{"product_id":"2940015552423","title":"New York Businessman William C. Whitney","description":"Kindle version of vintage magazine article originally published in 1900.  Contains lots of great info and illustrations seldom seen in the last 100 years.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRead excerpt -\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThen there was George B. M. Harvey. Whitney had gained control of all the main arteries of surface traction excepting the Third Avenue line. He began maneuvers to secure that. Planning to beat the price of the stock down, be made a newspaper campaign and picked Harvey as his press agent. Harvey was then managing editor of The World on a small salary. Today he is worth probably half a million, and is owner of the North American Review, but strangely enough, has gone over to the Morgan camp. Meanwhile, Whitney had banged Third Avenue so effectively that the price of the stock had been cut in two. All this time Vreeland had been studying the property. When it was placed in the hands of a receiver, Vreeland secured access to the statements, which he ate up in short order. After a day or two of digestion he said to his chief:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Now, Mr. Whitney, is the time to buy.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd \"Buy\" was the slogan for all insiders.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWith characteristic finesse, the Whitney crowd worked the market both ways. Some of the shrewdest men in the street thought that the Whitney people were selling. But no one seemed to know what was going on.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt was a smooth deal. The Whitney people bought the road at a lower price than they had previously offered to the owners. They got in at about 55, and now the stock is quoted at 112. In testimony of their appreciation of Vreeland's work in this deal, the Whitney syndicate sent him a check for $100,000, which they could well afford to do.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs far as can be learned, Whitney's next deals will be Brooklyn Rapid Transit and the Manhattan Elevated. This is a natural and logical sequence to what the Whitney people have already done successfully in street railways. They have given a more satisfactory service to the public at a less price than was ever before attempted in the metropolis.","brand":"history-bytes","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47184379445488,"sku":"2940015552423","price":5.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940015552423_p0.jpg?v=1763621267","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940015552423","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}