CHAPTER IX.

SECRETARY CHASE AND THE TREASURY.

The Depleted Condition of the Treasury when Mr. Chase 73

took Office.—Preparations for War and Great

Excitement in Washington.—Chivalrous Southerners in a

Ferment.—Officials Up in Arms in Defence of their

Menaced Positions.—Miscalculation with Regard to the

Probable Duration of the War.—A Visit to Washington

and an Interview with Secretary Chase.—Disappointment

about the Sale of Government Bonds.—A Panic

Precipitated in Wall Street.—Millionaires Reduced to

Indigence in a Few Hours.—Miraculously Saved from the

Wreck.—How it Happened