constructed 4,190 miles of railroad in the United States, which, at
$29,000 per mile, represented the enormous sum of $121,000,000, and in
the last five years $1,700,000,000.

The commercial situation was not so bad, and the number of failures did
not reach the proportion that might have been feared.

After the failure of Jay Cooke came those of Fiske & Hatch, of the Union
Trust Company, of the National Trust Company, and of the National Bank
of the Commonwealth. On the 20th of September, for the first time, the
Stock Exchange in New York City was closed for ten days, during which
legal-tender notes were at a premium of 1/4 per cent. to 3 per cent.
above certified cheques.

On the 18th there was a run on the deposits. Withdrawals continued on
the 19th and 20th, especially by the country banks, and the banks'
correspondents. No security could be realized upon; and in order to
relieve the situation the Secretary of the Treasury bought $13,500,000
of National 5-20 bonds, stating that he could do no more.

The New York Stock Exchange was reopened September 30th, without any
notable occurrence; but everything was very low. Several other
suspensions occurred--for instance, that of Sprague, Claflin, & Co.

The rate of discount being 9 per cent., a panic was feared in London.
The banks passed the most critical period on October 14th; out of
$32,278,000 legal-tender dollars at the beginning of the panic, only
$5,800,000 remained on hand. Not until the middle of November did the
decline stop and a slight advance take place. Throughout the panic the
bank reserves were much below the legal requirement of 25 per cent; from