THE OMAlIA DAILY BEE: SATURDAY, JULY 2, 1901.
12
J
i
I
Devlin's
BY W. PORTER HAfULTON.
(Copyright, 1904. by W. Porter Hamilton.!
"Well. Weymouth." said the great finan
cier, turning for moment from the stock
ticker to address bla Junior partner, "things
cera to be coming; our way thle morning."
It wm the great Devlin who spoke, the
man whose rery name wn a terror on the
street, and he wu epeakln of the deal
which be meant ahould be hie last. He
waa an old man now, but he felt unwilling
to leave what had been for him the iicene
of o many ucceaees without one final and
crowning effort. In the glory of which he
might retire triumphant, to be forever re
membered In the pit
"Tea," he continued, epeaklng almost as
much to himself as to the man beside him,
"I think she'll close at 110 today. To
morrow she'll go still higher."
OH. HOW
His partner nodded.
He wag a man of
I'll i 1
I '
few words.
,"At 110." the broker repeated. "But she U
be 120 before I'm. through with her. Thirty
points net gain for Devlin & Co.. eh?"
Again his partner nodded. He was count-
Ing up the' probable profits, figuring with
bla finger In the air.
It was a shrewd game that old Devlin
bad been playing. Kenawha and Western
presented; a good target, for It was- a
security so large, a part of which lay In
strong hands-hands which had no intention
of releasing Itr-that any heavy buying of
the floating stock was sure to be felt
aooner or later In the market It was ft
move, also, to olrculate -the rumor, shortly
before the Kenawha's last quarterly divi
dend had been declared, that the dlreotors
' would decide It best, owing to the heavy
outlay required for contemplated Improve
ments, to nduce It from 11 to 1 per cent,
and would likewise request the stookhold
. era to authorise a new bond Issue.. The
report caused the security to go off five
points, and It was then Devlin placed the
majority of his orders, although he had
been accumulating Kenawha quietly for
weeks.
N . Finally the dividend rumor was) em
. phatlcally denied from a semi-official
source, and Kenawha rallied In conse
quence. Btlll , Devlin continued to buy.
It had only been yesterday, however, that
at S o'clock, Just after stock exchange
. closing hour, the -dlreotors had met and
declared not only the same dividend as In
the past, but 14 per cent additional. The
morning's quotations had Shown the In
stantaneous effect. Influenced as weil by
the fact of Pevlln'a corner.
Weymouth was moving; about the
private office restlesssly. The strain of
the last few days was beginning to tall
upon . him, . He lacked bla chiefs iron
aerva . ,
.-.-. u . lengw, vim m nan nnauwni ex-
cues, he opened the door and went out,
passing into the adjoining room, reserved
for customers. There waa an air of sup
pressed excitement, whloh la never wholly
looking even among veteran operators.
.Weymouth joined a group of three or four
vbo were discussing the financial situa
tion, "I only hope the old man will bold
'on long enough," was what be kept saying
to himself.'
Meanwhile Devlin sat In bla offioe alone.
. He was happy happier than he had been
for months. Ha felt the old grip on things
again knew himself perfect master of the
situation. And yet his face wore the same
hungry, lonely expression whloh his clerks
had learned to recognise so well.
At half past 11 precisely Weymouth looked
In Just long enough to Illumine the atmos
phere with a smile.
'It's at 108," ha cried, gleefully. "The
shorts are on the run. The stock's career
than cocktails at a prayer meeting. By
tomorrow we caa make our own terms."
For the first time n bis history, Devlin
almost laughed.
It would be a great week, and when It
was over, and he had safely unloaded his
Immense Kenawha holdings, he would be
pointed out as the man who, single-handed,
ha4 put through one of the moat success
ful corners ever known la the Street
Just then his offlos boy entered. "A
woman to see you, sir," he said.
Old Devlin glanced up. "Tell her I'm
busy. Let her see Mr. Weymouth," he
said, testUy.
"I did. sir. but she wants to see you
particular. If you please, sir."
"Show ber la, then, and be quick. If
he's got to come," growled the financier.
The office boy beat a hasty retreat In
a moment more a woman had entered un
announced. , The banker, startled, rose
from his chair.
"Ah. good morning. Mrs. Merrtngton,"
he began, wits uiuuh ceremony.
