Evening star., 1893-12-09
A FAMOUS .BE At"
The Story Told by the Retiring City
Editor.

The Story Told by the Retiring City
Editor.
From the Westminster Gazette
Looking back over your work for the
Times, what do you consider the best thing
you have ever .done?"
MIR. Crump showed little hesitation in an
sWering this question. Beyond doubt" he
replied. "the biggest coup which / ever
achieved on behalf of the Times was that
effected over the Barring crisis. of the first
lntlmatlon of which the Times, as You
Will doubtless remember, had the exclusive
announcement. 1 suppose it is no exagger-
alton to say that never before nor since has
piece of financial intelligence OF such
tremendous import been the exclusive pos
session of any one paper. OF course it is the
business of the Times to be first as we all
know" added Mr.. Crump, with a laugh,
but all the same. / cannot help congratu-
lating myself on the part which l was able
to play In sustaining it's reputation in this
respect on that occasion. 1t was the Times
first and the rest nowhere. and 1 confess
l am proud OF It,
How did 1 manage it? Well, it was not
easy. and it would take too long to tell the
story at length. The first direct intimation
l had of anything amiss was received from
needless 20 mention. who called on me here
he was evidently in a state of great excite
ment, but beyond the bare hint that some
terrible financial calamity was impending
ne could divulge nothing. L cannot tell
you, he said, in answer to my inquiries: 1T
is impossible However, what he had told
me was enough to convince me that some
thing serious was about to happen, and
10 determine me to leave no stone unturned
until l had discovered what it was even II
II involved my remaining at the task all
night. Accordingly l instructed my as
sistants to keep the Office open and to wait
my return and sailed forth in quest of in
format ation. To whom l applied first l need
no. now state. Suffice IL to say that he
was, and is very important parsonage in
the financial world. AS ii proved, beyond
the mere corroboration of the fact that
some grave trouble was at hand he could
give me no information, and | was com
peiied TO depart no wiser than / had come
pursuing my inquiries elsewhere l found
my way eventually to the Bank of England
where L was in hopes might discover what
was seeking. 1t was past closing time when
l got there. The clerks and officials were
taking their departure. and not until 1
made myself known did 1 succeed in OBJ
tanning admission through the half-closed
doors. Having done so however. l made
my way with all speed to the directors
quarters. and on doing so observed at once
from the presence OF various people about
that something unusual was afoot NV sus-
picions were confirmed when on entering
the ante room [ found the place all lighted
up, and learned on inquiry that notwith-
sanding the lateness of the hour. the di-
rectors of the bank were within in council
with the managers of various other grea
London banking institutions. OF course |
realized at once the profound significance
of this, and soon made up my mind what to
do.
Il sent in at once note to the governor.
and asked Mr.. Lidderdale to see me- To
my delight he came out almost immediately
and accompanied me into an adjoining
waiting room. From his manner saw inn
mediately that the situation was Serious.
but more than this | could not ascertain
at fTst. At length. however, l put the uues-
lion point blank, is is Barings? He did
not answer, but Slightly inclining his head
Indicated that my suspicion was correct.
DO l understand, then l pursued. that
Barings are in position which necessi-
tates recourse to outside assistance? Again
Mr.. Lidderdale signified assent in the same
manner as before. And then, of course
was in possession of all that was necessary
for my purpose. Before there had been sus-
picions. but they were only suspicious and
until they We're verified could not be acted
upon. Now l had obtained my vertical tIon
and the time for action had arrived | re-
turned, of course, to my office forthwith.
and the next day all the world was in the
secret"