The herald., 1893-08-16
A MAN WITH A HISTORY.

The litigation between the city of
Oakland and the Southern Pacific COM
pany about the title to the water front
OF that city, has brought into public
view, after retirement of great many
years, a very notable parsonage. H. W.
Carpenter is now an pld man. and has
become resident OF New York. During
the 50s, Cos and part of the 70s, no
man in Californis was better known,
and but few men had cut wider
swathe in the field of success in great
business operations. Hisschemes were
of the gigantic order. and his ability to
carry them out was correspondingly
large.
As early as 1852 his attention was
drawn to the Peralta ranch, which in
cludeG the site upon which Oakland
was subsequently built. He saw a
great future for Oakland, and he bought
lands from the Peraltas. At that time
there were few houses at the embsr-
cadero, at the head of San Antonio
creek, where the foot of Broadway now
is. The place grew, and Carpenter had
his eye upon the fine water frontage as
something that would be very valuable
in the course OF time. He proposed to
the trustees of the town to build pub
lie school house, if they would convey
to him the land forming the water 'front.'
age. They accepted his proposition, and
Carpenter built school house which
could be lost in one OF the fine class
rooms OF the present high school of
Oakland. He had his title confirmed by
the legislature, and procured number
of other muniments of title from the
city, and had successive acts of The leg
islature passed confirming all that the
trustees had done to place in him the
ownership of the city front.
Mr.. Carpenter thus became the great
toll-taker at the water gate of Oakland.
He built several wharves, and was in
terested in the lines OF ferry-boats ply
ing between that city and San Francisco.
But to be the boss OF minor city and
to handle it's great affairs was only by
play for an intellect like that of Car
pentier. He became the chief owner of
the Alta Telegraph company, the pioneer
of telegraph lines in California. That
company had wires to Sacramento,
Marysvills and Placerville, and was
reaching out to other cities. When the
war broke out, he sold bis stock, which
included that of James L. Street. sue
cessful builder of telegraph lines, to the
corporation which was then looming up
at the east, and afterwards became the
Western Union Telegraph company. He
and street then entered into contract
with the eastern company to extend the
California line across the mountains
and plains to connection with the west
ern line of the New York company.
Street took charge of the work of build
ing the overland line, and carried the
enterprise out to finish. Street drew
out in 1864 with million or so ahead,
whilst Carpenter had realized much
greater returns from the deal.
As natural outcome of building the
overland telegraph, the celebrated pony
express was organized to carry dis
patches and letters between the ends OF
the wires as they approached each 9th
er. Battles we're being fought every day
in the south, and the interest in getting
the earliest news was intense on this
coast. Carpenter was interested IN both
the means of rapid transit of news and
letters and coined money out of the en-
ho
ness in 1872 he must have been one Of
the richest men in the state. There
were few of the great money-making
corporations on this coast in which he
was not interested, and he was the
founder and moving spirit in most of
them. As speculator he was so shrewd,
calculating and successful, that it was
only necessary for it to be known that
Horace Carpenter was in a new enter
prise for it to attract the attention and
the money of capitalists.
The Oakland reporters now speak OF
him as little old man, fee BILE, nervous
and retiring. When in his pslmy days,
Cargentier was active, agile, wideawake,
and had an eye as keen and sharp as q
hawks, but with sinister cast in it..
He was a college graduate, had been ad'
mitted to the bar, and outside OF John
B. FELTON, had no peer in California for
the width and depth of his learning. He
was q fine conversationalist and very
entertaining gentleman. But as busi-
ness man he was sharp as lightning and
as unscrupulous as he was foxy. To
those who only knew him in his prime,
his description as he appeared the other
day on the witness stand, as little
feeble old man, with stare of vacancy
in his eyes, conveys anything but the
idea OF the daring and tireless II. W.
CARPENTER of three decades ago.
| A COMPTON correspondent makes @
| o,,crast;op IN tho on hiact of anuoli1ipo