Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-09-03
Miseellansous Reading.
PROFITS BY ACCIDENT.

PROFITS BY ACCIDENT.
Sometimes Happens BY Accident, But
Not Often.
In any line of business a mistake
usually means a loss. Make an error
In a specification or a bid or an order
and you will suffer for 1t ninety-nine
times out .of a hundred. 1t may be
contrary to the Jaws Of chance, but 1t
is q fact, nevertheless, and any busi-
ness man will attest 1t, possibly in
impolitely emphatic language. If you
seek an explanation it is to be found
in the theory Of the Total Depravity
Of the Inanimate Thing which any
philosopher will demonstrate from the
customary performance Of a dropped
shirt-stud. Yet there are times when,
instead Of disappearing, the button will
remain in plain view. So are there oc-
casions when an accident will result
in a profit. Keep that in mind and
then turn your attention to Wall
street, where they harvest bumper
crop Of blunders every working day
in the year.
Strange as 1t may seem, Wall street
makes errors with great ease and fire.
auency in the transaction Of its ordi-
nary routine business. That conflicts
with the popular notion, but it is true,
nevertheless. There Is much boasting
Of the precision Of the delicately -ad-
justed machinery whereby the stock
market is conducted. The facilities
and safeguards provided by an intri-
cate stock exchange system also get
much publicity. But you have to be
one Of the cogs to get an idea Of how
much slipping and grinding and clash
ing there Is, and Of the dollars scat
tered when the gears do not mesh.
The accidents are numerous and their
results frequently are illogical. They
testify with some eloquence to the
character of the game of stock specu-
lation.
Most Of these errors are penalties
paid for speed. On the American plan'
speculation calls for that, above all
| things. Nine tenths Of all speculative
operations are conceived in impulse
and executed in great haste. Stock
exchange transactions must be hand
led with the utmost dispatch. Your
Wall street man resembles somewhat
the lily Of the field. He does not spin
and his raiment often exceeds Solo,
mons glory. But he does hustle. He
works always at top speed with his
muffier cut out. His motto Is, BE
both quick and accurate, but, anyhow,
be quick" His pencil is too slow, so
he uses it as little as possible and
does things vocally. Every day he
makes thousands Of transactions, each
involving thousands Of dollars, with a
shout or nod or mere gesture. Ev-
cry one Of these he concludes and set
ties for within twenty-four hours.
Always he is precipitate, headlong.
Necessarily, therefore, he makes mis-
takes and, moreover, he considers
them unavoidable. He treats them as
part Of the days work. Every stock
broker carries upon his books an Err
ror Account that is always open for
entries. Hundreds Of disputes arise
from misunderstanding; misconstruc-
tions have to be adjusted daily; and
the various exchanges maintain arbi-
tration committees to settle those that
are troublesome. Every one having to
do with the business Of the stock
market, IN broker and office boy,
plunger and piker, can tell his own
story Of some order misunderstood,
some figure mistaken, some instruc-
ton overlooked, some accident en-
countered.
Now, 1t Is the nature Of the Wall
street game that errors involve much
money. On the stock exchange values
change not every minute, but every
second. Rarely, therefore, can mis-
take be rectified before there has been
a variation in prices; and the smallest
possible change means a difference OF
$3.50 in the value Of every hundred
shares concerned. So 1t Is obvious that
a blunder involving five hundred or
one thousand shares may also involve
a great deal of money within a very
short time, and the amount is likely to
But 1t does not follow that the money
Is lost 1t may be gained. Security
prices move up and down with equal
facility and lack Of apparent reason.
Hence there is a chance that an acci-
dent in stocks, like any gambling oper-
alton, will give plus results instead Of
minus. 1t may be the hundredth time,
and the stud may not roll away into a
dark corner. For instance:
There is an active young operator
in Wall street, rich, popular and now
regarded as a genius at stock gamb-
ling, who laid the foundation for his
fortune and his reputation a few years
ago by making a stupid mistake that
first chilled his marrow and then en-
riched him to the tune Of $4,000.
This young broker was only novice
at the time and quite untitled to han
die large transactions on the stock
exchange. But a friendly fellow-bro-
ker who desired to cover his own
tracks, intrusted the fledgling with
the execution of an order to sell five
thousand shares of Union Pacific
stock. . The young man did very nice
ly in all but one particular-be bought
that stock instead Of selling it. So,
when he emerged from the blue cloud
Of unceremonious comment that arose
when he attempted to make report
he found himself responsible for the
purchase Of five thousand shares of a
very lively security, with no means to
finance the error. His first impulse
was to sell out imme 1iately, but that
was checked when he found the price
had dropped so as to impose a larger
loss than he could we'll afford to carry.
For a while it looked as though
promising stock exchange career was
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