The Unique Character of Travers.—His Versatile Attainments.—Although of a Genial and Humorous Disposition, He was Always a Bear.—How He was the Means of Preserving the Commercial Supremacy of New York.—He Squashes the English Bravado, and Saves the Oratorical Honor of Our Country.—Has the Oyster Brains?—It Must have Brains, for it Knows Enough to Sh-sh-shut Up.—The Dog and the Rat.—I d-d-don’t want to Buy the D-d-dog; I will Buy the R-r-rat.—Travers on the Royal Stand at the Derby.—How He was Euchred by the Pool-Seller.—My Proxy in a Speech at the Union Club.—If You are a S-s-self-made Man, Wh-wh-y the D-devil didn’t You put more H-hair on the Top of Your Head?—Other Witticisms, &c.—Death of the Great Wit and Humorist, and some of His Last Witty Sayings[407]

CHAPTER XL.

CHARLES F. WOERISHOFFER.

The Career of Charles F. Woerishoffer and the Resultant Effect upon Succeeding Generations.—The Peculiar Power of the Great Leader of the Bear Element in Wall Street.—His Methods as Compared with Those of Other Wreckers of Values.—A Bismarck Idea of Aggressiveness the Ruling Element of His Business Life.—His Grand Attack on the Villard Properties, and the Consequence Thereof.—His Benefactions to Faithful Friends[425]

CHAPTER XLI.

WOMEN AS SPECULATORS.

Wall Street no Place for Women.—They Lack the Mental Equipment.—False Defenses of Feminine Financiers.—The Claflin Sisters and Commodore Vanderbilt.—Fortune and Reputation Alike Endangered[437]

CHAPTER XLII.

WESTERN MILLIONAIRES IN NEW YORK.

Eastward the Star of Wealth and the Tide of Beauty Take their Course.—Influence of the Fair Sex on this Tendency, and Why.—New York the Great Magnet of the Country.—Swinging into the Tide of Fashion.—Collis P. Huntington.—His Career from Penury to the Possessor of Thirty Millions.—Leland Stanford.—first a Lawyer in Albany, and afterward a Speculator on the Pacific Coast.—Has Rolled Up nearly Forty Millions.—D. O. Mills.—An Astute and Bold Financier.—Courage and Caution Combined.—His Rapid Rise in California.—He Makes a Fortune by Investing in Lake Shore Stock.—Princes of the Pacific Slope.—Mackay, Flood and Fair.—Their Rise and Progress.—William Sharon.—A Brief Account of His Great Success.—Wm. C. Ralston and His Daring Speculations.—Begins a Poor New York Boy, and Makes a Fortune in California.—John P. Jones.—His Eventful Career and Political Progress.-“Lucky” Baldwin.—His Business Ability and Advancement.—Lucky Speculations.—Amasses Ten or fifteen Millions.—William A. Stewart.—Discovers the Eureka Placer Diggings.—His Success as a Lawyer and in Mining Enterprises.—James Lick.—One of the Most Eccentric of the California Magnates.—Real Estate Speculations.—His Bequest to the Author of the “Star Spangled Banner.”—John W. Shaw, Speculator and Lawyer[447]