Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1904-02-12

/ and thus avert a panic disastrous 20
all Interests. But the great heads OF
the money power had vanished. The
sIaaller lights who remained were
!! in state of physical as well as finan-
cial panic. Each imagined himself
| the next victim. Special policemen
| guarded all the offices, and every Wis
itor was scrutinized as possible kid
| napper. Hundreds of extra police Off
/ GERS were thrown into the financial
| district. All suspicious characters
were arrested. Crowds were not per-
r:tted to assemble and condition
| approaching marital law prevailed.
| The governors of the Stock Ex-
change finally decided to open the
| session as usual, reserving 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their support withdrawn the panic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 & Rogers were heavily '1ong''
and on the point of suspending. This
| the firm emphatically denied, and
stated that they could stand fur
Their drop of 25 points. On call for
margins they promptly furnished
them.
With the panic at its height the
governors met to take action. A mo-
ton 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. Tt read as follows:
Mr.. M L. Morton, New York City:
Dear Sir: This is to inform you that
I am alive and we'll 1 shall be obliged
| to remain away from the city for short
time, possibly several weeks. You and
my relatives and friends need not have
| the slightest fear for the safe return OF
| myself and the gentlemen who are keep
! ing me company. I 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 reigned. A 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-edged stock as security.
Sugar was lowering around par,
| drop of more than 60 points in less
| than 4S hours. The nerve-racked
brokers expected the announcement
| of yet more disastro 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 SEN
| tence: 81 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! It was re-
echoed by the vast mob which defied
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
yet shrouded in mystery deep as
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 & Rogers
were persistent buyers from the mo-
ment the first news of the Morton
letter was made public. Their sales
i were so small as to show that they
represented but profit taking for
regular customers, and not the i'm
mense holdings of 'long" stock which
had been absorbed during the height
of the panic. Their profits were
roughly estimated at 3d., 1000.
i The welcome letter was addressed
to Mr.. NJ. L. Morton, brother
of the great financier. 1t was in a
plain white envelope and written on
ordinary letter paper, with single
fold. The postmark on the letter
was indistinct, but when put under a
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 q late train. With slow connec-
tions the letter reached New York
in time for the 10:45 a. m. delivery.
II Here was clew worth following.
a special train with the best de-
tective talent in New York, was pre-
| pared and dispatched to Province
town. But the developments which