Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1886-12-16
BY ACf,YDENT.
a Wild Bid by nm Insane Man Nets .
Quarter Of = Million Dollars

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A Wild BId By nm Insane Man Nets :
Quarter Of = Million Dollars.
The most remarkable case of luck
that ever came under my observation"
said New York broker to q Sun re-
porter, was that of ono OF tho most
conservative mon now on Wall street.
he is now simply broker. and since
Black Friday has never speculated ono
dollars worth. You remember that
three or four mon brought on tho panic
now known as Black Friday by corner
ing gold. and running the price up till
many operators were ruined. the street
was in wild panic. and universal
smash seemed imminent These men
relied ON what they believed to be GOOD
assurance that the government would
put no gold on the market that day.
and they had locked up pretty much ali
the rest OF tho gold in the country that
was available. Right in the midst Of
tho panic, when the street was like =
mad-house. and many men who. in the
morning. supposed themselves rich.
were almost stark. staring mad over tho
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 CON-
paratively small loss, and had been
looking in during the day without any
personal anxiety. except that caused by
the fear Of panic that would knock
the bottom out Of everything. Suddenly.
he never know why. nor h,s he any
but the most vague recollection Of tho
transaction, he rushed into the bawi.
ing. bowling pit and sold right and left
at their highest figures. He probably
might have avoided ais contracts or his
friends have invalidated them for him.
for he was undoubtedly insane whom
no did this. Al all events. he was still
selling whom. suddenly there came that
message from Secretary Boutwell, that
knocked lhe bottom out Of the corner in
the twiakling of an eye. sell five mill
ions Of gold
I'm half an hour more my friend
would have been lunatic pauper, and
as it was, his brother. think, or some
near relative, found him utterly ire
sponsible, and with good deal Of diff
Guilty led him away to his Office. There,
when he was told of the order OF Bout
well. and that the bottom had dropped
out Of the panic, he did not seem to
comprehend the truth at all, but num-
bled something which nobody under
stood. His contracts, however, were
found and taken care Of by his clerks,
and rapid estimate showed that he
stood to the good not far from quarter
OF million. When they told him he
did not seem to comprehend. He had
not been drinking. for he was . teeto-
taller. Suddenly they missed him. They
could not find him in the street, nor in
the gold-room, nor at any Of the other
brokers' offices he was accustomed to
visit. Nobody had seen him. He had
not gone to his home, and his family at
midnight becoming thoroughly alarm
ed, notified the police that he was miss-
ing and temporarily derangcd. He was
found wandering up Broadway long
past midnight. muttering his calls and
recognizing no one. Nor did he know
any one for nearly two weeks He was
on the verge Of paralysis of tho brain
and barely pulled through. When.
after two weeks illness, ho woke one
morning rational, his first thought was
that he was on change. He remem-
bered nothing OF his operations, but re-
called vividly 80 much Of the panic as
he had witnessed before no began to
operate himself. 1t was long time
before his physician permitted him to
be told that he had by his crazy freak
made a fortune. He has kept it, too,
for from that day to this. as | said, he
has never bought stock except for in
vestment
There was another case that I'm al
ways reminded of when / sec a young
man in the street, who is a very bright
chap, and will be heard from some day.
HIS father was the president OF savings
bank somewhere down east, and some
where in 1870 took . lot of Southern
Minnesota seconds at 30. He intended
to buy them for tho bank, but thinking
he had good thing kept them himself.
The panic of rs knocked Southern
Minnesota down to nothing, and the
president throw the bonds into box in
his library at his house. He was after
ward obliged to compromise with his
creditors and threw in q lot Of stuff,
among it being. as he supposed. the
Southern Minnesotaa The whole lot Ut
that time would not have brought over
$500. Later this man came to Now
York and went on the street He made
money at first, but either in the summer
Of 80 or early in 81 he wss badly bit
ten in oil, and was, rs he supposed. .
min man The ~>r-
that he had made up his mind to ask
the next day for An accommodation
from his creditors. his boy, who was
then about IA, came to him to ask il he
might have piece Of paper with pict-
ures on it to paste in his scrap-book.
THE father was about to say yes
without looking. when he recognized
the crisp rustling Of parchment paper
such rs are usually used for bonds He
snatched the bond from the boys hand.
and 1t was Southern Minnesota, worth
about par.
"'Where on earth did you get thisr
he asked.
"'Why. up in the attic in q chest
where some Of your old books and
papers are. and there are good many
Of them.'
II don't think the father was long in
making tracks to the attic, and there no
found his long-forgottcn Southern Min
nesotas. They were worthless whom no
put them away. but they were worth
their face now-something like $50. 900.
l think; at all events enough to put our
friend on his feet, and he hasn't touch
ed thing sinco that hasn't turned to
gold He has just taken the boy into
his office. and mighty bright lad he is,
and his father thinks he Is q genuine
mascot"