Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-09-05

down Df0eoxey Vltn0ut DloePt s"u,
with the eye Of hawk end ths nerve
Of : sharpshootsr, turn into Dslmoni.
cos and dsvour the largest and juicisst
portsrhouss steak with . succulsns
relish.
Sedxwick II undoubtedly indebted to
his grandfather for his Mexican mis-.
sion. His grandfather wss . great
chum Of the grandfather Of Secretary
Baysrd. Whether the story Of bis
Mexican spree be true or false, be Ia
fully able 10 I'll the bill and to keep
up his end in any bout with gilded
youths In the halls OF the Montezumas.
| SCHOOL FOX BOY sPEouLAToRs.
| The Produce Exchange hes what may
be termed q school for gambling, which
| is. from the nature of the case, more or
| less Of school for scandal. The fail
ure OF Harrison P. Grover Is On inter-
esting commentary on speculation at the
Produce Exchange, and illustrates the
poisonous effects upon some natures Of
constantly inhsling an atmosphere OF
speculation. Grover is about thlrty-fve
wears of age, eccentric, of small stature,
vet something Of an athlete, priding
himself on his sparring, rowing, aud
fencing. He was about the smallest
member Of tho Exchange, yet vsrita-
bic little fighti5s cock. lie was very
shrewd, and kept himself we'll
;nfo,med on the outlook for specula-
ticp, and yet be was tripped up at last
after having made considerable money.
He is q nephew Of Mrs. j. S. T.Strana-
han. a wealthy lady OF Brooklyn, who
lent him $4,000 last winter, when no
was in difficulties. He began his career
in the Office Of @. r. Hickox as the
clerk who had charge of his transactions
in the wheat spit" He succeeded for
a time 80 well that he employed brokers
TO execute his orders, paying in o CON-
paratively short time nearly s25, 900 Ia
commissions. He complained that the
brokers, to whom he gave considerable
business, sold him out without waiting
an instant. When the end came he
said ~ have tried to resist the temp
tation to speculate and cannot. l shall
leave at once and 90 on farm in Cali
Sornis." 1t would be well for otherst to
do likewise.
A BOYS EXCHANGE.
In the old Produce Exchange build
ing there was Q room in which some
fifty boys Of from sixteen to twenty
years Of age, connected with various
houses, met to clear grain contracts or
''ripg" them out. They knew as
much about the modus operandi Of
speculation as their employers, and soon
put the fact to proof. Ii was not long
before the boys began to hold calls
twice day, the same IS their employ
ers. They traded only in l00.bushel
lots /; they settled the differences, rangout
their contracts, traded ''between calls"
by going around to one snother's offices,
and IN most respects indeed closely imi-
tated their employers. The one start
ling innovation was that they required
no margin +; they were still so young
that they relied on the honor Of the
trader. Yet singular to say none ofthe
boys ever laid down" on their con-
tracts, and there was only one serious
failure. This was when one Of them
announced his inability to meet his liza
bilities Of s35. He was not sold out
under the rule, but Pariah or a leper
was not more despised or Stunned than
this youthful bankrupt was ever after.
The boys all carried notebooks in
which to jot their transactions, just
like their employers. One of them care
lessly left his book on desk in his Office
one day and his employer happened to
see it. Its revelations were astounding.
Here was broker in embryo who made
the ewes Of his "boss" start out like
those of choked toad. That ended
the boys call. The alarm was sound
ed, and under severe penalties the juve-
nile option business was suppressed.
When the new Exchange was opened,
however, some of the boys who had
grown up began to speculate in the
ring, while others devoted their spare
time to the bucket-shops, the establish
ments which, by curious farce, are
allowed to do business when the horse
or card-gambling resorts are raided by
the police.
1T WORKS BADLY.
This trading by clerks is really pre-
judicial to the interests of the employ
ers. A clerk having large buying
order to execute will buy on his own
account before ne executes his employ
er's order, or he will sell in contrary
circumstances. He can sell short for
himself and then beat down the market
with selling orders from his house, aud
thus pocket an assured profit, or he
can buy on his own account and then
advance the price in buying for
his employer. Brokers do this them
selves in some cases and think
it is all right, and some Of them
even give their clerks permission to
speculate in the ring, but as rule
they are opposed to it. They are hood
winked by their clerks, and college
for practical instruction in gambling is
what tho Produce Exchange has be-
come, or will soon become if more
earnest measures are not instituted to
suppress the growing evil. 1t would
be invidious to point to any one men,
Der as tho dean of the faculty in this
college Of speculation, but 1t seems un-
deniable that the Hon. Franklin Edison
was one of the fathers Of the option
trading at tho New York Produce Ey-
charge, and that he was assisted by
numerous professors and tutors pro-
found in speculative methods.
THE "BIa FOUR"
Of Chicago still seem to be trying to
keep down the price Of wheat. Ops-
rators here who went long on the Bull
garian scare sold out, and have since
been rather inclined to 60 short to Ream
and Jones, it is stated, these gentle
men, it is further averred, being dis
posed to quietly attend to their shorts.
There has latterly been . significant
change in the export trade in wheat
here. Until recently the exporters