Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1895-08-16

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~ He made but little
Ao from year to year,
but managed well
and saved most Of
his salary. Through his pupils he be-
| came the friend Of many rich and influ-
/ entail men, more or less Interested in
mining, as everybody, in fact, was in
those days. The spirit Of speculation
was born in him, and he always had
an eye out for something by which to
convert an honestly earned dollar into
hundred or thousand. II he ever
had conscience opposed to gambling,
he brayeiy buried 1t under the shadows
isof the Coast range, where 1t lies to this
day undisturbed. He did not teach
gambling to his pupils, but he practiced
1t himself whenever he saw chance
to make 1t pay. But his gambling was
always OF high order. 1t was no mere
! poker party that he cared to Join, no
faro bank to play, no roulette wheel.
He gambled In great railroad deals and
! mining developments. About this time
the stock of the Bonanza mines was
away up in the clouds. Some were as
high as 500 or 600 keene became con-
vinced that the bubble was going to
: burst, and laid his plans accordingly.
He got together every dollar that he had
! saved, all that he could borrow and all
that he could persuade his friends to
let him invest on commission, and sold
these stocks. People thought him crazy
when he began operations, but they
were stunned afterward to see his pre-
dictions verified. The stock went down
with rush. It amounted almost to
collapse, and Keene, in the thick Of
it all, selling and doubling up and sell
lng again, found himself a rich man in
a very short time. 1t ID said that this,
his first great speculation, made him
$3,000,000. The stock, some OF it at
least, went down to 25 and 80. The
bottom simply fell out, and Keene stood
there to get what was left of the enor-
| nous losses of the investors.
After his great coup heureux Keene's
ambition scared aloft, scaled the Rocky
mountains and descended upon the
eastern slope Of the United States. He
had long been watching with absorbing
interest in the career Of Jay Gould, and
he determined that he would start east
for the purpose of taking Gould's scalp.
/ With this announcement, boldly made
to his western friends, he came to New
York with his $3,O0O,Oo0 and great
and glorious reputation as the ablest
the most fearless, the shrewdest and
the most successful speculator this
country had ever produced. He was
as much a curiosity In New York as
the wild man Of Borneo. People could
never get it through their heads in
those days that poor school teacher
could sell something that he did not
have and make fortune Of $4,000, 900.
keene's first movement here was in
wheat. He determined to take Gould's
scalp in that direction. He got up the
great wheat corner that has already
been handed down to history as the
hugest Of his operations, as we'll as
the most unfortunate. Gould had heard
his boast that he would take the scalp
Of the mouse-trap peddler, and quietly
awaited the scalping process. Wheat
went up and up and up as Keene
fastened his clutches upon the supply,
and all the while Gould was, like B'rer
Fox, layin' low, waitin' fur de time ter
ripen. And the time did ripen. When
Gould thought the fresh young man
from the high school of the Pacific
slope had taken upon his shoulders just
little more than he could stagger un-
der he started to take the starch out
Of him. With the western Union at his
service he sent out all over the coun-
try orders to sell wheat Keene ad-
mitted the other day that he was
dumfounded by the defeat Of Domino
in the Suburban. Well, dumfounded
is small word to express his feelings
when he discovered that wheat was
being sold right from under him and
his great corner. Down, down it went.
The market was broken. The corner
was smashed. Gould, the prospective
victim of Keene's scalping knffs, sat in
his Office and watched the reports Of
the ticker. He saw Keene go down
to ruin, and smiled. He saw the young
rnan wiped out. All his $4,000, 900 gone,
and his credit injuSed, debts piling up
around him until he was submerged
And the ghoulish Gould laughed.
But Keene was not to remain long in
the slough of despond. He rallied. He
bought in all his debts for so cents on
the dollar and settled. Then he re-
sumed operations, got into cattle feed
ing and few other good things and
in short time had another fortune.
This fortune he will keep. When rich
for the first time he settled upon his
wife and his son, Foxhall, sufficient to
make them comfortable for life. Mo-
body knows what he is worth now. It
may be $2,OO0,0O0 or $4,000, 900. He
has ceased his reckless folly. He Is a
conservative business man compared to
what he was when he burst upon Wall
street. He will not lose what he has.
He will go along in dignified way,
speculate little when he feels like it.,
and enjoy the running of his horses.
And he viii go down to his grave re-
. spected alike by friend and foe as one
W the most fearless Of his kind.
Men with noses that, when viewed
In profile, appear arched, are usually
witty and clever In conversation.