Weighed in the balance

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1897 edition. Excerpt: ...largely Hebrew, who stake their money and lies upon the stock exchanges of the world, are generally regarded with grave suspicion by the gentlemen once known as "captains of industry," but more recently as "sweaters." It was hardly to be expected that a man of Norton's training could invent better lies than a German Jew. It was probably owing to this neglect in his education that at the end of ten months he found that, after deducting the cost of living from his winnings, he had made eighty-two dollars, which was certainly not the way to become wealthy. Of course among the feverish crowd that haunted the "ticker," or the street, there were thousands who, during that period, had lost their all, and it was evident that the winnings, sooner or later, found the way into the pockets of the "bosses " of the exchange, just as it is with the tables at Monte Carlo, occasionally spoken of as the disgrace of civilised Europe. About eleven o'clock one chilly rainy morning he was seated by the "ticker," moodily drawing the tape through his fingers, as he puffed his fifth cigar. Things appeared in a most unpromising light as he looked back upon ten wasted months. His luck had never been good at games of chance, and he wished he had followed his natural calling, as an employer of labour, no matter how insignificant. Moreover, his present mode of life was both monotonous and unhealthy. Six cigars before lunch, and occasional short drinks, were demoralising. He surveyed the groups of men lounging around him; irritable, nervous creatures, some despondent, others unduly elated, but all weary from constant anxiety; and he half determined to go West. Then the sharp tick of the "ticker" reminded him...