The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1880-11-25
How Joaquin Miller Made S2l,OOO
and Lost More.

M all street. IDCI l. "a -
oblige nv friend. went into Wall street at
once to get the desired information and ex
ne fence. This was six months ago. l
have lust got back. / have not yet written
. line of hat article. But have material
enough to write a book bigger than Macan-
lay's History Of England. | know all
want To know about Will street. And, II
YOU will pardon he DEPRESSION, l may ada
that | am getting baldheaded- The first
thing / did was to climb IN the gallery 81
the Stock Exchange and look down into the
den of :, 900 bulls and bears that were
growing, bowling. roaring and believing
there. [ have been in Bedlam, and | have
presided at a Democratic State Convention
hut I never saw or heard anything like this
] said to myself: "This thing cannot go on
long. This thing must stop before night.
These men will kill themselves. This thing
will burst, explode of its own Intervals fury.
But | looked up and read the legend above
the President Founded in l142," and
then concluded it would still go on. Then
| went to a broker whom | had met a. the
Union Club, and told him what | wanted TO
learn. He kindly took hold OF the tape
which continually streams out from the
ticker" as the little wheel of fortune Is
called, which constantly records the rise and
decline of stocks, and tried to explain all
ABOUT L. L IOulu IL lhpoSslDlC " S1l III
terested. There were about two hundred
different names of stocks on the list. These
were represented by one, two or three letters
or figures. or some sort of abbreviated word
that [ could not understand or distinguish,
and | was constantly getting confused.
Finding but little interest 10 this great
maelstrom of excitement without taking
part, | under the advice of my broker,
bought a little Wabash. [ bought Wabash
because it was the first stock on the list
which l could distinguish from the mass of
200 names. And [ came to remember 1t
because | had been born on its banks as it
were. Indeed, on the very banks of the
Wabash River | have seen my father fur
three little boys toddled after, myself of the
number, and covered the grain that lay in
the little squares of mellow earth. And 50
it was with a touch of tenderness that |
bought Wabash and became one of the
eager party holding on to the tape, watch
ing, waiting the turn of Fortunes wheel.
She did not betray me. My stock began TO
move upward from the first. 1t was not So
dull now. How interesting it all was i
ca. led the click of the ticker the pulse
and heart beat of the nation. Ii the land
was healthy and prosperous the pulse beat
high and buoyant Ii the land was threat
encd with drought, short crops or misfor.
tune of any kird the pulse was low, feverish
and dull. 1t was like a poem.
At last | closed out. | had In my hand
more then | O.oOO. | had not invested 80
many hundred. What scribe had ever been
so fortunate | Stocks still advanced. 1t
seemed as If they would never stop going
up. | sat down and tried for days to decide
what to do. Coolly, deliberately. and after
as much and as mature thought "a | am
capable of. | went back to Wall street with
my money. | had no use for $4,000. |
had great use for $50, 200. | hug myself III
satisfaction now to remember that | thought
not SO much of myself as of my friends al
that time. | could get on with that sum
we'll. But away ont on the great gold shore
of the vast west sea | wanted to build a home
"a city. | would gather about me the dear
spirits of old. In some sweet spot
warm sun and prolific soil. we would meet
and build a city-a city of refuge-where
every Bohemian might come and have a
home, rest, peace, plenty, SO long as be or
she should live or care TO stay. | even drew
up a plan of my city, and framed a few brief
laws for its government. | named it Utopia.
OG returning to all street [ choose three
different brokers-one a bull" house, one a
bear house and one a conservative"
house. By this | hoped to get all sorts of
opinions. | got them. With my bears
| sold St. Paul short. There was talk or
rust. grasshoppers, rains, floods. St. Paul
would tumble to the centre, 1t has already
advanced from Is to 50. | sold at 90 and
H.. With the bulls | brought Pacific
Mail. No danger of grasshoppers on Pacific
ci6c Mail had fallen from 62, and would
surely 60 back mp to so. | bought Pacific
Mail, and sat down to wait for it to go up
and St. Paul to go down. Things began to
move my way. | began to work vigorously
on the plans for my city. | had arranged
to bring my dear old parents away from the
far wilds of Oregon, where they had dwelt
for a quarter ola centuary. They had never
seen the great city. Now they should see
it, hear the mighty preachers, and sail on
the Atlantic. How life widenened out !
had an interest now in every ship that sailed.
The flow of money to or from the land was
to me of vital concern. All commerce was
as rich with interest to me now as the poe
try of Homer. At 10 O'Clock sharp | found
myself holding on the tape, waiting to see
if had grown richer or poorer through the
night. All day till the hammer fell | stood
with my finger on the pulse of the com
merce.
How did | come out? Oh? Well. | was
short of St. Paul and long on Pacific Mail.
l expected Pacific Mail to go up and St.
Paul to go down. They did. and had
$2l ,00G. But that was not enough to build
a city with. | held on. One day it was
rumored that the rust was not SO bad in St.
Paul after all. 1t began to start up. Pa
cific Mail began to shoot down 1t was said
the Chinese had started an opposition line.
| tell you it takesa big man to sit on two
berches at a time. Ten to one he will split
himself between the two just as sure az he
attempts it. [ sold some St. Paul and
bought more Pacific Mail, but all to no pur,
pose. They kept r ght on. Then | got OFT
OF Pacific Mail at the lowest figure it touch
ed and bought Wabash. | began to foun
der, and got frightened. | sold and bought,
and bought and sold. | frequently saw in
the papers that | was getting rich in Wall
street, and kept on working like a beaver.
The end was only a question of time. One
day my broker took me by the sleeve and
led me like a lamb, as | was, aside. My
fun was over And Utopia is indeed Ito.
pia. No one with so little money ever en-.
tered Wall street under better ADVANTAGES