Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1885-01-28
Coal OIL speculation.


PROSPERITY Is BLIGHTED BY OIL
sPEcuLATIos
MonkeyIng with the oil market is becom-
ing the chronic disease OF this couatry. 1t
is not business II has not even the el
ements of decent speculation. 1t 10 pure
Iy a game OF chance, besides which betting
on an honest game OF euchre is a safe EN-
ployment. One may buy wild lands in Pat
agonia vr icebergs in Greenland or even
stocks ia the Tacoma mine and have some
sort of a base for his venture, but no man.
uLless he belong To the STANDARD Oil Com
paDy, Can do any thing with reason in the
oil market. You may place some reliance
on .'old probabilities" you may forecast the
humoI OF a woman IRON her allowance OF
pin money or the mood of mAs from the
character OF his dinner, but there Is no
sign ON which you can rely for spsc uiat-
ing.
Were its uncertainty its only bad feature
were there no results worse than losing
money. or did SPECTATORS inju-s NO one
but themselves the case would not need
comment, but it is not so. Truth Is that
next 10 liquor, spec ilstion is running more
homes, destroy ing more men aud making
miserable more women than any other vice
in the country. 1t is nothing more or less
th an popular crime. Its ct. cts srs AS
marked those oi any other form OF dissi-
patton and specuAtor Is as easily told As
tUper. Down IN the barber shop the other
day while Bob Was lathering my face and
preparing the razor lie said of man who
had jast gone out ''Yes, sab, dat's Mr..
beis' ali ON account OF de market, sab.
He's bin 80 powafui blue lie didn't have no
interest iu his 'pearance or nutnm'. Dat
market is a mighty bad thing ior puson's
ieeln's in my 'plnIon, ssh." Two hours Ia
ter the grocer said To rnu grImiy, ol the same
man: browns buying .odti vi Instead oi
count Oy strrs just now, been monkey ing
with the market, guess It's effects are
not only marked, they are widespread, that
in tact widespread that 1t is absolutely
Ia danger OF turning us ihto a country OF
bankrupis, and worse still, Into a country
of prematursy old, hagaid, good-Ior-
noihIng men. The reason is evideut
enough
A nan cannot see the whole or even a
part oI thr fortune which he has worked
years TO gather, hanging on rise or laIl OF
Two cents without growing ncrSeus. Could
he do ANY thing at ali to lndaence the MAR
ket, 1t would be sUae relief, but he caa't.
He has put his money into place in which
lie has no iuhdence. l. ho had throw 1t to
the wlnus il might have oe. IL blown back to
him or might have possibly fallen where he
could lind II, but now-weli, it may bs
blown back to him, to be sure, with anoth-
or mans losses added to 1t perhaps, bat If
wind would give oI finding it. IL takes the
nerve out OF Of man to sit aud see him-
sell in the power oil seuseless machine =
thing over which he cdnnot exert Il pIrtIclo
ot influence. Said a young law.e we'll
known III this Community, short Time ago:
Il tried specializing ouce. | la $50 sis
cd from my first three ears At the law, ami
| put II Into oil. bougnt bona tiie oil.
wasn't quite 80 far go,c AS 10 go ou mar
,rt,, 4 II - ip.
dIdn't slerp two hours on stretch during
that whole time. was never SO wretcn-d
in my life. | sold out and luckily got my
money back, aud have never touched
barrel OF oil since and never viii" Tht
sieeplessness is the common experience,
common sense enough to sell out very un-
common.
We're success in oil speculation any less
wearing than failure th.rs would b, some
thing to be thankful foI. but it isn't. The
risk that hangs over each days Investments
even though YESTERDAYS may have paid
vcr It sctually turns the HAIR gray in no
business in the country viii You finl so
mtnT men of middle ages gray. Not only
gray but thin, nervous. worried hall
broken down and unfit for happy liv-
ing
More of the uncertainty If it ruins mans
temper. 1t breaks mn his family. There is
sort of reckless, I-ion't-care air about his
children and viic. To-day they have all
they want and ts-rorrow are restricted to
the closest economy. They spend proiigal-
lv when they have ANYTHING and are stingy
rpliining of hard times ami restless
when the market is .soff'' Seeing their "a
thrr dependent upon chance, they too nat
ura,lg make business Of waiting for some
thing To turn up. There can bs NO cGn'in-
ued happiness. no safety, no chee-fulness
in a family which lives on the market. The
sIeeplc>s, nervous. disgu>tcd feeling prnc
tr.tes the whole house.
Worse still-a man seems utterly incapa-
bio OF taking up any othrr employ uent af-
ter a short experi nee in the oil market. He
becomes so absorbed, so infatuated bv the
miserable busines. that he is unit tor ev-
ery thing else. The possibility of mt'Sing a
a strike some d ~ keeps him hanging on
There is not man in this county probably
that cannot point to some neigbbnr who has
used up his ready m 'nev. the few bonds or
hark stocks he possessed, the farm he had
bought to fall back on in case of necessity
then mortgage on his home. his vifr's
savings and al last his very household fur
niturs. in order 70 make tire strike which hs
knows this turn of the mlrket will bring
him.
There is not one 0f us who cannot point
to good lawyers whose hrlds Lave been
eloudei by their s.bad lick - 10 clerks
whose speculation with employer. Money
which of course, they meant to pay back
have not lost them their positions and
the confidence OF the public, to businesses,
which have not been bankrupted. The
streets of some of our county towns are
spotted with homes mortgaGed, up for sale,
or closed by speculaiing.
strange part oi the whole matter is