The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1908-06-05

naughty Indifference | took. / BEGAN
to feel very young before this ma
chinolike impersonation OF the mar
ket.
BOckstein relieved the embarrass-
ment of the situation by coming in out
OF breath, with a brave pretense Of
having been merely consulting a Gus
toner in the mex room.
You hat explained TO Misder Epp-
ner?" he inquired. Den all Is done.
Here Is a card 10 der Board Room. IL
orders you hat 10 gif, Eppner will dake
dem on der floor. Zhust gif him der
check for margin, and all is veil"
At the end Of this harangue I found
myself outside the office, with Book.
stems back waddllng toward the
private com where the partners were
TO have their last consultation before
going 20 the Board.
My check had been honored, then.
and Bockstein had assured himself OF
my solvency. In the rebound from
anxiety. | swelled with the pride Of a
capitalist-on Doddridge Knapp's
money.
In the Board Room Of the big Ex-
change the uproar had given me a
suggestion that the business of buy
ing and selling stocks was carried on
in a somewhat less conventional man
ner than the trade in groceries. But
it had not quite prepared me for the
scene In the Exchange.
After a little | was able TO discover
that the shouts and yells and screams,
the shaking OF fists. and the waving
Of arms were merely a more or less
energetic method Of bidding for
stocks: that the ringing OF gongs and
the below OF the big man who smiled
on the bear-garden from the high
desk were merely the audible signs
that another stock was being called
and that the brazen-yoiced reading o.!
a roll was merely the official an
nouncement of the record Of bargain
and sale that had been going on be-
fore me.
1t was my good fortune to make out
so much before the purchase of the
stocks on my order list was COM
pleted. The crisis was at hand in
which | must have my wits about me.
and be ready TO act for myself.
Eppner rushed up and reported the
bargains made, handing me a slip with
the figures he had paid for the stocks.
ANY more orders?" he gasped. He
was trembling with excitement and
suppressed eagerness for the fray.
Yes" | shouted above the roar
about me. Il want to buy Omega"
He gave a look hat might have
been a warning, If | could have read
it; but II was gone with a shrug as
though he would say, well, it's no
business Of mine"
How much?" he asked. watt"
He started away al a scream from
the front. but returned in a moment.
He had bought or sold something, but
| had not the least idea what it was.
or which he had done.
Its coming!" he yelled in my ear.
The gong rang. There a a con
fused cry from the man at the big
desk. And pandemonium let loose.
omega opens at sixty-fye." shouted
Eppner.
bid sixty" | shouted in reply, but
get all you can. even IL you have to
pay sixty-hve."
Eppner gave a below, and skated
INTO a group Of fat men. gesticulating
violently. The roa increased, if such
a thing were possible.
In a minute Eppner was back, pers-
piring. and | fancied a trife worried.
They're dropping it on me-" he
gasped in my ear. Five hundred at
sixty-two and one thousand at sixty.
Small lots coming fast and big ones
on the way"
Good, Bid hfty-fve, and then fifty,
but get them
With a roar he rushed into the
midst Of a whirling throng. | a
twenty brokers about him, shouting
and threatening. one in his eagerness
jumped upon the shoulders of a fat
man in front of him. and shook a
paper under his nose.
could make out nothing Of what
was going On. except that the excite
ment was tremendous.
Twice Eppner reported to me. The
stock was being hammered down
down stroke by stroke. There was
a rush to sell. Fifty-hve-fifty-three
fifty. came the price-then by leaps
to forty-hve and forty. II was a panic.
At last the gong sounded. and the
Gene was over.
Eppner reported at the end Of the
call. He had bought for me twelve
thousand five hundred shares. I've
ten thousand OF them below fifty. The
total was frightful. There was half
a million dollars TO pay when the time
for settlement came. 1t was folly TO
suppose that my credit at the Nevada
was OF this size. But | put a bold face
on II. gave a check for the figure that
Eppner named. and rose.
ANY more orders?" he asked.
Not till afternoon"
AS | passed into the street | was as
tonished at the swift transformation
that had come over it. The block
about the Exchange a crowded with
a tossing throng. hundreds upon hun
dreds pushing toward it's fateful doors.
But whore cheerfulness and hope had