The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, April 28, 1901, Page 11

deal in corn he suppose ve cleared $150,000. What s fight ts is still se who pre- tuation will be winner of lars s’ phenomena bears to be due Took to the Grain Buiness Naturally. Thirty-four years old, born in Morris s became an elevator bo; ouse in Morris whil went to Chi ree from schoo! a; i his determination except as gri ness for th b eing in Chi- imself work- he Alton ver for the a wide experi- rn. He had fictitious opera- e OF ool B50 and if a proved ing wh inder his thumb. were men who cou ngers—men of 1 as trader His head was the long: greatest, his thoroug Depends on the Farmers. racteristic of the man in his t of six months ago that he depends up for his guidance, and mot upon or other crop reports. His e with the actual proc ers every State in the Union is n corn field or a granary. i as saying: a fig for the Government statistics sent out by re- s ve nothing to say about not want them. 1 want to Know w the farmer has to say about 1 want ‘the information direct. Then I am ready to farmers informed him November deal,” for he operator on the Chi- a big loss and came vinner himself. He acted & winning, too, in the face of u of the operators whom had endeavored in lous in n: re to ruin lis for big margin He E aflure the his “November deal,” t battle his conduct has that many brokers v wolves” who on ed on him for mar- bushel on oats, 4 %2 cents on wheat. Of eents on corn and a nds found to life to that of the = George tlon ne said at the time, with e ut his’ lips 000 on mar, ve put it all up and we 1 to-morrow, if neces 1 called 10 per c ant to having ma riket. We have got as much the business I think. s, who are with and we have, in They nv t Board Cglculations. It is something new for the Chicage nber 200.” hey had millions rom $6,600,060 o Mr. Phillips. he gained last ehce in the pit kind of a recognized fact as lived 2 medest, retiring ng life ‘and but 1c » of eorn and cept for and his not the present em! har His Backer “Dan” Hi from M “Dan” is suppo of farm land in bounding faitl It was he who helped and hold until he got ready e less than three million n in the “November deal is. with him to-day. d the two are many rich and in farmers in Towa and Illinois, and it is be- lieved the combination has too much dy cash to be broken. v, Phil- t cannot be routed, and he oug! As to Phillips he is not an enigma,” alth gh traders walk about discussing him in most mysterious tones. He is ph fragile enough to blown away k th of wind, co: g of litt bundle of wire and steel nerves, a quick acting heart and a mind constructed for hanaling details sturbed. He most on the limits of Chi- cago. that boulevard nd trugk ¢ 1s godd, r district 1s s0 un R venue dge it is fringed with chick s or waste land the scenery fine and Lake Michi but the society there'is not t great speculators of the Board of Trade ne and horses” erowd that ns in cereals ¥ and but a pe for lunch to-morrow. It is a pretty suburb, where sensible people take their n to grow up, where there are r plain people and homely It is just on the dividing between a farm and a city and about ar rural life as Mr. Philkps could nor of the e to get without leaving the town alto- | residence looks like that of a man who wanted comfort and very little sho a man who liked the game of life for the game's own sake and for nothing else. Mr.- Phillips leaves it every morning in a most matter of fact fashlon, walks leis- urely about half a mile to the suburban station of the Northwestern road, is car- ried in to the Wells-street station in eighteen minutes and finds himself in the Rialto building, where Lis offices are, ten minutes later. The Rialto stands just south of the Board of Trade building and is connected with the latter by a bridge and court. Clergy Praying for Him. The first thing the new speculative star does when he enters his office is to attack his mail. He receives hundreds of letters Phil ips 4 his remarkable faith in the o been of his { the | H. ngQ o w73 d. He . Others are from clergymen in all par! of the country, who. st praying for his succe clear why the clergy shi in corn deals, but Mr. P letters affd politely answers them., Many farmers write him thanking him for whet he has done, for it enabled them to get better prices for their corn. Grain dealers add him because he has brought about st rigid inspection uf grain and indiry secured the indict- ment of one operator for alleged “‘doctor- e th they are It is not mad d be interested ips accepts the While mail is Gisappearing he is re- ceiving advice from ail parts of the coun- try a§ to the state of the market, and also information as {o the plans of his ponents. He is sald to be one of the first big speculators in the West who have made it a point to know in one way or n The Corn 1ng.s“Ca.st]e, 5. ; M?Phillips’ Residence, 3908 Ridge Avenue,RogersPark, g]ncago — another what the opposite side of the market is preparing to do to him. He is ready for his operations of the day by 9 o'clock, and a few minutes later may be found in the pit or oyer at the bulletin boards, one of his favorite resorts, or hidden away in h ivate office directing the proceedings of his confidential agents. He is fnacc (except those who are directly interested in the market) until about 3 o’clock., -He goes to lunch at 1:30 and Is in his office again at 3. Then the genwral public may see him if it has legitimate business. His manner of freeting is affable and open. He seemingly has 1 to conceal nor anything to boast Believes in Logitimate Market. “I believe,” he V' legitimate market. If corn or eats are not in sight the market should be a rising one. The Wliness and Jaring, cornering l| bushels, and defyi 2} operators on the Flo “him from his positior ) farr led o the best prices pos- sible, and the trader's aim should be to 1 on the facts as they are. Nothing traordinary has cver happened in my life. I have worked and workeg -hard, and I have gained scme knowledge. I am in this business as a business man, deal- ing with facts. I like legitimate specula- tlon and see no reeson why I should not continue in it.” On the Board of Trade those who ad- mire him the most say: “He-has done more than any five or ten of the old-time operators to bring outside trade to the Chicago market. He has a big line of customers buying corn on its merits and he ought to be helped instead of injured.” He may be a deposed ‘‘Corn King” in time, but it is not going to disturb his full and greatest erjoyment of one thing de in life—his wife and three children. He avoids it In every He Joes not wish to be in« ewed or held up to public view in any He has worried more over news- paper articles about himself during the last six months than over his business To himself he is nothing more H. Phillips, hates notoriety. The man felt the need of a stimulant to g0 on with his work. But he had no He had enjoyed himself the night He circulated among his office friends and at last found a quarter of & Then he called the office boy and in a confidential tone said: I have a bad cold. Here is a Get me some cough medicine. You understand?” Uncle Sam Sets 70,000 3 are 70,000 clocks set hy the [m ernment every- day when, the noon hour strikes in Washington. In every large city throughout the U ed 8 s time balls at the same min- ute indicate the time to hundreds watch- | ing for their fall, and hundreds of watches | are regulated to correspond with the sig- |nal. Th time service comes from the | Naval Observatory in "Washington, and | its_ original design was to furnish mar- s at seaboard citles with the means of regulating their chronometers. Like a {great many other Government institu- | tions it has strayed from its original pur- pose, and now it serves another of more | general usefulness. | The national time signal is made prac- ticable by the standard-time system, which has been adopted in almost every city in the United States. This system divides the country into four parts along the lines of longitude. Each division represents approximately one hour in the sun’s course. One of these divisions be- gins at the seaboard and ends at a line which passes through the city of Pitts- burg, in Pennsylvania. If you are travel- ing west, when you get to Pittsburg you will set your watch back one hour. Con- tinuing west, when you reach North Platte, in Nebraska, you will put your watch back another hour, and at Ogden daily. Many of them are begging requests, | you will find that it has gained an hour more, These divisions are known as East- ern, Central, Mountain and Pacific time. ‘When it is noon in Washington it is an even hour in each of these other divisions. The Naval Observatory contains a great many fine instruments. It holds what was for a time the largest telescope in the the United States, the 26-inch Clark equa- torial, which cost $46,000 and was erected in 1873, The Lick telescope in California, 86-inch, soon took from the Government the distinction of owning the greatest tel- escope, and that in a few years was ex- ceeded by the Yerkes telescope, 40 inches. ‘With the Clark telescope Professor Hall discovered the satellites of Mars, and there are other discovéries to its credit in astronomical history. The big telescope has nothing to do with the time signal. The telescope used in the business of measuring time is the transit instrument, which is much smaller. Here, on each clear night, an observer watches the movement of the stars and by their ald corrects the big Frodsham clock which stands in the signal room. In the making of the observations the web of the spider plays an important part. Threads of cob- webs are not only fine but wonderfully strong for their fineness. They also pos- sess a remarkable stability, not being af- fected by moisture and neither expanding nor