St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-05-25
JIM KEENE ON TOP AGAIN.
The Noted THURMAN and Finan-
cier Retrieves His Fortunes.

The Noted THURMAN and Finan-
cier Retrieves His Fortunes.
FoXhall Keene, the young son of
James r. Keene, purchased the we'll
known race horse Tournament at the
sale of the stable of the late Senator
Hearst, and paid $500 for him, says
the New York World. Previous to the
opening of the auction of the horses,
Albert Cooper, the trainer of the Cali
fornia senator's string, received a note
from James r. Keene, in which the
noted speculator said: "My son Fox
hall Will be a bidder at the sale to-day,
and whatever he does / will be respon-
Sible fOr.' This transaction has been
taken. of course, as an indication that
James r. Keene is sailing out of
the financial embarrassmentS that over
took him several years ago, and is now
once more on his feet. 1t is known that
Keene is interested in the stock Of the
National COrdage company, put on the
market this winter, and has profitted
largely by the remarkable rise in the
quotations. The stock was put on the
market at IS per cent and is now selling
around par. He is therefore again in a
position to invest in high-claSS thor
on the turf, as he was in 1881, when his
horse, FoXhall, won the Grand PriX at
Paris, the Cambridgeshire and CeSare-
witch. At that time Mir. Keene had a
remarkably fine stable. He owned the
great Spendthrift, who has since won
prizes at the annual horse show; Miser,
Dutch Roller and FOXhall. The latter
was named after Mr.. Keene's son, who
purchased the winner of the last keali-
cation stakes year ago.
James r. Keene has had a checkered
career. He was born at Lynchburg,
Va, about fifty years ago, and was
trained for the bar. After brief eX-
perience in Southern courts he moved
TO San Francisco. and in the Golden
City became counsel in some mining
suits on the Pacific coast. During the
progress of those suits Mr. Keene gained
much knowledge Of mining matters and
began specializing. His every effort
was successful, and he gradually
abandoned law to take up the stock
brokerage business. Having great
faith in the bonanza securities, he
bought largely on them. Those pur-
chases brought him wealth, and he soon
became a member of the syndicate COM
posed OF Mackay, Fair, Flood and
O'Brien. He was also interest
ed with William G. Ralston,
of the Bank of California.
After the suicide of Ralston things on
the Pacific coast went to smash gener-
ally, and Keene, who had about $4,000
600 in his pocket, came to New York.
He made his headquarters at the Office of
Samuel w. Bocock q Co., in 80 Broad
street, where at that time the bon vi
want Sam Ward held forth. Mr.. Keene's
oSteDsible mission to the metropolis was
to engage in battle with Jay Gould.
Instead, however, he joined forces with
the ''WiZard' for time, and it was
soon known that the man from Califor-
MIA was worth S20,000,0O0. Then there
was break in the alliance between
Gould and Keene, and it was owing to
this break that Maj. j. r. Selover, a
warm friend of Keene's, assaulted Jaw
Gould on Exchange place as Mr.. Gould
came outo the othce Of Henry r. Smit h
MIR. keene long enjoyed the reputa-
ton of being financial acrobat. He
could make somersault from the bear
side of the market to the bull side with
cut turning a hair, and his antagonists
were seldom able to place him. He rode
stock hobbies with marvellous success.
and played battledore and shuttlecock
with the bonanza securities. But in 1889
MIR. Keeue made an invasion of the fer
ritory of Russell Sage and started to
make ''puts, calls and straddles." The
pioneer in that branch Of the business
resented the intrusion, and forming an
alliance with Jay Gould soon caused the
man from the auriferous coast severe