St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-07-04
How the Great Millionaire
Began Life on a Central
New York Farm.
Els Fathers Penehant for
Setting Him to Work on
a Churn.
traits That Win Success
Along All the Lives Of
Human Industry.
Eelf-Restraint, Self-Denial,
Application and Fixity
Of Purpose.

~ had occasion not long ago to cal
upon Jay Gould on matter of bust
ness" says John A. COckerill i'll the
Cincinnati Enquirer, "and met him by
appointment at his Fifth avenue resi-
dence. After a half-hOur'S chat our
conversation drifted in various direc-
tions, and the one thing which aston
ished me was the marvellous fund of in
formation possessed by this man sup
posed to know little else than that
which pertains to money making. Mr..
Blaine said to me some months ago,
during the strain caused by the failure
of the Barring Bros, that there was one
man in the United States who had it in
his power absolusely to bankrupt
and paralyze the entire republic, that
man being Jay Gould. A half-dOZen
times in my life l had met Mr.. Gould
but had occasion never before TO study
for the moment his characteristics and
intellectual bent. / found him thor
Oughly up to date on every current
event and au fait with history and bI-
ography: possessed above all of a quiet
and keen sense of numOr which had
never supposed resident in this man,
who from the smallest beginnings has
come to be absolutely the CT9Sus of
America.
On the particular occasion to which |
refer he sat loosely in his chair, his
right hand in his trousers pocket, his.
conversation punctuated now and then
by delicate cough. which might seem
TO indicate some rather mild form of
pulmonary affection. After touching
upon a score of subjects, Mr.. Gould said
to me:
''Are you not country bQy?"
"Yes," | said, land l know that you
are, for have read III your biography
that you came 10 New York City from
Delaware county, in this state"
Without making any reference tothlS,
the great finaneier asked me, in return:
"Did you ever churn"
said that had a recollection of a
peculiar up-and-down churn i used to
operate when l was boy, and which
was the cause of many blisters OIL my
adolscent hands.
He smiled pleasantly and continued:
"The churn that l have in my mind
was different one. and it had great
deal TO do with my career. My father
had little dairy farm in Delaware
county, and the special products of
that farm were butter and cheese. We
had a rotary churn, which was
operated by a tread mill, on which
we worked a large dog and some
times a sheep. In course of time
the dog and the sheep came to under
stand what was IN store for them when
they saw the people about the place
setting the churn up. ThereupOn they
were in the habit of disappearing. On
such occasions, to supply the missing
motor. ! was pressed into service, and
eventually | came to understand that
when the chuIn was being prepared ].
too, was in danger of involuntary Servl-
tude: so l used to disappear. On one
occasion, however, | demonstrated so
bitterly against being made the Substi-
tute of the dog that my father chastiSed
me with a good deal of severity, and
after brOOding over the matter all night
/ concluded to leave the farm and seek
my fortune elsewhere. So, like many
another boy. | packed up my few
clothes and in the early morning left
the farm and started out into the
world for myself" 1t was thus
that this man, who holds the finances
of the United States in the hollow
of his hand, as it were, was projected
into the world from the obscure country
farm! What particularly struck me in
this conversation was the modest way
in which MIR. Gould subordinated his in
tellect TO that of the dog and the sheep.
Just what effect the treadmill of that
churn has had upon the financial cOndi-
ton or this country / am sure no meta
physician could calculate.
/ asked Mr.. Gould if he knew of any
particular reason why he should hold
his rank as financial dictator in this
city of predatory instincts, and | told
him that ! had prOphesied fifteen years
ago that no man who was the target of
every financial adventurer in the cOun-
try could long resist the combined on
slaught which would be made upon
him in speculative way. Mr.. Gould
smiled again and said that all he could
say was that he had never permitted
any success in business to turn his head
for moment.
Il have known men," he said, "who,
after achieving a small or a striking
success in Wall street, spent several
days in glOrification of their achievement,
guZZling champagne in bar rooms indis-
criminately. l never did anything III
that line.''
The inference was, that while other
people were jOllitying over their sue
cess, he was preparing for new tri-
umphS. Mr.. GOuld's remarks on this
subject led to a question which, under
the circumstances, was not at all i'm
pertinent. This was as to what his
favOrite tipple really was. He said in
reply:
~ have never been able to drink
spirits with any satisfaction. l would
like to drink claret. and ] have tried
very hard to make it a part of my daily
regimen, but it does not agree with me.
] find, indeed, that the only thing that
i can depend upon as a suitable drink
for me is warm milk. Now, when l
have had a particularly busy day and
have been under an unusual strain,
find that | don't sleep very we'll; so l
never go to bed at all now without hav-
ing a small spirit lamp at my bedside
and pint or two of good, fresh milk in
pan. When l become aware that l
am wakeful and restless | light the
lamp, warm the milk, drink a little of
1t, and Immediately fall asleep"
What revelation this was to me!
The financial Napoleon of the nine
teenth century soothing his nerves with
warm milk at night, and eating in the
daytime perhaps less than the poorest of
mValidsl
Things Is Even