Show 6 HAT undoubtedly Is the most unique sign language employed anywhere in the world Is to be found in chicago it Is different from other sign languages in that it Is called into use only between the hours of 9 30 a m and ap m each week day and because of the fact that before and after these periods its users depend upon ordinary methods of speech for communication dut perhaps the most remarkable feature of this sign language lies in the fact that its characters while only nine in number are each of such far reaching importance that thousands of dollars are involved practically every time one of them is made this extraordinary system of communication Is the means by which brokers on the chicago board of trade conduct their business of buying and selling on the open market it Is peculiar to this institution being unlike that used on the floor of any other exchange in the world to the casual visitor watching the crowds congregated gre gated about the different pits during the times of a flurry in prices the signs used by the traders have no intelligible meaning but to the experienced trader a simple movement of the hand attracts attention and at the same time conveys all the information necessary to consummate a deal this sign language has developed with the growth of the board and its use has long since become a necessity the turmoil and hurly burly resulting from a thousand traders seeking to attract attention in the excitement of the hour added to the click of hundreds of high keyed telegraph instruments and the noise of a email army of messenger and ead boys scurrying about makes articulate speech practically impossible then too the eye Is quicker than the ear and the signals given with the hand or by a gesture of the bead mean as much as a telegram to the party addressed and frequently permits the clos ing of a trade when if time had been taken in an attempt to reach the side of the party making an offer some change have place in the market and the opportune moment would have been lost the sign manual of the pit trader Is simplicity itself and with a very little practise anyone can become adept at it although of course this does not mean that it will perfect him as a master in the strategy and generalship demanded of a good broker for instance wheat having sold it 90 cents a trader catches the eye of some one opposite in the has bushels to sell and partly by telepathy and partly by a motion of the clenched first signals that be will take the 50 wheat at 90 the seller in reply holds up his right hand with the index finger extended horizontally indicating that he wants cent more than the price quoted or 90 cents tho buyer motions acceptance and signals back the seller and buyer then note on their cards sold 50 at jones and dot 50 at emithm respectively the number of bushels bought and sold always meaning BO many thousands after leaving the pit the two traders meet and check the operations all prices are indicated by the hand and fingers S tai S and constant market for the bale of grain and provisions independent ot an immediate actual existing consumptive demand ahat is more important to the agriculturist it pro aldes him with ready money which in turn finds its way through the coun try stores to wholesale merchants in great cen of trade and mor than any other measure keeps the complicated ma chinery of business in har conlous activity it also has the effect of bringing to the knowledge of the grain dealer and the farm er all facts which are nee essary for them to know in order to arrive at the intrinsic value of theli grain as measured by the supply and the demand the world over and the year through under its operation all information concerning the movement of grain and of the mar bets of the world is placed at the service of the public when held in a position the clenched fist means the price in even cents each outstretched finger the being spread apart represents an added eighth of a cent up to five eighths the extended hand a ath all of the fingers pressed together means three quarters and the thumb only signals seven eighths the hand als played vertically refers to quantities each ex tended finger meaning 6 bushels up to 25 for the entire hand whether the grain Is being offered or bid for is shown by a slight motion ot the hand to or from the trader making the signal the official reporter stationed in each pit sees all this signaling and partly by observation and partly on information given him by the traders notes the latest price and gives it to a telegraph operator at his side to be put on the ticker thus the price of grain Is made every moment of the session and transmitted to all the markets of the world while the visitor who sits in the gallery over looking the floor and who understands nothing of what id going on below Is likely to be am pressed with the thought that he Is looking at the vitals of a lunatic asylum there is really no other business so well organized that one man will accept a nod and a shake of the finger for thou sands of dollars without argument this means it Is a business embedded in honor no con tract either written or oral Is more binding than the contracts to which a member of the alon Is a party no informality no absence of legal technicalities will avail under the rules of the association to absolve a man from und eviat ing compliance with every term and every feature of his business obligation every pretext for the avoidance of such obligation Is brushed aside bv a jury not of a court but of business men bis peers and Is not permitted to obscure the spirit and intent of ahli promises or to release him from his responsibilities as a man and as a mer chant when it Is considered that in a single year more than BOO bushels of grain have been dealt in on the board the success of the system employed is apparent the system of buying and selling for future delivery as applied to grain especially and as practiced practised upon and safeguarded by the rules of the grain exchanges located in our great primary markets Is much discussed and regarding which there Is more or less misunderstanding it was devised solely in the interest of the farmer and interior grain buyer it provides for the econome cal marketing of the chief grain crops of the west and creates and maintains a broad dwi dw i 1 clr in the arena of speculation every buyer and every seller Is a tree lance it the bull thinks the bear has pulled down the price 0 neit mays wheat lower than the crop prospects war rant the bull puts his neck and horns under the quotations and hurls them upward they egand there to change the figure like two game cocks there can never be an alliance between these two opposing interests but between these two self interests lum Is established unfortunately the public knows to its sorrow the methods of the bucket shop better than it does the legitimate boards of trade Ducket shops in outward appearance are exacts the same as the offices of a private wire company they are intentional counterfeiters counterfeit ers Bucket do not trade in grain at all they simply bet with their customers on the fluctuations and frequently hold back or make fluctuations to suit themselves the real broker however who Is a roem berof regular authorized grain exchange wants his cu bomers to make money and it it Is in bis power they make money if they don t he knows that he will lose their trade because their commission Is all that he makes it Is interesting to trace the handling of a car of grain from arrival until it Is delivered into the elevator first it is nece reary to provide for the protection of cars from thieves after the reaching the neighborhood of the city railroad yards as a rule are located in remote parts 0 large calles and this remote nasa together with the fact that they attract 0 their neighborhood numbers of petty pilferers pilfer ers hakea protection necessary for this reason the chicago board of trade maintains a detective service upon arrival under the protection mentioned the first official handling of the contents of a car of grain occurs when it reaches the chicago inspection ards of any given railroad whereupon the seals are broken by an employed of the bbate grain inspection department to permit inspection and samp lingby the state inspectors and the receivers agents the cars of a train are then resealed and ordered to the various unloading points such as public and private elevators transfer houses mills and some large wholesale feed stores where they are unloaded and weighed under the supervision of the board of trade weigh ing department which has stationed at each of these work points one or more men to look after euch each car when unloaded Is thoroughly cleaned out and swept with a broom in order that all grain ma be accounted for 11 i feba |