Evening star., 1898-02-25
SAGE PREDICTS WAR
New York Financier Explains Cause
Of Drop in Stocks.
WORK OF RECRUITING ENDED
Only a Few Specialists Are Now
Needed in Navy.
A ACTIVITY ON VIZCAYA

| Special Correspondence Of The Evening Star.
NEW YORK, February "a. 1888.
l. is generally believed that the Spanish
cruiser Vizcaya will leave our harbor to-
morrow. While there has been no official
announcement to this effect, there are
nj merous straws which show that the
wind blows in that direction Her four
days sojourn in port has been peaceful to
a degree. In addition to coaIing and pro-
Visioning for her return voyage. there are
said to have been number of American
mechanics at work upon her steering gear.
This latter is not fully verified But I'm
spite of all this, the night watch can be
heard by the residents of Tompkinsville
calling out his usual 'All's we'll" In addi-
ton to the handling of coal, provisions and
possibly machinery. there have been other
preparations aboard the Spaniard today
that have excited interest. The Tompkins-
vil.ers assert that early this morning the
Spanish sailors began hoisting something
to the fighting top of the military mast
aft A block and fall was rugged and a
long object which looked not a little like a
caLvas-covered gun was dragged from be-
low. Ihis was placed in the fighting top
What 1t was can only be conjecturad and
conjecture runs to preparation ON the
ness.
All sorts of rumors have been circulated
to account for for the warship's prolonged
stay in port but the true reason is said to
oe that no sailing orders have yet been
received from Spain. 1t was expected that
all the coal bunkers would be filled YES
terday, and the sailors worked hard up to
midnight last night, but there was still
re TN for more Of the fuel. The two barges
brought to the vessels side were not vet
quite empty this morning. and third load
ed barge has been towed down from Com
ntrnipaw. Wien the contents of this barg.
nad been passed aboard in bushels the
Sips coal cargo will be completed.
Thousands Sec the Shin.
Twenty thousand persons, a goodly per-
centage with cameras, have already viewed
the Vizcaya from Tompklnsville and St.
George. and the water front has again been
crowded all day. Many go out In boats.
but always return looking like a man who
has been buncoed. for no visitors ara al
ie "ed to get within two hundred yards of
the vessel.
There is one incident connected with the
Nizcayas visit New Workers. in the main
are heartily ashamed of. When Capt Eu-
late and Consul General Baidasano called
uptn Robert A. Van Wyck and i'm t1efr
most polite manner paid their respects to
.nls great eity.s chief magistrate, the lat
Ter. following his training in the late rau-
nlcipal campaign, did not open mis- head.
He unbent sufficiently to nod. Unkind crit
les say that when Il messenger notified him
that the Spanialds were about to invade
ms oiilcG, he issued hurry call'' for
Croker, and that because he couldn't find
his boss, who has the key to his pad
locked mouth. he couldn't speak 1t is
said and on pretty good authority. that
this act of discoCrtesy ON the part of Van
Wyek win be brought to public notice in
some manner at Washington and that his
honors ears may burn with unpleasant
things said sibout him. ,.---a -, -.
The scale ef action has not been Turned
by clamor. by demaSogy or by yellow poll
tics or journalism today. There is the
same intense feeling OF patriotism pre-
V1ousiy indicated in these columns. possibly
more intense today because conservative
sources have at last leaned strongly to-
ward the theory that our noble ship and
rob!ef boys were the victims of Spanish
tre:rchery. But the spirit of waiting was
as strong as; ereF-.
Uproar In Wall Street.
There was only one spot where there was
ripping and roaring over the news of the
day. and that was in Wall street The
battle for dollars was CORY as the battle
for country. ard the scene of action Is
strewn with the carcasses of TIE unfortu-
nate army of bulls. 1t was a bear day,
hide, hugs. claws and all. While there
we're many sufferers. one good thing is be-
lieved to have been accomplished, namely,
the speculative wing of the new city ad-
m1nistrat1oh. This mornings 12-point
break in Metropolitan street railway stock
eLd the 9-pofnt break in Manhattan Ele-
waited, which brought the two stocks 10
level respectively. 80 1-2 and % Ia points
be,ow the high prices of the past six weeks
were generally taken to mean the extinc-
tiCn of the ''Tammany pool"
Fer several months Wall street has been
infested with professional politicians and
professional gamblers, or people whose
Gaily labors combine both vocations, who
were buying thase two stocks on what was
known, even before Van Wycks rapid
transit message, a city hail tip" Vet
eran brokers have said that never since
the days of William NJ. Tweed has this
sort OF people come down in such a body
to Wall street. Tie point" has been that
the Tammany administration mad agreed
OF only to block all other rapid transit
plans. but to favor in every way the pri-
vate interest of these two enterprises, and
when Metropolitan stock, ten days ago,
sold at Ill II, the "tip" was circulated
everywhere that the Croker pool would
promptly advance 1t to 100. Today 1t sold
at 132. Nearly all the politicians had their
margins wiped out yesterday or today,
and there were numerous reports of fail
ures to make good impaired accounts
Common report today was that even the
brokers who Carried these accounts have
lost heavily through their customers.
In regard to the general slump in the
market the following statements of promi-
Eent financiers may be interesting:
Henry Clews, the banker, said that, in
his opinion, the slump this morning was
due to the war scare. which drove the
people to liquidation. II would designate
the fall in the market said Mr.. Clews,
las due to a semi-panicky feeling. People
who were long on stocks on slim margins
were driven to liduidate. This movement
is by no means exhausted yet, and will
have to run its course before the market
rights itself. Fortunately. the market
kere Is receiving strong backing from
London. The strength Of buying over
there indicates to my mind that they don't
take much stock in the war scare"
James r. Kee ne expressed the view that
the strong Indications of war this morn
ing were responsible for the apprehension
which led to the slump.
Sage Predicts War.
Russell Sage said: "It is evident now that
a crisis is at hand In our relations with
Spain. From all the evidence, it seems the
Maine was blown up by outside parties,
and the least We can do is to demand
fun indemnity for the ship and pension
for every dead sailor. But / think the
sentiment of the country will demand more
decisive action than mere money repara-
tfOn The drOn stocks to-day ia diia tn