The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1877-01-05

port. When twenty-three years old he was not
only free from debt but had laid by not less than
$500. at that time quite fortune.
steam as motive power for purposes Of navi-
cation had Just passed the era OF experiment,
The state Of New YORK had @ GIVEN mon"p5y aaoRooi Of
steam navigation on the waters she claimed TO
control including New York bay, to chancellor
X. H.. Livingston and Robert Fulton, who de-
manded heavy tribute from all who should desire
TO adopt 1t. Vanderbilt who was lnstinctively
opposed to monopolics In which he was not the
monopolist, closely watched the growth Of
steam navigation and made himself as familiar
with the subject as any one could be at that
Finally came his opportunity. Mr.. Thomas
Gibbons, who had a monopoly Of the carrying
taie ssiwen NE New gop and fhdgp9
part Of the roTite Which lies between ,Ris city
and New Brinswlcs. Vanderbilt aided him
with valuable suggestions, and when, in 1871,
Mr. Gibbons put on the route a dlmlnutive
steamboat named the Mouse OF the Mountain,
ne appointed Vanderbilt commandcr, paying
him the munincent salary of $1,000 year. In
the following year. 1918, the Bellona, a much
larger and better boat, WAS put on the line, and
OF her.
At that time the journey from New York to
sengers went by boat 10 New brunswick. where
they rested for the night, and on the second day
they proceeded by stage to Trenton or Borden
Gibbons owned hotel NJ New Brunswick, and
attempted to keep II himself, but with notably
poor success. Then he offered the house. free
Of rent, to Capt. Vanderbilt, provided he would
take charge OF il in addition to his other duties
aud keep 4 up in nopular, styls Vanderbilt
OF the hotel The enterprise proved a profitable
one and added considerably to the annual earn
told Of Sophie Nanderbilt's hospitality, her pop
ularity at that time being nearly as great "a that
OF her husband, while her frugality was fully
his RAPID STRIDES To WEALTH.
As soon as the Gibbons line was an established
fact the Ilyingston- Fulton monopoly demanded
hia hon ba Nult ifsh In
shrewd Vanderbilt expected and desired. The
litigation resulting from Gibbons's refusal to
ed until lsA when Chief justice Marshall de-
cided that under the Federal Constitution no
State could grant exclusive privileges, by steam
or otherwise, upon any of the principal waters
OF the country.
The long and costly suit had absorbed nearly
all the earnings OF Gibbuns's line, and Wander
bilt, by giving all his energy to the work. was
enabled to acquire fun control. and To put the
line In such condition that 1t paid $1,000
In iS:, he leased the Elizahcthport ferry and
by entefpri-ing management made profitable
what had hitherto been bad piece Of property.
lie personally superntended the construction
OF all his new boats, and always made 1t a rule
that each boat should be an improvement upon
its predecessor. At that time II was rcntraily
conceded that Vanderbilt was without superior
Ia his general knowledge Of building steamboats,,
Their operation or the peculiar tact necessary TO
the prohtahle management of lines of transport
tation.
From lsea. when he separated from Gibbons,
until ISIS. when larger fields Of enterprise opened
to him. he was constantly employed In building
steamboats, and operating them on the North
river and Long Island sound. At times he had
boats running as far east as Boston, and even
down to the coast of Maine. II was his greatest
pleFsure TO start in opposition To- an established
line. His method was to put on new boats,
superior In build and nnish to those against
which they were to- run, and 10y vigorous COM
petition either compel the old line to buy him
OF or drive IL away from the route aud himself
eP3y TIE Pr9al55 he Of m,Snopoy ,o,owD ss,
had expired Vanderbilt came to he acknow J.
edged the leading -rir.i of me rapldly sro"in.;
common consent recognized as the Commodore
of It's fleet.
THE OPPOSITION LINE TO CALIFORNIA.
