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Virginia Central Railroad
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General Superintendent's Office
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| Richmond, Va., April 7, 1864 |
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| Lt. Col. F. W. Sims QM &c |
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| Sir, |
| The order of the Quarter Master Genl
relative to Settling for goods &c lost in transit falls with great
severity on this Company. |
| I respectfully ask that you lay our
peculiar claims for Exemption from the effects of this order before
him. |
| We are peculiarly exposed to losses from
the fact that we run our trains freight) between Richmond &
Gordonsville at night. We do this in order to save time and enable us
to accomplish what is required of us with our limited stock of cars.
Our losses have been very heavy, and I must be ??? for saying greater
than we can afford to pay. We have used every effort and have gone to
great expense to guard the trains but with no success. On the 3d of
April a Car was entered & fifteen bags of corn taken. A guard was
on the car and saw the operation. He was one of several who had been
furnished me by the military authorities at Gordonsville & put on
to induce me to continue our present schedule. He acted very foolishly
no doubt in not giving the alarm, but said that there were seven or
eight robbers & he thought they would kill him! I could only
dismiss him & have not the power to appoint others, owing to the
Act of Congress limiting the number we can employ. This loss was very
small compared with most that have occurred. I mention it as the only
instance where we have been able to detect robbery in the act of
commission. We have long suspected that they occurred on the heavy
grade leading out of Richmond, where the trains, overloaded,
frequently run slow enough to permit persons to get on the
train. |
| This rule of the market price is very
uncertain, for instance we have paid from $6 to $10 per bushel for
corn, yet it brings in Richmond three or four times the latter price
& so of other articles. |
| I do not wish to
weary you by ????? making this communication too long. We are ready to
settle our accounts & do not intend to contest the claim of the
Government for compensation for losses although I think in equity we
could ask to be released, but I do ask that we may be allowed to
settle at Commissary prices, where they have been fixed and in other
cases to pay cost & charges so that the Government will not
be losers. If this cannot be done I must leave our accounts unsettled
until our Board of Directors can be consulted & in the mean time
ask that all bacon, sugar & such like valuable articles be sent by
Express & at Express rates. |
| If we settle as I
propose I intend to continue our night schedule & of course will
protect the train as well as I am able, if not I shall immediately
make sure other arrangement & at all events we must contend that
the Richmond price is not a proper one to charge for these losses. |
| Will you be kind
enough to see Genl Lawton & learn what he will determine upon. It
is a matter which affects us so severely as to call for immediate
action. |
| Very Respectfully |
| Your obt Sevt |
| H. D. Whitcomb |
| Genl Supt. |