The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1873-09-22
Black Thursday and Wild Friday.

Black Thursday and Wild Friday.
SCENES IN THE STOCK AND GOLD EXCHANGES
The suspension of Jay Cooke & Co., and the
number of failures which followed, more nu.
merous than ever known before, produced the
widest excitement in the financial circles Of
New York. 1t is said by old frequenters Of
Wall street that 40 panic so frghtfu had ems.
ued since the failure of the Ohio Trust Company
in 1857 as that witnessed Thursday and Friday
Money, rose rapidly in price, and from seven,
gold interest, became worth as high as one-half
per cent per day, with legal interest added.
THE BEGINNING.
When men went down to their business in
the morning it was whispered that drafts on
| great firm had been refused at its counter But
the firm was so great one, and the reports
fitted SO well with the manifest bear policy OF
| certain operators, that little heed was given
them. The market was in favor of the ''bear''
| clique, and the price of stocks generally fell.
Pacific Mail fell from AT to 81, Lake Shore
from 904 to S74 Amid the rush and fall,
while immense blocks If stock were shufled off
upon staggering market, the announcement
was made that Jay Cooke & Co, had suspend
ed and that the Northern Pacific Railroad was
burst" Immediately a rumor ran through
the street, aud men felt as if the bottom of
Wall street had literally dropped out and they
were all to 90 with it. For the moment no one
could understand where he Stood
AFTER THE ANNOUNCEMENT.
Then monstrous yell went up and seemed
to literally shake the building in which all
these mad brokers were for the moment con-
| fined. Messengers fed every way with the
| story of ruin, and down came the STOCKS all
along the line. Western Union had been at
| SSR in ten minutes it had lost ten points. No
| halves or quarters, or eighths were recognized
| ~ the sudden crash in that stock. A legion of
brokers whose margins were swallowed up in
| an instant swarmed into the exchange to save
| themselves by sudden sales, which with every
moment sent prices further down The strug-
Gle aud crush, the desperate fighting of buyers
and sellers, the triumph of the short interest
and the panic of the bulls, made the tossing,
suraing roo: a pandemonium which recalled
the darkest hours of Black Friday.
Not content with the disastrous fact, the
bears heaped upon it false report after false re-
port. involving the oldest houses in the street
| The members of firms who We're surprised by
| the announcement had no time to deliberate
| The bear clique was already selling the market
| down in the Exchange, and prices were declin-
| ing flightfully.
i OF course every one gave orders to sell out
| holdings as quick as possible in order to obtain
| the best prices, and in this wav when the bro
| kers returned to the Long Room fresh i'm
| petus was given TO the Decline which brought
| about a fearful panic. There was no one on
| hand with nerve and money to arrest it either
and so thu bear clique. taking advantage of the
| general decentralization, made confusion worse
| coDfOunded.
When Western Union gave way the whole
| market went, and the Vanderbilt Investments.
| such as New York Central, Lake Shore and
Harlem, could not resist the general onslaught.
As soon as it became evident that the attack
upon Western Union was successful, and that
panic could not be averted, the bears began
to sell New-York Central, Lake Shore, aud
Rock Island in large blocks, and seemingly
with the utmost reckessness. The bull clique
in Western Union, the members of which are
large holders of these stocks, being weakened
by the panic in their fayorite speculative spe-
cialty, could not resist the onslaught, and
prices tumbled down like roof about the head
of the occupant, until good dividend-paying
stocks were sold lower than has been known
for years.
ON THE STREETS.
From the first announcement of the suspen-
sion until after the final closing of the Stock
Exchange, the sidewalk at the corner of Mas
! sau and Wall streets was beset by throng
| which all day changed in its elements but not
in numbers. Most were drawn by curiosity
and stareo in dull way at the windows of
Tue uuUtl tilc ppliCe Udue THEM
move on. The ''panic BROOD were there :
| men who are seen in the street only in times
| like this, cool and collected, looking to find
their account in the beaten-down market and
then to disappear until another crash in stocks
IN WASHINGTON.
The scene at Washington on Thursday morn
! ing was quiet. There was hail in the air some
where, but nothing to indicate storm about
the marble building of Jay Cooke on Fifteenth
| street. At the hour of noon. while depositors
| were standing about the paying teler's counter
| with their checks properly drawn, and an at
mosphere OF serenity about the establishment,
a fat, ruddy faced gentleman, commonly called
| MCGOWAN, with the authority of a special
| policeman. ordered everybody out of the bank
| ing house of Henry d. Cooke & Co. If mid
| day robbers had assaulted them and attempted
to seize their checks and drafts they would not
have ueen more astouiShed.
| SECT out, gentlemen, get out-the orders are
| to close the doorsp' Unpaid checks were ex-
| tended over the counter, but no one appeared to
| receive them. "Gentlemen, you must get ut;
| my orders are to close the door, and you must
leave" a half dozen business men, who have
| deposited with this firm for years. reluctantly
| turned thei- backs on the counter: and. as they
! reached the marble steps and heard the slam of
the doors, stared in each others face, and said,
| Is il possible? What time is it? The house
of Jay Cooke & Co. has really failed. For a
| firm with their backing would never have suf-
| fered moments financial embarrassment I'M
less they have exhausted.their last source of re-
| lief"
| WILD FRIDAY.
One week earlier than the Black Friday of
| four years ago, the Wild Friday of 1873 came
and went. 1t came with the fall of Fisk and
HATCH as that had followed the suspension of
| Jay Cooke & Co., and it lett the street with
| twenty firms broken, credit lettering, and men
| looking with dread for the morrow Friday
morning stocks were opening at the closing
prices of Thursday-a slight rally from the
points reached after Jay Cookies fall. Then
the news of Fisk & Hatch's suspension beat
them down. All day upon the dem0ralized
market gloomy news was rained. Failures
singly and 10 patches of half dozen at once;
rumors of failure without number; no news
| from Washington; the calling in of all loans
by the banks, and the fual apotheoss of the
| spirit OF distrust made the street WILDERNESS
TO wolves Advances TO railroads, taken with the
dlsruSt OF depositors, felled Fisk 81 Hatch. as
they had felled Jay Cooke & Co, Thursday
! Down went railroad securities OF all kinds. uu
I'll the Commodore fought up his line and car
RED up. others 10 reyiving market New
York Central went uD after one o'clock. Har-
lem sprang up with it. Up went Western Un-
ION from the abb SIS into which it had fallen
Lake Shore followed suit; and SO with the
whole list, Uncle Daniels "Wayhash sheers''
Included. Daniel was not heard from. but il
was said OF him that he might possibly have
found his account il the bear market earl in
the day and the day before. Jay Gould still
glimmers vaguely as the author Of much OF the
desperate artificial hammering raIned upon
stocks of all kinds but nothing definite could
be learned of his actions.
AT THE STOCK EXCHANGE
when Trinity's chimes announced ten O'Clock
the hour for the opening. pell-mell the broker;
poured yelling and swearing through the por