New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-09-23
FAILURE OF s. V. WHITE.
Ills FIRM INVOLVED BY SPECULATION IN
CORN.

AN ATTEMPT TO MAKE CORNER CoILAPsES-
WALL STREET GREATLY SURPRISED, BUT
THE STOCK MARKET ONLY SLIGHTLY
AFBEorED-THE LIABILITIES
vARIoUsLY ESTIMATED.
For the third time in his business career in
Wall Street Stephen V. White was yesterday COM
PEELED 20 suspend payments. On the two previous
occasions lie got on his feet and paid his creditors
in full. The grit, the vigor, the fighting quail
tiles Of Mr. White, his lmany friends say. VIII
bring him out Of the present disaster lmpulslve
and positive as Mr. White is. he makes enemies
in the battle of life, hut he has the compensation
of those generous sentiments which have brought
! him friends and which promise to bring to him now
the support necessary to put him in fighting trim
once more. Mr.. White is too picturesque figure
for Wall Street to lose, and his abilities are sure
| to find reinforcement from powers that appreciate
his Importance practically. The announcement
| Of the suspension brought food of sympathetic
letters, and the statement that he expected to re-
sumo at an early day found ready believers.
The simple announcement at the Stock Exchange
Yesterday that the firm Of S. " White d Co.. at
| No SO Wall-st, had made an assignment, was
sensational because of the long prominence of the
!
the stock market was comparatively small, be-
cause of the official statement which came quickly
! afterward that there few contracts TO be
closed out in railway securities and that the fail
! ure was due to unfortunate ventures in grain
| In grain circles the news was only a moderate
! surprise for rumOrs about the house had been
half whispered for week because of its known
position on the corn market.
BRIEF STATEMENT FROM Mr.. WHITE
Mr.. White freely received reporters yesterday
but he would make more than statement
covered in these words:
II had been largely long of corn and in clos
] ing it ont the depreciation with the calls for
margin, which were unusually heavy, exhausted my
resources and there was nothing left but TO stop
and to assign. Ny assignee is Charles w. Gould,
lawyer of No. g. Madison-ave."
| Mr. White subsequently declared that there were
no other houses involved in the failure. The
! Chicago branch Of s. " White & Co. announced
! its suspension as matter of course Late yester-
day word came that the Pittsburg correspondents,
Rea Brothers IL Co., had temporarily suspended
until they could find out how their accounts stood.
Samuel Rea, one of the members, has been mem
! ber of the Stock Exchange since November d,
| 1886
Charles w. Could the assignee. said that he
could
failure had come as complete surprise to him, and
he knew nothing of the condition of the firms
affairs. 81 have spent the day." he added, at
Mr. Whites Office, and have set the clerks at work
making up statement. Until that is ready can
make no estimate of either assets liabilities.
do not even know who the creditors are"
HOW THE COLLAPSE WAS BROUGHT ABOUT.
The story of the failure OF ). V. White Co.
is essentially simple. The house started to bull
corn at a proptitous time but it met an opposition
from Chicago speculat0rs and from subsequent re-
n arkabc nituul developments which swept IL
under The losses that attached to its attitude
in the stock market said TO he only additional
TO the main cause. Mr. White started to buy corn
early in July when the price of the September
option was As cents in Chicago-practically
the lowest point of the year. An intimate
friend of his said yesterday Mr.. Whites judg
mon can hardly be criticised when the conditions
eXis Sng at that time are considered. Corn was
at bottom prices An extraordinary short crop
in 1890 had led to a general belief that the supplies
Of old corn in the country were nearly exhausted
Enough was known of the failure of the foreign
wheat and rye crops TO make it probable that
Europe would call for all of surplus wheat and
then be forced to fall back upon American corn
for its food supplies The corn season in America
4
gauntlet of severe frostS to be run in the autumn
The bull deal was successful for a time. Prices
at Chicago rose to 6S IL cents. on August 30
fell to 81 cents on August 90, and on September
> touched 90 cents. But all the conditions Of
nature fought against Mr. Whites endeavOrs.
TIE season made progress without accident, un-
til favoring weather had placed enormous
crop-a possibly phenomenal yield-almoSt be-
yOnd the pcradventure of doubt. MOrcOYer, the
supplies Of old corn came forth so freely at the
rising prices that it was soon acknowledged that
the reserves from the crop of 1890 had been un-
derestimatcd by most statisticianS. From the top
nOtch-69 cents-corn declined steadily until it
sold on Monday at As IA cents. Mr.. White mp
to September had been buying what was wind
from hostile SPECTATORS. But when this month
opened his brokers were forced TO take cash corn
in order TO sustain the general maJSct. and the
deliveries have been averaging about 10000
bushels day. AS the current of prices turned
downward the calls for margin increased until the
capital of the man who was fighting the stars in
their course gave out
STRONG OPPOSITION IN CHICAGO.
Mr. White may have suffered incidentally from
combined opposition in Chicago 1t is only in
the last few months that he became noted as a
grain speculator. A wellnformed grain man put
the position this way: Mr.. White came to Chi
cagO as 'tenderfoot' lie was scalpcd by the
Injuns Of the Windy City The Chicago Board
OF Trade almost to a man fought his corn deal
and he had to conduct his campaign 1000 miles
from the scene Of action"
There are various estimates of the amount of
corn which 5. V. White N Co. were carrying.
They range from 10000 900 to $1,000, 900 bushels
IL is impossible TO guess what the average cost
may have been. Some rough estimates place the
liabilities at Sl,j0O,OOO, but they are untrust-
worthy. The price of Chicago cash or September
corn is now back to about the price where Mr..
White st1rted to bull" it. But the extent of
the net losses can only be told when it is ascer-
tanned what were the proportions of the high and
of the low priced corn which he accumulated.
Another interesting point is as to the position
of men who co-operated with Mr.. White in the at
tempt to run September corner. Mr. White
c-nnnrnmalN. rnlmaos in.nlinltn NnAN- AnrL.