St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-03-08
How it has Affected Wheat and Proved
a Salvation for the Com
mission Men.
A Dull Day, the Trading Being Mainly
in the Way of Evening
Up Deals.
Wheat Closes Lower, Corn Higher, Oats Low
er and Provisions Higher
and Stronger.
Stock Sharks Still Manipulating the Market
and Busily Engaged in Squeez-
ing the Shorts.
Chicago.

| Special to the Globe.
CHICAGO. March 7.-Counting on the
truth of the adage, smisery loves company"
an intelligent inspection of the crowd which
at this time gathers daily on the floor of the
open board of trade would be source of
much delight to the numerous "Lambs"
who have been 80 ruthlessly and unpityingly
shorn OF their aeeces in mid-winter. They
would witness a stage in the evolution OF
the scalper that would fill them with joy,
the green bay tree etfulgence of his presence
on Change last fall replaced by weak and
tlmid glimmer when possibilities in eonnec-
ton with lightly margined 1000 bushel
lots, offer soace to the '!busted''
| speculator. The open board at
present furnishes more than one, or three,
or half dozen instances of this kind which
illustrate the inevitable consequences of
getting in on the wrong side and biting off
more than you can chew. Yet in spite of
these wholesome examples hundreds of
operators are reckless stalking the larger part
of their capital on the joint possibility of war
and the resulting advance in the price Of
wheat. Strange as il may seem, small
amount of war news and an equally small
prospect of war in the future, have had more
to do with fluctuations of the present week in
the price of wheat than all the legitimate in
fuences that exist. A week ago the market
could not stand the pressure of
many naturally depressing effects, which
| the combined efforts of several of the
| strongest manipulators of the deal
| were powerless 10 ward off. Values dimin-
| ished steadily until that of the May option
appeared to have temporarily touched the
bottom at two or three points below 79 cents
The situation
APPEARED HoPELEsSLY WEAK
at the opening on Monday, and few traders
had the hardihood to promulgate bull theories.
The next day reports of some slight rebuff
sustained by the British troops in the Soudan
frightened the bull prospects instantly, and
the closing prices showed a net advance for
the day. Then came rumors that the British
fire was not confined wholly to the pyramids,
and the wheat market instantly responded
by becoming still stronger, while prices
were showed up another notch. At this time,
while trading was on the bull side, honest
opinions as to the actual status of the wheat
question held by such traders, were not a
whit changed from those maintained when
the price was at its lowest.
'EWithout war and all this talk Of war; re-
m arked a careful compiler of wheat stats tics
''May wheat would stand good show of sell
ing at 75c. With war l would not be sur
prised to see the price 90 to S1.25."
The war feature has certainly been the
salvation of the commission men. Despite
the fact that the professional short seller is
generally the most successful of all
spectators, there is nothing like
evidences of ''bulge' to catch
the multitude. The little rupture of the last
few days has brought in many orders to buy,
the broker. Some of the time the pit has
presented very animated scene, and alto
gether for the good he has done the local
crowd the war-rumor manufacturer may be
deserving of gratitude. There was little
news on the board of trade to-day, while
operators, as general thing, were content
to let the market run along in its
As usual at the last day of the week few
new trades of any noteworthy size are en-
tered into, while the bulk of activity came
from closing deals in preference to
carrying them over Sunday. Nat
Jones, however, did considerable
trading, being alternately on either side of
the market. Billy Linn was probably the most
NXr. \,
usual supply, but it is noticed that since yes
terday much less stock has been taken in
alleged foreign advices Of a financial or
other character with which some member was
frequently RECALLED. May wheat was moder-
ately traded in, though the market was heavy
early, opening at s04c, falling off to 791lc,
&c under the opening. About noon 1t had
advanced to s019c, but failed to sustain the
advance, closing at 601sc. March sold at
74$5@74Tc, closing &c under the highest
figure. April opened at 75c, advanced 4c,and
closed at 759sc. June sold up to S2115c, but
closed dull and lower at size. Corn was
strong on its merits. The receipts continue
light. and it is well-known fact that very
little is cribbed along the line of railways.
Whether the farmers prefer to sell or hold at
the present prices. there is not very much
going to the stations, partly on account of
bad roads. TIE demand for all the actual
stuffs received here is active, and by all
classes Of buyers. Shippers are loading yes
sells when they can get corn enough, and
have the chance of saving storage charges
until the opening of navigation and getting
freight to Buffalo for 2%c per bushel
The outside figures of the day
were well sustained and show an
Improvement of nc on those current twenty
four hours ago. No. 2 for May opened at
41slc, sold at 41H@42c and closed at
41%c. The sales for March were at 375SC0
3s4c, closing at 386c. June was quotaby
the same as May, while June closed about
Ike over May, closing at 415sc.
OATS WERE EASIER
and shade lower owing TO the belief that
the receipts on Monday and Tuesday will
show an increase. The speculative grade,
No. 2. sold at 271l@275zc for April, closing
at 275Ie Sales for May were at 31@31Hc,
closing at re. There were no sales for
March, but 271(c was the nominal
price. Provisions were dull and
easy carly, but very soon
hardened under demand by parties having
outstanding contracts. Sellers we're not
plentiful and prices closed firm at the out
side figures Of the day and show an advance
Of i0c on mess pork, 21Ee on lard and Sc on
short rib sides. May pork opened at s12.55,
with sales at from s12.50012 .721Z, closing
at s127O. May lard opened at s6.971E,
ranged from s6.971z@T021l and closed
at s7.O2L. Short ribs for May opened at
So. 81 and sold from s6.35C06.40, closing
at 500. March pork was nominal at