The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1905-07-15
VOL. XVII.
CORNERS THAT FAILED.
an CORNERS THAT COLLAPSED
MANS FOOLISH AND FUTILE EFF.
eoRTS TO BEAT" NATURE,

FOhio ~ DGH' w ON.'
Unforeseen Events That Knock tn
Plans Of the ManipuIators Int
Cooked Hats-Some Big Deals Tha
Collapsed.
John w. Gates seems to have sue
ceeded in escaping from his attempt
cd corner" in wheat without having
any Of the roof fall on his shoulders
He is reported to have unlOaded his
great holdings in the staple at sub
stantial gain but he appears to have
been obliged TO admit that his efforts
to obtain entire control Of the market
and boost" the price of wheat to $13O
.Eushel arc vain.
4, The history Of the Gates deal ls
very much like that of all previous a.
tempts to corner commodity. 1t dill
fers from most others only in the fact
that the prime mover has escaped the
result of his juggling. and stepped un-
scathed from under the wreck. Letter,
Sully, Partridge, Old Hutch" and 9th.
ers too numerous to mention were not
SO fortunate or smart-they reared
their house to find too late that the
keystone had been left out Of the arch.
and it fell about their ears before they
could get out. Gates seems to have
detected the defect in his plans be.
fore going much further than the cor
ner-stcne; hence his ability to get out
without serious damage.
The history of efforts to corner"
commodities Of life in America has
many interesting chapters, the moral
of each being that you cannot corner
nature. Men can juggle railroads,
bonds and mortgages-the visible sup
ply is countable. and there is no dan
,er OF hidden surplus" to be pushed
Onward at the psychological moment
md crush them. In wheat, cotton. su-
'ar or anything that grows in the
round, however, and is dependent for
IS quantity en- the sun and rain. the
mailness of humanity is shown every
me by the occurrence of unforeseen |
vents that knock the plans of the |
into cooked hats.
In 1875 there was a shortage in the |
uropean wheat crop, and England
as forced to buy from this country.
anticipating this trade, pool was
in Chicago, with II. o. Armour
the head Of it and William H. Wal
ce, notable carrier" of wheat. to
rner the May crop of the United
ates.
How the Deal Collapsed.
The deal went along swimmingly.
ID It was finally believed that every
'rnel OF the American supply had
me into the control of the Chicago
Indicate. Thousands Of bushels
IRE loaded on ships for Liverpool,
q the supply in the United States
ing thereby all the more limited.
ices went soaring as they had never
ne before. The Armour syndicate
IS Just about to pat itself on the
OK ana close out at tremendous
mt when news flashed across the I
1tlnent from San Francisco Of the
stence OF thousands Of bushels of {
eat in California storehouses, which t
Deen gathered in by an opposition
&c headed by Charles R. Fair. Down
nt the price of wheat and up went G
Sc OF the Chicago syndicate, who \
re not quick enough.
F. Hutchinson, a picturesque fig
OF the Chicago Board Of Trade.
'wn familiarly as "Old Hutch" .
1e an almost successful effort to !,
ner wheat in the fall OF 1888. In .
Just OF that year wheat was selling 6,
oetween 81 IL and "a 3-S cents a q
nei "Old Hutch" began his oper- =,
MS. and by skilful buying at last Q,
the market SO nearly cornered si
wheat in September sold at the h
nishing price Of 81 a bushel. The !,
'oard cities had only as much as a,
needed for their own consump- =,
tnere were hundreds of thous- az
OF bushels on their way to Eng
, and all wheat must be purchased r
Chicago. -
ddenly reports began to come in q,
nexpected yields from western NJ
u fields. yields of which the r,
'nlnson contingent had known p,
ing, or. If they had heard rumors II,
not expected that the news could q
the market in time to keen of
from unloading at a tremendous in
:. But the telegraph spoiled their al
N and as the new wheat came in Sn
price dropped till it had fallen
y to the August figures, and thou.
were ruined.
vas in April. 1897. that Joe Lett. -
newcomer to the Chicago wheat -
packed by his fathers immense -;
q. began to buy wheat. At first M
norts were not taken with any
degree Of seriousness by the W.
operators, but they soon smelled ou
at, and the price of wheat rose mi
y, till in May the cereal was mt
ng large gain in price. Letter SCI
lued. however, buying at varia- ou
ices, till, in May, 1898, the coun. loo
as apprised Of the fact that thu
had "cornered" the market.
scared as high as $1.S5 bush. sal
as the Letter forces showed no me
'ition to sell until they got their he
)rices. I'M went bread. The NOR fro