Orange County observer., 1898-03-17
SELLING By SIGNALS.
QUICK AND UNIQUE METHODS AT
TAE CHICAGO STOCkIAROS-

Wave of Hand Close ,ae Sale.
The Chicago stoekyards are an,que
among the great marts If Tie world
In other place. say those who
who are most familiar with their daily
routine. Is SO large al aggregate of
business transacted IN the language OF
gestures and without the scratch Of
pen as III the noisy pens Of Inc stock
yards 4 whip Is held high III air.
across a sea Of Gathering horns the sig
nal Is answered hy the npmcn.ary mp
lifting Of hand. and l. ''runen' o:
cattle worth thousands of dollars Is
sold
There Is something splendidly PIC
turesqGe and even spectacular Ill these
wordless transactions. They lgnors
the art:ticiallt;es of the compile, sys-
tenn upon which modern business resa.
tionships are almost universally ,raizs
tanned. Trade III the cattle pens ~c<s
boldly back To primitive simplicity.
tits done on honor, not on paper. And
the undlspUted transfer Of millions of
dollars worth OF the property her.
dealt in proves that bargain sealed
with the wave Of the wnin and al a.
senting gesture of the hand Il quite =
| safe and sacred as ii the whole trans
action were recorded '*in black and
! white"
The trader in the wheat pit il armed
with his tally card, unon which hs
| pauses to note the names Of those with
| whom he deals and the amount. nature
+ and price of the commodities huughb
and sold The broker upon the hoo.-
| of the Stock Exchange places equal
| reliance upon the quick Y penclled
memoranda made at thefnoment when
| the details of each transaction were
| upon the liDs Of those concerned III
| its fultillment. Ent the huver aad
| seller of the yards carry whips. no.
| pencils, and their deals arerecorded III
memory instead of written upon trad
| ing cards.
lis there never any trouble in this
kind of dealine?" leading commission
man was asked.
| III You mean, do the men 90 back
on their bargains made by whip and
| hand? | can answer, never. was the
| traders answer, rs h brought his
| trim black horse 10 Il hals III the cattle
| alley and leaned forward III his saddle.
There isn't another place III America,
or the whole world. for that matter.
| where SO much business Is done on
the basis u personal integrity, with
out d written word 10 show for the trans
| action. as right here h continued.
"And the method beats all the bonds
on earth. The days business IN theac
pens will run about million and a
half. And how i il dones Little
talk. considerable waving OF whips
and hands and Eo exchange Of written
documents between buyer AMI sellers
Here is a bunch of cattle that will
figure up about 500 Over there
in the other alley j. buyer who tins
morning offered me q price Of s5.1o
for them / thought that | could DO
better, but the market has been
little Of. and have decided 10 Lei the
bunch 20 at his offer. Up TO the
present moment We have exchanged
about a dozen words on this subject.
Now. if he Is willing 70 pay the price
which he named III the morning. I'll
show you how Il $40 600 bunch OF Int
steers is sold without word q month
/ or {. scratch OF writing AZ tIe liuc 'le
bargain Is really 1na1e- "
The commission nan then straight
ened MP IN the saddle and waited for
the distant btver 10 look III his diyec
ton. \ moment later this representa
tive % q hi- packing honse wheeled
his horse aoou. and faced IN t1e DIRE
tion of the seller II st-atiy tee com
mission man lifted high hl@ r4ahide
riding whip and held i aael.. Ills
attitude rtsas a striking ~ That o.
cavalry colonel uplifting hs sabre ~
concentrate ;ae attention of bis rcg.-
rnent before making desperate charge.
The pose however, was 5usi of natural
grace and freedom, andH aEoHe1 tina.
the man was more a. ease - the saddle
than he could have been out of Il.
only a moment elapsed before the
alert eve Of the huyer eaeght sight of
the upralsel whip. Iaa ae1t inatans
he raiseI his hand lite above his
heal. held j. rnotsonless {. moment
and then dropped i. with forward
movement. Quickly the seller re-
pea.ed the motion of assent With his
wfip. and then, turning - his caller,
said.
.Tha:'s al there Is to i. To O
stranger this kind q performance
, looks Ike ? lo:.@ range IT s.gn talk
between leaf -mutes. but ve understand
eaea other perfectly. We both know
hog Many cattle there arc III the
bunch, and the price a. which they
, na.e been so.d Hal We been within
speaking distance of eaeh other the
:. transaction would probably have been
!. verbal one. jus. for the sake o.
sociabliitv. but not because It wonld
have made tie bargain better under
, stood Or any more binding. Chi
!, eago Post.
e
i The Roman Catholic Cathedral nov
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