New-York tribune., 1900-08-15
COILS P. HUNTINGTON.

The death of Coils +. Huntington ends
career of amazing industry and, within the
| great field to which his faculties were chiefly
/ applied, OF immense achievement. In strict
| sense it would not be wholly just 10 say that
| the success which rewarded his indefaugable
! lab0rs astonishing, for the qualities with
which be was endowed virtually made success
inevitable. Remarkable physical powers early
/ developed and never impaired by Indulgence,
were combined in him with mental resources Of
! a high order, and this admirable machinery was
| driven by colossal will. but controlled by
| tranquil judgment 1t is no eXaggeration to
say that Mr. Huntington was one of the very
| foremost examples of constructive energy which
4 nation of great industrial leaders has pro-
| duced, and doubtless there are many who
would not hesitate to assign him to class by
himself.
If Mr.. Huntington in his youth could have
foreseen the future and deliberately ordered the
first half of his life TO fit the work he was
destined to do, II is difficult to believe that his
personal equipment for that work could have
been improved. He travelled extensively as a
merchant in his early years, carrying with him
keen powers of observation and the rarer
faculty of calculating from the conditions which
he found the conditions which might be Gre
ated. He was among the first to discern the
consequences Of the discovery of gold in Cali
fornia, and to conclude that the surest If not
the most dazzling returns were TO come from
the trade which the mines would develop. 1t
was a perfectly sober estimate If he shared
the excitement of the period it never carried
him off his feet. He started with thousands
for the Pacific Coast, but he one of the
few who reached IL with larger capital of cash
and health and cool resolution than they pos
sessed at the beginning of the adventurous
journey He had been master of himself and
easily equal to his opportunities in the East.
On the outer verge of the continent, amid sur
roundings new to all and distracting TO most,
he quickly began TO lay the foundations of a
vast industrial fabric
If Mr. Huntington had chosen to confne his
talents TO mercantile pursuits it is safe to
assume that the magnitude of his operations
would have attracted the notice of the world,
but his career would not have been a conspic-
uOus part of the history of the country. In
books of reference the descriptive phrase of
railroad builder follows his name, and no other
designation would be so fitting. 1t defines his
place in the material development of the United
States and indicates the fact that like all great
leaders of the industrial army, he is insepa-
rably connected with its civil and moral growth.
II would be impossible to estimate or 10 over
| estimate the influence which such a man exerts
upon his time and the contribution which he
of the forces which he calls into action. We
have no sympathy with that cynical spirit
which sometimes seeks to encourage the dis
para cement of pioneers. 1t is doubtless true
that the continent would have been spanned by
railroads. deep sea cables laid and the Isthmus
of Suez pierced if Huntington and Field and
De Lesseps had never lived. But these men
and others of their stamp have encountered the
| risks, borne the burdens, endured the obloquy.
| overcome the obstacles and done the work and
| are indisputably entitled to the fame-in some
| cases TO more than the fame-that they have
| won.
Mr.. Huntington did not escape the easy and
| graceless censure to which those who are in
| strumental in providing thousands Of their fel-
| low men with employment and the means of
| happiness are commonly subjected. But he
| was fortunately constituted, and malice had
! little power 10 diminish his enjoyment of the
! strenuous life which has ended so suddenly
while there still seemed 10 be years of health and
activity before him. Though it is scarcely pos
sbe that some personal antagonisms should not
| survive the determined contests of an aggres-
| sive career. Mr. Huntington retained to the last
in a remarkable degree the friendship Of his
! business associates, the goodwill of his host of
employees and the respect Of the country which
| he had done so much 10 make fair and fruitful
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