The evidence here submitted with respect to the above-named articles will be so considered and to that end.

All the articles named in the complaints are heavy, dry, powdered substances possessing no unfavorable transportation characteristics, although all require closed cars for transportation. The complainants ship their products in bulk in bags or in bulk in barrels, and complainant in the title case also ships limited quantities in paper cartons enclosed in boxes.

Kalsomine is a mixture of ground talc and limestone, together with from 3 to 12 per cent of either glue or casein. In making colored kalsomine pigments are added in proper proportions. The commodity referred to in the title case as cold-water paint is shown to be merely a kalsomine which contains casein instead of glue. The carload rating in the southern classification is eighth class and in the western classification is class C, both being 30 per cent of first class.2 The carload minimum in both classifications is 36,000 pounds. Complainant sells its kalsomine at prices ranging from $40 to $70 per ton, but these prices evidently are not representative of kalsomine generally. A report of the United States Census Bureau shows that in 1925 the domestic production of kalsomine was 55,000 tons, with an average sales price of $80 per ton. Investigations made by defendants from time to time in connection with applications for changes in the classification confirm the correctness of this average figure, although there are limited quantities of specially tinted kalsomines on the market which sell for as high as 25 cents per pound, or $500 per ton. In our opinion, the present basis of rates on this commodity is not unreasonable.

Patching plaster is made by complainant in the title case by adding sand, whiting, and a small quantity of glue to ordinary wall plaster. It is used on walls for the purpose which its name suggests. It sells for $20 per ton in bulk packages and $22.50 per ton in cartons. Patching plaster is rated in the classification simply as wall plaster in an item which embraces also plaster of paris and stucco plaster. The carload minimum is 40,000 pounds, and the ratings are column 40 in the South and column 30 in the West. Defendants point out that the finer grades of plaster of paris moving under this classification item sell for $30 per ton, but they concede that the bulk of the movement thereunder is ordinary gypsum wall plaster, with a value of approximately $6 per ton. The carload rates on wall plaster in the Southwest and Southeast are now before us in I. and S. Nos. 3588 and 3615, respectively. Respondents there propose column 30

Where class rates governed by the western classification are expressed in terms of percentages of first class in this report the percentages stated are those applicable in southwestern and western trunk-line territories.

rates, minimum 40,000 pounds, in the Southwest, and column 17.5 rates, minimum 60,000 pounds, in the Southeast. However, if the rates which ultimately result from those proceedings take the form of commodity rates, complainants' mixed carloads which contain patching plaster will still remain subject as a minimum to the class rates on wall plaster. The record suggests no reason why patching plaster should be classified in the western classification the same as kalsomine, a commodity four times as valuable. In United States Gypsum Co. v. Staten I. R. T. Ry. Co., 151 I. C. C. 641, division 4 prescribed the column 20 rates under the southern classification for dental plaster, a commodity quite similar from a transportation standpoint to the patching plaster here considered. Following that decision, and upon this record, we find that the assailed carload rates on patching plaster are and for the future will be unreasonable to the extent that they may exceed the now effective corresponding column 20 rates, subject to a carload minimum not exceeding 50,000 pounds.

Ocher is a yellow or red clay, the color being due to the presence of iron ore. When cleaned, dried, and ground it makes a suitable paint pigment. There is a wide range in the quality and price of ochers. Complainant in the title case sells it at prices between $30 and $50 per ton, whereas the prices received by complainant in No. 23337 range from $12 to $45 per ton. Defendants' testimony is that some high grades of imported ochers occasionally sell for as much as $100 per ton, but they admit that the domestic ocher, which comes principally from Georgia, is very much cheaper. The carload rating for ocher in both the southern and western classifications is column 30, minimum 36,000 pounds. In southern territory this basis is reduced by classification exceptions of wide application to column 20, with a minimum of 40,000 pounds. We find that the assailed carload rates on ocher are and for the future will be unreasonable to the extent that they may exceed the now effective corresponding column 22.5 rates, subject to a carload minimum not exceeding 50,000 pounds.

