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CYCLOPAEDIA 
 
 OP 
 
 COfflERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
i 
 
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 ■c'*»:i.A»*Wi1i'CE 
 
 ^^.;^.^r.^.'■r ^LA.-^^^^^ ' 
 
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 By the 
 AmxnrHX HniiW X»lf ('o-XcwrAbrU. 
 
CYCLOPEDIA 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSI^-ESS 
 
 ANECDOTES '^^..^ 
 
 COMPRISING • .'»',»,, I I* ''-,'1'', '''' * ' • 
 
 INTERESTING REMINISCENCES AND FACTS, 
 
 BEMABKABLB TRAITS AND HUMORS, 
 
 AND 
 
 %i^iMt ^mmy ^t^\m% ^xp^nw^^, m& mwiwm 
 
 MERCHANTS, TRADERS, BANKERS, MERCANTILE CELEBRITIES, MILLIONNAIEES, 
 BARGAIN MAKERS, ETC., ETC. 
 
 IN ALL AGES AND COUNTRIES. 
 
 DESIGNED TO EXHIBIT, BY 
 
 NEARLY THREE THOUSAND ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES AND INCIDENTS, 
 
 THE 
 
 PIQUANCIES AND PLEASANTRIES OP TRADE, COMMERCE, AND GENERAL 
 
 BUSINESS PURSUITS. 
 
 ASTOR, 
 
 GIRARD, 
 
 McDONOGH, 
 
 BARING, 
 
 ROTHSCHILD, 
 
 BIDDLE, 
 
 TOURO, 
 
 LORILLARD, 
 
 OUVRARD, 
 
 LABOUCHERE, 
 
 LONGWORTH, 
 
 PERKINS, 
 
 BATES, 
 
 APPLETON, 
 
 BAYARD, 
 
 LEROY, 
 
 BARKER, 
 
 LAFITTE, 
 
 STEWART, 
 
 RUgSELL, 
 
 LENOX, 
 
 COOPER, 
 
 SHAW, 
 
 STEIGLITZ, 
 
 HOWQUA, 
 
 GRESHAM, 
 
 LOWELL, 
 
 BUSSEY, 
 
 GOLDSCHMID, 
 
 PEABODY, 
 
 MORRIS, 
 
 VANDERBILT, 
 
 HOPE, 
 
 NOLTE, 
 
 RIGGS, 
 
 JEEJEEBHOY, 
 
 HOTTINGUER, 
 
 BROOKS, 
 
 GIDEON, 
 
 GRINNET.L, 
 
 GRACIE, 
 
 RIDGWAY, 
 
 SLATER, 
 
 LEE, 
 
 COUTTS, 
 
 GRAY, 
 
 FRANCIS, 
 
 FUGGER, 
 
 BELMONT, 
 
 CHILD, 
 
 DEXTER, 
 
 TATTERSALL, 
 
 MORRISON, 
 
 HUDSON, 
 
 WHITNEY, 
 
 HOPPER, 
 
 DE MEDICI, 
 
 LAWRENCE, 
 
 STURGIS, 
 
 COPE, 
 
 
 ETC., 
 
 ETC., ETC. 
 
 
 Lon^ life to Commbece I What lives not through it f What is all fresh life, all movement, in reality, but trade, exchange, 
 gift for gift!— Bebmkb. 
 
 Come, Anecdote I with all thy praoes come. 
 
 Relii 
 
 the ffrave— to mirth thy rights afford, 
 the 
 
 And crown the sparkling glass and hospitable board.— Cooke. 
 I am persuaded that every time a man smiles— but much more so when he laughs— it adds something to thia fragment of 
 life.— Steene. 
 
 A dinner oi fragments is often said to be the best dinner.—'* Guesses at Teuth." 
 
 By ERAZAR KIRKLAND. -b**:^*^'*^ 
 
 EMBELLISHED WITH PORTRAITS AND ILLUSTRATIVE CUTS. 
 
 ^TT^ 
 
 %\ 
 
 NEW YORK : 
 B. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 443 & 445 BROADWAY. 
 
 LONDON: 16 LITTLE BRITAIN. 
 1868. 
 
. -• c»' -•.":: 
 
 
 
 c ...-• c'*.. .:: .o:. '•'.••• / \ 
 
 kil^J,y.P,(j^u.^,ca^ 
 
 Enteeed, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1864, by 
 
 D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 
 
 In the Clerk's office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York. 
 

 
 PREFACE. 
 
 The design and scope of this work will be found as clearly indi- 
 cated and as amply set forth on the Title page, as is requisite to the 
 most complete understanding of the plan which it involves and the 
 character of the matter embodied in its pages. As there stated, it is a 
 collection, original and selected, of the choicest, most striking and 
 recherche Anecdotes relating to Business Men and Commercial Puk- 
 suiTS, from the earliest trading transactions of which any record can be 
 found down to the present time. It is in no sense intended as a work 
 of biography, history, statistics, or collated facts, only so far as either 
 of these has been found associated, anecdotically, with some episode of 
 Business Character or Dealing, illustrative of the latter in their various 
 aspects of the gay, the ludicrous, the witty, the ingenious, the droll, 
 the original, the unique — laughter-provoking, side-shaking, wonder- 
 exciting, &c. ; with such these pages abound. 
 
 The Anecdotes here given necessarily pertam both to persons and 
 things — alike to the Celebrities of traffic in all ages and nations, and to 
 the multitudinous Objects which give to traffic its name and import. 
 Every country, as well as people, has here its personal representative — 
 exhibiting, in all their kaleidoscopic lights aiid shades, the idiosyncra- 
 sies, customs, and animus peculiar to it, in bargain and sale ; every 
 clime its happy illustrations, in the productions native to it, or which 
 enter into its commercial exchange : the whole forming, as it were, a 
 sort of mental Pantechnicon, or Bazaar, where are to be seen deline- 
 ated, in endless variety, and as pictures hung upon a wall, the curiosi- 
 ties incident to the genius and craft of the Mart ! 
 
 Perhaps no volume ever issued from the American press has fur- 
 nished, in a compendious form, so fruitful a display of the unique and 
 marvellous in human nature, on its commercial side, as this. Indeed, it 
 has the merit, whatever that may be, of being the first work of the 
 kind which has ever appeared, in this or any other coimtry, devoted to 
 the Humorous phase of Trade and Traders. Collections of anecdotes 
 having reference to art, science, literature, morals, the drama, etc., — 
 some of them possessing high merit, and attaining a wide circulation — 
 
 869012 
 
vi PREFACE. 
 
 have at different times been sent forth for public favor ; but not one, it 
 is believed, of all these, has ever touched, or but very slightly, the field 
 of pleasantries and piquancies here spread out to view. Our volume, 
 therefore, being thus sui generis, offers no opportunity of winning praise 
 by comparison, or of suffering from disparagement by contrast with any 
 other work of its kind. But, however the fact might be Tn this respect, 
 it would not stand in the way of an honest claim in behalf of the work, 
 of being as perfect in its character as the sources of material available 
 to that end would permit. No time has been spared, no means and 
 facilities left unimproved, no expense or labor withheld, to render these 
 pages tempting to every lover of pithy, pointed, sparkling, and mirth- 
 ful reading. 
 
 It is not too much to say, that the anecdotes, witticisms, and memo- 
 rabilia, which are here presented, of such monarch merchants as Astor, 
 Rothschild, Girard, Baring, Lafitte, Jacob Barker, De Medicis, Lorillard, 
 Howqua, Bates, Peabody, Lawrence, Hope, Touro, &c., &c., would 
 form, of themselves alone, one of the most delectable of volumes. But 
 these are only a few out of many scores of mercantile notabilities who 
 have flourished during the past, or are yet on the stage of action, and 
 of whom it is the object of this book to present the most lively and 
 pleasing incidents illustrative of their professional character, moods, 
 and dealings. And here it will not be impertinent briefly to observe, 
 that, as every undertaking must have its limits, so in the case of the 
 present work, it has been found a point of necessity to exercise a re- 
 straining hand, that the several divisions might not become too bulky 
 or diffuse. Arising from this consideration, there are some characters, 
 more or less noteworthy, whose names are not here to be met with, but 
 to which we would gladly have given place. It is believed, however, 
 that this omission rarely involves a name of extensive renown, but 
 applies rather to those whose fame, living or posthumous, is restricted 
 to particular localities or circles ; and, as almost every business com- 
 munity, large or small, is known thus to have its " representative men," 
 — those of strongly marked individuality in their calling, — it is apparent 
 that no task could be more impossible than to attempt to give, without 
 discrimination, the current reminiscences of such a multitude. 
 
 In the prosecution of our purpose, every important catalogue, both 
 American and foreign, has been carefully consulted, with a view to 
 examining whatever might promise aid to our efforts ; and not a single 
 library of note, in our largest cities, has been left unexplored for mate- 
 rial, in the way of biography, travels, adventure — fresh, racy, and rele- 
 vant — in the preparation of this work. Besides these invaluable means, 
 the best private sources within the circle of men of letters have been 
 resorted to, and the suggestions and assistance thus personally extended 
 have added greatly to the pleasantness of our task, as well as to the 
 value of its results. 
 
PREFACE. yii 
 
 But the perplexities attending a nice discernment in the selection of 
 matter for this volume have by no means been slight. The first requi- 
 site, of course, in the qualities of an anecdote, is that of truth. Where 
 this is wanting, the narration, however agreeable or well told, falls off 
 at once ninety per cent, in its interest and import. It becomes a mere 
 fable, and should be thus entitled. The number of so-called " anec- 
 dotes " coming within this latter class, and which might have had their 
 nominal appropriateness in these pages, is very large ; they have been 
 rejected in every case where they could not stand a fair test of authen- 
 ticity. Many others, of the genuine cast, have been abridged or con- 
 densed ; and others still have been revised or rewritten, so as more 
 nearly to conform to fact and reason, or that they might appear in a 
 more perspicuous dress to the reader. There is yet another class — and 
 one which forms an exception to the observation just made with refer- 
 ence to credibility — namely, the bristling fantasise of commercial satire, 
 burlesque, &c., which have been allowed a welcome place in almost 
 every department. These explain themselves, and may be said to con- 
 stitute one of the richest and most attractive features of the work. 
 
 It is believed that the general arrangement and classification of this 
 volume are scarcely susceptible of improvement. They are such as to 
 relieve the matter of all stiffness, formality, and tediousness, while they 
 at the same time open up, at the reader's will or fancy, and in pleasing 
 diversification, all the various spheres and phases of commerce, business 
 life, and its individual appertainments. It is not claimed, however, that 
 there are no instances to be found, where portions of one department 
 might not as appropriately — and perhaps more so — have had a place 
 under some other specialty. The difficulties of perfect precision in this 
 respect, in such a work, are obvious, and were frequently felt in the 
 allotment of its contents. For any incongruities that may thus be 
 manifest, a lenient criticism is asked. 
 
 Our acknowledgments are due, and are here most gratefully ten- 
 dered, to those librarians in our principal cities w^ho have so freely and 
 courteously opened the treasures of their alcoves to our use ; and also 
 to the many editors, authors, and merchants, who have not only encour- 
 aged us by their warm approval of our work, but have favored us with 
 their advice and friendly offices, and with the happy effusions of their 
 pens, with which to enliven our volume. 
 
 The magnificent collections of standard periodical literature, now to 
 be found complete in almost all our great libraries, and embracing full 
 sets of the Edinburgh, Westminster, Gentleman's, Fraser's, Blackwood's, 
 Eclectic, Harleian, Jerrold's, Dublin, Punch, Notes and Queries, Cham- 
 bers', Household Words, The Leisure Hour, &c., — these, in addition to 
 our American publications of similar character, furnish -a vast and 
 bountiful storehouse, inviting and rewarding the research of the scholar. 
 All these have been made readily accessible to us; and, though the 
 
YJii PREFACE. 
 
 labor of painstakingly examining their contents has certainly been for- 
 midable, it has yet been richly remunerative for the purposes of this 
 volume. 
 
 The choice sippings of Pxmch will be relished by all who love to 
 drink at that fountain of mirth, satire, and facetiae ; and Mrs. Parting- 
 ton, that brusque old wit — or witch — will be found to grace, by her 
 weird presence, the same exhilarating category. The pages of the now 
 venerable, but always sprightly and inimitable Knickerbocker, have 
 been drawn upon for some of those *' saws " whose teeth always have 
 a point ; and the " Drawer " of Harper's, that charming repository of 
 keen blades and fancies, has been approached like a bundle of golden 
 jack-straws, from which we might extract, here and there, a dainty 
 waif, without taking all. From the files of Hunt's and Homans' mag- 
 azines, we have culled not a few of the admirable morceaux of com- 
 mercial biography and the humors of mercantile genius, which give to 
 those serials so pecuhar a value ; and the same observation is pertinent 
 to the more youthful Continental, especially the series of brilliant per- 
 sonal sketches from the facile pen of Mr. Frothingham. Of the 
 writings of Mr. Richard B. Kimball and "Walter Barrett," from 
 which we have taken an occasional anecdote or vivacious passage, it 
 may truly be remarked that those authors have succeeded in imparting 
 the delight of romance to the counting-house themes which they have 
 made their specialty ; and the great popular favor which their works 
 have received, evinces the widespread taste for the pleasantries of com- 
 mercial literature, under the inspiration of a genial hand. 
 
 Having wrought, to the best of our ability, in the field from which 
 this Cyclopedia of Anecdotes has been garnered, it is sent forth with 
 the consciousness that, whatever defects or deficiencies may be discover- 
 able, it has at least been the aim of the editor, from the inception of 
 the volume to its completion, to spare neither time, labor, nor cost, in 
 rendering it as rich and perfect of its kind as seemed humanly possible. 
 
INTEODUCTION. 
 
 " Every class of readers requires a book adapted to t7sey."— D'IsrAeli. 
 
 It is generally admitted by those qualified to speak authoritatively in such 
 matters, that the term Anecdote may be used to designate collections, either 
 of the recorded acts of noted individuals, of remarks made by them, or of 
 extracts from their private writings as well as their published works ; or gen- 
 erally, of particulars respecting them and their calling — detached incidents, 
 narratives, and experiences ; personal tastes, traits, and habits ; eccentricities, 
 witticisms, &c., &c. It is thus, in its most enlarged and comprehensive sense, 
 that the word is employed in this volume, and applied distinctively to those 
 engaged in Business Puksuits. 
 
 That the ancients were given to the wit and raillery conveyed through anec- 
 dotes, may reasonably be supposed from the fact that no less a person than 
 Julius Caesar compiled a book in which he related the don-mots of Cicero ; and 
 Quintilian informs us, that a freedman of that celebrated wit and orator com- 
 posed three books of a work entitled De Jocis Ciceronis ; and Gellius has 
 filled his Noctes Atticse with anecdotes which he heard from those distin- 
 guished characters whose society he frequented in Rome. Procopius gave the 
 title of Anecdotes to a book he published against Justinian and his wife 
 Theodora ; and other similar collections of incidents in the lives of eminent 
 men have been published. Muratori gives the title, Anecdota Greca, to several 
 writings of the Greek Fathers found in the libraries, and first given to the 
 world by him. Martene and Durand have given a Thesaurus Novus Anecdoto- 
 rum. Becker, Bachmann, Heinbach, and others, have made collections, and 
 called them Anecdota. The Orientalists, more than others, were particularly 
 fond of these agreeable collections; and the fanciful titles with which they 
 labelled their variegated miscellanies, sufficiently attest their delight. 
 
 The first eminent person of modem times, whose jests and opinions have in 
 this way been transmitted to posterity, is Poggio Bracciolini, who was secretary 
 to five successive popes. He and his friends were accustomed to assemble in a 
 hall to discuss the news and scandal of the day, and at these meetings they 
 communicated to each other entertaining anecdotes. The pointed jests and 
 humorous stories which occurred in these unrestrained conversations were 
 collected by Poggio, and formed the chief materials of his Facetiae, printed 
 in 1470. 
 
 One of the most curious of such collections is considered to be the Wal- 
 
INTRODUCTIO^'. 
 
 poliana, founded upon the life and sayings of Horace Walpole, who was distin- 
 guished for his resources of anecdote, wit, and telling remark, as well as for his 
 epistolary qualifications. The most celebrated of the French collections of 
 anecdotes is the Menagiana — the best known, the fullest, and most valuable. 
 Other works of this kind that may here be named are the Conversations of 
 Luther, Boswell's Life of Johnson, Selden's, Johnson's, and Cowper's Table 
 Talk, the Percy and Arvine collections, &c., &c. 
 
 It would be a tedious as well as profitless task, however, to go over the 
 dusty past, with a view to describing the character, or discussing the merits, 
 of the various works of this kind which have appeared at different times and 
 in different countries. It will suffice our immediate purpose to say, that, among 
 them all, no volume of anecdotes, wit, and amusement, relating to the votaries 
 of Trade and Commerce, as such, is numbered, notwithstanding the universality 
 of those occupations, and the vast numerical preponderance of those engaged 
 in them. 
 
 The present volume, then, may be said to be the first in the pleasuig domain 
 of Commercial Incident, Novelty, and Humor. And if it be true, as has by 
 some one been remarked, that there is no species of composition so delightful as 
 that which presents us with personal anecdotes of men notable in their peculiar 
 calling — illustrating the- genius of their adaptation to and success in such call- 
 ing, as well as their domestic traits, and peculiarities of temper — then a claim 
 for no small credit may with justice be put forth in behalf of the present work, 
 the abundant pages of which are stored with the rarest, the best, and most 
 striking of such memorabilia. They will be found to be a " salad " alike for 
 the " solitary " and the " sociable " — entertaining, from their variety, and curi- 
 ous, as presenting a lively image of those whom they thus portray, in their most 
 interesting relations and doings. If men reason more correctly on paper, they 
 usually display their feelings and convictions with more truth in that unpre- 
 meditated conversation, and in those natural outgushings of wit, which they 
 give play to in the familiar haunts of business, and under the free-and-easy 
 influence of home surroundings. Few are so cautious or artificial that they do 
 not sometimes drop the mask in the society of their friends, and express just 
 what they think or feel, when they entertain no apprehensions of being watched 
 and noted. In many instances, however, anecdotes are to be regarded rather as 
 affording an idea of the casual turn of thinking and acting, of those whose 
 conversations they detail, or whose deeds they record, than as authorities for 
 settled opinions. Thus, a spirit of contradiction, a wish to display ingenuity, 
 to astonish, or merely to support conversation, may often lead men to maintain 
 ideas in colloquial intercourse, which they perhaps never seriously held, or at 
 least would be ready to disclaim on mature deliberation. 
 
 It being the nature of anecdotes to involve or exemplify more or less of Wit, 
 it is well for those who use or listen to them to bear in mind that such an ele- 
 ment is rarely calculated to have any influence on reasoning, other than to dis- 
 turb it. To determine, however, the precise character, or to give a definite 
 meaning, to the term wit, is indeed difficult. According to one, both fancy and 
 judgment are comprehended under that name ; but this idea is far from being 
 the one generally adopted, and the word has perhaps passed through more sig- 
 nifications, than any other in the English language. At one time, it used 
 to denote a superior degree of understanding, and more particularly a quick 
 and brilliant reason; but it came subsequently to be regarded as consisting 
 
INTRODUCTION. xi 
 
 in lively and ingenious combinations of thought ; and was afterward very 
 neatly described to be such an assemblage of ideas as will give delight and 
 surprise ; and from this it has ultimately come to be regarded as ludicrou.^ 
 surprise. 
 
 But, in addition to the pleasure to be derived from anecdotes on account of 
 the wit which may characterize them, and which carries with the recital both 
 relish and stimulus, there is also the very active element of Curiosity, in the con- 
 stitution of the human mind, and which craves and welcomes every opportunity 
 of gratification. This feeling of curiosity oftentimes rises to eagerness and 
 enthusiasm. There is an anxiety to know all that is possible to be learned of 
 those who have occupied a prominent position in their sphere of life. It is 
 not, merely, that every circumstance derives value from the person to whom it 
 relates ; but an apparently insignificant anecdote often throws an entirely new 
 light on the character of a man's actions. Great deeds, though they shed a 
 broad and lasting lustre round the reputation of those who have achieved them, 
 yet occupy but a small part of the life of any individual ; and mankind are 
 never unwilling to penetrate through this bright halo surrounding one or more 
 illustrious deeds, to see how the interior or remaining intervals are filled up ; in 
 a word, to look into the every-day details, to detect incidental foibles, and to 
 ascertain what qualities such persons have, or had, in common with the great 
 mass of men, as well as distinct from them. 
 
 DTsraeli very philosophically remarks, that " every class of readers requires 
 a book adapted to itself" It was in this conviction that the book now ofiered 
 to that numerous and influential portion of every community — the Business 
 class — had its origin ; fortified by the well-known fact, that anecdote fonns an 
 element of positive force and profitable efiect in the transactions of the count- 
 ingroom and shop — as much so, perhaps, as in any other profession. And why 
 should it not be so ? An anecdote in point, occurring to a man of business, 
 when he is plying the arts of trade, whether as buyer or seller, will naturally 
 give spur to his thoughts, and perhaps be the means of balancing things in his 
 favor, when all other expedients and every other recourse would have proved 
 unavailing. This is a principle as rational as truth itself, and the value of 
 which will be found most amply unfolded in the contents of this volume. 
 
 That all pleasantries ought to be short, has long since passed into an axiom. 
 Due regard has been paid to this sentiment, in the preparation of these pages. 
 Nor has it been any part of the purpose of this volume, to make it a mere lum- 
 ber room of the relics and dotage of far-back ages — a few things good and fresh 
 mixed up with many stale and inferior wares. A special characteristic, too, of 
 mercantile or business men, is that of action — of ready doing, rather than loqua- 
 cious talking ; a quality of which Kothschild, of the Old World, and Girard, 
 of the New, may be cited as memorable examples. Anecdotes are brief, or 
 should be — all over in a short time ; and, if they hit the mark, the object is 
 gained. This collection treats of the business classes on a similar plan : their 
 acts, sayings, achievements, fortunes, customs ; shop talk and " conversations 
 commercial ; " curious annals and interesting data in all the departments of 
 trade ; all the turnings and windings of mercantile life ; apt maxims, ingenious 
 or philosophical thoughts ; testimonies and examples of virtues, of vices, and 
 of abuses, in all their ramifications ; types, pictures, and images ; signs, shows, 
 and wonders ; all things, in short, that have either wit, or humor, or sparkling 
 ideas in them, or a more original or novel spirit than ordinary, here enter as 
 
xii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ingredients, and are interwoven in pleasing variety — a distillation of whatever j 
 is pointed or pungent — tlie milledulcia extracted from the choicest and innu- '] 
 merable sources. .| 
 
 The opening department of this volume — that which presents Business ] 
 Celebrities in their more distinctively biographical aspect — forms one of the i 
 most interesting of the series. It is the vestibule, or porch, as it were, to the ; 
 rest ; and the endeavor has been to arrange it with that care and completeness j 
 which should distinguish matter of such a character. To render biography i 
 generally attractive, it is indispensable that its basis should be that of truth. | 
 Without this, it necessarily wants the great superiority of the narrative of real ■ 
 events over that of mere fictitious creations ; viz., that of recording what has ■ 
 actually occurred in real life. How important an element this is in awakening i 
 the sympathies, may be seen in childreu, who, when particularly fascinated by j 
 any stoi-y they are told, almost invariably end by asking, " But is it all true ? " j 
 The fact, also, that biography deals with personal characters, admits of its , 
 expansion into many topics, both interesting and amusing. As the delineation < 
 of character is its object, and the events of individual life its principal subject, i 
 it not only admits of, but requires a thousand incidents and descriptions, which ; 
 are essential to a right understanding of the characters portrayed. Such details ; 
 enable the reader to clothe the characters in which he is interested in the actual j 
 habiliments in which they were arrayed ; they bring before one's eyes the busi- ] 
 ness occupations and resorts, the dwellings, the firesides, the traits of domestic I 
 association, and other data, which go to make up the warp and woof of life. j 
 
 Nor is it less instructive than pleasant, to be, as it were, introduced thus ] 
 familiarly to the companionship of men who have been or are distinguished in \ 
 the sphere occupied by them. If they be men of sterling and intrepid quali- | 
 ties, it is a privilege to be made acquainted with the motives of their actions, to j 
 follow them from their starting point, to mark the difficulties and opposition ! 
 they encountered in their struggle for advancement — the energy and skill by \ 
 which they were overcome, and the courage that animated them to persevere in * 
 their efi'orts. By their failures, also, warning is obtained of the various quick- ! 
 sands and dangers that beset the path of commercial life. i 
 
 Thus considered, the lives of noted business men supply abundant and \ 
 striking material for the pen of the writer. It is true, that only here and there j 
 does such a life present itself among that class — so full of versatile and remark- ; 
 able experience — as to aflford substance for an elaborate and formal biography. : 
 Such as the latter have sometimes been written, exhibiting a most frugal pro- | 
 portion of kernel to shell— mere rivulets of fact in meadows of verbiage, and i 
 bringing positive discredit both upon the author and his subject. But, not- ,■ 
 withstanding this, there are very many characters which afford, respectively, j 
 some trait, habit, or individuality, capable, when presented in a lively manner, J 
 of furnishing entertainment and profit in the highest degree ; as the numberless | 
 specimens here spread out before the reader will attest. 
 
 It may safely be asserted, that no character of fiction, made ever so dazzling \ 
 by the imagery of the novelist, presents to the mind such marvels as may be J 
 found in the solid realities of experience pertaining to an Astor, a Rothschild, i 
 a Lawrence, a McDonough, a De Medicis, a Girard, and their compeers, the ] 
 chronicles of whose great and unfaltering career loom up so conspicuously in ; 
 these pages. Isor is the mind less startled at the history of the magnificent sue- J 
 cess of a Morris, a Law, a Lafitte, a Goldschmid, a Fordyce, a Hudson, and j 
 
INTRODUCTION. xiii 
 
 others, and their subsequent downfall and ruin. Not only are such narratives 
 adapted to intellectually impress — to captivate, to excite, to confound, to arouse 
 to wonderment, to amuse — but they may be made subservient to positive profit ; 
 in business parlance, they may " be made to pay ! " An aquaintance with the 
 ways and means which have characterized the career of successful business men 
 — their apt sayings, or more apt silence ; their penetration of human character) 
 and art of imperceptibly influencing its sensibilities and moods- to their own ends ; 
 their genial sallies and happy repartees ; their shrewd plans, skilful combina- 
 tions, ingenious finesse, and general modus operandi of " turning a trade ;" such 
 an acquaintance cannot but be a capital desideratum to all who move in a kin- 
 dred path. 
 
 The plan which has been adopted of dividing the contents of this work 
 into different sections, each devoted to a particular specialty, is one which will 
 enable the reader to strike easily at every salient point in the anecdotical field 
 of commerce and commercial character thus spread before him. Of the bear- 
 ings of the first department, we have already spoken ; the others admit, sev- 
 erally, of similar explanatory detail with respect to their prescribed object and 
 the illustrations afforded by their contents. But, not to attempt to specifically 
 portray or analyze the features of each department by itself, into which this 
 volume is divided — the fascinating data which open up in the memorials cf 
 world-renowned merchants, bankers, and millionnaires — the arts and humors of 
 money dealing — the captivating examples of success based on the practice of 
 the more rigid qualities — the low craft and bold criminalities both of ancient 
 and modern traffic — the whims and ingenuities of business phraseology — the 
 unique thoughts and things pertaining to commercial transit — the curious phe- 
 nomena of trade and merchandise in their legal bearings — the exhibition of the 
 private or domestic side of mercantile characters — the novelties and erratic expe- 
 dients characteristic of bargain makers in different countries — the vagaries 
 and hazards of insurance — the incidents of clerk life, shop experience, &c., to- 
 gether with the variegated jottings of trade and its votaries, as related to " the 
 rest of mankind ; " — without attempting to depict the results, or point out the 
 peculiar entertainment presented by each one of these, separately, it may be 
 remarked, in conclusion, that perhaps the portion of this volume which ex- 
 hibits the phenomena of commercial dealings in their most extraordinary de- 
 velopments, is comprised in the recital of the manias, bubbles, panics, and 
 delusions, which have from time to time swept the business world like a tor- 
 nado, carrying before it the verdant like chaff", and ultimately the most sagacious 
 and wary. 
 
 Now that those delusions are past, it is difficult to conceive how mercantile 
 men could be led to entertain such visionary expectations, and to pay immense 
 premiums in distant and hazardous undertakings, of which they knew little or 
 nothing. A blind ardor seemed to take possession of men's minds ; every 
 rumor of a new project was taken at once as the presage of sudden and inex- 
 haustible wealth. People supposed they were forthwith to lay their hands on 
 treasure that waited simply their bidding. The rise, in many cases, exceeded 
 cent, per cent. Many who were most eager in pursuit of shares, intended only 
 to hold them for a few hours, days, or weeks, and then profit from the advance 
 which they anticipated would take place, by selling them to others more credu- 
 lous or bold than themselves. The confidence of one set of speculators con- 
 firmed that of others. Meanwhile, the indiscriminating rapacity of the public 
 
Xiv IXTRODUCTIOX. 
 
 was fed by every conceivable art. Madness ruled the hour. The poor and the 
 rich rushed wildly to invest their all ; and even mendicants rolled proudly, for 
 a while, in fictitious wealth ! But, as in all such cases since the world was, the 
 shadows of doubt began, in time, ominously to cast themselves athwart this 
 bright picture, and soon deepened into the dark and lurid clouds of stern real- 
 ity. People turned ashy pale. Consternation took the place of confidence, and 
 Panic spread out her spectral wings. Thus, one by one these airy bubbles ex- 
 ploded, leaving the wail of desolation, of gaunt despair, and of ghastly suicide, 
 in their fatal train. The pen of the romancer, in its most unrestrained flights, 
 would fail to equal, in startling wonders, the chronicles of commercial tragedy 
 which have their appropriate department in this volume. 
 
ONTENTS. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 ANECDOTES AND REMARKABLE REMINISCENCES OF THE EARLY CA- 
 REER OF BUSINESS CELEBRITIES IN ALL AGES AND COUNTRIES,. 
 
 AsTOR, Rothschild, Odvrard, Bates, Barker, Touro, McDonogh, Howqua, Gold- 
 SCHMID, Hope, Hottinguer, Coutts, Morrison, De Medicis, Girard, Biddle, 
 Labocchere, Lafitte, Appleton, Cooper, Gresham, Peabody, Nolte, Gray, 
 Vanderbilt, Beatty, Lawrence, Lowell, Whitney, Gideon, Baring, Morris, 
 LoRiLLARD, Steiglitz, Perkins, Jeejeebhoy, Brooks, Longworth, etc., etc., etc. 
 
 FAOB 
 
 Appleton, Nathan, merchant, of Boston.. 32 
 
 Appleton, Samuel, merchant, of Boston.. 48 
 
 Appleton, William, merchant, of Boston 33 
 Astor, John Jacob, merchant, of New 
 
 York 47 
 
 Astor, William B., millionnaire, of New 
 
 York 39 
 
 Barings (The), bankers, of London 27 
 
 Barker, Jacob, merchant, of New Orleans 43 
 Barnum, P. T., " the Prince of Showmen," 
 
 of New York 29 
 
 Bates, Joshua, of the house of Barings, 
 
 London 21 
 
 Beatty, James, merchant, of Baltimore. . . 23 
 Biddle, Nicholas, financier, of Philadel- 
 phia 26 
 
 Brooks, Peter C, millionnaire, of Boston 49 
 Bruck, M., Austria's great merchant 
 
 banker 7 
 
 Bussey, Benjamin, merchant, of Boston.. 15 
 Callaghan, Daniel, the Irish mercantile 
 
 celebrity 9 
 
 Child, Francis, founder of English bank- 
 ing houses 14 
 
 Coeur, Jacques, French merchant in the 
 
 Middle Ages 87 
 
 Cooper, Peter, merchant, of New York... IG 
 Cope, Thomas P., merchant, of Philadel- 
 phia 53 
 
 Corning, Erastus, merchant, of New York 51 
 
 Coutts, English banker 3 
 
 B 
 
 Dadabhoy Jeejeebhoy, Parsee banker and 
 
 merchant 41 
 
 De Buirette, the illustrious German mer- 
 chant 28 
 
 " Denison, Old Mr ," of St. Mary Axe. ... 46 
 Dexter, Lord Timothy, eccentric mer- 
 chant, of Newburyport 20 
 
 Fish, Preserved, merchant, of New York 10 
 
 Forbes, William, Scotch banker 6 
 
 Fordyce, Alexander, the Shark of the Ex- 
 change 44 
 
 Fugger, Johannes, and the great commer- 
 cial family of Fuggcrs 15 
 
 Garrison, C. K., merchant, of San Fran- 
 cisco 40 
 
 Gideon, Sampson, the rival of Rothschild 18 
 Girard, Stephen, merchant and banker, 
 
 of Philadelphia 29 
 
 Goldschmid, Abraham and Benjamin, old 
 
 English bankers 38 
 
 Goodhue, Jonathan, merchant, of New 
 
 York 50 
 
 Gracie, Archibald, merchant, of New York 52 
 " Gray, Old Billy," merchant, of Boston . . 35 
 Gresham, Thomas, royal merchant and 
 
 financier, of London. 26 
 
 Haase, Henry Engelbert, banker, of Bre- 
 men 9 
 
 Herodotus, a merchant 41 
 
 Hogg, William, Pennsylvania millionnaire 41 
 Hope, Henry, banker, of Amsterdam ... . 13 
 
XVI 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Howqua, senior Hong merchant 2 
 
 Jeejeebhoy, Jamsetjee, great Parsee mer- 
 chant 19 
 
 Khan, the celebrated Persian merchant. . IS 
 Labouchere, P. C, the youthful prince 
 
 merchant 2 
 
 Lafitte, Jacques, French banker 8 
 
 Lawrence, Abbott, merchant, of Boston. . 42 
 
 Lawrence, Amos, merchant, of Boston. . . 11 
 Lawrence, Cornelius W., merchant, of 
 
 New York 12 
 
 Leavitt, David, merchant, of New York. . 11 
 
 Lenox, James, merchant, of New York.. 11 
 
 Little, Jacob, " of Wall Street " 22 
 
 Lloyd, Jones, banker, of Loudon 8 
 
 Longworth, Nicholas, millionnaire, of 
 
 Cincinnati 45 
 
 Lopez, Judah M., speculator in annuities 38 
 
 Lorillard, the New York tobacconist 46 
 
 Lowell, Francis C, merchant, of Boston 14 
 McDonogh, John, millionnaire, of New 
 
 Orleans 17 
 
 Medicis, Lorenzo de, "the magnificent 
 
 merchant," of Florence 12 
 
 Morgan, Edwin D., merchant, of New 
 
 York 31 
 
 Morris, Robert, financier, of Philadelphia 1 
 
 Morrison, James, " of Twenty Millions " 21 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Nolte, Vincent, the wandering merchant 19 
 " Old Billy Gray," merchant, of Bos- 
 ton 35 
 
 Ouvrard, G. J., "the Napoleon of finance" 52 
 Overend, John, pioneer bill broker, of 
 
 London 46 
 
 Peabody, George, merchant and banker, 
 
 of London 16 
 
 Perit, Pelatiah, merchant, of New York. . 37 
 
 Perkins, Thomas H., merchant, of Boston 50 
 
 Ricardo, David, English financier 33 
 
 Ridgway, Jacob, merchant, of Philadel- 
 phia 37, 54 
 
 Rothschilds (The), wealthiest bankers in 
 
 the world 23 
 
 Solomon, the merchant sovereign 7 
 
 "Spencer, Rich," merchant and banker, 
 
 of London 35 
 
 Steiglitz, richest of Russian merchants.. 7 
 Stewart, Alexander T., merchant, of New 
 
 York 30 
 
 Sturgis, William, merchant, of Boston.. 473 
 
 Tattersall, the London auctioneer 4 
 
 Touro, Judah, merchant, of New Orleans 34 
 Whitney, Stephen, merchant, of New 
 
 York 14 
 
 Wood, James, the Gloucester million- 
 naire 3 
 
 PAET II. 
 
 ANECDOTES AND INCIDENTS OF BUSINESS PURSUITS IN THEIR MONET 
 
 RELATIONS. 
 
 Banks, Bankers, Brokers, Specie, Notes, Loans, Exchange, Drafts, Checks, Public 
 Securities, and Currency in all its Forms and Phases ; -with Jottings op the 
 Most Celebrated Millionnaires and Money Dealers — their Business Modes and 
 Characteristics, Maxims, Colloqiues, Wit, Eccentricities and Finesse. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 "Accommodation" offered at the Bank. . 119 
 Addison's Opinion of the Royal Exchange 
 
 and its Frequenters 112 
 
 Albert Gallatin declining Mr. Baring's 
 
 Offer of a Fortune 115 
 
 An Excited Specie Hunter 97 
 
 Another Bank Project 72 
 
 Application for a Discount, by Astor. . . . 102 
 
 Astor's " Secret Pain " 88 
 
 Atchafalaya Currency by the Cord 75 
 
 Avoiding Specie Suspension 74 
 
 Bank Parlor in the Winter 74 
 
 Bank Teller's " Varieties '[ 92 
 
 Bankers of the Old School 76 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Bankers Snubbing Napoleon 87 
 
 Banking Habits of Girard 66 
 
 Banks Failing 84 
 
 Banks of Ease 108 
 
 Barnard, the Proud Broker 114 
 
 Bewitching a Bank Teller 114 
 
 "Borrow Money! Borrow Money!" 90 
 
 Bound not to Break 86 
 
 Brief Explanation of Banking 83 
 
 Burning a Banker's Notes 76 
 
 Business Aspect and Conduct of the 
 
 Richest Banker in the World 71 
 
 California Gold, Seventy Years Ago 73 
 
 Capital of European Bankers 81 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 xvu 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Cashier Inviting a Run upon his Bank. . . 77 
 
 Coin used by Judas 100 
 
 Colloquies inside the Bank 106 
 
 Conducting Business on the Paris Bourse 95 
 
 " Confidence" in Hard Times 62 
 
 Couutiug-House Dinners 61) 
 
 Croesus, vast Wealth of 91 
 
 Curious Reason for Borrowing Money. . . 74 
 
 Detecting Bad Bills....' 96 
 
 Determining the Genuineness of a Check 96 
 
 Disadvantage of being a Bank Director. . 107 
 
 Discounting an Hibernian's Note Ill 
 
 Disinterested Brokers 68 
 
 Drawing the Specie 59 
 
 Dudley North's Opposition to Brokerage 81 
 
 Endorser's Qualification 110 
 
 Establishment of the Bank of England- 
 Curious Facts 85 
 
 Final Argument at a Bank Counter 80 
 
 Financial Physic 82 
 
 First Jewish Bill of Exchange 80 
 
 First Run upon Bankers 116 
 
 Florentine Brokers and Money Loaners.. 94 
 
 Four Money-making Rules of Rothschild 115 
 
 Franklin's M ultitude of Capitalists 98 
 
 Gallatin, Albert, declining Mr. Baring's 
 
 Olfer of a Fortune 115 
 
 George Peabody's Colossal Fortune 72 
 
 Girard's great Government Loan 100 
 
 Glances behind the Bank Counter 61 
 
 Goldschmid and Baring's Unfortunate 
 
 Contract — Suicide of the Former 61 
 
 Governor of the Bank of England taken by 
 
 Surprise 113 
 
 Greatest Lending House in Europe 105 
 
 Gresham's Scheme of Exchanges 115 
 
 History of the Old Red Cent 101 
 
 Immense Consignment of Gold to a New 
 
 York House 119 
 
 Intruding into the Bullion Room 99 
 
 Irish Banker Redeeming his Notes 93 
 
 Irishman at the Bank 108 
 
 Jacob Barker's Forty Kegs of Specie .... 79 
 
 Jacob Little and the Missing Bank Bill. . 83 
 
 Jacob Lorillard's Note of Accommodation 110 
 
 Jewish Money Lenders Ill 
 
 Jewish Perseverance and Shrewdness... 88 
 
 Juvenile Contempt of the Bank 108 
 
 Lafitte in a Tight Place. 65 
 
 Largest Dealer in Commercial Paper in 
 
 the United States 90 
 
 Largest Private Check ever Drawn 105 
 
 Learning the Currency in a Small Way. . 66 
 
 Leather Money 80 
 
 Lives of Bank Notes 73 
 
 Logic of Specie Payments 68 
 
 London Bankers and Banking Houses .... 78 
 
 Lorillard paying a Bequest in Bank Stock 105 
 
 Losing a Bank Customer 110 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Loss of Bank Notes 64 
 
 Lost Bank Note of Thirty Thousand 
 
 Pounds 103 
 
 M. Rothschild on the Secret of his Success 101 
 
 Manifolding Bank Notes 98 
 
 Merchants' Notes as Currency 103 
 
 Modes of conducting Operations, by Roths- 
 child 92 
 
 Model English Banker 90 
 
 Modern Bank Directors' Parlor 96 
 
 Money-changers in China 76 
 
 Money Street of New York 112 
 
 More Cunning than Rothschild Ill 
 
 Mr. Biddle's Wit 87 
 
 Neapolitan Canibiamoneta or Money- • 
 
 changer. . - 104 
 
 New York Bankers and Western Court- 
 houses 83 
 
 Nicholas Biddle and the Mississippi Loan 61 
 
 Note Buyers 109 
 
 Novel Securities for Loans 70 
 
 Obtaining Security to be a Broker 78 
 
 Oldest Bill of Exchange in the World.... 106 
 
 Origin of Paper Money 101 
 
 Ouvrard, the Banker, and Napoleon 65 
 
 Pawning Money in Ireland 70 
 
 Paying Notes in Specie 79 
 
 Peculiar Management of the Bank of 
 
 Amsterdam 102 
 
 Peep at the Treasure in Threadneedle 
 
 Street 91 
 
 Peeresses conducting Banking Operations 89 
 
 Pennsylvania Bonds 120 
 
 Picayunes and Coppers 113 
 
 Proud Broker Barnard, The 114 
 
 Punch's Money Vagaries 66 
 
 Pursuit of Specie under Difficulties 63 
 
 Queen Anne saving the Government Bank 
 
 from Pillage 116 
 
 Raising Money on Manuscript 93 
 
 Rendering Bank Notes Serviceable 116 
 
 Renewing a Note 98 
 
 Ricardo's Three Golden Rules 101 
 
 Roman Money Lenders 68 
 
 Rothschild trying to Raise a Small Loan 100 
 
 Royal Runners and Brokers 107 
 
 Running a Bank 99 
 
 Russian Money Brokers 109 
 
 Scenes after Discount Day 104 
 
 Securing Trustworthy Bank Officers, and 
 
 the Safety of Capital 69 
 
 Security for a Discount 79 
 
 Sir Robert Peel's Opinion of his Son as a 
 
 Financier , 89 
 
 Spanish Reals versus Spanish Bonds 84 
 
 Specie in the Brokers' Windows 64 
 
 Strongest Bank in the World 82 
 
 Supposititious Will of the Bank of Eng- 
 land Directors 117 
 
XVIU 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Terrible Revenge on a Bank, by Roths- 
 child 95 
 
 The Great Bankers of the World together 
 
 in Rothschild's Parlor .» 60 
 
 " The Lady's Broker " 77 
 
 The United Job and Lazarus Bank 81 
 
 Throwing out Jacob Barker's Notes 84 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Timely Hard-money Loan 67 
 
 Unexpected Balance at Coutts's Bank 106 
 
 Vast Wealth of Croesus , 91 
 
 Vaults of the Bank of France 62 
 
 Voltaire's Dealings in Government Stocks 111 
 Weight of Miss Burdett Coutts's Fortune 87 
 Yankee Hoarding Specie 72 
 
 PART IIIo 
 
 ANECDOTES AND 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF TEE SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS 
 QUALITIES. 
 
 Integrity, Enterprise, Energy, Perseverance, Courage, Shrewdness, Punctilious- 
 ness, Prudence, Ambition, Gratitude, Benevolence, Generosity, Economy ; with 
 Pencillings op Striking Business Adventures, Vicissitudes, Exploits and 
 Achievements, both Serious and Comical. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 A Good Beginning— Old Moses Roths- 
 child 184 
 
 A. T. Stewart's Success 145 
 
 Aged Merchant saved from Robbery by 
 
 the Weather 176 
 
 Agreement for a Loan 142 
 
 American Merchants of the Olden Time — 
 
 Joseph Peabody 174 
 
 "An Error in Shipping the Goods" 170 
 
 Aptness and Nicety in Business Hlustrated 170 
 Arab Honesty in Business Transactions. . 140 
 
 Astor's Early Prediction 144 
 
 Aztec Merchants 181 
 
 Benevolence of Goldschniid, the Old Jew 
 
 Broker 126 
 
 Benevolence of Shai-king-qua, the Chinese 
 
 Merchant 172 
 
 Bone and Offal Millionnaire 161 
 
 Boston Merchant's opinion of Business 
 
 Men's Honesty 157 
 
 Boyhood Struggles of a Merchant, Gideon 
 
 Lee 125 
 
 Bruised but not Crushed : the Messrs. 
 
 Brown of Liverpool 167 
 
 Business Habits of A, T. Stewart 165 
 
 Business versus Disease 141 
 
 Celebrated Question in Commerce put by 
 
 Cicero 140 
 
 Chinese Merchant's Gratitude 169 
 
 Commencing in the Sub-cellar 135 
 
 Commencing with Three Tobacco Boxes 
 
 —Jacob Barker 179 
 
 Commercial Fortune of a Peer 173 
 
 Confidence in Mercantile Success 144 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Controversy among Wine Dealers 137 
 
 Cope's, Thomas P., Integrity 155 
 
 Correct Appreciation of Mercantile Cha- 
 racter, by Mr. Astor 186 
 
 Day and Martin, the Millionnaires of High 
 
 Holborn 147 
 
 Earliest American Whaleship in England 181 
 
 English Merchant and Spanish Beggar. . 176 
 Enterprise of Yankees and Russians 
 
 'Cutely Hlustrated 161 
 
 Erastus B. Bigelow's Boyhood Bargain. . . 144 
 European and American Modes of doing 
 
 Business 171 
 
 Everything by turns : Girard's Example. . 136 
 
 Expectations against Results 138 
 
 Explaining his Business 181 
 
 Extension and Profits of Mr. Astor's Fur 
 
 Business 186 
 
 Father Taylor and the Banker's Exhorta- 
 tion 169 
 
 First Greek Adventure to America 153 
 
 First Penny gained by a Millionnaire .... 126 
 
 Five Years of Privation and a Fortune... 161 
 
 Foot's, Lundy " Blackguard Snuff"" 135 
 
 Fortune of a Commercial Peer 173 
 
 Fortunes at a Single Blow 130 
 
 French Mercantile Independence 127 
 
 General Jackson's Interview with Samuel 
 
 Slater 1^5 
 
 Generosity of Chickering the Piano-Forte 
 
 Maker 159 
 
 Getting the Hang of Mercantile Transac- 
 tions 138 
 
 Gideon Lee carrying the Lapstone r> 171 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 XIX 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Girard trying to raise Five Dollars 142 
 
 Good Word for Girard 176 
 
 Goodhue, Jouatban, Noble Mercantile 
 
 Trait of. 162 
 
 Great Deeds of European Merchants 134 
 
 Gresham's Fortunate Letter 174 
 
 Haifa Million Profit by One of Girard's 
 
 Operations '^-^^ 
 
 Handful of Wool and a Bank of Money. . . 164 
 
 Hiding the Dollar with a Dime 158 
 
 Hinges upon which Trade swings 138 
 
 Honorable Distinction attained by Mr. 
 
 Perit IBS 
 
 Hope and Co., Peremptory Refusal of, to 
 
 do Business with Girard 134 
 
 Hudson, George, Tale at a Dinner Party. 142 
 
 Indians' Mode of Judging a Trader 132 
 
 Jacob Barker's Success when a Youth.... 147 
 James G. King's Treatment of Resent- 
 ments 162 
 
 John Jacob Aster's ** Highway to For- 
 tune " 171 
 
 Johnson's Prejudice against Merchants.. 165 
 
 Labouchere and Vincent Notte 151 
 
 Ladder of Commercial Success 157 
 
 Late at a Dinner Party : George Hudson 142 
 Lawrence, Abbott, not disposed to Lie. . 164 
 
 Lee and his Travelling Companion 125 
 
 Lendinga Helping Hand: A. Lawrence.. 141 
 Liberality of Yakooleff", the Russian Mer- 
 chant 127 
 
 Little too Candid 137 
 
 Locking-up Foreign Merchants in Eng- 
 land 128 
 
 Making Conditions : King James and the 
 
 Corn Merchants 123 
 
 McDonogh's Greatest Victory 162 
 
 Mercantile Character Comparatively Esti- 
 mated 131 
 
 Mercantile Defalcation Made Good after 
 
 Sixty Years 158 
 
 Merchant Patrons of Literature ISO 
 
 Merchants and Legislators 133 
 
 Merchants getting to be Gentlemen 133 
 
 Merchants of the Golden Fleece 128 
 
 Minding One's Own Business 171 
 
 Mohammedan Mercantile Morality 135 
 
 Mohammedan's reason for Not Storing 
 
 Coods 131 
 
 Money Enojigh to Break on 131 
 
 Money gettinsr Tact of Jews 173 
 
 Monsieur Smith : Girard's Man 154 
 
 Mr. Everell and the Hindoo Merchant.. . . 180 
 
 Mr. Grinnell's Liberality 183 
 
 Murdered Merchant Watched by his Dog 176 
 Mutations of a Merchant's Life ; the New 
 
 Orleans Sock-Seller. . 129 
 
 Mysterious Benefactor — Incident of the 
 South Sea Bubble 158 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Napoleon and Byron on Trading 131 
 
 Noble Mercantile Trait of Jonathan Good- 
 hue 162 
 
 Not Ashamed of Work — Astor s Diligence 133 
 Not disposed to Lie : Abbott Lawrence.. 164 
 
 Old Fashioned Shopkeepers 128 
 
 Opulent New York Merchants 133 
 
 Pati'iotic Merchants of the Revolution . . . 127 
 Patriotism and Prowess of French Mer- 
 chants 150 
 
 Peculiar Feature in Rothschild's Business 
 
 Character 173 
 
 Peremptory Refusal of Hope and Co. to 
 
 do Business with Girard 134 
 
 Perkins's, Thomas U., Deliberate Habits. 150 
 
 Perseverance badly rewarded 185 
 
 Persevering Traders 170 
 
 Philadelphia Young Merchant, who was 
 
 not afraid of Girard 158 
 
 Polly Kenton's Lard Speculation 164 
 
 Portuguese Pilgrim in the Streets of 
 Venice proclaiming its Commercial 
 
 Doom 175 
 
 Present Prosperity of the Rothschilds. . . 180 
 Private Mercantile finances and Royal 
 
 Fleets 174 
 
 Privateering Exploit of a Salem Merchant 149 
 Quaker Merchant's Idea of Privateering. . 132 
 Queen Juno's Opinion of Merchants .... . . 125 
 
 Recovering a Wasted Fortune 130 
 
 Redeeming Lost Time 163 
 
 Remarkable Case of Conscience in a Busi- 
 ness Man 182 
 
 Restitution by a Shopkeeper 163 
 
 Retiring from Business — Engaging to 
 
 Blow the Bellows 141 
 
 Reverses of Mercantile Fortune 168 
 
 Reynolds, the Charitable Quaker Merchant 127 
 
 Roman Idea of Merchants 154 
 
 Romance of Trade — " Blackajuard Snuff'* 135 
 
 Roscoe, William, the Poet Banker 169 
 
 Rothschild and Astor compared 151 
 
 Sabbath Experimces of a Shipmaster 139 
 
 Scene in a Merchant's Counting Room after 
 
 the Peace of T^lo.. 153 
 
 Search for a New Route to China 186 
 
 Second Thought on a Trade 155 
 
 Secrecy in Business Transactions prac- 
 tised by Rothschild 156 
 
 Shaking One's Business Credit 123 
 
 Sharing in a Good Operation 156 
 
 Shopkeepers and Warriors 175 
 
 Six Days for Business nnd One for Rest.. 157 
 
 Sole Qualification of a Bill Broker 173 
 
 Sources of Wealth of the Medici Family 
 
 of Merchants 182 
 
 Spanish Mercantile Dealings 163 
 
 Stewart's, A. T. Success 162 
 
 "Stick to Your Last" 137 
 
XX 
 
 CONTEXTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Strong Point in Mercantile Success: 
 
 Girard's Silence 153 
 
 Tempting Business Paragraph 161 
 
 The Banker's Seven-Shilling Piece 177 
 
 Thorburn's Flowery Path to Fortune.... 166 
 Thomas H. Perkins's Deliberate Habits.. 150 
 
 Thomas P. Cope's Integrity 155 
 
 Three Merchant Voyages and their Re- 
 sults 155 
 
 Too Close application to Business 141 
 
 Touro's Great Gift to a Beggar 159 
 
 Tudor, the Original Ice Merchant 153 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Usurious Interest on Money : Peter C. 
 
 Brooks's Rule 172 
 
 Value of a Good Credit 132 
 
 "Walter Barrett's" Cotton Mission 148 
 
 "Washington as a Business Man 179 
 
 Wealthy Men of Cincinnati 168 
 
 Whale Fishery Enterprise of Americans 160 
 What John McDonogh said to a Lawyer. 146 
 
 Who were the First Whalemen ? 129 
 
 William Roscoe, the Poet Banker 169 
 
 Yankee Shrewdness Handsomely Illus- 
 trated 124 
 
 PAET lY. 
 
 ANECDOTES OF TRADE AND BUSINESS IMMORALITIES. 
 
 The Rarest Instances of Ingenious Business Fraud, Forgery, Counterfeiting, and 
 Smuggling ; Usury, Artifice, Tricks, and Malpractice ; with Examples, Ex- 
 traordinary AND Amusing, op Avarice, Covetousness, Parsimony, Extortion, 
 Pride, Rudeness, Violence and Extrayagance of Business Men. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 "A Little More'- 198 
 
 A Rustic bargaining for a Hat 262 
 
 Accomplished Canine Shoplifter 200 
 
 Artful Dodge 206 
 
 Attempt to overthrow Rothschild's Power 
 
 in the Money Market 250 
 
 Attention to Trivial Things by Girard. . . 243 
 Avarice of Osterwald, the French Banker 244 
 
 Bad Bank Bill 277 
 
 Bad Business 223 
 
 Bank Teller Filing his Gold Coin 2C0 
 
 Bargaining for a Jar 234 
 
 Bargains in Cochin-China 219 
 
 Bit of Yankee Financiering in Wall Street 266 
 
 Blinders for Stockholders 216 
 
 Bubble Prospectuses 281 
 
 Burns and the Drowning Merchant 272 
 
 Business Haggling in Scotland 194 
 
 Business Suckers 212 
 
 Buying Cheap 211 
 
 Buying Wine by Sample 231 
 
 Characteristic Smuggling Ingenuity of 
 
 Parisians 226 
 
 Cheating the Oculist 212 
 
 City Merchant securing a Customer 241 
 
 Coal Dealer's Prediction Fulfilled — Per- 
 haps 265 
 
 Colloquy between a Storekeeper and his 
 
 Customer 243 
 
 Commercial Croakers 248 
 
 Commercial Milk 223 
 
 PAQB 
 
 Connection between Small Bank Notes 
 
 and Crime 214 
 
 Consequence of a Simple Mercantile 
 
 Speculation 241 
 
 Cool Assurance of a Doomed Financier.. 249 
 
 " Cornering " among Brokers 247 
 
 Croesus and his Avaricious Guest 221 
 
 Custom House Swearing 249 
 
 Customs of the Store in Church 253 
 
 Dangers of Legitimate Business Transac- 
 tions 224 
 
 Deaconing Both Ends of the Barrel 206 
 
 Deadhead Customer — a Clincher 195 
 
 Deserved Reward of Blasphemy 265 
 
 Determined not to be Overreached 200 
 
 Determining the Character of an Article 
 
 by its Age 196 
 
 Discounting a Legacy 237 
 
 Disposing of an Old Stock 233 
 
 Doing Things on Shares 271 
 
 "Doing "and "Shaving" Customers... 271 
 
 " Done for " Twice 238 
 
 Dry Goods Drummer "Sold" 204 
 
 Dummies, or Counterfeit Show Windows 269 
 
 Duplicity of French Speculators 227 
 
 Duplicity practised by Furnese, the King's 
 
 Banker 210 
 
 Dutchman illustrating a Mercantile Prin- 
 ciple 195 
 
 East India Company and the Missing Wit- 
 ness *... 225 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 XXI 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Economical Hardware Merchant 242 
 
 Espionage Practised by Girard 297 
 
 Estimate of his own Life by a Miser 244 
 
 Exchanging a Cheese for a Pinch of 
 
 Snuff 261 
 
 Expedient of a Russian Miser 272 
 
 Extravagant Business Rhetoric 252 
 
 Fate of a Clerical Dealer in " Fancies ". . 233 
 
 Fauntleroy, the Executed Banker 255 
 
 Filibustering among Parisian Jewellers. . . 203 
 
 Financiering in Alabama 192 
 
 First Forged Note on a Bank 255 
 
 Fortune-making in Havana 212 
 
 French Nicety in Trade Frauds 233 
 
 French Usurers and Pigeons 275 
 
 Friend Hopper and the Due Bill 266 
 
 Game of the Money Packages 209 
 
 " Genuine " Wines 196 
 
 Government Contractors in Russia 259 
 
 Grocers' Raisin Boxes and Nibbling Cus- 
 tomers 206 
 
 Half Hour's Experience with London 
 
 Brokers 207 
 
 Hanging a Broker One Hundred Years 
 
 Ago 240 
 
 Hard Philosophy of an Annuity-Monger 274 
 
 Hardening Tendency of Business 224 
 
 " He's a Country Merchant— Stick Him !" 230 
 High-heeled Boots with Watches in Them 232 
 
 His Ruling Passion 209 
 
 Hoarding and Amusing — Noted Instances 253 
 
 Imitating Signatures 276 
 
 Ingenious Plot against a Banker 260 
 
 Ingenious Swindling of Pawnbrokers.. . . 199 
 
 Italian Knavery in Picture Selling 279 
 
 Italian Picture Dealer Trapping an Expe- 
 rienced Connoisseur 193 
 
 Jack's Bargain for Rope 199 
 
 Jacob Barker on "Shrewdness" in Stock 
 
 Dealing 214 
 
 James Bolland's Financial Career 193 
 
 Jemmy Taylor, the Miser Broker, and the 
 
 Earl of Northumberland 200 
 
 Jew Losing a Bargain 243 
 
 Jewish Money Makers in the Holy City.. 253 
 
 Jewish Opinion of Rothschild 243 
 
 Keen Ruse by a Yankee Peddler 263 
 
 Kentucky Hams and Yankee Nutmegs. . . 217 
 King Charles in the Pawners' Clutches . 210 
 Knavery of British and Chinese Traders 
 
 compared 246 
 
 Knowing his Customer 236 
 
 Latest " Sell " of the Day 218 
 
 Lodging a Banker in the Gutter 267 
 
 Looking Glass for Wall Street 239 
 
 Louis the Fifteenth's Opinion of his Own 
 
 Paper 240 
 
 M. Beautte and the Official Smuggler.,. 237 
 Making a Good Job of It 275 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Making Change at Railroad Refreshment 
 
 Stands 278 
 
 "Merchant of Venice" — Shylock's Com- 
 mercial Character Vindicated 222 
 
 Messrs. Moan and Groan of Cypress Row 220 
 Mode of Protecting the Money Drawer. . . 238 
 
 Morocco Pocketbook Men 225 
 
 Mr. Jones's Experience with Peter Funk 213 
 Muller, the Rich Merchant of Nuremberg: 
 
 Fictitious Theft 259 
 
 Mysteries of Tea Smuggling 229 
 
 " Newcsloth " 272 
 
 " No Great Judge of de Hemp " 201 
 
 Old Guy putting out the Light ; or, Mil- 
 lionnaires rating each others' Fru- 
 gality 236 
 
 Old-School Money Jobbers 274 
 
 OldVinter's Bank Bills 219 
 
 One Cent with Girard 273 
 
 One of the Operations in 'Change Alley. . 208 
 
 One Price, but not the Same Article 204 
 
 "P. D." , 222 
 
 Parisian Female Smugglers 271 
 
 Philanthropy and Forty per Cent 232 
 
 Plan to Ruin the Ancient Firm of Child 
 
 and Co. by the Bank of England 280 
 
 Prayers Requested for a New Business 
 
 Undertaking 230 
 
 Prejudice against Yankee Clock Peddlers, 
 
 and how it was Overcome 277 
 
 Presents to Bank Officers : Curious Cases 254 
 
 Price of Extortion and Revenge 235 
 
 Purloining Speculator in the French 
 
 Funds 245 
 
 Quaker Banker and the Stolen Doubloons 240 
 Quaker Shipowner Economizing the Time 
 
 of his Men 198 
 
 Raising his Customer 245 
 
 Raising the Price of Bread 201 
 
 Resolving to be Rich 273 
 
 Restitution of Bank N otes 257 
 
 Results of a Career of Overreaching 263 
 
 Risks of the Currency 278 
 
 Rothschild and Lucas : Stratagem to Learn 
 
 the Former's Secrets 191 
 
 Royal Prize for Raising Money — Raid 
 
 upon the Bankers 198 
 
 Saving the Pieces — Girard and his 
 
 Brother 222 
 
 Selling a Bad Article 277 
 
 Selling Salt by a Chalk Line 191 
 
 Settling a Question of Taste and Trade. . . 272 
 
 Sharing in Rothschild's Fortune 252 
 
 Sharp at a Trade— Sharper in Getting Out 
 
 of It 264 
 
 Skinflint Philosophy 245 
 
 Slavers Raising a Capital 248 
 
 Smuggled Needles, and the American 
 Eagle 269 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Smuggler's Honor 226 
 
 Smuggling by the Chinese 271 
 
 Smuggling on a Lace Merchant's Dog. . . 231 
 
 Snug Place for Bank Notes 270 
 
 Spaniard and Chinaman at a Trade 231 
 
 Spanish Contraband Trade 229 
 
 Stephen Whitney's Charities 244 
 
 Stock Exchange Conspiracy 214 
 
 Stock " Washing " 247 
 
 Taking Him at his Word 267 
 
 Talleyrand and the Stockjobber 211 
 
 Terrible Career of Sadleir, the Speculator 227 
 Terrible Sequel to Parsimony : M. Fescue's 
 
 Case 250 
 
 The Bank Detectives Foiled 264 
 
 The Prince Regent's Wine and the Confi- 
 dential Dealer 268 
 
 Three Millionnaires Quarrelling about One 
 
 Farthing. 235 
 
 Throwing Sawdust in the Eyes of Custom 
 House Officers 270 
 
 PAGE 
 
 " To what Base Uses have we Come at 
 
 Last !" 280 
 
 Tobacco in Loaves 249 
 
 Tompkins's Horse Trade 218 
 
 Tough Experience of a Business Drummer 257 
 
 Tradesmen's Ticketing System 242 
 
 Trading in Imaginary Candlesticks 263 
 
 Tragical Result of Losing Bank Notes .... 224 
 
 Transactions in W^orsteds 219 
 
 Trick for the " Spashy " 209 
 
 Trickery in the Clothing Trade 202 
 
 Turtles and Gold Snuflf Boxes 248 
 
 Two Playing at the Same Game 228 
 
 Unparalleled Parsimony and Benevolence 
 
 of a Millionnaire 242 
 
 Virginia Usurer Foiled 217 
 
 Wanting to Pay the Cash 262 
 
 Weighing Short 279 
 
 What it means to be " Selling Off" 197 
 
 Window ** Gazers" Employed by London 
 Shopkeepers 203 
 
 PAKT Y. 
 
 ANJECDOTES OF FAMOUS COMMERCIAL EESOBTS AND LOCALITIES. 
 
 The Exchange, Custom House, Boards op Trade, Markets, etc. — their Axnals, 
 Usages, Peculiarities ; with Personal Miscellanies, Aphorisms, Oddities, 
 Whims and Caprices of their Habitues. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Amusing Perplexities at the Custom 
 
 House 298 
 
 Animated Scenes at the French Exchange 293 
 
 Attacks on the Stock Exchange 289 
 
 Business in London at Four o' Clock 295 
 
 'Change Alley as a Business Resort 297 
 
 Custom House Official dealing with a 
 
 Princess 285 
 
 Custom Houses and Star Chambers 289 
 
 Derivation of the Commercial Term 
 
 " Bourse " 294 
 
 Drinking the Health of Custom House 
 
 Officers 287 
 
 Duty on Pictures 298 
 
 First East India House 299 
 
 Free Trade 293 
 
 Hall of the St. Petersburg Exchange 300 
 
 High 'Change Hours 298 
 
 Lloyd's Establishment, London 206 
 
 Ludicrous Custom House Examinations. . . 294 
 
 PAGR 
 
 Manchester Cotton Merchants 292 
 
 Manners at the English Stock Exchange 288 
 Men of Letters frequenting the Share Mart 301 
 Merchants and Business Resorts in Mos- 
 cow 295 
 
 One Thousand Million Pounds' Business 
 Annually at the London Clearing 
 
 House 297 
 
 Origin of Boards of Trade 289 
 
 Paying Government Fishing Bounties. . . 286 
 
 Photograph of Wall Street 286 
 
 Quotations of the New Exchange 290 
 
 Railway Clearing House 296 
 
 Reduction of Custom House Duties — 
 
 " Death to the Beet Root." 294 
 
 Rencontre between Rothschild and Rose, 
 
 the Broker, on 'Change 285 
 
 Romance and Trade 299 
 
 Scenes in a Turkish Custom House. . . . . . 291 
 
 The Origin of the Clearing House r. . 294 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 xxm 
 
 PAET VI. 
 
 ANECDOTES OF C0MMEBCI4L ART AND PHBASEOLOGY, 
 
 Advertisements, Signboards, Trademarks, Tokens, Envelopes, Labels, Inscriptions, 
 Mottoes and Terms — Quaint, Curious, Grotesque, Ingenious and Laughable. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Adepts in Commercial PuflBng 305 
 
 Alliteration in Advertising 335 
 
 An untried Method 309 
 
 Ancient Pictorial Signboards 317 
 
 Arms and Seal of the Bank of Ireland. ... 814 
 
 Baking and Banking 820 
 
 Boston Merchants' Business Marks or 
 
 Tokens 307 
 
 Broadway Signs 337 
 
 Business Puffing Two Hundred Years 
 
 Ago * 329 
 
 Business Signboards in Different Nations 332 
 
 Buying a Claim 336 
 
 Cabalistic Sign for an Ale House 317 
 
 Carmeline the Dentist's Sign 316 
 
 Charging for Advertisements 331 
 
 Chinese Trade Puffing 310 
 
 Class Advertisements in City Papers 321 
 
 Classical Shop Language 310 
 
 Commercial Envelopes, Wrappers, Labels, 
 
 &c 311 
 
 " Cotton is Quiet " 318 
 
 Criticism of a Hatter's Sign 316 
 
 Dean Swift and the Barber's Sign 306 
 
 Dialects of different Trades 322 
 
 " Ditto " 328 
 
 Earliest Printed Advertisements 307 
 
 English Business Mottoes 308 
 
 Evasions of Trade Marks 313 
 
 First Advertisement in America 322 
 
 First Trade Advertisement 315 
 
 "Five Per Cent." 830 
 
 " For Her Majesty " 312 
 
 Free Shave and a Drink 334 
 
 French Ideas of Advertising 834 
 
 Fresh Gems from English Advertising 
 
 Columns 309 
 
 Fresh Sea Water 314 
 
 Full-size Headings to Advertisements. . . . 338 
 Getting Rid of his Neighbor's Customers 337 
 Harlow's Sign Painting Extraordinary... 333 
 Hide Dealer's Sign— Rare Bit of Philos- 
 ophy 325 
 
 Historical and Poetical Signs 330 
 
 Inscriptions on Trade Coins 307 
 
 Irish Advertisement 316 
 
 Irish Pun on a Sign 305 
 
 C 
 
 PAGB 
 
 Jemmy Wright's Modesty 331 
 
 Joke upon a Boston Sign 318 
 
 Killbury and Maimsvvorth Railway's 
 
 Advertisement 306 
 
 Latin on Business Signs 326 
 
 Literature and Groceries 312 
 
 Meaning of " Fund " and " Stock " 328 
 
 Merchants' Religious Formulae or Phrases 828 
 
 Mottoes in Ancient Times 308 
 
 Natural Advertising 321 
 
 New York Business Tokens 807 
 
 Odd Comminglings 324 
 
 Out of Style 321 
 
 Pathos and Puffing Extraordinary 335 
 
 Pat's Definition of Railroad " Stock " 337 
 
 Pawnbrokers' Three Balls 325 
 
 Paying at " Maturity " 327 
 
 Phenomena Extraordinary 819 
 
 Pleasant History of a Familiar Word. . . . 317 
 " Punch " on Commercial Phraseology . . 322 
 Quack Advertisement Two Centuries Ago 319 
 
 Questionable Sign for a Clothier 820 
 
 Responding to an Advertisement 829 
 
 Rush's Celebrated Figure Heads 839 
 
 Scotch Tobacconist's Motto 308 
 
 Shop and Business Signs: Ancient Ex- 
 amples 314 
 
 Shopkeepers' Nomenclature of Goods 326 
 
 Signboard Punctuation 312 
 
 Silk Dyer's Poetical Sign 838 
 
 Stock Terms in the Sick Room 319 
 
 Streets and Shop Signs in Canton 317 
 
 Striking a Bargain 830 
 
 «' Take down that Old Sign " 881 
 
 The Napoleon of Advertising 882 
 
 «• Tight Times " 315 
 
 Titles of Business Firms 314 
 
 Trade Placards and Shop Bills 823 
 
 Transactions in the Cab Market 830 
 
 Unexampled Enterprise — the Chinese 
 
 Wall for Advertisements 315 
 
 " Universal Stores " 835 
 
 " Up to Snuff" 305 
 
 Very expressive S24 
 
 Very Racy 837 
 
 Where " Tariff" came from 828 
 
 " Words have their Meaning " 334 
 
XXIV 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PART VII. 
 
 ANECDOTES AND THINGS MEMORABLE CONCERNING BUSINESS TRANSIT 
 AND COMMUNICATION. 
 
 Shipping, Steamboats, Railways, Expresses, Coaches, Omnibuses, etc.— their 
 Owners, Officers, Patrons, jls<i> Attaches. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 ADeep Design. 868 
 
 Amending the Charter 884 
 
 American Shipuology 356 
 
 An Interesting Consignment 370 
 
 Arrival of the Steamer 353 
 
 Ask any Committee Man 847 
 
 Assuming the Responsibility 373 
 
 Captain Macalester and his Fast Ship 
 
 " Fanny " 887 
 
 Change of " Packet Day " 385 
 
 Church and State 'VS. Railways 851 
 
 Commercial Importance of the Cat 346 
 
 " Considering " a Ship Builder 344 
 
 Curious Division of Ships into Ounces. . . 350 
 
 Decoration of Railroad Depots 368 
 
 Disinterested Railroad Contractor 376 
 
 Dismissing a Shipmaster 346 
 
 Drinking Success to the First Railway . . 385 
 
 English Hares by Express 350 
 
 Female Shipmaster from Cape Horn to 
 
 San Francisco 860 
 
 First Railroad in Europe or America 353 
 
 First Ship at St. Petersburg 371 
 
 First Vessel in the World 850 
 
 Floating Railways 345 
 
 Forwarding by Telegraph 858 
 
 From Honolulu to Kaui 382 
 
 George Hudson, the Railway King 378 
 
 Good Land for Railroad : 375 
 
 Great North Pole Railway 373 
 
 Guarding the Track 367 
 
 Imaginative Expressmen— An Artificial 
 
 Corpse 344 
 
 Jumel the Merchant, and the Carman 358 
 
 Lady Ship master 863 
 
 Largest Ship Owner in England , 355 
 
 Laughable Opposition to Steam Trains.. . 862 
 
 Literature of the Cabin 855 
 
 Lloyd's Nautical Book 851 
 
 Locomotion and Amalgamation 864 
 
 Lucky and Unlucky Names of Ships, and 
 
 Sailing Days 364 
 
 Luxuries in the Car 359 
 
 Mode of Getting Money Transmitted 354 
 
 Mr. Griggs' Mode of Overcoming Obstacles 380 
 Names of Vessels and Trade of New York 
 
 in 1680 350 
 
 PAGE 
 
 New Rules for Railways 364 
 
 New York to Boston in Four Days 375 
 
 " No Swearing among the Crew " 855 
 
 Not Posted in Geography 883 
 
 Oldest Vessel in America 349 
 
 Origin of the Express Business — Harn- 
 
 den's First Trip 856 
 
 Palmerston and the Station Master 886 
 
 Paying off Jack 855 
 
 " Pleasure Excursions " 877 
 
 Probable Origin of Schooners 360 
 
 Proposed Line from England to China... 372 
 
 Protective Costume for Travellers 374 
 
 Prussian Ship Navigated by a Lady 360 
 
 Punch's Own Railway 369 
 
 Purchase of Jacob Barker's Ship " United 
 States," by the Emperor Nicholas. . . 343 
 
 Rail Car Privileges 353 
 
 Railroad Damages— the Tables Turned.. 365 
 
 Railway Politeness, Scale of 376 
 
 Rare Passenger in an Omnibus 371 
 
 Rather Dry 375 
 
 Rather Ominous 348 
 
 Reading the Annual Report 347 
 
 Rigid Obedience of Shipmasters Exacted 
 
 by Girard 376 
 
 Risks and Accidents Assured Against. . . 345 
 
 Rival Steamboat Lines 352 
 
 Rothschild's Omnibus Fare 873 
 
 Royal Schemers in Railways 861 
 
 Scale of Railway Politeness 376 
 
 Scene in an Express Office 359 
 
 Selling a Brig : the Ruling Passion 357 
 
 " Soaking " the Old Coach 884 
 
 Southern Accommodation Trains 381 
 
 Squelching a Director's Impertinence.... 37l 
 Stage Coach Experience of Two Merchants 869 
 Stephenson, the Pioneer in Railroad Con- 
 struction S80 
 
 Strange Terminus to a Railroad 384 
 
 Superseding Steam 345 
 
 Telegraph vs. Express 351 
 
 Telegraph Capers 367 
 
 Telegraphing against Time 366 
 
 The First Steamboat Passage Money^ever 
 
 Paid 377 
 
 The Ladder of Gold ,. 349 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 XXV 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Thomas Gray, the Originator of Railways 354 
 
 Thompson's Travels in California 381 
 
 Universal Salvage Company .'. 346 
 
 Unparalleled Railway Damages 347 
 
 Unsociable Travelling Companion 3(38 
 
 Up Trains and Down Trains 348 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Usefulness of Steamboats in Reducing the 
 
 Population 356 
 
 Waghorn's Great Scheme 374 
 
 Working a Hand Car 383 
 
 Yankee Calculation of Railroad Speed. . . 365 
 " Your Ticket, Sir." 381 
 
 PART VIII. 
 
 ANECDOTES OF COMMERCE AND TRAFFIC IN TEEIB LEGAL AND 
 
 JUDICIAL ASPECTS. 
 
