Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1900-08-09

ing, indeed. was full OF time-consuming
details, and in the end neither party
| to trade was likely to be satisfied.
! AS q consequence. the State govern
ment, or, in some primary markets. the
local chamber of commerce, stepped In.
and assumed charge of the whole sys-
tenn of grading and inspections; and
now no portion of the great wheat bus
mess moves with more ease and effl-
cheney. Il degree of care and accuracy
simply amazing to the outsider being
constantly maintained.
At present the four great wheat elc-
vator centers are Minneapolis, Duluth.
| Chicago and Buffalo. In the last-nnined
city some of the elevators have Il stor-
age capacity Of from 100000 to 2oOo.-
600 bushels. some of them built OF steel.
operated by electricity from Niagara
| Falls, protected from fire by pne'l-
! 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 grain-lauen vessel.
| Here the wheat is shoveled by Sriiny
workmen, toiiny in Il cloud of dust,
into the pathway of huge stean S"ov-
] els, which, in turn, draw the yellow
| load--it looks from above like so much
sand--to the ends of the clogs" where
the buckets seize it and carry 1t up
wards into the elevator, AMI distribute
it among the various bins. "A cargo or
10000 bushels can thus be unlOaded
in a few hours. while legs on the other
side of the elevator will reload 1t int"
cars. six at time in five minutes. or in
an hour ill canal boat.
The cost of all these operations has
been reduced to ridiculously low fig
uIe--the entire work of unloading.
storing and reloading rarely adding
more than one cent to the price or Il
busllel Of wheat.
Carriage to ScabOard.
The transportation of wheat from the
West to the seubOard Is Il business or
almost Uncomfortable magnitude. 1t
means millions of dollars 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 III 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 10 Buffalo.
where it is shipped by rail or canal to
New York, Boston, Baltimore and Phil
adelphia.
Few appreciate the magnitude of the
lake shipping interests. which have
been developed to Il considerable extent
by the transportation Of wheat Du-
luth- Superior is the second port In the
United States in point Of tonnage. bc-
ing exceeded only by New York. The
Sault Ste. Marie Canal passes two and
half times as much tonnage In eight
months as the Suez Canal passes IN
full year. Lake shipping furnishes.
moreover the cheapest transportation
in the world, the rate being approx
mately three-quarters Of mill per ton
per mile.
Some Of the greater lake vessels car
nv enormous cargoes-up to 2Jo.WW
bushels Of wheat in single load. With
out comparisons. 1t Is difficult to form
any conception Of the immensely of u
cargo of this size. In Duluth, 700 bush
els arc estimated as carload. At that
rate, a cargo of 2o2.O0O bushels, which
has actually been transported from Du-
luth to Buffalo. would fill 800 cars, or
nine trains of forty cars each. At df-
teen bushels to the acre, this cargo
would represent the yield of 16,SW
acres Of land. In many localities u
fam Of 100 acres is looked upon as q
large one. 1t would take 1O5 such farms
to raise enough wheat to furnish this
one cargo.
Until recently New York had the
lions share of the wheat export bust.