Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1885-11-05

in grain and provision markets, or Board
of Trade in Chicago, the "Produce EX-
change" of New York, and similar dealers
at other centres of trade, are, as in the Stock
Exchange, divided into two great classes.
While some only buy and sell for others on
commission, many make their chief busi-
ness to buy and sell on future expectations.
AS previously explained in these columns,
there are ten to twenty times as many bush
els of grain, barrels of pork, pounds of lard
and bacon, bought and sold as is actually
transferred in ownership. Brown believes
wheat for example will go higher, while
Smith believes it will sink lower. Brown
agrees to take five thousand or one hundred
thousand bushels of No. . wheat, say in
September, at ninety-one cents, and Smith
agrees to deliver it at that price, believing
| that it will be lower and that he will be
able to buy it enough lower to make profit !;
while Brown thinks it will 60 higher and
that he can sell out his purchase at a profit.
Margins of five cents bushel are put up by
each party. If wheat goes up, Brown calls
on Smith for more margins, to keep FIVE
fulfilling the bargain and on the other hand
if the price declines, Smith asks Brown for
more margins. If the rise and fall happens
to be so great that either party cannot sup
ply the margins called for, he goes to the
wall and his contract is then sold out at
the Board, "under the rules"
When the day comes for fulfilling the
contract, Brown does not take any wheat,
but he and Smith settle up by paying the
difference between the contract price and
the last price of that day at the Board of
Trade. From the day the contract is made,
or as the time of settlement approaches, it
| ;cf ba ipto IF itb tO 1apracc prirnS ca
that he can buy cheaply to fill his contract,
or have the price made low for settlement.
He is called a "bear;" and the bear knocks
things down with his paws. He is also
called ''short," because he is short of wheat
he must deliver. On the contrary, Brown
is anxious for prices to go higher, and does
all he can to crowd them up. He is called
"bull;" the bull tosses things up on his
horns. He is also called "long." He has
in effect a lot Of wheat on hand, or that he
has agreed to take at certain time. 1t
can be remembered then that "bear" and
a "short" is the same; and "bull' or a
''long" means the same.
Now there are multitude of such con-
tracts made daily, and also great num-
Der of contracts expiring almost every day,
but especially on certain settling days. These
amount to scores of millions of bushels.
So there are constantly two parties one of
whom, the "bulls," circulate all sorts Of
reports, such as that there is short crop,
that storms or bugs are injuring it, etc., and
thus try to work up prices to a high figure.
The "bears," on the contrary talk of great
crops, fine weather, etc., to show that prices
will fall. War rumOrs, in short, everything
that can be circulated to affect future pros
poets and put prices up or down, is made
use of. If a man has million bushels on
contract to buy or sell (some have tens of
millions), cent bushel is ten thousand
dollars in or out of his pocket and he can
readily pay one or five thousand dollars for
reports, kilograms and rumors that will
affect the price sing gle cent.
a st. Louis paper, speaking Of the efforts
Of the bulls and bears we'll says, the bears
want, and try to circulate rumors, of grow
ing crop reports, contradictions Of crop dam
ages, Six hundred million bushel crops,
peace everywhere, high freights, high con-
soils, fine weather, no bugs, no hoppers, no
rust, lots of hot wheat, financial panics,
large crops everywhere and a cessation OF
exports. Bulls want bugs, chinch-bugs,
grasshoppers, rust, blight, rain, drought,
heat, cold waves, fine cables, low freights,
war in Afghanistan or anywhere, more war,
lower consols, more bugs, more tornadoes,
more earthquakes, etc, etc.
A 'cOrner" or IDEAL" is in this wise: A
few bulls with strong means quietly buy up
all the visible grain, say OF corn or wheat,
50 secretly that no one outside OF the clique
has any suspicion of it. Then they as qui-
city put out all the purchasing contracts
they can get responsible parties togive them.
When towards the selling day, the bears
begin to hunt up some wheat to deliver,
they find that there is none to be bought
The bulls keep showing up prices, buying OF
each other at higher figures, and when the
final hour comes, say as the clock strikes
ton at the Board may be ten or twenty
cents per bushel or more, above the nor.
NAL price. The bears or shorts have no al
tentative but to settle up their contracts at
the Board prices, which often involves a
loss to them of enormous sums, which is an
equal gain to the bulls.-Prairie Farmer
TIE CENTURY PLANT.-The century
plant is the American aloe. Its botanical
name is Agave Americana, and it is called
the maguey in South America, and in Mex
leo the mezcal. 1t is Il plant Of the cactus
kind, having a short stem, which termi-
mates in a circular cluster Of tleshy, sharp
pointed, bluish-green leaves, covered with
Spines. Each of these lives for many years,
so that but few have withered when the
plant has reached maturity. 1t is a popular
error that this only occurs once in a hun
dred years, wherefore the name century
plant'' is used. The period of maturity OF
the plant varies generally, according to the
climate, from ten to seventy years. In
tropical countries it rapidly attains its per-
feet state, but in colder climates, where it is
cultivated as an exotic, it often requires a
full century to reach its maturity. AS soon
as it does SO it sends up a stem, which grows
to the height Of forty feet, and sends out
numerous branches, forming a perfect cylin-
drical pyramid, and each is crowned with
cluster of greenish yellow flowers, which
continue in pefect bloom for several months.
This blossoming is never repeated as soon
as the flowers fall the plant Withers and
dies. The plant grows through all the CEN
trail part Of the American continent, from
Mexico to Chilli, tourishing alike in sandy
plains at the level of the sea and mountain
plateaus 10000 feet above. Various parts
of the plant are put to different uses.
From its sap, drawn from incisions in its
stem, is made pulque pool-ka), a fermented
liquor with very slight intoxicating quail
ties, and from this is obtained, by distilla-
the taste, but powerful intOXicant, and
otherwise injurious to those using it. From
the leaf fbers coarse flax is made. The
dried flower stem makes a thatch which is
perfectly imperviOus to rain. SOap-ballsare
made from an extract Of the leaves, and
from the centre Of the stem, split longitudin-
ally, substance is obtained for a hone or
razor strop, which, owing to fine particles
of salica contained in it, has the property of
putting Il very fine edge upon steel.-CHica-
30 Inter- ocean.
"WuEN MY CHILDREN WERE ABOUT
! ME.n-It is with tender emotions that