Democratic Sentinel, Volume 5, Number 3, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 February 1881 — It Went Up. [ARTICLE]

It Went Up.

There is a man in this city who once lost $20,000 through a twist of the English language. He was then a resident, of California, aud San Francisco was wild with excitement over mines. The “Blue Ledge” was then blooming. Shares had gone to thirty times their face value, and brokers reaped a golden harvest. At length, almost within an hour, “Blue Ledge” began to drop, and it went down —or rather the shares did—over 200 per cent, before there was a breathing spell. At this crisis the New YorKer went to a broker and asked : “What is your candid opinion about Blue Ledge?” “I think it will go up,” was the prompt reply. “When?” “Well, within a fortnight.” The would-be buyer knew of stocks for sale, and before night his entire fortune had been invested. Quotations remained the same for two or three days, and then “Blue Ledge” shares, $lO each, fell to ten per cent, of their face value. The New Yorker rushed to the broker in consternation, and gasped out: “Didn’t you tell me that Blue Ledge was sure to go up ?” “I did.” “And now—now ! —’ “It’s gone up, just as I predicted. I heard two weeks ago that it had worked out its veins, and it was only a question of a few days when it would go up. ” “But, great Heavens! It has gone down.” “Ye§; I understand. Yes, it has gone up, and hundreds of people will be ruined.”