The evening times., 1897-12-14
LETTER, klg or THE PIT
"Joe," " the Ysans Chicagoan,
Rules the Wheat Market.
OLD OPERATORS ARE AMAZED
He Sells 5000 900 Bushels in Ono
Day and Charters Five Stearr-
ships to Send the Grain Abroad,
Paying $500. O.QOO-Phil Armour Is
Against Him.

! Chicago, Dec.z zAs-The ups and downs
of Decembet uhssdt, which is virtually
cornereh hee hxs;the Letter syndicate.
caused further o0ahotlon yesterday. Last
week it Went up Cen 81 .os was reached
Yesterday. f5ent aaf opening at $Loo. it
quickly WENT ddwf dntn the price reached
81 1,2. 1t cksed at 90 1-2. Arraour.
who is heayiy short. began the selling.
Among thS cavses OF the slump was
the receipt iof 371 carloads of wheat
ty rail, l1s carloads Of which turned
out To be OF ihe contract grade. a cargo
of Duluth wheat. amounting to l55.S0O
bushels, reached here by way OF the lakes
To these ret:eipss were ADDED 1877 car
loads-aLout 10000 blshels-w hich Were
transferred rom unlicensed to regular
houses. All these sources combined
sei we'd TO incrcs sc the supply for peceiuter
delivery by $4,000 bushels.
1t is said that the Letters are long TO-
100000 husieIs-tDr december delivery.
while there are only S,0Go.U00 bushels Of
contract wheat here. Amour is believed
to have brought down from Duluth enough
wheat to cover his shortage.
Later it was said that the Letter party
in other words the bull ciiQue-heiped to
break the price OF December by selling
through Allen & Grier.
Another dcpi essing fluence was the pub
iicatiOn OF the Government report, show
ing this years wheat crop to have be.a
53o.Ooo.Q0O bushels, or 65,0CO,OOO more
than the previous report made it. This hal
little weight, however, because the GOV
ernment estimate is still 20.GOO,000 to
5O,UOo,0OO busi.eis lower than reliable
private estimates, and lower than the
trade has generally Inclined to believe ac-
taaliy exists. The estimate of the years
crop accepted by the trade has been
$4,000, 200 bushels.
The Letters ale reported to have made
100000 IN the long side of July WHEAT
and 500 900 by buIlinc September wheat.
They are nowM with navigation closed
In a POSITION TO make The shorts pay
heavily. 1t is said that the clique is not
disposed tc push its advantage, but viii
lie coDtented with lair profits
The December line of the clique was
taken ON around S5cents.
Gossip persistentIy puts Keene and oth.r
Wall street men in the syndicate with the
Letters.
The Letter rarty say that they have
closed arrangements to ship 100000
bushels at 12-cent rate to New York
by rail. They lave booked ocean room
al Poston for 5o0.O 900 bushels, at Portlend
for 100000 bushels. and on Saturda they
chartered two steamers at New York u
take 2bO 900 bushels. January loading.
Railroad p,en sa that this is the biggest
contract ever made. ami they. UNDERSTAND
that the PENNSYLVANIA lines have secIrel
it. 1t is said that large contracts have
been made To ship corn to New Nix st
Is cents, and a good many export pro-
visions are being taken at I 3 cents
This nie5 MS that practically one man,
Joseph Letter. having orders for a vast
amount 6f WHEAT, has chartered steamers
and contractedwfth railroads to make quici:
delivery of it, and will pay over 100000
for the job. 81
% Young Letter is a smooth faced, athletic.
looking Ilarvard graduate, thirty years Old.
He lives in magnificent style. has a valet.
keeps many horses and dogs and is ex-
tremely careful about his dress-aimost as
careful as Ire Is in Business.
when Letter wentiito the wheat deal six
months a go he knew nothing about he ga me.