 Partnership, Bankruptcy, Debtor and Creditor, Bonds and Mortgages, Dunning, 
 Peculiar Cases op Mercantile Litigation; Pleasantries and Perplexities, 
 Lights and Shades. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 A Bankrupt on his Legs Again 401 
 
 Addison's Loan of Five Hundred Pounds 
 
 to Stanyan 428 
 
 Advantage of being a Large Debtor 399 
 
 Advantage of Prison Life to a French 
 
 Debtor 410 
 
 Afraid of the Sheriff's Hat 451 
 
 Aid in the Nick of Time : Jacob Barker 
 
 and John Wells 436 
 
 An Lisolvent Tradesman in the Clutches 
 
 of Old Audley 406 
 
 An Unsettled Commercial Question 405 
 
 Artifice to Escape Bankruptcy 453 
 
 Audubon, John J., and John J. Astor.... 454 
 
 Backing up his Recommendation 438 
 
 " Bankrupt " 407 
 
 Bankruptcy and Barbarism in Court 396 
 
 Bankruptcy of a Dealer in "Women's 
 
 Blacks" 425 
 
 Bankrupts in Batavia 397 
 
 Benefit of a Doubt 419 
 
 Bonfire of a Debtor's Papers 424 
 
 Borrowers and Lenders — a Melange 435 
 
 Borrowing Money, or Doing Business on 
 
 Credit: Peter C. Brooks's Idea 416 
 
 Borrowing of Rich Relatives 428 
 
 Breach of the Bond 445 
 
 Brooks, Peter C, the Boston Millionnaire, 
 
 in Court 404 
 
 Business, Bankruptcy and Literature: 
 
 John Pierpont and John Neal 443 
 
 Business Value of a Name 416 
 
 Buying a Pianoforte Establishment , 450 
 
 Cabinet of Debtors' Autographs 452 
 
 Celebrated Law Suits among Rival Crafts 433 
 Certificates of Solvency 456 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Changes in Mercantile Standing 442 
 
 Collecting a Draft 431 
 
 Colloquy in a Dry Goods' Jobbing Store 416 
 
 Comfort for Scotch Debtors 403 
 
 Commercial Justice in Morocco 413 
 
 Confidence in a Debtor's Promise 455 
 
 Convenient Substitute for Money 407 
 
 Cool Operation 425 
 
 " Credit " 449 
 
 Crinkles in the Credit System 454 
 
 Curious Financiering 394 
 
 Curious Suit against a Bank Agent 418 
 
 Day and Martin — New and Old 448 
 
 Dealing with a Bankrupt in Hamburg — 
 
 " Execution " on the Bourse 397 
 
 Death of an Old Business Favorite 450 
 
 Debt, and the Contribution Box 426 
 
 Debtors' Complaint in Court 423 
 
 Debts of Honor 401 
 
 Debts Owing and Balances Due 391 
 
 Deciding a Case in Botany before a Dutch 
 
 Magistrate 457 
 
 "Died of a Street Debt!" 417 
 
 Dishonest Grocer Punished by his Son. . . 412 
 Disreputable for a Broker to be Honest 
 
 toward his Creditors 410 
 
 Drawing an Inference 401 
 
 "Dun" 407 
 
 Dunning as a Profession 393 
 
 Dump's Distressing Failure 424 
 
 Easy Creditors 411 
 
 English Booksellers and American Cus- 
 tomers : Daniel Appleton 454 
 
 English Stockbrokers' Blackboard 420 
 
 Erskine Sifting an Auctioneer's Character 421 
 Example of Spanish Mercantile Credit,, . 423 
 
XXVI 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Failure of the Governor of the Bank of 
 
 England 459 
 
 Failures in Business 426 
 
 Forgiving a Debt and Giving a Wife.... 398 
 Fortunate Debtor : AVashington as a 
 
 Creditor 429 
 
 Found Goods 430 
 
 French Mode of Paying Bills 399 
 
 Friuli, the Florentine Merchant, and his 
 
 Lost Purse 451 
 
 Frodsham's Watch Cheat 430 
 
 Gave his Note 430 
 
 General Jackson's Indorsement among 
 
 Boston Capitalists 427 
 
 German Delicacy in Paying and Receiving 
 
 Money 414 
 
 German Financial Operation 437 
 
 Getting an Injunction Dissolved 432 
 
 Giving Credit "To-morrow" 430 
 
 Grandest Instance of Debt 427 
 
 Grant Thorburn's Bankruptcy 438 
 
 Granting an Extension 445 
 
 Great Failures in Hamburg, in 1799.... 408 
 
 Happy End to a Debt 391 
 
 Hard Old Creditor 411 
 
 Helping Girard to Collect a Debt 453 
 
 Honest Quaker Bankrupt 452 
 
 Hotel Keeper's Advice to his Son 405 
 
 Hypothecating One's Person for a Loan. . 442 
 
 " Immediate Relief" 421 
 
 Imperial Affection for a Banker 444 
 
 Important to Dunners and Debtors 412 
 
 Indian's Idea of Imprisonment for Debt. . 429 
 
 Is it Lawful to Dun a Debtor ? 415 
 
 James G. King, the Banker, and Lord 
 Ashburton : Cause of Merchants Fail- 
 ing 453 
 
 Jewish Traders, and Straw Bail 444 
 
 Jobbing in Debtors' Shop Leases 452 
 
 Jury Deliberations on a Railroad Case. . . 455 
 Kentucky Banker who Kept Resuming. . . 408 
 Kindness to Debtors: Chickering, Pea- 
 body, Lorillard 443 
 
 King, James G., and Lord Ashburton 453 
 
 Lafayette's Loan to Mathew Carey 459 
 
 Lawsuits of Girard 438 
 
 Legal Damages and Interest in Africa. . . . 439 
 
 Legal Eccentricities of Commerce 427 
 
 Longworth's Celebrated Fee. 396 
 
 Lord Mansfield's Mercantile Cases in 
 
 Court 418 
 
 Losses Among Russian Merchants 420 
 
 Louis the Sixteenth and the Saddler's 
 
 Bill 426 
 
 Lucrative Deed of Trust 393 
 
 Merchantlike 423 
 
 Merchant's Wit on the Stand 421 
 
 Narrow Escape from Bankruptcy 430 
 
 Nice Snare for a French Creditor 395 
 
 PAGK 
 
 Nine Days in the Life of a Merchant 422 
 
 No Trust for Merchants in Small Clothes 429 
 
 No Use for Pistols 449 
 
 " Not Down on the Bill " 422 
 
 Notes with and without Security 433 
 
 Novel Trade Case before a Prussian Magis- 
 trate 419 
 
 Obtaining a Certificate of Bankruptcy .. . 44T 
 
 Old Scores Wiped Out 414 
 
 On the Forgiven List 440 
 
 One of the Causes of Bankruptcy 419 
 
 Ouvrard's Profitable Imprisonment 392 
 
 *' Parsons on Promissory Notes " 40O 
 
 Pay, or Charge 445 
 
 Paying " a Balance " 392 
 
 Paying an Old Debt 400 
 
 Pecuniary Anxiety of the Greatest Mer- 
 chant in the World 439 
 
 Peddler Mulcting a Sheriff 413 
 
 Peter C. Brooks, the Boston Millionnaire, 
 
 in Court 404 
 
 Philanthropic Debtor 444 
 
 Politeness in Dunning 415 
 
 Presenting a Frivolous Bill to Girard. . . . 411 
 Profitable and Unprofitable Bankrupt- 
 cy f 423 
 
 Quaker Merchant's Thousand-Dollar Fee 
 
 to Mr. Webster 409 
 
 Quaker's Reply to Fordyce, the Bankrupt 
 
 Banker 427 
 
 Rare Magnanimity of a French Creditor 434 
 
 Reply to a Dunning Epistle 417' 
 
 Response to a Tax Commissioner's Dun. . 414 
 
 Rough Treatment of Insolvents 444 
 
 Royal Promissory Note 406 
 
 Salting.an Invoice 409 
 
 Saving the Credit of a City : Theodore 
 
 Payne 450 
 
 Selling One's Body to a Creditor : Marshal 
 
 Radetzky 420 
 
 "Settling" an Account 437 
 
 Sharp Hit at Repudiation 446 
 
 Sheridan's Treatment of a Creditor 448 
 
 Shopkeepers going to Law 395 
 
 Singular Suit against Mr. Appleton, of 
 
 Boston 395 
 
 Small Debts 405 
 
 Soliloquy of a Debtor. 410 
 
 "Something or Nothing, and that v^ry 
 
 Quick!" 418 
 
 Sprot, the Banker, and the Patrician 
 
 Debtor 415 
 
 Staying his Own Debt 455 
 
 Stealing Goods at the Retail Price 456 
 
 Stratagem to Collect a Debt 394 
 
 Subduing a Creditor's Fury 407 
 
 Subscriptions for the Government by 
 
 Philadelphia Merchants 459 
 
 Suit against a Railroad Company 457 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 XXVU 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Swan, the Millionnaire, Voluntarily in 
 Prison over Twenty Years for Debt,, 392 
 
 Tailors' Bills 405 
 
 Talleyrand's Promise to Pay 432 
 
 Taxing Bills and Receipts 432 
 
 Tender in Payment 4U0 
 
 The " Model Debtor " Described 402 
 
 Thorburn's, Grant, Bankruptcy 438 
 
 " Tick " '. . 401 
 
 Trading for Ready Money 416 
 
 Treatment of Chinese Bankrupts 446 
 
 Treatment of Insolvents by the Bank of 
 England 434 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Two Aspects of Trade ' 416 
 
 Unexpected Judgment against Bank Di- 
 rectors 457 
 
 "Washington Irving's Commercial Bank- 
 ruptcy 444 
 
 Western Method of Collecting a Debt. . . . 397 
 
 *' What is Sauce for the Goose is," &c 449 
 
 What the word " Pay " Signifies 407 
 
 Wine Merchant at his Debtor's Table 451 
 
 Wiping out an Old Score 453 
 
 Won't Look at Him 448 
 
 "Wouldn't Steal Indiana Money at 
 Par" 452 
 
 PAET IX. 
 
 ANECDOTES OF MERCHANTS, TBADERS, BANKERS AND MILLIONN AIRES ^ 
 IN THEIR DOMESTIC RELATIONS. 
 
 Personal Appearance, Manners, Conversation, Tastes, Social Traits and IIabits, 
 Peculiar Experiences ; Genial Jests, Sallies, and Jocularities ; Last Hours, 
 Wills, etc. 
 
 A Banker's Love of Birds — Girard's Little 
 
 Songsters 510 
 
 A Millionnaire on Giving Away Money: 
 
 Peter C. Brooks 489 
 
 Amos Lawrence's Opinion of Marriage. . . 484 
 An Old Merchant's Style and Equipage. . 486 
 
 Anselm Rothschild's Will 472 
 
 Aster's Appearance and Manner 465 
 
 Banker vs Musician 505 
 
 Baring, Francis, at the Virginia Inn 467 
 
 Baring's Daughter and M. Labouchere. . . 463 
 Barker Jacob, under Medical Treatment. 482 
 Baron Rothschild Defending Himself with 
 
 a Big Ledger 466 
 
 Bleeding a Banker by the Job 479 
 
 Boston Merchant's Reason for not Marry- 
 ing 470 
 
 Business and Beauty 511 
 
 Business and Something Else 486 
 
 Colston, the Benevolent Millionnaire Mer- 
 chant 499 
 
 Commercial Advantage of a Blind Eye. . . 505 
 Cope, the Quaker Merchant, mistaken for 
 
 a Major-General 473 
 
 Costly Banquet by a Merchant to Charles 
 
 the Fifth 504 
 
 Coutts, the Great Banker, Choosing a 
 
 Partner 464 
 
 Deathbed Surroundings of the New Or- 
 leans Croesus 492 
 
 PAGE 
 
 De Medici, " the Magnificent Merchant," 
 
 when a Child 466 
 
 Disinterested Feat of a Merchant, and its 
 
 Reward 508 
 
 Disposing of One's Surplus Income 494 
 
 Doctrine of Benevolence held by Girard. . 499 
 Domestic Advantage of Commercial Decay 517 
 
 Domestic Trouble of Rothschild 463 
 
 Down on the Doctors 518 
 
 Dress and Personal Peculiarities of Long- 
 worth 477 
 
 Ebenezer, Francis, and the Student's Table 485 
 
 Edinburgh Merchant Finding a Purse 497 
 
 English Merchant's Wife Priced by a 
 
 Mandarin 507 
 
 Executorship of Mr. Astor's Will 518 
 
 Experience of a Levantine Merchant 474 
 
 Extravagance of French Bankers in Pri- 
 vate Life 478 
 
 Female Members of the Rothschild Family 516 
 
 Francis Baring at the Virginia Inn 467 
 
 Freaks of Wealthy Merchants 513 
 
 Friend Coate's Management of Girard. .. 483 
 
 Garden of a French Stock Broker 508 
 
 Gastronomic Feats of a Merchant 472 
 
 German Merchant of One Hundred Houses 475 
 Gideon, the Jew Broker, Catechising his 
 
 Child 511 
 
 Gideon Lee and his Library 480 
 
 Girard and the Beggar 489 
 
XXVlll 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Girard's Reception of Mr. Baring 474 
 
 Girard's Treatment of " Splendid Church " 
 
 Projects 494 
 
 Girard's Will — the Item about Ministers 515 
 
 Glut in the Market 471 
 
 Going to get Acquainted with his Family 474 
 Goldschmid's Comforting Sort of Hoax. , 506 
 Grand Scheme Disclosed in McDonogh's 
 
 Will 506 
 
 Groceries and Literature 511 
 
 Halifax, the English Banker's Opinion of 
 " Lending to the Lord ;" with a 
 
 Personal Application 516 
 
 Hancock, the Patriot Merchant 483 
 
 Home Luxuries of Ancient Merchants .... 507 
 
 Hospitality of Stephen Girard 502 
 
 Household Magnificence of Partinqua, the 
 
 Great Chinese Merchant . 498 
 
 Household Peculiarities of Girard 510 
 
 Incidents of William Bingham's Domestic 
 
 Life 519 
 
 Italian Banker's Bargain for a Fish 477 
 
 Jewish Banker's Free Table 481 
 
 John J. Astor's Board and Clothes 483 
 
 John McDonogh's Personal Appearance.. 491 
 
 Judah Touro and Dr. Clapp 490 
 
 Last Days of Business and Financial Cele- 
 brities 495 
 
 Lawrence's, Amos, Opinion of Marriage.. 484 
 
 Looks and Manners of Rothschild 492 
 
 Lorillard and the Load of Wood 499 
 
 Louis d'Ors and Ruxors; or, BanT^ers and 
 
 Barbers 479 
 
 M. Rothschild at Home 503 
 
 Magnificent Residence of Rothschild in 
 
 Paris 479 
 
 Making a Will— Samuel Appleton 471 
 
 Mansion of Morris, the Philadelphia Fi- 
 nancier 488 
 
 Marriage Suit by Colston, the Millionnaire 480 
 Matrimonial and Financial "Bonds" in 
 
 John Law's Time 517 
 
 " Merely a Family Dinner" 468 
 
 Mr. Girard and the Baptist Clergyman... 489 
 
 Mr. Vanderbilt's Holiday 503 
 
 New Orleans Broker Renouncing a For- 
 tune 4S4 
 
 Nicholas Longworth*s Bread 514 
 
 "Old Ben Russell" 488 
 
 Old-school Merchant's Offering to his 
 Country : John Langdon, of New 
 
 Hampshire 512 
 
 One Among Ten Thousand 487 
 
 Out of Fashion 515 
 
 Palace of Lafitte, the French Banker 467 
 
 Parlor Talk between James Rothschild, 
 
 the Banker, and the Poet Heine 504 
 
 Personal Appearance of Stephen Girard. . 464 
 
 Philanthropic Courage of Girard 512 
 
 Pleasant Parlor Voyages 481 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Polly Kenton and Girard's Doctc rs 476 
 
 Practical Eloquence of a Boston Merchant 512 
 
 Rekindling of the Old Spaik 497 
 
 Religious Bearing of Judaism on Stock 
 
 Operations: the Perieres 515 
 
 Religious Opinions of Girard 490 
 
 Reminiscences of Mr. Astor's Library Be- 
 quest 516 
 
 Retiring from Business — "Melting Day" 515 
 
 Returning a Favor 500 
 
 Robert Barclay becoming a Banker in- 
 stead of a Courtier 502 
 
 Rothschild's Purchase of a Painting 481 
 
 Samuel Appleton's Disposition of his In- 
 come 489 
 
 Samuel Slater on Extravagance in Living 513 
 Scene at a Banker's Dejeuner: Robert 
 
 • Morris and his Father 469 
 
 Settling a Knotty Account— Quaker Philo- 
 sophy 500 
 
 Seventy- five Thousand Dollars at One 
 
 Draught 484 
 
 Signora Almonastre and John McDonogh 493 
 Sir Thomas F. Buxton's Conversations 
 
 with Rothschild 501 
 
 Slightly Personal 466 
 
 Sportive Death of the French Banker, M. 
 
 Dange 514 
 
 Stephen Girard's Treatment of " Splendid 
 
 Church " Projects 494 
 
 Stock Broker and his Family in the Studio 
 
 of Hoppner 475 
 
 Sturgis, William, in the Legislature 473 
 
 Suspected Religious Fidelity of Roths- 
 child : Remarkable Scene 490 
 
 Taking Care of his Umbrella 492 
 
 Tavern Waiter and his Banker 487 
 
 That Little Child in the Counting Room. . 514 
 The Merchant and his Distinguished 
 
 Valet, John Philpot Curran 476 
 
 The Merchant Family of Medici, Reaurgum 498 
 "The Stone that was Rejected : " Judah 
 
 Touro's Benefactions 482 
 
 Thirty Thousand Dollars' Worth of Sleep 
 
 by a Boston Merchant 470 
 
 Thomas Gresham's Curious Armorial or 
 
 Crest 508 
 
 Too Much Money 478~ 
 
 Under Medical Treatment — Jacob Barker 
 
 as a Patient 482 
 
 Unfortunate Polly Lum, the Wife of 
 
 Girard 469 
 
 Unparalleled Will of Thelluson, the Lon- 
 don Banker 485 
 
 W. B. Astor and his Clerical Classmate. . 471 
 Wealthy Men Imagining Themselves Poor 492 
 Wedding Gift of Rothschild to his Niece 509 
 Why Guy, the Millionnaire, never Married 501 
 Will ofGuyot, the French Millionnaire.. 472 
 William Sturgis in the Legislature 473 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 XXIX 
 
 PAET X. 
 
 ANECDOTES OF CHANCE DEALINGS AND VENTURES. 
 
 Auctions, Fancy Stocks, Share Companies, Lotteries, and Quixotic Speculations; 
 WITH Sketches op Wonderful Commercial Delusions, Financial Manias, Bub- 
 bles, Panics — their Causes, Abettors, Incidents, Victims, and Results. 
 
 page 
 
 A Trade, and a Wager Won 555 
 
 Allaying a Panic 537 
 
 Atkinson the Eccentric Speculator 542 
 
 Auction Sale of Old Furniture, &c., Extra- 
 ordinary 570 
 
 Auctioneering in England and America. . 537 
 
 Bacon by the Shilling's Worth 560 
 
 Bargain Hunters at Pawnbrokers and 
 
 Auctions.... 567 
 
 Bank Notes at Ten Cents a Yard 531 
 
 Bidding on Girard's Old Chaise 536 
 
 Bold but Calamitous Speculation of John 
 
 Guest 580 
 
 Burlesque on Modern Business Utopias.. 528 
 
 Buying his own Goods at Auction 530 
 
 " Candle " Auctions 552 
 
 Caricature of Commercial Speculations. . . 551 
 Character displayed in Auction Dealings 557 
 Chronicles of " the Black Day " in London 541 
 
 Cigars at Public Sale 577 
 
 " Crack Horses " at Auction 572 
 
 " Down with Your Dust ! " 525 
 
 Dutch Tulip-Mania of the Seventeenth 
 
 Century 567 
 
 Dutchman's Gold in a Safe Place at Last 551 
 Earliest American Sale of Books, by 
 
 Catalogue, at Auction 652 
 
 Early Stock Jobbing and Lotteries 558 
 
 English Railway Mania of 1845 562 
 
 Fancy Hen Fever 564 
 
 Female Strategy to obtain Bubble Stock. 527 
 
 Financial Use of Saints 528 
 
 First Book Auction in England 531 
 
 Foundation of the Friendship between 
 
 Coates and Girard 582 
 
 Furor for Chartered Companies 541 
 
 Getting-up a Money Panic 566 
 
 Globe Permits 670 
 
 " Going— Going— Gone ! " 539 
 
 Gold-making and Silver-mining Compa- 
 nies 664 
 
 Good Speculation Lost in Chicago Lands 550 
 Grand United Gold and Diamond Dust 
 
 Company 660 
 
 "Great Spec" on the Tapis .624 
 
 Hogarth's Plan of Selling Pictures by 
 Auction 531 
 
 FAOB 
 
 Jack, and the Dutch Tulip Speculator. . . 623 
 
 Jacob Keen, of Wall Street 665 
 
 John Law's Notorious Bubble 655 
 
 Jonathan Hunt's Land Speculations 534 
 
 Keen Auction Dodge by Rembrandt 557 
 
 Last Resort for Petroleum Companies. . . 576 
 Last Word at an Auction : a Lady in the 
 
 Case 535 
 
 Lessons of an Auctioneer's Hammer. .... 561 
 Lord Castlereagh and the Ruined Broker 568 
 
 Lotteries Vindicated by Scripture 666 
 
 Lottery Vagaries in the Sixteenth Cen- 
 tury 559 
 
 Marking a Lottery Ticket 633 
 
 Memorable Auction Sale in New Orleans 656 
 
 Merino-Sheep Bubble 568 
 
 Missing a Good Chance 581 
 
 Mock- Auction " Capitalists," 650 
 
 Mr. Barker's Auction Watch, and What 
 
 it Brought Him 643 
 
 Mr. Hume's Anxiety to avoid a Pecuniary 
 
 Loss * 533 
 
 New York Pawnbroker's Customer 626 
 
 Old Digby at an Auction Sale 548 
 
 Old Martin, the Scotch Auctioneer, among 
 
 the Languages 571 
 
 One of the Sufferers 663 
 
 Origin of Auctions 660 
 
 Our American Land Fever 646 
 
 " Our Lady of Hope " 634 
 
 Panic Blunders — Wrong Certificate at the 
 
 Bank 524 
 
 Parisian Auctions : How Conducted 657 
 
 Paterson and his Darien Expedition 647 
 
 Perils of Stock Gambling : William Abbott 537 
 
 Peruvian Loan Infatuation 546 
 
 Pleasantries of Keese, the Book Auctioneer 572 
 
 Proposed Ice Speculation 564 
 
 Quite Professional 667 
 
 Reasons given by Thomas H. Perkins for 
 Declining a proposed Coffee Specula- 
 tion 578 
 
 Red Herrings and Dutch Onions 678 
 
 Rival Blacking Companies 563 
 
 Rise and Reminiscences of the Trade Sales 579 
 
 Satire on Speculation 646 
 
 Scenes at a Turkish Auction 648 
 
XXX 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Scraps of Auction Wit 574 
 
 Selling a Bjiug Horse under the Hammer 588 
 
 Selling the Gem of the Collection 554 
 
 Share Sellers and Rope Dancers 577 
 
 South Sea Schemers 545 
 
 Speculative Frenzy of the French in John 
 
 Law's Time 524 
 
 Stock- Jobbing Bubbles — Commercial Lu- 
 nacy 545 
 
 Stray Leaf from a Speculator's History.. 553 
 Syrian Auctioneers — Harage ! Harage ! 
 
 Harage ! 554 
 
 " Tattersall's " 534 
 
 The Wateiioo of Auction Battles 525 
 
 PAGB 
 
 Tonti's Money Raising Projects 558 
 
 Trade between Flywheel and Singecat... 549 
 
 Universal Bed and Bolster Mart 570 
 
 Very Hopeful Investment 540 
 
 Virtue of One-Pound Notes in Stopping a 
 
 Bank Run 565 
 
 Virtuous and Touching Appeal of an Auc- 
 tioneer 532 
 
 Wager between a Stockbroker and a Cap- 
 italist 536 
 
 Warranty of Perfect Soundness 562 
 
 Weathering the Storm of 1828. 573 
 
 Winking and Bidding at Auctions 552 
 
 Winners and Losers in Grant's Bubble. . . 534 
 
 PAET XI 
 
 ANUCDOTES OF CURIOUS TRADES AND OBJECTS OF TRAFFIC. 
 Novel Business Transactions; Buying, Selling, Bartering and Shopkeeping, Chae- 
 
 ACTERISTIC OF DIFFERENT COUNTRIES; BLUSES, JeUX D'EsPRITS, AND DROLLERIES. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Adam and Eve Leading on in Trade COl 
 
 American Customer at a Turkish Bazaar 598 
 
 Bad Operation in Leather 586 
 
 Bargaining by Pantomime — Trade in 
 
 Camels 603 
 
 Barnum Buying the American Museum 
 
 with Brass 689 
 
 Batavian Trade in Birds' Nests 627 
 
 Before and Behind the Counter 585 
 
 Boy Traders in Moscow 590 
 
 Chartier, the Leech Merchant 592 
 
 Chatham Street Clo' Dealers . . . , 618 
 
 " Cheap " and " Dear " 596 
 
 Chiffonniers, or " Rag Merchants," of Paris 589 
 
 Chinese Shopkeepers 619 
 
 Coleridge and the " Ogh Clo' " Man 590 
 
 Commercial Dignity at the Apple Stand 619 
 
 Commercial Value of Insects 593 
 
 Day & Martin's Precursors 591 
 
 Dealing in " Orrd Things " 601 
 
 Eastern Trade in Ostrich and Bird-of-Par- 
 
 adise Feathers 588 
 
 Egyptian Mummy Trade 592 
 
 English Idol Manufacturers 587 
 
 Exportation of Scotch Periwinkles 602 
 
 Fancy Stoves and Imaginative Customers 626 
 
 Florentine Flower Girls 626 
 
 Flutesw Pistols 618 
 
 •* Four-and-twenty Self-sealing Envelopes, 
 
 Fo-oo-ur Cents " 608 
 
 French Toads an Article of Commerce. . . 600 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Funny Commercial Transaction All Round 604 
 Genoese Merchants and French Peddlers 610 
 
 " Glass-pteen !" 619 
 
 Goods for a *' Private Venture " 615 
 
 Great " Shaving" Operation in a Banker's 
 
 Office 612 
 
 Grindstones by the Fraction 625 
 
 Grocers and Bank Presidents 624 
 
 Human Hair as an Article of Merchandise 620 
 
 Italian Marriage Brokers 591 
 
 Itinerant Traders in Rio Janeiro 615 
 
 Jew Traders in Holywell Street 611 
 
 Jolly Sign Painters: Rich Professional 
 
 Tragedy 605 
 
 Logan, the Fan Painter 605 
 
 Losing a Good Customer 621 
 
 Making the Best of a Bad Article 624 
 
 Matrimonial Export 599 
 
 Men Manteau Makers 611 
 
 Mengin, the French Pencil Seller 5S6 
 
 Mercantile Agency Managerpent Illus- 
 trated 608 
 
 " Mighty Monarch, Let Me send a Shop !" 623 
 
 Mike Schnapps, the Fiddle Dealer 600 
 
 National Characteristics of Money Getters 
 — French, Irish, Scotch, German.... 595 
 
 Native Traders in Guinea 622 
 
 New Material for Sausage Stuffing; the 
 
 '.'Sauciesse d'Or" 612 
 
 Nothing Like Sarsaparilla 612 
 
 Nothing Lost in a Good Market 617 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 XXXI 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Odd Purchase at a Grocer's 617 
 
 Old Women's Trades in London 593 
 
 One of the Branches of the Tea Trade. . . 623 
 
 Orthography behind the Counter 626 
 
 Paris •' Gratteurs " 607 
 
 Parrot and Monkey Market 616 
 
 Patent Medicine Makers— Morrison, Bran- 
 
 dreth, Tovvnsend, &c 609 
 
 Paying by the Clock instead of the Thing 598 
 Peculiarities of the Northwest Fur Trad- 
 ers 599 
 
 Poor Kind of Ice 593 
 
 Portuguese Diamond Merchant's Bargain 
 
 with Philip the Second 587 
 
 Praying and Trading Simultaneously. . . . 621 
 
 Puzzling an Apothecary 624 
 
 Queer Bartering in Northern Africa 601 
 
 Kealizing a Profit 598 
 
 Eemarkable Customs of Oriental Shop- 
 keepers 597 
 
 Kichardson, the Eccentric Showman 620 
 
 Russian Shop Customs 606 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Saint Shops 607 
 
 Scale of Prices for London Civilities 597 
 
 Settling a Question of Trade 603 
 
 Shipments of Butcher Birds 696 
 
 Shop Architecture, Old and New 616 
 
 Shopkeepers of Bagdat 610 
 
 Snow Trade of Sicily 599 
 
 Song-Bird Shops in New York 623 
 
 St. Petersburg Trade in Frozen Articles. 622 
 
 Street Merchants 594 
 
 Tea Shops in China 602 
 
 The Miller and his Portrait 605 
 
 Tong-Chow Traders in Dogs and Cats 618 
 
 Traffic in Beautiful Circassian Girls 588 
 
 Traits of the Shop in Havana.' 586 
 
 Trials of Egg Merchants 617 
 
 Turkilb Fez bops ; Stationers, Tailors, 
 
 and Jewellers 602 
 
 Viper Merchants 588 
 
 Vocation Peculiar to China; Gossip at 
 
 Fifty Cents per Hour 607 
 
 Wigs by the Cargo 597 
 
 PAET XII. 
 
 ANECDOTES AND CEBONICLES OF mSEBANCE. 
 
 Its Pioneers, Varieties, Curious Rates, Terms, Subjects; Humors, Fancies, and 
 Excesses; Notable Cases op Loss and Adjustment; Caricatures, Puns, Rail- 
 lery, ETC. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Adjusting an Insurance Loss 648 
 
 Angerstein, the Great English Under- 
 writer 632 
 
 Apt Illustration of a Principle 638 
 
 Assessments in Old Times 645 
 
 Companies for Insuring Female Chastity, 
 
 Children's Fortunes, «&c 633 
 
 Curious Inconsistencies in Insuring Life 643 
 Daniel Webster's Insurance Anecdote... 646 
 
 Examining an Applicant 643 
 
 Exciting Life of an Underwriter 641 
 
 German Idea of the Thing 649 
 
 High Compliment to W. R. Jones as an 
 
 Underwriter 662 
 
 Insurance for Husbands 635 
 
 Insuring Dr. Lieb's Life 631 
 
 Introduction of Marine Insurance 632 
 
 Jacob Barker's Insurance Case — Redivivus 636 
 Juvenile Evidence in an Insurance Case 652 
 
 Leaving a Case Out 642 
 
 B 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Life Insurance Obituary Announcements. 644 
 Life and Death Brokers and their "Humble 
 
 Servant " 637 
 
 Lively Operations 650 
 
 Marriage and Baptism Insurance 644 
 
 Oddities of a Former Period 638 
 
 One of the Companies 634 
 
 Origin of Fire Insurance Companies 640 
 
 Pitt, the Insolvent Premier, Insured by 
 
 his Coacbmakers 637 
 
 Playing a Bold Game 649 
 
 Policies and Tragedies 642 
 
 " Poor Tim Rooney " 643 
 
 Porcelain Jars and Low Premiums 631 
 
 Protective Tariffs and the "Genesee 
 
 Mutual " 653 
 
 Romance and Reality of Insurance 635 
 
 Taking his Own Risk 651 
 
 Terrible Mode of Rendering an Insurance 
 
 Policy Void 638 
 
XXXll 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 The TJnited-Glass-and-Crockery Insurance 
 
 Company 635 
 
 Traffickers in Insurance Bun Mad— As- 
 
 tounding Policies on the Chevalier 
 
 d'Eon's Sex ! 645 
 
 j Underwriters and Napoleon's Life 637 
 
 PAET XIII. 
 
 ANECD TE8 OF B USIJVESS EMPL TES. 
 Cashiers, Clerks, Salesmen, etc. ; Bookkeeping, Accounts, Prices and Yalijes, Cor- 
 respondence, Shop Talk— Trials and Miseries, Blunders, FacetiuE, Waifs and 
 Strays. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Advantage of Skilful Bookkeeping 695 
 
 Amos Lawrence when a Clerk. , 661 
 
 Apprehended Embezzlements 676 
 
 Bank Clerks and their " Friends " 684 
 
 Ben Lippincott, Girard's Clerk 689 
 
 Best Part of a Grocer's Business 694 
 
 Betty Starkey and Coutts's Clerk 694 
 
 Bookkeeping in Former Times 685 
 
 Brief Biographical Sketch of a Banker's 
 
 Clerk 662 
 
 Broadway Clerks— Japonicas and Sweet- 
 hearts 658 
 
 Bubble Bank Bookkeeping Taught in Six 
 
 Lessons 665 
 
 Caledonian Adroitness 659 
 
 Charles Latnb, as a Clerk 691 
 
 Charming Customer in a Bank : Perils of 
 
 a Cashier 680 
 
 Chickering and his Employes, on " Blue " 
 
 Day 681 
 
 Commercial " Drummers," or Travelling 
 
 Clerks 678 
 
 Correcting an Erroneous Entry 698 
 
 Cost of a Nap on the Ledger 687 
 
 Countryman and Clerk 668 
 
 Dexterity of Specie Clerks 677 
 
 " Done Brown " 697 
 
 English Bank Clerk's Finesse 658 
 
 Fancy Costume among the Ledgers 662 
 
 Filling a Grocer's Order 677 
 
 First Set of Double-Entry Books Opened 
 
 in Boston 663 
 
 Fitz Greene Halleck's Clerkship with Ja- 
 cob Barker 657 
 
 French Female Plot against a Clerk 682 
 
 George Simpson's High Reputation as a 
 
 Cashier 700 
 
 Getting Rich by Bookkeeping 672 
 
 Good Supply in Prospect 667 
 
 Hitting the Nail on the Head 677 
 
 How a Drygoods Clerk Lost His Place. . . 670 
 Humors of Partnership in Reference to 
 
 Names 695 
 
 Identifying a Clerk 696 
 
 Improving a Banker's Broth 676 
 
 In Business for Themselves 697 
 
 In Pursuit of an Agreeable Business 661 
 
 Introducing a New System of Accounts. . 698 
 
 Irving and the English Salesman 697 
 
 Jacob Barker's Clerks at Dinner 663 
 
 Keeping Accounts in Guinea 686 
 
 Keeping Score by Double Entry 679 
 
 Lady's Portrait of a Drygoods Clerk 690 
 
 Lafitte's Wasteful Clerk 681 
 
 Language and Business Letters of Roths- 
 child 669 
 
 London Trade Report 675 
 
 Misfortune Tending to Liberality 684 
 
 Moustaches in the Bank 667 
 
 Nice Lesson for Retail Salesmen 665 
 
 Obtaining a Clerkship in a Banking 
 
 House 687 
 
 Oiling the Joints of Business 671 
 
 <* Old Salles," the Silk Buyer, and Mr. 
 
 Bayard's Clerks 693 
 
 One of his " Little Specs," 668 
 
 «* One Thing Needful" in a Clerk 664 
 
 Overpaying a Clerk 664 
 
 Pen Portrait by an Old Master 659 
 
 Perplexities of Mercantile Correspondence 698 
 
 Philadelphia Clerk and his Bible 670 
 
 Pictorial Bookkeeping 671 
 
 Placing the Pen behind the Ear 686 
 
 Playing Even 666 
 
 Precision in Keeping Accounts 657 
 
 Quaker Investigation of Accounts 692 
 
 Railway Clerks — a Burlesque 666 
 
 Ready for a Trade 696 
 
 Reason for Trusting a Clerk 683 
 
 Reforming instead of Destroying 672 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 XXXlll 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Refusal to become Girard's Clerk : Telling 
 
 Him the Reason Why 683 
 
 Remarkable Discernment of Mercantile 
 
 Character 692 
 
 Remarkable Sacrifice for Principle 658 
 
 Reward of Business Fidelity 691 
 
 Reward of Promptness in a Merchant's 
 
 Clerk 671 
 
 Rich Enough to Retire : Abraham New- 
 land, Cashier of the Bank of England 700 
 
 Rich Reward of Integrity 667 
 
 Ruin Produced by Bad Reckoning 677 
 
 Sample Clerk Wanted in a Drug Store... 689 
 
 Saying of an Old Merchant 609 
 
 Scissors 1)8. Shears 687 
 
 Serious Bargain for a Clerkship 682 
 
 Shipping Goods by Ticket 698 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Shocking Ignorance of City Clerks Illus- 
 trated 684 
 
 Simple Entries and Calculations — Jacob 
 
 Barker's Method 660 
 
 Singular Mode of Keeping Accounts in a 
 
 Pair of Boots 692 
 
 Squaring Accounts among the Celestials 669 
 That Bottle of Wine among " Old Fuller's" 
 
 Cleiks 694 
 
 The Prose of Shopkeeping set to Poetry 687 
 
 Too Conscientious an Accountant 683 
 
 Trying his Hand at the Accounts 699 
 
 Two Clerks in a Quarrel 674 
 
 Unexpected Promotion 696 
 
 Waste Book and Ledger — their Meaning 686 
 
 What is a " Flemish " Account ? 662 
 
 Wife of a Merchant's Clerk 688 
 
 PAET xiy. 
 
 ANECDOTES OF SOME OF THE OCCUPATIOm AUXILIARY TO COM- 
 MERCE AND MERCHANDISE, 
 
 Editors, Publishers, Booksellers, the Manual of Industrial Trades, etc. ; with 
 Unique Incidents of Bargain and Sale, Ludicrous Adventures, Haps and Mis- 
 haps — Business Freaks, Genius, Aptitude, Novelty and Renown, Etc., Etc. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 «A Roland for an Oliver" 714 
 
 A Tailor for Many Years 734 
 
 Affidavit by an Apothecary 742 
 
 Almanac Making: Fortunate Wit 711 
 
 America's First Printed Book 723 
 
 An Emperor Blowing a Blacksmith's Bel- 
 lows 743 
 
 Answering a Tailor's Dun 714 
 
 Apt Speech by a Carpenter 737 
 
 Archaeological Tailor's Measures 713 
 
 Attempt to Print a Perfect Book 747 
 
 Austen, the Famous Metal Founder 748 
 
 Balance of Trade ; or, Beauties of Compe- 
 tition 719 
 
 Barbers' Chairs 730 
 
 Ben Russell, the Printer : Exciting Scene 737 
 
 Benjamin Franklin as a Bookseller 727 
 
 Billingsgate Market Dealers 723 
 
 Bookmaking a Trade 736 
 
 Books and Music 755 
 
 Books and Newspapers in China 705 
 
 Breaking and Waxing the " Thread " . . . . 753 
 
 Breeches without a Body 755 
 
 Business Mistakes of Publishers 729 
 
 Butchers' Blue Blouse or Frock 712 
 
 Buying a Saddle , 734 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Buying Shoes and Sermons 751 
 
 Byron's Genoese Tailor 714 
 
 Canine Newsdealer. 715 
 
 Chinese Barbers 730 
 
 Classification of N ewspaper Readers 724 
 
 Commercial Value of Dramatic Litera- 
 ture 715 
 
 Compliment to Wharfingers 742 
 
 " Concerned in Trade" , .^709 
 
 Copy of a Painter's Bill .* 707 
 
 Country Bankers 735 
 
 Derivation of Names of Trades 711 
 
 Dignity Conferred by the Blacking Busi- 
 ness 755 
 
 Dowse, the "Literary Leather Dresser" 751 
 Dr. Johnson in the Capacity of a Reporter 726 
 
 Dry den Describing his Publisher 749 
 
 Earliest Newspaper in the English Lan- 
 guage 750 
 
 Editors in a Hard Fix 741 
 
 Eminent Shoemakers 752 
 
 English Almanacs — First Issue 739 
 
 English Perruquiers before the King 708 
 
 Errors of the Press 744 
 
 Explaining the Philosophy of Trade 756 
 
 " Extras," &c 724 
 
XXXI V 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Facetiae for Shoemakers 750 
 
 First Newspaper in America 721 
 
 First Newspaper in the World 749 
 
 Forfeits in a Barber's Shop 730 
 
 Franklin and the London Printer 717 
 
 Freaks of the Hairdressing Trade in 
 
 France 718 
 
 German Book Fairs 738 
 
 Greatest Reportorial Feat 745 
 
 Hatter's Present to a Judge 742 
 
 Hitting his Trade 712 
 
 "Honor and Fame from no Condition 
 
 Rise" 712 
 
 " Hopping " from Obscurity 742 
 
 Humors of a Reporter 740 
 
 Button's Success as a Bookseller 735 
 
 Incorrect Editions of the Bible 732 
 
 Iron Merchant and the Blacksmith 711 
 
 Johnson and his Dictionary 726 
 
 Johnson and the Butcher 707 
 
 Juvenile Bookseller's Wit 711 
 
 Knight's, Charles, Reminiscences of the 
 
 Book Trade 753 
 
 Lawyers and Barbers 725 
 
 Learning the Saddler's Trade 720 
 
 Lee, the Learned Carpenter, in England.. 736 
 
 « Letting Out " Clothes 713 
 
 Lord Eardley's "Gentleman" Applicant 757 
 Ludwick, the Baker-General, in the Revo- 
 lutionary War 759 
 
 Millionnaire Butcher of London 724 
 
 Miners' Commandments 748 
 
 Modern Newspaper Oflfice 744 
 
 Moses as an Engraver 731 
 
 Mr. Gales Reporting Mr. Webster 722 
 
 Musicseller's Customers 705 
 
 Napoleon's Opinion of a Journalist 708 
 
 Need of Reference for a Tailor 717 
 
 Newspaper Publisher Described 715 
 
 Nothing like Leather 717 
 
 Obtaining a Copyright 726 
 
 Old English Ticker 743 
 
 OldAt Daily Newspaper 721 
 
 One of the largest Book Establishments in 
 
 the World 753 
 
 "Our Editor"Sixty Years Ago 709 
 
 Partridge's Almanac making 718 
 
 Patriotic Hatter 720 
 
 Paying a Newspaper Bill 732 
 
 Paying the Diver 756 
 
 Payment for News 713 
 
 Peculiar Custom of a Tailor 713 
 
 Penny Newspapers in America 708 
 
 Perils of Reporting the Parliamentary 
 
 Debates 725 
 
 Placard Printing in Vienna 717 
 
 PA6B 
 
 Price of Akenside's " Pleasures of the 
 
 Imagination " 727 
 
 Printed Books; or, the Devil and Dr. 
 
 Faustus 732 
 
 Printers and Editors at Midnight 720 
 
 Prize Won by Stephenson for his Famous 
 
 Locomotive 758 
 
 Proby, the Reporter 716 
 
 Professional Use of Books 749 
 
 Profitable Book Job 747 
 
 Profits ofa Stall 724 
 
 Property in Books 739 
 
 Publisher's Generosity to an Author 729 
 
 Pun on a Cooper 742 
 
 Pushing Business 730 
 
 Quaker Hatter and his Journeyman 710 
 
 Queer Phases of the Butcher Trade 707 
 
 Rare Editorial Philosophy 741 
 
 Rather a Puzzling Occupation 739 
 
 Reason why Pitt's Great Speech was not 
 
 Reported 745 
 
 Report of a Lord's Speech 71G 
 
 Reporting from Memory 741 
 
 Rising in the World 7lG 
 
 Rival Publishers 727 
 
 Rivalry in Business Beneficial 710 
 
 Roman Saint Making Shoes 751 
 
 Sale of Noted Works and Plays 719 
 
 Samuel Wheeler, the Iron Smith, and 
 
 General Washington 759 
 
 Scotch Cabinetmaker's Appi'entice 723 
 
 "Shall I Cut?" 714 
 
 Shipbuilding in Ancient Times 743 
 
 Shoemaker Benefiting the World 712 
 
 Shoes and Shoemakers — Facetiae 746 
 
 Shooting a Bookseller 747 
 
 Showing Up Tailors 722 
 
 Sir Robert Peel's Factory Operative 727 
 
 Son of an Eminent Turkey Merchant.... 749 
 
 " Spanish " 734 
 
 Sticking to the Contract 737 
 
 Tailor Turned Prophet 733 
 
 The First Color Shop 706 
 
 The Learned Blacksmith 731 
 
 Theatrical Debut of a Barber 708 
 
 Tonson, the Literary Trader 706 
 
 Too Awkward to be a Watchmaker 743 
 
 Trades and Genealogies 760 
 
 Trading in News 733 
 
 Ungrateful Publisher 722 
 
 Verbatim Reporters 745 
 
 Wholesale Joke upon Shoemakers 738 
 
 Willing to Swallow the Joke 756 
 
 Wimprecht, the Blind Bookseller 706 
 
 Wit of a Gravestone Maker 781 
 
 Would not Stoop 757 
 
^xxxv 
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PORTEAITS ON STEEL. 
 
 GEORGE PEABODY. 
 SAMUEL SLATER. 
 ABBOTT LAWRENCE. 
 ALBERT GALLATIN. 
 JOHN JACOB ASTOR. 
 T. DOWSE. 
 
 CORNELIUS W. LAWRENCE. 
 STEPHEN GIRARD. 
 ROBERT FULTON. 
 NATHANIEL BOWDITCH. 
 ROBERT MORRIS. 
 ERASTUS CORNING. 
 PHILIP , HONE. 
 HENRY GRINNELL. 
 WILLIAM APPLETON. 
 DAVID LEAVITT. 
 R. G. SHAW. 
 JOHN GRIGG. 
 CORNELIUS VANDERBILT. 
 
 THOMAS 
 
 ROBERT L. STEVENS. 
 WALTER R. JONES. 
 FITZ GREENE HALLECK. 
 CHARLES LAMB. 
 NATHAN MEYER ROTHSCHILD. 
 WASHINGTON IRVING. 
 PETER COOPER. 
 W. F. HARNDEN. 
 T. W. PERKINS. 
 NICHOLAS BIDDLE. 
 JAMES G. KING. 
 JACOB BARKER. 
 PETER C. BROOKS. 
 THOMAS P. COPE. 
 JEEJEEBIIOY DADABHOY. 
 LORENZO DE MEDICL 
 WILLIAM B. ASTOR. 
 NICHOLAS LONGWORTH. 
 J. CHICKERING. 
 TILESTON. 
 
XXXVi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 WOOD ENGRAVmGS. 
 
 PAQB 
 
 MODERN BANK DIRECTORS' PARLOR, ... . . 97 
 
 NEAPOLITAN MONEY CHANGER, ... . . 104 
 
 MUTATIONS OF A MERCHANT'S LIFE. THE NEW ORLEANS SOCK 
 
 SELLER, . , ,*, ^ ^ ^ ^ 229 
 
 GRESHAM'S FORTUNATE LETTER, .... .174 
 
 PETER FUNK, .213 
 
 INTERIOR YIEW OF THE LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE, . . 288 
 
 SCENE IN AN ORIENTAL CUSTOM HOUSE, . . . . . 291 
 
 HIDE DEALER'S SIGN, . , .... 325 
 
 PAYING ROBERT FULTON THE FIRST PASSAGE MONEY, . .377 
 
 BONFIRE OF A DEBTOR'S PAPERS, 424 
 
 AFRAID OF THE SHERIFF'S HAT, 451 
 
 THAT LITTLE CHILD IN THE COUNTING HOUSE, . . .614 
 
 BURLESQUE ON MODERN BUSINESS UTOPIAS, . , . .629 
 
 TATTERSALL'S RENOWNED AUCTION MART, .... 634 
 
 GOING— GOING— GONE ! 639 
 
 SYRIAN AUCTION AND AUCTIONEERS, 654 
 
 CHRISTIE'S CELEBRATED AUCTION ROOM, .... 661 
 
 STREET MERCHANTS, 69^ 
 
 COMMERCIAL DIGNITY AT THE APPLE STAND, . . . .619 
 
 EXAMINING AN APPLICANT, 644 
 
 IMPROVING A BANKER'S BROTH, 676 
 
 THAT BOTTLE OF WINE AMONG "OLD FULLER'S" CLERKS, . 694 
 
 BILLINGSGATE MARKET DEALERS, '^23 
 
 WHOLESALE JOKE UPON SHOEMAKERS, '738 
 
 PROFESSIONAL USE OF BOOKS, Y49 
 
PART FIRST. 
 
 A.NEGDOTES AND BeMAEKABLE BeMINISGENCES OF TEE 
 
 Early Career of Business Celebrities in all 
 Ages and Countries. 
 
/ 
 
PAET FIEST. 
 
 Anecdotes and Eemarkable Eeminiscences of the Early Career of 
 Business Celebrities in all Ages and Countries. 
 
 ASTOR, ROTHSCHILD, OUVRARD, BATES, BARKER, TOTJRO, MCdONOGH, HOWQUA, GOLDSCHMID, 
 HOPE, HOTTINGUER, COUTTS, MORRISON, DE MEDICIS, GIRARD, BIDDLE, LABOUCIIERE, LA- 
 EITTE, APPLETON, COOPER, GRESHAM, PEABODY, NOLTE, GRAY, BRUCK, BEATTY, STEWART, 
 LAWRENCE, LOWELL, WHITNEY, GIDEON, DEXTER, BARING, MORRIS, LORILLARD, STEIGLITZ, 
 PERKINS, LONGWORTH, ETC., ETC., ETC. 
 
 That captivating art which consists in the delineation of individual traits and achieve- 
 ments.— Edin. Rfa-ibw. 
 
 The man who has not anything to hoast of but hia illustrious ancestors, is like a potato— the 
 only good belonging to him is under the ground. — Sir T. Overbxtrt. 
 
 Let not those blush who have, but those who have not, a lawful calling. — Tattler. 
 Still let the mind be bent, still plotting where, 
 And when, and how, the business may be done.— Herbert. 
 
 Robert Morris, the Financier, of Phil- 
 adelphia. 
 
 This eminent financier was born in 
 Liverpool, Eng., in 1734, Of his fam- 
 ily, very little is known, except that his 
 father was a respectable English mer- 
 chant, and for a long time held the 
 agency of a very considerable tobacco 
 house in that place. The nature and 
 extent of his concerns required his 
 frequent visits to this country ; and it 
 was in one of these trips that his son 
 Robert, at the age of thirteen, became 
 the companion of his voyage, and re- 
 ceived an introduction to the scene of 
 his future greatness. His father, by a 
 melancholy accident, lost his life about 
 two years after he had established him- 
 self in this country as a merchant. 
 Soon after this sad event, Robert was 
 received into the counting house of 
 Charles Willing, at that time the most 
 distinguished merchant in Philadel- 
 phia, to whom lie appears to have 
 been indentured ; and, after remaining 
 
 in this subordinate station the usual 
 term of years, he was established in 
 business by his patron, in conjunction 
 with his son, Thomas Willing. 
 
 Embarked in an extensive and profit- 
 able West India business, Mr. Morris 
 made several voyages as supercargo in 
 the ships belonging to the company, in 
 one of which he was unfortunately cap- 
 tured by the French, and, during a 
 close imprisonment for some time, suf- 
 fered cruelty of treatment not justified 
 by the laws of war, nor the usages of 
 civilized nations. In this state of dis- 
 tress, without a shilling, by exercising 
 his ingenuity, and repairing the watch 
 of a Frenchman, he raised the means 
 of his own liberation, and enabled him- 
 self to return to Philadelphia and re- 
 sume his mercantile life. 
 
 Under his active superintendence, 
 the house of Willing and Morris rapidly 
 rose to the summit of commercial repu- 
 tation. Their foreign freightage em- 
 ployed an incredible number of ships ; 
 
COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 while the able management of their 
 finances at home, procured them the 
 confidence and credit of the world. At 
 the , age of thirty six, he married the 
 ' ^Vghter Ox Colonel "White ; she was 
 t^e, s?^t^r. ' o^ ; the venerable Bishop 
 ■Waite.; ' A-t the close of 1775, he was 
 sent to Congress, and, after rendering 
 important services during the war, he 
 was, in 1781, unanimously elected, by 
 Congress, superintendent of national 
 finance. 
 
 He still continued his commercial 
 business, having formed a connection 
 with the Messrs. Hazlehurst. In 1786 
 he was elected a member of the Con- 
 vention which framed the Federal Con- 
 stitution, and in 1788 was appointed 
 United States senator. His public 
 duties, however, caused that inattention 
 to his private affairs, which finally re- 
 sulted in those great embarrassments of 
 mind and circumstances which weighed 
 upon his declining years. In his old 
 age, Mr. Morris embarked in vast land 
 speculations, which proved fatal to his 
 fortune. The man to whose financial 
 operations our country has been said to 
 owe as much as to the negotiations of 
 Franklin, or even the arm of Washing- 
 ton, passed the latter years of his life in 
 prison, confined for debt. He died on 
 the 8th ,of May, 1806, in the seventy- 
 third year of his age. 
 
 Mr. Morris was of large frame, with 
 a fine, open, bland countenance, and 
 simple manners ; for nearly half a cen- 
 tury, until the period of his imprison- 
 ment, his house was a scene of the most 
 liberal hospitality. 
 
 P. C. Labouchere, the Youthful Prince 
 Merchant. 
 In his youth, Laboucheke com- 
 menced his commercial training in 
 Nantes, but subsequently engaged to 
 become a clerk, for a period of three 
 years, to take charge of the commercial 
 correspondence of Hope & Co., the 
 world-renowned bankers of Amster- 
 dam. Shortly before the close of this 
 
 term young Labouchere gave his prin- 
 cipal a hint that a moderate increase 
 of salary was desirable. An answer 
 was promised for the next morning. 
 When he went at the appointed time 
 to receive the anticipated reply, old Mr. 
 Hope laid before him for his signature, 
 a contract already drawn up, in which 
 he named him as his partner, with a 
 suitable share in the profits, and in- 
 trusted him with the signature of that 
 vast and princely house. Labouchere 
 was at that time only twenty-two years 
 of age, yet ere long assumed the emi- 
 nent position of head of the firm — one 
 of the fii'st in the world, and studied 
 the manners of a French courtier pre- 
 vious to the Revolution ; these manners 
 he soon made so thoroughly his own, 
 that they seemed to be a part of his 
 own nature. He made a point of dis- 
 tinguishing himself in everything he 
 undertook by a certain perfection, and 
 carried this feeling so far, that, on ac- 
 count of the untractable lack of elasti- 
 city in his body, and a want of ear for 
 music, which nature had denied him, 
 he for eighteen years deemed it neces- 
 sary to take dancing lessons, because 
 he saw that others surpassed him in that 
 graceful accomplishment. He married 
 a daughter of the Barings : his whole 
 career, both public and private, was 
 one of almost unexampled brilliancy. 
 
 Howqua, the senior Hong Merchant. 
 This immensely wealthy and power- 
 ful Chinese merchant, whose mercantile 
 fame was so extensive in both hemi- 
 spheres as long as he lived, was de- 
 scended from a respectable Fo-kien 
 family, long resident in the principal 
 black-tea district, and his grandfather 
 was one of the Amoy Hong, who, with 
 the progenitors of the Canton Hong 
 merchants, Poon-ke-qua, Chunc-qua, 
 and Minqua, were ordered by the 
 emperor to remove to Canton, when all 
 intercourse was forbidden with the 
 English and Dutch at the port of 
 Amoy. 
 
EARLY CAREER OF BUSINESS CELEBRITIES. 
 
 HowQUA had attained liis seventy- 
 fifth year when he died, at Canton. For 
 a long time he had been in a feeble state 
 of health, with extremely attenuated 
 frame, but with an unimpaired intel- 
 lectual vigor up to his last illness. His 
 fortune was variously estimated, ])ut his 
 investments in the British and foreign 
 funds were very great, and it was the 
 belief of those who were most person- 
 ally intimate with him, that his wealth 
 did not fall short of twenty-five million 
 dollars. With a very small exception, 
 all his riches were the result of his own 
 industry and enterprise. The war with 
 the English involved him in a loss of 
 two million dollars, and his proportion 
 of the Canton ransom was eight hun- 
 dred thousand dollars. 
 
 One of the peculiar characteristics 
 of How qua was an inveterate aversion 
 to new customs and modern fashions, — 
 clinging with the most conservative 
 tenacity to the old, corrupt system, by 
 which his vast wealth was mainly ac- 
 cumulated. He was the organ of com- 
 munication between the government 
 and the foreign merchants, possessed 
 great power and influence among his 
 countrymen, was a large landed pro- 
 prietor, and had founded and endowed 
 a temple to Buddha, in the suburbs of 
 Canton. 
 
 It seems almost incredible, but it is 
 not the less true, that, to the last, he 
 directed his vast and complicated trade, 
 which almost encircled the globe, alone. 
 His knowledge, and even familiarity 
 with mercantile details connected with 
 the trade of foreign ports, was truly 
 astonishing. Sound judgment, true 
 prudence, wary circumspection, and a 
 wise economy, were distinguishing 
 traits of his mercantile character. By 
 Englishmen, Howqua was not liked. 
 His predilections were American — and 
 justly so, seeing that he was indebted, 
 in an early stage of his career, to an 
 American citizen, for information he 
 sought in vain from the English, 
 
 James Wood, the Gloucester Million- 
 naire. 
 
 James Wood, the celebrated shop- 
 keeping millionnaire and sole proprie- 
 tor of the Old Gloucester (Eng.) Bank, 
 — the oldest private bank, with the 
 exception of Childs', in England — 
 amassed a property of five million of 
 dollars. From the earliest period in 
 his business career to the day of his 
 death, he kept a shop such as comes 
 within the description of a chandler's 
 shop, in which he sold almost every- 
 thing, from a mousetrap to a carriage ; 
 not that his premises were large enough 
 to contain all the various stores in 
 which he dwelt, nor indeed was it re- 
 quisite that they should — for his wealth 
 was sufficiently known to all the large 
 manufacturers and traders, so that they 
 were at all times ready to supply him 
 with goods to any amount. At one end 
 of this motley shop, the business of the 
 'Old Gloucester Bank,' as it was fa- 
 miliarly called, was transacted; and 
 the whole establishment was managed 
 by himself and two clerks or assistants. 
 He was very penurious, and never mar- 
 ried, entertained no company, visited no 
 one, spent his whole time in his bank 
 or shop, and his Sundays in a long 
 walk in the country. His will involved 
 much litigation, and, as a consequence, 
 proved a prolific source of employment 
 to the gentlemen of the greenbag. 
 
 Coutts, the Engrlish Banker. 
 The father of Mr. Coutts, the founder 
 of the celebrated English banking house 
 which bears his name, was a merchant 
 of some eminence in the city of Edin- 
 burgh. He had four sons ; the two 
 youngest, James and Thomas, were 
 brought up in their father's office. 
 James, at the age of twenty-five, w^ent 
 to London, and settled in St. Mary Axe, 
 as a Scotch merchant, and subsequently 
 started as a banker on the same spot, 
 and it is believed in the same house 
 where the business of the bank is now 
 carried on. Some few years after, 
 
COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 Thomas joined his brother as a partner 
 in the establishment, under the firm of 
 * James and Thomas Coutts, Bankers.' 
 On the death of James, Thomas was 
 left sole proprietor of the bank. Mr. 
 Coutts, the founder of this eminent 
 house, was plain in his person, sedate 
 in his deportment, punctual to an 
 extreme nicety in the discharge of all 
 the duties of his immense and success- 
 ful business, frugal and sparing in his 
 personal expenditure, singularly calm 
 and clear in his judgment, careful of 
 his health — and still more of his repu- 
 tation. To these traits the great pros- 
 perity and wealth to which Mr. Coutts 
 attained are due. 
 
 It is related, as an illustration of Mr. 
 Coutts' character, that one day, while 
 sitting at dinner with a company of 
 bankers whom he had invited to his 
 hospitable board, he was informed by 
 one of his guests, that a certain noble- 
 man had applied to his house for a loan 
 of thirty thousand pounds, and had been 
 refused. Mr. Coutts took no particular 
 notice of this at the time, but the moment 
 his guests had retired, which was about 
 ten o'clock, he started off to the house 
 of his lordship, and inquiring for the 
 steward told him his business, adding, 
 " Tell Ms lordship, that if he calls on 
 me in the morning, he may have what 
 he requires." On the following morn- 
 ing, the nobleman went to the bank. 
 Mr. Coutts received him with great 
 politeness, and taking thirty one-thous- 
 and pound notes from a drawer, pre- 
 sented them to his lordship, who was 
 most agreeably surprised, and asked, 
 "What security am I to give you?" 
 "I shall be satisfied with your lord- 
 ship's note of hand," was the reply. 
 This was instantly given. The noble- 
 man then said, " I find I shall only 
 require, for the present, ten thousand 
 pounds of the money ; I therefore 
 return you twenty thousand pounds, 
 with which you will be pleased to open 
 an account in my name," 
 
 This handsome act of Mr. Coutts was 
 
 not lost upon his lordship, who, in 
 addition to paying in, within a few 
 months, two hundred thousand pounds 
 to his account, being the amount of 
 the sale of an estate, recommended 
 several of the nobility to patronize Mr. 
 Coutts ; and further, his lordship related 
 the interesting circumstance to King 
 George the Third, who also patronized 
 him by keeping a large amount of 
 money in Mr. Coutts' bank. The king, 
 however, afterward closed his account 
 with Mr. Coutts, it having come to his 
 knowledge that the latter advanced the 
 sum of one hundred thousand pounds 
 toward Sir Francis Burdett's election 
 to parliament. In place of IVIr. Coutts, 
 the king opened an account with a 
 banker at Windsor, but this banker, to 
 the great mortification of the king, 
 subsequently failed, considerably in his 
 majesty's debt. 
 
 Tattersall, the Auctioneer, London. 
 
 The present noted auctioneer in Lon- 
 don, known as Tattersall, is a son of 
 the founder of the great establishment, 
 who died while enjoying the sumjituous 
 surroundings in w^hich his princely for- 
 tune enabled him to indulge. 
 
 Nobody who sees Mr. Tattersall pre- 
 siding in his rostrum during the sale 
 of horses, can resist the conviction that 
 Nature intended him for an auctioneer 
 of those noble animals. In the rostrum, 
 he is obviously in his proper business 
 sphere. He enters on his vocation 
 with heart and soul, each succeeding 
 day. He has no idea of happiness be- 
 yond the auction yard. The very sight 
 of the hammer, or rather of himself 
 wielding the hammer, is to him an en- 
 joyment of the first magnitude. His 
 own voice, when expatiating in praise 
 of any horse that " is to be sold," has 
 inexpressible charms to his ear. There 
 is not a sound in the world that he will 
 acknowledge to be half so musical to 
 him, — except it be the sound of some 
 voice w^hose proprietor is making a 
 
EARLY CAREER OF EUSIXESS CELEBRITIES. 
 
 " handsome bidding" for the animal in 
 the market. 
 
 Mr. Tattersall, though a man of few 
 words compared with the voluble 
 school of auctioneers in general, is a 
 very adroit and successful knight of 
 the hammer. He is dexterous in dis- 
 covering who among all that surround 
 him are the parties really intending to 
 buy, and to them in succession he 
 addresses himself. His very look, 
 unaccompanied by a single word, has, 
 in innumerable cases, appealed so forci- 
 bly to some bystander, as to draw out 
 "another guinea for the horse," even 
 when the person had fully resolved in 
 his own mind not to advance, on any 
 earthly consideration, a single six- 
 pence more. He holds in contempt 
 all bombastical diction, as in poor 
 taste, a waste of time, and a positive 
 insult to the persons assembled. Be- 
 sides, he is convinced that by his own 
 plain and homely, but expressive style, 
 he " fetches " a far better price for his 
 " fine animals," than he would by the 
 most high-sounding clap-trap sentences 
 that could be strung together. He 
 usually contents himself with mention- 
 ing the pedigree of the horse, praising 
 him as one of the finest ever known ; 
 affecting to be quite shocked at the 
 idea of selling him at the price offered ; 
 assuring the company that it would be 
 positively giving him away, which of 
 course neither he nor the proprietor 
 can afford to do ; and regretting that 
 he cannot bid himself. When an extra 
 quality of horse is " up," Mr. Tattersall's 
 art of winning upon the good graces 
 of the company is inimitable ; an 
 example of which is furnished among 
 the Auction anecdotes in this volume. 
 By all his acquaintance, Mr. Tatter- 
 sall has the reputation of being an ex- 
 cellent-hearted man, and is a great 
 favorite, personally, with all who visit 
 his premises, or have occasion to do 
 business with him. He is a dark-com- 
 plexioned man, with a rather full face, 
 and wears a reserved expression. He 
 
 is slightly under medium size, of some- 
 what stout build, and very lame. The 
 number of horses he sometimes sells in 
 one day is one hundred to one hundred 
 and eighty. 
 
 Jacques Lafitte, the French. Banker. 
 
 Important results often follow from 
 the most trifling incidents. A remark- 
 able instance of this kind is that afforded 
 in the history of Lafitte, one of the most 
 memorable among the names of French 
 bankers, and which was the foundation 
 of the colossal fortune he afterward 
 accumulated, and of the scarcely less 
 than imperial position which he at one 
 time held in the councils of the realm. 
 
 When he came to Paris, in 1798, the 
 extent of his ambition was to find a 
 situation in a banking house ; and to 
 attain this object, he called on M. 
 Perregeaux, the rich Swiss banker, to 
 whom he had a letter of introduction. 
 This gentleman had just taken posses- 
 sion of the hotel of Mademoiselle 
 Gurmard, w^hich had been put up in a 
 lottery by that lady, and won by the 
 fortunate banker. It was to this most 
 charming habitation, which has since 
 been demolished, that M. Lafitte paid 
 his first visit in Paris, and, as it were, 
 took his first step in the brilliant Paris- 
 ian world. The young provincial — 
 poor and modest, timid and anxious — 
 entered by that gateway which had 
 witnessed so many convivialities in the 
 last century. 
 
 He was introduced into the boudoir 
 of the danseuse, which had become the 
 cabinet of the banker, and there modest- 
 ly stated the object of his visit. " It is 
 impossible for me to admit you into my 
 establishment, at least for the present," 
 replied the banker ; " all my offices 
 have their full complement. If I 
 require any one at a future time, I 
 will see what can be done; but, in 
 the mean time, I advise you to seek 
 elsewhere, for I do not expect a vacancy 
 for a long while." 
 With a disappointed heart, the young 
 
6 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 aspirant for employment left the office ; 
 and while, with a dejected air, he traver- 
 sed the stately courtyard, he stooped to 
 pick up a pin which lay in his path, and 
 which he carefully stuck in the lappel 
 of his coat. Little did he think that 
 this trivial action was to decide his 
 future fate and open up so famous a 
 destiny to him ; but so it was. From 
 the windows of his cabinet, M. Perre- 
 geaux had observed the movement of 
 the young man. The Swiss banker 
 was one of those keen observers and 
 quick interpreters of human actions, 
 who estimate the value of circum- 
 stances apparently triiSing in them- 
 selves, and which would pass unnoticed 
 by the majority of mankind. He was 
 delighted with the conduct of the 
 young stranger. In this simple action, 
 he saw the revelations of a character. 
 It was a guarantee of a love of order 
 and economy, a certain pledge of the 
 qualities in especial which should be 
 possessed by a good financier. A young 
 man who would thus painstakingly 
 pick up a pin, could not fail to make 
 a good clerk, merit the confidence of 
 his employer, and reach a high degree 
 of prosperity. In the evening of the 
 same day, M. Lafitte received the follow- 
 ing note from M. Perregeaux : — 
 
 " A place is made for you in my office, 
 which you may take possession of to- 
 morrow morning." 
 
 The anticipations of the banker were 
 not disappointed. The young Lafitte 
 possessed every desirable quality, and 
 even more than was at first expected. 
 From a simple clerk, he soon rose to be 
 cashier, then partner, then head of the 
 first banking house in Paris ; and after- 
 wards, in rapid succession, a Deputy, 
 and President of the Council of Minis- 
 ters — the highest point to which a 
 citizen could aspire. Earely have riches 
 been placed in better hands — rarely has 
 banker or prince made a more noble use 
 of them. In 1836, M. Lafitte founded 
 the joint-stock bank which goes by his 
 name, and of which he was the head 
 
 and principal partner. His fortunes 
 changed materially, for the worse, after 
 the Revolution. He died in May, 1844, 
 and was buried with great magnificence 
 in the cemetery of Pere la Chaise. He 
 left one daughter, who married the 
 pi-ince of Moskowa, the son of Marshal 
 Ney. 
 
 William Forlies, Scotcli Banker. 
 
 The private banking house once uni- 
 versally known in Scotland under the 
 lead of SiK William Forbes, had a 
 somewhat peculiar genealogy, reaching 
 far back into the last century, and even 
 faintly gleaming through the obscurities 
 of the one before it, when mercantile 
 efforts and speculations were taking 
 their birth amidst the embers of scarcely 
 extinct civil wars and all kinds of pri- 
 vate barbarisms. The genealogy is 
 traced to the fiiTQ of John Coutts & 
 Co., of Edinburgh, in 1742, and the 
 concern appears to be the main stock 
 from which branched off the eminent 
 London banking firms of Coutts & Co. 
 and Herries & Co. It was the first 
 banking house in Edinburgh. 
 
 Born in 1734, and fatherless when 
 four years of age, Sir William had but 
 little other means of help than the 
 usual Scotch thrift. He rose, however, 
 to be the head of the house which he 
 had entered as an apprentice, without 
 a capital, at fifteen ; recovered the lost 
 fortunes of his family, aided materially 
 in establishing those of his country 
 on a solid basis, and even became 
 the. sole preserver of much of her 
 literary history which must otherwise 
 have perished. 
 
 Originally confined to commercial 
 dealing and general business traffic, 
 the sole transactions of the house finally 
 came to be those of banking. It sub- 
 sequently yielded, once or twice, to the 
 temptation of mercantile or merchan- 
 dize speculation, but suffered from it, 
 and ever afterv^ard refused to engage, 
 directly or indirectly, in anything but 
 banking. ^Ir. Forbes died, in 1806, at 
 
EARLY CAREER OF BUSINESS CELEBRITIES. 
 
 the age of sixty-seven, and to his vir- 
 tues Scott has paid a merited tribute 
 in the dedication of one of the cantos 
 of Marmion. 
 
 M. Steiglitz, Bicliest of Russian Mer- 
 chants. 
 
 Y/hat the name of Rothschild is in 
 other countries, and that of Astor in 
 America, the name of Steiglitz is in 
 Russia, and has been for half a century. 
 It would doubtless still continue to 
 hold this pre-eminence, but for the 
 voluntary retirement of the proprietor, 
 two or three years since, with a fortune 
 computed, by Russian authorities, at 
 scores of millions of dollars, — acquired 
 by his connection with all the great 
 financial concerns of the empire, and 
 the numerous and extensive manufac- 
 tories, sugar refineries, etc., which he 
 carried on. 
 
 M. Steiglitz, senior, arrived in Russia 
 about the commencement of the present 
 century ; he came from Hamburgh, and 
 was a Jew by birth, but subsequently 
 abandoned that faith and identified 
 himself with Christianity. Immediately 
 after his arrival in Russia he entered 
 into business, and founded the great 
 commercial and banking house which 
 he bequeathed to his son, with the title 
 of Baron, and a prodigious fortune. 
 M. Steiglitz, junior, subsequently man- 
 aged the house, and with such ability 
 and success as to be able to retire with 
 an estate valued at little short o^ fifty 
 millions of dollars. This vast fortune 
 consists in capital deposited in the im- 
 perial banks, in shares in the best Rus- 
 sian companies, and in landed estates, 
 both in the south of Russia, in Livonia, 
 and in Germany. He has the rank of 
 Councillor of State, and is decorated 
 with the grand cordon of the Order of 
 St. Stanislaus. He married a Mdlle. 
 Muller, belonging to a highly respect- 
 able, though not wealthy family, and 
 has no children. 
 
 Solomon, the Merchant Sovereign. 
 
 King Solomon was at once monarch 
 and merchant ; and it may easily be 
 inferred, that no j^rivate merchant 
 could safely compete with a prince 
 so regal, who had assumed the mer- 
 cantile character. By his intimate 
 commercial union with the Tyrians, he 
 was put into the most favorable of all 
 positions for disposing of his goods. 
 That energetic nation, possessing so 
 small a strip of territory, had much 
 need of various raw produce for their 
 own wants. Another large demand 
 was made by them for the raw materials 
 of manufactures, and for articles which 
 they could with advantage sell again ; 
 and as they were able, in turn, to sell 
 so many acceptable luxmies to the court 
 of Solomon, a most active exchange 
 soon commenced. The carrying trade, 
 which was shared between Solomon and 
 the Tyrians, was probably the most 
 lucrative part of the southern and east- 
 ern commerce. From Egypt, Solomon 
 imported not only linen yarn, but even 
 horses and chariots, which were sold 
 again to ihe princes of Syria and of the 
 Hittites ; the light, strong, and elegant 
 structure of the chariots rendering them 
 very salable. Wine being abundant in 
 Palestine, and wholly wanting in Egypt, 
 was, no doubt, a principal means of re- 
 payment. That Solomon's trading cor- 
 respondence also extended to Babylon, 
 may be fairly inferred. He is said to 
 have realized from a single voyage four 
 hundred and fifty talents of gold, that 
 is, upwards of one Tiundred and twenty 
 millions of dollars ! Tlie business trans- 
 actions of Solomon, it thus appears, 
 were enormously large and lucrative; 
 yet it does not appear that any fault 
 was found with him on that account — 
 particularly by his own subjects. 
 
 M. Bruck, Austria's Great Merchant 
 Sanker. 
 Some considerable number of years 
 back, when the Greeks were in arms to 
 
8 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 assert their independence, a young man 
 with a staff in his hand and a travelling 
 knapsack on his back, presented him- 
 self at the office of a Greek merchant at 
 Trieste, to whom he had a letter of 
 introduction. Filled with youthful 
 enthusiasm for the once glorious name 
 of Greece, he was on his way to the 
 Morea with the intention of joining the 
 Greek insurgents. 
 
 The merchant, pleased with the 
 youth's appearance, and perhaps influ- 
 enced by the letter of introduction, 
 thought it a pity that so much intelli- 
 gence should be employed in warlike 
 rather than in peaceful pursuits, and en- 
 deavored to dissuade him from his pur- 
 pose. To give his argument its desired 
 effect, he offered the adventurer a clerk- 
 ship in his office. The offer was imme- 
 diately accepted. The young man's n ame 
 was Bruck. He doubtless devoted him- 
 self with much zeal to the interests of 
 his patron, for in a few years he became 
 the head-clerk and manager of his busi- 
 ness. A courtship shortly afterwards 
 took place between him and the mer- 
 chant's daughter, which ended in mar- 
 riage with her and a partnership in 
 business with her father. 
 
 This man became one of the ruling 
 spirits in European commerce and 
 finance, the extent of his business 
 operations comporting with the high 
 repute of the house with which he was 
 identified. M. Bruck devoted himself 
 to the formation of the Austrian Navi- 
 gation Company; and he it was who 
 established that well known commer- 
 cial institution, the Austrian Lloyd's — 
 for which he was indebted for a name 
 to the mercantile phraseology of Eng- 
 land, — and which he founded on prin- 
 ciples similar to those by which the 
 English Lloyd's is conducted. It is 
 also due to his energy that railroads 
 have been introduced and extended in 
 Austria. And in addition to all this, 
 his great financial and business talents 
 caused him to be appointed Mnister 
 of Finance of the Empire, — ^like La- 
 
 bouchere in England, and Lafitte in 
 France. 
 
 Jones Lloyd, London Banker. 
 The firm of Jones Llotd & Co., 
 consisting of two partners — father and 
 son — has long held rank in London 
 with those of the Coutts, Glyns, Deni- 
 sons. Smiths, Barclays, Paynes, Wil- 
 lisses, and others, for immense extent 
 of business and honorable dealing. Tlie 
 father has been mentioned as the only 
 great banker in London who has made 
 a fortune by banking, without having 
 been bred to it. Banking sought him. 
 He preserves, it is said, to this day, in 
 his bedroom, a little table which used 
 to stand many years ago in his shop at 
 Manchester, and upon which, as people 
 used to bring their money to him, his 
 first accounts were kept. His wealth 
 has been estimated at ten to twelve 
 million dollars in ready money, the 
 whole amount being kept floating in 
 convertible securities for immediate 
 use. Mr. Lewis Lloyd, according to 
 his own account, began business in 
 1792, at Manchester, where having 
 spent a year, he removed to London, 
 where he concluded to remain, with a 
 partnership in the Manchester firm. 
 According to report, he was originally 
 a Unitarian clergyman, but soon became 
 tired of that vocation — finding it, as he 
 is said to have sometimes confessed after 
 dinner, " much more profitable and 
 agreeable to spend his time in turning 
 over bank notes, than in turning up the 
 whites of his eyes." Mr. Lloyd seems 
 to have been somewhat partial to this 
 style of remark. Thus, when Frys and 
 Chapman, the Quaker bankers, failed, 
 a member of the society took his ac- 
 count to Mr. Lloyd : " We think you 
 are right, friend," said the senior part- 
 ner ; " it is wiser to put thy money 
 with a rich sinner than a poor saint." 
 
 James Lenox, Merchant, of New York. 
 
 The name of Lenox appears among 
 
 some of the early Scotch emigrants, 
 
EARLY CAREER OF BUSINESS CELEBRITIES. 
 
 9 
 
 such as the Irvings, Masons, Douglasses, 
 Grahams, &c. Robert Lenox became 
 a distinguished New York merchant. 
 His profits were wisely invested in 
 land, and this became very valuable. 
 His only son, James, inherited the 
 larger portion of this estate, whose 
 increasing value made him a million- 
 naire. 
 
 In his benefactions, Mr. Lenox is said 
 to exercise close discrimination, and in 
 this way has for years refused personal 
 applications. This measure, indeed, 
 was necessary, in order to escape a 
 perpetual siege, which would soon have 
 driven any man to distraction. He 
 has been in the habit of considering 
 written applications, and of selecting 
 such as seemed worthy of his patron- 
 age. Mr. Lenox annually disburses, it 
 is stated, an enormous sum in a most 
 useful as well as most quiet manner. 
 Indeed, his mansion has been described 
 as one of the benevolent institntions of 
 the day — its occupant being, to all 
 intents and purposes, but an actuary, 
 driven by perpetual duties and working 
 with assiduity to fulfil an important 
 trust. He is a thoroughly practical man, 
 posted on all the details of business, 
 and, inheriting the peculiar abilities 
 and energy of his father, puts them to 
 the best of use. 
 
 Mr. Lenox is a man of fine taste, and 
 finds recreation in gathering rare books, 
 of which he has a valuable collection, 
 and he possesses, in addition, a splendid 
 gallery of pictures, among these being 
 two of Turner's landscapes. 
 
 Daniel Callagrhan, the Irish Mercantile 
 Celebrity. 
 One of the ablest and most accom- 
 plished merchants that Ireland ever 
 produced was Daniel Callaghan, the 
 elder, — shooting ahead of all the mer- 
 chants in Ireland, by his native abili- 
 ties, his shrewdness, enterprise, and 
 tact. He set up, when but a stripling, 
 in the butter trade, but was refused 
 credit for the small amount of £400 at 
 
 Tonson & Warren's bank, as his first ex- 
 perience. He, however, finally obtained 
 the aid he was in need of, and from 
 that time pursued his "business with 
 great success. A great London mer- 
 chant took the whole provision contract 
 at that time, and the Cork merchants 
 combined to engross the market. This 
 was the moment chosen by Callaghan 
 to reap the reward of the study he had 
 bestowed, so inquiringly and systemati- 
 cally, upon the business of his choice. 
 Alarmed at their position, one of the 
 Londoners came over, and was still 
 more dismayed when he reached Cork. 
 Young Callaghan introduced himself, 
 and, what was then thought a most 
 presuming thing on his part, he gave 
 a dinner to the Londoner, to which, 
 however, he had some difiiculty in 
 getting guests. He soon showed the 
 London firm the game it should play, 
 and expounded all the resources in 
 their power, to their enlightenment. A 
 share of the contract was immediately 
 given him, and, before the year expired, 
 the same firm handed Callaghan £10,- 
 000, on his own word, after having 
 hesitated, only nine months before, to 
 take his bond with security for a few 
 hundreds. There have been a few Irish 
 merchants who have realized greater 
 fortunes than Mr. C, who, at his cul- 
 minating point, was rated at con- 
 siderably above a million ; but it was 
 the splendid style in which he trans- 
 acted his aff'airs, his off'-hand deal- 
 ing, his liberality and contempt for 
 peddling, and his complete mercan- 
 tile accomplishments, that placed him 
 at the head of the Irish commercial 
 world. 
 
