The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-07-25
Slight Rally at Close But Spec- uIatOfs Go Home With Lit-
 tie Hope for Future
I. u TAYLOR AND STOW
 FAILURES ARE FACTORS
Contracts Holding Monday May Allow Embarrassed Houses to Get a Second Wlnd-Effects of
 S. p. Pool Are Felt.

New York, July 24.-It was veritable "Black Friday in Wall street. and al- though the market rallied at the close, and the general situation in the minds of some was much improved. great many persons having interests in the street went home in anything but a cheerful frame of mind.
 It was freely predicted that trouble even more serious was impending. From trustworthy sources it was learned that three or more commission houses had been "squeezed" almost to the bursting point.
 Contracts made today hold out till Mon- day which may enable embarrassed indi- viduals to get their second wind"
 The best information is that Talbot J. Taylor and w. L. Stow. the failed con- cerns, had comparatively few outstanding commitments, and these, it is believed, were settled privately on the floor.
 It is said that a prominent interna- tional banking house with important railroad interests in Mexico, bought lib- I eFHily lDudJ Ol AGAitdn 3thAA cAi.
 Report says also that Taylor & Co. sold privately to a large banking inter- est which 1t some time ago antagonized 10000 shares of Southern Pacific.
 Cause of Failure.
 There is nothing in either failure that | can be traced to business or industrial | conditions outside the exchange, the case lying close to a diagnosis of speculative | Nv concerned on a line of stocks, sustain ing their price by supporting orders. real or manipnlative, and seeking to realize l profits by selling out to outsiders at the high prices. Such operations have suf- fered from increasing difficulties with the growth in the stringency of money. the solicitude of bankers over loans employed in such projects, and the jaded appetite of the public for securities. The opera tions of the firm of W. L. Stow & cRI were on a large scale in Mexican Cent and the difficulties which have accurt lated upon them are understood by ti price of eleven touched by Mexican Cene tral under the forced selling today and the high level at SIS last year
 The failure of Talbot J. Taylor X Co. will inevitably be connected with the great market operations of James R. Keene by reason of his family connection with and frequent employment of the | firm MT. Keene's operations In stocks | are too numerous to detail and much mys- tery usually attaches to them. necessar- fly, from their nature But the market management of the United States Steel stocks on behalf of the syndicate and the conduct of a Southern Pacific pool are the operations with which his name is most notably connected. The aeeumula- tlon, according 10 common belief, ot three hundred thousand shares of South ern Pacific and the lifting of its price above eighty were based upon the as- sumption that Southern Pacific bonds were to be issued for the roads work of improvement and the net tarnings ap- piled to dividends.
 Southern Pacific a Factor.
 Talbot J. Taylor & Co., as representa- tives of the pool felt themselves power- ful enough to challenge the Union Pacific parties refusal to adopt this policy and to carry the quarrel to the courts. The anmositles and resentments engendered by that quarrel are supposed to have added to the weight of the firm ditfi- culties and to have aided in bringing it down.
 The general belief in the street this evening was that MT. Keene had no con- nection with the failure, but that he re- fused to come to the relief of his son-in- law. There was no confirmation of this 
 Last summer Talbot J. Taylor was re- ported to have had falling out with his father-in-law arising out of reported pur- chases of Southern Pacific by MT. Taylor on his own account, independent of the pool which Mir. Kecne was running in that stock According to the story, Mir. Keene was angry when he discovered the fact With the break in the stock mar ket last october Southern Pacific declined severely. and 1t was asserted in some quarters that Mir. Taylor was among the losers Since that time Mir. Keene has not been much in the office of Talbot J. Taylor X Co, but this was probably due to the fact that he was i'll at his hotel and could not get down town for num- ber of months.
 It was alleged that MT. Keene had stopped giving any orders to the firm of his son-in-law for execution on the l stock exchange. but that he was using the firm of Samuel Babcock for the largest number of his transactions. Many doubted that there was any truth in this l story because the veteran operator. since his return to Wall street several weeks ago, has continued to make his headquarters in his old office. immediate ly adjoining those of T. J. Taylor & Co.,, and connecting with them.
 Effect on keene.
 The effect of the Taylor failure upon l James R. keene'S personal fortune IS largely a matter of conjecture. Accord ing to some reports the veteran oper- ator is heavily involved. and according to others. scarcely at all.
 The "eompany' of the firm is Foxhall Keene James R. Keene's son. There are many who believe that the Taylor failure Is directly due to the bad blood stirred up by that firm and Mir. KeeneA in the Southern Pacific and Metropolitan suits. In fact it has frequently been said that the Hartman and Whitney in- terests would not be satisfied with any thing less than the scalps of the Keenes and Taylors, because of these episodes.
 The firm of w l.. Stow x Go. CW. L. Colide) was organized in 1899 and has been known ever since as the stock mar ket representatives of the Mexican Gen.