three o'clock
This should make an adjournment unnecessary . I know that this is a most extraordinary request , but you are confronted with a most extraordinary situation , the most remarkable in the history of the Stock Exchange . Already , if what they say on the floor is correct , over two hundred banks and trust companies throughout the country have gone under , and new failures are being announced every minute . Half the members of this and the Boston and Philadelphia Exchanges are insolvent and have closed their doors , or will close them before three o'clock , and the shrinkage in values so far reported runs over fifteen billions . Unless something is done before the close , there will be a similar panic in every Exchange and Bourse in Europe to-morrow . '' The committee instantly voted to lay the proposition before the full board . In another minute the president 's gavel sounded , and the floor was still as a tomb .