The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-12-30
BIG SLUy;
 IlyCOTTON Prices TulnOle in Alarm
 ing Manner.
  A RALLY COMES LATER Values. However. Do Not Reach Opening Level Manchester spinners Decide to Cur tail Output, and This Gives ty. Courage to theBearsion y5., This Side.

New York, Dec. 29.-(Special. )--There was another panic on Cotton Exchange today and shortly after noon cotton fell A a bale. Half million bales were thrown on the market, and only the reai- zation on the part of brokefs that mar gins of customers had been exceeded ai- ready in a market in which there was no buying and they would have to assume losses. and the timely interpretation of the bull party on the New Orleans market, ayerted a, big disaster.
 Advances and declines today were un- precedented Tn the history of cotton trad ing. Orders to sell came in punches, and before a sale could be recorded 10 to 30 points fiuctuation often occurred. Hun dreds of small margin traders were wiped out in few minutes. It Is estimated that 10000 small traders were wiped out dur ing the day and million and half bales exchanged hands.
 The Manchester Spinners. The key that unlocked today's panic was a cabIed report from Manchester that the English spinners had decided to cur tail their output until the market condi- tons became more stable. For an hour before the break there had been grad ual decline, due to profit taking by the bulls
 sully himself was one of the largest sellers during this period and unloaded a large amount of cotton at prices rang ing from 14.25 to 14 for May and July op- tions. It was said that sully was talk ing his profits at the expense of the New Orleans bulls.
 From o'clock until the close the Ex- change was in such a state of excitement that it was almost impossible to keep track of the transactions. Frequently there was difference of IS or 20 points in two sales made at the same moment, within few feet of each 1ther.
 One broker got an order to buy 1000 bales of May at 1880, and executed 1t a minute later at 1s.ts, thereby saving more than S2,O0a for his cnst0meF.
 New Orleans to Rescue.
 As soon as the excitement showed signs of subsiding, the New Orleans bull clique came to the rescue with heavy buying orders New York bulls joined the move ment, and within few minutes prices scared 50 points, but they never got back to the morning figures. Later the market began to slump again, and it closed fr- regular
 It was difieult to obtain predictions, ex- ceps from interested sources, regarding the future of the market.
 Superintendent King, or the cotton Ex- change, said; "The slump today WAS overdue, I should say. We have had a steadily rising market for weeks, and something Of this kind was bound to oc- cur''
 Several close students of the market said prices had been forced upward too rap idly, but predicted that there would be no decline that would last.
 A representative of Wall Street house who had just returned from the South, said holdings of cotton there were re- markedly small.
 I've advise our customers to avoid get ting short in this market" said he. 'and to confine their dealings to buying when cotton gets low"
 Price Gives His Opinion.
 Theodore Fl Price, when asked his opinion of the days developments, said they were about what he had anticipated. He repeated his statement of Monday that Trading in cotton was no longer a com mercial proposition. and had simply be- came game of follow my leader"
 "Confidence in the leadership that had been recently followed" he said, ''was greatly shaken by the exposure of the proposal to enlist through pH.id newspa- per publicity 25.OO0.00O of good American citizens in a philanthropic endeavor to take the load tho leaders were carrying at the top,
 Mir. Price expressed himself as still Je- lieving in a crop in excess of 100000 bales, and said that the demoralizlng er- feet of the present speculation upon trade would be such that hardly 100000 bales would be required. e.