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 occurs to other big
Exchanges--Minneapolis, Chicago, New York, etc.

The telegraphic report registers in several instruments 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 megaphoned 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--

Bang goes the gong! They're off! Above the red abbreviation, OCT