Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1873-10-16
of the thousands of practical Jokes

Of the thousands of practical jokes
played in the Exchange, one-of a COM
paratively harmless character-may be
related. The cloak-room connected with
the hall is receptacle for the overcoats,
canes, and oyershoes of members. One
very disagreeable day last winter, when
the streets were deep in slush, business
was extremely dull, and the spirits of
the boys were considerably depressed as
well. Owing to the condition of the
streets, most of the brokers had worn
overshoes, chiefly of the kind known as
arctics, when going to the Board, and all
the shoes were, as usual, deposited in the
cloakroom. When the dullness of the
day had become almost intolerable, one
of the boys conceived bright idea to
relieve it. Moving slyly to the cloak
room, he got large cloak and spread
it on the floor. Then gathering all the
shoes within his reach into the cloak,
he picked up his prize and moved quietly
back into the hall, stationing himself in
a corner, with the bundle at his feet. A
minute later shoe was seen whirling
through the air, and then another,
and another. The brokers, thinking
some one was throwing their shoes
out of the cloak-room, made rush
thither, but found no one there. Then,
turning around, they found the air
rapidly thickening with overshoes,
which soon fell in a heavy shower on
their heads. 1t did not take them long
to find out the cause of the phenomena.
The man with the bundle was quickly
discovered, and in an instant the spirit
of mischief had broken loose all through
the hall. The shower of shoes thick
ened and thickened, until the air be-
came actually dark with these articles,
and, when the sport finally ceased, the
overshoes of two or three hundred mem
bers were so mixed and scattered about
that to sort and mate them again would
be almost impossible. Many of the
boys had to return from tbs Board that
day without the customary protection
for their feet, but the frolic they had
enjoyed ,econciled them to the tenn
porary discomfort.
The readiness with which those Wall
street merry men pass from absorbing
business to school-boy fun, might be
shown by a hundred illustrations, bit
one will suffice here. The incident oc-
CURED recently and on day when the
Exchange was half wild with panic.
Some failures had occurred, and appre-
tensions of many more were In all
minds. The hall was packed with
brokers, and the excitement was in
tense. Almsst every man present was
20 70 he.
expected crash, and the groups scattered
over the floor were pushing, roaring,
driving, believing, gesticulating, as
they do only when the market is panic
stricken. Suddenly, when the tumult
was at its height, a man wearing pc
culiar white hat appeared in the gal
lery. A broker, turning from one of
the groups, looked up and saw him. No
sooner did his eye take in the unusual
chapeau than he faced the stranger and
roared:
':Take off that hat p
Instantly the panic was forgotten, the
whole business of the Exchange came
to sudden stop, and almost every man
on the floor looked to the gallery and
shouted at the top of his voice:
"Take off that hat !"
The order was not obeyed for some
time, so the shrill cry went up again
and again. Presently the man took off
the obnoxious hat, made a mock bow to
the crowd below, waving the hat at the
time, and then retired. AS quickly as
the brokers had stopped business they
were at it again, and person going In
1ox
ness on each face, and the clamor rag
ing all over the place, could hardly be-
Geve that such a scene as the one de-
scribed had just been enacted.
Often the announcement Of failure
has no other effect upon them than to
elicit laundering B-a-a-h p fol-
lowed by long, loud laugh. But it is
not indifference to a comrades misfor-
tune that causes the boys to act in this
manner when he gets into trouble.
Wall street brokers are for the most
part generous-hearted fellows, and as
class they are rarely behind in deeds of
charity. But they must have their
fun, and frequently they are rather
careless as to whether the object of it
be suitable one or not. AS an in
stance of their off-hand generosity, may
be cited their subscription of purse of
three hundred dollars in the Exchange,
for the boy who was saved from the
wreck of the Atlantic. The boy was
brought into the hall by broker, and
placed on a table where all could see
him, and in few minutes the purse was
made up and given to him.-App,eton's
Journal.