Ground iron ore, mortar color, and oxide of iron are commodities so closely related as to require that they be dealt with together. Certain kinds of ground iron ore make a paint pigment which may be either black, brown, red, or yellow, depending on the character of the ore. Most of them are chemically iron oxides, but there are also certain iron-oxide pigments which are obtained otherwise than by grinding iron ore. Moreover, the use of these ground iron ores or iron oxides is not limited to the paint industry. They are also used, among other things, as an ingredient of prepared stock feed, in the purification of illuminating gas, and to impart a color to building

mortar. When used as mortar color such minor ingredients as ocher or carbon black are sometimes added, but not usually. Iron oxide, mortar color, and ground iron ore, although practically synonymous terms, are separately rated in the classification. The explanation is that the paint industry uses the terms "ground iron ore and "mortar color," while the gas and stock-feed industries are accustomed to the designation "iron oxide." The carload rating for iron oxide, mortar color, and ground iron ore, both in the South and West, is column 30, except iron oxide in the South, which is fifth class (column 45). The carload minimum weight for mortar color and ground iron ore is 36,000 pounds, and for iron oxide, 40,000 pounds. By general classification exceptions the rating in the South for mortar color and ground iron ore, but not for iron oxide, is reduced to column 20, minimum 40,000 pounds.

Complainant in the title case sells ground iron ore at prices ranging from $20 to $40 per ton, and mortar color, from $20 to $50 per ton. Complainant in No. 23337 uses the terms ground iron ore, mortar color, and iron oxide interchangeably. Its selling prices range from $13 to $50 per ton and average $22 per ton. Complainants in No. 23474, who are primary producers of these commodities, sell them at an average price of $20 per ton. They use the designation ground iron ore or mortar color, but not iron oxide. This is perhaps because they are located in southern territory, where the carload rating applicable under the iron-oxide description is column 45 as contrasted with column 20 on mortar color and ground iron

ore.

Defendants show that in 1928 12,700 tons of iron oxide were imported, with an average value, after payment of duty, of $56 per ton; that a special form of iron oxide which is used to polish plate glass sells for about $100 per ton; and that in 1928 a carload of very finely ground iron ore which came to their attention, and which was used ultimately as a pigment in the manufacture of rubber, was found to be invoiced at $195 per ton. They agree, however, that such investigation as they have made of the subject points to the general correctness of the values found by division 4 in Blue Ridge Talc Co. v. Cincinnati, N. O. & T. P. Ry. Co., 147 I. C. C. 507, namely from $14 to $25 per ton for ground iron ore and from $14 to $46 per ton for mortar color. These figures, it will be observed, are not inconsistent with complainants' testimony here that the average price is about $20 or $22 per ton.

In Consolidated Southwestern Cases, 123 I. C. C. 203, 298, we found that the class rates there prescribed would be reasonable for application to paints in carloads. Most dry paints, including ground iron ore, were then rated class C in the western classification,

The

and paints in oil were rated fifth class. The class C rates were fixed at 27.5 per cent of first class by that decision. There was contemporaneously pending before us Ground Iron Ore to Texas Points, in which increased commodity rates were proposed for ground iron ore from certain points in the Southeast and from East St. Louis to Houston, Tex., and points taking the same rates. Consistently with our findings in Consolidated Southwestern Cases, division 3 authorized complete cancellation of these commodity rates and the application of the class C rates; 129 I. C. C. 557. Thereafter, on reconsideration of the latter cases, 139 I. C. C. 535, we authorized an increase in the class C rates from column 27.5 to column 30. net result of these changes with respect to the rate on ground iron ore from Chattanooga to Houston was an increase from 53 to 72 cents per 100 pounds, and the record supports the conclusion that the result generally was to increase the rates on this commodity into and within the Southwest. Defendants direct attention to many instances where reductions of moderate proportions resulted from application of the new class C rates, both within the Southwest and interterritorially, but between most of the points to which they refer may well be doubted if there was or is any appreciable movement. A point which all complainants emphasize in support of lower rates on ground iron ore and kindred earth pigments is the fact that within the Southeast and the Southwest the column 30 rates are applicable to lead pigments, commodities practically 10 times as valuable as ground iron ore. Although the classification basis of fifth class (column 40) in the Southwest for the lead pigments has been twice approved, once in Oklahoma Traffic Asso. v. St. LouisS. F. Ry. Co., 129 I. C. C. 461, by division 4, and again in Standard Battery Mfg. Co. v. K. C. S. Ry. Co., 144 I. C. C. 48, by division 3, and, although complainants do not here claim to be unduly prejudiced by the subsequent voluntary action of defendants in reducing the lead pigments to column 30, it nevertheless is difficult to reconcile defendants' contention that column 30 rates are reasonable for ground iron ore with the unexplained fact that those rates are also accorded to the much more valuable lead pigments.

