The business of buying and selling shares is done in a large room known as the “floor.” Scattered over the floor are a large number of high posts. Each post bears the name of the stock or stocks which may be traded in at that post. This provision is to bring buyers and sellers in any security together as quickly as possible. A broker desiring to buy shares of a certain stock will go to the part allotted to that stock and call out its name with the number of shares wished and the price he will pay. This is his bid. Other brokers may offer the stock to him at a slightly higher price, or his bid may be accepted at once. As soon as a price is agreed on, each broker--the buyer and the seller--makes a memorandum of the transaction, which is reported to the offices at once by telephone. Meanwhile the broker also hands another memorandum of the transaction to an errand boy, who takes the memorandum at once to the telegraph operator, who in turn sends it out onto the little instrument called the “ticker.” Transactions on the New York Stock Exchange may be made in three different ways: “Cash,” “regular” or on a “limited option” to buyer and seller as to the time of delivery or acceptance. “Cash” means that stock bought in this manner is taken up and paid for the same day; “regular” transactions mean that the stock bought in this way must be taken up and paid for by a quarter past two o’clock of the following afternoon. Upon the outbreak of the European war, panic ensued among holders of securities, and the stock exchanges of the world were closed to prevent the selling of stocks at prices which would have brought ruin to banks and other financial houses. Practically none of them were opened until December, 1914, and then only under severe restrictions which were held in force until confidence had returned. How did the Term “Cowboys” Originate? The term “cowboys” was first used during the American Revolution. It was applied to a band of Tories who infested the neutral ground of Westchester County, New York, stealing cattle from both parties and doing other mischief. It has been used of recent years to designate the skilled horsemen who have charge of the cattle on the great ranges of the West. Many of them enlisted in the Rough Rider regiment of the Spanish war and proved daring soldiers. The Story in a Chemical Fire Extinguisher[29] A little smoke, a flash, and a waste basket, a curtain or something else is in flames. A few years ago an excited person would fail to extinguish the blaze with water or with any other first aid at hand and would call for the fire department. When that arrived the fire frequently would be beyond control. Modern methods have wrought great changes. Nowadays, in case of fire, any man, woman or child can reach for a fire extinguisher and after a few strokes of the pump the fire is out.