CT 
 
 CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
Cornell University Library 
 CT275.G687 H19 
 
 LUe of Jay Gould, how he made his mllli 
 
 f 
 
 PRINTED IN U.S.*. 
 
The original of tliis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924029853953 
 
LIFE OK 
 
 JAY GOULD 
 
 HOW HE MADE HIS MILLIONS 
 
 The Marvellous Career of the man who, in Thirty Years, 
 Accumulated the Colossal Fortune of ^100,000,000; by 
 
 FAR EXCEBDING IN RAPIDITY AND VOLUME THAT OF ANY 
 OTHER MAN IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD 
 
 The noted Journalist and Litterateur, 
 
 IVIURAT HALSTEAD 
 
 AND 
 
 J, Frank Beale, Jr. 
 
 TO WHICH ARE ADDED 
 
 Sketches of the Great Money Kings of the Present 
 Day more or less Associated with him. 
 
 W. Fletcher Johnson, Esq. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 EDGEWOOD PUBLISHING CO 
 
 ISQ2. 
 
/\-)y3Sf^ 
 
 Copyright, 1892, 
 
 BY 
 
 J. Frank Beale, Jr. 
 
List of Illustrations. 
 
 PAca 
 
 Jay Gould 33 
 
 Jay Gould and Hamilton Burham 51 
 
 George J. Gould, 69 
 
 Mrs. George J. Gould, 87 
 
 Mr. Edward Gould, 137 
 
 Mr. Howard Gould, 155 
 
 William H. Vanderbilt 173 
 
 Jim Fisk, 191 
 
 Russell Sage 225 
 
 Cornelius Vanderbilt, 243 
 
 Cyrus W. Field, ... 261 
 
 Lord Rothschild 279 
 
 Inside the Greenhouses 297 
 
 Commodore Vanderbilt 315 
 
 Linden Tree at Lyndhurst, 333 
 
 View OF THE Hudson FROM Irvington, 351 
 
 Mr. Gould's Residence at Irvington, 369 
 
 A View of the Conservatories' at Lyndhurst, • 387 
 
 Northeast View of Lyndhurst, 405 
 
 Entrance to Lyndhurst, 423 
 
 Dining Saloon on the "Atalanta," 441 
 
 Stern of the " Atalanta," • 459 
 
 Mrs. George Gould and Miss Anna Gould, 477 
 
 A State-room ON the " Atalanta," lai 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 FAGS 
 
 In thc Beginning 17 
 
 CHAPTER n. 
 The Days of Youth, 36 
 
 CHAPTER HI. 
 Marriage and Home Life, 58 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Career in New York, 71 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Wall Street Wars, 89 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 Lyndhurst and the "Atalanta," 123 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 Illness and Death, 14' 
 
Vi TABLk 01- CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 PAGB 
 
 "A Character Estimate, 190 
 
 Newspaper Characterizations, 202 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Last Will and Testament, 214 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Mr.. Gould's Colaborers, 254 
 
 ^-Recollections of Surviving Friends, 2S4 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 »-Mr. Goumj's Greatest Enterprise .* 299 
 
 CONTEMPORARY FINANCIERS. 
 
 The Vanderbilts, 379 
 
 Leland Stanford 397 
 
 Chauncey M. Depew, 409 
 
 Andrew Carnegie, 429 
 
 The Rothschilds, 439 
 
 The Astors, 453 
 
 John W, Mackay 469 ' 
 
 MR. GOULD'S GREAT OPPONENT. 
 
 Terence V. Powderi.y, . 483 
 
. INTRODUCTION. 
 
 THE object of this volume is to give the public 
 an intelligible and fair account of a remark- 
 able man, whose greatest distinction was that of 
 exceptional success in gaining wealth — making mil- 
 lions. 
 
 Of course, no man earns millions with the labor 
 of his hands. One who grathers a vast fortune 
 must do it by the appropriation in some form of the 
 fruits of the productive industry of others, and yet 
 it is a stupidity to say that large properties are 
 criminal accretions. 
 
 The equitable distribution of wealth, the riches 
 that arise from the soil, the climate, the intelligence, 
 the toil, the skill, the thrift of the country at large 
 is a most difficult problem, and has thus far been 
 an impossible task. If there is a mass of value in 
 the possession of one man equal to $100,000,000, 
 can we be quite sure that in the long run and the 
 largest way, it would be better to parcel it out into 
 a hundred fortunes of a million each or a thousand 
 of one hundred thousand each, or that any further 
 subdivision would more completely answer the 
 highest social requirements ? 
 
 It is said that the head of the house of Rothschild, 
 
 7 
 
8 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 in Paris, when informed by a caller that he had no 
 rio-ht to so enormous sum of money as he com- 
 manded so long as there were poor men, replied by 
 asking whether, if his treasure was equally distri- 
 buted among all the French people that would be 
 satisfactory, and when told it would, said : " I have 
 made a calculation, your share is five francs, and 
 there it is. Allow mc the use of my time." 
 
 As our country grows we more and more under- 
 stand, from familiarity with the facts, the uses of 
 capital and how its utilities expand and its import- 
 ance increases as civilization advances. Now, this 
 capital is the margin that is produced beyond the 
 consumption. It is gain for labor, and it is of value 
 to those whose personal possession it is not. Capi- 
 tal at rest does not profit the people, save by in- 
 direction. Capital in activity is profitable to all who 
 are laborers, stimulates industry by providing enter- 
 prise, finds imployment, improves conditions. 
 
 Mr. Gould's millions were not inherited. He was 
 the son of a farmer who was poor but not dependent, 
 and had the capacity to make himself comfortable, 
 and the courage to stand for his rights and maintain 
 them. The story of Mr. Gould's youth is pathetic 
 as well as instructive. The delicate boy, trudging 
 away from home, seeking his fortune in the great 
 world, with as humble and honorable beeinnino-s 
 as any farmer's son who ever turned his back on 
 the old farm, ambitious to extend his horizon and 
 enlarge his opportunities, should not be deprived of 
 
INTRODLCriON. g 
 
 his share of human sympathy, because his fortunes 
 were so extraordinary, because he must rank in the 
 history of his race as one of the conquerors whose 
 achievements appeal to the imagination. It was not 
 in miHtary warfare that he won. He was a winner 
 in the game of brains. The boy who fell on his 
 knees and prayed for a chance to make his own 
 living became the wizard of Wall Street and a 
 power in the land. He had three palaces, one in 
 the country, one in the city, and one afloat. His 
 millions were not made by the increase of the value 
 of lands. His investments were put to the front in 
 the latest inventions and the most adventurous lines 
 of business. 
 
 If we candidly study this man's career fairly, not 
 setting down aught in malice, beciause he died many 
 times a millionare, or striving to flatter, but simply 
 as a record of things done, good and evil, striking 
 the average, we shall find more that is attractive 
 than we have been accustomed to comprehend as 
 credible. There have been many men in Wall 
 Street who partook of the peculiar wickedness pro- 
 verbial across the continent and beyond the seas in 
 a? great or a greater degree than Mr. Gould, who did 
 not attract attention to themselves by excess of 
 accumulation. It is only reasonable that the mag- 
 nitude of success should not be the measure of 
 prejudice, and a man should not be a monster 
 because a millionaire. 
 
 After his early railroad wars Mr. Gould aban- 
 
u.. 
 
 jQ INl'RODUCriON. 
 
 doned strife for the mastery of the great Eastern 
 lines of transportation, and the Gould system is west 
 of the Mississippi and south of the Missouri Rivers, 
 in the section of the Republic the most undeveloped 
 in comparison with its natural advantages, and the 
 most promising with perhaps the exception of the 
 gigantic Northwest. The country in which he has 
 operated exceeds in dimensions Germany, Italy, 
 France, and Spain combined, and its steady growth 
 is as certain as the progressive development of the 
 continent. Mr. Gould has been engaged in lay- 
 ing cables under the Atlantic, and running steam- 
 lines over the Pacific, and building roads of steel 
 and stringing miles of iron for transportation and 
 telegraphing from shore to shore of our ocean- 
 bounded Republic, an occupation as grand and 
 genial as ever qnlisted the energies of manhood. 
 We find the bulk of this man's fortune invested, first, 
 in the railroads of the huge Southwest ; second, in 
 the elevated roads of New York city, the most com- 
 fortable, safe, and crowded system of rapid transit 
 in the service of any immense aggre^^ation of 
 humanity on the earth ; the Western Union Tele- 
 graph Company, which is one of the wonders of the 
 world, doing a work that is a daily marvel and bene- 
 faction — doing it in a style that is superior to that 
 of any of the governments that abroad have taken 
 in charge the communications of the people with 
 themselves in part or wholly, with revenues and re- 
 sponsibilities that would match the resources and 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 II 
 
 augment the dignities of empires, and doing it in ac- 
 cordance with the best interests and the truest 
 traditions of the^ Repubhc. 
 
 Not only is tlie estate left by Mr. Gould the largest 
 ever gathered within the same length oftimebyone 
 man ; it shows in the properties we have described 
 the highest intelligence of investment, the broadest 
 statesmanship in management, the most enlight- 
 ened reliance upon the latest influences in affairs, 
 the finest appreciation of the indestructibility of good 
 will, and its material and money-making force in 
 affairs. No great estate was ever before so thor- 
 oughly committed to, and identified with the progress 
 of industry and the prosperity of the people ; and 
 the boy who left the house of his father to school 
 himself, and make his own way, has had the crowning 
 success of his life in leaving as his representatives 
 modest daughters and manly sons. 
 
 M. H. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 IN THE BEGINNING. 
 
 IN the little town of Roxbury, Delaware County, 
 New York, about 150 miles' from that great 
 metropolis of the United States, New York City, on 
 the 27th day of May, 1836, there was an unusual stir 
 in a certain little farm cottage toward the outskirts 
 of the town. There were hurrying footsteps, and 
 muffled words of congratulation. A- little boy was 
 born that day — a rosy, plump little bit of humanity, 
 not one iota different from the other tiny babes of 
 the village, though it was destined to become the 
 mightiest money king of the country. 
 
 Jason Gould this child was named by a happy 
 mother, who^e highest ambition for her darling off- 
 spring was that he might become a pillar in the 
 church, a successful farmer and dairyman. Her 
 .prayers were that her boy might have at least a 
 small share of this world's successes. As her fond 
 eyes fell upon her baby boy, she wondered if their 
 slender means would warrant the expenditure of 
 enough money to give him an education. 
 
 Her husband was a small farmer and dairyman, 
 and his earliest thought for the little child's welfare 
 was scarcely beyond the hope that he would fast de- 
 2 17 
 
jg LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 velop and become a useful helper in managing the 
 few homestead acres and the small dairy. In any 
 biography we must needs take into account the effect 
 of hereditary traits, of associations, of climate, and 
 of environments. These were, to say the least, un- 
 promising to the future of the little child. There 
 are, however, strange turning-points in history, and 
 many real miracles beyond the hope of explana- 
 tion. We shall see how this little man progressed 
 from the humble farm cottage to the millionaire's 
 manse. It is a thrilling tale, full of romance, and 
 fraught with importance to generations. 
 
 It will be seen that through babyhood and boy- 
 hood Jason Gould was the personification of plain 
 people. His parents were people of strong sense 
 and sterling integrity, but it was with difficulty and 
 stringent economy that they held their own. Rox- 
 bury was but an insignificant village in the Cats- 
 kill County region. The Goulds had moved there 
 not long after the Revolutionary War, and Jay's 
 father, John B. Gould, was the first white male child 
 born in the county. His birth occurred in 1792. 
 
 Jason grew rather rapidly, mentally as well as 
 physically. His growing mind had not the exercise 
 which was accorded to his growing body, for 'from 
 the time he outgrew his toddling state, donned litile 
 blue jeans and round-about, he was given his duties 
 on the farm, while his education was sadly nep-lected. 
 His father was known as a " good provider," but in 
 those days this meant ope suit of ciotheg sufficiently 
 
IN THE BEGINNING. jg 
 
 good to protect the wearer from the cold and storms 
 of that mountain region, and enough food to main- 
 tain physical strength. It did not mean luxuries of 
 education any more than it meant luxuries of diet or 
 apparel. The young lad's mind, though untrained, 
 was active, and he often thought he might, if he had 
 an opportunity, study books and know something 
 of the world of letters, which to him had an unac- 
 countable fascination. 
 
 On many occasions while driving the cows from 
 the meadow field through the wooded lane to the 
 old thatched barn for his sisters to milk, he revolved 
 in his mind various methods to help himself. There 
 were schools not far from his home, but the unim- 
 proved public-school system made it impossible for 
 him to attend any other than a private institution 
 for that higher knowledge which he so earnestly 
 desired. The youth of to-day with either wealthy 
 parents or charity's outstretched arms to aid him in 
 securing an educadon, cannot possibly understand 
 or appreciate the struggle with which Jay Gould one 
 morning as he came down from his litde room in the 
 attic, faced his father with the declaration that he 
 would like to have his freedom, in order that he 
 might seek an education at an academy in a neigh- 
 boring town. 
 
 He knew that his father understood his lack of 
 sympathy with any part of the work on the farm, 
 and too well he knew that his pale slender physique 
 was a subject of no little fear on the part of his 
 
20 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 father. He had disliked even the customary sports 
 of the people around him ; he was different from 
 any other boys in the village school in which he got 
 the rudiments of his education. He was not what 
 was generally termed a manly boy. He did not par- 
 ticipate in the rough-natured games of his school- 
 mates, and preferred to remain in-doors, and at re- 
 cess time to cuddle up in some remote corner of 
 the school-house, busy with his own thoughts and 
 his own plans and hopes for the future. When ap- 
 proached by his school-mates to come and join a 
 game he declined all invitations. If bantered or 
 teased by the boys, he would break away in tearful 
 anger and make a complaint to the schoolmaster, 
 who would thrash his tormentors, much to the re- 
 lief of little Jason. 
 
 He was but twelve years old on the eventful 
 morning when he asked his father for his freedom. 
 He was told he might go, as he was of little use 
 on the farm. Much to the man's surprise, this de- 
 lighted his son, for Jason had thoroughly made up 
 his mind that he would either live or perish in the 
 attempt to get an education. Perhaps he did not 
 fully realize the immense importance of his deter- 
 mination ; perhaps the gratification of a desire to 
 shirk the farm duties, which had become so irksome 
 to him, was a potent factor in his determination. Be 
 that as it may, Jason Gould's career began on that 
 day. 
 
 To give the reader an idea of the principle with 
 
IN THE BEGINNING. 2i 
 
 which young Goiild started out to make his fame 
 and fortune, we present in full text the last "com- 
 position " he wrote in the little village school-house 
 in Roxbury, before leaving it forever. It has been 
 preserved through all these years in the original 
 manuscript, by his old schoolmaster and his de- 
 scendants. 
 
 It is as follows : 
 
 COMPOSITION. 
 
 Jason Gould. 
 
 Beechwood Seminary. 
 
 April 9TH, 1850. 
 
 " Honesty is the Best Policy." 
 
 " By this proposition we mean that to be honest, 
 to think honest, and to have all our actions honestly 
 performed is the best way, and most accords with 
 the precepts of reason. Honesty is of a self-deny- 
 ing nature; to become honest it requires self-denial; 
 it requires that we should not acquaint ourselves 
 too much with the world ; that we should not asso- 
 ciate with those of vulgar habits ; also, that we 
 should obey the warnings of conscience. 
 
 " If we are about to perform a dishonest act, the 
 warnings of conscience exert their utmost influence 
 to persuade us that it is wrong, and we should not 
 do it, and after we have performed the act, this 
 faithful agent upbraids us for it ; this voice of con- 
 science is not the voice of thunder, but a voice 
 gentle and impressive ; it does not force us to com- 
 
2 2 Lil'B- OF JAY GOULD 
 
 ply with its requests, wliile at the same time it rea- 
 sons with us and brings forth arguments in favor of 
 right. 
 
 " Since no theory of reasoning cm be sustained 
 without illustration, it will not be unbecoming for 
 us to cite one of the many instances that have oc- 
 curred, whose names stand high upDn the scroll of 
 fame, and whose names are recorde d on the pages 
 of history — George Washington, the man ' who 
 never told a He in all his life.' 
 
 "In youth he subdued his idle passions, cherished 
 truth, obeyed the teachings of conscience, and 
 ' never told a lie.' An anecdote which is much 
 related, and which occurred when he was a boy, 
 goes to show his sincerity. Alexander Pope, in 
 his ' Essay on Man,' says ' an honest man is the 
 noblest work of God.' 
 
 "And again, we find numerous passages in the 
 Scriptures which have an immediate connection to 
 this, and summing up the whole we cannot but say: 
 ' Honesty is the best policy.' Jason Gould." 
 
 How interesting is this little composition. It was 
 written hastily and from the heart. 
 
 During his vacations, which in those days were 
 very long, generally from the istof May to the ist 
 or 15th of October, young Jason had worked 
 steadily on his father's farm despite his disinclina- 
 tion to do so, for it must be said of him that he was 
 a dutiful son. Though he disliked to work at such 
 
rN THE }3EGmmt/G. 2 -> 
 
 uncongenial employment, it was never necessary to 
 urge him to his task, his having to do it was suffi- 
 cient. He was generally known throughout the 
 district as a " queer " boy. He was not understood, 
 and this added to the many other difficulties in the 
 way of his getting an education at the Academy, 
 into which no pupils were admitted who did not pay 
 for their tuition. Nevertheless, on the day after he 
 was given permission to leave home to seek his for- 
 tune, he started out with fifty cents in the pockets of 
 his blue jeans, and one extra suit rolled up in a 
 bundle under his arm. 
 
 How many great men have Iiad their sincerity and 
 perseverance tested at the beginning of their career 
 by a long, fatiguing walk ! It was a long and tedi- 
 ous tramp that at last brought him to Hobart, the 
 seat of the seminary to which he hoped to gain ad- 
 mission as a student. With no little trepidation he 
 sought the principal — for the head-master was not 
 known as a president in those days — and told him 
 his story. To his surprise and unbounded joy the 
 old man sympathized with the boy, whose face and 
 manner, as well as his story, were pathetic. He 
 obtained board in the house of a blacksmith, 
 who agreed to keep his little guest, provided he 
 would attend to his books and accounts, for young 
 Jason was a beautiful penman. 
 
 Now all the inate energy of the boy was brought 
 to the surface. He was grateful for the kind recep- 
 tion he had received at the hands of the principal 
 
2 . LIFE OFJA Y GOULD. 
 
 and the blacksmith. He set to work to please his 
 teachers as well as his host. By the end of six 
 months he had gained the confidence of all his as- 
 sociates, as well as those who had trusted him and 
 interested themselves in his welfare, To be sure, 
 six months was not a very long time in which to 
 gain that education for which he had such a longing, 
 and yet so well did the youth employ his every 
 opportunity that at the end of that time he was 
 well grounded in the rudimentary branches. 
 
 The innate industry before referred to of which 
 there had been little evidence at home, had asserted 
 itself immediately upon his contact with men of 
 broader and more liberal minds. On leaving the 
 Academy at the end of six months he obtained a 
 position as clerk in a tin-shop at Hobart, and three 
 years after, at the age of 15, became a partner in 
 the management of the business. His ambitions 
 were developing rapidly. He was up at day- 
 break every day to pursue the study of his chosen 
 profession — surveying — as he found books and in- 
 struments to help him. He often went home to 
 spend Sunday with his father and sisters, for his 
 mother had died since he left the parental roof. 
 
 His father had become unpopular in the villao-e 
 by opposing the ante-rent movement, and the elder 
 Gould was at last forced to sell his farm. Young 
 Jason took him into his tin shop on a salary, and 
 leaving his father in charge there, he engaged with 
 some surveyors who were making a map of Ulster 
 
IN THE BEGINNING. 25 
 
 County, at a salary of twenty dollars a month. 
 The young man had had but little experience with 
 shrewd business men, and he did not know that this 
 salary was far below what he should have had ; but 
 probably had he known it, the knowledge would 
 not have deterred him from accepting the position, 
 for his main idea and guiding plan was to become 
 practiced in what he then believed would be his 
 chosen profession. 
 
 Mr, Gould said of his trip through Ulster County: 
 "When I came to start I questioned whether I 
 should take any of my own scant supply of money 
 with me or not. I could have had it, but I thought 
 it was better to break down the bridge behind me ; 
 so I took only enough to pay my fare. I met a 
 gentleman, and he started me out to make these 
 surveys. The map he was making was one on 
 which all the roads and the residences are located — 
 a map showing the general topography of the coun- 
 try. They are useful for reference, 
 
 " When this man came to start me out he gave me 
 a small pass-book and said, ' As you go along you 
 will get trusted for your little bills, what you will 
 eat, and so on, and I will come around afterward 
 and pay the bills.' I thought that was all right. I 
 think it was on my second or third day out that I 
 met a man who took a different view. 
 
 " I had stayed at his house over-night. They 
 charged in that part of the country at that time a 
 shilling for supper, sixpence for lodging, and a shil- 
 
^5 LIFK OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 ling for breakfast, making two shillings and six- 
 pence in all. I took out my little book and said, ' I 
 will enter that.' The man turned on me with an 
 oath and said (referring to my employer), ' Why, 
 you don't know this man ! He has failed three 
 times. He owes everybody in the' county, and you 
 have got money and I know it, and I want the bill 
 paid.' There I was. I hadn't a cent in my pocket, 
 so I just pulled my pockets out and said to him, 
 'You can see that 1 tell the truth. There are my 
 pockets.' So finally he said he would trust me. ' I'll 
 trust you,' said he, 'but I won't trust that man.' 
 This incipient had such an effect on me that it seemed 
 to me as though the world had come to an end. 
 This was in the morning, and I could not have the 
 heart that day to ask anybody to give me a dinner ; 
 so along about 3 o'clock in the afternoon I got faint 
 and sat down for a few minutes. 
 
 "After this rebuff I was naturally timid. It had 
 a great effect upon me, and I debated with myself 
 whether I should give up and go home or whether 
 I should go ahead. I came to a piece of woods 
 where nobody could see me, and 1 had a good cry. 
 Finally, I thought I would try my sister's remedy — 
 a prayer. So I got down and prayed, and felt bet- 
 ter after it, and I then n^ide up my mind to go 
 ahead. I set my lips close together, and made up 
 my mind that I would go ahead and die in the last 
 ditch, 
 
 " I went on, and the first house I came to I deter- 
 
IN THE BEGINNING. -,^ 
 
 - / 
 
 milled right then and there to go in and get some- 
 thing to eat. 1 went in, and the woman treated me 
 kindly, gave me some bread and milk and cold 
 meats, and one thing and another, and when I got 
 ready to leave I said to her, 'I will enter it down.' 
 She said all right. In the meantime her husband 
 came in, and they both said it was all right. I 
 stahed, and had got, I guess, about forty rods away 
 from the house when 1 heard him hallooing to me. 
 Well, aftei- the morningr scene, I thought he was 
 going to finish me ; but he came right on, and when 
 he got up to me he said, ' I want you to take your 
 compass and make me a noon-mark.' 
 
 " That, as you perhaps know, is a north and south 
 line right through the window, marked in so that 
 the farmers can regulate their clocks by it. When 
 the sun strikes the line it is twelve o'clock. I took 
 my compass back and made the noon-mark for him. 
 When I had made it, and was about to go away, he 
 said: ' How much is that?' 'Oh!' said I, 'nothing.' 
 ' Oh ! yes,' said he ; 'I want to pay you for it' I 
 thought a moment, and he went on to say: 'Our 
 surveyor always charges a dollar for these jobs.' 
 Said I, ' Very well. Take out a shilling for my 
 dinner.' So he paid me the seven shillings. Every- 
 thing went by ' shillings ' in those days — eight shil- 
 lings to the dollar — and he kept one and paid me 
 the other seven. That was the first money I made 
 in that business, and it opened up a new field to 
 me, so that I went on from that time and completed 
 
2g LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 the surveys, and paid my expenses all that summer 
 by making noon-marks at different places. 
 
 "When I got through with the summer's work 
 my employer had failed, and was unable to pay me. 
 There were two other young men, wealthy men's 
 sons, who had been engaged on the same work, 
 and we three together had the control of it. I pro- 
 posed to them that we should go on and finish the 
 map ourselves, and finally we decided to do so. 
 Then, as they lived in the county and were pretty 
 ^conspicuous, they wanted to put their names to the 
 map, so I said to them, ' Very well ; I will sell you 
 out my interest,' and I sold my interest to them for 
 $500. 
 
 " This was the result of my first summer's work. 
 I went on and finished the work and got it ready 
 for the engraver, so that what I sold was the per- 
 fected map. This was a map of Ulster County." 
 
 There was a stimulus for young Gould in this 
 comparatively small success. He saw that he was 
 capable of doing work that was marketable. He 
 reasoned that if the people of Ulster County would 
 buy a map of their county, the people of Albany 
 County and of his native county would do the 
 same. 
 
 His little capital of $500 was a great deal to him, 
 and, in fact, it was just what he needed to aid him 
 in the prosecution of his work. Had thg funds 
 at his command been larger, he would have been 
 tempted to extravagance — a fault which was not 
 
IN THE BEGINNING. ' 29 
 
 then his, and never could be attributed to him. 
 Had the sum been smaller, he would have been 
 forced to call upon some one for financial aid, who 
 would naturally have expected to offer advice and 
 to share the profits. 
 
 Young Gould said of this work, " I had made up 
 my mind that I would go it alone, and I made those 
 surveys alone and completed them, and they were 
 very successful in sale, so that I made ftbout $5,000 
 out of the maps." 
 
 Of his next venture Mr. Gould says : "About that 
 time, while I was carrying on these surveys, I met a 
 gentleman who seemed to take a fancy to me, Mr. 
 Zadoc Pratt, of Prattville. He was at that time one 
 of the largest tanners in the county. I had done 
 some surveying for him. He had a very beautiful 
 place at Prattville, and I fixed that up for him, and 
 finally he proposed to me to go into the tanning 
 business with him. He knew my whole history. I 
 accepted this proposal and the next day I started 
 for Pennsylvania. 
 
 "The Delaware & Lackawanna Railroad had 
 just been completed. I went over that road, and 
 found some very large lots of hemlock timber land, 
 and I came back and reported to Mr. Pratt what I 
 had found and we decided to go on. He sent me 
 back and I made the purchase of the land — made all 
 the contracts myself, and then came back and took 
 about fifty or sixty men down there with me to start 
 the work. It was right in the woods, fifteen miles 
 
,0 « LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 from any place, I went in there and chopped down 
 the first tree. We had a portable saw-mill, and we 
 sawed the tree up, and that day we built a black- 
 smith's shop out of the timber. I slept in it that 
 night, on a bed made of hemlock boughs. We 
 went on and built the tannery. It was a very large 
 one — the largest in the country at that time." 
 
 The tannery improved the district wonderfully. 
 A plank road was built, extending out into the coun- 
 try some miles, and a stage route was organized. A 
 church, school-house, and bank soon followed, and 
 then young Gould sought to develop the postal 
 facilities of the region by becoming postmaster him- 
 self In this position his executive ability and his 
 penchant for development were eminently successful. 
 
 After awhile Mr. Gould bought out his partner, 
 obtaining the needed funds from Charles M. Leupp, 
 a hide and leather merchant of New York City. 
 They formed a partnership. All went quietly for 
 awhile, and then the danng ventures and schemes 
 of Mr. Gould, the resident partner, attracted uni- 
 versal attention. This alarmed the New York 
 house, which traded under the name of Leupp & 
 Lee, and they sent their book-keeper to investigate 
 the affairs at the tannery. 
 
 This excellent man could only report undecipher- 
 able accounts. He told his employers that he 
 thought the tanrjery was badly involved and that 
 the New York house was probably in the same un- 
 fortunate plight. 
 
lU THE BEGINNING. , I 
 
 Young Gould had gone into speculations in hides 
 and other tanneries, which might and migrht not have 
 turned out well, but the old-fashioned notions of 
 Mr. Leupp were shocked, and when he found that 
 his partner had bought not only all the hides then 
 in the market, but all that were to arrive in the 
 ensuing six months, he literally lost his reason and 
 shot himself after a stormy interview with Gould, 
 who remained imperturbably cool and simply turned 
 on his heel and left the office. Mr. Leupp lived in 
 what was then called 'the Barretta Mansion, corner 
 of Twenty-fifth Street and Madison Avenue, New 
 York City, which cost in low-price time ^150,000 to 
 build, and which was filled with costly furniture and 
 rare products of pencil and chisel. 
 
 On the death of their common partner Gould and 
 Lee made a dash for the property in Goldsboro. 
 Prior to the fatal shot Gould had arranged with 
 Congressman Alley, of Massachusetts, to take the 
 works, and thus relieve Leupp & Lee ; but the 
 suicide of the senior partner stopped the consum- 
 mation of this plan, and, Gould always insisted, 
 stopped the way to a profitable continuance of the 
 works. Both Gould and Lee were men of nerve, 
 and both determined to get and hold the tannery. 
 Lee reached it first and garrisoned it with the em- 
 ployees. Information was received that Gould in- 
 tended to use force, and preparations were ma.de to 
 receive and repel him. 
 
, 2 LIFE Of JAY CO ULD. 
 
 The New York Herald of March i6th, i860, thus 
 describes the battle : 
 
 "TANNERY INSURRECTION IN PENNSYL- 
 VANIA. 
 
 "Battle between the forces of the Swamp Leather Deal- 
 ers — The Leupp & Lee Tannery, in Goldsboro, 
 attacked and defended. — Sides of leather used for 
 breastworks. — Insurgents two hundred strong. — 
 The tannery taken. — Flight of the defenders. — 
 Wounded, four. 
 
 , "About half-past 10 o'clock on Tuesday morning 
 the lock was wrenched from the stable, the men 
 having been concentrated into the tannery and the 
 stable being unguarded. A little past 1 2 the tan- 
 nery itself was attacked by a mob variously esti- 
 mated at from 180 to 250 men, armed with axes, 
 muskets, rifles, and other weapons. Without a de- 
 mand of possession or summons to surrender the 
 doors were beaten in, and but a few blows had been 
 struck by the assailants before they began to fire 
 ball and buckshot through the building, raking it in 
 every direction. As vigorous a defense was made 
 by a force of 15 men in the story attacked with tan- 
 nery sticks, stones, and four revolvers as was pos- 
 sible against such overwhelming odds. The tannery 
 was finally carried on all sides, and those who did 
 not escape were violently flung from the windows 
 and doors, while the assailants rushed through the 
 buildings, yelling like Indians, pursuing the fuo-itives 
 
JAY GOULD. 
 
IN THE BEGINNING. ,1- 
 
 with their guns in every direction. In the action 
 many contusions were received and four gunshot 
 wounds, and had it not been for the large number 
 of sides of leather hung up the lofts, very few of 
 the defending party would have escaped without 
 wounds. 
 
 " Mr. Jay Gould, in his version of the affair, says : 
 " ' I quietly selected 50 men, commanding the re- 
 serve to keep aloof. I divided them into two com- 
 panies, one of which I dispatched to the upper end 
 of the building, directing them to take off the 
 boards, while I headed the other to open a large 
 front door. I burst open the door and sprang in. 
 I was immediately saluted with a shower of balls, 
 forcing my men to retire, and I brought them up a 
 second and third time and pressed them into the 
 building, and by this time the company at the upper 
 end of the tannery had succeeded in effecting an 
 entrance, and the firing now became general on all 
 sides and the bullets were whistling in every direc- 
 tion. After a hard contested struggle on both sides 
 we became the victors, and our opponents went fly- 
 ing from the tannery, some of them making fearful 
 leaps from the second story.' ' 
 
 3 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE DAYS OF YOUTH. 
 
 I^HE morning of May 27th, 1836, had been a 
 very memorable time in the Gould family. 
 The daughters were informed by the father that 
 they had a dear little brother. What an event was 
 this in a household where there were already five 
 little girls ! One of Mr. Gould's eldest sisters has 
 often said, " I remember but as though yesterday 
 my great delight. The first opportunity, 1 stole into 
 my mother's room to see if what had been told me 
 was really true. Sure enougii, in the cradle, with a 
 wealth of brown hair and dark eyes, lay our little 
 treasure. We all thought him very wonderful, and 
 watched with great fondness from day to day his 
 growth and development. The first tooth, as usual, 
 was looked for with great interest, and when he was 
 nine months old, the whole house was overjoyed at 
 his feat of walking and climbing the stairs. It is 
 not necessary to say that with five older sisters he 
 was the pet and idol of the household. His manv 
 baby pranks and precocious sayings were repeated 
 to all who would patiently listen. Our grand- 
 mother's especial gratitude for a boy was that the 
 name might go down to iuture generations. Father 
 36 
 
THE DAYS OF YOUTH. ,- 
 
 rejoiced in die prospect of one to help him bear his 
 burdens, and become, as he had done, an inheritor 
 of the paternal acres. Mother accepted the treasure 
 as a new responsibility, fraught with much anxiety 
 for the future." 
 
 His first four years were uneventful, save in the 
 home circle ; years not particularly calculated to 
 bring out the strong points of his character. Being 
 frail and delicate, he was all the more petted and 
 generally had liis own way. When he entered his 
 fifth year, all were anxious for him to begin his edu- 
 cation, and his mother consented to his name being 
 registered as a pupil in the little country school. His 
 first day was an eventful one, as described under the 
 chapter devoted to " Incidents and Anedotes." The 
 next day was a success at school. When fully ini- 
 tiated, he took great delight in his studies, always 
 keeping in advance of his class. It was only by 
 taking plenty cf exercise out-of-doors ; riding, driv- 
 ing and running over the hills and mountains that 
 his physical nature was able to, endure the strain of 
 his intense study after he became older. 
 
 Before he was five years old the sweet, gentle 
 mother left that household for the better land, the 
 greatest loss a little, delicate child could possibly 
 have. The only memory he had of her, as he has 
 since said during the latter years of his life, was the 
 messenger summoning him from school in order 
 that she might give him her dying blessing, and he 
 never forgot how cold her lips were when she gave 
 
28 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 him her last kiss of love, but he could not know how 
 hard it was for a fond mother to leave her youngest 
 born. He inherited from his mother his ambition, 
 his sweet and gentle nature, that evenness of tem- 
 per which enabled him to control himself even when 
 a boy and still more when he became a man, and 
 also his wonderful ability to turn everything to his 
 financial profit. From his father he inherited his 
 indomitable will, his persistent perseverance to ac- 
 complish whatever he undertook, no matter what 
 obstacles came in his way, and from him also he had 
 a most sympathetic nature ; he shrank from suffer- 
 ings he could not alleviate. 
 
 His first three years in school were in a little old 
 school-house, gray with age and tottering with its 
 infirmities. But at that time the Anti-Rent War 
 broke out in New York State, and for some time 
 the Gould home was in the midst of civil strife. 
 Jay's father represented law and order itself; mobs 
 of armed and disguised men could not drive him 
 from his position, but they did drive his children 
 from the public school. After a threat to drown his 
 boy, then eight years old, which frightened him 
 gready, he declared he should never enter that 
 school again ; the result was a new comfortable 
 building called Beechwood Seminary, with gradu- 
 ates from the State Normal School at Albany as its 
 professors. 
 
 They were men fitted for their calling, and knew 
 just how to lure their young student onward in the 
 
THE DAYS OF YOUTH. ,g 
 
 paths that led up the hill of science. This oppor- 
 tunity he improved to its fullest extent. His prog- 
 ress was a continual delight to his instructors; he 
 would never accept assistance in working out hard 
 problems. He was known to have worked at times 
 for three weeks on a difficult problem in loga- 
 rithms. When he gained the victory the whole 
 house was made aware of the fact by a succession 
 of somersaults and kindred demonstrations. 
 
 He was so studious that he almost always spent 
 his evenings with his sisters, yet sometimes he would 
 join- a party for coasting by moonlight and such other 
 outdoor sports as belong to the country. One day 
 he and one of his young companions decided on a 
 rare treat ; he had a young colt which was his own 
 property, so he very naturally concluded he had a 
 right to its services. The sleighing was good, and 
 his father absent from home, so they thought it a 
 most excellent time to try the speed of the young, 
 untrained horse. They succeeded in arranging a 
 single harness to their entire satisfaction ; the colt 
 was put before a new beautifully-painted coaster 
 large enough for the two boys ; they took their 
 places with great anticipation ; they gathered up the 
 reins, and were soon gliding down the inclined 
 driveway" whicli led to the main road. The beauti- 
 ful bay arched his neck and to the consternation of 
 the boys refused to be governed by bit and reins. 
 He sped onward with ever-increasing speed until 
 finally he conceived the idea of lifting his hind feet 
 
AQ LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 in a very violent manner. Tlie boys were thor- 
 oughly frightened and concluding that retreat at that 
 juncture would be the better part of valor, slipped 
 off, willing to leave the post of danger. The pet 
 animal dashed furiously onward until he was 
 stopped by a neighbor, who readily divined what had 
 happened. He brought the colt to its stall, rubbed 
 it down, gathered up the broken sled, and put every- 
 thing in as good a condition as possible for Mr. 
 Gould's home-coming. The time when he should 
 know what had happened was very much dreaded, 
 but when the fact did finally become known, he was 
 so grateful for the miracillous escape of the boys 
 that he did not even scold, but thought he had bet- 
 ter consider the colt his own property. Tims ended 
 the episode. 
 
 Young Jay's first visit to New York about this 
 time was a very memorable event. His father hav- 
 ing business which would detain him for some days, 
 thought it a favorable opportunity to introduce his 
 youthful son to some of the wonders of the great 
 city. His trip down the Hudson was a surprise 
 and a delight, but when the city opened up before 
 him with its many streets, its huge blocks of brick, 
 stone, and marble ; its fountains and tall spires, its 
 beautiful shops filled with so much ;o attract the eye 
 of a child that had never seen beyond the mountains 
 that encircled his native valley, he was simply be- 
 wildered. The story of Aladdin and his wonderful 
 lamp was verified. His sister waited anxiously for 
 
THE DAYS OF YOUTH. a\ 
 
 his return, wondering what he would have to tell 
 them ; but to their disappointment he was more 
 quiet than usual, until he had had time to think over 
 and arranofe in his own mind the incidents of his 
 visit. He then told them many very wonderful 
 things. 
 
 His unpleasant experience with an untamed colt 
 did not detract from his love of driving horses that 
 were subject to bit and bridle. Before he was 12 
 years of age he was allowed to drive a pair of fleet- 
 footed, spirited grays, that often felt their oats, up 
 and down the hills and over the mountains for the 
 convenience of his sisters. He never boasted of 
 any inventive ability, but it was always sufficient to 
 meet any emergency. Once while driving through 
 Grand Gorge, a narrow pass between two moun- 
 tains, the horses for some reason sprang to one 
 side, breaking the tongue of the carriage. What 
 was to be done was the next question. After a 
 moment's consideration, he left one of his sisters in 
 charge of the reins while he went to the nearest 
 house and borrowed an axe with which he cut a 
 young sapling, and with the help of a rope he 
 mended the break and journeyed on. All went 
 well until he crossed the bridge at Stratton Falls 
 and began to ascend the hills up to the old farm. 
 All at once the carriage began to move in the wrong 
 direction ; it was just above a roaring cataract. 
 Realizing the danger, he sprang from the carriage 
 as quick as thought and blocked the wheels^ then 
 
42 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 turning the horses at right angles with the road, 
 with a command to them to stand still, he mended 
 up a second time. After all the delays his sisters 
 congratulated themselves that they had reached 
 home before any scouts had been sent out to look 
 for them. 
 
 One of Mr. Gould's sisters who was much with 
 him in his youth, has said : " We frequenriy had 
 what we considered hair-breadth escapes, of which 
 the following was an example. We had decided to 
 visit one of our maternal uncles who lived on the 
 Delaware River near Deposit. We left home very 
 early one beautiful June morning, our horse was 
 fresh and our carriage light, and we almost flew 
 over the beautiful country until we reached Delhi, 
 20 miles from home, thence down to Walton, and 
 by way of a plank road pver the mountain to She- 
 hocton. After leaving there we learned that the 
 very rain which had made the country so charming 
 in its freshness and so fragrant with its flowers, had 
 carried away an important bridge, and that we 
 would have to ford the river; we hesitated, but 
 were told if we kept the track there was no danger. 
 Instead of a heavy freighted wagon we were in a 
 light buggy ; we followed the track as directed, but 
 found the water much deeper than we anticipated ; it 
 came up into the carriage, the horse seemed to be 
 losing his footing, and as we gazed at the rushino- 
 waters it looked to us as if we were going down 
 more than across the river. Girl like, we were 
 
THE DAYS OF YOUTJf. 4, 
 
 alarmed and wanted to turn back ; all our brother 
 said was : ' Girls, do not say one word, keep per- 
 fectly quiet, and I will take you over safely.' The 
 tone and manner were sufficient. He touched the 
 horse lightly with his whip, she plunged forward 
 until she reached the other shore. As soon as we 
 were on dry ground our escort remarked, though 
 he was very pale, his lips even colorless : ' I would 
 not have been afraid if you girls had not been with 
 me.' " 
 
 ■Young Gould never enjoyed working for small 
 returns, even in the days of his boyhood. A pleas- 
 ant task of one of his sisters was to go out in the 
 summer mornings while the grass and bushes were 
 still glistening with dew to gather the luscious wild 
 berries that grew around the stumps and along the 
 fences of the farm. Jay was usually her companion. . 
 He would whistle away in a merry mood as long as 
 he found plenty of fruit to lure him on, skipping 
 around from one clump of bushes to another, until 
 he had been over the whole ground, then informing 
 his sister that there were no more worth remaining 
 for, away he would go, leaving her to do the glean- 
 ing. He was often surprised at the contents of her 
 basket ; he could not see where she found them, 
 but greatly admired her patient perseverance. 
 
 He was born with an ability to turn things to 
 good account financially. In all his little purchases 
 when a boy he had a plan arranged for the disposi- 
 tion of a property before making the purchase, 
 
A A LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 unless he wished to retain it, just as in after years, 
 when an opportunity offered for the purchase of a 
 railroad he considered well the necessity for such a 
 road, and the value it would be to the public or to 
 himself as an investment before making the ven- 
 ture. This characteristic was one great feature in 
 his financial success. His reticence in regard to his 
 own plans was the same among his school com- 
 panions and at home as in after years with men of 
 business. 
 
 The winter of 1848 was marked by a wide-spread 
 religious movement, which was felt in many parts 
 of our country. It reached young Jay's native 
 mountain-bound village. The Methodist Church, 
 of which his sisters were members, causfht the en- 
 thusiasm, and held a series of meetings. Among 
 those who were deeply impressed was Jay, who gave 
 his name to the chnrch, but afterward felt his 
 mother's church, the Presbyterian, was the church 
 of his choice. Two years later, at the age of 14, he 
 secured a pew in that church and placed himself 
 under the gospel care of the Rev. W. E. Taylor; 
 between whom and himself there was begun a life- 
 long friendship. He saw much in the boy which 
 led him to prophesy great things in the future, and 
 he felt as he has said, only a few j^ears since, that 
 he had not been disappointed in the greatness of 
 his achievements. When age and infirmity crept 
 over the old pastor, rendering him unfit for the care 
 of an important charge, he was fortunately called to 
 
THE DAYS OF YdUTH. ac 
 
 Elmsford, a little church near Lyndhurst, the county 
 seat of his once young parishioner, who had in the 
 meantime arisen to wealth and position. Mr. Gould 
 did not forget the old pastor, for he was welcome at 
 his home, and had the freedom of his conservatories, 
 where he could enjoy the study of plants from every 
 clime. It is safe to say his purse was not often 
 empty nor his purse^unsupplied; and when the time 
 came that he could not even serve that church and 
 had to vacate the parsonage he was furnished a 
 home free of charge. The old pastor still lives to 
 speak of his benefactor. 
 
 When Jay was 1 3 he became very tired of farm 
 life ; it was too slow, too monotonous, too hard for 
 his slight physique ; the returns were too uncertain. 
 All these thing-s stimulated him to orreater effort for 
 a more extended education ; often when deep in the 
 midst of some intricate problem he would see father 
 coming in, as he knew, for him to do some errand or 
 piece of work. He would slip into some hidden 
 corner, book and slate in hand, and a " hush, girls," 
 on his lips until his father, despairing of finding him, 
 would make other arrangements ; then with his con- 
 science a little tender he would say, " It is too bad, 
 but I must study, you know." 
 
 When he had completed the course of study at 
 home he greatly desired to go elsewhere, and had de- 
 cided on the Hobart Seminary, nine miles from home ; 
 a distance he thought he could easily walk on Satur- 
 day, returning Sunday evening to be ready to answer 
 
^5 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 the roll-call on Monday morning; he realized that 
 father, from the small returns from his farm, could 
 not afford to pay his bills ; he decided he could and 
 would pay them himself It has previously been 
 related how he gained admittance to Hobart Semi- 
 nary. His father was a positive man, and when he 
 said " No " to one of his girls it was considered final ; 
 but not so with our youthful hero ; he would, with- 
 out seeming to be discomfited at all, make some 
 stragetic move and, prepared with new arguments, 
 would bring the matter before the house for recon- 
 sideration, and if this did not bring the desired result 
 the bill would come up for a third reading, and so on 
 undl the victory was won. In this way he gained per- 
 mission , his father saying to him, " I do not know 
 but you might as well go, for it is certain you will 
 never make a farmer." His sisters thought he might 
 make a lawyer, and were sure if time was given him 
 he would always gain his point. He made his 
 weekly visits home, as he proposed, until he com- 
 pleted his course. 
 
 During this time his father was considering what 
 he could do that would give his son more congenial 
 employment ; he decided he would have to leave the 
 old farm ; notwithstanding everything connected 
 with it was very dear to him ; it was the place where ' 
 his father and mother had lived and where he was 
 born ; many of the fruit trees were from trees from \ 
 his own plandng ; he had nursed and cared for them ; 
 in his own boyhood ; the shade trees with their broad 
 
THE DAYS OF YOUTH. .y 
 
 ispreading branches, scattered here and there to pro- 
 tect the flocks and herds from the scorching sun and 
 the pelting storm, the trout brook, the maple grove, 
 the spring of luscious water, all were dear with mem- 
 ories of the past ; but as he had to choose between 
 leaving them or letting- his son go from the house- 
 hold the choice was soon made and the farm was 
 exchanged for the hardware business of A. H. Bur- 
 hans & Co. 
 
 When Jay came from his school he at once entered 
 this store as a clerk until father took possession and 
 put him in charge, as was related in the preceding 
 chapter. Very soon after he made him general 
 manager and a partner in the business ; he did all 
 the purchasing and kept the books for the firm. He 
 did not drop his studies, but rose early and sat up 
 late in order that he might have time to devote to 
 them and to, a self-directed course of reading. His 
 reading was not so much for recreation as for im- 
 provement; consequently he read standard works, 
 as far as his limited purse would allow their pur- 
 chase. By this study and the use of instruments, 
 obtained from Mr. E. I. Burhans, he became in the 
 next few years a practical surveyor, not an inventor, 
 as has often been said of him. Even the wonderful 
 mouse-trap, which has so often been ascribed to 
 him, was the invention of his maternal grandfather, 
 who had seen nearly four-score years ; and who, 
 with his failing mental vision, looked upon it as 
 something very wonderful. 
 
^g LIFE OF JA V GOULD. 
 
 The hardware business did not occupy all of 
 young Gould's time. He began to feel he could 
 accomplish more by going out from home, for the 
 resources of the village and surrounding country 
 were too limited for his ambition. He entrusted for 
 once his thoughts and plans to his sisters, and they 
 sympathized with him, but plead with him to remain 
 at home for their sakes and for his father's sake as 
 well as his own. He argued he could make all 
 the purchases for the firm and that his father was 
 perfectly able to do the rest. He did not feel that 
 his living should come out of lather's purse, it was 
 enough for him to take care of his girls, a boy should 
 take care of himself. The question naturally arose, 
 if he left home what did he propose to do ; then he 
 divulged to his sisters a surveying scheme for the pur- 
 pose of making a map of Ulster County. He had re- 
 ceiveda proposition, he had looked the ground all over, 
 in fact, had, in his own mind, decided to accept it, but 
 did not want to go without his father's sanction ; 
 therefore he wanted to enlist his sisters in his favor, 
 that they might help to plead his cause ; as he had not 
 yet entered his sixteenth year, and to the family he 
 seemed a mere boy, although he had been doing the 
 work of a man, making purchases for the business 
 for two years of such firms as Phelps, Dodge & Co., 
 in New York City, and Ransom, Rappon & Co., in 
 Albany. He had just returned from one of his trips 
 to Albany and crossed the Hudson River on cakes 
 of floating ice which did not have the effect to assure 
 
THE DAYS OF YOUTH. a^ 
 
 his father and sisters that his venturesome spirit 
 might not take him into some greater danger ; his 
 arguments, however, prevailed, and in a few days his 
 arrangements were made. He could not at that 
 time draw much from his small capital which was 
 needed in the business so he left home with five 
 dollars in his pocket expecting that the company 
 "would furnish him means for his support. 
 
 He entered immediately upon his duties, found 
 them laborious, but congenial. The reason they 
 were congenial was because he saw they looked to 
 something higher. The young surveyor progressed 
 satisfactorily until his employer became suddenly 
 embarrassed and unable to pay ; but with his intui- 
 tive foresightednes5 he had retained a copy of all 
 his surveys, and he at once concluded to take 
 matters in his own hands and publish the map 
 himself Of his little stock of money he had only ten 
 cents left and that small piece he has never parted 
 with : it was amone his treasures till he died. How 
 he was to meet the expense was a thing to be con- 
 sidered. He could not spare time to go to Roxbury ; 
 he was among strangers and consequently had no 
 credit, but just when things were the darkest and 
 failure of the project seemed inevitable a new way 
 of increasing his supplies providentially opened be- 
 fore him — the making of a noon-mark, described in 
 the preceding chapter, for which he received his 
 dinner and fifty cents was the avenue which led to 
 success. The value of his noon-marks preceded 
 
CO LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 him, and out of this new supply he paid all the 
 expenses of the remaining surveys and came out 
 with six dollars in his pocket, and his labors were 
 crowned with success. Gould's map of Ulster 
 County was pronounced accurate in every detail, 
 consequently he realized a very respectable sum 
 from its sale. 
 
 Soon after this we find the young man in Albany. 
 While prospecting there he became associated with 
 the late John Delafield in an application to the State 
 Legislature for aid in the completion of a topo- 
 graphical survey of the State of New York. Favora- 
 ble progress was made, but before anything material 
 was accomplished Mr. Delafield died. He at 
 once abandoned the idea of legislative aid, but with 
 characteristic pluck decided to prosecute the enter- 
 prise upon a more limited scale upon his own ac- 
 count ; accordingly during the summer of 1853, then 
 in his seventeenth year, he completed his survey of 
 Albany County, and during the ensuing winter he 
 drafted out his surveys and produced a map which, 
 on completion sold at a handsome profit. 
 
 During the same summer, 1853, he was employed 
 by the Cohoes Mfg. Co. to survey and make a map 
 of their village which netted him $600. In the 
 same year he also surveyed and laid out the Albany 
 and Muscayuna Plank Road. This was a task 
 which presented great difficulties to our youmy 
 surveyor. The practical calculation of grades, ex- 
 cavations, and embankments was an untried field 
 
JAY GOULD AND HAMILTON BURHAM. 
 
THE DAYS OF YOUTH. c^ 
 
 but he successfully mastered them all and completed 
 his work to the entire satisfaction of the company, 
 and was liberally rewarded. 
 
 The amount of hard work accomplished by Gould 
 in 1853 was almost incredible, and it may well be 
 believed that he invariably rose long before day- 
 break and seldom retired to rest before midnight. 
 In the spring of 1854 he returned to Albany, per- 
 fected his plans and business arrangements for the 
 ensuing season. He did his drafting at home ; early 
 in April he sent a surveyor into Delaware County, 
 New York, for the purpose of taking surveys for a 
 prospective map. He sent similar expeditions into 
 Lake and Geauga Counties, Ohio, and Oakwood 
 County, Michigan. His personal attention was 
 given to the drafting department, but he kept him- 
 self familiar with all the details of the business ; 
 nothing escaped his notice ; during the summer he 
 usually traveled from point to point during the 
 night and such were his powers of endurance that 
 only a few hours of rest would fit him for the next 
 day. He kept the most vigilant watch over his 
 employees ; never giving them notice of his coming. 
 Thanks to his iron constitution and his wonderful 
 powers of endurance, he not only completed 
 all the work he had mapped out for himself, but was 
 able to devote sixty days during the summer to the 
 survey of a proposed railroad from Newbury to 
 Syracuse. 
 
 It must be remembered that by this time he had 
 
CA LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 made himself a proficient practical engineer. The 
 labors of the latter enterprise proved far more labor- 
 ious than had been anticipated, but having under- 
 taken the work he was determined to complete it; but 
 he paid dearly for thus overtaxing himself; he com- 
 pleted the last profile of the proposed road, affixed 
 his signature, and in one hour afterward was pros- 
 trated with typhoid fever. His illness was severe 
 and his recovery slow ; engagements were pressing ; 
 an effort to resume business too soon brought on a 
 violent relapse, followed by inflammation of the 
 lungs — his physician thinks he never fully recovered 
 his lung power from that attack. Feeling com- 
 pelled to curtail his operations he sold his interest 
 in all surveys. While surveying Delaware County 
 he had collected many facts of historical importance. 
 He visited every old man and woman in the county. 
 During his period of convalescence he felt the 
 need of some employment for his active, restless 
 mind. He set to work compiling his notes, and 
 shortly afterward, at the age of 17, published the 
 history of Delaware County, a well-written book of 
 450 pages, and far more valuable now if it could be 
 obtained. 
 
 With returning health he laid down the pen and 
 picked up the implement of the engineer. While 
 thus engaged his mind was attracted to the subject 
 of tanning as a business more profitable than eno-i- 
 neering. After mature deliberation he concluded to 
 try his future in that line, as outlined in the preced- 
 
THE DAYS OF YOUTH. e e 
 
 ing chapter. Some idea may be formed of the 
 energy and ability displayed in this new enterprise 
 from the fact that in loo days from the time the first 
 tree was felled the tannery was in full operation. 
 At this juncture came the terrible panic of 1856, and 
 while so many firms were swept out of existence 
 the foresight and financial ability of Gould, though 
 scarcely 20 years of age, maintained the credit pf 
 Pratt & Gould, and they weathered the gale in 
 safety. They employed at one time 250 men and 
 manufactured one and a half million pounds of sole 
 leather annually ; yet Mr. Gould was not satisfied 
 to remain in this narrow sphere. Tanning, like 
 surveying, was only another step in the direction of 
 his life's great work. He had had many opportuni- 
 ties of familiarizing himself with railroad maps which 
 he had improved. He understood the geography 
 of our country. He was possessed of valuable in-' 
 formation reo-ardingf its agricultural and mineral 
 resources, and took the deepest interest in all en- 
 terprises for facilitating communication between 
 these different sections. He longed to connect him- , 
 self with some kindred spirits who would aid in 
 carrying out his great schemes. 
 
 About this time the opportunity he had so long 
 desired presented itself. The celebrated Schuyler 
 frauds had caused railroad securities to decline to a 
 nominal figure. The far-seeing young man invested 
 all his capital and every dollar he could borrow and 
 secured for himself the control of the Rutland & 
 
-6 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 Washington, and Troy & Rutland R. R. It was a 
 daring venture, but proved profitable beyond his 
 daring expectations. In less than two years he had 
 succeeded in extricating the roads from their finan- 
 cial embarrassment and consolidating them with the 
 Saratocra, White Hall & Renssalear R. R. 
 
 He closed his connection with that railroad to 
 embark his operations in the Erie Railway — being 
 the only man who beheved in the advisabihty of sav-' 
 ing the property from bankruptcy and ruin and 
 make it the principal business thoroughfare through 
 the State. He met with opposition from such men 
 as Drew and Vanderbilt ; while they could not see 
 a way out of the difficulties themselves they were 
 not willing to be guided by the vision of any other 
 man, and especially one so youthful. He was finan- 
 cially prepared to accept the Presidency ; but diffi- 
 culties more perplexing arose ; he could not carry 
 out the only plan which to him promised success. 
 
 The narrow limits of his own loved State and 
 where he has always chosen to dwell, were too con- 
 tracted for his gigantic schemes. His mission has 
 been to open up the great West and aid in develop- 
 ing its mining and agricultural interests which he 
 dreamed of in his early years. For the last 20 years 
 our youth, no longer young in experience, has 
 planned and worked and used his capital to promote 
 this object until he has seen three transcontinental 
 lines of railroad and the great Missouri system ex- 
 tending north and south, with hamlets and towns 
 
THE DAYS OF YOUTH. C7 
 
 following in their wake where thousands and thou- 
 sands of families, native born and from far shores, 
 have found a place to call a home. The West and 
 the East brought so near together by the railroads 
 and throbbing electric wire are not strangers any 
 more. The West bows in reverence to the culture 
 of the East ; and the East looks in breathless aston- 
 ishment upon the progress of the West. Thus have 
 the dreams of his boyhood become real. He might 
 have retired to his beautiful home on the banks of 
 the Hudson many years ago and lived at his ease 
 regardless of the needs of our great country ; but 
 he would have lost his identity. Forces within and 
 without have urgfed him on. To think and formulate' 
 plans have seemed a necessity with hina. Labor 
 was rest; idleness would have been stagnation. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 MARRIAGE AND HOME LIFE. 
 
 WHEN Mr. Gould was a prosperous business 
 man and before he resided in New York 
 city he stopped at the Everett House, and on the 
 square at that time resided a wealthy and retired 
 merchant, Daniel G. Miller, of the strong firm of 
 Lee, Dater & Miller, dealers in produce and gro- 
 ceries. Passing the house frequently, Mr. Gould 
 was attracted by the gentle face of the merchant's 
 daughter Helen, and he succeeded in making her 
 acquaintance, and they were married in January, 
 1862, and lived most happily. She was a noble 
 woman in every sense of the word, and seemed by 
 nature endowed with just those qualities necessary 
 to make a happy home. She was a kindly, loving, 
 and trustful wife and tender, affectionate mother ; 
 four sons and two daughters blessed their union. 
 For more than a quarter of a century she was the 
 light and joy of his home. January 13th, 1889, she 
 left her earthly home for the better land, and a 
 stricken household mourned her departure. Her 
 daughter Helen has ever since lovingly and unself- 
 ishly tried to fill her mother's place. 
 
 Mr. Gould never recovered from the shock caused 
 58 
 
MARRIAGE AND HOME LIFE. tn 
 
 by the death of his wife, to whom he was most de- 
 voted. After her death he began to show marked 
 signs of age, grew gray, and, though he was never 
 robust in appearance, he lost flesh. 
 
 The home hfe of the great miUionaire was most 
 peaceful and happy. He was a most secretive man 
 in regard to his business affairs, and even more so 
 with respect to his home. He did not care for the 
 pleasures of society, but was thoroughly happy when 
 in the bosom of his family, either at the Fifth Avenue 
 residence or at Lyndhurst. It may readily be 
 imagined what a loss to Mr. Gould was the death 
 of his beloved wife. 
 
 Their first New York home was in Seventeenth 
 Street, and they were most tenderly devoted to each 
 other then as always. Even in his busiest years Mr. 
 Gould had a great deal of time for home, for he did 
 not care for clubs, and was seldom an attendant 
 upon public amusements. 
 
 The late Mrs. Gould took great interest in chari- 
 ties, but, like her husband, so arranged her benefi- 
 cence that her own right hand scarcely knew 
 the actions of its mate, and the public was entirely 
 unaware of her bounty bestowed. v 
 
 Miss Helen Gould, her namesake, is much like her 
 mother in this respect, and her father was wont to 
 ' say to his more confidential friends, " Since my wife 
 died I take great comfort in Helen, and it is a 
 source of constant pleasure to observe those char- 
 acteristics which are so plainly inherited from her 
 
gQ LIFE OF J A Y COULD. 
 
 • 
 
 dear mother," Mr. Gould's friends were seldom 
 invited to his home, but when it was their privilege ' 
 to enter those portals, they felt that an object lesson 
 in home life in its noblest aspect had been given 
 them. An open fire, a lounging chair, a pair of 
 slippers, and a gown do not make home for a man 
 like Mr. Gould. Mutual love and respect are the 
 mag-nets that attract such a man from the office or 
 the club to " home." Mr. Gould was rich in these 
 as well as in stocks and bonds. He had two 
 " worlds " in which he lived. The business world, 
 in later years, claimed most of his time ; but those 
 who knew him best knew that his home was worth 
 more to him than his enormous wealth. 
 
 The house at No. 579 Fifth Avenue where Mr. 
 Gould died had been regarded as his home for sev- 
 eral years, for, of course, his residence was there more 
 than at Lyndhurst. Before that he lived across 
 the Avenue, almost directly opposite his present 
 house, which, before Mr. Gould bought it, was the 
 home of George Opdyke, the banker, who enjoyed 
 the distinction of being one of the few Republican 
 Mayors which New York has had. The house 
 stands at the northeast corner of Fifth Avenue and 
 Forty-seventh Street. It is a square brownstone 
 house, about double the width of the average house, 
 with an extension in the rear. It is three stories in 
 height, with a mansard roof, which gives another 
 story. The main entrance is in the middle of the 
 Fifth Avenue front, under a portico into a deep ves- 
 
MARRIAGE AND HOME LIFE. Qj 
 
 tibule with handsomely-carved oaken doors and 
 mosaic floor. The hall is fifty feet long. On the 
 left of the hall is a small reception-room, with one 
 window facing Fifth Avenue. On the other side of 
 the hall are the great drawing-rooms. The library 
 and the dining-room are in the rear. Mr. Gould 
 had a fine collection of standard books. 
 
 The whole house was entirely redecorated only a 
 short time before Mr. Gould's death, and is every- 
 where a model of comfort, unostentatious elegance, 
 and good taste. It is filled with most exquisite 
 tapestries and the finest paintings. Mr. Gould had 
 specimens of the work of Diaz, Rousseau, Dau- 
 bigny, Henner, Vibert, Rosa Bonheur, Voley, 
 Jacquet, Schreyer, Bouguereau, Dupre, and Meyer 
 von Bremen. 
 
 Attached to the house is a conservatory, which is 
 kept constantly filled with the finest plants from the 
 hot-houses at the country house at Irvington. 
 
 Mrs. Gould, for several years before her death, 
 had been in delicate health, could not attend church, 
 and never took part in social pleasures. Her trou- 
 ble was a nervous one, and she could not endure 
 excitement. Thus the house was never given over 
 to festivitfes to any extent. Sumptuous as it was, 
 it did not compare in size or display with that of 
 other men whose fortunes rivalled Mr. Gould's, 
 or, in fact, with the homes of many whose 
 wealth was not a tenth of his. All looked at the 
 place with interest, however, when it was pointed 
 
52 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 out as the retreat of the remarkable man whose 
 public life was so dramatic, and whose home life was 
 so quiet and so peaceful. 
 
 There was a charity organization society that ex- 
 isted in Mr. Gould's own household which would 
 serve as a model for many rich men. Its sessions 
 were held each morning after breakfast. Like other 
 rich men, he was assailed constantly with showers 
 of begging letters. These were regularly sorted 
 out every morning, and each member of the family 
 chose as many from the pile as desired until none 
 were left. If a letter appeared to describe a case 
 of real need it was placed In the centre of the table. 
 The others were burned. Then ensued quiet inves- 
 tigation, conducted as secretly as the operations of 
 the closest detective bureau. People in want were 
 given aid commensurate with the needs of the par- 
 ticular case but were never able to thank the donor, 
 for the identity of the giver was never disclosed. In 
 this way many hundreds of poor people were relieved. 
 
 At the time when what was known as the geo- 
 metric craze prevailed, hundreds of beo-ofingf letters 
 urging Mr. Gould " not to break the chain" were 
 destroyed without any reply being vouchsafed the 
 sender, as to encourage such correspondence 
 would soon have brought on the necessity of a force 
 of clerks at the Gould mansion equal in number to 
 that of the Gould offices, and would have proved a 
 fruitful mode of operation for those who consider 
 millionaires their legitimate prey. 
 
MARRIAGE AND HOME LIFE. 5^ 
 
 As Mr. Gould became more and more prominent 
 as a monarch of the stock market and a manag-er of 
 gigantic enterprises his name naturally became 
 more intimately associated with rises and falls in' the 
 prices of stocks. Reckless plungers who had large 
 amounts of money " margining " stocks would often 
 in the bitterness of their chagrin at4oss-on account 
 of increase or decrease in the price of their stocks, 
 attribute their financial ruin to Mr. Gould, especially 
 if any operation of his had »for a time unsettled 
 values of certain stocks. 
 
 These men, insanely jealous of the great finan- 
 cier's success, or with a spirit of revenge for a 
 supposed wrong, caused much anxiety and worri- 
 ment on the part of the members of Mr. Gould's 
 family by their threatening letters, though Mr. Gould 
 himself seldom gave them a serious thought. It 
 has been said that he employed a detective to watch 
 and guard him constantly, but this is not true. He 
 had, however, very pleasant and cordial business 
 relations with that remarkable man, Thomas Byrnes, 
 Inspector of the New York. police; in fact, few 
 men in New York city had closer confiden- 
 tial relations with Jay Gould in recent years than 
 those sustained by Mr. Byrnes. When Mr. Byrnes 
 was Chief Inspector, in charge of the Detective 
 Bureau, he performed valuable services for the mil- 
 lionaire in the line of police duty and gained his 
 lasting respect and friendship. The advice of the 
 police official was sought on. several occasions when 
 
g* LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 Mr. Gould was beset by "cranks" and by other 
 strangers who tried to blackmail him or impose 
 upon him by means of threatening letters or appeals 
 for financial aid. Mr. Byrnes was consulted also 
 on other subjects of importance, and he became a 
 frequent visitor at Mr. Gould's house. Superin- 
 tendent Byrnes is said to have made many thou- 
 sands of dollars in stock speculations in Wall Street 
 by following the advice of Mr. Gould. 
 
 One important service which Mr. Byrnes, as Chief 
 Inspector, gave to the millionaire was the capture 
 of Colonel J. Howard Wells, eleven years ago; The 
 affair created a great sensation at the time. Wells 
 was a broken-down speculator, with good social re- 
 lations, and he conceived a plan to frighten Mr. 
 Gould into aiding him to recover the money which 
 he had lost. He at first wrote anonymous threaten- 
 ing letters to Mrs. Gould, thinking that she would 
 show them to her husband. On October 15th, 1881, 
 he sent an anonymous letter to Mr. Gould, begin- 
 ning thus : " Sir : — It is my painful duty to inform 
 you that within six days front the date of this letter 
 your body will have returned to the dust from whence 
 it came. I therefore entreat you to make your peace 
 with God and prepare for the fate which awaits you." 
 The letter further declared that Mr. Gould's death 
 would be painless, as he would be shot through the 
 heart. "Victim " was the signature to the letter. 
 
 Mr. Byrnes was consulted by Washington E. 
 Connor, Mr. Gould's broker, and plans were laid to 
 
MARRIAGE AND HOME LIFE. ge 
 
 capture the writer of the letter. With the consent 
 of Mr. Gould personal notices were published, re- 
 questing "Victim" to write again and offering him 
 assistance. Wells wrote other letters asking Mr. 
 Gould to assist him by giving " tips " on stocks. He 
 insisted that the correspondence on the part of Mr. 
 Gould should be conducted through personal no- 
 tices, and he sent a cipher code by which the direc- 
 tions about buying or selling stocks could be con- 
 veyed in the notices, without informing the public. 
 Later a number of notices giving the " tips " 
 asked for were published, and Wells continued to 
 write letters. It was ascertained that all of the let- 
 ters were mailed at street letter boxes in the district 
 of post-ofifice Station E. With the aid of the post- 
 master Mr. Byrnes set a watch upon each of the 
 letter boxes in the district of Station E, on Sunday, 
 November 1 3th, 1 88 1 . As soon as a letter was placed 
 in a box a letter-carrier went to the box and looked 
 at the address of the letter, while a detective kept 
 watch of the person who had deposited the letter, 
 until a signal was given by the carrier. At 3 p. m. 
 Wells went to the box at Seventh Avenue and 
 Thirty-fourth Street and dropped into it a letter ad- 
 dressed to Mr Gould. He was arrested b'y a 
 detective-sergeant as he was walking away. Find- 
 ing himself fairly caught. Wells confessed that his 
 letters had been written to compel Mr. Gould to 
 give the " tips " on stocks. He, however, expressed 
 sorrow that he had not killed Mr. Gould and then 
 
66 LIFE OF JAY COULD. 
 
 committed suicide, and his conduct as a prisoner in the 
 Tombs led to his commitment as an insane person. 
 
 The correspondence which led to the capture of 
 Wells and the manipulation of the stock market 
 which was necessary to keep the correspondence 
 going, cost Mr. Gould a large sum of money, it was 
 said. Mr. Byrnes's reputation as a detective was 
 increased by the arrest of Wells. During the en- 
 tire affair Mr. Gould's solicitude seemed to be en- 
 tirely for his wife, whose weak nerves were under a 
 terrible strain, and not for his personal safety. 
 
 Jay Gould left six children, four sons and two 
 daughters. They are George J. Gould, Edwin 
 Gould, Helen Miller Gould, Howard Gould, Anna 
 Gould, and Frank Gould. 
 
