The element of distrust, however, aroused by the suspension of the Brooklyn Trust Company, and subsequently that of the New York Warehouse Company, in connection with the failure of Francis Skiddy & Co, and another old-established mercantile house similarly situated, had not died out when the suspension of Kenyon Cox & Co., involving that, also, of the Chicago and Canada Southern Railway Company, fell like a thunderbolt on Wall street.  This failure derived its importance from the fact of Daniel Drew being a general partner in the house, although originally he had gone into it as a special partner with $300,000 capital, and from its being the financial agent of this new but important enterprise—­a line of large extent, and involving very heavy expenditures in construction and equipment.  Kenyon Cox & Co., as financial agents, and Daniel Drew individually, as a director and officer of the company, had approved its contracts and endorsed its acceptances.  A large amount of the latter became due on the 13th of September, and a million and a half of them in amount would have matured within thirty days afterward; but on the morning of that date the firm formally suspended, and the joint obligations of the house and the railway company went to protest.  Fortunately for the bondholders, the road had just previously been completed, although much still remained to be done to put it in the condition originally designed.  Here comes the rub and the cause of the whole difficulty.  The company depended for its means of construction on the sale of its bonds, as so many companies before it had done.  The sale of the bonds in this country fell far short of the expectations of the financial agents, and they were equally disappointed in a market for them abroad.  They were thus caught in the unpleasant position of being pledged to heavy obligations with little or no money coming in to meet them with.  Failing their ability to pay these out of their own pockets, or relief in some way from the company, the result was inevitable.  As, however, Daniel Drew was believed to be a man of great wealth, notwithstanding his loss of nearly a million and a half by the North-western “corner” in November, 1872, the failure of his house created much surprise and distrust.  All new railway undertakings and the bankers identified with them were immediately regarded with suspicion, and that suspicion was fatal.

The effect on the Stock Exchange was immediate, though less visible in the decline of prices than in a reversal of the current of speculation in favor of the bears, in a disturbance of credits and in general uneasiness.  Jay Cooke & Co., who were known to be heavily involved in that colossal undertaking, the construction of the Northern Pacific Railway, and Fisk & Hatch, who had identified themselves with the Central Pacific, and subsequently the Ohio and Chesapeake Road, as financial agents, were the first to feel the shock in the shape of a run on their deposits; and on the