Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1903-01-15

49,
cial panic. Each imagined himself
the next victim. Special policemen
| guarded all the Offices, and every Wis
| itor was scrutinized as possible kid
Inapper. Hundreds of extra police off
| GERS were thrown into the financial
| district All suspicious characters
were arrested. Crowds were not per-
mitted to assemble and a condition
! approaching marital law prevailed.
| The governors of the Stock Ex-
change finally decided to open the
session as usual, reserying the power
| to suspend business if conditions
warranted such procedure. The
! market opened from two to five
| points below the close of the previ-
GUS day. Several failures were an
nounced. Street & Rogers bought
about 100000 shares of stock in the
first hour and then stopped. With
their support withdrawn the panic
increased. There were rumors that
Street q Rogers were heavily long"
and on the point of suspcnding. This
the firm emphaticalIy denied, and
stated that they could stand a fur
ther drop of 25 points. On a call for
margins they promptly furnished
! them.
With the panic at its height the
governors met to take action. \ mo-
/ tion was made to suspend business
on the exchange. As member arose
to discuss this proposition, a messen-
ger entered and handed the president
a letter. 1t read as follows:
Mr.. NJ. l.. Morton. New York city:
Dear Sir: This is to inform you that
! l am alive and well. / shall be obliged
| to remain away from the city for n short
/ time possibly several weeks. You and
my relatives ana friends need not have
the slightest fear for the safe return of
myself and the gentlemen who are keep
ing me company. ! remain very truly
yours. PALMER J. MORTON.
May 2.
The letter was in Mr. Morton's
/ handwriting and had been positively
/ identified as genuine by his private
secretary and by the Oldest clerks in
/ his office. These facts were hurried
/ ly explained to the president of the
| board of governors, who adjourned
| the meeting and sounded the gong
for attention on the floor Of the ex-
change. At that moment pandemo-
MUM rei@ned. score of trading
houses had failed, and others were
on the point of suspension. Banks
were calling loans. Money was
quoted at 200 per cent. on call loans,
| with gilt-cdged stock as security.
! Sugar was lowering around par, a
! drop of more than 60 points in less
than As hours. The nerve-racked
| brokers expected the announcement
of yet more disastrous news, and lis
tened stolidly as the chairman waved
! his hand for quiet, cleared his voice,
| and began his reading. No one heard
more than the close of the first seq
tence: Il am alive and we'll" The
! joyous voice of the gray-bearded old
! chairman told them that the mes
sage was from Palmer j. Morton.
! What a shout went up! 1t was re-
! echoed by the vast mob which defed
| the police and swarmed into Broad
and Wall streets. The enthusiastic
clerks and customers cheered from
every window.
The panic was ended. Prices
moved violently upward. In half an
! hour the face of the market was
changed. In the whirl of speculative
| joy some stocks passed the high
! figures which had been reached at
the opening on Monday morning. But
while the agony of suspense was
passed, and it was known that the
missing men were safe, the case was
| Gh IN
| ever. At the close of the day the
market stood on a plane which aver
aged about ten points below the level
established before the leaders of
finance and speculation had vanished.
1t was noticed that Street d Rogers
were persistent buyers from the mo-
ment the first news of the Morton
letter was made public. Their sales
were so small as to show that they
represented but profit taking for
regular customers, and not the i'm
mensc holdings of long stock which
had been absorbed during the height
of the panic. Their profits were
roughly estimated at $35,O0O,OOO.
The welcome letter was addressed
to Mr.. NJ. l.. Morton, a brother
OF the great financier. 1t was in
plain white envelope and written on
ordinary letter paper, with a single
fold. The postmarll on the letter
was indistinct, but when put under n
glass the inscription clearly read,
"Provincetown, Mass" The letter
had been mailed at nine o'clock at
night, and left the Cape Cod town
on a late train. With slow connec-
tions the letter reached New York
in time for the 1O:45 a. m. delivery.
Here was a clew worth following.
\ special train with the best de-
tcctive talent in New York, was pre-
pared and dispatched to Province
town. But the developments which
speedily followed, decpened the mys-
terry and puzzled the cool-headed
chief of the detective force. Between
four and five o'clock the same after
noon letters were received bV rela-