Railway Business Association Bulletin No. 8 
 
 The Revolution in 
 Freight Claims 
 
 Story of How By Co-operation the Shippers, the 
 Railways and the Government have Trans- 
 formed a National Grouch Into Fast Spreading 
 Satisfaction 
 
 “ Carriers not only ready but more than willing to cooperate 
 — Hon. James S. Harlan, Interstate Commerce 
 Commissioner 
 
 u JVe have had no real complaints from our members for more 
 than a year past.^ — J. M. BELLEVILLE, Chairman Freight 
 Claims Committee, National Industrial Traffic League, 
 representing 80,000 shippers 
 
 u We want to hear the grievances of the American people.” 
 — J. S. TuSTIN, President, Freight Claim Association, 
 representing all the railways of the United States 
 
 July 17, 1911 
 
<*> 
 
 The work of promoting better relations between the public and the railways 
 leads the Railway Business Association into other fields than that of the public 
 discussion of proposed legislative enactments and regulatory decrees, The rail- 
 ways are constantly doing progressive and creditable things’ of which the public 
 should be told. 
 
 One of our important functions is to investigate conditions first hand and 
 report the facts as we find them , giving credit where credit is due, whether to 
 carriers or to their patrons, and admonition to both as the findings dictate. 
 
 Absence of any recent emergency inviting our public activity has given 
 opportunity for a special inquiry which has taken our representatives into many 
 States and into relation with many organizations to acquire a comprehensive 
 understanding of the question of freight claims . Five years ago practically every • 
 shipper in the United States regarded freight claims as a grievance. To-d^y 
 many of the men employed to handle such claims for concerns or for bureaus say 
 
 that while there is still room for improvement, the advance already made is 
 
 practically a revolution . It is significant that this achievement is the product of 
 co-operation and has been secured almost wholly without recourse to legislation 
 or litigation. 
 
 It has often been said that the best advertisement a railway can have is its 
 claim department. A reputation for prompt settlement and fair dealing attracts 
 traffic. It is equally true that an efficient claim department is the best diplomatic 
 corps a carrier can have for fostering friendly relations with the public. 
 
 With this old saw about the claim department as a good advertisement for 
 the carrier, a new one might go, applying to the shipper. He will never get as 
 much net benefit out of claims paid him by the railway as by so packing and 
 marking his goods that they reach the consignee promptly and in good order. 
 
 At the freight house the shipping public meets the carrier in direct contact 
 and completes the circuit. Let us be candid about this matter. Shippers are not 
 without fault as contributors to the vexations arising from loss and damage 
 claims. Fair minded men concede this. Business organizations have urged their 
 members to improve shipping methods; carriers, through the organizations in a 
 dozen departments affected, have studied and experimented, and machinery has 
 been created which gives hope that further co-operation will ultimately remove 
 causes for freight claim grievances to a minimum. 
 
 One purpose of this Bulletin is to inform the general public, mainly in the 
 language of shippers, that in connection with this ancient grievance satisfaction 
 has largely taken the place of resentment. A second purpose is to impress on 
 shippers some of the things they can do to help achieve still better methods.. .Yet 
 another purpose is to lay before the carriers , together with the praise, the criticisms 
 still made , in the confidence that they desire full information and will act with 
 vigor upon any feasible suggestions. 
 
 GEO. A. POST, 
 
 President, Railway Business Association 
 
* 
 
 The 
 
 « 
 
 Revolution, in Freight Claims 
 
 Shippers from Seattle to Boston Tell of the Wonderful Improve- 
 ment Accomplished by Co-operation in Methods of Adjusting 
 Freight Claims and Preventing Loss, Damage and Overcharge — 
 Praise and Appreciation from the Interstate Commerce Com- 
 mission 
 
 From representatives of shippers’ or- 
 ganizations and individual shippers from 
 coast to coast, the Railway Business As- 
 sociation has secured an extraordinary 
 symposium of assurances that in the past 
 two or three years co-operation between 
 the shippers, the carriers, and the gov- 
 ernment has brought about a marked 
 change for the better in the methods of 
 adjusting freight claims and of prevent- 
 ing loss, damage and overcharge. 
 
 Before quoting briefly from represent- 
 ative letters, two communications written 
 to the Railway Business Association at 
 its request are given in full. The first 
 
 is from the Hon. James S. Harlan, In- 
 terstate Commerce Commissioner, to 
 whom the subject of freight claims has 
 been especially assigned and who is chair- 
 man of a special committee on this sub- 
 ject of the National Association of Rail- 
 way Commissioners. The other letter is 
 from Mr. J. M. Belleville, of the Pitts- 
 burgh Plate Glass Company, Chairman 
 of the Freight Claims Committee of the 
 National Industrial Traffic League, an 
 organization said to represent directly or 
 through delegates from organizations 
 80,000 shippers. 
 
 ' COMMISSION GRATIFIED BY CARRIERS’ CO-OPERATION 
 
 By the Hon. James S. Harlan, 
 
 Interstate Commerce Commissioner 
 
 “From the many informal complaints 
 reaching us from all parts of the country, 
 the Commission long ago reached the con- 
 clusion that the adjustment of claims in 
 general ought in the public interest to 
 be put on some sounder basis, and it was 
 a matter of no small gratification to us to 
 find the carriers not only ready hut more 
 than willing to co-operate in an investi- 
 gation looking to the adoption of a uni- 
 form system of dealing with claims, 
 whether arising through loss of or dam- 
 age to freight in transit, or out of the 
 JJ collection of charges at variance with 
 the published rates. 
 
 ? “We therefore, through our Division 
 of Accounts, entered upon an investiga- 
 3 tion with a special Committee of Con- 
 
 ference of the Freight Claim Association, 
 and for a year and a half, Mr. Adams, 
 on behalf of the Commission, in co-oper- 
 ation with the special committee, has had 
 the matter under consideration. The 
 Freight Claim Association, through its 
 special committee, in a broad way has 
 manifested its disposition to meet the de- 
 sire of the Commission to arrive so far 
 as possible at some uniformity in the 
 treatment and the adjustment of claims. 
 
 Much Progress Made 
 
 “The Commission, on the other hand, 
 without having examined the extent and 
 the limitations of its authority to pre- 
 scribe methods and forms governing such 
 
 3 
 
# 
 
 matters, has indicated its willingness to 
 prescribe the system that may be agreed 
 upon to the extent that it lawfully may 
 control the matter by order, and to give 
 its moral support and encouragement to 
 such parts of the system arrived at that 
 may not be within our power to prescribe. 
 
 “I am advised that much progress has 
 
 been made, and it is my hope that in the 
 near future a general understanding will 
 be arrived at, one result of which when 
 made effective — and by no means the least 
 important result — -will be the prompt ad- 
 justment of claims, and particularly those 
 that arise out of the misapplication of 
 rates.” 
 
 NATIONAL LEAGUE DECLARES PROGRESS PHENOMENAL 
 
 By J. M. Belleville, 
 
 Chairman of the Freight Claims Committee , National Industrial Traffic League, 
 
 Representing 80,000 Shippers 
 
 “Probably no one thing has caused so 
 much friction between the railroads and 
 the public as the extremely bad handling 
 of freight claims which persisted during 
 a long period of years. Ten years ago — 
 yes, even as late as five years ago — the 
 conditions in this regard were extremely 
 bad. Legitimate claims for overcharge 
 which ought to have been settled at sight, 
 or at the outside within 30 days, were 
 held up for anywhere from six months 
 to two or three years, and claims for 
 damage, where there was no dispute 
 whatever as to liability of the carrier to 
 the consignee or shipper, as the case 
 might be, were held up for months and 
 more frequently for years, while the 
 claim agents for the railroads interested 
 fought out in the most deliberate fashion 
 just how the amount of loss should be 
 divided between their respective com- 
 panies. Technical objections of every 
 kind were interposed in the interest of 
 delay, and claim agents seemed to be of 
 the opinion (and from their standpoint 
 with good grounds for it) that their duty 
 was to interpose every possible objection 
 and if possible prevent settlement of 
 claims whether the claims were just or 
 not, while their duty under the law, and 
 (as we looked at the question) under 
 good business policy also, was promptly 
 to settle all lawful claims. 
 
 Improvement Phenomenal 
 
 “The National Industrial Traffic 
 League, on behalf of its members, took 
 
 the position that when more than the 
 legal rate had been exacted by the rail- 
 road, the railroad had violated the law 
 and that it was their plain duty to purge 
 themselves of contempt of court by an 
 immediate adjustment of the claim when 
 supported by proper evidence; that on 
 claims for damage, where the evidence 
 was clear, settlement should be promptly 
 made and that the railroads should use 
 their awn time after settlement in decid- 
 ing the division of responsibility. 
 
 “Marked improvement in the settle- 
 ment of claims began about five years 
 ago, and the progress during the last two 
 years particularly has been phenomenal, 
 and also extremely gratifying. Our 
 League has given this matter quite a 
 good deal of attention and with good 
 results. 
 
 Co-operation the Keynote. 
 
 “We believed that more could be ob- 
 tained through real co-operation than by 
 legal action, and began and continued our 
 campaign along these lines. We frankly 
 conceded that while there had been, and 
 was, grave fault on the part of the rail- 
 roads, yet at the same time shippers and 
 receivers of freight were also frequently 
 responsible for a considerable part of the 
 delays. 
 
 “We agreed that it was the duty of 
 shippers to deliver their goods to the rail- 
 roads in such packages and so packed as 
 to withstand all ordinary risks of trans- 
 
 4 
 
♦ 
 
 portation ; to have packages plainly 
 marked and to have shipping tickets made 
 out legibly and completely ; further, that 
 it was the duty of receivers of freight to 
 present claims for loss, damage or over- 
 charge promptly and to furnish with 
 them the necessary legal proofs, and we 
 undertook to and did thoroughly edu- 
 cate our members along these lines by 
 means of frequent circulars and also by 
 personal explanations. 
 
 “Through conferences with proper 
 committees of railroad officials we ar- 
 ranged that the railroads should have 
 their expense bills made out in a clear 
 and legible manner, furnishing on them 
 all necessary information to enable a 
 proper audit of the bills, which was an 
 impossibility under the old methods. 
 
 Educating Both Sides 
 
 “We also took up with the Freight 
 Claim Association many of the vexed 
 questions in connection with the handling 
 of claims ; in other words, what we un- 
 dertook was a campaign of education on 
 both sides of the question ; that is to say, 
 with the carriers on one hand and the 
 shippers and receivers of freight on the 
 other. Naturally, this took time, and we 
 could not expect abuses which had grown 
 up in many years to be at once abated. 
 
 “We have had the most hearty co- 
 operation from the Freight Claim Asso- 
 ciation, from the American Association 
 of Railway Accounting Officers, the 
 American Railway Association and 
 others, and the results brought about in 
 the last three years, and particularly dur- 
 ing the past year, have been both gratify- 
 ing and remarkable. 
 
 High Order of Promptness 
 
 “Under the old conditions it was but 
 seldom that a claim for either loss, dam- 
 age or overcharge, was adjusted in a less 
 time than 90 days, and ten years ago, 
 we considered that if we could get an 
 
 average of settlements in six months it 
 was a remarkable record. Under present 
 conditions, a majority of what we call 
 straight overcharge claims; that is, where 
 the evidence is perfectly clear and there 
 are no complications, are settled inside of 
 30 days, and the writer knows of a num- 
 ber of concerns who have quite large 
 claim accounts whose, record for the year 
 1910 shows an average under 60 days for 
 settlement of claims of all descriptions. 
 
 “Under the old conditions damage 
 claims were rarely, if ever, settled in less 
 than six months from the date of their 
 filing, while during the year 1910 a large 
 number of damage claims, as reported to 
 us by various members, were settled 
 within 30 days from their presentation. 
 
 No Complaints For a Year 
 
 “We have not had any complete can- 
 vass made among our members as to their 
 experience with regard to settlement of 
 claims, but from the frequent expressions 
 from a large number of our members of 
 their gratification at the greatly improved 
 conditions, and also from the fact that 
 we have had no real complaints from 
 our members for more than a year past, 
 we are confident that substantial and re- 
 markable improvement has been made 
 and feel that both parties are to be con- 
 gratulated upon the results obtained . 
 
 “We believe that the officials handling 
 claims now thoroughly recognize the 
 rights of the public and the duty which 
 they owe to the public, and that they are 
 honestly endeavoring to expedite in every 
 possible way the adjustment of claims, 
 and that the operating officials are mak- 
 ing similar strenuous efforts toward the 
 prevention of claims, which, after all, is 
 the thing most to be desired both by the 
 carriers and by the public. 
 
 “Of course, perfection has not been 
 obtained and never will be, but we believe 
 that through a continuance of such co- 
 operation as has been in evidence and 
 
 5 
 

 has been growing steadily during the past claim question will be reduced to the low- 
 two or three years, our troubles on the est possible minimum.” 
 
