In one of these he declared that the attack upon him was the result of a conspiracy and blackmail, and that the powers behind the criminal proceedings were "a newspaper" (meaning the Herald), "a cable company" (referring to the Mackey-Bennet Company), "and a woman." The latter was understood to be the wife of an officer of one of Mr. Gould's railroads who had brought suit for divorce. This bringing of a woman into the case created a great sensation. A few days later Gould made a bitter personal attack on James Gordon Bennet, of the Herald, calling in question his personal and social character, and reciting incidents unfit for publication. This was the first time in his life that Gould appeared to be thoroughly "rattled;" the first time that he let down the curtain of mystery with which he had so long covered himself, and the first time that he broke that silence which was his best weapon.
This is a good place to quote from Gould's testimony before the Pacific Railroad Commission, as it gives an insight into his theory of railroad operations.
"I consider," he said, "the past a good thing to judge a road by, but the future more. I have been all my life dealing in railroads; that is, since before I came of age. I always bought on the future; that's how I made my money. The bonds on the first road I bought were down to ten cents. I built up the road and sold them for $125. That's the reason I went into the Kansas Pacific and the Union
