The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, March 19, 1899, Page 23

] w Trne Genoarme STERNLY DEMANDED T IKNO W WRAT WAS SAID .+ - way to t water- ind my nephew Jack I w a part of immer passport until it was nd age times with gends ho found me m a few kopeks and was e gendarme said to me: gainst given h voice of tk d the words: ‘‘We have been looking for different expression it was the nt, but re- me and had lost e the kopeks I ou, lady, but I , and tell thanked me more rd the gloomy and God which hed t a s ) but T felt no fear. 1 could speak Russian 1 1d wore the colors of my country in a knot w this b pr ed me quite fternoon er, deliver my 1t several D > that my beg| and the da < I bad given him ilists were to ar was among of dep yuse He twin brother, »w, who liv the I mother was a Ivan, was in P sough he is small for a man, r each other’s gloves,’ nd she “Number seven and very strong,” she ing them rapidl we frontier we f the m robility at the time t his serfs and a portion of his where he received an office n Nevs where she was er ur She hesitated nd my ifather. We now liv is time, where 1 we reache C v friends met Petersburg, where nd the porters at a word I did not t 'our hote wherever they No. —, on k from ringing the bell been heard from. That matter where we were : and it was there that I_went Ator Dol "HOW “JIM” In Six NE we again met Sophie Scholaskle, closely wrapped and velled, but not so closely that Lucy did not reccgnize her. “Oh, mademoiselle!” she cried, “‘we are so glad to find you again. Why you been to see u nd 1 say,” Jack chimed i; ““‘who lives in this house?" v should I know, and why do you ask?” Sophie replied. cause,” Jack went on, ‘“‘we know a lot about it—or Aunt Susan ou sympathize with the Nih!liste?"” “Jack!” T interposed, while Sophie said, very low: “You should not ask such_questions in the street—don’t you know the very cobblestones have ears?”’ Walking rapldly on we scon reached our hotel, which Sophie entered with us. In our room she threw off her wraps, and, leaning back in her chair, said, “Now tell me what you know about that house.” It was Jack who told the story, with sundry additions which I tried to l REcoanIsEd THE NOTE . correct, while Sophie listened with a hard look on her face and in her eyes. When Jack had finished she said: ““That house was once my home and see mothe She never makes to-morrow night. She put on her wraps and was gone before we had recovered from our more I cannot tell you now, but come alls, but will be glad to meet you; come surprise. The next night. just aft, inner, a messenger came, saying he was to conduct us to Mme. Sct kie's rooms, which were on a side street, in a ment house wh sheltered a hundred or more families, house on the Nevsky. There was but one servant—a woman wrinkled and old, but straight as an arrow, with a look in her eyes as if she were al on the alert. The Scholaskies' rooms were on the third floor, and surprised us with their handsome fur- nishings, from the golden-framed icon to the ivy-covered screen which i was in ng contra: shut off one end of the on. Madame, too, was a_surprise, as, with her snow-white hair and faded velvet gown, which told of better days, she came forward to greet us. That sne was a lady showed in her manner, tter was much softer and sweeter than We were scarcely 1d her voice, Th had impressed us 3 sula, the servant, ming on a side table her langus Sophie ated samovar ste from her pocket to me ten ye I recognized it in the affirmative ““The man you by eluded detection. He R O S R = SR SC S =) MADE $6,000,000 Weeks. rather masculine. rought s cups of hot tea from the As 1 was drinking mine madame took paper, and, holding it toward me, sald, “You sent this go. the note T had written for the beggar, and answered r a_moment the woman hesitated; then she safd: riended was my husband, and a Nihilist who had long was fond of disguises; that of a begsar was his DAOAOKOXOXOXO* Story of His Remarkable Life Amid the Booms and Bonanzas of the Comstock and of Wall Street. recent Wall street boom James R. ld-time position as the most daring and successful He was the only pror nt trader who saw the ad- I made between $,000,000 and $6,000,000 in six NEW YORK, M Keene recove s pecul ic as well himself. On December 6 erview in which he predicted a general and 1 the three months > then the stocks and Wall street have advanced over $100,000,000. A large one to small in at th vestors all over the country, who inning of the adv; There are bigger operators r, but not one who occupl; or one of the vet- advic men who are more famil or one thing he is the veter He was here in the d Gould and the elder the rise and fall of many fortunes, including his , lost