Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1883-12-12
AMERICAS MILLIONAIRES.

Recently the World published the names
of two hundred mlllionaires living in
New York city, and it appears from let
tiers sent to the editor of the World after
wards that many were left out of the list.
The city of Boston, according to the
Globe, can show up over one hundred of
these millionaires and you have no diff
ficulty about hunting up many mere of
them, beside decuple millionaires, and
quinquagintuple millionaires, in San
Francisco. St. Louis, Chicago, Philadel-
phia, Cincinnati and other places. Be-
sides our long string Of millionaircs, we
have now here the centuple millionaire
and the bi-centuple millionaire, and per-
haps there IS truth in the remark made
about the king of them all, that. ''as soon
as he got to be millionaire, he was seized
with mad ambition to become billion
aire." If the 80 millions left by old Com
modore Vanderbilt to his heirs years ago
have since then swelled to 200 millions in
w. H. VS. hands, it is easy to compute
how many years it will take. at the past
and present rate of increase, to raise his
spoils to 1000 millions, or, in other words,
to make him Millionaire. To raise this
pile, he does not need to live as long as
his father lived. In q recent letter,
Cath says: ''William's fortune is at
least $500, 600, 900. He told some of his
friends about four years ago that his m
come was $1O,000,000 year. He has
never been beaten by any stock operator,
and has made every one of them who
tackled him squeal."
William H. Vanderbilt. says the World,
enjoys an income estimated at SIS, DOC, 900
year. In April last, when he held $780,
200, 600 in Government tours, his quarter
ly check for interest upon them was
$402, 600; 50 that his annual interest upon
that amount of Governments for the pres
ent year is $685. 900. The World says:
Nobody knows exactly how rich he is,
because, unlike other kings, he does not
allow his subjects to scrutinize his civil
list. But he is very rich and powerful
king. His fortune is estimated at $780,
100000. In the years when he only builds
palaces and buys paintings and does
not buy Nickel-Plate roads, his yearly
civil list ranges from fourteen to twenty
millions of dollars. He buys fifty mil
lions of per cents. at single invest
ment. He controls over six thousand
miles Of railroads. The area of his terri
tory is very large. His subjects grumble
a great deal under the burdens he lays
upon them, but the only answer he makes
to their remonstrances is, My subjects be
damned"
In the Saratoga interview of last Au-
gust Mr.. Vanderbilt's legal adviser. Mr..
Depew, said: What is known as the
Vanderbilt system when completed will
be the greatest sytsem in the world, and
will reach the most productive agricultu-
ral manufacturing and commercial terri
tory in this country. 1t now consists Of
the New York Central and Hudson River
Railroad, $50 miles and four tracks Lake
Shore, $50 miles, double track; Canada
Southern and Michigan Central $50
miles, double track; Northwestern
1850 miles; Nickel Plate, $50 miles
miles, or full 5000 miles of double
quadruple track not to speak of thous-
ands of miles of side tracks, etc.
In addition to his large interest
in each one of these roads, Mr.. Van
derbilt has blocks of Rock Island and
Burlington stock"
1t is said no fortune was ever accumu-
lated by any Individual in England equal
even to the present fortune of Mr.. Van
derbilt