Newspapers / The Weekly Raleigh Register … / Dec. 16, 1885, edition 1 / Page 1
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Raleigh fjo? fcv - By JP. M. HALE, ADVERTISING KATES. office : p, ;:, vill St., Second Floor Flatter TiuiMing I r II RATES OK tlBSCBIPTIOK : One copy one year, mulled post-paid .... ..$2 00 One copy six montliy, mailed post-paid.. . . 1 CO So name entered without payment, and ll0j,al,er sent after expiration of time paid for. VOL. II. RALEIGH, N. C., WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1885. NO. 94. I - -Hi gyp TIIK OLD PHOBLKJI. fNVw York World. 1 work iu a shirt factory, And earn three dollars a week; My employer's a Christian, Kubicund, round and sleek. II,' wears respectable glasses On his benevolent nose, Ami trots, in his meek drab gaiters Into (irinder & Co.'. He luir the unwilling gospel Into his daily affairs, S:i s icrai-e lKth before and after, -' Ami the longest kind of prayers. He subscribes to a score of missions' And enjoys the Chairman's sleep At the annual meeting of the Six-iety for Lost Sheep. J , I ply the weary treadle ) From dawn to twilight gray, Cramped, and stifled, and huugry. For fi ft v cents a daw l 1 he .lavs to come are no brighter Than the evil days that were, And my two square Inches of mirror Say to me I am fair. A ml I must go dressed like a woman ( nt of my scanty pay; Mr. Grinder, you know how I manage On my fifty cents a day. Thus I am going hell ward. Fast as a woman can go, And straight from the highly moral Employment of Grinder & Co. Possibly God looks out Over the dark, sad city; Does He look on me with eyes Of aDger or infinite pity Inexorable before me Lies the life of the merciless street; Liquor, kicks, and curses, Darkness, and cold, and sleet. So perhaps ray first instalment Of the eternal sleep Will be had in that cosy refuge ) Erected for Lost Sheep. f but. O charitable Grinder, How much less it would cost, , Instead of hunting for Lost Sheep, To save sheep from being lost. THE SILVER DOLLAR. The Prenldent think it Very Bad. Message, Dec 8, 1885. J During the year endedov. 1, 1S85.145 national banks were organized, with am areirate capital of $16,938,000, and cir culating notes have been issued to them amounting to $4,274910. The whole num ber of these banks in existence on the day above mentioned was 2,727. The very limited amount of circulating notes issued by our national banks compared with the amount the law permits them to issue, upon a deposit of bonds for their redemp tion, indicates that the volume of our cir culating medium may be largely increased through this instrumentality. Nothing nvre important than the present condition of our currency and coinage can claim' your attention. Since February, 1878,thc Government has, under the compulsory (provisions of law, purchased silver bullion und coined the same at the rate of more :han $2,000,000 every month. By this process up to the present date 215,759,431 Mlver dollars have been coined. A rea sonable appreciation of a delegation of power to the General Government would limit its exercise without express restric tive words to the people's need and the re quirements of the public welfare. Upon this theory, the authority to 44 coin money" uiven to Congress by the Constitution, if it permits the purchase by the Govern ment of bullion for coinage in any event, does not justify such purchase and coin age to an extent beyond the amount need d for a sufficient circulating medium. The desire to utilize the silver product of hc country should not lead to a misuse or ; he perversion of this power. The necessity for such an addition to the silver currency of the nation as is compelled by the silver coinage act is negatived by the fact that up to the present time only about fifty mil lions of the silver dollars so coined have actually found their way; into circulation, leaving more than one hundred and sixty five millions in the possession of the Gov i rnmi'Dt, the custody of which has entail ed a considerable expense for the' construc tion of vaults for its deposit. Against this latter amount there are outstanding silver certificates amounting to about $93 000.009. 1 Every month two millions of gold in the public Treasury arc paid out for two millions or more of silver dollars, to be M.lded to the idle mass already accuraulat il. If continued long enough this oper ation will result in the substitution of qui ver for all the gold the Government owns applicable to its general purposes. It will not do' to rely upon the customs receipts of the Government to make good this drain f'f gold, because the silver thus coined having been made legal tender for all the debts and cluS, public and private, at times during the last six months 58 per c nt. of the receipts for duties have been in silver or silver certificates, while the av emge within that period has been 20 per ' i t. The proportion of silver and it t;rti(icates received by the Government ill probably increase as time goes on, for li e reason that the nearer the period ap proaches when it will be obliged to offer -''v:r in payment of its obligations, the rreater inducement Ihere will be to hoard gold against depreciation in the value of iiher, or for the purpose of speculating. ThK hoarding of gold has already begun. When the time comes that gold has been withdrawn from circulation, then will be apparent the difference between the value f the silver dollar and a dollar in gold, and the two coins will part company. Gold, vtii! the standard of value, and necessary in our dealings with other countries, will !" at a premium over silver; banks which 'i ave substituted gold for the deposits of 'lu ir customers may pay them with silver fought with such gold, thus making a liandsome profit; rich speculators will sell lb-ir hoarded gold to their neighbors who '" id it to liquidate theiT foreign debts, at ' ruinous premium over silver; and the la boring men and women of the land, most defenceless of all, will find that the dollar received for the wage of their toil hassad '.v shrunk in its purchasing power. It " ay be said that the latter result will be '''it temporary, and that ultimately the price of labor will be adjusted to the change; but even if this takes place the wiige workoe cannot possibly gain, but must inevitably lose, since the price he is "Jinpelled to pay for his living will not "nly be measured in a coin heavily depre ciated, and fluctuating and uncertain in lk vulue, but this uncertainty in the value "f the purchasing medium will be made 'ne pretext for an an vance in prices beyond that justified by actual depreciation. The words uttered in 1834 by Daniel Web ster in the Senate of the United States arc true to-day : " The very man of all others who has the the deepest interest in a sound currency, and who suffers most by mis chievous legislation in money matters, is the man who earns his daily bread by his daily toil." The most distinguished ad- I ui uiuii-iausm discussing our silver ! coinage has lately written : 44 No Ameri- can citizen's hand has yet felt the sensation . of cheapness either in receiving or expend- ' i ing the silver act dollars." And those who live by labor or legitimate trade never will feel that sensation of cheapness. However I plenty silver dollars may become they will I not be distributed as gifts among the peo ; pie; and if the laboring man should rc- ceive four depreciated dollars where he ; now receives but two, he will pay in the I depreciated coin more than double the I price he now pays for all the necessaries" I and comforts of life. Those who do not fear any disastrous consequences arising from the continued . compulsory coinage of silver as now direct -, ed by law, and who suppose that the ad- dition to the currency of the country in i tended as its resutt will be a public bene ) fit, are reminded that history demonstrates mat me point is easily reached in the at tempt to float at the same time two sorts of money of different excellence when the better will cease to be in general circula tion. The hoarding of gold, which has already taken place, indicates that we shall not escape the usual experience in such cases. So, if this silver coinage be continued, wt may reasonably expect that gold and its equivalent will 'abandon the field of circulation to silver alone. This, of course, must produce a severe contrac tion of our circulating medium, instead of adding to it. It will not be disputed that any attempt on the part of the Govern ment to cause the circulation of silver dol lars worth 80 cents, side by side with gold dollars worth 100 cents, even within the limit that legislation does not run counter to the laws of trade, tn be successful must be seconded by the confidence of the peo ple that both coins will retain the same purchasing power and be interchangeable at wilL A special effort has been made by the Secretary of the Treasury to in crease the amount of our silver coin in cir culation ; but the fact that a large share of j the limited amount thus put out has soon ; returned to the public Treasury in pay- J ment of duties leads to the belief that the people do not now desire to keep it in hand; and this, with the evident disposi- tion to hoard gold, gives rise to the suspi- cion that there already exists a lack of . confidence among the people touching our ! financial processes. There is certainly not enough silver now in circulation to cause ; uneasiness, and the whole amount coined i and now on hand might, aftera time, be absorbed by the people without apprehen sion, but it is the ceaseless stream that threatensHo overflow the land which causes fear and uncertainty. What has been thus far submitted upon this subject relates almost entirely to con siderations of a home nature, unconnected with the bearing which the policies of Oth er nations have upon the question. But it is perfectly apparent that a line of action in regard to our currency cannot wisely be settled upon or persisted in without con sidering the attitude on the subject of other countries with whom we maintain in tercourse through commerce, trade, and travel. An acknowledgment of this fact is found in the act by virtue of which our silver is compulsorily coined. It provides that 44 the President shall invite the Gov ernment of the countries composing the Latin Union, so called, and of such other European nations as he may deem advisa ble, to join the United 8tates in a confer ence to adopt a common ratio between gold and silver for the purpose of establish ing internationally the use of bimetalic money and securing fixity of relative value between these metals." This conference absolutely failed, and a similar fate has awaited all subsequent efforts in the same direction. And still we continue pur coin age of silver at a ratio different from that of any other nation. The most vital part of the Silver Coinage act remains inopera tive and unexecuted, and without an ally or friend we must battle upon the 'silver field in an illogical and losing contest. To give full effect to the designs of Con gress on this subject I have made careful and earnest endeavor since the adjourn ment of the last Congress. To this end I have delegated a gentleman well instruct ed in fiscal science to proceed to the finan cial centres of Europe, and, in conjunc tion with onr ministers to England, France and Germany, to obtain a full knowledge of the attitude and intent of those Gov ernments in respect of the establishment of such an international ratio as would procure free coinage of both metals at the mints of. those countries and our own. By my directions our uonsui-wenerai at fans has given close attention to the proceedings of the congress of the Latin Union, in order to indicate our interests in its ob jects and report its action. Jt may be said, in brief, as the result of these efforts, that the attitude of the leading powers remains substantially unchanged since the mone tary conference of 1881, nor is it to be questioned that the views of these Gov ernments are in each instance supported by the weight of public opinion. The steps thus taken have therefore only more fully demonstrated the uselessness of further attempts at present to arrive at any agree ment on the subject with other nations. In the meantime we are Accumulating silver coin, based upon our own peculiar ratio, to such an extent, and assuming so heavy a burden to be provided for in any international negotiations, as will render us an undesirable party to any future mon etary conference of nations. It is a signi ficant fact that four of the five countries com posing the Latin Union mentioned iff our coinage act, embarrassed with their silver currency, have just completed an agree ment among themselves that no more sil ver shall be coined by their respective Governments, and that such as has been already coined and in circulation shall be redeemed in gold by the country of its coinage. The resort to this expedient by these countries may well arrest the atten tion of those who suppose that we can suc ceed, without shock or injury, in the at tempt to circulate upon its merits all the silver we may coin under the provisions of our Silver Coinage act. The condition in which our Treasury may be placed by a persistence in our pres ent course is a matter of concern to every patriotic citizen who does not desire his government to pay in silver such of its. ob ligations as should be paid in gold. Nor should our condition be such as to oblige us, in a prudent management of our affairs, to discontinue the calling in and payment of interest bearing obligations which we have the right now to discharge, and thus avoid the payment of further interest there on. The so-called debtor class, for, whose benefit the continued compulsory cojnage of silver is insisted upoa, are not dishonest because they arc in debt ; and they should not Im KusjM-cted of a desire to jeopardize the financial siifnty of the country in order that ihcy may cancel