The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1900-05-31
TREMENDOUS SMASH
GREATEST FIRM IN NEW YORK
FAILS FOR ONE TO THRED
A MILLIONS.
IS 1T THE BEGINNING
OF THE>ENDs


of the failure of Price. Mccormick q Co.
was made today by the chairman Of the
New York Stock Exchange. The firm
consists of Theodore H. Price, w. g.
Mccormick, r. M. Stewart Wortley,
Walter w. Price and George Croker.
the latter special partner. The firm
was one of the most active. and had
large out-of-town connections The spec
ial partner, Mr.. Croker, Is of the
wealthy California family of that name.
created great excitement on the cotton
exchange and led to general selling.
under which August dropped from 8.53
to $40. New Orleans and Europe were
conspicuous sellers on the break
Today's development on the exchange
marked the elimination of one of the
biggest bear movements ever recorded.
Previous to the suspension of Price, Nc
Cormick & Co. the market had broken
. over 20 points under terrific selling for
both accounts, which came from all d.
rections. August, the most active OPP
ton, broke from 8.54 to S3S, and after
having rallied to $50, fell to $40, when
the failure was announced. The Liver
pool market was closed, but this fact
appeared to have no effect in restraining
speculation. The excitement was in
tensifled early in the afternoon by
rumors Of other firms being in financial
straights.
Price, Mccormick & Co. have long
been regarded as the leading supporters
of the market, and at one time it was
said that they were going to put August
the past month was against the firm and
despite their efforts they could not hold
the market up. Therefore, today's de-
velOpments did not come as q total sur
prise, though they had sufficient force
to temporarily demOralize the trade.
The extent Of the failure is not known,
though It Is believed that the firm ma
terially reduced its holdings during the
past few days.
The firm is one of the most prominent
in the street and was said to have been
long on cotton in the face of a fast fall
ing market.
While it is impossible to get any def
mite figures, various firms In Wall street
place the firms l0eA u cotton at from
one to three million dollars.
On the door of the offices of the firm
a notice was posted referring all inquir-
ers to William J. Curtis and William N
Cromwell, assignees. At the Office Of
the assignees it was announced that a
formal statement of the assets and liza
bilities of the firm probably would be
made later in the day.
Mr.. Croker, as special partner, II Is
understood, contributed to the arm
100000 special capital. The present
firm was organized Jan. 2, 1897. Up to
half past l o'clock 1890 shares of stock
had been sold and brought under the
rule of the stock exchange for account
OF Price, Mccormick & Co. Mr.. Nc
Cormick is member Of the Chicago
family of agricultural implement fame.
X. M. Stewart ortley is a son-in-law of
Rear Admiral Schley.
Following the announcement of the
failure, the cotton market became panic
stricken, and broke 10 to 13 points. The
extent of the decline from the highest
price, when the bull movement culmin-
ated. has been 122 points. Other fail
ures were said to be impending, with the
name of one prominently mentioned,
but this has since been officially con-
tradicted. Later in the session the
market became more quiet, but con-
tinued to show weak undertone on the
generally very favorable crop accounts.
The market at las p. m. showed a net
loss OF 10 to IA points, having recover
ed from the extreme depression.