The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-11-19
CARRYING TRADE HAVING AN I'M
USUAL BOOM AS THE SEA- b,
SON CLOSES.
HISTORY OF A PRETTY FIGHT
THAT HAS BEEN GOING ON BE-
TWEEN THE MILLERs AND.
THE RAILROADS.
LATTER GOT THE BETTER OF IT.
All Arose Over u Chars-e for stor-
age Made by Buffalo Ware
house Men.


long and hard fight with the railroads
the past summer. and the year will
close with the railroads very likely In
possession of the best end of the fight.
AS result of the fight, the lake fleet
plying between the head of the lakes
and Buffalo, have been the recipients or
steadily increasing volume of bust
ness The Improvement in the lake
carrying trade has been especially
marked during the past few weeks.
The shipments of Duluth made flour
and of West bound package freight
has seen marvellous impetus, and the
revival was just in time to prevent the
year from going into history as a bad
one for Duluth Buffalo trade
For years the millers of Duluth and
some of the Minneapolis millers have
been allowed to store their flour In
Buffalo free of charge the flour being
held in Buffalo until the demand for
1t forced it upon the market Last year
the millers were charged one cent a
parreI Tor storage, and a great fuss was
made. The millers could not under
stand why the lines which had made
such al hot fight for the cargoes, should
demand storage fee, and the charge
was bitterly complained Of The lines,
however, held a union meeting and de-
c1ded that the charge was a very low
ana reasonable one, and that it must
stand. The load of an ordinary steel
lake freight boat is from 10000 to 80 900
barrels, and it shows that the aggre-
gate cost OF storage during a season
must have been considerable.
But the millers would not give in.
They chartered a lot of small wooden
steamers and started into the carry
Ing business for themselves. They
were again baked for on trying to un-
load their cargoes in Buffalo, they
found the regular lake lines in possess
sion of all the best storage houses Not
only that, but they found that the
warehouses were also under the control
Of the railroads, and that the latter
lines running from Buffalo east were
also in the deal and ready to force the
m1llerS to pay the extra cent in some
other way. This knocked the private
steamboat line into a cooked hat and
the millers were in trouble again.
Then EraStuS Wiman, of New York,
came to the Twin Cities and to Duluth
with scheme all his own, to forward
the flour to the seacoast via the lakes
and the Erie canal. But it was found
that the canal was inadequate in its
present condition, and that ins-caseS
w
this slow route would result in losses
to the shipper. So it, in its turn, was
abandoned.
Today the milers are practically beat
en- and the railroads are virtually mas
tiers Of the situation, for the reason
that during the past ten days there
has been an unprecedented demand for
flour in seaport markets, and the mill
ers have been compelled to ship as
best they could in order to keep-the
sales from the hands Of competitors.
AS a result, the lake and rail lines
find themselves overruShed with bust
ness, and the movement will continue
as long as navigation is open. All the
regular line boats are making trips
as fast as they can load and unload
at terminal points and many wild
steamers have been chartered. nz7
1t is figured out that the nillerS
would have been gamers in the end
had they paid without murmur the
one cent storage charge, the justice
or injustice of the charge not being
considered. Supposing the regular
lines announce they will close their
business on the 10Th. Then after that
date the wild steamers are in a posi-
ton to demand any rate they see fit,
and the chances are the rates would be
far in excess of what they are at the
present time, and all the extra charges
will have to come out of the pockets of
LD0 IllleTS. II Is barely possible, now
ever, in view of the unexpected revival
of westbound business, that the lines
will recall their notices and extend the
carrying season until the end of the
month. But it is admitted that the
wild boats will have two weeks of in
dependent rate making even after that
time.
Another reason which contributed to
the failure of the private line of boats
established by the millers, was the
fact that the railroads east of Buffalo
refused to give the millers' line through
bills of lading to the Atlantic from
Duluth.
1t was on the presentation of these
through bills at the banks, and their
Use as collateral that the millers were
enabled to borrow money with which
to transact their business during the
hard times. But shipments via the
independent millers' line could only
secure bills as far as Buffalo, from
which another was required via the
rail lines to the coast. Only limited
sums Of money could be brroWed on
these half bills.
The westbound business via the lake
lines to the West is larger at the pres
ent time than it has been for many
years, during the corresponding period.
Millions of dollars are represented in
orders for woolens, iron articles, ETC.,
etc, which are now being shipped. az
the result of the election of Mckinley.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars
worth of these consignments are being
purchased by the jobbers of st. Paul
and Minneapolis.
In addition to this, ship loads of APP
pies are being sent from the East into
the Northwest. All these conditions
are causing a great revival in both the
lake and the rail carving trade