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Show CAPTAIN BEN. RICHARDSON. A Remarkable Career. What Energy and Industry Can Accompliah. In Tuesday morning's Herald there was ft brief personal item announcing an-nouncing the arrival in this city of "Uncle Ben." Riohardson. .Captain BeD. Bicbardson ia ooe of the remarkable re-markable men of the age. He was one of the old California pioneers of '49, and is now an cailern railway king and capitalist. Though somewhat some-what advanced in years, he ia still hate, hearty and active; always "on the go," an eDterprizing and busy man. He is now on a lour of inspection, inspec-tion, visiting and examining his various interests and ventures, scattered scat-tered through different and widely-separated widely-separated sections of the country, extending ex-tending east and west from the Atlantic to the Pacifio, and north and south from the Canada and British Columbia line to Colorado and Lower California. Last September he was at his ranch of 81,000 acres near Puebio in Colorado; tbence he came onto8altLake City, here he owlIs blocks of land; and then proceeded to Han Francisco to see his properties and friends there. From there he went by steamer to Puget Souod, for the purpose of fixing the terminus of one of the railways in which he ia interested (the U. and N.) which is being pushed through from Ogden, and is already completed 800 miles, making the longest narrow-gauge road in the world. The career of Captain Richardson resembles in some respects that of Dick Whittington, leaving out the cat, the big bells and the Emperor of Morocco. Ho rose from being a servant boy and cook, to great wealth and honor like the thrice famous Lord Mayor of London. His biography ought to be written for the benefit of struggling youth and to , show even those of riper years what can be accomplished by a determination determina-tion to "get along," backed by untiring un-tiring industry and energy. Ho was born a poor boy, under the thatch of a tumble-down country cottage in Someretabire, England, in 1812. All the schooling he got waB before he was 6 years old. At that early ago he was compelled to shift for himself and began in picking potatoes for two-pence a day. He remembers that he worked in the wiotsr time and that his fingers i tuck Smt to the frost-covered vines, us he pulled them out of the ground. That job completed, be next found a situation as a boy ia a factory, tending a spinning-jenny, for which he got 18d. a week. He then got (o be a post boy, currying letters, and next alter that a sort of valet to James Kuasel, of Chanty House, a gentleman gentle-man of fortune and leisure, whom he accompanied on b is fishing excursions, excur-sions, carrying the bait and fish and I making himself generally useful. It ( made no diflerence to him bow hum-, hum-, ble the occupation, be took what offered, and if he could not make a shilling, he was satisfied with a six-i six-i pence. In 1830, having heard of America :j and the chances for a lad of spirit thpre, he bundled upon hiB clothes, i tramped down to Bristol and took ! passage for New York. Before the vessel sailed, the cabin-boy ran ofl and Ben, ever ready for a chance, took his place for the outward voyage, i Before they had gone far, the steward a fell siok and the cook shirked work and i Ben. filled their places also, thus becoming be-coming inHiated into the mysteries of compounding plum-dufl and lob-l lob-l soouoe. In New York, when the Bhip arrived, a gentleman came down to the wharf inquiring for a likely lad ae ' a warboy and tu work about a gar-1 gar-1 doD. Every one called for "BeD;" and Ben. was at once engaged at what then seemed to his apprehension the magnificent mag-nificent wages of $6 a mootb. and louod. His employer proved to be one ol the old Stuyveeant family and Ben. afterwards went into the employ of the father of Mr. Hamilton Fish, late United States secretary of state, who married one of the Stuyveeactj. Thus the "Ben." of the ship became the "Benjamin" of one of the oldest Knickerbocker families of New York. In 1831 young Richardson married and commenced working around for himself. The first employment he could find alter leaving demostio service, ser-vice, was in one of the establiehmentB of John Jacob Aator, where he learned the business of cleaning and dressing lu.'s. That business becoming Black a J nothing else presenting itself, he v nt down to the wharves and found u hance ol shipping as steward of a vttjttil bound for Charleston; and he was present, lying near Fort Moultrie Moul-trie at the timo President Jackson's soldiers turned the guns of that fortress against the South Carolina nullifiers. From Charleston he shipped to Liverpool; Liver-pool; from there back to Amor-ioa, Amor-ioa, landing at City Point, Virginia; Vir-ginia; and from there worked his way back to Now York, where he had lelt bis wife aud child. By this time he had gathered about $200, but was Btill poor and bad to go to work hunliog up jobs, so one time he , worked as stevedore, at another in setting up stoves, at another as porter in a crockery store. At length a brilliant bril-liant idea struck him, and he commenced com-menced peddling tea ia small packages. pack-ages. At first ho carried his wares in a basket on his arm; but his