The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1886-07-29
OUR GRAIN TRADE.
The Operations of the New York Produce
Exchange in Grain and other Prod
ucts of Soil.

The Operations of the New York Produce
Exchange in Grain and other Prod
ucts of our Soil.
What shall we cat, what shall we
drink, and wherewithal shall we be
lighted? are the three questions with
whose pleasant solution the New York
Produce Exchange charges itself. Seat
ed at the point on the Atlantic coast
where all lines of travel and traffic con-
verge, whittier cereals from the bound
less prairies and pastoral products from
the Pacific coast are forwarded by west
ern merchants and packers to New
York dealers and commission firms for
distribution among the manufacturing
millions of Europe and the several
commonwealth of the American conti-
nent and archipelagoes, ii presents 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 con-
signments, on which they make ad-
vances often equal to three-fourths the
market value of the provisions here Of
fered for sale In the first and third
cases, bills of lading accompanied by
sight drafts are mailed to purchasers or
way. Before the arrival of the latter,
parties IN interest not unfrequently at
tempt to guard against loss from f1uctu-
alton of prices by selling short in the
Chicago Market process perfectly in
telligible to the ''hedger" on the turf.
In New York, consignments or pur-
chases of provisions pass into the Gus
tody of licensed and responsible paid
al IF
there are seven; and by whom the con-
dition, quality, standard, and weight of
the different lots are duly certified, or
declared to be insufficient to fulfil the
requirements of the contract Each
warehouse receipt must be for 25O bar
| rels, containing an average of POO
pounds per barrel, unless otherwise
stipulated. All sales contemplate mer-
chantable meats. If 10 per cent of a
| lot of dry s;tlted meat, or 20 per cent of
other meats, be defective, they are ex-
| cluded from this category. Packers s
| name and location, number of pieces,
and weight, together with the inspec-
| tors brand, must be marked on each
| package. Sales, in agreed lots of any
| size, if for export or domestic consump-
| ton, are made upon the Exchange floor,
| and deliveries from warehouse or from
the dock, as the goods arrive. Specuia-
tive 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 pro-
portions 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,
and through him to sell for future de-
livery the amount and grade of wheat
he may have on hand. He then ships
it so that it may arrive in time to fulfil
his contract Certainty and precision
are thus given to his business move
ments He is relieved from the COM
pulsory speculation attendantupon con-
signments of whose sale, price, and de-
livery he is perforce ignorant. The
present terminal facilities for handling
grain are so complete that they have re-
stored to New York, probably for all
time, the control of the grain trade on
the Atlantic seaboard. True, option
dealing and some Objectionable prac-
tices have come in with the new sys-
tenn. but it is only in harmony with the
universal fact that every solid good is
abused by unwise and greedy men.
The grain trade proceeds under the
supervision of Il committee of five-an
inspector-in-chief, registrar. and j
committee OF three on the delivery of
warehoused grain. The Committee on
Grain, of which at the time of this
writing MIR. C. r, Hckox is chairman,
annually establishes the several grades,
supervises the inspector-in-chief and his
assistants, and fixes the fees which Che
low $50, ,00O constitute the Grain In
spection Fund, out of which salaries,
audited expenses, and claims for dam
ages are paid. OF the grades of grain
established in 1854, ten were of white,
amber, and red winter wheat, eight OF
spring, and one of State wheat. More
OF less OF brightness, soundness, dry
ness, plumpness, ana cleanness deter
mines the grade. The word Steamer
prefixed TO grade" denotes slight soft
ness or dampness. Corn has eleven
grades, oats eight, rye three, barley
sixteen, peas three. Heatedor un mer-
chantable 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 as
certain the weights of all parcels going
into store as graded grain Cat the own
er's risk, and for which transferable
warehouse receipts are given; also to
Il -, ~, oe II
deliveries from warehouse or from rail-
road depot A daily copy of his record
is furnished to the registrar, and returns
in duplicate to warehousemen and rail
road companies of all receipts and de-
liyeries of graded grain.
Business begins in the Pit at 1890
a. m. Buyers and sellers are indis-
criminately blended in the compact,
throbbing, surging mass. All offers
and bids are on unit basis of 5000
bushels. Winter wheat is the only
grain in mind. "Pll give A (948 cents
per busheD for May wheat" is the bid
of nervous. active broker, emphasized
by uplifted hand and moving fingers.
'.I'll sell at 5,'' is the quick rejoinder of
neighbor. "rll give 81 Jpn sell
you at f." is the only obstacle to a
bargain. Long and furiously, or short
and sharply, the conflict RACES around
that !. The tug of war on the part of
the seller is to pull the buyer up /. and
on the part of tie buyer to pull the sell
ler down !. The contest is quite as
exciting us aught in the intercollegiate
game. But seldom is the battle drawn
Victory, hesitant in the vocal hurricane,
decides for one of two parties. Bids
and offers are usually regulated by tele-
grams from Chicago. The difference
in prices between the two marts should
be the cost of transmission from the lat
ter to New York. Manipulation, or, in
other words, gambling. at either point.
defies all criteria of value. A corner
in Chicago may raise wheat there above
the normal price at New York; or a
broken corner in New York may de-
press wheat below the healthful stand
ard at Chicago.
Hhn fa 81, Il