Telegram-herald., 1889-07-08
G0uLD'S NARROW ESCAPE
How . Plot - Kidnsp Htn Wes
Avoided

He wssks1 Nicely late slAs Trap bas
Md. D.sarsa Csses>siess $50 wss
Ass Mslsst~a--fs44 ~ tbs fAss
hsaEs Aftsrsard.-
corr szsas iszs
OzS svsSfDx late Ia April. isTA twe
uusa, eEe very tail .nd bavlag tee appear
sncs Of . we'll to-do farmer, AID tie other
small. ospper aid elegantly dressed ca
tered !. bEo.n-stone house oa tie south
aide Of last Thirty -sixth street. neAr Asei-
sen avenue. Ia the psrisr, filled with rare
objects ef sirta. where the foos sunk IL
the eostliest of foreign carpets. aud
walls we're adorned with ans pietare.. the
the two men were greeted by another,
VINO subseq pity becsme one Of the iaost
daring Hos ~ say reckless Of Wall street
pluas-rs-Lugele -. Robinson. hobia-
son has Just died. aud his name al this
time recalls train Of strsGSe events The
visitors were none other than JAY ueald
aud Daniel Drew For oDee The willy
Gould had walked iato trap Without
apparently suspectins it lie was dealing
with desperate men. The grounds at
tached 10 this elegant New York home
ran q considerable distance back 10 Eugene
street. Two men isitered around the
grounds stopping every now and then as
IL awaiting "a signal. Outside on Thirty
NTH street = cab was stationed with two
men on the box. A steamer lay OF the
Battery at that moment ready 10 take on
board distinguished passenger.
Leaving the Gnanciers in the parior
moment let me REGAL the fact. that in the
a
Schell and Horace +. Clark were largely
long" Of Chicago X Northwestern stock.
Daniel Drew and Henry n. Smith. who
subsequently boasted that he would make
Jay Gould earn his living with hand or
gan and monkey. were largely short"
OF that stock. The Gould party had
steadily marked up the price on compare
lively small transactions until the bears
began To squirrn, aud Daniel Drew de
clared that he believed he was in a trap.
In fact hc had been bopelessly ''cornerei. :"
lie went to Eugene y. Robinson. the son
Of his old partner, and asked hts advice.
"Kidnap Could" was Robinson's an
swer, SO the story goes. given by All in
slider. "Kidnap him. Everything Is fair
in stock speculation" Drew it seems 40
Quesccd.
-
II sent TO hts house in Thirty y-sixth street.
and then invited Gould and Drew 10 call
there that evening and have n talk about
the Northwest corner and the possibility
of letting up on poor Uncle Daniel Drew,
who had been caught in IA trap set by
Gould. one of his own pupils in stock
gambling. The rope was in an adjoining
room when the men sat down To discuss
the situation. OF course Gould knew
nothing about any corner In "Northwest;'
there was talk OF that sort ia the news
papers but he considered North west cheap
and he had merely been buying il rs an
investment. He knew no more about IA
corner In Northwest than any other corner
maker ever knew about n corner. Like
Topsey, the price OF Northwest had
"growed." For hours the men discussed
the question. Drew plaintive. eloquent In
a homely way, and finally shedding some
of those crocodile tears of which he WIS
always "long" on due OCCASION however
"short" he might be OF stocks; while
Gould was cold. inlpassive, plausible
and polite as q Calabrian brigand-"As
polite man as ever cut throat" the
verbal battle of the old lion and the lions
whe.p cannot here be given. The upset of
il all was that Jay Gould agreed TO let
Uncle Daniel get back his short" stock at
good stiff price that made the old man
groan but which WAS nevertheless a con-
siderable reduction from the current price
at the Stock Exchange. Drew thus really
gained his point and ut sign from Eugene
n Robinson, Mr.. Gould was permitted to
pass muscular fellow in the hall who bad
been prepared for any emergency. No
one knows what might nave happened To
Gould If the conspiracy had been carried
out Some blunder OF the men hired TO
carry out the plot might have led TO un-
forseen results. The first plot against
Abraham Lincsln was not to kill him but
simply to kidnap him. There is no doubt
that Robinson would have had Gould
kidnapped If the latter had not loosened
his clutch on the throat of his financial
proienitor Uncle Daniel Dew. No wonde T
that old Commodore VANDERBILT said of
Gould His touch is death"
Robinson was one of the most genial
of men but in emergency the
velvet glove encascd an iron hand.
The first scheme was to hustle Gould
securely bound and gagged into cab and
hurry him OF 20 some secluded spot in
New Jersey, but subsequently, the plan
was changed aud a steamer was chartered
aud held in waiting off the Battery to take
him 20 sea where ho was TO be kept until
Uncle Daniel and "Hen" Smith had
broken the corner in Northwest With
ont the aid Of Goulds wash sales,
''n ,tched orders'' and other hocus pocus
desi gned 20 drive the iron further in the
soul OF Uncle Daniel, the corner so to
speak. would not have had a leg TO stand
on. Drew could have "washed" the
market down two or three per cent. at a
time However. Gould weakened at the
memorable interview, perhaps fearing
bodily harm. Years after he was thrown
down cellar by Major Selover who
elaimed that Gould had. swindled him,
and he weakened in 1884 when he was
suspected Of keeping back election returns
and his life was openly threatened. Some
years ago he was told OF Eugene Robin
son's plot TO kidnaD him, and | believe
was presented with the rope.
As 10 Robinson his adventures, esca-
pades and speculatiops would fill a
volume lie was a typical New York boy
who inherited two million dollars from
his father. one of VIM. II Vanderbilt's
employers when the Old Commodore sent
"Bur down to Wall street 10 learn
finance.
In Is77 he foated SO 600 900 worth OF
Lake Shore bonds He was director at
one time in the New York Central and the
Lake Shore road. and in his best days was
worth four or five million dollars. lie
failed in 1873 short OF The coal stocks
Subsequently ne went 70 Treasure City.
Nevada, with Oliver = Dawson. and made
= good deal of money ont Of the Badly
Sour' and Sweet Water mines. He
ralnsd fhe mine nI.alfr S.urf- after the