The herald., 1897-08-25
ON 'CHANGE
What Was Done Yesterday on Wall
Street

NEW YORK. Aug. 24.-The opening Of
he stock market this morning showed
lively reawakening of outside interest as
indicated by a large volume of commission
house orders which had come into brok-
ers' offices over night, and which kept up
an animated tone in the dealings during
most of the morning. There were also
heavy buying orders for large individual
interests and prices of some stocks topped
the years record. The preferred stock of
reorganization companies was quite prom
nent and the shares of southwestern roads
We're strong and continued firm all day.
The grangers were leaders in point of
activity and strength, but the realizing
sales were heavy at a given point in their
advance, forming a barrier. The course
of the wheat market was watched with
interest. So far as its decline was due to
refutations of crop damage rumors, it
helped the stock market. But when the
cable brought news of a break in England
a decreased demand for wheat stocks re-
sponded with a sympathetic decline. The
falling off of prices of American securities
in London was ignored at the opening here,
partly because it was attributed TO the
settlement which begins tomorrow. But
later in the day the cable reported the
London market heavy on the tenor of the
news from India. London advices also re-
ported that the continued fall in silver is
an unsettling influence on that market
Silver today fell I'd in London, and the
price is now 1sd below the previous lowest
price. A small withdrawal of gold from
the ub-treasury for shipment to Canada
might be counted as a slightly depressing
influence. The continued ease in the money
market is not indicative of lively demand
for funds from the interior such as is
looked for in a period of business revival,
and while call money at l per cent is an
incentive to speculation, as an index of
business awakening, it is regarded as dis
tinctly disappointing. At the same time
lenders of money are in expectation of an
early demand upon them for interior trace
needs. and there has been some additional
accumulation of funds here recently III
anticipation of such demand Most of the
active stocks showed fractional net de-
clines, but there were gains scattered all
through the list. The bond market was
strong and firm against the decline. The
total sales of bonds We're 50, $50, 900.
The disastrous result of operations by
eleventh-hour bulls was demonstrated in
the action of the wheat market today. Fail
ing to secure the necessary assortment of
bull news, these belated holders punctured
the bull bubble and prices fell with crash
to point over Sc below the top notch for
the year. At the outset, although signs of
collapse were manifest in the uncertain
wavering of prices and freedom of offer
lnSS, the Dull leaders endeaVOred to arrest
the threatened deluge by pointing out the
comparative steadiness of Liverpool quo
tations and the frosty weather conditions
in the northwest For time these in
fiuences had some effect, but the market
was top heavy and soon broke through
all restraints, reaching the lowest figures
in the early afternoon. when December,
after having opened at 1.001a, sold at 951a
The feature of the trading was the COM
parative heaviness of December, which
widened out to 21a discount under Sep.em-
Der at one time during the day. French
cables were par ticularly weak, closing at
20 centmes to franc net decline on wheat
and 70 to 80 points lower on flour. The
Liverpool decline for the day was 31kI4A
on futures. while spot wheat was quoted
firm at 112d advance. Today's break shook
out great many of the weaker holders
without disturbing the big lines, many of
which still remain for higher prices. The
market closed unsettled at 53s@6,A net de-
cline Sales for the day reached nearly
II, 900 900 bushels, giving some idea of the
enormous dumping of long wheat. Some
afternoon reports made export purchases
sixty-nine loads at New York and out
ports, but this could not all be con-