that carried the fruit 
at such a high rate of freight and profit. 
In order to compel theso merchants to 
comply with their demands, they threaten 
them with the withdrawal of their consign 
meats for the future. In some instances the 
threat has tho desired influence; the mer¬ 
chants pays, with the idea that it will be 
policy to do so, in order to secure the crop for 
the next season; but as a general thing he 
fails, the owner of tho fruit sending to other 
parties that have no claim on him. 
Many may think that these cases are sel¬ 
dom met with, but that is a mistake; they 
are very common, and growing more fre¬ 
quent every year, Ts it the poorer and more 
ignorant portion of the growers that practice 
this system ? By no means; it is done by 
Scientific and Useful. 
During the past season a train of cars load- those who feel that their crops are large and 
©d with berries arrived two hours behind 
time. On that train it was calculated there 
were 3S8,000 quarts. The least amount of loss 
sustained in this instance was two cents per 
quart, making a loss to the owners of the 
fruit of $5,760 in one day. As I have no fig¬ 
ures to give me the whole number of quarts 
delivered by this line, we will go no further 
with that calculation, but take up the peach 
interest alluded to above. First, we will look 
at the loss on a single train of 25 cars, con¬ 
taining 13,500 baskets, with the average price 
of $1 per basket, it would givo a loss of $2,500. 
Supposing there was 1,000 car loads received, 
which 1 think is about the correct number, 
t hat would give us 3,000,000 baskets ; taking 
the same price as their average value, it 
would make tho w hole amount lost during 
the past season, $400,000—an amount so large 
that one not thoroughly informed iu regard 
to it, can scarcely believe it; yet 1 do not be¬ 
lieve it to be large enough to cover all. 
If any person will take the trouble, to get 
at the amoimt of berries and peaches trans¬ 
ported on railroads, make a fair estimate of 
the amount of sales, he can readily get at the 
amouut lost by the shippers ; t hen add that 
amount to the freight paid, and he can readi¬ 
ly tell how much shippers pay for the speed 
contracted for, but not got. 
Again, let us look at. another feature in this 
transportation business. Many of you arc 
aware that these lines profess to return the 
berry crates and poach baskets free of charge 
profitable enough to tempt the dealers to j 
yield to tlieir demand, and who know that 
the claim is an unjust one. 
Thus you can see how the carelessness of 
these lines cost innocent parties large .sums of 
money, when the companies should be made 
to pay these claims themselves. 
Some persons may think It. is better to pay 
as they do than to make any change; but I 
say, no; for a few years since (he growing of 
fruit was simply an experiment, and grow¬ 
ers were willing to put up with such accom¬ 
modations as they then had in order to test 
tho question of profits; but now it is an es- j 
tablished fact, and a branch of business that ; 
thousands depend upon as a means of siq>- 
port; consequently the sooner a thorough 
system of cheap, safe transportation, with a 
certainty of arrival, is established, tho more 
profitable it will be for the growers, and 
j gratifying to the dealers, who will be eca- 
bled to make better returns to the growers, 
at a less cost to themselves. 
Let me remind you that all transportation 
companies are governed by laws for the pro¬ 
tection of consignors; then why not enforce 
them ? and where there is an additional se¬ 
curity needed, obtain it. by legislative enact¬ 
ments, and show these companies that you 
are determined to enforce your rights ? They 
1 will yield, for the laws will compel them, but ! 
as long ns they can terrify you with threats, 
and professions of their non-responsibility, so 
; long will they cling to the old system of high 
r*;' r, 1 prices, carelessness of the protection of the 
to the depot from ■which they started . but fnnt, and the delivery of it at such hours aa 
this is not the truth. I will admit that they best pleases them. w. 
make out no distinct bill when returned, from , New York, January, 1873. 
LIME AND MORTAR. 
