e against which no skill or foresight could
guard. He refuses to insure his boats, holding that care and prudence
are the best safeguards against accidents, and thus saves half a million
dollars. When the "Dean Richmond" was run down by the "Vanderbilt," a
year or two ago, he lost nearly three hundred thousand dollars. He paid
every claim presented by shippers and passengers, as soon as made,
without submitting one of them to the adjudication of the courts.

In 1836, Mr. Drew entered the banking business in Wall Street, and in
1840 established the widely-known firm of Drew, Robinson & Co. This
house engaged largely in the financial operations of the day, and became
known as one of the most uniformly successful in its dealings of any in
the city. Mr. Drew remained at the head of it for thirteen years, but in
1855 withdrew to make room for his son-in-law, Mr. Kelley. This
gentleman died soon after his connection with the firm, and Mr. Drew
resumed his old place.

Having succeeded so well in all his ventures, Mr. Drew now determined to
enter another field. Railroad stocks were very profitable, and might be
made to yield him an immense return for his investments, and he decided
to invest a considerable part of his fortune in them. In 1855, he
endorsed the acceptances of the Erie Railroad Company for five hundred
thousand dollars. This was the first decided evidence the public had
received of his immense wealth, and in 1857 another was given by his
endorsement of a fresh lot of Erie acceptances amounting to a million
and a half of dollars. This last indorsement was made in the midst of
the great financial panic of 1857, and occasioned no little comment. Men
could admire, though they could not understand, the sublime confidence
which enabled Mr. Drew to risk a million and a half of dollars in the
midst of such a terrible crisis. Some one asked him if he could sleep
quietly at night with such large interests at stake. "Sir," he replied,
calmly, "I have never lost a night's rest on account of business in my
life."

In 1857, Mr. Drew was elected a director of the Erie Railroad Company, a
position he held until recently. He was subsequently elected treasurer
of the company, and is one of the principal holders of Erie stock. He is
also one of the principal creditors of the company. The recent
proceedings in the New York courts to prevent the Erie Road from issuing
the new stock necessary to complete its broad-gauge connections w