The Irish standard., 1896-08-15


var ofs1B7G AS afisly. rs 1867 Mr.. Cooke
hadsbeen invited to go into Northern Pa
cifip railroad construction that bubble
which has been the ruin Of 50 MANY men.
He ysntnred into it, but before doing so
setIt surveyors over the proposed route
with Instructions To find cut exactly what
difficulties Wers to be srrmounted. 1t
was upon the report of these surveyors
that he finally emba rked in Northern Pa
cific.
He promptly. set to work several agan-
|cies which he thought would bring foreign
capital to. his support. His plans was
successful. Capitalists in England, Hol-
land and France agreed to place $4,000
GOOto the credit of Northern Pacific, and
negotiations were within exactly two
days Of cousummation when the crash
came.
One morning there came o cablegram
saying that Louis Napoleon had declared
war against Germany. Of course, Mr.
Cookies foreign plans went by the board
at once The affair slumbered. Finally
Mr.. Cooke undertook the task of constitute
inc the road with American capitai. The
plan looked successful and construction
was begun Money was eaten up by mill
iensa 1t went so fast that In 1873 the
crash came. r &: ..q;-r.-.s
;. Mr.. Cooke had recognized the approach
of the disaster days before it's advent. He
mentally resolved upon two things--that
he would keep cool when the storm fell.
no matter how excited others might be-
come, and that when it was ali over ne
would spend his life in fulfilling the obi
cations Of the firm to the last penny.
Time passed and the panic died away.
M 7tt
financial stability. Jay Cooke was once
more a poor man. 1t took five years for
the receivers Of the firm Of Jay Cooke &
Co. to settle it's affairs. SO vast and COM
plex were the workings Of the concern.
In the meantime Cooke, though broken
in health, was net Idle. He helped the
receivers TO settle the firms Indebtedness.
His miilion-dollar residence, Ogontz,
which was the scene OF so much splendor
during his plamy days, went, OF course,
with the rest of his assets at the time OF
the failure. .-.
IT was soon turned into private school
for young women, and so it still remains.
For years after the failure Jay Cooke was
practically unheard OF. He was remem-
bered as a colossal figure Of smoke that
had blown away and disappeared. Only
q few people outside Of Philadelphia knew
where he was living. Now and then in
nuiries were made, ooh, he's digging po-
tatoes in the suburbs was the general
reply.
But Cooke was not digging potatoes.
He was working as hard and as faithfully
as in the DAYS when he was financial re-
;,orter for the Chronicle. He had saved
few thousand dollars from the wreck OF
his fortune, and with this amount he went
to work to regain what he hat lost. ne
began by specializing. His sources Of IN
formation were unsurpassed ana ne maze
some money in stocks. With this money
he Investigated and bought Colorado
silver mine, out of which he made mill
ion in e short time. With part OF this
money he went into the construction OF
railroads, out Of which he made many
hundreds of thcusands OF dollars
LAST CREDITOR PAID.
= Cooke later on invested in mining PROP
erty in Montana and Idaho, out OF WMcn
he has cleared millions. He owns vast
tracts of farming lands in Oregon and
Southern California, mining territory in
Utah. and is interested, besides, in half
a dozen or more railroads. Today he is
probably very nearly as wealthy as ever
during his life. e
Many times a millionaire at the age ct
81, at So practically penniless, he went to
work again and built another fortune.
Six years ago the last Of the 5000 credit
crs of Jay Cooke was paid. and the prom
Use of the great financier was fulfilled.
To visitor who once asked him how
he regained his fortune, Mr. Cooke re-
piled "That is simple enough. BY new
er changing the temperament I derived
from my father and mother. From my
earliest experience in life have always
been of hopeful temperament, never liv-
ing in cloud. I have always had rea-
sonable philosophy to think that men and
times were better than harsh criticism
would suppose. believed that this
American world of ours was full of
wealth, and that it was only necessary to
go to work and find it. That is the secret
Of my success In life. Always look on
the sunny side"