£70,000 IN AN HOUR.
WHEN CASH CAME LIKE LIGHT-
NING.; From New York comes a story of a young clerk, aged two-and-twenty, who has just made £6,000 in one day, without owning more than a few shillings capital. The way in which he did it was this—he applied for over one million pounds' worth of New Panama bonds and by a remarkable piece of luck was allotted all he applied for. Now these bonds were worth a great deal as they stood, so as soon as he received the news that he had been successful in his application, he promptly sold his option to a bank for £6,000, and so made a tidy little fortune without spending a penny. But in England there have been instances of larger fortunes than this being made in one day, and, in fact, even row one hears of lucky deals on the Stock Exchange by which thousands are netted in a few hours ; but, of course, most of these coups are made by men who are in the know.
KNOWLEDGE HIS ONLY CAPITAL
But sometimes a man comes into the market with nothing but information. He knows that ho has got hold °1 a good thing, but perhaps does not know a soul who will back him, and is afraid to impart his knowledge to others, lest he should be left out in the cold, Then it is a case of nock or nothing, and if the of the information has no nerve, he perhaps lets his chance go, or else sells it for a mere song.
Towards tho close of the South African War, a clerk i n a humble position managed to obtain early information as to the great probability of peace. How he obtained it is within the 1- nowlodgc of the writer, but he is under the strictest bond of secrecy not to reveal it. Now, this clerk knew that he had information which was literally worth thousands, but he could not think out a way in which to make use of it. At last, deeming that half a loaf was better than no bread, he confided his plan to his employer, a merchant in a small way of business. The merchant was a man who knew nothing whatever of stock and shares, but had a head for figures, and was inclined to be enterprising.
After five minutes’ thought he determined to act. He got an introduction through a friend to a firm of brokers, and gave them instructions to buy South African shares to any amount which represented his available capital. For three days and nights the merchant and clerk were in a state of feverish anxiety. At last the joyful news of peace came, and within n couple of hours the shares wont up, and the two speculators had made £70,000 between them. To the merchant’s credit, bo it said, ho divided the sum equally with his clerk, who, in an equal spirit of fairness, returned £SOO as interest on (ho money which the merchant found. But perhaps the greatest instance of nerve on record is concerned with a millionaire whoso name is now universally known. FROM POVERTY TO MILLIONS. He arrived in Loudon at the age of thirty-live, after a life of ups and downs in the Colonics, absolutely penniless. But he had information concerning a certain mine which was in a very weak state on the market. He had only one friend in London, and that was a man whom he had mot in Australia, and had since returned to England and opened a small store in Fulham Road. He went straight to him, and demanded, without any preamble, the loan of £25.
The shopkeeper gave it to him for the sake of old times.
With this sum the man went to a well-known second-hand clothes shop in the West End, and rigged himself out in the latest fashion. Then, going down to the City, he stood on “The Street,” as it is called, and racked his brains to sec how he could use his information. While there, he saw a little financial tout whom he had slightly known before he bad left England. He made himself known, and took the little man into a restaurant, and, pulling ou t a handful of soverigns stood him a bottle of champagne. REFERENCES REQUIRED. This display of wealth impressed tho tout, and after a while the other asked him point blank if he/would buy, him two thousand shares in the, we will say, “Groat Tiger Mine.’* The tout, always open to business, booked the order, and then demanded bankers’ references. “Well,” was the reply, “I only arrived last night, and until I see Lord Belham, I have not decided on * bank.” “Lord Bolham’s name is good enough for me,” answered the tout. “Where will a line find you ?” “Oh, telephone me at the Mammoth Hotel,” was the answer. When the deal was over, the man went straight to the Mammoth Hotel, and again using, in a discreet manner Lord Bclham’s name, secured a suite of rooms which were generally kept for millionaires. Now, Lord Belham was a wellknown peer, and the chairman of the "Groat Tiger Mine,” so that wherever his name was mentioned, it carried weight. There was several telephone messages from the tout, who by now was thoroughly satisfied that he was dealing with a man of means, and suggested that he should buy more shares. A FRANK CONFESSION. When this was done, the budding financier went straight off to Lord Bolham’s town house. He frankly told the peer how he had used his name, and then gave him the information about the mine, which was that the manager was dishonest, and not producing the proper amount of gold. That was why the shares wore at a low ebb, and why the young man, knowing that his disclosure would result in the value jumping up, had been eager to buy some shares.
The peer was, of course! aghast at first at the liberty which had been taken, but when he saw his way to making money, he relented. The long and short of it was that the financier made over £20,000 on that deal, and thus laid the basis of his fortune. The .shares shot up directly it was found that there was, after all, a good deal of gold in the mine.
It was, of course, a daring and, perhaps, a dishonest thing to do ; but where large sums are, concerned, especially when it comes to dealing in shares, honesty is not always considered .— v 'A nswers. ’ ’
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Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 8, Issue 29, 9 April 1907, Page 2
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1,102£70,000 IN AN HOUR. Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 8, Issue 29, 9 April 1907, Page 2
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