Page:The Wizard of Wall Street and his Wealth.djvu/31

 him to. Moreover, when the elder Gould sold his farm, young Jay took him into the tin shop on a salary.

Innumerable anecdotes are related of Jay's early life. All the world has heard the mouse-trap story. It was in 1853, when the World's Exhibition was held in New York, that young Gould, then about seventeen years of age, is said to have made his first visit to the metropolis in which he was to become such a power. He carried with him a showy mahogany case, containing an invention which the boy hoped would bring him fame and fortune. The invention was a mouse-trap. He entered a horse-*car and, leaving his valuable model on the seat, stepped outside and stood on the platform, where he could view the glories of the great city. The box was picked up by a thief, but not without the observation of young Gould, who pursued the rascal and captured him. This exploit was related next day in the Herald, this being the first newspaper reference to Gould, whose renown has since filled columns of the daily press for years. The mouse-trap was a success, but its inventor has been far more successful with his future traps, which he laid for speculative mice, and with which he caught them all his life.

That Gould's great fortune was not the result of a streak of luck, but of strict attention to business and hard work, is clearly proved in all the events of his life. His plans were the result of careful thought and they were carried out by hard work. The man in whose family young Gould worked for