The heavy break on the New York Stock Exchange, which began on Saturday and has been increased on each succeeding day except Tuesday, when there was a slight recovery, reached catastrophic proportions yesterday with a crash described as the worst in the history of the Exchange.
The floor of the Exchange was a scene of the wildest excitement, and the shouts of the brokers seeking to unload their stocks at any price could be heard in the streets. It is estimated that ú1,000,000,000 in paper values had been swept away by the close of the market.
The day╒s sales were 12,895,000 shares, against the previous highest number of 8,240,000 on March 26. The tape machine records of prices finished nearly three hours behind the market.
The fall at the opening of the market was so rapid that a conference of leading bankers was hastily called and a reassuring statement issued. This had a temporary rallying effect in certain sections, but the liquidation was continued elsewhere.
That bankers╒ statement had served to allay market fears to some extent was shown in a last-hour rally in a few sections, in which last prices were above the worst.
The slump is the worst since the historic panic of 1907 when the paper value of securities was destroyed by hundreds of millions and America had to import ú20,000,000 in gold to prevent even more far-reaching disaster.
