Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-10-01
Armour. Profits in the Bis
Wheat Corner Almost Be.
yond Belief
MOST SUCCESSFUL ON RECORD
Shorts Compelled to Settle With the
Armours Around e5 cents-The Price
Might Have Been Forced Above 81
Had the Armour Clique Cared to In
crease Their Immense Profits.

Chicago, Oct 1-Armour's deal in
September wheat, which closed yester-
day with the prices at the top, 95 cents,
showing a profit of s1,s00,0O0, was Mo
most successful in the history of the
board of trade. There has been many
others which in magnitude exceeded it,
but none that can come anywhere near
it when the amount of money required
to handle it, and the small quantity
of cash wheat that Armour had to take,
is considered.
There have been only 100000 bu-
shells of cash wheat handled, of this
btlt 100000 bushels We're delivered
yesterday, tho the shorts are credited
with having contracted to deliver IA.
100000 more, which they could not get.
The buying started in June and the
low price was around 60 cents The
bulk of the wheat Armour took at
about 20 cents. No wheat was taken
on at over "a cents, and ever since
the market left that point the Armour
house has been a seller. 1t is eSti-
mated by those in position to know
that the short interest at one time was
50,000,000 bushels, or little over three
bushels to every one held by Armour.
The top price yesterday showed an
advance of 26 cents from the low point
of the option and 81 cents profit from
the highest figure at which Armour
bought any wheat. 1t comes from the
best authority that none of the wheat
sold at 80 cents and above cost over
"a cents. and that Armour has been a
persistent seller for three weeks
Few men in the trade have believed
that Armour would run a deal up to
the end of the mont Now.they admit
that the deal practically ran itself and
the shorts are responsible for the adj
vance, despite Armour's selling.
A New York interest with holding
of 100000 bushels, bought at az to rs
cents and carried for months, gave Ar
mour the most trouble. They went thru
heavy loss and came out with a prof
1t OF around 15 cents. and the Armour
managers had hard work to get the
holders to sell their wheat out at the
prices ruling the past two days-S5 to
95 cents. They wanted to sell wheat at
over 81, and would have had it not been
for the Armour influence.
Interest in September was so keen
that 1t overshadowed everything. A. /.
Valentine apd George E. Marcy, Officials
of the Armour Company. were central
figures on the edge of the wheat pit,
and besieged at all times by anxious
shorts.
Men who knew that If they attempted
to buy their wheat in the pit they
would put up the price went to Valen-
tine and made private settlements at
90 cents to IS cents, and 1000, 900 BUSH
els we're settled in addition to the 2.00O,-
600 bushels sold openly by Armour dur
ing the day. After the close on the de-
livery 100000 bushels were delivered
to Armour to cover September sales.
So fast did the wheat come in that Ar
mour's clerks were unable to keep up.
and it is said failed to deliver a few
5000 bushel lots that they had sold to
other houses and We're practically de-
faulters. This same thing happened
in the July oats deal two months ago,
when one house having most of the oats
sold by them failed to make their deliv-
cry good.