The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1905-01-02


pit should be written with pen Of
gold dipped in blood. on the second
floor of that grimy, gray structure
at che foot OF Lass1le street the
financial destinies of many men are
determined daily.
When the Chicago board OF trade
was in its infancy. way back in 1867,
the first corner IN wheat was engi-
neered. QE NaA1s, 1861, coterie Of
Eastern brokers. taking advantage OF
the unsettled conditions remaining
after the var, went in and forced
the price OF Wheat to $2.85 a bushel.
For many days the strain continued
and finally the bears ruled supreme
and the price fwas forced down to
|s216. Large amounts were lost by
traders, but 1t has never been de,
fnitely known how much was lost in
The aggregg,te-3
In 1871 some local traders attempt
ed corner in wheat. but were only
able to force 1t up to sl.30. II took
only day to pound ii down again to
|$f.10h. In 1872 occurred the famous
Lyon-sturgess corner. II was one OF
the worst panics that has ever been
known In the pit. Fortunes We're lost,
and men who had been prominent
brokers on the board disappeared.
left their families and their business
and never were heard from again.
Whether they sought a new country
to build up their shattered lives and
fortunes of whether they gave up
life's struggle in despair, has never
been known. A peculiar feature Of
tho Lyon-Sturgess corner was that X
broke the Efforts and longs" j.
b. Lyon, one of the chief factors, is
alive today. but old Captain Sturgeas,
after losing his fortune he had work
ed a life time 20 amass. is. dead. II
vas in August that the price of wheGf
was "bulled" to $1G1, but the crop
was shorter than the traders realized
and there was sudden break to
S119, catching all in its wake.
In 1880 an attempt was made to
corner futures in wheat, but ii failed
The following year a crowd of Cincin-
natl financial men entered the mar
ket and forced options from $l.19 to
$1.3S. The combination cleared mp
several hundred thousand dollars. In
1887 the same combination, led by
The Cincinnati banker, John Harper,
came back again and attempted To
repeat the trick. Il was in he month
Of June, and they succeeded in adj
Vanc,ng prices from S95s cents %
94% cents, but suddenly there was q
crash and a break and in two days
wheat dropped 20 cents. Harper and
his companions were caught in the
fall and Harper himcelf lost $4,000
GOO II was later discovered that he
had uGed the money of the bank for
speculation in the corner and he
vas indicted and sentenced to term
In prison for his action.
In 1893 John Cudaby and n. X.
Fairbanks engineered corner IN the
wheat and provisions. Cudahy
handled the wheat end and Fairbanks
loclhd after the provision market.
They forced prices IN, but the crash
came, and boia los. heavily. AS both
Cudahy and Fairbanks were mutt
they did not feel the loss
70 keenly However, II Is said that
Mr.. fairbanks was forced 10 sell the
old Central Husic hall. corner Of Ran
dclph and State streets. to Marshall
Fields In order 10 pay his debts
It was in 1896 that Joseph Letter.
ION OF the multi-milfionaire. capitals
and street car owner, made his FIRST
,anture into tho pit Taking adyant
lge of the unsot cd conditions pre-
,ailing just before tic presidential /
alection Of that year, Letter bought /
wheat around 20 cents Following I
he election Of William Mckinley 70 /
he presidency new era of prosperity 1
set in and prices went up. Letter IN
oa3ed his supply and II Is said pulled I
mt 100000 in May. 1897 Think
ng that he might repeat the trick
With more profit, he bought up the