Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1893-08-10

dropped from $40 per barrel to 50.
When the smoke cleared away ii
WIS found that six leading firms had
faiIed-the North American Provision
company, john Cudahy, the millionaire
pork packer and daring operator;
Wright d Humphrey, heavy receivers
and shippers of grain, and }. @. SueYer
d Co., +. w. Baily " Co and a. c.
Humphrey, the three houses through
which Cudahy and the clique dealt in
manipulating the pork corner. The
failures VIII run well UP in the mil
lions
For the past two weeks the provision
pit ON the board OF trade has been eX-
tremely dull, especially in the mess
pork division. Some days last week
there was not a single transaction in
that article for hours. There was a
shadow over the market and every
body was afraid to touch it.
Last March the trade became aware
OF the fact that someone was pulling
the market, and after Il time it be
came a matter Of general belief that
the deal was being run by a single
heavy operator who did not appear in
it in person, but who worked through
the Well-knoWn provision brokerage
houses of j. G. Steeyer & Co., E. w
Bailey & Co., and A. C. Helmholz.
AS the weeks passed it became neceS-
sary for the operator to buy Il large
amount Of pork at high prices. Then
came the monetary stringency. and,
I
been bulls on pork, and the list of
''tailers" who always follow the lead
OF an daring spCculatOr, began to
fOreSee the inevitable and to stand
from under. This added to the strain
on the manipulation on the deal and
made the outcome more certain.
The explosion came at the opening
this morning when the secretary am
nounced from the balcony of the trad-
ing-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 reverberate in the
lofty room when Bedlam broke loose
in the provision pit The other pits
were deserted; the complained-of dull
ness in pork vanished as Il roar went
up from the wildly excited crowd.
September pork. which closed at $40
per barrel yesterday, was first offered
at $1S75, then $1S, then Sits, S17.50,
SIT, SIG and so on down by quarters,
halves and dollars, till the price touched
$40, a sheer descent of 50 within a
q little over half an hour
Brokers shouted themselves hOarSe
and red in the face in their frantic eff
forts to protect Themselves and fairly
tumbled over each other in the strug-
gle to let Il bidder have mess pork at
his own price in quantities to suit. At
the bottom the deals seemed to be
about all settled and the market for
the first time showed any 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 $11, then SD and
at Il o'clock the pit was again quiet
aud the market steady at $11.75.
There is no means of knowing just
how much is involved in the deal, but
the trade estimates that the speculatOr
referred to was long" on pork to the
amount of from $4,000 to 10000 bar
rels which, with a loss of SO per bar
rell, would be about $4,000 to $780,
600
Much sympathy is expressed on the
board for the failed firms who We're
very popular in the trade and who
were forced to the wall through no
fault Of their own, but by the failure
of their principal who does not openly
appear in the transactions to keep his
engagements with them.
Lard and ribs, While weak in SYM
steady The former especially was
strongly held and at 1870 o'clock Sep
TENDER was only 10 cents below the
closing price yesterday. Ribs sold off
to $6.6 ID against $7.32 Ii at the close
yesterday, and recovered only ID
up to 1I:30 o'clock.
Cudahy was largely interested in the
North American DIVISION company,
and when its fai' : was announced,
that of Cudahy W.; looked for and it
soon came. After hat the failure of
Wright & Haughe was not uneNpect-
ed, as they Wee Interested with Cuda-
by in his deals
Cudahy has been carrying a large
amount of lard and in addition, has
dealt rather heavily in ribs. The sud
den slump in pork caught his UMPIRE
pared to meet the declines in lard and
ribs which accompanied 1t, and he
was forced to the wall. 1t is impossible
at this time to estimate the amounts
invilved, but they are believed to be
very large The North American Pro
vision company alone is capitalized al
$25O,OOO.
The John Cudahy Packing company
which has its main office here, witt
branches at Louisville and Nashville, Is
owned gy Mr.. Cudahy, but its affairs
are separate from Mr.. Cudahy's private
affairs, and so there is no indicati tor
that it is involved in his downfall
In the rush t ocover contracts VIII
the insolvent firms, the price of Sep
TENDER lard plunged down to Sc. 8
loss compared with the opening price
of 1915. 1t closed at S6.6214. Sen
TENDER ribs fell to $3.50, against 81. %
at the opening, recovering to sc. % IL
however, before the close
September wheat opened excited an6
ranged at any where from 81 to 60 3-s
cents, against SO 3-S cents, the CLOSING