Last Deal
There was a. pained look In the new
oomer'e eyes.
"Father I" -
"Do me the boner of being seated." he
remarked, with crushing courtesy.
She seated herself on a large leather
sofa, while Devlin, dropping into his re
volving desk chair, wheeled around and
faced her, steadily.
WWIT" he asked.
"Father," she said, "Is that all you have
to say to met"
"Alir he broke out. "All? In't It more
than you deserve? Didn't I tell you that
If you married Merrtngton I didn't want
to see you again? But still you did It-you
married him married one of my clerks I
fm a man of my word. I don't forget,"
HAPPY YOU HAVE MADE MEI" SHE CRIED
Devlin could hear vaguely the sounds
from his cashier's office, and the cries of
"Stock, stock. Devlin!" as the runners
from the various banking houses delivered
their Kenawha and Western. It was com
ing In fast His humor grew a whit the
pleasanter. '
"But In spite of Mr. Merrlngton's attrac
tions, you had to come back at last"
She assented, humbly.
"I wonder why? Maybe you've tired of
him."
"Oh, no," aha said quickly. "No, tt
wasn't that"
"Not that? I had hoped tt was. Then
aren't you going to tell me why?"
She raised her white face to his, winking
back the tears. "I don't suppose It would
be any use, because I'm not going to ask
you to forgive ma"
He smiled In silent satisfaction. He liked
her grit "Tell me all the same," he said.
Shs hesitated for a moment "Go on,"
he commanded, looking at her fixedly.
"This la my busy day."
"I came" she began.
"On behalf of Mr. Merrtngton," he Inter
rupted, with Instant Intuition.
"Ha Is oh, he's in dreadful trouble. And
it's all. all my fault"
She sobbed pitifully.
"Your fault? Nonsense! It was his
fault Hs ought never to have married
you. the Idiot."
"He doesn't think he was an Idiot to
have married me, father," she said,' smil
ing in spite of herself.
"He doesn't ah? That's considerate of
him. Don't think he was an Idiot to marry
you, don't hT If he did, I'd I'd oh, d n
him anyway!" he broke off lmpotentl..
His daughter waa up In arms In a flash.
"You mustn't talk that way, you musn't
I won't hear it"
"Loyal, still loyal," he thought, half bit
terly. "Well, and what Is It you want me
to do for him?" hs asked aloud.
The expression of her face changed. T
I don't know," she faltered.
"You don't know? You don't know? How
the deuce am I to, then?"
,"I don't exactly understand It myself,
but yesterday afternoon Jim told me and,
oh, be looked so white aa he said It
that there was no further hope, and he
was as good as ruined 'broke,' was what
he called it You see, some extra divi
dends had been declared, or i something,
and It was for my sake, you know, he did
it for my sake he got caught on the wrong
side of the market, or so hs said, and now,
now-"
She started to weep, silently. Devlin sat
staring straight before him with unseeing
eyea
"What was the name of the stock he got
caught In?" he asked, as a tnatetr of form.
He knew well enough already.
"Kenawha and Western. He said he
had been selling short, though I don't
know what he meant He's six feet two,
you know."
"Oot fooled on my canard the young
ass," thought the banker, who didn't even
smile.
"By the way, did your husband say how
heavily he was Involved?"
"He did. But he made me promise not
to tfll anyone. Still, I suppose it wouldn't
be wrung to tell you, would It?"
"Ob, no; tell me, by all meaaaf I don't
count'
She came ovsr and whispered In his ear.
Hs Jumped as If he had been shot
"Ood!" he cried, unable for the time be
ing to say mora Then, as he began more
fully to realise the situation: "The fool!
The d unmitigated fool! How, by all
that's holy, could hs stagger'under that?"
And he sank back exhausted Into his seat
He felt his daughter's hand on his arm.
"Don't be hard on him," she Interceded.
"Remember, he did It for my saka".
"I'm trying to remember that" he man-
agd to answer from between set teeth,
There was a silence broken only by the
babbling of the now unheeded stock ticker.
The broker was the first to speak.
"Would your husband take money from
meT"
Mrs. Merrlngton shook hsr bead violently,
"He'd die first."
"I thousht as much."
He leaned back in his chair, closing his
eyes and running his fingers through his
a parse gray hair. The veteran market ma-
nlDulator was doing as hard a bit of think
Ing as be had ever dons In his His before.
v tnr ail that, his first remark was
hardly relevant to tha matter in band.
