The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1903-03-04
HISTORY OF A FORTUNE.
JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER TO BE A
BlLLloNAIRE.

|
lows in the Philadelphia Saturday
| Evening Post:
Among the great fortunes Of the
world today there are two that tower
colossal-the Rothscshild and the
| Rockefeller. No one-not even the
heads of the two houses-knows just
how large these fortunes are. A few
years ago John ID. Rockefeller said up
on the witness stand that he was un-
able to tell how much he was worth
| within several millions Indeed, there
| is no way of estimating accurately
these modern fortunes, invested in
many ways and subject to daily, hourly
| fluctuations. Probably n billion and
a half OF dollars Is as near to accur-
acy as 1t Is possible to come in state
ing the wealth of the house of Roths-
| child. AS for the house of Rockefeller,
a business associate of the elder and
many times the richer of the two broth
ers said within year: John ID. Rookie
feller is worth not far from three
| quarters of a billion, and he will pres
| emily be the first Millionaire the world
| has ever had. IF the estimate we're
based upon income-certainly as fair
way as to attempt to value capital
| John ID. Rockefeller would today be
classed as Millionaire half on the
way toward his second billion. And
| there are in addition the several hund-
red millions of his brothers fortune,
| and the many millions of the three or
four allied members of the family.
The Rockefeller fortune was founded
upon credit capital. In 1875 John ID.
Rockefeller was a considerable oil
| merchant. But his schemes for mon
opolizing the oil business of half the
world were trembling between success
and failure. In that year there were
three weeks when he walked the floor
night after night, sleepless, fighting
the ruin that seemed to be closing in
around him. 1t is said that his wife
exclaimed: II wish John would go
, bankrupt, for then he would get some
sleep" II Is said that the nervous in
digestion which now compels him to
the quietest of lives and to a diet of
crackers and milk at 9S 2-5 degrees
Fahrenheit dates from that terrible
three weeks. He owed the banks of
Cleveland $1,700,0OO. He could not pay:
they were pressing him, but did not
dare to close in upon him. They knew
that IL he failed 1t would swamp them
and would precipitate a panic in
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES was not so large
and rich In those days, and $1.70o. 900
was big sum Of money, even in Wall
street.
The Rockefeller fortune may there
fore be dated from 1875, the year when
the rounding crisis was passed, though
the big returns did not begin to come
until about 1885, the enormous returns
until less than ten years ago.
From 1860 to 1875 Rockefeller was
reaching out and out to take possess
sion OF his promised land. His brother.
ana their intimate friends laughed at
MIN, tried to dissuade him, warned
MIN. They, too, would buy oil wells.
but they would make what they could
and sell out before the well caught fire
or ran dry. He bought to keep. bought
burning wells and extinguished the
hres, bought dry wells in the hope that
they would some day yield to the
pump. And when his brother and their
intimates saw that there was method
IN his madness, he invited them in.
practically gave them as present
the shares that were to make them
multi-millionaires. And. slow and te-
nacious and saturated with his "mvs.
tlc' OF manifest desti1v. he marched
on to the Montenotte Of 1875. The
reaching out on small capital. the ris-
ing clamor and fury a~ainst his merci-
less methods Of mono. oily, brought on
that crisis
Until the secret history Of the Stand.
ard OIL company is written, and it
probably never will be-no one OK.
cept John ID. Rockefeller will know
now that crisis was passed and how
prosperity and power we're obtained
through those contracts with the mil
ways which made competition with
Rockefeller hopeless and forced al
most all the oil men, producers. re.
liners and sellers, to choose between
submission and ruin.
Another point in the development
OF the great American fortune is con.
troll of railways-the arteries of the
whole people. 1t Is next in Importance
TO monopoly OF some natural prod.
uct. Rockefeller scored both points.
1t was about 1884 that some of the
high'prtced counsel discovered a way
OF freeing him from the bondage of
anti'monopoly law, a method of re-
organizing him into legality and safe
ty. Soon the period of Insecurity
passed-though the general public did
not know it and the press and the
politicians were still bowling. Rookie.
feller was able to shake off his DUR
suers and dismiss his horde of law
yers. He had at LAST a large, secure
income.
And now began the rapid increase.
He was simple. thrifty man, and so
was his brother. They spent COM
paratively nothing of their income.