Evening journal., 1913-08-09
NEW NEWS OF YESTERDAY
How GOldwin Smith Was
ViCtimized by a Promoter
By Holland

was chatting with several gentle
men some of whom had personal ac-
quaintance with Goldwin Smith. the
distinguished English historian. who
became a professor at Cornell Uni
versity and who died a year ago at
his home al Toronto at the age Of
Sc - have often heard said one
Of the gentlemen. that IL sometimes
happens that men of great wealth.
great shrewdness and intellectual
power are taken in by promoters of
this or that industrial or mining or
railroad Undertaking
You know it was found after the
death of r.. II. Hartman, who was
as shrewd and quick-witted a man
as the American business world ever
produced. that a small part of his
estate consisted of absolutely worth
less securities. of the kind commonly
called 'cats-and- dogs
81 could understand, however. how
Mr.. Hartman might have been
taken in He may have received
'cats-and-dogs' as securities of per
sonal loans which he made. or they
may have come to him in the course
Of business. but being of small
amount he paid little heed 10 them.
But how IL was possible for pro
moter % take in as shrewd a man as
Goldwin Smith. who prided himself upon
his skill in reading men and fathomiug
their motives, ! cannot understand. Aud
vet that was done few years before
Professor Smiths death. Goodwin Smith
was said to be man without any pas
sions His intellect was a clear as
crystal and his temperament was as cold
as ice Those distinguishing qualities
are clearly revealed i'm Professor Smiths
English style. Many persons have
thought that he was in his day the
great master of the English language,
although there is not a line in his writ
ihgs that caused any ones pulse to beat
more rapidly.
well. you remember that some years
ago there was great excitement i'm Can
ada and in parts Of the United States
over the alleged discovery of very rich
deposits OF silver and other metals in a
region of the Canadian wilderness. !
think some three or four hundred miles
norh of Toronto.
There was a very adroit, persistent
and particularly smooth und cool promo
ter. man Of glib tongue, who was en-
gagged in marketing the stock of one OF
these mines. He knew Professor Smith
to he a man -oi great wealth. believe
his estate inventoried at about seven
hundred thousand dollars. lie knew also
that Smith was an exceedingly cautious
and prudent investor of his income.
However. he ventured to approach tine
professor.
He began his attack by speaking Of
the marniiccnce of the mineral re-
sources of upper Canada and drew Pro
fossor Smith into a conversation upon
the geographical and climatic charac
teristios of that vast region. He stated
IN the right way. for he interested
Professor Smith on the side of hii
scholarship and of the development Of
! the resources of Canada Then. gradu-
! ally and very adroty, he called the at
| tention of the professor TO some of the
ore which he said had recently been
taken ont of p mine II assaved. he as
serted. an almost fabulous wealth.
"He showed specimens Of the ore
! and. to make a long story short, hf
actually persuaded Professor Good
win Smith 10 part with about $4,000
/ GOOD money and to take for II block
Z of stock in this mine. which. | believe
was found to be practically worth
less don't believe Goodwin Smitf
/ was ever taken in before I thinl
he was somewhat mortified when hi
found that he had been taken in b'
this promoter"
Some days after hearing this con
versation related It 10 eX-Senato
! Chaunoey NJ Depew, saying J won
dered whether the report was cor
rect
yes" replied the Senator, "tha
story is true A promoter with whom
at one time had slight acquain
tance did actually persuade Goodwin
smith 10 invest something like $1,000
i'm a worthless block Of mining stock
II was a rare achievement
Copyright 1918. by T.. J. Edwards
All rights reserved).