Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1879-10-17

by floating elevators, which draw up
alongside the great steamers as they
lie in their accustomed slips, re-
ceiving or discharging their freight.
There are besides numerous sta
tionary elevators belonging to
large grain dealing firms, at the
lower end of New York island and
along the Brooklyn shore; and the Erie
Railroad Company are building at the
Jersey City terminus of that road an
elevator which promises to more than
rival those of the New York Central,
The speed at which grain is trans
ferred at these elevators is amazing to
one not familiar with their manage
ment. A shaft inclosing an endless
chain of buckets is thrust into a laden
car or canal boat, and instantly the
prain begins to travel up the long in
cline to be delivered on the opposite
side at a rate often exceeding fifty BUSH
els of wheat a C'inute, or larger guam
tity of lighter grain.
The report of the Produce Exchange
for 1873 shows the authorized charges
for handling grain at this port to be,
per bushel weighing, cent; eleVatlng
from canal boats, J cent; for delivering
on board single deck ocean vessels, III
Guiding trimming, 81 a thousand bush
els; ditto, doubled-decked ocean YES
sells, IS; on ocean vessels in bags, 1925;
on coast-wise vessels, $3.50. The ex-
pense ON grain to shippers by rail from
the interior are: for inspection, % cents
car; elevation, cent bushel; half
weighing, cent bushel; storage i cent
bushel At theNew orkC Central eleva-
tor the charge for bulking grain with
storage (ten days) is one-fourth cent
bushel. The Erie and Pennsylvania
Central Companies charge, for holding
grain on storage in lighters, one-fourth
cent bushel for each ten days. The
charge for delivering afloat ungraded
grain in railroad lighters, including ele-
vation from boats, ranges from three
cents to one and one-half cents BUSH
ell, according to the bulk of the lots
handled. The authorized charge for
towing laden canal boats about the har-
Dor ranges from five dollars TO eleven
dollars, according to distance. The
freight tariff from the great grain dis
tributing point of the West, Chicago,
varies with the season, the style of car
riage, the degree of competition be-
bWtCu JllC vi bOb"OCh
and rail carriage. In the winter, when
the lakes, the Erie canal and the Hud-
son River are closed, the rate rises as
high rs twenty-five cents bushel. On
the opening of the water routes the rates
fall; dropping at midsummer as low as
eight or nine cents by rail and six cents
by water. The average rate by water
during 1878 was seven and one-fourth
cents; by all rail routes, twelve cents.
As an important link in the water route
the Erie canal is of infinite Importance.
The existing railways alone would be
incompetent to do the carrying required
at the time required (assuming the for
eign demand unimpairedD; besides, by
having the monopoly, their rates would
not only be made higher than now OBJ
tains, but possibly so high as either to
destroy the possibility of our competing
In price with Russian wheat in Liver
pool, or to make competition possible
only at the sacrifice of all profit to our
wheat growers. 1t is worth noting in
this connection that during the present
year the average cost of transporting
wheat from Northern Minnesota to
New York-twenty-si cents bushel-
is less than was the cost of the carriage
of wheat by lake and canal from Chi
cago twelve years ago.--Sctenttfc amer
tcGH.