Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-06-15
CHICAGO NuILIONAIREs.

denly Achieved an Enormous Fortune
and Controlled the Pork Market.
The panic, says a Chicago letter, just
ended in Wall street had no effect in
Chicago, except that eject which in spec
ulative circles always brings smiles and
champagne. The boys here all made
money out OF it, and some of them big
money. One old man with a ministerial
lOOk-a soft, quiet, benevolent, Brother
.Cheeryble loOk-who haUnts the Office of
Schwartz & Dupee, where Budd is,
cleaned up $4,000 in one day, and he
wasn't heavy Spectator either, nor a
noticeable man in anyway. l have seen
him come in often, quietly taking a look
at the blackboard, nod to Budd.
ask if there were any private kilograms
and then 90 out. \ nice, quiet, sleek
looking old man that one would
take for a well-tO-dO citizen without
much on his mind. He is en- old bachelor
who some years ago had a snug sum Of
money left him by an aunt in Michigan.
He had no business capacity, was regular
in his habits, quiet, genteel, said not
much to anybody, and his only object
seemed to be to get through life comfort
ably. So with his legacy he bought an
annuity in New York company, which
gave him about $500 a year. He has
lived here for twenty years. He has a
nice suite Of rooms, which no friend has
yet entered, lives at the restaurants, goes
now and ther to the theatre. and enjoys
life. His only recreation is dabbling in
stocks on a limit Of margin. He never
goes more nor less than 500 shares on one
transaction. AS that means St25 each
time his broker does anything for him he
IS a welcome customer. Years ago he
WAS II CALIFORNIA.
The old gentleman is reticent about it.
and never says how long he was there nor
where, but he took a fancy to Budd, and
to him he dropped once that in 1859 he
was in Sacramento and had a small ac-
count in ID. o. Mills bank. He also adj
mits having known Charles Croker when
the latter kept dry goods store, but
nobody dares ask particulars. There is
a mystery about him that he cOnceals
under the cloak of polite reserve. His
dabblings on the saved portion of his in
come have made him rich; but nobody
knows where it goes. After each days
transactions. if they have gone in his
favor, he draws his balance, leaving only
a margin to handle 500 shares. He is a
marvel of luck-rarely loses-and, as in
the case last Wednesday, closed the day
with $50, 600 profits to his credit. He took
his check with the same courteous but
placid smile with which before he has
given his check for ''mud.v He is the
talk Of the street. and all follow his lead
if they can get from Budd hint Of what
ne is doing.
The reason Chicago spectators lost no
money in the late panic was that they
were all on the bear side. 1t had been
preparing for weeks, everybody saw the
storm coming, and all were short to the
eyes. The day the thing broke, the firm
l spoke of had every customer short. For
three AOurs the private wires were loaded
AMI nearly melted with the strain of bust
ness. The cid man spoke OF turned his
5OO-sbare- aTdek over about every ten min
MOS AMI 90 -Nreeiy made mistake in the
fIuctuafions c would astOnish a San
Francisco board 4, NaB to see how they do
business here. The1 IS no delayed order,
no messenger-bOy bus osSs, 10 ng M, ~
Tor your broker, no call .tt;,,e- - uc
tween times, no quotations ettin@ aMai
from you. Everything is done aS qulcA !
as the electric flash can print the 5s,dI;s
and carry an order. l can sit in l. "uu
Office in Chicago, give an order and 81
returns from New York quicker than l
could send an order from
THE STEPS OF THE SAN FRANCISCO
BOARD
to a member inside. THAT may seem
strange, but it is true. 1t is all done by
the private wire, for which the firms here
employing il pay from 500, 600 to $4,000 a
year. The wire is connected with loop
at either end, which leads to the floor of
the New York Exchange, and with a
''ticker'' and a private operator here.
The same pulsatiOn of the electric current
that supplies the flicker" in New York
prints here at the same instant. You see
The quotation. You say, "Buy 200 Read (
ing" Inc private operator flashes the !
order. Jones, in the New York Ex-
change, gets il in minute. In another
minute the private operator here says,
''BJ't 200 Reading at -" 1t goes to
your account. The 'ticker'' tells you the
next minute that Reading is up-Or down
"a peg. On the instant you do as YOU
please with il. There are no cast-irOn Or
ders to buy or sell that you must sign for I
the protection Of your broker. Nothing
If the kind. They ask a decent mar
gin or a credit. If either is lacking, the |
broker protects himself with ''stop Or
der.' The ''stOp ORDER is simply an Or
der 10 sell when your margin is exhausted
or about to be, and with that you have
to do. 1t is giTeD nv your hr"'-o' ,
with the order TO buy. n ;Ii,,st -~,o.
~ ro y ln''i x" sAort. You are III a hurry,
-. nave no more to put up. Yet you have
faith that three per cent. will protect you.
You have that up. You say, buy me 1
300 Reading at S0.'' The broker knows
you are weak. ''Shall l stop itg' he asks.
Eyes" He telegraphs, BUY 200 Reading
at 80: stop at IS" That means to the
New York broker who buys, that he must
sell at ., order or no order. He is pro-
tected, and you have spent $500 on your
aith, by not having more money up. If,
on the other hand, it goes up, you have
made a good deal Of money on the thin
nest Of margins-On shoe string, so to
speak. Yet the broker is safe all the
while. Nobody, either in New York or
Chicago, ever heard of
A CUSTOMER SUING HIS BROKER,
or vice versa. With the ''stop order" the
4. 81. .rrrseN {
the slim margin cannot complain.
Another thing in the system here viii in
terest san Francisco brokers and opera
tors. There are no running accounts.
Transactions here, both in grain and
stocks, are called "trades." Each trade
is separate and distinct; each trade must
be returned separately, and each days
trades must be closed up every afternoon
at 3 O'Clock or fully margined and carried
over. That accounts for there being no
business in the local markets after 80.
The afternoon is devoted to clearing up
the notebooks ana rendering accounts.
Another feature Of interest is the way in
crest and storage charges are carried.
They are simply carried in the price, and
do not enter into brokers' books. They
average a cent buShel month, and are
added to the price of each future. Thus,
if cash wheat be 80 cents, the next
months option will be 81, the next 80.
and so on. 1t is a very convenient method
or all concerned.
While il is true heavy business is done
in stocks by means of direct connection
with New York, it isn't marker to the
dealings in grain and provisions in Chica-
90. The latter are simply enormous.
Millions upon millions of bushels are
traded in weekly, and in active times the
Grades" frequently amount TO 20,000,000
bushels a day. There are 1900 members
Of the Board of Trade, and as nine-tenths
of them are active trading members, it
may be imagined what must be the racket
n the pits when the market is lively.
There are no seats in the bOard-rOOm, no
presiding officer and Of course no s'call.v
From $3.50 a. IN. TO 1880 p. m. it is a free
for-all scramble in all the pits" and the
din is terrific.
THE PRICE OF SEATS
is from $4,000 TO 5000, according to the
times COmmlssiOus-tha is commits