The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1907-11-02

oilice Of Tracy 4 Middleton, bankers
and brokers, His name was Willis y,
Hayward, ANA he was a proud hoy In
deed when he was selected cut OF
twenty applicants 10 be telephone clerk
for the firm,
From 10 a. m. until y, m, he stood
by Tracy 4 Middleton's private tele-
phone on the floor of the stock ex-
change - the board room receiving
messages from the office. chiefly orders
to buy or sell stocks for customers, and
transmitting the same messages to the
board member Of the firm, Mr.. Mid.
ileton; also telcphonlng Mr., Middle
toms reports to the office. He spoke
with a soft. refined voice, and his blue
eyes beamed so ingenuously upon the
other telephone boys In the same row
Of booths that they said they had
Sally In their alley. and they lmmedl-
ately nicknamed him Sally.
II was all very wonderful to young
Hayward. who had been out Of board
Ing school but few months-the ex-
cited rushing hlther and thlther OF wor-
ried looking men. the frantic waving
Of hands, the maniacal yelling OF the
brokers executing their orders about
the various posts and their sudden
relapse into seml.sanIty rs they Jotted
down the price at which they had sold
or bought stocks. 1t was not surpris-
Ing that he should fall to understand
Just how they did business. But what
most impressed him was the fact
vouched for by his colleagues, that
these same clamoring, gestlculating
brokers were actually supposed 10
make great deal Of money. He
heard Of Sam Shapes 100000 win
uings In Suburban Trolley and OF Par
son Blacks famous million dollar coup
In Western Delaware-the little gray
man even being pointed out to him In
corroboration. But then he had also
heard OF Aladdin and the Wonderful
Lamp" and Jack the Giant Killer"
| He learned the business, as nearly
all boys must do In Wall street, by
absorption. If he asked questions he
received replies, but no one volunteer
ed any information for his guidance,
and in self defense he was forced TO
observe closely to see how others did
and to remark what came Of II. He
heard nothing but speculate, speculate,
in one guise or another, many words
for the same meaning. II was all buy
ing or selling OF stocks--a concentrat-
ed and almost visible hope OF making
much money In the twlnkllng Of an
eye. Nobody talked OF anything else
on the exchange Bosom friends met
at the opening Of business and did not
say "Good morning" but plunged with
out preamble into the only subject on
earth-speculation And IL one of them
arrived late he inevitably inquired
forthwith, FLOWS the market ?"--asked
it eagerly. anxiously, as II fearful that
the market had taken advantage Of his
absence to misconduct itself The air
was almost unbreathable for the In
Vulnerable tips to buy or sell securi-
ties and Insacurities Of all kinds. The
brokers, the customers, the clerks, the
exchange doorkeepers, all Wall street
read the morning papers not to ascer-
tain the news, but to pick such Items
as would, should or might have some
effect on stock values. There was no
god but the ticker, and the brokers
were its prophets.
All about Sally were hundreds OF
men on whose faces he scarcely ever
saw a smile between the hours Of 10
and 8; men who looked as IL they
took their thoughts home with them
and dined with them and slept with
them and dreamed Of them-the look
had become settled, immutable. And
1t was not a pleasant look, about the
eyes and lips. He saw everywhere the
feverishness Of "the game" lnsensl-
bly, the atmosphere Of the place affect
ed him, colored his thoughts, induced
certain faneies. As he became more
familiar with the technique Of the bust
ness he grew to believe, like thousands
Of youthful or superficial observers,
that stock market movements were
comparable only to the gyrations Of
the little ivory ball about the roulette
wheel.
The innurlerable tricks Of the trade,
the uses Of inside misinformation, the
rationale o. stock market manipula-
tion, were a sealed book to him. He
heard only that his elghteen-year-old
neighbor made 500 buying twenty
shares Of Plue Belt line ON Thursday
ard selling them on Saturday 33s
points higher or that Micky Welch,
Stuart & Stern's telephone boy, had a
"tip' from one Of the big room traders
which be bravely "played"-as you
play" horse or play" the red Or
the black-and cleared $125 in less
than week or that Watson, two
dollar" broker, made mice turn"
selling Southern Shore, or else he
heard, punctuated with poignant
oaths, how Charlie Miller, one of the
New street doorkeepers, lost $3.50 buy
ing Pennsylvania Central after he acci-
dentally overheard Archie Chase, who
was Sam sharpe's principal broker,
tell friend that the "old man" said
"Pa. Cent" was due for a ten point
rise, instead Of which there had been
a seven point decline. Always the boy
heard about the apparently irresponsi-
bic "bulges" and drops" of the win
nings Of the men who happened to