Hidden Treasures Part 3

ROBERT BONNER.

Of all the newspaper editors we have ever read, possibly Robert Bonner is the most enterprising. He was born in Ireland in the year 1824, and at the age of sixteen came to Hartford, Connecticut. He had an uncle here who was a farmer, but Robert aspired to own a paper, and drifted into the office of the _Hartford Courant_. Robert Bonner determined to own a paper; he, therefore, set about it, working faithfully every day, and overtime, saving his money. He mastered his business, becoming an expert compositor. In 1844 he went to New York and obtained employment on the _Mirror_. He was intrusted with the oversight of the advertising department, and it was soon seen that he had a decidedly fine taste in the arrangement of this line, a feature which has undoubtedly had much to do with his wonderful success later. He was also at this time a correspondent of the _Hartford Courant_, also newspapers in Boston, Albany and Worcester. About 1851 he bought out the _Merchants Ledger_, a paper devoted to the commercial interests of the country. This he transformed into a family story paper, and christened it the _New York Ledger_. f.a.n.n.y Fern was just appearing in the columns of literature.

Bonner offered her $1,000 to write a story for the _Ledger_, enclosing his check for the amount. As this was a very high price in those days, of course she accepted. Then the papers throughout the country were full of advertis.e.m.e.nts--"Read the Thousand Dollar Story in the _Ledger_."

"Read The _New York Ledger_"--Some people said, "Well, first-cla.s.s journals don't use such flashy ways of inducing people to subscribe; they rely on the merits of their paper." Bonner heard this and began to study how to overcome this tide of sentiment. There was _Harpers Weekly_--no one questioned its respectability. The Harpers never indulged in any flashy advertising, but soon the people were surprised to see in all the leading papers, 'Buy _Harpers Weekly_,' as no one imagined that Bonner had paid for the advertising; they attributed the advertis.e.m.e.nts to the necessity Harpers felt through the rivalry of the _Ledger_. This sort of enterprise cost, but it convinced people that respectable journals advertised as did the _Ledger_. People said it was 'cheap, trashy literature, etc.'

Mr. Bonner at once hunted up Edward Everett who was recognized as the representative of New England refinement. This was a most opportune time for Mr. Bonner, as Mr. Everett was trying to raise a large sum with which to aid in beautifying the home and tomb of Washington. Mr. Bonner engaged Mr. Everett to write a series of articles on Mount Vernon, giving in return his check for $10,000 to be applied toward the Everett Fund for the aid of the a.s.sociation. Probably Mr. Everett would have refused to write at any other time, but Bonner took advantage of circ.u.mstances--ALWAYS.

He next secured George Bancroft, the eminent historian. Then followed Horace Greely, James Gordon Bennett, and Henry J. Raymond. When such lights of journalism would write for the _Ledger_, what could lesser country editors say? Next came a story by Henry Ward Beecher, who was followed by Dr. John Hall the great Presbyterian Divine, Bishop Clark, Dr. English, Longfellow, Tennyson, and others, including a series of articles from the presidents of the leading colleges throughout the country.

Mr. Bonner is a Presbyterian, being a member of the church presided over by Dr. John Hall, on Fifth Avenue. He has given many thousands of dollars to various inst.i.tutions and charities. He owns the finest stable of horses in the Union, among which are such as Maud S.--his first great trotter was Dexter. He never allows one of his horses to trot for money.

Mr. Bonner is getting along in years but still attends to business. His paper has at times attained a circulation of 400,000 copies, each issue.

WILLIAM G. FARGO.

Who, indeed, has not heard of the American Express Company? Yet, how few there are who know to whom we are indebted for its existence.

William G. Fargo was born May 20, 1818, at Pompey, New York, and at the age of twelve he was mail-carrier over a route that covered forty miles.

