116 ESSAYS ON WHEAT 



into transactions beyond his financial depth, he may be 

 called upon to deposit immediately with the Clearing 

 House a check sufficiently large to protect the Clearing 

 House against the fluctuations of the market ; and, if he 

 fails to do this, the Clearing House may close out all his 

 transactions. In the event of failure to carry out a con- 

 tract, his seat may be sold and he may be excluded from 

 the privileges of the Exchange. The Clearing House finds 

 it all the more necessary to make stringent rules and regu- 

 lations regarding the conduct of its members since any 

 failure of a member to carry out a contract must be made 

 good by the Clearing House itself. 



^ XXVI. The Wheat Pit 



One of the most interesting sights in Winnipeg, under 

 normal trading conditions, is the wheat pit in the Grain 

 Exchange. The pit is in direct telegraphic communica- 

 tion with all the leading markets of the world, and the 

 changes of prices at Chicago, Minneapolis, Liverpool, etc., 

 are kept posted up on raised blackboards. Overhead 

 sounders which tick out messages in the Morse Code, keep 

 the men at the blackboards constantly in touch with the 

 trading in Winnipeg and other centers ; and, during trad- 

 ing hours, the blackboard men scarcely have a moment's 

 rest. When I visited the Exchange in November, 1916, 

 trading was very active and the excitement was great, for 

 wheat was selling at a higher price than any that had been 

 known since the American Civil War. December wheat 

 was selling at $1.94 and November wheat at $1.99. Some 

 eighty or a hundred traders were in the pit which, from the 

 gallery where I was ensconced, seemed like pandemonium 

 let loose. All seemed confusion. The hubbub was con- 

 tinuous. A number of the traders were shouting at the 

 top of their voices, flinging up their hands, gesticulating 



