The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1877-05-12
WHAT WALL STREET DID.
A CONvICT's STORY.

[ held good position as a clerk with
a firm in William street, which I shall
call Wilson, Carter & Co. l became a
boarder in the family of a relative and
continued with him four years, when
some changes in his business determined
him to remove to San Francisco. now
took lodgings and commenced, for the
first time, what is called a bachelors life.
1t was somewhat dull at first, l admit,
but by degrs es I made acquaintance,
and it offere | far greater attractions.
Nay, more, ] ad now secured 50 fully
the good feelings of the heads of the firm,
that I was frequently a guest at their
tables; and it is only justice to myselfto
assert that if I did not gain their conf
dence, it certainly did not arise, on my
part, from any lack of zeal in their ser
vice. One day when / was dining at the
house of the senior partner, I met a Ger
tain MI. Robert Thornton, 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 ne resided brt
a short distance from me, and the night
being fine, he offered me a cigar, we
walked home together.
On the different subjects we conversed
on during our walk, the one in which he
appeared TO take a special interest was
specializing in stocks. C~uriously enough,
while employed for nearly five years
within a few blocks of the stock ex-
change, where l knew fortunes were con-
ss%ttantlHs changing hands, l had never felt
tempted to try my luck. eMy employers,
indeed, were strongly opposed to it, and
l had heard at least one Of them de-
nounce stock speculation as gambling of
the worst kind. But L knew, too, that
other merchants of equally high standing
laughed at them for this, and Thornton,
| soon found, was well stored with argu-
ments to prove it every whit as legiti-
mate as the most humdrum dealings in
pork or -four or nails.
1t SO happened that a sudden and con-
tinued rise in Erie had caused a great
furry in the street, and my companion
named several acquaintance who had
cleared from $4,000 to $50, 900 by lucky
investments during the last week.
~ could make as much as any of
them,o he exclaimed, off I only had a
Thousand or two to start with. l know
precisely how TO do it, and ifI could
find a man to put in the money I'd make
a small fortune for us both inside of a
It was impossible to listen to him In.
moved, especially as | knew from the re-
ports in the newspapers that investors in
Erie were making extraordary sums.
Consequently, when he asked if I knew
anyone at all likely to go in with him, I
said:
Perhaps / might"
What! youw he cried ; "I'm de-
Can you raise a thousand ?'
Yes two thousand, if necessary"
Bravo! your fortune is made !"
But see here" said l; lin the first
place, we must keep this thing quiet, for
don't care to have my employers know
t, and in the second place, you must
post me up, so I shall know exactly what
about.
"All right! said he; that's easily
managed. And as you put in the funds
I'll be satisfied with one quartero of what
We make, and if w should lose, which is
impossible, however, I'll stand half the
BY this time we had reach I'D my lodg-
lngs and, going in together, / gave him
1 check for $1,000 on the bank where
ny small Patrimony was deposited. A
memorandum of our agreement as to the
OF the certain profits and the
impossible losses which we anticipated
then drawn up, and any mere &C
luaintance gayly took his leave, saving:
MARX my prediction! Thornton &
so. will corner the street yet.
i smiled at this, but 7 did not realize
it's absurdity 80 clearly as I hare since.
By far the most interesting part of the
newspaper the next morning was the
financial article, and I bought the first
Of the Evening Post to see the
stock quotations. i could not leave my
iesk during business hours, but / dined
Thornton and found him in a high
of excitement. He urged me to
invest another thousand but I refused,
greatly tempted by his represen-
The next night he made q pro
effort to look cool and uncon-
'erned ~ be laid before me . package Of
amounting to II, $50.