The Princeton union., 1906-08-23


warmth, blowing with a mighty roar
Twelve hours afterward the snow,
three feet deep on level, has melted.
| There are bald, brown hills every
| where to the horizon, and the plains
| are flooded with water. The Chinook
has come and gone. In this manner
suddenly went the Bines fortune.
April 80, Consolidated Copper closed
at 81. Two days later, May 2, the
drop of 40 points. Roughly the decline
meant the loss of S1OO,000,O00 to the
| $4,000 shareholders. From every city
same ill-fated stock closed at 51-a
| of Importance in the country came
tales more or less tragic Of holdings
| wiped out, of ruined families, of defal-
cations and suicides. The losses in
New York city alone we're said to be
| 5O,O00,000. A few large holders, re-
| puted to enjoy inside information,
were said to have put their stock aside
and ''sold Short in the knowledge of
what was coming. Such tales are al
ways popular in the street.
Others not less popular had to do
| win the reasons for the slump. Many
were plausible. A deal with the Roths-
childs for control Of the Spanish mines
had fallen through. Or, again, the
slaughter was due to the Shepler group
| of Federal Oil operators, who were
bent on forcing some one to unload
great quantity of the stock so that
| they might absorb it. The immediate
causes were less recondite. The Con-
solidated company, so far from con-
trolling the output, was suddenly
shown to control actually less than so
per cent. of it. Its efforts to amend
or repeal the hardy old law of Supply
| and Demand had simply met with the
Indifferent success that has marked all
such efforts since the first attempted
| corner in stone hatchets, or mastodon
tusks, or whatever it may have been.
| In the language of one of it's news
paper critics, the ''trust'' had been
| founded on misconception and
prompted along lines Of self-destruc-
| ton. Its fundamental principles were
| the restriction of product, the in
crease Of price and the throttling of
| competition, trinity that would
wreck any combination, business, po-
litical or social
With this generalization we have no
| concern AS to the copper situation.
the comment was pat. 1t had been
suddenly disclosed, not only that no
| combination could be made to include
| the European mines, but that the Con-
| solidated company had an unsold sur
plus of 150,0U0,000 pounds of copper;
| that it was producing 20,OO0,OOO pounds
month more than could be sold, and
| that it had made large secret sales
| abroad at from two to three cents be-
| low the market price.
AS if fearing that these adverse con-
| ditions did not sufficiently insure the
| stocks downfall, the Shepler group of
Federal Oil operators beat it down
further with what was veritably a
golden sledge. That is, they exported
gold at loss. At time when Obliga-
tions could have been met more cheap
| ly with bought bills they sent out
many golden cargOes at an actual loss
of $500 on the half million. AS money
was already dear, and thus became
dearer, the temptation and the means
to hold copper stock, in spite of all dis
couragements, were removed from the
paths of hundreds Of the harried hold
ers.
Incidentally, Western Trolley had
gone into the hands of receiver,
failure involving another $1OOO0O,0 900,
and Union Cordage had fallen IS
points through sensational disclosures
as to it's overcapitalization
Into this maelstrom Of panic mar
ket the Bines fortune had been sucked
with swiftness so terrible that the
family's chief advising member was
lett dazed and incredulous
For two days he clung to the ticker
tape as to life line. He had COM
lightly as ever he had staked S1OO on
the turn of a card or left ten on the
change-tray for his waiter
Then he had seen his cunningly built
foundations, rested upon with hopes so
high for three months, melt away like
SNOW when the blistering Chinook
| comes.
1t has been thought wise to adopt
two somewhat differing SMILES in the
foregoing, in order that the direness of
the tragedy may be sufficiently appre-
hended.
The morning of the first Of the two
last awful days, he was called to the
Office of Fouts & hendricks by tele-
phone. .
"something going to happen in Con-
solidated to-day"
He had hurried downtown, flushed
with confidence. He knew there was
but one thing could happen. He had
reached the Office at ten and heard the
first vicious little click of the ticker
that beating heart of the stock ex-
change-as it began the Unconditional
story of what men bought and sold
over on the floor. It's inventor died in
| the pOOrhOuse but capital would fare