The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1872-10-03
THE RICH MEN OF GOTHAM.

THE RICH MEN OF GOTHAM
WHO THEY ARE AND WHAT THEY VII .,a1
2yvEAr,Tu AND POVERTY IN THE ~
rsAsfEL DREW, JAY GOULD. AID ;, nIS ~ +
IS. Smith As oPERAaoHs-l4' y - = .
6REELEy's ESTATE. s,s
sSew Yosx Correspondence o. inc W h'a'' '''"sI
49, WHAT Is WEALTH!
To speak OF man az rich in New YORK
means n great deai-more, probably, than IN
nnr other centre Of civilization. Ii signlueS
. r,iiI;on mt least. usually several millions !;
FAR old residents. worth much more than tue
forrner fig1lre, are never heard OF beyond
their immediate circle of acquaintance.
The graduating scale In Gotham is TINS:
Rich, S1.u00.000 and upwards; WELDON;
100000 to 100000; independent szooVoo
TO SIo0, 900; little property, Sl5o,ooo 10
5000. 600: poor, anything less than sAOo,ooo;
suffering, aSo. 900, or thereabouts; nlSefa-
ble devil financially, $4,000 to $500
What then. asks provincial reader, does
!. New York say or think Of fellows having
only from $4,000 to 220,000i 1t does not
saw ANYTHING Of them, good reader, and
never thinks Of them at all.
CERTAIN M.LL1oNAIREs.
Beyond our ty-milion-of-doilars.a
residents, William B. Astor, Alexander L.
Stewart, and Cornelius Vanderbilt, htru'y
ANYBODY knows or cares who Is rich mere.
Daniel Drew looms up frequently in wall
Street speculstious, and Is occasionally men
toned i'm Methodist circles and weekllcs as q
large contributor to churches ana coiieges It
that sect. lie IS sbrcwd ola loS, anu AZ
most always gets ahead OF the boys, us nc
calls the members of the Stock Exchange,
when he has fancy for q big operation.
He hes made vast deal OF money in the lust
two wears, and is now reputed TO be worth
s4O.0o0,OGo. One OF the most successful
sDeculators in the street VI late Is Henry \.
Smith. reporte; to have cleared 1900, 600 or
S,f .O00. 900 in the last twelve mcliths.
.Tay Gould is said 10 have added some
go coo 10 his capita, since the coup d'etdt
in Erie. and ten OF twelve other boid opera
tors might be named who have bu!'ed and
beared and gotten up corners until they
have augmented their fortunes in single
year by 100000 to 100000 apiece.
WEALTHY SoTABLss. =
have mentioned that many Of our rich
citizens are seldom spoken Of as rich because
there nre others so much richer.
Take Alexander aud Robert j.. Stuart. the
sugar.reaners, for instance, who began lilca
ragged urclns, peddling molasScs candy at
penny q stick Their estates urc estimated
at $4,000, 600 to $5000,000 each.
Ancient George Law, whom the Herald
once galvanized into temporary notorlety
Dy christening him "Liyc-Oak George" and
nominating him for the Presidency, IS pro-
baby worth SG,000,0U0. Yet he Is so rarely
mentioned tbat hc is generally supposed to
bo dead He is very much alive, however,
and nav I've almost daily seen driving about
liz rickety old wagon, looking after his Terry
and other interests with rs much zeal and
pertinacitv as if he had to earn the price
OF his dinner before eating it. Law has
always been extremely lucky, and believes
in luck. ~ No wonder, either, for he came
10 this city from his rustic home in Wash
ington county so absolutely pcnnilcss that
he was forced to work his passage down
the Hudson. Almost the only unlucky
transaction he ever had was in the purchase
OF the mliskets- known az the George Law
,nuSkets then and for some time atterWaru-
for the Lopez tilibustcr expedition. They
were seized rs contrabGnd Oh board the
steamer GrapeShot, and Law, protesting tina;
they were not intended for Cuba. appealed
70 the courts. Before the litigation had
ended the Lopez expedition failed and The
leader was garroted. The muakcts subee.
Gucntly proved to be so v2lue!ess that it was
well tho lnsurgent Cuba1s missed them.
Even Law lost money OH thcul. and he has
made it rule to put all his losses upon those
having dealings with him.
AUGUST BELMONT
counts his dollars by the million, aud II pre-
sumed to make on IN average over =, 0J0,V DOC
year by lis adroit operations III American
securities. He is o German by birth: came
here as the agent of the Rothschilds; mar
ried niece of Commodore Perry; has been
prominent i'll politics as the president OF the
National Democratic Committee, ana has long
been m authority OIL matters relaiin3 to
finance ard the turf.
The famous bankers,
BROWN BROTHERS.
DO very tranquil but enormous business,
aAd having fortunes ranging from $4,000.
600 to &l5, 000,0 900 each. They are natives Of
ireland, though rather Scotch than Irish us
might be inferred from their sbrewdDeSs,
energy, and acquisitNeness. The founder of
the house, James Brown. commenced his
commercial career rs IL linen draper, and
having Drospered went into banking, where
lie still remains.
The exemplary and highly esteemed
PETER COOPER
is one Of our rich citizens, aud one OF the
few old men who were born on this island.
His inther was a poor halter, and Peter
worked hard III the patcrnal shop for the
mereSt piltance. Always DESTROYS to bC
educated, lie never wns enabled to attend
bchool beyond n single year, and then only
hail the time, the other half being devoted
10 earning his daily bread. This deprivation
81 his youth he felt so keenly that lie deter
mined, should lie ever acquire fortune. to
DO something for the cause Of free educa.
ton. lie adhered to his determination, and
tic Cooper Institute is the glorious result
Coope.'s estate is worth Si,OO0,G00.
HORACE q. CLArLlN,
Of the firm Of H. b. Claflin s. Co., the second
largest dry goods establishment in town, has
an individual property valued ut $4,000 ,O0C
TO $20,000,0 600. He is native Of New Eng
land, and has the appearance and bearing o,
genuine "Yankee." He Is much more
popular than his rival, A. T. Stewart, anG
seems TO be nian Of much broader sympa
thies and more generous instincts.
Abel a. Low, long the President Of the
Chamber OF Commerce, and the great tea i'm
porter, hos very long purse very full o.
bequlns. He may be set down in figures al
sG.000,000 or, 81 ,000 900, and this is rather ar
under than oycreStimate.
e, S. Jaf1rey, the Broadway importer, is O
Scotch extraction, and rich as Fugger. Nc
one knows the exact extent OF LIS world,
goods, though it is presumed they would
represent in cash 100000 or $4,000, 900 to
sgo00,o00.
a CHOICE LOT OF CRa:svsEs.