Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-12-18
Thomas A. Cleage Says He
Wants the Corn.
DECEMBER DEALNOT OFF
St. Louis Broker Says He Has Bought
His Line and Is Taking ard Paying
for All the Corn Delivered to Him
ottumwans Feel Easier.

Cleage, the broker whose. deal in De-
cember corn it was said yesterday had
| gone TO smash, stands pat. He says
he has over 100000 bushels of the
cereal paid for and that the shorts
owe him for 100000 bushels, which
they must deliver. In his statement,
issued last night, concerning the sus-
pension of the firm of w. w. McCleary
& Co. In Chicago, his brokers at that
place, and the corn situation, Mr..
| Cleage says:
THE corn situation. so far as we are
concerned. is just ms it has been all along
| sicCleary Is brother-in-law of mine, which
naturally makes him n target for the
snofts The corn has heen delivered TO
him and he has delivered to BRYANT {; CO.
for our account. and we have paid for the
| same.
our margins were paid all right ana our
deals were transferred to four or five other
chicago firms. We sent the margins to-
day. the Fourth National bank wiring $4,-
| QUO for us to Chicago.
I'VE have our line bought and are stand
ing pat. We are taking and paving for
| all the corn delivered to lis and arc letting
the market take care of itself. We have
| over a million bushels paid for. and the
| shorts owe us the remaining four millions
! We want about 100000 and only /, 1,O00ooO
| has been delivered"
The Chicago End of 1t.
| Chicago, H.. Dec. 1s-The action of the
| December corn market yesterday suggest
| cd the failure of the st. Louis 'sblind poof''
| in that cereal conducted hy 7. A. Cleage
and represented in the Chicago market by
| w. w. McCleary & Co.. Mr.. SIeCieary be-
| ing brother-in-law of the st. Louis op-
orator Traders in position to know what
| is going on however. assert the .'nool'' has
plenty of money. and that its holdings of
the December delivery remain intact
Margin calls on large quantities of De-
cember corn sold to McCleary & Co hegan
pouring into the Office of that firm day be-
| fore yesterday. and at tllst time wyre re-
! Elandci to with ass.t tisfa CORY prorlpt,esssa
Still more demands Tor money were sent
/ in yesterday and We're not met As n con-
sequence the market began to break early
| in the session, and fell from 52&: to 4TA
cents without any reaction. Later II re,
covered to 4S& and closed at 471s as
against % cents the day before.
Feeling of Ureasncss.
Ever since the beginning of the week
| there has been moro or less local uneasi-
ness regarding the Cleagc and McCleary
accounts. A line of 245.G00 bushels of long
corn was carried in the Irwin Green Of
| flee, hut at the request of George II. Phil
! lips 1t was ordered closed, and hy T. A.
|
for the account of orthwein & Co. ut Kan
sas City. This latter firm has lcen con
| dncting the Clcage business in the Nis-
souri, city.
Mr.. McCleary was at his office late In
the day. and indorscd the statements maize
| by his clerk that everybody would he paid
in full. He attributed his temporary en-
| IharraSSments to the fact that an cXport
house to which he Ind corn sold failed to
respond to margin calls
In OttuinWa.
Last night the agents for Thomas A.
| Cleage in Ottumwa were besieged with
calls regarding the December corn situa-
| tion and the probable financial condition
of Mr.. Cleage. Absolutely nothing was
known aside from the Information in the
/ Courier nor could any word he had frcn
| st. Louis. Ottumwa money to the extent
of probably $4,000. some place it as high
| as $4,000 is interested in the deal and
until this morning those who placed the
money We're, to say the least, mildly ex-
/ cited.
on the heels of the situation Yesterday
/ comes Mr.. Cleagc's announcement that he
| is standing pat and the Qttumwa end of
the deal breathes easier.
More information
i A Chicago newspaper this morning sieea
4 up the situation in this way:
Mr.. Clcage's pool has about 5000 mc,n-
hers. He has been operating in st. Louis,
| Kansas City and Chicago, and ut one time
is said to have had as much rs 100000
bushels of corn in these three markets. and
as much rs 100000 bushels in Chicngo.
We'll informed operators are of the
opinion that the severe drubDing given
the bulls and the 6-cent break in corn will
make any resumption of bull operations
here almost impossible. The blind pool is
now supposed to be long some millioss
of bushels of December corn in st. Louis
and Mr.. Cleage is known to have hard
battle on his hands in that trade center,
The operations of the pool began actively
here about three months ago and have
been the talk of the market When ii he
came known yesterday that CleaSe was
long on December corn to the extent OF
100000 bushels it was ncted that the
total contract stock in store here was
about oncfourth that amount, while ten
days ago the contract stock of the same
commodity onc-tenth of the Clease
Holdings. Cleage is Il wealthy man, a con-
seryative and successful operator, though
not Il member of any exchange"
FATHER SUES FOR DAMAGES.
Asks Judgment for $3.50 Against the