The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1911-05-10
IS A PICTURESQUE FIGURE
JAMES r.. KEENE, NOTED SPECU-
ULATOR AND THURMAN.
Has Been Farm Hand. Cowpuncher,
School Teacher, Editor, Multi
millionaire and Bankrupt.

millionaire and Bankrupt.
One of the greatest manipulators
or stocks this country has seen in
many decades and the most magnit-
cent patron of the American turf,
James R. Keene, has now taken up
his permanent abode in England. His
life has been one of extraordinary
incident and interest. He was born
in London SO years ago, and came to
this country with his parents when
he was very young. He was frail
lad, and, largely for his health left
Virginia, where his family had set
tied, and went west. He was III turn
a farm hand, a cOwpuncher, gov
eminent mule driver, a school teach
er, a reporter, then owner of little
paper at Shasta, Cal, and then a
miner on the famous COmstOck lode.
Makes Millions in Frisco.
From Virginia City he took $10,-
600 and went to San Francisco. In
later years he said it was his Origi- |
nal intention to study law. How |
ever, he didn't do it. The gambling |
instinct was strong within him, and |
he began specializing in mining
stocks In a few months he cleared
up $15O,000. But $4,000 in those
days was comparatively little, and
keene soon lost it. He had nearly
Jwo years of bitter struggling. Then
ne persuaded Senator Fenton of Cal
ifornia to let him have his seat on
the mining exchange and a shoe
string" on which to build anew his
fortunes. Mining stocks then were
in the ascendancy, and there it was
that Keene first decided on his plan
of action. He became an enthusiast
tic bull. He aided in the upward
march until stocks of which com
paratively little was known had a
market well up in the hundreds.
Keene knew there were no sub
stantial values behind the market,
and so when he concluded the boom
was near it's zenith he turned bear
and pitilessly sold stocks that
month before he had helped to boom.
The end saw him with a fortune es-
timated at between $6,000,000 and
$8,OO0,000, while the Bank of Cali
fornia, that had refused him credit
two years before, had failed.
Some years later Keene, with
abundant wealth, decided he would
go to Europe On his way across the
continent his observation made him
a bear in railroad stocks, and he put
off his trip and taTried in Wall street.
He was to take only a flyer. He sold
10000 shares of New York Central
and cleaned up approximately $780,
600, That brought him to the atten-
ton Of Jay Gounld, who admired the
genius that on an allotment of 49, {
600 shares was abe to smash the II
market for such a sum.
Mr.. Gould also dearly loved to {
see anyone trifie with the pet stock
Of his great rivals, the Vanderbilts ! /
- Goes Broke in Wall Street.
Keene became one of the big men
of the street and was eagerly sought
after as the manager of pools which, ;
in the bull markets of the 70's, were ]
extremely successful. He almost ]
doubled the fortune which he Ea-
brought from California, and had be
fore him a future that practically
had no horizon. In an effort to make
the transaction profitable, as we'll as
force of circumstances, he
joined a pool formed to control the
Chicago market But his associates
left him, and found himself under
a tremendous load and single-hand-
ed.
Jay Gould and Russell Sage COM
bined forces on him. Some Of his
brokers, it was alleged, played him
false, and after a year of tiercest
struggle he found himself ruined fl
nancially. He came from under the
wreck not only penniless, but very
close to 81 100000 in debt.
In 1884 he was compelled to go
out of active business. He could not
build upon the wreckage. OF course
he was not idle in the strict sense of
the term, for he managed to pick UP
here and something there. |
Then came new generation into the !
speculative world. They were the |
traction men and the industrialists. |
In alliance with the Hayemeyers he !,
bulled sugar for three years, and +,
then with that and the cordage and !
the whiskey pools he rehabilitated /
his fortunes. In the traction mat
tiers politics played part, and in
the mix-up bad blood was engender-
ed between Keene and other inter-
ests with which he had formerly been
associated In these Keene was
worsted-some estimated to the