The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-06-08
GRAIN STOLEN IN TRANSIT.
Thieves Make Use of Augers to Tap
the Laden Cars.
From the Chfcnno Ne,rs.

the Laden Cars,
From the Chicago Netcs.
81 could afford to give a great many dol
lars to charitable institutions each year if l
had the grain that is stolen while in transit
i'll the United States" remarked Mr.. Perrin
Clark, grain operator from Fargo, n. D.
at the Leland hotel, as he read a communi-
cation from farmer in South Dokota, who
told how he had shipped 1900 bushels net
of grain and by the time it had reached
Buffalo and the exorbitant warehouse tolls
had been paid to the combine the grain
Melted him about 1925.
aside from the heavy warehouse drain
and storage charges and tho natural and
allowable shrinkages, that grain, / dare
say, lost many bushels by theft, continued
the Fargo man. Zone of the most in
genious, and at the same time the hardest to
detect, plans Of stealing grain from cars in
transit is the boring process. Great num-
bers of complaints are daily received
at terminal points about the ravages of
'borers.'"
"How is the boring process performed?"
"You know that it is almost an impossi-
bility to move a car OF wheat from west
ern point to an eastern mart and keep the
car going continuously. That is, it has to
be switched from one roads yard to another
and very often when a congestion occurs it
frequently remains for hours on lonely
side-track. There Is where the borer gets
his opportunity.
"As it is impossible to watch each house
In great city continuously for a night, so
1t 10 irnpracticable for a railroad company
to watch each car on a side-track. The
borer is generally poor fellow who lives
near the track and who keeps poultry and
perhaps mich cows. To sneak up to a
freight train, glide beneath the car bore an
inch hole In the floor and fill several bags
from the downpouring stream of grain is a
safe task. Railroad men might pass and
repass without observing the 'borer.' who
might easily conceal himself behind truck.
Should a man attempt TO break o seal Gnd
force open a door, the chances are that he
would be detected. The boring process is
safer.
"rhe depredations of these borers are be-
coming 80 alarming that the railroad COM
panies have in many cases doubled their
force of watchmen- Strenuous efforts are
put forth to capture these marauders and
mako examples of them. The shippers
would not kick so hard if the borers would
content themselves with taking bag or
two of grain from each car, but when they
drill into a load, fill a few bags and leave
without plugging up the auger hole the
grain leaks out and is scattered along the
track for miles. With an inch hole
in the floor one can approximate the leak
age from a 3O,0O0-pound load. 1t
would be enormous on a trip Of 100
miles. Careful car-repairers are detailed to
watch for these leaky cars, and by this
species of precaution the poor shipper is
often saved many dollar. Fortune often
comes to the rescue when the cars cargo
happens to be oats or corn. as the grain is
apt to clog up and thereby stop the leakage.
Between this evil and the octopus that con-
trolls the storage of grain at Buffalo, where
the law regarding elevator rates and trans
actions seems TO be violated without fear,
the poor grain shipper is kept guessing as TO
where his profits are coming FROM"