The Death of Travers.
The foregoing reminiscences of Travers were written and stereotyped while the great wit and financier was still alive. I have, therefore, not deemed it necessary to recast the matter, but consider it sufficient to add a few of the salient points in Mr. Travers’ character and career, with more bons mots which the death of this popular man brought out. He died in Bermuda, March 19, 1887. He had gone there in the previous November, where he had a residence of his own, in the hope that the climate might restore him to health, but the malady, diabetes, had got too far ahead, and, in spite of the best medical skill, carried him over to the majority. His wit, like that of Tom Hood, did not forsake him even in his last hours.
While on his death-bed at Bermuda a friend called to see him, and said, “What a nice place Bermuda is for rest and change.” Travers replied: “Y-y-yes, th-the waiters g-g-get th-th-the ch-change and th-the h-h-hotel k-k-keepers th-the r-r-rest.”
Among Travers’ famous hits the following is one of the best: Jim Fisk’s zenith of glory and grandeur was in the vicinity of its height when he secured the control of the Boston & Providence line of steamboats. He constituted himself Commodore, and was always on the deck as they departed each day, dressed in a Commodore’s attire, and was evidently very much elated in being supreme in command in connection with these magnificent steamboats. Jay Gould was, financially, equally interested with him in the venture, and Commodore Fisk, in his usual splurgy manner, had a large likeness of both Gould and himself hung up at the head of the stairs leading to the large saloon cabin on each of these steamboats. Travers and others, who at that time were leading magnates of the street, were invited to inspect one of these large boats that had been newly fitted up, gilded, and put in magnificent shape, with a band of music on board, etc. Fisk met Travers as he went on board, and volunteered to escort him over the boat to show him its magnificence and superb appointments. As they went up the stairs and came to the first landing, he pointed out the likenesses of Fisk and Gould that were hung there, and asked Travers if he didn’t think they were good. Travers replied: “I th-think th-th-they are v-v-very good, b-b-b-but t-to m-make th-th-them c-c-complete, th-there sh-sh-should b-b-be a p-p-picture of our S-S-S-Saviour in th-th-the m-middle.”
The last time I saw Mr. Travers down town he called at my office. After he ran his eye over the stock quotations, I said: “The market is pretty stiff, Travers.” He said: “Y-yes, it is th-the st-st-stiffness of d-d-death;” and, sure enough, in the course of two or three days afterwards, a big smash took place.
Mr. Travers once said to a friend: “C-come and see me in S-September. If y-you wish I will give you a p-point that will m-make m-money. He wished to do the man a favor in return for a kindly office. Late in the month mentioned the friend dropped into Travers’ office.
“C-come for that p-point?” asked Mr. Travers.
“Certainly,” replied the friend.
“Well, y-you are the luckiest d-dog I know. I p-played that p-point two weeks ago myself and lost a pile of money. Y-you st-stick to m-me l-long enough and c-close enough, and I’ll l-land y-you in the p-poorhouse, sure.”
When “Plunger” Walton was in the height of his prosperity on the turf he met Travers at Saratoga.
“I have been anxious to see you for some time,” said Walton. “I think we can do business together,” he added. “I’ve got good judgment on horses and horse racing, and you have the same on stocks and stock speculation. I’ve made $350,000 on horse races in the last two years. Now, you give me points on stocks, and I’ll give you points on races. Is it a go?”
“Y-you’ve made three h-hundred and f-fifty th-thousand dollars on h-horse racing?” Travers repeated.
“Yes.”
“And you want m-me to g-give you p-points on st-stocks?”
“In exchange for my points on horses. Yes.”
“Well, I’ll give you a f-first rate p-point. If you’ve made that much in two y-years, st-stick to your b-b-business. It is a f-first-rate p-point.”
One day, many years ago, Mr. Travers was standing on the curb of New street, opposite the Exchange, buying some stock from a gentleman whose aspect was unmistakably of the Hebrew stamp.
“Wh-wh-what is your name?” asked Travers.
“Jacobs,” responded the seller.
“B-b-but wh-what is your Christian name?” reiterated Travers.
The Hebrew was non-plussed, and the crowd was convulsed with laughter.
The first time Mr. Travers attempted to find Montague street, in Brooklyn, he lost his way, although he was near the place. Meeting a man he said:
“I desire to r-reach M-montague st-street. W-will you b-be kik-kind enough to pup-point the way?”
“You-you are go-going the wrong w-way,” was the stammering answer. “That is M-montague st-street there.”
“Are y-you mimick-mimicking me, making fun of me-me?” asked Mr. Travers sharply.
“Nun-no, I assure you, sir,” the other replied. “I-I am ba-badly af-flict-flicted with an imp-impediment in my speech.”
“Why do-don’t y-you g-get cured?” asked Travers, solemnly. “G-go to Doctor —, and y-you’ll get c-cured. D-don’t y-you see how well I talk? H-he cu-cured me.”
The fortune left by Mr. Travers has been estimated at $3,000,000. He left three sons, William B. Travers, John Travers, and Reverdy Travers, and five daughters, four of whom are married. His only sister is Mrs. Prince, mother of the late John D. Prince, of Prince & Whitely.
Mr. Travers assisted a large number of young men to go into business, and helped to give the start in life to several of the most successful men in Wall Street.
He was charitable, and his secret beneficences are said to have been numerous. He enjoyed the wealth he had made in a way that should make the majority of millionaires blush with shame at their parsimony. He was a bon vivant of the first water. He maintained five domestic establishments on a first-class and luxurious scale, not like a Caligula, merely for his personal gratification or the pride of ostentation, but rather for the development of those social traits of character in which he had few equals, and no superior. The great social pride of his life was to make his friends feel happy. He had one of the best cellars in New York. His table at any of his residences was not only bountiful, but exhibited a menu equal to that at Delmonico’s. His favorite wine was Madeira, of which he was a perfect judge. He was very moderate, however, both in eating and drink, but would have the best of everything despite the cost.
