"I did as he told me, and a week went by without my hearing from him. One day I found a place in a broker's office where they would pay me two hundred dollars a year, and that very day I received a letter from Mr. Weed saying he had a place for me in the Custom-house at seven hundred dollars a year. I went to him, thanked him for his kindness, and declined his offer, telling him I preferred the broker's office, although the salary was much smaller. He patted me on the shoulder and said,
"'Charley, you have decided rightly, and you'll never regret it.'
"And I never have. I think it was pretty smart for a boy of sixteen."
Many Wall Street boys lose their places by loitering on errands. Employers know perfectly well how long it takes on the average to reach a certain point, transact the necessary business, and return. There are delays now and then, but if a boy returns late to the office several times in a day with excuses for delay his employers understand the situation perfectly, and he is soon "bounced."
A Wall Street boy is expected to be at the office at nine o'clock in the morning, and remain there as long as his services are needed, though he usually gets away about four o'clock. He has an allowance of half an hour at noon for luncheon, but the rest of the time belongs to his employer. He is expected to be neat in appearance, clean as to hands and face, well mannered, truthful at all times, prompt in obedience, and faithful in guarding the secrets of his employers.
The duties first assigned to him are to carry messages, deliver stocks at other brokerage offices, and obtain checks for them. After a while he is advanced to making comparisons of sales of stocks and taking the checks received from other brokers to be certified at the banks.
Of late years the Stock Exchange Clearing-house has done away with so much of the stock delivery by boys that the number of them on the Street is not more than half what it used to be. Formerly it was not uncommon to see from twenty-five to one hundred boys waiting in line at each of the prominent banks to get checks certified, and nearly every bank employed a private policeman to keep the boys in line and in order.
A story is told of a new boy on the Street who once went to make a delivery of stock. When the bookkeeper made up the accounts at the close of the day he found himself eighty thousand dollars short, and an examination of the books showed that one of the boys had failed to bring back a check in return for some stock he had delivered.
He was perfectly innocent about the matter, and said that he had handed the papers in at the office where he was sent to make the delivery, and as they gave him nothing he supposed there was nothing for him to get. His employer treated him kindly, and told him to be careful not to make the same mistake again. He never did. That boy is now at the head of one of the largest brokerage houses on Broad Street.
As the Wall Street boy advances in proficiency he is put upon the purchase and sale books. Then he takes charge of the comparison tickets, and then of the stock ledgers. Then he becomes a bookkeeper or cashier, and if he shows himself valuable enough he receives a junior partnership, and later on rises to a higher one.