Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1888-02-28
SPECULATION'S VORTEX.
ANXIETY AND AGONY OF ALTERNAT-
ING HOPE AND DESPAIR.

Wall Street an Excellent School for the
Study of Human Nature-How Men Are
Swallowed Up In the whirIpooI-sev.
eral Cases.
have observed for years how money il
swallowed up in the vortex Of speculation
| am continually going TO Wall street,
feel proof against its temptations-as like
to watch its currents and study human nat
ure, Of which it is an excellent school.
meet acquaintance there from every part
Of the Union. One day encounter Smith
of Denver, and / inquire after Jones, OF
Omaha, who told me, three months before
that he had cleared 100000 by his opera
tions
"Jonesl Oh they've scalped him. That
last bear attack ON the market cleaned him
out completely. He has gone home without
anything; and he had $4,000 or 100000
made by land speculation, when he came &c
New York two years ago.
81 am very sorry for Jones, reply. "He
was good fellow and full Of energy
He was all Of that" remarks 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
ho wishes, fancy, that he had taken my
advice. man has to get up pretty carly in
the morning to stand the racket down here.
Aren't you afraid, Smith, that they'll get
your scalp one of these daysF
"Not bit. They've tried it often; but |
wear all my hair yet. know their ways,
I'm too old a bird TO be caught"
Some months later l ran upon Brown, of
Chicago, and after little chat | express the
hope that Smith is flourishing.
nN rt1,r
heard what happened to him' MOI He went
short on Reading and he got busted in short
order He's so poor that he's in cheap
boarding house in Harlem. You remember
what figure he used to cut at the Windsorl
He's trying to get up again; but he never
can. His father left him a handsome for
tune ten years ago, and he couldn't raise $500
today. He's too hopeful, too reckless, He
doesn't know when to take i'll sail"
But mayn't you be in the same condition
some timei The Stock Exchange is the most
uncertain of places, n man of your pur-
suits is always living on mine"
Don't bother about me. l watch these
thieves They can't hurt me. / always sleep
with one eye open, and they know it. Chi
cago is sharper than New York. A man edu-
Gated there can get on anywhere. Robinson
and I-you know Robinson, of 81. 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 prosperous
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
stroke of paralysis the next week, and he
hasn't been down town since. 1t was partial
only, but it makes Brown look old Hos
grown fifteen years older since last June.
His sudden success turned his head, and
he went i'll too deep. I'm afraid he hasn't
much left A man in Wall street has to
learn when to be bold and when to DO eau
tious, and Brown never learned this 1t was
one of the first lessons that | learned and l
learned it thoroughly. I've been operating
here six OF seven years and in that time I've
seen scores of fellows ruined. But I've never
been crippled even, and | ascribe my uniform
success to judgment. Some people call it
luck Bah, there's no such thing as luck"
But is not your Judgment falliblei One
can not always keep on the right side of
the marketH
Few can; but am one of the few
One evening, just after a week of great
disturbance in stocks, disturbance almost
approaching panic, ran upon well known
broker many of whose customers are from
the west. W q lpll TO taking OF inc disasters
of the week, and he mentioned that Robinson
had lost a lot of money on Manhattan, and
his margined stocks had been sold out He
must have lost several hundred Thousand dol
lars, may be $500,0O0. He is going to st.
Louis to dispose of some real estate belong
ing to his wife, who has entire confidence in
him and his ability, and with the new stake
he will enter the street again"
"You have been stock broker long
WHILE" l asked an acquaintance lately,
what do you candidly think of speculation
What is the result of your observationt Is
much money made in Wall streetF
almost nothing Men who make in one
thing lose in another I've been twenty five
years in the street, and of the hundreds who
have operated on margins through me l can
scarcely recall half dozen who have not
suffered in the long run. The truth is nine
teen out of every twenty men-perhaps
thirty-nine out of forty-are gamblers by
constitution. And when they begin gam
bling they don't know when to leave off. No
one can imagine what misery and crime
Wall street causes unless he is on the inside
l often wish l had gone into some other
business. / have seen SO much of the evil of
speculation that never speculate MYSELF
Since then my broker friend has failed by
his rash attempt to keep up line of stocks
that had been dropping for months, and it is
doubtful if he can resume. He is reported tic
me as a desperate speculator for man of his
means, though for many years he was one of
the most conservative members of the board.
The worst thing about Wall street is that it
ruins men morally not less than financially.
The habit OF specializing is as bad as dram
drinking opium eating. No one knows,
when he begins, where he will end. A full
course of Wall street is apt to sap the founda-
lions of character, debauch the sentiments,
overthrow every principle. 1t begets with
the successful lust Of greed which nothing
can satisfy, and with the unsuccessful self
contempt, morbid anxiety, shattered nerves,
the agony Of alternating hope and despair,
Wall street puts human nature in the gutter,
and keeps it there. j unius Henri Browne i'll
Globe Democrat.
A Singular Error.