Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-02-18

aspired to be something more than a shop
keeper who dealt in sugar by the pound,
and sticky molasses by the quart or gal
Ion. In 1855 he established the firm Of
Havemeyer. Townsend & Co, and built in
Williamsburg the first of the collection of
immense buildings afterward known the
world over as the refineries of Havemcyrr
& Elder, and paved the way for his son, Ii.
o. Havemeyer, to organize the gigantic
sugar trust.
The average American admires courage.
and for that reason the maker OF the
Gould millions always enjoyed 2 certain
popularity While he was alive he began
life as poor boy. hampered by physical
weakness. How he went TO New York to
sell mouse traps is an old story. lie dis
covered the game was man traps instesd.
He ruined men with complete and utter
Indifference, and died when he was but
fifty years of age. leaving a fortune esti-
mated at sT5,0e0.o00.
The Morgan Fortune.
The great Morgan fortune was founded
by ]. s. Morgan, shrewd, saving and
thrifty boy from Massachusetts. He got
his start in dry goods store: then he be-
came a bank clerk, and by the time he had
reached his thirty-eighth year was able to
establish a commercial house in Boston,
which subsequently developed into one of
the most important institutions of its kind
in the United States.
Five years later he went to London.
where he met George Peabody, who offered
him a partnership in the firm of George
Peabody * Co. Later the firm was changed
to j. s. Morgan & Co. j. s. Morgan died
in 1899 leaving his son. ]. Pierpont Nor
gan, a fortJn of Sl0.Ug0oon. The latter
was, however. at the time of his fathers
death a very rich man, and the fortune
has been doubled again and again since he
came into possession of it, He is said to he
worth anywhere from eighty to one hun
dred millions. and the end is not yet.
Out of Petroleum.
John d. Rockefeller the controlling ge-
MUS of the Standard OIL Company, is of
Pennsylvania Dutch extraction. He was
first school teacher, earning $50 a month
He has since said that those were the hap
piest days he has ever known.
From teaching school he went into the
commission business in Cleveland, and from
that into oil. He is firmly convinced his
millions were given him by God. He has
made this statement publicly. not once, but
a score of times, with a manner that indi-
Gated clearly he was of the opinion that
God had made no mistake in the matter
Notwithstanding his intensely religious at
titude. his faith has evidently not entirely
removed him from the spirit Of covetous-
ness, for he has said: Wealth does not
bring happiness for many reasons: one is
that no man ever thinks himself wealthy.
No man can ever be SO rich but there will
be others wealthier than he is, and the
knowledge of that fact will make him feel
poor no matter how great his possessions
. Rockefeller in making his own fortune of
$200 co., $50 made fortunes for all his bust
ness associates.
The great Payne fortune was one of
these. 1t was through the influence of Sen
ator Payne that William c. Whitney came
to the front. His first wife was the sena-
tors daughter. At the time of this mar
riage Whitney was a young and struggling
lawyer. He has shown he knew how to
make the most of his luck.
1r1 pu1H- l,oa
thirty years. Rockefeller and four other
comparatively poor young men saw there
was money in petroleum. Today the riches
of those five men aggregate an easy 5000
oo0,G0. and their wealth is still increasing
by leaps and bounds.
Two Generations Old.
The big Belmont fortune is already two
generations from shirt sleeves. The genius
Of that family was August Belmont. the
son of small banker and landed proprie-
tor in one of the provinces of Prussia. He
made his start with the Rothschilds. whose
bank he entered as a messenger Later he
was promoted to a clerkship in a branch
house in Naples.