The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-02-21
REAL FRENZY
 OF HIGH FINANCE
F. E. CREELnIAN DISCLOSED BY
 BANK OF AMERICA FAILURE.
He is An Operator of New Methodss-- President Abner smith of Failed Institution Warned Months
 Ago Against the Man.


 President Abner smith of Failed
 Institutfon Warned Months
 Ago Against the Man.
 Chicago Tribune, Feb. IS.
 An unfortunate result of the collapse of the Bank of America came yester- day in the revelation of F. E. Creel- lman, the wholesale iumberman. as one of the most successful operators of the games of high finance this part of l the country has seen in many years. | It has not taken a Lawson to throw | the light upon his methods. for the story began last night to come from his associates who hitherto have borne their troubles in silence.
 l Unknown to financiers and compara- I lively a stranger in Chicago, Creelman, with the assistance of his son. F. M. ICreelman. has carried on bold opera tions. involving millions of dollars. In the short time that he has been in Chi 1 cago he has succeeded in unloading his paper on more that a score of local l banks, one or two of which were shaken by his deals previous to the icollapse of the Bank of America One after another they forced him to take lup the paper and then denied him lcredit. When the opportunity came to "get | in on the ground floor of the now col llapsed structure-Athe Bank of America twas offered he. seized it and imme- ldately began putting his wires to work lin a way that netted him $1s3,0OO, ac- lcordinK to the trust officers of the bank.
 smith Warned of Creeiman. l President Abner Smith was warned lconcerning Creelman months ago. Tales lof his phenominal career were told lamong the lumbermen while ne ! t-1t1a mt lSouth. The stories began to reach the blanks, and penetrated even to his bro- Ither directors of the America board. As bankers, they confessed them selves amateurs. There was no ex- lperienced financier among the manage lment, but what they heard was suth- cient to cause them alarm, and they Iawoke to find that there was but 2 slight chance to save themselves from threatened ruin.
 They grasped 1t. They offered Greet. Iman ten days in which to make good Ithe funds which he had secured from the bank. He failed to comply with ltheir request, and the condition thai he caused. coupled with evidences oi lshocking ignorance displayed by the management in other matters, forced lthe closing of the banks doors.
 Only an Incident to Creelman. This catastrophe that meant so mucf Ito other stockholders was to Creelmaf tbut an incident, but 1t served to se talking a dozen men who had had deal Iings with him.
 The story of his career, as it slowly lis being woven together from varied Isources, points to a master intellect IsArewdness, sharpness in bargains, ant a power to foresee that he at leas lwouid land right side up when the en lcounter was over. Knowledge of th' flaw, a thorough acquaintance witt human nature, and an endless supply O
 energy and will power all played theii ipart in the business schemes In whfcl he was engaged.
 Methods, varied and extraordinary lin which he frequently has pushed
 close to the limits of the law, hav' been employed They include the plain !. idirect getting of money from compan lies with which he had relations by thu Z misuse of their funds, the manipulation
 of stocks and bonds, and a genera
 usage of the peculiarities of the law ? which permitted him to tie up compan
 les until they were at his mercy. . In appearance Creelman bears tn : look Of a masterful man. He is muci over fifty years old, but retains tn
 physique that must have made him powerful man in his six feet of neigh
 when he was younger. His face ! strong in every feature. His son Frank, is a lesser pattern of the eide D man. He Is now with him at the Met lropole hotel. where he is living wit - Ihis wife and daughter, and while tn father Is calm and collected, the son i |, nearly frantic with worry. Anothe n son. q. s. creelman, is now In New Or a leans
 CreeImaam Appears in Cairo. The earliest trace of the elder Creel lman In connection with the lumber bus Einess was when he went to Cairo, Ill in 1890 to assume the management O f the Three States company, Previou
 to that time, 1t Is said, he travelled fo an Indianapolis wholesale grocer lcompany, and had lived for time | Minneapolis.
 2 AS manager of the Three State = Lumber Company he began a campaig g of money, spending it on all sides wit a reckless hand. He built mills 1
 worthless territory. and before Ion
 was accused of constructing for him ? self fine residence with funds fror the company treasury. He left tn lconcern and organized the F. E. Creel . lFnap Lumber Company, which still con Itinnes with headauarters at Cairo. . From that time until this he operate 7. through Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi = and Alabama, and in Chicago. He or Iganized the Hardwood Export Lumbe
 
 Idents and a number of Chicago capital \, lsts in it, and bought supposedly val y lua.ble lands in the South. They prove = practically worthless, and the compan failed with heavy loss. This state . lment is made from Cairo.
 Through the Southern States hi record is not clear. It was said yes . lterday by a Chicago lumberman that 1
 securing the Louisiana lands which h now holds as ore of his most valuabl n Ipossessions, he left the former ownel a man manner Krotz. practically pennl
 less. And then he began to widen hi
 field of operations. and his hand wa
 seen in places outside of his milling dis
 trict.
 Crashes Come Simultaneously.
 Recently crashes in certain lumbe u concerns in which he was intereste have come almost siumltaneousl! IThe John M. Smith Lumber Compan. s of Nashville, failed and its officers as
 ,rihed their trouble directly to Cree mans manipulations. John M. Smitl the president, declared openly that h had been tricked. He stated tha