Daily Los Angeles herald., 1883-08-31
FAIR GAMBLERS.
Women who Take Chances on Losing
or Gaining Fortunes.
London spectator.l


Chicago has been the first place, ap-
parently, to provide regular accommoda-
ton for those women who gain their
livelihood by specializing on the rise or
fall in the cost Of provisions. There,
the reporters say, is a regular place set
inside for the resort of women 30 en-
gagged II is not q stock exchange. but
provision dealers exchange. One lady
is said to have made fl 900 on the
"corn corner OF January. Another has
"planked her bottom dollar" on the May
wheat; third is specializing deeply in
pork and cultures in hogs products. F"
The reporters say that this occupation
has curious effect on the countenances
OF the women who frequent this ex-
change They lose the mobility of fea-
ture and expression, which is one OF the
great charms of women and the mask OF
impenetrability peculiar to the man of
business, whose great object it is to never
betray for q moment how things are
going with him. Now, so far as we
know, there is no reason whatever, ex.
cept the prepossessions of the commit
tees of the various exchanges of Europe
and the West. why women should not
be admitted freely to all these exchanges,
and it is pretty certain that at time
when the legal restrictions which ex-
clude them from the other professions
are being one by one removed no legal
restrictions to exclude them from this
profession is likely to be imposed.
The late Lord Beaconstield has told
us what he thought of speculative wo-
men in the clever little sketch Of Lady
BERTHE and Bellair," who pretends to
wish to go on a pilgrimage toJerusalem, to
but IS really plunged heart and soul into
railroad speculations, and who faints on
hearing that 'narrow-gauge has won"
Lord Beaconsfield's verdict, delivered as
usual through bis favorite oracle
Sidonia, Isl "She posters me with
her letters, but / do not like
feminine fnance;" and perhaps there
was more reason for this Judgment than
there was for most of MIR. Disraeli's cpl
grammatic and sententious decisions.
Undoubtedly, OF all careers which are
likely to unseN women that of stalking
considerable stakes on the results of a
complicated series of dubious CONNER
Clul tNtut5, HttHlo W Ho thb inOHN 2ihNil
to produce that effect. Impersonal ex-
elements, which depend for their inter
est on heavy pecuniary risks, can hardly
be really good for any human being.
But ii they must be undergone by any
human being at all, certainly they do
least harm to those who have
the least susceptibility to finer
feelings, who are most impersonal
in the whole attitude OF their mind,
who nre nearest to intellectual engines
and furtherest removed from the
life of the affections. We have
known many men who would run
great pecuniary risks with little
or no disturbance of their person
al life in deprecating these
gambling commercial pursuits as morally
dangerous, we must not be understood
to express any doubt that the equali.
zation of prices which results from
calm and wise speculation on a
sound basis OF capital in the up
ward or downward movements OF
stocks or commodities, is of great adyan-
tage to the world-but the present
writer, at lenst, has never known n wo.
man to whom it would have been reas-
enable to attribute the same imperturba-
bility