The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-04-22
WHEAT PLUNGES.
Goes Down Below a Dollar With
Crash.
May Option Drops l 1-2 Cents
in Quick Order.
A LOSS OF % CENTS
From the High Mark of Six
Weeks Ago.
One House Estimated to Have
Sold 100000 Bushels.

Chlcago, April 22.-May wheat came
oown with a crash today below the
collar mark Less than six weeks ago
/ tlle price for the option was $1215k. To-
Jay May wheat touched 985hc OF this
sensational decline of % cents the net
lo9s To-Day was HE a bushel. The
l.i'li net reacted somewhat at the close,
maj quotations being at $1.OO even.
III less than five minutes today the
'iIce OF May wheat fell three cents per
ouslel Following the severe decline
| Thursday during the last previo,Is
1rduing the break today was taken by
many traders as further confirmation
ttat the famous deal by John w. Gates
II May wheat was practically at an end.
At the opening May was off l to
cents at $1.08QL09 Following almost
Immediately sales were made at S1.O7.
| IN short time the decline today
amounted to cents a bushel. equal
/ ing the total of Thursdays break. IN
tense excitement ACCOMPANIED the
! sensational drive Of prices, but com
pared with Thursday the volume of
trading was relatively small. From
! Sl-O1 the price of the May option in
4 terruptedly declined to S1.O5.
Went Steadily Downward.
9eIore the session was half over an
Ctil0i Two CenLs nad been snapped off
/ Lne price or the May option. Practically
( there were no fluctuations the Quota
tlons for May making an almost sheer
descent to S103 a bushel as against 81 10
thursdays closing figures and 81 1917.
4 the high point on Thursday The cbief
/ apparent reason for the extraordinary
! decline was the absence of support In
1 ADDITION there was an uncOnfrYned but
i explicit dispatch from MINNEAPOLIS to
/ the effect that the May deal had been
lad Acid
4 of receipts here was a decided bearish
! factor, arrivals of wheat here for the
/ week making a total of 740,0 bushels
] against 10000 bushels last week and
/ 203,000 the corresponding week year
ago Such a heavy lot Of receipts were
/ quite generally regarded as plain proof
/ that the high price of the May option
/ was bringing IN grain that would or
dinarily go to St. Louis, Kansas City,
/ Minneapolis and other centers.
Sold 100000 Bushels.
P. A Valentine, of Armour 6, Co, was
! in the pit in person watching operations.
! It was estimated that 1,500, 900 bushels
/ of wheat were sold by one house alone
/ the greater part of all being generally
/ believed to be clique" wheat. Other
I wise the selling was of scattered char
/ acter The clique" selling smashed
| the market for May to s1.02 before there
was any sign of reaction. At this point
with a net loss of cents a bushel
/ shown as compared with Thursdays
close the market rallied. May recover
ed to $104.
While the fierce drive at May was in
/ progress Valentine supported prices for
July and September wheat without ect-
ually purchasing any tremendous quar-
tity of either. AS a result the collapse
in price was almost wholly confined to
the May option
It was evident from the opening OF
business that brokers for John w.
Gates, the reputed leader of a coterie
that was supposed to be engaged in an
attempt to corner the May option in
/ wheat had Withdrawn from the mar
ket. The days developments indi-
Gated that not only was Gates and
friends failing to support the mar
ket, but that they were actively en-
gagged in dispOsing of their holdings.
Gates Got Out.
After the days trading was over
operators on change freely expressed
the opinion that Gates and friends had
gotten out of the May wheat deal with
little if any loss to themselves, as
there were numerous stories of an
agreement with Armour and other
, leading traders following which May
/ wheat was left to its own resources.
The report was general that Mr.. Gates
had fully protected himself. I'm
mense purchases of July wheat, pre-
) sumably for Armour, during the past
few days was said to furnish the basis
is that as much wheat was being sold
hedges in July were at the same time
being taken off. Another report was
that Gates and Armour representa-
!, tives at a secret meeting had made an
i agreement to liquidate May holdings
; and switch into the July option, off
setting any losses in May by greater
profit in July.
The scene in the wheat pit today
was among the widest ever witnessed
IL. <7s- 7Nf
heavy in volume as on Thursday, the
last previous day The gallery TO-DAY
was full of spectators While the HooT
of the board was crowded with Iraoers
and brokers. The din of the pit coulo
be heard plainly in the boulevard pc
low. NAL king wholly inaudible the clat-
ter of horses on the asphalt Inc
crowded pit surged and pushed as the
! break in prices continued and mem
bers on the wrong side shouted them
selves hoarse in endeavors to cover
with perspiration streaming doWf
TN cir cheeks as they vainly sought &c
stop the runaway market
Today's decline was almost eontinu-
Gus from start to finish There was q
slight breathing spell at 102. the mar
kef rallying from that figure temper
ariIy 20 s1-O4. The momentary rally,
however, was soon followed by the
worst slump of the day. the price going
TO qS1Sc shortly before the closing OF
the DAYS business. There was a slight
rebound in the last few minutes. The
quota ton as the final gong sounded be-
ing one dollar even a busheI.
SIunped Reached New York
New York, April 22.-There was a big
drop in the price of May wheat in this
market today. In sympathy with the
sensational decrease in the west the
price broke here 4szc bushel. May
selling at 991zc against s1.0414 on Thurs
day. The impression here was that the
May deal was practically over and that
, | only the final details remained to be 3 d