it

In Ground Iron Ore to Texas Points, supra, as justification for the increased rates proposed, respondents directed attention, among other things, to fuller's earth, which is a magnesia-bearing clay used for oil filtration. Fuller's earth, like ground ore, is rated class C in western classification, and respondents there asserted that the transportation characteristics of ground iron ore were the same as those of fuller's earth. Yet in Shaffer Oil & Refining Co. v. Atlanta & St. A. B. Ry. Co., 178 I. C. C. 748, and other cases now pending defendants have proposed the southwestern column 20 rates

as reasonable for fuller's earth. In effect, therefore, defendants urge that the rates on ground iron ore should be 50 per cent higher than those on fuller's earth, notwithstanding that their transportation characteristics are conceded to be identical.

In Permutit Co. v. C. R. R. Co. of N. J., 144 I. C. C. 83, division 3 prescribed a carload rating of class C, minimum 40,000 pounds, in the western classification for sand specially processed for water filtering or softening, with a value at point of origin of $66 per ton. In Consolidated Southwestern Cases, supra, we prescribed the column 25 rates, minimum 40,000 pounds, for prepared or composition roofing, in carloads; and in Standard Paint Co. v. Director General, 142 I. C. C. 221, we prescribed corresponding basis of rates, ninth class, for such roofing in southern territory. The value of prepared or composition roofing at that time was approximately $50 per ton. In Southwestern Rates, 173 I. C. C. 662, we approved as maxima the column 25 rates, minimum 40,000 pounds, for asbestos cement with a value of $22 per ton, and the column 20 rates, minimum 36,000 pounds, for spent catalyzer. The latter is a product resembling common black earth, valuable for its nickel and copper content. This value was found to be approximately $23 per ton, less the cost of extraction. In the light of these decisions, we are of opinion and find that the assailed rates on ground iron ore, mortar color, and iron oxide are and for the future will be unreasonable to the extent that they may exceed the now effective corresponding column 25 rates, subject to a carload minimum not in excess of 50,000 pounds.

Graphite is an amorphous natural carbon. In addition to its use as a paint pigment, which appears to be rather limited, it is used in foundry facings, stove polishes, as a lubricant, and in the manufacture of lead pencils. The carload rating of graphite is fourth class in the southern and fifth class in the western classification, minimum 36,000 pounds. The southern rating is actually an any-quantity basis, as fourth class is also provided for less-than-carload shipments. Graphite of average quality is worth approximately $90 per ton. Complainant in the title case uses a cheap grade, which it sells at prices ranging from $25 to $60 per ton, and suggests that the reduced basis of rates which it seeks could be restricted to "low-grade graphite, not a lubricant." Obviously, such a description would not operate effectually to separate graphite of the kind shipped by complainant from other grades of the same commodity. Nevertheless, the carload ratings assailed appear excessive for application to graphite generally. Graphite is comparable in value, as it is also in its transportation characteristics, to kalsomine, for which the column 30 rates have heretofore in this report been found not unreasonable. In Obermeyer & Co. v. Ann Arbor R. Co., 147 I. C. C. 646, on evi