River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1875-05-28
LIGHT,
MISCELLANY.
WALL STREET SKETCHES.
From the New York SUM-

FROM the New YORK sun.
Among the leading Wall street manipu.
lators there is une whose name is not SO
frequently before the public as that OF
jay Gould or Daniel Drew, but whose in.
huence is, on that account, not less pow.
eriul, and that is the thin, dry, angular
Russell Sage. Truly speaking, he is even
q stronger man than Gould or Drew, for
he has neither party nor even friends,
and is much more mistrusted by the pub.
liz at large than either Gould or Drew.
CouaeG uenty the business success he
achieves Is duo solely to the efforts of his
own person; and very characteristic
person is Mr.. sage.
lie has been occasionally and somewhat
dis especially described as "a cadaverous
reptile, caught at the head Of the Hudson
Tifer Navigation, meaning at Troy,where
he used to hold, years ago, the post of
alderman or something of that SCOT How
much money he made there no
one knows, but tho whole of Wall
street il perfectly aware that the
present moment Russell Sage is the
man who has more available cash than
any other person down town. His for.
tul is estimated at five or six millions !;
and it has bcen made chiefly in selling
'puls' and ''calis," He will sell them
on any stock, and 10 any amount; but
when the time comes to take them in,
there is no man so particular as he with
reference - the details Of the transactions
in regard to the day, hour and terms, es-
pecially if lie happens to be the losing
person. The small dealers trading in
''puts" and "eails" complain of having to
look out very sharply in dealing with him,
and to be very stringent with reference
TO the signature Of the great manipulation,
for SO long as he has not appended his
name to contract he does not consider
It binding.
A person very different in his habits
from both Gould and Drew, he does near
" all the Office work himself. lie is his
own confidential clerk, bookkeeper and
cashier and is one of the first men to
appear at the Office in the morning, while
Drew and Gould carry on their opera
tons much in the. fashion of potentates,
telegraphing orders to their cabinet min
listers from their private residences. II
the appearance of Mr.. Sage there is moth
ing that would give the slightest indca-
ton Of his wealth. Dan Drew wears at
least gorgeous seal-skin coat in winter
time; Jay Gould never appears without
a whole staff Of his orderly officers, head
ed by his General Abide Camp, Charley
Osborne while Russell Sage is never to
be seen outside Of the Office, where he has
not even a private room, and sits by the
side of his solitary clerk. He has even no
Office of his own, for the room he occu-
pies belongs 10 the Milwaukee and St.
Paul Railroad Company, of which he is
Vice President. A circular lately issued
by an opponent of his, Alexander Mitch
ell, referred to this fact in terms of re-
proach, saying that it was not proper for
an official to use the Office Of his company
for private speculations, and especially
for specializing in the stack of the con-
Germ itself. But Russell Sage does not
seem 10 take much notice Of the complaint
anG refers to kicd Of statute OF ahtiqui.
ty, saying that he has dealt in stocks for
years on these premises, and that he
means to continue to do so.
Another branch Of Mr.. Sage's occupa-
ton is the lending Of money at a moro or
less comfortable rate Of interest, amount
sometimes-as was the case during the
panic--to one-half per cent. day. The
oldest dealers in Wall street do not re-
member time when Russell Sage had
not loose cash to lend, when applied for
with good securities and readiness to pay
high rate of interest. But he never
likes to lend less than 100000, apparent.
ly considering it beneath his dignity. On
the other hand, in calculating interest or
in settling an account for stock privileges
he will squeeze every cent he possibly
can out of his customers.
1t must be said, however, that he does
not makaDy secret Of his views on bust
ness matters. Hypocrisy has never en-.
tered into his composition. You have
only 10 look at him to sec half per cent.
day" written all over his bony, pareh-
meht.liko conntenance. No end
Of people are just as greedy
and az fond Of making money
as Russell Sage is; but they try TO con.
eeal their natural proclivities under moro
or less soft and winning manners Some
Of ITEM patroniEe churches and sub;
scribe to charities, or entertain people
and exhibit social proclivities. In Rus.
sell Sage there is no humbug Of thai sort.
He has never been known to subscribe TO.
ward anything, TO have "run" any
church, or 10 have exhibited any ten.
dency toward social enjoyment, except
VIII + there vas business side 10 il, and
even ~ such occasions he greatly prefers
b.iuy guest TO being host. There is
a story going around in Wall street to the
eTact that bis notions Of domestic
sOlomy go 50 far that q big hole has