The pigeon made a banker

Title

Language

English

Source

Panorama 4 (7) July 1939

Year

1939

Subject

England -- Finance

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

THE PIGEON MADE A BANKER MORE THAN A CENTURY AGO, when news traveled slowly, by mail or courier, and there was no wireless, telephone or airplane service, a young German banker was astonishing the London financial commuity by transactions apparently based on an uncanny foreknowledge of coming events. He never was caught off guard. At that time Napoleon Bonaparte was trying to conquer all of Europe, and his military activities were reflected in the market, sometimes disastrously. But when a Napoleonic victory caused a crash, always this one young banker had liquidated in time, often only hours before. Then, just before the market took an upward swing, he would buy at rock-bottom prices. For eighteen years the financial world marveled at him. When the news of Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo reached London, every stockbroker was taken unawares except the smiling young German. He had cornered the market several hours befo1re th~ news came in! In the beli~f that he must have supernatural pow · ers, an angry crowd storm ed h1~ office, threatening to lynch him. To save his life, the young ma1 had to reveal the source of his uf. • canny information. He explaine~ that his family long ago had established a daily pigeon air-mail service between all the brandhes of its banking business. Daily each office dispatched one hunclred birds carrying letters, stock quotlations. news bulletins, and various tteportS in code. By this means he had the news of Waterloo twenty-four hours before the rest of London. Thus Nathan Rotht>•hild, wi, zard of finance, cornered the market, pocketing $100,000,000, a~d firmly entrenching the- house of Rothschild as the world's most powerful b an k i n g institution, thanks to the first daily ait-mail service !-Adapted fr o m t h e "Don't You Believe It" Pro9ram Mutual Broadcasting System. • • • 56

pages

56

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