The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1907-11-02
P IKE'SPEAkOkbI u
Continued from page 81


tho average man IL lcfthanded. These
customers were no exception, no they
did nothing.
Hayward had "overstaycd" tho bull
market, though not dIsastrously--that
Ii, ho was In error regarding tho ex'
tcnt and duration Of tho upward move
mcnt OF prices. He prnccedcd to fall
into d similar error On tho bear, or
downward. side. The market had been
extremely dull following what tho
financial writer's called Severe de-
cline" but which meant tho loss OF
millions Of dollars by spectators. A
panic hnd been narrowly averted by
timely combination of powerful Inter.
ests," after which tho market became
professional, In tho absence OF com
plnisant lambs the financial cannlbals
known as room traders" aud "pikers"
tried to scalp eigbths' out Of each
other for weeks, 70 take advantage OF
fractional fluctuations instead Of walt
Ing for big moyemsnts. Hayward's
customers, like everybody elsc'B cus-
toners, were not spsculating. 10 hs
used their money to protect his own
spcculatlons. Office expenses were nIi.
mcrous aud heavy and commissions
few and light
Hayward was very bcarish. He had
sold stocks. sharing the belief OF the
majority OF his fellows that the lowest
prices had not been reached. Az Il re-
suit no wnb heavily short" aud he
could not cover" at d profit bech,iis
prices had advanced very slowly, but
very stcadilj.
Ono day n big gambler In Chicago.
bolder or i.ecner than his eastern
brethren, Il ought the time WINS ripe
for "bnll. or upward, movement In
general anA particularly IN Consoll-
dated Steel s.od company's stock. Ae
was the chi isman Of the board OF di'
rcctors. WI lam q. Dorr decided upoa
a plan VIII eby tho stock would lie
made attrat iyc 10 that class OF specu-
lativc invcs -. 30 10 speak. who liked
10 buy sto 3 making generous dis.
burBcmeniA profits to their holders.
Mr.. DORIS u was kept u secret. The
first step q listed Of sending IN large
buying orr handled by prominent
brokers NJ 8ynchronously the publ
cation IN daily press Of various
items. al ling the wonderful pros
pcrl,y o.. Consolidated Steel liod
,h n phenomenal earning
. bie cneapness OF t,ir
r. p.evailing price. "
.lo.! ;...s s!atcs OF course had pr
,Ioaf,g advantage Of the !
slump ~ II. In values 10 buy ba
at % the stock they had sold
the public tme weeks before nt 7
Having acs ,rel this cheap stock, IL
"manipua '--by means OF furta
purchase price 30 that they coa
sell out at irpft.
II 80 hal ned. however. that onr'
before div nd rumors about "CoI
Steel Rod had been disseminate
with the co Ivance Of Dorr. and the,
had not co true, to the great dets,
ment Of lulous buyers and tie
greater pro Of the insiders, who wt'
'short" OF he stock up to the
necks," ( lcai bit OF stock jobbi
wbcreat ott 6 add more artistic ste
sobbcrs had 'xpressed tho greatest
dignation. Instead OF putting tho stock
on u dividend paying baris the direct
ors had decided at the last hour that
II would not be conservative to do so,
whereupon the stock had broken"
seventeen points. The lambs lost hun
dreds Of thousands Of dollars. the In
siders gained as much, 1t was a mice
turn"
Hayward remembered this, and
when the stock. after several days Of
conspicuous activity and steady nd.
vanccs, rose TO 81. he promptly sold
short 5000 shares, believing that
tho barefaced manipulation would not
raise the stock much above that figure,
and that before long II must decline.
Only month previously II had sold
at 30 and nobody wanted any Of It.
He was all the more decided in his
opinion that tho top" had been
reached by prices, because Mr.. porr,
In Chicago paper, had stated that the
stockholders would probably receive
an entire years dividend at one fell
swoop by reason of the unexampled
prosperity In the steel rod trade.
Such an action was unprecedented. II
had been talked about at various times
In connection with other stocks, but II
had never come true. Why should It
come true In this instance2
Hayward, familiar with DORIS rec
ord, promptly "coppered" his "tip" to
buy, banking on DORIS consistent
mendacity. But William G. Dorr.
shrewdest and boldest of all western
stock gamblers. fooled everybody-he
actually told the truth. That week
the directors did exactly as he had
predicted. When a speculator Of his
caliber lies he fools only one-half--the
foolish half-of the street. When he
tells the truth he deceives everybody.
Before Wall street could recover from
tho shock the price Of the stock was
up s points, which meant that Hay
ward was out $4,000 on that deal