but it was necessary to convince the speculator that the chances
of gain were better, the possibility of loss less than in the
well-known great speculative commodities of the age.

I commenced the preparation of educational literature with which
I meant to circularize the country. I did not want the small fry,
the little speculator with only a few hundreds or thousands of
dollars. What I was after was men of financial ability and the
nerve to go into large operations and see them through to a finish.

Before I made a move, our first speculative client put in an
appearance.

He was in the trade, senior partner of the largest firm in Baltimore,
and no argument from us was necessary. Calling at the office he
gave us an order for his individual account, the transaction to be
carried in our name.

It was not a large order, the margin he deposited with us being
but two thousand dollars.

When the transaction was closed and we returned him his margin,
we had the pleasure of including in our cheque thirty-nine hundred
dollars profit, after deducting our commissions, which amounted to
five hundred and seventy-five dollars.

This experience gave me a hint I was quick to take. If an individual
member of one firm in the trade would speculate, why not members
of other firms? The ethics of the case, the propriety of a partner
speculating on his own account in a commodity in which his firm