Weekly Chillicothe crisis., 1884-05-15

There is glamour around Wall
street. People who look at it from the
outside see through Il misty veil such
golden walls and jewelled treasures as
met Aladdin's eyes as he wandered
through the wonderful cave. In the
imagination of many innocent out
sidcrs Il stOckbrOkcr is one of the gcnii
of the lamp who can call wealth into
existence at his will anu whose life is
made up of enormous profits, perfect
ly fitting clothes, pleasure yachts, fast
horses, Dclmonico dinners, dry Ncrzc-
nay and fascinating actresses.
Alas! what is the truth? The
''strcct" is dcluson and snare.
Above il ought to be inscribed the
words, "Who enters here leaves mar
gins bchindl' A stockbrokcr is Il
Woodworking man, who rushcs daily
into the pcrspiring, struggling crowd
on Change striving to buy and sell Il
few hundred or thousand shares of
stock, and who leaves his business.
with the swaying mass and dcafening
turmoil still working in his brain, TO
90 home and calculate ncrvously and
anXiously the profits and losses Of his
centuries.
Wall street is not all glitter and
splcndOr. A Stockholders life is not
all enjoyment and gayety
For instance, when Western Union
dropped down, as it actually has, to
COL, how the gilded ornaments tum-
blcd from the walls of Aladdin's cave
and how the hearts of the iovial gcni
sank from their broadcloth vests down
into their patcnt-lcathcr boots!
From SSi only a few months ago to
GOl yesterday! What Il wiping out of
imaginary wealth does such decline
represent Ona single thousand shares,
5000! And there are milliOnaircs
who are supposed to own Il majority of
the $50, 100000 of the highly watcrcd
stock, unless they have slylyunloaded.
Western Union is only Il type of the
rest. Kecnc has gone under. There
is no more glamour about him. But
look at the decrease in the value of the
stocks belonging to the NandcrbillS.
Goulds, Fields, Millscs and Sages, who
are considered such goldcn-spoonrd
wonders, and see if there is any glamour
about them
Among the Gould stocks, within Il
few months, here is Western Union
gone from SSl to 6Ol Il decline of %;
Missouri Pacific from 1867 to SOi Il
decline Of 2GS; Manhattan from - to
jl--a decline of 8; Union Pacific from
l0ll to jSl--a decline Of 4Gl, and
Wabash common and preferred nearly
wiped out, dropping from 36l for com
mon to 81, and from 81! for preferred
to l6l
Look at the Vandcrbilts. New York
Central falling from l2gl to ll3l, Lake
Shore from llls to 9jI, Michigan Cen
trail from 1901 to SOS and Chicago and
Northwestern from l40l TO llls!
All the way down until yesterday we
have now for years the same story.
Prices had touched bottom. Stocks
were dirt chcap-chcapcr than olco-
margarine or Chicago dressed beef.
The bull boom was at hand!
But still the property of the Money
Kings keeps melting away. Amid the
yclls of bulls and bears millions are
knocked down and wiped out of eX-
istcncc in u day, and still the "large
holders are striving desperately but
unavailingly to unload on the
"sncak."
| Where will this vexation of wealth
end? And when it does end, and
Aladdin's wonderful palaces built in a
nighttime disappear, will the people
have learned lesson of wisdom and
be satisfied to earn money by honest
work and TO keep it by honorable deal.
ing and wise cconomy?-New York
World, Muyf