The Saint Paul globe., December 20, 1897, Page 4, Image 4

About The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905

Image provided by: Minnesota Historical Society; Saint Paul, MN

                
4
THE DfflLY- GLOBE
'is published every day
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Complete Hies of the Globe always kept
on hand for reference.
TODAY'S WEATHER.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 19.— Forecast for Mon
day: Minnesota— Fair, followed by snow;
■warmer; southerly winds.
Wisconsin— Snow; warmer; light to fresh
east to southeast winds.
North and South Dakota— Snow; preceded
by fair in eastern portions; warmer; southerly
■winds.
lowa— Snow; warmer; variable winds.
Montana— Local snows; warmer; south to
southeast winds.
GENERAL OBSERVATION'S.
T'nitod States Department of Agriculture,
Weather Bureau, Washington, Dec. 19, G:4S
p. m. Local Time, 8 p. m. 75th Meridian
Time.— Observations taken at the same mo
ment of time at all stations.
TEMPERATURES.
" Place. Tern. I Swift Current .... 6
St. Paul 14lQu'Appelle —4
Duluth SJMinnedosa —10
Huron 10 Winnipeg —6
Bismarck 4 — „
Williston G Buffalo 10-18.
Havre 2] Boston 16-24
Helena 18j Cheyenne 8-20
Edmonton 28 Chicago 24-24
Battleford 0 Cincinnati 32-32
Prince Albert .. ..—lO Montreal .. „. .. 4-6
Calgary 20 New Orleans .. ..SG-74
Medicine Hat .. .. 10 Xew York 22-28
Place. Tem.'Pittsburg 24-.8
DAILY MEAN'S.
Barometer, 30.44; mean temperature, 4; rel
ative humidity, SG; wind at 8 p. m., south;
•weather, cloudy; maximum temperature, 14;
minimum temperature, — 6; dally range, 20;
amount of precipitation (melted snow) In last
twenty-four hours, 01.
—P. F. Lyons, Observer.
STILL RESISTING I'ItOGRESS.
There has always existed In society
an element that opposed Improvement
It has left Its records all along the
line of history. It exists today dimin
ished in numbers and Influence. It op
poses progress in all its fields, material,
eclentific, theological, partly because
Its indolent comfort is disturbed; part
ly because material interests are im
paired; mostly because of mental tor
pidity. English weavers smashed the
spinning machines; Galileo was forced
by the Inquisition to disavow the Co
-1 t rnican theory, and within our own
times ["he storm of fury that Darwin's
th ii.. cf i voli ; :<:;i mused is not whol
ly spent. So II . not surprising that
there y t remain men and women who
denounce with bitterness as "fads" the
progress that educational methods
have i:,ade in harmony with the ad
vance in every other field. Whenever
hard times make every one study
household economies, these old fogies
come to the surface and attract the
ear with their lamentations for the
good old days of the three Rs and the
decadence of our modern schools.
Minneapolis is just now furnishing
these antiquarians with an opportu
nity, and they are utilizing it. The
Tribune is their organ and their vent.
It quotes an lowa paper's doleful plaint
of the "fads," and applauds it. It "is
the tone now assumed by the most en
lightened exchanges that reach this of
fice from all over the country," it says;
all "enlightened exchanges" being
those holding its own antiquated no
tions and prejudices. If it were asked
to specify these "fads," it would an
swer that "their name Is legion," but
It names "manual training, cooking,
Bewing, modern languages, all the dead
languages except Latin, and a vast
emattering of miscellaneous Informa
tion embraced under the name of na
ture study." It is not that the Trib
une objects to education, but to what
modern educators esteem education to
be. This attitude, where it is not duo
to a sensitive pocket nerve, or to a
Btolid conservatism that believes that
all good things were with the fathers
and that the race is steadily degener
ating, is due to a failure to keep that
touch with progress in educational
methods that has been kept unavoid
ably with the progress made in other
fields. We doubt, for Instance, if the
Tribune would have the Mergenthaler
dismissed, or the electric motor demol
ished, or the germ theory discarded,
or the tallow candle reinstated, or the
sewerage system destroyed, or the roll
er mill sent to the rear and the wind
mill and burr stones restored. It ac
cepts them because it has kept in dally
touch with them and believes their ad
vantages to the material welfare of
tho race.
But with education and its methods
no such touch has been kept. We doubt
if any one of all these "anti-faddists"
has spent half a day in any school
since they packed up their books and
bade the schoolroom good-bye years
ago. If they are parents, they have
had key-hole glimpses of school meth
ods as their children have told of their
studies or floored them with questions.
But their lives and school work have
been apart. Their concept of teaching
end studies Is naturally that which
they gained in their own school days,
and, if they were then the best going,
It is not surprising that these persons
Btill think they were the best that
could be. But would it not be a re
flection upon our intelligence if edu
cators should not have gained wider
conceptions of what education is and
how gained, while their fellows in the
shops and laboratories were making
such tremendous strides? Would it not
be a reproach if they sh6uld not have
realized that the very basis of state
education, the better fitting of youth
for the duties of citizenship, required
much more than making pupils "able
to read, write and cipher more or less
■well," as Huxley described the English
Idea of education thirty years ago?
