St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-04-21
A BIG CORN DEAL.
ASly Operator and His Friends Make a
Huge Scalp in the May
Option.
A Highly Successful Operation, Involving
Millions of Bushels of
Grain.
The Wheat Market Much Excited
Over Signs of an Approach
ing Conflict.
War News and Heavy Buying Send
the Cereal Skyward--Wan
Street Gossip.
Chicago.
sneciol To the Globe.

Chicago.
Special to the Globe.
CHICAGO, April 20.-All last week, just
as during the week before prices of pro-
duce, generally speaking, were moved up
and down according as the cables quoted
consols lower or higher. 1t was all last
week. as it has been now for upward OF
thirty days, simply question OF war or no
war When there was promise OF con-
flict the figures went up regardless of all
other influences, and when there was prom
Use of peace the figures went down, and all
other sorts of facts, however pertinent and
important they might have seemed at any
other time, were ignored. This was alto
gether true of wheat, oats and provisions.
Perhaps, however, the conduct of Lester in
the corn pit and the belief which is
abroad that this big commits
sion house is engineering
corner in this grain for the month OF May,
buoyed up its price in the face OF peace
talk, and helped along its advance when
ever there was talk of war. But John L.
Lester 81 Co. are engineering no corner III
Nav corn. This is what the writer knows
about it.
When May corn was in the vicinity of
40c, Lester himself and perhaps Sam AL
lerton, too began to buy it. They were
probably advised to take this stand by
Edwin Norton. who used to manage David
DOws' business, and who has probably
better list of correspondents among corner
shippers and corn cribbers than any other
man in trade. At any rate Lester did the
BULK OF Ills TRADING
through Norton & Worthington. Lester
himself is special partner in
this concern. Norton is the
Edwin Norton mentioned just above, and
Worthington is a clever New Yorker,
younger brother of Mrs. Henry Clews and
affianced to John 7. Testers pretty daugh-
ter. This early buying was kept up unoS-
tentatiously until, in his own house andwith
Norton and Worthington, Lester had some
thing like $500, 900 bushels of corn, and
until the price had gone to about 42c for
May. Partridge, the dry goods man, had,
with good, bad and Indifferent luck, been
dabbling in corn for some time, and had
some on hand. Whether Archie Fisher
and Fairbank were in the same boat or not
is not certain but at any rate at about this
time all these clever traders, Lester, Par
bridge, Archie Fisher and Fairbank,
struck hands and started in for a
was formed there was about 1000, 900
bushels of long corn OH the books at an
average to newcomers of about 1910, but
an average to Lester of about 411lc. This
would have been pretty strong coterie in
any event with the situation i'll corn as it
was. There was not above 1000, 900
bushels of grain in store and the demand
was so good that what came i'll was put out
almost without unloading. But, besides
having plenty of money, the crowd had
John II. Lester with them, and so shared
the ''bull-head" luck which attends him.
There almost Immediately appeared pros
pect of
AN ANGLo-RUssIAN WAR.
Wheat, pork, oats and corn advanced,
and here last week the LeSter-P Partridge
Fisher-Fairbank cOterie woke up one morn
ing and found that it had, without any
effort or trouble, a profit of 5 to 6 cents on
its cash holdings where it had never
dreamed of more than perhaps 2 to cents,
and that too only after clever manipula-
ton. Then the clique did the clever thing.
1t took its profits, twice as much profit as
it ever expected to make, and in half the
time and at half the cost. Now Bangs,
Testers partner, stands in the corn pit and
dallies with prices selling all the while the
comparatively small remnant there
is of long corn, while the
mob is becoming very certain that great
corner is on the tapis, and that Lester has
gobbled up all the cash corn there is and
much more besides, and while all profess
sional ''tailers," big and little, are taking
the clique'S load with all the avidity which
taierS ut the last moment always exhibit
Under the pressure of war news corn
continued to-day to present strong features.
with no well developed signs of selling out
on the part of the operators who are re-
puted TO hold SO much of il. Contrary to
the other articles on the list, it opened at
the closing price, axe for May, and was
even quoted at 47Mc. There was a good,
active trade from the start though realizing
knocked the price back to axe, but suisse
Quently ii sold up to 4Sc and was strong.
THE DAYS PRICES.
During the afternoon session prices were
again stronger, in sympathy with an adj
vance in wheat. and the close was steady at
47c April, 4Sc May, axe June. 4S1sc July.
Robert Warren and Lester were by far
the most active traders, though it was re-
ported by an operator who watched the pit
carefully, that Lester i'll reality bought
more than he sold.
There was no particular excitement at the
".
received did not circulate until later. Nearly
all articles on the list opened off from Sat
nrday's closing price. June wheat sold at
SSiSc, which was &c off from the close, but
soon after sold up steadily to 90asc, de
cded advance. Everybody seemed to want
the stuff
Under the influence of the active buying
June wheat sold up to 945Sc, but then came
hull, and it went down to S91Sc. BY 1880
o'clock the air on the floor and in the COM
mission brokers offices commenced To warm
up, and ut 1910 o'clock il was war every
where. In fifteen minutes the price went
up sac, with indications of still further
advance to come. Private kilograms from
New York and cablegrams from London
told of sharp decline in both English and
Russian securities, and of great feeling of
0neaSineSS in the outside market. The
consequence was that this market assumed
highly active and excited tone, with very
active trading
The nervous feeling continued all through
the morning session. The principal point
of excitement was the wheat pit, the bulls
and bears fighting persistently for SUI
premacy. Their positions were sharply de-
fined. those in the lower part of the pit
being of beariSh tendencies, while those on
the outer rim beloved for all they were
worth. The trading was of purely specu-
lative nature. 1t was pre-eminently scalp
ing market. Such traders as Noir, Jones.
Roche and others of that class came in early
and bought largely. Every time the price
would jump up there would be rush in
and let the stuff go, So the price was kept
zigzagging, though the range was not q very
large one. Half an hour before the close of
the morning session the June option sold I'D