The union Democrat., 1870-05-21
CoRNELIUs vANDERBILr,
How Le Treas. hi. Friends.

y
From Medbury's hook on Wall street mvs-
teries we extract fhe following entertaining
erpose of Vanderbilr's rethods of circumven-
ton:
The newspaper belief that Vanderbilt never
''goes back on his friends" is generally as
sumed az true by brokers.
There is tradition that in years gone by,
when the Commodore used 10 ride down To
the old homestead on Staten Island, ne would
now and then meet man who courteoasly
offered TO hold his horse. Something in the
appearance of the stranger struck Wander
hilt, and he inquired into his history. lie
had heen, It seemed. a broker in 1.-THE street, -
and having failel hadIv, had decided to fol-
low Horace Greeley's recommendation, and
take TO country life.
''If yor will come to the city / will stsrt
yon again, T" said the king of the Central.
Nobody could be more grateful than the
Staten Islander. lie returned to Broad
street. acted npon the Commodore's hints,
End in due time begnn to prosper. Brokers
soon had faith ia this protege Of the great
man. They watched his movements at the
Board. and bought and sold in accordance.
One day the Commodore was planning q
large operation. In came Blank. seeking for
point. I'm buying" said the railway
lord.
Blank bavs bravely-the streets follows.
Presently, down slips the stock, and the
Staten Islander is henceforth ''lame duck. /"
Zone of the Cnmmodnre's stool-pigaons" is
what the irate brokers choose tt name him.
Similar incidents. trustworthy or other
wise, are narrated hv the dozen.
Horace Clark. Vanderhilt's son-in-law.
was always favorite with the stately old
gentleman. The current gossip about his
marriage is not lacking in amusement.
Clark was high->pirited, even when poor
Having decided to wed the young lady, he
called upon his future father-in-law, and
without preliminary. began:
Commodore, l wish your daughter in
marriage"
Hey" quoth the money king.
Clark repeated his words.
you mean you want my money, "growled
Vanderbilt. from his chair.
"You and your daughter be ID" famed
out the young lawyer, as he clenched his
hat in his hand and turned to leara the room.
"Tl"ld on, young man." said Vanderbilt,
Strengthening himself on his feet, and look
ing wonderfully suave and paternal, "hold
on. rather like you. didn't say ynu
should not have nv daughter. You may
have her. rather like you, young man."
Clark never did get much Of the Commo-
dores money, except in indirect ways. lie
had shares in specnlatipns, and was ALWAYS
well supplied with ponts. Once Vanderbilt
determined to "usa' him. Clark lost hum
dreds of thousands of dollars He holdly
told his father what he thought Of it, and aE
ter q time the losses were made good. This
habit of utilizing every body has been exer.
cised, If we may trust rumor, on nearly every
member of the family. William Vanderbilt
is credited with having been favored in this
way. One day his father came to him and
suggested that he lad better sell Hudson ;
ITO was too high.
"ThauI you," said the son.
Nevertheless, William concluded to look
about him first. The stock kept steady, with
ups and downs of fractions Of one per cent.
By peculiar ways it was discovered that the
elder Vanderbilt was buying quietly.
William determined to follow suit. Ur
jumped the stock to 1871. 1t was a clear &c
per cent. in pocket.
When the operation was concluded, the
Commodore rode round TO the sons office.
"Well, William. how much did you lose ~
AZ went in at ll0 on 10000 shares. That
ought to make me S260000."
VERY bad luck, William" quoth the
father, trying 90 look extremely troubled
.'veyv bad luck this time"
"But then bought. and so made"
"Hev? What sent you doing that. sir?'
90. heard that vas your line, and soc
cluded that YOU meant long instead ofshort. "
"Ahem - croaked Vanderbilt pere. as he
huttuned up his fur overcoat and stalKed out
of the .ioor lie has always had high opin-
ion of William since :bat event.
II is hard to put faith in the Staten Island
story. in view of some unquestioned facts
That Vanderbilt should occasionally mislead
here and there member of his patriarchal
household seer1s not at all improbable, as in
such cases he car always make amends, and
the policv may he very naturally sine qua
non in the successes of hie schemes. But
there are not few examples of his steadfsst
and Underwriting friendship toward men who
in some wav have happened to attract him.
John NJ. Tobin belongs to this class. lie
was curbstone operator before the year
1862; rather unlucky in his speculations, and
with only two or three thousand dollars, capi-
tal. Taking the Commodore as a guiding
star, he began to purchase heavily immedi-
ately upon the first greenhack issue. Stocks
went up. lie ctearP0 SJWj.UUU. 06n nc
began to extend himself. His favori.e stvle
was TO bid seller 8 or seller 80. His imita-
tors followed 10 the same line. The bears
grew dubious and covered. II he changed
his mind about the prospects of the stock.
the rise thus effected by his tactics enabled
him to sell to advantage. He foresaw the
crash nf '54. and nnlnaded the last Of March.
lie habitually "bulled" stocks ard "besred'
gold.
He shone in the Harlem corners. and can
not have made much less than three millions.
In the FIRST corner he was cunning as a fox.
lie wandered through Wall street, pale and
fhin and weary. His friends whispered that
he was broken down by anxiety on account
Of the immense amount of the stock he was
carving. The street was denuded and aold
short. In faro he is reported to have won
SEQ. 900 Of Morrisey in one night. The game
continued. and the gladiasoiial member of
Congress coon recovered all his lnsses, and
much mere besides. Tobin refused TO paw
the balance, and Merrissey never alludes to
the circumstance without finding the English
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