The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1872-12-13
The King of Wall Street.

n
Commercial furnishes the following
sketch of Henry n. Smith, the man
who lost 100000 in the recent
'corner' in Northwestern stock, and
who may be justly described as the
King of Wall street
Henry n. Smith is known throughout
the country as one of the most desperate
and successful operators in Wall street.
1t was he who became so noted at the
Black Friday time as the head OF the
firm Of Smith, Gould Il Martin it was
he who was in with Fisk IN the bold
operations against the Erie railroad;
and it was he who made corner on
greenbacks last winter by carrying
$4,000, 900 on his person and locking II
it up in the Tenth National Bank
when last operation became the subject
of Congressional inquiry. Smith came
on to Washington and was examined.
The committee did not get much com
fort out of his answers. They asked
him if he had locked up S5,OOO,OOO in
greenbacks. He frankly said he had.
They asked him why he did it. he
freely acknowledged that he did it TO
make money by the operation, and
wanted TO know what the committee
intended to do about it. Without an
swering, the members OF the committee
asked what right he had TO lock up that
amount of money. Then he got angry
and told them that il was none or their
business; that the money was his own
ana lie could do with IL as he liked /;
and IL was about this time that the COM
mittee found they had made mistake.
Smith collected about $50 witness fees
and returned to New York, and that was
the last OF the silly investigation. gen.
teman who was witness before the COM
mittee said subsequently that Smith
actually carried the S5,000,000 on his
person for two days. The lining Of his
overcoat was filled with pockets, and
Smith is about thirty.fve or thirtyeight
years old, short OF stature, slight Of
frame, and red of hair. The latter he
wears cut close ana his whiskers a Ia
miIitaire or mutton chop, with mustache.
His name is not Henry NJ nor Henry
n. Smith, but Norman Henry Smith.
He is native of Tioga, Penn, little
village which is shut IN with charming
grace from the outside world by circle
of hills, whicl- in fall present such an
enchanting appearance that It clings TO
ones memory forever. In this pretty
little village this monster operator was
born, and here he is 20 this day called
plain Tom Smith. nickname he got
when a baby. 1t is nothing against
Tom that he spent his young days about
as other village boys do. and it is moth
ing against him that ne learned the
shoemaker's trade and was an excellent
workman. 1t is said tLere that Tom
Smith can make the best fine boot of
any man in America. A love scrape, If
am correctly informed, drove him
from his hammer and lap.stone and
took him 10 Buffalo year or two before
the war. While there ne attended q
course of instruction in one of the
Business Colleges" which were so COM
mon then. From this he operated in
Buffalo IN a small way, going finally
TO Albany. He could not long remain
in such place. and he turned his eyes
towards New York. His career as
money maker is without a parallel in
history. it would be idle to estimate
his wealth, for to-day it might be twenty
millions and tomorrow ten. He is
called the successor Of Jim Fisk, but
llldJ IL al lIsuit 10 Alu. ne possesses
the same reckless daring, but he brought
to bis experience a keener and more
deliberate judgment and intelligence
than Fisk had. Besides he has none of
the "fast" qualities which Fisk pos
sessed. He has no desire to display his
wealth ostentatiously he does not care
to build an opera-house that he may
have the privilege of the green.room,
and he is not likely to run line of
steamers merely to show himself IN an
admirafs uniform, nor to show himself
at the head of regiment at the cost of
thousands of dollars. He lives as be.
comes a very wealthy man, and owns a
number of the best horses that money
can buy merely for MS own driving.
He has considerable money invested in
real estate in his native town, where he
has provided handsomely for his father
and mother.