St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-02-07
MEN WHO SPECULATE.
The Mania Of COuntrymsn for Taking
Flyers in Grain, Provisions or
Stocks.
Seductive Influences Of the Brokers Black
board on the Men Wac
Study It.
The western Millionaire Who Found
He Couldn't Afford TO Runa
Corner.
Only the Fortunes That Are NJ ade G ain
PubIicity--Losses Unchron-
fcled.
Correspondence Of the Globe.

i Oorre>DOuueDCc OF the
CHICAGO. Feb. 4.-OutSide OF Wall
street there is no place in the world that
offers more varied or greater chance for
speculation than Chicago. the casual
reader in looking over tire daily reports OF
business on the grain and stock exchanges
would likely infer that the transactions re-
ported were actual-ihat is. so much grain.
or SO many bonds, or certain amount Of
stocks had been exchanged for the coin OF
the realm 10 the amount mentioned. But
/ such Is far from being the case. If the
casual reader above referred 10 will CON-
pare the amount of the days transactions
with any actual cash sa.es Tin any branch
OF speculation he viii find that the specu-
iatiye sales often exceed in one week the
product of the annual crop or the value Of
all securities in the market. Speculation
means gambling. wherein luck and
friendly tips are the controlling infiu-
ences. In this city there are hundreds OF
brokers and thousands of traders who never
saw perhaps bond. or who could discrim-
| mate between No. , wheat and low
grade But these are the chaps that are
| full OF information on the course OF the
market whether il will go up or down,
and give their customers" pointers"
and make good money out Of their
dupes whichever way prices may turn. The
qGeerest part Of the speculative business is
that those who knaw the least about it are
the ones who furnish ammunition for the
guns. Kill off the ''countrymen" and the
Chicago Change would be very small
affair Hundreds Of brokers, each with
hundreds of country customers, have made
the Chicago exchange a ruling factor in the
worlds marts. Perhaps it is not so strange
that the papers chronicle only enormous
fortunes made in year. or two years. on
the board. and say nothing of the suffering
and disgrace entailed by speculation, be-
cause there are so many who comprise the
latter that the story has become old and
thread-bare. For instance. n. Il. Ream
has. within year. made more than a mill
ion dollars In corn; but who can tell how
many poor devils have gone to the wall in
bankruptcy and disgrace while contributing
to Ream's success? Yet the countryman
| who has heard accounts OF enormous for
| tunes acquired in q short time. and studied
the circulars and pamphlets sent out by
brokers and commission houses, continues
TO send in his orders for purchases. keeps
up his margins - and gets left. He
never saw his broker. doesn't
know what board of trade is. and has no
means Of knowing whether his broker Is
dealing with him fairly. But still he specu-
lates. The spectators of Chicago hold the
countryman in high esteem; they couldn't
get along without him. He not only raises
| the speculative articles. but bets blindly
afterward on the result of his product. The
''countryman" is. after all, the mainstay of
the financial world in more ways than one.
II want to speculate" says the country
man when he comes here with a few car
loads of hogs or a few cars Of grain 10 sell
for cash. He's as anxious TO speculate now
as he used to be to see the elephant Specu-
lating on Change is now seeing the ele-
plant.
''What'll you have" says the commission
man. dip into oil? Take flyer at cot
ton? Buy pork? Sell lard? Go long on
wheat? Sell corn short? Buy stocks?
What'll you have ?"
The customer can sit in his commission
mans Office and see pictured on the black
ened walls the struggling Of crazy speculat-
ors at Oil City; the strugglings OF high
priced men and low-priced men being
accurately portrayed before him. The
roar OF bulls and bears reaches
even from Wall street. and Western traders
are listening for their thunder and make
use of IL in various ways, the quotations be-
| ing promptly recorded on the huge black
boards. There are but few brokers' Offices
of any size or importance that do not re-
ceive by ticker all Wall street quotations.
1t doesn't require very long memory to 20
back to the time when there was not In all
Chicago blackboard for quotations. They
were first used by the bucket shops, and
though there are some firms who consider
themselves above such contriyances for
catching the unwary. IL is noticeable that
the concerns which do the largest amount
of speculative business have their walls
painted. These boards are part Of the
| furniture of model Office. The uptown
New York brokers carpet and furnish their
Fifth avenue offices like drawing-roOms and
have sideboards. But the Chicago commits
sion man pays no attention to his furniture
and his desk drawer serves as his sidebOard.
But he does have his blackboard. and some
| times il extends entirely around the room.
1t draws a crowd. keeps customers about
the Office. and gets them TO playing the
market in their minds" This soon leads to
playing on the commission mans books,
and then the fiv may be considered fairly
caught in the meshes of the speculative web.
A ticker is nowhere compared with black
board; IL is more seductive than faro lay
out The long, vertical rows of figures
| that. to the uninitiated, mean nothing rep
resent heavy losses and gains to poor devils
who haven't sense enough to think that the
commission makes his money only by his
percentages. They never stop TO think that
| he never speculates for himself. but always
PLAYS another mans money in the deal He
cannot lose for he's nothing invested but
ALWAYS pockets his fee for making the deal
| for the small capitalist who is anxious to
| double his wealth.
There was a wealthy gentleman from
Denver in town not long since. and from
reading in the papers of the corn corner"
the clioues the millions Of bushels bought.
the millions of bushels sold, and the bush
els Of money a certain ''cornered" option
was making. caught the fever. Just as in
| times Of terrible scourges people can be
| brought down by reading Of the terrible
ravages and awful symptoms Of the prevail
/ ing epidemic; so folks here. especially
''countrymen," from reading Of corners y
get all the symptoms and want to run deal
themselves.
II want to take whirl here myself. "
said the Denver man to prominent COM
mission merchant who was operating for
Ream's crowd.
Whats your pile?" asked the commits
sion man. or words to that effect
"a hundred thousand dollars" replied
the gentleman from the silver region.
mo good" was the sententious reply.
Half million?"
IN. G."
The silence for a moment was painful.
fYou wanted 70 run a deal, do you?
Balf million isn't bagatele. Why the
November crowd handled only 2. 500. 600
bushels of corn and had 81, 500. 600 in cash
and about SIS. 600. 600 In all back of that.
OF course there was that much cash. but
the crowd was reputed to be worth that.
Do you know what a corner costs?"
The crestfallen Coloradan admitted that