The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1904-02-26
MANKATO'S HOG MARKET.
Prices Are Of Necessity Governed BY
Those in St. Paul and Chicago.
From Wednesdays Daily.


Mankato's price for hogs is governed
of necessity by the prices of hogs at
South st. Paul and Chicago markets.
1t simply cannot be otherwise. 1t costs
thirty five cents per hundred pounds for
freight, shrinkage, feed, yardage and
commission to ship hogs from Mankato
to South st. Paul and sixty-fve cents
from Mankato to Chicago. The price
paid at Mankato for good, stop" hogs,
that is, hogs at the highest price, and in
the best condition for all purposes, has
for many days past been $4.75 per hun
dred. If the Mankato dealer should try
to buy hogs for less than that price,
they could be shipped off to South St.
Paul or Chicago. It is a matter of
necessity for the local buyer to pay the
market price.
A Belgrade township farmer yesterday
had story about coming to Mankato
Monday with load of hogs and being
able to get no higher offer than $4.60 a
hundred It may be that that farmer had
extra light hogs for sale, or at any rate,
hogs that did not contain a sufficient
quantity of lard to bring the top price,
hog lard being scarce article nowadays
If that farmer had brought good, fat,
stop" hogs, he would have been offered
for them the full market price, $4.75 per
hundred, the price governed by that of
Chicago and South st. Paul.
This morning Macbeth & Gardner re-
ceived carload of fine hogs from C. S.
Thurston of Judson. For this car load
they paid him the market price, $4.75.
Mr.. Thurston knew he would get paid
for, every pound of live hog weight that
he sent. He knew he would get an abso-
lutely square deal. He is an old hand
in the business and he knew he could do
no better than to send his hogs to Man
kato. Otherwise they never would have
been sent here.
1t is easy enough sometimes to juggle
with figures on paper and make it ap-
pear to the unsophisticated that Man
kato meat buyers do not pay as much as
is paid elsewhere. But look at the facts
as everybody sees them. Carload after
carload of hogs and other live stock is
continually coming into Mankato from
Judson, Lake Crystal, Madison Lake and
all around here and sold at fair and just
weight for the market price. If better
prices can be gotten elsewhere, why does
not some enterprising Spectator make
a fortune by buying up the live hogs
as they come into Mankato and selling
them where they will bring more. John
n Lang has a hundred nice live hogs
that he bought at $4.75 and is holding in
the hope of better market. If that
Belgrade farmer can get such good
price at st. Peter as he makes out he
can, Mr.. Lang will let him have these
hogs at just little above cost, and the
farmer can make enough on that one
deal to enable him to take vacation
all next summer.
1t does indeed happen that in a certain
locality two or more rival concerns will
raise the price of hogs or other live
produce away above what it should be-.
This is war. 1t is not steady, healthful
competition. Such abnormal prices can
not stand long. 1t would bankrupt any
concern to keep them up indefinitely. Yet
such prices can be resorted to from time
to time as an advertising trick.
Moreover it occurs once in while that
shipper has almost full carload and
, is in hurry to get it off and will there
fore go away above the market price in
order to get what he wants right away.
Horace Cummins and Rev. j. j. Ram
sey of Eagle Lake were in the city to-
day. Mr.. Ramsey has taken the editorial
management of The Eagle Lake News
succeeding Duane Cummins, who needs a
change of employment on account of his
health. The first issue of the paper I'M
der the new management will come out
tomorrow. Mr.. Ramsey is pastor of the