The evening times., 1898-12-06
Langley Borrowed 500 and
Cleared Nearly $1,0OO,OO0.
HIS WINNINGS PYRAMIDED
Made 500, 600 and Then Went in
for Straddles.
Speculation That Made Wall Str, ct
Look Ashast-WCathered the
Blast of 80.

Wall Street men who weathered the
slump of 1877 may remember Langley, the
plunger, who ran such a marvellous race
with fortune. One of these men told this
story in an uptown club last week to
half dozen young men as a warning rot
to tempt fortune too far. Langley oper-
ated I'm stocks before the Napoleonic re-
vival or he would undoubtedly have been
dubbed the first Napoleon of Finance. He
died in poverty, otherwise he would not
have served to point Wall Street moral
and his name was not Langley, but so
near it that old brokers may easily iden-
tify him.
You have asked me to tell you of the
most sensational plunging since / have
been in Wall Street." said the elderly
broker, land | will answer you by telling
the story of Langley. 1t is not fiction
and to my mind IL is more remarkable
than any similar tale of fiction l have
ever read. 1t happened that had offices
with Langleys broker at that time and
] knew every in and out of his opera
tions. Let me say at the outset that in
my experience plungers are class by
themselves and when a man is once
plunger he will remain plunger to the
end of his career. Such man was Lang
ley. ! met him first in 1915 when he was
a prosperous merchant in Philadelphia.
He was reported 10 ba wealthy at that
time and his business was profitable 1t
was not necessary for him to speculate,
but it seemed to be in his blood, and he
IL,
] had an office. He went in for thousand
share lots and there were weeks when he
seemed to be gambling on every active
stock in the market without any particu-
lar reason for it.
''Biackwood urged him again and again
to go slow, but Langley wouldn't have il.
The market began 10 go against him and
when the slump came in 1871 1t not only
wiped out his account at his brokers, but
his business III Philadelphia as well.
Langley found himself In middle life with
out a dollar that could be called his own.
Such blows are knockouts for some men,
and when Langley disappeared for six
months or more we thought that he had
given up the fight, His temperance in
our office was dramatic. The market
was just beginning to react from its de-
preston when one afternoon Langley
walked in. He had always been we'll
dressed man. He now appeared in the
shabbiest kind of clothes. Failure was
plainly stamped on his face and he looked
even hungry. Langley bowed TO three or
four men in the office whom he had
known in his days of prosperity and each
one Of them calculated in his mind how
much Langley would ask to borrow and
how much he would give him.
g 'Blackwood,' he said 1 am in hard
luck
81 can see that said his old broker.
and L am sincerely sorry for you. If /
can help you in any way | Will gladly do
So sS
81 haven't come here to beg, said
Langley. but / want you to give me
start in the market.
" Let me beg of you TO stay out Of it,
replied BIackwood. You have paid me
great deal of money in commissions and
now let me give you enough 10 help you
get a start somewhere. but don't touch
the stock market
THAT won't suit me, said Langley,
and am only going to ask you to risk
800 for me. If | lose ! will disappear II
j win will make more. Will you do il?
"Blackwood felt that it was throwing
money away. but Langley had been his
good customer for many years and he
could not refuse.
81 will put you in the market for 500.
he said
The market had closed and the men in
the office were listening curiously to hear
how Langley was going TO invest his
money.
.Blackwood, ne said, Northwest
closed at 81 ii today. I want you 10 buy
for me tomorrow morning 100 shares of it
with one-point stop-loss order
ITO the other men in the office this
seemed to be a foolish way to throw away
500. and apparently their expressions in
dicated their thoughts. Turning to them
and shaking with excitement, Langley
said:
Laugh if you choose, gentlemen, but
mark my words, that stock will sell for
131 before it again sells for 81 and events
proved that he was right He had made
a careful study of the crop prospects. and