Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1872-11-28
THE RING OF WALL STREET
From the Cincinnati Commercial.
Z baye al1nded To Harry Smith. 4

Ihave alluded to Henry Smith, and
I am reminded Of a short account Of
his career, given me not long ago by a
friend who was brought up with him.
Henry N. Smith Is known throughout
the country ~ one Of the most desper-
ate and successful operators In Wall
street. It was he who became 40 not.
ed at the Black Friday time. ~ the
head Of the firm Smith, Gould & Mar
tin : It war he who was in with Fisk in
the bold operations against tho Erie
railroad ; and 1t was he who made .
corner on greenbacks last winter by
carrying i've millions Of dollars about
his person and locking it up in the
Tenth National Bank, which last oper-
alton became the subject of Congress-
ionsl inquiry. Smith came on to
Warrington and was examined. The
committee did not get much comfort
out Of his answers. They asked him
il he had locked up five millions Of
dollars in greenbacks. He frankly
said he had. They asked him why he
did IL. He freely acknowledged that
he did It to make money by the Oper-
alton and asked the committee what
they intended to do about it. Without
answering, tho members asked him
what right he had tolock up that sum
of moncy. Then he got angry and told
them it was none Of their DID bust
ness ; that the money was his own and
he could do with it as he pleased and
It was about this time that the commit
tee found that they had made q mis-
take. Smith collected about 6fty dol
lars witness fees and returned to New
York, and that was the last Of the silly
investigation. 4 gentleman who wa
alsoa witness before the committee,
said subsequently, that Smith actually
carried the five miilions of dollars on
his person for two days. Tho lining
Of his overcoat was filled with pockets
and into these the money was put
sMlTn
10 about thirty.fve or thifty-eight
years Of age, short Of statue, slight of
frame, and red of hair. The latter he
wears cut close and his whiskers a Ia
militdiyc or mutton chop. with mus
tache. His lame is not Henry N. nor
Henry N. Smith, but Norman Henry
Smith. He is o native Of Tioga, Pa
q little village which lie shut in with
charming grace from the outside
world, by q range of hills, which in the
fall presents such an enchanting APP
pearance that 1t clings to ones memo-
~ forever. In this pretty little viii
lagethis monster operator was born and
here to this day he is called plain Tom
Smith, . nick name he got when . ba-
by. 1t 10 nothing against Tom that
he spent his Young days about as other
village boys do, aud it Is nothing
against him that he learned the shoe
makers trade and was an excellent
workman. It Is said there, that Tom
Smith can make tho best 9Hne boot" Of
any man in America
A love scrape. ifI am correctly In.
formed, drove him from his hammer
and lap-stone and took him to Buffalo,
4 year or two before the war. While
there he attended a course Of instruc-
tons in one OF the "Business Colleges"
which were 50 common then. From
this he operated in Buffalo in a small
way, going finally TO Albany. He did
not long remain here, aud he turned
bis eye toward New York,
His carccr 40 q money-maker has no
parallel in hiatory. It would be idle
to estimate his wealth, for to-day he
might be worth twenty niilions and
tomorrow ten. He is called the sue
cessor 10 Jim Fisk. but this Is an insult
to him. He possesses the same reck-
less daring, but he has brought to his
experience q keener and more deliber-