St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-02-16
The Cold Snap Hot Fierce Enough for
Panic On the Score of
Wheat.
Corn and Pork Not Much Affected oy
Gossip Which is Afoat in Regard
to Them,
All Speculative Articles at the Close
showing a Decline from Satur-
days Latest Figures.
The Day in Wall Street Stupid and
Unfnteresting, Coal Stocks Lead
ing I'm Interest.
Chicago Grain and Provisions.

CHICAGO. Feb. 15.-The shorts in wheat
now are the very rich spectators, Ream d
Jones. the New Yorks who speculate over
the private wires, and Cudahy. They have
funds to their hearts content, or nearly so;
they are self-reliant and don't easily feel
the speculative fight. If it did not happen
to be this way, if the crowd of local scalp
ers and little spectators happened to be the
shorts instead of the longs at this time,
there would probably happen something of
a scramble To get wheat. In a fortnight
every wheat trader in the country has been.
as his interest suggested, either hoping or
deprecatng a cold snap. Now 1t seems to
be at hand. The May option hung all last
week pretty near mOtiOnless. Traders who
were Interested on the long side Of the
market held IN. hoping for freeze, and
traders who were ''shOrt" feared to sell
more for fear of a freeze. Now that the
freeze is here the hopes Of the bulls and the
fears Of the ''shOrts" realized, what will be
10 pay? The cold so far is not Of a very
severe order. Shows are predicted, and
when they come they will probably
SETTLE THE ALARM.
With snow on the ground the local crowd,
which has been just bullishly enough in
cIined TO long and hold enough wheat to
keep the market steady, will sell out. 1t is
one Of the traditions that wheat covered by
snow is all right cold weather or hot, rain
or shine. so that the long-eXpected, long
hoped-fOr, lOng-dreaded snap has arrived
III a very humdrum, unSenSatiOnal way.
Nobody is likely to be alarmed, either for
the wheat OF for his own trades. There is
not to say, however. that there will not be
numerous little spectators who will affect
anxiety about winter wheat. The ''coun-
tryman's deal'' deal in pork has slipped
along great deal better than its opponents
ever supposed it would. There has not been
a bad week in pork since it started on its 81
barrel advance. The hogs are not coming
in in any larger numbers, although they
are improving a little in quality. The
brokers in cash stuff say that the demand
for meats is very poor, but Armour d. Co.
say il is very GOOD, and that the stocks of
meat will decrease here this month, al
though the packing is in full swing. The
truth probably is that Armour a. Co. are
getting all the jobbing trade, and that
while the traders honestly think there is no
business. it is going on just the same, but
not through them.
THE ESTIMATES OF HOGS
this week do not put the average of each
day above 5000 head. The cold wave ar
rived to-day, yet strange to say, wheat did
not advance. On the contrary it declined
after &c advance the first thing this
morning. When it was observed that the
market did not 90 booming. those who
were specializing long, concluded to sell out.
and they did, unloading on a weak market
upon the shoulders of others whose faith in
higher values cannot be shaken by small
adverse action of quotations. The result
was not seen instantaneously, for the mar
ket was legitimately stubborn, and it might
have absorbed the miscellaneous offerings
and stood up under the load, but at the crit
zeal point, the big professionals, through
Roche and others, rendered the not over
anxious crowd property in lots of $50, 600
bushels &c under ruling quotations. That
was too much for the bulls of the pit, and
they turned away. May opened at s5xc,
advanced Hc, and at or about II o'clock
was a drug at S555@s418c. Cables were
unchanged in their tone, bear estimates of
the visible dropped to 400, 900 bushels, and
bull estimates to 700, 900 bushels, and the
country did not rally to the support of the
crop expert, was quoted as authority for the
statement that the
CONDITION OF WINTER WHEAT
was superb, and that very considerable
portion of the winter wheat area was still
covered with snow. The fact that Primes
crop reports are based largely on mail ad-
vices, together with the additional fact that
a large number of commission houses are
in receipt of late intelligence contradicting
Primes snow report, throw discredit upon
the report of the bureau" but it was used
on the floor with considerable effect, never
theless. AS the day advanced the situation
grew no stronger very FAST" as one trader
expressed it. Reports began TO come in of
falling snow at several points. and the
bears attached importance TO the Duluth
report of SOP, 900 bushels decrease in the
visible. though what sources of exclusive
information Duluth has touching stocks in
store does not appear. "Old Hutch~ was
said to be one of the heaviest sellers of
wheat, but the bulk of the offerings was
generally believed to be from the sO-called
clique" The / o'clock closing was weak
at very nearly the bottom, May being
quoted at 841S@S414c but this afternoon
the markets trmed up, wheat advancing
&c, on account of weather bulletins,
the late closing at re for February, 7914c
for March, $3.50 for May and S5Tc for
Jt>sAa. or 5000 under Saturday. Corn
showed
MODERATE AMOUNT OF LIFE
early, but toward the close became quiet,
receipts were fair and the shipping demand
from New York and New England account
was moderate. New York was unsettled
and higher and Liverpool remained steady.
Holders were more disposed to sell, and as
wheat broke corn sympathized. May
opened at 4OSl @40Ssc, broke TO 401{c, and
closed at 1890 asked, shade lower than
Saturday. February ranged at 36%@371lc
and closed at SIC.
There was nothing doing in oats, closing
prices being the same as on Saturday, ex-
cept for cash, which closed &c higher.
Provisions were active and lower. Pork
opened at an advance as compared with
Saturday of 5@755c. May selling from the
break at S11.35. Hogs were higher and re-
ceipts light. and the conditions seemed to
warrant belief in higher prices. but there
seemed to be great amount of property
for sale. Hutchinson bought 10, 900 barrels
at S11. SO 1Se Crittendeh and Comes selling
him 1900 barrels of it. This generous buy
Ing failed to sustain the market. however,
which feb away until only Sill 1917 was
bid. The close was DC higher and the feel
ing rather better. Lard and meats were
about 219@5c lower than on Saturday, and
the weakness in pork was felt also in other
products.
PETER BERKEY.s FIRES. F. W. ANDERSON, Cashier.
= W. GHiGGs, " Pres A. C. ANDERSON, Asst C.
THE ST. PAUL NATIONAL BANK,