354 WALL STREET AND THE WILDS 



Six months after I came into control of the 

 company it was on the high road to prosperity. 

 The demand for lease of wires at profitable rates 

 was far in excess of our ability to supply it. 

 Our completed lines were paying well and as 

 extensions remained in construction account un- 

 til finished we were able to pay dividends to jus- 

 tify the increasing prices at which I subscribed 

 to each new issue of stock. My own business 

 was prospering, extensions were provided for 

 in advance, and soon my cash, current securi- 

 ties, and equities in loans exceeded a million dol- 

 lars. 



Construction was eating up money, millions 

 must be expended before a safe haven could be 

 reached, and until then the millions involved in 

 the enterprise rested upon the life, the health of 

 one man. Then panics were to be reckoned 

 with and although I could weather an ordinary 

 one there were sometimes occasions when money 

 could not be borrowed upon any security. In a 

 time like this when loans were called on big bor- 

 rowers like Gould and Huntington they could 



