Chapter XV: Drew and Vanderbilt

Vanderbilt Essays to Swallow Erie, and Has a Narrow 127
Escape from Choking.—He Tries to make Drew Commit
Financial Suicide.—Manipulating the Stock Market and
the Law Courts at the Same Time.—Attempts to “Tie Up”
the Hands of Drew.—Manufacturing Bonds with the Erie
Paper Mill and Printing Press.—Fisk Steals the Books
and Evades the Injunction.—Drew Throws Fifty Thousand
Shares on the Market and Defeats the Commodore.—The
“Corner” is Broken and Becomes a
Boomerang.—Vanderbilt’s Fury Knows no Bounds.—In his
Rage he Applies to the Courts.—The Clique’s
Inglorious Flight to Jersey City.—Drew Crosses the
Ferry with Seven Millions of Vanderbilt’s Money.—The
Commodore’s Attempt to Reach the Refugees.—A
Detective Bribes a Waiter at Taylor’s Hotel, who
Delivers the Commodore’s Letter, which Brings Drew to
Terms.—Senator Mattoon gets on the right side of Both
Parties

CHAPTER XVI.

DREW AND THE ERIE “CORNERS.”

A Harmonious Understanding with the Commodore.—How the 137
Compromise was Effected.—An Interesting Interview
with Fisk and Gould in the Commodore’s Bed-Room.—How
Richard Schell Raised the Wind for the
Commodore.—Drew’s Share of the Spoils.—He Tries to
Retire from Wall Street, but Can’t.—The Settlement
that Cost Erie Nine Millions.—Gould and Fisk “Water”
Erie again, to the Extent of Twenty-three Millions,
but leave Drew out.-“Uncle Daniel” Returns to the
Street.—He is Inveigled into a Blind Pool by Gould
and Fisk, Loses a Million and Retreats from the
Pool.—He then Operates Alone on the “Short” Side and
Throws Away Millions.—He Tries Prayer but it
“Availeth Not.”-“It’s no Use, Brother, the Market
Still Goes Up.”—Praying and Watching the
Ticker.—Hopelessly “Cornered” and Ruined by his
Former Pupils and Partners

CHAPTER XVII.

INTERESTING EPISODES IN DREW’S LIFE.

Incidents in the Early Life of Drew; and How he Began 147
to Make Money.—He Borrows Money from Henry Astor,
Buys Cattle in Ohio and Drives them over the
Alleghany Mountains under Great Hardship and
Suffering.—His Great Career as a Steamboat Man, and
his Opposition to Vanderbilt.—His Marriage and
Family.—He Builds and Endows Religious and
Educational Institutions.—Returns to his Old Home
after his Speculative Fall, but can find No Rest so
Far away from Wall Street.—His Hopes through Wm. H.
Vanderbilt of another Start in Life.—His Bankruptcy,
Liabilities and Wardrobe.—His Sudden but Peaceful
End.—Characteristic Stories of his Eccentricities

CHAPTER XVIII.

PANICS.—THEIR CAUSES.—HOW FAR PREVENTABLE.

Not Accidental Freaks of the Market.—We are Still a 157
Nation of Pioneers.—The Question of Panics Peculiarly
American.—Violent Oscillations in Trade Owing to the
Great Mass of New and Immature
Undertakings.—Uncertainty about the Intrinsic Value
of Properties.—Sudden Shrinkage of Railroad
Properties a Fruitful Cause of Panics.—Risks and
Panics Inseparable from Pioneering Enterprise.—We are
Becoming Less Dependent on the Money Markets of
Europe.—In Panics much Depends upon the Prudence and
Self-control of the Money-Lenders.—The Law which
Compels a Reserve Fund in the National Banks is at
Certain Crises a Provocative of Panics.—George I.
Seney.—John C. Eno.—Ferdinand Ward.—The Clearing
House as a Preventive of Panics

CHAPTER XIX.

OLD-TIME PANICS.

The Panic of 1837.—How it was Brought About.—The State 175
Banks.—How they Expanded their Loans under Government
Patronage.—Speculation was Stimulated and Values
Became Inflated.—President Jackson’s “Specie
Circular” Precipitates the Panic.—Bank Contractions
and Consequent Failures.—Mixing up Business and
Politics.—A General Collapse, with Intense Suffering

CHAPTER XX.

THE TRUE STORY OF BLACK FRIDAY TOLD FOR THE FIRST TIME.

