suppose four--are employed to 'wash' the stagnant stock. No. 1 offers to sell; No. 2 takes what is offered. No. 3 wants to buy; No. 4 sells him all he wants. This is kept up for a few days, the price rising steadily as the 'wash' proceeds; but not one share is actually sold. The innocent outsider, supposing these fictitious transactions to be real, and thinking there is a chance to make a turn in the stock, goes in as a buyer himself. Ten to one he will never get as much for the stock as he paid, for it falls stagnant when the speculators have got it off their hands. 'Coppering' is a term recently introduced, but very well understood in the street. It means operating in a direction contrary to that of another. For example, one buys a particular stock, believing that it will advance; another man, observing that the first has not been lucky in his operations, sells this particular stock, believing it will decline. Or the first may sell a particular stock 'short,' and the second, calculating on the other's ill luck, will buy. This sort of speculation is carried on only among the smaller class of operators, and may be set down as sheer gambling. A 'straddle' is a double privilege, entitling the purchaser to either 'put' or 'call' a stock. The bonus is generally the amount paid for the single privilege of 'put' or 'call.' A 'margin' is the money deposited with the broker through whom the stocks are purchased, as a security against a sudden depreciation. The amount is generally about ten per cent of the par value of the stock. 'Margins' are the rocks on which many adventurers on the uncertain waters of speculation are utterly wrecked. 'Carrying' means holding stock in anticipation of higher prices. Often a stock is 'carried' for six months, but generally the time is not more than two months, and frequently not more than a week. Quick turns is the rule of a majority of speculators. 'Watering' is the operation of suddenly increasing the capital stock of a company. Wall street was thoroughly familiarized with it by the reckless Erie managers, who earned a notoriety that certainly honorable men would not covet. It is very dangerous to the holders of the stock previously in the market."