The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-03-14
a W.IRNTNG 70 THE STOCK JOINING
OUNER or THE tribune

OHNER or THE IMMUNE.
To rnr EDITOR or rHE SuN-Sir: The an
nouncefuent ~ the fact that Daniel Drew has
gone into bankruptcy ought to furnish food for
reflection to the great army ot Investors and
spectators who contribute the means by which
such men thrive in the heyday Of their pros
ueiity Daniel Drew has been a power in Wall
street fer many years, and At times It has been
worth fortunes To divine his purposes In the
stock market. His means at times were 40
am lc. aud his credit great, that he was allie
either 10 lower or raise the speculative range "
prices many ter cont. by the purchases and
sales q himself aud hts following. There are
few stocks upon the lists OF tho Exchange
which he has not bought and sold several
tines over, and his name has appeared in vari-
Gus capacities in nearly all railroad oreaniza-
lions. or late years he has been known most
widely in connection with immense specula-
tons In Erie and Toledo and Wabash.
The first serious loss which crippled Mr.. Drow's
fortune and injured his prestige was in Jay
Gould's corner In Chicago and Northwestern.
Mr. Drew compromised this ~ with Gould
by the payment Of about sl.2 600 in cash,
bonds. and stock, although the actual amount
for which he was involved, according to the
hi-hcst quotations Of the stock in the corner,
was much greater
his 1855 crippled him 80 that in the panic Of
1879 h. was unable TO take care Of Toledo ana
wabash and 90 on with the construction Of
the Canada Southern Railroad, in which he was
largely interested. He suffered his brokers to
foil aud In this way saved himself from the ruin
which at that time was imminent Immediately
after the paric he began to hull Toledo and
Wabash stock upon money which ne obtained
from Commodore Vanderbilt upon pledge OF
Toledo aud wabash bonds and those OF the
partly completed Canada Southern Railroad.
He also began to bear Nanderoiits Lake Shore
stock, as a suitable reward for the Commodores
| Us istauce.
Iiy this latter ruse he forfeited the friendship
| Of Vanderbilt. 1he beer movement ON Lake
| Shore was successful, particularly as Gould ves
working In concert with HIM. The movement IN
| Wabash was not sue essful, IA Gould, who
worked I'm harmony TO bear Lake Shore, found
out about the rotten condition OF the Other
| stock BY tae mispisced confidence OF Drew, and
began to sell It heavily short
| Then Drew turned, sold out Wabash at the
| best prices which could be obtained. and ar
| on that side by putting the corporation into the
| hands OF a receiver In 1915 he was IN fair way
| to regain his old rCstige on the street, but by
| selling Union Pacific largely short just before
| Gould marked the price no to 10, he was obliged
| TO stand u tremendous loss and covering all
| other contracts in the market under compul.
| sion, he was forced TO retire ruined man. Ihe
| puts and calls which he had sold IN gre,t mum,
bCrs were not satisfied, and the parties who hold
| them will be Obliged to figure as creditors ia The
| bankruptcy courts.
| Besides his large holdings Of Canada South
| ern he IL loaded with Canton stock, which at
| present can find no market In Wall street The
| people who have been saddled with the stocks
| which h. owned largely, and wnlch are cOmpar-
| atiNely worthless now, Of course shaiy IN MS
| misfoftunes and are very sorry that they bought
| stocks upon his estimate Of their value and his
| attity 10 tut them up, without looking care
| fuzzy into their real worth tefore .purchas-
Therefore, is the only one which we
hear OF. lens Of Thousands u people have lost
| a stock operator I'D his word as to the value Of
| his holdings wno would now he un+c"thed u
| they had bought after careful investigation OF
| the merits Of their Investments.
| The pariy who has been mainly instrumental
IN taking. away Drew's surplus cash, and thus
were 50 worthless tnat they would not sty up
Of themselves, Is himself IA aposition not greatly
different from that which Drew occupied before
his failure. lie, toe, Is loaded up with stocks,
the quotations OF which cannot DC maintained
except by bis own purchases, and which would
20 10 pieces quite as rapidly as WABASH or Can
ton we're unnatural supper! Withdrawn.
Mr.. q, .a hus teen obliged 10 sell cut his
L ciac Mo, ~ tremendous loss, which Is esti-
mated &c u nearly equal to that which Drew
suffered IA the Northwestern corner. As Or "
after bg iQYnd tpat II could to' Pe sYrialnel' -
q ,uld has oeen tr,ing TO make az his losses On
the bull side of Pacific Mail 10y eXcessiys sales on
the opposite tack A. Drew was LEFT uoon Ms
retirement from the street with great quantity
market at ALL SO Gould has Union Pacific which
no one darCs 20 bu and the quotations Of
which are almost entirely made by himself.
| here Is parallel between the cases Of Daniel
| Drew and jay Gould which may be traced still
more definitely than IN these instances, and
| which the events OF the future will illustrate
Gould owns not far from 10000 shares OF lniuu
Pacific, and is cost averages from a. to 70. In
the history 81 Wall street II has been demon
s'ratcd that the great leaders have eenerallS
been broken 10y loss of much less than % pen
cent. uuon suth a line Il stock.
Eut Goula's position i vastly more danger
GUS u n appears from n consideration Of hi
Uniou Pac.nc. speculation aloe. lie + hort OF
large lines OF Like Shore, New York Central
ana other stocks, which are much niAher a. at
wnen ne sold them short; lie Is Involved In the
market In way from which he n oniy eXlrt
cate himself by some special stroke of Pruyi
! dcnce, as Drew did bv Invoking the bankruptcy
courts to cut the GordiAn knot. But the sale
which u most lie cessety 10 him. and which. IL
some respects would do the most TO Give hin
relief, the sale Of me tribune and the tall tower
IS the most difficult OF al for him to AccomUlish
| Under his auspices, ana with the silly MANAGE
ment Of his young editor, all sond value has
been evacuated from that concern, aud IT Is in
wArdly nothing but IA worthless ruin
STlRABOuT.