He was a kind and indulgent father, but was pleased to see his boys manifest ample pluck like himself. Apropos of this characteristic, one of his boys came home one day with a big blackened eye.
“W-w-w-where d-d-did you g-g-g-get th-th-that?” inquired the father, anxiously.
“In a f-f-fight, sir,” replied the son, who has a similar impediment in his speech.
“D-d-d-did y-y-you w-w-w-whip the other f-f-fellow?”
“Y-y-yes, sir.”
“Q-q-q-quite r-r-right. H-h-h-here’s a d-d-dollar f-f-for y-you. Always w-w-whip the other f-f-fellow.”
Travers himself was courageous, tall, and sinewy, and in his younger days a great athlete. He was 68 years of age at the time of his death. He was a member of twenty-seven clubs, social, political, and athletic. He was a Democrat in politics. As to his religious belief, I expect if he had been questioned on that he would have given the same answer as another eminent man who cut a great figure in this country: “The world is my country; to do good is my religion.” Travers might have added: “I also wish to be the means of creating and diffusing the greatest amount of social happiness and enjoyment of which humanity is capable.”
I may conclude by saying of Travers, as an eminent author observed of his namesake the divine William, the Bard of Avon, “We ne’er shall see his like again.”
CHAPTER XL.
CHARLES F. WOERISHOFFER.
The Career of Charles F. Woerishoffer, and the Resultant Effect upon Succeeding Generations.—The Peculiar Power of the Great Leader of the Bear Element in Wall Street.—His Methods as Compared with Those Other Wreckers of Values.—A Bismarck Idea of Aggressiveness the Ruling Element of His Business Life.—His Grand Attack on the Villard Properties, and the Consequence Thereof.—His Benefactions to Faithful Friends.
By the death of Charles F. Woerishoffer, Wall Street lost one of the most prominent figures which has ever shown up here. Mr. Woerishoffer died May 9, 1886. His career is one worthy of study by watchers of the course of speculation in this or any other country. The results of his life-work show what can be accomplished by any man who sets himself at work upon an idea, and who devotes himself steadily and persistently to a course of action for the development and perfection of the principle which actuates his life. Mr. Woerishoffer possessed peculiar personal qualities which are denied to most men and to all women. He had the magnetic power of impressing people with confidence in the schemes which he inaugurated; that is to say, he had the power of organization—the same power has made other men great, and will continue to make men great who possess it in all walks of life. Notable instances may be cited in the cases of Bismarck, Gladstone, Napoleon, Grant, and—coming down to Wall Street proper—Gould, Daniel Drew, old Jacob Little and the Vanderbilts, especially the Commodore, in his superior power of aggressiveness.
It has been said of Mr. Woerishoffer that he was fortunate. He was indeed. He was fortunate in the possession of natural ability, and he had the aptitude to take advantage of events, and associate circumstances and the strength of purpose, and to direct, instead of following, the operations with which he became connected. He was the leader of the bear element of the Street—at least he was such during the period which marks his successful operations here. There is no doubt that the death of Mr. Woerishoffer was hastened because of the great strain of mind growing out of his business transactions. There is one point in this connection which has been overlooked by his biographers, namely, that his boldness in the magnitude of his dealings was resultant from a careless or non-calculative mind. I do not believe that Mr. Woerishoffer ever undertook a speculation of any sort until he had carefully calculated all the chances pro and con, and his success, remarkable as it was, was largely due to the combination of calculation and the natural development of business conditions, of which he was a close student.
Mr. Woerishoffer’s conception of business principles was iconoclastic to an intense degree. As a broker, as a business man, as an operator in stocks, he “believed in nothing;” that is to say, he was a believer in the failures of men, and had no faith in the corporations and enterprises which were organized for the purpose of the development of the best interests of the country in which he lived. There is another view, or another statement of this peculiar feature, of the character of this man which may be given in description, and this is illustrative of the careful study he made of everything passing along in the lines of life with which he was connected. It is this: That Mr. Woerishoffer, by his intimate study of the prospects and probabilities of the projected plans of enterprising Americans, had come to the conclusion that the majority of them must fail, and that the first flush of enterprise would be changed to a darker shade as time progressed. That is to say, he saw and knew a great deal of the organization of the railroad schemes which have marked the growth of our rapid development in a business way, and he judged that the inflated ideas of the projectors must meet with a check as developments were made, and that the earning capacity of the roads would not equal expectations. Hence he sold the stocks, and sold them right and left from the start, and with his followers reaped the profits. Woerishoffer never indulged in the finesse of Gould or Henry N. Smith. He had the German ideas of open fight, and he attacked everything indiscriminately, losing money sometimes, but making money at other times, and by his open dash and persistency carried his point.
There is no doubt that the successful career of a man of this sort has a deleterious effect upon those who follow him in succeeding generations. It does not matter how successful the development of the business industries of this country may be hereafter, there will always be found men who will speculate upon the ruination rather than the success of the best interests of the country merely because Charles F. Woerishoffer lived and made a fortune by his disbelief and his disregard of the growth of the institutions of the country which gave him a home.
Woerishoffer was a wonderful example of the sudden rise and steady and rapid progress of a man of strong and tenacious purpose, who adheres with firmness to one line of action or business. He was born in Germany. Woerishoffer’s Wall Street career was begun in the office of August Rutten, afterwards of the firm of Rutten & Bond, in which Woerishoffer subsequently became Cashier. He left this firm in 1867, and joined M. C. Klingenfeldt. Mr. Budge, of the firm of Budge, Schutze & Co., in 1868, bought him a seat in the Stock Exchange. Some time after he entered the Board he became acquainted with Mr. Plaat, of the well-known banking firm of L. Von Hoffman & Co. Mr. Woerishoffer was entrusted with the execution of large orders, especially in gold and Government bonds. At that time the trading in these securities was very large. Afterwards Plaat became an operator himself, and Woerishoffer followed in his footsteps as an apt pupil. Eventually he formed the firm of Woerishoffer & Co., his first partners being Messrs. Schromberg and Schuyler, who made fortunes and retired.
