The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-05-18
Work Begun on the New Great
Northern Wool Warehouse.
PRICES ARE UNSETTLED
Only . Very Few Buyers In the Field
and the Growers Are Not 80
Jubilant as They Were
in March.

northern end Of the Great Northern's
wool warehouse and. stalking out the
ground for the extension which is to
double the capacity of the original
building. This Improvement is one
which is much needed, and its lack dur
ing the season Of last year caused
many complaints from those woolgrow-
ers who had brought their clips one or
two hundred miles to obtain what they
had been led to believe was the best
market in the state. Coming as the
wool season does, in the midst of the
June rains, the clips were carefully
covered with tarpaulins through the
trip. and saved from the rain only to
get soaked while unloading and waiting
for room in the warehouse. When the
wool begins to come in ii comes with
a rush, and there must always be a
week in which there will be a long
string OF. freight wagons drawn up in
line at the warehouse waiting to dis
charge their contents, and not the larg-
est force Of men obtainable by the rail-
way can ease this blockade SO long as
there Is a lack of storage room. The
railway had not anticipated quite such
a large quantity of wool as came to this
city last year, and although they put
on a larger force than was absolutely
required, much of the wool had to be
stacker on the DldtIOTm OutSlue dnu
get soaked. The buyers did not over
look this fact, and when the clip came
in for sale hey were sure to pick out
the wettest sack, m on the great
moisture while pulling IL over, hin
that any price would be almost too
much for 1t, as 1t would heat in ship
ment and its value be destroyed, and
finally make a price on ii from one to
two cents less than 1t was worth, and
the grower had either to take that or
to ship ii on consignment, with the
chances of loss from heating staring
them i'm the face. One or two were able
to get an empty store building and
spread out clips that had become wet,
but the cost of the process nearly, IL
not quite, equalled the loss through the
buyers.
That will not happen this year. The
building n its floor room Will be am
pie to take up Immediately every sack
of wool as il is u~nloaded, and the rail-
way company will advertise this fact
throughout the territory which in this
respect is tributary to Great Falls. The
citizens have an equally great inter-
est, as it is one of the great sources
of income to the city, this selling of
the wool in the spring. The matter
of erecting a plant for the securing of
samples of wool was taken up by the
Business Mems association, but for
some reason seems now to be in abey-
ance. This ought to be pushed, and
the plant put in as soon as possible,
so that growers who are i'm doubt
whether to take their clips to Billings
or Great Falls would know of this ex-
ira advantage of this market, and make
up their minds to try Great Falls once
more. Such a plant would tend more
than anything else TO secure for the
grower a constant and equitable price
for his clip.
At the present time there Is consid-
era h1a hiSo1cSion nf tho nrpha HE nripp
of wool. Earlier in the spring-before
the war had become a fact-the con-
sensus of opinion was that prices would
be high, and the wool grower was pro-
po~rtionately happy. Since the war be-
gan the feeling does not seem quite so
optimistic. 1t Is said that the war has
not created any demand for territorial
woods, the staple being too short for
use in army clothing. and that even il
this were not SO. the mount of wooden
clothing to be manufactured for the
use of soldiers in hot climates would
not be large. The report says that the
feeling of insecurity In New York and
Boston is having a tendency to un-
settle prices and to make brokers con-
servative in their transactions From
Washington and Oregon il is learned
that there are but few buyers in the
field, and that is also discouraging, and
tends to confirm the other reports. So
the woolgrower is not so jubilant as he
was in March.
In other respects the sheepmen have
been fortunate. 1t is undoubtedly a
fact that they have not been so well
prepared for winter as they were last
fall for at least five years. Since the
panic the prices of wool have been so
low as TO scarcely more than to pay
running expenses and the interest on
money borrowed. Last years prices
gave the grower a better margin than
this. Instead of hoping to pull through
with what he had last fall, he went to
work TO improve his breeds. High
Gus instances. and the result will be
that not only will a higher grade OF
wool be obtained next year. but the
lambs of this spring by the infusion OF
new blood will be stronger than the ay-
erage. The winter was mild. and not
only was maintenance account less, but
the sheep came through in better av
erage condition, and this is another
factor in the production of strong lambs
this spring. The weather so far in the
iambing season has been favorable
Last year the rains were cold. and there
while there has been considerable rain
none of the storms have been cold. and
none were hurtful.
Predictions as to the amount OF WOO
to be marketed at this point are in or
der. As no accurate list of the sheer
which have been sold and shipped from
this section since the shearing season
Of last year is o~btainable. there is q
wide margin for guessing. The temper
of the grower Is another undetermined
factor. Last year IL was predicted vi
to the time the last clip arrived in th'
city that the amount marketed would
fall short of the clip of the preceding
year. When the totals were adde
up IL was found that the market was
slight mount above that OF 1896. i
= t. 49,, q gfr,f1ar VASrIt mill oh
tain this season.