 George J. Gould is about thirty years old. Instead 
 of going to college he went into business with his 
 father, and has himself amassed a considerable for- 
 tune. He lived with his father until his marriage 
 to Miss Edith Kingdon. He has three children, 
 two boys, Kingdon and Jay, and one little girl. 
 After his marriage George bought the house No. i 
 East Forty-seventh Street, adjoining the rear of 
 his father's home. A passageway was built con- 
 necting the house with the Fifth Avenue mansion.. 
 George J. Gould lived there until a month before 
 his father's death, when he moved to the house at 
 Fifth Avenue and Sixty-seventh Street. Edwin 
 Gould then moved into the Forty-seventh Street 
 house. 
 
ATARRIAGE AND HOME LIFE. gy 
 
 As Mr. George Gould has been made by the 
 provision of his father's will the head of the Gould 
 family, the chief executor of the will, and successor 
 to the management of the vast interests which are 
 now in trust, it has been thought proper to give a 
 more extended account of his life in the sixth chap- 
 ter of this work. Edwin Gould is twenty-six years 
 old, and a graduate of Columbia College in the 
 class of '88. His marriage to Miss Shrady, on Oc- 
 tober 26th, by the Rev. Dr. Robert CoUyer, followed 
 a courtship of about one year, and an engagement 
 which was announced in June, 1892. Edwin Gould 
 is Inspector of Rifle Practice in the 71st New York 
 Regiment, and was formerly a private in Troop A. 
 
 Miss Hel^n Miller Gould is twenty-five years old. 
 She is an active Church worker and a member of 
 Dr. Paxton's the Presbyterian Church. To her 
 interest in missionary work has often been attribu- 
 ted the ministers' meeting at Mr. Gould's house, and 
 the millionaire's gift of ^10,000 for missions. How- 
 ard Gould is twenty-one years old, Anna is a school 
 girl, and the youngest, Frank, is thirteen years old. 
 
 Mr, Gould was as punctual as he was methodical. 
 He breakfasted regularly at eight o'clock, and imme- 
 diately went down-town to his offices in the Western 
 Union Building, at 195 Broadway. Usually he spent 
 an hour before breakfast reading financial news and 
 familiarizing- himself with the main facts in the lead- 
 ing articles. He took a light lunch about one 
 o'clock, and returned home at five, unless busi- 
 
68 LIFE OF JAY COULD. 
 
 ness of great importance detained him, when he 
 would sometimes spend the time until twelve or 
 one o'clock poring over figures and plans, and he 
 never appeared to feel the loss of rest and sleep 
 consequent upon such long hours devoted to busi- 
 ness. 
 
GEO. GOULD. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 CAREER IN NEW YORK. 
 
 JAY GOULD was twenty-three years old when 
 he went into Wall Street as a broker. That was 
 in 1859. Gould had considerable money of 
 his own at that time, and had the confidence of two 
 or three large capitalists. He started on his Wall 
 Street career in a small office, and frequently took 
 his stand with the curbstone brokers. He made 
 money right along. In i860 he became intimately 
 acquainted with Mr. Henry N. Smith, who was then 
 one of the big men in Wall Street. Soon the firm of 
 Smith, Gould & Martin was formed, and it was pros- 
 perous from the start. Gould made a careful study 
 of the railroad situation, and became an expert in 
 the manipulation of railroad securities in the specu- 
 lative market. He paid the closest attention to 
 business, allowing himself few of the social pleasures 
 of which young men are usually fond. He had no 
 small vices, and he was a teetotaler. 
 
 The remarkable story of Mr. Gould's early rail- 
 road investments and his striking successes is told 
 in these words : » 
 
 After retiring from the leather business under 
 very dramatic circumstances, Mr. Gould turned his 
 
 6 • 71 
 
7 2 LIFE OF JAY aOyz.V. 
 
 attention to speculating In railroad stocks. About 
 the same time he married. Mr. Gould was wont to 
 say that his love for civil engineering had got him 
 iito the railway business, to which he devoted him- 
 self thereafter exclusively, until he also found tele- 
 graph properties sources of profit. The first of 
 Gould's railways was the Rutland & Washington 
 Railroad, 62 miles long, running from Troy, N. Y., 
 to Rudand, Vt. The panic of 1857 had left this 
 road in a demoralized condition, and Mr. Gould 
 found that he could buy a majority of the first mort- 
 gage bonds at 10 cents on the dollar. He had now 
 found the true field for his special talents. He 
 made himself President, Treasurer, and General Su- 
 perintendent of the road, studied the business of rail- 
 roading on the ground, developed the local traffic, 
 and finally effected the Rensselaer and Saratoga 
 consolidation. By this time both bonds and stock 
 were good, and he sold the latter for 1 20. There 
 has been no time when It was possible to esti- 
 mate the wealth of Mr. Gould, and as he was as se- 
 cretive In those days as In his later, there Is no 
 way of saying what he was worth when, in 1859, he 
 came Into Wall Street. One statement has It that 
 when the firm of Smith, Gould & Martin was organ- 
 ized, Mr. Gould's possessions amounted to $30,000 
 in cash ; another is that when he sold out his hold- 
 ings in the Rensselaer and Saratoga consolidation 
 he was worth $750,000. With a mind peculiarly 
 alert to all the influences which affected the values 
 
CAREER iN NEW YORK. ^. 
 
 of railway securities, with habits of great industry, 
 with phenomenal tenacity of purpose, with a fair 
 amount, at least, of capital to back him, it is not sur- 
 prising that Mr. Gould profited largely by his spec- 
 ulation in railway stocks and gold during the war 
 of the rebellion. The keen-sighted intelligent men 
 in " the Street " at that time nearly all made money, 
 and Mr. Gould was at least a millionaire when the 
 Confederacy fell. 
 
 During the war of the rebellion Gould's firm did 
 a large business in railway securities, and also made 
 a great deal of money speculating in gold. Gould 
 had private sources of information in the field, and 
 he was able to turn almost every success or defeat 
 of the Union army to profitable account. Daniel 
 Drew was one of the heaviest customers of Smith, 
 Gould & Martin, and through him the attention of 
 Gould was drawn to the Erie Railway. That com- 
 pany was embarrassed for money, and its stock was 
 selling cheaply. Gould bought as much of it as he 
 could carry, and when the bitter fight came on between 
 Daniel Drew and Commodore Vanderbilt for the 
 possession of the Erie, Gould, being one of the larg- 
 est stockholders, was taken into the directory by 
 Mr. Drew. He was made a member of the execu- 
 tive committee, and he was Drew's chief lieutenant 
 throughout the long struggle against Vanderbilt. 
 
 What his methods were at the time it is useless 
 to speculate about. It was before the day when by 
 absolute mastery of gigantic railway and telegraph 
 
74 LJi^E OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 systems he could at his will depress the value of 
 almost any institution on which he fixed his eye by 
 setting on foot a ruinous war in rates until he had 
 made it to his own interest to restore a more nor- 
 mal and healthful condition of affairs by ceasing his 
 antagonism and building up the property which he 
 had acquired cheaply during the period of depres- 
 sion. But the details of his operations were always 
 so subtle as to be shut out from the discovery of 
 either friend or foe. He got into the management 
 of Erie through association with Drew and Fisk, 
 and shared the profits in some of the tremendous 
 battles which were waged between the giants of 
 those days, Vanderbilt and Drew. It was found 
 soon after he took' up Erie as a director, that the 
 company owed him $4,000,000, and after the cata- 
 clysms which devastated that notorious concern 
 were over, he got his money. 
 
 The character of some of the strokes of good 
 fortune which came to him during this period of his 
 career may be illustrated briefly. When he got his 
 $4,000,000 from the Erie and left the management 
 of the company, he operated in the market with the 
 stock, as doubdess he had done while he was in 
 office (following in this particular the notorious ex- 
 ample of Daniel Drew, the " speculative director.") 
 One of his first transactions was to sell 50,000 
 shares short. The purchaser was a broker who 
 was trying to bull the market by loudly offering 65 
 gold, seller 12 months, for that amount of stock. 
 
CAREER -IN NEW YORK. ^5 
 
 Mr. Gould sold him the lot at that price, and in a 
 very short time quietly took it in again in the neigh- 
 borhood of 40. So, too, it is said that he bought 
 25,000 shares of Cleveland & Pittsburgh stock at 
 65 or 70. 
 
 in explaining this investment Gould always in- 
 sisted that he had merely taken the stock to oblige 
 a friend who had overloaded himself with it and was 
 on the point of failure. He reorganized the road, 
 developed its earning capacity, so that from the 
 beginning to the end of his management it never 
 passed a dividend, and when its stock was worth 
 120 he leased it to the Pennsylvania company, real- 
 izing certainly between a million and a half and two 
 millions on the transaction. 
 
 A transaction of twice the magnitude of this, and 
 one which, like it, illustrates how Mr. Gould's abili- 
 ties often worked with equal advantageousness to 
 both himself and the property in which he took an 
 interest, makes one of the interesting anecdotes 
 touchine his connection with the Union Pacific Rail- 
 road. Following Is Mr. Gould's story of how he 
 went into this road, as told in his testimony before 
 the Senate Committee on Labor and Education : — 
 " I met the late Horace F. Clark in Chicago. He 
 and Mr. Schell had been over the road and they 
 gave me a good account of it ; spoke about the coal 
 deposits, and one thing and another, and I concluded 
 to buy a lot of it. I telegraphed to New York an 
 Qrder to buy in the neighborhood of 30, from 30 
 
76 LIP£^ OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 down. I did not expect to get much. Mr. Clark 
 came home and was taken sick, and as soon as his 
 brokers found that his illness was to be a fatal one, 
 they sold his stock. That broke the market down 
 and filled up orders which I had never expected to ' 
 get filled, so that when I got home I found my- 
 self a very large owner in that property, and I began 
 to inquire into its condition. I found that there was 
 a large floating debt to begin with, which I did not 
 know about before. Then I found that there was 
 ^10,000,000 of bonds that came due in about a 
 month or two — income bonds. It was rather a blue 
 condition of things. In the meantime, some of the 
 directors were consulting as to who should be the 
 receiver of the road. I made up my mind that I 
 would carry it through ; so I told the direc- 
 tors that if they would furnish half the money I 
 would furnish the other half, and we would carry it 
 through, and finally I pressed them into it. The 
 stock went down to 15. I bought it, and kept 
 buying it, and finally I had a large loss staring me 
 in the face if I had made it ; but instead of that I 
 kept on buying, so that when the turn came there 
 didn't seem to be any top to it; it went right along 
 up to 75. I immediately went to work to bring the 
 road up. I didn't care anything about the price in 
 the market; I wanted to give it a substantial foun- 
 dation. I went out over the road and started coal 
 mines to develop that interest, and very soon we 
 began to pay dividends, to the surprise of «v^-y- 
 
CAREER IN NEW YORK. yy 
 
 body, and the road came up. It never passed a divi- 
 dend." 
 
 This statement of the rapid improvement of the 
 Union Pacific is stricdy correct. Mr. Gould made 
 
 . his purchases in 1873. How much he bought when 
 the price of the stock ranged from 1 5 to 30 it is im- 
 possible to say. In February, 1879, liowever, he 
 was reported to be the holder of no less than 
 190,000 shares, and on the 17th of that month he, 
 sold 100,000 shares at an average price of 70 per 
 cent, cash to a syndicate composed of James R. 
 Keene, Russell Sage, David P. Morgan, Frank 
 Work, Charles J. Osborne, Addison Cammack, 
 -David Jones, and William L, Scott. It was esti- 
 mated at the time that the 100,000 shares which Mr. 
 Gould sold cost him $3,000,000, and this was prob- 
 ably a high estimate, as he himself says that he had 
 to buy largely at 15, and that his orders were from 
 30 down. Unless he bought during the subsequent 
 rise, therefore, he cannot have paid $3,006,000 for 
 the stock which he sold to the syndicate. But if he 
 did, the transaction represents a profit of $4,000,000. 
 At the annual meeting of the stockholders of the 
 Union Pacific, which took place on March 5th, three 
 weeks after this tremendous transaction of stocks, 
 Jay Gould voted in his own right on 123,700 shares 
 
 ' and on 20,000 shares by proxy. To afford one an 
 opportunity to indulge his imagination with guesses 
 at what Mr. Gould may have gained by speculating 
 in Union Pacific stock during the six years preced- 
 
^g LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 ing the sale, it is only necessary to add that in 1873 
 the stock fluctuated between 14^ and 39^^ ; in 
 1874, between 23 and 38^; in 1875, between 36 
 and 82^ ; in 1876, between 57^ and 74^^ ; in 
 1877, between 59)^ and ']i, and in 1878, between 
 61 y^ and 73. On the day of the sale the stock was 
 advanced nine per cent, before the terms were gen- 
 erally known. 
 
 As Jay Gould took the Cleveland & Pittsburgh 
 Company just to oblige a friend and save him from 
 ruin, so it would seem from the few public explana- 
 tions which he has made of his actions, most of them 
 after the " storm and stress " period of his specula- 
 tive hfe was over, that he also went into most of his 
 big enterprises. Thus, he said that he bought 
 Texas Pacific of Thomas Scott because he met 
 him in Switzerland in the summer of 1879 and felt 
 sympathy for him. Scott being, as Gould expressed 
 it, " very much depressed and broken up financially, 
 physically, and mentally." He asked Mr. Gould to 
 take the Texas Pacific off his hands, and Mr. Gould 
 did so, consenting afterward to include also The 
 World newspaper in the transaction. About four 
 years later he disposed of The World to Joseph 
 Pulitzer. Another version of the story is that 
 Gould only bought a small interest in the road of 
 Colonel Scott, and on the strength of it was made 
 a director. In April, 1881, Mr. Gould and Colonel 
 Scott, being both still in the directory, there was a 
 meeting of the board in Philadelphia. Mr. Gould and 
 
CAREER EVAEPV YVRK. yg 
 
 Mr. Sage went into the private office to have a pre- 
 hminary talk with Colonel Scbtt touching a differ- 
 ence in policy. Gould adhered to his plans with 
 such pertinacity that Scott finally ceased arguing 
 and said that he would rather sell out his interest 
 than follow Mr. Gould. 
 
 " What will you sell for ?" was the response to 
 this challenofe. 
 
 Colonel Scott set his price and Jay Gould with- 
 out a moment's hesitation, drew his check for 
 $2,400,000, handed it to Scott, and entered the 
 director's room the owner of the controlling interest 
 in the Texas Pacific road. When the disputants 
 joined their colleagues. Colonel Scott's resignation 
 was tendered and accepted, and this was the first 
 intimation that the directors had that a sale had 
 been contemplated. In fact, it is said that before 
 the conversation between Scott and Gould began, 
 the former at least was as ignorant as the rest of 
 the board on the same subject. Mr. Gould's readi- 
 ness can safely be accepted as proof that he was 
 not entirely surprised in the premises. 
 
 The Missouri Pacific he also bought in the same 
 way. After some negotiations with Cornmodore 
 Garrison, he named his price, which Mr. Gould ac- 
 cepted, sent his check, and took control of the road 
 on the same day. The road thus purchased was 
 287 miles long, and ran from St. Louis to Kansas 
 City. In a few years Mr. Gould made it the con- 
 trollincr factor in a svstem which contained 10,000 
 
go LIFE OF /AT GOULD. 
 
 miles of railway, running from St. Louis west to 
 Omaha, southeast to El Paso, connecting there with 
 the Texas Pacific, to Laredo, on the direct line to 
 the City of Mexico, and to Galveston. The eastern 
 termini, beside St. Louis, are Chicago, Detroit, and 
 Toledo. 
 
 ^ In his testimony before the famous Senate Com- 
 mittee on Labor and Education, before referred to, 
 Mr. Gould testified: "The next great enterprise, if 
 I may call it great, that I engaged in was the Mis- 
 souri Pacific. I bought it one day of Commodore 
 Garrison, or, rather, the control of it. I had a very 
 short negotiation with him. He gave me his price,' 
 just as we are talking here, and I said, ' All right ; I 
 will take it ;' and I gave him a check for it that day. 
 All that time I did not care about the money made ; 
 it was a mere plaything to see what I could do. I 
 had passed the point where I cared about the mere 
 miking of money. It was more to show that I could 
 make a combination and make it a success. I took 
 this road and began developing it, bringing in other 
 lines which should be tributary to it. I developed 
 new parts of the country, opened up coal mines, 
 etc., and continued until, I think, we have now 
 10,000 miles of road. 
 
 " When I took the property it was earning 
 170,000 a week. I have just got the gross earnings 
 for the last month, and they amount to $5,100,000, 
 and we have accomplished that result by developing 
 the country, and while we have been doing this we 
 
CAREER IN NEW YORK. gl 
 
 have made the country rich, developing coal mines f 
 and cattle raising, as well as the production of cot- 1 
 ton. We have created this earning power by de-^^l 
 veloping the system. All this 10,000 miles is fully 
 built. The roads pass through the States of Ohio, 
 Illinois, Michigan, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, 
 Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, and the Indian Terri- 
 tory, and we go into Mexico." 
 
 One of the most memorable events connected 
 with Gould's management of the Missouri Pacific ,, 
 was the great Knights of Labor strike in 1885, which ; 
 disabled the road for a long time. ' 
 
 An interesting feature of the strike was a Sunday 
 conference at Mr. Gould's house between him and 
 General Master Workman Powderly, at which ne- 
 . gotiations for a settlement were entered into. The 
 foremost representatives of capital and labor thus 
 met to settle vital questions at issue affecting the 
 wealth of the capitalists and the livelihood of the 
 workingmen. Mr. Gould said of this famous 
 strike : 
 
 " I have been all my life a laborer or an employer j 
 of laborers. Strikes come from various causes, but \ 
 are principally brought about by the poorest and ; 
 therefore the dissatisfied element. The best work- 
 ers generally look forward to advancement in the 
 ranks or to save money enough to go into business 
 on their own account. Though there may be few 
 advanced positions to be filled, there is a large num- 
 ber of men trying to get them. They get better 
 
g2 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 pay here than in any other country, and that is why 
 r they come here. My idea is that if capital and 
 I labor are let alone they will mutually regulate each 
 ! other. People who think they can regulate all man- 
 kind and get wrong ideas which they believe to be 
 panaceas /or every ill, cause much trouble to both 
 employers and employees by their interference." 
 
 To the Congressional Committee which investi- 
 gated the Missouri Pacific strike, Mr. Gould made 
 known his belief in efficacy of arbitration in settling 
 difficulties between labor and capital by saying, " I 
 am in favor of arbitration as an easy way of settling 
 differences between corporations and their em- 
 ployees." 
 
 The idea of invariable success has attached itself 
 / to Mr. Gould's reputation, and there has been a feel- 
 ing there was ■ something uncanny in his luck. 
 In truth, he lost often and heavily. Mr. Morosini, 
 referring to the panic of 1873, said : 
 
 " He was not responsible for it. A man would 
 hardly precipitate a panic and lose his own money, 
 would he ? The panic of 1873 left Mr. Gould com- 
 paratively a poor man. He had more reason to 
 regret the disaster than almost any one else con- 
 cerned. I doubt if any man parted with more cash 
 and securities than did Mr. Gould by reason of 
 that catastrophe." 
 
 Mr. Thomas G. Shearman, for ten years Mr. 
 Gould's counsel, sa}'s : 
 
 " He was a very hard worker in point of appli- 
 
CAREER IN NE W YORK. g , 
 
 cation, and worked a good deal. \ In times of finan- 
 cial excitement or uneasiness he was at his desk by- 
 eight o'clock each morning, and often remained 
 until II o'clock or midnight. I have frequently 
 known him to go with no more than four or five 
 hours' sleep. When intensely interested in any"^ 
 matter, he devoted his whole concentration of 
 thought upon that one thing, and would seem to 
 lose interest in things, often of greater pecuniary 
 importance but of not so much commercial fascina- 
 tion. He loved the intricacies and perplexities of 
 financial problems. 
 
 " While his success was owing, of course, to his 
 shrewdness and sagacity, it was because those 
 qualities were applied to different efforts than those 
 which the world has generally credited as the source 
 of his success. I am satisfied that he lost money 
 by some of these speculations, pure and simple, 
 which gave him the widest prominence. All his 
 gold speculations, his stock speculations — I speak 
 of those which were purely speculative as brokers 
 use the term — generally resulted in losses. This 
 is the most misunderstood fact in Mr. Gould's career. 
 
 The New York Herald very justly once said of 
 Mr. Gould : 
 
 " One of the almost universal mistakes made in 
 discussing Mr. Gould's career is that of considering 
 him as distinctively a speculator. He never was a 
 speculator except in the few instances in which he 
 was forced by circumstances into that role, and at 
 
8^ LIPE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 those times he was almost without exception unsuc- 
 cessful. 
 
 " If Gould had died poor what would have been 
 the general verdict on his career ? And yet, startling 
 as the statement may appear, only eight years ago 
 he was on the verge of failure. This was after the 
 panic of May, 1884, one of the few times when he 
 was tempted into the stock market as a speculator 
 in order to hold up the price of stocks with which 
 he was burdened. 
 
 " The late Charles F. Woerishoffer, Henry N. 
 Smith, and other operators were united in a com- 
 bined effort to bear the securities which Gould was 
 carrying. He had supported them for a time by 
 obtaining sterling bills (giving his securities as col- 
 lateral) and then converting the bills into cash. But 
 sterling loans like all others come to maturity ; the 
 bears were unscrupulous as himself, bold and skill- 
 ful and persistent. Gould's Western Union fell to 
 49 and his Missouri Pacific to 63. He was beaten. 
 One morning he had his lawyers execute an assign- 
 ment of his property, and on the following day — a 
 beautiful Sunday morning — his yacht went down to 
 Long Branch where the bear operators were sum- 
 mering. Gould's emissaries landed and held a con- 
 ference with his foes. They bore his ultimatum — a 
 copy of the assignment, and the statement that unless 
 the bears made terms with him he would on the fol- 
 lowing morning file the assignment and give public 
 notice that he was unable to meet his engagements." 
 
CAHEEIf IN" NEW YORK. g c 
 
 At that time he was supposed to be borrowing 
 some ^20,000,000, and his failure would create a 
 bigger panic than the one the Street had just passed 
 through. Many of the firms with which the bear 
 combine had "short" contracts outstanding would 
 doubtless fail, and in the general crash the success- 
 ful bears themselves might be very heavy losers. It 
 was a bold coup. After protracted conference, the 
 bears agreed to "letup" on Gould on condition 
 that he should turn over to them 50,000 shares of 
 Western Union at the current market price, ^50 per 
 share. This enabled them to make delivery of the 
 shares they had sold at high prices, but, of course, 
 left the rank and file of their followers in Wall Street 
 still short of the stock. In speaking of this " deal " 
 the following day, one of the bears expressed his 
 confidence that Gould would have to fail anyhow — 
 the help he had received would be transient in its 
 effects as a glass of brandy given to a dying man. 
 
 He was wrong. He underestimated the fertility 
 of resource in Gould and his associates. The bears 
 were heavily short of Gould's Missouri Pacific. With 
 the ^2,500,000 of their own money obtained for the 
 50,000 shares of Western Union, he speedily rushed 
 up Missouri Pacific to par (^100 per share, a rise of' 
 nearly $40), and forced them to step up to his office 
 and settle on terms of his own dictation. If the bears 
 had had enough grit on that Sunday Gould's career 
 would have terminated very differently. His name 
 would have gone on the long roll of " kings of the 
 
36 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 Street," who ruled for a time only to fall with a 
 crash — with the names of Jacob Little, A. W.'Morse, 
 W. S. Woodward, and a score of others. As it was, 
 the shock resulted in Gould making preparations to 
 consolidate and conserve the securities he owned, 
 and he never again took any active part in manipu- 
 latingf the market. 
 
MRS. GEO. GOULD. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 WALL STREET WARS. 
 
 ONE of the accusations that has been influential 
 in forming public opinion against Mr. Gould 
 has been that he oppressed and betrayed Mr. Cyrus 
 W. Field, and succeeded in getting from him his Man- 
 hattan Railway stock at a low figure, after which he 
 placed much of it at a higher price with his own 
 .friends, thus enriching himself both ways. The full 
 history covering this subject would be tedious, but 
 the outlines should be clearly stated, and do not 
 lack general interest. Mr. Field was a man of re- 
 markable enthusiasm. His memorable work in 
 uniting Europe and America by cable telegraph is 
 the most conspicuous example. His wonderful suc- 
 cess was as highly estimated, and in a personal 
 sense, better appreciated in England than in the 
 United States. He received the most distinguished 
 consideration, and the capitalists of London, more 
 than of New York, had confidence in his judgment, 
 and would place money according to his recommen- 
 dation. So certain were they of his understanding 
 that their willingness to trust him, without seeking 
 
 6 fQ 
 
go LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 collateral testimony, was at times embarrassing, and 
 it is due him to say that he was most chary in the 
 use of this peculiar and powerful public favor. His 
 caution in making recommendations was very great. 
 He did, however, tell his English and Scotch friends 
 his opinion during the depressed times in the wir 
 of the inevitable increase in the value of Govern- 
 ment securities. Some of them made large pur- 
 chases, and consequently profits, and Mr. Field's 
 reputation as a safe adviser was extended. He saw 
 earlier than others the enormous requirements of 
 rapid transit systems in our great cities, and the 
 adaptation of the elevated roads to the needs of 
 New York, and believed the intuition of discovery 
 in this enterprise was greater as a matter of busi- 
 ness than the Atlantic Cable leadership. He had. 
 no shadow of doubt in his mind that the achieve- 
 ment of rapid transit by elevated roads would be of 
 enormous public value and personal emolument. 
 He saw, too, that the system that increased the val- 
 ues on the upper end of Manhattan Island would 
 have the same influence down-town. The influ- 
 ence of the roads would be to expand the city and 
 augment the demand for property at both ends of 
 the line. The Field building, No. i Broadway, may 
 be noted as proof of his foresight and his executive 
 force. 
 
 The vast elevated railway systems of New York 
 and Brooklyn — the most extensive and most com- 
 fortable rapid transit roads with which great com- 
 
WALL STREET WARS. qI 
 
 munities are provided anywhere in the world — and 
 with a wonderlul record for rehabihty and safety, 
 are the reahzation of his dreams. But more years 
 and more money than he thought were required to 
 make them what they are. The growth of the ele- 
 vated roads has been steady, as he was assured, but 
 not so switt as his anticipations. His intelligence did 
 not fail him, but his characteristic impetuosity led lo 
 his losses. Mr. Gould and Mr. Field were closely 
 associated in the elevated road enterprise, and highly 
 estimated each other. 
 
 They were so unlike that they formed a rare com- 
 bination. The placid coolne»6s of Mr. Gould was in 
 fine contrast with the fiery ardor of Mr. Field. It 
 was the weakness of Mr. Field that it was misery to 
 him to wait. In accordance with his temperament, 
 zeal, anxiety, and temperature a stalk of corn should 
 reach its full height in a few days instead of months. 
 He knew Manhattan was one of the best things in 
 the world. He actually knew — was perfecdy right 
 about it— but there was one of many calculations 
 wrong. He did not make a sufficient allowance for 
 the time nesessary for the great city to adapt itself 
 to the roads. He had a handsome fortune and 
 had been so close to failure and ruin that he had 
 gained what he believed were conservative habits of 
 thought and circumspection in action. He insisted 
 upon popularizing the roads, and carried his point 
 of making the fares uniform and all the time five 
 cents. Once — the fact is almost forgotten— there 
 
92 I-!FE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 were five-cent and ten-cent hours. When the popu- 
 lar price was established the people accepted it as 
 their right, and did not feel grateful to anybody 
 about it, and there were always many ready to as- 
 sume that the Manhattan system was a horrid mo- 
 nopoly owned by improperly rich men. The spirit 
 of Mr. Field was as aggressive as it was intense, 
 and if he had things at all he had them his way. He 
 invested all the capital that he could command in 
 Manhattan and when it was for sale bought great 
 blocks of it, raising money by putting up the stock 
 as collateral. This was not accordinor to the iudcr- 
 ment of Mr. Gould, who could see that the five-cent 
 fares were not yielding. the dividends to sustain the 
 property at the height of the figures of Mr. Field's 
 purchases. He wisely held that carrying such 
 masses of stock on margins growing narrow 
 through the time needed for development was 
 dangerous. 
 
 Mr. Field held the opinion that the Manhattan 
 stock could eventually be very largely disposed of 
 on the London market at rates far above any that 
 had been reached. The property was so famous, 
 so much in evidence, so easily inspected, so 
 under the eye, and obviously of enormous earning 
 capacity ; it was the best thing in the world for 
 England. What Mr. Field could not permanently 
 hold, he might easily and at an advance part 
 with, and British gold would have been far better 
 bestowed in Manhattan than in South America' 
 
WALL STREET WARS. „, 
 
 where such a flood of it was poured out to evapo- 
 rate. While Mr. Field was hopefully waiting and 
 witnessing the gradual increase that was so absolute 
 a matter to him that he had few misgivings, there 
 came a financial flurry. The usual excitement- 
 contraction, loud calls and sharp strain— and Mr. 
 Field finally, with all his resources, found him- 
 self embarrassed. Mr. Gould has been accused of 
 producing this state of things, but it was not his 
 interest, not his game, his policy to do anything of 
 the kind, and he had nothing more to do with it 
 than with the tides or the procession of the seasons. 
 Mr. Field was carrying 88,000 shares of the stock 
 ($100 shares) par value of ^8,800,000, and it had 
 been boomed until it stood in the market at about 
 %\ 5,000,000. Several banks were overloaded with it. 
 There was imminent danger of the failure of Mr. 
 Field, and if that event should occur there would be 
 widespread disaster. 
 
 There was one man with the nerve and other 
 abilities equal to the emergency, and Mr. Field 
 saw him and made a frank statement, and he took 
 78.000 shares of the stock at 120 or $9,360,000. 
 This was the old figure of Mr. Gould's valuation 
 of the property. He alone could or would make 
 the purchase, and retained 50,000 of the shares 
 that had been in Mr. Field's possession, and dis- 
 tributed 28,000 shares at the price he paid, several 
 of his friends declining the stock because they did 
 not want it, and it fell to 77 before the advance set 
 7 
 
54 LTFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 in, and it is not even yet quite up to the point where 
 Mr. Field had it. Of course Mr. Gould did not lose 
 any money by this transaction, but he -had to wait. 
 He could afford to wait, and so saved himself and 
 
 fwon at last. If he had not met the crisis with 
 courage and had not been equipped for the emer- 
 gency, there would have been a great public 
 calamity. 
 
 "^ , Mr. Field was relieved, but his losses impaired his 
 fortune, and after a time other troubles came for 
 which he was not accountable. Mr. Gould cannot 
 justly be charged with his misfortunes, and the inci- 
 dent we relate is a display of his capacity to grasp 
 great affairs, and the unerring integrity of his judg- 
 ment. 
 
 Following is the full text of the correspondence 
 between Mr. Gould and Mr. T. V. Powderly, Grand 
 Master Workman of the Knights of Labor, at the 
 time when Mr. Gould was President of the Missouri 
 Pacific Railroad, which was plunged in a terrible 
 strife with the Knights of Labor. Those strikes 
 have gone down into our history as among the most 
 disastrous conflicts between Capital and Labor that 
 have ever taken place. 
 
 No better idea of the principles involved in the 
 strike or of the animus of the leaders on both sides 
 can be obtained than through this official corre- 
 spondence. The following letters are a history in 
 themselves. 
 
IVALL STREET WARS. gc 
 
 Noble Order of the Knights of Labor of 
 America, 
 Office of General Secretary, 
 
 Philadelphia, March 27th. 
 Mr. Jay Gould: 
 
 Sir. — The General Executive Board would be 
 pleased to have an interview with you at your con- 
 venience to-day for the purpose of submitting 
 the Southwest difficulties to a committee of seven 
 (7) for arbitration, three of the committee to be ap- 
 pointed by yourself and three by the General Exe- 
 cutive Board, the' six to select the seventh member 
 of the committee, their decision in the matter to be 
 final. Should this proposition be acceptable, we will 
 at once issue an order for the men to return to 
 work. 
 
 By order of the General Executive Board, 
 
 Frederick Turner, 
 
 Secretary of Board. 
 
 The Missouri Pacific Railway Company. 
 
 New York, March 27th. 
 Frederick Turner, Esq., Secretary, etc., Philadelphia, Pa.: 
 
 Dear Sir. — I have your note of this date propos- 
 ing an interview between your Executive Commit- 
 tee and the officers of this company, for the purpose 
 of submitting to arbitration by a committee of seven 
 what you term the ' Southwestern difficulties.' You 
 are doubtless aware, that, in the negotiations which 
 took place here last August between Mr. T. V, 
 
g6 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 Powderly, Grand Master Workman, and associates, 
 and the officers of this company, it was agreed, 
 that, in future, no strikes would be ordered on the 
 Missouri Pacific Road until after a conference with 
 the officers of the company and an opportunity 
 to adjust any alleged grievances. In view of this 
 fact, attention is drawn to the following correspond- 
 ence between Mr. A. Hopkins, vice-president, act- 
 ing for this company in my absence, and Mr. Pow- 
 derly : 
 
 New York, March 6th, 1886. 
 T. V. Powderly, Scranton, Pa. : 
 
 Mr. Hoxie telegraphs that Knights of Labor on 
 our road have struck and refuse to allow any freight 
 trains to run on our road, saying they have no 
 grievance, but are only striking because they are 
 ordered to do so. If there is any grievance we • 
 would like to talk it over with you. We understood 
 you to promise that no strike should be ordered 
 without consultation. 
 
 A. L. Hopkins. 
 
 Philadelphia, Pa., March 8th, 1886. 
 A. L. Hopkins, Secretary Missouri Pacific Railroad, 195 
 Broadway, New York: 
 Have telegraphed West for particulars. Papers 
 say strike caused by discharge of man named Hall. 
 Can he be reinstated pending investigation ? 
 
 T, V. Powderly. - ; 
 
WA'LL STREET WARS. q«, 
 
 New York, March 8th, 1886. 
 T. V. Powderly : 
 
 Thanks for your message and suggestion. Hall 
 was employed by the Texas & Pacific and not by us. 
 That property is in the hands of the United States 
 Court, and we have no control whatever over the 
 receivers or over the employees. We have carried 
 out the agreements made last spring in every re- 
 spect, and the present strike is unjust to us and un- 
 wise for you. It is reported here that this move- 
 ment is the result of Wall Street influence on the 
 part of those short of the securities likely to be 
 affected. 
 
 A. L. Hopkins. 
 
 No reply to this message was received, but this 
 company's request for a conference was ignored 
 and its premises at once invaded and its property 
 destroyed by the men of your Order in great num- 
 bers, who also seized and disabled its trains, as they 
 have since continued to do, whenever attempting to 
 run. The Board of Directors of this company 
 thereupon had a copy of the correspondence above 
 given made and transmitted to Mr. H. N. Hoxie, 
 the First Vice-President and General Manager at 
 St. Louis, with instructions to use every endeavor 
 to continue the operation of the road, and com- 
 mitted the whole matter to his hands. 
 
 Mr. Hoxie's overtures, made through the Gover- 
 nors of Missouri and Kansas, who stated that they 
 
q8 life of JA V GCULD. 
 
 found no cause for the strike, were rejected by your 
 Order. These and the subsequent correspondence 
 between him and Mr. Powderly are well known to 
 you, and Mr. Hoxie's course has been confirmed by 
 the Board and the matter is still in his hands. I am 
 therefore instructed by the Board to refer you to 
 him as its continuing representative in the premises. 
 
 I am directed to add in behalf of the Board, that 
 in its judgment so long as this company is forcibly 
 kept from the control of its property and from per- 
 forming its charter duties, its business is done, if at 
 all, not under the conditions of law, which are com- 
 mon to all citizens, but only at the will of a law- 
 breaking force. Any negotiations with such a force 
 would be unwise and useless. Terms made with it 
 would not be a settlement of difficulties, but a tri- 
 umph of force over the law of the land. It would 
 mean nothing in their judgment but new troubles 
 and worse. This is the result of their experience. 
 
 In the meantime, the Governor's proclamation 
 enjoins upon your men to return to duty, and this 
 company's continued advertisement offers them (em- 
 ployment on the same terms as heretofore. The 
 Board further suggests that inasmuch as your order 
 assuming in your communication responsibility for 
 these men, and power and control over them, the fol- 
 lowing, from the proclamation of the Governor of Mis- 
 souri, is expressive of their duty and of your own: 
 
 " I warn all persons, whether they be employees 
 or not, against interposing any obstacle, whether in 
 
\i:4LL STKEFT irARS. ng 
 
 the way of said resumption, and witli a firm reliance 
 upon the courage, good sense, and law-abiding spirit 
 of the public, I hereby call upon all good citizens to 
 assist in carrying out the purposes of this proclama- 
 tion ; and I also hereby pledge the whole power of 
 the State, so far as it may be lawfully wielded by its 
 chief executive officer, to sustain the company and 
 its servants in said resumption, and to restrain and 
 punish all that may oppose it." 
 
 When this proclamation shall be obeyed, and 
 , when the company's late employees shall desist from 
 violence and interference with its trains, the Board 
 hereby assures them that they will find themselves 
 met by Mr. Hoxie in the spirit in which he has here- 
 tofore so successfully avoided rupture and cause for 
 just complaint, and in that just and liberal spirit 
 which should always exist between the employer 
 and the employed. By order of the Board, 
 Very respectfully yours. 
 
 Jay Gould, 
 President Missouri Pacific Raikvay Company. 
 
 "Personal." 
 
 Missouri Pacific Railroad Company, 
 
 New York, March 29th, 1886. 
 T. V. Powderly, Esq., New York City : 
 
 Dear Sir. — The papers this morning publish the 
 following message : 
 
 "President J. Gould has consented to our propo- 
 sition for arbitration, and so telegraphs Vice-Presi- 
 dent Hoxie. Order the men to resume at once. 
 Signed, T. V. Powderly, G. M. W." 
 
lOO LIFE OF JAY GOUm. 
 
 They also publish an interview with you, which 
 leads me to think that the officers of your Order in 
 St. Louis may misconstrue your message into a 
 consent on the part of this company to conform to 
 the request contained in the letter from the Secre- 
 tary of your Order, dated Philadelphia, March 27th, 
 which in my letter to you of the same date I declined 
 to consider. You will remember that in our confer- 
 ence of yesterday, I said to you that the position of 
 this company was unchanged in this respect, and 
 that the whole matter was left in the hands of the 
 First Vice-President and General Manager, with the 
 instructions contained in my telegram to him, which 
 was written before my interview with you and read 
 to you at the time. This telegram stated, " We see 
 no objection to arbitrating any difference between 
 the employees and the company, past or future." 
 While I feel confident that your understanding of 
 this matter is the same as my own, I write you this 
 in order that there may be no grounds for misun- 
 derstanding hereafter. 
 
 Very respectfully yours, 
 
 Jay Gould, 
 President Missouri Pacific R. R. Co 
 
 MR. POWDERLY TO MR. GOULD. 
 
 ScRANTON, Pa., April nth, 1886. 
 Jay Gould, Esq., President Missouri Pacific Railroad: 
 
 Dear Sir. — The events of the past 48 hours 
 must have demonstrated to you the absolute neces- 
 sity of bringing this terrible struggle in the South- 
 
WALL STREET WARS. lOI' 
 
 west to a speedy termination. You have the power, 
 the authority, and the means to bring the strike to 
 an end. I have done everything in my power to 
 end the strife. The gentlemen associated with me 
 on the General Executive Board of the Knights of 
 Labor have done the same. Everything consistent 
 with honor and manhood has been done in the inter-' 
 est of peace. No false notions of pride or dignity 
 have swayed us in our dealings with you or the 
 gentlemen associated with you. 
 
 In that conference with you on Sunday, March 
 2Sth, I understood you to mean that arbitration 
 would be agreed to. The only method of arbitra- 
 tion that was discussed was in line with that sug- 
 gested in the letter which I sent to you in the name 
 of our Board the day previous. There was nothing 
 particular agreed upon, as you well know. You 
 said that in arbitratinsf the matter the damages sus- 
 tained by the company during the strike ought to 
 receive consideration. I said to you that it would not 
 be the part of wisdom to bring that question up in 
 the settlement of the strike. When I called upon you 
 again that evening you had prepared, as the result 
 of your understanding of the morning's interview, a 
 letter which you intended to give me. That letter 
 included a telegram to be sent to Mr. Hoxie, and 
 in that telegram you said that the damages sustained 
 by the company would be a proper subject for the 
 arbitration board to discuss. This latter part of the 
 letter or telegram you agreed to strike off after we 
 
I02 LIFE OF JAY GOULB. 
 
 had talked the matter over for some time, and. I left 
 you as you were about to go to your ro6m to re- 
 write the letter, which you afterward placed in the 
 hands of Mr. McDowell to be given to me, for I had 
 to leave at that time in order to keep an appoint- 
 ment at the hotel where I stopped. The statement 
 which you have since made, to the effect that you 
 had prepared that letter before I called, is not quite 
 correct, or if you did have it prepared you changed 
 - it after we talked the matter over for some time. 
 This I believe you will admit to be true. In the 
 conference held between the members of our Ex- 
 ecutive Board aind the directors of the Missouri 
 Pacific Company, at No. 195 Broadway, on March 
 30th, you said to me that you understood me to say 
 that the men along your lines would be ordered back 
 to work at once, they having violated the rules of 
 
 our organization. 
 
 I then reiterated the statement which I have made 
 to you, and now repeat it : " The men out along the 
 lines of your railways can be ordered back to work, 
 but if they are given to understand that they are 
 deserted, that we do not take any interest in them, 
 it will not in any way mend matters ; on the con- 
 trary, it will make things worse. There are, all 
 along the roads out there, a great many men who 
 have no regard for organization or law, men of 
 hardy spirit, energy, and daring. Such men as have 
 left the East and have taken up their homes out in 
 a wild country such as that is will not submit as 
 
WALL STREET WARS. IO3 
 
 quietly as the meri they left behind in the East; they 
 are apt to do rasher things than they would do else- 
 where, and I have no doubt we have some in our 
 Order, in fact, rny experience with the men of that 
 vast section leads me to think that the men on both 
 sides out there are more dare-devilish than they are 
 in the East. Even the business men cf that country 
 are of that stamp of character." 
 
 Both you and Mr. Hopkins heard me make that 
 statement, and I believe the latter agreed that that 
 was his experience also. The danger of the strike 
 spreading was also discussed, and I said to you that 
 it would not spread, that an effort had been made to 
 have the men of the Union Pacific take a part in it, 
 but that .the Knicrhts of Labor on that road had a 
 standing agreement with the management of the 
 road that there was to be no trouble or strike until 
 the last effort to effect a settlement had failed ; and 
 not then until the court of last resort had been 
 reached. When I made that statement Mr. Hop- 
 kins remarked that they had better strike then, for 
 if they did not, the Union Pacific would not much 
 longer have sufficient money to pay their employees. 
 The impression made on me was that you would be 
 pleased to see a strike take place on the Union 
 Pacific. 
 
 This, I believe, covers the chief points of discus- 
 sion. I did not hear either you or Mr. Hopkins say 
 that the present trouble out along your road would 
 hot be arbitrated with the men who were not at 
 
I04 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 work. It was my ftrm belief when I left you that 
 night that you meant to have the entire affair sub- 
 mitted to arbitration at the first possible moment. 
 That belief is shared by Mr. McDowell, who was 
 present during the entire interview. 
 
 When you sent the telegram to Mr. Hoxie you 
 sent it as President of the Missouri Pacific Railroad 
 Company. You sent it as the chief sends his mes- 
 sage to an inferior officer, and it meant as much to 
 a sensible man as the most imperative order could 
 possibly mean. When I, as the chief officer of the 
 Knights of Labor, send a message such as that, it 
 is understood to be my wishes, and those wishes 
 are respected by the subordinate officer to whom 
 they are sent. It is not his place to put a different 
 construction on them and give them his own inter- 
 pretation. His duty is to obey the spirit of the in- 
 struction. The man in power need not be an auto- 
 crat in order to have his wishes respected. '• I would 
 like to see it done," comes with as great a force 
 from the man in authority as "I must have it done." 
 That was the idea that I entertained when I left your 
 house that night. I also explained to you at your 
 house that night that the men who had entered upon 
 the strike had not violated any law of the Order in 
 so doing ; that, while I thought it would have been 
 better if they had laid their grievances before the 
 General Executive Board before striking, yet there 
 was nothing in our laws to command them to do so. 
 I said that a District Assembly of the Knio-hts of 
 
WALL STREET WARS. IO5 
 
 Labor bore the same relation to the General As- 
 sembly, of which I am the chief officer, that one of 
 the States of the American Union had to the Gen- 
 eral Government of the United States, and that, 
 while I could interfere, it was under the law which 
 gave me jurisdiction over the entire Order, and not 
 under any particular law. I furthermore explained 
 to you that the spirit of our organization, its genius, 
 was opposed to strikes, and that was the reason why 
 our General Convention never enacted any particu- 
 lar legislation for the government of them. I also 
 said that the occasion had never before called for 
 any interference from the general officers, but that 
 this strike would show the necessity for the passage, 
 at our next convention, of laws that would place the 
 subject of strikes under the control of the General 
 Executive Board of the general Order. 
 
 When, on Monday, March 29th, yoa sent me the 
 letter marked "Personal," you, at the same time, 
 told a newspaper correspondent that you had done 
 so. What your motive was in marking your letter 
 " Personal " and at the same time informing a rep- 
 resentative of the press that you so addressed me, 
 I do not know, nor do I question your motive. I 
 felt it to be my duty to let the public see the letter, 
 which contained nothing' of a personal nature what- 
 ever. There are people who might be uncharitable 
 enough to say that your intention was to give out 
 the impression that there was something between 
 you and me which would not bear the light of public 
 
106 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 scrutiny. I have had no such dealings with any 
 man since this trouble began, nor previous to that 
 time. I am quite willing to allow the fullest light 
 possible to shine upon my every transaction. I have 
 nothing to conceal. 
 
 You can settle this strike. Its longer continuance 
 rests with you, and you alone. Every act of violence, 
 every drop of blood that may be shed from this time 
 forth, must be laid atyour door. The Knights of Labor 
 were not founded to promote or shield wrong-doing, 
 and to-day the Order of the Knights of Labor 
 stands between your property and ruin. We are 
 willing to absolve the men along your railways 
 from their allegiance to our Order, We leave that 
 to themselves. We will not allow any claims which 
 the Order may have on them to stand between them 
 and their restoration to their former positions. The 
 Order of the Knights of Labor asks of no man to 
 remain a member if it is not to his interest to do so. 
 You may deal with them as citizens if you will. We 
 will surrender our right to claim these men as mem- 
 bers if they wish, but we will not surrender our 
 right to see this affair thoroughly investigated. 
 
 You have said that the Order of the Knights of 
 Labor was a conspiracy, a secret menace, etc. I am 
 willing, as the chief officer, to lay everything con- 
 nected with our Order bare to the world, if you 
 will, on the other hand, lay open to the public the 
 means and methods whereby you have piled up 
 wealth which you control, and allow the tribunal of 
 
IVALL STREET WAHS. IO7 
 
 public opinion to pass in judgment on the two and 
 say which is the conspiracy. Do you accept the 
 challenge ? 
 
 You have instructed your legal adviser to pro- 
 ceed against every man connected with the Knights 
 of Labor for the damages sustained since the strike 
 began. Two weeks ago I said : " Do not do this." 
 To-day I say begin at once, lay claims for damages 
 in every court within whose jurisdiction a Knight 
 exists. Proceed at once, and in every State where 
 you can recover damages do so if the law will 
 sustain you in it. Let the majesty of the law be 
 vindicated ; it is just and right that it should be so. 
 We are willing to face you before the law. We will 
 fight you with no other weapon. For every viola- 
 tion of the law of State or Nation we will enter suit 
 against you, and in this crusade against you do not 
 understand that we mean to prosecute. On the con- 
 trary, we wish to see the law vindicated. If you 
 have at all times obeyed the law in your dealings, 
 in the methods by which you have acquired your 
 immense fortune, then it is time that the many 
 offenses with which you are charged should be re- 
 futed. You have remained silent under many a 
 damaging charge of injuring the State. We will 
 be your avengers. If you have been wronged we 
 will let it be known to the world through the medium 
 of the courts of justice. And let me say right here 
 that no money will buy a verdict at the hands of 
 these courts. 
 
I08 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 There are people who say that this struggle is the 
 beginning of the war between capital and labor. 
 That statement is false. This certainly means war; 
 but it is a war between legitimate capital, honest 
 enterprise, and honest labor on the one hand, and ille- 
 gitimate wealth on the other hand. This is a war in 
 which we court the fullest investigation of our acts. 
 Do you dare to do the same ? This war means no 
 further strike, no shedding of blood ; it is a war in 
 which every business man, every commercial man, 
 every professional man, every workingman will be 
 invited to enlist. It will not be a war upon the 
 innocent and the battle-field upon which it will be 
 fought out will be before the two courts — of law 
 and that which makes law, public opinion. There 
 will be no mobs in this supreme hour to silence any 
 man's opinion. No converts will be made by phys- 
 ical force. " That flag which floats over press 
 or mansion at the bidding of a mob, disgraces 
 both victor and victim," and under such a flag as 
 that we will not wage the battle ; but this battle of 
 the people against monopoly may as well be fought 
 now as ten years from now, and what field so emi- 
 nently proper in which to fight it out as before the 
 courts? Let us know whether laws were made to 
 be obeyed or not ; and if they were not so framed 
 then the people must make laws that will be obeyed. 
 No man, whether he be rich or whether he be the 
 poorest of the poor, shall in future shirk the respon-' 
 sibility of his acts and shield himself behind the 
 
WALL STUEET IVAHS. jOQ 
 
 courts. It was to see that the laws were obeyed 
 that the Order of the Knights of Labor was founded 
 and if the day has come to make the trial, so let it be. 
 I do not write this letter to you either in the spirit 
 of anger or revenge. For you personally I have no 
 dislike. I believe that, if allowed to follow your 
 own impulses in this matter, you would have had 
 the strike ended ere this. Those who advise you 
 do not mingle with the people, they do not care for 
 the people. You have been warned that your life 
 is in danger. Pay no attention to such talk ; no 
 man who has the interest of his country at heart 
 would harm a hair of your head. But the system 
 which reaches out on all sides, gathering in the mil- 
 lions of dollars of treasure and keeping them out of 
 the legitimate channels of trade and commerce, 
 must die, and the men whose money is invested in the 
 enterprises which stock -gambling has throttled must 
 make common cause with those who have been de- 
 nied the right to earn enough to provide the merest 
 necessaries of life for home and family. When I 
 say to you that we will meet you in the courts I do 
 not speak rashly or ill-advisedly. I have taken 
 counsel from the best legal minds of the United 
 States. We are prepared to face you before the 
 courts, and now await your action in the matter. 
 This is no threat. I play no game of bluff or 
 chance. I speak for 500,000 organized men, who 
 are ready to pay out the last farthing in order that 
 justice may prevail You have it in your power to 
 
jjQ LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 make friends of these men by acting the part of the 
 man, by taking this matter in your own hands. 
 Will you do so, and end this strife in the interest of 
 humanity and our common country ? It is your duty 
 to brush aside every obstacle, assert your authority, 
 and take this matter in your hands, settle every 
 grievance, restore every man to his place, except 
 those who have been eno-acred in the destruction of 
 property or who have broken the laws. Will you 
 do this ? You can then make rules and agreements 
 with your men which will forever preclude the pos- 
 sibility of another such disastrous conflict as this 
 one has proved itself to be. I remain 
 Yours very truly, 
 T. V. POWDERLY, G. M. W. K. of L. 
 
 THE REPLY OF MR. GOULD. 
 
 The reply of Mr. Gould includes copies of previ- 
 ous correspondence. It is as follows : 
 
 New York, April 14th, 1886. 
 T. V.Powdcrly, Esq., G. M. W. K. of L : 
 
 Dear Sir. — At 12 o'clock to-day I received from 
 Mr. William O. McDowell, whom you brought with 
 you to our recent conferences, a letter in which he 
 says : 
 
 " By yesterday's mail I received a letter written by 
 Mr. Powderly addressed to you, inclosed in a letter 
 addressed to me. With this, I hand to you the letter 
 addressed to you by Mr. Powderly, and a copy of 
 Mr. Powderly's letter to me inclosing the same." 
 
IVALL STREET IVARS. I X 1 
 
 The following is a copy of the letter Mr. McDow- 
 ell sent me as coming from you : 
 
 "General Assembly Order of Knights of Labor 
 OF America. 
 
 " Office of General Master Workman, 
 
 " ScRANTON, Penn., April 13th, 1886. 
 " My Dear Mr. McDowell. — I inclose you a let- 
 ter which you are to read and deliver to the man 
 for whom it is intended. I do not care whether you 
 deliver it in person or through the medium of 
 another, only ask that it be placed in his hands. If 
 you have succeeded in effecting a settlement with 
 him, do not give it to him. If you think there is a 
 prospect of an immediate settlem.ent do not give it 
 to him ; but if such is not the case, then I want it 
 placed in his hands. Allow him to either consent or 
 to make a reply. If he consents to an honorable 
 settlement, then the letter will never see the light 
 of day, but if he does not so act, then it will be pub- 
 lished to the world, and from the time he opens up 
 the ball in a legal way, we will continue to wage the 
 battle with him. His wealth cannot save him if 
 this fight is begun. Let no one know of the exist- 
 ence of this letter until after five o'clock of the da;,- 
 you deliver it ; then if he makes no reply, let it go 
 to the world. Let him know the limit of time 
 allowed. I sincerely hope that there will be no, ne- 
 cessity for its publication. Hoping for the best, I 
 remain, "Very truly yours, 
 
 " T. V. POWDERLY, 
 
J 1 2 LIFE OF JA Y GOULD. 
 
 I have received your letter to me dated " Scran- 
 ton, Penn., April nth, 1886," at the same time and 
 by the same agency that I received your foregoing 
 letter of instructions to Mr. McDowell. The ani- 
 mus and purpose of your letter to me cannot be 
 fully understood without knowing the contents of 
 that one. I was peremptorily notified at the same 
 time that I must answer your letter by five o'clock 
 to-day, and I was graciously given until that hour 
 to respond. Your letter to me embraces two sub- 
 jects, one relating to me personally, and the other 
 to the relation of the Knights of Labor to a railroad 
 company of which I am the President, and, in some 
 degree, the representative of its public and private 
 duties. I shall refer to the first subject very briefly. 
 Tlie circumstances above given, under which your 
 letter was delivered, as well as its tenor and spirit, 
 place the purpose in writing it beyond any fair 
 doubt. It would seem to be an official declaration 
 that the Knights of Labor had determined to pursue 
 me personally unless the Missouri Pacific Company 
 should yield to its demands in what you call the 
 strike on that road. 
 
 In answer to these personal threats, I beg to say 
 that I am yet a free American citizen. I am past 
 forty-nine years of age, was born at Roxbury, Dela- 
 ware County, in this State. I began life in a lowly 
 way, and by industry, temperance, and attention to my 
 own business have been su&cessful, perhaps beyond 
 the measure of my deserts. If, as you say, I am 
 
ir.-ILL STREET WARS. Ij, , 
 
 now to be destroyed by the Knights of Labor unless 
 I will sink my manhood, so be it. Fortunately, I 
 have retained my early habits of industry. My 
 friends, neighbors, and business associates know me 
 well, and I am quite content to leave my personal 
 record in their hands. If any of them have aught 
 to complain of, I will be only too glad to submit to 
 any arbitration. If such parties or any of them 
 wish to appoint the Knights of Labor or you as 
 their attorney, such appointment is quite agreeable 
 to me, but until such an election is made it will na- 
 turally occur to you that any interference on your part 
 in my personal affairs, is to say the least, quite gratu- 
 itous. Since I was nineteen years of age I have been 
 in the habit of employing in my various enterprises 
 large numbers of persons, probably at times as high 
 as 50,000, distributing ^3,000,000 or ^4,000,000 
 per month to different pay rolls. It would seem a 
 little strange that during all these years the difficulty 
 with the Knights of Labor should be my first. Any 
 attempt to connect me personally with the late 
 strike on the Southwestern roads, or any responsi- 
 bility therefor, is equally gratuitous, as you well 
 know. It is true I am President of the Missouri 
 Pacific, but when this strike occurred I was far away 
 on the ocean and beyond the reach of telegrams. 
 I went away relying on your promise made to me 
 last August that there should be no strike on that 
 road, and that if any difficulties should arise you 
 would come frankly to me with them. Mr. Hop- 
 
J J 4 LIFE OF JA V COULD. 
 
 kins, the Vice-President of this company, who was 
 present and cognizant of this arrangement with you, 
 in my absence sent you promptly, when the present 
 strike broke out, the following telegrams : 
 
 New York, March 6th, 1886. 
 T. V. Powderly, Scranton, Penna. : 
 
 Mr. Hoxie telegraphs that Knights of Labor on 
 our road have struck and refuse to allow any freight 
 trains to run, saying they have no grievances, but 
 are only striking because ordered to do so. If 
 there is any grievance we would like to talk it over 
 with you. We understood you to promise that no 
 strike would be ordered without consultation. 
 
 A. L. Hopkins. 
 
 Philadelphia, Penna., March 8th, 1886. 
 A. L. Hopkins, Secretary Missouri Pacific Railroad; New 
 York : 
 Have telegraphed West for particulars. Papers, 
 say strike caused by discharge of man named Hall. 
 Can he be reinstated pending investigation ? 
 
 T. V. PoWDERLY. 
 
 New York, March 8th, 1886. 
 T. V. Powder ly : 
 
 Thanks for your messages and suggestion. Hall • 
 was employed by the Texas & Pacific, and not by 
 us. That property is in the hands of the United 
 States Court, and we have no control whatever 
 over the receivers or other employees. We have car- 
 
WALL STREET WAKS. j j t 
 
 ried out the agreements made last spring in every 
 respect, and the present strike is unjust to us, and 
 unwise for you. It is reported here that this move- 
 ment is the result of Wall Street influence on the 
 part of those short of the securities likely to be 
 affected.- A. L. Hopkins. 
 
 This dispatch you never answered. This corre- 
 spondence places the continuance of this strike on 
 your shoulders. You sat still and were silent after 
 Mr. Hopkins' appeal, and allowed the strike to go 
 on — allowed the company's property to be forcibly 
 seized and the citizens of four States and one Terri- 
 tory to be deprived of their rightful railway facilities. 
 Thus forced, the Board of Directors, prior to my re- 
 turn, placed the^ matter in Mr. Hoxie's hands by a 
 formal resolution, and that disposition of it has never 
 been changed. You knew this well, because you 
 had a correspondence with him on this subject. 
 Hence it was that when Mr. Turner, Secretary of 
 your Order, wrote to me on the subject, I fully ad- 
 vised him, in my letter of March 27th, that the mat- 
 ter had been placed by the Board in the hands of 
 Mr. Hoxie, and that I must refer you to him as its 
 continuing representative. At the same time I re- 
 minded you that a standing advertisement of this 
 company was at that moment inviting its former em- 
 ployees to return to their accustomed posts ; and 
 that regardless of their being or not being members 
 of your Order, and regardless also of their indi- 
 
J J g LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 vidual participation in the strike which your Order 
 had recently inaugurated. When, in spite of all 
 this, you desired to see me personally, I cordially 
 met you, and, having put myself in communication 
 with Mr. Hoxie, arranged with him for you the 
 following, which was widely published by you at the 
 time : 
 
 New York, March 30th, 1869. 
 Martin Irons, St. Louis. 
 
 Have been in conference all day, with the result 
 that Vice-President Hoxie agrees to the following : 
 Willing to meet a ■ committee of our employees 
 without discrimination, who are actually at work in 
 the service of the company at the time such committee 
 is appointed, to adjudicate with them any grievance 
 that they may have. Have your Executive Com- 
 mittee order the men to return to work, and also 
 select a special committee from the employees of the 
 Missouri Pacific to wait on Mr. Hoxie to adjust any 
 difference. Do this as quickly as possible. Board 
 will leave for St. Louis to-morrow. 
 
 Frederick Turner, Secretary. 
 
 Ever since then Mr. Hoxie has stood ready to re- 
 ceive any and all persons in the actual employ of 
 this company as a committee or otherwise, and con- 
 fer upon or arbitrate any matter of difference or 
 complaint either between the company and them- 
 selves or between the company and its late em- 
 ployees, and, for that matter, between the company 
 
WALL STREET WARS. I j 7 
 
 and anybody else. No such committee or individual 
 employee has, so far as known to me, ever made any 
 such application. In this connection it will be re- 
 membered that they left not because of any com- 
 plaint whatever of this company's treatment of them- 
 selves, but only because of this company's refusal to 
 comply with their demand that this company refuse 
 to do what the law requires in the way of inter- 
 change of business with another company, with which 
 some of your Order had a quarrel. 
 
 In the meantime this company has of necessity 
 gone on to extend employment to such of those 
 persons who recently, and without even alleged 
 provocation, left its service, as saw fit to return. 
 These returning employees have been very many, 
 and in this way its rolls are already nearly, if not 
 quite, as full as its shops and equipment, crippled 
 by acts of violence attendant upon recent action of 
 your Order, can employ. Mr. Hoxie advises that 
 every such person applying to be received back has 
 been employed, unless believed to have taken part 
 in recent acts of violence. This company still stands 
 ready to make good in the fullest sense its agree- 
 ment as expressly set forth. 
 
 In the face of all this you notify me that unless 
 by five o'clock I personally consent to something, 
 precisely what I do not see, then personal conse- 
 quences of a sort vaguely expressed, but not hard 
 to understand, will at the hand of your Order be 
 visited upon me. Let me again remind you that it 
 
I J 3 LIFE OF JA Y GOULD. 
 
 is an American citizen whom you and your Order 
 thus propose to destroy. The contest is not between 
 your Order and me, but between your Order and the 
 laws of the land. Your Order has already defied 
 those laws in preventing by violence this company 
 from operating its road. You held then that this 
 company should not operate its road under condi- 
 tions prescribed by law, but only under conditions 
 prescribed by you. You now declare in effect that 
 I hold my individual property and rights, not as 
 other men hold theirs, but only at the peril of your 
 letting loose irrevocably after five o'clock your 
 Order upon me. If this is true of this company and 
 of me, it is true of all other men and companies. If 
 so, you and your secret Order are the law, and &n 
 American citizen is such only in name. 
 
 Already for weeks your Order, in your attack 
 upon this company, has not hesitated to disable it 
 by violence from rendering its duty to the public 
 and from giving work and paying wages to men at 
 least three times your own number, who, working 
 as they were by your side, were at least deserving 
 of your sympathy. Having pushed this violence 
 beyond even the greatest forbearance of the public, 
 and found in this direction cause to hesitate, you 
 now turn upon me and propose that the wrongs 
 you have hitherto inflicted on the public shall now 
 culminate in an attack upon an individual. 
 
 In this, as I have said, the real issue is between 
 you and the law of the land. It may be, before you 
 
WALL STREET WARS. Ug 
 
 are through, those laws will efficiently advise you 
 that even I, as an individual citizen, am not beyond 
 their care. Very respectfully, 
 
 Jay Gould. 
 
 The following condensed report, embracing the 
 operations of the Missouri Pacific Railway Company, 
 and its leased, operated, and independent lines, for 
 the year ending December 31st, 1891, is here given. 
 It will mve the reader an excellent idea of the vast 
 scope of the system for which Mr. Gould fought so 
 valiantly : 
 
 The average mileage of all lines operated during 
 the y^ar was 5,282.61 miles, an increase of 173.61 
 miles over the previous year. The mileage of all 
 lines on December 31st, 1891, was 5,288.85 miles, 
 an increase of 163.85 miles, compared with same 
 date of previous year. 
 
 The above increase in mileage consists of the 
 Fort Scott & Southern Railway, Fort Scott to Cor- 
 nell, Kan., 27.20 miles, opened January 26th, 1891 ; 
 the Fort Scott Belt Terminal Railway, comprising 
 terminal and connecting tracks at Fort Scott, Kan., 
 3.91 miles, opened January 26th, 1891 ; Omaha 
 Southern Railway, Union to Plattsmouth, Neb., 14.71 
 miles, opened September 9th, 1891 ; Houston, Cen- 
 tral Arkansas & Northern Line, McGehee. Ark., to 
 Riverton, La. (Ouachita River), 118.68 miles, in- 
 cluded in system mileage January ist, 1891 ; a net 
 deduction of .65 miles from the system mileage of 
 
I20 Li^'^ OF JAY COULD. 
 
 1890 was effected by correction of distances, making 
 the aggregate increase in mileage during the year 
 163.85 miles. 
 
 The relations of the several properties remained 
 practically unchanged during the year. By inden- 
 ture, dated January ist, 1891, the Kansas City & 
 Southwestern Line, Paola, Kan., to Cecil, Mo., 48,23 
 miles, was leased to the Missouri Pacific Railway 
 Company for a term of ninety-nine years, making 
 the aggregate main line mileage of the Missouri 
 Pacific Company 1,542.45. 
 
 The Kansas & Colorado Pacific Railway com- 
 prises 1,057.13 miles of lines in Kansas, to which 
 has been added, since the close of the year, the Fort 
 Scott, Wichita & Western Railway (by purchase), 
 309.85 miles, and the Pueblo & State Line Railroad 
 (by lease), 151.89 miles. Additional independent 
 lines, agregating 130.21 miles, complete the mileage 
 of 1,649.08 miles, treated in operating accounts as 
 branch lines of the Missouri Pacific Railway. 
 
 The St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Rail- 
 way, including the Little Rock and Fort Smith, 
 Litde Rock Juncdon, and Kansas & Arkansas Val- 
 ley divisions, comprises' an aggregate mileage of 
 1,547.22 miles. 
 
 The Houston, Central Arkansas & Northern ' 
 Line, McGehee, Ark., to Riverton, La., 118.68 
 miles, was operated during the year as an inde- 
 pendent property, in connection with the Iron 
 Mountain System. 
 
WALL STREET WARS. j2i 
 
 The Central Branch, Union Pacific Railroad, em- 
 braces 388.19 miles of leased railway, the net earn- 
 ings of which are paid to the Union Pacific Railway 
 Company as lessor. 
 
 The Sedalia, Warsaw & Southwestern Railway 
 (successor to the Sedalia, Warsaw & Southern Rail- 
 way), a narrow-gauge line, 43.23 miles in length, 
 was operated as an independent line in connection 
 with the Missouri Pacific Railway. 
 
 The aggregate gross earnings of the Missouri 
 Pacific System for the year were ^^25, 91 8,106.24, an 
 increase of ^444,522.38 over previous year. The 
 earnings from freight traffic were ^18,224,486,30, an 
 increase of $323,209.05 ; the earnings from passen- 
 ger trafiic were $5,070,047.60, a decrease of 
 $49,734.82 ; the earnings from mail, express, and 
 miscellaneous sources were $2,623,572.25, an in- 
 crease of $171,048.15. 
 
 The gross earnings, operating expenses, and net 
 earnings of the several properties, separately, 
 were : 
 
 Gross 
 Earnings. 
 
 The Missouri Pacific Ry. 
 
 anti branches, ^13,221,097 52 
 
 St. Louis, Iron Mountain & 
 
 So, Ry., 11,581,930 72 
 
 Houston, Cantral Arkansas 
 
 and Northern Line, . . 183,629 32 
 
 Centra) Branch Union Pacific 
 
 R. R. 894,160 28 
 
 Sedalia, Warsaw & South- 
 western Ry 37,288 40 
 
 Operating 
 Expenses, 
 
 Net 
 Earnings. 
 
 Increase 
 
 Net 
 Earnings. 
 
 $9,920,148 19 
 
 fe, 300,949 33 
 
 519,126 24 
 
 7,704,897 38 
 
 3,877,033 34 
 
 »i2,453 84 
 
 186,085 49 
 
 *2,456 17 
 
 *",473 27 
 
 648,086 92 
 
 246,073 36 
 
 47,230 52 
 
 36,138 64 
 
 1,149 76 
 
 3,687 68 
 
 18,405,356 62 
 
 *7,4i!',749 ^^■ 
 
 ?46,ii7 33 
 
 Total ^25,918,106 24 
 
 The officers and directors of The Missouri Pacific 
 
 * Peficit or Decrease, 
 
J 2 2 LIP^ OFJA y GOULD. 
 
 Railway Company, at the time of the above report, 
 were : 
 
 General Officers. — Jay Gould, President, New 
 York ; S. H. H. Clark, First Vice-President and 
 General Manager, St. Louis ; George J. Gould, Sec- 
 ond Vice-President, New York ; George C. Smith, 
 Assistant General Manager, St. Louis ; A. H. Calef, 
 Secretary and Treasurer, New York ; Guy Phillips, 
 Second Assistant Secretary, New York ; D. S. H. 
 Smith, Local Treasurer, St. Louis ; C. G. Warner, 
 General Auditor, St. Louis ; Alexander G. Coch- 
 ran, General Solicitor, St. Louis ; C. A. Parker, 
 Freight Traffic Manager, St. Louis; H. C. Townsend, 
 General Passenger and Ticket Agent, St. Louis ; 
 James W. Way, Chief Engineer, St. Louis ; A. W. 
 Dickinson and R. E. Ricker, General Superintend- 
 ents, St. Louis. 
 
 Directors. — Jay Gould, New York ; Sidney Dil- 
 lon, New York ; Samuel Sloan, New York ; Russell 
 Sage, New York ; John P. Munn, New York ; 
 Thomas T. Eckert, New York ; A. L. Hopkins, New 
 York ; George J. Gould, New York ; John G. Moore, 
 New York ; D. D. Parmly, New York ; Edwin 
 Gould, New York; C. S. Greeley, St. Louis ; S. H. 
 H. Clark, St. Louis. 
 
