Demurrage

Demurrage, rate or account payable to shipowner by charterer for failure to load or discharge ship within time allowed, similar charge on railway trucks. The Concise Oxford Dictionary.

One of the larger Nurseries in the Toronto Area was Weale & Cullan, they had a few different locations in the Toronto area and Weale & Cullan Miniature Village in the Town of Whitby just outside Toronto.

Mr Cullan fancied himself a poet, and as part of his advertisement on CFRB one of the top radio stations in Toronto he would recite a poem he had written.

Aubrey R. and myself were Demurrage Clerks and would assess demurrage to a variety of delinquent clients from time to time. Demurrage and demurrage clerks were among the most hated things about railway charges and we would get mail from all sorts telling us we had done them wrong, which was not improbable.

The supervisors all hated demurrage as well because there was an auditor who would visit from time to time and go over our work, more often then not telling us we had not charged when we should have. When in doubt we gave the customer the break, although they never knew that.

When the Auditor found what he considered errors he would go to our boss Robert S. and tell him that we had to assess charges on a variety of clients we had not charged, and Robert S. would come to us and advise us to charge, which we did.

We never minded this but the supervisors sure did, I guess they resented the fact that someone could come in from outside the railway and dictate to them.

The auditors worked under the auspices of the C.C.D.B. Canadian Car Demurrage Bureau, anyway, one day we get an angry letter from Mr Cullan, of Weale & Cullan, saying we charged them when we should not have, and because we knew he liked poetry this was our answer to him.

Dear Mr. Cullan, we got your letter.
Regarding demurrage, there are none better.
Twenty four hours for customs to clear,
If you have done that you have nothing to fear.

To unload your car, you have forty eight hours.
If, you haven't done that, we are endowed with powers,
To charge you demurrage for any delays,
Fifteen dollars each, for the fist two days.

The next to days are twenty five dollars.
When the firms get these they let out hollers.
The next two days are thirty five each.
The reason for this is a lesson to teach.

Unload your car in a reasonable time,
Then you and the railroad will get along fine.
If you think there's an error, and your bill is unjust,
Just send it back, and you will find that we must, go over the charges to see if they're just.

If we are in error, we are only to glad,
To drop the charges because they were bad.
We like doing business with people like you,
You ASSHOLE.....

We showed this letter to Robert S. our boss and he just about shit believing we would, but seeing his face was payment enough.

At this time I don't remember if the charges stood, or not, but it doesn't really matter now.

In the summer while reading the obits, I saw that Mr Cullan had died, and in the obit. it said that he had quite a sense of humour so I guess, or like to think he would have thought it funny to

Allan