VANDERBILT'S CHARACTERISTICS.

To such an extent did it corrode him that even when he could boast
his $100,000,000 he still persisted in haggling and huckstering over
every dollar, and in tricking his friends in the smallest and most
underhand ways. Friends in the true sense of the word he had none;
those who regarded themselves as such were of that thrifty, congealed
disposition swayed largely by calculation. But if they expected to
gain overmuch by their intimacy, they were generally vastly mistaken;
nearly always, on the contrary, they found themselves caught in some
unexpected snare, and riper in experience, but poorer in pocket, they
were glad to retire prudently to a safe distance from the old man's
contact. "Friends or foes," wrote an admirer immediately after his
death, "were pretty much on the same level in his estimation, and if
a friend undertook to get in his way he was obliged to look out for
himself."

On one occasion, it is related, when a candidate for a political
office solicited a contribution, Vanderbilt gave $100 for himself,
and an equal sum for a friend associated with him in the management
of the New York Central Railroad. A few days later Vanderbilt
informed this friend of the transaction, and made a demand for the
hundred dollars. The money was paid over. Not long after this, the
friend in question was likewise approached for a political
contribution, whereupon he handed out $100 for himself and the same
amount for Vanderbilt. On being told of his debt, Vanderbilt declined
to pay it, closing the matter abruptly with this laconic
pronunciamento, "When I give anything, I give it myself." At another