Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1879-12-31
GRAIN TRADE.

III "A1cA ot. Faul 10 dehclent, as the writer
hereof knows to his supreme disgust, is q |
board OF trade. For a city with grain trade
tne past year aggregating over 10000, 900 |
bushels, the absence Of such an institution
is, in plain English, simply q disgrace. If
any one thinks this language too strong let
him try his hand at compiling statistics of
the grain trade of st. Paul for year and he |
will change his mind.
A few years ago, when the grain business
OF st. Paul was SO Insignificant that it was {
matter of grave doubt with some of the best
business men of the city whether second |
elevator could be made to pay, and the claim |
OF few so-called enthusiasts that st. Paul, |
from its location at the head of navigation
on the Mississippi river, and from the fact of
Its being the great railroad ceuter of the
Northwest, must of necessity grow into the
grain, and more especially the wheat dis
trlbutlng point for the immense area of
wheat producing country lying to the south
east and northwest of US, was ridiculed as
the hallucination of fanatic, the pres
ont hap-hazard style of getting along was
probably we'll enough. But the St.
Paul of those days and the
st. Paul of to-day, differ in many import
mt particulars, but in nothing is the differ
ence SO striking as in the quiet though rapid
growth OF the grain business of the city.
Though less than six years have passed
since the organization of the St. Paul Eleva-
tor and Warehouse company and measures
were perfected for building what is now
known as elevator a." the dreams of the en-
thusiasts have been more than realized.
Millions of dollars are now annually distri-
buted from this point for the purchase of
wheat, and other grains, and yet the
business is but in its infancy,
the operations of our dealers the past year
being very much larger than ever before,
and more than double at the present time
the transactions Of any previous season, one
dealer alone disbursing from $4,000 to
$4,000 daily for wheat alone. Elevator
Al that some of the wise heads predicted
would stand idle the year round except for
its occupancy by rats and as a roostine place
Tor pigeons, has been run night and day for
the past year, handling nearly two million
bushels of grain. So, too, the Davidson ele-
vator on the lower levee, has had all it could
90, handling close to million bushels of
wheat alone, and still our dealers were COM
PEELED to ship hundreds of thousands of
bushels right by our doors without breaking
bulk for the lack of storage room.
Early the past season the managers of ele-
Vator az perfected 40 arrangement with
our commission men and dealers in coarse
grains, for handling their business through
the elevator, but the arrangement continued
only few months, the full capacity of
the building being absolutely required for
| wheat alone.
Finding by their own experience and bv
the demands of commission men and deal
ers, that st. Paul must and would have more
enlarged accommodations for the grain bus
mess seeking market here, the St. Paul
elevator and warehouse company, at their
annual meeting in August last decided up
on thu immediate construction of another
elevator The plans decided upon embraced
a building of 10000 bushels capacity, with
all the latest and most improved machinery.
end every facility for handling grain cheaply
and e1peditiously, giving it a daily capacity
for transferring 100000 bushels of wheat
every twenty-four hours. The cost of this
structure. is to be 300 900 IN round num-
bers. Work has now been in progress for
several months, some $60, 900 having already
been expended upon it, and it will be fully
completed and in operation in March next.
In securing the location for this ediice-
Como crossing, on the st. Paul & Manitoba
railway, short distance beyond the CON-
pany's machine shops-ground was secured
for companion elevator of equal or
greater size, and the present build
ing, and the engine room have been so To-
Gated that the same power can be used for
the other when constructed. With the COM
pletion of this building St. Paul will have
three elevators, with a storage capacity of
l,45O,OOO, and daily transfer capacity of
nearly or quite one hundred thousand
bushels, and yet it is alre,dy evil
dent more capacity will be Immediately re-
quired, and already the Elevator and Ware
house company are considering the matter
of commencing work upon their third build
ing as soon as the one under way is finished,
and it is not only possible but more
than probable that such structure will be
completed before tho first SNOW flies another
winter.
The principal wheat buyers of St. Paul at
the present time are r. Barden g. Co.,, P.
Van Auken formerly Van Auken & Lange),
and Mc1lrath & Gilbert, whose combined
purchases the past year have exceeded 6,OOO,-
600 bushels. Another large buyer was
the Capital City mills (Messrs. Archibald &
schurmeier), whose consumption the past
year was IN round numbers about 4OO, 900
bushels. There are also in the city four 9TH
or small merchant Touring mills, manufac-
turing for the city trade, which have togeth-
or used the past year 235,O0O bushels. In
addition to these regular dealers our commits
sion men and other dealers have been liberal
buyers at times during the past year, their
aggregate purchases reaching at least 1,OOO,-
600 bushels, while another 100000 is added
through the wagon elevator of the st. Paul
q Duluth road, making the total wheat bust
ness of St. Paul the past year 1875, 900
bushels.
OF this amount 1,482,945 bushels was
handled through elevator GAP and $50, 900
bushels through Davidson's elevator
STREET PURCHASES.
In this connection an interesting item to
the old time croakers about attracting wheat