Arizona republican., 1902-11-08
Twenty Seven Millions Out

sell Sage, and none has been known for therefore, that his retirement tempo rarily Che says), through illness. fl Cm the aCt,"S management of lis bus,ll :'s as a money lender on large sClle should ,,aVe caussd sorne concern in Wall street, particularly among these who are on the veterans books as bor- rowers 0: cash on call.
 After forty-five years in business in Wall street, during which he has, un- til the last few weeks, rarely missed a day from his office, Sundays alone eX- cepted, it may well be believed that there is none better acquainted with the wiles and ways of "the street" than Russell Sage. To say that he has long been one of the most picturesque fig ures in financial circles. and is as we'll known, in a quiet, unobtrusive way, as the clock on Trinity church, is merely to state a fact patent to every one down town, and is what has often been said of him. But when any one is asked to state what manner of man he is, to describe him, his influence in financial circles, his manners, methods of doing business and how he reached his present position-or, in other words, to describe the precise relation he bears tC the financial community and to so- cic.y, tke task is not an easy one.
 Tn the public mind Russell Sage is generally regarded simply as a very rnise~ly old rar of great wealth He certain, is wealthy, and he Certd 'riy k old (S6). and it would be very hard to convince GnA- of the men who 'ln ov him that h. is net miserly. One e: his bus;Ecgs f,ie1ds, that is, a fell1V ci reCICr of his many Corpora'.ors spe k ing of hirn one day this week consider atelJ Gescl bed him as "very close rn n cney matters. But" he added, "thet is a'1 NCu can say against him, anu I do rnl SUI pose you ever heard any 3Ee ray GnyrhIrG else against him."
 Probably mere stories have been told of I:ussci SHGe's "closeness' than Lf any ether rran in Wall street ha Jing the same Characteristics-the- are very few-and every month almost a new story is added to the list. Two of the latest authenticated ones may be told in proof of his well known aver sion to yielding to temptation to eX travagance. On Q comparatively re- cent Sunday morning at church, when the usher passed the plate in front of him for the offertory, MT. Sage pulled some bills out of his pocket ard then tried to find some small change, but was not successful. He fingered a one dollar bill ever and over for % long. hesitating whether to put it ia the plate or not, that the usher passed on to the next pew. Mr. Sage put the bill back in his pocket. but in a moment or two discovered three pennies in q pocket that he had overlooked. Then as the usher returned up the aisle to the platform with the collection MT. Sage plucked him by the sleeve and held him while he carefully dropped the three pennies into the plate.
 The other story relates to a regular habit Of his during the summer just passed. He lives at Lawrence, on Long Island, in the summer time, where he owns a cottage, and comes up to town every day by the railroad to Long Island City Hunters PCinD. At that place all the down town business men always take a special boat which runs in the summer to Wall street, 10 cents extra being charged for that trip. As MT. Sage. however, has a pass on the Elevated railroad he al ways crossed the Thirty fourth street ferry and proceeded down town by way of the elevated, thereby saving the 10 cents.
 Whatever influence MT. Sage has ex- ercised in financial circles during the last twenty years has been principally as the largest individual lender of money. mostly lon call" although, of course, he also makes time lolns." It is no exaggeration, probably, to say that he is the largest individual lender Cf money in the world without a bank CT. All the money he lends is his own. A banker described him recently as the Sampson of Wall street" on a magnificent scale. Opinions vary as to the amount O: money he usually has out lon call' and time loans," some bankers estimating it as high as $30,- 100000, while others say it is about S7,000, GOO. It can be stated, however, definitely, on excellent authority, that Mir. Sage's street loans are rarely less than S25, GOO 900, and that few weeks ago, when he was taken i'll, and when the rates for money were higher than they are today, he had $27, 900, 900 out on call and time loans. This is all ac- tual cash which he keeps out at the market rate all the time. It is easy to compute, therefore, that at an average return of per cent his annual income from that source alone would be $1,350,- 0G0 a year. But business associates, men who have known him longest and know him best, say that at very con- servdtive estimate the cash he keeps out at interest in the street on collat- eral loans is only a third of his wealth, and that he is worth at least $75, GOO 000, and some even say S1G0, ,O00,0O0. He is one of the largest stockholders in. all the Gould properties, notably the Mis- souri Pacific railway company, Man haitian Elevated railway company and the Western Union Telegraph com pany.
 Assuming that his collateral loans amount to $27, COG, ,O00-and there is no reason to doubt the correctness of that Cstimatc-there are only eight banks in this city whose loans exceed those of Russell Sage. That fact gives a very good idea of the extent of his business. In conducting that business he pUrsues exactly the same course as the banks in regard to margins, etc. :; money brokers call at his office daily with the same regularity as they do on the banks, and he has his regular bor- rowers the same as the banks have.