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Show "WHEAT KING" HAS LEFIJSJIMIE Did Patten "Go Broke" or Pull Out at a Profit? Is the Question. BULL LEADER'S FOLLOWERS DEJECTED AND DISCOURAGED Break in tlie Market Has Wiped Out Fortunes for Scores of Traders. CiriCAfiO, April 22. That James A. Patten, hailed throughout the country aa the "wheat: king." has withdrawn from the market after disposing of his heavy holdings of May aud July wheat, was asserted in many quarters here, today. to-day. To this assertion was added tho fact that prices havo tumbled over f) cents during the last week, and that Mr. Patten has sought rest on a New Mexico ranch. Whether he has eliminated himself from the "'deal," and if so, whether he came out with profit or loss, aro questions thut can be answered only by Patten himself. Those who read the dispatch from Colorado ancnt the discouraging reception met by a reporter re-porter who tried to interview the big, speculator between trains expressed the opinion that this answer seemed unlikely un-likely to be forthcoming. Bulls Disappointed. The session of the board of trade was sensational today. Bulls' had expected ex-pected that after the 6-cent decline of tho two previous sessions a recovery would ensue. Taking the Patten view of the shortage as correct, and that wheat was intrinsically worth Iho price that has been paid for it in a purely speculative way, the reaction was due. Hut the firsL quotations were a startling start-ling disappointment to the bulls. From nenrry every point came reports of normal or even better crop prospects. Liverpool prices were down and the shipments from Argentina, Australia and other foreign countries were said to be. greater than usual at this time of the year. Bears filled the wheat pit in a dense mass, and poured forth a swollen stream of wheat. Bongs liquidated all along the line, and the expectation of slop-loss orders added to tho confusion. Frequently it was impossible im-possible to make, a sale within, throc- quarters fof--a cent "of" the price designated desig-nated by tlio t-ustoiner. No Apparent Support. The Patten vortex of other and more bullish days into which the cereal might be poured sceiniugly without affecting its appetite was nbt in evidence. It was a tremendous liquidating market, and Patten might havo been buying secretly through others than his own houses. From him there has come no word that he has changed his views as to the value of wheat. lie called Mav wheat cheap at $1.29, and if he still thinks so. it is pointed out that the same option of I.2J today was an excellent investment. The same was said of July at $1.0Pj. The prices were about 'J cents under the high price of last .Friday. While Mr. Patten, quoted as saying he was tleeing from report ers, was making mak-ing for the ranch of his' friend and partner. II. Bartlett, in New Mexico, dejection was pictured on the faces of many small speculators. Fortunes Swallowed Up. Their fortune has been wiped out b' the decline, and many a man who had a handsome profit 011 paper, but still hung on for more, now confronts a deficit. de-ficit. The wide publicity given the market brought to it numerous men who ordinarily walked in quieter paths. F.vcn the "'egulars. " for the most part, followed tho bull leader with unusual un-usual enl liusiasm. and until today shw nothing further in Ihe declines but a llurrv. Mr. Patten so characterized il. and his word was accepted. They held lo (lie limit of their resources, and today to-day were wiped off the speculative sla'to when their margins were ex-hauslod. ex-hauslod. They would like to have known if Mr. Patten had left orders secretly to make further purchases. Iu the absonce of certaiu information, however, Mr. Patten's absence and tho utter weakness indicated by today's decline, gave, rise to gloomy hints that "Patten was well out. " They went so far as to declare ihe present slump was due lo the liquidation of the big , Patten line of wheat, rather than to improved crop conditions. It, is admitted that this supposition may be absolutely wrong. Mr. Patten's ire against reporters was largely due to published references to himself as .1 manipulator of the market, the engineer of a great corner iu the world's staple j food. "Ban Away From Newspapers. ' i "It's a fad that ho ran away from the newspapers,' ' said one of Patten's I friends today. 1 "lie wasn't running a corner, and published statements to the eontrary wore him out. Hn is looking for rest, and he ought to find il, for Mr. Hait-lett's Hait-lett's ranch comprises some ,'100,000 acres, and 110 reporter is there." "lias he sold his wheat1" "I do not know. 1 doubt. lie can well afford to hold his line, for the piuch was not expected until the shortage short-age began really to be felt in June and JuTv. Mo expected a high price then, and oxpcclod lo make Ins wheat wlien his position on the crop had been I- vindicated.' . i " A third party remarked that it began lo look like a vindication of .Secret a ry "Wilson, whose information concerning crops Mr. Patten recently declared to be "tho joke of the century." To this a- smile v.as Jue only answer. The regular day bulletin issued by T5arlh:lt, Patten & t'o after tho close of the market said:t "The real condition is unchanged, j There is 110 more uncut in the country i than there was before the decline, and tho demand is just as good. Our confidence confi-dence 111 higher prices is as great as ever," h |