The Cordele dispatch. (Cordele, Ga.) 19??-1971, 1919-09-22
RECALL aRLAcK FRIDAY

| the fiftieth anniversary OF the begin
ming of the gold corser" panic, a
period of feverish excitement and
speculations surprising anything
| hitherto known in the financial an
nails of America and which culminat-
ed two days later in the historic
BLACK Friday" crash, in in which the
fortunes of hundreds were swept
away and all the interests Of the
country temporarily Frustrated.
The panic was the direct result Of
an attempt by the so-called "Erie
Ring" to corner the country's supply
of gold Jay Gould devised and en-
gineered the scheme. He was the
! brains Of the enterprise, but follow
ing his usual method he put forward
others to serve the gold deal he chose
to reau all the glory-and the punish
ment. In the glod deal has chose
James Fish, Jr (whom Ed Stokes
afterward murdered) as his figure
head There were others of course
in the clique. But Gould was the in
tellect behind it all and Fish was the
chief actor.
In the spring of 1860 the price of
gold had fallen to 131 by reason of
teh Governments impending resump-
ton of specie payments. In August
Colds syndicate began buying gold
to rise and the conspirator declared
all the gold in the New York City
banks-about $15,OOO,OOO.
Under Goulds manipulation--he
had nearly sixty brokers working for
him-gold went steadily from 131 un-
til, fifty years ago today, it reached
141. The following day it continued
to rise and the conspirator declred
their purpose to crowd it up to 300
1t was a day of intense excitement,
Of alternating hopes and fears. re-
calling the most critical moments Of
the Civil War. Important, stocks fall
by score of points within an hour.
The smaller speculators failed or
settled their obligations on the best
terms they could The day closed,
With gold at "a ]. For 9 time time. the as,
founding plot had every prospect of
success.
rion President Grant awoke to the
true nature of the conspiracy and
took steps to check it, Gould, as usual
gp1d advance tip Of the Presidents
Intentions. And he acted accordingly.
n save himself from ruin he set to
work, secretly, getting rid Of his
c"n personal supply OF gold before
The slump came. He sold as fast as
hc could. without botherng to mott
~ his associates. who went on buy.
ing
On the following morning-"Black
I-jiday" The crash came The stock
e oauge was a bedlam. All the neigh
boring streets were blocked by a
Id5nae mass OF humanity laboring un,
der the greatest state of excitement
Il IN went insane in the gold room;"
-. hair Of one Spectator is said to
,urned snow white, The whole
enc was beyond description.
In the midst of the widest excite
sel. when the price was vibrating at
* . highest points, messenger ar
yea with the news that Secretary
lex the Treasury Routwell had given
= ers to sell gold On behalf of the
1,N eminent. This effectively smash
ell the corner" The price instantly
'sll to 1876. The power of the clique
was broken, and the great crisis was
an end.
mstense ind gnation was aroused
against Gould Fish and others of the
{, nspirators. For many hours mob
searched industriously for Gould to
lynch him. But he was careful not
C be found. He is said to have clear
ca of $11.OOOOOO by his forethought
in selling out his gold at exactly the
right moment. AS for Fish, his firm
suspended at once and repudiated
is gold contracts.
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