“What was your first venture in business?”
“On my return from Yale, I started a retail drug store in my native
town, and continued it for fifteen years. I then branched out in the
lumber business in Michigan. I became connected with several local
enterprises, among them the bank, and a wagon factory.”
“You invested in a western mine, did you not?”
“Yes! I owned a third interest in a mine at Deadwood, and in the winter
of 1877 I decided to go out and see it. It was my first trip west,
and I was not prepared for the hardships. I had to ride sixty hours
from the end of the railroad to the camp. The Indians were on the war
path and had killed a passenger on the stage that preceded ours. As I
started to enter the coach, the driver said: ‘Are you armed?’ ‘No,’
said I. Taking a gun from the top of the stage, he gave it to me, and
said, ‘You will need it.’ I told him I was a tenderfoot and did not
know how to shoot. He showed me, and I took the gun with me. Luckily I
did not need it. About the first thing I saw when I reached the camp
was an example of frontier justice. Men, with a rope, were hunting for
those who had been guilty of holding up the stage. I found the claim
in which I was interested to be one of the richest in the vicinity,
according to indications. We spent $60,000 in working the claim. I was
offered half a million dollars for my interest in the property, which I
declined. Just as we got to paying expenses, the mine played out.”
“Did you make any of your money in speculation?”
“I never made much money any way, and I never made any in speculation,
or in politics. My political experience has cost me—not brought me
money.”
“How happened you to come to New York?”
“I came to New York as the general manager of the United States Express
Company, and soon after, in 1879, I was elected president, which
position I have held ever since.”
The United States Express Company began business in 1854, and had
in New York City eight wagons and twenty men, including officers.
Its mileage was less than 600 miles. It now operates 30,000 miles of
railroads, which is a larger mileage than that of any other single
express company in the country. It has ten thousand employees and five
thousand offices. In New York City alone it has six hundred horses and
two hundred and fifty wagons; and other great cities of the country
are correspondingly well equipped. For a dozen years the company
has had the entire responsibility of carrying all government money
and securities, except in a few states and territories, and it has
transported hundreds of millions of gold and silver and paper money
without the loss of a penny to the government. The executive ability,
tireless industry, ceaseless vigilance and courteous and honest dealing
of President T. C. Platt has had much to do with the success of the
company.