St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-12-28
The Generally-Expressed Fear Being
That the Sleet Will Produce
Serious Injury In Winter
Wheat Fields.
Sorn Gains Quarter Of Cent for the Day
and Provisions Swing Trife
Higher.
Numerous Failures in Wall Street Ex-
pected synchronons With the New
Year-Stocks Weak.
CHICAGO.
lspecia al TeIegram % the Globe


to-day had quite surprise in store for them,
and all traditions of quiet holiday market
were knocked in the head by &c rise in
wheat and a marked revulsion Of feeling on
the part of the bears, with corresponding
bilarity among the bulls. The only new fea-
ture warranting an advance was the sleety
weather and the possible damage it might do
to the winter wheat crop, though this in
fuence was aided by general awakening of
the bull influence, which have been dormant
for some time. The January option closed &c
higher than on yesterday and the February
and May options 1s[c higher. Corn was not
SO active, but closed sympatheticaliy
about &c higher, and oats for same reason
advanced ne. Provisions were generally
strong, pork closing 1Oe higher, lard 2Xc
higher, and ribs 216@5c higher. Closing
quotations of the principal options were:
January wheat, 74c; May, s03Sc; year corn,
35Ac; January, 345Sc; January oats, 255sc;
May, 2SMc; February pork, Sl0.95; Febru-
airy lard. $685.; February ribs, $500.
Wheat developed unexpected strength and
activity. Cables we're about steady and re-
ceipts were moderate, but the weather was
seemed to suddenly awake to the fact that
stocks in the United Kingdom are much less
than at the close of 1888. Early
in the session ''Old Hutch''
started boom by sending brokers
in to buy his line of shorts, which aggregated
it is presumed, something like 1000, 600
bushels. The old man with the tall. gauut
figure came down, looked at the blackboard,
and saw that New York and all the other
winter wheat markets were booming, and in
his usual rapid fashion made up his mind to
get out. His purchases semitic market from
7STc tor May to S0Hc, ut which latter figure
just one little flyer was sold. But .'old
Hutch'' was not the only one who suddenly
moved over from the bear side. Rous, the
Baltlmorean, sent some big orders in here,
and they were executed through Milniue.
Bodman 81 Co., Mccormick, Kennett d Day,
and Clifford. Lindblom was buying wheat
and talking bullish.
"The winter wheat markets. said he,
shave for long while been behind our mar
ket, and holders at Toledo, ST. Louis and
New York have been selling here against
holdings there. Orders have been sent from
all those points to cover to-day, and the
weight of those markets have consequently
been removed. One hundred million bushels
of wheat will be wanted in this marker in the
next thirty days"
One of the earliest heavy buyers was Kent
he is said to have taken 500, 600 bushels of
May option at about zoe. Billy Murray
was big bull, AMI Boytou lost no time in
covering his shorts, at least it was supposed
to be short wheat be was buying in. Besides
Kent other heavy buyers of long
wheat were Fleming aud Boynton, Fraley of
st. Louis, Love Bros. and lxtsr The stuff
was mostly picked up among the small fry,
who concluded they wouldn't tempt Provi-
dence by refusing a good, honest cent of
profit when it was offered them. The small
fry, when not realizing, were inclined TO be
bullish, and gathered In many a 5000 and
10, 900 lot. A good deal of the heavy buying
toward noon was due to pretty general i'm
preston that when the May option reached
Soc it was bound to keep up the advance for
time. Many traders purchased at S0xc
who were bears at 7Sc, and the bull owd
generally looks upon the soc point safely
passed as very encouraging circumstance.
II see the crowd is coming back to its
Senses" commented an operator, rubbing
his hands gieefully. ''Why, buying this
wheat is like buying gold dollars for so
cents. You can't get too much of it. If
you haven't got the money sell your real es-
tate. your government bonds, your railroad
stoeks-aell anything you've got. You
haven't got anything half so valuable as this
wheat. Depend upon it,
There was story aloat TO the effect that
an enormous foreign order for -four was ex
ecuted yesterday on the floor. The story WAS
without any basis, but, as the fellows in the
wheat pit were too busy to hunt around for
Its veritcation, it counted just the
same as if It had been true.
The truth is that -four is a triae more firmly
held just now than ten days ago, but the
difference is not above 21%@5c.
''The only difference between the market
now," said -four trader, land the market
ten days ago is that there are sales now
where there were no sales then. Quotations,
however, are only shade Different
1t was also said in the pit that Dunn &
Co., had an order this morning for 10, 600
or $1,000 bags of -four. Orders are not diff
fcult 10 get at certain figures, bat at figures
which can be executed they are not lying
around. W. F. Baker was very large buyer
of wheat to-day, and of course It
was just as it has been said score of times
heretofore when Bill has been doing any big
trading, that he was buying for Pullman, but
the commission man ought TO know more
about his principals than the gossips, and he
said to the writer:
II noticed this morning. and re-
marked the fact, that our orders to-day
came In small quantities from a great many
different points. very encouraging feature
think that wheat will sell at 81 25 before
the next crop is being ground.''
''Last January" said ERNEST Smith
"there was seet storm that started the
markets up just as this sieet storm is doing.
Everybody became alarmed for the winter
wheat crop, and the price went from 96c to
81 o.. A freezing rain like this is apt to
harm the winter wheat plant"
81 just heard Old Hutch give an order to
one Of his brokers'" said provision man
1T was like this: Git In thar and buy some
wheat, and pretty d-n quick, too"
The Adamses sold very largely early in the
morning at almost the lowest point. Their
broker, Gaylord. was selling 100000 bushel
lots at 79@79Ae to Lester. II is very re-
markable that last night privileges were sell
ing at &c away from the market, calls going
at 79Hc. The sellers Of these privileges felt
very comfortable when the market at the
opening hung around 1870, but became Sc
rious losers when the figures got up to 607Ec