The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1907-11-02

make more noise on the Stock ex-
chaange-- why shouldn't they? There
is more of 'em, but" said a stranger
, who Is enjoying himself seeing the
)sights of the city, I'D almost be will
ling to bet there's no so men on the
Stock exchange that could make as
much uproar as so picked men OF
the COTTON exchange, and II you don t
believe that you ought To 90 down
: and heaar the cotton men hOliar.
you don't know about that?
You've never been in the Cotton ex-
change? No, suppose not. That
the way with you New York folks.
| You've been to Europe and the
Rocky mountains and Alaska and
.Hongkong, but you've never been
much around your own town. Well,
I've been down to see the Cotton ex-
change myself. and like $k
yBig room, $50 feet long 81 there
IabOuts, and mabe go or 20 feet wide.
Desks across one end and scattered
around, and along a strech 'on one
lside a battery of telegraph instru-
'ments with operators always busy.
lTf there's ever any let up in the hol-
lering on the floor you caan hear the
telegraph chorus coming in, for the
men at the keys are always pounding
away.
They don't have trading posts scat
tered around on the floor here like
they do on the Stock exchange, but
here they do their trading around
what they call the pit. The pit Is
formed of a stout brass railing set
in circle In the middle OF the floor
and having running around Il, out
side, an annular platform. The rail-
ing makes a circle about 20 feet In
diameter and 1t is very ssoutly braced
so that people crowding against 1t
cant push itover. -
"Tbey don't get, ,i1sjd hs ilhig
to trade, but stand around outside OF
lit. The annulSr platform around the
pit is three steps high; that Is to say
there are three steps up to the top
of it from the floor outside, and then
three steps down on the inner side,
which is within two or three feet of
the rail
1.-The brokers stand around close to
the railing and look across to the man
Opposite or anywhere around 1t,
and on busy days when there are
more men on the floor than can get
to the rail they stand on the steps
of the railing platform where they
can see over the heads of the men in
lfront and so down into and across
the pit, and when you get the. pit
crowded in that way with men all
hollering as loud as they can and that
telegraph battery firing continuously
filling in the chinks. why, you get
clamor that for anybody that likes
that sort of thing is nothing less than
Iexhilarating.
'One thing didn't understand at
first sight was a little heap of closed
camp stools lying on the floor in the
clear space in the pit within the
railing, but | discovered about that
later when ! saw a man pull out one
of those and sit down on 1t at the
rail. So | infer they must have days
when they sit around the pit railing.
comparatively few In number, and
talk across to one another in some de-
gree of quiet. But they weren't quiet
this day. The rail was crowded and
there were punches OF men standing
Iaround on the platform steps and
they were all shouting.
They'd lean over the railing till |
Thought some of them would break
themselves in two on 1t, as II they
were trying to get as close as they
could to the men on the other side
they were shouting at, and as man
lhowled, he'd raise his right hand
with his arm up as high in the air
as he could raise It, and with more
or less of his fingers extended straight
land then the other man and this one
with savage sweep at the man on
1.-THE other side he was hollering to-
las If he was trying to hurl bale OF
!cotton or thousand bales at him,
land the nthe other man and this one
would stop second or two and each
write something down on pad he
carried in his left hand, and then
They'd both start in again hollering
with the rest.
II couldn't understand a blessed
word they said, except that every now
land then you'd see somebody shake
his fist wildly and hear him howl
january and then maybe you'd see
|somebody raise his hand and hear
him shout February! and there was
another man that stood at the ring
side and screamed 'October! These
lwere bids for or offerings Of cotton
for future deliveries, | suppose, and
they were all the words could make
lout; for the rest there was just that
continuous swinging of hands in the
lair and that continuous din of
voices with the telegraph battery
|playing away on the other side of the
Ihig rom u. af