The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1881-06-01

IL VI az COuItfleS OF Europe, anu eSptC-
tally IN England, great wealth, when uninherited,
is, as a general thing, realized through the slow
and patient channels of some trade or calling.
This, doubtless, is owing to the fact that the nat
ural resources of these countries are mainly de
veloped to their utmost capacity, and that so mar
row are their boundaries, individually, as well as
their ideas of government, the spirit of enterprise
can find no resting place for the sole of its foot
among the impoverished masses Of their dense
populations.
When, however. we come to contrast this unde-
sirable state of things with the condition of affairs
mIlIin tue oouhoares OF our own vast common
wealth, we are at once struck with the magnitude
of their disSimilarity, aud with bosoms elste with
JOY ana pride. but with no mean feeling of
triumph. turn from the sunset of older Nations to
the glorious dawn of our own rising greatness,
which. even now. exceeds in luster some OF the
boosted noOntides of the past.
Here a newly created world, so to speak, pos
sessed OF wealth. far exceeding that OF "Ormus,
and of Ind" and teeming with all the resources
necessary TO Our greatness and happiness, lies
spread out before us I'm bOundless expanses, pre-
sening to every species of enterprise fields for
operation so filled with promise. and of such gil
gantie magnitude. that those OF the Old World
are dwarfed into insignihcance before them.
Under such circumstance IL Is not a matter of sur
prise that our vast resources are becoming rapidly
developed, that cities and civilizations are now
being scattered through regions rot long since
sacred to the foot of the while man. and that con-
stantly in our midst some adventurous and far
seeing spirit leaps out from the masses, and, at a
single bound, As il were, attains TO colossal wealth
and importance.
There is no stronger case in point touching this
latter relation than that presented by the gentle
man whose name appears at the head OF this ar
ticle, and who has for some time past commanded
50 large a snare OF public attention with regard to
the boldness and magnitude of his operations i'm
some of the leading interests of our economy. AL
though nOtfree from the suspicious which natur-
ally attach 10 men who. from comparative penury.
become, as If through the wave of a magician's
wand. the pOsSeSsors of millions, vet there are
those who have faith in him as Il sharp and sue
| Qaccful nnarQfOr xuhn hos Ufrav - A..
through his superior business tact and daring
than through any absolute dishonesty on his part.
Jay Gould was oorn at strattoR's Falls, Della
ware County, New York, ini the year 1886. His
father. John b. Gould, who died in 1866. and VINO
had been married three times, was a well-to-do
farmer and small storekeeper. Jay was a son by
| his first wife, who went the way of all flesh I'm
ISL, little dreaming that her boy of five years
was doomed TO pass through the course of two
stepmOtherS. Young Gould, however, early be-
trayed symptoms OF genius and selt-reliance, for
he had scarcely got well into his school days till
ne regarded himself already a man. and invented
d mouse trap. This latter has been considered by
some a. either a bitter sarcasm upon the unwieldy
dimensions OF the great, square, unsightly, " tie
frame house n which he was born, or a graz nic
Wall street. BE this rs IL may, he passed his child
hood like most other country lads of that period,
with this difference. that he was studious, reti-
cent. and had the advantages of a fair education.
When sixteen years Of age he made his first
move in life. and became a clerk to a Squire
Durham, at K0xuburY, two miles from the Falls,
who kept a small store. remarkable for the va
riety. original character, and infni.eSimal GUAM
titles OF its stock; Here his auditory nerve be
altogether too sensitive for so small an establish
ment. Mr.. Durham had managed to obtain intel
ngence that a very desirable piece of land was for
public sale, cheap, III Albany, and determined to
purchase it. This he cautiously whispered to
some parties in the presence Of his young en-
| cution. however. he found that, in the interim;
his clerk had become possessed of the property,
having ayailed himself of the astuteness of his
hearing.
The genius of Jay must have been of no ordi-
nary character, for before he was twenty wears of
age he appeared suddenly a full-blown civil en-
gineer, and made a survey of Delaware CouRty, a
map of which was published in 1856 by Collins G.
