The Indianapolis journal., 1903-08-09
ABOUT JAMES R. KEENE
WHY THIS GREAT FINANCIER Is IN
DISTURBED by LATE LOSSES.
Incidents I'm tie Life Of This Remark
able Man-Miid-Mannered but
Tremendously Aggressive.
Of the indianapolis Journal.


bot ]. Taylor Co. few days ago. re-
tains all lis confidence regarding the value
OF investment stocks in this country. In
fhe course of conversation yesterday a
question was put 10 the impeTturbable lead
Wall street leader to his translation of
the singular condition OF things in the se-
curities market. MIR. Keene twisted his
mustache thoughtfuliy for moment and
then said. I'm the softly modulated tone
which is one OF the characteristics OF his
method OF speech:
There Is no apparent reason why stocks
should be one penny lower in price to-day
than Trey were a year ago. The situation
1s entirely without precedent under exist
ing conditions The earnings of the rail-
road companies compare favorably with
those of last year the crops are good, and
every inuAence that tends to inspire conf
aence is easily TO be perceived by those
who have the curiosity or interest TO in
form themselves. / totally at a loss for
reasonable explanation OF the supposed
nquidating movement. Interest bearing
curities which were considered a good in
vestment at forty points above the present
prices ought 20 be all the more attractive
now, and yet these stocks are thrown upon
the market without producing any per-
ceptible desire to purchase. l think that
persons having money which they wish to
invest to advantage and with safety will
see the advisablIity Of buying stocks at this
low level and awaiting the reaction from
the present mysterious mania to unload
There many issues which at prevailing
prices are unmistakable bargains. and con-
servative investors in these will surely
make large profits"
NJ -1-- -
gathered that he regarded the currency
system OF the United States as unsatsfac-
tory and that he entertained financial
plan of his own as being worthy of the
close attention of the Treasury Depart
ment. Wall street. OF course, he looks
upon the money market of the country.
and the withdrawal of money as one of the
moving causes OF this and other disturb
ancesL He thinks financial change Is
necezsary for the assurance Of permanent
relief but does not care at this time to go
into details In giving his views for publica-
tfon-
TOO STRENUOUS MASsEUR.
Mr.. Ksene has been far from well in a
Dhysical sense for a long time pasta fact
fus to his unceas.ng experiments in the
Geld Of physical culture. Leading a life
largely confined to indoor pursuits by rea-
Bon Of the nature of his occupation, he has
found Il well to apply himself to various
forms OF bodily exercise in order to retain
hsalthful vigor. A brawny masseur. who
had been recommended to the fnancier as
posssssing the very highest skill in his line.
nucceeded one morning in twisting MIR.
ksene's right knee almost out of joint and
sending him to bed practically helpless for
= period Of more than four months dura-
tion.
During this interval the patient bore with
remarkahle fortituds agonies that were al
most unceasing. The injured member was
encased IN a plaster cast for weeks at a
stretch. and was blistered repeatedly and
mercilessly. Upon several occasions the
infiamed spot was fired with cauterants,
and even now the knee Is the cause of al
most incessant pain--the more so for the
reason that as soon as the patient was able
TO escape the active espionage of the sur
geons he insisted upon going about his
business as though nothing had happened
Upon two occasions shortly after emerg-
ing from the Waldorf-Astori apartments,
60 which he had been so long confined, Mr..
keene visited the race track to see his
cherished thoroughbreds struggle gamely
for victory. But the exertion served to set
him back many PAGES from the goal of re-
covery. and the clubhouse lawn has not
seen him since. The Wall street upheavals
of recent months have served as an ex-
cuse or avenue for placing Mr.. Keene be-
fore the public eye in a character that does
not appear to those most closely acquainted
with mis- personality. "Buccaneer," free
booter," "bushwhacker'' and similar terms
have cropped up in the newspaper literature
of this particular time with a frequency
indicating a somewhat general impression
that the mild-mannered wall-street manip-
ulator secretes beneath his not alarming
exterior tendency to carnage almost de-
moniacal In its ferocity.
The picture is about unlike the man
as any stretch of human fancy can pos
sibly make It, In his personal bearing Mr..
keene u sngularly gentle and unassum-
ing. He talks with the perfect poise of
one thoroughly informed upon every topic
that comes up for consideration. but there
ls no sense OF obtrusion i'm what he says or
the manner of its saying. His gray eyes
are clear and friendly. and his countenance,
while for the most part impassive is not
est with the lines OF sternness Describing
him. with his clear cut features. his pointed
beard tinged with gray, his broad forehead
surmounted with carefully brushed hair.
his alert. active. well-clad figure, his small.
neatly-shod feet and slender, nervous hands.
one would naturally employ the term ele-
gance-eut In no sense of indicating "trip
perry, for Mr.. Keene is ''all man. in the
impression he conveys.
4 RESOURCEFUL OPPONENT.
His opponsnts in the stupendous battle of
finance have found him aggressive tenaci-
Gus, resourceful beyond any individual of
these times. They have not heard him
whhnper In defeat. nor have they detected
the note OF exultation in his hour of tri-
umph. Mr.. keenes business career, which
has included the amassing of immense for.
tunes and their obliteration over night.
has shown him always serene, expression
less. dispassionate. moving along careful
ly considered lines and betraying not so
much as pulsation of emotion.
There is another view TO take OF him.
hevever, which goes TO show that he is
not TO be regarded wholly from the Wall
street standpoint Mr.. Keene's sympathies
are intensely impulsive, as shown by the
nature OF his large benefactions. A few