No. 10154.

PINE PLUME LUMBER COMPANY

v.

ALCOLU RAILROAD COMPANY ET AL.

Submitted December 3, 1918. Decided March 21, 1919.

1. Rate on lumber, in carloads, from Gable, S. C., to East Norwood, Ohio, in effect at time of shipment, by way of Potomac Yard, Va., not shown to have been unreasonable. No basis of record for finding as to subsequently increased rates.

2. Shipment found to have been misrouted and reparation awarded.

G. W. Way for complainant.

Esmond Phelps for Director General of Railroads.

REPORT OF THE COMMISSION.

DIVISION 3, COMMISSIONERS CLARK, HALL, AND EASTMAN.

BY DIVISION 3:

Complainant is a corporation engaged in the lumber business at Savannah, Ga. By complaint seasonably filed, as amended, it alleged that the charges collected on a carload of lumber, shipped November 29, 1916, from Gable, S. C., to East Norwood, Ohio, within the Cincinnati, Ohio, switching limits, were unreasonable to the extent that they exceeded the charges which would have accrued at a rate of 25 cents per 100 pounds, which the complainant avers would have been a reasonable maximum rate to apply. Reparation and the establishment of a rate not exceeding that to Cincinnati are asked. By supplemental complaint filed prior to the hearing the Director General of Railroads was made a party defendant. Rates are stated in cents per 100 pounds and are those in effect at the time of the hearing. The shipment, which weighed 42,700 pounds, was delivered to the Alcolu Railroad at Gable routed merely " B & O delivery." It moved over the line of the initial carrier to Alcolu, S. C.; the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad and connections through Richmond to Potomac Yard, Va.; and the Baltimore & Ohio system to East Norwood. The applicable rate of 30 cents, which was also the rate in effect to Cincinnati, was assessed, but the shipment was overcharged $6.05. Contemporaneously a rate of 25 cents, published by the Atlantic Coast Line and connections, applied from Gable by way of Augusta, Ga., to Cincinnati, and included Baltimore & Ohio delivery at East Nor

wood. It is admitted for the defendants that the shipment should have moved over the latter route. On June 1, 1918, the above rates were increased 1 per cent per 100 pounds following The Fifteen Per Cent Case, 45 I. C. C., 303, and on June 25, 1918, 5 cents per 100 pounds pursuant to General Order No. 28 issued by the Director General of Railroads.

We find that the rate charged on the shipment in question is not shown to have been unreasonable. The record affords no basis for

a finding as to the subsequently established rates. We further find that the defendant Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company misrouted the shipment; that complainant made the shipment as described and paid and bore the charges thereon; that it was damaged by the misrouting in the amount of the difference between the charges that accrued at the applicable rate and those that would have accrued at the rate contemporaneously applicable via Augusta; and that it is entitled to reparation from the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company in the sum of $21.35, with interest; also to reparation from the defendants in the further sum of $6.05, with interest, the amount of the overcharge above stated.

An appropriate order will be entered.

52 I. C. C.

No. 10157.

WALTER A. ZELNICKER SUPPLY COMPANY

v.

LOUISIANA WESTERN RAILROAD COMPANY ET AL.

Submitted November 25, 1918. Decided March 21, 1919.

Charges on a carload of steel relay rails from Gueydan, La., to East St. Louis,

Ill., found to have been unreasonable.

Reparation awarded.

John D. Fidler for complainant.

No appearance for defendants.

REPORT OF THE COMMISSION.

DIVISION 3, COMMISSIONERS CLARK, HALL, AND EASTMAN. BY DIVISION 3:

The complainant, a corporation dealing in railway supplies at St. Louis, Mo., alleges by complaint filed April 13, 1918, that unreasonable charges were collected on a carload of steel relay rails shipped November 19, 1917, from Gueydan, La., to East St. Louis, Ill. Reparation only is asked. Rates are stated in cents per 100 pounds. The shipment, weighing 53,400 pounds, was routed by the shipper "I. C." It appears to have moved over the Louisiana Western Railroad to Lafayette, La., 41 miles; the line of Morgan's Louisiana & Texas Railroad & Steamship Company to Baton Rouge, La., 57 miles; and Yazoo & Mississippi Valley and Illinois Central railroads beyond. Transportation charges were collected in the sum of $363.12 at a supposed combination rate of 68 cents, composed of the fifthclass rate of 47 cents, governed by the western classification, to New Orleans and the commodity rate of 21 cents, applicable from both Baton Rouge and New Orleans to East St. Louis. Neither the 47cent nor any other rate applied on this traffic to Baton Rouge. A fifth-class distance rate of 29 cents was applicable from Lafayette to Baton Rouge, but we are unable to locate any rate from Gueydan to Lafayette. As no rate was specifically applicable from Gueydan to East St. Louis it becomes necessary to determine whether the charges collected were reasonable and, if not, what charges would have been reasonable. Memphis Freight Bureau v. K. C. S. Ry. Co., 17 I. C. C., 90.

