The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1907-09-13
Man Who Started Fortune
With Postage Stamp
AFTER N. 7. CITY BONDS
The Amazing Record Of "Abe" White
and Partner, Sam Byerley, Who
Secured Slice of Government
Bonds with Postage Stamps.

coup of Abraham White, whose eccentric
operations have given him the sobriquet
Of the rock buyer" and the original
postage stamp bond bidder" and his
partner, Sam Byerly, another postage
stamp bidder, to whom have been award
ed sl5,0O0,OOO Of the New York city
bonds, with $50 bidders, and not sue
eessful one from a syndicate managed by
III. Pierpont Morgan.
| To the establishment of the city Off
cials and Wall street bankers, who had
offered bids much lower than his, Mr..
! White, as president Of the Abraham
White Bond company, offered to take
the entire issue Of Az per cent, bonds.
He expresses regret that he was not
awarded them all
AS matter Of fact, am surprised
that ! didn't get more" said he. These
bonds will advance within very short
time to 100. feel confident Of that.
This talk that New York eity's bonds
aren't going up is all bosh."
rs your concern entirely SOLVENT" he
was asked.
ut is absolutely solvent" was the
emphatic reply. 1T always has been.
/ It is perfectly able to make good on its
certified check for Ss00000 We win
not even take advantage Of the five
days allowed us to raise the money"
Seated in the drawing room Of the
magnificent mansion at Long Branch,
which he purchased two years ago from
John a. Mccall, formerly president Of
the New York life Insurance company,
he langhted at the interest that had been
aroused by bis entry into city bond
sales and limited that he might be heard
from in the future when bonds are put
up for disposition. lie has already be-
come formidable rival to the money
4 kings Of Wall street, although he has
been in the desperate game but few
years. His partner. Byerley, has also
4 become o rich man by his manipulations
and shrewlncss
i Mr. White was born in Texas 45 years
4 ago and began a fight with the world
i when he was II years old. Always a
Spectator. he had considerable money
4 by the time most boys leave school.
i Coming to New York, he soon became
known as thesrock buyer" on account
Of his practice Of buying city lots bear
+ ing big outGoppings Of rock. He had
( noticed such let's could be bought for
4 about $4,000 in the localities he fancied,
while lots flush with the building level
! brought twice that much He reasoned
4 that he could save interest on $4,000
and that his rock doomed lots in time
would be worth about as much Is the
others. Time proved him right, and his
rock buying in West End avenue and
Riverside drive netted him handsome
profits
4 But II was when he bid on So 100000
I OF government bonds III years ago that
Mr. White gained his greatest promi-
neuce Il cost him Just "A cents in
stamps to send his bid to Secretary Car
I Isle, and he was allotted bonds IN the
sum Of 81 100000 AS soon as he re-
ceived notification OF the allotment he
went TO Russell Sage explained what
4 he had done, and asked for assistance TO
make good" II is said the originality
and boldness of the bid appealed 20 the
ordinarily conservative fnanciC AZ
any rate Mr. White got the aid he
asked. The deal Melted him 100000
/ his only risk having been A cents. In
this deal he acquired his other nickname,
THE original postage stamp bond bid.
der
Later he became associated with
Sam Byerley, an express clerk, an
other postage stamp bidder. who had
been allotted SjS00000 OF Panama
bonds. Mr.. White made Mr.. Byerley
vice president Of the Abraham White
Bond company.
In the sharp rise In Union and South.
crn Pacific last year Mr.. White is said
to have made 100000 partly by having
a tip and partly BY Mr.. Hartman
causing to be declared unexpectedly
large dividends on securities that had
paid no dividends for some time pre-
yious It was then that Mr. White
bought the Mccall place and announced
that on the death Of himself and his
wife, there being no children, the prop
erty would 60 to charity.
During the last year, Mr.. White has
been conspicuous in financial operations
having to do with wirales9 telegraph
companies He was president Of the De
Forest company and organized the Unit
ed States Wireless Telegraph company
with capital Of S20.000.000, to con
solidate the DeForest and the Marconi
concerns, Litigation growing ont OF
these deals still is pending.
Other bond deals out of which Mr.
White made money were the old Brook
| lyn issued and big issue Of Boston
bonds.
Great was the wonder a year ngo whom
IL was learned that Sam Byerlcy, n
clerk in the American Express company
Office in New York had outgained and
outfgured the financial sharps of the
country in bidding successfully for So
100000 woNtll Of Panama canal bonds
by the Investment Of two-cent stamp.
His profit was approximately $4,000
His bid was made possible BY The
fact that the then secretary Of the treas.
ury, Leslie NJ Shaw, required no cash
deposit with the hid He did. however
demand a premium, requiring all bidders
to deposit in cash, at either the treas.
ury department or my Of the sub treas
uries, an amount obtained by multiply.
ing the par value Of bonds awarded to
a successful bidder by the amount bid
above par IN Byerleys case this sum
amounted 70 s250,000. The bids were
announced on July 2 but the premium
was not required until Aug l.
Byerlcy, when he saw the announce.
ment in the newspapers, Immediately
called up Secretary Shaw on the long.
distance telephone and asked him II the
! bonds would be awarded to him provided