The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1909-04-21
PANIC IN CHICAGO WHEAT PIT.
FORTUNES OF SMALL sPECULA-
TORS SWEPT AWAY.
tornado Of Selling Strikes the Pit
Twenty Minutes Before the Closing
Hour, and the Day Was Saved From
Rout Only by the ExertiOns Of
Buii Leader Patten,/ who Bought
Three Million Bushels of July.

buii Leader Patten,' who Bought
Three Million Bushels of July.
| Chicago. ILL.,, April 15.--It was a
day of tumult and sharply shifting
fortunes In the wheat pit of the board
of trade today. July wheat, followed
docile advance to new high level,
suddenly dropped an extreme "a
cents. The ''pyramided" fortunes of
small spectators vanished in a trice
and the day was saved from rout only
By the vigorous exertions Of the bull
leader. James A.. Patten.
Within the last fifteen minutes of
trading Mr.. Patten bought s,000,-
600 bushels Of wheat for July deli
very.
Nothing but furry" he said, but
that was after the turbulent pit had
been deserted for the day.
During that final quarter Of an hour
he was very busy man. Into the cor
ridor OF the Western Union building,
In which the Bartlett-Patten officers
src located. fioated the sound Of high
pitched. nervous voices as clerks sat
the telephone shot in buying orders
to other clerks in the pit.
BUY fifty! Buy hundred! Buy
twenty five!"
These numbers referred to thous-
| ands of bushels OF wheat. and there
were many smaller ones-so many, in
fact. that not all Of them were filed.
II was physical impossibility to do
so.
1t was Patten against the field and
the final gong showed the former ap-
parently was as mighty as ever. His
purchases and those OF his followers,
together with the profit-taking OF
shorts. who lost no time In securing
the fruits of their bearish daring,
caused reaction OF over a cent all
| along the line. But before this occur
red. the hoard of many small spec
In hundreds OF bakeries there was
different scene. Flour had risen and
the bakers. with corrugated brows,
were trying TO find out where their
profits were coming from unless the
price of bread could be raised.
According to one of the largest bak-
A. q In, N <,tfx ~.
doubled in the last six years: lard has
done likewise; milk has advanced 33
1-3 per cent. delivery charges have
doubled: and yet the price of bread
remains thes same. Three years ago
when flour prices were on a rampage,
many bakers saved their profits by
reducing the weight of their loaves
anf quality Of flour used. But II Is
said there Is no further extreme of &C.
onomy to which they can go. and
meanwhile they allege that their net
earnings are nil. So far. however, no
concerted action has been taken with
regard to the situation.
Ii was fifteen or twenty minutes be-
fore closing time when the selling tor
nado hit the pit. stop loss orders came
out In deluge. and the bears, stirred
by five-cent decline at Winnipeg,
based. 1t was stated, on reselling by
exporters, attacked the market with
great spirit. July tumbled half a cent
ar time to $1,14 1-2. an extreme loss
undisputed new crop month, which
| dropped to 81 26, and September, an
OF 3-S cents; May. in larger jumps
had attained 81 0S rs, declined tos1
| or 3-4.
Here the Patten purchases made
their influence felt and the close of
the session found July at 81 Is SIS 81
Is "a; May 81 27 1-2 81 27 5-s, and
september at 81 06 IA.
In talking win newspaper men to-
day. Mr.. Patten referred frankly to
himself as speculator as we'll as q
grain merchant. and incidentally ad-
nlited that he Is long on cotton.
Haven't you enough on your hands
in wheat without dabbling In cotton ?"
came a query.
We'll I'll be frank. I'm a grain
merchant. but I'm a speculator also.
I like TO speculate It's q great game.
The way IL loks to me Is this: Cotton
at the present price is just about as
cheap as wheat would be around a
dollar. so took flyer. but believe me
I'm not trying TO manipulate it,"