Omaha daily bee., 1902-07-05
LUCK ANDPLUCK WIN FORTUNE
Taking Opportunity BY the TOpknOt Yields
Whole Lot Of Money.
INTERESTING CAREER or JOHN W, GATES
Halls from Missouri and Didn't Need
20 BE ShOwR-A Promoter skilled
In the Art of Grab and
Freeze On.
Copyright. 1900. by Victor smIth.)

NCOpyTlknAt ASu<t ny NlCNOI C0liNnsI
Just a. quarter Of a century ago California
sent to New York a small, wiry, silent
man Of 80 years. His fame as a plunger
In the maSket had preceded him and the
world was informed that Jim" Keene had
made his way east to take Jay Gould's
scalp" Keene has been a factor In specu-
lation ever since. He is regarded as The
ablest operator the street has ever known.
No we'll could be deeper.
Two years ago Chicago sent to the me-
tropolis a great, big, beefy, rollicking,
loquacious man OF AZ. He had no fame.
He was an adjunct Of the steel business.
He had been a commercial traveller, selling
barbed wire to the farmers Of the west
II he had dealt In stocks 1t was a mere
dabble.
Keene had made $4,000, 900 in wheat;
Gates had made as much In promoting
steel. Keene weighs 100 pounds; Gates
weighs 800. Keene IL an Englishman;
Gates IL II Missourian. Keene's FIRST con-
tract was sprinkling the streets Of Shasta,
CAL; Gates nrst contract was hoeng a hill
Of beans in a garden not far from st. Louis.
Keene has made himself a power in the
world OF speculation by the force Of intel
lect. Gates Is a lucky chap. whose success
lies In his ability to grasp, seize. grapple,
eAeN AASS@S S@ - " Ro1ANH
Gates has grown SO fast that he can
hardly keep track Of It himself He did
not mean II at ali. They say he used to
have . little shop beneath the Southern
hotel, st. Louis, where he retalled barbed
wire to the farmers Of Missouri. At that
time his sole ambition was to make a llv-
ing. He had nj designs on New York and
the stock market Drifting into Chicago, he
went into the employment Of ike" ELL
wood, after whom Ellwood City is named,
and there ran into what we now style the
steel crowd" For q few years he was
on the road, earning $4,000 q year for him
self and $4,000 for Ellwood. He saved
money, married and settled down.
Beeckonins of Opportunity.
A land agent induced him to buy some
acres near Chicago. and the responsibilities
Of landlordism quickly developed an indie
pendence that had been slumbering like the
Image on q Photographic plate. Oppor-
tunity beckoned. Gates rushed to the en-
brace. Barbed wire was a new thing. The
ranches Of the west demanded tons OF It.
There we're not mills to supply 1t. Gates
cut the timber on his land and sold 1t for
money to chip In with his coterie of friends
and build a small factory. This coterie
was much like that with which Grover
Cleveland used to fraternize in Bunalo-all
good fellows, up to any risk and equal to
any emergency.
The sum invested was S36, 700. In the
nrst year the profits were nearly Eve times
mat sum. Some of the partners desiring
to sell, Gates generously took their inter-
ests on their hands until he owned the
mill.
Among the friends he made were the
| MAnRA ANNAAARa T.A-4 UytIIt--. TT -
James Hobart, Daniel G. Reid, Judge Ebert
H. Gary. d. c.. Converse. william Eden
born. Veryl Preston, Charles M. Schwab,
w. B. Leeds, w. e. Refs, Richard Trimble
and J. 8. Keefe, all big men in the manu-
facture Of steel.
Gates might now be making barbed wire
on o small scale II It had not been for the
sudden desire on the part Of somebody to
form a steel trust. Conflicting interests
continued to conflict until the name of J.
Pierpont Morgan was mentioned as bonding
material. The leading steel men Of the
country begged him to form a central steel
government. and for the sum Of $56 900, 900
he did II. Every one Of the westerners
had q mill or two to sell. among them
Gates. Opportunity beckoned a second
time. The Moores led the way. Gates
followed. A plant at Eilwood that cost
bomo uuuuTcub OF THOUSANDS was turned
over to Morgan and the Steel trust for
32,+o0. 900. Other plants in proportion.
The Independent steel and wire men made
fortunes. The world never before offered
so golden al opportunity.
The steel crowd met once a week at ELL
wood to play poker. Fabulous pots were
won and lost. The limit was the sky.
Schwab and Gates gave their winnings to
charity. Neither knew how to lose. They
were delused with luck. With each Jack
pot 9 steel plant was sold to the corpora
tion. or trust, and the steel crowd peck
eted = million. None of the boys" came
In on less than q royal flush or bet less
than the limit.
UnequaIed since Jim Fisk.
Gates equal has not appeared in the
street since Jim" Fisk entered the nnan-
cisl vortex and startled the world with his
gigantic schemes. his bold, multitudlnous
and successful operations, his executive
ability and his masterful grasp of condi-
lions. 1t was far easier TO be a power In
Fisk's day than II Is In Gates day. En-
terprises regarded as prodigious in the los
would today be looked upon as small bust
ness.
Most of the giants of the street have
had names OF one syllable; that Is among
the operators. Morgan Is not an operator
neither are Hartman. Rockefeller and men
Of that stamp operators. / refer to kings
OF the ticker. such as Jay Gould. Jim
Fisk. Jim" Keene. Deacon" White. Louis
v. Bell, Thurlow Weed, Daniel Drew. and
last, but not least. John w. Gates.
First OF all comes Keene. for he is an
operator. or SPECTATOR. pure and simple
He Is in a class by himself. He Is 4
director in no corporation and never had
. partner in the great game OF stocks. H Z
has dealt In more millions Of securities
than all the rest put together ever
dreamed Of.
After Reene we must place Fisk. ther
In their order Gould, Drew, Gates, Weed
MhltA and Ball 0AtAa WA the moal sud.