 Executive Committee. — Jay Gould, Sidney Dil- 
 lon, Russell Sage, Thomas T. Eckert, George J. 
 Gould, Samuel Sloan, D. D. Parmly, A. L. Hopkins. 
 
 Expense Committee. — Jay Gould, ex-officio ; Rus- 
 sell Sage, George J. Gould, A.- L. Hopkins, Edwin 
 Gould. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 LYNDHURST AND THE "ATALANTA." 
 
 MR. GOULD'S house on the Hudson above 
 Irvington is called " Lyndhurst." It was 
 named so on account of the enormous linden trees 
 which adorn the place, the largest of which is shown 
 in one of the illustrations of this book. It is a stone 
 structure of Elizabethan architecture, situated on a 
 high green bluff overlooking the river and sur- 
 rounded with a well-kept park. The entrance to 
 the park is about a mile from Irvington, and is 
 marked by two tall granite posts. A stone porter's 
 lodge is by the gate. Passing into the grounds one 
 sees on every side the marks of the gardener's care 
 and the skill of the landscape gardener. A large 
 force of men work under the head-keeper of Lynd- 
 hurst, who is an intelligent German of great ability 
 in his profession. These employees are remarkably 
 well acquainted with the routine of work, for Mr. 
 Gould paid them so well it became almost a labor 
 of love for them to follow out his wishes to the let- 
 ter. Every employee at Lyndhurst rejoices in a 
 salary far above the compensation usually given in 
 similar positions. There are not too many trees, 
 only enough, and they are go grouped that while 
 
 123 
 
J 24 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 they make the house at the end of the driveway 
 seem retired, they yet afiford vistas through which 
 glimpses can be caught of the stone towers and 
 gables of the mansion. 
 
 Beyond the limits of the park lie fruitful and well- 
 cultivated farm lands and orchards, belonging to the 
 Gould estate. One opening among the trees shows 
 a gray tower and slender minarets. These mark 
 the dog kennels. The driveway is broad and smooth, 
 and winds over the undulating surface of the park 
 toward the house. Some of the trees through which 
 It runs are old oaks, which have not been interfered 
 with in the general plan of the grounds, but have 
 been brought into stronger effect by the arrange- 
 ment of the newer trees and the shrubbery. The 
 road descends a little before It reaches the house 
 and passes through a grove of evergreens. As one 
 comes in out of the dark grove, the beautiful house 
 bursts at once on the sight of the visitor. Trim 
 lawns surround it, and beyond it the view Is closed 
 by the broad Hudson and the Palisades beyond. 
 This beautiful view Is given in one of the illustra- 
 tions. 
 
 The central tower of the house rises high, bear- 
 ing turrets at each of its four corners. The house 
 is built of graystone, which Is shot with bluish tints. 
 It covers a large area, and its many parts are 
 grouped together so as to give an appearance 
 which is at once beautiful and imposing. There are 
 multitudes of graceful angles, mullioned windows, 
 
L YNDHURST AND THE "^ TALANTA." j 2 r 
 
 turrets, and spires all in harmony, and forming a 
 picture delightful to look upon. Here and there 
 are verandas with great windows opening upon 
 them, and now and then a stone balcony high up. 
 The great double doors of the main entrance are 
 of stone even up to the sashes of the diamond- 
 paned windows at their top. 
 
 Inside the house there is a great hall in the cen- 
 tre. On the right from the main entrance in the 
 dining-room and on the left a large drawing-room. 
 Everywhere are works of art, statuary, and paint- 
 ings. The house has a multitude of rooms in it 
 and is built on a generous plan throughout. It is 
 an ideal country home. Every window commands 
 a beautiful view, but those on the west front have 
 the finest. The Hudson can be seen for miles to 
 the south and north. The Palisades are seen in a 
 magnificent sweep across the river, and the town of 
 Nyack looks like a toy city on the further shore of 
 the river. To the north are the mountains of the 
 Highlands. The lawn at the west of the house 
 slopes down to the edge of the bluff Then there 
 is a steep descent to the railroad track, which is 
 hidden from view by thiclfly-planted trees and 
 shrubs growing on the declivity. A path leads 
 down to a brido-e over the track, and a short dis- 
 tance on the other side brinsfs one to the little wharf 
 and boat-house. It was off this wharf that the "Ata- 
 lanta " used to lie when Mr. Gould was at Lynd- 
 hurst. 
 
I 26 LIFE OF JA Y GOULD. 
 
 The library in the house contains a splendid col- 
 lection of books, which Mr. Gould bought from a 
 man who had spent many years and much money 
 in collecting- them in all the markets of the world. 
 Mr. Gould's stables, which are at some distance 
 from the house, contain some good carriage and 
 saddle horses. On the farm are herds of cattle of 
 excellent breeds, in which Mr. Gould took great in- 
 terest. He was always interested in the farm, and 
 was well informed regarding the breeding of fancy 
 cattle. Not far from the house are the extensive 
 greenhouses, including a large grapery. The larger 
 portion of the greenhouses is filled with the rarest 
 ferns, palms, and flowering plants. Mr. Gould was 
 a botanist of unusual attainments, and liked nothing 
 better than to walk throueh his ereenhouses with a 
 friend, and talk on that subject. He was especially 
 fond of orchids, of which he had probably the largest 
 and finest collection in the country, embracing as it 
 did over 400 varieties. He made a special study 
 of this peculiar plant, and spent large sums of money 
 in obtaining rare specimens. 
 
 The greenhouses cover about three acres. One 
 building is an eight* of a mile long. In short, the 
 country seat at Irvington was perfectly equipped in 
 every way. He bought it from the widow of a pros- 
 perous New York merchant, from whom he had 
 rented the place for several summers, and at once 
 began most extensive alterations in the grounds. 
 The actual assessed value of Lyndhurst was greatly 
 
L YNnHVRST AMD THE "A TALANTA." j 2 7 
 
 below its actual worth to its owner. It is doubtful 
 if any offer of money would have bought this 
 charming place from Mr. Gould. 
 
 In 1883 Mr. Gould had built at Cramps' ship- 
 yards in Philadelphia, the big steam yacht " Atalanta," 
 and for several years he was well known in yacht- 
 ing circles. He was elected a member of the 
 Eastern and Larchmont Yacht clubs, and applied 
 for membership in the New York Yacht Club. The 
 opposition to his name which was developed in the 
 club was so strong, however, that his friends with- 
 drew his name. This furnished a sensation at the 
 time. George J. Gould, who had for some time 
 taken an active interest in yachting, and was a 
 member of the club, at once resigned. Mr. Gould 
 at one time had an idea of making a cruise around 
 the world in the " Atalanta," but abandoned it. 
 
 Soon after the launching of the " Atalanta," Mr. ' 
 Gould and others formed the American Steam 
 Yacht Club. The " Atalanta " developed remarkable 
 speed, and is to-day the fastest large steam yacht 
 afloat. Mr. Gould had her built because he felt his 
 health to be failing, and thought yachting would be 
 beneficial to him. He would often feel that he 
 must have absolute rest for a few days. This he 
 could not have as long as he was on dry land, 
 although he tried many ingenious schemes to outwit 
 the business men and reporters, who were always 
 after him. Until within the last two years he spent 
 much time on board of her. She was used princi- 
 
I 2 8 LIFE OF JA Y GOULD. 
 
 pally as a means of transportation between Lynd- 
 hurst, his home on the Hudson, and the city, though 
 he made several extended cruises in her. It was 
 not often that Mr. Gould would allow the " Atalanta " 
 to be raced, but on the occasions when he did per- 
 mit this she made records. 
 
 Mr. Gould presented to the Larchmont Club a 
 cup called the Gould Cup, which is raced for every 
 year. He also contributed largely to the Interna- 
 tional Challenge Cup, offered by the American Yacht 
 Club for competition by steam yachts of different 
 nations. He was always anxious to see a challenge 
 for this cup, but so far no nation has challenged, 
 owing to the great superiority in point of speed of 
 the American steam yachts. 
 
 Mr. Gould seldom entertained people on board 
 the "Atalanta," but when he did entertain, his hos- 
 pitality was perfect. He had the happy faculty of 
 making his guests feel that the yacht was theirs and 
 he himself was a guest on board. There was an 
 excellently well-selected library on the yacht, and 
 the craft was fitted throughout, with quiet and sub- 
 stantial elegance. 
 
 The "Atalanta" is 243 feet long, 26^^ feet beam, 
 and 15^ feet deep. She is built of iron. In June 
 of 1886 she ran over the 85-knot course of the 
 American Yacht Club, from Milton Point to New 
 London, in 4 hours 34 minutes and 57 seconds. 
 
 The views of the stern and interior of this re- 
 markable steam yacht, which are elsewhere in this 
 
L YNDHURST AND THE "A TALANTA." j 20 
 
 book, give an excellent idea of the substantial ele- 
 gance of the craft and its comfortable fittings. 
 
 At the present writing the " Atalanta" is out of 
 commission and is entirely dismantled. Mr. George 
 Gould, who is fond of yachting, will probably re- 
 commission and appoint her. 
 
 As the recognized head of the Gould family since 
 Jay Gould's death, Mr. George Gould's history is a 
 matter of great interest to the public. He distinctly 
 resembles his father and yet is very unlike him. 
 Before he was twenty years old he was intrusted 
 with his father's business, and was notably a quiet 
 youth with a dark, bright eye, who was a close ob- 
 server. 
 
 When he reached his twenty-first birthday his 
 father called him into his private office, gave him a 
 power of attorney which would have enabled him to 
 control Mr. Gould's entire property, and also fur- 
 nished him with the combinations for his private 
 safes and deposit vaults. When Edwin Gould was 
 twenty-one years of age Mr. Gould made the same 
 birthday present, excepting that the power of attor- 
 ney was a joint one, the survivor in the case of the 
 death of either one retaining it, and he also gave 
 this second son the combinations to his safe. It 
 was his intention to go through that impressive 
 formality upon the twenty-first birthday of each one 
 of his sons, and this ceremony of itself awakened a 
 sense of responsibility in the young men which has 
 been valuable and which was precisely what Mr. 
 
J ,Q LIFE OF JA Y COULD. 
 
 Gould desired to develop. Moreover, he knew that 
 these instruments would make it impossible for any 
 disaster to come to his property in case he became 
 disabled or suddenly died. " My sons are good 
 business men," Mr. Gould frequently said. 
 
 For a good while George Gould was only his 
 father's son, and there were advantages and dis- 
 advantages in that. After awhile he began to be 
 known as himself. Evidently he knew what was 
 going on. The boy insensibly became a man, and 
 a man of affairs. His father took him into his deep- 
 est confidence, and rejoiced in his ability, industry, 
 faithfulness, and constant attention to duty. The 
 responsibilities that rest upon him are very great, 
 and he is made grave beyond his years. He is in- 
 cessantly consulted, not as a matter of form, but of 
 fact. He must pass upon a thousand things every 
 day, but he likes it. The joy of work that all strong 
 men have felt is upon him. He has no thought of 
 rest until he has earned it. He inherits his father's 
 domestic tranquillity, and home with wife and chil- 
 dren gives him repose and delight. He is early, 
 not late, at his office, and lunches often on a glass 
 of milk and piece of pumpkin pie. He does not 
 rush eagerly into conversation, but waits, and when 
 the point comes, discusses it if it is business. He 
 says " Yes " cordially and " No " softly, but it is final. 
 He shakes his head very slightly, but it is enough. 
 He extends his hand heartily, and his " I am o-lad to 
 see you " has a winning tone of sincerity. When 
 
L YND HURST AND THE "A TALANTA:* j ^ i 
 
 he says "Take a seat," it is an invitation ; -his " Not 
 to-day" or "In a few minutes" mean exactly one 
 thing or another. A shp of paper is handed him 
 with initials and figures — meaning millions, per- 
 haps — and with a glance and then a few short 
 words that affair is settled. 
 
 There is a card — and " show him in " — or a neg- 
 ative gesture, or "not now," and the caller comes 
 or goes. There is a letter to write ; he goes to the 
 desk or table most convenient, and is absorbed until 
 the letter is written and directed. He has not taken 
 the room and desk that were his father's, but remains 
 where he has for years been accustomed to pass his 
 working hours. He cannot, of course, be seen by 
 all comers, for all his time would be taken if he con- 
 sented to general conversation. The rooms where 
 the business of the Gould properties is transacted 
 are reached by those known to have something to 
 say, while strangers are not regarded with favor. 
 The value of time is seen in every face. 
 
 There are maps of the Gould system of railways, 
 and the Manhattan Elevated Road system on the 
 walls, but the Western Union Telegraph system is 
 rather extensive to be mapped, showing all the 
 lines, so it is represented in book diagrams. It is 
 in the Western Union Telegraph building, at 195 
 Broadway, that the Gould offices are located, and 
 Mr. George Gould's room has not an article of 
 furniture in it or anything visible meant for 
 display or adornment. When examined, it is found 
 
I , 2 LIFE OF JAY GO ULD, 
 
 to be lurnished with a view to its utilities, not 
 as a curiosity-sliop and a wonder. Evidently, 
 not more than two or three persons are expected 
 at one time. If the visitors to be accommo- 
 dated are more, there are other apartments. Mr. 
 Gould sits with his back to a south window, his 
 rolling- desk before him. At his right is a door 
 opening into the other offices where bookkeeping is 
 attended to, and the roar of Broadway becomes 
 more distinct. In front is another door leading into 
 a narrow corridor, where there are two young men, 
 one on either side of the door, the private secretary 
 and his stenographer, ever ready for service. There 
 is a young man who attends to the telephone near 
 by and takes down in short-hand the interview for 
 Mr. Gould's examination later, that the precise 
 words may be brought to his attention. At Mr. 
 Gould's left is a " ticker " constantly picking and 
 clicking, telling of important happenings about as 
 fast as they occur. There are ivory buttons on a 
 key-board that summon with a touch the man who 
 is wanted. There is a room of swinging speaking 
 tubes. Such detail would not be of the least inter- 
 est, except in the extreme suggestiveness of such 
 an array of appliances. 
 
 Mrs. George Gould is one of the most lovely and 
 lovable members of the family. She became ac- 
 quainted with her husband in a somewhat unusual 
 and romantic manner. 
 
 Brooklyn, which is generally termed the City of 
 
Z YNDHURST AND THE "A TALANTA." j , , 
 
 Churches, .deserves also to be called the home of 
 amateur actors. Every young lady in that city 
 thinks she can act ; every young man knows he can. 
 The events of the year in that remarkable town are 
 not only the regularly ordained legal holidays — the 
 Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Fourth of July celebra- 
 tions that are looked forward to in other quarters 
 of the country. The performances of the Amaranth, 
 Kemble, and Gilbert amateur societies are import- 
 ant social events in the city. To be elected to these 
 organizations means social recognition ; to perform 
 in them, promises local fame. 
 
 Among the most frequent patrons of the perform- 
 ances of these dramatic societies a few years ago 
 was a young and very beautiful girl, who always 
 came with her mother, sat near the stage, and en- 
 joyed the acting in a -keen, thorough, undemonstra- 
 tive way. The chief players of the club were 
 Robert Hilliard, who was considered very promis- 
 ing in sentiment, and Frank David, who was 
 regarded with great esteem in comedy. 
 
 " Here," said Hilliard, one day when they were 
 meditating over a play for the regular monthly per- 
 formance, " we want some pretty girls to dress up 
 the stage. It's all very well for you and me to do 
 the acting, but we want some pretty girls." 
 
 "All right," said the comedian, "I know one, and 
 I'll ask her." 
 
 "Who's that?" asked the romantic amateur. 
 
 "Why, it's Miss Edith Kingdon. She generally 
 sits in front." 
 
124 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 "What!" cried Hilliard ; "that glorious, dark- 
 eyed young lady ?" 
 
 " The very one." 
 
 The comedian's errand was rewarded with success 
 only after some difificulty. Miss Kingdon protested 
 that she did not know anything about the stage, 
 that she was entirely ignorant of acting, and that 
 she would be dreadfully frightened to stand up 
 before an audience. But Mr. David finally per- 
 suaded her to make the attempt, and after much 
 hesitation she became an active member of the 
 Schtery Union. Joining the club merely in a ca- 
 pacity similar to that of the supernumerary of the 
 professional stage, she speedily proved her ability 
 to be trusted with a speaking part. 
 
 Before the winter was over her talent was so 
 manifest that she was elected by.unanimous request 
 to the aristocratic Amaranth. In this new and more 
 advantageous field her talents quickly developed, 
 and she was chosen for leading parts in almost all 
 the performances. Her fame was widespread. It 
 presently reached the ears of a professional manager. 
 There was a tremendous sensation in Brooklyn when 
 it was known that the beautiful and brilliant Edith 
 Kingdon had decided to quit the amateur stage and 
 join the ranks of the profession. , 
 
 Miss Kingdon's first appearance on the stage 
 was really her first step toward Hymen's altar. It 
 was on Thursday night, October i6th, 1884. The play 
 was "A Wooden Spoon," in which she performed 
 
L YNDHURST AND THE "A TALANTA." j , r 
 
 the character of Mysia Jessamy. The audience 
 examined tlie new-comer critically, but beyond com- 
 plimenting her extraordinary beauty, made no com- 
 ment on her accession to the company. That piece 
 had a short run, unmarked by any particular event. 
 It was followed on November 26th by the produc- 
 tion of one of the greatest successes of Daly's 
 Theatre. " Love on Crutches' " was not only de- 
 lightful in itself, but, in the character of Mrs. Mar- 
 gery Gwynn, it afforded a chance for the talent as 
 well as the beauty of Miss Edith Kingdon. 
 
 As the charming young widow of this comedy, 
 the new actress made a phenomenal hit. Always a 
 modest, unassuming young woman, she was quite 
 unconscious of the success she had achieved, and 
 after the close of the second act she hurried down- 
 stairs to her dressing-room to prepare for the next 
 scene. The applause of the audience was tumultu- 
 ous and long continued. In response to its bidding 
 Miss Ada Rehan and Mr. John Drew came out and 
 bowed. They were followed at a later interval by 
 Mrs. Gilbert, Mr. Lewis, Mr. Skinner, and the other 
 prominent members of the company. The applause 
 still continuing undiminished, the entire company, 
 with the exception of one member came out. Then 
 Mr. Daly, the manager, made his appearance before 
 the curtain, and after him Miss Rehan and Mr. 
 Drew once more emerged. Then the audience, 
 believing that the young widow was deliberately 
 kept in the background, broke out into a small riot, 
 
J, 5 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 and cries of " Kingdon ! Kingdon ! " rang through 
 the house. The young actress was hastily sent for, 
 but in response to the entreaties of the stage mana-- 
 ger she declared her inability to come out, inasmuch 
 as she was at that moment in a state of transition 
 between one gown and another. 
 
 " Never mind that," he whispered anxiously 
 through the keyhole. " You can throw a shawl 
 over your shoulders. You must go out or there 
 will be a riot." 
 
 Thus adjured, Miss Kingdon seized a lace wrap, 
 drew it over her shoulders, and ran up-stairs. In 
 her dishabille it was out of the question for her to 
 appear before the audience. So she pulled an 
 edge of the curtain aside, peeped out smilingly at 
 the audience, and blushingly nodded her thanks. 
 Jay Gould and his son George sat in the proscenium 
 box, which they always occupied at Daly's on first 
 nio-hts. George Gould caught the twinkle of the 
 pretty actress's eye, and fell hopelessly in love. 
 Next day the critics and public alike raved over the 
 talent and beauty of Edith Kingdon in the new 
 comedy. But the sentiment she had aroused in the 
 bosom of the young man was worth much more to 
 her than the applause of a nation, It meant a life 
 of happiness and the union with a noble young man 
 of fortune and position. 
 
 The business manager of Daly's was an old gen- 
 tleman who had more enemies and good qualities 
 than almost any other man in the profession. John 
 
EDDIE GOULD. 
 
LYNDHURST AND THE "ATALANTA:' i ^q 
 
 Duff wag the stern guardian of a theatre from which 
 everybody wanted, and few obtained, privileges. A 
 very honest and kindly old gentleman at heart, Mr. 
 Duff preserved an exterior of continual menace to 
 dudes, young men who annoy actresses at the stage 
 door, and the army of people who wished to pass 
 the gate-keeper without a preliminary interview at 
 the box office. 
 
 George Gould was on friendly terms with the old 
 business manager, and he made the request for an 
 introduction without hesitation. 
 
 " Look here," said John Duff, slowly, " Miss 
 Kingdon is a lady, and so long as I have anything 
 to say in the matter she must be treated with 
 respect. If you want to meet her under those con- 
 ditions I guess it can be managed." 
 
 Mr. Gould hastened to reassure the manager, 
 and an introduction was effected. The courtship 
 was swift and silent. One morning the match- 
 making mammas of America were horrified to learn 
 that the wealthiest young man in the country was 
 married to an actress. The Ward McAllister 
 legions shook their heads ruefully and declared 
 that the youthful millionaire should have secured 
 his social position by marrying into one of the old 
 families. But George Gould married the girl he 
 loved, and nobody has ever been able to say that 
 Edith Kingdon did not make a wife as good as she 
 is beautiful, and few hom.es in the great metropolis 
 or elsewhere will be found to be as happy as that 
 9 
 
J ,Q LIFE OF J A Y GOULD. 
 
 of Mr, George J. Gould, with a young woman, beau- 
 tiful in character and spirit, as well as feature, en- 
 shrined as wife and mother. It is where George 
 Gould loves to be, and who will dare to say that a 
 multi-millionaire may not be happy. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ILLNESS AND DEATH. 
 
 AS we have seen, Mr. Gould was never robust. 
 He was slender and physically frail. He did 
 not lack courage, for he confronted enemies often 
 without flinchinof, and his father refused to surrender 
 or consent to be humiliated by an armed mob. Mr. 
 Gould was several times assailed, but not seriously 
 harmed or subjected to intimidation. He did not 
 dissipate his vitality with any sort of extravagance, 
 but reserved his energies for his occupation. He 
 was a man of intense mental activity. As an ob- 
 server he was unrivalled in discovering and devel- 
 oping capacities for business. This was remarkable 
 all along the lines of his railroads. His activity in 
 the promotion of the coal trade, when he was on the 
 Erie road, was an incident of his habit of realizing * 
 upon the natural resources. When in the moun- 
 tains of Colorado, in his last years, wan and feeble, 
 he was still makingf discoveries of the riches of that 
 mountainous region, and pointing out casually 
 where and how there were fortunes to be gained. 
 His loQor-headed calculations, so obscure to others 
 and so clear to himself, were exacting. His per- 
 ceptions were singularly acute, and he had very 
 
 141 
 
I . 2 J-IP^ OF JAY GO ULD. 
 
 Strongly the gift of intuition, but as his interests 
 grew his cares increased, so that at last it was 
 revealed to him that he had forgotten to give him- 
 self consideration. Then he made the seeking of 
 health a part of his business. He indulged his taste 
 for books and flowers. His library and his con- 
 servatory became favorite objects. His home on 
 the Hudson he "developed," to use his favorite 
 word, as he did all his properties, and it became a 
 comfort to him. So did his yacht, which was staunch 
 and swift. He enjoyed his trips on the " Atalanta,'* 
 from Lyndhurst to the great city, and going "to and 
 fro became a recreation and delight instead of a 
 weariness. He gave himself all the chances he 
 could to recuperate, but the strain had been too long 
 andcostly,and he could not rebuild himself. He gave 
 more and more attention to the education of his 
 sons to assume great responsibilities. He alone 
 could be the teacher. How grateful he was for the 
 response his sons gave to his affection and confi- 
 dence, he has abundantly testified. The eldest son 
 naturally was first in the training, and for years has 
 been the master of his affairs. The young Goulds 
 are not mere office men. They have traveled ex- 
 tensively. They are learned in their knowledge 
 of men. Mr. George Gould is very fond of out-door 
 life, rejoices in wholesome exercise and is sturdy and 
 tenacious. With those nigh him lie is gracious and 
 winning with a manner hearty and kind, but his 
 conscious responsibility and necessary reserve soften 
 
ILLNESS AND DEA TH. 1 4 , 
 
 the expression of his heakhy humor. He has treas- 
 ured up from his father serious lessons that he 
 guards more sacredly that the many millions of his 
 inheritance. There is no pomp about him. He 
 goes right to the mark. Mr. Edwin Gould is a public- 
 spirited citizen and at once strong and genial, some- 
 thing of an athlete, though not a devotee of athletics 
 quiet and exceedingly well-informed. Mr, How- 
 ard Gould has had for several years the pleasure 
 of his father's society in journeys, and in this com- 
 panionship had rare advantages. He is a studious 
 young man, who takes long walks and thinks and 
 has grave purposes in life. 
 
 The devotion of the sons to the memory of their 
 father, their absolute faith in him, and confiding love 
 for him can be exceeded only by the like sensibili- 
 ties of the daughters. As his strength failed him 
 Mr. Jay Gould cared for himself with the same 
 perseverance and particularity that he had em- 
 ployed in affairs of vast importance. Moved by the 
 violation of the grave of Alexander Stewart, he built 
 a beautiful tomb that would stand a siege of dyna- 
 miters. Long after he had retired from the street, 
 there were stories associating him with every move- 
 ment. The accusations that he is influencing public 
 business for his own purposes have not been stayed 
 even since his death ; and there has even been pub- 
 lished a cartoon of his " skeleton hand," in an asso- 
 ciation so absurd that the dismal assault becomes 
 ghastly, and the blow that was meant is of no force 
 
J 44 ^^^^ OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 save as it strikes backward and reaches those who 
 would deliver it. Mr. Gould was accustomed to the 
 vicissitudes of Wall Street life and romance, and 
 was reticent as to the state of his health and the use 
 that could be made in the market of his bodily in- 
 firmities. In this he was strictly on the defensive. 
 The stories that he was dying were so often circu- 
 lated that they were worn out. At last when Mr. 
 Gould really was ill there were few who believed 
 the report had foundation. The weakness that de- 
 clared itself incurable and progressed steadily was 
 first in the throat and then on the lungs. Mr. 
 Gould has been accused of an elaborate game of 
 deception as to his fatal illness long after he was 
 perfectly familiar with the speedy coming of the in- 
 evitable end ; but he was like others with lung 
 disease. However hopeless the case of the con- 
 sumptive he hopes on. Mr. Gould had that ordi- 
 nary weakness of humanity. He was at his office 
 in the Western Union Telegraph building repeat- 
 edly in the month before his death, and his last 
 visit, when he was hopeful and alert, was but a 
 week before his death. Taking a ride in Central 
 Park he was chilled and caught a cold, had hem- 
 orrhages, and died with his children by his bedside. 
 Soon after midnight the day of his death it became 
 certain the end was approaching. The callers were 
 told Mr. Gould was dying. Dr. Munn held his 
 hand. The Rev. John R. Paxton, whose church the 
 family attended, gave the following touching ac- 
 count of his last rnoments : 
 
__ ILLNESS AND DEATH. j^r 
 
 " Mr. Gould bad been unconscious for. a number 
 of hours, but as the end approached consciousness 
 returned. He opened his eyes and glanced around 
 the room in which his family were gathered, a look 
 of recognition lighting up his face as his eyes fell 
 upon each of them. They came close to his bedside, 
 and then in a perfectly distinct voice he spoke to 
 each of his children in turn a word of love and fare- 
 well. Vitality enough for this was vouchsafed him, 
 but when he had spoken the last word to his last 
 child, he relapsed at once into unconsciousness, and 
 in a few minutes entered into eternal rest." 
 
 An old friend of the family said of Mr. Gould's 
 decline in health and death : 
 
 " My imjifession is that Mr. Gould's death was 
 due mainly to exhaustion of his vitality, the sap- 
 ping of which has been going on slowly for several 
 years. This was complicated no doubt with his old 
 stomach trouble and by an affection of the throat 
 with which he has siiffered for several years. Prob- 
 ably the latter trouble gave rise to the report that 
 his disease was pulmonary consumption. 
 
 "The depletion of Mr. Gould's vitality dates back 
 to a time previous to his wife's death in January, 
 1888. She then used to say that her husband suf- 
 fered greatly from neuralgic headaches and profound 
 fatigues, and on one occasion I found that she had 
 spent a sleepless night in consequence of one of his 
 attacks. The summer before his wife's death he 
 took her to Europe on his yacht. Upon their return 
 
1^6 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 he put the yacht out of commission and said that 
 what both he and his wife needed was not travel but 
 rest. Neither looked the better for the voyage. 
 
 "After his wife's death, Mr. Gould's loss of 
 strength was more rapid. His attacks of headache 
 and nervous prostration were more frequent than 
 before, and he rallied with greater difficulty and less 
 completeness. He had a powerful will, and con- 
 cealed his sufferings from his family to a great ex- 
 tent, so that to them these attacks were only tired 
 spells. Although I could see that he was not strong 
 there was nothing particular in his condition to note, 
 except that he was pale and ate little. 
 
 " On the evening before Thanksgiving I was at 
 his house and found that he had what his oldest 
 daughter described as a return of his old fatigue. 
 No one was alarmed. As late as yesterday morn- 
 ing one of his physicians said there was nothing to 
 warrant a belief that Mr. Gould would not recover. 
 His last three days were entirely free from suffering, 
 and his conversation with his family in his conscious 
 period before his death was most touching and 
 beautiful." 
 
 His last appearance in public was at the wedding 
 of his second son, Edwin, to Miss Sarah Cantine 
 Shrady, daughter of Dr. George F. Shrady. This 
 was on October 26th. Mr. Gould then appeared in 
 good health, and none of the guests suspected that 
 he was suffering from anything worse than nervous 
 dyspepsia. 
 
ILLNESS AND DEATH. I 47 
 
 No Others than the sons and daughters of Mr. 
 Gould were present when he died except Dr. Munn 
 and two old servants. In the street it was evident 
 to all passers-by that something was happening with- 
 in the big brownstone house on the corner. The cur- 
 tains, which had been raised all over the house about 
 7 o'clock, were suddenly lowered shortly after 9. 
 
 People stopped in small groups on the opposite 
 side of the street and watched the front door. About 
 half-past 9 o'clock a messenger came out with a 
 handful of telegrams. His appearance was the first 
 announcement of Mr. Gould's death. 
 
 There had been many callers during the morning. 
 They included bankers and railroad officials. A 
 number of ladies were admitted to the house. These 
 visitors stayed only a few moments. At half-past 
 9 the curiosity of the crowd reached such a point 
 that several ascended the steps and rang the bell. 
 
 " Mr. Gould is dead," said the attendant. 
 
 It was at first the purpose of Mr. Gould's family 
 that his funeral should be public, but they had hardly 
 realized the universal interest in him, and it soon 
 became evident that the number of those who would 
 attend out of curiosity would be overwhelming and 
 unmanageable. The cranks appeared on the scene, 
 and the services were held privately as possible. 
 Of this the Sun says : " Mr. Gould's face was rather 
 waxy in color, but full in the cheeks. His beard 
 had been trimmed with great care, and the snowy 
 shirt bosom and black broadcloth coat contrasted 
 
148 LIFE OF JAY GO ULD. 
 
 with the pallor of the face. The fullness of the coat 
 disguised the extreme slightness of the body. The 
 arms were crossed on the chest, the right hand rest- 
 ing over the heart. 
 
 " The flowers were also placed in this room. The 
 most beautiful was a floral cross which Miss Helen 
 Gould had ordered. It was composed of pink or- 
 chids tied with a silk ribbon, and was placed on top 
 of the coffin. Next to it was a bunch of bride roses 
 from Howard Gould. A five-foot broken column 
 of white roses, crowned by violets, with the word 
 ' Father ' in violets at the base, stood at the head of 
 the coffin on a table. It was from George Gould. 
 Miss Annie Gould sent a bunch of white orchids; 
 Edwin Gould a wreath of lilies of the valley, bride 
 roses, and orchids ; Frank Gould a bunch of lilies 
 of the valley and orchids, and George Gould's chil- 
 dren an enormous pillow of orchids, roses, lilies of 
 the valley, and violets, with the word 'Grandpa' in the 
 centre. This rested on the floor beneath the coffin. 
 
 "A handsome wreath of lilies of the valley, 
 orchids, and bride roses was received from Mrs. 
 Hall. Mrs. Herbert sent a bunch of lilies of the 
 valley and roses. Gen. Thomas Eckert sent a 
 wreath of orchids and roses. Mrs. Dillon Brown 
 sent a bunch of lilies of the valley and orchids. J. • 
 B. Hueston sent a full-rigged ship made of lilies of 
 the valley, roses and violets, with two flags flying 
 and this inscription in violets, ' The Voyage Ended 
 — Safe in Port.' The ship was placed on a gilt 
 
ILLNESS AND DEATH. 
 
 149 
 
 cabinet in the northeast corner, and the other pieces 
 were disposed about the room. A large number of 
 persons had been expected, and arrangements had 
 been made accordingly. Many camp chairs had 
 been piled up in the hall, the second drawing-room, 
 and the dining-room. 
 
 "Although the services were not to begin until 4 
 o'clock, the friends began to come before 3. After 
 passing the policemen at the entrance and Dr. Munn, 
 four detectives from Police Headquarters were en- 
 countered. Detectives stood in the vestibule, in the 
 inner hall, and near the dining-room. As the guests 
 were admitted they were shown through the hall to 
 the drawing-room. There they formed in line and 
 passed by the coffin slowly, so that each could get a 
 view of the body, and then passed into the second 
 drawing-room or through the latter to the hall or 
 dining-room. Three ushers found seats for them. 
 None of the family was visible, George Gould hajd 
 been down earlier in the day and had received some 
 callers, but he retired before the first of the funeral 
 guests arrived. He and the other members of the 
 immediate family, Abraham Gould, Mrs. Northrup, 
 and Mrs. Palen, and their children, were gathered 
 *in the hall of the second story, where they could 
 hear the music and prayers without being seen by 
 those below. Some remoter relatives and their 
 friends sat in the rear of the second drawing-room. 
 The dining-room was filled first, and here the direc- 
 tors of the Union Pacific, the Manhattan Elevated, 
 
ICQ LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 and tlie Missouri Pacific railroads, and the Western 
 Union Telegraph Company were seated. 
 
 " The shades were drawn in all the rooms and the 
 electric lights were turned on. At half-past 3 o'clock 
 the second drawing-room, the dining-room, and the 
 hall were filled. Everybody sat silent during the 
 half-hour that elapsed before the services began. 
 The only man who spoke at all, and he confined 
 himself to whispers, was Russell Sage, Except the 
 coffin, the object that attracted the most attention 
 was the oil portrait of Jay Gould which hung against 
 the rear wall of the dining-room. All in that room 
 and many in the hall could see it, and their eyes 
 were turned toward it a large part of the time. It 
 had been painted before Mr. Gould's illness, and 
 looked utterly unlike the face in the coffin. Instead 
 of the expression of peace and indifference which 
 marked the latter there shone out from the counte- 
 nance of the portrait a look of triumph. The face of 
 the dead man was commonplace beside that in the gilt 
 frame, and the attraction of the latter was felt by all. 
 
 "It was five minutes after 4 when the Rev. Dr. 
 Paxton, Chancellor McCracken, and the Rev. Dr. 
 Roderick Terry appeared at the entrance to the 
 second drawing-room and sat down in the hall. The 
 choir of Dr. Paxton's church began the services with 
 the anthem, ' There is a Band Immortal.' Dr. Pax- 
 ton followed with this prayer : 
 
 " Oh ! eloquent, just, and mighty Death, whom 
 none can outwit, thou takest all in thy toils. Thee 
 
ILLNESS AND DEATH. * I SI 
 
 none can convince. Thou persuadest. Thee none 
 can overthrow. Thou subduest. Mighty Death! 
 We bless God for our Christian faith, in which Jesus 
 Christ liath aboHshed death. We bless Thee that 
 He plucked the stain from sin, that He robbed the 
 grave of its victory. We bless our Heavenly Father 
 for His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ ; for our knowl- 
 edge that the grave is not a dungeon, but a door 
 opening into another world and a new and higher 
 life. We bless Thee that the grave is not a termi- 
 nus, the final resting place, the be-all and end-all of 
 man, but that it is only the stopping place, an inn, 
 where we humble travelers sleep the long, sweet 
 sleep, on the way to our New Jerusalem. May the 
 Divine Spirit be present with us in these sad, sol- 
 emn services, and may the light of the resurrection 
 morn shine into this darkened and bereaved house ; 
 and may comfort, that with which God comforteth 
 His own, touch with heavenly and hopeful grace the 
 hearts of our friends here, wounded, sore, and bleed- 
 ing still for the loss of him they loved so well. Amen." 
 Dr. Paxton then read the lessons of the Presby- 
 terian burial service, beginning, " I am the resurrec- 
 tion and the life." When he had finished the choir 
 sang, " Lead, Kindly Light." Dr. Terry read the 
 second lesson, and was followed by Chancellor Mc- 
 Cracken in an extemporaneous prayer, in which he 
 invoked the Divine care for the children who had 
 early in life been deprived of both father and mother. 
 The Chancellor ended with the Lord's Prayer. The 
 choir then sang, " Nearer, my God, to Thee." 
 
JC2 ' LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 Dr. Paxton announced that the funeral services 
 would be concluded next day at the grave, where 
 Chancellor McCracken read the burial service. He 
 said that the body would be taken to Woodlawn at 
 noon, and that the interment would be at the con- 
 venience of the family. He delivered the benedic- 
 tion, and announced that all who wished could take 
 a look at the face of the dead man befoj-e leaving. 
 
 At 10.30 the following morning the iuneral cor- 
 tege left the Gould mansion. 
 
 As the hearse moved away Mr. and Mrs. George 
 Gould emerired from the house. With them were 
 Miss Helen Gould and Harold Gould. These four 
 entered the first carriage. They were followed by 
 Edwin Gould and his wife, Howard and Annie 
 Gould, who took seats in the second carriage. The 
 third carriage was occupied by Abram Gould, the 
 dead financier's brother, and Frank Gould. 
 
 Mrs. Northrop, of Camden, and her daughter 
 entered the next carriage, followed by Mrs. Palen, 
 of Germantown, and Mrs. Northrop's two sons, who 
 occupied the fifth conveyance. The remaining car- 
 riages — there were nine in all — were occupied by 
 near friends of the family and a few of Mr. Gould's 
 business associates. After all the carriages had 
 been filled Chancellor McCracken and Rev. Dr. 
 Terry drove up to the head of the line and took a 
 place in front of the hearse. In this order the pro- 
 cession left the house and proceeded up Fifth 
 Avenue. 
 
ILLNESS AND DEA TH. j , - 
 
 As early as 9 o'clock a few stragglers entered 
 Woodlawn Cemetery and made their way toward 
 the Gould mausoleum. A half-dozen workmen were 
 at the tomb. They had erected small open front 
 tents on either side of the entrance of the tomb. 
 Within, there was three dozen camp chairs. The 
 floral tributes, which had been sent up from the city 
 on an early train, were arranged about the open 
 door. 
 
 At the right of the entrance, resting on supports, 
 was the polished oak box in which the coffin was to 
 be placed. This box was lined with zinc. Near by 
 stood a little stove, such as plumbers carry, on which 
 was simmering the metal which was to seal the lid 
 of the box after the coffin had been placed in it. 
 
 A solitary mounted policeman arrived at 10.30 
 o'clock. Two cemetery policemen kept the people 
 at a distance of 50 feet. 
 
 At 12.10 o'clock the solemn toll of the bell at the 
 chapel at the Jerome Avenue entrance was heard and 
 the hearse, followed by a line of carriages, entered the 
 cemetery. Ten minutes later the hearse stopped in 
 front of the path^yay that led to the tomb. Four 
 men lifted the coffin out, and carrying it to the tents, 
 placed it in the box. 
 
 Out of the first carriages stepped George J. 
 Gould, and on his arm rested Miss Helen Gould. 
 He was very pale, but walked with a firm step. 
 Miss Gould wore a heavy black veil that concealed 
 her features. 
 
jc^ LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 They were followed by Edwin Gould and his 
 young wife, Frank Gould escorting Miss Anna Gould, 
 Howard Gould with Mrs. George Gould, Mr. Abra- 
 ham Gould, Mrs. Taylor, Mrs. Northrop, and the 
 two Misses Northrop and Chancellor MacCrack'en 
 and others. 
 
 As soon as the casket reached the entrance of 
 the tomb it was placed in the oak case with the lead 
 lining, and then as soon as the family and immediate 
 relatives had grouped themselves within the tent. 
 Chancellor MacCracken stepped to the head of the 
 casket and, all heads being bared, he read the com- 
 mittal service of the Episcopal Church. 
 
 The service was concluded with a simple invoca- 
 tion for " Divine strength for the afflicted ones." 
 
 The case was rolled into a crypt opposite that of 
 Mr, Gould's wife, and then the family entered. As 
 they grouped themselves around the mouth of the 
 crypt no word was uttered, and the workmen quickly 
 placed the slab in position. 
 
 There was the keenest interest all over the coun- 
 try, and in all the money centres of the world, in the 
 question what the effect of Mr. Gould's death would 
 be upon his properties. This curiosity was the 
 more intelligent and interesting, because the nature 
 of the circumstances was so unusual. It was not 
 so much on the earth as in the air. It reminded 
 one of the words of Dr. Johnson, in describing the 
 value of Mrs. Thrall's Brewery. " We are not," said 
 he, " here to sell a few tubs and barrels, but the 
 
MR. HOWARD GOULD. 
 
ILLNESS AND DEA TH. I r ^ 
 
 potentiality of wealth beyond the means of avarice." 
 The wisdom with which Mr. Gould had disposed of 
 his estate was popularly recognized. There was 
 the railroad system in the corner of the country 
 where there is to be the greatest growth. The 
 rapid transit system in New York, already over- 
 tasked, and the stock possessing solid value, almost 
 up to the mark that Mr. Cyrus W. Field laid out 
 for it prematurely, as it proved unfortunately for 
 him and the enormous Western Union Telegraph 
 Company. 
 
 Mr. Gould has been charged with trying to un- 
 load his Western Union stock upon the Govern- 
 ment, but his policy and his pride was to hold it. 
 He preferred the Western Union to all other invest- 
 ments. 
 
 There is the vindication since his death of his 
 financial genius and the wisdom of his use for capital 
 and provision for its preservation in the increased 
 market value of all his important stocks, the aggre- 
 gate advance amounting to several millions of dollars. 
 
 Mr. Gould's physician "the Doctor of Million- 
 aires," had for some years a great deal of celebrity 
 in that character, and was advertised extensively 
 when the story was published everywhere that Mr. 
 Gould was very ill at a business meeting of the 
 Board of the Missouri Pacific, and was nervously 
 agitated over a proposition made by Mr. Russell 
 Sage. January 3d, 1892, the New York Tribune 
 
 satisfied the public curiosity in a sketch of " the 
 10 
 
I c 8 LIFE OF JAY GO ULD. 
 
 Man who Cares for Jay Gould's Health," and 
 "how Dr. Munn reached Russell Sage after 
 the recent dynamite explosion," The colors are 
 not spared and the likeness is vividly drawn. 
 
 When Jay Gould recently went into hysterics 
 over the opposition of Russell Sage to the passing 
 of the Missouri Pacific dividend, one of the mem- 
 bers of the Board who was present was instant in 
 attendance on Mr. Gould, and quickly doctored him 
 until his nerves were quieted and he was restored 
 to his normal condition of iciness. When a lunatic 
 note-broker recently attempted to take the life of 
 Mr. Sage by blowing him up in his offices in the 
 Arcade Building, Mr. Gould was not present. He 
 was quickly advised, however, of the attempted as- 
 sassination and summoned by private telephone the 
 same physician to Mr. Sage's aid. He was at his 
 office in West Fifty-eighth Street, five miles away 
 from the scene of the slaughter ; but he reached 
 Mr. Sage in 38 minutes. His face and his coach 
 are known to the police, and his wild drive 
 through the streets was as uninterrupted by them 
 as was the rush of the numerous ambulances called 
 to the scene of the disaster. 
 
 Inspector Byrnes was in hearing of the explosion 
 half a mile away, but thinking it another of the 
 steam-heating pipe explosions frequent in Broad- 
 way he started in a leisurely way up Broadway in 
 the opposite direction. The rush of ambulances to 
 the scene only confirmed the idea of bursting pipes 
 
ILLNESS AND DEATH. j cp 
 
 in the veteran detective's mind. But when he saw 
 the coach and recognized the face of the doctor as 
 both were speeded down Broadway he recognized 
 that somebody of importance had been injured, and 
 he turned and was soon on the spot. When the 
 doctor's coach reached the crowded scene a path- 
 way opened for it, and he was driven direcdy to the 
 poHcc-guarded door of the drug store into which 
 Mr. Sage had been carried. And as he ahghted 
 and pressed through the opening on the sidewalk 
 make by the pohce to permit him to enter on his 
 mission of mercy, the crowd whispered: "There's 
 Jay Gould." 
 
 But it was not Mr. Gould at all, nor any of his 
 kin nor kind, but the doctor of the millionaires who 
 had been in attendance on Gould when he was in 
 danger a week or two before. It was thus that, 
 summoned by the " Litde Wizard," as Mr. Gould 
 was called, Dr. John P. Munn was one of the first 
 to attend the wounded Knight of Puts, Calls, and 
 Straddles. It is only when something unsual 
 happens tp disturb the quiet and apparently some- 
 what monotonous lives of his few patients that the 
 public discovers how very closely the doctor of 
 the millionaires watches over their bodily and 
 more particularly their mental ailments. Es- 
 pecially was he in attendance on Jay Gould ; at his 
 office, if Mr, Gould came down-town, at his home 
 on the Hudson, at his Fifth Avenue liome, on his 
 yacht when Mr. Gould sought relaxation, in his spe- 
 
J gQ LIFE OF JAY GO ULD. 
 
 cial car when Mr. Gould went on tours to inspect 
 his roads ; everywhere that Mr. Gould went his at- 
 tending physician was found at hand, and even 
 closer in his observation and study of his important 
 patient, for a very important matter was Mr. Gould's 
 health, more important to more grave interests than 
 that of any other man in the country. 
 
 Mr. Gould did not discover Dr. John P. Munn. 
 He has counted among his patients during the last 
 fifteen years several other millionaires. It was James 
 Buell, the president of the Importers' and Traders' 
 Bank, who first employed him as his special physi- 
 cian. The writer would have said family physician 
 but for the fact that Dr. Munn has never had more 
 than a limited family practice which did not include 
 that of Mr. Gould, and that' Mr. Buell had no family 
 except a wife, and a niece who was joint heiress 
 to all his millions. He married the lady shortly 
 after Mr. Buell's death. Buell, while president of 
 the bank, which, by the way, carried the heaviest line 
 of deposits of any of the institutions in New York, 
 with possibly one exception, was a heavy stock- 
 holder in a big insurance company which he thought 
 was mismanaged. He had himself elected to the 
 presidency, and began to look into the causes of its 
 lack of business compared to that of some of the 
 other big companies. He ran against one of the 
 obstacles, as he imagined, in Dr. Munn, the chief 
 assistant examiner of applicants for insurance poli- 
 cies. 
 
ILLNESS AA'D DEATH. 
 
 I6l 
 
 Dr. Munn rejected a great many who were re- 
 garded as desirable clients for any insurance com- 
 pany, but Dr. Munn was positive in rejecting them 
 for reasons which he did not explain. Mr. Buell 
 was not satisfied with this system of his subordinate 
 and yet could not fairly, either to the examiner or 
 the company, overrule his frequent rejections of 
 applicants, who appeared to be in splendid bodily 
 condition. At length. Dr. Munn confided a profes- 
 sional secret to Mr. Buell, which half satisfied the 
 President. The young examiner was in possession 
 of a means of detecting the existence of Bright's 
 disease of the kidneys in its incipiency. But Mr. 
 Buell was fully satisfied with the explanation when 
 the young doctor applied his test to Mr. Buell him- 
 self, and informed that surprised gentleman that if 
 he were an applicant for a policy in his own com- 
 pany, Dr. Munn, as examiner, would have to report 
 against him for the reason that he had Bright's dis- 
 ease in an incurable form. Mr. Buell made the can- 
 did physician the chief examiner of the insurance 
 company, which position he still retains ; and also 
 his own personal medical attendant, and, finally, 
 indirectly his heir. Mr. Buell died from Bright's 
 disease. 
 
 Dr. Munn, as chief of the company's examiners, had 
 to impart his secret to assistants ; some of these 
 naturally went to the other companies in time ; and 
 to-day no insurance company accepts an applicant 
 who has not passed examination according to 
 
J 62 LIP^ OF JA Y GOULD. 
 
 " Munn's method." Dr. Munn was so fascinated 
 with his study of this subject tliat after his marriage 
 he continued to devote himself to his researches 
 and left his wife to manage her dead uncle's estate. 
 
 When the embezzlement of millions of dollars of 
 the Second National Bank of New York by its 
 President startled the Street in 1884, its effect on 
 stocks was disastrous. It was immediately followed 
 by a heavy drop in stocks of every kind dealt in on 
 the Exchange. Russell Sage was then extensively 
 engaged in selling "puts" and " calls," and there 
 was a rush of those holding his privileges to have 
 him cash his "puts" at prices far above the sud- 
 denly-depressed quotations in Wall Street. For 
 several days his office was a veritable Bedlam ; mis- 
 chief seemed to have broken loose, and every ave- 
 nue to Sage's office was filled with a crowd of ex- 
 cited, angry, and dangerous brokers and their clerks. 
 
 Mr. Sage was paying his losses reluctantly ; his 
 purse-strings and his nerves were equally tio-htened ; 
 he seemed about to " suspend," when Jay Gould 
 gave him a verbal shaking up and induced him to 
 meet a loss not far from five millions in dollars, not 
 to speak of shattered nerves and almost tottering 
 brain. It is a singular coincidence that while Mr. 
 Gould was helping Mr. Sage through this crisis, to 
 avert a more serious one which threatened to para- 
 lyze business in Wall Street, William Walter 
 Phelps, now Minister to Germany, was exerting 
 himself jointly with the father of John C. Eno, to 
 
ILLNESS AND DEATH. jg, 
 
 save the imperiled Second National Bank, to avert 
 the ruin of many hundreds of women of Fifth 
 Avenue who were the principal depositors of the 
 " gilt edged " bank. And it cost Mr. Eno and Mr. 
 Phelps 5^3,700,000 to do this, at the additional cost 
 of life-long exile to the criminal President who 
 had brought about the disaster. 
 
 Mr. Sage went into exile, too. It was at a quiet 
 place on Long Island, and it was this same Dr. 
 Munn who sent him there. Mr. Sage had been 
 Vice-President of Buell's bank. It was in this way 
 that Dr. Munn got his second millionaire patient. 
 He was just as positive with him as he had been 
 with Buell. Mr. Sage was for months prisoner in 
 Dr. Munn's hands. Dr. Munn was eminently suc- 
 cessful in the treatment of his distinguished patient. 
 
 From Buell to Saofewas a lonsf stride; it was a short 
 step which brought Dr. Munn into his relationship 
 to Jay Gould. The latter had seen his treatment of 
 Sage, and he had heard of " Munn's method," and 
 of the doctor's positiveness of character as a medi- 
 cal adviser. Jay Gould was too wise and cynical to 
 want flatterers, especially about his health and his 
 properties. He had absolute faith in Dr. Munn, 
 especially because Dr. Munn had nothing of the in- 
 stinct of the speculator about him. Mr. Gould put 
 him on several boards of directors of his creation 
 and control, but he took no control of him on finan- 
 cial affairs, nor did he confide his secrets of specu- 
 lation to Dr. Munn. He had a social side for Dr. 
 10 
 
J 5. LIFE OF JAY GO ULD. 
 
 Munn, and probably displayed his geniality more to 
 him than to any other person outside of his own 
 family. 
 
 Numerous instances might be cited of Dr. Munn 
 having impersonated Mr. Gould to crowds clamorous 
 for a sight of the great financier, when from sheer 
 exhaustion he was unable to appear. Their per- 
 sonal appearance was remarkably similar. 
 
 If Mr. Gould's physician saw the genial side of 
 the great money monarch's life, his pastor. Dr. John 
 R. Paxton, was equally privileged. Mr. Gould 
 had a much stronger affection for his church, which 
 was of the Presbyterian denomination, than he was 
 credited with, and his unostentatious though exten- 
 sive beneficences were not infrequently bestowed 
 through the agency of his pastor. Rev. Dr. John R. 
 Paxton is of Scotch-Irish descent, and was born in 
 southwestern Pennsylvania about 50 years ago. 
 Some say that he is bigoted in that he is orthodox, 
 others that he is opinionated because he is firm in 
 his beliefs. In the pulpit the doctor looks more of 
 the soldier than the minister. He is essentially 
 abrupt, and yet the spontaneity and simplicity of his 
 utterances softens the rough edges of his orthodoxy. 
 Dr. Paxton speaks with the frankness of a soldier 
 who believes absolutely in what he is saying. He 
 is a man who is imaginative and yet able to curb his 
 fancies when they diverge from the doctrine. Dr. 
 Paxton is a man brilliant in the warmth of his con- 
 ceptions, filled with the romance of a soldier, and yet 
 
ILLNESS AND DEATH. jg_ 
 
 disciplined in orthodoxy. He looks like a man with 
 a history. 
 
 His career is interesting. After graduating from 
 Jefferson College he entered the war of the Rebel- 
 lion at the beginning of the second year and served 
 in most of the critical battles that were foueht in 
 Virginia and in the northwestern department. He 
 was throughout distinguished as a reckless fighter 
 and has yet a hankering for his old companions in 
 arms and the reminiscences of the field. He was 
 ordained in 1871, and has ministered successfully in 
 Harford County, Md. ; in Harrisburg, Penna. ; in 
 New York Avenue Church, Washington, and has 
 filled his present position since 1882. His church 
 is one of the most wealthy in the city. Among those 
 who have been among his flock are Jay Gould, Gen- 
 eral Horace Porter, H. R. Bishop, Russell Sage, J. 
 C. Livezey, and Seth Lowe. Dr. Paxton was ap- 
 pointed chaplain of the Seventh New York Regi- 
 ment November 17th, 1887. He is distinguished 
 for his liking of and fairness to negroes, having 
 frequently asked their ministers to assist him in his 
 services. He was opposed to Dr. Briggs in the re- 
 cent controversy. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES. 
 
 UNDER this chapter head it is the purpose to 
 group such incidents in the Hfe of Mr. Gould 
 as have in them a point for the reader's considera- 
 tion, and which bring out characteristics of the 
 man, as well as some anecdotes told by intimate 
 associates, and by himself, that it is thought will 
 be pleasing as well as instructive. 
 
 Mr. Gould's indomitable will and intent persever- 
 ance were the strongest and most prominent feat- 
 ures of his character. The following incident will 
 show that these were innate and not acquired quali- 
 ties. It also illustrates that love for flowers which 
 went with him through life. 
 
 One morning, as young Jason Gould was on his 
 way to the village school-house with his sisters, 
 he noticed at the top of a high tree some very 
 beautiful blossoms. He was but seven years of age, 
 and could not climb the tree to get the treasures. 
 He asked his eldest sister to get them for him, 
 but she could not climb, and beside there was 
 a storm coming on, which promised to be furious. 
 The school-house was just at the foot of the hill 
 on which stood the tree, and the sisters tried to 
 i66 V 
 
INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES. jgy 
 
 persuade their brother to leave the spot and go to 
 school. 
 
 " No," said Jason, " I will not go to school till I 
 have those blossoms." 
 
 Just then the first few pattering drops that so 
 often precede a dashing rain, began to drop, and 
 the girls scampered down the hill to the school- 
 house, reaching it in safety. Young Jason was so 
 occupied in his efforts to solve the difficulty of get- 
 ting the blooms that were just beyond his reach 
 that the rain was upon him before he was aware 
 that a storm had brewed. 
 
 Still there was time to get to the school-house be- 
 fore he was showered, but he must act quickly. It 
 would be unpleasant, indeed, to be thoroughly 
 drenched on a day that was none too warm, and it 
 would be even more unpleasant to receive severe 
 punishment from his angry father when he arrived 
 home with his new suit of clothes spoiled. But he 
 had said he would not go to school till he had those 
 blossoms, and as he had not got them, he could 
 not escape to the school-house without breaking 
 his word and discounting his boast. There was 
 no further hesitancy ; he marched home, a distance 
 of a mile, and took the punishment for spoiling his 
 clothes like a little man. 
 
 This same determination was evinced in every- 
 thing Mr. Gould undertook, and his love of flowers 
 was especially noted by those whose relations with 
 him were at all familiar. The first costly luxuries 
 
I gg LIFE OF JAY GO ULD. 
 
 he allowed himself after becoming possessed of suf- 
 ficient means to warrant tliem were his magnificent 
 conservatories, and his rare plants, shrubbery, and 
 trees at Lyndhurst. While he did not wear a bou- 
 tonniere as a personal adornment, and did not 
 have potted plants or cut flowers in his office, it was 
 only because they appealed too strongly to those 
 external senses which he knew he must control in 
 order to concentrate all his mental powers upon 
 those gigantic manipulations which earned for him 
 the sobriquet, " Wizard of Wall Street." 
 
 The "mouse-trap incident" has been referred to 
 by newspapers all over the country. Without ex- 
 ception they have credited Mr. Gould with having 
 invented the famous trap, with having harbored 
 hopes that it would prove a profitable and fame- 
 making invention. The facts of the case have 
 been carefully sifted and investigated, and it is 
 established that Mr. Gould was not the inventor 
 of the trap, though there is something in the story 
 about "the little man with the mouse-trap." 
 
 When Mr. Gould was fourteen years old he was 
 spending a winter evening by the side of the large 
 open fire in the living room in the home of his ma- 
 ternal grandfather who was of a mechanical bent, 
 and possessed of no small genius for making toys. 
 The old gentleman had been studying for some 
 time over a trap for animals, but as his house was 
 rapidly becoming over-run with mice he concen- 
 trated his powers on inventing a method of catch- 
 
incidEjYts and anecdotes. J 5g 
 
 ing the little rodents that would have none of the 
 inconveniences and faults of the ones exposed for 
 sale in the stores. 
 
 He worked earnestly and long until one day he 
 was enabled to give that sigh of relief so different 
 from the sigh of endeavor, for he had combined the 
 principles he desired in a very ornate model. 
 
 Then there came to the old man visions of fame 
 and possibly of wealth. He inclosed the neat and 
 really meritorious little toy in a small cherry box 
 and began the round of his sons to show them the 
 invention and secure their co-operation in securing 
 a patent and a market for the trap after it was 
 patented. 
 
 Strange to say, not one of them would volunteer 
 - to take the model to the Crystal Palace, which had 
 just opened in New York city, and have it regis- 
 tered as an American invention, nor would they ac- 
 cept the task when pressed by their father. 
 
 As a last resort Jay was asked to aid the old man. 
 Glowing pictures of the wonders of New York and 
 of the Crystal Palace were painted for him, and he 
 was told that business with the directors of the 
 Palace would admit him free. 
 
 This decided Jay to take up the task, and with 
 characteristic energy he immediately prepared to 
 start the next morning for New York. 
 
 To a friend Mr. Gould once said of this visit to the 
 great metropolis, "You will smile when I tell you 
 that I got into a Sixth Avenue car, and every now 
 
I 7Q LIFE OF JAY GO ULD. 
 
 and then ran out on the rear platform to see the 
 buildings, leaving the case containing the mouse- 
 trap on the seat. When I got to the street where 
 I was to get off the mouse-trap had disappeared. I 
 turned to the conductor and said : 
 
 " ' What has become of my box ?'• 
 
 " ' That box that was on the seat ?' 
 
 " ' Yes.' 
 
 " ' Was it yours ? Why,' replied the conductor, 
 *a man who sot out and turned down the last street 
 carried it off If you run you will probably catch 
 him.' 
 
 " I ran and caught him. He was a great, strong 
 fellow, but. I collared him. I really regretted that 
 I had done so, and I tried to let him go, but the fact 
 is, one of my figers caught in a buttonhole of his 
 coat, and before I could get off there was a crowd 
 around us, and a policeman, who took us both off to 
 a near-by court. The statements of the policeman 
 and of myself and of the thief were all heard. The 
 magistrate drew some nice legal and technical dis- 
 tinctions, which came near costing me my liberty. 
 While the thief who stole my mouse-trap was com- 
 mitted to trial, I was given to understand that, owing 
 to my inability to furnish bail — for I knew no one 
 in New York then — I should be detained as a wit- 
 ness until the trial. It was not a pleasant intro- 
 duction to New York, but I have never forgotten it, 
 and its recollection has often afforded me a good deal 
 of amusernent. Fortunately for me, there was a 
 
INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES. jyj 
 
 detective in the place who had been hunting my 
 mouse-trap thief for years, and who had a requisition 
 from, I thinlc, the Governor of Pennsylvania or New 
 Jersey. He saved me." 
 
 The mouse-trap was registered as an American 
 invendon, but failed of great success, possibly, be- 
 cause it was never brought to the notice of the peo- 
 ple in any concerted way. 
 
 ^ "^ ''^ fiii ^ 9g. 
 
 Ezra Cornell's son has said of Mr. Gould : " He 
 was the most misunderstood man in this country. 
 My acquaintance with him began about 25 years 
 ago, upon his ascension to the Presidency of the 
 Erie Railway, and has continued undl his death. 
 For the last dozen years it has been my privilege to 
 meet him two or three days in each week in the 
 council chamber of the Western Union Telegraph 
 Company, when we were both in the city. 
 
 " I have had little opportunity or inclination to 
 follow the newspaper expressions since Mr. Gould's 
 death. It has, however, been my opinion for many 
 years that there was probably no man in the country 
 more misunderstood. Beginning with the time 
 when Mr. Gould became President of the Erie 
 Railway, circumstances ass®ciated him with James 
 Fisk, Jr. In every way Mr. Gould was the opposite 
 of the late Mr. Fisk — socially, morally, religiously, 
 in business affairs and in every possible respect. 
 Knowing both men in business and knowing much 
 of Mr. Fisk's career, I have never regretted his 
 
J 72 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 murder. If Mr. Fisk had been murdered three 
 times he would not have got what he deserved. 
 
 " I regarded Mr. Gould as one of the most re- 
 markable men America has produced. As a busi- 
 ness man he was the most far-sighted man I have 
 ever known. He was the soul of honor in his 
 personal integrity. His word passed in honor was 
 as good as any bond he could make. He was 
 never a stock eambler. He had no more to do 
 with Black Friday than you had. In all his trans- 
 actions he meant always to be strictly just, and took 
 care to get what belonged to him. He never pre- 
 tended to be a philanthropist. Indeed, he never 
 made any pretensions of any kind. He knew what 
 he wanted, and if he could accomplish his purpose 
 by honorable means he seldom failed. Fisk under- 
 took to steal the Albany & Susquehanna Railroad, 
 but Mr. Gould had no connection with that matter 
 except so far as legitimate means justified, in en- 
 deavoring to control that important new connection 
 between the Erie Railway at Binghamton and the 
 capital of the State. 
 
 '• The Erie Railway has been owned in England 
 during most if not all of the last 40 years. It has 
 been controlled from time to time by proxies sent 
 out by I^ondon bankers, in charge of Englishmen, 
 sent here ,as their agents, or sent to New York 
 bankers for representation. 
 
 "The newspaper reputation of Fisk and Gould, 
 as they were always inseparably named, 20 years 
 and more ago, shook the confidence of the European 
 
Wi\l. li VANDERBILT. 
 
INCWEA TS AND ANECD TES. j 7 e 
 
 constituency, and the London bankers turned their 
 proxies over to the control of General Dix, then the 
 Minister of the United States at Paris. He came 
 home with power to dethrone Mr. Gould from the , 
 presidency of the Erie road. Gould, then only 
 thirty-six years old, in the prime of life, proud of his 
 official position, and ambitious to make a reputation 
 as a railway manager, naturally resisted the 
 onslaught, and attempted to hold his place by means 
 of the opposing interests which he might control. 
 He was already a rich man for one of his age, and 
 was a large creditor of the Erie Railway Company, 
 and, under the advice of counsel to protect his own 
 interests put in a safe place the available securities 
 of what was then a pauper company, attempting to 
 compete with the powerful administration of the 
 elder Vanderbilt-, who had just then succeeded to 
 the ownership of the New York Central. 
 
 "Any prudent business man accustomed to deal 
 •with o-reat values will understand the necessity of 
 President Gould's position when assaulted by a cli- 
 entelle ignorant of the interior affairs of the com- 
 pany, and whose interests had been placed in charge 
 of the illustrious soldier, who desired to succeed 
 Mr. Gould In the presidency of that company." 
 
 Concerning Mr, Gould, as a controlling power in 
 the Western Union Telegraph Company, Mr. Cor- 
 nell has said : 
 
 " I succeeded my father, Ezra Cornell, In the 
 Board of Directors of the Western Union Tele- 
 e-raoh Companv in 1868, and have been a director 
 
I 7 5 LIFE OF JA y GOULD. 
 
 continually until now. Mr. Gould was elected a 
 director in 1881, to succeed the late William H. 
 Vanderbilt, and has since that time been the control- 
 ling factor in the company's administration. He 
 had long before appreciated the value and import- 
 ance of the Western Union Company, and for sev- 
 eral years had an ambition to become influential in 
 telegraph affairs. You will remember that he forced 
 an issue between his rival company, the American 
 Union and the old Western Union, which resulted 
 in the consolidation of the two companies at the 
 period named, 
 
 " As to his policy, and looking back over the time 
 during which he has been in control, I have no hesi- 
 tation in saying that his influence has been the most 
 conservative and far-sighted of any ten successive 
 'years in the company's history. He has desired to 
 make the Western Union the great and only tele- 
 graph company in America. He has succeeded in 
 covering the continent with its wires and offices, 
 numbering of the latter now more than 20,000, in 
 the cables connecting with the European continent 
 and with Mexico and the West Indies and thence 
 to South America. His policy, which has been a 
 cordial and earnest support of the recommendations 
 of the experienced officials who have had charge of 
 the details of management, has resulted in adding 
 more to the value of the company during the time 
 than was ever added in any 20 years of its preced- 
 ing life." 
 
INCIDENTS AND ANECD TES. j y i 
 
 Mr. Gould's own version of the story of the West- 
 ern Union is given in his testimony to the Senate 
 Committee on Labor and Education. 
 
 " I arn interested in the telegraph," he told the'\ 
 committee, " for the railroad and telegraph systems ! 
 go hand in hand, as it were, integral parts of a great I 
 civilization. I naturally became acquainted with the-*' 
 telegraph business and gradually became interested 
 in it. I thought well of it as an investment and I 
 kept increasing my interests. When the Union 
 Pacific was built I had an interest in a company called 
 the Atlantic and Pacific, and I endeavored to make 
 that a rival to the Western Union. We extended it 
 considerably, but found it rather up-hill work. We 
 saw that our interest lay more with the Western 
 Union. Through that we could reach every part of 
 the country and through a small company we could 
 not ; so we made an offer to sell to Western Union 
 the control of the Atlantic and Pacific. At that time 
 a very dear friend of mine was the manager, and I 
 supposed that he would be made the manager of the 
 Western Union, but after the consolidation was per- 
 fected it was not done, and I made up my mind that 
 he should be at the head of as good a company as I 
 had taken him from. The friend was General " 
 Eckert, and for him I started another company — the 
 American Union — and we carried it forward until a 
 proposition was made to merge it also into the 
 Western Union. As the stock of the latter went 
 down I bought a large interest in it, and found that 
 
178 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 the only way out was to put the two companies to- 
 gether. General Eckert became general manager 
 of the whole system. Meantime I bought so much 
 of its property and its earning power that I have 
 kept increasing my interest. I thought it better to 
 let my income go into the things that I was in myself, 
 and I have never sold any of my interests, but have 
 devoted my income to increasing them. This is the 
 whole history of it." 
 
 This is the testimony he gave to the Committee 
 on Labor and Education on the story of the Western 
 Union : 
 
 " I think the control by the Government is contrary 
 to our institutions. The telegraph system, of all 
 other business, wants to be managed by skilled ex- 
 perts, while the Government is founded on the idea 
 ^ that the party in power shall control the patronage. 
 If the Government controlled it the general mana- 
 gers' heads would come off every four years and 
 you would not have any such efficiency as at present. 
 The very dividend of the Western Union is based 
 upon doing business well, keeping her customers 
 and developing her business. If the Democrats were 
 in power there would be a Democratic telegraph, if 
 the Republicans came into power there would a Re- 
 publican telegraph, and if the Reformers came in I 
 don't know what there would be. (Laughter.) I 
 think it would be a mere political machine. I 
 would be perfectly willing, so far as I am con- 
 cerned, to allow the Government to try it, to sell 
 
lACWEATS AND ANECDOTES. jyg 
 
 out our property of our own citizens and make 
 it valueless." 
 
 "' Have you any idea what the Government ought 
 to pay ?" 
 
 "I think that it ought to pay what it is worth and 
 no more. I think that the method that was provided 
 in the law is a very just one, and I would be per- 
 fectly willins: to let the Government take it on those 
 terms." 
 
 " What, in your opinion, is the Western Union 
 property worth ?" 
 
 " Well, I judge of property myself by its net earn- 
 ing power, that is the only rule I have been able to 
 get. If you show me a property that is paying no 
 more than the taxes, I don't want it. I want prop- 
 erty that earns money. You might say there is 
 water in the Western Union, and so there is. There 
 is water in all this property along Broadway. This 
 whole island was once bought for a few strings of 
 beads. But now you will find this property valued 
 by its earning power, by its rent power, and that is 
 the way to value a railroad or a telegraph. So it is 
 worth what it earns now, a capital that pays seven 
 per cent." 
 
