Hidden Treasures | Page 5

Vanderbilt was a happy boy.
He had earned it. Now, as Vanderbilt did not want this boat for pleasure,
he at once began business carrying produce from Staten Island to New
York city. When the wind was unfavorable he used oars or a pole to aid
his sails, thus, his produce was always on time. People said, "Send your
stuff by Vanderbilt and you can depend on its being in season." Now
Vanderbilt had to give all of his earnings during the day time to his
parents, so he worked nights, but his father also required one-half of
what he earned nights, thus his opportunities were not as great as one
might think. He worked very hard and at the end of three years, it was
found that Corneel. Vanderbilt had saved for himself over, or about
$3,000 and the best of all, had earned the reputation of being the best
boatman on the river. While others were smoking and drinking, 'having
fun while they were young, for when would they if not then?'

Vanderbilt was either earning more money working over time, or at
least saving what he had earned, home asleep recruiting for the next
day's labor.
He wished to marry a Miss Johnson, but could not unless his parents
would release him from all parental restrictions. He was only nineteen,
yet luckily for the young people the lady was a favorite of the father;
the desired permission was obtained and henceforth Vanderbilt had the
exclusive benefit of his labor. As he had begun, so he continued, and at
the age of twenty-three he was worth about $9,000. In 1817 he became
captain of the first steam boat that ever run between New York and
New Brunswick, New Jersey, at a salary of $1,000 per year. His wife
proved to be a helpmeet in the truest sense of the word, she at this time
keeping hotel at New Brunswick and making no small amount herself.
Seven years passed and Vanderbilt was made superintendent of the
company of which he had been an employe. If a man has ability and
applies it, his talent will not remain hid 'under a bushel.' His ability and
indomitable energy brought the "Gibbons Line" up to paying $40,000 a
year. Seeing a chance, for which he was ever on the alert, he leased the
ferry between New York and Elizabeth, New Jersey, for fourteen years,
put on new boats and it became a very profitable venture. In 1829 he
left the "Gibbons Line," and began to operate on the Hudson and
between New York and Boston; also on the Delaware river. He would
start an opposition line, and either drive off the old line or effect a
compromise. In 1849 he obtained from the Nicaraguan Government a
charter for a steamship company. He next went to England and raised
the extra funds needed. He then went personally and inspected the
whole route that was used, and by a system of cables fastened to trees,
shortened the same about seven hundred miles over all existing lines.
He placed steamers on each ocean and cut the fare from New York to
San Francisco one-half. Soon he had destroyed all opposition and then
made immense profits. Afterward he sold out for two millions.
Mr. Vanderbilt, like all successful men, made finance a study; he
foresaw that there were great profits to be realized in the near future in
the undeveloped railway systems in the country. To see a chance was to
at once set about planning to improve it. He at once began to withdraw

his money from the water and invest in railroads, which were then
coming rapidly to the front. The wisdom of Vanderbilt can be seen, for
at the beginning of the war, which he had been long expecting, his
money was all transferred from the water, and thus his interests were
not jeopardised by the war made upon our commerce. He, however,
had owned so many vessels, that he had long since been known as
Commodore Vanderbilt, in fact few people to-day know him by any
other name. He, at the beginning of hostilities, presented the
government with a magnificent steamship, the "Vanderbilt," worth
$800,000. When he entered the railroad business he was estimated at
from thirty-five to forty millions. He had dealt somewhat in New York
and New Haven, and now began to buy Harlem when it was in a most
helpless and depressed condition. He advanced a large sum to the
company when it was in need, and for this, among other things, he was
made its President in 1863. By judicious management and influences
common in 'The street,' he successfully ran Harlem from thirty to two
hundred and eighty-five. Such a man was just what the New York
Central railroad desired,