and the Boston, Clinton & Fitchburg Railroads, indiscriminately, and to mix up in their trains cars destined for both roads, and to run them all into the yard of the Fitchburg Railroad, to be there assorted, reloaded and shifted as above stated.

A contract between the Fitchburg Railroad Company and the Vermont & Massachusetts Railroad Company was exhibited, which provides for the use of the Fitchburg track and appurtenances at Fitchburg by the Vermont & Massachusetts Railroad in making up trains in connection with the Fitchburg Railroad, and it appears to have been considered by the respondents that any labor performed. by the Fitchburg Railroad upon cars and merchandise coming to their road from the Vermont & Massachusetts Railroad or the Cheshire Railroad, its tenant, was performed under that contract. The petitioners, however, denied that the contract was intended to cover or did cover the business coming to the Clinton line.

The commissioners do not deem it necessary to construe this contract or to take it into consideration. By section 114 of chapter 63 of the General Statutes, it is the duty of the Vermont & Massachusetts Railroad, and of the Cheshire Railroad, as its tenant, to deliver to the Boston, Clinton & Fitchburg Railroad, by its connecting track, all "merchandise consigned, ordered or directed to be sent" over said Boston, Clinton & Fitchburg Railroad; and by the same section the Fitchburg Railroad is forbidden to "receive and forward over their road any merchandise consigned, ordered or expressly directed to be forwarded over a different route." The objection is also reciprocal upon the Boston, Clinton & Fitchburg Railroad to deliver over its connecting track all "merchandise consigned, ordered or directed to be sent" over the Vermont & Massachusetts and Cheshire Railroads.

Whatever, therefore, may be the construction of the above-mentioned contract, as between the Fitchburg and the Vermont & Massachusetts Railroads, it cannot change the obligations of the Vermont & Massachusetts Railroad, or the Cheshire Railroad as its tenant, under the law, to deliver freight consigned to the Boston, Clinton & Fitchburg Railroad as a connecting road; nor can it give to the Fitchburg Railroad any claim against the Boston, Clinton & Fitchburg Railroad for any service performed in relation to any merchandise consigned to the latter road from the Vermont & Massachusetts or Cheshire roads,

The board, therefore, find that the service undoubtedly performed by the Fitchburg Railroad Company in loading and unloading freight and making up trains destined for the Boston, Clinton &

Fitchburg Railroad, so far as it concerns merchandise consigned to said Boston, Clinton & Fitchburg Railroad, has been performed by said Fitchburg Railroad Company as agents and servants of the Vermont & Massachusetts and the Cheshire Railroad Companies, and that their claim for compensation, if any, for service so performed, is upon said companies, and not upon the Boston, Clinton & Fitchburg Railroad Company.

And for the future the board advise all the railroad companies above named to conform strictly to the provisions of section 114 of chapter 63 of the General Statutes, unless amicable arrangements can be made for the mutual use of each other's premises in the transfer of freight to connecting lines.

COMPLAINT OF THE SELECTMEN OF WAREHAM, on petition of C. F. A. Weston and others, concerning rates of freight on cordwood on the Cape Cod Railroad.

This matter was referred to Mr. Appleton, who met several of the petitioners and Mr. Winslow, superintendent of the Cape Cod Railroad, at Wareham, and heard the evidence which was offered. It appeared that in old times, before the building of the railroad, a great deal of wood was sent away by coasters from this section of the country for the supply of Newport, New York and other places. After the railroad was built, it furnished a better market for wood, and the coasters withdrew and went into other business. Of late years, the railroad company have used coal chiefly for fuel, and the demand for wood has fallen off. New York and other places in that direction are now supplied by coasters from Virginia cheaper than it can be done from the Cape section. The owners of wood, therefore, looking round for a possible market, concluded that Boston was the best place for them, but, on consulting the printed tariff of rates of transportation, thought it was too high to leave them any profit. These tariff rates, of course, are fixed for small quantities, and it is usual on all railroads to make deductions on such rates for large quantities. None of the petitioners had been to see Mr. Winslow, or communicated with him in any way, to ascertain whether he would make any deductions from the printed rates. After some discussion on the matter, Mr. Winslow named a price, $3.50 per cord from Wareham and Agawam to Boston, for quantities of fifty cords and upwards, which the petitioners present expressed themselves satisfied with. No further action, therefore, was required. from the board of railroad commissioners.

COMPLAINT OF THE SELECTMEN OF WAREHAM, on the petition of C. F. A. Weston and others, relative to a dangerous crossing of the Cape Cod Railroad in that town.

