Arizona republican., 1903-07-25
BLACK FRIDAY
Beginning of Great UneaSi-
 ness in Wall Street
TWO FIRMS GIVE WAY
With one of Them James R. keene is Intimately Connected-There Is a Rumor That He Is Deeply Involved In the Fall of the House.

New York, July 24.-The announce ment on the stock exchange late today i of the suspension of the firms oS Tal- l bot J. Taylor & Co.,, and w. l.. Stow | & Co, was the sequel to a period of excited selling of stocks and wide cuts in prices which has not been equalled before since the present movement to | liquidate set in. There is nothing in | either failure that can be traced to business or industrial conditions out side the exchange. the case lying close | to a diagnosis of a speculative col | lapse. Both firms have been largely concerned in speculative stock market pools formed for the purpose of taking on a line of stocks, sustaining their price by supporting orders, real or manipulative and seeking to realize profits by selling out to outsiders at the high price. Such operations have suffered from increasing difficulties with the growth in the stringency of money, the solici tude of bankers over loans employed in such projects and the jaded appetite of the public for securities. The opera tions of the firm of w. l.. Stow & Co.,. were on d large scale in Mexican Central and the difficulties which have accumulated upon them are un- derstopd by the price of eleven touch ed by Mexican Central under the forced selling today and the high level at SIS last year.
 The failure of Talbot J. Taylor X | Co. will inevitably be connected with | the great market operations of James | R. Keene by reason of MT. Keane's family connection with and frequent | employment of the firm. MT. Keene's operations in stocks are too numerous | to detail and much mystery usually | attaches to them necessarily from their nature. But the market management | of the United States steel stocks on be- | half of the syndicate and the conducH of the Southern Pacific pool are the operations with which his name are most notably connected. | The accumulation, according to com mon belief of 39O,OoO shares of South above 80 were based upon the assump- ton that Southern Pacific bonds were to be issued for that roads work of l improvement and the net earnings ap- piled to dividends Talbot J. Taylor 1 & Co. as representatives of the pool felt themselves powerful enough to challenge the Union Pacific party's re- fusal to adopt this policy and carry the quarrel to the courts. The animosi | ties engendered by that quarrel are supposed to have added to the weight of the firms difficulties and to have aided in bringing it down.
 ] It was a veritable Black Friday" and although the market rallied very 1 decidedly at the close and the general situation in the minds of some was l having interests In the street" went home in anything but d cheerful frame of mind.
 It was freely predicted that trouble even more serious was impending. From trustworthy sources it was learned that three or more commission houses had been squeezed" almost to the bursting point.
 | Talbot J. Taylor is James R. keene's son-in-law. His brother. James. B. Taylor and Foxhall P. Keene, son of James R. Keene constitute the firm.
 The effect of the Taylor failure upon | James R. Keene's personal fortune is largely a matter of conjecture. Ac- l cording to some reports, the veteran operator is heavily involved and accord ing to others scarcely at all.
 There are many who believe that the Taylor failure is directly due to the bad blood stirred up by the firm and MT. Keene in the Southern Pacific and Metropolitan suits. In fact. it has ire quently been said that the Hartman and Whitney interests would not be satisfied with anything less than the scalp of the Keenes and Taylors be- cause of these episodes.
 ! The firm of w. l.. Stow & Co, CW. | l.. CoOlidge), was organized in 1885 and has been known almost ever since as the stock maket representatives of the Mexican Central railroad. The firms manipulation of Mexican Central securities was frequently a matter of general gossip.
 Almost 76,0OO shares of Mexican Gen. tral were dealt in today. the stock sell ing down violently from 19 to II and closing at 12A, a net loss of $ 1-2 points. The first income bonds declin- ed more than five points. During the last years bull movement Mexican Central stock sold high as 31 Is.
 The Mexican Central Railway limited of Mexico was incorporated Feb. 20, 1880 under the Massachusetts law and holds a Mexican charter and subsidy. It's main line runs from Mexico City to Juarez. distance of 1924 miles.
 No statement of Taylor & Co.'S as sets and liabilities have been made but I from the president of leading nation- al bank it is learned that the liabilities may be well onto s6,OOO,O00. Estimates of Stow & Co.'S liabilities range from S1,25O,OOO to s2,5OO.OOO.