New-York tribune., 1892-12-03
EARLY RAILROAD INVESTMENTS.

After rrtirine from tne leather business under
ia, n. dramatic clrcuuIs lauces Nj. bOuld tutheu
his att .ntlon to specuiating ia lallrO1d stocks
About the same time he sJt married, his VIE p''
| ing Miss lcn Miller, daughter Oi i prominent
III reliant OF New York. IL 10 SAID that the Aodhg
people gOt acquainted at the L'etr'' lio"st @ VIZ.
Mis-, Miller lived and Mr.. Gould was TRANSIENT
guest Ii 10 alsJ said that though the lhthtr oil
| the Young woman was nor consulted III tlc matter
| he made ia test Ol the marriage bS schulhS MS
| clever and uncA Apcctcd >On-in-ILW mp mo 'ue
stat. to "a ke charge of som railway properties ~
| which he Was interested. MI. hould was won, 10
LAY that his love Tor civil engineering HAD got MN
| into th" railway business, 10 when Ne NoFu
himself thereafter exclusively until ~ also ioilu
| telegraph properties sourc' > OF profit lhe hih'
| of t,nuLl'- railways was the Rutland ana Nash-
ington Railroad, siNN-tMo mics !on-' .'"nri-
| from Troy y. y. to Rutland. Vermont Inc
panic of Isl, had left this road III dcihoTdIl|eu
condition. and Gould found that Ia could ouN d
majority of the first mortgage bonds AT TN cch'9
on the dollar. lie had now Iouhu tile 'il' nClu
for hi- urcular talents. lie made himself pTrsl-
dent Treasurer and general superintendent ol .nc
road, studied the business oi IaIIfoaui,- pn ,' W
pround Developed the local traiilc ANA hnaIy el-
frcied th, Rensselaer, aud Saratoga cplsOl"allo'i
lv this time both bonds ana stock were Svou ",iu
| lie sold the latter for l2O. lllerc has perh no
| time when il possible 10 tstlhd'c the "caI''
| az Mr. t,nud and AS he was rs sccrctiVr IN those
early DAYS H. ~ his later there Is no way oi 20!
| ING what lie was worth when IN ls6O he came ln'o
Wall Street one statement has II that Wh'4 M ,1ie
firm OF smith. Gould and Martin WAS ofsahiHe" VI
tould's possessions amounted To S1o,ouO ~ cd'u
| another Is that when he sold ont MS ho"lhsN III
| tLe Rensselaer, and SlrutOga cOnSOhdatlph nv ""e
| ,,nrtL S,5O 600 With "A mind peculiarly alert t9
| All tie Influences which affected the Noiues oi
railway sccurit B. with habits OF great INDUSTRY
with phenomenal tenacity ol purpo'Y WV - nor
amount al least Of capital - back MN 1t - ny
surprising that MIR. Gould prohted lirgrN py NE
speculation in railway stocks ana goiu ie, u,lime ,,
war of the rebellion. me keesishc'l. i,
mon in he street al that time nearly az naue
| money and Mr. Gould WAS AT least hillloIh'i
when the Conledcracy fell Nhat ms u'cimo '',
were at the tim II - Useless to sp''"'"N ~ 60 !,
II Uas bcfor, the day when by absolute il'h'IA ~
,ioaniic railway and telegraph SYST ms h' couiu
| N MS will dcpre~e the value Ot almost any III.
-titution on which lac fixed his eye bN Sei'ihS vi
foot "A ruinous IN rates untll hr @ I',n
| ,,,dn ~ to he his own interest 10 restore Il holc
normal and healthiul conullion oil arairs pN 80. Us
| inc ln- antagonism and bulldlna up 'hc pioP.!N
which he had acquired chcaplN during INV ~
nf lcnrrssion But the details ol MS opcId'iols
were always 80 subtle ~ 10 de- shut ont rom ,'c
discovery OF either friend or foe lie got INTO H.
