THE SEMIAVEEKLY TRIBUNE. NORTH PLATTE, NEBRASKA.
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VOTED FOR HIM TWICE ON SAME DAY
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HAT undoubtedly is tho moat
unique- Blgn lnngungo employed
nnywhoro In tho wqrld 1h to bo
found In Chicago. It Ih dlfforont
from other 'Hlgn lnnguages In
Unit It Ih called Into use only be
tween tho hours of 9:30 a. in.
rind I p. in. each woek day, and
because of tho fact thnt beforo
and after thoso periods Ub users
depend' upon ordinary mothoda
of speech for communication.
Hut perhaps tho most remarkable foaturo of
thlfl sign lnngungo IIoh In tho fnct that its charac
ter whilo only nlno In number are each of such
far-reaching Importunco that thousands of dollars
ro involved practically ovory time ono of them
Is ma do.
Thfa oxtvaordluary system of communication 13
tho means by which brokers on the Chicago
Jioard of trade conduct their business of buying
find selling on tho opon market. It Is peculiar to
this institution, being unliko that used on tho
floor of any other oxchnngo in tho world.
To the casual visitor watching tho crowds con
Krogated about tho differont pits during tho tlmoH
of a Hurry in prices tho signs used by tho traders
8mvo no lntolllglblo meaning, but to tho expe
rienced trader a simple movomont of tho hand
attracts attention and at tho same time convoys
ull tho Information necessary to consummato u
deal.
This sign language has developed with tho
Krowth of tho board and Its uho has long slnco
liocomo n necessity. Tlie turmoil and hurly-burly
resulting, from a thousand traders seeking to
nttrnct nttontlon in tho excltomeut of tho hour,
added to tho click of hundreds of high-keyed tele
graph lnstrumcnls and t-'Q nolso of a small army
of messenger and orrmd boys srurrylng about,
inukoa artlculato spooch practically impossible.
Then, too, tho oyo Is quicker than tho ear. and
the Hlgnals glvon with the hand or by a gesture
of tho head mean ns much as u telegram to tho
Iinrty addressed and frequently pormlts tho clos
ing of ft trade, when, if time had been taken In
un uttompt to reach (he side of the party making
tm offer, somo change might hnvo taken place In
tho market and tho opportuno moment would
havo been lost,
Tho sign manual of the pit trader Is simplicity
Itself, and with a very little practise anyone can
Tiecomo adept at it, although, of course, this does
not moan that It will perfect him as u master in
tho strategy and generalship demanded of 11
pood broker. For instance, wheat having sold at
SO cents, a trader eatchoa the oyo of somo ono
opposite in the pit who has 50,000 bushels to sell,
nnd partly by telepathy nnd partly by a motion
of tho clenched first, signals that he will take
tle "CO" wheut at DO. Tho seller. In reply, holds
ufr his right hand with tho Index linger extended
horizontally, indicating that ho wants cent
moro than the price quotod, or 00 cents Tho
tmyor motions acceptance nnd signals back ",(,."
Tho seller and buyer then notp on tholr cards
"Sold r.0 at Jones" nnd "Hot GO at , Smith."
respectively, tho number of bushels bought nnd
old always meaning so many thousands. Aftor
leaving tho pit tho two traders moot and check
the operations,
J prices are Indicated by tho hand and flngors
27?ADZr?3 CmCKl2r?IJIJ)ZA
when hold In a horizontal position. Tho clonchod
fist means the price in oven cents. Each out
stretched finger, the lingers being spread apart,
represents an addod eighth of a cont up to five
eighths; the extended hand with all of the lingers
prossed togothor means three-quarters, and tho
thumb only signals sovon-olghths. Tho hnnd dis
played vortlcally refers to quantltlea, each ex
tended finger moaning (5,000 bushels up to 25,000
for tho entlro hand. Whether tho grain is being
offered or bid for Is shown by a slight motion of
the hand to or from tho trader making tho signal.
Tho official reporter stationed In each pit sees
nil this signaling, and pnrtly by observation nnd
partly on Information given him by tho traders,
notes tho latest price and gives it to a tolograph
oporntor at his sld& to bo "put on tho ticker."
