New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-01-03


in February, 1899. had been found to be IN
a bad way. and efforts at financing II
having failed. the late Hugh j. Grant was
appointed receiver on February y. 1900
The largest stakeholder was the late
Henry Hart. and early in 1901 his holdings
were taken over by Mr.. kcenc and others.
who bought part outright and gave him
the option 10 call for the rest at par. Mt.
Kccne. who. 1t was credihlN reported. had
personally assumed about @.V" shares OF
this stock. began 10 sell Third Avenhe
short. all the way down 10 ~. il was SAID
relying upon the stock of Mr.. Hart TO
meet his obligations. and was heavily
| short of il when the recciVership occurred
/ Shortly after Mr.. Grant had been named
as. receiver the stock reached its low
/ level of ijia. from which 81 slowly began
to climb IN the last hour of trading ON
| March 10 10 jumped from 81 to 81. ana
aftei the close of the market the an
| nouucem,ut was made that the Metro
politan street Railway COMPANY which
! had repeatedly disclaimcd any intention
Of acquiring its control. had secured con-
troll through purchases .n ih, open mar
kct. ON the following day the stock, the
floating supply OF which was very scanty.
rose above par and In a short time 70
ll2 Mr. Keenc's losses were put 1t ii
figure in the millions. and the Whitney
PARTY was corrcspOndingly well pleased.
In January. 1901. Abram King sent a
petition to Governor Roosevelt AS u'
owner Of forty shares of stock OF IN"
State Trust Company. which Nas con-
trolled by tho Whitney-Ryan- Elkins-
! Widencr interests. alleging Irregularities
I'm the management Of the company an"
! suggesting an investigation 10y the S'"t'
Banking Department An inquiry was
conducted by General Avery -. Andrews
who WAS designated for the purpose 'F
the Governor. and whose report Was Ia
| vorable to the company. and the clearing
| House Committee made subsequent III
yes,igatioE and founI the company To De-
DIS the la,c f. ID. Tappen. one OF us
members. expressed II, IN irst class
condition" Walter :. Johnston. prcsl'cHi
If the state Trust Company. ~ de'dH'u
public statement declare that the hHHs
preceedings were the result of "a conspb-
acv i'm which Mr.. Kccne was the chlei
actor. and that Kings stock had he'h
purchased with money supplied by Talbot
J. TAYLOR q Co, an allegation absolutely
denied by Mr. Taylor. who said that III"
lad never heard Of Killing until ne iea1 II
the state Trust trouble i'm the papers
The State Trust Company was merE'u
I'm the spring Of 1900 with the Morton
Trust Company. which in the preceding
wear had been organized as successor TO
the old banking house Of Morton Bliss
4 ca The Morton Trust Company WAS
merged with the Guaranty Trust Com
many AT the beginning of 1910.
Meanwhile j. T.. Morgan had Dcen or
panlziug the United States Steel Corpora
lion A.. selected MI. Kecne 10 sell the
stock To the public. By tine spring Oh I'0I
the common stock was IN the - ana
preferred IN the sos. Mr. Morgan went
tn Europe. satisfied that all was gong
well Just at this point f.. II. hartman
started out to buy control OF the Northern
Pacific. He had been watching Morgan
and Hill uniting the Burlington the "real
Nortbern and the Northern Pacluc
,brough the Burlington lease. and asked
for admission TO the deal. When this was
refused he went after Northern Paclhc.
Tben the Morgan firm cOuntered by Ill
recting Kecne to bay 5000 shares OF mat
rood There are two versions of TINS
,a,oous corner around Wall street. Ac-
cordiug TO one. Eddie Norton SOFA
Northern Pacific al >l.n0 a share Inc
Cha, anrms that Talbot i. Taylor. Mr..
| Keene's son-in-law. sold AT the recoi"
htc, r,ice Both of these brokers were
known 10 have intimate aifllauolN VIII"
Mr. Keene. While this was going on
Steel began To break. and many %"
Losses and some failures followed. MT
I<o.re however kept on undaunted un'ii
tho next year. wpon he had another brush
With Mr.. Hartman and got the WORST
drubbing Of his career.
Central of the Southern Pacific was
acquired by the Union Pacliic ID FtI'
mary. 1901. through purchases OF large
amounts of the stock from the {. 7.
Huntington estate and other important
interests i'm the property These holdIhSS
which were lodged with the oregon snort
Limo a subsidiary OF the Union racine
u,ore subsequently, increased. amounting
- co.. 900 shares. or S9O,WOCW par value
am, nj = total of nearly Sl9S,O1jOO oiE-
s,ardipe on June 90 1902. The market
nric. of the stock ia February lWl'
ranged between iZ4 ana ~ q an" '''' ''7'
for the year 1901 was 65;s, in November
In the early spring of 1902 MI heeh'
formed Il year pool. to expire on Aprl
/ 1858. for operating in Southern facihc'
This pool which was one of the iartes'
ever organized in Wall Street. controiI''f
about 10000 shares Of stock, was made vi
of many large Stock Exchange houses
and heavy operators, and included also
considerable number of Individual IN
vcstOrs.
Most Of the POOLS stock had been
bought i'm 1901. AT low figures an especiai
opportunity being offered In the Northern
Pacific panic. when 1t dipped to y; pu'
active accumulation continued un'h 'ne
stock had risen to 3d., a price not touc"eo