Griggs courier. (Cooperstown, Griggs Co., Dak. [N.D.]) 1885-1902, 1901-09-12

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8 The Wall Street Panic. &
3 By Frederick Upham Adams. 8
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the world in his ''The Kidnapped Million
aires" published by the Lothrop compa-
please and instruct, and yet which sell
dom rise to the point where they ere
eiassed as great ltteTary prodpeti1ns The
upon the panic Of q few weeks ago. For
characters the author has selected Wall
street millionatres, newspaper editors and
of the younger generations ofymillionaires
and while n this condition cntices other
influential financiers aboard his yacht and
then carries them captive to a point on
the coast Of Mexico from which they cam
not escape; The remainder Of the story
newspaper to find these captive millions
aires and their final return. The book is
interesting not SO much because Of the
plot, but because Of the clear insight the
author gives his readers of the business
methods of Wall street. In this he thor
e1ughly understands le. his subject. and
carries with 1t both interest and instruc-
ton to the lay reader. We reproduce be-
low. with the permission of the publish
ers. the chapter In the volume descriptive
of the scenes on the New York stock ex-
change during the day Of the recent panic
JNTHAT happened on this famous
w Tuesday has been lightly
touched on in the opening chapter Of
this history. The morning papers had
devoted considerable space TO the
"bear furry" in Wall street. There
were guarded illusions to the coup
performed by Mr.. Kent, who had con-
Quoted his operations with little at
tempt to disguise his attitude. His
profits were variously estimated at
from $750,0OO to 100000 and it was
strongly intimated that he would live
to regret the unwarranted scare he
had precipitated. The Record had
an Illustration proving that if Mr..
Kent's winnings were in ST bills they
would make a package three times
the height of the Eiffel tower, and
that it would take two express cars to
hold them.
This pleased the public, and recon-
ciled them to the losses which had
been sustained by the small speculat-
OrS.
On the preceding evening the ex-
citement on the Stock exchange had
been transferred to the big hotels and
fashionable cafes uptown. The more
important SPECTATORS made the cir
cult of the hotels and clubs in search
of the financial giants of Wall street.
Such as were interviewed professed
utter ignorance of the cause of the
decline. Mr.. Kent was not to be
found at any of the places he was wont
to frequent and several anxious fol-
lowers called up his residence by tel
ephone, but were told that he had not
yet arrived. Mr.. Morton did not make
his usual appearance at his favorite
club. The morrow was anticipated
with dread by those who had trailed
in on the much-heralded boom.
On the following Tuesday morning
London ignored the New York break
in prices and opened strong. Chicago
and the speculative west looked on
it's splendid crops and telegraphed
! buying orders in. generous volume
The galleries around the trading floor
of thu. exchange were crowded with
the sight-seers who are always in
force when the market is excited. The
hand on the big clock slowly ap.
proached the hour of ten. The thou.
sand or more brokers gravitated TO-
wards the various standards which
bore the names of the important trad
ing stocks.
Did you ever make the experiment
with iron filings and magnet? Place
such filings on a sheet of paper an6
pass magnet under the paper. The
tiny bits of metal will mass themselve.
in peculiar and irregular figures. Al
the magnet moves, kaleidoscope
changes will be effected. individual
filings will detach themselves from
one mass and fly to another.
Such was the scene on the floor o
the New York Stock exchange. TIL,
great gong sounded. The murmur he
came as the roar of freight tran
as It dashes past the echoing walls o
station. At the signal of the gonl
thousand well-dressed men becam
maniacs. Their faces grew purple
Madness glared from their eyes. The.
assault one another. In their demonia
cal fury coats were ripped from shout
ders, hats crushed, and scarfs. tori
into shreds. With waving arms an
extended fingers, with voices raspin
shrill, vibrant, hoarse, thunderous
menacing, incoherent-it was the in
carnation of riot, the sublimated es
sence of disorder. At. times a ma
could be seen fghting his way out Q