192 DEEP FURROWS 



away a man who wears the garb of a clergyman; 

 presently he will take notes for his forthcoming sermon 

 on " The Propinquity of Temptation and Its Relation 

 to the Christian Life." The two young women who 

 whisper together in the corner have been reading stock- 

 market stories in the magazines and they are wonder- 

 ing which of the traders, assembling on the floor below, 

 will have his coat and collar torn off and which will 

 break down and give vent to those "big, dry man- 

 sobs" when his fortune is wrecked! 



Not the least of the sights at the Grain Exchange is 

 the Visitors' Gallery! 



Two tanned farmers are discussing quotations and 

 general conditions in a matter-of-fact way. War 

 demands, the unfavorable United States Government 

 report and rumors of black rust are making for a bullish 

 condition. Cables are up and the market promises to 

 be wild this morning. The gong will go in five minutes. 

 " The Pit " is out in the middle of the floor. There is 

 an octagonal platform, raised a couple of feet from the 

 floor level. In the centre of this platform three wide 

 steps descend to floor level again; so that the traders 

 standing on the different steps are able to see over one 

 another's heads and note each other's bids. On the 

 west side of the Pit is an elevated, built-in desk like 

 those seen in court-rooms, somewhat resembling an old- 

 fashioned pulpit; here three men sit throughout the 

 session. One keeps his fingers on the switch-box which 

 operates the big clock on the north wall where the 

 fluctuations of the trading are flashed on a frosted dial 

 in red-light figures. At his left sits a second man 

 whose duty it is to record the bidding on an official 

 form for the purpose. At the right is a telegraph 

 operator who sends the record of the trading as it 



