Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1875-06-25
THE PACIFIC COAST.
Something about StOeks-The manIp-
uIattona -Ophir-Kangas
rOO-Fruft Marketing.

STOCKS.
Chicago gam bles in wheat and corn,
New York in gold and railroads, San
Francisco in Mining Stocks. Every man
woman and child In this city, almost,
buys and sells stocks, and they get up as
heavy an excitement over it as the gold
and railroad stock gamblers do in New
York. -s-.,-.
The lady of the house takes her chances
in Ophir and consolidated Virginia which
are high priced stocks, and the cook in
the kitchen takes q shy at Poarman
Leopard, or any of the little stocks which
cost only from so to 81 90 per share If
the stock goes up, madame INDUCES in
diamonds and silks, and the kitchen girl
Immediately ssports a new calico dress
On their winnings IF they go down
well, l don't know what they do In tn at
case. The way
STOCKS ARE MANIPULATED
may be altogether uninteresting to your
readers. 1truns about this way. A mine
is discovered, or rather location is taken
which gives promise of a mine. It is
named we will say Golconda, and COM
pany is at once formed to develop it.
The ownership is divided into one hun
dred thousand shares and the par value
of each share is made $40. OF these
shares the original proprietors keep in
their own names 10000 and place 10000
on the market, the proceeds of which
are to be used in developing" the prop
erty, which means opening the mIno and
finding if there is ore therein, and if so,
putting in all the machinery necessary to
the working of it. Il will be observed
lot ici,, kn
dollar of their own money in it. All
comes from the purchasers of the 10000
shares.
Now, we will suppose that rich bed
of ore is really found. Immediately ma
chinery is put in, theo ore is taken out, inn
mense profits are made, and the stock
mounts up from $40, to its original value,
to $50, $50, 500, and in some cases 800
and $500, and the fortu nate holder of 40.
600 shares dream golden dreams. But
mind, the half dozen originals hold q ma
ioritY of the stock, and as they eet to-
the officers of the company. They form
the Board of Directors, and SIN ith is
President, Jones Treasurer, and Th omp-
son, Secretary. When the stock is up to
the highest pointit can be got, say $500,
then comes q change. The shipments of
ore decrease, and finally stop altogether.
Rumors get abroad that the vein has
given out, and that to prosecute the work
an assessment viii soon be made, and
the stock drops, drops, drops, till apanic
strikes it and it goes down by terrific
leaps till it strikes the original SO, or
perhaps lower than that. Of course the
original six buy it all in. When it gets
low enough, ore is found again, the de-
luded public being always the victim,
because the six controlling men hold the
cards in their own hands The value of
the stock depends OF course entirely on
the production; they can make 1t pro-
duce or not, as they choose.
.-5a oPHIR
is lust now the foot ball, and It is being
manipulated IN the interest Of the ring
and has the bank of California for its en-
tire centre. The par value of Ophir is
$5O-it has been up within a year or two
TO S475, and down to $12. Sh arOn q Rails
ton who own it had made millions out
of the rise and fall of the stock, and to
this day no one but themselves know
whether it has any value or not
Even rich mines that are not made
mere stock specula ting machines of the
original owners max e enormous fortunes;
for they let all the contracts for supplies
TO themselves, and the way they bleed
the stockholders Is astonishing. But
the stocks are only for well-to-do people
to gamble with. BIddy in the kitchen
and John on. the dray can be accom- mo-
dated as well as the rich people on Van
Weis Avenue. And for people with
very small means there are stocks to be
gambled in.
KANGAROO MINE,
for instance, is discovered, and put upon
the. market at the nominal price OF 81.
per share. Reports are circulated OF tne
richness of the mine, of its wonueriui
prospects, and the certainty OF It's oecon-
ing q second Ophir and John On ths
their hard earned dollars. Now the
Kangaroo may be & myth, there may be
no mine, no company, for that matter,
hut Kangaroo shares, despite all have
value in the market, and they go up and
dow n Just 1he same as consolidated VIZ
pinia or any other stock that turns out
400. 900 OF ore per week. Nowbody
knows anything about 1t those who buy
have no idea where 1t is llocated, or that
IL has any value or even existence but q
share is share and 1t sells.
There will be an item In the newspa.
per some morning, that the developments
in the Kangaroo district are of the most
encouraging nature, and forthwith Kan
garoo stock goes up from 81 to $40, and
certain men rage about the street want
ing to buy all they can get of II at that
price. Seeing that these mining experts
want to buy, Biddy and John want to
buv, and they do buy, but the experts
do not. Those who are talking buy, are,
really, through their brokers, selling =;
the price that the clamor has made, =.
is 0 very pretty game, when ihey nave nav,
used ali the poor dupes that Will Duy, tney
simply let Ii 60, and Kangaroo laaes ous
of pu6lic sight, and becomes one OF the
things that were. The people pocket
their losses, and the operators begin
enSineering another swindle of the same
sort, which they carry through the same
way,
or course Just enough outsiders make
money In these things 10 encourage peo-
ple to keep continually going ln. Now
and then Q man who buys at dollar, has
| sense enough to sell when 1t reaches ten