The Great Black Friday Scheme originates in patriotic 181
motives. Advising Boutwell and Grant to sell
Gold.—The part Jim Fisk played in the Speculative
Drama.-“Gone where the Woodbine Twineth.”—A general
state of Chaos in Wall Street.—How the Israelite
Fainted.-“What ish the prish now?”—Gould the Head
Centre of the Plot to “Corner” Gold.—How he Managed
to Draw Ample Means from Erie.—Gould and Fisk Attempt
to Manipulate President Grant and Compromise him and
his Family in the Plot.—Scenes and Incidents of the
Great Speculative Drama

CHAPTER XXI.

CAUSES OF LOSS IN SPECULATION.

Inadequate Information.—False Information.—Defects of 201
News Agencies.—Insufficiency of Margins.—Dangers of
Personal Idiosyncrasies.—Operating in Season and out
of Season.—Necessity of Intelligence, Judgment and
Nerve.—An Ideal Standard.—What Makes a King Among
Speculators?

CHAPTER XXII.

VILLARD AND HIS SPECULATIONS.

Return of the Renowned Speculator to Wall 209
Street.—Recalling the Famous “Blind” Pool in Northern
Pacific.—How Villard Captured Northern
Pacific.—Pursuing the Tactics of Old
Vanderbilt.—Raising Twelve Million Dollars on Paper
Credit.—Villard Emerges from the “Blind” Pool a Great
Railroad Magnate.—He Inflates his Great Scheme from
Nothing to One Hundred Million Dollars.—His Unique
Methods of Watering Stock as Compared with those of
George I. Seney

CHAPTER XXIII.

FERDINAND WARD.

Peculiar Power and Methods of the Prince of 215
Swindlers.—How he Duped Astute Financiers and
Business Men of all Sorts, and Secured the Support of
Eminent Statesmen and Leading Bank Officers, whom he
Robbed of Millions of Money.—The most Artful Dodger
of Modern Times.—The Truth about the Swindle
Practiced upon General Grant and his Family.

CHAPTER XXIV.

HENRY N. SMITH.

How Mr. Smith Started in Life and became a Successful 223
Operator.—His connection with the Tweed “Ring,” and
how he and the Famous “Boss” made Lucky Speculations,
through the use of the City Funds, in Making a Tight
Money Market.—On the Verge of Ruin in a Pool with W.
K. Vanderbilt.—He is Converted to the Bear Side by
Woerishoffer, and Again Makes Money, but by
Persistence in his Bearish Policy Ruins himself and
Drags Wm. Heath & Co. down also

CHAPTER XXV.

KEENE’S CAREER.

He Starts in Speculation as a “Curbstone” Broker.—A 229
Lucky Hit in a Mining Stock Puts Him on the Road to
be a Millionaire.—His Speculative Encounter with the
Bonanza Kings.—He Makes Four Millions, and Major
Selover brings him to Wall Street, where they Form an
Alliance with Gould, Who “Euchres” Both of
Them.—Selover Drops Gould in an Area Way.—Keene Goes
Alone and Adds Nine Millions More to His Fortune.—He
Then Speculates Recklessly in Everything.—Suffers a
Sudden Reversal and Gets Swamped.—Overwhelming
Disaster in a Bear Campaign, Led by Gould and
Cammack, in which Keene Loses Seven Millions.—His
Desperate Attempts to Recover a Part Entail Further
Losses, and He Approaches the End of His Thirteen
Millions.—His Princely Liberality and Social
Relations with Sam Ward and Others

CHAPTER XXVI.

OUR RAILROAD METHODS.

Deceptive Financiering.—Over-Capitalization.—Stock 241
“Watering.”—Financial Reconstructions.—Losses to the
Public.—Profits of Constructors.—Bad Reputation of
our Railroad Securities.—Unjust and Dangerous
Distribution of the Public Wealth

CHAPTER XXVII.

THE GEORGIA BOND REPUDIATION.

How a Sovereign Southern State Cheated the Northern Men 255
who Helped Her in Distress.—A New Way to Pay Old
Debts.—Cancellation by Repudiation of Just Claims for
Cash Loaned to Sustain the State Government, Build
Public Schools and Make Needed Improvements.—Bottom
Facts of the Outrage.—The Recent Attempt to Place a
New Issue of Georgia Bonds on the Market while the
Old ones Remain Unpaid.—The Case before the
Attorney-General of the State of New York.—He
Examines the Legal Status of the Bonds in Connection
with the Savings Banks.—His Decision Prohibits these
Institutions from Investing the Hard Earnings of the
Working People in these Doubtful and Dangerous
Securities.—A Bold Effort to have the Fresh Issue of
Georgia Paper put upon the List of Legitimate
Securities of the New York Stock Exchange Firmly
Opposed and Eventually Frustrated

CHAPTER XXVIII.

