In Great Britain the mineral trucks can ordinarily hold from 8 to io tons (long tons, 2240 lb), and the goods trucks rather less, though there are wagons in use holding 12 or 15 tons, and the specifications agreed to by the railway companies associated in the Railway Clearing House permit private wagon owners (who own about 45% of the wagon stock run on the railways of the United Kingdom) to build also wagons holding 20, 30, 40 and 56 tons.
As soon as the clearing house was set up it became evident that " futures " were an impossibility away from it.
Now from the clearing house importers were rigorously excluded, and on invoking the aid of " futures," therefore, they were penalized to the extent of double broker's commission, one commission being charged on the sale of the " futures " and one on their purchase back.
The exchange, the chamber of commerce and the clearing-house (one of the oldest in the world, dating from 1764) are united under one roof in the Palazzo del Commercio, opened in 1907.
Ethel Reagan, the Boston columnist, must have been as happy as a visit from Publisher's Clearing House.
