The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1878-11-28
From th- SE Francisco Alta.
FnIR DEAD MILLIONAIRES.
PeruliIritie, 0f Men Who Rose From
Poverty t. Vast Wealth.

The death. since the beginning of the
wear. uI fuur residents Ui san Fran
cisco, rrputed IL IL. milliunairrS. three
Of them leaving each an estate esti-
mated at more JhIn SS,ODD.OO1. suggests
some remarks on their career. Al of
them began life IN poverty: uOt one of
them made Ills money by mere luck,
and all Were men considerably above
the average in business reputation.
Hopkins. Reese AMI Cotton had indus
try, tact, and business capacity. and
vet diiferem; habits and tastes.
Hopkins WAS strict, economical, fond
Of business for the sake of business,
/ with Il strong sense of duty, dislike
/ of display and of auv participation in
/ political management. He was fitted
tO thrive by prudence and thrift, avoid
ing everything that looked To him like
, speculation, but moi t0 undertake great
enterprise, such rs the Central Pacific
WAS at the beginning.
Cotton WAS 4 very different man.
| He began life as an oriicehOlder, was Il
natural politician, and was fond of
| participating in public movements and
influencing men about him. lie lIad =
natural liking for speculation, and
never have found favor with Hopkins,
but he WAS much more careful than
the average Specul;ItOr. He enjoyed
/ the spending Is we'll as the making of
| his money. He WIS proud Of his mag
| nincent home, and WAS the only one of
| the four that had one, Hopkins dying
/ before the completion of his palace,
| which lac built rather As 4 sense of
duty 10 California than To CRAFTY his
/ own taste. Like the Others, Cotton
\ had an excellent reputation for fair
| dealing
1t would, We imagine, be no injustice
t0 Michael Reese To call him genteel
miSer. He had genius for lending
money. An excellent judge of men
| and Il hIrd thinker, he carefully
studied the Investments offered To him
before accepting. 1t WAS his rule Ia
rely exclusively on his own Judgment,
and never take large risk merely he
cause of Il possibility of large gains.
Reasonable certainty of Il moderate
price WAS, in his opinion, the first re-
quiSite in a business transaction. Az
ter he had acquired his first million he
borrowed largely, and nobody knew
better where TO borrow cheap or To lend
dear. He provided himself with Il
good stock of available securities, from
which he could readily obtain money
from people who would not lend un-
less they could obtain their funds ut
very short notice. lie loaned ut much
higher rates. 1t is said by those who
ought To know that he made S2OlO00
annually on borrowed money. He
paid several visits to Europe, and
sometimes indulged in little luXuritS
but his expenditures for personal en-
jOyment were generally less than those
of men with an income of S2.ODD Il
year. His only gift of money for 4
public purpose in his lifetime, SO far
as we know, WAS that of S3.O0) to puT-
chase Lieber'S library for tie State
University. lie could make himself
agreeable in company.
w. :. OBrien hIl IL UncDmm III
capacity in any Respect, AMI in the
ordinary course of events he would
never have made more than m0der-
ate fortune. He owed much of his
great success to genial manners. As
good fellow he had few SuperiOrS. lie
always had a cheerful word for every
body, and everybody liked him. His
popularity contributed much to give a
start to the house of Flood & OBrien,
and he WAS fortunate enough to he as
sOciated with men whose special
knowledge and talents raised the firm
to princely wealth. He did not bother
himself much in the acquisition or in
the management of his wealth; it adj
ded little to his enjoyment and made
little change in his tastes or assOcia-
tiOnS. He was to the last the same
plain, simple-hearted man among his
old friends as in the earlier days.
Hopkins obtained much of his wealth
from Government subsidies; but in re-
turn he helped to build 1000 miles of
railroad. Cotton helped to build 700
miles of railroad. O'Brien's wealth
contributed to erect one of the finest
buildings and To found one of the
wealthieSt banks in the United States.
Reese erected many good buildings.
Hopkins, O'Brien and Reese We're
childleSs; Cotton leaves two daughters.