The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1897-12-17
SELLING BY SIGNAL.
ROW CATTLE ARE DEALT IN AT THE
! CHICAGO sTocKYARDs.

Between Them, seller and Buyer Con-
slude q Transaction by Raising Their
whipa Over Their Heads.
The Chicago stockyards are unique
among the great marts of the world. In
no other place, say those who are most
familiar with its daily routine, is SO
large an aggregate Of business transact
cd in the language Of gestures and with
cut the scratch of a pen" as in the
noisy pens of the stockyards. A whip
is held high in air, across a sea of clat-
tering horns the signal is answered by
the momentary uplifting of hand and
bunch" of cattle worth thousands Of
dollars is sold.
There is something splendidly pic
turesque and even spectacular in these
Rord1ess transactions. They ignore the
artifcialities Of the complex system up
sn which modern business relationships
are almost universally maintained.
Trade in the cattle pens gets boldly
back to primitive simplicity. 1t is done
en- honor, not on paper. And the undis-
puted transfer Of millions Of dollars
worth of the property here dealt in
proves that bargain sealed with the
wave of the whip and an asserting gas-
ture of the hand is quite as safe and ga
sred as If the whole transaction were
recorded ''in black and white. -
The trader in the wheat pit is armed
with his tally card, upon which he
pauses to note the names Of those with
whom he deals and the amount, nature
and price of the commodities bought
and sold. The broker upon the floor Of
The Stock Exchange places equal reli
anee upon the quickly penciled memo
rnnda made at the moment when the
details of each transaction were upon
the lips of those concerned in its fulfill
ment; but the buyer and seller of the
yards carry whips, not pencils, and
their deals are recorded in memory in
stead Of written upon trading cards. As
well try to picture the old knights max
ing laborious written memoranda OF
their challenges as to think Of the rough
and ready traders Of the cattle yards
pausing In their saddles to jot down
upon paper their purchases and sales.
Such procedure would bid defiance to
the very nature Of things and do vio-
hence to the magnificent unconvention
atty Of every environment
lis there never any trouble in this
kind Of dealing?'' leading commission
man was asked
II you mean do the men go back on
their bargains made by whip and hand,
can answer, never, was the traders
answer as he brought his trim black
horse to a halt in the cattle alley and
leaned forward in his saddle. "There
isn't another place in America, or the
whole world, for that matter, where SO
much business is done on the basis of
personal integrity, without a written
word to show for the transactions, as
right here he continued, and the
method beats all the bonds on earth.
The days business in these pens will
run about 81, 500, 600. And how is it
done? Little talk, considerable wav-
ing Of whips and hands and no exchange
Of written documents between buyers
and sellers.
figure up about $40, 600. Over there III
the other alley is a buyer who this
morning offered me price Of S.. 10 for
them. thought that could do better,
but the market has been little off, and
have decided to let the bunch go at
his offer. Up to the present moment
we have exchanged about a dozen words
on this subject. Now. If he is willing to
pay the price which he named in the
morning I'll show you how a $40, 600
bunch Of fat steers is sold without
word Of mouth or scratch of writing
at the time the bargain is really made. -
The commission man then straighten-
ed up in the saddle and waited for the
distant buyer to look in his direction
A moment later this representative of
big packing house wheeled his horse
about and faced in the direction Of the
seller. Instantly the commission man
lifted high his rawhide riding whip
and held it aloft His attitude was as
striking as that of cavalry colonel up
lifting his saber to concentrate the at
fention Of his regiment before making
desperate charge. The pose, however,
was full Of natural grace and freedom
and showed that the man was more at
ease in the saddle than he could have
been out Of it.
Only a moment elapsed before the
alert eye Of the buyer caught sight Of
the appraised whip. The next instant be
Saised his hand little above his head,
held it motionless moment and then
dropped it with forward movement.
Quickly the H0ilcr repeated the motion
Of assent with his whip, and then, turn
ing to his caller. said:
That's all there is to it, To stran-
ger this kind Of a performance looks
like long range sign talk between deaf
mutes but we understand each other
perfectly. We both know how many
cattle there are in the bunch and the
price at which they have been sold.
Had we been within speaking distance
ct ench other the transaction would
probably have been a verbal one, just
for the sake Of sociability, but not be-
cause IL would have mae the bargain
bstter understood or any more binding. .
Chicago Post.