Morning journal and courier., 1892-05-12
A Beautiful Financial scheme,

I lFTon tne CnicASo Tr1bunel Speaking of Plunging," observed the man in the macintosh, "did I ever tell you of the run made on the bucket. shops some years ago" Don't think you ever did" 'It made some talk at the time. To be. gin with, hadn't 8 cent of money-not s cent. Bad luck at the races had cleaned me out. I wonder if any of you has ever known what it is to be absolutely strapped"
 'Lots of times," growled the man in the slouch hat. ''Go ahead"
 'iWell, had friend on Change. He was a lean faced man, with a long mous- tache and thin, prominent nose. He's on Change yet, for that matter. I heard him heave deep sigh one day and say he wished he had fifty thousand dollars to invest in May wheat. He said it was bound to go up fifteen or twenty points in spite of the croakers, but he was running 8 corn deal and his money was all tied up and he hadn't dollar to stake on wheat. A little while afterwsrd I strolled into 6 bucket-shop. A fellow who seemed to have more money than brains, to judge from his looks and the size of the wad he carried, was making pretty big venture on May wheat. A thought struck me. I said to him:
 "'My friend, if you'll divide your prof its with me on this deal, In case there are any, I'll undertake to assume all your loss- es in case you lose.'
 "'That looks like fair offer,' he said Have you got anything to put up to back itF
 Nothing but this watch and chain, I answered, but I'm willing to risk them And I put them into the hands of the bucket-shop man."
 "Was it a gold watchf" inquired the man with his feet on the table.
 ''1t looked like gold" replied the man in the mackintosh guariedly, 'tand had 6 stone set in the case that looked like dia- mond. That's all you need to know about it."
 That's all we want to know," said the man with the cigar. 'Of course 1t was goldi To be sure it was gold, And the diamond was genuinel Go onl"
 "Well, that fellow studied a moment and then said.
 "'I'll go you' The bucket-shop men said they would be witnesses to the agree ment and I went away and borrowed 6 quarter from friend to pay for a dinner at cheap eating house."
 'How did you come out on the dealF'' asked the man with the green necktie.
 "Throe weeks from that day I met the man according to agreement at the bucket shop and we divided up equally a profit of two thousand dollars. Wheat had gone up sixteen points"
 "Well, what thenF"
 "For the next six months I hung around that broker with the prominent nose and long mustache, and whenever heard him drop any hints as to how the market was going I acted on them, and at the end of that time had twenty thousand dollars in clean cash in the bank"
 "Got it out of the bucket-shopsf"
 "Every cent of it."
 "Then you sslted it downf''
 The man in the macintosh was silent long time. Then he said:
 "One day I heard my broker friend heave & deep sigh and say he wished he had one hundred thousand dollars to put into mess pork That was enough for me. I went to the bucket-shops and didn't some one ask me if I had salted down that twenty thousand dollarsi Yes, I salted it down. l salted it down in mess pork"
 "wellf'
 That's all there is of it." said the man in the mackintosh gloomily. "I never got it out of the brine. It's there yet"
 Nobody said anything for some min utes, but at last the man who wore gog- gles saked:
 'where is the gold wstchF'
 ''1 don't know. put that to soak about the same time But got si75 for it," added the man in the mackintosh, con siderably cheered at the recollection.