The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-07-06
BOUND IN COTTON
Gold Pouring Into the
Bulls Golfers.
Enormous Wealth Will Be Realized
by the South if Her People Act
Unitedly and With
Wisdom.
New York American.)

(New York American.)
Leaping upward a hundred points
in five minutes yesterday, cotton car
ried the fortune of Theodore II. Price,
the former Cotton King" well to-
ward the million mark and established
his position once again as dominating
the white staple market. 1t was SEN
rational day, i'm which Prices figure
doomed above all others
Rarely has finance and commerce
been so intricately mingled with ro-
nance as in the case of Theodore III.
Price. Five years ago he was drag
ged from his throne as the Cotton
King" within four days of his we'd
ding. and instead of bringing to his
wife a fortune well up in the millions
he started away with her upon q
honeymoon marked by only so much
of lavshness as $1,000 could furnish.
Since that time Price has made and
lost money; has fought the uphill
fight of the man without capital VINO
tries to regain n position once lost
in Wall street, but has steadily gained
toward the goal of his ambition.
Has Paid S2,OOO,OOO I'm Debts.
He has paid off $2,000,000 of debts
contracted when the firm of Price,
Mccormick & Co., failed since May
"a, 1900, and every penny of the $15o'-
900 made by him yesterday belongs 10
him alone For five years he has
been working for his creditors.
Now lie is Working for Himself.
Yesterdays Jump in cotton was due
to the receipt of the government re-
port from Washington which showed
a most unfaVorable cotton condition.
With an acreage 20 per cent less than
q wear ago, the government report
showing the July condition to be II.
instead of the 81 or 50 that had been
looked for, caused instant panic
among the shorts.
The pit of the cotton exchange APP
peared filed with maniacs.
Never within the recollection of the
Oldest member had cotton jumped
cent pound in price in five minutes,
and the furry that followed made the
ordinary routine Of business impossl-
BILE. The figures of the report flashed
an instantaneous photograph upon the
brains OF the cotton brokers'.
Figures Mean q Cotton Famine.
AS Superintendent King read the
portentous figures. every broker saw
In a flash that they could mean at
the best a yield of only 1O,OOO,O00
bales for the entire country. To men
who figure in hundredthS of a cent
and i'm millions Of bales and acres, the
calculation was so swift ana sure as
to be practically unconscious cefeDfa-
ton. Bulls and bears alike realized
that the most pessimistic beliefs re-
garding the size of the cotton crop
had been glittering dreams of over
production compared with what the
report actually presented.
A Weld of 100000 bales could
mean only cotton famine, and fam
inc prices, and the Exchange was
seized with instant confusion.
Theodore II. Prices agents were
everywhere, and they bought cotton
as fast as their orders could be re-
corded, adding to the holdings already
In his possession.
once again he had assembled to the
throne vacated by Daniel Sully year
ago, and which he himself had occu-
pied once before, five years ago. He
became the leader in the great bull
campaign which had been made
ready to his hand by the Government
report.
1t is known that yesterday morn
ing Mr.. Price held 10000 bales,
bought at $3.50 and at the closing
price Of $1,000 on those alone he had
earned a profit of $4,000.
Mr.. Prices profits are still on pa
per, it is believed, but there is no in
dication that he has any cause to
worry With the cotton crop at least
100000 bales short OF what the
world will demand. there is but slight
chance of the price failing to reach IS
or even Is cents a pound. In the
Cotton Exchange yesterday there was
even talk of tWenty-cent cotton, and
those who talked of it We're not re-
garded as visionary.
What this means to the farmers of
the South can hardly be estimated.
They are now in a position to hold
their cotton, and will reap the profits
of the upward movement. 1t may
mean ruin to the spinners of New
England and Manchester, but the les
son of two years ago should have
taught these not to make contracts
far ahead, in view of the narrow mar
gin of production.
The present bull movement is due
to natural causes. 90 one man, no
pool, Is back of the present conditions.
Cotton is leaping upward in price, be-
cause there is not enough of it i'm sight
to supply the natural demand for It,
Two years ago, when the great Sully
campaign was on, cotton went to the
highest price recorded since the war,
and the profits were not all taken by
the brokers and spectators. For the
first time in decades many Southern
planters threw off the shackles ard
debt and found themselves able to in
dulge in the luxuries of life. Piano
factories were kept busy turning out
instruments to be shipped South, and
the tinkling tones of ragtime tunes
were heard in the log cabins of black
tenant farmers. Mortgages were paid
off, stock bought, new farms pur-
chased throughout the entire cotton
belt. and bank accounts were started
in thousands OF little villages and
towns.
Means a Boom for the South.
Much of this money is still in the
hands of these farmers. The crop last
year was not so valuable. There was
more of if than the previous wear, and