Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1898-02-14


years, nor bakers who would mix. mold
and bake II into crisp loaves In another
ten years.
Fifteen millions of bushels OF wheat
a bulk nearly three times that of the
Masonic Temple--the highest and larg-
est building of its class in the world.
In that gigantic Pile. towering twenty
four stories and covering one fourth
of block Of the most valuable real es-
tate In Chicago. there are 5,762294 cubic
feet of space--so say the architects. But
MIR. Letters little pile of wheat would
dwarf that structure II PLACED beside
1t, reaching almost three times higher,
with the same ground dimensions, oc-
cupying $4,000 900 cubic feet.
rhe highest authority says there are
1000 grains of wheat to the pound
Therefore. as Mr.. Letter owns $1,000, 900
bushels. each weighing sixty pounds,
the total weight of his possessions
would require counterbalance of
300, 100000 pounds-a total that would
Keep family of five persons counting
steadily for two years at the rate of
200 per minute without intermIssion TO
check of the weight, and the total num-
Der Of grains of wheat in this huge
purchase IL only $4,000 900 100000 This
sum is sufficiently large to perplex
even astronomers, who measure dis
tauces of stars by the millions of miles
uhA lillllhllS-ItNfi# me STAR EnTeT
guesses after he passes the ninth row
of ciphers in his computations.
Let us suppose that Mr. Letter want
ed to move his wheat to some other
point, and determine approximately
how many cars he would need If he
shipped It all by rail. He holds 200. 900. :
900 pounds. or $50, 900 tons The AVER
age capacity of freight cars is 10000
pounds, or twenty tons Therefore,
22.5O0 cars would be needed to trans
port this bulk of grain. The average
length of the coupling apparatus is
thirty-six feet or 1897 miles long. This
Is to say, II Mr.. Letter chooses to ship
all his grain In one train, he will have
string of cars reaching almost from
Chicago to the Mississippi river at
Quincy, III.
But " Mr.. Letter doesn't want to ship
MS property, but chooses to grind IL IN
and put 1t on the market he can sit
down with pencil and paper and figure
that as four and one-half bushels
OF wheat will make a 200-pound barrel
OF Hour, he can place 1893. 933. 1888 loaves
or bread within the reach OF the hun
CRY. At cents n loaf Mr.. Letter could
obtain sl6.G66 ,G5 for his property. As
his brokers have claimed that he pur-
chased his wheat at an average of 10
cents per bushel, his profits as a baker
would be hundred thousand or so
over s6,0O0.OOO.
lust suppose that Mr.. Letter were
phllanthropic and that he would he
willing to feed the hungry with his
hoard. Vital statistics say that one
and one-half pounds of wheat bread is
the bare existence diet. with his
millions of loaves Mr.. Letter could give
three meals each for one day to nearly
lOV'OoO,OOO of hungry folk. and still keep
something for himself The 200 600 per
sons who starved to death IN India last
year could have been kent alive far
weeks by the judicious distribution of
bread made from this big accumulation
.hat represents Mr.. Letters specuIa
tion. If Cuba had had this wheat 100
OOO persons could have been Sustained
Tor more than six months. and pre.t-
gent Mckinley would not. perhans
ndNe asked popular subscription 10
relleVe suffering In that war-distressed
Isle. Mr.. Letters hoard would have
kept awe these victims of SPANISH
:, aInaIlty Tor more than three weeks.
gwen three meals each per day.
EVERY 100 pounds of this great store of
wheat, when ground, would provida
iorty-two pounds of the fest grad,
Hour' eighteen pounds second grad
nine pounds biscuit flour and the tnil,
lhss, middlings. bran and other rem
nahts, save five pounds allowed for loss
ny evaporation, lis turned to account.
~ NiitNN WI is''llfF Is NOT aware
Of the fact but he has in his control the
1000 mainstay of the nation. The mn
trltiVe value of good wheat bread is not
iully recognized by most persons who
are fond OF the heel" of a crisp loaf.
Mr.. Letters pile iof wheat contains
more of the BRAIN! muscle and bone
forming food than, dozen train loads
or equal length bearing beef, pork eggs,
milk, mutton potatoes, cabbage and
fruit Three-fourths OF Mr. Letters
wheat is starch and sugar and almost
one. NTH is albumen--a quantity equal
to the albunen IN beef or eggs. With
out knowing 1t, the youthful Spectator
has cornered the brain and muscle food
OF the world, People who are In a posi-
tion to know say that wheat is worth
more than money in some places. If
Mr.. Letter warts to be generous he
could give his waiter tips in orders on
his warehousenan for bushel: could
carry some of the grain loose in his
pocket to hand tut to street beggars:
could carry snnll bag to drop In the
contribution box on Sunday-and he
more generous thin in distributing the
cash.
But Mr.. Letter Doesn't seeem to be
particularly intereted in informa-
ton which shows what might be done
in the way Of clarity with oils own
particular Klondik.