Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1881-12-07
Something About the Members of the
Gentle Sex who Speculate.

Something About the Members of the
Gentle Sex Who Speculate.
From the Philadelphia Times
1t would be interesting to know lust how
many ladies in Philadelphia dauble i'm stocks.
The number must be large, not counting those
ewe-lambs who patronize the en- terprising mid
dlewoman. who offers to guarantee her custom
ers against loss for half of the profits and who,
if her guarantee was good for anything. could
ruin every broker on Sd street by enticing away
all his customers. There is probably not COM
mission house i'm the street that has not some
patrons Of the softer sex, comprising various
degrees Of wealth and social standing. from the
fur-robed lady who calls her broker to her car
riage-door to receive her orders to her humber
sister who comes down on foot and sits ner-
vOusly watching the indicator from 10 o'clock
until 8. Some ladies speculate heavily who
never come down to the street at all. but are
kept informed Of the state of the market by means
of the telephone, which they also use in giving
their orders. Charming. however, as the
ladies are under almost all circumstances and
condition of life most brokers would decline if
they could, their patronage Their presence i'm
the office is an embarrassment and a restraint
upon the free and joyial manners of the bulls
and bears. They must put out their cigars and
remove their polished boots out of the range of
Their own contemplation afforded by the Office
table. This makes the ladies' presence rather
Hksoule 10 the male customers and. by cOnse-
quence to the broker. But the objection of
brokers is not entirely removed when the lady
stays at home and talks through the telephone
Most ladies are good customers as long as they
win, but few of them can bear loss with euuan-
unity. Their gains are the result of their own
shrewdness but their losses are always the
fault OF the broker, and some Of them have
been known to make scenes, and in other cases
convenient husband who had been kept i'm
the background turns up to repudate the
contract made by his wife. The victim told us
day or two ago sad story of his own expert
ence with customer of this sort. The lady
wrote to him that she wanted to buy some
stocks, and asked him to call and get her order
He was not one Of the calling kind but sent the
lady word that he could always be found at his
Office. She came and made a deposit of $500.
and, against the advice Of the broker bought
lOO shares OF HestOnville at about 81 The stock
advanced, but the lady would not sell. Then
the Jacksonville pool collapsed. She refused to
put up any more margin, and the broker finally
sold her stock at loss to himself Of about
$2OOO. But this was not all. He soon received
q notice of suit brought by the lady's husband,
not only for the $500 which she had deposited, |
but also for the difference between the price she
paid for the stock and the highest price for
which he sold afterwards. The broker con-
suited his lawyer, who frankly told him that the
lady and her husband had him, and he was &C
tnally forced to pay nearly another Thousand
dollars to compromise the suit. This gentle |
man is one of great many who are not anxious |
to secure the patronage OF the ladies.