The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1900-08-24
STocK8RoKERs' sUPeRsTIrIoNs.
Luck of II Man Who Stepped on .
Crack Going to His ONCE.

Luck of Man Who stepped on y
Crack Going to His ONCE.
The man who was watching the tape
anxiously suddenly snapped it off and,
turning to the brokers' standing near him.
said:
That last sale has probably cost ME
$1,000. and | am through bucking my su-
perStition."
Lost rabbit foot?" asked broker.
"No, nothing of that sort. | don't be-
lieve in rabbits feet, opals and all that
sort of thing. | have a little superstition
of my own, however. which is just as
foolish. 1t is really absolutely silly, but
l have never known it to fail. | come
down town in Broadway car every
morning. Experience has taught me that
if | step on a crack as | walk from
Broadway down Wall and Broad to my
office luck will go against me all day. |
first noticed this ten years ago. 1t came
to me like an inspiration. | tried to fight
it down. On days when | had stepped
on crack in going to my office in the
morning | would trade only in the most
conservative stocks and on what seemed
to be sure tips In nine eases out of ten.
however, the market would go against
me.
"Of course it is foolish, but I'll ven
ture to say that eight brokers out Of ten
down here have some pet superstition
like il. nave tried in every way to take
the hoodoo away from mine, and today $
luck has convinced me that it is useless.
| stepped on a crack this morning just
as | was thinking about buying 200
che ,f Y H., 1 ...l.A
nation that it was to lie buel, and its
last report warranted a price better than
81. When | stepped on the crack, thought
to myself: There is my hoodoo. If ! buy
that stock now, it will 60 down. I'll just
take the curse off that hoodoo by selling
200 shares That was what did. | or.
dered my short stock covered at rs. Five
points was all the profit | cApccted. The
stock began to sag as soon as | sold, and
then came rally and it's been going up
ever since. My stock has just been GOV
cred at a five point loss. That convinces
me that can't get the better OF my hoo
doc, and hereafter | am going to yield to
it."
Several of the other brokers admitted
in turn their pet superstitions. and one
of them told story about the death of a
well known governor of the Stock En-
change few years ago. The governor
may be called Brown. The broker said:
There was not more level headed
man on the exchange than Brown, and
probably all of you knew him. He
had one superstition which he confded
to his friends. He always said that he
felt sure that if it ever became necessary
for him to announce a members death
that his own death would come very
shortly after that. We all guyed him
about it, and Brown himself didn't seem
to be very serious. 1t so happened one
morning, however, that the other officers
of the exchange were i'll, and Brown
was called upon to announce the death of
a member. heard him do it and thought
to myself that this was a good opportuni-
ty to prove the foolishness of his super
stition. Brown looked to be in perfect
health. After announcing this death he
stepped down, walked across the floor
and when near the door he fell as if in
a faint. He never recovered conscious
ness. You all know that he died in
that way, and there are a dozen other
men besides myself who can youch for
his having that superstition. My expert
ence leads me to believe that stockbro-
kers are the most superstitious Of men,"
New York Sun