The New York herald., 1922-02-10
Continued from First Page.

Maryland" had induced them to put
their life savings into a certain stock
then demanded margin for which they
had tc put up other perfectly good
stock, and finally. representing the
prospect of sale at profit if they
would bly, 100 more shares. took Lib
erty bonds from them. When she and
her husband tried to get their money
back what happened? They found
their account transferred to another
bogus concern, operated by the same
people undoubtedly, who made 1t APP
pear that the old couple owed $4,70O
more.
The men who pulled that deal will
be in court to-day If they have not
skipped town.
Expensive Trappinss Needed.
But the foregoing incident was a
cheap performance compared to many
OF the things that go on in the bucket
shops of Wall Street. 1t takes more
than a yarn about coming from your
home State" to land the fish that make
up s4.000,00o and 100000 bankrupt
cies. 1t takes an establishment so like
the real thing that responsible men
with great deal Of money will not
recognize the difference; it takes
branch offices in distant cities 1t takes
leased wires; it takes a real workable
connection with some member of a
recognized stock exchange.
And If you believe that such con-
VI toI
at the new rules of the New York
Stock Exchange forbidding it's mem
bers to conduct business for such con-
Germs. In another article THE New
York HERALD will tell of the nation
wide campaign of the New York Stock
Exchange to put a stop to that sort
of thing.
In the modern bucket shops relation
with the big exchanges it lives up to
the origin of its name, though in less
frank and open way than of old The
commonly accepted story of the origin
Of the term bucket shop is as follows:
Years ago when the Board Of Trade
in Chicago adopted a rule prohibiting
its members from dealing in grain
Options" of less than 5000 bushels, 1t
had the effect of bringing into exist
ence open" boards in neighboring
streets and below the rooms of the
Board of Trade When business be-
came dull, it got to be the custom t.
send the elevator down with instruc-
tons to bring up "a bucletful'' of
small SPECTATORS from the "open"
shops. Those places THUS became
bucket Shops" Members of New
York exchanges do not go SO far as to
send the elevator down for bucket
ful," and the tendency Of some of the
members to avail themselves Of the
trade of bucket shops has been a
source of worry to exchange officers.
The Trail of Easy Money.
Perhaps TIE best-way to show how
the bucketeer goes about finding and
fleeing his customer, would BE- to take
a trip right through the process-that
is, without the necessity of having the
pay out hard earned money for the
information.
Mr.. Bucketeer opens Offices in the
financial district, or perhaps up town.
He has Executive Offices fitted up
with all the dignity and impressive
ness OF the most substantial business
concern imaginable. He has board
room" on which are posted market
quotations almost at the same time
they are posted in the big exchanges,
despite the fact that he is not an ex-
change member, and despite III efforts
of legitimate exchanges to stop the
leaks. In another room he has an
elaborate telephone system with per-
Laps more than score OF telephones.
The executive offices and the board
room are to impress clients who cali,
but the back room with the telephone
system Is not for the client to see. In
deed. that part of the establishment
sometimes is in an entirely different
The Bucketeer employs a
of producers" whose busi-
ness it is to find tie suckers They
get a percentage Of the money fieeced
How the Comeon Works.
If Mr.. Bucketeer has no clients al
ready he does not worry. He simply
ehheSedHy Hsl VI ndines ne can lay
hands on-the telephone directory, the
city directory, the voters list. Any list
of names will do, the bigger the better,
for all the persons whose names ap-
pear work, and persons who work
make money in some amount. and that
is what Mr.. Bucketeer is looking for.
To that list of names goes letter:
"A friend of yours who is an old
customer of ours and for whom we