Middletown transcript., 1877-10-13
Select Sturp.
WHAT WALL STREET DID.
a coNY1cr's STORY.

/ held a good position as a clerk
with firm in William street, which
1 shall call Wilson, Carter & Co. ]
became boarder in the family of a
relative and continued with him four
years, when some changes in his bust
ness determined him to remove to San
Francisco. I now took lodgings and
commenced, for the first time, what is
called bachelors life. It was some
what dull at first, I admit, but by de-
grees I made acquaintance, and it
offered far greater attractions. Nay,
more, I had now secured SO fully the
good feeling of the heads Of the firm,
that was frequently guest at their
tables; and it is only justice to myself
to assert that if l did not gain their
confidence, it certainly did not arise,
on my part, from any lack Of zeal in
their service. One day when | was
dining at the house of the senior part
ner, I met certain Mr.. Robert Thorn
ton, one of the principal clerks in a
large insurance Office. He appeared a
very gentlemanly, intelligent man, and
had evidently seen a great deal Of life.
We left the house together, and as I
found he resided but short distance
from me, and the night being fine, he
offered me a cigar, and we walked
home together.
On the different subjects we con-
versed on during our walk, the one in
which he appeared to take especial
interest was speculating in stocks
Curiously enough, while employed for
nearly five years within a few blocks
of the Stock Exchange, where | knew
fortunes were constantly changing
hands, I had never felt tempted to try
my luck. Ny employers, indeed, we're
strongly opposed to it, and l had heard
at least one of them denounce stock
speculation as gambling Of the worst
kind. But I knew, too, that other
merchants Of equally high standing
laughed at them for this, and Thorn
ton, I soon found, was well stored with
arguments to prove it every whit as
legitimate as the most humdrum deal
ings in pork or -four or nails.
It so happened that a sudden and
continued rise in Erie had caused a
great furry in the street, and my COM
panion named several acquaintances
who had cleared from $1,000 to S15,-
900 by lucky investments during the
last week.
"I could make as much as any Of
them," he exclaimed, "if l only had a
thousand or two to start with. I know
precisely how to do it, and if | could
find man to put in the money I'd
make small fortune for us both in
side of a fortnight"
It was impossible to listen to him
unmoved, especially as I knew from
the reports in the newspapers that in
vestors in Erie were making extraor-
binary sums. Consequently, when he
asked if I knew anyone at all likely to
go in with him, said:
Perhaps I might"
"What! youP' he cried "I'm de-
lighted. Can you raise a thousand 2"
"Yes; two thousand, if necessary"
"Bravol your fortune is madel"
"But see here" said I ; Gin the first
place, we must keep this thing quiet,
for 1 don't care to have my employers
know it, and in the second place, you
must post me up, SO shall know ex-
actly what we're about"
"All rightE" said he; that's easily
managed. And as you put in the
funds I'll be satisfied with one quarter
of what we make, and if we should
lose, which is impossible, however, I'll
stand half the loss"
By this time we had reached my
lodgings and, going in together, I gave
him check for $1,000 on the bank
where my small patrimony was de-
posted. A memorandum of our agree