The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1888-08-21
COTTON CORNERED,
And 1t Looks Like the Bulls
Were on Top.
The Story Told by the Constructions New
York Correspondcnt-The Bad
Fix of the Bears.

New YORK, August 13.-[Special THE sit
uation in the August cotton corner is growing
more interesting every day. and tho contest be-
tween the bear and bull factions wakes warmer
and warmer.
The bears claim that they will bring album
dant cotton here from Liverpool and the
southern markets during the last days of this
month to meet all of their contracts for August
delivery and thereby break the corner effectn-
ally.
The bulls insist, on the other hand, that il
will be impossible to do this from the fact that
cotton must pass the inspection committee of
the cotton exchange before it becomes de
hverable on contracts and that owing
to tho short time between now and
the last day of August and the large amount of
cotton to be handled during those few days, it
Will be out of the question to put it all through.
In this event those who bring cotton here for
August delivery and fail to have it inspected
will unavoidably suffer n loss Of from five to
seven dollars a bale on all that does not get the
attention of the inspection committee.
This committee will no utterly unable to
handle anything like the amount of cotton be-
tween now and the end of the month that is
due on August contracts, even II such amount
could be gotten here from other markets
Particularly is this true since the owners of
all cotton now in stock here are demanding to
have that re-inspccted between now and Sep
tember first in order that they may ship 1t
promptly to Liverpool for delivery on Septem-
Der contracts there.
There win be at least thirty thousand bales
for the committee to handle for this purpose.
Such inspection is necessary because the stock
now in New York is very much mixed in grade
and nothing can he sent to Liverpool for deliv-
cry on contracts that classes under low mid
ding Therefore, this separation of the good
from the bad by re-inspection is absolutely
necessary.
by tho rules of the exchange the
committee must attend to the applications for
inspection in tho order that thoy are filed, and
ow ners of cotton now here are already filing
ftheir applications with the committee; there
core shippers now hurrying cotton here to
satch tho high price incident to the August
corner may find it impossible to have it in
pected after it gets here, and thereby be de-
feated in their purpose and suffer serious pecu-
MARY loss besides.
The managers of the exchange say every
effort will be made to handle all the cotton
that comes; but at the same time no RESPONSE
bility attaches to tho exchange in case tho in
spectingmi comttee find themselves unable TO
serve everybody.
a large proportion of the short interest
which was in August when the month opened
has been settled by the more conservative
bears, hut there are over 100000 bales yet due
the bulls on contracts. The stock here today
is about 110,0 900 bales, of which the bulls own
10000. Therefore, there are only about 10000
bales in stock today that are available for the
bears. Consequently the price between now
and the end of the month will be very much
what the bulls choose to make it. Nj. j. "
A Queer Feature of the Cotton Corner.
The August cotton corner is still in strong
and healthy condition, and the manipuators
who are supposed to DO j. IT, Inman s. Ran
ger and Il. Il. Wilson, carried the price of Au-
gust options up TO | 1.10 yesterday, the highest
point it has reached since March.
In A ct TIM nIa I in In nnio
borhood of 81 cents, but early i'll june it adj
vanced to 10 cents, and from that time on
there was gradual advance up to yesterday,
when the maximum for the present season was
reached
1t began TO dawn upon the bear element
month or more ago that something akin to a
corner in August cotton was in progress, and
as it appeared to be well handled and showed
no signs of weakening, the excitement grew
stronger, and the interest in that particular
option increased 1t is estimated that there
are only about 100000 bales of cotton available
for August delivery, and tho largest portion Of
this is believed to be held by the clique Mt the
bottom of the present manipulation, whereas
there is a short interest estimated at from 200,-
GOO to 10000 bales
1t is the wild effort OF this short interest to
obtain the necessary cotton to cover their corr
tracts. which mustsbe made good by the end of
the current month, that is responsible for the
present rise in the market.
The condition OF the market has given rise
to n peculiar reverse action in tho movement
of cotton. The shorts, being unable to secure
enough OF the commodity from the south,
have been compelled to send to Liverpool to
purchase. ut price in advance of what they
had actually sold it for, cotton that had been
shipped to that port from this country at some
previous period.
In fact, some cotton has been returned that
had been shipped so recently that 1t had not
vet left the hold Of the vessel in which il was
shipped fGom this country. OF course, every
bale brought back to America from Liverpool
entails a loss to the bears, for thoy have to pay
the freight both ways, the town dnes at LIVER
pool insurance, interest and such other charges
as may arise, and which amount is from $3 to
80 bale.
So far it is believed that between 1900 and
10000 bales have been ordered from Liverpool
since the LIST Of August.
European houses, represented h9re by Ger
man brokers, are believed to be tho principal
shorts in the market.
Such n reverse movement has not been
known since 1881, when s. Ranger, who Is
Interested in the present corner, carried out a
similar manipulation 6hglc-handed, and Is
reported to have reaped large profits. At
that time the August cotton went up to four
teen cents.
Many believe that the present corner will
prove oven more severe than the other, and
that prices may equal, or even surpass, the
former quotations before the month has ex-
pred
In any circumstance Il Is singular condi-
tion Of trade, when one Of our great staple
products can 10 shipped to England, a non
producer and the greatest consumer, and yet
returned to America il Us raw state
Building up the state.
From tho Carlersyilc Courant-Amercan.
THE ATLANTA CONSTITUTION is doing great