The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1910-03-30
BATTLE OVFR COTTON.
ENGLISH AND AMERICAN SPECV-
LATORS IN DEADLY COMBAT.
III the Effort to Break Patterns Cot
ton Corner English Spectators
Snip Cotton From Liverpool to
New York-Patten Confident of
Winning the Fight for High Pricd
Cotton.

New York, March 24.-Following
UP the recent attempt on the floor of
the Manchester Exchange to mob
James A. Patten, Chicago plunger in
wheat and cotton, English specula-
tors in the latter product yesterday
| made another sensational move
against the Chicagoan and his asso-
ciates here.
In a desperate effort to escape from
the corner in which they find them
selves they have begun to ship cotton
back to this &C nntry in the hope of
breaking the market and of bringing
Patten and his friends to their knees
| if not to ruin.
Ten thousands of bales have been
put aboard ships scheduled to sail
from Liverpool today, and threats
are made of equally large shipments
in the next week. Meantime, Patten
and his associates are shipping cotton
to the other side to supply the de-
mands of the spinners and at the
same time they are keeping the quo
tatons here just sufficiently below
| those in Liverpool to prevent their
foes from buying the cotton there
and reselling it here except at a
heavy loss.
About 1000 bales were shipped by
| Patten last week, it is said, and he
has chartered space in the White Star
liner Indian to take about 1000 ad-
ditional bales. The Indian was to
sail today, but is to be held for a day
or so on Patterns behalf.
my $12.OOO,OOO are in the pot"
Patten wired to friends in this city
last night, "and I mean to stick. Let
| them send the cotton. On every bale
that they ship they will lose from $4
to IS, and we can stand if if they
| can"
Eugene G. Scales, who is working
in harmony with Patten, echoed tnat
| statement.
"All this talk of shipping cotton
here in large quantity to affect the
| market is rot" Scales said emphati-
| cally. There are not more than about
100000 bales loose in England. All
the remainder Of the 100000 or SOO,-
600 bales over there is in the hands
| OF spinnel's Let them send what
| they can here. They've got to get it
somewhere to make deliveries ON the
short sales they have been making
| or they must pay our price"
The men lined up in this great bat
| tie are Wildwood & Co., one of the
largest firms of cotton spectators in
| England, on one side, and James A.
Patten, w. P. Brown, F. B. Hayne,
| and E. G. Scales on the other. Mid
wood & Co., it is said, are being sup
| ported by j. H. McFadden & Co., of
| Philadelphia. regarded as the largest
| operators in spot cotton in the United
| States. 1t is asserted this firm is also
short of the market
The war, in which the climax ap-
pears to be near, and in which the
| millionaires Of the English and Amer
can cotton pits have staked their for
| tunes, began about a year ago, when
| Patten and his friends, foreseeing a
short crop, began to buy
They worked the price from nine
cents a pound to about 16 cents and
| accumulated, it is said, options that
virtually cornered the market for the
1909 crop.
Then they began to unload and got
out handsome profits, all except
Scales, who, it is said, held on and
was caught when the McFaddens be-
gan to pound the market, with the
result that he lost a million or so of
his profits.
Then Patten and the others started
TO buy, and for a second time corn
cred the product while the specula-
tors in England and the bear element
in this country, disbelieving his cries
OF snort crop, were selling short
Now the Pattens hold the cotton and
the English find themselves confront
ed with contracts to deliver hundreds
of thousands of bales, with only a |
fraction Of the quantity in their pos
session, and no means of getting anv |
more except at the prices fixed by |
Patten and his friends.