 SHIPPERS FROM COAST TO COAST ATTEST IMPROVEMENT 
 
 Mr. J. S. Lincoln, of St. Louis, Presi- 
 dent of the same League, writes: 
 
 “There has been in the past two years 
 a great improvement in the promptness 
 with which claims are adjusted. There 
 is, however, still room for further im- 
 provement, and all should lend their 
 efforts toward bringing it about.” 
 
 Pacific Coast 
 
 From Seattle comes a letter which is 
 significant, because it was on the Pacific 
 slope that a demand arose for federal 
 legislation compelling payment of freight 
 claims within a specified period. Mr. 
 E. L. Fairbanks, Manager Freight Claim 
 Department, Pacific Coast Shippers’ As- 
 sociation, says: 
 
 “Since the establishing of this depart- 
 ment, the average settlement of railway 
 claims has been within 30 days, taking 
 all claims of various kinds into con- 
 sideration; and if the railway com- 
 panies keep on improving their claim 
 departments in the future as they have 
 been doing for the last two years, we 
 believe that there will be very few 
 shippers that will have any cause what- 
 ever to complain.” 
 
 Nebraska 
 
 Mr. E. J. McVann, Manager, Traffic 
 Bureau, Commercial Club of Omaha, 
 writes : 
 
 “The general disposition of the carriers 
 is to pay just claims with reasonable 
 promptness . This disposition is fre- 
 quently defeated by unduly technical 
 claim agents and clerks, but I have 
 not found a case where the responsi- 
 ble officers of the railways refuse to 
 give full consideration to claims held 
 up for insufficient reasons by their own 
 
 claim departments. Especial credit is 
 due to those roads ( of which the 
 Chicago , Burlington & Quincy is one) 
 that have established a system of noti- 
 fying their patrons of overcharges de- 
 veloped in the checking of billing.” 
 
 Kansas City 
 
 Kansas City was represented at a re- 
 cent convention of Traffic Officers of 
 Lumber Companies, in Chicago, by Mr. 
 F. C. Broadway, Traffic Manager of the 
 Missouri Lumber & Land Exchange 
 Company. Mr. Broadway remarked to 
 his colleagues that the claims of his com- 
 pany were in satisfactory shape , the ma- 
 jority of them being settled within 30 
 days , and that he believed the method 
 employed in filing them was largely re- 
 sponsible for this condition. 
 
 Iowa 
 
 From Cedar Rapids, Iowa, comes a 
 letter, written by Mr. B. H. O’Meara, 
 Traffic Manager of Douglas & Company, 
 who says: 
 
 “On all first-class systems, there is a 
 genuine attempt at closing up claims 
 promptly. It is useless to discuss this 
 further as it is ‘un fait accompli.’ ” 
 
 St. Louis 
 
 Mr. P. W. Coyle, Traffic Commis- 
 sioner of the Business Men’s League of 
 St. Louis, says : 
 
 “Claims are now handled with despatch 
 
 and general satisfaction obtains .” 
 
 Mr. S. E. Jones, John Deere Plow Com- 
 pany, St. Louis: 
 
 “During the last three years our claims 
 against railroads have been investi- 
 gated and settled very promptly when 
 
 6 
 
compared with their method of hand- 
 ling claims prior to that time.” 
 
 The Southwest 
 
 Regarding the Southwest in general, 
 including the multitude of shippers at 
 small stations, the results of a recent 
 mail canvass among station agents is 
 confidential as to names and places, but 
 can be given in substance. The States 
 covered are Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, 
 Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, 
 and Oklahoma. Almost without excep- 
 tion, agents reported much increased 
 satisfaction among shippers, not only re- 
 ferring to the road served by the agent, 
 but to his competitors, if any, as well. 
 
 Chicago 
 
 A similar canvass has just been made 
 in Chicago by a committee of the As- 
 sociation of Commerce, local shippers 
 telling their own experience and writing 
 to hundreds of consignees for theirs. 
 About 20 letters from Chicago shippers 
 were read in confidence, of which all 
 save two or three said there had been a 
 marked improvement in handling their 
 claims in recent years, though not in the 
 past year (a special condition arising 
 from increased claims, activity of the In- 
 terstate Commerce Commission through 
 its examiners in restricting payment 
 within more rigid definitions, and an 
 order by the Commission forbidding any 
 payment before liability is established.) 
 In mentioning the improvement in 
 prompt payments to Chicago claimants, 
 shippers reported that there was need of 
 fortifying the situation at outside points, 
 where the consignee is not able to main- 
 tain a traffic or claims manager, and the 
 railway representative has less authority 
 to act than the officers at larger centres. 
 
 An extraordinary result has been 
 achieved in Chicago by Sears, Roebuck 
 & Co., which has relations with prac- 
 tically all the railroads of the country. 
 Some years ago this establishment had 
 very large sums in unsettled claims 
 
 against railroads. This account, we are 
 informed, is now down to some ten per 
 cent, of its former size. Mr. J. W. 
 Hicks, Traffic Manager of Sears, Roe- 
 buck & Co., writes: 
 
 “With no important exceptions our 
 
 claims are handled to-day in a manner 
 that is entirely satisfactory to us. In 
 the past two and a half years we have 
 been enabled, through the co-operation 
 of the railroad companies, to materially 
 reduce the amount of outstanding 
 claims against the railroad and express 
 companies, and with scarcely a single 
 exception we have found the car- 
 riers willing to co-operate with and 
 assist us in securing this result. There 
 are very few claims on our books to- 
 day that we can say have been open for 
 an unreasonable period of time. As a 
 rule, the railroads are thoroughly busi- 
 nesslike in their methods of adjust- 
 ment and settlement and courteous and 
 reasonable in any nece$sary corres- 
 pondence incident to the handling of 
 these claims.” 
 
 Although Mr. Hicks generously gives 
 credit to the carriers, the railway officers 
 inform us that the company has contrib- 
 uted a very large part of the improve- 
 ment through the effective system in- 
 stalled. 
 
 Pittsburgh 
 
 Co-operation has been promoted in 
 Pittsburgh, as in other cities, through a 
 Traffic Club composed of representatives 
 of shippers and of carriers. At the last 
 annual banquet of the club, the state- 
 ment was made that for several years no 
 shipper who is a member of the club has 
 had before the Interstate Commerce 
 Commission a controversy with a rail- 
 road which is a member of the club. This 
 refers not only to freight claims, but to 
 all other kinds of differences. 
 
 Buffalo 
 
 From Buffalo, Mr. Wm. H. Frederick, 
 General Traffic Manager of the Chamber 
 of Commerce and Manufacturers’ Club, 
 
<• 
 
 writes that where clear receipts are given 
 through ignorance or misunderstanding 
 of the cart man, “ carriers have given evi- 
 dence of their desire to co-operate with 
 shippers by accepting affidavits or other 
 satisfactory proofs” of loss or damage; 
 and Mr. Frederick adds on the general 
 question of preventing loss and damage, 
 that the railroads are co-operating with 
 the shippers “by tracing shipments that 
 have gone astray, with the view of ef- 
 fecting delivery and thereby preventing 
 the necessity of entering claims for their 
 value.” 
 
 Philadelphia 
 
 Mr. N. B. Kelly, Freight Commission- 
 er, Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, 
 says : 
 
 “My (experience so far as it relates to 
 the railroads entering this city will seem 
 to indicate that claims for loss and dam- 
 age are being adjusted much more 
 promptly than heretofore. Much im- 
 provement has been made in the time it 
 takes carriers to investigate claims.” 
 
 New York 
 
 In New York, neither the Chamber 
 of Commerce, the Board of Trade and 
 Transportation, nor the Merchants’ As- 
 sociation has found it necessary to estab- 
 lish a freight claims bureau. The most 
 difficult class of traffic to deal with as 
 to claims is fruit and produce, both be- 
 cause of the widely scattered shippers 
 and farmers, inevitably weak on packing 
 and marking methods, and also because 
 the goods are perishable and give rise 
 easily to claims for deterioration and 
 damage. Mr. Thomas P. Wallace, Pres- 
 ident of the Fruit and Produce Trade 
 Association of Greater New York, an or- 
 ganization comprising about 80 per cent, 
 of the dealers in that district, writes : 
 “Speaking for the Fruit and Produce 
 Trade Association of Greater New 
 York, I would say that we find a great 
 improvement has taken place with the 
 various transportation companies in 
 
 the matter of settling claims when 
 properly presented . This improve- 
 ment has taken place in the last five 
 years, and I think the Transportation 
 Committee of our association, working 
 with the various lines, have had an im- 
 portant influence in bringing about this 
 result. Much of the trouble in our 
 line of business in the past has been 
 caused by carelessness of the shippers 
 in marking and billing their goods. 
 This is gradually being eliminated, and 
 I hope to see still better results in the 
 near future.” 
 
 New England 
 
 New England is particularly interested 
 in shipments of cotton, a commodity 
 which is graded into varieties, each hav- 
 ing its own purpose and machinery 
 adapted to preparing it for manufacture. 
 Some years ago, through errors in for- 
 warding, mills were continually getting 
 the wrong kind of cotton. The Trans- 
 portation Agency of the Arkwright Club, 
 the organization of cotton manufacturers, 
 established the New England Cotton 
 Freight Claim Bureau, the manager of 
 which, Mr. T. F. Leavitt, writes : 
 
 “Our experience in the past three years 
 and a half, since this bureau was or- 
 ganized, has shown a decided improve- 
 ment on the part of the transportation 
 companies in the handling and adjust- 
 
 ment of freight claims and other com- 
 plications natural in the handling of 
 cotton shipments to New England. 
 This improvement has not only been 
 with the railroads in New England, but 
 there has been a general improvement 
 all over the country with the carriers 
 interested particularly in the handling 
 of cotton.” 
 
 Another New England witness is Mr. 
 Charles M. Cox, President of the Charles 
 M. Cox Company, of Boston, who pays 
 a high compliment to the Boston & 
 Maine Railroad, the freight claim agent 
 of which is Mr. H. F. Bidwell, and the 
 New Haven Railroad, of which the 
 
 8 
 
freight claim agent is Mr. G. L. Winlock. 
 Mr. Cox gives the figures of amounts 
 outstanding in a period of years, showing 
 that those of the Boston & Maine in 19 n 
 had been reduced 84 per cent, over 1905, 
 and of the New Haven 65 per cent, over 
 1905. Mr. Cox says : 
 
 “Our business is to bring grain in car- 
 load lots into New England from the 
 West and South and distribute it to 
 various and sundry points all over the 
 six New England States. Our business 
 was much larger in 1910 than any 
 previous year, which makes the de- 
 crease in claims all the more signifi- 
 cant. The same conditions apply in 
 general to most all the railroads. 
 “You ask what methods we have adopted 
 to effect improvement, and would say 
 
 that we cannot claim to have done 
 anything. On the contrary, we find 
 that our efforts to collect claims have 
 been materially reduced. We do not 
 now make nearly as many claims as 
 formerly. The railroads are handling 
 the business more carefully, both in 
 regard to overcharge in freight and 
 damage to property. Five to ten years 
 ago we were obliged to employ a high- 
 priced clerk to give a large share of 
 his time to this work, whereas it is 
 now handled with much less expense. 
 The managing force of the office often- 
 times are obliged to give up a certain 
 share of their time in attending to 
 these matters in complicated cases. All 
 this has been cut down.” 
 
 HOW CLAIM PAYMENTS MOUNTED TO $30,000,000 
 
 Ten Year Increase of 335 Per Cent, a Serious Problem for Carriers, Shippers 
 and Government. 
 
 An idea of the extent of the problem 
 as affecting the carriers will appear from 
 the fact that payments for loss and dam- 
 age increased from $7,055,622 in 1900 to 
 $30,707,675 in 1910, or 335 per cent. 
 This was a jump from .764 per cent, 
 of operating expenses in 1900, to 1.711 
 per cent, in 1910. There were various 
 causes for this. 
 
 First, the high prices of commodities. 
 The goods carried cost more to replace. 
 
 Second, the extension of producers’ 
 and jobbers’ markets increased the vol- 
 ume of shipments carried over two or 
 more lines. This multiplied reloadings 
 and hence risks of damage and loss. 
 
 Third, the roads equipped their claim 
 departments to handle accounts faster. 
 
 Strain on Containers 
 
 Fourth, the air brake, coupling by im- 
 pact, and heavier cars and trains, greatly 
 aggravated the strain from jolting. As 
 President Ripley once observed : “Every- 
 thing in the car which is not nailed down 
 is more or less liable to be broken.” 
 
 Fifth, the high cost of lumber induced 
 shippers in packing to substitute fibre 
 board, pasteboard and such weaker con- 
 tainers. 
 
 Sixth, following the abolition of re- 
 bates, large shippers through traffic man- 
 agers and other shippers through bureaus 
 prosecuted claims with greater vigor. 
 
 This development of a commercial field 
 for traffic experts, together with federal 
 and State demands, made it difficult for 
 the railways to keep good men in their 
 claim departments after training them. 
 
