Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1901-05-03
MAD woRsHIPPERs OF MAMMoN.

MAD WoRsHIPPERs OF MAMMON.
1t is a condition of devil take the
hindmost in the stock market The
last buyers in the present mad bull
movement will hold the bar."
The big fellows are raking in their
profits by the millions and most of them
have the crop garnered and III the
shock. 1t has been golden harvest OF
unprecedented extent for these wise
ones. Had they but known the vast
size of the public appetite-still unsat-
isfied-their winnings might have been
doubled. But even the wise ones OF
Wall street have been fooled as to the
extent of the public's headlong rush to
buy which has carried the market clear
ont of the hands of the professionals
for the time being Never were there
such scenes in Wall street before, es-
pecially on last Tuesday, the record day
of the present bull market, when for
every second licked off by the clock in
the stock exchange million dollars
worth of securities changed hands. Out
side in the street, we are told, the
mighty commotion of i 800 brokers try
ing to puy and sell at the same time in
the face of a tremendous rising market
attracted a crowd of 1000 people.
They filed Whitehall street and Bea-
yer street, drawn by the riot of ecstatic
speculation. The Broadway cars were
blocked by the crowd. Inside was oed-
lam. 'fMorgan's in it" This was
enough to send any stock soaring No
body wanted to sell; everybody wanted
\ to buy And so prices mounted madly.
Nobody had time to eat. Not a man
dared leave his post in the mad rush
on the floor Not a man wanted to.
Everybody was wild-eyed. Pandemon-
ium reigned. Every soul was stark,
raying money-mad. Even clerks and
messengers became rich. Says New
York exchange:
steel! Steel! Steel That was the
cry all day long. The Billion Dollar Trust
was booming. Morgan's magic had made
it Men wanted it at any price. up sup up,
fn-law of James r. Keene, took 100 GOO
shares of United States steel alone. Ev-
cry time it broke a trife the Morgan Morgan
all the stock in sight.
"Keene's a built was the cry.
1t was true. The veteran bear had real
lied that everything was going up and he
IN htyxF yanf Ia IF
He's made $40, 600 since the rise
was the gossip everywhere and thousands
rushed in to duplicate his wonderful win
nings.
Every rule of speculation was knocked
to flinders yesterday. Weeks ago conser-
vative bankers and brokers began warn
ing their clients against over-speculation
They were of the opinion that prices were
high enough, even with unparalleled pros
perity. They might just as well have
talked to the winds Since that time the
market has given them the lie. Great for
tunes have been piled up; all stocks of any
value have advanced from 10 to 20 points.
Intoxicated with success, spectators
have scorned the warnings of the wise:
Their resources seem boundleSS. Wall
street went mad. Even clerks and mes
sengers deserted their posts. They had
realized what was coming and good
win meant more than their places. They
swarmed about the new Stock Exchange,
gambling-mad, wild to hear the news.
They even distrusted the tickers, because
they could not get the news out fast
enough.
Gates has made $1,000, oOo!' was the cry.
1t was true The story of how he mar
keted $4,000 shares of Steel, common. at
an average of 81 was in every mouth This
netted him $500 900 alone. His friends de-
clared that he was S5.000,000 richer than
he was year ago. Nobody denied it,
Other fortunes piled up rapidly yester-
day. Clerks suddenly resigned their jobs
because they had to watch their rapidly
increasing holdings. Messenger boys who
could be depended upon got 100 per cent
increase. Bookkeepers that were glad to
work for 500 month year ago found
themselves worth $50 week to their en-
ployers, if they would only keep away
from the ticker.
AT the market" was the order from
every lip.
And the end is not even yet But it
certainly Is near and the crash that
must come with reaction promises to be
something frightful Even our unpre-
cedented prosperity has been overdone
many fold in Wall street.