Complainant showed that effective August 1, 1914, the Railroad Commission of Louisiana prescribed a maximum rate of 12.5 cents on junk and iron and steel rails and fastenings between points in Louisiana for one-line hauls. Assuming that this shipment moved through New Orleans and using this rate to that point and the 21cent rate beyond, it contends that 33.5 cents would have been a reasonable rate.

At the time of movement a commodity rate of $5.40 per long ton applied on rails from East St. Louis to Gueydan. It was testified that the Southern Pacific and Louisiana Western published commodity rates on rails from New Orleans to main-line points, but apparently not to branch-line points. It is argued that inasmuch as, at the conclusion of the lumbering operations, rails used in connection therewith move outbound, commodity rates should have been provided for the outbound movement. Gueydan is on a branch line, about 11 miles south of Midland, the junction with the main line. At that time a rate of 16.5 cents for interstate application was in effect between New Orleans and points on the Louisiana Western, Sabine River to Mermentau, La., both inclusive, for distances of from 250 to 180 miles. Midland is the first station east of Mermentau. This rate, somewhat higher than the maximum fixed by the Railroad Commission of Louisiana, does not compare unfavorably with a number of other commodity rates cited by complainant applying in this territory.

Taking into consideration the fact that the route through Baton Rouge is considerably shorter than that through New Orleans, and the short distance from Gueydan to the main line, we are of opinion and find that a rate of 37.5 cents per 100 pounds, made up of the 21-cent rate beyond Baton Rouge plus the 16.5-cent rate applying from main-line points west of Midland to New Orleans, would have been a reasonable rate to have applied on this shipment. The Director General is not a party defendant and we fix no rate for the future. We further find that complainant made the shipment as described and paid and bore the charges thereon; that it has been damaged to the extent that the charges collected exceed those that would have accrued at the rate herein found reasonable; and that it is entitled to reparation in the sum of $162.87, with interest. The Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad is not a party defendant, but may participate in the payment of this reparation.

An order awarding reparation will be entered.

52 I. C. C.

No. 10028.

BRIGHT-BROOKS LUMBER COMPANY

v.

HAMPTON & BRANCHVILLE RAILROAD & LUMBER COMPANY ET AL.

Submitted January 13, 1919. Decided March 21, 1919.

Rates on lumber, in carloads, from Miley, S. C., to Norfolk, Va., and North Philadelphia and Chester, Pa., not shown to have been unreasonable. Complainant not shown to have been damaged by the alleged undue prejudice. Complaint dismissed.

Paul E. Seabrook for complainant.

Ernest Williams for defendants.

REPORT OF THE COMMISSION.

DIVISION 3, COMMISSIONERS CLARK, HALL, AND EASTMAN. BY DIVISION 3:

In its complaint filed January 12, 1918, the complainant seeks reparation, alleging that the rates charged on nine carloads of lumber shipped from Miley, S. C., four to Norfolk, Va., and two to North Philadelphia, and three to Chester, Pa., in August, September, and October, 1916, were unreasonable and unduly prejudicial to the extent that they exceeded by more than 2 cents per 100 pounds the rates contemporaneously in effect from Hampton, S. C., to the same destinations. The Director General of Railroads is not a party defendant. Rates are stated in cents per 100 pounds.

Miley is a local point on the line of the Hampton & Branchville Railroad & Lumber Company, a short line connecting with the Charleston & Western Carolina Railway and the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad at Hampton, 7 miles south of Miley. The Norfolk shipments moved over the Hampton & Branchville to Hampton, Charleston & Western Carolina to Yemassee, S. C., and Atlantic Coast Line beyond; the North Philadelphia shipments moved by the same route as far as Pinners Point, Va., and the New York, Philadelphia & Norfolk, the Philadelphia, Baltimore & Washington, and the Pennsylvania railroads beyond; and the Chester shipments moved by the last-named route as far as Belmont, Pa., and via the Philadelphia & Reading Railway beyond. Charges were collected at the following applicable joint rates: 17 cents to Norfolk, 25 cents to North Philadelphia, and 27 cents to Chester. The rates 125348°-19-vol 52—35