This matter was also referred to Mr. Appleton, who visited the crossing referred to, and heard the statements of the petitioners and the superintendent of the road. There is an unobstructed

view of the railroad on both sides of the crossing for some distance, and it is not at all dangerous in the sense of being hidden or obscure. The crossing itself is on a bridge over the river, and as the bridge is placed obliquely to the parts of the road on each side of it, the track of the railroad becomes nearly parallel to the line of common travel for vehicles on the bridge. If the crossing had been left, as is common on road crossings, with a square recess between the plank and the rails, there would be danger of light vehicles twisting their wheels off in the cavity. But here unusual care has been taken to chamfer off the edges of the plank, so that in this respect the crossing resembles the track of a horse-railroad, and is no more dangerous than such tracks are in the streets of a city. But in consequence of the oblique position of the bridge to the other parts of the road, the track of the common travel comes very near the corner of the bridge railing, and there is a possibility of accidents there in a dark night. This, however, does not appear to be caused by the construction of the railroad, but is a consequence of the location of the town road itself. Moreover, it is claimed by the railroad company that this crossing was accepted by the county commissioners when the railroad was first built as sufficient and proper, and that no complaints have been made of it before. Mr. Appleton suggested to the parties that the road might be much improved by widening the eastern causeway leading to the bridge on the northern side of it, and widening the bridge to meet it so as to render the crossing more direct, and remove the projecting angle of the bridge railing; and Mr. Appleton proposed, as a fair and equitable division of the cost of the improvement, that the town should widen the causeway, and the railroad company should widen the bridge., Mr. Winslow, for the railroad company, agreed to do so. The selectmen reserved the matter for consideration.

Another crossing in the neighborhood was also brought to Mr. Appleton's notice, viz., that of branch tracks leading to Tobey's Wharf, crossing the same town road near the end of another bridge. As the bridge is three or four feet higher than the tracks, and the descent is made in twenty feet or less, the pitch is quite abrupt and the crossing rather inconvenient. As the road on the other side of

the crossing rises also, Mr. Appleton suggested that the tracks should be raised one or two feet. The railroad company are willing to do this if consented to by all interested. This, however, would make it necessary to raise the tracks on the wharf also, and perhaps the wharf owner may object to this. How far the legal rights of the wharf owner give him power in the premises, Mr. Appleton is not aware; these branch tracks were authorized in the original charter of the railroad company. Should there be any difficulty in making the change suggested, Mr. Appleton also pointed out another way in which the crossing might be improved, viz., by dropping the cap on the first bend of piles in the bridge about one foot, and thus make the descent more gradual. The expense of this alteration would be small, and it would belong to the town to make the change. If the tracks are raised, the expense would be more, but the railroad company are willing to do it as far as and including the road crossing. No further action in this case appears to be necessary on the part of the railroad commissioners. Mr. Appleton will suggest, however, that under chapter 63 of the General Statutes, a greater power over railroad crossings is vested in the county commissioners than has been entrusted to this board, and that if any parties remain dissatisfied with the existing state of things in regard to these crossings, their proper course is to apply to the county commissioners.

COMPLAINT OF THE SELECTMEN OF FREETOWN, on the petition of Paul M. Burns and others, concerning rates of freight on cord-wood on the New Bedford & Taunton Railroad.

This was a complaint of the selectmen of Freetown in the county of Barnstable, on the petition of certain citizens of that town, in regard to alleged excessive charges of the New Bedford & Taunton Railroad Company for the transportation of cord-wood. A hearing before the full board was had in relation to the matter at the station in East Freetown, and in New Bedford, on the 2d day of August; numerous witnesses were examined and counsel heard in behalf of both parties. The following are the essential facts in the

case:

The New Bedford & Taunton Railroad Company, from the time it first went into operation in 1840 down to the year 1853, had been in the custom of charging a certain amount per mile for the carriage of wood by the cord on their cars, but the minimum amount charged for any distance of carriage was 75 cents per cord.

COMPLAINT OF THE SELECTMEN OF WAREHAM, on the petition of C. F. A. Weston and others, relative to a dangerous crossing of the Cape Cod Railroad in that town.

This matter was also referred to Mr. Appleton, who visited the crossing referred to, and heard the statements of the petitioners and the superintendent of the road. There is an unobstructed

view of the railroad on both sides of the crossing for some distance, and it is not at all dangerous in the sense of being hidden or obscure. The crossing itself is on a bridge over the river, and as the bridge is placed obliquely to the parts of the road on each side of it, the track of the railroad becomes nearly parallel to the line of common travel for vehicles on the bridge. If the crossing had been left, as is common on road crossings, with a square recess between the plank and the rails, there would be danger of light vehicles twisting their wheels off in the cavity. But here unusual care has been taken to chamfer off the edges of the plank, so that in this respect the crossing resembles the track of a horse-railroad, and is no more dangerous than such tracks are in the streets of a city. But in consequence of the oblique position of the bridge to the other parts of the road, the track of the common travel comes very near the corner of the bridge railing, and there is a possibility of accidents there in a dark night. This, however, does not appear to be caused by the construction of the railroad, but is a consequence of the location of the town road itself. Moreover, it is claimed by the railroad company that this crossing was accepted by the county commissioners when the railroad was first built as sufficient and proper, and that no complaints have been made of it before. Mr. Appleton suggested to the parties that the road might be much improved by widening the eastern causeway leading to the bridge on the northern side of it, and widening the bridge to meet it so as to render the crossing more direct, and remove the projecting angle of the bridge railing; and Mr. Appleton proposed, as a fair and equitable division of the cost of the improvement, that the town should widen the causeway, and the railroad company should widen the bridge., Mr. Winslow, for the railroad company, agreed to do so. The selectmen reserved the matter for consideration.

Another crossing in the neighborhood was also brought to Mr. Appleton's notice, viz., that of branch tracks leading to Tobey's Wharf, crossing the same town road near the end of another bridge. As the bridge is three or four feet higher than the tracks, and the descent is made in twenty feet or less, the pitch is quite abrupt and the crossing rather inconvenient. As the road on the other side of