The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1901-05-10
The Wall Street, Panic.


trading on the Stock Exchange to-day.
The vIolencs Of the commotion had .spent
much Of Its force. at least for tho time
being, when the chairmau's gavel fell an.
nouncing the close Of the days proceed,
inga The casualties were great and the
field OF battle was strswn With the wound;
ed aud maj-ts with the dying. But Of
actual fatalities none was corded Of ims
portance during tho day.
| During the hghth Of the panic lru m0rs
| OF lnsolvencies were banded about more
| quickly than they could report. Bul no
| confirmation could be had OF the intima.
| tions OF financial wreck. Those against
whom the rnnors pointed refused even
| to show any sign OF distress and professed
themselves ready to meet all obligations.
In more than onb Instance the answer to
THESE rumors was for repre- son tatiya Of
the house to go upon the Stock Exchange
ana place loans to q large amount
a. Indicating the abundance of Resources
hand.
The bid o: money had boon run up to
90 per cent. aad was threatening to Keep
alive the panic. Tho dozen bankr quickly
Dame to an agreement to raise $1,000 900
with implied willingness to increus, the
sum If nsces 'ary. IheiO were very heavy
loans PLACED also by individual banks,
ranging In some cases to $4,000, 900 and
$50, 100000. Through the early part OF tho
hby OAhCtou Uuo luUTkbu TuCb ZOE
loans. But with tho growing need to sup
press th panic they offered the ratsdown
to o per cent Old customers Of tho banks
were not charged over per cent, at auy
time but when out. iders came in asking
for new loans the law of supply AMI do.
mhnd was allowed TO run it1 forco.
AS prices began to 80 down tho dspo 81
ton to buy dccteasad and the dptcrlnina
tIon TO sell seemed to grow In geomttricnl
ratio as n falling body gains In velocity
the farther 1t fails. Such a shovelinl out
OF stocks as occurred during the second
hour of today's stock market wai never
seen before. After sale had been made
ut fixed price broker would throw in
an additional block at any where from 6
to 10 points lower, without stopping to
demand any intermediate DrlCo for his
Offering.
The extent OF Tho decline during tho
half hour was IS great in some ca'es as
has taken weeks to attain OIL the advance
althols!: all Observers h.vs agreed that
the rats at which pric,7 have bean going
UP has exole!o | any prev 0Ij expar once
The lgulos alone suffice 10 indtaie the
proportions of the drop. In Delaware and
Hudson tho extreme decline was 50 points
Manhattan, 3s7s; Rock Island. 35H;
Union Pacific, IS; Atkinson, 34la; Akin
son preferred, 2SIii: St. Paul 3O!a; Mis-
souri, Pacific. 81; southern Pacific. 1894;
Ouilcu . Htes Stedl pFBleTEeu GDt2. WDlt9
range o!6 to % points would covor the
collapse in nearly every active stock In ,
the exchange.
In the outdise market the stress Of the
demand for funds was shown by the per
pend lculHr drop in. the price Of Standard
Oil Ct Ill points ovUr night. The stock
sold ut 65D compared with 82l lat night.
Tho snmo urgent need was reflected IN the
bond market whore all grades Of bonds
were offered on u declining .c.l,. Ths
sac ilt"os there were DaturnIly much less
than in tho stock department OF he mar
ket
Alter tho turn In the market came, which
1t did about noon. 1t was noticeable that
the selling Of boni Is still continued, and
this was explained rs being due to a wish
to secure funds 10 buy stocks at the at
traclve level OF prices to which tie mar
keG Ia fallen In fact, the bargain hunt
er was Oh hand and alert, and even in such
q scene OF disaster AS that presented there
Hre tho % who reap tho benefit. The drop
In prices carrtsd stocks OF may substau
tinl properties down to a level at which
tho current rate OF dividends paid upon
them and well assured make them attract
i've Investments.
1t WAS n vyry notnbIc fact that through
out the most ncuio period oil tod iy's dia
turbance there was nothing heard to iu
dictate doubt Of the sound and pro porouS
tulNltluui Vi luuuSlrV ana business nG
large Ia the country. the stock marker
collapse was attributed exclusively to ovar
speculation and an over eX cnsiun of crad
its used in holding stocks which Ii WINS
not designed to keep but To sell at IA high
er price.
The shock which caused the colleps,
was the Northern Pacific corner. without
dispute. The harm which might result
from the Northern Pacific opiscOde was
by no means 50 great in any ones mind az
to justify thu extent Of the c,l'apsa in
prices But the delicate situation of the
market due tc tho over extension OF spec
ulation, mado 1t vulnerable TO tho shock
The decline ouce IN force gained cunu
latiye st ength.
Specua|crs margins were wiped ont
and brokers had to sell thesecuri les placed
wlth.thcm as cola orlal to save lhemSel
yes from loss, thus adding 10 the weight
of the selling The shrlnkago In the mar
ket value OF securities placed with bank
ers as collateral made it necessary that
they should demand Increased collateral
or call the loans with which specu otors
were holding stocks With their credits
thus reduced further s6les OF stocks had
to be made and SO 1t cano from every
quarter
C!rca, n. Y, May 0-Myron W. Vant
Auken, an attorney Of this city, loft for
Now York this afternoon. having In his
possessioL IS shares of Northern Pacific
stock, which he will endtayor to dispose
of tomorrow. lie purchased the stock
several years ago. paving Slspor share. i
y