Birmingham state herald. (Birmingham, Ala.) 1895-1897, 1896-10-20
is IT LEGITIMATE?
It Is Contended That the Advance in Wheat Is
Justified by Visible Supply-A Sen-
sational Rise in Liverpool

exchange there was great excitement.
The brokers gathered about the wheat
pit, and when the opening for December
wheat was recorded as SITS cents babel
of shouts arose that would have done
credit to the stock exchange in its widest
moments. 1t was a rise of 4ss cents from
Saturdays closing, and the brokers SEEM
ed to the unnitiated observers, of whom
there were many in the galleries, to nave
gone suddenly crazy. There was little
business done in any one part OF the ex-
change. For the rest of the day the
wheat pit was a mass of struggling, ex-
cited men, who yelled as though their
lives depended upon their lung power.
In the hour and half up to noon the
transactions in futures were IL o4o,oVo
bushels, representing gains or losses on
the a per cent rise of-roughly estimated
-$400, 600.
1t is not usual to see much of crowd
in the gallery of the produce exchange,
but there was a big crowd there today
when business began, and the front rail-
was lined all day with interested specta-
tors, many of whom were women.
December wheat went up steadily IN
the morning until it reached S61aQSo9s
cents, rise of % cents since september
/ s, when active operations IN DECEMBER
futures began.
II fiuctuated about the S6-cent mark in
response to the cries of the brokers al the
morning, and the general opinion was
that it would continue steadily 10 dd-
vance.
The news that came early from Chicago
TO the effect that the farmers were taxi
ing advantage of the rise in prices 10 rush
their shipments and that the 1allfoaus
were getting blocked had no erect upon
the exchange here. 1t is felt that the aa-
vance is a natural one JUSTIFIED by com
ditons, and that even glut Would nave
no Dermanent effect
If is the universal opinion that the i'm
provement in wheat is logical sequence
to natural conditions. "Ihe crop III the
United States this year is a fair aver
age" said a prominent dealer this morn
ing. "The steady flight of prices upward
is due entirely to demand from abroad.
In neither India, Australia, Russia or the
Argentine republic is the yield TINS year
anywhere near the average IL Is par
ticularly bad in India and Argentine The
United Kingdom must get from us the
difference Wheat will keep on going up.
1t is utter nonsense to talk of man1pula-
ton"
Before the opening of the produce eX-
change this morning quotations on the
curb were influenced by the cabled news
that the Liverpool wheat market was I'M
doubtedly excited and had scored an ad-
vance equivalent to cents per bushel-
the most sensational advance in the En-
glish market in years.
A wild lonening was anticipated and the
trade was not disappointed. Initial sim
Infamous transactions in the December
future were made at all the way from
S5Ac to $3.50, against 8l%c, Saturday s
close representing net advance over
Saturday of 315c to 41ac per busheL The
pit was filled with shouting brokers, with
the volume of business very heavy. At
the advance some large proft-taking
selling developed, and within ten min
utes from the opening the price had weak
hoy
the lowest quotation of the morning,
further large buying quickly causing
quotations to again mount up with. All
through the morning trading continued
very nervous, with the fluctuations very
rapid The highest quotations for the
morning for the December future-S6 9-16c
| were made just before noon, represent
| ing an advance since Saturday of 1915
per bushel.
The closing quotations were: Decem-
| Der, S45sc; January, S5Bc; May, S75sc.
| Total sales, 20,105,0O0.
Went Up 1-2 Cents at San francisco.
San Francisco, Cal, Oct. 19.-Excite-
ment in the local market continues un-
/ abated. At the opening of the call of the
I board session on the produce exchange at
| 1875 a. m. the first sale OF December
wheat was at $1.52. 1t rapidly rose to
| $1.545s, finally closing at $1.53%, an ad-
vance of IA cents over Saturdays closing
prices May wheat opened at $1.547s, ad-
yanced to $1.57B and closed al $1.56A,
gain of 81 cents over Saturday. At the
second session, which closed shortly be-
fore noon May wheat advanced / cent
and December'H of cent. The sales for
the morning were over 11,ooo tons.
Created CONSERVATION.
London, Oct. 19.-The Times, comment
ing tomorrow upon the state of the Lon
don market, will say that the rise in the
price of wheat in America caused some
thing resembling CONSERVATION, and when
the American opening cables were re-
ceived there was q scene such as is not
usually seen except in time of war. The
paper adds that the advance appears to
be chiefly due to the scale of American
weather, which frightened the specula-
tors a great deal. Cautious observers
think that a rise of five shllIings per
quarter in a week fully discounts the
abnormal Indian demand.
An Advance of Sd. in Liverpool
Liverpool, Oct. 19-Wheat today OPEN
| ed sgd dearer, and after an exciting
| trade continued firm at sad advance.
| Later the market gave way somewhat on
reallzations and closed nervous at an adj
vance Of sd over Saturdays closing
| figures. The sales today amounted to
| 205,0O0 quarters.
AUGUSTA MILLS RESUME.
Fifteen Hundred Hands Go to Winning
Bread Again.
Augusta, Ca, Oct. 19.-sibley mill.
which has been shut down for several
weeks, started again today.
King mill. which has been closed down
for repairs since July will start Wednes-
day
The two mills employ 1900 hands.
At Corscana, Tex.
Corscana, Tex, Oct 19.-The National
Oil companys cotton oil mill, together
with machinery, a large quantity of cot
ton seed and crude and refined oil, was
entirely destroyed by fire yesterday. The
loss is estimated at $4,000, fully covered
by insurance. The origin of the fire is
supposed to be accidental over one hum
bred men were thrown out of employ