The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1909-04-23
WHEAT king" HAS
LEFT HIS THRONE
Did Patten $50 Broke" or Pull
Out at a Profit? Is the
Question.
BULL LEADERS, FOLLOWERS
DETECTED AND DISCOURAGED
Break in the Market Has Wiped
Out Fortunes for Scores
of Traders.

PatteD, 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as the "wheat king has withdrawn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 to-
day. TO this assertion was added tho
fact that prices have tumbled over
cents during the last week, and that
Mr.. Patten has sought rest on New
Mexico ranch,
Whether he has eliminated himself
from the ':dcal' and if so, whether he
came out with profit or loss, are
questions that can be answered only
by Pattcn himself Those who read the
dispatch from Colorado ancDt the
discouraging reception met by n re-
porter who tried 10 interview the big
speculator between traius expressed the
opinion that this answer seemed un-
likely to be forthcoming.
Bulls Disappointed.
The session of the board of trade
was sensational today. Bulls had ex-
pected that after the 6-ccnt decline
Of the two previous sessions a recovery
would cnsuc. Taking the Pattcn view
Of the shortage as correct. and that
wheat was intrinsically worth The price
that has been paid for IT lin purely
speculative way, the reaction was due.
But the first quotations were start
ling disappointment TO the bulls.
From nearly every point came reports
of 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
dense mass. and poured forth a
swollen stream of wheat. Longs
liquidatcd all along the line, and the
expectation of stop.loss orders added 10
the confusion, Frequently II was I'M
possible 10 make sale within three
mated by the customer.
No Apparent Support.
The PaLten vortex of other and moro
bullsh days into which tho cereal might
he poured seemingly without affecting
its appetite was not in evidence. 1t
was tremendous li9uidating market,
and Patten might have been buying
secretly through Others than his own
houses. i rom llI luflf HIS tDll!t ID
word that he has changed his views as
10 the value of wheat He called
Nav wheat cheap at $l.29, and if he
still thinks so. it Is pointed out that
the same option Of Sl2l todny was an
excellent investment, The same Was
said Of July at $I.00%s. The prices
were about . cents under the high price
of last Friday.
While Mr.. Patten. quoted as saying
he was fleeing from reporters, was max.
ING for the ranch of hls friend and
partner. W. II. Bartlett, in New Mexico,
detection was pictured on the faces of
many small spcculators.
Fortunes Swallowed UP.
Their fortune has bccp wiped out hy
the decline, aud many a man who had
n handsome profit on paper. but still
hing on for more, now confTontS 4 de-
felt The wide publicity given the
market brought to 1T numerous men
who ordinarily walked in quictcr paths,
Even the "rcgularS,' for the most
part. followed the bull leader with I'M
usual cpi ihusiaSm. and until today saw
nothing further ia The declines but n
aurrv. Mr. Pattcu so characterized II.
and his word was accepted, They held
to the limit of their resources, and TO-
dav were wiped OF the speculative
slate when their margins were cX-
hausted.
They would like To have known If
Mr.. Patton had left orders secretly TO
make further purchases,
In the absence of certain informal ION,
however, Mir Patten S absence and the
utter weakness Indicated by today IS
decline. gave rise 20 gloomy hints that
"Pattcn was well out They went
so far as TO declare the present slump
was due to the liquidation of the big
Patton line of wheat, rather than TO
improved crop conditions.
i, is admitted that this supposition
NAV he absolutely wrong. Mr.. Paitcn 3
ire against reporters was largely due to
published references TO himself rs q
mapipulator Of tho market. the engineer
of great corner III the world s staple
food.
Ran Away From Newspapers,
"It's a fact hal he ran away from
the newspapers. sand ono of Patten 5
friends today.
Gle wasn't running . corner, and
publishcd statements To the contrary
wore him out He is looking for rest.
and he ought TO find it, for Mr.. Bart
lott :. ranch comprises some 100000
acres. aud no reporter is there.
eIIas he sold his wheat?
II do not know, | doubt, He can
well afford 10 hold his limc. for the
pinch WAS not expected until the short
apc began really 10 bc felt in juno
ard July. He expected II high price
then. and expected to make his wheat
when his position on the crop had been
yindicatcJ
\ third party remarked that II began
to look like n Viudication of Secretary
Wilson. whose information concerning
crops Mr. Patten recently declared 10
bc .Stho Joke Of the century,
To this II Smile was the only answer.
The regular day bulletin issued by
Bartlett. Pattcn & Co after the close
of thc market said;
"Thc real condition is unchanged.
There is no more wheat IN tho country
than there was before tho decline. and
the demand is Just AS good. Our conf
deuce III higher prices is as great as
ever