For a long time Henry N.
Smith has been one of the most
conspicuous bear leaders in
Wall-street. Addison Cammack and
the German firm of Woerishoffer
alone have divided the honors
with him for most prominence in
this direction. Cammack,
Woerishoffer, and Smith have
been close partners, and things
financial have been in such
shabby shape generally that they
have largely fashioned the
course of things in the Street
to their own liking. But not
long ago Messrs.
Cammack and Woerishoffer saw
the error of their way, and when
the Vanderbilt interest sought
to provide a bull market Cammack
and Woerishoffer did not stand
in the way. They are generally
credited, indeed, with having
put their shoulders to the wheel
to help things around. Mr. Smith
was left standing alone. He was
deserted, betrayed, say
adherents whose rhetoric is a
trifle strong. Three weeks or
more ago Wall-street was filled
with rumors to the effect that
he was ruined. He stoutly denied
these rumors and affected to be
careless of the gossip that
abounded on every side. But the
Soutter failure disclosed him as
a heavy debtor to that firm, and
the squeezing process that is so
well understood in Wall-street
left him little further hope of
fighting the battle out
successfully. The writing was on
the wall. He went under
yesterday without a murmur.
It
was fate that the Vanderbilt
vengeance should be wreaked. Mr.
Vanderbilt in inviting Mr.
Cammack and Mr. Woerishoffer
into the new bull regime had
carefully guarded, so the story
goes, against allowing any
benefits to accrue to Henry N.
Smith. Indeed, Smith's prop was
removed. He could not win with
his enemies reinforced by
old-time friends, who possessed
his secrets and the key to all
his movements. There are
specific charges made against
the Woerishoffers by the Smiths,
one of which may lead to legal
complications. It is alleged
that Mr. Smith and they were
lately joint partners in a bear
account involving 180,000 shares
of stock, with differences on
the market reaching a very large
sum. Mr. Woerishoffer is
reported to have promptly met
the differences on his half of
this, leaving the other half to
be cared for by Smith, and the
Smith following, going further,
ever that Mr. Woerishoffer then
went long of the stock and sent
up prices on Smith. Now the
customers of Heath & Co., who
are naturally the persons most
interested, claim that upon the
grounds of a legal decision
rendered in a case brought by
Deacon S. V. White some years
ago Woerishoffer can be held
liable for the differences on
the remainder of the account
that one partner in a joint
account cannot withdraw by a
settlement in such way, but must
continue responsible for the
whole liability till all is
settled. This claim is likely to
lead to much intricate
litigation before an end is
reached. In the interest of Mr.
Woerishoffer it is asserted that
there is no "joint" account
whatever, and that this claim
will not be considered seriously
on the Stock Exchange.
Henry N. Smith has an interest
as special partner in the
brokerage firm of Charles I.
Hudson & Co. It represents
$100,000 all paid in. Mr. A.H.
De Forest, of this firm, is the
brother-in-law of Mr. Smith. The
firm of Hudson & Co., in a
public statement yesterday
afternoon, explained that the
failures of the day had no
bearing upon their business;
they were in a prosperous
condition, and could suffer no
embarrassment through Mr.
Smith's connection with them.
Some feeling was manifested on
the Stock Exchange over the
charge that though Heath & Co.
were alleged to have drawn up
their assignment on Thursday
night they renewed contracts
yesterday before announcing
their failure. This grave
accusation may lead to serious
entanglements. A large portion
of Heath & Co.'s liabilities
consists of due bills for
dividends on the many high
priced stocks of which the firm
has been short for many months.
It is the custom when stocks are
borrowed to protect short sales
for the borrower to give due
bills for the dividends as they
accrue, and fully three-eighths
of the losses are due in this
way to the owners of the stocks.
Among the brokers the firm is
supposed to have been daily
borrowers of not less than
150,000 shares of stock, and
have paid out vast sums in the
way of shaves for the use of
such stocks as commanded a
premium for use.
The stocks settled at the Stock
Exchange comprised the following
lots, and were bought in without
creating any excitement: Two
hundred shares of Michigan
Central, 100 shares Canadian
Pacific, 200 shares Delaware and
Hudson, 200 shares Louisville
and Nashville, 400 shares Omaha
preferred, 300 shares Oregon
Railway and Navigation Company,
4,700 shares St. Paul, 700
shares Missouri Pacific, 500
shares Union Pacific, 1,200
shares New-Jersey Central, 5,900
shares Northwest common, 300
shares Chicago, Rock Island and
Pacific, 4,600 shares Lake
Shore, 10,400 shares Delaware,
Lackawanna and Western, 4,900
shares New-York Central, and
9,100 shares of Western Union
Telegraph in all 43,700 shares.
