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Greener, panted the portly man, what s
the matter with Iowa Midland?
How should I know? in a half-
complaining, half-petulant squeak.
Brown started the selling. I saw it
myself. Greener, I did you a good turn
once in Central District Telegraph. I m
long 6,000 shares of this Iowa Midland. For
God s sake, man, if you know anything
Mr. Ormiston, all I know is what I learn
from my confidential reports of the Iowa
crop. Along the line of the Keokuk &
Northern the crop is not what I hoped for.
And he shook his head dolefully.
Ticky-ticky-ticky tick! said the ticker,
calmly.
The portly man approached the little
machine. Thirty-seven-and-an-eighth.
Thirty-seven! he shouted. Great Scott!
she s going down like a He did not fin-
152 WALL STREET STORIES
ish the comparison, but rushed out of the
office without pausing to say good-by. At
1
one o clock his 6,000 shares at $42 D 2 repre-
sented $255,000. Now, at two o clock, at
$37, the same stock would fetch about
$222,000. A depreciation of $33,000 in an
hour is apt to make one neglectful of the lit-
tle niceties. An additional un-nicety was
the obvious fact that an attempt to sell
6,000 shares on a declining market would
inevitably cause a still further drop. Mr.
Ormiston was excusable.
Again Mr. Greener summoned a confiden-
tial clerk.
Mr. Rock, he squeaked, placidly, tele-
phone Mr. Brown that Ormiston, Monkhouse
& Co. are about to sell 6,000 shares of Iowa
Midland, and that Mr. Coolidge must not pay
more than 35 for it.
Mr. Coolidge is in your private room, sir,
announced an office-boy.
The little financier, with an expressionless,
sallow face, confronted his chief confidential
broker. Their relations were unsuspected
by the Street. Everybody thought Coolidge
was a pleasant and honorable man.
THE MAN WHO WON 153
Coolidge, go to the Board at once. Or-
miston is going to sell 6,000 shares of Iowa
Midland. Get it as cheap as you can. Don t
be in a hurry, though.
How much shall I buy? asked the bro-
ker, jotting down a few figures in his order
book.
As much as you can; all that is offered
below 37, squeaked the Napoleon of the
Street. It was a Napoleonic order. And,
Coolidge, I don t want this known by any
one. Clear the stock yourself. It meant
that Mr. Coolidge was to put the stock
through the Clearing House in his own name.
As there is a charge for this service, in addi-
tion to the usual buying or selling commis-
sion, such steps are not resorted to unless it
is desired to conceal the identity of the bro-
ker s principal, should the latter be a fellow-
member of the Exchange.
Very well, Mr. Greener. Good-morning.
And the broker went out on a run. Whew!
he whistled when he was in the Street on his
way to the Stock Exchange, a few doors
below. Brown & Greener must be short at
least 50,000 or 60,000 shares. This was five
154 WALL STREET STORIES
times too much. But it showed that Mr.
Greener was impartial in his distribution of
erroneous impressions. He wanted to accu-
mulate the stock rather than cover a short
line; but there was no reason why even his
most trusted broker should know it.
Ormiston s 6,000 shares found their way
7 3
to Mr. Coolidge s office at from 34 D 8 to 35 D 4.
Mr. Brown in the meantime had succeeded
in forcing down the prices by the usual
tricks. The man who once had done Greener
a good turn now did him another the gift of
$40,000!
In addition, Coolidge, employing several
brokers, purchased 23,000 shares in all,
which meant that Mr. Greener, after cover-
ing Brown s early short sales, was in pos-
session of fully 14,000 shares of the common
stock of the Iowa Midland Railway Company,
at a price averaging nearly 6 points lower
than they could have been bought on the pre-
ceding day, which is to say $75,000 cheaper.
But Brown & Greener had made as much
on their short sales, which was actually
equivalent to having the lambs pay a man for
the privilege of being shorn by him!
THE MAN WHO WON 155
Such was the first of a series of skirmishes
by means of which the diminutive Napoleon
of the Street captured the floating supply of
Iowa Midland stock, until he had no less
than 65,000 shares safe in his clutches.
All the old tricks that he knew and new
devices he invented were used to hide from
the Street the fact that Mr. Greener was buy-
ing the stock on every opportunity. But
beyond a certain limit extensive purchases
of a particular stock cannot be concealed
from the thousand shrewd men who make
their living a very good living, indeed
by not being blind. First one thing, then
another, told these men that some powerful
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