Las Vegas optic., 1914-09-04
WARHIT BROKERS
SELL THEIR
v AUTOS
CLOSING OF STOCK EXCHANGE
SERIOUSLY EMBARRASSES
RICH MEN

tdDlS ne HdU OtCupltu ltSuidAiy AOl
III years, says the New York World.
He ordered a clam cocktail, soup,
poisson a la creole. roast beef, entrees,
desert and coffee. His bill was $6.05,
Including the light wine he drank. His
tip was 80 cents.
One noon the middle of last week
the same broker sneaked into busy
bee" lunchroom and sat on a stool.
The waiter slipped in front of him a
bowl of mutton broth, some ham. bak-
ed beans and a cup of coffee. There
wasn't any tip and the broker drank
water. His bill was so cents.
The broker of the dual experience is
rich, but he feels poor There are a
lot of other brokers who feel poor and
are poor-that is, so far as their per
sonal finances are concerned. The
nan who descended from the fashion
able restaurant on New street to the
ham and" joint on Broad has over
head charges of $1,500 day. Every
thing is going out and nothing is COM
ing in, for the very good reason that
the closing of the exchange has cut off
commissions as completely as England
has stopped communication between
Germany and America by shipping the
cables east of the Azores.
Persons who have been "stung" in
Wall street through the medium, but
not through the fault of, sleek and
well-groomed brokers, may find some
ir6nical comfort in the fact that the
brokers for the first time in history
have been forced to quit pate de fois
gras for cornbeef and cabbage. Talk
to broker these days about joining
nice little party at Rector's or Del
monico's and he'll Vince.
1t isn't so much that the brokers
are really poor as that they don't
know what the outcome will be. Fixed
charges, contracted for before there
was any intimation of a general Eu-
r0pean war, must be met, for the fiscal
! year at least, and one must economic
where one can. The first luxury rub
bed from the slate is a high-priced
tailor, the second a motor car, and
Tie third, expensive food So when
You see member sneaking into a
ham and" house you may know he
has reached the limit in retrench-
ment.
AS a matter of fact, there isn't a
brokerage house in New York which
:sn't sound financially and could deal
for the limit should the market re-
open
The crash caught New York brokers.
and there are 500 of them on the floor
of the exchange out of membership
of ] 100, living in luxury to which they
been accustomed since they became a
part of the great financial machine.
Never in the history of the majority
had the exchange been shut and they
we're unprepared to meet the emergen-
cy. When they got down to brass
tacks they instituted economy, but it
may be said to the credit of most that
their economy began with themselves
and they held on to their clerks.
Two days after the closing a mem.
bef offered his automobile for sale
There were no bids. Then he ratified
it off, selling tickets at 81 eacll His
friends said he had gone crazy, but
he hadn't. In fact, he had a long
head, for he got $1,000 for new
$500 car, whereas an acquaintance
was glad to sell similar machine
last week for $3.50.
One of the big wire houses, with
Offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco
Chicago, St Louis and other cities
has fixed daily charges of $2,5OO. II
costs money to lease private wires,
and they must be paid for whether
they are used or not The wires can't
be cut off, as the leases are made by
the year. The house in question pays
$4,000 annually for its offices and has
a large staff. of CLERKS, runners and
the like.
The "odd lot houses, concerns
which cater to the small trade, have
few if any wires, but some of them
employ from 100 to 400 clerks, mes
sengers and attaches. The salaries
of these employees are moderate. but
in the aggregate they amount to a
staggering total. There is nothing for
them to do and many are"at liberty"
The brokers, however, are holding on
tC the best of them, for they cannot
be easily replaced in event the mar
ket reopens.
One class of brokers has been parti.
cnlarly hard hit. This is the contin-