The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1908-08-19
THE NEW Soy'fON KING.
Hsw Young Livermore Has COrnereyl
the Cotton Market.
New York WOrld.

New York World.
A fair-headed. beardless man O,
thirty-one. younger looking by ten
years than the age which he acknow-
ledges, who sits In the back room OF
Wall street brokerage house and is
sues orders to a score of busy clerks
In gently modulated voice, has DOS.
sessed himself Of every bale Of cotton
not under contract In the warehouses
OF Greater New York. and Is smiling
iy watching the painful contortion of
a group Of grizzled bears on the New
York Cotton exchange. These bears
have sold 100000 bales of cotton for
October delivery. while the entire Wis
iole supply In the vicinity Of this town
is only $4,000 bales. the warehouse re-
ceipts for all OF which repose safely
In the strong box Of this newest Ma
poleon Of speculation.
Such q situation has never before
been known In the history Of the local
cotton market. but that 1t exists Theo-
dore H. Price and all the veteran oper-
ators In the cotton trade admitted
yesterday. In many respects 1t is the
most remarkable corner ever at.
tempted. existing. as 1t does, in the
face OF glowing prospects for an
abundant cotton crop. This unique
condition Ii the handiwork of Jesse l.
Livermore. Wall street lamb, who
nrst saw the light of day ia shrews-
bury. Mass, In 1877. and who has
built up a fortune Of millions from an
original bank roll" OF ss.12. :
Mr.. Lvermore. who Is now recoeniz-
ed a. . power In all the speculative
markets Of the world. and whose op-
erations are followed by cotton men.
from New York to Bombay. India.
was an unknown quantity. as far as
Wall street is concerned, until he
woke one morning last spring with
bank account Of s2.500.o00 as a re.
suit Of a cotton deal which is almost
the antithesis Of the one In which he
Is now engaged. The conditions were
exactly the reverse Of those that exist
today. y
After a long-continued rise in cot
ton prices last spring the young specu.
'ator found the bulls loaded up with
cotton. acquired at fancy prices and
which. in the face Of the general busi-
ness conditions was unmarketable ex.
cept at tremendous sacrifice. Liver
more flooded the New York, New Or
leans and Liverpool markets with SELL
Ing orders and In the wild stampede
which followed covered his short con-
tracts ut from IS to SO a bale under
the levels at which he had contracted
to deliver Il. e
A World reporter found Mr.. Liver
more yesterday In a little twelve by
fifteen foot room in the ONCE OF e. r.
Hutton 4 Co.. Stock exchange men,
bers. No. IS New street, smoking a
big black cigar and issuing orders in
volving thousands upon thousands Of
dollars as calmly as IL he were pitch
Ing pennies In q back lot. Those pre-.
sent wondered at Mr.. Livermore's ap-
pearance of extreme youth. his heavy
speculative commitments. his GOODNESS
and daring in crises that have turned
mems hair gray, and more than every
thing. at his remarkable knowledge
OF economic laws. the state Of supply
and demand. trade statistics, crop
conditions. the subtleties OF sterling
exchange and international barter.
They wonder still more when he
frankly confessed that his entire
school days were spent In the public
schools Of Worcester. Mass. and that
he never went to college a day in his
life.
II am q bucket-shop graduate" {"
was his answer. II have always been
q speculator since was In knee
breeches. A successful speculator must
have his tools Of trade. Nine are a
knowledge Of supply and demand
That embraces many things that are
not taught in college"
Mr.. Livermore had never been in
terviewed until yesterday. but he re-
luctantly consented to talk to a World
reporter for q half hour before the
opening OF the market.
They have all been after me-" he
said. but am not anxious to get in
to the limelight."
This Is the interview. drawn out q
sentence at the time by tortuous cross
questioning. and interrupted every
few seconds with cable dispatches and
kilograms that piled up on his desk
foot hiQh hofora his tolk Uoo oyar