The morning call., 1892-02-28
JAY GOULD.

The reported illness OF Jay Gould has
led to some eeulation as to the duration
Of his life and tho effects of his death. He
is not an old man, being under 81 years OF
age, but he has never been strong, and has
had many severe attacks of illness. But
for the care he has taken Of himself and the
extreme abstemiousness Of his habits he
would probably not have lasted rs long as
he has. As matters stand, unless his Te~
cent attack has been more severe than Is
generally supposed. he viii probably rally
from il, and after a holiday in some balmy
climate will reappear in Wall street as Wig
OTOUS IN mind as ever.
Should 1t prove otherwiSe-sh he die
it is not clear that his death would cause
any disturbance in the financial world. He
has probably provided by will for such
distribution of his estate as would prevent
any considerable portion Of It from coming
on the market for forced sale. His chief
holdings at present are divided between
three corporations. He owns the control
OF the Wabash system, with its extensions,
the Missouri Pacific and the Texas lines
Herewith connecting; he is the chief owner
of the Western Union Telegraph. and he IS
also the chief owner of the elevated rail-
IOiuS ia new UIk Ivy IuSSc p4opSAttcS
represent an investment, at present prices,
Of not much less than hundred millions OF
dollars; with his Government bonds and
other odds and ends his estate could prob
ably be appraised for more than that sum.
Ii is quite possible that the transfer of even
that large amount OF property might take
place without a ripple on the sea Of finance.
Nj Gould's ability would be missed from
Il. n ,4y len, hn hos
been the controlling power bu. there is
nobody so able that he cannot be replaced.
An ordinarily shreWd and successful man
of business thinks his lie has been well
spent if after forty years Of toll he has &C
oumulatei enough II live upon comfortably
during his declining years-say a couple Of
hundred thousand When Jay Gould made
his first investments in railroad property,
by buying Rutland and Washington bends,
in 1855. he was probably worth $4,000.
That is thjrty-four years ago. In those
thirLy-Ilur years, therefore, he has made,
by the uualied use of bis abilities, the enor-
NOUS sum Of S10O,CC0,0C0. There is a not
unnatural curiosity to know how he did it.
An impression prevails among people
who are not we'll informed that he made his
money by specializing in Wall street
y
Nj Gould is VIGOROUSLY the poorest opera
tor Il all the great men Of the street. lie
almost always loses money when he opeT-
ates. lie buys at the top; when stocks
decline he gets frightened, sells out. sells
short, and when the rally takes place be
buys to cover. II he had relied on his Wall
street speculauonS for a living, lie would
lave failed twenty times over. As a matter
Of fact they have never been anything but a
diversion fer his mind. his true business
has been finding promising properties in
advance Of ether people. buying control Of
them, ana holding them until every
body realized what he had discerned
long before. Thus he bought Rut-
land and Washington bonds at 10 cents,
Fort Wayne securities at - cents, Union
Pacific stock at y OF Is cents, and be held
them til they were worth Yar or nearly par;
and he bought all Of them, millions upon
millions, together. In this way, when he
made money he made it in large sums-fiye
and ten millions at a clip, and lie could afford
to throw away a few thousands in Wall
street by way Of pas,ime. lie has not
always been successful. His gold corner,
in 1863. very nearly swamped him; and it is
said he could not now get out OF his Wabash
interests at profit But his Union Pacific
operations must have Melted him a vast mum
Der Of millions; and bis eleyated-railroad
property and his telegraph property have
paid for themselves many times over. All
his CANDLES. il CANDLES they can be called,
have been prediCatCd on the principle that
this is q growing country, and that the
value Of good property must steadily in
crease. lie has done in railroads and tele-
grains what the AstoTs have done IN real
estate in New York City; believing that
they would rise in worth more rapidly than
money could, he has not hesita;ed to buy
them at their market value, and the event
has indicated the accuracy OF his foresight.
What be has done another can do, if he can
see as far into the future as Gould can.