Page:The Wizard of Wall Street and his Wealth.djvu/193

 other causes, but Gould gave the tottering structure the push that leveled it to the ground. There were many reasons, it was argued, for his action. First, Field was no longer necessary, but on the contrary a hindrance to Gould and Sage, and they therefore wanted to get rid of him; and second, Field was conducting his bull movement independently of them. They would profit by his fall, while if he succeeded the system might pass into his hands. So in June, 1887, came the collapse. Mr. Field never charged Gould with having precipitated it, and Gould himself claimed that he came to the rescue of Field and saved him from bankruptcy. It was, however, a remarkable deal and one by which Gould made himself absolutely master of the elevated system, of which in 1891 he made his eldest son vice-president, and another son a director. Field was carrying an immense amount of stock on margins and was consequently a heavy borrower of money. Gould and Sage were lenders. The bank reserves were low. Gould and Sage called in their loans and Gould found it impossible to negotiate loans and was thus obliged to throw over his stock at a sacrifice. The price of Manhattan fell from 160 to 120 and Gould purchased from Field 78,000 shares at prices understood to have ranged from par to 120. Field saved his real estate and other property, but his power in the street was gone. His later history was a tragedy. In 1891, within a few weeks, he lost his wife and his son became a disgraced bankrupt. A few months ago Field died, broken hearted.