Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1884-01-08
us,0 1ndald. Was a Dew mall.

r.. NOT vet SIX months since the
q ,zrrrE gave upa whole page 10 !"
,,,eorapbic account of Henry Willard :
,,rond mountain show, upon the com
,lo,inn NJ The Northern Pacific ran
road of which great corporation ne
was president. \ day or two ago we
nulli,hed a brief telegram rom ne"
VIII announcing his assignment.
Since the brilliant scene out III WASH
inpion territory this remarkaole maui
whose wealth and resources were
then estimated high up in ihe inii
lions. has been pulled down from MS
bich place and is bankrupt zen
Grant VIM. NJ. Evarts and scores 81
distinguished Americans were MS
quests that proud day Quit in the North-
west. And rs if this were not enough
no had brought across the ocean, az
his own expense, capitalists, sprigs oil
nobility and men OF letters from the
Old World. And Willard was the cen
t,,, t,yure of the occasion. His name
was upon everybody's lips. lie looni-
ed IN beside Jay Gould, Vanderbilt
md Huntington. Now he is a iinan-
cial wreck and his fall must needs eH-
cite pity. The story of the mans lie
reads like romance. Born III Ter
many. in 1885. he came to the United
states eighteen years later. The war
found him within the federal lines a
military correspondent of New York
napers. Then he got place in New
York as secretary of the American
Social Science association, being man
nf letters. 1t was not until 1870 that
he commenced his railroad career, ana
il was his friends back in Germany
who started him on the road to lame
and fortune The thrifty Teutons had
invested in American railway securl-
ties and in 1873, in the general crash
of that year, the bottom began to
drop out of these properties.
The Germans were alarmed,
and Justly so. A. fortune would have
it. Willard, iusta. that time. was re-
visiting Germany, and when he came
back. in 1874, it was rs the representa-
tive of German bond-holiers who were
interested in American railway securl-
ties. This was start enough for man
with Wizards nerve, tact and business
capacity, and his ascent was rapid In
1879 he was president of an Oregon
railroad and navigation company, and
! 1881 he was on Wall street, and at the
| head of what is now remembered az
| the famous "blind pool where lead
| ing bankers and capitalists placed Sl0,-
900, 900 at his disposal without any re-
strictions. He served his hackers
well. The stock market was assaulted
and when the smoke OF the battle had
cleared away, Willard had large prop
erty for his hackers, and what was
more important, a controlling interest
for himself in the Northern Pacific.
The rest of his career is of recent date.
Money flowed to him like water, and
he completed the great line that
stretches from Dhluth To the Pacific.
It seemed impossible that such nan
should he worsted in the speculative
field, and so quickly and disastrously.
But his stocks were "beared,' and a
bold fight could not save them. Vii
lard went down rs completely AZ did
Jay Cook, who, by the way, WAS on
of the earlier aud most unfortunat,
presidents of the road Willard com
pletcd. Itis the old, old story of stocl
, sprculatons-of millions staked, wol
and lost. 1t ought to furnish instruc
/ ton, but it will not, for men will rusI
into the conflict as eagerly and conf
dentiy AS ever. But after Willard "
= may we'll ask, Who is secure? VIII
/ next?