The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1881-02-02
Virtue in Wall Street..
ONE OF THE STRAY LIMBS MEETS
MERCIFUL WOLF.

The Fever Of Speculation In the Rural
Districts Exemplifcd In n Business
Letter to an Enlinentlr Respectable
Firm Of Bankers-A Tirtnous Reply
Why Wall Street Brokers Dine SO
Sumptuously at Delmonlcc's.
(Nrp York SUM-
Mr.. Rufus Hatch, Of Wall street, sat In his
! Office Yesterday afternoon discussing with 9TH
or cenilcmcn the "sstGrn Ch'"n GeI Ihor ,,vn
aud two make nine. thirteen or seventeen.
The stock market 10 now likcn prairie on nre,
wi; II northwest wind AMI the grass dead anu
dry. The spirit Of speculation * more ramp
nnt in the country than in the city. To prove
this III read your letter. changing names "'u
places" .
Tic letter was addressedto Mr.. r. Hutch
of Fisk 4 Hutch, Bankers, Wall street, N u
It was rs follows:
A., y. y. January IL, 1881.
"Nr. Hatch-Dcar Sir: | take the liberty to
! cncroach on your valuable time, and address
you personally, Instead of the firm OF FISK &
Hatch because l so wish your own opinion
! on what | nm about to write OF:
~ had q mortgage of S5,N0 part OF my prin-
cipalj paid IN to me last week. l cannot hear
nf Al good investment here IN the country
at present. SO | have decided TO speculate /;
little. ! have come To this conclusion not
without some missivings: l trust YOU will
| not laugh lust here, for / know the amount |
mention may seem small to you, Tut quite
large TO me. You will see that | am trying TO
get you Interested in my venture. SO you Will
kindly advise me what 1T Is best 10 40. inc
same rs you would advise friends, and then
will have much more confidence to try TINS
risk than II l had merely the bunkcrs' opir.
! ION. ] um under the impression that you re-
side In Glen Cove ut least II part Of the year,
and that you are acqulintcu Win the rev:
Mr.. Flank and his wife, who Is my cousin. l
,,, tt>is that SnI1 may know WHO | am.
Flcasc not to mention to them this venture OF
! mine. for my friends here might hear OF 1t,
and pu would not like it. Us he docs not be-
lirrc in Wall street. -,
when | was married (Which was several
years after the clergyman and cousin Betsy.
Tor ! was then but a school girl at Packer. pa
gave me n wedding present OF Sl0.WN!, TO See
! how | would manage II, he said. | have al
, ways invested on bond and mortgage ON Je:-
lcrson county farms. and never lost, but added
several thousands by putting from time 10
time interest TO the PRINCIPAL. Several years
ago, Tor certain reasons, pa forbid my husband
to come here. l now know nothing of his
movements. I tell you this so that you will
carefully advise me about this investment
when you see that re'y ON myself, and have
two little daughters to educate. John Smith,
cx-prcsident Of the BricklaycrS' Bank, Is my
fnthcr-in-law. You have heard OF his bust
ness management, | presume. MY mther Is Il
director in II Gauk a few miles from mere, but
is in his seth year, so l do not bother him with
! business. bu: help him instead. i have never
had a brother or sister, 50 haven't them to ask
advice Ot. -
! Your beautiful ysc:it was anchored two miles
of SammiS' Ho.cl, Fife Island near stones
Beach House, where you and hio!her Gcntle-
man had supper of roast CLANS. saw you
board the yacht and was aft :rwnrd told who
IL was.
II certainly missed ii awhile ago that ] did
not buy Erie. but | fra:ed to-, and, besides, |
had no loose money Il. that time. There Is. l
,ktt "n a mann f3nnl a AF,f.fIlDfInl I'm NpSfpf1
Union. / read some time ago that Gould was
Interested in Texas Pacific. If that is 80, the
stock will be likely to 20 up. vii! 1t not?
| Would ii be safe iOr me to invest In Texas Pa
cific at 10. and hold On TO it Tor sumo time? II
il should 60 to 81 / could double my money.