Woerishoffer was connected in enormous operations with some of the magnates of the street; for instance, James R. Keene, Henry N. Smith, D. P. Morgan, Henry Villard, Charles J. Osborn, S. V. White, Addison Cammack, and last, though not least, Jay Gould. He was especially on intimate terms with his great brother bear, Addison Cammack, both speculatively and socially. Besides being a bold operator in the street, Woerishoffer was associated with large railroad schemes, which gave him the inside track in speculation. He was connected with the North River Construction Company, the Northern Pacific, Ontario & Western, West Shore, Denver & Rio Grande, Mexican National, several of the St. Louis Companies, and Oregon Transcontinental. He was originally a rampant bull on these properties until they began to get into trouble, and then he became a furious and unrelenting bear. He smashed and hammered them down right and left. He soon covered his losses, and began to make enormous profits on the short side of the market. On the bonds and stock of the Kansas Pacific, when it became merged in the Union Pacific, it is supposed that Woerishoffer cleared over a million dollars.
Woerishoffer, it seems, was one of the first to propose the building of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. On this enterprise he realized immense profits for himself and his friends. The stock rose until it reached 110, and was “puffed” up for higher figures. The public was attracted by the brilliant prospects of immense profits on the long side. Mr. Woerishoffer and friends held large quantities of long stock, but sold out, and afterwards put out a large line of shorts. The bear campaign had Woerishoffer as leader, and, it is said, he succeeded in covering as far down as 40, and some even lower. In 1878, when the market began its great boom on account of the resumption of specie payment and the general prosperity of the country, he organized a combination which bought stocks largely and sold wheat short. On this deal he made large profits, and began to develop into a pretty strong millionaire. He took advantage of the shooting of President Garfield, in 1881, together with his colleagues, Cammack and Smith, to organize a bear raid on a large scale, which was probably one of the chief, although somewhat remote, causes of bringing about the panic of 1884.
The great perspicacity which he had in the deals enumerated failed him in 1885. He thought, as the wheat crop was small, that wheat would go up and stocks would go down, but the very reverse occurred. The disappointment and depression, very probably, resulting from this brought on the aneurism of the heart, which killed the great bear operator, and his death was a fortunate event for Wall Street.
One of the many things which gave Woerishoffer great reputation as a speculator, both here and in Germany and England, was the bold stand he took in the fight for the control of Kansas Pacific against Jay Gould, Russell Sage, and other capitalists, railroad magnates and financiers in 1879. He represented the Frankfort investors, and had engaged to sell a large quantity of Denver extension bonds at 80, to the Gould-Sage syndicate. The syndicate, however, knowing that they had the controlling influence, declared the contract for 80 off, and “came to the conclusion, after examining the road-bed, that the bonds were not worth more than 70,” and they would not take them at a higher figure. Woerishoffer then made a grand flank movement on the little Napoleon of finance and his able lieutenants. He seemed to be greatly put out that they had broken their contract, but did not complain very bitterly. He immediately cabled to the English and German bondholders, and soon secured a majority of the bonds which the syndicate wanted, and deposited them in the United States Trust Company. He then informed the syndicate that they could not obtain a single bond under par to carry out their great foreclosure scheme. It was this circumstance that caused Frankfort speculators and investors to come so largely into the New York stock market, and that also made English capital flow in freely, speculators throwing off their former timidity. The amount involved in the Gould-Sage syndicate deal was about $6,000,000 of bonds, thus netting Woerishoffer considerably over a million. This deal at once gave him an international reputation as a far-sighted speculator, and this reputation was gained at the expense of Gould and Sage, owing to their disregard of the contract which had been entered into.
Woerishoffer showed great sagacity as a speculator when Henry Villard put forward his immense bubble scheme in Northern Pacific and the Oregons. Although invited to go into the big deal with other millionaire speculators who had taken the Villard bait so freely, Woerishoffer kept prudently aloof, and looked on the players at the Villard checkerboard with equanimity and at a safe distance. He was not then considered of very much account by the men of ample means who so freely subscribed $20,000,000 to the Villard bubble. At the moment when these subscribers were so highly elated with the idea that the Villard fancies were going far up into the hundreds and, perhaps, the thousands, like the bonanzas during the California craze, Woerishoffer boldly sold the whole line “short.” This was a similar stroke of daring to that which James R. Keene had perpetrated on the bonanza kings in the height of their greatest power and anticipations. The Villard syndicate determined to squeeze Woerishoffer out entirely, and for this purpose a syndicate was formed to buy 100,000 shares of stock. There were various millionaires and prominent financiers included in the syndicate. These were the financial powers with which Woerishoffer, small in comparison, had to contend single-handed. The feat that Napoleon performed at Lodi, with his five generals behind him, spiking the Austrian guns which were defended by several regiments, was but a moderate effort in war compared with that which Woerishoffer was called upon to achieve in speculation. He took things very coolly, and with evident unconcern watched the actions of the syndicate. The latter went to work vigorously, and soon obtained 20,000 shares of the stock which they required. It still kept climbing rapidly, and so elated was this speculative syndicate with the success of its plans that it clamored for the additional 80,000 shares, according to the resolution. The speculators thought they were now in the fair way of crushing Woerishoffer, and with a hurrah obtained the 80,000 shares required, but Woerishoffer’s brokers were the men who sold them to the big syndicate. It was not long afterwards that the syndicate felt as if it had been struck by lightning. In a short time the Villard fancies began to tumble. The syndicate was in a quandary, but nothing could be done. It had tried to crush Woerishoffer. He owed it no mercy. The inevitable laws of speculation had to take their course, and the great little bear netted millions of dollars. These events occurred in 1883.
