Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1890-01-14
CAL BRICE'S START.
How the Senator-Elect Made a
Big Stake.
LUCKY BLUNDER IN TELEGRAPHY.

A Feminine Operator Mixes q Couple of
Telegrams, Spoils n Political Deal, but
Causes q Profitable Stock Operation
Wife and Its Growth Into Millions
From Lawyer to Railway Millionaire.
COLUMBUS, Jan. 14.-Since it has been de
termined that Calvin S. Brice is to go to the
United States senate he has become the most
talked about man in seven states. Countless
stories are told of his boyhood, his ancestry,
his war experience, his wealth and how he
got 1t, and very much, indeed, of this is new
to the public, for until the campaign of 1883
Mr.. Brice was not national character His
career has indeed been meteoric. He shot
INTO fame like a rocket. 1t seems like starting
. fairy story to say that eleven or twelve
years ago this man was poor and obscure
country lawyer, thirty years old, with
two or three children, and with his career
all before him.
Calico" Charley Was His Friend.
he had a law partner named Irwin.
Brice a Irwin was the firm, and the two
used to sit in their dingy little Office in Lima
~
store for them Brice was very restless
even then, and used to pace the floor with
quick and nervous tread He had one warm,
close friend in those days; that was Charley
Foster, ex-congressman and now ex-govern-
or. The Fosters, father and son-the son
being Charley-owned a little jerkwater
railroad which ran from Sandusky down to
Fremont 1t occurred to Foster that as the
9ttle railroad had good deal of petty liti-
cation in the way of "hog cases, etc, it
would be we'll to have a regular attorney for
the road, and "Cal" Brice was appointed at
the f1attering compensation of 81, 900 year.
That was Attorney Brice's introduction to
the railroad business
The Fosters Build a Railway.
A friend of Mr.. Brice tells the following
entertaining story of how that 81 600 job led
to a fortune
"A year or so after Cal had been made
attorney of Fosters railroad the Fosters
concluded that as the road didn't pay they
would extend it down through Fostoria,
their own town, to a junction with some
trunk line, and then try and sell it out. They
did this, but the construction OF the road
nearly swamped them. They built it with
bonds and stock secured by their individual
credit, and by the time they got to Fostoria
the Foster ship was carrying a frightful
load. Both bonds and stock were listed on
the New York stock exchange, and both
were nearly worthless The stock sold as
low as s. share. Matters ran along a few
months, when all at once things began to
boom in northwestern Ohio
Struck by an Oil Boom.
"Oil was discovered, the Hooking Valley
coal fields came into prominence, new and
great resources began to reveal themselves.
and right at the same time railway values
all over the country took a sharp rise in
Wall street The Ohio roads were all very
strong, and Fosters deprecated securities
went up with the rest The owners of the
road made a calculation that if they could
unload their huge blocks of stock at Sl9.
they wonld get out whole. The stock had
got up from 81 to S11, and, though it seemed
like forlorn hope, they sent Attorney Brice
to New York with trunkful of securities,
and orders TO watch the market and feed il
out whenever the upset figures we're reached.
Brice could tell the Wall street people all
about the Hooking valley, and he was In de
mand to tell what he knew, and this helped
the stock, which finally got up to $40 and
SO with stiff demand. Brice then tele-
graphed: Stock is up to $50, but l think
going higher. What shall dor
A Political Deal Going On.
Now here is where the fun comes in. Just
about this time Charley Foster was setting
up deal in Stark county to knock out the
Democrats in that district The only way it
could be done was to fix up a compact be-
tween the Prohibitionists and the Republic
ans, and Foster had sent Gen. Gibson I'D TO
Canton 70 arrange the details On the very
day that Foster got Brice's telegram from
New York about the stock he also got one
from Gibson, which read: Can do nothing
without you. Better come up day Fos-
ter, who was then in Columbus, went into
the Neil house TO reply TO the dispatches To
Brice he wrote: ''Sell 'em all out, quick as
you can. To Gibson he wrote: Do moth
ing more till come
The Operator Mixes Things.
snow, the amiable lady operator at the
Neil house-she is not here now, for she
afterward got 5000 for her blunder-cot
those messages mixed Gen. Gibson. who
claims TO be the very soul of honor in poli-
tics, was iabbergasted to get message in
structing him to sell out anybody or any,
thing. In fact, he was so incensed that he
would not reply to the message, but started
for home, muttering that if Charley Foster
wanted any dirty work done he could do it
himself. Brice in New York, who got the
message DO nothing more till come of
course sat down and waited
And the Stock Advanced
Meantime the Wall street movement in
in Importance, and the whole market
seemed ON the rampage. The stock that
Brice was watching and had IA trunkful TO
throw on the market kept on climbing up.
Brice heard no more from Foster, and the
latter naturally supposed Brice was obevinp
orders and selling. He was doing nothing of
the kind; he was waiting for Foster to cume
Matters ran along for a week or ten DAVIS
and the Foster stocks were quoted Mt ~
Brice then telegraphed: Think it is time to
let 60 Are you coming onr To say that
Foster was puzzled and astonished doesn't
express it.
Millions In the Mistake.
"Then followed a Geographic correspond
ence which explained everything, and Brice
began to unload. The deal was so strong.
though, and the boom had been so admirably
worked that he sold nearly three fourths the
capital stock of the road at from S37 to s45
1t was great piece of financiering. Not
only did the Fosters clear themselves Int
they netted something like 81 100, 900 besides.
And that deal was worked by their young
), OOO year attorney, Cal Brice"
Nothing Mean About Foster.
And what did they do for the young finan-
cierr was asked
THAT Is another thing that has never been
published, but it was very handsome Char
ey Foster went and bought $500, 900 in ~
per cent. government bonds, had them regis
cred in the name of Mrs. Calvin s. Brice
md sent them to that lady with his compli-