Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1876-06-01
RAILROAD INTERESTS.

vANpERBrLr's RAILROAD INTERESTS.
The disappointment felt BY the pub
lie in the will Of each Of the great capital.
lists who have lately died leads to great Gu
riosity concerning that Of the third, who
is still living. Both Aston and Stew
art failed to answer the lowest expec-
tation. 1t is now said that Judge Hilton
intends to carry out some projects of a
benificent nature in Garden City, but
shall believe this when l see them
The question which now interests the
public is, what disposition will the Com
modore make of his great estate. which
is by some supposed to exceed either of
the foregoing? The difference between
the Commodore and Stewart was that
the former holds little but railway
stock, while the latter held nothing Of
the kind. The property which one
eagerly absorbed the other entirely es-
chewed. The Commodore has in the
way Of real estate his own dwelling and
stable, worth about $4,000. and to
this NAV be added the Church Of the
Strangers, in which Deems breaches and
which is worth $4,000. This is con-
veyed to Deems on a life lease at a
nominal rent, but if the preacher die
tomorrow it returns to its owners pos
session. In addition to these is a grand
pax on Staten Island, with hotel,
the whole being worth 100000. The
Commodore may own some bank stock.
but if so neither the amount nor the
bank is known. do not think he has
anything of the kind.
Railway property is the Commodore's
speciality. When he sold out his ships
he turned allthe proceedsinto this shape
No one was allowed to know the time
when the decision was made, but fully
twenty years ago he came to the con-
clusion that the prosperity of naviga-
ton was drawing to a close. At that
time the Pacific Mail was dividing twen-
ty per cent. per annnm. This did not
leave him as it did others. He, no
doubt, saw through the rottenness of the
scheme. His view of our falling marine
led him to sell out and buy into Har-
lem when its stock was at low figure.
In 1853 he became the master Of the
road, " bich paid him so well that his
next attempt was on the Hudson River
road. There was an excuse for the ag-
grandizement, since the roads were
parallel and there had been frequent
misunderstanding in their management.
At last the public was surprised by the
announcement that the fare on the roads
would be the same, and that through
tickets on one were equally good on the
other. This showed that Vanderbilt
controlled the Hudson River road, but
he for time kept himself concealed,
and placed rs head-piece John NJ.
Tobin in the presidency. Tobin was a
mere tool who once assisted the Com
modore in his ferry business, and then
was transferred to the Hudson River
Office. In a few years Tobin was set
aside, and the Commodore was announ-
ced as president Of both roads.
This step brought him into rivalry
with the Central, whose management,
he considered fraudulent. Corning de-
sired to couciliate the Commodore, who
allowed him to think himself success
full. In 1864 the Vanderbilt interest
came up az an important feature in the
Central. An effort was made TO turn
Corning out Of the presidency, and on
this irving occasion Vanderbilt gave him
his influence to the extent of half a
million Of stock. This purchase showed
how rapidly the Commodore was max
ing money. 1t was a larger amount of
stock than that held by any one man on
this continent. The next spring, when
Corning and his directors made their
annual trip over the road, the Commo.
dore was a specially invited guest. Little
did these directors think that they were
even then doomed to perpetual dis
charge. but two years from that time
he turned them AL out rs summarily as
though they had been dispatched BY
the toe of his boot. On the annual
election, held December, 1867, only one
vote was cast. 1t represented thirteen
millions Of stock, and was handed in by
the sole voter, Cornelius Vanderbilt.
This made him president of the road.
The stock was not his own, being in
part held a. proxy for other men, but
it gave him power. In two years the
stock was vatered, and from twenty
four millions became forty-eigh.- The
immense accumulation Of dividends ena-
bled the Commodore TO buy stock at the
rate Of two millions q year, and it was
not long before he owned personally the
largest part of the Central. This be
consolidated With the Hudson River
road, thus forming one line from this