White Pine news. [volume] (East Ely, Nev.) 1920-1923, 1923-04-29
BUYERS WAR IS
ENDED WITH BIG LOSS

n woman warfare pelt
buyers, which has had the effect of
initiating the pelt market in Snake
and Spring valleys during the latter
part of the winter, has ended disas-
trously to one if not both of them.
Sam Mintz and George Summer
hays entered into a gentlemen's
agreement early in the season, divid-
ing the territory between them, each
agreeing not to purchase pelts ON the
others side of the dividing line. 1t
had not been in effect more than 4
few days when Summerhays found
where MintZ had made a small pur-
chase on his side Of the line. Then
the trouble started. They bid against
each other with little regard for mar
ket conditions for the rest of the
winter and Mintz placed from $500
to $500 in the hands of ranchers to
act as ~sub-agents for him at each of
the various settlements. These meth
DDS ran prices up to a point where
the two made less than expense IS for
their own efforts. Mintz has quit and
gone TO Salt Lake, $1,000 loser for
his winters buying. His father, ia
cob Mint, has called him in. The
latter made owe $1,000 in the same
territory the previous winter.
When pelts brought 2S cents at
Salt Lake, which was three weeks
ago, they offered from % to % cents
on the ranches. The freight by truck
and train averaged the full amount
of the difference between buying and
selling price. Then the Salt Lake
price dropped to 81 and they went
to "a strong.
Where the buyers got bumped was
on their purchasing through Tho
snow blockade period, when pelt.
could not be shipped. and to have tc
sell them at present prices. Indica.
tons in the form of letters from Salt
Lake now are that the price there
is to decline to &c cents.
Freight on pelts. wool and hides
from Ely to Salt Lake is s2.37 Il
a hundred pounds in less than car
lots, and the average truck freight,
whether the buyer hires them hauled
or loses the time to do it himself,
cannot be figured under 81.
BY shipping out from Garrison the
truck rate to Milford is 1925 and
the freight rate approximately $50.
This does not allow for the expense
of assembling them at Garrison.
Where the buyer gets away the
worst of 1t is from his own house.
These are heartless in dealing with
his shipments in the matter of weigh
ing and grading. Deductions arc
made for mud and moisture, for short
wool and when a pelt is slightly torn
II is classed as pieces and taken in at
half price. One house recently aetu-
ally deducted two and a half pounds
for the baling wire with which a
small shipment Of pelts was baled
putting Is cents In it's own pocket
for that.
Some. grade them into fine wool.
blacks, mixed. loose and pieces, and
thus effect further deductions.
The same treatment is given to
sheepmen and ranchers who make
their own shipments. Under ascent
quotations they get about 23 cents.
with the freight to come out of that.
Owners who attempt TO get around
that by letting their dead sheep lie
until the wool a be pulled out and
put the pulled wool I'm with their
shorn wool in the spring are black
listed by wool buyers and not called
upon the next year. The same is
done TO those who shear their pelts
and put the wool in with the shorn
live wool. Pulled wool and the wool
from shorn pelts is called dead wool
and does not bring the price. 1t can
be slipped into sacks with the live
wool and not be detected the first
year until 1t is opened at Boston, but
the next year buyers do not cal; upon
the grower from whom 1t came.
No wool buyers are in the leld at