New-York tribune., 1901-05-01
ALL RECORDS SURPASSED.
OVER THREE AND ONE-HALF MILLION
SHARES SOLD on STOCK EXCHANGE.
VAST VOLUME OF BUSINESS soRELY TAX
ING PHYSICAL POWERS OF BROK-
ERs AND THEIR CLERKS.

Those people who have been predicting for
months that the prevailing upward movement
In the price of stocks must speedily come to
end are having 70 wait a weary while for L
privilege Of saying: L told you SO" There Ger
tainly signs in yesterdays amazing
total of transactions on the Stock Exchange
that the top OF the market had been reached. On
the contrary. despite heavy realizing sales. val
ues were we'll maintained all along the line
many stocks made decided advances and sales
reached the unprecedented figure OF over three
and one-half million shares Many brokers of
long experience declared that no such market
as yesterdays had been known. In the
very first hour the sales exceeded one millions
shares, and the efforts of brokers 10 execute this
overwhelming flood Of orders caused abnormaliy
wide variations OF price the opening transac-
tons. In general, however. the buying force
was sufficient to absorb the avalanche of realiz-
ing sales and drive prices ever higher
Buying orders from outside the city were es-
timated at fully one-haf the total They came
pouring in from Europe. from Canada and from
almost every State in the Union. Under this
plethora of customers brokers grew particular
and all orders were carefully scrutinized Peo-
pie who wanted to trade on small margins were
no longer welcome. Many brokers on the floor
shut down on stop orders altogether
Specialists had more than they could attend to-
and some Of them advertised or announced that
they would take no orders after the opening of
the market. In some other instances special
lists declined absolutely to execute orders in the
face Of the excited market. Many orders were
rejected by commission houses If the customers
not considered such as could be relied on
10 increase margins whenever called upon.
Trading in small lots frowned upon Lots
of one, two and three thousand outnumbered the
one hundred share lots ten TO one. The official
reporters lost many transactions because they
were physically Incapable of keeping pace with
the rush OF sales One old broker was asked
yesterday, We'll. what do you think of ft?"
To which he replied by throwing up his hands
and exclaining: I've quit thinking of it,''
Many of these brokers making enormous
incomes these days without departing at all from
their regular commission business Three or
four members of large arbitrage firms have re-
tired recently on fortunes which seem 10 satisfy
even q Wall Street man. and five or six hundred
other men are earning incomes at the rate of
S2OOOOO a year. Seats on the Stock Exchange
have doubled in value within twelve months
and if this boom goes on much longer will be
selling at 100000 each, it is confidently pre-
dcted. Men in more humble capacities are
profting also, for the demand for bookkeepers
In brokers' offices is unprecedented Clerks and
ACCOUNTANTS are WORKING tnere eighteen hours
a day without catching up with the days busi-
ness. Mercantile bookkeepers are not of much
in such emergency, and it may happen
that the volume of outside orders will have to be
curtailed in some houses through sheer inability
to keep the accounts untangled. The baths in
the basement of the Produce Exchange are
fairly crowded after the close of the Stock Ex-
change with brokers dripping perspiration at
every pore.
The brokers appeared yesterday to be some
what more familiar with their new quarters in
the Produce Exchange, but at best the floor
space is sadly cramped for the transaction of so
much business, and the jostling and humping
is most annoying, but quite unavoidable. I'VE
would better have hired Madison Square Gar
dem" exclaimed one disguised broker. So in
tense was the confusion. the bowling. the scram-
bling. the pushing, the yelling and the general
hurly bury yesterday that some of the more
timid brokers' declined to venture upon the
floor al all while crowds of men, women and
children were attracted to the Exchange by the
din which could be heard block away.
The work of pulling down the old Stock Ex-
change is proceeding rapidly. and in order to
raise funds for the building the NewTork
Stock Exchange Building Company yesterday
mortgaged the site of the Stock Exchange
for So 200 900. The Bowery Savings Bank ad-
vanced 50 1000 900 and the Title Guarantee and
Trust Company. trustee 81, 100000 The
loans have fourteen years TO run. The title COM