Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-04-22
WHEAT TAKES TUMBLE
Sensational Drop in Price at
Chicago Today.
INTENSE EXCITEMENT
MAY DELIVERY FELL FIVE CENTS
A BUSHEL.
Generally Admitted by Brokers That
the Gates Deal Has Been Abandon
ed-Heavy Sales.
INTENSE EXCITEMENT


dollar mark. Less than six weeks
ago the price for the option was
I.2IH. Today May wheat touched
08ac. Oh this sensational decline
of 23 cents the net loss today was
IIHc. a bushel. The market re-
acted somewhat at the close, final
quotations being at ST even.
CHICAGO. April 22-Duplicating Thurs
days sensational decline. the price of May
wheat here today dropped precisely cents
a bushel The sharp break was generally
admitted as additional confirmation that
the deal in May wheat has been abandoned
by John w Gates and his Wall street fol-
lowers. At the opening the price Of May
was off 1 to cents at los to 100.
Within five minutes May had sold at LOT.
and the decline continued until the price
touched LOS.
Distant futures We're weak a result o,
the slump in May. Predictions of rain were
another source of weakness. July opened
a shade lower to kaHc. higher, at SIN to
SIS and declined to sG5s.
Volume of Business Small
Intense excitement prevailed in the pit as
values continued to fall, but compared with
Thursdays heavy trading the volume of
business today was small
The break in wheat caused an easier un-
dertoue in the corn market, July selling OF
to 47I@a413sc.
Following the weakness cf wheat July
oats sold off to 293sc
Before the session was half over another
cents had been snapped off the price of
the May option Practically there were no
fluctuations. the quotations for May max
ing an almost sheer descent to los bushel
as against 1.10 Thursdays closing figures,
and 11312 the high point on Thursday
Chief Reason for Decline.
The chief apparent reason for the extra
ordinary decline was the absence of sup
port. In addition there was an uncon-
frmed but explicit dispatch from Mime
apolis to the effect that the May deal had
been settled. Aside from this the increase
of receipts here decidedly bearish
factor, arrivals of wheat here for the week
making a total of 40 coo bushels against
10000 bushels last week and 2o3 600 the
corresponding week year ago. Such .
heavy total of receipts was quite generally
regarded as plain proof that the high price
of the May option was bringing in grain
that would ordinarily go TO St Louis KAN
sas City. Minneapolis and other centers
2. A. Valentine ofsArmour & Co was in
the pit in person. watching operations 1t
was estimated that 1900 0OO bushels OF
wheat was sold by house alone the
greater part. or all, being generally be-
lieved to be Clique" wheat Otherwise the
selling was of scattered character
The clique selling smashed the market
for May TO 1.02 before there was any sign
of reaction. AT this point with a net loss
of cents bushel shown as compared with
Thursdays close, the market rallied, May
recovering to 104.
While the fierce drive at Nav was in
progress Valentine supported prices for
July and September wheat, but without ac-
tuaIiy purchasing any tremendous quantity
of either. AS result the collapse in price
was almost wholly confined to the May op-
ton.
Gates Support Withdrawn.
1t was evident from the opening of busi-
ness that brokers for John w Gates the
reputed leader of a coterie that was sup
posed to be engaged in an attempt to corner
the May option in wheat, had withdrawn
support from the market. The days de-
velopments indicated that not only were
Gates and his friends failing to support the
market, but that they were actively en-
gagged in disposing ftheir holdings
After the days trading was over one
rators on change freely expressed a belief
that Gates and his friends had gotten ouf
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 Nav
wheat was left to its own resources The
II.
protected himself. Immense purchases of
July wheat, presumably for Armour. dur
ing the past few days was said to furnish
the basis of the agreement.
Theory of the Break
A favorite theory is that as May wheat
was being sold hedges in July were at
the same time being taken off Another
report was that Gates and Armour repre-
sentatives. at a secret meeting, had made
"a n ont to lion fl,t~
and switch into the July option offset
ting any losses in May by a greater profit
in July.
The scenes in the wheat pit TODAY were
among the widest ever witnessed there
although the trading was not as heavy In
volume as on Thursday, the last previous
business day. The gallery today was full
OF spectators. while the floor of the board
was crowded with traders and brokers'
The din of the pit could be heard plainly
in the boulevard below. making wholly
inaudible the clatter of horses hoofs on
the asphalt.
Excitement in the Pit.
The crowd in the pit surged and pushed
as the break in prices continued and
members the wrong side, in efforts to
cover losses, shouted themselves hoarse
with perspiration streaming down their
cheeks as they vainly sought to stop the
runaway market
Today's decline was almost continuous
from start to finish. There was a slight
breathing spell at 102, the market rally
ing from that figure temporarily to 1.04,
The momentary rally. however. was soon
followed by the worst slump of the day,
the price going to 9S Y shortly before the
closing of the days business. There was
a slight rebound in the last few min
utes, the quotation the final gong
sounded being 81.
AS the session advanced the price of May
continued to sink more clique wheat"
was offered for sale. One OF two slight rail-
lies were experienced only to be followed
by still greater declines. It was estimated
that ], 500. 600 bushels of May wheat were
sold by one house alone. the greater part OF
which was believed to be Clique" wheat,
The lowest point of the day was reached
considerably below the dollar mark at 9S-
Some recovery was made within the last
few minutes and final quotations on MAJ