Why should not the eye be trained to
Quick and accurate observation and
the hand to dexterity in aiding the
tongue in expression, when both eye
and hand are bo essential in the work
of every man and woman? Why should
men and women go into their life work
ignorant of those laws and forces of
nature to which their lives must con
form under penalty of nature's disci
pline, which "is not even a word and
a blow, and the blow first; but the blow
without the word," leaving you "to find
out why your ears are boxed?" True,
no full instruction in all this can be
given, but what is given serves pre
cisely the same purpose that the three
Rs do; it opens the intelligence to what
may be learned, and is that not help
ful? Is it not better than sending
children out Ignorant of the vital truth
that there are such things to be learn
ed at their peril, if they do not? The
solemn fact is that education errs in
providing too few instead of too many
"fads."
-«»
AX PERSON.
We will not make the obvious return
compliment of the Preston Times
which finds "the obtuseness of the
Globe, when it comes to tariff mat
ters, simply astounding," preferring to
believe that, while the Times, with the
object lesson of the lumber tariff and
its uses before its eyes, perceiving the
outrage of it, still is unable to realize
that the lumbermen, in advancing
prices after the tax was laid, have
simply put into practice the theory of
all protective tariffs. We take it as
an encouraging sign, however, that our
contemporary is able to see it work in
the case of lumber, as It indicates a
possibility of seeing that may take a
wider range later. Meantime, if it will
aid the Times any in clearing the fog
that envelopes It, we will assure it that
the Globe is not "imbued with the
fixed idea that the tariff In all cases
is a tax, 1. c., the price of a commodity
is increased in exact proportion to the
tariff Imposed," if the commodity
meant Is one of which we
produce a surplus. We have
on several occasions pointed out
how the efforts of makers of these
commodities have failed to take to
themselves in increased price the ad
vantage given them by the taxation of
their foi-eign competitors, but this fail
ure was due, not to any Intent of the
law or to their own action, but because
there is a law of gravity in production
and prices that is superior to congresses
and human greed.
What we do insist on, however, and
what it surprises us to have so intelli
gent a person as Is the editor of the
Times deny, is that it is the effect of
any tax laid on imports and it is the
express purpose of every protective tax
so Imposed, to permit the domestic
makers of similar articles to increase
the price of their products comraen
surately. What is always the argu
ment? If no tax. or one too low, is
laid, our manufacturers cannot com
pete with foreign makers of like wares.
Why? Because the foreigner can make
his goods and lay them down in our
markets at a le6S price than our mak
ers can produce them. Therefore a tax
is laid on the imported articles to in
crease their cost In our markets to
the cost level of our goods, so that the
former cannot be sold cheaper than the
domestic articles. If our contemporary
paid any attention to the hearings al
ways had by the ways and means com
mittee whenever the tariff ia touched
by congress, he will know who it is
that informs congress what and how
high this tax should be; and, if he will
take the pains to compare the tax im
posed with the amount asked by the
manufacturers at these hearings, he
will learn how complaisant congress is
to the class of tax increasers.
We apprehend that the editor of the
Times has not given to the current
news Items, since the adoption of the
Dlngley act, that attention he should
have given if he wishes to gain Infor
mation. The action of the lumbermen
he could hardly avoid seeing, for it
is a local matter, and we are glad to
know that he views with proper horror
their utilization of the tax, thereby
showing their accurate appreciation of
Its purpose. But he must have missed
the numerous other like actions of those
whose privileges are written In the
Dingley act The list is too long to
repeat here. We have noted them as
they appeared and made suitable com
ment on them. Hardly an article is
missing. Glass, cutlery, nails, woolens,
boots and shoes, leather, sugar and a
hundred other articles have moved up
In price to embrace the opportunity
given them by our gracious congress.
But, If the Times man has missed these
news items, it cannot have failed to
note the impetus given by the new
tariff to the increase and growth of
those commercial combinations for
which it affects such a horror, the
trusts. If he will compare their prod
ucts with the Dingley act, he will find
them amply protected. What does he
suppose these trusts are formed for?
Why Is there a rise In the price of
their products following their organi
zation? Why should they not increase
the price to get the protection given
them? If they do not, where is the
protection? If our lumbermen did not
raise prices, why should they have
labored as they did to get the oppor
tunity to? We apprehend that the
lumbermen and all the rest of the gang
will think the editor of the Times is a
very simple, unsophisticated fellow who
does not know what protective tariffs
are for.
DEFICITS Alilj ALONG THE LINE.
Some years ago, when the customs
and Internal revenues were surpassing
the expenditures, before Republican
congresses had discovered that the way
to reduce a surplus was to spend more
Instead of reducing taxation, Col. Fred
Grant, a candlate for lieutenant gov
ernor of New York, jauntily observed
in one of his speeches that "it Is easier
to handle a surplus than a deficit."
Thereafter congress began to handle
the surplus easily, and the result has
been the disappearance of the surplus
and the appearance In Its stead of a
deficit now getting to be chronic. But
this Republican method of getting rid
of the excess of money in the public
fisc, by increasing the expenditure, in
itiated by the Fifty-first congress, has
been adopted by that party wherever
it has obtained control of the public
purse. Its press occasionally "points
with pride" to the superior financier
ing abiiitv of their party, and, if it ,
THE SAINT PAUL, GLOB 3: MONDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1897.
consists In ability to change surpluses
into deficits, we find ample evidence
about us to confirm their claim.
