The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1886-06-24
AMdersptt gntelliae,teer.
The Operations of the New York Pro.
duce Exchange.

and wherewithal shall we be lighted?
are the three questions with whose pleas
ant solution the New York Produce Ex-
change charges itself. Seated at the
point on the Atlantic coast where all
linesoftrasc and traffic converge, width,
er cereals fromFthe bouDdless prairies and
pastoral products from the Pacific coast
are forwarded by Western merchants and
packers to New York dealers and COM
mission firms for distribution among the
manufacturing millions of Europe and
the several commonwealths of the Amer.
ican continent and archipelagoes, it pre-
sents as varied aspects as its busy traffic.
Merchants either purchase in the
West, or send from their own packing
houses in that region, or receive consign-
ments, on which they make advances
often equal to three.fourths the. market
value Of the provisions here offered for
sale. In the first and third cases, bills
of lading accompanied by sight drafts
are mailed to purchasers or consignees
while the goods are on the way. Before
the esarriyalso ,tbelatter, partiessin inter-
est not sunfrequently attempt to- guard
against loss from fuctuation of prices by
selling short in the Chicago market-a
process perfectly ineligible to the
"hedger" on 1.-The turf. In New York,
consignments or purchases of provisions
pass into the custody of licensed and re-
.sponsible paid inspectors and warehouse
men, of whom there are seven; and by
whom the condition, quality, standard,
and weight of the different lots are duly
certified, or declared to be insufficient to
fulfill the requirements of the contract.
Each warehouse receipt must be for; $50
barrels, scbataining .an average Of. 200
pounds parsbarrels sunless otherwise stip-
ulated. All sales contemplate merchant.
able meats. III per cent. Of a lot of
dry salted meat, or 20 per cent. of other
meats, be defective, they are excluded
from this category. Packers name and
location, number Of. pieces, and weight,
together with the inspectors brand, must
be marked on each package. Sales, in
agreed lots of any size, if for export or
domestic consumption, are made upon
the Exchange floor, and deliveries from
warehouse or from the dock, as the goods
arrive. Speculative sales are in lots of
250 barrels, or. their multiples. Less
business than formerly is now done in
options, but the jobbing trade retains its
old proportions. Official but not private
sales:are recorded
The Western system of grading grain
recently adopted here, enables the West.
'ern buyer who has. accumulated as much
.wheat;in his warehouses as he wishes to
carry, and who knows daily and almost
hourly the market prices in New York,
to telegraph to any broker, aud through
him to sell for future delivery the amount
and grade of wheat he may have on
hand. He then ships it 80 that it may
arrive id,time 70 fulfill his contract. Ger
stainty and precision are thus given to his
business movements He is relieved
from the compulsory speculation. attend.
ant upon consignments of whose sale,
price, and delivery he is perforce ignor-
ant The present terminal facilities for
handling grain are 50 complete that they
ave.restored to New York, probably for
all time, the control of the grain trade
on The Atlantic; seaboard. True, option
dealing and some Objectionable practices
have come in with the new system, but
tbat.is onlyin harmony with the univer-
sal fact that eyeryisaolid good is abused
by unwise and greedy men .3i.s.s
The grain trilde proceeds under the
supervision of a committee of 6ve-an
inspector:in, chief, a registrar, and COM
mittee Of three on the delivery Of ware.
housed grain. The Committee on Grain,
of which at the time of this writing Mr..
O. r. Hickox is chairman, annually
establishes the several grades, supervises
,thefnspector-in chief and his assistants,
and fxesithe fees which (below 100000
constitute the Grain Inspection Fund,
out Of which salaries, audited expenses,
and claims for damages are paid. Of
the grades of grain established in 1884,
ten were of white, amber, and red winter
wheat, eight Of spring, and one of State
wheat. More or less of brightness,
soundness, dryness, plumpness, and
cleanness determines the grade. The
word Steamer" prefxed to "grade" de-.
notes slight softncss or dampness. Corn
has eleven grades, oats eight, rye three,
barley sixteen, peas three. Heated or
understandable grain is not graded at
all. Standard samples of all grades of
grain are kept at the Produce Exchange.
The duties, of the chief inspector and his
deputies are to inspect, grade, and ascer.
tain the weights of all parcels going into
store as graded grain lat the owners
risk and for which transferable ware
house receipts are given; also to inspect
and ascertain the weights Of all deliv-
cries from warehouse or from railroad
depot. A daily copy of his record is
furnished to the registrar, and returns in
duplicate to warehousemen and railroad
companies of all receipts and deliveries
Of graded grain.
Business begins in the "Pit" at 1890
a. m. Buyers and sellers are indiscrimi.
nately blended in the compact, throbbing,
surging mass. ALI offers and bids are on
unit basis of 5000 bushels. Winter
wheat is the only grain in mind. "I'll