The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1903-10-22
Was the Backer of Stilwell's
Port Arthur Road.
HE RAISED $1,000, 900.
Wonderful Work Done by I'm
known Coffee Broker.
Shrinkage in American Secur-
tiles Caused Collapse.

New York, Oct. 22.-Announcement of
q 900 failure in European money
center seldom arouses great interest in
America, but the brief Amsterdam ca
BILE dispatch which came this week stat
ing that J. F. De Goehan, Jr., & Co.,
had gone to the wall with liabilities of
&625 900 brought forth scores of remin-
tscences from Wall street men. The ca
blegram recalled the most interesting
period in two most remarkable careers.
with one Americans are familiar; of the
other they know little.
Everybody knows of the great finan-
ciai feat of Arthur E. Stilwell in build
ing the. hundreds of miles of railroad
composing the Kansas City, Pittsburg
& Gulf, which was after recognized by
John W. Gates and his associates as the
Kansas City Southern. which name 1t
now bears. An impecunious insurance
solicitor seeking business in Chicago,
without a dollar of capital Stilwell con-
ceived the value of a line to Port Ar
thur. He formulated his plan for the
great project and carried it out during
the most trying years of the '9Os. when
capital shrunk from gilt-edged long es-
ia bliSbed investments.
johnnie de Goehan. as he was later
known about the Waldorf-Astoria and
Windsor hotels. when his visits to New
York became frequent, met Stilwell IN
the smoking room of an Atlantic steam
er. They introduced themselves. Still
we'll was on ''peddling" tour to Eur
ope. He had much of securities and lit
tie of cash. Stilwell told De Cochran
about his Gulf road enterprise De Goe-
han showed interest and at the same
time displayed intelligence and evil
dences of energy which appealed to Still
we'll though the DutchmaD was little
more than a lad.
Conversation brought out the fact
that De Goehan was an Amsterdam
coffee broker of the most ordinary class.
He was a member of no exchange, had
no Office of his Own-only limited desk
room in a third-rate house-and did a
little business on the curb. running be-
tween coffee houses. StilWen asked
De Goehan how much he earned. De
Goehan did not hesitate to say that
about s. 500 year was his limit. Still
we'll offered him $1,000 a year for his
services and the bargain was closed
with little thought and few words. De
Goehan went about offering Stilwell S
securities to bankers and rich men of
Amsterdam, and his success startled
himself as we'll as Stilweu. He raised
100000 of cash capital for the Kan
sas City, Pittsburg & Gulf enterprise.
De Goehan's success in this under
taking gave him good reputa ton in
Amsterdam financial circles. He sue
ceeded in other dealings, and with some
capital established the banking house
of T. +. De GOehan & Co. He rose in
social position and married the daugh-
ter of the very wealthy Henry Jensen
of Amsterdam Mr.. Jensen is reputed
to be worth :25.O00.0O0.
De Goehan's banking house was never
regarded is important, but was looked
upon as successful until recently. The
shrinkage in market values of Ameri-
can securities contributed largely to De
Goehans failure. His assets are un-
derstood to contain a goodly proportion
of the securities of the railroad he
helped so much to build. His rich
father-inlaw's personal and firm cap
ital is not involved in the failure.