The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1877-05-03

The Downfall of a RailroadKing

There is a temptation to write of Mr..
John F. Tracy as if his death had been
announced, and in the same spirit as an
obituary article would treat of citizen
who had occupied soeonspicuous place
before The public. The disaster which
has overtaken him is worse than death
coming upon man in the enjoyment of
all his honers, richly earned; there is
probably little left to Mr.. Tracy's life
but the mechanical process of breathing.
with his position, fortune, physical
health and meutal vigor all gene,rhe is
, SO complete wreck that there i. little
left for death to take. We say it in the
kindliest spirit. For couple of years
it has been an, open secret that Mr..
Tracy has been suffering from partial
softening of the brain, which, along
with other diseases, had rendered him
unfit for business He went to Europe
in the hope that rest and change would
restore him his health, but for some
months past his friends have had him
under sort of surveillance, convinced
as they were that he was scarcely capa-
BILE of caring for himself, and apprehen-
sive of some calamity overtaking him
through his own indiscretions. Heare-
manned President of the Rock Island
Road only nominally, and his recent
.
heavy losses in New York stock-gam-
bling rendered his definite and public
retirement necessary to the interests of
the road. 1pil- - ~ gan. e
John F. Tracy was of thegrailroad
pioneers of the West. The Rock Island
Road was constructed under his super
vision, and he has been the chief man
ager of its interests up to the failure of
his health His large wealth.was main
ly acquired, however, in stock specula-
tons, and he was known in Wall Street
and throughout the country as one OF
the boldest, shrewdest and most success
full operators, ranking with Vanderbilt,
Drew and Gould in the nagniticence of
his schemes and the fearlessness with
which he attacked any large bull or bear
movement He has in his time run
many a successful corner in stocks, and
has mercilessly squeezed . those who
were opposed to him. If the failure of
his last pool had occurred while he was
in full possession of his health and faeul-
ties, he would haye1been entitled to no
particular sympathy, for he would. only
have been, beaten at , his own game,
played by him for years desperately and
without scruple. But, in view of the
fact that he went into this operation with
impaired faculties, and GLIDING the Wig
ilance of his friends, it is only proper to
regard his misfortune with the same pity
that one feels in contemplating disaster
that overtakes a lunatic that escapes
from the asylum. 1t is estimated that
Tracy's large fortune, estimated as large
as S3,oO0,0O0 and $4,000, 0O0, has been
entirely swept away, This may be eX--
aggerated, but in any case a large part
of it has disappeared. 1t is not likely
that he will live long to regret his losses,
and we believe that he has no immediate
family to suffer from them. 1-ai %
The idea that Kennedy & Co., or any
body else in Wall Street, should sue Mr..
Tracy for what is left of his wrecked
fortunes on account of unpaid margins
and unsettled transactions in the late
stock pool, is simply outrageous. If
there are any suits growing out of the
affair, they ought to be reversed, and
Mr.. Tracy, or his friends in his behalf,
ought to sue for recovery of money
taken from him by persons who knew
he was not in fit condition to transact
business. We think his case illustrates
more strikingly than any previous eX-
perience the utter heartlessness of the
stock-gamblers. This plundering of a
man bereft of his sensesis on a par with
the act of any dishonest card player who
cheats drunked man. -It.is a species
of robbery, and If it be fact that Mr.
Tracy's mental condition is so distracted
as has been represented, then a serious
effort should be made to compel the men
who plundered him to disgorge. Mr..
Tracy has always been the man to at
tract strong personal attachments. and
has had the reputation of being fast
friend and a generous master. The ter
minatiOn of his career, in which light
his retirement from the presidency of
the Rock Island Road may be regarded,
is sad one, and will beregretted by all
who knew and admired him in his time
of power.-Chicaq0 Tribune. ..r.