St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1901-10-05


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-scatteredt tribes
of aborigines and you cannot APP
proximate scene equal to this in
savagery. The thin veneer of civil
ization is melted in the heat of lust.
In thousand offices men pale with
excitement hang over the tickers, o.
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 its 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
hundred cities and towns, restless
eyes follow the moves as they are
made on the great gambling board.
From countless sources money is abb
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 y
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. 1t was ut
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 II o'clock.
The yellow slips distributed by \
news agency contained the following
paragraph in double-leaded type:
'11:05 a. m. Andrus Carmody. Palmer
]. Morton, r. ]. Kent and Simon Pence
cannot be found. They were last seen in
Mr. Morton's Offices about four o'clock
yesterday afternoon. Their relatives know
nothing Of their whereabouts. The po-
lice and detective force have been no
titled"
! message of similar purport was
recorded on 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 q specu-
lative panic sweep all before it. The
tempest was loosed. Before its 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-
carte certainties. The word went
down the street that a great bank
Lad closed it's doors. There was no
fragment of truth in the statement,
but it was accepted as an Grques-
toned fact. 1t 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 witk The
creditors. Mr.. Kent was regarded as
the SPECTATOR who had been intrusted
with this news, and commissioned 20
use it to recoup some of the losses.
The evening papers were flooding
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 suffi-
cient to depict their emotions. But
the imagination of the reporters was
equal to the crisis. In bewiideriny sue
cession the millionaires wer. kid
mapped, lured away, and murdered by
anarchists; had committed suicide, or
reposed safely IN the bosom of their
families. 49,
At one O'Clock sugar had dropped
Is points, Baltimore & Ohio Is p .ints,
St. Paul IA points, metropolitan 80
points, Jersey Central u points and
Steel and Iron Fl points. The stocks
in which the missing men were not
known to be intereted whilst GOD the
shock with smaller losses, but the
whole list was mutilated almost :'e-
You'd recognition. The news had
reached London too late to permit
English operators to cover in that mar
ket, and the cables bore tn: tales OF
their dilemma.
Shortly after one o'clock brokers
in the employ of Street & Rogers
jumped into the market as b: GERS.
IN the first hour of the session. be-
fore the break came, it was estimated
that they had sold not less than 900
shares, and Kent brokers had sold
fully 100000 more. The total sales
for the first hour reached the un-