Montpelier examiner. [volume] (Montpelier, Idaho) 1895-1937, 1911-06-09

puilulnB WHICH mad swept
AS into Wall street on a tidal
NJ wave of dollars hundred
- dred individuals who had
ciambered aboard the somewhat pi-
ratical craft of the promoters.
The wave receding, his fellow voy-
ageurs had been hurried back, one by
one, into the obscurity whence they
issued, but Barr made land-and. in
ctdentally, financial history.
In the old days as drummer for a
hardware house." Joe" Barr had earn
ed the reputation of the nerviest poker
player west Of Chicago. But he also
sold goods, and when a friend of his
conceived the idea of making a nail of
wire In place of iron the two had com
bined their slender resources and built
plant for its manufacture, which de-
veloped until 1t was finally promoted
into the wire nail trust Barr found
himself in possession of an even &c.,
100000 and plenty of time TO tilt with
fortune.
brief survey OF the field convinced
him that only in Wall street was the
limit sufficiently indefinite and the
stakes great enough to justify his un-
divided attention. He promptly form
ed the brokerage house of Willis, Barr
& Co. with John Willis as stock ex-
change member and several of his
western friends as special partners,
and shuffied the pack preparatory to
making the bespectacled fiuanciers in
cobwebbed banking parlors "sit up"
as he tersely put 1t.
And sit up they did, even to his, II
not their, entire satisfaction. They
sat up nights trying to puzzle out
what this western gambler" as they
unanimously declared him I'd be, would
do next. In all things but one, Jo-
seph w. Barr walked with the hand
of fortune. and 1t was out Of this one
unfulhlled desire that came one Of the
most amazing deals In the annals of the
street.
If you had looked in on the Wall
street Offices of Willis, Barr & Co.,
where a dozen tickers spun out their
miles OF fraction-laden tape, each frac-
ton fortune lost or won, and where
as many telegraph instruments flashed
AhO50G6Oo " 6AOot CAlACb IOu WOulN
have thought last of all that the short
fat man. with so much double chin
that 1t scarcely yielded way to the silk
handkerchief stuffed beneath 1t, had
social ambitions. But he had.
Two months before he had been
hopelessly blackballed at the most ex
elusive club in the city, and Bars
soul still burned hot with anger al
the banker whom he knew 10 be re
sponsible. This man had stacked
the cards." he told his western friends
and with this explanation went the as
surance that he would somehow gel
even II he went broke" doing it.
And even as Barr watched the spin
ming tape 1t was telling him that hi.
chance had come With the loose ends
of his handkerchief he mopped his
face, a perpetual occupation of tbs
man, and each click. click OF the in
strument, translated. said to him
i've got him, I've got him."
Through the subterranean channel,
Of information with which the street 1,
honeycombed Barr had learned some
thing week before which led to /
long consultation with his partners
from the west. At its end he had sen
for Sanford Pierce, the shrewdest ma
nipulator of stocks the street had eve
known.
The place of the stock manipulate
In the economy of Wall street is s.
clearly defined that while he holds be
tween his hands the fate Of vas
schemes, some reputable. many moi
there is no known instance of d breac
of trust on his part-his loyalty /
his employers is his stock In trade
Moreover, in this instance Pierce wa
q man after Bars own heart,
scorner OF puny tradition and q hard
soldier of fortune on many fields.
Therefore in the privacy of his ow
office Barr went straight to his wor
and the other listened with soInethtn
like a fellow artists appreciation {
the cunning of the thing-for 1t wa
the game OF games-and a brother
sympathy for the genius of 1t all, tn
hot wrath OF gambler thwarted.
.In the first place, Pierce" bega
Barr, with smile that was far frol
pleasant, 81 am going to tell 20
frankly that I'm in this thing to sati
fy a personal grudge. That will sho'
you how much confidence put in 20
and to what lengths I'm ready to 8
to carry 1t through. 1t Is neither
question OF spending money nor NAL
ing 1t, although | guess we'll do bot
before it's over.
what want is the control Of th
st. Louis Southern railroad, and frol
some things I've learned think theI
Is good chance to get It The capiti
of the road, as you know, is $4,000
600; that's 400, 900 shares. In additio
to that, know that It has just bougl
smaller road, and to pay for 1t Is col
sidering the question of issuing 60.0t
shares Of stock authorized long tin
ago and held in the treasury. II Is Q
these so 900 shares that I'm copntin
for success.
When they are issued 1t will tai
about 5000 out of the 100000 ahart
20 carry control. I've made some pref
careful inquiries and calculations 1
20 where and how the ST Louis stos
d held, and jotted down the facts
Barr took from his desk q menhora