The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1908-03-29
CURB SCRANDLES OYER YUKON
HEAPS or ARBITRAGING, LAUN.
DERING AND HOLLERING.
Nov Much the Public Got Of the New Ne.
nenCent specially DOubtfuI-The Bene-
factor Sat Aloft Like . Sweet Little
Cherub Looking Out for Peer Tom.

thefuO LOOKING Out Tor F0Of Tom.
The new incarnation Of Thomas W. Law.
son. once the professed savior Of the plain
uaople, but out In the openn nov as the stock
marketing agent Of his former hell demons
vas celebrated by a hilarious demonstration
ON the Broad street curb yesterday morning.
curb brokers, to whom the market asperities
oi an otherwise soft and balmy winter had
made il cold and a~ustere, rushed hungrily
M the feast Of plenty which the backslider
spread before them. II was a short feast,
.asring only from 10 to ~, but II abounded
m commissions, arbitrage chances, wash
sales and az a chef d'GuVrs in those inside
cInch trades which are the most palatable
of all.
Harry Content, the we'll known Stock
Exchange broker whom Lawson in his
rpgenerate days plagiariZed as Barry
Conant, the chief agent OF the hell hounds
M the system. was down 10 act az head
-reward for lawson. but he IA said to have
informed the governors OF the Stock EX-
change that his name was used without
authority. Among the assistant stew
ards. according to common report, were
as many as twenty representatives Of
stock Exchange houses. all engaged to
serve 10 the curb brokers and the public
shares Of Yukon Gold, the first Offering OF
lawson since he ceased serving the public
for the love o. humanity and undertook
t. instruct It for the love OF the goods.
In subordinate capacities there had been
retained a number OF curb b~rokers-as a
rule the most athletic and noisiest Of them
10 serve the stock to other brokers and
through those to the customers c~aptivated
ty the announcement OF the feast. Mr..
LAWSON himself was in town, but did no;
appear on the curb. Instead he supervised
the arrangements from a window Of the
ninth floor Of the Broad-EIchange Building
overlooking the curb.
What with the hired brokers and the
brokers' who had orders from customers
he curb before the opening Of the market
became az noisy, in the opinion Of some
Observers. as on the recent visit Of the
ufragettes. Others said the din and con-
fusion and jostling bore a close resemblance
to the day when the Messrs. Guggenheim
lei II be known that they had decided not
n exercise their option on the stock Of
marvellous Nipissing. To that transaction
The day bore another resemblance. for
Yukon, like Nipissing, had been sold under
the Endorsement Of one Of the Guggen-
helms mining engineers
Father Mendels, the dean Of The Broad
street. curb, ~endeavored to enforce the rule
against trading before 10 o'clock, the official
opening hour His voice was drowned in
the uproar ten minutes before the official
time, and the struggle to get at the good
things began. -Four hundred brokers per-
haps were in the enclosure and the majority
we're bent on getting or distributing a
slice Of Yukon. II was quickly seen that
one crowd could not handle all the bust
ness, and in a few minutes there we're six
or seven groups, all trading back and forth
m the stock, Prices at which the goods
we're offered naturally varied widely and
the cheapest went to the brokers with the
greatest physical prowess.
Customers with dainty appetites who
we're satisfied with any amount under a
thousand shares Jared badly in comparison
with those more Voracious. The brokers
for the former we're told that the people
handing out the goods had little time to
trouble with small portions. For the small
portions therefore the price was invari-
ably higher, generally by half a point. or
fifty cents a share. The stock exchange
towards handed out no less than a
thousand shares at a time. Half portions
had TO be secured from brokers who had
taken full portions and were willing TO
split them up for a consideration.
Some OF those serving at the feast let
II be known that a multitude OF London |
investors we're represented there by proxies
in the hands Of brokers, and as on the pre-
vious day there were stories Of the terrible
hunger that had beset people all over the
United States and Canada on the announce
ment OF the Offering. There we're only 1
10000 shares, and people everywhere, II
vas said, we're convinced that there would
not be enough to go around.
While the wants of the public we're being
supplied, many Of the more alert brokers
we're picking up something for themselves
on the side. They took advantage Of the
various prices in various groups or the
curb, bought in cheaply al one group and
almost lnstantaneously sold out AT a profit
IN another. IL was even noted that an
occasional original distributor OF the stock
would buy from one OF the stewards and
Immediately sell at a profit TO another.
Scores ~ the more experienced brokers
got fat in This buying ard selling back
and forth. Their transactions supplied
2 large percentage Of the total. Good
Old fashioned laundry business undoubt-
edly accounted for many more.
The most expert opinion varied widely
a. To the aggregate amount Of sales, an
aggregate including washes and split trades I
and buying with n hand what the other
sells. One Of the so-called official trade
reports placed the total at 433, 900 shares;
another Of the same character said the
total was $50. 900 shares. Estimates Of the
'mount actually served to the public were
more difficult to make. Without giving
figures, some Of those interested in the flo
latlon said the Offering had been highly
successful, Other observers we're more or
less sceptical as TO the amount OF real
money that had come in from the public.
A. any rate all admitted that there Ia plenty
more Yukon to serve 10 any one who comes
m tomorrow.
The price ranged between 81 and ~.
Walter Content was said to be giving out
Itock for a considerable period at o.. As
FAR as could be learned there was no set
price AT which the Lawson brokers handed
out the stock. II was suggested that the
opportunities for profitable arbitrage arose
In this way.
The stock market was soft and reac-
uonary, while the trading continued keen
on the curb. Many OF the conservative
members Of the Stock Exchange looked
askance at the methods employed there
Tor raising money and considered the mat
Ter a proper one for submission TO the
board OF governors. These brokers took
he position that the Stock Exchange
should keep above the methods OF the min
ing promoter and believed the transaction
N Yukon ought at least TO be investigated
BY the governors.
II Is possible that the connection Of Stock
Exchange houses with the advertising, eX-