erman & Co. at the age of twenty, and from that time,
rose steadily, until he became the head of the greatest banking house in
the country. He has been largely concerned in the reorganization of
railways and the consolidation of industrial properties, and the
magnitude of some of his operations is fairly astounding. During the
Cleveland administration, he floated a national bond issue of
$62,000,000; he marketed the securities of the United States Steel
Corporation, with a capitalization of $1,100,000,000; he secured
American subscriptions aggregating $50,000,000 for the British war loan
of 1901; he controls over fifty thousand miles of railway, and his
interests extend into practically every great financial enterprise in
America. He has given large sums of money for public enterprises in New
York City, among them a million and a half for a great lying-in
hospital. He built the "Columbia," which twice defeated the "Shamrock"
in the races for the America's cup, and he has made many valuable gifts
to the various museums and libraries of New York City. The power he
wields is enormous, but he wields it wisely and legitimately, winning
the respect, as well as the admiration of men.

* * * * *

The greatest work of American men of affairs during the past half
century has been the upbuilding and extension of the railroad system of
the country. The railroad mileage of the United States at the present
time is over three hundred and twenty-five thousand; the total cost of
the railroad equipment of the country reaches fourteen billion dollars
and the yearly earnings average over two and a half billions. They
employ over a million and a half men, whose wages average three million
dollars a day--and, it may be added, they kill or injure nearly ninety
thousand. But that is a detail. With this vast development of the
railroad business the names of some half dozen men are so closely
connected that the great systems of the country are generally known as
the Hill lines, the Harriman lines, the Vanderbilt lines, the Gould
lines, and so on. Of these men we shall try to tell something briefly
here.

We have already related how Cornelius Vanderbilt secured control of the
New York Central and Hudson River roads, and added to these until he had
secured an entrance into Chicago; and how his son, William Henry
Vanderbilt, added to this system until it became, and still remains, one
of the strongest in the countr