cus torn soon incroased to such an extent that he was obliged to get a horse and wagon. His patrons wanted other artioles besides tea, and almost before be know it bis wagon became a sort of traveling grocery, His noxt move was to start a Btore in connection with bis wagon; then be gave up his wagon aud attonded to his Btore alono. By degrees be began to keep other articles ar-ticles besides groceries, and, as he had a great knack of making himself kuown by all Borts of Bigoa and advertisements, ad-vertisements, bis store Boon became known as a Bort of omnium gatherum, where anything could be bought from an anchor to a hair-pic; and humors from Jersey and other places io the country got to coming there to lay in all tho stock they wanted, without spending time in driving from one diflereut kind of a store to ancther. Thus tho peddling of taa by the quartor pound from a basket ex-pauaed ex-pauaed into ft large and thriving business. By 1S4S he woa already rich and prosperous. The gold tflw tcok him to Cali fornia among the earliest of the ad-venturers. ad-venturers. He led the second overland over-land oompany through Mexico, and at the same time Bent a duplicate of his New York store bouse and large quantities of gcoJs and merchandlio in seven different vessels around Capo Horn. Arriving in California ho established es-tablished business in San Francisco and Stockton, and soon accumulated hirge accessions to bis fortune, being always active, energetic, untiring and reliable in his transactions. He had unlimited faith in the couutry, and was aufnoienlly foresighted to invest in real eatatf, which advanced, aud iu timo made him very wealthy. At ihe Bamo time he took a deep interest iu publio affairs. When James King of Wm., was shot down, he voluu leered to nurse him, and laid out his body after death. He was a prominent member of the famous vigilance committee of 185G; and on the memorable day when Casey and Cora were taken from the jail he was bearer of dispatches dis-patches between Fort Gunnybags aud the vigi'ance (orceB in the field. In 1857, when business became Black in San Francwco, having by (bat time acquired a large foitine, he etirted out on his travels. He went first t- England, Ireland, Scotland Scot-land and Wales, over all of which he traveled making obseivatione; than to and through France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Sioily, Spain, Portugal, Malta and the Ionian Islts. From there he went to Egypt and climbed the great Pyramid; thence across the Red Sea to Arabia and through the desert up into Palestine, bhlliing in the Dead Sea and in the Jordan; thence up to and through Turkey, Auatria, Poland, Russia, Sweden, Denmark, Holland and England Eng-land again and finally back to America. During all these years be kept regular re-gular journals and Btill makes it a praotice to write up by night every thing that he seea and does by day; ao that Bhould his memoirs some day be published, they will constitute the recollections of one of the busiest livei on record. Even now, on this present visit, though he is merely pausing through the country and has scarcely a moment of leisure to spare, j he is garnering up facta and experiences exper-iences and jolting Ibem down in hiB note book, lie meets none of his! old friends but a whole history of remembrances is awakened, and ! nothing is more amusing to them than to see him suddenly turn away in the midst of a tlk, pull out his1 note bock, jot down bome fact that I attract bis attgntioo, and then go on with his conversation. ! One characteristic of him is that hei puts on no aire;be ia perfeotly frank and communicative. He has never tried) to conceal his humble origin. On ihe contrary he epoaka of them with perfect freedom, and ralber enjoys telling the straits he has passed aud the shifts be baB naadu. Though now the owner of valuable properties in Hew York, San Fiaocisco and Salt Laki City, of large tracts of land in New York State, Colorado and California, Cali-fornia, of an immenee quarry below St. Louis, from whiob he is now fur niehing stone for the construction ol the new capitol at Des Moines, Iowa, and having large and controlling interests in-terests in the Utah Northern, the Utah Western, the Chicago, Saginaw and Canada, and the Port Royal Railroads, be ia still the same 'Uncle Ben" as of old, always willing to ta'k with anybody and tin ays ready tor a laugh and a joke. Another of his characteristics is a hankering alter rare objects, and in the course of his travels he has gathered gath-ered up quite a collection. At the Centennial, for instance, he purchased pur-chased Washington's old carriage, which he has placed in Memorial Hall on permanent exhibition. He ia tho the possessor of Lincoln's gloves and cane, and many oilier relic? of historical interest. HiB idea is some day to start a museum and devote I lie proceeds to charitable purposes. For many years paet he has been contemplating and planning the formation of several publio institutions, institu-tions, chief among which is a grand foundling hospital. "Uncle Ben." left Wednesday for his home in New York. He had a pleasant visit to the Pacifio and the northwest, and speaks in the highest terms of Oregon and Washington territory, ter-ritory, and their unbounded reEources. |