In personal appearance Drew was tall, strong and sinewy, and in his latter days his face was seamed with deep lines, indicating intense thought and worry. He had restless twinkling eyes, with a steady cat-like tread in his gait. His general demeanor was bland, good-natured and insinuating, with affected but well dissembled humility, which was highly calculated to disarm any resentment, and enable him to move smoothly in society among all shades and conditions of men. He has often been mistaken for a country deacon. So, now, having revived and collated the chief incidents in the chequered career of this great speculative celebrity, I close this sketch with the ardent hope that he may have found that peace beyond the tomb which the ordinary speculator in Wall Street can seldom or never hope to achieve on this side of “that beautiful shore.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CHAPTER XVIII. PANICS.—THEIR CAUSES.—HOW FAR PREVENTABLE. NOT ACCIDENTAL FREAKS OF THE MARKET.—WE ARE STILL A NATION OF PIONEERS.—THE QUESTION OF PANICS PECULIARLY AMERICAN.—VIOLENT OSCILLATIONS IN TRADE OWING TO THE GREAT MASS OF NEW AND IMMATURE UNDERTAKINGS.—UNCERTAINTY ABOUT THE INTRINSIC VALUE OF PROPERTIES.—SUDDEN SHRINKAGE OF RAILROAD PROPERTIES A FRUITFUL CAUSE OF PANICS.—RISKS AND PANICS INSEPARABLE FROM PIONEERING ENTERPRISE.—WE ARE BECOMING LESS DEPENDENT ON THE MONEY MARKETS OF EUROPE.—IN PANICS MUCH DEPENDS UPON THE PRUDENCE AND SELF-CONTROL OF THE MONEY LENDERS.—THE LAW WHICH COMPELS A RESERVE FUND IN THE NATIONAL BANKS IS AT CERTAIN CRISES A PROVOCATIVE OF PANICS.—GEORGE I. SENEY.—JOHN C. ENO.—FERDINAND WARD.—THE CLEARING HOUSE AS A PREVENTIVE OF PANICS. There are few subjects on which there is more loose theorizing than that of the origin and remedy of panics. These crises are commonly spoken of as accidental freaks of the markets, due to antecedent reckless speculations, controlled in their progress by the acts of men and banks who have lost their senses, but quite easily prevented, and as easily cured when they happen. These are the notions of mere surface observers. They may be in a measure true, when applied to the markets of some of the older countries, whose business moves in long-established grooves and embraces but little of the risk attendant on new enterprises. In France and Germany, for instance, the hazards of business are almost entirely confined to the accidents of political events; and such nations are comparatively exempt from panics due to purely commercial causes. In the United States, panics arise, principally, from causes from which European countries are exempt.