tlit-tr present debts by paying the same in depreciated dollars. Nor should it be forgotten tiint it is not the rich nor the money lender alone that must submit to such a readjust ment, enforced by the Government and their debtors. The pittance of the widow and the orphan and the incomes of help less beneficiaries of all kinds would be dis astrously reduced! The depositors in sav ings banks and in other institutions which hold in trust the savings of the poor, when their little accumulations aro scaled down to meet the new order of things, would in their distress painfully realize the delusion of the promise made to them that plenti ful money would improve their condition. We have now on hand all the silver dollars necessary to supply the present needs of the people and to satisfy those who from sentiment wish to see them in circulation, and if their coinage is suspended they can be readily obtained by all who desire them. If the need of more is at any time appar cut their coinage may be renewed. That disaster has not already overtaken us furnishes no proof that danger does uot wait upon a continuance of the present sil ver coinage. We have been saved by the most careful management and unusual ex pedients, by a combination of fortunate conditions, and by a confident expectation that the course of the Government in regard to silver coinage would be speedily chang ed by the action of Cougress. Prosperity hesitates upon our threshold because of the dangers and uncertainties surrounding this question. Capital timidly shrinks from trade, and investors are unwilling to take the chance of the questionable shape iu which their money will be returned to them, while enterprise halts at a risk against which care and sagacious manage ment do not protect. As a necessary con sequence labor lacks employment, and suf fering and distress are visited upon a por tion of our fellow-citizens especially en titled to the careful consideration of those charged with the duties of legislation. No interest appeals to us so strongly for a safe and stable currency as the vast army -of the unemployed.. I recommend the susp ension of the compulsory coinage of silver dol lars, directed bv the law passed in Febru ary, 1878. PROPOSED TARIFF RE FOB 91. Incidental Protection to be Secured. President's Message, Dec. 8th, 18M5.J Our imports during the year were as fol lows: Merchandise 5T9,580,053 80 fiold , 26,691,096 00 Silver......" 18,550,627 00 Total 6'J2, 822,876 80 The following are given as prominent articles of imports during the year, with their values and the percentage they bear to the total importation : Per- Article. Valve, rentage. Sugar and molasses $76,738,713 Coffee 46,723,318 Wool and it manufactures. . 44,656,482 Silk and its manufactures. .. 40,393,002 Chemicals, dyes, drugs and medicines 35,070,816 Iron and steel and their man ufactures .- 34,563,680 Flax, hemp, jute and their manufactures 32,854,874 Cotton and its manufac tures 28,152,001 Hides and skins other than fur skins 20,586,443 13.2A 8.W 7.73 6.99 6.07 .m 5.09 4.88 3.56 Of the entire amount of duties collected 70 percent, was collected from the follow ing articles of import: Per rentage. Sugar and molasses 29 Wool and its manufactures 15 Silk and its manufactures 8 Iron and steel and their manufactures 6 Cotton manufactures 6 Flax, hemp, and Jute and their mannfac ' tares..., , 5 The fact that our revenues are in excess of the actual heeds of an economical ad ministration of the government justifies a reduction in the amount exacted from the people for its support. Our Govern ment is bnt the means established by the will of a free people, by which certain principles are applied which they have adopted for their benefit and protection, and it is never better administered and its true spirit is never better observed than when the people's taxation for its support is scrupulously limited to the actual neces sity of expenditure distributed accor ding to a just and equitable plan. The proposition with which we have to deal is . the reduction of the revenue re ceived by the Government and indirectly paid by the people from customs duties. The question of free trade is not involved, nor is there now any occasion for the gen eral discussion of the wisdom or expedi ency of a protective system. Justice and fairness dictate that in any modification of our present laws relating , to reveuue,, , the industries and interests which have been encouraged by such laws and in which our citizens have large investments should not be injur ed or destroyed. We should also deal with the subject in such manner as to pro tect the interests of American labor, which is the capital of our workingmen ; its sta bility and proper remuneration furnish the most justifiable pretext for a protective policy. Within these limitations a certain reduction should bo made in our customs revenue. The amount of such reduction having been determined, the inquiry fol lows where it can best be remitted from duty in the interest of our citizens? I think the reduction should be made in the revenue derived from a tax upon the im ported necessaries of life. We thus direct ly lessen the cost of living in every family of the land and release to the people in ev ery humble home a larger measure of the rewards of frugal industry. ' Charles, is it-true that all brokers are dissipated, and do they bet and live on stimulants?" asked a stock broker's wife of her husband. "Well, not all .of them, I guess; but the life of a broker is rather quick," was the reply. "And do they all die suddenly at about the age of 40? " she continued. "The paper stated so the other day," replied the broker, who, thinking that his wife might swoon At the idea of his being suddenly snatched from her, as sured her that he was perfectly healthy and likely to live many years. ' Well, I suppose it is a peculiarity of the business; but, Charlie, you are 37, and don't you think you had better increase your insur ance policy to twenty-five thousand, dear?" Boston GatetU. By the action of the Supreme Court of Ohio in the , Hamilton County election cases the Democratic candidates for the legislature are civen their seats. This gives the Democrats the State Senate and 1 the Republicans the House. The Repub licans wilt have a majority of three on joint ballot and Mr. Sherman and Mr. Fos ter can now fight out the Senatorship on a close margin. WILLIAM H. VANDEHBILT. Dead Amid Great Riches. iNew York Times, 9th inst.J M William H. Vandcrbilt sat in his Fifth-avenue house at 2:20 o'clock yester day afternoon chatting pleasantly with Mr. Robert Garrett, the President of the Bal timore and Ohio Railroad Company. The two railway magnates were talking about the plans which have been recently formu lated concerning the future of Staten Island, and in which the prospect of Mr. Garrett's establishing terminal facilities on the island for his railway have an impor tant part. Mr. Vanderbilt, who lived long on Staten Island and who had never