davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-12-14

nation has withered even the sharpers
who fattened on backing the dollar
games.
| 1t Is not the brokers alone who mourn.
The street used to have thousands Of
people who got rich on games that had
no connection with the stock market,
They flooded the country with get-rich-
quick literature They had mines, oil
wells, great inaustries-on paper Sucker
lists" with thousands of names could be
purchased as easily as any established
commodity. With a sucker list and suf-
| ficient literature, shares in anything could
| be sold. Now it is hard to sell gov
! ernment bonds. A great bond house heard
the other day of a small bank in the
| interior which had $5O,C0O to invest Its
best salesman was rushed to the bank
by the first train. He found II other
bond statesmen tehre ahead of him. He
had bonds of some of the best proper
ties in America but although the interest
, rate was far higher than prevailed few
years ago, none of the visitors could in
| duce the banker to purchase.
Membership in the stock exchange used
to be worth nearly as much as S1oO, 900
Within the last few months a seat has
been sold for $4,000.
Oldtimers lament that there are no
| lea ders in Wall street. They talk of
the business that pungers such as Cam
mack, Woerishoffer Keene, Jay Gould
Gates and such men made when they
battled for control of properties and the
street was full of rumors of their plans
and schemes. Those We're red blooded
men, they say, who fought in the market
place and made Wall street history. The
only man of that class now is Reid and
he operates irreguarly. They say the
street has degenerated. that present day
bankers and brokers are of the second
generation-sons of rich men-college men
who came to Wall street with money, but
without brains, men who know more
about football than of finance or stock
brokerage and who in the arrogance OF
their wealth thought the world revolved
around them, and that the Wall street
machine was theirs by divine right
OF the second generation thought as the
oldtimers declare they have been dis
abused OF the nation. There are few
brokerage houses in the street now that
would not welcome cutsomers Of any
character. The 100 share speculator is
a man to be cultivated. The 1900 share
man is considered a plunger. Nothing
is too good for him so long as his checks
are honored by the banks.
Wall street hopes against hope that
| something will happen to turn the tide
in its favor Six months more like thu
last six months will mean distress TO
many brokers. year of stagnation
would bring stock exchange seats down
to a level approaching that at which
membership in the cotton exchange is
| valued.
The studious. prudent men of Wall
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-12-14
D OF WALL STREET-By Richard Spiane

There are no private dining rooms. The
broker can afford no such luxury. Sal
aries have been reduced and economies
inaugurated to an extent that Wall street
never knew before. Ten thousand dollar
tunate to get that. Twenty-Five hundred
dollar-men are glad to get s25 week.
Broad street used to be lined with taxi
cabs A little after 3 o. clock would begin
the hegira uptown. No one of any ac-
count would waste his precious time il
any vehicle slower than an automobile
There are few taxis in Broad street these
days. Men who used to talk and think
in millions now ride in the subway
From Cohoes, Xenia. Painted Post, Butte,
Junction City and thousand other places
men used to come to New York once or
twice year to buy goods, look at the
town or just for a vacation. Maybe they
were bankers, manufacturers, merchants
or contractors. At home no one suspected
they had stock market interests Some
of them brought their wives In various
hotels most of the brokers had branch
Offices Downtown and uptown the
brokers had scouts-bright men who saw
that old customers who came to town
did not stray off and who were alert
to roping in new ones. If the visitor :
wife took advantage of the trip east TO
replenish her wardrobe. what more nat
ural than that the scout should get the
husband to play the market to pay for
the outfit and the trip combined? If the
venture happened to succeed the visitor
would want to press his luck If he lost
he was likely to try to recover his losses
by more play. Anyway the game went
the scout and the broker won.
Gentlemen from Cohoes, xenia, Painted
Post, Butte, Junction City and the thou
sand other places still come to New York,
but few of them are led to Wall street.
Somehow the whole country seems to be
possessed of the notion that Wall street
is rotten. Maybe it Is the cumulative
effect of a hundred nok-raking articles
printed in ma agazines. Maybe the multi
tude of scandals connected with railroa q
and industrial corporations have surI,
home. Maybe the adage of one of a
certain species being born every minute
is not true now as 1t used to be
Do not think for a moment that the
out-of-town business men made up the
list of Wall streets principal votaries
There was better picking among the sup
posedly well informed, supposedly con-
servative merchants OF New York than
the out-of-town territory afforded. Thou
sands of business men of New York who
rarely went to Wall street were the
steadiest of players. Men who had en-,
terprises that yielded handsome profits to
them yearly kept the telephone busy
every day getting messages from or send
ing messages to brokerage offices. Hun
dreds of business men who were slow
In paying their regular bills always found
= way to meet calls for markins. A fair
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-12-14