The inference must be at once formed that William G. Fargo was no ordinary child. He must have been industrious and trustworthy, for the mail must be delivered on time. No holiday could be observed, nor could any circus be allowed to come between him and his work. Seeking a more remunerative calling he went to Waterville, where he clerked in a small store and tavern, improving his spare moments in learning to keep accounts. When seventeen he went to Syracuse and entered a grocery house. He continued in the grocery line in one capacity or another for five years, when he accepted the freight agency of the Auburn and Syracuse Railroad, in which capacity he had found his calling. Two years later he became a.s.sociated with Pomeroy & Co., and was given the express agency for that company at Buffalo, and in 1844 he became a member of the firm of Wells & Co., who established an express line from Buffalo, west to Detroit, via Cleveland. This firm, in time, became Livingston & Fargo, and finally the several express companies: Wells & Co., b.u.t.terfield, Wa.s.son & Co. and Livingston & Co., became merged into the since famous American Express Co. In 1868 Mr. Fargo was elected President of this Company, and remained at its head until his death. He was also connected with various other enterprises, being Vice-President of the New York Central & Hudson River railroad, and was also largely interested in Northern Pacific and other railroad stock. In 1861 he was elected Mayor of Buffalo on the Democratic ticket, but so impartial was he in the administration of the city affairs, and so patent was his business ability, that he was re-elected, being supported by all parties.

Such is the reward for earnestness. And will any one say that William G.

Fargo was not deserving of this splendid success? If we will have success we must earn it. Let no man envy another in no matter what station of life he may be situated. Rest a.s.sured that we will fill the place that we are capable of filling; no more, no less.

JAMES C. FLOOD.

James C. Flood was born in New York city. He received only a plain common school education, but has succeeded, not from a lack of education but in spite of that lack. He pa.s.sed through the usual routine of boys placed in moderate circ.u.mstances, until the year 1849, being past his majority, he sailed in the good ship "Elizabeth," around the "Horn,"

arriving in a strange land without money or friends, but he had brains, and they were reinforced by a surprising allowance of will-power.

He drifted from one thing to another, kept a restaurant, and finally in 1854 loomed up as senior partner in the firm of Flood & O'Brien, who were soon deep in "Old Kentuck," seeking the treasures which they found in great quant.i.ties, and finally when they took hold of the "Hale & Norcross" mine, it made them the first bonanza kings America ever knew.

He next projects the Nevada Bank and makes the call for over five millions of dollars which leads to the suspension of the Bank of California, as the indiscrete placing of its resources leaves that bank in a weak position to withstand so sudden a drain, and was therefore indirectly the cause, as most people think, of its beloved President's death. Mr. Flood desired to place this Nevada Bank upon so firm a foundation that neither the indiscretion of speculators or the ebb and flow of mercantile life could overthrow it. How well this has been accomplished can be seen from the fact, that it has a capital of nearly fifteen million dollars, and numbers among its directors, such bonanza kings as James C. Flood, John W. MacKay and James G. Fair, whose private fortunes combined represent over $100,000,000, to say nothing of other wealthy directors. This bank a.s.serts that it has special facilities for handling bullion, and we should think quite likely it has. Something of the condition of the private finances of Mr. Flood can be ascertained.

If one takes the trouble to look over the a.s.sessment roll he will find the following: "James C. Flood, 6,000 shares, Nevada Bank stock, $1,200,000; 12,000 shares, Pacific Mill & Mining Co., $4,000,000; 250 shares, Pacific Wood, Lumber & Flume Co., $30,000; 1,000 shares, San Francisco Gaslight stock, $90,000; 937 shares of Golden City Chemical Works, $20,000; 3,000 shares of Virginia & Gold-Hill Water Co., $300,000; 47-1/2 shares of Giant Powder Co., $60,000; 649-1/2 shares Atlantic Giant Powder Co., $30,000; 35,000 shares Ophir Mine stock, $1,000,000," and he is a.s.sessed for $250,000 in money. Then comes J. C.

Flood & Co. "Controlling interest in stock of Yellow Jacket, Union Consolidated, Scorpion, Savage, Ophir, Occidental, Hale & Norcross, Gould & Curry, Consolidated Virginia, Best & Belcher and other mining companies, $10,000,000; money $500,000." In all it is quite a fortune for a poor boy to find, but it must be remembered that Mr. Flood had much with which to contend, and that nine men out of ten might have pa.s.sed over the same ground and found nothing. Industry is what wins, and J. C. Flood is no exception to the rule. In a recent law suit Mr.

