Morning journal and courier., 1893-08-02
BIG COLLAPSE IN PORK,

Chicago Dealers Caught I'm Their OV N
| Corner-It Made Them Squeal-FaiI-
ures of Firms who Engineered a
| Big Deal-Pork Goes Down to Ten
Dollars a Barrel.
| CHICAGO, Aug. For the past two
| weeks the provision pit on the board of
| trade has been extremely dull. especially
| in the mess pork division. On some days
| ton in that pit for hours. There was a
| shadow over the pit and everybody WAS
afraid to touch 1t.
Last March the spectators became
aware of the fact~thst some one was bull
ing 1.-The Market" and after time 1t be-
came matter of general belief that the
deal was being run by a single heavy oper-
ator who did not appear in 1t In person,
but who worked through the well known
provision brokerage houses of J. G. Steever
& Co e W. Bailey & Co. and A. @. Helm
holz
As the weeks passed by 1t bscame neces-
sary for the operator to buy large amount
Of pork at high prices. Then came the
stringency, and as its grip frightened, those
who had been bulls on pork began to fore
see the inevitable and to stand from
under. This added to the strain of the
manipulator of the deal and made the out
come more certain. The explosion came
at the opening this morning, when the
secretary announced from the balcony of
the trading room that the three firms
above mentioned were unable to meet their
contracts, and advising those having
trades with them to close them out under
the rules.
The sound of Secretary Stones voice
had not ceased to reverbsrate in the lofty
room when bedlam broke loose in the pro-
vision pit The other pits were deserted;
the complained of dullness in pork van
ished as a roar went up from the wildly
excited crowd. September pork, which
closed ct $40 per barrel yesterday, was
first offered at $1S 70, then $1s, then
SITS, $3.50, SIT, SIG, and so on down,
by quarters, halves and dollars, till the
price reached $40, a clear descent of 50,
within little over a half hour.
Brokers shouted themselves hoarse and
protect themselves and fairly tumbled
over each other in the struggle to let a
bidder have mess pork at his own price in
quantities to suit. At the bottom the
deals seemed to be about settled and the
market for the first time showed signs of
strength. Operators began to see that
pork at $40 per barrel with hogs at the
ruling price was cheap, and they began to
buy. The price began gradually to crawl
up. touching Sill. then s12, and at II
O'Clock the pit was again quiet, and the
market steady at $11.75.
The North American Provision COM
pany, brokers for A. NJ. Wright &
Co, have failed. All the firms that
have failed go far to-day are brokers for
Wright and were unable to put up suf6-
Gent margin.
John Cudahy was largely interested in
the American Provision company, and
when its failure was announced that of
Cudahy was looked for and 1t was not long
until 1t came. After that the failure of
Wright & Haughey was not unexpected as
they were interested with Cudahy in his
deals. Cudshy has been carrying a large
amount of lard, and in addition has dealt
rather heavily in ribs. The sudden slump
in pork this morning caught him unpre-
pared for the declines in lard and ribs
which accompanied 1t and he was forced to
the wall. 1t is impossible at this time to
the amounts involved, but they
are believed to bs very large. The North |
American Provision company alone Is cap.
italized at $3.50, 900. -
The John Cudany Packing company.
which has its main house here, with |
branches at Louisville and Nashville, is
owned by Mr.. Cudahy, but it's affairs are
separate from Mr. Cudahy's private affairs,
and 30 far there is no Indication that 1t is
involved in his downfall.