"You've been a very undutlful daughter,
Julia."
Mrs. Merrlngton's Hps tightened. Thera
was a hopeless look In ber eyes.
"All the same you are my daughter, and
" He stopped short and blew his nose
viciously. Then he coughed and went on
again. "All the same you are my daugh
ter. and. confound it. If I'm not pretty fond
of you."
She gave a glad little cry and, charging
JOYFULLY.
down upon him, carried htm by storm
where he sat and put her arms about him.
VmiMi hAln Him. then?"
"Julia, has he has he made you happy T"
"linn father. And you're going ' to
help him?"
Devlin nodded silently. ,.
She clasped her arms about him closer.
Her trembling lips were pressed to bla for
the first time In four years.
When Mrs. Merrlngton had taken her
departure the broker crossed the room to
the humming stock ticker arid studied the
tape carefully. To his mind there was
but one thing to be dona He must smash
the market And there was but one way
to do that Taking the board room
much by surprise as possible, he must
throw overboard his enormous Kenawha
holdings for whatever they would bring,
Only In this way could be hammer down
the prios sufficiently to enable his son-in
law to cover his short sales. That he
would stand to lose a million profit in the
transaction he well knew. A million aa
against his son-in-law's honor! After all,
was It worth It? And yet he had promised
to savs him.
He thought next of his thwarted ambl
tlori, of his desire to be remembered al
ways for his consummate handling of the
Kenawtha deal. The street would never
understand his sudden change of front It
would think he had lost his nerve. And yet
he had promised to save him.
Then, too, what would his own offioe say?
How would Weymouth take it Weymouth,
whom it was true he had admitted to the
firm to serve merely as a figurehead and to
save his chief by seeing troublesome call
era .What would they all think of their
leaders. In whom they were wont to be
lieve so Implicitly? Hs had never realised
before how muck his clerks' hero worship
had meant to him. And yet he had prom
ised to save him.
He summoned his broker by private wire
and gjave, in person, the orTler to sell.
His Instructions ,were terse and to the
point "Let the crowd know who's selling.
Suggest, If you can, that the extra divi
dend was only declared to facilitate the
voting of the bond Issue. And give up
my name direct on every lot"
He stood, watching to catch the record of
his first sola He had not long to wait
Two hundred Kenawha St Western at
VX. He smiled sa If It hurt htm.
For the next two hours he scarcely left
the ticker, save now and then to give a
hurried order to one or another of his
clerks. He saw his stock being gobbled
up a thousand shares -at a tlms and the
price dropping, dropping steadily, A hun
dred and six, 106, 104. It was an avalanche.
At I o'clock It was at par. At quarter
past It was Mftfc; at half past it waa C64;
at fifteen minutes to I It was W flat And
Devlin's work waa done.
"Let him cover now and be hangedl" he
said to himself, as he went out to get a
bite of lunch.
Late that afternoon Devlin wsa sitting
in. bis office writing. Outside he could
hear, now and then, a ledger being slammed
shut as a bookkeeper finished bis work for
the day.
"I've been a foot," be kept repeating to
himself. "An awful fool."
The office boy put his head In the door.
"A lady to see you, sir Ue same lady
that was here this morning."
The broker's taoe lost its hard, look.
rghow ber In," ha said.
But his daughter was In the rotaa before
he had finished speaking, and running
up to biro embraced him gtrllshlj to the
amasement of the office bey, who discreetly
withdrew. V
"Oh, how happy you have made tana!"
ii envu juiuiijr, - now very, very
r bapfiy.
again
And how I do love you for it alll
"lis Ilk vU tuneg to ace yeu
he said gravely. "To think that you have
been away four yeara"
"Four long years." she echoed. "Have
you missed me very much?"
"I might as well admit It. I suppose. I
have missed you' very much. What does
your husband have to say?" he Inquired
abruptly.
"Jim?" For the moment she looked con
fused. "Oh, Jim says he knew the market
was bound to drop all along."
"And your
"I didn't contradict him, but I-t am
your daughter. I knew you did it." And
she kissed him again upon his wrinkled
cheek. 1
Next morning affairs of the day before
were discussed with bated breath. In the
offlee of Devlin A Co.