beloved anywhere. What dignity it
gives an old lady, that balance at the
bankers How tenderly we look at her
faults if she is a relative (and may every
reader have a score of such) what a
kind good-natured old creature we find
her, Your wife is perpetually
sending her little testimonies of affec
ton, your little girls work endless
worsted baskets, cushions and footstools
for her. What a good fire there is in
her room when she comes to pay you
visit, although your wife laces her stays
without one. Is it so, or is 1t not
so? / appeal to the middle classes. All,
gracious powers, / wish you would send
me an old aunt-a maiden aunt-an aunt
with a lozenge on her carriage, and a
front cf light coffee-colored hair-how
my children should work workbags for
her, and my Julia and would make her
comfortable"
WE'VE OFTEN HEARD 1T IN So
CIETY.
''Has the beloved reader, in his ex-
perience of society, never heard sim
liar remarks by good-natured female
friends; who always wonder what you
can see in Miss Smith that is so fas-
cinating: or what could induce Major
Jones to propose to that silly insig
nificant, simpering Miss Thompson,
who has nothing hut her wax doll face
to recommend her? Indeed, for my
own part, though / have been repeat
edly told by persons for whom l have
the greatest respect. that Miss Brown
is an insignificant chit and Mrs. White
has nothing but her petit minois chif-
fonne, AMI Mrs. Black has not a word
to say for herself. yet l know that [
have had the most delightful CONVEX
sations with Mrs. Black; / see all the
| men in cluster around Mrs. Whites
chair; all the young fellows battling
Ito dance with Miss Brown; and so
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-12-14

longer. . Who has not remarked
the readiness with which the closest
friends and honestest of men suspect
and accuse each other of cheating when
they fall out on money matters. Ev
erybody does it. Everybody is right
l suppose, and the world is a rogue"
THE EFFECT OF MUSIC.
''She sang religious songs of Mozart
which had been early favorites of Lady
Sterne, and with such sweetness and ten
derness that the lady, lingering round
the piano, sat down by its side. and
listened until the tears rolled from her
eyes. 1t is true that the opposition ladies'
at the other end of the room kept up @
loud and ceaseless buzzing and talking;
but the Lady Steyne did not hear those
rumors. She was a child again-and
had wandered back through a 40 years
wilderness to her convent garden. the
chapel organ had pealed the same tones
the organist, the sister whom she loved
best of the community, had taught them
to her in those early, happy days. She
was a girl once more, and the brief pc
riod of her happiness bloomed out again
for an hour-she started when the jar
ring doors were flung open, and. with
loud laugh from Lord Steyne, the men
Of the party entered full of gayety."
HOW TO LIVE ON NO MONEY.
1.-The truth is, that by economy and
good management-by a sparing use Of
ready money and by paying scarcely any
body-people can manage, for a time at
least, to make a great show with very
little means. If everybody is to be
banished from society who runs into debt
and cannot pay-if we are to be peering
into everybody's private life. speculating
upon their income, and cutting thein
If we do not approve of their expendi-
ture, why, what a bowling wilderness
and intolerable dwelling Vanity Fair
would be. Every mans hand would be
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-12-14

