The Emmett index. [volume] (Emmett, Idaho) 1893-1925, 1900-09-14

there, and then weigh It in a litth
brass kettle, to make sure that 1t comes
strictly within the lawful speciica
lions. He is an absolutely Impartial
judge. He records only the number and
initials Of the car. He never knows who
is the shipper. I heard Of one deputy
who inspected his own brothers wheat
for six months without knowing whose
it was.
''The official inspector is accompanied
by number OF active young men Of
the sampling bureau, which represents
the great elevator and commission
houses. They climb into the car, thrust
a brass plunger deep into the wheat
bring up a sample here and there, I'LL
bag, label 1t with the number and
Initials Of the car, and pass on with tho
Inspector. 1t Is swift work. OF neces-
sity, for the samples must be In at the
opening Of the Chamber of Commerce,
where, set out In little tin pans, eacn
bearing the grade tag Of the State Ia,
spector. they form the basis OF tha
days trading"
At present the four great wheat ella
vator centers are Minneapolis, Duluth,
Chicago and Buffalo. In the last-named
city some Of the elevators have q stor-
age capacity Of from 100000 to 1900.
600 bushels some of them built of steel,
operated by electricity from Niagara
Falls, protected from fire by pneu-
matte water systems, and having com,
plete machinery for cleaning, Crying
and securing the wheat, when that is
necessary.
The elevators are provided with so
called 'legs," long spouts, containing
moving bucket-belts, which are lowered
into the hold Of a grain-laden vessel
Here the wheat is shOveled by grimy
workmen, tolling in a cloud OF dust,
into the pathway Of huge steam show
els, which, in turn, draw the yellow
load-it looks from above like so much
sand-to the ends Of the legs" where
the buckets seize 1t and carry 1t up
wards into the elevator, and distribute
it among the various bins. A cargo Of
10000 bushels can thus be unloaded
in a few hours, while legs on the other
side Of the elevator will reload 1t int5
cars, six at time in five minutes, or in
an hour fill a canal boat.
The cost OF all these operations has
been reduced TO a ridiculOusly low fig.
ure-the entire work of unloading,
storing and reloading rarely adding
more than one cent to the price OF a
bushel of wheat
Carriage to Seaboard.
The transportation of wheat from the
West to the seaboard is a business of
almost inconceivable magnitude. ID
means millions of dollars a year to
railroad and ship owners. and during
the rush season of the late fall, so great
is the demand for transportation that
shippers find difficulty in obtaining
enough cars and vessels.
Most of the wheat of the Northwest
now goes by way of the lakes, through
the Sault Ste Marie canal, to Buffalo,
where it is shipped by rail OF canal TO
New York, Boston, Baltimore and Phil
adelphia.
Few appreciate the magnitude Of the
lake shipping interests, which have
been developed to a considerable extent
.
luth-Superior is the second port IN the
United States in point Of tonnage, be
ing exceeded only by New York. The
Sault Ste. Marie Canal passes two and
p, a half times as much tonnage in eight
. months as the Suez Canal passes in q
full year. Lake shipping furnishes
moreover the cheapest transportation
, in the world, the rate being approx
? mately three-quarters of a mill per tor
per mile.
Some Of the greater lake vessels car
4 ~ enormous cargoes-up to 25O,OO'
? bushels of wheat in a single load. With
a out comparisons, it is difficult to form
any conception of the immensely of ;
cargo of this size. In Duluth, 700 bush
els are estimated as carload. At tina
rate, a cargo of 252, 1000 bushels, which
has actually been transported from Du
luth to Buffalo. would fill $50 cars, o
nine trains Of forty cars each. At fif
teen bushels to the acre this carg'
would represent the yield of 1880
acres of land. In many localities
farm of 100 acres IS looked upon as
large one It would take 1O5 such farm
to raise enough wheat to furnish thi
one cargo.
, Until recently New York had tn
lions share OF the wheat export bust
ness; but latterly Boston, Baltimore
, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Galveston
\ and Montreal have been large exporters
J For the fiscal year 1899 New York tool
only 2SS per cent. while New Orlean
and Galveston had 1863 per cent. each
Boston u, Baltimore "a, and Philade
phia per cent, the remainder beln
scattered between Montreal, Portland
Norfolk and Newport News.