The Council Bluffs nonpareil. [volume] (Council Bluffs [Iowa]) 1857-1867, 1857-12-05

is in the voice, which grows harsh and ont
Of tune. And % BY . laugh ! pretend to
Judge Of ones re6nement. There is a. much
difference in the laughter Of cultivated and
coarse minds = = tie matter Of their con-
versation. !, - ~. .5 81 :.
Well the mcr1y laugh and nusical 40
compartments belong to Ella Johnston; and
Ella Johnston's laughs merry, and songs
musical together with house, grounds, pony
and dog are the property Of Mr.. G.. 7 john
ston, supposed millionaire, and President
Of the ssBogus County Banking Company =
have not the space to give the biography
Of this distinguished. gentleman. Suffice Il
to say, he was widower, something be-
yond the turning point in life, and lived in
this pleasant mansion, With his maiden sister
and only child, the daughter before men-
toned, who at the time Of introduction to
the reader, WAS eighteen years Of age. The
inmates, ct the moment when the laugh !
speak OF was supposed to be heard, were
the three enumerated, and u dark-haired
youth, sort Of relative, handsome, lively
and accomplished, who came a. q cousin,
and after falling deeply in love, remained
as a suitor. His business qualities and
energy Of character pleased the father,
while his handsome person and refined bear
ing, added to an earnest devotion, won the
daughter and although opposed by the aunt,
his stream of true love would run smooth
enough, but for one difficulty. The young
gentleman, Edward Barnett by name, had
nothing but his own efforts to look to, and
Mr.. Clinton Y. Johnston was in fair way
of being ruined. f.s.t -
The unpleasant difficulty, with bankrupt
cy Tor termination, came about in this
wise; Mr.. Johnston had been left 4 large
fortune, and had more than doubled it by
his manufactory and speculations in stock
At IN evil hour, he engaged in banking
The temptation was great. Our entire coun-
try had run mad on the subject of banking.
Fortunes, like card houses, were run up ma
gically. The easy accumulation and con-
troll Of capital stimulated every branch Of
industry. Men of moderate means swelled
out millionaires; men without means imitat-
ed the millionaires, and grew rich, by ap-
pearing to possess what they struggled for.
Banking -houses sprang up at every cross
grew into cities-on paper. Every farm in
the West was subdivided into lots, and each
lot took an enormous valuation-on paper.
And the lucky owner Of anything found his
anything immensely valuable-on paper;
while the yet lucklier owner Of nothing fig
ured himself enormously rich-on paper
and lived accordingly. Everything was de-
monstrated on paper, everything was repre-
sented by paper, and the solid earth itself
bid fair to become unsubstantial in clouds
Of dazzling paper. Magnificent houses were
built on promises, and expensively furnish
ed with the same facility carriages were
purchased, to be drawn BY horses, paid for
by the magical sixty days, and were driven
by coachmen who spcculated in stocks
Clerks ON nominal salaries, gave extrava-
CANT balls to young ladies, who sported dia-
monds with hundred dollar handkerchiefs,
and wrapped their lovely persons in thou
sand dollar shawls. And SO the inflated sys-
tenn swung easily up, carrying the thought
less multitude, until there came the inevita-
bic collapse, and from fearful height down
they tumbled into frightful depth Of ruin.
Mr.. Johnston could not resist the tempta-
ton. In an evil hour he left his safe, prof
table business to become the President Of a
Bank, and founder Of imaginary cities,
wherein there were busy buying and sell
ing Of imaginary lots. His bank threw out
its circulation, not recklessly as others, but
yet beyond the dictates Of prudence. At
the time my little story commences, the first
fearful explosions broke upon business ears,
Like the tone Of the gun
That startles the deep when the combats begun"
All was confusi6 Md dismay. Mr.. Johns
ton saw men and companies he was forced
to rely upon, 90 down in rapid succession,
like bricks in row, and his own bank
threatened with run. To save this, he
promptly stepped forward, and pledged his
entire fortune to the redemption Of its notes.
This move was dictated by his pride as a
business man, and the remembrance that
these notes were in the hands of the labor
ing classes, and that the poor, the widow,
and orphan, would be the principal sufferers
in their depreciation or loss. Having made
this humane move, he waited impatiently
the result.
These commercial troubles gave occupa-
ton to new class of spectators, known
as Brokers. They were the terror of the
banks. First depreciating, by insinuation
and abuse, a currency they had their eyes
upon, they would purchase it up at heavy
discoont, and then unexpectedly present the
notes at the Bank, with demand for specie.
No clerk opened the door of his dim temple
in the morning but with fear and trembling.
No officer repairing to his polished desk, at
the magic hour Of ten, but regarded that
door with anxiety and watched each new
conner with suspicion. The fact that Mr..
Johnston had pledged his fortune to the re-
demption of the circulation did not help the
Bank. While the notes at a distance were
ut fearful discount, and so quoted, his
pledge of redemption made q dealing in
them, by the heartless brokers, or bears, so
they are called, comparatively safe. f't-
The morning was one of those mild,
breezy specimens of early summer, which,
redolent with the last breath of spring, had
not yet warmth enough to make one realize
the enervating effect Of our climate. Miss
Ella Johnston, habited in charming neg
ligence Of morning wrapper, which dis
played to the best advantage her graceful
form, arose from before the coffee urn, and
walked into the handsomely arranged parlor,
rs we are pleased to term the drawing room,
followed by her lover. Mr.. Barnetts care
fully adorned person proved that he had not
yet arrived at the hopeless state indicated
by neglected dress. Mr.. Clinton Johnston
had retired to, what it pleased him to cal, !,
the library. The aunt was engaged in house,
hold duties, so that the lovers found them
selves alone. This long hoped for advantage
was greeted, at first by only an awkward
silence. Ella, seated at the piano, ran her
delicate fingers carelessly over the ivory keys.
AT last, Mr.. Edward, in low, hesitating
tone, said
well, cousin, my visit is about drawing
to close.' t.E8-,
q am very sorry,' was the reply; and then,