A LTHOUGH Thackeray had pub
~ 1ished many short stories and
\ sketches before the appearance of
|anity Fair. this was his first great book
hid when Vanity Fair became candk
lste for public favor the reading world
Ieelared that a philosopher had arisen in
he form of a writer of fiction. Vanity
3air Is full of wise observations and
Impressed philosophy. shall take few
$ntences as they occur in the mastery
pvel. and without note or comment re-
|oduee them in these columns.
THE WAY OF THE WORLD.
1--WE may be pretty certain that per-
ms whom all the world treats ill, de-
rye entirely the treatment they get.
ne world is looking glass, and gives
ck to every man the reflection of his
vn face Frown at it, and it will In
rn look sourly upon you; laugh at it
I'd win it, and 1t is a jolly kind OF
mpanion; and so let all young per-
ms take their choice"
THE REASON FOR 1T ALL.
fsWhat causes young people to come
be, but the noble ambition of matri-
pny What sends them trooping to wa-
ring places What keeps them dancing
d o'clock in the morning through a
lole mortal season What causes them
labor at piano-forte sonatas, and to
EAR Lincoln Green toxophilite hats and
athers, but that they might bring down
me desirable young man with those
ling bows and arrows of theirs? What
uses respectable parents to take up
cir carpets, set their houses topsy-
rvy, and spend a fifth of years IN
me in ball suppers and iced cham
gne? Is 1t sheer love of their species,
d an unadulterated wish to see young
ople happy and dancing? Pshaw! they
hnt to marry their daughters"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-12-14

towards the sunset. The sun sinks be-
hind the great castle-crested mountains.
the night falls suddenly, the river grows
darker and darker, lights quiver in It
from the windows In the old ramparts.
and twinkle peacefully in the villages
under the hills on the opposite shore"
THE FALL OF THE CURTAIN
what a memento of Life, Death and
Vanity 1t is, that arch arid stairway--if
you choose to consider it.. and sit on the
landing. looking up and down the wall.
The doctor will come up to us, too. for
the last time there, my friend in motley.
The nurse will look in at the curtains.
and you take no notice-and then she
will fling open the windows for little
and let I'm the air Then they will pull
down all the blinds of the front of the
house and live in the back rooms-then
they will send for the lawyers, and the
other men in black. Your comedy and
mine will have been played then, and we
shall be removed. oh, how far from the
trumpets, and the shouting, and the pos
ture making. Which of the dead ara
most tenderly and passionately mourned?
... wonder, brother reader, which Is the
better lot, to die prosperous and famous.
or poor and disappointed. To have and
be forced to yield; or to sink out of life.
having played and lost the game2 That
must be a strange feeling, when a day
of our life comes and we say, 'Tomor-
row. success or failure won't matter
much; and the sun will rise, and all the
myrlads of mankind go to their work
or their pleasure as usual. but 1 shall
he out of this turmoil"
. LIGHTS OUT IN VANITY FAIR
"Ah, Vanitas Vanitatum, which of us
is happy In this world? Which of us
has his desire? or having it, Is satisfied
Come. children, let us shut up the box
and the puppets, for our play is played
out d"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-12-14

proportion of the failures in New YORK
was due more to stock market losses OF
the men at the head of the firms than
to general trade conditions or legitimate
causes.
Wall street pooh poohs the idea that
there is a revusion against Wall street
or against speculation generally. 1t says
speculation is necessary to everything.
Life is a gamble Every branch of trade
is speculative It>illustrates that a man
manufactures something with the hope
and expectation of selling it at a profit
The merchants buys goods speculatiyely.
IL he sells to advantage he gains. If
not he loses. The man on salary spec
to him or not. Nine thousand, nine hum
dred and ninety-nine times out of 10000
he wins. The odd time he loses. What
then is morally wrong about Wall
street transaction? Wall street asks. IL
you put up the money to complete a
stock exchange transaction the stock will
be delivered to you. If you do not it
Is as If a merchant released a bill of
goods at a profit or a loss, as the case
may be without the delivery.
All this serves for argument, but it has
little merit. The trouble with Wall street
is that it would have little business even
In it's days of comparative activity were
it's trades confined to outright purchases
and sales. Approximately 95 per cent
of its transactions have been not for
actual delivery but purely on a gambling
basis The man who plays stocks on
a,-eyi,,
him than he who tempts fate at faro or
roulette and Wall street does not defend
those gambling games.
But Wall street is less concerned re-
garding ethics or morals than with con-
crete facts. The baldest fact 1t faces
Is its poverty. Expenses have been re-
duced to minimum but month after
month brokers who have hoped against
hope for turn for the better have had
to meet deficit upon deficit.
The whole financial district is a place
of gloom. Even the rubberneck wagons
are not seen there so frequently as be-
fore What is there to interest sightseers
in stock exchange where men are as
solemn as pallbearers and where the riot
and roar of a former period are absent
now? Even Wall street. that quaint thor
oughfare where the wrecks cast up by
the seas of speculation used to congre-
gate, is losing it's character The wrecks
used to gather in places where II they
got dollar or two from someone they
knew in their days of prosperity they
could take flyer at the market along
side of messenger boys and $l0-a-week
clerks who had the gambling fever. Now
there are no men to scatter a few dol
lars among their unfortunate brothers
and the wrecks have drifted elsewhere.
And If the wrecks had the money they
could find no places to play. The stag
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-12-14

