New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-09-05
READ THE DELIVERY RULES WRONGLY.

READ IHE DELlFE!N kUlIt.S WRCNGlN,
YOUNG sAwYER's FATAL DLUHDER IN EN-
G1NEERING THE CORNER" IN PORK
Chicago, Sept. tSpecial,.-Mr. Hutchinson the
wcll.known Board of Trade man, says that he has
known Mr.. Sawyer, of Sawyer Wallace e. Co..,
fer over forty years, the two mon having como
from the same town of North Reading. Mass. The
frnl has always been reputcl rioh ard has always
been prompt, and extremely liberal in
the matter of putting up margins. Natur-
ollv there was surprise here yesterday when New
York tccyraphcd that the firm had failed They
failed on tho pork deal which was begun here
over q wear ago. which was attempted for October.
bu; which has been dragging along over since.
Il is simply another illustration Of the inevitable
fatality of tie corner" business. Sawyer Wal
lace & Co. were dragged into this corner by son
of Mr.. Sawyer, who hrs had charge of the English
branch of Tie corner. He attempted 20 run n
corner" for October, but made fatal error IN
reading the rules Of the Board CT Trade govern
ing deliveries lie Of the opinion that rev
pork could rot be Iaade and delivered on Octo-
Der contracts The rule was obscure, but
unfortunately for Sawyer, its meaning had been
settled by practice, the trade having gone through
one October under it. Sawyer. Wallace & Co..
however. fought the Interpretation Of the rnle
first before the directors of the Board Of Trade
and then in the courts. They were defeated.
The packers made about 1000 barrels OF new
pork in the month of October and made it imp s.
sibic for the corner 10 succeed. Sawyer, Wal
lace s. Co.. however, hung OH to their product
and were Of course, considerably helped by the
failurc Of the corn crop and by the resulting adj
vance in hogs and hog products. II began to
look as if they might get out; but undoubtedly
they have been eaten up by commission charges
and interests. Then the deal has been cNccrab'y
managed There have been dozen tines wien
q large share of the pork could have been sold.
These opportunities have hen fritcred away
Mr.. Hutchinson SAYS tina, in his opinion about
half of the pork has been sold in the
last few days and that which Is
s;iil held is margncd from 50 so down
Nr Armour says tina; erIe sh'rt OF tha pork
had within the last few dhSs nee" ysthcr snv Of Of
these men believed that serious trouble @oaid
rcsuit from the failure. I. was the gosHp lew
monhs ss2 n it So y"nGHs and % on s
that the loss to the customer w"uid net cNcceo
hity cents a barrel. If that statement was tact,
Spss c' fousse in u''f the % prire viii fail mpca the r
In the provision pit to-day there was one s'ie
of 100 barrels OF september pok nS nnn,i'n nidi
at $40 It. WAS part OF the ,,,iI
after the close when the news OF the ln'!aM
was received. There has hecn in tls last aw3 3
days good deal Of pork sold for SePtsmhhr P h.rs aha
TLsre was a private sale of a large block to-day
of the floor. and it is figured tonight iha, tn"
ola Sawterwalace clique does net hold Oni more more
tSam 49,. ~ 600 barrels. of the 900 barrels in
stock S here. It is inevitable that there will he
great rafting around In the proSlson Pr IN IN
nsk, the naadaiHs saa said s' siit s:;s
nork is unarRincd from 50 80 down II hardiy
ieiy, unless there is pork ponc thsi ~, any iu1n n
ent that Almost All the Chicago houses %ill have
Ssiances sI @ rather than debts against the New
York Concern.