The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-06-19
NEW CROP MILLloNAIRES.
MEN WHO HAVE FLOATED on TOP
OF THE WAVE OF PROSPERITY.


Exciting scenes in Wall street, when
Fabulous Fortunes Changed Hands
Every Minute and Omce Boys ana
clerks Became Capitalists in IA
Bny-Men Who Knew When to
Qust-sOme Large Profits.
Now York June lit is seldom that
one gets too much of a good thing when
The good thing is business and business
means money But Wall street has come
near 10 that situation within the past
four months. II has experienced such
remarkable season, a boom that went 50
far beyond all predictions that now IL Is
stated with profit taking, is ready 70 stop
for time and 10 devote itself to spending
some Of the money that has been making
during the past months.
Ii has been impossible for the Wall
street man to tell from day TO day wheth-
er his typewriter or his messenger might
not blossom out as a capitalist the next
morning. There are dozens of clerks, en-
pIoyes and others having a more or less
slender connection with the money mar
ket who have made from few hundred
TO several thousands in the general scram-
bic
The boom was not unheralded. There
were many who predicted it. 1t is a mat
ter of some discussion as to just when
and how il started. There are those who
say that il commenced when the late Mr.
Flower cabled from Europe to his friends
to BUY, buy at the beginning of the
Spanish war. Others assert that it began
with the declaration Of peace, and still
others date il from the time when James
r. keene gave out his celebrated pros
perity" interview last Decem Der.
The truth Of the matter IS that these
men and others foresaw the rise in values
but the cause of the boom, like that or
every one that amounts TO anything, lay,
not with any one man, but with the re-
markable and widespread business pros
pcrity of the whole country.
Heavy crops, selling a 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 ana
the securing of large foreign contracts
and manufactures. Money was plenty,
profits were large; the natural result was
rise in the prices of all securities.
500, 100000 Increase in Values.
The great grain-carrying railways,
which had been paying and per cent,
these stocks moved up rapidly, as soon is
the increase in the earnings of the roads
was reported. Stocks went up from 20 TO
80 points all along the line. This great rise
in values meant an enormous increase in
the wealth of stockholders affected by the
advance. II amounted to nearly 100000,
900 in the standard securities dealt in on
the exchanges.
The men who saw this movement com
ing and had millions TO invest have real
lied enormous profits. Ex-Gov. Flower
was one of them. He bought stocks that
were low but which showed good dividend
possibilities. In the advance he cleared
S5,0000 600 or more, besides putting millions
into the pockets of his friends John d.
Rockefeller saw it. He had been buying
railroad stocks for two or three years,
while prices We're al rock bottom. The in
crease must have Melted him Sl0,000,O00 or
more James r.. Keene saw it. He
bought ''Grangers1 and advised his friends
TO do likewise When the boom came
"Grangers" felt il first. and Keene clear
ed 5000 900 in six weeks. The Vanderbilt
holdings prohted to the extent Of some
5000 coo by the advance. while j. Pierpont
Morgan must have been made A,OOOOO0
While these and other well known Wall
street leaders secured a large slice of this
growth in values a greater portion of Ii
fell to small stockholders all over The
country Much OF that has since round
its way into Wall street for investment or
speculation
Rush to Invest.
A sharpe increase In prices naturally
means a rush for investment. AS soon
as the people through the country with
invest saw the trend of the market they
hurried to buy. orders poured in on the
Wall street brokers actually faster than
they could MI them. The business OF the
exchange increased until the daily record
of sales was 100000 shares. on the final
Monday Of January The high water mark
In the volume of business was reached
on that one day 1,72l,0 900 shares were re-
ported sold on the exchange. The excite
ment was Intense, the uproar furious, and
It is probable that at least $1,000 shares
went by default in the prevailing excite
ment.
S6OO,OOO Changing Hands Every
Minute.
The handling of 10000 shares of stock
in the five hours during which the ex-
change remains open means that business
is carried on at terrific pace. 1t means
that nearly 800 shares change hands every
minute of the time, or 100 for every Sec
Even with this remarkable record the
brokers were unable to I'LL the orders of
many of their customers
Millions in Commissions.
This rush of customers for all sorts of
investment stocks brought a golden show
er in commissions to the brokers. The
ordinary Wall street broker is not the
man whose name is met frequently in the
columns of the newspapers, who travels
in special cars and 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 one
per cent. on the amount. The prosperity
of the great majority of the Wall street
community therefore depends entirely up
on the amount of business DONE When
sales amount to 1864, 600 shares commits
slons are at Least $4,000. If this sum
were divided equally among the 1850
members of the Wall street contingent Il
would mean trifie of 800 daily for each
one
AS a matter Of fact, the bulk of the COM
missions is divided among much smaller
number. During the hight of the season
the big firms. like Flower & Co.. and Hen
~ Clews & Co, took in from SIS, 900 10 SIS
coo daily in this manner, while individual
brokers were satisfied to make from $5CC
:, $50 per day.
Even an income OF $500 per day does
not make a millionaire IN one season, but
1t goes a long way in that direction. Many
OF the brokers who made investments OF
their own account are able 10 retire now
with the assurance of-being able TO live or
their incomes for the remainder of theil
dives. Some of them viii do so; others vii
60 back to Wall street and speculate unit
they lose their present fortunes.
One man who has retired IS L. b. Tai
colt. who was one of the best known brok
ers IN the street lie had announced IRE
sIs