We have alluded, with what our con
temporaries on the other side of the
gangway regard as "damnable itera
tion," to the success of the Fifty-fifth !
congress in creating a deficiency in the
treasury, both presently and, In the
opinion of the secretary of the treas
ury, continuing. But there are others.
A few days ago we had occasion to
call the attention of the state to the
fact that Minnesota legislatures, after
lagging some years behind their con
gressional exemplars, had succeeded
In creating a deficit in the revenue
fund of their state treasury, the great
business fund that supplies the wants
of the state's various affairs. True, it
wasn't much, only 553,000 for Novem
ber, and it is true the state auditor
took a cheerful view of the future, but
the state treasurer was not so cheer
ful and anticipates a worse showing
this month. One of the organs of the
party noted the payment of some $100,
--000 into the treasury by the warden
of the prison and said that this pay
ment made the revenue fund solvent
again. It was not aware that this
money belongs to the "revolving fund,"
established to run the twine factory,
and cannot go into the general revenue
fund. Now come together the trustees
of the state insane hospitals and con
firm the statement of the Globe in
its Investigation of those institutions
that a deficit was probable, by announ
cing one of $130,000, which they are
trying to cure by reducing expenses,
mainly by cutting salaries. Thus it
appears that Minnesota Republicanism
Is proving itself quite as capable in
financing as Is the national party.
Over in "Wisconsin a somewhat sim
ilar condition prevails, not quite bo
embarrasing yet, but the statement of
receipts and outgo shows a balance on
the wrong side of the ledger, and when
once the balance gets there, whether
In the account of a state or an indi
vidual, it is as difficult to eradicate as
is the Canadian thistle from a pas
ture. Meanwhile th« press of that
state are engaged in making and refut
ing charges of increased taxation un
der Republican control. Whatever the
truth, the books show that spending
has outrun Income, and thus Republi
oan financing in that state keeps touch
with the national financiering of that
party. Down In lowa there Is the
same annoyinar condition, and over in
Illinois the governor has oalled the
legislature in extraordinary session to
correct the methods of assessing prop
erty under whioli there Is so much tax
dodging that the revenues are falling
behind the expenses; a condition not
new, for Gov. Altgeld had to call a
hostile legislature together a few years
ago to devise means for correcting a
deficiency of a million or two dollars.
Out in the Dakotas the same Impe
cunioslty prevails in the publlo treas
uries, the spending outrunning the in
come. In New York it Is found that
the f0.000,000 voted to deepen the canal
is used up and that it will need $3,000,
--000 more to carry out the plan, the
spending having been so far In excess
of the limits of the plans of the en
gineers: And so it goes all along the
line, this splendid demonstration of the
capacity of that party for public finan
ciering.
«•»
MUST THEY BE FOUGHT AGAIXT
In the brief debate In the house
Tuesday on the civil service bill Mr.
Barrett, of Massachusetts, touched
upon a phase of the history of this
reform which those Republicans who
are now so eager to "take the starch
out" of the law will do well to study
carefully before they lay hands upon
the fabric. When they shall have re
read. If they ever have once read, that
chapter they will hardly invite the con
sequences that befell their party at
that time. Mr. Barrett referred to the
passage of the act in 1883 when only
forty-seven members of the house put
themselves on record as opposed to it
while 155 recorded themselves In its
favor. Why the bill had so tremendous
a majority was not due to the sudden
conversion of all those 165 members,
but because of the history that had
been made in the three preceding
years. A brief review of it now may
be helpful to some of these men, es
pecially the younger men like Tawney
and Eddy who may not be informed
of the events of that time.
The Jenkes civil service law had been
throttled in the house during Grant's
administration by the means now pro
posed by Grosvenor, the denial of an
appropriation to sustain the commis
sion In Its work. The spoilsmen. Inso
lent in their strength, triumphed, and
it was thought the reform was stran
gled. Senator Pendleton, a Democrat
from Ohio, Introduced a new measure
in the senate which was referred to a
committee and was promptly pigeon
holed. Then followed the election of
Garfield in 1880. With him came a
Republican majority in both branches
of congress. Never before, so compe
tent observers noted at the time, had
there been such a rush to Washington
of place-hunters. That in 1897 did not
surpass it Senatorial courtesy, the
right of senators -to dictate appoint
ments in their states, was Insisted
upon. Representatives and senators
thronged the White house demanding
appointments and leaving Garfleld ab
solutely no time to attend to presi
dential duties. Blalne in the cabinet
used his Influence to antagonize Conk
llng In the senate and interfere with
his desires for federal appointments in
New York. Robertson was appointed
collector of the port, and Conkllng and
Platt made their theatrical exit from
the senate.
No issue divided parties. Democrats
were still charging fraud in the elec
toral commission of '76; no currency
question, except the troublesome sur
plus, aroused contention. The activities
centered on spoils. The nation was stir
red to its depths by the resignation of
Conkling and his efforts to get from
his legislature a vindication of his po
sition that he had the right to say
who should be appointed to federal of
fices in his state. Civil service reform
was dead and the spoils system reigned
in insolent triumph. Then came the
assassination of the president by Gul
teau, a half-crazed seeker after ap
pointment, killing the president be
cause he did not get the place he want
ed. " The nation was brought with
shocking suddenraiess to the culmina
tion of the spoils system, the incar
nation in the assassin of its spirit.
