The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1903-10-26

cent mas DGGnN marketed. l1E grain
buyers will not buy any faster than
they can get cars to load it into. There
are three shipping points III the county,
Hill City, Morland and Bogue, with
two or three buyers at each point.
The State Journal correspondent was
at Morland Thursday and saw ten far
Trers in line waiting for d chance to
unload their wheat. Only one nj the
three buyers there had any cars and
consequently only one ele 1at0~ was
running 1t was full to overfowing.
The wheat pit where the wheat is dump
ed by the wagon load was full, but 1t
was elevated, cleaned and snot into a
car as fast as possible. AS fast as the
pit was sufficiently empty another
wagon load was driven in and dumped;
Each man had to take his turn and IL
all the available cars were filled hefore
his turn came he could not sell MS
wheat until more cars came.
The manager of this elevator said he
had handled g.. 900 bushels of wheat this
season up to a week ago, and Is now
averaging nearly eighty loads, or up
wards Of 1000 bushels, a day. He could
do much more if he could get the cars
A. E Kerns. a Hill City buyer, has
handled about $4,000 bushels, and IS now
getting cars for about 5000 bushels d
day. There have been as high as thirty
five teams in line in Hill City at a time,
waiting to unload their wheat.
And it is not only in the day time that
this keeps up, but sometimes the farm
ers haul wheat at night A snort time
ago some Russians from the soutner1i
part of the county sold several loads or
wheat at Morland. after waiting in line
for several hours. The cars were about
gone and they asked when they could
sell more wheat. They were told that
two or three empty cars were expected
during the night. and if they were there
early in the morning they would stand
a good chance of selling. AT daylight
the next morning they woke up the
wheat buyer. They had worked all
night and got back with several loads
of wheat.
The railroads are simply swampedi
with tonnage. Graham is only one OF
five big wheat counties along the Lin
coin branch of the Union Pacific, yet II
cars could be secured so as to send out
a train load of fifteen cars OF wheat
with a thousand bushels per car, every
week day from now on. it would require
nearly all winter to move the wheat
without counting the live stock ana
other farm products.
And it is not only on eaStbound
freight that the railroads are swampeo.
1t is extremely difficult to secure lumber
and coal The farmers want lumber to
build bins to store their wheat, but the
lumber yards cannot get the material Ill
fast enough to supply the demand ana
the farmers have to pile their wheat Oh
the ground until they can get lumber
for bins.
MANY of the engines which run the
hard to get enough to keep them run
ming. One day recently it was reported
that a car load steam coal was on It's
way UP to Hill City. Teams to haul ii
away began to get in line for IL the
night before the same way holders Oh
theater tickets stand in line all night III
Topeka to get seats when some big al
traction comes to the Crawford. The
next morning there were twenty teams
in line waiting for coal before that car
reached Hill City. and when it got mere
it was found that it was bound for Nor
land, fifteen miles west. A number or
the teamsters followed it there ana
hauled the coal back, so urgent was the
demand.
Freight trains do not pretend to run
on schedule time on this line. One day
this week a freight started from Plain
vile in the morning and had only
reached Hill City, 35 miles west, at
supper time, and the crew was so worn
out that it was given permission to
stop eight hours and rest. This is I'M
usual however. In this instance the
engine threw fire so badly that the
sparks set fire to the dry stubble and
grass along the right of way. The
train was so heavy and it made the
backed UP after leaving Plainville and
left part of the train there. Then it
started again, but before Hill City had
been reached the. train had stOpDed
passengers to fight the prairie fires set
by the engine, and in the majority of
instances it was necessary to back up
some distance. for the train would get
by before the fire would blaze up. Such
are the difficulties of railroading
through the wheat and cattle country
in dry weather.
Graham county reverses the usual
order in one way-the rough cattle
country is along the river, while the
best wheat and corn lands are hack
several miles on the fiat or rolling
Orairies. The south fork of the Solo
mon flows through the center of the
county. 1t meanders through its val
ley. with banks scarcely more than
foot or two high, water from three to
fifteen inches deep. and a bed from
fifty to one hundred feet wide There
are scarcely any trees along it's banks
although a great quantity of Young
timber is now growing. An fastener
would take it for a swamp were it not
that there is a swift current of clear
water flowing over a gravel bed. The
absence of timber is credited to prairie
fires and stock grazing. In early days
the fires burned all the trees, and later
the cattle kept the young timber down
Old settlers say that twenty years ago
there wasn't a tree to be seen. while
now. since the fires have been abated
and where the cattle do not craze too
much, there is a considerable growth of
small timber.
Along the south side of the river.
especially IN the western half of the
county, the land is hilly and is given
over almost exclusively to cattle rails
ing. but it is well watered and numer-
Gus cold springs boil up between the
rocks along the little creeks. Land of
TINS kind IS worth about five dollars an
acre A few miles south the land is
more level and is splendid wheat land.
1t sells for from eight to twelve dollars
per acre for improved land. The great
Ser part of the corn acreag e lies in the
northern part of the county.
Graham county has its usual quota of
oead towns. At one time there were
four "enterprising'' towns contesting for
the temporary county seat, and while
Hill City was not successful at the time.
1t is the only one now left.
The county was organized about 1880
ana after a strenuous time the old town