The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1888-05-12


investment and paid for it need not
trouble himself concerning quotations.
Their rise or fall can not affect him. He
is superior to the manipulations of the
market-to the raids of the whole bear
clique. Thousands of men see their
chances of profit slip away every month
simply because they can no longer hold
on to their securities. and are often
chagrined to see them within q few
weeks, perhaps few days, far above
par and buoyant. IF had only had
little more money" they say then.
show much l might have NADER
What countless ordinations and use
full regrets of this kind there always are
in the money barter of the continent!
Ihave observed for years how money
is swallowed up in the vortex of specu-
lation. am continually going to
Wall street, feel proof against its
temptations-as like to watch its cur
rents and study human nature, Of
which it is an excellent school. Inject
acquaintance there from every part of
the Union. One day l encounter Smith.
of Denver. and inquire after Jones, of
Omaha, who told me, three months be-
fore. that he had cleared $500. 900 by
his operations.
"Jonesp o, they've scalped him.
That last bear attack on the market
cleaned him out completely. He has
gone home without any thing; and had
$4,000 or $780, 900. made by land
speculation. when he came to New
York two years ago"
II am very sorry for JONES'" I reply.
He was good fellow and full of en-
ergy."
HE was all of that" remarked
Smith. but he wasn't quite smart
enough for Wall street, told him
last spring how he was going. but he
wouldn't believe me. Now he wishes
/ fancy. that he had taken my advice.
A man has to get up pretty early in the
morning to stand the racket down
here"
aren't you afraid. Smith, that
they'll get your scalp one of these
daysp"
mot bit They've tried it often;
but l wear all my hair yet. l know
their ways. I'm too old q bird to be
caught
Some months later Iran upon Brown.
of Chicago. and after a little chat l
express the hope that Smith is flourish
ing.
'Flourishing? Not exactly. Haven't
you heard what happened to himP
NoP He went short on Reading, and
he got busted in short order. He's so
poor that he's in a cheap boarding
house in Harlem. You remember what
q figure he used to cut at the Windsor?
He's trying to get up again; but he
never can. His father left him hand
some fortune ten years ago. and he
couldn't raise $500 to-day. He's too
hopeful, too reckless. He doesn't know
when to take in SAIL"
'.But mayn't you be in the same con-
dition some time? The Stock Exchange
is the most uncertain of places. A
man of your pursuits is always living
on q mine"
Don't bother about me. watch
these thieves. They can't hurt me. l
always sleep with one eye open, and
they know it Chicago is sharper than
New York. A man educated there can
get on anywhere. Robinson and L
you know Robinson, of ST. Louis
haven't got caught yet. and we don't
intend to be. We're as wide awake as
any Of the boys. and they know it,
Six months later am shaking hands
with Robinson in Exchange place. and
refer to Brown, hoping he is still pros
porous.
II wish he were; but the fact is that
he is broken down. That big tumble
in Western Union hurt him irreparably,
and he had a stroke of paralysis the
next week, and he hasn't been down.
town since. 1t was partial only, but it
makes Brown look old. He's grown
fifteen years older since last June. His
sudden success turned his head. and he
went in too deep. Fm afraid he
hasn't much left. A man in Wall street
has to learn when to be bold and when
to be cautious. and Brown never learned
this. It was one of the first lessons
that learned, and l learned it thor
oughly. I've been operating here six
or seven years, and in that time I've
seen scores of fellows ruined. But I've
never been crippled even, aud / ascribe
my uniform success to Judgment Some
people call it luck. Bah. there's no
such thing as luck"
"But is not your judgment fallible P
One can not always keep on the right
side of the marketp'
Few can; but am one of the few"