 These and probably other perplexities 
 made the freight claim problem serious 
 for the railway. 
 
 Serious for Shippers 
 
 For the shipper the situation became 
 acute, also for several reasons : 
 
 First, arrearages had accumulated in 
 some cases to large sums. “A legitimate 
 claim,” says President J. C. Lincoln of 
 the Traffic League, “which is not 
 promptly adjusted, is depriving a shipper 
 
 9 
 
I 
 
 of money which he may use and may be 
 much in need of in the conduct of his 
 business.” 
 
 Second, the extended use of routes cov- 
 ering several carriers complicated the 
 process of passing upon claims. The 
 Freight Claim Agent of the Norfolk & 
 Western, Mr. W. S. Battle, Jr., who has 
 made substantial contributions to effi- 
 ciency in office and interline procedure, 
 writes that “claims would drag out their 
 weary lengths, the claimant waiting pa- 
 tiently or critically, as the Lord had 
 formed his temperament, while investi- 
 gators bandied back and forth ‘all pa- 
 pers’ with a cross-marked question on a 
 printed blank, generally ‘Please advise 
 further,’ in an effort to establish respon- 
 sibility as between the carriers compos- 
 ing the through route over which the 
 shipment moved and in which detail 
 claimant had no interest whatever.” Some 
 shippers came to believe that the claim 
 agent’s title to approval was to pay as 
 few claims as possible. 
 
 Opportunity for Rebates 
 
 Third, claim payments offered an op- 
 portunity for concealed rebates. Inter- 
 state Commerce Commissioner Harlan, to 
 whom freight claims are assigned, has 
 spoken of “the duty of all concerned, in 
 reference to any practice that impairs the 
 integrity of the published rate; and this, 
 as we all know, may readily and easily 
 be done and undoubtedly is done in the 
 adjustment of claims.” 
 
 The problem of the shipper, therefore, 
 was to secure prompt payment, of the 
 government to secure just payment, of 
 the carrier to co-operate for promptness 
 tempered by justice, and of all three to 
 prevent loss and damage, the carrier by 
 careful handling, the shipper by safe 
 packing and clear marking and the Com- 
 mission by recognizing and encouraging 
 the obserz’ance of these obligations. 
 
 COMPREHENSIVE METHODS OF THE CARRIERS 
 
 Many Railway Organizations Co-operate to Promote Prompt Settlements 
 and Prevent Loss and Damage 
 
 The first step of the carriers was to 
 cut the red tape of interline relations. 
 Sectional freight claim associations were 
 rolled into one national body with dis- 
 trict “conferences.” 
 
 The Freight Claim Association puts 
 forward its most constructive and cour- 
 ageous men as leaders. The President, 
 who has just relinquished office, Mr. J. 
 S. Tustin, of the Missouri Pacific, has 
 extraordinary ability both as an organ- 
 izer, conferee and builder of forward 
 policies. It was he who said : 
 
 “We zvant to hear the grievances of the 
 American people and have them ex- 
 plained if the claimants are wrong and 
 have us work for more efficiency if we 
 are lagging ” 
 
 Commissioner Harlan, addressing a 
 committee of the Association, remarked 
 
 that he hoped the claim agents would co- 
 operate in placing claims upon a sound 
 and uniform basis zmthout waiting to in- 
 quire whether the Commission had any 
 power in the premises or not. Mr. Tus- 
 tin responded: 
 
 “There is wrong to shun and right to 
 espouse, regardless of enactments of 
 law or interpretations of courts . In the 
 spirit of your address this morning, Mr. 
 Commissioner, we are in a co-opera- 
 tive attitude and are approaching these 
 questions in the spirit of the prophet 
 of Israel, who said, ‘Come, now, and 
 let us reason together.’ ” 
 
 The new President, Mr. W. L. Stan- 
 ley, General Claim Agent of the Sea- 
 board Air Line, has made himself felt 
 
 10 
 
by solid sagacity and by mastering the 
 relation of claims to the handling of 
 freight, and as a speaker he regulates a 
 ready tongue with an ingratiating tact. 
 
 The Association has been fortunate in 
 its Secretary, Mr. W. P. Taylor, of Rich- 
 mond, who, although Traffic Manager of 
 the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Poto- 
 mac, finds time to keep the organization 
 oiled, stoked and running on schedule. 
 
 Object, Prompt Settlement 
 
 For the explicit reassurance of the 
 skeptical, the Association announced in 
 its Constitution its object as “ The prompt 
 settlement of freight claims with claim- 
 ants and between carriers.” 
 
 Next it adopted a rule by which any 
 road could skip all Alphonse and Gaston 
 formalities with the co-ordinate branch 
 of the line where data existed and hurry 
 straight to the local agent — who for this 
 purpose was practically a representative 
 of every other road as well as his own. 
 Validity of claim once established, the 
 claim can be paid and the matter of dis- 
 tribution as between carriers settled later. 
 Most lines, though not all, now have this 
 practice. 
 
 Interline codes and a judiciary have 
 been evolved. An Arbitration Commit- 
 tee hears cases subject to review by a 
 Committee of Appeals. Mr. A. B. 
 Thompson, of the Lackawanna, who 
 
 now occupies the post of chairman of 
 the Appeals Committee, has the confi- 
 dence of the members and fills to their 
 obvious satisfaction a position of great 
 difficulty and importance. In nine or ten 
 years the number of claims determined 
 by arbitration rose from 35 in a year to 
 more than 600. 
 
 The Freight Claim Association has 
 brought about a systematic method of 
 keeping tabs on shipments from origin 
 to destination. 
 
 Claim Office Improvements 
 
 Each road had its own freight claim 
 department to be dealt with internally. 
 Mr. Battle, of the Norfolk & Western, 
 has given a description of this process 
 which is doubtless typical. His effort 
 was first to organize an effective claim 
 office by securing a sufficient number of 
 efficient and intelligent employees. He 
 installed phonographs and other labor- 
 saving devices. Letters were written re- 
 questing the information desired, “all 
 papers” being kept in the office as far as 
 possible to minimize loss of file. 
 
 The Burlington places its freight claims 
 in the hands of the auditor of freight 
 accounts, Mr. J. W. Newell, who has 
 won much praise for his system of hand- 
 ling undercharges and overcharges in one 
 process — automatically refunding with- 
 out waiting for a claim. 
 
 OTHER RAILWAY ASSOCIATIONS CO-OPERATING 
 
 Other railway associations have co- 
 operated. Marking and packing, after 
 prolonged discussion, was made the sub- 
 ject of rules filed with the Interstate 
 Commerce Commission as a part of the 
 classification. By these classification 
 rules the contents of package will be 
 carried at the rate prescribed for the class 
 in which such contents falls, provided the 
 packing reaches the standard prescribed 
 for that class. Lapses from standard in- 
 volve penalties in the form of higher rat- 
 ing. A given commodity packed in one 
 
 way may travel at a different rate if 
 packed another way. The organizations 
 here concerned are the three classification 
 committees, Official, Southern and West- 
 ern. Obviously the rejection of pack- 
 ages improperly marked and the penal- 
 izing of shippers for poor packing is in- 
 volved with the competition for tonnage 
 and is largely a matter of individual 
 judgment. Each carrier is his own po- 
 liceman, and there is a natural hesitancy 
 about the use of clubs on shippers who 
 are in position to transfer their patron- 
 
 1 
 

 age to roads where interpretations are 
 less strict. 
 
 For an Umpire on Packing 
 
 To meet this situation, a proposal was 
 made last year at a conference arranged 
 by the General Managers’ Association of 
 the Southeast. That organization, under 
 the vigorous and enthusiastic leadership 
 of its chairman, Mr. C. A. Wickersham, 
 President of the Atlanta & West Point 
 Railroad, has supplemented its distribu- 
 tion of documents bearing on marking 
 and packing by bringing about joint con- 
 ferences for discussion. Such a meet- 
 ing was held at Atlanta in 1910, attended 
 by committees from several railway as- 
 sociations. Among the delegates was Mr. 
 H. C. Barlow, of the Erie Railroad, who 
 has given a great deal of attention to 
 shortcomings of the transportation de- 
 partments of the railways in handling 
 freight, and has delivered at meetings of 
 employees addresses on this subject full 
 of common sense flavored with spicy fun. 
 Mr. Barlow offered a resolution, which 
 was adopted, that provision be made on 
 a national scale similar to that in the 
 Southeast for study and action on loss 
 and damage. At the same Atlanta meet- 
 ing, Mr. Battle, of the Norfolk & West- 
 ern, proposed that the Weighing and In- 
 spection Bureau of each classification 
 committee, representing all the carriers 
 and connected with none, have added to 
 their functions that of organizing and 
 rendering effective the classification rules 
 as to marking and packing, which in prac- 
 tice would include the task of training 
 the judgment and stiffening the courage 
 of station agents. This would provide a 
 system of umpires as between carriers on 
 packing and marking , and promote equal 
 treatment of shippers by all carriers. A 
 sub-committee of 10 of the Committee 
 on Relations between Railways of the 
 American Railway Association has been 
 
 established, and has these suggestions un- 
 der consideration. 
 
 This Committee consists of Mr. Arthur 
 Hale, General Agent of the Association, 
 Chairman ; Messrs. R. M. Patterson, 
 Superintendent Freight Transportation, 
 Pennsylvania; H. C. Barlow, Freight 
 Claim Agent, Erie ; C. H. Ewings, Super- 
 intendent Freight Transportation, New 
 York Central; J. S. Tustin, Freight 
 Claim Agent, Missouri Pacific; J. F. 
 Horrigan, Freight Claim Agent, Northern 
 Pacific; H. C. Howe, Freight Claim 
 Agent, Chicago & Northwestern; W. H. 
 Gatchell, Superintendent Transfers, 
 Southern; A. C. Kenly, Superintendent 
 of Freight, Atlantic Coast Line, and W. 
 L. Stanley, General Claim Agent, Sea- 
 board Air Line. 
 
 Improvement of Cars 
 
 Then there is construction of cars. 
 Here, acting under authority of the 
 American Railway Association, we have 
 the Master Car Builders’ Association. 
 The evolution of car door fastenings and 
 running devices top and bottom toward 
 a higher standard of protection against 
 theft, of coupling and draft apparatus to 
 absorb shock and reduce breakage, and 
 of special cars for perishable freight, has 
 year after year been the work of the Mas- 
 ter Car Builders. One such change is at 
 this writing in process of seeking sanc- 
 tion. Mr. E. D. Levy, Assistant Gen- 
 eral Manager of the Frisco, proposed in 
 1910 at the Atlanta conference already 
 mentioned that the car door fastenings 
 be placed lower to facilitate taking of 
 seal records by an inspector standing on 
 the ground. The American Railway As- 
 sociation has recommended the change, 
 which was accepted by the Master Car 
 Builders at their 1911 meeting in Atlan- 
 tic City, subject to letter ballot now being 
 taken. 
 
 EFFORTS OF INDIVIDUAL ROADS 
 
 A campaign of education on marking Mr. C. W. Nash, of the Delaware & 
 and packing is being carried on among Hudson, has inspectors visit factories and 
 shippers. advise with manufacturers as to packing. 
 
 12 
 
Mr. A. C. Kenly, Superintendent of 
 Freight of the Atlantic Coast Line Rail- 
 road, photographed packages reaching 
 destination in bad condition and sent the 
 photograph to the shipper with a pleas- 
 ant letter. In every case he received a 
 courteous reply .of thanks. Finding that 
 such work would occupy all his time and 
 that of many assistants, he selected pho- 
 tographs which, with a highly readable 
 text, were published in pamphlet form 
 by the General Managers’ Association of 
 the Southeast. Many complimentary let- 
 * ters were received, particularly from 
 shippers, and 50,000 copies sold to car- 
 riers and others. An order came for 
 200 copies from the Cape Town Gov- 
 ernment Railways, Cape Town, South 
 Africa, and a number of chambers of 
 commerce throughout the United States 
 bought copies for distribution among 
 their own members, as well as large re- 
 tail houses for distribution in their ship- 
 ping departments. 
 
 Improvement in cars was described in 
 his Atlanta speech by Mr. Levy of the 
 Frisco. Flour and grain cannot be 
 shipped by that railway except in an in- 
 spected car bearing a flour or grain cer- 
 tificate card. To make car doors rain- 
 proof, flour mills are furnished with 
 paper strips, nails and wedges; and to 
 protect grain, elevators are provided with 
 a burlap outfit. 
 
 For More Careful Handling 
 
 Mr. Levy in the same address advo- 
 cated the placing of more definite respon- 
 sibility for transportation failures upon 
 the transportation officers, by whom, he 
 said, the investigation should be made 
 and measures adopted to prevent a recur- 
 rence. He put on 10 traveling agents 
 and a force of men in the office of the 
 superintendent of transportation. Dur- 
 x ing 1908 there were filed with the freight 
 claim agent 50,058 claims not involving 
 interline shipments, a figure which in 
 1909, the first year the new method was 
 in operation, fell to 37,803, or a decrease 
 in such claims of 12,255, or 24.5 per cent. ; 
 
 this in face of an increase of 15 per cent, 
 in freight earnings. 
 
