Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1881-03-09

Inc ABOVE commissions cover all expenses
in makit g and closing trades.
Operators must at The close Of the market
each evening make their margins good to the
extent Of 5Oc per bale on cotton. &c pei
bushel on grain, l5c per Dbl on pork, Csc pei
tierce on lard.
When the brokerage association
started here last fall, many looked
upon it with disfavor. One OF
two had been run in back alley
offices in years gone by, and they
invariably wound up disastrously.
The strongest of the lot had
been moved out into the street for
non-payment of rent, the safe, the par
%titions, the blackboard, the floor
mats, and the necessary paraphernalia
-even to the chalk-all being laid
out on the alley sidewalk, at an early
hour n bright, sunny, summer
morning; and when the usual patrons
came in, with elastic tread and jubi-
liant spirits, they we're noticed to look
about, catch the idea, and slide quiet
ly into the street and out of view. 1t
was a sad ending, but the general
finale Of all bucket shops.
The Tennessee brokerage concern,
therefore, started under a cloud, and
not without opposition. Another,
with capital unknown, opened out
briskly about the same time. located
in the basement Of the Planters in
surance building. The managers,
Messrs. Black and Baker, got into a
row n day, drew shotguns on each
other, closed out their shebang, and
quit the city; not, however, until nu-
merous persons had suffered in a fnan-
cial sense. Even young ladies lost
their pin-maney in that underground
gambling quarter. One aged gentle
m n, a once wealthy one but now
poor, related to the writer how he had
given his favorite daughter money to
purchase a winter wardrobe, and how,
through associations with two or three
young gentlemen who frequented the
bucket shop, she had been induced to
invests how at FIRST her venture turned
out proftably, and then how all was
sunk at one fell swoop.
THE LAST FUNERAL.
This is only an incident Of many
dozcns Of bucket shop experiences
here. Their career has generally been
brief, and the last two, including that
which went under this morning, have
had a rather glorious experience. 1t
was stated that the speedy decline in
cotton caused the trouble. The value
Of the staple has dropped fully one
cent a pound within the past few days,
and when futures came in from New
York this morning fifteen to twenty
points, near.y one-fourth Of a cent
below last evenings close, it was dis
asterouSto the Tennessee brokerage
association. About that time a we'll
knoWl dealer dropped into the bro
kerage rooms and presented a claim
for $1,000, 1t was paid promptly, but
this ended the business.
The president, Mr.. MoCrea, SAYS
that seeing bo could not go on in the
face Of the rapid downward
tumble, he at once an.
nounced all operations for this
morning of. He called upon invest
ors to receive the moneys they had
paid in, and also announced his read
mess to promptly pay up all margins
Of profits, to the close of business last
evening, but said he could settle no
mar ms for to-day.
This action was regarded by the
patrons as highly honorable on the
part Of Mr. McCfae, and the several
hundred who continually focked Ia
opt Of the doorway, expressed
themselves as being much pleased