The Irish standard., 1886-06-26
THE VANDERBILT BOYS
Two We1l-Trainea, Well-Behaveds
LAvel.Headed NEilI1Ona1res.

Two Well.TralneG, well-Behaveds
Lovel-aeaded NTill1ona1res.
The young Vanderbilts-I mean Cor
nelius and W W'iiiiia1n K, the present heads
of the family-have s.gone al it, as II they
meant to double the fortune their father
left them right speedily. Indeed, don't
see how they can help it. Cornelius Van
derbilt is forty now, and he is worth,
suppose, at least ssOO00,O0 perhaps
more. This, at compound interest, should
double every twelve years, which would
make it no less than $64O, O,0O0,0 600 when
Cornelius is seventy-six. 1t would increase
good deal faster than that at the inter-
est which he is to-day receiving on MS
stock and bonds, but there will come
panics, reverses, cataclysms, perhaps, and
he cannot safely count on making more
than $500 900 in thirty-six years.
These young men are exceptional char
acters They started in the path Of life
under the iron rod Of their remarkable
grandfather, the old Commodore. He didn't
believe in boys at all: he didn't believe
In anybody much and when Cornelius
and William X got out Of short clothes be
said to their father: .'Look here, Billy,
boys are no good; there's only one way to
save 'em, and that is by putting 'em,
at something and making 'em
work like the devil all the while: Now,
stick these boys in somewhere, and make
,e,n come down to it. Don't let up Oh
.em."
William H. was not half RS hard and In
flexible as his father, but he was accus-
toned to mind that gentleman--as ooetsl-
ent when he was forty rs when ne was
fourteen-and he knew perfectly wen that
it was better to kick boy oa't or eoofs'
than to pet him and give him money, SO
he told the boys, as his father had told
him. that they .tmust support them
selves"
Cornelius got little clerkship in the
Shoe and Leather bank when he was SIX
teen and for four years he got there as
early as any clerk, and worked as late and
as hard. He allowed himself no extra
HOLIDAYS. and neither his father nor his
grandfather did anything tc make life
easier During these years his uncle Tor
rance, going to Europe for the CommodoEs
invited .sthe youngster" to go with hire,
and the grandfather relented and consent
ed. The boy Was delighted at the chance,
but the qAestion of salary WAS involved.
He presented the matter to tho president
.tYou can GO" said that amiahle function
ary. tbut, of course, you will lose your
salary. 81 50'' That settled 1t. Cornelius
turned his back on the temptation and de-
clined to go.
When he was twenty he was made
clerk ..at the bottom of the laddor' In the
HudsonRive Railroad Office, and hls young
est brother, William X, was put at work
there the next year. For more than elgh'
teen years, now, they have .'bowed down
TO it'' In that great concern, ana they are
fur better trained thar their father even
was in all the details Of the business.
They are not fast men. They own no
yacht. They care nothing for clubs. They
are content, up to the present time, with
one wife apiece. They love their children,
and each family, filing into church, look
like a pair of gently sloping stairs. Ihey
care little for fast horses. they 90 not
swear. One of them is superintendent OF
a Sunday school, and both are deeply in
yolved in the various charities OF the CITY:
Cornelius is tirst vice president and
head of finance, William 4. is second vice
| president and master of transportation.
! Each knows his business thoroughly. The
most striking thing about either OF them Is
that they work as hasd as il they were
! hired by the job--which they are, by the
way-and that they are perfectly demo-
cratic and accessible to anybody who has
business with them. On the whole, the
! present seniors of the house e Vanderbilt
are about the most quiet, nnassumlng,
well-behaved, well-trained and level-head-
ed of the New York millionaires OF the
present day.