After the Villard disruption, Mr. Woerishoffer became conservative for some time, and was a bull or a bear just as he saw the opportunity to make money. When the West Shore settlement took place he watched the course of events with a keen eye, and was one of the most prominent figures in pushing the upward movement upon the strength of that settlement. His profits on the bull side then were immense. After this he became a chronic and most destructive bear. The reason he assigned for his conversion and change of base was that the net earnings of the railroads were decreasing, and did not justify an advance in prices. He pushed his theory to an extreme, making little or no allowance for the recuperative powers of the country, and the large bear contingent, which he successfully led, seemed to be inspired with his opinions. These opinions, pushed to the extreme, as they were, had a very demoralizing effect upon the stock market, and constituted a potent factor in the depreciation of all values, throwing a depressing influence on speculation, from which it did not recover until many months after Mr. Woerishoffer’s death. The great bear had wonderful skill in putting other operators off the track of his operations by employing a large number of brokers, and by changing his brokers and his base of action so often that speculators were all at sea regarding what he was going to do, and waiting in anxiety for the next move. It was considered remarkable at the time that his death had not a greater influence on the stock market than this result proved. If he had died a week sooner, his death might have created a panic, for he was then short of 200,000 shares of stock. His short accounts had all been covered before the announcement of his death on the Stock Exchange.
Woerishoffer was almost as famous for his generosity as James R. Keene. It is said that he made presents to faithful brokers of over twenty seats, of the value of $25,000 each, in the Stock Exchange. He made a present of a $500 horse to the cabman who drove him daily to and from his office. He was exceedingly generous with his employes. A short time before his death, feeling that the strain from over-mental exertion was beginning to tell on his constitution, he had resolved to visit Europe for the purpose of recuperating, but, like most of our great operators, he had stretched the mental cords too far before making this prudent resolve, and he died at the early age of 43. How many valuable lives would be prolonged if they would take needful rest in time! The death of Woerishoffer should be a solemn warning to Wall Street men who are anxious to heap up wealth too rapidly. His fortune has been variously estimated at from $1,000,000 to $4,000,000. He left a widow and two little daughters.
Woerishoffer had simply the genius for speculation which is uncontrollable, irrespective of consequences to others. He had no intention of hurting anybody, but his methods had the effect of bringing others to ruin all the same. He merely followed the bent of his genius by making money within the limits of the law, and did not care who suffered through his operations. All speculation on the bear side involves the same principle. If there is any difference among speculators, it only consists in degree. Large transactions, like those in which Woerishoffer was engaged, are more severely felt by those who have the misfortune to get “squeezed;” but it all resolves itself into a question of the survival of the fittest.
Woerishoffer’s success in this country seems strange to Americans, but how much stranger it must have seemed to the people of his native town of Henau Hesse-Nassau, where he was born in 1843, in comparative poverty. John Jacob Astor was one of the first of a considerable number of Germans to find this country a veritable new El Dorado, where peasants’ sons, as if by magic, became far wealthier than many of the nobility whom they had, as boys, gazed upon with awe. Who could have foreseen such a career for the poor young German, who came to New York in 1864? He was then in his twenty-first year. He had had some experience in the brokerage business in Frankfort and Paris, but he came here poor. Addison Cammack, who was to become his ally in many a gigantic speculation, was then prominent in the South, where he had favored the cause of the people of his State during the war, and had made a fortune. D. P. Morgan, who was to be another of his speculative associates, had already won a fortune by speculating in cotton in London. Russell Sage counted his wealth by the millions. Jay Gould and Henry N. Smith had gone through the feverish excitement of a Black Friday, and either, in common parlance, could have “bought or sold” the poor young German. Nevertheless, by strange turns in the wheel of fortune, he acquired a financial prestige that enabled him to beard the lion in his den, and snap his fingers at powerful combinations that sought to ruin him. When Henry Villard demanded his resignation as a director in the Oregon Transcontinental Company, on the ground that he had been selling the Villard properties short, the “Baron” (as Woerishoffer was often called) tendered it at once, and flung down the gage of battle in the announcement that he would ruin the head of the Villard system.
Chas. F. Woerishoffer was slightly built, had a light complexion, was under the medium height, and, on the street, might have been taken for a bank clerk. He showed his inborn love of gaming in many ways. He is said to have broken a faro bank at Long Branch twice; he would play at roulette and poker for large stakes. He was kind-hearted and charitable. At Christmas his benefactions to clerks and messenger boys were notable. In the height of a great speculation he sometimes showed extreme nervousness, but during the memorable contest with the Villard party he exhibited the greatest coolness and composure. He was a curious compound of German phlegm and American nervousness. One of the fortunate events in his career was his marriage, in 1875, with Miss Annie Uhl, the step-daughter of Oswald Ottendorfer, the editor and proprietor of the great German organ of New York, the Staats Zeitung, who brought him, it was understood, a fortune of about three hundred thousand dollars.
