St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-04-07
A PRIMA FACIE CASE
Made Of the Great Wheat Lar
ceny From Duluth EIe-
VatOPs.
Attorney Erwin Says This
Has Been Very Clearly
Proved.
A Total Of Over 100000 Bush
els Thus Surreptitiously
Taken.
He Holds the Price List Com
bine Also Is Fully Estab-
lished.

The wheat investigation committee
was in session all day yesterday, but
practically made no progress SO far as
cerned. In fact. it took a step back
ward by allowing Attorney w. w.
Erwin, on behalf of the Grain Growers
association, TO submit summary of the
evidence from the grain growers stand
point. The summary was adopted as a
part of the proceedings of the commit
tee, after which a general discussion of
Mr.. ChildS' report was INDUCED in, but
no progress made.
Mr.. Erwin rushed Immediately into
his subject matter, prefaclng it, how
ever, with this paragraph. addressed to
Senator GeiSsel:
at is interesting only in the wide
field of your investigation as exhibiting
the purely private larcenies OF the Du-
luth elevators. Your investigation has
fully disclosed the manner in which
this combine price list is made and en-
forced; first at Chicago, then locally at
Duluth. and maintained by All adoption
of the combine price at Chicago less
freight to Chicago from Duluth and
Minneapolis, while it is admitted that
the freight rates are identically the
same between both Duluth and Chicago
to the seaboard. The fact that this
autocratic price, local in its nature,
is enforced by the railroads, together
with the fact that no encourage
ment is given to competition as against
the forces of the combine, the short
weights, the raising of grades, the ship
ment from elevators of grain which has
not been Gle aned and the mixing of
CHI ctt op1 frnf
Duluth and all other features which fix
the status of the combine and its im-
perial desp9tism you undoubtedly will
cover in your valuable report Respect
fully and in haste, w. w. ERWIN.
The Erwin Summary.
j. ]. Thomas, agent of the Duluth.
South Shore IL Atlantic Railroad com
pany, produced the switch slips and
tween Jan. l, 1899, and March 81, 1880
From these railroad records 1t was
proved that Georpe Ripley, supern-
tendent of the Lake Superior Elevator
company and the Union Improvement
and Elevator company, shipped to 5. S.
Guthrie & Sons, Buffalo, N. Y, as fol
lows:
Jan. 10, car 1884, containing 1920
pounds. billed as screenings; car 1914,
containing $4,000, billed as screenings;
on Feb. l. cars 3605, 1897, 1858, 40lS, 1873
and 1907, each containing $4,000 pounds,
and billed as screenings: Oh Feb 7, five
cars. containing $1,000 pounds each, and
billed as screenings: on FEB. %, three
cars, containing $4,000 pounds each. and
billed as screenings; on March 8, nine
cars, containing $4,000 pounds each, and
billed as screenings; on March II, nine
cars, containing $4,000 pounds each, and
billed as screenings; OH March ID, nine
cars, containing $4,000 pounds each.
billed as screenings; on March %, nine
cars, containing $4,000 pounds each,
billed as screenings.
The testimony of C. d. Pattison,
Michael Lynch and John Lotus is final
that each of these cars contained wheat,
that they were loaded at night and Sc
cretly and designedly by the co mpany
without the knowledge of the state in
spector or weighmaster.
These cars contained 47,23625 bushels
of wheat, No. hard, and were taken
from the elevators at Duluth without
state inspection. and the shipment does
not appear upon the books Of the ele-
vator companies, showing fraud upon
the directors of such companies as we'll |
as an evasion of the inspection laws of |
this STATE.
Coincident with this testimony Leo
pold Ario produced before the commit |
tee memoranda made on the day of such |
shipments, giving the number of the |
cars, the number Of bushels contained |
in each shipment, and all of the facts in |
relation to the same, as testimony indie |
pendent from the railroad books. This |
Confederation by the railroad books of |
the testimony of Mr.. Ario gives great |
weight 10 the memoranda produced by |
him before the committee in relation TO |
the following shipments of uninspected |
wheat, to wit:
Loaded at Night.
That on June IA, 1885, the Union I'M |
provement and Elevator company |
shipped in the night time on board the
propeller New Orleans a full load of !
between $4,000 and 10000 bushels of |
No. l hard wheat from Elevator |
"E" without the knowledge of the |
state inspector OF weighmaSter, and |
the witness giving the names of the |
workmen who loaded such boat. The
inspection books of the state show that |
this pr0pellor-ioad of wheat was never |
inspected.
Mr.. Ario also testified that on June |
16, 1888, the Union Improvement and |
Elevator company at Duluth shipped |
by night from Elevator mp twenty |
cars OF wheat over the Northern Pacific |
railroad without the knowledge of the |
state inspector or wetghmaSter, the |
cars being marked screenings, and that |
Mr.. Ripley, superintendent, and Mr.
Marvin, secretary of the elevator COM
pany, were present at the shipment; |
that it was all No. l hard wheat. These |
cars, at an average Of 600 bushels to the
car, contained $4,000 bushels Of wheat
The books of the Lake Superior
Transit company show that July 49, |
1885, the propeller Japan carried from |
Duluth 10000 bushels of wheat to the
order of G. Fl. Graves IL Co.. and shipped |
by the same, which was uninspected; |
also that OH the 10th day of August, |
1886, there was shipped on the pro-
pellor India by Z. HI. Graves 81 Co., to
the order of the same, $4,000 bushels of |
wheat, which was inspected; also that |
On Sept. 5, 1856, there was shipped from |
Duluth on the propeller B. W. Blanch |
ard. bye. H. Graves & Co., to the order |
of the same, $4,000 bushels Of wheat, |
which was uninspected; also that on |
Sept 9, 1856, there gwas shipped on the |
propeller Japan from Duluth, $4,000 |
bushels of wheat, by G. H. Graves, to |
the order of the same, which was |
uninspected; also that on Oct.
1856 there was shipped from Duluth on
the propeller India 1920 bushels of |
wheat by @. H. Graves & CO. t6 the /
order of the same, Which was unin-
spected, These shipments aggregate
1920 bushels of non-inspected wheat.
IA. I'LL,