June i, 1905.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



313 



ANTHONY N. BRADY, ORGANIZER. 



THE head of the syndicate which has been formed in con- 

 nection with the merger of the Rubber Goods Manu- 

 facturmg Co. with the United States Rubber Co. is regarded 

 in New York as one of the most remarkably successful finan- 

 ciers of this generation. Wall street did not know of the 

 existence of Anthony N. Brady before 1891, when he secured 

 a contract for equipping a suburban " trolley " line with rails 

 of a new pattern. Since then, however, the manipulators 

 and speculators of that money center have been obliged to 

 deal with Mr. IJrady on very many occasions. The rapidity 

 of his rise to power in the world of finance has been the won- 

 der of " the Street." Apparently everything he touched has 

 prospered. Railroads, gas, electric light, and powercompanies, 

 banks and industrial enterprises are the units with which he 

 deals. Cool and careful, but bold, aggressive, and daring, there 

 is in all Wall street no personality more interesting. 



Mr. Brady was born August 22, 1843, in Lille, France, whither 

 his parents had fled from Ireland to escape political persecu- 

 tion. Soon afterward they removed to America, settling at 

 Troy, New York, where the son attended 

 school until his thirteenth year, when he 

 was obliged to help support the family. 

 Beginning as cashier in the barber shop of 

 the Delevan House at Albany he was pro- 

 moted from one position to another until 

 he became head bartender. The I^elevan 

 House being a favorite resort of local and 

 state politicians the ambitious young 

 Brady improved the opportunity to make 

 the acquaintance of many men who might 

 be able later to give him valuable aid in 

 business. He had no intention of spend- 

 ing his life in serving drinks to thirsty 

 politicians, but he awaited the right op- 

 portunity for a change. 



At the age of 21 Mr. Brady had saved 

 enough money to open a tea store in Al- 

 bany, which proved so successful that he 

 was able soon to open a chain of tea stores 

 in Albany, Troy, and other neighboring 

 towns which proved very profitable. He 

 next became a contractor. The streets of Albany were in a 

 wretched condition, and the authorities decided to repave them 

 with granite, and build new sewers. When the time came to 

 buy the granite all the quarries within convenient distance of 

 Albany were found to be under Mr. Brady's control. The bold- 

 ness of tliis business stroke did not fail to impress several 

 financiers of prominence, and when he sought the aid of such 

 men as Roswell P. Flower, E. C. Benedict, and Edward Mur- 

 phy to form a syndicate to consolidate the gas companies of 

 Albany they readily lent their aid, and Mr. Brady was made 

 president of the new company. He knew nothing about the 

 gas business at the time, but was not long in mastering its de- 

 tails, and by introducing new methods of manufacture the en- 

 terprise soon was paying large dividends. Next turning his 

 attention to the horse car lines of Albany and Troy, Mr. Brady 

 secured control of them and equipped them with electricity, 

 with such results that he was soon a millionaire. It was inevi- 

 table that the services of a man able to achieve such financial 

 success in a small city like Albany would be in demand in 

 larger centers, and he was induced to go to Chicago where he 

 successfully reorganized and consolidated the gas companies. 



In 1S91 Mr. Brady proceeded to New York and secured a 



ANTHONY N. BRADY 



contract for equipping a street railway in the Bronx with new 

 rails. When the work was finished he was unable to collect 

 the money due him.and so took over the road, organizing, to 

 operate it, the Union Railway Co., now leased to the Metro- 

 politan Street Railway Co., which Mr. Brady assisted to organ- 

 ize, with a capitalization of $30,000,000. 



Soon after Mr. Brady's debut as a contractor in New York 

 city his attention was directed to the electric light and power 

 field. He saw that the many elevator apartments end tall office 

 buildings would become great consumers of electricity and 

 that the situation presented an unusual opportunity for the in- 

 vestment of capital. With the aid of the Central Trust Co., 

 the Olcotts, John A. McCall, and other powerful financiers, he 

 organized a number of electric light and power companies and 

 put them in operation. About this time Mr. Brady made the 

 acquaintance of Thomas Ryan and the late William C. Whit- 

 ney, with whose cooperation he acquired the Edison Co., cap- 

 italized at $25,000,000. He then negotiated to purchase of the 

 other companies in the same field on Manhattan island, and 

 organized the New York Gas and Electric Light Heat and 

 Power Co. This in turn was taken over by the Consolidated 

 Gas Co., with $80,000,000 capital, and 

 Messrs. Brady, Whitney, and Ryan were 

 elected trustees of the latter company 

 and made members of the executive com- 

 mittee. 



In 1894, when the late Roswell P. 

 Flower planned to secure control of the 

 Brooklyn surface railways and invited Mr. 

 Brady to become interested, the latter en- 

 tered upon the work with great enthusi- 

 asm and soon had secured control of 250 

 miles of road and organized the Brooklyn 

 Rapid Transit Co., with a capital of $20,- 

 000,000. Mr. Brady was made chairman 

 of the executive board and in that capac- 

 ity has had much to do with getting the 

 mixed affairs of the roads into shape and 

 makinga productive property of the whole. 

 He is connected with other important en- 

 terprises involving great public improve- 

 ments, too numerous to be enumerated in 

 these pages. 



In personal appearance Mr. Brady is a well built man, slight- 

 ly below medium height ; his hair is gray and his face round 

 and full; his voice is low and musical, and his laugh hearty 

 and contagious. He is quiet in manner and never seems in a 

 hurry, although he can do twice the average man's work. His 

 face and figure indicate the possession of an abundance of vi- 

 tality. His mind is intensely active and he gets at the bottom 

 of things quickly and accurately. He is strong in his likes and 

 dislikes, and he is thought a firm friend and a bitter enemy ; 

 he never forgets a favor and will go far to repay one. 



Recently Mr. Brady purchased the Bryan Lee Winters resi- 

 dence, at Fifth avenue and Eightieth street. New York, for 

 $270,000, with a view to making his home in this city. His 

 wife was Miss Marcia A. Myers, the daughter of a Vermont 

 lawyer. They have two sons and four daughters. Their resi- 

 dence hitherto has been at Albany, where their home life has 

 been regarded as ideal. Mr. Brady cares little for society, and 

 has always taken an active interest in politics, though he has 

 never held a public office and has declared that he never will. 



It has been remarked that probably no other man in the fi- 

 nancial world was so well fitted as Mr. Brady to bring about the 

 merger of the two rubber companies. 