ceas ed to take a deep interest in the welfare of the place, was making a few sugges tions which he thought would be helpful to Mr. Garrett in the execution of his ideas. The two men were in Mr. Vanderbilt's study, a capacious room on the northerly side of the southern wing of the house. The great millionaire sat in his favorite easy chair, one with a deep seat, a low back, and soft arms. At his left was his table, on which were scattered his paper's. Behind him was his secretary, in which he kept his note paper and writing materials. A bright grate fire was blazing nearly in front of him, and its flames threw a ruddy glare over his countenance and over his plain black clothes. He sat almost on the edge of his chair, his elbows resting on his knees and his body leaning forward. Mr. Garrett sat on a sofa just opposite him, and Mr. Vanderbilt was evidently deeply interested iu his friend's conversation. Mr. Vanderbilt was speaking, when suddenly Mr. Garrett perceived an indistinctness in his speech. The next instant the muscles around his mouth began to twitch slight ly. Then thev were violently Convulsed. In another moment the great millionaire's arms bent under his bodv, he toppled for ward, and pitched headlong toward thej floor. Mr. Garrett sprang forwad and, thrust- ing his arm under Mr. Vanderbilt's shoul- j ders, prevented, him from falling prone upon his face'. Then the visitor hastily ! snatched a rug off the sofa on which he j had been sitting, placed it under the head ! of his friend, and laid the stricken man at ! full length bn the floor, just in front of the j bright and cheerful fire. Mr. Garrett rang j the bell for help. Mr. Vanderbilt's ser- j vant Louis rushed into the room, and as i speedily rushed out again to get cologne j and camphor. In a moment bells were ringing and feet us were ringing nnu icct , required c iu, Rnd of ,h;8 Mr Vandcr ery part of the house. j tbe llnfavored fiOD of a father worth were flying in cv The butler, the footman, and the other servants were hastening breathless from the basement. Mrs. Vanderbilt and George W. Vandcrbilt, her youngest son, were hurrying, pale with terror, from above. In a minute all were in the study, where Mr. Garrett was bending over his host's body. The ruddy firelight did not light up the pallid features now. The ghastliness of death was upon them. The fatal stroke had fallen, and in less thau five minutes William H. Vanderbilt, the richest man in the world, had died in the arms of a man with whom he expected, little more than 48 hours later, to sit at a banquet table on Staten Island. Life was extinct before any of the doctors arrived. Death had been painless and practically instantaneous. Every hand was powerless. There was absolutely nothing that could be done. A stroke of apoplexy had done its light ninglike work. Tbe Story of Hla Life. William II. Vanderbilt was the eldest 1 son of Commodore Vanderbilt. He was born in New Brunswick, N. J.. in the old house where the Commodore Hved a good part of his time at that period of his life, on May 8, 1821. His father had little an ticipation of the qualities which the boy was to develop in future years, and he sat isfied himself with giving his son an ordi nary education in the Columbia College 'Grammar School. Here he devoted kim seif exclusively to the practical and busi ness brauches of study, displaying in the process of gaining his education nothing approaching brilliancy, or even indicating any particular talent lor any special branch of business. He was simply a good 44all round' scholar who plodded stolidly aloncr with his class, never being left far behind any of his fellows, but never pushing ahead of them or showing any ambition to surpass them. He stud ied faithfully, however, and when at the age of 18 he had completed the practical course of the school, he was just ns well prepared to embark in the struggle for fortune as the average boy, and no better. In later years Mr. Vanderbilt often expressed regret to his intimate friends that his earlier education had not been more broad and thorough, and regarded himself as a self-made man, so far as his higher tastes for art were con cerned. Equipped, however as he was, the future 41 Colossus of Roads," as he has been styl ed, entered at the age of 18 the office of Dean, Robinson & Co., which was then one of tbe largest banking houses in Wall street. As a clerk there he took his first lessons in the business. ( His father had always considered hm a common-place boy giving no promise for the future, and he told told him so at various times dur ing his boyhood days. William had always received these cheerful paternal compli ments in silence, as became a dutiful son, but they awakened in his breast an ambition to show bis father that he was mistaken, and it was with this feeling uppermost in his mind that he began his duties at the banking house desk. He worked hard from early morning often till late at night, and mastered the details of the bu siness of the firm with wonder ful rapidity. His employers soon saw that he was no ordinary clerk,and his industry and energy were rewarded by approving comments, and what was more to the purpose, by the substantial recogni tion of promotion. The salaries of those days would astonish the banking clerk of the present time. The man who was to con trol the greatest wealth of any person in the world was working at the time spoken of in a most responsible position for the mu nificent sum of $16 a week. The old Com modore, though quite wealthy at that time, made no allowance to his son, and he was forced to depend on his salary solely for a living. It was large enough, William thought, to justify hjm in assuming the additional responsibility attaching to the raaintainance of a wife, and in 1841, after two years of hard labor at his desk he was married to Miss Kissam, the daughter of a Brooklyn clergyman, n cultured, Christian lady of many sterling traits of character. Her influence in sustaining her husband in his early struggles was potent for great good, and Mr. Vanderbilt attributed much of his courage at this pe riod of his history to her cheerful womanly help. The young couple began their wedded life in poverty, and the Commodore took very little notice of either his son or his j daughter-in-law. William was bound to I 4lgo to the dogs," any way, he thought, and i he was not going Jto waste his substance and his energy in trying to prevent the in evitable. William did not nave money enough saved to furnish a home an other evidence, in the opinion of the Com modore, of his shiftlessncss, and an all sufficient reason for his remaining single until he was able to care properly for a wife so he and his wife boarded in East Broadway, which was then a very good part of the city, living contented and nap py on his salary of $16. The young hus band, now that he was married, worked harder than ever, and rose higher and high er in the esteem and confidence of his em ployers. The firm was