The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1885-08-11

ulation to Rose and induce her to
abandon that method of seeking
money. He remembered that he had
a cousin in New York who was law
yer, and IL occurred TO him that per-
haps there might be some way of get
ting back some of the cash that Rose
and himself had invested. The hun
dred dollars that remained in the vii
lage bank to Timothy's credit was
drawn out for necessary expenses. and
the next dav found the young farmer
in the busting metropolis. He found
Rose without trouble, and his story
cured her of the speculative fever inn
mediatelv. Next he sought his cousin,
the lawyer, who smiled grimly when
he heard Timothy's tale. $50 YOU
have been patrOnizing the bucket
shop have yOu?" said he.
What do you mean by bucket
shop?'" queried Timothy.
"a bucket-shop is a place where
bets, small and large, are made on the
fluctuations in the prices of stocks,
grain, oil or provisions. The proprie-
tors of bucket-shOps sometimes cal
their establishments open stock eX.
changes. or exchanges where fractional
a - - - - lis ~ The fact
is, never a certificate of stock, a bushei
of grain or a barrel of oil change.
hands in such places. The so-called
business is nothing but betting, with
the chances in favor of the shops. The
customer bets that the price of a Ger.
tain stock will 60 up or down, ana
he stays in the shop and watches the
quotations as they come out he stands
some chance of getting his money if he
wins. But come with me and viii
show you bucket-shop."
The lawyer conducted Timothy tc
the lower part of Broadway. and
showed him a large Office, handsomely
finished in polished " God and furnished
luxuriously. 1t was very busy place.
One of the walls was covered with
blackboards. on which were the names
and quotations of all of the active
stocks and the different kinds and
grades of grain and oil. The quota
tons were constantly being changed
on the blackboards by small bows,
whose sole duties were to adjust the
movable figures in accordance with the
made by the ticker"
in one end of the room.
The quotations are derived from the
stock exchange, and the gov
errors of that influential body
have been striving for two
years to prevent the ''bucket-shops"
from using their quotations. 1t has
been urged that the "bucket-shops"
not only undermine legitimate stock
speculation, but that they tempt unin-
country folk to make invest
ments which they can not watch, and
clerks and messenger boys to make
small ventures with money that does
not belong to them. Timothy and his
cousin observed that in the bucket
shop" they were in by far the largest
of customers were young
bows ranging from twelve to eighteen
years of age. Every person in the
room watched the constantly changing
figures on the blackboardS with fever.
ssh anxiety.
After awhile the eyes of the lawyer
iiscerned in the assemblage man with
whom he was well acquainted, and who |
8 known in the street as one of the |
shrewdest and most successful bucket |
shop" operators. YES" said this
veteran operator, after he had been in. |
troduced to Timothy, Il am one of the !
lew persons that have 'bucked' against |
bucket-Shops' and come out winner. |
have had some pretty stiff fights with |
hem, though" Timothy briefly stated |
MS experience, and the veteran con- |
,inued: .'Of course you lost. You
lad no chance to win. The cards were |
all in the hands of the banker You |
lad no means of knowing whether
prices were going up or down, and, of |
course the banker wasn't going to post |
Tou. 'Bucket-shops' don't make their
money by posting innocents like you.
Their chief game is to work just such
,haps as You for all they are worth.
You are what we term a country
angel"
"HOw many bucket-shops are there
lere in New York;" asked Timothy,
About thirty, / should think. Most
If them are right down here, i'm the
erritory bounded by Broadway, Wall
treet, Broad street and Beaver street.
There are a few uptown, however.
Two or three have fine quarters in
hotels. There are some elegantly fur
lished 'bucket-shops' which have only
aides for customers. These ladies are
eckless and persistent gamblers, and
many of them are so respectfully con-
lected that they dare not kick when
hey lose their money"
What is the smallest investment
hat bucket-shop will accept"
Some bucket-shOps will issue a
icket for two dollars, others for not
ess than five. Except in the cases of
mere boys, ten dollars is usually the
mallest amount staked. You can buy
n option on one hundred shares of
took for ten dollars. The banker
harges you one-eighth per cent for
uying and one-eighth for selling, con-
equently that is one-quarter per cent.