The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-12-28
STOCK GAMBLERS PLAY P0SSUM
 WITH ROCK ISLAND
sensational Rise of 31 Points Followed By Equally as Sensational Fall Back
Various Reasons Assigned for Remarkable and Un- expected Display None of Which Seemingly Ex- plains.
especia1 from United Press.)

New York. Dec. 2s.-There was a wild
 half hour in the New York Exchange
 yesterday, beginning at the tap of the
 gong, when a bull movement sent
 Rock Island up from 50ss to S1, where the bears smashed the prices back to 51 During that half hour 52.000 shares of the stock were bought and sold
 The wild furry in Rock Island Is said to have been occasioned by the calls fn- stock which had been sold short and which the sellers could not deliver. London speculators are said of stock short and when forced to deliver were compelled to go into the market and buy at whatever prices the stock could be obtained
 Rock Island officials declare there Is nothing going on in the international affairs of the company that would warrant the sensational rise and fall The stock opened at 50% as against zs& ct the close on Friday. Without a break 1t advanced in minutes to S1- There were no sales between 55 and 5e, where seven thousand shares were let go. There were other jumps of and { points between sales until the price reached S.
 As rapidly as it rose. Rock Island fell, declines of to points being noted between sales.
 The usual result followed in all oth- CT stocks, the standard lines showing a loss of l point or more At the end of half an hour Rock Island had lost its entire gain
 An official of the company declared thar he understood there had been a and 1t looked to him like some of these short sellers, forced to deliver, were being sQueezed by the lucky owners
 Judge William H. Moore is in Chi- .cago and Daniel G. Reid declares he did not r't up the price These two men virtually own and control the Rock Island system. The entire move menf. if is said, was not engineered by the Rock Island interests
 London and Paris speculatorss 1t is rumored have been large buyers of the stock and 1t is believed the jump In opening followed cables to buy the stock for the account or foreign spec ulators who had sold calls for 1t
 It was rumored about in Wall street | which virtually control Rock Island, | had taken oyer a controlling interest | in the Lehigh Valley Railroad Com | pany and that this was probably the | high, Rock Island, Wabash and Den | yer & Rio Grande into a new trans | continental system from New York | to San Francisco. in competition with I the Hfn and Hartman lines
 The governors of the Stock Ex- change, it is declared this afternoon. l win begin an immediate investigation and punish those responsible for this mornings pyrotechnic- It has been the law of the exchange for a number of years that there must be II no corner maintained in any stock. and today's episode shows plainly, 1t ts said. that a clique has secured and fs holding an iron bound corner on Rock Island When the purchase of 50.ooo shares of SO expensive a stock as Rock Island sends the stocks up 30 points, 1t means. according to finan- cfers. that a group of men is holding all the stock and will not sell to the shorts. The governors are said to feel that such an occurrence as today's than good Up to II a. m- 144,700 shares of Rock Island had changed hands The trading was much larger than in the famous Northern Pacific corner.