Rensselaer Journal, Volume 10, Number 49, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 May 1901 — STOCKS TAKE A WILD FALL. [ARTICLE]

STOCKS TAKE A WILD FALL.

Contest Over Northern Pacific Caacen . bbarp Decline la Other SecnrlUee. Full confirmation was received , Wednesday of the terrific contest that I is waging in Wall street. New York, between interests identified with the . Standard Oil party on the one hand . and the great banking firm of J. P. Morgan & Co. on the other. Proof came in an unparalleled market, during which bulls and bears alike rushed to cover, the result being another sharp rise in Northern Pacific and a correspondingly heavy decline throughout the rest of the Hat With a crash that carried ruin to an unknown horde of sanguine speculators the great stock boom of the country came to a disastrous end. An unparalleled upward rush that left a train of broken records and had in two weeks well-nigh revolutionized men's views of stock trading in this city, terminated in a day of distress which stands unique in the history of transactions in business securities. It was precipitated by the giants, and it means death to the followers. The colossal interests on either side of the great contest that now engages followers of the stock market throughout the world clinched in a relentless battle over the common and preferred shares of the Northern Pacific railway. Wall street saw the greatest panic of its history Thursday. Rich and poor lost half a billion dollars. Prices were knocked down from 10 to 60 points. The stock exchange was mad. Between 11 o’clock and noon the majority of brokerage houses, if settlement had been compelled, would have failed. Money was loaned at 40 and 60 per cent. Northern Pacific stock sold as high as SI,OOO cash for a single share. I The Northern Pacific corner was complete. The “shorts” were stricken and utterly routed.