The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-04-23

VI t-tA-ta $50
acted fairly in his winning, too. in the
faeegof the fact that many Of the oper-
ators whom he had at his mercy had.
eDdeavOred in ways not 100 scrupulouS
in nature 10 ruin him by sudden calls
for big margins. He did not cause a
single failure on the board of trade in
his November. deal" and in the pres
ent battle his condsict has been so
above board that many brokers are
calling those gray wolves who on
Monday last called on him for margins
of 2lz cents a bHshei on oats, Az cents
on corn and ~ cents on wheat OF this
last. action he said at the time, with
z half smile playing about his lips:
We We're called $225,0oa on margins
today. We have put it all up. and We
can do it over again tomorrow if nee
essary. We have. been called 10 per cent
quite generally in addition to having
margins up in the market. We have
business. 1 think. Mr.. Hill aud Mr..
Collins, who are with ME. have $5o0,O0
apiece and we have in addition the
( money of the people who are trading
with US. They number 800
s {. .
1t is something new for the Chicago
board of trade to have a man upset its
calculations as Phillips has, and do it
on the bald proposition that he is right
and the Spectators of the board not
only wrong now, but wrong for years
past. Not even Joe Letter gave the
board such a Stirrif as this young
and seemingly eaI5ye y8ung man has
Letters deal was = ere Seendous spec
ulation between him and the giant
operators of the brard He had mill
! lions and they had millions, and when
he quit anyWher from 81, zoe, 900 to
IS, 00O, GOO loser there was a .gentleman's
settlement and things went on in the
old routine. Mr.. Letter had back of him
in his operations the traditions Of an
old and respected name; and he was
part Of the social life Of the very men
he was speculatIngs against He had
his fling, IL was. expected and
everybody enjoyed it but the losers.
Not SO with Mr.. Phillips. Except for
| the notoriety he gained last fan and
4 his present eminence in the pit he is
not any kind of a recognized factor ia
/ Chicago He has lived a modest, re-
/ firing, .hardworking life and but for
! his remarkable knowledge of. corn and
/ his faith in the corn producers, might
linever have been heard .0f outside of
4 the small circle of his local friends
] He has q friend from Morris by name
Dan Hill. Dan is supposed to own
as many acres of farm land in Illinois
as the famous Sculiy once did. He has
money and land and an abounding faith
in young Phillips. 1t was he who helped
/ Phillips to buy and hold until ne got
! ready to sell a little less than 5000, 600
bushels Of corn in the November,
deal" and it is he who is with. him
today. Behind the two are many rich
and Influential farmers of Iowa and
/ Illinois, and it is believed the combi-
nation has too much ready cash to be
broken Anyway Philips says that it
know.
I As TO Phillips himself he is not an
enigma. although many traders walk
( about discussing him in most myster-
iolls tones. He is physically fragile
enough to be blown away by a breath
! OF wind, consisting of little else than
bundle Of wire and steel nerves, q
quick acting heart, and a mind con-
structed for handling details and not
/ easily disturbed. He lives at S90S Ridge
avenue. Rogers Park. almost on the
edge of the northwestern limits of Chi
cage. ------
The district is so unfashionable that
while. Ridge Avenue is legally a boule-
ward. sit is fringed by chicken farms
4 air is good, the scenery fine and Lake
\ Michigan near, but the society there
4 is not that of the great ispecuia OF
I the board of trade nor OF the wine
! and horses" crowd that has millions in
cereals today and but a penny for
lunch tomorrow. 1T is a pretty suburb,
where sensible people take their chill
dren to grow. up, where there are
i churches for plain people and homely
ways of living. II. is just on the divid-
I ing line between a farm and q. city,
| and about as near rural life as Mr..
Il Phillips could hope to get Withsut ieav-
+ ing the town altogether.
t. His residence looks like that of a
man who wanted comfort and very
4 little show a man who liked the game
of life for the games own sake and for
hnothing else. Mr. Phillips leaves it
every morning in a most matter of fact
fashion, walks ieisurelyf about half a
mile to the suburban station of the
Northwestern road. is carried into the
4 Wells street station in eighteen min
utes, and finds himself in the Riaito
building, where his Offices are, ten min
iutes later. The Ratio stands Just
south of the Board OF Trade building,
and is connected with the latter build
I ing by bridge and court.
The first thing the new speculative
star does when he enters his office is
to attack his mail. He receives hun
dreds of letters daily. Many Of them
I-are begging requests. Others are from
iclergymen in all parts of the country,
lswhc state that they are praying fer his
success. 1t is not made clear why the
( clergy should be interested in corn
deals, but Mr.. Phillips accepts the let
tiers and politely answers them. Many
farmers write him, thanking him for
I what he has done, for 1t has enabled
tthen to get better prices for their corn.
has brought about a most rigid inspec-
ton of grain and Indirectly secured the
Indictment Of one operator for alleged
''dcctoringr of corn.
y
d, While his mail is disappearing he is
Ireceiving advice from all parts of the
country as to the state of the market.
and also information as to the plans Oh
his opponents. He is said to be one of
the first big spectators in the west
who has made II point to- knew IN
one way or another what the opposite
Il side of the market is preparing to do
to him. He is ready for his operations
of the day by 8. 10 clock, and a few
minutes later may be found in the pit
lOrf over at the bulletin boards, one OF
his favoTite resorts, or hidden away in
, his private office directing the proceed.
: ingS of his confidential agents.
e He is inaccessible to; visitors (excep
those who are directly interested in The
. ! narket) until about O'Clock. He goes