File:Twenty years among the bulls and bears of Wall street (1870) (14778697362).jpg

Identifier: twentyyearsamong00smit (find matches)
Title: Twenty years among the bulls and bears of Wall street
Year: 1870 (1870s)
Authors: Smith, Matthew Hale, 1810-1879
Subjects: Securities industry
Publisher: Hartford, J. B. Burr & company
Contributing Library: Columbia University Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: The Durst Organization

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ng officer stands erect, cool and silent. Severalhundred men surge before him, stamping, yelling,screaming, jumping, sweating, gesticulating, violentlyshaking their fists in each others faces, talking in atongue not spoken at Pentecost. The president holdsin his hand a mallet of ivory, and before him is a blockof wood encased in brass. On this he strikes with hismallet, to control the intense excitement. Without ithe would pound his desk to pieces in a short time. Somany minutes are allowTed for the sale of stock. In themidst of this mad frenzy and apparent disorder, everyword of which is understood by the initiated, the malletcomes down with a-shower of vigorous blows. Order!order! runs through the chamber. The noise andtempest is hushed in a moment. No more offers to-day, gentlemen! the officer says, as the name of thebuyer is announced. If the sale is contested, the pres-ident names the buyer. If an appeal is taken from hisdecision, it is settled on the spot by a vote of the board.
Text Appearing After Image:
THE GOLD ROOM. 81 A Innidrcd thousand dollars often hang on that de-cision. The party against whom it is given can donothing but submit. THE GOLD ROOM. This is an organization distinct from the stock board.Its rooms are not in the stock exchange, but arereached by a passage-way in the rear of the stockroom. It was organized seven years ago, and confinesits business to transactions in gold. It is more excit-ing in its methods of doing business than the stockexchange. A large proportion of the persons whocrowd the gold room are young men, clerks, and evenboys. At the stock board none but actual memberscan buy and sell. Junior partners are taken in torepresent the house at the board, now that muscularbrokerage is so prominent. In the gold room mem-bers can be represented by their clerks, assistants, oxmessengers. All such must have a power of attorneyfrom the principal that he will be bound by the con-tracts of his representative. This young element givesa rough, uncouth, wild look to th

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