Flood displayed a most peculiar memory, or rather a most remarkable lack of memory. We take the following facts from an editorial on the subject:

"A certain man sued Mr. Flood to recover about $26,000,000, the alleged value of certain 'tailings' on some of the mines. Mr. Flood did not know what company milled the ore of the Consolidated Virginia; did not remember who was President of the company at the time; he might have been; could not say for certain however; did not know where the crude bullion from his own mines was sent to be melted into bars; could not tell how much was worked, nor anything about it. He did not remember who was treasurer of the mill company; he might have been, might now be, but could not tell for certain."

Mr. Flood owns one of the finest mansions, for a private residence, in the whole world. It cost one million, and is a magnificent building in any sense.

Few men surpa.s.s him in either getting or keeping money.

JOHN W. MACKAY.

John W. MacKay is not only the youngest and the richest of that bonanza trio--Flood, Fair and MacKay but immense wealth has not spoiled him. He is of Irish birth, but came to this country before he was of age. When the gold fever broke out he was one of the first to seek his fortune in that auriferous country bordering on the Pacific, in California.

Contrary to the general supposition that his great wealth came through 'good luck,' let me say, it was only by constant toil and slowly acquired experience that he learned how to tell a non-paying lead from a bonanza. Several times he seemed about to strike the long-looked for success only to find his brightest hopes dashed to the earth. But these failures tempered him for the greater hardships that followed.

The famous "Comstock Lode" is situated among a vast acc.u.mulation of rocks and deep canyons--the result of terrible volcanic eruptions at some remote period. This mining district was discovered by two Germans in about 1852-3. Contrary to the opinion expressed by other prospectors, these Germans saw silver in the rejected ore. Both brothers suddenly dying, the claim fell to a storekeeper named Comstock who sold out for a few thousand. Mr. MacKay's investment in the one mine, the "Consolidated Virginia and California," has paid him unheard of dividends. This mine produced in a period covering six years, from 1873, gold and silver to the amount of over sixty-three millions of dollars.

The combined profits of the two mines were over seventy-three and one-half millions of dollars. Mr. MacKay drifted to this lode, making his first 'hit' in 1863, and in this section the bulk of his vast fortune was acc.u.mulated.

On the 25th of November, 1867, he concluded that he was able to support a wife, and accordingly married the widow of an old friend (Dr.

Thompson) who had shared his varying fortune of former years when he little dreamed of the vast wealth that awaited him. This lady is one of the best hands to help a man spend a fabulous income, of which we are aware. She lives in Paris, where she gives the most expensive of entertainments. When General Grant was in France he was her guest. She supports a private railway carriage to use at her pleasure, and it would almost exceed belief to describe the cost of her table service; in fact, she lives in oriental splendor. On the other hand Mr. MacKay is decidedly p.r.o.nounced, personally, in favor of little show. He is far more at home in Virginia City, where he may often be seen in a genuine mining costume, than at his palatial home in Paris.

The ground had been known for years wherein his great wealth was found, but it was p.r.o.nounced worthless. Everything seemingly had to be contested; confidence was lacking, and what confidence remained was daily agitated by parties who were jealous rivals. The stock became almost worthless, and great discontent was manifest when, to make matters worse, a fire broke out which burned the company's property and valuable machinery. Twelve hundred feet of ground had to be slowly gone over in search for the right vein, at a cost of $500,000. Amid great discouragement John W. MacKay led this apparently forlorn hope to at last be crowned with the success he so richly deserved. He now is estimated to be worth in the vicinity of $55,000,000, and although it may seem a somewhat extravagant reward, it cannot be denied that this vast sum could have been placed in far worse hands.

Both Mr. and Mrs. MacKay are very liberal toward charitable purposes.

They were especially complimented by Pope Leo XIII for their charitable deeds. As Mr. MacKay is but about fifty years of age, it is hard to conjecture his possible future. While many features in his career seem to justify the belief in "luck," still, to the close observer, it is manifest that had he not possessed great endurance, and known no such thing as fail, the world would never have known of John W. MacKay.

Surely, great effort is the price of great success, ALWAYS.

JAMES C. FAIR.

