The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1903-11-17

send prices upward IN a Yny. increasing
Ms own losses very materially.
He went to his office that morning "a
. trenor. He consulted tic cashier. ard
found he had Only 2-2.p,0 AZ The bans
Of winch two-thlrds beioured 20 h~ Gus
TONERS. He was already morally spe1F
ing an embezzlcr. He va. rune i hc
didn't cover. and h Wa ruined + he
did. HIS seat on the stock h.1chan.e
Vas worth possibly $40. coo. not a cent
mere and as Re personally owed his ol.-
ol-toWn correspondents nearly Sos oct.
he could not AVOID being hopcles-ly
ruined. Moreover. his bankruptcy woulG
rot be an honest failure. for, as he
told himself bitterly. after the narm Was
done. Il had no business 20 speculate ola
my own hook with other peoples money
Now ne was face to face with tnc
question that every gambler dreads. II
| stood to loose all how desperate a ri,1
would | take IN order 10 get il back
As ne left his office TO 20 the Board
Room" he put TO himself the fatctul
query But he would not let himself an
sWer 1t until he had stopped at 'Frod's,
the Official barroom OF the Stock Es-
change. and had taken a stiff drink OF
raw WhIskey. Then the answer came.
He was ruined anyhow. Ii he failed
without further ado, that is, without
Increasing his liabilities. he would be
cursed by twenty-five OF his customers
and by fifteen OF his fellow-brokers who
! We're lending stocks 10 him. But il
Le made one last desperate effort. he
might pull out OF the hole; or at tic
worst. why, the number of cursing us
toners would remain the same but the
fellow-brokers would rise to twenty or
thirty.
He took another stiff drink. The market
had become undoubtedly a bull market.
The bears had been fighting the advance
and there still remained a stubborn
short interest IN certain stocks, a.. for
example, in American Sugar Company
stock. Now il that short interest could
be stampeded it might mean an eight or
ten-point advance. If he bought 0 LOCO
or l.. 600 shares and sold them at an aver
age profit OF four OF five points. he would
put off the disaster. and If he made ten
points he would be a great operator. He
had, to be sure, no business to buy even
/ 900 shares of Sugar; but then he had no
business to be on the verge of bank
ruptcy.
The liquor was potent. Sally SAID TO
himself, aggrievcdly; 4 might as well be
hung for a flock as for one measly oil
mutton
He walked a trifc unsteady from
"Fred's'' across the narrow asphalted New
Street TO the Stock Exchange. He paused
at the entrance. There was no escape
Unless he could make a lucky strike, he
would fall ANONYMOUSLY.
pixies Peak or bust.' he muttered to
himself, and walked into the big room
Good morning, Mr.. Hayward SAID
tho 100p1ron,n, Iar,-or NODDED - h
sently, caught himself repeating, pike.
Peak or bust" and walked straight to-
ward the Sugar post.
He began to bid for stock. One thou
sand shares at 116; he got it. Another
thousand; it was forthcoming at 11612
So far, SO bad Then he bid III for 2.o0(
shares. and it was promptly sold. But
when he bid III for any part of $1,000
the crowd hesitated, the brokers were
not altogether sure Hayward was "gooC
for it, his ability TO pay for the stock
was not undoubted. SO Sally, taking ad-
vantage of the hesitation, bill 49, 80
HE for 5000 Sugar, at which rlce
Billy" Thatcher, 4 two-dollar broker
sold It 20 him. It made Il, SEQ share:
Hayward had bought, and the stock haC
risen only 112 points. The shorts were
not frightened a wee bit. But Sally was
lie rushed OUT Oh the CIONN W HIS ltIc
phone and made a prctcnsc of report
ing the transactions to his office, as h
would have done had they been bona fidt
purchases. He was followed by 4 hun
dred sharply curious-and curiouSl,
sllarp-eyes. They saw him hold the telc
phone receiver to his ear with an OK
preston Of great interest, as it he Were
, listening to an important message. Bu
the only message he heard was that Q
his heartbeats, that seemed TO say. almos
articulately:"You have played and yol
have lost; you have played and you hay,
lost. Therefore, you are that much Wor,
Of than before. You must play again
and not Lose"
He left his telephone and rushed bacl
TO the Sugar crowd. He was less excited
'ltss like a drunken man; his face va
+ no longer flushed, but pale, And anon
there flashed upon him the words, pike
Peak or bust But Pixies Peak gloHet
f, duly, feebly, while the alternative wa,
/, of a lurid splendor. And he blinked /.
; eyes and made a curious impatient M
ton with his hand, as one waves ava.
an annoying insect.
He gave an order for 1000 sugar Z
his friend Newton Hartley.
rs this for yourself, Sally?7 askec
Hartley.
NO. It's for one OF the biggest mel
in the Street, Newt. It's all right. Alb.
| ~sClutely G.. k"
And thus treasured, Hartley bought tn
stock. The price was lis. The sellc
would hold Hartley responsible for tn
purchase money if Hayward laid down
refused to pay.
Sally wiped his forehead twice, quit
unnecessarily. The shorts were no
stampeding. AZ ~ats1. - sell out tn
: Is, 1000 shares he Lad bought would re
suit only IN depressing the price fly
points at least. It was worse than b2t
| the outlook Tor HIM.
He gave another to buy 5000 share
> tc BILLY" Lansing. an old reliable two
dollar broker, but Lansing declined it
He tried another. but the order was no
/ accepted. They mistrusted him; hut II
could not even buster, for they excuse
/ themselves on the ground OF having IN
! ~portant orders elsewhere. So he had re
I~course to another personal trlcnd-J. G
Thompson.
Joe, buy 1000 Sugar