St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1896-02-10

Pio>SC' 1HSy dppGdT6Q 10 De Woll
pleased with the way I brought the
house out at the end of the seasons and
the amount of salary they paid evil
dently depended upon the amount I
MADE for the company the previous
year. If the house came out well
ahead my salary was raised to $50 or
$40, and If the next year was not so
good a one they would reduce it.
Nothing was ever said about the sal
ary being based upon the amount I
brought the house out ahead. but
knew well that 1t was based on the
profits Of the house
There was only one year that I had
net returns for nearly all the wheat
shipped out and that was the season Of
'S7-'88, when I brought the house out
from 1,S00 to 1000 bushels ahead and
never lost grade, but made at least
one grade on every bushe1 of wheat
bought below No. 1 hard. The COM
pany made its margin of about five
cents bushel besides the gain on
grades on all wheat bought lower than
No. hard and a net gain Of nearly
1000 bushels of wheat on the season S
business. That year I shipped out 123
carloads Of wheat and had net returns
on all but the last eleven cars, which
the company refused to give me. I
know how much wheat there was in
them, also that it was the best I had
taken in during the season, for I had
kept the
CHOICEST OF THE GRAIN
on hand and shipped the other out as
fast as I could. There was no other
elevator at st. Hilaire at that time and
the company was SO well pleased that
they promised me the best house on
the line. They made no change though,
and one year the house burst and the
wheat ran all over the right Of way.
The company sent a crew Of men from
CrookSton to repair the elevator and
we gathered the wheat up as best we
could. At the end Of that season the
officials of the company congratulated
me upon again bringing out the house
ahead. They said I could bring a house
out ahead. They said 1 could bring
a house out ahead even if it did burst
on me. That was the way at the end
of the season. 1 was a good boy and
nothing was too good for me, but as
soon as the wheat began to move they
began to kick and complain. Some of
the letters they wrote made me pretty
hot, but 1 swallowed 1t and did as they
instructed me and squeezed the farm
ers harder than before. They wrote a
great many letters and some Of them
have been destroyed while others are
stored away with some old papers.
Here are two samples of them, but if I
could find some of the letters they sent
me they would open the eyes Of the
people:
F. L. Greenleaf, E.K.Norton, L. D. Marshall,
President. Gen. Manager. Supt.
Dictated:
The Red River Valley Elevator Company,
General Office,
MINNEAPOLIS, Mimi, Oct. 10, 1888.
William Eickhoff, Esq,
Agent, st. Hilaire.
Dear Sir: Replying to yours Of the 10th
inst, and confirming our wire of even date.
II your competition from Red Lake Falls is
SO sharp, you may continue grading as you
have done. Our idea in telegraphing you
regarding car 1850 was that, if possible to
have you tighten up a little but if you can
not do so without losing trade, of course we
would prefer to have you grade as you have
done. Get as liberal dockage as possible so
as to help us out in that way.
Yours truly,
e. X. Norton,
General Manager.
"That letter showed what they expect
ed me to do if competition would per-
nit, and the other that they were dis
satisfied with the grades and wanted
to scare me into squeezing the farmers.
The claim in the following letter is ab-
surd, for I know what the quality of
the wheat was, and it was No. 1 hard
and no mistake. The letter shows the
elevator company's manner Of doing
business:
F. L. Greenleaf, E.K.Norton, L. D. Marshall,
President. Gen. Manager. Supt.
Dictated:
MINNEAPOLIS, Mimi, Nov. "a, 1888.
William Eickhoff, Esq,
Agent, st. Hiaire.
Dear Sir: We received from you today cars
316, which graded rejected" and 10, 1874,
which grades mo grade" These cars are re-
ported as No. 1 hard and No. northern 1t
does not seem possible to US that you could
W I hard oh to fbo
case you must stop it Immediately, as 1t
would be better for us to close the house
than to take wheat at such grades. We hope
to hear however that you did not take the
Wheat at the grade shipped. Yours truly,
F. L. Greenleaf. President.
TOLD THE TRUTH.
In another case when a man came
with letter Of introduction from the
general officers instructing the agents
to tell him where the wheat they bought
came from and what the competition
was, ETC., l told him the truth, and a
few days later a letter arrived from
headquarters roasting me for telling all
that L knew, and inStructing me what
to write in contradiction Of the infor-
nation I had given in the first place.
That was the way they treated the
agents, and we were always afraid Of
being fired or accused Of being short if
We OileIluGu our MASTERS.
1--WE had instructions to do all that we
could to prevent track shipments, and
had to fill out the following blank when
ever a car was loaded on track. The
elevator people said they would see to
it that he, the shipper, did not get as
much as he was offered by the agent of
the elevator company. This blank was
in use in 1891 when last worked for the
Red River Valley Elevator company,
and I think a similar one is still used !:
Observation-Disclosures. Station .... 1S .
When a car is loaded on SIDE TRACK, you
will answer as correctly possible each Of
the following questions:
What is the No. of the car?
BY whom was it shipped?. d?.......
To whom was 1t shipped?.. d?...........,,.
Where was it shipped Observation-Disclosures.
When application was made for the car did
the r. r. agent refer the applicant to YOU
before granting the application?. ?...........
Did the r. R. agent require the applicant to
deposit $500 or more as guarantee that the
car would be loaded within the "a hours al
lowed by the r. R. Coz.
On what date and at what hour of the day
was car set in to be loaded? ed?...............
On what date and at what hour of the day
was car ready for SHIPMENT.
....-........... Observation-Disclosures.
You will also make 1t a point to examine the
wheat that is loaded and state hereon at what
grade and dockage you would have been
willing to take it..................... It..
Remarks. ~,
''''''''.''' '... '''.'...
'---'-.-.'-' '...-.'..''...''
............ ............... ..................,.
'.'''.'''... ..''........... ....................
'''''''''''' ''''''''s.'....'
''''''''''''
''''''.'
............ ................ ...................
..,r, ................ Agent
'"The last year was employed by the
company, '90-'91, the house was to be
kept open until June 30, but on June 20
Ii closed Z