The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-12-20
WALL STREETS
NEWEST NAPOLEON.


Now and again a man comes from
son,ewhere into Wall street, takes a
Sond in the game and wins. Then
nj, street begins to talk about him
IN the bulletin board of the rumor
%i'T it is written that the new
Yer has cleaned up billion dollars
or more
lover came out of the West and
ted into the Wall street game. He
as member of the Chicago crowd"
"a trained with them in the street
nd at the Waldorf Astoria. His name
" as LOYAL l.. Smith. Nobody in the
financial district paid any particular
attention to Loyal l.. Smith in the
eorIv days of the great bull period that
SoIIowed the first election of President
Mckinley.
street were busy with the names of
Sates and Drake and Ellwood and
MAY Pam and the men who had bought
steel and wire plants in the West and
elsewhere, and sold them for millions
- the financiers of the effete East.
Toval L. Smith was only a camp fol-
iower in the days of the early sue
oeeees in Wall street of the Chicago
crowd" and he didn't cut enough fig
IRE to cause inquiry as to where he
came from.
THAT didn't disturb Smith in the least.
In fact, he preferred to remain in the
hackground and let the financial world
talk about other folk while he COM
Melted his, plans for manufacturing out
of himself an American millionaire.
Now in less than five years, the COM
pleted product has been turned out,
and to-day Wall street mods when
LOYAL l.. Smith beckons, and the rec
ords of the rumor factory say that
he is worth $10000,000 at least. He
is probably worth half that amount.
Since the latter part of 1898 or the
early winter of 1899, Mr.. Smith has
probably made Wall street dance to
the tunes of his playing to the extent
of between So, 600, 900 and 5000, 900. Those
who ought to know something of his
operations say that something more
than a couple of millions will just
about represent Smiths cleanup in
the street. If any one asks, however,
how Smith did it, when he did it, and
what he did it with, there are few
in all the financial district who are
able to give details.
If one asks about the origin of
Smith, there is still less knowledge.
To the street he is just Smith of
the Chicago crowd, and he's made a
Dot of money" And the ignorance of
the street regarding the being and the
reason for it of Smith of the Chicago
crowd" delights Smith. He is a per-
son whose right hand, if It's owner
can help it, never knows what the left
hand does, and what. his two hands
don't know about the doings of each
other Smith of the Chicago crowd"
doesn't intend that the dear public
shall gain knowledge.
This man, in whom Wall street has
taken so great an interest of late, is
perhaps something more than 40 years
of age He is not far from feet s
inches tall, weights about 160 pounds
and is one of the best dressed men in
New York. He is well dressed, be-
cause after talking with him for half
an hour man would leave him with
out being able to go into particulars
about his raiment further than to say
that Smith was about the most i'm
maculate looking person he had seen
in many day.
He has a peculiarly pale face, red
brown hair and mustache, thin lips
and unusually firm chin, and steel gray
eyes, whose glitter is as cold as that
of newly cut cake of ice in the sun
light of a January morning in the north
country. OF jewels, he may possess
enough to stock a jewellers shop, but
the only one anybody in these parts
has ever seen him wear a scarfpin
of uncut emerald. This one bauble
is Mr.. Smiths limit of jewel orna-
mentation.
He lives a bachelors life at the
Waldorf-Astoria, and may be found
in the lobby there in the late after
noon, and evening of almost every day
in the week, except when he has a
poker engagement elsewhere. OF the
great American game, Mr.. Smith is
extremely fond. Indeed, it is in poker
that he finds about his only recreation.
He goes little to the theater, almost
never to the opera, owns no horses
and takes no particular interest in
them; and, unlike many of the men
who have come out of the West with
fortune or have made it here, he
has never indicated any particular
weakness for pictures and other objects
of art.
His business is speculation in the
worlds securities and his pleasure is
speculation on hand at draw poker.
1t is said, however, that after some
considerable experience, Smith of the
Chicago crowd" has absolutely refus-
ed to sit in at poker with John w.
Gates or Isaac L. Ellwood. When
asked, not long ago, for his reason for
not playing with these two eminent
have said:
What the devil is the use Of my
playing with those fellows? Gates
hasn't got any money sense and ELL
wood hasn't much more. Gates If he
took notion, would be just damn
fool enough to bet a million dollars on
a pair of deuces. Do you suppose l
want to play with men like that? /
know dollar is worth a hundred cents;
and those fellows don't think it's
worth anything when they're playing
poker"
According to the very few in Wall
street, who know some of the details
OF Mr.. Smiths career, he is indigenous
10 the6soil of Plattsburg N. Y. At
any rate, he has an invalid mother
living there, for whom, a few years
ago. he bought fine estate and built
thereon a beautiful house, whose in
terror decorations were planned by the
artist who designed the interior dec
orations of the Empire Theater, and
VINO was taken by Mr.. Smith from
Shlcago to Plattsburg especially for
the work
How long ago he left Plattsburg none
OF his annalists hereabout seem to
Know; but they do know that he finally
turned up in the city of Omaha, where,
after a time. he engaged, in the dry
goods business. The business pros
pered for while, but the winds of for
tune finally blew upon Smith and his
business, and he was forced to capt.
ulate to his creditors.
But IL anybody in Omaha ever
thought that Smiths failure to succeed