Universally the murder was charged
to that vicious system. Politicians af
fected to pooh-pooh the sentiment.
The senate refused Pendleton's motion
to consider his bfll.
Then followed the congressional elec
tions in 1882. Thff civil service reform
entered into the campaigns. The as
sassination of Gagfleld was charged to
the spoils system. The charge was
generally taken to^ be true. The Forty
seventh congress stood" 146 Republicans
to 138 Democrats} with ten independ
ents. The Forty-eighth congress, chos
en In 1882, stood 198 Democrats to 124
Republicans, and one independent. The
verdict was accepted as a rebuke of
the Republican majority for its hos
tility to the reform of the civil service.
The Republicans in the senate admit
ted this by Immediately hunting up
the Pendleton bill and passing It. The
Republican house also admitted the
meaning of the elections and passed
it by the great majority noted. The
measure was more sweeping than the
Jenkes act. It gave the president pow
er to extend the lists by executive or
der. The reform was established; the
spoils system was discarded. The peo
ple had decreed anti congress submit
ted. Will Republican congressmen
now Invite a repetition of the punish
ment Inflicted upon their party fifteen
years ago?
lß>
SENSE AGAINST NONSENSE.
The "Wadena Tribune says: "If tha citi
zens of Canada can get out the logs, saw
the lumber and transport It to us at lower
prices than we can do the same, Canadian
lumber should be welcomed." If the Cana
dians can get tho lumber prepared for mar
ket cheaper than Americana, It la because
they pay lower wages than the lumber manu
facturers of the United States. The $2 rate
make 3it possible for the sawmills to run In
Minnesota, employing thousands of men and
paying living wagos. That Is what the Re
publican tariff Is for, and 1 the people of the
Sixth district appreciate the benefits they get
from the increased rate. — Anoka Herald.
The Wadena Tribune speaks for the
men who buy lumber and use It In
house and barn and fence building.
The Anoka Herald speaks for the few
men who buy stumpage and make the
lumber. The Tribune speaks for a
million, where the Herald speaks for a
hundred. There is another difference.
The Tribune speaks the words of truth
and common sense. The Herald speaks
the language of untruth and nonsense.
The Canadians do not pay lower wages.
Labor moves unrestrictedly, and the
law of demand and supply would draw
labor from the lower to the higher
wage region. The facts support the
theory. Two years ago woodmen went
from this state to Canada because the
wages there were higher. They will
come this way if thts condition is re
versed.
Carroll D. Wright, our labor com
missioner, was asked by the senate
finance committee to report on the
wage rate in the lumber industry in
Canada and this country. His report is
on page 1808 of the Congressional Rec
ord for June, 1897. The editor of the
Herald should get and study It He
would know more after it, perhaps.
Sufficient for this purpose is Mr.
Wright's statement that the cost of
labor in five mills in the United States
in 1,000 feet of lumber was 91.46 cents;
in five mills in Canada $1.4164. No $2
tax or any tax whatever is needed to
"make it possible for saw mills to run
in Minnesota" or anywhere else In
this country. It Is only necessary in
order that the gang -who own the
stumpage and run the mills can make
the men who use the lumber pay $2
more a thousand for it than they would
but for the tax. That Is all there is
to It. <-
Those people who hoped to see the new
tariff bill fall short In providing revenue suf
ficient to meet tho requirements of the gov
ernment are likely to ba disappointed. The
revenues are steadily Increasing and will
come fully up to the amouat figured on with
in the next few months.— Wheaton Gazette
Reporter. ,
You owe It to yourself to'wrlte to Secretary
Gage remonstrating against his statement in
his annual report that the revenues this fiscal
year will fall short of expenditures some
$25,000,000, and bo behind outgo in 1899 $21,
--000,000. It Is disheartening to you patiiotio
editor*, who are pumping Joy and confidence
Into the hearts of your readers week after
week, to have a cold-blooded secretary of tho
treasury sending out such an official chill.
■^*-
Some of the people suspected Hank Far
mer's "paw" would spank him when he went
home after the first night of the Elks' min
strels, but as he appeared last evening with
out a mark, it Is believed the "old settler"
didn't seriously object to Hank's Joke.—Still
water Gazette.
Stlllwater, we believe, is the only town In
tho state where marks so made are displayed
in public.
-^^
"W« are not as a rule as healthy and strong
as our grandparents were, yet our grand
parents never heard anything about their dan
ger from countless disease germs. — Gaylord
Hub.
You should have heeded Oliver Wendell
Holmes' advice then, and been more careful
in your selection of grandparents.
m
MARRIES ADOPTED DAUGHTER.
Lisbon, Mich., Man Hears a Girl and
Makes Her Hi* Wife.
LISBON. Mioh., Deft. 19.— William
Morose, aged eighty-five, surprised the
community this week by marrying Jen
nie Douglas, aged sixteen. About six
teen years ago Mr. Morose lived on his
farm with a housekeeper and her in
fant daughter. The girl? was known
both as Jennie Morose and ' Jennie
Douglas. The moUier died three months
later and the daughter has ever since
lived with the old man as his adopt
ed daughter. He seems to ba very
much In love with his girl wife and his
affection Is returned,
-«E>>
Dalton "Wants a Pardon.