 " That would be $100,000,000 ?" 
 
 " Yes, and it is worth much more than that, be- 
 cause there are a great many assets." 
 
 Mr. Gould was not a believer in cheap men. In 
 the employment of help he regarded economy as 
 poor policy. In the various branches of his extended 
 
J gQ LIFE OF JAY GO ULD. 
 
 business he aimed to secure the best men possible, 
 and he was never known to dicker over the amount 
 of pay. His conspicuous success in avoiding the 
 leaal shoals througrh which he was obliged to thread 
 his way -during his eventful career was due mainly 
 to the fact that he always had in his employ the very 
 best legal talent that money could procure. 
 
 The story about Mr. Sage and his office boy has 
 been frequently told in Wall Street, but it has not 
 appeared in print. Mr. Sage had an office boy who 
 ha I been with him for several years, was familiar 
 with his methods and moods, and understood per- 
 fectly well the status of each of Mr. Sage's custom- 
 ers. The boy was alert, tactful, and faithful, and in 
 due course of time received tempting offers to leave 
 Mr. Sage's employ. He, however, stuck to Mr. Sage 
 for a long while, imbued with the false hope of ad- 
 vancement. 
 
 The boy's salary was fifteen dollars a week, and 
 when he told Mr. Sage one day that he had been 
 ( iT^red twenty-five dollars a week to go elsewhere, 
 Mr. Sage coldly told him that he had better go — and 
 he went. Jay Gould happened in Mr. Sage's office 
 a few days afterward and casually remarked : " Why, 
 where is John ?" 
 
 " Oh I he has left me," said Mr. Sage. " He got 
 extravagant notions in his head and I had to let him 
 go. But I've got a new boy, and I save three dollars 
 a week on his salary." 
 
 "You do, eh!" remarked Mr. Gould, with undis- 
 
INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES. 
 
 181 
 
 guised disgust. " Well, have . you figured how 
 much you will lose on his blunders ?" 
 
 When Colonel F. K. Hain was made general 
 manager of the elevated railroads in New York 
 city, he was unknown to Mr. Gould. It was not 
 long, however, before the quiet little millionaire 
 began lo take a lively interest in him. Colonel 
 Hain possesses qualities which excited admiration 
 in Mr. Gould's breast. One day, not many years 
 ago, Mr. Gould, as President of the Manhattan 
 Railway Company, received Colonel Hain's written 
 resignation. In great surprise he sent for Mr. Hain 
 and asked him to explain the reason for his resigna- 
 tion. 
 
 "Mr. Gould," said the Colonel, "I have received 
 from the Reading Railroad Company an offer of the 
 position of General Manager at a salary of 5^1 2,000 
 a year, and, in justice to myself and my family, I do 
 not think that I ought to refuse it." 
 
 " How much are you getting here?" asked Mr. 
 Gould, 
 
 " Six thousand five hundred dollars a year," re- 
 plied Colonel Hain. 
 
 "Is the increase in salary" your only reason for 
 your resignation?" 
 
 " Yes, sir." 
 
 "Will you stay with us for 5^15,000 a year?" 
 asked Mr. Gould, 
 
 " Certainly," responded Colonel Hain, 
 
 "Very well, let it be so," said Mr. Gould, "and, 
 
1 32 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 Colonel, I am perfectly satisfied with your work. 
 Never let a question of money come between us." 
 
 The loyalty of S. S. H. Clark, General Manager 
 of the Missouri Pacific and President of the Union 
 Pacific, to Mr. Gould has been the object of fre- 
 quent comment. Mr. Clark is by no means a low- 
 priced man, and the fact that he has long been one 
 of Mr. Gould's trusted lieutenants means that he 
 has not worked for low pay. 
 
 It is related that the Atchison people once tried 
 to get Mr. Clark to enter their employ by offering 
 him an advance of $10,000 on the salary the Missouri 
 Pacific Company was giving him. iMr.Clark promptly 
 refused the offer and said nothing. Mr. Gould, how- 
 ever, heard of the matter from other sources, and on 
 the Christmas day following Mr. Clark received a 
 check for $50,000 with a short note which read: "A 
 merry Christmas to my loyal friend. — Jay Gould." 
 
 Mr. E. Ellery Anderson was the man appointed 
 by President Cleveland to investigate the affairs of 
 the Union Pacific Railroad. Mr. Anderson said at 
 the time, " The developments before the conven- 
 tion were dramatic sometimes and always intensely 
 interesting. It gave me an insight into the charac- 
 teristics of Mr. Gould. Many intimate business 
 connections with him have, as they continued, inten- 
 sified interest in the man. One thing always im- 
 pressed me, and it is interesting in connection with 
 current statements and some popular impressions 
 of the rnan. It is this : I have always found, even to 
 
INCIDENTS AND ANECD O TES. j g ^ 
 
 the most trivial detail, that Mr. Gould lived up to 
 the whole nature of his obligations. 
 
 " Of course, he was always reticent and careful 
 about what he promised, but that promise was inva- 
 riably fulfilled. 
 
 " Contrary to the popular impression, I do not 
 think that the basis of Mr. Gould's fortune was 
 made as a constructor or operator of railroads, or as 
 a speculator, as we generally understand the terms. 
 In that sort of speculation I think he lost as often as 
 he won. But his successes were in an art which 
 makes his genius rank higher than those which are 
 generally recognized as his successes could do. 
 
 " Jay Gould was the absolute master of the art 
 of creatine co-ordinate boards of directors that 
 had comple control of adverse interests. He per- 
 suaded himself that it was just — to put it mildly — to 
 allow his representatives in both to vote upon both 
 sides of transactions in which interests were adverse. 
 This characteristic was the kernel of the genius of 
 his successes and his manipulations, first in the 
 Erie ; then in the Wabash securities ; in the consoli- 
 dation of the Kansas and Denver Pacific with the 
 Union Pacific ; in the deal between the Missouri Pa- 
 cific and the Missouri, Kansas and Texas; in the 
 International and Great Northern, and also, but per- 
 haps not so directly, in the transactions with Man- 
 hattan Railway stocks and bonds in this city proved 
 It. These great business movements created no 
 excitement in the outside world. The climaxes were 
 
J 34 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 not dramatic outside of stock circles. Yet in these 
 he made fortunes. In some of them his profits ag- 
 gregated from |io,ooo,ooo to |i 5,000,000. 
 
 " This financial art, of which he was such a master, 
 was best illustrated by the subsequent disclosures 
 of the proceedings by which the consolidation of the 
 Kansas Pacific and Union Pacific was accomplished. 
 While Gould was a director in the Union Pacific he 
 acquired the Kansas Pacific securities at ten cents. 
 With this line and its adjuncts in his complete con- 
 trol he moved at a meeting; of the Union Pacific 
 directors the consolidation upon equal terms of dollar 
 for dollar. Boston men were in control of the direc- 
 tory, among them Gordon Dexter. They objected 
 to the proceeding and Gould's motion failed to carry. 
 Gould had probably expected this refusal, and his 
 foresight had some useful plans. He came back to 
 New York, and within three weeks he had bought, 
 at low prices, securities of the Missouri Pacific, Kan- 
 sas Central and minor roads with Western exten- 
 sions. Then he announced his intention of imme- 
 diately building to the Pacific by way of Salt Lake 
 City. 
 
 " The Union Pacific people were startled at this 
 prospect of a parallel road and hurried to New. York. 
 A meeting was held at Jay Gould's house. On half 
 a sheet of note paper, which I saw, were written the 
 terms of consolidation of the Kansas Pacific and 
 Union Pacific. By these terms not only, as was first 
 proposed by Gould, was Kansas Pacific and Denver 
 
INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES. jgr 
 
 Pacific stock exchanged, dollar for dollar, for Union 
 Pacific stock, but the Union Pacific agreed to take 
 from Gould's hands, at the price he paid for them, 
 the Kansas Central and other securities he had se- 
 cured as his weapons. With this in mind Mr. Gould 
 was asked during the investigation, if it was in con- 
 formity with the ethics of Wall Street for the director 
 of one road to -build a rival to the one in which he, 
 with others, was interested. 
 
 " Mr. Gould hesitated perhaps twenty seconds, 
 and then replied : ' No, that would have been 
 wrong. I gave up that plan and made other ar- 
 rangements.' 
 
 " By those other arrangements, which I have ex- 
 plained, he made a profit of ^10,000,000. 
 
 "This illustrated, too, Gould's capacity for man- 
 aging men, and playing them on the financial chess- 
 board. He was always so far-sighted and adroit 
 that, generally unconsciously to those with whom he 
 was associated, he made a combination of arrange- 
 ments so that it was to their interest to work with 
 him. With such conditions, cleverly planned, it was 
 easy for Gould in a meeting to point out real 
 advantages to be gained by his propositions, with 
 roseate prospects of success, 
 
 " Mr. Gould knew every detail of the management 
 of his railroads and minute facts about obscure 
 localities which they traversed. I happened by 
 chance to call upon him once regarding the traffic 
 of a little way station. Mr. Gould just leaned for- 
 
J g 5 LIFE OF JAY GO ULD. 
 
 ward in his chair, extended the middle fingers 
 toward some neatly folded papers in a pigeon-hole, 
 and from the midst in a second drew out one which 
 related to the subject then of interest. 
 
 " He was always courteous in personal relation- 
 ships, but not talkative." 
 
 In 1878 Mr. Gould was. rated at from ;^io,ooo,ooo 
 to ^40,000,000, but a careful and conservative esti- 
 mate placed the value of his holdings at $15,000,000. 
 Four years later there arose an occasion for him to 
 show his hand. His credit had been attacked. A 
 more than usually strong bear movement in March, 
 1882, started many rumors in Wall Street calcu- 
 lated to weaken the credit of many men. Over the 
 wires went the story that Jay Gould was financially 
 embarrassed. It was denied, but only to be reiter- 
 ated. 
 
 It was declared on the floor of nearly every stock 
 exchange in the country that he was throwing his 
 large holdings overboard and realizing at a loss in 
 order to keep his head above water. Telegrams 
 poured into New York asking for inside information. 
 Doubt as to the standing of no other man could 
 have so concerned the business world. 
 
 Mr. Gould and his friends realized that somethino- 
 must be done to put an end to all this talk. The 
 great pulse of Wall Street was beating feverishly 
 and fast. Men were becoming afraid to buy stocks 
 m which Mr. Gould was heavily interested. 
 
 Even Mr. Gould's friends began to feel nervous, 
 
INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES. jg« 
 
 when he sent for a number of those who were most 
 closely identified with him. They met in his office. 
 Turning- to his secretary, Mr. Gould gave him direc- 
 tions in a few words, and in a very short time that 
 man entered the office bearing in his arms a huge 
 load of stock certificates. Again he departed and 
 again returned similarly burdened. 
 
 "Now, gentlemen," said Mr. Gould, "I am pre- 
 pared to show you that these stories are not true." 
 
 Then he had the certificates shown and their total 
 value footed up. Of Western Union there lay on 
 the table $23,000,000 worth, of Missouri Pacific 
 5^12,000,000, and of Manhattan Elevated and South- 
 westerns $18,000,000. There was a total of 
 $53,000,000 in securities on the table. The men 
 who saw this were Cyrus W, Field, Russell Sage, 
 and Frank Work 
 
 In 1890 Mr. Gould held from one-quarter to one- 
 ha4fof all the stock in all the corporations which he 
 made any effort to control. There was not a man 
 in the whole of America, or in the world at large, 
 who absolutely owned and controlled and had 
 registered in his own name as many stocks. It is 
 no exaggeration to say that he drew more revenue 
 from his invested capital than did any other man 
 living. 
 
 What was that income ? From three of his 
 stocks — Western Union, Manhattan Elevated, and 
 Missouri Pacific — he for some years past had been 
 drawing $2,000,000 annually. His income from 
 
{gg LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 Other sources was four or five times as much, to say 
 nothing of the vast profits which became his at 
 nearly every turn of the market when he endeavored 
 to guide its course. 
 
 Russell Sage in September, 1890, spoke of Mr. 
 Gould thus : 
 
 " Mr. Gould cannot begin to use even a small 
 portion for his own personal use — even a small part 
 of the interest which his dividend money alone 
 would yield. He must re-invest it, and he does re- 
 invest it. It is safe to say that he takes this money 
 as the dividend period comes around and buys other 
 securities." 
 
 His holdings of Western Union stock are all 
 bound in a book, which it may be believed is an 
 interesting volume. 
 
 To financiers, railroad men, and business men 
 Mr. Gould's life was a marvellous study. Mr. Gould 
 had one life for his family and another in his deal- 
 ings with men. It is not believed that any man in 
 New York had a happier home circle than had he, 
 and it is assuredly the fact that no man who has been 
 so conspicuous before the people of this country for 
 the last thirty years could count up more enemies. 
 
 He did not appear to care for commendation out- 
 side af his own family circle. With the assured 
 regard of his wife, who died several years ago, and 
 the esteem and affection of his children he seemed 
 to be quite content. Once he was told by some 
 one who was curious to see what effect the declara- 
 
INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES. jgg 
 
 tion would have upon him, that he was the most un- 
 popular man in the United States. He replied, 
 characteristically : 
 
 " I never notice what is said about me. I am 
 credited with things I have never done and abused 
 for them. It would be idle to attempt to contradict 
 newspaper talk and street rumors." 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 A CHARACTER ESTIMATE. 
 
 THE personal prominence of Mr. Jay Gould was 
 not exceeded by that of any living American, 
 and there are senses in which, to the public intelli- 
 gence and information and imagination, he was 
 as mysterious as he was conspicuous. He a 
 farmer's boy, without capital or the favor of influen- 
 tial friends, became a great power in the nation, 
 and amassed a fortune that placed him among the 
 foremost of the rich men of the world. He had lit- 
 tle inheritance, but his singular allotment of genius, 
 and his vast accumulations were not the accretions of 
 values in lands from the labors and improvements of 
 others, but resulted from his daring and skill in specu- 
 lation and manipulation, guided by his marvelous un. 
 derstanding of the opportunities that the uncertain 
 condition of transportation opened to the highest and 
 keenest capabilities of men. His fortunes were the 
 fruit of his foreknowledge of the wealth of the country 
 andthe development of the intercourse of peoples and 
 nations. The secret of his success is that he always 
 bet on the United States, and we may call the fac- 
 ulty behind it, at our pleasure, and according to our 
 instruction or convictions, that of sportino- or of 
 190 
 
JIM FISK. 
 
A CHARACTER ESTIMATE, jq-i 
 
 statesmanship. The cpuntry boy became the 
 Wizard of Wall Street. In the games that are 
 played there the great consume the small, and the 
 principle prevails that Napoleon had in mind when 
 he said, in walking over a battlefield, " One can-, 
 not make an omelette without breaking eggs." 
 
 Mr. Gould had the reputation of a man of iron 
 nerve, and possessed the quiet courage of remark- 
 able intelligence. Physically he was delicate and 
 sensitive; and his tastes and habits were those of 
 simplicity and refinement. In domestic life he was 
 exemplary — a most loving husband and tender 
 father. His sons are men of trained capacity in 
 affairs, who have been educated for the m.anagement 
 of the vast interests now committed to their hands. 
 Practically, they have been managers of responsi- 
 bility for years, with the general judgment of their 
 father to guide them. They are thoroughly familiar 
 with the principles and details of the business, chiefly 
 that of railways and telegraphy, and there is no 
 serious change anticipated. Of course the death of 
 the most famous man in the history of Wall Street 
 is an immense sensation in that world, but it was, in 
 the language of the street, discounted long ago. Mr. 
 Gould was the keenest and shrewdest and most 
 daring of operators, and yet had the conservatism 
 of large enlightenment. He was not an original force 
 for good or evil of extraordinary volume, but a type 
 of and the most striking representative of one who 
 was an opportunist in Americanism, and his was an 
 
 12 
 
1 94 ^^^"'^ OF JAY CO ULD. 
 
 individuality that was the growth of circumstances. 
 
 r There is this to be said of the money he accumulated: 
 
 i It was never so invested as to be put away to rest, 
 
 I but it was placed so as to be active. His wealth 
 
 was alive and associated with intense industry. The 
 
 income from it has been very large, and the sagacity 
 
 that animated the policy of government of the vast 
 
 property was extraordinarily clear and tenacious. 
 
 Mr. Gould was the foremost man of his time in 
 accuracy of estimation of the value oif good-will, 
 and his appreciation and realization of the invisible 
 increments of wealth were the beginning of his suc- 
 cess. When he had, as Dr. Johnson said, " riches be- 
 yond the dreams of avarice," Mr. Gould became sen- 
 sible that he was an overtasked man ; that peace, after 
 all, was the first blessing ; that his health was frail ; and 
 he turned more than ever for comfort to his home — 
 his wife and children, his conservatory and books. 
 In his grounds at Tarrytown he had under glass a 
 little tropical farm, and could furnish green corn 
 from his own field for a Christmas dinner. He had 
 a singular, one might say a plaintive regard for 
 beauty, that appeared in the love of flowers and 
 ferns, the bloom and verdure of plants and perfumes 
 of warm and distant regions. There was something 
 dainty in his ways, and while at a feast he ate but a 
 bird and drank no more of wine than a spoonful of 
 good sauterne ; he was large-eyed for the charm of a 
 landscape ; knew the joy of broad sunny fields, and 
 the resdess sparkle of the sea. Robust delights 
 
A CHARACTER ESTIMATE. jqc 
 
 were not for him. His early dreams were of a lit 
 erary life, and his later luxuries were in his library. 
 His fondness for his books often consoled him when 
 tortured with nervous dyspepsia and insomnia. 
 
 There must have been vivid feelings under the 
 undisturbed surface of his face, and yet the only 
 positive evidence of it he gave strangers was the 
 beguiling placidity of his remarks, as he attached 
 the deepest significance to his deftly-chosen words. 
 When he meant war he made a suggestion, and if 
 it was presented with special gentleness there was 
 in it the greater scope of warfare. His enemies 
 knew the importance of an inference, and there was 
 acumen in accepting a hint as influential. He un- 
 derstood conditions of society as elements of life. 
 The fine threads of which he was spun were strained 
 and fretted away before he had learned the limita- 
 tions of his strength, and he sought often the resto- 
 ration of change of air and scene ; but no climate or 
 scenery within reach of yacht or car revived his 
 drooping energies. He was told to amuse himself 
 and his pale face was seen for a time in festive en- 
 tertainments ; but theatrical noise and glitter were 
 not congenial, and help could not be found in the 
 glare and fan-fare of professional merriment. The 
 sincerity of his interest in the religious work of the 
 Church, to whose funds for good works he con- 
 tributed, was, no doubt, absolute, but there was not 
 generosity or even meagre justice permitted him in 
 the public comment relating to the incidents of his 
 beneficence. 
 
jqQ life of jay GOULD. 
 
 A man, who lived four miles from Millville, N. J., 
 stationed himself inside the main entrance to the 
 Western Union building one morning in the be- 
 ginning of February, 1892. He was a big, burly 
 fellow about 50 years old, and in addition to a small 
 satchel slung over his shoulder, carried two large 
 hand-bags. There was a Bible protruding from his 
 coat pocket. The janitor of the building noticed 
 the stranger and asked him his business. Ephraim 
 vverit away, but came back the next morning, bag 
 and bag-o-acre. The janitor insisted on knowing- his 
 business. He opened the two big bags he carried 
 in his hands and showed they were empty. He de- 
 clined to say what was in the satchel swung over 
 his shoulder. The big bags, he said, were to take 
 away ^1,500,000 which he expected to get from Mr. 
 Gould as soon as he had talked with him. 
 
 The man was finally persuaded to return to New 
 Jersey, and negotiate with Mr. Gould through the 
 mails. 
 
 About the same time a crank went into Judge 
 Walter O. Gresham's court in Chicago, and de- 
 manded ^5,000, which he said had been sent him by 
 Jay Gould. He gave the name of Martin McCina- 
 hay. He made a fight before he could be over- 
 powered. He was sent to an asylum. 
 
 "Vice-President No. 71" was the champion 
 dangerous crank of the year 1891. He called on 
 Dr. Munn, Mr. Gould's physician, one evening in 
 May. He said he belonged to the organization ot 
 
CHARACTERIZATION OF MR. GOULD. j^j 
 
 "Christ's Followers," which was very strong in this 
 country at the present time and was steadily grow- 
 ing. The object of the organization, he said, was 
 an equal distribution of the wealth and property of 
 the country. Among the first property to be dis- 
 tributed was that of Jay Gould, and if any difficulty 
 was to be encountered in carrying out that object, 
 Gould would have to die. 
 
 Dr. Munn arranged for the man to call the fol- 
 lowing evening. He called as agreed and found 
 Inspector Byrnes waiting for him, with Detective 
 Sergeants Frinck and McCloskey. He was taken 
 to headquarters, where he claimed that a former 
 employer had sent him some weeks before to a 
 place known as Owl's Head, -on the Canadian 
 border, near Buffalo. There he was to meet friends 
 and receive instructions. Arriving at the appointed 
 rendezvous in the night-time he was surrounded by 
 a band of about 50 men, all heavily masked, who 
 compelled him to kneel in their midst, the band 
 forming a circle around him. While in a kneeling 
 attitude he was compelled to take a solemn oath, 
 which was administered with much pomp and cere- 
 mony, and he from that time forth was a member 
 of the order of "Christ's Followers." 
 
 The object of the order was explained to him, 
 and after various business transactions, ,which he 
 declined to explain, he was finally, on April 15th, 
 ordered by the Arch Council of the organization to 
 come to New York. His mission was to obtain an 
 
Iq3 life of jay GOULD. 
 
 interview with the money king, Jay Gould, or with 
 some of his most intimate friends, and through them 
 to lay the decree of the order before Gould. He 
 was instructed to say to Gould that the order de- 
 manded that $5,000,000 of his money be set 
 apart and sent at once to the headquarters of 
 Christ's Followers. Then, within the next ten years, 
 ^15,000,000 more was to be sent to the same desti- 
 nation, and at his death the will must be so made that 
 only $1,000,000 was to go to each of his sons, and 
 $1,000,000 to the widow. All the rest of the vast 
 property was to be set aside for charitable purposes, 
 or for such other purposes as the order might de- 
 cree. 
 
 This crank weni to an asylum. 
 
 Of all the schemes of cranks and crooks to beat 
 Gould one of the few to prove successful was 
 carried out in February, 1881. There had been a 
 great war between the up-town and the down-town 
 brokers. 
 
 Heading the up-town boys were Messrs. Cam- 
 mack, Osborne, and Travers, who made their head- 
 quarters about the Windsor. They used often to 
 watch the telegraph wires running into Gould's 
 house, across the way, and wonder what they were 
 saying to the crafty little man. 
 
 During the Western Union Telegraph manipula- 
 tions the up-town boys were shut out of the deal. 
 The stock was selling in the neighborhood of eighty 
 and the "points" were thick to go "short" of the 
 
^ CHARACTER ESTIMATE. jAg 
 
 Stock, that the bottom would soon fall out of it. All 
 the verdant ones quickly sold the stock, but the 
 older heads of Twenty-third Street suspected that 
 there was a cat under the wheel. 
 
 Now it happened that the great storm occurred at 
 this time and Mr. Gould's private wires went down 
 with the rest, despite the owner's apparent omnipo- 
 tence. It was absolutely necessary that Gould 
 should continue in communication with his down- 
 town people, and for that purpose he made arrange- 
 ments with the American District Telegraph Com- 
 pany to furnish him with a number of their very 
 best messengers. The boys came and the gang at 
 the Windsor watched the proceedings with no little 
 interest. 
 
 Among the messengers was a tall, slender lad, 
 nearly grown to manhood. The brokers were 
 struck with a happy thought. They got him into 
 the hotel, bribed him to lend them his messenger 
 uniform, and into it they placed a very bright clerk 
 in their employ. The messenger was given a pri- 
 vate room at the hotel and fed on the fat of the 
 land. 
 
 In the meantime the bright clerk was playing mes- 
 senger, and all the messages he took to Mr. Gould 
 were first opened and read in the Windsor. The 
 boy kept his eyes and ears open while at Mr. Gould's 
 house, too, and nothing escaped him. 
 
 The conspirators at first thought that their trick 
 would only be for a day, but owing to the power 
 
200 LIFE OF JA V GOULD. 
 
 and duration of the storm, their clerk was enabled 
 to play his part for four days. For Mr. Gould had 
 engaged the boys until the wires should again be 
 put up, and had especially arranged that they should 
 not be changed until that time. 
 
 Mr. Gould and his friends never suspected what 
 was beneath that tall boy's uniform. The bright 
 clerk was entirely familiar with everything pertaining 
 to stocks, and faithfully transmitted his knowledge 
 thus acquired to his employer. In this way the 
 Twenty-third Streeters became convinced that a 
 great "bull" was about to be made in Western 
 Union, and they consequently covered and bought 
 in all the stock they could from 80 to 85. The stock 
 advanced rapidly to 1 20, and the conspirators not 
 only recovered their former losses, but cleared more 
 than 5^500,000. 
 
 The real telegraph boy was kept in the Windsor 
 Hotel for four days, while his place was filled by the 
 stock clerk. The outside clique presented the mes- 
 senger with $500 cash, and got him a good appoint- 
 ment. Operators say this Is the cleverest trick ever 
 recorded in the annals of the street. And for the 
 first time the boys got to the windward of Jay Gould. 
 
 The cranks were out on the day of Mr. Gould's 
 funeral, and this is a pen picture of one of them : 
 
 There was one man in the crowd on whom the 
 detectives kept a close and wary watch. He seemed 
 to be a full-fledged anarchist. He wore a pair of 
 skin-tight trousers, and flaunted the socialistic colors 
 
A CHARACTER ESTIMATE. 20I 
 
 in a huge red handkerchief about his neck. He 
 was unwashed, unshaven, and as scurvy a looking 
 fellow as you could find in Fifth Street or Avenue A. 
 He scowled upon the big house, but made no other 
 demonstration until a reporter asked him if he spoke 
 EngHsh, and then he broke out into a string of 
 shocking language, and retreated up the avenue 
 snarling like a dog of evil temper. 
 
 As he was shambling across the avenue this un- 
 mistakably bad citizen was nearly ridden down by a 
 carriage in which John Jacob Astor and his young 
 wife were riding. He turned and cursed them, too, 
 but he would have cursed them a thousand times 
 more bitterly if he had known that it was the wheels 
 of the Astors which so narrowly missed him. 
 
NEWSPAPER CHARACTERIZATION OF MR. GOULD. 
 
 [From the New York Sun.] 
 
 WHETHER the death of Mr. Jay Gould is a 
 loss or a gain to the community is a 
 point upon which public opinion will be divided. 
 By the great majority he has long been viewed as 
 the incarnation of all that is evil and mischievous in 
 his sphere of activity, and his removal will, therefore, 
 be hailed as a blessing. A smaller number, equally 
 alive to his faults, will also remember his financial 
 ability, his enterprise, and the splendid services 
 which he has rendered the country in developing its 
 material resources and increasing the productive- 
 ness of its industry. With the cessation of his im- 
 pelling energy they apprehend a slackening of the 
 onward movement, if not the possible failure, of 
 various schemes, which, if he had lived to carry them 
 on, would have proved highly useful to the general 
 prosperity. 
 
 It was Mr. Gould's misfortune to have surpassed 
 the crowd of men by whom he was surrounded and 
 with whom he had his dealings, not in audacious 
 unscrupulousness, but in skill and in success. 
 
 [From the New York Tribune.] 
 
 However men may choose to agree or differ as 
 to the life which has ended in peace after multifari- 
 ous exploits and mutations, there is no doubt that it 
 202 
 
\ 
 
 A CHARACTER ESTIMATE. 2QX 
 
 was profoundly interesting. Perhaps not more than 
 half a dozen persons have lived in our day whose 
 names and activities have been so familiar to the 
 civilized world, and who at the same time have been 
 personally known to so few of their fellow-beings. 
 His persistent reticence, cultivated and applied for 
 his own purposes, may have concealed traits and 
 emotions which actually existed in the man. But 
 though he truly loved his own family and fireside 
 and inspired a tender attachment in return, he gave 
 few signs of longing for the affection and praise of 
 mankind, or even of the community in which he 
 lived. It was his business to utilize for personal 
 ends the follies and passions of his fellow-men, and 
 he probably accepted philosophically whatever pen- 
 alties his vocation imposed. He at least preserved 
 an outward serenity which did not suggest the idea 
 that he was pained by obloquy, or shared in any de- 
 gree either the bitterness which he provoked or the 
 suffering which he sometimes inflicted. And cer- 
 tainly, whatever feelings he may have indulged in 
 private, he rarely permitted them to interfere with 
 the execution of his designs. And yet, though Mr. 
 Gould was widely accused of failing to keep faith, 
 there were many among his harshest critics who 
 were ready to admit that he seldom, if ever, turned 
 upon an associate without having had previous 
 reason to believe that the associate was turning 
 upon him. The man who set out to pky that game 
 with Mr. Gould needed to move with lightning 
 
204 I-^P^ OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 rapidity. He gathered about him a large number oi 
 devoted and faithful followers. They rarely failed 
 to speak of him as always courteous, always consid- 
 erate, and often generous, and the friendship of 
 many of them he retained through numerous stormy 
 periods and great vicissitudes. He had also a few 
 associates almost as powerful pecuniarily as him- 
 self, with whom relations of mutual support and 
 unbroken confidence subsisted for many years. 
 
 Mr. Gould accumulated enormous riches, but it is 
 easy to believe that' he enjoyed their possession far 
 less than the acquisition of them. He loved to sur- 
 mount and circumvent barriers, to make a conquest 
 of adverse forces, to conduct a complicated campaign, 
 to apply all his strategic powers to the resolution of 
 difficulties, to employ all the weapons of aggression 
 and defense in his armory, and finally to win a vic- 
 tory which he thought worthy of his powers. And 
 then he loved to seclude himself from the public 
 gaze among flowers and books and pictures, with the 
 few whom he loved around him and the w^orld at a 
 distance. He had cultivated tastes and varied in- 
 formation, but he was not desirous of imposing or 
 incurring social obligations, nor solicitous of dis- 
 tinction in any spere of action except the one which 
 he dominated. He was apparently contented to be 
 what he was — the most daring, brilliant, and triumph- 
 ant speculator of the age in the eyes of the world, 
 and the most loyal and devoted husband and father 
 in the eyes of his wife and children. 
 
A CHARACTER ESTIMATE. 20"; 
 
 [New York Recorder^ 
 
 One of the phenomenal men of his time has just 
 passed into history. Jay Gould is dead, and there 
 is no financial panic, nor is there any likelihood of 
 one. There was a time when the announcement of 
 his death would probably have beefn the signal for a 
 convulsion on Wall Street which would have been 
 sympathetically echoed in all the stock exchanges 
 of the world. But that time has passed. The Jay ' 
 Gould properties are no longer in the creative and i 
 speculative stage ; they are on a solid footing, and \ 
 the life of their creator is not now essential, as it 1 
 once was, to their development. "^ 
 
 Harsh things were said of this remarkable man 
 while he lived, and there will be a flood of severe 
 moralizing over his career now that it is closed. It 
 is easy to say that he was a man with but one all- 
 absorbing passion — the acquisition of wealth for its 
 own sake and the sake of the power which it gave 
 him over the great material enterprises of his day. 
 It will have to be conceded, no doubt, that his char- 
 acter, as a whole, was not one to be held up for 
 emulation and imitation to the youth of America. 
 There were not enough of human sympathy and 
 philanthropic impulse in it for that. 
 
 Nevertheless there were strong lines of purpose 
 and faculty in the intellectual make-up of Jay Gould 
 which give him rank among really great men. He 
 had courage, grit, insight, foresight, tireless energy, 
 indomitable will — all great qualities. He conceived 
 
2o6 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 his gigantic operations boldly and executed them 
 with consummate coolness and skill. He was 
 the peculiar and unprecedented product of a 
 peculiar and unprecedented epoch of material 
 growth, expansion, enterprise, and development. 
 No other country and time than the United States 
 during the past thirty years could have evolved him. 
 It was a period of colossal undertakings, of enor- 
 mous railroad construction, of vast telegraphic and 
 telephonic enterprises. Speculation was its keynote 
 — bold, vast, hazardous, and, to the losers, often 
 enough ruinous speculation. Jay Gould was the 
 master mind of this period. He won where others 
 lost ; and those who lost hated and denounced. The 
 game was desperate and merciless, and if the tables 
 had been turned, and the losers had been the win- 
 ners, we should have heard far less about Jay Gould's 
 sordid and soulless nature. 
 
 It is eminently a case for the old proverb — De 
 mortuis nil nisi bonum. Jay Gould played a great 
 part in a great age. He was neither a saint, a re- 
 former, nor a philanthropist, and he made no preten- 
 sions to be. But at least it must be said of him 
 that, with untold wealth at his command, his private 
 life was clean and reputable, and his moral example 
 as a husband and parent was wholesome. It has 
 been widely insisted that the accumulation of stu- 
 pendous fortunes is one of the prime evils and dan- 
 gers of modern American life ; but, even if this be 
 true, Jay Gould was not alone in his offense. In 
 
A CHARACTER ESTIMATE. 207 
 
 common fairness it may properly be borne in mind 
 that he was neither the first, the only, nor will he be 
 the last, of our multi-millionaires. Byron's line on 
 Napoleon fits him — " Neither the greatest nor the 
 worst of men," 
 
 [Chicago Evening Post.\ 
 
 Is it not about time to give the clay of Jay Gould 
 a rest ? This query is suggested by the Christmas 
 sermon I listened to on Sunday. The congregation 
 was select and large ; the altar hidden and the 
 officiating minister nearly so behind a profusion of 
 beautiful floral decoration. The tones of the organ 
 pealed forth sweetly in unison with the violin, and 
 soloists and quartette were all that could be desired. 
 In keeping v/ith the occasion and the accompani- 
 ments, Parson Henson's discourse was characterized 
 by that homely, moving logic and racy illustration 
 with which he is wont to inspire the hearts of his 
 auditors and bring to their eyes the glistening evi- 
 dences of charitable emotion. 
 
 Never was religious service more soul-expanding 
 — until, unhappily, the good pastor felt himself called 
 upon, pursuant to the fashion of the times, to stoop, 
 drag forth from the grave, and hold up to the gaze 
 of his congregation' all that was most unsavory of 
 the dead millionaire. Could he not have alluded to 
 Stanford, Rockefeller, Armour, and the other living 
 worthies just as kindly without villifying the dead 
 Gould ? Was it so necessary to effect an odious 
 comparison as to justify — exaggeration? Was it 
 
2o8 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. ■ 
 
 not, in fact, a flagrantly intemperate and inexcusable 
 misuse of language to characterize Gould as a " cut- 
 throat "? 
 
 There is a hitherto unpublished story told of Gen- 
 eral Grant: that one day during his last illness, he 
 was observed to be deeply engrossed with some 
 problem. His pencil was kept in motion and his 
 pad gradually became covered with evidences of 
 calculation. At length he called his wife, and, with 
 unmistakable signs of gratification exhibited the 
 results of his figuring. It was an estimate of the 
 number of people outside his own family who would 
 be profited or be given errtployment by reason of 
 the issuing of his memoirs — publishers, printers, 
 binders, general agents, clerks, stenographers, can- 
 vassers, packers, etc. The thought that lucrative 
 employment would come to many through his own 
 painful labors gave him exquisite pleasure. 
 
 Judged from that standpoint. Jay Gould need not 
 have feared the summons of his Master to answer 
 for his stewardship in this world. On that line 
 where is the preacher, where the man, who can 
 point to a nobler record? And that is not all the 
 good that might be said of Gould. I knew him, and 
 I knew many who were closely associated with him. 
 None of these ever to my knowledge spoke harshly 
 of him. On the contrary, they said he was of kindly, 
 gentle heart, doing numberless good deeds without 
 blare of trumpet and unheralded by a brass band. 
 '" He grew rich, but he kept his means fully em- 
 
A CHARACTER ESTIMATE. jqo 
 
 ployed for the building up of the material interests I 
 oi his country. Seeing his sons following dutifully J 
 and ably in the path his example had marked out 
 with such beneficent results, what wonder that he ■ 
 tiiought the great fortune he was about to relinquish 
 would be, if left to them, more likely to be used for 
 the best interests of mankind than if left to some 
 insdtution, religious or otherwise, abounding or not, 
 as the case might be, with sinecures and fat sala- 
 ries? 
 
 [London Telegraph. ^ 
 
 Sib : — I see that Jay Gould is dead. I painted 
 him while I was in America, in 1883, and I have 
 been wondering if some notes on my knowledge of 
 him would be interesting now. 
 
 He declined to sit at first, but when a friend of 
 mine told him he had made a mistake in refusing to 
 sit to me, he said : " Oh ! what do you know about 
 him ?" When assured that I was a safe man he offered 
 to visit my studio and see this friend's portrait. He 
 spoke little at that visit, only really asking what the 
 portrait would cost, and how long it would take to 
 do. These questions being answered satisfactorily, 
 he said : " I guess I'll be done ;" and we arranged 
 the sitting's. 
 
 Fifteen minutes before the last sitting was over, 
 he said : " You have still a quarter of an hour, ac- 
 cording to our agreement. Shall you get done ?" 
 " Yes," I said (for I knew my man and took good " 
 care to be well ahead of time). He was satisfied 
 
 13 
 
2IO . LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 with the result, but I am sure he was more impressed 
 by my having been " on time " than by the artistic 
 value of the work. 
 
 During the sittings he conversed easily and 
 readily about his accomplished deeds. He was es- 
 pecially pleased to talk about his laying of two big 
 cables across the Atlantic : " Having got the topog- 
 raphy of the ocean bottom I laid them in a valley, 
 and not from point to point." He told me how he 
 arranged the whole transaction for the making of 
 this new cable in a couple of days by telegraph with 
 Siemens & Co., for, as he remarked, " I can't wait." 
 
 But Jay Gould probably never before or since my 
 sittings allowed himself to be looked at as I was 
 obliged to look at him for my painting ; for I had 
 him in strong light, while I was in shadow. This 
 order of position it was his study to reverse in life. 
 I saw painful expressions pass over his face as of 
 deep-seated troubles lingering in his mind, and it is 
 a fact that he never came to the sittings without a 
 detective following him. 
 
 He had a happy knack of thinking of methods for 
 bringing to justice people who tried to injure him, 
 which was well illustrated by an incident of which he 
 told me. Having received some letters threatening 
 his life and as these letters were always posted in 
 New York, he arranged to have all the pillar boxes 
 watched, and when a letter was dropped into one 
 of them it was taken out at once and examined. It 
 was in this way — a costly way, indeed — that he ran 
 to ground the person who wrate them. 
 
A CHARACTER ESTIMATE. 211 
 
 When others wondered where his power .ay, as 
 there was so Httle outwardly to indicate his great 
 abihty in certain directions, I felt the true index was 
 his fine fibre and sensible nerve structure. 
 
 Undoubtedly he was a student of human nature, 
 and based his operations on his judgment of men 
 more than on his judgment of events. 
 
 Hubert Herkomer. 
 
 Dyreham, Bushey, Herts, Dec. 3d. 
 
 [Interview in New York Herald.^ 
 
 " Mr. Gould's external appearance affords a fair 
 notion of his mental make-up. His face always 
 wears a contemplative expression. It is a fact that 
 he is thinking incessantly. His interests are so vast 
 and his schemes so complicated that his mind must 
 be bent upon them all the time. Mr. Gould's eyes 
 are seldom turned upon the face of a person with 
 whom he is talking. He will now and then cast a 
 glance at his questioner, but generally he is looking 
 in some other direction. This peculiarity of Mr. 
 Gould's is not because he is unable to look anybody 
 in the face, but because he is meditating while he is 
 conversing. He never lets his gaze rest on any 
 object more than a moment. If he did it would dis- 
 tract his thoughts. His hardest thinking is done 
 when his eyes are wandering off into space. 
 
 " Mr. Gould is a man of few words. To every 
 inquiry he responds in the briefest manner. If 
 'yes ' or ' no ' IS a sufficient answer, only the one 
 
212 
 
 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 word escapes him. It is remarkable how much he 
 can say in one or two of his terse sentences. He 
 speaks in a low and rather soft voice, without inflec- 
 tions or gestures. Unless he is the questioner, he 
 does not talk even for the sake of enliveningr a drag-- 
 ging conversation. When seated Mr. Gould invari- 
 ably throws one leg over the other and leans back 
 in the chair. When standing he likes to rest his 
 hand upon something. When at the 'ticker' read- 
 ing the quotations of the stock market, which the 
 machine prints on a paper tape, he generally sits on 
 the arm of a chair. As a rule he has something in 
 his hand, either a letter, a scrap of paper, or a pen- 
 cil, which he twirls almost incessantly, though not 
 nervously. He seems to be lost unless his hand is 
 occupied in this way. It is an unconscious occupa- 
 tion and merely represents the force of habit. 
 
 "In all his ways Mr. Gould is exceedingly plain 
 and quiet. Bluster, show, or an exhibition of im- 
 portance is wholly foreign to his nature. Perhaps 
 one reason for his great success is that people with 
 whom he has dealt have not accorded him the meas- 
 ure of his ability, and In consequence he has got the 
 best of transactions. The old saying applies to Mr. 
 Gould. He is smarter than a steel trap, and a steel 
 trap is supposed to lie low and say nothing." 
 
 [Memphis Appeal ] 
 
 "The intelligence of the death of Jay Gould was 
 bulletined here this morning, and there were gen- 
 eral expressions of regret from leading merchants 
 
A CHARACTER ESTIMATE. 213 
 
 and citizens. The people of Memphis have not for- 
 gotten that in 1879, when Memphis, after being 
 scourged with yellow fever in 1878, was again vis- 
 ited by an epidemic of the same disease, Mr. Gould, 
 hearing of the exhausted condition of the treasury 
 of the Howard Association of Memphis, sent by tel- 
 egraph $5,000, and authorized the association to 
 draw on him for as much more as was needed to 
 aid the association in its work of nursing the sick 
 and burying the dead. 
 
 "Mr. Gould came to Memphis on October 21st, 
 1886, and a public reception was tendered to him 
 on the floor of the Memphis Merchants' Exchange. 
 On the large blackboard of the Exchange was 
 written in chalk his memorable telegram, and as he 
 entered the room his eyes caught the few brief 
 words his generous nature had prompted him to 
 send, and which have ever since been held in 
 grateful remembrance." 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT. 
 
 MR. JAY GOULD had with him for eighteen 
 years, in the most confidential relations, a 
 remarkable man, G. P. Morosini, Esq., who kept his 
 accounts in wonderful order, and submitted them to 
 him in a style that was a combination of consum- 
 mate book-keeping and art. Mr. Gould received 
 from the hands of Morosini every first of January 
 a yearly history of his affairs in a volume bound in 
 morocco, and it had to be without blot or blemish, 
 clear as print, and a perfect record of the year's 
 business. There is a great deal of history in those 
 volumes, and they would be more interesting than 
 a romance. There was one account in them that 
 would perhaps command wider attention than any 
 other, and of it Morosini speaks in guarded general 
 terms. It seems that he and Mr. Gould did not 
 care to call all the money that was given away 
 charity. Therefore it was not a charity account that 
 was kept, but an account of " Beneficence." Mr. 
 Gould did not give in very small sums. He did not 
 trouble himself to give less than two hundred dollars. 
 "What is this, Mr. Gould?" Morosini would ask, "is 
 it a loan ?" " Yes, it is a loan," Gould would say, 
 214 
 
LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT. 2 I 5 
 
 "one that I shall not see ag-ain." It was recorded 
 as a " Beneficence." The last year that Morosini 
 kept the books was 1885, ^"^^ ^'^^ s^r" of Mr. Gould's 
 benefactions that year he says was $165,000, figures 
 that speak very handsomely for themselves. 
 
 That the benefaction account still was on and the 
 distribution is in good and generous hands this local 
 article from the New York Evening Advertiser, 
 December 27th, 1892, is testimony: 
 
 "Miss Helen Gould was the good Santa Claus to 
 the children in the Home for the Friendless yester- 
 day. She gave them a Christmas tree, a big turkey 
 dinner, toys and dolls by the hundred, with oranges 
 and candy besides. As a result the children were 
 in a delirium of happiness from long before daylight 
 until they were tucked into their little trundle beds 
 last night. 
 
 " Miss Gould announced some time ago to the 
 managers of the Home, which is at No. 29 East 
 Twenty-ninth Street, her desire to give a Christmas 
 tree and a Christmas dinner to the little ones in the 
 institution, and her offer was accepted and prepara- 
 tions were made accordingly. Dolls of all sizes, 
 complexions, shapes, and materials were bought for 
 the girls and any number of toy dishes, Noah's arks, 
 alphabet blocks, puzzles, and other toys were also 
 quietly smuggled into the Home. The walls of the 
 dining-rooms, nurseries, and chapel were decorated 
 with festoons of evergreen and wreaths of holly. 
 
 "On Sunday night all the children, not only in the 
 
2 I 6 LIFE OF JAY GO ULD. 
 
 nurseries, but in the hospitals, were told that Santa 
 Claus had sent word that he was coming to pay them 
 a visit, and for them to be sure to hany up their 
 stockines. The announcement created a furor. The 
 tots hung up so many stoclcings that the walls 
 around the stoves were actually covered with them, 
 and it was so late before they all got asleep that the 
 attendants under Matron Rudgers had hard work 
 to make the necessary preparations. 
 
 " The stockings were filled to overflowing, and a 
 Christmas tree was set up in the middle of one of 
 the nurseries. At exactly 4 a. m. the first little girl 
 woke up, and reaching out to her stocking on the 
 bed post, and finding a doll sticking out, with an 
 orange way down in the toe, she set up such a shout 
 of delight that all the rest of the children sat up in 
 bed in a jiffy, and then ran for their stockings too. 
 There was no more sleep in the Home after that. 
 
 " When breakfast was over the Christmas tree was 
 despoiled of its treasures, all the children were taken 
 to the chapel with their arms full of toys, and there 
 in the big warm hall, with the sunshine streaming 
 through the great windows, they romped until the 
 aroma of fricasseed turkey, coming from the kitchen, 
 called them to dinner. For a time toys were for- 
 gotten, and forming in separate lines, the boys and 
 girls marched to their five dining-rooms. 
 
 " Gravely, but with very bright eyes, the little ones 
 marched in, and after grace had been said there 
 arose a prodigious clatter of knives and forks and a 
 
LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT. 
 
 217 
 
 chatter of tongues, and the way that fricasseed 
 turkey and 'stufifin',' and those mashed potatoes 
 and j:jood wholesome bread and butter, and oranijes 
 and apples and candy disappeared would have testi- 
 fied eloquendy enough to the giv-er, had she been 
 there to see, that the good things were duly appre- 
 ciated. Finally the little ones gave up the battle, 
 and the turkeys, though frightfully disfigured, re- 
 mained the victors. 
 
 " After dinner the children went back to the nurse- 
 ries and danced around the Christmas tree, went 
 visiting with their dolls, 'marched the animals one 
 by one' into the arks, and played housekeeping 
 until bed-time came, and then, after a long and happy 
 day, thanks to their benefactress, their Christmas 
 celebration came to an end." 
 
 Last winter the Rev. Dr. John Paxton inadvert- 
 ently spoke of a meeting which had taken place in 
 Jay Gould's house, at which meeting Mr. Gould had 
 subscribed j^io.ooo for Church work. 
 
 The meeting '.vas that of the Committee of the 
 Presbytery of N'nv York on Church Extension and 
 Sustentadon. The meeting, it was said, was held 
 at Mr. Gould's house at the request of the commit- 
 tee, and nearly all the members — a hundred or more 
 — were present. It was held on the evening of Feb- 
 ruary 23d. Mrs. Gpulrl had been dead then more 
 tlian a year. Mr. Gould and his daughter Helen 
 received the guests, and his sons Edwin, George, 
 and Howard assisted in entertaining them. The 
 
 kiti. 
 
2 1 8 ^IP^ OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Paxton took the floor and made a short 
 speech for Mr. Gould, saying that Mr. Gould's 
 modesty prevented him from speaking for himself. 
 
 Mr. Paxton said that Mr. Gould had told him that 
 the Presbyterian Church was the best and truest re- 
 ligious organization in the country, and that its work 
 of Church extension was wise and hopeful for hu- 
 manity. Other clergymen made speeches, including 
 the Rev. Dr. John Hall and the Rev. Dr. George 
 Alexander. At the close of Dr. Alexander's speech, 
 Mr. Warner Van Norden, the treasurer of the com- 
 mittee, said that subscription cards would be dis- 
 tributed, and he hoped all would give liberally. He 
 announced that he had already received subscrip- 
 tions of $500, j^ioo, $1,000, and $2,500, one of 
 which, he said, was from Miss Gould. A few min- 
 utes later Mr. Van Norden spoke again, saying that 
 a number of $1,000 subscriptions had been handed 
 to him, and that the host, Mr. Gould, had subscribed 
 $10,000. 
 
 The unkindly comment on this incident was very 
 disao-reeable to Mr. Gould and his friends. 
 
 o 
 
 The Atlanta Constitution said of Mr. Gould, on 
 the eve of his death : 
 
 " The trouble with Mr. Gould was that he did not 
 make arrangements with the newspapers to herald 
 his deeds of benevolence, and the result was that no 
 one outside of his small circle of intimates and fam- 
 iliars knew the extent of them. He went about his 
 charities as he did about his business, silently and 
 
LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT. 2I9 
 
 shrewdJy. In this day, benevolence that hides itself 
 from the eyes of the quick-witted reporters is open 
 to the charge of eccentricity. 
 
 Jay Gould's will was filed for probate in the 
 surrogate's office December 12th. In an affidavit 
 accompanying it the total value of the estate is 
 estimated at $72,000,000 — $2,ooo,coo in real es- 
 tate and the remainder in personal property. The 
 collateral inheritance tax, which will go to the 
 State, will amount to about 5^700,000. If paid within 
 FIX months the law allows a rebate of five per cent, 
 or $35,000. Comptroller Myer's fees for collecting 
 the tax were about ^10,000. 
 
 T'ne names of the heirs and the estimated 
 amounts they will receive are : 
 
 George Gould about $15,600,000. Of this 
 $5,000,000 is a specific bequest in payment for his 
 services in managing his father's business. 
 
 Edwin Gould, $10,000,000, and the house where 
 he lives, valued at $60,000. 
 
 Helen Gould, $10,000,000, besides the family 
 residence on Fifth Avenue, the use for life of the 
 country house, and $6,000 a month for household 
 expenses. 
 
 Howard Gould, $10,000,000. 
 
 Anna Gould, $10,000,000. 
 
 Frank Gould, $10,000,000. 
 
 Jay Gould, son of George, $500,000. 
 
 Sarah Northrop, sister, $25,000 cash, a house 
 valued at $15,000, and a life annuity of $2,000. 
 
2 20 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 Anna G. Hough, sister, ^25,000, and a life an- 
 nuity of ^2,000, 
 
 Elizabetii Palen, sister, ^25,000, and a life annuity 
 of |2,OCO. 
 
 Abraham Gould, brother, $25,000, and a life an- 
 nuity of j^2,ooo. 
 
 The will is dated December 24th, 1885. There 
 are three codicils, the first made shortly after the 
 death of the testator's wife. The others were 
 added November 21st, 1892, only a few days before 
 Mr. Gould's death. Indications are that they were 
 prepared in a hurry. The will and the first codicil 
 evidently were drawn carefully by a clerk from some 
 rough draft. The last two codicils were written 
 roughly, and the signatures of Mr. Gould were 
 scrawly and almost illegible — very unlike his un- 
 varying, well-balanced autograph as attached to the 
 will itself 
 
 It is easy to imagine that on that day In Novem- 
 ber, Mr. Gould believed his end was close at hand 
 and sent post-haste for his lawyer. The disposition 
 of his entire estate had been made In the former 
 codicil, providing finally that the residuary estate be 
 divided between the sons and dauo-hters. But as a 
 farewell token to his kinsmen. It would seem, Mr. 
 Gould added first an annuity of $2,000 each for his 
 brother and three sisters, and then came the be- 
 quests to his little grandson and namesake and to 
 George and Helen. This codicil was signed and 
 sealed, and the witnesses were Mr. Dillon, the 
 
THE LAST WrLL AND TESTAMENT. 22I 
 
 (drawer; Dr, Munn, the family physician, and Mar- 
 garet Terry, a servant. 
 
 Later in the day it must have occurred to Mr. 
 Gould that he had omitted something, for the sec- 
 ond codicil was drawn leavinsf the contents of the 
 Fifth Avenue house to his daughter Helen, and giv- 
 \wg his son Edwin the house in Forty-seventh Street. 
 
 Mrs. Gould, brother-in-law Daniel S. Miller, and 
 Thomas T. Eckert were to have been among the 
 executors under the original will. The death of 
 Mfs. Gould changed the disposition of the estate 
 entirely. 
 
 The following is the text of the will and codicils 
 in full : 
 
 In the name of God, Amen : I, Jay Gould, of the 
 city and State of New York, do hereby make, pub- 
 lish, and declare this my last will and testament, in 
 manner and form following: 
 
 Fird. — I direct that all my just debts and funeral 
 expenses be paid as soon after my decease as can 
 conveniently be done. 
 
 Second. — I give and devise unto my wife, Helen 
 D. Gould, for and during her natural life, the dwell- 
 ing-house in which I now reside, known as 579 Fifth 
 Avenue, in the city of New York, and also my coun- 
 try place, commonly called Lyndhurst, situated at 
 Irvington in this State, with any additions I may 
 hereafter make thereto, together with all the here- 
 ditaments and appurtenances thereunto belonging. 
 
 And upon the death of my said wife I give and 
 
 &/„.< 
 
222 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 devise the said real estate to such and so many of 
 my children, and upon such terms as shall be ap- 
 pointed and determined by my said wife in and by 
 her last will and testament duly executed ; and in 
 the event of her death without having made such 
 testamentary appointment and determination, then 
 the said real estate shall go to and be divided among 
 my surviving children and the issue of any deceased 
 child, share and share alike, per stii-pes and not per 
 capita. 
 
 I also give and bequeath unto my said wife all the 
 household furniture, plate, printed books, pictures, 
 gnd other works of art, chattels, and effects (except- 
 ing, however, money, securities for money, evidences 
 of debt and of title and accounts and vouchers) 
 which shall be in my said houses or either of them 
 at my decease, together with my horses, carriages, 
 and carriage and stable appurtenances, and also all 
 the live stock, contents of conservatories, imple- 
 ments and articles in use on my said country place. 
 
 Third. — I also give and bequeath to my said wife 
 an annuity of $100,000 per annum during her natu- 
 ral life, to be computed from the date of my decease, 
 and paid to her in equal semi-annual, quarter-yearly, 
 or monthly payments thereafter, as she may elect; 
 and I order and direct that sufficient of my estate to 
 produce said annuity be set apart and at all times 
 kept safely invested for that purpose by my exec- 
 utors and trustees hereinafter named during the life 
 of my said wife.' 
 
THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT. 223 
 
 All taxes, assessments, and charges which may be 
 imposed upon the real estate devised to my wife for 
 her Hfe as aforesaid, together with the expense 
 of the necessary insurance thereupon, shall be a 
 charge upon my estate, and sufficient thereof shall - 
 be set apart and kept invested by my said executors 
 and trustees for that purpose. 
 
 Upon the death of my wife I direct that the prin- 
 cipal sum so set apart for her use in and by this 
 third paragraph of my will shall be divided among 
 my several children and their issue in such propor- 
 tions as my wife shall by her last will and testament 
 duly executed appoint and provide, and in the event 
 of her failure to make such testamentary appoint-^ 
 ment and provision I direct that the same be divided 
 among my children then surviving and to the issue 
 of such of my children as may then be dead in the 
 proportions provided in and by the statutes of this 
 State in cases of intestacy. 
 
 Fourth. — I give and devise to my sister, Mrs. 
 Sarah B. Northup, the three certain lots of ground 
 situated on Penn Street, in Camden, N. J., with the 
 buildinsfs now or hereafter to be erected thereon, to 
 have and to hold the same during her natural life, 
 and upon her decease I give and devise the same to 
 such of her daughters as shall then be living, share 
 and share alike. 
 
 I also give and bequeath to my said sister, Sarah, 
 the sum of $25,000 cash. 
 
 I also give and bequeath to my sisters, Mrs. Anna 
 
2 24 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 G. Houg-h and Mrs. Elizabeth Palen, and to my 
 brother, Abraham Gould, the sum of $25,000 
 each. 
 
 . Fifth. — I give, devise, and bequfeath all the rest, 
 residue, and remainder of my estate, real, personal, 
 and mixed, of every name and nature whatsoever 
 and wherever situate, of which I shall die seized 
 or possessed, or to which I may be entitled at the 
 time of my decease, unto my executrix and execu- 
 tors hereinafter named as trustees, the survivors and 
 survivor of them in trust for the uses and purposes 
 following — that is to say : 
 
 1. To hold or sell, convey or dispose of the same 
 at public or private sale, at such time or times and 
 on such terms as they or the survivor or survivors 
 of them in their or his or her discretion shall deem 
 advisable. 
 
 2. To divide said real and personal estate or the 
 proceeds thereof into seven equal parts or shares, 
 and to designate, hold, and invest one such part or 
 share for my said wife, and to collect and receive, 
 and pay or apply the rents, interest, and income of 
 the part or share so set apart for my said wife to her 
 for her use during her natural life, and upon her death 
 to pay, assign, transfer, and convey the part or share 
 so held in trust for her to such persons and in such 
 proportions as she shall appoint and direct in and 
 by her last will and testament; and in case of her 
 failure to make such testamentary appointment, then 
 to my children then surviving and to the issue of 
 
RUSSELL SAGE. 
 
THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT. 
 
 227 
 
 any deceased child, share and share alike, per stirpes 
 and not per capita. 
 
 3. To designate, hold, and invest one other such 
 share for each of my children, George J. Gould, Ed- 
 win Gould, Howard Gould, Frank Gould, Helen M. 
 Gould, and Anna Gould, and to collect and receive 
 and pay or apply the rents, interest, and income 
 from the part or share so set apart for each child to 
 his or her use during his or her life; and upon the 
 death of any such children to pay, assign, transfer, 
 or convey the part or share so held in trust for him 
 or her to his or her issue in such proportions and at 
 such times as he or she shall appoint in and by his 
 or her last will and testament ; and in case of failure 
 to make such testamentary appointment, then to 
 such issue absolutely in the proportions provided in 
 and by the statutes of this State in cases of in- 
 testacy. 
 
 4. In the event that any of my children shall die 
 without issue, then to pay, assign, transfer, and con- 
 vey the part or share of the one so dying to my sur- 
 viving children and to the issue of any deceased 
 child, share and share alike, per stirpes and not per 
 cafnta. 
 
 Sixth. — I direct that all securities in which said 
 trust funds shall from time to time be invested be 
 taken and held by said trustees to their name as 
 trustees for the parties respectively for whose 
 benefit the funds are severally set apart and held, 
 so that each of the trust funds herein provided for 
 
 16 
 
228 LIFE OF JAY COULD. 
 
 shall be kept separate and distinct from the others, 
 and the accounts thereof shall be separately kept ; 
 and I authorize and direct my said executrix and 
 executors and trustees to employ and pay out 
 of the funds of my estate all'the clerks and book- 
 keepers that may be necessary for this purpose. 
 
 Seventh. — I direct that no deduction shall be made 
 from any of the legacies herein contained by reason 
 of any gifts or advancements I have heretofore 
 made or may hereafter make to or for the account 
 of either or any of them. 
 
 Eighth. — The provision hereinbefore made for 
 my wife is to be in lieu of all right of dower in my 
 estate. 
 
 Ninth. — I authorize and empower my executrix 
 and executors and trustees hereinafter named, and 
 the survivors or survivor of them, to sell and dis- 
 pose of all or any of the real estate devised to them 
 by me in their discretion, at public or private sale, 
 at such times and on such terms and conditions as 
 they, the survivors or survivor of them, shall deem 
 meet or proper, and to execute, acknowledge, and 
 deliver all proper writings, deeds of conveyance, 
 and transfers therefor. 
 
 Tenth. — I hereby direct that all stocks, bonds, and 
 other securities belonging to me at my decease 
 shall form part of the trusts created by this my will, 
 at such values as shall be placed upon them by said 
 executrix and executors and trustees ; but 1 hereby 
 authorize them, the survivors and survivor of them, 
 
THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT. 320 
 
 to sell and dispose of the same, or any of them, 
 whenever in their discretion they think proper. 
 
 And I expressly direct that my executrix and ex- 
 ecutors and trustees, the survivors or survivor of 
 them, are not to be held responsible or liable for or 
 charged with any loss or depreciation that may 
 arise by holding such securities, or any securities 
 forming part of the trust created hereby ; and I 
 hereby empower them, the survivors or survivor of 
 them, to make such investments and reinvestments 
 of the trust moneys in securities other than those in 
 which trustees are authorized to invest by law, in 
 the absence of testamentary direction, as they may 
 think proper ; and I further authorize and empower 
 them, the survivors and survivor of them, to call in, 
 change, invest, and reinvest the said securities and 
 investments and proceeds thereof whenever and as 
 often as they may deem necessary. 
 
 In the event of any differences of opinion among 
 my executrix and executors and trustees as to the 
 holding and retaining- of securities or investments, 
 or as to the calling in or making investments and 
 reinvestments and management of the estate and 
 of the trusts therein created, I direct that so long as 
 they shall be five in number the decision of four of 
 them shall be conclusive , and when and so long as 
 their number shall be reduced to four, that then the 
 decision of three of them shall in like manner be 
 conclusive. 
 
 Eleventh. — I nominate, constitute, and appoint my 
 
230 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 wife, Helen D. Gould; my brother-in-law, Daniel S. 
 Miller ; my son, George J. Gould; my friend, Thomas 
 T. Eckert, and my second son, Edwin Gould, when 
 he shall have reached the age of twenty-one years, 
 executrix and executors of and trustees under this 
 my last will and testament ; provided, however — 
 and the appointment of trustees in this my will is 
 subject to this exception — that neither of the persons 
 herein named as trustees shall be trustee of the 
 fund, share, or portion hereinbefore directed to be 
 set apart and to be held for him or her or for his 
 or her benefit ; but as to such fund in the case of 
 each of the beneficiaries who is also made a trustee 
 herein, the trust shall vest in and be executed by 
 the others of the trustees herein named and the sur- 
 vivors and survivor of them. 
 
 Twelfth. — I further direct that in case any vacancy 
 shall happen in the number of my executors and 
 trustees above named by death or otherwise, if such 
 vacancy shall happen during the lifetime of my wife, 
 that the same shall be filled by the appointment of 
 whichever of my two sons, Howard Gould and 
 Frank Gould, my wife shall designate in writing 
 over her hand and seal, and upon such designation 
 I appoint such son, provided he shall have arrived 
 at the age of twenty-one years, one of my executors 
 and trustees as aforesaid. 
 
 And in the event that my said wife shall not be 
 living at the time such vacancy occurs, I direct that 
 such vacancy shall be filled by the appointment of 
 
THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT. 
 
 231 
 
 ffk-o ^ n) cLe-<me tn<vf oil imj m<j^ (ieioa o^ui nutetafc 
 
 7:^ -^ -Cr <^"<^ ik ^ i^ 
 
 trtu -M^j/m/e; cm^ *«l -in/ti. d^ov fe/tw fctmtlu. piTuAiA 
 
2-12 LIFE OF JAY COULD. 
 
 my third son, Howard Gould, and upon that con- 
 tingency when he shall arrive at the age of twenty- 
 one years I hereby nominate and appoint him one 
 of my executors and trustees as aforesaid. 
 
 And in the event another vacancy shall happen 
 in the number of my executors and trustees as 
 aforesaid, if such vacancy shall occur during the life- 
 time of my wife, I direct that my other son, who 
 shall not theretofore have been designated and quali- 
 fied as executor and trustee, shall be and I hereby 
 nominate and appoint him executor and trustee as 
 aforesaid when he shall have arrived at the age of 
 twenty-one years, if she shall so elect and designate' 
 in writing over her hand and seal. 
 
 Thirteenth. — I desire and direct that in lieu of the 
 commissions provided by statute to be paid to exe- 
 cutors and trustees, there shall be paid to my said ex- 
 ecutrix and executors and trustees for their services 
 the sum of $10,000 per annum each so long as they 
 shall respectively act in the capacities aforesaid ; pro- 
 vided, however, and said appointments of said ex- 
 ecutrix, executors, and trustees are subject to the 
 further condition, that no commission or compensa- 
 tion shall be charged by or allowed to any of them 
 for their services as executrix, executors, and trustees 
 other than as above provided ; and If either shall de- 
 cline to serve on said condition, his or her appoint- 
 ment as executrix or executor and trustee shall cease 
 and terminate. 
 
 Fourteenth. — Should any of the provisions or di-" 
 
THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT. 
 
 233 
 
 rections of this will fail or be held ineffectual or 
 invalid for any reason, it is ,niy will that no other 
 portion or provision of this will be invalidated, im- 
 paired, or affected thereby, but this will be construed 
 as if such invalid provision or direction had not 
 been herein contained. 
 
 Fifteenth. — I hereby revoke all former or other 
 wills and testamentary dispositions by me at any 
 time heretofore made. 
 
 In Witness Whereof, I, Jay Gould, have to this, 
 my last will and testament, subscribed my name and 
 set my seal, this 24th day of December, 1885. 
 
 Subscribed, sealed, published, and declared by 
 Jay Gould to be his last will and testament in our 
 presence and to us, who at the same time at his re- 
 quest, in his presence and in the presence of each 
 other, have hereto, at the end of such will and testa- 
 ment signed our names as attesting witnesses this 
 24th day of December, one thousand eight hundred 
 and eighty-five. (Signed) 
 
 Almon Goodwin, residing at No. 1 28 West Fifty- 
 ninth Street, New York. 
 
 Henry Thompson, residing at No. 244 East Eighty- 
 sixth Street, New York. 
 
 Herman W. Vander Poel, residing at No. 36 West 
 Thirty-ninth Street, New York city. 
 
234 L^P^ OF JAY GOULD 
 
 THE CODICILS. 
 
 I, Jay Gould, of the city and State of New York, 
 having on the 24th day of December, A. D. 1885, 
 subscribed, sealed, published, and declared my last 
 will and testament, hereto annexed, do now hereby 
 make, publish, and declare the following codicil 
 thereto, to be taken as a part of the same, that is to 
 say: 
 
 First. — My wife, Helen D. Gould, having died 
 since the making of said will, I give, bequeath, and 
 devise unto my executors and trustees hereinafter 
 named, all of the property, real and personal, men- 
 tioned, described, or referred to in articles second 
 and third of my said will, to hold in trust for the 
 uses and purposes in the said will and in this codicil 
 expressed and declared, and the same shall be 
 considered and treated in, all respects as if the same 
 had originally fallen within the terms of article 
 fifth of my said will and had been part of the, 
 property, real, personal, and mixed, given, devised, 
 and bequeathed by the said fifth article of my said 
 will to my executors and trustees upon the trusts 
 therein created, expressed, and declared, subject, 
 however, to the following proviso, qualification, and 
 exception, viz. : 
 
 That any of my household furniture, plate, printed 
 books, pictures, works of art, household or stable 
 effects may by my executors and trustees be set 
 apart for, divided among, and delivered absolutely 
 to my said children free from the trusts of my said 
 
THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT, 
 
 235 
 
 will, an equal amount thereof in value, as near as 
 may be, to each child. 
 
 After satisfying the dispositions made above and 
 the bequests contained in the fourth article of my 
 said will, I direct that all of my residuary estate, real, 
 personal, and mixed, of whatever nature and wher- 
 ever situate, be held upon the trusts created, ex- 
 pressed, and declared in my said will and in this 
 codicil, but the fifth article of said will is hereby 
 modified so as to require the said estate to be di- 
 vided into six (6) equal parts or shares instead of 
 seven (7), one of which parts or shares is to be 
 held, designated, and invested for each of my chil- 
 dren as in said will, and jn this codicil expressed and 
 provided. And the said shares and the accounts 
 and transactions pertaining thereto shall at all times 
 be kept entirely separate and distinct, and shall 
 never be mixed or mingled. 
 
 Second. — In the place of the executrix, executors, 
 and trustees named in the eleventh article of my 
 said will, I do hereby nominate, constitute, and ap- 
 point my brother-in-law, Daniel S. Miller ; my sons, 
 George J. Gould and Edwin Gould, and my daugh- 
 ter, Helen M. Gould, and my son, Howard Gould, 
 when he shall have reached the age of twenty-one 
 years, the executors and trustees under my said 
 will and this codicil thereto. 
 
 In case any vacancy shall happen in the number 
 of said executors and trustees above named by death 
 or otherwise^ I appoint my son, Frank Gould, to be 
 
236 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 execui-or and trustee to fill such vacancy when he 
 shall have reached the age of twenty-one years ; and 
 in case any other vacancy shall happen by death or 
 otherwise, I appoint my daughter, Anna Gould, to 
 be executor and trustee to fill such vacancy when 
 she shall have reached the age of twenty-one years. 
 
 Third. — I direct that no bond or undertaking shall 
 be required of my said executors and trustees, as a 
 condition of qualifying and acting as such under my 
 said will and this codicil. 
 
