The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1911-06-09
BY LOUIS JOSEPH VANCE.
Copyright, by Street q Smith.

oD"ut Eoo'oOO out Of the 46O. OO0 sboroo
70 carry control. I've made some met
careful Inquiries and calculations -.
70 "nere and how the st Lou,s s4ool,
Is held, and jotted down The ,aotH .,
Barr took from his desk a memoror
uun and read the tabulated fvnroo
| slowly: AsuFes
N investors hands 49,. 10000 sbar.s
In the street. Iooon
Tn ~, .'''''...... $4,000 shares
IN Wills Barr & Co.. 10000 shares
IN Bowman & Co, and
'''''..'..... PIC, 900 shares
.oo ''''.'....."..4 400 900 sharea
OF course" Barr continued bond
ing the memorandum to Pierce. the
ngures are approximate, except the
nest-egg I've picked up here and there
IN the last few DAYS.
How to get what We want of tbaos
noiolngs Is, Of course, for YOU tn sav
presume you've got to hammer g,
LOUIS down to scare out stock from
the investors, and the street and Lon.
uon, out know you've got to nut II I'm
10 get that $4,000 shares from the
.oau management. If you put it
from 500 share, where il ia now ~
@llo' II Will mean ten dollars a share,
Or 100000 in their treasury. if thew
sell. They'll sell quick. THEY'LL do
II, 100, for fear it'll go down again
IheyIl sell 1t before It's listed on
the exchange for that takes 20
days. ~
You know what that means. THEY'LL
nave sold something they haven't got
until the 30 days are up. In the mean.
time, they'll borrow, without KNOWING
It, our stock, the stock we've corralled
and when We call on them for it thew
won't nave 1t to give US and we can
make EN- settle for any figure we're
kind enough to name"
Flerce nodded appreciation of this
mine that was being laid for the TN
wary management.
What about Bowman g. Co.'S
stock?' he queried. They've got the
control"
He knew the answer before he ask
ed the question.
Barr got up from his chair and
walked over to the screened window.
he looked out on the hurrying Wall
street crowd, hopping his face with the
handkerchief ends.
Pierce" he said, facing the manip-
ulator with quick movement. the
banking house of Bowman & Co. will
sell that stock for the road. They'll
sell short big block of their own
stock at the price we'll put it to, ex-
pecting to get 1t back lower"
These and other essentials worked
out, Pierce sent for his personal
broker, William Hathaway, whose
standing in the street was of the high.
est, which is to say that his connec-
ton with Pierce was absolutely I'M
known. To him Pierce told as little
as might be Of the business in hand,
and personally assumed all RESPONSE
bility for the deal
I've got some information on
crops" Pierce explained, confden-
TALLY. They're bad in the southwest,
and We'll sell the granger roads in
that territory, as they depend on crops
for earnings. St. Louis Southern
ought to feel it most. This is Thurs
day; you sell $4,000 shares of the
other three southwest roads and 10000
of st. Louis. Well buy back our short
stock when St. Louis reaches SO, seven
points under its present price. If you
have to sell more to break the market
down, go ahead, but be careful about
raising suspicion"
The broker hurried away, proud of |
his supposed possession of the "eld |
mans" confidence, and Pierce ar
ranged through other brokers for the
purchase of the bulk of the stock
Hathaway sold and all the st. Louis
Southern that frightened holders
might throw over on the break.
The well-planned attack had imme-
date effect. The grangers, including
st. Louis Southern, had broken ~
points at the close and on Friday,
when the bears had Joined the move
ment, they broke still further big stop
loss orders having been reached at 81
In st. Louis, which closed at 96A. On
sales of 10000 shares Of st.
Louis for London account and a bad
statement by the banks, whose re-
sources had been depleted through
lash Withdrawals by Barrs Chicago
banking friends, Offset dispatches from
he maligned west telling Of bumper
,rops. The financial writers ascribed
he weakness to a bear raid for quick
profits, so skilfully had Pierce con-
sealed its real object.
st. Louis Southern touched 80
shortly after the bank statement was
ssued, but rallied sharply at the close
O 94h. The floor said the rally was
Iue to evening up purchases by the
,ears, but it really came from whole
ale buying by Pierce's unknown
rockers. st. Louis Southern had been
nut down seven points without arous-
ng suspicion, and the shrewd mantpn-
ator felt that he had shaken out rs
nuch weak stock as could be done
xs1k tn,n,,nify