Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-04-10
JIM KEENE.
Rise aud Fall of an U~nscrupulods and Pho
nomena1 Speculator.


Rise sud Fall of an Un%scrupuloas and Pho
nomena1 Spectator.
One of the most recent, as we'll as
most impressive wrecks of speculation
is found in Jim Keene, who is now one
of the poor devils of Wall street. A
few years ago his name was para
graphed among the most successful Of
modern money kings, but to-day if his
debts were paid he has hardly enough
left to buy him a dinner. His career
has been one of sudden and surprising
change, and is peculiarly illustrative of
what is commonly called good luck
and bad luck. His early success turned
his head, and he thought he could not
make a mistake, but he learned at last
that it was just as easy to lose money
as to make it, and in fact a little
easier.
Keene began in California as a school
teacher. but soon turned Spectator,
and made an immense fortune. Then
he went to New York and created a
sensation by his bold movements. He
has operated in opium, pork, gas,
mines, horses, grain and stocks, and
seemed ready to take in what might be
offered. He was the brains of the
famous corner in wheat in 1879, and,
indeed, that was a lucky year for him
in more than one operation. Some of
II readers may remember the ire
mendous bull movement in Lake Shore
which marked the time referred to, and
this brought out the exclamation of
Uncle Rufus Hatch: 81 did intend to
go into Lake Shore along with Jim
Keene." Uncle Rufus, however, got
left, while Jim piled up his profits to a
degree that made Wall street stare.
That year was his palmy time. He
then had a villa at Newport worth
5000, 900, and also a fine house in town,
and he kept a racing stable in England
in addition to his splendid stud of
horses at home. 'Foxhall" and
"Spendthrift" gave him prominence in
some of the best prizes, though
at a heavy expense. His luck
seemed to extend as far as
he reached. This led him
to still greater ventures. He thought
he could crush Jay Gould and become
sole king Of Wall street. He extended
his operations and went into fancy
stocks with N eagerness which sur
prised all his associates. The conse-
quence was he was loaded in every
direction when the shrinkage came.
and his wealth disappeared with a
rapidity that has rarely been equaled.
When, however, a man is loaded with
Denver & Rio Grande at par and
unloads at eight, it does not take long
to clean him out. How strange it now
seems that this worthless bubble was
one of his heaviest deals and that he
stuck to it with a reckless determine
ton. Last June he failed, and since
then he has been struggling to keep
merely home, buthis sharein an apart
ment house has just been sold, aud the
man who SO recently vas reckoned at
ten million dollars is now almost an
object of charity. Such is life in Wall
street.
There was a time when he was
pointed out in Wall street with the ex-
clamation: s'There goes Jim Keene
with a million in each pocket" Now,
however, the word is: .'There goes
Jim Keene-all blown in" He has
tried to keep up nerve under this col
lapse, but his face bears the mark of
disappointment. He was thin before
his troubles began, and this makes his
fve-feet-nine-inch frame look still
taller. His moustache and stubby
beard have lost that expression of
power they once seemed to have, and
his fiery temperament is abated. There
was a time when he was ready for a
quarrel at a moments notice, and when
he damned the market or the brokers
in the liveliest possible amer; but
when a mans pockets are empty he is
generally less boisterous. His day is
now over, and he may take his place
among the hungry crowd of curbstone
brokers and gutter-snipes.
But yesterday the name of Caesar might
Have stood against the world;
Now lies he there and none SO poor
To do him reverence" i
N. Y. Cor. Troy Times.