The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1918-01-18
Mass Of Complicated Testimony Assem-
bled Before Corporation Commission;
Farmer Heard
GO INTO DETAIL
AS TO ALL PRICES
LinIers Come in for Part al Hearing;
Invisible Loss" Question Dis
cussed; Hearing Continues

Asserting that one of the reasons
why the farmers could not buy more
Liberty bonds than they had was
because of the invisible loss the far
mers sustained in having cotton
ginned, Mr. Kirk, farmer Of Fort
Cobb, proved to be an interesting
witness in the hearing that is being
conducted before Corporation Com
missioner Campbell Russell at the
city hall
All Of the witnesses that were to
testify from Caddo and Stephens
counties were heard yesterday even
ing and general outline of the con
dirioAs that prevailed relative to the
prices that were paid for cotton and
cotton seed paid in these counties
for the past two years were brought
out
Tie evidence that is being ts9 Il
IS detained and very complicated 1t
is technical in its character and goes
to the very bottom of the industry
dealing with invisible losses, the
losses sustained in the shortening of
the staple and the difference in cost
in ginning the seed close and the
corresponding loss that might result
if more of the lint was left on the
seed, An attempt is being made to
show that in leaving a long lint on
the seed, not only in lint cotton to
the farmer but the dry lint absorbs
the oil~in the seed and in this man
ner results in a loss to the oil men
as well
another point that stress is being
laid upon by the state, is the reason
for the invisible loss that is some
timos sustained by ginning. Anoth-
er matter that is being brought out
is the difference that is being paid
for the seed by the Independent gins
and the price paid by those gins
owned and controlled by members of
a cotton oil company and olso the
price that is paid for the wv .ro-
duct as compared to the price that is
received for the finished product.
A. B. Brown, ginner of Anadarko,
was the first man who was called to
testify before the commission yester
day afternoon. He stated that the
gins that were owned by an oil mill
company had paid just as high a
price fer cotton during the past year
as any other gin and that he had
only made a living profit
The next witness to testify and
the first farmer. was Mr. Kirk, who
lives near Fort Cobb His testimony
was to the effect that there was in
vaviably an invisible loss in ginning
He gave a specific instance in which
he said that load of cotton, which
was picked before any rains or dust
lad been blown into it, was ginned
and the owner of the cotton sustain
cd loss of 430 pounds. That is to
say that there was this much differ
ence in the cotton in the seed and
the combined weight of the lint and
the seed after it was ginned.
He quoted from records of the cen
sus bureau stating that this was far
in excess of the average loss that
was sustained in tests that were
made by the government. Out of
795 bales, that we're ginned in this
test, he said it was shown that in
every 1900 pounds of seed cotton the
average loss was only 71.91 pounds.
In giving his testimony he stated
that one of the gins at Fort Cobb
failed to comply with the order given
by the corporation commission which
required the gin to give a full and
complete report To sustain his
statement he submitted tickets which