The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1882-05-04
Gossip About Jay Gould.

&
Gould is native of Delaware County,
and lived there-his father was an in
telligent, well-to-do farmer, / have
heard d-until he had attained his legal
majority. Soon after that he bought a
large traetof land, and issued a pamph-
let, written by. himself. ingeniously set
ting forth its advantages. He speedily
sold it In sections at a large advance on
its cost, evincing then, as he had
eSlnted eS1 from his early teens, remark
near the line of the Erie Railway, his
attention was early directed to its i'm
portance, and he purchased some Of its
securities with the first surplus money he
made. He steadily increased his inter-
est in the road until he had been chosen
a Director, and finally gained control of
the corporation. 1t viii be remembered
that, after he had been forced out Of his
dictatorship, as it virtually was, owing
to the overthrow of Tweed & Co., and
after legal proceedings had been insti-
tuted against him for the recovery of q
great sum alleged to have, been illegiti-
mately obtained by him, he surrendered
$4,000, 900, knowing he would be
obliged by the courts to do so.
The nine q millions. as they were
called, are now said to have
consisted to a large extent of doubtful
securities, so that the actual cash benefit
to the Erie Road did not reach much
more than one-sixth of the amount
named. The report. of the surrender,
however, put up the stock. and Gould,
before the matter had become known,
bought large, blocks of shares and dis
posed of them, it is asserted, at the ad-
vance, thereby getting back much more
money than he gave up. The assertion,
no doubt true, clearly illustrates Could s
astuteness and capacity for calculation.
His first appearance in business here
was as Q leather merchant in the quarter
east of Nassau and north of Beekman
Street, known as the swamp. Then
very young, he exhibited the same alert
ness, discernment and knowledge Of the
market that have since distinguished him
in a far greater degree. He prospered,
of course, and while dealing in leather,
fell in love. so the story goes, with q
pretty and interesting girl, and, as her
parents opposed the match on account of
her tender youth, ran away with and
married her.
The marriage turned out an unusually
happy one. The couple are still devoted
to one another. She is wholly domestic,
q very quiet. refined, wellbred woman,
who would rather be at home with her
husband and children than anywhere
else. She dislikes show as heartily as
her Iege does, and is free from the least
tincttre of social ambition. One never
reads, as one generally reads of the wives
OF rich New Workers in the so-called So
ciety journals, about her sumptuous en-
tertainments, her magnificent diamonds,
her ravishing toilets, her elegant dinners.
Neither he or she would desire to be so
advertised, if they cared for such. things
which they do not. They live as tram
quilly as any pair OF small trades-people
having rooms over their shop in Sixth
Avenue. Their residence is at the north
west corner of Fifth Avenue and Forty
seventh Street, a spacious but plain
house OF the regular pattern, not distin-
guishable from hundreds of others in the
fashionable quarter. 1t is very comfort
ably and elegantly furnished, containing
a number of books, pictures and engrav-
ings, but with no attempt at display, no
SAVIOR of money. -. :.
Gould very rarely gives even dinner
party, and when he does it is rather COM
mercial than social in its objects. His
pleasures are few; but among them is
the theater, where he may frequently be
seen, especially on first nights, generally
with his son George, his eldest child,
about fifteen or sixteen years old. He
drives, too, with his boy in the park and
along the bouleYards in avery modest
turnout. but spends most of his evenings
in the bosom of his family--he has four
children--and among books, of which
he is fond. He is often seen at the
/ Windsor Hotel, q kind of stock and rail
way exchange, on the diagonal corner,
where he meets many operators and
money magnates. They talk much to
him, but he, rarely speaks more than a
few words at a time, though often as
sentingi and dissenting by asmotion of
the head. He must get good deal from
them; they can get little from him.
In point of manners he is model.
His discipline and breeding are perfect;
his face is as calm and undecipherable
as the obelisk in the park The most
cunning mind reader. could not tell by
the closest study of his face whether he
was making or losing millions. He al.
ways speaks in very low voice; he
| never gesticulates; he was never known
| to laugh; he never even smiles. But he
has not preoccupied or distracted air;
he is simply grave and everlastingly Sc
rene, Instead of assuming, as operators
| often do, to know more than is in his
| mind, he pretends to know nothing; he
acts the part of q financial agnostic. The
one man who is acquainted with the mon
etary and commercial condition of the
country better than any man in it, will
often affect to be ignorant of the com
nlonest financial fact. If anybody asks
him about the markets he will be
likely to reply that he has not been doing
anything for some time, and has nc
| means of forming an opinion. If any.
body inquiries why money is tight, he
win be apt to say that he is unaware Of
| the circumstance, and refer him for in.