The Wichita daily eagle., 1898-01-05


perfectly. At the proper time the plan
Of campaign was unfolded to Mr..
French, he studied 1t carefully, pro-
nounced it strong and impregnable, and
the big deal was started.
BEGINNING THE TRADE.
In the middle Of July last cash wheat
| was selling OF Go cents, the September
| option at Sc cents, and December at 81
ceTsts. For quite awhile French went
along without attracting attention. He
confined himself to taking the offerings
OF the bears. abs tained from openly bid
ding for the grain, and in a quiet man
R5r accumulated heavy holdings. Fin
| ally somebody commented on the fact
that French and Letter were chums. and
| at once the story went around that the
l9tter vas back Of the deal Mr.. Letter
| protested. 1t did not suit mis- plans to
have it generally known that the ample
| Letter millions were at hand to make
good for the wheat purchased by
French, as it might tend 10 scare off
those who otherwise would keep on sell
| ing Mr.. Letters derzial was so strong
it was accepted without mucn question,
and the impression got out in board o,
| trade circles that French was operating
for New York parties
At last the buying got 50 strong and
! persistent that the regular shorts be-
came alarmed, and resorted to the usual
tactics to drive out the invader. To their
surprise thess failed, and instead OF be-
| ing made 10 quit the unknown bull be
| came daily Eiore aggressive There
was money in abundance to meet eu de-
mards whether they came in the shap pc
OF margin calls or for the movement Of
the grain 10 the eeaboard for export.
Wheat kept going out Of Chicago in
| large quantities, and one day the snorts
! were brought to a realization of their
! sad condition. They HAD oversold the
! market heavily, contract stocks were
down to ], ,100, 900 bushels and the price
was advancing steadily. To add to their
! troubles about this time the rame Of
Letter was given up as that Of the prin-
cipal in the deal, and notice was sent
{ around that he did not care 70 settle in
the usual way. There was to be no ad-
! justment in differences in price and
liquidation by check.
NEW SPECULATIVE WRINKLE.
Il have bought your wheat" said Lei
ter, "and I am ready to pay for it
don't want your money, but 1 do want
your grain
This was a new wrinkle in a deal OF
this size, and for the next few days there
was some lively nustling among the
shorts. Some OF them got the grain and
Yo1 NJ
patched to Europe. Others prevailed up
on the winner 10 accept certified checks,
and the September market was at last
cleaned up 70 the satisfaction of all con-
cerned, the price in the meantime hav-
ing worked up to 96 cents All this was
preparatory only 10 larger deal in De-
cember. but Board of Trade operators
lid not 50 understand IL. Joseph Letter
IN their eyes was a novice who mad been
lucky enough TO get in right and make
some money. Like all novices he would
want TO secure mis- winnings while ne
could and get away with them So the
word went out.
Letter has made his pile and quit
From now on there will be no big buying
to sustain prices. and the sale OF De-
Just how much the Letters made in
their operations n cash and September
what is not known, but rumors place the
amount at s75O,o0o. Mr.. Letter smiles
when the subject is broached and says he
cannot be expected 20 make public this
important part OF his private affairs.
But there are men who have good facili-
ties for getting information of this kind,
and they assert that Ihree-quarters Of
million is none too large sum 70 repre-
sent the Letter profits up to September
80. In proof OF this the suggestive fact
CT the purchase of s400, 900 piece Of real
estate and the clearing up Of all long
wheat at an average profit of Is cents a
bushel is quoted.
ONLY A FEELER.
Subsequent events have oorroborated
the now accepted belief that all of the
operations OF Letter were conducted as a
preliminary feeler. By then q large
amount of grain was gotten rid OF,
stocks reduced, and the way paved for
more extensive buying Of the deferred
future. That this was the main object
in view is made plain by the tactics Of
the leading bull He had the trade in
such ehape that he might nave put the
screws on hard and forced short sellers
10 close at mis- own figures, but there
was no attempt 10 take this course. On
the contrary, values were allowed 10 sag
toward the end Of the month. and in
stead OF taking speculative profits Mr.
Letter contented himself largely with the
legitimate margin of difference between
the price az which he had bought the
wheat here and the price he coui sell
it for in Europe. When the September
opSion was closed without q squeeze,
traders were nonplused. II was wrin-
kle beyond their comprehension
During this buying of cash and Sep
tember wheat Mr.. Letter had quietly ab-
sorbed big line OF December and Nay.
moss of ii az prices which now look ridi-
culously cheap.
There is no way OF ascertaining the &C
tual average cost, but IL may safely be
put at S7l5 cents or less. Some OF this
grain was sold by shorts" professional
bears who took 8 chance OF being able
TO buy It in again under the selling price.
In this. as the market records snow. they
have been badly mistaken Other lots
came from Armour, Weare, Ssaverns.
and their fellow elevator men, who had
the wheat in store or were confident of
their ability 70 get il in time for de-
Hvery. The very nature OF The elevate
business makes proprietors short sellers.
They may not be bears. 50 far as believ-
ing in a lower range OF values goes, but
their opportunities Cor successful specu-
;ation are mostly on TIE short side. Thus