Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-10-26

Cycle Crank and the Man with II Cor
ner on the weather-Faith inCIaIr.oy-
snts-A Photographers Luck.
The atmosphere about the board OF
trade is peculiarly favorable to thu de-
yelopment OF cranks. The soft brethren
drift into 1.-The alley" the bucket shops
and ultimately into the madhouse or the
grave. Some turn their peculiarities to
profitable use, but in a majority of cases
the confirmed cranks become detestable
nuisances.
One poor old man, who is a familiar
figure about the corridors of the board of
trade building. is what is known as a bull
crank. Fifteen or twenty years ago, or
perhaps less remotely than that, even he
was in business on change. He was a
speculator in a small way, but never knew
when to take in profits, and 50 almost IN
variably lost money. Once he caught on
at the bottom when Lyon, Sturgis or
somebody started a corner, and he hung
on and doubled up until his profits in the
deal represented q cool 100000. His
friends begged and besOught him to get
out; but no, corn was going to 81
bushel He went out driving with his
wife one morning and -.<l he returned
an hour later, it was to learn that tn
corner had burst and that his SlOO,OO0
and everything else he possessed had
been swept away. The shock unsettled
his mind b,.5 he has haunted the scenes
of his former adventures ever since,
bottle. ing spectators, brokers, Office
bows, settling clerks and visitors with
his crazy statistics and market letters
The weather crank is numerous, but
as vet not an offensive type of individual.
"There," said one Of them, pointing
tragically toward the weather chart of
the board of trade. ''do you see that
The monsoon is about TO begin in the In
dian ocean. Ii will stop the shipment of
wheat form India, and England will be
paying us 81 80 bushel for os.- wheatrr
The market went right down p cents "A
bushel. and it has never got within speak
ing distance of the line upon which It
was resting when the weather crank
made his monsoon prediction. Some of
the weather cranks are not so cranky as
they seem.
One operator who gravitates between
the stock yards and the board Of trade
usually gets ahead of the signal service
bureau from twenty-four TO forty-eight
hours on sensational weather changes,
and bets his own money on the accuracy
of his predictions. He cleaned up 81, 900
on a corn deal last week, having guessed
the Manitoba frost far enough ahead Of
Gen. Hazen's bureau engine to enable
him to load up before anybody else
thought about such thing. Then when
everybody wanted to buy, he sold out.
He admits that his predictions won't al
WAYS do to work on, but says If he can
ever master the science of meteorolOgy he
will be a millionaire. 1t will knock Col.
Sellers eye water clean out of sight.
THE CYCLE CRANK.
Then there is the cycle crank. He has
figured TO a nicely that periods Of depres-
sion and initiation follow one another at
regular intervals. There are the great
cycles and subsidiary or smaller cycles.
1t is in the power of any man provided
with cyclical charts, TO determine pre-
cisely when commercial changes are
going TO take place. To be sure, the way
farer who fixes his eyes on the mountain
top away off yonder on the horizon of the
chart is liable to fall over one of the
many intervening precipices and break
his neck trying to get there, just as the
speculator may lose his margin in any
one of the many unthought-of undula-
tions in market prices tS be encountered
on the way from lower TO higher ranges;
but these mishaps never shake the cyclic
crank in his belief in the absolute correct
ness of his theory. He may be broke,
naked and hungry, when the market
crosses the line he had prophesied would
be reached, but the satisfaction he enjoys
in witnessing the triumph of his theory,
counterbalances tho chagrin he feels over
his failure to get there" oecuniarily.
The cyclical crank in various stages OF
development is very numerous on and
about the exchanges, and he is not always
unlucky.
The gentlemen who operate on tips
from the world beyond must not be
omitted from the list of cranks. Old
Commodore Vanderbilt speculated on
spirit tips He stuck to one clairvOyant
as long as the pointers turned out profit
ably. When the tips lost him money it
was his custom to kick the unlucky seer
into the street, loaded down with curses.
He had no use for spirits that played him
false. 1t is related that he always had
from one 20 twenty clairyoyants in his
employ constantly.
There is rich grain speculator on
change who follows tips from the un-
seen world so long as they turn out right
from the break" but he will never
stand more than 4 cent per bushel loss
on them, and rarely more than 3 cent if
he can help it. He has operated on this
plan for fifteen years, and, though not
a ''high roller" has amassed a fortune
of $50, 900 or $500, 900, which he says is
better than working at telegrapher's
ilesk for $40 a aweek.-Chicago News.