 Fourth. — That there be added to the tenth article 
 of my said will the following : if at any time the 
 number of my executors and trustees shall be re- 
 duced to less than four, the decision of a majority of 
 them shall be conclusive. 
 
 In addition to the powers which one or more co- 
 executors may lawfully exercise without the concur- 
 rence of all, I especially direct and provide that 
 deeds, sales, contracts, conveyances, and other 
 instruments, executed by a majority of the execu- 
 tors and trustees shall in all cases be as bind- 
 ing in favor of third persons acquiring property or 
 rights thereunder as if they were executed by all of 
 the executors and trustees. 
 
 Any one or more of the said executors and trustees 
 may authorize by instrument in writing, duly exe- 
 cuted and acknowledged, any co-executor and trustee 
 to act in his or her or their place and to execute in 
 his, her, or their name any instruments which he, she, 
 or they might personally have executed. 
 
THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT. 237 
 
 In no case shall any purchaser of property from 
 the executor and trustees or other persons dealing 
 with the said executors and trustees be bound to see 
 to the application of the purchase-money or other 
 property or funds under the trusts of my said will. 
 
 Fifth. — The beneficial interest of each of my 
 daughters in the trust property and in the trusts 
 hereby created is hereby declared to be for her sole 
 and separate use, entirely free from any right, 
 estate, or control of her husband, and her separate 
 receipt and acquittances shall be sufficient without 
 the assent or joinder of her husband. 
 
 No beneficiary under my said will and this codicil 
 shall have any power to dispose of or in any way 
 incumber or charge by way of anticipation or other- 
 wise the rents, interest, and income from the part 
 or share set apart for his or her benefit, or to dis- 
 pose of, charge, or incumber the part or share itself 
 or his or her interest therein or in any part thereof, 
 nor shall the same or the income thereof or any 
 beneficial interest therein or right thereto be liable 
 or charo-eable in the hands of the executors and 
 trustees for any debt or liability of such beneficiary, 
 nor shall the same at any time so liable or charge- 
 able prior to the actual receipt thereof by such 
 beneficiary from the executors and trustees under 
 and pursuant to the terms and provisions of the 
 trusts created and declared in that behalf in my 
 said will and this codicil thereto. 
 
 Sixth. — Except as herein modified, my said will 
 
238 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 and all of the provisions thereof remain in full force 
 and unaffected, and the said will is hereby ratified 
 and confirmed in every respect except so far as the 
 same is inconsistent with this codicil. 
 
 In Witness Whereof, I, Jay Gould, have to the 
 foregoing codicil to my last will and testament sub- 
 scribed my name and set my seal, this 1 6th day 
 of February, 1889. 
 
 Subscribed, sealed, published, and declared by 
 Jay Gould, the testator, to be his last will and testa- 
 ment and codicil thereto in our presence and to us 
 who, at the same time, at his request and in the 
 presence of each other and of said testator, have 
 hereto at the end of such will and testament and 
 codicil 'thereto signed our names as attesting wit- 
 nesses, this 16th day of February, 1889. 
 
 (Signed) 
 
 John F. Dillon, residing at No. 671 Madison Ave- 
 nue, New York. 
 
 WiNSLOw S. Pierce, residing at No. 208 Lefiferts 
 Place, Brooklyn, N. Y. 
 
 George S. Clay, residing at No. 161 Monroe Street, 
 Brooklyn, N. Y. 
 
 I, Jay Gould, of the city and State of New York, 
 having on the 24th day of December, 1885, sub- 
 
THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT. 239 
 
 scribed, sealed, published, and declared mj'' last will 
 and testament, hereto annexed, and also a codicil 
 thereto on the i6th day of February, 1889, hereto 
 annexed, do now hereby make, publish, and declare 
 the following additional codicil thereto, to be taken 
 as a part of the said former will and codicil, that is 
 to say : 
 
 First. — To my sisters, Mrs. Sarah B. Northrup, 
 Mrs. Anna G. Hough, and Mrs. Elizabeth Palen, 
 and to my brother, Abraham Gould, each, and in 
 additicxn to the bequests in my said will, I give and 
 bequeath the further sum of two thousand dollars 
 (;^2,ooo) annually during the term of their respective 
 natural lives, payable in equal quarterly payments 
 by my executors and trustees ; and I direct my said 
 executors and trustees to set apart from my estate 
 devised to tliem in trust, bonds, in separate trusts 
 for each, the interests of which shall be sufficient to 
 pay the said respective bequests to my said sisters 
 and brother, which said bonds shall, on the death of 
 said legatees respectively, fall into the residuary es- 
 tate from which they were taken. 
 
 Second. — To my son George J. Gould I give and 
 bequeath the sum of five hundred thousand dollars 
 ($500,000), in trust, however, for the use and benefit 
 of my namesake. Jay Gould, son of the said George J. 
 Gould. Said George J. Gould, trustee, may apply the 
 same, in his discretion, to the support and education of 
 my said grandson during his minority, and when the 
 said grandson shall attain the age of twenty-five 
 
2AO LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 (25) years the said trustee shall pay over to him 
 one-fourth of the said bequest, and when he shall 
 attain the age of thirty (30) years another fourth, 
 and when he shall attain the age of thirty-five (35) 
 years the remaining half thereof ; but subject to the 
 power in the said trustee to pay over the same, or 
 any proportion thereof, at an earlier period or peri- 
 ods after my said grandson shall attain his majority, 
 if in the judgment of the said George J. Gould he 
 deems it wise and best to do so. 
 
 Third. — To my daughter Helen M. Gould I give 
 and devise in fee simple absolute my house No. 579 
 Fifth Avenue, New York city. 
 
 Until my youngest child arrives at the age of 
 twenty-one (21) years, I give to my said daughter 
 Helen M. the use of my residence at Irvington, 
 commonly called Lyndhurst, free of taxes, also the 
 use of all horses and carriages, and also the use of 
 all the furniture, books, paintings, and household 
 contents in said house No. 579 Fifth Avenue, and 
 said house called Lyndhurst; and until my youngest 
 child arrives at the age of twenty-one years, I give 
 and bequeath to my said daughter Helen M. the 
 sum of $6,000 per month, to be paid to her by my 
 executors and trustees, commencinof at the time of 
 my decease. 
 
 While I declare no trust in this regfard, this 
 payment is directed in the expectation that my 
 minor children, Anna and Frank J., as well as 
 my son Howard, will, during the period above pro- 
 
THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT. 
 
 241 
 
 vided for make their home with my said daughter 
 Helen. 
 
 Fourth. — I give and bequeath to my daughter 
 Helen M. Gould, the portrait of myself by Herko- 
 mer, which is in my house No. 579 Fifth Avenue, 
 New York city. 
 
 Fifth. — I hereby appoint my son, George J. Gould/ 
 and my daughter, Helen M. Gould, the guardians of 
 my minor children, to wit, Anna Gould and Frank 
 J. Gould, during their minority, no bonds to be re- 
 quired. 
 
 Sixth. — In the place of the persons named as 
 executrix, executors, and trustees in the second 
 article of the first codicil to my will I hereby nominate, 
 constitute, and appoint as executors and trustees of 
 my said will my sons George J. Gould, Edwin Gould, 
 and Howard Gould, and my daughter Helen M. 
 Gould ; the other provisions in the said second 
 article of said codicil to remain in full force. 
 
 Seventh. — I hereby declare and provide that if any 
 of my children shall marry without my consent 
 during my lifetime, or thereafter without the con- 
 sent of a majority of the then executors and trustees 
 under this will then and in that event the share 
 allotted to the child so marrying in and by said will 
 and codicil shall be reduced one-half, and the princi- 
 pal of the other half of the said share shall be paid, 
 assigned, transferred, or set over to such persons as 
 under the laws of the State of New York would 
 take the same if I had died intestate. 
 
 Hk-*' 
 
242 LIFE OF JA Y GOULD. - 
 
 Eighth — My beloved son, George J. Gould, having 
 developed a remarkable business ability, and having 
 for twelve years devoted himself entirely to my bus- 
 iness, and during the past five years taken entire 
 charge of all my difificult interests, I hereby fix the 
 value of his said services at five millions of dollars 
 (^5,000,000), payable as follows: 
 
 Five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) in cash, 
 less the amounts advanced by me for the purchase ofa 
 house for him on Fifth Avenue, New York city, and 
 such amount as I shall hereafter advance to purchase 
 stables; five hundred thousand dollars ,(5^500,000) 
 in Missouri Pacific Railway Company six (6) per 
 cent, consolidated morteao-e bonds ; five hundred 
 thousand dollars ($500,000) in St. Louis Iron .Moun- 
 tain and Southern Railway Company consolidated five 
 (5) per cent, bonds; five hundred thousand dollars 
 ($500,000) in Missouri Pacific Railway Company 
 trust five (5) per cent, bonds ; ten thousand (10 000) 
 shares of the stock of the Manhattan Elevated Rail- 
 way Company ; ten thousand (10,000) shares thestock 
 of the Western Union Telegraph Company, and ten 
 thousand (lo.ODo) shares of the stock of the Missouri 
 Pacific Railway Company — all the foregoing bonds 
 and stocks to be treated as worth par; and the 
 receipt of the said George J. Gould in full for the 
 said services and all other services down to the 
 time of my death, not otherwise paid for by me 
 during my lifetime, unless I shall hereafter by a 
 different testamentary provision provide, shall be 
 
CORNELIUS VANDERBILT. 
 
THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT. „ „ 
 
 all the voucher required by my executors and 
 trustees. 
 
 Ninth. — The better to protect and conserve the 
 values of my properties, it is my desire, and I so 
 direct and provide, that the shares of any railways 
 and other incorporated companies at any time held 
 by my executors and trustees, or my said trustees, 
 shall always be voted by them or by their proxies 
 at all corporate meetings as a unit; and in -case my 
 said executors and trustees, or my said trustees, do 
 not concur as to how said stock shall be voted, then, 
 in view of the fact that my son George J. Gould has 
 for years had the management of said properties, 
 and is familiar therewith, and with other like prop- 
 erties, I direct and provide that in such event his judg- 
 ment shall control, and he is hereby authorized and 
 empowered to vote the said shares in person or by 
 proxy in such manner as his judgment shall dictate. 
 
 Tenth. — Except as herein modified, my said will 
 and the first codicil thereto and all the provisions 
 thereof shall remain in full force and unaffected, and 
 said will and said codicil are hereby ratified and con- 
 firmed in every respect, except so far as the same 
 are inconsistent with this codicil. 
 
 In Witness Whereof, I, Jay Gould, have to the 
 foregoing codicil to my last will and testament sub- 
 scribed my name and set my seal, this 21st day of 
 November, 1892, 
 
 15 
 
 mA > 
 
t 
 
 246 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 Subscribed, sealed, published, and declared by the 
 said Jay Gould, the testator, to be his last will and 
 testament and codicil thereto, in our presence, and 
 to us, who, at the same time, at his request, and in 
 the presence of each other and of said testator, have 
 hereto, at the end of such will and testament and 
 codicil thereto, signed our names as attesting wit- 
 nesses this 2ist day of November, 1892. 
 
 John F. Dillon, residing at No,67i Madison Avenue, 
 
 New York city. 
 John P. Munn, residing at No. 18 West Fifty-eighth 
 
 Street, New York, N. Y, 
 Margaret Terry, No. 15 Tompkins Place, Brooklyn. 
 
 I, Jay Gould, do now make, publish,and declare the 
 following additional codicil to my last will and tes- 
 tament, to wit : 
 
 Fir^t. — I give and bequeath to my beloved daugh- 
 ter, Helen M. Gould, absolutely all of the furniture, 
 books, paintings, statuary, silver, plate, and house- 
 hold contents in my house No. 579 Fifth Avenue, 
 New York city, and I modify and change the third 
 article of the foregoing second codicil to my will ac- 
 cordingly ; all of the rest of said will and codicils to 
 stand except as thus modified. 
 
 Second. — I give and devise to my beloved son, 
 Edwin Gould, in fee simple absolute the house and 
 lot in the city of New York in which he now resides, 
 numbered No. one (i) East Forty-seventh Street, 
 
THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT. 247 
 
 together with all of the furniture and household 
 effects therein belonging to me. 
 
 Third. — I reaffirm my will and the codicils thereto 
 in every respect except as modified and changed by 
 this third codicil. 
 
 In Witness Whereof, I, Jay Gould, have to the 
 foregoing codicil to my last will and testament sub- 
 scribed my name and set my seal this the 21st day 
 of November, A. D. 1892. 
 
 Subscribed, sealed, and published and declared by 
 the said Jay Gould, the testator, to be his last will 
 and testament and codicil thereto, in our presence 
 and to us, who, at the same time, at his request and 
 in the presence of each other and of the said testator 
 have hereto, at the end of such will and testament 
 and codicil thereto, signed our names as attesting 
 witnesses this the 21st day of November, A. D. 
 i"892. 
 
 John F. Dillon,' of No. 671 Madison Avenue, New 
 
 York. 
 John P. Munn, residing at No. 18 West Fifty-eighth 
 
 Street, New York, N. Y. 
 Margaret Terry, No. 15 Tompkins Place, Brooklyn, 
 
2^g LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 Mr. Gould's will is remarkable as a legal structure, 
 and while it has been sharply criticised there is no 
 question that it is characteristic of his sagacity, his 
 family affection, his self-respect, and his serene 
 silence in the matters that concerned his personal 
 relations with the public. First he gives due recog- 
 nition to the services of his oldest son, but he does not 
 place his younger sons in a dependent or inferior 
 position. He does not seek to evade the public policy 
 of the country, and conform to the laws of primo- 
 geniture for the conservation of great estates as in 
 England. He gives the oldest son a few millions 
 for that which he has accomplished, but after that 
 the younger sons and the beloved daughters share 
 and share alike. The sons and the daughter who 
 have reached the age of full responsibility are formed 
 into a family council with power to enforce respect 
 but not to make disobedience synonymous with im- 
 poverishment. Those who do not heed the admoni- 
 tion of the loving consideration of brothers and sisters, 
 suffer losses, but are not disinherited or outlawed. 
 It was reasonable judgment that the admonition 
 would be sufficient. Mr. George Gould had earned 
 the special mention he received, and the desig- 
 nation of beloved son. He, as the head of the 
 family, was not exalted that others might be humil- 
 iated, but in his hands were placed trusts that 
 years of experience had proved he was competent to 
 administer. In the last resort, in cases of differences 
 of opinion, the decision of the oldest son is to be 
 
THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT. 340 
 
 conclusive. Authority must be fixed somewhere. 
 In private affairs tliere must ultimately be a despot- 
 ism. A perfect democracy would result in perma- 
 nent division and possible dissension. 
 
 The family sentiment is clear in the touching be- 
 quest to Miss Helen Gould, who is to have an ample 
 income to keep house until the children attain their 
 majority. The home is to stand the castle of the 
 family, and the younger children to be in the care of 
 the elder sister, who has been to them as a sisterly 
 mother since the mother herself was called away. 
 This arrangement is the most solemn testimony of 
 Mr. Gould's tender and loving family sentiments, and 
 the cool, prescient judgment that his antagonists 
 dreaded, but never denied. It is said he gave 
 no great charitable bequests, and failed in his duty 
 in that respect. His justification is found in his ex- 
 perience in giving ^10,000 to charity in the church 
 of which his wife and daughters were members. He 
 found those he desired to help embarrassed by 
 uncharitable commentary upon the bounty he be- 
 stowed. It was the better way, he thought, to 
 leave to his children the works of benevolence that 
 were not allowed him without reflections upon his 
 motives and actions as to the origin of his means 
 that would have discredited him if the public as well 
 as himself had not regarded them as inapplicable. 
 He was sure his daughter Helen had continued the 
 benefactions that his gentle wife knew so well how to 
 administer. There could have been no happier 
 
2CQ LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 solution of the problem of the indebtedness of the 
 rich man to the poor consistent with the mainte- 
 nance of his, great fortune as the inheritance of his 
 children. 
 
 It is in evidence from the lips of those most inti- 
 mately associated with Mr, Gould that what he did 
 in the case of the yellow fever plague in Memphis 
 was an illustration of his method. " I will," said he, 
 " give $5,000 to the help of the people at once, and 
 as much more " — he was speaking to General Eckert 
 — "when it is wanted, if you will fix it so that my 
 name shall not appear in the transaction." He 
 did give much more, and was remembered for it 
 by a grateful community when he died, for after 
 all the secret was not well kept. On one of his 
 yacht trips he stopped at Mt. Vernon and heard the 
 ladies having in charge the home and tomb of 
 Washington were disturbed because there was a 
 purpose to purchase land for sale in the neighbor- 
 hood, and establish a saloon. Mr. Gould bought 
 the land and gave it to the ladies, and is held by 
 them in grateful remembrance. No one has a right 
 to reproach his memory for lack of charity. 
 
 In spite of Jay Gould's many millions, he was 
 down on the tax lists for very modest amounts. He 
 seems to have had as much ability in keeping down 
 his taxes as in piling up his millions. Despite his 
 immense accumulations he paid taxes on only $500,- 
 000 in personal property. The real estate in New 
 York city on which he paid directly was confined to 
 
THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT. , 2^1 
 
 the Grand Opera House, of which he was the owner, 
 and to his home on Fifth Avenue. At one time he 
 also paid the taxes on his son's home on East Forty- 
 seventh Street, but after that formally passed out 
 of his possession he was, of course, relieved from 
 paying any further taxes on that property. 
 
 Notwithstanding the very conservative estimate 
 placed upon the value of his personal holdings, Mr, 
 Gould tried a few years ago to escape paying any 
 personal taxes at all in this city. He urged the 
 plea of outside residence, and because he paid per- 
 sonal taxes in Westchester County on his belong- 
 ings at his country home at Irvington insisted that 
 he was being unfairly treated in being compelled to 
 pay on ^500,000 of personal property in New York 
 city. He did not press the matter, however, and 
 continued to allow his personal property to be placed 
 on the tax list at $500,000. 
 
 The Commissioner of the Tax Department has 
 said that it was impossible to tell just what Mr. 
 Gould's holdings in real estate in New York really 
 amounted to. 
 
 " Real estate," the Commissioner explained, " is 
 entered on the books of the tax department by 
 number only. The only way to get any idea there 
 as to the ownership of a piece of property is to see 
 who paid the taxes on it. According to this test the 
 real estate on which Mr. Gould paid taxes in New 
 York is confined to his residence. The Manhattan 
 Railroad Company and the Western Union Tele- 
 
2r2 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 graph Company are large holders of real estate, 
 but the companies pay .their own taxes, of course, 
 and the only place Mr. Gould's name appears on 
 the tax department books is in relation to his resi- 
 dence, and the admitted ^500,000 of personal 
 property." 
 
 The peculiarity of the matter is that Mr. Gould 
 was never really in business in New York city. His 
 wealth was very largely in stocks that had no par- 
 ticular value by themselves and that were not even 
 on the market. He made his money by taking hold 
 of almost bankrupt companies, getting control of 
 the common stock that had no particular value be- 
 yond its voting power, and then by manipulating 
 things to his own interest. 
 
 Besides, his various railroad stocks, like the Union 
 Pacific, Wabash, Texas, and Kansas Pacific, were 
 not assessable. The bonds that were assessable 
 were generally those of roads that had been reor- 
 ganized and reorganized till any estimate of value 
 became a pure matter of guesswork. 
 
 Twenty-five thousand dollars a year is said to be 
 an ample estimate for the entire amount of annual, 
 taxes Mr. Gould paid on his variously estimated 
 millions. 
 
 Under the laws of 1892 property bequeathed to 
 Mr. Gould's children was liable to a tax of one per 
 cent. Section 2 of chapter 399 says : 
 
 "When the property or any beneficial interest 
 therein passes, by any such transfer, to or for the 
 
THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT. 253 
 
 use of any father, mother, husband, wife, child, 
 brother, sister, wife or widow of a son, or the hus- 
 band of a daughter, or any child or children adopted 
 as such in conformity with the laws of this State, or 
 to any person to whom any such decedent grantor, 
 donor, or vendor for not less than ten years prior 
 to such transfer stood in the mutally-acknowledged 
 relation of a parent, or to any lineal descendant of 
 such decedent grantor, donor, or vendor born in law- 
 ful wedlock, such transfer shall not be taxable under 
 this act unless it is personal property to the value 
 of ^10,000 or more, in which case it shall be taxable 
 under this act at the rate of one per centum upon 
 the clear market value of such property." 
 
 The next section makes the tax a lien upon the 
 property until it is paid. The tax is to be collected 
 by the Controller of the county. Payment within 
 six months gives a discount of 5 per cent. ; if it is 
 not made in eighteen months a penalty of 10 per 
 cent, is provided. The Controller's fee is 5 per 
 cent, on the first $50,000 of the tax, 3 per cent, on 
 the second $50,000, and i per cent, on the rest. 
 The balance of the tax is to be paid into the State 
 Treasury. 
 
 A tax of I per cent, on the estate yielded about 
 $720,000. The Controller accordingly would re- 
 ceive a fee of about $10,000. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 MR. Gould's colaborers. 
 
 NATURALLY the fellow-workers in the same 
 field with a man of gigantic undertakings 
 and colossal successes are subjects of no small 
 interest on the part of the people. With Mr. 
 Gould in his meteoric career have been associated 
 some brilliant men of affairs. This chapter will give 
 sketches of their lives and connections with Mr. 
 Gould. 
 
 DR. NORVIN GREEN. 
 
 Dr. Norvin Green, a distinguished citizen of New 
 York, and President of the Western Union Tele- 
 graph Company, was born April 17th, 18 18, on the 
 northern bank of the Ohio River, where the flour- 
 ishing manufacturing city of New Albany, Indiana, 
 now stands, opposite the lower part of the city of 
 Louisville, Ky. His father, Joseph Green, was born 
 in Kentucky, near Louisville in 1799, was a volun- 
 teer in the War of 181 2, and fought under Jackson 
 at the battle of New Orleans on January 8th, 1815." 
 After this brilliant victory, at the age of 19, Joseph 
 Green returned to Kentucky, where he was soon 
 after employed by Mr. John Speed, father of Attor- 
 ney-General James Speed, and of many other wbrthy 
 
 254 
 
MR. GOULD'S COLABORERS. 255 
 
 sons and daughters, to managehis saltworksat Man's 
 Lick, near Louisville. He did not remain long in this 
 employment, as he fell in love with, and within two 
 years married, Miss Susan Ball, a young lady of that 
 neiorhborhood. 
 
 Immediately upon this marriage, Joseph Green 
 removed with his young wife across the Ohio, and 
 took a prominent part in organizing the new County 
 of Floyd, of which he was made the first sheriff, and 
 Norvin Green, their first born, was one of the 
 earliest native-born citizens of that county. 
 
 In his childhood, Norvin Green had the educa- 
 tional advantages of the ordinary country schools, 
 and no more. During this period his father re- 
 moved to Breckenridge County, Kentucky, and in 
 the many intervals between the short terms of the 
 country schools in which he wrestled with the rudi- 
 ments, he learned from practical experience the 
 truth of the old song : 
 
 " For to plow and to sow, for to reap and to mow. 
 Is the work of a farmer's boy." 
 
 According to his strength, whatever a boy, and 
 a bright, well-grown one, too, could do of the work 
 of a farm, he did his share. This work, and the 
 knowledge and the skill he then acquired, stood 
 him in good stead at an age when few boys are 
 called on to exercise any judgment in their own 
 affairs. It was not a hard life, and the young lad 
 could and did join the Breckenridge County boys 
 
2 eg LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 in their games of ball and other sports, and held 
 his own. Kentuckians have always been fond of 
 horse-races, and in those days every community 
 had its own race-track, where, for men and boys, 
 was found their principal amusement. Every 
 promising foal was prepared and tested with the 
 neighbors, and stransfers would soon be accommo- 
 dated with a match. Plucky, agile, always fond of 
 a good horse, understanding and sympathizing with 
 his mount, with a fine instinct of time and a sharp 
 eye on the "other fellows," young Norvin Green 
 became the favorite rider for his father, and gained 
 some local reputation for the skill with which he 
 would brino- his horses out ahead at the finish. He 
 was also able to greatly assist his father in more 
 serious matters, for about this time the latter, in 
 performing his duties as sheriff of the county, had 
 to collect the State and county taxes. Norvin, then 
 only 13 years old, rode about over the county, from 
 house to house, collecting taxes, giving receipts, and 
 faithfully keeping an accurate record for the official 
 reports and accountings. 
 
 At the expiration of the term, Joseph Green en- 
 gaged in quite a number of business ventures ; keep- 
 ing a tavern, a country store, a wood-yard, a wool- 
 carding machine, a horse-power grist mill, and 
 a blacksmith shop, and Norvin kept the accounts 
 of all these, with no preparation other than that 
 acquired from his arithmetic in the country school. 
 The prices of everything were in pounds, shillings, 
 
MR. GOULD'S COLABORERS. j^? 
 
 and pence, six shillings to the dollar, which compli- 
 cated the young bookkeeper's labors in no slight 
 degree. 
 
 In 1833, Joseph Green resolved to concentrate his 
 energies, his fortune, and his credit upon a serious 
 venture, and, to carry this out, bought a small fleet. 
 The Mississippi River, and its tributary, the Ohio, 
 was almost the sole highway of commerce, and these 
 broad waters teemed with life and business. The 
 favorite vessel was the broad flat boat, without keel, 
 stem, or stern-post, adaptable to almost every con- 
 ceivable purpose. He fitted up three or four of 
 these for a large number of horses, their food, 
 attendants, etc. He took charge of these himself, 
 while another was fitted up and stocked with the 
 multifarious assortment of a country store, including 
 hardware and candy, dry goods and bacon, knick- 
 knacks and grind-stones, school-books and stogy 
 boots, and practically every movable thing that could 
 not be produced on a farm. This boat he placed 
 in charge of his son Norvin, and the fleet was 
 pushed out into the stream, for it was on the current 
 alone they relied for power of locomotion. They did 
 not remain long in company, inasmuch as the father 
 proceeded without delay to the distant Southern 
 market, while Norvin made frequent and protracted 
 stops along the shore, disposing of his wares. Some 
 four or five months after, they met again in Natchez, 
 Miss., where the son, full of exultation over the suc- 
 cessful and profitable disposition of nearly all his 
 
2 eg LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 Stock, sought his father to learn of the main ven- 
 ture. 
 
 Very different had been the fortunes of the main 
 fleet. Keeping- in the current to malce as rapid 
 progress as possible, they had met with adverse for- 
 tune along their way, and in the broad water near 
 Grand Gulf had encountered a cyclone that came 
 near swamping the entire fleet, crew and cargo. 
 They, however, escaped with the total loss of one 
 boat and cargo of horses ; a serious loss indeed, but a 
 relief from the overwhelming catastrophe threatened. 
 In consequence of the arduous toil and exposure of 
 this voyage, Joseph Green, on arriving at Natchez, 
 was laid up with a dangerous fever, and, to crown 
 his misfortunes, the remainder of his fleet and ship- 
 ment were seized to satisfy a surety debt he had 
 incurred by becoming the bondsman of a faithless 
 administrator. 
 
 Cast down, but not discouraged by this sudden 
 and severe blow, Norvin Green set about at once to 
 build up the fallen fortunes of the family. As soon 
 as his father's health permitted, he took the whole 
 family to Cincinnati, where, with the proceeds of his 
 first venture on a store-boat, he purchased another 
 and a larger boat, fitted it up as a dwelling and a 
 store, bought a stock of goods, paying one-half cash 
 and giving his promissory notes without security at 
 six months for the other half. These notes were 
 made on April nth, 1834, just one week before he 
 was 1 6 years of age. 
 
MR. GOULD'S COLABORERS. 259 
 
 Once agaiiij with undaunted pluck, Norvin Green 
 looked fortune boldly in the face, and her frowns 
 vanished like frost before the climbing sun. Slowly 
 floating down the stream, stopping wherever busi- 
 ness could be done, until the people's wants were 
 supplied, at length the mouth of the Kentucky River 
 was reached,and the boat tied up on the opposite shore. 
 
 The location was found to be of such excellence 
 that he resolved to establish a permanent business 
 here ; so he leased a farm, built a store and a ware- 
 house, and did a most prosperous business, not only 
 selling goods, but bartering for and buying all sorts 
 of farm produce, oats, corn, potatoes, bacon, live 
 stock, etc., which, from time to time, were floated 
 off" to Southern markets. In three years he made 
 profits enough to pay off his own and the remaining 
 debts of his father in Breckenridge County, and to 
 buy a farm on the Kentucky side, a few miles below 
 the mouth of the Kentucky River. 
 
 The country was well wooded at that time, and 
 he made a contract to deliver 1,200 cords of wood 
 at Madison, Ind. Securing the hired labor neces- 
 sary, he threw into this the earnestness and thor- 
 oughness which has since characterized his work. 
 Taking his own axe with him into camp, he added 
 his own labor, while supervising that of his hired 
 assistants. With such management, the contract 
 could not fail of a good profit, and with this in his 
 pocket, his father's family again prosperous, he felt 
 at liberty to choose for himself a pursuit in life. 
 
 u, 
 
25q life of J a Y GOULD. 
 
 He decided upon the noble profession of medicine, 
 and in the next spring, 1838, he began his studies 
 under Dr. Mason, of Carrollton, Ky., continuing them 
 in the University of Louisville, where he graduated 
 in March, 1840, the entire expenses being met from 
 the profits of his wood contract. These two years 
 were devoted to hard and unremitting study, not 
 only of the text-books and lectures of his profes- 
 sion, but of the rudiments of Latin and English 
 Science and Literature. In the medical school he 
 developed a rare quality of memory, being able, by 
 his power of concentration, to memorize and repeat 
 or write out the most scholarly lectures, upon a 
 single hearing, unaided by a written memorandum 
 made at the time. 
 
 Soon after graduation. Dr. Green married Miss 
 Martha English, the daughter of Captain James W. 
 English, who served in the War of 181 2, under 
 General Harrison, in the Northwest, and had settled 
 down as a well-to-do farmer near Carrollton, Ky. 
 For 13 years Dr. Green devoted himself to the 
 practice of medicine, In which he succeeded. 
 
 He took an active Interest in politics, and served 
 two terms in the Kentucky Legislature, In the 
 second term being a candidate of the Democratic 
 party for speaker. 
 
 At this period of his life, Dr. Green presented a 
 striking appearance. Tall and slender, his bearing 
 was at once easy and dignified, and he seemed rather 
 more than less than his six feet in stature. Indeed, 
 
CYRUS W. FIELD. 
 
MH. GOULD'S COLABORERS. 26^ 
 
 his " presence," most difificult to describe, was such 
 that he was always regarded as a tall man among a 
 people noted for their unusual height. His com- 
 plexion was pale, but set off by his hair of a raven 
 blackness and fine as silk, with a suspicion of a curl, 
 and the ever-varying expression of his dark 
 eyes, and flexible, smooth-shaven lips and chin. In 
 the canvasses of those days a much greater part 
 was done by public speeches than nowadays, and 
 nearly all the voters attended the political debates. 
 At times these gatherings were so large that but few 
 voices were strong enough and clear enough to reach 
 the most remote, and at such times without strain or 
 huskiness, Dr. Green would pitch his voice in a high, 
 clear tone, and electrify the crowds by his ringing 
 enunciation of terse, succinct, and clear statements 
 of the questions of the day. After the close of this 
 brilliant canvass and the inauguration of President 
 Pierce, he was appointed Commissioner and Dis- 
 bursing Agent for the construction of the new Post 
 Office and Custom House building at Louisville, in 
 May, 1853. 
 
 In the following year, Dr. Green became inter- 
 ested in the telegraph, a business with which his 
 name is inseparably associated. The outlook for 
 this infant industry was then very unpromising. Al- 
 though Professor Morse's wonderful invention had 
 long been demonstrated to the scientific world, the 
 problem of its daily use in application to the ordi- 
 nary business of life was yet to be solved. The re- 
 
 17 
 
2 5 X LIFE OF JAY GO ULD. 
 
 quirements of construction were imperfectly under- 
 stood and worse carried out. Worst of all, the 
 transmission was subject to long interruptions and 
 delays. 
 
 In 1854, a syndicate was formed to lease the 
 united lines of the Morse system from Cincinnati to 
 New Orleans, and the O'Reilly lines between the 
 same points. Norvin Green was the new blood in 
 this syndicate, which was incorporated and afterward 
 more widely known as the Southwestern Telegraph 
 Company. A new policy was adopted, a new and 
 better system of construction instituted, the locality 
 changed almost throughout, to get on the lines of 
 the railroads then being rapidly projected in that 
 section, a quicker and more reliable service in trans- 
 mission enforced, together with a better economy of 
 office expenditures, and very soon the new company 
 was enabled to do what the old ones never had 
 done — make profits over expenses. The reform 
 came too late for these to benefit by, as they were 
 both hopelessly insolvent, and all their properties 
 and interests were sold out under decrees for judg- 
 ment creditors, the new company ultimately becom- 
 ing the purchaser. 
 
 Much as had been done, it was but the beginning 
 of the vast labors that were to follow, to remove the 
 exasperating delays and build up for the telegraph 
 a popular confidence in its speed and reliability, 
 which is the very breath of its life. In 1857, Dr. 
 Green came to New York, and succeeded in gath- 
 
MH. GOULD'S COLABORERS. 
 
 265 
 
 ering there a conference of the Presidents of the six 
 leading telegraph companies, and laid before them 
 a plan for improving and increasing their work. 
 This was the first telegraph " deal," as it was the 
 most important of all ; it was a contract for thirty 
 years, expiring about 1885, and was never broken. 
 It was the beginning of all telegraph consolidation, 
 and all that have followed have been upon the prin- 
 ciples set out in it. 
 
 The immediate consequences of the Six-Party- 
 Contract — the first embodiment of the idea of a 
 continental telegraph system — were a prompter and 
 better service, and a speedy response from the pub- 
 lic, in the form of increased and profitable business. 
 
 Nine years afterward, the benefits of this alliance 
 were so obvious that all the parties, doing business 
 exclusively in the United States, united in one com- 
 pany, selecting the Western Union, as holding a 
 charter better adapted for the purpose, and their 
 stocks were exchanged for the stock of that company, 
 which had been increased for the purpose. In this 
 deal, as in all the subsequent ones, Dr. Green took 
 the active part, drafting the provisions on the most 
 difficult points, and, in the preliminary negotiations, 
 being often made the referee on contested matters, 
 not only because of his thorough mastery of the 
 questions in dispute, but because of his well-earned 
 reputation as a fair man and a just arbitrator. 
 Clear-headed and patient to an unusual degree, Dr. 
 Green never becomes excited in negotiations though 
 
256 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 they involve millions, and never provokes antago- 
 nism from those representing conflicting interests. 
 It has frequently devolved upon him to settle dis- 
 puted points contended for by men of the most 
 aggressive bent of mind, and his great ability in 
 devising a common plane on which all can meet 
 without sacrificing principle, has made him the cen- 
 tral figure in these vast transactions, and has added, 
 in every instance, to the respect he has earned from 
 those associated with him in important affairs. 
 
 A full biography of Dr. Norvin Green would in- 
 volve the history of the telegraph in America, a sub- 
 ject much too large for this sketch. But great as 
 has been his influence in the direction and control 
 of that new and mighty industry, he has not been 
 confined to it, nor even continuously in its active 
 control. In 1867, his neighbors in Louisville elected 
 him to the Legislature, and informed him of it the 
 next day as a surprise. He served, and a large 
 number of his fellow-members came near electing 
 him to thei United States Senate, a place equally 
 unsought by him. 
 
 He was largely interested in the Louisville, Cin- 
 cinnati & Lexington Railroad, and, at the urgent 
 request of the stockholders, in 1870 he accepted the 
 presidency and active management of its affairs. 
 
 It is in the development of the telegraph that Dr. 
 Green's best work has been done, but he has done 
 enough outside of that to show that he would have 
 taken a corresponding position in any line of work 
 he should lay his. hand to. 
 
MR. GOULD'S COLABORERS. 267 
 
 Dr. Green's reputation, and the respect and 
 honor accorded as his due, are not confined to 
 this country. All the administrations of telegraph 
 in the nations of Europe send him their ofScial 
 reports as they are published, and many of them 
 send to him inspectors and other high officials to 
 investigate and report upon the details of the or- 
 ganization which has grown up under his hands. 
 Handling more messages than any three of the 
 Continental nations, at a profit and not at an an- 
 nual deficit, and extending every year in advance of 
 the construction of new railroads, his administration 
 is regarded by them as a model of efficiency, elas- 
 ticity, and economy. In 1883 he visited England, 
 where he was welcomed by the magnates of states 
 and cities. The Hon. Henry Fawcett, the great 
 Postmaster-General, presented him with a circular 
 letter to all telegraph offices, commanding them to 
 transmit all messages for him free. This document 
 is unique, the only one of its kind ever issued by the 
 government of Great Britain, and was intended as 
 the highest compliment to the great telegrapher. 
 
 And now, any day and every day. Dr. Green may 
 be seen seated in the large room, which is at once 
 his office and the place of meeting of the multitudi- 
 nous boards of directors, committees, and confer- 
 ences over which he presides, by which the affairs 
 of the Western Union and its many subordinate 
 corporations are conducted. His appearance has 
 greatly changed in the last 20 years, mainly through 
 an increase of weight. While his flesh is by no 
 
2^3 LIFE OF JA Y GOULD. 
 
 means a burden to him or too much for his largfe 
 frame, yet a double chin and an amphtude of waist- 
 coat make a great difference from the slender figure 
 of his earlier manhood. With the fuller habit his 
 complexion has also changed, and presents a healthy 
 ruddiness. His hair has become very thin, and 
 there are now but few left of the orignal raven hue, 
 and his mouth is shaded by a heavy mustache en- 
 tirely white. His ante-room is generally occupied 
 by persons waiting their turn to see him on the 
 widest range of subjects, and without hurry or rush- 
 of any kind each one is admitted and his business 
 promptly considered. 
 
 Imperturbable and completely at his ease in the 
 midst of a great whirl of business, Dr. Green always 
 has time for a pleasant word with a friend. 
 
 Courteous and kindly to all, Dr. Green has been 
 noted for more than a third of a century for his 
 countless acts of friendship and benevolence to his 
 fellow-workers of the telegraph, from the mes- 
 senger's bench to the director's chair. It will be a 
 sad day of parting to thousands of these when he 
 leaves forever the well-worn chair at the broad Pre- 
 sident's table, which he has filled so long and so 
 well. 
 
 THOMAS THOMPSON ECKERT. 
 
 Thomas Thompson Eckert, who holds to the fore- 
 most place in the active conduct of the Western 
 Union Telegraph Company, now vast and interna- 
 
MR. GOULD'S COLABORERS. 26Q 
 
 tional, was born April 23d, 1825, in Steubenville, 
 Ohio. He learned the telegraphic art in 1848, and 
 on the following year, having been appointed Post- 
 master at Wooster, Ohio, opened up the first postal 
 telegraph service by receiving the Wade wire into 
 his office, and uniting the duties of postmaster and 
 operator. 
 
 J. H. Wade, now one of Cleveland's most wealthy 
 citizens, was, at that time, building telegraph lines 
 westward, with Denis Doren as his chief of con- 
 struction. He saw in young Eckert's aggressive 
 vigor and industry a man he needed. Without 
 much hesitation he offered him the superintendence 
 of the " Union Telegraph Lines," then being ex- 
 tended from Pittsburgh, Pa., by way of the Fort 
 Wayne & Chicago Railroad to Chicago. The Union 
 Telegraph Lines were operated in connection with 
 the Wade, Speed & Cornell lines, then somewhat 
 extensively in operation throughout the Northwest. 
 They were of the gossamer order, and all needed 
 whatever support an earnest man could give them. 
 Mr. Wade having identified himself with the 
 Western Union Telegraph Company soon after its 
 formation, his lines, one by one were absorbed 
 thereby, and formed the basis of his fortune. 
 Superintendent Eckert thus came into the service 
 of the company, over which in later years he was 
 to become the managing head. In his new rela- 
 tions he became soon known for his energy, good 
 judgment, and capacity of labor. Yet, in 1859 he 
 
2yQ LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 resigned and went to superintend the affairs of a 
 gold mining company in Montgomery County, N. 
 C. Here he remained until the breaking out of the 
 war in 1861, when he returned North, and resided 
 in Cincinnati, Ohio. 
 
 He was not long permitted to be idle. A few 
 months after his return to Ohio, Colonel Thomas 
 A. Scott, Assistant Secretary of War, called him to 
 Washington, where he was placed in charge of the 
 military telegraph at the headquarters of General 
 McClellan. In 1862 he accompanied General 
 McClellan to the Peninsula as Superintendent of 
 the Military Telegraph Department of the Potomac, 
 with the rank of Captain and A. Q. M. 
 
 In September of the same year he was recalled 
 to Washington to establish the Military Telegraph 
 Headquarters in the War Department Buildings, 
 and was promoted to be Major and A. Q. M. 
 
 In this service General Eckert was thoroughly at 
 home. His duties placed him in the most intimate 
 relations with President Lincoln and Secretary of 
 War Stanton, by whom he was highly trusted and 
 esteemed. An evidence of this confidence was 
 shown by his appointment, at a very delicate stage 
 of the war, to meet the leaders of the Southern 
 Confederacy at City Point, in January, 1865, a mis- 
 sion which he performed with discretion, intelligence, 
 and fidelity. It was not the only service thus dis- 
 creetly and successfully rendered during the long 
 night of the nation's peril. 
 
MR. GOULVS COLABORERS. ^yi 
 
 • It is one of the unwritten facts connected with 
 that period that General Eckert, on his way baclc 
 from City Point, after his interview with the Con- 
 federate chiefs, was met by gentlemen from New 
 York who offered him, but in vain, a large sum of 
 money to give them the result of his mission. 
 
 On the afternoon when the message came from 
 the army in Virginia, "We are in danger; send 
 Sheridan," Stanton and Sheridan were in the War 
 Department in anxious council. Instantly General 
 Eckert took possession of the Baltimore & Ohio 
 Railroad, ordered it cleared, and a special engine 
 made ready to carry Sheridan to Harper's Ferry. 
 It was soon ready. All through the night it sped, 
 while every operator remained at his post, guarding 
 the road until the iron horse flew past. At break 
 of day the car entered the depot at Winchester, and 
 there pawing the ground and ready for the great 
 ride to the field, stood the gallant horse that was to 
 make " Sheridan's Ride " famous in all coming his- 
 tory. 
 
 In 1864 General Eckert was breveted Lieutenant- 
 Colonel and soon after to Brigadier-General. The 
 same year also he was appointed Assistant Secre-. 
 tary of War, which position he held until August, 
 1866, when he resigned to accept the office of Gen- 
 eral Superintendent of the Eastern Division of the 
 lines of the Western Union Telegraph Company. 
 This included the entire territory between Wash- 
 ington and Cape Breton, including all the New Eng- 
 
^^2 LIFE OF JAY COULD. 
 
 land States, the State of New York, and Eastern 
 Pennsylvania, a position which assumed unusual 
 importance and responsibility on account of the 
 opening up of the transatlantic correspondence, 
 which followed the successful laying of the Atlantic 
 cable. 
 
 He carried into this work much of the discipline, 
 vim, and thoroughness which characterized him in 
 the War Department as assistant to his great chief 
 and friend, Edwin M. Stanton. As President of the 
 Atlantic and Pacific and American Union Com- 
 panies, notfce has already been taken. Mr. Gould's 
 chivalric friendship for General Eckert, which ap- 
 pears in connection with the latter company is curi- 
 ous and interesting. It secured for him a post of 
 honor and of responsibility as General Manager of 
 the greatest industry of the world. No one believes 
 that Mr. Gould erred in his choice. General Eckert 
 was a force he needed, and whom, therefore, he 
 selected and held. 
 
 As a man. General Eckert has personal qualities 
 which endear him to his friends. He is at the 
 prime of life, at a period when years mellow with- 
 out weakening. His physique is powerful, well 
 formed, and Indicative of self-reliance and capacity 
 of resistance. His feelings are strong, alert, and 
 sensitive. As an officer, he is punctilious, insists 
 upon recognition, on prompt obedience and respect 
 He has, however, beneath his official vigor a wealth 
 of consideration and kindness which renders him 
 
MR. GOULD'S COLABORERS. 271 
 
 gentle and approachable, and secures him a large 
 circle of devoted friends. In the service of the 
 War Department this was indeed noticeable. It 
 was just the character of labor in which the fellow- 
 ship of men become strong, fraternal, and affection- 
 ate. It often challenged heroic devotion. It awoke 
 in the sense of danger the profoundest sentiments 
 of sympathy, respect, and love. His most trusted 
 lieutenants are the men who served him in the 
 war. 
 
 General Eckert has at his side in the conduct of 
 his executive work a gentleman, whose ready pen 
 and literary ability greatly facilitates its prompt and 
 graceful performance. He is Thomas Frederick 
 Clark, General Eckert's private secretary. 
 
 Mr. Clark has shown great ability in wielding a 
 fluent and graceful pen. It is easy to see how valu- 
 able readiness of composition is in connection with 
 so laree and varied and exacting a service as be- 
 longs to the general managership of the Western 
 Union Telegraph Company. 
 
 Close to him was also placed a man which the 
 general manager knew he could trust. The lines 
 now consolidated cover the entire country. They 
 had been built by men more or less capable, but re- 
 quired the oversight of some competent man ac- 
 customed and capable to control. Each of the 20 
 Superintendents of Districts had under him gangs 
 of men under foremen of more or less experience, 
 constantly adding or renewing the lines. The cost 
 
2^4 ^^^^ OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 of ordinary repairs alone was millions a year. On 
 the honesty and promptness of their work much of 
 the success of the company depended. These 
 needed a head that could catch with a firm hand this 
 important class of labor. 
 
 Gen. Eckert was ever one of the most esteemed 
 of Mr. Gould's colaborers. 
 
 G. p. MOROSINI. 
 
 One of the closest of Mr. Gould's friends — many 
 years in his confidence — enjoying and reciprocating 
 his highest consideration, is G. P. Morosini. He is 
 a man of striking presence and romantic history, 
 Mr. Gould first met him in the Erie Railway service, 
 findino- him chief clerk in the Auditor's office. 
 Morosini is a native of Venice, and wg.s one of the 
 young revolutionists in northern Italy when the 
 grandfather of the present King was overpowered 
 by the Austrians. Morosini had received a military 
 education and was surrendered a prisoner of war. 
 He was a follower and friend of Garibaldi, and 
 when his country became an Austrian conquest, be- 
 came a sailor. 
 
 He was tall, muscular, full of courage, and seasoned 
 in adventure. One day, taking a stroll on Staten 
 Island, his ship at anchor in the bay, he happened 
 to encounter a small mob of roughs abusing a boy, 
 who was defending himself to the best of his ability 
 but badly hurt, bleeding and struggling, asking for 
 mercy and shouting for help. 
 
MJi. GOULD'S COLABORERS. 27c; 
 
 The tall, young Italian sailor rushed headlong to 
 the rescue, knocking down two or three of the first 
 of the ruffians, who were a gang of stout boys ; and 
 when they in turn assaulted him he drew his sheath 
 knife, which sailors carried afloat and ashore, and 
 held the pack at bay. The rescued boy was still an, 
 object of vengeance, and Morosini saw him well on 
 the way home, followed for a considerable distance 
 by his enemies, who were only held back by the cer- 
 tainty that they would be knifed if they ventured 
 within reach. A few days after the boy he had be- 
 friended sought him out and brought his father 
 to thank him. The father was Nathaniel Marsh, 
 Secretary of the Erie Railroad Company, and he 
 offered the gallant sailor money, which was declined. 
 Then Mr. Marsh wanted to know whether there was 
 anything else he could do. Morosini said he was 
 tired of the sea, and would be glad to find employ- 
 ment in New York. Mr. Marsh managed that, and 
 Morosini, May 29th, 1855, entered the service of the 
 Erie Company and remained in it until six months 
 after Mr. Gould retired from it, and then he was 
 employed by Mr. Gould as a confidential secretary. 
 In this capacity he was of great service to Mr. 
 Gould, and won for himself an enviable reputation. 
 
 Mr. Morosini's name has been intimately asso- 
 ciated with that of Mr. Gould for years. When 
 Mr. Gould would not talk to the newspaper repre- 
 sentatives and others, Mr. Morosini was ever 
 ready to extend such courtesies ^s would not con- 
 flict with sound policy. 
 
275 LIFE OF JAY GOULp. 
 
 At a meetinof of the Directors of the Western 
 Union Telegraph Company, immediately after Mr. 
 Gould's demise, the President, Dr. Norvin Green, 
 formally announced the death of Mr. Gould, saying 
 he had been a powerful and enthusiastic supporter 
 of the Company, and a loyal and whole-souled 
 friend of all who had been associated with him. Mr. 
 Samuel Sloan offered a memorial, which was adopted 
 with unanimity, as follows : 
 
 "Jay Gould died at his residence in the city of 
 New York on Friday, December 2d, 1892, in the 
 fifty-seventh year of his age. He had been a director 
 of this Company for about twelve years, and was 
 such at the time of his death. It is fitting, therefore, 
 that it shall place upon its record its estimate of Mr. 
 Gould's character and services and its sorrowful 
 sense of its great loss in his death. 
 
 " Familiarity with him, acquire--! through years of 
 constant intercourse, enables the members of its 
 directory to speak concerning him with knowledge 
 and confidence. What follows are words, not of 
 eulogy, but of just and considerate estimate. 
 
 " Among the many eminent men who in the history 
 of this Company have had a place in its counsels 
 Mr. Gould was in some respects the most remark- 
 able. The intellectual qualities to which he owed his 
 almost unexampled success are not far to seek. 
 Underlying all was his faith in, the continued growth, 
 advancement, and prosperity of our country. He 
 forecasted the future with confidence, and saw in 
 
MR. GOULD'S COLABORERS. 2-77 
 
 their earlier stages the value of such properties as 
 the Union Pacific, Kansas Pacific, Missouri Pacific, 
 Manhattan Railway, and Western Union. He boldly 
 risked all on the soundness of his judgment. His 
 judgment concerning the value of corporate prop- 
 erties singly, and of their possibilities for profitable 
 combination amounted to positive genius — a genius 
 in these lines probably never surpassed, if equalled. 
 
 " Acquiring these properties, he gave his energies 
 to their development. This was not the hasty work 
 of a day, but the slow work of years. He was not 
 merely or chiefly a speculator. He was at home in 
 every department of the service. He knew his 
 properties intimately. He could instantly detect 
 anything wrong. He inspected them in person 
 regularly. He gave to his properties the benefit 
 not only of his genius, but of his diligence and in- 
 dustry, which, until his health gave way, never tired. 
 He did not always receive the praise to which he 
 was entitled. He did not invest his wealth in lands, 
 or buildings, or governments, or established securi- 
 ties, and content himself with idly receiving their 
 income. His industries gave daily employment to 
 more than one hundred thousand men and support 
 to their families. His enterprise contributed more 
 largely to the opening and development of the west- 
 ern and southwestern parts of our country than that 
 of any other man. 
 
 "At his death probably no man in the United 
 States possessed more power. His word was law 
 
27g LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 throughout the vast interests in his control estab- 
 lished in many States and Territories — almost from 
 ocean to ocean. But with all this he ever bore him- 
 self modestly, without any ostentation or vulgar 
 display of wealth or power. He was a model of 
 parental and domestic virtue. So much is lj;nown 
 of all men. 
 
 " But the members of this body desire to record 
 their knowledge of the warmth and steadiness of 
 Mr. Gould's friendships, of his noble impulses, and 
 disinterested and generous deeds, some of which, 
 without murmur or complaint from him, were popu- 
 larly distorted so as to become matter of blame in- 
 stead of praise. 
 
 "Resolved, That in the death of a counsellor so 
 wise, sagacious, and faithful as Mr. Gould ever 
 proved himself to be, this Company feels it has sus- 
 tained not only a deep but an irreparable loss; that 
 it tenders its sincerest sympathy to his surviving 
 sons and daughters ; that its directors will attend 
 his funeral in a body ; that this minute be spread 
 upon its records, and that a copy thereof suitably 
 engrossed and authenticated, be sent to his chil- 
 dren." 
 
 The Board of Directors of the Manhattan Ele- 
 vated Railroad Company adopted the following 
 preamble and resolution: 
 
 " The President of this Company has been taken 
 from it. Elected on the 9th day of November, 
 1881, to be its official head, Jay Gould has uninter- 
 
'^y^^^^-i^m^ 
 
 
 ^V? \^<A 
 
 LOKU ROTHSCHILD. 
 
MR. GOULD'S COLAB.ORERS. 38 1 
 
 ruptedly from that time to this given to the service 
 of this Company a large part of his thoughts and 
 of his interest. No one of the many other great 
 enterprises in which he was concerned enHsted to 
 a greater degree his close attention and best ener- 
 gies. Although in many States of the Union loco- 
 motives rode on railways he had contributed to 
 construct, the corporation that furnished him with 
 the means of daily access to his home had no supe- 
 rior in its rank in his mind. In the management of 
 its affairs he displayed the qualities to which he 
 owed his success in many fields. He was clear in 
 his perceptions, swift in judgment and prompt in 
 action. Patient in investigation and in the accumu- 
 lation of details, his mastery of them was complete 
 and his memory accurate and tenacious. He v/as 
 self-reliant, yet ever seeking information and cor- 
 rection of his views from others. 
 
 " While disposed to adhere strongly to his own 
 plans and ideas, he was always ready to yield his 
 judgment to a superior reason. He expected full 
 performance of his duty from each one who under- 
 took responsibility, but he fully trusted those who 
 were engaged in the duties of execution, and left 
 them large latitude in the discharge of their func- 
 tions. Never elated by success, he was cool and 
 courageous in defeat. He acted in accordance with 
 well-considered and far-reaching plans, and pos- 
 sessed the strength of will to adhere to his purpose 
 through difficulties and apparent repulses. In his 
 
 18 
 
2g2 ' LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 personal intercourse with those who were associated 
 with him in his great endeavors he was kind and 
 considerate, a good listener, and willing to modify 
 his plans to serve the common interest. He found 
 the Manhattan Railway Company in the hands of 
 receivers, substantially bankrupted, and in a condi- 
 tion where it was doubtful whether or not its system 
 was to be disintegrated and resolved into its origi- 
 nal elements. He leaves it prosperous, in excellent 
 physical condition, its different lines consolidated 
 and indissolubly bound together, performing an in- 
 dispensable service to the public in the city of his 
 business life. 
 
 " In his home life and in his relations to his chil- 
 dren he found his happiness. As fellow-directors 
 with him, he insured the companionship and the 
 aflfectionate support of his sons in his business hours. 
 To his sorrowing family, and especially to the mem- 
 bers of this board who have lost not only President, 
 but an affectionate and tender father, whose domes- 
 tic circle furnished him with his only solace amid 
 responsibilities greater than those that have been 
 borne by many rulers of empires, the sympathy of 
 this board is tendered. 
 
 ''Resolved, That the foregoing minute be adopted 
 and inscribed in the minutes of this board of direc- 
 tors, and that a copy thereof, duly certified, be sent 
 by the Secretary to the family of the deceased 
 President. 
 
MR. GOULD'S COLABORERS. 283 
 
 "Resolved, That the general offices of the com- 
 pany be closed on the day of the funeral, Monday, 
 December 5th, 1892." 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF SURVIVING FRIENDS. 
 
 A letter written by Mr. Gould when a mere boy 
 of eighteen years has been published at Kingston, 
 N. Y., by Mr. S. B. Champion, the editor of a local 
 paper there. Mr. Champion was an intimate and 
 personal friend of Mr. Gould in his younger days, 
 and the veteran editor received numerous visits 
 from the great financier all through his life. Mr. 
 Champion was not much older than his friend, but 
 was often able to give him the benefit of his experi- 
 ence in the form of sound advice. Mr. Gould often 
 worked in the line prescribed by the advice of his 
 friend Champion with success. When they were 
 together evidences of friendship were not lacking, 
 and when separated they invariably corresponded. 
 Mr. Gould was engaged upon his Delaware County 
 map and was recovering from a severe illness at the 
 time the following letter was written. 
 
 "RoxBURY, December 28th, 1854. 
 " S. B. Champioft, Esq. 
 
 " Friend Champ : — How shall I commence a letter 
 to you ? Would you believe me were I to say I was 
 puzzled whether to commence with a broad busi- 
 ness letter caption ' Mr.,' etc., ' Dear Sir,' etc., or 
 whether to sit down and imagine an actual mouth- 
 to-mouth chat proceeding ? Well, you see that at 
 the top of my letter is that cold, formal commence- 
 ment, but just then the recollection of the pleasant 
 times we have had together, and the time for which 
 I hope is not altogether past, put every shadow 
 284 
 
MM. GOULD'S COLABORERS. 285 
 
 aside, and I almost imagine myself in The Mirror 
 office at this moment. It is a long time since I have 
 heard from you, except by Mr. Peters, a week since. 
 But through the weekly invitation of The Mirror I 
 commenced to write last week, but my hand shook 
 so that I had to give it up. ' Now, Champ, you are 
 a man of newspapers and advertisements, and pro- 
 prietor of The Mirror office. I want you to study 
 up something for me to do. The doctor stands 
 over my shoulder and criticises every movement as 
 an alarming symptom. His orders are, for the 
 present : ' Live on soups made of shadows.' To 
 say the word map requires a potion of castor oil, 
 and the thought of transacting any kind of business 
 is equal to jumping into a mill-pond in winter-time. 
 But I have dismissed their sympathies, and regulate 
 my own diet. I find health and strength to improve 
 in consequence. I have cutter and harness, and if 
 you will only furnish sleighing I am at your service. 
 Now, Champ, if you have time to answer this, tell 
 me a good funny story. I have hardly raised a 
 smile for five weeks. Yours respectfully. 
 
 "Jay Gould." 
 
 This anecdote is related of Gould's relations with 
 Mr. Champion : 
 
 In his youth Mr. Gould's vaulting ambition was 
 to be an editor. He ventured over the hills from 
 Roxbury up to Stamford, the beauty spot of Dela- 
 ware County, while he was yet in his teens, to get 
 
235 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 the chance to learn the printing business. Venera- 
 ble S. B. Champion, then a hustling journalist 
 hardly much older than yopng Gould, gavte the lad 
 the chance he sought. Mr. Gould tied on his apron, 
 rolled up his sleeves, and went at it. 
 
 Champion is full of anecdotes of that apprentice- 
 ship time. There is a tradition that, in addition to 
 setting type, the apprentice was permitted to 
 look somewhat after the editorial side of the 
 paper. 
 
 Early in Mr. Gould's career Mr. Champion's 
 journal was able, for one week, at least, to attract 
 considerable and rather unusual attention. " Champ" 
 went one day to a political convention, held over in 
 an adjoining town, and young Mr. Jason Gould was 
 left in charge on publication day to close up the 
 forms and generally look after such important mat- 
 ters as addressing wrappers and seeing to it that 
 the office towel was kept standing safely in its ac- 
 customed corner. 
 
 But the future master of the railway world was 
 ambitious. He bethought himself to scan the edi- 
 torial, more or less fervid, in which " Champ " was 
 extolling the party's nominees. Somehow it seemed 
 to the budding genius that that editorial lacked 
 something. 
 
 After consideration, he came to the conclusion that 
 he ought to round the rhetoric out ; that he ought 
 to supply the virtues which were lacking. He did. 
 Mr, Champion came home to find his eulogistic 
 
. MR. GOULD'S COLABORERS. 287 
 
 periods slightly changed. Only slightly. Mr. 
 Gould had only taken the liberty of writing in an 
 occasional " not " here and there. 
 
 That was the week that " Champ " learned to 
 swear. It was also the week that Mr. Jay Gould 
 became an ex-editor. 
 
 There is this clever story that Mr, Gould was 
 superstitious. He did not bother, perhaps, over be- 
 ginning things on Friday, and the new moon over 
 his left shoulder may not have disturbed him. But 
 only a few weeks before his death he rather insisted 
 upon having a superstitious weakness. He was on 
 his way down town, when he came across a Wall 
 Street friend, with whom he kept up conversation 
 down the avenue. In the course of the chat Mr. 
 Gould expressed himself as feehng physically much 
 stronger than for a long time. His eyes were clear, 
 his countenance was ruddy ; he did not look like a 
 sick man. 
 
 "lam getting along famously," he said. "My 
 appetite has come back. I feel like a new man. 
 Why, last night I ate two bowls of bread and milk, 
 went to bed at eight o'clock, and slept through till 
 eight this morning." 
 
 There was as much enthusiasm in the tone as if 
 a record was being made of some stock market 
 transaation with a million profit in it. But the cheer- 
 fulness disappeared when Mr. Gould's companion 
 asked : 
 
 " How old are you, Mr. Gould ?" 
 
^gg LIFE OF JAY COULD. 
 
 " Oh ! I'm a young man ygt," answered the mil- 
 lionaire. 
 
 Tfie evasion was noticed, and for politeness' sake 
 the questioner remarked, blandly : 
 
 " Pardon my inquiry, I only happened to be think- 
 ing of an odd thing I heard yesterday. Did you 
 ever hear, Mr. Gould, that once every seven years 
 a man runs extraordinary risks, and that whenever 
 a man has a birthday divisible by seven he is in 
 danger?" 
 
 "No — I never heard of that," said Mr. Gould. 
 Then he turned to his Times. The elevated train 
 ran down two or three blocks further. Mr. Gould 
 was scanning the death notice column. 
 
 •"The stock market looks well," remarked the 
 other gentleman. 
 
 " How strange !" quoth Mr. Gould. His gaze 
 went on through the death notices. 
 
 " I think stocks are going a good deal higher," was 
 further remarked. 
 
 " It's really true," said Mr. Gould. 
 
 " Still," went on Mr. Gould's companion, " the 
 bears are well organized and they are confident." 
 
 " My gracious, it's so," said Mr. Gould. 
 
 His neighbor looked at him a little astonished, 
 Mr. Gould had finished the death notices, and was 
 looking out of the window. There was not much 
 glisten in his eye. The countenance wasn't ruddy. 
 He had been dividing by seven the ages recorded in 
 those death notices. 
 
MR. GOULD'S COLABOREJii). jSQ 
 
 " Western Union ought to go a good deal higher, 
 oughtn't it, Mr. Gould ?'' said the other man. 
 
 And Mr. Gould's answer was : " It niay be odd, 
 but really I never heard before about this dividing 
 your age by seven." 
 
 " Oh ! that's only a foolish superstition," was the 
 soothing reply. 
 
 " Oh ! of course," said Mr. Gould ; " of course !" 
 
 Then the chat went on of stocks, of money rates, 
 of all the fol-de-rol of Wall Street. 
 
 " Cortlandt next 1" yelled the elevated railroad 
 3fuard. 
 
 " It's odd, isn't it," said Mr. Gould, as if in a rev- 
 erie, and he arose to leave the train. " Do you 
 know," said he, " eight sevens make fifty-six — and 
 fifty-six, sir, is just my age." 
 
 The World has given accounts of instances of 
 their experience of getting news from Mr. Gould 
 that contain most interesting information. Mr. F. 
 P. Hastings says in November, 1883, after the ele- 
 vated railroad hearing, he was directed to see Mr. 
 Gould, who had been on the witness stand two 
 consecutive days, standing the legal firing as calmly 
 as if questioned by one of his clerks. The court- 
 room was packed to suffocation by persons brought 
 there through curiosity to see Gould. Several times, 
 he passed his hand over his brow, and the judge 
 ordered the windows lowered to give more air, par- 
 ticularly as it seemed at one time that the witness 
 would faint. 
 
2QQ LIFE OF JAY GOULD, v_. 
 
 A couple of days later rumor had it that Mr. 
 Gould was sick, but all reporters were met by 
 George Gould, who gave the assurance that his 
 father was quite well. I called at the Fifth Avenue 
 mansion the following afternoon, having been cau- 
 tioned by my city editor not to come back without 
 positive information. 
 
 I was shown into the reception-room on the left of 
 the hall and the servant took up my card. Presently 
 George Gould entered and said his father was dress- 
 ing to go out, asking if he could be of service to me. 
 
 Telling him of the disquieting rumors concerning 
 his father, he said they were false, absolutely false. 
 " But," said I, " if Mr. Gould is not sick cannot I 
 see him, just to convince myself?" 
 
 " I'll see ; excuse me a moment," said George, 
 and he ran up-stairs. 
 
 About five minutes later in walked Mr. Gould, 
 and, extending his hand, which I took, he gave mine 
 a gentle shake, and in a modulated voice asked : 
 
 " Do I look as if I were ill ?" 
 
 George had apprised his father of my mission, 
 and he came charged. He didn't look like a sick 
 man. Bidding me be seated, he let himself down 
 gingerly upon a small straw-bottomed chair. 
 
 Mr. Gould sat with his side to the window, a little 
 to my right, facing me, so that I could observe every 
 play of his countenance. Crossing his legs, one 
 foot resting squarely on a fox skin, he ran both 
 thumbs over his gold watch-chain, and said : 
 
, ■ MR. GOULD'S COLABORERS. jQI 
 
 " Well, what can I do for you ?" 
 
 Telling him the object of my call, which so far 
 had been satisfactory, I asked him if it was true 
 that he had been squeezed to the extent of millions 
 in Wall Street, as reported. 
 
 " Haven't heard of it," he replied, in the same low 
 tone and slowly. 
 
 " But there are rumors that you lost heavily," 
 
 " Yes ?" 
 
 " Is that true ?" 
 
 " I can't say," and he dropped one hand on his 
 knee, while with the other he toyed incessantly with 
 the small charm suspended from his watch-chain. 
 
 " What is your opinion of the course of the stock 
 market within the next fortnight ?" I then ventured. 
 
 " I can't say," he replied, as his black eyes darted 
 from the floor into my face as if he intended read- 
 ing me through. 
 
 " Do you anticipate a large grain movement this 
 fall ?" 
 
 "Perhaps, yes." 
 
 "And that will, of course, advance the granger 
 stocks, won't it ?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 Seeing that he was not disposed to let himself 
 out to any great extent on finances — not that he 
 need have feared my taking advantage of his infor- 
 mation — I went on another tack and said it was 
 rumored that he was about to go away on a cruise 
 aboard his yacht. 
 
292 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 " Yes ?" he answered with an attempt at a smile. 
 
 " Then you do contemplate going ?" 
 
 " No." And he twirled the little charm around 
 his thumb with increased vigor. 
 
 " You do not intend leaving the city?" 
 
 " No." 
 
 Then his right foot apparently got asleep, for he 
 stood up suddenly, stamped the foot a couple of 
 times and resumed his seat, crossing his left leg 
 over the riofht this time. 
 
 " Mr. Gould," I then said in desperation, as I was 
 getting tired of doing all the talking, " then I can 
 safely report you as quite well, and that you do 
 not intend to take a trip on your yacht ?" 
 
 " Yes," and he inclined his head gently while 
 closing his eyes. 
 
 "Are you going down-town to-morrow ?" 
 
 " Perhaps." 
 
 Being asked where his yacht then was, he dropped 
 his watch-charm and exclaimed : 
 
 " Well, ask George " 
 
 Mr. George W. Blake says : 
 
 "The excitement attending the elopement of the 
 daughter of Giovanni P. Morosini with coachman 
 Schilling had pretty nearly died away when there 
 came a rumor that Mr. Gould had determined to 
 carry Mrs. Schilling to Europe in his steam yacht.- 
 The rumor said that the misguided girl was even 
 then on board of the yacht, which lay in the Hudson 
 a mile south of Irvington. I had been engaged in 
 
MH. GOULD'S COLABORERS. 293 
 
 trying to solve the seeming mystery of Mrs. Schil- 
 ling's disappearance, and this rumor sent me hurry- 
 ing up to Irvington to ask Mr. Gould about it. 
 
 "A warm afternoon was dying when I reached the 
 puzzling structure known as Mr. Gould's summer 
 home. It was my first visit, and I looked in vain for 
 a door pretentious enough to indicate that it opened 
 into some room not occupied by the servants. I 
 finally came to a ginger-bread door that was half 
 glass. I rapped on the glass, and pretty soon the 
 door opened about an inch. Before I saw who was 
 on the other side I asked : 
 
 " ' Is Mr. Gould in ?' 
 
 " The door slowly opened wider, finally disclosing 
 Mr. Gould himself. He wore a shabby coat and 
 had on slippers. His eyes twinkled merrily as he 
 looked cautiously around and then said : 
 
 " ' I don't beheve he is in !' 
 
 " This surprised me very much, but as it seemed 
 to tickle Mr. Gould I gave no sign that I had ever 
 met him before and asked : 
 
 " ' Do you expect him in before long ?' 
 
 " ' I really cannot say,' replied Mr. Gould, with a 
 brighter twinkle than ever in his eyes. ' What did 
 you want to see him for ?' 
 
 "I explained the object of my errand, and Mr. 
 Gould said : 
 
 " ' I am sure that Mr. Gould doesn't know any- 
 thing about Mrs. Schilling, and that he has no in- 
 tention of taking her to Europe or anywhere else.' 
 
204 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 " ' I am very much obliged to you, Mr. Gould,' I 
 said. 
 
 "He started abruptly, and then laughed right out 
 and said, ' You are perfectly welcon^e, young man, 
 
 It > )> 
 
 m sure. 
 
 Mr. Louis J. Lange says : 
 
 " If Jay Gould knew and trusted him, a news- 
 paper reporter rarely failed to secure an interview 
 with him. I had, perhaps, a half-dozen talks with 
 the dead financier, and in each instance Mr. Gould 
 conversed freely upon a great variety of subjects. 
 