 Henry Engelbert Haase, Banker, of 
 Bremen. 
 
 Among those who have reached and 
 passed through the " golden gate " of 
 commercial success, is Henry Engel- 
 BERT Haase, of Bremen, widely known 
 at home and abroad, but whose career 
 terminated so disastrously. By trade 
 
10 
 
 COMMERCIAL AXD BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 lie amassed a large property, and was 
 one of tlie most Ligbly respected busi- 
 ness men in Bremen — ^holding several 
 public offices, was trustee of various 
 funds, administrator of many estates, 
 and guardian of a large number of or- 
 phan children. In fact, he abounded in 
 both jDublic and private charities, and he 
 was always the one above all others to 
 w^hom his friends intrusted their obli- 
 gations when they were absent from 
 the city. A certain coxcombry — for 
 instance, he wore jewels and lace, 
 which w^as not usual, and took every 
 measure to conceal his age — was for- 
 given him, on account of the high 
 esteem which ht3 universally enjoyed.^ 
 No one ever ventured in the slightest 
 degree to ridicule Alderman Haase — in 
 the opinion of eveiy one, he stood 
 higher than any other man in Bremen. 
 He was remarkably hospitable ; enter- 
 taining every week a distinguished 
 company, and a degree of luxury was 
 exhibited at his dinners, excusable only 
 in a rich man vn.thout childi'en. In his 
 annual statement of the different trust 
 funds he had in charge, he warmly 
 solicited the inspection of the books, 
 and often pretended that the value of 
 the property had increased by advan- 
 tageous purchase and sale of stocks, 
 and frequently offered to show the 
 overseers the certificates in various 
 closets and oaken chests; but it was 
 naturally deemed a gross imputation 
 on such a wealthy trustee and sternly 
 particular accountant, as well as a 
 downright waste of time, to accept the 
 offer. But at last, in one of the ways 
 peculiar in such cases, an explosion 
 took place, and his defalcations, squan- 
 dered in luxury and " charity," were 
 found to be immense. His house fell, 
 and " great was the fall of it." 
 
 Preserved Fish, Merchant, of New 
 York. 
 
 No name was better known in the 
 
 mercantile community of New York 
 
 than this, during the advanced life- 
 
 time of its owner. Mr. Fish was born 
 in Rhode Island, July 3, 1766, of 
 parents in obscure circumstances. He 
 was at an early age apprenticed to the 
 j blacksmith business, but becoming dis- 
 satisfied with his employment and em- 
 I)loyers, he ran away, and shipped as a 
 cabin boy in a whaling vessel. In this 
 trade he made several voyages, grad- 
 ually rising until he became master of 
 a small w^haling craft, and finally by 
 his economy and industry accumula- 
 ting a little cai)ital. 
 
 In 1810, he quit his seafaring life 
 and settled in New York, forming a 
 business co]Dartnership with his cousin, 
 Mr. Joseph Grinnell, under the style of 
 Fish & Grinnell, and which lasted until 
 1825, w^hen Mr. Fish went to Europe 
 and established a house in Liverpool, 
 under the name of Fish, Cairns & 
 Crary. He soon after returned to New 
 York, forming a copartnership with 
 Mr. Saul Alley and Joseph Lawrence, 
 under the style of Fish, Alley & Law- 
 rence, but which only continued for 
 two or three years. As j^resident of 
 the Tradesmen's bank, to which posi- 
 tion he was elected in 1829, his manage- 
 ment was vei-y successful, as the high 
 dividends and large contingent fund 
 of that institution, under his adminis- 
 tration, show. 
 
 Mr. Fish was remarkable for great 
 energy and decision of character, pur- 
 suing with ardor anything he under- 
 took, and, like most men of this char- 
 acter, he was rather opinionative, and 
 always firm in maintaining his own 
 notions — ^possessing but little of the 
 suaviter in modo, that oily process of 
 operating which distinguishes the more 
 polished man. Perhaps this trait which 
 characterized Mr. Fish may be said to 
 have been illustrated in the remark 
 made by a certain eminent man, that 
 " whenever I issue an order to a servant, 
 I say if you please, and if he clmi^t please. 
 I male Mm please^'' Still, in busi- 
 ness qualifications, Mr. Fish Bad few 
 superiors, and enjoyed the universal 
 
EARLY CAREER OF BUSINESS CELEBRITIES. 
 
 11 
 
 confidence of the mercantile commu- 
 nity. 
 
 It may be said of him, that he was 
 temperate in his habits, moderate in 
 his desires, and neither parsimonious 
 nor prodigal in his expenses ; while his 
 industry, economy and good judgment, 
 enabled him to realize a fortune from 
 which he derived an abundant income. 
 He was three times married, but left no 
 children. The story that he was picked 
 up at sea, on a plank or in an open 
 boat, and in that way acquired the 
 name Preserved^ was unfounded in 
 truth; but its peculiarity probably 
 added notoriety to a character already 
 distinguished for consistency, a discrim- 
 inating judgment and stern integrity. 
 
 The name of David Leavitt may also 
 be here cited as that of one who exhibits 
 in his habits of industry and his busmess 
 judgment, as well as financial success, 
 a parallel case with that of Mr. Fish. 
 And to these distinguishing qualities 
 as a business m.an, Mr. Leavitt unites 
 the personal bearing of a bland and 
 high-toned gentleman of the old school. 
 Few names stand out brighter on the 
 roll of illustrious American merchants, 
 — attaining to wealth and distinction by 
 every honorable means perseveringly ap- 
 plied, — than that of David Leavitt. 
 
 Amos Lawrence, Merchant, Boston. 
 According to the usual custom in 
 Kew England, the first experience of 
 Amos Lawrence, in the sphere of busi- 
 ness, was that of shop boy, and subse- 
 quently that of clerk. The firm by whom 
 he was thus employed having, in course 
 of time, become insolvent, Mr. L. con- 
 ceived the idea of commencing business 
 on his own account, and accordingly 
 rented a shop on Cornhill, Boston. He 
 was then, he says, in the matter of 
 property. Hot worth a dollar. His 
 father was comfortably off as a farmer, 
 somewhat in debt, with perhaps four 
 thousand dollars. His brother Luther 
 was in the practice of law, getting for- 
 ward, but not worth two thousand dol- 
 
 lars ; William had nothing ; AblDott, a 
 lad just fifteen years old, at school ; and 
 Samuel was a child of only seven years. 
 Some four months before, Mr. Law- 
 rence's father mortgaged his farm for the 
 sum of one thousand dollars, and placed 
 the proceeds in the hands of Amos, for 
 his use in business. Although the latter 
 was deeply affected by this act, which 
 had been effected without consultation 
 with any human being, he did not the 
 less deeply regret it. He had no desire 
 for aid that might cause others to suffer 
 through their affording it. His own 
 ideas on this point will be interesting : 
 " My honored father brought to me one 
 thousand dollars, and asked me to give 
 him my note for it. I told him he did 
 wrong to place himself in a situation to 
 be made unhappy, if I lost the money. 
 He told me he guessed I would'' nt Jose it, 
 and I gave him my note. The first 
 thing I did was to take four per cent, 
 premium on my Boston bills — the dif- 
 ference then between passable and Bos- 
 ton money — and send a thousand dol- 
 lars in bills of the Hillsborough Bank 
 to Amherst, N. H., by my father, to my 
 brother Luther, to carry to the bank 
 and get specie, principally in silver 
 change, for the bills, and he returned 
 it to me in a few days. In the mean 
 time, or shortly after, the bank had been 
 sued, the bills discredited, and, in the 
 end, prove.d nearly worthless. I deter- 
 mined not to use the money except in 
 the safest way, and therefore loaned it 
 to the Messrs. Parkman, in whom I had 
 entire confidence. After I had been in 
 business, and had made more than a 
 thousand dollars, I felt that I could 
 repay the money, come what would of 
 it— being insured against fire, and 
 trusting no one for goods. I used it in 
 my business, but took care to pay off 
 the mortgage as soon as it would be 
 received." 
 
 Mr. Lawrence cleared fifteen hundred 
 dollars the first year, and four thousand 
 the second. Excessive credit he re- 
 garded as the rock upon which so many 
 
12 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 business men are broken. He there- 
 fore, at the commencement of his own 
 business, adopted the plan of keeping 
 an accurate account of merchandise 
 bought and sold each day, with the 
 profit, as far as practicable. This plan 
 he pursued for a number of years ; and 
 he never found his merchandise fall 
 short in taking an account of stock, 
 which he did as often at least as once 
 in each year. He was thus enabled to 
 form an opinion of his actual state as a 
 business man. He adopted also the 
 rule always to have property, after the 
 second year's business, to represent 
 forty per cent, at least more than he 
 owed — that is, never to be in debt more 
 than two and one-half times his capital, 
 a plan which saved him from ever get- 
 ting embarrassed. The splendid for- 
 tune which Amos Lawrence amassed, 
 during his business career, was thus 
 founded in the most careful and up- 
 right regulations, and to these he rigidly 
 adhered. He used his vast wealth for the 
 best good of his fellow creatures ; and 
 his style of living, though elegant, as 
 became one occupying so high a posi- 
 tion, was marked by no extravagance. 
 What his distinguished namesake, Cor- 
 nelius W. Lawrence, has so long been 
 in the commercial circles of the Empire 
 State, — or its metropolis, — Amos Law- 
 rence was in New England and its 
 thriving capital. The history of both 
 of these men is luminous with those 
 traits and characteristics which lie at 
 the foundation of prosperous commerce 
 and individual renown. 
 
 Lorenzo de Medicis, "the Magiaificent 
 Merchant." 
 
 The Medici family is universally 
 acknowledged to be the most splendid 
 instance of commercial greatness which 
 the world affords. The true source of 
 the wealth and renown of the Medici 
 was their superior talents, and the 
 application of those talents to mercan- 
 tile enterprise. 
 
 Cosmo de Medici and his grandson. 
 
 " the Magnificent Lorenzo," were prac- 
 tised and operative merchants, who by 
 combining personal enterprise with the 
 most exalted patriotism, and a love of 
 trade with a devotion to science and 
 literature, raised the city of Florence to 
 an unexampled height of glory, and 
 made themselves the first citizens of the 
 world. 
 
 The high character of Lorenzo, as a 
 statesman and man of letters, was the 
 means of obtaining from other countries 
 privileges and advantages which ren- 
 dered Florence the envy of the civilized 
 world. The glory of the republic 
 appeared at a distance to be concentred 
 in himself He seems to have arrived 
 at proficiency in everything he under- 
 took, and his individual success was 
 made subservient to his country's 
 good, his private gains being freely 
 devoted to the defense of the state and 
 the preservation of its honor. 
 
 Under the auspices of this family of 
 merchants, literature, science, and the 
 arts, flourished side by side with com- 
 merce. The Medicean Library, founded 
 by Cosmo, and supported by his grand- 
 son, still exists in Florence, presenting 
 the noblest of the many monuments of 
 their glory, the most authentic deposi- 
 tory of their magnificent fame. 
 
 Historians, poets, and philosoiDhers, 
 have combined to swell the notes of 
 praise in honor of the merchant to 
 whom posterity has awarded the title 
 of " Magnificent." Thus, Voltaire says : 
 " What a curious sight it is to see the 
 same person with one hand sell the 
 commodities of the Levant, and with 
 the other support the burden of a state, 
 maintaining factors and receiving am- 
 bassadors, making war and peace, op- 
 posing the pope, and giving his ad- 
 vice and mediation to the princes of 
 his time, cultivating and encouraging 
 learning, exhibiting shows to the peo- 
 ple, and giving an asylum to the learned 
 Greeks that fled from Constantinople ! 
 Such was Lorenzo de Medicis; and 
 when to these particular distinctions, 
 
EARLY CAREER OF BUSINESS CELEBRITIES. 
 
 13 
 
 the glorious names of the father of his 
 country and the mediator of Italy are 
 appended, who seems more entitled to 
 the notice and admiration of posterity 
 than this illustrious citizen of Flor- 
 ence ? " This eulogy is as beautifully 
 as it is wisely and truthfully penned. 
 
 The death of this great man, whose 
 splendid career terminated at the early 
 age of forty-four years, called forth from 
 his townsman and contemporary, the 
 wise but profligate Machiavelli, the fol- 
 lowing encomium : "No man ever 
 died in Florence, or in the whole extent 
 of Italy, with a higher reputation, or 
 more lamented by his country. Not 
 "only his fellow citizens, but all the 
 princes of Italy, were so sensibly affect- 
 ed by his death, that there was not one 
 of them who did not send ambassadors 
 to Florence, to testify their grief, and 
 to condole with the republic on so great 
 a loss." The busts and portraits of this 
 illustrious merchant adorn almost every 
 art-collection and gallery in the capitals 
 
 of Europe. 
 
 — » — 
 
 Henry Hope, tlie Amsterdam Banker. 
 
 The great Amsterdam banking house 
 of Hope & Co., was established in the- 
 seventeenth century by Henry Hope, 
 a Scottish gentleman, a descendant of 
 John de Hope, who came in 1537 from 
 France to Scotland, in the train of 
 Madeleine, queen of James V. 
 
 Mr. Hope was one of the most exalted 
 of his class. It was he who opened the 
 way for the autocratic power of Eussia, 
 under the empress Catharine II., to the 
 confidence of the then wealthiest cap- 
 italists in Europe, the Dutch, and there- 
 by laid the foundation of Russian credit. 
 Always treated by the empress with 
 great distinction, he was honored with 
 the gift from her own hand, of her 
 portrait, the full size of life. This pic- 
 ture occupied the place of honor in the 
 superb gallery of paintings, fitted up 
 by Mr. Hope in his palace " t'Huys ten 
 Bosch," now a royal pleasure-place, 
 which he had built in the domain of 
 
 Harlem. Upon his emigration to Eng- 
 land, he took this splendid gallery, 
 entirely composed of cabinet i^ieces, 
 with him, having it at his residence 
 in Cavendish Square. 
 
 To the tone of a refined gentleman 
 and man of the world, he united a cer- 
 tain amiable affability, which w^on 
 upon all who were numbered among 
 his associates. The trouble of his heart, 
 however, was the notorious relations of 
 his niece. Madam Williams Hope, 
 with a Dutch officer of dragoons, by the 
 name of Dopff. The larger part of 
 Hope's fortune, which he had bequeath- 
 ed to Henry, the eldest son of this niece, 
 and who died unmarried, passed, at 
 the decease of the latter, to Adrian, the 
 second son, who left no male heirs, but 
 from whom it descended to Francis, the 
 third son, born several years afterward, 
 — this third inheritor being the rich and 
 well known Mr. Hope, of Paris, the last 
 member of that branch of the whole 
 family. 
 
 One of the leading members of 
 this vast establishment, in the early 
 part of the present century, was Mr. 
 Henry Hope, who was born in this 
 country, being the son of a Scotch loy- 
 alist who had settled in Boston, Mass. 
 This Henry Hope lived some time in 
 the town of Quincy, Mass., and was a 
 poor youth when he emigrated from 
 that place to England, at the close of 
 the last century. Mr. John Williams, 
 an Englishman, who married his niece, 
 and who assumed the name of John 
 Williams Hope, and afterward that of 
 John Hope, was the manager of the 
 establishment. Among the silent part- 
 ners of the house were Adrian Hope, 
 Henry Philip Hope, and Thomas Hope, 
 the author of " Anastasius." The oldest 
 active member of the firm was Mr. Peter 
 Caesar Labouchere, the interesting cir- 
 cumstances relating to whom, in his 
 elevation to this high position, are 
 narrated on another page of this work. 
 
 The governments with whom this 
 house entertain the most intimate 
 
14 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 financial relations, are those of Hol- 
 land, Russia, and Spain. The Hope 
 certificates, as the stocks are called, 
 which the Russian government has 
 given to the Dutch bankers, in ac- 
 knowledgment of its debt, amount to 
 about twenty-five millions of dollars. 
 Although much less powerful in its 
 monetary sway than the Rothschilds, 
 the Hopes hold in some respects a posi- 
 tion superior to the Jewish bankers. Sir 
 Archibald Hope, and the Earl of Hope- 
 toun (John Alexander Hope), are the 
 present representatives of the English 
 and elder branch of the Hope family. 
 Some of the great financial transac- 
 tions of this eminent house, as given 
 in other parts of this volume, will be 
 found to possess scarcely less interest 
 than a romance. 
 
 Francis Child, the Founder of English 
 Banking Houses. 
 
 The celebrity of the first London 
 banking house belongs, by common 
 consent, to Mr. Francis Child. This 
 gentleman, who was the father of his 
 profession, and possessed a large pro- 
 perty, began business shortly after the 
 Restoration. He was, originally, ap- 
 prenticed to William Wheeler, pawn- 
 broker and banker, whose shop was 
 on the site of the present world- 
 renowned banking house. The foun- 
 dation of his importance arose from 
 the good old fashion of marrying his 
 master's daughter, and through this he 
 succeeded to his estate and business. 
 The latter he subsequently confined 
 entirely to the banking department. 
 The principles on which he founded 
 it, and the remarkable clauses in his 
 will, by which he regulated its future 
 conduct, show him to have been a 
 man of the highest business character. 
 It has maintained to the present day, 
 amid all the chances and changes of 
 banking, the same position and the 
 same respectability which he beqjaeath- 
 ed to it. 
 
 Stephen Whitney, Merchant, of New 
 York. 
 
 Stephen Whitney was so long an 
 habitue of Wall street. Front street, and 
 Coenties slip, that even now (says a 
 writer in the " Continental Magazine ") 
 we almost momentarily expect to meet 
 him. His office was held for years in 
 the second story of a warehouse in 
 Front street, a spot in whose vicinity 
 he had passed nearly threescore years. 
 Thither he had come, in his boyhood, 
 a poor, friendless, New Jersey lad, had 
 found friends and employment, had at 
 last got to be a grocer, and had 
 gradually accumulated a large capital 
 by the closest economy. At this time, 
 the war of 1812 broke out, and cotton 
 became very low, in consequence of the 
 difficulty of shipping it to England. 
 Mr. Whitney had at that time a vast 
 amount of outstanding accounts in the 
 Southern States, and his debtors were 
 glad to pay him in this depreciated 
 article. We have been informed that 
 Jackson's cotton defenses of New 
 Orleans were of his property. As 
 neutral ships were iDcrmitted to sail 
 between the belligerent ports, Mr. 
 Whitney exported large quantities of 
 cotton to England, and held the balance 
 of his stock until the close of the war, 
 when it advanced enormously. This 
 advance, together with the proceeds of 
 his exports, at once made him a mil- 
 lionnaire, and the capital thus acquired 
 never lost a chance of increase. Giving 
 up the details of trade, Mr. Whitney 
 bought large quantities of real estate, 
 on which he erected warehouses and 
 obtained a princely rental. 
 
 Francis Ca"bot Lowell, Merchant, of 
 Boston. 
 
 This distinguished merchant was a 
 native of Newburyport, Mass., where 
 he was born in 1775, and died in Bos- 
 ton in 1817. In 1810, Mr. Lowell 
 visited England, on account of the state 
 of his health ; and on his return home, 
 shortly after the commencement of the 
 
EARLY CAREER OF BUSINESS CELEBRITIES. 
 
 15 
 
 war of 1812, lie became so strongly- 
 con vinced of the practicability of intro- 
 ducing tlie cotton manufacture into the 
 United States, that he proposed to his 
 kinsman, Patrick T, Jackson, to make 
 the experiment on an ample scale. 
 
 The result of his project was the 
 establishment of manufactures at Wal- 
 tham, and the foundation of the city 
 of Lowell, which Avas named after 
 himself. He visited Washington in 
 1816, and his personal influence with 
 Mr. Lowndes, Mr. Calhoun, and other 
 leading members of Congress, contri- 
 buted largely to the introduction into 
 the tariff act of that year of the protec- 
 tive clause which gave such an impetus 
 to the cotton manufacture in the United 
 States. 
 
 Johannes Fug-ger, and the Great Com- 
 mercial Family of Fuggers. 
 
 The origin of the proverb " as rich 
 as a Fugger " is in the name of a Ger- 
 man fixmily of immensely wealthy mer- 
 chants. Its founder was Johannes 
 FuGGEK, a weaver of Graben, near 
 Augsburg, who lived in the first half 
 of the fourteenth century, and acquired 
 a large property in lands by commerce 
 in cloths. His son, of the same name, 
 continued the occupation of weaver, to 
 which he also added that of cloth mer- 
 chant. Andreas, eldest son of the latter, 
 lived about 1400, and was widely known 
 as " Fugger the Rich.'''' The nephews of 
 the last, Ulrich, Georg, and Jakob, born 
 about the middle of the fifteenth century, 
 covered the Baltic with their commerce, 
 which extended also to Hungary, Italy, 
 and even to India, and were able to 
 influence the affairs of the empire by 
 lending money to the princes, and were 
 in course of time created nobles. After 
 attaining to high political dignities, 
 they continued their commerce, built in 
 the Tyrol the splendid castle of Fug- 
 gerau, greatly embellished the city of 
 Augsburg, and found a new source of 
 wealth by working the mines of laathal, 
 Falkenstein, and Schwartz. The only 
 
 heirs of these three brothers were two 
 sons of Ulrich, Raimund and Anton. 
 The latter raised the family to its high- 
 est degree of j)rosperity and power. 
 The emperor Charles V. resorted to 
 them both when pressed for money, 
 yielded to them the privilege of coining, 
 and made them counts and princes of 
 the empire, and was lodged in the 
 splendid mansion of Anton when he 
 attended the diet of Augsburg. So 
 wealthy were they, through the success 
 attending their commercial enterprise, 
 that " as rich as a Fugger " became a 
 proverb. The most important branches 
 of this family at present are the princely 
 houses of Kirchberg and Babenhausen. 
 
 Benjamin Bussey, Merchant, of Boston. 
 
 Benjamin Bussey was for a long 
 period known as one of the old school 
 merchants of Boston — only a few of 
 whom now remain as representatives 
 of that highly honored and most 
 worthy class. 
 
 He was in the early part of his life 
 engaged in the occupation of a silver- 
 smith, and on going into business on 
 his own account he had only a very 
 small amount of paper money, which 
 his father gave him, accompanied with 
 the characteristic advice of that day, to 
 be always diligent, — to spend less than 
 he earned, — and never to deceive or dis- 
 appoint any one. From his grandfather 
 he also obtained the additional sum, 
 at this time, of fifty dollars in silver 
 money. Having purchased the neces- 
 sary tools, he had only ten dollars left 
 as his whole capital, and owed fifty 
 dollars borrowed money. But he pos- 
 sessed an iron constitution, principles 
 of strict integrity, and a spirit of per- 
 severance which nothing could subdue 
 or tire. In one year he made himself 
 acquainted with all the details of a 
 silversmith's art ; he had by his good 
 business management acquired some 
 capital, and his success had been equal 
 to his expectations. Ajiicles of gold 
 
16 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 and silver wrought by his own hand — 
 and well wrought, too, — may still be 
 met with in and near Boston. In two 
 years he purchased the real estate on 
 which was his store. He subsequently 
 engaged in trade, in Dedham, and 
 afterward in Boston, soon reaching a 
 high position as a merchant. His 
 business rapidly increased, he became 
 deeply concerned in commerce, dealt 
 largely with England, France, and 
 Holland, owned several large vessels, 
 and was engaged in heavy and distant 
 mercantile adventures— though aU of 
 them were legitimate business transac- 
 tions, for he never speculated. He 
 seldom gave or took credit. The 
 immense fortune which he left ulti- 
 mately goes, by his will, to Harvard 
 University. 
 
 — ♦ 
 
 Peter Cooper, Merchant, of New York. 
 It is an interesting fact, that the first 
 idea of Peter Cooper's great Univer- 
 sity of Science, or " Institute," arose in 
 his mind when he was young and thirst- 
 ing for knowledge, which at that time 
 he could not buy in New York, even 
 with the money which he earned in his 
 trade. One day, a friend told him of a 
 visit he had lately made to Paris, where 
 he had been able to learn whatever he 
 wished, without money and without 
 price, at the University endowed by 
 the first Napoleon. Peter Cooper, with 
 all the ardor of his aspiring mind, 
 wished that there was such an opportu- 
 nity in America, and this idea he said 
 never left him afterward. When he 
 began to be very successful, this idea 
 began to take shape, till at last it 
 has built that monumental palace of 
 Science for " whosoever will " — the Coo- 
 per Institute, involving the munificent 
 individual appropriation of six hundred 
 thousand dollars, and which bids fair 
 to rival, at some future day, the most 
 magnificent universities of Euroj^e. 
 The successful glue-maker has always 
 in a measure " stuck to his glue," and 
 now not merely sits in the palace due 
 
 to his opulence and high position as a 
 merchant, but is besides an intellectual 
 noble of the first class. 
 
 George Peabody, American Merchant 
 and Banker, of London. 
 
 George Peabody was born in Dan- 
 vers, Mass., Feb. 18, 1795, of parents 
 in humble circumstances, though in- 
 dustrious and respectable. His father, 
 however, died when George was in his 
 teens, and, from the first, he was aware 
 that in the battle of life before him he ' 
 must depend on himself alone. Fortu- 
 nately for himself and many others, he 
 very early found that he could thus 
 depend on his unaided efibrts. Incidents 
 strongly displaying ambition, energy, 
 and perseverance, marked the whole 
 course of his youth. The hard earnings 
 of his boyhood were cheerfully devoted 
 to the comfort of his mother, his broth- 
 ers, and sisters; and he subsequently 
 charged himself with their entire sup- 
 port, and cheerfully practised eveiy 
 self-denial that he might serve them. 
 It is always safe to say, that the son 
 and brother who has shown himself 
 true to the claims of kindred, will be 
 found wanting in none of the relations 
 of life; and George Peabody is an 
 eminent illustration of the truth of 
 this saying. 
 
 At the age of thirteen he became 
 clerk for a grocer, and remained with 
 him about three years. Afterward, he 
 went with an uncle to Georgetown, and 
 in course of time he attracted the atten- 
 tion of Mr. Riggs, the capitalist, with 
 whom he finally went into business — 
 Riggs furnishing the money and Pea- 
 body the brains. The house was re- 
 moved to Baltimore, and prospered so 
 well that branches were established in 
 New York and Philadelphia. In 1837 
 he went to England to buy goods, and 
 formed many acquaintances with its 
 leading merchants and politicians. He 
 now took up his permanent residence 
 in England, and severed his connection 
 with Peabody, Riggs & Co., in 1839. 
 
EARLY CAREER OF BUSINESS CELEBRITIES. 
 
 17 
 
 He rendered important service in pre- 
 venting tlie complete prostration of 
 American securities, and particularly 
 those of Maryland, in London, in 1837, 
 but refused all compensation for what 
 he did. While he has lived in Eng- 
 land, his establishment has been a head- 
 quarters for Americans, whom he has 
 always welcomed with a generous hos- 
 pitality. The princely gift of seven 
 hundred and fifty thousand dollars was 
 made a short time ago to the destitute 
 of London, but was not the first in- 
 stance of his public spirited generosity. 
 In 1852, he sent a toast to a semi-cen- 
 tennial festival at his native town, 
 Danvers, which was to be opened 
 at the table. It was: "Education, a 
 debt to future generations;" and to 
 pay his share of that debt, he inclosed 
 twenty thousand dollars, to be ex- 
 pended in establishing an institute, 
 library and lyceum for the town. The 
 sum has since been increased to sixty 
 thousand, with ten thousand dollars 
 additional for a branch library at No. 
 Danvers. Mr. Peabody subscribed ten 
 thousand dollars toward the first Grin- 
 nell expedition to the Arctic sent in 
 search of Franklin. In 1856, he gave 
 three hundred thousand dollars, with 
 a pledge to make it five hundred 
 thousand, for the establishment of an 
 institute in Baltimore, to be devoted 
 to science, literature and art. A record 
 of colossal munificence is that of George 
 Peabody. 
 
 John McDonogrh, Millionnaire, of New- 
 Orleans. 
 
 John McDoisroGH was born in Balti- 
 more, Md., in 1779. The only incidents 
 of his youth that are known are, that 
 he was a clerk in a mercantile store in 
 an inland town of Maryland ; that he 
 was noted then for eccentricities, and 
 for an excess of imagination, which led 
 to the apprehension that he was not 
 entirely of sound mind. Still, his 
 energy and intelligence secured him 
 2 
 
 employment and the confidence of his 
 employers. 
 
 About the year 1800 he was sent out 
 to New Orleans by a house in Balti- 
 more, with a letter of credit and con- 
 siderable resources. He then engaged 
 largely in business, but soon renounced 
 his position as agent, and starting on 
 his own account, became a leading and 
 prosperous merchant. In a few years 
 he accumulated a large fortune, say at 
 least three hundred thousand clollars. 
 He was one of the nabobs of the city, 
 and his style of living, and his habits, 
 conformed to his position and resources. 
 His mansion was one of the most showy 
 and luxurious in the city. He kept his 
 carriages and horses, his cellar of costly 
 wines, and entertained on a scale of 
 great extravagance and sumptuousness. 
 He was, in fact, the centre of fashion, 
 frivolity, sociability, and even of the 
 fashi onable dissipations of the day. His 
 person, which even in extreme old age 
 was remarkable for dignity, erectness, 
 and courtliness, was at this period con- 
 spicuous for all the graces of manhood. 
 Owing to some peculiar experiences of 
 a private nature — an account of which 
 will be found in our Anecdotes of 
 Merchants in theib Domestic Rela- 
 tions, — Mr. McDonogh eventually be- 
 came secluded and morose, though 
 prosecuting his acquisition of property 
 with augmented vigor, his peculiar 
 passion being that of accumulating 
 countless acres of waste and suburban 
 land. All his views regarded the dis- 
 tant future. The present value and pro- 
 ductiveness of land were but little re- 
 garded by him. His only recreation and 
 pleasure were in estimating the value 
 of his swamp and waste land fifty, a 
 hundred, and even a thousand years to 
 come. This passion at last gained such 
 an ascendency over him, that he seemed 
 to court and luxuriate in waste and 
 desolation. He would buy cultivated 
 places, and let them go to ruin. He 
 would build on his lots in the city 
 miserable shanties and rookeries, which 
 
18 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 would absolutely taint the neighbor- 
 hood, and thus enable him to buy out 
 his neighbors at low rates. 
 
 He could not be induced, by any 
 offer or consideration, to alienate any 
 of the property he had once acquired. 
 Abstemious to a fault, and withholding 
 himself from all the enjoyments and 
 associations of the world, he devoted 
 his time to the care of his large estate, 
 to the suits in which such acquisitions 
 constfintly involved him, working for 
 seventeen hours out of the twenty-four, 
 the greater part of which labor con- 
 sisted in writing the necessary docu- 
 ments relating to his titles, and in 
 corresponding with his lawyers and 
 his overseers. For the fifty years of 
 his residence in New Orleans, he never 
 left the State, and rarely, if ever, passed 
 beyond the limits of the corporation. 
 He was not a usurer, a money lender, 
 nor a speculator. He acquired by 
 legitimate purchase, by entries on public 
 lands. He dealt altogether in land. 
 Stocks, merchandise, and other per- 
 sonal securities, were eschewed by him. 
 The wonder is, how, with a compara- 
 tively small revenue, his property not 
 being productive, and his favorite 
 policy being to render his lands wild 
 and unsuited for cultivation, he was 
 able to go on every year expanding the 
 area of his vast possessions. » 
 
 Sampson Gideon, the Rival of Roths- 
 child. 
 
 Sampson Gideon, the great Jew 
 banker, as he was commonly called — 
 and the rival and enemy of Rothschild 
 — was the financial support of the illus- 
 trious Sir Robert Walpole, the oracle 
 and leader in all monetary matters, and 
 his name was as familiar in the last 
 century as those of Goldschmid and 
 Rothschild. A shrewd, sarcastic man, 
 possessing a rich vein of humor, the 
 anecdotes and reminiscences preserved 
 of him are, unhappily, few and far be- 
 tween. " Never grant a life annuity to 
 an old woman," he would say ; " they 
 
 wither, but they never die." And if 
 the proposed annuitant coughed with 
 a violent asthmatic cough on apiDroach- 
 ing the room door, Gideon would call 
 out, " Aye, aye, you may cough, but it 
 shan't save you six months' purchase ! " 
 
 In one of his dealings with Mr. Snow, 
 the banker — immortalized by Dean 
 Swift— the latter lent Gideon £20,000. 
 Shortly afterward, the "forty-five" 
 broke out ; the success of the Pretender 
 seemed certain ; and Mr. Snow, alarmed 
 for his cherished property, addressed a 
 piteous epistle to the Jew. A run upon 
 his office, a stoppage, and a bankrupt- 
 cy, were the least phenomena the bank- 
 er's imagination pictured; and the 
 whole concluded with an earnest re- 
 quest for his money. Gideon went to 
 the bank, procured twenty notes, sent 
 for a vial of hartshorn, rolled the vial 
 in the notes, and thus grotesquely 
 IMj*. Snow received the money he had 
 lent. 
 
 The greatest hit Gideon ever made 
 was when the rebel army aj^proached 
 London ; when the king was trem- 
 bling ; when the prime minister was 
 undetermined, and stocks were sold at 
 any price. Unhesitatingly he went to 
 Jonathan's, bought all in the market, 
 advanced every guinea he possessed, 
 pledged his name and rej)utation for 
 more, and held as much as the remainder 
 of the members held together. When 
 the Pretender retreated and stocks rose, 
 the Jew experienced the advantage of 
 his foresight, in immense gains. 
 
 Khan, the Great Persian Merchant. 
 When Georgia was invaded by Mo- 
 hammed, the founder of the present Per- 
 sian dynasty, the only one of the Khoras- 
 sanian chiefs who was not obliged to 
 give hostages of fidelity was Isaac 
 Khan, chief of Turbet-e-Hyderee, a 
 man of low birth, who, by the pursuits 
 of commerce, had been able, like the 
 Medici family in Italy, to obtain a 
 territory of two hundred miles in 
 
EARLY CAREER OF BUSINESS CELEBRITIES. 
 
 19 
 
 length, and to raise himself from being 
 oyerseer of a caravansary, to the rank 
 of an independent sovereign and the 
 most eminent merchant and trader in 
 the wl^ole realm. His revenue was 
 reckoned at one million dollars, two 
 hundred thousand of which was realized 
 from the merchandise in which he 
 traded, and the rest from his land 
 property, etc., which he had come in 
 possession of by means of his vast and 
 successful mercantile transactions. He 
 had six thousand troops in his pay, but 
 chiefly trusted to his policy for the 
 maintenance of his power; nor did 
 ever prince more securely reign in the 
 hearts of his subjects, and of the mer- 
 chants whom he had attracted to his 
 , new emporium. To these, as well as to 
 pilgrims and beggars of every country 
 and religion, his hall was always open ; 
 and it was his principal relaxation 
 from the fatigues of public affairs and 
 commercial traffic, to dine in company 
 with the motley multitude, — conversing 
 on equal terms with all, acquiring an 
 accurate knowledge of everything 
 which concerned the welfare of the 
 people, and admired by his guests for 
 his affability. 
 
 Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, the Great Parsee 
 Merchant. 
 
 One of the most remarkable East 
 India merchants, a native of the Par- 
 see race and faith, and ranking with 
 the highest and the most enlightened 
 among Europeans of the same business 
 calling, was Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy. 
 He was born at Bombay in 1783, and 
 his father was so poor that he followed 
 the profession of a " bottly-wallah," that 
 is, a bottle-fellow, buying and selling 
 old bottles. At the age of nineteen, 
 Jamsetjee entered into partnership with 
 his father-in-law, Framjee Nusserwan- 
 jee, and in the following years made 
 several successful voyages, to China. 
 
 Possessing those qualities most desir- 
 able in a merchant, integrity, judg- 
 ment, and enterprise, he gradually 
 
 extended his dealings to other coun- 
 tries, and drew in a rich harvest of 
 gains. His ships, built by the excellent 
 Parsee shipwrights of Bombay, traded 
 with all parts of the East, and now and 
 then sailed even round the Cape. Year 
 after year he prospered, and when he 
 had been twenty years in business, he 
 had acquired a large and still increas- 
 ing fortune. He did not, however, in 
 winning his fortune, forget or mistake 
 how to spend it. 
 
 In the course of a few years, Jeejeeb- 
 hoy's benefactions amounted to some 
 $300,000. The East India Government 
 made a report of his enlightened munifi- 
 cence to the Home Government, and the 
 latter conferred upon him the rare and 
 distinguished honor of knighthood. 
 It was the first instance, indeed, of any 
 royal title being bestowed by the Eng- 
 lish government upon a native of India. 
 The ceremony of presentation took 
 place at the Governor's House. The 
 circumstance was one not only highly 
 gratifying to Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy 
 himself, but to the native community 
 in general, who are accustomed to 
 attach an extravagant value to any 
 such marks of honor. It was conse- 
 quently determined by some of the 
 most influential natives to offer him a 
 testimonial at once of their respect for 
 his character, and their gratification at 
 the distinction he had obtained. A 
 sum of fifteen thousand rupees was 
 consequently raised, and invested — 
 not in a silver service, a bust, or a 
 statue, but — in a fund, the interest of 
 which should be devoted to procuring 
 translations of popular and important 
 works from other languages into Guze- 
 ratte, the language chiefly in use among 
 the Parsees. 
 
 Vincent Nolte, the Wandering: Mer- 
 chant. 
 
 YiNCENT Nolte has been termed 
 " the wandering merchant." He was 
 born at Leghorn, in Italy, and lived, 
 successively, in Leghorn, Hamburg, 
 
20 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 Trieste, Venice, Nantes, Paris, Amster- 
 dam, London, Philadelphia, and New 
 Orleans. He began his life as a clerk 
 in the house of Otto Frank & Co., at 
 Leghorn, in 1795 ; while drawing cari- 
 catures, the theatres, dress, and flirta- 
 tion, formed his real occupation. His 
 tailor's bill, at the end of a year, pre- 
 sented the not inconsiderable sum total 
 of twelve coats of all colors, and twenty- 
 two pairs of hose and pantaloons, which 
 were just then coming into fashion, — 
 rather fast life for a youth of sixteen. 
 He saw Bonaparte at Leghorn, in 1796 ; 
 saw Wellington and the allies at Paris, 
 in 1815 ; fought under Jackson, at New 
 Orleans, in 1814, and was with Lafay- 
 ette, in Paris, during the revolution 
 of 1830. How many times he crossed 
 the Atlantic it would be difficult to 
 say. 
 
 Mr. Nolte was termed " the giant of 
 cotton speculation " at New Orleans ; 
 he was also a contractor for supplying 
 the French army with muskets; the 
 mercantile agent in Cuba and the 
 United States of the house of Hope & 
 Co., of Amsterdam ; and agent of the 
 Barings ; an operator in stocks ; a trans- 
 lator of manuscripts at Venice ; a Tresor 
 de Numismatique et de Glyptique; a 
 writer on finance ; and an editor. He 
 stood in business and social relations 
 with most of the great men of " high 
 finance " of the last century — with the 
 Barings, Labouch&re, Hottinguer, La- 
 fitte, Ouvrard, etc. 
 
 " liord Timothy Dexter," the Eccentric 
 Merchant, of Newburyport, Mass. 
 
 According to his own account, Tim- 
 othy Dexter was bom in Maiden, 
 Mass., Jan. 22, 1747. After having 
 served as an apprentice to a leather 
 dresser, he commenced business in 
 Newburyport, where he also married a 
 widow, who owned a house and a small 
 piece of land, part of which, soon after 
 the nuptials, was converted by him into 
 a shop and tanyard for his own use. 
 
 By application to his business, his 
 
 property increased, and the jDurchase 
 of a large tract of land near Penobscot, 
 together with an interest which he 
 bought in the Ohio Company's pur- 
 chase, eventually afforded him so much 
 profit as to induce him to buy up pub- 
 lic securities at forty cents for the pound, 
 which securities soon after became worth 
 twenty shillings on the pound. By 
 these and other fortunate business trans- 
 actions,^ he prospered so greatly, that 
 property now was no longer the sole 
 object of his pursuit ; he exchanged 
 this god of idolatry for that of popular- 
 ity. He was charitable to the poor, 
 gave liberal donations to religious so- 
 cieties, and handsomely rewarded those 
 who wrote in his praise. His lordship 
 — a self-conferred title — about this time, 
 acquired his peculiar taste for style and 
 splendor, set up an elegant equipage, 
 and, at great cost, adorned the front of 
 his mansion with numerous figures of il- 
 lustrious personages. 
 
 Some of his lordship's speculations 
 in trade have become quite as celebrat- 
 ed for their oddity as those of Roths- 
 child for their unscrupulous cunning. 
 He once anxiously inquired of some 
 merchants, whom he knew, how he 
 should dispose of a few hundred dol- 
 lars. Wishing to hoax him, they an- 
 swered, " Why, buy a cargo of warm- 
 ing pans, and send them to the West 
 Indies, to be sure." Not suspecting 
 the trick, he at once bought all the 
 warming pans he could find, and sent 
 them to a climate where — there was 
 every reason to suppose — ice would be 
 far more acceptable. But " Providence 
 sometimes shows his contempt of 
 wealth, by giving it to fools." The 
 warming pans met with a ready sale — 
 the tops being used for strainers, and 
 the lower parts for dippers, in the man- 
 ufacture of molasses. 
 
 With the proceeds of his cargo of 
 warming pans. Dexter built a fine ves- 
 sel ; and being informed by the carpen- 
 ter that wales were wanting, he called 
 on an acquaintance, and said, "My 
 
EARLY CAREER OF BUSINESS CELEBRITIES. 
 
 21 
 
 head workman sends me word that he 
 wants ' wales ' for the vessel. What 
 does he mean ? " " Why, whalebones, 
 to be sure," answered the man, who, like 
 everybody else, was tempted to im- 
 prove the opportunity of imposing 
 upon Dexter's stupidity. Whalebones 
 were accordingly bought ; but, finding 
 that Boston could not furnish enough, 
 he emptied New York and Philadel- 
 phia. The ship-carpenters, of course, 
 had a hearty laugh at his expense ; but, 
 by a singular turn of fortune, this blun- 
 der was also the means of increasing 
 his wealth. It soon after became fash- 
 ionable for ladies to wear stays com- 
 pletely lined with whalebone ; and as 
 none was to be found in the country, on 
 account of his having thus so complete- 
 ly swept the market, it brought a gold- 
 en price. Thus his coffers were a sec- 
 ond time filled by his odd transactions. 
 
 Joshua Bates, of the House of Baring: 
 & Co. 
 
 An honored member of the great firm 
 of Baring Brothers & Co., London, is 
 Joshua Bates. Mr. Bates is a native 
 of Weymouth, Mass., where he was 
 born in 1788, being the only son of 
 Col. Joshua Bates, of that place. He 
 received his early education under 
 Rev. Jacob Norton, and at the age of 
 fifteen entered the counting-room of 
 William R. Gray, of Boston, an accom- 
 plished man of business. 
 
 Young Bates showed a remarkable 
 aptitude for commercial knowledge and 
 a commercial career, on which account 
 he was intrusted with the extensive 
 business concerns not only of his first 
 employer, but of the latter's father also, 
 the elder Mr. Gray, for a long time the 
 leading merchant in New England and 
 exceeded by but a few in the world, in 
 respect to extent of shipping. 
 
 The war with England proving disas- 
 trous to mercantile pursuits, Mr. Bates 
 was despatched to Europe, to look after 
 Mr. Gray's extensive maritime interests 
 in that quarter. This, of course, brought 
 
 him into relations with ^zme of the 
 leading commercial and banking houses 
 of Europe, especially of the Hopes and 
 the Barings, who were greatly im- 
 pressed with his remarkable talent and 
 judgment in respect to whatever con- 
 cerned the commerce of the world. In 
 the year 1826, through the influence of 
 Messrs. Baring Brothers & Co., he 
 formed a house in London, in connec- 
 tion with Mr. John Baring, son of Sir 
 Francis Baring, under the firm of Bates 
 & Baring. On the death of the late 
 Mr. Holland, these gentlemen were 
 both made partners in the house of 
 Baring Brothers & Co., and of which 
 Mr. Bates has ever since been an active 
 and efficient member, giving to it much 
 of that commanding influence which it 
 enjoys both in Europe and America. 
 Mr. Bates has long been noted for his 
 large-hearted charities on both sides 
 of the Atlantic. His most munificent 
 donations to the Boston Public Library 
 are well known; but his benevolence 
 has by no means been confined to that 
 object alone. 
 
 Mr. Bates was married, in 1813, to 
 Lucretia Augusta, of the Boston branch 
 of the Sturgis family, by whom he has 
 only one surviving child, Madame Van 
 de Wyer, wife of the eminent states- 
 man who has more than once been 
 called to administer the government 
 of Belgium, and more recently officia- 
 ting as its diplomatic representative 
 at the court of St. James. 
 
 James Morrison, " of twenty millions.'* 
 
 James Morrison, who well deserved 
 the title given him of a " modern Croe- 
 sus," was until his death one of the 
 extremely rich men of London. In 
 mental character, and with boundless 
 wealth entirely self-acquired, this great 
 millionnaire was certainly remarkable 
 as a man and a merchant He was of 
 common parents, originally of Scotch 
 descent. Early transplanted to the 
 English metropolis, at the end of the 
 
22 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 last century, the country boy first set 
 foot in London unaided, in search of 
 his fortunes. After the close of the 
 great Continental wars, and the conse- 
 quent rapid extension of population and 
 wealth, Mr. Morrison was one of the 
 first English traders who reversed his 
 system of management, by an entire 
 departure from the old plan of exact- 
 ing the highest prices. His new prin- 
 ciple was the substitution of the 
 lowest remunerative scale of profit and 
 a more rapid circulation of capital ; the 
 success of this experiment was soon 
 seen in his enormously augmented 
 trade. " Small profits and quick re- 
 turns " was his motto, and he therefore 
 became widely known as the " Cheap 
 Merchant." From his earliest settle- 
 ment in London, he was associated 
 with the liberal party in politics, — 
 even in the worst of times, — nor did 
 his later gains of immense wealth ever 
 vary his political principles. As a 
 member of Parliament, he devoted 
 himself to questions and measures re- 
 lating to trade, foreign commerce, the 
 currency, and railways. His accumula- 
 tions amounted to the prodigious sum 
 of twenty millions of dollars. 
 
 Mr. Morrison retired from active 
 business several years since, but with- 
 out withdrawing his capital from the 
 mercantile house ; and though man- 
 aging his vast funds himself up to the 
 time of his death (which recently oc- 
 curred) with all the sagacity of earlier 
 days, he became haunted with the idea 
 that he should come to want. He 
 finally commenced doing day labor on 
 a farm held by one of his tenants, for 
 which labor he was regularly paid 
 twelve shillings a week, and this he 
 continued up to the time of his last ill- 
 ness. For eighteen months before his 
 death he was an habitual applicant for 
 relief to the parish, assembling twice 
 a week with the town pauj)ers, and 
 receiving with each one of them his 
 two shillings and a quartern loaf. His 
 friends indulged him in these fancies, 
 
 on the ground that it was the best 
 choice of two evils. And yet he made 
 a most judicious will, and his invest- 
 ments up to the last were characterized 
 by great good sense. 
 
 The probate duty on Mr. Morrison's 
 will exceeded five hundred thousand 
 dollars. Among his possessions was 
 his seat at Basildon Park, which cost 
 over six hundred thousand dollars, and 
 the furniture four hunded and fifty 
 thousand. The mansion on this estate 
 was left to his widow, with an annuity 
 of fifty thousand dollars yearly. The 
 estate itself was left to his son Charles, 
 as well as the Islay estate in Scotland, 
 which latter cost about two and a-half 
 millions of dollars. This is let to 
 numerous tenants, and from its extent 
 and vastness may be termed a princi- 
 pality. His son Charles was likewise 
 bequeathed the round sum of |5,000,000 
 under the will. Besides being possessed 
 of Fonthill Abbey, Hone Park, Sussex, 
 and his town palace in Harley street, 
 Mr. Monison had shares amomiting to 
 four hundred thousand dollars in the 
 Victoria Docks, and large acquisitions 
 in the United States. 
 
 Jacob Little, " of Wall Street." 
 
 The name of Jacob Little has l,ong 
 been so largely and universally asso- 
 ciated with the financial operations of 
 which Wall street, New York, is the 
 especial theatre, that that locale may 
 with more appropriateness perhaps than 
 any other be connected with his name 
 and reminiscences. 
 
 Mr. Little was bom in Newburyport, 
 Mass., and, when twenty years of age, he 
 went to New York to seek his fortune 
 and give play to the business faculties 
 and ajDtitude with which nature had 
 endowed him. His means were small, 
 but his intelligence was quick and 
 made readily available to his circum- 
 stances and purposes. He became, in 
 a short time, a clerk in the employment 
 of Jacob Barker, and, under such tui- 
 
EARLY CAREER OF BUSINESS CELEBRITIES. 
 
 23 
 
 tion and example, it must indeed have 
 been his own fault, if he did not find 
 himself, at the close of his five years' 
 service, prepared to follow sojne calling 
 with shrewdness and success. His ca- 
 reer shows that the opportunities thus 
 enjoyed were not lost upon him. On 
 leaving Mr. Barker, IVIr. Little com- 
 menced the business of exchange and 
 specie broker, on his own account, and 
 in this sphere left nothing undone that 
 could contribute to an energetic and 
 successful pursuit of his business, and 
 to securing the confidence of those who 
 intrusted to him their orders and funds. 
 His activity, decision, and good judg- 
 ment, gave him a high place in mone- 
 tary circles, wealth and favor rolled in 
 upon him, and though he has more 
 than once had to yield to the revulsions 
 in the stock and money market, he has 
 shown the rare quality of being as 
 faithful to his creditors as to himself. 
 
 Mr. Little has been humorously 
 written of as equally the hero and the 
 dupe of the American stock exchange 
 — the heir of Ouvrard — the confidant 
 of bank presidents — the untiring pro- 
 jector of time bargains — and every now 
 and then he becomes so jaded and out 
 of breath, that he himself cannot be 
 "called to time." He has for some 
 forty years thrown an air of enchant- 
 ment about speculation; has devised 
 more pitfiills for the credulous, as well 
 as for the cautious, than any man of 
 his time — repeatedly losing or impair- 
 ing his financial power, and as often 
 regaining it. He was made to wrestle 
 with fortune, and to fall with a laugh- 
 ing face. Hundreds of satellites revolve 
 about him, set when he sets, and rise 
 when he rises. If fate should compel 
 him to a period of inaction, his condi- 
 tion would be most miserable. 
 
 The Rothschilds, "Wealthiest Bankers 
 in the "World. 
 
 The house of Rothschild is the im- 
 personation of that money power which 
 governs the world. For nearly half a 
 
 century their influence has been con- 
 tinually on the increase ; and to them, 
 more than to any monarch or minister 
 of state, however potential, Europe is 
 indebted for the preservation of peace 
 between the great powers. To give 
 even an outline of the immense and 
 successful operations which have placed 
 a German Jew, his sons, and grandsons, 
 at the head of the moneyed interests 
 of the world, it would be necessary to 
 embrace the history of European finance 
 since the year 1813. 
 
 Meyer Anselm Rothschild was the 
 founder of this house, about the year 
 1740; he was a money-changer and 
 exchange broker, a man of fair char- 
 acter, and in easy circumstances. After 
 the battle of Jena, October, 1806, Napo- 
 leon decreed the forfeiture of their 
 states by the sovereigns of Brunswick 
 and of Hesse-Cassel, and a French army 
 was put in march to enforce the decree. 
 Too feeble to resist, the landgrave 
 prepared for flight. But in the vaults 
 of his palace he had twelve million flo- 
 rins—about $5,000,000— in silver. To 
 save this great and bulky amount ftf 
 money from the hands of the French 
 was a matter of extreme difficulty, as 
 it could not be carried away, and the 
 landgrave had so little confidence in 
 his subjects that he could not bring 
 himself to confide his case to their 
 keeping, especially as the French would 
 inflict severe punishment on him or 
 them who might undertake the trust. 
 In his utmost need, the landgrave be- 
 thought himself of Meyer Anselm 
 Rothschild, sent for him to Cassel, 
 and entreated him to take charge of 
 the money ; and by way of compensa- 
 tion for the dangers to which Mr. 
 Rothschild exposed himself, the land- 
 grave offered him the free use of the 
 entire sum, without interest. On these 
 terms, Mr. Rothschild undertook the 
 trust, and by the assistance of some 
 friends, Jewish bankers at Cassel, the 
 money was so carefully stowed away, 
 that when the French, after a hurried 
 
24 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 marcli, arrived in the city, they found 
 the old landgrave gone, and his treasure 
 vanished. 
 
 At the time this large sum of money 
 was placed in M. A. Rothschild's hands, 
 he had five sons, of whom three, An- 
 selm, Nathan, and Solomon, had arrived 
 at man's estate. These he associated 
 with himself. By their skilful manage- 
 ment, the large sum of ready money at 
 their disposal increased and multiplied 
 with astonishing rapidity. The fall of 
 Napoleon enabled the old landgrave to 
 return to Cassel, and he gave the Roths- 
 childs notice that he should withdraw 
 the money he had confided to them ; 
 but before the notice expired, Napo- 
 leon's return from the isle of Elba so 
 greatly alarmed the landgrave that he 
 urged the Rothschilds to keep the 
 money at the low rate of two per cent, 
 per annum, which they did until his 
 death, in 1823, when the Rothschilds 
 refused to keep it any longer. 
 
 At the period of Meyer Anselm Roths- 
 child's death, which occurred so unex- 
 pectedly, he saw his five sons placed 
 respectively at the head of five immense 
 establishments — at Frankfort, London, 
 Paris, Vienna, and Naples, all united in 
 a copartnership which is universally 
 allowed to be the most wealthy and 
 extensive the world has ever seen. 
 And, whatever exceptions may be made 
 to the manner in which the business of 
 these houses has been conducted, in 
 some operations which have marked 
 their career, it must be admitted that 
 rarely does a family furnish so many 
 members who are competent, individu- 
 ally, to be intrasted with such vast 
 financial concerns. 
 
 Although Mr. Rothschild was com- 
 monly termed a merchant, his most im- 
 portant transactions were in connection 
 with stocks, loans, etc. It was here that 
 his great decision, his skilful combina- 
 tions, and his unequalled energy, made 
 him remarkable. At a time when the 
 funds were constantly varying, the temp- 
 tation was too great for a capitalist likfe 
 
 Mr. Rothschild to withstand. His ope- 
 rations were soon noticed ; and when 
 the money market was left without an 
 acknowledged head, by the deaths of 
 Sir Francis Baring and Abraham Gold- 
 schmid — for the afiairs of the latter 
 were wound up, and the successors of 
 the former did not then aim at the 
 autocracy of the money market, — the 
 name of Nathan Meyer Rothschild was 
 in the mouths of all financial dealers 
 as a prodigy of success. Cautiously, 
 however, did the great banker proceed, 
 until he had made a fortune as great as 
 his future reputation. He revived all 
 the arts of an older period. He em- 
 ployed bankers to depress or raise the 
 market for his benefit, and is said to 
 have purchased in one day to the ex- 
 tent of four million pounds. His trans- 
 actions soon pervaded the entire globe. 
 The old and the new world alike bore 
 witness to his skill ; and with the prof- 
 its on a single loan he purchased an 
 estate which cost seven hundred and 
 fifty thousand dollars. Minor capital- 
 ists, like parasitical plants, clung to 
 him, and were always ready to advance 
 their money in speculations at his bid- 
 ding. Nothing seemed too gigantic for 
 his grasp — nothing too minute for his 
 notice. His mind was as capable of 
 contracting a loan for tens of millions, 
 as of calculating the lowest possible 
 amount on which a clerk could exist. 
 Like too many great merchants and 
 bankers, whose profits are counted by 
 thousands and millions, he paid his 
 assistants the smallest amount for 
 which he could j)rocure them. 
 
 Rothschild in London knew the 
 result of the battle of Waterloo eight 
 hours before the British Government, 
 and the value of this knowledge was 
 no less than one million dollars, gained 
 in one forenoon. No bad loan was ever 
 taken in hand by the Rothschilds ; no 
 good loan ever fell into other hands. 
 Any financial operation on which they 
 frowned, was sure to fail. And so 
 conscious were they of their influence, 
 
EARLY CAREER OF BUSINESS CELEBRITIES. 
 
 25 
 
 that after the July revolution in 1830, 
 Anselm Rothschild, of Frankfort, de- 
 clared, — and the declaration was made 
 to sound in imperial ears, — " The house 
 of Austria desires war, but the house 
 of Rothschild requires peace." 
 
 In addition to their five principal 
 establishments, they have agencies of 
 their own in several of the large cities, 
 both of the old and the new world. 
 As dealers in money and bills, they 
 may be said to have no rivals, and 
 as the magnitude of their opera- 
 tions enables them to regulate the 
 course of exchange throughout the 
 world, their profits are great, while 
 their risks are comparatively small by 
 the perfect manner in which their busi- 
 ness is managed. Indeed, the only 
 Tieavy loss they may be said to have 
 experienced as yet — that is, heavy for 
 them^ — was through the February revo- 
 lution of 1848, when it is said that, 
 owing to the sudden depreciation of 
 all funded and railroad property 
 throughout Europe, their losses from 
 March till December of that year 
 reached the enormous figure of $40,- 
 000,000. But great as their losses were, 
 they did not affect the credit of the 
 Rothschilds, and do not appear in any 
 degree to have impaired their means. 
 The members of the firm are numerous, 
 as the third generation has been re- 
 ceived into the copartnership, and, as 
 the cousins mostly intermarry, their 
 immense wealth will, for a length of 
 time, remain in comparatively few 
 hands. The affairs of this firm in the 
 United States have for a long time 
 been under the direction of August 
 Belmont, of New York, by whom they 
 have been managed with distinguished 
 success. 
 
 G. J. Ouvrard, the " Napoleon of Fi- 
 nance." 
 M. Gabkiel Julien Ouvraed's 
 name has been associated with the 
 most gigantic financial operations, in 
 Europe, during tlie last half century, 
 
 and numberless interesting incidents 
 have marked the chequered career of 
 him who has been most appropriately 
 designated the " Napoleon of Finance ; " 
 and when the vastness and novelty of 
 his plans, the extraordinary quickness 
 of his perception, the fertility of his 
 resources, his masterly combinations, 
 and the vigor and perseverance with 
 which he wove out the brilliant but 
 eminently practical conceptions of his 
 genius, are considered, the epithet thus 
 given him seems most happy. 
 
 That he has claims to universal 
 celebrity as a financier, it is sufficient 
 to say that he figured prominently in 
 the great events of the French Repub- 
 lic — ^the Consulate — the Empire — the 
 Restoration — and the Revolution of 
 1830; that, after having witnessed 
 the horrors of the Reign of Terror, and 
 aided in the downfall of Robespierre, 
 he became the Banker of the Bepiiblic^ 
 with power to issue a paper currency 
 of his own, admissible as a legal tender 
 in payment of the taxes of the state — 
 the associate of Barras, Cambac^rSs, and 
 Talleyrand — a worshipper at the feet 
 of " Notre Dame de Bon Secours " — the 
 votary of " Notre Dame des Yictoires " 
 — the creditor of Bernadotte — the con- 
 fidential agent of Charles IV. of Spain 
 — the honored guest of Pozzo di Borgo, 
 Mettemich, and Louis XVIII. — the inti- 
 mate friend of Chateaubriand— the 
 Commissary-General of Napoleon at 
 the Passage of the St. Bernard, the 
 Camp of Boulogne, and on the decisive 
 field of Waterloo— and the host of 
 Wellington at Paris ! 
 
 By a special contract with Charles 
 IV. of Spain, M. Ouvrard became the 
 business partner of his Majesty in the 
 exclusive commerce of the Spanish pos- 
 sessions in the new world during the 
 war with Great Britain. It was in 
 reference to this contract, and while 
 crumpling the document in his hand, 
 that Napoleon observed to M. Ouvrard, 
 in presence of the council of ministers, 
 " You have lowered royalty to the level 
 
26 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 of commerce." Whereupon M. Ouv- 
 rard, to the surprise of all present, 
 replied, in a firm but respectful tone, 
 " Sire, commerce is the life-blood of 
 states; sovereigns cannot do without 
 commerce, but it can very well do 
 without sovereigns." 
 
 M. Ouvrard lived to a very advanced 
 age, using moderately the bounties and 
 luxuries of affluence mth which he was 
 sun-ounded. The philosophical equani- 
 mity of his mind, and the iron frame 
 in which it was cast, served him in all 
 his varied experiences. His elegance 
 of maimer, dignified serenity of coun- 
 tenance, and the graceful charm of his 
 advanced years, rendered his presence 
 both illustrious and attractive. He 
 was naturally indulgent, kind-hearted, 
 condescending, and, like all thorough 
 men of the world, inclined to treat with 
 lenity the inexperience and errors of 
 his fellows, and especially of his juniors. 
 His memory was wonderfully retentive ; 
 and his conversation, founded on a 
 vast experience of men and things, 
 was rich in information and sparkling 
 with wit, and without any afiectation. 
 Some of his transactions, however, cast 
 a cloud upon the integrity of his busi- 
 ness dealings — at least during one por- 
 tion of his remarkable career. 
 
 Thomas Gresham, the Boyal Hierchant 
 and Financier. 
 
 Sir Thomas Gresham's name stands 
 out prominently in England's mercan- 
 tile annals, as the founder of the Royal 
 Exchange, and as a distinguished finan- 
 cier. His father had amassed great 
 wealth and attained great eminence as 
 a merchant and bill broker in the reign 
 of Henry YIH., and he resolved to train 
 his son to succeed him in the business 
 so successfully pursued by himself. 
 After a thorough collegiate education, 
 young Gresham was apprenticed to. his 
 uncle, a knight, and a distinguished 
 member of the " Merchants' Company." 
 Under Edward VI., Gresham was em- 
 ployed on the same services as his 
 
 father had performed for that king's 
 father, and in the course of Edward's 
 short reign, he made no fewer than 
 forty voyages to Antwerp, on the royal 
 business. By his financial skill and 
 foresight, he rendered great service to 
 the revenues of the English crown, 
 which he rescued from the extortions 
 of Dutch and Jewish capitalists, and 
 introduced with great effect the prac- 
 tice of raising money from native money 
 lenders, in preference to foreigners, who 
 exacted a ruinous rate of interest. 
 Mary and Elizabeth continued him in 
 his employment, and the latter knight- 
 ed him in 1559. He had now accumu- 
 lated an immense fortune and built 
 himself a palatial dwelling — which, 
 after his wife's death, was used as 
 Gresham College, and the site of which 
 is now occupied by the excise office. 
 He lived there in great state, and, by 
 command of Elizabeth, he often enter- 
 tained the ambassadors and visitors of 
 rank that thronged her court. To 
 these circumstances Gresham owed his 
 familiar title of the " Boyal Merchant 
 and Financier^ 
 
 Nicholas Biddle, the Financier, of 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 The eminent financier, Nicholas 
 Biddle, was born in Philadelphia, 
 Jan. 8, 1786, and died there Feb. 27, 
 1844. On graduating at Princeton col- 
 lege, he studied for the legal profes- 
 sion, but being too young for admis- 
 sion to the bar, he accepted the post 
 of secretary to Gen. Armstrong, Minis- 
 ter to France, and afterward filled the 
 same position under Mr. Monroe, Minis- 
 ter to England. He afterward travelled 
 much in Europe, and in 1807 returned 
 to Philadelphia, and commenced his 
 career as a lawyer. He edited the 
 "Portfolio," compiled a Commercial 
 Digest, and prepared the popular 
 narrative of Lewis and Clark's Explora- 
 tion. He was at different times a 
 representative and senator in the Penn- 
 sylvania legislature, where he ably 
 
EARLY CAREER OF BUSINESS CELEBRITIES. 
 
 27 
 
 supported various educational meas- 
 ures. He was a candidate for Congress 
 in 1817, but was defeated by the Fed- 
 eral party. In 1819, President Monroe 
 appointed him a government director 
 of the United States Bank, and in 1833 
 he became its president. This bank 
 continued until the expiration of its 
 charter, in 1836, when Congress re- 
 newed the charter, but President Jack- 
 son vetoed it. The Pennsylvania legis- 
 lature then created a State Bank, 
 giving to it the name of the United 
 States Bank. Mr. Biddle, then at his 
 zenith as a financier, was urged to 
 accept the presidency of this institu- 
 tion, which he finally though reluc- 
 tantly did, serving until 1836, when he 
 resigned on account of ill health. Two 
 years afterward, the bank, after many 
 struggles, ceased payment, and became 
 insolvent. Whether this was the result 
 of measures pursued during the admin- 
 istration of Mr. Biddle, or after it, or 
 of general causes affecting the condi- 
 tion of the whole country, were points 
 of vehement controversy still fresh in 
 the minds of business men. Mr. Biddle, 
 besides his career as a financier, was a 
 writer of considerable ability, an 
 agriculturist, and quite an adept in the 
 fine arts. He was president of the 
 trustees of Girard College, and deter- 
 mined the plan of the building in 
 accordance with his fine classic taste ; 
 also the beautiful structure, the United 
 States custom-house. 
 
 The Barings, Merchants and Bankers, 
 of London. 
 Various origins are attributed to the 
 members of the house and family of 
 Baring. It has been stated, and is gen- 
 erally believed to be the most authen- 
 tic account concerning them, that they 
 were originally German weavers who 
 came over to London ; and, being suc- 
 cessful in business, were, through the 
 interest of William Bingham, of Phila- 
 delphia, appointed agents to the Amer- 
 ican government. During the loyal- 
 
 ty loan in 1797, the head of the house 
 made one hundred thousand pounds 
 for three consecutive days ; and in 1806, 
 somebody sarcastically said, " Sir Fran- 
 cis Baring is extending his purchases 
 so largely in Hampshire, that he soon 
 expects to be able to inclose the coun- 
 try with his own park paling." Near- 
 ly sixty years ago, this gentleman, the 
 first algebraist of the day, retired from 
 business with a regal fortune, and died 
 shortly after his retirement. But the 
 great commercial house which he had 
 raised to so proud a position was con- 
 tinued by his sons, and may be con- 
 sidered the most important mercantile 
 establishment in the British empire; 
 and as an instance of the fortune and 
 capacity of its members, it may be 
 mentioned that the late Lord Ash- 
 burton, when bearing, as Sir Robert 
 Peel exj)ressed it, " the honored name 
 of Alexander Baring," realized £170,- 
 000 in two years by his combinations 
 in French rentes. 
 
 Peter Baring seems to have been one 
 of the remotest ancestors of the Barings. 
 He lived in the years from 1660 to 1670 
 at Groningen, in the Dutch province of 
 Overyssel. One of his ancestors, under 
 the name of Francis Baring, was pastor 
 of the Lutheran church at Bremen, and 
 in that capacity was called to London, 
 where, among others, he had a son 
 named John. The latter, well ac- 
 quainted with cloth-making, settled at 
 I^arkbeer, in Devonshire, and there put 
 up an establishment for the manufac- 
 ture of that article. He had five chil- 
 dren — four sons, John, Thomas, Fran- 
 cis, Charles, and a daughter called 
 Elizabeth. Two of those sons, John 
 and Francis, established themselves, 
 under the firm of John and Francis 
 Baring, at London, originally with a 
 view of facilitating their father's trade, 
 in disposing of his goods, and so as to 
 be in a position to import the raw 
 material to be required, such as wool, 
 dye stuffs, &c., directly from abroad. 
 Thus was established the house which, 
 
28 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 after the withdrawal of the elder broth- 
 er, John, who retired to Exeter, — grad- 
 ually under the firm-name of Francis 
 Baring & Co., and eventually under 
 that of Baring Brothers & Co., rose to 
 world-wide eminence in commerce. 
 
 Isaac De Buirette, tlie Illustrious 
 German Merchant. 
 
 The German mercantile house of De 
 BuiEETTE was, in the seventeenth cen- 
 tury, as also in the beginning of the 
 eighteenth, one of the most extensive 
 and renowned on the continent of 
 Europe. Its name, its influence, ex- 
 tended over the whole commercial 
 world, and its credit was unlimited. 
 In his time, Isaac De Buirette was con- 
 sidered the most accomplished mer- 
 chant in all Germany. Under the firm 
 of Blumai-t & De Buirette, he carried 
 on the most important exchange busi- 
 ness, and entered largely into great 
 commercial undertakings and bold 
 speculations. A second house was in 
 the course of time established at Vienna, 
 which acquired in a short period a 
 great reputation, and was the most cele- 
 brated ware-emporium of that famed 
 commercial metropolis. The king of 
 Prussia made him Ms financial coun- 
 sellor. His learning was ripe and 
 varied. His correspondence was im- 
 mense — extending to all places of trade 
 in his part of the world, and also be- 
 yond, in all of which his high reputa- 
 tion was a proverb, and an unlimited 
 confidence and credit in the mercantile 
 world were his reward. The firm, in 
 its later stages, and after the decease 
 of Daniel De Buirette, consisted of his 
 three sons, and existed for many years. 
 It was a house w^hose fame will never 
 be blotted out in the annals of German 
 commerce. 
 
 James Beatty, Merchant, of Baltimore. 
 The name of Jaaies Beatty will long 
 be known in the mercantile annals of 
 Baltimore, as that of an unblemished 
 merchant, who reaped the rewards of 
 
 his good judgment and uprightness. 
 An anecdote which he himself used to 
 relate will be appropriate here as illus- 
 trating the secret of his success : At 
 the time of the approach of the British 
 forces toward Baltimore, the United 
 States navy agent, Mr. Beatty, was 
 placed in a somewhat unpleasant situa- 
 tion by repeated threats from the sol- 
 diers in the regular army, that unless 
 they received, within a stated period, 
 all the wages due them, they had 
 determined to revolt. The amount of 
 funds in his hands was far short of 
 what was required, and the banks of 
 the city were called upon to aid in 
 making it up ; but after this request 
 had been complied with, there was still 
 not enough to satisfy the demand. At 
 this juncture, Mr. Beatty happening 
 one day to meet Mr. James Wilson, the 
 latter gentleman made inquiry as to 
 how matters stood with him in relation 
 to the raising of the funds. Mr. Beatty 
 related the circumstances, upon which 
 Mr. Wilson requested him to step to his 
 counting-room, and he would give him 
 a check for the sum yet wanting, which 
 was over $50,000. Mr. Beatty went to 
 the bank, and the check was duly 
 cashed — the soldiers returning to duty 
 — the battle of North Point was fought 
 shortly aftei*ward — the war was closed 
 — and Government again became ena- 
 bled to discharge all its minor debts 
 in that section. Mr. Beatty made out 
 a statement of the indebtedness of the 
 Government to Mr. Wilson for his appro- 
 val. " Mr. Beatty," said the patriotic 
 merchant, " you have allowed me in- 
 terest on the sum loaned ; sir, I want 
 no interest — the money was lying idle, 
 and it was just as well that Government 
 should have the use of it." It was 
 doubtless Mr. Beatty's method to put 
 himself in contact with men of this 
 stamp, and his own probity and judg- 
 ment secured their confidence as well 
 as cooperation. 
 
EARLY CAREER OF BUSINESS CELEBRITIES. 
 
 29 
 
 P. T. Barnum, the " Prince of Show- 
 men." 
 
 Though only in his youth, and then 
 but for a brief period and in a subordi- 
 nate capacity, engaged in mercantile 
 trade, the career of Mr. Barnum, dating 
 from his humble beginning, affords one 
 of the most notable instances of business 
 enterprise, perseverance, originality, 
 tact and success. Indeed, the history 
 of the American business world during 
 the last quarter of a century would fail 
 of one of its most piquant pages, with- 
 out some reminiscences of the " Great 
 Showman." He started in his business 
 career without a cent, and was compelled 
 to carry on the struggle alone. He com- 
 menced life as a clerk in a country store, 
 and married at the age of nineteen. He 
 published a newspaper several years in 
 his native town, where he was fined 
 and imprisoned for publishing his 
 opinions too freely. Afterward he tried 
 mercantile business on his own account, 
 in both Connecticut and New York, 
 with indifferent success. In 1835 he 
 became engaged in a strolling exhibi- 
 tion ; afterward in a circus, &c. ; and 
 in 1842, bought the American Museum 
 in New York. This establishment 
 began to thrive immensely under his 
 management. In 1843 he picked up 
 "Gen." Tom Thumb; exhibited him 
 in his museum a year, then took him 
 to Europe, where he remained three 
 years, appearing before all the prin- 
 cipal courts and monarchs of the old 
 world, and returned with a fortune to 
 his native country. In 1850, he en- 
 gaged Jenny Lind, and with her made 
 the most triumphant and successful 
 musical tour ever known, clearing, it is 
 said, some half a million dollars in nine 
 months, after paying that lady over 
 three hundred thousand dollars. 
 
 Stephen Girard, Merchant and Banker, 
 
 of Philadelphia. 
 
 Stephen Girard was bom in the 
 
 environs of Bordeaux, May 24, 1750. 
 
 Little or nothing is known respecting 
 
 the condition of his parents. He is 
 supposed to have left his native coun- 
 try at the age of ten or twelve years, in 
 the capacity of cabin boy in a vessel 
 bound for the West Indies. He soon 
 after came to New York, as cabin boy 
 and apprentice in the employment of 
 Captain J. Randall. "While with the 
 latter, his deportment was distinguished 
 by such fidelity, industry and temper- 
 ance, that he won the attachment and 
 confidence of his master, who generally 
 bestowed on him the appellation of 
 " my Stephen ; " and when he gave up 
 business, he promoted Girard from the 
 situation of mate to the command of a 
 small vessel, in which he made several 
 voyages to New Orleans, always apply- 
 ing himself with great soberness and 
 diligence to the accomplishment of his 
 ends. 
 
 Girard was self-taught, and the world 
 was his school. His intuitive quick- 
 ness of conception and his powers of 
 combination were such as would cause 
 a very little instruction to go a great 
 way. It was a favorite theme with 
 him, when he afterward grew rich, to 
 relate that he commenced life with a 
 sixpence, and to insist that the best 
 capital a man can have is his personal 
 industry. 
 
 The "Water-Witch, or, at least, the 
 captain of the Water- Witch, was al- 
 ways fortunate, and he soon became 
 part owner. Such was his confidence 
 in his *' lucky star," as almost to 
 amount to superstition. He first vis- 
 ited Philadelphia in 1769. He soon 
 established himself in business, and 
 was reputed a thriving man. In part- 
 nership with Isaac Hazelhurst, he pur- 
 chased two brigs, in 1771, to trade to 
 St. Domingo. Of one of them he took 
 command himself. Both were captured 
 and sent to Jamaica. For once his 
 "lucky star" forsook him. All pro- 
 fessions and all occupations, which 
 afforded a just reward for labor, were 
 alike honorable in his estimation. He 
 was never too proud to work, even 
 
30 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND. BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 when lie was tlie ricliest inillionnaire 
 in the land. During the revolutionary 
 war, he bottled and sold cider and 
 claret. In 1780, he was engaged in 
 trade to St. Domingo and New Orleans. 
 In 1790, on the dissolution of a partner- 
 ship which had some time existed be- 
 tween himself and his brother, John 
 Girard, he was found by their mutual 
 umpire to be worth thirty thousand 
 dollars. 
 
 At the time of the insurrection of the 
 blacks in St. Domingo, he had a brig 
 and schooner in port, in which many 
 of the inhabitants deposited their most 
 valuable goods, but were prevented by 
 a violent death from returning to claim 
 them. It is, however, not supposed 
 that he received in this manner more 
 than fifty thousand dollars. In the 
 time of the fever, in 1793, when con- 
 sternation had seized the whole popula- 
 tion of the city, Girard, then an opulent 
 merchant, offered his services as a nurse 
 in the hospital ; his offers were accept- 
 ed, and, in the performance of the most 
 loathsome duties, he walked unharmed 
 in the midst of the pestilence. He used 
 to say to his Mends, " When you are 
 sick, or anything ails you, do not go to 
 the doctor, but come to me. I will 
 cure you." 
 
 The terms of a bargain were to him 
 a law, which he never violated; but 
 in his breast there was no chancery 
 jurisdiction for the decision of causes 
 in equity. The misfortunes of a bank- 
 rupt, in his view, were follies, which 
 excited no commiseration. 
 
 Having been successful in his com- 
 mercial speculations, and by that means 
 made immense additions to Ms proper- 
 ty, in 1811, in expectation of a renewal 
 of the charter of the old Bank of the 
 United States, he purchased a large 
 amount of the stock of that institution. 
 The charter was not renewed, and the 
 banking house coming into his hands 
 by purchase, at a reduced price, the 
 Bank of the United States became 
 Stephen Girard's Bank. It was emi- 
 
 nently convenient to the public at the 
 time it was established, and during the 
 war was particularly useful to the 
 government, supplying, in fact, the 
 want of a national institution, at a^ 
 time when it was especially needed. 
 On the establishment of the last nation- 
 al bank, Mr. Girard, just at the close 
 of the subscription, took the balance 
 of the stock, namely, three million and 
 one hundred thousand dollars. 
 
 Mr. Girard did much to ornament 
 the city of Philadelphia, and his ambi- 
 tion during his long and untiring busi- 
 ness career, seems to have been to die 
 the richest man in the country and be 
 remembered as the patron of learning 
 and the benefactor of the poor. He 
 died December 26, 1881, in the eighty- 
 second year of his age, the Girard 
 College and the city of Philadelphia 
 being his principal devisees. 
 
 Alexander T. Stewart, Merchant, of 
 ' New York. 
 
 In his early years, Mr. Stewart 
 was engaged in teaching, but soon 
 changed his employment for a small 
 mercantile business. He commenced 
 with but a limited capital, and opened 
 a store on Broadway, in 1827. This 
 little concern, in which he then was 
 salesman, buyer, financier, and sole 
 manager, has gradually increased in 
 importance, until it has become the 
 present splendid establishment, whose 
 name and fame are heard every^^here. 
 