KANSAS CITY, Mo:. Dec. 19.— 1 a a letter to
Judgo J. D. MeOuo, who sentenced him, Enk
mett Dalton. undergoing a life sentence In the
Kansas penitentiary for his part In tho bank
raid on CoffeyvtUe, Kan., five years ago, the
convict asks that the Judge's Influence to se
cure his pardon b» used. In the raid, four of
the desperadoes and four citizens wers killed
and a number were, injured, Emmett Dalton
was severely wounded and captured walla at
tempting to assist his brother, Bob, who w*s
fatally wounded, to escape. To a reporter
Judge McOue said that he could not consci
entiously recommend executive clemency now,
but would not aajr -what he night do la a low
yean. \
FLEETS Op SHIPS
USED BY P. D. ARMOUR IN DELUG
ING JOSEPH LETTER WITH
WHEAT.
WILL THEY BRING VICTORY?
AIIMOUR'S SUCCESS MEANS A LOSS
OF AT LEAST $1,000,000 TO
LEITER.
MILLIONS OP READY MONEY
Being Made Use of by Both Sides—
Armour's Great Water Achieve
ment.
There Is being made manifest to
Chicago and to the world at the pres
ent moment the most stupendous gen
eralship in connection with the han
dling of a food product that the eyes
of man have ever seen, says the Chi
cago Tribune.
Day after day, two weeks after the
close of navigation in the regular
course, Chicagoans have been perplex
ed by the arrival of steamer after
steamer laden to the water's edge with
choice wheat, the best that the wheat
fields of Minnesota, Dakota and the
entire northern belt of agricultural
states raise.
And this in spite of the fact that
Chicago has always heretofore shipped
wheat and not imported it.
The public is aware that one of the
largest wheat deals within the history
of the board of trade Is being fought
out between the Leiter clique on the
one hand and the elevator men, headed
by P. D. Armour, on the other. It is
aware that there Is a vast amount of
money involved in this deal, and that
somebody is likely to come to financial
harm through the ultimate turn of the
market. The reading public is dally
scanning the papers to learn whether
Mr. Armour has covered his rumored
short sales or whether the Leiter con
tingent has taken to the woods and
come from under the price of Decem
ber wheat
But the general public has been ed
ucated to believe that these wheat
deals are purely gambling for a mar
gin to the good in the settlement, and
Is not prepared to believe that any of
the great guns in the market can real
ly take the sale of six or seven mil
lions of bushels of wheat so seriously
as honestly to intend to deliver the
grain upon the day of settlement.
This same confiding public, with its
memory of the deals of "Old Hutch"
of long ago and of Pardrldge of yes
terday, is quite certain that which
ever set of operators comes out sec
ond best in the deal will step around
to the captain's office, as represented
by the other fellow's broker, and set
tle for all or part of its fortunes.
Possibly that is the way that any
other man than Armour would settle
this wheat deal. But the bulls forgot
that "The Old Man" was a merchant
and an elevator man before he was
a speculator, and they overlooked the
fact that he probably knows more
about the acreage of the wheat belt
and more about the concentration of
vast quantities of the staple than any
man living. They thought they had
cornered the market, and at the close
of navigation caught the elevator man
short for minions.
This article has nothing to do with
the financial side of this great wheat
deal. For the purpose of this story it
matters not whether wheat sells at $1
or $2 before the Ist day of January.
It matters not whether the Armour
interest Is short 7,000,000 bushels sold
around 87 to 90 cents, or only 1,000
bushels; whether the elevator man
adds the Leiter millions to his pile
or gives up all of his yellow wagons
and all of his elevators and the mil
lions behind them to satisfy the ra
pacity of the boomers; It is with the
wonderful and unprecedented coup in
steamer freights that this has to do.
WHAT GAVE BIRTH TO THE PLAN.
Along about a month ago, when Ar-"
mour saw that the bull clique was
bound to buy in all the December
wheat that offered, and that, as a con
sequence, wheat would be a mighty
scarce article in his huge elevators, he
called his generals about him and bade
them figure out where the visible and
the possible supply of the staple was
located in this country and in Canada.
Mr. Armour was circumscribed In the
territory from which to draw grain to
make up the local deficit, for all deals
upon the floor of the board of trade
must be In contract wheat, which
means No. 2 red or No. 1 northern.
Thus the millions of bushels of Cali
fornia's white wheat was barred, even
though it could pay the freight, as also
was the Southern wheat, the three
grades of Colorado wheat, and other
grades. . No. 1 northern spring wheat
is that grain raised in the Dakotas,
Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Manitoba,
and must be sound, reasonably clean,
of good milliner quality, and of not
loss than 50 per cent of hard varieties
of spring wheat in the mixture. No.
2 red winter wheat is the second grade
of the long-berried varieties, sound,
plump, and reasonably clean, that Is
grown In our own state, and In Mich
igan, Ohio, Indiana, lowa and Missouri.
Mr. Armour had a great deal of No.
3 and No. 4 wheat, milling and brew-
Ing varieties, In his warehouses, but
that wheat could not be tendered in
settlement.
Hence the council of war in the busy
La Salle street office.
The problems to solve were: First,
was there enough wheat upon the mar
ket to fill a shortage of 6,C00,0C0 or 7,000,
--000? If so, where was it? In what
quantities? How could it be transport
ed, by rail or steamers? Could it be
transported in time to meet the en
gagements of the house? And if so,
could it be warehoused and Inspected
before the first day of January?