Keeney. OF IL and ~ Union street, Philadelphia
with the words From Actual Survey by Jay
Gould" AS there Is no royal road to geometry,
we fear that his biographers have not done jus
tice to the studiJusness or attachments of their
subject, for no mention is made of how he became
possessed of this unusal knowledge.
When Mr.. Gould bid farewell To the home of his
youth, he went to Pennsylvania with Colonel Ia
dock Pratt, and started a tannery in conjunction
with that gentleman at u place named Goulds-
boro. Evidently from this name, young Jay was
the leading spirit of the enterprises fact which
was soon ~exempliied by the circumstance of his
becoming sole proprietor of the establishment,
leaving the Colonel to tan the hides of the enemy
IL he wished TO resume business.
In 1853, Mr.. Gould began TO speculate in Wall
street, in railroad stock; and. IL is said, as a curb
i ited s 1T3T Sis on Aat ea. Peri Sew ms Yd means mo %e nn iim-
t%entious. From the very first, however. he had
the reputation of being a most successful man;
and this was of itself an amount of capital not
easily estimated. He neither smoked, drank, nor
gambled, and was always on the qui yive for bust
ness. During the War he profted largely by the
sale of gold aud of stocks. and took advantage of
every defeat or successor The Union Army. Long
before the close OF the struggle he was said to be q
millionaire. OF the truth OF this conjecture there
seems ample evidence, for soon after he went into
the Erie Railroad that corporation owed him
After making a great deal of money through
the skillful handling of Erie stock, his next sue
cessful venture was IN the purchase of 5000
shares OF Cleveland and P~ittsburg when he i'm
proved the road. doubled the market value of the
stock. and leased the property. netting about II
million and a half profit. In 1873 he went into
shares at 20, for which he has since realized %.
The same gigantic proportions and successes have
characterized all his later ventures also. His pur-
chase of an enormous amount of Wabash, at less
than 5, the consolidation of the road. the rise in
the stock, and the buying Of all incredible amount
Of Kansas and Texas, at a figure which has
price he paid, has Melted him many additional
millions. ALI through 1876. and up to the close
low price stocks which. as il by magic. began to
rise In value the moment he touched them; so
that now his wealth must be very great-sOme
say upwards of sixty millions.
Mr.. Gould's share in what is termed the "Gold
Conspiracy" or the famous BLACK Friday" and
his adroit an.agOnism with the late Commodore
Vanderbilt, when the latter was endeavoring to
cripple the Erie, are too well known 20 need more
than a passing notice here. Ii is TO his present
Status, ana MS power 10 dHeCt TIRE puDlc luIer-
ests in this country that we would briefly direct
attention. As the case stands. from the enor-
nous amount of telegraph and rsilrosd stock he
controls. he can, at any moment, all but ruin
competing lines by forcing low rates. or can tax
the public beyond enduranc=. by insisting on
high ones. This is a position fraught with great
danger to the best interests OF our
people; although for so far no very
alarming symptoms have manifested themselves.
Mr.. Gould is the moving spirit of a great mo-
nopoly; but IL King Cotton and the great Grain
Giant Of the West put their heads together. his
scepter, II welded Oppressiyely, can readily be
wrested from his grasp. These two prime factors
in our National prosperity can never be embar-
rassed 10 any fatal extent by combinations.
whose existence may be said TO depend on them.
II the owners and tillers OF the soil are true 10
themselves. they are invincible.
f~inancier is so great, and his management of the
press so adr0it and iar-seeing, that any object he
sets before him he is sure to attain He is one of
the few men who never make a false move. and
who. consequently, never lose. He is
always on the wing. and il In his travels he
happens to come across a railroad, or any compel
ing interest he wishes 10 possess himself OF. he at
once sets about obtainingi II, either through neney
or diplomacy. 1.-THE owner refuse TO sell or come
TO any terms he thinks proper to propose he
quietly intimates that he win build n line right
alongside OF theirs, as he finds that one through
1 . a. ~ 80 Al