anagement of the vast
enterprises which the later had controlled, suddenly devolved upon him.
The greatness of the man showed itself in that he found himself equal to
the emergency. The Oakes Ames estate was, at the time he took upon his
shoulders its settlement, not only one in which immense and diversified
interests were involved, scattered throughout different states of the
Union, but it was also burdened with obligations to the extent of eight
millions of dollars. The times were most unpropitious, the country being
just on the eve of a great financial panic when immense properties were
crumbling to pittances. He undertook the Herculean task of rescuing at
this time this estate from threatened ruin, and of vindicating the good
name of his father from undeserved censure. He had in this gigantic work
to meet and thwart the plots of rapacious railroad wreckers, and
schemers; but his thorough mental discipline united with his intensely
practical business training, and coupled with his native energy, tact,
good sense, and fertility of resources, stood him in good stead. He
inspired capitalists with confidence, money was forthcoming to further
his carefully matured plans, and the ship freighted with the fortunes of
his family, was, by his steady hand, piloted securely amidst the shoals
and quicksands of disaster, and by rocks strewn with the wrecks of
princely fortunes, to a safe anchorage. He rescued the property from
peril, met and paid the enormous indebtedness resting upon it, paid a
million of dollars or more of legacies, and had still a large surplus to
divide among the heirs.

As a business man his sagacity seems almost intuitive. As an
illustration of this, his work in developing the Central Branch of the
Union Pacific Railroad may be instanced, a work which at the same time
gave him high rank as a railroad manager. At the time he connected
himself with the undertaking, only the first hundred miles of the road
were in running order. He first made a thorough personal investigation
of the proposed line, and satisfying himself as to its capabilities for
business, he pushed the enterprise through to completion, building two
hundred and sixty miles of road, and fully equipping it for operation.
His judgment, which at the time was somewhat questioned by other
experienced railroad managers and financiers, was fully justified by the
result, which was a complete financial success.

One of the most impressive traits in the