Mr. Midgley told the Interstate Commission in April, 1904, how the representatives of sixty railroads met in St. Louis in 1894 and tried to stand up against the Trusts, beginning with a reduction of the extortionate mileage rates on tank and refrigerator cars, but they could not free themselves from the yoke of oil and beef. The Standard gave all its shipments to the Great Western, which agreed to pay the old mileage. The other lines out of Chicago could not get a carload to St. Paul or the Missouri River. The railroads surrendered finally to both the Standard Oil and the Beef Trust. They reduced the mileage rates on stock cars, railroad cars, and other cars not controlled by the Trusts to 6 mills per mile, but excepted refrigerator and tank cars out of respect to the power of Armour and Rockefeller, because, the trunk lines said, referring to the power of these Trusts: “We have never been able to stand up against it.” We have not yet finished with the favors shown to Armour. The railroads as a rule inspect the loading of every car and the unfavored shipper cannot mix eggs or poultry with low-class provisions and bill it all at a low rate. But the Armours can do this, for inspection in their case is a mere form. There is one inspector for shipments that average 75 cars a day. The inspector could not watch them all if he would, and in fact he simply inspects the Armour records and takes their word for the contents of the cars.[286] It is charged that Armour not only gets large quantities of high-class freight carried at the rates appropriate to lower-class freight by unreported mixing of his goods in carload lots billed at the lowest rate applicable to any of the goods in the car; it is also further charged that the space beneath the beef that is hung up in the refrigerator cars is often crowded full of poultry, eggs, etc., which are carried for nothing. No wonder Armour can undersell his rivals all over the country and ruin his competitors in any market he chooses to enter.