them and made others to replace them. that led investors to ace: s to the for y. Everybody r man had come out with the cused of trying to influen had on foot. When Keene nest. If he would have been enefit of deals that he the 1 sagacity by accumulating two great le with some of the masters of the “‘street’ juished. He may not be so great a m ing of speculators, est 5 not iy responsible. s acted on the square. He has ed by men whom he trusted, and some himself has never been accused of a , but Keer ne of to-day is a man of e im height and compact -crepped to the chin, does not hide the firm are searching, kindly and bright. His abrupt and declsi But he will stop transaction to shake hand h an to a dependent acquaintance, and he has many of the man. h two fri when the w he poor. T A v don’t, I will. of his comp the other. sphone, called up the Mayor and told him that the sufferings of the destitute poor. The only ild_reach them immediately, 3 yor had to get hold of the Commissioner se that the money would be applied im- ent for the head of one of the principal city and placed in his hands $10,00)—eight wo from hi friends. The only proviso at- During the recent in the Waldorf-As- 1-to-do ought to put people in this hotel characteris s sitting r o d give $10.00 I'l give $1000. “I'll do the Keene walked A0 we stipulation orgar »m his own pocket ched to the gift w iet it to the nee litt 1 the May«¢ having n e and announced that his ft w right,” and so 3.000 to a very p at first intended for the ‘purpose arrangements, called up Mr. pted. Keene's response was, ictical charity instead of the »“to fortune been a remarkable and in some respects a He was born in London a little Xty years ago. age of 1 or a e lived in.the t As soon as he was admitted the throng of voung men drawn wi and began his practice in San F 3 t to mining claim nd properties, and soon w He made money in his venture o the bar, in famil pec s more a , but his v yer was poor, a physician advised him to take a long trip. So he closed up his busine ffairs, packed his effects and started for the At- antic cohst, to be absent a 3¢ That ant trip for Keene. It made him a rich man. Some time before he had become poss: sed of some shares of a mining stack that was gelling at almost nothing. It was belleved to be practi- ally worthless, but soon Ccene's departure it panned out wonder- g stock w up like a rocket from one figure to three. Ke s : news traveled s 7 In those days. He knew nothing of his good fortune for a lor . but when he returned to San Fran- cisco he found that his few s had grown to $200,000. Had he re- ed at home he would have sold out probably at the first advance, rhaps one-tenth of what he actually realized. As he himself . it was a lucky journey. s The former lawyer, baving brains., confidence, sound judgment and $200,000 at his command, was ready to attempt larger affairz. He became a broker and speculator; invested freely and came out luckily in all his undertaking Those we Flood, F men, be sound ju The boom very high days of great speculation in San Francisco. Mackay, ir and O’ re the leaders. Keene took his place with these one of the board and soon had a reputation for good luck and t. nd the rush of money for investment had forced prices to a oint. Keene saw that the inflation could not last. When he believed that the turn was close at hand he went short of the Comstock securities, which had received more attention and had been forced higher than any others. In taking this course he had Mackay, Flood, Fair and the power Bank of Californi inst him. For a time there was a lvely contest hetween these rival influences, then the market began to sag under the influence of Keene's persistent s and soon it was going down with a rush. In the smash-up of values that ensued Keene realized three millions from his short interest in the Belcher, Crown Point and Ophir mines. This coup made him famous all over the country as the first man who had successfully fo Although Keer then, or afterward, van “ific Coast trlumvirate before named. had been on th side of the market, he was not destroyer of vi In this case he simply took ad- of a condition of affairs that was certain to bring about the same result. After the crash, when values were on a saner level, he did his ut- most to restore prosperity. The Bank of California had been dragged down in_the ruin, and Keene set to work to rehabilitate it, and put up a miilion dollars, Along with D. O. Mills and ‘‘Lucky’ Baldwin, for the pur- pose. It was due to the combined efforts of these men that the slump did not _extend further. Keene continued his speculative career in California until, in 1577, his fortune had grown to $4,000,000. Then he started for Europe