ed up a moderate fortune. It
was comparatively easy to buy the control of the Harlem Railroad. The
Company had never paid a dividend, and, in 1863, when the Commodore
quietly began his work, the stock was selling below thirty dollars a
share. Before the close of this year he had manipulated the stock until
it had reached ninety-two, and by a corner, in August of that year,
he raised it to 179. On this deal Vanderbilt reaped a nice little
fortune--but evidently not enough to enable him to carry through the
ambitious plans which were in the back of his head, for in 1864 we find
him manipulating another corner and this time running the price of the
stock up to 285. In this wise the Commodore not only added millions
to his already growing fortune but also made himself a power in
the financial world. Financiers began to fear him, and he found it
comparatively easy later to buy up the control of the Hudson River
Railroad, which he did by paying about 100 for the stock. Then he began
speculating again, sent Hudson River up to 180, and incidentally reaped
another fortune for himself.

By this time Vanderbilt had achieved a great reputation as a man who
created values, earned dividends, and invented wealth as if by magic;
other railroad managers now began to lay their properties at his feet
and ask him to do with them what he had done with the Harlem and the
Hudson River. For under the Commodore's magic touch the Harlem Railroad
for the first time in its long history began to pay dividends at a high
rate, and in four years the earnings of the Hudson River property had
nearly doubled.

One of the first properties to be placed at Vanderbilt's feet was the
New York Central, and the control passed into his hands in the winter of
1866-67. He was now in a powerful position and immediately began to lay
his plans for obtaining control of the Erie Railroad in the following
year. In the latter effort he did not succeed, however, and after a
protracted and dramatic contest he was defeated by his great adversary,
"Uncle" Daniel Drew. The story of this contest need not be detailed
here, as it is given in full in the chapter on the Erie Railroad.

In the fall of 1869 the Commodore, having secured everything in the
railroad field he had sought except the Erie, put through his scheme
for consolidation. The New York Central and Hudson River Railroad was
incorporated. It included the old New York Central and also the Hudson
River Railroad but