The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1894-12-21
THE LATE EUGENE KELLY.

Eugene Kelly was a New Yorker when
he died, but this city Is not prepared to
surrender its claim to him. 1t was here
that he first made money, and two of the
three commercial edifiCes which he reared
are still here.
He was one of that vigorous band Of
fortune-hunters who came here in the days
when everything in California was new
and strange and probematical He had
been in business in Louisville, St. Louis,
New York and other Eastern cities, and
wherever he had pitched his tent he had
done a little more than hold his own.
Thus it was not with empty pockets that
he crossed the plains in 1849, being then
about 40 years of age. Looking back at
the situation as be saw it at that time the
observer Of to-day discerns conditions
which are not apparent to the superficial
student of our early history. Gold had
been discovered in California, but it has
not proved that Ell Dorado has always
been highway 10 wealth. Men who
make money easily by washing gold out of
the gravel are apt to part with it easily.
The uncertainties of the calling engender
a spirit of gambling in those who pursue
it. Thus. even in countries where the
placers are rich and the aggregate yield
enormous the profit is so widely distributed
that of the original owners OF the pre-
cious metal only a small proportion
grow rich. In 1888 tens of thousands
of men engaged in goid-seeking In the
sands of rivers which were copiouslv i'm
pTegnated with the metal, but of those
tens of thousands only few scores carried
away aud kept the fortunes they won.
One can count on the fingers the wealthy
individuals and the wealthy estates which
are traeeable to the gold finds OF 1S49.
Mr.. Kelly was born trader. With sure
instinct, while such men as Lloyd Tevis,
the late w. 7. Coleman, the late Colonel
Bee, ana others whose names the reader
will easily recall, planted themselves at
the mines. he esta bliShed a dry-goods
house in San Francisco, on the general
principle that whether the mines PANIED
out rich or poor, human beings must wear
clothes on their back. Other tenderfeet,
with equally level heads. the Seligmans
and the Wormsers, pursued the same
course, and it is curious to note that all
three fetched up as founders of great
banking-h houses in New York. The Worm
sers we're tardy emigrauts from the land
of gold to the land OF coupons. Kelly
and Jesse and Joseph Seligman moved
East at the beginning of the civil war, or
shortly before. On quitting this coast the
Wormsers and SeligmanS took leave of
the industry in which the basis of their
fortunes had been acquired. Kelly's dry
goods store still survives under the name
Of Murphy. Grant & Co., and BIDS fair to
Of
With the war issues of paper money
there was an eruption of American bank
lighthouses in New York, "a hich entered
into competition with such foreign bank
lighthouses as the Belmonts. the Won
Hoffmans, the Pckergills, the Browns,
and al first they all made money. But the
wild speculations of the day, the unac-
cOuntable fluctuations in gold, the mad
rage to make fortunes on a single cast of
the dice, proved fatal to most of them.
Houses whose names were household
wordS-Duncan. Sherman & Co.. Fisk &
Ha Oh, Jay Cooke 81 Convent by the
board. The houses of California origin
weathered the storm. The Seligmans no.
bly, placed their means at the service of
the Government, and were rewarded by
the appointment of their London house as
financial agent of the United States, post
which had previously been filled by the
Barings. Eugene Kelly built up South
ern connection, and in the time of the
carpet baggers, when Southern Leglsla-
lures were issuing bonds by the ream, and
repudiating them at the next session, it
was a common rumor that he had been in
VOWED in the discredited Issues. 1t was
said that he lost great deal Of money in
this way. But his means were not i'm
paired. and his uprightness in business and
the strength of mis- reputation as a finan-
cier soon repaired all damages.
His personal popularity was wide, and
his friends were stanch. His operations
were not extensive; extreme conservatism
was the rule of his house; but few bank ers
in New York enjoyed higher credit than
Eugene Kelly
DANCING Mn MnT WIN