The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1897-12-23

volume Of wheat to this city, and that
his short selling will cost him about tS
or 20 cents a bushel.
BY settlement day the deal will have
been fought 10 "a finish and only the
formalities will remain to be- observed.
The present status of the case is about
as follows:
In July the Letter clique began its
operations in q formidable manner by
gobbllng up July wheat at 63 cents.
The amount in its possession was vari-
ously estimated from 1900, 900 to TO-
OUO,OO0 bushels. No matter what the
actual amount of its holdings. it was
large enough to boost the price and en-
phasize the growing foreign demand.
The price OF July wheat rose to 70
cents, and between ~ and 73 cents the
Letter clique sold out It's stock of July
and transferred portion of it to Sep
tember, pocketlng by the transaction
the premium which at that time existed
between July and September wheat.
When September came around the
cliuue repeated It's bullish tactics and
accumulated at 81 cents vast amount
of September wheat, estimated as high
as IL ,OUU,OUO bushels. 1t was during
this month that the foreign situation
was brought out more boldly. Septem-
Der skyrocketed in a short time up to
30 cents. A large portion of the hold
ing was transferred to december, with
another handsome premium to put
away ana "a considerable bulk was sold
outright for big profit. The present
line of 100000 bushels of december
wheat which the Letter clique is caring
for was bought from the elevator peo-
pie at from 8 to 90 cents q bushel. At
one time the clique had an opportunity
to sell this immense holding at q profit
of nearly 20 cents a bushel.
Armour, Seaverns, Peavy and tho
Central Elevator company were the
people who sold wheat to the Letter
clique. Armonr's shortage was only
guessed at until the great shipments of
wheat from Duluth by vessel and rail
showed in the sensationally large in
crease of the contract stocks in store.
The amount said TO have been brought
here is nearly 6,0y0,C00 bushels, and
that is regarded as the amount of Ar
mour's shortage. The other shorts did
the same thing that Mr.. Armour has
accomplished, although not uDon so
large q scale. Before Mr. Armour sent
out his people to bring in wheat suffi-
cient to satisfy his contracts for deliv-
cry he was tace TO face with a tough
problem.
had he been unable to secure the
wheat, which he Is now credited with
having brought here, he would have
been compelled to pay to Letter the
difference between the price which he
sold the wheat to Letter and the mar
ket prIce upon the day of delivery.
lnasmuch as Mr.. French of the Letter
crowd insist that the December wheat
in the Clique's hands did not cost, on an
ay erage more than 80 cents "a bushel,
and assuming that the market price
would be $l bushel on the final day
of the month, when 1t is necessary for
Armour to deliver what he sold to
Letter, he would have been compelled
to pay the latter 10 cents on every
bushel he could not actually deliver.
The rules OF the board are ironclad on
this subject and there is no recourse.
Now that Armour has secured fully
as much cash wheat as ne sold for de-
livery this month there will be no such
contingency to face. 1t was in bring
ing the weat to this city when it was
scarce, when hardly any was to be had,
that the test of strength came in.
That rubicon has been safely crossed
by Armour. At what sacrifice he saved
his business honor is known only to
himself. The costs are mostly repre-
sented in freight charges, private set
Elements for cargoes already chartered
for other ports and the displacement of
great bulks of wheat which were not
designed for shipment to this city.
The remainder of the shorts who sold
to French are generally regarded as
safely within cover. lt is cor. IDENTIFY
predicted that the clique will get all
the wheat which 1t bought. If Armour
has been buying for other houses which
played the bear side of the market it
is not known to the outside trade, and
the general belief is that Armor bought
cash wheat for Armour d Co. first and
last.
The Letter end was engineered by
young oe Letter, just out of Harvard,
and son of the famous Chicago mer-
chant, who has retired aud now lives in
Washington.