The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-09-03
TAXPAYER.
R. G, Taylor Enjoys
That Distinction in
Worcester.
SUCCESS HIS OWN MAKING.
Saved the First Dollar
Earned, the Keystone
of His Fortune.
SUCCESS HIS OWN MAKING.

!
result of his own upbuilding. He owes
nothing to ancestors or contemporaries.
He put his shoulder to the wheel in an
uphill battle with fortune, and he won
out by sheer triumph of perseverance
| and a courage that nothing could con-
quer.
Mr.. Taylor remembers the first dollar
that he earned. He also remembers
that he saved it. 1t was the keystone
in the arch, of his fortune, as it is in
that Of every man.
Great oaks from little acorns grow.
That dollar has grown with the years,
until today Mr.. Taylor is a-millionaire
few times over.
There isn't a section of the city where
he hasn't got large property interests.
He owns the best part of Front street,
large blocks on Main street, houses and
other buildings almost without number
on side streets, and hundreds of thou
ands of dollars worth of property in
other large cities.
His principal holdings outside of this
city are in the Newtons, Taunton Fall
River and Rhode Island. Large as
these interests are, however, he trusts
to no agent in looking after them, and
is thus, perhaps, the busiest man in the
heart of the commonwealth.
The morning sun has scarcely begun
to purple the hills and set the horizon
aglow when Mr.. Taylor is bestirring
himself The sturdy son of toll does
not appear on the streets at an earlier
hour. Not only does Mr.. Taylor make
daily visitations to his principal build
ings in this city, but he is often seen
scurrying for union station to take the
train for other cities where his bust
ness demands his presence.
Once upon time an old farmer
called upon a famous attorney in the
town of Rennes, in France, where the
world-famed court-martial of Capt.
Dreyfus is now in progress. The farm
er had heard of the lawyer and wished
to get his advice He had no particular
object in view, and in answer to ques-
tons, said that he would be content if
the lawyer would give him few words
applicable to the greatest number of
occasions. The lawyer simply wrote
Never put off until tomorrow that
which you can do today"
The farmer put this maxim into daily
use, and the result was that he became
the most successful agriculturist in
Brittany. Now, Mr.. Taylor has always
followed this course. Even though the
iron tongue of midnight is tolling a re-
QUEEN for the day about to die, he is
sometimes seen upon the street attend
ing to some affair of business that
would not wait the morrow's sun.
Mr. Taylor began life in a very hum
BILE way. He had but littIeicapital, but
he was not afraid of work. He was his
own clerk, messenger and man of all
work.. and, as he has been heard to
say time and again, he labored, like
Sir Thomas Lipton,25 hours day. Wor-
cester was a small place when Mr.. Tay-
lor, the small tradesman, began to look
about for favorable sites with a spec
ulative eye. In those days land was
cheap, and but few people saw the in
dex finger of destiny pointing to a
mighty future for the modest little
town in the heart of the state. One
of these men, however, was R. G. Tay-
lor and with consummate judgment, he
began to buy, first in a small way, then
on a large scale, property in places
where he felt that the city was bound
to build up and develop quickest.
AS an instapce of this foresight on his
part mention is often made of the pur-
chase by him of the block at the cor
ner OF Nam and Pleasant streets. Peo-
pie that are supposed to be learned in
real estate matters warned him that
he was about to become possessed of
a gold brick or a white elephant. Mr..
Taylor laughed. He went ahead,
planked down his hard, cold cash, and
had the deeds delivered to him. It
was one of the best bargains in prop.
erty ever made in the city. Mr.. Taylor
could sell the block today for a fortune
in excess of what he paid for it orig
inally.
His judgment has always been uner-
ring. He has ever been in the van.
Co.. az ha ~ hut 4,
rule, he leads.
Where he cannot buy buildings out
right, rears substantial structures
for himself. He was the first, man to
erect anything resembling a sky-scrap-
er in Worcester. This was the Chase
building OF: Front street, which is seven
stories high. Before the State Mutual
and the Knowles building were put up,
this was favorite place for visitors,
who would ascend to the tower and
take bird s-eye views of the surrounding
territory.
Mr.. Taylor's office is a modest room.
A thirty-cent lawyer would have a
more imposing looking one, but, as Mr..
Taylor says 1t is intended simply as
place for the transaction of business
Were it intended as a place for lux
urious ease, Mr.. Taylor would furnish
it accordingly, but as plain business
man, he maintains a plain business Of
flee. There is no carpet upon the floor
for the feet to sink a foot deep into
On the walls there hang no old masters.
The office furniture, too, would not
bring more than $50 at an auction. Yet
pigeon -holed in the plain, unpretentious
desks, are documents representing
transactions that reach into the hun
dreds of thousands
Mr.. Taylor too, puts on less style
than Mr.. Sixper or Mr.. Tenaweek, the
lordly young gentlemen who are en-
ployed in big department stores. You
wouldn't think to look at him that he
owned COW pasture, yet in his inside
pocket he carries a check book and a
fountain pen, combination capable. in
his case. OF doing wonders.
Yet simple as he is in dress. an OBJ
serving man of the world would note
something in his carriage that indicated
more than sturdy, North American in
dependence. He would discern the air
Of a man who didn't care fig for the
opinion of the envious, a man with his
share of the goods of this bank-note
world. This impression would be height
ened when the eye was dazzled by the
bri1liancy of diamond that caught and
reflected the rays of the noon-day sun.
He Is a connoisseur in stores.
Mr.. Taylor is an affable man to meet.
He is uniformly courteous to all call
ers and listens with patience even to
the schemes of impecunious fellows who
see millions in some wild hair-brained
plan.
He is one o. the most public spirited
citizens in the city, and is generally the
leader in all great public questions that
need the Endorsement and support Of
the substantial men of Worcester. He isl
al I'm ~ affnrf n n a