Chapter 9

Matt’s idea was to build a grain warehouse, a railroad spur track, and a concrete silo on ten acres adjacent to the railroad right-of-way in town. With a quarter mile of track and another quarter mile of siding he could store over thirty rail cars while loading or unloading freight or commodities. While wooden ramps and sidings were most common, Matt proposed cast-in-place concrete sidings at freight railcar, door opening height; so that wheeled dollies and drum carriages could roll-on and roll-off freight cars.

Furthermore, he intended to have concrete floors in his warehouse at freight loading grade to ease movement of equipment and storage within his warehouse. Low-grade caliche fill would be hauled in and deposited inside the foundation walls before compaction and then covered with concrete pavement. Matt convinced the banker that life-cycle costs using concrete were advantageous. Before the building was even begun, he had tenants lined up to store hardware, lumber, and freight awaiting distribution and shipment in the structure.

After Matt sketched up a drawing of the building and included another outline sketch at the same scale of the railroad’s siding diagram, he scheduled a return trip to Senor Montoya’s hacienda. With the cross-section details as typical throughout the design, a cost estimate was developed. The visit ended with a contract for the construction of the sidings, silo, warehouse and elevated concrete flooring. Senor Montoya was very interested in diversification and could provide the supervision and trained laborers for the project. The locally produced brick would be used for walls and Matt planned to have trusses and metal roofing delivered by rail after the walls were raised and cured.

With his planning finalized and construction underway, Mat could focus on his social life, at least until planting or harvest necessitated his participation.

The square dance was held in a large barn on the host’s farm. The furniture was straw bales and wooden plank tables. A local band played and several ‘callers’ shouted the activities as instrumental music was played in the background. Matt was unfamiliar with many of the terms being used, but Freya and others gladly told him how to dance to the newer calls. There was plenty of time to dance and talk alike. The afternoon and early evening was very enjoyable and the moonlight carriage ride back to Freya’s home was chaperoned by her mother. His solitary ride back home later was quiet and blessedly short. The next day was late in starting, but his body was sore from using muscles that he was unfamiliar with.

It was several months later that Olaf approached Matt proposing that they tour the 1904 World’s Fair in St Louis. Matt had so much going on, that he considered declining the invitation. But Olaf’s mention that Freya would be making the trip with them evaporated any misgivings he had, before they were voiced. They would be gone for over a month, and Olaf was very interested in mechanized, horse drawn implements.

“Matt, I can’t understand your fixation with those ‘smoking behemoths’.” Olaf was of course referring to the mill and traction engine that Matt operated on his farm. “They’ll never take the places of horses and are fixed to the ground they sit on. Well, the latter can move a bit; but nowhere as fast or as easily as my four-hooved friends.”

“There is a place for both in farming, Olaf. Besides, if there is anything that I have learned from my folks, it is that times are changing. You have to be willing to adapt or will be swept aside by progress.”

“Horse-feathers, I say.” Olaf persisted. “The gold standard has stabilized prices and trade for over a century. We just need to stay the course and the last panic will disappear, just as those in the past have done.”

“I can’t speak from your experience, Olaf. I certainly am not as learned as you either. But I sense an opportunity here to mechanize farming; as has never been conceived by past generations.”

“Ahaa, I see that the youth of our nation continue to have vast imaginations. I had such visions in my day also, but common sense and necessity brought me back to what was known to work.” Olaf concluded. “How about we agree to disagree and plan for our trip?”

I later learned that Freya was delighted to know that I was to participate in her ‘great adventure’. I dug out the old ‘steamer trunk’ I had purchased second-hand with my mustering out pay several years ago. It was called a ‘New Atlas’ metal-bound trunk made by the Belber Trunk and Bag Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was big and bulky but held a plethora of clothing and shoes. I would carry a carpet bag for day-to-day wear, but the trunk would make more clothing and accessories available during the trip. I later learned that Freya’s trunk opened like a small wardrobe closet, complete with hangers and a clothes rack inside. It was half again larger than mine, but that was a problem that the railway porter must contend with.

My greatest concerns lie with continuity of the farm and the warehouse that was nearing completion in town. Both had workers that could see to the current activities and manage in the short term but might experience difficulties if anything out of the ordinary was experienced. But I trusted their judgement; otherwise, I wouldn’t have hired them.

The world’s fair was huge. Over two square miles of exhibits, promenades, and massive buildings that housed all manner of innovations. It would take over a week to just walk around and casually observe all that was displayed. The site was chosen from a university campus and an adjacent Forest Park that would remain in the location afterward.

The map can barely encompass the magnitude of the exposition. In it are highlighted the location of the Palace of Agriculture on the east periphery and the Hotel in the northwest corner. Of course, other accommodations existed but for the brevity of their visit, the hotel was best suited for its convenience.