New-York tribune., 1905-02-19

until he buled Michigan Southern, and, Win Chque
that he formed bought control of it. He put 1t to
high figures and was of his position But Henry
Keep, the of the company, and a keen OPP
orator in stocks, stepped in and turned Jerome sue
cess into utter and disastrous failure
Henry Keep knew something that erOme was u1l-
aware Of namely that a clause in the Michigan South
erns charter permitted its directors to increase It's
capital stock. So he called secret meeting OF the
board and increase of fourteen thousand shares
was voted Then, with this increase for future de-
livery he sold the stock against 1t, and borrowed to
make his deliveries, which made Jerome think Keep
was largely short of Michigan Southern. He and his
clique therefore, kept buying and advancing the
price while Keep kept selling more and more.
The final result that Jerome called in all his loans
of the stock so force the shorts to and
that Keep responded by delivering the fourteen thou
sand of stock, which caused fall of twenty
per cent in Michigan Southern in one day This IN
volved the loss of nearly all the three millions of money
Jerome had quickly made and killed him as
leader, although he respected as an honorable man.
He took the loss of his fortune and prestige much
to heart that he sckened and died in the following
of some obscure disease, virtually ruined man But
during his nine months of phenomenal he had
settled enough his wife to keep the wolf from the
door His ups and downs were remarkably swift
for Wall Street.
Leonard w. Jerome younger brother of Addison's,
was prominent in Wall Street and society and as the
driver of hand long before the latter generally
appeared continued in the Street long after Addison
passed away. His career also marked by memoir
able ups and downs. In 1868 he was large holder
of Hudson River Railroad stock, which the bears had
hammered down to Io7 SO he formed strong clique
bull it against the short interest and bought all the
stock that offered until he had taken nearly all
the capital Then he bid up the price gradually till
it reached I75 and made the stock that he
loaned it the bears make their deliveries five
per cent. day. The shorts, estimated to represent
about fifty thousand shares finding that there
help for them, covered heavy loss, while Jerome
made a great deal of money by squeezing them, pre-
sumably two three millions.
His prestige increased with his wealth. and he be-
a social well financial lion. He had been
watching Pacific Mail since succeeded the Nicaragua
Transit Company in 1880 In its stock fell 90;
but in the next year its earnings were enormous and
twentysiX thousand of its forty thousand shares
bought by a combination of operators mostly its direc
tors who transferred it Brown Brothers & Company,
be held in for their benefit for five years and
they selected Leonard Jerome to bull the stock in the
open market Under his manipulation it TO
100 in thirteen months after he began operations
for the ring There large short interest it by
that time, and force the shorts settle he put it
to and kept it there, and they settled
In 1905 Pacific Mails capital was increased from
four millions ten and stock stood 4o and
it paid twenty per cent. year in dividends The
year after, it increased twenty millions vet
it sold $50, with Jerome still bulling it. But in
1867 he met his Waterloo in it. To his own words
he had bitten off more than he could chew The COM
panys earnings fell off largely, and its report showed
assets reduced from ty-our to twenty-five millions
the Government papermOney issues being
traCted rapidly and the flood of water injected into
the stock beginning to tell upon it. Moreover
Jerome had agreed to buy the old fve-year combna-
tons stock a Owing to all this, accompanied
by generally weak stock market, Pacific Mail broke
under enormous sales, from I65 to us a few days.
on his hands; and he lost practically everything he