The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1879-02-03
IN AND OUT or VAIL STREET

~ u lhuTHilu1 Al' bIl'tS ~ u'NlNt H'Nuilhi'0
nuctuated from to 10 per cent. in an hours
time. and the total transactions Of a day footed
up nearly 100000 shares There were moments
when the street seemed CONFUSED bya veriiabls
panic. and many brokers refused to transact
any business at all, except such sales md pur-
chases as wero necessary to protect their inter-
css. Many petty Spectator. who had been
flush and Jolly at the end Of the previous week.
began to throw furtivc gances again in the di-
rcc,ion Of the Morguc.
The street presented n panorama which. even
in that queer quarter Of the globe. is to be seen
only on extraordinary occasions The stock
Exchange tape communicated the news ot the
break in the market to tho uptown hotels. ard
in less than half nm hour tho elevated roads
brought down mass OF humanity to which
only the pen Of Thackcray or the pencil OF n
Hogarth could do justice. Gambling house
keepers. faro dealers clerical spectators, solid
and respectable fathers Of families. q number
Of medical and legal celebrities. Il venerable
assortment Of blind. deaf. and equity retired
gcntlemen-a were TO be snen rushing, fuss
Ing. comforting and trying to ascertain whether
there was any hope at all left for them OF es-
Gaping ruin.
And who did II all? Jay Gould. Of course"
was the unanimous verdict " II IS his last des-
pcrnie coup. He has broken the marke; for tho
purpose Of covering his shorts There is
nothing sacred for that man. remarked a row
erend gentleman. looking iovcrishly at the
tape; " that man is in compact with the devil
While all these and great many otherthings
some hardly fit for publication. were said about
the littlo mumny-like Wall street gladiator. he
was quietly walking down Franklin street and
vaguely inQuiring OF mn acquaintance he
Glanced TO meet there. How "a the marEett"
On hearing that IL had all gouc to the deuce. he
insinuatngly observed:
Il have been thinking for some time past
that prices were unreasonnbly high. Now. take
Lake Shore. Il had IN the frs; week OF Jam
uury Il 100000 falling ~ in the receipts That
puts it 500 900 behind for the month"
Next day the exact" figure Of The decrease Of
earnings Of this road WA known 10 every
huckct-shop operntor. and not one person in
hundred had the common sense 90 realize the
fact that Gould had simply multiplied by four
tho results o. the Snow blockade Of the first
week OF the year.
In the same way Gould may slyly spread the
rumor that Mr. J. Il. Kecne Is sclnrg MS Erie;
That the rates are being cut again out West or
TINT revolution had broken ont in Paris ON ac-
count OF Ma'Mnhon's resignation; the Stock
Exchange will register al this as positive fact.
Nobody ever giving himself the trouble 10 ascer-
tain whore such rumors come from. and Gould
being master in the art ot conceaiing his
track. the whole Exchange makes itself a mere
tool Of his. About a week ago l met an old
friend and an excellent business man.
What are you. n ball or a bcarf' inquired |.
Neither" was his answer u am an ass.
! did not get into the market M the proper time.
and now the prices are too high for me-"
AT the close Of the Exchange on Tuesday. tho
snme person told me. with aiubliant express
sion all over his face:
q" lam no longer m MSS. am bear. and the
biggest one you ever saw l; You have any
stocks ut all. Jet them all go otherwise you will
be n gone goose In less than % hours"
Next day he was repentantly buying his shorts
in.
Facts like this show the temper Of the men
upon whose Judgment the appreciation Of tie
real value Of American securities is supposed 10
rest. A desperate and cloar-headed specu ator
| like Gould can make them dance just as he
pleases. Being short In one set Of Offices and
long in another. he dcnes AMI eoniuses all the
calculations ol those who try to watch him. he
was positively known" to ba short OF IN lncn-
cu.ahc amount OF Northwestern stocks. { the
break Of Tuesday demonstrated that he had a
| large line o. these stocks on hand to throw
upon the market. and n, a good profit. too.
On Friday somebody tried 10 retal.a,e upon
him by breaking his Union Pacific some eight
por cent. in less'than eight minutes Int one or
two Of his Irari were nj once on the spot. and.
while SIN mastcatius their lunch. put the
stock bncs where IL had heru.
The Wall street fraternity have r'ed everv-
thing against him. They threatened 10 ki.i
him. they threw him down the area of barber
shop they declared him over and over again 10
le bankrupt; yet as IN thu old song. To- pe't
ion'0aIne 10 encore, AMI is probably at this