The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1898-08-10

Capel Court, the Wall street of England
one morning and engaged offices. He wa!
ready then 10 paralyze every fnancier il
| the kingdom, and he did it.
| The pneumatic tire Spelled tyre" ovel
there craze is much stronger IN England
than in this country. One OF the great tire
companies of the country has been the
! Dunlop Pneumatic Tire Company Tht
financial standing Of the institution wa:
fair and its business good. Hooley called
upon its officers and said that ne was pre-
| pared to purchase the entire company
/ what was the price?
TIE answer was-s1o. 600. 900. Hooley
asked for a weeks option at that price
| and il was given TO him. In the meantime
ne had secured the friendship Of certair
| newspapers and journalists and also the
! acquaintance of various capitalists. Ht
! called on them 20 aid him in the purchase
| of the company. guaranteeing handsome
! profits il return. 1.-TWO days after me op.
| ton had been given nm ne mad $4,000, 00t
! subscribed and purchased the company.
on the third day he sold il 20 his associ-
| ates for $40 000 900, and pocketed $4,000. 01(
! as his profit. IN che transaction II Is
stated. Hoo!ey was not called upon to
/ put his hands in his pockets for single
/ shilling.
/ Hooleys friends paid MS bills and subse-
quertly divided some profits q the com
! pany among themselves without a muir
muir at his share. The profit Of the COM
! pany for the last twelve months up 70
July was placed on paper at something
over 81. 000, 900. OF this $4,000 was in cash
and bills and s., 600 900 due 10 sundry cred
itors and bank overdraft. The total indebt
edness Of the company is So. 900, 900, and a
generous estimate Of the value Of the COM
pany is so 100000. The claim Of the com
pany IS that since Hooley took hold of it
the profits have exceeded a million and a
half and that is perfectly solvent.
I London was staggered at the ease with
which Hooley manipulated the Dunlop
deal Everybody wanted tire stock. The
most sober-minded Englishman saw all
the world on bicycles equipped with Dun
lop tires. Hooley said 1t must be so,
and H0Jley was the new Midas come 10
tnrn etaoinsethaornieshtr adoilnmrfd wluyp
turn all things commonplace into gold.
The next move Of the magician was to
convince Investigating Englishmen that
every man. woman and child in creation
was hungry for Bovril The stuff is a beef
extract which had been enormously ad-
vertised abroad for years, and for which
there was a healthy demand. Hooley OBJ
tanned a three-day option on the company
at $2,500,0OO. The next morning he sold the
company outright to his friends and the
sullS for s., 600, 900. Aladdin never did more
wonderful things than this. Dunlop and
Bovril stock went sky high on the stock
exchange. Clerks small tradesmen, lit
tie fellows that never had a penny, but
wise enough to follow Hooley. speculated
in these stocks and became rich in a night
and would not follow him were ruined in
a day. He was financial master of Capel
court and England. Reporters doged his
heels to note every doing Dukes and
lords hobnobbed with him Apparently
he played with them as if they were pup
pets.
BicyNe manufacturers in England just
about this time 1885 were at a standstill
in their work on account OF tubes. The
manufacturers of tubes could not keep I'D
with the demand. Hooley announced that
he was prepared to float the stock of a
company which would furnish England
and all the world with any quantity of
tubes. He called the concern the Swedish
Tube Company and located its works at
Coventry. He placed the capital stock
at So, 100000 and in a weeks time had sub
scriptions for three times that amount
The company began operations and paid
fair prohtst for time.
Had Hooley stopped here, already worth
"a
Ounlop, Bovril and the Swedish works.
would have gone on decenly well and
that he would have kept for himself an
hOnored name. But ne either completely
lost his head, as did Barney Baranto. or
he could not control the yellow streak of
cheap display in his nature He had Eng
fish stockbuyers by the throat but seerAed
unable, now that he was on top, to keep
the grip tight.
Public curiosity could not satisfy itself
a to where he gained his power In bust
ness he was associated with the Earl
OF Delaware. with Winchelesa, Lord Deer
hurst, Warwick and other famous men
OF the nobility. They introduced him right
of him gave him a tremendous prestige
with the common people of the land.
l.
land your Johnny Bull still thinks the
seat of all virtue is to be found in that
decaying bulwark known as the house of
lords. nglishmen still revere nobility
even il there is nothing in ii but shell.
Hooley's adroit companionship with men
Of blood and name helped him tremen-
diously. But how did ne do II?
He continued TO float new business
schemes, and the simple attachment OF
his name to their kites made investors
far and wide believe in their security. He
was travelling the path of Barney Barnato
and the Kaffir shares but no one appeared
ready to institute a parallel.
He announced that he would become A
candidate for parliament, seeking the seat
Of llkeston division Of Derbyshire This
seat is now occupied by Sir Walter oster
The latter is a radical, and the district
is supposed to be safely for that nartv
by go votes. Sir Walter and his friends
laughed with scorn when they learned
that the parvenu would fight them. but
their raillery changed to fear when they
felt his mode Of attack. Hooley would
have been chosen for Fosters seat If
his financial troubles had not come upon
him just at this time
Hooley has always said that ne believed
he would yet be one Of the cabinet min
listers Of ngland. To help that belief
along he sought the parliament seat First
he save NJ his Offices in Capel court. dis
charged MS clerks. and took rooms al
the Midland Hotel, which cost him $3.50
per week. There three secretaries were
in attendance upon him from 5 in the
morning until 70 a night. He transacted
almost as much business in bed as out of
IT,
His methods from first to last appeared
10 be those Of a Snowman whose sole Oh