It was determined that 3,000,000 bush
els of wheat could be got in Minne
apolis. A couple of millions lay In the
warehouses in Duluth, and two more
millions lay in tha granaries throughout
the Northwest. Next it was figured
that by impressing every possible grain
steamer and barge that lay in Superior
or Michigan water, the Duluth and the
Fort William wheat might be got to
Chicago before the canals and straits
froze up. As to the ability of the house
to take care of the grain upon its ar
rival, Mr. Armour smiled a smile, and
quietly remarked that he would teach
those fellows a thing or two about
warehousing.
POSSIBLE BY SUPERB ORGANIZA
TION.
The superb business organization of
the great house was immediately
brought into requisition. The wires
were kept hot for a couple of days,
and the stenographers wrote out dicta
tions that called for the expenditure of
millions of dollars, the knowledge of
tha contents of which would ba worth
a small fortune to an operator on the
floor of the exchange.
Agemta were secretly dispatched to
Minneapolis and to Duluth with orders
to buy through resident brokers all the
December wheat that offered. Fred
Hlffglne had charge of most of that end
of the deal. He operated In Minneap
olis through Van Deusen, of Van Deu
sen, Harrington & Co. Then Higgins
as quietly slipped away and was later
heard of In the Northwest, where h»
bought up big blocks of wheat.
All this time the clique was hugging 1
itself and counting, in its mind's eye,
the millions of the "Old Man" that it
expected to absorb. The newspapers
fell into the habit of speculating upon
the number of millions of bushels that
the Armour house was short, and how
much the house stood to lose. An<s
some mighty good people fell to com
miserating the great packer and recall
ing his big benefaction in the shape of
Armour Institute and Mission. And
they sermonized over the iniquity of
speculation.
But the "Old Man of the Wheat Pit"
never said a word. He Just sat In that
little inner office and fired telegrams
all over the "West and gobbled up grain
enough to feed all Chicago for five
years, and he paid his good, hard cash
for it. He likewise sent his young
men to Interview the steamship agen
cies, and learned Just where the fleets
were scattered. He computed tonnage
and chartered vessel upon vessel, with
what appeared to be reckless extrava
gance. A score of the biggest vessels
upon the lakes, boats that carry from
100,000 to 200,000 bushels of grain, wera
turned back westward and ordered to
sail for Duluth for cargoes. Some of
these boats were speeding homeward
to go into winter berths. The winter
was upon the lakes and the close of
navigation had been declared.
Some ofl the vessel owners demurred.
They feared that they might be caught
out in the ice. Big iron steamers had
been caught in the ice before this,
crushed like egg Bhells, and sent to the
bottom. But Armour said that ho
would pay the freight, and the owners
and captains knew what that meant.
The great warehouseman played all
of his cards. He even refused to per
mit old winter to dictate to him. He
made a contract with Barry's towing;
line to pay $50 a day each for five tow
boats to plow the forming ice In Du
luth harbor and keep open water for
his big ships to get through. Barry sent
the Industry, the Tomlinson, the Prog
ress, the Raber and the Barry, all big,
staunch tugboats, Into tho harbor.
They plowed about through the ico,
which was nine inches thick at times,
and the harbor remained open.
LEITER CLIQUE DOES NOT SUS
PECT.
But the boomers did not know this.
They believed that all oi that good
wheat would be unable to get away
from Duluth — that it would bo literal
ly frozen In.
The "Old Man" never said a word.
He Just chartered a couple of tugs
from another company to keep the Soo
canal open and three more to cut up
the ice in Thunder bay, where the ships
had gone for the grain stored in the
elevators at Fort "William. And every
one of these snorting, aggressive tugs
was bunting into the ice fields and
churning up the congealed surface of
the lake for the glory and profit of the
house of Armour.
The big ships loaded down to the
guards with wheat and set sail for
Chicago, each with two little tugs
snorting and chopping ice a little way
In front, opening up a channel out to
clear water.
Thus the Onoka, with 112,000 bushels;
the S. S. Curry, with 150,000 bushelsj
the City of Paris, with 95,000 bushels,
and the Selwyn Eddy, with 140,000
bushels, got away. And by the time
the board got wind of the unprecedent
ed movement of wheat for this port,
still other huge steamers were out of
the Ice on their way thither.
The La Salle, with 96,000; the "Wright,
with 95,000; the City of Genoa, with
105,000; the Gllchrist, with 86,000; the
City of Venice, with 100,000; and the
Hartsell, with 106,000 bushels, got safe
ly away, and the City of Genoa and
the Wright even hurried back for sec
ond cargoes.
The Wilson and her tow, with 180,000
bushels, crunched through the ice, and
the W. B. Grover came through with
85 000 bushels. The Thompson and
whaleback No. 115 started with 80,000
and 93,000 bushels, respectively.
Other vessels loaded to a dangerous
level and essayed the venturesome voy
age in winter to Chicago. Last of all
came the City of Bangor. laden with
160,000 bushels of grain. She nosed her
way through the ice fields, piloted by
the snorting tugs. It was a hard and
dangerous passage, but at length ths
ice was left behind and the open water
of Lake Superior entered. But the
Bangor was not yet out of trouble, for
she got squeezed in the Ice in the canal
and was run upon a bowlder. A big
hole was punched Into her false bot
tom, but she got off, and after hasty
repairs finished her voyage.