 The marble block which the firm 
 now occupies was built nearly twenty 
 years ago. It had been the site of an 
 old-fashioned hotel called the " Wash- 
 ington," which was destroyed by fire. 
 Mr. Stewart bought the plot at auction 
 for seventy thousand dollars, — a small 
 sum in comparison with its present 
 value. To this was subsequently added 
 adjacent lots in Broadway, Reade, and 
 Chambers streets, and the present mag- 
 nificent pile was reared. This estab- 
 lishment, large as it is, proved too 
 small for the increasing business ; hence 
 
EARLY CAREER OF BUSINESS CELEBRITIES. 
 
 31 
 
 another mercantile palace has been 
 erected by Mr. Stewart, in Broadway 
 and Tenth street. This is intended 
 for the retail trade, and is, no doubt, 
 the most splendid structure of the kind 
 in the world. The down-town store is 
 devoted to the wholesale trade. The 
 firm of A. T. Stewart & Co. consists of 
 Mr. Stewart and two partners, one of 
 whom, Mr. Fox, resides in Manchester, 
 and the other, Mr. Warton, in Paris. 
 These gentlemen, together with agents 
 in the principal cities of Europe, are 
 constantly engaged in furnishing the 
 house with supplies of goods. The 
 amount of annual sales is estimated 
 at from ten to twenty millions. In the 
 retail department, the proceeds of which 
 are included in this estimate, the daily 
 sales vary, according to the weather 
 and the season, from three thousand to 
 twelve thousand dollars. 
 
 Mr, Stewart has attained his present 
 position by patient toil and forty years 
 of close application to business. His 
 remarkably fine taste in the selection 
 of dress articles, by means of which he 
 was always able to have superior goods, 
 probably led to his first success. He 
 has everything reduced to a perfect sys- 
 tem. Each branch of his trade is under a 
 special manager, who is selected with a 
 view to his qualifications for that de- 
 partment. The numerous failures which 
 take place among the business men of 
 New York give him his choice among 
 them for his managers, so that he is 
 always able to find the kind of men he 
 needs and whom he can trust. He is 
 an accurate judge of character, posses- 
 sing a penetration which enables him 
 to read men at a glance ; so that it is 
 rarely, if ever, that he is deceived. He 
 sits close in his office, is seldom seen in 
 the salesrooms^ or among his clerks, yet 
 seems to know everything that is going 
 on throughout the establishment. Mr. 
 Stewart is a native of Ireland. 
 
 Edwin D. Morgan, Merchant, of New 
 York. 
 
 Mr. Morgan is widely known both 
 as a successful merchant and able states- 
 man. His father, Jasper Morgan, an 
 old and highly respected citizen of 
 Connecticut, formerly lived in Berk- 
 shire county, Mass., and there it was 
 that his son Edwin was born, in Feb- 
 ruary, 1811. He received a fair educa- 
 tion before he was seventeen, without 
 going to college, and at about that age 
 commenced his mercantile experience 
 in a store in Hartford, Conn., at a salary 
 of sixty dollars for the first, seventy-five 
 for the second, and one hundred for the 
 third year's service. A trip to the great 
 city was not then made with the facility 
 that it is now; but as he had served 
 for two or three years in the store, and 
 acquired the confidence of his em- 
 ployer, he was permitted to go to New 
 York, and, to combine business with 
 pleasure, was intrusted to make sundry 
 purchases of tea, sugar, etc., and also 
 corn, which was then becoming an ar- 
 ticle of import, instead of export. The 
 visit was made, and Edwin returned 
 in due time, by the old stage route. 
 After being greeted and welcomed, 
 his employer inquired as to the corn. 
 The price was very satisfactory ; but 
 his employer doubted if the article 
 would be of good quality at so low a 
 rate. Edwin immediately drew a 
 handful, first from one pocket and 
 then from another, as samples, and the 
 old gentleman expressed his approba- 
 tion. It had been usual for the dealers 
 to purchase two or three hundred 
 bushels at a time, and he then inquired 
 of Edwin as to the quantity, but was 
 nonplussed by the answer that he had 
 bought two cargoes, and that the ves- 
 sels were probably in the river. 
 
 " Why, Edwin," said the astonished 
 old gentleman, " what are we to do with 
 two cargoes of corn ? Where can we 
 put it ? Where can we dispose of it ?" 
 
 " Oh ! " replied Edwin, " I have dis- 
 posed of all that you don't want, at an 
 
32 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 advance ; I have sliown the samples to 
 Messrs. A. & B., who vdsh. three hun- 
 dred bushels ; C. & Co., three hundred, 
 &c., &c. I could have disposed of three 
 cargoes, if I had had them. I stopped 
 into the stores as I came along, and 
 made sales." 
 
 This was a new phase, and out of the 
 old routine ; but the gains and results 
 were not to be questioned. The fol- 
 lowing morning, Edwin was at the 
 store, as always, in season, and had 
 taken the broom to sweep out the 
 counting room, when his employer 
 entered. 
 
 " I think," said he, " you had better 
 put aside the broom ; we will find 
 some one else to do the sweeping. " A 
 man who can go to New York, and on 
 his own responsibility purchase two 
 cargoes and make sales of them with- 
 out counselling with his principal, can 
 be otherwise more advantageously em- 
 ployed. It is best that he should be- 
 come a partner in the firm for which he 
 is doing so much," — and he did, though 
 not yet of age. 
 
 When he had just attained to his ma- 
 jority, Mr. Morgan was elected to the 
 city council of Hartford ; and at twenty- 
 two he married Miss Waterman, of that 
 city, by whom he has but one surviving 
 child — a son. He removed to the city 
 of New York in 1836, establishing him- 
 self as a wholesale grocer, upon a small 
 capital of four thousand dollars, but 
 which his business qualities afterward 
 greatly enlarged, and his fortune in- 
 creased, until now the house of Edwin 
 D. Morgan & Co. is one of the richest 
 of the metropolis. In 1849, Mr. Mor- 
 gan was elected a member of the then 
 Board of Assistant Aldermen ; in 1852, 
 a member of the State Senate ; in 1858, 
 to the high position of Governor of the 
 State ; and he now fills the honored 
 post of United States Senator. Such a 
 career of combined mercantile success 
 and politioal honors is rare indeed. 
 
 Nathan Appleton, Mercliant, of Boston. 
 
 Mr. Appleton was born in New Ips- 
 wich, N. H., in 1779, and was the 
 seventh son of Isaac Appleton. At fif- 
 teen years of age he was examined and 
 admitted into Dartmouth College. It 
 was decided, however, that he should 
 proceed no further in his collegiate 
 studies. His brother Samuel, who had 
 been in trade in New Ipswich, and 
 was about to remove to Boston, j)ro- 
 posed that he should accompany him. 
 This was accepted, and, as he after- 
 ward said, " It was determined that I 
 should become a merchant rather than 
 a scholar." His brother commenced 
 business in a small shop on Cornhill, 
 Boston ; it consisted mostly in purchas- 
 ing goods at auction and selling them 
 again to country dealers for cash and 
 short credit, at a small profit. In 1799, 
 his brother made a short visit to Eu- 
 rope, and left his business in the charge 
 of Nathan. On the return of the for- 
 mer, he removed to a warehouse in 
 State street, and proposed to the latter, 
 who had become of age, to be a partner. 
 This was accepted, and Nathan now 
 had at hand opportunities for enlarging 
 his observation and experience. He 
 was sent out to England to purchase 
 goods. Europe was in a state of war. 
 The news of peace reached him, how- 
 ever, on landing, and changed the 
 whole current and condition of trade. 
 He postponed his purchases and trav- 
 elled on the Continent; shortly after- 
 ward returning to America and resum- 
 ing his mercantile career. In 1806 he 
 married Maria Theresa Gold, eldest 
 daughter of Thomas Gold, of Pittsfield, 
 and for the health of his wife soon 
 crossed the ocean again. In Edinburgh 
 he met Mr. Francis C. Lowell, at the 
 moment the latter was first conceiving 
 the policy to which the cotton manu- 
 facture of New England owes its origin ; 
 with him he held an earnest and en- 
 couraging consultation in r^aM to it. 
 As capital accumulated in his hands, 
 
EARLY CAREER OF BUSINESS CELEBRITIES. 
 
 33 
 
 he took an active part in connection 
 with Mr. Lowell, Patrick T. Jackson, 
 Paul Moody, and others, in establishing 
 the cotton factory at Waltham, Mass. 
 He says: "When the first loom was 
 ready for trial, many little matters 
 were to be adjusted or overcome before 
 it would work perfectly. Mr. Lowell 
 said to me that he did not wish me to 
 see it until it was complete, of which 
 he would give me notice. At length 
 the time arrived, and he invited me to 
 go out with him to see the loom oper- 
 ate. I well recollect the state of satis- 
 faction and admiration with which we 
 sat by the hour watching the beautiful 
 movement of this new and wonderful 
 machine, destined, as it evidently was, 
 to change the character of all textile 
 industry." Mr. Appleton was also one 
 of the chief associates in the company 
 which made the first purchases for a 
 like purpose in Lowell. On different 
 occasions he was elected a member of 
 the Massachusetts legislature, and in 
 1830 was chosen a member of Congress. 
 In 1843 he was again sent, to fill the 
 vacancy occasioned by the resignation 
 of Robert C. Winthrop. In this sphere, 
 his mind naturally turned to the finan- 
 cial and commercial view of questions. 
 He was a member of the American 
 Academy of Science and Arts, and of 
 the Massachusetts Historical Society. 
 Mr. Appleton died in Boston, July 14, 
 1861, and left a very large fortune. 
 
 The name of William Appleton is 
 justly entitled to a place in the records 
 of this eminent commercial family. 
 Few names, indeed, shine out with 
 such conspicuous and unsullied lustre 
 in the annals of American mercantile 
 fame as this. For their enterprise, in- 
 tegrity, benevolence, and public spirit, 
 they have never been surpassed by any 
 of the " solid men of Boston," whose 
 character reflects such honor upon 
 American commerce, at home and 
 abroad. 
 
 David Ricardo, Eng-lish. Financier. 
 
 David Ricabdo, celebrated alike as a 
 merchant, banker, and financial writer, 
 was bom in London, of a Jewish family, 
 in 1773. His father, a native of Hol- 
 land, was for several years a prominent 
 banker in London, and, designing his 
 son for the same occupation, he sent 
 him to Holland, where he might obtain 
 the best commercial education. Soon 
 after his return to England, he was 
 taken into his father's oflice as a clerk, 
 and, when of age, he was associated 
 with him in business. He subsequently 
 formed a matrimonial alliance with a 
 lady of the Christian faith, which union 
 was displeasing to his father, by reason 
 of the latter's religious scruples, — the 
 elder Mr. Ricardo having been born of 
 Jewish parents, and continuing in that 
 faith until his death. This breach 
 between the father and the son, — 
 which, however, was afterwards en- 
 tirely healed, — necessarily caused the 
 dissolution of their business copartner- 
 ship. 
 
 But the character of the son, for 
 industry, talent, and fair dealing, early 
 secured to him the confidence of busi- 
 ness men as well as that of the commu- 
 nity, and he thus accumulated a mag- 
 nificent fortune. He amassed his im- 
 mense wealth by a scrupulous attention 
 to what he called his own three golden 
 rules, and the observance of which he 
 used to press on his private business 
 friends. These were : " I^ever refuse an 
 option icTien you can get it,'''' — " Cut short 
 your losses,^'' — " Let your profits run on^ 
 By cutting short one's losses, Mr. Ri- 
 cardo meant, that when a broker had 
 made a purchase of stock, and prices 
 were falling, he ought to re-sell imme- 
 diately. And by letting one's profits 
 run on, he meant, that when a broker 
 possessed stock, and prices were rising, 
 he ought not to sell until prices had 
 reached their highest, and were begin- 
 ning to fall. 
 
 Besides being an eminent banker, 
 
34 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 Mr. Ricardo was a most profuse writer 
 on finance and currency, and his works 
 on these subjects gained for him a high 
 repute. He was also of quite a specu- 
 lative turn of mind — and in some res- 
 pects strangely so — on religious themes. 
 He is stated to have adopted the Uni- 
 tarian system of belief, though usually 
 attending the established or Episcopal 
 church. On the other hand, he is said 
 to have suggested, as an "improve- 
 ment," a sort of intermediate faith be- 
 tween Judaism and Christianity ; hold- 
 ing that Jesus Christ was a worthy man 
 and an excellent teacher, whose pre- 
 cepts should therefore be regarded with 
 great respect, — but that "he assumed 
 too much in his claim to be the son of 
 God, and therefore that the blame of his 
 unhappy catastrophe was to be divided 
 between his enemies and himself." 
 The number of adherents to Mr. Eicar- 
 do's faith were very few, and his wri- 
 tings on this subject were far less bril- 
 liant in their results than those which 
 constituted the staple of his counting- 
 house ledgers. 
 
 Judah Touro, Merchant, of New Or- 
 leans. 
 
 A well written life of this remarkable 
 man would make a volume of peculiar 
 interest, especially to the mercantile 
 class, of which he was long so honor- 
 able as well as successful a member. 
 At fii'st, he opened a small shop on St. 
 Louis street, near the levee, where he 
 began a brisk and profitable trade in 
 soap, candles, codfish, and other exports 
 of Kew England, making prompt re- 
 turns to his friends in Boston. His 
 fidelity, integrity, and good manage- 
 ment, soon secured him a large New 
 England trade, every vessel from that 
 section bringing him large consign- 
 ments, and many ships being placed at 
 his disposal, as agent, to obtain cargoes 
 and collect freight. His business was 
 prosperous, his funds accumulated. He 
 invested his surplus means very judi- 
 ciously in ships and in real estate, which 
 
 rapidly advanced in value. His career, 
 guided by certain principles to which 
 he steadfastly adhered, was one of 
 honest, methodical labor, and stern 
 fidelity to the legitimate practices of 
 trade, never embarking in any hazard- 
 ous ventures or speculations, never 
 turning aside from his chosen sphere 
 of business, and adhering rigidly to 
 the cash system. 
 
 Mr. Touro was as methodical and reg- 
 ular as a clock. His neighbors were in 
 the habit of judging- of the time of day 
 by his movements. In his business he 
 rarely employed more than one clerk, 
 and even this one was generally a lad. 
 It was his custom to open his store 
 himself at sunrise and close it at 
 sunset. He attended to all his afiairs 
 himself, and had them so well arranged 
 that there was no possibility of any 
 misunderstanding. He engaged in no 
 lawsuits, though he lived in one of the 
 most litigious communities in the 
 world. He could not bear a disputa- 
 tious, nor even a very earnest, discus- 
 sion. On one occasion his friend, Dr. 
 Clapp, became involved in a very warm 
 discussion on a theological question 
 with some clergymen of the city. Mr. 
 Touro was greatly annoyed at the war- 
 fare of words and logic thus carried on, 
 and begged Dr. Clapp to desist from a 
 controversy which was so unpleasant 
 to him. 
 
 Mr. Touro's hard experience of the 
 discomforts attending voyages by sea, 
 though it determined him to remain on 
 land for the remainder of his life, could 
 not eradicate from him that natural 
 passion of a New Englander-^as he 
 was — to own ships. He had conse- 
 quently invested largely of his means 
 in this business, and ovmed some of 
 the largest and best built ships that 
 came into the port of New Orleans. It 
 was rather an amusing peculiarity of 
 his, that though he took great pleasure 
 and pride in walking along the wharves 
 and surveying the gi'and and symme- 
 trical proportions of his noble ships, he 
 
EARLY CAREER OF BUSINESS CELEBRITIES. 
 
 35 
 
 could never be persuaded to go aboard 
 and examine and admire tlieir interior. 
 Mr. Touro's career was perhaps not so 
 eventful as tliat of liis townsmen John 
 McDonogh and Jacob Barker, and yet, 
 as an upright, enterj)rising, and success- 
 ful merchant, there are few whose 
 names can be placed in advance of 
 his. 
 
 " Old Billy Gray," Merchant, of Bos- 
 ton. 
 
 Among the successful and honorable 
 merchants of America, few have stood 
 higher than William Gray — " Old 
 Billy Gray," as he came to be univer- 
 sally called. He was born in Lynn, 
 Mass., in 1751, and when quite a small 
 boy was apprenticed to a merchant in 
 Salem. He finished his commercial 
 education with Richard Derby, of that 
 port ; and such was his character for 
 enterprise and strict integrity during 
 his apprenticeship, that when, soon after 
 its close, he commenced business for 
 himself, he had the entire confidence 
 and good will of the whole community. 
 Prosperity waited upon him in all his 
 transactions, and in less than twenty- 
 five years after he commenced business, 
 he was taxed as the wealthiest man in 
 Salem, notwithstanding some of the 
 largest fortunes in the United States 
 belonged to that town. His enterprise 
 and industry were wonderful ; and at 
 one time he had more than sixty sail 
 of square-rigged vessels on the ocean. 
 For more than fifty years, he arose at 
 dawn, and was ready for the business 
 of the day before others had finished 
 their last nap. Although he had mil- 
 lions of dollars afloat on the sea of 
 business, he was careful of small expen- 
 ditures—those leaks which endanger 
 the ship— and his whole life was a 
 lesson of prudent economy, without 
 penuriousness. 
 
 During the embargo, Mr. Gray took 
 sides with Jefferson, notwithstanding 
 New England was all in a blaze against 
 the president, and it was an injury to 
 
 the amount of tens of thousands of 
 dollars to the great merchant's busi- 
 ness. In the midst of the commercial 
 distress, he removed to Boston, and 
 having pleased the people while a 
 State senator, he was chosen lieutenant- 
 governor of the commonwealth. He 
 freely used his immense riches for the 
 wants of Government, and it is said 
 never took advantage of the exigencies 
 of the times, to speculate in government 
 securities. After the war of 1812-15, 
 he engaged largely in business again, 
 but he lost often and heavily. Yet he 
 died a rich man, and universally re- 
 spected, at his elegant mansion in Bos- 
 ton, Nov. 4, 1825, aged about seventy- 
 four years. It has been stated that at 
 one period in his early career, Mr. Gray 
 was a poor shoemaker; but, notwith- 
 standing his subsequent great wealth, 
 and the magnificence of his dwelling, 
 the old cobbler's bench which he for- 
 merly used long remained intact in a 
 separate room, and was shown with 
 pride to his visitors as the sign of 
 what he once was. 
 
 •'Rich Spencer," Merchant and Bank- 
 er, of London. 
 John Spencer — afterward Sir John, 
 and, in 1594, Lord Mayor of London — 
 died possessed of property valued at 
 several round millions, acquired by his 
 tact and shrewdness in the pursuits of 
 commerce. There is much that might 
 be written respecting the humors and 
 caprices of this noted representative 
 of the commerce of that period, — one 
 who rose to such eminence in the an- 
 nals of wealth amassed by sharp deal- 
 ing and still closer saving. In a curi- 
 ous pamphlet printed in 1651, and en- 
 titled " The Vanity of the Lives and 
 Passions of Men," there is the follow- 
 ing singular anecdote respecting this 
 " Rich Spencer " — for so Sir John was 
 usually called: In Queen Elizabeth's 
 days, a private of Dunkirk laid a plot 
 with twelve of his mates, to carry 
 Spencer away, and which, if he had 
 
36 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 done, fifty thousand pounds, it is stated, 
 would not have redeemed him. This 
 private come over the seas in a shallop, 
 with twelve musketeers, and in the 
 night came into Baring Creek, and left 
 the shallop in the custody of six of his 
 men, and with the other six came as 
 far as Islington, and there hid them- 
 selves in ditches, near the path in 
 which Sir John came to his house 
 (Canonbury House) ; but, as good for- 
 tune would have it. Sir John was forced, 
 by some unusual demands of busi- 
 ness, to stay in London that night. 
 But for this, he would have been taken 
 away and rigidly dealt with. The kid 
 nappers, fearing they should be dis- 
 covered, returned in the night time to 
 their shallop, and went back to Dun- 
 kirk, minus their anticipated booty. 
 
 JacQLues Coeur, French Merchant in the 
 Middle Ag-es. 
 
 Jacques Cceur was the great French 
 merchant and financier of the middle 
 ages. He sprung from the people, and 
 raised himself, by successful commer- 
 cial enterprise, to a level with the 
 princes of his age. He found French 
 commerce behind that of every other 
 nation, and left it prosperous and in- 
 creasing. Direct and speedy commu- 
 nication with the East seems to have 
 been his great idea. Modem Europe 
 is still striving for it. He had, at one 
 time, in his employment, three hundred 
 factors ; and the rest of the merchants 
 of France, with the whole of those of 
 Italy, are not supposed to have equalled 
 this one man, in the extent of their 
 commercial dealings. "As rich as 
 Jacques Cceur," became a proverb. It 
 was even believed, by some, that he 
 had found the philosopher's stone; 
 and popular tradition asserts that so 
 great was the profusion of the precious 
 metals possessed by him, that his horses 
 were shod with silver — a common repu- 
 tation, even at the present day, enjoyed 
 by persons of singular wealth. 
 
 He showed himself worthy of his 
 
 great mercantile eminence, by giving 
 his wealth, thus acquired, freely for 
 noble objects. He raised three armies 
 for king Charles at his own cost ; and 
 he repaired and reestablished, in his 
 office of Argentier, the deranged finan- 
 ces of the kingdom. It was his money 
 which enabled the French to profit by 
 the genius and enthusiasm of Joan of 
 Arc ; and it was his honest sympathy, 
 and steady, manly counsel, which seems 
 to have sustained the tender and brave 
 heart of the noblest of royal mistresses, 
 in her efforts to save the king. On her 
 death bed, she selected Jacques Coeur 
 for her executor. 
 
 Jacques CcGur had, in the course of 
 twenty years, more commercial pow- 
 er than all the rest of the merchants 
 of the Mediterranean put together. 
 Everywhere his vessels were respected 
 as though he had been a sovereign 
 prince ; they covered the seas wherever 
 commerce was to be cultivated, and, 
 from farthest Asia, they brought back 
 cloths of gold and silk, furs, arms, spi- 
 ces, and ingots of gold and silver, still 
 swelling his mighty stores, and filling 
 Europe with surprise at his adventurous 
 daring and his unparalleled persever- 
 ance. Like his great prototype, Cos- 
 mo de Medicis, who, from a simple mer- 
 chant, became a supreme ruler, Jacques 
 Coeur, the Medicis of Bourges, became 
 illustrious and wealthy, and sailed long 
 in the favorable breezes of fortune, 
 admired, envied, feared, and courted 
 by all. 
 
 But his weakness seems to have lain 
 in the direction of personal magnificence 
 and splendor, and to this may be traced 
 his fall. He did not allow sufficiently 
 for the prejudices of his age, and at last 
 armed them for his ruin. He is de- 
 scribed to have far transcended, in his 
 personal attendance and equipments, the 
 chiefs of the most illustrious families 
 of France ; and when Charles made his 
 triumphal entry into Rouen, the mer- 
 chant Jacques Coeur was seen by the 
 side of Dunois, with arms and tunic 
 
EARLY CAREER OF BUSINESS CELEBRITIES. 
 
 37 
 
 precisely the same as Ms. His destruc- 
 tion was planned by a party of the 
 nobles, and an indictment of all sorts 
 of crimes preferred against him — among 
 them, the charge of having poisoned 
 Agnes Sorel. He narrowly escaped 
 torture and death ; and only this by 
 confiscation of his treasures (which his 
 judges divided among them), and per- 
 petual banishment. This latter re- 
 solved itself ultimately into a sort of 
 strict surveillance in a French convent, 
 from which he at last escaped by the 
 fidelity of one of his agents, who had 
 married his niece. He was again char- 
 acteristically engaging in active pur- 
 suits, and beginning life anew, on the 
 coast of Asia Minor, when illness seized 
 him in the island of Scio. 
 
 Peletiali Perit, Merchant, of New 
 York. 
 
 The name of Peletiah Peeit has 
 been familiar in the business circles of 
 New York for about half a century, 
 and is one of the most honored. He 
 was at one time a member of the firm 
 of Perit & Lathrop, and in 1819 he 
 became a partner in the house of Good- 
 hue & Co. Mr. Perit (says the author 
 of the " Old Merchants of New York ") 
 was born in Norwich, Conn., and re- 
 ceived a collegiate education at Yale 
 College. In the first partnership of Mr. 
 Perit with Mr. Lathrop, his brother- 
 in-law, he was not successful, and dur- 
 ing the war he was connected with an 
 artillery company, and performed mili- 
 tary service in the forts that protected 
 the harbor. After he went with Mr. 
 Goodhue, his commercial good fortunes 
 returned, and their house coined mon- 
 ey. In 1833 or 1834, the health of Mr. 
 Perit declined, and he conceived the 
 idea that it was necessary to take more 
 active exercise, and in order to insure 
 that daily, he purchased a piece of pro- 
 perty on the North river, lying between 
 Bumham's and the Orphan Asylum. 
 It may have cost him perhaps ten 
 thousand dollars. He sold it about 
 
 two years ago, and it is now supposed 
 to be worth half a million dollars. 
 This is a comment on persevering mer- 
 cantile life. By a mere accident Mr. 
 Perit buys a small lot of land, and 
 makes more money than Goodhue & 
 Co. ever made in fifty-three years' hard 
 work ! Probably no house has done a 
 larger business with all parts of the 
 world than Goodhue for the fifty-three 
 years that it has existed in a continuous 
 business. This house, so eminent, com- 
 manding means to an extent that an 
 outsider has no conception of, has made 
 merely moderate earnings in compari- 
 son with some lucky land hit, made 
 by unknown and uncredited persons, 
 that has realized millions. Since Mr. 
 Perit sold his property in New York, 
 he has removed to New Haven, Conn. 
 He has done much for the benevolent 
 enterprises of the day. He is unequalled 
 as a merchant, and has been for many 
 years honored with the presidency of 
 the Chamber of Commerce. 
 
 Jacob Ridg-way, Merchant, of Phil- 
 adelphia. 
 
 This wealthy Philadelphia celebrity 
 came from New Jersey at an early age, 
 and commenced the life of a busy, bold, 
 and enterprising merchant. He com- 
 menced on a small scale ; but by his 
 industry, integrity, economy, and atten- 
 tion to business, he rose rapidly. Dame 
 Fortune smiled, and in course of time 
 he took high rank among the shipping 
 merchants of that period. He visited 
 Europe, to superintend a branch of the 
 house with which he was connected; 
 and soon after, having the confidence 
 of the merchants of his own country, 
 Mr. RiDGWAY was appointed American 
 consul at Antwerp, where he laid the 
 foundation of his handsome fortune. 
 He returned soon after, and retired 
 from mercantile pursuits, settling him- 
 self in Philadelphia, and engaging ex- 
 tensively in plans for the improvement 
 of it and the city of Camden, on the 
 opposite side of the river Delaware. lu 
 
38 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 proportion as his efforts and means 
 were laid out in this direction, so did 
 his fortune increase ; and from being 
 the owner, in early life, of a single farm, 
 he acquired possessions and wealth, the 
 extent of which has perhaps never but 
 once been equalled in Pennsylvania, and 
 in all human probability never will be 
 by any one man again. He was a plain 
 man — his dress and deportment were 
 plain, and his manners free from liau- 
 teur. In his directorship of the Bank of 
 Pennsylvania, in which he was a large 
 stockholder, he exhibited much preju- 
 dice against granting discounts and ac- 
 commodation to the rich and extensive 
 operators, preferring the humbler me- 
 chanics, tradesmen, and merchants. 
 
 Abraham and Benjamin Goldschmid, 
 old English Bankers. 
 
 For a long and important period, 
 Abkaham and Benjamin Goldschmid 
 were the magnates of the English money 
 market. Of singular capacity, and, for 
 a time, of equally singular good fortune, 
 the firm of which they were the members 
 rose from comparative obscurity to be 
 the head and front of the financial circle 
 of the world's metropolis. They were 
 the first members of the Stock Exchange 
 who competed with the bankers for the 
 favors of the chancellor, and diverted 
 from their bloated purses those profits 
 which were scarcely a legitimate por- 
 tion of banking business. The combi- 
 nation of that powerful interest being 
 thus broken up, the bargains for pub- 
 lic loans became more open, and have 
 continued so. 
 
 The munificence of the Goldschmids 
 was constant and wide spread. Natur- 
 ally open hearted, the poor of all creeds 
 found kindly benefactors in these Jew 
 capitalists. On one day, the grandeur 
 of an entertainment given by them to 
 royalty was recorded in the papers, and 
 on the next a few words related a visit 
 of mercy on their part to a condemned 
 cell. At one time, their mansion, vying 
 in architectural beauty with those of 
 
 regal occupants, was described ; at an- 
 other, some great and gracious act of 
 charity was narrated. Entertainments 
 to princes and ambassadors, reviving 
 the glories of oriental splendor, were 
 frequent ; and galleries, with works of 
 art worthy the magnificence of a Medici, 
 graced their homes. They seemed, at 
 least for a while, Fortune's chief and 
 most special favorites. When, in 1793, 
 the old aristocracy of England's traders 
 fell, as in 1847, and the bank in one day 
 discounted to the amount of more than 
 twenty million dollars, the losses of this 
 great firm amounted to only the trivial 
 sum of fifty pounds sterling. Strange 
 to relate, both of these brothers came 
 to their death by violence at their own 
 hands. 
 
 Judah M. Lopez, Speculator in 
 Annuities. 
 
 The name of Judah Manasseh Lo- 
 pez is handed down to this day, in Eng- 
 land, as that of a Lombard and Jew 
 of " the baser sort," and a usurer — one 
 in whose business dealings the art of 
 deception seemed to have fairly culmi- 
 nated. Of the origin or the successive 
 business steps in the career of this man 
 we know little. His business consisted 
 in the purchase and sale of annuities. 
 He lent to merchants when their vessels 
 failed to bring them returns in time to 
 meet their engagements ; and he ad- 
 vanced cash on the jewels of those 
 whom a disturbed period involved in 
 conspiracies which required the sinews 
 of war. But annuities were his favor- 
 ite investment ; and to him, therefore, 
 resorted all who were in difficulties and 
 were able to deal with him. With the 
 highest and the lowest he trafficked. 
 He was feared by most, and respected 
 by none. 
 
 One remarkable feature in this man's 
 dealings was, that no one found it easy 
 to recover the property once pledged, 
 if it chanced to much exceed the amount 
 advanced. In an extremity, Bucking- 
 ham, the favorite of Charles, apjilied 
 
EARLY CAREER OF BUSINESS CELEBRITIES. 
 
 39 
 
 to and received assistance from the Jew 
 on the deposit of some deeds of value. 
 "When the time approached for repay- 
 ment, Lopez appeared before the Duke 
 in an agony of grief, declaring that his 
 strongroom had been broken into, his 
 property pilfered, and the Duke's deeds 
 carried away. But Buckingham had 
 dealt too, much with men of this class 
 to believe the story on the mere word 
 of Lopez. He therefore detained the 
 usurer while he despatched messengers 
 to the city, to search out the truth, 
 placing the Hebrew at the same time 
 under watch and ward, with an utter 
 indifference to his comfort. 
 
 When the messengers returned, they 
 avouched that all Lombard street was 
 in an uproar at the violation of its 
 stronghold. Still the Duke was dis- 
 satisfied, and resolutely refused to part 
 with his prey until he had received 
 full value for his deposit. In vain did 
 the Hebrew demurely fall on his knees 
 — in vain did he call on Father Abra- 
 ham to attest his innocence ; for, in the 
 midst of one of his most solemn assev- 
 erations, Buckingham was informed 
 that a scrivener urgently solicited an 
 audience, and he saw at the same time 
 that a cloud came over the face of Lo- 
 pez. 
 
 The request of the scrivener being 
 granted, to the Duke's astonishment he 
 produced the missing document, ex- 
 plaining to his Grace that Lopez, be- 
 lieving the scrivener too much in his 
 power to betray him, had placed it in 
 his charge until the storm should blow 
 over, but that, fearing the Duke's pow- 
 er and trusting to his protection, he had 
 brought it to York House. On the in- 
 stant, Buckingham confronted the two. 
 The Jew's countenance betrayed his 
 crime, and, fawning on the very hem 
 of the Duke's garment, he begged for 
 forgiveness, and crouched like a dog to 
 procure it. It is intimated that from 
 that time the Duke had his loans on 
 more equitable terms and on smaller 
 security, as he dismissed the Jew with 
 
 a courtesy the latter did not de- 
 
 William B. Astor, Millionnaire, of 
 New York. 
 
 Prince street, New Y'ork, is the lo- 
 cality of Mr. William B. Astor's finan- 
 cial operations. The street itself is 
 of but a third-rate character, and the 
 houses are but of a common stamp. 
 Near Broadway, however, one may no- 
 tice a small brick office, neatly built, 
 of one story, with gable to the street, 
 but with doors and windows closed, 
 and the whole appearance one of se- 
 curity. Near the door may be seen 
 a little sign which reads thus: 'En- 
 trance NEXT DOOR. Office hours 
 FROM 9 TO 3." This " next door " to 
 which we are referred is a plain three- 
 story brick dwelling, with no name on 
 the door, and might be taken for the 
 residence of some well-to-do old-fash- 
 ioned family. Hence one is quite star- 
 tled to find that this is the headquarters 
 of the chief capitalist of America. En- 
 tering the street door, one will find 
 himself' in a small vestibule, neatly 
 floored with checkered oilcloth, and 
 opening a door on his left, he will enter 
 a well-lighted front room, destitute of 
 any furniture but a counting-house desk 
 and a few chairs. At this desk stands 
 an accountant (or perhaps two) working " 
 at a set of books, and evidently enjoy- 
 ing an easy berth. He will answer all 
 ordinary inquiries, will do the duty of 
 refusing charitable demands, and will 
 attend to an}i:hing in the ordinary run 
 of business ; but if one has anything 
 siDccial on hand, he will point to a door 
 opening into a rear office. This apart- 
 ment is of moderate size and of simple 
 furniture. On the table are a few 
 books, and on opening one of them, 
 which appears well thumbed, it will be 
 found to contain maps of jjlots of city 
 property, carefully and elegantly exe- 
 cuted, and embracing the boundaries 
 of an enormous estate. Seated by the 
 table may generally be seen a stout- 
 
40 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 built man with large and unattractive 
 features, and upon the whole an ordi- 
 nary face. He is plainly dressed, and 
 has a somewhat careworn look, and ap- 
 pears to be fifty or sixty years of age. 
 One naturally feels — that is, if he be a 
 poor man — that it is quite a rare thing 
 to address a capitalist, and especially 
 when that capitalist is the representa- 
 tive, say of twenty-five millions of dol- 
 lars. His daily income has been esti- 
 mated at six thousand dollars ! 
 
 The care of Mr. Astor's estate — the 
 largest in America — is a vast burden. 
 His tenements, of all grades, number 
 several hundreds, ranging from the 
 dwelling at three hundred dollars per 
 annum, to the magnificent warehouse 
 or hotel at thirty thousand dollars. To 
 relieve himself from the more vexatious 
 features of his business, he has com- 
 mitted his real estate collections to an 
 agent, who does the work well, and 
 who is, no doubt, largely paid. He, 
 with his clerks, collects rents, and 
 makes returns of a rent roll whose very 
 recital would be wearisome. As a mat- 
 ter of course, such a man must employ 
 a small army of painters, carpenters, and 
 other mechanics, in order to keep up 
 suitable repairs ; and as Mr. Astor pays 
 no insurance, the work of rebuilding 
 after fires is in itself a large item. A 
 large part of Mr. Astor's property con- 
 sists of vacant lots, which are in con- 
 tinual demand, and which he generally 
 prefers to hold rather than sell ; hence 
 he is much employed with architects 
 and master builders, and always has 
 several blocks in course of erection. 
 This is a very heavy burden, and, were 
 it not for the help derived from his 
 family, would, doubtless, crush him. 
 His son, John Jacob, is quite a busi- 
 ness man, and bears his share of the 
 load. In addition to this, Mr. Astor 
 has the aid of a gentleman of business 
 habits and character, once a member 
 of one of the largest shipping houses in 
 New York, who has become connected 
 with the family by marriage. The la- 
 
 bors of all these i^arties cannot be more 
 than adequate to the requirements of so 
 enormous a jDroperty. 
 
 C. K. Garrison, Mercliant, of San 
 
 Francisco. 
 The financial and public position at- 
 tained by Mr. Garrison, of San Fran- 
 cisco, so well known as one of the 
 mayors and leading merchants of that 
 city, was due to his own perseverance, 
 exhibited in a manner and to a degree 
 rarely witnessed even in American mer- 
 cantile character. Originating in New 
 York, near West Point, his ancestors 
 were among the regular " Knickerbock- 
 ers " of that region — the Coverts, Kings- 
 lands, Schuylers, and others. The pa- 
 terfamilias was at one time considered 
 quite wealthy, but from heavy indorse- 
 ments he became involved at an early 
 period in the life of the subject now 
 under notice. The latter, having to 
 look to his own resources, left home at 
 the age of thirteen, in the capacity of 
 a cabin boy in a sloop. It was not, 
 however, without great difficulty, that 
 young Garrison obtained from his pa- 
 rents their consent that he might leave 
 their home, and accept the situation 
 he sought. " Wliat," said his mother, 
 with characteristic feminine perception, 
 " would the Van Buskirks, the Kings- 
 lands, the Schuylers, the host of other 
 respectable relatives, the thousand and 
 one cousins, &c., &c., say, if it reached 
 their ears that my son was a cabin 
 boy ? " From this small beginning he 
 worked his way up, until he finally 
 found himself in California, where, 
 shortly after, on account of his great 
 business tact, he was offered the Nica- 
 ragua Steamship Company agency, at a 
 salary of $60,000 a year, for two years 
 certain. In addition to this appoint- 
 ment, he received at the same time the 
 agency of two insurance companies, at 
 a salary of $25,000 per annum. At the 
 age of forty-five, he found himself the 
 possessor of a princely fortune ; with 
 a salary three or four times greater 
 
EARLY CAREER OF BUSINESS CELEBRITIES. 
 
 41 
 
 tlian that of the President of the United 
 States ; with a revenue besides, from 
 other sources, of as much more ; and 
 occupying the position of Mayor of the 
 city of San Francisco. This is success 
 that rarely falls to the lot of those, 
 even, who are what may be called the 
 " successful " ones in commercial life. 
 
 "William Hog-gr, tlie Pennsylvania 
 Millionnaire. 
 
 More than seventy years ago, Wil- 
 liam Hogg — ^who died at his residence 
 in Brownsville, Pa., leaving an estate 
 of more than a million dollars — crossed 
 the Alleghany mountains with a small 
 pack of goods, all he possessed, and 
 which he bore upon his own back, and 
 established himself at Brownsville, then 
 called Red Stone. He soon after open- 
 ed a small store, the first in that region 
 of country, on the Monongahela river, 
 transporting his goods from Phila- 
 delphia by means of packhorses, and 
 increasing his stock, from time to time, 
 until he became the wealthiest mer- 
 chant in Western Pennsylvania — a 
 rank which he prominently occupied 
 in the latter period of his life. He was 
 remarkable for his accurate habits of 
 business, his persevering and indefati- 
 gable application, and his great sa- 
 gacity in the management of his nu- 
 merous and extensive establishments. 
 Whether worth one dollar only, or a 
 million, he held that frugality was the 
 same virtue, and rigidly lived up to 
 this principle. 
 
 Herodotus a Merchant. 
 The opinion — equally ingenious and 
 probable — is advanced by Malte Brun, 
 that the great father of history and 
 geography, Herodotus, was a mer- 
 chant. " At least," says he, " this suppo- 
 sition affords the most natural solution 
 of his long voyages and numerous con- 
 nections with nations by no means 
 friendly to the Greeks." His silence re- 
 specting commerce is presumed to have 
 arisen from the same motives which in- 
 
 duced the Carthaginians to throw every 
 voyager into the sea who approached 
 Sardinia, lest the sources of their com- 
 merce and riches should be discovered. 
 
 Jeejeebhoy Dadabhoy, Parsee Banker 
 and Merchant. 
 
 Jeejeebhoy Dadabhoy, of Bombay, 
 was a Parsee banker, merchant, agent, 
 and broker, for more than forty years, 
 and sustained important business rela- 
 tions to many European mercantile 
 houses. So extensive were his transac- 
 tions, that his name was well known in 
 all the commercial towns of England, 
 Scotland, France, Germany, Austria, 
 Egypt, India, China, Mauritius, &c. 
 A few years before his death, which 
 occurred in 1849, at the age of sixty- 
 four years, he retired from the firm of 
 Messrs. Jeejeebhoy Dadabhoy, Sons & 
 Co., but left his name by associating 
 his sons, who have since carried on the 
 business, the firm ranking among the 
 first Parsee commercial houses in India. 
 
 Jeejeebhoy Dadabhoy was one of the 
 most active among the native capi- 
 talists in the establishment of the va- 
 rious banks in Bombay ; and he served 
 his time as director respectively in the 
 Oriental and Commercial Banks. To 
 him and to Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy 
 the people of Western India are in- 
 debted for the introduction of steam 
 navigation for commercial and passen- 
 ger traffic — the first, and by far the best 
 paying of these steamers having been 
 built by them. Jeejeebhoy Dadabhoy, 
 the manager of this company, so judi- 
 ciously conducted the business, that 
 in the course of six years he divided 
 profits amounting to nearly the out- 
 lay. 
 
 He shared, indeed, in every enterprise 
 which promised to promote public 
 advantage, however little his personal 
 interests might be benefited. Among 
 the commercial joint-stock companies, 
 he was a large shareholder in the fol- 
 lowing : the Eailway Companies, Cot- 
 ton Screw Companies, Steam Naviga- 
 
42 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 tion Company, Colaba Land and Cot- 
 ton Companies, most of the Bombay 
 Marine and Life Insurance Companies, 
 fhe Bengal India General Steam Navi- 
 gation Company, several Calcutta In- 
 surance Companies, &c. His capital 
 was likewise engaged in advances on 
 coffee, sugar, &c., &c. 
 
 For nearly twenty years lie was a 
 member of the Parsee Punchayet, a po- 
 sition which frequently imposed im- 
 portant duties upon him for the gen- 
 eral benefit of the Parsee community. 
 He was also constantly called upon to 
 arbitrate and settle matters in dispute 
 between members of his caste, and his 
 straightforward judgment invariably 
 gained for him the esteem of those who 
 had submitted their difficulties to his 
 decision. 
 
 In matters of charity his purse was 
 always open to the poor of his com- 
 munity. His name was likewise to be 
 found on almost all the lists of public 
 subscriptions and private charities, both 
 European and native. At the time of 
 his death, forty-two schools, in various 
 parts of the Bombay Presidency, were 
 wholly supported by his bounty. 
 
 He left a widow, four sons, three 
 daughters, twenty-one grandchildren, 
 and six great-grandchildren, to whom 
 he bequeathed immense wealth. He 
 likewise, by his will, left one hundred 
 thousand dollars, to be invested in Gov- 
 ernment securities in the names of eight 
 trustees, four of these being his sons, 
 the interest of this amount to be an- 
 nually divided in charities for the re- 
 lief of the suffering of his caste. 
 
 Abbott liawrence, Merchant, of 
 Boston. 
 
 Abbott Lawiience, one of the most 
 eminent of American merchants, was 
 bom in Groton, Mass., in 1793. His 
 ancestors were people in humble cir- 
 cumstances, who had for one hundred 
 and fifty years been settled in Groton 
 as cultivators of the soil, and his father. 
 Major Samuel Lawrence, served with 
 
 credit in Prescott's regiment at Bunker 
 Hill, and in many of the severest bat- 
 tles of the war of Independence. For 
 a brief period in his boyhood, he at- 
 tended the district school and the acad- 
 emy at Groton, and in his sixteenth year 
 went to Boston, with less than three 
 dollars in his pocket, and was bound 
 an apprentice to his brother Amos, 
 then recently established there in busi- 
 ness. In 1814 he became one of the 
 firm of A. & A. Lawrence, which for 
 many years conducted a prosperous 
 business in the sale of foreign cotton 
 and woollen goods on commission. Sub- 
 sequently to 1830, they were largely in- 
 terested as selling agents for the manu- 
 facturing companies of Lowell ; and, in 
 the latter part of his life, Abbott Law- 
 rence participated extensively in the 
 China trade. 
 
 In addition to his business pursuits, 
 Mr. Lawrence took a deep interest in 
 all matters of public concern, and was 
 at an early period of his career a zeal- 
 ous advocate of the protective system. 
 In 1834, he was elected a representative 
 in the twenty-fourth Congress, and was 
 there a member of the important com- 
 mittee of ways and means. He also 
 served for a brief period in 1839-40. 
 In 1842, he was appointed a commis- 
 sioner, on the part of Massachusetts, on 
 the subject of the northeastern boun- 
 daiy, in the discharge of which trust 
 he rendered the most important ser- 
 vice. In the Whig Nominating Con- 
 vention of 1848, he was a prominent 
 candidate for Vice-President of the 
 United States, lacking but six votes of 
 a nomination — the choice falling upon 
 Mr. Fillmore. On the accession of Gen- 
 eral Taylor, whose election Mr. Law- 
 rence had zealously advocated, a seat in 
 the cabinet was offered to Mr. Law- 
 rence, but declined by him. He was 
 subsequently appointed the representa- 
 tive of the United States at the court 
 of Great Britain, a position which he 
 occupied with credit until October, 
 1852, when he was recalled at his own 
 
EARLY CAREER OF BUSINESS CELEBRITIES. 
 
 43 
 
 request. The remainder of his life was 
 devoted to his private business. 
 
 The benefactions of Mr. Lawrence, 
 for private and public purposes, were 
 numerous and wisely bestowed, al- 
 though, from the nature of the circum- 
 stances under which the greater part 
 of his life was passed, the amount can- 
 not, as in his brother Amos's case, be 
 accurately estimated. In 1847, he gave 
 to Harvard University fifty thousand 
 dollars to found the Scientific School, 
 bearing his name, connected with that 
 institution ; and he bequeaijied a like 
 sum in aid of the same object. He left 
 a farther sum of fifty thousand dollars, 
 for the purpose of erecting model lodg- 
 ing houses, the income of the rents to 
 be forever applied to certain public 
 charities. He was greatly esteemed in 
 private life for his benevolence of dis- 
 position and genial manners, and in his 
 public relations commanded the respect 
 of all parties. Mr. Lawrence died in 
 Boston, August 18th, 1855. 
 
 Jacob Barker, Merchant, of New 
 Orleans. 
 
 Mr. Barker is descended from the 
 same stock as Dr. Franklin, to whom 
 he is proud to claim a certain family 
 resemblance — and certainly in some of 
 their personal characteristics there is a 
 striking identity. He was brought up 
 in the Quaker communion, to which, 
 and to their unpretending costume, he 
 long adhered. 
 
 At the age of sixteen he was adrift 
 in the world, and came to New York, 
 where he got employment with Isaac 
 Hicks, a commission merchant, and, 
 beginning the trade on his own ac- 
 count, in a small way, 'before Ids major- 
 ity was in possession of four ships and 
 a brig, and had his notes regularly dis- 
 counted at the United States Bank. 
 Sitting at his wedding dinner, August 
 27th, 1801 (he married Elizabeth, 
 daughter of Thomas Hazard, of New 
 York), with Mr. Henry Dewees, for 
 whom he had heavily indorsed, news 
 
 was brought him of the ruin of them 
 both ; he passed the letter over to Mr. 
 Dewees, drank wine with him, and took 
 no further notice of the matter. 
 
 For some transactions concerning 
 the North River Bank, Mr. Barker was 
 once openly insulted by one David 
 Rogers, to whom he sent a note de- 
 manding an explanation. No explana- 
 tion came, but in place of it an indict- 
 ment by the grand jury for sending a 
 challenge. Mr. Barker defended him- 
 self with infinite subtlety on the trial, 
 denying the fact of the challenge ; but 
 the jury would not be persuaded, nor 
 the judges afterward, when he argued 
 the question of law, and he was sen- 
 tenced to be disfranchised of his politi- 
 cal rights — from which sentence he was 
 relieved by Governor Clinton. But at 
 length, on the failure of the Life and 
 Fire Insurance Company, he was in- 
 dicted, with others, for conspiracy to 
 defraud. The trial was long, the coun- 
 sel wanted time to look over their 
 notes, and it was suggested that Mr. 
 Barker should begin his defence. He 
 had no brief, and had taken no notes, 
 but professed his readiness. "Yes," 
 said Mr. Emmet, " if they were all to 
 be hanged, Mr. Barker would say, hang 
 me first ! " His defence was a prodigy 
 of ability. At the first trial the jury 
 disagreed, on the second he was con- 
 victed, but a new trial granted. After 
 the third the indictment was quashed. 
 
 Some years since he ai)j)eared in his 
 own defence in a suit brought in New 
 Orleans, and obtained a verdict after a 
 long personal address to the jury, wliich 
 is said to have made a most vivid im- 
 pression both upon them and a numer- 
 ous auditory. In reciting the chequer- 
 ed history of his life — his unrivalled 
 commercial enterprise, — " that the can- 
 vas of his ships had whitened every 
 sea, and that the star-spangled banner 
 of his country had floated from the 
 mast head of his ships in every clime," 
 — his aid in procuring a loan of five 
 million dollars for the Government du- 
 
44 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 ring the last war witli England — ^he 
 said lie came to New Orleans poor, and 
 in debt, that he had since made a great 
 deal of money, and spent it in the sup- 
 port of his family and the payment of 
 his debts outstanding in New York; 
 that all those debts were now settled, as 
 was proved, and that he owed nothing 
 in the world at present but one account 
 (on a note, he believed) of about a 
 thousand dollars. 
 
 Dming the war, Nantucket was in 
 want of supplies : Mr. Barker purchased 
 the New York pilot boat Champlain, 
 and caused her to be landed at Nor- 
 folk with flour, and despatched for that 
 place. "When near the island a heavy 
 fog set in ; when it cleared away she 
 was within a half gunshot of a British 
 seventy-four, captured, and vessel and 
 
 cargo lost. 
 
 ♦ — 
 
 Alexander Fordyce, the Shark of the 
 Exchang'e. 
 
 The career of this notorious broker 
 — one of the shrewdest ever known on 
 the roll of British financiers — furnishes 
 a dark phase in the dealings of the ex- 
 change. Bred a hosier at Aberdeen, 
 he found the North too confined for 
 such operations as he hoped at some 
 future day to engage in ; and, repair- 
 ing to London, as the only place worthy 
 of his genius, obtained employment as 
 clerk to a city banking house. 
 
 Here he displayed great facility for 
 figures, with great attention to busi- 
 ness, and rose to the post of junior part- 
 ner in the firm of Rofiey, Neale & 
 Jaines. Scarcely was he thus estab- 
 lished, ere he began to speculate, and 
 generally with marked good fortune — 
 and, thinking his good luck would be 
 perpetual, ventured for sums which in- 
 volved his own character and his part- 
 ners' fortune. The game was with him ; 
 the funds were constantly on the rise ; 
 and, fortunate as daring, he was en- 
 abled to purchase a large estate, to sup- 
 port a grand appearance, to surpass 
 nabobs in extravagance, and parvenus 
 
 in folly. He marked " the marble with 
 his name," upon a church which he os- 
 tentatiously built. His ambition vied 
 with his extravagance, and his extrava- 
 gance rivalled his ambition. The Aber- 
 deen hosier spent thousands of pounds 
 in attempting to become a titled mag- 
 nate, and openly avowed his hope of 
 dying a peer. He married a woman of 
 title ; made a fine settlement on her 
 ladyship ; purchased estates in Scot- 
 land at a fancy value ; built a hospital ; 
 and founded charities in the place of 
 which he hoped to become the repre- 
 sentative. 
 
 But a change came over his fortunes. 
 Some political events first gave him a 
 shake; then another blow followed, 
 and he had recourse to his partners' 
 private funds to supply his deficiencies. 
 On being smartly remonstrated with, a 
 cool and insolent contempt for their 
 opinion, coupled with the remark that 
 he was quite disposed to leave them to 
 manage a concern to which they were 
 utterly incompetent, startled them ; and 
 when, with a cunning which provided 
 for everything, an enormous amount of 
 bank notes, which Fordyce had borrow- 
 ed for the purpose, was shown them, 
 their faith in his genius returned with 
 the possession of the magic paper — ^it 
 being somewhat doubtful whether the 
 plausibility of his manner or the agree- 
 able rustle of the notes decided them. 
 
 HI fortune, however, still continued 
 to cast its gaunt shadow on Mr. For- 
 dyce's track — the price of the funds 
 would not yield to his fine combina- 
 tions and plans. But with all his great 
 and continued losses, he retained to the 
 last hour a cool and calm self-posses- 
 sion. Utter bankruptcy finally follow- 
 ed, and the public feeling was so vio- 
 lent, as he detailed the tissue of his un- 
 surpassed fraud and folly, that it was 
 necessary to guard him from the popu- 
 lace. He broke half the commercial 
 town. Two gentlemen, ruined by the 
 broker's extravagance, shot themselves 
 dead, and many of the wealthiest fami- 
 
EARLY CAREER OF BUSINESS CELEBRITIES. 
 
 45 
 
 lies were beggared. "Not is this sur- 
 prising, wlien it is known that bills to 
 the amount of twenty millions of dollars 
 were in circulation, with the name of 
 Fordyce attached to them — a name still 
 synonymous with that of " the Shark 
 of the Exchange." 
 
 Nicholas Longworth, Millionnaire, of 
 Cincinnati. 
 
 Nicholas Longworth, who recently 
 died in Cincinnati, at the age of eigh- 
 ty years, was born in Newark, N. J., 
 in the year 1783, and was brought up 
 to the shoemaking business in his early 
 life. His father, having been reduced 
 to poverty, became a shoemaker, and 
 had all his children educated to follow 
 trades. It was intended that Nicholas 
 should obtain his living as a regular 
 shoemaker ; but at an early age he im- 
 proved the opportunity offered him of 
 going to the South with a brother, and 
 became a clerk in the latter's store in 
 Savannah. After being in mercantile 
 business at the South about two and 
 a half years, he removed in 1804 to 
 Cincinnati, then only a scattered and 
 sparsely populated village of about 
 seven hundred and fifty inhabitants, 
 adjoining to Fort Washington, on the 
 banks of the Ohio, where the Federal 
 Government maintained a garrison, the 
 expenditure of which at that and earlier 
 periods formed no small share of the 
 business of Cincinnati. 
 
 The beginning of Mr. Longworth's 
 career in Cincinnati was a very curious 
 one. He commenced the study of the 
 law, under Judge Burnett, an eminent 
 lawyer, and was admitted to the bar in 
 advance of the ordinary period. Until 
 1819, he followed the law as his profes- 
 sion. Meantime he had married a wid- 
 ow of some means, and had devoted 
 himself to speculations in lots, foresee- 
 ing that the value of real estate must 
 enhance immensely. In this way he 
 laid the foundation of his gigantic for- 
 tune. At that time, property was at a 
 very low valuation, and many of Long- 
 
 worth's lots cost him no more than ten 
 dollars each, which in a few years mul- 
 tiplied in value a hundredfold. His 
 property increased so rapidly that in 
 1850 his taxes rated higher, perhaps, 
 than those of any other man in the 
 United States except William B. Astor, 
 the taxes of the latter amounting to 
 some twenty-three thousand, while 
 those of Longworth were over seven- 
 teen thousand. The ground occupied 
 by the celebrated Observatory of Cin- 
 cinnati was a free gift from Mr. Long- 
 worth. He donated four acres of his 
 land on Mount Adams for that purpose. 
 
 Mr. Longworth devoted much of his 
 time to agriculture and horticulture — 
 the grape and the strawberry especially. 
 Every one has heard of his Catawba 
 wine, both still and sparkling cham- 
 pagne. Indeed, Nicholas Longworth, 
 Esq., the " fifteen millionnaire," is not 
 half so well known as " old Nick Long- 
 worth," who did so much for the cul- 
 ture of the Catawba and Isabella grape 
 in the Ohio valley. His gardens and 
 hothouses abounded in the rarest ex- 
 otics, and were freely accessible to visi- 
 tors who wished to enjoy them, and, if 
 his gardeners were not on hand to point 
 out their beauties, it is very probable 
 that Nicholas Longworth himself would 
 perform the part of chaperon. Mr. 
 Longworth was a ready writer, full of 
 wit, humor, and sarcasm. 
 
 Mr. Longworth had four children — 
 three daughters and one son. One of 
 the daughters man-ied Larz Anderson, 
 of Cincinnati, brother of the hero of 
 Fort Sumter, a prominent lawyer. The 
 wealth of which Mr. Longworth died 
 possessed is put down at fifteen mil- 
 lions ; but it is probable that it may be 
 quoted at a much higher figure. His 
 city lots alone would probably amount 
 to that sum. The value of his prop- 
 erty in the suburbs of Cincinnati and 
 the different counties of Western Ohio, 
 from Hamilton county to Sandusky, 
 would perhaps swell his estate to twen- 
 ty millions. 
 
46 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 Jolin Overend, the Pioneer Bill Broker 
 of Liondon. 
 
 John Overend's name stood, for a 
 long time, at the head of the most an- 
 cient as well as extensive and renown- 
 ed bill-brokering establishment in the 
 world. Bill brokering in its present 
 form was commenced about half a cen- 
 tury ago. This house — Overend & Co. 
 — so well known in Europe and Ameri- 
 ca, was formed in the year 1807, under 
 the firm of Richardson, Overend & Co. 
 The partners were Thomas Richardson, 
 a clerk in the banking house of Smith, 
 Wright & Gray ; John Overend, a clerk 
 to a woollen dealer ; and Samuel Gur- 
 ney, then twenty-one years of age, the 
 second son of Mr. John Gurney, a part- 
 ner in the Norwich Bank. This bank 
 was established in 1770, by Henry 
 Gurney, who was succeeded by his 
 son, Bartlett Gurney, and the latter, in 
 1803, took into partnership his cousin, 
 John Gurney, and several other mem- 
 bers of his family. Mr. John Gurney 
 had previously been a woolstapler and 
 spinner of worsted yam. In this char- 
 acter he was acquainted with Mr. Joseph 
 Smith, who was extensively connected 
 with the trade of Norwich, and was en- 
 gaged by the Norwich Bank to employ 
 their surplus funds in discounting bills 
 for his numerous connections. This 
 business became so extensive that, upon 
 the suggestion of John Overend, a firm 
 was established expressly for the pur- 
 pose of carrying it on, under the super- 
 intendence of the Norwich Bank. Mr. 
 Samuel Gurney had, for three years 
 previously, been a clerk to Mr. Fry, 
 who had married Mr. Gumey's sister, 
 the celebrated Elizabeth Fry. After 
 the death or retirement of Mr. Richard- 
 son, the firm was Overend & Co. On 
 the death of Mr. Overend, Samuel 
 Gurney became the senior partner, un- 
 til his death in 1856, when he was suc- 
 ceeded by David Barclay Chapman. 
 The second house of this kind, in point 
 of time, was that of Messrs. Sanderson 
 & Co. The house of Alexander & Co. 
 
 has also long been eminent in the same 
 kind of business founded by Overend. 
 
 •' Old Mr. Denison," of St. Mary Axe. 
 
 " Old Mk. Denison," as he was 
 called by every one, for more than a 
 generation, belonged to the primitive 
 school of English bankers, who made 
 his own fortune, and was remarkable 
 for his economy and strict attention to 
 business. He lived for years at his 
 banking house in " St. Mary Axe," and 
 was so provident as to go to market 
 daily, basket in hand, for his family. 
 But if he thus looked closely after 
 small matters, it was because he held 
 everything subservient to one great 
 one — his bank and the accumulation 
 of capital. Like many men who have 
 a turn for economy, he was fond of 
 boasting of the bargains he had bought. 
 There has also been many a chronicle 
 rehearsed of the trouble it used to give 
 to the old gentleman to provide good 
 things cheap, when his son, the present 
 distinguished banker and political nota- 
 bility, entertained his west-end friends 
 at dinner. For, with the honorable 
 pride so frequently observed among 
 Scotchmen, " old Mr. Denison " not 
 only took care that his son's education 
 should be excellent, but gave him a 
 very fair encouragement to gain a foot- 
 ing in the best society — in which, too, 
 he was as successful as he could have 
 wished. He left a large property, 
 which has been increased by his son, 
 one of the richest London bankers — 
 being commonly rated at three millions 
 sterling — the greater part of which is 
 always kept available for business pur- 
 poses. 
 
 liorillard, the New York Tobacconist. 
 The name of Lorillard looms up 
 very prominently in the annals of 
 American mercantile biography, and 
 few of the solid merchants of New York 
 show a more honorable record of per- 
 sonal worth and financial success. It 
 
EARLY CAREER OF BUSINESS CELEBRITIES. 
 
 47 
 
 was one of Mr. Lorillarcl's favorite re- 
 marks, and well deserving of note, that 
 his prosperity arose from his not having 
 made liaste to U rich. He entered upon 
 business with a capital of a thousand 
 dollars, increased by a loan from his 
 brothers of double that amount; and 
 from the skill, the foresight, and the 
 diligence with which his business was 
 conducted, and from some adventitious 
 advantages, his own part of it was even- 
 tually multiplied more than a thousand- 
 fold. " Lorillard, the New York To- 
 bacconist," became, in course of time, a 
 name widely known in both hemi- 
 spheres, nor has it yet lost its prestige. 
 
 Simple in all his tastes and habits, 
 well regulated in all his affections and 
 desires, free fi'om vanity, ostentation, 
 and pride, he had no extravagant long- 
 ings, either to urge him on in the eager 
 pursuit of wealth, or to make him 
 squander, in prodigality, the fruits of 
 iniquity and fraud. Instead, therefore, 
 of unduly extending his business, and, 
 in haste to enrich himself, careless 
 about the interests and claims of 
 others; instead of running out into 
 wild and visionary schemes, which are 
 usually so tempting to the cupidity of 
 business men, and staking the laborious 
 acquisitions of a life upon the chances 
 of a day, Mr. Lorillard was contented 
 to follow the prudent methods of better 
 times, to avoid unnecessary anxiety for 
 the future, to keep innocency, and take 
 heed to the thing that was right in re- 
 gard to his neighbor. 
 
 Whenever, therefore, the profits of 
 his business were not needed for the 
 enlargement of his capital, he was in 
 the habit of investing them in real es- 
 tate, selected very often in obscure and 
 retired places, which would be unat- 
 tractive to the mere speculator, and 
 with greater regard to the security of 
 the property than the immediate pros- 
 pect of gain. But, in most cases, this 
 very moderation and prudence turned 
 to a better account than the grasping 
 calculations of avarice itself — his own 
 
 possessions increasing in value, securely 
 and steadily, while those of others were 
 often swept away by their extravagance 
 and folly. 
 
 Jolin Jacob Astor, Eichest Merchant 
 of America. 
 
 Mr. AsTOK was born near the ancient 
 city of Heidelberg, Germany, in the 
 year 1763, and his history embodies an in- 
 valuable moral for merchants generally, 
 and for young men in particular. His 
 parents moved in humble life. He came 
 to this country when about nineteen 
 years of age, at which time the State 
 of Xew York was mostly a wilderness. 
 He made frequent excursions up the 
 Mohawk river, to traffic with the In- 
 dians for furs, and gradually enlarged 
 his business as his means increased. 
 After a while, the American Fur Com- 
 pany was formed, and he became a com- 
 petitor with the great capitalists of Eu- 
 rojDC, who controlled the Northwestern 
 and Canadian Fur Companies. Such 
 was his enterprise, that he extended 
 his business to the mouth of the As- 
 toria river, and formed the first fur 
 establishment then known as Astoria. 
 For many years previous to the war of 
 1812, and subsequently, Mr. Astor was 
 extensively engaged in the Canton 
 trade, and during the war was fortu- 
 nate in having several of his ships ar- 
 rive here with valuable cargoes. The 
 profits on these were enormous. Mr. 
 Astor made large investments in Gov- 
 ernment stocks, which he purchased 
 during the war with Great Britain, at 
 sixty or seventy cents on the dollar, and 
 which, after the peace, went up to 
 twenty per cent, above par. On his 
 death, most of his estate went to Mr. 
 William B. Astor, his son, and consist- 
 ing in a great measure of property not 
 subject to regular appraisal, the esti- 
 mates of its value have been very va- 
 rious. During the whole of his pro- 
 tracted business career, Mr. Astor was 
 noted for persevering industry, rigid 
 economy, and strict integrity. He had 
 
48 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 a genius bold, fertile, and expansive ; 
 a sagacity quick to grasp and convert 
 a circumstance to the highest advan- 
 tage ; and a singular and never-waver- 
 ing confidence of signal success in vrhat 
 he undertook. 
 
 As the result of only sixteen years of 
 business life, Mr. Astor was worth one 
 quarter of a million dollars, and is sup- 
 posed, on a moderate estimation, to 
 have left a fortune of twenty millions. 
 It would be difficult to say whether 
 the great part of his immense fortune 
 was derived from his mercantile deal- 
 ings or his investments in real estate. 
 He early began and systematically fol- 
 lowed up the policy of investing large- 
 ly, not only in the inhabited parts of 
 the city, where immediate income could 
 be realized, but in unoccupied lots, or 
 acres, rather, of fields . out of town, 
 which he saw, in anticipation, covered 
 by the spreading city. He was under 
 no necessity of mortgaging one prop- 
 erty for the purchase of another — under 
 no temptation to dangerously expand. 
 Thus he was enabled to make invest- 
 ments which it has been said, no doubt 
 with literal truth, centupled on his 
 hands. At one time, it is stated, he 
 was in the habit of investing two thirds 
 of his net annual receipts in land, and 
 in the course of all of his vast opera- 
 tions, with a large part of his fortune 
 afloat on the ocean, he is said never to 
 have mortgaged a lot. During the 
 fifty years of his active business life, he 
 hardly made a mistake or misstep 
 through defect of his own judgment. 
 Until his fifty-fifth year, he was at his 
 office before seven o'clock. He was a 
 great horseman, and in the constant 
 habit of riding out for pleasure and 
 exercise. In the strength of his gen- 
 eral grasp of a great subject, he did 
 not allow himself to be too much dis- 
 turbed by the consideration of details. 
 His mind worked so actively that he 
 soon got through the business of a day, 
 and he could leave his office earlier 
 than many business men who did less. , 
 
 Troubled and annoyed by petty trials, 
 he was calm and self-possessed under 
 great ones. " Keep quiet — keep cool," 
 was the constant and familiar admoni- 
 tion from his lips. When the great 
 trials came, his spirit rose with the 
 emergency, and he was equal to the 
 hour. Mr. Astor died in March, 1848, 
 aged eighty-four years, and in his will 
 bequeathed four hundred thousand dol- 
 lars to found a free public library in 
 the city of New York. 
 
 Samuel Appleton, Merchant, of 
 Boston. 
 
 Samuel Appleton, a rich merchant 
 and distinguished philanthrojoist of 
 Boston, was bom in New Ipswich, N. H., 
 in 1766. His father was a respectable 
 farmer, and the son spent his youth 
 amidst the severe toils attendant on the 
 pursuits of agricultural life. Samuel 
 shared his good fortune with his 
 brother Nathan, who was his partner in 
 mercantile business. Some amusing 
 anecdotes are related of the early career 
 of the subject of this notice, illustrative 
 of his humble origin and his fidelity. 
 One of these is, that, when fourteen 
 years of age, his father hired him to as- 
 sist a drover of cattle ten miles through 
 the woods, for which service the fath- 
 er received twelve and a half cents. 
 The boy satisfied the drover so well, 
 that six and a quarter cents more 
 were given him as a gratuity. This 
 was perhaps the first money that 
 he could call his own. "When about 
 twenty-one years of age, he left home 
 and spent some time in clearing a lot 
 of new land in Maine, on which was 
 a log cabin ; the nearest residence was 
 distant two miles, and his only guide 
 to it was the marked trees. He next 
 became a country schoolmaster, but 
 after a short time engaged in a small 
 village store. His success was good; 
 and in 1794 he removed to Boston, 
 where, with his brother Nathan, under 
 the firm of S. & N. Appleton, lie em- 
 barked in commercial pursuits, and be- 
 
EARLY CAREER OF BUSINESS CELEBRITIES. 
 
 49 
 
 came one of the most thrifty merchants 
 in that city. His wealth increased 
 rapidly ; and, from an early date in his 
 accumulations, his charities gladdened 
 the hearts of the widow and orphan. 
 The Boston Female Orphan Society was 
 one of the fii'st to participate in his 
 munificence. His native town, also, 
 was occasionally remembered by him 
 with filial affection. Indeed, he was 
 always ready to give, according to his 
 means, and when consistent with their 
 claims, if the object presented was a 
 good one. Being himself without chil- 
 dren, most of his estate, amounting to 
 a million of dollars, was distributed by 
 his will as follows : he left to his wid- 
 ow specific bequests amounting to two 
 hundred thousand dollars ; also, many 
 other bequests, to nephews, nieces and 
 others, amounting to some three hun- 
 dred and twenty thousand dollars more. 
 Among these may be mentioned one 
 of five thousand dollars " to his friend 
 and pastor, Rev. Ephraim Peabody," 
 and five thousand dollars to the ser- 
 vants living in the family at the time 
 of his decease, to be distributed in the 
 manner and according to the proportion 
 to be fixed upon by his widow. He 
 then bequeathed to his executors, man- 
 ufacturing stocks valued at two hun- 
 dred thousand dollars, to be by them 
 appropriated for scientific, literary, re- 
 ligious, or charitable purposes, — and 
 thus, through the long future, his 
 wealth is to be beneficially employed. 
 Mr. Appleton lived to the good old age 
 of eighty-seven years. 
 
 Peter C. Brooks, Underwriter and 
 Millionnaire, of Boston. 
 
 Peter C. Brooks was born in North 
 Yarmouth, Maine, January 6th, 1769, 
 his father. Rev. Edward Brooks, being 
 then a settled clergyman in that place. 
 Soon after his birth, his father returned 
 to Medford, Mass., his native town, to 
 which the family was strongly attached, 
 and there he died prematurely, in 1781, 
 the son being only twelve years of age. 
 
 A. 
 
 As soon as the subject of this sketch 
 arrived at maturity, he repaired to Bos- 
 ton, gifted only with a common school 
 education, and without pecuniary 
 means, to seek his fortune. The rich 
 men of that city were then in especial 
 need of young men of talent and char- 
 acter, by whom they could be assisted 
 in the care of their property and busi- 
 ness. Mr. Brooks soon proved to them 
 that he had business talents of the 
 highest order, and these were united 
 with great modesty, and an integrity 
 that never received from youth to old 
 age a single blemish. 
 
 At the time referred to, there were 
 no insurance companies in Boston, and 
 Mr. Brooks had the sagacity to see the 
 need of a substitute, and hence estab- 
 lished himself as an insurance broker, 
 particularly for marine policies. Most 
 of tlie capitalists had such confidence in 
 his judgments, that they became under- 
 writers in his ofiSce. With the rapidly 
 increasing commerce of the country, 
 the business of Mr. Brooks became 
 large and lucrative, and, almost before 
 he or any one else thought of it, he was 
 a rich man. This was the foundation 
 of an estate estimated, long before his 
 death, to amount to three millions of 
 dollars, more or less; but it was at 
 least sufficient to furnish a moral to 
 young men, which to them is worth 
 more than any mere financial compu- 
 tation. It shows how a small busi- 
 ness, shrewdly commenced and skilfully 
 prosecuted, will ordinarily lead to com- 
 petence, if not to afliuence. The same 
 good sense manifested by Mr. Brooks 
 in his business affairs was also exhib- 
 ited by him in regard to his daughters 
 when contracting matrimonial alliances. 
 He desired his daughters especially to 
 select wise and good husbands, rather 
 than heartless and brainless shadows 
 of manhood, though possessed of 
 wealth. In illustration of this, it may 
 be mentioned that Rev. Nathaniel L. 
 Frothingham, D.D., Hon. Edward Eve- 
 rett, and Hon. Charles Francis Adams, 
 
50 
 
 COMMERCIAL AKD BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 son of John Quincy Adams, were his 
 sons-in-law. Although Mr. Brooks did 
 not receive an university education, yet 
 his attainments were better than many 
 who had enjoyed those advantages. 
 As a man of business he had not a su- 
 perior ; and in the social relations of 
 life, he was an accomplished Christian 
 gentleman. 
 
 Thomas H. Perkins, Merchant, of 
 Boston. 
 
 Mr. PERKms was one of the most 
 sagacious, enterprising, and successful 
 of Boston merchants, of which city he 
 was a native. Colonel Perkins, as he 
 was uniformly called, had two brothers, 
 James and Samuel, both merchants. 
 James, who died about the year 1825, 
 and left a large fortune, was a liberal 
 patron of the Boston Athenaeum. Sam- 
 uel acquired a fortune ; but afterward 
 incurred such heavy losses, that for 
 many years he derived his chief sup- 
 port from a salary as President of the 
 Suffolk Insurance Company. Colonel 
 Perkins had three sisters, one of whom 
 was the mother of John P. Cushing, 
 the well-known millionnaire, who accu- 
 mulated a large fortune in China ; one 
 was the wife of Benjamin Abbott, 
 LL.D., for fifty years the celebrated 
 principal of Phillips Academy, Exetej-, 
 ISr. H. ; and the third sister was the 
 mother of the philanthropic Captain 
 Forbes, who commanded the James- 
 town on her mission of benevolence to 
 famished Ireland, in the year 1847. 
 
 Colonel Perkins commenced his com- 
 mercial career in partnership with his 
 elder brother, James, who was a resi- 
 dent of St. Domingo, when the insur- 
 rection occurred in that island, and 
 was then compelled to flee for liis life. 
 They afterward embarked in the trade 
 to the Northwest coast, Canton and 
 Calcutta, in which they acquired great 
 wealth. Soon after the death of his 
 brother James, Colonel Perkins retired 
 from active business. The Perkins 
 family gave over sixty thousand dol- 
 
 lars to the Boston Athenaeum. For 
 more than sixty years was Colonel 
 Perkins identified with the commercial 
 history of Boston ; and for a quarter 
 of a century, or more, by common con- 
 sent, occupied a prominent position as 
 the leading merchant of New England. 
 
 Among" the many incidents of his 
 life, which mark and illustrate his pri- 
 vate character, is the part he took in 
 the erection of the Bunker Hill Monu- 
 ment, and the donation of his elegant 
 estate for the use of the Boston Institu- 
 tion for the Blind. He was also, in 
 1827, the projector of the Quincy rail- 
 way, the first enterprise of the kind in 
 the United States. Subsequently, he 
 was much interested in urging forward 
 the completion of the "Washington 
 Monument ; and was also the largest 
 contributor to the Boston Mercantile 
 Library Association. But his chief 
 pleasure was derived from his free and 
 constant private charities. His full 
 heart kept his full hand always open. 
 
 Colonel Perkins visited Europe sev- 
 eral times, and, while in Paris, on one 
 of these tours, participated, with anoth- 
 er Bostonian, in the pleasure of libera- 
 ting from the conscription, George 
 Washington, the eldest son of the Mar- 
 quis de Lafayette. His last visit to 
 Europe was made when in his seventy- 
 seventh year ; and it has been asserted 
 that no American, occupying a private 
 station, has been treated with such 
 marked attention by the nobility and 
 gentry of Great Britain, as was Colonel 
 Perkins. He was not simply a talented 
 merchant, but his taste led him to the 
 study and to the advancement of litera- 
 ture, the sciences, and the arts. He 
 died at Boston, in January, 1854, at the 
 age of eighty-nine years, leaving a for- 
 tune of nearly two millions. 
 
 Jonathan Goodhue, Merchant, of 
 New York. 
 
 This eminent and excellent merchant 
 was a native of Massachusetts, having 
 been bom in Salem, June 21, 1783. 
 
EARLY CAREER OF BUSINESS CELEBRITIES. 
 
 His father, Hon. Benjamin Goodhue, 
 represented the State of Massachusetts 
 in the United States Senate, two suc- 
 cessive terms. Jonathan received his 
 education at the village grammar 
 school, and diligently improved the 
 opportunities of educational advance- 
 ment there afforded him, until, at the 
 age of fifteen, he became a clerk of that 
 excellent man and distinguished mer- 
 chant, John Norris, of Salem. After 
 serving in this capacity a few years, his 
 employer sent him to Arabia, as super- 
 cargo, touching at the Cape of Good 
 Hope and the Isle of France, and re- 
 maining some six months at Aden, Ara- 
 bia, carrying on trade with the Moham- 
 medans. Subsequently to this he went, 
 in the same capacity, on a voyage to 
 Calcutta. 
 
 In 1807, at the age of twenty-four, 
 Mr. Goodhue removed to New York, 
 and there commenced his successful 
 career as an extensive, high-minded 
 and opulent merchant, under the p-at- 
 ronage of his former friend, Mr. Norris, 
 together with such men as William 
 Gray, of Boston, Joseph Peabody, of 
 Salem, and others of kindred stamp in 
 that section of the country ; and one 
 of his warmest friends in his newly 
 chosen sphere of commercial operations 
 was the late Archibald Gracie. 
 
 As soon as the peace of 1814 came 
 with its blessings upon the country, 
 Mr. Goodhue greatly extended his busi- 
 ness, comprising voyages to almost all 
 parts of Europe, the East Indies, Mexi- 
 co, South America, etc. And such was 
 the method which characterized Mr. 
 Goodhue's business transactions, that, 
 notwithstanding the long period cov- 
 ered by his career, and the consequent 
 multiplicity and importance of the po- 
 litical and other events affecting com- 
 mercial interests during that period, his 
 credit remained unimpaired throughout 
 the whole. 
 
