Vandalia Whig and Illinois intelligencer. [volume] (Vandalia, Ill.) 1832-183?, 1832-06-27
GIRARD RANK.

65-The extraordinary things mentioned below
are wei! worth record
Disgracefu scenes occurred on Wednesday,
according to the Philadelphia papers, occasioned
by the opening of the subscription books te the
Girard bank, at Masonic hall, in Chestnut street.
BY the bill charering the institution, less than
one hundred and fifty-three commissioners were
appointed, who conceived Themselves entitled to
a priority in subscribing. The act of incorpora
ton contained this clause:
"Neither of the commissioners, nor any SUBJ
scrber to the stock, either in his name, or as
agent of another, or through the agency of any
one, shall be allowed to take more than FIVE
shares the first day, ten shares the second day
fifty shares the the third day. But if all the cap
ta stock shall not be subscribed for on or before
the third day, then subscription for any number
of shares remaining unsubscribed, shall be allow.
ledn
! It was intended to run the stack up in tho mar
ket, and the privilege of heig q commissioner
was valued at from five to sewn hundred dollars
They assembled and openedtsrcc pindows ior
the accommodation Of the miscellaneous multi.
tude, who might wish to subscribe. According
to correspondent of Poulson's Gazette
sit was stated on the ground that four individ-
uals had employed two hundred menewho occupi.
ed the ground near the window where subscrip-
'ioiiS WeIO " pS tdhSl, W EXCLUSION Oh every
decent man who wished to subscribe. Many Of
them had no article of clothing but pair Of trow-
sers, and very few of them had any addition TO
this but shirt. They were constantly passing
in this indecent costume in front Of the hall in full
view of ladies in the opposite houses, and passing
along the street"
A correspondent of the National Gazette says
About twenty or thirty men. at each window
were endeavoring to force their way to the small
openings at which the money was received
Those who could not approach by squeezing 9TH
ers out of their places, were hoisted by their com
rades upon the heads and shoulders of the solid
mass of bodies immoveably jammed below, where
they remained, to the great annoyance of those
who were thus trampled upon, or were pulled
down by rivals, to make room for others, who
shared the same fate. Bloody faces, bruised
limbs, shirts add jackets torn to tatters, and un-
timely desperate fights resulted from this disgust
ing scrambling; and throughout the whole time
three o'clock, the scene resembed the boarding
of ship by pirates, rather than the competition
of capitalists to invest their funds.
Several OF these braves were carried before the
mayor and by him committed to prison. The
whole number of shares is 10000. Only $50
were taken the first day; 1853 being taken by the
commissioners, and 81 by the public.
The Chronicle states, that two additional win
dows were opened on Thursday. Several addi-
tional arrests took place. As each successful
combatant got fifty shares on that day, the con-
test was as violent and the mob as unruly as be-
fore. The Chronicle says:
We spent half an hour on the spot this morn
ing-merely to see how matters are carried on
but cannot pretend to describe the scene minute,
ly A scaffold, about two feet high and four feet
nc al ,,ndor oach window nd a. "a