The Lambertville record., 1897-04-21

system" by which brokers and traders
In securities who had small means
were enabled Ia test their Judgment
by large operations. and at the same
time protect themselves from heavy
loss. lie sold puts" and calls"
spreads and "straddlcs," with the
result that dealings ON the Stock EN-
change greatly increased. As is fire.
qucnlly the case, the inventor profits
little, and Mr.. Sage lost several mil
lions of dollars in the privilege bust
ness, aud that, too, in half week
II was toward the end Of May, 1891.
Mr.. Sage had sold puts upon thou
sands and thousands of shares of
stock. The market suddenly became
weak, prices dropped away. and
panic was threatened.
II should be borne In mind that
privileges" are contracts not enfore-
able by law. II Is also borne In mind
now that Russell Sage never went
back on his word. For three days he
sat with pen in hand and, amidst the
eXcitemcnt, when over 200 brokers
were clamorlng 10 get into his pres
cncc, signed check after check upon
HE Importers aud Traders Bank. uu-
ill he bad used up several books and
had seen, so IL was estimated ut the
time, $l000.000 Of his fortune melt
away like snoWllakes in the sun.
II was on December 4, 1891, a Fri
day, and, TO DE exact, 1890 o'clock, for
Secretary Mcnzlc's watch stopped nj
that moment, when The craiik. Nor
cross, who wanted over S1.O00000 OF
Mr. SnEc's money. threw The bomb
that killed himself and injured Mr.
Sage and others and blew the office
into klndling wood. That event was OF
too recent date 10 need II reminder of
the details and the discovery of the
would be assassin through the medium
of n clothes button which was picked
up In the building. Everybody in the
building was shaken up and scared
out of considerable growth.
When some outside barbarian ac.
cuses New Workers OF lack OF civic
pride, the loyal GothamIte usually
points to Madison Square Garden and
the Metropolitan Opera House as eyi-
llcncc to the contrary Here" he has
been wont 10 explain with true Knick
erbocker pride, arc two magnificent
monuments 10 public spirit. Both
these splendid structures have been
built and maintained at II loss by men
who dedicated them to the service and
amusement of their fellow-ctzens.
But there Is Il limit TO good nature.
The stockholders OF the Madison
Square Garden Company think that
they have gained, and are quite will
ing now 10 have someone else shoul-
der the load. SO they decided. Any
rntcrprising agriculturist who wishes
to try his hand nj this sort of garden
ing can get the site at bargain, and
have the famous bronze Diana, that
moves with every wind on the latest
style of bearing axis, thrown in.
The Garden was evolved out of the
old Harlem Railroad depot. and as
sumed its present shape In 1890. Ii is
the largest building in the country en-
tircly devoted to purposes of amuse-
ment. The arena holds 11,000 people
the theatre 200 and the assembly hall
300 more. II has been the scene of
many notable events, social, political
and sporting. The hope Is that some
multi millionaire, or a syndicate OF
them, may come forward and buy in
the building. and either continue 1t in
It's present form, or remodel II, SO that.
while preserving its essential features,
additions may be made that will rem
der the property, In measure, Il
profitable Investment
CYRUS THoRP.