THE GRIP OF THE PIT 193 



occurs to other big Exchanges Minneapolis, Chicago, 

 New York, etc. 



The telegraphic report registers in several instru- 

 ments attached to the big blackboard that occupies the 

 entire north wall. Operators with chalk and chalk- 

 brush in hand move about the platform at the base of 

 this blackboard, catching the quotations from the 

 clicking instruments and altering the figures on the 

 board to keep pace with the changing information. A 

 glance at this great blackboard will furnish the latest 

 quotations on wheat, oats, barley, flax, corn, etc., the 

 world over. 



Ranged along the entire east wall are the clacking 

 instruments of the various telegraph companies for the 

 use of the brokers and firms trading on the Winnipeg 

 Exchange. Telephone booths at the north, seats for 

 friends of members on the west side, weather maps, 

 etc., beneath the gallery these complete the equipment 

 of the big chamber. 



The group about the Pit, waiting for the market to 

 open, grows rapidly as 9.30 approaches. Members of 

 the Exchange saunter in from the smoking-room, swap 

 good-natured banter or confer earnestly with their 

 representatives on the floor. In response to the mega- 

 phoned bellow of a call boy, individuals hurry to the 

 telephone booths. Messengers shove about, looking for 

 certain brokers. The market is very unsteady ; it may 

 go up or down. The men are clustering about the Pit 

 now; most of them are in their shirt-sleeves and they 

 are on tip-toe like sprinters who wait for the starter's 

 pistol. Some of them have instructions to dump wheat 

 on the market ; some have been told to buy. Hundreds 

 of thousands of bushels will change hands in the first 

 few minutes. The market may go up or it may go 

 13 



