The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1893-04-12
TRICKS OF GRAIN SHIPPERS.
Schemes Resorted to by the willy AgrR-
culturist to Beat the Buyer.

"Grain inspectors learn good many
things in the course of few years.
SERVICE" said Chief Inspector Price, of
Chicago, to Journal man, and one
thing they learn is that the agricul-
turist is not altogether without guile.
Many of the tricks resorted to by
farmers to gain an advantage over the
men who purchase their grain are
amusing, and an inspector unearths a
good many such tricks.
Il remember one case in which
lot of grain was shipped by farmer
in bags. The buyer was somewhat
suspicious, and had each bag carefully
inspected. A trier was thrust down
the center of each bag, and the grain
sampled beautifully. 1t was all of
high grade and Mr.. Buyer began to
think he had done the poor farmer an
injustice by suspecting his integrity.
When the grain was taken into store
and turned out into a bin, however, il
was found to be full of weeyil and
dirty, ffth-rate stuff. Next time a
purchase was made from the same
farmer closer examination was made
and the willy agriculturist's method of
deception was discovered would
stuff section of stovepipe into each
bag before filling it and pour dirty
grain all around it. Then he would
! FILL the pipe in the center of the bag
with good, clean stuff and carefully
withdraw the pipe. It was pretty
slick trick, but it did not pay in the
long run.
"We call it plugging when grain
is improperly loaded for the purpose
of deception, and the most peculiar
case of plugging have heard of was
discovered here some time since. One
of our inspectors, on thrusting his
long steel 'trier' down into carload
of oats struck something hard, and on
withdrawing it found the lower end
filed with the yolks of eggs. The car
was going through to Boston and the
shipper had filed the bottom with bar
rels of eggs, covering them over COM
pletely with oats TO the depth of per-
| haps foot. He had reckoned with
out the 'trier,' however, and the ship
ment proved an expensive one for him.
He had calculated to save good deal
as the freight charges on oats are only
about one-fourth of the charges for
perishable goods like eggs, but the
railroad people, on discovering the
trick, took out the eggs and stored
them, sending the 800 or 400 bushels
of oats through as a full carload and
notifying him that the eggs were held
subject to his order.
"a trick sometimes resorted to by
dishonest shippers is to pack inferior
grain around the sides of car by
means of boards, which are removed
as the car is gradually filled, but such
schemes are seldom successful, for the
inspectors 'trier' samples the contents
of every part of the car, and discloses
the presence of inferior stuff with al
most unerring certainty. All attempts
to practice deception are promptly re-
ported, and the persons resorting to
such tricks, who are, of course, COM
paratively few and far between, find
that they prove to be boomerangs. III
no case is the grade of any quantity
of grain made above that of the poor
est quality found in the lot when il
has evidently been plugged or other.
wise loaded. 1 might mention other
tricks sometimes practiced by ship
pers, but they seldom accomplish theil
purpose, and we laugh at them more
than we fear them.