 Mr. W. H. Gatchell, Superintendent 
 of Transfers, Southern Railway, has 
 been active in expedients to improve 
 marking and packing and the handling of 
 freight. He spends a great part of his 
 time on the road and keeps in close touch 
 with the Classification Committee, sit- 
 ting with them at their quarterly meet- 
 ings in order to take part in the discus- 
 sions with respect to stronger containers 
 and better packing. Mr. J. J. Hooper, 
 Freight Claim Agent, thus has the sys- 
 tematic co-operation of the department 
 which handles the freight. A similar co- 
 operation exists between the claim agent 
 and the transportation department of 
 many lines, notably the Pennsylvania, 
 where Mr. R. M. Patterson, Superintend- 
 ent of Freight Transportation, and Mr. 
 R. L. Franklin, Freight Claim Agent, 
 have worked out a practical method of 
 tracing astray shipments. 
 
 How Damage and Loss Happen 
 
 Another member of the group who 
 has taken down from the shelf a per- 
 haps forgotten talent for exhortation is 
 Mr. R. L. Calkins of the New York Cen- 
 tral. To the work of the Freight Claim 
 Association Mr. Calkins has brought a 
 keen power of analysis in discovering 
 fundamental causes for claims and de- 
 vising permanent remedies. Wisdom 
 based on knowledge and expressed in the 
 courteous language of diplomacy fills the 
 pages of his published speech to railway 
 employees. He musters evidence of ac- 
 tual instances and hammers home the 
 moral as he goes along. A package bear- 
 ing only the consignee’s Initials went 
 astray and when found the contents had 
 depreciated. “We are now asked,” he 
 remarks, “to assume the loss because of 
 our failure to require the shipper to mark 
 the goods in accordance with established 
 rules.” He enumerates causes of dam- 
 age, occasioned by leaking and otherwise 
 defective packages which are likely to 
 damage by contact dry goods and other 
 valuable merchandise carried in the same 
 
 13 
 

 car; also loading heavy freight on or 
 against fragile articles. Emphasis is 
 laid upon the futility of rules for hand- 
 ling freight if not observed by those who 
 do the work. Mr. Calkins urges upon 
 receiving agents the obligation to exer- 
 cise caution in the acceptance of freight 
 so conditioned that manifestly it would 
 not withstand the ordinary risks of trans- 
 portation. 
 
 Another expedient of the New York 
 Central is to notify shippers immediately 
 of freight which has been damaged and 
 is in such condition that it cannot go for- 
 ward. This enables the shippers to dupli- 
 cate the goods and save the customer 
 from loss. 
 
 The Freight Handler's Pocket Nerve 
 
 An address delivered before many au- 
 diences of employees and distributed in 
 quantities among them is “How to Han- 
 dle Freight,” by Mr. R. C. Richards, 
 General Claim Agent of the Chicago & 
 Northwestern Railway, with an introduc- 
 tion by President Gardner. Mr. Rich- 
 
 ards talks straight and employs the ver- 
 nacular. 
 
 After a few pungent remarks about 
 poor containers, Mr. Richards reaches 
 out for the employee’s pocket nerve : 
 “The more money that is saved in cut- 
 ting down this expense, the more there 
 will be left in the treasury of the com- 
 pany for improving facilities, divi- 
 dends and higher wages. The next 
 time your committee goes down to Chi- 
 cago and wants your hours shortened 
 and your pay raised, tell the General 
 Manager you have reduced the dam- 
 age account $100,000 by exercising 
 more care and following instructions.” 
 He adds: 
 
 “Don’t put the heavy boxes and pack- 
 ages on top all the time. Occasion- 
 ally put some on the floor of the car 
 and put the lighter ones on top. Do 
 not make a special effort to put ma- 
 chinery on flour or sacks of sugar, and 
 DO NOT PUT IT ON TOP OF AUTOMO- 
 BILES.” 
 
 SHIPPERS’ NATIONAL CAMPAIGN OF EDUCATION 
 
 Organizations Urge Upon Members Better Methods of Packing and Marking 
 Freight and Presenting Claims 
 
 The shippers’ method has been to 
 study conditions, ascertain causes, confer 
 with carriers as to remedies, and press 
 their adoption upon the individual ship- 
 pers as well as upon the railway officials. 
 An example of the circulars which the 
 National Industrial Traffic League has 
 distributed is one dealing with the 
 method of presenting claims for “con- 
 cealed” loss or damage: 
 
 “We desire to call the attention of our 
 members most forcibly to the neces- 
 sity of having all claims for concealed 
 loss verified by the strongest possible 
 evidence, and also to impress upon 
 them that the railroads are required 
 under the law, as interpreted by the 
 Interstate Commerce Commission, to 
 regard claims for concealed loss or 
 damage with suspicion, and are not 
 permitted by the law to settle any such 
 
 claims unless and until satisfactory evi- 
 dence of the liability of the carrier is 
 shown.” 
 
 The presentation of claims, says Mr. 
 Fairbanks of the Pacific Coast Shippers’ 
 Association, 
 
 “has not been generally understood by 
 the majority of the shippers, with the 
 consequence that a great many claims 
 come to the average freight claim of- 
 fice upon which no explanation is made 
 as to wherein the overcharge lies. If 
 it is an overcharge-in-weight claim, no 
 evidence as to what the proper weight 
 should be, and if it is an overcharge 
 in rate, no tariff authority, is quoted.” 
 
 Investigates Before Filing 
 
 A preliminary investigation is con- 
 ducted by some shippers before filing 
 
 14 
 
claims. Mr. F. C. Broadway, Traffic 
 Manager, Missouri Lumber & Land Ex- 
 change Company, Kansas City, says: 
 
 “By that means we are enabled to weed 
 out at the beginning many items that 
 appear at first glance to have merit. 
 We have been materially assisted by 
 the carriers themselves in accomplish- 
 ing this end, for almost without ex- 
 ception our inquiries for information 
 have met with prompt and cheerful re- 
 sponse. This preliminary investiga- 
 tion has reduced the number of claims 
 filed.” 
 
 When representatives of shippers’ as- 
 sociations met for conference at the in- 
 vitation of a committee of the Freight 
 Claim Association, a circular was read, 
 which had been issued by Col. John M. 
 Glenn, Secretary of the Illinois Manu- 
 facturers’ Association, to the members, 
 which said: 
 
 “It should be understood that the send- 
 ing out of tracers does not expedite 
 the movement of freight, but, on the 
 contrary, the great number of unnec- 
 essary tracers which are sent out by 
 shippers make it extremely difficult 
 for the carriers to pay proper atten- 
 tion to trace! s for qcods which 
 actually delayed ” 
 
 Co-operation in St. Louis 
 
 In St. Louis claims have been made the 
 subject of definite agreement. The Busi- 
 ness Men’s League has as its Traffic 
 Manager Mr. P. W. Coyle, a hard- 
 headed digger for facts and believer in 
 getting together. Mr. Coyle tells a most 
 interesting story of bi-weekly meetings 
 of shippers, who by discussion and in- 
 vestigation equip themselves with exact 
 knowledge of the most practical meth- 
 ods in dealing with the carriers. There 
 is a formal arrangement for joint con- 
 ferences when necessary with representa- 
 tives of the local freight agents or claim 
 agents. Mr. Coyle writes : 
 
 “A conference with the claim agents of 
 all the lines serving this city was held 
 in St. Louis and a joint claims agree- 
 ment was entered into. Our members 
 
 are pleased with the result of this co- 
 operation and there can be but little 
 doubt that more was accomplished by 
 it than had we resorted to coercion. 
 Claims are now handled with dispatch 
 and general satisfaction obtains.” 
 
 Coaching the Shipper 
 
 Other methods are designed to facili- 
 tate settlements. The Buffalo Chamber of 
 Commerce coaches clients as to the docu- 
 ments required in order to support claims 
 properly. Mr. Frederick, Traffic Man- 
 ager, adds: 
 
 “The fact of carefully censoring claims 
 received from clients when preparing 
 them for submission to the railroads 
 has occasionally tended to detect cases 
 where no valid claims exist, and at our 
 suggestion they were withdrawn. 
 Heretofore claimants sometimes en- 
 tered claims on the slightest pretext 
 and thereby placed upon the railroads 
 the burden of passing the cases 
 through their accounts, not to speak 
 of the expensive investigation fre- 
 •quently made.” 
 
 The shippers are also under constant 
 pressure from their chosen leaders to 
 adopt practices which will tend to pre- 
 vent causes of claims. Marking, pack- 
 ing and legibility of bills of lading and 
 shipping tickets are fruitful themes. 
 
 To Avoid Overcharges 
 
 How one individual shipper avoids 
 overcharges by care on his own part is 
 told by Mr. B. H. O’Meara, Traffic Man- 
 ager, Douglas & Co., Cedar Rapids, 
 Iowa : 
 
 “My shipping experience in the last eight 
 years tells me that at least one-third 
 of the overcharges are the fault of the 
 shippers, one-third the fault of agents 
 and bill clerks and the other third un- 
 avoidable. If you want your freight 
 to go through without overcharge, 
 typewrite your shipping ticket, bills of 
 lading and shipping instructions and 
 show all your rates, divisions, routing 
 and deliveries plainly and in full. After 
 that send a full copy of billing instruc- 
 
 15 
 

 tions to the soliciting agent of the line 
 interested or the line who asked for 
 the freight and request him to look 
 after it. I have never had one refuse 
 to do so. I do this on every shipment, 
 and the result is I have less over- 
 charges now than I had five years ago 
 on a business of one-half the present 
 volume 
 
 Distribution of Literature 
 
 Business bodies have cordially joined 
 in the dissemination of literature pub- 
 lished by the carriers. On the subject of 
 packing, the pamphlet by Mr. Kenly of 
 the Atlantic Coast Line, “Why Freight 
 is Lost or Damaged,” containing photo- 
 graphs of freight received in bad order 
 due to frail containers, afforded ship- 
 pers’ associations an opportunity of 
 which they took immediate advantage. 
 Such conservative bodies as the Chicago 
 Association of Commerce, the Cleveland 
 Chamber of Commerce and many others 
 gave their influence by emphasizing the 
 appeal to shippers for better packing and 
 by circulating many thousands of copies 
 of the pamphlet. Mr. H. C. Barlow, 
 Traffic Director of the Chicago Associa- 
 tion of Commerce, reproduced in Chicago 
 Commerce, the weekly publication of that 
 
 organization, the letter of the General 
 Managers’ Association of the Southeast 
 calling attention to the pamphlet. 
 
 Information as to routing, while de- 
 signed to inform shippers as to rates, 
 time schedules and records of perform- 
 ance of various possible ways of reach- 
 ing a given point, also have a bearing on 
 loss and damage. The Chicago Associa- 
 tion of Commerce issues at intervals a 
 book, “Way to Ship.” One edition called 
 attention to the similarity in initials be- 
 tween the names of two lines and conse7 
 quent possibility of confusion. Another 
 issue urges shippers to encourage, by 
 using them, the maintenance of through 
 package cars, which run on schedule re- 
 gardless of quantity. 
 
 “It is apparent,” the editor remarks, “that 
 the use of through package cars, 
 thereby placing shipments as near their 
 final destination as possible without 
 transfer, reduces delays incident to 
 such transfers, and by reason of min- 
 imized handling lessens liability of loss 
 and damage.” 
 
 At Jacksonville, Fla., the business men 
 maintain a bureau of inspection. Its 
 agents go to the freight houses and pass 
 un doubtful packing. Thus the station 
 agent is relieved of the embarrassment of 
 rejecting frail containers. 
 
 FEDERAL AND STATE GOVERNMENTS TAKE A HAND 
 
 Watching for Disguised Rebates and Regulating Shippers as to Proper Mark- 
 ing and Packing 
 
 The Federal Government and some of 
 the States have taken a hand in the 
 freight claim problem and while regu- 
 lating the carriers, they have begun to 
 regulate the shippers — a turn of the 
 wheel which is not without its humorous 
 aspect. 
 
 The first government regulation of the 
 shipper — the opening wedge — was on ex- 
 plosives. The railways as a whole in 
 1907 established a bureau for inspection 
 of explosives, to manage which the army 
 lent them Col. B. W. Dunn, an expert 
 in ordnance. That energetic officer forth- 
 
 with drew up a bill which, with amend- 
 ments, Congress passed, directing the In- 
 terstate Commerce Commission to make 
 and enforce rules for packing explo- 
 sives. The bureau made the rules, the 
 Commission promulgated them and so 
 far as the shipper is concerned in this 
 respect the word of the railroad is the 
 law of the land. 
 
 Winning the Shippers 
 
 Col. Dunn, however, is a graduate of a 
 polite school. No sooner had the indus- 
 
 16 
 
tries which must use costlier containers 
 made known their apprehension than the 
 Colonel went among them trade by trade, 
 won them to a sweet reasonableness by 
 moral suasion, and before they knew it 
 had them forging rules for their own 
 tethering. They are now, moreover, con- 
 tributors to the support of the bureau. 
 
