[Illustration: FOUNDING A GREAT FORTUNE]
These ventures were so successful that the operations of the firm were
extended into Pennsylvania, and finally into Ohio and the other States
of the great West. Mr. Drew and his partners brought over the mountains
the first drove of cattle that ever came from the West into New York
city. The cattle, two thousand in number, were collected into droves of
one hundred each, and were driven by experienced and careful men. The
journey occupied two months, and the total cost of the purchase and trip
was twenty-four dollars per head. The profit on the venture was very
large.
Mr. Drew continued in this business for fourteen years, slowly and
carefully laying the foundations of that immense fortune which has made
him so conspicuous, an example to others who have entered upon the
life-struggle since then.
In 1834, an event occurred which changed the whole tenor of his career.
In that year, the steamer "General Jackson," owned by Jacob Vanderbilt
(a brother of the famous Commodore), and plying between New York and
Peekskill, blew up at Grassy Point. A friend of Mr.
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