noon
Giddings cajoled and threatened , retreated slowly here , advanced intrepidly there . On the one side , he held back wavering banks and trust companies , persuading some that all was well , warning others that if they pressed him they would lose all . On the other side , he faced his powerful foes and made them quake as they saw their battalions of millions roll upon his unbroken line of battle only to break and disappear . At noon National Woolens preferred was at fifty-eight , the common at twenty-nine . Giddings was beginning to hope . At three minutes past noon the tickers clicked out : `` It is reported that John Dumont is dying . '' As that last word jerked letter by letter from under the printing wheel the floor of the Stock Exchange became the rapids of a human Niagara .