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FINANCIAL REVIEW OF 1892. 



pressure, aided by engagements of gold for ship- 

 ment to Europe. The Richmond and Danville, 

 the Richmond and West Point Terminal, and the 

 East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia were placed 

 in the hands of receivers, the original plans for 

 reorganization having been abandoned. Gradu- 

 ally the market recovered, and the tone was 

 strong until the 23d, when there was an irregu- 

 lar decline, in part caused by engagements of 

 gold for export to Europe. Toward the end of 

 the month, Drexel, Morgan & Co. refused to 

 assist in the reorganization of the Richmond and 

 West Point Terminal, whereupon this stock 

 sharply fell off. The Vanderbilt properties were 

 favorably affected by the declaration of the usual 

 dividends, accompanied by a satisfactory exhibit 

 of their financial condition ; Reading and the 

 other coal shares improved because of the ad- 

 vance in the schedule price of coal, and the 

 whole market moved upward, closing generally 

 strong. News of the passage, July 2d, by the 

 Senate of the Stewart bill providing for the free 

 coinage of silver, started selling of stocks for 

 European account ; and bearish demonstrations 

 were aided by the strike of the Amalgamated 

 Association of Iron Workers employed in the 

 Carnegie mills at Homestead, Pa., which was 

 brought about by a demand by the company for 

 a reduction of about one third on certain classes 

 of work directly affecting only 325 out of the 

 3.800 men in the works. The strike was accom- 

 panied by a lockout, and efforts by the managers 

 of the mill to employ nonunion labor were 

 forcibly resisted, and in the conflict between the 

 strikers and the Pinkerton guard several of the 

 latter were killed. The bears vigorously raided 

 leading stocks, taking advantage of reports that 

 the strike at Homestead would be followed by a 

 general strike of members of the association and 

 their allies elsewhere. The market was weak 

 until the 7th, when there was a rally caused by 

 rebuying of stocks for European account. The 

 action of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy, in 

 demanding of the advisory board of the Western 

 Traffic Association certain amendments to the 

 rules had only a temporary effect, mainly for the 

 reason that reports from the growing crops were 

 excellent, and this encouraged buying of all the 

 Grangers. On the 13th, the Senate bill providing 

 for the free coinage of silver was defeated in the 

 House of Representatives by a combination of 

 antifree-coinage men of both parties, and soon 

 after a clique of bull speculators began operations 

 in American Sugar Refining stocks and in Nation- 

 al Cordage, and, influenced by the well-sustained 

 advance in these specialties, the whole market im- 

 proved, and the tone was generally strong to the 

 end of the month. Brilliant crop prospects re- 

 sulting from hot and forcing weather, which pre- 

 vailed from the 18th of July until near the middle 

 of August, encouraged buying of the Granger 

 stocks during the early part of this month. One 

 feature was the failure of the strikers at Home- 

 stead, Pa., to prevent the operation of the Carne- 

 gie mills, the State militia protecting the property. 

 Another feature was a revolt of free against con- 

 vict labor in coal mines in Tennessee, which was 

 suppressed by the militia of that State. Still an- 

 other feature was a decision by Judge McCormick 

 of the United States circuit court sitting at Dal- 

 las, Texas, against the railroad commissioners 



of that State ; and another feature was a decision 

 by Chancellor McGill, of New Jersey, against the 

 lease of the Central New Jersey by the Port Read- 

 ing. The tendency of the stock market was up- 

 ward, with American Sugar Refining, National 

 Cordage, National Lead, General Electric, and 

 Cotton-oil leading, until the second week, when 

 there was an irregular fall due to realizations, 

 assisted by the strike of railroad switchmen in 

 the Reading, Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburg, 

 Erie, New York Central, and Lake Shore yards 

 at Buffalo, by further shipments of gold to Eu- 

 rope, and by reports of drought threatening the 

 destruction of crops in Kansas. In the third 

 week the strike at Buffalo became so formidable 

 that the militia of the State were sent to that 

 point to guard the railroad property, and this 

 had more or less of an unsettling effect until 

 toward the end of the month, when the collapse 

 of this strike brought about a recovery in the 

 market ; but this was followed by a decline on 

 news of cholera in England, it having reached 

 there from Hamburg, where the scourge was rag- 

 ing. On the last day of the month there was a 

 panicky fall in the market on the announcement 

 of the arrival at this port of the steamship " Mo- 

 ravia" from Hamburg with cholera on board. 

 Early in September the market was directly af- 

 fected by the excitement attending the arrival 

 of other infected vessels, but, influenced by the 

 prompt and effective measures taken by the 

 New York quarantine authorities, and by the 

 President's proclamation detaining for twenty 

 days all vessels which left infected European 

 ports after Sept. 1, the excitement gradu- 

 ally subsided and the markets were recovering, 

 when the announcement was made on the 14th 

 that five deaths had occurred from cholera in 

 this city. This caused another panicky decline, 

 and the market was unsettled until the 16th, 

 when there was an irregular recovery, and the 

 tone was generally stronger to the end of the 

 month. One feature was a sharp advance in 

 American Sugar Refining, due to the embargo 

 upon raw sugar from European ports, and to the 

 check to importations of refined sugar from 

 Hamburg. Another feature was the declaration 

 of a dividend of 2 per cent, on St. Paul common 

 stock, and still another feature was a threatened 

 strike of engineers on the Reading system. The 

 weather at' the West was excellent for corn 

 throughout the whole month, and early in Octo- 

 ber it was announced that the entire crop had 

 matured under favorable conditions. During the 

 first week in the month the market was active 

 and higher, and one feature was a sharp advance 

 in New York and New England, due to a report 

 that the Boston and Maine would absorb the 

 road, and there was good buying of it for Phila- 

 delphia account. Reading also rose rapidly. 

 There was a decided improvement in Atchison, 

 Topeka and Santa Fe, Erie, the Grangers, Chi- 

 cago Gas, American Sugar Refining, and all the 

 leading stocks. General Electric was especially 

 affected by news of a decision by the United 

 States Court of Appeals confirming Mr. Edison's 

 patent of the incandescent lamp. The tendency 

 of the market was upward during the first half 

 of the month. Then came a decline in Reading, 

 caused by news of further proceedings by the 

 authorities of New Jersey against the Reading 



