The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1892-02-12
A DAY IN WALL STEET
The Great Excitement Over
Reading Stock.
Unprecedented Sales-Scenes of Confusion-A
Gain OF Over Eight Per Cent in the
Day-Jersey Central.

NEW YoRK, Feb. 1.-THE stock ex-
change this morning resolved itself
practically into an exchange for
Reading stock. Over 100000 shares
of this stock were traded in
during the first half hour of business.
1t is doubtful if the stock exchange
ever witnessed such a scene as took
place at the opening of business. The post
where dealers in Reading stock generally
congregate. is the Broad street wing of the
board room, but this morning the mighty
crowd of brokers' packed densly together,
overlooked the limits of the stock crowd
and swallowed up in their numbers half
dozen other groups, members of which had
10 go elsewhere if they wished to trade in
special stocks.
At the drop of Chairman Mitchell's
gavel this morning announcing the opening
of business 200 brokers gathered IN the
Reading group and became like maniacs.
Such hustling, pulling and excited crowd
of men has seldom been seen.
Length Of limb and depth of
voice came in in good stead this
morning. In few minutes 81 was touched
The scene was panGemCnium. Wilder
shouting, struggling and scuftiing occurred
than in time Of a panic. The excitement
did not flag through the day, and brokers
who had endured the ordeal were exhaust
ed at the close Of business. 1t was a day of
tumult and excitement that appalled,
the Oldest men in the street. Fig
ures alone will give some
idea OF the transactions. 1t must be re-
membered that on days OF intense excite
ment and activity tens of thousands
| of shares are bought and sold
which are never reported, so as to be in
I al,, lnl ~, he nAi aia al nnrd IY,f In E1,st
! two hours after the opening it Is
estimated 100000 shares were dealt in
That is a record rarely made for day, it
has often been the record of a week. TIE
! total reported transactions for the day
amounted to AZ, $40 shares.
what's bid for one hundredl" cried a
broker, rushing up to the Reading crowd
| this morning.
run away, little boy" answered an
other, hopping his brow, 1--WE are playing
with blue chips only today"
The stock sold at 5715 to 81 on diff
fferept sides. In the urst few min
utes prices advanced to 81, jump
of S5S since yesterdays close, and an ad-
vance of % per cent in a week. In the
first hour over three hundred and fifty
four thousand shares Of stock changed
hands. Trading in income bonds was fully
as large, and the price made even more VIC
lent advances than il the stock. Jersey
Central and New England each advanced s
per cent. The bears covered their shorts
in Coalers at the highest figures, and their
Losses are such that failures are generally
expected.
Contrary to general expectation not a
failure was announced and with the fall oil
the hammer of the chairman at 3 O'Clock
the biggest day in the history Of the ex
change came TO an end. The confusion
and excitement were just as great as at the
opening. No one looking at that mad
deped, excited crowd of men, shriekins
at the top of their voices, would have sup.
posed item to be business men capable o
, dealing in Sl5, 600 worth Of property il
thirty minutes, but such was the case, anC
moreover, the value of Reading stock alone
enhanced g, 100000 by the very actions o
that excited mob. 1t would be useless t
figure on the money made and lost to-day
The transactions were not enormous il
the aggregate but all individual trade
were on a large scale. Wednesday, Decem
Der 10, 1856, the total reported sales wa
= 1,014, 900 shares This was, up to to-day
, the greatest on record. By a siugula
coincidence the most conspicuous stock
on that day were Reading and New Eng
1 land, which were to-day the great feature
: of speculation. Telegraph operators EN-
ployed in the exchange to send out quota
tions had TO be relieved every half hou
owing to the tremendous strain upo
them. The directors of the Reading, LIE
q high Valley and jersey Central to-da
t ratified the contract for the new deal.