Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1882-01-12
JAY GOULD.
SOMETHING ABOUT THE RAILWAY MAGSATE
As HE APPEARED IN BosroN.

As HE APPEARED IN BOSTON.
Imagine a mite of man, says n
Boston writer, listless and shaken in
appearance, weighing but little over
one hundred pounds, with no parti.
cularly intelligent expression, and in
fact with hardly a manifestation of
any kind of power or force in his
whole showing. Physically, indeed,
he is weak, and it is said of himself
and another distinguished New York
capitalist that they have but one lung
between them. Mr. Gould came into
the New York and New England
meeting and took his seat upon front
settee, near the platform. He slouch-
ed down upon the bench so that his
head rested upon the rail of the scttee
back, and he entered into the proceed
ings very much as stunted farmers
boy is wont to do in a country church,
so far as position and apparent interest
| in the exercises are concerned. Dur
ing the routine he was thus partially
hidden from many would-be inspectors
who were peering anxiously in his di-
rection, his neighbors on either hand
overtopping and outbulking him.
When the formal business was over
and speeches were in order, cries Of
Gould! Gould - filed the hall, and
the little great man worked himself
into q standing position. If he had
been n country pumpkin, essaying a
first speech in the villiage lyceum, he
must have been laughed at as he stood
there. His face was wreathed in SIM
pers, and his whole manner was an
exaggerated simper. When he, at
last, did speak, his utterance was Ia
bored and hesitating and still simpcr-
ing, his voice light and with no taking
quality, and there was not a sympa-
thetic or winning feature about him.
lnvoluntarily his cri,ics-vewing him
for the first timc-said to themselves:
THAT il not the mighty Gould Of the
stock exchange; the dictator, almost
absolute, OF railroads worth Ss0O00,-
000w
Yet this was, indeed, the very man,
this slight built apparent body o. weak
ness, of toriy.fve years continuance.
His reply to the calls Of the assemblage
was, so far a bis words were concerned:
"I will make you speech, gentlemen,
after our first dividend is declared"
He will never keep his word, what
ever turns for he can no more make
speech than be can weigh a ton.
The meeting over, the company saun-
tered and loitered about exchanging
words before getting upon the street
again. This was the golden opportu.
nifty improved upon by many TO get a
good look at Gould. lie appeared
nervous and waichful regarding the
close approach to himself Of q stranger,
as though not entirely free from APP
prehcnsion that, even in such place
and surrounded by friends, some enemy
might attack him. 1t Is said that
since the attack was made upon him
some time ago he had never appeared
abroad without the company of a
striker" who would protect him if
danger threatened, and he would GER
tainly need some such helper if at
tackled, even though, as is probably
the case. he is no degree Of n coward
physically.
So mnch for the personal appear.
ance of man who made his first en-
try into New York city during the
crystal palace exhibition, aud who,
until the year 1859, had never been
reckoned other than poor. True, he
was a mere boy at that first visit, and
all his hopes and expectations for the
fnture were ceDtered in n contrivance
which he carried in mahogany box
under his arm, and prized inordinately
"a wo nderful mOusetrap, that was all.
His mousetrap brought him nothing
but trouble, and il turned, as it has
turned one thousand times even in
New York. that a mousetrap, even
though it be a wonderful affair, is of
no account unless il be in the right
hands. These we're not the traps which
Gould was best fitted to manipulate.
Mr.. Gould is now forty.fve years
old, and his friends apparently admire
the statement when they say he has
made for himself 81 600, 900 for every
year he has lived in the world. They
probably underrate him in this direc-
tion. and his solid individual wealth
is, without doubt, greater than these
figures would represent. But on earth
there is probably no harder worker,
no greater slave to a fortune, no more
persistent follower Of distiny, than this
same Jay Gould. In business affairs
he is an abnormal development Of
humanity, and all his manipulations
are strokes of genius. However, il
does not now appear that this sort of
thing Is to die with him, for he has n
son reported to be a greater genius