The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1900-08-14
Grain Rush Makes a Blockade
at Kansas City.
Santa Fe by Most Heroic Efforts
Keeps Moving.
MANY CARS TIED UP
Traffic Far Ahead of Any Year
in Roads History.
Grain Inspector Compelled to
Increase Force.

The amount of freight business offer
ed the railroads during the month past
is something astonishing. In fact it is
a record breaker.
Unusually large shipments of machin-
cry and farming implements have been
received in all portions of the state.
And while the shipment of this years
crop of wheat has not been begun in
earnest, enough has been offered the
roads to trouble them in handling it.
The problem presented to the Santa
Fe at Argentine on last Saturday was
a rather difficult one to solve. The
yards at that point were practically fill
ed with cars of wheat. Twenty-Five
switch engines were kept busy all the
time in doing the switching.
There were about 1,400 cars in the
yards, 500 of which no disposition had
been made. Three hundred and thir-
teen more were consigned to connecting
lines. The connecting lines had all the
business they could very we'll attend to
and could not get the 313 cars out dur
ing the day Saturday.
Besides this about 500 cars more were
made up into trains to be sent to Chi
cago over the Santa Fe.
Conditions are practically the same
at different points on all the other
roads doing business in Kansas.
The Missouri Pacific has been COM
PEELED to hastily put down a half dozen
switch tracks in the Cypress yards at
Kansas City to accommodate the cars
that are waiting to be unlOaded and
so scarce is track room that some of the
wheat trains are being left on the sid
ings outside of the city until they can
be unloaded.
The receipts in Kansas City from
Kansas alone run upward of nearly 500
cars each day and it keeps the inspec-
ton department at Kansas City, kan,
hustling 20 look after the grain that is
coming now State Inspector McKen-
zie increased his working force several
days ago, but even now he hasn't
enough men to do the work and may
be compelled to employ more.
The movement of grain into Kansas
City is becoming so heavy that the lines
originating the grain, needing all their
available equipment to bring the stuff
in from the west, are showing an in
clination to want the agreed rates of
cents to the river and 10 cents to Chi
cago and Minneapolis on grain moving
east or north from Kansas City. The
terminal lines are also short of cars; in
fact are unable to supply a sufficient
number for the stuff offered and it is
doubtful if any road cares to make any
new contracts for shipment of grain at
rates under the agreed basis, which was
to have become effective August TO-
That the bulk of the shipments are be
ing made under old contracts no one
doubts, however, and it is probably not
so much the agreement to advance
rates the inability to furnish cars
that has given the grain situation an
apparently forming tendency. The stu
alton is evidently only apparently
forming as yet, for all east bound roads
but the Alton were represented on the
board of trade yesterday by buyers
ordinarily using their lines, many of
whom bought heavily
Most of the roads are taking care of
flour shipments or, in any event, most
of the flour shipments are being taken
care of at the old rates, the agreement
to advance them August 10 being prac-
tically, if not absolutely, without effect.