New-York tribune., 1904-08-25
COTTON BROKERS FAIL.
Great Excitement on New-Orleans Board
Cotton Up 80 Points.

,-ov, Or,o,rs Aug 24-The cotton market re-
ceived one of the greatest surprises In us history
this morning when. threequarteTs OF an hour >'i'ei
tie opening. the well known firm OF H. +. rage &
Co posted an announcement that ii was unapie 10
meet further calls for margins. Up TO lhat uliio
the market promised be quiet-almost as quiet as
Yesterdays market was active-but on the reading
OF this notice the ring thrown into the widest
confusion and in an instant prices scared as
traders endeavored to buy cotton to protect then-
selves. October and December within minute
time up 81 and 81 points.
The confusion about the ring was all the Erea'ei
because the interest Page & Co. had in the market
was unknown They have been heavy operators on
the short side for time, but II mas peeh gen
orally supposed their transact were proH'
able and not the slightest hint or suspicion has
ever been given out or felt that they were embar-
rassed or likely to be The advances Of the last
day two however. have been wild and wide and
Il is generally supposed exhausted the resources OF
the firm The estimates of the interest OF the hrm
il the market range all the way from 5VO'V 10
10000 bales The firm is composed of II. FreIlsen
Page. William a. Bres and Alfred F. Page.
y. F Page in a statement concerning the suspen-
sion said:
business and ] am glad 10 say that the obligations
OF the firm will be met dollar for dollar. We nave
our heaviest interests being in the Ncw-York and
Liverpool markets; The trouble vas caused by
the advances in that market having been great
that it viii not be long before we viii be actively
engaged in business again
The Offices occupied by H. F Page & Co.
directly under the Offices occupied by Daniel J.
sully & Co when they made such a spectacular
failure last spring.
The suspension Of H F Page & Co. was an
nounced on the New-York Cotton Exchange at
about II O'Clock Yesterday morning At the open
ing the bulls had started buying aggressvely
despite a declining tendency in Liverpool and IA
vorable weather reports. and prices marked
up rapidly There was heavy realizing the ad-
vance. and wire houses with Southern
nections active sellers. but on the news that
H f. Page & Co. had gone TO the wall heavily
short of Octber, December and January these posi-
tons shot up about 10 points further in very few
minutes October. which had opened Is points up a
1880. advanced from 1879 To 1852 in three sales
while December sold at 1914 and January at 1875
representing gains OF 81 TO 81 points. The bulls
took profits actively on this bulge and checked the
advance. with the market later very nervous and
erratic- The afternoon market showed continued
vance. Sentiment unsettled by the Page fail
ure and various rumors were in circulation Sep
1859 December 1906, and Janary 1867. The market
closed firm at practically the best prices OF the
session. with net advances ranging from 26 to 81
points on the general list. The total sales were
estimated At 10000 bales.
H T. Page & Co. were currently reported 10 be
short Of about one hundred thousand bales chiefly
new crop cotton Part OF this line was said TO be
held by various houses in the local market The
firm have no Offices in this city. Their agents are
resentatve Of the latter house said that the fail
ure would not involve any other firm. either here
or in New-Or.eans Mr.. Page was I'm New York last
summer, ana Is said TO have made considerable
money. His firm had the highest credit but are
supposed TO have oyerstayed the market recently
on the bear side. The senior member OF the firm
is member Of the New-York Cotton Exchange
His business principally an arbitrage one be-
tween New-York and New-Oreans.