Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1885-09-09
SAGE'S MILLIONS.
How His Fortune Has Dwindled Away In
the Great Decline.

A little red cent looks as big as a
cart-wheel to the eyes of Russell Sage,
and, in arithmetical progressions, a
trade dollar looks as big as barn-door.
Mr.. Sage has not always been as poor
as he is now. The belief prevails in
Wall street that he could not at this
time scrape together in all his posses
sions over S8,00O,00 or S10.000,000 at
the outside. Before stocks began to
shrink, in the summer of 1881, Mr..
Sage's wealth was estimated to be close
on S25, 100000. He had been in with
Jay Gould in the latter's schemes, and
in the fiood-tide of luck that the 'Little
Man. was sailing on, had made i'm
mense sums.
Between 1879 and 1881 he nearly
doubled his fortune. In a single year,
covering part of 1879 and part of 1880,
the street thinks he must have made
100000 on his ''puts, ''calls," and
other privileges alone. Where he made
most of his money was in the Union
Pacific, the Wabash, the Missouri Pa
cific, and the Missouri, Kansas & Texas
railroads, and the Western Union tele-
graph consultations, the Texas & Pa
citic construction, and in investments in
the Erie railway second consolidated
bonds and the Iowa Central railroad
first mortgage bonds. He was caught
in an unexpected decline along with
Gould and was unable to unload the
great mass of securities that he had ac-
cumulated in the schemes and tralsac-
tons named. Thus it was that he saw
his fortune shrivel up before his very
eyes and he was unable to help himself.
Things went from bad to worse with
Mr.. Sage, until to-day he is changed
completely from what he was four short
years ago. Two-thirds of the money
that he loved so well has gone, and this
is the reason OF the great revulsion in
his nature. At the opening of 1881 he
was as cheerful as an army mule eat
ing thistles. The milk of human kind
ness had not then curdled in his breast,
and he was as benign and charitable as
the man who goes to church every Sun
day for the pleasure of dropping some
thing into the contribution box. He did
a great deal of charity, and he was
fond of presenting books to young men
who were striving to get on in the world.
The art of money-making never had
greater fascination for any man than it
had for Russell Sage, and a knife-thrust
could not have hurt him more than it
did to have fortune turn against him.
1t was not until the May panic of 1884
that the great havoc was created among
Sage's millions. He had sold all his
privileges 20 to 80 points below the
market. He thought he was safe
enough at that distance from the quota
tons, no matter what came, and the
sight of prices going 20 and 30 points
below those even was appalling. He
was credited with owning up to a loss
of about So, 0OO,00 in hard cash, be-
sides shrinkage in his securities of
about 81, 100000 more. The ordeal was
too much for the old money-lender. It
nearly drove him into an asylum. He
was nearly frenzied over his losses, and
his physician, to save his reason, order
ed him to leave the ''street." He sought
the seclusion of the Argyll hotel at Baby
Ion, Long Island.
Wall street considers Sage ga, thing
of the past" It does not believe that
he will ever occupy his old position
there again. He is thoroughly fright
ened. He is afraid to risk his money
for fear that he will lose it, and moth
ing is left of his former greatness in the
financial mart. He used to write thous-
ands of privileges every week, whereas
now his contracts only cover few hum
dred shares. --NeaD York World.