contracting with the changes in the temperature. These threads are used to €S Ilow Young Georce HPH1LLIPS The Big LittleMan” of the Chicago _Board of Trade astonished the lold~time sPeculators. by his shrewd- 15000000 the richest or to.dislodge Then the man winkea. “‘Of course,” sald the boy. Presently the boy returned and handed the man & small bottle, carefully wrapped up. The man left his desk and sought a secluded spot where he tore off the cover- ing. Then there was an explosion. It was well for the boy that he was out of reach at that moment. Later the man found him. “What did I tell you to get?" he asked. " said the boy. “Yes. Dr. Cureall’s great cough cure.” “But didn’t you see me wink?" shouted the man. Yes,”” sald the boy. “And what did you suppose that meant?”’ “I don’t know.” ‘What more could the man say? Qlocks When the Noon HRour Strikes make cross lines extending at right angles mcross the field of view so as to divid= it into mathematical spaces. For this pur- pose it is found that spiders’ webs gath- ered near Washington are more effica- clous than those which can be obtained elsewhere. All through the signal room as the day observer enters there is a buzz as of grasshoppers in the field on a warm sum- mer day. This is the voice of the chro- nometers, which fill long wooden cases. All the navy’s chronometers are sent here to be regulated. Opposite the Frodsham clock are two less costly timepieces which contain the mechanism for sending out the time sig- nal. These timepieces cost between $700 and $800 apiece. There is, by the way, another clock in the observatory for which Congress naid $10.000. Tt was in- vented by Dr. John Locke of Cincinnati in 1849 and was the first apparatus for trans- mitting time automatically. It is running now, but its only use is to measure time. The Frodsham clock is set for sidereal time. Between this and standard Eastern time there is a difference of 8 minutes 12:09 seconds. The other clocks when they are regulated by the Frodsham must be made to vary just 8 minutes 12:09 seconds from it. This is accomplished by an in- genlous recording device for a fixed rate of speed. A stationary pen lcaded with red ink makes a straizht mark on the paper which is fastened around a cylin- In each of the two elocks is a cogged wheel just behind the dial, which turns with the second hand. Each of the cogs touches a brass closes the circuit of a battery. impulse from the battery passes through the pea and by a mechanical ar- rangement causes it to make a horizontal mark on the cylinder. Thus every second is permanently recorded. The Frodsham clock is also in circuit with this pen. cup of mercury rests in the clock. It is connected with one pole of the battery. is connected with the other. As the pendulum svwings it touches the mercury in the cup, closing the eir- cuit and sending an electric impulse through the pen. This impulse also causes the pen to be deflected and to leave a mark on the cylinder, It is easy enaugh to set &ither of the other clocks within a second of the Frodsham—to set the minute hand at the eight-minute variation and the second hand twelve seconds more. tion of the remaining second must be measured with great nicety. by measuring spring which The pendulum But the frac- This is done space between the marks on the cylinder with a prepared graduated scale which shows the differ- ence between the two beats to hundredths of a second. The operator doing this ac- celerates or retards the clock to be regu- lated by touching the pendulum with his finger till the space measured shows that the fractional difference is just .09 of a second. Then the clock is ready for the day’'s work. All this takes place not too long befors the noon hour, so as to give the clock little time to lose or gain. There is a sounder on top of the clock which steadily ticks off the seconds loud enough to be heard in the adjoining room. At three and a quarter minutes before noon, approxi- mately, the big clock is switched into the telegraph circuit. This signal clock has a toothed wheel di- rectly behind the wheel which marks the seconds. The wheel is divided into sixty spaces, but the tooth representing the twenty-ninth second is missing, and so are those representing the fifty-fifth, fifty- sixth, fifty-seventh, fifty-eighth and fifty- ninth seconds. As this wheel revolves the teeth come In contact with a spring which is In connection with the current, closing the circuit and causing the sounder to re- spond. The twenty-ninth signal drops out, and that intermission indicates the ap- proach the half-minute. In the same way an intermission of five beats Indicates the approach of the end of the minute. In the last hundredth of the last second. of the fifty-ninth minute of the eleventh hour at Washington the tooth of the min- ute wheel touches the spring which closes the circuit, and simultaneously the time’ balls all over the country drep.