Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1878-08-03
THE WOMEN WHO GAMBLE.
How They Set About II, and How
Fortune Treats Them-Snk
Dresses In Wall Street
Women Playing
Policy.

New York sun,l
"Do you ever receive orders from
lad:es?" reporter for the Sun
asked a well-known broker recent
ly.
"Not often nowadays, although
in the flush times many of the fair
sex took a flyer once in a while.
They didn't run much to stocks in
those days. Gold was their favor
ite. You remember how the pre-
MUM used to hop up and down.
don't you? Well, the women
wanted quick and big profits, and
these they could get easier in gold
than in stocks. l believe one
woman at least made a fortune out
Of the bogus proclamation. That
sent gold up like a rocket. Wheth-
er she had a point or not, | never
could find out. | know, though,
that she operated heavily, and was
shrewd enough to buy on the small
est possible margin"
"But there have been women
who came down to Wall street reg
ularly to speculate, have there not?"
"Oh, yes; but not many. l don't
recall more than five or six. Our
orders come mostly by mail, or
through friends Of the fair opera
tors. Some years ago there was a
young and pretty woman who
seemed to have plenty of money,
considerable shrewdness, and any
amount of dash and energy. She
used to come down every morning
and stay to the close Of business,
making her headquarters with a
leading clearinghouse. At that
time Pacific Mail was general
favorite with spectators, and she
caught the fever. She was q per-
sistent 'bull,' and her inability to
change sides once in while brought
:, about her financial ruin. / don't
know that she had any system of
operating. Indeed, l believe she
viewed such speculation as a game
of chance, and played accordingly.
She was successful as long as her
favorite stock was on the rise, but
when the tide turned she didn't
have sense enough to turn with it.
In fact, | believe obstinacy is inher-
ent in the sex, and that she acted
I Just as ninety-nine out of every
hundred women would have done.
} Well, Pacific Mail cleaned her out
in about eight months, and l never
] saw her again"
ado you find among women Gus
toners any decided bias%
"Yes. They mostly operate fol
the rise, They are always SAN
guine, and seem to think that whaI
they want will come to pass. They
don't study railroads aud other
speculations as men do. Whatever
; they do they do on impulse. Then
again, they are as snperstitious, al
a rule, as the plantation negroes
before the war. They have dream,
. that guide their speoulations, ant
somehow their dreams always shap.
0 themselves to suit their pecnlia
: IDEAS"
"These are exceptions to th'
e rule, of course?"
S "Yes, now and then. Ten year
D ago lady of no particular age
e che may have been twenty-eight o
G forty-did a good deal Of bushes
/, through Robinson, Chase & Co. an
n other brokers. She was as keen Sc
:. after point as cat after . nous
n or hungry man after his dinner
s and she made a heap Of money
d She used to humor the market beau
r tifully, and was always circulatin
s around the street TO pick up new
n Her only fault was that she was to
timid. | remember once she had
I" point on Erica dead sure thin
IS chat q man, handling her money
e would have turned 10000 share
I. on. But she didn't. She was slo'
l. butsnre. She took in 1000 share
!, and was eontented to mako $400
d on.the turn, although she was a.
d sured that the stock was going up
k per cent. 1t seems to ms that sh
N had An object in coming into Wa
" street far beyond money making
l. bat she never gave herself awal
!, | learned long after she disappea
c. ed that she was an heiressj and I'll
Iy story was that she was in love wit