Thus the prlco of grain Is mndo every moment
of the session and transmitted to all the markets
of tho world
Whilo tho visitor who sits In tho gallory over
looking tho Iloor. nnd who understands nothing
of whnt la going on below. Is likely to bo lm
prossod with tho thought that ho la looking at the
vitals of a lunatic asylum, there Is really no other
bustnosB so woll organized thnt one man will ac
cept a nod and n shako of tho linger for thou
sands of dollnrs without nrgumont This means
that It Is a huslnoss ombedded in honor. No con
tract, either written or oral, Is moro binding thnn
tho contracts to which a member of tho associa
tion Is a party. No Informality, no absence of
legal technicalities, will nvall under tho rules of
the association to absolve n man from undevlat
Ing compliance with evory term and every featuro
of his business obligation. Every pretext for tho
avoidance of such obligation Is brushed nsldo by
a Jin y. not of a court, but of business men, his
poors, nnd Is not permitted to obscure tho spirit
and Intent of his promises, or to relonso him
from his tesponslbllltlos ns a man and ns a mer
chant. Whon It Is considered that In n single
year moro than 500,000,000 bushels of grain havo
been dealt In on tho board, tho succoss of tho
system employed Is apparent.
Tho systom of buying and selling for future
delivery, ns applied to grain especially, and, as
prnctisod upon and safeguarded by tho rules of
the grain exchanges located In our great primary
markets, Is much dlscussud and regarding which
thoro la moro or less misunderstanding. It was
dovlsed solely In tho Interest of tho farmer and
Interior grain buyer It provides for tho economl
cal marketing of tho chief grain crops of tho
West, and creates and mnlntalns a broad, active
nnd constant market for
the sale of grain and pro
visions, Independent of an
immediate, actual, existing
consumptive demand.
What Is more important
to the agriculturist, it pro
vides him with ready
money, which in turn finds
Its way through the coun
try stores to wholesale
merchants In great cen
ters of trade, and, moro
than any other measure,
koops the complicated ma
chinery of business In har
monious activity. It also
has the effect of bringing
to tho knowledge of the
grain dealer and tho farm
er all facts which are nec
essary for them to know,
In order to arrive at tho
intrinsic value of their
grain, as measured by tho
supply and tho demand
the world over and tho
year through Under its
operation, all Information
concerning tho movement
of grain, nnd of the mar
kets of tho world, is placed
nt tho service of tho pub
lic In the arena of speculation every buyer and
every seller is a freo lance If tho "bull" thinks
tho "bear" has pulled down the prlco of next
May's wheat lower than the crop prospects war
rant, tho "bull" puts his neck and horns under
the quotations and hurls them upward. They
Btand there, to change tho figure like two gamo
cocks. There can never be an alliance between
theso two opposing Interests. Hut botween theso
two self Interests equilibrium is established.
Unfortunately, the public knows to its sorrow
tho methods of tho buckotshop better thnn it
does the legitimate boards or trade. Hucketshops
In outwnrd appearanco nro exactly the same as
tho otllcos of a private wire company. They aro
intentionnl counterfeiters Huckotshops do not
trade In grain at all Thev simply hot with their
customers on tho fluctuations and frequently hold
back or mako fluctuations to suit themselves.
The real broker, howover, who Is a member of
regular authorized grain exchange wnnts his cu
tomors to make money, and If It Is In his power,
they mnko money. If they don't he knows that
ho will lose tholr trade because tholr commission
Is nil that ho makes
It Is interebting to trace tho handling of a car
of grain from arrival until it is delivered into
tho elevator First, It Is necessary to provldn
for the protection of enrs from thloves nfter tho
reaching tho neighborhood of tho city Railroad
yards, as a rule, aro located In remote parts of
largo cities, and this romotoness, together with
tho fact that they attract to their neighborhood
numbers of petty pilferers, makos special protec
tion necessary. For this reason the Chicago
board of trndo mnlntnlns a detectlvo service.
Upon arrival, under tho protection mentioned,
tho tlrst official handling of tho contents of a
car of grain occurs whon it reaches tho Chicago
inspection yards of any glvon railroad, whereupon
tho seals nro broken by an omployo of tho stato
grain Inspection department, tp permit Inspection
nnd sampling by the stato Inspectors and tho
receivers' agents. Tho cars of n train are then
roaealed and ordered to tho various unloading
points, such as public and private elevntors,
transfer houses, mills, nnd somo largo wholesale
feed Stores, where they aro unlonded and weighed
under tho supervision of tho board of trndo weigh
ing department, which has stationed at ench of
theso points ono or moro men to look after such
work.
, Each car, when unloaded, Is thoroughly cleaned
out nnd swept with a broom, in order that all
grain may bo accounted for.
;amo," ho .,
a nntlvev
), "which
Representative Michael Donohod
of Philadelphia, who, his frionds boast
and his enemies admit, won his elec
tion less upon political Issues than
his attractive personality, tnkbs but a
small part In practical politics.
"I'm very groen nt the gamo," ho
declares (a good color for a
born Irishman, by the way),
makes me somewhat of a shining
mark In some respects. The morniiu;
nftor my last election there breezed
into my offlco a follow, large and
pleasant He effusively congratulated
mo with both hands and every breath
which was alcoholically over
charged and assured mo of the satis
faction It had given him to vote for
mo. Thanking him, I asked:
" 'What part of the district do you
Hvo In?'
