The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1884-05-30
THE RLIhD POOL
In Pe.roleum-I.s Connection win IL


Suspension OF tho Penn Rauk.
PlrTsBuRGII, May 20.-"The history Of
the blind: pool in: petroleum gotten up last
year by the Penn Bank crowd has never
yet been correctly written" said gentle.
man to-day. Their dealings in oil date
back three years ago: TO my certain knowl.
edge. As to whether the Cherry Grove
smaah caught them don't know; perhaps
| it did. When the market struck the fiities
they bought oil heavily, and it was Reiber's
boast that he made jbig money, and the
whole crowd were ahead on the deal, This
encouraged them to 20 on, aud they have
gone on n,adly ever since But it is Of the
history, Of last years byndicate started
out to tell you. Along in the apring Of
1883 MI. Riddle conceived the brilliant idea
OF working the market on bigger deal
than had ever before been attempted. He
good his friends together and laid his plans
before them, and they were fully ap-
proved. He went to New. York and neoo.
tiated q loan Of $1,000, 600. They took
certain brokers into their confidence, and
among them were Thomas J. Watson. S, B,
Thompson, John P. Besl and perhaps 9th.
ers. They. began buying oil in the nine.
ties, and ran the price up rapidly, until it
got to- ST. TO-! After it: passed the dollar
Iline the upward course was hard to keep
UP, and they had to take on q heap Of oil
to move it single cent. It was part Of
the agreement that no member Of tho pool
should sell his oil without tho knowledge
and consent Of his companions. As YOU
know, they finally forced the price up 10
1.233, having bought all the way ID in: or.
der to- bring itN Nabout. AtSthis juncture
some OF the pool thought the oil ought to
be sold, but were ,overruled, and in ono
case, where the owner had borrowed money
upon which to carry it Mr.. Riddle gave
his check Tor the amount rather than let
the oil be sold. Just when the top was
reached, theiStandard Oil Company, which
had not before .interfered, stepped in and
broke the market to about SE04 the syndi.
cate people resisting desperately, and
buying a-great-teal-mors/ oil to pre-
vent the collapse, but intellectually
f@eA DlsauirED srNDlcATee s
At this: point the 100000 LOAF upon
which the syndicate'a operations woie
based was called, and to their diegust they
discovered that helender was the Standard
Oil Company. They had been badly hi,
by the decline, the cost OF their oil aver
aging far above the price then ruling, bu,
the Standard people were inexorable in de-
mandinga settlement. They finally sgreet
to take the syndicate's, oil at 9S cent?, or
in event Of q, refusal OF their termp, to pu
; the market down TO 90 cents or below It
in order 10 ireezs the pool out. a reltls
: ment was made on this baslz, and the syn
, dictate lost barrel ol money on the deal
They didn't all lose, however. One o
!, them, who had plenty Of money Of hi
own, was among those Yho wanted to sol
when tho market passed 81 20, but was re
j. fused permission to do 90. Through
l friend on the floor he quietly sold Hhor
= against his oil in the pool, and then wen
/. to New York and repeated the operation
: there, so that he came out oil the deal will
9 q profit, and was one Of the very few VII
8 did 20, When hs returned to Pittsbury