DO you think 1t will be low er before II IS high
cr? Forty Is pretty high TO pay and expect TO
make much. @ + course | understand that in
most stocks it is buy one day and sell the next
with ii small iotlt. unless, like In Erie some
time ago, one woald not be afraid to hold on.
Which do you think l would make the most
in, and be- the safest mt the same time, Texas
Pacific or Northern Pacific? This latter seems
going up-in fact. both are. Is Vanderbilt i:-
trrcslcd in Northern Pacific, or the Atlantic
and Pacific? Please tell me which. II any, OF
these you deem good
You see | favor buyice and holding Oh
some time in hopes .. making q large sum,
but if you tlir'. IT better TO buy and sell OFT
en-, why, ~iy ON y%nurgood judgmel1Hnc ca
! pcrienrG. II you think there is Httlc
ch".iicc OF my making and more char" OF my
losing, l trust you will cundidly write me 50.
For this reason | have written you, thinking
that knowing OF me and how ain SITUATED
y0u would perhaps be 80 kline rs to take an
interest in investing for me carefully. different
than tho firm would on receiving n short bust
ness note. II you invest for Inc, would II no
be best Tor you to sell any time, II necessary,
without first advising ME, and so losing pre-
ciuus time? Then, II that same stock seemed
about 10 rise, you could immediately invest
again.
III l send the amount, you will give me II
receipt Tor it. What percentage DO you have
for buy Ing and selling?
~ lear, for u stranger, l have asked too
much. Very respectfully.
"Now." said Mr.. Rufus Hatch. Of Wal
street, /" tins Is Il genuine letter. Truth Is
stranger than fiction. There are i, 100 brok crs,
members OF the Stock Exchange. and each
one receives more or Less similar letters from
the rural districts. And that's Why We cali
dine at DelnIonico's.'
"Wcll, did you answer the lctter?" a1r.
Hatch Was asked.
"Of course / did" he replied. johnson,
get me the copy that / wrote last night"
Tho answer was as follows:
"ItUFUs HATCH & Co.,
al ENCiIANGE PLACE,
MEN YORK, Jan. Is, ISL
any DEAR d Your communications
has reached Inc through The courtesy Of FISK
u latch, an enlincntly rcSpcciabic firm OF
bankers. with whom, probably unfortunately
for myself. | am uncGnnccted. Mr.. Hatch, OF
the firm Of Fisk 4 Hatch. is president Of the
Howard Mission. and Is considered the good
Iiatci, OF New York City. There are several
wicked ilulchcs in The banking busi.cSs In
this wicked Wall stree 1. Neither the good
Mr.. Hutch nor myself live at Glen Cove, and.
SO far Us | know, neither OF us were yachting
IN 1877. Neither the good Mr. Hatch nor my
self, so far us l know are in the habit OF invlt
ing ladies 10 cat clans under stunned names.
and neither of lis. so far Us l know, arc In the
habit OF entertaining ladies on our yachts.
when weG0 go yachting, unless they are men,
give you tome advice:
"tirst-In writing to Wall street brokers,
avoid giving n detailed statement OF your an
~crstors. your friends and your pOstcrity.
"S~ccOnu-JnreSt your S,WU In additional
mortgages In Jefferson county cheese and but
Ter farms. By doing This you have the dow
res oi your two !tttlc girls always under your
own eyes.
"%Third-IL. however, you have the insane
idea of Lccoming suddenly rich through the
action OF some unknown quantity, send your
money to the good MIR. A. :: Hatch, of the re.
spectacle banking firm o! Fisk 4 Hatch, and
instruct him to invest IL In Government
bonds, and nothing else. IOur profits may be
quite small, but you will be sure of what you
have.
"Fourth-In reply to your inquiries about
MessrS. Gould und Vanderbilt. | will say that
their reputation in Wall street at present is
not of the best quality. They have gone out
of things that they we've In and huve gone in
to things that they were out of, and the
street Is greatly puzzled. Al outsiders who
venture into Wall street, whether lndics or
gentlemen. are looked upon as lambs to DO
ficcced.
"Fifth-If you desire any further advice, I
would advise you to address the good Mr.. a:
S. Hatch, Of the respectable banking firm OF
Fisk & Hatch, and not your obcdient servant,
JUNGLE RUFUS HATCH"
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