 In his intellectual qualities, Mr. Good- 
 hue was distinguis'lied for simplicity, 
 clearness and strength, and his love of 
 
 acquiring information from books and 
 intelligent acquaintances. He was an 
 unflinching Federalist, and an advocate 
 of the doctrine of free trade, — differing 
 of course, in these respects, from the 
 great body of his associates through life. 
 But that he entertained these views of 
 political and commercial policy con- 
 scientiously, no one ever for a mopient 
 doubted. The same quality of con- 
 scientious uprightness may be said to 
 have shone conspicuously in all his 
 personal, public, and business dealings. 
 His tastes, too, were simple, and thus 
 the affluence to which he attained was 
 never accompanied by pride or extrava- 
 gance ; and though he shunned noto- 
 riety, he was always ready to fill those 
 positions of philanthropic or financial 
 trust in which he could be of benefit to 
 his fellow-men, — a feeling which was 
 illustrated by his long and honorable 
 connection with some of the most im- 
 portant institutions in his adopted city. 
 Mr. Goodhue died at the age of six- 
 ty-five years. Immediately after this 
 event, a letter was found, written by Mr. 
 Goodhue to his family, and in which, 
 — with many other things equally char- 
 acteristic of the goodly simplicity of 
 his character, — he says : " In reference 
 to the closing scene in this world, I 
 wish to express my desire that there 
 be no parade connected with the funeral 
 performances. It would be my desire 
 that none but the immediate relatives 
 and friends should be called together 
 when the usual religious services should 
 be performed, and that no more than a 
 single carriage should follow the hearse 
 to the cemetery.*' 
 
 Erastus Corning-, Mercliant, of New 
 York. 
 
 In 1807, when but thirteen years of 
 age, Erastus Corning sought and found 
 the opportunity to begin that indus- 
 trious career, which he has so long and 
 so admirably sustained. Troy at that 
 time attracted the attention of many 
 
52 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 of the sagacious men of business of the 
 Eastern States. It seemed by its posi- 
 tion toward the Western and Northern 
 trade, and the facilities for manufacture 
 which clustered near it, to afford a sure 
 recompense for the exercise of business 
 energy ; a result of which the success 
 of the city has justified the prediction. 
 Mr. Coming's relative, Mr. Benjamin 
 Smith, appreciating the character and 
 energy of his nephew, made him the 
 companion of his removal from Nor- 
 wich ; and, as he fixed his abode in 
 Troy, associated him with his business. 
 Mr. Corning here, and then, entered 
 upon that connection with the business 
 of hardware which, with him, has been 
 the progress from a moderate begin- 
 ning to the head and control of the 
 largest establishment in that section of 
 the country. Seven years were passed 
 in Troy. The same kind relative who 
 had initiated him into the duties of a 
 commercial life, accompanied him with 
 his kindness to the last. Strengthened 
 in fortune, and with a business habit 
 which moulded readily to his charac- 
 ter, and which was every day develop- 
 ing the resources of judgment and good 
 sense which distinguished him, he re- 
 moved to Albany — the city the annals 
 of whose prosperity, and, better than 
 that, of whose charities, cannot be dis- 
 sociated from his life. 
 
 The house Mr. Corning entered, when 
 he arrived at Albany, had at its head 
 a remarkable man — a man of the first 
 grade of merchants. John Spencer ex- 
 hibited one of the best specimens of a 
 merchant high in the order of commer- 
 cial integrity. Nor is it strange that 
 out of a house, conducted by such a 
 man, so many fortunes have had origin. 
 Many of those, now giving to various 
 great measures of good the valuable 
 influence of their wealth, as well as 
 their example, traced from the house 
 of John Spencer & Co. their career. 
 On one occasion, Mr. Spencer was at 
 the old Pearl-street House in New 
 York, when that locality was the gath- 
 
 ering place of the merchants of West- 
 ern New York. At the dinner table 
 were collected such men as Christopher 
 Morgan, and those who, like him, led 
 the business of "the West" — a geo- 
 graphical designation applied, at that 
 time, to New York State. The name 
 of a merchant in Albany was mention- 
 ed, and Mr. S^Dencer asked in relation 
 to his solvency and credit. He an- 
 swered instantly : " As good as my 
 own." Returning to Albany, he sent 
 for that man, conversed with him of 
 his afiairs, entered fully into their ac- 
 tual condition, and finding them pre- 
 carious and at peril, assumed the bur- 
 den of his obligations, and placed him 
 beyond cavil or danger. Such was 
 John Spencer's estimate of the worth 
 of a merchant's word, that even his 
 opinion was to be — though at cost and 
 loss — made sound and reliable. 
 
 The young man who, at the age of 
 twenty, came to his establishment, was 
 congenial to such honorable rule, and 
 in two years after his entry to the house 
 he became a partner, and the house of 
 Erastus Corning — sometimes alone, but 
 oftener with partners, giving to the 
 business the same high and earnest di- 
 rection — ^has continued in increasing 
 prosperity, and with a range of busi- 
 ness touching the very verge of the 
 country. But it is to Mr. Corning, as 
 a railway man, that the public eye has 
 for many years been directed, and, so 
 well known is his distinguished career 
 in this sphere, that it would be well- 
 nigh superfluous to attempt, in this 
 place, any delineation of his great and 
 sagacious abilities. 
 
 ArcMbald Gracie, Mercliant, of Now 
 York. 
 
 This distinguished merchant and es- 
 timable man was born at Dumfries, in 
 Scotland, in 1756. He received a mer- 
 cantile education of high order, in a 
 counting house at Liverpool. Among 
 his fellow clerks were three other emi- 
 
EARLY CAREER OF BUSINESS CELEBRITIES. 
 
 53 
 
 nent merchants — the late Mr. Ewart, 
 of the latter place ; Mr. Reid, of Reid, 
 Irving & Co., London ; and Mr. Caton, 
 of Baltimore, who married a daughter 
 of Charles Carroll, of Carrollton. 
 
 IVIr. Gracie came to the United 
 States soon after the peace which con- 
 firmed their independence, and mar- 
 ried Miss Rogers, a sister of the late 
 Moses Rogers Esq., of New York. He 
 established himself first in Virginia ; 
 where, in the year 1796, he was ranked 
 among our first merchants for credit 
 and capital. 
 
 The geographical position of New 
 York did not escape his foresight ; for 
 he early pronounced its destiny to be 
 the commercial emporium of the West- 
 ern "World, and selected that port for 
 the home of his mercantile operations, 
 as well as permanently made it his resi- 
 dence. Here riches flowed in, and 
 honor and usefulness were his rewards 
 for a long term of years. Endowed 
 with rare sagacity and sound sense, to 
 which he added great experience, his 
 commercial enterprises were laid with 
 judgment, and executed with zeal. His 
 signal flag was known in most of the 
 ports of the Mediterranean and the 
 Baltic set(i§, of the Peninsula, in Great 
 Britain and China, and his name was 
 synonymous with credit, probity, and 
 honor. Even the Spanish Government, 
 not usually over-confiding in foreigners, 
 intrusted to him at one time their bills 
 of exchange, drawn on Vera Cruz, to 
 the extent of ten millions of dollars. 
 These bills were brought in a French 
 frigate to New York, in 1806, and Mr. 
 Isaac Bell, who had charge of them, 
 was upset in a boat, and a reward of 
 two hundred dollars was offered to the 
 finder of the trunk which contained 
 them. It was picked up a fortnight 
 after, at Deal Beach, near Long Branch. 
 The bills were dried, and collected in 
 specie by Mr. Gracie and two other 
 distinguished merchants — Mr. Oliver, 
 of Baltimore, and Mr. Craig, of Phila- 
 delphia. 
 
 But a season of reverses came. Em- 
 barrassed by the capture of ships and 
 cargoes, and by the failure of foreign 
 correspondents and domestic debtors — 
 disaster upon disaster befalling the 
 commercial community — his mass of 
 wealth, accumulated by a long life of 
 enterprise and industry, was entirely 
 swept away in the common ruin — a 
 sad verification of the proverb : " Rich- 
 es take to themselves wings and fly 
 away." But he never boasted of 
 them, nor trusted in their continuance. 
 Public confidence had often been mani- 
 fested toward him by appointments to 
 places of trust ; and now his friends, 
 whose esteem he never lost nor for- 
 feited, sought to secure a continuance 
 of his usefulness, and an asylum for his 
 declining years, in the presidency of 
 an insurance company, created for these 
 purposes. But the effect of the blast 
 which had prostrated him was not yet 
 over ; for here again adversity crossed 
 his path, and the hazards of the ocean 
 proved ruinous to the affairs of the office. 
 
 Benevolence and beneficence were 
 the shining characteristics of Mr. Gra- 
 cie. His dwelling was long the man- 
 sion of elegant, unostentatious hospi- 
 tality, and his door never closed against 
 the poor. It is no slight testimonial to 
 his standing and worth, that he re- 
 ciprocated honor in a long and confi- 
 dential intimacy with Alexander Ham- 
 ilton and Gouvemeur Morris. Mr. 
 Gracie died on the 12th of April, 1829, 
 in the seventy-fourth year of his age. 
 
 Thomas P. Cope, Merchant, of 
 Philadelphia 
 
 Mr. Cope, formerly one of the most 
 eminent of Philadelphia merchants, was 
 a native of Lancaster county, Pennsyl- 
 vania, and belonged to a highly re- 
 spectable Quaker family. His ances- 
 tor, Oliver Cope, was one of the first 
 purchasers from William Penn. On 
 the maternal side, Mr. C. descended 
 from the Pyms, who claim as an an- 
 
54 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 cestor the celebrated parliamentarian, 
 John Pym, whose name is connected 
 with that of Strafford. In 1786, he was 
 sent to Philadelphia, and entered a 
 counting house. In 1790, he began 
 business for himself, and built for his 
 own use the store at the corner of Second 
 street and Jones's Alley, then known 
 by the euphonious designation of Pew- 
 ter-Platter Alley. Here he transacted 
 a large business, importing his own 
 goods. In this location he continued 
 until 1807, at which time he built his 
 first ship, which he named for his na- 
 tive county, Lancaster. This same year 
 he was elected to the State Legislature ; 
 and soon afterward he was solicited to 
 accept a nomination for Congress, but 
 preferred to superintend his extensive 
 mercantile concerns. To Mr. Cope was 
 Philadelphia indebted, in 1821, for the 
 establishment of the first regular line 
 of packet ships between that city and 
 Liverpool, England. 
 
 About 1810, Mr. Cope removed his 
 place of business to Walnut street wharf, 
 where his sons now have their counting 
 house, and where their packet ships 
 lie when in port. This place had been 
 remarkable as the scene of misfortune 
 to nearly all its previous occupants, 
 and so marked had the results been, 
 so striking and so uninterrupted, that a 
 dread had been excited in the minds 
 of those the least tinctured with super- 
 stition. It was what was called an 
 " unlucky place," and several of Mr. 
 Cope's friends mentioned to him with 
 some earnestness its bad character in 
 this respect. "Then," said he, with 
 his characteristic uprightness and fear- 
 lessness, " I will try to earn for it a bet- 
 ter name." And although he was a 
 wealthy man before he removed thither, 
 yet that place is identified with his 
 subsequent prosperity. 
 
 As a mercantile man, Mr. Cope was 
 the contemporary and often the rival 
 of Stephen Girard; he was also on 
 terms of intimacy and friendship with 
 that remarkable man. It was another 
 
 proof of Mr. Girard's sagacity, that he 
 selected Mr. Cope to be one of the exe- 
 cutors of his will, and one of the trus- 
 tees of the bank. It happened that 
 after discharging with fidelity the du- 
 ties which his friend and fellow mer- 
 chant had thus devolved upon him, 
 Mr. Cope became, for a time. President 
 of the Board of Commissioners of the 
 Girard Estate. To Mr. Cope, in an 
 eminent degree, may be acceded the 
 praise of bringing to a completion the 
 Chesapeake and Delaware Canal; and 
 the citizens of Philadelphia are not 
 likely soon to forget the promptness 
 and the eflaciency of his efforts to se- 
 cure the construction of the Pennsyl- 
 vania Kailroad. For a long time he 
 was President of the Board of Trade, 
 an active manager of the Pennsylvania 
 Hospital, and was also President of the 
 Mercantile Library Company from its 
 foundation to his death. 
 
 His personal appearance was quite 
 prepossessing ; and not even the weight 
 of eighty years deprived him of a buoy- 
 ancy of spirits that made his company 
 the delight of social gatherings. He 
 died November 22, 1854. 
 
 Jacob Ridgway, Merchant, of 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 Jacob Kidgway, son of John and 
 Phebe Ridgway, of Little Egg Harbor, 
 was bom on the 18th of April, 1768, 
 and was the youngest of five children. 
 His parents were Friends, his father 
 being an elder in the meeting. He was 
 about seven years old when his father 
 died. His father left a good farm, be- 
 sides money at interest, for each of the 
 three sons ; and a small house and lot, 
 with three thousand dollars, to each of 
 the daughters. The family continued 
 to live at the homestead, until the death 
 of the mother, when the household was 
 broken up ; and Jacob, then about six- 
 teen, went to Philadelphia, to live with 
 his eldest sister, whose husband he had 
 chosen as his guardian. His property 
 
EARLY CAREER OF BUSINESS CELEBRITIES. 
 
 65 
 
 was more than sufficient for his main- 
 tenance and education, and aflforded a 
 capital at last for commencing business. 
 
 He studied the wholesale dry goods 
 business in the store of Samuel Shaw, 
 and succeeded him in it as partner with 
 his son, Thomas Shaw. Though only 
 twenty-one, he was highly valued for 
 his business capacity. After a few 
 years he withdrew from this, and went 
 into partnership with his brother-in- 
 law, James Smith, in a grocery, on 
 Water street. They continued this for 
 some time, till, finding their funds in- 
 creasing, they sold out to Joseph Pry- 
 or, and commenced the shipping busi- 
 ness. 
 
 Smith & Ridgway continued as ship- 
 ping merchants with great prosperity 
 until the difficulties between France 
 and England. Their ships were seized ; 
 and it became necessary for one of the 
 firm to reside abroad to protect their 
 property. Mr. Ridgway then removed 
 with his family to London, where he 
 conducted the business of the firm, and 
 also that of other merchants. He spent 
 much time in travelling, but finally 
 settled at Antwerp, as consul for the 
 United States. He there became a 
 partner in the firm of Mertons & Ridg- 
 way, stiU continuing in the firm of 
 
 Smith & Ridgway, of Philadelphia. 
 During this time he constantly sent on 
 funds to be invested in real estate in 
 Philadelphia. On his return, after sev- 
 eral years' absence, he retired from 
 business, finding sufficient employment 
 in the care of his property. 
 
 It is related, as an instance of his de- 
 cision and promptitude, that, while 
 living as consul at Antwerp, he was in- 
 formed of the seizure of a vessel con- 
 signed to his care, the cargo of which 
 was very valuable. Instantly he de- 
 spatched a courier to Paris to order 
 relays of post-horses at the different 
 stations, collected his papers, and trav- 
 elled day and night, eating and sleep- 
 ing in his carriage, until he reached 
 Paris, where he procured an interview 
 with Bonaparte, obtained authenticated 
 papers for the ship's release, and re- 
 turned to Antwerp with the same ra- 
 pidity. Before his absence had been 
 even suspected, and just as the captors 
 were about breaking open the cargo 
 and dividing the spoil, much to their 
 surprise and disappointment, he ap- 
 peared among them and countermand- 
 ed their proceedings, producing his 
 papers, and taking possession of the 
 ship. Mr. Ridgway died in May, 1843, 
 aged seventy-six years. 
 
PART SECOm 
 
 Anecdotes and Incidents of Business Pubsuits nr 
 THEIR Monet Eelations. 
 
PAET SECOI^D. 
 
 Anecdotes and Incidents of Business Pursuits in their Money 
 
 Eelations. 
 
 BANKS, BANKERS, BROKERS, SPECIE, NOTES, LOANS, EXCHANGE, DRAFTS, CHECKS, PUBLIC 
 SECURITIES, AND CURRENCY IN ALL ITS FORMS AND PHASES; WITH JOTTINGS OF THE 
 
 MOST CELEBRATED MILLIONAIRES AND MONEY DEALERS THEIR BUSINESS MODES AND 
 
 CHARACTERISTICS, MAXIMS, COLLOQUIES, ECCENTRICITIES, WIT, AND FINESSE. 
 
 Money in thy purse will ever be in fashion. — Raleigh. 
 Money, as money, satisfies no want, answers no purpose— can bo neither eaten, drank, nor 
 worn.— Laurins. 
 
 It — money— is none of the wheels of trade ; it is the oil -which renders the motion of the wheels 
 more smooth and easy.— Hume. 
 
 . Then would he be a brolver, and draw in 
 Both wares and money, by exchange to win.— Spenser. 
 "Whole droves of lenders crowd the banker's doors.- Dryden. 
 
 Drawing: the Specie. 
 
 There was at one time, in tlie vicinity 
 of Boston, a working man who had 
 saved quite a sum from his earnings, 
 and of this sum he deposited some 
 fifteen hundred dollars in a bank, one 
 of the officers of which was an old 
 acquaintance. After a time, however, 
 the depositor concluded to withdraw 
 his money, stating that he wished gold, 
 as he was to expend it in Maine, and 
 there might be some trouble about bills 
 if he took them. He was informed 
 that the cashier's check would be as 
 good as gold for the purpose, and in 
 case of loss, be more secure, as pay- 
 ment could be stopped. But he desired 
 to have the gold, which was at once 
 counted out to him. The next the 
 bank officers heard of him, he was 
 under arrest, and the following facts 
 were elicited : The story gfbout taking 
 the funds to Maine was simply an 
 excuse for drawing specie. The gold 
 
 had been secreted under the hay in the 
 loft of a stable ; and the man, visiting 
 it in the night, had taken a lantern, 
 the light of which had arrested the 
 attention of another party who watched 
 the movements, supposing the owner 
 of the gold to be an incendiary, and 
 took the man and his bag of double 
 eagles forthwith to the police station 
 house. After considerable parley and 
 protestations of innocence on the part 
 of the supposed culprit, the funds were 
 retained as security for the owner's 
 appearance in the morning. His state- 
 ments concerning his treasure were 
 verified the next day, and he was re- 
 leased. When remonstrated with for 
 his imprudence in mistrusting a sound 
 bank so capriciously, and leaving his 
 money in a place so liable to destruc- 
 tion as a stable, he replied, that he 
 thought that in case the barn was 
 burned, his gold would drop' through, 
 and he could easily find it among th» 
 
60 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 The Great Bankers of tlie World in 
 Kothschild's Parlor. 
 
 In the year 1824, the great bankers 
 of the world met together to combine 
 in the carrying out of a colossal opera- 
 tion for the French government, viz., 
 to convert the state debt from five per 
 cents, to three per cents. 
 
 It was proposed to pay off with a 
 round sum those who were disinclined 
 to exchange their claims which bore 
 five per cent, interest for new three per 
 cent, claims, and to take seventy-five 
 francs for every hundred. The whole 
 of the state debt amounted to 3,066,- 
 783,560 francs ; and as it was shown 
 that only about one third of the state 
 creditors would consent to the conver- 
 sion, a payment in cash of 1,055,556,720 
 francs became necessary. In order to 
 collect this important capital, the whole 
 financial power of England, Holland 
 and France was called into exercise. 
 Invitations in all directions assembled 
 the leaders of the Paris and London Ex- 
 changes — Messrs, Baring Brothers & 
 Co. of London, Brothers Rothschild, 
 and J. Lafitte & Co. of Paris, — to no very 
 difficult task, namely, to arrange in 
 three lists the capitalists of various 
 lands with whom they were connected, 
 especially those of London, Amsterdam, 
 and Paris, at the head of each list being 
 one of themselves. 
 
 These financial magnates sat daily in 
 the parlor of the Brothers Eothschild, 
 and sat the longer because of the inex- 
 haustible eloquence of M. Lafitte, about 
 the advantages to accrue from the con- 
 version and all matters cormected with 
 it, — an eloquence which, as Mr. Baring 
 afterwards remarked, drove them fre- 
 quently into positive impatience. 
 
 The secret plan of the holders of the 
 three per cent, debt was to raise it to 
 eighty, and then to sell it, and so get 
 rid of it. This price would give to 
 buyers an interest of three and one-half 
 per cent. ; and if the portion of the 
 debt to be paid off could not be raised, 
 excepting by new three per cent, pur- 
 
 chasers at eighty, the consequence 
 would be, that the five per cent, before 
 the conversion would be worth the rela- 
 tive price of one hundred and six francs 
 sixty-six and two- thirds, in order to get 
 rid of the corresponding interest. This 
 governed the operations of the London, 
 Frankfort, Amsterdam, and Paris Ex- 
 changes. The capital destined for the 
 conversion, and collected at the com- 
 mon cost of the representatives of the 
 three lists, was estimated at one thou- 
 sand millions. Speculators had con- 
 ceived so favourable an idea of the 
 three per cent, funds to be created — an 
 idea based upon the belief that the 
 undertakers would not bring it into 
 circulation under eighty — ^that buyers 
 were found in Amsterdam and Frank- 
 fort at eighty-one and eighty-two, and 
 even eighty-three and a half. At the 
 same time important sales were made of 
 French five per cent, state paper, at the 
 relative price of from one hundred and 
 six francs sixty-seven, to one hundred 
 and ten. Nothing more was to be had. 
 The project, after much opposition, was 
 sanctioned by the chambers of deputies 
 and peers. For the business world, the 
 consequence of this measure was im- 
 mense losses for all the direct par- 
 takers in the conversion, and for all the 
 first speculators. The five per cents, 
 ran down to ninety-eight francs, and 
 remained fixed at that price for a long 
 time. As people had freely purchased 
 in behalf of the conversion, it became 
 necessary to turn the purchases made 
 on time into money again. 
 
 Of the three chiefs of this celebrated 
 coalition, Messrs. Baring and Lafitte 
 suffered most, because of the immense 
 expense caused by the collection of the 
 thousand millions. But the Roths- 
 childs were splendidly compensated by 
 the sales of the three per cents, at eigh- 
 ty-one and eighty-two, and by the sale, 
 at the same time, of a great quantity 
 of five per cents, at one hundred and 
 four — ^five — and six. As the three per 
 cents, had just been called into exist- 
 
BUSINESS PURSUITS IN THEIR MONEY RELATIONS. 
 
 61 
 
 ence they had nothing to furnish, and 
 they could replace the five per cents, 
 sold at ninety-eight francs. This plan 
 of M. Rothschild was not imparted to 
 the other two who were interested in the 
 conversion, as is always required by the 
 common understanding of a common 
 participation in loss and gain — the two 
 had been outflanked. The unconquer- 
 able aversion which the chief of the 
 Hope house had long felt, to all busi- 
 ness connections with the Rothschilds, 
 was the cause of the Amsterdam firms 
 having no part in the projected con- 
 version, and consequently none in the 
 losses. In the same way the house of 
 Hottinguer & Co. refused any partici- 
 pation in the matter. 
 
 Nicholas Biddle and the Mississippi 
 IJoan. 
 
 To the prudence and clearness which 
 characterized Mr. Biddle's course in the 
 crisis of 1836-7 has been attributed the 
 fact that American credit was saved, 
 and the mercantile interests of the 
 United States preserved from ruin. The 
 gratitude of the commercial houses thus 
 carried through was limitless, and Bid- 
 die was always received with marked 
 attention in New York, and through- 
 out the. States he was hailed as the 
 greatest financier of the day — ^the Sa- 
 viour of Commerce. Perhaps the height 
 to which he was thus elevated made 
 him dizzy, even generating the fancy 
 that his popularity and moneyed in- 
 fluence could lift him to the presi- 
 dential chair. To win the South, he 
 made enormous advances to the cotton 
 planters. His last measure for popu- 
 larity was this : there was no American 
 holder of the whole $5,000,000 to the 
 State of Mississippi. Planters are natu- 
 rally rather backward, and this begat 
 public distrust. Then Biddle took the 
 whole loan, reckoning on his influence 
 and the indorsement of his bank to pro- 
 cure money from the capitalist. When 
 he saw, however, that he had reckoned 
 without Ms host, he determined to offer 
 
 a part of it to Hottinguer & Co., as 
 equivalent for the bank exchanges. 
 The French firm, however, already a 
 little nervous, resolved to get rid of the 
 whole burden, to let the bank paper be 
 protested, and to send back the Missis- 
 sippi paper. What followed is weU 
 known. 
 
 Goldschmid and Baring's Unfortunate 
 Contract— Suicide of the Former. 
 
 Some fifty years ago, the houses of 
 Baring and Goldschmid were contract- 
 ors for a ministerial loan of £14,000,000. 
 But Sir Francis Baring dying, the sup- 
 port of the market was left to his com- 
 panion. The task was difficult, for a 
 formidable opposition had arisen, which 
 required the united energies of both 
 houses to repress, and to meet which 
 one house was inadequate. It was the 
 interest of this opposition to reduce the 
 value of scrip, and it succeeded. Day 
 by day it lowered, and day by day was 
 Mr. Goldschmid's fortune lowered with 
 it. He had about £8,000,000 in his 
 possession ; and with the depression of 
 his fortune his mind grew dispirited 
 and clouded. Another circumstance 
 occurred at this particular moment to 
 increase his embarrassments. Half a 
 million of exchequer bills had been 
 placed in his hands to negotiate for the 
 East India Company; and the latter, 
 fearing the result of the contest going 
 on, claimed the amount. His friends 
 did not rally around him, as might 
 have been expected they would, at such 
 a moment ; and Abraham Goldschmid, 
 dreading a disgrace which his sensi- 
 tive and honorable nature magnified a 
 hundredfold, after entertaining a large 
 dinner party, destroyed himself in the 
 garden of his magnificent residence in 
 Surrey. 
 
 ♦ 
 
 Glances behind the Bank Counter. 
 
 A VERY readable account of some of 
 the inside operations of a provincial 
 bank is given in Chambers' Journal. 
 We commence with " Old Levy," the 
 
62 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 official specie hunter : " Who can this 
 little man be who comes forward, 
 thumping down on the counter those 
 immense bags of silver, and who has a 
 man behind him bringing more?" 
 This is " Old Levy," who collects silver 
 for the bank, when hard pressed for 
 that useful commodity. How he gets 
 it all, or where, nobody cares to know ; 
 there it is. Hard work he must have, 
 and not very great pay, for he receives 
 only half a crown for every hundred 
 pounds of silver he brings. But a very 
 useful appendage to the bank is Mr. 
 Levy, nevertheless. 
 
 There goes the messenger oflf to some 
 branch with a remittance which prob- 
 ably has just been asked for by letter. 
 There seems nothing very particular 
 about him, and yet his non-arrival at 
 the branch to-day would place the re- 
 spectable manager there in a very un- 
 comfortable dilemma. It is curious how 
 little bother is made in sending him 
 off. The manager quietly walks up to 
 him and says laconically : " Ten thou- 
 sand pounds in notes to go to Overdun 
 Branch by next train ; you have twenty 
 minutes." The messenger sends out 
 for a cab, stuffs the little bundle of 
 notes into an inside breastpocket, and 
 away he goes, as unceremoniously and 
 unconcernedly as if he hadn't a penny 
 about him. 
 
 Here comes the little telegraph lad, 
 elbowing his way up to the teller, and 
 pitching his missive imperiously across 
 to him, as if he knew that his busi- 
 ness was of primary consequence, and 
 would be first attended to ; and he is 
 right. The dispatch is opened by the 
 manager, and is from the London bank- 
 ers, where all the bills are payable, — 
 and he thus reads : " Your customer, 
 Robert Banks's bill for three hundred 
 pounds to Hayes & Co., is presented for 
 payment ; we have no advice from you 
 to pay, — shall we do so ? " " Very 
 stupid of Banks," mutters the manager ; 
 but on referring to his account, he finds 
 plenty of funds to meet it ; so the care- 
 
 less friend is sent for, to give the neces- 
 sary check and sanction for correcting 
 his oversight. He comes in very hot, 
 makes all kinds of apologies, and then 
 another little missive is sent to the tele- 
 graph office, addressed to the bank's 
 agents; it contains only the word 
 "Pay," accompanied, however, by a 
 private cipher, known only to the " con- 
 fidentials " in both establishments, and 
 without which no notice would be 
 taken of it. 
 
 Vaults of the Bank of France. 
 
 The silver coin of the Bank of France 
 is heaped up in barrels and placed in 
 spacious cellars, resembling the subter- 
 ranean storehouse of a brewery, «ach 
 tub holding fifty thousand francs, in 
 five-franc pieces, and weighing about 
 six hundred pounds. There are, at 
 times, eight hundred barrels, piled up 
 to the very crown of the arches, and 
 rising much higher than a man's head. 
 The visitor walks through a long alley 
 of these barrels, for some time, until he 
 comes to a large stone-floored apart- 
 ment, wherein are to be seen large square 
 leaden cases, resembling those used at 
 vitriol and sulphuric acid works. Each 
 of these holds twenty thousand bags 
 of one thousand francs, and the whole 
 are soldered up hermetically within the 
 cases — several of these, it appears, not 
 having been opened for nearly forty 
 years, and will probably remain en- 
 tombed one hundred years longer — the 
 last of the stock to be disposed of or 
 dipped into. In these leaden reservoirs 
 the treasure of the Bank of France is 
 kept perfectly dry, and free also from 
 any variation of temperature. The 
 stairs reaching to these regions of Plu- 
 tus are narrow, and admit of only one 
 person at a time, ascending or descend- 
 ing with a candle. This has been ex- 
 pressly contrived for protection and 
 defence from insurgent mobs. In one 
 of the treasure vaults are the precious 
 deposits of the Rothschilds, and other 
 
BUSINESS PURSUITS IN THEIR MONEY RELATIONS. 
 
 63 
 
 wealthy capitalists, left for safety with 
 the bank. 
 
 "Confidence " in Hard Times. 
 
 A LITTLE Frenchman loaned a mer- 
 chant five thousand dollars, when times 
 were good. He called at the counting 
 house on the times becoming " hard," 
 in a state of agitation not easily de- 
 scribed. 
 
 " How do you do ? " inquired the 
 merchant. 
 
 " Sick — very sick," replied monsieur. 
 
 " What is the matter ? " 
 
 " De times is de matter." 
 
 " Betimes f — what disease is that ? " 
 
 " De malaide vat break all de mar- 
 chants, ver much." 
 
 " Ah — the times, eh ? Well, they are 
 bad, very bad, sure enough ; but how 
 do they affect you ? " 
 ■ " Vy, monsieur, I lose de confidence." 
 
 " In whom ? " 
 
 " In everybody." 
 
 " JS'ot in me, I hope ? " 
 
 "Pardonnez moi, monsieur; but I 
 do not know who to trust a, present, 
 when all de marchants break several 
 times, all to pieces." 
 
 " Then I presume you want your 
 money ? " 
 
 " Oui, monsieur, I starve for want 
 of Vargenty 
 
 " Can't you do without it ? " 
 
 " Ko, monsieur, I must have him." 
 
 " You must ? " 
 
 " Oui, monsieur," said little dimity 
 breeches, turning pale with apprehen- 
 sion for the safety of Ms money. 
 
 " And you can't do without it ? " 
 
 " No, monsieur, not von other leetle 
 moment longare." 
 
 The merchant reached his bank book, 
 drew a check on the good old " Con- 
 tinental" for the amount, and handed 
 it to his visitor. 
 
 " Vat is dis, monsieur ? " 
 
 " A check for five thousand dollars, 
 with the interest." 
 
 "Is it bon?" said the Frenchman, 
 with amazement. 
 
 " Certainly." 
 
 " Have you de Vargent in de bank ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 "And is it parfaitement convenient 
 to pay de same ? " 
 
 " Undoubtedly. What astonishes 
 you ? " 
 
 " Yy, dat you have got him in dees 
 times." 
 
 " Oh, yes, and I have plenty more. 
 I owe nothing that I cannot pay at a 
 moment's notice." 
 
 The Frenchman was perplexed. 
 
 "Monsieur, you shall do me von 
 leetle favor, eh ? " 
 
 " With all my heart." 
 
 " Yell, monsieur, you shall keep de 
 Vargent for me some leetle year lon- 
 ger." 
 
 " Why, I thought you wanted it ! " 
 
 " Tout au contraire. I no vant de 
 Vargent. I vant de grand confidence. 
 Suppose you no got de money, den I 
 vant him ver much — suppose you got 
 him, den I no vant him at all. Vous 
 comprenez, eh ? " 
 
 After some further conference, the 
 little Frenchman prevailed upon the 
 merchant to retain the money, and left 
 the counting-house with a light heart, 
 and a countenance very different from 
 the one he wore when he entered. His 
 confidence was restored — he did not 
 stand in need of the money. That's all. 
 
 Pursuit of Specie under DiflELculties. 
 
 An anecdote of a somewhat lively 
 character is given of a Cincinnati bro- 
 ker, who favored the banks of La- 
 fayette, Ind., during a financial excite- 
 ment. The broker had with him about 
 $3,500 in bills on the old State Bank, 
 and some $4,500 on the Bank of the 
 State. He stepped into the latter, and 
 his eye brightened at the prospect of 
 the yellow boys ranged in tempting 
 piles before him, every dollar worth ten 
 per cent, premium. He presented his 
 notes, and the cashier recognizing him 
 as one of the Cincinnati sharks, took up 
 
64 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 a bag of silver specially reserved for 
 sucli chaps, and commenced redeeming 
 one bill at a time. The broker expos- 
 tulated. He wanted gold — offered to 
 make a slight discount; but no, the 
 cashier told him that the notes were 
 worth one hundred cents to the dollar, 
 and he proposed to redeem them in 
 Uncle Sam's currency at that figure. 
 He refused to take the silver, and de- 
 positing the red backs in an old carpet 
 sack that looked as though it could a 
 tale unfold of many a " run," the dis- 
 comfited broker wended his way to the 
 old State Bank. He presented his 
 packages, marked " $3,500," and de- 
 manded the specie. The cashier of this 
 bank promptly put his hook into the 
 broker's nostrils, by setting out a couple 
 of bags filled with dimes and half- 
 dimes. Mr. Broker thus finding "a 
 spider in his cake " here also, turned 
 upon his heel in disgust — if not a bet- 
 ter man, at least better " posted." 
 
 Specie in the Brokers' Windows. . 
 
 It has been said that next to owning 
 gold, the highest pleasure in life is look- 
 ing at it. Acting on this idea; espe- 
 cially in times when specie circulates 
 scantily, knots of people stand, shoul- 
 der to shoulder, at the windows of the 
 exchange brokers, and feast their greedy 
 eyes with gold. 
 
 There it is, spread out in a flat, 
 careless heap, with an ingenious affec- 
 tation of profusion. Looking at it, 
 tossed recklessly on the black velvet, as 
 if thrown out of a shovel, one would 
 hardly think that the owners attached 
 much value to it. Its tempting abund- 
 ance calls up visions of great vaults full 
 of gold in the back office. The display 
 in the window seems but a sample of 
 tons more, which can be heard of by 
 inquiring within. This is a high in- 
 stance of art concealing art. The in- 
 tention of the broker is to express the 
 idea of boundless resources, and he 
 does it. If he arranged the gold in his 
 
 window, in the shape of a cornucopia, 
 or piled it up in little uniform columns, 
 set like the squares of a checker-board, 
 the illusion of untold wealth would at 
 once be dispelled. The gazers on the 
 sidewalk would say, or think, "This 
 is all the gold the man has. He is 
 showing it off to .the best advantage." 
 So it seems that the arrangement of 
 gold in a broker's window, like the 
 tying of a cravat, must be done with a 
 certain studied carelessness, or it will 
 fall short of a perfect success. 
 
 Some brokers, who have investigated 
 the subject with that attention which 
 it deserves, as a legitimate department 
 of the fine arts, obtain an admirable 
 effect by scattering twenty-dollar gold 
 pieces carelessly at the bottom of the 
 heap, barely allowing the milled edge 
 of the ground periphery to stick out 
 from the mass of smaller coins above 
 and around. The sidewalk man recog- 
 nizes the sublime double eagle of the 
 national currency at once. Perhaps he 
 owned one like it years ago — or, more 
 probably, he was slightly acquainted 
 with some other man that once had 
 one. At any rate, he has seen a twenty- 
 dollar gold piece somewhere before, 
 and its majestic outline is stamped upon 
 his memory. From seeing these double 
 eagles peeping out here and there, 
 among the sprawling mass of coins, he 
 derives, by a natural logical process, an 
 impression of Ophirs and Golcondas 
 within, which ten times the number 
 of the same huge unattainable pieces 
 would fail to create, if geometrically 
 adjusted in cylindrical piles. 
 
 lioss of Bank Notes. 
 
 The old Bank of the United States 
 was chartered in 1791, and continued 
 in active business operation during a 
 period of twenty years. Its circulation 
 never exceeded twenty millions. In 
 1823, by decree of court, the trustees 
 of the bank were formally released from 
 any obligation to redeem outstanding 
 
BUSINESS PURSUITS IN THEIR MONEY RELATIONS. 
 
 65 
 
 bills, as twelve years had elapsed from 
 the expiration of the charter ; and no- 
 tice, by public advertisements, had 
 been widely sjjread for seven years, — 
 sufficient to meet almost every ordi- 
 nary case, it would seem. The notes 
 then unredeemed amounted to the large 
 sum of $205,000. A fund of five thou- 
 sand dollars was reserved for instances 
 of peculiar hardship that might in fu- 
 ture turn up ; but the whole presented 
 did not exceed eleven hundred dollars, 
 of which the greater part was in the 
 hands of an invalid revolutionary sol- 
 dier, and liquidated in 1835. A note 
 of ten dollars, however, was redeemed 
 a short time since. 
 
 Lafltte in a Tight Place. 
 
 The ancient and close connection 
 between the banking houses of Lafitte 
 of Paris and Coutts & Co. of London, 
 who were intrusted with the wealth of 
 the highest and richest nobles in Eng- 
 land, had brought into their hands an 
 immense capital, belonging to English 
 travellers in France and Italy. Many 
 of the travellers had settled in those 
 countries, leaving their money in La- 
 fitte's hands. 
 
 It was the common calculation, that 
 fifty thousand Englishmen were living 
 in France; and that if each were to 
 spend but ten francs a day, fifteen mil- 
 lions of francs a month, and one hun- 
 dred and eighty millions a year, of 
 English gold, would be spent in 
 France. It is evident, that if one-third 
 of these people, or even fewer, were to 
 leave their funds in Lafitte's hands, it 
 would make up a capital far beyond 
 the need of his banking business, and 
 so his own capital might be untouched. 
 But, in order to make it lucrative, La- 
 fitte had loaned it on mortgages of 
 every sort, had invested it in factories, 
 had bought real estate, forests, etc., so 
 that it was no longer of use in his busi- 
 ness, but the foreign capital served for 
 his operations. The Julv revolution 
 5 
 
 alarmed most of the English in France ; 
 they departed, and drew their money 
 from the banker. This emigration be- 
 came stronger every day, and emptied 
 the portfolios and chests of the house. 
 
 For the first time^ tJie credit of the 
 mightiest FreTich lanMng house mm 
 shaken^ and their embarrassment was 
 notorious. Then the new king, Louis 
 Philippe, came to the help of his friend 
 Lafitte, who had greatly contributed 
 to his elevation, and bought of him the 
 part of the forest of St. Germain which 
 he owned, for the sum of nine millions 
 of francs. Even this heli?, however, 
 was not needed, for the storm soon 
 blew over. 
 
 Ouvrard the Banker, and Napoleon. 
 
 Napoleon once sent for Ouvrard the 
 banker, ostensibly on diplomatic busi- 
 ness. After a brief interview, Napoleon 
 said: 
 
 " Can you give me any money ? " 
 
 " How much does your imperial ma- 
 jesty require ? " was Ouvrard's answer. 
 
 " To begin with," said the emperor, 
 " fifty millions of francs." 
 
 " I could get that amount within 
 twenty days, in return for five millions 
 Kente," (of which the price was more 
 than fifty-three francs,) "to be given 
 me at fifty francs, and under the condi- 
 tion that the treasury shall pay Dou- 
 merc, whose creditor I am, the fifteen 
 millions it owes him." 
 
 The agreement was at once con- 
 cluded, and the terms drawn upon the 
 spot, by a secretary of the emperor, the 
 latter dictating every word, and sign- 
 ing the paper with his own hand. 
 Napoleon, who had made himself fully 
 acquainted with the condition of the 
 public credit on the Paris Bourse, him- 
 self doubted the success of this propo- 
 sition of Ouvrard's; but when the 
 great banker continued, for seventeen 
 days, to pay in two millions of francs 
 daily to the treasury. Napoleon could 
 scarcely master his astonishment. This , 
 
66 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 was, perhaps, the first time that he, who 
 had never known any other way of fill- 
 ing the treasury than by contributions 
 from the countries he overran, and the 
 taxation of his own subjects, formed a 
 correct idea of the power of credit. 
 
 liearning- the Currency in a Small 
 » Way. 
 
 Of all the close dealers among us, the 
 Dutchmen live on the least, and shave 
 the closest. It is astonishing how soon 
 they learn our currency. A good thing 
 occurred, however, in this connection, 
 with the keeper of a small lager bier 
 saloon, in a certain neighborhood, who 
 undertook to teach his assistant, a 
 thick-headed sprout of "Faderland," 
 the difierence between " fivepence " and 
 " sixpence." 
 
 "Yah!" said John, with a dull 
 twinkle of intelligence. 
 
 A wag of a loafer, who overheard the 
 lecture, immediately conceived the idea 
 of a " saw " and " lager bier " gratis, for 
 that day at least. Procuring a three 
 cent piece, he watched the departure 
 of the " boss," and going up to John, 
 he called for a mug of " bier," throwing 
 down the coin, and looking as if he ex- 
 pected the change. John, who remem- 
 bered his recent lesson, took up the 
 piece, and muttering to himself, " Mit- 
 out de vomans — 'tish von sixpence," 
 he handed over three coppers change. 
 
 How often the aforesaid was drank 
 that day, we know not ; it depended 
 upon his thirst and the number of times 
 he could exchange three coppers for 
 three-cent pieces; but when the boss 
 came home at night, the number of 
 small coin astonished him. 
 
 "Yat ish dese, John; you take so 
 many ? " 
 
 " Sixpence," replied John, with a pe- 
 culiarly satisfied leer. 
 
 " Sixpence I Dunder and Blitzen ! 
 You take all dese for sixpence ? Who 
 from ? " 
 
 "De manumit peard like Kossuth; 
 he dhring all day mit himself." 
 
 " Der teufel ! You give him change 
 every time ? " 
 
 "Y-a-h," said John, with a vacant 
 stare. 
 
 " Der teufel catch de Yankees ! " was 
 all the astonished Dutchman could say. 
 
 Punch's Money Vag-aries. 
 
 The early Italians, says "Punch," 
 used cattle as currency, instead of coin ; 
 and a person would sometimes send for 
 change for a thousand-pound bullock, 
 when he would receive twenty fifty- 
 pound sheep ; or, perhaps, if he wanted 
 'cery small change, there would be a 
 few lambs among them. The incon- 
 venience of keeping a flock of sheep at 
 one's bankers, or paying in a short- 
 horned heifer to one's private accomit, 
 led to the introduction of 'bullion. 
 
 As to the unhealthy custom of 
 " sweating sovereigns," it may be well 
 to recollect that Charles the First was, 
 perhaps, the earliest sovereign who Was 
 sweated to such an extent, that his im- 
 mediate successor, Charles the Second, 
 became one of the " lightest sovereigns " 
 ever known in England. 
 
 Formerly every gold watch weighed 
 so many " carats," from which it became 
 usual to call a silver watch a " tur- 
 nip." 
 
 " Troy weight " is derived from the 
 extremely " heavy " responsibility which 
 the Trojans were under to their credi- 
 tors. 
 
 The Eomans were in the habit of 
 tossing up their coins in the presence 
 of their legions, and if a piece of money 
 went higher than the top of the en- 
 sign's flag, it was pronounced to be 
 " above the standard." 
 
 Banking: Hahits of Girard. 
 The habits characterizing Mr. Girard's 
 attention to business were extremely 
 regular in his counting room, and gen- 
 erally so in the bank, but not always. 
 On discount days, he almost invariably 
 

 ^l^fil 
 
 '^31 JS G JF- 
 
 /^ 
 
 <y 
 
 //>/--' /v' -1-^^ ,.^/y^^^J, "i^ 
 
 .\i...-ntan»..nl<Xolfr<.AV«-V..rl, 
 
BUSINESS PURSUITS IN THEIR MONEY RELATIONS. 
 
 67 
 
 entered tlie bank between nine and 
 eleven o'clock during tlie short days 
 of winter, and six and nine during the 
 summer months ; he immediately pro- 
 ceeded to the despatch of business, and 
 would then drive to his farm — for 
 which purpose he would order his horse 
 and chair to the bank at the exact hour 
 that he calculated to finish his business. 
 This routine he generally followed up, 
 unvaryingly, throughout the whole year, 
 never deterred by the inclemency of the 
 weather or other circumstances. 
 
 During the first years of the existence 
 of his bank, his visits, except on dis- 
 count days, could not be calculated 
 upon, but at a later day, as the course of 
 trade induced him to abstract more of his 
 capital from commerce, the pleasure he 
 took in his banking and financial ope- 
 rations seemed to increase, and he then 
 seldom failed to examine his balance 
 sheet every day, and " bleed " some of 
 the debtor banks of their specie. In 
 this latter operation, however, it is 
 claimed for him that he was never ac- 
 tuated by any spirit of envy or hostili- 
 ty, but exclusively by the broad and 
 fair principle of equitable competition 
 — to keep down the balances due him 
 to a sum corresponding to the resources 
 of character of the debtor bank, as well 
 as to- check that spirit of too liberal 
 discounting, by which they often ex- 
 tended their business beyond the just 
 proportion of their specie responsibili- 
 ty, and the ability of their capitals. 
 
 From the peculiar nature of a private 
 institution like Girard's, the harvest of 
 his business was during a scarcity of 
 money in the market, or a scarcity of spe- 
 cie among the banks. His deposits bore 
 no proportion to his capital, but his 
 specie responsibility always far exceed- 
 ed, even in a compound ratio, that of 
 other institutions; so that, when the 
 State banks began to curtail, Girard's 
 bank began to extend discounts, and 
 this he always did to the utmost limits 
 of a sound discretion, but never to the 
 extent of his ability. He never seemed 
 
 to evince any great anxiety as to the 
 small or large amount of applications for 
 discounts. If the offerings were limit- 
 ed, he was content to keep his surplus 
 funds, and draw specie from the other 
 banks, to stock his vaults for emergen- 
 cies. If they were ample, he discounted 
 freely, and paid away the specie he had 
 before been employed in gathering. In 
 this respect, he seemed to have as much 
 elasticity of mind, as he was distin- 
 guished by eccentricity of conduct; 
 and, like a true philosopher, was al- 
 ways prepared for the loss or the profit 
 that happened to him. 
 
 When the State passed an act pro- 
 hibiting individuals from discounting 
 notes, as bankers, he altered his books 
 as they stood, and his system, from that 
 of discount to loaning operations — giv- 
 ing the customer full credit for the 
 whole amount of the note, and the in- 
 terest charged against him, as a check 
 drawn. 
 
 Timely Hard-Money Loan. 
 Egbert Momiis's financial benefits 
 rendered to our country were equal m im- 
 portance, as affecting the great issue in- 
 volved, to the military exploits of some 
 of the ablest generals, in the conflict 
 then waged. At one time, the public 
 safety absolutely demanded a certain 
 sum of hard money, and information 
 of this demand was sent to Mr. Monis, 
 in the hope that, through his financial 
 credit, the money might be obtained. 
 The communication reached him at his 
 office, on his way from which to his 
 dwellmg-house, immediately afterward, 
 he was met by a merchant of the So- 
 ciety of Friends, with whom he was in 
 habits of business and acquaintance, 
 and who accosted him with his accus- 
 tomed phrase, " "Well, Robert, what 
 news ? " " The news is," said Mr. Mor- 
 ris, " that I am in immediate want of a 
 sum of hard money " — mentioning the 
 amount — " and that you are the man 
 who must procure it for me. Your se- 
 curity is to be my note of hand and my 
 
68 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 honor." After a short hesitation, the 
 quaker gentleman replied, " Robert, 
 thou shalt have it," and by the punc- 
 tual performance of his promise, the 
 great public exigency was met. 
 
 liOg-ic of Specie Payments. 
 
 A PECiJLiAE. circumstance once occur- 
 red in Mr. Eothschild's dealings with 
 the Bank of England, in which the lat- 
 ter may be said to have been essentially 
 outwitted by his superior finesse. Mr. 
 Rothschild was in want of bullion, and 
 went to the governor of the bank to 
 procure on loan a portion of their super- 
 fluous store. His wishes were met ; the 
 terms were agreed on ; the period was 
 named for its return; and the affair 
 finished for the time. The gold was 
 used by the financier, his end was an- 
 swered, and the day arrived on which 
 he was to return the bon*owed metal. 
 Punctual to the time appointed, Mr, 
 Rothschild entered, and those who 
 know anything of his personal appear- 
 ance may imagine the cunning twinlde 
 of his small, quick eye, as, ushered into 
 the presence of the governor, he handed 
 the borrowed amount in bank notes. 
 He was reminded of his agreement, and 
 the necessity for bullion was urged. 
 His reply was worthy a commercial 
 Talleyrand: "Very well, gentlemen. 
 Give me the notes ! I dare say your 
 cashier will honour them with gold 
 from your vaults, and then I can return 
 you bullion." To such a speech the 
 only worthy reply was a scornful si- 
 lence. 
 
 Roman Money Lenders. 
 The Roman money lenders had no 
 newspaper in which they could tempt- 
 ingly advertise " advances to gentlemen 
 on personal security " — after the mod- 
 em fashion ; but they could stand in 
 the Forum, and offer their shining coin 
 to the passers-by — a more beguiling 
 lure to ruin perhaps, in the case of the 
 heedless, than an advertisement. What 
 
 spendthrift could resist the sight and 
 convenient form of the yellow metal, or 
 hear the clink thereof unmoved ? No 
 stairs to mount — no grim clerk to face 
 — no " sweating room " to be ushered 
 into, — the money amiably and inviting- 
 ly thrust under his very nose ! They had 
 a thriving business, those Roman money 
 lenders ; legal interest was one per cent, 
 per month— and the rest thei/ knew 
 about. The penalties, too, of non-pay- 
 ment, were such, in those times, as make 
 a very paradise of all modern Botany 
 Bays. 
 
 Disinterested Brokers. 
 
 What would the British Government 
 do without its broker? There never 
 is a difficulty in the money market but 
 he disinterestedly comes forward, bear- 
 ing his offers of relief, and spends his 
 fifteen or twenty thousand pounds with 
 no more concern than a school boy 
 would drop his halfpenny at the near- 
 est apple stand. This he does, not 
 merely one day, or a couple of days, but 
 will go on generously buying for weeks 
 and weeks together. 
 
 He is the financial physician to the 
 State, and no sooner does Government 
 feel a little tightness in its chest, than 
 with the benevolence of a Rothschild 
 himself, he is ready to relieve it by im- 
 mediately applying for an investment, 
 — the happy application of which to 
 the part affected, enables the patient to 
 exclaim with as much saltatory glee as 
 the dressing-gowned invalid in George 
 Cruikshank's pictorial advertisement, 
 " Ha ! ha ! Cured in an instant ! " 
 
 He is the best friend that Madam 
 Bank, the aged lady in Threadneedle 
 street,, ever had, and, supposing that 
 elderly dame ever took it into her head 
 to marry, it would be no matter of 
 wonder that the government broker 
 should prove to be the object of her 
 affection. 
 
 His wealth must be somethiijg enor- 
 mous, considering the amount he spends 
 in the course of a twelvemonth ; and 
 
BUSINESS PURSUITS IN THEIR MONEY RELATIONS. 
 
 69 
 
 his frugality must be almost as great as 
 his wealth, for it is noticed that he 
 never buys for any other purpose than 
 that of paying into the savings banks. 
 He must make money very fast, too, or 
 else has an enormous " ready cash" busi- 
 ness, that brings him in thousands every 
 week throughout the whole year, inas- 
 much as it is a stereotyped fact that the 
 government broker limits his operations 
 generally to buying — for he is rarely 
 caught selling. This is a proof of the 
 sure principle upon which he always 
 conducts his business, and the conse- 
 quence is, that the interest w^hich ac- 
 cnies is invariably not less sure than the 
 principal. 
 
 Counting- House Dinners. 
 A CHARACTERISTIC anecdote is told 
 of Girard, which shows that he was not 
 disposed to permit his appetite to inter- 
 fere with his business. A merchant 
 had made a large purchase of him ; and 
 after waiting some time for Mr. Girard 
 to send for his notes, and not residing 
 far off, he carried his receipt book and 
 waited upon Mr. Girard to pay ];iim. 
 As he entered his counting room, he 
 found Girard at dinner, making his re- 
 past upon biscuit and cheese, from a 
 small pine table, the drawer of which, 
 as the merchant entered, Girard opened, 
 and with a broad, oflf-hand sweep of his 
 right arm, brushed in the fragments of 
 his simple meal — thus consulting not 
 only the economy of money, but the 
 economy of time. It is not supposed 
 but that the "fragments" were made 
 to serve a prudent purpose at another 
 time. 
 
 Securing" Trustworthy Bank OflBLoers 
 and Safety of Capital. 
 
 Credit, respectability, reputation, 
 rank, and religious exterior having 
 been proved to be no pledge for the 
 probity of bankers, the public have be- 
 come very anxious to be informed of 
 some definite criterion, by which they 
 shall be assured of the trustworthiness 
 
 of those in whose keeping they intrust 
 the whole, or most, of their money. 
 
 Since, then, the grounds of confi- 
 dence in bankers above enumerated are 
 not to be depended upon, the gentle- 
 man in search of a banker is reduced, 
 by a process of utter exhaustion, to re- 
 sort, for guidance in his momentous in- 
 quiry, to physiognomical indications, 
 but of these the only scientific basis is 
 the system of phrenology. 
 
 This consideration has suggested the 
 formation of a new joint-stock bank, to 
 be entitled the " Phrenological Bank- 
 ing Company," the directors to con- 
 sist of individuals whose heads are all 
 highly developed in the moral and in- 
 tellectual regions. No doubt can be 
 entertained of the soundness of the 
 principles on which a bank would be 
 conducted by gentlemen of fine emboss- 
 ments laying their heads together. 
 
 Casts of the heads of the directors 
 and other officers of the bank are to be 
 exhibited for public inspection in the 
 bank windows facing the street, and 
 another set of them will be on view 
 within, open, on application, to all par- 
 ties desirous of taking shares, or de- 
 positing money with the company. 
 
 As most persons, however, are but 
 imperfectly acquainted with practical 
 phrenology,— in order to facilitate the 
 examination of the development of the 
 directors, casts of the heads of the most 
 noted villains will be placed in juxta- 
 position with them, for the sake of con- 
 trast or comparison. The criminal 
 heads will include those of bankers 
 most recently convicted and therefore 
 most familiar to the public, and, if pro- 
 curable, those also of directors who 
 have eluded justice. 
 
 The casts of the heads of the direc- 
 tors of this new bank are to be dupli- 
 cated, and kept on sale at all the prin- 
 cipal image shops, and at the bank it- 
 self. It is submitted that this pro- 
 vision for the publicity of the constitu- 
 tion of the establishment will be far 
 more satisfactory than an ordinary ad- 
 
10 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 vertisement of the heads of a banking 
 association. 
 
 It cannot have escaped the notice of 
 many persons, that bankers are very apt 
 to be bald. This fact looks almost like 
 a provision of nature for assisting ob- 
 servation so extremely important as 
 that of the moral organization of a 
 banker ; and it is not unworthy of re- 
 mark, that " conscientiousness," and all 
 the other organs of the virtues, are seat- 
 ed at the crown of the head. 
 
 Pecuniary particulars are to be an- 
 nounced when a certain number of sub- 
 scribers shall have come forward; all 
 that is precisely stated at present con- 
 cerning the resources of the company 
 being, that it is composed of capitalists 
 with capital heads, and that the ser- 
 vices of Mr. Bumpass have been secur- 
 ed as provisional manager. 
 
 Novel Securities for Loans. 
 
 The great banking house of Strahan, 
 Paul & Bates, of London, came to a 
 sudden and ignominious end, some 
 years ago, on its becoming known that 
 they had been guilty of disposing of 
 securities intrusted to them as bankers, 
 by their customers, for safe keeping, and 
 for their use, but which they had ap- 
 propriated to their own, — one of the 
 highest criminal oflFences in England, 
 and which was formerly punishable 
 with death. The name of this firm was 
 originally Snow & Walton. It was one 
 of the oldest, wealthiest, and most hon- 
 ored banking houses in London, second 
 only to Child & Co., who date from 
 1640. At the period of the Common- 
 wealth, Snow & Co. carried on the busi- 
 ness of pawnbrokers, under the sign of 
 the " Golden Anchor." The firm, about 
 the year 1679, suspended its payments, 
 in common with most of the London 
 bankers, owing to the circumstance of 
 the seizure of their money by that 
 most profligate and unprincipled ruler, 
 Charles the Second. On an examina- 
 tion of the books of Strahan & Co., ren- 
 
 dered necessary by their failure, one 
 was discovered of the date of 1672, 
 which clearly shows that the mode of 
 keeping accounts in those days was in 
 decimals. It is also stated as a curious 
 fact, in respect to the nature and quali- 
 ty of the articles pledged by the elite 
 at the loan houses of that period (com- 
 prising some of a domestic as well as 
 rather comical character), that one of 
 the entries in the books in question 
 runs thus: "March 10, 1673. To 
 
 fifteen pounds lent to Lady , on the 
 
 deposit of a golden pot de clmfrihrey 
 The blank, it is said, might be filled up 
 with an existing Scotch title. 
 
 Pawning- Money in Ireland. 
 
 The fund of Irish anecdotes will 
 probably never be so much drawn upon, 
 but that there will be one left. Among 
 a portion of the people of Galway, so 
 little is the commercial value of money 
 known, that they are constantly in the 
 habit of pawning it. A traveller visit- 
 ing that place, having been informed 
 of the fact, was so incredulous as to its 
 truth, that he went to a pawnbroker's 
 shop to satisfy himself in regard to it. 
 On asking the question, the shopman 
 said it was quite a common thing to 
 have money pawned, and he produced 
 a drawer containing a £10 Bank of Ire- 
 land note, pawned six months ago, for 
 ten shillings ; . a thirty shilling note of 
 the National Bank, pawned for ten shil- 
 lings ; a thirty shilling Bank of Ireland 
 note, pawned for one shilling ; a £1 
 Provincial Bank note, pawned for six 
 shillings ; and a guinea, in gold, of the 
 reign of George the Third, pawned for 
 fifteen shillings, two months ago. Any- 
 thing more blindly ignorant and ab- 
 surd than this, it is scarcely possible to 
 conceive. The £10 bank note would 
 produce six shillings and sixpence in- 
 terest in the year, if jjut into the sav- 
 ings bank, while the owner, who pledg- 
 ed it for ten shillings, will have to pay 
 two shillings and sixpence a year for 
 
BUSINESS PURSUITS IN THEIR MONEY RELATIONS. 
 
 71 
 
 the ten sliillings, and lose the interest 
 on his £10 ; in other words, he will pay 
 ninety per cent, through ignorance, for 
 the use of ten shillings, which he might 
 have for nothing, and realize besides, 
 some five or six shillings for the use of 
 his nine pounds ten shillings. The 
 keeper of the establishment also stated 
 that in many cases money was sold as 
 a forfeited pledge ; that a man would 
 pawn a guinea or fifteen shillings, keep 
 it in pawn till the interest amounted to 
 three or four shillings, and then abso- 
 lutely and doggedly refuse to redeem it. 
 
 Business Aspect and Conduct of the 
 Richest Banker in the World. 
 
 At all times in the haunts of busi- 
 ness, and especially on 'change, Nathan 
 Rothschild was a marked object. There 
 he stood, day after day, leaning against 
 his pillar on the right hand, entering 
 from Cornhill. He was a monarch on 
 'change ; and the pillar in question may 
 be said to have been his throne — but in 
 his case a solid one of granite. No 
 consideration would induce him to do 
 business anywhere else, so devotedly 
 attached was he to that particular spot. 
 There, with his back resting against 
 the pillar, and with note book in hand, 
 he was always to be seen, during the 
 usual hour of business, entering into 
 transactions of great extent with the 
 merchants and capitalists of all coun- 
 tries. 
 
 Little would a stranger, who chanced 
 to see the money potentate of the world 
 standing on the spot in question, have 
 fancied from his personal appearance, 
 what an important influence he exerted 
 on the destinies of Europe. No one 
 could be more unprepossessing than he, 
 —just such a man as the boys in the 
 street would have thought a fine sub- 
 ject for a " lark," unless, indeed, they 
 had been deterred by the lowering ex- 
 pression or sullen aspect of his counte- 
 nance. He. always looked sulky, never 
 indulged in a smile, nor even relaxed 
 the rigidity of his muscles. In private, 
 
 his intimate friends mention that he 
 occasionally made an eflbrt to smile, 
 but never with any marked success, his 
 smiles at best being hardly more than 
 a species of spoiled grin. 
 
 His countenance wore a thoughtful 
 aspect, but his whole appearance was 
 that rather of a stupid, clownish-like 
 farmer of the humbler class. His fea- 
 tures were massy. He had a flat face, 
 its conformation being peculiarly char- 
 acteristic of the faces of the Jewish race 
 of people. His features seemed to be 
 huddled together, without anything 
 like regularity in them. His nose had 
 a good deal of the cock-up form. His 
 mouth was rather large, and his lips 
 thick and prominent. His forehead 
 was of more than an average height, 
 considering the altitude of his face. 
 His hair had something like a darkish 
 hue, and was generally short. His 
 complexion was pale, except where it 
 was slightly tinged with color by the 
 weather. He was short and thick ; 
 though being considerably under the 
 general height, it is possible his pot- 
 belly and corpulent aspect generally, 
 may have made him appear shorter 
 than he really was. He usually was to 
 be seen in a great coat of a dark brown 
 color ; and as he paid but little attention 
 to his personal habiliments, his tailor 
 had no difficult customer to please — 
 that is, in respect to taste and style, 
 though not on the question of price. 
 
 It was one feature in Nathan's con- 
 duct when on 'change, that he never, 
 except when engaged in business, en- 
 tered into any conversation whatsoever 
 with any of the multitude surrounding 
 him. There he stood, apparently as 
 deeply lost in thought, and with as 
 melancholy a countenance, as if he had 
 been alone in the " vast wilderness " of 
 shade referred to by Cowper, or been 
 the "Last Man," described by Camp- 
 bell. Whether his reserve was consti- 
 tutional, or whether it arose from the 
 pride of purse, or whether from the 
 magnitude of the matters which must 
 
72 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 have been ever occupying Ms mind — 
 or from the conjoint operation of these 
 three, — can only be surmised. 
 
 Another Bank Project. 
 
 It has long been a reproach to 
 roguery that it never permanently pros- 
 pers ; a fact which is owing to the im- 
 providence which generally accompanies 
 want of " principle." 
 
 Numerous examples however, in the 
 commercial world, as well as elsewhere, 
 prove that it is possible for a rogue, 
 provided he be prudent, to get on as 
 well as anybody else. And, as organi- 
 zation is as necessary as honor among 
 thieves, an eminent pickpocket has sug- 
 gested the propriety of establishing a 
 Steallngs Bank to be conducted on 
 the principle of a Savings Bank, for the 
 accumulation of the earnings of dishon- 
 est industry, as a provision for the de- 
 predator's declining years. 
 
 The direction of the Stealings Bank 
 is, according to the plan announced, to 
 be vested in a chairman, whose name, 
 for obvious reasons, has not been made 
 public, he being the greatest character 
 in the fraternity concerned. This " gen- 
 tleman "is to be assisted by an unlim- 
 ited number of Vices of the lowest 
 grade. The smallest deposits will be 
 admissible, and plunder in kind will 
 be regarded as an investment, and re- 
 ceive a fair moneyed equivalent — where- 
 by, it is hoped, an end will be put to 
 the extortions of less reputable estab- 
 lishments now so numerous. The bank 
 wiU be open to yards of ribbon and 
 bits of tape, and even to rags and 
 bones. To sharp shop-boys, also, hav- 
 ing access to tills, no less than the foot- 
 pad and highwayman, this institution 
 will be available, and will receive any 
 amount of booty from the smallest 
 theft to the highest burglary, swin- 
 dling, or forgery transaction. 
 
 No distinction is contemplated be- 
 tween common thieves, sharpers, Funks 
 and pickpockets, and those engaged in 
 
 mercantile and financial pursuits, or 
 speculators in Government and other 
 official situations ; and thus, to all dis- 
 honestly-disposed persons holding pub- 
 lic or private berths of trust, the Steal- 
 ings Bank holds out peculiar tempta- 
 tions and facilities. Magistrates' clerks 
 likewise, and officers of certain law 
 courts, whose fees come decidedly un- 
 der the head of impositions, will find 
 an apiDropriate recei^tacle for their gains 
 in the proposed Stealings Bank. 
 
 Yankee Hoarding" Specie. 
 
 Now and then some very remarkable 
 cases of specie hoarding come to light. 
 A Boston broker some time ago pur- 
 chased a quantity of coin, of which the 
 history was as follows : The coin was 
 purchased of the heirs of an old man 
 who died in Barnstable county, Mass. 
 He was an old resident of that county, 
 and lived to be ninety-four years old. 
 He was the owner of the house and 
 land which he occupied; but it was 
 not supposed that he had much prop- 
 erty beyond his real estate, although it 
 was known that he was very close and 
 miserly in his habits. After his death, 
 his premises were searched, and specie 
 of various kinds found to the amount 
 of fifty thousand dollars. Many of the 
 Spanish dollars were of ancient date ; 
 but they showed by their color and 
 perfect stamp that they had not cir- 
 culated much since the coinage. The 
 Spanish gold pieces were wrapped in 
 scraps of parchment, on which the value 
 of each was marked ; and the date in- 
 dicated that they had been thus hoard- 
 ed for a long period. In all probabili- 
 ty, a large part of this gold and silver 
 had been in his possession more than 
 half a century. 
 
 Georgre Peabody's Colossal Forttme. 
 
 When all American securities were 
 cast down in the London market, from 
 the unjust confusion of good with bad, 
 
BUSINESS PURSUITS IN THEIR MONEY RELATIONS. 
 
 73 
 
 arising from the repudiation of some of 
 the States, George Peabody made the 
 beginning of that colossal fortune, 
 ■which he has proved he knows so well 
 how to use. He made no secret, in- 
 deed, of the true state of affairs, and 
 publicly as well as privately exerted 
 himself for the maintenance of Ameri- 
 can credit. It was a sort of poetical 
 justice, that rendered the instruments 
 by which he proved to the world his 
 confidence in his assertions, the means 
 of his own exceeding great reward, 
 in a solid pecuniary return. 
 
 California Gold Seventy Years Ag-o. 
 
 In the " Voyage Round the World," 
 by Captain George Shelvocke, begun in 
 1790, he says of California: The soil 
 about Puerto Seguro, and very likely 
 in most of the valleys, is a rich black 
 mould, which, as you turn it fresh up 
 to the sun, appears as if intermingled 
 with gold dust, some of which we en- 
 deavored to purify and wash from the 
 dirt ; but though we were a little preju- 
 diced against the thoughts that it 
 would be possible that this metal 
 should be so promiscuously and uni- 
 versally mingled with the common 
 earth, yet we endeavored to cleanse 
 and wash the earth from some of it ; 
 and the more we did, the more it ap- 
 peared like gold. In order to be fur- 
 ther satisfied, I brought away some 
 of it, which we lost in our confusion in 
 China. 
 
 How remarkably a mere accident 
 thus prevented the available discovery, 
 nearly a century back, of the magnifi- 
 cent harvest of gold since gathered and 
 now gathering in California ! 
 
 "Lives" of Bank Notes. 
 
 The average period which each de- 
 nomination of London notes remains in 
 circulation has been calculated, and is 
 shown by the following authentic ac- 
 count of the number of days a bank 
 
 note issued in London remains in cir- 
 culation : £5 note, 73.7 days ; £10 
 77.0 ; £30, 57.4 ; £30, 18.9 ; £40, 13.7 
 £50, 38.8; £100, 38.4; £300, 13.7: 
 £300, 10.6 ; £500, 11.8 ; £1,000, 11.1. 
 The exceptions to these averages are 
 few, and therefore remarkable. The 
 time during which some notes remain 
 unpresented is reckoned by the cen- 
 tury. On the 37th of September, 1846, 
 a £50 note was presented bearing date 
 30th January, 1743. Another, for £10, 
 issued on the 19th of November, 1763, 
 was not paid till the 30th of April, 
 1845. 
 
 There is a legend extant of the eccen- 
 tric possessor of a £1,000 note, who 
 kept it framed and glazed for a series 
 of years, preferring to feast his eyes 
 upon it, to putting the amount it repre- 
 sented out at interest. It was convert- 
 ed into gold however, without a day's 
 loss of time, by his heirs on his demise 
 — a fact which can very easily be cred- 
 ited. 
 
 Stolen and lost notes are generally 
 long absentees. The former usually 
 make their appearance soon after a 
 great horse race, or other sporting event, 
 altered or disguised so as to deceive 
 bankers, to whom the bank furnishes a 
 list of the numbers and dates of all 
 stolen notes. 
 
 Bank notes have been known to light 
 pipes, to wrap up snuff, and to be used 
 as curl papers ; and British tars, mad 
 with rum and prize money, have not 
 unfrequently, in the time of war, made 
 sandwiches of them, and eat them be- 
 tween bread and butter. Carelessness 
 gives the bank enormous profits, against 
 which the loss of a mere £30,000 note 
 is but a trifle. In the forty years be- 
 tween 1793 and 1833, there were out- 
 standing notes of the Bank of England 
 — presumed to have been lost or de- 
 stroyed — amounting to £1,330,000 odd, 
 every shilling of which was clear profit 
 to the bank. 
 
74 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 Bank Parlor in the "Winter. 
 
 The parlor of tjie Bank of England 
 has always been a place of considerable 
 "interest," and has been often de- 
 scribed by those so fortunate as to visit 
 it. But its aspect in winter has been 
 portrayed by only one hand, the spark- 
 ling qualities of whose pen are only 
 equalled by those of real "Punch." 
 Of course, in the cold weather, the fire- 
 place is the spot which first attracts 
 and holds the attention, and there the 
 observer perceives the conventional 
 mode of keeping the pot boiling by 
 means of money, most strikingly real- 
 ized. A bank coffer filled with real cofiee 
 rests on the bars, which of course are 
 made of real bullion, and the fire is kept 
 alight by the agency of little bags of a 
 material — one hundred in a bag — ^that 
 may be seen piled up in the neighboring 
 coal-scuttle, which is also of the same 
 shiny Material. On the rug before the 
 fire-place is a little footstool with a de- 
 licious stuffing of bank notes — an ar- 
 ticle known to be extremely useful in 
 keeping people on their legs and giving 
 them a firm footing. The seats serve 
 the purpose of chests as well as chairs, 
 and are filled with the national curren- 
 cy — every seat in the bank parlor hav- 
 ing a good stock of the precious metals 
 for its foundation. The works of art 
 in the bank parlor are rare, and the 
 celebrated drawing of a bank note for 
 one million pounds, inclosed in a frame 
 of gold — similar in style to the bars of 
 gold which form the window sashes — 
 is the chief ornament to the walls of the 
 
 apartment. 
 
 — — ♦ — 
 
 Avoiding- Specie Suspension. 
 When the Combined influence of the 
 non-intercourse act, the war, and the 
 dissolution of the old Bank of the 
 United States, caused the State banks 
 to resort to a suspension of specie pay- 
 ments, in order to avoid total ruin and 
 bankruptcy, Mr. Girard became greatly 
 embarrassed as to the course he should 
 
 pursue, to avoid the drain of his specie, 
 and yet preserve his character for strict 
 integrity of business dealing; but he 
 was soon relieved of his inquietude by 
 adopting, the suggestion of Mr. Simp- 
 son, a most competent and respected 
 adviser in such matters, viz., to pay out ' 
 the notes of the State banks instead of 
 his own, which he drew in, by paying 
 the specie for them ; — so that, at no pe- 
 riod of the most disastrous financial cri- 
 sis, was a bank note of Stephen Girard's 
 ever suffered to become depreciated. 
 This husbanding of his resources subse- 
 quently enabled him, in 1817, to con- 
 tribute so materially to the restoration 
 of specie payments. 
 
 The fact just mentioned is interest- 
 ing, as showing that Girard was never 
 seduced into an imprudent measure, by 
 the prospect of immediate profit, but 
 was satisfied to do what appeared to pro- 
 cure permanent advantage, though, for 
 the time being, rather detrimental than 
 profitable. Most men would have at- 
 tempted to force their notes into circu- 
 lation, and redeem them when presented 
 for payment, with the common circula- 
 ting medium of the country. But, act- 
 ing according to the principle and 
 method which he did, Stephen Girard's 
 bank never refused to pay the specie for 
 a note of Stephen Girard ! It is also 
 stated, that only in one instance was 
 his name ever protested ; but even then, 
 it was not his name, but that of his 
 agent in Europe, on whom he had 
 drawn bills, that became dishonored — 
 for, as soon as they were presented to 
 him, after their return, he immediately 
 
 paid them. 
 
 — » 
 
 Curious Reasons for Borrowing: 
 Money. 
 
 Mr. Peter C. Brooks's maxim was, 
 that " the whole value of wealth con- 
 sists in the personal independence it 
 secures." An amusing and singular 
 illustration of that distinguished mer- 
 chant's maxim is thus given : — 
 
 A merchant named Porter once had 
 
BUSINESS PURSUITS IN THEIR MONEY RELATIONS. 
 
 75 
 
 a clerical friend between whom and 
 himself there existed great intimacy. 
 Every Saturday night, as Porter was 
 sitting balancing his cash, a note would 
 come, requesting " the loan of a five 
 dollar bill." The money was always 
 restored punctually at eight o'clock on 
 the Monday morning following. But 
 what puzzled the lender was, the per- 
 son always returned the identical note 
 he borrowed. Since the discovery of 
 this fact, he had made private marks 
 on the note ; still the same was handed 
 back on Monday morning. 
 
 One Saturday evening. Porter sent a 
 five dollar gold piece, instead of a note, 
 and marked it. Still the very same 
 coin was returned on Monday. Porter 
 got nervous and bilious about it ; he 
 could hardly sleep at night for think- 
 ing about it ; he would wake his wife 
 in the middle of the night, and ask her 
 what she thought of such a strange oc- 
 currence. He was fast boiling over 
 with curiosity, when a note came from 
 the reverend borrower, one Christmas 
 eve, asking for the loan of ten dollars. 
 A brilliant thought now struck him. 
 He put on his great coat, resolving to 
 call and demand an explanation of the 
 mystery. When he was shown into his 
 friend's study, he found him plunged 
 in the profoundest melancholy. 
 
 " Mr. B.," said the lender, " if you 
 will answer me one question, I will let 
 you have that ten dollars ! How does 
 it happen that you always pay me the 
 mnney you borrow on Saturday night 
 in the very same coin or note on Mon- 
 day ? " 
 
 The parson raised his head, and after 
 a violent internal struggle, as though 
 he were about to unveil the hoarded 
 mystery of his soul, said, in faltering 
 tones, " Porter, you are a gentleman, a 
 Christian, and a New Yorker — I know 
 I can rely on your inviolable secrecy. 
 Listen to the secret of my eloquence. 
 You know that I am poor, and when, 
 on Saturday, I have bought my Sunday 
 dinner, I have seldom a red cent left 
 
 in my pocket. Now I maintain that 
 no man can preach the gospel and blow 
 up his congregation properly, without 
 he has something in his pocket to in- 
 spire him with confidence. I have 
 therefore borrowed five dollars of you 
 every Saturday, that I might feel it 
 occasionally, as I preached on Smiday. 
 You know how independently I do 
 preach — how I make the rich shake 
 in their shoes. Well, it is all owing 
 to my knowing that I have a five dollar 
 bill in my pocket. Of course, never 
 having to use it for any other purpose, 
 it is not changed, but invariably re- 
 turned to you the next morning. But, 
 to-morrow, Mr. George Law is coming 
 to hear me preach, and I thought I 
 would try the effect of a ten dollar-bill 
 sermon on him ! " 
 
 Atchafalaya Currency by the Cord. 
 
 Capt. Shallcross, of the Mississippi 
 steamer Peytona, is one of the crack 
 captains on the river. Everybody knows 
 him and he knows everybody — there- 
 fore everybody will be pleased with a 
 little story about him. One day, the 
 Peytona was steaming down past the 
 cotton woods toward New Orleans, 
 when she was hailed by another boat 
 going up. 
 
 " Hallo ! Capt. Shall. ! " 
 
 " Hallo ! " was the answer. 
 
 " Got any Atchafalaya money ? " 
 
 " Yes, plenty." 
 
 " Well, pay it out ; the bank's busted, 
 or gwine to." 
 
 "Ay, ay," said Capt. Shallcross. 
 " Clerk, have you got much of that 
 money?" "About a thousand dol- 
 lars, I reckon, sir," said the clerk of 
 the Peytona. " Well, stop at the first 
 wood boat." And the Peytona puffed 
 on, until a wood boat was seen moored 
 to the shore, with piles of cord-wood 
 around, and a small man, with his 
 trousers rolled up, and his hands in 
 his pockets, shivering on the bank be- 
 side his boat, in the chill December 
 weather. 
 
COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 " Wood boat, ahoy ! " sang out Capt. 
 Sliallcross. 
 
 " Hallo ! " sounded the small man in 
 the distance. 
 
 " Want to sell that wood ? " 
 
 Small man in the distance — " Yas." 
 
 " Take Atchafalaya money ? " 
 
 Small man in the distance — " Yas." 
 
 "Round to, pilot," said Capt. Shall. 
 
 The boats bound down stream always 
 have to come around, with their bow 
 pointed up stream, to resist the current 
 of the Mississippi ; sometimes they en- 
 counter a big eddy, and have to take 
 a sweep of some miles before they reach 
 the landing place. So it was in this 
 instance. 
 
 " So you iiyiU take Atchafalaya money 
 for wood, wiU you ? " said the captain, 
 as the boat approached the shore. 
 
 " Yas," said the small man. 
 
 " How will you take it ? " asked 
 Capt, Shall. — meaning at what rate. 
 
 " Take it even," quoth the small man. 
 
