The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-05-05
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If you ever have been down in the Wall street district in the neighborhood of Broad street and Exchange place, and looking at the crowd of wild men within the roped inclosure that is called the curb market, you probably have had the pleas ure of seeing Monsieur Louise Pierre Cartier.
 Some of the gentlemen who are known as curb brokers have their offices in their hats Some have desk room in the ne.ghborinS skyscrapers Some happy ones who have arrived at the dignity of real money have offices of their own. Most of the curb brokers live by their wits. Monsieur Louis Pierre Cartier has been q curb broker for ten years. That is tanta- mount to saying he is clever. He has seen men rise and fall and he has had dreams of some day leaving the curb and be- coming member of that august inst- tuition, the stock exchange And why shouldn't he? A gentleman who, twen- ty-odd years ago. was a tout at the Gnu tenberg racetrack is today one of the leading lights of the stock exchange.
 Louis Pierre Cartier is just as clever, just az good a trader. just as good q manipulator as the gentleman who grad uated from the Guttenburg racetack. But somehow Monsieur Cartier was not able to rise above the curb. Maybe he specu- lated Most brokers do. At times he has had money. Occasionally he has had q fair amount of t, but the vast majority of the securities handled by curb brokers are of rather questionable value, and the commissions are not large.
 In the days of the Goldield excitement Monsieur 'Cartier had money to bum, When the bottom dropped out of GQldfed he had a iot of experience, but little ready cash. When. Pcrcupine, came into prom thence Monsieur Cartier had another pc riod of prosperity Porcupne> appeared to him. for he is a rrench-c Canadian. Por- cupine went to smash with q suddenness that was shocking. The gossips of the curb say that Monsieur Cartier had a crjmp put in his bank account when Por- cupine collapsed
 A good sport takes the baffeuag of fortune with eauenimity. He is long cn hope no matter how short he is on cash. Monsieur Cartier was as gay and de- bonair after Porcupine went by the board as he had been before. But it vas derdy dull for q time Wall street seemed to have no attraction fer the pubic. In the big exchange there was not enough business done to pay clerk hire. On the curb the brokers stood arounn all day and told hard-luck stories. Week after week brokers bemoaned the absence of customers. They wondered II specnia- ton ever would revive. Some thought the game was done for that ihere had been so much exposure of Wall street chicanery that the public had been educa;- ed to avoid the gamble But the wise ones know the crop of good things never fails. Grain crops may be brighter. panics may come and go. but the moths never will keep away from the flames of spec ulation for long tirae, no matter how badly they are singed.
 Monsieur Cartier does not believe in being idle. In the days of dulness on the curb his mind was active. He had to do something to make money. He reads a ercat deal and he has good memory, He noticed that there was a great dea' f3f activity sn London. There were grea, .Aoings there in Marconi wireless. Godfrey | Isaacs. an English operator of consider- able wealth. had taken hold of the Mar conf proposition and was making marise. for the shares. MT Isaacs has the same \ Idea that James R. Keene has in regard ] fo stcck market operations. He believes fhc way to make the public come in is zfo buy and buy and buy and send prices