A FIGHT FOR LIFE % 97 



in a tent on the Fair grounds, and July 26th was set as 

 the date. When space was sought for the erection of 

 their sixteen-foot tent, however, they found themselves 

 classed with the " Sunflower Belles " and " Katzen- 

 jammer Castle " and it was only after the payment of 

 fifty dollars that permission was granted for the erec- 

 tion of the tent. Here to the accompaniment of a 

 raucous medley of sounds the beating of tom-toms, the 

 ballyhooing of the sideshows, the racket of the 

 machinery exhibits and the cries of the peanut and 

 lemonade vendors the farmers' trading company was 

 organized with provisional officers* and directorate in 

 legal shape to start the wheels in motion as a joint 

 stock company. 



But before actual business could begin a manager 

 must be located who knew all the ins and outs and ups 

 and downs of the grain business ; also a seat upon the 

 Winnipeg Grain Eyrhangft irmt hi* pnrehaaefl before 

 the farmers could enter the arena as dealers in grain. 

 None of the officers of the young company which was 

 about to try its wings overlooked the fact that nothing 

 could be more foolhardy than for farmers like them- 

 selves, direct from the green pastures, to attempt the 

 plunge they were about to take without proper guid- 

 ance as to the depth of the water and the set of the 

 currents. They knew they were embarking in a most 



intnVafp fljjfl difflmiH! KncrmAsha and wifh fifl IBlffih ft* 



stake on behalf of the whole farming population of 



Western Canada it was nccessni'v to place the helm in 

 the hands of somebody who could pilot them through 

 the shoals. At best it promised to be a stormy passage. 



the only man in sight for the position was 

 Thomas Coulter, of the Independent Grain Company. 



* See Appendix Par. 7. 

 7 



