The Durham recorder. [volume] (Durham, N.C.) 1879-19??, 1908-03-31
s.; & 6 It u !: IS s
% Pike'SPeak
:. :: Or Bust. (
y = j. y = :: -

y = u - - = =:
ment OF credulous buyers and the
greater prcAt Of the Insiders. who We're
short" Of the stock "up to their
necks," typical bit OF stock jobbIng
whcreat other and more artistic stock
tobbers had expressed tho g:.catest IN.
aignation. Instead Of putting the STOCK
on a dividend paying basis the direct
prs had decided at the last hour that
Il would not be conservative to do so.
whereupon the. stock had 'broken"
,eventeen points. The lambs lost hun
treds of thousands of dollars; the In.
,iders gained as much. 1t was mice
turn"
Hayward remembered this. and
when the stock. after several days Of
conspicuous activity and steady ad-
vances. rose TO 80, he promptly sold
short 5000 shares, believing that
the barcfaced manipulation would not
raise the stock much above that figure.
and that before long It must decline.
Only n month previously II had sold
ut So and nobody wanted any Of 1t.
He was all the more GcciI,.l In his
opinion that the "tcp" VI hr~l
reached hy prices. becai!se Mr. Dorr.
IN Chicago paper. had stated that the
stockholders would probably receive
an entire years dividend at one fell
sv"op By reason OF the unexamp.ed
pro rerIty In the steel rod trade.
such an action was Unprecedented. II
had been talked about at various times
In connection with other stocks. but 1t
had never come true. Why should 1t
come true In this instance?
Hayward, familiar wa Doris rec.
ord. promptly ''coppercd' his 'tip" TO
buy. banking on DORIS consistent
mendacIty. But William G. Dorr.
shrewdest and boldest OF all western
stock gamblers. fooled everybody
actually told the truth. That week
the directors did exactly as he had
predicted. When n SPECTATOR Of his
calIbcr lies he fools only one-half
foolish haif-of the street When he
tells the truth he decelyes everybody.
Before Wall street could recover from
the shock the price Of the stock was
up ) points. which meant tina; Hay
ward was out $4,000 on that deal
alone. But. In addition. the general
list was carried upward sympaihet.
ically. The semi-paralyzed bulls re-
gained confidence rs they saw the sue
cessful outcome Of the Chicago gam
bler's maneuvers 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 shares. and
after he finished he had lost $50 100
BY the deal. He was still short
about 1900 shares Of other stocks.
on which his paper losses. ct the last
quoted prices. were over s3500O: hut
II lie tried 10 buy back such a large
amount Of stock in a market so SEN
sitive 10 any kind Of bull impetus. he
would send prices upward In a jifiy.
increasing his own losses very materI.
ally.
lie went 10 his Office that morning In
trcmor. lie consulted the cashier
and found he had only $4,000 at the
bank, Of which two.thirds belonged 20
his customers. lie was already, moral
ly speaking. an embczzler. lie vas
ruined II he didn't cover. and he was
ruined n he did. His scat" on the
stock exchange was worth possibly
$4,000. not a cent more, and as he
personally owed his out OF town GORE.
spondcnts nearly $4,000 he could not
avoid being hopelessiy ruined. More
aver. his bankruptcy would not be an
honest failure. for. as he told him.
SELF bitterly after the harm was done.
Il had no business to speculate on my
swn hook with other peoples money"
lie had felt II rather than had seen II
coming. for. gamblerlike. he had closed
ILLS eyes and had buried his head In the
sand Of hope. trusting IN luck 20 pro.
tect him from punishment. hut now
he was face 10 face with the question
that every gambler Grcads-"if I stood
to logc all. how desperate u risk would
take IN order TO get II back'" The
answer Il usually 50 aprallIugly thief.
IKE That the numerous IIaywaris OF
the stock EXCHANGE aud the board %
trade forthwith stop thinking with q
suddcnncss that does credit 60 the rem.
nants of their honesty. But Il haunts
Their. Gcs the omInous question aud
the c9nreHced but unfinished answer
AZ he 80 his Office 10 90 10 tie
board rom he put TO himself the fatal
query. But he would not let himself
answer Il until he Ind stopped at
Fred's. the official barroom Of the stock
exchange. aud had taken still drink
OF raw whisky. Then the answer came.
He was ruined anyhow. n he failed
without further ado-~that Is. without
increasing bis liabilities. he would be
cursed by twenty i've OF hls customers
and by fifteen of his fellow brokers
who were lending stocks 20 him. liui
II he made orc last desperate effort he
might pull out Of the hole. or at worst.
why. the number OF curslng customers
would remain the same, but the fellow
brokers would rise 10 twenty or thirty.
lie took another stiff drink. The
market had become undoubtedly bull
market. The hears had been lighting
the advance, aud there still remained
q stubborn short interest In ccrtait