Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1885-10-15
FERDiNAND,s FINAN0iERIEG.
How the Ranking House OF Grant
Il Ward FIOurishcd While IL Kept

tlps
Ferdinand Ward, the eccentric banker
whose colossal failure finally landed him In
JUL, struck his first rise in wealth through
Il lucky silver speculation, soon after which
he became connected with james ID. Fish,
president of the Marine Bank, New York.
On the LIST Of July, 1880, II partnership was
entered into with u. =. Grant, Jr., and Fish,
tho terms being that each member of the
firm should put in S3O0,0 The $500, 1000
of capital was TO be used in legitimate deal
ings in stocks and bonds. On the LIST of the
following November, at young Grants re-
quest, the general was admitted as part
ner, furnishing S50,00O and receiving one
seventh OF the profits. AT the close of tho
year Jesse Grant put in $50 900 and became
4 partner. There We're large profits and
larger losses, among the hitter one of about
S145,0O on transaction with Gen. John b.
Gordon in reference to a coal mine in Ala
bana, and another of $l3u, 900 on West
Shore securities. These losses, and the
| heavy amounts drawn out by members of
the frm, impaired the operating capital to
Il serious extent. Moreover in the early
| part OF 1882 the stock market deprecated
| 10 raise money, Ward lcgan at this time 10
borrow at high rates of interest, hoping, as
the market improved, to get even. This
was his first false step, as u bIlsis for his
| promises of heavy prOlIts had then to be
| devised in the shape of u fiction about
| profitable government contracts, which con-
tracts were purely imaginary. Once beguit
tho course he now entered upon had to he
| followed up with slavish parsistency.
People held the flrm's paper, they expected
enormous profits, and Ward, moreover, was
ahNIousto preserve his reputation as a sue
| eessful ilnancier. His plum was to borrow
large sums, md before they fell due to borrow
others with which to pay back principal
anu profits. The business was nliigniii.
cent while il lasted. The profits OF U. $.
| Grant, Jr., up to May list, 1884. were,
| F77b,42i, besides which he held tho firm
PAPER for S93j,Oh0 on I'M investment Of
| s7SD,OOO. General Grants profits were
| S2l2,OT9, Fred. Grants S1,l5A,g71, the
Marine Banks 1872, 1916, Tappan's s335, IuU.
me profits of the firm up to the time of
failure, May 9th, were So, 1877 ,972, of which
sum ward himself received SG33,9ls. OF
| wards part, S5l3,000 was put in real estate
and personal property, which was under
coinpulslon decided to Warner, u lucky GUS
TONER OF his, after the failure. Wards eX-
| pehses IN the fouryearS and a-half consumed
the remaining 3l20,0OO. 1t does not appear
from wards statement that he converted
any OF the firms money dishonesty to
MS personal use. Warner, il appears
from December 18th, 1889, to May 9th, 1881,
invested sl3,Tl5,SuD with the firm and drew
OUT SIG l55,!@l, making II profit OF
Tz;4lt, l3l, a number of prominent indi-
Siu1als and firms are stated to have been
lohd OF lending money to Ward nj the high
rates he was in the habit of paying. 1t ap-
| pears also that prominent individuals net
ing for corporations were accustomed 10
ASK Tor themselves II handsome bonus as n
commission when they put out with Grant
| ~ ward the money Of which they had GUS
tody' Wards reflections upon his pogition
tp-'lly are not embarrassing. lie has
worked for others, and they have deserted
MN IN his misfortune. To-day he is u
poor man and in jail, and the Enayes who
used MIN nrG snL.llrA in IhniL illrr1Itr,