Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-04-09
PARTRIDGE PUT IN A HOLE.
The elimination of a Very Rough Week
on tho Napoleon OF the Chicago Grain
Exchange-He Fights the Bulls Gamely

The elimination OF q very Rough Woek
on tho Napoleon OF the Chicago Grain
Exchange-He Fights the Bulls Gamely
to the Last.
CHICAGO-The price of wheat was forced
up 35sc bushel to-day. The frenzy con.
tinued long after the regular closing hour,
and the final curb quotation recorded an ad-
| ditional advance of nearly cents. Edward
Pardridge, the queer-looking little man who
| succeeded "Old Hutch" as the most daring
grain speculator in Chicago, if not in the
| raved. Pardridge's operations of late have
been on an enormous scale, and while
wheat has been nearly a quarter of q
dollar lower for every bushel than at the
corresponding time last year. he has been a
short seller with persistence wholly un-
paralleled. During the decline of the cereal
to Soc, on one of his mammoth deals. he was
reputed to have won considerably over
| 1000, 900 In spirit of characteristic bra
| vadO he at the time inserted an advertise
| ment in the daily papers. offering to buy
that amount Of Chicago real estate in small
| said in an interview that the goal he was
aiming at was the establishment of 75cent
price for wheat. From 80 cents Pardridge.
with his gigantic sales and aided by what
seemed n remarkable chain OF circum-
stances in his favor throughout the United
States, and no less in Europe, forced the
price about half way to 75c.
Before the coveted figures were reached
the tide turned. There are shrewd sus-
Dicions that things were not. what they
seemed, and that few of the stronger spec
ulators, with their allies in other American
cities and abroad. were quietly shaping mat
ters for Pardridge's destruction in retalia-
tion for heavy losses inflicted on them. To-
night the astonishing statement was current
that Cudahy had Pardridge in hole-short
at exceptionally low prices on possibly 49,
900 600 bushels of wheat. The most conserva-
tive estimate was 1000 900. For several DAYS
rOtd
tated arainst Pardridge's 75-cent ambition.
To-day furnished the climax.
The wheat market opened very strong at
1c per bushel advance on yesterdays closing
prices. For a straight hour and a half one
big wave of excited buving followed another
until something over 219c had been added to
the price current for May at the end of yes
terday's session, and July in the same time
moved up from %c discount to an equality
with the May future, thus making a &c up
turn in the latter month. There was ter
rifle business done at the very top OF this
bulge, and for a quarter OF an hour hundreds
of thousands Of bushels were bought and
sold at from S3@s319c With marvellous nerve
Pardridge kept his brokers busy jabbing
tens and twenties of wheat into the crowd
all around the pit. He appeared in mo way
worried over the big advance, but merely
exasperated Mt the self-wi.led obstinacy Of
the market as it kept advancing. The alarm
spread like prairie fire and bear panic
ensued and was in full swing. Cables were
higher and domestic markets on the ram
ing mp into Nebraska and threatening the
more important winter wheat States. The
Ohio State crop report was decidedly bad,
showing condition of SO against 80 last De-
cember. and indicating crop of 10000 600
less than last year, while the conditions in
Indiana were not much better. There was
heavy realizing and large short selling,
which sent the price back to S21ac. Then it
ruled irregular for time, and IL o'clock was
about S25sc. On q few buying orders stimuli
taneouslv in the hands of three or four COM
mission houses, the price shot MP. in about
ten minutes from around s3c to sac. The
greatest bulge of the day was made shortly
before the close, when there was some re-
markable buying, which the trade attrib-
uted to Partridge trying to cover. This
caused the widest scene of all, and the May
prices went from S315c to S43lc in n few min
utes. Some realizing put the price of May
at s43sc at the close of the regular session,
only TO be followed by subsequent big ad.
vance on the curb.
By long odds, the day in wheat was proba-
bly, the hardest that Pardrige has ever had
to face. He got a taste Of what was coming
late Yesterday. when 1t is said lie called
margins on $1,000. 900 bushel, sold around soc.
He fought the advance to-day up to the late
hour, but not with such round lots as he
gave the trade on previous days. It was be-
lieved almost unanimously that he weak
ened and tried to cover through unknown
houses shortly before O'Clock. 1t was this
belief that sent the price to slsIc, the high
point on the regular board.
The corn market started strong In SYM
Dathy with wheat, anu wnlle Cnere Was no
such excitement rs in the wheat crowd,
there was Il degree of animation considera-
bly, more than the recent average. The
opening prices we're from Lto 1ac higher
than yesterday, and were the lowest of the
dav. May from 1910 and 41c. andvanced to
4l1lc and held around 4lAc the greatest part
OF The session. Near the close of the session
it made ar upward shoot to 4l5sc, and closed
with sellers at that price. There was a good
deal OF realizing on the advance, shorts be-
ing the chief buyers. May WAS exchanged
in even terms for round lots of cash i'll
elevator.
Oats partook OF the general strength, open-
in. L@lLc higher, and making gain of &c.
There was only fair trade done, and the
most of that was scattered.
In provisions business was by no means |
active. Tho hog market was reported strong, |
which, with the advancing cereal markets, |
was enough to bring in some buying orders. |
The advance in pork was TIC. Lard was |
very inactive and huctpations narrow, with |
closing prices scarcely an appreciable frac- |
tion higher than on the day before. Ribs |
were more i'll line with the pork market, and |
show an advance of from 5@71Sc.
The leading futures ranged follows. as cor |
rected by John NJ. Oakley Co.. 45 Sixth street, |
members of the Chicago BoaSd of Trade: |
Open-i High Low Clos
ARTICLES. ing. est. est Ing.
WHEAT, No. 2.
April. = ssSs sss s4s Mss' s4S