Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1868-07-09
Chicago Wheat Gambling.

le tho istsinst. 1t is one of the heavy
Of transactions that business men in
=. that fast city engage in when they,
wish to "raise the wmd"!
.THE CORNER ON WHEAT.
Five minutes before 3 o'clock
70 yesterday afternoon wheat sold
y readily in Chicago at 1920 per bu.
y Five minutes after 3 o'clock it was
o freely offered at $l85, but no one
. wanted it, and no one bought a
grain.
The difference Of 35 cents per
bushel was not caused by break
e in expectation Of a panic. 1t en-
sued simply as a natural sequel to
f the corner. Some 875, 900 bush
e els have been sold within the past
three weeks by parties who agreed
to deliver it before 3 o'clock yester-
day, when they did not own bush
el The purchasers took care to
buy up all the grain arriving in this
city, so as to force the option sell
ers to buy from them-the purchas-
+ ers Of the options--at balloon pri.
ces. The scheme worked well for
its engineers; they have been sue.
cessful. The grain bought BY them
at from $l.80 to $1.95 per bushel
has been bought from them at S2. 10 |
to 1920, and re-delivered in fulfil, I
ment of the contracts, The schem-
ers have raked in their pile. Their
], prima Jacfe gains will equal at
least % cents per bushel on 875, 900
bushels, or an aggregate of about
$220,0O0.
The debit side of the account to
the combination will be represented
by the loss on 100000 bushels al.
ready sold, and 100000 bushels
still on hand, which probably will
be sold ut an average of Is cents
less than the price paid forit. Add.
ed to this will be the cost of com
missions to brokers, the cost of
storage, and the percentage paid on
the use OF the money employed in |
buying up the grain on arrival -
This will swell the cost of the
transactionto over 100000, lcay.
ing 100000, or more, as the net 2
profits. . ".' I
1t is a singular fact that these p
corner Operations are always made !
about this time or the year just be-
fore the new crop, and when every
body is expecting lower prices
But there are good and sufficient :
reasons for the choice of midsum,
mer by the schemers. Money is
generally more plentiful at that sea.
son, NOT being wanted to move the
crops, or to pay for either spring v
or fall trade; hence its use can be h
secured by the combination at less
than average cost of aecommoda. i
tlQn f; then, too, there is less danger =
OF Incorporation being swamped by 9
excessive receipts, as the farmers B
are all too much busted with har y.
vesting to be able to spare their
men and teams to haul grain from
me garner to the railroad station.
6esldes, the general anticipation of
decline In prices, as consequences rc
'f the gathering in of the new crop, ~
makes it more easy to induce par 81
,les to sell at a low figure for the N' !"
.uture delivery, especially people b,
N the country, who are not so well ca
read in the details of the "conf-
lence game" as their city breth-
'en.
For the last named reason the To
oss falls principally on those who
east understand the motives of op- -
'rations on Change, The princi, A
)al sufferers arc men ofsmall means, D. D.
farmers, quite often mem. !
'ers OF the learned professions, In,
md clerks with small salaries, who, iiSS,'
empted by the golden offers of shs So.
commission men, order them to for
'ny or sell short, and pay a small pn, ISr
for the trouble This ,s s
outside dabbling is lndulged in to a pa,
much larger extent than the maiori- n fIhi'
y OF eur readers are aware. IT is BY
most pernicious practice, and laws lac
he axe to the root Of social stabil. re- res
~ 1t tempts to reckless expendi- sue
Ilre in case Of success, and ensures trI, Y
llsery IN case of loss. A broker bel
lade the remark yesterday that he '"'
ad Just settled for $4,000 bushels j.
S2.2O for a gentleman in Iowa q
II whom that amount ofgrain had -
zen sold at $l93, and he feared 3F fGo
lat it would take every cent the iL;ig
1of man owns. This case is prob ysaI ycai
by but one ofseveral scores which joiiiGl j,,iil
III be brought out by the present mar
'orner", and only one of hundreds "s
1ieh have resulted from this class Jr
speculations in the past. The n
tent OF the evil may be inferred ~
om the statement made by those r,is, tsst
40 have ample opportunity for port
lowing, that two thirds of the gled Sle
Isiness failures reported are caus'd d 4 Aud
this social sin Of risking money IL Il
speculative chances outside of iS0S'
$ business ostensibly depended on Ju
7 support -
The reaction of the "eomer" has ~
! to be experienced. There is Com
tie doubt that large amount lappTr
wheat will be received here with rsos rsPo
the next few days, principally ohio
Mt by parties who will be disap, fSss tSs Z
'inted in not receiving recent pri-
s'klt is possible that the quantity Jul
ceived viii be so great as to glut =. =,
Q market. and br;nor nr1ras dS,r,, nj