The following circular to my customers, which I published May 13th, 1886, with special reference to the death of Woerishoffer, and its consequences, I think is worthy of reproduction here:
“The future of the market is going to be a natural one, and will go up and down from natural causes; when this is fully realized there will be no lack of the public taking a hand in it. That element has been crowded out of Wall Street for a long time past, largely due to the fact that its judgment to predicate operations has been sat on by brute force. It has been, therefore, made to feel that the market was not one where it was safe to venture. This brute force power came from Woerishoffer, who has for a long time past been the head and front as a leader on the bear side, and was a gigantic wrecker of values. His method was to destroy confidence and hammer the vitality out of every stock on the list which showed symptoms of life, and his power was the more potential, as all the room traders were converted to believe in him and were his followers. His decease leaves, therefore, the entire bear fraternity without any head, and consequently in a state of demoralization, and in a condition not unlike a ship at sea without a rudder. Mr. Woerishoffer was a genial, hospitable man, lovely in character at his own home, true to his friends and generous to a fault, and will, therefore, be a great loss as a gentleman; but so far as the prosperity of the country goes, his death will be the country’s gain. To the fact that Mr. Woerishoffer’s power and influence are no longer felt on the market is almost entirely due the change of front of the situation, which is now one of hopefulness. While he lived the public and half the members of the Board were completely terrorized by the fear of him, and were kept in check from being buyers, however much the position of affairs warranted going on the long side. The bull side of the market has had for a long time past to contend with the bold and ferocious attitude of Mr. Woerishoffer. When the bulls felt justified in making a rally and forcing the market to go their way, when it looked most encouraging, as a result of their efforts, Mr. Woerishoffer would strike their specialty a sledge hammer blow on the head; he would repeat that on every attempt that was made, which finally resulted in discouragement. If ten thousand shares were not ample for that purpose, he would quadruple the quantity; in fact, he has often been known to have outstanding contracts on the short side of the market amounting to 200,000 shares of stock at least. As an operator he seemed to be so peculiarly constituted as to know no fear, and would often turn apparent defeat to success by possessing that trait of character. It will be a long time before another such determined and desperate man will appear on the stage to take his place; in the meantime, it will be plainer sailing in Wall Street, besides safer for operators. Mr. Woerishoffer, as an operator, was full of expedients. He put his whole soul into his operations, and not only would he attack the stock market with voraciousness, but he would manipulate every quarter where it would aid him; sometimes it would be in the grain market, sometimes by shipping gold, and sometimes by the manipulation of the London market. He had all the facilities for operation at his fingers’ ends, in fact he commanded the situation to such an extent as to make his power felt. Mr. Cammack, Mr. Woerishoffer’s associate, while usually a bear, is a very different man and not to be feared, for that gentleman usually sells stocks short only on reliable information, and always to a limited extent. If he finds that the market does not go down by the weight of sales, he soon extricates himself at the first loss. In this method of doing business lies his safety. In this way he will sell often 10, 20 or 30 thousand shares of stock and make the turn, but will not, like his late friend Woerishoffer, take a position and stand by it through thick and thin, and browbeat the market indefinitely until it finally goes his way. At the present time, therefore, the bulls have no great power to fear whenever they have merit upon which to predicate their operations. The future will be brighter for Wall Street speculators and investors than it has been for a long period, and with the public who may be expected to come again to the front, greatly increased activity should be the result.”
CHAPTER XLI.
WOMEN AS SPECULATORS
Wall Street no Place for Women.—They Lack the Mental Equipment.—False Defenses of Feminine Financiers.—The Claflin Sisters and Commodore Vanderbilt.—Fortune and Reputation Alike Endangered.
As speculators, women hitherto have been utter failures. They do not thrive in the atmosphere of Wall Street, for they do not seem to have the mental qualities required to take in the varied points of the situation upon which success in speculation depends. They are, by nature, parasites as speculators, and, when thrown upon their own resources, are comparatively helpless. Although they are able, through craft and subtlety, to rule the male sex to a large extent, yet, when obliged to go alone, they are like a ship at sea in a heavy gale without compass, anchor or rudder. They have no ballast apart from men, and are liable to perish when adversity arises. When some of our strong-minded woman’s-righters read this—and I hope for this honor from them—I can imagine certain of them launching epithets of scorn against my head, and even charging me with dense ignorance regarding the history of the great women of the world, and the wonderful achievements of some of them. They will, no doubt, cite Joan of Arc against me; Queen Elizabeth, Catharine of Russia, the unfortunate and beautiful Mary, Queen of Scots, et al. Women, in general, rarely summon beautiful women in their own cause, but in this case they will probably do so; for it is a trick of the sex to bring feminine beauty to play as a tramp card when man is the game.
The wife of John Stuart Mill, Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Julia Ward Howe, and a host of other great female reformers and revolutionists will, without doubt, be quoted against my theory. Several of the strong-minded novelists and their chief works will be cited to show how unfounded is my charge. Ouida, George Elliot, and George Sand will probably be arrayed in judgment against me. The one answer to all this must be that such women are the exceptional cases, which prove the rule and sustain my theory. Besides, these fair ones, with the exception of Ouida, and, to some extent, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and possibly, George Sand, have never tried their hands at speculation. They have excelled in their particular lines, but when all their secret history is known, it will be found that men were the source of their inspiration. I am aware that the opposite theory is held, through false gallantry; but the chivalrous knights who credit the fair sex with more speculative brains than they possess are in a petty minority, and will always remain so as long as men have manhood enough to decide according to their judgment instead of their emotions.
Fact is the best test on this question, and I will recite a few facts in the history of some of the female speculators of Wall Street, quite aware that I touch a very delicate subject. The namby-pambyism and the pseudo “gallantry” now so prevalent, are generally opposed to any fair statement in regard to woman’s real financial capacity, and, worse than all, woman’s true interests and functions are greatly aspersed and prejudiced by these false sentiments. When carried away, as she so often is, by the insidious flatteries of man and the showy frivolities of fashion, a woman is rendered temporarily blind to these important facts; but, in the exceptional instances, where she reasons calmly and reflects prudently, she pays the greatest respect to those of our sex who dispense plain advice and blunt opinions. Dudes and designing flatterers may revel for a time in their conquests, but the opinions of men of judgment, honesty and virtue will eventually triumph with those of the other sex who are most discerning.
