Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1869-11-13
The Gold Mart.

Considerable of the space Of our jour
nals has recently been picl by reports
about tl!c financial difficulties on Wall
street, and great many tcchnicaIities
have been used which were doubtless
Grcck to many readers. The New York
San gives a key to the gibbcrish Of Wall
street, which We reproduce:
THE GOLD ROOM AND ITS APPOINTMENTS.
At certain specified hours each day the
members of the Exchange assemble in their
room to buyand sell gold. None but mem
bcr> are admitted to the privileges, though
a gallery is set apart in which spectators
may locate themselves to witness the trans
, actions. The President. or one of the Vice
| Presidents. stands at Il desk with Il heavy
gavcl in his hand I" preserve order. The
Secretaries busy Themselves recording the
transactions made. Two lines of telegraph
connect the room with all parts of the
world and constantly announcing the fiuc-
iutation> Of the market. Another ingenious
tcIcgrarhic arrangement. tla~hc> the IT,
din.s of every change instantancouSly into
all the pricilal bankers and brokers off
cc- in the street. rrcorlin" the information
ina lc"ihlc manner on an endless slip of
paper \ crowd of two or three hundred
excited mcn--hr"kers or their representa-
tivcs.-iS gathered in the circular cncln-
sure directly in front Of the Presidents
desk.
THE L, LIS AND BEARS At WORK.
| The mamcut business commences a.rl-
cral hubbuh breaks ont; Every one pres
rnt shouts his wants ,r hi, disposition at
the top of his voice, aud all shout Il; oncc.
To an outsider ali is confusion. AMI the
spectator is utterly unable to distinguish Il
single word in the dclitning medley of
voices. Nnc yrls out want fifty thous-
and at an eighth; another "a quarter for
twenty five thousand "S,ll." cries Il
voice from the opposite side Of the room.
'Twcaty thousand at Il half. is shouted.
"Givc thrcc-ci .hts." comes from another
source. MAKE it fifty and sold. - shouts
another. " "nonc,' cries the first voicc.
And So it gees on for an hour or more.
| ECoNuMY OF BREATH.
To render this intclligib!c. it must be
remembered these dealers in sterling coin
consider their words more precious than
the money they buy and sell. They never
repeat the fun price they give or take lut
merely the fraction above the INIT, unless
the raise makes iull cent. Thus. if The
last rate was l3l. Il man Offering or ask me
IAN c:.hth' is understood to offer or ask
l3!l. So with Il quarter, Il hale five
ci-his "r seven c.hts. II the last prize
was l3i nnl dealer wishes to advance
to l;;2. he cries ont t!irty-two,' or more
frequently only two"
ORDER AVID cpNrrsioN.
Notwithstanding the Babel all this
sounds Ike to an outsider, everything is
perfectly inteligih'c to the initiated, and
all The officers catch and record every trans
action. At every variance in the price the
telegraph Operators report. giving the time
as well as the advance or the decline. and
the information is flashed into all the brok-
crs' and bankers offices. Sometimes the
price fluctuatcs every five minutes, and
the greatest excitement prevails, producing
a noise aud confusion OF voices perfectly
bcwildcring to one unaccustomcd to it ;
but nevertheless cvory thing is Ineligible
to the dealers and officers, and the records
tell the whole story.
| SQUARiNG ACCOUNTS.
Tn the Exchange there are no settle
mcnts made. Nobody stops to receive
money or deliver gold. Smith X Jones
offer half million at 81. Brown 4 Will
liams cry out sold" Each enters note
of the transaction in memorandum book
and it becomes binding contract between
them, enforced by the rules of the body.
At the close of the Exchange, the former
goes to the lattcr's office and gives him n
ticket for the gold. All the transaction of
the day are settled in this manner. and
then each dealer makes a statement of what
he has bought or sold or both during the
day, the various prices given or received
the value of each transaction in currency.
and the gross amount due to or from him
on the days operations. This statement ac-
companicl by the tickets given andrcccivcd,
is sent to the Gold Clearing House. When
all the statements are in, the officers of the
Clearing House compare one with another
IL
between each dealer and all the others.
and the gross amount due to or from each
one is settled at once and in one payment.
the Clearing House distributing to each
creditor his total dues and collecting from
each debtor his total Indebtedness.
THE "LoNG' AND THE " SHORT" OF THE
| MATTER.
Frequently, dealers, stemptcd by the
high price prevailing and the prospects of
a decline, sell more gold than they have
got. trusting to make mp the deficiency
when the price falls. Such dealers are
said to be ''sclling short" and one who
has 50 sold is 'short" exactly the amount
he has sold beyond what he actually has.
On the contrary, the dealer who has gold
on hand unsoid is ''long." "Cash gold"
| is tho rcol coin in contralistincti0n 70 n