The year 1sis brought to light the golden
wealth of California and early In sia the tale of
Immigration thither taxed the carrying capacity
Of the shipping engaged IN that trade. AT that
its infancy, and It's operations were confined to
the Pacific coast. The i-thmu- Of Panama was
crossed with difficulty, freight being TRANSPORT
ed on pack mules and passengers were phlip ped
to 20 afoot or on mulchack. From Chasres,
the port made on the eastern coast to New
York. communication was maintained by an
occasional steamer until the formation OF the
United States Nail steamship Company, Of
which George Law, Marshall o. Roberts. \. G..
sloo OF New orleans. and other large shin own
er- were thc moving ~ rits. This company OH
tnincd n subsidy from the Government to aid
them ia building steamers for the line, and be-
ing first Ia the field. secured the mail contracts
and went to work coming money by the mo-
A year earlier Mr. Vanderbilt had built an
ocean steamer named the prometheus. which
was rather an elephant on his hands. Conceive
ing the idea Of competing for the California
trade, he put that vessel ON the route between
New York and treytown, obtained control OF the
stock and franchises OF the somnnlcnt Amcri-
can, Atlantic and Pacific ship Canal Company,
organized transit company for the river and
land service between Greytown and San Juan
on the Pacific. hurried steamers around the
Horn, and 10y ISL had running and in lne order
an opposition line TO san Francisco, 30 miles
shorter than the Dnrien line, and with only
d "
elling to be endured. or course he retained
the controlling interest IN the transit company,
dispOsng OF portions Of the stock to Joseph
white, l.. T. Iioyt Horace +. Clark, and others.
a brisk competition with the United States
and the Pacific Mail companies ensued. Wander
Butts fleet was soon superior 20 the combined
fleets OF the two companies with which he was
Ia rivalry. He had already materially reduced
the fares, and by driving his vessels over his
shorter route at good speed made a considerable
saving OF time so that his became with many
the favorite route to the gold coast. The enter
prise was in every respect successful one, aud
the profits great.
YACHT CRUISE THAT WAS INTERRUPTED.
In 1872 the Commodore launched from simon
sons ship yard n vessel In which he had taken
cecded to finish up and furnish with particular
care. This boat was named the North star. and
II soon began To he whispered about that he in
tended her Tor private yacht. ,Nhyn the ship
was completed, early in lSti the Commodore
announced his Intention 10 make an extended
VOYAGE in her. Having arranged all his business
Affairs he summoned his family. and with pri-
waite chaplain and physician embarked on the
3th of May. lSti ON this mysterious voyage.
The North Star reached southampton in ten
days eight hours and forty minutes from Sandy
Hook. and the pleasure party made a ha~ty
tour through England While I'm that country
the Commodore received tidngs from homo
which doubtless modified all the plans of his
cruise and materially shortened its duration. 10
seems that 4. h. Garrison, also dubbed Com
modore, and Charles Morgan had quietly oh
tanned possession OF a large amount of stock in
the company which controlled the transit over
the Nicaragua i-thmus and scarcely had Van
derbit yacht lost sight Of Sandy Hook when
they called special meeting OF the company,
and Naudcrlilt's ~ stock not being repre-. ed.
threw him out Of the Presidency and elected
new officers throughout Of their own selection.
Thesr tilines were altogether unlool ed for by
the Commodore. They naturally disturbed hiH
greatly. Nevertheless he said nothing. but con
tinued on his cruise apparently as If nothing
Returning home, Commodore Vanderh
found that he had no legal redress for the trick
by which he had been thrown nut ~ the man
agemcnt OF the Transit Company. with his usual
energy aud holiness he promptly determined
to organize an opposition 10 the line lac had
himself built up and of which he had been dis
possessed,
lie ut once put the North star on the route
between New NorN and Aspinwall. At Aspin-
wall hc was obi ged to transport his ght and
passengers across the isthmils and then turn
ihem over 90 the Pacific Mail, and for the re-
turn trip take what ho could pick mp by the
uicr uf low rates for transportation. Under
these di-ruuraeing circumstances he peraeN Ncrcd,
bought steamers as ihst they could be obtained,
sent them round u the Pacific to complete q