St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-04-09

J man around whom the crowd raved
! Pardridge'S operations of late have
been on an enormous scale, and, while
! wheat has been nearly quarter of a
dollar lower for every busheI than at
the corresponding time last year, he
has been short seller with persist
ence wholly unparalleled.
During the decline of the cereal to 80
cents one one of his mammoth deals, he
was reputed to have won from his nu
merous opponents in the market con-
slderabIy over a million dollars. In a
spirit of characteristic bravad0 he at
the time inserted an advertisement in
the daily papers Offering to buy that
amount of Chicago real estate in small
pieces. Next day he was reported as
having said in an interview that the
goal he was aiming atwas the establish
ment of a
75-Cent Price for Wheat.
From 80 cents Partridge, with gigan-
tic sales and aided by what seemed
remarkable chain of circumstances i'll
his favor throughout the United States,
and no less in Europe, forced the price
about halfway to 70 cents. Be-
fore the coveted figures were reached
the tide turned. There are shrewd
suspicious that things were not
what they had seemed, and that few
of the stronger spectators, with their
allies in other American cities and
abroad are quietly shaping matters for
Pardridge's destruction in retaliation
for the huge losses inflicted on them.
John Cudahy, the former partner Of
=. ID. Armour, is rumOred as the leader
in this extraordinary anti-Pardrldge
campaign. William Linn is also said to
be prominent with Cudahy. Tonight
the astonishing statement was current
that they had Partridge in hole-Short
at exceptionally low prices OH possibly
ID, 000, 900 bushels OF wheat. The most
conservative estimate was 100000
bvshelS.
For several days events have, with
strange coincidence, initiated against
Pardri dyes recent ambition. Today
furnished the climax. The wheat
market opened very strong at cent
per bushel advance on yesterdays clos
ing prices. For straight hour and
half, one big wave of
Excited Buying
followed another until something over
20 cents had been added to the price
current for May at the end of yester-
days session, and July in the same time
moved up from Is cent discount to an
equality with the May future. thus
making a Scent up-turn in the latter
month. There was terrific business
done at the very top of this bulge, and
for quarter OF an hour hundreds of :
thousands of bushels we're bought and
sold at from So to S31s.
With marvellous nerve Partridge kept |
his brokers busy jabbing tens and |
tWenties of wheat into the crowd all |
around the pit. He appeared to be in no |
way worried over the big advance, but |
merely exasperated at the self-willed !
ObStiuacy of the market as it kept ad- |
vancing. He and his brokers kept tug |
ging at the lines, but each fresh effort |
of theirs i'll that direction appeared to !
goad fresh advance. Kaufman, of st. |
Louis, started 10 cover about 10000 |
bushels of the wheat he was short here. |
1t was while the st. Louis man was
swallowing his medicine that the price |
toed the S3i4c mark.
The Alarm Spread
like prairie fire, and bear panic was |
i'll full swing, with shorts climbing over |
each other to cover. Cables were high |
err, domestic markets on the rampage,
and all the cable offers made last night |
were said to have met with acceptance;
a cold wave was reported reaching up
into Nebraska, ard threatening the
more important winter wheat states.
The Ohio state crop report was decided
ly bad, showing a condition of 90 against
so last December, and indicating crop
of 20, 600, 900 bushels less than last year,
while the condition in Indiana was not !
much better.
All this contributed to put the shorts |
on the run. st. Louis and New York |
covered vast amount of short wheat at /
about 31s<c. There was heavy realizing |
ana short selling. which sent the price !
ha~k 70 &c. Then it ruled jrxe'-ata<