The Globe-republican., 1898-06-16

sales IN chicago were placed as hlgh
as 100000 bushels. His brokers.
Allen & Grier. transferred June wheat
| to Armour and September to Lamson
| Bros.
1t was reported that movement
was On foot among strong interests to
take care of cash wheat and that
meeting was in session at which the
matter was under consideration.
Fifteen minutes before the closing
bell rang on change the tickers had
report that Letter cash wheat would
be trusted. 1t was said that the
bankers who had made advances on it
had agreed to take care of it.
1t il the opinion of many that all
of Letters immense profits have van
ished in the past few days. because of
the big decline in the wheat which he
had left this morning, for which he
paid very high prices, while he was
holding the market up to sell his big
lines.
During the final moments of trading
Joseph Letter was at the Illinois Trust
and Savings bank in consultation with
Joseph Letter said in reply to inquiries
that he would not make an assign
ment: that his options had been liqui-
dated and that his cash wheat would
be put in the hands of trustees.
Stories of financial trouble for the
young man who engineered one of the
greatest wheat deals in the history of
the country gained circula ton this
morning. However. little credence
was given 20 this feverish gossip at
first. Mr.. Letter was closeted with
his father, L. Z. Letter, and when
pressed to tell whether the slump had
affected his interests, frankly admitted
that he had lost money. How much
he would not say. He had not time to
60 into details Conferences were the
order of the day.
Letters wheat interests have been
turned over to boaI d of trustees who
will settle up the deal This course
was necessary on account of Mr.. Lett
er's inability to put up margins which
were called for. Joseph Letter adj
mitted that his father had withdrawn
his support.
The collapse Of the big deal at this
late day. when the public generally
supposed that Mr.. Letter had sold most
of his wheat and cleared up big profit
was a great surprise to nearly every
one.
The thing which broke Letter was
the high-priced wheat that he bought
during May while he was holding
prices up in order to dispose of his
huge holdings to the foreigners.
During last month thousands of cars
poured into Chicago when wheat was
way above dollar. Letter bought free
ly all through the month, not only in
Chicago. but also in the Northwest,
and it was the high-priced wheat that
he accumulated in this way which
absorbed all the profits he made prior
to the month of May.
Letter paid 81. so bushel and over
for thousands of cars that thrifty
farmers had been holding for rise,
and which they dumped on the market
when it was very high. Some of this
wheat was sold to-day at more than so
cents a bushel loss.
At one time. in March. Letter is
supposed to have owned 3O.OOO.OO0
bushels of wheat, and the deal was
getting so heavy that it was expected
to go to smash any day. Letter. in
fact. began to sell at loss before the
war broke out.
In the middle of May well informed
people figured that Letter had made
s.. OOO. 900 out of his deal. During the
latter part of April and the first half
of May there was an enormous foreign
demand for wheat and Letter at that
time sold many million bushels, which
yielded him large profits. But it ap-
pears that he did not sell enough then.
The foreigners finally got enough and
quit buying. But Letter went on pay
ing extraordinarily high prices for
wheat, sitter the foreign demand had