49 / 252
Bar Patterns
would watch the ticker, agree on the price at a certain
point and, bingo! with the exception of the Stock Ex–
change proceeding, the deal was made. The office saw
a lot of such cross-transactions of purchasing and sell–
ing, personal, in effect. As a matter of fact, the crowd
was like one big family. All knew each other by their
front names, and Benkhard's branch was just like an
exclusive club, but with something going on all the
time. That office, according to its manager, used to
make a net profit of a rpillion dollars a year. One must
handle a lot of stock for those days to make that much
money. As soon as the market had closed, somebody
in the crowd would remember that it was time for re–
freshment, and a procession would empty the office and
head for the Bar.
In almost constant attendance after office hours one
would note the Housman brothers, brokers, and E.W.
Slattery, who was manager of a brokerage office. And
on days when there was no matinee, -one would invari–
ably discover Frank Henhessey, manager of the old
Casino Theatre, who, after this long lapse of time, is
still an active student of the stock-tic.Ker. Hennessey
still claims never to have taken a drink of alcohol in
his life; he admits, however, that in those days he was
the greatest consumer of "pop" that ever had to manage
chorus girls..
In
the same circle in the Bar with Hen–
nessey one often saw "Joe" Gatins, an Atlanta million–
aire, who was rumored to be a heavy operator in the
cotton market.
*
*
*
*
As has been indicated, this will prove no directory
of patrons. One could use up as many sheets as a New
[ 49]