d went in
single file like an Indian or a Chinaman--John Doe, Yon Yonson and
Johann X (his mark)--every kind of Johnny on no spot but his own! As
soon as his grain was dumped each of him went back to the land among
the dumb animals where the pomp and vanity of this wicked world would
not interfere with preparations for next year's crop!

Wheat was bought upon the grading system--so much per bushel for this
grade, so much for that, according to the fluctuations of supply and
demand upon the world's markets. But the average farmer at that time
knew little or nothing about what went on in the great exchanges of the
cities; there was no means of learning the intricacies of the grain
business and many farmers even did not know what a grain exchange was.
All such a man knew was that his wheat was graded and he received a
certain price for it.

The railway company's refusal to furnish cars for loading direct from
the farmer's wagon compelled the shipper to sell to the elevator
operator for whatever price he could get, accepting whatever weights
the operator allowed and whatever "dockage" he chose to decree. The
latter represented that portion of the farmer's delivery which was
supposed to come through the cleaning sieves as waste material such as
dirt, weed seeds, broken wheat kernels, etc. To determine the
percentage of dockage in any given load of wheat the ordinary human
being would require to weigh and clean a pound of it at least; but so
expert were many of the elevator operators of those days that they had
no trouble at all in arriving at the dockage by a single glance. Nor
were they disconcerted by the fact that the country was new and grain
frequently came from the thresher in a remarkably clean condition.

With everything thus fallow for seeds of discord the Big Trouble was
not long in making itself manifest. All over the country the Bumping
of the Bumpkins apparently became the favorite pastime of elevator men.
Certain persons with most of their calluses on the inside cracked the
whip and the three-ring circus began. Excessive dockage, short
weights, depressed prices! The farmers grew more and more bitter as
time passed. To begin with, they resented being compelled by the
railway to deal with the elevators; it was a violation of that liberty
which they had a right to enjoy as British citizens. The grain was
theirs to sell where they liked, and when on top of the refusal to let
them do it came this bleedi