The sun., 1878-08-10
DOMN- TOWN SKETCHES.


PIE tNCfe stufl' UlTo OF SOUlV S'its Nu"t'D
Osborn tries to look stern and elegant Sam
Mills. anxious to preserve his youth and good
looks. assumes juvenile vivacity Of manner;
wocrshoncr browns himself in vain efforts
not to look like Magdchurg or a KGniesbcrg
BO's,he: jenkins Van S'haick never takes
drink for fear of spelling his delicate complex
ion and so ON. But In Hatch there is not atracc
OF any sort ol artilcc. Ho is perfectly satisfied
to be a. nature has made hm-H middlo-siz"d
thick-set man, Of broad fraturcs, full OF iun
and froic when he has no troubles.
lie was born in the State Of Maine, about forty
five years ago. His father was u farmer. and
did not secm to carc much about schooling his
son. lie sent him for a year or two to the dis
trct school. provided him with situation at
country store when he was 10. and thought hc
had done all that was wanted. Whatever ac-
compshmcnts the iocund Wall street broker of
to-day has including his thorough knowledge
Of church music. are scli-acuurcd.
Al 10 tho lad made his mind to 20 in search
of fortune to the then distant and glorious West
lie settled in Rockford. H.. ioincd u party Of
engineers. and was for n considerable time en-
gagged in the survey OF th" land for the first rail
road ever built in the State of Wisconsin. His
residence in the Northwestern States proved Of
inestimablc advantage in his Subsequent career.
At the present moment there are fow men in
Wall street who know that section Of the coun-
try as thoroughly NJ ho docs and who cum read
80 well tho kilograms about the crops and make
SO good use OF them Tor stock operations.
His Surveying work in Wisconsin being com
pletcd. young Hatch returned to Rockford. mar
red there u namcsake of his. Miss Charlotte
Hatch and soon afterward removed to Chicago
whore he went into business ~ "A grain broker.
Business men at that time despiscd science
I'm hav ,ln li.un
and snartncss were all that they looked for in a
man. Hatch tried to change their views. 10y col
lectng and publishing statistics Of the grain
trade. and the services he rendered the COM
munty in this way soon made him quite
prominent person. though he was then only
twenty-five years OF age.
He was making money very fast. when the
sudden close OF the Crimean war caused the
failure Of the house he was connected with.
Tho liabilities Of the firm were very large. and
none Of the members Of the flrm except Hatch.
proved able to do anything to save its reputa-
tion. In few years he paid in full all the debts
of the concern with tho interest accrued
Mr. Hatch is very proud OF the fact that.
though ne has failed several times. he has al
ways paid hundred cents on the dollar. and
never attempted TO compromise. while many
Of his former business associates have
cy Court. " II had now all the money have
lost by compromising with some Of the biggest
thieves in the street. l would be able to retire
from business and live like fighting cock" !"
he says. when he talks Of these matters.
Having settled tho business OF the ruined
Chicago nrm. he came to New York in 1862
with not moro than two thousand dollars In
his pocket. and went boldly into Wall street
His knowledge oithc western regions began to
tell. He found some substantial men. like
Henry Keep. to back him. and made largo for
tune In very fcw years. And II should be
said here that IL was by no means through
practising selnshncss that Hatch made his way.
1t is his habit to tell his friends all hc s doing
and TO take them along with him II they like to
make a venture. One instance will be enough
to show how he is serving his friends. Mr. H..
H. Baxter of Vermont was operating at the
ON 60 OF Hatch. and made some money In 1865
he withdrew all his profits but 500 which
| he requested Hatch 10 manipulate for him. In
less than seven years Hatch paid him out
something like 5000 .O00.
The fact is that Uncle Rufus is absurlly ex-
travagant when ne plays on velvet He then
! throws money away all sides. Many people
| will still remember the Lucullus cntertain-
men, he gave few years ago on board the
Pacific Mail steamer City OF Pakn. The $4,000
reed birds, the 200 carriages at Newport and
! other little items Of this nature are matters Of
| history.
But it is not only in tho direction OF high liv-
| ing that his hberality Ii shown. His wife. being
very pious lady, once expressed n desir,
| that he would help Christ Church. at Thirty
! ilfth street and Filth avenue. which was then Ia
trouble Hatch Immediately disbursed $4,000
to pay of tho debts Of that church. and exerted
all
future. He had n picked choir engaged and
soloists despatched by special trains from Bos
ton TO render the church attractive and popular
Being q good organ player. no assumed til,
management OF tho musical department OF the
church. anJ has collected the largest ane 2..s ~
| library Of chGrch music "a tlis country.
The boys in Wall street blaekRuarded Hatch
| and called him the church impressario." but
he did not take notice of II. His invariable an
| swer was: Il don't care a brass button for rit-
ualsm or any other form Of service. But my
wife belongs 10 this church. my children have
been baptized there. and thought it my duty
| to do something for il"
The year 1873 was a very trying one for Mr..
Hatch. lie lost his wife and tho crash OF Jay
Cooke cleaned him out OF over a million and a
| quarter dollars. His loss in Pacific Mail and
Panama alone amounted To 100000. But he
| did not lose courage. lie worked hard and re-
trioved himself speedily. In 1876 he was
| again prosperous. and had found. in the daugh-
ter Of Commodore Grey Of Brooklyn, another
mother to the three children his first wife had
| left him.
During this period Hatch had to fight hard
the Wall street fraternity. which believes il
success much moro than in honesty or intelli
gence. The fact that he had paid every cen
| he owed WAS not taken into consideration. He
was not as rich rs before and consequently MOI
deserving the regard bestowed upon him
During this struggle. Hatch came out frequent
| ly in public prints with articles and letters on
the subject of Pacific Mail. on Jay Gould ON th,
| Northwestern stocks and on kindred topics
Wall street laughed at him and called him ,
fool. " II he knows everything so well. why tn,
devil does he not make money 2" was tho uuer,
OF the Stock Exchange philosophers. But tn,
fact il that most Of the things which Uncle Ru
fus predicted turned out right-only. like mos
mon of genius. he is frequently II little ahead o
the time. and il more liable TO make fool o
| himself than ordinary men are.
Last year Dame Misfortune paid him anohc
call He failed Tor tho paltry sum Of ~ .5OO