Evening star., 1923-12-26
ARMY INVESTIGATED.
Nothing Found on Which to Cen
sure Young Officer.

NEW YORK, December 26.-Finan-
cial operations of Lieut.. Osborne c.
Wood, son of Gov. Gen. Leonard
Wood of the Philippines. who is re-
tune of between $4,000 and $780,
600 in Wall street, were made the
subject of a War Department inves-
tigation, the New York Times said
today.
TT has been learned also, on the
best Of authority" the Times said,
that the department found nothing
whatever in the transactions of the
young officer to call for censure, but
that the department did strongly ad-
wise him to stop specializing at once,
and that communications on the sub
ject passed between the department.
and Maj. Gen. Wood, who directed
his son and aide to put an end to all
his speculative operations. The ad-
vice and the command were imme-
diately responded to.
Lieut.. Woods f1nanciering ceased
at once"
Began In Fall OF 1922.
Local investigation of the reports by
the Times" it says, has disclosed that
Lieut. Wood began making remittances
to this country in the fall of 1922 and
that these grew steadily, although at
all times subject to the usual fiuctua-
tions Of an active account. The funds,
in the main, were cabled drafts pur-
chased in the Manila office Of the Hong
kong and Shanghai Bank, with IN
structions that these funds be trans
mitted to the New York office of that
institution. On arrival here the New
York branch of this bank paid the funds
to the Chase National Bank, which, in
turn transferred them to the Central
Trust Company of Chicago. where they
were deposited in the name OF and to
the account of Osborne Wood.
This year some remittances were
made by Osborne Wood to his father
in-law, Henry B. Thompson, president
of the United States Finishing Com
pany. 320 Broadway. Several
Wood In the Central Trust Company of
Chicago was closed, and the accumu-
lated funds were retransferred to his
father-in-law in New York and deposit
Bank, New York. This account, for
merly in the name of Mr.. Thompson,
acting for his n-law, was changed
later to the name of Lieut.. Wood. 1t
has been reported to aggregate nor
mally between $175.O00 and 100000.
although it has fluctuated considerably
running as high as $2s0,00O and to as
low as $150,000."
Thompson Makes Statement.
Mr.. Thompson is quoted by the
Times as making the following state
Ineutt TcSd! uih6 liS ooh-iii Law AIdi-
cial operations:
when in Manila last winter I
learned that my son-in-law had made
some money in fortunate speculation,
which permitted him to live in bet
ter style than was expected Of a sec
ond lieutenant. 1 know, under my
advice, he Is entirely out of the mar
ket, and hope he has hung on to his
savings"
Hardened Wall street speculators
are inclined to the belief, the Times
says, that Lieut.. Wood must have fol-
lowed the speculative method known
additional stock with the profits ac-
cumulated on paper from a former
purchase. This method Is in daily,
and often disastrous, practice, and
frowned on by most conservative
members of the New York Stock Ex-
change, where the stock Of the STAN
dard Oil Company of New Jersey, in
which most of Lieut.. Woods for
tune rs believed to have been made, is
traded in.
Call Practice Hazardous.
!. ,Th ultimate result Of such trading
is the building up OF thinly
more precarious as prices advance
because each profit, instead of going
on the bottom to aid the foundation,
increases the load on top. In this
manner, with a small fortune and
good luck, one can build up fortune,
provided that the stock continues to
Lieut.. Wood, the Times says, is
ginning Of the socalled dividend mar
ket in the fall of 1922 and happened