The Palatka news and advertiser. [volume] (Palatka, Fla.) 1908-19??, 1910-01-21
THE IRON king, =
BY DAVID O. HARTLEY.
copyright 1910, by American Pres. :.

ulating 10 iron, ana to do this success.
fully he was obliged to secure my
nation from all parts of the worla '''
to the production, consumption sto' ~
on hand and such other items os tana
ed to fix the price Of the metrl N''''
Hooker gave his sisters son. Edwo.,
Earle, a position in bis office, AT twaa
ty-fye, though the young man wa.
manager of that branch of the bus,
ness which pertained to informati I''
he was paid but twelve hundred y y0a.
On this he supported his mother "
wife and two little children n
chafed under his uncle's stingIness ons
on one occasion asked for more sOIorr
He was informed that If he coud !.
better elsewhere he was welcome
go. The young man appreciated tbo
proyerb "a rolling stone gathers nv
moss" and remained where he was
One day Hooker informed his clo,.
that he wished him to go to Enol,na
to investigate the condition of tba
market there. He furnished the vonn,
man with second class ticket on oo
ocean liner and barely enough monor
to pay his board and travel third cl.s,
between the principal English iron
manufacturing towns.
One morning Earle, who wos I,
Sheffield, arose and while breakf,o,
ing with his paper before him saw
notice Of the failure of an iron firm
located in the neighboring town a,
Birmingham. The concern being
small one Earle attached little imno,
lance to the failure, but during tbo
day business acquaintance who baa
an interest in favoring him gave him
a bit of secret information that caused
him to change his mind. 1t was In.
lieved that the failure would ipvovo
a larger firm, that firm would lnyovo
a number of others, and the whOIa
community of iron firms in ENGLAND
would go down like card houses. Thk
would throw large lot of iron m
the market that had been held sppc
ulatively for a rise, and conseuueDtlv
the prices would fall considerably
There was no Atlantic cable in thoa
days, so Earle wrote the information
he had received, giving his opinlon
that crisis was at hand and advising
his employer to sell at once all tbe
iron he had on hand. The ship bear.
ing the letter had no sooner sailed
than the second firm In line failed.
This caused Earle to feel still greater
confidence in the information be bad
received, and he had no doubt til.
all he had heard would be realized
The young man proved himself I'D.
mirably fitted to assume responsible
ity. He took risk that would make
or break him. In the name of Hooker
& Co.-he was not authorized to sign
the firm name, but 1t was not known
he contracted TO deliver thousands Of
tons of iron at figure below the mar
ket price, the iron to be delivered II
ninety days. This done, he took The
first steamer that sailed for America
the one that bore the news Of the iron
panic In England.
On the morning Of his arrival be
went straight to the office, There
sat Mr.. Hooker at his desk With a
morning paper before him. Earle
caught sight of large headlines an
nouncing the tumble of iron In Eng
land. 1t had been sent from Sandy
Hook. Hooker was white as a sbeet.
"You worthless scamp! cried The
head of the firm to his employee
"Why didn't you write Of the begin
ming of all this? I'm ruined! | bad
an immense stock on hand, and, learn,
ing of shortage on the continent
bought more"
81 wrote by the last steamer, giving
you information that pointed to tbs
result and advised you to sell out all
the stock you had"
"Your letter never came. You shoaA
have brought the information your
self"
"Are you sure about the letter.
James" called Hooker to ceFA
'are there any letters that have D"
been delivered to me?"
"There was one came, sir Few cay
ago. You know that you ordereN ~
letters on which the postage was D"
paid in full to be left at the postom%,
There was cents due on this one u"
I refused to pay it."
"oh, heavensr' groaned Hooker
"Was it from England?" asked ba'"
Of the clerk.
81 think it was" .
at must have been a mistake u u,
clerks at the British postothce. pu'
OF. stamps TO cover the cost as De quO'
ed 1t to me-"
Hooker's head dropped on bis oesA
Irritated some time before at receN'us
unstamped letters (at that time SUI
letters were deliveredl. he had sNeI
orders that all mail on when an.
money was due should not be 'aAt.
from the postoffice. For refusing
pay 8 cents he had been ruined -.
How much iron have you on hanO'
asked Earle.
"a hundred thousand tons" creams
the Spectator without taking hiS n'''
of his desk. 81.
"well, Mr.. Hooker, cheer up. ~
not so bad, after all. took oiS ~.
while abroad. I sold in your ha.
just as the panic began 125,O0o '0Hs
be delivered In ninety days"
What"
81 sold for you $4,000 tons at aOC y.
what your stock cost you. There !,
some low figures today on the puOn..
ton of this news. Perhaps Ia OeuI
go on to the exchange and buy p"'
of it in i.
Hooker fell on bis nephews Ds
There was a profit on the transacu~
of many thousand dollars, and ~.
that day Earle took bis uneles PA'
as the iron king"