Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1885-01-23
GOV. CORNELL'S GOLD.
HOW Ne SUCCEEDED TO HIS VEAL tn.
Telegraph Poles Converted Into West,
ern usisn Chronos-How He
Climbed the Golden .,.g,
Ladder. o.st..y
lN. Y. sa.l

IN, Y. seaEl
il has often been questioned whether
Ex-Governor Cornell, when walking down
the marble steps OF his palatial mansion at
NO. 6l6 Filth avenue, recalls the days
when his father toilsd early and late in the
forests or the Mohawk Valley chopping
telegraph poles for what Is now known as
the great Western Unionf Does be think
OF his own early struggles as q poor tel
egrapa operssor In an obsure country vi
laget Does he feel that when he spends
500 for Christmas tide bauble that that,
sum at one time represented his yearly i'm
Gomez Does the Ex-Governor, so immacu.
late In hts dresa SO elegant in his manners,
recall those days when one xnit year was
luxury seldom accorded himf and when
dining at his favorite club or In company
with those whose names have heepma IA
NOUS wherever the English Language is
spoken. does he fail to remember the rag.
ged little urehin who rcamsd the streets of
Ithaca forty years agof .u
The history Of his present vast wealth
aud the years OF struggle and disappoint-
ments before the golden goal was reached
are peculiarly interesting. To-day, in
twenty-four hours, he can commani near.
ly $lo,OoooJo Forty years ago is would
have been tall scraping for him to
have gathered twenty-five cents that
he would dare call bis own. II
Is even common gossip In his native
village that when the Ex-Governor was
quite lad his parents were at times al
most penniless. His father was seldom az
home. His friends considered him a mild
edition of crank. In these days he
would come under the category OF a
genius. tS - filR sttiaia g bh3
In certain sense old Ezra Cornell was
even then genius. IL total fcrgetfulness
OF all the ties and customs of life could
have given him that title. He had a few
acres of land and q tumble-down old shan
ty for home. He made a bare subsIst-
ence from the soil, and his wife's iabors at
the washtub eked out sufficient clothing
for her children and now and then a cheap
calico for company" dress for herself.
Old Ezra occasionally received New
York paper and in the long winter eve
nings he would pore over it with the avid
ity that the fashionable young lady to-day
does over the latest novel; Even the ad.
vertiseInents were source OF much joy
and comfort to him. Any, change from
the dreary monotony of his every day lie
was god'send to him. At that tina Pro.
lessor Morse, the Nestor. OF the American
telegraph, had about completed his first
experiments, bat was puzzled whether the
telegraph wires should be erected on poles
or sunk under ground. The subject was
long and even bitterly discussed by
the projectors of the infant Western
Onion and Che question agitated Pro.
fessor Morse and his friends for wears.
The reports of the differences over the
subject were published in the Courier and
Enquirer. then the leading paper of this
city, copy of which found its way into
old Ezsa's hands. That little paragraph
ultima ely proved to be the first stem in
the present. colossal fortune controlled by
! his son, Aionxo d. Old Ezra, Without in.
structions from Professor Morse, and
without the faintest announcement that
his course was correct, immediately alb.
sented himself from his wretched home.
He was lost to his family for months, but
when he returned it was with tie informa.
ton that he bad cut .'one hundred cords
OF poles for them telegraph fe!lers, and 1
mean to sell 'em TO 'em, too" He was the
laughing stock OF the neighborhood. HIS
friends were really concerned for him, and
his wife was not altogether sure bat that
her husband hat been on a foolhardy mis-
sion. Ezra, however, was confident that
telegraph wires would be strung on poles.
ans no amount OF argument or persuasion
could deter him from o second visit to the
wilderness, from which he returned in a
couple Of months, remarking that be had
cut more poles for them telegraph fel.
lers." He then made bold enou xh to ad.
dress Professor Morse. He stated that he
was in a position to supply his company
with telegraph poles ami could supply
him with a wilderness If necessary. Pro-
fessor Morse replied that he wanted the
poles very much, but that neither he nor
his company were in position to paw for
them; bus IL NJ. Cornell wished to deliver
them they would be paid for in the stock
OF the company. Old Ezra, afie,
much consideration, consented TO the
bargain ani for several years kept them
supplied, always receiving in return a
pile OF Western Union chromos. His
neighbors continued to think him ON the
verge of idiocy, and his family were In as
desperate straits as ever. ~ 81
It is alegend of Ithaca that so infatu.
ated had Cli Ezra become with his teIe.
graph pole cutting that at one stims his
Rarret ami "spare" room were ssrewp
with the original stock Of the Western
Union, no. worth the paper it was printed
on, and il Is stated as q positive fact by
the ex-Governor's friends. that his mother
became so disgusted by her husband.
course that she very freQue nsly used the
shares OF the company to kindIe her fire
with. All this. however, was changed ir
few days. When the war broke ont
the demand for increased Telegraph facili.
ties brought the Western Union up with
arush. Its stock increased to an enor-
nous extent aud old Ezra began to.scour
his garnet for the reams of it which he
had accepted for his poles. He gathered
them up, and packing them in an old
leather trunk came to the city. He soon
learned that with each. day he became
100000 richer. The dear old gentleman
could hardly appreciate bis vast posses
sious. His family that had suffered so
long did, and Alonzo ana his mother
were quickly installed in beautiful
home with every luxury that the Monte
Cristo wealth Of his father could pro-
vide. he is now the sole possessor Of
his fathers estate. In politics he ia
termed the "Sphiux," bus to his fellow.
members of the Union League Club be is
genial 0nd agreeable gentleman, though
by no means enthusiastic in his friend
ships or social relations.