 " What do you mean by even ? " 
 
 " Cord for cord, Captain.^'' 
 
 "Put her round again, pilot," said 
 Capt. Shall.," " and wood up at the next 
 wharf-boat ; I reckon that some gabbler 
 "heA posted this fellow on Atchafalaya." 
 
 Btiming a Banker's Notes. 
 
 During one of the rebellions in Ire- 
 land, the rebels, who had conceived a 
 high degree of indignation against a 
 certain great banker, passed a resolu- 
 tion that they would at once burn his 
 notes which they held; this they ac- 
 cordingly did — forgetting that, in burn- 
 ing his notes, they were destroying his 
 debts, and that for every note which 
 went into the flames, a corresponding 
 value went into the banker's pocket 
 and. out of their own. This is what 
 may be termed a genuine financial Hi- 
 bemianism ! 
 
 Money Chang-ers in China. 
 The Chinese do not recognize either 
 gold or silver as current coin. Gold is 
 
 considered merchandise, and its value 
 varies like that of any other precious 
 commodity in Europe. As to silver, 
 it is never coined, but, to forward the 
 purposes of commerce, it is generally 
 divided into small ingots, which they 
 can cut into morsels, as they choose, 
 in order to make their payments exact. 
 Thus all men of business carry with 
 them a pair of small scales, of most 
 exact balance, by means of which they 
 settle all their accounts by weight. 
 The changer may usually be seen ex- 
 amining a dollar, and grasping with one 
 hand a species of shears, used as well 
 for testing as dividing the coin of 
 foreigners. A dollar is worth a num- 
 ber — more or less, according to the 
 course of exchange — of the small cop- 
 per coins which are seen threaded on 
 the changer's desk. This coin is the 
 only one legally current in China ; it 
 is round, with a hole in the middle, 
 and is a little larger, but much thinner 
 than an English farthing. These small 
 coins are called lees; they are used 
 separately for trade purposes, or strung 
 in fifties, hundreds, or thousands. The 
 lees are cun*ent only during the reign 
 of the sovereign who issued them. The 
 head of the reigning prince, however, 
 is never engraved on the Chinese coin ; 
 the only distinguishing mark is that 
 of the dynasty under which it was 
 struck, with a couple of Chinese char- 
 acters on the face, and as many Tartar 
 characters on the reverse. The Chinese 
 would think it a great mark of disre- 
 spect to the majesty of the emperor, 
 as brother of the sun, to circulate his 
 august effigy among the common peo- 
 ple, and submit it to the plebeian fingers 
 of hawkers, pedlers, and fishfags. Such 
 a degradation is not to be thought of. 
 
 Bankers of the Old School. 
 
 The London banker of the olden time, 
 the successor to the Lombards, had but 
 little resemblance to the modern gentle- 
 man who is known by the same title. 
 
BUSINESS PURSUITS IN THEIR MONEY RELATIONS. 
 
 77 
 
 He was a man of serious manners, plain 
 apparel, the steadiest conduct, and a 
 rigid observer of formalities. On look- 
 ing in his face, there could be read, in 
 intelligible characters, the fact that the 
 ruling maxim of life, the one to which 
 he turned all his thoughts and by which 
 he shaped all his actions, was, " that 
 he who would be trusted with the 
 money of other men should looh as if 
 he deserved the trust, and be an osten- 
 sible pattern to society of probity, ex- 
 actness, frugality, and decorum." 
 
 He lived, if not the whole of the 
 year, at least the greater part of it, at 
 his banking house, was punctual to the 
 hours of business, and always to be 
 found at his desk. The fashionable 
 society at the west end of the town, 
 and the amusements of high life, he 
 never dreamed of enjoying, and would 
 have deemed it little short of insanity 
 to imagine that such an act was within 
 the compass of human daring, as that 
 of a banker lounging for an evening in 
 Fop's Alley, at the opera, or turning 
 out for the Derby with four greys to 
 his chariot, and a goodly bumper swung 
 behind, well stuffed with pies, spring 
 chickens, and iced champagne. 
 
 The material or architectural aspect 
 of the business of banking in early 
 times, is also, to modern ideas, as hum- 
 ble as it must have been picturesque. 
 Instead of the handsome apartments, 
 the highly polished and well-fitted 
 counters, and well-dressed clerks of 
 the modern banking-houses, there were 
 the dark-featured Lombards, ranged 
 behind their bags of money displayed 
 on low benches in open shops, pro- 
 tected, perhaps, by occasional awnings, 
 from the inclemency of the weather. 
 
 ''The Lady's Broker." 
 Most of the leading men who act 
 as brokers in London go by nick-names ; 
 and the way in which these names some- 
 times originate, is quite curious. One 
 of the fraternity has been dubbed " The 
 Lady's Broker," in consequence of hay- 
 
 ing been employed, on one occasion, by 
 Madame R., the lady of a deceased 
 capitalist, in a speculation into which 
 she entered on her own account, and 
 without the knowledge of her husband. 
 The speculation turned out so unfavor- 
 ably, that neither the lady nor her bro- 
 ker could discharge their obligations ; 
 and hence, as in other cases where the 
 broker cannot meet the engagements he 
 has entered into for any other party, he 
 must, to save himself from the black- 
 board, give up the name of his prin- 
 cipal, — the broker was compelled to 
 divulge the name of the lady speculator. 
 From that day to this, he has gone 
 under the name of the " The Lady's 
 Broker." The husband, in this case, 
 knowing he could not be compelled to 
 pay for the illegal gambling of his wife, 
 refused to advance a single farthing 
 in liquidation of her debts. 
 
 Cashier Inviting a Run upon his Bank. 
 
 A BANK that was managed with great 
 caution was once in what was supposed 
 to be a peculiar position, when a friend 
 of the cashier called upon him, and tak- 
 ing him aside, with a grave face, said, 
 " I heard it asserted just now that you 
 have not five thousand Tlollars left out 
 of the one hundred thousand silver 
 dollars that were lately paid into your 
 bank, and I hastened to tell you, in 
 order that you may show me your 
 vaults, and give me the means to con- 
 tradict the rumor." 
 
 " No," said the cashier, " the rumor 
 is all true. Wliat use do you suppose 
 that I have for the silver ? " 
 
 "Why, to meet the run upon your 
 bank, which must certainly come when 
 this state of your affairs is generally 
 known," was the reply. 
 
 " Let the run come^'' said the cashier ; 
 " and by way of beginning it, do you 
 go into the street, collect all of our 
 bills that you can find, and bring them 
 to me, and I promise to give you the 
 hard dollars for them." 
 
IS 
 
 COMMERCIAL AKD BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 After some time, his friend returned 
 to say that he had not been able to find 
 any of the bills of that particular bank, 
 excepting a solitary one for five dollars, 
 for which the silver was immediately 
 ofiered him. 
 
 " Just so," said the cashier, " almost 
 all the bills that I have issued have 
 already been sent in, and I have paid 
 out the silver for them. But in doing 
 so, I have emptied most of these boxes 
 of dollars. The money was given 'me to 
 lend ; and I have lent it for about four 
 months. But I could not lend and keep 
 it too. I have, therefore, very little 
 gold or silver in the vaults. So long 
 as I have the small amount that is 
 necessary to redeem the few bills that 
 remain out, and the two thousand dol- 
 lars which I have earned for the stock- 
 holders, I am easy. You may go back 
 to the street, if you will, and defy the 
 world to break our bank. We shall 
 lend nothing more until the promissory 
 notes that we have taken as security 
 begin to fall due. As they are paid in, 
 with hard dollars, or the bills of other 
 banks, we shall have the means to lend 
 moneys again." 
 
 Obtaining: Security to be a Broker. 
 
 Amo:ng the "political opponents of 
 George Hudson, the English railway 
 monarch, when at York, was one who, 
 when riches were discovered by him to 
 be so easily realized on the stock ex- 
 change, sought the great metropolis to 
 make his fortune, as others had, by be- 
 coming a broker. To London he went. 
 But to be a member of the money mar- 
 ket in that city, two sureties were re- 
 quired ; and he could procure only one. 
 The difficulty continued, and great was 
 his disappointment. In his despair he 
 thought of the railway king ; and, as a 
 last resource, on Mr. Hudson he waited, 
 and told his mission. 
 
 " You've been no friend of mine," 
 said Mr. Hudson, bluntly ; " but I be- 
 lieve you're a good sort of fellow — call 
 on me to-morrow." 
 
 The morrow came, and, full of anxi- 
 ety, he waited on the autocrat. 
 
 " Well," said Mr. Hudson, " it's all 
 settled ; I've arranged everything. Mr. 
 
 will be your other security: go 
 
 to him ; I've told him to do it." 
 
 Mr. Hudson did not add, as he might, 
 that he had in fact guaranteed the 
 amount to the broker named by him, 
 and was himself sole surety for the 
 opponent he befriended. 
 
 London Bankers and Banking Houses. 
 
 The oldest banking houses in Lon- 
 don are Child's, at Temple Bar, Hoare's, 
 in Fleet street, Strahan's — formerly 
 Snow's, in the Strand, and Gosling's, 
 in Fleet street. None date earlier than 
 the restoration of Charles the Second. 
 The original bankers were goldsmiths — 
 " goldsmiths that keep running cashes " 
 — and their shops were distinguished 
 by signs. Thus, Child's was known by 
 " The Marygold," still to be seen where 
 the checks are cashed ; Hoare's, by " the 
 Golden Bottle," still remaining over the 
 door; Strahan's, by "the Golden An- 
 chor," to be seen inside ; and Gosling's, 
 by " the Three Squirrels," still promi- 
 nent in the ironwork of their windows 
 toward the street. 
 
 The founder of Child's celebrated 
 house was John Backwell, an alderman 
 of the city of London, ruined by the 
 shutting up of the Exchequer in the 
 reign of Charles the Second. Stone 
 and Martin's, in Lombard street, is said 
 to have been founded by Sir Thomas 
 Gresham, and the grasshopper sign of 
 the Gresham family was preserved in 
 the banking house till late in the last 
 century. 
 
 Of the west-end banking houses, 
 Drummond's, at Charing-cross, is the 
 oldest; and next to Drummond's, 
 Coutts's, in the Strand. The founder 
 of Drummond's obtained his great 
 position by advancing money to the 
 Pretender, and the king's consequent 
 withdrawal led to a rush of the Scot- 
 
BUSINESS PURSUITS IN THEIR MONEY RELATIONS. 
 
 79 
 
 tish nobility and gentry with their 
 accounts, and to the ultimate advance- 
 ment of the bank to its present footing. 
 Coutts's house was founded by George 
 Middleton, and originally stood in St. 
 Martin's lane, near St Martin's church ; 
 Coutts removed it to its present site. 
 
 The great Lord Clarendon, in the 
 reign of Charles the Second, kept an 
 account at Hoare's ; Dryden lodged 
 his £50 for the discovery of the bullies 
 who waylaid and beat him, at Child's, 
 Temple Bar; Pope banked at Drum- 
 mond's ; Lady Mary Wortley Montague, 
 at Child's ; Gay, at Hoare's ; Dr. John- 
 son and Sir Walter Scott, at Coutts's ; 
 Bishop Percy, at Gosling's ; the Duke 
 of Wellington, at Coutts's ; the Duke 
 of Sutherland, at Drummond's; the 
 Duke of Devonshire, at Snow's. 
 
 Paying Notes in Specie. 
 
 Philip Hone, speaking of tbe " bless- 
 ed " days of specie currency, says : " The 
 few notes which were given out by the 
 merchants and shopkeepers — and the 
 sequel will show how few they must 
 have been — were collected of course 
 through the bank. Michael Boyle, the 
 runner, with his jocund laugh and 
 pleasant countenance, called, several 
 days before the time, with a notice that 
 the note would be due on such a day, 
 and payment expected three days there- 
 after. When the day arrived, the same 
 person called again with a canvas bag, 
 counted the money in dollars, half dol- 
 lars, quarters, and sixpences (those 
 abominable disturbers of the people's 
 peace — bank notes being scarcely 
 known in those days), carried it to the 
 bank, and then sallied out to another 
 debtor. And in this way all the notes 
 were collected in the great commercial 
 city of New York, in such a circum- 
 scribed circle did its operations then 
 revolve. Well do I remember Mi- 
 chael Boyle, running around from Pearl 
 street to Maiden lane, . Broadway, and 
 William street, — the business limits, 
 
 happily for him, not extending north 
 of the present Fulton street, — panting 
 under the load of a bag of silver, a sort 
 of locomotive sub-treasurer, or the em- 
 bodiment of a specie circular." 
 
 Security for a Discount. 
 
 It is very common among business 
 men to give vent to a good deal of 
 grumbling about the illiberal course 
 which characterizes banks in hard 
 times, toward their customers. An 
 unfortunate customer of one of these 
 institutions in Pliiladelphia, being 
 somewhat irritated at the picayune poli- 
 cy pursued, resorted to the following 
 desperate expedient, to see if there was 
 any such thing as " raising the wind," 
 in said concern. He drew a note for 
 five dollars at thirty days, covered it 
 down the back with first-class indorse- 
 ments from his fellow sufferers, pinned 
 it to a ten dollar bill of the same bank, 
 as collateral, and then ventured to offer 
 it for discount. That is what Jedediah 
 Tompkins would call " liintin^ rounds 
 
 Jacob Barker's Forty Kegs of Specie. 
 
 Many years ago^ Jacob Barker offered 
 some good business paper for discount 
 at one of the Wall street banks, and, 
 when the board of directors met, they, 
 after mature deliberation, threw the 
 paper out, which displeased friend Ja- 
 cob, and he consequently sought re- 
 venge, in a professional way, for what 
 he took to be rather ungentlemanly 
 treatment. A few days only elapsed, 
 when Jacob presented forty thousand 
 dollars of the bills of that same bank 
 at its counter, and demanded the specie 
 from the astonished oflicers ; but never- 
 theless it was rolled out to him in kegs 
 of one thousand dollars each, — the 
 teller of the bank informing him that 
 they were obliged to give him small 
 coin, five and ten cent pieces. 
 
 Here was a dilemma, even for so 
 bright witted and redoubtable a man 
 
80 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 as Jacob ; but being equal to tbe emer- 
 gency, Jacob ordered the porter to un- 
 liead the casks, which being done, Ja- 
 cob took a handful of the coin from 
 each, and requested the teller to place 
 the remainder — which of course re- 
 quired, according to bank custom, to be 
 counted — to his credit. It was said, 
 at the time, that it required the whole 
 available force of the institution to 
 count the coin, and that many late 
 hours were made. Whether Jacob ever 
 offered any more notes for discount, or 
 applied for any " accommodation " fa- 
 vors, at that bank — or whether he got 
 them if he did, — we are only left to in- 
 fer. 
 
 Final Argument at a Bank Counter. 
 
 On receipt of the news of the banks 
 suspending specie payments, Mrs. Jones 
 hastened to her savings bank, elbowed 
 her way smartly to the desk, presented 
 her book, and demanded her money. 
 
 " Madam," said the clerk persuasive- 
 ly, " are you sure you want to draw this 
 money out in specie ? " 
 
 "Mrs. Jones," said a director, with 
 an oracular frown, do you know that 
 you are injuring your fellow deposi- 
 tors ? " 
 
 " And setting an example of great 
 folly to less educated persons in this 
 community ? " struck in another direc- 
 tor. 
 
 " Let us advise you simply to reflect," 
 interposed the clerk, blandly. 
 
 " To wait for a day or two at least," 
 said the director 
 
 At last there was a pause. 
 
 Mrs. Jones had been collecting her- 
 self She burst now. In a tone which 
 was heard throughout the building, 
 and above all the din, and at which 
 her interlocutors turned ashy pale, she 
 said : 
 
 " WUl you pay me my money — yes or 
 no?'' 
 
 They paid her instantly. 
 
 First Jewish Bill of Exchangre. 
 
 The circumstance which gave rise to 
 the introduction of bills of exchange in 
 the mercantile world, was the banish- 
 ment from France, in the reigns of 
 Philip Augustus and Philip the Long, 
 of the Jews, who, it is well known, 
 took refuge in Lombardy. On their 
 leaving the kingdom, they had com- 
 mitted to the care of some persons in 
 whom they could place confidence, such 
 of their property as they could not 
 carry with them. Having fixed their 
 abode in a new country, they furnished 
 various foreign merchants and travel- 
 lers, whom they had commissioned to 
 bring away their fortunes, with secret 
 letters, which were accepted in France 
 by those who had the care of their 
 effects. From this it is claimed that 
 the merit of the invention of exchanges 
 belongs to the Jews exclusively. They 
 discovered the means of substituting 
 impalpable riches for palpable ones, the 
 former being transmissible to all parts, 
 without leaving behind them any traces 
 indicative of the way they have taken. 
 
 lieather Money. 
 
 On the authority of Seneca, a curious 
 account is given of a period when leath- 
 er, appropriately stamped to give it a 
 certain legal character, was the only 
 current money. At a comparatively re- 
 cent date, in the annals of Europe, 
 Fredich the Second, who died in 1250, 
 at the siege of Milan, actually paid his 
 troops with leather money. Nearly the 
 same circumstance occurred in England, 
 during the great wars of the barons. 
 In the course of 1350, King John, for 
 the ransom of his royal person, prom- 
 ised to pay Edward the Third, of Eng- 
 land, three millions of gold crowns. 
 In order to fulfil this obligation, he 
 was reduced to the mortifying neces- 
 sity of paying the expenses of the pal- 
 ace in leather money, in the centre of 
 each piece there being a little, bright 
 
BUSINESS PURSUITS IN THEIR MONEY RELATIONS. 
 
 81 
 
 point of silver. In that reign is found 
 the origin of the burlesque honor of 
 boyhood, called "• conferring a leather 
 medal." The imposing ceremonies ac- 
 companying a presentation, gave full 
 force, dignity, and value to a leather 
 jewel, which noblemen were probably 
 proud to receive at the hand of ma- 
 jesty. 
 
 The United Job and Lazarus Bank. 
 
 With a view to the special advan- 
 tage of the small and uncertain capi- 
 talist, the United Job and Lazarus Bank 
 has at last been established. 
 
 That distinguished British actuary, 
 Mr. Fitzlocker, has calculated that the 
 half-pence annually bestowed in charity 
 upon persons of the mendicant class 
 amounts, on an average, to no less a 
 sum than £950,000, 14^. 3|<Z. This 
 sum does not include the daily coppers 
 expended upon the crossing-sweepers, 
 that may fairly be put down at £50,000 
 more, sinking, for the sake of round 
 numbers, the odd half-penny. Thus, a 
 total is presented of £1,000,000, 14s. 
 2ld. Now, it is welt known that the 
 mendicant and crossing-sweeper class 
 are, for the most part, a thrifty if not a 
 penurious people. What is more com- 
 mon than to read of the apprehension 
 or death of the beggar upon whose per- 
 son or body are found rolls of bank 
 notes and showers of sovereigns ? 
 
 It is calculated that of the above £1,- 
 000,000, not above one half is expended 
 by the recipients for board, clothing, 
 and lodging — leaving a fair margin of 
 expense for an annual visit to a watering 
 place. Thus, a clear half million is an- 
 nually accumulating in old stockings, 
 under worm-eaten floors, and in all sorts 
 of impossible nooks and corners consid- 
 ered convenient only to Plutus. 
 
 Now, it is to afford safe and pecu- 
 liarly profitable means of investment to 
 the provident classes above named, that 
 the United Job (it is requested that 
 " Job " be taken in its purely patriarch- 
 al pronunciation) — the United Job and 
 6 
 
 Lazarus Bank is established. The per- 
 sons most interested in the successful 
 permanence of the institution, it cannot 
 be doubted, will feel the fullest and- 
 deepest confidence in the character of 
 the concern, upon a careful perusal of 
 the circular containing the names of 
 the officers ; these include such individ- 
 uals as Messrs. Crook-fingered Jack, 
 Jemmy Twitcher, Wat Dreary, Ben 
 Budge, Ben Booty, Reynard Foxleer, 
 and others, with Mr. Filch as manager 
 and cashier 
 
 Capital of European Bankers. 
 An actual report of the general super- 
 visor of the books of the several firms 
 of the Rothschild, giving the aggregate 
 amount of their capital or the sum at 
 their instantaneous command, shows 
 that capital to be a millard of francs, 
 or two hundred million dollars. It is 
 also stated that the similar capital of 
 the two P^reires is at least one hundred 
 millions of francs ; of the Hottinguers, 
 seventy-five millions ; of Mir6s and the 
 Foulds still higher ; and the Duke of 
 Galiera, at the head of the Credit Mobi- 
 lier, is held to be prodigiously opulent. 
 The Pereires have created for them- 
 selves a new fortune by the purchase 
 of very extensive grounds within and 
 without the walls of the capital, which 
 they turn into streets and boulevards 
 with a certainty of the earliest and 
 most ample proceeds. 
 
 Dudley North's Opposition to Bro- 
 kerage. 
 
 The system of banking or brokerage 
 by bills which was introduced in Lon- 
 don in the sixteenth century, in place 
 of the old method of paying in solid 
 metals, encountered much opposition 
 and clamor. Old fashioned merchants 
 complained bitterly that a class of men 
 who, thirty years before, had confined 
 themselves to their functions, and had 
 made a fair profit by embossing silver 
 bowls and chargers, by setting jewels 
 for fine ladies, and by selling pistoles 
 
82 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 and dollars to gentlemen setting out for 
 the Continent, had become the treas- 
 urers and were fast becoming the mas- 
 ters of the whole city. These usurers, 
 it was said, played at hazard with what 
 had been earned by the industry and 
 hoarded by the thrift of other men. .If 
 the dice turned up well, the knave who 
 kept the cash became an alderman ; if 
 they turned up ill, the dupe who fur- 
 nished the cash became a bankrupt. On 
 the other side, the consequences of the 
 modern practice were set forth in ani- 
 mated language. The new system, it 
 was said, saved both labor and money. 
 Two clerks, seated in one counting 
 house, did what, under the old system, 
 must have been done by twenty clerks 
 in twenty different establishments. 
 
 Gradually, however, even those who 
 had been loudest in murmuring against 
 the innovation, gave way and conform- 
 ed to the prevailing usage. The last 
 person who held out, strange to say, 
 w^as Sir Dudley North. When, in 
 1689, after residing many years abroad, 
 he returned to London, nothing aston- 
 ished or displeased him more than the 
 practice of making payments by draw- 
 ing bills on bankers. He found that 
 he could not go on 'change without 
 being stealthily followed round the 
 piazza by goldsmiths — as the dealers in 
 bullion were then called — who, with 
 low bows, begged to have the honor 
 of serving him. He lost his temper 
 when some of these friends asked him 
 where he kept his cash: "Where 
 should I keep it," he sharply asked, 
 " but in my own house ? " and turned 
 his heel upon the whole pack. With 
 difficulty he was at last induced to put 
 his money, just by way of trial, into 
 the hands of one of the Lombard street 
 men, as they were familiarly called. 
 As ill luck would have it, the Lombard 
 street man broke, and some of his cus- 
 tomers suffered severely. Dudley North 
 lost only fifty pounds ; but this loss im- 
 movably confirmed him in his dislike 
 of the whole art of " improved bank- 
 
 ing." It was in vain, however, that 
 this old landmark stood up and exhort- 
 ed his fellow citizens to return to the 
 good old practice, and not to expose 
 themselves to utter ruin in order to 
 spare themselves a little trouble. He 
 stood alone against the whole com- 
 munity. 
 
 Strongest Bank in the World. 
 
 The Bank of Genoa, which has been 
 in existence hundreds of years, has 
 perhaps proved itself the strongest in- 
 stitution of the kind in the world. It 
 is a remarkable fact in its history, that 
 its administration has always been as 
 permanent and unchangeable, as that 
 of the republic has been agitated and 
 fluctuating. No alteration ever took 
 place in the mode of governing and 
 regulating the affairs of the bank ; and 
 two sovereign and independent powers, 
 at war with each other, have been 
 within the walls of the city, without 
 producing the slightest shock to the 
 bank, or causing it to secrete any of its 
 books or treasures. 
 
 Pinancial Physic. 
 
 It is proposed to establish an alto- 
 gether new method of inquiring into 
 the state of the health of certain classes 
 of the community. The following are 
 some of the interrogatories to be ad- 
 dressed to the patient : How are your 
 funds ? Let me see your coupons. Put 
 out your stock. Are your dividends all 
 right ? Have you any pain about your 
 bonds? Any uneasiness referring to 
 your foreign securities ? What is the 
 state of your corn market ? Allow me 
 to examine your shares. Let me feel 
 your scrip. Have you any sinking in 
 your mines? Any tightness at the 
 back, or hollowness of the chest ? How 
 is your discount ? Have you any appe- 
 tite for speculation ? 
 
BUSINESS PUKSUITS IN THEIR MONEY RELATIONS. 
 
 83 
 
 Brief Explanation of Banking:. 
 
 Old Mr. Lefevre, father of the former 
 speaker of the House of Commons, and 
 the principal founder of the house of 
 Curries & Co., illustrated the simple the- 
 ory of banking to a customer Qne day, in 
 a manner rivalling the best treatises on 
 that subject. The customer in question 
 was one of those men who find it very 
 convenient to have bad memories, and 
 very tantalizing at times to have good 
 ones. His account was almost always 
 overdrawn, and whenever spoken to 
 on the hitch thus occasioned, his an- 
 swer was invariably the same — he really 
 had forgotten hoio it stood. At last, 
 Mr. Lefevre watched his opportunity, 
 caught him one day at the counter, and 
 said to him : 
 
 "Mr. Y — , you and I must under- 
 stand one another something better 
 than we now seem to. I am afraid you 
 don't know what banking really is; 
 give me leave to tell you. It's my 
 business to take care of yoi(,r money ; 
 but I find you are always taking care 
 of mine. Now, that is not banking, 
 Mr. Y. ; it must be the other way. i'w 
 the banker, not you. You understand 
 me now, Mr. Y. ; I'm sure you do ! " 
 
 Jacob Little and the Missing Bank 
 Bill. 
 
 Of this acute financier, an anecdote 
 of the most extraordinary of his facul- 
 ties — his quickness of perception — is 
 related, as illustrating one of the secrets 
 of his success. A man came to the 
 counter with a draft for $650. He was 
 handed at once a $500, a $100, and a 
 $50 bill. The man left. In a few mo- 
 ments he returned, saying, 
 
 " Mr. Little, sir, I think you made a 
 mistake. That was a draft for $650 I 
 gave you, and you have given me only 
 $150— and he held out the $100 ^nd 
 the $50 notes. 
 
 With almost fierce abruptness — the 
 tone familiar to all who knew Mr. L., 
 
 he asked the man, "Where have you 
 been ? " 
 
 " To the Bank of America, to deposit 
 my money, and it was there I — " 
 
 Mr. Little did not wait to hear the 
 end of the sentence. Dashing on his 
 hat, he ran out, hastened to the bank, 
 and returned, in almost less time, than 
 it takes to tell the story, with the miss- 
 ing $500 in his hand. 
 
 " Here, sir," said he, to the overjoy- 
 ed customer ; " you dropped your bill 
 at the bank, and if I had been a quarter 
 of an hour later, you would never have 
 seen it again — let me tell you." 
 
 New York Bankers and Western Court 
 Houses. 
 
 That city bankers are called upon 
 to loan for almost everything, far and 
 near, is a fact which none know so well 
 as themselves. Occasionally, however, 
 an incident like the following, in their 
 experience, comes to light. The agent 
 of a county in one of the Western 
 States, visited New York to negotiate 
 bonds, and called on a leading banker, 
 with the expectation of having the gold 
 shovelled into his pocket, that he might 
 go home by the next train. 
 
 "What do you want the money 
 for ? " asked the banker. 
 
 " To build a court house and jail," 
 was the answer. 
 
 " And you have called on me for ad- 
 vice ? " 
 
 "Yes, sir. Knowing you to be ac- 
 quainted with the best houses, I thought 
 you could refer me to them in a favor- 
 able manner." 
 
 " I will give you my advice and help 
 you willingly." 
 
 " Thank you — thank you." 
 
 " It is this : Put your bonds in 
 your pocket and go home. When you 
 get there, take your bonds out of your 
 pocket, and put them into the fire." 
 
 The banker's visitor opened his eyes 
 and mouth. 
 
 " Yes, sir, put them in the fire. Then 
 tax your people and build your court 
 
84 
 
 COMMERCIAL AKD BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 house and jail. We can't give you 
 money for any such purposes, and you 
 have no business to ask it. What do 
 "we care for a court house and jail out 
 by the Mississippi River ? This is the 
 way with some of you Western men ! 
 Now go back and do as I tell you — 
 burn your bonds and tax your people. 
 Nobody here cares a jjicayune whether 
 you have a court house or not. If it 
 should do no better than some other 
 court houses, justice won't be the gainer 
 by it. I think it quite likely you would 
 be better with a jail, and I'm sorry to 
 have to say that I can't help you to 
 build it." 
 
 Banks Failiugr. 
 " Are you afraid of the banks fail- 
 ing ? " asked a Boston cashier, as Mrs. 
 Partington went to draw her pension. 
 " Banks failing ! " said the dame ; " I 
 never had any idea about it at all. If 
 he gets votes enough, I don't see how 
 he can fail, and if he don't, I can't see 
 how he is to help it." " I mean," said 
 he, " the banks that furnish paper for 
 the currency." She stood a moment 
 counting her bills. " Oh, you did, did 
 you ? " said she ; " well, it's about the 
 same thing. If they have money enough 
 to redeem with — and heaven knows 
 there's need enough for ' redemption' for 
 a good many of them, and more ' grace ' 
 than they allow their customers— they 
 may stand it ; but doubtful things are 
 uncertain." She passed off like an ex- 
 halation, and the cashier counted out 
 $115.17 fifteen times while pondering 
 what she said, in order to catch her 
 meaning. 
 
 Spanisli Reals versus Spanish Bonds. 
 Rothschild, though so deeply en- 
 grossed in money matters, occasionally 
 has time to add to his quality of 
 shrewdness that of being witty. On 
 being called upon one time to give a 
 good definition of the real and the 
 ideal in sublunary matters, he, true to 
 his profession, answered : "I cannot 
 
 give you a more forcible example than 
 this, namely — the ' real ' is the current 
 coin of Spain, and a Spanish bond, 
 which is supposed to represent it, is 
 the ' ideal.' " 
 
 Throwing- out Jacob Barker's Notes. 
 
 The bitter opposition of Jacob 
 Barker to the renewal of the charter of 
 the United States Bank is matter of 
 history, and it came about in this wise : 
 Although subject to occasional reverses, 
 Mr. Barker prospered greatly in his 
 business until he had the misfortune to 
 incur the displeasure of Robert Lenox, 
 a very rich Scotch merchant — strong- 
 minded and intelligent, with a will and 
 prejudices equally decided. 
 
 Mr. Barker had, as agent for the 
 owner, chartered to James Scott, the 
 ship Live Oak, of Portland, Me., for a 
 voyage to St. Domingo and back. On 
 her aiTival off" the port of destination 
 she found it blockaded, and was or- 
 dered off, when, according to custom, 
 she proceeded to the next jjort ; finding 
 that in the possession of the slaves, 
 they having revolted, the captain pru- 
 dently returned to New York with the 
 outward cargo. 
 
 A question now arose, whether or 
 not the ship was entitled to comiDcnsa- 
 tion. Mr. Barker applied immediately 
 to his friend and professional adviser, 
 Gen. Alexander Hamilton, for advice ; 
 that gentleman advised him to retain a 
 sufl[iciency of the cargo to pay the 
 amount of the charter, until he could 
 advise and receive an answer from his 
 employer, the owner of the ship. A 
 portion less than the amount of charter 
 was in money ; it was retained. 
 
 The following day, Mr. Barker's notes 
 offered for discount at the United 
 States Branch Bank, where he kept his 
 account, were all thrown out, which 
 was followed up every discount day for 
 two or three weeks, when Mr. B. began 
 to feel its effects. Knowing Mr. Lenox 
 to be the most influential director, he 
 applied to that gentleman, without the 
 
BUSINESS PURSUITS IN THEIR MONEY RELATIONS. 
 
 85 
 
 least idea of the cause, or tliat he was 
 the individual who had induced the 
 rejection of the notes oJQTered ; named to 
 him the liberality with which he had 
 always been treated by the bank, the 
 goodness of the notes offered and their 
 rejection, adding that he presumed 
 there must be some hidden cause which 
 he, Mr. L., could satisfactorily explain, 
 if he knew what it was. 
 
 " Yes," said Mr. Lenox, " there is a 
 cause, and if you expect any more dis- 
 counts at the Branch Bank, you must 
 deliver to Mr. Scott the money you 
 withhold from him." 
 
 Mr. Barker, astonished at the avowal, 
 inquired if the board of directors un- 
 dertook to pass, ex parte, on differences 
 which arose among merchants, neither 
 of whom was of their number, and to 
 enforce their decision against one of 
 the parties, without having allowed 
 him a hearing. Mr. Lenox replied that 
 he believed every director at the board 
 agreed with him in opinion. 
 
 Application was immediately made to 
 Gen. Stevens, Thomas Buchanan, and 
 other directors, who informed him that 
 Mr. Lenox was mistaken; that they 
 were opposed to all such assumption 
 of power, and that if Mr. Lenox did 
 not withdraw his objection, they would 
 not allow the notes of his friends to 
 be discounted. One or two opposing a 
 note, it could not, by the rules of the 
 board, be discounted. On the re-ap- 
 pointment of Mr. Lenox as a director 
 by the mother bank at Philadelphia, 
 Mr. Barker sought his redress by op- 
 posing a renewal of the bank's charter, 
 which was soon to expire. This he 
 did with untiring tact and energy, not 
 ceasing his exertions until the fate of 
 the bank was sealed by a rejection of 
 the bill for the renewal of the charter 
 by Congress. This was done by a ma- 
 jority of only one ; and as Mr. Barker's 
 half-brother, Gideon Gardner, was a 
 member from Nantucket, and voted 
 against the bank, it is not unreasonable 
 to conclude that Mr. Barker's influence 
 
 was not small, in overthrowing the first 
 United States Bank. 
 
 Establislimeiit of the Bank of England 
 —Curious Pacts. 
 
 After much opposition, the Bank 
 of England was established in 1694. 
 Strange as it may seem, the act of Par- 
 liament by which the bank was estab- 
 lished is entitled " An act for granting 
 to theu* majesties several duties upon 
 tonnage of ships and vessels, and upon 
 beer, ale, and other liquors, for securing 
 certain recompenses and advantages in 
 the said act mentioned, to such persons 
 as shall voluntarily advance the sum 
 of fifteen hundred thousand pounds 
 toward carrying on the war with 
 France." After a variety of enactments 
 relative to the duties upon tonnage of 
 ships and vessels, and upon beer, ale, 
 and other liquors, the act authorizes 
 the raising of twelve hundred thousand 
 pounds by voluntary subscription, the 
 subscribers to be formed into a corpo- 
 ration, and be styled " The Governor 
 and Company of the Bank of England." 
 The sum of three hundred thousand 
 pounds was also to be raised by subscrip- 
 tion, and the contributors to receive 
 instead annuities for one, two, or three 
 lives. Toward the twelve hundred 
 thousand pounds no one was to sub- 
 scribe more than ten thousand pounds 
 before the first day of July next en- 
 suing, nor at any time more than 
 twenty thousand pounds. The corpora- 
 tion were to lend their whole capital 
 to government, for which they were to 
 receive interest at the rate of eight per 
 cent, per annum, and four thousand 
 pounds per annum for management; 
 being one hundred thousand pounds 
 per annum on the whole. The corpo- 
 ration were not allowed to borrow or 
 owe more than the amount of their 
 capital, and if they did so, the individ- 
 ual members became liable to the credi- 
 tors in proportion to the amount of 
 their stock. The corporation were not 
 to trade in any goods, wares, or mer- 
 
86 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 chandise whatever, but they were al- 
 lowed to deal in bills of exchange, gold 
 or silver bullion, and to sell any goods, 
 wares, or merchandise upon which they 
 had advanced money, and which had 
 not been redeemed within three months 
 after the time agreed upon. The whole 
 of the subscription was filled in a few 
 days. In Grocers' Hall, since razed for 
 the erection of a more stately structure, 
 the Bank of England commenced oper- 
 ations. Here, in one room, were gath- 
 ered, with almost primitive simplicity, 
 all who performed the duties of the 
 establishment. "I looked into the 
 great hall where the bank is kept," 
 says the graceful essayist of the day, 
 "and was not a little pleased to see 
 the directors, secretaries, and clerks, 
 with all the other members of that 
 wealthy corporation, ranged in their 
 several stations according to the parts 
 they hold in that just and regular econ- 
 omy." 
 
 A writer in the Gentleman's Magazine, 
 speaking of the external appearance of 
 the bank, in 1757, describes it as com- 
 paratively a small structure, almost in- 
 visible to passers by, being surrounded 
 by many others, viz., a church called 
 St. Christopher le Stocks ; three tav- 
 erns, two on the south side (the Foun- 
 tain) in Bartholomew lane, facing the 
 church there, just where the great door 
 of entrance is now placed, and about 
 fifteen or twenty private dwelling 
 houses. Visitors are sometimes shown 
 in the bullion oflBce the identical old 
 chest, somewhat larger than a common 
 seaman's, also the original shelves or 
 cases, where the cash, notes, papers, 
 and books of business were kept. Vis- 
 itors are occasionally shown some notes 
 for large amounts, which have passed 
 between the bank and government. In 
 the early history of the establishment 
 any person in the possession of a bank 
 note might demand only part of its 
 amount, and the same plan might be 
 resorted to with the same note until the 
 whole of the sum due upon it was ab- 
 
 sorbed ; some of these are still shown 
 — on the last which came in there was 
 only sixpence to receive. A bank of 
 England note is never issued after it 
 returns to the bank ; it is then cancelled 
 and destroyed, to make w^ay for the 
 next issue. Whenever a note is pre- 
 sented to the bank the corner is torn 
 from it, the number is punched out, it 
 is cancelled in the register book, and 
 then sent down to the library, there to 
 lie for ten years, until burned in the 
 yard duruig the eleventh. About one 
 thousand persons are employed in the 
 establishment. 
 
 Bound not to Break. 
 
 The banking operations of Jacob 
 Barker, when he earned on business in 
 Wall street. New York, met with much 
 opposition from many of the bankers 
 of that locality, and they managed once 
 in a while to push Jacob pretty close 
 to the wall. On one occasion, when 
 the times were somewhat tight, and 
 Mr. Barker was absent, attending to 
 his duties as a member of the New 
 York senate, a ship arrived from Liver- 
 pool with advice of the failure of his 
 house at that place. This at once 
 caused a very great run on Mr. Barker's 
 bank — on receiving notice of which he 
 returned to the city, was the first to 
 land from the steamboat, and drove 
 with great speed to Wall street, the 
 carriage making its way through the 
 crowd with difficulty. 
 
 He alighted at the bank door, to the 
 surprise of all, and to the disappoint- 
 ment of his enemies, w^ho were ranged 
 on the opposite side of the street in 
 momentary expectation of seeing the 
 doors of the bank close. They had not 
 heard of the boat's arrival, or of the 
 river's being free from ice. He was too 
 quick for them, and remarked to all 
 how glad he was to see them, saying, 
 " Come in, come in— come in and get 
 your money ; " caused the back room 
 to be thrown open, and additional 
 clerks to be placed there, with plenty 
 
BUSINESS PURSUITS IN THEIR MONEY RELATIONS. 
 
 87 
 
 of specie. All that wished, it were sup- 
 plied. A great number put the notes in 
 their iDockets and went home, fully re- 
 covered from their alarm. Mr. Barker 
 was " bound not to break," and, as his 
 stores were full of goods — hemp, sail 
 cloth, iron, sugar, tea, salt, etc., — he 
 sold a sufficiency of these at auction to 
 replenish the vaults of his bank, and 
 at once returned to the duties of his 
 office. Jacob declared, with character- 
 istic emphasis, that he was " bound not 
 to break." 
 
 "Weight of Miss Burdett Coutts's For- 
 ttme. 
 
 The late Duchess of St. Albans left 
 Miss Burdett Coutts the regal sum of 
 £1,800,000, or some nine million dol- 
 lars. The weight of this prodigious 
 sum in gold, reckoning sixty sovereigns 
 to the pound, is thirteen tons, seven 
 cwt., three qr., twelve lbs., and would 
 require one hundred and seven men to 
 carry it, supposing that each of them 
 carried the solid weight of two hun- 
 dred and ninety-eight pounds. This 
 large sum may also be partially guessed, 
 by considering that, counting at the 
 rate of sixty sovereigns a minute for 
 eight hours a day, and six days, of 
 course, in the week, it would take ten 
 weeks, two days, and four hours, to ac- 
 complish the task. In sovereigns, by 
 the most exact computation — each 
 measuring in diameter seventeen-twen- 
 tieths of an inch, and placed to touch 
 each other — it would extend to the 
 length of tvA^enty-four miles and two 
 hundred and fifty yards ; and in crown 
 pieces, to one hundred and thirteen 
 and one half miles and two hundred 
 and eighty yards. 
 
 Mr. Biddle's Wit. 
 
 " Nick Biddle " was a wit as well 
 as a financier. During the session of 
 the legislature of Pennsylvania, in the 
 year 184-, a bill was up appropriating 
 a large sum for continuing the State 
 
 improvements. Mr. H,, of Berks, an 
 honest but unlearned German member, 
 was very hostile to the bill, and in fact 
 opposed to all State improvements, as 
 they involved such an expenditure of 
 money. He knew the wishes of his 
 constituents, but his general knowledge 
 was rather limited. While the bill was 
 under consideration, Mr. Biddle of the 
 city moved an ironical amendment, ap- 
 propriating ten thousand dollars for 
 the improvement of the Alimentary 
 Canal. The member from Berks was 
 instantly upon his feet, declaring his 
 purpose to oppose any aiDpropriation 
 for the Alimentary or any other canal 
 — energetically declaring the amend- 
 ment to be unnecessary and against the 
 wishes of the people. The amendment 
 was instantly withdrawn, amidst the 
 general mirth of the members at the 
 expense of the honest member from. 
 Berks. 
 
 Bankers Snubbing- Napoleon. 
 
 The house of Hope & Co., of Amster- 
 dam — always remarkable for great in- 
 dependence of character — effectually 
 checkmated Napoleon in his presump- 
 tuous dictation to them as bankers. 
 This powerful house, which may be 
 said to have then stood at the head of 
 the mercantile order throughout the 
 world, and, in Holland, not only felt 
 itself perfectly its own master, but con- 
 sidered itself equal in financial matters 
 to any potentate on earth, and entitled 
 to occupy a similar footing with them, 
 could not recognize that it was in any 
 manner bound by an imperial decree. 
 
 Yet Najjoleon was weak enough to 
 think differently. He had dictated a 
 letter, addressed to Messrs. Hope & Co., 
 in the handwriting of Mollieu, the suc- 
 cessor of Barbe Marbais, who had been 
 removed. This missive, worded in the 
 language of a master to his servant, 
 contained the following words : 
 
 " You have made enough money in 
 the Louisiana business to leave me no 
 room to doubt that you will, without 
 
88 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 reservation^ comply with any order I 
 may see fit to make." 
 
 He then sent this letter, without 
 Ouvrard's consent, by an inspector of 
 finance, to Amsterdam. However, the 
 finance inspector was very coolly re- 
 ceived, and had to come back without 
 accomplishing anything. Soon after- 
 ward, Napoleon thought it advisable 
 to send the Baron Louis — afterward 
 Louis Philippe's first minister of finance 
 — ^to Holland, to explore the ground, 
 and discover what resources Ouvrard 
 might have there. Baron Louis pre- 
 sented himself to the Messrs. Hope, and 
 disclosed the object of his visit. Mr. 
 Labouch^re, the partner who received 
 him, at once replied in the following 
 admirable and high-minded mercantile 
 decision : 
 
 "Whether we have money in our 
 hands for Mr. Ouvrard, or not, baron, is 
 not a matter for which we are obliged 
 to render any account to you ; and the 
 inappropriateness of your present visit 
 must have been apparent to yourself! " 
 
 This anecdote was related by Ouv- 
 rard himself, and was likewise repeated 
 frequently by Mr. LabouchSre, who 
 could not suppress his commercial 
 pride, whenever he got an opportunity, 
 at this illustration of his independence 
 of the man, at whose feet all Europe 
 bent the knee. 
 
 Aster's •' Secret Pain." 
 Mr. Astob was compelled, at one 
 time, to repair to Paris, where he could 
 avail himself, for a physical infirmity, 
 of the skilful assistance of Baron Du- 
 puytren. The latter thoroughly restored 
 him, and advised him to ride out every 
 day. He frequently took occasion him- 
 self to accompany his patient on these 
 rides. One day, when riding, Astor 
 appeared by no means disposed to con- 
 verse ; not a word could be got out of 
 him — and at length Dupuytren declared 
 that A. must be suffering from some 
 secret pain or trouble, when he would 
 not speak. He pressed him, and wor- 
 
 ried him, until finally Astor loosed his 
 tongue : 
 
 " Look ye, Baron ! " said Astor ; 
 " how frightful this is. I have here, in 
 the hands of my banker, at Paris, 
 about two million francs, and cannot 
 manage, without great eflbrt, to get 
 more than two and one half per cent. 
 per annum on it. Now, this morning, 
 I have received a letter from my son in 
 New York, informing me that there 
 the best acceptances are at from one 
 and a half to two per cent, per month. 
 Is it not enough to enrage a man?" 
 This revelation of course relieved the 
 Baron's apprehension of any " secret 
 pain or trouble " oi b, physical nature. 
 
 Jewish Perseverance and Shrewdness. 
 
 The clerk of an English banker hav- 
 ing robbed his employer of Bank of 
 England notes to the amount of twenty 
 thousand pounds, made his escape to 
 Holland. Unable to present them him- 
 self, he sold them to a Jew, doubtless 
 at a price affording a good bargain to 
 the purchaser. In the mean time every 
 plan was exhausted to give publicity 
 to the loss. The numbers of the notes 
 were advertised in the papers, with a 
 request that they might be refused; 
 and for about six months no informa- 
 tion was received of the lost property. 
 At the end of that period, the Jew ap- 
 peared with the whole of his spoil, and 
 demanded payment, which was at once 
 refused, on the plea that the bills had 
 been stolen, and that payment had been 
 stopped. The owner insisted upon 
 gold, and the bank persisted in refus- 
 ing. 
 
 But the Jew was an energetic man, 
 and was aware of the credit of the cor- 
 poration; he was known to be pos- 
 sessed of immense wealth. He went 
 deliberately to the exchange, where, to 
 the assembled merchants of London, in 
 the presence of her citizens, he related 
 publicly that the bank had refused to 
 honor their own bills for twenty thou- 
 
BUSINESS PURSUITS IN THEIR MONEY RELATIONS. 
 
 sand pounds ; that their credit was 
 gone ; their affairs in confusion ; and 
 that they had stopped payment. The 
 exchange wore every appearance of 
 alarm ; the Hebrew showed the notes 
 to corroborate his assertion. He de- 
 clared that they had been remitted to 
 him from Holland ; and as his transac- 
 tions were known to be extensive, there 
 appeared every reason to credit his 
 statement. He then avowed his inten- 
 tion of advertising this refusal of the 
 bank; and the citizens thought there 
 must indeed be some truth in his bold 
 announcement. 
 
 Information reached the directors, 
 who grew anxious, and a messenger 
 was sent to inform the holder that he 
 might receive cash in exchange for the 
 notes. In any other country, the Jew 
 would have been tried as a calumnia- 
 tor; but in England, the bank — the 
 soul of the State — would have lost the 
 cause. The law could not hinder the 
 holder of the notes from interpreting 
 the refusal that was made of payment 
 according to his fancy ; nothing could 
 prevent him from saying that he be- 
 lieved the excuse was only a pretext to 
 gain time ; and though intelligent 
 people could not credit the story, the 
 majority would have been alarmed, 
 and would not have taken their notes 
 for cash. In short, the Jew was ac- 
 quainted with the nation and its laws, 
 and he gained his point. 
 
 Sir RoTaert Peel's Opinion of his Son 
 as a Financier. 
 
 Mr. Peel's great currency measure, 
 which he caused to be carried through 
 Parliament by his influence and elo- 
 quence, was opposed by his distin- 
 guished father, and one of the most in- 
 teresting features in the history of that 
 celebrated measure is to be found in a 
 petition from the merchants of the city 
 of London, presented by the elder Peel, 
 against its enactment. After stating 
 that his petitioners were the best calcu- 
 lated to judge on so important a point, 
 
 and that a meeting, which he had at- 
 tended for this purpose, was composed 
 of the very men who had so nobly sup- 
 ported the government in 1797, he jjro- 
 ceeded to say, in language as feeling as 
 the subject was interesting, that ' he 
 well remembered when that near and 
 dear relation was only a child, he ob- 
 served to some friends who were stand- 
 ing near him, that the man who dis- 
 charged his duty to his country in the 
 manner in which Mr. Pitt did, did most 
 to be admired, and was most to be imi- 
 tated ; and he thought, at that moment, 
 if his own life and that of his dear re- 
 lation should be spared, he should one 
 day present him to his country to fol- 
 low in the same path. He was well 
 satisfied that the head and heart of 
 that relation were in their right places ; 
 and that though he had deviated a 
 little from the path of propriety in this 
 instance, he would soon be restored 
 to it." 
 
 Peeresses Conducting- Banking: Opera- 
 tions. 
 
 Two of the richest bankers in Lon- 
 don, a few years ago, were peeresses, 
 namely, the Duchess of St. Albans and 
 the Countess of Jersey — the latter, as 
 the heiress of old Josiah Child, consti- 
 tuting the principal partner of the 
 Child banking house. Both ladies were 
 at one time said to be in the habit of 
 paying periodical visits to their re- 
 spective establishments, and are said to 
 have been distinguished for the affa- 
 bility and good sense with which they 
 sustained their positions, inspected the 
 books, and entered into general busi- 
 ness details. But this report was true, 
 and that in part, only of the late 
 Duchess of St. Albans. She was pecu- 
 liarly fond of showing herself at the 
 bank in the Strand, and putting ques- 
 tions to the partners and clerks, with 
 whom she was no favorite — being, in 
 truth, somewhat of a bore. Lady Jer- 
 sey, as the representative of Sir Josiah 
 Child's interest, only attends the bank 
 
90 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 once a year, when the accounts are bal- 
 anced and the profits struck. On this 
 occasion, the partners dine together at 
 the bank, and the countess, as the prin- 
 cipal partner, takes the head of the 
 table. This lady's connection with the 
 concern has the following history : 
 The last Mr. Child left an only daugh- 
 ter, who was the heiress of his great 
 wealth, and was married to the Earl of 
 Westmoreland ; the eldest daughter of 
 that marriage was the present Countess 
 of Jersey, to whom the grandfather's in- 
 terest in the bank descended. 
 
 Model Engrlisli Banker. 
 
 The model English banker of the 
 present day, is educated at Eton, and 
 makes love to lords. They borrow his 
 money, and laugh at him as a " toady." 
 He enters the banking house at twenty- 
 one, and looks upon the clerks as ser- 
 vants — as breathing copying machines. 
 He belongs to all sorts of clubs. He 
 is a great authority upon wine, horses, 
 and women. He keeps his yacht, and 
 never stops in town after the opera. 
 He walks through the city as if it be- 
 longed to him. He is great in jewelry, 
 and very particular about his riding- 
 whips. He wears in winter white 
 cords and buckskin gloves, and sub- 
 scribes to the nearest " hounds." His 
 wristbands show an inch and a half. 
 He marries a baronet's daughter, and 
 talks nothing but the Blue Book ever 
 afterward. He has a house in Belgravia 
 and a seat in the North. His name, 
 too, is generally amongst the " fashion- 
 ables whom we observed last night at 
 Her Majesty's Theatre." He has always 
 a particular engagement at the West- 
 end at two, at which hour his bay cab 
 invariably calls for him. His printed 
 charities are very extensive — one sum al- 
 ways for himself, another for the com- 
 pany. He is very nervous during panics, 
 and when there is a run upon the bank, it 
 is always owing to " the pressure of the 
 times." He pays his creditors one half 
 
 crown in the pound, and lives on three 
 thousand pounds a year, " settled on 
 his wife" — ^perhaps, indeed, a model 
 banker of this description never fell 
 yet, whose fall was not agreeably soft- 
 ened by a snug little property " settled 
 on his wife." The inference from this 
 is, that the model banker is a most 
 rigid cultivator of the matrimonial vir- 
 tues, and if he forgets occasionally 
 what he owes to himself and others, he 
 remembers to a nicety what is due to 
 his wife. It is only the system of 
 double entry applied to banking. 
 
 Ijargrest Dealer in Commercial Paper 
 in the TJnited States. 
 
 The late Stephen Whitney, of New 
 York, is supposed to have dealt more 
 largely in commercial paper than any 
 other man in that city, and perhaps in 
 the Union. His habits of industry con- 
 tinued through life, and were a com- 
 mon theme of remark with those who 
 observed him in his daily walk from 
 his office to the great moneyed centre 
 of America, where the price of paper 
 and money rates regaled his ears. He 
 was a good judge of paper, and needed 
 no one to advise him. He touched 
 nothing but what in commercial par- 
 lance is termed "gilt-edged," and of 
 this he purchased almost daily for 
 thirty years. These notes being made 
 payable to the order of the drawers, 
 needed no other indorsement, and 
 hence might pass through a hundred 
 hands without this fact becoming 
 known. Mr. Whitney's bills receivable 
 falling due in Wall street, must have 
 been at the rate of thirty thousand per 
 day, and his purchases of paper, of 
 course, were about the same rate. 
 
 " Borrow Money P Borrow Money P " 
 
 One of the familiar cries of the Lon- 
 don Stock Exchange is " Borrow Mon- 
 ey ? Borrow Money ? " a singular one 
 to general apprehension, but it must 
 be understood of course, that the credit 
 
BUSINESS PURSUITS IN THEIR MONEY RELATIONS. 
 
 91 
 
 of the borrower must either be first rate 
 or Ms security of the most satisfactory 
 nature, and that it is not the principal 
 who thus goes into the market, but his 
 broker. 
 
 " Have you money to lend to-day ? " 
 is a question asked with a nonchalance 
 which would astonish the simple man 
 who goes to a "friend," with such a 
 question quivering on his mouth. 
 " Yes," may be the reply. " I want ten 
 or twenty thousand pounds." " On 
 what security ? " for that is the vital 
 question ; and this point being settled, 
 the transaction goes on smoothly and 
 quickly enough. 
 
 Another mode of doing the business 
 is to conceal the object of the borrower 
 or lender, who asks, " What are Ex- 
 chequer ? " The answer may be " forty 
 to forty-two ; " that is, the party ad- 
 dressed will buy one thousand pounds 
 at forty shillings, and sell one thousand 
 pounds at forty-two shillings. The 
 jobbers cluster around the broker, who 
 perhaps says, " I must have a price in 
 five thousand pounds." If it suits 
 them, they will say, " Five with me, 
 five w^ith me, five with me," making 
 fifteen — or, they will say each, "Ten 
 with me ; " and it is the broker's busi- 
 ness to get these parties pledged to buy 
 of him at forty, or to sell to him at 
 forty-two, they not knowing whether 
 he is a buyer or seller. The broker 
 then declares his purpose, saying, for 
 example, " Gentlemen, I sell to you 
 twenty thousand pounds at forty," and 
 the sum is then apportioned among 
 them. 
 
 Peep at tlie Treasure in Threadneedle 
 Street. 
 
 " The next room I entered " — says a 
 visitor at the Bank of England — " was 
 that in which notes are deposited which 
 are ready for issue." " We have thirty- 
 tiDO millions of pounds sterling in this 
 roorn^'^ the officer remarked to me, 
 " will you take a little of it ? " I told 
 him that it would be vastly agreeable, 
 
 and he handed me a million sterling (five 
 million dollars), which I received with 
 many thanks for his liberality ; but he 
 kind of insisted on my depositing it 
 with him again — ^perhaps because it 
 would be hardly safe, besides being 
 burdensome, to carry so much money 
 with me into the street, though that 
 was a risk I would willingly have in- 
 curred. I very much fear I shall never 
 see that money again. In the vault 
 beneath the floor was a director and 
 cashier counting the bags of gold which 
 men were pitching down to them, each 
 bag containing a thousand pounds 
 sterlmg, just from the mint. This 
 money seemed to realize the most daz- 
 zling fables of Eastern wealth. 
 
 Vast Wealth of CrcESus. 
 
 In our jottings of millionnaires, it 
 would seem as though these pages were 
 incomplete without some data concern- 
 ing him whose name has for centuries 
 and generations — fresh down to the 
 present day, — furnished the standard 
 representative of vast wealth. Croesus 
 flourished about the middle of the sixth 
 century b. c. The prodigious wealth 
 which he had inherited had been in- 
 creased by the tribute of conquered na- 
 tions, by the confiscation of great es- 
 tates, and by the golden sands of the 
 Pactolus. Perhaps some idea of the 
 extent of this wealth may be formed 
 from the rich votive ofterings which he 
 is known to have deposited in the tem- 
 ples of the gods. Herodotus himself 
 saw the ingots of solid gold, six palms 
 long, three broad, and one deep, which 
 to the number of one hundred and sev- 
 enteen, were laid up in the treasury at 
 Delphi. He also saw, in various parts 
 of Greece, the following offerings, all in 
 gold, which had been deposited in the 
 temples by the same opulent man : a 
 figure of a lion, probably of the natural 
 size ; a wine bowl of about the same 
 weight as the lion ; a lustral vase ; a 
 statue of a female, said to be Croesus's 
 
92 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 baking woman, four and one-half feet 
 high ; a shield and a spear ; a tripod ; 
 some figures of cows; and a number 
 of pillars ; and a second shield in a dif- 
 ferent place from the first, and of great- 
 
 Mode of Conducting Great Transac- 
 tions by Rothschild. 
 
 "When engaging in large transac- 
 tions, the method pursued by Roths- 
 child was this : Supposing he possess- 
 ed exclusively, which he often did a 
 day or two before it could be generally 
 known, intelligence of some event 
 which had occurred in any part of the 
 continent sufficiently important to cause 
 a rise in the French funds, and through 
 them on the English funds, he would 
 empower the brokers he usually em- 
 ployed to sell out stock, say to the 
 amount of five hundred thousand 
 pounds. The news spread in a moment 
 in financial quarters, that Rothschild 
 was selling out, and a general alarm 
 followed. Every one apprehended he 
 had received intelligence, from some for- 
 eign part, of some important event 
 which would produce a fall in prices. 
 As might, under such circumstances be 
 expected, all became sellers at once. 
 This, of necessity, caused the funds — ^to 
 use the customary phraseology, — " to 
 tumble down at a fearful rate." Next 
 day, when they had fallen perhaps, on« 
 or two per cent, he would make pur- 
 chases, say to the amount of one and 
 a half million pounds, taking care, 
 however, to employ a number of bro- 
 kers whom he was not in the habit of 
 employing, and commissioning each to 
 purchase to a certain extent, and giving 
 all of them strict orders to preserve se- 
 crecy in the matter. Each of the per- 
 sons so employed was, by this means, 
 ignorant of the commission given to 
 others. Had it been known the pur- 
 chases were for» him, there would have 
 been as great and sudden a rise in the 
 prices as there had been in the fall, so 
 that he could not purchase to the in- 
 
 tended extent, on such advantageous 
 terms. On the third day, perhaps, the 
 intelligence, which had been expected 
 by the jobbers to be unfavorable, ar- 
 rives, and instead of being so, turns out 
 to be highly favorable. Prices instan- 
 taneously rise again ; and possibly they 
 may get one and a half, or even two 
 per cent, higher than they were when 
 he sold out his five hundred thousand 
 pounds. He now sells out at the ad- 
 vanced price the entire million and a 
 half pounds he had purchased at the 
 reduced prices. The gains by such ex- 
 tensive operations, when thus skilfully 
 managed, are enormous. 
 
 Bank Teller's "Varieties." 
 
 Few are aware of the perplexing 
 difficulties of a bank teller. Besides 
 the routine of business in connection 
 with the clearing-house, which requires 
 most judicious examination, the cur- 
 rent business of the day goes on with 
 increasing pressure from the outside. 
 So long as he can dispose of the appli- 
 cations uninterruptedly, as they are 
 represented, the lobby is comparatively 
 quiet and free from obstruction; but 
 even a momentary stoppage causes the 
 crowd to gather, and soon ten or a 
 dozen persons are waiting to be served 
 in turn. Expressions of impatience are 
 not uncommon. The teller is pro- 
 nounced " slow " — " indifferent to the 
 convenience of the customers" — "in- 
 competent," and " tantalizing," by his 
 deliberation of movement. Delibera- 
 tion is the secret of his accomplishing 
 so much. In truth, there is hardly a 
 moment when he may not be said to be 
 doing two or more things at once. 
 
 The interruptions to which he is sub- 
 jected are almost incessant. The 
 cashier has just received advices of the 
 issue of a number of duplicate checks 
 by a corresponding bank, to replace 
 the originals which have been lost in 
 the mail. He brings the letter and list 
 of duplicates to the teller, who is occu- 
 
BUSINESS PURSUITS IN THEIR MONEY RELATIONS. 
 
 93 
 
 pied several minutes in obtaining a 
 clear understanding of the case. Some 
 of the originals might be in the hands 
 of j)ersons then waiting to be served, 
 and he must be able to detect them at 
 sight. 
 
 " Will you pay me this check, sir ? I 
 don't want to be kept here half a day ! " 
 growls a hot-tempered customer. 
 
 " Yes, sir," answers the teller, " if you 
 will have the discrepancy corrected be- 
 tween the figures and the writing." 
 
 Another : " How did your exchanges 
 come out the day before yesterday ? " 
 asks a messenger from another bank. 
 
 " A thousand dollars over." 
 
 " That's lucky ! Our teller is short a 
 thousand — that must be it." 
 
 " Well, if he can establish his claim, 
 and no other bank contests, I'll pay it." 
 
 "I want five thousand dollars in 
 gold for that check — not good," says 
 another bank messenger. 
 
 The porter or specie clerk, who keeps 
 the coin prepared for such demands, is 
 absent, and the teller may be obliged 
 to go to the vault for it. 
 
 In the next moment, a check which 
 had been sent to another bank, through 
 the exchanges, is returned for a written 
 guarantee of indorsement. If satisfied 
 of its correctness, the teller gives the 
 guarantee. Otherwise he pays the 
 money for it, and returns it to the 
 dealer who had deposited it. 
 
 A stranger ofiers to the teller five 
 hundred dollars in bills, to pay a check 
 which he had drawn on the bank. 
 Keeping no account, his money is re- 
 fused, but he persists in an altercation 
 about it, to the hindrance of those be- 
 hind him. 
 
 A dealer wants thirty or forty thou- 
 sand dollars in coin, to pay duties at 
 the custom house. Another hands in a 
 memorandum check that he has given 
 out, but of which he wants to arrest 
 payment. Another inquires whether a 
 lost check, of which he had previously 
 given notice, has been paid. A porter 
 from the Merchants' Bank presents a 
 
 dozen notes of different parties for cer- 
 tification, and he is immediately fol- 
 lowed by one from another bank, with 
 a bag of gold which he reports ten dol- 
 lars short, and which may be the occa- 
 sion of some dispute. 
 
 The other clerks have frequent neces- 
 sity to communicate with the paying 
 teller with respect to the state of ac- 
 counts, and he with them. 
 
 A noisy colloquy ensues with a dealer 
 whose check has been refused, because 
 of his deposit having been credited to 
 another party ; and with another, whose 
 account appears deficient, because a 
 promised discount of paper has not 
 been entered on the books. 
 
 "Here," says Mr. Bungle, returning 
 a handful of rumpled bank bills and 
 coin, " that money which you paid me 
 is twenty dollars short." The teller 
 examines it, and satisfies Mr. Bungle 
 that the error was in his own counting. 
 
 Kaisingr Money on Manuscript. 
 
 In ancient times, manuscripts were 
 important articles in a commercial 
 point of view ; they were excessively 
 scarce, and preserved with the utmost 
 care. Usurers themselves considered 
 them as precious objects for pawn. A 
 student of Pavia, who was reduced by 
 his debaucheries, raised a new fortune 
 by leaving in pawn a manuscript of a 
 body of law ; and a grammarian, who 
 was ruined by a fire, rebuilt his house 
 with two small volumes of Cicero, 
 through the pawnbroker. 
 
 Irish Banker E-edeeming- his Notes. 
 
 Says a sprightly writer who possesses 
 a lively relish for the humorous in mat- 
 ters of business : I once accompanied 
 a large party of English ladies and gen- 
 tlemen to that enchanting spot, the 
 Lakes of Killarney, where, having 
 amused ourselves for a few days, we 
 were on the point of returning to Dub- 
 lin, when one of the party recollected 
 
94 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 tliat lie had in his possession a handful 
 of notes on a banker who was a kind 
 of saddler in the town of Killarney. 
 Accordingly, we all set out by way of 
 sport to have them exchanged, our 
 principal object being to see and con- 
 verse with the proprietor of such a 
 bank. 
 
 Having entered the "bank," which 
 hardly sufficed to admit the whole com- 
 pany, we found the banking saddler 
 hard at work. One of the gentlemen 
 thus addressed him : 
 
 " Good morning to you, sir. I pre- 
 sume you are the gentleman of the 
 house ? " 
 
 " At your service, ladies and gentle- 
 men," returned the saddler. 
 
 " It is here that I understand that the 
 bank is kept." 
 
 " You are right, sir," was the reply ; 
 " this is the Killarney Bank, for want 
 of a better." 
 
 " We are on the eve," said the spokes- 
 man, " of quitting your town, and, as 
 we have some few of your notes which 
 will be of no manner of use to us else- 
 where, I'll thank you for the cash for 
 them." 
 
 The banker replied " Cash, plase your 
 honor, what is that ? Is it anything in 
 the leather line ? I have a beautiful 
 saddle here as ever was put across a 
 horse, good and cheap. How much of 
 my notes have you, sir, if you please ? " 
 
 " There are no less than sixteen of 
 your promises to pay, for the amazingly 
 large sum of fifteen shillings and nine- 
 pence sterling money." 
 
 " I should be sorry, most noble," re- 
 turned the banker, " to waste any more 
 of your lordship's time or of those swate 
 beautiful ladies and gentlemen, but I 
 have an illegant bridle here as isn't to 
 be matched in Yoorup, Aishy, Africay, 
 or Merickay ; its lowest price is fifteen 
 shillings six and a-half pence — will say 
 fifteen shillings sixpence to your lord- 
 ship. If ye'll be plased to accept of it, 
 then there will be twopence ha'penny 
 or a three-pence note coming to your 
 
 lordship, and that will clear the busi- 
 ness at once." 
 
 This account of an Irish banker, al- 
 though possibly somewhat overcharged, 
 may be considered a pretty fair speci- 
 men of many who pretended to carry 
 on the business of banking in that 
 country, years ago. 
 
 Florentine Brokers and Money 
 lioaners. 
 
 The early prosperity of the Floren- 
 tine brokers was great indeed. The 
 useful invention of a system of ex- 
 change, first known, or at least perfect- 
 ed in Florence, raised her in commer- 
 cial character ; and strengthened by the 
 sums of money which, at an advan- 
 tageous interest, were loaned by the 
 Florentine merchants to the largest 
 houses, and not unfrequently to the 
 governments of other countries, the 
 body or board of Florentine brokers 
 became at once among the most influ- 
 ential in the domestic affairs of the 
 city, and among the most necessary to 
 the rising commerce of Europe. 
 
 The mode of exacting security on 
 loans is a notable circumstance, and 
 shows, with unerring certainty, the exact 
 value to commerce of the indefatigable 
 exertions made by the money lenders 
 of Florence. When Aldobrandino 
 d'Este applied for the aid of the bank- 
 ers of Florence, in addition to the mort- 
 gage of all his real estate, they required 
 the person of his brother in pledge. 
 The neglect of similar precautions had 
 caused to Florence a loss that shook the 
 whole fabric of commercial prosperity, 
 when Edward of England, the conquer- 
 or of Cressy and Poictiers, and the am- 
 bitious aspirant to the realm and throne 
 of France, pennitted the great house 
 of Peruzzi to fail in consequence of his 
 inability to repay the moneys which 
 they had furnished for his wars, and 
 which amounted to a sum, calculated 
 according to the present value of mon- 
 ey, of not less than thirteen millions of 
 dollars. 
 
BUSINESS PURSUITS IN THEIR MONEY RELATIONS. 
 
 95 
 
 Conductingr Business on the Paris 
 Bourse. 
 
 Theke are some interesting peculiari- 
 ties in tlie mode of doing business on 
 tlie Paris Bourse, or stock exchange. 
 The agens de cliaiige alone are author- 
 ized by law to purchase or sell public 
 securities. All respectable business, 
 whether for cash or the end of the 
 month, is transacted by them — not, as 
 in London, through the medium of the 
 third party, called the jobber, — but 
 directly with each other. They seldom 
 communicate to their principals the 
 names of the persons with whom they 
 deal ; but they report each bargain as it 
 is made, and answer at the end of the 
 month for the balance due to him. 
 They are very cautious in doing busi- 
 ness with the public, and they generally 
 require a deposit, or couverture, as it is 
 called, of from two to four per cent, of 
 the sum bought or sold, before they 
 will deal for the end of the month. 
 
 Their profits are enormous, as about 
 sixty agents engross the whole respec- 
 table business of the Bourse, and as 
 they encounter losses only when some 
 great banker fails, or some brother 
 agent de change stops payment. 
 
 The agens de change compose what is 
 called the ^^ parquet,''^ but there is 
 another body in the exchange called 
 the coulisse, consisting of speculators of 
 all classes and fortunes, who are beyond 
 the law, and who do business with 
 each other on parole. There are re- 
 spectable men to be found in the coulisse, 
 but many persons are admitted into it 
 who have very little to recommend 
 them. Their operations are all for 
 time, and in the three per cents, only. 
 Several members of the coulisse do busi- 
 ness as brokers for speculators out of 
 the market, but their chief occupation 
 consists in catching for each other the 
 turn of the market. It rarely happens 
 that the parquet and the coulisse take 
 the same view of public affairs ; and 
 the former, backed by the great capi- 
 
 talists, are usually the "bulls," while 
 the latter usually are the " bears." In 
 both, the small fry are sacrificed — soon- 
 er or later they are carried down the 
 stream, as the rich bankers, at stated 
 times, combine and execute them with- 
 out mercy. 
 
 Terrible Reveng-e on a Bank by 
 Bothschild. 
 
 An amusing adventure is related as 
 having happened to the Bank of Eng- 
 land, which had committed the great 
 disrespect of refusing to discount a bill 
 of a large amount, drawn by Anselm 
 Rothschild, of Frankfort, on Nathan 
 Rothschild, of London. 
 
 The bank had haughtily replied 
 " that they discounted only their own 
 bills, and not those of private persons." 
 But they had to do with one stronger 
 than the bank. " Private persons ! " 
 exclaimed Nathan Rothschild, when 
 they reported to him the fact : " Pri- 
 vate persons ! I will make these gentle- 
 men see what sort of private persons 
 we are ! " ' 
 
 Three weeks afterward, Nathan 
 Rothschild — who had employed the in- 
 terval in gathering all the five-pound 
 notes he could procure in England and 
 on the Continent — jDresented himself at 
 the bank at the opening of the oflice. He 
 drew from his pocket book a five-pound 
 note, and they naturally counted out 
 five sovereigns, at the same time look- 
 ing quite astonished that the Baron 
 Rothschild should have personally 
 troubled himself for such a trifle. The 
 baron examined one by one the coins, 
 and put them into a little canvas bag, 
 then drawing out another note, — a 
 third — a tenth — a hundredth, he never 
 put the pieces of gold into the bag 
 without scrupulously examining them, 
 and in some instances trying them in 
 the balance, as, he said, " the law gave 
 him the right to do." The first pocket- 
 book being emptied, and the first bag 
 full, he passed them to his clerk, and 
 received a second, and thus continued, 
 
96 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 till the close of tlie bank. The baron 
 had employed seven hours to change 
 twenty-one thousand pounds. But as he 
 had also nine employes of his house en- 
 gaged in the same manner, it resulted 
 that the house of Rothschild had drawn 
 £210,000 in gold from the bank, and that 
 he had so occuj)ied the tellers that no 
 other person could change a single note. 
 Everything which bears the stamp 
 of eccentricity has always pleased the 
 English. They were, therefore, the 
 first day, very much amused at the 
 little pique of Baron Rothschild. They 
 however laughed less when they saw 
 him return the next day at the opening 
 of the bank, flanked by his nine clerks, 
 and followed this time by many drays, 
 destined to carry away the specie. 
 They laughed no longer, when the king 
 of bankers said with ironic simplicity : 
 " These gentlemen refuse to pay my 
 bills, I have sworn not to keep theirs. 
 At their leisure — only I notify them 
 that I have enough to employ them 
 for two months ! " " For two months ! " 
 " Eleven millions in gold drawn from 
 the Bank of England which they have 
 never possessed ! " The bank took 
 alarm. There was something to be 
 done. The next morning, notice ap- 
 peared in the journals that henceforth 
 the bank would pay Rothschild's bills 
 the same as their own. 
 
 Determining: the Genuineness of a 
 Check. 
 
 The bank account of a highly re- 
 spectable house was reported over- 
 drawn for two thousand dollars; and 
 one of the firm denied the genuineness 
 of a particular check for that amount. 
 A number of his checks were so ar- 
 ranged as to conceal all but the signa- 
 tures, and he was requested to point 
 out the forgery. He acknowledged his 
 inability to discriminate between that 
 and any other. On close inquiry it ap- 
 peared that he had been in the habit 
 of signing checks in blank to the order 
 of his bookkeeper, to be used in his ab- 
 
 sence, and the one in question was of 
 this description, excepting that it was 
 payable to the bearer. He was asked 
 if he could swear that the signature 
 was not liis own — to which he answered 
 in the negative. Yet it was not made 
 subject to order in his usual form, and 
 he had no recollection of having signed 
 it. Under these circumstances, the 
 bank insisted that it was genuine, and 
 the house submitted to the loss. 
 
 Modem Bank Directors' Parlor. 
 
 The bank room, or parlor, of the 
 Bank of England, is the grand centre 
 around which the whole mechanism 
 of that vast establishment revolves. 
 There in solemn assembly sit, once a 
 week, that august commercial body, 
 reverently spoken of by all as the 
 " board of directors ; " there all the 
 overdrawn accounts are gone over and 
 commented upon ; instructions are giv- 
 en for further advance or reduced bal- 
 ances ; all the bills on hand, and the 
 character of their acceptors, are regular- 
 ly examined and criticized ; grave de- 
 liberations are held as to the best means 
 of investing any surplus funds ; and 
 last, but not least, to those immediate- 
 ly concerned, the question of salaries is 
 there gone into, and duly disposed of. 
 Very rarely, indeed, is a joke heard, or 
 a pun perpetrated in this retreat, sacred 
 to business alone ; but should such an 
 event ever occur, it would doubtless be 
 some dry wit comprehensible only to 
 financiers. The directors never die — 
 that is to say, they never die out. So 
 soon as a vacancy takes place, it is im- 
 mediately filled, generally by the larg- 
 est shareholder, if possessed of a reason- 
 able amount of capacity for the posi- 
 tion. 
 
 Detecting" Bad Bills. 
 A BANK TELLER requires an instinc- 
 tive faculty for the detection of spurious 
 bills. To stand by and observe him 
 counting, it might be supposed that he 
 
BUSINESS PURSUITS IN THEIR MONEY RELATIONS. 
 
 9-7 
 
 Modern Bank Directors' Parlor. 
 
 could hardly get a glimpse of each, so 
 rapidly do they pass through his hands. 
 He looks as if he were trying how many 
 times he could strike the ends of his 
 fingers together in the twentieth part 
 of a second ; but you see a steady 
 stream of bills issuing beneath them 
 and gradually gathering into a pile. 
 
 There goes one aside, without per- 
 ceptible pause in the handling 1 He 
 checks the item on the list, and with 
 his right hand thrusts the pile into a 
 drawer, whilst with the left he tosses 
 the single bill back to the depositor. 
 
 " Counterfeit — five dollars off" ! " 
 
 He makes the entry, deducting it 
 from the list, hands the book to the 
 dealer, and takes the next in order, in 
 which there is a package of mixed de- 
 nominations of several hundred dollars. 
 He gives it a smack on the counter to 
 loosen the bills, and a peculiar toss, 
 which makes them fall over like the 
 leaves of a book, affording an instanta- 
 neous glance at their ends. His eye has 
 caught in that instant an old acquaint- 
 ance. 
 
 "Where did you get that altered 
 bill ? " he asks of the customer, mean- 
 while counting — " twenty, thirty, fifty, 
 7 
 
 fifty-five, sixty," and on he goes like 
 lightning. The dealer looks aston- 
 ished, not thinking that the question 
 could possibly have reference to any 
 bill in his money. The teller repeats, 
 without ceasing liis account for an ap- 
 preciable instant — " one twenty, one 
 thirty, two, five, one forty five — say, 
 where did you get that altered bill ? — 
 sixty-five, one seventy, eighty, two 
 thirty — that^^'' he says, tossing it in his 
 face — " two altered to ten ; two eighty- 
 five, two ninety-five, three, five, ten, 
 three thirty-five— ten ofF, right;" and 
 the deposit is entered, and the dealer's 
 book is returned before he knows it, 
 and the teller is in the midst of another 
 count for the next customer in order. 
 
 This is very curious to an inexpe- 
 rienced observer. But there are cer- 
 tain well-known spurious and altered 
 bank bills, which are distinguished by 
 a quick teller, as well as the counte- 
 nance of said teller's landlord who ap- 
 proaches to ask for his quarter's rent. 
 
 An Excited Specie Hunter. 
 
 During the heat of the specie excite- 
 ment at Glasgow, a few years ago, a 
 
98 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 gentleman went into the Union Bank 
 of that city, and presented a check of 
 five hundred pounds. The teller asked 
 him if he wished gold. " Gold ! " re- 
 plied he, " no ; give me notes, and let 
 the fools that are frightened get the 
 gold." 
 