In addition the following long
stock was sold for account of
the firm: One thousand two
hundred shares Philadelphia and
Reading, 1,100 shares of Erie,
600 shares of St. Paul common,
and 200 shares of New-York
Central, 3,100 shares in all.
Giovanni P. Morosini has begun a
suit in the Supreme court
against William Heath & Co. and
has obtained from Judge Donohue
an attachment against the
property of that insolvent firm.
In his affidavit to procure the
attachment Morosini said that
for several years he has had
$480,000 in cash on deposit with
Heath & Co., subject to his
draft, and that the only debit
that could properly be made
against that sum was for 2,380
shares Manhattan Railway stock
and 25 Metropolitan Elevated
Railway second mortgage bonds,
which he ordered the firm to buy
for him, and which in the
aggregate cost $215,000. He
therefore asserts that the firm
owes him $265,000 in cash on
account of his deposit, and also
holds on deposit for him the
stock and bonds mentioned. Mr.
Morosini said that he called for
his securities and money
yesterday and was informed that
Heath & Co. could not deliver
them, as the securities had been
hypothecated or sold and the
cash otherwise disposed of. He
said he had never authorized the
defendants to make use of his
money and securities, and he
charged them with defrauding him
and intending to defraud their
creditors generally. As an
additional reason for the
attachment he said that Charles
E. Quincy, the junior member of
the firm of William Heath & Co.,
is in Europe and has no
residence here.
Mr. Smith was an ardent lover of
horseflesh, and many years ago
bought a farm near Trenton,
which he has gradually improved
and added to until it is now
known all over the country as
the Fashion Stud Farm. When a
few years ago the noted trotting
mare Goldsmith Maid, which died
the other day, was in the height
of her fame, Mr. Smith bought
her for $35,000, and it was as
his property that she made her
record of 2:14 in September,
1874. Among the other noted
horses belonging to Mr. Smith
are the stallions Jay Gould and
Socrates, both now at the
Fashion Farm, which has been for
several years owned by his wife.
He has never been very prominent
in society, residing quietly at
his house at the corner of
Forty-fifth-street and
Fifth-avenue. In the Winter he
is always to be found at the
opera, owning a box at the
Academy of Music.
Mr. Smith's wife owns the house
used by Mr. Smith for his home,
at Forty-fifth-street and
Fifth-avenue, as well as the
house adjoining. There is also
said to be other city real
estate in Mrs. Smith's name,
with property in New Jersey. Mr.
Smith owns a seat in the Stock
Exchange. In the assets of Heath
& Co. are to be estimated to
Stock Exchange seats, worth
$25,000 each, one in Mr. Heath's
own name and one in the name of
his partner, Major Charles A.
Quincey, who is now on his
wedding trip in Europe.
William Heath & Co. have for
several years past done probably
the largest commission business
on the Street. The house was
founded in 1860, and has passed
through the vicissitudes usual
to Wall-street houses in times
of panic, having suspended once
or twice before yesterday. In
addition to the New York
business, they have a branch in
London under charge of Thomas E.
Davis, and have been engaged in
enormous arbitrage transactions
between the New-York and London
markets. While credited with
large profits for years, they
are supposed to have suffered
losses aggregating $600,000
during the advance of the past
few months. The firm had a
branch in Paris for several
years during the speculative
excitement growing out of the
boom of 1879, but gave it up a
year or two ago. Heath gained
considerable celebrity at the
beginning of his business career
for the rapidity of his
operations and the celerity with
which he got from one side of
the market to the other when he
found himself wrong. His figure
is one of the best known in the
Street, he being fully 6 feet 6
inches in height, gaunt and
angular, with a huge drooping
mustache. He is as quick in his
locomotion as in his operations,
and this peculiarity has gained
for him the sobriquet of "The
American Deer," which was first
bestowed upon him by London
brokers while he was there
managing some gigantic operation
many years ago, and which has
stuck to him ever since.
At the time of the Black Friday
panic William Heath & Co. were
among the brokers acting for the
Gould-Fisk syndicate. When the
crash came Heath left the United
States and went to London, where
he remained for over a year. At
the time the impression was very
general that had he remained in
the city revelations attendant
with great loss to Gould could
not have been prevented, and
that his temporary absence was
due to the wish of Gould and
Fisk to have him out of the way
until the storm had blown over.