Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 38, Number 2, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 August 1905 — ROADB TO OBEY RULES. [ARTICLE]

ROADB TO OBEY RULES.

Western Lines Promise to Take Better Gere of Cettleen Route. Traffic and operating officials of western railroads are glad that a final ruling has been made by the Secretary of Agriculture regarding the feeding, watering' and resting of live stock in transit. The federal statute prohibiting railroads from confining live stock in cars more than twenty-eight hours without food and water was variously construed by the railroads, and quite a number of them simply ignored the law until the Department of Agriculture recently brought suit against them and they were heavily fined. . • One disputed point was whether a- railroad company, under a rigid interpretation of the law, could keep lira stock in cars more than twenty-eight hours even if the cars were provided with-troughs for feeding and watering. The Secretary of Agriculture rules that the railroads need not take cattle out Qf cars which are provided with food and water troughs of certain dimensions, provide'd there shall be room in each car for at least one-third of the cattle to lie down at the same time. Fo©»y' and water must bte supplied .to cattle* at Intervals not exceeding twenty-eight bitfurs, and in supplying water each car must be stopped at least five minutes and ths troughs kept filled with clear water. “Now that the railroads know just what the government requires .in ths transportation of live stock they will make the necessary changes immediately,” said a traffic official of one of the big western systems. “Food and water troughs too small will be replaced by others of the size specified by tho government. Under no circumstances will cattle be kept longer than twenty-eight hours in cars not equipped for feeding and watering. The shippers and carriers would rather not unload lire stock on route, but will have to do it to a great extent because most of the cars are not equipped for feeding and watering to transit.”