Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1895-10-04
FROM WALL STREET TO NEWGATE.
VIA THE PRIMROSE WAY.
BY AUSTIN BIDwELL.

Paris. At 10 the next morning l had my
money, and going to the Place de Ia
Bourse, near the exchange, commits
stoned broker, who was member of
the exchange, to purchase bills in Lon
don for $4,000. cautioned him to buy
bills drawn only on well known bank
ing houses. About o'clock he had the
bills ready. I paid him the amount,
along with his commission, and examin-
ing the paper found be had purchased for
me about what I wanted.
will explain, for the benefit Of any
reader not conversant with financial
transactions, that if John Russell, cot
ton broker in Savannah, ships thou
sand bales Of cotton to q firm in Man
chester, the firm in Manchester authot-
ICES him to draw bill of exchange on
their firm, payable at some London bank
at three or six months time, for the
value of the cotton. We will say the
price is 100000. Russell draws ten bills
for $1,000 each, say, payable at. the
Union bank of London. He gives these
bills to money broker in Savannah,
who sells them on the exchange and
gets for them whatever the rate Of en-
change may then be on London. The
president of the Georgia Central railroad
may have ordered a Thousand tons of
steel rails in England for his road, and
to pay for them he orders a broker to
buy for him bills on London to the
amount Of the cost Of the rails. He pur-
chases the Russell bills, and these bills
of exchange he sends in payment to the
steel rail manufacturers in England; so,
as matter of fact, the president Of the
Georgia Central pays Russell for his
thousand bales Of cotton, but has the
bills of exchange So, in place Of el0,-
900 in gold being freighted twice across
the ocean, the ten pieces of paper cross
only once. These ten bills for 81 900
each, drawn on the Union bank Of Lon
don at six months, in due time are pre-
sented at that bank and are duly ac-
cepted.
Instead of commercial notes or bills
they are now known as acceptances and
are just as good as bank note. There
fore if the owner, no matter who he is.
wants the money at once any bank will
discount all or either for the face value,
less the interest. In every commercial
center Of the world these accepted bills
are being discounted by banks and
moneyed corporations for enormous
sums, but by no bank in the world in
such huge amounts as by the Bank Of
England. Its daily discounts run into
the millions.
What our plan was will be made clear
later.
The evening Of the day Of my arrival
in Paris found me on the express speed
ing to Calais. Two hours past midnight
I was Oh the miserable little passenger
steamer that plies across the chopping
channel and which 1 suppose has seen
more of human misery than all the
fleets that sail the Atlantic, for the
channel has strong countercurrents, and
wind, tide and currents seem ever to be
in violent opposition, and here
Fer across the main doth float
A sad and solemn swell,
The wild, fantastic, fltful note
OF Triton's breathing she'll.
And Triton (old Neptune's other
name) makes all passers over this part
Of his realm pay ample tribute for "his
fantastic, fitful note"
The Paris night express lands one at
1xr-ox
weak on the legs, however. l breakfast
ed with Mac, and after that took the
bills to the various banks on which they
were drawn, and leaving them for ac-
ceptance I called again the next day and
received them back, bearing across the
face the magic words:
LONDON, Aug. IA, 1872
Accepted for the Union bank Of London.
E. BARCLAY, Manager.
J. WAYLAND, Assistant Manager.
Then hurried to the Grosvenor, and
we all looked at them with curiosity,
for it was upon the imitation Of just
such acceptanoes that our whole plan
was based
Of course the success or failure Of our
whole plan turned upon this point. Is
it the custom Of the Bank Of England
Tin 1879 to send acceptances offered for
discount to the acceptors for verification
of signatures?
This is always done in America, and
had this very requisite precaution been
used by the Bank Of England our plan
would have been fruitless.
Taking my deposit book and the gen.
uine bills, went to the bank and left
the bills for discount. This was at once
done, and the amount placed to my
credit I drew e10, 900, and that night
found me once more one of 500 unfor-
tunates paying tribute to Neptune. This
time landed at Ostend aud took the
train for Amsterdam. There I repeated
the Paris operation, securing 10000 in
genuine bills l returned to London and
as before left them for acceptance Then
my companion manufactured lot OF
limitations and put them away with
those previously manufactured to be all
ready when the day came to use them.
The genuine bills were then discounted.
All the details of events leading
through the long summer and autumn
days of 1872 up to the hour when the
golden shower began to fall on us are OF
intense, even dramatic, interest. will
not, however, lengthen the narrative by