The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-27

gether in one narrative more untruth and distortion of truth than in Tom Law sons last frenzied effusion on James T.
 Keene. His pen portrait of MT. heene m
 the role of master manipulator had Ill It
 some of the colorings of the real person. age but beyond that the article was tissue of falsehood woven together upon
 inc nImiest suggestions of possibility.
 The story begins with wall street can
 ard exploded years ago, representing MT. Keene as booming across the continent with a private car and $o,Do,ooV Nin
 which to ''breal5' Jay Gould's ofhce at
 which the Californian's fortune was oi-
 vided in advance of his arrival In New York. To give the fabrication the prop
 CT finish Lawson had keene proke ap
 the appointed hour and his substance
 apportioned as per arrangement. Now as matter of fact Mir. Keene late in
 the 70s quit San Francisco by the per emptory command of his physicians and stopped to spend a few days Tn New
 York on his way to Europe. While nere
 he took casual flyer in stocks and was
 soon so deeply interested In the market
 that he postponed his foreign tour, fnal-
 ly abandoning it altogether. It had been
 his original intention to make his fu- ture home in Great Britain which was
 his birth place He brought with him
 from San Francisco S7,5000O0 In cash.
 Within one year from the date Of his
 arrival in this city he had run that nest
 egg Into more than Sl5,0o0Ooo. At the
 beginning of his campaign the market
 was at very low ebb and he accumulated
 a line of 10000 shares the biggest individ-
 nal speculation up to that time In wall street.
 After he had taken his probts MT Keene sat back and watched the re-
 action In tho stock market intending to replace his line. when prices got low
 enough which he did. At this juncture
 he was persuaded against his better Judgement to embark in bull specuia- lion in wheat on a Chicago board or | trade. His trade eventually ueNeiopeu into a corner which ended disasterously, | coating him s75Oo.000. Being badly spread out he was obliged to reduce ms ,o,iiiin , ments in the stock market and athough
 if went his way he was only able to re- coun in part his Chicago loss Then 1ol-
 lowed series of unluclSy speculations In
 wall street which stripped him or the re-
 mainder of his fortune and left nm w.
 ooo ooo in the hole For numper or
 years 1t was a continual struggle al the | end of which the great operator eiherseu
 triumphant.
 1 Three years ago when he was prop-
 ablv at the zenith of his street successes 1
 fortune at S20o00,O ,O00 He Is supposed 10 | b.va suffered losses in the slump two
 vears ago but at the worst could nave l nrohably assembled SIP. 2.0O0,0 GOO or $l5,00o,ooO | in cash under pressure. Since then HIS | onerations have been on less stupena- | ora scale than formerly but because ne has wearied somewhat of the game ana l ,s in no sense on account of his ability 10 | nerform In the old magnificent ana pe- l w,ldering way. It Is not true that MT | Keene ever made any brags about com l ,ng to New York to break Jay Gouiu ! ond If is not true that Gould contributed 1 axcent in a minor way to the market | missortunes which overlook him during ! the three or four years following the | Csbica so wheat corner. Neither is 1t true
 that IT H. Rogers or William Rockefel- | Ter played horse with hun in connection with the manipulation of Amalgama- | ted copper or drove him Into exile Tor ms | mart in the 3rd avenue catastrophe. MT
 Keene executed an order, for H. H.
 Rogers four years ago for the saie Q!
 SO mo 900 of Amalgamated stock and 1t may be that in so doing he engineered | some clever work to secure the best nrices obtainable. He averaged about | i9o for MT. Rogers stock an so far as | known the deal between them was emi- 1 nently satisfactory to both. Mr. Keenes s | foe In the 3rd avenue encounter was the | late William c. Whitney and that sensa- l tional episode was merely a chapter Tn | the feud between Whitney and Keene of | several years standing. beginning with | the manipulation of metropolitan and | culminating in the bitter fight over Brooklyn Rapid Transit. MT. pnsers nor | Rockefeller had anything to do with