The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-12-09
Mr.. Vanderbilt for many years, have you not9'
asked the renortar


asked the reporter
u first met and became acquainted with Mr.
vanderbllt in 1867. At that time l was presl-
dent OF the Erie railroad, and he was vice presi-
dent or the Hudson River railroad / found
him TO De man of wide resources, and sound
Judgment. Afterwards, he became vice presi-
dent OF the New York Central and figured exten-
slveiy IN the building up of the business of that
road Our relations up to the time of his death
always way, had been of pleasant character"
Nv hat is your opinion of Mr.. Vanderbilt as a
fnancier2"
nave for many years considered Mr.. Van
deroilt as man of unusual ability in the manage
ment OF large financial business When his father
cleo, ano ne came into possession OF his vast
estate, Mr.. Vanderbilt was not long in demon
strating his ability to manage the property which
nao Deen 1ntrusted to his care. He would not
run great risk until he was absolutely com
peled to by force of circumstances, which, as
sure you, was not very often. His judgment
upon values was always sound Few men have
made SO few mistakes in the handling of mon
eyed interests as Mr.. Vanderbilt. He was not a
oold venturer or operator. He seemed to be sat
ished With small. or at least fair return from
his Investments. so long as they were sound"
Gould you give me an estimate of Mr.. Van
derbilts wealtn~
NO; do not think I am able to give any
thing IKE a fair estimate although have known
him In business way for long time. 1t is
quite certain, however, that he was the wealth
tire country. He always main ntained a reticence
upon the value of his own property. Boosting
in that line was wholly beneath him. I never
heard him so much as intimate the extent of his
fortune"
What effect will his death have upon the
stock market. especially upon the stock of the
New York Central rairoad2"
1T will be safe to say that his death will have
the effect of depressing the market, especially in
those stocks in which he had large holdings.
These are the New York Central, Lake Shore,
Michigan Central and the West Shore roads.
Mr. Vanderbilt held only $5, 900 600 out of the
$9O GOO, ,O00 stock of the New York Central. The
most of the stock is held by capitalists in Europe
You can see that his holdings of this stock were
smaller than was supposed by many. The death
of the fnancier will not, l think, have other
than temporary effect in depressing the stocks.
If the market values of these stocks fall off a
few points tomorrow, they will go back again
to their original value in few weeks. Should
Mr. Vanderblt's holdings be thrown upon the
market, there are plenty of capitalists who
would he glad to purchase them at fair figure
j. Pierrepont Morgan says that Mr.. Wander
bits death would have little Or no effect on the
market; that the West Shore negotiations would
20 on as before and that a cablegram had been
sent to London with the information of his
death, which, no doubt, would be received with
great deal Of regret.
Pool Commissioner Fink said that Mr.. Wander
bits death would have no effect on the pooling,
as he had been out of the arrangement for some
time No doubt the death of such prominent
man would be felt as great loss by the mer-
camille world