, 1886-01-31

Meantime one OF those mysterious ru-
mors which begin nowhere, but which
somehow make themselves felt, began To
pervade Wall street, 1t hoated into bro
ker's Offices where the lambs baaed 1t TO
one another over the enticing tape. 1t
was repeated between mouthfuls OF beef
salad aud drinks Of beer at Delmonico's
lunch counter. 1t formed n sort of under
current in the Babel OF voices Of the stock
exchange, and was discussed more qui-
city on the back seats in the bon ROOM.
1t was absurd to suppose that anything
so utterly intangible and unsupported
could influence the market, but II was
none the less a fact that the volume Of
business in stocks perceptibly decreased.
Never before had 1t happened In the ex-
p%erience Of Mr.. Skeins, the distinguished
bull, that his most valuable lamb, imme-
diately on hearing this report, had de
clined TO buy 500 Guatemala Consoli-
dated Air Line, and had abruptly turned
his back on the ticker with the remark
that stocks were not the best investment
now. And the rumor grew and grew.
From whispers In the back office 1t
swelled to loud discussions on the curb
stones, The mir al with II, and the
chimes OF Trinity seemed TO take IL up
and reverberate it into every nook and
Granny OF the money spinners. There
was but one r~efrain-one burden-and it
took form in the words:
"Jaggers has got n big thingl"
Yet not n living soul could tell what
Jaggers had got.
To ask Jaggers himself would be to
question n sphinx. His demeanor, On re-
ceiving the query, depended upon the
person who made it. Some he transnxed
with a stony glare, which as one detected
individual In describing his sensations
said made him want to creep under the
nearest stoop and try.to die.' To others
he replied joculhrly N made light OF
the reports, with n substratum OF serious
ness, however, easy perceptible through
his airy remarks. others again, and these
were the bank presidents and people OF
that stamp who approached him on other
subjects and with painful carelessness
turned the conversation in the direction
OF the rumor, he Dol TO one side and
whispered to in n sort OF emphatically
suppressed way, which sent them off with
the same puzzled look which Kvork
Bassmageran wore on emerging from
Jaggers' lofty Office. To n few, n very
few. he talked in a low, quiet matter Of
fact tone, and they listened with rapt
attention. With one person he con-
versed in this way near n coffee
and cake stand, the proprietor of
which made IS within five minutes
afterwards, by reporting TO an en-
thusiastic young broker some words
which he had overheard. TIL purchase
was n disastrous one for the broker. He
obtained the following: Syndicate
million-organization committee-Roths-
child" After deep study Of "Poor's
Manual" and other educational literature
the broker became impressed with an
i~neradicable conviction that this pre-
saged n corner in st. Paul. Whereupon
he loaded himself largely with the stock,
which on the following day slumped six
points, and the broker borrowed five
cents back from the coffee and cake pro-
prietor wherewith to get home TO Har-
lem.
The week slowly wore around. Many
a capitalist went to bed on each of the
seven nights in hopeless bewilderment,
incident 10 hearing one authentic expla-
nation at the Fifth Avenue hotel, another
at the Windsor, a third at the Hoffman
and still another at the Union League
club, and got up in the morning after a
sleepless night spent in trying to recon-
cile these with each other. In the bucket.
nhOlH 1aBktio oIhtiit OtOdhlt hCbuhAAN
the subject of bargain and sale. A special
blackboard was erected in each estab-
lishment with the word "Jaggersr ON top
OF 1t, and quotations were made on the
basis Of what the stock in Jaggers new
company would probably be worth put on
the market, 1t was assumed, OF course,
that there would be a corporation, and
that the stock would be at once listed
ultimately So the bucket-shop keepers
bet against the public; hat is, the public
would offer 200 IA for Jnggers' stock
whatever it might represent-and the
~bucket-shop keeper in turn stood-pre-
sumable-obliged to deliver Jaggers'
stock at hat price when he could get it.
And these quotations, of course, varied,
and considerable money was made and
lost. Toward the end OF the week
Jaggers' stock had risen to 32s Is, spot
cash, with the market buoyant. This is
how affairs stood in the outer world,
when thirty-three solid and respectable
gentlemen created each other with
much formality and subdued expectation
In the inner world Of Mr.. Jaggers' office
In the ~Conjunctive bank building. as
aforesaid, one week after the visit OF Mr..
Kvork Bassmageran thereto, also as
already set forth.
MI. j. Livingston Jaggers leaned back
In his heavy armchair with n satisfied
smile. One of the thirty-three solid and
respectable gentlemen was standing be-
fore the long office table with his
knuckles resting on the edge. in the atti-
tude OF addressing the remaining thirty
two solid and respectable gentlemen.
The white hair Of this particular repre-
sentative Of the solidity and respcctability
OF the metropolis stood quite erect, his
face glowed with unusual excitement,
perspiration had wilted his collar on one
side, and even his heavy-bowed gold
spectacles were somewhat awry, becom-
ing so Immediately subsequent to n re-
sounding thump on the table with which
the speaker had reinforced a particularly
effective period.
Mr.. Kvork Bassmageran stood leaning
on "A small box, or chest, which rested oil
n side table, and which he had covered
carefully with a thick drapery OF wooden
or felt. He still had the same puzzled
look rs when he left Jaggers' office n
week ago, but there was none Of the
mental abstraction which followed that
visit. He was very wide awake and
especially SOLICITORS In his care VI his box.
The solid and respectable gentleman
concluded his speech thus:
"And-oughl pun gentlemen. what
we have seen to-day is-ah-of immeas-
urable Importance. We have-ah-t taken
part in the realization of-ah-a tire.
mendous discovery. Ali This wonder
full apparatus, l am informed by our
friend Jaggers, is fully capable OF pro-
ducing-ah-yes, let me see-seven-no,
seven hundred bushels of-what is it,
ohms-yes, ohms-in a square inch-be-
sides more han a mile of volts per-week
no, per hour. We shall, in fact, make
volts as common in every family as-as-
as-beans. ohms will be laid on every
floor Of the humblest dwelling. This,
gentlemen, Is the zenith Of discoyery-ah
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