Morning journal and courier., 1884-11-14
VICTIMS OF SPECULATION.
How They Are Drawn Into the HIsel strOm - SpecuIatOrs' SuperstIt1ons.


 strOm - SpecuIators' SuPerstitIons.
 From the Philadelphia Times.l
 ''There's better opportunity to study hu-
 man nature on Third street than almost any
 where else," said member of the firm of
 experienced operator on the street meets with
 surprises in his rough estimate of different
 men daily. Stock speculating is utterly diff
 ferent from any other porsuit as it brings to
 the surface the stuff men are made of. If
 moral courage were divorced from stock spec
 uIating more men would lose fortunes than is
 the case.
 F'It requires courage to dabble with stocks
 The man who makes 8 venture on hundred
 shares of doubtful stock and regrets it two
 or three minutes afterward will never be a
 successful speculator. It's the man who isn't
 afraid who comes out ahead. Some men
 when they make their first venture and lose
 are afraid to follow it up and retire after a
 brief and expensive experience.
 'FSome men won't buy stocks on Mon
 day; others are afraid on Tuesdays and Wed nesdays or Thursdays, and great many will
 hardly, go near ticker on Friday. Others, again; can't be induced to buy on rainy
 day. One of the best known newspaper men
 in Philadelphia used to hold his witch in
 his hand and buy at fourteen minutes of eleven o'clock, and sell at eleven minutes after twelve In three days he had lost all the cash he had Some men have certain hours in the day when they buy and certain hours for selling. There are thousands of superstitions; and yet the men who dabble in stocks are intelligent men.
 Frequently the men who do not look overly bright are the shrewdest. Some bright looking man will get the report of a railroad and study it carefully and then begin to speculate with the stock Now he's not , the successful speeulator. There's no system, no science in speculation. It requires knowl- edge, to be sure. That generally has to be bought and paid for. The man who studies the crops and knows how many thousand bushels of corn and oats are produced throughout the country and studies the fluctuations of different stocks is what is called good speculator.''
 Beginners generally buy a hundred shares I of some stock on margin" said Charles | Wray of the firm of Fell, Wray 6 Go. ''H | they make money on their first venture they I become reckless and buy stocks promiscuous | ly and, ss rule, come out at the little end \ of the horn. The novice on the street gener- | ally makes his first investment through hear \ ing of lucky hit a friend has made. Of course ! he never hears of the friends losses. The [ friend never tells about them. Its only | when he makes hundred or two that he \ ! some one of them making an invest ment.
 EfAbout the men who are wretched through ! speculation, the stories are exaggerated very \ greatly. There are failures in every busi ness. The only difference between the spec | ulator who loses and the storekeeper who [ fails is that the speculator loses his pile ! quicker. What the speculator loses event ! ually goes into the coffers of the big opera I tors like Vanderbilt and Gould. The mar | who takes the quick profits makes the money | The man who holds on, hoping for bigger rise, loses, as a rule, in the end. I remember grocery clerk who was discharged from | large wholsesale house in this city. He had l $1, 800 and went right on the street and be- gan selling Northern Pacific preferred short | He kept it up for six or seven months and ! then stopped short, worth nearly $100, 0,000 I Not long ago he went abroad to see the [ world.
 | Hell come back again after he's spent \ say $25, ,000,' went on the broker, land hell be back on the street. Nine chances out ot \ ten he'll lose all he's made. The great wise man is he who knows when to stop. But know of hardly any instances where men let we'll enough alone.
 Gamblers who win at cards invariably \ lose at stock speeulating, and yet they are ' nervy as a rule. l know of many instances where large pots won at poker found thei1 way few hours later on Third street and | that was the last the gambler would see o1
 the money. Some gamblers are successful \ but not many.
 Politicians are great speculators, but I taken as whole, they're not successful I Several well known leaders have made big l strikes on Third street, but they didn't stop, They went ahead the next day and left it all | and little more. There are not many men | on the street now who do nothing but spec | ulate in stocks Nearly all the speculators | are merchants and business men, who want to make a little something outside"