The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1919-07-05
Come Out of Lane of Disappoint-
ment and Depression.
LUCK IS A LARGE FACTOR
Story of Comeback" is Told by Rich
ard SpiIlane-Hardiy a Property
Over Which GouIds One Time Held
Sway but Went to Disaster-Now
From Out of Western Waste Comes
Mighty Golden Shower to GouIds.

Among the many old saws is the
one that it is a long lane that has
no turning. The Goulds have come
out from the lane of disappointment,
defeat and depression into the high
way of big profits and bigger promise,
writes Richard Spillane in the Chi
cago Post.
Queer is the history of the Goulds.
Old Jay Gould rose from a peddler of
mousetraps to be the greatest manipu-
lator Wall Street ever has known. He
died leaving a fortune of $70,000,000
and a record without one constructive
act and many of destruction.
George J. Gould testified some six
or eight years ago after his fathers
death that the Gould fortune, instead
of being decreased, as generally sup
posed, had been increased up to that
time.
There can be no doubt, however, as
to what happened later. The millions
melted. Hardly a property over
which the Goulds held sway but went
to disaster.
1OOh at q Doi tAoi AcL VI LAiOot tAAA
went bankrupt: The Missouri Pacific,
ADenver and Rio Grande, Wabash, st.
Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern.
Texas and Pacific and Western Pa
cifc.
Saved by Absorption.
But for its absorption by the Ameri-
can Telephone and Telegraph it was
inevitable the Western Union would
have followed the others. Only the
Manhattan 81" in New York contin-
ued to prosper.
George J. Gould and the various
other Goulds dropped out of the di-
rectorates of many corporations and,
gradually, came to be numbered among
the ~has-beens.
And now from out Of the western
wastes comes a mighty golden shower
to the Goulds.
The Texas and Pacific Railroad CON.
pany never has earned a dividend. 1t
has been a waif and a stray and a
worry for 10 these many years.
To every great corporation there
are pendant little corporations. Soft
happens that to the Texas and Pacific
there is a Texas and Pacific Coal COM
pany. This concern has certain land
rights which were taken we by ii
to develop, for there is some coal in
north Texas. This Texas and Pacific
Coal company dates back to 1888.
1t never amounted to much until they
struck oil in north Texas. Now the
lands of the company are pock-marked
with oil holes. The shares Of the
Texas and Pacific Coal and OIL com
pany They've added oil to the title)
are quoted above 5000 a share, this
despite the fact that the capitalization
has been increased $1,000,000 on three
occasions within a comparatively
short time. The new capital has gone
to the old stockholders at $100 a share.
Had Texas and Pacific In Junk Box.
The Goulds had It. & P. coal shares
in their strongboxes along with
no ends of stuff of little or no
worth of other Gould properties
that went to ruin. Now these certif-
Gates of the T & P. have an amazing
value. How much of the $5,000,00C
outstanding the family owns is not
known outside a select circle.
They couldn't sell their shares at
$500 a piece. That is the asked
price. But it Is the confident belief
that before the coal and the oil on the
lands controlled by the company peter
out there will be profits in excess of
$100,000,000, or several hundreds of
millions to divide among the share
holders.
The Goulds have "come back by a
freak of fortune.