St. Paul daily globe., 1891-09-13


long run. But it was very hard to re-
sist the temptation, aud then, Joe had
a reason for yielding which might have
upset far more level judgment than his
was at the moment. He had a million
aire brother in San Francisco, who was
notoriously deep in the councils of the
mine managers. Now to this brother
Joe had gone, and had asked him for
pointer" The answer, given in a
hearty and confidence-inspiring tone,
had been: Buy Sierra, my boyl Buy
Sierra. and don't be in hurry to seIl!'
And Joe accordingly bought Sierra with
all the money he could raise. He han
$4,000 of his own that was his business
capital 1t all went into the ''boom."
Meantime, the stock continued TO rise.
Monday il went to 225; Tuesday to $50;
Wednesday to 265: Thursday to 2T5. Ali
this time the agitation in the community
was indescribable. There was no
place in which men, women, and
even children, were not discussing
Sierra Nevada. At every meal
when people = came together;
in the saloons. the barber shops, the
theaters. business offices. on the street
everywhere, and from early morning
to late at night, this one topic absorbed
and obScured all others. Every yestige
OF prudence and caution had long since
been cast away. The gambling mad
ness had possession. The faces on the
street were representative of nothing
but fierce avarce and burning rapacty.
Virginia City reSembled a Pandemoni-
um. No other business than that of
stock gambling was thought of. The
working miners spent every dollar they
could raise in Sierra Nevada, and hun
dredS of them sold or mortgaged their
little homes for the purpose. The
pawnbrokerS drove a roaring trade dur
ing those days, and no matter how deep
ly the people were involved. scarcely
one of them thought of selling.
1et the fact was that the ''bOom" had
eliminated. 1t had from the beginning
had no solid foundation, and, in the alb
sence of any further good news of the
alleged new ore body, it was inevitable
that reaction should come. But after
the manner of all 'booms," the gam
blerS continued to hang on and to hope.
Men who thought themselves coldly
prudent, and who had actually sold out
when the stock reached 200. could not
resist the temptation of the further rise,
ARA plunged in again, buying more
franticaliy than ever. The millionaire
brother of Joe McGirk had promised
to let the latter know when
it was time for him to ''un-
load" but no warning reached
the young broker, and, if it had, it is
very doubtful whether he would have
paid any attention to it. So, two weeks
passed, and the second Saturday closed
with Sierra Nevada apparently firm at
205. The following Sunday proved an
anxious day. Somehow a great many
people had made up their minds TO sell
on the coming Monday, and, as if to
confirm this resolve. ugly reports crept
about-coming none knew whence-and
causing cold chlllS to run down the
backs of spectators. McGirk at last
realized that the end of the "b0om" was
at hand, and he telegraphed to San
Francisco TO sell his stock as soon as the
board opened.
Il was too late. He could have sold
out on. Saturday and withdrawn with
fortune. On Monday the bottom
dropped out of Sierra Nevada. No
sooner was the board open than the
trying to unload, and there were no
offers for the doomed stock. Panic
quickly succeeded. The quotations
sank with appalling rapidity. Nobody
was holding up the stock. The market
was literally sWamped with it. Fortunes
that had grown like Jonah's gourd
shriveled in an hour Margins were no.
where. Ruin stared the boldest in the
face. Joe McGlrk realized the extent
and implications OF the collapse, and
he was crushed by the disaster. For it
was not alone his own capital that was
swept away. He could have endured
that, being used to ups and downs. But
his advice had ruined his sweetheart,
poor Grace EnsOr. and it had put their
marriage Indefinitely out of the Ques-
ton. Joe felt that he could not face
Grace as yet. and since nothing could be
dose TO help her, he resolved to 90 to
San Francisco and "haye it out" with
his brother, who had failed ID warn him
in time.
The interview did him no good. His
brother took his reproacheS very coOlly,
and, when he had freed his mind with a
good deal of energy, merely said:
Joe, that's all nonsense. There is
no friendship in business, and if you
don't know it, you're not fit to be in
business. | wasn't going TO sacrifice
my interests and those of my associates
TO save you few thousand, and, besides,
L knew that If | gave you tip you'd be
sure to tell somebody else, and the
whole thing would have been blown.
If you had shown any common sense in
the matter l might have helped you
out, but the tour you've taken lets me
out, and so you needn't expect any
thing from me. And uow Pm busy,
and you had better co."
That was the end of it. Joe knew his
brother we'll enough to be certain that
after such declaration nothing was to
be hoped from him, and ne turned away
with despair in his heart His case,
however, was but one of thousands, and
that fact made the situation the more
hopeless. When whole community is
struggling in the grip of bankruptcy,
the individual has no chance. Every
ordinary avenue is closed. The best
collaterals prove worthless at such a
crisis. Character, ability, energy count
for nothing. The banks case to be re-
sources, and become aggraYators of the
panic. At the moment when everybody
is crying out for extra accommodations
it is impossible to obtain the most usual
help. Loans are called in; demands are
made for the settlement of overdrawn
accounts. Margins are wiped out. Sc
curities are scaled down, and fresh col
laterals are required on old advances.
Everywhere the screw is put on, and all
but few strong capitalists are ground
to powder.
Joe McKirk knew perfectly we'll that
his own case was hopeless. His little
fortune was swept away in the torrent
ofthe panic. Nor was there any pros
pect of future opportunity for recov-
cry. In twenty-four hours Sierra New
ada went down to $3.50 a share. 1t was
now known that the report about the
new ore-bOdy had been, to say the least.
premature and exaggerated OF course,
there were curses loud and deep for the
manipulatOrS; but when men feel that,
after all. their own insenate folly has
been the most efficient agent in their
ruin, they can not take much satisfac-
ton in fault-finding. The press, as in
duty bound, denounced the "boom"
roundly and said bitter things about
those who were supposed to have en-
gineered it; but that altered nothing.
Everybody had lost his money; many
were permanently impoverished. and
there was no way of recovering dollar
Jack McGirk returned to Virginia City
gloomy and depressed. He knew he