Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-03-29
THE LATE FURRY IN STOCKS.


NEW YORK, March 23.-The furry in stocks
being now over, one may take calm look at
It's lessons. One of these is an illustration of
the facility vie which the heaviest operators
Qike Russell Sage and Jay Could may be sud-
denly attacked by even weaker men I'm q sue
cessful manner. william r. Travers and Ad-
Olson Cammack, the leaders in the bear move
ment saw their opportunity and made rapid
and successful strike. They discovered. as
they supposed, that Gould had been unloading
for several weeks. and hence they made their
fereest attack on the leading stocks-New JERSEY
Central and Delaware, Lackawanna Western
Other stocks sympathiZed. but the nerve which
Gould so readily displayed soon brought re-
action While money Is so cheap all dividend
paying Investments must retain their value
Gould. however, is so unpopular at the stock
exchange that every possible attempt is made
TO lnJnre his interests and he would soon in
deed. be crushed If his enemies had him i'm their
power The recent excitement pricked a num-
Der OF bubbles which were ready to be hOated
on the market. Such things are the first to
suffer during furry in stocks.
GOULD, As USUAL.
keeps closely concealed. but when he meets his
friends he displays smile of triumph. Still he
is not to be envied. He is under tremendous
burden, and 1t would not be surprising if his
brain should suddenly sink beneath it's present
strain He carries score OF railroads in his
head, and can reach conclusions concerning each
with almost instantaneous rapidity, but IL would
only require a little disarrangement of the in
feiectual machinery to throw the whole into
chaos. The defaulting bank clerk Conweli is
the latest instance Of the evil consequences of
speculation. He Is only short $4,000, and
might have taken much more had he been thus
disposed The plundered bank mar consider it
Sell fortunate to escape so easily from the raw
ages OF specializing clerk. H has been pro-
posed TO have an agreement made among brokers
70 take no orders from clerks. This, however is
simply ridiculous. Brokers live out of stock
SPECTATORS Hence, they will take COM
missions from all who can paw them jay
Gouids movements are watched as CLOSELY as
possible, but he conceals himself so adroitly
mat no one outside OF his own little clique
Knows MS purposes. At present his southern
roads attract attention, and some believe that
he has discharged his men In large numbers
and reduced other expenses for the purpose of
making a handsome report. which will enable
MIN to sell out. Others hold that this
story is mere canard. Gould has shown
great skill In manipulating the roads centerpg
In st. Louis, and really holds the destiny of that
city IN his hands. He can increase its traffic or
aivert IL 20 other points, hence his name and
purposes are under constant discussion At
present, indeed, Gould is the sphinx of Wall
street, and he IL determined that no one shall
penetrate his mysterious secrets. He has not
like Vanberbilt) sought social position, and
hence has never been snubbed BY the old no.
biesse. He has not wasted his money in $50, 600
pictures, or horses of similar price On the
other hand he has concentrated money. time
and MS transcendent genius on his railway en-
pre-, "h,en Is advancing with marvellous "a
pidity Having obtained mastery over ST.
Louis, ne will proceed to invest other cities,
ana ii ms purposes succeed he will bring the
south and west to pay him tribute and thus
acknowledge his sovereignty
WALL STREET LINGO.
every framc has Its special parlance. which
In many cases requires explanation. Among
business men, for instance, "paper" means
promissory notes. In the printing craft
copy" is matter to be put in type. Down
east the captain Of any small vessel is q
sklpper, and in Cape Cod parlance a
school would attract fisherman rather than
ePedagogne. In music the "scOre" is not
twenty, and among iron smeiters pigs are not
swme. so, also, In Wall street . man six feet
high may be "short," while another scarce
I'VE feet (like Jay Could may be "Iong." As
am often questioned concerning the terms
used In the stock market, take this opportu-
nify 10 reply. Canard" is French for duck.
and suggests those wooden deeoys which
sportsmen noat when after such game. In
van street anything Is q canard that may
ee used fOr purposes Of deception. Jay
Sould has shown great skill IN the use OF
eanards, and a list Of those he has used success
fniiy would be highly interesting. From canard
we naturally have the term lame duck. !" q ap-
pied to losers. This term has been long In use.
and find pun upon the word In the farce OF
Ways and Means" by George Coleman. One
1.-The coast Of Dover is edged with English insol-
vents-a parcel Of prodigals and web footed
spendthrifts come here and take the water like
ducks. Yes" Is thereby but they are lame
ducks A flyer is, In Wall street parlance,
venture. and 1t Is these flyers that eventually
lead men into life of speculation. A lucky
flyer is often much worse than losing one.
since it naturally lures the victim to final ruin.
busing on margin is q term so common that
every one may be supposed to understand it. 1t
Is the common method of SPECTATORS. who gem
orally pay one-tenth down, and the stock ia held
az Their risk. Ii it decline they must put ND q
fresh margin or be sold out. To return to
Sanards, the latest is the report that Gould and
sage have quarreied, and are now
at war Ridiculous. knew q man
who had operated with such sue
cess that after few years he was worth
SloO.OO0. He was then led to believe that a
Iavorite stock would rapidly advance, and he
used ms entire funds in the purchase Of a
miiiion-this being at the rate Of ten per cent
margin. The stock however declined. and he
was called to put up fresh margin. Being un-
aoie TO do this, he was sold out, and lost every
thing Loans on a margin are obtained of the
banks by the brokers, who charge a small COM
mission for this service. "Goino long, ia when
man has loaded himself in hope of an ad-
vance Anyone who has bought stock on q
margin Is '.long." and the broker who nepo-
tiafes the loan is said to carry his customer
when the margin is exhausted by q decline the
carrying stops, and in many cases only an
hours notice may be giveA before the stocks
are thrown upon the market. This makes those
hurries which occasionally almost create a panic.
when man II 'iong" he is always a bull. !"
working for an advance. '.Short" expresses
the condition OF one who has sold stock for
future delivery, and such a man of course is a
pear, working for a decline. If this decline
does not occur, he may meet his contract by
borrowing stock (for which commission is
PAD, ana sometimes q high PREMIUM or he
may pay the difference ia cash Stock can
Always De borrowed, but collateral security ia
invariably required. When an operator thinks
that a stock Is about to omit dividend. or meet
any other trouble, he at once begins to sell
short Jay Gould, for instance, discovered In
1877 that New Jersey Central had borrowed
money for dividends, and he at once sold
short and began q tremendous bear move
ment. When he also discovered that the grass
hopper scourge would diminish western freight,
he sold short on Lake Shore, and began bear
movement on this stock. In both cases he was
successful These movements were immense
IN their character. Gould began to sell short
on New Jersey Central in May, but be