The daily gazette., 1883-04-05
A BUSY LIFE.
The Successful Career of Peter Cooper,
New YOrk's Great PhiIanthrOpist.

Inc 9uCceshiul career OF HeJer COOpeFp
Now York's Great PhiIanthrOpist.
Peter Cooper, the noted philanthropist,
who died In New York yesterday morning,
was born in the neighborbood Of St, Paul's
Chapel, at Vesey street and Broadway, on
February IL, 1871. His father had pot
terry in the neighborhood. He was a sort of
Jack Of all trades, giving up the making of
pots for hats, at which young Peters first
work was done. 81 remember" he said,
being utilized by being set to pull the hair
out Of rabbit skins, when my head was just
above the table" Finding that hats did
not pay, the family moved to Catsaill and
began baking bricks; then to Newbury,
where they brewed beer. At II Peter
Cooper left his father to be apprenticed
TO coach maker for four years at
S25 year. During these four years be in
vented a machine for mortising the hubs of
carriages, which proved so profitable that
when he became Of age his employer offered
to build him shop and set him up In bust
ness, an offer which he declined, having no
capital and a horror of debt. His next work
was In making machines for shearing cloth.
He made an improvement in these machines
which gave him monopoly of the business
at the age of 25, the war of 1912 preventing
the importation of machinery from England.
Vassar, who afterward founded Vassar
With the close Of the war the business lost
its value. 1t is worth while mention
ing the fact Mr.. COoper's shearing machine
was precisely on the system of the lawn
mowers of to day, and at the request of
gentleman who saw 1t at work he made
grass s-mower, which worked well in cutting
the grass of a city yard many years before
such machines became valuable. From
machines Mr.. Cooper went into the grocery
business, and built a store on the land
where the Bible House now stands. After
three years as grocer he bought glue
factory, and laid the foundation of his
fortune by making glue, whiting, oil chalk
and tsiDglass. In this business he con-
tinued all his life.
In 1928 he bought for S105,000 three
thousand acres of land in the city of Balti-
more, expecting that the completion OF the
Baltimore and Ohio railroad, the first in the
country, would largely enhance the value of
his properly. But the reiroad company,
after spending great deal of money, began
to doubt the possibility of carrying the
project through. That road had so many
short turns that people thought that no
locomotive would run on it, and the stock
holders declared that they would rather lose
all they had invested than pay out any more
money. Cooperinducel them to let him build
small engine adapted to short curves He
did so, and took the stockholders thirteen
miles in one hour and twelve minutes,
fast time then. On the way
back something happened to the en-
gine, and horse and wagon dstanced
the train easily. This was the first engine
of the kind in the country, and saved the
road from bankruptcy. Finding that his
Baltimore property did not increase in value,
as he expected, he built iron works on it
and began to smelt ore from the neighbOr-
hood This proved to be so profitable that
he began similar works in New York and
then in Trenton, N. j., making money
rapidly in all of his enterprises. 1t was in
Jooper's rolling mills that the first iron
beams were rolled, he wishing to make the
institute, with which his name is connected,
the first tre-prooi building in the city.
Iron beams were unknown then (1S52) and
the experiments and machinery necessary to
make them cost S7j 600
The success of the Atlantic cable is largely
owing to Peter Cooper's perseverance and
energy. Twenty seven years ago he was the
president of the New York, Newfoundland
and London Telegraph Company. An at
tempt had been made tn uut line across
Newfoundland. and some work had bee n
done. Cyrus Field Moses Taylor, Marshall
| 0. Roberts, Wilson G. Hunt and Peter
Cooper finished that work and laid a cable
dCIOSo 1ut uull Vi IoI. LhWTtnCt,
it as the beginning of trans Atlantic line
Peter Cooper was never tired of recOunting
the difficulties and mistortunes through
which the cable company struggled They
worked ten years spending money like
water, before even getting the cable
on ship-board. The first cable, costing
100000, was lost by the stupidity of the
men employed to lay it. 1t took two years
hard work to get another. Field collected
the money in England, and when It was
| successfully laid the little band of New
Yorkers, headed by Peter Cooper, thought
that their troubles were over. Ii happened
that the first dispatches sent from here were
important to the English Government, for
it had arranged to transport a large number
of soldiers from Canada TO China in the war
with China, and just before the transports
sailed the news came by cable that peace
had been declared. After few days re-
joicng dismay came over the company upon
finding that the cable did not work any
longer.
The growing glory of Cooper's life, and
that upon which he spent the most money
| and time, is the Cooper Institute, the corner
stone of which was laid % years ago 1t
was founded to give apprentices chance to
learn. The building cost 1854, 900 at first,
| and about $780, 900 have laid out upon it
since. In endowments Cooper has given it
sums amounting to nearly 81 100000. 1t
has now clear income of $50, 900 year.
In December, 1878, Peter Cooper married
Sarah Bedel of Hampstead, X. |. She died
in 1869, on the 56th anniversary of her we'd
ding day. Six children were born to them,
of whom tuO 1atnlv MaV0r