Let me, then, illustrate my estimate of women as speculators by a few of the more prominent examples I have known in Wall Street, who have essayed to make a fortune after the manner of men. I shall take up the present Lady Cooke and her sister, Mrs. Woodhull. Lady Cooke has now a virtual “castle in Spain,” or rather in Portugal, besides one of the most elegant mansions in London. My knowledge of the history of those sisters and their financial relations and business connections with the late Commodore Vanderbilt, go to illustrate the fact very clearly that the cleverest women cannot be successful in Wall Street; and if this is so, where will the ordinary female be found when she essays the role of an operator?
The notorious firm of Woodhull, Claflin & Co., in their peculiar combination, included Commodore Vanderbilt. I shall say something about their methods of operation before touching upon the history and biography of the two sisters, which is remarkable in the extreme. Very soon after the Commodore had aided to set these two women up as brokers, in Broad Street, the firm was known all over the land. The present titled Lady Cooke was then plain Tennie C. Claflin, and she was plain in every sense of the word, excepting in face, which certainly was quite pretty. She had, however, less personal magnetism than her celebrated sister, Victoria C. Woodhull, but doubtless made more impression on a well-known journalist of this city and upon the Commodore than any one else, until she met Sir — Cooke. Tennie was rather phlegmatic in temperament, and could therefore exercise but little influence over the ordinary man, but she was cool and calculating, and had evidently more brain than she seemed to possess. She could wear a winning smile, but it was manifestly put on for the occasion.
I recollect her calling at my office one afternoon. After the usual interchange of civilities, she told me she wished to deposit a check for $7,000. The check was signed by the wealthiest man in Wall Street, and was promptly accepted by my cashier, and duly credited. A few days after this event, Miss Tennie drove up to my office in a cab. She wore a look of enthusiasm and pleasant surprise. In her countenance one could read at a glance that she had a heavy thought to divulge. So she said she had a “point.” I don’t care for “points” as a rule, but I was bound by all the laws of chivalry and business courtesy to give the lady a respectful hearing, and I did. The point had emanated from a very high source, and for that reason, also, was entitled to respectful consideration. The charming Tennie wanted to buy 1,000 shares of New York Central. Though always on the alert for business, I was not then at all anxious to execute the lady’s order. I received Miss Claflin with all due respect, and without giving her any intimation that I perceived, by my peculiar inspiration, “the gentleman in the fence,” I tapped my little bell, to which my office messenger responded. “Tell the cashier,” I said, “to make out Miss Tennie Claflin’s account.” This was simply the work of a few minutes, and Miss Tennie was instantly furnished with a check, including interest for the time of deposit. Miss Claflin bowed herself out, and I heaved a sigh of relief, and thought that everything was over so far as that check was concerned. But I was slightly mistaken.
Tennie went to the Fourth National Bank immediately, and presented the check. She returned to my office in a few minutes afterwards. P. C. Calhoun was then President of the Fourth National. When Tennie returned, she said, “Mr. Clews, the bank wishes to have me identified.” I called a boy and told him to accompany Miss Claflin to the bank, and identify her as being entitled to the amount of the check. This sealed her credit for that amount at the bank, owing to which I obtained the rather doubtful distinction of having been made the medium of largely aiding to establish the firm of Woodhull & Claflin in Broad street. Myself and the Fourth National Bank were said to have been the “sponsors” for this consummation. As soon as I ascertained how my name was being connected with those ladies, I had a private interview with the President of the Fourth National, which prevented Tennie from using my name to a great extent thereafter. I have never attempted to take any credit to myself for this affair, but there is one thing evident, and that is, that I did not get euchred in the matter. The Commodore was then regarded as the power behind the throne, or behind the fair sex. If the sisters had any scheme in the background (and I have reason to believe they had,) I did not get caught in it.
Far be it from my purpose to insinuate that these celebrated “sisters” are a sample of all the women who intrude into speculative circles. These facts, however, show by what sort of methods two of the most notorious female speculators of these times gained their success. It would be an aspersion on womanhood to suppose that many women would be found willing to resort to like methods; but it is safe to say that, as a rule, women can have little other hope of success than by using their blandishments to win the attentions and the services of the other sex. There are doubtless exceptions to this rule, as in the case of Mrs. Green, whose unaided sagacity has placed her among the most successful of our millionaire speculators. She is, however, made up of a powerful masculine brain in an otherwise female constitution, and is one among a million of her sex.
If women are fortunate enough to escape being fleeced when they enter Wall Street, it can only be from extraordinary luck, or from the protecting counsel of their brokers, or from compassionate indulgence shown to them when swamped by their losses. My own experience shows that when they lose their money—as they usually do—they are by no means sparing in their pleas for consideration; and this fact shows that women who aspire to this path to fortune are not usually endowed with the self-respect, the modesty and the independence of masculine favors which characterize all high-minded women. In truth, this is so well understood among the habitués of Wall Street, that while a woman who frequents brokers’ offices is not likely to find any lack of attentions, yet she is sure to lose caste among those who bestow such gallantries. In a word, Wall Street is not the place for a lady to find either fortune or character.
The explanation given by Mrs. Victoria Woodhull —— is somewhat different from the statement herein made by me in reference to the establishment of the brokerage firm, run ostensibly by the famous sisters; and as this celebrated lady shows in some of her recent utterances that she has done so much for humanity, truth, and financial reform, her statement is entitled to fair presentation. I shall, therefore, give it in full. It is as follows:
“The first move my sister and I made in this direction was to establish a banking and brokerage office in Broad street. This step we were induced to take with the view of proving that woman, no less than man, can qualify herself for the more onerous occupations of life. So startling was this innovation that the whole city of New York was aroused, and when we entered the precincts of Wall and Broad streets they were blocked with crowds of people until the novelty wore away. But to-day women can establish themselves in any business, enter any avenue of life that they are qualified through education to fill, either political, financial, scientific, medical or mechanical, so great is the advance. At that time, as some of the New York papers said, everything, to the external view, was at the height of prosperity. But we exposed, in our Weekly, one nefarious scheme after another when we realized that companies were floated to work mines that did not exist, or that, if they did exist, had nothing in them, and to make railways to nowhere in particular, and that banks and insurance societies flourished by devouring their shareholders’ capital. The papers of 1872 said that in one year we had exposed and destroyed nearly every fraudulent scheme that was then in operation—railroad swindles and the banking houses which were palming them off on the public. Life insurance companies were reduced from forty to nineteen for the whole country; the Great Southern bonds and the Mexican Claim bubbles collapsed. More than one tried to buy our silence, and when their money was refused they turned and charged us with levying blackmail, and, losing in their rage and fear all sense of honor, said that we were immoral women or we would not have commenced such an undertaking. Other papers took up the warfare. It brought about a great revolution in financial matters, but it made us many bitter enemies, for we were the first to put ourselves into the breach.”
