New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-06-12
TIE HOOLEY FAILURE.
patronage


Judged bankrupt. another Napoleon OF
Finance has met his Waterloo" says one IN
the sententious cant Of the Street. Busted
Phenomenon" says another. reminiscent or the
slang of the days when we had National
game "Bit off moren he could chaw." adds
a third with classic racness. And 80 the com
mcnts pass around. All are true enough no
doubt. and II no one of them expresses quite
the whole truth in all its details. on" hesitntes
to say just what deficiency should be supplied
Such failures arc no novelty. There was Bar
nato.s tragic ending. only the other day 1t
seems though THE other day Is ancient his
tory in the hlgh-prcssurc street. Ana mere
were heroes before Agamemncn. ana VIII pe
others yet to come. Let us deal ana boom ana
make money. for tomorrow we shall fail.
But Is that all that Is to be said? Is there
no moral 10 the story Of Ernest Terah liooley! :
It was only few months ago that he was me
foremost promoter in the world. ana seem
ingly the most successful. He had the shrewu-
ness 10 see what great business the man'liac'-
IRE Of bicycles would be- and conceived the
magnificent scheme of n monopoly Of pneumatic
tires or as near monopoly as could he formed.
In that great enterprise only two years ago ne
Is repuod probably with truth. To have cleared
over S12.OOO.mO. That was the beginning
Thereafter he devoted his attention TO ''promot-
ing" new or reorganizcd companies of all KINDS
in all cases with apparent success. Everything
he touched seemed 10 turn 10 profits. The Ma
ton went Hoolcy mad Fabulous prices were
offered for the of his name as director
for such use meant fortune 10 the concern
Hundreds OF people would stand in line Tor
hours. even all night. waiting for IN office TO
open and give them a chance 10 invest IN the
stock Of some company solely on the strength
of his name II is scarcely an cXaCgeration to
say that II he had organized n company for
the extraction Of sunbeams from cucumbcrs
It's entire capital would have been subscribed
twice over in a single day When all the great
nnancIers Of Europc hesia'ed TO undertake n
Chinese loan he came jnuntIly forward with
an offer OF anything that was wanted In scores
of millions. He bought the Prince OF Wales
famous yacht. and historic estates all over Eng
land. rs though they were cakes OF ginger
| bread, and gave 10 81. Pauls Cathedral com
munon service 81 solid gold with no more ado
than If he were dropping shilling In me col
lection plate. He promoted companies with
800 OO0. 900 capital. and was NJ one time be-
levcd TO he worth half that amount himself.
free and clear And on "Wednesday he was nd
| judged bankrupt.
| II Is an old story about the tide In the ar
| fairs Of men which taken at rho Hood leads
| ON 10 fortune II is an old story that Nelson's
diving word was The command fo anchor. which
being dsobeycd. half The feet Mt Trafalgar
was lost, II f. we'll 10 take The tide But II Is
we'll and no loss Important. Ia know when 10
anchor so ~ To drlft no further. and to pre-
, serve the prizes already won. That i th"
moral of such q career rs This. The difference
between business and gambling IL largely that
the one secures the profits made and the other
kpcps rsklng them all. The man who. having
Gained an ample fortune In legitimate business
stakes il all on desperate chances makes Of
himself "A gambler Worst of all IN II II he
enter upon ventures IN which constant promof-
Ing is necessary to keep things going. for there
must come a time when promoting will stop
and realization will begin. and That. In such
circumstances Will mean ruin. So II was with
| Mr. TIoolcy He made a fortune in Legitimate
| business enterprise. But he rIslicd IL all in
further speculations Of such n character that
he had 10 keep risklng IT, lie was blowing
bubble There was honest soap and water In
r. Eut he Inflated II too much And h. had
10 keep on blowing into II. To stop would
mean collapse But at last hc had 10 stop for
breath and the collapse came. The example
and the moral may be ignored. They are there
however. and they profitable. and they COM
prise the Alpha and Omega Of sound business
and Of abiding prosperity.