 Another gentleman rushed into the 
 same bank in a great state of excite- 
 ment, with a check for fourteen hun- 
 dred pounds. On being asked if he 
 wished gold, he replied, "Yes." 
 " Well," said the teller, " there are one 
 thousand pounds in that bag, and four 
 hundred in this one." The gentleman 
 was so flurried by the readiness with 
 which the demand was granted, that he 
 lifted up the bag with the four hundred 
 pounds only, and walked ofF, leaving 
 the one thousand pounds on the coun- 
 ter. The teller, on discovering the bag, 
 laid it aside for the time. Late in the 
 day the gentleman returned to the bank 
 in great distress, stating that he had 
 lost the bag with the one thousand 
 pounds, and could not tell whether he 
 left it behind him on leaving the bank, 
 or dropped it while in the crowd. 
 " Oh, you left it on the counter," said 
 the teller quietly, " and if you will call 
 to-morrow you will get your thousand 
 pounds." 
 
 ♦ 
 
 Renewing a Note. 
 
 As queer scenes occur in the daily 
 proceedings of a bank, probably, as in 
 almost any kind or place of business 
 that can be named — the apparent mo- 
 notonous routine of bank transactions 
 being diversified by many an odd inci- 
 dent. 
 
 AVhen the tellers get at their posts, 
 and the hour for business has arrived, 
 customers begin to drop in first one by 
 one, and there are generally " cases " 
 of some sort or other soon requiring 
 special attention. Perhaps among them 
 will come " Old Indian," as he is fa- 
 miliarly known at the institution, a 
 man who has honorably acquitted him- 
 self in the military line, and one who 
 
 is liked by all at the bank, but who 
 has got into diflSculties, which, per- 
 haj)s, he feels to be more galling than 
 he ever did the fire of an enemy. With- 
 out preliminaries, he, soldier-like, comes 
 to the point at once. 
 
 " I wish to pay the interest on that 
 bill of mine you hold, and to renew it 
 for three months longer." 
 
 " Very good, sir ; I will find the bill." 
 
 The teller now goes ostensibly for the 
 document, but in reality to consult the 
 manager's wishes on the subject : " Mr. 
 Brookes has called to renew his note ; 
 shall I do so ? " " Well, I suppose we 
 must. You know we have a little se- 
 curity for it, and as he means to pay 
 off gradually, we must try to oblige 
 him." 
 
 Having thus " found the bill," the 
 teller again goes to his desk, and 
 draws out the new one, which the old 
 gentleman signs, pays the interest on 
 the first, and with a stiff " good morn- 
 ing," takes his leave. They all feel for 
 him, but sometimes wonder, with all 
 credit to his good intentions, whether 
 he will ever do much more than reneio 
 his bills. 
 
 Franklin's Multitude of Capitalists. 
 '^ " Time is money," said Franklin ; 
 but it doesn't follow that the multitude 
 of those who have so great a quantity 
 of such " money " on their hands are 
 all capitalists. 
 
 '• Manifolding:" Bank Notes. 
 The use of bank notes, independent- 
 ly of their legitimate value, appears to 
 be somewhat diverse. But perhaps the 
 most extraordinary use to which they 
 have been applied is to be found in the 
 process termed " manifolding." A per- 
 son carrying on a rather extensive busi- 
 ness in the British provinces, being in 
 want of cash, and having in his pos- 
 session a fifty-pound note, came to the 
 conclusion that he would cut it in two. 
 With one part he went to a moneyed 
 acquaintance told him he had just re- 
 
BUSINESS PURSUITS IN THEIR MONEY RELATIONS. 
 
 ceived it by post, and that the other 
 would follow in a day or two, and it 
 would be a great convenience if his 
 friend could advance him cash to the 
 amount on its security. The person to 
 whom he applied consented to the re- 
 quest. Having been thus successful 
 with one half, he determined to try the 
 other ; with it he proved equally for- 
 tunate, and thus his iifty-pound note 
 produced him one hundred pounds. 
 The game was too profitable to be 
 given up at once ; so he went to a 
 banker, and demanded a one hundred 
 pound note with the cash he had re- 
 ceived. Again he had recourse to the pro- 
 cess of cutting ; again he victimized two 
 acquaintances, and thus procured two 
 hundred pounds for his original note. 
 With the money thus acquired he de- 
 parted, satisfied with having gained one 
 hundred and fifty pounds thus easily. 
 
 Kunning- a Bank. 
 
 The Bank of England probably never 
 passed through a more critical strait 
 than the " run " made upon it by the 
 Due de Choiseul, — a French plan to 
 destroy the institution, hoping thereby 
 to obtain important State advantages 
 for France over her rival. Some mil- 
 lions of livres added to the zeal of the 
 French emissaries, who discovered a 
 period when the bullion was somewhat 
 low, and spread reports calculated to 
 injure the standing of the corporation. 
 
 Collecting all the notes which they 
 could possibly procure, they poured 
 them into the bank, and carried away 
 the gold with a parade which attracted 
 the attention it sought. The old cry 
 arose of a run upon the bank, and in 
 a few hours the whole city was in mo- 
 tion. Volumes of paper were present- 
 ed, and gold received in exchange. 
 The consternation of the directors was 
 in proportion to the suddenness of the 
 attack. The alarm, far from being 
 quieted, became every day more gen- 
 eral. Post-chaises poured in from the 
 
 provinces. The application for specie 
 became more urgent. There was no 
 mode of judging to what extent an at- 
 tempt so unprecedented and so unex- 
 pected might be carried. The eff"orts 
 of the national enemy seemed prosper- 
 ing, and for some days England appear- 
 ed to be on the brink of the greatest 
 evil which could happen. 
 
 Time was necessary to collect specie, 
 and people were employed day and 
 night to coin money. All the gold 
 which by any stratagem could be gath- 
 ered was brought into the bank. The 
 method of paying by weight was dis- 
 continued. The sums claimed were de- 
 livered with greater deliberation ; and 
 the money placed guinea by guinea on 
 the table. For nine days this fever 
 continued ; but the method adopted by 
 the directors, with concurrent circum- 
 stances, gave time for the production 
 of a large supply of gold. All the de- 
 mands were met, and the claimants find- 
 ing there was no cause for doubt, re- 
 sumed their confidence in the bank. 
 
 Intruding: into the Bullion Boom. 
 
 The directors of the Bank of Eng- 
 land some time since received an an- 
 onymous letter, stating that the writer 
 had the means of access to their bul- 
 lion room. They treated the matter as 
 a hoax and took no notice of the letter. 
 Another and more urgent and specific 
 letter failed to rouse them. At length, 
 the writer offered to meet them in their 
 bullion room at any hour they might 
 please to name. They then communi- 
 cated with their correspondent through 
 the channel he had indicated, appoint- 
 ing some " dark and midnight hour " 
 for the rendezvous. A deputation from 
 the Board, with lantern in hand, re- 
 paired to the bullion room, locked 
 themselves in, and awaited the arrival 
 of the mysterious correspondent. 
 Punctual to the hour a noise was heard 
 below. Some boards in the floor with- 
 out much trouble were displaced, and 
 
100 
 
 COMMEKCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 in a few minutes the Guy Fawkes of 
 the bank stood in the presence of the 
 astonished directors. His story was 
 very simple and straightforward. An 
 old drain ran under the bullion room, 
 the existence of which had become 
 known to him, and by means of which 
 he might have carried away enormous 
 sums. Inquiry was made. Nothing 
 had been abstracted, and the directors 
 forthwith l-ewarded the honesty and 
 ingenuity of their anonymous corre- 
 spondent — a working man, who had 
 been employed in repairing sewers — by 
 a present of eight hundred pounds. 
 
 Sothscliild Trying- to Baise a Small 
 Lioan. 
 
 The name of Nathan Meyer Roths- 
 child is found upon more money bills 
 than passed through any twenty bank- 
 ing firms in London, during the period 
 covered by his business career. But he 
 was far from being celebrated for his 
 proficiency in the art of writing. This 
 defect, on one occasion in particular, 
 caused him some little annoyance. He 
 was travelling in Scotland, and, on his 
 return, stopped at the town of Mont- 
 rose ; here, wishing to replenish his ex- 
 hausted exchequer, he went to the 
 bank, and requested cash for a draft 
 of one hundred pounds on his agent in 
 London. He was, however, much sur- 
 prised at the refusal of the bank man- 
 ager to honor his check, without, as 
 that functionary said, having the gen- 
 uineness of the signature — ichich Tie icas 
 utterly unahle to read — previously ac- 
 credited ; and for this purpose it must 
 be first forwarded to London. To this 
 arrangement Mr. Rothschild was com- 
 pelled to submit ; and as, at that time, 
 it took six days before an answer could 
 be received from London, he was de- 
 tained until the reply came, which, of 
 course, proving favorable, he was en- 
 abled to pursue his journey. 
 
 Girard's Great Government Loan. 
 
 It is a fact which may be put to the 
 credit of Girard's patriotism, that in 
 1814, when the credit of the country 
 was exhausted, the treasury bankrupt, 
 and an invading army was marching 
 over the land ; when, in fact, subscrip- 
 tions were solicited for funds to the 
 amount of five millions of dollars, upon 
 the inducement of a large bonus and an 
 interest of seven per cent., and only 
 twenty thousand dollars could be ob- 
 tained upon that ofier for the purpose 
 of carrying on the war, Stephen Gi- 
 rard stepped forward and subscribed 
 for the whole amount. When, too, 
 those who had before rejected the terms 
 were afterward anxious to subscribe, 
 even at a considerable advance from 
 the original subscription, these individ- 
 uals were let in by him upon the same 
 terms. 
 
 Coin Used by Judas. 
 
 The " piece of silver," thirty of which 
 were paid to Judas, in his trade of be- 
 traying Christ, was considered a pecu- 
 liar piece by the Israelites, and was al- 
 ways spoken of in their holy books as 
 the shekel of Israel, or holy shekel of the 
 sanctuary. It was the amount which 
 each Israelite, between the ages of 
 twenty and fifty, was required to pay 
 into the public treasury, as a ransom 
 for their delivery, during their sojourn 
 in the wilderness. 
 
 According to the British currency, a 
 shekel was worth two shillings three 
 pence three farthings, — equal to about 
 fifty cents of our money. The coin 
 was somewhat larger than an American 
 half-dollar, and was smooth-edged. On 
 one side it bore the emblem of Aaron's 
 rod, as mentioned in Numbers, xvii. 8, 
 surrounded with the inscription in He- 
 brew which is given in the eleventh 
 chapter of Leviticus — with the words, 
 "Shekel of Israel." 
 
BUSINESS PURSUITS IN THEIR MONEY RELATIONS. 
 
 101 
 
 History of the Old Red Cent. 
 
 As tlie old " red cent " has now passed 
 out of use, and, except rarely, out of 
 siglit, like the " old oaken bucket," its 
 history is a matter of sufficient interest 
 for preservation. The cent was first pro- 
 posed by Robert Morris, the great finan- 
 cier of the Revolution, and was named 
 by Jefferson two years after. It began 
 to make its appearance from the mint 
 in 1792. It bore the head of Washing- 
 ton on one side, and thirteen links on 
 the other. The French Revolution 
 soon created a rage for French ideas in 
 America, which put on the cent, instead 
 of the head of Washington, the head 
 of the Goddess of Liberty — a French 
 liberty, with neck thrust forward and 
 flowing locks. The chain on the re- 
 verse was replaced by the olive wreath 
 of peace. But the French liberty was 
 short-lived, and so was her portrait on 
 our cent. The next head or figure suc- 
 ceeding this — the staid, classic dame, 
 with a fillet around her hair, — came 
 into fashion about thirty or forty years 
 ago, and her finely chiselled Grecian 
 features have been but slightly altered 
 by the lapse of time. 
 
 Origin of Paper Money. 
 
 The celebrated traveller, Marco 
 Paulo, of Venice, was the first person 
 who announced to Europe the existence 
 of paper money in China, under the 
 Moguls. It was subsequently intro- 
 duced by the Moguls into Persia, where 
 their notes were called djaou, or djaw, 
 a word evidently derived from the Chi- 
 nese word schaio — a word intended to 
 signify the want of specie. 
 
 The fact of the Moguls having, in 
 China and Persia, made use of paper 
 money, has induced the belief that 
 they were the inventors of it. But in 
 the history of Tchinghiz-khan, and of 
 the Mogul dynasty in China, published 
 in the year 1739, the author speaks of 
 the suppression of the paper money, 
 
 which was in use under the dynasty 
 of the Soung, who reigned in China 
 previous to the Moguls; and he also 
 mentions a new species of notes which 
 were substituted for the ancient in the 
 year 1264. 
 
 The original financial speculation of 
 the Chinese ministry, to provide for the 
 extraordinary expenditvu'eg of the sta]te, 
 which were exceesdir-g' Vihe revenuesj 
 was in the yea^f 119 before ,the Christian 
 era. At this "periccl w^r^'lnlr<j4«-"'p^l(i 
 the phi-pi, or value in skins. These 
 were small pieces of the skin of deer, 
 which were kept in a pen, within the 
 precincts of the palace. They were a 
 Chinese square foot in size, and were 
 beautifully ornamented with painting 
 and embroidery. The price of those 
 skins was fixed at a sum equal in Eng- 
 lish money to about twelve guineas. 
 
 Ricardo's Three Golden Rules. 
 
 David Ricardo, the English Jew 
 broker, accumulated an immense prop- 
 erty. He had what he called his three 
 golden rules m business, the observance 
 of which he always pressed upon his 
 private friends. These were : Never to 
 refuse an option when you can get it ; 
 cut short your losses ; let your profits 
 run on. By cutting short one's losses, 
 Mr. Ricardo meant that, when a broker 
 had made a purchase of stock, and 
 prices were falling, he ought to re-sell 
 immediately. And by letting one's 
 profits run on, he meant that, when a 
 dealer possessed stock, and the prices 
 were rising, he ought not to sell until 
 prices had reached their highest, and 
 were beginning again to fall. 
 
 M. Rothschild on the Secret of his 
 Success. 
 
 On the occasion of a familiar inter- 
 view, one day, between Sir Thomas 
 Buxton and Rothschild, the latter said : 
 "My success has always turned upon 
 one maxim. I said, Jean do what another 
 man can, and so I am a match for all 
 
102 
 
 COMSIERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 the rest of 'em. Another advantage I 
 had — I was always an oflf-hand man ; 
 I made a bargain at once. When I was 
 settled in London, the East India Com- 
 pany had eight hundred thousand 
 pounds in gold to sell. I went to the 
 sale, and bought the whole of it. I 
 knew the Duke of "Wellington must 
 have it. I -had bought a great many 
 bills of 'hi^ at a (Ji&cftunt. The govern- 
 ment- sent- for me, and "^aicl they must 
 4iave"$t. "When fney hid got it, they 
 didn't know how to get it to Portugal, 
 where they wanted it. I undertook all 
 that, and sent it through France ; and 
 that was the best business I ever did in 
 my life. 
 
 " It requires (continued Rothschild) a 
 great deal of boldness and a great deal 
 of caution to make a great fortune ; 
 and when you have got it, it requires 
 ten times as much wit to keep it. If I 
 should listen to one half the projects 
 proposed to me, I should ruin myself 
 very soon. 
 
 " One of my neighbors is a very ill- 
 tempered man. He tries to vex me, 
 and has built a great place for swine 
 close to my walk. So, when I go out, 
 I hear first, * Grunt, grunt,' then 
 * Squeak, squeak,' But this does me 
 no harm. I am always in good humor. 
 Sometimes, to amuse myself, I give a 
 beggar a "guinea. He thinks it is a 
 mistake, and for fear I should find it 
 out, he runs away as hard as he can. I 
 advise you to give a beggar a guinea 
 sometimes — it is very amusing." 
 
 Application for a Discount, by Astor. 
 
 Me. J. J. Astor's profits rolled in 
 upon him at a rate which no one could 
 have dreamed of, and he kept their 
 amount a secret until he had so pene- 
 trated the frontier by his agencies that 
 he controlled the whole fur-trade, when 
 he occasionally acknowledged a degree 
 of wealth which astonished those who 
 heard. For instance, he had occasion 
 at a certain time, to use a large amount 
 
 of cash, and, what was very rare with 
 him, applied to his bank for a heavy 
 discount. The unusual cu'cumstance 
 and the sum demanded startled the 
 cashier, who, in a plain business way, 
 put the question: "Mr. Astor, how 
 much do you consider yourself worth ? " 
 ^'•Not less tliana million,'''' was the reply. 
 "A million!" — the cashier was over- 
 whelmed. He supposed that he knew 
 all his customers, and had rated Astor 
 at hardly more than one-tenth of that 
 sum. 
 
 Peculiar Manag-ement of the Bank 
 of Amsterdam. 
 
 Previously to the year 1609, the 
 great trade of Amsterdam brought 
 thither large quantities of clipped and 
 worn coin, from foreign countries. 
 Thus, the whole currency became great- 
 ly debased ; for, whenever any coin was 
 issued fresh from the mint, as the metal 
 was worth more than its nominal and 
 current value, it was immediately with- 
 drawn from circulation, and exported, 
 or melted down. In this state of things, 
 merchants could not always find enough 
 of good money to pay their bills of ex- 
 change. 
 
 To remedy the inconveniences in 
 question, a bank was established in 
 1609, which received all money, at its 
 real value in standard coin, and gave 
 the owners credit for the amount, after 
 deducting a small percentage for the 
 recoining and other expenses. A law 
 was passed, that all bills of exchange 
 of the value of six hundred guilders, 
 or above, should be payable only in 
 bank currency — a regulation, which at 
 once compelled all merchants to open 
 an account with the bank. As the city 
 of Amsterdam became bound for the 
 solvency of the bank, and as the paper 
 currency had many conveniences, the 
 bank paper was always at a premium, 
 and could be sold in the money market 
 for more than its nominal value. Con- 
 sequently there was no necessity to de- 
 mand payment of the bills. 
 
BUSINESS PURSUITS IN THEIR MONEY RELATIONE 
 
 103 
 
 The bank professed to lend no part 
 of the money that was deposited in its 
 vaults, but to have the value in coin 
 always in hand, for all its certificates 
 of credit. It is believed that this was 
 really the case ; for, on one occasion, 
 when political events caused a run 
 upon the bank, some of the coins, then 
 paid out, bore the marks of having 
 been scorched by a fire, which had oc- 
 curred soon after the institution was es- 
 tablished. 
 
 Lost Bank-Note of Thirty Thousand 
 Pounds. 
 
 A VERY wealthy English banker had 
 occasion for thirty thousand pounds, 
 which he was to pay as the price of an 
 estate he had just bought ; to facilitate 
 the matter, he carried the sum with him 
 to the bank, and obtained for it a bank 
 note. On his return home, he was sud- 
 denly called out upon particular busi- 
 ness ; he threw the note somewhat care- 
 lessly on the chimney, but when he 
 came back a few minutes afterward to 
 lock it up, it was not to be found. 
 
 No one had entered the room — he 
 could not, therefore, suspect any per- 
 son. At last, after much ineffectual 
 search, he was persuaded that it had 
 fallen from the chimney into the fire. 
 The banker went to acquaint the gen- 
 tlemen, who were associated with him 
 as directors of the bank, with the mis- 
 fortune that had happened to him; 
 and, as he was known to be a perfectly 
 honorable man, he was readily be- 
 lieved. It was only four-and-twenty 
 hours from the time that he had de- 
 posited his money ; they thought, there- 
 fore, that it would be hard to refuse his 
 request for a second bill. He received 
 it upon giving an obligation to restore 
 the first bill, if it should ever be found, 
 or to pay the money himself, if it should 
 be presented by any stranger. 
 
 About thirty years afterward (the 
 banker having been long dead, and his 
 heirs in possession of his fortune), an 
 unknown person presented the lost bill 
 
 at the bank, and demanded payment. 
 It was in vain that they narrated to this 
 person the transaction by which that 
 bill was annulled — he would not listen 
 to it ; he maintained that it had come 
 to him from abroad, and insisted upon 
 immediate payment. The note was 
 payable to bearer; and the thirty 
 thousand pounds were paid to him. 
 The heirs of the deceased banker 
 would not heed any demand upon 
 them for restitution, and the bank was 
 obliged to sustain the loss. It was dis- 
 covered afterward that an architect, 
 having purchased the banker's house, 
 had it taken down, in order to build 
 another upon the same spot, and found 
 the note in a crevice of the chimney ! 
 
 Merchants' Notes as Currency. 
 
 The peculiarities of carrying on busi- 
 ness in the United States and England 
 respectively, are illustrated by the dif- 
 ference in passing good mercantile 
 notes as a circulating medium. In 
 England, a note of hand, when given 
 for any business purpose, is not taken 
 to some convenient banker's, to be dis- 
 counted or sold, but is treated with 
 that deference that is given to other 
 kinds of notes signed by certain of- 
 ficials known as the president and 
 cashier of a bank, for the simple reason 
 that, if made by an honest, responsible 
 man, it is worth just as much. The 
 holder can, any day, in the neighbor- 
 hood where its character may be 
 known, without any previous negotia- 
 tion, buy anything he pleases, and pay 
 for it with this paper by simply in- 
 dorsing it — because the second holder 
 knows he can in turn do the same; 
 and so it goes, getting farther and far- 
 ther from home, until having passed 
 through the hands of perhaps more 
 than twenty different persons, and 
 being literally covered with indorse- 
 ments, it is finally lodged in the bank 
 for collection. Such a note, of one 
 thousand pounds, is frequently made 
 
104 
 
 COMMERCIAL AXD BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 to pay the indebtedness of twenty dif- 
 ferent men, not one of whom needs to 
 know w^hether the bank is calling in or 
 letting out its best money, or to care 
 whether his banker is easy or " tight " 
 in his financial condition. 
 
 Scenes after Discount Day. 
 
 Discount customers at New York 
 banks are, in a good majority of cases, 
 an eager set. The first crowd at the 
 bank the morning after the board has 
 sat, is composed of the most anxious 
 dealers. It is important for them to 
 know early, whether they must seek 
 elsewhere the bread of commercial life 
 for the day. They are followed by the 
 less needy — the more deliberate, who 
 know the value of " deportment " in a 
 tight market. Here are some samples 
 which will keep fresh for a long time : 
 
 " Notes done, sir ? " is asked by the 
 applicant, either verbally, or in panto- 
 mime. The afiirmative causes a bright 
 gleam of sunshine in the face of the 
 questioner. But a negative to the next 
 comer substitutes a scowl of disappoint- 
 ment : " What is the reason of that, sir ? 
 Has the bank stopped discounting ? " 
 "Market tightened up, sir. Deposits 
 down. Ofierings very heavy." 
 
 The customer departs with an audi- 
 ble growl of indignation at what he 
 conceives to be " a denial of rights." 
 
 Another : " Good morning, Mr. Smith ; 
 what have you to say to me ? " " Noth- 
 ing veiy encouraging, sir. The bank 
 discounted one of your notes." " What 
 —only one out of ten ? " " That's all. 
 Very good proportion, I do assure you." 
 " A single thousand ! And I want five 
 to-day ! Where's the president ? " " In 
 his room, sir. But I don't believe you'll 
 gain anything by talking to him. Our 
 receipts are very small just now, and 
 the porter brings bad news from the 
 clearing-house." 
 
 A third fills the little gate in the rail- 
 ing with a grim and threatening visage, 
 but does not sjDeak. The clerk knows 
 
 him as a frequent applicant, and seldom 
 a fortunate one ; the character of his ac- 
 count, as well as of his paper, being in- 
 ferior, and presenting no claims worthy 
 of consideration by the directors. He 
 receives back his oflfering without re- 
 mark, and departs in sullen silence. 
 
 Customer four : " Well, Smith, don't 
 tell me my notes ain't done I " 
 "Wouldn't if I could help it, sir. 
 Board did mighty little." "Hang 
 the board ! Isn't there any explana- 
 tion ? Don't they know the paper ? 
 Is it too long?" "No explanation 
 given to me. Bank's short. Can't 
 help it. Majority in the same boat." 
 Customer leaves an oath behind him. 
 
 Neapolitan Cambiamoneta, or Money 
 Chang'er. 
 
 Along the crowded streets of Naples 
 the passer-by will occasionally see a 
 great red umbrella mounted on a tall 
 pole, and under which a very snug little 
 business is carried on. A smart, respect- 
 able, middle-aged lady sits in state be- 
 neath this circumscribed, but brilliant, 
 little awning, which lends a decidedly 
 roseate hue, not only to herself but to 
 her calling. The table at which she 
 sits is, in fact, a " strong box " on 
 wheels, and she herself is a banker in 
 a small w^ay — a street money-changer. 
 On her little counter are disposed vari- 
 ous money bags, with open mouths — a 
 small one of gold, a larger one of silver, 
 and a still larger of copper coins. Her 
 transactions are as safe as they are sim- 
 ple. She does not lend out her money 
 on usury ; she does not gamble on the 
 stock-exchange, or make "time bar- 
 gains," or demand a high rate of in- 
 terest for " accommodation," while she 
 gives a low rate of interest on " depos- 
 its." She merely lays herself out to 
 change one set of coins into their equiv- 
 alents; for this she receives a small 
 banker's commission, and on this small 
 commission she lives and thrives. 
 
 It is surprising how often her inter- 
 vention is required in the daily busi- 
 
J pO <• O o 
 
BUSINESS PURSUITS IN THEIR MONEY RELATIONS. 
 
 105 
 
 ness of life. Here is a laughing, rol- 
 licking, black-eyed servant girl come 
 out, with a basket on her arm, to make 
 her purchases in the market of Santa 
 Lucia. Her money does not happen to 
 be in an available shape, and the fish- 
 monger cannot give change. But — 
 " Ah ! most fortunate ! See, the Sig- 
 nora Marclietti ! Ah, ''cellenza^ without 
 your help I am lost. Oblige me, this 
 holy morning, with some of your dear 
 carlini. Mj jpadrone (master) is so im- 
 patient. Ah, ''cellenza^ how eagerly he 
 craves his dinner." And so her " Ex- 
 cellency " is only too happy to oblige 
 her friend, the brisk and vivacious little 
 cook, while with the blandest of smiles 
 she deducts from the change her own 
 pretty little percentage. 
 
 Again, there is a tall, dark, suspi- 
 cious-looking man, who finds that his 
 long walk from Capua has made a hole 
 in his shoe. Near by, too, there is a 
 poor street cobbler, who is seated on 
 his own tool-basket, with his little 
 hammer, and his twine and wax dis- 
 posed around him on the pavement. 
 The dark Capuan kicks oflT his ailing 
 shoe, plants his unshod foot on the 
 ground by the shod one, and, in spite 
 of the police, hums a proscribed ode to 
 Masaniello, until the poor cobbler sets 
 him comfortably on his feet again. 
 Once more, the Signora Marchetti must 
 be referred to, for the cobbler's pocket 
 is as empty as himself, and not a " gra- 
 na " lurks there to supply his employer 
 with the requisite change, and to sup- 
 ply himself with the yet more requisite 
 dinner of chestnuts ; and thus, for an 
 additional exchange of equivalents, the 
 banker's commission glides into the Sig- 
 nora's waiting purse. 
 
 Largest Check ever Drawn. 
 
 In the negotiations made a few years 
 since by the English government for a 
 loan of eighty million dollars, the suc- 
 cessful contractors v/ere the Messrs. 
 Rothschild; and, having been sup- 
 
 ported by the subscriptions of friends, 
 they were of course recognized as the 
 acting firm in that important transac- 
 tion. In paying the first deposit to- 
 ward this amount to the government, 
 the check they drew was for the sum 
 of six million dollars. This bank check 
 was probably the largest ever drawn at 
 once by one private banking-house — or, 
 if not, it was certainly for a very " con- 
 siderable sum." 
 
 Ijorillard Faying a Bequest in Bank 
 Stock. 
 
 On a certain occasion, Jacob Loril- 
 lard was appointed executor to an es- 
 tate in which the widow had a life- 
 interest, but where each of the children 
 was to receive a thousand dollars on 
 coming to age. When, in the fii'st 
 case, this period had arrived, one of 
 the sons called on him for the amount 
 of this bequest. " And what," he said, 
 " do you wish to do with it ? " " To 
 purchase stock with it in a particular 
 bank." " At what is it now selling ? " 
 " A hundred and ten." " Have you 
 any objections to leave the money with 
 me on interest till the 1st of May, and 
 then I will let you have the stock at 
 the same rate ? " In the mean time it 
 fell, as he anticij)ated, to eighty-four. 
 When this change took place, the 
 young man was greatly depressed. He 
 called at the time appointed, to fulfil 
 the engagement. " The stock is ready 
 for you," Mr. Lorillard playfully re- 
 marked ; " however, if you prefer it, I 
 will release you from the contract, and 
 the money may remain where it is." It 
 may easily be conceived that the young 
 man left him grateful and rejoicing. 
 
 Greatest Xiending House in Europe. 
 
 The great money-lending house at 
 Naples was first established in 1539 or 
 1540. Two rich citizens, Aurelio Papa- 
 ro and Leonardo or Nardo di Palma, 
 redeemed all the pledges which were at 
 that time in the hands of the Jcavs, and 
 
106 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 offered to deliver them to the owners 
 without interest, provided they would 
 return the money which had been ad- 
 vanced on them. More of the opulent 
 citizens soon followed their examples ; 
 many bequeathed large sums for this 
 particular purpose; and Toledo, the 
 viceroy, who drove the Jews from the 
 kingdom, supported it by every method 
 possible. This lending house, which 
 has undergone so many variations, is 
 the largest in Europe ; and it contains 
 such an immense amount and number 
 of different articles, many of them ex- 
 ceedingly valuable, that it may be con- 
 sidered as a repository of the most im- 
 portant part of the movables of the 
 whole nation. 
 
 Oldest Bill of Exchangre in the World, 
 1325. 
 
 The oldest copy of a formal bill of 
 exchange known to be in existence, at 
 present, is one dated at Milan, on the 
 9th of March, 1325, and runs in the 
 original as follows : 
 
 " Pagate per questa prima litera [let- 
 tera] a di IX. Ottobre a Luca de Goro 
 Lib. XLV. Sono per la valuta qui da 
 Marco Reno, al tempo il pagate e po- 
 nete a mio conto e R. die Christo vi 
 guarde Bonromeo de Bonromei de Mila- 
 no IX. de' Marzo, 1325." Or, in Eng- 
 lish— 
 
 " Pay for this first bill of exchange, 
 on the 9th of October, to Luca Goro 45 
 livres ; they are for value received here 
 from Marco Reno ; at the time of ma- 
 turity pay the same to my account, 
 thanking you, may Christ protect you, 
 Bonromeo de Bonromei of Milan, the 
 9th of March, 1325." 
 
 XTnexpected Balance at Contts's Bank. 
 
 Lord A. Fitzclarence happened to 
 drop into Coutts's bank with his friend 
 Mr. W., who wanted to draw some 
 money, for which purpose he got a 
 check from the cashier, and filled it 
 up for two hundred pounds; on re- 
 
 ceiving which, he observed that he 
 had something to say to one of the 
 partners, and excused himself for step- 
 ping into an inner room a few minutes 
 for the purpose. Lord A., left standing 
 by the counter, remarked, laughingly : 
 
 " "Well, it is a very pleasant thing to 
 walk in and get helped to two hundred 
 pounds in that way." 
 
 " If your lordship wishes to draw," 
 replied the cashier, " I will hand you a 
 check." 
 
 " Oh, yes ! but as I do not keep an 
 account here, that would be of very lit- 
 tle use," said the lord ; and the conver- 
 sation went on, as his lordship thought, 
 jocularly. 
 
 " I beg your lordship's pardon ; but 
 I should be very happy to cash it." 
 
 " But I tell you I have no money in 
 the bank, and never had any at Messrs. 
 Coutts's." 
 
 " Your lordship is mistaken ; there 
 is a larger sum than that standing on 
 our books in your name;" and, con- 
 sulting a large ledger, he pointed out 
 the entry. 
 
 It turned out that Lord A.'s royal 
 father had vested certain amounts for 
 the younger branches of his family, and 
 had somehow forgotten to mention the 
 circumstance ; and so it might have 
 lain for a very long time, as it is a rule 
 of the house never to announce moneys 
 paid in. 
 
 ColloQLtiies inside the Bank. 
 
 In his various walks and contacts, 
 the porter of a bank gains much knowl- 
 edge of men and things, which, discre- 
 tionally, or in answer to questions, he 
 communicates to the bank officials, be- 
 tween whom and himself there is free 
 and often confidential intercourse. 
 Here is an amusing illustration, from 
 no other pen than Gibbons's : 
 
 "What news at the clearing-house 
 to-day, Mr. Donaldson ? " asks the pres- 
 ident. "I didn't hear anything par- 
 ticular, sir. It looks as if things might 
 
BUSINESS PURSUITS IN THEIR MONEY RELATIONS. 
 
 107 
 
 be a little excited and uncomfortable, 
 that's all." " Ah ! Well, that's a good 
 deal. "What makes you think so ? " 
 " A little sort of snap, sir. Some of 
 the porters came in late, as though 
 they'd been holding back for morning 
 checks." "Did you hear anything in 
 the street ? " "I heard some talk 
 about a failure among the brokers, but 
 
 no name." " No steamer in 
 
 Well, 
 
 yes, sir ; but the boys ain't crying an 
 extra yet. They've got a notice on the 
 bulletins — ' Delhi not taken / ' " 
 
 The president catches a valuable hint 
 from many a conversation, of which this 
 is an example. 
 
 " Delhi not taken ! Then, Mr. Cash- 
 ier, I think you may answer Mr. Bor- 
 row, that we can't give him any priv- 
 ilege of over-draft, nor re-discount his 
 paper. These country banks must learn 
 to take care of themselves." An appli- 
 cation for a credit of fifty thousand dol- 
 lars, which had been lying in suspense, 
 is thus decided by the state of things in 
 India. 
 
 It is not unlikely that the porter will 
 carry notices to parties within the next 
 half hour, calling in one or two hun- 
 dred thousand dollars of demand loans, 
 so sensitive are bank officers to imag- 
 inary effects that may follow an an- 
 nouncement that some "Delhi" or 
 other is " not yet taken." 
 
 Disadvantage of TDeingr a Bank 
 Director. 
 
 The Senate of the State once elected 
 Mr. Matthew Carey, the eminent book 
 publisher, a director of the Bank of 
 Pennsylvania. He mentions, as a dis- 
 advantage to him from the position, 
 the lenity shown by the other directors, 
 whereby his debts rose extravagantly 
 high. This evil he urges with great 
 warmth and zeal, as the one which sev- 
 eral times in his business life came near 
 bringing him to bankruptcy. " I print- 
 ed and published," he declares, " above 
 twice as many books as were necessary 
 for the extent of my business ; and, in 
 
 consequence, incurred oppressive debts 
 to banks — was laid under contribution 
 for interest to them and to usurers, 
 which not only swallowed up my profits, 
 but kept me in a constant state of pen- 
 ury. I was in many cases shaved so 
 close by the latter class, that they al- 
 most skinned me alive. To this cause 
 my difficulties were nearly altogether 
 owing, for I did a large and profitable 
 business almost from the time I opened 
 a bookstore." 
 
 He sets down another evil practice 
 of his business career, which he cau- 
 tions young traders to shun, as they 
 would "temporal perdition." It is 
 that of endorsation. " In this way, in 
 fourteen years," he writes, " I lost be- 
 tween thirty and forty thousand dol- 
 lars; and but for this I might have 
 retired from business ten years earlier 
 than I did ; besides, in one of the cases 
 of failure, I was brought to the verge 
 of stoppage." 
 
 Boyal Pawners and Brokers. 
 
 The infection of gambling, in the 
 different varieties of that practice, is so 
 strong that Pope, who knew his coun- 
 trymen well, declared that : 
 
 ''Statesman axiA patriot ply alike the stocks; 
 Peeress and butler share aUke the box ; 
 Andi judges ]oh, and bishops bite the town, 
 And mighty dukes pack cards for half a 
 crown." 
 
 In the twelfth century Richard I. 
 pawned the revenues of the crown for 
 the payment of moneys- borrowed to 
 defray the expenses of the fanatical 
 conquest of the Holy Land. Henry HI. 
 pawned the crown jewels and regal 
 ornaments and robes of state. Ed- 
 ward I. borrowed money to pay the 
 debts of his father, in order to get his 
 soul " out of purgatory," as the record 
 states. Richard II. was deposed for 
 extorting one million one hundred 
 thousand pounds sterling, under pre- 
 text of borrowing, which was never 
 repaid. This was one of the chief 
 
108 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 causes of the York and Lancaster wars. 
 In 1346 Edward III. ordered a sum of 
 money to be lent to him. Henry IV. 
 obliged the rich men of the kingdom to 
 lend him money on the growing taxes. 
 Henry VIIL escaped the punishment he 
 so justly merited for defrauding his 
 creditors ; he compelled Parliament to 
 pass two acts, offering him " all the 
 money he had received in loans," — thus 
 discharging him of all obligations he 
 had come under, and all suits that 
 might arise thereupon. In money 
 matters in Elizabeth's time, the peojDle 
 insisted upon the payment of the sums 
 advanced to her predecessors, a demand 
 she was wise enough to comply with. 
 
 Irishman at the Bank. 
 
 The city banks have all kinds of cus- 
 tomers. For instance, one in the shape 
 of an Irish pig-jobber, a stranger, intro- 
 duces himself, or rather his business, by 
 laying his great whip on the counter, 
 taking off an apology of a hat — so far 
 as any known styles stand related to 
 it, — and then, fumbling in the caver- 
 nous recesses of his dirty garments, 
 lugs out a crumpled bundle of very 
 nasty-looking notes. 
 
 " Could ye give me your bank notes 
 for these, sur ? " he asks, m his most in- 
 sinuating manner. 
 
 " We never change notes to stran- 
 gers." 
 
 " Why, they're good, ain't they ? " 
 
 " Yes, doubtless ; but we don't change 
 notes of another bank." 
 
 "Well, sur, supposing I'd be after 
 paying ye a little charges now, would 
 ye do it for me ? " 
 
 " Do you know any one in the town ? 
 If you can find any one known to us, 
 who will write his name on the back 
 of them, we might do it, perhaps." 
 
 " Yes, sure, sur, there's Mr. Murphy 
 the pork butcher, sur." 
 
 " Well, he will do." 
 
 In due time he re-appears, with his 
 friend Murphy, and with much satisfac- 
 
 tion pockets the new and clean notes. 
 After paying his " charges," as he calls 
 them, the warm heart of a son of Erin 
 exhibits itself: 
 
 " Thank ye, sur ; and, by jabbers, if 
 ye'll come out wid me. I'll stand trate 
 for brandy." 
 
 Juvenile Contempt of the Bank. 
 
 A SHOP boy, having a very rustic ap- 
 pearance in dress and manners, entered 
 one of the banks in Dundee, Scotland, 
 and, throwing a sixpence to the teller, 
 asked, " A saxpence worth o' fardins." 
 The teller very politely replied, "I 
 can't do it. I have not so many." 
 Shop boy, " Gie's back my saxpence, 
 then." The boy, on opening the door 
 to leave, looked over his shoulder, and 
 staring at the teller, exclaimed, " Sic a 
 bank ! " Next day he had occasion to 
 visit the same bank, and on being asked 
 amid the laughter of the clerks " If he 
 got his saxpence worth o' fardins ? " re- 
 plied contemptuously, "Ay did I. I 
 got them in a little pie-shop." 
 
 Banks of Ease. 
 
 Many years ago the first settlers in 
 Western New York were obliged to 
 take their grain a great distance in 
 wagons to Albany, to find a market. 
 The roads were bad, and the travelling 
 dangerous. Three farmers of this re- 
 gion found a purchaser for their loads 
 of wheat at Amsterdam, a village some 
 twenty-five miles west of Albany, and 
 were glad thus to dispose of it, and 
 save themselves the trouble and travel. 
 They took an order on the bank of 
 Amsterdam for their pay, which was 
 offered them in specie — silver ; but they 
 objected to taking it, as it was too hea- 
 vy to carry, and they preferred the notes 
 of the bank. And here the laugh comes 
 in. The ofiicers of the bank refused to 
 give them the bills, because the farmers 
 were going so far out into the wilder- 
 ness, the bills would never come back 
 
BUSINESS PURSUITS IN THEIR MONEY RELATIONS. 
 
 109 
 
 to the bank again ! The matter was 
 finally compromised by the bank's pay- 
 ing each of them one dollar extra, on 
 their consenting to receive silver in- 
 stead of paper money. Surely, this 
 bank might well be termed a Bank of 
 Ease ! 
 
 Russian Money Brokers. 
 
 Though the ring u|)on one's finger is 
 said to be unsafe in the Russian money- 
 marts, it is clear that the silver rubles 
 and ducats on the tables of the money- 
 brokers are perfectly secure ; for tables 
 of this kind stand at the comers of all 
 the streets, amidst the tliickest of the 
 throng, upon which columns and heaps 
 of the diflferent sorts of coin are invit- 
 ingly exposed to the public gaze — a 
 phenomenon that perhaps could not 
 take place in any other great and 
 crowded city. It would be easy for 
 any one intent on plunder to upset the 
 table, and tumble its valuable freight 
 promiscuously into the mud; and no 
 one, amidst the general confusion, could 
 be expected to point out the rogue that 
 was enriching himself with the scatter- 
 ed spoil. 
 
 And yet it is a fact, that though 
 thousands of rubles are often placed 
 under the care of lads only twelve years 
 of age, not a broker would risk a farth- 
 ing, if he did not think himself per- 
 fectly safe with his money amidst all 
 these people and the attendant commo- 
 tion. But the Russian rogue is a 
 strangely discriminating fellow, who 
 has not the least scruple to commit 
 some actions that are palpably dis- 
 honest — for instance, to charge a buyer 
 six times as much for a thing as it is 
 worth, or to pick one's pocket of watch 
 or purse,— while he thinks others most 
 disgraceful, and is therefore, in certain 
 points, as honorable and trustworthy as 
 the most conscientious man that can be 
 found. These money-brokers are under 
 the protection of the public and of the 
 thieves themselves. No doubt it has 
 
 often happened that such money-tables 
 have been overthrown, and not a single 
 copeck, much less a ducat, has been 
 lost, because all the by-standers, in their 
 sheep-skin dresses, assisted with the 
 most courteous oflSciousness to pick up 
 all the pieces of gold and silver out of 
 the dirt. 
 
 Note Suyers. 
 
 There are men who spend their 
 whole lives in Wall street, and who do 
 nothing else but buy notes. They come 
 in early and go out late. Their time is 
 occupied in making fresh inquiries, and 
 in haggling about the rate per cent. 
 You can to-day see these persons, if 
 you will take the trouble to station 
 yourself on the spot, and I predict you 
 will behold what will deeply interest 
 you. Wait a few moments near this 
 corner, and you will not be disappoint- 
 ed. There he comes, passing thought- 
 fully along the street. He has the ap^ 
 pearance of a man laden with many 
 cares. Look at him ! He is respecta- 
 bly encased in a moderately warm suit 
 of black. His head inclines forward; 
 his eye has become stony ; his nose 
 pointed ; his chin angular ; his cheeks 
 rigid; his lips wooden; his mind— 
 alas ! he has no longer any mind ; but 
 in place of mind he possesses an instinct 
 so subtle and acute that it will detect 
 a piece of " made " paper in the very- 
 curl of the signature. If you wish to 
 see more of this sort, go and take a 
 seat for an hour or two in one of the 
 many small note-brokers' offices, which 
 abound, and watch the arrival of others 
 of these paper sharks. They come in 
 hungry, eager, sharp, to hear and see 
 what new offers. They have a large 
 capital, perhaps hundreds of thousands 
 of dollars, invested in notes, or repre- 
 sented by securities, which can be con- 
 verted into cash in twenty-four hours, 
 should it be required to buy more pa- 
 per with. They are always moving 
 about to pick up the note of some good 
 
110 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 mechanic, who they know for certain 
 reasons is hard-up, and who is willing 
 to bleed freely rather than to fail in a 
 contract. 
 
 It is hardly necessary to say that, for 
 the delineation of the above character, 
 the credit belongs to Kimball's facile 
 pen. 
 
 — — « — 
 
 Jacob Iiorillard's Note of Accommo- 
 dation. 
 
 The benevolent feelings manifested 
 by Jacob Lorillard toward young begin- 
 ners in business, who were needy and 
 friendless, exhibit a very bright side to 
 human nature. When a director of that 
 institution, of which he was twice the 
 president, he would frequently take a 
 parcel of the small notes which were 
 offered for discount by poor mechanics, 
 who were obscure and unknown, and 
 which, therefore, for the most part, 
 would have been rejected, and make 
 diligent inquiry, in person, as to their 
 character and standing ; and if he found 
 that, with a proper regard to the inter- 
 ests of the bank, he could commend 
 them to favor and confidence, he felt 
 that he was abundantly rewarded for 
 all his pains. 
 
 On one occasion, a person whose note 
 had been refused where it was offered 
 for discount, and who, it appears, had 
 no peculiar claims on his kindness and 
 influence, though possessing his confi- 
 dence, called on him for the favor of a 
 line of recommendation, which would 
 be sure to procure the desired accom- 
 modation. He at once, as it seemed, 
 complied with the desired request ; in- 
 stead of being a line of recommenda- 
 tion, however, it was afterward discov- 
 ered to be a note of Mr. Lorillard, for 
 the amount which was needed. The 
 person immediately returned, and point- 
 ed out the mistake. " Never mind," 
 said Mr. Lorillard, "if they will not 
 discount your note, see whether they 
 will not mine." 
 
 Xiosinir a Bank Custom.er. 
 
 Mr. Chickeiiing, of piano-forte fame, 
 one day presented a large number of 
 notes for discount at one of the banks 
 in Boston, where he had done his busi- 
 ness. The president asked him who 
 was to endorse the notes. Mr. Chicker- 
 ing replied, " I shall endorse them my- 
 self." " That will never do," said the 
 president. Mr. Chickering simply re- 
 sponded, " Very well," took the notes, 
 and carried them to another bank, which 
 immediately gave him all the money he 
 needed. On another occasion, a bank 
 with which he had long had transac- 
 tions, and to which he had as usual 
 applied through his clerk for an accom- 
 modation, sent for Mr. Chickering, and 
 said to him, " Security was w^anted." 
 Mr. Chickering replied, " I shall give 
 you none ; I have done my business at 
 this bank for a long time ; and if you 
 do not know me, I shall apjDly where I 
 am better known." The consequence 
 was, the necessary discount was at once 
 given by another bank, to which he 
 transferred his business. This business 
 was worth at least ten thousand dollars 
 a year. Soon after this, a director of 
 the bank which refused him, called on 
 Mr. Chickering, to induce him to re- 
 store his business, under the assurance 
 that for the future the bank would 
 grant whatever accommodation might 
 be wanted. Mr. Chickermg, however, 
 declined the proposed arrangement, not 
 wishing to do business at an institution 
 willing to suspect his responsibility. 
 
 Endorser's Qualifications. 
 
 A WORTHY but poor minister once 
 requested the loan of fifty dollars from 
 the cashier of a country bank ; and in 
 the note requesting the favor, he said 
 that if the cashier would oblige him, 
 he would " pay him in ten days, on the 
 faith of Abraham." The cashier re- 
 turned word that by the rules of the 
 
BUSINESS PURSUITS IN THEIR MONEY RELATIONS. 
 
 Ill 
 
 bank, tlie endorser of the note must re- 
 side in the State ! 
 
 More Cunning than Rothschild. 
 
 Notwithstanding his great fore- 
 thought, sagacity, and penetration, 
 Rothschild was occasionally surpassed 
 in cunning. On one occasion a great 
 banker lent Rothschild a million and a 
 half on the security of consols, the price 
 of which was then eighty-four. The 
 terms on which the money was lent 
 were simple and usual. If the price 
 reached seventy-four, the banker might 
 claim the stock at seventy ; but Roth- 
 schild felt satisfied that, with so large 
 a sum out of the market, the bargain 
 was tolerably safe. The banker, how- 
 ever, as much a Jew as Rothschild, had 
 a plan of his own. He immediately 
 began selling the consols received from 
 the latter, together with a similar 
 amount in his own possession. The 
 funds dropped; the stock exchange 
 grew alarmed ; other circumstances 
 tended to depress it — the fatal price 
 of seventy-four was reached, and the 
 Christian banker had the satisfaction 
 ©f outwitting the Hebrew loanmonger. 
 
 Voltaire's Dealing-s in Q-ovemment 
 Stocks. 
 
 Though a literary man, Voltaire had 
 an eye to the main chance, the angle of 
 his vision finding its focus in govern- 
 ment stocks. " Here I am," he says, 
 " living in a way suited to my habits, 
 and caring but little for to-morrow ; for 
 I have a friend, a director in the Bank 
 of France, who writes to me whenever 
 money is to be made in the public funds. 
 Sometimes he writes to me desiring me 
 to sell, because the bank is going to 
 withdraw its notes. At other times he 
 bids me buy — for ' we are going to issue 
 a quantity of notes ; ' and so, through 
 the kindness of my friend, I always 
 make money, though living two hun- 
 dred miles from Paris." 
 
 Jewish Money Lenders. 
 
 A PREJUDICE against Jews, on ac- 
 count of their sharpness in money trans- 
 actions is almost universal. The simple 
 fact is, however, just this : that when a 
 man — not a Jew — is in a tight place, 
 or broken down in his fortune, so that 
 he can neither raise funds by the credit 
 of his name nor by mortgage on his es- 
 tate, he flies to the money lender. Now, 
 Jews are essentially a financial people, 
 and money-broking, in all its details, 
 is their special avocation. The class 
 of Israelite money lenders is, therefore, 
 numerous ; and it is ten to one that the 
 broken-down individual who requires a 
 loan addresses himself to a Jew, even 
 if he take the money lender nearest to 
 him, or to whom he is at first recom- 
 mended. Well, he transacts his busi- 
 ness with this Jew ; and as his habits 
 of life and shaky business condition are 
 well known, he cannot of course obtain 
 the loan he seeks, save on terms propor- 
 tionate to the risk incurred by the 
 lender. Yet he goes away, and de- 
 nounces the Jew as a usurer; when, 
 had he applied to a " Christian " money 
 broker, the terms would have been 
 equally high, — if any terms could have 
 been efliected at all, seeing that he had 
 no real security to offer, and that his 
 name was already tarnished. Perhaps, 
 then, after all, Jewish " hardness " will 
 compare favorably with the proverbial- 
 ly rapacious practices of Christian attor- 
 neys and the greedy exactions of Chris- 
 tian bill discounters ! 
 
 Discounting a Hibernian's Note. 
 
 A TRANSPABENT Hibernian wanted a 
 friend to discount a note. " If I ad- 
 vance this," said the lender, " will you 
 pay your note punctually ? " "I will, 
 on my honor," replied the other — " thd 
 expense of the protest and all ! " 
 
112 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 Addison's Opinion of the Boyal Ex- 
 change and its Frequenters. 
 
 Addison once pleasantly wrote : 
 There is no place in the town which 
 I so much love to frequent as the Royal 
 Exchange. It gives me a secret satis- 
 faction, and in some measure gratifies 
 my vanity, as I am an Englishman, to 
 see so rich an assembly of countrymen 
 and foreigners, consulting together 
 upon the private business of mankind, 
 and making this metropolis a kind of 
 emporium for the whole earth. 
 
 The Royal Exchange of London still 
 exhibits one of the most remarkable 
 assemblages in the world, if the stran- 
 ger visiting it is fortunate enough to 
 have the advantage of a city merchant 
 as his cicerone ; otherwise there is little 
 in its general aspect differing from what 
 may be seen daily at 'Change hour in 
 any of the large cities. But it certain- 
 ly interests the stranger, on walking 
 into the quadrangle between two and 
 three o'clock, "when merchants most 
 do congregate," to see the representa- 
 tives of the different nations of the 
 earth, grouped in their respective places 
 under the piazzas, and engaging in ne- 
 gotiations, which, more than the coun- 
 cils of cabinets, influence the policy of 
 states; and to be told, for example, 
 that the thoughtful-looking man, with 
 strongly marked Jewish features, lean- 
 ing carelessly against a pillar, is able 
 by a dash of his pen to control the 
 most powerful governments in Europe. 
 In this quadrangle, too, resides the mys- 
 terious susceptibility to the variations 
 in the political and commercial atmo- 
 sphere, indicated upon the scale of that 
 most sensitive of all barometers, the 
 money market, with its constantly fluc- 
 tuating prices. 
 
 Money Street of New York. 
 
 Wall street is not a long street, 
 though it is felt a long ways. A man, 
 without corns, can walk the length of 
 
 it in five minutes — and then, if he 
 should keep on, would find himself in 
 the East River. It is not a wide street. 
 Bids have been made from curb to 
 curb. Wheels get locked there daily, 
 especially near the head of it ; and a 
 vast deal of highly ornamental profan- 
 ity is done by sweet-tempered carmen, 
 who, having wedged themselves in, seem 
 to think that, like the poor debtor, they 
 can swear themselves out. 
 
 It is not a handsome street, still there 
 is nothing wooden in it, except, per- 
 haps, the heads of some stock buyers. 
 White marble, brown freestone, terra 
 cotta, and substantial granite bespeak 
 its wealth. There is that wonderfully 
 intricate building, the Merchants' Ex- 
 change — now the Custom House, where 
 there is so much hard swearing over 
 fraudulent invoices and political assess- 
 ments. 
 
 On either side of the street is an il- 
 lustrious row of banks and insurance 
 offices, with foreign insurance agents, 
 land agents, coal agents, railroad agents, 
 steamship agents, and many other sorts 
 of agents (Satan's too, perhaps), includ- 
 ing some lawyers on the second and 
 higher floors. The basements swarm 
 with brokers. Every nook and cranny 
 in all these buildings commands high 
 rents. Add to this picture innumera- 
 ble groups of earnest-talking, scolding, 
 chaffing, gesticulating men, dividing 
 the rapid currents of merchants, bro- 
 kers, clerks, foreign consuls, financiers, 
 and commercial editors, who are con- 
 tinually passing, and one who has never 
 seen the notorious thoroughfare will 
 have a tolerably graphic idea of Wall 
 street. 
 
 It is admitted, even by Europeans, 
 that, as a money-dealing street, this 
 has no superior in the world. The na- 
 ture and amount of transactions of this 
 kind, for a single week, in this locality, 
 would make a formidable portion of 
 Doomsday Book. "-^ 
 
BUSINESS PURSUITS IN THEIR MONEY RELATIONS. 
 
 11; 
 
 Governor of the Bank of England taken 
 by Surprise. 
 
 At the half-yearly meetings of the 
 proprietors of the Bank of England, it 
 sometimes happens that one or more 
 of the stockholders endeavor to elicit 
 some information relative to the con- 
 duct of the governor, and also as to the 
 cause of any particular loss sustained 
 by the bank, and from what data the 
 directors have fixed the dividend. 
 These and similar questions are gener- 
 ally put in the most cautious manner ; 
 and, if answered at all — which is a 
 rare occurrence — are met with an equal 
 degree of caution on the part of the 
 governor. 
 
 That functionary, however, is on 
 some occasions taken by surprise, and 
 betrayed into admissions which are 
 contrary to practice. A singular in- 
 stance of this occurred during the term 
 of Governor Reid, at a meeting for the 
 declaration of the dividends, when he 
 stated that during the past year the 
 amount of commercial paper discount- 
 ed by the bank was forty millions of 
 pounds. As this amount was unusually 
 large, and as the r,ate of interest charged 
 by the bank was five and one-half to six 
 per cent., with only a loss of six hun- 
 dred pounds, it naturally occurred to the 
 stockholders to inquire why the divi- 
 dend was not larger than the corre- 
 sponding period of the last year ; and, 
 on one of them putting a question to 
 the chair, as to whether the repayment 
 of the money borrowed from the Bank 
 of France had been attended with any 
 considerable loss to the corporation, the 
 governor was on the point of answering 
 this question, when some kind friend, 
 like a second Mentor, whispered some- 
 thing in the ear of the governor, Vv^hich 
 had the effect of immediately sealing 
 his lips, and he refused to answer the 
 question. At these meetings, as little 
 as possible of the afl'airs of the bank is 
 disclosed by the directors, from the 
 fear that, should they be more explicit, 
 8 
 
 it might endanger their property by 
 depreciating the value of bank stock ; 
 and, to such an extent is this system of 
 secrecy carried, that it is a proverbial 
 saying, " that if you met a bank direc- 
 tor going across the Royal Exchange, 
 and you asked him what o'clock it was, 
 he would say, ' You must excuse me 
 answering that question.' " 
 
 Picayunes and Coppers. 
 
 You " can't buy nothing " in Kew 
 Orleans, or most Southern and "Western 
 cities, for less than a " picayune " — six 
 and a quarter cents. And in connec- 
 tion with this fact in currency, a little 
 incident took place on board one of the 
 "Western boats, the rehearsal of which 
 can do no harm on a hot or rainy day. 
 A man from the North, who happened 
 to have quite a lot of coppers weighing 
 down his pocket, but who. Yankee- 
 like, had no idea of not getting their 
 full value in a trade, essayed to pass 
 ten of the filthy coin upon a " Sucker," 
 for a dime. 
 
 " "What le they ? " inquired the Suck- 
 er, in unfeigned ignorance. 
 
 " I calculate they are cents," replied 
 the Northerner ; " can't you read ? " 
 
 " I reckon not," said the other ; " and 
 what's more, old hoss, I allow I don't 
 want to. "What is cents, mister ? " 
 
 "I vow to the judges," said the 
 Northerner, "you are worse than the 
 heathen 1 Cents is money — 'sartin ! 
 Ten of them are worth one dime. 
 Can't you see? It says 'E Pluribus 
 Unum ' — that's the Latin for ' Hail Co. 
 lumbia ' — and here it's inscribed ' One 
 Cent.' " 
 
 " Look here," responded the Sucker, 
 putting the thumb of his hand into his 
 ear, and inclining his fingers forward, 
 " you may run a sew on a Hoosier or a 
 Wolverine, but I'm blamed if you Yan- , 
 kee me with that contusive stuff \ " 
 
114 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 Bewitching a Bank Teller. 
 
 During the sojourn of Professor 
 Anderson in the Quaker City, he used 
 one of the banks for his deposits. One 
 day he went to the bank for this pur- 
 pose, with a large amount. It was 
 principally in twenty and ten dollar 
 gold pieces, and was handed in in 
 packaged of five hundred each. The 
 teller, who did not know the wizard, 
 and who is usually a very smart man, 
 commenced counting the gold, but could 
 not, for his life, satisfy himself of the 
 numerous amounts. Opening one pack- 
 age, he found all right ; then he took 
 a second, and found it ten dollars 
 short — recounted it, and found ten dol- 
 lars over ; and then again, and it was 
 short. He then laid it aside, took an- 
 other parcel, and found it contained 
 twenty dollars over — recounted it, and 
 it was only ten over ; again he carefully 
 and deliberately counted it, and discov- 
 ered it was thirty short ! The young 
 man felt his head, to see if he was labor- 
 ing under sickness, dreaming, or de- 
 ranged. Finding his senses all right, 
 he set to work again, commencing at 
 the first package and got through five 
 very well; the next he found twenty 
 short, and, recounting it, discovered 
 forty over ! He finally called to his 
 aid another teller, who was equally 
 puzzled; but, turning round, his eye 
 fell upon Professor Anderson standing 
 near by, and he felt convinced it was 
 the trick of the wizard. The professor 
 blandly smiled, and desire^d him to 
 proceed ; and when he got through 
 satisfactorily, he took the receipt for 
 the amount. The teller then went to 
 the table where he had left the piles of 
 gold, in order to put them into the 
 drawer, when lo ! he could not lift 
 any of them ; the coins clung together 
 and were immovable ! The young man 
 here looked fairly terrified, and sought 
 a chair ; but the professor, seeing his 
 perplexity, told him not to be alarmed. 
 He found his imagination had affected 
 
 him, and told him to put the cash 
 away ; the professor then left the bank, 
 passing the crowd of anxious customers 
 who had been observing, in blank as- 
 tonishment, the capers that were being 
 cut up on the other side of the counter. 
 
 The Proud Broker Barnard. 
 
 JoHisr Barnard, usually styled " the 
 proud broker," flourished extensively 
 in the English money circles of the last 
 century. The reduction of interest on 
 money loans, in 1750, from four to 
 three per cent., originated with this 
 famous man, and he it was who de- 
 fiantly made war upon time bargains. 
 His pride was indomitable to such a 
 degree that it passed into a proverb; 
 the members of the exchange, who were 
 always spoken of by Sir John with 
 haughty contempt, thoroughly detest- 
 ed him, and greatly helped to fan the 
 unpopularity which fell upon him 
 when he opposed public feeling — as, 
 with a most unflinching determination, 
 he invariably did, if his conscience 
 prompted. 
 
 On commercial subjects his opinion 
 was greatly regarded; when any re- 
 markable feature in financial politics 
 occurred, the town echoed with, 
 " What does Sir John say to this ? — 
 what is Sir John's opinion ? " He once 
 had the honor of refusing the post of 
 chancellor of the exchequer. 
 
 It is somewhat at variance with the 
 proud character of the man, that from 
 the time the distinguished honor was 
 paid him of erecting his statue in the 
 Royal Exchange, he never so much as 
 entered that building, but transacted 
 his business in the front. 
 
 The blood of Sir John Barnard still 
 flows in the veins of some of the best 
 houses in the commercial world, his 
 son having married the daughter of the 
 great banker, Sir Thomas Hankey. Sir 
 John's great enemy — and a powerful 
 one, it may well be believed — was 
 Sampson Gideon, the Jew broker. 
 
BUSINESS PURSUITS IN THEIR MONEY RELATIONS. 
 
 115 
 
 " worth more than all the land of 
 Canaan." __^_ 
 
 Poxir Money-making- E-tiles of Roth.- 
 schild. 
 
 Rothschild commonly ascribed his 
 early success, in a great degree, to the 
 following rules : 
 
 " First : I combined three profits ; I 
 made the manufacturer my customer, 
 and the one I bought of my customer 
 — that is, I supplied the manufacturer 
 with raw materials and dyes, on each 
 of which I made a profit, and took his 
 manufactured goods, which I sold at a 
 profit, and thus combined three profits. 
 
 " Second : Make a bargain at once. 
 Be an off-hand man. 
 
 " Third : Never have anything to do 
 with an unlucky man or flace. I have 
 seen many clever men who had not 
 shoes to their feet. I never act with 
 them ; their advice sounds very well, 
 but fate is against them — they cannot 
 get on themselves — how can they do 
 good to me ? 
 
 " Fourth : Be cautious and told. It 
 requires a great deal of boldness and a 
 great deal of caution to make a great 
 fortune ; and when you have got it, it 
 requires ten times as much wit to keep 
 it." 
 
 The last idea was one which Roth- 
 schild frequently expressed ; it forms a 
 passage in his memorable conversation 
 with Sir Thomas Buxton, and there is 
 no doubt he was thoroughly impressed 
 with its truth. 
 
 Albert Gallatin declining Baring's 
 Offer of a Fortune. 
 
 The financial talent and success of 
 Albert Gallatin were equalled only by 
 his inflexible business integrity — his 
 name, through scores of years, stand- 
 ing forth as the very embodiment of 
 rare good judgment and unspotted 
 honor. One of the most interesting 
 illustrations of his . high-toned charac- 
 ter, in business dealings, occurred while 
 
 he was in Europe, on a mission in be- 
 half of his Government, in 1818. While 
 absent on his duty, he rendered some 
 essential service to Mr. Alexander Bar- 
 ing in the negotiation of a loan from 
 the French Government. Mr. Baring 
 in return pressed him to take a part of 
 the loan, offering him such advantages 
 in it that, without advancing any funds, 
 he could have realized a fortune. " I 
 thank you," was Gallatin's reply; "I 
 will not accept your obliging offer, be- 
 cause a man who has had the direction 
 of the finances of his country as long as 
 
 Gresliam's Scheme of Exchanges. 
 
 Thomas Gresham was for many 
 years the commercial pride of England ; 
 and that his character has not been 
 overrated is proved by the notable 
 scheme he devised at Ajitwerp, for op- 
 erating on the exchanges, so as to ren- 
 der them favorable to England. He 
 promised Edward the Sixth, during 
 the reign of whom this occurred, that 
 if he might pursue his own views,' he 
 would remove all his sovereign's diffi- 
 culties in two years. The following is 
 his plan, in his own words : 
 
 My request shall be to his majesty 
 and you, to appoint me out, weekly, 
 twelve or thirteen hundred pounds, to 
 be secretly received at one man's hands, 
 so that it may be kept secret, and that 
 I may thereunto trust, and that I may 
 make my reckoning thereof assuredly. 
 I shall so, use the matter here in the 
 town of Antwerp, that every day I will 
 be sure to take up two or three hundred 
 pounds sterling by exchange. And thus 
 doing, it shall not be perceived, nor yet 
 shall be the occasion to ipake the ex- 
 change fall. For that it shall be taken up 
 in my name. And so by these means, in 
 working by deliberation and time, the 
 merchant's turn also shall be served. 
 As also this should bring all merchants 
 out of suspicion, who do nothing to- 
 ward payment of the king's debts, and 
 
116 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 will not stick to say, that ere tlie pay- 
 ment of the king's debts be made, it 
 will bring down the exchange to 135. 
 4(Z., which I trust never to see that 
 day. So that by this you may per- 
 ceive if that I do but take up every day, 
 but £200 sterling, it will amount in one 
 year to £72,000, and the king's majesty 
 oweth here at this present £108,000, 
 with the interest money that was pro- 
 longed before this time. So that, by 
 these means, in two years, things wiU 
 be compassed accordingly, and my 
 purpose set forth. 
 
 By this plan, he found means in a 
 short space to raise the exchange from 
 sixteen shillings Flemish for the pound 
 sterling to twenty-two shillings, at 
 which rate he discharged all the king's 
 debts, and in this way money was ren- 
 dered plentiful and trade prosperous. 
 
 First Bun upon Bankers. 
 
 The extravagant luxury of the court 
 of King Charles, together with its utter 
 want of principle, and incapacity to 
 carry on the contest with Holland, pro- 
 duced the first run upon 'banhers ever 
 made. The Government had suffered 
 a succession of humiliating disasters. 
 The extravagance of the court had dis- 
 sipated all the means which Parliament 
 had supplied for the purpose of carry- 
 ing on offensive hostilities. It was de- 
 termined only to wage defensive war ; 
 but even for defensive war the vast re- 
 sources of England were found insuffi- 
 cient. The Dutch insulted the British 
 coast, sailed up the Thames, took Sheer- 
 ness, and carried their ravages to Chat- 
 ham. The blaze of the ships burning 
 in the river was seen at London; it 
 was rumored that a foreign army had 
 landed at Gravesend ; and military 
 men seriously proposed to abandon the 
 tower. 
 
 The people, accustomed to the se- 
 cure reign of Cromwell, were in utter 
 consternation. The moneyed portion 
 of the community were seized with a 
 
 panic. The country was in danger. 
 London itself might be invaded. What 
 security was there, then, for the money 
 advanced to the crown? The people 
 flocked to their debtors ; they demand- 
 ed their deposits ; and London now 
 witnessed the first run upon the bank- 
 ers ! 
 
 The fears of the people, however, 
 proved fallacious, for the goldsmiths — 
 as the bankers v/ere then called — met 
 all demands made upon them. Confi- 
 dence was restored by a proclamation* 
 from the king, stating that the de- 
 mands on the exchequer should be met 
 as usual ; and the run ceased. 
 
 Q,uoen Anne saving- the Government 
 Bank from Pillag-e. 
 
 HiSTOKY shows, in more than one 
 instance, that the great wealth accumu- 
 lated in the treasury of the Bank of 
 England, has rendered it peculiarly 
 liable to attack in times of public ex- 
 citement and tumult. There are al- 
 ways idle and profligate men to whom 
 the very name " bank " possesses a 
 charm. In 1709 the piety of the people 
 of London created a religious riot. One 
 Dr. Henry Sacheverell, an apostate 
 "Whig, being appointed to xDreach the 
 annual sermon at St. Paul's, before the 
 Lord Mayor and court of aldermen, 
 used the occasion as an engine of attack 
 upon some of the Government officials. 
 The measureless impudence of the 
 preacher was rebuked — among others 
 by Sir Gilbert Heathcote, a director 
 of the Bank of England. The usual 
 courtesy of having the discourse print- 
 ed by the city was not extended ; in 
 the absence of which, Sacheverell him- 
 self had it printed, with an inflammatory 
 epistle, dedicating it to Garrard, the 
 Lord Mayor, at whose instance, he al- 
 leged, the publication was made. He 
 was arrested and impeached, in revenge 
 for the liberties he had taken with the 
 Government. The populace chose to 
 support the divine ; and a body guard 
 
BUSINESS PURSUITS IN THEIR MONEY RELATIONS. 
 
 117 
 
 of London butchers accompanied him 
 to his trial at Westminster Hall, which 
 the queen honored with her presence. 
 " God bless the Church and Dr. Sach- 
 everell " was echoed from mouth to 
 mouth among the "pious" populace. 
 Money was thrown among them, by- 
 some of the better classes, who follow- 
 ed in hackney coaches. The dissenting 
 chapels were sacked. The queen and 
 court were in the utmost consternation. 
 Multitudes followed the Doctor, press- 
 ing about him, and striving to kiss his 
 hand. Alarm seized every bosom. 
 
 The anxiety of the bank directors 
 during this period of tumult was great, 
 as every day rendered them liable to 
 attack. At last, intelligence reached 
 them that the rioters were moving to- 
 ward their locality. As a pious mob 
 was no more to be trusted, pecuniarily, 
 than a political one, the court, assem- 
 bled to " concert measures proper to be 
 taken," and sent to the principal Secre- 
 tary of State for a guard to prevent any 
 attempt they might make on the bank. 
 When the message was received the 
 Earl of Sunderland made its tenor 
 known to the queen, who immediately 
 ordered both horse and foot out to quell 
 the tumult, leaving her own person 
 without jDrotection. " God will be my 
 guard," was her ready reply, when re- 
 minded of her danger. A detachment 
 under Captain Horsey was immediately 
 ordered into the city to prevent the 
 meditated attack on the alarmed direc- 
 tors. "Am I to preach or fight?" 
 was the question of the blunt soldier, 
 on receiving his instructions. There 
 proved, however, to be no occasion for 
 either. The rioters retreated in alarm ; 
 the lank was saved from pillage, lyy fhe 
 self-sacrifice and desotion of the queen. 
 
 Rendering- Bank Notes Serviceable. 
 
 The uses of bank notes are manifold ; 
 but the following is a novel mode of 
 rendering them serviceable. One of 
 these for £5 came in the course of busi- 
 
 ness to a mercantile house in Liverpool. 
 On the back of it was written : " If this 
 note gets into the hands of John Dean, 
 of Longhill, near Carlisle, his brother 
 Andrew is a prisoner in Algiers." The 
 circumstance was interesting and ap- 
 peared in a newspaper, in which the 
 paragraph was perused by a person in 
 Carlisle, who had known in past years 
 one Andrew Dean, and was still ac- 
 quainted with his brother John Dean, 
 of the i^lace named in the note. The 
 son of the latter happened to be in 
 Carlisle, and hearing the intelligence, 
 gave such a report of his uncle that 
 there was every reason to believe he 
 was the Andrew Dean whose captivity 
 became thus singularly known to his 
 friends in England. Of these things 
 are formed the romance of life ; and 
 the impossibility of assisting the Alge- 
 rine slave must often have been a 
 painful remembrance to the prisoner's 
 brother. 
 
 Supposititious "Will of the Bank-of- 
 Engrland Directors. 
 
 The success which attended the op- 
 erations of the Bank of England, in its 
 early history, naturally provoked com- 
 petition. A bank was proposed by Dr. 
 Hugh Chamberlain, to advance money 
 on the security of landed property, and 
 though the Bank of England had no 
 occasion to fear rivalry, they petitioned 
 against it, and were heard by their 
 counsel. All that the proj ectors required 
 was money ; and as that was not ready 
 at the appointed period, " the roman- 
 tic Land Bank " failed. A war of most 
 sarcastic pamphlets ensued between the 
 friends of the new scheme and those of 
 the old institution, one of these pam- 
 phlets being entitled : " The Trial and 
 Condemnation of the Land Bank, at Ex- 
 eter 'Change, for murdering the Bank of 
 England at Grocers' Hall." A will, by 
 no means complimentary to the Rec- 
 tors of the latter, is supposed to be pro- 
 duced at the trial. It runs as follows : 
 
118 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 " Know all our creditors by these 
 presents, that we, the Governor and 
 Company of the Bank of England, be- 
 ing weak in body through the wounds 
 received from the Land Bank at Exeter 
 Change, to whom we lay our death, 
 but of as good sense as ever we were, 
 finding ourselves impaired in our credit 
 and reputation, and despairing of re- 
 covery, do make our last will and testa- 
 ment. 
 
 " 1st. We bequeath our soul to the 
 devil, in order to serve the public out 
 of our creditors' money ; and as to the 
 qualities of our mind, we dispose them as 
 follows, namely, all our skill in foreign 
 exchanges, and our probity and candor 
 in making up the accounts of the loss 
 thereof, we give to all and every of our 
 directors, except four or five, jointly 
 and severally, to hold to them, and 
 to their successors, as heirlooms, and 
 imperishable monuments of their skill 
 and probity forever. All our obstinacy 
 and blunders we give unto our present 
 governor, upon trust, that he shall em- 
 ploy one equal third part thereof as one 
 of the lords of the Admiralty, and the 
 other part thereof as Governor of the 
 Bank of England. All our oaths, im- 
 pudence, &c., we give unto our present 
 deputy governor and our dear Sir Hen- 
 ry Furnese, to hold in joint partner- 
 ship during their lives, and the survivor 
 to have the whole. All our shufiling 
 tricks we give to our dear Sir "William 
 Gore. All our cynicalness and self- 
 conceit we give to our directors. Sir 
 John Ward and Sir Gilbert Heathcote, 
 equally to be divided betwixt them, 
 share and share alike, as tenants in 
 common. All our blindness and fear 
 we give unto our dear Obadiah Sedg- 
 wick, and we also give him £5 in mon- 
 ey to buy him a new cloth coat, a new 
 half-beaver hat, a second-hand periwig, 
 and an old black sword to solicit with 
 in the lobby, and also to buy him a 
 pair^f spectacles to write letters to 
 lords with. 
 
 " As to the residue of our temporal 
 
 estate (besides the said £5) we dispose 
 thereof as followeth : Imprimis, we de- 
 vise to our own members (when they 
 shall have paid in our £100 per cent.) 
 our fund of £100,000 per annum, charg- 
 ed and chargeable, nevertheless, with 
 the sum of £1,200,000, for which it 
 stands mortgaged, by bank bills, in full 
 satisfaction of all their great expecta- 
 tions from the probity and skill of our 
 directors, advising them to accept a re- 
 demption thereof by Parliament, when- 
 ever they can have it. 
 
 " Item — all our ready moneys, before 
 any of our debts are paid, we give to 
 our executors, hereinafter named, in 
 trust, that they shall, from time to 
 time, until 1st August, 1696, lend the 
 same into the exchequer, upon condi- 
 tion to defeat the establishment of the 
 Land Bank ; and from and after the 1st 
 said August, then to lend out the same 
 into the said exchequer, upon security 
 of premises to establish our executors 
 the next session, instead of the Land 
 Bank, and for such other premiums as 
 our said executors can give to them- 
 selves, for doing thereof. And we do 
 direct our said executors to continue 
 the stock and pensions already allowed 
 to our past friends— they know where. 
 And after all our ready moneys so dis- 
 posed, we leave the residue of our effiects 
 for payment of bills and notes, at such 
 days and hours, and in such manner and 
 proportion, and with such preferences, 
 as our said executors shall see fit. And 
 we do hereby constitute our directors 
 executors of this our will, giving each 
 of them power, out of our cash, to 
 discount their own tallies, bills and 
 notes, at par ; and the bills and notes 
 of other of our creditors at the highest 
 discount they can get for the same. 
 
 " And our l)ody we com,mit to he Immed, 
 with all privacy, lest our creditors arrest 
 our corpse. In witness wherof, we 
 have hereunto set our common seal, 4th 
 May, 1696." 
 
 The epitaph was as follows : 
 
 " Here lies the body of the Bank of 
 
BUSINESS PURSUITS IN THEIR MONEY RELATIONS. 
 
 119 
 
 England, who was born in the year 
 1694, died May 5th, 1696, in the third 
 year of its age. They had issue legiti- 
 mate by their common seal, 1,200,000, 
 called bank bills, and by their cashier 
 
 two million sons of called Speed's 
 
 notes." ^ ^ 
 
 Immense Consig:nm.ent of Gold to a 
 New York House. 
 
 The great business crash in 1837 was 
 attended by a universal suspension of 
 specie payments by the banks through- 
 out the country. Under these circum- 
 stances, and in view of the extensive 
 business relations between the United 
 States and England, application was 
 made to the bankers and capitalists of 
 the latter country, for such aid as would 
 encourage Americans then struggling 
 to extricate themselves from embarrass- 
 ments, and enable them to return to 
 specie payments. To effect this, Mr. 
 James G. King, of the house of Prime, 
 Ward & King, New York, proceeded 
 to England, and was warmly received 
 and eagerly consulted by bankers and 
 merchants in London. His calm and 
 assured tone and judgment did much 
 to allay the apprehension which panic 
 and ignorance of the extent of resources 
 possessed by the American commercial 
 community and banks, had produced. 
 
