The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1875-09-09
The "Run" Oh the Bank of California.

| u.oo, HleuluHl, S4iJtUo.uU.
The Run" Oh the Bank of California.
1t was not until one D. m. that the
officials Of the institution became much
| alarmed. About that hour several checks
for 100000 or 100000, or similar
amounts, came to be cashed from deposi-
tors not usually disturbed by rumors of
financial trouble. All these were paid
without a murmur, but they kept on in
creaslng The scattering drops became a
| quiet patter, and the patter became heavy
| shower. By two o'clock the steady with
| drawal of funds had quickened into a
rum which attracted attention and drew
| crowd OF spectators about the doors The
| news ran along the street like a prairie
flfe, causing the greatest CommOtion
among brokers and operators, who rushed
toward the center Of interest, some with
! bank-books in their hands, others simply
inspired with desire to join in the ex-
! element As the news spread to the
! adjoining streets, and into the quarter of
the city devoted to heavy business,
| it aroused everywhere the same attention
Stores and workshops were empued
| OF their occupants, either to see the excite
before the hour for closing the bank.
which was now at hand. The people thus
led by curiosity or interest sueamec from
all quarters toward the corner of Calil 1rnia
| and Sansome streets, filling the space in
that locality for square in every dIrec-
ton. AT half-past two the excitement cul-
minated in scene OF extraordinary inter-
est, which could be taken in at a glance
from an elevated position. The Streets
We're thronged as far as the eye could
reach, the crowd being quiet in certain
places, in others alive with motion. The
! steps OF all banks and offices were packed
with spectators. A pale face was seen at
every pane of every window Wild men
We're rushing in all directions, papers fut-
tering in their hands, and among them the
inevitable handbook. Pale women, with
| disordered hair and dresses, began to ap-
pear, giving the scene little variety Of
color, and striving vainly to reach the mar
row entrance at the door of the Bank of
California, besieged with crowding, strug-
Cling, obstreperous, white-faCed men.
The scene at the DaDk-dOOr was so wild,
| eager, confused and tumultuous that it
can be but imperteCtly described. Po-
ilCemen, in uniforms and without, were
scattered about in all available places to
keep the crowd in the best order possible
under the circumstances. The great iron
door was closed, and through the little
narrow door in the center, like the en-.
trance to prison cell, the panicstricken
depositors crowded, pressing their way
between serried ranks of ragged, moneyless
spectators, TO whom the failure of all the
banks in the world would not have been
matter Of the slightest consequence. An
effort was made to keep out those having
no business inside, but it was only par
tally successful Those who came for
deposits We're largely brokers clerks and
the representatives of business men in the
lower part of the city
The scene inside the bank was even
more intensely exciting than that outside
A crowd lined the counters from end to
end, nervously showing checks under the
noses Of tClers, who glanced at them and,
as their only answer, showed over to the
excited men who brought them little piles
of gold or great piles and boxes Of silver,
Every teller had a white, scared look, and
the book-keepers and the faces of clerks
seen at the distant desks, looked CHASTITY as
snOw-drifts in the moonlight. Now and
then bank trustee was seen fitting about
in ghastly way, disappearing m the di-
rection of the rooms belonging to the
officers. The old Chinese elsrk,r who
! must have been contemporarYswith Con-
fucius, sat on a high stool, gazing wisely
through his spectacles, which are large
| as watch-crystals at the halfcrazed crowd
pressing forward for Their money.
Great piles of gold and silver coin
glistenei on shelves just beyond the reach
! Of those 50 vociEerously demanding it. The
clink of coin fairly drowned the din that
came from the thronged street through the
| narrow entrance. The crowd increased
rapidly from two o'clock until halfpast
two, when there was scarcely room for
! them at the counters. Then the manage
ment decided to stop payment, and so tel
egraphcd to their Eastern correspondents.
| At 2 30 the little door swung to in the
faces of several anxious depositors. An
effort was made from without to push 1t
| open, but the policemen with strong arms
showed it to and drew the heavy iron bolts,
! forbidding further ingress. Then the
crowd began beating a fierce tattoo, to
which the tellers and clerks who stood still
| in theirplaces listened with a faint smile
| of satisfaction and a deep-drawn sigh OF
| relief But the mission of the great Bank
| of California was ended. a
After the bank had closed its doors a
| woman, having evidently crossed the Ru-
bicon, but ghastly with paint and rouge,
vainly endeavored to climb into the bank
through closed window, declaring she
would have her money, every cent of it,
| and if her John wasn't out to Sister A9i-
| calls, in Amador, he'd see that her hard
| earned savings wasn't stolen, you bet your
| life he would Only desisting after find
ing that entrance was entirely out OF the
| question, the frantic woman departed,
| wringing her hands and protesting amid
torrents of tears that never again, no,
never! would she put hermoney in strange
| folks hands to keep for her as long as
there was spade to dig hole in the
ground with to bury it. There! And SO
| ,he perturbed female departed and was
| lost to view from California street.
While the run was at its height an old
| Californian, having the highest faith in
the Bank of California, struggled syainly
| for entrance declaring that he had $40,0 900
| which he would deposit if the crowd
would open its ranks and allow him ad-
| mission. But the throng, drunk with ex-
citement and alarm, paid no attention to
the protesting individual, who struggled
| and shouted until he was exhausted and
| speechless, when he strobe away breathing
husky anathemas upon the "plaguy cow
ards who thought the bank was going to
| bustt"-Sda Francisco Chronicle, dug. 81.
|
THERE has resided near the Stone Cor
raj, in this county, for number of years
an old man by the name Of Barber, who
made vow many years ago, when Henry
| CLAY was candidate for President, tina
he would never cut his hair until Clay
| was President This old man has liveG
the life of a hermit, and last week ht
went over to Marysville and was found
dead in bed. The machine had rur
down, and he passed to the other side te
Join his great idol, Clay, but his vow
was never broken.-Cal,sa (Cot.) Sun
Aug. 21. AAt.s
A SEA Captain, off Massachusetts, has
caught a sea-serpent. He espied it to the
larboard and gave chase. Coming up witt
it, his vessel gave it fearful dig, stunning
it so that the crew could take it. Upor
examination it proved to be of the species
sugar hogshead.
1! "A certain ward in Memphis has ont
dog to every two voters. 1t should be a
1 e rSpf