Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1886-05-04

g,oozo 1Fell7 If0iReC, u Well BehGsed,
2pLecet- Headed Ndlionaires. - =
The. young VanderbiIts-, mean
Cornelius apd William X, the pres
ent heads of the family have gone
at it, as if they. mean to double the
fortune their father left them right
speedily. ro1ndesd,, 1 don't see, how
they gan hslPft. Cornelius Wander
biltis fortgi pagv tiappd bhe is worth, I
suppose, iatl least $50, 1000, 900, per-
hapS more fhis, at compound ,intelF5
est, should double every, twelve years,
which would make it'cp9i less, .thap
S640, 900, 900 when Cornelius is ,seyI
enty-six., 1t would increase, a, good
deal, faster than that at the interest
which he is to-day receiving on his
stock and bonds, but there will come
panics, reverses, catacEysns, perhaps,
and he cannot safely count on making
more than $40, 200, 900 in thirty-six
years. --'. ,...
These young men are exceptional
characters. They started in the path
of life under the iron rod of their re-
markable grandfather, the old Com
modore. 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 he said to
their. father: "Look a here, Billy,
boys are no good; there's only one
way to save 'em, and that is by put
ting 'em ut something and making
'em work like,the devil all the while.
Now stick these boys in, somewhere,
and make 'em, come down to it,
Don't let up on 'em." -, mi
William II, was not half as hard
and infexible as his father, but he
was accustomed to mind that gentle
mau-as obedient when he was forty
as when he was fourteen-and he
knew perfectly we'll that ie was better
to kick boy out of doors, than to pet
him and give him money; so he told
the boys. as his father had told him,
that they "must support themselves.
Cornelius got little clerkship in
the Shoe and Leather bank when he
was sixteen, and for four years he
got there as early as any clerk, and
worked as late and as hard. He all
lowed himself no extra holidays, and
neither his father nor41is grandfather
did anything to make lifePeasier.-H
During these years his Uncle Torrance,
going to Europe for the Commodore,
invited '' the youngster" to go with
him, and the grandfather relented
and consented! The boy was delighted
at the chhnee,l but the question Of
salary1 MAS involved. ME presented
the matter to tile president. "You
can CO." said that t'amiable fuhctionI
afy, "bht, bf'course, yon7 viii lose
your salary, $780," That settled it.
Cornelius turned hfst back on the
temptation and declined to go.
90 When he was twenty he was made
a clerk +" at the bottom of the ladder"
in the Hudson River railroad office,
and his youngest brother, William K,
was put at work there the next year.
For more than eighteen years, now,
they have "'bowed down to it" in
that great concern, and they are far
better trained than their father even
was in all the details of the business.
They are not fast men. They care
nothing for clubs. They are con-
tent, up to the present time, with one
wife apiece. They love their chill
dren, and each family, filing into
church, look like pair of gently
sloping stairs. They care little for
fast horses. They do not swear
One of them is superintendent of a
Sunday school and both are deeply
involved in the various charities Of
the CITY. l. fEs =
Cornelius is first vice president and
head of finance, William K. is second
vice president. and master of trans
portation, Each knows his business
thoroughly. The most striking thing
about either of them is that they work
as hard as if they were hired by the
job-whicb 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, of Vanderbilt are about the
most quiet, ,unassuming, weIl+behaved,
well7trained, and 1eyel-headed of the
New York milIionaires of the present
day. 5
Erx-r tc.ooDs Tow I5,,r,,s NJ