Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1907-07-20

81 Gentlemen You have undertaken 10
cheat me, won't sue. for the law Is too
slow. will ruin YOU. Yours truly,
CORNELIUS VANDERBILT.
He ruined that company, which went
out of business two years later. He
ruined Daniel Drew In the. fight for
Hudson river transportat lion. Drew
died poor and is prac tically forgotten.
| The Vanderbilt advance went on over
his grave, on land as on the sea, for
Cornelius the Great got into the rail-
road business.
Became Railroad Kings.
| 1t was not Vanderbilt himself who
instinctively foresaw the pessibi ities
OF railroad transportat ion. Edward
Crane, promoter Of railroads fifty
years ago, when they were few and far
between, induced the crusty and crafty
old commodore to take to the land
4 route. Vanderbilt had bought some
stock in the New York, New Haven
/ and Hartford railroad, but n was not
until Crane managed to get four or
/ Eve hours Of his time and spread be-
fore him q huge map Of New York
and New England, marked with red
lines showing railroad possibilities
/ waiting to be snapped up that the old
acommodore made up his mind to buy
4 and build roads. The great New York
Central, the Lake Shore, the Michigan
/ Central, the Canada Southern and 9TH
er lines were the outcome OF that con-
ference. Thus the yanderbilts became
vastly greater and richer as railroad
kings than the first Cornelius ever had
been as steambo at man.
Old Cornelius had practically no edu-
cation, though, as we have seen, he
could write a business letter straight to
1 the point. He gave his son, William
a., whom he called Bill, no educa-
tionai advantages. The boy had to
shift for himself. He got job In d
4 bank and was making SIG week
when he married Miss Maria Louise
Kissam, Brooklyn clergy man's daugh-
l ter. His father shifted when Bill mar
RED He informed his son that he
never would get cent Of the fathers
fortune. Bill was not worried. He
kept on at work and pleased his en-
ployers until his health failed. Then
Cornelius the Great softened to the ex-
tent of giving Bill q seventy acre farm
around the old homestead on Staten
i Island. Sss
'sYou must make your living OF the
farm" said the father.
Became Americas Richest Man.
William H. Vanderbilt iived there
and farmed 1t from 1912 to 1861. He
i was forty-three years old when his IA
Their finally discovered that he had
financial ability. The old man invited
Bill to come into the fold, giving him
4 q share In the management OF the VAN
derbilt railroad system Bill was q
i bigger railroad man than his father be
fore the latters death, IN 1877 After
the eight sisters or their heirs were
comfortably provided for William 81.
vanderbilt got the main estate. He
was the richest man In America. with
4 500 OOO, 900 and only thirteen years
from the Staten Island truck farm!
And his father called him Bill.
/ William a. by studying railroad sci
4 ence had increased his wealth to $3.50, I
600 900 by 1881. When he died from q
stroke Of apoplexy in 1885 after a
stormy interview with John w. Gar
rett, one of his great rivals in the rail-
road world, he left nearly $780, 600.
Cornelius and William K, the two
sons who succeeded William 81 in the
Il management of the railroads, received
Il between them $40, 900 900, the six 9th
er children getting sic, 600, 600 apiece.
Il When Cornelius I'd had an interview
j with Cornelius Sd. regarding the
young mans intention to marry Miss
4 Grace Wilson, he suffered stroke Of
a apoplexy. which broke down his health
and carried him off three years later
il In the meantime young Cornelius mar
ried the girl he wanted. He got down
to work and Invented several very
useful railroad appliances, notably q
fire box, locomotive tank and 9
freight truck. is
New Vanderbilt King.
Brother Alfred, the new Vanderbilt
king, who may be called Alfred LIST
4 took to automeb bling and driving four
4 in-hands. IN these gentlemanly occu
pations he has achieved worldwide
|. reputation. George w. Vanderbilt
brother Of the second Cornelius and
william *, distinguished himself By
building Biltmore, the magnificent es
& tate near Asheville, N. @. William Il
I. retired from active railroad manage
ment some years ago and tried 20 man
4 age his son-in-law, the Duke Of mari
/. borough. but without success. Hi
son, While K, IS q daredevil automo
Z bile speeder.
Cornelius and Alfred have another
brother, Reginald. who Is an aniabl,
young man, and their sister, Gertrude