Evening star., 1926-11-05
MEN AND MONEY
By III. S. Rukeyser.
(Copyright. 1890

1
Human beings, not money-making
machines, people Wall Street
| In their leisure moments members
of the New York Stock Exchange,
where worldwide economic forces
clash and express themselves, are at
present likely to be talking foot ball
| Wall Street at present is foot ball
mad, though apathetic toward profes-
sional foot ball At the big university
games in the East at least half of the
| floor members are to be seen IN the
grandstandS. A number Of foot ball
stars Of the past are nov active mem
bers OF the Stock Exchange, inciud-
| ing Harold H Weeks, Columbia star
of two decades ago; +. Rascoe Mat
theWS, Harvard; Sidney Rheinstein,
Princeton. and Charles V. Benton,
Allen L. Corey and Russell 8. Cooney,
all Of Yale University.
Numerous other former gridiron
celebrities are employed in various ca
pacities in brokerage offices and banks.
Many eX-foOt ball stars, and also ten
MS players and golf players, are bond
statesmen.
In their sportsmanship Wall Street
men speak their own language and
follow their own technique. For eX-
ample, several wealthy brokers run a
book. resembling the specialists book
on the floor of the Stock Exchange, in
which they record bets on the foot
ball games. They quote odds on every
important game and will accept bets
on both sides. Needless to say, this
is an eXtralegal activity, which IS not
countenanced by the rules of the eX-
change Member brokers engage in
this sideline only for love Of the game,
although some unaffliated houses,
known as betting commissioners, take
bets in the hope Of making business
profits.
Many Have Hobbies.
Wall Street leaders are not cursed
with one-track minds. Most Of them
have hobbies. aud thcir range Of in
| terests is wide and varied.
Otto II. Kahn, partner OF the power
| ful banking house Of Kuhn, Loeb &
! Co., plays the role of NIaecenas to the
i theater. He is actively interested in
q variety of movements to heighten
| artistic standards in the theater
| Moreover, he is chairman Of the board
of the Metropolitan Opera Co. and
| director of the Philharmonic Society
Bernard NJ. Baruch. former chair
man Of the War Industries Board, is
unofficial economic adviser to Amer
! lean farm movements.
| r. r. Fl. IlaiseY. who was formerly
chairman Of the library committee of
the New York stock Exchange ard
veteran broker, is Interested in fine
art and is now giving much of his
| time to the management of the Metro
! pClitan Museum Of Art. having re-
! Gently been in charge of the installa-
tiou Of the new American wing.
Morton BlumCnrhal. partner in a
| New York Stock Exchange firm, is
writing a novel which interprets life
in terms Of a now physical research
| a topic far removed from the chatter
! of the stock ticker.
| MisS Jean Arnold Pcod, who was
recently elected president of the AS
| sociation Of Bank Women and who is
| manager of the woman's department
of the Bankers Trust Co, used to be
Il portrait painter.
Specialist i'm Russian Literature.
! One member of the New York Stock
| Exchange is a specialist in Russian
| literature His fav0r'ite authors are
| DestyoeNski, the novelist, and Melshin.
! the poet. Another gets his after
! hours fun out Of cooking. taking great
| ioy in preparing dainty dishes and de-
| licious sauces for his guests. Another
broker is a Shelby fanfi and still an
| other a disciple of IIeine.
Many Of the members are collectors
of fine paintings, etchings and other
works of art. one has gathered val
uablc array Of old silver: another sf'0-
| cializes in F1iizabctlf1n early editions.
! StilI others devote leisure time to col
! lecting porcelainS, POSTAGE stamps,
coins. rugs and tapestries some
maintain country estates. There are
talented musicians on the floor also,
who for five hours a day buy and sell
| stocks for themselves and customers.
! One of the insiders, w. 6. Van
| Antwerp. in discussing his colleagues,
| said: "AS you pause in the day S
| work to listen to these interesting peO-
| pie talking Of their pet diversions you
| see why it is that hobbies are so neceS-
! s0ry 10 the modern mind, and particu-
| larly to the worried mind of the stock
exchange man. You see that the man
! who has nothing to divert him IN
| leisure hours is becoming a really rare
| type, whereas the man OF curious,
! busy and active brain, who must have
a hobby to be happy, is becoming
| more and more common
| For the general run of brokers golf
| is still the most popular hobby An
| increasing array Of brokers is indulg-
| ing a taste for travel. Winter Vaca-
tions for Wall Street men are becom-
| ing more popular than ever before.
| Brokers and bankers not only go in
unprecedented numbers to California
| and to the Southern Winter resorts,
! but many book for Mediterranean
| tours and visits to the French and
Italian Rivieras. Since America has
| become a creditor nation in the last
decade, banking houses have encOur-
| aged their partners and principal en-
| ployes to travel extensively to get
! f1rst-hand impressions of conditions in
countries seeking dollar loans. One
large international banking firm, for
example, has divided the whole world
| into districts and has assigned a part
ner to specialize in each district, ex-
! pecting him to make a trip to the
countries under his observation at
! least once q year.
so