The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1914-12-24
Everybody's in Article by
Garet Garrett Lauds For
mer Richmond Mans Ad-
rOit Financial Moves.
SPEAKS OF RICHMOND
Financier Looks Upon Home
City With Pride and En-
joys Christmas Cigars from
B0ilermaker.

"Only one Of the old western crowd
Of fiftee nyears ago grew steadily
OF fifteen years ago grew steadily
erful and became at length financier.
The name of him is Daniel Gray
Reid"
Dan Reid, as he is commonly known
IN Richmond, is given much space in
Everybody's Magazine for January.
and is declared to be the only one of
the western invaders in the New York
Stock Exchange who managed to out
wit the eastern financiers and to be-
come one OF them.
Garet Garrett author OF the article,
declares that Richmond is Mr.. Reid S
special weakness. Pictures of his
birthplace. an old house on the Ma
tional road west. of the Reid Memorial
church, which he built several years
ago. and of Mr. Reds first tailor in
Richmond are used in the pages of
the story.
Tells Story Of Rise.
The story deals chiefly with the es-
Enlistment of the tinplate mills at
Elwood and with the growth of the
tinplate industry under d. G. Reid and
William B. Leeds. which resulted in
the two being called "The Tinplate
Kings"
How Mr. Reid made the stroke
which entitled him to become one of
the wealthy western men in the east
ern stock exchange later is told in the
following paragraphs:
1.-THE tinplate plant was built and
did very badly The trouble was that
nobody in this country knew the bust
ness. The investment seemed to be
in fair way to be a total loss.
Then Reid put his whole mind on
the question. When he solved it and
felt sure Of what he could do provid-
ed he controlled the Elwood company
to make it worth while, he went out
and began to buy up the deprecated
shares. When he started there were
200 stockholders; when he was
through there were seven. Also he
owed everybody he knew and his
notes were scattered over half of In
diana.
Reid Imports Men.
Zone of the first things Mr.. Reid
did was to import lot of Welshmen
who knew how to make tinplate. The
tinplate industry at ElwOod took
sudden turn for the better. 1t was
the first big successful plant in the
country"
The second big deal. the formation
OF the tinplate combine, known as the
American Tinplate Trust, is declared
10 be one of his first big financial
master strokes. Having placed all his
tinplate earnings in the Elwood plant
to expand the business he organized
S50,O0O,0O0 trust on what he calls
"bluff'
Next Reid saw a bargain in steel
and organized $59.O00,O0O trust.
Within the next few weeks, more than
500, 100000 in capital was raised in
the west. chiefly by Mr.. Reid, and he
went east with Judge Moore of Chi
Cago. and William B. Leeds of Rich
mond and Elwood. where the financial
operations of the group could be ex-
panded.
Mr. Reid is declared to be worth
more than s50,000,O00.
Chum Sends Cigars.
The story tells of Mr.. Reds fond
ness for some of the men with whom
he played as a boy and dealt in bust
ness as young man. who are still
living in Richmond 1t is said he re-
Ceives a box Of cigars for Christmas
every year from a Richmond boiler
maker whose money Reid took care
OF when he was employed in the Sec
Cnd National bank here.
or his relations with Richmond, the
article says:
"Richmond. Indiana, is his special
weakness. Its people are his own. 1t
would hurt him to know that one of
them ever came to New York without
looking him up at the office.
The people of Richmond respond.
When he visits the town as he does,
not regularly but often, they call him
Dan down to the laborers in the street
Before he goes they ask him for
money for civic improvement and he
would be disappointed if they didn't.
He built the Presbyterian church and
supports it; also the hospital and the
j. NJ. G. A. building. He owns the