Newspaper Page Text
Mr. Barker Writts On
G & N. W. R. R.
Mr Jus. P. Davidson, Editor.
The Cleveland Courier,
Cleveland, Ga.
Dear Mr. Davidson :
I notice clipping in your paper,
this weeks issue, copied from ttie
“Winder News” saying a car of
potatoes recently received in
Atlanta carried freight charges of
$305.00; that the actual value of
the potatoes was $315.00 and this
paper says that when you buy one
dollar’s worth of potatoes you
only get 40 cents worth of potatoes
and 60 cents worth of freight and
add, can business stand up under
this arrangement ? Now you add
to this, “Friends, the freight rates
to our humble judgement, is the
main cause ot business being so
slow to pick up.”
Wrong impressions are created
in the mind of the business public
when statements of this kind are
made for it is hard to understand
how such an amount of freight
charges could be assesed on a car
lot of potatoes; the facts are that
the present Freight rates on pota¬
toes are reasonable; with tl*e
exception of few commodities such
as lumber, flour etc, no commod¬
ity moves at s.i low freight rates as
potatoes, unless this car potatoes
originated at least 1500 miles from
Atlanta, I am safe in refuting the
charges as to freight on this partic¬
ular car of potatoes.
The rates on potatoes from
Cleveland to Atlanta and the same
rates applies from points, south
of Macon to Atlanta is as follows ;
Car load lota- 20,000 pounds 21 J cents
$ 43.00 car
Less car load lots 28j cents per 100 lb.
TO GAINESVILLE from CLEVELAND.
Car load lots-20,000 pounds 10 cents
$20.00 c.y.
Less car load lots lot cents per 100 lbs.
Railroads transport freight at
rates in cents to apply 0:1 hundred
pounds; to show our freight
charges per 100 pounds fropi
Gainesville to Cleveland, Ga. on
a good many staples, I quote
following rates.
On Flour i2 cts.
On Meal 10 cts.
On meat and lard 27 cts.
(In canned goods 37i cts.
On Hay 151 cts.
On Nails 17£ cts.
On dry goods and clothing 52 cts.
On all classes cotton goods 27 cts.
On cross lies and lumber 5.8 cts per
per 100 pounds.
Now. it is not possible for any
man to give up his time, feed
mule and make the round trip of 42
miles and haul his freights for any¬
thing like at lower figures as the
railroad maintain for the public,
THE CLEVELAND COURIER, CLEVELAND. GEORGIA.
, If a company or an individual
thinks the rates are high, let them
put on trucks between the two
points and compete with our rail¬
road even without paying Federal,
State, County, City or School
taxes the venture would prove a
falure tor bad roads and upkeep ol
of trucks during the winter months
would proven disastrous; the truth
is, that the railroad will soon be
protected by law to the extent that
trucks engaged in hauling freight
for the people at large will
their proper proportion of all taxes, j
The condition of all small roads
in Georgia at this time is Critical ;
only two short line roads in the
entire state are making their
operating expenses and loss of
money each month, with credit
restricted more and more and more, I
spel's failure soon or later; you ask ■
why this is?
During the last nine months,
less freight has been moved than
at any period in my recollection ;
the tonage on this road, such as
lumber, asbestos, crushed stone, tan
bark and miscellaneous traffic has
but little demand in the outside
markets; as to pasenger traffic, our
revenue from passeger trains show
a loss of 50% as compared to form¬
er years; tlte Ford is responsible
for this and so far as the writers
knowlege goes,I can’t see any pros¬
pects for increased passenger
business on our road or other short
line roads in Georgia.
The writer is Vice President of
the American Rail Road Short
Line Assocition having a member¬
ship of 550 small rail-roads; 90%
of these small roads are having a
struggle at this time for existence
the qnesti >11 is unless the costs of
operation can be reduced, how can
the present freight rates be lessen¬
ed? I cannot believe that low
freight rates enliven busine-s; it is
j purely a question of supply and
demand and the demand for all
class of commodities is nill at
present time.
