New-York tribune., 1873-12-22

manic was greatly lessened To give an ldea Oh tue sums
ihus expended may we'll to mention an instance in
,vhicn leading firm OF brokers paid nearly $4,000 In
tcrest on borrowed money In single day anu on an
Govcrnm"n and miscellaneous securities paid. Tor the
nse of 81 100000 night $4,000 or ~ .ne re ~ 36'
ncr cent n, nunum Tho legal interest inr the same
,rmc wonId have been not quite $500 But, with the
wonderful recuperatiyc power winch usungulsnes
WaII.st The "bnlis" reganed their afcendoncv with
raturu of easy money and prices were au'ahceu "
the old figures.
CONSEQUENCES OF THE DEATH OF MR. CLARK.
In NAV the death of Horace +. Clark took fTom the
Vanderbilt party the only man of marked aoty which
1t possessed His individuality had MADE uncut Tor
him TO defer always to the wishes OF his vTannca
father nlaw Vanderbilt and in consequence they had
been somewhat estranged for several mohths' His
death however removed all obstacles to harmony in
the party the conditions OF such harmony peng un-
questioning obedience TO the wishes OF lts chlrI Mr.
Vanderbilt was elected to succeed Mr. oark as Pres
dent of the Lake Shore Railroad, an event Nmen was
celebrated usual by an advance OF soe zen per cent
i'm the prlce of the stock BY this election Vanderbilt
acomred The control of the 5000 miles Of railroad con-
Meeting the two oceans. In addition, nc owned the
larger portion OF several iess fn,dn au
COMPANY Truly it was position proud enough to daz
zle any aud the heart OF tue old monopost must
have tbroDbcd exultnSy as he saw az ast, us every
scheme successful and mol enemy left
or all In the world he coud pes, tal IL ,e si'e OF
IA unstable and underneath this brilliant exterior
lurked an element OF danger when lew appteclated
The stock Of the corporations named above amounted
In some $50 and OF this sun fully onehalf
ostensbIv nwned by the Vanderbilt family and its int-
mate associates But. has been already stated. In
Wail.st full payment Ia not considered necessary
preliminary to the ownership of STOCK, and here
Was the weak spot in this great structure.
In order TO carry tneir load. the Commodore and
bs friends were Obliged to borrow millions from the
supply of floating capital ID ne and 81 ohe o
institutions were constantly under heavy advances to
the party This Arrangement was eae yond sasaG
difficulty in procuring all the money tney heeued ana
they enjoyed great reputation ior wea'h ahd sa
GO
cured For the preservation OF tins cheerful condition
of affairs only confidence was necessary anu 50 long as
To- he wanting. The danger was. however, that some
thing might occur which should frighten the smaller
holders into throwing their loads on to the already over
hnrened principals In which case II was easy to
that if any one the few supporters or this great mass
of stocks should give way, the RUN would be much
swter and complete than if the stocks were gen
orally distributed.
GoUID's OPERATIONS N GOLD.
But the Summer passed quietly Money was in ample
supply, and the stock market firmly supported. The
only excitement was furnished by Could who not see
ing any promising field Of operations in stocks, and be-
ing by nature unable to remain quiet turned his aten-
tion to gold After several weeks of fruitess efforts
advance the premium. and repeat, in a small way. his
Black Friday operation he up beaten and retired
from the contest, having lost as the best informed
among his friends assert some s20C0OOO. This left him
shOrn like Samson of his chief element Of strength.
His superior power to command ready mopey hau gwen
MIN heretofore great advantage over the other large
specuators Now however, he was loaded with North
Wesf. and like them, without much cash capital.
PREPARATIONS FOR THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN.
As the Autumn app cached the "bulls" made extern
iye arrangements for an active campaign The abund-
ant crops the large earnings OF the railroads, and the
generally PROSPEROUS condition of the country were
duly set forth Naturally the Commodore led the
Great things we're predicted for Lake Shore and New
York Central based upon his magical mana cement.
