The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1891-12-19

mighty GOQ, no wonder IndJ ms cup
of happiness was full to overflowing;
no wonder that like the jubilant pro-
phet of old, he exclaimed in the full
ness of his soul, "Bless the Lord that
mine eyes have seen it; now let thy
servant depart in peace" Form all
our history there has been no death
bed scene more pathetic nor satisfac-
tory than this. Cyrus, the poor boy
who went forth from that New Eng
land home with no fortune save
virtuous education and a fathers
blessing, had inscribed his name high
up on the golden roll of fame, in let
ters of living light never to be dimmed
or blotted out till the judgment day.
The heroic part of this grand achieve
ment in laying the Ocean Cable has
never been fully appreciated. In after
years, when men came in contact with
the busy flnancier, they thought him
harsh and cold, and his manners brus-
que. Perhaps his manners were not
inviting, but God made him so. He
| felt that he had the mission of pro
phet, and that his time was all too
short for the completion of his work.
Every moment of his time was prec-
| ious. On the wall of his New England
schoolhouse he had seen in rude let
!
| he never forgot it. The years of toll
and struggle, of grief and disappoint-
ment, which preceded the successful
| laying of the ocean cable, left their
| hard lines deeply engraven on his face
and heart, and the kind-hearted, gen
tie New England boy had grown into a
cynical man, suspicious and distrust
| full of his kind.
What wonderl II he had won the
battle of life-if he had accumulated
wealth and mounted to power, he had
done it by integrity of purpose and
persistency of effort, such as the Al
mighty grants to only one in hun
dred millions. To have such man
stricken down at the close of a sue
cessful and honorable life, is public
calamity, and the heart of the whole
community goes out to him in this sad
hour of affliction. Whatever misfor-
tune or disgrace attaches to the acts
of his lunatic son, the name of Field
in this community remains without
blemish or a stain. Cyrus Field is an
old man now, worn with bitter grief,
but in the hour of his sorrow a general
prayer rises daily to the Throne of
Grace for his recovery and restoration
to his family and friends. 1t is a
pleasure to know that, notwithstand-
ing serious loss, he is not by any
means a ruined man. The loss of a
few millions more or less is not a new
experience to him, and this community
knows Cyrus Field we'll enough to
know, that if all his fortune could re-
deem the honor of his sons name he
would scatter it to the four winds. 1t
is only few years ago since Jay
Gould and Russell Sage entered into a
combination, which cost Cyrus Field
several millions. They got his money,
and for time he was threatened with
financial ruin; but he survived that,
and this week one of the parties to
that transaction had an experience
that will last him for the rest of his
life.
The attempted assassination of Rus
sell Sage, the Wall Street millionaire,
and the inventor of that gambling
game known at Puts, Calls and Strad-
dies, awakens one to the danger Of be-
ing a very rich man in these days of
dynamite and other like explosives.
: 1t is well known that Jay Gould has
walked with a spectre at his back for
years, with a feeling for which his mil
lions can be no equivalent. Why is it?
The Astors are very rich people, but at
no time in a hundred years has any
, Astor's life been in danger Every
) member of the family, from John
Jacob to William Waldorf, has walked
these streets at all hours of the day
and night, with no more sense of dan
ger than a hod-carrier or a paviour,
t The Vanderbilts are rich, and nOtwith-
standing their differences with some
of their employees along the line of
the New Jersey Central Railway, not
- a hair of Vanderbilt has been hurt,
p and Chauncey M. Depew, the presi.
20 dent, can be seen on the streets at all
hours of the day, and the thought of
personal danger never entered his
: head. Governor Stanford, in his long
I public life, has never received on ac.
A count of his millions a word of disre
spect or insult; and old Peter Cooper
walked and rode about this city for
i seventy years without fear He could
q pass through the slums, or along the
a worst part of the Bowery, and the wild
little Arabs of the streets took of
their ragged caps and stood uncovered
o as the good old man tottered past.
q All of these men had done some
thing for their kind; they had moi
lived like Ishmael, with their HAND
against every ran, and every mans
hand against them. They had done
II something besides piling up millions
II on millions, merely for the sake of pill
d ing up, until they could utter tn,
=. boast that made Russell Sage famous
- Ave got more ready money to lenC
u than any bank in New York Thu
is great bulk of that money has beeI
,r made in thirteen years-since he en-
. tered business on Wall Street.
Puts and Calls and Straddles! Ho,
b. many poor wretches have been caugh
II by this accursed system of gambling
=, no man can tell. The whole land ha
risen in its might against the Louis
- ana Lottery II was honesty itself bt
side Puts and Calls and Straddlei
The poor wretches who had bee
n caught in the snare, staggered RUNE
out of Wall Street, and did as hume
r- reds of others have done at MonaC
and Baden -Baden-blew out the littl
ne brains they had left. But the Put
Id won, and the Calls won, and the Stral
Mt dies won, and Russell Sage grew ricI
Some said he was richer than ia
Gould, but nobody knew anythin
~ about il; but the millions kept piliu
he up-piling up
In The aged millionaire sat in his ding
- office in the old building II Broadwa
Vi his desk piled high with letters, am
ne bonds, notes, securities and other va
Ip- liable considerations, which need
m borrowers were compelled to leave b.
hind as security for the old milliol
aires assistance Perhaps it was
sst pair of diamond eerrings which b
'es longed 10 the borrowers wife; it migl
,k have been a bundle of gilt-edged bone
n which some ruined spendthrift ha
ch squandered upon Change; but II a
counted, Business was good; tint
I'M. we're hard and people must have mo-
ha ey, and old Puts and Calls and Stra
dies had plenty of money 10 lend. II
heart was glad, and a smile of supren
I'D satisfaction lighted the old man
wrinkled face as he rubbed his han,
M in glee, and cast up in his mind u
result of his mornings work. IN
sweet chimes Of old Trinity across d
are street rang out the hour of high moo
,er and the rich millionaire's mode
~ lunch Of a sweet apple and a five Gel
- sandwich had not yet been broug
lte up 10 him. Among the busy visito
thar passed in and out, rather sha