The San Francisco call., 1904-02-14

j sc.xE EssS 1&AS,E Tracy q Middleton
l<Ezjl EsszsnszEESss7zze bankers and brokers.
His name was Willis n. Hayward and
he was Il proud boy indeed when he
vas selected out Of twenty applicants
10 he telephone clerk for the firm.
From 10 a. m. until 2. IN. he stood
by Tracy & Middleton's private tele-
phone on the floor of the Stock Ex-
change-the board roem-receiving
messages from the office-chiefly orders
to bUy or sell stocks to customers-and
transmitting the same messages to the
beard member Of the firm, Mr.. Middle
tor; also telephOning Mr.. Middletons
reports 10 the Office. He spoke with
so1- refined voice and his blue eyes
boamod 50 ingenuously upon the other
telophore boys in the same row OF
booths that they Immediately nick
named him Sally.
lie learned The business, as nearly
AL boys must do in Wall street by alb
sorption. He heard nothing but specu-
late, speculate, in one guise or an
other. many words with the same
meaning. 1t was all buying or selling
Of stccks-a concentrated and almost
invisible hope of making much money
in the twinlzling of an eye. The air
was almost unbreathable for the in
Vulnerable tips to buy or sell securities
and insecurities of all kinds The brok-
ers. the customers, the clerks. the Ex-
change doorkeeper, all Wall street
read the morning papers, not to ascer-
tain the news, but to pick such items
as would, should or might have some
effect on stock values. There was no
god but the ticker and the brokers
were its prophets,
AS time wore on the glamour of the
game wore off: likewise his scruples.
His employers and their customers-all
gentlemanly, agreeable peopIe-specu-
lated every DAY, and nobody found
fault with them. IT was not a sin; 1t
was a regular business And so when
ever there was a good thing" he
chipped in" 81 to a telephone boys
p0ol" that later operated in a New
street bucket shop to the extent Of ten
shares. His means were small. his sal
ary being only IS a week, and very
often he thought that If he only had a
little more money he would speculate
on a larger scale and profit proportion
ately
Now. the position of telephone boy is
really important. in that it requires not
only a quicl1-witted but a trustworthy
person TO fill IL. In the first place. the
boy knows whether his firm is buying
or selling certain stocks; he must ex-
ercise discrimination in the matter Of
awarding the orders should the board
member OF the firm happen to be un-
available when the boy receives the or
der. For example: International Pipe
may be selling at los. A man in Tracy
& Middleton's office who has bought 500
shares Of it at 104 wishes to corral his
profits. He gives an order to the firm
10 sell the stock, let US say, "at the
market"-that is, at the ruling market
price. Tracy & Middleton Immediately
telephone over their private line TO the.
Stock Exchange to their board member
10 sell 500 shares Of International Pipe
at the market" The telephone boy re-
ceives the message and puts up" Mr..
Middleton's number, which means that
on the multi-colored, checkered strip
on the frieze OF the New street wall
Mr.. Middleton's number, Gil, appears
by means Of an electrical device. The
moment Mr.. Middleton sees that his
number is up" he hastens to the tele-
phone booth to see what is wanted.
Now. If Mr.. Middleton delays in an
gwering his number the telephone boy
knows he is absent and gives the order
TO one OF the 'two-dollar' brokers. who
always hover about the booths looking
for orders. He does the same il he
knows that Mr.. Middleton is very busy
executing some other order, or il In his
judgment the order calls for Immediate
execution.
Young Hayward attended to his busi-
ness closely, and when Mr.. Middleton
was absent from the floor or busy he
impartially distributed the firms tele-
phoned buying or selling orders among
the two-dollar brokers, for Tracy &
Middleton did a very good commission
business indeed. He was a nice look
ing and nice acting little chap was
Hayward-clean faced, polite and ami
able. The brokers liked him and they
remembered" him at Christmas. The
best memory was possessed by Joe"
Jacobs, who gave him SIS and insin-
uated that he would like to do more
OF Tracy & Middleton's business than
he had been getting.
But" said Sally, the firm said l
was to give the order to whichever
broker found first"
We'll" said Jacobs, oIeaginously. Il
am never too busy to take orders from
such a nice young fellow as yourself
IL you take the trouble to find me: and
I'll do something nice for you Look
here" in a whisper, IF you give me
plenty Of business I'll give you IS a
week" And he dived into the mob that
was yelling itself hoarse about the
Gotham Gas post
Hayward's first impulse was TO tell
his firm about it. because he felt vague
ly that Jacobs would not have offered
him s5 q week IL he had not expected
something dishonorable in return. Be-
fore the market closed. however. he
spoke to Willie Simpson. McDun &,
Wilkinsons boy. whose telephone was
next to Tracy & MiddIeton's. Sure
enough Willie expressed great indigna-
lion at Jacobs action.
It's just like that old skunk" said
Willie. Five dollars week. when he
can make 800 out OF the firm. Don't