Martinsburg statesman-democrat. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1906-1921, 1907-07-05

III.
the crowd surged for 10 of the widest.
craziest minutes in the history of the
New York stock exchange, a history
replete with records of wild and crazy
scenes
At last from sheer exhaustion there
came ten minuteg' lull, which was
used in comparing fades. At the be-
ginning of the respite Sugar was SELL
ing at 1856, for in that quarter hour of
madness it had broken from 210 to
155, but when the ten minutes had
elapsed, the stock had worked back
to 167. Barry Conant had again taken
the center of the crowd, after hastily
scanning the brief notes handed him
by messenger,boys and giving orders
to his lieutenants. He had evidently
received Teenforcements in the form
of renewed orders from his principals.
Many of the faces that fringed the
inner circle of that crowd were fright
full to look upon, some white as
though just lifted from hospital pill
lows. others red to the verge of apo
plexy-all strained as though await
ing the coming of the jury with
life or death verdict They all knew
that Bob had sold more than a hun
dred thousand shares of Sugar upon
which the profits must be more than
$4,000,000. Would he resume selling,
or was he through? Was it short
stock, which must be bought back, or
long stock; and if long, whose stock?
he
another, or were they all selling to-
gether, and under cover of Barry Con-
ants movements were Camemeyer
and STANDARD Or emptying their
bag preparatory to the slaughter of
the Washington contingent? All these
questions were rushing through the
heads of that crowd of brokers like
steam through boiler, now hot, now
cold, but always at high pressure, for
upon the correctness of the answer de-
pended the fortune of many who
breathlessly awaited the renewal or
the suspension of the contest. Even
Barry Commits usually impressive face
wore tinge of anxiety.
Indeed, Bob was the only one in
no sign of what was going on behind
it. The same cynical smile that had
been there since the opening still
played around the corners OF his
mouth as he squared himself in
front of his opponent All knew now
that he was not through Barry Con-
ant had evidently decided to force the
fighting, although more cautiously
than before. "67 for thousand"
One of his lieutenants bid 67 for 500,
another 67 for 800, and as Bob had
not yet shown his intention of meet
ing their bids, 67 for different amounts
was heard all over the house. Bob
might have been tossing metal coin
to decide the ACCESSIBILITY of buying
back what he had sold; he might have
been adding up the bids as they were
made. He said nothing for fraction
of minute, which to those tortured
men must have seemed like an age.
Then with a wave of his hand, as
though delivering a benediction, he
swept the circle with cold-blooded:
sold the lots. $500 in ALL"
"Sixty-seven for thousand '-again
Barry Conants bid. Sold "67 for
5000" "Sold" SO for a thousand"
sold The drop from 5000 to / 900
and dollar share in Barry Conant's
bids was the mortally wounded, but
still game generals Sound the Re-
treat" Bob heard it. "Any part of
10000 at 65. 64 81 Co. The din was
now as fierce as before. The entire
crowd all but Barry Conant and his
lieutenants, seemed to have concluded
that Bob's renewal of attack meant
that he was the winning side, and
those who had been hanging on to
their stock hoping against hope. and
those who We're short and had been
undecided whether to cover or to hold
on and sell more for greater profits,
We'd with one another in 2 frantic eff
fort to SELL All could now feel the
coming panic. All could see that it
was a bad one as the least informed
on the floor knew that there was a
tremendous amount of Sugar stock in
the hands of Washington novices at
speculation and of others who had
DOdci II az AiSh PiiSSo- ouSdi was
now dropping two, three. five dollars
share between trades, and the panic
was spreading to the other poles, as
is always the case, for when there are
sudden large losses in one stock, the
losers must throw over the other
stocks they hold to meet their loss,
and thus the whole structure tumbles
like house of cards. Sugar had just
crossed ITO when the loud bang of the
presidents gavel resounded through
the room. Instantly there was ST.
lence as of death. All knew the
meaning of the sound, the most
ominous ever heard in stock ex-
change, calling for the temporary
suspension of business while the presi-
dent announces the failure of some
member or house.
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