And more, two vessels on their way
to Buffalo were actually turned back
after entering Lake Erie and ordered
to carry back to this city the grain
that they had taken aboard but a
week before.
But the house of Armour had other
agencies bringing in the wheat that
now fills the elevators. Wheat came
in by canal boat, and hundreds of car
loads arrived over the various roads i
from the grain belt. Never has so
much wheat arrived thus early by
train. The big elevators are surround- i
ed by hundreds of cars waiting to be j
unloaded. And all that Wheat came
down and is still coming, hundreds
of cars a day, from Minneapolis and ■
the Northwest.
On Dec. 14 no less than 169 cars
loaded with No. 1 northern and twen- '
ty-three loaded with No. 2 red stood
on the tracks about the Armour ware
houses, arriving upon that day. On
the 11th nlnety-eig-ht cars of No. 1 i
northern and twenty-one cars of No.
2 red came in.
By Saturday, Dec. 11, Armour Ele
vators A, B, and Annex, on Goose
Island, had stored within their walls
2,321,484 bushels of choice No. 1 north
ern. And the other Armour ware
houses were rapidly filling. On Mon
day, Tuesday and Wednesday, Armour \
stored more than 1,250,000 bushels of j
■wheat in his elevators, and of 3,500,000 j
bushels of wheat arriving from Duluth
Armour got 3.000,000.
Does anybody realize what it means
to move 6,000,000 or 7,000,000 bushels
of wheat by boat and rail to Chicago?
To move 6,000,000 of wheat from Du
luth to Chicago would have required
from fifty to sixty of the largest steam
ers and the freight alone would
amount to $180,000. The 3,000,000, about,
that Mr. Armour got by water cost him
in freights $90,000.
You can only load from 600 to 1,000
bushels of wheat upon a car. Thus
it takes 1,000 cars to move 1,000,000
bushels. To bring down the final 3.000,
--000 bushels of wheat said to have been
bought by Mr. Armour in Min
neapolis would then take 3,000 cars,
which would make over 80 trains of
thirty-three cars each. And the freight
would cost in the neighborhood of
$150,000.
But the boomers said that If the
"Old Man" got hfs wheat flown .here
In time he could not warehouse it In
time for inspection p.nd delivory.
Here again they forgot that Mr. Ar
mour is a warehouseman from away
back, and has the details of the eleva
tor business at his fingera' ends.
For the Armour Elevator company
controls the largest and best equipped
elevator plant in the country, or In
the world. The elevators standing in
this city have a capacity of 12,000,000
bushels. There are eight In all: Ar
mour elevators A and B. with a ca
pacity of 2,500,000 bushels; Armour
B annex, with a capacity of 3,400,000;
Armour elevator C, capacity 1,800,000
bushels; Armour elevator D, capacity
3,000,000 bushels; elevators E and F,
with 2,000,000 capacity, and the Min
nesota elevator, with a capacity of
600,000. C and D annex, and E and F
receive grain from the Chicago, Bur
lington & Quincy tracks. The other
elevators are fed by the Chicago, Mil
waukee & St. Paul.
Through these lines North and South
Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois,
Indiana, lowa, Nebraska, Kansas and
jilissouxi axe drained of their cereals.
The elevator company even owns 4,000
cars engaged in transporting grain.
When the crush came the corn and
the oats that lay In the elevators in
the way of the wheat were loaded into
beats, where they will lie all winter un
til the opening of navigation in tha
spring, when they will be shipped
away.
These elevators were not constructed
for taking grain from boats, but for
elevating from cars and loading into
boats. For be it remembered that
heretofore Chicago has employed boats
to ship her grain East only. This is
the first Instance in the history of the
city where wheat has been "brought
here in bottoms. But expedients have
been put into operation and the grain la
fast disappearing into the vast gra
naries.
So here we see how the great house
of Armour has reached out its hands
over the entire middle West and North
west, massing fleets at Duluth and pre
empting hundreds of trains of freight
cars that it may have the wherewith
al to meet its obligations. It had the
granaries and it secured the wheat and
effected its transportation. If it had
had the wheat but lacked the elevators
it would have constructed the elevators.
Had it lacked the ships possibly It
would have emulated the exploit of
Commodore Perry and built its ships
for the occasion.
By the way, the firm already owns
and operates a line of grain steamers.
Perhaps the "old man" has made a
million or so out of the deal. Perhaps
he has dropped a million. In either
case the reader will never know, for tha
"old man" will win silently or pay hia
loss without wincing.
But he has brought coals to New
castle. He has accomplished a feat on
the commercial world as signal and as
brilliant in its way as Napoleon's pas
sage of the Alps and demonstrated
once again, that tradition cannot
put a limitation upon the originality of
hia actions.
No man will know until settling day
has come and gone whether the "old
man" has called the bluff of the boom
ers hard enough to make them lay
down their hands.
Meanwhile the riverway Is blocked
with great steamers and huge barges
and the! r captains are fighting for
berths at the elevators.
AT THE^THEATERS.