 Col. Dunn and his assistants give stere- 
 opticon lectures to business organizations 
 on how to pack and to railroad employees 
 on how to handle dangerous freight. 
 After three years of such work the bu- 
 reau reported that the money lost to 
 the railroads from explosives was es- 
 timated at $500,000 in 1907, $114,000 
 in 1908 and $2,600 in 1909 ; deaths, 52 
 in 1907, 26 in 1908 and 6 in 1909; and 
 injured, 80 in 1907, 53 in 1908, 7 in 
 1909. 
 
 Ordinary Merchandise , Too? 
 
 It having thus become established that 
 the Commission under authority of Con- 
 gress could compel shippers to pack and 
 mark freight properly when the goods 
 were of a character to place life and 
 property in danger of violence, the way 
 was paved for regulation designed to 
 
 prevent loss of money, property and 
 
 trade by the less sensational concussion s 
 which afflict ordinary merchandise when 
 poorly packed . The Commission re- 
 cently upheld an express company ruling 
 for packing against which shippers of 
 millinery had protested. Commissioner 
 Harlan defended this finding on the 
 ground that “as damage claims increase 
 the expense of carriage and thus affect 
 the rates ” it is reasonable “to discourage 
 the use of shipping methods and shipping 
 cases that are lacking in safety !’ 
 
 Congress in 1900 amended the Inter- 
 state Commerce Act to require that car- 
 riers 
 
 “enforce . . . just and reasonable 
 
 regulations and practices affecting 
 classifications . . . bills of lading, 
 
 the manner and method of presenting, 
 
 marking, packing and delivering prop- 
 erty for transportation.” 
 
 How far the Commission will go in 
 requiring the enforcement of rules for 
 packing is not yet determined. Prof. 
 Henry C. Adams, in charge of accounts 
 for the Commission, since resigned, was 
 engaged for 18 months in conferences 
 with a committee of the Freight Claim 
 Association with a view to clearing up 
 the claim situation. Prof. Adams in a 
 report to the Commission inquired : 
 
 “Has the Commission authority to issue 
 an order to the carriers that freight 
 improperly marked or improperly 
 packed must not be received f” 
 
 As arguments in support of that propo- 
 sition he suggested possible discriminat- 
 ory results and the influence on rates. 
 To this Commissioner Harlan replied 
 that the Commission was disinclined to 
 interpret its authority on this point at 
 this time and preferred to hope that a set 
 of regulations might be drawn up which 
 the Commission could sanction , as it did 
 the uniform bill of lading, and “put in 
 effect with the moral support and upon 
 authority of the Commission so far as it 
 has authority.” 
 
 Payments Retarded 
 
 While desiring to promote prompt pay- 
 ments, the Commission has thus far ex- 
 erted an influence in the opposite direc- 
 tion ; for its first care has been to guard 
 against rebates disguised as claims. Ex- 
 aminers are inspecting claim accounts un- 
 der general instructions to detect pay- 
 ments made upon inadequate proof of 
 liability. This has made carriers very 
 much more cautious and slowed down 
 the settlements. Many roads had been 
 paying claims on a prima facie showing 
 in advance of investigation, accepting a 
 bond from the shipper for indemnity. 
 The Commission has ordered this discon- 
 tinued , again retarding the promptness of 
 settlements. 
 
 Some of the States, on the other hand, 
 impose heavy penalties for delay in set- 
 
 17 
 

 tlement of claims beyond a specified 
 period, usually 60 days. The admonition 
 of the Commission and the prod of the 
 State law places the carrier in some cases 
 between the devil and the deep sea. A 
 South Carolina claimant who was asked 
 for the documents required by the exam- 
 iners of the Commission made no reply, 
 but at the end of 60 days sued and was 
 upheld in damages and counsel fees by 
 the State Supreme Court. As one claim 
 agent remarked: “We go to jail if we 
 don’t pay and we go to jail if we pay 
 quickly and pay wrong.” 
 
 Bad Packing Criticised 
 
 Apart from regulation, the Govern- 
 ment has other relations to freight 
 claims. The Department of Commerce 
 and Labor, which has long published con- 
 sular reports telling of the striking in- 
 feriority of American packing to that of 
 foreign shippers, published an illustrated 
 pamphlet entitled “Packing for Export,” 
 in which the text and pictures of Mr. 
 Kenly’s booklet, “Why Freight is Lost 
 or Damaged,” were reproduced in part. 
 Mr. Gatchell of the Southern having en- 
 listed the interest of the department in 
 the railway phase of packing, Secretary 
 Nagle delegated Special Agent Charles 
 M. Pepper to address the Atlanta Con- 
 ference of 1910. 
 
 “Generally speaking,” said Mr. Pepper, 
 “in packing goods for export France 
 stands first, Italy next, Germany next, 
 then England and the United States at 
 the foot of the list. One reason for 
 
 this is our American habit of indif- 
 ference to details. We are prodigal of 
 our wealth and do not like to bother 
 with what we consider petty things. 
 Perhaps instead of calling our indif- 
 ference prodigality, it would better be 
 named f national shiftlessness’ ” 
 
 A new edition of “Packing for Export” 
 is just out, with a chapter on packing for 
 domestic shipments furnished by “the 
 transfer agent of a trunk line railroad.” 
 
 Protection of Perishables 
 
 The Department of Agriculture has 
 also contributed. Dr. Mary A. Penning- 
 ton, chief of the food research labora- 
 tory, bureau of chemistry, in an address 
 to the conference committee of the 
 Freight Claim Association said that in 
 seeking a cure for the spoiling of fruit 
 and vegetables in transit she had found 
 that “the keeping of the apple in cold 
 storage depends almost entirely on the 
 handling of that apple before it ever goes 
 to cold storage.” Men were sent to Cali- 
 fornia who made and watched experi- 
 mental shipments until they were able to 
 announce that a California orange would 
 carry across the continent and back again 
 in perfect condition if it left California 
 in perfect condition. The Department, 
 at the request of the carriers, has 
 also under investigation questions aris- 
 ing from freight claims on grain, which 
 involve differences in scales and natural 
 shrinkage (or the reverse) of the grain 
 itself, due to moisture. 
 
 SOME CRITICISM STILL HEARD ON BOTH SIDES 
 
 Impartial Report of Complaints Made by Carriers and Shippers as to Each 
 
 Other’s Shortcomings 
 
 What are the results of all these ac- 
 tivities ? 
 
 In addition to the general tributes al- 
 ready quoted from shippers or their rep- 
 resentatives one or two claim agents may 
 be quoted as to figures on their lines. 
 One of these carries a compliment to the 
 shippers on their improvement in mark- 
 
 ing — that prolific cause of loss. Mr. Bar- 
 low, of the Erie, says that a few years 
 ago a certain freight house contained 
 20,000 parcels of dead freight, of which 
 87 per cent, were without marks. This 
 has been reduced to less than 1,000 par- 
 cels, of which 65 per cent is refused and 
 unclaimed freight, “showing that the 
 
 18 
 
failure to mark freight properly is a 
 thing of the past.” 
 
 Another exhibit is for the Rock Island. 
 Mr. Bunger says that with accumulation 
 of the past and receipt of 159,667 loss, 
 damage and overcharge claims in 1910 
 (a monthly average of 13,305), the un- 
 paid claims at the close of December, 
 1910, were 16,728, which included dis- 
 puted claims of several years' standing 
 and current receipts to the last day of the 
 month. This is practically current hand- 
 ling of current claims. 
 
 As to the amounts paid, Mr. Battle, 
 
 of the Norfolk & Western, reports in 
 1907 $273,231 .82, or .987 per cent, of 
 freight revenue, and in 1910, $146,924.71, 
 or .470 per cent, of freight revenue. 
 Business increased 12 per cent., while 
 claim payments fell 52 per cent. These 
 figures suggest the hope that in time the 
 arrearages for the roads as a whole will 
 be so far cleared up that the total pay- 
 ments, instead of increasing $3,000,000 a 
 year, as they did in 1910 over 1909, will * 
 begin to fall under the influence of meas- 
 ures taken to prevent loss and damage. 
 
 SOME RAILWAY PRACTICES STILL CRITICIZED 
 
 Criticism by shippers has not ceased. 
 That there is still much which can be 
 done by the carriers as to freight claims, 
 both in prevention and in method of set- 
 tlement, is evident from their continued 
 and concerted efforts. Even a system 
 highly perfected in itself will break down 
 in spots, for man is not a machine. 
 “Claimants,” Mr. Belleville reminds us, 
 “are very prone to dwell upon cases of 
 this kind and forget the prompt adjust- 
 ment of perhaps 90 per cent, of their 
 claims.” 
 
 Messrs. George G. Pope & Co., of 
 Chicago, who, among others, were asked 
 as to their experience and were the only 
 firm to reply without acknowledging gen- 
 eral improvement, discuss a claim of a 
 somewhat unusual and technical nature 
 which was declined, they believe, un- 
 justly. They accuse the railway clerks 
 of carelessness in the matter or a desire 
 to avoid paying just claims. 
 
 One controversy relates to incorrect 
 weights at which lumber rates are 
 charged. Disputes continually arise over 
 the basis of estimates put on where scales 
 are not available. Lumber also is far 
 from uniform, being shipped all the way 
 from green to bone dry, which creates 
 confusion in estimating weights. A reso- 
 iution was passed at the last convention 
 of the National Hardwood Lumber As- 
 socation, instructing a committee to “urge 
 the correction of this evil.” 
 
 Mr. Kelly, of the Philadelphia Cham- 
 ber of Commerce, suggests : 
 
 “If the clerks investigating claims 
 would be instructed by the freight claim 
 agents that their function was not to 
 worry claimants or to try to avoid pay- 
 ments of claims but that when claims 
 were presented by responsible parties 
 and found upon investigation to be just 
 they should be approved promptly, I 
 think such a course would eliminate much 
 of the misunderstanding existing.” 
 
 Problem of the Small Station 
 
 The step upon which the Chicago As- 
 sociation of Commerce has concentrated 
 attention is to smooth the way for direct 
 and satisfactory dealings between the rail- 
 way agent at small points and the local 
 consignee having claims, especially for 
 overcharge. The interest of the big 
 shipper in the small one is less sur- 
 prising when it is remembered that the 
 out-of-town consignee is the Chicago 
 jobber’s customer. Indeed, the jobbers 
 say that consignees are referring claims 
 to them for settlement, or asking that 
 charges be prepaid. The jobber having 
 a traffic or claims manager can serve 
 his customers in this way at little or no 
 extra expense to himself, and as a novelty 
 it might get business, like trading stamps ; 
 but in competition everybody would soon 
 
 19 
 

 be doing it. In any event, the plan which 
 the Committee has under consideration 
 is not to encourage the reference of 
 consignees’ claims to jobbers, but on the 
 contrary, to secure their collection from 
 the station agent direct without filing any 
 claim at all. Consignees are urged to 
 check up weights and rates on their ex- 
 pense bills and take them up with the 
 station agent. 
 
 On the other hand, an effort is being 
 made to get the railways to instruct the 
 agents to correct mistakes. “The agent,” 
 said a member of the Committee, “has 
 authority of law — in fact, he is com- 
 manded by law — to charge no more than 
 the published tariff, but he is afraid of 
 the company and considers himself now 
 a sort of government officer, too, so that 
 he hesitates to do anything which might 
 get him into trouble.” Letters had been 
 written to various railways, asking them 
 to state whether they had instructed their 
 
 agents to correct overcharges without 
 other authority than their own knowledge 
 of actual weight and the published rate, 
 but the roads had not given a definite 
 statement that such were the instructions. 
 He thought they ought to be, and that 
 the only proper reason for hesitation by 
 the agent should be ignorance of the rate, 
 which can be cured by writing or tele- 
 graphing the proper traffic office. Special 
 credit is given to certain lines for check- 
 ing up in their accounting offices rates on 
 all shipments and refunding overcharges 
 without waiting for claims. 
 
 Deficient Accounting Systems 
 
 Complaint is made that some of the 
 roads are deficient in team work in their 
 accounting departments. Shippers say 
 the freight claim agent will show the 
 voucher actually made out and approved 
 by him and that many weeks will then 
 elapse before the money is forthcoming. 
 
