The sun., 1896-10-28

ceedingly bold and clumsy hoax. Boon after
the opening Of the Stock Exchange . number OF
tho larger brokerage houses received telegraph
dispatches from Washington, signed by initials
that gave no clue whatever as TO the Identity OF
the sender. that stated in distinct terms that
the Administration had decided to intervene at
once between Spain and Cuba. That the sender
OF these dispatches did not work sinRle-handed
was shown by the circulation locally OF copies OF
them, written in pencil, upon sending blanks
and marked copy" Efforts were also made to
impose upon a news agency. but they were un-
successful. As a matter Of fact the two insti-
tutions that mako q business OF procuring neWs
for Wall street obtained promptly from
Washington authoritative denials of the
statements contained in the fake de-
spstches, as soon as II became evident that
tho speculative community was taking those
advices seriously. 1t is quite possible that this
crude scheme to influence prices would have
failed Of its purpose had not the market. which
ia still very narrow. advanced to point that
was suggestive of q natural reaction, and had
not tho call money market showed signs OF
stringency this morning. The chances are that
these two factors were responsible for good
deal of tho selling that followed a atrong OPEN
Ing 1t is also probable that the virtually anony-
nous advices from Washington induced some
traders to sell. because they were apprehensivo
OF the enect upon others or the ultlmato preNh-
lence Of the disturbing rumors.
The various influences referred to resulted In
a decline before midday Of to points in the
stocks dealt In most extensively. Tho widest
fuctuation was in Sugar Refining. which. as
usual led the list in respect to activity. supply
ing nearly third of the total transactions,
That stock. however did not sustain rs great o
net loss as a number Of others that received less
attention, notably Chicago Gas and st. Paul.
The disposal of the Spanish war canard was
followed by a quick recovery in prices. aud then
the market became dull for time. In the last
hour traders who were fortunate enough to buy
stocks at low prices undertook to secure
their profits, with the result OF shad-
ing prices. again. In consequence the en-
tire list closed lower than yesterday; still, few
of the net losses were important. As plausible
a theory as any regarding the Cuban hoax is
that 1t was perpetrated by a combination OF
bucketshop proprietors all of whom have un-
questionably begun to suffer because of the ad
vancing tendency of tho market The decline
precipitated by the bogus dispatches was Just
about sufficient to wipe out the or z cent.
margin that the average bucketshop speculator
puts for the ultimate benefit OF the proprietors
OF those gambling joints. No sympathy need
be wasted. however. upon the patrons OF those
concerns, nor can 1t be expected that the episode
will teach them that in a comparatively narrow
market they are constantly at the mercy Of the
professional gamblers whom they bet against.
To-days Withdrawals OF gold from the Sub
Treasury were comparatively unimportant.
Bullion dealers. however, report q fair business
at n commission o: 3-l6 OF p cent. Transfers
of currency TO the interior through the Sub
Treasury were only $4,000. Receipts of gold
from abroad were $4,000 from Havana.
local banking house was advised to-day Of the
shipment of S2.l25. 900 gold from Australia to
its correspondent in San Francisco. Foreign
arbitrage houses sold stocks. but on a less ex-
| tensive scale than yesterday, and as American
shares are being carried into the new fortnight
ly account ou tho London STOCK Exchange at
46t41e r cent and a more hopeful feeling pre-
walls abroad as to the result Of the election here.
| foreign bankers are inclined to look for ces-
| sation of London selling.
Final sales compared with those of yesterday
rs follows: