Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-01-14

ashes. That was gold tried in the fire,
yea. fine gold with vengeance.
Interest rates Were enormous in those
days No banker thought Of making a
loan for less than 10 per cent a month. and
from that rate the charges scared upward
Indefinitely.
There were only two kinds of security
collateral, such as diamonds and gold dust,
and the personal honor of the borrower.
There was no middle ground. If a mans
personal credit was unquestiOnable he could
get loans merely on his word. But If there
was the slightest doubt to his integrity
he had to deposit the collateral. Years after,
when Eb. Smith, fresh from a training in
the cautious methods Of eastern flnanciers,
opened bank at Helena, he mailed circular
letters to the prominent firms over the
state, soliciting their business. One day he
was almost paralyZed by receiving a letter
from pioneer merchant down at Glendive.
The old trader announced that he would
take advantage of the banks invitation,
and had begun drawing checks that same
day. The old fellow had not a cent 20 his
credit in the bank, but he took 1t for granted
that the old-style methods still prevailed,
and he saw no reason why the bank should
dream of refusing his checks.
Few states were hit harder than Mon
tana by the slump in silver and the panic
of '93. For stretch of 900 miles along the
Northern Pacific railway but five banks re-
malned opened At Billings, where no fall
ure occurred, citizens committees were APP
pointed and they stood guard at the door
Of the local financial institution No depos
itor was allowed to draw cent from his
account until he had satisfied the committee
he wished to withdraw. IT. was a souvenir
Of the vigilant methods, but it resulted in
preventing a failure Of the bank"
"Since the days when Holland went crazy
over the culture OF tulips there has never
been anything quite so insane as the Bel
gian hare mania out on the Pacific coast"
said Col. John G. Egan of Seattle, who is
in the city. I'm year It has spread until
thousands of people were engaged In raising
the little brutes. Now the craze has died
out as suddenly as 1t commenced. and the
hares that once commanded fabulous prices
are being killed for food. The fad started
in southern California little more than a
year ago, when some enthusiasts COM
menced to raise the rabbits for pets. There
was plenty Of money in the country, and
people Of means took to keeping hares as a
form of amusement. much as they had
raised chickens and dogs at previous times.
It was not long before they had few Bel
gian hare shows on a small scala, and that
started the mania. Instantly all the owners
Of rabbitries set out to win prizes, and there
was boom in the price Of blooded hares.
Then some ambitious souls imported ped
igreed hares from Europe. In few months
the whole of the Pacific coast was swept
with the craze Every town was giving a
Belgian hare show, and hundreds of new
rabbit breeders were added daily TO the
cranks that were engaged In propagating
the little brutes. The flrst-comers soon
made big money, for they were able to sell
their rabbits at absurd prices The pros
pect of making money soon changed the
business from a pleasure pursuit into mer-
cenary enterprise. An artificial value for
hares was at once created among the people
who engaged in the business and they ad-
vanced the prices until 500 or $500 would
be paid for a high-bred buck. In their blind
infatuation the dealers supposed that the
| prices would keep up, and that the whole
| country would take up the craze. But they
| were mistaken. They soon found that the
public could not be cajoled into buying rab-
| bits at the prices Of carriage horses, and
| then they found all the dealing had been
| limited to the dealers themselves, who had
been buying from each other. 1t was that
which accounted for the absurd prices then
prevalent. 1t was the same state Of things
| that existed in Holland when the Dutch
were engaged in paying thousands Of dol
| lars to each other for tulips Of various hues
No fresh money was coming in from the
outside. Well, when that discovery was
made the business went fiat. New you can
! hardly give away hares on the Pacific coast
And, to make matters worse, the hundreds
! Of people who went into the business Of
raising the creatures may find themselves
| confronted with a law against turning the
] animals loose. The legislatures are Sc