The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1893-08-02
QUITE A FALL IN PORK.
ITDROPS Ss 25 PEE BARREL INSIDE
OF FTHREE-0UaRTERS RSOFANHOUR.
Lard Also Falls s3.55 Per Tierce-Great
Excitement nj the Board of Trade-rhree
Large Firms Go TO the Wall.

CHICAGO, August To-day was one
Of the ncst disastrous in the history Of
the board OF trade in this city. Wealthy
individuals and firms were bowled over
like nlne-pins and the prices Of hogs
went tumbIing like an avalanche. Deaf
ers on the Chicago board are accustomed
TO Witnessing scenes and Kaleidoscope
changes in prices. but this market seems
to be stoim centre where both the
upward and downward push in the price
OF the worlds food products is most Sc
verely felt. bat old members of the board
who had been through the whirl and
clatter of many cOllapsing corners in
both grain and provisions actually stood
aghast at the rapidity with which the
price Of mess pork went down
A sheer drop OF SS.25 per barrel inside Of
three-quarters Of an hour is enough 10
take away the breath Of old Stentor
himself, but then old StcntCr IN the
vulgarism of the streets is not in II
with some Of the howlers on the board
Of trade. His deepest tones would sound
like cOnsumptive whine amidst the
roar that goes up from the board when
there is anything exciting on. 4 hush,how-
even came near the opening this morning
when Secretary Stone appeared on the
balcony Of the trading room and notified
all concerned that trose having trades
with the well known PROVISION broker
age firms Steever q Co.. T.. w Bailey
& Co and \. Helholz * Co should pro-
ceed 10 close them out. The silence
lasted for a second after the close Of
the announce ment, and then a mighty
roar went up frcm the provision pit
As early as last March it became ap-
Tarent to the trade that mess pork was
being pulled" through these houses, and
it soon became noised about in provision
trade that A. NJ. Wright was behind the
deal. A year before he started a corner
in rits, and with the help Of John
Cudahy, carried il through 20 success,
making a large amount Of money. Ap-
larently, according 20 the general opin-
Jon on the bcLrd, he had started TO run
a similar deal in mess pork. The coli
lapse has been looked for some time, and
9s the monetary situation became more
and more strained. and the borrowing
OF mOrey 10 put up in margins more
and more difficulty, everybody not
interested In the deal drew out,
leaving the market so dull that
there was scarcely enough business 60
establish quotations. When the bubble
burst the prices were so small that IL is
next to impossible to find them. The
offer appeared by the quotation after the
announcement OF the failure was SiS75
against $40 at the close yesterday. The
next bid was SIS, then $3.50. Seeing that
the SlS man was overwhelmed with GUS
toners. anxious TO supply his wants and
so IL went at 80 cents al time. with but
little hesitation until the prices touched
1850, a loss Of S8.25 per barrel In forty
minutes.
These are the official figures. but il is
reliably vouched for that a sale was
made as high as SO and as low as SlO
drop of 50, or nearly 50 per cent, or
$4,000 on a visible supply Of $1,000
barrels. Then the market became quieter,
and good buying az enormous declines
carried the price back 10 Sl2, and sub
sequent events had only a temporary ef-
feet on II. Things were moving along
with ominous smo0thncss when another
and heavier shock came i'm the announce
ment by the secretary in quick succession
OF the failure Of the North American Pro-
vision Company, packing concern with
a capital OF a quarter Of a million dol
lars, in which Jack Cudahy was largely
Interested; OF Wright a. Haughey, a re-
spectacle firm chiefly engaged I'm the re-
ceiving and shipping OF wheat but who
were understood 10 be interested with
Cudahy i'm his deals IN the pro-
vision pit, and finally OF Cudhahy
himself, the great packer and
daring speculator i'm provisions. a man
whose wealth was recently estimated at
no less than eight millions, OF which
about two millions was made In a deal
OF ribs last fall. 1t was not doubted that
he had used every means Of raising
money before Lying down" or that he
bafp To frf4
Charlie.
But the financial moose was drawn
tighter and tighter. lie had a oig deal
on i'm lard and was interested i'm ribs,
and the strain became too great TO bear
The announcement Of Cudahy's failure
had scarcely died on the secretary's lips
before the storm had broken loose again,
THIS time TN the lard crowd. That COM
modify had held extremely steady
throughout the slump in pork, but in turn
mounted the toboggan and went down as
n scif-lubrlcated The price for Soptem-
ber was 1856 per tierce I'm the early buy
ing. II was s. within six minutes after
Cudahy's failure was announced, and Sep
tember short ribs. which was sold at
$3.50 range. broke 10 S5.6 l-2 Before the
close. however. both rallied, the former
TO S662 1-2 the latter 20 $3.50. IL was said
by one close 10 Mr.. Cudahy that his pri-
vate affairs were entirely separate from
his partnership matters. and that the
various companies which he controls and
I'm which ne is interested with his two
brothers, Mike and Pat are not
affected by the failure.
Estimated losses on the pork alleged
TO have been bought for Wright are be-
tween $4,000 and $4,000. No one pre-
tends 10 estimate Cudahys So far as the
trade is concerned Mr.. Fairbanks is not
known in connection with the deal at ALL