The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1909-04-16

| Chicago, April 15,--It was a day of
tumult and sharply shifting fortunes
in the wheat pit of the board of trade
July wheat following an advance to
new high level, suddenly dropped four
| and three eights cents The "pyra-
| mided" fortunes of small spectators
| vanished in a thrice and the develop
| ments caused vigorous exertions by the
bull leader, James A. Patten Within
| the last Is minutes of trading Mr.. Pat
| ten bought 100000 bushels of wheat
| for July delivery.
| Nothing but a fury" he said, but
| that was after the turbulent pit had
been deserted for the day. During that
| final quarter of an hour he was a busy
man. Into the corridor of the building
| in which the Patten offices are to be
md, floated the sound of high pitch
ed, nervous voices as clerks at the
| telephone shot in buying orders to
| other clerks in the pit
Buy 80, Buy 100. Buy %"
These numbers referred to thous-
| ands Of bushels of wheat, and there
were many smaller ones-so many, in
| fact, that not all or them were filled.
| 1t was a physical impossibility to do
so. Mr.. Patten personally visited the
| the floor Of the exchange and directed
| his own deals
1t was Patten against the field and
| the final gong showed that Patten 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,
closed a reaction of more than a cent
all along the line. Before this occur
red the hoard of many a small specu-
lator had gone.
Far from the maddening scene on
the board in hundreds of bakeries
there was a different, although related
scene Flour had risen and the bak-
ers were trying to find out where their
profits We're coming from unless the
price of bread could be raised
With No Hint.
The speculative day on the board
opened without indications of the sem
sation to come. May and July quietly
rose to a new high price, the former to
$1.29A and the latter to $1197s.
Juy's price was the highest since 1877,
but neither mark created unusual com
ment Either one or the other of the
options mentioned has been doing the
same thing since the first of the month.
There has not been a trading day since
then but that one or the other had
created a new top price.
Patten bought and sold as usual.
mostly buying July and selling May.
He is said to have disposed of 1000
900 bushels of his May holdings today
and to be practically out of that op-
ton His energies are now centered
largely in July.
II still have some May he said, but
l am chiefly interested now in July.
I am not paying much attention to the
deferred futures. They are new crop
months
Tornado Hits.
1t was Is or 90 minutes before clos
ing time when the selling tornado hit
the pit Stop-loss orders came out in
a deluge and the bears. stirred by
five-cent decline at Winnipeg, based,
it was said, on reselling by exporters,
attacked the market with great spirit.
July tumbled half a cent at a time to
S114R, an extreme loss of 4%C; May,
in larger jumps, dropped to 1925 and
September, an undisputed new crop
month, attained s10S7s, declined to
s1.06A.
Here the Patten purchases made
their influence felt and the close of the
session found July at $115% G1.15&;
May at $1.27A 61.27%, and September
at s1.06A.
In contrast to these prices those of
a year ago are of interest During
April year ago May wheat sold at an
average of 90 cents and July around
S5 cents. The first sale of wheat for
July in May of this year was made
here June %, last, at S94c Whether
it went to Mr. Patten is not of public
record, but he was among the earlier
purchasers. Since then the price has
risen nearly 80 cents. This, however
does not serve to give a line on the
SDpnOSed profitS of Mr. Patton and his