People, generally speaking, have
the wrong conception of the
earning of a railroad; thev -re n
freight train with a few loads and
at once see great proflit accruing
therefrom ; they overlook the fixed
expences that have to be met and
the high cost involved in maintain¬
ing service; ever locomotive in
service costs on an average of $200.
per month for repairs; every pas¬
senger car costs $70.00 per month
for upkeep ; taxes amount to more
than either of these two items per
month ; on 37 miles of track i2oo
oak cross ties are required each
month for safe operation, costs
i $1)00.00 month to operate two
j Incomotives, fuel cost peT month
reaches tfci^oo.ooand added to these
figures are terminal cost, wages of
agents and all other employes,
together with various items which
of necessity have to be purchased
constantly; the upkeep of bridges
and culverts on any railroad is
cotisiderble and while some man
outside of the railroad service
claims that lie could cut cost, only
shows his ignorance; a railroad
must have attention from day to
day to insure safe transportal ion
lor heavy Height trains and the
livesAjf pasengers.
1 am anxious to enlighten the
minds of some of our friends and
patrons in White county as to the
actual earnings of Cleveland, Ga.,
their county seat; there figures
show our part of the Height
charges on shipments handled and
the actual sale of tickets for the
month of August and I am willing
to make affidavit as to the torrect
ness of the statement.
BUSINESS AT CLEVELAND. GA.
for month of August. 1921
Freight Revenue (fit & N W. proportion)
Inbound £1)39.5;-!
Freight Revenue (G. & N. W, proportion)
Outpound $158 74
Total sale of tickets at Cleveland, Ga.
-$303.23
TOTAL BUSINESS AT CLEVELAND,
-$1101.50 AUGUST.
Cleveland forwarded five (5)
solid cars duringAugust; the aver¬
age revenue nccureing to Gaines¬
ville and Xorthevvstern R. R. per
day at Cleveland during August,
amounted to $36.72,
Now, this is not published to
cast any reflection on light business
at Cleveland; every town on our
road is suffering and has suffered
for months from business depression
the statement is made to show that
but little revenue is being earned at
any point on our line and further to
make the assertion that month by
month, the cost of operation on the
Gainesville and Northwestern
Railroad exceeds the income and
ibis deficit is proving hard to
finance; 1 again ask, “how can
freight be reduced and if so, how
this road could exist under such
conditions” ?
Looking into tlie near future, it
will require the utmost cooperation
on the people of upper JIall and
White county to continue to enjoy
railroad facilities; how foolish it
would be for some to say that this
railroad is not a great asset to the
territory it traverses; every house,
every acre of land shows that
values have been exhanced since
the road was built; to put the
wboletsubject in a concret state¬
ment, we cannot survive with
freight rates lowered from present
scale unless the items of costs
affecting our operating expenses is
further leveled out.
B. S. BARKER,
Vice President and General Mgr.
Two Men Killed lit Well
Hy Dynamite Blast.
A shocking tragedy occured
Monday morning when Hyram
Smith, aged fifty-five, and Tom
Hallman, aged thirty-five, were in
stantsy killed by 11 charge of dyna¬
mite in the bottom of a well near
Smith’s home, just bevond Holding
bridge in Dawson county. Both
bodies were badly mutilated bv
the explosion.
Both men are well known
throughout this sec'ion. Smith is
survived by a wife and six child¬
ren, Hallman was not mar'ital, but
is survived by many relatives.
According to the statement ot
those familiar with the case, Smith
and Hallman were digging a well
on the Smith farm. They had
proceeded to a considerable depth
and had encountered a rock
I iliiindat ion.
Saturday afternoon the two men
set a charge of dynamite in ihe
bottom to break the rock. The
charge failed to explode Saturday,
and Monday they both decided to
go into the well and investigate the
cause.
Both men entered the well with
a third party standing n»ar the
mouth ready to help them from
above. The men descended by
steps cut in the walls of the well.
The charge of dynamite was
was ‘dead,’ and a new fuse
prepared. The two men had set a
fuse long enough to delay the
explosion until they scathed the top
and safety.
After setting the fuse Smith
started out first, with Ilalltnan fol¬
lowing. After he had gained
with in a few feet of the top of the
well, Smith fell, carrying Hallman
to the bottom of the well. Before
either could again mount the
steps the lues had done its work
and exploded the charge, killing
both men instantly. The walls of
the well did not cave in, and the
recovery of the bodies was effected
shoitly afterwards, but no life w is
apparent in either of the bodies
after they were brought out.—
Gainesville IIearld.
Mayors, bankers, lawyers pootn
inent government, state and county
officials, prominent business and
professional men and Ministers of
the Gospel have endorsed Tanlec.
Cleveland Drug Co.
Advertisement.
The only explanatioh of Tanlac’s
great success is Tanlac’s true
worth. Cleveland Drug Co.
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