The moving of the cotton and grain crops had taken
hundreds of millions from New York; and there was no money to be got
by any chance from abroad. Everywhere they turned, they faced this
appalling scarcity of money; nothing could be sold, no money could
be borrowed. The few who had succeeded in getting their cash were
renting safe-deposit boxes and hiding the actual coin.
And so, all their purposes having been accomplished, the bankers set
to work to stem the tide. Frantic telegrams were sent to Washington,
and the Secretary of the Treasury deposited six million dollars in
the national banks of the Metropolis, and then came on himself to
consult.
Men turned to Dan Waterman, who was everywhere recognised as the
master of the banking world. The rivalry of the different factions
ceased in the presence of this peril; and Waterman became suddenly a
king, with practically absolute control of the resources of every
bank in the city. Even the Government placed itself in his hands;
the Secretary of the Treasury became one of his clerks, and bank
presidents and financiers came crowding into his office like
panic-stricken children.
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