St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-04-07
A PRIMA FAC|E 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.

4HO WLlC0U INV CoIiSoIlOAl COb' ihieoSS
was in session all day yesterday, but
practically made no progress SO far as
the completion of its report was con-
cerned. In fact. it took 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 general discussion OF
Mr.. Childs' report was INDUCED i'll, but
no progress made.
Mr. Erwin rushed Immediately Into
his subject matter, prefaclng it, how
ever, with this paragraph, addressed to
Senator GeiSSel:
ut 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
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 leaned and the mixing of
grain in its shipment eastward from
Duluth and all other features which fix
the status of the combine and its inl-
perial despotiSm 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 ~ Atlantic Railroad com
paljy, produced the switch slips and
way bill copying books of that road be-
tween Jan. l, 1889, and March 81, 1880.
From these railroad records 1t was
proved that Georpe Ripley, superin-
tendent of the Lake Superior Elevator
company and the Union Improvement
and Elevator company, shipped to s. S.
Guthrie 81 Sons, Buffalo, n. Y, as fol
lows:
Jan. IS, car 1874. containing $4,000
pounds. billed as screenings; car 36l4,
containing $4,000, billed as screenings;
on Feb. l, cars 1905, 1897, 1858, 40lS, 1873
and 1907, each containing $4,000 pounds.
and billed as screenings: OH Feb 7, five
cars, containing $4,000 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 50,O00 pounds each, and
billed as screenings; on March II, nine
cars, containing $4,000 pounds each, and
billed as screenings; OH March Is, 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 G. 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 47,23623 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 MIR. 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 full load of
between $4,000 and 10000 bushels of
No. l hard wheat from Elevator
'.E" without the knowledge of the
state inspector or weighmaster, and
that the same was loaded in the night,
the witness giving the names of the
workmen who loaded such boat. The
inspection books of the state show that
this propellOr-ioad of wheat was never
inspected.
16, 1888, the Union improvement and
Elevator company at Duluth shipped
by night from Elevator H" twenty
cars of wheat over the Northern Pacific
railroad without the knowledge of the
state inspector or weighmaster, 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. hard wheat. These
cars, at an average of 600 bushels to the
car, contained y, 900 bushels of wheat.
The books of the Lake Superior
Transit company show that July 30,
1886, 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. I'll. Graves & Co., to
the order of the same, 10000 bushels of
wheat, which was inspected; also that
on Sept. 5, 1886, 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 twas shipped on the
propeller Japan from Duluth, $4,000
bushels of wheat, by G. II. Graves, to
the order of the same, which was
uninspected; also that on Oct. 5
1886 there was shipped from Duluth on
the propeller India 1920 bushels of
wheat by Q. H. Graves & CO. to the
order of the same, Which was unin-
speeted, These shipments aggregate
1920 bushels of nOn-inSpected wheat.