Daily Yellowstone journal., 1889-03-14
A LIFE OF SPECULATION.
Nerves Shattered by Gaining $1,000 One
Hour and Losing II the Next.

Nerves Shattered by Gaining $1,000 One
Hour and Losing 1t the Next.
The following question was recently
submitted TO the Hon. Stephen Van
Cullen White. whose reputation as a
fnapcier and Wall street millionaire
is OF national fame. i
"What effect in your opinion and
from your opportunities of observation
has a life Of speculation upon the mind,
and through it upon the nerves and
body of a mani By speculation is
here meant especially dealing In
stocks or grain on the floor OF the ex-
change, OF on the street, or beth"
He said. Your question is ex-
tremely generic, and would admit of
a volume in reply and then not ex-
haust the subject II is a question
more suited to a medical practitioner
who has had a stock exchange
clientage than to one of the victims.
But as you honor me by your inquiry
with an implied expression Of the be-
lief that l may know something TO In
terest your readers, l will speak as
from the pew and not the pulpit upon
your text. All business in which a
man buys more than he needs for his
use and for the S of his family is
speculation, and there isan element of
danger of failure in any business
where a man buys more than he has
ready cash TO pay for. Every mer-
chant engaged in general merchandise
business, at wholesale or retail, is a
| Spectator, and one who buys on
| credit is always in more or less dan
ger of failure in business. Whoever
has a business risk has anxiety till the
| prospective outcome has made itself
clear. Then, if prospectively the ven
ture is to become successful, what was
anxiety becomes in part exhilaration
at success, and il O loss Is developed,
actual or prospective, the anxiety and
care are INCREASED. ALI mental anxiety
tells on the nervous system. If it is
great enough TO cause s~leeplessness 1t
wears fast. But if the sufferer has
good digestion, strong and equable
| circulation and avoids excess OF eat
ing and drinking, he a fora long
time defy anxiety, whether it is
chronic or acute. Now, the only diff
ference between stock speculation on
the exchange and a country store
upon invoice of general merchandise
is that the amount bought or sold in
stocks is generally larger in proper
ton to capital employed, and, more
important still, the stock exchange
prices furnish a constant barometer
by which that speculator can con-
stantly measure his losses or his
profits, while constant fluctuations,
all of which he notices, keep him a
constant pendulum between a smile
and q tear. II q merchant goes into
business on $40, 600 he can buy from
SIS, 900 to S25, 900 worth of goods.
If a speculator goes in with $4,000 he
can buy 800, 900 worth Of stocks. The
merchant wants two to four months
before he can estimate his profit or
loss. The stock sp~eculator finds that
in an hour he has a profit of say &c.
600 which he may take; the next hour
the profit is all gone, the next he sees
a loss Of 81, 500, and at night he quits
the market full of anxiety with prob
ably q loss of $500 to commence the
next days watch of fluctuations.
But added to these daily and normal
fluctuations there is the effect Of
panics, which usually occur at the end
of a protracted season of prosperity,
and the profits of weeks are hopelessly
swept away in an hour. Now ! think
if / were a medical man l should not
be afraid to express the belief that
quick transition from a Panama sun
bath TO a Dakota blizzard would have
a tendency to produce colds and If the
victim had weak lungs il might natur-
ally end in phthisis pulmonalis, unless
death occurred from shock and gave a
more speedy exit. In the same way,
reasoning q priori, / would always
guess that a nervous man would come
out of a series of panics with shattered
nerves. This reasoning is well backed
up by the record Of men in active
speculations whom / have known
within the last twenty-five years.
Among the so called successful men
probably the wealth which others
covet may have been bought at too
dear a cost, even If corroding arr can
ever be paid for by money."-Brook-
Ign Eagle.