seriously discus sing the advisability of making him a part ner in the house, when he was obliged to give up his indoor work on account of the failure of his health. He was a delicate young man, and the hard work he had done proved too much for his constitution. He had a natural taste for a farmer's life, and his father realizing that unless he did something for his son he would sink into an early grave, purchased for him a little farm at New Dorp, Staten Island, and told him to make the best of it. William and his wife accepted the Com modore's gift without his blessing, and at once took possession of the little home stead. This was in 1842 and Mr. Vander bilt had just turned his twenty-first year. The farm consisted of 70 acres of unimprov cd land, and the young man, aided by his willing wife, undertook without previous education or experience for the calling a business which requires patience, sagacity, economy, and untiring labor to insure suc cess. Few men of his age would have had the courage to leave a banker's desk to grapple seriously with the responsibilities and difficulties of such an undertaking, and still fewer would have overcome the obstacle,-and succceded. But his motto was always never to attempt what he could not do. and never fail when work would win. The morning sun greeted him in the fields, and the setting sun left him tLere. He was among the first to begin work and the last to leave it; he directed the whole, but permitted nobody to do more labor than himself. The result was that the wastes and barrens of the little farm were soon transformed into a blooming garden. Mr. Vanderbilt's 70 acres began to return him a good income. He was ambitious, however, to enlarge the field of his operations, and some thing more than thrift, endurance, and un tiling labor were necessary to do this. It millions, had none. He determined to ap ply to the Commodore for a loan of $3,000. He thought that the impiovements which he had already made on the property would stand with the old gentleman as solid proofs of both his earnestness of purpose and in dustry, and these might plead for him. He dared not speak in his own behalf, how ever, but he requested a friend of the Commodore to intercede for him. The answer was a curt refusal, and the young farmer had nothing left to him but to give up his ambitious project or to mortgage his farm. He preferred to give the mort gage, and he obtained from some person $ 6,000 and went on with his improvements. Six month passed bv. William had 330 acres j under cultivation, and the Commodore had I apparently taken no notice of his 6on's ef j fort. Tbe father was at all times sur j rounded by voluntary spies, however, who ! tried to make themselves useful and i agreeable to him by reporting all they knew i of the members of his family, ns well as j of outsiders connected with him in any way. Une or these spies found out all abont the young farmer's mortgage trans action and reported the facts to the father, who, in the meantime, had become aware of the improvements which were bcinir made at the New Dorp farm, and must j naturally have known that his son had : obtained money in some manner. He ask- I ed no questions, however but one af ter- noon when William called on him he took him but driving and delivered to him on the road a speech to the followinir ef fect: 44 You don't amount to a row of pins any way. You won't never be able to do any thing but to bring disgrace upon yourself, your family, and everybody connected with you. I have made up my mind to have nothing more to do with you."' The father paused for a moment, and then suddenly launched this question at his astonished son; 44 Did you not mortgage your faYm for $6,000?" The sou answer ed submissively that he had, and that he was obliged to do it, for tbe farm required considerable investment, and he had no money. His object in life, he told his father, had always been to please him, and he was profoundly grieved to see that he was unable to do it. Then growing a lit tle bolder as the Commodore failed to show the expected signs of a further explo sion, William said: 44 The transaction is' perfectly business-like. I undertook to pay the mortgage off at a certain date.and I know I shall be able to do so. I cannot see that I have done anything to be asham ed of." The old man made no answer, and he was dumb for the remainder of the drive, but the next morning William re ceived a check for $6,000, with a peremp tory order to pay off the mortgage "right away." Mr. Vanderbilt always dated the change in his father's attitude toward him from this drive, and attributed it more or less to the incident of the mortgage. At all events, it was about this time that the re lations of the Commodore towards his eld est son began to assume a character of greater confidence and intimacy. The speedy progress of the improvements on the farm and the popularity which the young man had gained among his neighbors at New Dorp pleased the old man, and he began to think that 44 there must be something in the boy after all." The neighbors, in the meantime, had not been as slow as the father to find out that there was 44 something in'" William H. Vanderbilt. He had made friends all over Staten Island, and the honest people of Kichmond county looked up to him more on account of his characteristic push and energy than because he was the son of his father. The Staten Island Railroad, the existence and prosperity of which was of the utmost importance to the develop ment of the island, had been well-nigh wrecked at this time by the gross misman agement of its officers and Directors. It was almost overwhelmed with debts and embarrassments, and finally it was decided by the creditors to put the property into the hands of a Receiver. Mr. Vanderbilt had up to this period had no experience In the management of rail roads, but had shown himself a mam of energy and business capacity, and by the unanimous suggestion of all parties inter ested he was appointed Receiver of the bankrupt road. .This was the beginning of his career as a railroad manager, which culminated in making his name familiar in every part of. the globe where a track is laid or a locomotive puffs. The little Staten Island Rail road, without money, without credit, without materials, and without organiza tion, was the school from which the great est of the railroad kings of the century was graduated. In two years he had paid off all the claims against the company, connected the road with New York by an independent line of ferryboats and placed it upon a secure and permanent financial basis. When the . Staten Island Railroad was placed on a business footing the stockhol ders'made William II. Vanderbilt Presi dent of the company, and he continued to administer its affairs successfully until called away from this position by the claims of fraternal love and duty. His brother George wasiin feeble health, and was ordered to Europe by his physicians. The Commodore by this time