Page:The Wizard of Wall Street and his Wealth.djvu/187

 almost to the point of penuriousness, and once a dollar got into his hands it did not easily slip through them. It should be said of him, however, that he was as careful of other people's money as of his own. This was the man who for many years was Gould's most intimate business associate, a director in all his companies and a partner in all his schemes. Gould estimated Sage's wealth at $50,000,000 and their combined capital was thus enormous. Sage was chiefly a money-lender in Wall street. He carried an immense amount of ready cash and was of incalculable aid to Gould in all his undertakings. It is indeed one of the traditions of the street that Sage saved Gould from ruin at a time when he was hotly pressed by James R. Keene and other bear operators. Field was a different kind of a man. He liked money but only as a means to an end, and he had not the heart or mind to roll up a colossal fortune in the way that Gould and Sage did, though he shared for a time in their enterprises. But at one time he was worth millions. Field's passion was love of fame. His brothers all gained distinction in the professions; he sought and obtained distinction in commercial life. One of his brothers sat on the Supreme Bench of his country. Another was a leader of the New York Bar. A third was a noted clergyman, editor and traveler. Cyrus W. Field began his business life as a rag merchant, but with idomitable pluck, energy and foresight he finally succeeded in constructing the first Atlantic cable, and was honored both in London and New York.