The name of James C. Fair will be recognized at once as one of the bonanza kings, and like the others he enjoyed only a fair education, starting for California at about the same time as the rest; he taking the overland route while they went by water. His only capital consisting of a miner's outfit, and with those simple implements he began his hard fought battle for wealth. He made mining a scientific study and after about six years of variable success, he became known as an expert. Soon after this he accepted the superintendency of the Ophir mine, and later, the Hale & Norcross; since which time he has gone on, until now, he can count his worldly possessions by the million. He is a most thorough miner, and his long continued life at the bottom of the mines has had a telling effect on his health. That he has successfully managed such wild and wicked men, as many miners are, without becoming the victim of some "accident," indicates something of his ability. Finally his impaired health necessitated his withdrawal from active work, and he made an extended voyage, returning in a much improved condition.

In 1881 he was elected to the United States Senate, where he acquitted himself with credit. He charged nothing for his services, an event without parallel in our history, however, he received all for which he went to Washington--honor. He is a.s.sessed for over forty millions, and can well afford to donate his salary to the Government.

Like the other bonanza kings he seems to have been specially favored by fortune, but the old saying, "Birds of a feather will flock together,"

is true in this case, for these men are all practical miners and changed partners often until the firm of Flood, Fair & MacKay was formed, since which time they all seem perfectly satisfied each with the other. All had been sorely tried during their earlier life and were not found wanting either in ability or stick-to-it-iveness as they pa.s.sed through the crucible of Dame Fortune.

As we have just been reading the lives of the three bonanza kings, J. C.

Flood, J. C. Fair and J. W. MacKay, possibly a description of one of their enterprises in the shape of a flume will be interesting as described by a New York _Tribune_ correspondent:

A fifteen-mile ride in a flume down the Sierra Nevada Mountains in thirty minutes was not one of the things contemplated in my visit to Virginia City, and it is entirely within reason to say that even if I should make this my permanent place of residence--which fortune forbid--I shall never make the trip again. The flume cost, with its appurtenances, between $200,000 and $300,000--if it had cost a million it would be the same in my estimation. It was built by a company interested in the mines here, princ.i.p.ally the owners of the Consolidated Virginia, California, Hale & Norcross, Gould & Curry, Best & Belcher and Utah mines. The largest stockholders in these mines are J. C. Flood, James C. Fair, John W. MacKay and W. S. O'Brien, who compose without doubt the wealthiest firm in the United States. Taking the stock of their companies at the price quoted in the board, the amount they own is more than $100,000,000, and each has a large private fortune in addition. The mines named use 1,000,000 feet of lumber per month under ground, and burn 40,000 cords of wood per year. Wood is here worth from $10 to $12 per cord, and at market prices Messrs. Flood & Co. would have to pay nearly $500,000 a year for wood alone. Going into the mine the other day, and seeing the immense amount of timber used, and knowing the incalculable amount of wood burned in the several mines and mills, I asked Mr. MacKay, who accompanied me, where all the wood and timber came from. "It comes," said he, "from our lands in the Sierras, forty or fifty miles from here. We own over twelve thousand acres in the vicinity of Washoe Lake, all of which is heavily timbered." "How do you get it here?" I asked. "It comes," said he, "in our flume down the mountains, fifteen miles, and from our dumping grounds is brought by the Virginia & Truckee Railroad to this city, about sixteen miles. You ought to see the flume before you go back; it is really a wonderful thing." The flume is a wonderful piece of engineering work. It is built wholly on trestle-work and stringers; there is not a cut in the whole distance, and the grade is so heavy that there is little danger of a jam. The trestle-work is very substantial, and undoubtedly strong enough to support a narrow-gauge railway. It runs over foot-hills, through valleys, around mountains, and across canyons. In one place it is seventy feet high. The highest point of the flume from the plain is 3,700 feet, and on an air-line, from beginning to end the distance is eight miles, the course thus taking up seven miles in twists and turns.

The trestle-work is thoroughly braced longitudinally and across, so that no break can extend further than a single box, which is 16 feet. All the main supports, which are five feet apart, are firmly set in mudsills, and the boxes or troughs rest in brackets four feet apart. These again rest upon substantial stringers. The grade of the flume is from 1,600 to 2,000 feet from top to bottom--a distance, as previously stated, of fifteen miles. The sharpest fall is three feet in six. There are two reservoirs from which the flume is fed. One is 1,100 feet long and the other is 600 feet. A ditch, nearly two miles long, takes the water to the first reservoir, whence it is conveyed 3-1/4 miles to the flume through a feeder capable of carrying 450 inches of water. The whole flume was built in ten weeks. In that time all the trestle-work, stringers and boxes were put in place. About 200 men were employed on it at one time, being divided into four gangs. It required 2,000,000 feet of lumber, but the item which astonished me most was that there were 28 tons, or 56,000 pounds of nails used in the construction of this flume.

