The record-union., 1898-04-03
COILS ?. HUNTINGTON.
STORY OF HIS LIFE TOLD BY
ONE WHO KNOWS.

NotEsa< SpecnlatoR but Railroad
! Builder and Operators al Creator
Of Things That Move and Pro-
duce Something-His Home and
IS Office Lie. gsf'Ged SRI ad ifsa
| fFrom the New York Times.)
| Two young mem, crossing Broad
street one day at the after-lunch speed
of Wall street clerks suddenly stopped
in front OF the Mills building and
| turned to look at the tall striking
! figure of a powerfully built man who
/ was Just then; entering the building.
Clustered in the wide entrance was
an unorganzed body of men, held to-
gether by the magnet of trade, at times
quiet, again moving and jostling in the
momentary excitements of stock barter
an incipient Stock Exchange in the
process of what may some time become
acompiete development Several of them
4 followed with their chances the notable
parsonage. whose gray hair, bushy
white beard, and heavy mustache We're
/ surmounted by No IA broad brim-
fined black hat of the most pronounced
Western type and whose general air
of strength and vigor seemed a chal-
lenge to his years 1t was a person
atty that compelled notice. and it i'm
pressed the two young men,, one of
whom sighed envfously as he remark
led
i wish I had his millions!"
You'd probably lose EN- replied
his companion. II wish 1 had his
1 head"
They proceeded on their way to their
i respective offices, the last speaker to
his tedious task of making UP a trial
| balance, While the other clerk-who
preferred the cash-stopped to buy a
| 15-cent cigar and wondered why some
people had luck.
/ Meanwhile the unsuspecting object of
their attention had stepped into the
elevator assembled to the seventh floor
and, passing along the corridor, had
entered room at the extreme south
west corner of the building, closing
| behind him a door which bore upon
/ its glass panel the simple inscription:
4 &C. P. Huntington"
/ If man is known by his works. then
the world knows Coils P. Huntington
pretty we'll, for the newspapers have
found in the incidents of his life a
never-failing fund of interesting mat
ter for their readers. He has made his
tory. rapidly during the last thirty
| years, and at 76 years of age he is
I still in the very front rank of bsuy
workers in century that has no par
allel for mental and physical activity
To those who have read of his
achievements his career seems like the
off eft
Land the world .n1arvels at, the force of
that extraordinary energy which has
created so startling a diversion; but
the stories told have been of his deeds
and his dollars, and they give little
insight into the thoughts which have
lain back of them and, the qualities of
head and heart which, in combination,
have made possible the accomplish
ment of such brilliafft results. Line up
these achievements and they are with
out parallel Line up the qualities
and the deeds ssesexplA med bysa COM
bination and harnoby Of traits. which
pretty nearly round the circle. of pos
sible human eduipmEnt
What does he look 1ike?" What
lkind of man is he2'l are the queries
most often heard concerning such men:
for personality is a faiving thing and
facts are cold. sNoihbetter; deHneation
1 of Mr.. Huntington'snfcha and
strong individuality could be. given
THAN by a recital in detail of the Incl
dents and anecdotes which crowd the
history of his busy iIife-a description
by narration" as the schools have it,
but lackAof space permits only brief
! review of his extraordinary career.
f. He was born in thesaittie sleepy vii
4 lage. of Harwinton. i1itchfield GCounty,
Conn, which lies to- one side of the
busy stream of life likel the back water
1 of "a river! The narrative of the first
fourteen years of a country boys life
presents the usual episodes Young
Huntington's school days ended then,
and the boys father gave him his free
DOM 1t was a great gift but the
tfather knew his son. Huntington was
I at this time nearly six feet in hight
tWith tremendous. muscular development
rs ucfa marked andu unusual strength
that he must have been specially proud
of it; fer only a couple of years ago
when an article appeared in a Western
paper reciting an alleged incident of
lyhis early life. when. opeaof. his school
mates whipped him, the old veteran
of a thousand contests in infinitely
1 greater arenas fired UP with an unusual
4 Indignation. and in regular boys dia-
lect declared: Not muchl No boy in
school ever licked me. 'or ever could
Il could wipe up the floor with half the
| boys in school all together!"
In young Huntington's mental and
moral equipment there We're included
a passionate fondnessA for geography
and tenaoity of memory almost phe-
Enomanal The logical result of a I'M
4 ion of these qualities developed later.
i Mr.. Huntington has travelled by train
or on horseback or afoot over nearly
4 all the United States and in Mexico,
i and he remembers in detail, with a
fidelity to fact simply marvellous in the
Eopinion of those who know this pecu-
liarity, the topography of any. piece of
ground he has ever passed over. 1t is
questionable if there is another man in
| America whose knowledge of the loea-
/ ton of countless. of mountain passes,
i of coast lines and particularly of wa
tersheds and the sources and courses
| of rivers is as complete and trust
i worthy as his .
In bis first year of self-support he
i earned $S4, his board and clothes being
Included in the, contract. The incident
is of importance from the fact that he
4. saved every cent of it and because 1t
brings to light other qualities-extraor-
binary thrift patience and determine
ton, whiehswere in after years to play
their part in the building up of a great
fortune and in the successful accom-
Punishment of colossal enterprises.
ss"At the end of that year" said Mr.
q g. g.