Montana farmer-stockman. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1947-1993, 1955-07-15
FAIR
EXCHANGE
by
Cedric AdGms

the Fairgrounds you had as a kid?
I was raised in the small town of
Magnolia, Minnesota (pop. 203 when
thew were all home) and quite a pOr-
ton of my early childhood was spent
PLAYING in the old Farmers Eleva-
tor. | got to wondering the other
day if kids still do that We had a
kindly, cooperative gentleman who
ran the Farmers Elevator-fellOw
named Dan Connolly. Dan has re-
tired now, but he still lives there.
He gave us kids the run of the place.
The elevator had strange lure for
us. It was on the railroad tracks,
naturally, and it was fun to watch
the freight train brakemen switch
cars on to the siding that approached
the elevator. Biggest excitement, of
course. came in the fall when the
farmers brought in their grain. The
dust-laden machinery that elevated
the grain from the dump in the
driveway up into the great bins of
the elevator had special fascina-
ton. Old Dan permitted us young
sterS to climb up the ladders that
led to the bins and once UP there,
we could wade around barefooted in
the grain. What a thrill it was to
feel the cool wheat or rye coming
up between your toes. The oats and
barley bins weren't quite so much
fun somehow.
ANOTHER DEPARTMENT of the Old
Farmers Elevator that proved exciting was
the engine where the old Fairbanks
Morse gas engine "a One-cylinder job, as
remember) wheezed away. Our whole town
knew when Dan was operating because we
could hear the exhaust Of the elevator engine
beating out its rhythmic bangs through an
exhaust pipe that led from the engine room
TO the outside Of the elevator. can still
remember Old Dan grabbing of the
big fly wheels the engine to start it, and
the little cup of cylinder oil on top, and
the belt that led from the fly wheel to the
machinery of the elevators, and the raised
voices in the elevator office where men had
to shout to overcome the cIackety-clack Of
the Fairbanks-Morse.
THERE WAS ONE phase of the Old
Farmers Elevator that wasn't too
pleasant for me as a kid When |
was about 9 or 10 years old worked
every fall hauling grain from thresh
ing rigs on farms adjacent to Mag
nolia into the Farmers Elevator.
I was q town kid and not too
handy with team of horses. We
had to drive into the elevators drive
way and hit exactly those two planks
that raised up to tip the wagon for
unloading. If you didn't make it eX-
actly on the line, you had to drive
out, wait in line and take another
Swipe at it. The hangers-on always
gave you the ha-ha when that hap
pened. ] remember one time when
a pigeon flew into the driveway,
scared the day1ights out of the horses
and darned near had runaway.
YEARS LATER have come TO understand
something of the contribution the Farmers
Elevators, like Dams, all over region
make TO national economy. Each one
serves average Of about ESQ farms, acting
as a nearby buyer for their grains and
paying the going market price in cash. This
price, of course, can be checked against the
regularly published Minneapolis Grain Ex-
change quotations. In turn, the elevator sells
the grain at the Exchange, by phone, wire
or letter, for the same price, plus a small
charge for handling, freight and profit. The
elevators in the Northwest shipping 10
Minneapolis provide a ready market for the
$4,000 farms in the bFeadbasket of America.
In giving the elevators the credit
due, however, I'm sure we've over
looked the role they have played in
providing the youngsters of our
small towns some of the happiest
experiences of boyhood A city kid
who hasn't watched the flow of grain
out of a wagons end-gate, who
hasn't climbed the towering heights
of an elevator, who hasn't ronped
around in a freight car as it was be-
ing loaded with grain just hasn't
lived, that's all. My hat goes off to
the elevator mar-his contributions
are many and Important
As -AA