The Butte inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1901-1912, 1901-11-19

Keene's friends. recognizing in the cam
didate for district attorney an able ally,
concluded to array him against Mr..
Whitney by telling only half the truth.
At all events Mr.. Keene and his friends
see in the result of the election personal
triumph over Mr.. Whitney and his asso-
ciates in the Metropolitan Street Rail-
way company, and they rejoice accord
ingly.
Bad feeling between Mr. Keene and Mr.
Whitney was engendered in the spring
of 1898, having it's origin in Mr.. Keene's
manipulation Of Metropolitan stock. At
that time there was a pool in this stock,
and Mr.. Keene was the field marshal of
the traction forces on the floor of the
stock exchange. He engineered a bull
movement in the security, and on Febru-
airy IA Metropolitan touched 171E. Sud-
denly and without warning that day a
large quantity of the stock was thrown
on the market and the price broke to 1871
When asked for an explanation, Mr..
Keene had none to give beyond state
ment that the decline appeared to be le-
ultimate, and that it continued until sup
porting orders from the pool We're placed
on the stock exchange for execution.
This did not entirely satisfy Mr.. Whit
ney and his associates. it is said, but the
incident was allowed to pass with the
declaration that the slump and subse-
quent recovery Cooked peculiar"
1t was seven months later that the real
break in the relations of Mr.. Whitney
and the pool manager occurred. This
time there was no quibbling; charges Of
bad faith were made on both sides, and
the foundation was laid for the feud
which has been waged bitterly ever since.
For several months Mr.. keene has
been manipulating the stock of the
American Tobacco company, in which
Mr.. Whitney and his friends were large
ly interested Under his guidance quo
tations had been raised to an unprece-
denied level, and in the latter part of
september, 1898, plans for controlling and
executing a sensational coup in the stock
market were we'll under way. Mr.. Keene
was the only member of the pool to fig
ure openly in this transaction. Wall
street guessed that others We're interest
ed spectators in the manipula ton, but it
did not become known until Mr.. Keene
''unloaded" his holdings who his partners
were.
Mr. Keene himself explained the situa-
| ton in an interview published at the
! time.
'The detection of any one large holder
| of Tobacco stock" he said, would
in the market. When the most undubi-
| table evidence was furnished to me that
one or two members of the pool had sold
| I sold my stock, and did it promptly, al
! between $145 and $136 share"
! MI. Keene is said to have purchased
| his stock-sOme 10000 shares-at approx
imately $S7 a share, and his profits were
estimated to be not far from one and g
/ half million dollars. Mr.. Whitney's
. brother-in-law, Oliver H. Payne. an(
Messrs. Duke. Schley and Terrell, repre-
| senting various interests, were serousl!
| embarrassed by Mr.. Keene's precipitat,
selling, which upset-for the time bein.
at least-the ambitious plans of the pool
When taken to task by Mr. Whitney, a
the Wall street legend runs Mr. Keene i
said to have pulled hts cigar nonchalant
ly and replied: "Why. certainly sold
When go into race of this kind I neve
permit myself to be left atF the post