affecting, they had become mutually
much won to each other 1t was agreed
that they should continue to correspond
so long as both continued alive. LaFay-
cite asked that copy of the paper con-
tanning an account of his visit to Ala
hama be sent him, which explains the fol-
lowing letter:
My Dear Sir: According to my prom
Use. I directed a paper to meet you at
Pittsburg and again enclose you one
herein. This contains but a partial ac-
count of our doings when you were with
us. You will receive packet which I
have caused to be directed to you at Bos-
ton. giving an account at each place
where YOU stopped in your journey
through this state. believing that 1t may
be satisfactory to you, or to some of your
friends in giving a reference to the Incl
dents occurring here on the gratifying oc-
casion to our citizens of the young state
of Alabama
7 hope vou will have reached Boston
by the time you wished, i'm good health
and spirits, after journey unexampled in
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-12-14

against his neighbor in this case, my
dear sir and the benefits of civilization
would be done away with. Where
as, by a little charity and mutual for
bearance, things are made to go on pleas
antly enough: we may abuse a man as
much as We like. and call him the great
est rascal unhung-but we do not wish
to hang him. No We shake hands when
We meet. If his cook is good we for
give him, and go and dine with him. -
Indeed, who is there that
walks London streets but who can point
out half-dozen of men riding by him
splendidly, while he is on foot courted
by fashion, bowed into their carriages
by tradesmen, denying themselves moth
Ing, and living on-who knows what ?
My dear fellow | heard Jack once say,
l owe money in every capital in Eu-
rope The end must come some day,
but In the meantime Jack thrives as
much as ever; people are glad enough to
shake him by the hand, ignore the little
dark stories that are whispered every
now and then against him, and pro-
nounce him a good-natured, jovial, reck-
less fellow"
ON THE RHINE
Pleasant Rhine gardens, Fair scenes
of peace and sunshine-noble purple
mountains, whose crests are reflected in
the magnificent stream-who has ever
seen you. that has not a grateful MEM
ory of those scenes of friendly repose
and beauty? To lay down the pen and
even to think of that beautiful Rhineland
makes one happy At this time of sums
mer evening, the cows are trooping down
from the hills, lowing and with their bells
tinlSling, to the old town, with it's old
moats and gates, and spires. and chest
nut trees, with long blue shadows stretch
ing over the grass; the sky and the
river below flame in crimson and gold i;
and the moon is already out looking pale
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-12-14

