Omaha daily bee., 1907-02-26
GAMBLING IN MINING STOCK
Scenes in san francisco Mining Exchange
Recall ComEtook Days
NEVADA DISCOVERIES BOOST MARKET
Greatest Gamble for Money Outside
of wall street-Fortunes Made
over Night Occasionally
stieIz

Daisy. Daisy. Daisyi" yelled the tall.
narrow man. jumping up and down
! though the hoor Of the room burned the
soles OF his feet and raising up his arm
! as though to bestow a blessing or invoke
q curse. he brought it down again with
all the vigor that his why frame possessed,
and missed by a fraction Of an inch the
nose Of a short thick-set man. who was
believing defantly Florence, Florence"
( at the top Of a pair Of lusty lungs.
The little man showed no resentment.
On the contrary ne grinned good-naturedly
and side-stepped with an agility that could
have come only from long practice. A
paterfamilias with shiny bald spot and
much embonpoint executed a dance that
was a cross between the Highland fling
and the fire dance Of the Indians while he
cried Cracker Jack, Cracker Jack" with
! all the persistency Of a child Of 3 who
won't be happy till he gets it. An alert
young business man howled Black Ants
ind then other voices Joined in. and all
| ntelligibility was lost in a deafening up
roar, while men gesticulated, pushed,
shouted, struggled and jostled each other.
The San Francisco Mining Stock ex-
:hange was in session
Crowding close to the rail that
hemmed in this excitement a multitude Of
people watched the antics Of these seeming
| madmen- A motley congregation. There
were the frequenters Of the exchange
the stsi5 business man who just dropped
In and thought he'd take a little fier;
clerks from the Offices in the vicinity who
wanted to experience the sensation Of
easy money" the capitalist whose profits
would only go TO swell surplus bank &C
count, and the unfortunate Spectator whose
q Tr.u1 49,
family. Even the "mudhen." reminiscent
Of the good old bonanza days, when The
exchange was on California street. was in
evidence to see If she couldn't get tip
on good thing" and apparently little
realizing the danger Of being a good
thing" herself. They all in that spirit
OF democracy that sprinting after the al
mighty dollar engenders. leaned over the
rail or STOOD near It, and viewed with
varied feelings the performances of the
mining stock brokers.
New Era of Activity.
For history is repeating itself in the San
Francisco mining exchange. A new era
OF mining activities has begun that
threaten TO equal the dramatic Comstock
days, when men whose names mean the
history Of San Francisco We're seen upon
the floor Of the exchange The halycon
days Of the mining stock Spectator have
returned and the broker rejoiceth thereat
And 50 far he has had good cause for his
commissions are much larger than those
made in the old Comstock days. A well
known broker for weeks has been clearing
s1.00O day In his San Francisco office and
the same comfortable amount in his out.
side office. In brief, it's nothing just now
for a good broker with good credit at his
: -.
and. Of course, these commissions mean
that some Of the brokers' clients are get
ting rich.
And seat in the exchange? Well. II
you had offered $500 a year ago it probably
would have been accepted last March
s2.OOe might have been considered: TO-DAY
$500 and up is offered and no sellers
The gold-bearing lodges Of southern Ne.
vada are responsible for all this. They
have shattered the book-learned theories
/, OF the mining expert and illustrated the
truth Of the prospector's time-worn ap-
horism that gold is where you find IT,
The Lodges Of the sagebrnsh state ar,
hOneycombed with the prospector's pick
The desert has lost its 'cerrors for tn,
! miner, the result Of whose find is far
] reaching. The golden streams flow dowr
: the hills and swell the channels Of com
AltINts NAtft men, IKE craft are either
borne in safety 10 harbor or are wrecked
but all ride on il al their peril for nC
! pilot can be absolutely sure Of his bear.
: ings.
New Aspect of stock Dealing.
r And dealing in mining stocks is today
: more OF a gamble than ever Thirty nv,
years ago it bore some semblance TO a bust
! ness, for the speculatiOns in Wasoe stockl
3 hetnp "a IN ~ only
E When a stock sold high and then broke, tn
: entire market would sympathize with IT
g II is very different today. This is becaus
six-tenths Of the dealings in Southern Ne
4 vada stocks come from east OF San Fan
7 cisco all the way 10 New York including
I Pittsburg. Boston. Chicago. 81. Louis, SAL
Lake, and from all the country betweel
these cities. This state Of affairs often pre-
vents a stock going up like q rocket, as i
would have done in early days, and thei
coming down like a stick. On the preseu
r market IL may soar after a pyrotechnica
fashion, but is apt to caracole on its down
ward flight. The reason for this is that or
ders come from all over the United States
e and those giving the orders 10 buy tn
d stocks not knowing Of any weakness. mul
e uply their orders 10 buy Brokers. there
e fore, are unable 10 tell if the market VII
y break or not, as these outside orders Ofte
r send it upward again. making il buoyan
n and strong old brokers are as much a
q sea as the youngest On the floor Their ex
periences Of years avail them nothing i
y combating this unique situation
e Joseph l. King, gray-haired, broad
= shouldered towering IL height Far abov
y the average sized man. is the caller Of IN
u San Francisco Mining exchange. who pre-
n sides daily over this miniature human mae
y EtrOm. The scene is no novelty 20 hin
e Son Of the famous James King Of William
= the brave editor Of the Bulletin in the stir
ie ring days OF s. who had the courage Of hi
r convictions and who paid for them with hi
&c life, Mr.. King from b0yhoOd has been IA
Is miliar with the lights and shadows q
g dramatic san Francisco Son OF a fathe
whose martyred death was the cause Of IN
second vigilaute movement in what wa
then principally a mining town. Il was bu
natural thai he should become inoculate
with the stock fever. But then what twp