to recuperate his health again. By that time the unvarying success of his operations had made his name known to financiers and speculators, though he had confined his attention entirely to the Pacific Coa It was in 1S77. in the course of his journey, that Keene first appeared in Wall street. He came to see, but he remained to conquer. The attrac- tion of the larger market, the opportunity for great undertakings, were irresistible. Keene transferred his interests to New York and at once be- came one of the prominent figures in Wall street. One fact that the California millionaire soon learned was that he could not run the Wall strect market to sult himself as he had done in San_ Francisco. When he threw out thousands of shares in an effort to send the market down it sagged only a point or two. instead of taking a big drop, as had been the case in his earlier fleld. But he soon adjusted himself to his new surroundings. One of the first big deals that he went ght the Ps into was the Western Union pool, which Jay Gould was engineering. In this they netted a million between them. Six years had elapsed since the panic of 1873. Prices were at their low- est ebb. Keene, carefully studying the market and the conditions of the country, as he has always done, was convinced that rock bottom had been reached and that a great advance was coming. He bought heavily, stak- ing the bulk of his fortune on his judgment in the matter. The rise in val- ues came and continued beyond the expectation of those who had predict- ed it. Keene added between eight and nine millions to his fortune. Peoule looked at Keene in wonder. Here was a man who had made a fortune of fourteen millions by speculation, who had cleared nearly ten millions in Wall street in three years. His fortune was without parallel for the rapidity of its accumulation. He came to be looked upon as a sort of financial wizard. It was said that he could not lose. Perhaps Keene came to have a little of the same feeling. After his great success Keenc branched out in every direction. He lived in the princely fashion agreeable to his nature. He gave away thousands and gave advice to his friends, on which they made thousands. He was fond of racing, so he bought a stable and became a leading figure in turf affairs. At the same time he speculated in ofl, wheat, stocks, anything. Tt was In 1885 that Keene, in vulgar parlance, bit off more than he could chew. He tried to corner the wheat market, an_attempt that has been a fatal stumbling block to other able financiers. In this same year his horse Foxhall won the Grand Prix in Paris. It was an honcr that Keene prized dearly, and when it came he was engaged in a struggle that involved practically his whole fortune. Under the stimulus of rising prices the Western farmers rushed their wheat to market faster than Keene with his millions could absorb it. Jay Gould had been watching Keene's course with interest and saw the vulnerable spot. With Addison Cammack he get out to bear the market on the interests that Keene was concerned in. At the same time the newspapers began denouncing the corner and its backers. Some of Keene's partners in the combine became timid and sold out. The load was tco heavy fcr the Californian to carry alone and he went down under jt. Over seven millions of his accumulations were swept away. He tried desperately to recoup himself on what remained, but could not t{o it. Men whom he had aided before were willing to profit by his downfall, and in the language of the street, he was “sold out.” He had the mortifi- catlon of seeing the shares that he was unable to hold on to advance over 50 per cent within a few months under the skilliful manipulation of Gould and his assoclates. Keene was not overwhelmed by his misfortune. He set to work quietly to regain what he had lost. For a time he was heard of but little. He was in Wall street, and was making progress, but he did not attempt any apoleonic maneuvers. Still be made money at a rate that could not be accounted otherwise than rapid. He paid off all the obligations remaining from his disastrous venture and gradually returned to something like his Qld pesitiop in the affairs of ths street he (Jitilist on the favorite, and had done him good service many times, but failed him at the He wa years. last. H: ; our house and came here. way to thank v kno rrested and trie had spent a gre on the Nevsky v It is a special Provid u for your kindn v we are Mving, over a volcano which may engulf us at any time. d sent to Siberia. where he died within 1 of money for the cause he believed s heavily mortgaged; we lost it which has thrown you in my ss to him. I try to be cheerful, but I “But what harm can come to you, living here alone?” I asked: and before she could reply Sophie “None whatever my father away. It ha; talk about it? Do you She turned to Lucy, “Yes—but not for money, “I know—you play for fun; then let it be fun. Jack would not ner, while Lucy play d with Sophie. d, fiercel he is nervous, and has been so ever since they took a different effect on me; it makes—me— all play cards?” who, knowing the Russian habit, answered: as you do.”’ But why t Ursula, bring the table.” and I took his place, with madame for my part- We had played one hand, and Sophie was dealing for the second when Ursula came in, and closing the door said, in a whisper, “The: For an instant mada of terror in her eyes a: He came in, and, bo you had company, but my business admits of no delay. rest your son, Ivan Schc unearthing for some time she glanced toward her daughter. fectly calm, and kept on dealing as she side If one were listening, “Show him in. re is an officer here asking to see madame.’ me’s face was like a corpse, and there was a look Sophie was per- d, loud enough to be heard out- wing politely, said to madame: *I did not know I am here to ar- kie, as head and front of a plot we have been Agaln that corpselike pallor spread over madame’s face, as she re- plied: seek him there.’ “When my son last wrote me he was in Paris; you will have to “He might have been in Paris when he last wrote you, but at 12 o’clock last night he was seen him, although, 1 a: replied. Iy rie and alone w: her cards as if nothing v “Let him search,” sh and want to play it, the: game, unless nihilism, while ing nothing worse than space, for the table was The gendarme servant rtainly,” Sophie chance for one to be h trump: she added, tur hold_ my cards. You as horrified to find m calm; she turned up wish to look This to the gendarme, as she smiled and 1 have no special wish to erhaps, will tz to enter this house. It is my duty to search for e you, I am Sorry to give you trouble,” the gendarme If mixed up in a second affair of gendarme- and Lucy looked anxiously at me. Sophie be ace of spades, and was adjusting inusual was happening. e d to her mothe out as I have a good hand re’s no reason why we should not go on with our der the table first.” wept aside the folds of her dress, disclos- four pairs of feet huddled together in a small not a large one. and said: “I do not think he is under the table, arrest him, except as I must obey orders. me through the rooms?” aid. a, show this man wherever there is a iding. It's your I believe. Spades are ning to me, Who v haking so I could scarcely ac] “Ry George!” Jack cried. when the officer had gone and the matter was explained to him, T sh; that is what I wanted.” “Would vou like to Jack replied: *No, sir: ma ‘T knew he woul was fore Luc said nothing. at last threw down_ her home. As she stood in said: hunting for vour brother.” not find him,” 1. as were all her actior She was v 1 get mixed up in a Nihilist scrape, after all, and be one of the and chief actors?” Sophie asked, and wonder you could keep S0 cool with that absent-minded that she g she w tired and wanted to go cards, ing s ng room Sophie stooped over her and the dre fay 1 kiss you once as a dear little girl from over the sea, where I sish to heaven T had been born?” Wi e hesitated & moment, then lifted her face for the kisses Sophie gave her—passionate n Scholaskie ing if 1v Jack believed he was not, while I s ()Y v \VAhg Se NOLASKIE, | ‘COME kisses, such as women seldom give to each other. e sat late that night talking of all we had heard and seen, and wonder- really were in the city. Lucy believed he was. arcely knew what I did believe, I was ~WITH ME Ty so impressed with some impending d he had been to ¢ evening on the many of the court dignitarie ing for us at the foot of pped in f part of her to thin ot wr thrill me the neither s unde to the T £ ot her go, 1 tell you! answered for the officer: There is no Sophie Scholaskie. continued: Yo Sophie and Leave Russia. Scholaskies. you! Ivan ar 1, that—oh!—oh! walked the thing. There was nothing we could sk fell to me collapse as she grasped my Land “You are kind to come,”* she though heaven Knows ‘When hi: only ) > of the Government. air, smooth f.’