Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1917-01-28
Boston Man Has Been FL
nanciaI Volcano for a
Number of Years.
OFTEN BITTERLY ATTACKED
IN NEWSPAPER ARTICLES
Interested in Flowers, Paintings,
Bronzes, Yachts and
Horses.
BUILT \ TOWN IN KENTUCKY
Admitted i'm March. 1890, That He
Made Si,0HO.00O Speculat-
ing i'm Sugar.

NEW YORK. January eff no man
in American history can il so truly be
said that tn" making ana losing of n
fortune was common thing TO him
than Thomas W. Lawson
Til" BOSTON tlnancier. who has been
the center of tho political stage in the
last month. by reason of his accusa-
lions regarding alleged wrongful use
OF secret diplomatic information to
Sain millions in Wall street. has been
u Kind of financial volcano. cruptinC
htfully, but powerfully, for twenty-five
years
y" ono can say how many tens of
thousands have made moncy-and how
many more thousands have lost--by
paying heed to his widely advertised
stock market advice.
II" has been attacked savaEcly time
and again in the public prints. while
his own onslauehts on tho system"
lof which he confesses he was once q;
interests, and tho money trust" are
matters Of recent history
His command OF language is re-
markablc. He has spent millions in
promulgatipG his opinions through big
advertisements in the newspapers IIc
can't remember. he says. how many
times he has been sued criminnlly and
civilly for libcl-yrt II" has won every
cas-" brought against him
\ Boston newspi per once printed n
siS-pacc attack OF lurid character on
Lawson. Tho tnancicr got ont an in
junction but tho newspaper proprietor
barred thr door against the injunction
server: tho presses ground out the
edition and Boston read tho story The
effect was slight. Lawson continued
on his way observation-disclosures what
would he serene and ordinary for
Thomas W. would he a trip through
the Whirlpool Rapids OF Niagara for
AN ordinary man
RAN AWAY TWICE
TO 60 INTO BUSINESS
His career started tcmpcstuously:
for he ran away twice in "a finally sue
ccssrul effort To substitute business
life for school
Lawson is II New r.nglandcr by birth
and Southcrncr by descent Three
OF his unclcs We're lipiscopai clergy
men. lie was horn III Cambridge,
Mass. in 1859. and brought up by his
mother after his father was killed on
a battle field OF the Civil War.
When he was twelve years old he
skipped from school anh got place
as an crrand boy III the banking house
Of stevens. Amor & Co. in Boston.
lie was speedily unprecedented and re-
turned to his books only soon to make
another break for tho realms of trade.
This time his guardians decided they
had better let him stay at work and
get sick Of it, But he didn't get sick.
Instead L.. had a meteoric rise--it
this Simii" was ever appropriate. At
tMcnty-onc he was al operator on the
Boston street" AZ twcnty-four he
was a man Of great wealth and sat
around green tables with millionaircs
as n director in biS corporations.
At thirty he had become a man to
hn watched by the big financial in
tcrrst, for he was ~ speculative factor
OF Importance.
Meantime, h. had turned out a large
number OF successful mechanical in
vcntjonS When hardly more than
boy he put on tho market n substitutes
for playing cards. which had quito
run Of success. lie also wrote, printed
and published a booklet on baseball.
~ which h" is an enthusiastic dcvotee.
Iii" book was called Tho Krank: His
Language .aI What IT Meant and for
,hr work he Invented special paper.
blood parchment"
rOOI> PROMINENT rtItT
~ PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN
II" took "a prominent part III The
presidential campaign Of 1855 In
thirtN-tiNr days II" compiled cam
paiGn history Of political parties with
facsiml" reproductions Of many letters
from Republican party leaders express
irs their views. OC this about 350.000
copies were distributed by Republican
campaign committees.
His first financial Undertaking was
the rcorGanizinG Of the Lawson Story
Service Company. He lost large
amount just after this successful coup.
when he tried to rebuild the Rand
Avery Publishing Company. But he
rc""ur"d quickly by operations in
Westinghouse Electric.
lie lost another fortune in Southern
land ''hooms." especially the Grand
River Land Company. Then came his
Srcat BAY state gas operations. which
made him thousands of enemies and
thousands OF friends. out Of the maze
Of conflicting stories. IL is impossible
/" determine just how much Lawson
had /" d" with what happened Suf-
lice j; to say that und"r Iawspus
muster hand the stock of ihiS company
Gyratcd 10 ciddy heights and then sunk
into III" abyss. having to-day NOM
inal vaIu" of !" cents a share
Lawson's operations had now become
gigantic. He entered the SYSTEM" as
he himself later explained, with tho
object OF combining all the copper in
tcrcsts OF the country.
Here one again becomes involved in
mass Of disputed details Lawson
sold Butte and Boston Copper stock
short from SIG share 10 20 ccnts,
Continued on Third Pagc.)