The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-07-29

of trade to total of nearly 1oo. coo bushels. and shot prices skyward SAC to 94c. No other day of the twentieth cen tury has witnessed wild trading here.
 Failures momentarily were expected, but none was announced. Tonight, how ever. margins were being called for to such a wide degree that it seemed cer- tain tomorrow S volume of business would be greatly restricted. The risk of specu- lating at all in such a frenzed market formed one of the clements that promised to bring about speedy order, notwith- standing the close was at the height of the excitement with values at the high est. Leading firms demanded that all GUS toners put up margins of 70 cents a bushel on every trade.
 Fortunes Made and Lost
 Stories of fortunes made and lost today were numerous. but In most cases were not verified. One case of sudden riches was that of a pit trader who actually pocketed s2o,0oo which he had netted in five minutes.
 Hundreds of spectators thronged the galleries and watched the traders who struggled and tumbled about in the pits. The uproar was plainly audible in the street surrounding the board. The first throb of excitement was given when news came that quotations had been discontinued at Paris. Builish feel ing rose rapidly after advices that Ger many would shun any peace conference. | After news of the declaration of war there was a check through report that | Servia had conceded everything asked. 1t | was said later dispatches seeming to in- l Volve Russia and Great Britain that car | ried speculators off their feet In the end the market resolved itself | into a spectacle of bulls frantically sell 1 ing to bulls. There were no bears in sight.
 
 | In some quarters there was dispos- tion tonight to regard the calling of mar gins of 20 cents bushel as next door to the action of European and Canadian authorities in locking the doors of ex- changes. The effect Of demanding such heavy protection for brokerage houses. it was said would be to restrict speeula- ton to minimum and shut off ventures of small calibre traders. High Margins Defended
 High margins were defended tonight hy those responsible, the ground being taken that the present situation was only paralleled by conditions in the Amert- can civil war and the Franco Prnssian var
 Some traders expressed the opinion that if England Germany and France are in- volved in the war wheat might go to g n bushel, while others declared such rise improbable because of the risk in
 
 ports.
 c. II. .Canby, president of the Chicago Board of Trade, said: This Is "a fear market based on np- prehension of what may occur. The open ing market tomorrow will be determined entirely by the character of the war news received.
 ''ln the event of war involving the big European nations. I think the wheat mar ket in this country ultimately will be weakened after the first scare has passed away
 Large Drafts of Gold Reserve
 New York. July 2s-Further enormous drafts this countrys gold reserves. having their origin In the disturbed con ditions abroad, added to the alarm preva- lent in the financial district today. Thus far this year total withdrawals aggre- gate about sl05, ,o0o,00 which breaks all | known records.
 | Engagements today amounted to $l3,- | GOO, all but s2500,0 ,000 going to London. | The remainder was destined for Pacis. | This French market has been the largtst purchaser of gold here it's total demands | since January aggregatlng approximately l SS5. .000.00O. It was not until yesterday that London began pulling at this quarter. pre- sumably because of the keen competition in it's own market for the gold received weekly from South Africa. There have been three distinct gold ship ments this year. The first began In Jan uary when some s200O0.000 was taken for Paris. In May began the second move ! ment of about si0000,0o0 the great bulk going to the Bank of France. and part to the Imperial Bank of Germany. The present movement was initiated last week when the war clouds began to hover over eastern Europe. In five business days a total of 2s,soo,000 has been taken The supply of gold bars of requisite fine ness gave out today and recourse was had to eagles and double eagles. Rates of exchange both for demand and cables have gone up so violently in the last two days as to make gold exports to any part of the world profitable to the shippers.