Morning journal and courier., 1886-12-16
PANICKx TImEs IN WALL STREET


 Brokers Nearly Frantic From Excite
 ment and Dread-On1y One Failure
 Reported Though the Air Was Thick
 With ERumors.
 NEW YORK, Dec. 15-Wall street barely escaped general financial panic to-day. It was 8 day of unusual excitement, which in the morning hours threatened to end in the collapse ot many banking firms and banks. Rumors of disaster followed close upon one another and the days of the memorable panic of May, 1884, when Grant and Ward, the Marine bank and other supposed solid firms and banks went under in the general failure were recalled. There was in fact but one complete failure the floor of the exchange and that was of firm which bore for nearly twenty years the bruut of every crisis. When the suspension was announced in the board it was quickly followed by reports of other like crashes and it is difficult to describe the scene witnessed from the spectators gallery of brokers nearly frantic from the over-in- creased excitement and strain. No more failures came however, although there were several individuals who barely saved themselves. At 10 o'clock the floor of the exchange was crowded with brokers. So great was the rush of business the brokers were unable to attend to the wants of their customers and the different reporters of the exchange found it extremely difficult to record the quotations as they
 were made. There was no reaction from the depression of the previous day, but the mark ct prices were taken where they had been left and were pounded steadily downward. It was a few minutes past Il o'clock when the announcement was made that L. Marx & Co.,, of 52 Exchange Place, were unable to meet their liabilities. Ludwig Marx is the sole member of the firm and has been doing business under this title for years. His firm has always done safe business and has been known as one of the most reliable business houses in the street. His liabilities will ag gregate about s1OO,OOO He settled his lia- bilities in the exchange and his present in- debtedness is to outside parties. The an nouncement of the failure added to the ex citement and rumors of other suspensions were numerous. It was said that 8 prominent bank was involved was denied at the clearing house. It was slid that the 1:30 o'clock settlement of the banks showed no indication of weak ness in any one and that the bank balances were satisfactory. Even those institutions which were essentially brokers banks and would be most likely to succumb in fnan- cial crisis were sound beyond doubt
 The next incident of the day which served to increase the excitement was the sale under the rule of nine hundred shares of stock to the account of Broker J. Rhinelander Dillon. MT. Dillon is representative of the Boston house of Clark, Ward & Co. MT. Dillon said the sale was due to a mistake. He said that he had bought the above shares from Boston parties and that as he was not on hand at 2:15 to accept the delivery the Boston people became frightened and sold him out. He settled satisfactorily and avoided suspension. Be- tweeE the hours of and o'clock the transactions amounted to 1S2, GOO shares, showing total for the days business of 1, ,106, ,000 shares, by far the largest amount of business ever done in the history of the exchange. The largest previous transactions were sos, ,000.
 There were two theories express ed as to the cause of the recent break in the market. One was that there had been so much wild cat speculation that prices had been put up to an unhealthy figure and that this break was the natural reaction. The other theory was that it was the result of an onslaught of bears, headed by Gould and Cammack. In speaking of the matter to day Henry Clews said. "The semi-panic was caused by the stringent state of the money market and by Jay Gould. It has been no surprise to me, as I foresaw the state of affairs some days since" Mr. Jesse Seligman saidi 'sIt has been brought about by general want of confidence which has resulted from the enormous recent speculation in wildcat securities The banks had become cautious in making loans on doubtful securities, and although this stringency caused the feeling evinced to day, it was in reality measure of safety, and to my mind has been the means of averting a still more disastrous sta-e of atfairs.n