"The old man must have been crasy
yesterday," remarked the cashier to the
oldest bookkeeper.
"He's lost his grip," returned the oldest
bookkeeper sententlously.
"He's getting on .In life. It's- beginning
to tell," asserted the head of the bond de
partment "He played too high. It took his nerve,"
was the opinion of the transfer clerk.
"He threw away a cool million," thought
the Junior partner gloomily.
"But anyway," concluded the office boy,
who, after all, la the real factotum In
any banking house, "the old gent seems
happier now than I ever seen him before."
THE WALL STREET OF TODAY
A Dumping Ground for Watered
Stock, Wind Flnsaee and
Promoters.
f The new Wall street Is a center where
one may bet on what will be the fictitious
value of certain alleged securities. It is the
dumping ground of watered stocks and self-
sustaining bonds. It is a bazar for the dis
play and sale of certificates based on the
Intrinsic value of various makes of gold
bricks. Incidentally one may . deal In real
securities, but the transactions in these are
so small as to cut no appreciable figure In
the total
When an article or a representative of
one has real value there are slight fluctua
tions In Its quotations. It is difficult to hold'
It above Its Intrinsic price, and slmost Im
possible to depress It below Its honest mar
ket quotation. But not so with rtocks of
uncertain merit. They move violently and
In defiance of all recognised laws governing
values. But for this very reason a sus
picious stock Is more popular in a specu
lative way than one based on unquestioned
assets. A glance at the stock sales for the
last year will show that the overwhelming
percentage of transactions were In shares
which no conservative investor would hold
In his vaults. Without going into compli
cated details It may be sufficient to make
the following comparison between the sales
in the two classes of stocks:
Lake Shore Is a gilt-edged stock quoted
at $275 a share. The total transactions In
It for the year 190S were 360 shares. There
some question about the actual value
of Brooklyn Rapid Transit stock; It never
has paid a dividend, though onoe quoted aa
high aa 139. It Is now selling at around 46.
The transactions tn this lively security for
the year 1908 reached the total of 1,646,331,
which Is considerably In excess of tha sales
In the more sedate Lake Shore.
New York, New Haven and Hartford Is-
worth about $200 a share and Its sales for
the year were less than 26.000. Amalga
mated Copper is quoted at about $50 a share
and there are persons who claim that It Is
a liability rather than an asset. The curi
osity on this point was so great that more
than 11,000,000 shares of It were bought and
sold during the last year. The losses of
the dear "public" on this Item were prob
ably more than $200,000,000.
Pullman Palace Car stock Is quoted at
about $220 a share and may be considered
a safe investment. The dealings In tt only
reached 23,000 shares. When the presses
ground out the certificates of the United
States Steel Corporation the public was de
lighted. They had a chance to buy a per
Tuo
"FOLLOW THE FLAG"
Sn n
n I UJ I U n!J
Leave Omaha 9:30 p. m., Council
Fair and St. Louis
DULY
Lv. Omaha - -Ar.
World's Fair
Ar. St. Louis -
We have others.
HARRY
v.
Come Early
and Avoid the
Rush.
Sale Begins 8
a. m. Sharp
iipirfesifl
ENTIRE STOCK
SHOES
EVERY ARTICLE HARKED IN
PAY THE SALESMAN ONE -
Entire stock $7.60 Suits .
Entire stock $10. OO suits
Entire stock $12.80
Entire stock $18.00 suits
Entire stock $20.00 suits... ........
Entire stock $28.00 suits . .. .
cent dividend paying stock at less than $50. '
They also Invested in the 7 per cent, pre
ferred stock at lees than par.' That brilliant
financier, "620 per cent" Miller, never had
so many customers nor Inspired greater
confidence. The transactions for the year
In steel reached the pleasing total of 14,000,
000. The 4 per cent dividend has besn dis
continued and those who paid $60 a share
for their stock are now unable to sell it
for one-flftb of that sum. The losses of
the public are beyond computation. At
this writing no arrests have been made.
Those who deal In these stocks and In
a score of others which might be named
realize more or less clearly that most of
them are worth no more than the paper
on which hey are printed, but they pro
oeed on the theory that there are greater
fools than themselves who will take certi
ficates off their hands at an advancsd
price. When a man offers for sale a 4
per cent dividend paying stock at the price
of $E0 he Is either a fool or a knave. The
one who purchaser tt at any price with the
idea that It is an, investment deserves to
be swindled, but i In all other confidence
games the laws Interfere to protect such
easy dupes.