had learned how sadly he had misjudged his eldest son, and had gone to the opposite extreme of thinking that there was nobody like Wil liam in the wide world. To him he in trusted the care of his sick brother during his sojourn abroad, and William went to Europe to furnish the attention which no stranger could bestow. He traveled with his brother for nearly two years, but hu man skill and unlimited means were pow erless alike to ward off death. George died and William returned to New York to give an account of his stewardship to his father. The Commodore was growing old now rapidly, and the older he grew the more reliance he seemed to place on the judgment and abilities of his eldest son. He showed his confidence in William by having him elected on his return from Europe to the Vice-Presidency of the New York and Harlem Railroad Company. This was in 1864, and from this time on the field of Mr. Vanderbilt's railroad ca reer began to widen. In 1865 his father secured his election as Vice-President of the New York and Hudson River Railroad Company. In this position he was the exe cutive officer and confidant of the Commo dore, and he proved an able and efficient . assistant through whom the comprehensive i and far-reaching plans of the father's mas . ter mind were carried into quick and suc cessful execution. He rapidly familiariz j ed himself with every detail of the busi I ness, devoted his personal supervision to i every department, reduced the expendi ' tunes, stopped the leaks, and increased the I btkiness of the Harlem and Hudson River ! Rpads, until they were enjoying a season j of prosperity such as had never before been I experienced in their history. The Com ! modore was delighted with the new-found ; treasure which he discovered in the son whom he had once despised. Vervquick- j ly, from serving as a mere agent toexecute j orders, William H. Vanderbilt became the i confidential adviser of his father, and he had been acting as Vice-President of the ! two roads for but a few months when his i counsel was sought, instead of having to ! be proffered, and no important move was i made without his approval. When the Commodore had secured a controlling in i terest in the New York Central Railroad, i William suggested to him that for conven i iencc in the transactien of business and facility in meeting competition, the line from New York to Buffalo should be con tinuous and under one management. This idea met with the Commodore's approval, ; and in 1869 he consolidated the Central with the Hudson River Company, creating a corporation of unrivaled wealth and power, with 700 miles of double track in its main lines and branches. Such a road, , running through the heart of the first State ' in the Union and affecting every interest ' and enterprise throughout the United ! States, requires for its management facul j ties of the highest order, and in full ap preciation of, and confidence in, his abili ties, Mr. Vanderbilt was named in its arti cles of incorporation First Vice-President and Executive Officer. Under his father's nominal direction and supervision, but largely through his inspirations and ideas, he managed this great property so that its value was nearly trebled, and it became i one of the greatest and most prosperous railroads in the world. In the meantime the Harlem Road, which was practically bankrupt when the Vanderbilts became its owners, was raised to the position of one of the lest equipped and best paying roads in the State. Under these circumstances nobody was astonished when the Commodore died, in May, 1877, to learn that, with the excep tion of a few trifling legaciesof $1,000,000 apiece or so to his other children and wid ow, he had left his entire estate to William H. Vanderbilt. The inevitable contest of the will followed on the part of disappoint ed heirs, but after the trial had proceeded for some time in the Surrogate's Court Mr. Vanderbilt compromised the suit by the payment of a round sum to prevent any further prying into the personal affairs of his father. He then set to work to se cure and increase the millions which the Commodore had left him. Elected Presi dent of the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad in June, 1877, he assumed the duties of that position with but little trepidation, having been for some years his father's chosen colleague in the man agement of the road, and being thorough ly familiar with its minutest working. An idea of the magnitude of the work of man agement can be gained bv the fact that to I carry on the.enormous business of the road, in 1881 1;,000 men were constantly em ployed, and 23,000 freight cars, 600 pas senger cars, and 638 engines were in con stant requisition, and on some parts of the road as many as 60 trains passed each other daily. Mr. Vanderbilt's was the organi zing mind which manipulated this busi ness, and everything was done under his personal supervision. In addition to this he was prominently identified with other railroads, notably the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern and the Michigan Cen tral, of both of which he was the Presi dent, and also in many other enterprises, including telegraph and telephone lines and electric light companies. Industry, hard work, and untiring perseverance were as characteristic of him as of his in defatigable father, and the magnitude of his responsibilities was such that he could command only the briefest periods for re creation. Of late he had made a trip to Europe every year, but only for the bene fit of the voyage. He had no time at his command for holiday making, and he gen erally returned in the same steamer on which he sailed. In May, 1883, Mr. Vanderbilt came to the conclusion that it was timo for him to do a little less work and a little more play, and he suddenly astonished Wall street and the railroad world by resigning his position as President of the New York Central and Hudson River, Lake Shore and Michigan Southern, and Michigan Central Railroads. The resignations were formally tendered and accepted by the Directors of the three roads on the 4th of that month, and Mr. Vanderbilt retired from active work in connection with the Vanderbilt system. His two sons, Cornelius and William K. Vanderbilt, were at once elected to fill the positions he held, and thenceforward Mr. Vanderbilt enjoyed a brief season of com parative rest. He, however, remained a Director and a member Jof the Executive and Finance Committees of all three roads, and he was always consulted before any important step was taken. Practically he was at the head of the Vanderbilt system until his death, although relieved of the detail work of management, to which he had devoted so many years of his life. Mr. Vanderbilt died possessed of wealth which seems almost fabulous. His fortune was at one time placed as high as $200, 000,000, and it is believed that he was the richest man in the world. In January, 1883, he told a friend that he was wor-th $194,000,000, and added: "I am the rich est man in the world. In England, the Duke of Westminster is said to be worth $200,000,000, but it is mostly in land and houses. It does not pay him 2 per cent." This was an unusual instance of boastful ness on Mr. Vanderbilt's part, and he was generally very non-communicative in re gard to his financial condition. A year agp it was known that he had $34,000,000 in Government 4 per cent, bonds, but this was afterward reduced to $35,000,000, partly to aid his sons, who had lost $10, 000,000 in Wall street. He afterward pur chased $10,000,000 more of the 4 percents, and he had besides $4,000,000 in Govern ment 3 per cents. It is said that his Gov ernment bonds are worth $70,000,000. He owned in addition $22,000,000 worth of railroad bonds, $3,200,000 of State and city bonds, and had $2,000,000 in manu facturing stocks and mortgages. He stated to a friend that his ordinary expenses in a year were $200,000. A Wall street man, referring to his wealth, said : 44 From his Government bonds he draws $2,372,000 a year; from railroad stocks and bonds, $7, 394,000; from miscellaneous securities, $576,695; total, in round numbers, $10, 350,000 a vear. His earnings are thus over $28,000 a day, $1,200 an hour, and $19.75 a minute.'- This was a year ago, when his wealth was estimated at $200,000,000. some of his securities have decreased in value since then, but at the time of his death his fortune was enormous - In the use of his wealth Mr. Vanderbilt has been generous where he has found worthy objects, and probably the great bulk of his charitable gifts will never be known except to the recipients. Such acts of munificence as have been made public were of a princely character. In 1880 he furnished the entire sum required to re move the obelisk from Egypt aid place it in Central Park, this city, an undertaking which cost about $100,000. In the same year he gave $100,000 for the founding of the Theological Sehool of Vanderbilt. Uni versity, an institution at Nashville, Tenn., endowed by the late Commodore. Theo logical Hall, the result of this gift, was formally dedicated on May 8, 1881, the birthday of its patron. In 1884 Mr. Van derbilt presented to the College of Physi cians and Surgeons, of this city, $500,000 for the founding of a school of medicine. He expended $200,000 in the purchase of a site for the proposed school at Tenth avenue, Fifty-ninth and Sixtieth streets, and forwarded his check for the remaining $300,000. His generosity to the family of Gen. Grant in offering to cancel the mort gage securing the loan of $150,000 which Ferdinand Ward induced the General to make of him in the spring of 1884, is too well remembered to require any detailed notice. Mrs. Grant declined the gift, which was twice offered, but this fact in no way detracts from the character of the motives which prompted it. The correspondence in regard to these magnificent gifts is pub lished in full in the 44 Encyclopedia of Con temporary Biography of New York," and it speaks highly for Mr. Vanderbilt's char acter as a humanitarian. Mr. Vanderbilt's palace at Fifth avenue and Fifty-first street, in which he had lived for nearly four years, is worthy of a Doge of Venice. It cost between $2,500,000 and $3,000,000, and nothing approaching it in elegance is to be found in this country. The double bronze doors which give en trance to the palace alone cost $25,000, arid the bronze railing and other bronze work around the house was furnished at an ex pense of $50,000. No two rooms in the great architectural pile are alike, and the furnishings are princely in their magnifi cence. The picture gallery is the largest apartment in the house. It is 32 by 48 feet, the height of two stories, and lighted from above by a curiously constructed combination o7 roof and skylight, afford ing on every foot of its extensive wall per fect light for the display of paintings. Mr. Vanderbilt had been in the habit of giving art receptions, and tickets for these were eagerly sought by connoisseurs and society people. Very recently, however, he an nounced that he would give no more pub lic views of his art works, and for the last year the treasures which he had collected from two continents have been visible only to his intimate friends and visitors of the family. His collection of contemporary and other French art he valued at over $1,000,000. A grand fancy dress ball was given in the new mansion on the night of March 26, 1883, and on this occasion, for the first time, the Astors and other shining lights of the first society of the city ap peared in Mr. Vanderbilt's drawing rooms. he ball was the event of the season, and was said to have cost the opulent host $40,000. One of the last pieces of business trans acted by Mr. Vanderbilt was the transfer to his son George, for the consideration of $1, all his property on Staten Island, in cluding the old farm at New-Dorp, where he had passed through so many struggles as a farmer. Mr. Vanderbilt went to Sta ten Island last Thursday to make, this transfer, and at that time he visited the Vanderbilt mausoleum, in the Moravian Cemetery. Mr. Vanderbilt leaves a widow and eight children, four, sons and four daughters. His sons are Cornelius, William K., Fred erick W., and George. The daughters are Mrs. W. Seward Webb, Mrs. Elliot F. Shepard, Mis. Hamilton McK. Twombly, aud Mrs. William D. Sloane. All of the family were at tho house yesterday except Mrs. Shepard, who is in Europe. The sons and Mr. Webb are engaged in various ca pacities at the Grand Central Station. Mrs, Sloane and Mrs. Shepard occupy the com panion house to Mr. Vanderbilt's, the house being divided, one part fronting on Fifth avenue and the other on Fif tv-second street. Frederick W. occupies the house that his father formerly had, at No. 459 Fitth ave nue. T.ie others live within easv reach. The United States Circuit Court in Ohio has rendered a decision holding that un der the State law of 1883 liens on a rail road acquired by contractors for materials furnished and labor performed are prior to the liens of pre-existing mortgages. In giving the opinion Judge Baxter comment ed with severity upon 44 those schemes by which railroad property is covered with bonds and the contractors and laborers swindled out of their earnings." The case has been appealed to the United - States Snpreme Court. The questions involved are of importance to corporations and the public. Advertisements will be inserted for One Dollar tt'r square (one Ifaeh) for the first and Fifty CeuU for each snleuent publication. Contracts for advertising fur any space or time may be made at he office of the RALtilGH REGIS' ER, I Second Floor oi . Fisher Building, Fayetteille Street, aext to Market House. j THE CAROLINA HIGHLANDS. I , Note of an Autumn Trip. f Xejv York Trihuue. Jackson County, N. C, Dec. l.