Worst Hard Times Book Talk: Fact Checking the Stock Market Suicide....

We've discussed this previously here and then yesterday here

...well, hmmmm. Like I said, I was curious about the who, what, whys of this episode mentioned in the book on page 74 ("One company, Union Cigar, went from $113 to $4 - in a single day. The company's owner jumped to his death from a building on Wall Street.") and page 95 ("When the Bank of the United States folded, it had deposits of two hundred million dollars. Fittingly, the bank's biggest office was next to Union Cigar, the company whose president had committed suicide after the stock fell from $103 to $4 in a day.")

The "Stock Market" page numbers are in the index.

So I'll update my findings. Thought I'd check out the New York Times...since it supposedly did take place in NY....plus the Times are microfilmed.

First off, I ran into an obstacle. I could not find a company named "Union Cigar" mentioned in that time period or in relation to the stock market crash....found a company with that name in Stark County, Ohio...but seemed unrelated. All the quotes had mentioned the "Union Cigar" company connection... but contintued to search.

So thought I would check out the Beverly Hotel connection found in the Anxious Decades book.

And there it was.

In the October 30, 1929, Wednesday issue on page 16....

TOBACCO MAN FALLS TO DEATH AT HOTEL
Anthony Schneider, 60, Head of Webster Eisenlohr, Killed at the Beverly in 6-Story Drop.
ACCIDENT, POLICE REPORT
$12,500,000 Company's Stock, Which Had Sold as High as 113 3/8, Went to 4 In Market Crash.

The article went on: "Anthony Schneider, 60 years old, president of Webster Eisenlohr, Inc., of 511 Fifth Avenue, one of the largest cigar manufacturing concerns in the United States...."

Ahhhhhhh....so this seems to imply...
*the company was not "Union Cigar" nor "Union Cigar Company"

*the death scene did not involve a "Wall Street building"

*jumped and committed suicide conclusion not confirmed through this article...as the police report said "Accident"

*one day drop amount not confirmed....as the article only mentions the drop, not when it occurred or if it fell over a period of days (as did many stocks) (A article by Dr. George Bittlingmayer (with the University of Kansas) indicates that it was not a one day drop...footnote 11)

*the figures involved were $113 and $4.

On November 13, 1929, an article mentions "Cullman Heads Webster Eisenlohr" under Changes in Corporation...seems to indicate a change of leadership.

This site shows a scan of a December 14, 1968 article that mentions the Cullman Bros. in connection with purchasing Webster, Eisenlohr & Co., "a foundering cigar" manufacturer.

I've also come to believe that the mysterious "Union Cigar" company may in fact have been the product of how the story started growing into a legend...the company name evolved as the story was retold. On October 28, 1929 (two days before the death article), the NY Times mentions a consolidation of companies under the Webster-Eisenlohr Co. banner that include a United Cigar's. The article also mentions the "Union Tobacco Co".... Union Tobacco was a major player.

The New York Death Index seems to confirm that a Anthony Schneider died on October 29, 1929...which fits the name in the article...The site records his age as 65 yrs, but that is at least in the right range. The certificate number is 25859. The Soundex number is S536....

....another name (Albert Schneider) I found in an article that refers to this incident (with its own spin on the events, but also mentioning the Beverly and a tobacco president) is not in the index. The source for that newspaper quote is not given in the excerpt.

Thus far, the NY Times article about Anthony Schneider, Webster Eisenlohr, the Beverly, and the stock values seems to have facts that are backed up in other sources....will see.