SOME MILLIONAIRES OF AMERICA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9022, 7 April 1888, Page 2 (Supplement)

SOME MILLIONAIRES OF AMERICA.

INTERESTING PARTICULARS. TnE father of James Gordon Bennett was the proprietor of the New York Herald, The son succeeded the father in the proprietorship, which he still retains. Mr.' Bennett lives almost wholly abroad, but is constantly in close communication with the Herald by cable. Ho has an income of £200 per day, which he receives from the Herald alone. Not long ago a syndicate offered £400,000 for the Herald, which Mr. Bennett refused.

George M. Pullman is worth £2,000,000. His company was the first to build the beautiful carriages named "the Pullman cars." His residence in Chicago is one of the most magnificent in the United States. Attached to it there are an immense conservatory and private theatre, in which performances are frequently given before audiences specially invited. Mr. Sharon was one of the many men brought into prominence through the rich mineral treasures of the West. He left at his death an estate worth £5,000,000. Leland Stanford ranks high among the magnates of money. Ho was born in the state of Kew York, and educated as a lawyer; but, in common with multitudes of others, he was smitten with the Californian fever, and went to that Btate in company with the original Argonauts of 1549. Stock-breeding is his favourite pastime, and he gives special attention to raising trotting and running stock. His fortune is estimated at £10,000,000. John W. Mackay is familiarly termed the "Bonanza Kins; , ." At present he is said to be worth £12,000,000, derived from his silver mines. When Edwin Adams, the well-known actor, was ill and penniless, Mackay called upon him, and left him a cheque for £1000. Mrs. Mackay and her daughter live in P.aris, and their entertainments, dresses, and objects of art have been written about again and again. Miss Mackay was lately married to Prince Colonna, a Roman, whose noblo family was old in the time of Rienzi. Samuel J. Tilden was admitted to the Bar in 1836. Ho became prominent in politics, and very soon hold a position of influence. His fortune was estimated at £10,000,000 sterling. The name of Cyrus \V. Field is a familiar one. He was the originator of the Atlantic cable and the system of elevated railroads. It may be remembered that the cable broke three times; but at last Mr. Field had the satisfaction of superintending the transmission from President Buchanan to Queen Victoria of the first message—" What hath God wrought!" His fortune is estimated at several millions.

Jay Gould may be called the Napoleon of American finances. He was born of poor parents ; but he had the ambition to make himself famous, and early turned his attention to civil engineering. His fortune may be roughly estimated at £0,000,000. The great friend and co-worker of Jay Gould is Sydney Dillon. He can be seen almost every day in Wall-street, although he no longer takes any active part in the battles and enterprises of that great financial and speculative arena. He was president of the Union Pacific Railroad, and it was in his fertile brain that the great scheme was first conceived. He ranks among the rich men of America, and is worth £2,000,000 sterling. Moses Taylor was another millionaire. The exact sum total of his fortune was not known ; but he established the great City Bank of New York, and was one of the pioneers of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company. Russell Sage is also a millionaire of America. His millions were gained by speculation. And, last of all, there was the great Vanderbilt. He possessed millions, which he seemed to disburse as thousands. His wealth M-as estimated at £40,000,000. Vanderbiit was fond of fast horses ; but at length, worried beyond endurance by challenges, he sold his fleetest horse, the celebrated Maud, to Robert Bonner for £8000, on condition that the mare was never to be matched against any other in a race.