Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1880-09-22
STOCKS AND
BOOSTERS.

"GARLICKING" STOCKS AND
BOOSTERS.
hta certain uptown hotel in New
YuIk friendly band of stock opera
tors : wont to assemble every evening
L, tbIk over stocks and imbibe brandy
ali. soda As they are all men who
have made and unmade the stock mar
Eet. and as their views may prove Of
value to the would-be SPECTATORS, the
following anecdote, which one Of them
related upon recent occasion, seems
worth preserving:
II suppose" he said, ''that there is
not a man in these United States who
thinks that he can't run a hotel, man
age a theatre, or manipulate a stock.
Yet there are not half dozen men in
the whole country who thoroughly un-
derstand 'garlicking' stock so as to
prevent people selling it down or buy
ing it up at inopportune moments. /
don't suppose you understand what |
mean by 'garlicking' stock, so l will
tell you little story.
at was during the flush times in
1850 / was pretty sick man in San
Francisco, and the doctor ordered me
up the country for q change Of air Tom
jenkins was then running a ranch
among the hills, and as be and ! were
old friends, | resolved to pay him a
visit. Tom had fine barnyard of
fowls, and among them was great
game cock He was as big as an os-
trich, but game to the backbone Well,
there wasn't a rooster in the whole
countryside that he hadn't tackled and
got away with Tom had tried all he
knew to keep him quiet He had locked
him up in houses, and tethered him by
the leg. and half starved him, but it
was of no use; as soon as he heard an
other rooster crow, that moment he
was off at full speed, and never stopped
until he had licked him. Well, when
/ arrived at Toms ranch he had built
big cage, and inside sat the rooster,
looking very melancholy, while Tom
told me the whole story He said that
he would gladly give 81 900 to any
one who would find cock that could
lick his chicken, but at the same time
he did not believe that there was a bird
in all California that could do it.
"Now, / had heard from an old
chicken fighter that if a little garlic
was rubbed on the head and under the
wings Of game cock, no other rooster
would attack him so / asked Tom
what odds he would lay me that / did
not get a rooster which would defeat
his famous bird. Tom at once offered
to lay ten to one, and we put up con-
siderable sum on the event. | took
Toms buggy and drove down to the
town, where there was poultry mar
ket. There were lots Of roosters Of all
kinds and breeds, but nothing very
gamy looking At last | struck a
sporting looking poulterer, who said
that he had an aged game rooster,
whose father and mother he had known
and who he was sure would show
fight. He was old and dilapidated
looking, but he was the best / could
find, so / closed the bargain for one
dollar Then / bought Glove of gar
lie, and drove back with my purchase
to the ranch.
"Next day Tom had asked all his
friends to see the fight, and Mrs. Jen-
kins had filed the windows of the
house with the ladies of the neighbor-
hood, all anxious to see Toms rooster
get away with the stranger | fixed
my bird up as well as | could, and |
rubbed the garlic under his wings and
all around his head When / appear
ed in the yard where the fight was to
take place there stood the great game
cock, looking more like a Cochin China,
and strutting round like an lrishman
at Donnybrook fair / kept my bird
in bag until the last moment, and as
soon as time was called | took him out
blinking in the strong sunlight He
looked round for moment, rubbed his
bill once or twice on the ground as if
sharpening it, raised his wings to see
| if the Joints were stiff, and made at
once for bis gigantic opponent. Toms
rooster took two or three jumps in the
/ air, DCISeu HIS Dcdu SO DIS W ldhc ROOu
aim, and few right at the stranger
but the instant he smelled the garlic
that rooster turned fled like a yellow
dog with his tail between his legs.
Mrs. jenkins almost tainted, and
there was good deal Of profanity
among the male spectators, who had
all backed the home bird The last
last thing | saw Of that rooster was
his tail, as he crossed bluff near by,
with Tom in full chase with double.
barreled shotgun, swearing that he
would never allow anything to be
beaten on his ranch and escape alive
At the conclusion of this story there
was long pause and another round oi
brandy and soda. Nobody ventured
to apply the moral until the story teller
did it himself by remarking that toe
much garlic had been rubbed into tho
stocks of certain railroads, and thai
no rooster could be found to fight Ger
tain gentlemen on their own dunghill
In fact, the two most promising birds
had been frightened away, and the
stocks were "dead bird in the pit,
all the fresh rumors to the contrary
Notwithstanding