St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1896-02-19

with the grades, weights and prices, and
that there were good and sufficient rea-
sons for all Of their complaints has been
admitted by the combine remedying, to
a great extent, the evils complained Of.
This was not done, however. until the
farmers, who always have sold their
wheat here, were attracted by the open
markets at Wadena, Henning and Per-
ham. Then the merchants held con-
ference and sent two delegates to the
head Of the lake to see what arrange
ments could be made for putting in an
independent house and paying the
highest possible price for wheat. After
this movement had been inaugurated
the combine house raised the grade
from No. northern to No. 1 northern,
gave better, weights and bought on a
closer margin. This satisfied the mer-
chants and pleased some Of the farm
ers, although most Of those who had
enough wheat to fill a car, have been
shipping direct to Duluth. At the pres
ent time there is not much talk of an
Independent house, as the farmers are
busy hauling wood, but some Of the
merchants will build next year whether
the farmers join with them or not. They
will build a. fat house that will hold at
least eight carloads, 5000 bushels, and
will buy on margin that will pay eX-
penses and not aim to make a profit.
When the threshing was at its height
the farmers were hauling hundreds Of
loads Of wheat every day into town.
Many Of them We're loading on track
and shipping direct, but others had only
few hundred bushels of wheat and
must sell, as they had no place to store
It, neither did they have enough to fill
q car. There was only one buyer-the
Andrews & Gage elevator-and the poor
Finlander who had raised a few acres
Of wheat and had from 200 to 300 bushels
Of wheat to SELL had to take what the
agent Of the house would give him or
haul it to some other market. 1t was
was not long until the flow Of wheat
was diverted to other markets where
there were Independent buyers, and the
producer was assured Of fair treatment.
In the first place the wheat was nearly
all graded No. northern here, and the
same wheat was graded No. 1 northern
at Perham or Henning, and, after the
Wadena market was opened, received
that grade there. The margin over
freight and other charges, in addition
to the difference in grades, was from
three to four cents bushel. On top Of
this was the almost universal COM
plant that the weights at the elevator
did not hold out. Farmers complained
that they lost from a half bushel to
two bushels on a load Of from forty
to fifty bushels, besides the dockage.
This was so general that the farmers
weighed their wheat before delivering
it to the elevator, and still there was a
shrinkage after it left the scales Of the
merchants and before it reached the
elevator. The buyer said it made a
difference whether the grain was weigh
ed in small lots-a few sacks at time
or whether it was all weighed at the
same time. The farmers knew that this
was true, for it had been proven time
and again, but they could not under
stand why it should be so. This was
the condition during September and late
in that month the merchants and citi-
zens held a meeting to discuss the mat
ter and to try to find remedy. 1t was
the universal opinion that the only way
to secure a fair market was by build
ing an independent house and paying
the full price for the wheat. In order
to ascertain just what could be done
A. J. Sitz and S. J. Haarala were Sc
lected to go to Duluth and investigate.
They were to find out on what terms
the commission houses would handle
the wheat, also whether any of the
firms would advance the money to han
die the grain if the merchants would
build the warehouse. Their report was
entirely satisfactory, but, owing to the
lateness of the season and the difficulty
in securing suitable lumber, the build
ing of the house was postponed until
the coming summer.
In the meantime the prices at the
elevator had been advanced to a closer
margin with the terminal market and
most of the wheat was graded No.
northern instead of No. northern.
There was not so much complaint of
the weights, and, In the main, the farm
ers had little cause for complaint after
the movement for an Independent
house had been inaugurated Then
the farmers shipped large amount of
wheat direct, as has been the custom
here for the past six or eight years.
There is only one instance where a
farmer lost by shipping his wheat
direct. That was Isaac West, whose
wheat was graded rejected" at Du-
luth. He was offered a price by the
elevator here that would have netted
him five cents bushel more than he
obtained by shipping. His wheat is
said to have been of excellent quality
and equal to that which was graded
No. northern, both here and at Du-
luth. He was unable to get a satisfac-
tory explanation Of the grading. and
believes there must have been some
mistake with the inspection at Duluth
Nels Johnson is holding LOO BUSH
els Of wheat in his granary and will
ship 1t direct later in the season. He
hauled some wheat to the elevator and
on one load lost two bushels on dock
age and short weight He had
weighed his wheat and knew how