The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1872-09-19
somethIag About Nall street.

1Le New Ork CORES Sp0n0enE OF tll
/ Rochester Democrat contributes tht
/ following gossip:
It is eighty years since the mer
chants OF this city instituted a bank
and this being the only one in tn,
city it was called the "Bauk Of New
York; It was placed at thecOrnerO o
Wall and William streets, and thu:
attracted finance. The Bank of New
York still flOurishes. 1t commenced
with one bOOk-keeper and now has 6
score, and its stock is worth q large
premium.
As might be expected, it has the old
fashioned business men among its pat.
rOns, and one of these is Commodore
Vanderbilt, whose deposits range
from 81 900, 900 upwards. The bank Of
New York enjoys the distinction oil
being the centre of all gold operations
and the checks in the gold room are
always drawn on this institution.
Here the fOrgeries of Ketehum Gen.
tered, and from its vaults he drew
enormous sums, for which he atoued
in the penance of Sing Sing. Wall
street has been identified with gOy-
ernmental uses from an early aye.
The Treasury Office employ one
/ hundred clerks, all under the barge
of the sub-treasurer, who is ouI chief
| financial officer. In fact, the chief
employment Of the Treasury at WASH
ingtOn is, as they say, to look after
that in New York. Almost ali the
/ Governmental payments and receipts
are made here. Every day the gold
received at the Custom House for du-
ties is wheeled up to the Treasury in
a small hand cart. The distance is
about eight hundred feet, and the
amount averages S5OO,O The way
( they handle specie in this Institution
/ certainly strikes a stranger as free and
| easy in the extreme. The bags, con-
tanning S, 900 apiece, are tossed to and
fro as though they held gravel or
brickbats, and the clerks count up ST.
O0O,0O0 as easily and as rapidly as a re-
taller counts up his dimes and pen
nies. The safe is q large room, say
twenty feet square and about fifteen
feet high, with tiers of iron doors
about three feet long, ranging one
above the other. These are full of
bags containing specie, and at set
times they are counted, the surveyor
of the port being present on such Oc-
casiOns. There are about $50, 1000, 900
Of gold and gIeenbacks in store, and to
make the safe burglar proof the space
next to the street is filled with mus
ket balls, several thousand in number.
Now, il burglar should get through
the outside he would meet this loose
mass, which would roll out upon him
and sufficiently embarrass his pro-
gress.
The Treasury contains a number of
experts in detecting base coin You
may place a counterfeit gold piece in
heap of similar coin, and the clerk
will close his eyes, and pick out the
counterfeit by the sense of touch.
This man cannot tell how he distin-
guishes the good from the bad. The
faculty is indeseribable, and can only
be acquired by years of practice.
Panies always begin in Wall street.
The great pressure of 1887 commenced
with the fall of Josephs' banking
house. They were reported to be rich
and had just put up an elegant build
ing which cost $4,000, q large sum
then. Just as the contractor was
about to place the keys into the own
er's hand the building fell, and the for
mer had to bear the loss, which ruin
ed him. That day the JOsephs failed,
and the panic began. Twenty years
Observation-Disclosures great panic was
commenced by the failure of the Ohio
Life and Trust Company, and con-
tinued with fearful result for two
months, until every business man !
with a few exceptions had failed. |
Here, too, the gold panic on "Black
Friday" carried its work of destrue- |
tion, in September 1869; and should
any pressure again take place, it would
first be felt here. At present, how
ever, there is little prospect of any
such disaster. Wall street is full of
money, which is let at cheap rates to
any man who has security. Take
government bonds into any bank and
you can get a call loan at four per
cent.
I presume that hundred millions
might be borrowed in this manner.
Money centers here, and all the ffnen-I
cial operations of the continent can be
manipulated in Wall street. Hardly
a railroad is built that does not offer
its bonds here and you can ifyOu have
the means, control any such institu-
tiOn without travelling five hundred
feet.