Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1874-08-06
A CORNER IN CORN.
The biggest Deal I'm Cereal Products
ON Record.


| tains the following account of the latest
corner in corn:
! A whirlwind of sharp practice broke
| on Change yesterday, and slaid low a
large number of dealers who have long
| been operating in grain. The storm had
been gathering for more than month,
| but il was supposed that no harm would
come from the lowering clouds, and SO
| the men Of small means-the " shorts
and the other reckless speculators-went
| on with their operations and took no
| trouble to fortify themselves against the
| danger that was inevitable. 1t came
YESTERDAY with afierceness and a strength
| that completely overshadowed all like
| similar occurrences in the grain market,
| and bent many sturdy operator, while
| il cracked asunder others who may be
| likened to small underground.
| This borean breeze in the business
| world was a corner on corn. Not that
such things are unusual in this
| great grain market, for the men
| who manipulate the cereal prod
ucts of the West and Northwest are
| given to such little eccentricities, but the
| magnitude of this latest occurrence is
| such that it rises to the dignity of ma
tional interest. Operated by Chicago
men, and assisted along by New Workers
| and Englishmen, the corner which was
| sprung yesterday, on Change here, has,
| thus far, shown itself 10 be a matter
which admits of no halfway handling.
The men implicated in furthering the
movement TO squeeze the dealers and
| monopolize the grain market are amongst
| the best known here and elsewhere and
have become noted for their constant eff
| forts TO force an issue of this character
upon the market
| The history of this corner may be
stated as follows: About the LIST of June
| a combination was organized, extending
! from Des Moines, Iowa, TO Chicago, New
| York, and large house in Liverpool,
| England, to get control OF the corn mar
| ket and handle the balance of the crop
| OF 1873. The market was carefully can
yassed by the men in this combina-
| ton, and the amount of corn held
| by farmers estimated as closely as was
possible. In this, however, as the sequel
proves, the operators made miscalcula-
| tion. 1t was supposed that the stock
was much smaller than it really was, and
/ that they were safe in beginning their
mammoth operations. Really, the amount
| of grain held by farmers at that time was
/
| 1873. However, they bought an immense
amount for June and July delivery, with
| the intention of squeezing" the
"shorts" at the end of the month of
June. At the end of June the receipts
were coming in so largely-over 1000
| car loads daily--from Illinois and Iowa
that the combination couldn't afford to
| corner and advance the prices.
1 I'M #
them, and they couldn't clear themselves
on June transactions without putting a
check upon their operations and keeping
prices within bounds For the time be-
| ing, therefore, the corner was off, and
those who were not sharp enough to ana
/ lyze their motives still held their conf
dence in the honesty of their transac-
| tons The combination held their trades
| for July, and then laid their plans to ex-
| tend their purchases for this month. In
other words, they "spit on their hands
and took fresh hold" while their vic
4 Tins nibbled unconsciously about the
hook ON which they were so soon to be
caught. They were determined to ac-
complish at the end of July what they
failed to do in June.
After the Fourth Of July the receipts
dropped off largely, and yet they were
larger than at the same time in 1873
| Over 400 carloads daily were coming in,
but the bulls thought they could manip-
ulate the stock and these receipts, not
withstanding they were greatly surprised
at the manner in which the market held
! its own.
| They handled all the cash corn offered,
| and at the same time continued to prose-
cute the movement, and succeeded in
| squeezing the dealers by increasing their
purchases for July delivery and keeping
complete control of the market for cash
| grain,
| Four prominent parties have figured in
this corner. Chief amongst them in this
city IS Jack Sturges, as he is Familiarity
known, or King Jack" as he may here
| after be called He is one of the leading
members of the Board OF Trade, and has
| always been noted for his extensive deal
ings. He has attended to the purchasing
part of the deal.
Mr.. +. X. Bruce, another successful
operator, has had charge of the shipping
of grain to the East
| The financial, or, rather, banking, oper-
ations of the ombination have been
transacted through the Chicago branch
| of the Bank of Montreal.
The handling of the corn, in New York
city, on its arrival there, has been done
by Jesse Hoyt 81 CO., house backed by
unlimited capital.
Since the organization Of this combi-
nation "King Jack and his associates
have handled something like 100000
bushels of corn, all of which has been
bought, paid for, handled and shipped
| from here to New York. The bulk of it
has gone to Europe from New York, but
1 large consignments have gone to Mon
treal on account of parties interested in
the deal.
In all probability-although it is hard
| to arrive at correct estimate in such
| matters-the financial backing of the
combination ranges between $15,000000
and 10000, 600. 1t Is one of the strong.
est ever formed in the American grain
market.
/ Owing to the mistake which these
operators found they had made in June,
| and the consequent REIMBURSEMENT OF
their plan for the time being, other deal
| ers were thrown off their guard, and con-
tinued to extend their line of shorts
without any thought of the consequences