The Hawaiian gazette., 1901-05-17
PANIC IN
WALL. STREET
Stocks Go Down
In a Tangled 4
Heap.

NEw YORK. May wall street to-
day experienced the greatest excite
men, II has known In years and while
prices We're soaring ~ and down In
the widest manner. brokers and spec
uiutors became almost frpnZied. In
the mad manipulation of the market
the shorts were squeezed until the
financial life was crushed out Of many
81 them.
The Northern Pacific was head ANA
shoulders above other issues as the
cause of excitement, but fortunes were
made and lost on other stoHk as we'll
Before the close the entire market be
came terribly demuralized and the
flood of long stock swept prices down
many points, Brokers. loaded down
with commissions To- buy and sell, lost
their heads i'm the great excitement,
ard "A panic resulted.
Men rushed about the floor OF the
temporary exchange in the Produce
Exchange like maddencd animals, and
the din of many voices raised a noisy
discord that reminded one or the panic
days of the past, when Jay Gould was
"A power in the market. From the
crowded galleries spectators watched
the brokers In their mad rush for
money as they would riot ana
women became frightened They could
not believe that the men below were
to them as If murder was being com
mitted
There were no rumors even to ac-
count for the violent liquidation, eN-
cept the general fear that prices were
on the toboggan and that specuiators
were anxious to get lin out of the wet
before worse crash came. Liquidation
continued till the close. when nearly
the whole list was in a demoraliZed
condition.
1t Is impossible to make a rational
estimate of the effects of the slump,
but old operators declare that thou
sands of margin spectators who were
reasonably we'll fixed this morning,
found themselves ruined at night.
Thousands of employees are said to be
mortgaged for months ahead as the re-
suit of negotiating their salaries to
pool.
Conferences of important bankers
and banking interests We're held this
evening to discuss the matter and de-
wise ways and means to prevent a far
reaching financial catastrophe.
The break today started shortly be-
fore l o'clock, and when the market
closed some two hours later quotations
had slumped in the interval anywhere
from one to twenty points. Fortunes
that had been made in the last six
months We're in some cases wholly
wiped out.
All speculative eyes had been CEN
tered upon keene, who is supposed to
hold the whip hand and further pre-
nomenal rise in Northern Pacific COM
mon stock, which, owing to the cor
ner" had jumped up by leaps and
bounds to $50 as compared with Tues
days close of 143la, a gain of seventy
full points in three days, had reacted
to las only again to advance from that
figure a dozen points or more with
5000 bid for 1t after the close OF the
market and $40 n share paid for the
use of 1t over night.
Suddenly Burlington stock, which
had been more or less heavy all the
morning, began to show unmistakable
signs of weakening, while almost CO.
incidently the Erie issues were de-
pressed. Then in the general list prices
also began to fall. First 1t was St
Paul, then it was Missouri Pacific and
then it was Union Pacific, Some hold
ers sat on their STOCKS and looked
for a recovery. Others proceeded to
part with their holdings. Soon the
contagion spread. Quotations thereup-
on began to break, not quarter or half
points between sales, but one and two
points. That settled 1t. The entire
street proceeded to sell.
Every prominent stock on the list
broke badly with the one conspicuous
exception of Northern Pacific. which
held its head so well above the storm
that at the close of the day is showed
an increase of 16la points.
The break, indeed, was the biggest
single day general break the street has
seen since lS93-greater even, so far as
the general list is concerned, than the
decline following the death of Roswell
i. Flower.
The wild variations in prices Is shown
by the following:
- ~.
between opening and noon, f.
40. 100 150 lac, $50, 147, 155 l5S. After
noon to close, 15S, 16S, l67, 40, 1853, 167, |
l66 100
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy at
opening, 1875; fluctuations between
opening and close, 1876, lsiA 1884, 19l, |
1877, 1872, lS9 1903.
Union Pacific, at opening 12iia; fuc- |
up to noon, 1913, 1875, 12S%, 1876
1877, 129, l27. Afternoon to close, 127, ,
1870, lis, ia, 1lS12, H. ll512, IA, 1l3,
l1bla, ll2.
Following are the total snares sold;
Northern Pacific, common, $500; Chi
cago, Burlington and quincy. $1,000;
Union Pacific. 33S. 200.
John w Gates Is credited with being
short Northern Pacific no less than
SO, 900 shares of the stock, representing
a loss of 100000.
There was talk In the street of n
great fight for control between the
interests on one side and
the Hartman Kuhn Loeb-Standard OF
people on the other. but nothing could
be learned of it, In some parts OF the
streets the talk of a fight and OF n
great clash between these powerful in
Jerests is credited, In other parts II is
rdiculed. one story has IL that over
100000 shares more than the actual
capital stock Of the company have been
bought by the opposing syndlcates,
that II Is as yet uncertain where
."ul Hes
HcycT whatever the situation
l conferences were held today In
10 the Northern Pacific stock
.fu which was participated IN by
luw. Imam, Kuhn Loeb q CO., and
IT, 10 trrIman on the one side ana
llhIi- mont James !. nm and Mr.
lilr.H J. =, Morgan a co ON the