, 1886-11-04
CRANKY OPERATORS
WHO HAUNT THE BOARD OF TRADE
AND THE "eUcKET SHOPS"


The Man Who Hung on Too Long-rhc
cycIc Crank and the Man with II Cnr-
a.. vvooth.r-r,ttr In u,,-
-"
ant--A f""'"s'"p"'r ""'N'
Tho ntmosnhere about the hoard of
trodn il ncculiarly favorable TO the de
v.innment nf crnnks Tho soft brethren
drift into othc nlley. the bucket shops
md uItimatclv into the mndhousc ar the
cravc So, ne turn their peculiarities TO
nnr"nta,1a uso Ian, In n maioritv If cnscs
ihc connrmed cranks become detestablc
rni.onres
one moor old man. who Is n familiar
nnnra ,bont thc corridors of the hoord If
,r,da building is what ia known ne +, hui
cr,nk Fifteen ar twenty venrs moo or
nerh,rs Lose remotely than fhnt cveu he
,vns In hrsinesa an CHANGE IIc WINS n
a,ncuintnr in n small wnv Int MAYER know
whom ia take In nroAts md so almost in
vnrinblv LOST moncv Once he caught ON
nt tho haitian when LYON. Sturris or
somohodv s,sr,cd n corner. and he hung
On md donhI.J nm until his profits in the
dnoI ,.nrcsentc1 n cool SiOO 600 His
friends bcggcd and besourht him to get
out. lint ma corn was going TO 50 n
LnshcI He went ont driving with his
,,ifa ,no ,norrirg and xvhen he returned
an hour later IL wns to lcnrn TINT the
corner had hurst and that his 800. 900
md cv.rvtbing else he possessed lind
been syyeut AWAY. The shock unsettled
his mind but he has haunted the scenes
Of his former adventures ever since.
botberinr speculators. brokers. Office
bovs settling clerks and visitors with
his crazy statistics and market lettcrs.&
The weather crank is n numerous. but
os vet NOT mn offensive tyne of individual
"Therc,r said one of them, pointing
tragically toward the weather char of
the board Of trade, "do you see that?
The monsoon is about to begin in the In
liam ocean. 1t will stop the shipment of
wheat form India, md England will be
paying us = 80 II bnshel for our wheat"
The market went right down % cents n
bushel, and it has never got within speak
ing distance of the line upon which IL
was resting when the weather crank
made his monsoon prediction. some OF
the weather cranks are not so cranky rs
they seem.
One operator who g~ravitatcs
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 N,OVo
on n corn deal last week, having guessed
the Manitoba frost far enough ahead OF
Gen. llazcn's bureau engine to enable
him 10 load up before anybody else
thought about such n 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 IL he can
ever master the science of meteorology he
will he a millionaire. 1t will knock Col.
Sellers eye water clean out of sight.
TIE CYCLE CRANK.
Tbcn there ia tbe cycle crank He Inns
nourcI to n nicetv INT nerinds of drnrcs-
ei,n and imitation f,Ilovv onc another nj
r~c,nlnr intervals There orc thc front
cyrlrs and subsidiary or smaller cycles
II il in thc mower ~ nnv nan nrnyidrd
with ~cvclicnI chnrts to determine nro-
cisrIv when cnmmcrcinl chances nre
pninS "A, tnkc nlocr To Inc suro mo why
fnrrr who nxes his eyes on thc maintain
Inn away or vnrdcr nm thn hnriznn Of tho
ch.rt II linLl, u, fan nver one Of tho
mnrv intrrvrntnr nrcciuicns and br.ok
his mock irvine tn f,t there inst ms thc
sncculntor may lose his marlin in nnv
onr Of thc many unthourht- of unduln
tinns in market nrices ia he mt
ON the wny from lower to higher RANGES.
Int these mishaps never shake the cyclic
crank in his belief in the absolute correct
ness Of his theory He mnv br broke
naked and hungry. when the market
crosses the line he Ind prophcsied would
he reached. bnt the satisfaction he eniovs
III WITNESSING the triumph fl HIS lltOIAt