The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1907-01-27
BIC PLUNGERS ARE
GOING MORE SLOWLY
New York Central Will Hold Up
on Expenditures
LESS MINING STOCKS SOLD
Public Is at Last Awakening to the
Delusive Nature of the Mining
Fever That Has Spread
Over Country.
LESS MINING STOCKS SOLD
BY w. c. NICHOLAS.

New York. January 6.-(special.)-
tried to boost prices into the skies in the
face of tight money, and the large de-
mands Of the railroads for necessary new
capital, have been subdued for the time
being. The process of subduing the nou-
veau richie gamblers in Wall street is
sometimes rather painful, not only to
them, but to ordinary Spectators and in
vestors interested in the daily fluctua-
tions in the prices of stocks. Among
these plungers are champagne agents,
race track bookmakers, gambling house
proprietors, the idle representatives of
second generations" and men from ali
sections of the country who have recent
ly made big 'cleanups' through the sale
of mines, railroads and manufacturing
products. Wealth has come easily to
these men, and in their desire to increase
their fortunes they naturally turn TO
Wall street, which offers greater oppor-
tunities for gambling with big stakes
than any other place in the world. The
big games at Monte Carlo are mere
childs play when compared with the
game of gambling in stocks. 1t is no I'M
in stocks, who Is not identified with any
railroad or industrial corporation in the
country as an officer or director to be
carrying for purely speculative purposes
a line Of stocks to the value of $5,OO0yUO
or $1O,000,O00 These plungers make or
lose hundreds of thousands of dollars
week after week without arousing any
interest outside of Wall street. Similar
plays at Monte Carlo would be cabled to
all the newspapers of the world.
In the recent break In the stock mar
ket the heaviest selling was by the
plungers whose names are seldom heard
outside of Wall street. Reading is one
of the favorite stocks of the plungers.
They like it because they get SO much
action in ii. 1t swings through wide
range of prices Recently it declined $50
a share while less speculative stocks were
moving within a 4-point range. One Of
the biggest traders in Reading is wine
agent, who two OK three years ago got
his name into the newspapers by failing
to pay $4,000 gambling bet at Saratoga.
Six years ago a panic in the market
nearly cleaned him out. Since then he
has been very lucky and is probably
worth today four or five million dollars.
lie swings great big lines of stock, makes
big winnings and takes big losses. He
is only one of a number of plungers in
the market of the same type. The con-
sentative people in the financial district,
who dislike to have Wall street turned
into a Monte Carlo, have to join together
occasionally and check the operations of
these plungers. In the recent break in
the market in one office alone in two
days 100000 shares of stock were dumped
| into the market with little regard for
prices. 1t looks now as though the over
extended accounts of the plungers had
been scaled down. and that the market
would get itself to rights again. If we
| or IN ha4 1cin MOI ,f 40
| seasoned railroad stocks look fairly
cheap. Banking people have been buying
stocks at this level of prices. Some OF
this buying has been for the purpose of
steadying the market. and a great deal
of it has been the repurchase of stocks
sold at a higher level to the enthusiasts
tic plungers.
Politics and Securities.
| Comment was made in this correspond
ence after the November elections as to
the effect of political agitation on the
constantly receiving greater attention in
Wall street. The possible effect of anti
| railroad legislation is the most serious
problem that the railroads are facing at
this time. because it is at the bottom OF
| that other serious problem, lack of capt.
| tai. Some railroad men take the matter
more seriously than others, but is pref
| ty generally agreed that If the railroads
come through this winter without serious
| injury from the law making bodies, they
| will be fortunate. At no previous time
| has anti-rairoad feeling run higher in
political circles. So conservative an au-
thority as the Financial Chronicle, in
discussing the public attitude toward the
railroads, and their need for new capital,
makes this well considered comment:
"The railroads of the United States
just now are between the devil and the
i.
such surfeit Of traffic that their facil-
tiles, enormously though they have been
increased in recent years, are unable to
handle 1t with due economy and reason