Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1907-02-08
OF ROADS
BRINGS SCOURCE
ON NORTHWEST
halted Shipments Till Lake
Navigation Closed Caught
in Trap.
M LOSE MILLIONS
Lumber Trusts Excessive Prices Pre-
vent Building Of Granaries and
Mountains of Grain Are
Covered by Snow.

St. Paul, MINI, Feb. 5.-The railroad
situation in the northwest is appalling.
The effect Of the present congestion
will not be- obliterated inside of a year.
The fuel famine and snow blockade are
bad, and perhaps, as j, j. Hill says,
the coal dealers are largely responsible
for the coal shortage, a they did
not order supplies earlier; but the fuel
famine Is but one phase of the situa-
ton.
There are 1000 loaded freight cars in
the yards of the Minnesota Transfer
company, every car loaded with Christ
mas goods billed to North Dakota
towns, which have been in the yards
as far back as December l. There are
also half this umb of cars scattered
along the s~idetracks tive the Twin
Cities and the Dakota eastern border,
oaded with food supplies and mer-
chandise, which ave been en- route,
some of the cars, since November Il,
long before the snowstorms came, but
still at a time when it is is said the
railroads had reached an agreement TO
withhold cars from the northwest, so
tina shipments of grain could not be
made to the east until after the close
of navigation on the Great Lakes.
The storms came, and the railroads
have suffered as well as the people OF
the northwest.
Railroads Lose Much; Farmers More
But his loss to the railroads has been
insignificant compared to the loss Sus-
tanned by the farmers of Dakota,
though the railroads cannot go through
till spring under an expense of less
thar SO, 900, 900, not including an equal
amount in loss of traffic which the
blockade has occasioned.
Millions of bushels of wheat are
stacked upon the ground covered with
nothing but a foot to three feet OF
snow, and it is estimated by a travel
ing railroad man who spent three
weeks in the North Dakota wheat belt
that at least fifty per cent. of this
grain Will be a total loss. unfit for
marketing.
THE amount of grain on the
ground" said he, lis almost beyond be-
lief. / saw stacks of grain which con-
tanned 5000 bushels of wheat, covered
with eighteen inches of snow. When
this snow melts it will not run off,
but will oak into the grain and max
It unfit for anything but stock food.
Lumber Trust Plays Part.
Lumber in North Dakota is very
costly and farmers cannot afford to
build extensive g~ranaries. They a
depended upon the elevators to store
their grain, but this year for one rea-
son or another, the railroads did not
furnish the cars necessary to haul the
grain as fast as it was received by the
elevators. The elevators are all full
now and have not been able to receive
grain since December 1. The loss on
the grain crop of this state alone be-
cause the railroads would not a the
product to market will reach well into
the millions, compared to which the
fuel shortage and loss VIII be insignif-
cant"
One of the great points in the inves-
tigation Of the railroads of the north
west was the overlooking of this short
age of transportation facilities from the
grain centers of the wheat belt to the
eastern markets. The fuel shortage
cvershadowed all other subjects and lit
tie attention was paid to investigating
the reason for not taking care of the
grain crop as in years past, M which
the railroads could count upon with a
certainty.
Rich Yet Go Hungry.
AS a result of being unable to real
lie upon their crops n the forced
necessity of allowing n large percentage
of grain to remain on the ground. the
armers nave been hard pressed for
necessities to carry them over the win
ter, while the country merchants have
not only exhausted their credit, out
their stocks have zone to keep the peo-
pie from starving. Fifty million dol
lars is a low estimate for the amount
of money tied up by the action of the
railroads in not early handling The
grain crop.
OF course circumstances occurred
later-the great snow storms-which
tied up the roads and made it impos-
sible to take care of the traffic. and
they ave also lost heavily. The policy
OF holding back shipments so that
earnings may be equaliZed the year
round, month by month, has been an
expensive one, and it is likely to pro
duce a revolution in r~ailroading.
What Experience Will Teach.
The roads must be prepared to take
care of the traffic quickly and clean
1t up The effect Will be TO do away
with agreements to hold back until lake
navigation is over, that the roads may
enjoy a longer haul of freight, and his
lesson will teach the farmer the alu
of having storage facilities for his
grain independent of the railroads and
then If he is forced to pay a high rate
of freight during the winter months he
can wait till summer and ship via the
lake route. At the same time he will
be able to raise money on his stored
grain in case of necessity.
The situation this fall has taught the
railroads. the grain grower and The fuel
dealers a lesson that they should never
forget.
-
M~ontana's Worst Storm.
Billings, Mont, Feb. 5.-The severest
snowstorm In twenty years prevails in
eastern Montana. Snow covers the
ground over a foot. Conditions are
worse than since 1886. when thousands
Of sheep died in a storm.
30 Below in Wisconsin.
Superior, Wis, Feb. 5.-Thermom-
eters registered 40 below this morning.