The Wenatchee daily world. [volume] (Wenatchee, Wash.) 1905-1971, 1910-05-04
LONDON Is CRAZY
OVER RUBBER
1850 NEW COMPANIES ORGAN
IZED SINCE THE FIRST OF
THE YEAR AND RECORD RUSH
FOR SALES.

j. II. OSUuTu, VI tHIS CITY, is III fe-
ceipt of a copy of the London Daily
Express, of April 18th, which shows
that the staid and conservative Eng
lishmen can be aroused on a proper
occasion Just at the present time
all London is interested in the rub
Der and oil business. The following
is front page story of the Express
on the oil and rubber floatations:
A record rush for shares in new
rubber and oil companies led to re-
markable scenes yesterday in the
city.
Banks issuing new prospectuses
were besieged by eager crowds, and
the lists of several new companies
were subscribed many times over
within few minutes of the open
ing of the doors.
The IS. shares of one new company
were shortly afterwards quoted at
LIS. Cd. premium, or 625 per cent,
and the / pound shares of another
at and premium, or 500 pounds
to 600 pounds per cent. profit.
The widest rush was outside the
Chartered Bank of India, China, and
Australia in Bishopsgate, where sub
scriptions for four of the new COM
panies had to be presented.
AS early as $50 a. m, an hour and
a half before the official time for the
| opening of the bank, little crowd
| clutching prospectuses had gathered
on the steps. Directly the door was
/ opened by the step cleaner and they
surged into the passage to be ready
for the opening of the inner door
which separated them from the coun-
| ter.
The bank clerks on their arrival
| had to force their way through these
crowds, which by ten o'clock included
hatless city men who had rushed from
their offices, women in crushed mil
linery, a butcher in his blue smock,
and many commissionaries and
| clerks
In the scramble at ten o'clock a
man was knocked down and would
have been severely hurt had not the
senior bank messenger plunged into
the crowd and rescued him.
81 was here first" cried several
people together, as the excited appli-
cants climbed on forms and hung on
the brass rails of the counter to at
tract the cashiers attention In the
| wild rush, however, it was impossible
to single out the early corners, for
some of the late arrivals were more
persistent.
Application forms, many with
cheques for hundreds Of pounds at
tached, were flung over the rails to
| the cashiers, who found themselves
unable to hand out receipts fast
enough.
Receipts will be sent on by post. "
they cried to all applicants, who hur-
ried off wondering If they were in
the lucky minority who would be al
lotted shares.
Five minutes after the opening of
the bank, the list of one company
was declared closed, and at 1918 the
second company was heavily over
subscribed.
Notices were then hung in the
doorway of the bank saying "Lists
closed" and giving the names of
three new companies. All through
the day disappointed would-be appli-
cants gazed at these notices and then
turned away with their cheques and
applications in their hands unopened.
Since the beginning of the year
1850 new companies, or at the rate
of 1000 a year, have been floated-
roughly, twenty-four day.
Nearly 200 of these companies
have been directly concerned with
the rubber interest, and oil has been
responsible lately for almost as many.