Connecticut western news., 1892-12-08

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 it's controlling EDITH KINsDoN GOULD. spirit in 1867. His acquaintance with James Fisk, Jr., began several years previous, and the two made one of the strongest teams Wall street has ever known.
 When Fisk and Gould went into Erie Daniel Drew was the controlling spirit, and the Erie deal originated in a war be- tween Drew and Commodore Vanderbilt. The latter wanted to get hold of Erie. He bought at every opportunity. Drew, Fisk and Gould laid plans to defeat him, Gould engineering the scheme. Securities were issued by the bushel, and then Vanderbilt resorted to litigation. Injunctions were obtained to prevent Drew from issuing stock.
 Vanderbilt Loses s7, ,ooo, ,ooo.
 Finally an issue of 5000 shares of Erie was authorized. This settled Vanderbilt, and he retired from the fight with a loss of y COG, ,000 Warrants were issued for the arrest of Drew, Fisk, Gould and the other directors of Erie, but they escaped by flee ing to Jersey City with the securities. It is said that s6, ,000, 900 were carried over the ferry in one coach. Erie was then incorpo rated in New Jersey, and New York legis lators were bribed, 1t Is said, to legalize the new issue of 50, 900 shares of stock. Peter B. Sweeney, as receiver of Erie, got s150, 900 as his fee by order of Judge Barnard. It is said that Gould went to Albany with s500,- 900 in his pocket for use in the lobby.
 He was arrested and brought to New York and went back under the charge of deputy sheriff, who let him escape.
 The result of this battle was that Drew took his profits and withdrew from the management, and Gould and Fisk came in. This was in 1868. Gould was first president in that year and continued at the head of the company until 1872.
 Everybody supposed that Erie was squeezed dry at that time, but between these years the debt of the railroad in creased from $64, ,000, 900 to SIS, 100000
 Drew speculated in Erie after Gould got in, and before he knew it he was cornered in earnest, and Gould relieved him of sl,. 500, GOO
 Gould was busted from Erie in 1872 by g combination of the English stock holders but for years afterward it was in the hands of a receiver. Gould is said to have made sl2, ,000, 900 clear out of the wreck.
 The Gold Conspiracy.
 The gold conspiracy of 1869 was one of the most remarkable episodes of Gould's career. It was engineered by the firm of Smith, Gould & Martin. Gould went about this scheme openly and was persistent in advocating a movement to advance the price of gold.
 He argued that it would be great bene fit to the farmer and to the business inter ests of the country. In order to get the government into the deal be interested A R. Corbin, brother-in-law of President Grant, in the scheme. During the summer of 1869 President Grant came to New York and Gould and Fisk entertained him and his party on one of the sound steamers It was at this banquet that Gould first got at the ear of Grant. Gould wanted to put gold up to 145. He had bought the big load he was carrying at 130. Grant finally seemed to be impressed with Gould's theory and wrote letter to Boutwell,, the secre tary of the treasury, expressing the view that it was not a wise thing to force down the price of gold. Gould kept buying, but 1t took purchase of $50, 900 900 to raise the market from l35 to 140 Then Fisk and several other friends of Gould came into the scheme and assisted him by buying gold. Early in September of 1869 it began to look as though the scheme was about te succeed.
 The only danger was that the treasury might unload its gold and break the mar ket before the conspirators could realize their profits and get out. Gould finally got alarmed. It got abroad that the bears would attempt to change the administers tion's policy MT. Gould and MT. Corbin decided to act promptly President Grant was then at Washington, Pa, thirty miles from telegraphic communication. MT. Cor bin in a letter to the president stated the ..lr Al ,kx messenger to take the letter to Grant.
 General Horace Porter, the presidents private secretary, says that the fact that this messenger came all the way from New York excited Grants distrust, and he be gan to feel that Mir. Corbin's interest in the gold policy of the administration had for D foundation pecuniary motives. President Grant directed Mrs Grant to write a letter to Mrs. Corbin, in which Mrs. Corbin wn instructed to notify her husband that if ht had any interest in gold speculations he should retire from them at once. This let ter was received on the evening of Sept p two days before Black Friday.
 Gould got this news from Corbin, and it was resolved that on the next day, Thurs day, gigantic effort should be made to boost the market higher and unload. Ac. cordingly all the Gould brokers went 
 appreciated the fact that the game was up, was quietly selling while all his associates were buying.
 The next day, Black Friday, came the panic memorable in the annals of Wall street. The most intense excitement pre- vailed at the Stock exchange, and the price of gold WAS run up to 165. Suddenly the announcement came that the treasury was selling freely, and the bottom dropped com pl=tely out of the market.
 When it was learned that Gould had gone back on his friends and sold them out the most bitter indignation was felt and it would have gone hard with him if the an. gry mob had been able to lay its hands upon him.
 After being busted from the Erie manage ment Gould went into Union Pacific in 1873 and was for ten years it's master Ht made millions out of the road and increased its debt.
 Gould's connection with the Union Pa cific ceased in 1sS3 An action was brought by the United States government against the Gould directors for misappropriating the assets of the company, but no satisfac- tion was obtained.
 During the past fifteen years Gould has been interested in nearly all the great rail- roads of the country. One of his chief boasts was his development of the South western system. He obtained control of the Missouri Pacific, upon which the Wa bash system was grafted. The Missouri, Kansas and Texas, St. Louis and Iron Mountain and Texas Pacific were also brought into the system.
 Gould also secured control of the New York Elevated roads Cyrus w. Field was swamped in the collapse of the bull move' ment in Manhattan in 1886, and Gould has always claimed that he came to Fields rescue and saved him from bankruptcy by taking his Elevated railroad stock off his hands. The stock fell from 175 to 120. He