The North Platte semi-weekly tribune. (North Platte, Neb.) 1895-1922, June 26, 1914, Image 2
THE SEMIAVEEKLY TRIBUNE. NORTH PLATTE, NEBRASKA. ? c? VOTED FOR HIM TWICE ON SAME DAY 1 r ?i . nuKV nr LP.? TO I LiLimU aifck. 1 ' " '3 ' IV. . nHB "l tzlVil dMMSH. jT i i- , s ZmaaprAro 7RMr3m?727r& i-CUCCSSlUt? UUULJGJK JC cs sax 9 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 4