| uouooe,neut of Erie through association WIN
Drry and Fisk ana shared the prohls III sohc vi
the tremendous battles which were WaSeu pc'"''n
the ginns of thosr DAYS. Nandero,il ana p'rM
was found SOON after hc took up irlc az " Wv,
~, thr company owed him Sl,OOo,OoO ana aIfI
fLc catacysms which devastated thai ho'orlous co"
ccrn were over he got his money ,... ., .,ood
The character of some OF the StIok's VI Soou
famine which came 10 him during lhs pIlOu
of his career may bc illustrated brIeHi w w nfn ne
he rot his ~, 100000 from the Ere ana ei' .Ie
ma auapcmrnt of the company n ul"iatd III '"'
market with the stock rs doubtless Inc hhu d3he
while hc was in Office following I'D inns par
| the notorious example of Daniel Drew. me spec-
Native Director one of his first transactions
yos 10 sell 81. 900 shares short. me phichi t.
was a broker who trying to Duil the market
hy loudly Offering 80 gold. sr,icr twtHe i n1nti i
far that amount of stock. MI. "oulu Solu nl'n
the lot at that price and III very snort ,ih'r
quietly took it IN again III thc neienpo.noG ' % ",
TO- 80 too il is said that hc bonght ;'ouo s"''S
of Cleveland and Pittsburg stock at % or -.
+, .vnloininp this investment Gould always
insisted that he had merely taken me STOCK TO
obgc friend who had ovcrioadcd nins Wi,
il and was ON the point of fal lure lie ieorSahZra
thr road, developed It's earning capacity 80 Una.
from the beginning to the end oil MS management 1t
never passed dividend ana wen III o,%N c"m' mos
worth l2O he leased il to the fehlsS wanna com
pany realizing certainly between million anu
half and two millions on the TRANSACTION ..i.
transaction of twice the magnitude or this,
n = os which like il. illustrates how Mr. Goulds
abilities often worked with equal advantageous
ness TO both himself and the property III whicn
hr took an interest. makes one OF me V'eieSlins
onec1orcs touching his connection with The / mon
Pacific Railroad Following IS Mr.. Goulds story
of how he went into this ROAD ,,.
Il met the late Horace +. clark III chicago
He and Mr. Schcll had been over the ROAD ana
they gave me good account OF II spoke apo'i a,
tle coal deposits and one thing ana ahotheI' anu
| concluded 10 buy n lot OF 1t. ielesrapheI TO
New-York an order to buy in the ncighborhoou ol
thirty. from thirty down. ! did not eNpeel 10
gc much Mr. Clark came home amn adnE wi tbat 'a his
Illness WIS 10 be u fatal one they sold ls STOCK
That broke the market down ana illird up orIers
which | had meyer expected 10 G'l nh'u' ~ 'ti''
,vhrn / gnt home | iound myself very large
owner in that property, and ! began to inquire re
into It's condition. | found that there was large
floating debt to begin with, which ! dd not Know
about before Then | found that there was
SiO. 900, 900 Of bonds that came due IN about
month or two-incomc bonds. Ii was rather
blue condition of things. In the meantime some
of thr directors consulting as 10 who shouli
he the receiver OF the road. made up my nina
that would carry il through so told the dircc,
tors that il they would furnish hail the money
wonld furnish the other half, ana we wouil carry
il through and finally ! pressed them into 1t;
The stock went down to fifteen d bought nr,n 1t ana
STARING me i'm the face if | had made it; but
instead Of that kept on buying 30 that when me
turn came there didn't seem To he any top to II {;
IT, went right along mp 70 scventy-lIVr imme,
diatcly went to work 10 bring The road mp.
didn't care anvthing about the price in the IN iriet
/ wanted 10 give il "a substantial foundation. |
went ont over the road and started coal mines 10
deyelop that interest and very soon we began 10
pay dividends TO the surprise Of everybody, ana
the road came up. II never passed dividend
This statement sf the rapid improvement Of the
Union Pacific is strictly correct. Mr.. Goul made
| his purchases in 1873 How much he hon9ht