As  the  year  wore  on  and  the  knot  tightened,  Insull
turned  to  friends,  associates,  employees.  He  "let  them
in'*  on  juicy  syndicates  and  distributed  dubious  under-
writing profits.  He  raised  money  in  New  York,  London,
Paris,  Antwerp  and  Amsterdam — some  $60,000,000,
all  told,  from  European  connections.  But  even  this  was
not  enough.  The  money  poured  out  faster  than  it  flowed
in.  There  was  no  bottom  to  the  rat  hole.
In  those  days  it  is  charitable  to  say  that  Insull  lost
his  head  under  constant  pressure  from  Eaton,  who  was
"sniping  away"  from  the  sidelines  when  he  was  not
engaged  in  open  raids.  He  was  driven  frantic.  Accord-
ing to  the  government  prosecutors  he  applied  the  money
that  came  into  the  treasuries  of  his  companies  with  scant
regard  for  its  source;  he  shifted  assets  around  like  a
prestidigitator  in  a  side  show;  he  descended  to  the  level
of  the  shell  and  pea  game.  A  conservative  for  forty
years,  always  to  be  counted  on  to  discourage  speculation
in  his  stocks,  reputed  never  to  have  had  a  stock  broker-


A  LOCHINVAR  COMES  OVER-SEAS         159

age  account,  he  suddenly  became  the  wildest  operator  in
LaSalle  Street  and  once  having  embarked  on  this  course
there  was  no  turning  back  until  ruin  stared  him  in  the
face.
