Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-12-10
PURSUIT 0F.:i:W VEAL TIL
Bits of Wisdom Prom a Wall
Street Broker.
ABLE BUSINESS MEN
IT TAKES BRAINS TO MAKE
MONEY NOWADAYS.
How Trusts and Combinations Affect
the Market - Advice to
Amateur Spectators.
!. BILE BUSINESS MEN

| Copyright, 1904, by Frank G. Carpenter)
| Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.
NEW YORK.
walk gently, for you are on holy
| ground"
| These were the words of Henry CleWs,
the veteran Wall street broker, as we chat
| ted together today in his office in the bust
ness heart of New York
| II say this ground is holy he continued.
| ut is the Shrine of the Golden Calf, and its
| worshipers come from every part OF the
| United States. We in the financial
| center of the world. Across the street Is
the stock exchange, and these gigantic
| buildings about you contain the offices OF
| the richest institutions of this, the greatest
| country on Gods green earth. Uncle Sans
| 1870, 600 miles of railroads are managed here.
Every great trust has here it's headquar-
| tiers, and golden double-eages by the mil
| lions are rolling out from here to support
and develop every part of our land. Take
| the two or three acres about you. There
! is no financial soil so rich. Its farmers are
| the brainiest men of the country, and their
! crops are billions"
| Great is Wall Street.
| had called upon Mr.. Clews for talk
| about Wall street. He has been in the
| thick Of it for more than forty years and
| knows every in and out Of it's wonderful
| growth. He began his work in this golden
| field at the age of fifteen, and now, When
| verging on three score, he is more enthu-
| siastic and more Industrious than ever He
| is one of Wall streets most successful
| farmers He has made fortunes out OF the
| soil, and he is proud of his profession and
! it's products.
| "Wall street." he continued, lis the
father of our prosperity. 1t has made TINS
| country the richest and greatest or all
| countries, and it is largely due to 1t that we
! have here 81 100000 of prosperous people
today Wall street has furnished the sinews
| of war for almost every Industrial battle;
it has built the railroads which have opened
] up the west to immigrants and settlers; II
| has cultivated the farms and mined the
| coal: 1t has tunneled the Rockies for their
! gold and silver, and has made possible our
| great combinations of steel, iron and other
| industries, which are giving us the greatest
| EXPORT trade of the world.
| s.Wall street has the best business men
| of the United States and the all-around
| brainiest men. You may go out ana listen
| Hay and William Taft, and, as you listen
| Won admire the men for their ability along
| the lines of craftsmanship ana oratoly.
! Right here inside these two acres, we nave
| scores of men who, had they turned their
| efforts In those directions. could nave
| enualed them 1t takes brains to run q
| railroad or q trust, or to make great loI
| tune just as it does to make statesman;
| The average man who succeeds III wan
| street could succeed anywhere.
Success in Wall Street.
"But do many men succeed In "ail
street. Mr. Clews?' 1 asked.
eyes. scores of themi Hundreds of them!
We have as many successful men here as
! in almost any other business. We have
| h11t that is IN any
business. In mercantile pursuits it Is esti-
| mated that more than 50 per cent fail at
| eorne time in their lives The same quail
t,as that make for success in other bust
| nesses go toward making success In wan
street It requires individuality of thought,
cool conservative judgment honesty anu
| courage The man who has good business
brains who relies upon his own judgment,
| and who disregards the rumors Whlch are
snrrng to affect the stock market has a
| pood field here for his brains and money.
| Such men go slow until they understand
| something of the market. out they are al
| most always successful.
"But do they last, Mr.. CleWs? Do they
| last?"
Eyes. Men of that class usually amass
| fortunes and retire. The life of the street
| is a strenuous life, and one which demands
| all the energy or young ploou. NUS
| brokers retire before they reach three score
very few last until three score and ten
| They take their fortunes and put them into
good interest-bearing investments ana al
ter that speculate only on the sure Things
in the market.
How Old Stagers Make Money.
"I did not know that any stock was alb
solutely sure, Mr.. Clews," said l.
perhaps not absolutely sure replied
the Wall street broker. There is nothing
absolutely sure but death and taxes; but
there are some stocks almost as safe as
nd riSa ia
at any great fiuctuation of the market
These rich old stagers know what these Sc
curities are and watch them. They let
their dividends accumulate at the bank and
when the market is away down and every
one is as blue as indigo they creep out IKE
the traditional ground hog on dark day
and come down into the street They call
upon their brokers and say: Buy me
thousand shares of this stock for cash, ana
a thousand shares OF that stock Tor cash,
and then slip back home. They put the
stock away in their safe deposit boxes and
| keep it there. By and by the market goes
up Everybody is wild, and the stocks
they bought so cheaply are soaring. Then
they sell and hold their money for another
fall l have seen these old fellows doing
that for years. They work upon the prin-
| ciple of buying things when they are cheap
| and selling when they are dear. That is
| thei basis of success here as in all other
businesses"
"Where do the men who deal in Wall
| street come from?
'If YOU mean those who buy and sell
| stocks they are of every rank, class and
| fortune. They come from all over the
| country l get orders from every state of
| the Union There are many small investors
and many large ones ALMOST every one
| who is making money deals more or less
| in stocks. Just now itofs theHfarmers who
| are the most numerous of Our investors.
| They have had a series of good crops, and
1 have money to buy securities"
How Trusts Affect the Street.
| but is not the market largely controlled
by the trusts, the multiqmiilienaires and the
enormous combinations of capital?"
ITO some extent. yes: but that is all the
better for the conservative Small investor.
Combinations of capital will not permit the
panics and sacrifices that were once COM
/ mon. If the m1lti-milionaires see any
| danger of the country being financially
hurt they support the market and avert a
| panic"
| Are such combinations good thing for
] the Wall street brokers?"
| IT don't know about that, said Mr.. Clews.
| Take any number of properties, say ten,
| and suppose they consolidate into trust.
| In the first case we might have orders to
/ sell five thousand shares of each security
We could handle that number without dis
| turbing the market. and thus make our
| nrodt off of tho sale of fifty fhorsand