 "The first time I was assigned to see Mr. Gould 
 was during the exciting days succeeding the election 
 of 1884. It had been charged that he was instru- 
 mental in holding back the Presidential election 
 returns, which were passed over the Western Union 
 wires, either in the interest of James G. Blaine, the 
 Republican candidate for the Presidency, or to se- 
 cure himself from loss in the stock market should a 
 raid be made upon his holdings after the declara- 
 tion of Mr. Cleveland's triumph. 
 
 " While a maddened crowd was threatening to 
 sack the Tribune building, and was hooting Gould's 
 name, the financier was reported to be under guard 
 in the Western Union building, apprehensive of 
 mob violence. Being unable to secure any satis- 
 faction-as to his whereabouts at the Western Union 
 offices, I called at his house, at Fifth Avenue and 
 Forty-seventh Street. The butler told me Mr. 
 Gould was not in, and probably was out of the city. 
 
IMR. GOULD'S COLABORERS. jOS 
 
 I suspected that the butler was fibbing. On enter- 
 ing the Windsor I happened to meet a broker who 
 had large business dealings with Mr. Gould, and, 
 besides, was his personal friend. I explained to 
 him the situation. He gave me a note of introduc- 
 tion to the Wizard. It got to Mr. Gould, and word 
 came back that he would see me in the reception- 
 room. 
 
 " I was ushered into a richly-furnished but small 
 apartment on the left of the hall. It was just after 
 7 p. M., and the gas burned brightly from a cut-glass 
 chandelier. Soon there appeared at the door a man 
 of exceedingly small stature, with very black hair, 
 beard, and mustache, dressed in dark trousers and 
 vest, and wearing a modest smoking-jacket. Slip- 
 pers which looked like Russian leather incased his 
 very small feet. He wore a plain, white collar, with 
 a little black bow tucked under it. He said, quietly: 
 
 " ' You wish to see Mr. Gould. I am he. What 
 can I do for you ?' 
 
 "As he spoke Mr. Gould rolled an easy chair to the 
 grate, and rested his feet on the tender, behind 
 which a fire was blazing brightly. 
 
 "'Mr, Gould,' I said, 'they are saying down-town, 
 that you are holding back the election returns. 
 Crowds have gathered in front of the Western Union 
 and Tribune buildings, and are singing " Hang Jay 
 Gould to a sour-apple tree." ' 
 
 "Mr. Gould smiled rather coldly,and then fixing his 
 eyes upon me, said quietly : ' If I denied all the lies 
 
2g6 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 circulated about me I should have no time to attend 
 to business, Of course there is no truth in this. I 
 do not care one rap of my finger whether Cleveland, 
 Blaine, Butler, or any one else has been elected. I 
 doubt if the administration of either would imperil 
 the prosperity of the country.' 
 
 "Then Mr. Gould proceeded to explain that all the 
 time he had been reported to be guarded by police 
 officers in the Western Union building he had been 
 at his home nursing a slight cold." 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 MR. Gould's greatest enterprise. 
 
 IN the later years of Mr. Gould's life his attention 
 was more especially turned toward the telegraph, 
 for he recognized that it was becoming as important 
 to the country and was as rich a field for cultivation 
 as the railroads had been in the days when his atten- 
 tion had been entirely directed to them. It is there- 
 fore fitting that the last chapter of this volume should 
 contain somewhat of a history of the evolution of 
 the telegraph in general, and of the Western Union 
 Telegraph Company in particular. 
 
 The first thought of the boti vivant as his eye 
 twinkles through a fresh sample of his favorite wine, 
 which with dexterous thumb and finger he holds up 
 to the sunlight is " how old are you ?" " Where grew 
 the grapes that made you ?" And he is but a type 
 of an age that seems bent on tracing all things to 
 their origin, of hunting them backward to their 
 primal nest. 
 
 The more remote the seed, the further removed 
 and dimmer the dawn, the deeper and more pervad- 
 ing is the fascination. The telegraph has had just 
 such a scrutiny. It has even been suggested that 
 its origin was in Eden on some such a far-fetched 
 18 299 
 
 ai^lJi. V^ ," 
 
OQO LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 argument as this : The word which in France ex- 
 presses the English term magnetism is " aimenta- 
 tion," from the word " ainer" to love. Of course, we 
 are told in the Book of Books that there was love in 
 Eden, and the persistent arguer thinks that he can 
 trace the telegraph back by this means. 
 
 So far as we have any knowledge, the earliest 
 method of signalling, all of which have come to be 
 classed in with the general term, telegraph, were of 
 a very simple character. Among savage tribes, and 
 indeed largely among civilized nations, these signals 
 were by fires. As civilization advanced, torches, 
 flags, birds, drums, trumpets, and other modes of 
 conveying the vocabulary of signalled thought and 
 information were employed. The Indian mounds on 
 our Western prairies give evidence of having been 
 beacon bearers in years gone by. Gradually the 
 unfolding intelligence of the ages revealed itself, and 
 it became possible to spell out words and to elabor- 
 ate thought by the same comparatively primitive 
 modes of signals. Mr. Schaffner, in a very intelli- 
 gent manual on the history of telegraphy, has with 
 wonderful industry prosecuted his researches as far 
 back as 1084 B. C. He gives a remarkable illus- 
 tration of the capacity for signalling, which was the 
 telegraphy of the ancients about that time. He says 
 that the announcement of the fall of Troy at the 
 Palace of Rome was by beacon lights from Ida to 
 Lemnos; from thence to Athos, Mount of Jove; 
 thence to the watch-towers of Masistus,, Messapius, 
 
MR. GOULD'S GREATEST ENTERPRISE. ,qi 
 
 the crag of Cithaeron, and the mount ^Egiplanctus ; 
 thence to the Arachnaen Heights, and finally to the 
 roof of the Apreidse. 
 
 The first description of what is called a "tele- 
 graph," although that word belongs to modern times, 
 as it really means " writing at a distance," was a sys- 
 tem of wooden blocks of various shapes to indicate 
 letters, arranged by Dr. Hooke in 1684. A century 
 later, in 1794, three brothers named Chappe were 
 confined in schools in France, situated some distance 
 apart, yet within sight of each other. Free commu- 
 nication, under the rigorous rules of these schools, 
 was denied them. They yearned for intercourse, and 
 finally affection suggested a plan by which a pivoted 
 beam could be used to convey the signs of letters 
 by pointing it in different directions. The variety of 
 signals was enlarged by adding small movable beams 
 at the end of the main beam. In this way these 
 brothers arransfed the remarkable number of one 
 hundred and ninety-two different signals, and by cor- 
 respondence relieved the tedium of their confinement. 
 
 Curiously enough, what was thus contrived under 
 the spur of brotherly affection proved the future of 
 our modern telegraphic signals. After the release 
 of the brothers the system they had devised for com- 
 munication with each other was exhiolted to the 
 government of France and adopted as a service of 
 signals. One of the brothers Chappe became tele- 
 graphic engineer for the government. Semaphoric 
 signal houses and signals were rapidly established 
 
 fc> 
 
202 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 along the whole French coast in 1803, with Chappe 
 as manager. These were continued in use for a num- 
 ber of years till electrical discovery provided the 
 modern means for that purpose. Even in this infan- 
 tile state the telegraph began to be useful. As an 
 evidence of its value, even in the crude state in which 
 it then was, it is stated that the very first use made 
 of the Chappe signals was to announce an important 
 victory gained by the French army. This message 
 was transmitted with surprising promptness to the 
 French Convention then in session, direct from the 
 French frontier. The code of signals had been per- 
 fectly arranp-?'^ and there was no error whatever in 
 the sentenc._3 transmitted. 
 
 Just before this, in 1 795, Lord George Murray, of 
 England, had improved somewhat on Chappy's 
 original plans by using two frames in which six 
 Venetian blinds were inserted, thus adding greatly 
 to the ease in operating and translating, as well as 
 to the variety in signals. Lord Murray's system 
 was adopted by the government about the close of 
 the last century and continued in use till about 181 6. 
 
 Prussia did not adopt the system until it was 
 nearer perfection ; that was about 1832, and four 
 thousand and ninety-six complete signals could then 
 be transmitted by the system, and the service was 
 rapidly extended all over the kingdom. 
 
 In Russia all along the great arteries of travel the 
 old Semaphoric signal towers were erected for that 
 purpose and may still be seen. Over two hundred 
 
MR. GOULD'S GREATEST ENTERPRISE. ^q? 
 
 of them were erected at an enormous cost. Of 
 course the towers are no longer used but are pre- 
 served as mementos of times bygone. 
 
 General Pasley and Sir Home Copham contrived 
 modifications of the Chappe and Murray systems. 
 Jules Guyot, of France, and Treutler, of Berlin, also 
 perfected similar systems, but there was little prac- 
 tical advantage in these over the ones in use. They 
 were, however, quite ingenious inventions. 
 
 Coming down to our own country we know that 
 during the Revolutionary War one of the signals 
 employed was a flag-staff surmounted by a barrel, 
 beneath which a flag, a basket, and a lantern could 
 be so interchanged and combined that a number of 
 announcements could be in that manner communi- 
 cated. It will be remembered also how the farmers 
 of Middlesex, Essex, and Worcester on the night of 
 April 1 8th, 1775, sprang to arms to meet the foe, 
 having been aroused by Paul Revere, who having seen 
 the signal agreed upon in the North Church Tower 
 which told the movement of the British troops from 
 Boston, had started on his famous ride to warn the 
 people that " the storm had burst." 
 
 " He said to his friend, if the British march 
 
 By land or sea from the town to-night, 
 Hang a lantern in the belfry arch 
 
 Of the North Church Tower, as a signal light, 
 One, if by land ; two, if by sea ; 
 
 And I on the opposite shore will be 
 Ready to ride and spread the alarm 
 
 Through every Middlesex village and farm 
 For the country folk to be up and to arm." 
 
,Q, LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 Jonathan Grout, Jr., a Massachusetts man, filed 
 an application with the United States government 
 in 1 800 for a patent on a telegraph which he operated 
 between Boston and Martha's Vineyard, a distance 
 of about ninety miles, from hilltop to hilltop, and 
 which was sighted by the aid of telescopes. About 
 the same time a certain Christopher Colles, of New 
 York, exhibited from the top of the Custom House 
 on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays in the after- 
 noons a system which he explained as follows : 
 " Eighty-four letters can be exhibited by this machine 
 in five minutes to the distance of one telegraph sta- 
 tion averaged at ten miles, and by the same propor- 
 tion a distance of two thousand six hundred miles 
 in fifteen minutes and twenty-eight seconds." For 
 this exhibition an admittance fee of fifty cents was 
 charged. 
 
 Of course, this was nothing but an American 
 adaptation of the Semaphoric system already used 
 in Europe, but the fact that Colles worked the sig- 
 nals for a number of years between New York and 
 Sandy Hook showed that American inventive genius 
 was beginning to take hold of the subject of teleg- 
 raphy and apply it to American needs. 
 
 Perhaps there is no class of business or profes- 
 sional men to whom the telegraph to-day is more 
 valuable than the brokers and bankers. It is a curi- 
 ous circumstance that as late as 1846 signals on the 
 Murray plan, erected on high or prominent points 
 of land, were used between New York and Philadel- 
 
MR. GOULD'S GREATEST E\'TERPRISE. y>,r 
 
 phia by some enterprising street brokers, to aid them 
 in their business. They kept the matter a secret for 
 a long time, using it even after the introduction of 
 the Morse electric telegraph. Their means of in- 
 formation was for a long time a subject, of much 
 mystery to the members of the stock exchanges in 
 both cities. One of these enterprising men was the 
 famous "Bull" Bridges. He took great enjoymeut 
 in these private lines of his, and was probably the 
 first man in the country, certainly the first man in 
 Philadelphia, to take the Morse characters by sound. 
 In all ages men have resorted to signals to quicken 
 intelligence, and they have longed for something 
 better and speedier. Various expedients for en- 
 larging the vocabulary of signals have been adopted 
 by different nations and races as they were best 
 suited to the languages spoken. To the Scotchman 
 the burning brand by which the Highland chieftain 
 gathered his clans to battle as it flamed through 
 the Scottish mountain, borne by men swift of foot 
 was a most eloquent signal. The signal fires of the 
 Sioux and Blackfoot Indians curling up from the 
 mounds of our Western prairies were equal in elo- 
 quence to them. Both were only hints of a time 
 coming when an instrumentality which was to bring 
 men all over the earth side by side was also to be 
 the agency to a larger degree of universal peace 
 and of magnificent commercial and diplomatic opera- 
 tions. 
 \ Power, especially when associated with mystery, 
 
2o6 LIFE OF JAr GOULB. 
 
 has never failed to fascinate. It inspires the realm 
 of the imagination. This gives life to many of its 
 charms. It is easy to see why the subject of eU c- 
 tricity has, in all ages and among all classes, capti- 
 vated the human mind, for where it did not impel to 
 investigation it has excited curiosity. Aside from 
 this, however, electricity as a science has powers to 
 greatly stimulate and delight. Its demonstrations 
 are unique, brilliant, and startling. No branch of 
 experimental philosophy is so replete with surprise 
 and with pleasing results. It is so identified with 
 the great and sublime agencies of nature ; demon- 
 strates the possession of such mysterious power ; so 
 affects the animal frame ; so trembles through the 
 human body ; so roars through the sky ; so bounds 
 from the human finger out over the earth ; taking as 
 its path the deep "caverns of the sea and the highest 
 altitudes of the mountains, that there seems no 
 wonder that its fascination has* been absorbing and 
 complete. 
 
 Early in the seventeenth century, Dr. Gilbert, of 
 England, and still later in the same century, Boyle, 
 Guericke, Newton, Hawksby, and Dr. Wall variously 
 experimented in the rapidly dawning science, and 
 very important facts became known. Gilbert noted 
 the influence of dry north and east winds in pro- 
 ducing rapid electrical excitement under friction. 
 Guericke constructed an electrical machine which 
 became the basis of the discovery of electric lights. 
 He also discovered that when pnce a light body was 
 
MJi. GOULD'S GKEATEST ENTERPRISE. ,07 
 
 attracted by an electric body it was also repelled by 
 it, and was incapable of a second attraction until it 
 had been touched by some other body. Newton 
 substituted glass for sulphur, and showed that elec- 
 tricity could be excited on the side of the glass 
 opposite to the side which had been rubbed. Wall, 
 curiously enough, speaks of thunder and lightning- 
 as suggested by the sounds, and light produced by 
 the friction of amber. The seventeenth century, 
 however, concluded with comparatively little definite 
 knowledge on electrical subjects, but with very widely 
 awakened interest therein. 
 
 With the eighteenth century came Stephen Gray, 
 a man of wonderfully clear head and indomitable 
 perseverance, who bent his whole mind to the dis- 
 covery of the nature and powers of the new agents 
 which appear to have dawned somewhat definitely 
 on the scientific world. He found, after a variety 
 of experiments, that electricity was easily produc- 
 able from a vast variety of objects ; by the friction 
 of feathers, of hair, of silk, linen, paper, and other 
 substances. He found, also, that electricity com- 
 municated itself to bodies incapable of excitement 
 at distances of several hundred feet. He next 
 proved the conducting power of fluids and of the 
 human body ; he also proved, by a series of very 
 interesting experiments, the important fact that elec- 
 trical attraction was not proportioned to the mass of 
 matter in a body but to the extent of its surface. 
 He then discovered the insulating qualities of silk, 
 
,Qg LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 hair, glass, and other substances, and he discovered 
 the fact of induction, although he seems to have 
 been unable to explain it. Stephen Gray, therefore, 
 made the first grand advance in definite electrical 
 knowledge, and the rudimentary facts which he well 
 established were sugfofestive and valuable, and fur- 
 nished the most important basis for further observa- 
 tion and experiment. 
 
 Dufaye, a man possessed of Gray's perseverance, 
 and blessed with a mind of greater analytic power 
 and sagacity, discovered, about the middle of the 
 eighteenth century, that electricity had two distinct 
 forms or modes of development ; namely vitreous and 
 resinous, and by other experiments took close glance 
 into the laboratory of nature. About this time a 
 curious discovery was made: it was found that 
 bodies quickly lose their electrical virtue when ex- 
 posed to the atmosphere. An attempt was therefore 
 made to surround them with an insulating substance ; 
 water contained in a glass bottle was accordingly 
 electrified, but nothing remarkable followed this 
 until the holder of the bottle attempted to disengage 
 the wire connected with the prime conductor, then 
 gready to his alarm and to the amusement of his 
 friends, he received a genuine electric shock of no 
 gentle kind. He was indeed seriously alarmed, and 
 describing the effect produced upon him by one of 
 his experiments, Munschenbroek, the shocked phil- 
 osopher, says that he felt himself struck on his arms, 
 shoulders, and breast so that he lost his breath and 
 
MR. GOULD'S GREATEST ENTERPRISE. ,Qg 
 
 it was two days before he recovered from the blow 
 and the terror. 
 
 So thoroughly astonished an 4 frightened was he that 
 he declared he would not take another for the king- 
 dom of France. A genius by the name of Boze, 
 however, whose desire to be famous, or perhaps to 
 subserve France seemed to have been stronger than 
 the love of life ardendy desired to be killed by elec- 
 tric shock, so that his demise might furnish the subject 
 of an article for the memoirs of the French Academy 
 of Science. History does not inform us that he was 
 crratified in his unselfish wish, althougfh others at a 
 later date, much against their expectations and 
 wishes, have suffered as he desired to suffer. 
 
 The effect of the shocks received by different par- 
 ties at this time was amusingly magnified on every 
 hand, and connected the subject of electricity in 
 many minds with a diabolical agency. These ex- 
 periments were the result of the discovery of the 
 Leyden jar by Von Kleist, Cuneus, and Muschen- 
 broek, although the first named seemed best entitled 
 to the credit. 
 
 The most important record of this period in the 
 history of an experiment adjusted to the rapid ad- 
 vance which had been made in electrical inquiry and 
 which excites surprise that its employment in teleg- 
 raphy, which is so clearly foreshadowed, has been 
 so long- withheld from the world. 
 
 In making experiments with the Leyden electrical 
 -phial Wilson of Dublin described what is known as 
 
 m.,. 
 
,jO LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 the lateral shock. He had observed that a person 
 standing near the circuit throuf^h which the shock is 
 transmitted would sustain a shock if he were only in 
 contact with or even placed very near any part of the 
 circuit. This immediately, ot course, started inquiry 
 as to how far the sliock could be transmitted, and 
 very numerous experiments were made to determine 
 the matter. Herrick has said, " Nothing is so hard 
 but search will find it out." The series of investi- 
 gations in electrical and telegraphic matters have 
 proven how true a saying was that of Herrick's. 
 
 Dr. Watson of England took a prominent part in 
 the investigation to which the inquiries following the 
 discoveries of Wilson lead. In July, 1747, he suc- 
 ceeded in conveying an electrical charge across the 
 river Thames at Westminister Bridge ; a few days 
 afterward he caused it to make a circuit of two miles 
 at the New River at Stoke-Newington. In August 
 of the same year he sent it over a circuit of four 
 miles. Two miles of the distance were of wire and 
 two of dry ground. He proved also that the pas- 
 sage of electrical matter through 12,276 feet of wire 
 was instantaneous. Here was a vast step taken 
 almost a century before a practical telegraph was 
 perfected and put into public use. It was just at 
 this interesting juncture that America first stepped 
 into the arena of European philosophical investiga- 
 tion under the keen leadership of our renowned 
 and revered Benjamin Franklin. 
 
 In 1747. Mr. Peter Colllnson, a fellow of the 
 
MX. GOULD'S GREATEST ENTERPRISE. ^jj 
 
 Royal Society of London, in a communication to the 
 literary society of Piiiladelphia, gave tlie earliest 
 impetus wortliy of note to electrical jnquiry in the 
 United States. It stirred Benjamin Franklin to a 
 series of experiments and to a correspondence with 
 the scientists of Europe which at once evoked 
 universal admiration. Perhaps nothing was ever 
 written on the subject of electricity which was more 
 generally read and admired. It is not easy to say 
 whether the people of that time were most pleased 
 with the simplicity and versatility with which the 
 letters were written, the modesty with which the 
 author proposed every hypothesis of his own, or the 
 noble frankness with which he related his mistakes 
 when th,ey were corrected by subsequent experi- 
 ments. 
 
 The part taken by Franklin in electrical discovery 
 and discussion was in truth a genuine surprise to 
 the scientific world. Nothing had been expected 
 from the " new land beyond the sea," where the 
 Indian was still generally supposed to be master, 
 and the tomahawk the emblem of the law; and thus 
 it happened that when with acute and rigorous 
 analysis, with delightful humor, and with exhaustive 
 experiment, in language most lucid, terse, and simple 
 our great Franklin modestly questioned the correct- 
 ness of existing theories then held by the foremost 
 thinkers of the world, and entered with bold yet 
 modest adroitness' into the field of electrical dis- 
 covery and made those brilliant experiments which 
 
 iL.. 
 
, J 2 LIFE OF JA Y GOULD. 
 
 Still cling to his name, Europe was forced to make 
 her first bow to the young empire, and felt the first 
 token of its, coming influence on the world of 
 civilization. 
 
 Franklin claimed the existence of but one electric 
 fluid so called ; his idea was that all bodies in their 
 natural state were charged with a certain quantity 
 of electricity. In each body the quantity is of defi- 
 nite amount. Some have it in excess and in a con- 
 dition to impart it readily to other bodies having 
 less, and which are in a condition to receive it. 
 Franklin applied this principle to the Leyden jar ; 
 the inner coating of tin foil being charged with more 
 than its natural quantity of electricity was regarded 
 as positively electrified. The outer coating having 
 its ordinary quantity reduced was named the nega- 
 tively electrified. The discharge was made by a 
 conductor connecting the two. He showed that a 
 series of jars may all be charged at once by suspend- 
 ing them on the prime conductor. With jars thus , 
 charged he constructed a battery by separating them, 
 and then putting their insides and outsides in me- 
 tallic connection. There seems to be in this inge- 
 nious and sug-grestive arrangement the first outline 
 of our modern batteries. 
 
 In 1749 Franklin proved the identity of lightning 
 and electricity. He said : " The electric spark is 
 zig-zag and not straight ; so is lightning. Pointed 
 bodies attract electricity ; lightning strikes moun- 
 tains, trees, spires, masts, and chimneys. Electricity » 
 
MR. GOULD'S GREATEST ENTERPRISE. ^j, 
 
 chooses the best conductor ; so does lightning." Of 
 course, it will be remembered that these remarks of 
 his were made in 1749, and his hypothesis was 
 established in 1752 by his famous kite experiment. 
 
 There was one sentence in his letter to European 
 scientists describing this famous experiment which 
 opened the eyes of the world wider than they had 
 been for many years. It was as follows: "When 
 a gun-bari-el, in electrical experiments, has but little 
 electrical fire in it, you must approach it very near 
 with your knuckle before you can draw a spark. 
 Give it more fire, and you can draw a spark at 
 greater distance. Two gun-barrels united and as 
 highly electrified will give a spark at still greater 
 distance. But, if two gun-barrels electrified will 
 strike at two inches distance and make a loud snap, 
 at what a great distance may ten thousand acres of 
 electrified cloud strike and give its fire, and how 
 loud must be that crack ?" 
 
 After the kite experiment, which led lightning by 
 a hemp cord from the sky, Franklin raised a metallic 
 rod from one end of his house, the first lightning 
 rod ever known. To this he attached a chime of 
 bells, which gave notice of atmospheric change. He 
 now conceived the idea of protecting buildings from 
 lightning, and made possible the much (and often 
 justly) maligned lightning-rod man by inventing 
 something that seemed to the people of that time to 
 be more important than any telegraphic system — 
 that is, the lightning-rod. 
 
2 I A LIFE OF J A Y GOULD. 
 
 Later Franklin's experiments took more of the 
 nature of applying electricity in other than tele- 
 graphic channels, but among his achievements not 
 already mentioned was the transmission of a strong 
 electric current across the Schuylkill River near 
 Philadelphia in 1748. 
 
 For nearly half a century after the experiments of 
 Franklin no American record appears of any im- 
 portant advance in the realm of electrical adapta- 
 tions to practical ends until 1810, when Dr. John 
 Redman Coxe, of Philadelphia, proposed the signal 
 telegraph, using the electrical currents of the re- 
 cently discovered Voltaic pile to produce electrical 
 decompositions at the end of wire conductors evolv- 
 ing visible gas as signals of letters, and for which he 
 employed thirty-six wires. This was slow and 
 cumbrous, and practically came to nothing, although 
 in justice it must be said that a practical test was 
 not given the system. 
 
 No striking advance, it will be seen, had been 
 made in this country, but master minds were at 
 work on the mighty problem in Europe. The 
 reader is perhaps familiar with Volta's splendid 
 discovery of the battery which placed in the hands 
 of scientists the promise of ability to hold in bridle 
 electric currents, and to prolong them. In 18 10 the 
 precise thought, out of which grew the modern tele- 
 graph, was uttered in the ears of its subsequent 
 inventor by Jeremiah Day, Professor of Natural 
 Philosophy in Yale College. Day's lectures at that 
 
COMMODORE VANDERBILT. 
 
MR. GOULD'S GREA TES T ENTERPRISE. , j » 
 
 date were remarkably accurate, and are justly re- 
 nowned in history for the maturity of the knowledge 
 of electrical matter they display. Contemporaneous 
 with Dr. Day was a man whose name, by reason of 
 his rich contributions to science, was almost equally . 
 renowned to the whole world of learning and science. 
 This was Professor Benjamin Silliman. In company 
 with Dr. Day, he was fully up with the latest and 
 most advanced thoughts on physical and electrical 
 phenomena, to which he gave exhaustive prominence 
 in his college discourses. 
 
 In 1827 electrical matters began to assume a 
 shape more definite in the public mind. A prac- 
 tical demonstration of the theories which had been 
 expounded in scientific journals and in college dis- 
 courses, assumed practical shape in the form of a 
 line of telegraph two miles in length on a race 
 course on Long Island Sound. Mr. Harrison G. 
 Dyar erected this line of telegraph and made him- 
 self more or .less famous through his work. But he 
 used what is known as frictional electricity, which is 
 at the best, fitful, easily affected by the weather, and 
 unreliable. On a damp day the horses running on 
 the race course were much more liable to get to the 
 end of the two miles than was the message over the 
 wire. Yet Mr. Dyar stood on the threshold of suc- 
 cess. Had a Daniell battery been known at that 
 time, he would have undoubtedly made use of it, and 
 he might have anticipated Morse and have worn his 
 laurels. But the knowledge requisite to the perfect 
 
 19 
 
,jg LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 telegraphic system which we have to-day was to come 
 through Henry and Morse. 
 
 One year later, in 1828, another one of the suc- 
 cessive important steps in the development of teleg- 
 raphy, respecting which invention seems to have 
 thoroughly aroused herself, was by the distinguished 
 secretary of the Smithsonian Institute, Professor 
 Joseph Henry. The inventions and discoveries of 
 this profound thinker were too intricate to be de- 
 scribed here. He stood on the very verge of one 
 of the greatest inventions in the history of the world, 
 but his success could not be perfect until other 
 links in the chain were supplied by other minds. 
 Although Morse was the inventor of the telegraph, 
 grateful recognition must be accorded Dyar and 
 Professor Henry, for their experiments and adapta- 
 tions left the best possible conditions for the final 
 invention and perfection of our present system. 
 
 With the year 1837 the subject of electric tele- 
 graphs seems to have burst upon public attention in 
 America and in Europe as well, and everywhere 
 awakened a deep interest. Two Frenchman, Gonon 
 and Servall, who announced publicly the possession 
 of the system of telegraphy adapted for public use 
 attracted the attention of capitalists in this country, 
 but their system proved to be only a modification of 
 Chappe's Semaphoric telegraph before referred to. 
 Congress was invoked to aid in the erection of a 
 telegraph on this system, but our own grand thinker. 
 Professor Morse, began to have his apprehensions 
 
 M 
 
MX. GOULD'S GREATEST ENTERPRISE. ^i(j^ 
 
 awakened, for he felt sure of ultimate success and 
 did not mean to have the honor of establishing the 
 first practical telegraph in his beloved country rele- 
 gated to foreigners. He began to devote himself 
 more assiduously than ever to the perfection of his 
 instrument. In the meantime Professor Morse was 
 approached by speculators, who it is believed in- 
 tended to establish another form of the public 
 lotteries which was rampant at that time, for the 
 construction of a private telegraph line two hundred 
 miles in length ; they were quick-witted men and 
 would have been just the ones to bring out the in- 
 vention had their motives been more honest and 
 sincere for the good of the people. But Morse wa;; 
 not ready at this time to give out his invention in its 
 imperfect state, and it is well in the light of subse- 
 quent events that he was not. 
 
 It is certainly just to allow an inventor to tell his 
 own story. Morse had to do that very often, but 
 not half so frequently as it has been attempted, and 
 unsuccessfully attempted, for him. The best out- 
 line of his invention which Morse; gave was in a 
 paper to the International Exposition at Paris in 
 1868 ; considerably abbreviated it is as follows : he 
 said, " My aim at the outset was simplicity of means 
 as well as of results, hence I devised the single cir- 
 cuit of conductors from some generator of electricity. 
 I planned a system of signs consisting of dots or 
 points and spaces to represent numerals and two 
 modes of causing the electricity to mark or imprint 
 
,2o LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 these signs upon a strip or ribbon of paper. One 
 was by chemical decomposition of salt which should 
 discolor the paper ; the other was by chemical action 
 of the electro magnet operating upon the paper by 
 a lever charged at one extremity with a pen or pencil. 
 I conceived the plan of moving the paper ribbon at 
 a regular rate by means of clock-work machinery 
 to receive the signs ; these processes as well as the 
 mathematically calculated signs devised for and 
 adapted for recording were sketched in my sketch 
 book. I also drew in my sketch book modes of 
 interring the conductors in tubes in the earth, and 
 planned and drew out the method upon posts." 
 This was the general condition of the invention 
 when Professor Morse arrived in New York from a 
 trip abroad on the 15th of November, 1832. 
 
 Morse turned his attention to recording electrical 
 phenomena and making observations and experi- 
 ments with the object in view of perfecting the 
 system of recording messages at a great distance. 
 He turned his attention entirely, or at least almost 
 entirely, from static electricity to dynamic electricity. 
 He says, " The nearest approach to simplicity in 
 recording at distances seemed to be the passing of 
 chemically-prepared papers between two broken 
 parts of a circuit so that the electricity should pass 
 through the moistened paper or cloth ; this would 
 mark the point or dart when the circuit was closed, 
 and by rapid closing and opening of the circuit 
 while the paper was moved regularly forward points 
 
MR. GOULD'S GREATEST ENTERPRISE. ,31 
 
 or dots in any required groups could be made at 
 will." 
 
 He originally intended only to indicate words and 
 sentences by numbers. It was a desideratum to 
 arrange the ten digits to be represented by dots or 
 points within as small a space as possible. The 
 first and most obvious mode seemed to be the 
 following : 
 
 etc. 
 
 It did not take long for Professor Morse to discover 
 that after about five or six dots or points the num- 
 ber of dots became inconveniently numerous in 
 indicating the larger digits, and it occurred to him 
 that by extending the spaces appropriated to the 
 five larger digits, giving them greater space value 
 than was possessed by the five smaller digits, he 
 might reduce the number of dots necessary to indi- 
 cate any of the ten digits within five dots. This 
 was the basis of the present perfected system of 
 telegraphy. It would be uninteresting to the lay 
 reader to follow up in minute detail the elaboration 
 of this scheme. From 1832 to 1838 Morse was 
 busily engaged perfecting his invention. As the 
 old line goes, " 'Tis not for mortals to command 
 success but to deserve it." And so even Morse, the 
 profound thinker, the erudite scholar, found obsta- 
 cles in the way of success. 
 21 
 
,22 LI^^ OF JAY GO ULD. 
 
 However, he thoroughly completed his recording 
 machinery on the threshold of the new year, 1838. 
 
 On invitation of the President, his system was 
 successfully exhibited in the presence of himself 
 and the Cabinet, on the 21st of February that year, 
 and elicited gratified interest and warmest praise. 
 As was before said, he might, in the year previous, 
 have had private telegraph lines erected to serve 
 the purpose of a lottery company, but he had higher 
 aspirations than that. He determined to ask Con- 
 gress for aid to make a thorough public exhibition 
 of the capacity of his system on an actual line of 
 such length as to make it a positive proof of what 
 might be accomplished by his invention. He re- 
 ceived no littlq encouragement from individuals in 
 this endeavor. Congress was asked to furnish the 
 means to erect an experimental line to prove its 
 value. Morse had some idea and hope of selling 
 his invention to the Government. The officials of 
 the Government were not at all sure that they 
 wanted to saddle such a burden upon themselves. 
 Later, when Mr. Gould had a controlling interest in 
 that gigantic enterprise, the Western Union Tele- 
 graph Company, there was no small agitation in 
 fivor of the Government buying the corporation. 
 In 1843, just five years to the day from the time 
 that a successful exhibition of the method had been 
 given to the President and his Cabinet, a bill was 
 offered before the House of Representatives, by 
 Hon. John P. Kennedy, appropriating ^30,000 to be 
 
MR. GOULD'S GREATEST ENTERPRISE. ^2% 
 
 expended under the direction of the Secretary of 
 the Treasury in a series of experiments to test the 
 expediency of the telegraph projected by Professor 
 Morse. 
 
 Morse sat in the gallery during the discussion 
 which followed, quiet, but intensely anxious; the 
 crisis of his life had come. His invention was in 
 the hands of the nation's representatives. If the 
 members of that Congress could only have antici- 
 pated the wonderful events which transpired during 
 the next twenty-five years, how ready, how enthu- 
 siastic, would have been the response to that bill, 
 and how different would have been the vote on it ! 
 While Professor Morse and his system received the 
 hearty co-operation of a few men who were more 
 advanced than their fellows, they were at rfie same 
 time the subjects of no little ridicule on the part of 
 others. The debate was sharp, the attacks on the 
 invention and the inventor were cruel, but victory 
 was at hand, even though it was not a brilliant one. 
 The vote was finally taken on the 23d of February, 
 and resulted in ninety for and eighty-two against 
 the passage of the bill. New York and Pennsyl- 
 vania, which have benefited more by the telegraph 
 than any of the other States, it may be remarked, 
 cast the highest number of votes in favor of passing 
 the bill. So far, success seemed to be dawning, but 
 the bill, it must be remembered, had only passed 
 the House of Representatives, and the crucial test 
 still remained to be made, for the Senate must yet act 
 
,24 LJFa OF JAY GOULB. 
 
 on the bill. The Senate was inclined to procrastinate, 
 and it seemed as if the bill was doomed to failure. 
 Morse was a constant attendant on the sessions of 
 the Senate, and on the day of the last session, when 
 but two hours intervened before the final adjourn- 
 ment, one of the Senators, who was a friend of 
 Morse's, came to him and said : " I advise you to 
 go home, and think no more of your invention." 
 He took the advice, went to his hotel, and, with 
 what little money he had remaining, paid his bill 
 and purchased a ticket for New York. His heart 
 v/as heavy, but he was a trusting. Christian man. 
 He felt that he had done all that he could to place 
 before the world an invention, which he knew needed 
 only a trial to prove its success, an invention which 
 meant more rapid advancement for his country and 
 the world than had been made because of any pre- 
 vious invention. He knelt, poured out his over- 
 burdened heart in prayer, and laid down to the peace- 
 ful sleep of one who is conscious of having done his 
 duty. 
 
 Next morning, refreshed by rest yet grave and 
 thoughtful, he came down from his room, wondering 
 how the thirty-seven cents in his pocket was to pay 
 for his meals for that day and his lodging for another 
 night. While seated at the table partaking of an 
 humble meal, a visitor was announced. It was Miss 
 Annie G. Ellsworth, the daughter of the Commis- 
 sioner of Patents. She grasped him by the hand, 
 exclaiming in a voice full of unconcealed joy, " Pro- 
 
AT/?. GOULD'S GREATEST ENTERPRISE. ^^r 
 
 fessor, I have come on purpose to congratulate 
 you." 
 
 " Congratulate me, for what, my dear friend, can 
 you offer me congratulations." 
 
 " Why," she exclaimed, gayly, as she enjoyed the 
 Professor's wondering surprise, who was not at the 
 time really in the fittest mood for pleasantries, " on 
 the passage of your bill. The Senate last night 
 voted you your ^30,000." She then informed 
 him that her father remained in the Senate until 
 the close of the session and that in the very 
 closing moments, the Telegraph Bill, to his great 
 surprise and delight, was passed without division or 
 debate. On reaching home he had communicated 
 the news to his family, all whom were greatly at- 
 tached to the Professor, and his daughter begged 
 the favor of being allowed to impart the good news. 
 
 Had Morse lived in the days of the Western 
 Union Telegraph Co., in its present perfection of 
 operation, and had his invention been of another 
 character, a dispatch announcing the passage of the 
 bill by the Senate would have reached his hotel in 
 New York before he arrived there on the train. As 
 it was, the instinctive impulse of a warm-hearted 
 woman led her to be the first to communicate the 
 grand news to the disheartened inventor. 
 
 So overcome was Morse at the good news that 
 for a time he could not speak. His first words 
 were : "Annie, you are the first to inform me of this 
 great event, which means so much for me and our 
 country. I was until now utterly unconscious of the 
 
,26 ^^^^^ OF JAY GO ULD. 
 
 fact, and now I am going to make you a promise. 
 When the line is completed, the first dispatch sent 
 upon it from Washington to Baltimore shall be 
 yours." 
 
 "Well," she replied, "I will hold you to your 
 promise." 
 
 Morse now arranged for the construction of the 
 line. The Government allowed him a salary of 
 $2,500 per year during the test. Unfortunately, his 
 mind seemed prepossessed in favor of underground 
 lines. They gave to him the general impression of 
 safety and permanence, and unlike his usual cau- 
 tiousness, he adopted this method without experi- 
 ment. A cable was laid from Baltimore to a point 
 some seven miles distant, but a test of it proved that 
 its abandonment was an immediate necessity. More 
 than half of the appropriation of $30,000 had been 
 spent. Another dark hour had come. Morse's 
 mind was fearfully agitated at the result of his 
 error, but he bravely set to work to place the wire 
 upon poles, and the line between Baltimore and 
 Washington was finished in that way. 
 
 Morse was not an apt mechanic and was conse- 
 quently dependent even in his grandest conceptions 
 upon others. He knew what he wanted, and his 
 conceptions of his wants were perfectly practical, but 
 it was laborious for him to adapt mechanisms to his 
 conceptions. Hence, the great value to him of men 
 like Alfred Vail and Ezra Cornell, who had becom^ 
 associated with him, will be readily seen. 
 
MJt. GOULUS GREATEST ENTERPRISE. ,37 
 
 In about a year after the passage of the bill the 
 line was completed, and the first office in Washington 
 was in a small room on the East front of the Capitol 
 and afterward in a room over the City Post Office. 
 True to the promise he had made to his friend, Miss 
 Ellsworth, Professor Morse now sent for her. She 
 was invited to give a message for transmission. This 
 was promptly done in language which has become 
 historic, and which expressed just what the inventor 
 himself would have suggested. It was " What Hath 
 God Wrought?" 
 
 The message was at once sent successfully over 
 the wires, and the strip of paper on which it was im- 
 printed was claimed by the Governor of Connec- 
 ticut in honor of the lady, who was a native of his 
 State, and of the inventor who received therein his 
 collegiate education. 
 
 The first use to which the Chappe semaphoric 
 telegraph system had been put in France after its 
 adoption by the Government had been to transmit 
 an important message from the French frontier to 
 the Capitol city, and it immediately aroused univer- 
 sal interest. Just so one of the first messages sent 
 over Morse's line from Baltimore to Washington, 
 after the word sent by Miss Ellsworth, brought the 
 telegraph into instant public recognition in this 
 country. The National Convention to nominate a 
 President was in session in Baltimore. James K. 
 Polk had been nominated President and Silas 
 Wright, then in the Senate and in Washington, was 
 
128 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 named for the Vice-Presidency. Mr. Vail, one of 
 Morse's assistants, communicated tliis over tlie wires 
 to Morse at Washington, who immediately told Mr. 
 Wright. In a few moments the Convention was as- 
 tounded to receive a message from Mr. Wright 
 respectfully declining the nomination. The presid- 
 ing officer read the dispatch and he refused to be- 
 lieve its authenticity, but adjourned to wait the re- 
 port of a committee sent to Washington to confer 
 with Mr. Wright. The committee confirmed the 
 telegraphic message. This led to a conference be- 
 tween the committee and Mr. Wright over the 
 v^ires. The fact was, of course, soon known, and 
 the fame of the telegraph was established forever in 
 the country. 
 
 It is related about this time a distinguished 
 functionary asked an assistant how large a bundle 
 could be sent over the wires, and if the United States 
 mail could not be sent that way, and a noted wag 
 of the time straddled a pair of begrimed boots 
 over the wire and then told his friends, as he 
 pointed to them, how they had become so spoiled 
 in his rapid flight over the wire from Baltimore to 
 Washington. 
 
 On April ist, 1845, the line which had been 
 worked as a curiosity and experiment was opened 
 for public use. The Postmaster-General, who had 
 control of the telegraph, fixed the tariff at one cent 
 for every four characters. During the first four 
 d,ays the receipts of the company amounted to just 
 
MR. GOULD'S GREATEST ENTERPRISE. ,2(1 
 
 one cent. What a contrast to the receipts of the 
 company in which Mr. Gould has left millions of 
 dollars invested ! On the fifth day 1 2]/^ cents was 
 received. The sixth day was the Sabbath. On the 
 seventh the receipts ran up to 60 cents ; on the 
 eighth day to $1.32; on the ninth day there was 
 $1.04 — not a very dazzling prospect. But watchful 
 eyes and keen minds saw the value of the system. 
 It is recorded that at about this time a certain 
 good dame, whose idea of discipline was somewhat 
 stern and fundamental, after surveying a pole re- 
 cently erected near her door, placing her hand.-^ 
 on her haunches, exclaimed somewhat bitterly : 
 " Now, I suppose no one can spank their brats 
 without it's being known all over creation." 
 
 The telegraph was now fairly started, and it spoke; 
 for itself with no uncertain tongue. Professoc 
 Morse offered it to the Government for $100,000, 
 The offer was refused upon the ground that th<! 
 operations between Baltimore and Washington had, 
 not proved that lines of telegraph could be success- 
 fully operated on a paying basis. It was a fortunate 
 fact for the inventor, for the country, and for other 
 nations that the American Government did not take 
 up Morse's offer. From this time on the American 
 telegraph improved with great rapidity, and the 
 inventor had the satisfaction of seeino-, long before 
 his death, his system acknowledged and in use in all 
 parts of the world. The alphabet used in the Morse 
 system is wonderful in its simplicity and availability. 
 
^-,Q LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 It can be used by sight, by sound, by touch, by taste, 
 by sense of feeling. Men can wink it with their 
 eyes, can beat it with their feet, and dying men 
 have used it to speak when vocal organs and 
 strength to write were exhausted. The prisoner 
 can tap it on the wall or grating of his dungeon. 
 Lovers in distant rooms can converse by it on the 
 gas pipe. Its uses are endless. It is a universal 
 language for the world. The telegraph was the 
 offspring of a century of thought. It was the finest 
 and grandest gift of the human brain, and Professor 
 Samuel B. F. Morse had the great honor to lead it 
 forth for the admiration and use of mankind. 
 
 The Government having refused Morse's offer to 
 sell his invention, it was at once determined to pre- 
 sent it to the public and to endeavor to enlist private 
 capital in its development. In 1843 Professor Morse 
 engaged Hon. Amos Kendall, of Washington, as 
 his agent for the purpose of securing capital. Mr. 
 Kendall is well known in American history. He was 
 General Jackson's Postmaster-General, and was an 
 incorruptible, able, clear-headed, methodical, and 
 ingenious lawyer of fine education ; but he lacked 
 the bonhomie which in those days seemed necessary 
 to any great business success in the seaboard cities. 
 
 Commerce between New York and Philadelphia 
 has always been large and the intercourse by tele- 
 graph it was presumed would be proportionately 
 large and valuable alike to the country and those 
 making use of its wires. It was, therefore, thought 
 
MR. GOULD'S GREATEST ENTERPRISE- ,,, 
 
 best to attempt construction of telegraphic lines 
 between the two cities first, and Mr. Kendall took 
 steps to organize a company for that purpose, re- 
 questing only capital enough for the probable cost 
 of construction. To aid in securing capital Mr. 
 Ezra Cornell and Mr. O. S. Wood went to New 
 York to exhibit the Morse machinery upon an ex- 
 perimental line strung over housetops in New York 
 city. Such violent opposition was developed that it 
 was found necessary to pay Professor Silliman, 
 before mentioned, ^50 for an opinion as to safety 
 of stringing wires on insulators over the housetops. 
 A great mistake was made right here. An office 
 was secured at 112 Broadway, almost within shadovir 
 of the present fine offices of the Western Union 
 Telegraph Company, and the instruments werti 
 arranged in such a position that a large number of 
 spectators might witness the receipt of messages to 
 be sent from another office which had been set up 
 in another portion of the city. An admission fee of 
 twenty-five cents was charged to see the invention 
 operated, but there were not visitors enough to pay 
 the expenses of the exhibit. Everything seemed to 
 trend toward poverty and ultimate failure. The 
 men interested in the venture were almost ready to 
 accept charity as a means of keeping body and soul 
 together. The princely founder of Cornell Uni- 
 versity was at that time glad to make his breakfast 
 on what he could purchase with a shilling picked up 
 from the sidewalk on Broadway, He afterward 
 
, , 2 I-IP^ OF JA Y GOULD. 
 
 said this was really one of the most sumptuous meals 
 that it was ever his pleasure to partake of. 
 
 Fifteen thousand dollars was needed to erect a 
 telegraph line from Fort Lee to Philadelphia, and 
 capitalists were importuned to furnish the money 
 necessary for the venture. They carefully and 
 searchingly scrutinized the aspect of affairs from the 
 poverty-stricken inventor and his assistants to the 
 ticking instrument which they by no means compre- 
 hended and the straggling wire running from the 
 humble and ill-furnished office to the housetops of 
 the city, and refused to have anything further to do 
 with it. But, if capitalists were not willing to invest in 
 the enterprise, shrewder men of smaller means were 
 ready to embrace what they knew must soon be 
 recognized an absolute essential to the successful 
 operations of commerce. One of the first men who 
 started the subscription list of $15,000 was the pro- 
 prietor of a small eating house in Nassau Street, in 
 which a meal could be obtained for fifteen cents. 
 
 It was provided in this original subscription that ' 
 the payment of $50 should entitle a subscriber 
 to two shares at $50 each ; therefore, when 
 $15,000 had been subscribed, $30,000 of stock had 
 been issued. To the patentees $30,000 of stock 
 was issued in exchange for their invention, thus the 
 capital was in total $60,000. Messrs. W. W. Cor- 
 coran and B. B. French were made trustees to hold 
 the patent rights and property, and an act of incor- 
 poration was granted by the Legislature of the State 
 
 ..iMJ 
 
MR. GOULD'S GREATEST ENTERPRISE. -,,,- 
 
 of Maryland, which was the first Telegraphic Char- 
 ter issued in the United States. In it the incorpora- 
 tors were named as follows : — S. F. B. Morse, D. B. 
 French, George C. Penniman, Henry J. Rogers, 
 John S. McKim, J. R. Trimble, W. M. Swain, John 
 O. Sternes, A. Sydney Doane, and associates under 
 the title of the Magnetic Telegraph Co. 
 
 The telegraph now started on its wondrous career 
 in this country, let us turn to the inventor and note 
 some of the environments which seemed to have 
 molding influence on his life, the faculties which 
 earliest developed, his instincts and companionships, 
 and his labors and researches. 
 
 Character not infrequently runs through genera- 
 tions of men like a golden cord, and is as marked as 
 the whiteness of a dove or the blackness of a raven's 
 wing. Such is the influence of a noble origin, for 
 "blood is thicker than water," and "blood will tell." 
 There is a chivalry in the blood of some families 
 which beams and scintillates down through the ages. 
 Among the great blessings which come to men in 
 this world, and the stimulant to action and endeavor, 
 which is the highest valued and the most important, 
 is an unsullied and honorable descent. There is a 
 proper curiosity to know the possible influences 
 which produced a man whom fame and fortune de- 
 lighted to favor, and the benefit of whose brain work 
 can never properly be estimated. 
 
 The Morse family were of English origin. His 
 long line of ancestors were not distinguished as 
 
 21 
 
,,5 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 nobles, or as royal families, but as men and women 
 of courage, enterprise, and integrity. Morse's 
 mother's name was Breese. She was born in New 
 York, not a stone's throw from where the first tele- 
 graph office, made possible by the inventions of her 
 illustrious son, was opened in that city. Among her 
 ancestors might be named one of the Presidents of 
 Princeton College, Samuel Finley, and other men of 
 great ability and extensive learning. She was a 
 woman of superior character, and beyond doubt the 
 inventor inherited from her his calm judiciousness 
 and his faculty for cautious reflection. From such 
 a stock sprang Samuel Finley Breese Morse, who 
 first saw the light of day at Charleston, Mass., April 
 27th, 1 791. This place was about a mile from where 
 Benjamin Franklin had been born and Morse's 
 birth occurred about a year after Franklin's death. 
 Morse began his education in his fourth year. 
 His first instructor was an old and crippled lady of 
 frail body but sound mind. Although she could not 
 walk about the school-room she had a long rattan 
 which answered in place of locomotion, and young 
 Morse often felt that rod suddenly descend upon his 
 head in punishment for some act prohibited in the 
 school-room. An especially severe blow was re- 
 ceived one day when it was found that he had 
 scratched with a pin a likeness of his venerable 
 teacher on a chest of drawers. Three years later 
 he entered the preparatory school at Andover, and 
 was known as a conscientious, persevering student. 
 
MR. GOULD'S GREATEST ENTERPRISE. ,,5 
 
 That grand book, Plutarch's Lives of Illustrious 
 Men, which has done so- much to lure budding 
 geniuses on in the path of endeavor, was one of 
 Morse's constant companions. He read it and re- 
 flected over its contents, and it seemed to touch his 
 ambition and inspire him with a desire to do some- 
 thing noble. At thirteen years he" wrote the Life 
 of Demosthenes, which was not published, but which 
 is preserved by his descendants in the original 
 manuscript. One year later he entered the Fresh- 
 man Class of Yale College. 
 
 It was at this famous institution of learning that 
 Professor Day, before mentioned, first instilled into 
 the young inventor's mind the rudamentary princi- 
 ples, as well as some of the more elaborate facts, of 
 that most charming science, electricity. 
 
 At that time it seemed questionable whether the 
 aesthetic side of his nature or the inventive should 
 have sway. He was about as much inclined toward 
 nature, painting, and sketching as toward inventive 
 research. The famous lecture of Professor Day had 
 a wonderful effect on Morse's mind. He says of 
 that lecture: "The fact that the presence of elec- 
 tricity can be made visible in any part of the circuit 
 was the crude seed which took root in my mind and 
 grew into form and finally ripened into the invention 
 of the telegraph." About this time Morse formed 
 some especially advantageous friendships with men 
 as much interested in science in general, and elec- 
 tricity in particular, as he was himself. They have 
 
5 I g LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 described him as a youth of remarkable personal 
 beauty, of very attractive manners, of most enthusi- 
 astic temperament, of pure heart and blameless life. 
 They have commented on his ardent patriotism, and 
 have said that it knew no bounds and sometimes 
 even endangered his personal safety. It was this 
 patriotism that developed later into the refusal of an 
 offer to sell his invention to a lottery company for 
 what was then a handsome sum. He had deter- 
 mined that the Government should profit by his 
 work, or, at least, should have the first opportunity 
 of doing so. 
 
 At Yale young Morse felt the inconvenience of 
 an empty purse. His first effort at self-support was 
 painting portraits on ivory of some of his more 
 wealthy companions at five dollars each. This work 
 almost entirely paid for his college expenses. At 
 that time, notwithstanding his ardent love for the 
 study of electricity, his ambition was to become a 
 popular and successful artist, as it seemed to him 
 that there was more promise of financial success in 
 that line. As soon as he graduated, in 1810, at the 
 age of nineteen he resolved to place himself under 
 the tutorage of Washington Allston.one of America's 
 most famous artists. Allston learned to love his 
 young pupil and took him to Europe in 181 1. Ben- 
 jamin West was in the zenith of his fame, and it was 
 a proud moment for Morse when he grasped West's 
 hand in the latter's studio. There was a mutual 
 recognition of genius between the two. West imme- 
 
 M 
 
MJi. GOULD'S GREATEST ENTERPRISE. ,on 
 
 diately exercised his influence in Morse's behalf. 
 His passion for art seemed to be as enthralling and 
 as soul-thrilling as was in later years his passion for 
 electricity. He did some good work in art which 
 was praised by his friends in London. While he 
 was successful in art from the artist's standpoint, he 
 was not fortunate enough to make a pecuniary suc- 
 cess, and he lived what might have been called a 
 threadbare existence. In his cheery way he would 
 say : " My stockings want to see my mother," when 
 they were really worn out, and then he would sit 
 down and wonder how he'd get another pair. 
 
 It seems laughable that a man whose name has 
 been linked inseparably with electricity should have 
 begun his line of inventions by patenting a pump. 
 Nevertheless he did invent an instrument for rais- 
 ing water from depths, and so excellent was it that 
 it was exhibited in model form to classes in Yale 
 College. About this time he first began to think 
 of marriage. He was not pecuniarily able to take 
 this step, but the pump seemed to be the means of 
 fortune. Success to the pump meant union to his 
 beloved. His hopes were inspired by the warmth 
 of reception it met with in scientific circles, but whe'n 
 a practical man, whose opinion after all was worth 
 most to Morse, dubbed it: " Morse' s patent metallic 
 double-headed ocean drinker and deluge spouter valve 
 pump-box " it began to die a slow death stung by 
 ridicule. 
 
 On a trip to the South Morse received a large 
 
2 40 ^^P^ OF JAY GO ULD. 
 
 number of orders for ivory portraits, and at the end 
 of the first year found that he had $3,000 to his 
 credit. He was immediately married on October 
 1st, 18 18, to Lucretia P. Walker, of Concord, N. H., 
 who has been described as the most beautiful and 
 accomplished woman of her town. 
 
 After various experiments Morse settled in New 
 York and founded the National Academy of the 
 Arts of Design, and was annually re-elected its 
 President from 1827 to 1845. Until Morse was 
 forty-one years old his attention was entirely given 
 to matters of art, with the exception of the pump 
 episode, but on his return from a tour in Europe, 
 lasting three years, he at once became engaged in 
 electrical matters. The general condition of his 
 theories of invention at the time of his arriving in 
 New York in November, 1832, from his trip has 
 previously been described. 
 
 Reflectino- upon the famous lecture of Professor 
 Day, he began to think : " If the presence of electricity 
 can be made visible in any part of the circuit, I see 
 no reason why intelligence cannot be transmitted 
 instantaneously by electricity." This was the second 
 great conception in the line of his invention of the 
 telegraph. Morse began to see in his invention not 
 3. crown for himself, but a great aid to human hap- 
 piness. 
 
 Out of the Magnetic Telegraph Co., the foundation 
 of which has been described, sprang various other 
 companies reaching different points in the country, 
 
 .M 
 
MR. GOULD'S GREATEST ENTERPRISE. ^./Lt 
 
 and of various degrees of utility and of success. 
 Such men as Michael Faraday, WilHam M. Swain, 
 James E. Reid, S. B: Gifford, C. G. Merriweather, 
 , Hiram Sibley, Jeptha H.Wade, James Gamble, Cyrus 
 W. Field, George G. Ward, A. M. McKay and 
 others became interested in the various ventures. 
 Among the companies formed were the Washington 
 and New Orleans Telegraph Co., the Western Tele- 
 graph Co., the Atlantic and Ohio Telegraph Co., 
 the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Louisville Telegraph 
 Co., the Southwestern, the Ohio and Mississippi, the 
 Illinois and Mississippi, the Ohio and the Illinois, the 
 Lake Erie, the Erie and Michigan, the Northwestern, 
 the New York and Erie, the New York, Albany and 
 Buffalo, and a host of others of less importance. 
 
 What might be considered the real beginning of 
 the Western Union Telegraph Co., which is really 
 made up of numerous organizations combined for 
 utiHty, economy, and profit, was the American Tele- 
 graph Co., which was duly organized with a capital 
 of ^200,000, under the Telegraph Law of the State 
 of New York. There had been a series of moves 
 previous to this involving the first organization of the 
 company and then the leasing of minor lines, and 
 the consolidation of them into one company. The 
 headquarters of the American Telegraph Co. were 
 established at No. 10 Wall Street, and the operating 
 department at No. 2 1 Wall Street. The American 
 Telegraph seemed to suddenly gain an importance, 
 and in 1857, when preparations were being made 
 
,^2 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 for the laying of the Atlantic cable the company 
 seemed to have indeed approached a climax. Its 
 offices were crowded with distinguished citizens who 
 hastened to congratulate the officers on the auspi- 
 cious event. The American Telegraph Co. hadawise 
 policy which it early adopted, of securing possession 
 of all patent claims and buying all property rights 
 which would be useful to it, or which might form the 
 basis of an antagonistic company. 
 
 The well-known inventions of House's printing 
 telegraph system was absorbed by the American 
 Telegraph Co., which, in turn, was absorbed by 
 the Western Union Telegraph Co. One of the im- 
 mediate results of the purchase, lease, and union of 
 the various interests referred to, was an economy of 
 over 1^70,000 a year in the single item of rent, as 
 choice offices which had been selected by rival com- 
 panies in the contest for business had been given 
 up and the offices combined in prominent centres. 
 A marked enlargement of business and increase in 
 the promptness of the service was soon noticed. 
 The wires of the Western Union Co. became full of 
 business, for seven entire years all of the receipts 
 above the actual expenses necessary to carry on the 
 business were expended in strengthening and ex- 
 tending the lines. Victory and grand success is due 
 more to this wise policy than any other step in the 
 history of the company. Stocks of the absorbed 
 companies and the general stock of the Western 
 Union Co. began to climb toward par value and 
 
MR. GOULD'S GREATEST ENTERPRISE. ^43 
 
 even to exceed par. For instance, the stock of one 
 of the absorbed companies, amounting to $240,000, 
 had been valued at about two cents on the dollar, or 
 about $4,800. In comparatively few years it repre- 
 sented about a million of dollars. 
 
 New contracts were constantly made with tele- 
 graph companies whose lines were valuable in the ex- 
 tension of the business of the Western Union Tele- 
 graph Co., and some minor leases were made. 
 Charles Minor, General Superintendent of the Erie 
 Railroad, appears to have been the first man with 
 sufficient sagacity to see the value of the telegraph 
 in connection with the railroad service. So clearly 
 did he see the value of such connection that he had 
 a line built along the Erie Road before making any 
 contract for machinery to work it. Of course, this 
 employment of the telegraph was immediately 
 recognized to be a matter of prima importance. 
 Right here lay an immense field which required 
 prompt occupation. 
 
 As the business of the company developed it be- 
 came necessary to employ men to take charge of 
 the various departments of the work. This was 
 done by the officers with a fine sense of the ability 
 of the men employed. The business began to develop 
 enormously, contracts were constantly being made 
 for extensions of this line, and the stockholders 
 of the Western Union Telegraph Co. found them- 
 selves the owners of exceedingly valuable stock, 
 which it seemed had not even yet reached its 
 
-, . . LIFE OF JAY GO ULD. 
 
 highest value. A vast accession of strength and 
 prestige was made and the Overland Telegraph 
 Line was added to the Western Telegraph Co., for 
 this was one link needed to connect the Atlantic and 
 Pacific by wire. The business of the company was 
 now large, its outlook especially brilliant, its position 
 practically inpregnable, and its influence immense. 
 It was confessedly one of the most gigantic and 
 comprehensive of the private enterprises of the 
 world, and it was the basis of a number of large 
 fortunes. The entire West with its swelling popu- 
 lation and vast possibilities became the field for 
 future developments and power of the company. 
 
 There was no territory in the United States 
 apparently needed the telegraph more than the 
 great States springing into life along the Pacific 
 coast. There was a craze in that section for making 
 money in more daring and reckless ways than in- 
 vesting in telegraph lines, and at best the state of 
 society there was in so chaotic state that it could not 
 properly appreciate the benefit of telegraph lines 
 through its domains. Even enough money could 
 not be obtained to run a line from the different 
 mining towns through the West strung on trees, 
 but with some outside aid the project was finally 
 gotten under way. Natural development of the 
 country suggested the idea of perfecting lines to 
 carry large business directly between the Atlantic 
 and the Pacific. This was done, and scarcely had 
 congratulatory messages passed bet;\veen the Golden 
 
MR. GOULD'S GREATEST ENTERPRISE. ^^r 
 
 Gate and the Atlantic harbors before a proposition 
 was presented to run an overland telegraph from 
 the United States by way of the Bering Strait and 
 Asiatic Russia to Europe. At that time it was con- 
 sidered a most important part of diplomatic policy to 
 create and maintain peace and friendship with 
 Great Britain and Russia and other more powerful 
 European nations. Russia took up with the project 
 and stood ready to assure the construction of the 
 whole line of seven thousand miles from Moscow to 
 the Pacific. Telegraphic communication with the 
 foreign countries began to be regarded as the best 
 possible means to employ in bringing about a 
 healthful state of commerce and a condition of re- 
 spect, confidence, and good-will between this country 
 and the European nations. These sentiments seemed 
 to be adopted by the foremost people of our country, 
 and the Russian line at once became the most 
 popular enterprise of the period. Twenty thousand 
 shares of ^loo each, of what was known as the 
 Extension Stock were issued by the Western Union 
 Co., and an expedition was gotten ready to prose- 
 cute the work. Both land and marine services 
 were organized and careful surveys and estimates 
 of cost were made. During explorations by 
 land the natives in the various sections traversed 
 were found everywhere to be friendly, but few 
 physical difficulties were encountered, and these 
 seemed readily surmounted. The enterprise was 
 favored on every hand and was prosecuted with 
 great zeal. 
 
~.Q LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 Meanwhile spirited enthusiasm and ardent labor 
 were being exercised in another direction with an 
 ultimate object in view, practically the same as that 
 of the two services already at work. The " Great 
 Eastern " was in an English harbor having coiled into 
 her enormous hold wires for another and final at- 
 tempt at establishing submarine telegraphy between 
 America and Europe, but few of the enthusiasts inter- 
 ested in the overland scheme of connecting America 
 Avith Europe, thought that the proposed Atlantic 
 cable would ever amount to anything practical, and 
 they thought if it did its success would be but tem- 
 porary. This project, therefore, did not greatly dis- 
 turb the investors in the overland scheme. But the 
 brain child of Cyrus W. Field succeeded. The At- 
 lantic cable was an assured success. The advantage 
 in its two thousand miles of cable over sixteen 
 thousand miles of land line, a big portion of which 
 was along an unpopulated coast, at once became 
 patent to every one. The Western Union people 
 saw that the contest between two such lines would 
 be unequal. They, therefore, recalled the land force 
 and the fleets that were at work and ordered an 
 abandonment of the undertaking. Men everywhere 
 were surprised at the great success of the cable. It 
 was as difficult for some of them to receive with 
 credulity messages over it as it had been for the 
 convention which nominated Silas Wright for the 
 Vice-Presidency to accept that gentlemen's tele- 
 graphic declination of the office over the first line 
 run by Morse from Baltimore to Washington. 
 
MR. GOULD'S GREATEST ENTERPRISE. >>.>, 
 
 Notwithstanding the fact that enormous outlays 
 had been made in this attempt to establish a land 
 line from America to Europe, the entire expense 
 was footed bravely by the Western Union Co. with- 
 out so much as a shiver. This was an excellent 
 proof of the strength of the company at that period. 
 The loss to the Western U nion Co. was great, but 
 the gain to the world in the benefit accruing from 
 the Atlantic cable cannot be over-estimated. 
 
 At the period of the entrance of Mr. William 
 Orton into the management of the Western Union 
 Telegraph Co., a new era in telegraphic history had 
 arrived. He had been Collector of Internal Revenue 
 for the Sixth District of New York. He was young, 
 just passed his thirty-sixth year, of delicate physical 
 organization, but with an intellect unusually alert 
 and keen, and with an industry which amounted 
 almost to ferocity. Four classes of men had already 
 performed their work. These were the first patient 
 pioneers in scientific discovery who had discovered 
 the foundations of natural laws. 
 
 Secondly, were the inventors who took up the dis- 
 coveries of the former class, gave them form, and 
 made them suitable for the service of human indus- 
 try. Third, were the men, who, with enthusiasm, 
 lacking method, webbed the country with telegraphic 
 lines. A fourth class appeared in those who had 
 brought the weak forces of different telegraphic lines 
 throughout the country into strong systems, made 
 telegraphic property valuable and its employment a 
 national success. 
 
g LIFE OF Jay GOULD. 
 
 These men had now largely accomplished their 
 work. The result was a vast organization with its 
 wires extending to the extremities of civilization in 
 all directions. A great work had been accomplished, 
 but there was still much to be done. The adminis- 
 tration era was dawning with Mr. William Orton"^ 
 accession to the Presidency of the Western Union 
 Co. The management of such a gigantic interest 
 was a trust which it was necessary should be held 
 by a man of just such fine brain, administrative 
 faculty, and power of labor as the man who seemed 
 by Providence raised to fill the position. Mr. Orton 
 was a reflecting man, and he accepted the responsi- 
 bility of the office with the consciousness of its great- 
 ness and of its perils. His position was a peculiar 
 one. The enterprise was entirely private in the 
 sense that the capital was furnished by individuals 
 and was managed by the representatives of indi- 
 viduals, and yet it was of national, yes, of inter- 
 national importance and value. 
 
 Necessarily policies had to be adopted from which 
 there could be no deviation in any case. At one 
 time, it seemed almost inevitable that a few narrow- 
 minded men, whose financial interests in the com- 
 pany were considerable, would insist on the adoption 
 of a policy which would probably have blighted the 
 future of telegraphy in this country. The principle 
 on which they wished the company operated was, to 
 say the least, a policy of rapacity' and selfishness. 
 They wished the tarifls greatly increased in order 
 that what they supposed would be larger revenue, 
 
JUJi. GOULD'S GREATEST ENTERPRISE. -,^^ 
 
 349 
 
 and consequently heavier dividends might be derived, 
 even though the business was greatly cut down. 
 This would have been a direct step in the line of 
 making one of the most gigantic enterprises of the 
 times subservient to the interests of a few instead 
 of the masses. It was necessary now that a nicely 
 drawn line could be found, which would insure the 
 adequate perfection of property on one side and 
 the protection of the people from oppressive exac- 
 tions on the other. 
 
 Without attempting to enter into the history oi 
 Mr. Orton's administration other than in this intro.. 
 ductory manner, it is certainly permissible to note ;i 
 circumstance connected with the first year of hLs 
 incumbency which greatly aided in its development 
 and success. Little attention had been given to 
 electricity as a science, and the character of most of 
 the improvements which had been proposed in con- 
 nection with telegraphic appliances except in the 
 matter of repeating apparatus were comparatively 
 of a trifling and unscientific character. 
 
 There arrived in New York early in Mr. Orton's 
 administration Cromwell Fleetwood Varley, whose 
 accomplishments as a gentleman of education and as 
 a scientist were famous the world over. Immediately 
 upon Mr. Varley's arrival there appeared to be 
 natural attraction for him in the executive chambers 
 of the Western Union Co., where he was warmly 
 welcomed and to which he became a frequent visitor. 
 Animating conversations were held over various 
 
^eo LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 conditions of the telegraph and possible improve- 
 ments. It soon became evident to Mr. Orton that 
 earnest inquiry into the American telegraph might 
 prove highly beneficial. He employed Mr. Varley 
 to investigate in the most thorough manner the con- 
 dition of the Hnesandservicesof the Western Union 
 Co., and in that appointment lay the seed of future 
 triumphs. Mr. Varley's reports were a revelation, 
 and were startling enough to command at once the 
 most vigorous efforts to reform the service. To this 
 report may be traced the beginning of the magnifi- 
 cent series of developments and inventions which 
 have made many fames and many fortunes, and 
 whichgreatly perfected the Western Union's systems. 
 It now became evident that a unity of administra- 
 tion in the matter of tariffs, rules of order, compen- 
 sations, methods, and management, must be adopted. 
 The consolidation of so many organizations under 
 one administration had unavoidably brought together 
 some discordant elements. For the sake of perfec- 
 tion in execution of business it was necessary that 
 there be some supreme authority, and through the 
 agency of Mr. Varley's investigations and the fine 
 executive ability of Mr. Orton the desired conditions 
 were brought about. But trouble was in store for 
 Mr. Orton and his associates and a supreme test of 
 their abilities was to be made. On December 8th, 
 1869, Cyrus W. Field and President Orton sailed 
 for Europe. Mr. Orton's trip was both for rest and 
 recreation. In the absence of the President of the 
 
MR. GOULD'S GREATEST ENTERPRISE. ,r, 
 
 company, the management largely developed upon 
 the Vice-Presidents, A. B. Cornell and George 
 Walker, and upon Judge O. H. Palmer, Secretary 
 and Treasurer. 
 
