The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-08-02
THE CUDAHYS SMASH.
An Unparalleled Slump in Pork
Cripples the Corner"
rne osop WAS OVER sopea CENT


csrcAao. Aus. To-day VS. ons OF the
noss disastrous IN thu histosy Of the
board Of Trade hsss. wealthy 6rms and
tedivtduai wers BOWED over Ike nins-
r;ns. and the prices Of hog products
1unbssd like IN avalanche. Old membsn
who had been through the turmoil o.
usny . collapsed corner in both grain ana
provisions stood sxhast at the rapsdify
with which the price Of mess pork wsne
down. sheer drop Of - - Per barrel in-
side Of thrss-quastess II m hour 10 some
thing not witnessed every day. Soon after
the opening this morning Secretary Stone
eppessed in The bsicony and announced
thss those having trades With the uelI-
known firms Of J. q. 8iesver & Co.. Bailey
4 Co. and HslmhoIs 4 Co. should close
shsm out Up vent mighty roar from
the provision pit. ~ early - last March
Il became apparent TO the trade that mess
pork was being bu!ied through these
houses, and IL soon became noised about
that A. A. Wright known on the board -
'sChasiey" Wright, vas behind the deal.
4 ysar before he and John Cudahy carried
through . deal in ribs which melted them
about 12,0O.o(0. The condition OF the
monsy market for some time past. the
dtigicuisy Of obtaining the necessary funds
- carry on enormous deals have been play
ing havoc with the leaders OF this one, and
= the situation Became more strained
everybody not near the head OF the deal
drew out, leaving the market 20 dull that
thsre vas scarcely enough business 70 e.
tablish the quotations, and when the bub-
Ne finally burst today. the pieces we're 20
small that IL US next TO impossible TO
End them.
The first offer heard By the quotation
olIScials after the announcement Of fail
urss wss @i275 per barrel. against SO At
the close yeatssday. The next bid was
olS; then $3.50. and 20 u went. 30 cents TO
q, until the prizes touched 5000. . loss Of
40 psr barrel In forty minutes. This
was drop Of nearly 50 per cent. or
$4,000 on the visible supply Of 5000 bar
Yels. Then . reaction carried the price
hack Ia ~, and things were moving along
smoothly whsn suddenly came thunder
clap In the shape Of the announcement In
quick succession Of the failures Of the
North American Provision Company. .
peckine concern with capital Of $23O. 900.
Ia which John Cudahy Was largely inter-
sstsd; Of Wright 4 Haughsy, the
broker hrm. chiefly engaged in re-
esiving and shipping wheat. but
who are undsrstood to b interested
with Cudahy in his deals In the provision
pit; and finally Of Cudahy himself. the
great packer and daring operator In pro-
visions. the man interested In the packing
trade IN half : dozen states, including
plants at Chicago. Milwaukee. Omaha,
Louisviils and NashvilIe. . man whose
wealth has besn recently Estimated at no
les than SIS 00O. 900 II was not doubted
that he had used every means Of raising
money before lying down. The announce
ment Of his failure Vas scarcely made,
whom . furious storm broke loose in the
lard crowd. September was 1915 In the
early trading. Il Was g within SIX min
utes after the announcement Of Cudahy's
failure. September short ribs broke from
e7.25 to Ss.S7K. Before the close. how
ever. both rallied, lard 70 t6d21S and ribs
to $3.50.
II was said BY one Close 10 Cudahy that
his private affairs were entirely separate
from his partnership matters and that the
various companies which he controls and
In which no Il interested with his two
brothers. are not directly affected by the
failure. Il 10 estimated that the losses on
pork, said TO have been bought from
Wright, are sncArly 5000 No one pre-
tends 70 estimate Cudahy's losses. Wright
declares that cudahy and n. X. Fairbank
were both interested With him and that
the trouble came about because they
would not put up more margins. FAIR
bank, In an interview this evening. said
he had lost some money. but Was all right.
fJehn cudaAy IL not connected with the cud.
shy Packing Company. which has an agency In
nnaetle