Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1893-12-20
Brokers Play Football.

-Four little boys in blue caused q gooC
deal of trouble on the New York Stock
Exchange Wednesday afternoon. They
were in the gallery shortly before 'Chang'
closed, and they wore military suits
They had long military coats and brigh
gold lace on their hats, and they had JUS
come down from boarding school. They
were on their way home to spend Thanks
giving. They came into the gallery o.
the Exchange just as quietly and modest
ly as any boys would; but when the olc
brokers looked up and saw them, they
recalled the old days when they, too
went to boarding school, and when life
was pleasant to them. One of the boys
not abashed by the prominence of his
place, yelled out something about Yale
and Princeton, and the old war horses on
the Exchange, who in early days had
fought many Rugby game, felt a new
inspiration, and one of the head devils In
this new inspiration was Dick Halstead
He sent out messengers. to buy all the
footballs in the neighborhood. The mes
sengers on the Stock Exchange are well
paid and they move quickly, and by fif-
teen minutes Iof 3 Mr. Halsted had
twenty footballs fully blown up and
ready for use. He distributed them, and
in an instant the great room of the Ex-
change was dotted with flying feathers.
Halsted was the moving spirit in the
whole business, and those four little boys
in blue up in the gallery grinned as they
saw this old-timer pass the footballs to
his friends and urge them on to all sorts
of high kicking. Halsteds first lieuten-
ant was Allison Hopkins, one of the fair
faced young men of the Exchange, and a
roaring high kicker. Behind him came
Talbot T. Taylor, James r. Keene's SON
in.law, and following in quick procession
were H. P. Brookman, Edmund Fish,
Charles Rubsamen, John Wallace, the
Lackawanna specialist; John Henry
Clews, the roly-poly member of that fam
lily, Ed La Montainge, Charley Andrews,
A. V. de Goicouria, Dave Lapsey, Sam
aud Dan Chauncey, Richmond Terminal
Quick, all the Hunter boys, and last, but
by no means least, Emery Hodges.
Mr.. Hodges in the old days was one Of
the finest sports of the Exchange, but
some of his friends got to work aud eject
ed him governor, and after that he be-
came too severe to live. He was SO strict
that the boys of the Exchange began to
call him the Inspector, and one day they
dressed up an employee of the Exchange
in the garb of an Inspector of the Police
and tackled on to him the placard, "Thi;
is the Inspector" Wednesday Mr.
Hodges was out of Office, and he kicked
up more merriment than all the other:
put together.
The twenty footballs were kicked into
the air, they were kicked into the CALLER
les, and they were kicked into that ia
nous chandelier which i: at the top O
the dome of the Exchange. Even those
four little boys in blue in the gallery
were amazed at the tremendous effort
They guaged the distance from the foo
to the chandelier, and it was with aston
ishment that they saw that these old.tim'
fellows, who left college years ago, haC
force enough to send those footballs int
that chandelier and smash the electri,
tubes and the porcelain lining. But thi
was done, and fragments Of the chande
lier and the porcelain lining rained dowI
on the brokers.
During the melee William EucliC
Young, who believes that he wears th'
finest bevelled hat in the town, got in th'
way OF one of the kickers, and that ha
was a sight to see afterward. All thi
time Chairman James Mitchell, up OF
the rostum, was banging away with hi
gavel trying to be stern. The old boy
of the Exchange didn't care any more fol
bis gavel than they did for a straw in {
mint julep. But Mr.. Mitchell fneC
about one hundred of them anywhere from
81 to s25. Mr.. Mitchell didn't max,
any record of the fines and after Chang
the boys attempted to settle up in another
way. The four little boys in blue in tb'
gallery then went home TO see theil
papas and mammas and told them tha
they had seen the finest football game
imaginable..-N. Y. Sun.
Sweeter than Honey IN the Honeycomb
"What in life Is half so sweet,