Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1892-12-10

and learned to make pals, pans and cups, while
his evenings were spent in study. He made
himself so useful that at the age OF ID he was o
full partner in the concern, and when he visited
Albany and New York to purchase material he
succeeded in opening accounts with Phelps,
Dodge & Co. and other irms well known to the
public.
Tho tin shop was profitable but slow, and in
1852 he transferred his interest TO his father
and arranged to take charge Of a surveying
party at $50 month, the object being to obtain
n new and accurate map OF Ulster county. He
organized his party and started with Ave dollars
in his pocket; walked 40 miles the first day and
worked a fortnight, when his employer sudden
ly "faied" before he had been paid cent
Gould at once resolved to carry out the survey
himself
A respectable sum was received from the map.
Young Gould now became q professional sur
veyor and civil engineer. He mapped Albany,
Ulster, Greene and Delaware counties in New
York, Lake and Geauga counties in Ohio, and
Oakland county in Michigan; made the surveys
for plank road and railroad, wrote and pub
lishcd history OF Delaware county, started
tannery, where he employed $50 men, built .
town (Gouldsboro) and established q bank and
carried it through the panic of 1857 before he
was 2l.
He sold an interest in the town for $780, 900
and invested the money in deprecated railroad
securities after the panic. 1t was during one
OF Mr.. Goulds occasional visits to New York
about this time that he noticed In the window
Of an Everett house room-he was guest there
at the time--an attractive looking young lady.
He saw her frequently and after observing her
bowed. She did the same. mild Irritation
ensucd. Chance brought the two young people
together, and, after slight acquaintance, with
out the knowledge of her father, Mr.. Miller,
they were married.
Reconciliation followed, and this opened the
door to railroad speculations, as Mr. Miller in.
fiuenced the employment of Mr.. Gould as man.
ager OF the Rensselaer, & Saratoga railroad,
connecting Troy and Saratoga This road was
under cloud and its securities were selling
for u few cents on the dollar Here was
Gould's opportunity. He managed the
road well. made valuable and paying connec-
tions and brought 1t up to positive value Mean
time, little by little, Gould obtained possession
of it all. He paid about five cents on the dol
lar for stock to all but Vanderbilt who made
him pay fifteen cents and the consequence was
that after selling out again he returned TO New
York with clean credit of $4,000 With
this he entered "the street"
The rise and progress and ups and downs OF
Erie are n romance in themselves, Of which the
most enlivening chapter pertains TO the con-
nection of Jay Gould and Jim Fisk Jr., with its
control The result was u compromise between
Gould and Vanderbilt, the latter being relieved
of so 900 shares for which he received &, 5O0000
in bonds and other concessions not pertinent
to this article Before he left the management
tle Erle SIOCk was expuNueu IN less tndH tNTeS
years from s34 900 900 to $50 0Oo, ,000-an increase
Of So, 100000.
Mr.. Gould was for years chief among the
great gold operators In March, 1869, gold was
"down" to l3i. Gould purchased "a 100000 and
then, oy adroit playing on the markets dread
of Cuban instructions, the Alabama trouble
and European complications, rushed the price
up to 145. The enormous success OF this move
emboldened him, who was daring enough al
ready, and he perfected in his quiet study u
project that shook the financial center OF the
nation. He determined to send gold up to 200
Friday, September "a. forever memorable as
Black Friday, came. The plan for the
clique to call for the $4,000, 600 bought on op.
tion, lock up the old in the stock exchange
vaults, and then force the bears, whose short
interest was estimated at 25o,0Oo00o, to settle
| as best they might The Tenth national bank
was controlled by the clique. and was
ready to certify their checks to any amount
| to facilitate the shifting of the gold
Albert Speyers bought for them s26, ,000. 900.
| As the prize jumped Gould's agents were
| forcing the timid bears into settlement Will
| liam Heath bid 160 for u million The crowd
hesitated; no one dared accept the offer, as the
price was on the upward bound. Meanwhile
Gould's partners were settling up millions and
| millions with the thoroughly frightened bears,
| and pandemonium ragged the length OF the
street While Gould's agent was bidding 100,
| l6l and 1852 for millions Gould's other agents
| l35 and l4o. During all the excitement and
uproar Gould was calm and collected. Never
did he have such drain on his nerve as this,
but he met the demand with a full supply.
| When the price touched 1921 some one called
out: Government is selling this ten millions. u
| 1t was . great shock, a great relief. In ten
| minutes the rate was l35 and with bewildered
| brains and pallid faces hundreds Of ruined op.
| orators rushed into the darkness OF their pri-
vate offices to weep and wall over the wrecks
| Of their fortunes
| The ruin wrought by the speculation canno,
| be overestimated, Failures and suicides fol
| lowed hard ION each other and nothing but the
| vigorous efforts Of Vanderbilt and Drew, aided
| by the wise assistance Of the government
| stemmed the tide that bade fair to bear the
| soundest into bankruptcy. Gould's willy sales
| Of gold at the time his agents were forcing up
| the price netted him immense sums.
Al one time Gould cast his eye on Pacific
| Mail and hammered the price down some y
| per cent He had made some large contracts
| for delivery and when the time came secured
the stock at low rates and cleared several mil
| lions on the differences. He also made largely
| by q 40 per cent rise In Union Pacific.
| Mr.. Goulds connection with the Western
| Union Telegraph Company began in the early
| part OF 1881 For number OF years, with tn,
aid Of the American Union and the Atlantic ant
| Pacific Telegraph companies, which he con
troled, he was able to advance and de
lie was simply playing a great game will
his larger rival and waiting the chance whel
hc would take possession and unite all the lines
| In 1881 Mr.. Gould and his associates had prac
tically secured control OF the Western Union
Tho stock of the Western Union Telegraph
Company was ut once 'watered" $40, 900, 600, o
81 per cent, and Mr., Gould became the leading
spirit in that company, directing its affair
from his Offices, which were in that building
Nothing Mr.. Gould ever did in his life so ar
rayed public sentiment against him rs thi,
creation of the telegraphic monopoly Event
ually the Western Union acquired the Balti
more & Ohio telegraph, which Robert Garret
was glad to sell in order to get money to hel
the Baltimore & Ohio railroad out of the diff
Guilty into which IT had fallen.
Gould's fortune was on the verge OF ruin dur
ing the second week OF May, 1884. that period @
wild financial dread and distrust following tn
failure OF Grant g. Ward. He was nearer bein
"broke" then than at any period sine
Black Friday. Then he threw the burde
by willy manipulation on his opponents
combined to compass his undoing II II wer
possible, and all things seemed possible 4
those days when the panics OF 1857 and ISL