The Wichita daily eagle., 1903-12-02

TOR new certificates, resplendent with
green inck and illustrations OF rollizg-
! mil interiors; Mrs. Jackson received two
/ hundred shares. paying her eight hun
/ dred year IN her Simplicity she re-
ferred to J. j. Twitcneil as one Of IA
t turos nohlemen
I The merger was perfect SUCCESS. The
/ underwriting syndicate in which Tgit-
chelI had privately the largest Interest
got a majority OF the Consolidated STOCK,
after settling with the Lion stoc,,hol zers.
| Alice Twitchen had owned the coatroH-
+ ing interest in the original company. She
+ row had little more thsn a tenth interest
! iTf the new company. she had been swim
/ died by her enterprizing husband, but
such are the inuicacies OF high hnancs
/ that she looked upon Twitchesl as fi1an-
+ cial Moses
! The stock was admitted 70 trading in
I the exchanges, anu opened at forty.
Twitchell was sometimes in Allegheny IN
I PRODUCING economies, and mere often in
New York. introducing securities during
the day; parading through The GoIdorf
corridors in the evening with his hat
tilted over his eyes, and a long. black
/ cigar sticking out agressively from S
mouth Ike the bowsprit of a Takish sloop.
+ Other embryo fnanciers were there. They
+ were great men. according to Coliorf
standards. for things were coming
easy" in Wall street. and these were the
/ assembled captains of the Boom Era.
The stock doomed. But out in ALE
gheny some OF the old machinery was
flying apart After paying dividends on
twenty millions Of stock. there was 1T
tie money left fo~ replacements and i'm
provements. Orders were increasing. The
company must have immediate cash
CARTEL Here was another problem cas-
ily solved at the moment. for the public
was clamoriHs for the stock at fifty IN
issue Of ten millions Of new stock was
determined upon, for purposes Of i'm
provement and extension. the latter prin-
cipally extension Of public credulity. I'M
I provements We're a pressing necessity. as
the screening OF wornout machinery tes-
titled II a news-sleuth could have heard
that Ornin0us groaning and creaking what
d straight up tip he would have had
The ne wissue Of stock caused a great
( commotion in the market. The price
jumped to afty-fve, and seventy was
freely predicted by TwitcheH, the ad-
vice being gratuitous. Every one seemed
TO be buying. No one cared who was sell
ing. The transfer clerks knew. of oourye.
that large blocks OF stock standing In
the names of James Z. Brown ard wi
E. Smith had been sold. but they never
. learned that these were the names OF Al
legheny office-boys. Mrs. TwitchelI sold
two thousand sheres, probably for rea-
soHs Of her own.
The selling of office-boy stock was per-
sistent. Under its pressure, the price fell
to forty. Twitchell did not appear dis
satisfied with this sudden turn of affairs
The consciousness Of substantial private
gains more than compensated for his
wounded official prize. de hsd become a
master Of the science OF easy finance
which embraces all the advanced methods
of taking money from people without the
danger OF losing ones personal liberty II
detected
In 1891 the name of TwitcheII was called
out frequently by Goldorf pages. Every
body had business with him His opin-
ions-were eagerly sought. even by CON
servative men. who had tardiy caught
the speculative fever. and wsre loziug
Twitche-l had bi0ssorled forth as a mar
ket leader in many securities.
Mrs. Twitchel was also at the G0ldo1f
She was developing a splendid taste for
smooth clothes and startling jeweiry
TwitcheIl and wife were TO be seen din
ing in the Palm Room almos, any even
ing. Their dinner was never h.n5ered
by conversation, for Mrs. Twitchell knew
little OF finance, ard James did not waste
precious mOnosyliabes on her. Yet che
was supremely happy. She noted with
satisfaction that. among the society la
dies there, noEe wore a gown that fitted
more closely tnan her own. or was more
layishly decorated with lace and embroid-
cry. That they were society ladies' one
could hardly doubt. \ New Yorker might
possibly have imagined. from the tisht-
ness OF their oaothes and the Iooseness o.
their manners. that their society expert
ence was limited 70 a regular appearance
in the ballroom scene of some broadway
play TwitchelI didpt profess to know
about such things Being feral-s. they
surely were rot brokers or newspaper
n.en. and that was the extent OF his in
teTest in society. et he was pleased that
none Of them outshoue his splendid wife
He. the great Twitchell. tne talk Of The
country: his wife. gorgeous lady. as great
q success in her little way Could any
thing be more fttins-her eel-szin gown
excepted?
Everything sent well with Twitchel Up
10 1893. He made several spectacular
deals. and created light-headed follow
ing. whose cumulative force was resisti-
Bile Consolidated Steel had helI arouuI
forty for two years. Investors far ana
wide bought the stock because it wculi
net 10 per cent They cid rot realize that
they were merely buying paper represent
ing Twitchell's private profits
So much money was seeking Investment
that it was difficult for the masters OF
easy finance To issue new securities rap
idly enough To meet the abnormal de-
mand. Announcements Of rev issues fo-
all sCrts Of purposes wee made. There
was a rilias IN OF credits such as j. o
country ever witnessed. Half-c-azei cap
tairs of the boom were becoming wholly
insane in their Efforts ~ get the money
people had earned. TwitchsI went into
everything wilClv. borrowing milliors Cn
collateral which he knew was nearly
worthless. for he had created some OF Il
himself. He was recklessly gambling CT
the continued c-edu;ity of ;he multitude
/ nthe sp-inc of 1876 1he supalv OF Sc
ourtties and os everything else had over
run the dernane- There y a. congestion ii
every quarter One humorisr described
tn, unwholesCrne mass ef new green and
red paper IS "uadtgestcd securiliss Aay