40 Life and Sport on the Pacific Slope 



Western thieves are exceptions to this rule. I re- 

 member subscribing toward the construction of a 

 steam schooner that was to carry at a minimum 

 rate the produce of our county to San Francisco. 

 Many farmers pledged themselves to ship their 

 wheat and wool by this vessel. The railroad, a 

 local road, was run upon the well-known principle 

 of charging the shipper "all that the tariff would 

 bear," a policy which enriched the shareholders of 

 the road, but did not endear them to the farmers of 

 our county. It was pointed out that as soon as the 

 steamer was put in commission, the railroad rates 

 would be cut in a competition that must prove disas- 

 trous to the fortunes of the steamer, unless the farmers 

 loyally observed their contract. It was also pointed 

 out that if the farmers failed to support the steamer, 

 it would be sold, and that the railroad would have 

 our county at its mercy. Were they loyal ? Had 

 they the wit to avail themselves of an opportunity ? 

 No. The railroad did cut their rates. The poor 

 little steamer was wiped from the seas. And then, 

 when it was too late, the penny-wise farmers paid in 

 full for their folly and dishonesty. 



Of the men who live in the plain, the less said 

 the better. The sun seems to have sucked the sap 

 from them, leaving them, as it leaves the grass in 

 the pastures, drab-coloured and withered. Here 

 are the wheat farmers of the Pacific Slope, who 

 hold the prosperity of the inland towns at the 

 mercy of the elements. If the sun shines too fiercely, 

 if the wind blows too hard, if the rain fails, if blight, 

 or rust, or wire worms attack the crops, the com- 

 munity trembles. The banker, the storekeeper, the 



