Waterbury evening Democrat., 1906-05-02

4hCh ilC WCAt " hAc ASsOAs AAAS AAACs ,, impulse was to send message to Captain Will Hallam asking whether he might take the barrel factory stock, and perhaps some other things of like kind, in aid of success in his mission, but upon reflection he decided to act upon his own judgment, without con sultation or advice Hallam had given him a free hand, leaving him to work out the problem in his own way. Any communication between him and Hal lam or between him and Duncan would involve something of risk. So he sat alone in his hotel room, thinking and planning. He did not know or dream how anx- ious Handy was to draw him into some of his schemes. He did not know that both the barrel factory and the gas en- terprise had recently become veritable white elephants on Tandy's hands. He did not know that Handy, in his eager ness te overreach Hallam, had stretch ed himself out like string" as Hal lam picturesquely put it, by investing mOuey III tlCSC tNo SOLhpohiSS and several others than he could just then spare Especially he did not know that Hallam had himself completely organized and capitalized both gas company and barrel company and that Tandys two companies represent ed an unsuccessful attempt to rival enterprises into which Hallam had "breathed the breath of life.'
 He was surprised, therefore, when a bell boy brought him Tandy's card as he sat there in his lonely hotel room planning the morrow's campaign.
 II thought you might be lonely" said the banker as he was ushered into the room, seeing that you're stranger in town, so I have dropped in for a chat"
 The chat very quickly fell into finan- cial channels, and It did not proceed far before shrewd Richard Temple dis covered some things of advantage to himself. Among the things discovered was the fact that Handy was some what overanxious to hasten the busi- ness in hand. He listened with every indication of interest to all that Tan dy had to say concerning the two still unlaunched enterprises-the barrel fac tory and the gas company. He asked interested questions concerning them, and at last felt sufficiently sure of his ground to venture little farther.
 II am inclined to think" he said, ''that I shall want to take at least little of the barrel factory stock to- morrow, and possibly l may subscribe for soAae of the gas stock also. Of that am not yet sure. But before l take either I must invest four or five thousand dd4ars in something abso- lutely secure. I have been going over the latest reports of your bank and the other one - Hallam's - and they have impressed me with the conviction that the very best and safest investment man of small means, like myself, can This city is a point at which so many lines of travel and traffic converge that the exchange business itself must be sufficient to pay banks expenses. In fact, it pays more, as the reports show. And then there is the larger business lending money on sound enterprises, financing industrial companies and es- pecially advancing money on bills of lading for goods in transit. In view of all this it surprises me to learn that the stock in the two banks here stands only a trifle above par"
 'Oh, that's because of two things. People here have got 1t into their heads that anythin; less than 10 or 12 per cent as a return for money invested Is ridiculously small. So they don't want bank stocks. On the other hand, the eastern capitalists have got 1t into their heads that anything which pays more than or per cent must be risky, and so they don't set up banks here. as they surely would do but for their fool ish tinidity The prospect of a big re turn for their money simply scares them out of their seven senses. So Hallam's bank and mine have a mo- nopoly of as pretty business as you'll ind in a days walk. Why, when the rush was on last winter and twenty steamboats a day were leaving Cairo with full cargoes, to say nothing of ! great fleets of grain barges. Hallam and both went to New York with our pockets full of government bonds and borrowed money on them for sixty or | ninety days. We paid per cent per annum for the money and got from one-half to per cent day on most of it by advancing on grain drafts, with bills of lading attached. It was as easy as falling off log and as safe as insuring pig iron under water"
 "I have some notion of all that" an- swered Temple. and that's the sort of investment I'm looking for. might take in some more speculative things, but I greatly want to invest a few thousand dollars in the stock of one or other of these two national banks. Could you find somebody willing to seil:''
 Handy had expected this and had prepared himself for it. But he pre- tended to think for a moment before replying. Then he said:
 AS to Hall8m's bank. it's useless to try. Hallam and Stafford own the A