Daily Republican., 1880-11-04
A PoEr In WALL STREET.
JGaq uin MilIeF'A Rise and Fall Es
nNpecuIator.
From tho November Californian.

-- tlLIeu 'AsWeeh III w all pttcots
IS / knew nothing whatever OF Wal
! Street then. l resolved, however, d
oblige my friend. | wert into Wal
Street at once TO get the desired infer
:, nation and experience.
?. This was six months ago. have
T. just got back. have not yet writer
a line oi that arIcle. But have
material enough to write book bigger
). than Macaulsy's "History Of Rnglaud." 4"
hnow ell want TO know about Wall
: street. Aud, II you will pardon the
depression, may add that ! am getting
bald headed.
, Finding hut little interest in this
great mselstrom OF excitement without
taking part, |, under the advice Of my
: broker, bought a little Wabash. /
bought Wabash because il was the first
, stock on the list which could distin.
lguish from the mass Of two hundred
names. And | cIme 10 remember ii
because had been born Oh its banks as
IL were. Iadeed, on the very banks o!
the Wabash River have seen my ia
itber iurr0w the 6eld fer corn in the
spring, while my mother follJTed after
dropping the corn in the fnrrows !,
while three little boys toddlsd after,
myself Of the number, and covered the
grain that lay in the littlesquares Of
the mellow earth. And so 1t was with
a touch OF tenderness that l bought Wa
bash, and became one Of the eager party
holding on to the tape, watching, wait
ing the turn Of fortunes wheel.
She did not betray me. My stock
began TO move upward from the first.
II was not so dull now. How inter.
eating it all was | | called the click
OF the "ticker" the pulse and heart |
beat Of the nation. II the laAd was
healthy and prosperous, the pulse beal
high and buoyaDt. II the land war
threatened with droutb, short crops,
or misfol tune Of any kind, the pulse
was low, fevtriEh aud dull. 1t WAS like
poem.
had now interest 10 the prosperity
OF the land bsy yond sentiment. Iwss
part owner in the one hundred thous.
and miles Of railways in America.
From thst day forth | studied thu
geography OF my country as never be
fore. Ny little uptown room III ths
fourth story was lined with maps, oil
American railways. la less than a
week could quote the opening or clos
ing prices OF half the stock on the list
How patiently held on to the tapoI
along with the other timid and hopeful
little lambs We would exchanged
opinions, encourage each other, and
lay great plans :or the future. We
became very confidential, our little
knot around that "ticker;" and when
enc OF our set lost money he had our
honest sympathy. They were pleasant
days, these first, for stocks went up
steadily, and it seemed, at last, when
and where had least expected il, | was
to make fortune wilheut either care
or toll. | am perfectly certain that il
those few weeks | grew to be better
man.
At last closed ou'. had in my
hand more than ten thousand dollars. ,
had not irye ted 80 many hundred.
What scribe had ever been go fortu.
nate Stocks still advanced. II seemed !.
as II they would nevEr stop going up. =
sat down and tried for days to de-.
eide what to do. Coolly, deliberately, :
and after as much and as mature
thought as am capable OF, went back
to Wall street with my money. had
no use for ten thousand dollars. lhad
great use for fifty thousand. | hugI
myself in satisfaction now, to retaem.
ber that thought not 80 much of my :,
self as OF my friends at this time. =
cOnld get ON with that sum well. But =
away out on the great, gold shore OIL
the vast west sea wanted TO buIld o .
bome-a city. would gather about y
ne the dear spirits Of old. In some !,
sweet spot where tbsre we're woods and y
,oel waters, wsrm sun and prolific a.
soil, we would meet and build a city II
. city of retuge-Where every Bohe
nian might come and have a home,
est, peace, plenty, so long as he or =,
he should live or care to stay. even :
Irew up plan of my city, and framed ~ ~
few brief laws for its government. "
famed it Utopia. u
On returning TO Wall street ! chose le
hree different brokers.-one "bull"
ousa, one "baar" house, and one 81
conservative" house. By this hoped % %
} get all sorts OF opinions. got them @'
With my "bears" sold ST. Paul
hort. There was talk of rust, gr S.
oppers, rains, floods. st. Paul would n,
lmbls to the centre. II had already ~ -,
ivanced from eighteen to sixty. nine, W
sold at sixty-nins, seventy and sev. o., S
lty-One. W
With the "bulls" l bought Pacific "" W.
all. No danger of grassnoppers on W
acifc Mail. No drouta. no floods or
lst PacifS Mail had fallen from
xty-twO, and would surely go back -
p to eighty. bought Pacific Mail, - -
I'd sat down to wait for il to go up and ~ ~
!. Paul to go down. w. w,
Things began 10 move my way. / 'A'
gan to work vigorously on the plans
r my city. l had arranged to bring 80
v dear old parents away from the far -
Gst wilds Of Oregon, where they had =
Telt for a quarter Of q century. They
I'd never seen the great city. Now al
ey should see II, hear the mighty III
eachers, and sail on the Atlantic. N
How life widened out! had an f. 4
rest now In every ship that sailed.
le flow Of money to or from the land
as to me OF vital concern. All COM
cree was as rich with interest to me
the poetry of Homer. At 10 o'clock
arp found myself holding on to the
pc, waiting to see II had grown rich
or poorer through the night. All a
" an ,bo hammar fell 81 nod with sL