Evening journal., 1914-06-27
New News Of Yesterday
--
Commodore Vanderbilt as
a Money Lender
By HOLLAND.

was chatting with a veteran Of
fhe Wall street district in New York
at the time when Wall street was
brought conspicuously TO the atten-
tion Of the country by the so-called
Pujo investigation at Washington.
This veteran. Henry FItcn. was asso-
ciated when a young man with the
late Addison Jerome. Leonard and
Lawrence Jerome we're names with
which the American public a genera
tion ago was as familiar as is the
public Of the present time with that
OF J. p. Morgan. Addison Jerome was
less-known brother, and yet he was
tho most successful from the business
point of view Of these three Jeromes.
who at one time were so prominent
ia the speculative and securities mar
ket
Il don't know what would have
been thought by Commodore Wander
bilt,' said MIR. Fitch. ''if he had been
summoned before an investigating
committee which was commanded by
Congress to make investigations such
as the PujO committee has been en-
powered TO do
Such a thing ais investigation by
q Congressional committee into his
relations with the money market and
Wall street activities would have been
regarded by Commodore Vanderbilt
as inconceivable He would have
spoken OF his relations with the mar
ket as nobody's business but his own
and that OF the men with whom he
dealt"
This was the first intimation had
ever received that Commodore Van
derbilt in addition to his railroad in
teresis. also carried on transactions.
not speculative. with Wall street
brokers. I asked Mr. Fitch for fur
ther information.
For about ten or twelve years. be-
ginning at the time when he gave m
steam-boating, Commodore Wander
bilt was conspicuous as money
lender said Mr. Fitch people who
wanted to borrow money for use in
the stock exchange went 10 him ex-
aetly as they went to banks.
He had a private Office in an old
fashioned house at the lower end Of
Broadway. His office was formerly
the parlor of the house. His office
furniture was very simple. He sat
in an old-fashiOned chair close by the
window so that he could see anybody
who entered the office.
II was frequently sent bv Mr.
Jerome TO borrow money Of the com
modore, usually in large amounts.
The conversation which we had was
almost always exactly the same The
commodore would say 10 me, Well,
son, yuu want some money!
would reply Yes, that is what
/ have come for.
How much does Jerome want?
the commodore would ask
My customary answer was $780,
600. Sometimes il was a little more
than that. sometimes little less.
Then the commodore would say
10 me Well. son, You trot back 10
Jerome's Office and get your COLA
teral and then you come back to me
as quickly as you can. and after YOU
have given the collateral TO me will
give you the check for 100000
He was always very pleasant I
never saw a sign of the brusque or
imperious way which some persons
attributed to him He was just as
offhand in making loan of 100000
as he would have been had he kept
q peanut stand and was selling a pint
OF peanuts to me But / always OBJ
served that he turned the securities
over sheet by sheet, giving TO each a
wonderfully swift and scrutinizing
glance. Then he did some mental
computation, assisted by his fingers.
After he had done this. he signed the
check, smiled pleasantly upon me,
and said as I went out that he pre-
sumed that he would see me again
II the course Of a few days-as he
usually did-on the same errand."
Copyright. 1914. by E. j. Edwards.
All rights reserved)