 Through the struggles of the Western Union Co. 
 and of the other companies which it eventually ab- 
 sorbed, there had been in all departments a disposi- 
 tion to perform labor without even a murmur of dis- 
 content and with devotion almost amountino^ to 
 heroism. But, with the dawn of New Year's morn- 
 ing, 1870, there came the muttering and the mur- 
 muring of a storm. Most of America's violent move- 
 ments have originated in the West, and this storm 
 originated in the same quarter. It rapidly spread 
 eastward through Chicago and New York and di- 
 verged to Boston in the East and Philadelphia, Balti- 
 more, and Washington in the South. It was so 
 desolatino; and so relentless as to make itself 
 memorable. Four years previous the Telegraphers' 
 Protective League had been organized in times of 
 peace between employers and employees, and was 
 therefore not the outgrowth of any grievance. It 
 probably owed its existence to the fact that labor 
 organizations were popular at that time. They had 
 their charm, which lay mostly in the idea of good 
 fellowship and sociability, more than in protection 
 for labor. In 1 869 the League embraced a great pro- 
 portion of the effective working force of the West- 
 ern Union Co. The headquarters of the League 
 was in New York. To show the principle upon 
 
 23 
 
,r^ LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 which this organization was founded and the animus 
 of its operations the following oath, which every 
 member was required to take, is here given : " You 
 do solemnly swear, in the presence of Almighty God 
 and these witnesses, that you will make common 
 cause with the members of the League, that forsak- 
 ing your allegiance to corporations and individuals, 
 you will, if necessity requires it, place your time and 
 services at the disposal of the officers of the Tele- 
 graphic Protective League and reveal neither the 
 names of officers nor members, nor the purposes of 
 this society. So help you God." 
 
 The following pledge was required after taking 
 the above oath : 
 
 " I, , do hereby acknowledge, that, having 
 
 become a voluntary member of the Telegraphic 
 Protective League, and being made cognizant with 
 its objects and intentions, I have bound myself with 
 a solemn oath to bear true allegiance to said League, 
 and do hereby pledge my sacred honor that I will 
 aid in whatever manner maybe required the advance- 
 ment and protection of its members," etc. The 
 League was numerous and strong, and the restless 
 spirits which controlled it, desired an opportunity to 
 test its power. Those who were most concerned in 
 its existence were not aware that it had ever been 
 organized. Even those who were aware of its 
 organization had no apprehension of a possibility 
 that it would resort to extreme measures. Its oath 
 obligated the members in such a way as to destroy 
 
MR. GOULD'S GREATEST ENTERPRISE. ,eir 
 
 all legal and legitimate authority of the Western 
 Union Co. over its business and its employees. 
 
 President Orton had received intimations of 
 the existence of such a League and its power for 
 destructiveness, but he had no fear of immediate 
 danger, because he believed there was no grievance 
 and could be none which would cause any discontent 
 in the ranks of the League. A few months previous 
 to the opening of 1870 a strike had been declared 
 along the line of the Franklin Telegraph Company, 
 and it had been successful. This seemed to insti- 
 gate the leaders of the Protective League to declare 
 a strike on the Western Union's lines. A reduction 
 of a few salaries along the Pacific coast seemed to 
 be a favorable opportunity to inaugurate the strike. 
 The following demands were made upon the West- 
 ern Union Company : 
 
 First, that no reduction of salaries be made at 
 -San Francisco and that any operatives dismissed 
 there be at once reinstated. 
 
 Second, that in case of refusal the grand chief 
 operator order all members of the organization to 
 aid the brethren in San Francisco in the only way 
 possible by immediately suspending work. 
 
 In December, 1869, the company had rearranged 
 the salaries along the Pacific coast, with a view to 
 adjusting compensations in such a way as to favor 
 and encourage fidelity. Reductions were made in 
 some cases and increases in others. No general 
 reduction of salaries had any time been contem- 
 
, c 5 LIFE OF J A V GOULD. 
 
 plated or made, but the restless spirits of the 
 organization determined that they must have a 
 standard scale regardless of the abilities of the 
 men. 
 
 The above demands were presented to the com- 
 pany, and Judge Palmer, acting in the absence of 
 President Orton, refused to comply with them, as 
 he knew no grievances which the organization could 
 justly wrge against the company. With the effort to 
 enlist the sympathies of the public, the Grand Chief 
 Operator immediately issued this manifesto : "We 
 accept the challenge cheerfully. We control all the 
 important points in the United States. We only 
 ask of our brother operators outside of the organi- 
 zation not to come in and fill our places. We are 
 determined that we will be men even while working 
 for a gigantic corporation." 
 
 The movement greatly agitated the country. The 
 activity and loyalty of the managers of the company, 
 however, prevented with a single exception com- 
 plete stoppage of business at any point. This ex- 
 ception was in Troy, N. Y., where the manager 
 joined his staff and closed the office. On the same 
 day that he closed it, another man opened it and 
 kept it opened during the strike. The movement 
 was not a contest against a definite wrong. It was 
 merely a demand that labor should have the right 
 to control and administer the property of capital. 
 Some people were charitable enough to charge the 
 movement to the over-zealousness of young blood, 
 
MR. GOULD'S GREATEST ENTERPRISE. -,cy 
 
 and fidelity to an oath which had been taken without: 
 its full significance being understood ; but, generally, 
 universal indignation was aroused against a body 
 of men who would so ruthlessly jeopardize the prop- 
 erty and profits of legitimate capital. The inter- 
 course of continents by telegraph in which innumer- 
 able industries had learned to depend was put in 
 peril without the least justification. 
 
 At the height of the excitement the uninte.Uig-ent 
 and narrow management which characterized the 
 strike from its beginning permitted a very imprudent 
 circular to be spread broadcast. There were so 
 many uncalled-for and violent criticisms of the 
 policy of the Western Union Company in the matter 
 of tariffs, dividend treatment of opposing lines, issuing 
 of stock, etc., that whatever outside interest and 
 sympathy had been manifested was withdrawn, for 
 the impression was created that the strike was in 
 the interest of opposing lines and not to right a 
 wrong-. 
 
 The Western Union Company had now become 
 national ; it touched society everywhere. No enter- 
 prise entered so thoroughly and penetratingly into 
 the activities of the nation. The management of 
 the company was energetic, successful, and con- 
 scientious. The strike which seemed to threaten 
 the company was completely subdued, and it taught 
 the company's employees, as well as the employees 
 in other lines of industry, that the people would not 
 tolerate unjustified interference with the equilibrium 
 of commerce. 
 
-eg LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 As has been cited in another cliapter, Dr. Norvin 
 Green succeeded Mr. Orton in the Presidency of 
 the Western Union Company. He had acted for 
 many years as Vice-President, and had been in 
 many respects to Mr. Orton a strength and guide. 
 He seemed to have a high and natural adaptation 
 to the work of the office, and he had, indeed, a wi.de 
 and useful experience. 
 
 Durino- the strug^gles and successes of the West- 
 ern Union Company Jay Gould had had his eye con- 
 stantly on the rich prize. He had practically owned 
 the Atlantic & Pacific Telegraph Company and had 
 given the Western Union Company a controlling 
 interest in that company. General Thomas T. 
 Eckert had been Mr. Gould's manager and acting 
 President, and he had won Mr. Gould's entire con- 
 fidence. When the Atlantic & Pacific Company had 
 been turned over in the Western Union, he expected 
 that General Eckert would be placed in a command- 
 ing position such as he knew him to merit. In this 
 he had been disappointed. He determined, there- 
 fore, to orsranize a new interest over which he mitrht 
 place his friend. The American Union Company 
 may, therefore, be said to have had its origin in one 
 of those marvelous friendships which now and then 
 relieve the cold and hard sordidness of ordinary life. 
 It is possible and probable that Mr. Gould had in 
 his mind at the time of his organizing the American 
 Union Company the possibility of its some day con- 
 trolling the Western Union. He realized General 
 
MJi. GOULD'S CREATES? ENTERPRISE. ^ en 
 
 ooy 
 
 Eckert's ability and his intense and justified feeling 
 against the Western Union, and he knew that he 
 could be depended on for a bitter fight against that 
 company if such a course were deemed necessary 
 and advisable. 
 
 General Eckert was tireless in his efforts to make 
 the new company a worthy antagonist of the old. 
 In one year the company owned a wire mileage of 
 fifty thousand miles and operated two thousand 
 offices. Valuable contracts were secured with vari- 
 ous railroads in different parts of the country 
 and with various minor telegraph companies, and 
 the American Union Telegraph Company, in two 
 years, was a more formidable opponent of the 
 Western Union Company than it had been deemed 
 possible to organize, and the world was so im- 
 pressed with its capacity and the vigor of its man- 
 agement that a very large business was speedily 
 established. An earning capacity of six per cent, 
 was shown at the close of 1880. It had perfected 
 connection with Europe by the French Telegraph 
 Company, of Paris. Investors began to see that, in 
 a very short time, the new company's earning 
 capacity would be fully six per cent, on ^20,000,000 
 of capital. The board of the company was organ- 
 ized as follows : 
 
 Jay Gould, Thomas T. Eckert, 
 
 Russell Sage, Sydney Dillon, 
 
 Fred. Ames, F. Gordon Dexter, 
 
 Robert Garrett, W. E. Connor, 
 

 ,5o LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 Thomas Swinyard, J. J. Slocum, 
 Levi L. Lester, E. H. Bates, 
 Nathaniel Niles. 
 
 The Construction Company was composed of 
 Washington E, Connor, G. P. Morosini, and Joseph 
 Owen. 
 
 , Reduced rates were immediately put into effect, 
 and they induced a large class of business to be 
 developed, which was somewhat of a social and 
 domestic nature, and while it did not take away 
 ( from the commercial* patronage of the Western 
 Union Company, it added greatly to the revenue of 
 the American Union Company. But before many 
 months the Western Union Company began to feel 
 that its rival was gaining strong points, and to some 
 extent undermining it. It was doing: an enormous 
 business, but its revenues had been reduced over 
 $5,000 a day or ^2,000,000 a year. This was attrib- 
 uted to the American Union Co. The stock market 
 was quick to catch the situation, and Western Union 
 stock declined to a very much lower figure than it 
 had reached for years. W. H. Vanderbilt was 
 heavily interested in the Western Union, and he 
 began to see, as did other stockholders, that peace 
 must be had at almost any cost. He therefore wrote 
 a note, on the 9th of January, 1881, to Mr. Gould, 
 asking him to meet him at his house at nine o'clock. 
 These two men, each with a telegraph company 
 in his control, met, and began to negotiate for peace. 
 
MR. GOULD'S GREATEST ENTERPRISE. ^gj 
 
 Both saw the advantage of amalgamating the affairs 
 of the companies, as had been done in the first place, 
 when the Western Union Co. had absorbed minor 
 companies, and it was agreed to recommend con- 
 solidation to the Executive Committee of the West- 
 ern Union Co. Terms of consolidation were agreed 
 upon in February, 1881, and there was a united 
 capital of $80,000,000. There was considerable 
 trouble in the way of suits and counter-suits over 
 this consolidation, but the union was not affected. 
 
 At the delivery of the property the American Union 
 Company showed a milage of ten thousand seven 
 hundred and one miles of poles, and forty-six thou- 
 sand four hundred and twenty-two miles of wire. 
 The Atlantic & Pacific showed a mileage of five 
 thousand three hundred and thirty-six miles of poles 
 and seventeen thousand eight hundred and sixty- 
 nines miles of wire. Thus in a short time Jay Gould 
 with the assistance of General Eckert had brought 
 up a magnificent property and wonderfully increased 
 its value. From that time on no man was more 
 thoroughly identified with telegraphic interests and 
 systems in this country than Jay Gould. With a 
 far greater range of conception of their importance, 
 he early recognized the railroad and the telegraph 
 as two of the most prominent and permanent Indus-- 
 tries of the continent so vast In its distances as ours, 
 and he realized the value and necessity of their 
 working hand in hand. 
 
 There had been much opposition developed to 
 
i52 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 the consolidation of the Western Union and the 
 American Union, and this opposition took" the form 
 of legislation at Albany with the intention of sunder- 
 ing the union. An attempt was made by men keen 
 in the art of bleeding to pass a bill which would 
 annul the consolidation. The Western Union Com- 
 pany demanded that it should be heard, and Dr. 
 Green gave his testimony, which contained many 
 important points, the best of which are herewith 
 presented as being of unusual interest. Dr. Green 
 said : 
 
 " This bill if passed will not affect the legal status 
 of the consolidation just made. Its legality is beyond 
 question. Outside of its connection with stock 
 speculations there is nothing to complain of. The 
 sum and substance of that stock speculation is this : 
 an opposition to the company I represent was pro- 
 jected and vigorously prosecuted, our stock was run 
 down much below its intrinsic value under the threat 
 of cut-rates. We cut down our expenses and ex- 
 pected a long struggle, but it was found th'at the other 
 party had accumulated a large part of our stock and 
 were ready for terms of adjustment. In the interest 
 of our stock- holders, we could not forego an oppor- 
 tunity so unexpectedly offered. We accepted the 
 terms proposed and that was the whole of it." 
 
 " But, in the continued depression of our stock, a 
 number of speculators confidently expecting a further 
 decline sold laro-e blocks of borrowed stock, antici- 
 pating an opportunity to buy back very low. They 
 
MR. GOULD'S GREATEST ENTERPRISE. ,5, 
 
 imagined themselves following an experienced 
 leader ; but who instead of selling was buying, and 
 who was, perhaps, not unwilling that these gentle- 
 men should make it easy for him. He had pro- 
 posed to himself to end telegraphic war by purchas- 
 ing control. When he had purchased ten millions 
 or more of the stock thus thrown on the <narket, he 
 agreed to terms of peace. The stock at once rose 
 with great rapidity. Then was heard a howl great 
 and long. These speculators had to buy in their 
 stock and at every bid for it, the market bounded 
 up. Take the matter of speculation out of the case, 
 and what is left? Absolutely nothing." 
 
 Mr. Gould himself said on this occasion : " Gen- 
 eral Eckert was my friend. For him I started the 
 American Union Co. We carried it forward until a 
 proposition was made to merge it into the Western 
 Union Co. As the stock of the latter went down I 
 bought a large interest in it, and found that the only 
 way out was to put the two companies together. 
 General Eckert became General Manager of the 
 whole system, and meanwhile I thought so much of 
 the property and its earning powers that I have kept 
 increasing my interest. I thought it better to allow 
 my income to go into the things I was into myself. 
 I have never sold any of my interests, but have de- 
 voted my interests to increasing them." 
 
 This attempt at legislation to destroy the consoli- 
 dation and plunder the Western Union Co. was de- 
 feated by the earnest and energetic actions and the 
 
^54 ^^P^ OF JAY GO ULD. 
 
 prompt defense of General Eckert, Dr, Green, and 
 Mr. Gould. 
 
 The Western Union Co. gradually became 
 stronger, for its policy throughout the years has 
 always been in favor of consolidation. There was 
 considerable litigation of a protracted nature with 
 rival companies and with individuals in the early 
 years of the presidency of Dr. Green, which had 
 necessarily pressed very heavily upon him. He 
 was capable of great endurance, but, of course, 
 there was a limit to his strength ; therefore, in 
 April, 1883, feeling, as his predecessor had done, 
 that he needed rest from the arduous duties of his 
 position, he sailed for Europe. 
 
 Dr. Green was cordially and affectionately re- 
 ceived by European gentlemen who had visited 
 America and Canada, and had seen the vast scope 
 of the Western Union Co. under the manag-ement 
 of Dr. Green. He spent three months visiting 
 different parts of the Continent, accompanied by his 
 son. While Dr. Green was thus enjoying the hos- 
 pitalities of the Continent, just as in the case of 
 President Orton in 1870, who was absent in Eng- 
 land when the operators' strike of that year oc- 
 curred, the great body of telegraphic operatives in 
 America again became disturbed, and were the 
 source of much public and private anxiety. There 
 were about thirty thousand operatives in various 
 capacities in actual service in the Western Union, 
 and the nation had learned to lean upon it as an 
 
MR. GOULD'S GREATEST ENTERPRISE. ,51- 
 
 actual necessity of commercial and social inter- 
 course. 
 
 Immediately succeeding the war there there had 
 been a rapid and a great advance in values and 
 considerable increase in the activity and the 
 number of industries in tlie country. Every 
 method of gain was pushed to the utmost, and 
 success seemed to be everywhere, but more 
 prudent men began to see that this universal pros- 
 perity of so marked a degree must eventually be 
 succeeded by a state of depression fully as marked. 
 The first faint forerunners of comingf disaster were 
 appearing. Values began to decline, the railroads 
 that had been built in advance of actual public neces- 
 sity because of the anticipation of a greater bulk of 
 business could, not meet their obligations. Mills 
 and man Li factories begfan to be without orders, ereat 
 output of cereals in our country was fully matched 
 by an equal output in Europe, so that our grain was 
 not finding its way to the ports. By the casual 
 thinker and observer it might be supposed that the 
 telegraph would thrive equally as well when the 
 country was in a condition of depression or of pros- 
 perity. To a certain extent this is so, but it has its 
 limit. By the general depression of the industries, 
 the country began to be thronged with young men 
 and women out of employment to whom the tele- 
 graph was inviting on account of its being clean and 
 genteel work and a rapidly-acquired art. Tliese 
 men and women were on the hsts of applicants in 
 all the cities for vacancies in the Western Union 
 
,56 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 ofifices, consequently when vacancies occurred, in- 
 experienced employees were engaged at salaries 
 considerably below the rate which had been paid to 
 those discharged. This was both just and politic. 
 The old telegraph operators began to be alarmed 
 at the state of affairs. Their craft became over- 
 crowded, and the organs of union labor began to 
 urge measures for active resistance. In 1881 at a 
 convention held in Pittsbureh, Pa., the Brotherhood 
 of Telegraphers of the United States and Canada 
 was organized. A year later it claimed a member- 
 ship of fifteen thousand. It was organized under a 
 charter granted to the Knights of Labor, but was 
 to be separate and independent and known as Dis- 
 trict Assembly No. 45. The Knights of Labor 
 claimed a membership of eight hundred thousand, 
 which was a stroncj backincj for the Brotherhood of 
 Telegraphy, and a self-support fund was originated, 
 which by the 'first of July, 1883, amounted to $400,- 
 000. At least, this was the claim of the Brother- 
 hood at that time. The Brotherhood prohibited 
 all instruction in telegraphy, except to members 
 of an operator's family, and a vigorous opposi- 
 tion was made to all telegraph colleges for teach- 
 ing the art. They failed to appreciate the fact that 
 any attempt to deprive the youth of this land of 
 an education of any kind must of necessity be a 
 failure. They could not hope to succeed in closing 
 the doors of any reputable vocation against energy 
 and ambition. 
 
 To render education in telegraphy still more diffi- 
 
MH. GOULUS GREATEST ENTERPRISE. ,gy 
 
 cult, no member was allowed to teach another 
 telegraphy except by permission of the local assem- 
 bly, and orders were issued against compulsory 
 . Sunday work, eight hours were announced to be the 
 limit of a day's work. Seven hours were to consti- 
 tute a night's work. Five hours were to constitute 
 the basis of work for an extra day, pay was to be 
 alike for both sexes. Members of the Brotherhood 
 were to strike when ordered, no strike was to be 
 ordered until all attempts at arbitration had failed. 
 Under a strike unmarried persons were to receive 
 five dollars a week and married persons seven 
 dollars a week. 
 
 It began to be observed that a crisis was imminent, 
 the tone of the organ of the Brotherhood was 
 especially defiant. The demands which it was in- 
 tended to make upon the telegraph companies were 
 assuming unreasonable proportion. The Western 
 Union officials kept close watch and were well in- 
 formed on every movement of the Brotherhood. 
 There appeared to be an element of justice in one 
 of the demands, and to this the Western Union Co. 
 directed its attention. The following order was 
 therefore duly issued and bulletined : 
 
 "At all independent Western Union offices which 
 may be required to keep open all day Sunday, nine 
 hours ac*'ual service In the day, six days in the week, 
 or seven hours actual service at night, seven nights 
 in the week, will constitute a week's work. All 
 service in excess of the above named hours, includ- 
 
,58 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 ing Sunday, will be regarded as extra, and will be 
 paid for at a regular salary on the basis of seven 
 hours a day." 
 
 By some of the more violent of the members of 
 the Brotherhood this order was regarded as an 
 evidence of weakness on the part of the Western 
 Union Co., and an attempt to evade an issue with 
 the Brotherhood. Some of the members of the 
 Brotherhood thought the order very satisfactory and 
 were inclined to accept it. It was determined to 
 inaugurate a strike. The famous contest between 
 labor and capital in 1870 had taken place in January, 
 and the operators had in mind the unpleasantness 
 of those cold, piercing days when no money was 
 coming in to buy clothing and fuel, and although 
 July was a month when the Western Union Co, was 
 not busy comparatively, that month was chosen for 
 die inauguration of the strike, because it was 
 thought that the operators stood better chances of 
 
 success 
 
 On July 15th, largely attended meetings of the 
 Brotherhood were held in some of the principal 
 cides. The less discreet of the daily papers pub- 
 lished the inflammatory speeches which were uttered 
 at these meetings, and made them the basis of attacks 
 on the telegraph companies. Others thoughtfully 
 contemplated the vast injuries to society and com- 
 merce which would be sure to follow on the sudden 
 stoppage of telegraphic communication and of 
 hampering the operation of railroads by ordering 
 
 .m. 
 
> 
 
 o 
 c 
 
 G 
 
 r 
 d 
 in 
 
 A O 
 8 M 
 
 > 
 
 o 
 
 H 
 O 
 
J 
 
MR. GOULD'S GREATEST ENTERPRISE. ,71 
 
 the operators on a strike, and counciled calmness 
 and moderation. 
 
 The movement seemed to be beyond the influ- 
 ence of advice. Men were sent by the Brotherhood 
 to the various cities to present their demands. In 
 the case of the Western Union Co. these were 
 presented to General Eckert, the General Manager, 
 who, after carefully reading them, remarked that he 
 must be assured of the authority of the gentleman 
 presenting the memorial to act for the employees 
 of the Western Union Telegraph Co. The West- 
 ern Union Co. appointed a committee to inquire 
 into a complaint of irregularities of compensation 
 or conditions of service which might exist, and an 
 invitation was issued at the same time to all to 
 make known their complaints to this committee. 
 
 There was, of course, great attempt at conceal- 
 ment of actual preparations for a strike. The very 
 effort was so evident that to the intelligent mana- 
 gers of the Western Union Co. there was no doubt 
 of what was at hand. On the morning of July 19th 
 every one was at his post early, some of the usual 
 late-comers were at work sharply on the hour ap- 
 pointed for duty, every detail of work was quietly 
 and faithfully attended to ; but a number of faces 
 were pale with suppressed excitement, and inquiries 
 were answered with such an excess of respect and 
 such a subdued tone that nervous unrest and expec- 
 tation were very evident. This was the morning 
 of the day which inaugurated very great peril for 
 the operators of one of the greatest industries in 
 22 
 
2^>j2 LIFE OF JAY COULD. 
 
 the country. The hands of the clock pointed to 
 twelve. Contrary to the expectations of the mana- 
 gers the noise of the instruments went on as before, 
 and nothing was noticeable except the very evident 
 suppressed excitement, but just at 12.12, or 
 what was noon at Washington, every operator in 
 the employ of the Western Union Co. went out 
 from work on signal. Everything was done in 
 an orderly manner, and there seemed to be a con- 
 certed plan to prevent any act being performed 
 which should reflect on the craft. This was only 
 one'of the attempts made to enlist public sentiment, 
 as it was shortly afterward very largely advertised 
 that no intoxicating liquors whatever should be 
 drunk while on strikes. In the different large cities 
 there were a small number of loyal employees, and 
 the managers had instructed to close the minor 
 offices, and concentrate the force in one principal 
 office for the prosecution of business. This was a 
 stroke of business which astonished the strikers. 
 In addition to this the company announced that all 
 labor would be paid for as extra work on a basis of 
 seven hours a day as a full day's work, and that 
 their regular salaries should be given them as a 
 bonus. A free table with all kinds of excellent food 
 was served by day and night, and comfortable cots 
 and bedding were placed in every available room. 
 The managers and executive officers of the com- 
 pany combined in a working force which proved 
 exceedingly effective. 
 
 Much excitement prevailed among the operators. 
 
MH. GOULD'S GREATEST ENTERPRISE. ,y. 
 
 The managers of the strike succeeded in having 
 pubHshed in some of the newspapers greatly exag- 
 gerated reports of the strike, which were all in their 
 favor, as well as items which were intended to 
 influence the public in their favor, and against the 
 Western Union Co., but here the strikers were 
 met again. The company had a press ' corre- 
 spondent, who was given the authority to say to the 
 different press associations and individual publica- 
 tions that the policy of the company was now, and 
 would be throughout the strike, to maintain its 
 rights, if it were necessary to close every one of its 
 offices in order to do so. It must be understood 
 that the strike was a general thing among telegraph 
 companies of the country, and that there was not as 
 much of a union among the companies as there was 
 among the strikers. 
 
 The American Rapid Telegraph Company, had 
 acceded to the commands of the Brotherhood, and 
 an order was issued to the deserters of that com- 
 pany to return to work. This was only a scheme 
 to secure business, which it was believed would 
 follow when the public knew that this particular 
 company's offices were fully manned, and that there 
 would be no delay whatever in the transmission of 
 messages. It resulted in a considerable number 
 of the strikers finding employment. It was believed 
 that many of the other companies would follow suit, 
 but the large companies felt they could afford to 
 wait, among them the Western Union. Matters 
 
-2 J A LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 became desperate. Master Workman Campbell 
 issued orders on the 29th of July for railroad opera- 
 tors to refuse Western Union business. This was 
 intended to effectually cut off the communication of 
 the minor towns and cities with the outside world. 
 It had the flavor of dynamite and force about it, 
 and the public mind was unfavorably influenced 
 by it. The " bears " of the Stock Exchange 
 began to take up the thing, and to run the stocks 
 of the telegraph companies down. Cables and 
 wires were cut, and other damage done to the 
 property of the telegraph companies almost nightly. 
 The strikers began to feel the bitterness of 
 defeat and the strike took on an element of abso- 
 lute unfairness and dishonesty. By August ist, 
 there was evidence enough that the second strike 
 had failed, just like that of 1870, although every 
 effort had been made to prolong it. On August 
 15th a committee of the Brotherhood waited on 
 General Eckert to ascertain on what terms the 
 strikers could be reinstated to their positions. 
 Many were not re-employed because of their in- 
 efificiency, or because they had made themselves ob- 
 noxious to the company. The strike was at an end 
 and nothing had been gained, in fact everything had 
 been lost by it. Many operators had lost their sit- 
 uations and had to seek employment elsewhere and 
 in other lines of industry. Thus the second strike 
 ended in defeat. 
 Nothing so wellillustrates the subsequent progress 
 
MR. GOULD'S GREA TEST ENTERPRISE. ^ ^ r 
 
 of telegraphy in America as the massive building 
 which it has been necessary to erect inthe city of New- 
 York for the headquarters of the Western Union 
 Co. The site on which the building stands 
 cost ^900,000 and the building itself ^1,300,000. 
 It is in the fifth floor of this building that the Gould 
 offices are situated. It was first occupied February, 
 1875. Thirty years previous the rent of the lead- 
 ing telegraph company's office in New York was 
 $500 a year and it was a small basement room. 
 
SKETCHES 
 
 GREAT FINANCIERS 
 
 CONTEMPORARY WITH 
 
 JAY GOULD 
 
 W. KlvETCIiER JOHNSON 
 
THE VANDERBILTS 
 
 VANDERBILT is a name which, in the United 
 States, has become synonymous with wealth, 
 practically boundless. We shall see, however, as 
 we proceed with the consideration of that family's 
 history, that this wealth has been acquired not by 
 any lucky stroke of fortune, not by a fortunate deal 
 at a gambling-table, not by the wholesale swindling 
 which is so often gilded with the name of specula- 
 tion, but by a combination of unflagging industry 
 and rare perception of the fitness of means to ends, 
 usually commendable means, and ends "almost in- 
 variably for the welfare of the community. The 
 family is of Dutch origin, and was first planted in 
 this country early in the last century. For many 
 years its home was on Staten Island, where its 
 members pursued a hardy and laborious out-door 
 life, obtaining through familiar intercourse with the 
 elements acquaintance with hardship in many forms, 
 thus developing characteristic traits of thrift and 
 industry, and obtaining an admirable equipment for 
 the battles of life in the form of sturdy bodies, sim- 
 ple habits, strong wills, and clear perceptions. These 
 traits have been transmitted from generation to gen- 
 eration without impairment, and generally in the 
 
 379 
 
28o LIFB OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 line of primogeniture. The first famous Vander- 
 bilt, best known as the Commodore, was the eldest 
 son of an eldest son. His successor in the admin- 
 istration of the great fortune amassed by the Com- 
 modore was also an eldest son, and in turn his 
 eldest son is the foremost figure of the present 
 generation. 
 
 Cornelius Vanderbilt, the Commodore, was born 
 on Staten Island in 1794, the son of a thriving 
 farmer, who owned his farm, and carried his produce 
 to the New York markets in his own sail-boat, 
 Cornelius was a sturdy lad, a leader in athletic feats 
 on land and water, a daringf rider and sfreat lover 
 of horses. He would not endure the restraints of 
 a school-room, and so acquired his education, which 
 was but rudimentary, on the farm and on the bay. 
 When he had earned enough money, yet in boyhood, 
 to buy a sail-boat, he began business on his own ac- 
 count. When he was only eighteen years old he had 
 saved ^500 of his own earnings, and a year later he 
 was married to his second cousin, Sophia Johnson. 
 He soon thereafter became the captain of a small 
 steamboat running between New York and New 
 Brunswick, N. J., and ultimately placed himself at 
 the head of a considerable coasting trade. As a 
 result of this change of business the family moved 
 to New Brunswick and opened a hotel. Of this 
 Cornelius became the head, and in these varied 
 employments was soon on the way to wealth. By 
 the year 1853 he was a wealthy owner of steam- 
 
THE VANDERBILTS. ,gj 
 
 ships, and, having' built the ship "North Star" for 
 the purpose, went with his family on a voyage to 
 Europe. A few years later he built the Staten Island 
 Railroad, and began withdrawing his money from 
 steamships for railroad investments. In i860 he 
 bought the Harlem Railroad at ^6 or ^7 a share, a 
 few years later he became President of it, when it 
 was worth ^30, and in 1864 it was worth ^285. This 
 was the foundation of the great Vanderbilt fortune. 
 The consolidation of the New York Central and 
 Hudson River roads followed, and the entire system 
 became the property of Commodore Vanderbilt. 
 
 It cannot be denied that there was a considerable 
 amount of work connected with those operations 
 that would not bear a strict application of the laws 
 of ethics. The stock was " watered " wholesale. 
 Nevertheless, the Commodore was not, like some of 
 his contemporaries, a railroad wrecker. He began 
 at once improving the property, useless expendi- 
 tures were stopped, waste was checked, improved 
 depots were built, tracks were relaid, and business 
 was encouraged and developed all along the line. 
 When Commodore Vanderbilt died, on January 4th, 
 1877, he was one of the richest men in America, his 
 fortune amounting to more than ^100,000,000, 
 almost entirely in railroads. 
 
 William H. Vanderbilt, the Commodore's eldest 
 son, was born at the New Brunswick hotel, and was 
 educated at the Columbia grammar school, in New 
 York city. For a time he worked in a ship-chand- 
 
ogs LIFE Ofr /AY GOULD. 
 
 ler's shop, and at the age of eighteen became clerk 
 in a bank at $150 a year. At twenty years old he 
 was married to Miss Kissam, and the young couple 
 went to board in East Broadway. After a time he 
 became tired of city life, and bought a farm of 
 seventy-five acres on Staten Island, intending to 
 settle down to humble rural life. His father appears 
 to have had at this time a contemptuous opinion of 
 his abilities. The young farmer needed capital to 
 improve his property. The Commodore refused to 
 advance it to him, thinking it would merely be 
 wasted. So William borrowed ^6,000 of a friend, 
 and gave as security a mortgage on the farm. A 
 few months later his father found it out. 
 
 "Is it true," he asked, " that you have mortgaged 
 your farm for $6,000?" 
 
 "Yes," was the young man's reply. 
 
 " You don't amount to a row of pins !" thundered 
 the old man, furiously. " You never were worth 
 your salt, and never will be. You'll never be able 
 to do anything except bring disgrace upon yourself 
 and upon every one connected with you. I'm not 
 going to have anything more to do with you. You 
 can hoe your own row, and go to the devil as you 
 please." 
 
 It was in vain that the young man tried to re- 
 monstrate, and show that the money was needed 
 for improvements which would make the farm vastly 
 more profitable than before. The enraged Com- 
 modore merely growled and grumbled and raged 
 
THE VANDERBILTS. ,g, 
 
 the more ; but the mext day he sent the young man 
 a check for ^6,000, with the curt command to " Pay 
 off that mortgage, right off!" The young man 
 happily disappointed his father's gloomy prophecies. 
 In a few years he was the own-r of 350 fertile 
 acres, which yielded him an annual profit of ^i 2,000. 
 Still the Commodore distrusted him, and thought 
 he never would rise above the rank of a successful 
 farmer, although he had to confess, that as a farmer 
 he was uncommonly successful. In 1853 father and 
 son went on the " North Star " voyage to Europe 
 together. Walking the deck one day in mid-ocean, 
 the Commodore noticed his son smoking a cigar. 
 
 "Bill," said he, "I'll give you $io,ooo if you'll 
 quit smoking." 
 
 " I don't want you money," replied the son ; '' but 
 if you say quit smoking, I'll do it," and he threw his 
 cigar overboard. 
 
 The younger Vanderbilt became associated in the 
 Staten Island Railroad, and, when his father allowed 
 it to become bankrupt, he was made its Receiver, 
 and soon restored it to prosperity and became its 
 President. This convinced the Commodore that 
 " Bill " might amount to something after all. Soon 
 after this a younger son, George Vanderbilt, died 
 in Europe. He had been the Commodore's favorite 
 child, and had been educated at West Point for a 
 soldier; he was one of the most brilliant and phys- 
 ically powerful young men ever entered at that 
 school, lifting with ease on one occasion a dead 
 
,g^ LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 weight of 900 pounds. His health was ruined by 
 his arduous services in the civil war. Cornelius 
 Vanderbilt, Jr., the second son of the Commodore, 
 was now leading a reckless life, and had become 
 estranged from his father. The old gentleman 
 therefore began to look upon William as perhaps 
 of necessity his successor in the management of the 
 great fortune he was building up, and, from month 
 to month, trusted him more thoroughly. It may be 
 that his decided fondness for William's eldest son, 
 Cornelius, had something to do with this change of 
 spirit. 
 
 In 1865 William H. Vanderbilt became Vice- 
 President of the Hudson River Railroad, and four 
 years later held the same office over the consoli- 
 dated Hudson River and New York Central system. 
 On his father's death he succeeded to the Presidency 
 of this ofreat railroad, and also of the Harlem 
 Railroad and the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern 
 Railroad. Under the Commodore's will, William 
 H. Vanderbilt received the bulk of the enormous 
 estate. The will was disputed by other members of 
 the family, but was sustained by the courts. From 
 that time until the fallof 1881 Mr. William H. Van- 
 derbilt's history was the history of American rail- 
 road enterprise. This was a period of unusual 
 activity in railroad matters, and he was sufficiently 
 enterprising to place himself in the forefront. He ac- 
 quired possession of the Canada Southern Railroad. 
 In 1877 the great railroad strikes came on ; there 
 
THE VANDERBILTS. oge , 
 
 were 1 2,000 men employed on the New York Cen- 
 tral and Hudson River lines, and their wages had 
 just been reduced 10 per cent. Mr. Vanderbilt at 
 once sent out word that ^100,000 would" be dis- 
 tributed as a gratuity among the men and the 10 
 per cent, restored to their wages as soon as increas- 
 ing business justified such a step. The result was 
 that while other railroad systems were paralyzed, 
 these lines worked without interruption, less than 
 500, of the 12,000 men going on strike. From time 
 to time he was forced to engage in rate wars with 
 the competing trunk lines. These he conducted 
 vigorously and with invariable success, and estab- 
 lished the policy of protecting his lines and all their 
 branches from the attacks of rivals. In November, 
 1879, he sold a block of 250,000 shares of stock to 
 a foreign syndicate, with the effect of greatly in- 
 creasing public confidence in the stability of his 
 roads, and raising the price of all stocks in which he 
 was interested. From the proceeds of this sale 
 and other funds he purchased ^53,000,000 of Gov- 
 ernment bonds. 
 
 Realizing the uncertainty of life and feeling his 
 own health weakening, he now began putting his 
 fortune into such a shape that it could readily be 
 transferred to his heirs at his death. This sale of 
 stock and purchase of government bonds was an 
 important step in this direction. In 1881 he began 
 transferring the active manao-ement of his railroads 
 to his sons, Cornelius and William K, It was under 
 
,g5 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 the management of William K. Vanderbilt that the 
 so-called Nickel-Plate road, which was built as a 
 competing line, and the competition of which the 
 Vanderbilts had vainly tried to prevent, was pur- 
 chased outright In 1883. In that year, on May 4th, 
 William K. Vanderbilt finally surrendered the presi- 
 dencies of all the roads with which he had been 
 identified. " In my judgment," he said, " the time 
 has arrived when I owe it as a duty to myself, to the 
 corporations, and to those around me upon whom 
 the chief management will devolve, to retire from 
 the Presidency. I do not mean to sever my rela- 
 tions or abate the interest I have heretofore taken 
 in these corporations. It is my purpose and aim 
 that these several corporations shall remain upon 
 such a basis for their harmonious workinof with each 
 other and for the efficient management of each as 
 will secure for the system both permanency and pros- 
 perity." The next day Mr. Vanderbilt, with his 
 son, George, and his uncle, Jacob H.. Vanderbilt, 
 sailed for Europe. James H. Rutter, long con- 
 spicuously identified with the roads, was elected 
 President of the New York Central, and on his 
 death was succeeded by Mr. Chauncey M. Depew. 
 Thus the great system established by Mr. Vander- 
 bilt has been maintained to the present time. 
 
 William H. Vanderbilt died on December 8th, 
 1885. He was one of the 13 brothers and sisters, 
 and to him had been born nine children, of whom 
 only one died in early life. His eldest child. Cor- 
 
THE VANDERBILTS. ,gg 
 
 nelius Vanderbilt, has succeeded to the chief man- 
 agement of the great raih'oad systems, although the 
 second son, William K., is prominently identified 
 with them in official capacities. The third son, 
 Frfcderick W., is also deeply interested in some of 
 the roads. The youngest, George W., has devoted 
 himself chiefly to a literary career, and is one of the 
 most liberal and discriminating collectors of books 
 in America. It is his ambition to gather one of the 
 largest and most valuable libraries in the world. 
 The four daughters are Mrs. Elliot F. Shepard, 
 Mrs. William D. Sloane, Mrs. H. McK. Twombley, 
 and Mrs. Seward Webb. On his death Mr. Van- 
 derbilt divided the bulk of his fortune between his 
 four sons, handsomely providing, however, for all 
 other members of the family, and arranging for the 
 ' bulk of the fortune to be kept intact as a family 
 possession. His successors have faithfully followed 
 Out his plans and wishes in all respects. 
 
 When William H. Vanderbilt was already worth 
 many millions he continued to live in a house which 
 had been given to him by his father at Thirty-eighth 
 Street and Fifth Avenue. From there he moved to 
 a larger and better, yet still unpretentious house, on 
 the same avenue. After his father's death, how- 
 ever, he determined to build what should be the 
 finest private residence in the city. A block of 
 ground was purchased at Fifth Avenue and Fifty- 
 first street, and the ablest artists and architects were 
 instructed to spare no expense in designing and ex- 
 
 23 
 
,QQ LIFE OF JA y GOULD. 
 
 ecuting the great work. They were empowered to 
 ransack the world to furnish the palace. On this 
 ground two great houses of brownstone connected 
 by a wing were constructed ; one for Mr. Vander- 
 bilt, and one for his two daughters, Mrs. Sloane and 
 Mrs. Shepard. Outwardly they closely resemble 
 each other, but within differ widely in arrangement 
 and furnishing. The one intended for Mr. Vander- 
 bilt himself cost without its priceless picture-gallery 
 more than f 2,000,000. It represents the work for a 
 year and a half of more than 600 men on the interior 
 decorations alone. Sixty sculptors were brought 
 here from Europe on large salaries, and kept at 
 work for more than a year. The great front doors 
 of solid bronze are exact copies, reduced in size, of 
 Ghiberti's famous bronze gates in Florence. The 
 great hall extends from the ground floor to the roof, 
 and is surrounded in the upper stories by galleries 
 leading to the various rooms. It is lined with Env 
 glish oak, dark red African marble, and bronze. 
 The great drawing-room has a ceiling painted by 
 Gallaud, of Paris, and the walls are hung with em- 
 broidered velvet enriched with crystals. The library 
 is lined with mahogany and rosewood, inlaid with 
 brass and mother-of-pearl. The great picture- 
 gallery is thirty-two by forty-eight feet, and thirty- 
 five feet high, roofed with opalescent glass. In this 
 room Mr. Vanderbilt gathered the costliest collection 
 in America of modern paintings, purchased chiefly 
 in Paris. Here are masterpieces of Detaille, Rosa 
 
THE VANDERBILTS. ,qj 
 
 Bonheur, Meissonier, and Gerome ; of AlmaTadema 
 and Louis Leloir; of Millais, Le Fevre, Knaus, De- 
 fregger, and J. F. Millet. 
 
 i Mr. Vanderbilt inherited his father's love for 
 horses. One of his favorite recreations was to go 
 on the road behind a team of swift trotters. He 
 purchased the famous trotter, Maud S., for |20,ooo ; 
 also such horses as Aldine, Early Rose, Small 
 Hopes, Lysander, Leander, and Charles Dickens. 
 In 1877 he went to England to see the great Derby 
 race, and said afterward that the sight of 300,000 
 persons watching a horse-race was well worth a 
 trip across the ocean. Whenever he visited Sara- 
 toga or Sharon Springs, or other watering-places, 
 he always took a number of his favorite horses with 
 him. He built for them a stable in New York, at 
 Fifty-second Street and Madison Avenue, the build- 
 ing costing more than ^60,000, exclusive of the land. 
 Its walls within are finished in polished cherry, ash, 
 and black walnut, and the metal work is largely 
 sterling silver. His sons have not altogether in- 
 herited this taste, generally preferring yachting. Mr. 
 William K. Vanderbilt spends much of his time 
 cruising about the world in his steam-yacht, which is 
 one of the finest vessels afloat 
 
 The name of Vanderbilt has been pleasantly con- 
 nected with many great deeds of benevolence. Mr. 
 William H. Vanderbilt gave in the aggregate vast 
 sums every year for charitable purposes, but so 
 quietly that few persons knew of it b,eside himself. 
 
-Q2 ^^^^ ^^ y^ ^ GOULD. 
 
 His father had already given a great deal through 
 the Rev. Charles F. Deems, a Methodist minister, to 
 whom in early life he became much attached. He 
 had given Dr. Deems a fine church in New York 
 qity, and had endowed Vanderbilt University, at 
 Nashville, Tenn., with more than ^1,000,000, To 
 the latter institution William H. Vanderbilt also 
 gave liberally, and continued to make Dr. Deems 
 the almoner of many of his charities. He secured 
 the transportation, at a cost of more than $100,000, 
 of the famons obelisk known as Cleopatra's Needle, 
 from Egypt to New York, and had it set up in Cen- 
 tral Park. It was formally presented to the city of 
 New York on February 2 2d, 1881, the Hon. William 
 M. Evarts, Secretary of State, delivering the oration. 
 A silver medal in commemoration of the event was 
 struck and presented to Mr. Vanderbilt. In that 
 year the millionaire gave a large sum to the Univer- 
 sity of North Carolina, and not long afterward 
 another liberal gift to the University of Virginia. 
 He paid $50,000 toward wiping out the debt of St. 
 Bartholomew's Protestant Episcopal Church, in New 
 York city, of which he was a member. One of his 
 most notable benefactions was the gift, on October 
 17th, 1884, of $500,000 to the College of Physicians 
 and Surgeons in the city of New York, for the pur- 
 chase of real estate and the erection of buildings to 
 enable it more successfully to carry out the purposes 
 for which it was founded. 
 
 Mr. Vanderbilt's four sons have continued to 
 
THE VANDEHBILTS. ,q^ 
 
 practice the liberal generosity inaugurated by him, 
 and are frequent givers to causes for promoting the 
 welfare of the general public. Mr. Cornelius Van- 
 derbilt has conspicuously identified himself with the 
 work of the Young Men's Christian Association, 
 and has for years been at the head of a branch of 
 that institution existing among the employees of his 
 railroads. He has given $100,000 for the proposed 
 Protestant Episcopal Cathedral in New York, and 
 he and his brothers have been generous patrons of 
 many other religious, educational, and charitable 
 enterprises. Mr. George W. Vanderbilt has en- 
 dowed a free circulating library in New York, and 
 ^established and maintained a valuable manual labor 
 training-school. The brothers have spent much 
 time with their families in Europe, but make their 
 home in New York city in the great house built by 
 their father, now the residence of William K. Van- 
 derbilt, and in neighboring mansions on Fifth 
 Avenue, that now occupied by Cornelius being con- 
 spicuously elegant. They also possess fine summer 
 residences at Newport. 
 
-A 
 
LELAND STANFORD. 
 
LELAND STANFORD. 
 
 IT has been of late years a matter of complaint, 
 not always well grounded, that the United 
 States Senate is being filled up with the possessors 
 or representatives of great wealth. It is true that 
 there are many millionaires in that body. It may 
 be true that some of them have obtained their posi- 
 tions merely because of their wealth. But there are 
 some who began in the humblest walks of life, and. 
 who attained their fortunes by hard work and unre- 
 mitting labors for the development of the resources 
 of the country. Reaching mature years, and be- 
 coming the possessors of vast wealth and the con- 
 trollers of enormous industrial interests, they are 
 not the representatives of money-bags merely; they 
 are types of that American pluck and enterprise and 
 those traits of industry that have built up the great- 
 ness of the nation. As such, he would indeed be 
 bold who would challenge their right to sit in the 
 highest assembly of the country as representatives 
 of the American people. 
 
 Leland Stanford, whose best known memorial is 
 the Pacific Railroad, was born March 9th, 1824, near 
 Albany, N. Y, He was the son of a well-to-do 
 farmer of good old Puritan ancestry, and led the life 
 of a farmer's boy. He grew up sturdy, industrious, 
 and intelligent. After a few winters at the village 
 
 397 
 
,q8 life of jay G6ULD. 
 
 school, he went, at the age of 17, to Cazenovia 
 Seminary, where Senator Hawley, Charles Dudley 
 Warner, Bishop Andrews, Philip D. Armour, and 
 other men prominent in American business and 
 literature received their early education. Here he 
 was known as a careful, industrious student, with a 
 faculty for taking pains, which has been said to be a 
 mark of genius. Next he went to Albany and 
 studied law, but after three years there, went to the 
 West. He stopped for a time in Chicago and might 
 have settled there for good, but one day he was 
 assailed by a perfect cloud of bloodthirsty mos- 
 quitoes, for which he had a special aversion, and that 
 trifling circumstance impelled him to pack his trunk 
 and leave the place at once. He next stopped at 
 Fort Washington, near Milwaukee, whece he prac- 
 ticed law for three years and managed to save some 
 $2,000, nearly all of which he invested in a library 
 of law books. One night his office took fire, and, 
 with its contents, was entirely destroyed, leaving 
 him almost penniless. He sold out a little timber 
 land which he had purchased, and managed to raise 
 nearly $1,000. With that, in 1852, he set out for 
 the Pacific coast. 
 
 His first settlement there was at Sacramento, 
 where he opened a general store. Those were 
 flush times in California, and within three years he 
 had made more than $10,000. He kept on at the 
 same business a while longer, steadily increasing 
 his fortune, and in ten years was worth about 
 
LELAND STANFORD. 
 
 399 
 
 ;|roo,ooo. In 1861 he was chosen Governor of' 
 California, and then struck out for a wider field of 
 activity. In his earlier years he had heard an Al- 
 bany engineer talking about the feasibility of con- 
 structing a railroad in Oregon. Indeed, he had 
 even hinted at the construction of a railroad line 
 clear across the continent. Of course, such schemes 
 were then considered chimerical, but now that young 
 Stanford was actually on the ground and appreci- 
 ated the needs and the possibilities of the Pacific 
 coast, he recalled these hints with interest. He be- 
 gan talking with surveyors and engineers about the 
 feasibility of such plans. He talked on the same 
 subject with his brothers and with Messrs. Collis P. 
 Huntington and Charles Crocker, who also were 
 storekeepers at Sacramento, and were intimate 
 friends of his. 
 
 His idea was to build a railroad from Sacramento 
 over the Coast Range and Sierra Nevada mountains 
 to the mining camps on the borders of Nevada. 
 At that ticne the rates of freightage on all supplies 
 for the camps were enormously high, and it was 
 evident that if such a railroad could be built it would 
 be exceedingly profitable. One engineer looked 
 over the proposed route and said he thought the 
 road could be built. Thereupon Mr. Stanford or- 
 ganized a company under the California State law, 
 and with Messrs. Huntington and Crocker went on 
 horseback over the route. When they reached the top 
 of the mountains they stopped, dismounted, and sat 
 
^OO ^^^'^ OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 down to discuss the situation. At their feet was a preci- 
 pice dropping perpendicularly down a quarter of a 
 mile. The idea of building a railroad through such 
 a region was startling ; such a thing had never been 
 attempted in the world. One of the little company 
 said that they would have to build a derrick by 
 which to lift the cars up to the top of the mountain, 
 but Mr. Stanford was confident that although the 
 difificulties were enormous the road could be built 
 and operated successfully. The grade would be 
 very steep, and the road would be an expensive one 
 to build, yet the profits, once it was opened, would 
 be correspondingly great. 
 
 They returned to Sacramento and arranged for 
 the construction of the road. As projected, the 
 line was about 150 miles long. To build it took the 
 labor of 3,ocx) white men and 10,000 Chinamen for 
 four years. Indeed, without " Chinese cheap labor " 
 the road probably could not have been built at all. 
 But it was finished, competed successfully with the 
 mule teams and oxen that had formerly carried sup- 
 plies to the camps, and soon became enormously 
 profitable. With this done, the Government was 
 encouraged to go forward with its trans-continental 
 railroad schemes. With these Mr. Stanford was 
 conspicuously connected, and it was largely due to 
 his energy, enterprise, and enthusiasm that the stu- 
 pendous task was carried to successful completion. 
 He has also identified himself very largely with 
 other railroad enterprises on the Pacific coast ; he is 
 
LELAND STANFORD. .qj 
 
 an enormous land-owner, and his wheat farms and 
 vineyards are the pride of the State. 
 
 A few years ago Mr. Stanford's only child, Leland, 
 a promising young man of i8 years, died. This was 
 a great shock to Mr. and Mrs. Stanford, and they 
 determined to erect an unequalled memorial to 
 their boy. With this purpose in view, Mr. Stan- 
 ford called to his aid the best educators, and with 
 characteristic energy completed plans for the " Le- 
 land Stanford, Jr., University," with an endowment 
 of more than $20,000,000, in lands and other prop- 
 erty, which is sure to increase greatly in value in 
 the next decade. This endowment includes the Vina 
 ranch of 55,000 acres in Tehama County, on which 
 is the largest vineyard in the world ; the Girdly 
 wheat ranch in Butte County, comprising 21,000 
 acres ; and the Palo Alto ranch and stock farm of 
 7,200 acres. The total value of these three ranches 
 is $5,300,000. It is his intention to make at Palo 
 Alto, California, an institution which for literary and 
 scientific learning shall be second to none in the 
 world. It shall afford to its students every oppor- 
 tunity for learning the useful professions, businesses, 
 and trades of American life. A young man will be 
 able there to learn agriculture, mining, engineering, 
 carpentry, and building, the construction of ma- 
 chinery, or any other vocation for which nature has 
 fitted him and to which his tastes attract him. To 
 the development of this magnificent scheme of prac- 
 
402 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 tical philanthropy Mr. Stanford has largely dedicated 
 the remainder of his life. 
 
 Another enterprise with which Mr. Stanford's 
 name is inseparably connected is the invention and 
 development of instantaneous photography, espe- 
 cially as applied to the picturing of men and ani- 
 mals in motion. The conventional pictures of 
 horses galloping and trotting did not satisfy him ; 
 he was convinced that their attitudes as represented 
 were unnatural and impossible. He. therefore sent 
 for" a skilled practical photographer, gave him un- 
 limited means with which to prosecute his experi- 
 ments, and himself indicated the lines on which 
 those experiments should be conducted. The re- 
 sults were astonishing and highly successful ; not 
 only were perfect photographic pictures secured of 
 horses galloping and trotting at their utmost speed, 
 but equally satisfactory pictures were produced of 
 birds flying, of men running, leaping, and wrestling, 
 and even of a cannon ball in full flight, just as it was 
 discharged from the mouth of the cannon. These 
 achievements have been of the highest value to 
 painters and sculptors, and have almost revolution- 
 ized the art of illustration. 
 
 Mr. Stanford has little taste for public life. He 
 is essentially a business man and developer of in- 
 dustrial resources. But he was persuaded, in 1861, 
 to accept election as Governor of California, and 
 served in that office with ability and distinction. 
 Two years ago he was chosen a Senator of the 
 
.LELAND STANFORD. aq-i 
 
 United States, and in that office he has made his 
 mark, not as an orator or debater, but as a careful, 
 painstaking, and accompHshed committee-man ; and 
 it is in the committees that the most important work 
 of Congress is accomplished. 
 
 He has been a notable and much observed figure 
 on the floor of the Senate ; a tall, well-proportioned 
 man, with gray moustache and whiskers ; a full, 
 round head, thickly thatched with gray hair ; a strong 
 nose ; a large and finely- developed forehead, and an 
 expressive and masterful mouth. His whole air is 
 that of a man of resolute action, able to undertake 
 and execute great deeds, and to impress his potent 
 individuality upon all his associates. Despite his 
 great wealth, his life has been always a simple and 
 unostentatious one. He is one of the most plainly 
 dressed men in public life at Washington. His 
 clothes are of plain black material, and jewelry is 
 conspicuous by its absence from his person. It is 
 his habit to rise at a not very early hour in the morn- 
 ing, to eat a hearty breakfast, and then to prepare 
 himself for the labors of the day by an hour of ex- 
 ercise, often taken in the form of a walk across 
 country. He takes a light lunch at noon, and a 
 moderately hearty dinner in the evening, and retires 
 at from ten to eleven o'clock at night. 
 
 When in California the Senator spends nearly all 
 his leisure at his country estate. His town house, 
 on the crown of what has been irreverently dubbed 
 "Nob Hill," cost, with its furnishings, not less than 
 
A04 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 ^1,500,000, It is occupied, perhaps, two months in 
 the year by the owner. It is rich in wood-carvings 
 and frescoes, and the art gallery contains the largest 
 collection of old masters outside of a public gallery 
 in this country. He maintains residences in New 
 York and Washington also. His wife, who was 
 Miss Lathrop, of Albany, usually travels with him. 
 She is eminent for her practical charities. Senator 
 Stanford's wealth is estimated at ^50,ooo,cxxj. 
 
CHAUNCEY M. DEPEW. 
 
 u 
 
CHAUNCEY M. DEPEW. 
 
 PERHAPS the widest conception in tlie public 
 mind of the subject of this sketch is that of 
 an incomparably witty and versatile after-dinner 
 speaker. He is entitled, however, to at least equal 
 rank as a serious orator on any occasion, worthy 
 of high eloquence ; as a shrewd' and far-seeing- 
 politician, a broad-minded statesman, a successful 
 business man, a skilled lawyer, a polished man of 
 society and of the world ; and, above all, in all the 
 private relations of his life, a thoroughly manly man, 
 a natural orentleman. 
 
 Chauncey Mitchell Depew was born on April 23d, 
 1834, the reputed anniversary of Shakespeare's birth, 
 at Peekskill, Westchester County, New York. His 
 father \yas of Huguenot descent and his mother 
 Puritan. Isaac Depew, his father, was descended 
 from a family which settled at New Rochelle, New 
 York, more than 200 years ago, a man of great 
 physical and mental strength, with an indomitable will 
 but a tender and generous heart. It has been well 
 said of him that he ruled everybody and everything 
 about him, but his wife ruled him. He was a man 
 of considerable wealth, owning a number of village 
 stores and a small fleet of sloops on the Hudson. 
 His wife, the mother of our hero, was Martha 
 Mitchell, a granddaughter of the Rev. Josiah Sher- 
 
 409 
 
4IO LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 man, who was a brother of the illustrious Roger 
 Sherman. Thus, Mr. Depew is related to General 
 and Senator Sherman, and, through them, to Sena- 
 tor Evarts and Senator Hoar. Mr. Depew was 
 from the first his mother's own child, inheriting from 
 her tact, grace, and kindliness, humor, adaptability 
 to circumstances, and a most versatile nature. 
 From his early boyhood he was highly popular with 
 all his neighbors, and soon acquired reputation as a 
 brilliant and almost exhaustless story-teller. Sit- 
 ting of an evening in the village store, he was sure 
 to be the centre of a circle of admiring and applaud- 
 ing men and boys. No social gathering was com- 
 plete without him ; he was a fine singer, a graceful 
 dancer, and always ready to be at the head of what- 
 ever schemes of entertainment his companions 
 
 misfht desire. 
 
 His early education was acquired at Peekskill 
 Academy, where he was fitted for entrance J;o Yale 
 College. Entering that venerable institution in 
 1852, he continued his reputation as a "royal good 
 fellow," but it is confidently asserted that his health 
 was never injured by over-study. He was, however, 
 a wide reader, a brilliant speaker, and on one occa- 
 sion captured a debating prize. One of his class- 
 mates has borne concerning him this high testimony: 
 " Depew was a man of high mark for quick intelli- 
 gence, fine character, and most delightful good fel- 
 lowship. In the class of 1856 he was one of the 
 best known, most cordially liked, and most thor- 
 
a 1. 1 LuVCE 3 • :)/. DEPE W. ah 
 
 Oughly respected men of his time there. A young 
 man in college is commonly of no account to the 
 men in the classes above him, but the tall figure of 
 Chauncey Depew showed a countenance curiously 
 old and manly in all the aspects denoting sense and 
 character, and yet just as curiously young and ten- 
 der in all those denoting feeling and fineness of 
 nature ; so that he commanded respect and won the 
 warm rerard of his seniors in standing-, as well as 
 of his associates and class companions. He was 
 already a speaker of uncommon originality and 
 force, at once entertaining and persuasive, and 
 was a figure in the college world as one of 
 its most effective popular orators. But more 
 even than this, Depew stood conspicuous above all 
 the men of his time in college for the remarkable 
 union of two sets of qualities: a purity of feeling 
 and conduct, a cleanness of soul and speech, and a 
 largeness and firmness of integrity and honor which 
 are rarely seen, united with a breadth of sympathy, a 
 kindliness of heart and a generosity of good fellow- 
 ship which drew the best men to him, while even 
 the worst were not repelled by the iron-clad absti- 
 nence through which they felt unbounded kindliness 
 of heart expressed in ways that a father confessor 
 of souls could not have improved upon. He never 
 bent, never swerved, never showed any stain to the 
 purest eye ; yet he was the best fellow to all sorts 
 ~ of men, the quickest sympathizer and kindliest helper 
 that any man could reveal himself to without reser- 
 
A I 2 LIFE OF JA y GOULD. 
 
 vation. The grave, grood-humored kindliness of his 
 strong, tender, homely face was prophetic of a life 
 equal to any position the world could give. He 
 was, as he is now, one of those men who can win 
 many sorts of men without letting down his own 
 ideals or in any way lowering himself He is not 
 separated by circumstances, such as great wealth 
 and great place, from the humble and hard handed 
 toilers about him." 
 
 Mr. Depew was at first, like his father, a Demo- 
 crat in politics, but at New Haven he fell among 
 Abolitionist influences and soon became an ardent 
 member of the Republican party, which was formed 
 at about the time -he left collesfe. He was graduated 
 at Yale in 1856. The Fremont campaign was then 
 at its height, and he made no secret of his earnest 
 adherence to the cause represented by that leader. 
 A few days after his graduation he went home to 
 Peekskill and attended a political meeting held by 
 the Fremont clubs of that vicinity. Mr. George 
 William Curtis was to be the principal orator, but 
 was detained from putting in an appearance. There 
 was danger, therefore, that the meeting would be a 
 failure. Somebody, however, noticed young Depew 
 in the audience, and having heard of his prowess as 
 a speaker at college, called upon him to speak, 
 knowing well the effect a Republican speech 
 would have coming from the lips of a member of 
 the leading Democratic family of that neighbor- 
 hood. Young Depew took the platform, and, 
 
CHA UNCE Y M. DEPEXV. a\X 
 
 with some signs of natural embarrassment at 
 speaking before his old comrades and towns- 
 people for the first time, began to give in 
 forcible language the story of his conversion from 
 Democracy to Republicanism, and the reasons that 
 had led him to that change of faith. He was at- 
 tentively listened to, and gained courage as he spoke. 
 Taking up the congenial topic of human freedom, 
 he spoke for more than an hour and a half, and 
 roused the enthusiasm of the audience to such a 
 pitch that the meeting was remembered for years as 
 one of the most impressive political demonstrations 
 ever known in Westchester County. Of course, 
 Isaac Depew could not help being proud of his 
 son's success as a speaker, but he was considerably 
 mortified and angered at his political apostacy, as 
 he considered it; so when his neighbors congratu- 
 lated him on his son's success, he said : " What, do 
 you call that Republican stuff brilliant ? Why, I 
 sent Chauncey to college a sensible fellow, but he 
 has come back a fool." Others did not, however, 
 agree with this latter estimate. Within a few days 
 Chauncey was urgently invited by the State and 
 National Committees of the Republican party to 
 take the stump as a speaker for the rest of the 
 campaign. This he was reluctant to do, but 
 finally yielded, and traveled all over the country 
 making stirring speeches in behalf of General Fre- 
 mont. One of his companions on these tours was 
 James W. Husted, since conspicuous in New York 
 
, I A LIFE OF JA y GOULD. 
 
 politics. Husted generally presided at the meetings 
 and introduced his companion in a short speech, 
 Mr. Depew making the principal address. Mr. 
 Depew's first vote was cast for General Fremont in 
 the fall of 1856. 
 
 For two years after graduation Mr. Depew was 
 an earnest student of law, and in 1858 was admitted 
 to the bar, and began the practice of that profes- 
 sion. At this time it was his custom to rise at six 
 o'clock in the morning, and then make his brother's life 
 miserable because the latter had not been up an hour 
 already and got the office swept out before sunrise. 
 In later life, as the wealthy president of one of the 
 most important railroad systems of the world, Mr. 
 Depew rises not later than seven o'clock, and makes 
 a frugal breakfast at seven-thirty off a couple of 
 boiled eggs, a bit of toast, and a glass of milk. His 
 devotion to law did not altogether wean him from 
 politics. In 1 861 he was elected to the State Legis- 
 lature as Assemblyman from the Third District of 
 Westchester County. The next year he was re- 
 elected, being in 1863 candidate for Speaker. A 
 Democrat, Mr. T. C. Gallicott, was, however, elected 
 to that position, and Mr. Depew became Chairman 
 of the Ways and Means Committee and leader of 
 the Republican side of the House. In November, 
 1863, he was elected Secretary of the State for New 
 York State on the Unionist or Republican ticket, 
 defeating his Democratic rival by nearly 30,000 
 majority. In this position he served for one year 
 
CHA UNCE Y M. DEPE IV. '415 
 
 under the administration of Governor Seymour and 
 one year under that of Governor Fenton. A renom- 
 ination was offered to him, but he dedined it and re- 
 turned to his law office. In 1 866 Mr. Depew was still 
 a young lawyer of inconsiderable practice, but he had 
 a wide reputation as a politician and a rising states- 
 man, and was chosen by the President as Minister to 
 Japan. After several weeks of consideration he 
 declined the honor. "I thought," he afterward 
 said, " that if I accepted that place and so got con- 
 firmed in my taste for public office, I would become 
 a political pauper." About that time he was also 
 much thought of as a candidate for Collector of the 
 Port of New York. A few years later he was ap- 
 pointed Commissioner of Emigration in New York, 
 but declined that office also. He was made, in April, 
 1871, a member of the Board of Commissioners for 
 the new State Capitol at Albany, and held that place 
 four years. In 1877 he was made a Regent of 
 the University of the State of New York, a life- 
 office, which he still holds. He was also in that year 
 appointed a Commissioner to locate the boundaries 
 between New York State and New Jersey and 
 Pennsylvania. In 1872 he was a conspicuous mem- 
 ber of the Liberal Republican party in its campaign 
 of that year, and was its candidate for office, but was 
 defeated with the rest of the party. 
 
 Not long after the inauguration of President Gar- 
 field in 1 88 1, a serious quarrel arose between the 
 President and the two Senators from New York 
 
A I 6 -L/-P£ OF J A Y GO ULD. 
 
 State, Messrs. Conkling and Piatt, on the subject 
 of federal patronage. The Senators bitterly accused 
 the President of bad faith and broken promises, and 
 rather than be parties to what they considered an 
 unwise and dishonorable proceeding resigned their 
 seats. Their friends in New York State urged their 
 immediate re-election, and a prolonged and bittercon- 
 test ensued in the Legislature at Albany. Mr. Depew 
 was immediately put forward by the friends of 
 President Garfield as a candidate for one of the va- 
 cant chairs, but after several weeks' fruitless ballot- 
 ing he withdrew from the contest. In 1884 he 
 might have had the unanimous and unchallenged 
 nomination and election to the Senatorship without 
 making an effort to that end, but he declined to be 
 considered as a candidate. 
 
 A most important part of Mr. Depew's career has 
 been his connection with what is known as the Van- 
 derbilt system of railroads ; this began in 1866. 
 He had attracted the favorable attention of Commo- 
 dore Vanderbilt and was selected by him as attorney 
 for the Harlem Railroad. Later he was made at- 
 torney for the whole New York Centriil & Hudson 
 River System, which in 1875 had grown almost to 
 its present' size, and was also chosen a director of 
 the roads. In these various capacities he was of 
 untold service to the company as its legal adviser, 
 as its legislative agent, and as a negotiator with 
 other corporations. When Mr. W. H. Vanderbilt 
 retired from the Presidency of the roads, Mr, Depew 
 
CBAUNCBY M. DEPEW. A\<n 
 
 was made Second Vice-President of the re-oro-an- 
 
 o 
 
 ized company, and, on the death of Mr. Rutter, be- 
 came President of the whole system, a position 
 which he still holds. Although thus the representa- 
 tive of vast wealth, Mr. Depew has not felt the an- 
 tagonism of the laboring classes which so many great 
 employers have suffered. He has always been a 
 firm friend of the employees of the railroads with 
 which he has been connected, and has had an eye to 
 their welfare as well as to the welfare of the stock- 
 holders, rightly believing the two to be indissolubly 
 connected. The men therefore trust him. They 
 have never had occasion to resort to strikes, but, on 
 the contrary, have stood a united army to guard the 
 Vanderbilt roads from implication in the labor 
 troubles of other corporations. There is perhaps 
 no man in the country more popular among the 
 thousands of workingmen with whom he has come 
 into contact, and with whom he stands in the rela- 
 ,tion of employer than Mr. Depew. On the other 
 hand, he has been a popular and welcome figure in 
 the most aristocratic society of New York and of 
 the whole nation, and a courted and admired figure 
 in the European capitals whenever he has visited 
 them. He has become a member and officer of 
 several of the most conspicuous social and political 
 clubs of New York and President of the famous 
 Union League Club. 
 
 He has been-called upon to deliver orations at 
 many of the most important public gatherings for 
 
.jg LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 years past, and is in constant demand at club din- 
 ners, receptions, college commencements, and simi- 
 lar occasions. At one time he was called upon to 
 address a gathering of the Brotherhood of Locomo- 
 tive Engineers, when he made an eloquent and 
 convincing plea for harmony between labor and 
 capital. He was,the orator at the dedication of the 
 monument to deceased newspaper men at Cypress 
 Hills Cemetery. " The soldier," he said, " is inspired 
 with the hope of promotion, the dream of glory, and 
 he becomes a hero in the maddening passion of the 
 battle. But the reporter, with no incentive but 
 duty, shares the warrior's dangers and exposures, 
 notes in the thickest of the fray the fortunes of the 
 fight, and while the camp is asleep rides weary 
 through a hostile country to send to his paper the 
 first account of the carnage and the victory, in a 
 message which electrifies the nation but bears no 
 signature." On another occasion, before a famous 
 Free-Thought club, he made a powerful argument* 
 against certain phases of so-called liberalism. "I 
 confess," he said, " I do not understand these 
 evangels of free thought. They use a language of 
 strange terms and beautiful generalities which con- 
 vey no meaning to me. I have listened to them 
 with the most earnest attention, but when they have 
 tumbled down my church and buried my Bible, and 
 destroyed all the foundations of my faith, what do 
 they offer in return ? Nothing but phrases, coUec- 
 
CHAUNCEY M. DEPEW. ^ig 
 
 tions of words, and terminologies as mixed as chaos 
 and as vague as space !" 
 
