Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1890-01-26

smsrt rooster such a. used to b 70 light
YOU / would like to back you tor couple
Of hundred"
"No use cunning In that -qus3tey, I tell
vou- n you've been caught short, best
say nothing about IL. unless you want TO
GET the rnzsle-dazzle."
These emphatic remarks. were made by
ono OF the Young Guard OF wall street TO
an acquaintance ct the Hoffman Houseiass
evening.
"Noi much 1t isn't. I've had pointer.
and e couple of days will see things swim
ming. see If they don't. There won't be
break in p. a O. in month. Butts going
10 be quiet there won't be any twisting
about II. It's gilt-edged. and the fellows
who are in have clinch on IT,"
TO the uninitiated tho dialect OF wall
street, Of which the language Just quoted
is fair example. IS one OF the narvels
Of the metropolis. In the gallery of the
Stock Exchange, in the leading brokers'
Offices. on tho sidewalk among the curb
stone operators. and even IN the banks and
hotels ne hears the peculiar. bewildering
iargon. Ii has flavor of shop" about
IL; racy, breezy technique that Is found
nowhere else.
LITTLE, THE GREAT BEAR.
From 1874, when the Board Of Brokers
was organized. till 1922, when Jacob Little.
tho Great Bear OF Wall street." opened a
small Office in basement and forthwith
began TO show men how to make and
unmakc fortunes In an hour, tho tnan-
cial fraternity was rather q staid por-
ton OF the community. Everything
was orderly: curbstone brokers and
panics were unheard of corners. pools,
and COMMUNICATIONS forerunners OF
disaster--were unknown. Little revo-
lutionized ell this. His bold operations
made him the leader in every. speculative
movement. He WAS the first American to
he called Napoleon of Finance" tho
first to be dubbed " Railroad king." and
he was the father, il not the actual in
ventor, of the slang phraseology OF finance.
Terms were invented to describe the new
system OF operations he introduced. and
these multiplied as the tricks and devices
Of the new system increased.
BLACK FRIDAY.
The panic of 1887, BLACK Friday" Of
1869. and the great panic of 1873 all contri-
buted heavily to the dialect of the specu.
lative class. After each period of unusual
excitement the slang became more pro;
nounced The greatest contributor OF all
was the exciting period of the civil war.
from which sprung remarkable list
of word-coinages that have been q
hundred times discussed by the
men who were then the leaders on
Change. II is impossible to trace
the history of Wall-street slang with
out. in a measure. following the history OF
the street itself. Just how much of this
peculiar. verbiage of finance was con-
tributed by men like Henry Keep, the 81
lent" who, from a poorhouse bootblack,
became q tremendous speculator. and VINO
pinched all his talk into monosyllables;
how much from antique-favOred Jokers
like Uncle Rufus Hatch, who would Jest III
the face Of disaster: from old Commodore
Vanderbilt, with his mouth full OF stento-
rian oaths while tai ing business; from
Colgate. from Morris-sy and from all the
motley elements that have been attracted
by the glamor Of Wall street gambling,
would be difficult to estimate.
THE SLANG.
On the movement Of their lips hundreds
of operators have hung from time to time,
and single word or SYLLABLE" a pointer"
no matter how oddly or vulgarly ex-
pressed-passed as the current coin OF the
Exchange. Brokers who had lost stand
ing or credit by unfortunate speculation
came TO be known as the lame ducks" and
"snipes" of the street They were dis
tipruished from the lambs" who were
verdant outsiders who had taken flyer "
and lost. "Goslngs" were the younger
brokers who bad not got crippled early IN
the race. ITO gun a stock was 10 at-
tempt bv every possible means to produce
a break in that particular security. Kite
lying" was risky sport, INDUCED IN by
brokers who had outrun their credit ana
were attempting to negotiate worthless
paper, OF to borrow on wildcat stock
collateral was an invention OF Drew,
and signfed anything possessing value IN
Wall street. and which was given III bond
for q loan.
MORE OF 1T.
A good delivery "means that the broker
who bad undertaken to deliver stocks at a
certain time found himself in shape to do
so at the proper date, a bad delivery "
was just the reverse. Hypothecatlng" n
stock was to place it in anybody's hands as
security for a loan. Caught long" is
where the market drops and q broker
is caught with falling stock: caught
short" describes tho fix of one who
has sold ahead and finds the mar
ket rising so quickly that he cannot settle
except at heavy loss. "A sick market
ia when brokers generally hesitate to buy
an outcome of over-speculation. SWIM
ming market" is inst the reverse. IAN of
market" is where prices have downward
tendency. To saddle the market" is TO
foist q stock upon 1T which it does not seem
willing to take. This Is done either by
forcing the quotations that is, keeping
up the price of stock, or preventing
it from dropping beyond certain
'boom" it. drop" is equivalent
to "breals." The difference a term
which apparently mystifies outside specu-
lators not little, means the variation
in price as between the time of buying and
selling, or from the hour the order was
given until the sale OF purchase is actually
accomplished. FIAT" loan is one that
carries no interest; "Jobber" IS the
street term for an operator in stocks, an
generator ia wiped out" clearly "a western
term. whom he is compelled to declare sus-
peusion. or is sold out" under the rules,
because of inability to carry out his con-
| tracts.
Watering stocks "a favorite phrase
Of Jacob Little and first used by the
| Great Boar--ls the process OF increasing
! the quantity without adding to the
value of the stock. Twisting. on the
shorts" is when the "shorts" have un
dersold heavily and the market has
been artifcially raised in order to com
pei them TO settle at rising rates. Salt
ing down" stock to wait for raise
"loading and unloading" carrying
stock for raise OF the purpose of 6
pool or clique" Ca term borrowed from
the Paris and London Exchanges)
blocks" of stock and many Other
terms are familiar to outsiders. The. bal
looming" of a stock 10y circulating ".roor
backs" or favorable stories concerning II
is common practice on the street. When
broker buys in" stock, he makes pur
chases in order to meet short contracts OF
to enable him to return stock he may have
| borrowed Covering his shorts" means
that when stock has been sold and the
market rises the seller buys whore he can
and protects himself on the day Of de-
livery.
| TIE LCLL.
There is no merrier crowd in the inter
walls of business than the brokers. There