Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1906-07-25
He saved nearly all ,t


Canadian colt. Many are the stories
told of his shrewdness in horse trad
ing. His knowledge of horses and
his ability to buy and sell them more
than doubled his income.
Early In his career, and when yet
but boy in years. a feet of barges
loaded with grain became frozen In
the canal at an unprecedentedly early
date in the year 1t was bitter cold.
and all the weather prophets were
sure of an unusually severe and pro-
tracted season. The grain was des-
tined for New York. 1t might spoil
in the barges, and certain 1t was that
every week of delay lessened its mar
ket value. Wheat was high in New
York, and a famine was threatened.
The young merchant thought II
over, and made an offer for the wheat
as 1t lay on board the barges. to be
delivered in thirty days or to be car
ried to New ~ FORK in case the weather
moderated so that the boats could
get through. The owners jumped at
the bargain. II gave them a small
profit and insured them against loss.
No sooner was the deal made than
the weather turned warm. A heavy
rain melted the ice. The canal boats
made the trip to New York just in
time to escape a second cold spell,
which locked all other boats fast In
the ice until the following spring. In
this speculation the boy merchant
made $4,000.
1t was more by accident than de-
sign that Mr.. Sage entered on his ca
reer as railroad builder and owner
He founded the Commercial Bank of
Troy, and in the course of business
loaned $4,000 to the La Crosse Rail-
way company. The road soon became
financially embarrassed and the young
banker saw his money fading away
in a threatened bankruptcy
He made an investigation and de-
cided the property was a good one
He advanced more money and vet
more, taking bonds and stock as Sc
curtiy, and finally came into a large
interest I'm what is now the Chicago,
Milwaukee & St Paul railroad He
became a firm believer In the future Of
railroads and at his death was inter-
ested in $4,000 miles of track in ail
parts of the United States.
Sage's Life Work.
Russell Sage was known to the pub
lie as the incarnation of thrift He was
shrewd financier, a keen trader. a
money-getter and money-keeper,
and that was the only side of his char.
acter visible to the public eye. If he
had philanthropic impulses or that de-
sire to be of use to the community
which is connoted by public spirit" "
he succeeded in keeping the light CT
his soul hidden under a pint cup.
According to the commercial code
q IN hpnp f,, l,ft
! dealings. or at least honest enough To
avoid the condemnation which some
of his business associates and most of
the inordinately rich of his time have
been subjected. Making no parade Of
| his wealth, living simply and avoiding
| display of all sorts, Sage preserved the
! privacy of his affairs. and the lime
| light of publicity was seldom turned
! upon him. 1t was known of him only
! that he was very rich and very frugl,
A Crazed Victim.
Only once was he the subject NJ
sensational newspaper exploitation. A
crazed victim of the game of specula,
ton went to his office to kin him
and hurled dynamite bomb at hi
feet. Sage seized clerk and held hin
in front of him as a shield, and tn,
poor clerk sustained the direct fore,
of the explosion, but was not killed
Sage offered some characteristicall,
small compensation to the man whom
he had used as a buffer and a sensa
tional suit for damages followed
1 Occasionally Sage incurred criticism
by giving public expression to his pc
culiar philosophy. Work and thrift
were the sum and substance of life
from his point of view, and he livet
as he preached. A year or two ago h
set the press buZzing with his denun
citation Of the practice of giving va
cations to employees. He could see IL
good in vacations; nobody needed D
was benefited by cessation of his dali
toll; it was throwing money away 1,
pay people for time wasted in frivolit
and laziness. He never had a vacation
in his life, he said, and he expected t
live and keep on working for a goot
many years.
An unlovely character was Russo
Sage on the side discernable to tn
public. A hard. avaricious, unsympa
thetic amasser of useless counters II
the Wall street game. He wanted t
live and pile up wealth until he reacn
er the century mark. At the ago o
80 he takes the only vacation from
money-grubbing that he ever had, AM
1t will be a long one
Russell Sage was born in Oneid
couty, New York, August A. 1915 II
received a public school education
! was engaged in business in Troy, he'll
/ minor political offices for few yeac
and was elected to congress as whi
In 1853 and served four years The
! he went to New York and became
dealer in the stock gambling game
selling puts and calls in Wall stree
He made money and invested IL
, railway stocks and became closely as
sociated with Jay Gould.
Never Known to Borrow Money.
! Among other stories of the dead 4
, nancier these two are very character
r istic of him:
' 1t is said that Russell Sage neva
| borrowed money himself He was !,
situated that he could produce sever;
: million dollars in an hour, and he al
4 ways had money for big things. tn
I only time that he had been in del
/ was in 1884 when he became III an
. had nervous prostration. He then SO
G the crazy idea that he could raise II
: money. A million dollars was the
4 borrowed for him, but as he got bette
Y and ready to attend to business agai
D he found that his balance at the ban
was several million dollars. He ais
found the debt and paid 1t with read
9 money. Mr.. Sage never was afraid
G invest big sums nor spend freely {
> make more. His economies were al
: ways in a small way. He objected
u ! Re n n ri II
g 25 cents, but not paying 100000 "a
. 100000.
= = At one time Russell Sage cashed
p. check for cents and as he did s
y L.. L. l.l.La Il