I shall make no attempt to contradict the bold statement of the lady, but simply quote it for what it is worth, leaving the inference to the reader, as the novelistic phrase goes, but I do hold that the very result of the experiment to which she alludes is one of the strongest and most cogent arguments in favor of my theory, that women are not qualified by nature for the speculative and financial operations in which so many men have made their mark. Even the few apparent exceptions to the rule have been sad failures compared with the achievements of the male sex in this department of human enterprise. “Jennie June,” the able and accomplished wife of Mr. Croly, the well-known journalist, has essayed the speculative role, but she has not been very successful. When women such as these have failed what can the ordinary female expect? Well, I think they had better abide by the advice of St. Paul in regard to women speaking in the church. Let them say or do nothing in the peculiar line for the pursuit of which they are evidently disqualified, but if they want to know anything, “ask their husbands at home.” Those who have not yet obtained husbands may ask their fathers, brothers or lovers, and if they do so they will often be saved a world of trouble.
There has recently been a curious craze in the ranks of young ladies as well as among married women for speculation, many of them thinking they could make a fortune in a few days, weeks or months, and it is nearly time that this speculative mania should be checked or stopped. Maidens of uncertain age have probably been foremost in leading this movement, and through their influence many estimable ladies have been induced to bring financial trouble upon their husbands and families. Many of the woman’s righters think that it would be a glorious thing to follow in the footsteps of Victoria Woodhull ——, whom they imagine to have been a success in that line of business; whereas she was a sad failure. Women as brokers have singularly failed in every known instance of experience. Victoria W. has been much more successful as an investor than a speculator, and the best investment of her life was that of her last marriage. There she made a decided hit. Perhaps, her Wall Street experience may have assisted her, in a great measure, to accomplish this feat. Compared with her two former marriages, however, her happy union with the foreign banker is a decided success. It is probably only in the matrimonial line that women can become successful speculators.
Now, I shall attempt to give some reasons, with all due respect to the fair sex—and without trying to lower them in the estimation of men—why those dear creatures, so necessary to our happiness in many other respects, are not by nature, nor even by the best possible education, qualified to become speculators. Women are too impulsive and impressionable. Although they often arrive at correct conclusions in the ordinary affairs of life with amazing rapidity, they don’t reason in the way that is indispensable to a successful speculator. They jump to a conclusion by a kind of instinct, or it may be a sort of inspiration, on a single subject or part of a subject, but they are entirely unable to take that broad view of the whole question and situation which the speculator has to seize at a glance, in the way that Jacob Little, the elder Vanderbilt, or Daniel Drew could have done, as I have described in other chapters. Gould possesses many of these qualities, though he has never been a speculator like the others, in the ordinary and true sense of the term, but, as I have clearly shown in another place, made his great fortune by putting two or more wrecked railroads together and making others believe they were good, and selling out on them afterwards, and not by legitimate speculation or investment.
Women who have hitherto engaged in speculation have not yet shown that they are capable of generalizing the causes which affect the market as these kings of finance have done, nor have they illustrated that they are possessed of the ability to foresee financial events in the same way. Some people may think that Mrs. Hettie Green may be an exception to the rule, but, without attempting to detract from the abilities of this eminent and wealthy lady, I hardly think she has the mental power of any of the great operators whom I have named, and though it must be admitted that she has done some fine work in manipulating Louisville & Nashville, I am of the opinion that she would fall very far short of leading a bear attack on the market like any of those for which the late Charles F. Woerishoffer was famous, and in organizing a “blind pool” she would stand no show against Gould, Major Selover, Addison Cammack or James R. Keene.
Lady Claflin Cook, formerly Tennie C. Claflin, or “Tennessee,” as she was baptized, though she had not the intellectual ability of her sister Victoria, appeared to exercise more influence over Commodore Vanderbilt on account of her greater capacity as a spiritualistic medium. In his latter days, as is well known, the Commodore was an implicit believer in Spiritualism, and considered it expedient to consult mediums in the same way that the ancient Greeks and Romans went to their oracles, before engaging in any great enterprise. It is not generally known that the fallacy of Tennie’s mediumistic powers was exposed by the Christian Brothers, and her usefulness to the Commodore considerably impaired thereby in his estimation. This came about through the influence of Mrs. Claflin, the mother of the celebrated sisters. Her superstition ran so high that she imagined her daughters were possessed of evil spirits through the power of Colonel Blood, Victoria’s second husband. The holy men received due credit for exorcising the spirits, thus freeing the sisters from this mysterious thraldom, and Victoria from Blood. Her great prosperity and that of her sister began from this date, and at the beginning of the celebrated case on the part of “young Corneel” to break the Commodore’s will the sisters suddenly took a trip to England, lest they might be called as witnesses. It was a lucky day for them, and their speculative career is probably now closed. This is the kind of speculation for which women are best fitted. The introduction to this great “deal” came through Wall Street indirectly, but it does not prove by any means that women can be successful operators in speculative transactions and financial investments. It simply shows that they are excellent in adventures where their emotional feelings are brought to bear upon the weaker characteristics of men.
