Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1880-03-15

the people Seuerauy, Witilout uiSIiucIiou Vi
party would hail such change in our Or
ganic law with great satisfaction.
THE COMING REVOLUTIONI IN GRAIN
TRANSPORTATION.
A Chicago correspondent of the GLOBE
gave a description few days ago of the
Prosser cylinder car for the transportation of
grain. personal inspection of the inven-
ton, leads us to believe that our correspon-
dent was altogether too mild in his enconi-
ums upon the invention. We believe that
in this car, at least the germ has been found,
for an entire revolution in the transportation
of grain.
MIR. Prosser, the inventor, is Chicago
mechanic. Thus far but one full car has
been constructed, though several small mod
els have been made. The invention consists
in having large iron cylinder run from
wheel to wheel in place of the usual car axle.
The cars are built with four wheels upon a
side like ordinary freight cars, and
each car therefore has four cylin-
ders. Each cylinder being
capable of holding two hundred and fifty
bushels of grain, the capacity of car is
1000 bushels, instead of 400 bushels, as i'll
The case of the ordinary box car. But even
this is not the capacity of the cars. These
cylinders, filled with grain. are underneath
the car itself, the same as the trucks, and
after having 1000 bushels of wheat in the
cylinders, the car proper can then be loaded
with merchandise. The carrying capacity
of the ordinary car is not only increased
two and one-half times, but the opportunity
still remains for carrying as large quantity
of freight as the ordinary car contains with
out any grain whatever.
A variety of objections, or supposed OBJ
stacles to this method of transporting grain,
will promptly arise before those who have
had no opportunity to see the car or under
stand its workings, but the experience with
the experimental car has answered nearly, if
not quite, every supposed objection. The
question of heating, of grinding, breaking or
even securing the grain, of accommodating
dust and dampness, and variety of others
has been put to the test. The cylinder is
perforated with fine holes which admit air
while the motion of the cylinder blows out
dust instead of allowing it to enter. The sup
posed grinding, breaking or securing of the
grain does not take place because, even if the
cylinder is but partially filed, speed of four
miles per hour is sufficient to form a solid
cylindrical mass which is less movable than
the wheat in an ordinary box car.
Instead of the grain catching moisture, it
actually dries it. The experimental car was
run one Thousand miles on the Chicago
Burlington & Quincy road with one thousand
bushels of damp, heating and rejected
wheat, and the result was that at the end of
the trip the wheat had improved to No. 8.
The following certificates speak for them
selves:
CHICAGO, Aug. 16, 1S79.-We purchased
car of rejected winter wheat, for the Prosser
Car company, about the LIST of the present
month. The wheat was damp and in heating
condition at that time. To-day we have ex-
amined the same wheat, and find it dry, cool,
in good order, and was inspected No. winter
We consider the sample much better than our
average grade of No. winter, and that it has
been improved not less than Is cents per bushel
MCDERMID, Russ & Co."
Our attention being called to car of re-
jected winter wheat, purchased by the Prosser
Car company from McDermid, Russ & Co.,
previous to same being transferred to the Pros
ser car, and again after the same wheat had
been carried 1000 miles in Prosser car are now
ticfSo cd hats hos
quality, certainly one grade.
McCoURTIE, BACON & Co."
sample of this same wheat, which we
had the opportunity of inspecting recently,
fully confirms the statements relative to its
quality after the trip.
The principles of mechanics are SO well
applied that locomotive can draw three
times as many cars with one thousand bush
els EACH as upon the present plan with four
hundred bushels EACH An experiment in
the Chicago Office of the Prosser car compa-
ny neatly demonstrates this fact. Two min
ature tin cylinders, filled with wheat,
were placed on level table and an ounce
weight attached to string was hung over
pulley. That single ouncs readily drew the
twenty pounds across the table. miniature
Car weighing twenty pounds was then placed
on the same table and ten ounce weight
attached to string passed over the same
pully, but the car did not move.
It is claimed that there is an
equal advantage in the full sized Prosser car
over the present car.
At all events, the observations of the
GLOBE lead it to believe that the cheapness
of water transportation may yet be eclipsed,
and the invention of the Prosser car is but
the forerunner of an entire revolution in
the transportation of grain from the West
to the seaboard. A revolution which will
add at least fifteen cents per bushel to all
the wheat exported from Minnesota.