Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1885-12-14
.CRGSUS OF THE WORLD
Personal Appearance, Habits, Tastes.
Aims and A billions of
w. II. Vanderbilt.
His superb Palace and Ills Mnusoleum
Hrs Possessions, His Fabu'
ious Wealth.

| The king Of railroad kings, for II 1a-
been generally conceded that Gould was
.econd to Vanderbilt, was born a.
| New Brunswick, N. j., at his fathers
| Summer residence, May 8, 1921 being the
eldest Of thirteen children OF his father,
The late Commodore Cornelius Wander
| bit. lie was the recipient of only a COM
mon school education, aud later IN Inf"
| frequently expressed his regret that he
had not in his youth been allowed greater
educational advantages When eighteen
! ,cui on ne became clerk I'm Tie hnHu-
cial firm OF Drew, Robinson G Co., but
| did not remain there long, his health
being poor, and he took to farming on
Station island his father having purchased
scvcnty-hvc acres OF unimptuNcd ahd Oh
| Staten island. IN 1871 he married "A Miss
| Nissan, the daughter of New York cler-
| gyman, and with her he retired to his
farm, the future not promising anything
particularly bright for him.
His father who until few years before
his death had no special tOndncss for his
eldest son, in fact having once declared
that civilian was iool,n was not sorry
to see him 20 to his rural retreat, and
| prOphcsicd that he would never amount
to anything. But William made money;
| his farm paid, and he added to ii, His
father began to look more kindly upon
| him, but allowed him TO make his way
alone
ms FIRST RAILROAD EXPERIENCE.
williams first experience in railroads
was with the Staten Island Rqilroad
company. The latter was embarrassed
aud, with his uncle Jacob, William became
/ Interested IN Il. It improved steadily,
and William made more money. In the
meantime, William had kept his eyes
open and had learned a great deal about
railroad management, in re gard to which,
however, he kept his own counsel. He
had friends who reported his progress to
his father, but the old gentleman was OBJ
stnate, and refused TO recognize his son
except casually,
In 1864 William was chosen as presi-
dent of the New York s. Harlem, and in
S65 of the Hudson River Line His
father had now been brought to recognize
his ability and judgment, and from that
time the son enjoyed, to almost the fullest
extent, tho cOmmodore'S confidence.
When the latter died William was his
heir, but long before that he had nc
quired the knowledge which enabled him
to add to his fathers millions and take
care of them when he obtained posses
|
vino always was Inc Judge of horses,
caught the fancy OF his father by making
suggestions to the latter in regard to
horsclcsh.
sENsTTIvENEss pEGARDGNG MS HEALTH
Not exactly hypochondrlac, he was so
much delighted With this life and his
revenue in it that he during his latei
years gave much OF his time to doctors
and annoyed his friends by his sensitive.
ness about his health With the health
OF bull he had the nerves of a woman
For some time past he had had the move
mcnt-curc, or the rubbng-cure, whatever
1t may be called, involving somebody &c
come and scrub his muscles over and de
Jude him with the idea that friction wa,
health. He was also victim OF the
. homeopathic people, aud bothered his
friends and family by taking out of his
pocket papers Of No /, No. 3, and No. 9
and swallowing them in the midst OF his
ordinary social demonstrations. 1t wa,
not very long ago that the commercia
world was thrown quite into CONFUSION.
by the report of his serious illness, hut
that was before he had retired from ac
tive business and while he was power il
the market.
HIS PERSONAL APPEARANCE.
. In personal appearance he was tall
nearly six feet in height, of burly build
! ruddy complexion, with coarse, heavy
features, gray eyes, sandy side whiskcrs
In the English style and yet only slightly
tinged with gray. He was somewhat
> bald the hair rather inclined to curl
His roughly chiseled upper lip was no
concealed by mustacEe.
His appearance rather suggested tina
r. l "a ftt,fpaI I'p,rIfsI 90 IA
, features were without the stupid stolidit,
that not seldom distinguishes the larg,
putty faces of his brother millionaires
across the water.
1t is said that on one occasion he wa
riding downtown in Il Fourth ayenu,
car, and the conductor, not knowing him
, asked for his fare. The unctiouS-loOkin.
i man slowly turned his weight OF 26
/, pounds, aud with nm impressive nod O
l mis- head uttered the word;
! "Nanderbiltn
1 The conductor retired abashed It
i doubtless as stockhoider in the CON
pauy that he thought the mention OF hi
, name was enough, though Mr., Gould, 10
I instance, would most likely have paid an,
: said nothing But MIR. Vanderbilt seldor
! gave any such foolish exhibition OF hi
1 consciousness of piethoric eXchequer.
''ruE PUBLIC BE D-D.n
He was sensitive 10 newspaper criticisr
Z and not nsensible 10 public opinion. Ill
! was, in fact, far more sensitive To crit
; cism in the public journals than he him
self would admit; more so than som
d have supposed lie manifested no sucl
= rbitter hostility 10 newspaper men, 1t /
I true, as Russell Sage, for example, who
4 when he finds reporter in his sanctum
= viii sometimes haiti whine, half growl, il
l the rural accent which he has neve
I wholly rid himself of "Well, how die
! you get IMP" But Mr. Vanderbilt, Will
: not ordinarily SO brusque as the great job
! Der in puts aud calls, avoided reporters
1 especially those who were not particular
ly we'll vcrsed in railroad matters. II,
= had little respect for anyone who did no