Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-05-06
Financial News Letter
BE W. q. NICHOLAS.

NEW YORK. May 5. 1906.
Measured In dollars and cents. the earth
quake which rocked Wall street to It's
foundation cost about I'VE times as much
as the one that devastated San Francisco
and the Pacific coast. With the stub Of q
lead pencil it Is easy 70 figure up q shrink
ket price of securities traded in upon the
New York stock exchange. The loss In
twenty of the most active stocks foots up
list: amalgamated. ssi, geo: Atchison.
$12, e00. 900; Anaconda SIS zoe. 900; Brooklyn
Rapid. $4,000, 900: Canadian Pacific. s35,-
600. 900; Consolidated Gas, sac. oe5, o00; Great
So. 100000. New York Central. s37 600 900:
PENNSYLVANIA, $4,000. 900, ST. Paul. sa1s-
ooo, coo. Northwestern, sso.ooosoeo; Missouri
Pacific. $4,000. 900; Louisvflle and Nash
wife, $4,000, 600, Reading. $4,000. ooo Union
Pacific and Southern Pacific, Sos. 000. 600
Steel issues, s75.00o.e 900; total. $3.50, 700 900.
More than one hundred stocks are active
ly traded In on the New York stock ex-
change, and practically without exception
the whole list suffered terrible shrinkage.
The aggregate, as above stated. rises above
the oIie-billion mark. Standard Oil, for in
stance. underwent shrinkage of over
$50, O00.0 900 in selling price, although 1t did
not appear in the regular stock list, being
traded III on the curb only.
II X
The larger proportion of this immense
shrinkage falls upon the shoulders of the
investor class and might properly be called
paper loss. The earning capacity of
the properties remains unimpaired and
profits keep piling up right along against
the coming OF dividend days. That part
of the loss which fell upon spectators Is
reai-as real as though the losers had
been held up at the point of a revolver and
the money taken away from them. 1t
transpires that the weightiest punishment
is inflicted upon rich we'll do ele-
ment The great plungers. whose names
are familiar to the reading public in con-
nection with gigantic deals and speculations
OF all sorts, suffered worst. Individual
plungers sustained losses ranging from
SO, 100000 to $40, 0o0, 900. Several rich and
active brokerage concerns which had for a
year or more been receiving endless no.
toflety and newspaper advertising in con-
nection with successful pool and clique OPP
erations on the exchange became the storm
center OF liquidation, and stories are rife Of
heavy losses sustained by some of these
houses on account of the inability of plung-
ing clients to make good their margin COM
mltrnentS. The mystery as to who held the
stocks was cleared to certain extent. 1t
wasn't the public and 1t wasn't the insiders
TO the extent supposed. The real holders
were the multi millionaire and millionaire
Semi-professional Spectators and their fol-
lowings.
The San Francisco disaster was being
discussed in the presence of a Britisher
VINO happened to be a member of party
in downtown brokers' office. Mention
was iidCe VI the uiSdDilnS or the water
works of that city, whereupon the English
man remarked inquiringly, San Francisco
must be quite a town" An affirmative an
swer being given, the Englishman added,
All, then | suppose the blooming place did
have waterworks"
New York is likely to benefit in one par
ticular by the San Francisco disaster There
is strong probability that this city will
get large percentage of the business in
mining stocks formerly done in San Fran
cisco. Several companies are already NOV
coast to New York. and others are max
ing ready to follow suit. Boston will get
some of the companies but New York is
more than likely to attract the greater
number. Operations in mining stocks have
become the great feature of trading in the
curb market here, and everybody inter-
ested in that branch of speculation nat
urally goes where the crowd is biggest and
action liyeliest. Before the play grows
much larger, however, it will be necessary
for the men who represent the RESPONSE
BILE element on the curb" to organize for
protection against wildcat schemes, any
number of which avail themselves of the
loose methods prevailing on the curb to
make fictitious quotations for their stocks
for the use of their agents throughout the
country, in making market for the WORTH
less stuff. Every community north of the
Ohio river parallel is overrun with peo-
pie trying to sell mining shares, and their
main stock in trade is the quotations es-
tablished on the New York curb market