The main results of certain recent experi¬ 
ments made to obtain accurate information 
on the process of the hardening of lime and 
i mortar, as applied for ordinal-}- building pur¬ 
poses, are that the freshly - applied mortar 
gives off, at first, water only, by which pro¬ 
cess tho particles of lime begin to adhere to¬ 
gether ; afterward carbonic acid begins to be 
absorbed, and thereby the solidity of the 
mass is increased. The last st age of the dly¬ 
ing of the mortar coincides with t ha t of satu¬ 
ration of the lime with carbonic acid, and 
this process causes the fixation of the porous 
bricks with the mortar. The absorption of 
carbonic acid alone, without previous dehy¬ 
dration, never causes ordinary mortar to be¬ 
come hard. Freshly-made mortar exposed 
to an atmosphere of moist carbonic acid re¬ 
mains soft; while mortar placed under a 
bell-jar filled with carbonic acid, and stand¬ 
ing over a basin filled with strong sulphuric 
acid, (which rapidly absorbs water,) becomes 
rapidly hard. Large quantities of mortar, 
especially with limited exposure to air, take 
months, or even years, to harden. 
-■ ■■ -» ♦■»- 
TO FASTEN RUBBER TO WOOD AND 
METAL. 
As rubber plates and rings are nowadays 
almost exclusively used for making connec¬ 
tions between steam and other pipes and ap¬ 
paratus, much difficulty is ofteu experienced 
in making an air-tight connection. This is 
obviated entirely by employing a cement 
which fastens alike well to the rubber and 
to the rnotal or wood. Such cement is pre¬ 
pared by a solution of shellac in ammonia. 
Soal, pulverized gum shellac in ten times its 
weight of strong ammonia, when a slimy 
mass is obtained, winch in three to four 
weeks will become liquid without the u.-c of 
hot water. This softens the rubber, and bo- 
comes, after volatilization of ammonia, hard 
and impermeable to gases and fluids. 
- 4 • »- 
TO COLOR SHEEP SKINS. 
Will you inform me how to color sheep 
skins with the wool on some light color ?—E. 
V. Ever. 
Unslaked lime and litharge equal parts, 
mixed to a thin paste with water,*will color 
buff—several coats will make it a dark brown; 
by adding a littlo ammonia and nitrate of 
silver a fine black is produced. Terra japon¬ 
ic^ will impart a “tan Color 5 ’ to wool, and 
the rod shade is deepened by sponging with 
a solution of lime and water, using a strong 
solution of alum water to “set” the colors ; 
1 part crystallized nitrate silver, 8 parts car¬ 
bonate ammonia, and 1><? parts of soft water 
dyes brown ; every additional coat darkens 
the color until a blabk is obtained. 
4 »»- 
ZINC POISONING AND WATER PIPES. 
The Boston Journal of Chemistry declares 
that zinc is at least as ■virulent and fatal a 
poison as lead, its salts, when taken in small 
quantities, producing nausea ; larger doses 
cause vomiting, with violent retching and 
cerebral distress. Some painters arc poisoned 
by zinc paint, and suffer colic, similar to that 
caused by lead. Water in contact with zinc 
or “galvanized” iron pipe is charged to a 
greater or less extent with the chloride, the 
protoxide and the carbonate of zinc — all 
poisonous to those who use the water. 
— " »»+-— 
A CHEAP DISINFECTANT. 
The following is highly commended by 
those who have used it.Dissolve a bushel 
of salt hi a barrel of water, and with the salt 
water slack n ban-el of lime, which should 
he wet enough to form a kind of paste. For 
the purpose of a disinfectant, this home¬ 
made chloride of lime is nearly as good as 
that purchased at the shops and drug stores. 
Use it freely about sinks, cellars, gutters, and 
outhouses, and in this way prevent sickness, 
suffering, and expense. 
—--♦-*-*- 
ARSENICAL POISONING. 
Persons inhabiting rooms the walls of 
which are covered with paper colored with 
Scheie’s green, or in which are kept objects 
of natural history preserved with arsenical 
preparations, arc aJike liable to suffer from 
poisoning. Arsenious gases are developed by 
the reaction of arsenious acid upon the or¬ 
ganic compound with which it comes in 
contact, and the air and dust of the room 
become dangerously charged with poisonous 
matter. 
