The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-11-16
THE GRAIN CENTER.
STORAGE CAPACITY AND INSPEO-
TON DEMANDED.
Wichita Must Have Elevators, a Stand
ard Grade and RECOGNITION
in the Grain Markets
of the World.

! r. annually handled as
2 q at this point Two
! IA. RF or three seasons no
| I#.M5M=%Az n ri less number than
:: !: :: :" ::
| r. seven elevators were
III HeT IN operated almos- con
EEg ,tinuously. But with
i'm NSS/ all the millions upon
millions of bushels of wheat, corn and oats
handled in Wichita's market prices were
never quoted in the markets of the world,
nor has her operations been of
any importance to the outside buyers and
! sellers. Our elevators have not been of the
character necessary to such a recognition,
nor their owners and managers of that
standing to compel recognition. Large
| government contractors have been unable
to make their purchases here-were una
| bic, even last faIl-because OF the fact Of
the absence of an authorized grade, or the
inability of the elevators and dealers here
to force any recognition of their
classification. Wichita might continue to
handle and clean and ship the bulk of the
grain of this entire section, to fill up miles
of side tracks with cars loaded with wheat
and corn, as was the case last year, and
yet receive no particular or direct benefit
from the transaction. What Wichita
wants, and must have, is elevators of great
storage capacity, owned and controlled by
men who neither buy nor sell in
their own name or for their own
benefit, but who, through their connection
with other recognized grain markets and
other elevator companies of the country,
can fix a "Wichita classification" or grade
so that buyer or seller, in any market in
America can, through the telegraph, buy
or sell "Wichita No. 1" or wichita No.
p" and know just what he will get and
what he will be held for. Wichita, in
other words, to control the grain of south
west Kansas in the interest of the pro-
ducer and in the interest of the city, as
she is controlling other interests,
must have mammoth elevators that
will receive and store the 500 or the 5000
bushels of the farmer and sell it for him
when directed to do so, and without any
commission charge above that of fair
storage price, and to buy for the miller or
the dealer at any other point without
commission charge, and just such a grade
as is wanted, and which grade must bear
the Wichita inspection and be the author
lied Wichita standard. For instance, a
Chicago No. 2 and St. Louis No. 2
are not the same wheats exactly, but
every buyer and seller from the Pacific
Ocean to Liverpool, England, knows ex-
actly what these grades mean and can
contract them, either way, with absolute
certainty as to what he is handling.
To build and operate such a class of ele-
vators requires not only large capital and
experience bnt demands the capital and
experience of such men and of such COM
panies only as possess the standing and
connections with the grain men of the
market to gain the requisite recognition of
the authorized inspection and grade which
The same rule holds good with such an
elevator and storage capacity as holds
with a union live stock yards. Outside
grain dealers and firms of capital carry
ness through such elevators. Where
Wichita has half dozen grain dealing
firms now, she would have, the facilities |
and capacities named dozens of indepen- |
handled, inspected and graded by such |
elevators, and thus go into all the |
markets of the country TO be |
graded as Wichita grain. Memphis |
New Orleans, Kansas City, Chicago, Gal |
weston and other great grain markets |
would be then represented mere by their |
buyers in competition for the grain of this |
vast grain section, thereby forcing its rec
ognition as a grain center, which as such,
will be the last grain center. probable if |
not possible, between the Missouri river
and the Pacific coast.
This is but a single phase of the elevator
Importance as il seems to US
as would arouse our people to action at /
once The importance of such storage
capacity in the way of added railway ton
age and the benefits to be derived there
from by every shipping interest, etc, etc,
need not be touched upon, nor those Of the
increase Of clearing house totals. of added
capital and greater banking transactions,
etc In short the continued control of the
great grain interests Of southwest Kansas
is not only in the line of Wichita's past,
and that Of her future as the center, but is
in the interest of the farmer and will stimu-
late grain production in the same ratio
that our live stock market and packing
interests are now stimulating and in
,reasiug the growing OF hogs and Of cattle
and sheep and horses by affording near
and steady market and better prices.
Never in the history of the state was
such a promise for wheat as now.
At regular intervals of about every ten
laws since the middle of August, or ever
since the first wheat OF the present stand
vas sown, a gentle warm rain has fallen.
And the rains for the most part have been
general In xhis section, reaching to the
vest line of the state So uniformly
leavy and magniicently does the crop
stand that fears are expressed in many
quarters that the stalks will joint and
start to head before the weather gets cold
,no,yh n cback its rand growth The |