Fair play., 1877-04-12
"Bl:,ck Friday"

tSmbcr. i>G:
September - wa> an "xcirin- and
cycn;ful day. witnessing IT, il did :. fierce.
struggle br:r-"n the bulls and bears.
Gold sold Il. III :j-> at $50 Gn Those
days il WAS lawful /" sell brf"r. the
li:i ,-s III ID. fell /" li:i III II, jump
el /" lII IL Il! > ID. AMI finally at > p.
M. closed a, IL; Is. This contest de
nI"n~,rai"sI iiii; The power "f the bulls,
Nh" h:'t Ill" market practically corner
ed. an! til" ''"a.~ retired with dismal
f"rrh",ii,i.r~ -! The morrow. There We're
iw" remarkable things noticed "n this
day. bnr VIZ ;hr immense clcaring- III
the Gold EXCHANGE Bank. and the other
the refusal "f lll,. bears II certain times
t" sell !" the bulls. although among
themselves they made sales IL I" -
per cent. below the current quotations.
Early on Friday morning, the 2ifh.
Street were crowded with excited brok-
cr>, and the expectation that the bulls
would push their adv:,ntag. AMI force
the prrmiEin up To l.:.. or tn lGo al
least. created intense excitement Buy
inw and selling began in the street Il; =
O'clock. bIIi il was 80 before the hot
~ li5 wa> snapped up in Il minute: then
there WAS :, decline 1" III -. then Il
Jump. quick IL thought. /" liG. and then
all WAS confusion. Men howlc,I like de
mons. pu>hin" AMI crowdng each other
in the harrow street a. though they were
dcmcn'cd; hu: despite the desperate raj
lies "f I'll" ''"Ar>. which now and then
caused :, break ri per cent. ar 81. in
one short half hour the premium was
run up I" 80. an advance of nearly
per crm,. over III" ci">in" prices "f the
night before Men looked at each 9th
cr in amazo,nen,. lazzlcd at such rapid
fluctuations
The rush !" The gold room al the
opening hour WAS indc>cribablc. Ia
tw" seconds after the opening of the
tu"r> the Room Wa crowded and in the
galleries and on the stairs leading Ia
them were crowds "f wazcrS come I"
witness the >iirfin" events the day WAS
expected +" hriu- forth.
On the floor. gathered around the
fountain in which PLAYED one of the
>p"riivr w",! ii-h. who lost his life.
through the excitement of this tempest
u"u> daN. were The brokers. huddlrd to-
grtirr like sheep in :, pen. ar calves in
4 butcher wa""n. i,u: still finding room
enough tn hram,ii-ii their arms and yes
tic,ilatc wildly. wiliic their lungs were
exercised with >arh rccklc>>nr-> that il
WAS Il w"n'ir" there were no blood-vr>-
Scl- burst. This iS no ",.r,lrawn picture
N"h"'lN >p"k" or talked. Every thing
was at high pressure. and every bid ar
offer that WAS made came forth in Il de-
m"uiac yrll Transactions Of millions
We're rrc"r,lc,! in Il second with trcm-
bin" hands. and then the half-crazcd
hnycr and seller pushed back into tllc
from! "f the circle again. and recon- +
mcncrd their Yelling. The scene was {: q,
it, widest at from ii toll | - am. I I,
fluctuations from /" I" / having b.i II
Sliwhl HuI when the bulls made Il h>i n
they came oil in overwhelming >trcrh. II
and in less than twenty minutes iht"'- "
mium WAS run M "a lG2 -. ThWa> t.:
the bid "f Albert >p"ycr>. = .i"ri,artd +.
broker. Whose y"ic" could lr he" III il
over the room and far uul into 'r";iu- m
WAY. His eyes prntr;Iied fire. 'he'r Il
sockets. his limbs ,r-ml,lcd lii leaves. k
auI in hi> iufcn>. cNci,cmrrthe per 4
Sptraii"m poured down hi-;ice Ike "
water. Others Were. there " ~ rNcitc- ~,
mcnl WAS tremendous. but WI tiii> man Ii
il appeared 10 hc Il mattcri he anu il
death. lie deal, with cmli''>> millions Il,
II though gold wrrr The ,l-> which IN" g,
hi-h-min,irj claim il Ia and >ili!. IL =,
he booked hi~ purchase clam"r"d for Y,
more. Hur !; wa> nn,itble that. even =,
while >pcyrr~ wa> bling 10" and II
I6n -. tin, bears and hers We're trad
in" among themselves l'''. =.
Then came Enu,w'> order I" But
->cHSi 900" gold to-mor- "
row and huv @i.o~." bonds" This =,
WAS Il cru>hrr. WA rush The brokers i,
r.rr,d out into pad Street" or sent :,
heir messengers. nd in a mnu'e-,ye>. -,
:, :. t,,>h one m;lt >ay-it WAS known Z
that the di>paicl'a> true, Down Went Y
n. premium ,oi". III" re>i~rle>> bears :,
CARRYING all bore them Again and =,
.,c,iu the bull.allied. once sending the :,
,,.;,.,. nm frn. 10 IL 100 II one Jump,