The Portland daily press., 1870-07-26
How the whea, Crop !. uaudled.
Correspondence Of the N. Y. TIibunel

MILWAUKEE, July 1e.
As general mart for the sale of all grains,
Chicago is quite in advance of this city and
of all our cities; but for wheat as tile special
crop of the West, the grand cereal, Milwaukee
is the place for learning how it is treated after
it leaves the bins of the farmers The reason
why this place thus bears off the palm and
gives law in the wheat market is simply be-
cause she has had several far-seeing and en-
terprising citizens who were duly impressed
with the importance Of drawing the crops of
the great grain region north and west of here
to this point for shipment to Eastern cities.
The railroads built, Milwaukee has laid her
hands on lions share of the wheat crops of
the Northwest by certain business Virtues and
by prompt and liberal expenditures at the
right time and place. In this respect her ex-
ample is a pattern, and is profitable for young
business places and young business men to
study. For it is by no means a matter OF
course that Milwaukee should receive and
ship twenty odd million bushels of wheat
This is not the only outlet. In fact, Chicago
is reaching out for this same twenty million
bushels, and she would have drawn it had not
Milwaukee made it for the interest of all
shippers of spring wheat to send their trains
here rather than to her vigorous, vigilant, dar-
ing and imperial rival.
WHAT Is AN ELEVATOR?
An Elevator, in these grain cities, means an
enormous building, usually more than two
hundred feet long and over one hundred high,
with an equipment of powerful belts and
buckets for raising grain, and rows of gigantic
bins for storing it. 1 have just returned from
visit to Elevator A, that stands at the term
nation OF the La Crosse division of the Mil
waukee and st. Paul Railroad. This struc-
ture is 2S0 feet long and so wide. The total
length of the great driving-belt, urged by
POO horse power engine, is 2S0 feet, that is, the
half extending from cellar to comb is 14O feet,
and the down half is of course equal to it.
The belt is thirty-six inches wide and three
quarters of an inch thick, and is made of six
ply thicknesses of canvas, with sheets of india
rubber pressed between and into them. But
such immense strength will not seem exces-
sive when we see the Titan work it has to do
1t drives nine receiving elevators or belts set
with buckets; each of these is as long as the
main belt; that is to say, they lift the grain
14O feet. The buckets are made of thick tin
bound with hoop iron, and are we'll riveted to
the belt at intervals of fourteen inches. In
shape they are like the buckets in a common
grist-mill, but very much larger, for these are
six inches across the mouth and eighteen
inches long. When full, one contains peck.
They do not usually so up quite full, but, al
lowing for this, there are one hundred pecks,
twenty-five bushels loaded on one side of one
of these belts whenever it is at work. Ii all
nine are running at once, as is often the case,
the quantity of wheat lifting on these swift
running belts is 225 bushels. The established
weight of bushel of No Milwaukee Spring
is 55 pounds. This would make the total
lift of the receiving elevators, every moment
they are at work over $1,000 pounds. Dis
charging upon each OF these nine is hopper
shaped bin, beneath the railroad track. A
car load OF wheat is rolled over the bin, the
doors lifted, and six stout men step in with
big, bright grain shovels. Each knows his
place, and they work like so many engines,
with stroke steady and true and effective
In four minutes from the time these step into
the car there is nothing left but quart or
two OF sweepings on the floor. A car carries
from 250 to 800 bushels, and the swift-runnins
belt that rushes by them in its tireless indas-
try has carried three hundred bushels one
hundred and forty feet in the air, as fast as
those six stout Teutons could shovel it out l
was ptcdStu W uOtiCt udLIy ttuu Cduuiu cA-
preston ON the faces of all who were at work
in wheat They did not look like men who
spent their earnings on bad whiskey, or smok-
ed them away over lager and pretzels, coming
home late to pound a hard-working woman
and curse their children.
When carried aloft the receiver throws the
grain into a hopper -bot.omed bin fixed ON
scales, and the weight is accurately given.
Before the wheat is rolled into the warehouse
it is carefully inspected and graded. Nine
teen out of every 20 bushels coming here is
spring wheat, and t3S per cent Of all that ar
rives this year is graded No. 2. The inspect
or gives his memorandum to the weigher, and
he turns the spout over the bin containing
No. l, No. 2, or No. 3, as directed by the
marks on the Inspectors book. Very much
depends on the care and honesty of this in
spectOr, and the laws of the Milwaukee Cham
ter OF Commerce require that he be sworn,
that he give heavy bord, and be himself in no
sense buyer or seller of wheat. The bins
in which this wheat is poured are of great
size, being 60 feet deep, twenty wide, and ten
across, containing 1900 cubic feet. The to-
tai receiving and storing capacity of this es-
tablishment is 1,500O,OO0 bushels. or the
crop of 1860 it has received 100000 bushels.
About 10000 bushels are taken to the train OF
the average length. So 2,10O trains have
rolled into this elevator and discharged.
HOW WHEAT is SHIPPED.
Milwaukee has an admirable harbor. Two
rivers run into the lake, and at the junction
is wide spread of marsh grown up with bull
rushes and green with aquatic rankness. But
the mud is soft, and canals are easily cut. SO
that hundred of these warehouses could be
so stationed that while cars rolled up on one
side, ships drawing 10 feet of water might an
chor on the other. As soon as grain ship is
anchored bQSido N Ia tol,
removed, and great spouts extend over them
from the bottom of one of the enormous bins
have described. The gate is raised and
torrent of wheat pours down. The loading
power of these spouts is $4,000 bushels an
hour. The Orient, for Oswego, was loaded
the other day in an hour and half, and her
capacity is $4,000 bushels. The OswegO and