Mr. Flood and Mr. Fair had arranged for a ride in the flume, and I was challenged to go with them. Indeed the proposition was put in this way--they dared me to go. I thought that if men worth twenty-five or thirty million dollars apiece could afford to risk their lives, I could afford to risk mine, which isn't worth half as much. So I accepted the challenge, and two 'boats' were ordered. These were nothing more than pig troughs, with one end knocked out. The 'boat' is built like the flume, V shaped, and fits into the flume. The grade of the flume at the mill is very heavy, and the water rushes through it at railroad speed.

The terrors of that ride can never be blotted from the memory of one of the party. I cannot give the reader a better idea of a flume ride than to compare it to sliding down an old-fashioned eve-trough at an angle of 45 degrees, hanging in mid-air without support of roof or house, and extending a distance of fifteen miles. At the start we went at the rate of twenty miles an hour, which is a little less than the average speed of a railroad train. The red-faced carpenter sat in front of our boat on the bottom as best he could. Mr. Fair sat on a seat behind him, and I sat behind Mr. Fair in the stern and was of great service to him in keeping the water which broke over the end-board, from his back. There was also a great deal of water shipped in the bows of the hog-trough, and I know Mr. Fair's broad shoulders kept me from more than one ducking in that memorable trip. At the heaviest grades the water came in so furiously in front that it was impossible to see where we were going, or what was ahead of us; but when the grade was light, and we were going at a three or four minute pace, the view was very delightful, although it was terrible. When the water would enable me to look ahead, I could see the trestle here and there for miles; so small and so narrow and apparently so fragile that I could only compare it to a chalk-mark upon which, high in the air, I was running at a rate unknown to railroads.

One circ.u.mstance during the trip did more to show me the terrible rapidity with which we dashed through the flume than anything else. We had been rushing down at a pretty lively rate of speed when the boat suddenly struck something in the bow, a nail, a lodged stick of wood or some secure substance which ought not to have been there. What was the effect? The red-faced carpenter was sent whirling into the flume ten feet ahead. Fair was precipitated on his face, and I found a soft lodgment on Fair's back. It seems to me that in a second's time--Fair himself a powerful man--had the carpenter by the scruff of the neck, and had pulled him into the boat. I did not know at this time that Fair had his fingers crushed between the flume and the boat. But we sped along; minutes seemed hours. It seemed an hour before we arrived at the worst place in the flume, and yet Hereford tells me that it was less than ten minutes. The flume at the point alluded to must have been very nearly forty-five degrees inclination. In looking out, before we reached it, I thought the only way to get to the bottom was to fall. How our boat kept in the track is more than I know.

The wind, the steamboat, the railroad, never went so fast. In this particularly bad place I allude to, my desire was to form some judgment as to the speed we were making. If the truth must be spoken, I was really scared almost out of my reason, but if I were on my way to eternity I wanted to know exactly how fast I went, so I huddled close to Fair, and turned my eyes toward the hills. Every object I placed my eyes upon was gone before I could plainly see what it was. Mountains pa.s.sed like visions and shadows. It was with difficulty that I could get my breath. I felt that I did not weigh a hundred pounds, although I knew in the sharpness of intellect that I tipped the scales at two hundred. Mr.

Flood and Mr. Hereford, although they started several minutes later than we, were close upon us. They were not so heavily loaded, and they had the full sweep of the water, while we had it rather at second-hand.

Their boat finally struck ours with a terrible crash. Mr. Flood was thrown upon his face, and the waters flowed over him. What became of Hereford I do not know, except that when we reached the terminus of the flume he was as wet as any of us. This only remains to be said: We made the entire distance in less time than a railway train would ordinarily make, and a portion of the distance we went faster than a railway train ever went. Fair said we went at least a mile a minute. Flood said that we went at the rate of a hundred miles an hour, and my deliberate belief is that we went at a rate that annihilated time and s.p.a.ce. We were a wet lot when we reached the terminus of the flume.