Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-06-17

that it commenced when the late Mr. Flow
er cabled from Europe to his friends to
Buy, buy at the beginning of the Span
ish war Others assert that it began with
the declaration of peace, and still others
date 1t from the time when James r.
keene gave out his celebrated prosperity"
interview last December.
The truth Of the matter is that these men
and others foresaw the rise in values but
the cause of the boom, like that of every
one that amounts to anything. lay not with
any one man, but with the remarkable
and widespread business prosperity of the
whole country.
Cause of the Boom.
Heavy crops, selling at good prices, had
put money in the pockets of the farmers.
The transportation of these crops had in
creased the earnings and raised the divi-
dends Of railways, big advance sales and
the securing of large foreign contracts
sured a period of prosperity for our mills
and manufactures. Money was plenty,
profits were large; the natural result was
rise in the prices of all securities.
The great grain-carrying railways, which
had been paying and per cent advanced
to u and g. The prices of all these stocks
moved up rapidly, soon the increase
in the earnings of the roads was reported.
Stocks went up from 20 to 90 points all
along the line. This great rise in values
meant enormous increase In the wealth
of stockholders affected by the advance.
1t amounted to nearly $500 900 900 in the
standard securities dealt in on the ex-
changes.
The men who saw this movement coming
and had millions to invest have realized
enormous profits. Ex-Governor Flower was
one of them. He bought stocks that were
low, but which showed good dividend pos
sibilities. In the advance he cleared So 1000
600 or more, besides putting millions into
the pockets of his friends. John D. Rookie
Teller saw 1t. He had been buying railroad
stocks for two or three years, while prices
We're at rock bottom. The increase must
h1V cd i'm low
h. Keene saw it. He bought 'grangers"
and advised his friends to do likewise.
When the boom came "grangers felt it
first, and Keene cleared 5000 600 in six
weeks. The Vanderbilt holdings profited to
the extent of some $4,000 600 by the ad-
vance, while ]. Pierpont Morgan must have
been made $4,000 600 richer by it.
While these and other well-known Wa.
street leaders secured a large slice of this
growth i'll values a greater portion of 1t
fell to small stockholders all over the coun-
try. Much of that has since found its way
into Wall street for investment or specula-
ton
Rush to Invest.
sharp increase in prices naturally
means a rush for investment As soon as
the people through the country with a few
hundreds or few thousands to invest saw
the trend of the market they hurried to
buy. Orders poured in on the Wall street
brokers actually faster than they could fill
them. The business of the exchange in
creased until the daily record of sales was
a million and half shares. On the final
Monday of January the high-water mark In
the volume of business was reached. On
that one day / ,121 600 shares We're reporte
sold on the exchange. The excitement was
intense, the uproar furious. and it is prob
able that a least 50,0DO shares went by de-
fault in the prevailing excitement.
The handling of a million and three-quar-
tiers shares of stock in the five hours dur
ing which the exchange remains open
means that business is carried on at a ter
rife pace 1t means that nearly six thou
sand shares change hands every minute of
the time. hundred for every second
Even with this remarkable record the
brokers were unable to fill the orders Of
many OF their customers.
Millions In COMMISSIONS
This rush of customers for all sorts of
investment stocks brought golden shower
in commissions to the brokers. The ordi-
nary Wall street broker is not the man
whose name is met frequently in the col
umns OF the newspapers, who travels in
special cars and a private yacht He is an
honest, quiet, Woodworking member of the
community, who fills his clients orders and
takes his commissions whether they are /
per cent or one-quarter of / per cent on the
amount. The prosperity of the great ma
lority of the Wall street community, there
| fore, depends directly upon the amount of
business done. When sales amount to a
! million and a half shares commissions are
| at least $1,000 If this sum were divided
equally among the 1900 members of the
Wall street contingent it would mean a
| trife of 500 daily for each one.
| As matter of fact. the bulk of the COM
| missions Is divided among much smaller
number During the height of the season
| the big firms like Flower & Co and Henry
| Clews q Co. took in from $4,000 to $50 600
| daily in this manner, while individual brok-
| ers were satisfied TO make from $500 to $500
per day
Even an income of $500 per day does not
make millionaire In one season, but it
goes long way in that direction MANY
of the brokers who made investments on
their own account are able to retire now
with the assurance of being able to live on
| their incomes for the remainder of their
liveA Soma Of them will do 50; others will