Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1915-01-31

Gtall NpeClhlt
CHICAGO, Jan. 3O.-Down in the
wheat pit Of the Chicago board Of
trade hundreds Of wild-eyed men are
viciously elbowing an1 shoulderns
their way TO the center, screaming
hoarsely. Scores Of telegraph instru.
nents and the cries OF messenger boys
and pages add to the cOuglomerate
din. Everywhere there is nervous
ness, tension-and noise.
Old men, young men, middle. aged
men, gesticulating wildly, their fingers
moving quickly In a sign language
that is instantly apparent to all
hover about the edge Of the pit,
shaped not unlike a huge saucer.
Suddenly one leaps into the center
screaming his offering. A dozen floor
men Of other firms tear at him in
stantly.
Like ma'aiacs they battle, coat
sleeves up TO elbows, collars nearly
off and hair disarranged, to reach the
seller. One nearly hurls another 10
the floor in his attack, but wins the
allotment which he and the seller in
stantly record in the little note books
they carry
In few seconds the whole world is
aware Of the sale and the price at
which it was made. because off to
Ohb hLut VI Nut SlBdullC duulloIl uIl
are 200 or more telegraph operators
all going at top speed Near them a
score or more of young men with tela.
phone receivers strapped about their
beads are in continual touch with the
brokerage houses.
1t is no wonder the trading hours
are short. No man could stand the
pace for more than a few hours day.
Individually these men are perforrl-
ing acrobatics, in all seriousness, that
their wives and families may live well
and dress well, have automobiles,
summer homes, and move in society.
Collectively every move they make,
every yell, is taking BREAD farther
away from the mouths of more than
half the people in the United States.
For at this moment every action
has its part in driving wheat upward
an eighth, a quarter, so small in
the fraction; but thousands Of dollars
in the ultimate deal.
And 50,000,000 persons will pay
more for bread-if they can pay!
1t Is assumed that the other half
OF the population, including 100000
to 2O,OOO,00O on farms, do not have
TO struggle and do not care.
But with all the excitement on the
board of trade, where the prices for
the nations wheat crop are fixed,
there is comparatively little trading.
The available wheat has been sold.
Brokers who formerly scorned any
thing less than 100000 bushel lots
now eagerly grasp at 10000 bushels
The prediction made at the out
break Of the war by James Patton,
the man who engineered the famous
wheat corner and retired with $1,000
600. that wheat would touch $50
seems about to be fulfilled. 1t is now
lowering over $l.45 a bushel and in
dications are that it will continue to
! rise
{ Thus the 9O0,OOO,OOO bushels, the
J government estimate of the 1914
wheat crop, are worth $1,2O5 900, 900,
or approximately S13.05 for every per-
| son in the country
! Now $l3.05 worth Of wheat will
make more than enough bread for the
/ average person-but how much more
| remains to be seen.
Europe has not wheat The Argen-
! tine and Canadian crops are poor. we
must feed Europe.
And Europe is willing to pay for
the wheat it gets from us II is now
| paying paying MORE than the
! American millers-outbidding them
! at every turn. Two million bushels
Is about the average daily expectation
/ " lSul bDt.
American mills are running night
and day. Their agents are securing
| the country to buy direct from the
farmers and paying highest quoted
! prices. That is why flour costs more
than 81 a barrel. where II sold for
around $3.50 before the war broke
| out.
Bakers are feeling the Increase and
threaten to sell bread at cents a loaf
or cut the size down to enable them
to sell for profit at five cents.
Corn, rye and oats are experiencing
sympathy rise. Corn is around 75
cents a bushel and oats from 81 TO
90 cents. Much OF this is going
abroad also
! This all means prosperity in the
highest sense" declared a prosperous
| trader
Perhaps the farmers will buy new
implements, talking machines. pianos
ana parlor rugs But is that going to
be enough to rescue thousands OF
poor from the quicksands of povertv
and debt brought on by year of nm.
employment with the added burden
OF still higher cost of living?