The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-06-09
A FINANCIAL METEOR.
How Ernest Terah HoOIey Piled Up
His EIany Millions.

A year or two ago a great deal of matter
was printed concerning the operations of
Ernest Terah Hooley The following is
taken from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch of
May 2, 1897:
This is the story of man who made $1O,-
CO0,C0O in three days, and who made $50, Coz 900
in one year. He is an Engishman, which
makes the story more incredible still. The
daring operators on the stock exchange
have been the Americans. The great gam
blers in grain and stocks, the manipulators
of great railroad deals, the engineers of
trusts and tsyndicates have been typical
Americans. Thrifty aliens there have been
like A. T. Stewart, who have come to this
country and made large fortunes in trade;
others have done so by fortunate invest
tunes have been made by foreigners simply
by virtue of holding on to real estate in rap
idly growing cities. SO were most of the
But the "plunger' shsssentiallY an Amer
lean product, with all the idiosyhcracies of
his country He is quick alert cunning mi
one venture, secretive, reSourceful, 1mpul-
sive and prompt OF action. The Goulds
Vanderbilts, Fisks, Cookies, Sages, Hutch
insons, Pardridges and the rest are Amer
leans every one. The big operators in Wall
street are none of them of foreign birth
conservative, enterprising and Industrious
it is true, but given to accommodating his
pile" laboriously by thrift economy and
goal. AS a rule he is piodder. He is a
safe financier rather than a brilliant one.
There have always been Englishmen who
have ida billed" in stocks, who have tried to
take the short cut in fortune. Many have
been ffeeced on the way, few have won a
competence and have been contented Those
who have become kings of finance can be
counted on the fingers of one hand. Re
garded as the victim the Englishman has af-
forded good picking for his neighbors. There
was the South Sea bubble for instance, for
gotten by all but the old timers American
railroad stocks have been the bait which
have lured thousands of the lambs on to
ruin. Many hundreds OF thousands or Brit
ish gold went into. the pockets of American
manipulators through Erie and Pacific rail-
road stocks. So many that the goose that
laid the golden egg came near being killed.
English capital grew wary of American rail!
road stock. This feeling extended TO other
American securities, and indeed the English
came to regard US as nation of sharpers.
But now comes an Englishman, from an
unsophiStcated country town too, and
shows the Londoners how TO make millions
in few days In year he becomes an in
ternational character. one OF the multi-mil-
lionaires of money-making age.
The name of the English Napoleon of fl
nance is Ernest Terah Hooley. A common
name enough, suggestive rather of carrying
the hod than of engineering vast enterprises.
And Mr.. Hooley was a common enough re-
spectacle citizen who conducted lace man
ufactory at Nottingham, making his pile
slowly and methodically, by industry, econ
omy and close application 10 business, ac-
cording to the tradition OF his race and
country. He never was poor He did not
of the ladder He made from $1,000 TO $4,000
a year out of his factory, and so for years
he was content with mis- pronts-content TO
be a well-to-do manufacturer, unknown, UNI
heard of beyond the limits OF his native
city and his trade -
Two years ago Mr.. Hooley decided to re-
tire from business life. He gave up his
factory. Then he took a whirl at the
Nottingham local stock market. The first
year he cleared 100000. And still the big