Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-09-04

lofty steel bins will be smaller storage
bins, into which the grain will first be
elevated to the larger bins by the usual
cup method. The method of discharsing
the grain is equally interesting. The huge
steel cylinders are raised above the floor
and rest on square steel columns. Their
lower ends are bowi-shaped, with valve
DIT the lowest point so that by simply NOV
ing lever the grain will run out and can
be conveyed by steel tubes to cars or boats
without the use of hoisting machinery
Every bit of machinery in the new eleva-
tors will be run by electricity from Niagara
Falls. and 1000 horsepower dynamos are
now being built for the purpose. The silent
ease and resistless power with which these
tons upon tons of grain are to be moved by
Niagara's mighty arms. when compared
with the old cumbersome methods of lift
ing and shoveling, afford striking testi-
moniai of the wonders of modern Industrial
development.
From Buffalo the wheat travels eastward
again by canal and rail. The railway rate
between Buffalo and New York is FIVE cents
per bushel and is held steadily at that
price by the joint traffic association. For
several years there has been a fierce rival
ry between the canal and the railways, and
in 1855. when the project of devoting So
0J0,0oo to the improvement of the canal
was before the voters of New York, the
traffic association put down the price of
transportation two and one-half cents per
bushel. in order to show the uselessness Of
the state ditch. as 1t IS 1rreVerentIy
called. In that year the canal carried only
100000 bushels, while the railways
brought 72.000,0O0 to New York. The canal
men hope that with the improvements now
being made on their highway and the pos
sibilty of bringing grain all the way down
the lakes in steel canal boats, they may re-
gain some OF their former prestige.
Methods of Grain Wefghers.
At the seaboard the grain is weighed. in
spected and graded. and takes its final
transfer to the ocean vessels. In New York
harbor this transfer does not take place
directly, but is ms de by means of barges
The cars containing the grain are run into
the elevators; again the leg Of a long chute
Is let down into the car, and the iron cups
carry the grain in 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 Winchester
bushel The hopper bins have certain
capacity in bushels. The weigher sets his
scales at the mark required of No. or No.
=, according TO the grade to which the
wheat is supposed to belong, and when the
bar lifts he moves lever and lets the
gram run out into the bin prepared Tor that
particular grade.
From the bottom of these same bins
streams of wheat run into another set of
weighing bins. and thence into the barges
that lie alongside the elevator. These
bal ges are then towed alongside the ocean
steamers which are to carry the grain to
it's destination Here another elevator. this
time a floating one, picks UP the grain.
passes il along to another set of Weighing
scales and thence into the ships hold. The
numerous weighirgs to which the grain Is
subjected act as n safeguard for the differ
ent companies. as any discrepancy greater
than the / 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.
When the wheat passes out Of New York
harbor it ceases to pay tribute to America,
but In the course of its travels from the
plains of the Dakotas to the Atlantic tides
II gives employment to thousands of Amer
leans. and scatters Its golden Increment
broadcast over the land.
ROBERT EARL.