New-York tribune., 1902-08-31
A SIMPLE REQUEST.
CONSTANT READER" ASKS THAT IHb
MYSTERIES OF WALL STREET BE
MADE so PLAIN THAT A WOMAN
COTTID EASILY UNDERSTAND.

TO the Editor OF The Tribune: u,.-. ..,,nts,,e..
Of vonr paper and often wish you would publish
a series the stock tracing 50 sinple Vhdl
woman could easily Uii'sr CONSTANT READER
II is to be regretted that constant reading %
The Tribune has not made our correspondents -
little clear in her language. Though sne
seems to request IL. series OF supplements oe
voted 70 an exposition of Wall Street methods II
not exhausting the subject. might exhaust the SUD
scribers. A series OF articles is what sne Il"
doubt means TO ask for; but even mat We are uIi-
able to grant The serial form Of publication IS
thing devoutIy to be unwished; think OF Tommy
and Grizel' However. to leave one woman In tne
dark on subject that is so clear 70 the rest ot
the world. leave one intellect cropping N DINO
ness when the bull lies down beside the lamb IN
the full white light were unkindress we can
not infict In the space Of one article The Trio-
une will set forth how stock trading IS done
so simple that broker can understand IT,
But first not to rebuke our correspondent for
her ignorance but silence any who may ques-
ton the statement that al the world knows bow
the market is worked. consider the case % John
W. Gates & Co. The other day this firm received
from woman by mail. SO with the request
please make 500 with this" That shows both
hoy simple is the working Of the market and how
widely diffused is knowledge about it, even among
the milder Again. when there Ia great rise
fall In stocks, does not everybody know just
how It happened who Is to blame and who IS get
ting the rake-of?
AT any rate nearly everybody knows who isn't
getting the rake-on. which is the same thing
In the first place. to come TO the exposition, one
must bear in mind that the stock market is best
studied the racetrack- Thousands OF men every
summer deluded 3y tips bet the horses Their
money goes into the pockets Of the bookmakers.
the men who conduct the betting and receive the
stakes. At the end Of the summer, having heeeed
thousands Of donkeys by means Of the horses. the
''bookies'' 20 down on Wall Street and invest their
earnings in the market The bulls and the bears OF
the market make lambs of the "bookies" and in
the spring. again they poor as before A
good racing season means good market It's the
old rhyme reversed. for any poem that won't read
both ways can't be true:
Even 1eas have little heas
Upon their backs to bite en-
And lesser feas have still less feas.
And ad infnitum-
Bulls bears feas horses lambs. How simple
is,
Before proceeding any further, it might be re-
marked that it's wise railroad stock that knows
its par. PIN -
Wall Street may be roughly divided into thrss
classes the brokers' the broke and the push cart
The brokers, again, may be subdivided into
the bulls ana the bears The bulls are the men
who make prices go up, the bears those who make
prices go down. They at present building
and magnificent stock pen called the Stock
Exchange. where they viii meet daily Except sun
days. when they become either golf players. yachts
men Christians). and amid the most stupendOUs
chaos OF shouting. red faced excitement. rushing
messenger boys, telephone bells and telegraph ticks.
And all the country, daily. stock tickers enait
lons strips of ribbon which nervous investors
through their fingers close under their eyes Tor
these ribbons recorded the changing prise C
stocks the hourly result of this wild chasfic
scene down in lower Manhattan 1t is the business
then. of the bulls and bears to keep the tape nis
chimes busy. This may seem to our correspondent
rather disappointment. The business OF college
professor, of country doctor. OF a wno writes
sweet little stories for children or pleasant poems
for sTown-ups. may seem her Vsetui
But we assure her. at least that such business
doesn't pay nearly well.
The business of the broke IS TO look pleasant
for America has tremendous reputation for cheer
funess to keep up. The broke" usually
customers of the brokers. who should perhaps.
really be called the breakers. only there is tradi
ton that breakers to be avoided and the term
would do The broke" before they are
broke say to the brokers. Buy me ten thousand
shares OF Santos-Dumont Subway stock: see it's
Ts Ty broken 1 anq byR i sq % gs Hg S @ m at sor
The stock goes down: the customer loses The
broke then swears he Will never dabbIe in stocks
again. and is at brokers' office the next morning.
Ii Is anG any rGn 9f m em t5 p6d % In to G s
respect they are not fortunate the brokers.
Then there are bucket shops 1t is common
thing to hear people say. "Oh. every one knows
sad fact remains that the bucket shops survive this
to fatten on womens pin money The men who
s conduct them are not brokers Of Standing in the
town office and take orders for stock that they
Ike genuine broker but for the bulk Of Their
profits depend on a fall IN prices: A woman gives
Shares at par The stock falls to $50. me bucket
shop returns TO her 500 minus commission. tell
money. And If stocks go up. well. the bucket shop
does too. The men who run it disappear. 70 bob up
again somewhere else under different name
They are called bucket shops because they
A famous Wall Street man once wrote. on the
ter abide by the advice OF st. Paul in regard TO
speaking in church. Let them say do nothing
in the peculiar line for the pursuit OF which they
anything, let them ask their husbands home
This is no doubt, good advice, for OF course the
husbands Or they can be found at home) viii know
just what stock will go up and how much The
Of the book in which it occurs The book is called
"Twenty-eight Years in Wall Street" How did a
man that long in Wall Street get the paper to
William r. Travers. in mis- day the wit OF Wall
nearly always played the bear Side Of the market.
once summed up the whole stock market situation
coast in his steam yacht when he ran into fleet
Of other fine private yachts; The owners OF these.
launches TO pay him visit. As they came up the
recognizing each a fellow broker banker in
Wall Street When they had all gathered beside
where the trim yacht of each rode at anchor1and
there other boats besides.
said, mournfully. ''wh-wh-where are th-the c.
c--c-customers' yachtsT'
advice IN Shakespeare and the Scriptures find little
IN either work bearing directly on the stock mar
but in Shakespeare little IS said the subject OF
present day dramatists for advice and In The
Henrietta advice Is given which we commend
Bertie the Lamb hands TO his broker sNoGO0
What shall buy with this? says the broker
The fact is that the few men who really do COM
prehend Wall Street methods won't, or can't. ex-
plain them for publication 50 clearly that woman
could easily understand"