The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1867-12-17
The Rich Men of Congress.

The Rich Men OF Congress.
The Washington correspondent of the
Cincinnati Commercial thus sketches few
of the moneycd men of Congress:
There are from half dozen to dozen
men Of great wealth in the present Con-
gress. Sometimes riches represent great
and sterling qualities in the possessors-
oftener they are the result of acquired or
Inherited good luck. In outlining for your
readers few Of the millionaires Of Con-
gross 1t is not with view of exalting any
man because Of his wealth, but to crafty
reasonable and almost universal curiosity
to know the personality Of conspicuous or
successful men.
Hon. Cakes Ames, of Massachusetts,,
came into Congress in 1862, being then, as
now, the head of one Of the heaviest and
wealthiest manufacturing firms of New
England. Everybody who knows any
thing about the hardware trade, land who
does not?) is familiar with the fact that
-" Amcs's spades and shoyels" are lead
ing staple Of the business, without stock
Of which no up-country store or cross
roads grocery in all the States and Terri
tories of America is considered complete.
Having early got q reputation for making a
good article, the firm have made the most
of it, and the stamp Of Games" on q
spade is guarantee Of excellence so uni
versally trusted that from Cape Sable to
Rio Janeiro you will find them in univer-
sal use. The headquarters Of this manu-
facture are at Easton, little obscure town
in Eastern Massachusetts,, and the profits
Of the enormous manufacture are SO large
that Cakes Ames returned an income of
Sal 900 in 1866, and about as much moro
in 1867. At the same time, three other
members Of the Ames family netted an
income of $225,000, or quarter of mil
lion between them.
With all this good fortune, Cakes Ames
is not one of your pulled up or purse
proud aristocratS, but homely, hearty
man of business, whose wife and family
dress as plainly as possible. The Congress-
man himself is Radical Of the Radicals,
believes not only in negroes rights, but
women's rights, and though he never made
u speech mot being given to that particu-
lar "vanity y, is always found voting
with the vanguard Of the Republicans.
He is sixty-three years old, and a bluff,
heavy-built, good humored, off-hand man,
who has Just taken the biggest contract at
railroad building, to ease off his superfiu-
Gus capital, that was ever undertaken in
the world. 1t is the construction of the
Rocky Mountain section Of the Pacific
railroad, and involves over thirty millions
of dollars.
1t would doubtless surprise some very
knowing persons in the political world to
be told that Fernando Wood is million
afro. Yet the worldly possessions Of the
CT deuant Mayor Of New York and present
member of Congress from that imperial
city, were reckoned at $4,000, 900 in 1868.
Here is an instance Of that rapid growth of
fortune of which New York has witnessed
so many. In 1880 Fernando Wood was a
poor cigar manufacturer Tor manufacturer
of poor cigars, whichever the reader
pleases,) in one Of the lower wards Of New
York city. A few years later he pushed
himself into the proprietorship of one Of
the most lucrative corner groceries in
Washington street, then fronting Oh the
North river, as West street does now.
He sold. ship stores, chandlery, and
last, not least, liquor. The latter COM
mand among boatmen and stevedorcs, and
Mr.. Wood having made advantageous ar
rangements for selling to these thirsty Gus
toners on credit and taking it out Of their
weeks wages every Saturday night, he
dispensed moro liquor than any other
shop, and the profits were of course cup
ward of considerable" From this begin
ming, Wood branched out into the bust
ness Of a general merchant and ship
owner, and being gifted with remarkable
shrewdness, he soon got command Of very
considerable means. In 1871 he ran for
Congress, and was elected. He was twice
chosen Mayor of New York (from 1854 to
1866, and it is not commonly believed in
that immaculate city that his political ca
reer contributed to impoveriSh him in the
least.
Fernando Wood is personally precisely
the reverse of the style of man popularity
associated with his name. Tall, slender,
1.-the, pale-faced, almost silver-haired, with
a fashionably-cut grizzled moustache,
smooth shaven face, highly polished man
ners, and sleepless energy and Will, fer-
nando Wood represents, at sixty i've
years, lifelong struggle to conquer for
tune, position, and name IN the hlius. VI
obstacles, and in the teeth Of reputation
which would have quickly ruined an ordi-
nary man. He is now, for the third time,
in Congress, and seems to have pcrma-
nent affinity for political life.
In marrying the accomplished and well
educated daughter of Drake Mills, one Of
the merchant princes of New York, Fer
nando Wood achieved another step in his
successful career as man of wealth and
of the world. 1t was Drake Mills'S brother
who gave his name to the celebrated Mills
House in Charleston, and Drake Mills him
self, when in the great wholesale grocery
house of Smith, Mills & Co., used to be the
New York consignee of huge crops Of rice
from the Carolina marshes-a highly profit
able trade.
The Jurisprudence Of Insanity.
The following fact may be depended
upon, having been reported to us by the
49, raSn -