The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1911-03-09
Frederick ]. Haskin in The Sioux city

FTeU6IlCh - I1dSkln IN Il nc SIOUX lilly
Tribune. 20
Some "A Independent brokers met In
formally In May II, 1872. under q cotton
60: Wall street. and signed an agreement
to charge uniform rates OF commission.
This document is still In existence. and
marks the founding of the New York
stock exchange. Meetings were there
after held intermittently as occasion de-
manded at the old Tontine coffee house,
Wall and Water streets. But 1t was not
until 1877 that a formal and permanent
organization was effected on substantially
present lines. The first regular board room
was the merchants exchange. In 1868 the
organization removed to the corner OF
Beaver and Wal streets, and finally in 1866
took possession of the present site on
Broad street, where the building under-
went successive additions and alterations
until the present magnificent structure
was erected.
In the course of IN average days trad
Ing in an active market on the New York
stock exchange 100000 shares OF stocks
may change hands. These It their par
value OF 500 per share represent a total
value Of SEQ, coo, 600. But on single momen-
tous days., as In the financial furry OF
1897, or during the Northern Pacific
squeeze on Black Monday in 1903, the
total transactions have mounted as high
as 2,0o0,00 shares. In 1910, a normal year,
the aggregate sales footed up nearly $780,
600, 900.
Strange to say, the New York stock ex-
change is not Incorporated, being a strict
~ voluntary association governed by a
regular constitution and bylaws. 1t is
directed by a president, vice president,
treasurer, secretary and b. a-hcard+cf
governors consisting of 4G men. The mem
bership is now LOO. Seats or member
ships pass by sale or transfer, and may
be bequeathed in case Of death. The
price of seats fluctuates seemingly in dis
tinct ratio with the total yearly trans
actions OF the exchange itself. The high
est price was touched in 1909, when 500. 900
was paid, but seats We're sold as low as
5o,60 in 1901, and $780, 600 in 1900. In 1923
the initiation fee was $40. 1t is now $1,000.
A purchaser of a seat must be approved
by a committee on admissions, and a most
rigid standard of business probtty Is de-
manded In case a member fails or de-
faults or is sold OUT his seat may be
sold for the benefit of the creditors. The
annual dues are only $50 with a death as
sessment of $40 on every surviving inem-
Der, this latter sum going to form a fund
from which $40. 600 life insurance is paid to
heirs of deceased members. s
Visitors with passes are admitted to the
gallery, and from this vantage point may
look down on a yelling, disheyeled, and
apparently crazy mass of raiders The
uproar Is appalling, the confusion SEEM
ingly inextricable. Yet there is order in
all this chaos. At one end is the chair
mans rostrum, from which he calls the
exchange to order and announces the
opening Of business at 10 a. m. each
working day and declares the sessions
closed at 8 p. m. From this rostrum
notices are read concerning admissions,
deaths, failures. or other formal COM
munications. Up to 1875 the whole list OF
stocks was regularly called from this
rostrum several times daily, thus giving
opportunities for quotations and bids. But
the system proved too cumbrous and was
ultimately abandoned.
Around the main floor runs a stout steel
railing, with openings at intervals. With
in the space thus enclosed are desks and
telephones for clerks belonging to brok.
erage houses. this privilege costing s1N
a year. The vast space beyond the rail.
ing is nacied to members of the exchange
Woe betide the unhappy outsider who
eludes the doorkeepers ana wanders upor
the floor. The instant he is spied a crowo
Of brokers yelling like Comanche braves
will surround him. His hat will be
damned over his eyes, his clothes torn tc
ribbons, as he is tossed and hustled from
group to group and finally flung into the
street coatless, hatless, dazed and breath.
less. Nor are the members more merci.
full to their own kind when initiating g
new member or making war upon the Of.
Tending straw hats which are taboo after
September l. At such times the fun Is fast
and furious.
There & always a fun-loving OF
Sporty contingent in the exchange who
can be relied upon to start something
whenauar 61ISinnCC 30 c1aph Thip ic nc
pecially the case on Christmas and New
Tear ewes, ~he:: 2 -ct!a species of carni.
val takes place on the floor" with per
haps a grotesque procession or some hi.
zarre ceremony, at which the governor!
wisely wink. Another feature of the
Christmastide celebration is the Christina,
box for the exchange employees, to which
members contribute royalty in good time!
and bad. the amount for distribution run
FIRST HAIL, ]