Крутая байка
Из книги, которую скоро выложу.
The Hudson corner
It is a curious fact that in nearly all “corners” with which
the Commodore was connected, he was on the defensive, and
seldom the aggressor at the beginning of the fight. He was
always placed in such a position that he had to fight hard to
defend his property, or let it go to the dogs.
Buying stock in Harlem was his first venture in railroad
transactions. He bought it as an investment. This was in
1863. Thirty years prior to this he bad been requested to go
into Harlem, but he declined, ironically remarking “I’m a
steamboat man, a competitor of these steam contrivances that
you tell us will run on dry land. Go ahead. I wish you well,
but I never shall have anything to do with ’em.”
When the Commodore went into Harlem it was selling at
eight or nine dollars a share. It had been down as low as
three dollars about the time I arrived in Wall Street. He put
some money in the road, began improvements and the stock
soon rose to 30. Many people predicted that the Commodore
would lose all the money in railroads that he had made in
steamboats.
The stock, however, gradually rose to 50, and speculators
began to perceive that there was some inside movement going
on. This was made apparent when one day in April, 1863, the
Common Council of this city passed an ordinance authorizing
the Commodore to build a street railroad down Broadway
to the Battery. So Jake Sharp’s enterprise was not original, as
the Commodore was over twenty years ahead of him.
The Common Council were not immaculate in those days
either, though the Jaehnes and Waites escaped punishment.
They basely deceived the Commodore after taking his money;
but he punished them severely. As soon as the franchise was
granted, Harlem advanced to 75, and the Aldermen began to
sell it “short.” They thought they had the Commodore fast in
their clutches, and took their friends into the secret. They
expected to sell enough of stock to make several millions.
Their plan was to sell “short” all that the market would take,
and then repeal the ordinance, which would cause the stock
to drop probably below 50. Drew was one of the great bears
in this deal with the Aldermen.
The Commodore got wind of the scheme, went on buying,
and got others to help him, taking all the “shorts” that were
offered. The operators had soon sold a great deal more
Harlem stock than there was actually in existence. There
were 110,000 shares of Harlem. When the Aldermen and
their friends thought they had made millions, they repealed
the ordinance, and Judge Brady, in the Court of Common
Pleas, at the same time issued an injunction prohibiting the
laying of rails on the Broadway road.
Everybody thought that the Commodore was hopelessly
ruined. Harlem stock, however, dropped three points only, to
72. This created surprise among the Aldermen and the bears.
They thought it should have dropped to 50. The “shorts”
went into the market for the purpose of covering. Harlem
ascended with amazing rapidity to 100, to 150, to 170 and
finally to 179. The Common Council were obliged to make
their final settlements at the last figure. The Commodore had
all the stock. The Common Council lost a million, and their
friends, whom they had advised to sell “short,” lost several
millions. The Commodore “raked in” five or six millions, and
went on his way rejoicing and improving Harlem, having now
taken “Bill” in with him as vice president.
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
2positive's journal
, который придумал такую камеру в 53 году и провел там кучу экспериментов. Короче, очень интересный дядька, очень много експериментов проделал для изучения мозга человека (и не только), начиная с очень научных вещей и влоть до того, что общался с дельфинами под действием ЛСД (всмысле он под ЛСД, не дельфины). Такой чувак не мог меня не заинтересовать и я попробовал найти его книги. Первой удалось скачать автобиографическую "The Scientist". Книга начинается с того что он детально рассказывает о своих ощущениях в утробе матери, при рождении и так далее :). Надеюсь там увидеть еще много интересного, но пока приведу такой кусочек: