Los Angeles herald., 1892-02-12
BLUE CHIPS ONLY.
A Big Day on the New York
Stock Exchange.
The Largest Days Business on
Record Transacted.
Reading Stock Was the Great Feature
of the Trading.
individual Deals Were All on an Enor-
nous Scale and There Was No
Boys Play-Unprece-
dented Furry.
Associated Press Dispatches.

Assoclateu ffess Dlspatcnes.
New YORK, Feb. 1.-THE stock ex-
change this morning resolved itself prac-
tically into an exchange Reading stock.
Over 300, 900 shares of this stock were
traded in during the first half hour of
business. 1t is doubtful if the stock
exchange ever witnessed such scene
as took place at the opening of business.
The post where dealers in Reading
stock generally congregate is in the
Broad-street wing of the board room, but
this morning mighty crowd of brokers,
packed densely together, overfowed the
limits of the stock rows and swallowed
up in their numbers half dozen other
groups, the members of which had to 90
elsewhere if they wished to trade in
special stocks.
Reading stock closed last night at 5538a.
Later the details of the big Jersey Cen
tral deal, by which the Reading company
is to control the Jersey Central and
Lehigh Valley, were made public. At
the Windsor hotel last night go was bid
for the stock.
At the drop of Chairman Mitchell's
gavel this morning, announcing the
opening of business, the 200 brokers
gathered in the Reading group became
like maniacs. Such hustling, pulling
and excited crowd of men has seldom
been seen. Length of limb and depth
of voice came in good stead this morn
ing.
The stock opened on the board at
571s. In few minutes GA was touched,
an advance OF points since yesterday,
and of % points since this day last
week.
The scene was pandemonium. Wilder
shouting, struggling and shifting oc-
Cured than in the time of panic. The
excitement did not flag through the day,
and the brokers who had endured the
ordeal were exhausted at the close of
business. 1t was day of tumult and
excitement that appalled, the oldest
men in the street.
Figures alone will give some idea OF
the transactions. 1t must be remenl-
bered 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 included in
the official record. In the first two
hours after opening it is estimated 900,-
900 shares were dealt in. That is a
record rarely made for a day. 1t has
often been the record for a week. The
total reported transactions for the day
amounted to l ,442, $40 shares.
Contrary to the general expectation,
not failure was announced, and with
the fall of the hammer of the chairman
at O'Clock, the biggest day in the his-
tory of the exchange came to an end,
with the confusion and excitement just
as great as at the opening. No one look
ing at the maddened, excited crowd of
men, shrieking at the top of their
voices, would have supposed them to be
business men capable of dealing in $15,-
0O0,0O0 worth of property in thirty
minutes.
The value of the Reading stock ex-
changed by the actions of the excited
mob is $3,500,000. The transactions
were not enormous in the aggrerate, but
all the individual trades were on large
scale.
whats bid for one hundred ?" cried
broker, rushing up to the Reading
crowd this morning.
"Run away, little boy" answered
another, mopping his brow, 1--WE are
playing with blue chips, only, today"
The directors of the Reading, Lehigh
Valley and Jersey Central today ratified
the contract for the new deal.