But Smith and Jones hava found that It
is not safe to bet that a worthless stock
will fall in price. They have made some
expensive experiments alon gthls line. The
men who float these worthless certificates
are able to keep up the price If tt suits
their ends. They control the money market
and can squeeze the life out of any faction
which dares "sell the market short," aa it
is called in speculative terms. Of course, in
(6
Special Trains July
UOBIJ'S
7:45
7:30
7:50
a.
P-
m.
m.
m.
Comparo Thio Timo With Othor Linos-
Call at Wa.ba.sh
E. MOORES,
SIHXIXOttAiiA-
PEOPLE'S FI HSITI RK AX U CARPET
TODAY (SATURDAY) ONLY.
OF UEfJ'S CLOTHING, HATS
AT EXACTLY HALF
MARKED FRIGE.
THESE PRICES I
suits.'.
the long run a worthless stock will find its
proper level, but In the process those who
issue and manipulate It are In a position
to rob both its friends and its enemies. By
first raising and then lowering the market
and it Is the easiest thing .in the world
for certain Interests to do both Smith and
then Jones find that their Judgment has
been at fault. Brooklyn Eagle.
DISPLACING . STEAM POWrR
Oil and Gas Engines
Steam Engines oi
and Sea.
Superseding
Land
I have been led lately to think the whole
development of the steam engine, . to the
exclusion of the gas engine, lias been a
mistake and that we are now at the begin
ning of a new 'era In the use of power.
Engineers $ould today gain, better and more
economical ' results by abandoning steam
and using Internal combustion engines,
even in large establishments. The gain In
economy In 'fuel will advance with the size
of the establishment.- With the Internal
combustion engine a brake horse-power can
be produced on a pound of coal. This
could not be dona with steam under any
conditions.
So great a revolution has come about In
methods of producing power that a 10,000
ton cruiser of twenty-one knots an hour
could today ' proceed around the world at
fourteen knots without taking on fuel and
without sacrificing any of Its war efficiency.
OH engines, using crude petroleum, will
n
oi
Bluffs 9:45 p. m.
Early Hoxt Horning.
L L , I L
4 and i
FflSES TBfllCJ
Lv. Omaha -Ar.
World's Fair
Ar. St. Louis
City Office. 1601 Farnam, or address
G. A. P. D.. Omaha, Neb.
1L
We Are Exclusive
Agents for
Kuh, Nathan
& Fisher High
Art Clothing
CO.
AND
PRICE.
PLAIN FIGURES.
HALF THE
G.OO
G.2G
7.GO
10.00
22.50
i
be developed as soon as the demand la felt
for them, but even here the fuel can be
made Into gas and burned thus with far '
greater economy than is possible when tha
oil Itself Is burned under boilers or gaso
line cap be used. In an ordinary $,200 horse
power torpedo boat forty-three tons of coal
would be UBed In ten hours. With gasoline
the radius of activity of the same torpedo
boat can be more than quadrupled, for 8,200
horse-power can be produced from 1,200 gal
lons of fuel. Briefly, 16,000 pounds of gaso
line will do the work of $6,000 pounds of
coal. The cost of the fuel is higher, but
with' a gasoline plant In a torpedo boat
only two men are required In the angina
room and none at all In the fire room. Tha
dangers of steam at high pressure are
avoided and the complexity of steam ma
chinery done away with.
Owing to the certain saving to be se
cured in coal consumption and to the sim
plicity and reliability of the gaa engine
plant we shall witness a gradual forcing
out of the steam plants In 'future power
plants for lighting, pumping or factory
use, and It will be a question of but a short
time before many of the existing steam
plants will be replaced. Lewis Nixon la
World'a Work.
20.00 to Chicago.
The Chicago Great Western railway will
sell special round trip tickets to Chicago
at $20.00 Tickets good for return until Oo
tober SI. For further Information- apply
to 8. D. Parkhurst, general agent, 1BJ
Farnam street, Omaka, Neb.
n
Arrivo World's
6:30
7:00
7:15
P.
a.
a.
m.
m.
m.
V
i
X
0
o
(
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