Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1903-03-26
cred 100000 shares.

-. ~ ~N
HE BLEW HIS BRAINS OUT.
cred 100000 shares.
Two papers appeared with extras
containing "A dispatch from Philadcl-
phia stating that Me>srs. Morton,
Carmody. Pence and Kent were in
conference at the Hotel Lafayette.
It related with great cXplicitneSs
that they wcrc considering the de-
tails of gigantic railroad combina-
ton. and the article contained
brief interview with Mr.. Morton IN
which he refused TO discuss the OBJ
.iccts of the meeting. but regretted
that the public should have become
alarmed at the secrecy which had
been deemed necessary. The same
news was spread through the bro,
keragc and commission houses by
the news agencies and came out on
the tape.
The effect was electrical. The mar
kct rose by jumps and bounds Every
one seemed rushing To cover. hIt tic
squirt was short-livcd. When the mar.
kct had advanced an average az ton
points. street q Rogers and iio~tuu
and Chicago interests turned heavy
sellers. They threw the stock they
had accumulated at the bottom fig.
ures right and LETT. ThcN found
plenty of purchasers. The l'iil@dcl.
phia dispatch was So good it must ne
true. It sounded natural. and was a
logical reason for the absence of
these men. At two O'Clock the mar
lct was firm and slowly advancing
Notwithstanding the vast offerings
from Street d Rogers. NJ 800 Wall
street WA, growing optimistic. 1t
regarded the selling as proft-tallng,
and bought with confidence. Sugar
rose to within seven points of the
opening figure.
Then came the final disaster. It
was announced that John NJ. Rock
well, the great capitalist. and Hiram
Haven, the sugar magnatc also were
missing. simultaneously, word was
received from Philadelphia that none
of the gentlemen mentioned had been
at the Hotel Lafayette. and that the
dispatcE was bogus, having been sent
out BY Il commits ion house which
took this method TO rccoup some of
its losses. In The crash which fol-
lowed several houses went to the
wall. Their holdings were thrown
on the market. Sugar dropped an
extreme 10 points. Other securities
suffered in proportion. \ man stood
in the middle of Broad street and
blew his brains out. Staid old invest
mcnt stocks which had regularly
paid dividends for years dropped five
points between quotations. Sugar
fell II points on sale of 400 shares.
and did not steady itself for ton
minutes. during which time it was
worth $500 a share less than il
had been those few minutes before.
Once more il was Street q Roy
ers to the rescue. For two days
they had been selling on good new :
and buying on bad news. Again
their brokers stood in the breach
and bought Sugar. II. g. o.. st. Paul,
Jersey Central, Metropolitan and
Steel and Iron from men who seemed
willing to give it away. When the
gong sounded at three o'clock. the
signal that this awful day was
ended on the Stock Exchange, these
brokers were yet surrounded by
SWarms of men frantic in their cf-
forts to sell stocks at any prices. It
was midnight before the lights went
out in the offices of Street d Rogers.
Scores of haCgard men arranged pri-
waite settlements on terms which
would permit them to remain sol
vent.
The profits of the unknown prin-
cipals or syndicate represented by
Street d. Rogers, of New York, Nor
rvs q IIauscr, OF Boston, and Wright
Tanning, of Chicago, were con
Scrvatively estimated at S24000,000,
The members of the firm of Street
" Rogers gave out no figures and
refused to name the men they were
representing. They stated that they
had considered the market over
bought, and had sold stocks in antic-
ipation of natural reaction. The
unexpected bad news had found them
in a situation from which they could
not help reaping an enormous adj
vantage. They had simply taken
profits on the various movements OF
the market, and did not share tn,
approximations OF those who fearct
for the safety of the missing men
Mr.. Street declared that prices were
too low at the closing figures, ever
If it were known that the worst haC
happened. Intrinsic values could not
be permanently affected by the fate
of individuals, and he advised blyine
on any further declines.
Thus closed the most memorable