Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1872-12-05
The King of Wall Street.

A correspondent of the Cincinnati
Commercial furnishes the following
sketch of Henry n, Smith, the man
who lost $4,OoO,O0oJ In 1.-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 & Martin: it was
he who was in with Fisk in the bold
operations against the Erie railroad:
and it was he who made a corner on
greenbacks last winter by carving
$5,OO0,OOO on his person anu locking it
1t up in the Tenth National Bank
which 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 $4,000, 600 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 it was none of their
| business that the money was bis own
and he could do with it as he liked:
and IL was about this time that the COM
mittee found they had made d mistake.
Smith collected about $50 witness fees
and returned to New York, and thai was
the last of the silly investigation. A gen
tleman who was witness before the com
mlttee said subsequently that Smith
actually carried the S5,OOO,OOO on his.
person for two days. The lining of his
overcoat was filled with pockets, and
into these the money was stored.
! Smith Is about thirty-fve or thirty-eieht
years old, short OF stature, slight of
| frame, and red of hair. The latter he
wears cut close and his whiskers Ia
nttataare 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, which 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 to this day called
plain Tom Smith. a 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 he learned the
| Oh Ia, DO %,,o1
workman. 1t is said there that Tom
Smith can make the best "fne" boot of
any man in America. A love scrape, if
am correctly informed, drove him
from his hammer and lap-stone and
took him TO Buffalo year or two before
the war. While there he attended a
course of instruction in one of the
business Colleges" which were SO COM
mon then. From this he operated in
Buffalo in 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 a
money maker is without parallel in
history. 1t 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
that is an insult to him. He possesses
the same reckless daring, but he brought
to his experience 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
admiral's uniform, nor to show himself
at the head of regiment at the cost Of
thousands of dollars. He lives as be-
| comes very wealthy man, and owns
number of the best horses that money
can buy merely for his own driving.
He has considerable money invested in
real estate in his native town, where ne.
has provided handsomely for MS father
and mother.