Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1886-07-22


tempt to guard against loss from fuctu-
alton of prices by selling short in the
Chicago market-a process perfectly in
telligible to the "hedger'i on the turf.
In New York, consignments or pur-
chases of provisions pass into the Gus
tody of licensed and responsible paid
inspectors and warehousemen, of whom
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 $50 bar
rels, containing an average of 200
pounds per barrel, unless otherwise
stipulated. All sales contemplate mer-
charitable meats. If 10 per, cent of
lot of dry sailed meat, or 20 per cent of
other meats, be defective, they are ex-
jcluded from this category. Packers
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 Specula-
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-
tees 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 a committee of tive-an
inspector-in-chief, registrar. and q
committee of three on the delivery of
warehoused grain. The Committee on
Grain, of which at the time of this
writing Mr.. G. Il. Hickox is chairman,
annually establishes the several grades,
supervises the inspcetor-in-elief and his
assistants. and fixes the fees which Che
low $40. 000) 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 1884, ten were of white,
amber, and red winter wheat, eight of
spring, and one of State wheat. More
or less of brightness, soundness, dry
ness, plumpness, ana cleanness deter
mines the grade. The word Steamer"
pretixed to grade denotes slight soft
ness or dampness. Corn has eleven
grades. oats eight, rye three, barley
sixteen, peas three Heatedor un mer-
charitable 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
inspect and ascertain the weights of all
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 1920
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. 'Ill give Al (944 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
a neighbor. '1'll give s." "I'll sell
you at g." ! is the only obstacle to
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 the buyer to pull the sell
Ter down !. The contest is quite as
exciting as aught in the intercollegiate
game. But seldom is the battle drawn.
Victory, hesitant in the vocal hurricane,
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 q
broken corner in New York may de-
press wheat below the healthful stand
ard at Chicago
The facility with which sales and
purchases for future delivery are made
has enormously augmented the volume
of trade. Foreign merchants avail
themselves of it to provide for the pros
pective needs of different markets. 1t
gives to the farmer ready homo mar
ket for his products at their full value,
and affords to traders the opportunity
of selling at reasonable profit and al
a moments notice, and to deliver at
option within specified times, as may be
agreed. The exports of grain and grain
products from the United States in the
fiscal year 1885 were valued at $780,
370,S21. Seyenty-five per cent, or more,
OF the whole was probably sold ten or
twenty times over before it was finally
shipped. Sales and purchases, charter
of ships, bills of exchange for payment,
sale of latter-all contemplated .'fu-
ture" delivery. Similar remarks are
true of oil. tobacco. cotton, and other
commercial staples. The system is a
devise of necessity, the iudicious adap-
tation of prospective supply to probable
demand, the work of foreseeing pru-
dence. 1t may be, and is, abused by
gambling spectators, or prostituted to
assist aggressive corner conspirators,
and in all such instances, is shamefully
demoralizing. - Richard Wheatlg, IN
Ha7per's Magazine for July.
DIR. FENNER'S Improved Cough
Honey relieves any Cough in one hour
or less. 31y1