him supreme control. He
at once became Manager, Superintendent and Treasurer. When the stock
had multiplied upon itself many times, he sold out, receiving in all
$750,000, for his interest. This first scheme illustrates his line of
procedure in most of those seemingly mysterious movements which have
marked his uniform success; namely, to find some road which was almost
worthless and, if he thought good management would bring it up, secretly
buy the controlling interest in the line, and when it reached a fair
figure, sell. The Rutland & Washington was offering stock at ten cents
on the dollar; he at once bought it up and managed it so well that he
soon was enabled to sell at 120, making, as most people would think, a
fortune.

Cleveland & Pittsburg was for a long time in a precarious condition,
perceiving which, Mr. Gould bought up all the stock he could find, and
threw his whole ability and experience into the development of the same.
The stock soon took an upward move, and when it reached 120 he sold his
twenty-five thousand shares. We next see him buying Union Pacific at
fifteen. This stock kept falling, but while others sold continually at a
sacrifice, and seemed glad to unload at any figure, the lower it went
the more Gould bought. After securing a controlling interest as desired,
he began to develop the iron industries along the line, which of course
soon gave the road business. This and other causes soon set Union
Pacific "booming," and the stock began to rise. No sooner, however, did
the disappointed capitalists see their mistake in selling than the cry
was raised: "That is Gould's road and if you touch it you will surely be
burnt." But despite all this the stock gradually rose, and in 1879 Mr.
Gould sold the whole hundred thousand shares that he owned to a
syndicate. It must not be supposed, however, that Mr. Gould sold to
satisfy public clamor--Mr. Gould is not that kind of a man.

How much he was worth when he went into Erie no one knows, but it was no
inconsiderable amount. After Mr. Drew's suit with Vanderbilt, whereby
the latter lost seven millions, Mr. Gould was made President of Erie,
and the capital stock was increased to two hundred and thirty-five
thousand shares, which stood about fifty-seven and one-half million.
This brought the price down to 44. It was determined to sink Erie still
lower, so Gould, Fisk and Drew locked up greenbacks to the amount of one
million four hundred thousand. By a false mo