St. Paul daily globe., 1890-12-01
STORIES OF JAY GOULD.


than Giovanni p. MOrOsini, who was for
eighteen years his confidential associate.
Mr. Morosini said the other day:
Most of the stories printed about
him have been imaginative. or so dis
torted as to lose resemblance to the
facts. The lack of knowledge Is due to
Mr.. GOuld's ways. There never was a
man with less Obstrusivenessin his per-
sonal character. lie prefers to keep out
Of sight. Like Napoleon, he is man
ofsilence and thought. He would be
out of his element in crowd.
MIR. Gould's external appearance af-
| fordS fair notion of his mental make
uD. His face always wears a contem-
plative expression. 1t is fact that he
is thinking necessarily. His interests
are so vast and his schemes so compli-
Gated that his mind must be bent upon
them all the time. His hardest think
ing is done when his eyes are wandering
off into space. q
'It is remarkable how much he can
say in one or two of his terSe sentences.
He speaks in low and rather soft voice.
without infections or gestures. Unless
he IS the queStiOner he does not talk,
even for the sake of enlivening drag
ing conversation. When seated he in
variably throws one leg over the other,
and leans far back in the chair.
LAS rule he has something in his
hand. either letter. scrap of paper or
pencil which he twirls almost inces-
sanity, though not nervOusly. He seems
TO be lost unless his hand is occupied in
this way. 1t is an unconscious occupa-
ton, and merely represents the force of
habit.
"BIuster or an exhibition of impor-
tance is foreign to his nature. Perhaps
one reason for his great success is that
people with whom he has dealt have
not accorded him the measure of his
ability, and in consequence he has got
the best of transactions.
Mr. Gould has a keen sense of humor,
the qualification of which. however, is
seldom indicated by more than the
quietest smile. He likes to read news
papers and extracts great deal of
quiet fun from them. He spends all
his spare time reading. There are few
more devoted bOOkwormS. His books
are Of the substantial and instructive
character. He is thoroughly acquainted
with history. ancient aud modern, and
is well verSed in scientific progress.
"Mr. Gould has few pastimes outside
his reading. He used to drive a great
deal, but nowadays he limits himself to
ride in the afternoon in Central park
with his daughter. He occasionally
plays cards with his younger children,
but more for their amusement than
his own. Once in while he goes to
the theater, but rarely to the opera.
AS a matter of fact, he has 10 ear for
music. His evenings are generally
spent at home and are partly, if not al
together. occupied in looking over the
reports of the railroad and other cor
pOratiOnS in which he is Interested.
"Although he has fine mansion on
Fifth avenue and magnificent place at
lrvington-On-the-Hu and yacht
almost as large as an ocean steamship,
he is, nevertheless, very plain in his
ways of living. He dresses in the quiet
est styles, eats of the simplest food, and
very little of it, and is regular as a
clock in his habits. He is in bed about
10 o'clock every night, and is up by
$50 or in the summer and by z in the
winter. Mr.. Gould has tired somewhat
of his yacht. 1t takes fifty-two menito
make up the crew. and the principal use
to which it has been put has been to
carry him between New York and IT.
vington. He could have made the trip
quicker, though not with so much COM
fort, perhaps, by rail.
''Mr. GOuld'S mail is enormous.
Three-fOurths of it is composed of beg
e ing letters, and the better part of the
remaining one-fourth is from cranks and
people who ought to know better. On
an average Mr.. Gould receives three
letters week in which the writer
threatens to take his life. He never
pays any attention to the threatening
communications. He writes his own
letters, few of them, and never keeps
copy. He employees no StenOgrapher.
sit is great mistake to suppose that
Mr.. Gould is i'll constant fear for his
life. He has no time to think of danger
He goes about wholly unattended, and
the story that he has detective con-
stantly OIL his heels to protect him is un-
true. He has the knack of passing
right before person on the lookout
for him without being observed. How
he does it is not easily described. Be-
fore one knows it he has come and gone
like flash. He is very quick in his
movements, and seems to glide rather
than walk. He very seldom uses the
elevators in the Western Union build
ing, where he has his private Offices.
They are not quick enough for him.
He can run up and down stairs with
more alacrlty. He is absolutely tire
less.
stThe Wizard never gets violently
angry. When provoked, he shakes his
forefinger, saying: That was wrong
or That should not have been done.'
He was never known to utter an oath or
use an opprobriOus epithet. and he
never gets excited. Under all circum-
stances he is the same unperturbed.
self-possessed, calculating man. His
demonstrations of pleasure, although
not bOisterOuS, are much more marked
than those of anger.
lone of the Wall street newspapers.
ininiical to Russell Sage, announced
that Mr. Sage would sing the Star
Spangled Banner on the stage of the
stock exchange for the benefit of the
sufferers. The proposition struck Mr..
Gould as being so absurd that he leaned
back in his chair and laughed more
heartily than anybody had ever heard
him before. The article was intended
as satire on Mr.. Sage's prudence in
money matters.
''Mr. Gould is the most liberal man to
his friends ard employees that Wall
street ever knew" continued Mr.. Moro
sini to the New York Sun reporter.
'Many times he has made investments
in stocks for people and handed them
the profits. During the yellow fever
scourge in Memphis he sent $4,000 to
the sufferers.
"When he was in control of the Union
Pacific railroad he went out West to
look over proposed line to Leadville.
At the mouth of a canyon, Quartered in
little shanty, he found a young engi-
neer, whom he employed to make SOME
surveys and maps. Mr.. Gould asked
him it he did not find it pretty lone
some out there in the wilderness. The
young man replied that if he had $1,000
he would consider himself the most fa-
vored of mortais, with such magnificent
he returned to New York Mr.. Gould
sent the engineer check for $1,000.
..The great financier has often said