Chapter XXXV: Wm. H. Vanderbilt

A Builder instead of a Destroyer of Public Values.—His 355
Respect for Public Opinion on the Subject of
Monopolies.—His first Experience in Railroad
Management.—How he Improved the Harlem Railroad
Property.—His great Executive Power manifested in
every stage of advance until he became President of
the Vanderbilt Consolidated System.—An Indefatigable
Worker.—His habit of Scrutinizing Every Detail.—His
Prudent Action in the Great Strike of 1877, and its
Good Results.—Settled all misunderstandings by Peace
and Arbitration.—Makes Princely Presents to his
Sisters.—The Singular Gratitude of a
Brother-In-Law.—How he Compromises by a Gift of a
Million with Young Corneel.—Gladstone’s idea of the
Vanderbilt Fortune.—Interview of Chauncey M. Depew
with the G. O. M. on the subject.—The great
Vanderbilt Mansion and the Celebrated Ball.—The
Immense Picture Gallery.—Mr. Vanderbilt Visits some
of the Famous Artists.—His Love of Fast Horses.—A
Patron of Public Institutions.—His Gift to the Waiter
Students.—While Sensitive to Public Opinion, has no
fear of Threats or Blackmailers.—The Public be
Damned.—Explanation of the rash Expression.—The
Purchase of “Nickel Plate.”—His Declining Health and
Last Days.—His Will, and Wise Method of Distributing
200 Millions.—Effects of this Colossal Fortune on
Public Sentiment

CHAPTER XXXVI.

“YOUNG CORNEEL.”

The Eccentricities of Cornelius Jeremiah Vanderbilt, 375
and his Marvellous Power for Borrowing Money.—He
Exercises Wonderful Influence over Greeley and
Colfax.—A Dinner at the Club with Young “Corneel” and
the Famous “Smiler.”-“Corneel” tries to make himself
Solid with Jay Cooke.—The Commodore Refuses to Pay
Greeley.-“Who the Devil Asked You?” retorted
Greeley.-“Corneel’s” marriage to a Charming and
Devoted Woman.—How She Softened the Obdurate Heart of
her Father-in-Law

CHAPTER XXXVII.

THE YOUNG VANDERBILTS AND THEIR FORTUNES.

Remarkable for Physical and Intellectual Ability.—The 387
Mixture of Races and the Law of Selection.—The
Wonderful Will and the Wise Distribution of Two
Hundred Millions.—Tastes, Habits and Social
Proclivities of the Young Vanderbilts.—The Married
Relations of Some of Them.—Being Happily Assorted
they Make Good Husbands.—Their Property Regarded as a
Great Trust.—Their Railroad System and its Great Army
of Employes.—The Young Men Cautious About
Speculating, and Conservative in their Expenses
Generally

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

THE ROTHSCHILDS.

The Beginning of the Financial Career of the Great 397
House of Rothschild.—The Hessian Blood Money was the
Great Foundation of their Fortune.—How the Firm of
the Five Original Brothers was Constituted.—Nathan
the Greatest Speculator of the Family.—His Career in
Great Britain, and how he Misrepresented the Result
of the “Battle of Waterloo” for Speculative
Purposes.—Creating a Panic on the London Stock
Exchange.—His Terror of being Assassinated.—His Death
Causes a Panic on the London Exchange and the Bourses

CHAPTER XXXIX.

TRAVERS.

The Unique Character of Travers.—His Versatile 407
Attainments.—Although of a Genial and Humorous
Disposition, He was Always a Bear.—How He was the
Means of Preserving the Commercial Supremacy of New
York.—He Squashes the English Bravado, and Saves the
Oratorical Honor of Our Country.—Has the Oyster
Brains?—It Must have Brains, for it Knows Enough to
Sh-sh-shut Up.—The Dog and the Rat.—I d-d-don’t want
to Buy the D-d-dog; I will Buy the R-r-rat.—Travers
on the Royal Stand at the Derby.—How He was Euchred
by the Pool-Seller.—My Proxy in a Speech at the Union
Club.—If You are a S-s-self-made Man, Wh-wh-y the
D-devil didn’t You put more H-hair on the Top of Your
Head?—Other Witticisms, &c.—Death of the Great Wit
and Humorist, and some of His Last Witty Sayings

CHAPTER XL.

CHARLES F. WOERISHOFFER.

The Career of Charles F. Woerishoffer and the Resultant 425
Effect upon Succeeding Generations.—The Peculiar
Power of the Great Leader of the Bear Element in Wall
Street.—His Methods as Compared with Those of Other
Wreckers of Values.—A Bismarck Idea of Aggressiveness
the Ruling Element of His Business Life.—His Grand
Attack on the Villard Properties, and the Consequence
Thereof.—His Benefactions to Faithful Friends

CHAPTER XLI.

WOMEN AS SPECULATORS.

Wall Street no Place for Women.—They Lack the Mental 437
Equipment.—False Defenses of Feminine Financiers.—The
Claflin Sisters and Commodore Vanderbilt.—Fortune and
Reputation Alike Endangered