The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1903-01-10
Selett Stnru.
THE WIZARD OF WALL STREET
Robert Barr, in Everybody's Mazazine.

St. Paul, and the spirit of this phrase has
run down through the ages. 1t is re-
markable that man should take impor-
lance unto himself inasmuch as he halls
from big town, but such is almost uni
versally the case. The dweller in a city
numbering a million inhabitants looks with
certain contempt upon the man wh6
comes from town of five hundred thous
and
In the world of stock speculation, stern
fact gives some basis to this theory. The
cute man of the village, who has over
reached all his neighbors, and consequent
ly has acquired some conceit of himself,
goes to the county town and is looted. The
sharp individual of the county town be-
takes himself to the chief city of his State,
and ultimately returns penniless. The
chief dealer in the city marches triumph
antly on Chicago, and if he does not beat
a retreat it is because he has no money
left to pay his fare home. The boss of
the Chicago Stock Exchange takes the
Limited to New York, and Wall Street
shears him to the skin.
The Wall Street man, on reading the
above, will say at once, ''You forget the
career of Jim Blades As a matter of
fact do nothing of the kind. He is the
exception that proves the rule, and it is
an incident in his life that | now set out to
tell. Jim had sacked his village, sacked
the county town, sacked the biggest city
in his State, and then had turned to Chi
cago and had gathered in the frugal saw
ings of that celebrated hamlet. By this
time Jim had national reputation. He
was we'll worth the plucking; and when the
papers announced that Jim thought the
Chicago field of operations all very we'll for
an ordinary man, but too restricted for a
person of his requirements and genius,
therefore he would make New York his
future residence, Wall Street rubbed its
hands together, smacked its lips and
chuckled. Jim was following well-trod
den footpath, and the average successful
Chicago speculator, ''wi' guild concelt o
himself =" had done much in days gone by
to enrich the Eastern metropolis.
I have no desire to harrow the tender
feelings of Wall Street, and SO will not
dwell on Jim's experiences on that narrow
thoroughfare. He gave them few les
sons on what might be done with railways;
he flung abroad little instruction on shares
and stocks in general, and the mysteries Of
their going up and down, Then he topped
everything with his justly celebrated wheat
corner. at moment when people thought
he was interested in the Wabash Railway
and not only New York, but all America,
and even remote districts of Europe, were
induced to pour contributions In cash or
kind into the Unsuitable pockets Of Mr.
James Blades.
After that, New York spoke of him with
bated breath and deep respect. His keen,
inscrutable hatchet face carried terror
among the operators on Change, and they
exhibited superstitious nervous desire to
know on which side of deal jim was, be-
fore they would touch the most innocent of
stocks s;Walk wide of the Wizard Of
Wall Street was their motto.
Jimmy did not say much; he was not a
talkative man; but he intimated to Il few
friends that he was pleased with New York.
1t was nice place, where an honest coun-
tryman who always spoke the truth and
rose early might pick up a few good things
now and then on sThe Street If Blades
paused for a few moments before the town
Office of the D., L. & W. on Broadway,
its stock instantly went up few points,
and one of the papers advised the United
| ~ 20 r,ntI n16InrkS
on the Treasury Building in Wall
Street while Jim was in town.
The great speculator was at the zenith
of his career when he came into collision
with Peter McKim, humble railway con-
ductor. Nearly all of those who relate
this incident have got it wrong, and none
of them know the inside Of the matter,
which is here made public for the first
time. Some say that McKim did not
know it was Jim Blades he was dealing
with, and others that he was unaware at
the beginning of the fuss, but that when
this knowledge came to him, he had gone
too far to retreat. Both are wrong. Blades
had travelled to town on that train for
months, and McKim was accustomed to
greet him by name every morning until
after the row.
A railway conductor must be the most
urbane of men. Under his care, sooner or
later, passes every kind of crank in the
world, and goodness knows the woods are
full of them. There is the man who won't
show his ticket; the woman who expects
the conductor to know every farmhouse he
passes; the man who won t pay his fare or
get off; the women who wants to 60 to
some town not on that line or any connect
ing line; the man who desires to occupy four
seats when he is entitled only to one; the
woman who has mislaid her purse, thinks
it stolen, and wants the rest of the pas
sengers searched; the man who insists on
having the window open because the car
is too hot; the women who insists on hav-
ing it closed because the cinders are blind
ing her. He must not have a commotion
on the train or the women will scream, he
must patiently accept blame for the COM
pany's shortcomings, with which he has
ne more to do than you have; he must
collect your fare if you have no ticket; and
he is 10th to put you off if you refuse, for
you may bring suit against the road and
win it, whereupon the company dismisses
him for lack of tact. Above all things,
however worried he may be, he must keep
his temper, although the passenger is quite
at liberty to lose his. He must be ever
pleasant and courteous, and he is; but even
a conductor in land of liberty has his
rights, while his patience, like some of
the trains, is limited.
Peter McKim took up tickets on what
was known as the Wall Street Express of
the IIackdale and New York Railroad-not
I that the train ever reached Wall Street,
or even the metropolis, for its terminus
was in Brooklyn. and the passengers had