Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1910-03-13

successful deal of 1909 had become
practically a closed incident IN the
wheat trade he told -four men that
wheat and -four would remain high
er: that il did not need his active
the price levels. In that forecast he
was well viDdicated.
Thirty-two years ago James A.
Patten was a clerk in a grain brok-
erage house at salary of 81 week.
He had been reared on an Illinois
farm. close to nature and the wheat
fields. He had been employed four
years as State grain inspector.
Thus he came 10 know wheat in the
ground and the granary and wheat
in the elevators after il had become
part of the great CONNIE cial store
of grain.
Seeing what he considered the
wonderful possibilities of dealing IN
grain on his own account. and forth
fed as he was with an intimate
knowledge of all phases OF the iun.
damentals. his salary OF $50 a month
as an inspector began to look small.
Acting quickly and positively on his
judgment-a practice he has followed
throughout his transactiOns-he drop
ped the inspection job for the 81
week clerkship in commission
house.
He was i'm no hurry to do big
things. He wanted to feel sure OF
the markets and grain needs of the
world watched for fluctuations in the
supply and demand and absorbed
more facts for ready duse than most
Then he was ready to branch out
cautiously on his own account.
Studied And Won.
His earlier deals were concerned
/ cessful was he in this line that ne
came to be looked upon as an oracle
by those who addressed their atten-
ton 70 oats. In those days Gates,
Letter, Armour, Phillips and the rest
! overshadowed the Evanston man.
who was not much in the public eye.
Bot he has gradually added to MS
! iOi thhNs ihahAhb ltius ApA
greater feats. Then he began TO deal
in corn. again with success, although
he shared with others the setbacks
! that are inevitable One of these
setbacks came last fall, when Patten
was wrong on the corn market" He
! played the role OF bear at that time
and corn kept moving up with a per
sistency that would have been dis
cOuraging to most traders He lost
lot of money, but it was a part OF
| the game and no whimper came from
! him. The Judgment he had relied
! on so many times played him false.
For mis- May deal of last year Mr..
, Patten laid the foundation six months
ahead. He started buying wheat at
little above a dollar a bushel and
quietly accumulated a large quantity.
! Prices rose to Sill in December.
dropped to sl.04 the same month,
made another upward turn and
mounted steadil: higher At one
time Patten was credited with hold
| ing of 100000 bushels of wheat,
| although he declared that he never
| had in his name more than I0,000,O 200
1
bushels.
MIR Patten never allowed himself
! to be swerved from his chosen course
in that deal by temporary considera-
tons. There were times when the
outcome of his deal looked gloomy
even to experienced traders, with
/ Argentina and Russia coming forward
with millions of bushels of grain. but
Patten kept sturdily to the bull side,
saying in explanation that he had ms
ideas about supplies and was going
to stick TO them through thick and
/ thin.
Retires.
Il cannot make the price of wheat
in Winnipeg or in Buenos Ayres." he
said. Prices are high there. MilIers
want wheat and can't get it. Values
in Chicago What does it mean? SIM
ply that there is a scarcity OF the
grain to meet the demand and that
the price is going up in obedience
to law that Is as old as trade It
self
IL is believed that Mr. Patten Is
worth all of $l5,000,0O0 today. lie
says he thinks that is enough money
for any man to have and that ne Is
ready 10 get out OF the activities of
trading His Chicago friends do rot
believe. for all this announcement.
that the Patten factor in wheat. corn
and oats is to be absent in the fn-
ture. They expect him 10 get back
into the market after his return from
Europe ard when the tide strikes
him as right to get IN. II may be
one Of the cereals or may be cotton
which he viii tackle next There IS
q fh..nr.. fhat h. MAJ col inln ne