The Wizard of Wall Street and His Wealth; or, The Life and Deeds of Jay GouldWhite, Trumbull
History
The Wizard of Wall Street and His Wealth; or, The Life and Deeds of Jay Gould
White, Trumbull
Businessmen -- United States -- Biography; Capitalists and financiers -- United States -- Biography; Gould, Jay, 1836-1892
“Then his quick mind took in the full force of the practical joke that
we had worked upon him, and his dark face was a study for a painter.
But the train had already reached the station, taken on its passengers,
and the wheels were beginning to turn again for its run to the city.
As Gould scrambled up the wall, his glossy black suit still pressed
affectionately to his bosom, the ‘All aboard’ had sounded and the cars
were moving. Every window was filled with laughing faces, as he raced
over the sand and stones, and was dragged by two brakemen onto the
rear platform, panting and dripping. The last glimpse we caught of him
was as the train entered the prison tunnel. Then, supported on either
side by the railroad men, he was making frantic plunges in his efforts
to thrust his streaming legs into his trousers, as the platform reeled
and rocked beneath him.”
It was once suggested to Mr. Gould that he had been fairly successful
in life, and the inquirer wanted to know if Mr. Gould wouldn’t tell the
secret of it.
“There isn’t any secret,” said Mr. Gould. “I avoid bad luck by being
patient. Whenever I am obliged to get into a fight I always wait and
let the other fellow get tired first.”
Any student of the history of Mr. Gould’s career in the corporation
world will appreciate how again and again he found this quality of
patience a prime investment. He never seemed to be in a hurry about
anything. One of his enemies has remarked that during the last twenty
years Jay Gould spent $1,000,000 hiring lawyers and paying court fees
to accomplish nothing except to have lawsuits postponed.
And now the great man is dead. For days after his demise the public
press was full of tales of his career. On every editorial page have
been resumes of his life, and judgment upon him, either for or against.
Much has been found to say of him that was good, and much that was
evil. As a fitting close to this biography, it is good to quote from
the New York _World_, which has published much of interest regarding
him. The paper indeed was not his friend, but we have had much from his
friends, and this opinion probably agrees with that of more persons
than does any other:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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