New Britain herald. [microfilm reel] (New Britain, Conn.) 1890-1976, 1929-03-09

made In America during the war by
France and England. Everything
those governments bouSht-muni.
tons, food. matertal-was bought by
the house Of Morgan. Billions Of dol
lars were spent. No bank In history
had ever handled 30 great = trans
action.
A $500, oo0, 900 Loan
Then there were loans-mighty
ones. In the second year of the war
Morgan floated the largest loan ever
issued up to that time: $600.000,0o0
to replenish the Anglo-French war
chest. To float this loan he had to
organize a syndicate Of 1900 banks.
BY April Of 1897 he had arranged
British and French loans to the tune
Of N.500.000,000. And then the
United States entered the war.
This increased the amount Of fl
rancing the Morgan house had to
do. New loans came thick and fast.
There were loans to the American
government, loans to the allied gov
ernments; loans that did not stop
when the armistice came but went
on unchecked. Between 1917 and
1926 Morgan & Co. loaned s1,77o,-
100000 to I: countries.
Stabilized the Franc
One of Morgan's chief interests
after the war was the rehabilitation
OF war-broken European govern
ments. BY arranging q &100.0o0.00o
loan to the French government In
1924 Morgan checked the rapid drop
of the franc and helped stabilize 1t.
Morgan consistently maintained that
American prosperity could not reach
its maximum until Europs's pros
perity had returned: indeed. 1t was
not long ago that he urged leveling
Of international tariff walls ID help
make this possible.
All OF the achievements sketched
here are matters Of common knowl-
edge. Yet Morgan. as a man, remains
almost unknown to the American
public-for the simple reason that
these facts are about oil that the
average man does know about him.
The Morgan tradition has always
been one of silence. and Morgan has
adhered to 1t faithfully. He almost
never gives interviews or speeches.
The public has had small chance to
look at his private life.
His luxurious private yacht. Cor
sair." has carried him up and down
much of Europe's coastline. and he
has spent much time abroad. He Ia
a familiar figure on the Riviera, and
spends much time in England. where
he maintains both a country home
and a London house. Grouse shoot
ing in Scotland In one OF his hob
bies, and despite his age he is still
very fond OF tennis.
Escaped Assassination
While the public always misunder-
stood Morgan. 1t is probably true
that he always misunderstood the
public, too. This, perhaps, Is only
natural: his two chief contacts with
It came on occasions when attempts
we're made to assassinate him.
The first was in 1915. when a
mailman entered Morgan's home at
Glen Cove. Long Island. and fired 4
revolver point blank at him. Morgan.
a man of strong physique and mark
ed physical courage. was wounded
In the abdomen, but he grappled
with his assailant and held him I'M
til help arrived. Since that day
armed guards have watched the Nor
gan house every minute.
The second was in 1890, when the
startled the country. This explosion,
which took more than 80 lives and
threw Wall street into a panic. was
undoubtedly aimed at Morgan him
self. An employe in his office was
killed. part OF the office was wreck
ed, and It's stone exterior to this day
bears marks left by the bombs. Nor
gan. on that occasion. was the first
man in the place to recover his
presence of mind, and the cool and
collected manner in which his en-
ployees met the disaster Is said by
eye-witnesses to have been largely
due to his own GOODNESS and leader
ship.
Morgan's wife died in 1925. There
are four children-Junius Spencer
Morgan, Henry Sturgess Morgan,
sons, and two married daughters,
Jane Norton and Frances Tracy.