 CARRIERS POINT OUT SHORTCOMINGS OF SHIPPERS 
 
 The most serious criticism against 
 shippers is still on the score of packing. 
 Somebody has said that “The American 
 shipper is satisfied when he gets his 
 clear bill of lading, and the foreign 
 shipper is not satisfied until the consignee 
 gets his goods.” Mr. H. C. Barlow, of 
 the Erie, referring to the sub-committee 
 of the Committee on Relations Between 
 Railroads of the American Railway As- 
 sociation, writes : 
 
 The Cost of Bad Packing 
 
 “There is no question but what a large 
 outlay is made annually by the carriers 
 due to a large extent to inferior pack- 
 ages; and while it is not the purpose of 
 this committee to antagonize the public 
 or reject any business offered, this 
 committee purposes to inaugurate some 
 system whereby individual shippers 
 who are derelict in this respect can have 
 their personal attention called to same. 
 “It is only necessary to visit the piers of 
 the Trans- Atlantic lines and note the 
 difference between the class of pack- 
 
 ages delivered them for transportation 
 as against the class of packages de- 
 livered carriers for transportation, to 
 satisfy any layman of the importance 
 of carrying this suggestion through. It 
 is also the purpose of the Committee to 
 recommend to all station agents in ter- 
 ritories where there are commercial 
 bureaus to invite representatives of 
 these bureaus to visit occasionally the 
 stations of carriers, go over shipments 
 and satisfy themselves as to the gen- 
 eral condition packages are tendered 
 for transportation.” 
 
 Neglectful Presentation 
 
 Presentation has greatly improved, but 
 carriers declare that many shippers 
 still appear to believe the railway 
 can and should pay whatever is asked 
 because they ask it, whether or not 
 supported by evidence. The demand for 
 proof or authority is often heard with 
 impatience. Mr. Calkins, of the New 
 York Central, tells about a claimant who 
 
 20 
 
sent a bill representing value of goods 
 checking short at destination. Mr. 
 Calkins acknowledged its receipt and in- 
 formed him that it would be necessary 
 to have bill of lading , invoice and freight 
 bill in order to locate the particular ship- 
 ment and verify the claim. The claimant 
 sends the freight bill and suggests that 
 the road is simply trying to delay the 
 settlement. “This,” declared Mr. Calk- 
 ins, “is not an exceptional case.” 
 
 The classic instance of airy certainty 
 was that in which, years ago, the freight 
 auditor of a certain road figured. A 
 statement reached his desk, with this ad- 
 dition: “This is the common law.” The 
 freight auditor sent it back marked, 
 “Please attach a copy of the common 
 law.” 
 
 Suspicion of Fraud 
 
 Railway men are convinced that a con- 
 siderable proportion of claims are wholly 
 or partly fraudulent. 
 
 “It is not to be expected,” says Mr. 
 Bunger, of the Rock Island, “that the 
 carriers will ever be able to satisfy the 
 makers of improper claims, and the 
 work necessary in the investigation of 
 that class of claims will continue to 
 be a burden on the carriers and in a 
 large measure responsible for some of 
 the delay in the settlement of just 
 claims until the time is reached, if ever, 
 when there will be a penalty against the 
 presentation of improper and unfair 
 claims.” 
 
 Mr. Barlow, of the Erie, in one of his 
 witty speeches to employees, paused for 
 a tribute of admiration to the devices 
 employed to beat the railroad : 
 
 “We all know of the household furniture 
 that has received rough handling — 
 how the commonplace parlor or dining 
 room furniture becomes solid oak or 
 mahogany of antique design or work- 
 manship, and the cheap ingrain carpet 
 is converted into Axminster and body 
 Brussels. How speedily things of in- 
 trinsically small value become extra- 
 ordinarily valuable as heirlooms ; how 
 homespun and woolens become meta- 
 
 morphosed into silks and satins of rare 
 design; how wearing apparel that has 
 been worn threadbare becomes as good 
 as new. 
 
 “We are all familiar with the trotting 
 horse slightly injured in transit which 
 at once becomes a son of the great 
 Rarus, and the brooded mare with the 
 Hambletonian strain — we know her 
 well and the irreparable loss which her 
 death would cause her owner. 
 
 “These varieties of claims all belong to 
 the same family and are a survival of 
 the days when the railways were re- 
 garded as legitimate prey. That the 
 great majority of claims are legitimate 
 and presented in good faith cannot be 
 doubted. This fact is now generally 
 necognized, and there is little disposi- 
 tion to resort to sharp practices on 
 either side.” 
 
 Mr. John Nichol, of the Old Dominion 
 Line, relates of a claim presented for 
 loss from a box that the consignee him- 
 self said he did not think it was ever 
 packed, for the reason that the box was 
 filled to its capacity and that it was a 
 physical impossibility to get any more 
 goods in it; and certainly is was a phy- 
 sical impossibility to get the amount in 
 there that was claimed to have been 
 packed by the shipper. The shipper in- 
 sisted that it was packed and tried to hold 
 the carrier responsible ; the consignee 
 himself did not think it was packed and 
 refused to pay the bill. When that con- 
 signee wanted to come back to New 
 York to buy goods, he wrote Mr. Nichol 
 a letter, asking if he came to New York 
 and service was made upon him by this 
 party, who threatened suit, whether the 
 Old Dominion, as originating line, would 
 pay the expenses of his defense. 
 
 Appeal For Fair Play 
 
 Many carriers are disposed to question 
 the fairness of the shippers’ attitude on 
 “concealed” loss and damage claims. 
 Several Eastern lines provide blanks for 
 affidavits of shipper, drayman delivering 
 to carrier, drayman receiving from car- 
 rier, and from consignee, all stating that 
 

 the package was not opened or its con- 
 tents removed while out of carrier’s cus- 
 tody. Mr. Stanley, of the Seaboard Air 
 Line, the newly-elected President of the 
 Freight Claim Association, has advocated 
 concurrent action by all the roads to re- 
 fuse payment unless such facts are af- 
 firmatively shown ; also that no such 
 claim shall be entertained unless pre- 
 sented within 48 hours after delivering 
 to the consignee. Mr. Calkins, of the 
 New York Central, speaking of the fre- 
 quent instances where goods are packed 
 in cases and stored for weeks or months 
 before shipment, or left unpacked by 
 consignee weeks or months after delivery 
 before the shortage or damage is dis- 
 covered, states that in such cases declina- 
 tion to pay claims has been followed by 
 shippers’ declaration of intention to ship 
 over another road which is willing to 
 pay claims under such circumstances ! 
 
 Carriers protest against the prima facie 
 assumption that an unlocated theft is on 
 them, and not on the shipper. Since 
 the shipper’s word is accepted as to what 
 the shipment originally contained, car- 
 riers contend that the least the shipper 
 and consignee can do is to give their 
 affidavit that the goods so described ac- 
 tually ever reached carrier , and that the 
 package , after leaving the carrier, was 
 honestly handled. They object to the 
 
 rule, “In case of doubt, soak the rail- 
 road.” One claim agent says of the affi- 
 davit blanks mentioned, that through 
 their use many claims have been with- 
 drawn on the strength of information 
 they developed, while in other cases 
 claimants have preferred to let the matter 
 drop rather than submit the statements. 
 
 Dead Claims Still Pressed 
 
 President J. C. Lincoln, of the Traffic 
 League, mentions that: 
 
 “Some concerns make it a habit even 
 after claim has been thoroughly in- 
 vestigated and declined by a railroad, 
 for good and sufficient reason, of keep- 
 ing the claim alive on their books in- 
 stead of either charging it off or put- 
 ting it in suit.” 
 
 This practice, he says, delays the hand- 
 ling of live claims. Some carriers com- 
 plain further that shippers continue to 
 trace claims after the road holds receipts 
 or written withdrawals, this usually being 
 due to failure of the claimant’s clerk 
 to post the bookkeeper. One claim agent 
 sent a representative a journey of 600 
 miles to show such receipts, and it was 
 necessary for him to make the trip twice 
 more before the matter was finally 
 straightened out on the shipper’s books 
 and the presentation of those claims dis- 
 continued. 
 
 22 
 
THE FUTURE 
 
 Co-operation, which has accomplished the results already obtained, offers the 
 solution of problems still remaining. A Chicago shipper displayed a freight 
 expense bill which a consignee at an outside point had placed in his hands for 
 correction as to overcharge due to overweights. The items were standard pack- 
 ages, the weight of which could be estimated from recorded averages, and a 
 check showed some overs and some unders, with a net overweight of some hundred 
 pounds. Scrutiny of the bill of lading, however, revealed that a heavy barrel had 
 been omitted from the expense bill altogether, so that the final revision indicated 
 that the consignee owed the road a cent and a half. 
 
 “Now there you have the whole problem,” said the jobber. “Hundreds of claims 
 are just like that. If this man had taken this thing up with the station agent 
 and they had discovered together what I have found out here, they would have 
 had a good laugh, the shipper would have handed the agent two cents and 
 told him to keep the change, and both would have been more careful and 
 better-natured in the future.” 
 
 If every consignee were endowed with tolerance, good humor and the re- 
 sources for employing experts similarly equipped, the shortcomings of the station 
 agent would be more charitably borne; or if every station agent could possess 
 justice, wisdom, diplomacy and tact, and could have ample assistance and unlimited 
 authority, the necessities and desires of consignees would be anticipated, their 
 errors condoned and their peace of mind assured. But the carrier must take 
 consignees as it finds them, and the general manager must depend on such agents 
 as the road can afford to pay. The agents will continue to be made of much 
 the same clay as the consignees, and limited by much the same general kind of 
 infirmities. 
 
 You cannot re-make that consignee and that agent by statute. You have 
 already developed both of them by education, and your fur ther achievement will 
 be accomplished through gradually raising in every region the standards of effi- 
 ciency, of tact and of good-will on both sides . 
 
 23 
 
Railway Bills Introduced 
 Sixty-second Congress 
 
 Senate 
 
 WITH NAMES OF SENATORS INTRODUCING 
 
 COMMERCIAL TRAVELERS’ SAMPLE BAGGAGE, 
 b. 847. Albert B. Cummins, Iowa. 
 
 Carrier shall transport with each passenger, baggage, including sample 
 oaggage, not exceeding 150 pounds for an adult and 75 pounds for a minor 
 less than 12 years old, such baggage carried without compensation other than 
 passenger transportation charge. Baggage of commercial travelers, carried 
 solely for transaction of their business, when securely packed and locked 
 in substantial trunks or sample cases of convenient shape and weight for 
 handling, hereby declared to be sample baggage within the meaning of act. 
 
 HOURS OP LABOR. 
 
 S. 848. Albert B. Cummins, Iowa. 
 
 No railway employee connected with movement or control of trains to 
 remain on duty in any 24 hours period unless the shift shall be wholly 
 within 14 hours. Unlawful beyond such time to require employee to further 
 continue or again to enter upon his work until expiration of 10 hours of 
 permitted rest or cessation from work. 
 
 BILLS OP LADING. 
 
 S. 957. Moses E. Clapp, Minnesota. 
 
 Identical with H. R. 4726. See Bulletin No. 7. 
 
 INTEREST IN COMPETING LINES. 
 
 S. 2372. Norris Brown, Nebraska. 
 
 No carrier shall acquire directly or indirectly any interest in capital 
 stock or purchase or lease any competing railroad. 
 
 COMMERCE COURT. 
 
 S. 2432. Augustus O. Bacon, Georgia. 
 
 That the five judges of the Commerce Court shall constitute the perma- 
 nent judges of the Court, vacancies to be filled by the President; circuit 
 judges not to be eligible. Jurisdiction given to cases relating to patents, but 
 not over cases originating in the Court of Claims. 
 
 House 
 
 WITH NAMES OF REPRESENTATIVES INTRODUCING 
 
 SAPE OPERATION OP TRAINS. 
 
 H. R. 4663. Burton L. Prencb, Idaho. 
 
 American Railway Association authorized to designate to the Interstate 
 Commerce Commission within six months from passage of act a standard 
 code of rules for operation of trains. If the American Railway Association 
 fails to designate such code, the Commission to do so. 
 
 EXCHANGE OP ADVERTISING TOR PASSES. 
 
 H. R. 4675. Everis A. Hayes, California. 
 
 Nothing contained in Interstate Commerce Act shall be construed to 
 prohibit interchange by carriers and publishers of transportation for adver- 
 tising and printing when based upon lawfully advertised schedule rates of 
 both carriers and publishers. 
 
 24 
 
CONTROLLED WATER ROUTES. 
 
 H. R. 6089. Thomas J. Scully, New Jersey. 
 
 Amending Section 1 of Interstate Commerce Act so as to bring within 
 the definition of a common carrier subject to the act any carrier engaged in 
 transportation “by water alone where the waterway is owned or leased by 
 or is under the control, management or operation, by stock ownership or 
 otherwise, of a common carrier or carriers subject to this Act.” 
 
 INTOXICATING LIQUORS. 
 
 K. R. 6293. Edwin Y. Webb, North Carolina, 
 
 Prohibits shipment or transportation from one State to another of intoxi- 
 cating liquors, in original package or otherwise, intended to be used in State 
 where delivered in violation of any law of that State. 
 
 INTOXICATING LIQUORS. 
 
 H. R. 7041. Wyatt Aiken, South Carolina. 
 
 Intoxicating liquors upon entering State of destination and before delivery 
 to consignee shall become subject to laws of that State and their interstate 
 commerce character cease, original packages not exempted. Act not to affect 
 right of carriers to transport liquors from one State to another. Carrier 
 collecting purchase price or any part thereof of liquors in interstate com- 
 merce or who shall in any manner act as agent of consignor saving only in 
 actual transportation and delivery shall be subject to police powers of State 
 of delivery. 
 
