New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-06-01
A CRASH IN MAY CORN.
FIVE MINUTES SUFFICED FOR A DROP OF
FIFTY CENTS
,.xnFMoNIUM IN the CHICAGO BOARD OF
TRADE - SUCCESS ALMOST WITHIN THE
GRASP OF OosTER & MARTIN WHEN
THE GREAT BREAK CAME-THE
Loss NEAR A MILLION.
rBY TELEGRAPH TO THE TKIBUNE.l

rBY TELEGRAPH TO THE TKBUNE.l
Chicago. Nav 3l.-For the second time within
nine months a corn corner has ended disastrously.
II was only last September that s. " White went
under with $4,000 liabilities in corn deal
To-day the Coster-Martin crowd, after opening
Nav corn at 81, and holding it there until noon
today found its checks dishonored, and the corn
that it had five minutes before taken at 81
going begging at so cents a bushel 1t all
bappened so quickly and so mysteriously that
tbe bull crowd found itself overheard and strug
Cling before il knew what had happened. Three
women, the wives Of the men who left home
in the morning confident that the day theirs,
were chatting gayly in the gallery of the Board
Of Trade for fifteen minutes after everybody
on the floor knew that it had proved day OF
ruin instead Of triumph. Somebody finally told
the women that there had been trouble and they
hastily went away.
There rush Tor the lnspec'lon
sheet before the opening. It showed 1915
cars of corn of all grades and SIS cars of con-
tract grade. 1t meaM about 100000 bushels of
contract corn for the clique TO take Everybody
was amazed that, at the tap of the hell there
were brokers on every hand bidding 81 for May
corn. The close on Saturday had been so
cents People who had been through deals shook
their heads Those tactics, they said, unless there
was vast amount of money behind the crowd
meant before the daN was over llt cN-
recitation had been that the bulls would try TO
capture all the cash corn the market cheap ana
then hoist the price toward the close, after the
carots had been gathered in.
But half-dozen brokers. scattered through the
crowd. beloved from the start that they would
give 81 for Nav. Ia the first fifteen nm
utes about 100000 bushels of corn were sofa
in the pit at 81 Kennett, Hopkins & Co.
put in 10000, Norton-W WOrthingtOn $4,000
and Counselman & Day 100000 bushels linen
there were scores of smaller sales Of the corn that
got in on Monday and Saturday, on which receipts
had been issued. In fifteen minutes this had been
disposed Of
By this time the activity began in the car
load crowd. where the receipts Of the day were
being hastily made up into lots of 5000 or 10000
bushels. and then sold over in the pit at 81 For
an hour the interest centred in this crowd
The hour was fast approaching when the deal
would close. People did not seem to apprehena
trouble With not much over six minutes left
il did not seem 70 occur to anybody that there
was possibility of danger. The first such init
nation was little excitement at the sample taDie
of P b Weare. Then there was rush towarh
the office OF Coster Martin in the Rialto
Enildine. Within less than a minute it was
known that there Was some trouble over check
within less than another minute. that the Bank of
Montreal was refusing to certify Coster d Mar
tin checks for cash corn.
In less than five minutes after the
first irtjmation az trouble d"re "as
pandemonium in the pit. AID hundreu
men were howing in an effort 10 sell
MAY corn. From 81 the price went to so cents
without any steps. Frazier jumped up and down
in an excited effort to sell, offering corn at 20
cents AZ 65 cents. at 60 cents. The decline never
stonped until the price 40 cents. The close
was at 30 cents
This meant a loss Of 100000 on the corn that
canc in over the railroads in the morning; loss
10 the Coster-Nlartn combination on the corn IL
had taken in during the last four or five DAYS OF
probally $500, 900; and loss TO the trade larger
il was estimated, than the loss suffered ny the
huge collapse of the ). V. White september corn
deal White owed the banks here and in New
York. and the drop on his corn was less than %
cents.
How did it happen? There was not money
eroucb behind the bull crowd, and experience
vas lacking II was the great elevator con-
Germs of the West against firm of clever young
New-York men. Coster d Martin were bright oI'e-
rafors but not possessed Of great capital or long
experence II was fatal mistake when the hrih
bepln 10 crowd the price up to extraordinary
s,,res last week That melted the whole West
and made il certain that the last few days OF
fine deal would see astonishing receipts, no matter
how unfavorable the conditions. May corn was
,ut IN 90 cents on Saturday and there were then
left three days, from Saturday to noon
Tuesday. for every corn handler In the country
70 net some contract grain TO market Corn was
even brought back from Buffalo. Special trains
,rcro made up in the West and
run in Ola special cchcdulis
These efforts prevailed against all those CIR
curnstances favorable to the clique-eXecrapie
weather, country roads knec-deep In mud' anu
railroads crippled by washouts and floods III Il
Nav corn corner could be successful this one
ought 10 have been, for it was eXceptiohahy
favored.
II the firm had had r.illion OF money behlnd
il at IL o'clock this morning it could have car
RED the deal through and have made money If
il had had $500, 900 IT could have won. 1he
Rank Of Montreal which taking the corn.
bcoan 10 get uneasy early in tine day.
or oonrse il was known that there was on hama
in the morning about 100000 bushels Of cash
corn which the firm would have TO take, but IL
was supposed that almost all of it would be de-
lvered out to nl short sales made around the
Aos The books showed short interest at
the opcning to-day Of over 100000 bushels. III
was not dreamed that the deliveries would not
be made in the regular course Of business on
these sales The great shorts however, dc-
cided TO default on their low priced short sales
if necessary, and TO sell the days receipts to the
clique at 81.
II was hoped that this would overweight the
clioue and crush it, the very thing that did
occur In any event it was believed that 10
mt all the cash receipts into the clique at the
ION and 10 default the low priced short sales
was the best way out of desperate dilemma
whore desperate measures were requisite
L. was. however, a narrow escape for the short
sellers Coster & Martin, when they began