, 1891-01-01

y "' hH. roe
tHa. -.'
c]iteuI..lf Csc sta- .n
cisco remained g1is
or less trading vtl ..,. 90 .sgs
shares. Of coursa, but lar rsar "a 20
whole was quietly I,iiHs DOSES wvia st
appeared a bedrock, ba-fs
The Sierra Neyalt AMI tular tsLa5li-
dated mines at the nur.aern end Of the
Comssock group were at this time par
ticularly inactive. the former selling ~
low as fifty cents a share. ISnInOrs, how
ever, began 10 circulate about this time
of a strike" in the north end mines, and
Sierra Nevada and Union began to climb
upward.
John Powers. a butcher. owned at the
time Of which IspealS n small shop at the
corner of Hayes street and Van Ness ave-
une. and he somehow became imbued
with the idea that there was more money
to be made at stock speculation thar in
the butcher business. Acting upon this
idea Powers, by mortgaging his business
and borrowing what money he could,
scraped together a few thousand dollars,
which he deposited in the Office OF a Pine
street brokerage firm.
He wasn't particular, he said. as to what
stock he should buy, and finally settled
on Sierra Nevada us being a good pur-
chase, leaving instructions with his brok-
ers TO buy 100 shares for his account.
This was done, and Powers was duly
credited with the stock, for which had
been paid SEA a share.
Meanwhile the rumors came pouring
in from Virginia City about the great
north end strike, and Sierra Nevada be-
gan to fairly jump forward, until it was
quoted at Si75. This would have salts
fed any ordinary man. but not 80 Pow
ers. Instead of selling he gave orders to
buy more stock.
In the course of the next two weeks
Sierra Nevada had reached $3.50 per
share. and Powers, with 800 shares to
his credit, was in debt to his brokers
about $4,000, He could have realized
at this point a clear profit Of over 49,
600. His brokers begged him to sell. but
Powers was obdurnte. He was after a
million. he said, and as long as his mar
gins remained good the brokers remained
satisfied.
Powers then sold ont his business en-
tirely and put up the proceeds as addi
tional margin. He began to look up ia
vorable building sites for the residence
he intended to put mp that, he asserted,
would "beat them mob heal affairs all
boiler"
Having, like a ~skyrocket, reached its
highest point, Sierra Nevada now began
TO come down, at first slowly and then
more rapidly even than it went up.
Powers had gone to the country for "A
few days to look at a ranch he had in
tended purchasing. His brokers had
wired him to return, and he had sup
posed that it was because his stock had
reached the 81. 900 limit, at which figure
he had left orders to sell.
1t wa with a very joyous countcuance
that he greeted his broker, whom he met
on the street.
Well, said Powers, '1haye you sold
the stock?'
"Oh, yes" said the broker, 1--WE had to.
You sec it began to fall, and to protect
ourselves we had to let it all go at 40,
and you now owe MS $3.50, which / hope
you ran settle"
WHAT fairly gasped tho astonished
Powers. Let it go Mt 40? And you say
I'm in debty'
Yes" replied the broker; I'VE told
you 10 sell. but you wanted the earth.
and | guess you'll have to 60 back to your
trade"
When it finally dawned on Powers that
the broker really spoke the truth he was
almost overcome with grief and disap-
pointment. He rallied, however, and
If any one now wants a choice steak
johnny" Powers, who works for a large
market concern IN Pine street, is just
the nan to go TO.
He will probably tell you that he ought
TO be and might have been n millionaire,
but the quality Of the meat will be good
just the same.-New York Herald.