The Mena weekly star., 1909-04-29
PATTEN IS OUT 0F II
CHICAGO MAN SAID TO HAVE DIS POSED OF HIS HEAVY HOLD
 INGs IN WHEAT.
HAS GONE TO 4 RANCH IN NEW MEXICO
Whether Patten Has Eliminated Him self From the Big Deal And Wheth- CT He Has Made or Lost Money, No One Seems to know-Market IS Nine Gents Below High Mark.

Chicago, Apr. 24.-That James J. patten hailed throughout the country as the Wheat King" has withdrawn from the market after disposing of his heavy holdings of May and July wheat was asserted in many quarters here yesterday. To this assertion was add ed the fact that prices have tumbled over nine cents during the last week and that MT. Patter himself has sought rest in the fastnesses of a New Mexico ranch.
 Whether he has eliminated himsel' from the so-called deal" and If so, whether he came out with profit or loss are questions which can be answered only by MT. Patten himself.
 Those who read the dispatches from Colorado anent the discouraging recep tion met by reporter who tried to in. terview the big speculator at Trinidad between trains, expressed the opinion that this answer seemed unlikely to be forthcoming.
 The session of the board of trade was sensational yesterday. Bulls hac expected that after the six cent decline of the two previous sessions recovery would ensue. Taking the Patten view of big crop shortage as correct and wheat intrinsically worth what has been paid for 1t in purely speculative way the reaction was due.
 But the first quotations were start n f0an 0f pt mi f. tho htflu nearly every point came reports oi normal or even better, crop prospects. Liverpool prices were down and the shipments from Argentina. Australia and other foreign countries were said to be greater than usual at this time of the year.
 Bears filled the wheat pit in a dense mass. and like an eruptive volcano poured forth a swollen stream oi wheat. Longs liquidated all along the line. and the execution of stop loss ord. CTS added to the confusion.
 Frequently 1t was impossible to make sale within three quarters of cent of the price designated by the customer to his broker
 The Patten vortex of other and more bullish days into which the cereal might be poured seemingly without al. fecting its appetite was not in evi- dence. It was tremendous liquidat- ing market and Patten might have been buying secretly through others than his own houses. From him there hac r0ma pn urnrJ that ha hau chanoad iss views as to the value of wheat He called May wheat cheap a s129. and if he still thinks so 1t Is JinteC out that the same option at $l.21 to day was an excellent investment. The same was said of July at s109ss. The prices were approximately nine cenx under the high price of last Friday.
 While MT Patten, quoted as saying he was fleeing from reporters, was making for the ranch of his friend and partner w. H. Bartlett just over the Colorado lire in New Mexico dejectior was pictured on the face of many small speculator haunting the tickel in various brokerage houses.
 Many fortune has been wiped oui by the decline this week, and many man who had handsome profit OF paper but still hung on for more, now confronts a deficit. There are many such. The wide publicity given the market brought into it many a man who ordinarily walked in quieter paths. Even the regulars" for the most part followed the bull leader with unusual enthusiasm, and until yester- day saw nothing further in the de | elines than furry. Mir. Patten so it, and his word was ac 1 cepted. They held to the limit oi l their resources, and yesterday were wiped of the speculative slate when | their margins became exhausted, ant there was no longer reserve to draw on.