New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1907-05-14
WHEAT PASSES 81 MARK
PIT WILDLY EXCITED.
D@enlng in Chicago Unprecedented
Prices Drop Later.
rBy Telegram to The Tribune

tBy Telegram to The Tribune
chicago, May I3.-Dolar wheat was ushered
- -3-day IN an outburst of the widest and most
:!rcrtaneous fervor that has ever characterized
--afling on the Board OF Trade The first quar-
Ter hour % the session was unprecedented for
activity and excitement. In that brief period
al previous displays of speculative fireworks
ere made 10 appear small in comparison.
Before the expectant traders, huddled to the
capacity OF the PIT, were fully awakened to the
undreamed Of possibilities of the moment the
September future had been hoisted 10 81 0012
and the December TO 81 03 bushel. The mo-
lnent 81 was reached shout lifted that
soon resulted in the filling OF the galleries. Then
came bid Of L cent higher.
In. the uproar, which by this time had In
creased to pandemonium, the marker found him
self unable 10 keep track of the jumbled trading.
Consequently opening quotations were chalked
off really as 81 ool2 to CSC for September and
S6iz 10 81 03 for December. The July option
in which the trade is chiefly interested, SCARED
10 &c in the moments of uncomfortable buIlish
fever.
The market was a worldwide affair The or
ders executed in such immense volume at the
start were sent from Europe as well as from
this country Men who have become old in the
turmoil Of the pits said the opening was the
widest and most exciting in the history Of trad
ing on the Board floor. This means the widest
opening that the grain markets of the world
have ever known
The spectacular upturn was followed by big
declines, the July weakening from 81 cents TO 90
cents in twinkling after the smoke of the intro
ductory fireworks had cleared away. September
dropped 70 50 cents on the profit taking the
December drifting off to 961a cents at big strides
There were subsequent advances. but their sig
nifoance was lost IN the consciousness that
dollar wheat" had been realized.
Notwithstanding the big upturn and the sub
sequent weakening on profit taking. the cry of
81 % wheat loud at the close James A.
Patten. il was reported, went on record as prom
Using not to shave" until 81 so was reached The
bulls in the trade say there is nothing on the
reached.
The net advance was cents for the July
and September options and Az cents for De-
ceHlbeT. From the low point of Monday of last
week July wheat has advanced 1917. September
has gone up 15S4. In the December option the
high point to-day was 16s4 above the low price
Of last Monday.
In the local market yesterday July wheat rose
10 81 03l2, advance of nearly : cents from
Saturday, and September jumped from 99c to
81 o3's. There was a rush among brokers at
the opening TO execute accumulated orders and
the pit was the scene Of the widest excite
Tnent that 1t has known in years The price
Trading during the morning was in volume
equalled only during corner" periods in the
past but in the afternoon the market became
quieter and sold off sharply on profit taking,
the late declines running from &c to &c bushel.
July closed at 81 02s4 September at 81 o3Il AMI
December at 81 05I2
Brokers said that they had never seen such a
wild desire on the part of country operators TO
buy while the market was going up and this
caused the facilities of trading to be taxed to
Nothing
ness that came had been expected. and ii found
the traders unprepared Professionals kept out
Of the market much possible.
Sensational advances in the foreign markets
and reports of bad weather in the Northwest
and damage by green bugs in the Southwest.
combined with the accumulation of buying or
ders already referred 10, accounted for the up
turn
Long before the opening the pit swarned
with a gesticulating and bowling crowd the
like Of which had not been seen for years From
the way many brokers disregarded the rules
and bought quietly on the curb. many offering
ll4e 10 &c bushel more than Saturdays closing
price. il was known early that the opening
would be Wild one.
There were big buying orders in the market
from Liverpool, Antwerp. Bremen and Berlin,
which competed with the buying by spectators
and the covering by shorts Some experienced
operators and trade interests took advantage of
the bulge IN prices to sell freely. They ad-
mitted that there had been great damage 10 WIN
ter wheat and conservative experts in the trade
said that present indications did not promise a
yield Of winter wheat in excess of 3S0000.000
bushels but they pointed out that between 3d.
100000 and 100 100000 bushels surplus had been
carried over from last years crop and that as
far as spring wheat concerned the only
damage done to that crops prospects so far had
been the two weeks delay in seeding.
II vas said in some quarters that the rise IN
wheat vas in part due TO a local pool that mao
been formed within the last few days TO boom
the price Of the staple. Others said that the
advance could be traced TO Chicago, where some
Of the big operators had doubtless gone short
and had shifted their position. The consensus
q opinion seemed TO be- however that the wheat
crop going 10 be considerably below the
average this year and that such an outlook had
caused wider interest in the wheat markets
than had been shown in years before and
brought about the sustained rise in prices.
L