National opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1865-1874, 1873-10-03
Wall Street In a Panic.


Jay Cooke T. Co.
Not since Black Friday has there beer
so great an excitement in Wall street
as ON the announcement of the suspen
sion of jay Cooke a Co. The Time,
says:
1t was wild day in Wall street. TIL,
announcements in the morning pre-
pared the public in Il certain degree fol
the trouble which was to ensue, and
many parties were enabled to go in the
market early in the morning and pro-
tect themselves from loss. While many
did this, and so saved themselves from
ruin, there were others, and by far the
majority, who thought that the trouble
was solely brought about by machina-
tons of the bears, and that there would
only be small-sized panic, which
would result in sudden rebound in
prices. Those who took this view of
the situation held on to their invest
ments as long as possible, and, so. soon
as their margins gave out, were COM
PEELED to go under. OF course, there
were many who, by superior strength,
were enabled to hold on to their pur-
chases, and so escaped being sold out,
ut least for the time.
The first intimation which came into
the Stock Exchange of any change in
the programme was contained in brief
notice, which said authoritatively that
JAY Cooke Il Co. had suspended pay
ment. 70 say that tn, street became
excited would only give n feeble view OF
the expressions OF feeling. The brokers
stood perfectly thunderstruck for mo-
ment, and then there was general run
to notify the different houses in Wall
street Of the failure.
The brokers surged out of the Ex-
q ange, tumbling pell-mell over each
her III the general confusion, and
cached their respective offices in race
horse time. Tie members of firms who
were surprised by this announcement
had no time to deliberate. The bear
clique was already selling the market
down III the Exchange, and prices were
declining frightfully.
VI course every one gave orders to |
sell out holdings as quick rs possible,
IN order to obtain the best prices, and |
III this way when the brokers returned |
to the Long Room a fresh impulse was
given to the decline, which brought !
about fearful panic. There was no
one on hand with nerve and money to
arrest it either, and SO the bear CLIQUE.
taking advantage of the general demon
alizatlon, made confusion worse con-
The news OF the panic spread in every
direction downtown, and hundreds Of
people who had been carrying stock in
expectation of rise, rushed into the
)flices OF their brokers and left orders
hat their holdings should be immedi-
'tely sold out. In this way prices fell
III so rapidly that even Vanderbilt
'ould not have stemmed the tide.
The stock exchange has been the arena
If many desperate conflicts between
'ulls and bears, and it is hard to dis.
as to the violence of the re-
pective melees, but it was said by old
of Wall street that no panic
o frightful had ensned since the failure $
i the Ohio Trust Company in 1857 as '
hat witnessed. q
The sellers and purchasers in the Ex- I
hange seemed to have lost their reason +
/ many instances, and shouted out one G
fer IN one minute, and then, either n
demoralized or oversanguine. +
ut the price up or down one or two per s
ent. At one time there seemed to be 7
o bottom to the market, and if the I
ears had pressed their advantage, it is s
kelly that stocks would have declined f
uch lower than was the case. g
Everything went down, and although a
times desperate resistance was offer h
by the Vanderbilt brokers, no sub w
ancial check was given to the decline, d.
ID the bears had everything their own ii
~. Jay Gould's representatives in di
e Stock Board pressed sales in the &C
ost persistent manner, and so soon as al
ere was any cessation in the excite &C
emit, or the slightest reaction in the M
lrket, they were ready to sell large pf
ocks of stocks and to put up the ne th
ssary margins. or
had immense quantities of lie,
,cks; Gould had millions of ready tn
'h. Greenbacks told, and the Van th
rbilt clique was pressed to the wall. al,
IN went about the street with blanch- tel
faces, and requested piteously of tn
sir brokers that their stocks should tb,
be sold out as more margin would fo,
obtained in the morning; but self so,
'servation seemed to be thefrst law of Ca
ure with every one, so the accounts we
the customers were closed out, and TIL
losses became fixed fact. of
'ome of the men who were ruined en-
IRE, some of them wept, some went in
of the street without saying a word; say
ers talked of the trouble in a jovial his
7, and went about trying to borrow DO,
ney from friends to get on the short reg
k with. nlo