The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1872-09-21

and a "corner" In Money--Drew'
Smith and G o uId - Extraordinary
StrIngency in the Money Market-The
Rate on Call Put up TO 225 Per Cent
GENERALIZATION Of the stock market-
Gold Remoneifzed md Lending Ut
One and q Half Per Cent Per Day
Tuesday last was q very eventtul and exclt-
Ing day In the financial circles OF New YORK,
ewing to the corner in Erie (Which had been
In proeress for O day or two prevlous,) being
supplemented by a corner In gold, and a sud-
den and severe striagency in money. The
New York Herald, of Wednesday, says:
a ERIE "CoRNER."
with which public attention was occupied since
Friday last, has been followeda and attended by
voc other speculative denouements OF o eimi-
lar character. While the people have been
watching with curious interest the great TIL
partite conference at the capital of Germany, o
great triple s'corner" has been preparing III
Wall street, the subjects embraced being 30
leas various than Erie Railway shares, gold
and money, the progress OF the corner" De-
ing In the order specified. Indeed, II Is now
quite evident that the corner 10 Erie was
inc father of the ''corners" 10 gold and IN
money, and begot the latter, not as things
usually are begotten, Tor love, but for revenge.
The speculation and the relations Of the par
lies interested In all this curious matter make
q combination and complication parallel TO-. II
not as ridiculous, as the famous
TRIANGULAR DUEL
of Midshipman Easy. At least the position OF
the several parties whose conflicting Views OF
the market led to their %antagonism has placed
them each at the three points OF q triangle, Inc
one opel aiing against the other IN aoont az
original b heId OF combat as Wall street, IN lts
diversified history, has ever seen. Inc 0rS,n.
ming of this remarkable situation ol AFFAIRS
dates back 10 the latter part OF lost week,
when a pool In Exchange place locked up all
the certificates of Erie stock which they owned
and could control, precipltaling d corner"
that has proved d most costly one 10 Inc ope-
rstors for a decline. 1t is q sort oil tradition IN
Wall street that the great scarcity OF a stocX 10
nrice In the market. Hence Erie grew
scarcer day by day, despite the heavy closing
of .'shorC' contracts by parties unwilling 10
nav the rates tor borrowing, the places OF
whom were Immediately and more than 1lled
by the hosts OF professionals who acted on the
theory of speculation referred 60. AS IL 10
Justify the reputation Of Wall street for Inc
F1CKLENEss OF FORTUNE
,bereIn the rule didn't work this year, doubt
less because, like every good rule, 1t mas its
exception, and the exception happened JUST at
thIs time. The immense dividends which Erie
was thus paying its owoera, averaging aoool
fifty dollars q day 10 each possessor Oh . nuai
drsd shares. tempted the venerable Daniel
Draw. who is always On the lookout Tor diV1.
dend-paving Investments, and has secured
nuite q number of them. such as WABASH, Can
tun and Quicksilver. He became . purchaser
To Inc extent of many thousand "sheers," out
whether CONFORMITY with the original pool or
independently Of them is not very clear. inns
point ia not of Importance, however, olher as
opinion NAV US 10 whether The pool unloaded
on Mr.. Drew or struck hands with him tor q
further earning of these very remnneratlVe
dividends. The street Is rather inclined to the
belief that
DANIEL DREW
now sustains the Erie corner all alone; but
r. ia hardly probable that The pool had lime
to transler their enormous holdings 30 soon,
even il disposed 10 abandon their speculatlon.
Now Mr. Drew In all this prepared lot nln-
self q sea of trouble, at the same Time tnaC ne
had been cogltatlng The extraction OIL lurther
dividends from his Erie shares, the money 10
pay which was to come not from Tue .IanlC
of the road, but from the hard-earned savings
of the Industrious operators who had been
selling the stock short. To buy 30 much Erie
as was requisite to keep up the corner
was necessary to have money. NOW LIT.
Drew la a yery rich man, but his wealth is not
always readily convertible Into cash, and a
THE LOOSE CHANGE
which he habitually carries about with him IN
wall street has been locked up In bis favorlte
Wabash, Canton and Quicksilver. 10 pay LOT
his newly bought Erie he had, OF course, 10
borrow money, and II was the demand from MIN
on Monday that caused the sudden advance 10
Inc rate Of loans on that day.. 1t may seem
curious that he should have TO borrow money
nnon a stock which was lending not only free
ri interest. but was worth something for use,
and the explanation Is, that 10 make the STOCK
scarce enough TO maintain the corner he had
IN lock up and put away and sick money Ia
two-lhirds of the stock which ne bought.
Meantime, another operator OF rising lame,
whose history and whose exploits In the mar
ket 20 back 10 the early days OF
TIE OLD ERIE POOL,
and whose career has been more brilliantly
successful as q leader OF the great reaction IN
stocks following The depression caused by Inc
Chicago panic, had been looking aoouG ior q
complacent repose upon the fence. He had
been bulling gold all summer, and had got 1t
az nigh as ll6i, when he found The rates
AGAINST him In the unusually low rates for
f6re:rn exchange and the exceeding folly OF
Europeans In continuing to buy our govern
ment and railroad bonds. He did the phllo-
sophIcal thing, aud quietly sold out before his
confreres In the movement knew oil the change
in His sentiments. Gold fell to ll2t, illustrate
inc the saracIty which caused him 10 change
his Views of the market. While endeavorlng
to see what the future promised, Mr. Smith,
that is his name,
uENRY N SMITH.
looked goldward, and lts trmness In the vi
cinity oil ll3 tempted him 10 think that with the
existing oversold condition of the market 1t
would not be O bad Idea 10 buy gold again.
He was not largely interested, however, until
toward the close of last week, when the en-
thus!asm of Jay Gould won him over to q full
espousal of the ''bull" movement, the policy
proposed being not any great advancement OF
The premium, but a rapid and close ''cerner"
upon the stshort' interest, which, reposing in
tancied security, had been gradually growing
In proportions. At the same time hat the ar
rangemenis were making Tor the conduct OF
the speculation In gold, the Views of Mr..
Smith as to the future Of the stock market
were found TO have conceded with those OF MIR.
JAY GOULD,
who had been, was and still is, If all the signs
be true, .tshorL" of Erie 10 q very large eX-
tent. The par mobile fratrum Of so many a
desperate Wall street venture again became
allies and were In the field. The hesitaling,
cogltating Smith had given over his indifer-
ence and bpcome au active, energetic ''bear."
When Mr., Drew bought his Erie u great deal
of it came from Messrs. Smith aud Could.
The consequences must be toreSeen. A battle
was inevitable, and Wall street has witnessed