A landmark history of New York; also the origin of street names and a bibliography . earafter the RevolutionaryWar came to an end. Hehad a brother in XewYork in the butcher busi-ness, who found a placefor the lad in a fur estab-lishment, where he re-ceived two dollars a weekand board for beating-furs. Other boys hadfilled this position beforeAstor, but the world has cnot heard of them. Young-John Jacob made up his mind the very first day hewent to work that he would learn all there was toknow of the fur business. And he did. His em-ployer found out, ere long, also, that this was nolaggard of a
A landmark history of New York; also the origin of street names and a bibliography . earafter the RevolutionaryWar came to an end. Hehad a brother in XewYork in the butcher busi-ness, who found a placefor the lad in a fur estab-lishment, where he re-ceived two dollars a weekand board for beating-furs. Other boys hadfilled this position beforeAstor, but the world has cnot heard of them. Young-John Jacob made up his mind the very first day hewent to work that he would learn all there was toknow of the fur business. And he did. His em-ployer found out, ere long, also, that this was nolaggard of a lad, and advanced him rapidly. Threeyears after his arrival Astor swung out his own sign,and within sixteen years he had acquired a quarterof a million dollars, a great fortune in those days. Here was another case of doing things thor-oughly and of studying conditions. For instance,Astor carefully watched the growth of the city. Oneday he sold a piece of property in Wall Street foreight thousand dollars. The purchaser remarked,after the papers were signed, that he thought he had. 170 A LANDMARK HISTORY OF NEW YORK made a good bargain, propliesyiiig tliat in a few yearsthe lot would be worth twelve thousand dollars. True/ replied Astor, ^ but with your eight thousanddollars I shall buy eighty lots above Canal Street,which, by the time your lot is worth twelve thousand,will be worth eighty thousand. And so it provedto be. It was not, however, continued the professor, the making of fortunes that led me to speak of Yan-derbilt and Astor, though the success that crowns in-dustry is always interesting; nor was it to point outin this way the commercial development that wastaking place in New York, but to show you to whatsplendid use money may be put. When the War ofthe Rebellion broke out Yanderbilt was able to showhis patriotic spirit by presenting the Governmentwith a fine steamer, while his descendants enjoyedthe privilege of contributing nearly two millions ofdollars to the Colle
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjecthistori, bookyear1901
