he auctioneers in New York, Boston,
Philadelphia, and Chicago were at once approached, not only directly
but through their bankers and other advisers. It was a disagreeable
task as these auctioneers had to be urged to cease doing business, but
it was rendered unexpectedly easy by the courtesy and friendliness
with which they cooperated for the general welfare. So loyal were
these various agencies that not a single sale, either of listed or
unlisted securities, occurred in any auction room of the country until
the urgent phases of the crisis had passed.

It was not in auction rooms alone, however, that prices might be made;
dealings were liable to occur in any unexpected locality, and it was
urgent that prices of an alarming character should be kept from the
public. For this most important purpose the cooperation of the press
was absolutely necessary. To obtain this, at the outset, was no easy
matter. The closing of the Stock Exchange placed the financial news
writers of the daily press in a curious position. With them were
allied that group of financial writers connected with the various Wall
Street news agencies, the several financial journals that are
exclusively devoted to Wall Street affairs, and the financial
correspondents of out of town newspapers. All told there were about
one hundred salaried men in these various groups, men experienced in
financial affairs, widely known and respected, engaged in a work which
had never been interrupted and which, as far as could be foreseen,
promised to furnish them with a continuous vocation.

The first effect of the war was a general curtailment of newspaper
advertising, a rise in the price of paper, and a greatly increased
cost of the news of the day owing to excessive cable charges for
foreign dispatches. Thus the newspapers suffered a rapidly diminishing
revenue, and they found it necessary to discharge many of their
employees and to reduce the salaries of others. With the Stock
Exchange closed, naturally the salaried financial writers were among
the first to feel this hardship.

Those whose services were retained throughout this crisis were
confronted with divided responsibilities. It was their duty to
interpret a mass of more or less fantastic rumors at a time when
nerves were overwrought and points of view magnified and distorted.
They wished to prevent the publication of anything of an incendiary
nature, while at the same time a necessity arose for presenting to the