ANDREW JOHNSON’S VAGARIES.

“Swinging Around the Circle.”—How Mr. Johnson Came to 289
Visit New York on His Remarkable Tour.—The Grand
Reception at Delmonico’s.—The President Loses His
Temper at Albany and Becomes an Object of Public
Ridicule.—His Proclamation of “My Policy” Ironically
Received.—Returns to Washington Disgraced.—The
Massacre of New Orleans.—The Impeachment of the
President

CHAPTER XXIX.

THE DIX CONVENTION.

How the War Democrat, General Dix, was Elected Governor 297
by the Republican Party.—The Candidates of Senator
Conkling Rejected.—How Dix was Sprung on the
Convention, to the Consternation of the Caucus.—Judge
Robertson’s Disappointment.—Exciting Scenes in the
Convention.—General Dix declines the Nomination, but
Reconsiders and Accepts on the Advice of His Wife and
General Grant.—How Dix’s Election Ensures Grant’s
Second Term as President

CHAPTER XXX.

CONSEQUENCES OF THE UTICA (DIX’S) CONVENTION.

A Chapter of Secret History.—Conkling gets the Credit 307
for Dix’s Nomination and His “Silence Gives Consent”
to the Honor.—Robertson Regards Him as a Marplot.—The
Senator Innocently Condemned.—The Misunderstanding
which Defeated Grant for the Third Term, and Elected
Garfield.—How the Noble “306” were
Discomfited.-“Anything to Beat Grant.”—The Stalwarts
and the Half Breeds.-“Me Too.”—The Excitement which
Aroused Guiteau’s Murderous Spirit to Kill Garfield

CHAPTER XXXI.

GRANT’S SECOND TERM.

The Best Man for the Position and Most Deserving of the 313
Honor.—How the “Boom” was Worked up in Favor of
Grant.—The Great Financiers and Speculators all Come
to the Front in the Interest of the Nation’s
Prosperity and of the Man who had Saved the
Country.—The Great Mass Meeting at Cooper Union.—Why
A. T. Stewart Refused to Preside.—The Results of the
Mass Meeting and how they were Appreciated by the
Friends of the Candidate, Leading Representatives of
the Business Community and the Public Press
Generally, Irrespective of Party

CHAPTER XXXII.

THE TWEED RING, AND THE COMMITTEE OF SEVENTY.

The Ring Makes Itself Useful in Speculative Deals.—How 327
Tweed and His “Heelers” Manipulated the Money
Market.—The Ring Conspiring to Organize a Panic for
Political Purposes.—The Plot to Gain a Democratic
Victory Defeated and a Panic Averted Through
President Grant and Secretary Boutwell, who were
Apprised of the Danger by Wall Street Men.—How the
Committee of “Seventy” Originated.—The Taxpayers
Terrorized by Boss Tweed and his Minions.—How
“Slippery Dick” got Himself Whitewashed.—Offering the
Office of City Chamberlain as a Bribe to Compromise
Matters.—How the Hon. Samuel Jones Tilden, as Counsel
to the Committee, Obtained His Great Start in Life

CHAPTER XXXIII.

HON. SAMUEL J. TILDEN.

How Tilden began to make His Fortune in Connection with 337
William H. Havemeyer.—Tilden’s great Fort in
Politics.—He Improves His Opportunity with the
Discernment of Genius.—How Tilden became one of the
Counsel of the “Committee of Seventy.”—His Political
Elevation and Fame dating from this Lucky Event.—The
Sage of Greystone a Truly Great Man.—Attains
Marvellous Success by His own Industry and Brain
Power.—He not only Deserved Success and Respect, but
Commanded them.—How his Large Generosity was
Manifested in His Last Will and Testament.—The
Attempt to Break that Precious Public Document

CHAPTER XXXIV.

COMMODORE VANDERBILT.—HOW HIS MAMMOTH FORTUNE WAS ACCUMULATED.

Ferryman.—Steamboat Owner.—Runs a Great Commercial 345
Fleet.—The First and Greatest of Railroad Kings.—The
Harlem “Corner.”—Reorganization of N. Y. Central.—How
He Milked the Street, and Euchred His
Co-Speculators.—His Fortune.—Its Vast Increase by Wm.
H.