■Willie Collier in "The Man From Mexico"
Is uniquely, characteristically and originally
funny. Those who witnessed his performance
at the Metropolitan last night cannot gainsay
that It Is the lot of some comlo genluse»,
even though they have earned prominence and
draw large salaries, not to win the unanimous
verdict that they are funny. There aro people
who cannot laugh at De Wolf Hopper, and
othera who decline to be amused by Francis
Wilson, but there would seem to be no differ
ence of opinion regarding Collier. The only
distinction noted last night was that some of
the audience laughed louder than others. If
anybody tried to keep a straight face, he cer
tainly failed.
"The Man From Mexico" Is one of those
farcical creations with no design In the world
except to provoke the risibilities. Mr. Collier
would appear to have been constructed with
the samo purpose In view. Ills propensities
for wit are not located, as In some comedians.
In his feet and legs. Ills humor Is not of the
acrobatlo flavor. His Jeat3 aro not empha
sized with a welt of tha bass drum or a flash
of the calcium. They reach the spot without
any other aid than, the quiet, droll, expressive
manner and voice of the comedian. Mr.
Collier 13 nothing U not original. Ills funni
est sayings and doings are the most Bpontant
ous of all. He betrays none of that effort to
score "points" whloh robs witticisms of half
their effect. In other words, Mr. Collier
doesn't ever seem to know that ha has said
anything funny. It Is the too apparent con
sciousness of having perpetrated a good Jok«
that often spolis It. In view of the fact that
Mr. Collier Is obliged to repeat his night
after night, It Is a compliment to his art that
he can deliver them so effectively and yet bo
Innocently.
The vehicle provided for Mr. Collier by H.
A. Dv Souchet, who. It is announced, adapted
It from tho French. Is a "smooth-running"
affair that never stops for lack of lubri
cation or want of repairs. It Is as full of
laughable absurdities, surprises and clever
"conversation" as a merry-go-round on tha
Fourth of July. The second net, which
transpires In the warden's office at tho Black
well's Island penitentiary, Is replete with
novel farce-comedy situations and witty dia
logue. Collier In a convlet's garb, with a
loaf of bread under his arm, a tin cup In
his hand, and eyeglasses prrched on his
nose, all the while doing the lock sti-p, Is
an Irresistible combination.
"What aro you doing?" shouts tho warden,
a gentleman with a Lemon-faced visage.
"Doing time." responds ('oilier.
Somebody asks Collier, who Is known In
prison as No. 77, whr-n he expects to leave
the place, and he answers:
"I'm going to stay hrr<> till my number
comes out. That's policy."
Tho company surrounding Mr. Collier Is
entirely adequate to tho demands of tha
farce. Dan Mason, the well known Dutch
comedian, makes tho most of Yon liulow
Bismarck Schmidt, who Is very much tha
victim of untoward circumstances.
• * •
The advent of "Black I'attl's Troubadours"
drew a large audience to the Grand opera
house last night, for local theater-grwa had
not forgotten the excellent ent- rtainment
afforded by this aggregation at the same
theater last season. The peoplo have linger
ing memories for theso good shows that so
r'semblo angels' visits.
Not only was there no suspicion of a dis
appointment In store for the patrons of tha
Grand last night, but It can be truthfully
announced that the performance excelled
that of last year In point of variety and
cleverness. New specialties have been intro
duced In place of old ones, the additions
to the company have, for tho most part, Im
proved It, and tho cake walk- well, nothing
like It was ever seen In these parts before.
It 13 no exaggeration to say that "the
house fairly rose at it." Talk about "txcite
ment running high," It absolutely boiled
over when the two winning couples walked
off a tie— for the applause of the au •:
which was the thermometer agreed upon to
test the "hottest couple." was so loud that
the Judges couldn't tell whl'-U couple had
won tho cake.
Black Patti was in splendid voice, and de
lighted all with her admirable singing. She
sang "The Enchantress," Arditl's melodious
aria, expressively, and received an i i.tliu
slastlc encore. In the finale, which la aptly
designated as "the operatic kaleidoscope,"
she sang that inspiring martial sons "The
Sabre." from "The Grand Duchess," with
good elect This dosing feature of the
show Is In every way commendable, Inter
preting, as It does, worthy music In a worthy
manner. The ensemble singing of the In
termezzo from "Cavallerla Rustlcana," and
tho Klrmesse chorus from "Faust," was most
creditable. The finest concerted effort of
the evening was the singing of the luinior
tel sextette from "Lucia," by lilat.-k Patti,
Alice Mackey, and Messrs. Moore, I'.yrd.
Burrls and Pierce. Mlsn M sesses
a rich mellow contralto, which wus heard
to excellent advantage In the opening skit,
when she contributed two solc3. C. L. Moore
Is also to be commended for his expressive
sieging of "The Heart Bowed Down."
The men of thi , :<:itly
In evidence throughout. The mo
ous, perhaps, is I la the
composer and author of bu ir dit
ties as "All Coon 3 Look Alike tv Me," ' Pas
Ma La." "Honey, You Made a Hit With
Me" and the like. Mr. H<
the audience vastly. "wn
creations In a decidedly cl style
and with true Ethiopian eclcr.
Sure of HI» Innoeencf.
AKRON, 0., I»'
Co.tell, the boy who v I tha
penitentiary for Life about a ■
iiib Alvin Stone, his *
the boy waa WrouJ
that a confession was extorted f
by deteotlvp-s, who. according
Irresponsible. Th< - "".a
real murderer ai^d have aim b evi
dence to convict him. 1 . . l*« to Causa
his arre3t soon.