" 'Ol'm from over th' bridge,' ho
replied in rich County Carlow brogue!
(Mr. Donohoo doesn't have to mako
any effort to get that brogue.)
'"What ward do you Hvo in?'
" 'And Oi'm in Kelly's wnrd, to bo sure, y'r honor,' he replied.
"'Kelly's ward'' I queried, for I did know enough to Identify a well
known local leader 'Why Kelly's ward isn't in my district at all!'
"'Sure, an' it isn't at all, at all, exclaimed, tho sly rogue, with1 delightful
coolness 'But I voted for yez, Misther Donohoe,' he added with a chuckle
'twice!'"
S' I
"JERRY" DONOVAN'S CHANGE OF HEART
Representative "Jerry" Donovan,
r Democrat from Connecticut, who
bristles indignantly when ho contem
plates absenteeism in the house, re
Jiouflced the other day an opportunity
to prosido over that body and gavo to
Speaker Clark tho credit of uninten
tionally preventing a night session.
Under tho special rule for the
consideration of tho nntitrust bills
the house was to hold night sessions
whilo general debate continued. When
tho hour for the dinner recess arrived
one Saturday Representative Webb
nsked unanimous consent "that ad
journment be hiken until Monday, set
ting aside tho night session.
"I object," said Mr Donovan.
"We havo nobody to speak," said
Mr. Wobb, casting his eye over the
twenty-odd members present.
"Then o ahead with tho reading
of tho bill," said Mr. Donovan.
"Where is oveiybody? Where are tho
distinguished gentlemen who ought to
be on tho Republican side?"
"Wher aro the Democrats?" interjected a voice from tho Republican side.
"Well, I'm tired of all this debate." said Mr. Donovan. "You must meet
tonight unless the gentleman in charge of the bill agrees to knock off llvo
hours from tho time."
Mr. Webb said he couldn't think of doing this.
"The chair names tho gentleman from Connecticut to preside at tho night
session," said Speaker Clark. i
"Rather tlian preside over this body," said Mr. Donovan, who is serving
his first term, "I will withdraw my objection."
WiNGO TELLS ONE ON HIMSELF
Representative Otis Wingo of Ar
kansas looks moro like the southern
congressman imaged in the popular
mind than any man In tho capital's
public life. In Prince Albert coat,
black slouch hat and black string tio
falling over a capacious expanse of
white shirt front, as he walks sedate
ly down the corridor, he seems to
have stopped bodily from tho pages of
some political novel
And Mr. Wlngo knows it; also ho
Is proud of it. Hence, when he told
the following little story on himselt
it was only upon tho solemn oath of
his auditor that not a word of it
should appear In print.
It seems that Mr. Wingo, having
in tow a visiting constituent whom
ho wished to Impress with his politi
cal magnitude, was standing waiting
at tho door of an elevator in the
House office building. Mr. Wingo
rang tho boll; but to his disgust tho
descending elovntor swept airily by
without even hesitating. This hurt.
"Why didn't you stop for me on your way down Just now?" queried Mr,
Wingo sourly as they wero descending on tho next trip.
"Couldn't stop for you," replied tho elevator boy With lofty finality. "Had
a congressman on board."
"And this," ojaculated Mr. Wlngo, as he told the story, "beforo that constituent!"
IBliifeii 1 vi
MAN WHO CAPTURED SANTA ANNA
"And so Gen Santa Anna surren
dered to me," said Sergt. Peter Daly,
"and I Introduced him to tho line
sergeant, and off w6 all west to Gen
WInflold Scott. And," Sergccnt Daly
added, impressively, "that ended the
war."
On the porch of his daughter's
comfortable frame cottage In the
Uronx, New Vok city, on theso warm
days sits Petei Daly, and smokes his
pipe, and tells what ho remembers
of "the war" '1 here Is only ono war
for Peter Dal;, nnd although ho la
nlnety-ono years old, and no one
thinks of calling him "Sergeant"
nowadays, tho salient episodes of his
career as n fighter stand out as clear
ly, and as slgnltlc.intly, as if they had
happened yesterday. Sergt. Peter
Daly has almost forgotten that the
Civil war was ever fought, or that we
had battles in 1898 in tho West Indies
nnd Man'la bay. Tho Mexican war
was his war, and WInflold Scott was
his genoral. And ho, Peter Italy, was tho man to whom tho Mexican com
minder surrendered.
"It wasn't any of my doing," ho explains, lest pride In his good fortune
be mistaken for a falso self-esteem. "I just happened to bo on the end of
tho line. That was how it was I took charge of him."
tc
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