from Hollow Rock north to Paducah. The Hickman branch crosses the Illinois Central's New Orleans line at Martin, southeast of Fulton; the Illinois Central's Memphis line at Gibbs, southwest of Fulton; the Mobile & Ohio at Union City, a few miles northwest of Gibbs and north of Rives. The Louisville & Nashville has a line from East St. Louis through Evansville, Ind., to Clarksville, Tenn.; another from Louisville through Clarksville to Memphis, which crosses the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis's Paducah and Hickman branches from Hollow Rock at Paris and McKenzie, respectively, north of Hollow Rock; the Illinois Central's New Orleans line at Milan, north of Jackson; the Mobile & Ohio at Humboldt, north of Jackson. The Iron Mountain has a car ferry from Carondelet, Mo., a few miles south of St. Louis, to East Carondelet, Ill., directly opposite, and a line from East Carondelet to Cairo. The Southern has the short line from Chattanooga to Memphis, through northern Alabama and Mississippi.

The usual route from Cape Girardeau to Cairo and the points involved beyond, through Cairo, is Frisco south across the Cotton Belt at Rockview, Mo., to Chaffee yard, Mo., 12.5 miles; Chicago & Eastern Illinois back over the rails of the Frisco to Rockview and thence east over the rails of the Cotton Belt to Illmo, Mo., and across the Thebes bridge to Thebes, 15.5 miles, or to Olive Branch, 9 miles south of Thebes; Iron Mountain from Thebes to Cairo, 23 miles; Mobile & Ohio or Illinois Central to destination or to common points with the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis, or Illinois Central from Olive Branch to Cairo, 18 miles; Illinois Central to destination or to junction points. Although this route is available to Memphis, the usual route to Memphis and to near-by points beyond is Frisco south through Bridge Junction, Ark., to Memphis; Illinois Central, Louisville & Nashville, or Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis beyond. The short-line route from Hannibal is Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad south to West Alton, Mo., just north of St. Louis, across a bridge leased by the Burlington, from West Alton to Alton, Ill., thence south from Alton to East St. Louis, Mobile & Ohio or Illinois Central beyond. The whole situation may be traced on the accompanying diagram.

The 5-cent rate applicable from Cape Girardeau to Cairo is a joint rate maintained by the Frisco and the Chicago & Eastern Illinois in connection with the Illinois Central and with the Iron Mountain. The Mobile & Ohio does not participate. The 9-cent rate named above from Cape Girardeau to Memphis applies by way of Cairo; the 7-cent rate named over the Frisco's one-line route through Bridge Junction. The rates from St. Louis to the points involved are joint rates 5 cents per 100 pounds over Cairo or 9 cents over Memphis.

The 9-cent differential used over Memphis is the local rate from St. Louis to Memphis. The 5-cent differential used over Cairo is lower than the local rate from St. Louis to Cairo, which is 6.5 cents. Kosmosdale has Louisville rates except to Paducah and near-by points. Louisville generally has St. Louis rates. Hannibal has rates 3 cents over St. Louis, 8 cents over Cairo, the local rate to Cairo, or 11 cents over Memphis, the local rate to Memphis, or 4 cents over St. Louis to certain Louisville & Nashville points, the local rate to St. Louis. Richard City has rates about the same as the rates from Kosmosdale except to Paducah and other points nearer to Kosmosdale than to Richard City. The rates from Cairo to local points on the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis are joint rates lower than the combinations based on the interior junction points such as Martin, at which the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis accepts the traffic. Where the rates from Cape Girardeau and from St. Louis to particular points make over Cairo they are the same. Where they make over Memphis from both points they are the same by the route from Cape Girardeau through Cairo, 2 cents lower from Cape Girardeau than from St. Louis by the route from Cape Girardeau through Bridge Junction. The Frisco's 7-cent rate to Memphis also gives Cape Girardeau an advantage of 2 cents or less to some points to which the rates from St. Louis make over Cairo. The following rates with short-line distances are typical:

Rates are asked from Cape Girardeau 2 cents per 100 pounds lower than the rates contemporaneously maintained from St. Louis to the same points, but not higher than the rates from Kosmosdale or Richard City. The grounds assigned are Cape Girardeau's advantage in distance to all of the points involved from all of the competing producing points named, its rate advantage over St. Louis locally at Cairo and at Memphis, and the rate advantage it would have over St. Louis under rates from St. Louis made like the rates from Cape Girardeau, by combination of locals on Cairo. The defense, in brief, is that Cape Girardeau properly is grouped with St. Louis for cement traffic through Cairo because of the slighter water competition from Cape Girardeau than from St. Louis, because of the complexity of the route from Cape Girardeau to Cairo, and because lower rates from Cape Girardeau than from St. Louis would compel equally low rates from Kosmosdale, which would destroy the justifiable parity maintained between Louisville and St. Louis.

Water competition compels the 9-cent rate from St. Louis to Memphis, which yields only 5.9 mills per ton-mile for 305 miles, as compared with 9.8 mills earned by the 17-cent rate from St. Louis to Little Rock, 345 miles, approved in Little Rock Chamber of Commerce v St. L., I. M. & S. Ry. Co., supra, and average ton-mile earnings of 6.28 cents for an average haul of 88 miles shown in the Five Per Cent case, 31 I. C. C., 351, 416, for the territory there involved.