Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-03-23
SHEARING OF LAMBS.
Swindling Operations That Are Sue
cessful in Wall Street.
GAMES OF RAILROAD MAGNATES.
How Gould Plucked William Il. Vanderbilt
for Twenty Millions.
THE METHODS OF THE BUCKET SHOPS
CORRESPONDENCE OF THE DISPATCH

| CORRESPONDENCE OF THE DISPATCH
NEW YORK, March 22.-Fifteen million
dollars worth OF stocks and bonds on an
average change hands daily in Wall street.
There have been days when the amount
reached S125, ,0OO, 900. The figures here given
are based on the actual market value of the
a rule something like S150,00O day, in
actual profit and loss on the transactions,
goes out of the pockets of one set OF specu-
lators into the pockets of another set. There
are times when this sum may be multiplied
by ten and even by Fl ty.
A great deal is heard of the plucking of in
nocents in the street" Nowhere else are
swindling operations conducted on such an
extended scale. The rules of the Stock Ex-
change governing the transaction of bust
ness are extremely rigid, and it is not often
that brokerage concern connected with the
Exchange is caught in any downright ras-
cality. Speculation is game of chance al
most exclusively, and when an order is
given to a regular broker to buy for rise
or to "sell for DROP" the risk is we'll un-
derstood. The swIndling is done by out
siders, or persons having no direct relations
with the Exchange. Wall street seems to
be Mecca Tor men with extensive schemes
of an lllegitimate nature. If they were
petty in their extent they would be called
bunco games. AS it is they are digni6ed
with the title "sharp transactions"
A TELEPHONE GAME EXPOSED.
As said before, it is not often that a men,
Der of the Stock Exchange is caught in
crooked business, but there are instances
nevertheless. A broker who had earned a
reputation as a "hustler,' put the securities
OF a telephone company on the market. He
said the instrument was superior to all
others in conveying conversation. A good
deal of attention was paid to the enterprise,
for the reason that it was believed broker,
who had established large and wealthy
clientage, and was apparently in a fair way
to become millionaire himself, would not
take up any scheme that was not all right.
He did, though. The telephone was not
such wonderful affair as il was generally
supposed to be. A speaking tube would
have done just as good work. The broker
had an instrument through which prospec-
tive investors could talk with Philadelphia.
The conversation was rs clear as if the per-
sons at either end of the line were within a
few feet of each other. The stock of the tele-
phone company went off like the proyerbial
hot cakes until one day it was discovered
that the person who was supposed to be
talking into the transmitter in Philadel-
phia was, as a fact, located in the cellar
under the brokers' Office. The broker fed,
and is now out West somewhere herding
cattle.
A quiet-looking little man appeared in
Wall street one day, and confded to firm
of brokers that he owned the entire shores
of an estuary of the Gulf of Mexico on the
Florida side. He had a map showing a
land-locked harbor, and also indicating
A PROPOSED RAILROAD LINE
connecting with the important land trans
portation systems from the East West and
North, the charter for which he said he
owned. 1t looked like pretty good thing.
The man pointed out how cotton. grain,
timber and other products OF the South and
West could be brought by rail to the estuary
and taken thence in steamships and sailing
vessels to points along the coast and to
foreign ports. A capitalist who was i'm
pressed with the advantages of the scheme
and contemplated putting large amount of
money in ii, thought he would look over the
situation. He went to Florida and found
that the water in the estuary was two feet
deep and that the railroad line ran through
a morass. The inhabitants of the section
promoters" are encountered at every
turn, or, to be more exact, every step in
Wall street. Ii capitalist wants to buy a
railroad he can be accommodated on the
spot. A railroad charter is an easy thing
to procure in a majority of the States. A
promoter may be friend of representative
in the Legislature who will put through
bill authorizing him to build road between
any two points that it pleases his fancy or
suits his advantage to select. The legisla-
tor himself, seeing little or no hope of future
political preferment, may take it into his
haad to make hay while the sun shines, and
secure anywhere from one to half dozen
charters for his own benefit. Charters of
this class are, OF course, never obtained with
any idea of constructing the roads which
they provide for. They are merchandise to
be offered in Wall street. The lines pre-
scribed. to use a common "street" express
sion, extend from
NOWHERE TO NOWHERE.
Or, in other words, have for their termini
two unimportant points. These charters are
worth to the owners what they will bring, it
may be little or it may be much. To the
'smart" buyers they may be worth good
deal. They afford opportunities for the
formation of stock companies. The stock is
avoid prosecution for fraud the organizers Of
the companies count the value of their char
tiers at so much, pocket this amount from the
sales of stock, and leave the stockholders to
build the road from the remainder of the
proceeds-if they want to, which, on inves-
tigation, they usually do not.
Charters for banks are a general COM
modify in the street. The concerns are or
ganized in the same way as the bogus rail-
roads. 1t may be said, as an inducement to
investors, that the bank was projected to
transact the business of the cattle trade of
some Western State. The location of the
bank would be found at some desolate mail
station far out on the prairie
Gold and silver mine swindles are ''too
numerous to MENTION" The appearance or
"miner" in the street is daily occur
renee. His broad-brimmed hat and bluff
manners indicate that he is the genuine
article. He has a rich claim, but has no
capital to work it. Therefore he will sell a
halt interest. He shows metal taken from
the claim. If an investigation is made gold
or silver, as the case may be, will be found
on the claim in large quantities. The claim,
it may be said without prolonging the story,
has been ''salted" with ore from some other
place where it really exists.
PLENTY OF OIL WELLS.
Oil wells, too, can be bought in as large
numbers as may be desirable in the ''street."
They are, as a rule, "dry holes, J." or wells that
when sunk lailed to produce the expected
oil Tho ran ont of oosb