Evening star., 1899-03-18
James B. Keene's Wonderful Knack
Of Making Fortunes.
SIX MILLIONS IN SIX WEEKS
How the King of Spectators Got
His First Start.
LOUS HOMES STY
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star

Ne" 1ofth, march To- 1885
In the recent Wall street boom James r.
Keene recovered his old-time position as
| the most daring and successful speculator
! on change. He was the only prominent
| trader who saw the advance coming, and
| he has made between 100000 and s6,oeo,-
| 900 in six weeks, with more in prospect
But Keene has helped the public as well
as himself. On December 6 last he came
| out with an interview in which he predicted
| a general and sustained rise in values. In
| the three months since then the stocks and
securities handled in Wall street have ad-
vanced over $1o0,000090. a large part of
this increase has gone to small investors all
over the country, who took keene's advice
and went in at the beginning of the ad-
vance.
Nobody except Keene could have done it.
There are bigger operators here, and men
whose names are more familiar, but not
one who occupies his unique position. For
one thing he is the veteran, or one of the
veterans, of the street. He was here in the
days of Jay Gould and the elder Wander
bllt- He has seen the rise and fall OF many
fortunes, including his own. lie has made
millions, lost them and made others to re-
place them. But the chief influence that led
investors to accept his judgment to the
course OF prices was his reputation for alb
solute honesty. Everybody knows that
u. L
come out with the same statements he
would have been accused of trying in
1uence the market for the benefit of deals
that he had on foot When keene said it
the people believed it.
King of Spectators.
keene has indicated his financial sa-
gacity by accommodating two great fortunes
He has done battle with some of the mas
ters of the street and has not come off
vanquished He may not be so great a
manager as Flower or Pierpont Morgan,
but he is the king of spectators. His hon
esty was proved when he paid $1,000 900 for
which he was not legally responsible. He
mas been in many deals. and has always
acted on the square. He has been ''eu-
chred, sold out, ruined by men whom he
trusted, and some of whom he had made,
put Keene himself has never been accused
of a mean or dishonest act.
The James r. keene of today is a man
of medium height and compact build. His
gray beard, cIoSe-cropped to the chin, does
not hide the firm outlines OF his jaw. His
gray eyes are searching, kindly and bright
His manner in transacting business is
abrupt and decisive. But he will stop in
the middle of the most important transac-
ton to shake hands with an old friend or
to give ear to a dependent acquaintance,
and he has many of the latter.
Story of a Big Gift.
keene's charities are characteristic of
the man. During the recent blizzard in
New York he was sitting with two friends
in the Waldorf-Astoria. This is the time" &"
said Keene, when the weIl-to-do ought
to put their hands into their pockets to re-
lieve the poor The people in this hotel
should give $4,000 toward it, and if they
don't l will
"Tu give $1,000" said one of his COM
panions.
TN do the same" said the other
xrra1 bod
the mayor and told him that IS 900 was
waiting to relieve the sufferings Of the des-
titute poor. The only stipulation was that
1t should reach them Immediately
1t was holiday, and the mayor had to
get hold of the commissioner of charities
before he could promise that the money
would be applied Immediately. Meanwhile
keene sent for the head of one of the prin-
clpal charitable organizations of the city
and placed in his hands s10O0O-eight of
his own and two from his two friends. The
only proviso attached to the gift was, Get
1t to the needy today"
A little later the mayor having made his
arrangements, called up Mr.. Keene and an
nounced that his gift was accepted
keene,s response was, "All right" and so
ne gave $4,000 to a very practical charity
instead of the 5000 he had at first in
tended for the purpose.
Keene's Remarkable Rise.
Keenes rise to fortune has been re-
markable and in some respects a romantic
one. He was born in London a little more
than sixty years ago. He came to Amer
lea at the age of seventeen. For a few
years he lived in the south and studied law
there. As soon as he was admitted to the
bar, In the late fifties. he Joined the throng
OF young men drawn westward by the Cali
fornla gold discoveries, and began his prac-
tice in San Francisco.
The young lawyers practice related chiefly
to mining claims. He became familiar with
N mi Gra
more mining speculator than a LAWYER
He made money in his ventures but his
health was poor, and az.physican advised
MIN to take long trip. So he closed up
MS business AFFAIRS, packed his effects and
started for the Atlantic coast to be absent
a year.
That was an important trip for Keene 1t
made him rich man. Some time before
he had become possessed of some shares
of a mining stock that was selling at al
most nothing. 1t was believed to be praeti-
cally worthless, but soon after Keene's de-
parture 1t panned out wonderfully rich.
The stock went up like rocket from one
figure to three. Keene was away; news
travelled slowly in those days. He knew
nothing Of his good fortune for a long
time: but when he returned to San Fran
cisco he found that his few hundreds had
grown to $4,000 Had he remained at
home he would have sold out probably at
the first advance, netting perhaps ene-tenth
of what he actually realized. As he himself
says, 1T was lucky journey.
The former lawyer. having brains. con-
fidence, sound Judgment and $2000o0 at his
command. was ready to attempt larger af-
fairs. He became a broker and speculator,
invested freely and came out luckily in all
his undertakings.
In the Western Boom.
Those were days of great speculation in
San Francisco. Mackay. Flood. Fair and
O'Brier were the leaders. Keene took his
place with these men, became one of the
board and soon had a reputation for good
luck and sound judgment.
The boom and the rush of money for in
vestment had forced prices to a very high
point. Keene saw that the imitation could
not last. When he believed that the turn
was close at hand he went short of the
Comstock securities which had received
more attention and had been forced higher
than any others. In taking this course he
had Mackay, Flood. Fair and the powerful
Bank of California against him. For
time there lively contest between
these rival influences, then the market be-
gan to sag under the influence of Keene's
raQrS ont 1a= nd a.