 PHYSICAL VALUATION. 
 
 H. R. 8092. A. W. Lafferty, Oregon. 
 
 Interstate Commerce Commission authorized to appraise the value of 
 property of railroad, express, telegraph and telephone companies, and fix 
 rates based upon such appraisements. Commission authorized whenever it 
 shall have cause to believe that any person, company, corporation or associa- 
 tion is exercising a monopoly in the interstate sale of any commodity to 
 issue schedule of prices, based upon valuation, which will thereafter govern 
 in the interstate sale of such commodity, subject to modification by Com- 
 mission. Burden of proof shall rest upon parties complaining of reasonable- 
 ness of such prices to show contrary. 
 
 TRANSPORTATION OP NURSERY STOCK, ETC. 
 
 H. R. 8611. James S. Simmons, New York. 
 
 To regulate transportation of nursery stock. Establishes quarantine 
 districts for plant diseases and insect pests. No carrier shall accept for 
 transportation any nursery stocks container of which is not plainly and cor- 
 rectly marked so as to show nature of contents, consignee’s name and country 
 or district where grown. Secretary of Agriculture authorized to determine 
 dangerous plant diseases and warn carriers not to accept nursery stock from 
 quarantined districts. 
 
 ACCIDENT COMPENSATION. 
 
 H. R. 8654. David J. Lewis, Maryland. 
 
 Compulsory compensation by carriers to injured employees or dependents 
 of employees who die as a result of accident. Where injury was proximately 
 caused by negligence of employer, complainant, on approval of Court, may 
 elect between right of action under common law and right to compensation 
 under this Act. Scale of compensation prescribed in detail. Agreements to be 
 by arbitration, consent to arbitration to be in writing. 
 
 POOTEOARDS AND HEADLIGHTS. 
 
 H. R. 8764. James R. Mann, Illinois. 
 
 Switching locomotives must be equipped with safe footboards front and 
 rear, running entire width of engine, not less than 12 inches wide and securely 
 fastened 10 inches from tops of rails; and equipped with headlight both front 
 and rear, maintained in serviceable condition and kept lighted at night. 
 
 CRUELTY TO POULTRY IN TRANSIT. 
 
 H. R. 9243. James R. Mann, Illinois. 
 
 Interstate Commerce Commission to publish regulations for containers 
 for live ducks, chickens, turkeys or geese, to prevent cruelty in transit. Regu- 
 lations binding upon carriers. 
 
 25 
 
SLEEPING CAES. 
 
 H. R. 9249. Adolph J. Sabath, Illinois. 
 
 Unlawful for carrier to fail to furnish exact quality of accommodation 
 which any prospective passenger within 12 hours before departure of pro- 
 posed train shall have reserved. Carrier shall be entitled to demand as a 
 deposit on account of reservation of sleeping car accommodations 10 per cent 
 of published rate. 
 
 MILK FACILITIES. 
 
 H. R. 9323. John A. Thayer, Massachusetts. 
 
 Carrier shall not handle milk in large quantities, or permit others to do so 
 under contract without providing as regards time, care and preservation of 
 milk and return of empty cans equal facilities for handling milk by the can 
 over the same portion of its line, nor without establishing a tariff for milk 
 by the can which is the same rate which it charges or receives for milk in 
 large quantities. 
 
 ISSUE OF SECURITIES. 
 
 K. R. 9324. Clarence B. Miller, Minnesota. 
 
 Act applies to all persons and corporations subject to Interstate Com- 
 merce Act, specifically including telegraph, telephone and holding companies. 
 
 No corporation to issue any share of stock except at par for cash or in 
 exchange for property or securities equal to par. Corporation may pay 
 commission for floating subscriptions if such commission is expressly author- 
 ized by Interstate Commerce Commission. Any company in continuous exist- 
 ence more than two years may sell additional shares at a discount with 
 previous express approval of Commission. No corporation shall issue evi- 
 dences of funded indebtedness maturing more than 50 years from date or 
 bearing more than 6 per cent interest; or at a discount such that, taking 
 into consideration rate of interest and date of maturity, net return shall 
 exceed 7 per cent per annum. Funded debt hereafter issued shall not, together 
 with funded debt previously outstanding, exceed capital stock actually paid 
 in at the time; but corporation having funded debt outstanding in excess of 
 capital stock may refund any part of funded debt in future by issuing not 
 to exceed an equal amount of funded debt. Purposes of stock and funded 
 debt issues confined to: Acquisition, construction or improvement of prop- 
 erty to be used in transportation, telegraph or telephone business; refunding, 
 provided amount of securities be not increased. Operating companies may 
 issue stock or evidences of funded indebtedness in exchange for securities of 
 other corporations, but no corporation “shall hereafter acquire or hold” 
 securities in parallel or competing line, nor in any line not connecting. 
 
 Holding companies permitted but must not hold securities in two parallel 
 or competing lines or in any line not connecting. Corporation must not 
 issue securities in exchange for property or purchase property of securities 
 of another corporation at a price in excess of reasonable value. Corporation 
 shall issue only such amount of securities as may be reasonably necessary 
 for purposes authorized, and shall not apply proceeds to any other purpose. 
 No preferred stock shall be issued bearing more than 8 per cent. 
 
 BLOCK SYSTEM. 
 
 H. R. 9330. James R. Mann, Illinois. 
 
 Providing for gradual installation of block systems through a period 
 of years. Bill similar but differing in detail from H. R. 1668, John J. Esch, 
 Wisconsin. See Bulletin No. 7. 
 
 CARRIAGE OF EXPLOSIVES. 
 
 H. R. 9429. Eugene F. Kinkead, New Jersey. 
 
 Act regulating transportation of explosives amended by adding that regu- 
 lations prescribed by Interstate Commerce Commission shall cover packing, 
 marking, loading, handling while in transit and precautions necessary to 
 determine whether material when offered is in proper condition to transport. 
 
 PASSES AND ADVERTISING CONTRACTS. 
 
 H. R. 9449. Thomas M. Bell, Georgia. 
 
 That carriers and publishers may contract for the exchange of trans- 
 portation and advertising at schedule rates of both. 
 
 26 
 
COMPENSATION FOB INJURIES. 
 
 H. R. 9831. Adolph J. Sabath, Illinois. 
 
 When employee of carrier is injured in or about any mail route or 
 vessel, carrier or vessel shall within 30 days pay compensation without 
 requiring an action at law. If the person was an employee of the United 
 States at the time of injury or death, the United States shall pay compensa- 
 tion from a compensation fund. Establishes bureau of Department of Com- 
 merce and Labor under a Commissioner of Injury Awards appointed by the 
 President. Salary $6,000. Any forfeiture provided in this Act shall be 
 payable into Treasury of United States to credit of Compensation Awards 
 Fund. System of taxes by stamps on issues and transfers of securities and 
 bills of lading, and $5 per mile on every mile of single wire mileage of 
 telegraph lines; these taxes to be suspended in respect of any carrier accepting 
 the Act and abiding by its provisions. In respect to any carrier who does 
 not accept the act, it shall be unlawful for carrier to haul passengers over 
 any post road or mail route, and no United States court shall entertain a 
 bill for injunctive relief to such a carrier in case of strike. Any carrier 
 accepting the act may refuse to handle express matter for any express com- 
 pany which shall not have accepted the act. Scale of compensation prescribed 
 with exact annuity to be paid for each kind or degree of injury and degree 
 of dependence in case of death. 
 
 STEEL CARS. 
 
 H. R. 11822. Charles A. Talcott, New York. 
 
 After Jan. 1, 1915, it shall be unlawful for carrier to use passenger cars 
 not constructed of steel upon a plan approved by the Interstate Commerce 
 Commission, and carriers must refuse from their connections cars otherwise 
 constructed. 
 
 INDEX-DIGEST OE RATE ADVANCE TESTIMONY. 
 
 H. R. 110. Thetus W. Sims, Tennessee. 
 
 Authorizing publication of an alphabetical index-digest of the evidence 
 and exhibits in the so-called Eastern and Western rate advance cases. 
 
 SAFETY APPLIANCES. 
 
 H. Joint Res. 115. S. H. Dent, Jr., Alabama. 
 
 Directs Interstate Commerce Commission to report within six months on 
 necessity for the Andrew safety appliance based upon practical tests. Also to 
 tabulate accidents from spread track and broken rail, broken flange, loose 
 wheel, broken journal, broken axles, dropping brakebeam or shoe, or other 
 causes of derailment for the last five years, and amount of money expended 
 by railroads on account of such accidents. Commission to recommend legis- 
 lation. 
 
 Work of Sixty-second Congress 
 to July 15, 1911 
 
 BILLS INTRODUCED 
 
 
 Total all subjects . 
 
 . 15,067 
 
 Pensions .... 
 
 . 9,716 
 
 Total, exclusive of pensions 
 
 . 5,351 
 
 Bills specifically affecting railways 
 
 39 
 
IMuiay Mnmmss Afiaoriatum 
 
 George A. Post 
 
 Hirp-Prmfrntta 
 
 H. H. Westinghouse O. H. Cutler W. H. Marshall E. S. S. Keith 
 
 A. H. Mulliken O. P. Letchworth A. M. Kittredge 
 
 Gtoasttm 
 
 Charles A. Moore 
 
 E. L. Adreon 
 S. P. Bush 
 W. E. Clow 
 J. S. Coffin 
 
 fcxmtiuir ilrmhrra 
 
 Walter H. Cottingham 
 William C. Dodd 
 Henry Elliot 
 Alba B. Johnson 
 W. H. Whiteside 
 
 W. B. Leach 
 E. B. Leigh 
 W. H. Miner 
 Rudolph Ortmann 
 
 W. P. Worth 
 
 W. G. Pearce 
 H. G. Prout 
 J. H. Schwacke 
 James Viles 
 
 Frank W. Noxon 
 
 Assistant (Treasurer 
 
 M. S. Clayton 
 
 fHmbfrs 
 
 iulu 17, 1911 
 
 Acme Machinery Co. 
 
 Acme Supply Co 
 Adams & Westlake Co. 
 
 Ajax Forge Co. 
 
 Ajax Manufacturing Co. 
 
 Ajax Metal Co. 
 
 Alan Wood Iron & Steel Co. 
 Allis-Chalmers Co. 
 
 American Bank Note Co. 
 
 American Brake Co. 
 
 American Brake Shoe & Foundry Co. 
 American Hoist & Derrick Co. 
 American Iron & Steel Mfg. Co. 
 American Locomotive Co. 
 
 American Nut & Bolt Fastener Co. 
 American Radiator Co. 
 
 American Steel Foundries. 
 
 American Tool Works Co. 
 
 American Valve & Meter Co. 
 Anglo-American Varnish Co. 
 
 Atlantic Works. 
 
 Ayer & Lord Tie Co. 
 
 Baker (Wm. C.) Heating & Supply Co. 
 Baldwin Locomotive Works. 
 
 Ball (Webb C.) Watch Co. 
 
 Barbour Stockwell Co. 
 
 Barney & Smith Car Co. 
 Barnum Richardson Co. 
 
 Bass Foundry & Machine Co. 
 Beaver Dam Malleable Iron Co. 
 Berry Brothers, Ltd. 
 
 Bettendorf Axle Co. 
 
 Block-Pollak Iron Co. 
 
 Bordo (L. J.) Co. 
 
 Bosley (D. W.) Co. 
 Bourne-Fuller Co. 
 
 Bowser (S. F.) & Co., Inc. 
 Bradley (Osgood) & Sons. 
 Bridgeport Malleable Iron Co. 
 Brill (J. G.) Co. 
 
 Bronze Metal Co. 
 
 Brooker (Charles F.). 
 
 Brown Car Wheel Works. 
 Buckeye Steel Castings Co. 
 Bucyrus Co. 
 
 Buda Co. 
 
 Buffalo Brake Beam Co. 
 
 Buffalo Car Wheel Foundry Co. 
 Camel Co. 
 
 28 
 
Carter Iron Co. 
 
 Central Coal & Coke Co. 
 
 Central Electric Co. 
 
 Central Railway Signal Co. 
 
 Champion Rivet Co. 
 
 Chase (L. C.) & Co. 
 
 Chicago Bridge & Iron Works. 
 
 Chicago Car Heating Co. 
 
 Chicago Pneumatic Tool Co. 
 
 Chicago Railway Equipment Co. 
 
 Chicago Varnish Co. 
 
 City Fuel Co. 
 
 Cleveland Car Specialty Co. 
 
 Cleveland City Forge & Iron Co. 
 
 Cleveland Copper Ferrule Co. 
 
 Cleveland Frog & Crossing Co. 
 
 Cleveland Twist Drill Co. 
 
 Clow (James B.) & Sons. 
 
 Coale (Thomas E.) Lumber Co. 
 
