Tuesday, the following day, the daily newspapers belched forth further
tirades of abuse and calumny. The market crash in Ely Central was held
up to the public as proof positive that the project was a daring
swindle. The raid on the stock in the market was renewed. A Johnstown
flood of liquidation ensued. Fluctuations were violent. Opening at $2,
the price was forced down to $1. It afterward rebounded to $2, but the
waters would not subside, the stock was hammered again and it closed at
$1 per share. To meet the oncoming emergencies the Scheftels
corporation was obliged to fortify its cash reserve in the only one way
that offered. It was compelled to convert a large part of its reserves
of securities into cash and it had to sell on a declining market. Many
accounts were withdrawn by timid customers, and the Scheftels company
was further called upon to give stability to Rawhide Coalition and
Bovard Consolidated, other stocks which it had been sponsoring in the
markets. Loans were called by brokers with whom the Scheftels company
was carrying stocks, deliveries were frantically tendered to the
Scheftels company of stocks it had purchased at previous high levels,
and a financial onslaught made generally that would undoubtedly have
sunk the Scheftels' ship but for the fact that we had backed-up in the
nick of time, had measured our distance, had gone just so far and not
too far, and had kept on the firing-line.
An exceedingly gratifying feature of the sensational day was the way in
which our friends stood by us. The venom and selfishness of the
overwhelming assaults that had been made upon us convinced many of the
public that we were being made the victims of a special attack, and
with the natural impulse that governs honorable men they gave testimony
to their confidence in us.
On Wednesday the campaign terminated. Ely Central weakened an eighth
from the $1 point, the closing of the day before, recovered to sales at
$1-3/4 and closed at $1-1/2 bid; $1-5/8 asked.
All day long our offices were thronged with newspaper reporters and
with pale-faced and agitated customers. Our clients felt their
helplessness in such a tumult of warring forces. The only thing they
could do was to stand by and watch developments as the battle waged. It
was a proud moment for me when, at the end of the day's market, I
mounted the platform in the Scheftels customers' trading-room, gave
voice to a shrill cheer of triumph and wrote on the blackboard the
following:
"We have not closed out a single margin account! We are carrying
everybody!"
The scene which followed warmed the cockles of my heart. I was
literally mobbed, but it was a friendly mob. We all joined in a season
of noisy rejoicing. That we should have been able to survive the
three-days' siege with minimum losses to customers and without
sacrificing a single margin account was a signal achievement. I doubt
if there are many cases like it in the history of Wall Street.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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