Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1901-10-03
.GRON1HOF|GRA|N|RADE
F. H. Peavey, Of Minneapolis. De.
livers Interesting Address to
Grain Dealers.
Growth Of the Grain Trade
in the Northwest His
Theme.
Contest Between St. Louis and
Memphis for Next Meeting Of
the Convention.
Special to Times-RepubIlcan.

Special to Times-Republican.
Des Moines, Oct. 3.-The second day Of
the grain dealers national convention
opened with all interest centered in the
contest between ST. Louis and Memphi:
for the next years convention. Tht
business session involving the election
Of officers will be held late this after.
room. Several papers were read today
F. n. Peavey, Of Minneapolis. delivered
the principal address on the "Grair
Trade in the Northwest"
"The subject on which have been
asked to talk-the growth of the grain
trade in the northwest-gives me great
scope, and for its complete treatment
would require a large volume. as few
people even in the grain trade itseif
have realizing sense of the enormous
growth OF the grain business in this
country during the past decade.
II will give you briefly my observa-
tions and experiences covering period
of thirty years, when one firm recall
started in feed store with less than a
car load OF assorted grain, and today
this same firm, which has never
changed its name, controls and practi-
cally owns elevators scattered thruout
the country of an aggregate storage ca
pacity Of 30,000,000.
"I first chance to think how wheat
was handled in Sioux City in 1867. That
section which now boasts Its magnifi-
cent corn crop and has its corn palaces
was supposed to be beyond the corn belt
at the time mention. In those days
the aggregate wheat receipts were very
small, altho the entire country to the
west was tributary. Farmers delivered
the grain in sacks and the grain mer-
chant used his back to convey the
wheat to one corner of the warehouse;
later it was re-sacked and carted to q
Missouri river steamboat and shipped to
Omaha, the then nearest railroad point
THE small volume of business; un-
certainty as to- time of delivery; the
necessity. of using muscle in place oil
machinery; the lack OF being able to
hedge, all contributed to force the mer-
chant to buy on q very wide margin, or
to. gamble that wheat would advance in
price. The large majority Of those who
pursued the latter course died poor or
are today without money or influence.
with the advent of the railroad came
partitioned warehouses, and those
among you old in the business will re-
call how we fought for hill or knoll To-
cations high enough to spout to cars
without rehandllng. Later came the
balloon elevator, driven by one blind
horse with a tanning mill in the base
ment. Some of you will remember al
ternating between the mill and the
horse and using the same stick for both.
What are now known as line elevat-
or companies had their origin in the
early '70s, and one Of the first was locat-
ed on the Dakota Southern railroad
from Sioux City to Yankton, distance
of sixty-five miles, one of the first roads
to invade Dakota, now known as a
branch Of the c., NJ. & st. P. railway.
with the advent OF the st. Paul &
Pacific railway, now known as the
Great Northern, and the Northern Pa
cific, and the tremendous immigration
following the line. the elevator man be-
came q scarcity. Material was carted
miles in advance of the railroad, and at
heavy expense elevators were completed
by the time the tracks reached there.
Business was commenced with no bank
ing facilities and in many cases with no
other building in sight; wheat receipts
were heavy; steam power was used ;
currency was shipped from Minneapolis
to the nearest express point and then
sent by special messenger to the side
track elevator man, whose life was
lonely and whose pistol was ready to
protect the money and property in his
charge.
about this same period the st. Paul
& Sioux City railroad, now known as
the Omaha, was completed and estab-
lished an elevator line of its own, all
charges being included in the freight,
thus preventing competition. Their
houses would handle from 5000 to 5000
bushels of wheat per day and We're op-
Grated by steam with two unloading
places. have known farmers at Sib-
ley, and remember when the first man
settled in Osceola county, and later at
LuVerne, Minn., to wait twenty-four
hours, and even longer, to be unloaded.
A line would be formed, horses or oxen
unhitched and farmers would attend to
flllelT QlHGEE dOVds SAASS GIL AAN'At
or so all those in line would return to
their horses, hitch up and draw up, and
this process would be continued until
each team arrived at the elevator and
was unloaded.
This method of handling elevators
did not prove successful to the railroad
company, who sold or leased them to
other parties and confined themselves to
their legitimate business of transporta-
tion.
To-day thru the agricultural districts
the grain buyer is usually located in adj
vance of the railway agent, his elevator
being completed before the station
house is ready; as the country becomes
more densely populated new towns
spring up and new side tracks put in,
and hence we have steady increase
in country elevators, and In most cases
the new houses are built of cribbing
and operated by gasoline power. Thru
the older states the houses are owned
by the independent buyer; in the north
west the Line elevator men predomi-
nate.
While the increase in the number of
country elevators has been very rapid,
the growth of the terminal elevator Is
still more marvellous. Terminal elevat-
!ors are a necessity to transportation
and commerce.; they are the reservoirs