Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1903-03-26
CHAPTER V.
TIE NALL STREET. PANIC

what happened on inns IafnouS
Tuesday has been lightly touched on
in the opening chapter of this his
tory. The morning papers had de.
voted considerable space to the bear
furry" in Wall street. There were
guarded illusions to the coup per-
formed by Mr.. Kent. who had con-
Quoted his operations with little at
tempt 10 disguise his attitude His
profits were NarouSly estimated at
from $4,000 to $4,000 900. and it was
strongly intimatcd that he would live
to regret the unwarrantcd scare he
had precipitated.
On the following Tuesday morning
London ignored the New York break
in prices and opened strong. Chicago
and the speculative west looked on
its splendid croN-And telegraphed
huving orders ii generous volume.
The galleries around the trading floor
of the Exchange were crowded with
the sight-scers who are always in
force when the market is excited.
The hand of the big clock slowly APP
iproached the hour Of ten. The thou
sand or more brokers graytatcd to-
wards the various standards which
bore the names of the importa ut
trading stocks.
The market opened strong and at
h slight advance in spite of large
offerings of stock by Kent brokers
and from Street e Rogers acting
for their unknown principals the
market held its own the first half
hour. 1t was at this time hat
vague and portontieus rumurs were
circulated on the floor, and WhiS-
pered over telephones. These ru-
Inors were greeted with general in
C.edulity, but the effect on the mar
ket was apparent from the time the
first suspicion was breathcd. London.
Chicago and other speculative centcrs
continued buying and selling. uncon-
scious Of the shadow which was now
darkening the street.
The storm broke at II o'clock.
The yellow Slips Distributed by n
news agency contained the following
paragraph in doublr-lcadod type:
"11:05 a. IN. AndruS Carmody. Pal
ner j. Morton. Il. j. Kent and simon
Pence cannot bee found. They were
last seen in Mr. Murtop's Offices about
four o'clock yesterday afternoon.
Their relative, know nothing of
their whereabouts. The police and
detective force nave been notified"
y message Of similar purport was
recorded on the tape.
ANY description of the scenes
which followed ON the floor of the
Stock Exchange would he deemed
eXa@"eration by those who never
have seen a speculative panic sweep
all before il. The tempest was
looscd. Before it, fury the sturdy
financial oaks bent in thc blast I he
puny speculative sapIings were up
rooted and borne away on the wings
of the cyclone. Staid old mon vino
bad not been seen on the floor of the
exchange for months, rushed hatlcss
Through the streets and hurled them
selves into the crazy mob.
The 90 acres Of the financial dis
trict WAS a Hcdlam. Men tore pa
pers from the hands of ncwshoys
and rushed away without paying
for them. The widest rumors. if
of evil purport, became ccrtaintics
The word went down the street that
great bank had closed its doors.
There was no fragment of truth
in the statement, but il was accept
ed as an Unquestioncd fact. II was
charged that the great enterprises in
which CarmOdy, Pence and Morton
were concerned were inSolycnt, and
that these men were in secret CON
ference, cndcavoring to arrange n
compromise with creditors. Mr..
Kent was regarded as the speculate tor
who had been injrus:cd with this
news, and commissioned to use it to
rccoup some of the losses.
The evening papers were flooding
the city with extras. The news was
50 stupendous as to confound the
genius of the designers of headlines.
There was neither space nor type
sufficient to depict their emotions.
But the imagination of the report
crs was equal 10 the crisis. In be-
Wildcring succession the millionarcs
were kidnapped, lurcd away and muir
dcred by anarchists; had committe I'd
suicide, or reposcd safely in the
bosom OF their families.
25 points, Baltimore d. Ohio Is points,
81. Paul II points, Metropolitan g.
points, Jersey Central II points and
Steel and Iron 81 points. The stocks
I'm which the missing men were not
known to be interested withstooG
the shock with smaller losses, but
The whole list was mutilated almost
beyond recognition. The news hac
reached London too late to permit
English operators to cover in that
market, and the cables bore the tales
Of their dilemma,
Shortly after one o'clock brokers
In the employ of Street d Roger,
jumped into the market as buyers
In the first hour of the session. be
sore the break came, il was estiins ed
that they had sold not less thar
100000 shares, and Kent brokers hat
sold fully 100000 more. The tota