Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1901-09-20

would clutch men by the threats.
They would not know it nor care for
it. He would jam his elbows into
| their sides, and after a struggle seem
/ inbly hopeless, would escape from the
surging mass with eyes bullying and
| face bruised in the conflict. You
may search the world-scattered tribes
| of aborigines and you cannot ap-
proximate a scene equal to this in
| savagery. The thin veneer of civil
| ization is melted in the heat of lust.
In a thousand offices men pale with
excitement hang over the tickers, Or
| follow with nervous glance the boy
as he records the quotations on the
| bulletin board. The loungers alone
are in repose The attempted jest of the
| wit is received with mirthless laugh
ter. The affected nonchalance of the
loser deceives not even himself. The
| Joy of the winner is savage in it's grin,
selfishness. Such are the catacombs
of Wall street-a crypt swept by the
winds of the worst human passions.
and relieved by hardly spot where
sympathy can find resting place. In
a hundred cities and towns, restless
eyes follow the moves as they are
made on the great gambling board.
| From countless sources money is alb
| sorbed and attracted to this common
center, to swell the profits of the
magnate or pay the expenses of the
| commission brokers.
The market opened strong and at n
slight advance in spite of large offer
| ings of stock by Kent brokers and
from Street & Rogers-acting for their
unknown principals-the market held
it's own the first half hour. It was at
this time that vague and portentious
rumors were circulated on the floor,
and whispered over telephones. These
rumors were greeted with general in
credulity, but the effect on the mar
ket was apparent from the time
the first suspicion was breathed. Lon
don, Chicago and other speculative
centers continued buying and selling,
unconscious of the shadow which was
now darkening the street.
The storm broke at IL o'clock.
The yellow slips distributed by a
news agency contained the following
paragraph in double-leaded type:
| ..11:05 a. m. Andrus Carmody, Palmer
J. Morton, r. J. Kent and Simon Pence
cannot be found. They were last seen in
| Mr.. Mortons offices about four o'clock
| IL.
nothing of their whereabouts. The po-
lice and detective force have been no
| tifed.'
4 message of similar purport was
recorded Oh the tape.
Any description of the scenes which
followed on the floor of the Stock eX-
change would be deemed eXaggeration
by those who have never seen a Specu-
lative panic sweep all before it. The
tempest was lOOSed. Before it's fury
the sturdy financial oaks bent in the
blast. The puny speculative saplings
were uprooted and borne away on
the wings of the cyclone. Staid old
men who had not been seen on the
floor of the exchange for months.
rushed hatless through the streets and
hurled themselves into the crazy mob.
The 60 acres of the financial dis
) trict was Bedlam. Men tore papers
from the hands of newsboys and rushed
away without paying for them. The
widest rumors, if of evil purport, be-
caIue certainties. The word went
down the street that great bank
lad closed it's doors. There was no
fragment of truth in the statement,
but it was accepted as an Trques-
toned fact. It was charged that the
great enterprises in which Carmody.
Pence and Morton were concerned
: were insolvent, and that these men
were in secret conference. endeavor-
ing to arrange compromise With the
creditors. Mr.. Kent was regarded as
the Spectator who had been intrusted
with this news, and commissioned &C
use it to recoup some of the losses.
linn
the city with extras. The news was
SO stupendous as to confouEd The
genius of the designers of headlines
There was neither space nor type suff
cient to depict their emotions. But
the imagination of the reporters wa;
equal to the crisis. In bewiiderinZ sue
cession the millionaires wer. kid
e mapped, lured away, and murdered by
anarchists; had committed suicide, Oh
/ reposed safely in the bosom of thci1
l families.
At one o'clock sugar had dropped
3 25 points, Baltimore & Ohio 1 p ints
< ST. Paul IA points, Metropolitan 3:
0 points, Jersey Central II points ant
n Steel and Iron 21 points. The stock.
in which the missing men were no
:. known to be intereted whilst pod tn,
T shock with smaller losses, but TIL,
whole list was mutilated almost ne
yond recognition. The news hat
e reached London too late to per1ni
= English operators to cover in that mar
l. ket, and the cables bore tn" tales o
= their dilemma.
q Shortly after one o'clock broker
L in the employ of Street & Roger
jumped into the market as buyers
u In the first hour of the session. bc
e fore the break came, it was estilnatet
q that they had sold not less than 900, 90
e shares, and Kent brokers had SOLE