The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1894-03-17
THEY MADE MONEY nv TIE PANIC.
How the Loan Makers Rcapcd Rich
Harvest BurIng the Hard Times.

The men OF New York who make loans
in Wall Street have reaDed u harvest since
tho hard times began, early last summer.
It was only necessary to loan and be will
IN. to loan and a fortune was yours.
I'll re was plenty Of spare cash all through
the panic, but its owners were nearly scared
ou5 Of thoir senses ana locked it up in sale
d, post yaClts or bousM gilt-cdged bonds and
locked them up. They were AFRAID to take
advantage Of the situation. They were sure to
increase their resources very materially, for
money WIS never so badly needed AMI itneyer J.
brought such rates Of interest. Nobody
thought Of usUry. There was Dcthiug Of tho
shJloci about the current transactions Of last
year. The man in need OF money eagerly
offered terms that even shakespearo's char
acter would never have dreamed OF demand
ing.
But all the men Of means were not fright
ened. Some Of them had been through panics
before and knew how tho woes Of the many
could become a bonanza for the few. These
shrewd dealers took advantage Of the situation.
They got togethorall the ready cash they could
and either put it out in loans themselves or
hired loan broker TO negotiate for them.
OF course the loans were only made for short
time in most cases, and tho collateral had to
be the best there WAS in The market and It
had to be in cNorbtant quantities. A great
deal Of il was loaned TO houses that had TO
have it and give security worth five times the
amount advanced. The security, 40 matter
how good it was. could noe be disposed Of on
the exchange except at a mnous sacrifice.
1t was deemed better 10 pay for money and
retain the securities than sacrifice the coIiaJ-
eral for money ard afterwards lack both
money and securities.
1t would be hard to tell just what rates
were paid for loans in the darkest hours Of
tho panic. For the use Of money for a yely
few days, interest at the rate Of one hundred
percent. u year was frequently given. Iteyen
ran higher than that some times. Bankers
were carrying valuable customers ard needed
money. Their vaults We're full Of first class
collateral and they time and again emptiaa
llA4A ffs'lhA III " N4l ~ l-tLsl NLla 1at'IlIE
on the Stock Exchange and save themselves
from failure. II may seem an outrage That
money lenders should have secured SUCH
tremendous rates, but as the cloud Of dcpres-
sion gradually lifts it discloses hundreds Of
concerns that would have gone down with
crash but for the heip Of the cash raised at
such expensive figures.
OF the individuals On the street who made
fortunes, or rather added to the fortunes al
ready possessed, tgo stand cut prominently.
Russell Sage and Mrs. Hetty Green had mill
ions on tap and they turned their bank ac-
counts over and over again and every time
increased the figures in the bank hooks. Sage
spent the busiest summer Of his life. While
most Of his loans were made directly ly
the shrewd old fnancier IN his coop-lks
} Offices on Broadway, he several times allowed
reliable brokers to act frr him. Brokers
lockei around Sage's Office every day and
, through every business hour Of the day l.
d is not true that Sage will not talk 10 brokers'.
He is always ready 20 make a trade. but 1t
|, takes a clever broker to meet him in trade
and come out whole How much Sage loaned
when the sums were all added up, is guess
/ work. He is reputed 20 keep from s. O0}01)
g to Slj,OOOO0O, where be can lay his hands on it
atany minute. Probably $40 900 900 would DO
a fair estimate Of the amount he kept shifting
from loan to loan throughout The panic.
Now and then the loan would not he met at
the period appointed. Occasionally, owing
to the rich return in the shape Of interest,
the loan would be renewed. But more often
as the clock struck the hour when the money
was to be repaid and it failed TO appear, the
securities that We're taken as collateral passed
into the possession and became the property
Of Mr.. Sage. He kept them and in fact has
many Of them yet. But their yalha hiss
mostly increased a hundred fold and one Of
these days the sagocious Old mau.gulat1r
will dispose Of them quietly at big figures and
rake another load of shebcls into his private
eXoheQuor.
Mrs. Hetty Green made fewer loans than
her male financial counterpart, but she got
higher rates on those she m0dc. This mys-
lrious woman OF the financial realm abso-
utey and actually squeezed the rich men
who had to have cash and have it at once.
# The tale Of The way in which she corncred
1t and compressed Ex-Judge Hilton is par, Of
10 coatomporsncous history. There are some
features % that trGr Sacrioa Of which the public
e is ignorant however. The firm Of Hilton,
+ Hughes y Co., was in straits. Business was
!, duh. Collections were lrightful. Cash had
d to be used constantly FOR purchases and pay
Is rolls. Hilton could not make loan ON amy
Is securities he had Government bonds were
: refused as collateral. The distress signal
was about to be displayed when Mra Green
|: was applied 10. She had the money and she
II would loan it on certain conditions. The
/. conditions were something uuheard of. The
Il great marble building at the corner of Broad
le way and Chambers street, was the only eolat.
!, eral she would take. She loaned ON less than
It one-third of its panic value and if the loan
N was not met promptly in the instalmonts
1t agreed upon, The palace Of which Alexander
- t'NNNhAN N't' H' l'ANNN wa " llA7NtAAlNi
y. pass into her hands. She made Hilton pay
r, the Title Guarantee Co. big sum for "a cast
Is iron guaranty of the title, The day the deal
was closed and the richest woman in tho
:, !, land took a certified check on the Chemical
"a National Bank to the Trust Co., where the
" papers were finally signed, she made Judge
ID Hilton pay five dollars for a cab TO take her q
. distance OF five blocks and also give her ten
M cents for sandwich, ont of which she made
IS her lunch. She doubtless made other eXtcn-
siye deals Of the same description and ON the
e. same rigorous and eNacting terms, but
IL, the details have not been disclosed. 1t is
" only known, on good authority that tho panic
up to date, has been worth 81, 500 GOO to her,
u Probably the outside broker who mude the
~ !" most money on loans during the stringent
n, Nv times, was Howard Z. rockingham. He has
III been in the business forycars lie acts for es-
", tatos, trust companies and banking institutions
u, in the placing of money. He startled Wall