The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-06-15
The Lower Board.

Our commercial readers out in Colorado and
other remote parts OF the Union must now and
then be considerably mysti6ed by illusions in
"money articles" which are perfectly inlellIgi-
BILE to the city readers for whom they are in-
tended, but which are pure Greek to everybody
else. The "Gold Room" the "Open Board,n
and the First, Second, and Third Boards, may
convey some tangible ideas TO those who have
had no practical experience in the Stock Ex-
change, but what idea can any reader in the
old Plute region have OF the Lower Board 2"
We presume none whatever and, as we have
leisure halt hour on our hands, which Is
rather uncommon occurrence, and as the
money market is easy, Governments" are
1rm, and Railroads" are duh, and we have
no puts to trouble us, If our country readers
Will accompany us, we will take look
at the Lower Board" The Lower Board is
sometimes called the Long Room; and as 1t is
comparatively new institut on, its nomenclature
Is not absolutely fixed. For great number of
years the Stock Exchange was held in Wall
street, in the back chamber OF an old dwelling
house, which occupied the site oil what is now
called Janncy Court; it afterwards was held IN
an upper room of the Meichants' Exchange,
now occupied by The auditor OF the Custom
House, after which it was removed to hired
apartments in South William rect; but it now
has building OF its own in Broad street. where
ii has drawn after it all the stockholders and
moneychangers who can find foothold in any
OF The cellars OF attics OF that neighborhood. The
custom mouse, the Su0-treaSuly, the mint. and
the Stock Exchange are all within stones throw
of one another, as they ought to be; and this
compacting ol the chief money marts of the New
World into SO small space max es the value of
the land in the immediate vicinity greater than
that OF any similar space on the earth. There is
a building competed on the corner of Nassau
and Pine streets, near by, intended for brokers'
and bankers Offces, which will afford a good
idea of the way things work in this neighbor-
hood. 1t is owned by family OF brothers, who
Came TO New York some ten or twelve wears ago
and rented place ior which they paid hum
dred dollars year. This building which they
have just erected has cost them million OF dol
lars, one-halt being paid ior the land on which
II stands; and 1t rents for abont two hundred
and fifty thousand dollars year. We know of
one man who pays seven thousand dollars a
year for one small Office in the basement of
this building. There are ''dIggings" in the
neighborhood OF Wall street, it will be seen,
that are very nearly equal to Gould & Curry,
Taking our departure from this marble Ell
dorado, we proceed down Nassau street, past
tie sub-treasury, with its Dorlc columns, and
discover in Broad street tall structure of white
marble, rising like Mont Blanc out of an arid
desert of brown sandstone. This is the Stock
Exchange; and we may enter it in Wall street
through richly ornamented whitemarble sort
of gateway, OF by plain doorway in a brick
front on New street, or through a Corinthian
poItico OF white marble in Broad street. We
will choose the later portal. The hour is four
p. M; an excited crowd OF brokers rushing
out OF the narrow passage-way of the "Open
Board" from brOwnstOne building near by,
and are making their way to the Lower
Board, into which they hurry, pell'mell, with
note books and pencils III hand. We will
let them rush in, while we stop in the vesti-
| bule to take look. On either side of the
entrance there is an immense window, COM
posed of two enormous sheets of plate glass,
| so bright and transparent that 1T requires an
| actual touch OF the hand to satisfy you there
| is anything there to keep out the wind and the
| ram. You look into vast hall, with tessel-
lated floor of red and white marble, and long
range of futed iron columns, with Corinthan
| capitals running down the centre on which rest
| the iron girders of the ceiling above. lofty
| flight OF broad iron stairs leads to the upper
story, in which are the spacious apartment OF the
| the regular board" ana on the STAIRS may be
] seen the figures OF famous men i'll the financial
world, ascending and descending, like the angels
| ON Jacobs ladder The vestibule OF this long
room is divided from the main apartment
! by raining and sort of wicker, at which sits a
! stout Cerebus, with double chm instead of a
double head. The broed shouldered, fresh com
| pleXioned gentleman near by is the lessee OF the
| Long Room; the double-chinred, goodnatured
| CeIebus to whom ne isespeakipg is the jani-
| tor or doorkeeper of the room, He keeps
| efficient watch to see that no one enters the
apartment who is not entitled to it by virtue
| OF paying a hundred dollars a year for the
| privilege, and a bluecoated policeman who
lounges near by, waits to seize any adyenturer
| who attempts to infringe the order oil the place.
| Pickpockets avoid the room by instinct, as they
! would be ins nstantly recognized and nabbed. The
| crowd commences pushing as it hurries in, and
| directly nucleus iOI Ratnerlng Is IOrIneu Dy
small man, with large moustache and note
book in his hand, who shouts, in shrill voice,
What is bid for old Southern" TFo or three
men shout in response, ''Ill give eighty buyer
three for two hundred old Southern "Nine and
tbreo-quarteIs;" ''Seven-eighths;" 'Whars the
price OF Erie?" "I'll sell five hundred Erie at q
hali;" who wants to sell Mariposa preferred
'l'll give an eighth for Quicksilverw Shouts
another, whats the price of New York Cen
talY "How'c Canton" "rhree-quarters fol
ReadingI Fourteen for one hundred Hudson
] Ri,eI;' ''Who wants TO sell Rock Islanj ~ "a