 Speaking at a meeting of the Young Men's 
 Christian Association of Yale College, held in a 
 New York theatre, he said : " I regard student life 
 as more than a curriculum. A young man goes 
 from his home with its narrow horizon to the 
 broader world of young intellects, and what he 
 gains or loses, the changes brought about by attri- 
 tion, make his character through life. One man's 
 influence upon his fellows is often great. I have 
 known one man to ruin a whole class. In one in- 
 stance three or four brilliant men, leaders yet de- 
 bauchees, men who are supposed to do great things 
 without work, ruined hundreds of their fellows. 
 This movement of the Young Men's Christian As- 
 sociation is to do away with such things, to rescue 
 true manhood in the schools, and to teach the lesson 
 that his life is best who lives best and gets most out 
 of it." 
 
 Another passage of his eloquence, from his 
 Decoration- Day address in 1879, is worthy of all 
 remembrance : " When the war was over in the 
 South, where, under warmer skies and with more 
 poetic temperament, symbols and emblems are 
 better understood than in the practical North, the 
 widows, mothers, and children of the Confederate 
 dead went out and strewed their graves with flowers, 
 and at many places scattered them impartially also 
 over the unknown and unmarked resting places of 
 
.JO ^^^^ OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 the Union soldiers. As the news of this touching 
 tribute was flashed over the North it aroused as 
 nothing else could have done national amity and 
 love and allayed sectional animosity and passion. 
 It thrilled every household where there was a vacant 
 chair by the fireside and an aching void in the heart 
 for a lost hero whose remains had never been found. 
 Old wounds broke out afresh, and in a mingled 
 tempest of grief and joy the family cried, ' Maybe 
 it was our darling !' Thus, out of sorrows common 
 alike, to the North and South came this beautiful 
 custom. But Decoration Day no longer belongs to 
 those who mourn. It is the common privilege of 
 us all, and will be celebrated as long as gratitude 
 exists and as long as springtime flowers bloom." 
 
 With this established reputation for eloquence on 
 noble themes, it was highly appropriate that Mr. 
 Depew should have been selected as the orator for 
 the Centennial anniversary of the inauguration of 
 President Washington. His address has been uni- 
 versally accepted as a noble and worthy expression 
 of the loyal affection and admiring veneration of the 
 American people of to-day for the first and greatest 
 captain of the Ship of State. 
 
 As a humorous after-dinner speaker Mr. Depew 
 cannot well be described. He must be heard to be 
 appreciated. " Who," said a recent writer in The 
 North Americaii Review, " having once seen him 
 rise at a friendly banquet, can fofget the tall. 
 
CHA UNCE Y M. DEPE W. ^21 
 
 neatly trimmed whiskers, the large bluish gray eyes, 
 the preternaturally demure demeanor, the appear- 
 ance and deportment of an English barrister with- 
 out his wig, or an English clergyman without his 
 gown ? Who, having once heard him, can forget 
 the cool, calm, tireless voice that gives a new force 
 to fun and a new depth to eloquence ? Unlike all 
 other American humorists, Mr. Depew coins no 
 comic phrases, makes no puns, indulges in no tricks 
 of words or manner. Unlike all other American 
 orators, he seeks to inflame no passions, to excite 
 no prejudice. He says nothing and does nothing to 
 arouse his hearers. Like Antony, he ' only speaks 
 right on,' expressing plain common sense in simple 
 language. If this common sense exposes shams, 
 makes pretenses ridiculous and affectations absurd, 
 the room rocks with laughter; if it inspires patriot- 
 ism, stimulates sentiment, impresses great thoughts 
 upon the audience, the hall rings with cheers. He 
 is as fluent as Gladstone ; but while Gladstone's 
 sentences are verbose, Depew's are terse and clear. 
 His eloquence is like the ocean that tosses up 
 waves of wit and crests them with the foam of 
 poetry, and beneath the sparkling surface is the 
 deep, steadfast and mighty. When his audiences 
 roar, he seems unconscious of the fun. When they 
 hurrah, there is no answering flash in his steady 
 eyes. He means what he says. He has thought it 
 all out carefully, as his logical arrangement and fe- 
 licitous phrases prove. He says it because it is his 
 
 ISiSsL 
 
^22 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 duty to speak ; and he is unconcerned whether those 
 who hear him laugh or cheer, so long as they allow 
 him to convince them of the correctness of his views, 
 be they serious or satirical." 
 
 In 1888 Mr. Depew was one of the foremost 
 candidates for President of the United States. He 
 had the solid and enthusiastic support of the entire 
 delegation from New York State to the National 
 Republican Convention, But his generosity and 
 patriotism exceeded his ambition. Finding that it 
 was not expedient for his candidacy to be maintained 
 and pressed longer, he withdrew his name and con- 
 tributed largely to the nomination and subsequent 
 election of General Harrison. He therefore re- 
 remains President of the great railroads for whose 
 prosperity he has done so much. Every day he is 
 found during office hours hard at work at the Grand 
 Central depot in New York. There he is overrun 
 with visitors, but they are all courteously received 
 and generously attended to, be they millionaires or 
 statesmen, or the brakemen and firemen of the 
 railroad trains. Generally he eats his lunch at his 
 desk, but is fond, whenever possible, of slipping 
 out and going home for it. He always dines at 
 home, and his dinner is what he calls the family 
 circle. He does not dress especially for it ; that 
 would be too formal. The household gathers not 
 for a stately banquet, and indeed not merely to eat, 
 but to enjoy an intellectual and social romp. At 
 the head of his own table Mr. Depew tries, as he 
 
CHA UNCE y M. DEPE IV. ^25 
 
 never does at public banquets or on the platform, to 
 be just as entertaining, amusing, vivacious, and gen- 
 ial as lies within the compass of his utmost power. 
 Then and there it is that he tells his newest and 
 best stories, and mimics with an actor's skill the odd 
 characters who have called on him at the office and 
 the odd things they have said. The cares and de- 
 tails of business are rigidly excluded, and the dinner 
 hour is for him, his wife, and children a season of 
 unalloyed enjoyment and pleasure. His home is a 
 handsome but unpretentious one, in a house on 
 Forty-fifth Street, not far from the great railroad 
 station where he has his office. It is above all else 
 a home, and his life there is emphatically and dis- 
 tinctively a home life. To make it comfortable and 
 attractive and lovable to his wife and children, seems 
 to be the crowning ambition of the great man's life, 
 and he would rather take one of his boys to the 
 circus than attend a Union League Club dinner. 
 
 Among his old neighbors in Westchester County 
 Mr. Depew has always been, as he is to-day, incom- 
 parably the greatest man in the world. Go among 
 the thrifty farmers of that region and talk of the 
 President of the United States, the General of the 
 armies, the foremost preacher, editor, or other popu- 
 lar idol of the day ; talk of Gladstone, Bismarck, or 
 the Pope, and they will concede their greatness. 
 But if you would rouse their enthusiasm, make their 
 eyes flash more brightly, and their hearts beat 
 quicker, and call the speech of the highest admira- 
 tion and warmest love to their lips, mention the 
 
 5R 
 
^26 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 name of Chauncey Depew. To them he is not only 
 the greatest personage in the world's contemporary 
 history, not only the manager of untold millions, the 
 leader of public thought, and the admired figure of 
 the most brilliant society, but he is, as they affec- 
 tionately term him, "Our Chauncey;" he is still the 
 simple-hearted, earnest, wholesome lad who spun 
 queer stories in the village store and tramped about 
 their farms and along their highways. At the height 
 of his greatness he has never been too great to as- 
 sociate with them on terms of perfect equality and 
 good fellowship, to attend their humble social gath- 
 erings, to speak at their rural fairs and school 
 exhibitions, to show himself "a judge of prize fat 
 oxen and of sheep," and to keep himself constantly 
 in touch with popular feeling and his great heart 
 beating in unison with the hearts of all his old neigh- 
 bors and early comrades. 
 
 His personal appearance is known to thousands 
 who have seen and heard him. He is not, perhaps, 
 as homely as Abraham Lincoln, but there is an air 
 about him such as though he had been meant for a 
 handsome man but was sorely spoiled in the making. 
 His face expresses too much goodness to be beau- 
 tiful. It has all the earnestness and seriousness of 
 Mr. Lincoln, without his melancholy. It has a depth 
 of thought and sense, and a dignity of expression 
 that well command a place in the gallery of the 
 world's greatest men, and a kindliness and famil- 
 iarity that would win the instant confidence and un- 
 questioning love of a child. 
 
ANDREW CARNEGIE. 
 
ANDREW CARNEGIE. 
 
 ANDREW CARNEGIE was born at Dunferm- 
 line, in Scotland, on the 25th of November, 
 1835. When he was twelve years of age he emi- 
 grated to America and settled at Pittsburg with his 
 parents and a younger brother. He was then 
 almost penniless. To-day he is supposed to be 
 worth at least fifteen millions, and he wields an 
 influence in the industrial world as great, possibly, 
 as that of any living man. It may be said that Mr. 
 Carnegie was exceptionally equipped for success 
 both mentally and morally ; numbering among his 
 mental qualities shrewdness, persistence, a good 
 memory and an intuitive insight into character, and 
 among his moral qualities integrity, gratitude and 
 geniality. But his phenomenal rise in life must be 
 attributed largely to his following certain clear prin- 
 ciples and methods. Some of these he has defined 
 in an admirable address to the students of a com- 
 mercial college at Pittsburg. These are his maxims 
 summarized : 
 
 " Avoid drink ; avoid speculation ; avoid endorse- 
 ments. Aim high. For the question, ' What must 
 I do for my employer ? ' substitute ' What can I do ? ' 
 Begin to save early — ' capitalists trust the saving 
 young man,' Concentrate your energy, thought 
 and capital ; fight it out on one line." (The lack 
 
 429 
 
430 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 of concentration he considers the failing of American 
 business men.) 
 
 To these injunctions he might well have added 
 another, suggested by his own career : " Never 
 think your education ended." Prompt as he is to 
 grasp new ideas and to test every new theory con- 
 nected with his industrial enterprises, he has never 
 ceased expanding his thoughts and widening his 
 sympathies by varied studies. The extent to which 
 he has "read, marked, learned and inwardly 
 digested" good literature may be inferred from the 
 many apt and unhackneyed quotations with which 
 he fortifies his own views in most of his writings. 
 
 One characteristic business maxim of Mr. Carne- 
 gie, though invaluable to men endowed with judg- 
 ment equal to his own, is not without danger to 
 employes who happen to be more aspiring than 
 shrewd. "Break orders to save owners," he ad- 
 vises, reversing an old conservative rule ; " there 
 never was a great character who did not sometimes 
 smash the routine regulations and make new ones 
 for himself. Do not hesitate to do it whenever you 
 are sure the interests of your employer will be 
 thereby promoted, and when you are so sure of the 
 result that you are willing to take the responsibility. 
 Boss your boss just as soon as you can ; try it on 
 early. Our young partners in Carnegie Brothers 
 have won their spurs by showing that we did not 
 know half as well what was wanted as they did. 
 Some of them have acted uppn occasion with me as 
 
ANDREW CARNECm, 43 1 
 
 if they owned the firm and I was but some airy New 
 Yorker presuming to advise upon what I knew very 
 litde about." 
 
 Two years after his family had settled at Pitts- 
 burg, Andrew was engaged as a messenger in the 
 Atlantic and Ohio Telegraph Company. He asked 
 and was given leave to practice telegraphing in his 
 spare moments, and, having learned to read mes- 
 sages by sound, was soon promoted to be an oper- 
 ator. About this time his father died, and Andrew 
 became the sole support of his mother and brother. 
 In a couple of years he had (;ievised a scheme which 
 enabled the Pennsylvania Railroad to improve the 
 regulation of its traffic by rneans of the telegraph 
 and to materially increase its carrying power. He 
 now entered the service of this great railroad cor- 
 poration, and before he was of age had risen to be 
 Superintendent of the Pittsburg division. Prior to 
 this he had judiciously invested most of his earnings 
 in a company formed to manufacture the Woodruff 
 sleeping car. After some other successful invest- 
 ments Mr. Carnegie became one of an association 
 which gave $40,000 for the Storey farm, on Oil Creek 
 where they struck oil and netted over $1,000,000 in 
 one year. His most important venture was the 
 establishment of the Edgar Thompson Steel Works, 
 named after an early benefactor. In addition 
 to this the Carnegie companies comprise, or 
 lately comprised, the Pittsburg Bessemer Steel 
 Works, the Lucy Furnaces, the Union Iron Mills, 
 
432 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 the Union Mill, the Keystone Bridge Works, the 
 Hartman Steel Works, the Scotia Ore Mines and 
 the Frick Coal Company. The capital of the com- 
 panies named — which is mostly owned by Carnegie 
 himself — amounted, a year ago, to twenty million 
 dollars, and the average yearly output of finished 
 products from the factories considerably exceeds 
 half a million tons. It is to be noticed that the invest- 
 ments which made Mr. Carnegie a very rich man 
 were confined to industrial enterprises whose nature 
 and prospects he was specially qualified to under- 
 stand. 
 
 To his vivid sense of the beneficent effect of 
 education his bounteous gifts to libraries are mainly 
 due. He rightly views a good library as a cheap 
 university for persistent and ambitious talent. In 
 1880 he gave $40,000 to establish a free library at 
 Dunfermline. In 1885 he founded another free 
 library at Pittsburg at a cost of $500,000, and in 
 the following year he presented Edinburgh with 
 $250,000 for a free library and Allegheny City with 
 an equal sum for a music hall and library combined. 
 He has also established several smaller libraries in 
 other places. A seeming eccentricity of Mr. Car- 
 negie — his purchasing the control of eighteen radi- 
 cal newspapers in Great Britain — was really the 
 result of his democratic zeal combined with his 
 recognition of the educating power of the press. 
 
 During his mother's life Andrew Carnegie proved 
 himself a tender and true son. Perhaps the keenest 
 
ANDREW CARNEGIE. 433 
 
 enjoyment which his wealth has afforded him has 
 been found in its enabhng him to anticipate her 
 wants and wishes. He made a resolution, and kept 
 it, not to marry while she lived. His generosity has 
 embraced several benevolent institutions and several 
 unsuccessful friends. Nor does he try to forget his 
 poor days any more than his humble acquaintances. 
 " It does not hurt the new comer to sweep out the 
 office if necessary," he told the students of the 
 Curry Commercial College. " I was one of those 
 sweepers myself, and who do you suppose were my 
 fellow-sweepers ? David McCargo, now Superin- 
 tendent of the Allegheny Valley Railroad, Robert 
 Pitcairn, Superintendent of the Pennsylvania Rail- 
 road, and Mr. Moreland, City Attorney. We all 
 took turns, two each morning did the sweeping, 
 and now I remember Davie was so proud of his 
 clean white shirt-bosom that he used to spread over 
 it an old silk bandana handkerchief which he kept 
 for the purpose, and we other boys thought he was 
 putting on airs. So he was. None of us had a 
 silk handkerchief." 
 
 Mr. Carnegie is a genial companion. He can 
 sing a good song, make a good occasional speech, 
 and tell a good story. Nor does he either monopolize 
 the conversation or else sulk, as too many celebrities 
 are prone to do. His skill in driving four-in-hands 
 is well known. In person he is rather short, but 
 strongly made and active. His eyes, which are 
 blue, are large and sympathetic. Altogether, he is 
 a man to inspire children with confidence. 
 
434 ^^P^ OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 Besides a few pamphlets and many magazine 
 articles, Mr. Carnegie is the author of " An Ameri- 
 can Four-in-Hand in Britain" (New York, 1883) ; 
 "Round the World" (1884), and "Triumphant 
 Democracy ; or, Fifty Years' March of the Republic" 
 (1887). The general tendency of "Triumphant 
 Democracy," his most important work, is to laud 
 American methods, industrial, social and political ; 
 to decry the vaunted British Constitution, but at the 
 same time to inspire Britons and Americans with 
 mutual esteem and admiration. Mr. Carnegie is 
 for humanity first, and secondly for the great race 
 to which he is proud to belong. With him 
 democracy is the evangel of humanity. It promises 
 every man a fair field and no favor. Mr. Carnegie 
 is revolted at the mere name of a "subject." In 
 his enthusiasm for democratic government he is led 
 into a few paradoxes, which, however, he defends 
 with great ingenuity. "Triumphant Democracy" 
 teems with valuable condensed statistics as well as 
 with characteristic anecdotes. The style is never 
 heavy. Sometimes it is even brilliant, as in the con- 
 trast between Lincoln and Bismarck — terse, epigram- 
 matic, true. Amid the author's prolonged paeans 
 upon American triumphs, a critiG found his admis- 
 sions quite refreshing that " no civilized people ever 
 cooked so badly" and that the best roads in the 
 world are not to be found in the United States. Mr. 
 Carnegie has his grand aspirations for a friendly 
 union or alliance of the English-speaking powers — 
 
ANDREW CARNEGIE. 435 
 
 America, Britain, and independent Australasia- 
 dominating the world and dictating peace to the too 
 heavily armed nations. And he has not the shadow 
 of a doubt that the world-language is destined to be 
 English, and not Volapuk. 
 
THE ROTHSCHILDS. 
 
THE ROTHSCHILDS. 
 
 THERE is, or until recently was, standing in the 
 crowded Juden-Gasse quarter of Frankfort- 
 on-the-Main, an ancient house bearing the sym- 
 bol of a red shield. Within its walls, in the 
 year 1 743, was born Meyer Anselm, the son of well- 
 to-do and steady-going Jewish parents. In boyhood 
 he was destined to become a rabbi, but showed 
 such strong disinclination therefor that he was placed 
 as a clerk in a bank at Hanover. This was much to 
 his liking, and he quickly distinguished himself as a 
 financier. A few years later he returned to Frank- 
 fort-on-the-Main, and, in the old house with the red 
 shield, began business on his own account as a 
 banker. Integrity and industry characterized his 
 work. His judgment was far-seeing and almost 
 infallible. Accordingly he prospered. When Bo- 
 naparte entered Germany, and began confiscating 
 property right and left, William, Landgrave of 
 Hesse, intrusted to the Frankfort banker all his 
 wealth for safe-keeping. Meyer Anselm assumed 
 the name of Rothschild (red shield), from the in- 
 signia on his house, and when he died in 181 2 this 
 name was famous throughout Europe as that 6f one 
 of the foremost money-kings of the day. 
 
 This founder of the Rothschild money dynasty left 
 his name and fortune to five sons — Anselm, Solomon, 
 
 439 
 
440 LIFE OF J A y GOULD. 
 
 Nathan, Charles and James, who established them- 
 selves as bankers respectively in Frankfort, Vienna, 
 London, Naples and Paris. They worked in har- 
 mony with each other, and established the rule that 
 marriages should be confined within the family 
 circle, in order to keep the family fortune intact. 
 This rule was rigidly observed until very recently. 
 On the death of Charles Rothschild the Naples 
 house was discontinued, but all the others have 
 been maintained, with constantly increasing wealth 
 and influence. The Rothschilds have become the 
 brokers and bankers for nearly all the governments 
 of the world, and have long been masters of the 
 money markets of all European capitals. 
 
 Nathan Rothschild, the third son of Meyer An- 
 selm, was born in 1777, and settled in London in 
 1800, acting there as agent for his father. He was ' 
 the agent selected to pay the $60,000,000 due, un- 
 der the treaty of Toplitz, from Great Britain to her 
 German allies. Private agents sent him word of 
 the result of the batde of Waterloo a few hours 
 before it was known by the government, and he 
 was thus enabled to make bargains which netted 
 him $1,000,000 profits. In 1822 the Emperor of 
 Austria made him a baron, but he did not care to be 
 called by that title. He died in 1836, and was suc- 
 ceeded by his eldest son, Lionel de Rothschild, who 
 was born in 1808 and was educated at Gottingen. 
 
 o 
 
 In 1847 he was elected a member of the House of 
 Commons by a London constituency. But he was 
 
THE ROTHSCHILDS. 443 
 
 unable to take the qualifying oath "On the true 
 faith of a Christian," and proudly refused to abjure 
 his Hebrew faith. So he did not take his scat. He 
 was several times elected, with the same result ; but 
 at last for very shame the government passed a 
 law removing the political disabilities of the Jews, 
 and in 185S he took his seat, the first Jewish mem- 
 ber of Parliament. When Lord Beaconsfield in 
 1876 conceived and accomplished his magnificent 
 project of purchasing for England the Egyptian 
 government's shares in the Suez Canal, it was Lio- 
 nel de Rothschild who advanced the $20,000,000 
 , needed for the purpose. Lionel de Rothschild re- 
 ceived the hofior of knighthood, and died in 1879. 
 The eldest son of Sir Lionel was named Nathaniel 
 Meyer de Rothschild. He was born in 1840, and 
 in 1885 was made a peer, with the title of Lord 
 Rothschild. He was the first Jew to take a seat in 
 the House of Lords, for Lord Beaconsfield, though 
 of purely Jewish origin, had embraced the Christian 
 religion previous to his entering British political 
 life. The eldest son and heir of Lord Rothschild is 
 the Hon. Lionel W. de Rothschild, born in 1868. 
 Lionel de Rothschild left two younger sons, Alfred 
 and Leopold. Mr. Alfred de Rothschild is still 
 unmarried, and is one of the best known and most 
 popular members of aristocratic society in London. 
 Mr. Leopold de Rothschild is one of the few mem- 
 bers of the family who have married outsiders. He 
 was married on January 19, 1881, to Mile. Marie 
 
 26 
 
444 ^^^^ OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 Perugia, a wealthy young lady of Trieste. The 
 ceremony occurred in the great Central Synagogue 
 in London, the foundation stone of which had been 
 laid by Lionel de Rothschild in 1870. The service 
 was an imposing one, and was attended by many 
 members of the family and of the English nobility. 
 One of the witnesses who signed the marriage con- 
 tract was the Prince of Wales, who then attended a 
 Jewish service for the first time. The Prince, Lord 
 Beaconsfield, Lord Houghton and other eminent 
 personages were also present at the wedding 
 breakfast. 
 
 The first Rothschild to marry outside of the Jewish 
 faith was Miss Hannah de Rothschild, the only 
 daughter of the late Baron Meyer de Rothschild. 
 She was married on March 20, 1878, to Archibald 
 Philip Primrose, Earl of Rosebery, who has since 
 become an eminent English statesman. The Count- 
 ess of Rosebery was the first avowedly Jewish lady 
 to wear a British coronet, and she has ever since 
 remained true to the faith of her fathers. On 
 December 8, 1878^ however, a Rothschild abjured 
 that faith. This was Mile. Marguerite Alexandria 
 de Rothschild, daughter of Baron Charles de Roths- 
 child, head of the Frankfort house. She was married 
 on that date to the Duke de Guiche, of France, who, 
 a couple of years later, on the death of his father, 
 became the Duke de Grammont ; and she became 
 a communicant of the Roman Catholic Church. The 
 same course was followed in September, 1882, by 
 
THE ROTHSCHILDS. 445 
 
 her younger sister, Mile. Berthe Marie, on her 
 marriage with Prince Alexander de Wagram, grand- 
 son of Bonaparte's famous Marshal, Berthier. It 
 is told, by the way, that shortly before Lord Rose- 
 bery and Miss Rothschild were married, some one 
 congratulated the bridegroom's stepfather, the Duke 
 of Cleveland, on the approaching event, and highly 
 praised the amiability and other accomplishments of 
 the young lady. " Yes," said the old lord of Barn- 
 ard castle, " a very good girl, I believe, a very good 
 girl, and I am given to understand quite rich. Yes, 
 I am told, quite rich." The Duke of Cleveland 
 spoke in good faith. He was so wholly wrapped up 
 in his aristocratic prejudices that the deeds of noble- 
 men of recent creation or the wealth of financial 
 kings were seldom alluded to in his presence. He 
 hardly knew who the Rothschilds were. 
 
 The first — indeed the only one — of the earher 
 Rothschilds to marry outside of the family was 
 Nathan, the founder of the London branch ; and it 
 was he who established the system which has so 
 largely restrained the others from doing the same. 
 When he had been only a few years in England, so 
 large were his transactions that one of the Jewish 
 grandees of London, Levi Cohen, selected him as 
 an eligible candidate for the hand of one of his 
 daughters. After the union, the apparently desper- 
 ate speculations of the young man greatly alarmed 
 the old banker. He believed that Nathan would 
 soon be ruined, and that his daughter would find 
 
446 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 herself in distress. The father's apprehensions were 
 calmed, however, by the young Rothschild saying : 
 "You have given me but one of your daughters; 
 it would have been an excellent stroke of business 
 to have given me them all. Then they would all 
 have died a great deal richer than they will now." 
 Nathan was perhaps the greatest miser of the 
 family. He so far hated to see a penny of his 
 fortune go out of the family, that he conceived the 
 idea of perpetuating the power of the house by 
 means of consanguineous alliances. With this view, 
 in 1836 he called a family congress together at 
 Frankfort to consider the proposition. They all 
 favored it, and as a pledge of this policy his son 
 Lionel was married to Charlotte, the daughter of 
 Charles, then the head of the Naples house. 
 Nathan was overjoyed at the adoption of his matri- 
 monial system, but fell sick on the day of the wed- 
 ding and died in six weeks. 
 
 Evelina, second daughter of Lionel de Roths- 
 child, of London, and Ferdinand, second son of 
 Baron Anselm de Rothschild, of Vienna, were in 
 1865 married in London at the splendid mansion of 
 the bride's father in Piccadilly. The bride was 
 attended by fourteen bridesmaids, the foremost of 
 them being Lady Diana Beauclerc, the daughter of 
 the Duchess of St. Albans, The Duke of Cam- 
 bridge opened the ball that followed the ceremony. 
 Benjamin Disraeli, who had already been Chancellor 
 of the Exchequer, proposed the health of the happy 
 
THE ROTHS(miLDS. ^/^"J 
 
 pair, and the Lord Chief-Justice of England led off 
 and timed the cheers. " So the common humanity 
 of Shylock," a writer remarked at the time, " and of 
 the haughtiest aristocracy of the world is established. 
 So Isaac of York is avenged." 
 
 The head of the Paris house is Baron Alphonse 
 de Rothschild, who is married to the eldest daughter 
 of Lionel de Rothschild. At their wedding their 
 health was proposed by the Duke de Persigny, then 
 French Ambassador to England. They took up 
 their home in Paris, in the house once occupied by 
 Emile de Girardin. It was No. 1 3 Rue St. George, 
 and Baron Alphonse was superstitious. He offered 
 to give $5,000 to the poor if the authorities would 
 let him change the number. They consented, and 
 the house has since been known as No. 1 1 bis. The 
 Baron and Baroness are childless, but otherwise 
 their life has been almost ideally happy. They have 
 been conspicuous in every philanthropic work, limit- 
 ing their vast and unostentatious benevolence to no 
 race or creed. Their mansion has long been a 
 favorite resort of the best authors, artists and musi- 
 cians of Paris, of whom the Baron is a munificent 
 patron. A characteristic gathering there was de- 
 scribed a few years ago by a correspondent of Theit 
 London Telegraph dLsioWo^s: " Baroness de Roths- 
 child invited her friends to an 'at home' this after- 
 noon, and, although no mention was made of music, 
 it was not to be wondered at that all the most 
 distinguished people in Paris had made a point of 
 
448 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 being present, for the fame of the splendid new 
 gallery just completed, and rivalling in the magnifi- 
 cence of its collections the most famous museums 
 of France, had spread far and wide, and many ce- 
 lebrities hastened td* the house punctually at the 
 hour named, in order to feast their eyes on the 
 treasures of which they had heard so much. The 
 briefest catalogue of the works of art would take 
 up columns of your paper, nor would ^ny description 
 of their arrangement convey so good an idea of 
 the harmonious effect produced by them, as an ob- 
 servation made to me by M. Alexandre Dumas. 
 Looking at this wonderful scene from a playwright's 
 point of view, he said : ' I cannot help thinking at 
 what little cost the effect might be reproduced, of 
 course in imitation works of art. Nothing about 
 the place looks new. The things look as though 
 they had grown in the places they occupy.' Such an 
 assemblage of notabilities is seldom to be found, 
 even in the cosmopolitan society of Paris. For 
 instance, on a sofa together were the Queen of 
 Spain and Don Carlos. In one corner were Lord 
 Lytton and Lord Houghton. Opposite to them 
 were M. Meissonier and M. Ludovic Halevy ; while 
 »the Due de Nemours was chatting with the numer- 
 ous adherents of the Orleans regime. The large 
 salon was filled with ladies, whose bright spring 
 toilettes were relieved by the masses of flowers in 
 the room itself, and by the clumps of foliage in the 
 broad garden outside, divided only by trees from the 
 
THE ROTHSCHILDS. 449 
 
 Pare Monceu beyond. Here the picturesquely 
 disposed audience remained for nearly two hours, 
 listening to two gifted vocaHsts, who exerted them- 
 selves to such good purpose that however much 
 they sang their hearers called for more. The sing- 
 ers were Mile. Van Zandt and M. Faure, and never 
 has either appeared to more advantage." 
 
 Another less admirable Parisian Rothschild was 
 Alphonse's father, Baron James, whom Balzac cari- 
 catured in " Pere Goriot" as the Baron de Nucen- 
 gen. He it was, also, who moved Heine to say that 
 he (Heine) had become a Christian and abjured 
 Judaism because he did not like to belong to the 
 same faith as Baron James Rothschild without being 
 as rich as he ; that he could not be as rich without 
 being as stupid, and that, no other man could pos- 
 sibly be. Baron James died long ago. His wife, 
 who survived him, and died in September, 1886, led 
 an exemplary life, devoted chiefly. to deeds of charity. 
 She was the first Jewess ever received at the Court 
 of France. She was admitted to that charmed 
 circle, and made much of, by Marie Amelie, Queen 
 of Louis Philippe. By no means the least notable 
 of the living Rothschilds is Helen, daughter and 
 heiress of Baron Solomon de Rothschild. She 
 inherited a fortune of ^70,000,000, and insisted, in 
 spite of strenuous opposition on the part of her 
 family, in marrying the man of her choice, a penni- 
 less officer in the Belgian army. 
 
THE ASTORS. 
 
THE ASTORS. 
 
 HUMAN nature is, after all, pretty much the 
 same in all times and places, and human so- 
 ciety, in whatever country and under whatever laws, 
 drifts into certain well-defined and conventional 
 channels. In the American republic, founded upon 
 a Constitution radically different from those of the 
 monarchies of the Old World and upon a social code 
 as far removed from that of Europe as is its politi- 
 cal, the tendency towards European thoughts, man- 
 ners and customs has been marked and unmistak- 
 able. The absence of an hereditary peerage has 
 not prevented the formation of great families en- 
 dowed with hereditary wealth, and the absence of 
 laws of entail and primogeniture has not prevented 
 the transmission of immense landed estates from 
 generation to generation. 
 
 Foremost among the great families of America, 
 whose wealth and family influence have been almost 
 invariably for good, are the Astors. Their origin 
 was in the quiet village of Waldorf, in the Grand 
 Duchy of Baden, Germany. Not long after the 
 peace of Hubertsburg, in 1 763, George Astor left 
 that village for London. There he was married, and 
 became established as a maker of musical instru- 
 ments. He became a partner with Broadwood, the 
 famous piano-manufacturer, and more than a hun- 
 dred years ago the pianofortes of Broad^yood & 
 
 453 
 
454 ^^P^ OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 Astor were world renowned. A few of them, Im- 
 ported to this country before the Revokitionary 
 war, are still to be found as treasured heirlooms 
 of ancient families. The firm of Broadwood & Co. 
 still exists in England and maintains its former high 
 repute, ranking with the foremost houses in the 
 piano-trade of the world. George Astor was the 
 eldest of several brothers. Another of them, 
 Henry, followed him to England, and entered the 
 cattle trade. After accumulating a small fortune, 
 he took advantage of the outbreak of the Revolu- 
 tionary war and came to America, where he en- 
 gaged in the same business, furnishing supplies of 
 beef-cattle to the armies. The seat of his business 
 was in New York city. He became very rich, for 
 that time, but died without a family. 
 
 The youngest of the three brothers was John 
 Jacob Astor, who was born on July 1 7, 1 763, at Wal- 
 dorf He was educated at home under a French 
 Protestant tutor named Valentin Le Jeune. At the 
 age of seventeen he determined to leave Waldorf 
 and follow his brothers to England. He was almost 
 penniless, his father being unwilling to advance him 
 any money for the purpose of leaving the family 
 home, but the village pastor was interested in his 
 welfare and assisted him in his preparations for the 
 journey, saying, "I have no fear of Jacob. He will 
 go straight through the world ; he has a clear 
 head and is all right behind the ears." Mr. Astor 
 in after years used to relate that he had only t^vo 
 
THE ASTORS. 455 
 
 dollars in his pocket when he set out. He made 
 his way afoot to the Rhine, and on the bank of that 
 river, sitting beneath a tree to rest, he made a cove- 
 nant with himself always to be honest, to be indus- 
 trious, and never to gamble. On the Rhine he took 
 passage on a raft bound from the Black Forest to 
 Holland, and reaching the sea he secured passage 
 for London. There he entered his brother's ser- 
 vice, studied the English language, and out of his 
 meagre wages contrived to save a little. 
 
 He was a trifle more than twenty years old when, 
 in November, 1783, peace having been declared 
 between England and America, he borrowed $300 
 of his brother, took some violins and other musical 
 instruments, and set out for Baltimore. After a long 
 and stormy voyage he reached that city at the end 
 of January, 1784. On the voyage he made the ac- 
 quaintance of a German dealer in furs, who gave 
 him some valuable account of the New World and 
 the prospects of business there. This man advised 
 him not to stop in Baltimore, but to make his way 
 to New York, which was bound to become, he said, 
 the foremost city of the western continent. This 
 advice young Astor followed, and on reaching New 
 York soon found out his rich brother Henry, who 
 introduced him to Mr. Robert Bowne, a Quaker fur- 
 dealer, the foremost member of that trade in Ameri- 
 ca at that time. Mr. Bowne became interested in 
 the adventurous and earnest young German, and 
 sent him to Montreal in quest of furs. This journey 
 
456 La's OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 and its profitable results determined the future 
 course of Mr. Astor's life. He became a fur-trader. 
 On returning from Montreal he went to Ohio, which 
 at that time was a country more remote from New 
 York and more difficult of access than the other 
 side of the world is at present. Both his journeys 
 were successful ; that to Ohio so much so that he 
 went back to London, laid his plans before his 
 brother George, obtained from him a larger loan, 
 and, in 1786, returned to New York to establish 
 himself for Hfe. Although devoted chiefly to the fur-^ 
 business, he brought back with him a large consign- 
 ment of musical instruments, for which he found a 
 profitable sale. For a time he boarded at the house of 
 Mrs. Todd, at 91 Pearl street, the house now known 
 as No. 362 Pearl street. For some time that was his 
 headquarters. He sold there his brother's musical 
 instruments, and from thence set out on fur-trading 
 journeys to the North and the far West. 
 
 It was not long after he became estabHshed at Mrs. 
 Todd's that he fell in love with his landlady's sec- 
 ond daughter, Sarah. They were soon married, and 
 Mrs. Astor contributed largely by her sound sense 
 and unerring judgment to the building up of his for- 
 tunes. Her elder sister, Margaret, married Captain 
 William Whitten, who was mate of the American ves- 
 sel in which Astor originally came to this country, 
 and through whom the latter was introduced into the 
 family of Mrs. Todd. Captain Whitten was chiefly 
 engaged in the China trade, and soon attracted young 
 
THE ASTORS. 457 
 
 Astor's attention to the great opportunities for ac- 
 quiring wealth which it offered. Mr. Astor applied 
 to his brother Henry for capital to enable him to 
 enter that business also, and on that basis he sent 
 cargoes of American furs to China in exchange for 
 silks and teas, which he sold in this country at cent 
 per cent, profit. At that time there were in exist- 
 ence so-called Carolus dollars, a depreciated coin, 
 the legitimate predecessors of that modern abomi- 
 nation, the Trade Dollar. These also Mr. Astor 
 .sent to China in payment for goods. 
 
 By the beginning of the present century Mr. 
 Astor was worth probably a quarter of a million 
 dollars. His fur-trading enterprises had been ex- 
 tended to all parts of the North American continent. 
 The city of Astoria on tlie North Pacific coast is a 
 landmark of his enterprise. About that time he 
 built himself a house at No. 223 Broadway, and 
 there for more than a quarter of a century he con- 
 tinued to reside. The famous Astor House hotel 
 now occupies that site and a number of adjoining 
 lots. Not long after he began purchasing real 
 estate on Manhattan Island, some in what was then 
 the heart of the city and is now the extreme down- 
 town region, but a great deal more in what was 
 then the open country, improved and unimproved 
 farm-lands. Property that he then bought for a few 
 dollars an acre is now worth many thousands of dol- 
 lars per city lot. It is in this way that the Astor 
 fortune has been chiefly developed. The rule of 
 
458 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 the family from the outset has been to buy land but 
 never to sell, and to keep all houses and other 
 buildings on their estate in the best possible condi- 
 tion. The Astors are and have ever been the model 
 landlords of New York. In his various enterprises 
 Mr. Astor was frequently associated with other men, 
 but never had a partner. He acted on the principle 
 of limited liability, and was very careful and usually 
 successful in his choice of agents to conduct his busi- 
 ness for him. To the very end of his long life he 
 retained a lively interest in the pursuits of his youth ; 
 he was an excellent judge of musical instruments, 
 of silks and teas, and, above all, of furs. It is related 
 that, in 1833, while visiting Paris, he went to a 
 famous art-gallery, and noticed a painting of rabbits 
 and other game, which commanded his admiration. 
 " The man who painted that," he said, " understood 
 his business. Those rabbits have their winter fur 
 on." 
 
 Mr. Astor died, in 1848, leaving a fortune esti- 
 mated at more than twenty millions. He left sev- 
 eral children ; Magdalen, the eldest, was married to 
 Governor Bentzon, of Santa Cruz, a Danish officer 
 of rank ; after his death she was married to Mr. 
 Johii Bristed, of Bristol, Rhode Island. His second 
 child was William B. Astor, born in 1 793, who was 
 married to Miss Margaret Armstrong, a daughter of 
 General John Armstrong, and his wife, Miss Alida 
 Living5ton. The third, Dorothy Astor, was mar- 
 ried to Mr. Walter Langdon, of New Hampshire. 
 
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THE ASTORS. ^51 
 
 One of her children married Mr. Delancey Kane, 
 father of the Delancey Kane who has done much to 
 cultivate in America a taste for the English amuse- 
 ment of driving stage-coaches. Another child, Eliza 
 Astor, was married to a Swiss nobleman, Count 
 Vincent Rumpff; she died childless. The youngest 
 of the family was John Jacob Astor, Jr. He was 
 weak-minded, and to the end of his days was under 
 the care of a guardian. 
 
 The bulk of the Astor fortune of course went to 
 Mr. William B. Astor. He was carefully educated 
 at the University of Gottingen, and spent several 
 years in European travel as the companion and pupil 
 of the illustrious Chevalier Bunsen. He devoted 
 himself after his father's death chiefly to the im- 
 provement and extension of the landed estates of 
 the family. He distinguished himself also by various 
 gifts for religious and benevolent purposes — such 
 as the great Astor Library in New York, for which 
 he gave about half a million dollars, to which 
 benefaction his successors have very largely added. . 
 He was a member and officer of the famous Trinity 
 Church in New York, and on his death a magnifi- 
 cent marble reredos was erected in its chancel to 
 his memory at a cost of about $80,000. He left 
 three sons, John Jacob Astor the third, William 
 Astor, and Henry Astor. He had also four daugh- 
 ters : Emily, who was married to Mr. Samuel Ward, 
 of New York ; Margaret, who married Mr. Win- 
 throp Chanler ; Alida, who married Mr. John Carey ; 
 27 
 
462 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 and Laura, who married Mr. Franklin Delano. 
 Margaret Astor and her husband, Mr. Winthrop 
 Chanler, were the progenitors of the Mr. Chanler 
 who married Miss Emilie Rives, the novelist. The 
 Astor fortune was left by Mr. William B. Astor 
 ostensibly to his sons John Jacob and William, but 
 the bulk of it was really to be held by them in trust 
 for their children. 
 
 The bulk of the estate was left to Mr. William Wal- 
 dorf Astor, who may now be properly looked upon 
 as the head of the family. He is the son of Mr. 
 John Jacob Astor the third, and his wife, formerly 
 Miss Augusta Gibbes. He was born in 1848, and 
 after a thorough collegiate training was sent to Rome, 
 where he studied sculpture and painting. On re- 
 turning to this country he studied law, and was ad- 
 mitted to the bar. Before he was thirty years old he 
 was elected to the Assembly of New York State 
 from a New York city district, and there made for 
 himself a brilliant and honorable record as a careful 
 and painstaking pubhc servant. He was married on 
 June 6, 1878, to Miss Mary Paul, of Philadelphia. 
 He has since been United States Minister to Italy, 
 and while residing at Rome and Florence, wrote 
 " Valentino," a mediaeval Italian romance, dealing 
 with the times of Lucrezia Borgia. It is a work of 
 decided literary and artistic merit, and has done 
 much to correct the false impressions that have ever 
 been widely prevalent concerning the character of 
 the much maligned Lucrezia. 
 
Tj{e astors. ^62 
 
 It is related of Mr. William Waldorf Astor that 
 when he was a boy of ten or twelve years, his father 
 was desirous that he should not contract the habit 
 of smoking tobacco, at any rate not until he became 
 a man ; so one day he said to him, " My son, you're 
 now, getting to an age when foolish boys are apt to 
 begin smoking. Now, if you will promise not to 
 smoke until you come of age, and will keep your 
 promise, I will give you a thousand dollars." " All 
 right, father," said the boy, "I'll do it." Seven or 
 eight years afterward the father said to him again, 
 " Well, William, you remember your promise not to 
 smoke. Have you kept it ? " " Yes, sir," was the 
 reply. " Good," returned the father ; " now you stick 
 it out to the end, and on your twenty-first birthday 
 I will give you five thousand dollars instead of the 
 one thousand I promised." The young man kept 
 his promise and the father kept his, and when the 
 twenty-first anniversary was reached the eldest Astor 
 said to his son : " My boy, you've done well. Here 
 is your five thousand dollars. Now if you want to 
 smoke, go ahead and do it. Here is a box of cigars 
 for you to begin on." So saying, he handed him a 
 box of the strongest Havanas the market contained. 
 Had the young man smoked one of them he would 
 probably have been sick for a month, but he was too 
 shrewd to be caught that way. He took the cigars 
 to his room and locked them up, and next day went 
 off into a secluded place in Central Park and prac- 
 tised on some very weak cigarettes. 
 
464 LIP^ OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 The Astors ara now by far the largest landlords 
 in New York city, occupying a position in a 
 measure comparable to that of the Duke of Port- 
 land or the Duke of Westminster in London. They 
 own vast blocks of property in all parts of the city, 
 covered with buildings of all kinds ; banks and 
 stores, warehouses along the water-front, and rows 
 of the finest private mansions on the fashionable 
 uptown avenues. They still purchase whenever 
 favorable opportunities are offered, but seldom or 
 never sell. They are, noted for the excellent repair 
 in which all their buildings are kept, and for the 
 pains they take for the welfare, comfort and con- 
 venience of their tenants ; at the same time they 
 expect and exact of their tenants certain obligations 
 in return, to take good care of the property and to 
 repair all damages occurring from the tenants' care- 
 lessness or neglect. 
 
 They continue to pay much attention to charitable 
 and other philanthropic causes. To the church 
 they are generous givers. The interests of the 
 Indians, especially Indian schools, have found in 
 them valuable patrons. To the Metropolitan 
 Museum of Art, in New York, they have made 
 gifts of almost inestimable value. The Astor 
 Library is a large brick building on Lafayette Place. 
 It has in recent years, by living members of the 
 family, been greatly enlarged, and richly endowed, 
 until it is now probably the foremost institution of 
 the kind in America. It has always, under the 
 
THE ASTORS. 465 
 
 terms of the gift, been entirely free to all comers. 
 Its alcoves are accessible to students desiring to 
 pursue special courses of study, or to search out 
 special topics' in literature, science or art, and it has 
 thus become an important educational centre. The 
 Astors have long been the unchallenged leaders of 
 the highest society of New York city. They have 
 lived in large and richly furnished, but externally 
 plain and unpretentious mansions on Fifth avenue. 
 They are the largest taxpayers in New York city ; 
 probably the largest private taxpayers in America. 
 Their actual wealth it is almost impossible to esti- 
 mate with any degree of accuracy. Probably the 
 total value of their real-estate holdings in New 
 York city is in the neighborhood of jj^s 2 5,000,000. 
 
JOHN W. MACKAY. 
 
JOHN W. MACKAY. 
 
 BONANZA" has come to be a synonym for 
 wealth, or for any business enterprise or 
 investment that is a source of great profits. A fit- 
 ting use of the term that is, too ; for the Bonanza 
 mines, from which it sprang, were the producers 
 of wealth at a fabulous rate, wealth almost beyond 
 the power of man to comprehend, wealth that 
 almost in the twinkling of an eye transformed poor 
 miners into millionaires. Their history is a potent 
 rival to the romance of Monte Cristo, and in that 
 history the foremost actor is the subject of this 
 sketch, 
 
 John William Mackay was born at Dublin, Ireland, 
 on November 28, 1831. He came from a line of 
 hardy Scotchmen, planted in the north of Ireland 
 by Cromwell ; the sort of men who defended Lon- 
 donderry in its famous siege. The Scotch-Irish 
 stock is a notable one in America. It has produced 
 a host of leaders in law, statesmanship, warfare, 
 literature, science, theology, journalism. These men 
 combine happily the hardheadedness of Scotland 
 with the warmheartedness of Ireland ; they are 
 shrewd, far-seeing, cool, acquisitive, resolute, but 
 at the same time generous and cabable of ardent 
 enthusiasms. They possess, also, a peculiarly pure 
 
 and robust moral fibre, and have pre-eminently 
 ... 469 
 
470 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 sound minds in sound bodies. Such a man young 
 Mackay grew up to be. He was nine years old 
 when his parents, poor but industrious folk, brought 
 him to New York. Soon after his father died, but 
 the widow was able to keep the lad at school a 
 few years, until he had a good common-school edu- 
 cation, and then he was apprenticed to a shipbuilder. 
 Many a ship in those days was built to make the 
 voyage " around the Horn" to California. Young 
 Mackay worked on some of these. There was 
 much talk among his comrades in the ship-yard 
 about the fortunes that were being made in the land 
 of gold. He listened to them, caught the fever, and 
 went out with the Forty-Niners. 
 
 " The many fail, the few succeed," was true of 
 those Argonauts. Some amassed fortunes ; more 
 a competence ; but the great majority fell into 
 the ranks as common miners and never got pro- 
 moted. The spirit of speculation and of gaming 
 was rife, and many a man who had " made his pile" 
 soon gambled it away. Mr. Mackay did not make 
 a great strike at first. He wielded the pickaxe and 
 shovel for years, sometimes as a day laborer for 
 others, sometimes on his own account. His luck 
 was not above the common run. Now and then he 
 made great gains, and then again he lost them. At 
 thirty years old he had been rich and was poor 
 again. But he had acquired a thorough knowledge 
 of every detail of the mining business. Moreover, 
 he was conspicuously temperate and steady in his 
 
JOHN W. MACKAY. 471 
 
 habits. The wild carousings that constituted the 
 chief social feature of those pioneer days had no 
 attractions for him. Sometimes his comrades chaffed 
 him and sneered at him as a " Puritan," but they 
 respected him and soon began to acknowledge his 
 leadership. 
 
 Mr. Mackay left California for Nevada in i860. 
 There he made a paying investment at Gold Hill, 
 and carefully looked over the whole of the famous 
 Comstock lode. He satisfied himself that here was 
 one of the richest mineral deposits in the world, 
 and he attempted, at Union Ground, in the northern 
 pare of the Comstock, to sink a shaft. Lack of 
 means, however, baffled him, and he looked about 
 him for assistance. Two other young men had also 
 come out to the Pacific coast in 1849, and started a 
 grocery and liquor-shop at San Francisco. Their 
 names were James C. Flood and William S. O'Brien. 
 They were gradually drawn into speculating in 
 mining stocks, and on the whole prospered. They 
 made handsome profits out of the Kentuck stock, 
 on which Mackay had lost heavily. They got con- 
 trol of the Crown Point and Belcher mines, and 
 much of the Comstock lode. But they had not 
 much practical knowledge of mining, and did not 
 appreciate the potentialities of wealth that lay within 
 their grasp. It has been said that the discovery of 
 the great Bonanza wealth was a lucky accident. It 
 was no such thing. It was all due to the rare 
 knowledge and persevering searches of Mr. Mackay. 
 
472 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 The only luck there was about it was the coming 
 together of Mr. Mackay and Messrs. Flood and 
 O'Brien. That was an incident full of good fortune to 
 them all. The fourth partner in the original firm 
 was J. M. Walker, brother of a former Governor of 
 Virginia. He, like Mr. Mackay, was a skilled practi- 
 cal miner. This combination of forces was effected 
 in 1864, and work was immediately begun on the 
 lines indicated by Mr. Mackay. 
 
 They began with the Hale and Norcross mine. 
 Ore was taken out in vast quantities, and the price 
 of stock went up to a fabulous figure. In the three 
 years, 1865, 1866 and 1867, the net profits were 
 more than a million dollars. This was almost un- 
 precedented, but it was merely the first rain-drop of 
 the deluge. In 1868 Mr. Walker withdrew from 
 the firm, and James G. Fair, superintendent of the 
 Hale and Norcross mine, was taken into partnership 
 in his place. He, too, was a practical miner, who 
 had worked his way up from the bottom. Immedi- 
 ately the firm began to enlarge its operations, al- 
 ways relying upon Mr. Mackay's judgment in th6 
 purchase of property. The California and Sides, 
 the Central, the Kenney, and the White and Murphy 
 mines were bought for a small price ; all on the 
 Comstock lode, which Mr. Mackay had prospected 
 years before. These were all united under the name 
 of Consolidated Virginia. But for a time the out- 
 look was gloomy. There was much work and great 
 expense with no returns. Shaft after shaft was sunk 
 
JOHN W MACKAY. , 473 
 
 in vain. The public regarded the whole enterprise 
 as a hopeless failure. Even the partners began to 
 feel anxious. But Mr. Mackay never lost faith. 
 The ridicule and scorn which the rest of the mining 
 world poured upon him he did not deign to notice. 
 "Boys," said he to his partners, "the ore is there, 
 if we only get down to it." " But we've gone 600 
 feet already," said they. "Six hundred? Make it 
 six thousand, then ! " was his reply; and they kept 
 on digging. They got down 1,160 feet, and then 
 began to tunnel on the level. A great fire burned 
 out all their machinery ; but this only delayed it, not 
 discouraged them. More than half a million dollars 
 had already been spent. And then they "struck it 
 rich." 
 
 From 1874 on, visitors to Nevada used to telt of 
 seeing from afar vast piles of glittering silver, 
 heaped up like bricks or stone, at the mouths of the 
 Bonanza mines. There was no exaggeration in this. 
 The output of the mines was such as never had 
 been dreamed of in the world before. In four years 
 the mines paid $75,000,000 in dividends on their 
 stock. The four partners regularly drew $750,000 
 each per month as their shares. In six years the 
 Comstock mines yielded something more than 
 $300,000,000 in gold and silver ore, chiefly silver. 
 This changed the financial history of the world. 
 The silver markets everywhere had to be reorgan- 
 ized in the face of such a glut, and a new chapter 
 had to be written in political economy. In this vast 
 
474 ^■^P^ OF JA Y GOULD. 
 
 wealth Mr. Mackay had a two-fifths interest, twice 
 that of each of the other three " Bonanza Kings." 
 In 1879 the mines began to show symptoms of ex- 
 haustion, although they are at the present time still 
 profitably productive. That year Mr. O'Brien died. 
 The other partners stuck togther and sought new 
 enterprises. The Bank of California was founded, 
 with $10,000,000 capital, all paid up. Then Mr. 
 Fair, who had become a United States Senator, 
 withdrew from the firm. Mackay and Flood held 
 together through various enterprises until the death 
 of the latter in February, 1889. Mr. Flood's death 
 was doubtless hastened by the famous "wheat 
 corner" of 1887. Mackay and Flood had founded 
 and were practically the proprietors of the Bank of 
 Netada, of which George Brand^rs was president. 
 The bank, chiefly, it is said, through Brander's 
 speculations, was involved in the great wheat deal. 
 That deal collapsed disastrously. Flood was ill, 
 and telegraphed to Mackay, who was in Europe, to 
 come home at once. Mr. Mackay did so. He went 
 to the bank and looked over the books. The bank 
 was liable for between twenty-two and twenty-three 
 million dollars ! That was enough to stagger any 
 man, but Mr. Mackay only smiled as he looked up 
 and said to Flood: "Well, old man, it looks as 
 though we might have to go to work again ! " The 
 actual loss sustained by the bank was $11,000,000. 
 Mr. Mackay in 1884 formed a partnership with 
 Mr. James Gordon Bennett, of the New York Her- 
 
JOHN VV. MACKAY. 475 
 
 aid, and laid two cables across the Atlantic Ocean. 
 These are under a management known as the Com- 
 mercial Cable Company, but are really the personal 
 property of Mr. Mackay and Mr. Bennett. In 1885 
 he was offered the position of United Senator for 
 Nevada, but declined it, preferring to devote his 
 attention exclusively to private affairs. For some 
 years past he l\as resided cliiefly in Europe, where 
 he has been a munificent patron of fine arts and 
 where his wife has been a conspicuous leader of the 
 best society in London and Paris ; he has devoted 
 much of his wealth to charity, in an unostentatious 
 manner, giving freely to the Roman Catholic 
 Church, of which he is a member. He has also 
 founded and endowed a fine orphan asylum at Ne- 
 vada City. Mr. Mackay has few living relatives. 
 His only sister became a nun, and died some years 
 ago in her convent. Mrs. Mackay was a Miss 
 Hungerford, and is on one side of the family of 
 French descent. Her mother is still living and 
 draws freely on the Bonanza millions for purposes 
 of charity. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Mackay have no children of their 
 own. They, however, adopted the orphan daughter 
 of a close friend. Miss Eva Bryant, who was ever 
 afterward known as Miss Mackay. She was much 
 sought in marriage', as much for her own graces and 
 beauty, it is easy to believe, as for her wealth. The 
 ex-Queen of Spain, Isabella, asked her hand for her 
 favorite nephew, the Marquis de Val Carlos, and 
 
476 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 Prince Philippe de Berben-y-Braganza also made a 
 proposal of marriage, both of which offers were re- 
 jected. At last, however, a genuine love-match was 
 made, and she was married on February ii, 1885, 
 to Don Ferdinand Colonna, Prince de Galatro, a 
 scion of the illustrious Roman house of Colonna. 
 "Mrs. Mackay told me," says her old-time friend, 
 Mrs. Emily Crawford, "that her husband is so in- 
 tensely American that she was at first afraid he 
 •would not approve of Miss Eva's matrimonial 
 project. But if there is one American institution 
 that he likes better than another it is personal free- 
 dom. He hates aristocratic pride and prejudices, 
 and has not a high idea of aristocratic virtue. But 
 when he saw Prince Colonna he was favorably im- 
 pressed by him and at once determined to wish Miss 
 Eva joy upon the conquest she had made. The for- 
 mal proposal was made to the parents of the young 
 lady by two old bachelor uncles of the young gentle- 
 man, who had adopted him when his father died,' 
 and not only settled on him the reversion of a very 
 handsome fortune and patrimonial residences, but 
 an important annuity in their lifetimes. They asked 
 for no dowry." Mrs. Mackay' s sister. Miss Ada 
 Hungerford, who is a very accomplished lady, is 
 married to Count Telfner, of Rome. 
 
 The Mackays, at their mansions in Paris and Lon- 
 don, have entertained many notable personages, 
 including the Comte de Paris and the Prince and 
 Princess of Wales. Their entertainments have 
 
V 
 
JOHN W. MACKAY. ^Jg 
 
 always been characterized by refined taste rather 
 than by ostentatious display. Their home has been 
 a centre of artistic and intellectual life, and also of 
 charitable work and wide benevolence. A charm- 
 ing and truthful picture of Mrs. Mackay in her Paris 
 home is given by Mrs. Crawford, as she saw her a 
 few days before her daughter was married to Prince 
 Colonna. "Mrs. Mackay," she says, was dressed 
 in a black cashmere dress, very neatly made and 
 sparingly trimmed with jet. She has a pretty little 
 figure and just the right amount oi embonpoint. Her 
 voice, like that of Annie Laurie, is low and sweet. 
 There is no accent in the speech, but, the dis- 
 tinct and deliberate American enunciation. She 
 must have a musical ear. The intonations of her 
 voice reveal one, and the upper floor of her housa, 
 where her living rooms are, is a perfect aviary. 
 There are cages of song birds everywhere, and in a 
 vestibule a big parrot talks to himself in solitary 
 grandeur in French, Spanish and English. The 
 grand stairs are horse-shoe-shaped and very fine. 
 Some groups of statuary ornament them, the hall 
 and the elazed over-court. But there is no ostenta- 
 tious display of great wealth anywhere. As I went 
 up and down by a lift and was first taken to the top 
 floor and then to Mrs. Mackay's boudoir or petit 
 salon on the first floor, I saw a good deal of the 
 house. Corridors, of which there are many, are 
 richly carpeted, but have rather an air of snugness 
 than of wealth. The little drawing room is in blue 
 
 28 
 
480 LIFE OF JAY GOUl.n. 
 
 and old gold satins and brocades and what Whistler 
 might term a harmony of colors and broken and soft 
 outlines. It also gives the idea of being furnished 
 for use and convenience and to please an impres- 
 sionable eye. The most prominent objects in it are 
 three portraits, nearly full length, two of which are 
 by Cabanel. I should say the third is by Bonnat. 
 It represents Mr. Mackay and hangs high. The ex- 
 pression of the face is one produced by a life of 
 mental tension and concentrated and intelligent 
 purpose. In seeing his portrait one understands 
 why its original is Big Bonanza and has not come 
 to grief in any financial crash. I should say that his 
 mental powers are as firmly fixed upon the problem 
 how to put his money out to profitable interest as 
 they were upon the task of making a fortune. The 
 domestic establishment shows liberal expenditure, 
 good stewardship and a complete absence of vulgar 
 ostentation," 
 
TERENCE V. POWDERLY. 
 

TERENCE V. POWDERLY. 
 
 WHILE Terence V. Powderly's name does 
 not properly belong in a list of capitalists 
 and men of great fortunes made through commer- 
 cial enterprise, he has been more or less associated 
 with them as the Grand Master Workman of the 
 Knights of Labor. Anticipating the desire on the 
 part of the reader to know something of the life of 
 Mr. Powderly after reading his correspondence with 
 Mr. Gould over the Missouri Pacific Strike, the fol- 
 lowing facts are appended : 
 
 The history of labor organizations is the history 
 of the development of two ideas. The elder is that 
 of the association of men of like employment. 
 Common tradition has it that thus the order of Free- 
 masons was founded ; thus, certainly, were founded 
 the great European guilds of the Middle Ages, and 
 the trades-unions of later date. The guilds became 
 almost omnipotent in Germany ; the trades-unions 
 in Enofland became one of the foremost factors of 
 industrial economy. In the United States, also, 
 trades-unionism has greatly flourished. The other 
 and younger idea is that of a union of all working- 
 men, without regard to calling. This principle is 
 the growth of the past fifty years. It was first pro- 
 mulgated in France, early in the reign of Louis 
 Philippe. In 1864 the "International Association 
 
484 ^^^^ OF JA y COULD. 
 
 of Workingmen," commonly called the "Interna- 
 tional," was organized in Europe, where it was gen- 
 erally regarded as a revolutionary body. Indeed, 
 it so allied itself with Communism and Anarchy in 
 Papis, in 1871, as practically to kill itself. It neve-r 
 gained much footing in America. The next impor- 
 tant effort in this direction was made in the foun- 
 dation and development of the order of Knights of 
 Labor, a purely American organization. With that 
 order the name of the subject of this sketch is in- 
 separably associated, though he was not one of its 
 founders. 
 
 The order of Knights of Labor was founded at 
 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Thanksgiving Day, 
 i86g, by Uriah S. Stephens and six comrades, ail 
 garment-cutters by trade. Stephens was a New 
 Jerseyman, of colonial ancestry, of mingled Quaker 
 and Baptist stock, and an enthusiastic Freemason. 
 He was a man of fine education and wide travels. 
 At his house, then at 2347 Coral street, on Novem- 
 ber 25, 1869, he unfolded his plans for what he 
 called " The Noble and Holy Order of the Knights 
 of Labor ;" a secret, oath-bound society, modelled 
 as to ritual, etc., largely upon Freemasonry, and in- 
 tended to include men of all trades. His associates 
 were James L. Wright, Robert C. Macauley, Joseph 
 S. Kennedy, William Cook, Robert W. Keen, and 
 James M. Hilsee. On December 28 following they 
 all signed the obligations and oaths, and called their 
 body simply " Knights ol Labor." Meetings were 
 
TERENCE r. POWDERLY. 485 
 
 held weekly; on January 13, 1870, officers were 
 chosen ; a year later the membership had increased 
 to sixty-nine ; earlyin 1873 the first " Local Assem- 
 bly" was formed; and in that year no less than 
 twenty-seven such Assemblies or lodges, in as many 
 different trades, were formed in Philadelphia alone. 
 By January, 1875, the number of Assemblies in the 
 whole country was more than 300. These Local 
 Assemblies associated themselves in District Assem- 
 blies, and on January i, 1878, delegates from these 
 District Assemblies met at Reading, Pennsylvania, 
 and organized the first General Assembly. In this 
 body seven States were represented and fifteen 
 vocations. The delegate from District Assembly 
 No. 16, of Scranton, Pennsylvania, was Terence V. 
 Powderly. 
 
 This remarkable man was born on January 22, 
 1849, at Carbondale, Luzerne county, Pennsylvania. 
 His parents were hard-working Irish people, and he 
 was one of their nine children. From seven to 
 thirteen years of age he attended school, and was 
 then put to work as a switchtender in the employ oi 
 the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company. Four 
 years later he was taken into that company's machine- 
 shop, where he learned the trade of a machinist. 
 He was temperate, intelligent, industrious, and 
 faithful, and was highly esteemed by his employers. 
 At the age of nineteen he went to Scranton, and 
 entered the machine-shop of the Delaware, Lacka- 
 wanna and Western Railroad Company. He also 
 
486 l^IFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 at this time joined the Machinists' and Blacksmiths' 
 Trade-Union, and was for several years President 
 of the Union at Scranton. During the troubles of 
 1 S73 he was suspended from the employment of the 
 I ompany because of his membership in the trade- 
 union, whereupon he left Scranton for Gallon, Ohio. 
 There he secured work, but as soon as he was found 
 to be a trade-unionist was dismissed. Next he went 
 to Oil City, Pennsylvania, where he remained for 
 some time. He was conspicuous in the Machinists' 
 and Blacksmiths' Union there, and at its Interna- 
 tional Convention, at Louisville, Kentucky, in 1874. 
 He became a deputy-president of the Industrial 
 Brotherhood, and organized several Assemblies of 
 it around Pittsburg. 
 
 Mr. Powderly returned to Scranton in 1875 and 
 was employed by the Lackawanna Coal and Iron 
 Company in putting up their steel-works. He at 
 once joined the Knights of Labor there, and was 
 soon made Secretary of the District Assembly to 
 which the Scranton Local Assembly belonged. After 
 the steel-works were completed he was engaged by 
 the Dickson Locomotive Works as foreman of a de- 
 partment. At this time he became interested 
 in politics, organized the Greenback-Labor party in 
 Luzerne county, and worked so hard dunng the 
 campaign as permanently to injure his health. Ever 
 since then he has been compelled to wear eye-glasses 
 to aid his impaired sight. But his services were 
 recognized by the public. In 1877 he was elected 
 
TERENCE V, POWDERLY. 487 
 
 Mayor of the city of Scranton by a handsome major- 
 ity, and in 1878 was re-elected. In that year he 
 decHned a nomination for Lieutenant-Governor of 
 Pennsylvania, on the Greenback-Labor ticket, and in 
 1879 dechned, for reasons to be explained presently, 
 a nomination to a third term as Mayor, although he 
 would certainly have been elected. During his 
 mayoralty he studied law, and, though not admitted 
 to the bar, became an excellent lawyer. 
 
 The first General Assembly of the Knights of 
 Labor was held, as stated, on January i, 1878. The 
 membership of the order now numbered many 
 thousands, and it was an intensely secret organiza- 
 tion This fact caused trouble. The oaths of 
 secrecy, and the use of the Bible in taking them and 
 in the ritual, brought it into conflict with the Roman 
 Catholic Church, to which, of course, many of its 
 members belonged. Many Local and some District 
 Assemblies were disbanded on this account. Mat- 
 ters got so bad that a special General Assembly was 
 called at Philadelphia, in June, 1878. This gathering 
 adopted resolutions removing largely the ban of 
 secrecy and expunging all Biblical quotations from 
 the ritual, and submitted them for ratification to the 
 Local Assemblies. They were ratified, and there- 
 after the friction between the order and the church 
 gradually disappeared. Mr. Stephens, the founder 
 of the order, was its head as Grand Master Work- 
 man, from the outset up to the third regular annual 
 General Assembly, in September, 1879, at Chicago. 
 
488 LIFE OF JA V GOULD. 
 
 At that time he tendered and urged his resignation, 
 which was accepted, and Terence V. Powderly was 
 elected as his successor. The reason for this 
 change, briefly stated, was this : Mr. Stephens was 
 an immovable believer in the secret system and the 
 use of the Bible ; Mr. Powderly, a devout Roman 
 Catholic, favored the modification of both those 
 features ; and the order had decided in favor of the 
 views held by Mr. Powderly. Mr. Stephens accord- 
 ingly retired, honored and almost venerated by the 
 order, and Mr. Powderly, as the foremost exponent 
 of the new system, took his place. 
 
 It was his elevation to this office and the labor it 
 imposed upon him that constrained Mr. Powderly to 
 decline a third term as Mayor of Scranton. Thence- 
 forward he devoted all his energies to the interests 
 of the order. Aijain and ^Qain he was re-elected to 
 its head, and indeed has been kept there by almost 
 unanimous choice down to the present year. Under 
 his administration the order has grown enormously, 
 and been almost transformed in character. At the 
 fourth General Assembly, at Pittsburg, in 1880, 
 rules were adopted prohibiting and denouncing 
 strikes, except in extreme cases. At the fifth, in 
 18S1, much business of the highest importance was 
 transacted. It was decreed that the name and ob- 
 jects of the order should be made- public, that the 
 constitution and ritual should be radicallv revised, 
 that women should be admitted to membership on 
 perfect equality with men, and a benefit-insurance 
 
TERENCE V. POWDERLY. 489 
 
 system and co-operative system were established. 
 These changes were chiefly put forward and urged 
 by Mr. Powderly. At the next General Assembly 
 the "strike element" was in the majority, and resolu- 
 tions favoring strikes were adopted, but Mr. Powderly 
 remained at the head and exerted a strone conserv- 
 ative influence. In 1883, at his suggestion, the tide 
 of his office was changed from "Grand" to "Gen- 
 eral" Master Workman. There were now 52,000 
 members. A year later 7 1,000 were reported, and 
 rules against strikes and boycotting were adopted. 
 In 1885 there were 111,000 members, and still 
 stronger action was taken against strikes and boy- 
 cotting. At this time there arose some conflict 
 between the order and the trades-unions. In 1886 
 the membership reached half a million, and, by the 
 beginning of 1887, probably exceeded a million. 
 It has decreased rather than increased since that 
 time, and has suffered much from being drawn into 
 strikes and violence, though always against the will 
 of Mr. Powderly, who has steadfastly opposed 
 strikes as an evil and all violence as a degradation 
 of labor. For the first four years of Mr. Powderly's 
 official work with the Knights, his salary was $400 
 a year, out of which meagre sum he paid all his ex- 
 penses as General Master Workman, devoting what 
 was left to the building up of the order. In 1883 
 his salary was increased to j^8oo, in 1884 to $1,500, 
 and in 1886 to $5,000 per annum. At the last ses- 
 sion of the General Assembly the salary was again 
 
490 LIFE OF JAY GOULD. 
 
 fixed at $5,000, but Mr. Powderly informed the con- 
 vention that he would draw but $3,000 for the year, 
 and if at the next session the members considered 
 that he had earned the other $2,000 they could dis- 
 pose of it there. 
 
 The objects of this order are " to make industrial 
 moral v/orth, not wealth, the true standard of indi- 
 vidual and national greatness, and to secure to the 
 workers the full enjoyment of the wealth they 
 create, sufficient leisure in which to develop their 
 intellectual, moral and social faculties, all of the 
 benefits, recreation, and pleasures of association ; in 
 a word, to enable them to share in the gains and 
 honors of advancing civilization." To this end it 
 calls for much State legislation for the protection 
 and encouragement of laboring-men. It calls for 
 equal pay for equal work, regardless of the sex of 
 the worker ; for a co-operative system ; and for 
 arbitration. No distinctions of race, color, sex or 
 creed are recognized. Intemperance is denounced, 
 and no one is admitted as a member who makes or 
 sells, or is in any way connected with the making or 
 selling of intoxicating drinks. For other prudential 
 reasons lawyers, bankers, stock- speculators, and 
 gamblers are excluded. The motto of the order is : 
 " That is the most perfect government in which an 
 injury to one is the concern of all." Of late years 
 various portions of the order have won discredit by 
 violating its principles.