 Coale Muffler & Safety Valve Co. 
 
 Columbia Nut & Bolt Co., Inc. 
 
 Columbia Refining Co. 
 
 Columbus Iron & Steel Co. 
 
 Commonwealth Steel Co. 
 
 Consolidated Car-Heating Co. 
 
 Corning Glass Works. 
 
 Crerar, Adams & Co. 
 
 Crocker Brothers. 
 
 Crucible Steel Co. of America. 
 
 Curtain Supply Co. 
 
 Cyclops Steel Works. 
 
 Davis-Bournonville Co. 
 
 Day tan Malleable Iron Co. 
 
 Dayton Manufacturing Co. 
 
 Dearborn Drug & Chemical Works. 
 
 Decatur Car Wheel C®. 
 
 Detroit Hoist & Machine Co. 
 
 Devoe (F. W.) & Raynolds (C. T.) Co. 
 Dickson Car Wheel Co. 
 
 Dixon (Joseph) Crucible Co. 
 
 Dressel Railway Lamp Works. 
 
 Dudgeon (Richard). 
 
 Edgar Allen American Manganese Steel Co. 
 Ehret Magnesia Manufacturing Co. 
 
 Electric Railway Journal. 
 
 Elliot Frog & Switch Co. 
 
 Faessler (J.) Manufacturing Co. 
 
 Fairbanks, Morse & Co. 
 
 Flannery Bolt Co. 
 
 Flood & Conklin Co. 
 
 Forsyth Brothers Co. 
 
 Fort Pitt Malleable Iron Co. 
 
 Foster (Walter H.) Co. 
 
 Franklin Manufacturing Co. 
 
 Franklin Railway Supply Co. 
 
 Franklin Steel Co. 
 
 Galena-Signal Oil Co. 
 
 Garlock Packing Co. 
 
 General Electric Co. 
 
 General Railway Signal Co. 
 
 General Railway Supply Co. 
 
 Gold Car Heating & Lighting Co. 
 
 Gould Coupler Co. 
 
 Graham Nut Co. 
 
 Gray (Peter) & Sons, Inc. 
 
 Green’s Car Wheel Mfg. Co. 
 
 Gress Manufacturing Co. 
 
 Griffin Wheel Co. 
 
 Hale & Kilburn Manufacturing Co. 
 
 Hall Signal Co. 
 
 Hammett (H. G.). 
 
 Hanna (M. A.) & Co. 
 
 Harbison-Walker Refractories Co. 
 
 Hart Steel Co. 
 
 Hartshorn (Stewart) Co. 
 
 Haskell & Barker Car Co. 
 
 Heath & Milligan Manufacturing Co. 
 Hettler (Herman H.) Lumber Co. 
 
 Hewitt Manufacturing Co. 
 
 Heywood Brothers & Wakefield Co. 
 Hibbard, Spencer, Bartlett & Co. 
 
 Hickman, Williams & Co. 
 
 Hildreth Varnish Co. 
 
 Hines (Edward) Lumber Co. 
 
 Hoflus Steel & Equipment Co. 
 
 Hunt (Robert W.) & Co. 
 
 Hunt-Spiller Manufacturing Corporation, 
 Hutchins Car Roofing Co. 
 
 Independent Pneumatic Tool Co. 
 Ingersoll-Rand Co. 
 
 Inland Steel Co. 
 
 International Steam Pump Co. 
 Inter-Ocean Steel Co. 
 
 Iroquois Iron Co. 
 
 Jeffrey Manufacturing Co. 
 
 Jenkins Bros. 
 
 Johns-Manville (H. W.) Co. 
 
 Joyce, Cridland Co. 
 
 Joyce-Watkins Co. 
 
 Kay & Ess Co. 
 
 Keasbey & Mattison Co. 
 
 Keith Car & Manufacturing Co. 
 Kerite Insulated Wire & Cable Co. 
 Keystone Coal & Coke Co. 
 
 La Belle Iron Works. 
 
 Laconia Car Company Works. 
 
 Lake Erie Iron Co. 
 
 Lidgerwood Manufacturing Co. 
 Lobdell Car Wheel Co. 
 
 Locomotive Finished Material Co. 
 Lodge & Shipley Machine Tool Co. 
 Long (Charles R., Jr.) Co. 
 
 Long-Bell Lumber Co. 
 
 Lowe Brothers Co. 
 
 Lunkenheimer Co. 
 
 McConway & Torley Co. 
 
 McCord & Co. 
 
 Mcllvain (J. Gibson) & Co. 
 
 McNair (H. C.). 
 
 McQuesten (George) Co. 
 
 Magnus Metal Co. 
 
 Manning, Maxwell & Moore, Inc. 
 Mansure (E. L.) Co. 
 
 Marshall Car Wheel & Foundry Co. 
 Marshall-Wells Hardware Co. 
 
 Marvin Manufacturing Co., Ltd. 
 Maryland Brass & Metal Works. 
 Maryland Car Wheel Works. 
 
 Metal Plated Car & Lumber Co. 
 Midvale Steel Co. 
 
 Milwaukee Coke & Gas Co. 
 
 Miner (W. H.) Co. 
 
 Minneapolis Steel & Machinery Co. 
 
 Missouri Malleable Iron Co. 
 
 Morden Frog & Crossing Works. 
 More-Jones Brass & Metal Co. 
 
 Mott (J. L.) Iron Works. 
 
 Mound City Paint & Color Co. 
 
 Mt. Vernon Car Manufacturing Co. 
 Mudge (Burton W.) & Co. 
 
 Murphy Varnish Co. 
 
 Nathan Manufacturing Co. 
 
 National Export & Commission Co. 
 National Lock Washer Co. 
 
 National Machinery Co. 
 
 National Malleable Castings Co. 
 
 New York Air Brake Co. 
 
 New York Belting & Packing Co., Ltd. 
 Nicholson File Co. 
 
 Niles-Bement-Pond Co. 
 
 Ohio Malleable Iron Co. 
 
 P. & M. Co. 
 
 Pantasote Co. 
 
 Parkesburg Iron Co. 
 Patterson-Sargent Co. 
 
 Peerless Rubber Manufacturing Co. 
 Pettibone, Mulliken & Co. 
 
 Pickands, Brown & Co. 
 
 Pickands, Mather & Co. 
 
 Pittsburgh Forge & Iron Co. 
 Pittsburgh Spring & Steel Co. 
 Pneumatic Gate Co. 
 
 Poole Brothers. 
 
 Portland Iron & Steel Co. 
 
 Positive Lock Washer Co. 
 
 Pratt & Lambert, Inc. 
 
 Pratt & Letchworth Co. 
 
 Pressed Steel Car Co. 
 
 Pyle-National Electric Headlight Co. 
 Railroad Supply Co. 
 
 Railway Age Gazette. 
 
 Railway Steel-Spring Co. 
 
 Ramapo Foundry & Wheel Works. 
 Ramapo Iron Works. 
 
 Rand, McNally & Co. 
 
 Rank & Goodell. 
 
 29 
 
Republic Iron & Steel Co. 
 
 Revere Rubber Co. 
 
 Robinson, Cary & Sands Co. 
 
 Rodger Ballast Car Co. 
 
 Rogers, Brown & Co. 
 
 Ryerson (Jos. T.) & Son. 
 
 Safety Car Heating & Lighting Co. 
 St. Louis Surfacer & Paint Co. 
 
 St. Paul Foundry Co. 
 
 Schieren (Charles A.) Co. 
 
 Scully Steel & Iron Co. 
 
 Seattle Car Manufacturing Co. 
 Sellers Manufacturing Co. 
 
 Sellers (William) & Co., Inc. 
 Sherburne & Co. 
 
 Sherwin-Williams Co. 
 
 Simmons Hardware Co. 
 
 Simmons Mfg. Co. 
 
 Sipe (James B.) & Co. 
 
 Soper Lumber Co. 
 
 Spencer Otis Co. 
 
 Standard Car Truck Co. 
 
 Standard Car Wheel Co. 
 
 Standard Coupler Co. 
 
 Standard Forgings Co. 
 
 Standard Paint Co. 
 
 Standard Railway Equipment Co. 
 Standard Steel Car Co. 
 
 Standard Steel Works Co. 
 
 Standard Tool Co. 
 
 Storrs Mica Co. 
 
 Symington (T. H.) Co. 
 
 Taylor (W. P.) Co. 
 
 Thompson (Lewis) & Co., Inc. 
 Tindel-Morris Co. 
 
 Transue & Williams Co. 
 
 Treat (C. A.) Manufacturing Co. 
 Tyler Tube 8c Pipe Co. 
 
 Tyler (W. S.) Co. 
 
 Underwood (H. B.) & Co. 
 
 Underwood Typewriter Co. 
 
 Union Draft Gear Co. 
 
 Union Spring & Manufacturing Co. 
 Union Steel Casting Co. 
 
 Union Switch & Signal Co. 
 
 United States Light & Heating Co. 
 U. S. Metal & Manufacturing Co. 
 
 U. S. Metallic Packing Co. 
 
 United Supply & Manufacturing Co. 
 Walsh, P. T. 
 
 Walworth Manufacturing Co. 
 
 Ward Equipment Co. 
 
 Warner 8c Swasey Co. 
 
 Weir Frog Co. 
 
 Western Electric Co. 
 
 Western Railway Equipment Co. 
 Western Wheeled Scraper Co. 
 Westinghouse Air Brake Co. 
 Westinghouse Church Kerr & Co. 
 Westinghouse Electric & Mfg. Co. 
 White Enamel Refrigerator Co. 
 Whiting Foundry Bquiy tient Co. 
 Willard Sons & Bell Co. 
 
 Winston Bros. Co. 
 
 Wood (Guilford S.). 
 
 Wood (R. D.) 8c Co. 
 
 Worth Brothers Co. 
 
 Wyckoff Pipe & Creosoting Co. 
 
 30 
 
# 
 
 * 
 
 REQUESTS FOR COPIES 
 
 of this pamphlet will be welcome from all those 
 desiring to place it in the hands of their repre- 
 sentatives, employees or friends. Copies furnished 
 or sent direct to lists upon application to Frank 
 W. Noxon, Secretary, Railway Business Associa- 
 tion, 2 Rector Street, New York. 
 
 t 
 
 * 
 
 Form B63 
 
 31 
 

 (Emromttet ntt 
 
 J. S. Coffin (Chairman) 
 
 Pres. Franklin Railway Supply Co. 
 
 W. B. Albright 
 
 Ry. Sales Mgr. Sherwin-Williams Co. 
 
 George R. Carr 
 
 V.-P.. & G. M. Dearborn Drug and Chemical 
 Oliver Crosby 
 
 Pres. American Hoist & Derrick Co. 
 
 Irving T. Hartz 
 
 Pres. Morden Frog & Crossing Wks, 
 
 Cornell S. Hawley 
 
 V.-P. Consolidated Car Heating Co. 
 
 Henry S. Hawley 
 
 Pres. The Railroad Supply Co. 
 
 F. P. Huntley 
 
 V.-P. Gould Coupler Co. 
 
 fHemlierabip 
 
 William McConway 
 
 Pres. McConway & Torley Co. 
 
 D. B. Meacham 
 Rogers, Brown & Co. 
 
 D. W. Pye 
 
 Pres. U. S. Light & Heating Co. 
 
 E. F. Sands 
 
 Pres. Robinson, Cary & Sands Co. 
 Charles W. Scofield 
 Treas. Lake Erie Iron Co. 
 George W. Simmons 
 
 V.-P. Simmons Hardware Co. 
 
 T. H. Symington 
 
 Pres. T. H. Symington Co. 
 
 Ward W. Willits 
 
 Pres. Adams & Westlake Co. 
 
 ‘Co JXCanufadurers and ‘Dealers in ‘Railway <0% Zaterial , Equipment and Supplies and 
 Contractors in Railway Construction : 
 
 Let the Good Work Spread 
 
 It is the conviction of those who best know the conditions and the 
 results accomplished that the work of the Railway Business Association has 
 been and is effective and that the improved public feeling toward the rail- 
 ways if continued will be a strong factor in sustaining general business when 
 prosperity shall have returned. 
 
 Our membership roll is now widely representative and of fine quality 
 and loyalty, which leads this committee to hope that a number of concerns 
 not yet enrolled will join us. If such concerns are reluctant to come in now 
 because of a feeling that their previous hesitation will make them unwelcome 
 we assure them the membership has the most liberal spirit and thinks only 
 of what will strengthen the ^influence of the movement. Every new name 
 of an industrial institution enlarges the circle of people who are disposed to 
 give a friendly ear to our doctrine of conciliation and co-operation. 
 
 We ourselves are enthusiastic in the belief that the further this work 
 can spread, the greater will be the public benefit. If any concern is in 
 ignorance or in doubt about our purposes, methods or results, we would 
 welcome an opportunity to supply convincing information. 
 
 J. S. COFFIN, 
 
 Chairman Committee on Membership 
 
 2 Rector Street, New York City