The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1875-09-16
RALSTON'S FALL.
How He Was Driven to the Wall by Flood
O'Brien-The Death Struggle Be-
tween the Money Kings of the Pacific
Coast.


O'Brien-The Death Struggle Be
tween the Money Kings of the Pacific
Coast.
The telegraph, says the Chicago
Tribune, has already brought very full
and vivid accounts of the scenes which
transpired in San Francisco on the day
of the collapse of the Bank of California
and the events which have happened
since. The mails now suggest a very
suggestive picture of what occurred on
the day before the Bank of California
succumbed, when the "Kings" of
money ON one side and Flood & O'Brien
| ON the other were waging the death
struggle which was to end in the utter
discontinue of one or the other. The
scene reminds one of the conspiracies
and desperate efforts of the gamblers on
memorable nights to break the faro
banks of Baden and Ho,nburg in Ger
many. There was the same terrible ex-
citement, the same desperate, reckless
use of money, the same relentless fury,
the same energy of despair. Thu Ophir
mining stock was the objective point for
the possession of which the rival Kings
of the Bonanza were struggling. Flood
& O'Brien wanted Ophir as one of the
most important links in a chain of mines
they are determined to have. To get
Ophir, they must make Ralston let go of
it, and to make him or the Bank of Cali
fornia let go, they must tighten up the
money market; in other words, put
Ralston's hands into a wise and squeeze
them until he was compelled to drop the
stocks he was clutching so desperately.
They brought every trick and stratagem
known to the unscrupulous and cunning
capitalist to bear upon this process to
make the bank crowd unload Ophir.
Having bank of their own with large
capital, they used this as the principal
battering-ram against the Bank of Cali
fornia. They loaned money less freely.
They flooded the market with other min
ing stocks, running the prices down SO
low that every one could invest. Then
they made their first serious assault upon
the Bank of California by Withdrawing
nearly 81, 1000, 600 in coin deposited in it
and locking it up on special deposit
elsewhere. Thus Flood & O'Brien kept
on until they had succeeded in locking
up S7,OOO,O 600 in their own vaults, s.
600, 900 more in the savings-banks,
and several millions more in the coun-
| trv.
When this ten millions was securely
locked up, Flood & Brien had
triumphed. Ophir went to the hammer
at ruinous rates, and fell into the hands
of the enemy. Then came the whispered
suspicion that the Bank of California
was not able to, redeem its deposits.
Then one, ten, a hundred depositors
checked out their money. The rush of
excited and alarmed depositors then be-
gan. Thousands rushed for their
boards. The bank could not get the
gold to meet all these demands ON sight,
because Flood & O'Brien had locked up
the gold securely. The other banks
could not help, because in the tightened
money market they must save them
selves. Ralston was hemmed in on
every side. He was completely en-
veloped in the meshes OF the net thrown
over him. He could not expect Flood
& O'Brien to relept, for it was Flood &
O'Brien's programme to break him
down. This was what they were fight
ing for. He could not expect the other
banks to help him, for the wise was
squeezing them also, and self-preserva.
ton is the first law of life. His OWL
stockholders, who were amply able to
help him, were displeased with his reck
less management of the bank, and would
not come to his rescue. He was alone
in the midst of his enemies. The ancient
Greek Nemesis was not more implacable
The inevitable crash came. The banl
collapsed, and the wretched victim went
to his death, like the haggard gambler
who, having ventured all upon the throw
of the dice and lost, puts the pistol tt
his head and fires. But the Kings O.
the Bonanza got the plunder for which
they had fought.
And Flood q O'Brien will rule the
moneyed realm of California until some
more powerful or more cunning riva
unseats them and their bank in turn col