CHAPTER XLII.
WESTERN MILLIONAIRES IN NEW YORK.
Eastward the Star of Wealth and the Tide of Beauty Take their Course.—Influence of the Fair Sex on This Tendency, and Why.—New York the Great Magnet of the Country.—Swinging Into the Tide of Fashion.—Collis P. Huntington.—His Career from Penury to the Possessor of Thirty Millions.—Leland Stanford.—First a Lawyer in Albany, and Afterward a Speculator on the Pacific Coast.—Has Rolled Up Nearly Forty Millions.—D. O. Mills.—an[**An?] Astute and Bold Financier.—Courage and Caution Combined.—His Rapid Rise in California.—He Makes a Fortune by Investing in Lake Shore Stock.—Princes of the Pacific Slope.—Mackay, Flood and Fair.—Their Rise and Progress.—William Sharon.—A Brief Account of His Great Success.—Wm. C. Ralston and His Daring Speculations.—Begins a Poor New York Boy, and Makes a Fortune in California.—John P. Jones.—His Eventful Career and Political Progress.-“Lucky” Baldwin.—His Business Ability and Advancement.—Lucky Speculations.—Amasses Ten or Fifteen Millions.—William A. Stewart.—Discovers the Eureka Placer Diggins.—His Success as a Lawyer and in Mining Enterprises.—James Lick.—One of the Most Eccentric of the California Magnates.—Real Estate Speculations.—His Bequest to the Author of the “Star Spangled Banner.”—John W. Shaw, Speculator and Lawyer.
Not a few Western men of wealth have in recent years taken up their abode in New York. This is partly, and doubtless largely, due to the influence of ladies. The ladies of the West of course have heard of Saratoga, the far-famed spa of America, and as the fortunes of their husbands mount higher and higher into the millions, they become more and more anxious to see this great summer resort of wealth and fashion. Their influence prevails, and at the height of the gay season they may be seen at the United States or the Grand Union. They are in practically a new world. There is the rustle and perfume, the glitter and show, the pomp and circumstance of the more advanced civilization of the East, and the ladies, with innate keenness, are quick to perceive a marked difference between this gorgeous panorama and the more prosaic surroundings to which they have been accustomed. As people of wealth and social position, they are naturally presented to some of the society leaders of New York, whom they meet at Saratoga, and who extend an invitation to visit them in their splendid mansions in the metropolis. In New York the Western ladies go to the great emporiums of dry goods and fancy articles of all sorts, to the famous jewelry stores, and other retail establishments patronized by the wealthy. They form a taste for all the elegancies of metropolitan life, and this is revealed in a hundred little ways.
They have been accustomed, for instance, to wearing two buttoned gloves, but now, in emulation of their New York sisters, they must have them up nearly to the shoulder. Their dresses of Western make do not bear comparison with the superb toilettes of New York ladies, and so they seek out the most fashionable modistes in the city, and the change in their appearance is as marked as it is favorable. The innate refinement and love of elegance which is so striking a characteristic in most American women is exemplified, perhaps, in no respect more strikingly than in their taste in dress, and the Western ladies soon require the finest French silks for their dresses. They must have the most expensive real lace; their toilettes must be numerous, rich, and varied, and the refinements of other articles of dress or ornament to which American women have attained may well astonish and even awe the masculine mind.
In a word, people of wealth are apt to be drawn to New York because it is the great magnet of the country, whose attractive power is well nigh irresistible. What London is to Great Britain, what Paris is to the Continent, what Rome was in its imperial day to the Empire, what proud old Nineveh was to Assyria, the winged lion of the Orient; what Tyre was to old Syria, whose commercial splendor aroused the eloquence of the Hebrew prophet—New York is to the immense domain of the American Republic, a natural stage, set with innumerable villages, towns, and populous cities, with mighty rivers and vast stretches of table-lands and prairies, and far-reaching harvest fields and forests, for the great drama of civilization on this Continent. New York has now a population of approximately 1,500,000. By the close of the present century it will certainly reach 2,000,000, and the next century will see it increase to perhaps ten times that number. The great metropolis attracts by its restless activity, its feverish enterprise, and the opportunities which it affords to men of ability, but in the connection which I am now considering more particularly it attracts as an enormous lode-stone by its imperial wealth, its Parisian, indeed almost Sybaritic luxury, and its social splendor.
New York city has more wealth than thirteen of the States and Territories combined. It is really the great social centre of the Republic, and its position as such is becoming more and more assured. It will yet outshine London and Paris. Go where we may throughout the country, see what cities we may, there is always something lacking which New York readily affords. There is emphatically no place like New York. Here are some of the finest stores in the world, and mansions of which a Doge of Venice or a Lorenzo de Medici might have been proud. Here are the most beautiful ladies in the world, as well as the most refined and cultivated; here are the finest theatres and art galleries, and the true home of opera is in this country; here is the glitter of peerless fashion, the ceaseless roll of splendid equipages, and the Bois de Boulogne of America, the Central Park; here there is a constant round of brilliant banquets, afternoon teas and receptions, the germans of the elite, the grand balls, with their more formal pomp and splendid circumstance; glowing pictures of beautiful women and brave men threading the mazes of the dance; scenes of revelry by night in an atmosphere loaded with the perfume of rare exotics, to the swell of sensuous music. It does not take much of this new kind of life to make enthusiastic New Yorkers of the wives of Western millionaires, and then nothing remains but to purchase a brown stone mansion, and swing into the tide of fashion with receptions, balls, and kettle-drums, elegant equipages with coachmen in bright-buttoned livery, footmen in top boots, maid-servants and man-servants, including a butler and all the other adjuncts of fashionable life in the great metropolis. It is of interest to glance at the career, by the way, of some of the more famous financial powers of the West, who have either settled of recent years in New York or who are frequently seen here.
C P. Huntington