ACCOMMODATIONS, FARES, RATES, SERVICE. RAILROAD RATES. Order of the Commission permitting stated changes in tariffs effective upon less than statutory notice. After consideration, It is Ordered, That until further ordered, carriers be authorized to file tariffs, or supplements to tariffs, effective upon one day's notice to the Commission and to the general public, which provide for additional through rates for the through carriage of freight or passengers and the rates or fares applicable thereto, and which provide for additional routes, receiving or delivery points at stations and ports necessary to the operation of railroads as a national system of transportation, and the terms, rates, conditions and absorptions incident thereto. And it is Further ordered, That each tariff or supplement filed under authority hereof shall bear on its title-page the notation "Issued on one (1) day's notice, under M. P. S. C. No. 2043, of January 15, 1918." Attest: ANDREW A. HIGHLANDS, JANUARY 15, 1918. [P. S. C. 2043] Secretary. Order of House of Representatives for an investigation by the Commission of the rates of fare charged by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Company, especially the fares between Boston and points on Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket; also petition of Herbert M. Chase protesting against said passenger fares. Memorandum. At the public hearing on this order and the petition heard therewith no objection was offered to the regular one-way rates or to the mileage or season ticket rates applicable to the entire New Haven system, but complaint was directed to the discontinuance, in accordance with certain tariffs approved by the Commission in the railroad passenger rate case (3 P. S. C. Rep., p. 3), of certain reduced-rate excursion tickets which had theretofore been in effect between Boston and points on Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket during the summer months. The complainants contended in substance that the establishment of excursion rates of this character was consistent with the practice of other railroad companies, that such rates were profitable to the company by stimulating additional passenger business, and were also demanded by considerations of public policy, in view of the commercial importance of the summer resort business of the commonwealth. For these reasons they requested the Commission to order the company to restore the old rates, or at least to establish some form of excursion ticket between the same points at a substantial reduction from the regular one-way fares. The company claimed that these rates proved unremunerative and that it could not defend the making of low rates to these points when it was not making them to the rest of its territory. No other rates of this character were in effect in Massachusetts or anywhere on the New Haven system, except between New York and certain points in the Berkshire district where excursion tickets were furnished in order to meet the competition of the New York Central railroad at a reduction of 10 per cent from twice the one-way fare. During the progress of the hearing the Commission expressed doubt as to its authority to order the restoration of these special excursion rates after their withdrawal by the company, especially as such rates would appear to be discriminatory against other points where no such rates were in effect. The Commission, however, suggested to the company that it might well consider the advisability of voluntarily establishing a special round-trip rate during the summer months to points in Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket upon the same basis as the round-trip rates from New York to the Berkshire district. As the company signified its willingness to adopt this suggestion, the Commission, soon after the conclusion of the hearing, decided that it could not properly take any further action upon the pending order and petition. As this decision was not formally issued at that time, this memorandum is now entered to close the record. SEPTEMBER 24, 1918. For the Commission, ANDREW A. HIGHLANDS, [P.S. C. 951] Secretary. REPARATION. Petition of the Boston and Albany Railroad (New York Central Railroad Company, lessee) and the Boston and Maine Railroad to authorize payment of a claim for reparation. This is a petition of the Boston and Albany Railroad (New York Central Railroad Company, lessee) and the Boston and Maine Railroad for authority to repay to Charles M. Field of Springfield the sum of $144.09 as special reparation under the provisions of chapter 92 of the General Acts of 1916, on account of excessive charges collected on fourteen cars of brick forwarded from Northampton to West Springfield yard between December 30, 1916, and April 17, 1917. The Commission is satisfied from its investigation through the Rate and Tariff Department that the charges collected upon the shipments in question were in fact unduly discriminatory and that the petitioners should be allowed to repay the overcharge on the basis applicable thereto both before and after the dates above named. It is Ordered, That the Boston and Albany Railroad (New York Central Railroad Company, lessee) and the Boston and Maine Railroad be authorized to repay, under the provisions of chapter 92 of the General Acts of 1916, to Charles M. Field of Springfield the sum of $144.09 as reparation on account of unjustly discriminatory