Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1886-12-30


no idea of making such a comfortable
sum. Three times by sheer accident, for
which he was not to blame, he had lost.a
pretty little fortune and he believed thai
his own experience could be matched by
very many of the spectators of the
street. OF course, he expected those
great operators who, from their control
of immense amounts of cash, from their
ownership of controlling interests IL
large properties, and their ability Co cor
troll the market, were placed beyond the
power of lucky or unlucky accident to
affect greatly tkeir wealth.
Perhaps the most remarkable case
that ever came under my observation"
the broker went ON to say, 'was that of
one OF the most conservative men now on
the street. He is now simply broker.
and since Black Friday has never specu-
lated one dollars worth. You remember
that three or four men brought on the
panic now known as Black Friday, by cor
nerlng gold and running the price up till
many were ruined, the street was in a
WIG panic, and universal smash seemed
linInlnent. These men relied on what
tney believed to be good assurance that
the governments would put no gold on the
market that day, and they had locked up
pretty much all the rest of the gold in the
country that was available. Right in the
midst of the panic, when the Street was
like mad house, and many men who in
the morning supposed themselves rich.
were almost stark, staring mad over the
ruin which had befallen them in few
hours, and when almost the highest
figures had been touched and nobody was
selling short, this broker to whom refer
suddenly lost his head. He had covered
early In the morning at a comparatively
small loss, and had been looking in dUkr-
ing the DAY without any personal anxiet>
except that caused by the fear of p
panic that would knock the bottom ont of
everything. Suddenly, he never knew
why, nor has he any but the most vaoys
recollectiOns of the transaction. he rus6ad
into the bawling, bowling pit, and sold
right and left at their highest figures
He probably might have avoided his con
tracts or his friends invalidated them for
him for he was undoubtedly insane when
he did this. At all events, he was selling,
when suddenly there came that little
message from Secretary BomweIl that
knocked the bottom out of the corner in
the tW1nkllng of an eye, 'seu five millions
of gold"
In half an hour more my friend would
have been lunatic pauper, and. as it
was, his brother, I think, or some near
relative, found him utterly irresponsible,
and with good deal of difficulty led
him away to his office. There.
when ne was told of the or
der Of Bontwellis, and that the bottom
had dropped out of the panic, he did rot
seem to comprehend the truth at all, but
mumbled something which nobody under
stood. His contracts, however, were
found, and taken care of by his clerks.
and rapid estimate showed that he
stood good not far from a quarter of
a million. When they told him he did
not seem to comprehend. Re had not
been drinking for be was a tie etotalle.
Suddenly they missed him. q
There was another case that I'm al
ways reminded of when [ see a Young
man In the street who is very bright
chap, and will be heard from some dav.
HIS father was the president of a savings
bank somewhere down east, and some
time IN 1870 took lot of southern Min
nesOta seconds at 90. He intended To
buy them for the bank, but thinking he
had good thing kept them himself.
The panic of IA knocked southern Min
ncsotas down to nothing, and the presi-
dent threw the bonds into a box In his
library at his house. He was afterward
obliged SO compromise with his creditors
and threw IN lot of stuff, among it as
he supposed, the southern Minnesatas
The whole lot at that time would not have
brought over 5000. Later this man
came to New York and went on the street.
He made money at first, but either in the
of 1880 or early in 1881 he was
badly bitten in oil, and was, as he sup
posed ruined man again. The very
evening that he had made up his mind to
ask the next day for an accommodation
from his creditors, his boy, who was then
about Il, came to him to ask if he might
have piece of paper with pictures on it
to paste in his scrap book.
'The father was about to say yes with
out looking, whenshe recognized the crisp
rustling of parchment paper such a. is
usually used for xbonds He snatched the
bond from the boys hand, and it was
Southern Minnesota, worth about par.
"'Where on earth did you get this?' he
asked
"'Why, up in the attic in a chest, where
some of your old books and papers are,
and there are good many more of
them
i IT don't think the father was long in
found his long-forgotten southern Mime
sofas. They were worthless when ne put
them away, but were worth their face now
something like $4,000, I think; at all
events, enough to put our friend on his feet,
and he hasn't touched thing since, that
hasn't turned to gold. He has just taken
the boy into his office and a mighty
bright lad he is, and his father thinks he
is a genuine mascot
II could tell you of number of other
remarkable pieces of pure luck that have
made made some of our operators mid
ding rich, and doubt whether the Thou
and and one Nights would be regarded
as more marvellous narrative than the
story of the ups and downs of the street
would be if some man like Cammack, or
Travers, or Wash Common would only write
it.