The Nevada County picayune., 1911-06-30

cle on the financial page of his news paper. It was one of those rare, in. frequent accounts which sometimes see the light, written by an "insider," an expert, detailing with fine insight just what motives were then actuating the bear element in the furious raid 1t was making upon industrial secur- ities. In particular, Steele gathered that the clique headed by Tom West his dearest rival of the old days, was hammering Tennessee Rope & Twine Steele considered such action un- moral; West, he allowed. was a nat ural-born pessimist in regard to stock values, but that was no excuse for his making T. R. & T. his shining mark Steele happened to know a l good deal concerning that stock and the concern which fathered 1t, and he was quite convinced that 1t was sound worth all of par. Moreover, he held l a large block of rr. R X T. as an in- come investment; 1t annoyed him to have the market value of his invest ment depreeiated.
 Now, if he were back in the Street, he would find way to convince West and his crowd of their mistake. But
 Steele sighed He found much, in deed, to induce feeling of depres- 1 sion; throughout all of his trip he was conscious of a curious, unhappy ses- sation of utter detachment from his surroundings.
 1 He was orgotten-already. The 1 Street Is fiekle mistress. Even his newsdealer in the Empire building arcade stared blankly In Steele's face when he paused to buy some publica tion he did not want, for old times sake To crown all, Hunt happened l to be out for the morning.
 Steele went downstairs from Hunts office, feeling, he proclaimed glumly, like loose tooth.' He stood for a while staring desolately at the sclup- lures on the Broad Street facade of the new Exchange building. He hard ly gave them a thought, however; his mind was occupied in grasping the l fact of his complete Association from l the body financial.
 Suddenly he found himself making | for the door of the Exchange; almost without his own yolition he pushed 1 them aside and entered the lobby. There he stood, for moment aghast. What had be done? What right had he there? Then he remembered that he had every right, as yet; his seat was still his own, the freedom of the floor his. Why not go in and see what 'the boys" were about? Perhaps he might win friendly smile, at least; and he fairly ached for word of welcome, a sign he was not forgotten. l Absent-mindedly he deposited his coat in the cloak room, and strolled out upon the floor of the Exchange.
 He arrived at a critical moment. The West clique was undoubtedly pounding the industrial more than it merited. Several points had already been Topped off the days opening price. Steele discovered the fact, ! frowning stern disapproyal There seemed to be little or no buying, al though a reaction was bound to come. 1 Vests crowd was selling short and would have to buy in to cover before very long, thereby causing a rally; a far-seeing man would seize upon this opportunity.
 Hollwedel board member of Vests firm, plunging back from consulta- ton with his partner by telephone, spied Steele. The latter's hat was suddenly smashed down over his ears. He pushed it up, laughing, to see Holl- wedel standing before him, offering a welcome hand.
 "Howdy, Steele?" he panted. You l back? Glad to see you. Sell you thousand Rope & Twine at 65,' he added, almost in jest.
 "Done," cried Steele, mechanically, 1 as though he had suddenly wakened l from a dream.
 Seemingly by magic he found pad and pencil in his hand he never knew how he had acquired them Serawling a memorandum on the top sheet, he came back at Hollwedel right man. 1 fully. Got any more?' He was ac- commodated to the extent of another | thousand shares, at b4 oafa TIC never gave her a thought The wine of battle coursed through his veins His word forgotten, he hurried to the telephone to apprise Hunt & Wilder that he was again trading, then hurled himself back into the thick of the 1 fray, to the rescue of the abused Ten nessee Rope & Twine. For few minutes he bought right and left, re- gardless of consequence, then settled down to a more sane method of pro cedure.
 A whisper stole around the room; "Steeles back-buying Rope & Twine Must have an inside tip Others, so believing. began to buy. Vests as sociates became alarmed they had an tioipated a reaction, but not so early