The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1913-01-08

Mr.. keene's Prodigious Winnings on
Stock Exchange and Race Track Es-
tablished Records-He Used Fore
sight and Generalship That BewiI-
dered Competitors.
James Robert Keene, who died re-
Gently, was n highly vitalized combina-
ton of marvellous powers and contra
dictory traits A master speculatOr,
one Of the greatest tacticians which
Wall street ever knew, adamant when
reused to resistance and implacable as
a foe he also had hidden strains of
simplicity and benevolence. The finan-
cial world knew him as the daring op-
orator, some called him Robin Hood
and men who reared great fortunes
made use of him as they would an in
strument of precision such confidence
did they have in his powers Of analy-
sis and his ability to carry out what
he had decided to do.
1t was the turf which found his
heart. AS a child he loved horses; as
man he idolized them. His greatest
JOY in life was in rearing victors for
est of the American sport of racing.
His sardonic humor dropped from him
as mask when he breathed the air of
the track.
Had Record Winnings.
From 1898 to 1908 the remarkable
turf winnings of Mr.. Keene during
which time his horses were trained
by James Rowe exceeded $2,000,000,
and no other stable in the world has
that record.
At least n million dollars of the large
sum won in the period above named
was earned by horses whose immedi-
ate sires or dams were by Domino,
and it was the purchase of this re-
nowned racer as yearing in 1892
for $4,000 which laid the foundation
Of his enormous successes.
Paid Big Price For information.
81 can lay bare the one sole reason
for my triumph with word. The
world is my spy. l pay the highest
price for information"
Some years ago one Of his friends
asked James r. Keene to what he at.
tributed his great success in life, and
the financier replied in the words quot.
ed above. Certainly none of his friends
and associates ever accused Mr. Keene
of not knowing every detail Of any
thing in which he was interested. To
them he always seemed to know ev-
erything that any one else knew and
more besides.
The story of the last thirty years of
his life is the story of most of the SEN
sational deals put through in Wall
street during that period and of the
triumphs of famous race horses on the
turf before the sport of kings" was
killed by the Hughes anti-racing law.
Outside of his business Mr. Keene had
but one hobby-horse racing-and he
INDUCED in that to the limit Domino
Peter Pan, Colin, Sysonby, Commando,
Ballot, Celt, Sweep and a dozen other
great racers belonged to him.
Keene was in the vortex of specula.
ton once when suddenly it was MOTTO
ed that he began to lose interest. He
had foreseen the end and was unload
ing his securities and stocks as fast as
he could. His fellow brokers called
him crazy.
At the top of the market he had
emptied his strong boxes. Gold stocks
that had been selling at $500 and $500
a share dropped like lead and contin-
ued to fall. Mr.. Keene drew out of the
market With a fortune of S6OOO 900 |
and soon after that the Bank of Cali |
fornia failed. The president of the in
stitution in despair threw himself into
the Pacific. Here it was that James R
Keene performed an important public
service, for largely through him a guar
antee fund of $S,0O0,OOO was raised
with which to pay depositors, and of
this he subscribed a million himself.
When the atmosphere cleared some
what Mr., Eeene, who was still in i'll
health, crossed the continent to New
York on his way to long vacation In
Europe. He scented a bigger game
here than he had ever played The
street was a challenge to the audacity
Of the man trained in the adventurous
west The lure of the metropolis held
him.
Going After Gould.
One of the stories told of Mr.. Keene
is that one day he saw Jay Gould in
Broadway.
II have $4,O000OO" he said. 81
guess will go after that mans scalp"
The conflict did not come then and
there, as for a time he and Mr.. Gould
were on good terms and were allies in
several operations. When the clash
came, years later, and disaster over
took the house of Keene one of its
choicest possessions, picture by Rosa
Bonheur, was sold in meeting a debt
Mr.. Gould bought it, so the sequel
goes, and hung it in his house at Fifth
avenue and Forty-seventh street and
ever afterward designated it as "Jlm
Keene's Scalp"