Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1878-10-22
THE SWINDLING KETTLE
More Instances of It's Nefarious Cheat
ing Of the Farmers.
HOW THE JOKER IS DoCToRED,
And Grade Stolen from the Farmers
While it Looks Fair.

\
1 While it Looks Fair.
! Especial Correspondence of the Globe.I
! ST. CLOUD, Oct 20, 1875.-The farmers in the
Sank valley are as indignant over the treatment
they have received from the Millers' association
at Minneapolis az are the farmers living along
the main line of the st. Paul & Pacific railroad.
Here they are not as fully posted as in other
sections, still, they know they are being robbed,
and have been robbed: by the agents of the
millers, not by voluntary act on the part of
these agents, but under
INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE RING
down in the sawdust city. Facts of rascalities
arc constantly coming to my attention, and as
| these facts developed new and important
| light is obtained. For instance, at Herman an
agent, Charles Pullman, was requested to send
his tester (the internal little jokerO down to
the millers; SO he bethought himself he would
| weigh some wheat in it before it went, and
| then, marking down what this wheat weighed,
he tied it up noted carefully the figures and
back from Minneapolis. and not knowing
whether it was the old tester or new
one, he took the identical wheat
be had weighed, and which he had carefully
put aside, weighed it in the new or returned
tester, and the same wheat went two pounds
less than the old! Now recurs the question,
How came this loss of two pounds on the same
wheat? Was the little tester remodelled at
Minneapolis? OF course it was. and all the fig
ures and sophistry and nonsense OF the Millers'
association cannot wipe out this fact.
FIXING THE TESTERS.
Then Mr.. Goodsale, very excellent gentle
man, from Mortified, had charge of one of
these elevators, buying and selling wheat but
he became SO disgusted with the manner in
which the cheating was carried on, under in
structions from the Milers' association at Min
neapolls, that he abandoned the business. He
AYERS, very decidedly, that the brass block on
the beam of the little joker can be taken off by
screw, and that inside of it are small pieces
Of lead, which can be taken out added to-
thereby increasing or decreasing the weight of
wheat and in this way detection of the fraud
has hitherto been almost impossible.
Is it not reasonable to presume that
this was the way that that little tester sent
to Minneapolis was d.ct,red How else could
the steal have been effected? For with this
wheat
Row, MARK,
the agent is under $50 bonds to buy wheat
With these TESTERS furnished by he Millers'
association at Minneapolis. Mark, they a,e
mandate of this association. Mark, an inspector
for the association, at Minneapolis, inspects
the wheat. Mark, il the imperative orders OF
this grand oligarcy are disobeyed then bach
goes the wheat on the agents hands, and out OF
his salary is deducted the difference in tn,
grade he has made. for, remember. he is unde
bonds; and so, these agents, fearful OF tn.
terrible results OF their iudiscreton or thei
honesty, grading wheat low, knowing, e,
no nauao time, that the farmer is cheated, hu
!,,,%
themselves Or the producer. Clark, again til.
agents are ordered to weigh wheat in the little
tester. just as it is now weighed by instructions
from the Miiers' association, and in this weigh
ing wheat is made to go No. 8. when it should
go No. =. The millers pocket tho fifteen
the agents know, and every body else knows. it
is wanton. malicious, deliberate, systematic
steal!
HOW THE AGENTS ARE PUNISHED.
met good, square, honest agent on the
branch line Of the St. Paul & Pacific road
will not mention his name, as he might be
punished. but have it in case of emergency
and he told me he had lost $500, almost his
whole years salary, because he had graded
wheat according to his honest convictions of
right, and yet not in accordance with instruc-
lions from the Millers' association. Now, of
course, he is very careful that every bushel of
wheat he grades should be away down in the
scale, he will DO able to save himself loss
and retain his position, which brings him bread
and butter.
Another agent at Sank Centre has lost $72,
and so on. could mention others who have
been the victims of this ring ut Minneapolis
Not only the agents suffer, but the farmers suf-
fer, and not oily the farmers, but the mer-
chants, and when they suffer, all suffer, and all
this villainy can be traced directly to the COM
bination of millers at Minneapolis, of which
Washburn Is member, by proxy, at least, if
not by fact, and he ceives his share of the ill
gotten gain taken from the pocket of the peo-
pie. Mr.. Hodges is right. It is war of
wealth against industry. 1t is life or death to
the farming interests Of this State. It is pros
perlty or ruin.
PREGNANT FACTS.
But. let me give you some more facts, direct
from farmers themselves. Mr.. Perty, living in
the Gutenberg MISUNDERSTANDING with
several of his neighboring fa,mers-took
load of wheat which weighed GO pounds to the
bushel, and which ought to have been graded
No. l, to Touring MILL where it was graded
No 3, and fifty cents per bushel was offered.
He informed the miller that if he could do NO
better he wonld come back. From this mill he
| went to the elevator with the same wheat. The
agent graded 1t No. T. and offered g. cents per
bushel. He then took it to another Touring
| mill-the same WITHSTAND it was graded No. j.
This certainly demonstrates that these testers
| are unreliable and ought not tn be used
farmer whose name I have, living near
| Sank Center, took load of wheat to the steam
mill there, where it was graded No. 8; he sold
1T, received the money and went home A few
weeks after he took another load of wheat out
of the same bin, to the same 1nill-had it
ground, and out of a few pounds less than five
| bushels, be received 200 pounds of flour. which
would make his wheat grade No. l-price ~
| cents per bushei; while in the first instance it
was graded No. 3, and for which he received
| joker is wrong, OF the man who weighed the
wheat cheatad, and in either case,
the farmer is the victim. These
cases numerous and call for
the interposition of the legislature to regulate
the grading Of wheat. l am informed h. re,
able parties that one miller at st. Cloud is
making enormous profits on every carload of
6UO barrels of -four which he ships to the
| East
/ Michael Allen, of Getty, took 8 bushels Of
wheatto mill in Sank county, which tested Sc
pounds, and for which he received Is nnnnd,
of inferior flour. He took the same number nt
bushels to the mill at Melrose, and the miller
gave him 80 pounds of far better -four for the
same wheat. What means this? Are the loca
millers cheating just like the great ring, 0,
does that little j-'ker play an important part il
the programme?
A farmer at Grove Lake took some whea
twelve miles to a mill, had it run through
smut machine and made perfectly clean; i
weighed sixty-one pounds to the bushel, o
graded No. l. He took the same wheat to tn,
elevator at Sank Centre; and it graded No. g.
price offered. SO cents per bushel-a difference
of II cents per pushed. The farmer then want
ed his wheat run into -four
but they would not do that, becaus
it would show the niger in the wood pile, an,
he trndged back home again-making the dis
tance over thirty miles He ia a rich farm or