New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-04-01

ali
1,nore hardly is man in Wall Street
-. can quote the names OF these men
.,.,o,t consulting the partnership di-
...,orv There are comparatively few
- lnow an the firms members even 10y
II, The men of the house OF Morgan
- :, the background as far as possible.
-. ebun the HmclCht as they would a
-,acre They come and go I'm the financial
,,a,rict As unobstrusively as clerks. The
',,,,,lic does not know Temple Bowdom or
thur r. Newbold or Horatio G. Lloyd,
-, these men belong 10 the Morgan hrm.
.-ho public knows Charles steele and
1Ienrv T. Dawson. but only because their
ac,ivities brought them into prominence
,bey could not avoid
These are the present members OF the
house OF Morgan. j. Pierpont Morgan. jr-
Horny r Dawson. William II. Porter
,barles steele W. Pierson Hamilton, Ed
ward T. stotcsbury, Thomas W. Lamont
Tsmple Bowdoin. Arthur L. Newbold and
Horatio g. Lloyd.
~ one searched America over men OF
more diverse types than these partners
Could not DE found. There are Northcrners
and Southerners IN the group, Yankees
and Middle Westerncrs. Some were born
-ich some poor. Some OF them are college
GRADUATES and some got their education
n the university Of hard knocks There
arc few old men and plenty Of young
ones.
Apparcntly there is no royal road 10
,he house Of Morgan. one of the part
rers came 10 New York little more
than twenty wears ago and hunted the
town over for work and did not get IT,
MANY times he passed the door of Nor
rans bank while on his quest for a job.
He had 70 leave New York because he
could get nothing 10 do. He went to con-
necticut and toiled there for three years
Then he came back and got a start in
little bank uptown.
There is another partner who fifteen
Years ago was a reporter on New 1orh
newspaper. earning about 8 day. To-
dav these two men--one forty-four years
old the other forty-two-are among the
most active members Of the Morgan hrm.
Atmosphere Of Mystery.
Most persons in and out Of Wall Street
invest the Morgan establishment with an
stmosnhcrc Of awe and mystery. Morgan
himself was such power and a figure IN
the worlds affairs and the interests OF
the house are so gigantic. embracing as
,hev do the financing Of the needs oil
various governments. mammoth corpora
,ons and enterprises the world over, that
il imprcsses all classes Of people.
As d matter of fact, il Is rather
democratic institution. II is one hundred
times more difficult 10 get an audience
with the standard oil men than win any
member q the Morgan firm. There Is
very little red tape i'm the Morgan bahk'
The building is old-fashioned, the bank
ing room is rather old-fashioned ana
there is none of that brisk. cold-olooued
business air that is common TO most DIG
concerns Of the financial district. The
hank is in big room on the second
floor OF the Morgan Building. at Broad
and Wall streets. There practically IS
ONLY one partition in the main room
That is a glass affair that separates 'he
partners from the clerks.
Mr. Morgan used to sit at a desk on
the Broad street side. where he could see
and be seen by everybody walking IN
Broad street He could see everybody
who entered the main door Of the Stock
Exchange. and he also had a good view
Of the statue Of George Washington on
the steps Of the Sub-Treasury. There was
nothing fancy about his office except inc
handsome rosewood desk which he used.
For q man of his age he was a very
fast worker and a great economist OF
tine. His eyes were strong, despite his
year. and he did not use glasses except
10 read the finest of print He had the
Roosevelt knack Of fast reading. one OF
the mysteries of the Office was how ne
communicated with his stenographeT' MT
King AS a general rule Mr.. King SITS
on high stool at a high desk IN the
outer office. When he was wont 10 mop
dosn and scoot into Mr.. Morgan
room ne had notebook in his hand. He
placed the notebook on the top of Mr..
Norgan's desk and the big banker talked.
Mr. Morgan spoke rapidly. When he
stopped talking Mr.. King closed his book
and hurried back to his high stool. Not
moment had been lost. The two men
Understood each other thoroughly.
King IS white-haired and rosy-cheeked,
but as alert as a boy He has been the
Morgan stenographor for many, many
Years lie has several stenographers
VITO work under him. To these he re-
ditsted such Of the Morgan correspond
sace as he desired. but he transcribed
Tie personal letters and the most i'm
Portsnt communications himself. lie has
private Office upstairs that is much
more handsomely furnished than Mr..
Morgan
There arc ton other desks within the
ssss Enclosure. These belong 10 the
oetr partners. A visitor 10 the bank Is
net near the door by an Irish giant who
as polite and courteous a man as
mere il in all New York. lie inquiries
10 the visitors business. takes the
Asr's card. escorts him to q reception
paee that adjoins the glass Enclosure and
axe the card in TO whichever gentle
~sa the visitor IS 10 see.
mere are two striking things about the
A~gan bank one is that there are no
'vnen about the establishment and the
u Is that nearly every person there
@AoKes. There is a match safe on every
SIX and the match safe is of the brand
vat one will find in an East Side German
durant All the partners smoke
sea's The taste Of the clerks varies.
ae smoke cigars. some pipes and some
! sHe'tes. Every one seems TO know his
.''hess and attends TO It quietly and
~HcUghly. There is no confusion. About