Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1895-07-04


were she would not disclose.
In fact, at the first Mrs. Fisk was
unwilling to talk at all. dreading :
recrudeScence of tho scandals that haG
already been sufficiently harped upor
by the newspapers. Bit by bit a few
items Of her story came out, only sc
much as she cared to discuss.
No" she said, L have not a cent OF
the property left by my husband. He
owned a half interest in the Grand
Central opera house and in the ad
jacent property in Twenty-third and
nwenty-fourth streets. When | was
at the New York hotel, looking after
the settlement of the estate with Mr.
George D. Clark as my business ad-
wiser, Mr.. Gould called upon us He
said that the Erie railroad had brought
suit to recover ali that property, be
cause it had been bought with the
money made by my husband and Mr..
Gould in their gold speculations. The
had been conducted with their money,
and that, therefore. all the profits of
the speculation should be theirs. Mr.
Gould said that they might win their
suit, and then the entire estate of HIM
self and Mr.. Fisk could be confiScated.
He begged me to compromise by sur
rendering the Grand Central hotel and
all the property in Twenty-third and
Twenty-fOurth streets. l knew moth
ing about business. and did not want
to be involved in any troubles, so after
thinking over the matter l consented -
| referred to a current rumor that
Mr.. Gould had begged her, with tears
in his eyes, to consent to this arrange
mcnt.
Il never said that myself" was Mrs.
FiSk'S answer, but others who were
present have said this. Mr.. Gould was
q very emotional man. / know that
women shed tears easily, but it has al
ways been an awful sight to me to see
a man break down, because l always
ina CINE that he must be stuff ering I'M
der a terrible strain"
Mrs. Fisk paused, and then went on
to another subject.
Mr.. Fisk" she said, ''had an equal
interest with Mr.. Gould in the Nara
gansett steamboats,, now the Fall River
line. l agreed to dispose Of this inter-
est to Mr. Gould. In return he agreed
to give me 100000 worth of stock in
the New Jersey Southern railroad and
$4,000 additional. He gave me the
stock, but when / came to dispose of
it l realized only $4,000. Then Mr..
GOnld said | had been wrongly ad-
viSed; that l should have sold out
soon. He never made good the deficit
and | never got the $4,000. But Mrs.
Gould was a very sweet woman, ana
while she lived l could always depend
on her using her influence to aid me-
During her lifetime Mr.. Gould sent me
several sums of money when L was in
distress, ranging from 500 to $500.
When she died i got no answers to tile
letters l wrote Mr.. Gould asking for
aid
Have you appealed to the heirs
since MS death {!
Yes. wrote to Miss Hannah Gould,
who, l believe, resembles her mother
in many respects. | was told that she
is very kind and charitable. But my
letters to her met with the same fate
as my letters to her father-they re
manned unanswered. Now, i think
that is the worst insult that can be in
ficted on you, to refuse to answer a
Mrs. Fisk would say nothing more in
a direct way, but she added that the
statement which Mr.. Clark had made
three years ago in a Boston paper was
correct.
Here is that statement in substance.
Mr.. Clark, it should be promised, is a
brother-in-laW Of Eben D. Jordan, head
of the firm of Jordan, Marsh 4 Co., III
which Colonel Fisk himself was once
q partner. Mr.. Jordan always re-
manned a firm friend Of the Colonel
and of his widow. He was a co-exe-
cutor with the widow of her husband s
will. But his vast business interests
made it impossible for him to devote
the necessary time to Strengthening
out the intricate confusion in which
the estate was left by Risks sudden
taking Off So. with Mrs! Fisk'S con-
sent, he deputed the task to NJ.
Clark.
Il continued in that capacity" con-
tinues Mr.. Clark, significantly, las
long as she had any business interests
to administer"
We will now come to an interesting
statement, which we must quote in Mr..
Clark's own words:
THE relations which Mr.. Gould and
Mr.. Fisk sustained to each other were
strange and peculiar. Each recognized
the ability of the other, but neither
trusted the other. We found that in
most of Mr.. Fisk'S enterprises he was
associated with Mr.. Gould as a part
ner, but the interests of the two men
were always so evenly balanced that
neither could obtain any advantage
over the other. In the Narragansett
Steamship company, now the Tall
River line of boats, they had to split
a share Of stock so that each could
hold exactly one-half Of the whole.
They made lots Of money together, but
they were always watching each other
for treachery.
''As | said, Mr.. Fisk at his death left
an estate worth as l thought about 81
100000, and hardly had the breath