actress, one of the gifts to his bride
was a $4,000 automobile
Wall street has forgotten A. q.
Brown. Maybe he has not forgotten
Wall street He earns much less now
than he paid to his chef Lately he
has been ticket seller in one of the
uptown theatres.
The whole city feels the stagnation
of Wall street In Riverside drive
nearly half of the mansions have "to
let" or for sale" ON them. Office
space in the lower part of Manhatta IL
is at discount. Rentals in desirable
structures in the fnacial district used
to be at the rate of from $3.50 to $3.50
per square foot per year. Now it is
obtainable at 81 or less. There are
few big buildings that have rs per
cent of their space occupied. Some
have not so per cent. AS If the situa-
tion were not bad enough so far as
real estate is concerned, one giant
structure just completed is searching
for tenants, another of monstrous size
will soon be ready for occupancy and
still another which will be the biggest
in the world Is under construction and
the great office buildings paid big divi-
dends. Today there are few of them
returning as much as per cent on the
investment and lot of them barely
pay expenses.
Greatest of all the contrasts are In the
offices of the brokers. A man sat in one
of the principal houses of the street for
three-quarters of an hour the other day
facing the stock board. His chair was
the only one occupied. During all that
time not visitor entered the ROOM Oc-
casionally the ticker sputtered and then
ceased. The board boy put up a quota
ton and loitered about for the machine to
resume operations. The place was still
but for the occasional sound of the
ticker. The atmosphere was that of
desolation.
Formerly that office was thronged. To
get seat was a privilege. The ticker.
kept up ceaseless chatter. Nervous,
well dressed men hurried in, glanced at
the board. talked in low. earnest tones
with attaches, gave their orders watched
the quotations for 10 or Is minutes and
then raced away. Prosperous, important
looking men would go occasionally to a
private room where there were drinks
of all kinds and cigars at their disposal.
There was private dining room. too,
for the most favored of customers. In
days of big doings on the exchange that
office was in a whirl for five hours
Clerks rushed about, customers gave ord
ers so fast and so frequent that IL was
hard to understand how all could be kept
track of and there was an air of hign
pressure and prosperity to the whole es-
tablishment
There are no private barrooms in the
brokerage offices now. They have been
cut out along with a lot of employees.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-12-14

street have put their houses in order and
are marking time. They are not swayed
by sentiment. They are suffering but
they try to view the situation philosopi-
cally While they acknowledge that Wall
street neevr has known so long a period
of depression as the present they pre-
dict bigger markets. a greater volume of
speculation and better times for Wall
street in the next few years than it ever
had before. They dismiss with contempt
suggestions that the public has been
weaned away from the stock market The
greater the depression now the wider the
swing Of the pendulum when it goes the
other way. They say the present eondi-
tion is but a reflection of the evolution
that is under way throughout the world
When affairs In various lines of business
are readjusted and men begin to make
huge profits in their own fields they will
turn to Wall street and stir things up
again. Human nature does not change,
they insist. The stock exchange never
Will lose its fascination. 1t is the big
gest game in the world for men who pia.-
for high stakes. To think ii will no3
come back to its former activity is rot.
All that is necessary is a return of days
Of plenty. Then all will be forgotten.
All this Is logical and probably true,
but ii brings not immediate relief to
the thousands who are more careful OF
their nickels now than they used to be of
their dollars. There will be few If any
Christmas distributions TO Wall street en-
ployes this year. There have been years
when every big house and many of the
small ones celebrated by giving from
three months to one years salary to each
employe on Christmas eve. What most
of the salaried men of Wall street are
worrying about now is whether they will
hold their jobs over the New Year.
1t Is going to be a cold Christmas in
Wall street. No one who did not know
Wall street when It was in its glory can
appreciate how much that means and TO
how many persons.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-12-14

the people to reach him and take his hand
Once on shore, and Mr.. Dellet, who was
charged with the task of extending the
speech of welcome, delivered his speech.
which was itly responded to. when long
procession was formed which marched to
the courthouse. which was tastefully dec
GRATED throughout. an formal lecep-
ton was held. This being over a sumptu-
Gus dinner was in readiness and after
dining, Lafayette was allowed n few
hours of respite. After refreshing him
self by sleep, he appeared again, and the
ingenuity of the people seemed to be ex-
hausted in the methods devised to do him
honor.
His stay at Cahaba was the shorter be-
cause he was already several days over
due at other points. Plans had been made
for a stop of day at Claiborne, Monroe
county, then one of the largest and
thriftiest towns in the state, but which
is now practically extinct, but the miscal-
culation in fixing advanced dates forbade
a stay of only a few hours in this bust
ling little river center. An elaborate bail
had been prepared for at Claiborne, in