Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1897-12-30
.DEACON" WHITE. OF NEW YORK,
HAS PAID ALL HIS DEBTS.
FOUR TIMES A BANKRUPT.
EACH TINE HIS CREDITORS HAVE
BEEN PAID IN FULL.
Three of His Failures Due to stocks
and One to n Collapsed Corn
Corner-Ins Made and
Lost Millions of
Dollars.

New York, Dec. 2o.-Stephen V. White,
stock broker. sp,culator. huaucier. million
aire. bankrupt and above ali an honest
man. has applied to the committee for adj
missions of the Sto.K exchange for read
mission to the institution of which he was
founder many years ago.
The claim was modestly based upon the
fact that he had paid every cent of his in
dehtedness incurred by his last failure. and
that he had Il right. therefore. to take his
place among solvent men.
There is little doubt that the application
VII! be passed upon favorahly, and 'Dea-
| con- Whites reappearance on the floor OF
| the exchange Will be hailed with sincere
| pleasure by every one OF his old business
| associates.
1t is the fourth time that he has demon
strated beyond question the only boast that
| he was ever known to make:
My word is as good as nv bond"
| When Mr.. White first came to Wall street
| in ls6J. with the determination of becom-
| ing millionaire. he knew nothing what
| ever of the ins and outs of Wall street
| the stock market. He WAS iitted with i
| legal and business training, and had made
| u reputation Il boy i'll North Carolina
| as Il famous trdpper-and so probably he
was not poorly equipped for the career he
| had marked out for himself He formed
| Il i'ii lHtiSlilp bdiIhIiiE hilt"u
the name OF Marvin x White. Two years
later Mr.. Marvin retired. and Mr.. White
continued alone until lSS2.
| In 1865 before the Stock exchange had
| been formed. Mr.. White, finding himself
| badly squeezed was compelled to de-
| clare himself insolvent. The failure was not
| of sufficient Importance to shake Wall
| street. and indeed many woull not have
thought of it the second time had 1t not
| been for the announcement two years Liter
| that MIR. White had paid all his indebted
| ness. with interest, and was again ready
| for business.
Mr.. White showed n wonderful insight
| into the tendencies of several stocks. which
| was. however. overbalanced by his great
| daring. He devoted less and less time to
| the banking business and more and more
| time TO speculation.
And many wise people shook their
heads and said. II told you So when. in
1872. he again announced his inability to
pay his debts. His liabilities this time
| We're much greater. for his name had be-
| come more powerful in the street But he
| reassured his creditors by saying: Il will
pay you in full with interest. Give me
| chance"
They gave him a chance. He paid back
the last cent. with interest. as before
| More than that. he shook up Delaware:
Lackawa.na & Western stock until the old
| men of the street wondered where they
| We're at" and when he got through he di-
| vided 81 .Ot9.OS profit with jay Could
Mr.. White wasn't satisfied with having
| won back his good name and fortune he
| sides: he tried to corner the corn market :
The market collapsed. and with 10.Wo.0o
| bushels of corn on the wrong side OF the
ruling price Mr.. White found himself again
| a bankrupt with liabilities running into
| the millions. The failure created almost IL
panic. Mr.. White was dropped from tho
| Stock exchange, and everybody said: rms
is the end of the good old deacon.
| But he only said: Gentlemen, III pay
yoN back cent for cent. with interest.
Give me a chance" And he went to work
again. :.
The deacon had learned many lessons in
financiering. He accumulated thousands
| and thousands quietly. and one day he SENT
out n batch of checks. and then went again
before the board and asked for readmis-
sion and again he was welcomed back 10
the fold.
The deacon's last collapse came on May
: 1893 when Wall street was startled by
the report that he had failed for Si.rOwo-
| Cordage and Sugar caused his DOWNFALL
Again he was dropped from the exchange.
| and again he SmiinEly told his friends that
he would soon make good and come back
And Monday when he asked again 10 be-
| cleared of his stain OF bankruptcy. on the
ground that he had paid up. dollar for dot
| lar his many friends and even his busl-
| ness rivals felt glad.