me
that my ten thousand dollars had become twenty, and I could have
them if I wished. I said: 'No, you are doing far better than I
could. Keep it.' In about a month or more my account had grown
to thirty thousand dollars. Then the governor on a very hot day
went fishing somewhere off the Long Island coast. He was a very
large, heavy man, became overheated, and on his return drank a
lot of ice-water and ate a bunch of radishes. He died that
afternoon. There was a panic in the stocks which were his favorites
the next day, and they fell out of sight. The result was that I
lost my fortune of ten thousand dollars and also my profit of
twenty. Since then the sight of a radish makes me sick."

XVIII. FIFTY-SIX YEARS WITH THE NEW YORK CENTRAL RAILROAD COMPANY

Heredity has much to do with a man's career. The village of
Peekskill-on-the-Hudson, about forty miles from New York, was
in the early days the market-town of a large section of the
surrounding country, extending over to the State of Connecticut.
It was a farming region, and its products destined for New York City
were shipped by sloops on the Hudson from the wharfs at Peekskill,
and the return voyage brought back the merchandise required by
the country.

My father and his brother owned the majority of the sloops engaged
in this, at that time, almost the only transportation. The sloops
were succeeded by steamboats in which my people were also
interested. When Commodore Vanderbilt entered into active rivalry
with the other steamboat lines between New York and Albany, the
competition became very serious. Newer and faster boats were
rapidly built. These racers would reach the Bay of Peekskill in
the late afternoon, and the younger population of the village would
be on the banks of the river, enthusiastically applauding their
favorites. Among well-known boats whose names and achievements
excited as much interest and aroused as much partisanship and
sporting spirit as do now famous race-horses or baseball champions,
were the following: Mary Powell, Dean Richmond, The Alida, and
The Hendrick Hudson.

I remember as if it were yesterday when the Hudson River Railroad
had reached Peekskill, and the event was locally celebrated. The
people came in as to a county fair from fifty miles around. When
the locomotive steamed into the station many of those present had
never seen one. The engineer was continuously blowing his whistle
to emphasize the great