Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1858-03-19
From an English Paper.
O'ConneIl and the Irish Bank Crisis.

A correspondent, who has written for the following
sketch, says, 1t may be useful knowledge for
Establishments in the present monetary conjuncture" He
further adds the of OConnePs best hits
and of which he very fond of Boosting
A was being made for gold by the peasantry of
the surrounding counties and crowds of camorous
reze coats mi ht be pushing and fighting at the
doors of all the banks in l. The - Bank, how
everwhch has since proved itself to be as solvent as
any establishment in Ireland-enoyed at that time the
best confidence, and was of course the set upon
had few one pound notes, and though believed they
were very good if people would only have faith in them
STILL as feared the panic itself might bring about the
catastrophe it apprehended and was sauce qui pe,a
everywhere thought it would only be prudent in me to
save myself; so mounted my nag and trotted with my
bundle of notes into L.
| On arriving at the bank door, the Babel of mixed
Irish and English terrific. Men and men, and men
and women tugged and struggled together for precedence
and hear the exclamation There, you have torn the
coat of my back making as much fuss about your dirty
thirty shilling note as if 1t pack of tenpounders
you had'' Oh me, oh me- shrieked woman in
certain condition, who affected to faint in the vain hope
that they would let her the door. CAS- you are
satisfied now that you have murdered the unborn babe
and its poor mother just let me pass for the love of
St. Patrickit's only one pound note have and they
won't be jfey serving me-"
"Amah, yell be served cried out droll fellow on
the verge of the crowd; here's the Chancellor coming
and bag of gould on his back
and there enough could see approaching the bur-
y figure of QConnel, who of the directors of
the bank, and had just arrived from Dublin. He had
not exactly bag on his back but he carried parcel
in his hand.
LET me pass, my good friends" said he, and YOU
shall be served" And he pushed shoulder foremost
through the crowd who made way for him. and gave
three hearty cheers for the Chancellor as he passed
The Lberator, he called, might have been
twenty minutes in the bank, when hurrah raised
| f,oo @lo,o Il
! tell you, cried fellow, crushing his way out, and
blowing with his breath to cool five hot sovereigns
which he had held with difficulty in his hand Didn't
tell you the Counsellor would settle it? There they
are at it hard and fast allow chambers on melting
day. making sovcregns like wnky and they are shovel
ing them out upon the counter hot broled prates
from pot" and he blew again upon the sovereigns
and he held them up again to be touched Seeing and
feeling was believing, and there enough was gold
warm, as if from the crucible
"GlOry to you DAM shouted out the crowd who now
really believed that the Counsellor was making sover-
elgns IN the back parOr to meet the run whats the
use OF crpshng-you can't break bank when they are
melting out money like that
My curiosity at its height So with one tremend-
Gus effort, gained admission and there sure enough
the clerks ladng out hot sovereigns from copper
scoops to the people, who crowding to the counter and
who swapping and blowing their fingers were picking up
the coinslas you might pick up roast chestnuts.
They say the rse was not new one, and that Con-
uClI oHIy lCFfcu III Ill uc CAST vi Ile banK
but it was not the least meritorious on that
account The clerks were really engaged in the
back paflor heating the scveTegs on reshoyels over
large lire and rushing out with red faces and in u-
rious hurry they threw them hot all hot to the cash
iers who counted them out with iron curling tongs to
the customers who believed that the work of coming
was going nnumerabe crucibe in the back par
lOr
The plan had double advantage. 1t inspired conf
dence and made the process of money taking so slow
the part of the public who were perpetuay burning
their fingers that the bank, with very limited supply
was able to meet demand, which, under the circum-
Stances necessarily slow. The clerks could serve
the people as fast as the people could count the hot SOW
ereigns.
The fose, which had almost instantaneous effect in
alaying alarm OConnel maintained was perfectly jus
tifiable. From ignorance, panic, which might have
proved fatal to the bank arose. and he thought he had
right to aIay by playing on this popular igno
rance bank that could serve sovereigns at will from
an oYen could never, of course want gold, in the mag
nation of simple people