The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-09-20
MOVING THE WHEAT CROP.
Some of the Wonders of Americas
Great Harvest.
New York Evening Sun


Some of the Wonders of Americas
Great Harvest.
New York Evening Sun.
1t is estimated that the wheat crop of the
United States for the present year viii be
almost 5OO,O00000 bushels and that 200, 0OO,0OO
bushels of this will go to Europe. one New
York bank shipped West over Sl,GO0,9O the
other day to be used in moving wheat, and
similar shipments will probably occur from
day to day throughout the season. It will
all come back again by and by with gen.
erous fruitage of interest.
An ordinary freight car will hold one
thousand bushels of wheat. 1t will require
five hundred thousand cars to move the
present crop Coupled together in single
train they would reach from New lork al
most to San Francisco. A fleet of 1850 or
binary grain-carrying vessels will be hardly
enough TO transport to Europe the part or
the crop that will be exported. Il the Erie
canal gets only its usual share of the grain
will be filled with wheat, enough to make
tow half as long as the canal itself.
Ii we put the figures in the form of dol
lars and cents the array is even more srik
ing. Half a<billion bushels of wheat 1T 50
cents per buShel-the average price that the
farmer is receiving-means 800 000,0)0. -Four
hundred millions to be expended in lifting
mortgages paying labor buying food and
clothing and agricultural implements is it,
self a powerful spur to prosperity. But this
lantic Seaboard costs about 20 cents per
bushel: On the portion of the crop which
this will mean tens of millions of dollars
for the railways and elevators, lake vessels
and canal boats and for the commission
man and laborer.
/ The sacks that are thrown out by the
great harvesters are gathered up in wagons
and driven off to the nearest railway sta
ton, where they are dumped into grain cars
or small storage warehouses grain car
is an ordinary box car fitted with an in
side partition and extra door of planking
that can be let down, making the car per-
fectly tight. The cars from the various
branch lines are hurried off as soon as load
ed TO one OF the great transfer stations, of
which Kansas City and Duluth are perhaps
the largest. There it is turned over to the
big trunk lines or lake vessels for the next
stage of the journey.
The extraordinary demand for wheat in
the Eastern markets has led to an unusual
Western shipping points during the past
few weeks. The grain has been required
it has not been allowed to lie in the eleva-
tors at all. 1t has been found, however,
that the easiest way to transfer 1t is to run
1t through the elevators. Accordingly the
cars from local points are run in on one
side of the elevator. and cars, or in Duluth
the boats for the East on the other. One
leg of the telescope chute with its endless
belt of cups is let down on the receiving
side and the grain is hoisted up to the lofty
roof of the elevator and PUSHES down on the
opposite side without pausing a moment in
the transfer. The elevator men have thus
been able still to collect their toll of y cent
per bushel for transferring the grain.
There are two great wheat routes from
the West to the Atlantic seaboard. One is
water route via the great lakes and the
Erie canal, ana tne other IS land route
via the four great grain carrying trunk
lines. The former is the cheaper, and the
latter is the more expeditions. and the COM
petition between the two prevents the
prices of transportation from rising to an
exorbitant height. The larger part of the
grain moved between Duluth and New
and land route in big steel freight boats
down the lakes to Buffalo, and thence by
rail to New York. The lake route, from
Duluth to Buffalo is 212 cents per bushel
during the busy season, and as the newer
grain ships have a carrying capacity of
100000 bushels the business is d profitable
one for them.
At present there are nearly 700 vessels
which are engaged, for part of the season
at least, in carrying wheat on the lakes.
This is more than are employed in moving
the export crop across the Atlantic, and,
what may seem more surprising, the lar
than the ordinary ocean craft engaged in
the same line of work. The craft of
modern steel construction which have been
put on the lakes within the past two sea-
sons are among the finest models of Amer
ican-built merchant vessels.
AT Buffalo the grain that is brought down
the lakes again passes through the eleva-
tors for reshipment to New York and Bos-
ton It's fortunate position has made Buffa-
10 one Of the greatest grain ports in the
world. Two new elevators, which are now
in process of completion there, are the lar
gest in the world and embody many new
and interesting arrangements for the hand
ling and storage of grain The larger of
these is the Great Northern elevator which
will have a capacity when completed of
100000 bushels. The other will be known
as the electric elevator, and is being built
for a capacity of 1000. 900 bushels. with the
probability of endorsement to 100000
From Buffalo the wheat travels eastward
again by canal and rail The railway rate
between Buffalo and New York is 5 cents
per bushel, and is held steadily at that
price by the Joint Traffic Association. For
several years there has been a fierce rivalry
hnfU n ND his roll Vxyox a in
1885, when the project of devoting $1,000 600
to the improvement of the canal was be-
Association put down the price of transpor-
tation 219 cents per bushel, in order to show
the uselessness of the state ditch as it
is irreverently called. In that year the canal
carried only 14,000000 bushels, while the
railways brought 72,00O000 to New York
The canal men hope that with the improve
and the possibility of bringing grain all
the way down the lakes in steel canal boats
they may regain some of their former pres
tige.
At the seaboard the grain is weighed. in
spected and graded and takes it's final trans
fer to the ocean vessels. In New York
harbor this transfer does not take place di-
rectly, but is made by means of barges
The cars containing the grain are run into
the elevators; again the leg of long chute
is let down into the car and the iron cups
carry the grain in a steady stream forty,
fifty or sixty feet to the top of the build
ing, where it passes under the eyes of
the weighers and inspectors. Wheat is
graded according to its weight per Win
chester bushel. The hopper bins have a
certain capacity in bushels. The weigher
sets his scales at the mark required of No
/ or No. 2, according to the grade to which
the wheat is supposed to belong and when
the bar lifts he moves a lever and let's the
grain run out into the bin prepared for that
particular grade.
From the bottoms of these scale bins
streams of wheat run into another set Of
weighing bins. and thence into the barges
that lie alongside the elevator. These
barges are then towed alongside the ocean
steamships which are to carry the grain
to it's destination. Here another elevator
this time floating one. picks up the grain,
passes it along to another set of weigh
ing scales and thence into the ships hold.
The numerous weighings to which the grain
is subjected act as safeguard for the diff
ferent companies, as any discrepancy great
er than ! per cent. lost in dust and in the
process of handling would require an ex-
PLANTATION, and would indicate that some
body had made a mistake.
She Broke the Ice.
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