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

icnlly. The Henlpnralyzed bulls re-
gained confidence ay they saw the sue.
cessful outcome Of the Chicago gam.
blers mancuvers In Consolidated Steel
Rod. Money rates and bear hopes
fell; stock values and bull courage
rose' Hayward began Covering Steel
Rod. He "bought In" 5000 NJ xres, and
after no finished be bad loit s26.750
BY tho deal. He was still "short,
about 1900 shares Of other stocks.
on which bls paper losses, at the Inst
quoted prices, were over $4,000; but
II no tried TO buy back such large
amount OF stock In q market no SEN
sitive 10 any kind OF bull impetus, be
would send prices upward In a jlffy,
increasing his own losses very materl-
ally.
Hc went 10 his Office that morning In
q remor He consulted the cashier
and found he had only $4,000 at the
bank, Of which two-thIrds belonged 70
his customers. He was already, moral
iy speaking, an cmbezzler. He was
ruined II he didn't cover, and he was
ruined II be aid. His scat on the
stock exchange was worth possibly
$4,000, not cent more, and as be
personally owed his out Of town corrc-
spondcnts nearly $4,000 be could not
avoid being hopelessly ruined. More
over. bis bankruptcy would not be m
honest failure. for, as he told him.
self bitterly after the harm was done.
II had no business TO speculate on my
own hook with other peoples money"
He bad felt II rather than had seen It
coming. for, gamblcrllke, he had closed
his eyes aud had buried his head In the
sand Of hope, trusting In luck to pro
tect him from punishment. But now
he was face TO face with the question
that every gambler drcads--"If stood
10 lose all. how desperate risk would
I take In order to get II backf" The
answer ~ usually 30 appallngly thief.
like That the numerous Haywnrds OF
the stock exchange and the board OF
trade forthwith stop thinking with a
srddcnness that does credit TO the rem
nants Of their honesty, But 1t baunts
them, does the omlnous question and
the commenced but unfinished answer.
Az he left his office 10 so TO the
board room he put to himself the fatal
query. But he would not let himself
answer II until he had stopped at
Fred's, the official barroom Of the stock
exchange. and had taken n stiff drink
OF raw whisky. Then the answer came.
lie was ruined anyhow. II he failed
without further ado--that Is, without
increasing bis liabilities, he would be
cursed By twenty-five OF his customers
and by fifteen OF his fellow brokers
who were lending" stocks TO him. But
II he made one last desperate effort be
might pull out OF the hole, or at worst,
why. the number Of cursing customers
would remain the same, but the fellow
brokers would rise TO twenty or thirty.
He took another stiif drink. The
market had become undoubtedly bull
market. The bears had been lighting
the advance, and there still remained
a stubborn short interest in certain
stocks, as, for example. In American
Sugar company stock. Now, il that
short interest could be stampeded 1t
might mean an eight or ten point ad.
vance. II he bought 10000 or $1,000
shares and sold them at an average
profit OF four or Ave points, he would
put on the disaster, and II he made
ten points he would be great oper.
ator. He had. to be sure. no business
to buy even 1000 shares OF Sugar; but
then be had no business to be on the
verge OF bankruptcy.
The liquor was potent Sally said to
himself aggrievedly, II might as well
be hung for a flock as for one measly
old mutton"
He walked a triHe unsteadily from
Fred's across the narrow asphalted
New street to the stock exchange.
He paused at the entrance. There was
no escape. Unless he could make a
lucky strike he would fail ignomini-
ously.
"PIke's Peak or bustr' he muttered
to himself and walked into the big
room.
Good morning, Mr.. Hayward" said
the doorkeeper. Hayward nodded
ahsently, caught himself repeating
"Pike's Peak or bustv' and walked
straight toward the Sugar post.
He began to bid for stock. One
thousand shares at 116; he got it.
Another thousand; 1t was Forthcoming
at l16,s. A third thousand; somebody
was glad to sell II at 116la. So far so
bad. Then he bid III for $500 shares
and 1t was promptly sold. But when
he bid "117 for any part of 5,000e the
crowd hesitated; the bankers were not
altogether sure Hayward was good
for 1T" his ability to pay for the stock
was not undoubted So Sally, taking
advantage Of the hesitation, bid 117A
and 11T,s for 5000 Sugar, at which
price Billy Thatcher, two-dollar
broker, sold 1t to him. 1t made 10,600
shares Hayward had bought, and the
stock had risen only ~ points.
The shorts We're not frightened q
wee bit But Sally was. He rushed out
Of the crowd to his telephone and
made pretense Of reporting" the
transaction to his Office. 40 be would
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