But technically speaking western Union Waa . the
card" II was OF no use TO quote the Officers ana IL
at..ran nf fhp
STOCK not worth the ruling price which was about
IL reply IL said that Vanderbilt had vowed TO
ous these gentlemen at the pending election ana put IN
men who would talk he should bid them; that "a scrip
div dend would he declared, and that the stock would
probable limit Undoubtedly these were the COmno-
dore's intentions. lie had made great olunder IN
buying much OF the stock and his only way OF relief
was saddle the public with 1t. His previous expert
led him to think this an easy task But ne forgot
that times had changed since his coup dcat IN New
York Central in 1863 The example he mad set then had
been too generally followed by minor RAILROAD klngs
and tue word scrip had no longer any charms for the
ears OF men, In fact people had not the money, and
could not. If they would, operate as formerly. So IN
spite of the putting and the promises the speculation
but when they wished to sell they found tneir own
great railroad bankers aud stock spectators az
the commencement OF that series Of startling events
which Will make memorable for generations the month
of September 1873 Weakened. a. has been shown, by
the dmlnution OF deposits by the withdrawal OF the
public from active operations, by the imprddent as
sumption Of great burdens and by eNhaustng contests
themselves, the leading OF NaiIsl.
position where the slightest breathing of dstrt must
rum In tins condition OF affairs the customary
demand for money from the West began some weeks
earlier than was expected. The deposits of the banks
dWindled rapidly; and fears were entertained or re-
first event to cause alarm was the failure on the 9th OF
september of the NewYork Warehouse and Security
Company caused by too liberal advances on the bonds OF
a railroad III which two Of the cOmpany's directors,
Messrs. Francis 4. Skiddy and Sheppard Candy were
AS these gentlemen enjoyed high reputa-
tiOns for integrity and wisdom, and as they had retired
from business, with large means, years ago, Wnen half
the active men of Wast. were bows IN Jackets. their
naturally produced considerable uneasi
ness Four later and before this feeling had sub
sided, the suspension OF Kenyon Cox Co. was an
1Ounced. Among what are known " stock houses"
,ervatis aud integrity To be sure Mr. Drew. one Of
he was moi considered a model OF honor and
iberaty; but he had certainly shown remarkable
,hrewdness during his long business life, and his wealth
be SertWes p corner had used ap his cash resources
md placed him in the list Of borrowers Moreover, as
ndOrsed many OF the acceptances OF the road relying
IN sales OF bonds and the aid of the wealthy capital lists
Who building It, When the public ceased TO buy
bonds and when the agents could no longer borrow
IN Them suspension came inevitably.
DESPERATE STRUGGLES OF THE CLIQUEs.
While this failure made deep impression which
effected by considerable decline in the stock market
here were many walst. who professed to regard 1t
NJ of no special Significance; and outside the disturb
lnce was mentioned as "brokers' panic" Acting on
his theory and conscious that sefpreseryaton required
he maintenance OF prices, Vanderbilt and his friends
made desperate efforts 20 sustain their stocks. For
ew DAYS they successful; and their speciaties
Lake Shore. New-YOrk Central, and western Union
kept nearly TO the highest figures OF the season
But their rash action only made more complete their
subsequent discontinue: for others saw grave danger
IN the situation. They knew that men ike Skiddy,
Candy Drew and Cox rich themselves, and represent
Ing scores OF other capitalists would not have failed.
II human aid could have carried them through COnse-
quenty many sold; and the general stock market
sbadiiy declined The more the other stocks fell the
harder IL was Tor Vanderbilt to maintain his inflated
q
put te and as these constituted the chief claims OF
Cohnodofes specalties TO public consideration, his
TASK was not an easv one Moreover, he constantly
harassed by his old enemy, Gould, who was heavily
short OF stocks and eNerting all his power to depress
prices. sun bold front was maintained and the
dangers OF the situation made light OF unt Thursday
tne ,Vth. wheh, without warning sign, without n
visible effort To ts credit the great honso ~ I
Cooke 20 closed It's doors Then IL occurred people
that we We're 10 nave something more than brokers