The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1906-09-07

sAMIcs alN LIE .P1T..

that gftmy5 gray az tlle LODI
of IasalIe street, the financial des
tinie II many men are determined
when the Chicago board OF trade
was insits infancy, way back in 1861
the tfst corner In wheat was engi-
neered on May is, 1867, coterie
pf eastern brokers taking advantage
nf the unsettled conditions remaining
fter the war, went IL and forced the
price cfswneat to s2.s5 bushel. For
many days the strain continued and d.
naily theB stbears" ruled supreme and
the pfica was forced down to $2.16.
Large amounts were lost by traders
hut it has never been definitely known
how much was lost in. the aggregate.
m1s7l some local traders attempt
ed q corner in wheat, but were only
able 10 force it up to $1-s0. 1t took
only a. day to pound II down again to
$i.1n5s. IN 1872 occurred the famous
n:sturgess corner. 1t was one Of
the worst panics that has ever been
knogniin the pit. Fortunes were lost,
and men who had been prominent
brokers ON the board disappeared. left
their families and their business and
never we're heard from again. Wheth-
en- they sought new country to build
M their shattered lives and fortunes
OF whether they gave up LIES strug.
gle In despair, has never been known.
u peculiar feature of the Lyon!Stur
CESS corner was that it broke tho
shorts and the "longs." ]. B. Lyon,
one OF the chief factors, is alive to-
Jay, but old Capt sturgess, after los.
Ing the fortune he had worked life
dmelt TO amass, is dead. 1t was in Au-
gust that the price of wheat was "bull-
ed to S1.61. but the crop was short
er than the traders realized, and there
was ia sudden break to $1.19, catching
an "a rs wake.
In 1880 an attempt was made to cor
ner futures in wheat, but it failed.
The following year crowd of Gin
cinnati financial men entered the mar
let and forced options from $1.19 toll
$1s3s. The combination cleared upI
several hundred thousand dollars. lnI
1880 the same combination, led by, the
Cincinnati banker, John Harper, came
back again and attempted to repeat
the trick. Is was in the month Of
June, and they succeed in advancing
prices from sos cents to 94A cents,
but suddenly there was crash and a
break and In two days wheat dropped
zoe. Harper and his companions were
caught in the fall and Harper himself
lost 5000. 600. 1t was later discover,
ed that he had used the money of the
hank for speculation in the corner and
he was indicted and sentenced to a
term in prison for his actions.
Insls98 John Cudahy and NJ K. Fair
bank engineered corner in the wheat
and provisions. Cudahy handled the
wheat end and Fairbanks looked after
the provision market They forced
prfeesup, but the crash came, and both
lost heavily. AS both Cudahy and Fair
hank were multi-milflonaires they did
not feel the loss so keenly. However,
sit is said that Mr.. Fairbank was fore
ed to sell the old Centaal Music Hall,
corner OF Randolph and State streets
to Marshall Field. in order to pay his
debts.
1T was in 1896 that Joseph Letter,
son Of the multi-milllonaire. capitalist
and street car owner, made his first
venture into the PIT Taking advan- !
tage OF the unsettled conditions pre-
vailing just before the Presidential
election of that year, Letter bought
wheat around 40 cents. Following the
election of William Mckinley to the
Presidency a new era Of prosperity set
eit and prices went up. Letter unloaded
his suppl yand 1t is said pulled out
$$44ss 900 In May, 1897. Thinking that
lie might repeat the trick with more
profit be began to buy UP the new
crop and the summer of that year saw
him buying wheat around ca and fOl
cents. The markets Of Europe were
sending AN their wheat to Chicago and
the country was, pouring it into the
elevators, but still the supply was In.
sufaclent. Letter realized the short
age IN the market and kept ON buying
and forcing up the Irice. In the fall
of 1897 wheat was sold at $1.1O a
abushel. 1t is saId that he controlled
more than 60, 100000 bushels. 1t was
then that the late Phillip d. Armour,
forced to take some steps to protect
himself, sent his agents through the
northwest to buy up all the available
wheat It was fight for supremacy
and fora fortune between the two mil.
Iiunalres In May Of 1898 Letter had
wheat selling at $1.S5, and the pros
poets were that he would force 1t up