Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1888-08-21
a Type of a sen-made American.

totn r1anclseO C&l4 august 10th.
By the bier of Charles Croker the voice
of detraction is hushed, and there is no
place for BIN who speaks i'll of the rich
chiefly because they are rich. In the State
where he spent his life and in the city
which contained his home, Mr. Croker is
thought Of now as the generous citizen who
was the main support OF our associated
charities, who rebuilt the Park Conserva-
tory, and whose first thought when be
heard Of the destruction of the uninsured
building of II. s. Croker & Co. was for
two fremen who had lost their lives in the
fire. No one speaks Of him save with re-
spect and regard the good which he did
in his life promises indeed TO live after
him.
He was type Of q self-made American.
No schooling fell 10 his lot but what he
could pick up at hap-hazard, IL the inter
walls of work at the forge. He started in
life without friends and without money.
In his childhood he sold newspapers in the
streets IN youth he handled the sledge
and hammer; in early manhood he kept
country store. He was 30 years old, in the
prime Of life, when four men-Leland
Stanford, G. ?. Huntington, Mark Hopkins
and E. B. Crocker-allowed themselves to
be persuaded by an engineer named Judah
that railroad could be built from Sacra-
mento to the Missouri river. The
four men possessed all the qualities
required for such an enterprise but
one, executive ability in the handling
Of men and the mastering of phvsi-
cal obstacles. Huntington and Hopkins
we're natural hnanciers, Leland Stanford
was Governor, and could reach every
avenue to credit and influence: +. B..
Croker was lawyer, gifted with the art
of persuasion. But no one Of the four
was capable of commanding q regiment Of
shoyelers or of driving tunnel through q
mountain in half the time allowed By the
engineers. That capacity was possessed
by Charles Croker, and It was when his
cooperation was secured that the enter
prise became feasible. He went into it
with the tireless energy of his nature, and
10 HIM more than any ether man is due
the fact that the Pacific Railroad was
completed six years before the time agreed
upon.
That he reaped princelY fortune Is
matter neither Of wonder nor regret
Such enterprises ought to shower gold on
their successful authors If ever the time
comes that they do no: enterprise will die
out and stagnation succeed. Mr.. Croker
became so rich that the stock-phrase mill
ionqire fails to convey a notion of his
wealth. 1t is probable that neither he
nor any one else knew how much he was
worth when ne died. His investments
had been neither conspicuous nor specu-
lative: he had neither founded public in
stitutions nor spanned continents; when
his bank account became inconveniently
plethoric he bought few houses, or blocks,
or farms, and thought no more Of them.
1t will probably turn out that he owned a
much larger slice of this city than any one
imagines 1t is agreeable to remember
that, large taxpayer as he was, he was al
ways in favor Of expanding reasonable
amounts Of money for public improve
ments.
Wealth made no difference in Mr..
Crocker's way Of life or in his manners.
He lived as became good citizen; scandal
never busted itself with his name. And
he was just as accessible, Just as ready to
stop and chat with poor man week be-
fore last as he may have been when he was
keeping store in Sacramento thirty years
ago. His conversation was always sensi-
4 BILE; his active life had impressed certain
fundamental principles on his mind; he
had quick way of testing new PROPOSE
tions by the light of common sense, which
often surprised his hearers. There were
but few men in this city who were better
couuselors than Charles CROKER. 1t is
paying him merely his due If we add that
had any unforeseen catastrophe plunged the
city into unexpected disaster, he would
nave been the first man to whom nine
tenths of our citizens would have gone FOX
advice and help