the negotiation for
the sale of the steamers, which he did to Mr. Drew's entire satisfaction.
From that time, Drew became his friend, and soon gained him a position in
Wall street.

Upon entering the street, Fisk began a series of speculations on his own
account, and, in the short space of two years, he lost all his money. It
is said that he swore a mighty oath that as Wall street had ruined him,
Wall street should pay for it. Daniel Drew now came to his aid, and, in
1865, helped him to form the firm of Fisk, Belden & Co., stock-brokers,
and assisted the new house by employing them as his brokers in many of
his heaviest transactions.

[Picture: JAMES FISK, JR.]

In 1867 occurred the great struggle between Drew and Vanderbilt for the
possession of the Erie Railway. James Fisk and Jay Gould now made their
appearance as Directors in the Erie Railway. The following is the New
York _Tribune's_ account of this affair:

"When the crisis came, on the eve of the election for Directors, in
October, 1867, there were three contestants in the field. Fisk was
serving under the Drew party, who wanted to be retained in office.
Vanderbilt, master of Harlem, Hudson River, and Central, seemed to be on
the point of securing Erie also. Eldridge was the leader of the Boston,
Hartford, and Erie party, which wanted to get into the Erie Directory for
the purpose of making that Company guarantee the bonds of their own
worthless road. Eldridge was assisted by Gould. As a result of the
compromise by which the three opposing interests coalesced, Fisk and
Gould were both chosen Directors of Erie, and from the month of October,
1867, dates the memorable association of these two choice spirits since
so famous in the money markets of the world. They were not the
counterparts, but the complements of each other. Fisk was bold,
unscrupulous, dashing, enterprising, ready in execution, powerful in his
influence over the lower and more sensual order of men. Gould was
artful, reticent, long-headed, clear of brain, fertile of invention,
tenacious of purpose, and no more burdened with unnecessary scruples than
his more noisy and flashy companion. They were not long in joining
fortunes. At the time of the famous Erie corner, the next March, they
were ostensibly working on opposite sides, Gould acting for Vanderbilt,
and Fisk being the man to whom Drew intrusted 50,000 shares of new stock,
secretly issued, to be used when