charges collected upon the aforesaid shipments. Attest: ANDREW A. HIGHLANDS, OCTOBER 31, 1918. [P. S. C. 2021-D] Secretary. Petition of the Boston and Albany Railroad (New York Central Railroad Company, lessee) and the Boston and Maine Railroad to authorize payment of a claim for reparation. This is a petition of the Boston and Albany Railroad (New York Central Railroad Company, lessee) and the Boston and Maine Railroad for authority to repay to E. J. Cross Company of Worcester the sum of $581.27 as special reparation under the provisions of chapter 92 of the General Acts of 1916, on fiftyfive cars of brick transported from Northampton to Springfield on the Boston and Maine railroad and thence to Worcester on the Boston and Albany railroad during the period March 29, 1917, to July 30, 1917. The rate used in the movement of the shipments in question was $1.40 per net ton in carload lots, with minimum weight of 50,000 pounds, established in Boston and Maine Railroad tariff supplement No. 7 to M. P. S. C. No. 1150, effective March 23, 1917. In view of the rate in force at the same time on brick from Mechanicsville, New York, to Worcester, a distance of 168 miles, of $1.10 per net ton, the claimant considered the collected rate of $1.40 from Northampton to Worcester, a distance of 72 miles, unjustly discriminatory. As a rate of $1.10 per net ton has now been published to cover the transportation of brick from Northampton to Worcester by supplement No. 11 of Boston and Maine railroad tariff M. P. S. C. No. 1150, effective October 24, 1917, and as the Commission is satisfied from its investigation through its Rate and Tariff Department that the rate used in the case under consideration was in fact unjustly discriminatory, it is Ordered, That the Boston and Albany Railroad (New York Central Railroad Company, lessee) and the Boston and Maine Railroad be authorized to repay, under the provisions of chapter 92 of the General Acts of 1916, to E. J. Cross Company of Worcester the sum of $581.27 as reparation on account of the unjustly discriminatory rate applied upon the aforesaid shipments. MAY 17, 1918. Attest: ANDREW A. HIGHLANDS, Secretary. Petition of the Boston and Albany Railroad (New York Central Railroad Company, lessee) and the Boston and Maine Railroad to authorize payment of a claim for reparation. This is a petition of the Boston and Albany railroad (New York Central Railroad Company, lessee) and the Boston and Maine railroad for authority to repay to Daniel O'Connell's Sons of Holyoke the sum of $136.16 as special reparation under the provisions of chapter 92 of the General Acts of 1916, on sixteen cars of crushed stone transported from Westfield to Springfield on the Boston and Albany railroad and thence to Farley on the Boston and Maine railroad during the period August 20, 1917, to September 4, 1917. The rates used in the movement of the shipments in question were Boston and Albany rate of 45 cents per net ton as established by Boston and Albany tariff M. P. S. C. No. 834 and Boston and Maine rate of 60 cents per net ton as established by Boston and Maine tariff M. P. S. C. No. 1070, making the combined charges $1.05 per net ton. It appears that at the time the shipments to Farley were made, a joint rate of 79 cents, from Westfield (via Springfield) to Deerfield, Greenfield and Millers Falls, points contiguous to Farley, was in effect, and provision for future movements of the same character to Farley has been made by the reissue of joint commodity tariff Boston and Albany M. P. S. C. No. 823, under new number M. P. S. C. 1053, effective September 6, 1917. The Commission is satisfied from its investigation through its Rate and Tariff Department that the rates used and collected upon the shipments to Farley, namely, $1.05 per net ton, as against a joint rate of 79 cents per net ton applicable to points contiguous to Farley, were in fact unduly discriminatory, and it is Ordered, That the Boston and Albany Railroad (New York Central Railroad Company, lessee) and the Boston and Maine Railroad be authorized to repay, under the provisions of chapter 92 of the General Acts of 1916, to Daniel O'Connell's Sons of Holyoke the sum of $136.16 as reparation on account of the unjustly discriminatory rate applied upon the aforesaid shipments. MAY 17, 1918. Attest: ANDREW A. HIGHLANDS, [P. S. C. 2021-B] Secretary. Petition of the Boston and Maine Railroad to authorize payment of a claim for reparation. This is a petition of the Boston and Maine Railroad for authority to repay to the Town of Hudson the sum of $3.53 as special reparation under the provisions of chapter 92 of the General Acts of 1916 on one car of bituminous coal transported from Boston to Hudson on the Boston and Maine railroad on December 4, 1917. The coal in question was shipped by the New England Coal and Coke Company and billed under Boston and Maine freight tariff M. P. S. C. No. 1239, which provides for a rate of 90 cents per gross ton on a car with a minimum capacity of 40,000 pounds, or marked capacity of car if less than 40,000 pounds. The car used in the transportation of the coal had a carrying capacity of 40,000 pounds of certain kinds of freight but, on account of low sideboards, held only 31,200 pounds of bituminous coal, which was the actual amount shipped. The Commission is satisfied from its investigation through its Rate and Tariff Department that the charges collected upon the |