PANIC IN THE AUCKLAND SHAREMARKET.

Inangahua Times, Volume IV, Issue 77, 5 October 1877, Page 2

PANIC IN THE AUCKLAND SHAREMARKET.

, Speculators in Reef ton mining stock have not yet experienced that amount of * excitement caused by the sudden fluctation in the price:;, which at times has befallen their Auckland friends who engage in the same or similar venture!!. Our local brokers, as yet, have only been wont to grumble, over the fall of a certain scrip between the hours of sunrise and sunset ; but how some of their pulses would beat if we had to record such an exciting scene as that witnessed on the Stock Exchange at Auckland last week, we will not venture to say. The excite« i ment was over Alburnia Company's shares i and at ten o'clock in the morning, accord- ; ing to the Auckland Herald " the deiiand , for the shares was of such a nature that many were of opinion that the high price attained a few months ago for Monatiris would be exceeded." So the story goes on to be told, until " £15 was the price 1 soon reached, and then a decided halt was made, and gradually prices receded until holders became literaly panic-striken and at 11.30 shares were offering at £9i Up to this hour t'-e bulk of those who " congregate at the at the street corners, ' and had bought in at a high figure, were of opinion that the re action was caused by interested parties " bearing ' the maket to serve their own ends, but this soon gave way to a feeling of alarm, when at noon. the following telegram from the mine manager w<as posted at the Exchange: Just blasted,, face not looking so well." The- elongated appearance of the faces of several of the crowdi around the bulle- • tin«beard showed how hard they were bit, and it was worthy of the pencil of a 'phiz' to> have caricatured one or two of the crowd i The radiant and smiling countenances' of some- distinctly told onlookers that they had' got out well ;. and perhaps, as it is natural to rejoice at> the- misfortunes^ of others,, the smiles- were partly due- to the knowledge that many spedulators- had 1 been bitten As the telegram said nothing about the weight of specimens grassed, Mr Garlan 1 wired at once for particulars, and shortly . after two o'clock: the following was re- ! ceived :— • Broken, down 500lbs speci* menss looking well in floor and roof of 1 drive.' This, of course, was- of a- more satisfactory nature, and shares^ gradually rose to £10 10s, only to be followed by ! another re-action* On the face ot the two. telegrams it would' appear to the uninitiated that' a great discrepany exists, but such is not the case, as this second telegram only refers to the floor and roof of the drive, and not the face, as the first telegram did. That something was wrong in the mine there was a lurking suspicion all the sfternoon,.and buyers were there" fore^very chary ; and that these suspicions

were correct is evident from the last telegram received, which states that thr ' Leader in the face, 1 foot wide, is show* ing little gold/" We notice-by our telegrams that a dividend of 15s has been* declared by the above company. The last quotations to hand of the shares are £6 10s to £7 108.