The Kinsley graphic. [volume] (Kinsley, Kan.) 1890-1940, 1898-03-04
BUSINESS SILENTLY DONE.
Stock Sold by Signals ut the Chicago
Stock Yards.

among the great martS OF the world.
IL no other place, say those who are
most familiar with their daily routine,
is so large an aggregate OF business
transacted in the language of gestures
and without the scratch of a pen" as
in the noisy pens of the stock yards. A
whip is held high in the air. across a sea
of gathering horns. the signal Is an
swered by the nome ntary uplifting Of
hand. and bunch" of cattle worth
thousands of dollars is sold
There is something splendidly pic
turesque and even spectacular in these
wordless transactions. They ignore the
artificialities of the complex system up
on which modern business relationships
are almost universally maintained.
Trade in the cattle pens gets boldly
back to primitive simplicity. 1t is done
on honor. not on paper. And the undis-
puted transfer of millions of dollars
worth Of the property here dealt in
proves that a bargain sealed with a wave
of the whip and an asserting gesture of
the hand is quite as safe and sacred as
if the whole transaction were recorded
Tin black and white"
The trader In the wheat pit is armed
pauses to note the names of those with
whom be deals and the amount, nature
and price of the commodities bought
and sold. The broker upon the floor
Of the stock exchange places equal re-
lance upon the quickly penciled mem
oranda made at the moment when the
details of each transaction were upon
the lips of those concerned in its full
fillment. 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 laborous 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 up
on paper their purchases and sales.
Such procedure would bid defiance 10
the magnificent unconventionalty of
every environment.
us there never any trouble in. this
kind of dealing?" leading commission
man was asked.
"1f 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 halt in the cattle alley ard
leaned forward in the saddle. "There
isn't another place in America. or the
whole world. for that matter. where so
much business in done on the basis of
personal integrity. without a written
word to show for the transaction. as
right here" he continued. "And the
method beats all the bonds on earth.
The days business in these pens will
run about million and half. And
how is it done? Little talk. consider
able waving of whips and hands and no
exchange of written documents between
buyers and sellers!
"Here is bunch of cattle that will
figure up about $4,000. Over there IN
the other alley is buyer who this morn
ing offered me price of SIS 10 for them.
thought l could do better. but the mar
ket has been little off, and have de
cided to let the bunch go at his offer.
Up to the present moment we have ex-
changed about a dozen words on this
subject. Now. if he is willing o pay the
price which he named in the morning,
III show you how a $4,000 bunch of fat
steers is sold without word of mouth or
scratch of writing at the time the bar
gain is really made"
The commission man then straight
ened up in his saddle and waited for the
distant buyer to look in his direction.
moment later this representative Of a
big packing house wheeled his horse
about and faced in the direction of the
seller. Instantly the commission man
lifted high his riding whip and held It
aloft. His attitude was as striking rs
that of cavalry colonel uplifting his
saber to concentrate the attention of his
regiment before making a 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 uf
il.
Only moment elapsed before the
alert eye OF the buyer caught sight CT
the appraised whip. The next instant he
raised his hand a little above his head
held it motionless a moment and then
dropped il with forward movement.
Quickly the seller repeated the motion
Of assent with his whip. and then. turn
ing 10 his caller. said:
That's all there is to it. To stranger
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