The hour of four
Richard was not so fond of fiction as to invite it . He sent the report and interview to the _ Daily Tory _ , and dispatched a private message to Mr. Bayard , giving him the news and congratulating him on his unerring gifts as a seer . When the President of these United States so dauntlessly flourished the Monroe Doctrine in the German face , and shook the Presidential fist beneath the German nose , the flourishing and fist-shaking were accomplished through the medium of a special message to Congress which -- a clap of thunder from a cloudless sky -- made its appearance in House and Senate upon a certain Tuesday afternoon at four of the congressional clock . The hour of four had been settled upon to diminish as much as might be , so the President said , the chances of an earthquake in the New York stock market , which closed at three . In San Francisco , which is three hours younger than New York , the winds of disastrous speculation blew a hurricane that afternoon ; but no one east of the Mississippi cares what happens in San Francisco . Besides , the New York hurricane was only deferred . Tuesday afternoon , after word of that Presidential fist-shaking had soaked into the souls of men , speculative New York went nervous to the frontiers of hysteria .