Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-12-11
Correspondence of the Philadelphia Press.

uPoh TIC ieceht panic mas lailen upon the bus-
ness OF the pennsylvania oil region. Perhaps
the handful of men who are held responsible by
the trade for the crash richer to-day tor their
share In the affair but it is safe to assume that
their usefulness is at an end as citizens of the
region and partcipatorsin its business interests
The dealer will be glad in the present instance
10 see those who are accused of originating the
recent trouble clear their skirts of the imputa-
ton OF systematic trickery but if they are un-
able so to do. he will give them cause to renem-
Der his lasting dispeasure.
y month ago. when it had become certain
that Cherry Grove field would no longer inter-
1ere IN the calculations of spectators. and oil
had pretty much recovered lost ground. prices
began rapid upward march. The dollar mark
was soon reached. As the excitement grew
greater the infection increased prOportiOnately
and small merchants, wOrkingmen, professional
men. women even, almost everyone who pos
sessed 500, or the ability to borrow 1t. fastened
to stake sum Of money from the amount
named up into the thousands on the tickle fate
that guides the destinies of the speculative oil
trade. Here. then we find one cause for the
tremendous crash which follOwed-an oyertraded
market We're this the only One however the
day which will long be remembered as the oil
mans black Thursday would have witnessed
only slight decline In prices. followed in all
probability. by natural reaction and further
Doom. But other causes were at work. Members
friends among the brokers nv -terioIlsWarningsto
the effect that something was about to happen
which would depress the market. ard advising
them to unload. This was followed by reports
that the Anchor OIL companys We'll in Forest
county had suddenly began putting out a thou
sand barrels a day. No definite information
could be obtained. The well was worked as a
mystery" and with the memory of the Cherry
Grove spOuter of few months before fresh in
the oil region mind, the panic that ensued is not
hn Lot -.
men is that the Anchor Oil company had sold
short. and that the mysterious We'll was trick
designed deliberately to break the market and
thus give them an opportunity to cover" At
any rate. the well was fearfully Oyerestimated.
and the owners made no effort to correct false
Impressions although they must have known
what would result from the neglect. The well
had been drilled several weeks and had proven
of ordinary capacity. 1t may not be amss to
add here that the Anchor Oil company is to
certain extent identified with the oil mans evil
genius, the Standard Oil company, several par
ties who own stock in the former holding Simi-
lar relations with the latter.
WOMEN ON CHANGE.
Said Superintendent McCance to the writer,
on the flonr of the Oil City Exchange: For
some weeks the daily attendance o. women had
been constantly increasing, and when the panic
came the gallery was so full that many men
were crowded out. You see they had invested
their pin money and were watching its mani
puation in the hands Of the brokers below"
After pause he added, with impressive solem-
nifty: 1T skinned 'em"
Their lesson is probably learned we'll Per-
haps the truth of greatest practical value to the
business uncovered by the exciting scenes of
the memorable black Thursday is that the
brokers' nave been doing business Oh too small
q margin.
FABRICATED FORTUNES.
The speculative oil business is pretty gene
rally misunderstood outside of the actual at
mosphere OF the exchanges This is due partly
TO lack OF information, and partly to misn-
formation and gross eXaggeration. evolved
principally by sensational correspondents for
outside papers. An instance is at hand in an
article now going the rounds of the press The
particular item which finds most favor with the
public Is an account of an Oil City man who
made p, COO 600 in two months and others who
were almost as fortunate. An intelligent public
ought not to require denial of such irrelevant
lnterneddng with the truth. Such statements
are accepted as Jokes here in the oil country
Large fortunes are made and lost continually In
this country, but the time for the acu,lis-
ton OF immense wealth in a day has gone by
TAR Illustration OF the ups and downs of to-
gay Is iound IN the history of a young man
town. BY judiciOus investment of. the savings
iroil ills salary he had acquired something of a
starter In the way OF a competency. lucky
turn of the wheel more than quadrupled this
anu leIt.hlm the pOssessor OF a comfortable for
tune. Like all the rest of mankind he was not
content with this. and when the panic came II
found him a heavy holder of oil on a margin
The decline soon ate up his margin and brought
him face to face with the question: shall |
let what have put in go, or stake what have
fy- Of l-Stp Ill
chance of saving ali!" He decided on the LATTER
course. and that day put up 565, coo in margins
only to see the price fall hopeessy too low for
him In the morning he was worth $50 600 at
night he possessed only his wages for the
future.
| know of young lady who was presented
with SlOo by her father, merchant. She was
as innocent OF the wiles of the oil market as q
Child OF the lntracacieS OF chess but she in
vested her cash. and in a few weeks doubled it,
Her father was worth $4,000 and had toyed
with the greasy liquid until he thought he under
stood the business. Probably he did as well as
any man could, but he did not have as good
luck as his daughter The sheriff is after him at
any rate A professional man in Rochester ~
y. invested his loose change and by skilliiIly
"orklng the market finally accumulated in his
brokers' hands the snug little sum of $50 eco
lew days since the broker sent back what re-
manned in postage stamps.
j. ~ McCarty was barber in the basement
os tiic i-ACidirc DIT VII CltE. Last summer he
bought call for 900 barrels for ten dollars
1t is said that he borrowed the money. but
whether this is true or not he prospered. and at
the end of three months had made $4,000
tuesday last he made 5000 more in single
transaction. Such Instances are not as thick as
biackberries in August, or as some noted oil
region correspondents would have the public
believe, but they can undoubtedly be met with
here more often than in any other business or
locality In this country-perhapsi in any country.
THE PASSION FOR SPECULATION
1t Is the specializing in Oil on margins which
constitutes the great overshadowing evil of the
business. The percentage paid the broker
added to the carrying rates the amount charged
by the bank which lends the money for the pur-
chase OF all the Oil not covered BY the marpin
adyanced) amounts to nearly 60 per cent. bnt
the danger to be most dreaded in this feature of
the business is the one which is least considered
If a man invests and wins, but in the end loses
as the chances are that he WILL he is forever nm
fitted to engage in the ordinary avocations of
life. The man who has been through the mill
OF the margin business, who has seen adversely
and prosperity play see-saw with his hopes and
is AT last beaten. possesses most extraordinary
temperament, combined with much more than
ordinary will-power, if he can settle down to
the plOddnO hum-(lrum life Of his aarlor .1.rc