The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-01-18
wALA-. STREET sUPERsTITIoNs.
BrokerA Who Have Their Mascots.
The n lumber Thirteen Feared and
Respect I'D.
vn1m Munsny's Magazine.

Respect I'D.
Ep1m MunsGy's Magazine.
Luck doss not rule Wall street so com
pletely as the uninitiated suppose.
Nevertheless. it exercises considerable
influence, a. nd, consequently, many
brokers and s pecula tors have all the
srperstitions Il nat mark the gambler. 1t
would be difficu 1t to find among them a
man who has not something unpleasant
to say about + "idays. Even hnanciers
who are pillars of the church hesitate
about beginning bi g operations on that
day, and they will frequently suffer in
convenience, if not actual loss, rather
than do so Men who can look at the
tape as il runs out of the ticker and see
fortunes slipping out Of their grasp with
out a change of expires sion Will turn pale
when they remember nat Jhey lofeoJ 10
tip the beggar before entering tne ex-
change. There are 9th srs who will not
sit down to luncheon wi thout hrst walk
ing around their chair
There is a halter in Ne W York, who has
a block that was made 70 Z certain Wall
street man many years ag ,. III IS stu IN
use Styles have chang ed hundred
times since it was made, bu the man who
ordered it has paid no atten ton to them.
In other respects he careful v follows the
mandates of fashion, but this unique
headgear he wears through winters and
summers. He is a wealthy banker and
broker, man of practical min q. unhamp-
cred by theories on any other subject but
this: vet, not for thouSal lG dollars,
could he be induced to walk upon the
floor of the exchange wearing a hat of
any other style or make.
Nearly every dabbler in stock 5 has a
mascot of some kind, which is pr7 3eless. l
remember meeting a well known speeula-
tor up town during one Of the exciting
dow of "a - what
doing herei' l asked. "Why are YOU not
in the street,"
Il am on my way home,' he n piled.
u forgot my mascot, and l wouldn't touch
anything in the street until | get 1t, I'm
going for it now, and am in great urry
Goodby."
1 have met another operator. ma of
very practical and unromantic mind,
who sets great store by peculiar sc, RI
pin. He admits that it is merely a supe r
stitien, but he would not dare to ente
into speculation on day when he did MOI
wear IT,
The fear of Friday is, however, the
most universal superstition Of the street
The great panic of 1869, when scores of
wealthy men were ruined in n day, has
been known in Wall street ever since as
Black Friday. The other day a broker,
who is a partner in one of the biggest
houses in the street, declared: There
are two things that l am superstitious
about One is Friday and the other is
| the number thirteen. Some months ago
| came down to my Office on Friday and
| tore the leaf Off my calendar. To my
horror the figure thirteen stared me in
the face. 1t was Friday and the 18th of
| the month. Great heavens = l thought
to myself, now III catch it sure. Within
| two hours l received word that
| Brooklyn elevator had burned, and
that $4,000 bushels of grain, which we
had stored there, had gone up in
smoke. Then some stocks in which we
were heavily interested went down 3
| points"