\(‘e.]nn which he and at school two :{gx"}s”:x girl, which he did to perfection this ta a suspe Ivan did. He h with a was in queradi the police { tried to persu Nihflist tyranny 1s as great r in Paris at the Bon Marche So he . e B had sraved Sophie all might have been well, but he we 1o the rendezvous might before last in his own clothes. and now go. I may be sent to Siberia with him. When T can I will write to you, if you will it to her, and five days later we cros many, where I breathed freely, as if been ques 3 olaskies, and as each had told the same the a ye: come. thin. him the their A\ and happy- her brother was in the,cit commodate rack. she w she sugge i, have seen all the notables you will see hed pushed back her cap a little fro never forgotten, when from some U came, casting a looked at us with and we saw her no more. to the hotel. “1 guessed it 1 believed he wa room I w them, and wh worst, and ; 0 and every name he thought familiar to them. ve had as we bade adieu to Rus ing in love - and kindness one hardly expected from those grim Russ We had been home more than a year when there came a letter from who was in Southern Siberiz er's death t his fate, and it was not = not like the dreary north. anger to our Russian friends v himself, and when he returned he sald unn e Pfo be a gala night. and it was rumored that it ‘oere to be present. We found Sophie wait- eps leading down to the river. She was DS aon down o closely that only a small Awd to ask her if she had any reason but a feeling of delicacy restrained S it Gnd I sat in silence in one of ‘the shelters Sectators,.while Jack and Lucy took a spin on the Once or twice some gendarmes passed us, and I wondered i {le benind me, where she was more in shadow. K O joying the scene, and when at last Jack and Lucy ted that we go home. a yme and her was v c he most > dr e said, “‘and it must stay late. m her face, whose express n quarter a man's figure laid & hand on her shoulder and T told mother I would not h 1dow: upon ‘It}: e, come with me ¥ S e 1 had heard much the same words, but H!u\‘ r]! d not as they dld now, taking my strength away so that 1 « nor speak for a moment ck, who did Hotund: 1 the action, and with all impulsive America hol ou don't arrest girls, do you U R tise, my good friend. the game is ug Iam Ivah. Good-by!" She turned to ms tell my mother, and one word of warning; L ebnd Yime you have been mixed up with tha ‘We are dangerous acquaintances. Good-by, and God bless itiful smile on her face, then walked away aL\’;cy was in hysterics by the time we got her and “When the officer was looking for and when she k sed me in’ the sure s as a man. -No girl ever ed me like AT a paroxysm of tears, while Jack g lion, and declaring he’d do som t night,” she said. sitting by me. And she burst into room raging like a youn do, except to see the poor mother, and she had heard of the arrest, and was in a state of “but you must not stay. I, too, a T have never planned nor plotted. B hed he took an oath to be reveng love for adventure and man, only five feet six. ould never make a beard grow. Ha ad conceived the idea there of mas- father was banis ‘ sh boy—with his father’s He is very slight for a 18—a ears nd he has often eluded Just what he was plotting I do not know, and I 5 give it up. But he was bound hand and foot, and e g e r{‘a that of the Government. He has been but he was wanted here and had to s voman’s dress for safety. His own hair is light and n nil r;a““j' r\:;&: a wig, so natural that no one would think it that guis You kn If not, I shall ve me your addr: ed the frontier into Ger- We had Aking from a nightmare. with ard to our connection with tory without the sligh ot molested. I heard that Jack said some very Dot o ssian. Government, and that the officers s to fall in love with a man! Whereupon he had 1 they threatened him he had dared them to do tened them in turn with Uncle Sam and George ioned separatel s were m thre n adventure with a Nihilist, a squabble with the gendarm -d Siberia! I ought to be satisfied with my Russian trip, ia. 7t, Indeed, she had talked but little since the arrest, and had_pleaded for Sophie, She was not taunted at when questioned by the police she rer punishment might be of the mildest. as Jack had been, but was treated with a defer ns. and his mother was with him. he had been since he had _sworn to av e fever of excitement and dread of detecti as bad as he h He was an exile, it was true lance, but he scarcely felt it, as he had nothing to conce s mother had joined him, he w ¢ content. He had k's daring defense and Lucy’s eloquent pléading for him, and n for it v woman'’s dress a man’s heart was beating, He was enge h he wrote, “and nsibie to the loveliness of your n face. It was not who kissed her, but Ivan, and I see her always with her u ned from me as if she divined the truth. God bless he d bless you —and in this prayer my mother joins. We are not very un- g > together, and Ursula is with Good-by. TVAN SCHOLASKIE Jack answered the letter, and T added a P. S. Lucy had no word, but last 1er, when she had been for two y & years a happy wife, she sent Seture of her little girl, whom she had called Sophie.. Whether ed that far-off home in Siberia I have never heard.—Lesli, Magazine.