The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-02-05

 oFlyALuEs Cotton sss , Crash fsanward. |SULLY'S EFFORTS VAIN Sharpest Breaks Since Recent
 Skyrocket Advance. Vague and Untruthful Rumors Have Much to Do With Declines.
 Wild Scenes Witnessed
 on the Exchanges.

New York, Feb. 4.--(Special.l l-Wildest excitement prevailed on the floor of Cot ton exchange during the last fifteen min utes of trading today. caused by the sharpeSt break since the recent sky rock ct trading began.
 Under a good flood of selling orders which all but swamped traders with its resistless tide, prices went all to pieces losses exceeding hundred points.
 Coming as 1t did after the market had recovered somewhat from the sharp break in the morning. traders were thrown into panic by the sudden downward move ment, and the pit was surrounded by a bowling mob of men, who roughly jostied one another in their eagerness to execute commissions.
 While prices were falling off. Suliy and his followers tried desperately to check the decline, but were helpless in the face of the irresistible attack of the Bears.
 Victory for Bears.
 This was regarded as the first victory for the interests which have combined to defeat sully in his determination to send cotton up to twenty cents.
 Venturesome persons, believing the bulls were about to push up prices to make good if possible their boast of 20 cent cotton, had their margins wiped out like slate marks under wet spunge. and many brokerage houses were hard hit, being unable to escape loss on closing out accounts.
 { Rumors that some were in financial trouble were circulated after close of market. but no failures were reported at the time. Ee
 The sensational break followed the pub lication of despatches announcing that negotiations have been broken off be- tween Japan and Russia. Up to that time the market seemed to be recovering E At the close of the market there was a tumultuous scene, and brokers breathed a sigh of relief when the gong sounded. 5 There was copsiderabie outside buying today by interests that had heen attracted by the drop. and the market before noon became strong and very active. q
 Looked for Increase. Many persons were drawn into the mar, ket by the fact that cotton, which had been nearly IS cents a few days ago, was selling down to 16 shortly after the open ing today. 7 Sales which took place during the early slump today were made by persons who had held cotton expecting 1t to go little higher. They became frightened and hastened to sell.
 sully evidently did not try to hold it up until It reached ngure which satisfied him and then he began to buy. It was said that he was caught in the slump later in the day and that he suffered greater losses than at any time since he began his remarkable speculating here.
 One prominent bear operator today gave his reason for expecting a sensational break, saying:
 Argument of a Bear.
 "The situation in common today to an extent resembles that in pig iron In 1879, when the latter sold at $4O ton, and two months later at $3O. It is only question of time, and probably of short time, when cotton must sell on a commercial basis, and the only chance to make money on the present prices Is to get out before the crash comes.
 Present prices of raw material are too high and Fall River and Lancashire have closed down rather than run in this state of affairs. Speculators may run the staple up even further. but present prices are artificial and in violation of the law of supply and demand, which operates in cotton as in every thing else.
 High prices restrict consumption and increase production, and. with anything like normal crops, can be but temporary, even under most adroit manipulation The extent to which the SuIlys and Browns can further carry the price de- bends on the size of their money bags and the measure of their profits win be determined by their success fin unloading on others"