Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1882-12-13
AN ENTERPRISING BOY.
Hoe Messenger Made $4,000 an
Missed MoNin1 it 1915 900.

Hoe a Message" Made $4,000 und
Missed Mekimg ft 1915 900.
The Standard Oil company, the only con-
Germ in the world that is powerful enough
to compel the combined trunk line rail
roads to do its bidding, demanding and re-
ceiving from them rates which made oppo-
sition i'm possible and crushed out every
rival, has lately been beaten by messen-
ger boy. In the history of the Standard
this is the only time 1t has ever been out
witted. Tom Scott, when alive and presi-
dent Of the Pennsylvania railroad, was out
generated By the Standard. Vanderbilt
and his allies were not match for Rookie
feiler, and they were compelled to allow
him rebates which enabled him to build I'D
the greatest monopoly the world has ever
known. When he got ready he laid pipe
line OF his own from the oil regions to
Cleveland il one direction, and from the
oil regions to the seaboard in another di-
rection, and then told the trunk line man
ayers who had enriched him that they
could go.to that. place wherethe worm dieth
OF and the fire IS not quenched. But this
an with his millions has been outwitted
l., Mike Heating, nineteen years old,
messenger boy of the Western Union Tel
egraph company, at Oil City. Mike has
been in the telegraph company since he
was old enough to carry dispatches. and
nearly all of this time ne has been in the
oil exchange at Oil City, carrying mes
sages to and from the brokers. The large
operators i'll petroleum send their dis
patches in cipher. The boy had carried SO
many messages sent by the Standard from
its headquarters at Cleveland that ne had
II ka ,,t,o c.to
read them like a printed page. just prior
to the recent extraordinary advance in the
petroleum market, when the price jumped
from fifty cents to S1.35, Heating carried
& number Of kilograms TO the Standards
brokers ordering them to buy large blocks
of oil. The monopoly had laid its plans
to boom the market, and the Oil City bro
kers were ordered to buy erything. ''Buy
hall & million barrels" buy million bar
rels." buy two million barrels" we're tbs
way these orders came in. They we're rid
dies to al but the brokers who received
them and Mike Heating, the messenger
boy who delivered them. Heating, al |
though mere boy, knew something extra |
ordinary vas soon TO happen. The mar
ket, which had been 9 stagnant pool for a
year. was already creeping up the scale. |
Orders for immense blocks OF Oil were still |
coming from the Standards headquarters. |
There WAS no tine to lose. But what could |
a boy do without Il dollar in his pocket? |
Heating went TO one CT the largest operat- |
ors on the floor of the exchange. outside OF |
the Standards agents, and told hira he had |
q ''pointer.' The broker laughed at him. |
The boys earGestness finally commanded |
attention. and the broker agreed to his |
proposition, which was that the broker
should furnish money for ''dea." if he !
felt satisfied with the information, and d. !
vide the profits equally. Then the mes
senger told the broker what he had, and of
the kilograms he had been carrying from
the Standards Cleveland Office. The next |
message that fell into the boys hands was
carried secretly to the broker and trans |
lated. It was an order to bay everything |
that was offered. The broker probably |
swallowed to keep his heart down; any
way. he went back to the exchange and
began to buy. He saw the Standards |
agents buying right and left, and was sat |
ished big deal was in progress. He took
everything he could get until he had a |
round million barrels. The market was
already jumping fast and his million bar
rels had been secured at an average cost of
seventy-two cents. Lie was loaded to the |
guards. Orders to buy and orders to sell |
were pouring in from every quarter, and !
the excitement was becoming intense. The
market was still bounding upward with the
usual fluctuations. Every time the price |
advanced cent Or declined a cent, the |
broker saw a profit or a loss of $4,000 |
He kept his head, however, and when the !
market scored above eighty cents he be- |
gan to unload. The Standard men were |
on hand to take everything, and he got rid |
of all his oil at al average price of eighty |
cents Il barrel. He had bought at seventy !
two. and his profits were therefore eight |
cents a barrel or $4,000 in all. He d. |
vided equally with alike Heating, the mes
serger boy vino md unraveled the Stan |
dards cipher, according to agreement. It |
is well enough TO remember that oil touch
ed Sl.35 during his ten days squirt, and if
the broker ha0 he'd on until the top was
reached the profits of the two woaid have
Jeached $3.50 000.
1t goes without saying that the Standard
Oil company has Lew cipher and one
messenger boy is cut of job.
IN BEARS MOUTH.