, 1861-04-01
e Te Banks 80 How Can X4f
Te I'll HreaA.ss-Burns.


The closing days Of last week constitute IN
era In financial annals In thls city. It began
to be known by few In the secret that q
"ki1ling frost" was to fall due towards the
close Of the week, upon no inconsidera51a
share Of the currency ahoat in our business
. community, and the knowing ones got up a
gentle and quiet strife Of the !" stand from un-
der" order. Those nearer to the seat of the
Impending Crisis: commenced early to select,
OF. the general average Of loss, Is light a pos :
sible
/. It was wonderful to see how ingeniously
the currency was made to clip out, over greas-
ed track, and how carefully friction was in
stituted to prevent Its slipping in It quite
recalled the old tnle Of the Arabian Nights,
where the il1-tated hump back Of Bagdad
died one night {of g. fish bone In his throaf, ,swe
beiievel and there was directly scramble
among neighborB, and much sharp practice
upon the question as to whoee premises should
In the morning be found to harbor the defunct
corpus. They slipped him down chimneys,
tnnbled him down stairways, and gave the
most active exercise to the inanimate remains
an the GveloDg night. T.,
So Of our currency, humpbacked, with a
fsh-bone In its throat, every body among the
knowing ones made secret haste to be ready
for the dawning. And it came. On Saturday
the circle Of knowing ones widened rapidly.
II you can imagine monkeys handling hot
chestnuts you will not ask Of us better sim
;1a Thara ryao r,or7nf, hr;a1- runoinn1u4fou o.,1
there is now very pretty sum total Of burned
fingers. Meanwhile, everybody who was In
the ring, preferred checks to currency, and
gaye the Latter for checks with a freedom that
a1most indicated that millennial confidence,
golden age Of Faith had dnwned. And to
borrow from Milesian dialect, Faith il. hadn't.
The more serious aspects of really serious
where, and it only remains to give here a few
Of the features of the day and evening which
saw the issues Of thirty-five Of our Illinois
banks discredited- During the earlier part Of
Saturday there seemed to be very easy mo
ney market, with grain active, to judge from
the tacility with which holders Of wheat got
currency for the same, and some will scarcely
One speculator bought 10000 bushels OF
! wheat, paying In. currency. an episode grow
ing ont OF the same Is worth noting. When
the guillotine of the banks fell, one of the
parties who In this way held So GOO In the bills
80 suddenly diEcredited, came to the buyer in
question, and producing the package aVerred
ho had been overpatd 81 600. Would the buy
| es be good enough to take the bills back ant
pay him over again? The latter would not
! never msde mistake in counting money
| w=s sure he gave only 56, 900 and whether h
| did or not, stood on his dignity aud never. rec
titled errors of the kind; it wouldn't do, yo1
? see. The parties had a warm time over. thei
i hot chestnuts, and the buyer stuck to aiz pc
sition, the other claiming to console b amsel
with tbs 81 600 overpaid. Holders of u7ren
cy were plenty about town on Saturday ever
ing, and were generally such objects Of syn
pa.hy, and avoidance that doubtless We; sha
hear Of no pocket picked.
4 really serious feature in the case Or :curre
| in the matter of Saturday night wsge
+; Thousands Of dollars were paid ont to en-
| p1oyees, in many instances both parties. unau
| ri3ious OF deprecat1on. Inc 1oioefs VI tnet
small Gums of wages are really the nSst to
p;tied, for upon these, as being forced to rea
LIE, Tor present needs, will fail loss grieyo1
to be borne ty workmsn with fam illee, ar
small salary men with many mouth to fee
There will be holders of carefally saved lit
boards who will sadly see their visions al
hopes disstpnted. To all these there is b
one piece Of advice to b. given Do not EN-
NIT to heavy thavo. Hold your peace, al
| YOUR bills, and tbs real loss will be greatly Il
| sened Don't rash to the brokens to-day
tomorrow. Don'sinvest in gold al too hea,
sacrifice
There were creditors on Saturday ev ening vi
were surprised by the sudden sett1 ements
"tha. little bllI." Hundreds had hot chestnu
in their pockets, md called to mind their q
counts, aud posted off hot haste to get in,
advance of the news, and get their. receip'
We shall hear more Of this matter tor day. /
every right minded citizen be jealous to ma
it IS ligh: as possible. There will be "cak
md ale" yet, and dealers will yet in go
time take cur home currency unques1ioned
exchange for these aud other articles Of dvi1
in the good time coming. =.