THE RAILWAY AND THE GRAIN TRAFFIC.

Press, Volume XLVII, Issue 7552, 15 May 1890, Page 6

THE RAILWAY AND THE GRAIN TRAFFIC.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE PRESS. Sir,—l was pleased to see a letter in yesterday's Press showing that some one had ac last touched on the troubles of those farmers who have to deliver their grain on the Methven line. One would think such an important feeder of the main line would, receive some consideration from the Railway department, but instead of this being the case every impediment seems to be thrown in the way of those who would use Jihe line. I have sent grain away by this line every year since it has been opened, and the arrangements do not appear to be any better now than at first; in fact, now the consignors do more for the Railway than they used to do at first. Not only do they have to load, brat to make out consignment notes in duplicate, put the tickets on the trucks, and to sheet them as well, and then, if the trucks are not all coupled and in order, receive a growl from the railway people. Moreover, all this work comes at night, for there is bub one train a day, and,that (to use .an Irishism) is at night. The specials, too, are, as a rule, sent at night, and the Railway Department growl that farmers are working twenty-four hours per day, while the receivers only work eight honrs.

Take my own case as a fairly representative one.. I have had to deliver about 10,000 bushels of wheat this year by this line, and from the 25th March to the 10th May I have had to arrange to meet the train every night unless we were sure that there would be no trucks.

Now I had available sufficient force to deliver 2000 bushels a day had trucks been ready, bub unless the grain was at the station it was impossible to get trucks, so that the grain had to be carted from the paddocks close to the station and stacked there to await trucks. When drays can make three or four trips a day so much handling of bags comes very heavy on men, and when the night work is added it is evident that a farmer has to keep extra force in readiness for it.

This is sufficiently inconvenient and expensive lor. a. farmer living alongside of the station, but for one who lives four or five miles away, or who is only a crop* ping tenant, as so many are in this district, it is a hundred times more so. I do not altogether blame the Kail way Department for the block chi3 year, as we never have had such a fine season for threshing, or such good returns in this district; but I think that much might be done to make things pleasanter for the farmer. Why should not some inducement be offered to farmers to put up sheds at the sidings instead of the present exorbitant terms being insisted on when anyone wishes to do so. The platforms are so constructed' -that the wee from the cloths runs under the grain stack and spoils the lower, tier of baps. At one station I have pointed this out to linemen, Inspector and Traffic Manager, and they one and all agreed with mc that at least holes might be bored to drain the platform, but this was a few years ago; The platforms - being full, surely we might be'allowed the use of such sleepers as are at the station on v/hich to stack grain, and yet I know instances of men not being permitted to do this. I see, however, it is now done-aC mosb of the stations. ". . „,#..■■-*r*-i* ':*■ ■'■ Would iE not joe pofsibw to give twentyfour hoars* notice that a special would be sent up to enable farmers to make arrange ments to meet it, and couM not specials be sent up in There is no day traffic on this line to be interfered with.

When a special has been announced by the evening train as due about 11 p.m. I have waited for it tilt&a.m., only to get a couple of tracks after all. It Iβ not good enough to keep men out of bed all night, and cause' them *to lose the best pare of next day's work, for so small a result. Occasionally a special cbiues without any notice, and* the first man there naturally gets the lion's share of the trucks. These and many minor ills the farmer has to put up wieb, but, to my mind, the greatest hardship of all is that he has no receipt for his grain, and has to trust to providence that his tally and his consignee's will agree, and that the condition in which it arrives is all right. . ■ ■ On the occasion of one of the specials being sent up this year, I loaded certain tracks, for which no covers were provided, and aa the weather was threatening, 1 applied to the man with gold lace round his cap (f sapposed he was the boss) for a dry receipt. \ab ; they gave no receipts. They would leave the trucks behind, or I might take the covers ofTthe heaps. (These covers bad been supplied by the Department to my neighbour for covering his grain.) Ac times a bag or two gets knocked off, and nothing is heard of it, except that the consignee does not pay. I know of bags from a truck loaded at Methven being found at Dunsandel after a good deal of quieo fossicking on the part of the owner. Occasionally a truck goes astray altogether, and causes a lot of trouble to the consignor before it is found. In short, troubles without end might be raked up. Now, surely some arrangement might be made by which trucks would he sent to certain stations on certain days, with a man to tally the bags and give a receipt. Farmers would then know when to be there, and would have some security for their grain after it was oat of their hands. —lam, &C, "..,.. ; J. H. Alingtox. Methven, May 13th, 1830. ■