The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1883-01-08
Gossip about Jay Gould.
What Gath Learned Of the Millionaire's
Position on Wall Street.

II was talking recently" says Gath, to
well known broker, who said: II meet Gould
at the Turkish baths up town, sometimes,
where he goes to get refreshed. He will talk
to you, however, on financial matters, even
when he is there"
"What is Gould's position in Wall street to-
day?" said I.
HE is no longer the leader" said my broker
friend.
"Who is the leader, then?''
Nobody"
"Well, then, Gould has not been entirely
supplanted?"
mo; but he cannot any mora carry out his
programmes He has made fervid effort to
drive up his telegraph and other stocks, and
they will not go up.'
"Why is that?"
Because the street is encountered with too
much property. There have been listed at the
stock exchange in the past three years more
property on paper than the entire national debt
of the United States, taking out the amount
paid off of the debt Not even this country
can stand up under the accumulation of secur-
ities There is bound to be panic in Wall
street, and we have barely escaped one twice
during the present winter
penn"
SIT will be within three months. The whole
is no general public any longer dealing In the
street. Considerable orders are given by these
rival spectators, but they play backward and
forward, and the general public no more catch
es the step than If set Of three-card monte
men were to open game in smoking-car,
and every other person went to sleep or was
deaf"
"How do you consider Jay Gould as to the
| future?"
81 think he has passed his prime, and that
his course from this time onward is apt to be q
retrograde one. He has exhausted the means
| of exciting interest in his various performan-
| ces. His newspaper adventures have been
| among the weakest things he ever did. Wash
Conner and people Of that class sent up word
| to Gould's chief vehicle that they want the
third column on the first page, or the fifth and
| sixth columns, not only putting in what they
| want, but giving the very place where they
mean to print it. OF course, such editing as
| this becomessa jest. Every energy that Gould
| possesses has been used to drive his telegraph
and other property up, and 1t doesn't do any
| more. 1t takes every strain he can give to
make the stock stand where it has dropped to-,
instead of going further down"
"What do You think of Mr.. Gould's general
| system of interests?"
well, he is q victim in the telegraph bust
| ness to his own policy. He began to build RI
| val lines to sell them to the Western Union
consolidation, and did succeed in getting off
| two telegraph systems that he put up. He at
last became possessed Of the Western Union,
| after it had devoured his system, and when
Gould thought there would no longer be any
competition. So, with $50, 900, 600 In his tele-
graph consolidation with which, to pay divi-
| got hold of all the facilities of communication
| and intelligence to discharge his telegraph
| stocks on mankind. In my Judgment he is not
good stock operator, but good operator of
men," 49,.
"What do you mean by that!"
"Well, I think his judgment in stocks has
| never been good; but he has often made these
stocks take temporary value by controlling
| the men and powers which would carry the
| stocks up. / think he is, or has been, good
| manipulation of men. He is not an overbearing
| man in his personal conversation, and rather
| an interesting talker;..he can make a statement
| pretty we'll. He also has been able to reach
| the potentialities which reach everybody, such
| as prominent competitors in business, bankers,
Senators and editors But, If you will see the
stocks he has gone into, you will find one rule
| to adhere to Gould hroughout-namely, that
he never buys good article. He is always in
the market with something seeond-class
which he is trying to make first-clsss by
taking it up. Beginning with the New Jer-
| sey Southern railroad, which he purchased to
| be more valuable than the New York Central,
be then went into New jersey Central, and
finally into the Wabash, road which, how
ever expensive it may be, earns nothing, and
| the pay list is often q long way behind
| there. Considerable of his southern property
| is really second-class, and no amount of time
that he can give to it will bring it up-such as
the Iron Mountain and the Missouri, Kansas
| and Texas"
| :'You say that Gould never quarrels with
anybody. Is he never tyrannical with his in
/ feriorsl"
"Well, he is often lacking in magnanimity.
He does Dol take broad, liberal view of COM
! petition that arises against him. He is always
| predicting that any Improvements he does not
| possess will soon come to grief. That spirit
goes through his associates. They want a
| newspaper, aud will not allow 1t to have any
comes out. think that Gould is a phenome-
nal man yet he is like Napoleon and John Law,
both OF whom were the greatest men in their
| times, but both were destroyed at last"