Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1885-10-16
CAREER OF A NEW YORK BRO KEK.
The Ups and Downs of Henry n. smith
His Association with Jay Could
New York Tmcs1


New York Timcs.l
Mr. Smith began his business career in
Buffalo us a wholesale clothing merchant,
amassing competence while still very
young. In 1860 he left Buffalo and came
to New York, and in Il small way began
to operate in the stock market. his oper-
atous were from the start successful, and
when, after the beginning of the civil
war, gold became a speculative article, he
transferred his operations to the gold mar
ket, his ventures being enormous and
characterized with dash that made his
name a famous one in the street. He at
this time formed a partnership with Jay
Gould, under the name of Smith, Gould a.
Martin The house became the Wall
street speculative firm of its day. A half
dozen of the big corners of the time when
it was in existence were concocted by the
estimable gentlemen who composed the
firm. Eries famous manipulations in the
day of Fisk were ordered i'll the Office OF
Smith, Gould 81 Martin. The Gold Corner
and Black Friday were their contributions
to history, too And in the end, after
fleeing all the lambs that were within
reach, the good partners fell out over a
, corner in Northwest. Mr.. Jay Gould was
on top; under him was red-mustached,
portly Mr.. Henry n. Smith. That was
sixteen years ago. Much of Mr. Smiths
property, something like S4;OOO,OOO, was
swept away by Mr.. Gould's trckery.
From that day on Smith and Gould have
| been pronounced enemies, though again
and again Wall-street deals have neces-
Sarily placed them somewhat in the posi-
ton of allies. Gould saw Smith badly
worsted in combat with old Commodore
| Vanderbilt just after the old firm OF
Smith Gould q Martin had been dissolv-
ed
The Commodore sought the control of a
western railroad, and Smith was bent on
defeating the project. Smith succeeded,
| but it was at Il tremendous cost. Gould
| had helped the Commodore, and secrets
that Gould possessed had been ofimmense
value in embarrassing Smith, though
not quite potent enough to effect what
Commodore Vanderbilt most desired.
Vanderbilt watched and waited. He
patched up truce with Smith; they be-
came intimateS The Commodore gave
Smith information that netted him hand
some profits, but one morning IN 49,
| Henry y. Smith awoke to discover that
the advice of Cornelius Vanderbilt mad in
the end cost him far too dearly Under
the Vanderbilt tutelage he had become a
rampant bull He was long of every Van
derbilt stock He had thousands of shares
of Western Union. And the bottom had
suddenly fallen out of everything. The
panic was at hand He was bankrupt
Every penny's worth of his property was
gone save little matter of 100000 OF
$500, 900 worth of real estate in his wife's
name.
Smith was plucky. He did not stop
his visits down town. People who used
20 bow to him AS Mr.. Smith got into the
habit of Familiarity calling him Hen,
and old sufferers from his shrewdnes'
thought they saw the thread of Provi
| 1anpn thrpnOh
came a skirmisher. He was found II
every deal, big and little. He had enough
of secrets to make him still power of .
certain sort, and little by little his bank
account swelled into comedy proportion:
even to the Wall-street eye. a couple Of
years or so ago he went over to Europe
for little trip. He had not lost his mem
Dry, and he wore abundant smiles on hi
face when he came across Commodore
Nanderbilt's estimable grandson, vii
liam X. In his persuasive way he openet
up to the gaze of young Mr.. Vanderbilt
beautiful visions of fortunes to be doubled
and quadrupled by following one or TIVE
simple little rules. William X. was cap
tured. One of the simple little rules wa'
to put a bOundless trust in Mr.. Henry \
Smith. William X. came home bankrupt
Henry y. didn't The Western Unior
scoop suffered at the hands of the ole
Commodore was avenged Mr.. William
II. Vanderbilt assumed his sons obliga
tons, and put the young man-so Wall
street says-on Il pension of $4,000 year
But William II. Vanderbilt is only human
and it is not strange. says Wall-street il
its palliating way, that Mr. William II
Vanderbilt should look forward to usin'
II bit of the whip himself when the prope
time came. That time is believed to haN
arrived Friday, when Mr. Smith IA sec
ond time went topping over-once knock
ed over by Cornelius, and now knocked
Inv Iis'E a
William X.
For Il long time Henry y. Smith ha
been one of the most conspicuous bea
leaders in Wall street.