-Theie were eleven notches on the post by the way side, for we counted them carefully as we rode by, and oar appetites testified that it was past midday. The morning had slipped away wiile we had been climbing over the Ridgq through Black Gum ' Gap (we were in one of the southwestern coun ties of North Carolina, near the Georgia line, and the notched post on the wagon road which we had just reached vouchsaf ed the information that it was eleven miles to somewhere).! It is not the habit of mile posts here to bear the complete legend, "Eleven miles to Jonesville," because there is only one place to go to ; the oth ers are too far away. A single village, a cluster of half a dozen houses about a din gy court housed suffices for many a moun tain county. And the notches on the post ; perhaps they arc not so much a concession to prevalent illiteracy as a survival from the times whenj paint was not so abundant and the ability iio write or read Arabic nu merals a rare accomplishment. Our mules had been recommended as " good walk ers," but eleven miles over a road that for bade a more violent gait meant three hours, and thenefore wc drew rein at tho first farm-housi. It is not good form to dismount beforje being bidden, so we kept our saddles while the proprietor of the clearing sauntered down to the fence, when in response to a delicate suggestion as to dinner he? spoke up with prompt hos pitality: l,vLht, strangers; 'light and hitch." And we 44 lit." The house, like most of those occupied by forehanded farmers here, was a devel opment from the original log cabin through an intermediate form known as the 44 Chero kee cottage.'M The primitive cabin is a square structure with an outside chimney, a low door and no windows ventilation being assured by cracks between the logs through whicl a spry and not overfed hound can leap with case. The next step is to place two cabins side by side with a six-foot alleyway between them and a con tinuous roof oyer both. Of course the al leyway is shut Sn after a time and becomes an 44 entry" before which a porch is evolv ed to completethe Cherokee cabin of most ambitious style' The addition of a second story follows as habits of luxury begin to prevail, and a single sleeping room is con sidered insufficient for a large family aud casual guests, and when the roof line of such a house is broken by a central gable over the porch; and the porch itself has a second floor accessible from the upper story, it is not without an air of solid comfort. The history of fthe rise and progress of this mountain architecture is told over again by examples of every type along the roads and trails, and not infrequently the origin al cabin, now used as an out house, still ' stands by a dwelling of the most advanc ed type to bear witness to the enterprise and advanced prosperity of tbe owner. In the cabin of the, early settler was a low, dark loft under the roof. The ground floor thcreforerwas the place of preference and precedenct, and he who climbed the ladder went to more lowly quarters. We were interested in observing how this sen timent that the ground floor is the place ot honor has survived even where ladders have given place to staircases and dark lofts to cheerful upper rooms. The landlord of a considerable hotel once apologized for being compelled to send us to bright and airy apartments oa his second floor as if he were offering ns an indignity. , ; This particular house with which our hopes of di liner were now identified had not reached the two-story stage, but its porch had widened out into an inviting veranda which extended across its entire front, while behind it for a most effective back ground rose the dark hemlocks of a steep mountain slope. The ground fell away on either hand to, where a rill glistened down and the two streamlets met not many rods below to form; a brook which hastened on between banks of rhododendrou, laurel and holly to lied the Nantahaleh. As we sat on the veranda and looked down the course of the stream, the valley was full to the brim of a pearly autumn haze which softened every- line and meliowed every tint of the landscape and purpled the mountain tops beyond until the sky-line faded into a shimmering mist. On this side of the stream and on that rose the mountains always the mountains, andf the mountains always draped with forest while on oncf slope above the deciduous trees rose sentinel pines white pines as much at home: as in the colder air of the North, and flinging out their giant arms with characteristic gestures of regal strength and f grace. Perhaps it was the atmosphere oft Hearty welcome about us; it may have been the hum of the bees as they 'were storing nectar from goldenrod in the row of 44 gums" by the gate, or was it the aroma of comipg dinner ? something there was that invested that untamed landscape with the charm of peace ineffable. The mountains were wild, but not inhospitable. There was strength and force in every out line, but no suggestion of cruelty. To the eye it was a wilderness that lay before us with nothing put a single column of faintly . curling smoke from an unseen chimney to indicate a human habitation. And yet every suggestion was home-like, as of a land that had nourished generations of men who had tilled and loved it. ' The hungriest man of the party was aroused fromthese sentimental musings by a glimpse of something big and ripe and yellow attached to a cucurbitaceous vine that wandered over the fence, and he mur mured hopefully: 44 We've struck the pumpkin pie; belt." This cheerful faith was justified jas wc filed into the house at -the announcement of dinner and found a quadrant of the genuine article by each, plate. The pie was something of a sui- . prise, but after a fortnight's ride among the mountains, the savory steam from a . good hot dinner no longer surprised us. We had beea warned against the deadly frying-pan of the South, grease-sodden food and a monotony of hog and hominy ; but our experience at meal-time was abso lutely harrowing only on rare occasions. Perhaps the food was superior to its repu tation ; perhaps the feeders were not in condition to pronounce expert opinions. Appetites stimulated by the tonic air of this altitude jare not critical, and indiges- , tion has no terrors which eight hours on the ridgepole of a mule cannot put to rout. Upon this Uble was chicken, fried, of course, but young and tender; ham, also fried, and eggs ditto, but fresh and flavor ous were there, with bread of the variety known as 4 'light," but of a considerable specific gravity after all, and corn-cake as a matter of course. The butter was not of such golden grain and delicate aroma a a Darlington fancy print, buf it was the genuine product of the cow, and not an oleo counterfeit. Potatoes, sweet and Irish, boiled rice, sliced tomatoes, so-called cof fee, milk, honey, sorghum syrup, and the crowning pumpkin pie completed the as sortment which our host and his good wife ( Continued on fourth page. " t
The Weekly Raleigh Register (Raleigh, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Dec. 16, 1885, edition 1
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