CHAPTER LVIII.

JAY GOULD.

His Birth and Early Education.—Clerk in a Country 619

Store.—He Invents a Mouse Trap.—Becomes a Civil

Engineer and Surveys Delaware County.—Writes a Book

and Sells it.—Gets a Partnership in a Pennsylvania

Tannery and soon Buys his Partner Out.—He comes to

New York to Sell his Leather, falls in Love with a

Leather Merchant’s Daughter and Marries her.—Settles

in the Metropolis and begins to Deal in

Railroads.—Buys a Bankrupt Road from his

Father-in-law, Reorganizes it and Sells it at a

Considerable Profit.—Henceforth he makes his Money

Dealing in Railroads.—His Method of Buying,

Reorganizing and Selling Out at a Large Profit.—How

he Managed Erie in connection with Fisk and Drew.—His

Operations on Black Friday.—Checkmated by Commodore

Vanderbilt and obliged to Settle.—He makes Millions

out of Wabash and Kansas & Texas.—His Venture in

Union Pacific.—His Construction

Companies.—Organization of American Union Telegraph,

and his Method of Absorbing and Getting Control of

Western Union.—The Strike of the Telegraphers and his

Great Encounter with the Knights of Labor and Trades

Unionist.—Gould’s First Yachting Expedition.—An

exceedingly Humorous Story of his early Experience on

the Water.—His Status as a Factor in Railroad

Management