, 1884-07-04
RIOT AND PANIC.
Fifteen Minutes Personal Experience
in the Mol of 'o3.
Jim Fisk in Wall street During Ia
Celebrated "Blnck PrIday"-
The Calm Behind the
Scenea.

foe Howard Ia Boston Herald
l recall three times OF popular excitement
In this city. yes, four. The panic of 1857,
when all the banks suspen led, Black Friday,
when Jay Gould ard Jim Fisk and the
Grants and the Corbirs were, what IL
vaguely called ain trouble" the riots of 1888,
an.i this latest rumpuS. In 1857 I wasn't
As competent to Idge as l nm now,
but l recall very vivrdlT the merchants
rushing to an FRI, the bs-rica ling of the
hanks, and The pale-vissged men who beat
vainy gainst the iron shitters- 1 think it
was about that time that Nathaniel r.
Banks, In many respects the best out-of.
'.oor speaker ! ever listened to, addressed
mel chants from the steps Of what Is now the
the custom house, then called the merchants
exchange. He made a great impression upon
me at the time, aud l thought he certainly
was To be one of the great men of the nation
IdOu't exactly know why hs isn't
THE RIOTS OF 1868.
But to retu. n to tue popular demonstra-
lions. The riots Of 1865 naturally made a
great impression upon my mind. because |
Aas IA sufferer at the hands CT a mob, aud l
recall vita absolute vividness at this time
now 81 years later-tbe expressions Upon
their countenances, what they sail, how they
acted, the way l was first attacked, how /
fe.t while being beaten, and now l acted
when l came TO, covered with blood, hat
gone, watch, chain, pocGetbook and breast
pin stolen. / was left for dead upon the
street, where l had been pulled and pushed
and kicked and beaten for ten or fifteen min
utes, aud where, doubtless, the cheerful work
OF death would have been accomplished had
not some friendly sons IT St. Patrick set fire
20 a bruwnstone house a block or two aw W,
uhither the Infatuated crowd rushed
with the same zeal as they had rushed at me,
because / had innooently stepped between IA
crowd of ruughs and an inoffensive old man,
who wns powerless TO help himself. You
see, the men 1 saw on the street in 81 were
merchants, clerks, brokers, men OF affairs.
well dressed, but pale and intensely eager in
their curiosity and In their desire to partici-
pate in whatever was going on. This crowd
in Us was the lowest of the low, poor, un-
iempt. dirty, pipe smoking, with soiled gar
ments, and dirty hands, and filthy Language,
and vioieIIt actions; IN other words, great,
coarse bruted, intent upon pillage and disas-
ter. Whewi | never shall forget them;
they looked like 50 many wolves, each e ,ger
for some. hing to satisfy his appetite. what.
yer that particular p elite might be for
the moment.
JIH FISK on FRIDAY.
The crowds in Wall street and in its
vicinity, on the Celebrated Black Friday.
when Jim Fisk rode down town In his high
falutin coach, with women by his side, ana
four horses dragging him in triumph through
the streets. were very large. There were not
only the banker and brokers and merchants
and men of affairs, but there were also men
who had made up their minds that this thing
mad gone far enough. and that something
must To lone and should be done. There
we're not alone the Spectators who make
Wall street their home, and tie respectable
merchants who deal in that vicinity, but
tntre were men who had been lured there b.
promises of big interests on small invest
nents," men who had seen their Ittlc
Ill Expand and expand AMI expand
until they had begun to bslieve In til.
.ullen yields OF tie bubble, when
ai4denly 1t burst These men were there fol
rev.uge, and they meant t. have 1t, and
would lave been a very cold day If, after
nee reaching Wall street, Fisk had ma,tt
Iis nppenraIo 90 in public. THIS crowd @
Wednesday was a curious crowd / re
ma lie t. u friend who walked with me
Why, this crowd dnesn't look as though l.
arc for a panic. cont see a person her
vuo looks as though he had ELS to his name
t alone a bank acc ,unt of any am unit" ]
went into the Adams Express company,
where l found Mr.. Dlusmore, the president,
All. Sauu AlOt1p MI SlalGuCe otWhTu, nn e
$ veral other gentlemen chatting pleasantly
about the opera, the coming races, and some
u K sales OF real estate that had ben made.
Now and tn n n boy would come in aud re-
Or, another bank gone, another firm failed,
but beyond the of Atoo bad, J." a
am sorry !" Il fraret tnat something OF thai
SIrt would buppen," no special attention was
paid.
ON THE sTREET.
went into a number Of banking houses.
and f,und them all cool, collected an calm,
a litlle worried about this customer or that
perhaps, but consci rus of rectitude, they
pressed the nose Of curiosity upon the pane Of
JbSel walton, and took the whole scene in.
Who. tn n. you say, were these people upou
the street, Well. l declare / don't know. H.
che tiIst place, l believe every thief in town
wa there; certainly, all tho detectives ]
know of were on guar. There were an i'm.
tnenSe number Of half-grown boys, smoking
their filthy cigarettes, expectorating Their
Almost as q thy tobacco juice, a great many
women, any number Of country looking
peop pie. Every bn ,letin board was surrounded.
md people would stand with mouths open
for h urs looking ut the closed shutters
Of u bank, Of Whose very existencs the day he.
fore they were entirely ignorant. Messenger
ooys, ~peddlers, lads selling extras, yelling
: ~ NtiO LEU . VA NOGA1cEhllODa, DNN=
lie who looked like drivers-so strange anu
odd indeed were the crowds, that PEOPLE who
were in the habit OF going up and down Wall
street looked Mt them with apprehension. ana
wondered what they wanted; they had no
tatec'st, obviously, in the banks, certainly
no money In them, AMI they presented n
curious PIass of New York society. For
tunes were made. fortunes were lost that
day. hut l have come t. the conclusion that
fortunes made with the turn OF the hands
upon a clock, in an hours time, are mucl
mpTr likely to b. dissipated or frittered ava
or lost than those which have a moro toll
some com ing together. Each crowd has its
individual aspect, and is ms unique and pc
culiIr as the entities OF which it is composed.
Queer, isu't in We bad a tough time, but il
luight have been wursel
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