The Washington times., 1906-03-11

means the loss OF
1000 to the man sitting in the
nd chair. You would never mag
ne IL, however, for he continues To
iaZe fixedIy al the youth who is
eading the quotations from the
fbbon OF paper as It is spun out
~ the small ticker You and I
would perhaps start madIy from
bur seats and dash from the room
With our hands stretched out be-
fore US. cropping in space for that
which has vanished as completely
as though it had never existed.
But this loser has been In his seat
before that board every business
day for years. His thousand dol
lars means as much to him, per-
haps, as it would to any one OF US;
but he has the nerve OF a consum-
mate poker player. The decline OF
2 points in Copper is heard without
the quiver OF an eyelash. The
rhythmic movement OF the toe OF his
shoe, which has been osciIlatiug
ever since he took his seat, stops
for & moment, but even this is only
momentary, and soon IT is again
beating time to his heart throbs.
Notice the man who is sitting
beside him. He appears to be ut
terly oblivious to his surroundings
as he gaZes at the society columns
OF his paper. II you watch him
carefully you will observe that he
IS not reading, but that he is look
ing through the paper at some
thing far beyond. Perhaps he sees
a new auto, or home from which
the mortgage has been raised, for
that same decline of points in
Greene Copper which cost his neigh
Dor $1,000 has netted him a gain OF
$4,000.
The loser and the winner con-
tinue to sit side by side hour after
hour, each unconscious of the
others transactions: and even II
he facts were known the attitude
Of the one toward the other would
not be altered. No sympathies or
congratulations are extended in q
stock brokers' office. Why should
there be? Tomorrow may witness
al entire reversal of conditions, and
The winner of today may be down
and out" twenty-four hours hence.
These are the stoics who make and
lose fortunes with periodical regu-
Iarity, always hoping and believing
that they are about TO solve the
enigma OF what the great f1nanciers
on Wall Street are going TO do.
II IS q guess, sometimes a shrewd
One; often a matter OF blind chance.
But the man who sees his earn
ings depleted by a wild sweeping
away OF values on change with
the same sang froid as he learns
Of having netted a comfortable for
tune is not the only type of traders
who watch the figures from the
Washington end. Now and again
one finds in the brokerage Offices
OF this city a man who has not
learned by the daily experience OF
losing and making money how to
face the issue with at least out
ward placidity. He stands at the
elbow of the man who is reading
the tape, He divides his attention
between the cipher figures on the
white ribbon OF paper and the lips
Of the reader When at length the
price OF Sugar is quoted there is a
nervous, boyish laugh, then an un-
restrained peal OF joyous glee. He
has won, perhaps, a hundred dol
lars by his deal, and he walks
quickly from the room in order that
ne may take his earnings out to
lunch with him, only to return be-
fore the closing hour so that he
can buy another contract" and
double that which he has made. or
perhaps treble. quadTuplei You can
tell By the expectant gleam in his
eye that he is carrying on r men
tai process OF calculations which
lifts him to the giddy heights OF
fabulous wealth. These are the
novices in the great game of watch
ing figures.
But there is another type OF
watcher in the room this morn
Ing. That young man sitting on
the back row nervousiy rolling the
band OF his felt hat, and occasion
ally biting HIS nails. has Just nego-
tiated his first deal. AT the pres
ent time he stands to lose few
hundreds which loom mountain
high as they seem ready to disap-
pear in the great gulf formed by
p depreciation OF I or points in
United States Steel. For the past
week he has come regularly to
the brokers Office trying to CLEAN
some ray of hope in the momentary
nuctuation of even an eighth or
quarter of a cent in his favor. He
hA6-6EuTed- -out 70 a piesty The