The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-07-26

involved in sDeeuIationS Win an opera tor whose operations have been attract ing widespread attention. The story Is that they had a large joint account in Steel. It has been Mir. Perkins misfor- tune to be intimately identified with those features of the United States Steel corporation which have been most severely criticised The conversion of s2oo. 000. 900 preferred stock Into bonds was his conception. and that was seriously opposed by all the conservative interests. The scheme Of selling preferred stock to employees was another of MT. Perkins conceptions MT. Carnegie was unalter- ably opposed to that. There is already grumbiing on the part of the employees who subscribed for Steel preferred at S2h. They have seen this week loss or about 12 points on their investment
 It was J. Pierpont Morgan who unwit- tingly gave vogue to the term ''undigest- ed securities' In an interview published just after his return from Europe. which was intended to be reassuring, but on account of that phrase had quite the contrary effect. It is now James J. Hill, who improves upon MT. Morgan's ex- precision. and calls them ''indlgestible securities" Financial writers here and in London paraphrased MT. MorGan's ut terance and called the ''undigestible' se- eurities, but their play upon the unfor- tunate word had nothing like the effect that Mir. Hills distinguished authority has given to the substitute phrase. The interview In which MT. Hill used the words referred to occasioned a good deal of surprise here. owing to the close re- lations that have existed between him- self and Mir. Morgan. He calls Wall street sharply to account for an over production of securities, knowing, as everybody knows, that Mir. Morgan has been the foremost manufacturer of se- curities for several years and Is more re- sponsible than any other one man for the existence of an undigested and ap- parently indigestible mass of stock and bond certificates Mir. Hill proclaims himself a bull on the west. and leaves the inference that he Is a bear on the stock market. It is believed in Wall street that MT. Hill was selling stocks up to a short time ago. It is said that a big line of St. Paul bought around 190 was liquidated for his account at tre- mendous loss. If these reports be true, they may account to some extent for his rather bilious criticism of Wall street. There is great deal of curiosity to know how MT. Hill regards 1t. MT. Hill is one of the few financiers who have as- SOClal6Q NiIn NIT. aNOIkdn ndtHodt hOAa- ing him in awe-stricken reverence. That may explain why they have not gotten along as well together as men might.
 Innumerable stories are afioat of indi- vidual losses In the stock market. The sufferers whose ill-fortune attracts at- tention are not confined alone to the new rich, although the grief in that quarter is unquestionably more severe than any where else. Many of the veterans and those who had grown old in the effete east, that they considered themselves blue-blooded are down to the cloth" It is undoubtedly true, however, that hundreds if not thousands, of those who became suddenly rich through successful disposal of their properties to combina- tions and mergers during the past five years are back to where they were be- fore the combination mania began. This finds illustration in the changed atmos- phere about the great hotels, which un- til recently were the gathering places for these people. A year ago or less the Wal dorf-Astoria was a club house almost for hundreds of outsiders, who came to New York for residence or at least to have a fly with a part of their newly acquired riches. One can walk through these resorts any evening without seeing one race III ten Iainlldr to hih oiiy ioSe summer They have had their fling and have retired, many of them to build anew fortunes extinguished in the mad whirl of stock speculation, and others to nurse what they have left and keep away from temptation There are cases where men have lost $1o00O,00o to 20,0oo- GOO within the last twelve months, and there is one conspicuous instance of a young man who became suddenly and enormously wealthy whose fortune has dwindled from s35, 100000 or $4000o,O0O to less than $1o.O00.0OO. It Is almost unne- oessary to say more to identify him for his name has been on the end of the tongue of gossip for many weeks.