The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-02-05
GOSSIP or WALL STREET.


week prompted one Of the older operators 70
say that tho tralic manager has almost dis-
appeared az u speculative factor in the sto OK
market 1T was our good fortune once,
said he, ito be secretly in touch with the ops
tattons here OF a group OF these gentlemen,
and when we found that they were selling
socks quietly we sold with them and waited.
We never had long TO wait. A fierce rate
war was sure 10 break out somewhere, and
down would 90 the stocks that we we're short
Of II was hardly speculation on the part Of
the tranc managers, they were sure of re-
suits. They became very powerfu, and for
years the fnanciers owning or controlling tho
railroads were helpless in the hands OF their
trafIlc managers when the gentlemen were
short Of the stock market and determined
upon having war OF rates. The financial
heads Of the larger railroads. or tho prest-
dents. or all together. might hold council and
decide upon policies. hut the traffic managers
combination would see TO II that the road or
roads refusing 70 cut rates lost business
enormously 10 the others and In the face "
returns thus indicating the ira NC manager
the heads we're powerless. / had my ey-
perlence with the combination. and | know
what II was Its sway at length became too
dcspotic and it's operations in the stock market
we're 80 notorious that they had to be defeated
/ do not say that the evil has been entirely
abatcd. It certainly ia not the evil that Il
used 10 be For ono thing. the stocks In which
such operations ms | have described were
generally conducted are differently situated at
this day. Burlington, for example. has disap-
pearcd completely from speculation"
steel preferred sold an eighth hizher yesesr-
day than the previous high quotation for
this year and one-fourth higher than the high
est quotation made last year. The bull
campaign in the stock last year eliminated
in the first week OF December ataah. In
January the stock sold as high as oj'. IL
sold Yesterday at a5I Brokers reported
Immediately after this quotation had been
made that there was a lot Of stock for
sale al ~. The buying yesterday. brokers
thought. was better than the selling Traders
were the principal sellers. apparently. on the
advance All but an eighth Of the stocks
eain was lost on the reaction In the last half
hour. large bull interest In the stock
market Is waiting confidently for Steel pre-
ferred 20 be turned once more To the bull
side Of the market II would probably be
followed above 90 With n good deal OF en-
thusiasm. The buying for weeks on this
level ia said to hive been Of a strong char
acter. The stock will sell eI dividend Il.
per cent on Tuesday.
II is frequently reported that the up
town crowd is doing this or doing that
In the stock market. and persons who like
their information TO be- explicit then ask:
What Ia this uptown crowd;- II IL an
Intangible body that seems TO have existed
In one form or another from remote time
in the speculative history OF Wall Street TO
the present day. or period forty years ago,
William Worthihyton Fowler. In his reminis-
cenoes writes: Among the thousands OF
mysterious individuals with which the great
metropolis abounds there Is a certain class
which we cannot better describe than by
calling them hotel men. They dress in purple
and fine linen and fare sumptuously every
day but how they get their living Ia a problem
20 the casual observer They may be seen
lounEinR in the reading rooms and halls oil
the different hotels throughout the day and
are always In their seats when dinner hour
comes. The problem OF their existence Is
solved when state they almost invariably
have small capitals Of from s. 900 20 $50. 900.
wEi"h they employ in Wall Street when tho
market 10 in a favorable condition. buying
after n panic or selling short when the market
ia higher than is reasonable On every such oc-
casion these men, who are generally stout rubi-
cund fellows. may he seen wend ing their way 10
Wall Street ns fast az their corpulency will
permit and walking from the same cause.
somewhat wide bet ween the legs, as though
they had gyves on. Their shrewdness and good
jud gment in stock operations IA quite remark
able Hence 1t that F. and myself
ioined this coterie when they marched down
in one solid column TO sell gold short in Feb
ruary issS- The sequel Was that gold broke.
By conversion OF bonds into stock the
outstanding amount OF the Union Pacific
convertible a. hss been redu ced from s7e,
%, 900 on Jan. las; 10 tes. 7S5. 900 on Fob. ).
the date OF the latest re port to the Stock
Exchange Since the first OF the year there
A a -
stock by these conversion operations ap-
proIimately S,5oO,ooo.
Unlicensed rumors. many Of which I'M
doubtedly were started for the professional
purpose OF making quic turns OF or 2 per
cent In such stocks would lend themselves
10 board room manipulation. yed a con-
spicuous part in last weeks speculation.
Their prevalence impaired 10 the market
~ time an appearance OF artdcality which
Was commented upon adversely by critical
observers II will be interesting TO examine
a typical operation In an obscure railroad
stock which suddenly developed ertraord-
nary activity in the middle OF last week
After the preferred stock had advanced
more than points and the common shares
r or 4. the movement sub'ided as alb
rupty as IL began. leaving the market, no
doubt. In hollow condition After the
manipulation had ceased II probably would
have been found impossible 20 sell 5000
shares OF real stock within or points OF
the last quota ton, Concerning this stock
a prominent wire house said in its gossip
one morning that as the speculation seemed
10 be turning in the direction Of low priced
stocks. the shares OF property which held
n strategic position in the railroad territory
or several larger systems might reward
speculative attention. This piece Of gossip
went out over the wires. and in response
TO II few hundred shares were bought by
clients Of the house. This buying Of itself
unimportant was noticed in the room. and
traders began 70 look around TO see what
might be doing In the stock An hour after
the original gossip had been put on the wire.
the house responsible for II was called up
on the telephone by another Wall Street
house. We hear said the second hous.
Tint you are bulling this stock. What il
there in it, The hrst house merely re-
peated what IL had already said IN Ms gossip
adding that there might be turn Of two or
three points in the market II the room crowd
took hold The room crowd did take hold.
and w another hour II WAS everywhere
rnrnored that control Of the property was
being bought up in the open market IL
was stated further that buying orders had