Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1903-03-19
CHAPTER ".
SOME STRANGE HAPPENINGS.


the tape as it escaped from the
chattering ticker. by an interval cx-
cceding half a minute. As the hour
Of two approached, the little machine
became furio,is in It's efforts to keen
pace with the operations Of the
sweating. swearing and struggling
brokers. two blocks away. Mr. Kent
let the tape slide through his fingers
and read record which translated
was as follows: 5000 shares Sugar
149H,-22o Sugar 149--i.OOO Sugar
l4S4-7O0 Il. Il O. 1919 LOO B. q q.
1o7~2.s00 y. d o. 1868 800 y. d o.
100000 st. Paul 17l--i. 900 St. Paul
l7OR-5OO st. Paul 1880 81. Paul
1875 400 Metropolitan 1884, 800
Metropolitan l7:M--1.6Oo Mctropoli-
tan III 1000 Jersey Central 15oX
800 Jersey Central 1jS5s--l. 100 Jer-
seY Central 15S-j5 Jersey Centml
1851 2,4o0 Sugar 1i13.-s00 Sugar
147.
Mr.. Kent stepped to his private
telephone.
"Who is selling that Sugar?" he
asked his broker.
"Street d Rogers are selling most
OF it now. Brokers for Morris d.
lIauscr of Boston. and Wright & Fam
ming of Chicago have also been sell
ing it. These houses have been sell
ing st. Paul. Jersey Central. Ralti-
more d Ohio. Metropolitan, steel and
Iron and other stocks" was the
= u
of il some time ago.
"Who is the selling for?"
$40 one seems To know
~Nhat do Ravens brokers sav?"
'Thcy seem to he up in the air.
They are still buying Sugar"
AN right Good-bye."
Mr.. Kent called up Mr.. Haven, the
great sugar magnate.
what in the devil is the matter
with Your Sugar stock?" he demand
ed.
81 don't know was the response,
"lt's all right. am buying ii as fast
as il is offered. What is it now"
Mr.. Kent examined the tape.
"Onc hundred and forty-eight and
quarter" he replied. cit has been
down to 1iGia but has recovered
some. Who is doing that sclling?'
sure | don't know" answered Mr..
tiaVen with some impntiencc. prob
ably some one taking profits. 1t will
go up again
All right. Thank you. Good-bye."
Mr.. Kent studied the tape for .
few moments. The market was
slowly stcadying. The public was
obeying the mandate, buy on every
rcaction.' Mr.. Kent pondered deep
i. He rang a bell.
. GLOW much Sugar have I bought ?"
he demanded OF his private book
keeper.
"Forty-thrcc thousand shares"
was the reply.
1T will average about 14@. will it
note"
The bookleepcr produced a slip of
paper, ran his eye over the figures,
made Il rapid calculation, and said
that the average price paid for this
line of Sugar stock was 1925
VERY we'll; that is ALL" Mr.. Kent
said.
He called mp his broker who rep
resented him on the floor of the
Stock Exchange.
Sell all the Sugar You can with
ont breaking the market" he COM
manded in a voice that could NOT he
heard ten feet away. Wall Street is
all ears. 'There j. good buying just
now. Begin on 500 share lots. Feel
them out at She start. but keep busy.
Sell at least 10000 shares before you
close. no matter what happens. When
you have sold 10000 shares, offer it
in 1000. 1000 and 1000 lots.
The broker repeated the order
quickly SO as there could be no mis-
take Mr. Kent returned to the
ticker.
"Some one taking profits. che"
muttcrcd Mr.. Kent rs he paced the
floor, nerNuu>lv chewing the end of
an unlighted cigar. III show them
how To take profits, They must
think am in my second childhood.
They have an idea | am going to
hold the bag. do they? This is the
way they keep their agreement" He
rang the bell furiously.
"HoW much l.. a q. have ~
"Fiftccn Thousand shares at an
average of go" WAS the reply
"Nirc Brown u .AddY of Boston,
to sell me 10000 r. 4 O. nj the mar
kct. Send word to Blake d Co. Of
Chicago, to sell me $4,000 -. Paul at
the market. Rush. hurry"
lie was at the private telephone
again.
"How much Sugar have you sold?"
"Twenty-tWo thousand. 1t has
broken point and a half"
That's all right. Put il ont in
1000 and 5000 lolS. Sell me 10000
shares of Metropolitan at The mar
kct. Got it? That's right. Good
bye"
The ticker was singing like sew
ing machine. Sugar, h. d o.. ST.
Paul, Jersey Central. Metropolitan.
Steel and Iron and other stocks came
out in blocks of from 1000 Ia 1000
and even 5000 lots. But the market
held remarkably well. There was
"uot cloud in the sky" and the pub
lie was summing itself, But even
their guilclc~s optimism could not
withstand the impact of the mystcr-
ious interest which had been selling
hundreds of thousands of shares on
Saturday and during the present scs-
sion roipforppI ~ II NnS nv thp en-