The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1890-01-10

veuUuTeSOIle, Dub
that portion of tie general public which re-
CARDS railroad only as a basis for the issue
of stock in which men can speculate did not
distinguish between the two.
Like iron and railroads, stocks also began
to look up, and Mr.. Mango devoted himself
more closely than ever to the quotations
which followed each other moment by mo-
tnent on the tape of the stock ticker. 1t
seemed never safe for him to be out of hear.
ing of thu instrument, for figures changed so
suddenly and unexpectedly; shares in some
solid old roads about which everybody knew
everything remained at their old figures,
while some concS'ns that had only just been
introduced in Wall street, and were as prob
lematic as new acquaintance i'll general, fig
ured largely in the daily reports Of Stock
Exchange transactions.
Mr.. Marge remembered previous occasions
Of similar character; during the first of them
he had been "lamb," and was sheared so
closely and rudely that he afterward took
great interest in the shearing process, per-
haps to improve and reform it. He was not
at all misled by the operations on the street at
the period with which this story concerns it
self; he knew that some Of the new securities
were selling for more than they were worth,
that the prices of others, and the great vol
ume of transactions in them, were made
wholly by brokers whose business it was to
keep them before the people. Others, which
seemed promising, could fulfill their hopes
only on certain contingencies.
Yet Marge, cool and prudent though he
was, took no interest whatever in securities"
that deserved their name; he devoted all his
attention to such stocks rs fluctuated wildly
stocks about which conflicting rumors, both
good and bad, came day by day, sometimes
hour by hour. He did not hesitate to inform
himself that he was simply gambler, at the
only gentlemanly game which the law did
not make disreputable, and that tho place for
his wits and money was among the stocks
which most INDUCED in ''quick turns" and
to which the outside public-the great flock
Of lambs-would be most attracted.
After n careful survey of the market, and
several chats, apparently by chance, with al
legged authorities of the street, he determined
to confine his operations to the stock Of 1.-THE
Eastern and Western Consolidated Railway
company" better known on the street and
the stock tickers' tapes as re. 81 W." This
stock had every feature that could make any
alleged security attractive to operators, for
there was great deal Of it, the company was
formed by the consolidation, under the guise
of leasing, of the property of several other
companies, it was steadily picking up small
feeders and incorporating them with the
main line, it held some land grants of posi-
BILE value, and, lastly. someo the managers
were so brilliant, daring and INSCRIPTIONS
that startling changes in the quotations
might occur at any time at very short notice
Could a gambler ask for more promising
gamel
O. a.
his choice For the first few days after he
ventured into it the stock cIept up by frac-
tons and points SO that t.y selling out and
promptly repurchasing Marge was able to
double his investment, ION a Margin" from
his profits alone. A temporary break fright
ened him little, but on a rumor that the
company was obtaining a lease OF an i'm
portant connecting link he borrowed enough
money to buy more instead Of selling, and
as-for a wonder-the rumor proved true, he
realized" enough to take a couple of hun
dred shares more Success began to mani
fest itself In his countenance and his manner,
and to his great satisfaction he once heard
his name coupled with that Of one Of the
prominent operators in the stock.
His success had also the effect OF making
his plans more expansive and aspiring.
Should E. & w. go on as IL was going, he
must within half a year become quite well
ofr-almost rich, in fact Such being the
case, might 1t not be mistake for him to at
tach as much importance as he had done to
the from business and its possible effect upon
the dover of Miss Tramlayi She was q
charming girl, but money ought to marry
money, and what would DO a share Of the
forty or fifty thousand year that Tramlay
might make in a business which, after all,
could have but the small margin of profit
which active competition would allowi There
we're rich families toward whose daughters
he had not previously dared to raise his eyes,
for their heads would have -.emanded fuller
financial exhibit than he cared to make on the
basis of the few thousands of dollars which
he had invested In profitable tenement house