 He startled the bank-parlor in 
 Threadneedle-street by a suggestion, 
 that instead of embarrassing American 
 merchants by discrediting, as they had 
 been doing, paper connected with the 
 American trade, it nearly concerned the 
 solvency of many of their own cus- 
 tomers, and thtis their own interests, 
 that liberal aid should rather be ex- 
 tended to that trade. He finally 
 brought them over to these views, and 
 proposed that the Bank of England at 
 once send over several million dollars 
 in coin, to strengthen the American 
 banks and enable them to resume. In 
 conformity with Mr. King's opinions 
 and plan, the bank consigned to his 
 firm the immense sum of one million 
 
 pounds sterling in gold^ upon the sole 
 responsibility of that house and the 
 guaranty of Baring Brothers & Ca 
 The receipt of this coin in America pro- 
 duced at once a realization of the re- 
 sult anticipated by Mr. King, and the 
 transaction constitutes one of the most 
 important events in the financial his- 
 tory of the United States, nor is it ne- 
 cessary to state that Mr. King added 
 much to his already high renown as a 
 merchant and banker, by the part he so 
 grandly enacted. The affair was wound 
 up without loss and with great prompt- 
 ness. 
 
 "Accommodation" offered at the 
 Bank. 
 
 A CAPITAL example of what is often 
 termed " taking the starch out," hap- 
 pened in a country bank in New Eng- 
 land. A pompous, well-dressed indi- 
 vidual entered the bank, and, address- 
 ing the teller, who is something of a 
 wag, inquired : 
 
 " Is the cashier in ? " 
 
 " No, Sir," was the reply. 
 
 " Well, I am dealing in pens, supply- 
 ing the New England banks pretty 
 largely, and I suppose it will be proper 
 for me to deal with the cashier." 
 
 " I suppose it will," said the teller. 
 
 " Very well ; I will wait." 
 
 The pen peddler took a chair and sat 
 composedly for a full hour, waiting for 
 the cashier. By that time he began to 
 grow uneasy, but sat twisting in his 
 chair for about twenty minutes, and, 
 seeing no prospect of a change in his 
 circumstances, asked the teller how 
 soon the cashier would be in. 
 
 " Well, I don't know exactly," said 
 the waggish teller, " but I expect him in 
 about eight weeks. He has just gone to 
 Lake Superior, and told me he thought 
 he should come back in that time." 
 
 Peddler thought he would not wait. 
 
 " Oh, you may stay if you wish," said 
 the teller, very blandly. " We have no 
 objection to your sitting here in ^e day- 
 time, and you can probably find some 
 
120 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 place in town where they will be glad 
 to keep you nights." 
 
 The pompous peddler disappeared 
 without another word. 
 
 Pennsylvania Bonds. 
 
 At the time when Sidney Smith, the 
 reverend canon of St. Paul's, was de- 
 nouncing the " drab-coated men of 
 Pennsylvania" for neglecting to pay 
 the interest on their State stock, of 
 which he held a considerable amount, 
 
 he was visited by a young author, ex- 
 ceedingly lavish in his compliments and 
 flattery, and who declared that if he 
 could only hope to attain to even a 
 small degree of the fame and honor 
 which he (Sidney) enjoyed, he would 
 be the most happy man on earth. " My 
 dear young friend," said the canon, 
 " I would that you were not only al- 
 most, but altogether such as I am, ex- 
 cept these bonds,^^ laying his hand at the 
 same time on the certificates of his 
 Pennsylvania stock lying on the desk 
 before him. 
 
PAUT THIRD. 
 
 Anecdotes and Illustrations of tee Successful 
 Business Qualities, 
 
PAET THIED. 
 
 Anecdotes and Illustrations of the Snccessful Business Qualities. 
 
 INTEGRITY, ENTERPRISE, ENERGY, PERSEYERANCE, COURAGE, SHREWDNESS, PUNCTILIOUSNESS, 
 PRUDENCE, AMBITION, GRATITUDE, BENEVOLENCE, GENEROSITY, ECONOMY; WITH PEN- 
 CILLINGS OP STRIKING BUSINESS ADVENTURES, VICISSITUDES, EXPLOITS, AND ACHIEVE- 
 MENTS, BOTH SERIOUS AND COMICAL. 
 
 'Tis not in mortals to command encceBS ; 
 
 But we'll do more, Serapronius, we'll deserve it. — Addison's " Cato." 
 In all nfigotiations of diflaculty, a man may not look to bow and reap at once ; but must prepare 
 business, and so ripen it by degrees.— Lord Bacon. 
 
 It is in vain to put wealth within the reach of hira who will not stretch out his hand to take 
 it.— Johnson. 
 
 A merchant who always tells the truth, and a genius who never lies, are synonymous to a 
 saint. — Lavater, 
 
 Of plain sound sense life's current coin is made ; 
 
 "With that we drive the most substantial trade.— Young. 
 
 Making- Conditions— King James and 
 the Corn Merchants. 
 
 During the reign of James the First, 
 a great dearth of corn happened, which 
 obliged his majesty to send for the 
 celebrated Eastland Company of mer- 
 chants. He told them, that to obviate 
 the present scarcity, they must load 
 their homeward-bomid ships with com ; 
 which they promised to do, and so 
 retired. One of the lords of the coun- 
 cil, however, said to the king, that such 
 a promise signified little, unless they 
 agreed at wTiat price it should be sold ; 
 on which they were all called back, and 
 acquainted that the king desired a more 
 explicit answer. The deputy replied : 
 " Sir, we will freight and buy our 
 corn as cheap as we can, and sell it 
 here as we can afford it; but to be 
 confined to any certain price, wc can- 
 not." Being still pressed for a more 
 distinct answer, the deputy, who was 
 not only a princely merchant but a 
 great foxhunter, said to the king: 
 
 " Sir, your majesty is a lover of the 
 noble sport of hunting — so am I, and 
 I keep a few dogs ; but if my dogs do 
 not love the sport as well as we, I 
 might as well hunt with hogs as with 
 dogs." The king replied : " Say no 
 more, man, thou art in the right; go 
 and do as well as you can, but be sure 
 you bring the corn.'''' 
 
 Shaking One's Business Credit. 
 
 A good story is told of old Mr. Ful- 
 ler, once the famous banker of Cornhill, 
 London — founder of the firm now loca- 
 ted in one of the splendid bank palaces 
 in Moorgate street, shining with plate 
 glass, polished mahogany, brass railings, 
 and bronze candelabra, a glance at 
 which would have half driven its head 
 and originator into Bedlam. 
 
 Mr. Fuller not only lived at his bank, 
 but even had his washing done on the 
 spot. On such days, for many a revolv- 
 ing year, every one who passed his 
 door at or about noon might have seen 
 
124 
 
 COMMERCIAL AXD BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 a single pint of porter placed at the 
 foot of the staircase; that was the 
 washerwoman's allowance. In process 
 of time this constant pint, so long a 
 pint, became a pot, and forthwith there 
 was a sensation at the bank, in Corn- 
 hill, and all along Lombard street ! 
 The twelve o'clock pint of beer that 
 had stood so long, at Fuller's bank, 
 had been increased to a pot! Every- 
 one talked of the event; and at last 
 one customer — ^whether a dull, hard- 
 hearted, unhappy miser, or some solemn 
 mocker, pleased to trifle with the infir- 
 mities of poor human nature, cannot be 
 told — drew the senior partner's atten- 
 tion to the circumstance, in this formal 
 manner : Entering the bank, one morn- 
 ing, and finding the old gentleman 
 fixed, as usual, woodwork-like to his 
 desk, as if he was a component part of 
 that article, he drew near and thus be- 
 gan: 
 
 " I have banked with you now, Mr. 
 Fuller, for a good many years." 
 
 Mr. Fuller hereupon bowed, not his 
 head, but head, shoulders, and half his 
 body, smirked, and replied: "Yes, 
 many thanks for your favors ; you have, 
 sir." 
 
 " I have, Mr. Fuller," continued the 
 other, " and have always felt great satis- 
 faction in keeping my account with 
 you until lately." 
 
 "Indeed, sir," interrupted the old 
 gentleman, with quick anxiety, laying 
 down his pen, and pushing his spec- 
 tacles from his eyes up to his forehead ; 
 " pray, what has happened ? — we are 
 the same as ever." 
 
 "Pardon me, Mr. Fuller; I have 
 noticed for many a year, that on a cer- 
 tain day in the week a pint of porter 
 has regularly stood at the foot of your 
 stairs. I always could tell, when I saw 
 that pint, that it was washing-day with 
 you, and greatly pleased I used to be at 
 that proof of your economy; for, Mr. 
 Fuller, the man who is intrusted with 
 the keeping of other men's money, 
 should know how to take care of his 
 
 own ; and he cannot give any better or 
 stronger proof of what he is capable of 
 in that respect, than by being moderate 
 and abstemious in his housekeeping. 
 Therefore I was always, as I have just 
 said, well pleased to see you were not 
 wasteful with your washerwoman. I felt 
 sure, while that continued, that my de- 
 posits in this house were safe— perfect- 
 ly safe, sir. (This was said with an em- 
 phasis that weighed all of thirteen 
 pounds, and with a look that set the 
 tips of Mr. Fuller's fingers a-twirling, 
 as if a small electric battery had been 
 brought to play upon his nervous sys- 
 tem.) But I see you are changing — you 
 are breaking loose, Mr. Fuller; you 
 now allow your washerwoman not a 
 pint, but a whole pot of beer, every 
 washing-day ; and I must say, sir, that 
 if you go on doubling your expenditures 
 at that rate, it may be time for your 
 customers to be looking after their bal- 
 ances." 
 
 Mr. Fuller, it is said, took this re- 
 buke quite seriously, and with humble 
 thanks, assuring his customers that 
 business had increased — that more 
 resident clerks were now employed 
 than formerly — and that, as there was 
 more washing to be done, helpers had 
 been hired, and an extra allowance of 
 beer permitted. But this he promised 
 to retrench at once, and he kept his 
 word. The pot of beer was counter- 
 manded, the " standard " pint replaced, 
 and this was never afterward exceeded 
 during the old banker's lifetime. 
 
 7ankee Shrewdness Handsomely 
 Illustrated. 
 
 When the prospect of founding a 
 large manufacturing town on the Merri- 
 mac River was in contemplation, some 
 of the persons interested in that great 
 commercial enterprise sent up Mr. B., a 
 young gentleman skilled as an engineer, 
 and who was also fond of sporting, to 
 view the water privilege carefully, and 
 to make inquiry as to the prices of land 
 in the vicinity. He went with his dog, 
 
SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS QUALITIES. 
 
 125 
 
 gun, and fishing tackle, and obtained 
 board in a farmer's house, a Mr. F. He 
 spent his time in viewing the falls, the 
 canal, the river and grounds, with occa- 
 sional fowling and fishing. 
 
 After spending some time there, in 
 talking with the farmer, one evening 
 he told him " that he liked the place 
 very well, and thought he should be 
 pleased to come and live there." The 
 man said " he should be pleased to 
 have him." " Well, Mr. F., what will 
 you take for your farm ? " " Why, I 
 don't want to sell it, Mr. B. ; nor would 
 I, unless I can get twice what it is 
 worth, as I am satisfied here, and don't 
 want to move." " Well, what do you 
 say it is worth, Mr. F. ? " " Why, it is 
 worth fifteen hundred dollars, and I 
 can't sell it for less than three thousand 
 dollars." " That is too much," said 
 Mr. B., "I can't give that." "Very 
 well, you need not." Here the conver- 
 sation ended. 
 
 Mr. B. continued his sporting, and, 
 having received his instructions in the 
 course of a few days, renewed his talk 
 with Mr. F., and said to him, " Well, 
 Mr. F., I have made up my mind that I 
 should like to live here very well, and 
 though you ask so much, I will take 
 up with your offer, and give you three 
 thousand dollars." " Why, as to that, 
 Mr. B., you did not take my farm when 
 I offered it to you, and I am not willing 
 to sell it now, for anything less than 
 six thousand dollars." " You are jok- 
 ing, Mr. F. ! " " Not so, Mr. B., I am 
 in earnest, and I shan't continue my 
 offer more than twenty-four hours." 
 
 B., finding he was determined, went 
 off for instructions, and the next day 
 told Mr, F. he would give him six thou- 
 sand dollars. The purchase was made, 
 deed passed, and money paid. 
 
 Some time afterward, Mr. B. asked 
 the farmer what reason he had in the 
 course of a few days to double the price 
 for his farm, and to insist upon it. 
 " Why, Mr. B., I will tell you ; a day 
 or two after I offered you the farm for 
 
 three thousand dollars, I saw two men 
 on the opposite side of the Merrimac 
 River, sitting on a rock, and talking 
 for some time ; then they got up, and 
 one went up the river, and the other 
 down, and after some time they re- 
 turned, seemed in earnest conversation 
 for half an hour or more, when they 
 arose and went away. I did not know 
 what it meant, but I thought something 
 was in the wind, and I determined, if 
 you asked me again to sell my farm, 
 I would demand double the price." 
 Thus began the purchase, by Boston 
 merchants, of the land upon which the 
 city of Lowell has been erected. 
 
 Q,ueen Jan3's Opinion of Merchants. 
 
 Jane, of France, wife of Philip the 
 Fair, while residing a few days at 
 Bruges, was mortified at the splendor 
 of the appearance of the merchants' 
 wives, judging by that of her own. 
 " I thought," said the elegant and royal 
 visitor, " I had been the only queen 
 here; but I find there are above six 
 hundred queens in this city ! " 
 
 Boyhood Struggles of a Merchant. 
 
 " I KEMEMBER," Said Gidcon Lee, in 
 after life, " when I was a lad living 
 with my uncle, it was my business to 
 feed and milk the cows. . And many a 
 time, long before light in the morning, 
 I was started off, in the cold and show, 
 without shoes, to my work, and used 
 to think it a luxury to warm my frozen 
 feet on the spot just before occupied by 
 the animal I had roused. It taught me t^ 
 reflect, and to consider possibilities ; and 
 I remember asking myself, "Is it not 
 possible for me to better my condition ? " 
 
 Lee and His Travelling- Companion. 
 
 Before establishing himself perma- 
 nently as a leather merchant in Kew 
 York, Gideon Lee made a voyage to 
 St. Mary's, Georgia, taking with him 
 
126 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 some small ventures of leather. On 
 returning to New York, the vessel in 
 which he took passage was wrecked 
 oflf Cape Fear, and he barely saved him- 
 self, with the few clothes he had on. 
 Accompanied by a faithful friend, 
 named Smith, who had nursed him 
 while sick at St. Mary's, he had no 
 other means of getting to the. North 
 than to trudge it on foot. The journey 
 was a most tedious and dismal one ; 
 several days of it were through the 
 pine barrens of North Carolina, not 
 meeting with a house in a day's travel. 
 Smith was a brother Yankee, and bore 
 the hardships with great courage and 
 good humor. Mr. Lee used to relate 
 an anecdote of him, illustrating this 
 latter trait, as well as the dismal char- 
 acter of the country through which 
 they were travelling. " One day," said 
 he, " we had been trudging along, 
 nothing to be seen but the pitch-pine 
 forests, before and behind, and on both 
 sides of us ; shoes worn out, and our 
 feet bleeding, myself before, and Smith 
 following after ; neither of us had ex- 
 changed a word for some time, when 
 Smith suddenly spoke out in his nasal 
 twang— "Mr. Lee!" "Well, Smith, 
 well, what about it?" "I wish I 
 could hear it thunder ! " " Hear it 
 thunder ! why do you wish so ? " " Be- 
 cause they say thunder is God's voice, 
 and if I could only hear it thunder I 
 should know I was on God's earth ; as 
 it is now, I don't know where I am." 
 
 First Penny Gained by a Millionnaire. 
 
 ^ An eminent English millionnaire, who 
 rose — as most of that class have — from 
 obscurity, says that the first money he 
 ever recollects possessing, was gained 
 in the following manner : I went, he 
 says, to school, a distance of three 
 miles. One day, on my way, I picked 
 up a horse-shoe, carried it about three 
 miles, and sold it to a blacksmith for a 
 penny. That was the first penny I ever 
 recollect possessing ; and 1 kept it for 
 
 some time. A few weeks after, the 
 same man called my attention to a boy 
 who was carrying oflf some dirt oppo- 
 site his door ; and offered, if I would 
 beat the boy, who w^as somewhat big- 
 ger than myself, to give me a penny. I 
 did so ; he made a mark upon the pen- 
 ny, and promised that if I would bring 
 it to him that day fortnight, he would 
 give me another. I took it to him at 
 the appointed time, when he at once 
 fulfilled his promise, and I thus became 
 possessed of three pence ; since which 
 I have never been without money, ex- 
 cept when I gave it all away. It is 
 hard to tell which point involves the 
 most difficulty — the art of first obtain- 
 ing a little " nest egg^'''' or the use and 
 management of it when once possessed. 
 
 Benevolence of Goldschmid, the Old 
 Jew Banker. 
 
 Goldschmid's wealth seemed, on 
 some occasions, hardly greater than 
 his pure-minded benevolence. It is 
 related that at one time a clergyman 
 of the Church of England, who with a 
 family had met with some unforeseen 
 misfortunes, was in debt the sum of 
 four hundred and sixty pounds. From 
 the good character and conduct of the 
 poor debtor, a number of friends and 
 parishioners were induced to open a 
 subscription for making up the amount ; 
 but being unable amongst themselves 
 to raise more than one hundred and 
 fifty pounds, the collectors were advised 
 to try their success by applying to the 
 benevolent Jew banker; this was ac- 
 cordingly done. On application, the 
 collectors were ordered to call in the 
 course of a day or two, when Mr. Gold- 
 schmid promised to inquire itito the 
 state of the facts. He did so without 
 delay, and finding it a truly worthy 
 case, on their second application, he 
 presented them with a check for the 
 whole amount of the debt, desiring 
 them, at the same time, to return the 
 amount of subscriptions raised else- 
 
SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS QUALITIES. 
 
 127 
 
 where to the poor debtor, to begin 
 the world with afresh. 
 
 Beynolds, the Charitable Quaker Mer- 
 chant. 
 
 The late venerated Richard Rey- 
 nolds, a Quaker merchant in Bristol, 
 Eng., who amassed a princely fortune, 
 was accustomed to speak of himself, in 
 connection with his wealth and the use 
 of it, as merely a steward of the Al- 
 mighty. Thus, his entire income, after 
 deducting the moderate expenses of his 
 family, was devoted to charitable pur- 
 poses ; and he thought his round of 
 duty still incomplete, unless he devoted 
 his time likewise. He often deprived 
 himself of the slumber which his years 
 craved, to watch beside the bed of sick- 
 ness and pain, and to administer conso- 
 lation to those in trouble. On one oc- 
 casion, he wrote to a friend in London, 
 requesting to know what object of char- 
 ity presented itself, stating that he had 
 not spent the whole of his income. His 
 friend informed him of a number of 
 persons confined in prison for small 
 debts. He paid the loTiole^ and swept that 
 miserable abode of its distressed tenants. 
 Most of his donations were inclosed in 
 blank covers, bearing the modest signa- 
 ture of " A Friend." A lady once ap- 
 plied to him in behalf of an orphan, 
 saying, " When he is old enough, I will 
 teach him to name and thank his bene- 
 factor." "Nay," replied the Quaker, 
 "thou art wrong. We do not thank 
 the clouds for rain. Teach him to look 
 higher, and thank Him who giveth both 
 the clouds and the rain. My talent is 
 the meanest of all talents— a little sor- 
 did dust ; but as the man in the para- 
 ble was accountable for his talent, so 
 am I accountable to the great Lord of 
 all." 
 
 Iiiberality of Yakooleff, the Russian 
 Merchant. 
 
 The rich sheet iron merchant, Ivan 
 Alexevitch Yakooleff, at one time most 
 generously presented to the Czar, 
 
 through Count Orloflf, an order on the 
 bank for one million of silver rubles, 
 equal to nearly eight hundred thousand 
 dollars^ to make good the defalcation of 
 Politkofisky in the Invalid Fund, thus 
 saving present and former members of 
 the commission, with their families, from 
 ruin, as their estates and other prop- 
 erty were all to be taken to indemnify 
 the government. 
 
 Politkofisky was president of the 
 commission for the management of the 
 Invalid Fund, and possessed the un- 
 bounded confidence of his associates in 
 the commission. His death revealed 
 the defalcation, which probably had 
 been increasing for years until raised 
 to above a million of silver rubles ; for 
 all which the emperor held the com- 
 mission individually responsible. This 
 would have involved most of them in 
 ruin, but from which the noble deed of 
 Yakooleff rescued them. 
 
 French Mercantile Independence. 
 
 Soon after Colbert came into the 
 management of the finances of France, 
 he sent for the principal merchants of 
 that kingdom ; and in order to ingra- 
 tiate himself with them, and to acquire 
 their confidence, he asked what he 
 could do for them ? They unanimous- 
 
 ly answered, "Pray, sir. 
 
 Laissez nous faired 
 ourselves." 
 
 "Let us do for 
 
 Patriotic Merchants of the Revolution. 
 
 In that immortal Congress that 
 adopted the Declaration of American 
 Independence, sat many merchants. 
 It was the merchant John Hancock, 
 that presided over its deliberations 
 and that first put a bold and unshrink- 
 ing mercantile signature to that peri- 
 lous Declaration. With him, in glory 
 and in danger, were the merchants, 
 Robert Morris and George Clymer, of 
 Pennsylvania ; Elbridge Gerry and 
 Samuel Adams, of Massachusetts ; Wil- 
 
128 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 > 
 
 liam WhiiDple, of New HampsMre; 
 Philip Livingston and Francis Lewis, 
 of New York ; Joseph Hewes, of North 
 Carolina ; and Barton Gwinnett, of 
 Georgia. 
 
 Old-fashioned Shopkeepers. 
 
 Formerly, the English shopkeeper 
 took short turns before his door, cry- 
 ing, " What d'ye lack, sir ? What d'ye 
 lack, madam ? " and then he rehearsed 
 a list of the commodities he dealt in. 
 When he became weary, this task w^as 
 assumed by his apprentice ; and thus a 
 London street was a Babel of strange 
 sounds, by which the wayferer was 
 dinned at every step. The articles of 
 shopkeei)er were often of a very hetero- 
 geneous description in those days of 
 " auld lang syne." They were huddled 
 in bales within the proprietor's little 
 shop, and in the midst of them the 
 wife and daughter of the master were 
 ensconced, plying the needle or knit- 
 ting wires, and eyeing the passing crowd. 
 
 In one of the plays of the time, the 
 merchant thus explains to his idle ap- 
 prentice the way in which he grew rich : 
 *' Did I gain my wealth by ordinaries ? 
 No. By exchanging gold? No. By 
 keeping of goldsmiths' company ? No. 
 I hired me a little shop, bought low, 
 took small gains, kept no debt-book, 
 garnished my shop — for want of plate 
 — with good, thrifty, wholesome sen- 
 tences, as : ' Keep thy shop, and thy 
 shop will keep thee ; ' ' Light gains 
 make heavy purses ; ' ' 'Tis good to be 
 meiTy and wise.' " But, although the 
 shops and warehouses of the London 
 traffickers were so humble, their houses 
 were of a very dijQferent description ; so 
 that, even as early as the reign of 
 James, the dwelling of a chief mer- 
 chant rivalled the palace of a noble- 
 man in the splendor of its furniture, 
 among which cushions and window 
 pillows of velvet and damask had 
 become common. 
 
 At the hour of nine, the Bow hell 
 
 rang, which was a signal for the em- 
 ployed to leave off work, and repair to 
 supper and to bed — a bell which the 
 master thought too soon, and the ap- 
 prentice too late. Only a great mag- 
 nifico, or royal merchant, was thought 
 worthy the honor and privilege of pre- 
 fixing " Master " or " Mr." to his name, 
 in those times— the addition of gentle- 
 man^ or esquire, would have thrown 
 everybody in such a man's circle into 
 an uproar indeed. 
 
 Locking- up Foreign Merchants in 
 England. 
 
 London is mentioned by Tacitus as 
 the chief residence of merchants, and 
 the great mart of trade and commerce. 
 Yet, before the charter of Kunnymede, 
 foreign merchants were permitted to 
 visit England only during the period 
 of public fairs, and were restricted to 
 a residence of forty days. Afterward 
 a German comjDany monopolized the 
 trade of the country for several centu- 
 ries, and its members were regularly 
 locked up at night — getting comfort, 
 however, from this species of indignity, 
 by keeping the whole foreign commerce 
 of the realm to themselves. Singularly 
 enough, long after the importance of 
 commerce had been recognized in other 
 countries, the people of England, now 
 the most mercantile on the face of the 
 globe, neglected the occupation which 
 has mainly contributed to their great- 
 
 Merchants of the Golden Fleece. 
 
 There was formerly, and for many 
 years resident in London, a company 
 of Dutch traders, located at a place 
 called the Stilyard; it was granted 
 many privileges by Henry the Eighth, 
 in return for its occasional loans 
 which enabled him to carry on his 
 wars. Its profits and wealth be- 
 came so immense that a rival company 
 of traders and merchants was finally 
 created, under the patronage of Queen 
 
• * "-.^^ 
 
: : -7 ^ flUTATIONS OF A MERCHANTS LIFE. 
 
SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS QUALITIES. 
 
 129 
 
 Elizabeth, and its title was that of 
 "The Company of English Merchant 
 Adventurers." This company had for 
 many years the principal trade to 
 Germany, the Netherlands, and the 
 adjacent countries — establishing its 
 marts in all the principal cities of 
 western Europe, and doing an immense 
 business, especially in the exporta- 
 tion of English woollens. It became 
 abroad what the Stilyard merchants 
 had been in England ; its credit was 
 in repute, and its wealth famous 
 throughout Europe. The general esti- 
 mation in which it was held abroad 
 may be judged of from the fact that 
 Philip of Burgundy, because of the 
 great revenue ensuing to his treasury 
 from the duties on English woollen, 
 adopted as the name and emblem of 
 his favorite order of knighthood, that 
 of " The Golden Fleece." 
 
 Who were the First Whalemen ? 
 
 The interesting question has often 
 been discussed — " Who were the first 
 whalemen ? " In answer to this it is 
 stated, not the sea-ruling Briton, not 
 the hardy Dane, not the steadily endur- 
 ing, amphibious Dutchman, not the 
 bold Norwegian, child of the sea kings. 
 No : the Spaniards — Biscayans and 
 Bosques — first dared attack the Levia- 
 than on the high seas, so early as 1575. 
 True, some have tried to prove the 
 Norwegians were the first in the field, 
 but they have not made out a clear 
 case. It was probably the narwhal, 
 grampus, and other small versions of 
 the great whale, they hunted. The old 
 ninth century navigator, Olithore the 
 Norwegian, whose wonderful adven- 
 tures were taken down from his own lips 
 by no less a man than King Alfred, often 
 speaks of having slain sixty whales in 
 two days — flatly impossible, if right 
 whales had been in question. Thus 
 much is certain : the first whalebone 
 which ever found its way into England, 
 was picked up from the wreck of a Bis- 
 9 
 
 cayan ship, in 1594 ; and when, at the 
 close of the sixteenth century, the Eng- 
 lish first began to fit out whaleships, 
 they were obliged to call on Biscayans 
 to direct them in their preparations, 
 and to fill the more important offices in 
 the ship. 
 
 ♦ 
 
 Mutations of a Merchant's Life : the 
 New Orleans Sockseller. 
 
 A STRANGE old man is he, who may 
 be seen any day, be it cold or hot, in 
 the neighborhood of the Poydras Mar- 
 ket, New Orleans, with a bundle of 
 socks in his hand or on the banquette 
 beside him. Selling socks is now his 
 only business; yet time was when it 
 was not so. Of the multiform muta- 
 tions of human life, fliat old man has 
 experienced more than mortal's share. 
 See how he mutters to himself, and 
 smiles, half insanely, as he praises his 
 wares to his real or pretended custom- 
 ers ! One eye is closed, and the lid is 
 swollen, and the face of the sockseller 
 is covered with scars. These are the 
 traces left in the old man's face by 
 assassin bui^lars, who once robbed him 
 of his goods, and left him as one dead, 
 in his house on Circus street. It was 
 long before this old man recovered, and 
 when he did, his intellect was a wreck, 
 and nothing save his business habits 
 was left to keep him from total insan- 
 ity. Since then he has followed the 
 business of selling socks. 
 
 But it were unjust to the old man to 
 give so imperfect an abstract of his his- 
 tory. Let us roll back the tide of time 
 sojne quarter of a century, and a tall, 
 fine-looking gentleman may be ob- 
 served walking down Broadway, in 
 New York. Fair ladies ogle him as 
 he passes, and feel flattered when he 
 smiles on them. And is it strange? 
 for the smiler of that day is a wholesale 
 merchant, of priifcely fortune. After 
 that changes come. The merchant, 
 broken in fortune, removed to New Or- 
 leans, and his remains may now be 
 found in the muttering sockseller of 
 
130 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 the Poydras Market. There is a 
 strange tale of love connected with 
 the old man; but here let the veil 
 drop. 
 
 Becovering: a Wasted Fortune. 
 
 It is related of a young man, that, 
 having fallen heir to a large estate, he 
 engaged in a career of profligacy and 
 wasteful expenditures, until he found 
 himself utterly impoverished and desti- 
 tute, cast off by his former associates, 
 and having no resource to which to 
 look for relief. His misery was so 
 great that he resolved upon self-de- 
 struction, and wandering forth to find 
 some suitable place for the execution 
 of his desperate purpose, found him- 
 self on an eminence which overlooked 
 the estates that once belonged to liim. 
 He sat down and thought of his folly. 
 A long time he mused in silence. 
 When he arose, a new purpose had 
 taken possession of him. He said to 
 himself, " Those estates shall again be 
 mine," and at once he set about carry- 
 ing out the plan he had thtls cogitated 
 in silence. 
 
 As he passed along, he saw some coal 
 lying before a door, and he asked to be 
 employed to carry it into the l^DUse. 
 His wish was gratified, and after finish- 
 ing his task, he was master of a shil- 
 ling. He soon earned another by a 
 similar process, and when hungry he 
 satisfied his: cravings in the uiost frugal 
 manner. Month after month, year after 
 year, he pursued his plan, and in pro- 
 cess of time achieved his end. The 
 estates once forfeited by his prodigality 
 were regained by decision, energy, con- 
 centration of purpose upon a single 
 end. 
 
 Fortunes at a ging-le Blow. 
 
 "I FEND," said a shrewd merchant, 
 " I make most money when I am least 
 anxious about it." There is practical 
 philosophy in this remark. Caution, 
 
 prudence, sagacity, and deliberation 
 are all necessary to business success. 
 Some men, it is true, get rich suddenly, 
 but the great majority do not, and can- 
 not. Bonaparte once said, " I have no 
 idea of a merchant's acquiring a for- 
 tune as a general wins a battle — at a 
 single blow." Such fortunes too often 
 vanish suddenly. 
 
 Merchant Patrons of Literature. 
 
 There are honored names, and not a 
 few— such as Peabody, Bates, Girard, 
 Lawrence, Perkins, Cooper, Astor, &c. 
 — that might be dwelt upon in proof 
 of the connection that may and does 
 exist between trade and letters. Prom- 
 inent among those of a former day, were 
 Cosmo and Lorenzo de Medici, the 
 wealthiest men of Europe in their day. 
 And yet they were merchants and 
 bankers, and were preeminent still for 
 their generosity and devotion to letters. 
 To this merchant family belongs the 
 lasting honor of having restored the 
 empire of science and true taste to 
 EurojDe, after a dreary night of dark- 
 ness. By their efforts, many valuable 
 manuscripts were saved from total de- 
 struction. The Medici thought the dis- 
 covery of a manuscript equivalent to 
 the conquest of a kingdom. It is 
 doubtful, indeed, if we are not indebt- 
 ed to them for most of the perfect 
 copies now known of the Greek and 
 Roman classics. It is remarkable, too, 
 that they lived at a time when they 
 were enabled to find and preserve so 
 many valuable manuscripts just before 
 the invention of printing, and previous- 
 ly to the wonderful extension of trade 
 and commerce. The Medici were by 
 education and pursuit merchants, yet 
 they devoted their energies for a long 
 lifetime, not only to extend their vast 
 commercial relations, but also to col- 
 lect and found great libraries, establish 
 galleries, and encourage the fine arts. 
 The names of Cooper, Astor, Perkins, 
 Lawrence, Corcoran, Peabody, «fec., of 
 
SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS QUALITIES. 
 
 131 
 
 the present day, rank in the same 
 noble category. 
 
 Napoleon and Byron on Trading-. 
 
 Napoleon openly expressed his aver- 
 sion to commerce and those engaged in 
 it. When a deputation of commercial 
 men came out from Antwerp to wel- 
 come him on his approach to that city, 
 he met them with the words, " I don't 
 like merchants ! A merchant is a man 
 who would sell his country for a shil- 
 ling ! " — " Je n'aime pas les negociants ? 
 Un negociant est un homme qui ven- 
 drait sa patrie pour un petit ecu ! " He 
 despised the walks of trade, and in one 
 of his consultations with the banker 
 Ouvrard, uttered the reproach that he 
 had degraded loyalty to the level of 
 trade. 
 
 The curious opinion that there is 
 something derogatory in trade, was 
 exemplified, too, even in a distin- 
 guished British statesman, at the Con- 
 gress of Vienna, who asserted, in the 
 presence of the representatives of Eu- 
 rope, that England was not dependent 
 on commerce. This was intended as 
 an offset to the sneer of Napoleon 
 against the "nation of traders," and 
 arose from a desire to " sink the shop " 
 before the plumed and epauletted array 
 which dazzled and bewildered the civi- 
 lian into an ungrateful forgetfulness of 
 the very class, without whose aid em- 
 perors and kings, if sujffered to retain 
 power at all, would have dwindled to 
 provincial governors. 
 
 Byron said, " If Commerce fills the 
 purse, she clogs the brain ; " and yet he 
 himself bravely encountered that peril 
 by trafficking his own verses with a thrift 
 that would have done credit to Baillie 
 Nicol Jarvie, and a shrewd attention to 
 detail which might have won the heart 
 of Tim Linkinwater. His practice re- 
 futed his theory, and his driving a sharp 
 bargain, at the highest market rates, for 
 the proceeds of his genius, resulted in 
 no apparent diminution of his acuteness. 
 
 Mercantile Character Comparatively 
 Estimated. 
 
 A SHOPKEEPER at Doucastcr had for 
 his trading virtues obtained the name of 
 the little rascal. A stranger once frank- 
 ly asked him why this appellation had 
 been given to him, " To distinguish 
 me from the rest of my trade," quoth 
 he, " who are all great rascals ! " 
 
 Money Enough to Break On. 
 
 One of the richest men in the weal- 
 thy town of Zanesville, O., is Mr. S., 
 who acquired some hundreds of thou- 
 sands of dollars by his industry and 
 business tact. He is a pleasant sort of 
 a man, very nervous, and somewhat 
 eccentric. Being one of the first set- 
 tlers, he has not brought around his 
 family those ruinous influences that so 
 frequently destroy rich families. When 
 his son William came of maturity, he 
 asked the " old man " for capital to 
 start on. The father gave the son 
 110,000, saying that it was enough 
 for him to l)rea7c on. " Bill " took the 
 $10,000, and instead of breaking, ac- 
 quired a fortune in ten years, equal to 
 that of his father. He is an extensive 
 private banker, engaged in milling, &c. 
 Occasionally the youth ventures into 
 deep water, and the father undertakes 
 to restrain him; but Bill's reply is, 
 " Perhaps you want the ten thousand 
 dollars ; if so, the chinks are ready for 
 you, principal and interest." 
 
 Mohammedan's Reason for not Storing- 
 Goods. 
 
 Some years a^o, a Philadelphia mer- 
 chant sent a cargo of goods to Constan- 
 tinople. After the supercargo saw the 
 bales and boxes safely landed, he in- 
 quired where they could be stored. 
 
 " Leave them here — it won't rain to- 
 night," was the reply. 
 
 " But I dare not leave them thus ex- 
 posed ; some of the goods might be 
 stolen," said the supercargo. 
 
132 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 The Mohammedan merchant burst 
 into a loud laugh, as he replied — 
 
 "Don't be alarmed, there ain't a 
 Christian within fifty miles of here." 
 
 Value of a Good Credit. 
 A CELEBRATED gambler, of great ad- 
 dress, but notorious bad character, 
 meeting with a mercantile gentleman 
 of the highest reputation for honor and 
 veracity — one of that exalted class, 
 whose " word is as good -as their 
 bond," observed to him, " Sir, I would 
 give fifty thousand dollars for your 
 good name." " Why so ? " demanded 
 the wondering merchant. " Because," 
 replied the gambler, " I could make one 
 hundred thousand dollars out of it." 
 
 Merchants and Ijeg-islators. 
 
 That the East India Company, at an 
 early age of its existence, entertained a 
 due consideration of the dignity of 
 commerce, is evident from the bearing 
 of Sir Josiah Child, the able manager 
 of the affairs of the company at home, 
 during part of the reigns of Charles II. 
 and James n. Mr. Yaux, the manager 
 in India, on being exhorted to " act 
 with vigor, and to carry whatever in- 
 structions he might receive from home 
 into immediate effect," answered—" that 
 he should endeavor to acquit himself 
 with integrity and justice, and would 
 make the laws of his country the rule 
 of his conduct." Sir Josiah replied, 
 telling Mr. Yaux roundly that he ex- 
 pected his orders were to be his rules, 
 and not the laws of England, which 
 were a heap of nonsense, compiled by a 
 few ignorant country gentlemen, w^ho 
 hardly knew how to make laws for the 
 good government of their own private 
 families, much less for the regulating 
 of companies and foreign commerce ! 
 
 Quaker Merchant's Idea of Priva- 
 teering-. 
 
 DuRmG the war between France and 
 
 England, in 1780, Mr. Fox, a merchant 
 
 of Falmouth, Eng., had a share in a 
 ship, which the other owners deter- 
 mined to fit out as a letter of marque, 
 very much against the wishes of ]Mr. F., 
 who was a consistent Quaker. The 
 shij^'s fortune resulted in the ca^Dture 
 of two French merchantmen, and the 
 share of the prize-money which fell to 
 Mr. F., was about eight thousand dol- 
 lars. At the close of the war, Mr. Fox 
 sent his son to Paris, with the eight 
 thousand dollars, which he faithfully 
 refunded to the owners of the vessels 
 captured. The young merchant, to 
 discover the owners, was obliged to 
 advertise for them in the Paris pajpers. 
 In consequence of this advertisement, 
 he received a letter from a small village 
 near Nismes, in the province of Lan- 
 guedoc, acquainting him that a society 
 of Quakers was established in that re- 
 mote i)art of France, consisting of about 
 one hundred families ; that they were 
 so much struck with this rare instance 
 of generosity in one of their sect, that 
 they were desirous to open a correspond- 
 ence with him in England; which 
 immediately commenced — the first cor- 
 respondence of the kind which the 
 Society had initiated for u]pward of a 
 century. 
 
 Indian's Mode of Judg-ingr a Trader. 
 
 An old trader among the Northern 
 Indians, who had some years ago estab- 
 lished himself on the Wisseoa, tells a 
 good story, with a mercantile moral 
 worth remembering, about his first 
 trials of trading with his red custom- 
 ers. The Indians, who evidently want- 
 ed goods, and had both money (which 
 they called shune ah) and furs, flocked 
 about his store, and examined his 
 goods, but for some time bought noth- 
 ing. Finally, their chief, with a large 
 body of his followers, visited him, and 
 accosting him with, " How do, Thom- 
 as ? Show me goods ; I take four yard 
 calico, three coonskins for yard, pay 
 you by'm by — to-morrow," received his 
 
SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS QUALITIES. 
 
 133 
 
 goods and left. Next day he returned 
 with his whole band, his blankets 
 stuffed with coonskins. "American 
 man, I pay now ; with this he began 
 counting out the skins until he' had 
 handed him over twelve. Then after 
 a moment's pause he offered the trader 
 one more, remarking, as he did so, 
 " That's it." I handed it back, said 
 the trader, telling him he owed me but 
 twelve, and I would not cheat him. 
 We continued to pass it back and 
 forth, each one asserting that it be- 
 longed to the other. At last, he ap- 
 peared to be satisfied, gave me a scru- 
 tinizing look, placed the skin in the 
 folds of his blanket, stepped to the 
 door, and gave a yell, and cried at the 
 top of his voice, " Come, come, and 
 trade with the pale face, he no cheat 
 Indian ; his heart big." He then 
 turned to me and said : " You take 
 that skin ; I tell Indian no trade with 
 you — drive you off like a dog; but 
 now you Indian's friend, and me yours." 
 Before sundown I was waist deep in 
 furs, and loaded down with cash. 
 
 Merchants' getting: to be Gentlemen. 
 
 By a statute of King Athelstane, 
 grandson of Alfred, it was provided 
 that any merchant who made three 
 voyages, on his own account, beyond 
 the British Channel, should be entitled 
 to the privilege of a thane — that is, be 
 regarded as a gentleman. 
 
 Not ashamed of "Work— Aster's Dili- 
 grence. 
 
 Some one has said, that the secret of 
 success in business is to be beforehand 
 with your affairs. No one was better 
 able to fulfil this condition than Astor. 
 Always an early riser, he generally left 
 business at two o'clock in the after- 
 noon. He was never at rest, but sel- 
 dom in haste. His forces, his resour- 
 ces, were always marshalled and in 
 order. An enthusiastic critic of this 
 great business genius, declared that 
 
 Mr. Astor could command an army of 
 half a million men. 
 
 His unresting industry was not ham- 
 pered by false pride. He would work 
 with his own hands, and he was not 
 ashamed of workmen's garb. He knew 
 that the master's example must guide, 
 that the master's eye must be on the 
 work if it is to be well done. If his 
 furs required sorting and beating, he 
 would do it himself with the best of 
 his men, and was as ready to work 
 when worth millions as when strug- 
 gling for success. No humble disciple 
 of poor Richard was ever more plod- 
 dingly diligent in the practice of fru- 
 gality and thrift, which the spirit of 
 mere speculation is prone to overlook, 
 than he. 
 
 Opulent Nevr York MerchantsI 
 
 Preserved Fish commenced life as 
 an apprentice to a blacksmith, and his 
 next situation was that of a seaman on 
 board a whaling ship. From being a 
 hand before the mast, he rose to be a 
 mate, and finally commander, and in 
 this hazardous pursuit amassed the 
 foundation of his great fortune. 
 
 Saul Alley was bound, when a small 
 boy, apprentice to a coachmaker, and 
 during his apprenticeship his father 
 died, leaving him totally dependent on 
 his own exertions, so that the very 
 clothes he wore he was obliged to earn 
 by toiling extra hours, after the regular 
 time of leaving off work had passed ;. 
 the foundation of his fortune he ac- 
 quired by the exercise of frugality and 
 prudence, while a journeyman me- 
 chanic. 
 
 Cornelius "W. Lawrence was a far- 
 mer's boy, and worked many a long day 
 in rain and sunshine on Long Island ; 
 there were few lads, within twenty miles 
 of him, that could mow a wider swath, 
 or turn a better furrow. 
 
134 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 Great Deeds of European Merchants. 
 
 The tact and generosity of an Eng- 
 lish merchant, Thomas Sutton, are said 
 to have materially aided in the defeat 
 of the Spanish Armada, and thereby 
 saved British liberty from torture and 
 thumbscrews. 
 
 A fear of the power of merchants 
 stopped Charles the Fifth from estab- 
 lishing the inquisition in Antwerp ; 
 while a merchant of that city lent this 
 king a million of money, and, at an 
 entertainment which he gave them, 
 burnt the bond in a fire of cinnamon — 
 at that time a most costly spice. 
 
 A merchant of France raised an army 
 at his own expense, and lent millions to 
 his country. 
 
 A Georgian of low birth was able, by 
 the quiet arts of commerce, to obtain an 
 immense revenue, and to keep six thou- 
 sand troops in his pay. 
 
 Russia, with all her extent of land, 
 was as nothing, until that half Goth, 
 Peter, surnamed by his countrymen, 
 " the Great," promoted the advance- 
 ment of commerce. He gave his per- 
 sonal attention to the building of ships, 
 training of seamen, opening of harbors, 
 the establishment of ports, and the fur- 
 therance of commercial enterprise. 
 
 Peremptory Refusal of Hope & Co. to 
 do Business with Girard. 
 
 GiRARD learned one of the most 
 trenchant lessons in his eventful mer- 
 cantile life, from his favorite correspond- 
 ents in Europe, Messrs. Hope & Co., 
 of Amsterdam. 
 
 Notwithstanding the reliance he 
 placed in them, he had sent a Quaker, 
 by the name of Hutchinson, to Am- 
 sterdam, with explicit instructions to 
 watch those gentlemen closely, and see 
 that they accounted for the real prices 
 received by them for his consignments, 
 etc., etc. 
 
 It vfas a rule in the house of Messrs. 
 Hope, to compute one eighth per cent, 
 more than the daily noted rate of ex- 
 
 change, when sending the regular re- 
 ceipts to bank, and this was done to 
 cover a variety of minute office expen- 
 ses, which could not be brought into a 
 stated account. Thus, for instance, 
 Mr. Hutchinson was informed that they 
 had sold a thousand bags of coiFee, at 
 so-and-so much per cent. Hereupon, 
 that gentleman came, next day, to the 
 counting room, interrupted Mr. Labou- 
 chere in his meditations, and, running 
 his finger along the printed price cur- 
 rent he held in his hand, pointed out 
 to him that the rate must be put at one 
 eighth per cent. less. The oft-repeated 
 hints Mr. Labouchcire had given the 
 young Quaker, who invariably came in 
 with his hat on his head, and, without 
 permission, marched directly up to the 
 door, and pushed on into the private 
 counting room— that sanctum sanctorum^ 
 of Dutch merchants — had all proved of 
 no avail ; at last they got to let him 
 stand there, without paying any atten- 
 tion to what he had to say. 
 
 Under these circumstances, Hutchin- 
 son wrote to Girard, who, in response, 
 at once dictated, for his benefit, the 
 most ofi'ensive letter to Messrs. Hope, 
 which finally decided the latter to let 
 him know, unmistakably, that there 
 existed so wide a difference between 
 their ways of doing business and his, 
 and all attempts to teach him better 
 had so signally failed, that, for the sake 
 of their own comfort and tranquillity, 
 they ^ould be compelled to decline 
 any further transactions with him. 
 Then there came from Girard a sort 
 of apology, a promise to manage dif- 
 ferently in future, etc., etc. But the 
 house in Amsterdam remained firm in 
 the resolution they had taken, offering, 
 however, to do him the favor of recom- 
 mending to him, as his future corre- 
 spondents, Messrs. Daniel Crammelin & 
 Sons, their neighbors. 
 
 The astonishment of the latter gentle- 
 men themselves, when the first impor- 
 tant consignments began to reach them 
 from Girard, and the surprise of the 
 
SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS QUALITIES. 
 
 135 
 
 wliole Amsterdam Bourse, that any one 
 sliould reject such business as his, re- 
 
 quirmg no 
 conceived. 
 
 advances, may be readily 
 
 Mohammedan Mercantile Morality. 
 
 In some of its phases, Mohammedan 
 mercantile morality exceeds in its scru- 
 pulousness that of any other people, 
 whatever their religious character or 
 creed. A mercantile firm in Salonica 
 had bills to a large amount on the prin- 
 cipal inhabitants and merchants of the 
 place, which, with their books and pa- 
 pers, were destroyed by fire. On the 
 day following, a prominent Turk, who 
 was largely in their debt, went in per- 
 son and told them that, having heard 
 that their papers had been destroyed, 
 he had brought a copy of his account 
 with them and fresh bills for the 
 amount which was their due. This 
 example was followed by all the Turk- 
 ish debtors to them. It does not ap- 
 pear to be intimated that this course 
 was one that they had ever learned 
 from the Christian traders in their 
 country. 
 
 Commencing: in the Sutocellar. 
 
 One of the wealthiest merchants of 
 New York relates how he commenced 
 business in that city. He says : I en- 
 tered a store, and asked if a clerk was 
 not wanted. " No ! " in a rough -tone, 
 was the answer, all being too busy to 
 bother with me — ^when I reflected, that 
 if they did not want a clerk, they might 
 want a laborer ; but I was dressed too 
 fine for that. I went to my lodgings, 
 put on a rough garb, and the next day 
 went into the same store and demand- 
 ed if they did not want a porter, and 
 again, " No, sir," was the response — 
 when I exclaimed, in despair, almost, 
 " a laborer ? Sir, I will work at any 
 wages. Wages is not my object — I 
 must have employ, and I want to be 
 useful in business." 
 
 These last remarks attracted their 
 attention ; and in the end I was hired 
 as a laborer in the basement and sub- 
 cellar at a very low pay, scarcely enough 
 to keep body and soul together. 
 
 In the basement and subcellar, I 
 soon attracted the attention of the 
 counting house and ' chief clerk. I 
 saved enough for my employers in 
 little things usually wasted, to pay 
 my wages ten times over, and they 
 soon found it out. I did not let any- 
 body about commit petty larcenies, 
 without remonstrance and threats of 
 exposure, and real exposure if remon- 
 strance would not do. I did not ask 
 for any ten-hour law. If I was wanted 
 at three in the morning, I never growl- 
 ed, but told everybody to go home, 
 " and I will see everything right." I 
 loaded off at daybreak packages for 
 the morning boats, or carried them my- 
 self. In short, I soon became — as I 
 meant to be — indispensable to my em- 
 ployers, and I rose, and rose, until I 
 became head of the house, with money 
 enough for any luxury or any position 
 a mercantile man may desire for him- 
 self and family in a great city. 
 
 Bomance of Trade— " Blackguard 
 Snufif." 
 
 LuNDY Foot, the celebrated snuff- 
 manufacturer of Dublin, originally kept 
 a small tobacconist's shop at Limerick, 
 Ireland. One night his house, which 
 was uninsured, was bm-nt to the ground. 
 As he contemplated the smoking ruins 
 on the following morning, in a state 
 bordering on despair, some of the poor 
 neighbors, groping among the embers 
 for what they could find, stumbled 
 upon several canisters of un consumed 
 but half-baked snuff, which they tried, 
 and found so grateful to their noses, 
 that they loaded their waistcoat pock- 
 ets with the spoil. 
 
 Lundy Foot, roused from his stupor, 
 at length imitated their example, and 
 took a pinch of his own property, when 
 he was instantly struck by the superior 
 
136 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 pungency and flavor it had acquired 
 from the great heat to -which it had 
 been exposed. Treasuring up this 
 valuable hint, he took another house, 
 in a place called " Black Yard," and 
 preparing a large oveu for the purpose, 
 set diligently about the manufacture of 
 that high-dried commodity, which soon 
 became known as " Black Yard Snuff" 
 — a term subsequently corrupted into 
 the more familiar word " Blackguard." 
 Making his customers pay liberally 
 through the nose for one of the most 
 " distinguished " kinds of snuff in the 
 world, he soon raised the price of his 
 production, took a larger house in the 
 city of Dublin, and was often heard to 
 say — "I made a very handsome for- 
 tune by being, as I supposed, utterly 
 ruined!" "When he was rich enough 
 to own and use a carriage, he applied 
 to Lord Norbury for an appropriate 
 motto for his panels. The witty judge 
 suggested the phrase — Latin or Eng- 
 lish as you please — " Quid rides ? " 
 
 " EveryiiMng by Turns"— Girard's 
 Example. 
 
 KoTwiTHSTANDiNG the common 
 adage, that a business man who 
 puts too many irons in the fire, is 
 not likely to get any one of them 
 red hot, it seems to have been other- 
 wise in the career of Stephen Girard. 
 Thus, if one operation miscarried, with 
 that versatility so peculiar to his coun- 
 trymen he tried another, and another, 
 until he tried the right one. This 
 change of business gave rise to the 
 story that he was at one time engaged 
 in the manufacture of hair powder, as 
 a partner of Boldasky & Co., who, 
 about the year 1786, carried on that 
 business, near Germantown, Pa. But 
 whether or not Mr. G. had a concern 
 in that establishment, the books of 
 the latter show large accounts with 
 Stephen and John Girard for that arti- 
 cle, which they purchased for exporta- 
 tion to St. Domingo and the Southern 
 markets. 
 
 It is certain that Girard left nothing 
 untried, by which to make his fortune. 
 Even the occupation of a merchant at 
 length began to lose some of its charms 
 for Girard, and failed to satisfy that 
 boundless craving of his mind, which 
 is so peculiar a faculty of genius. Thus 
 it was that he turned banker ; and then, 
 this failing to yield him full satisfac- 
 tion, he becomes a great builder, fill- 
 ing up streets, and skirting whole 
 squares with his mansions, palaces 
 and stores, careful to learn something 
 as he went along, of the arts of those 
 several professions, from the construc- 
 tion of a ship and the building of a 
 palace, down to the erection of a 
 wharf, the paving of a street, or the 
 setting of a curb stone ; adding to all 
 this, that of being one of the first fann- 
 ers, graziers, and butchers, in the 
 State. A gentleman once went to him 
 on business, but was refused an inter- 
 view, because he was cutting up his 
 hogs for his winter provisions — this 
 job, however, being but small game 
 for Girard ; for, when he assisted to 
 butcher on his farm, fifty oxen at a 
 time sometimes smoked beneath his 
 knife ; or he slew a whole hecatomb, 
 glorying, like a hero, in the gore 
 around him. When to these varied 
 occupations are added his knowledge 
 of horticulture, his skill in planting and 
 gardening, his extensive aviaries, to- 
 gether with the fact that he was an ex- 
 cellent nurse, and prided himself on his 
 success as a doctor, — perhaps few men 
 have ever lived, who could be quoted 
 as his equal, or superior, for the variety 
 as well as excellence and success of his 
 pursuits, nor would it be safe for men 
 in general thus to diversify their occu- 
 pations. Girard was a man of such re- 
 markable executive capacity, that it 
 seemed almost impossible for him to 
 touch anything without its turning into 
 gold. 
 
^ 
 
 SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS QUALITIES. 
 
 137 
 
 " Stick to YoTir Last." 
 
 This phrase, though seemingly re- 
 ferring to the disciples of St. Crispin, 
 is of general application, and is accept- 
 ed as such. Zadock Pratt was origin- 
 ally a tanner by trade, — a man of quaint 
 manners and speech, and of very strong 
 common sense. A speculator was once 
 showing him a new method of tanning, 
 by the use of y^hich, he argued, great 
 quantities of money might be made. 
 Pratt told him he ha 1 no reason to doubt 
 his assertion, but he Avas maldng money 
 enough ; and that he — the speculator — 
 would better find some one who was 
 not doing so well. He made it an in- 
 variable rule to resist all attempts to 
 allure him from his legitimate business, 
 and by this undeviating application 
 rolled up a splendid fortune. The well 
 known story of Plautus, the Roman 
 comic writer, is an apt though ancient 
 illustration of this principle of " stick- 
 ing to your business." He acquired a 
 very handsome fortune by his comedies. 
 He was afterward tempted to embark 
 in trade, and met with such severe 
 losses that he was in consequence re- 
 duced to the necessity of working in a 
 mill, as a day laborer, in order to obtain 
 a support. 
 
 Controversy among Wine Dealers. 
 
 The question, whether the wines of 
 Champagne or Burgundy were entitled 
 to the preference, was, during the reign 
 of Lotiis the Fourteenth, a matter of 
 sharp controversy among the wine 
 dealers and their friends of that day. 
 The celebrated Charles Coffin, head of 
 the University of Beauvais, published, 
 during this controversy, a pungent clas- 
 sical ode, in which Champagne is ex- 
 tolled, and its superiority vindicated, 
 with a spirit, vivacity, and delicacy 
 worthy of the most important theme. 
 For this, the citizens of Rheims were 
 not ungrateful to the poet, but liberally 
 rewarded him with an appropriate and 
 
 munificent donation of the wine he had 
 so happily panegyrized. Greneau wrote 
 an ode in praise of Burgundy ; but, un- 
 like the subject which it treated, it 
 was flat and insipid, and failed to pro- 
 cure any recompense to its author. 
 The dififerent pieces in this amusing 
 controversy were collected and pub- 
 lished in octavo, at Paris, in 1712. 
 Erasmus attributes the restoration of 
 his health to his having drunk liberally 
 of Burgundy, and has eulogized it in the 
 most extravagant terms. An epistle of 
 his, quoted by Le Grand d'Aussy, shows 
 that Falstaflf and he would have spent 
 an evening together more agreeably 
 than might have been supposed. 
 
 liittle Too Candid. 
 
 DuEOG a political campaign in Vir- 
 ginia, a democratic speaker was ad- 
 dressing a large audience, and descant- 
 ing with great vehemence upon the 
 proscriptive tenets of know-nothingism 
 with regard to foreigners, when his eye 
 fell upon a little German Jew, a peddler 
 of ready-made clothing, who seemed to 
 be very much impressed with the argu- 
 ment of the orator, and greedily swal- 
 lowing everything he uttered. This 
 was too good an opportunity not to be 
 made the most of. Looking the peddler 
 in the eye, he exclaimed : 
 
 " Furriner, didn't you come to this 
 country to escape from tyrannical, 
 downtrodden, and oppressed Europe ? 
 Didn't you flee to these happy shores 
 to live in a land of freedom, where the 
 great right of suffrage is guaranteed to 
 all ? DidnH you, furriner ? " 
 
 He i)aused for a reply ; when the lit- 
 tle peddler squeaked out — 
 
 *' No, sur ; I comes to dis countrie to 
 sell sheap ready-made clothes." 
 
 The astonishment of the orator, the 
 shouts and roars of the multitude, can- 
 not be described. The speech was fin- 
 ished, and the orator quit the rostrum, 
 heartily cursing all " furriners " gener- 
 ally, and clothes peddlers in particular. 
 
138 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 Hing-es tipon which Trade Swings. 
 
 A GRAVE discussion was once oyer- 
 hearcl, concerning sliop-door steps, in 
 which a young beginner was solemnly 
 recommended not to adopt more than 
 one step into his shop. People, it was 
 said, — that is, commercial human na- 
 ture, — wouldn't talie the trouble to 
 mount up two or three steps, when, by 
 going a little farther on, a more easily 
 accessible establishment might invite 
 them in. 
 
 The same idea is involved in the 
 widely-opened, easily-revolving door 
 of our modern shops. Be the winter's 
 frost ever so sharp, or the cold wind 
 ever so keen, it is a standing rule with 
 certain dealers, that the shop-entrance 
 be never hindered by a closed door, or 
 only upon the condition that a porter 
 stand in continued readiness to bow in 
 or bow out the purchasers. 
 
 There can be no doubt that, upon a 
 hinge as slight even as this, many a 
 man's fortune or ill-fortune has swung. 
 
 Expectations ag-ainst Kesnlts. 
 
 A GOOD an-ecdote is told by an " old 
 hand," illustrating the probability of 
 business sales : 
 
 A young friend of ours called on us 
 the other day in high glee ; he was 
 about concluding arrangements with 
 two others to embark in the jobbing 
 trade, and was quite sanguine in his 
 expectation of brilliant results. As we 
 did not express full faith in his antici- 
 pations, he rather chided us for our 
 doubts, whereupon we questioned him 
 a little as to his prospects. At our 
 suggestion, he took pen and paper, and 
 put down first of all his proposed ex- 
 penses. We could see that he had not 
 done this before, as he seemed quite 
 startled to find that, even at the mod- 
 erate estimates he had made, the total 
 expenses for rent, clerk hire, and living 
 of the several partners, amounted to the 
 snug sum of $8,200. 
 
 " Now for the amount of business I '* 
 said we. 
 
 " Oh, as to that," he replied, " we 
 Jiojpe to sell $300,000 worth of goods 
 per annum." 
 
 " But what amount of trade do all 
 of you at present influence ? " we asked. 
 " Make now a careful estimate of the 
 business you can rely upon with some 
 degree of certainty." He did so, and, 
 to his sui-prise, it did not quite reach 
 $125,000. 
 
 " Now, what profit can you average 
 upon this ? " After some debate, this 
 was set down at seven and one-half per 
 cent. This gave the sum of $9,375. 
 
 " Now, what shall we call the losses ? " 
 
 The latter was settled at two and one 
 half per cent, on sales, amounting to 
 $3,125, leaving the net income at $6,250, 
 or $1,950 less than enough to pay his 
 estimated expenses. He left us, pro- 
 posing to show the estimate to his col- 
 leagues. He did so, and after figuring 
 awhile without arriving at any more 
 satisfactory result, they finally aban- 
 doned the undertaking. There is no 
 doubt that, if all, when about to em- 
 bark in trade, would thus boldly look 
 at the figures, instead of closing their 
 eyes and hoping for the best, there 
 would be fewer failures among busi- 
 ness men, and there would be less com- 
 plaint that " trade is overdone." 
 
 Getting the Hang of Mercantile Trans- 
 actions. 
 An amusing account of the manner 
 in which Vincent Nolte got " posted " 
 in certain mercantile transactions, wliile 
 holding a certain relation to the great 
 banker Labouch^re, is thus given by 
 himself: This canvassing for consign- 
 ments from the United States, and the 
 kind of uneasiness which Mr. Labou- 
 clitire betrayed, whenever his neighbors, 
 Messrs. Hottinguers & Co., a branch of 
 the Paris banking house, received im- 
 portant consignments from tlie United 
 States — frequently whole fleets at a 
 time — ^were to me inex2)licable ; bo I 
 
SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS QUALITIES. 
 
 139 
 
 asked my chief, what the real cause of 
 this anxiety could be. His reply in- 
 variably was, " Large advances, proba- 
 bly ! " My next question was : " And 
 who makes these advances ? how are 
 they made ? " His answer : " I am ig- 
 norant of that ! " or, " I do not know." 
 At length, however, I learned from one 
 of the Hottinguer clerks, with whom I 
 had struck up a friendship, that the 
 house of Messrs. Baring accepted bills 
 drawn as an advance, in the United 
 States, took out the insurance, and after 
 sale took charge of the remittances for 
 the merchandise. From this informa- 
 tion, I for the first time got a key to 
 this whole system, so universally under- 
 stood at the present day. 
 
 Sabbath Experiences of a Shipmaster. 
 
 I WAS in command of a vessel, says 
 Capt. G., of W — , Mass., engaged in the 
 
 hide trade, between N and a port 
 
 in Brazil. 
 
 The custom of the Brazilian port, 
 was to load vessels on the Sabbath. 
 This labor was performed by gangs of 
 negroes, under the direction of steve- 
 dores. These stevedores were few in 
 number, and, in times of great hurry 
 of business, in order to an equitable 
 division of their services, the vessels 
 were accustomed to take their turns 
 in the order in which they were report- 
 ed as ready to receive cargo. If, when 
 the time came round for a particular 
 vessel to load, she was not ready, her 
 name was transferred to the bottom of 
 the list. It was my lot to experience 
 some of the effects of this custom. 
 
 My turn came to load. The work 
 commenced and ^continued till Satur- 
 day night, when i ordered the hatches 
 closed, and forbid any work being done 
 on board till Monday morning. The 
 stevedore and his gang, muttering 
 curses, left the vessel, threatening to 
 do no more work on board. 
 
 Monday came. I made application 
 to the commission merchant, and was 
 
 informed that I had lost my turn in 
 loading, and must wait until it came 
 round again, and that the stevedore 
 and his gang had gone on board an- 
 other vessel. 
 
 To aggravate my disappointment, I 
 found that a hostile feeling had sprung 
 up against me, and was participated in 
 by all around. The merchant was stu- 
 diously polite and respectful as before, 
 but no longer familiar. Masters of ves- 
 sels avoided my society. Evil disposed 
 persons busied themselves in secretly 
 doing me injuries, such as cutting my 
 rigging in the night time, and the like. 
 And thus things went on, until our 
 turn came round again, when, there 
 being no other vessel ready to load, we 
 were left to do our own work in our 
 own way. The loss of time, occasioned 
 by the refusal to load on the Sabbath, 
 amounted to several weeks. Whether 
 it was actually a loss, or not, the result 
 will show. 
 
 It was now Saturday night again, the 
 loading of the ship was completed, and 
 we were ready for sea. With the Sab- 
 bath came a fresh and fair wind ; but 
 instead of sailing, the Bethel flag was 
 hoisted, as an invitation for all the 
 shipmates to come on board and ob- 
 serve the day in the good old way. 
 
 Monday morning, early, we were un- 
 der sail for the lower harbor, several 
 miles distant. On our way, we passed 
 two brigs aground, with lighters along- 
 side discharging their hides, in order 
 to lighten them and get them off. 
 They left the harbor on the Sabbath, 
 and here they were. On reaching the 
 lower harbor we found, to our surprise, 
 lying at anchor, upward of forty sail 
 of shipping waiting for a wind. Among 
 them were all the vessels that had clear- 
 ed for the last month or more, includ- 
 ing every vessel that had obtained an 
 advantage over us in respect to loading. 
 
 We had now to obtain a pilot and 
 get to sea, when the wind came fair 
 and before it had spent itself. These 
 were by no means matters easy to be 
 
140 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 accomplislied. Pilots were few, and 
 vessels many, and here, too, the prin- 
 ciple of rotation was rigidly enforced. 
 The winds, meanwhile, when fair, were 
 shortlived and feeble, and the bar at 
 the entrance of the harbor was too dan- 
 gerous to pass without a pilot. A pilot 
 who had been on a long visit to the in- 
 terior, returned to the seaboard and re- 
 sumed his duties on the very day when 
 we reached the outer harbor, and pre- 
 senting himself on board, offered to 
 pilot us to sea. 
 
 Tuesday morning found us, with a 
 fair wind, a pilot on board, and under 
 way at daylight. We were the second 
 vessel over the bar, and among the first 
 to arrive in the United States. The 
 getting out of cargo, its exposure and 
 sale, were matters of no little interest. 
 Our own cargo, owing to the delay in 
 getting it on board, received unusual 
 attention at our hands and was in per- 
 fect shipping order when stowed away, 
 and came out in the same good condi- 
 tion. The cargoes of the other vessels 
 came out very differently, with a loss in 
 some cases of twenty, thirty, and even 
 fifty per cent. This loss was occasion- 
 ed in part by hurrying the hides on 
 board in the first instance without their 
 being thoroughly dried, in order to 
 greater despatch, and in part to the 
 unusual detention of the vessels at the 
 port of loading. From these two 
 causes combined, and the activity of 
 the vermin that took possession of the 
 hides, and riddled them through and 
 through, several of those voyages turn- 
 ed out disastrous failures. 
 
 Celebrated Question of Conscience in 
 Commerce put by Cicero. 
 
 One of the most celebrated points as 
 affecting the obligations of one person 
 or party toward another, in trade, is 
 that put by Cicero, as follows : A com 
 merchant of Alexandria, he says, ar- 
 rived at Rhodes in a time of great 
 scarcity, with a cargo of grain, and 
 with knowledge that a number of other 
 
 vessels laden with corn, had already j 
 
 sailed from Alexandria for Rhodes, ; 
 
 and which he had passed on the -pas- \ 
 
 sage — was he bound in conscience to ; 
 
 inform the buyers of that fact ? Cicero i 
 
 decides that he was. Other writers on : 
 
 the morals of trade decide in the nega- ' 
 tive. 
 
 Arab Honesty in Business Trans- 
 actions. 
 
 When Mr. Layard, the traveller, was 
 at some brackish springs called Belaisse, 
 he was awakened by the alarm that two 
 of his horses were stolen. Sabuman, 
 under whose escort he was travelling, 
 felt his honor so much concerned, that 
 he wandered till daybreak in search of 
 the thieves. Finally, having tracked 
 them, and pronounced with unerring 
 sagacity of what tribe they were, he 
 made an oath that the missing prop- 
 erty should be returned. After six 
 weeks' search and extensive joumey- 
 ings, he fulfilled his vow and brought 
 back the animals, without asking — ap- 
 parently without permitting, any re- 
 ward. 
 
 Suthun, another companion of Mr. 
 Layard, was often sent across the des- 
 ert, with perhaps three thousand dol- 
 lars in money, and always with perfect 
 confidence — his only reward being an 
 occasional silk dress, or a few camel- 
 loads of com for his family. 
 
 In commercial or business transac- 
 tions the same holds true. Of late 
 years, the wool of the Bedouin sheep 
 has been in demand in the European 
 market, and a large trade is even now 
 going on in the region of the explora- 
 tions. Money is generally advanced by 
 the English representative, mostly be- 
 fore sheep-shearing, without any writ- 
 ten or other guaranty, to tribes of 
 whom nothing is heard after the pay- 
 ment until the receipt of the produce, 
 amounting sometimes to thousands of 
 doUal-s in value. And on the part of 
 the Arabs such scrupulous honesty is 
 observed, that one Bedouin made the 
 
SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS QUALITIES. 
 
 141 
 
 I 
 
 whole journey from Bagdad to Mosul, 
 solely to pay the balance of an old 
 wool account not amounting to so 
 much as one dollar. 
 
 Business versus Disease. 
 A TRADESMAN who had acquired 
 
 from business, and went to reside in 
 Worcester. His mind, without its 
 usual occupation, and having nothing 
 else to supply its j^lace, preyed upon 
 itself, so that existence became a tor- 
 ment to him. At last he was seized 
 with the stone ; and a friend, who 
 found him in one of its severest at- 
 tacks, having expressed his condo- 
 lence — " No, no, sir," said he, " do not 
 pity me ; for I assure you what I now 
 suffer is ease compared witli the tor- 
 ment of mind from which it relieves 
 me." 
 
 Betiring: from Business— Eng-aging- to 
 Blow the Bellows. 
 
 The misery of having " nothing to 
 do " is oftentimes greater than that 
 which comes from having " nothing to 
 wear " — poetry to the contrary notwith- 
 standing. A London tradesman, who 
 had risen to wealth from the humble 
 ranks of life, resolved to retire to the 
 country to enjoy, undisturbed, the re- 
 maining years of his life. For this pur- 
 pose, he purchased an estate and man- 
 sion in a sequestered corner in the 
 country, and took possession of it. 
 While the alterations and improve- 
 ments which he directed to be made 
 were going on, the noise of hammers, 
 saws, chisels, etc., around him, kept 
 him in good spirits. But when his im- 
 provements were finished, and his work- 
 men discharged, the stillness everywhere 
 disconcerted him, and he felt quite mis- 
 erable. He was obliged to have re- 
 course to a smith upon his estate, for 
 relief to his mind, and he actually en- 
 gaged to blow the bellows for a certain 
 number of hours in the day. In a short 
 
 time, however, even this ceased to afford 
 him the relief he desired ; he returned 
 to London, and acted as a gratuitous 
 assistant to his own clerk, to whom he 
 had given up his business. 
 
 Too Close Application to Business. 
 
 Mr. Eippon, late chief cashier of the 
 Bank of England, furnishes an extraor- 
 dinary instance of the manner in which 
 the mind becomes warped by continual 
 and close application to business. He 
 always declared he felt himself nowhere 
 so happy as in his business, and, though 
 for upward of fifty years in the bank, 
 he never solicited but one holiday, and 
 that was on the recommendation of his 
 medical adviser, on account of ill health. 
 The permission for leave was instantly 
 granted, and he left London with the 
 intention of being absent a fortnight ; 
 but the ennui of an idle life and the 
 want of his usual occupation so preyed 
 upon his sj)irits, that he actually re- 
 turned to his post at the expiration of 
 three days, stating as a reason, that 
 green fields and country scenery had 
 no charms for him. Mr. R. was always 
 remarkable for his sound judgment, 
 preciseness, and extreme punctuality ; 
 and his long services and habits of 
 economy enabled him to leave behind 
 him a very large fortune. 
 
 Lending a Helping Hand : Abbott 
 Lawrence. 
 
 The genial nature and courteous 
 manners of Abbott Lawrence were car- 
 ried with him in the marts of trade. 
 His unselfishness exhibited itself in his 
 readiness to share with his contempo- 
 raries in trade the benefits of honorable 
 enterprise. An anecdote in point will 
 illustrate this, though only one of 
 scores of the same kind that might be 
 told of that noble and elegant mer- 
 chant. A trader called at his counting 
 room one day, and remarked to him 
 that flannels were selling low, very 
 low. " Buy, then," said Mr. Lawrence. 
 
142 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 " I am afraid to ; besides, I have not 
 the money," said the other. " Go huy 
 them ! I will back you and share with 
 you in the speculation " — was the ready 
 and accommodating reply. 
 
 Agrreement for a Loan. 
 
 A MAN in the town of D., years ago, 
 went to a merchant in Portsmouth, 
 N. H., who was also president of a 
 bank, and stated that he lived on a 
 farm, the home of his father, which had 
 descended to him by right of inherit- 
 ance ; that this, his only property, was 
 mortgaged for one thousand dollars to 
 a merciless creditor, and that the time 
 of redemption would be out in a week. 
 He closed by asking for a loan to the 
 amount of his debt, for which he offered 
 to re-mortgage his farm. 
 
 Merchant : I have no money to spare ; 
 and if I could relieve you now, a similar 
 difficulty w^ould probably arise in a year 
 or two. 
 
 Applicant : iNo ; I would make every 
 exertion — ^I think I could clear it. 
 
 Merchant : Well, if you will obey my 
 directions, I can put you in a way to 
 get the money ; but it will require the 
 greatest prudence and resolution. If 
 you can get a good endorser on a note, 
 you shall have money from the bank, 
 and you can mortgage your farm to the 
 endorser, for his security. You must 
 pay in one hundred dollars every sixty 
 days. Can you do it ? 
 
 Applicant : I can get Mr. for 
 
 endorser, and I can raise the one hun- 
 dred dollars for eveiy payment but the 
 first. 
 
 Merchant : Then borrow one hundred 
 dollars more than you -vt^ant, and let it 
 lie in the bank ; you will lose only one 
 dollar interest. But mind, in order to 
 get along, you must spend nothing, buy 
 nothing; make a box to hold all the 
 money you get, as a sacred deposit. 
 
 The applicant departed. The note 
 was discounted, and the payment punc- 
 tually made. In something more than 
 
 two years, he came again into the store 
 of the merchant, and exclaimed, " I am 
 a free man — I don't owe any man ten 
 dollars— but look at me ! " He was in- 
 deed embrowned with labor; and his 
 clothes, from head to foot, were a tissue 
 of darns and patches. " My wife looks 
 worse than I do." " So you have clear- 
 ed your farm," said the merchant. 
 " Yes,'' answered the other, " and now 
 I Icnow Jiow to get another one^ 
 
 Late at a Dinner Party— Gsorere 
 Hudson. 
 
 On a certain occasion, George Hud- 
 son was engaged to preside at a dinner 
 of fellow railway magnates ; the guests 
 were assembled, but Mr. Hudson was 
 wanting — and, as he was always the 
 most important pers'on wherever he 
 went, great was the concern felt lest he 
 should not come at all. The explana- 
 tion was simple, and much to the credit 
 of his business qualities. It appears 
 that as the railway chief drove to his 
 appointment, his route lay by a new 
 line, at the various posts of which the 
 employes were ordered to be present. 
 Unhappily, one of these was away ; 
 and, incensed at this neglect, Mr. Hud- 
 son ordered his instant dismissal. As 
 he proceeded, it occurred to him that 
 the punishment was harsh, that the 
 man was a poor man, that he had a 
 large family, and he determined to 
 annul the sentence at some future 
 period. He proceeded along yet fur- 
 ther ; and when he thought of the dis- 
 tress which the man would bear to Jiis 
 house, he drove back many miles to re- 
 voke his order— and he did revoke it, 
 though he kept his courtiers waiting 
 at the magnificent feast given in honor 
 of himself. 
 
 Girard Trying to Raise Five Dollars. 
 
 At the age of • about thirty years, 
 Girard's occupation is supposed to have 
 alternated between that of captain and 
 merchant, occasionally making a voy- 
 
SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS QUALITIES. 
 
 143 
 
 age to New Orleans or St. Domingo, 
 and then remaining at home to dispose 
 of his cargo and adjust his accounts for 
 a second voyage. It was while prose- 
 cuting one of these adventures, that he 
 was met at the capes of Delaware, by 
 Capt. James King, of Philadelphia, and 
 who has given the following carious 
 and remarkable account of Girard's 
 condition at that time : 
 
 On the first day of May, 1776 (says 
 Capt. King), I was chased by a British 
 man-of-war. I ran my vessel ashore, 
 all sails standing, about eight miles 
 southwest of Cape Henlopen. Whilst 
 waiting at Lewistown for an opportu- 
 nity to come up, the men-of-war were 
 coming in and out every day, so as to 
 prevent us from sailing. One morning 
 I saw a sloop at anchor, within the 
 cape, with a white flag flying. I ap- 
 plied to Major Fisher, who was then 
 commandant, to send a pilot aboard of 
 her. "No, no. King," said he, "that 
 is only a British decoy to get a pilot ; 
 I shall not trust them." I then went 
 over the cape, opposite to where the 
 sloop lay at anchor. I hailed her, 
 waved my hat, and did everything 
 that I could, in order to attract their 
 attention ; they answered me in the 
 same manner, but the surf made such 
 a noise as to prevent us from under- 
 standing each other, from which I con- 
 cluded to turn back, but, as I was re- 
 turning, discovered a boat rowing to- 
 ward me with a flag on a staff. I wait- 
 ed till they came up, when they told 
 me that they had orders from Major 
 Fisher, that if I would risk myself with 
 them, to go alongside of the sloop, they 
 would convey me ; and if not, to re- 
 turn. I immediately stepped into their 
 boat, and we proceeded to the sloop. 
 On inquiring where she was from, they 
 informed me (in French) that they were 
 from New Orleans and bound to St. 
 Pierres, but that they had lost them- 
 selves. I explained to the captain, 
 whose name was Girard, the dangerous 
 situation they were in, and that if he 
 
 attempted to go out he certainly would 
 be captured, as the men-of-war were in 
 and out every day. 
 
 " My God, what shall I do ? " said 
 Girard. 
 
 " You have no chance but to push 
 right ujD to Philadelphia," I replied. 
 
 " How shall I do to get there ? I 
 have no pilot and don't know the 
 v/ay." 
 
 " These men are all pilots," I an- 
 swered. 
 
 " Oh, my good friend," said he, 
 " can't you get one of them to take 
 charge of me ? " 
 
 I said that I would try, and accord- 
 ingly spoke to them. They were will- 
 ing, but insisted tliey must have Jive 
 dollars to give to the men for rowing 
 them off. 
 
 " Oh, my good friend," exclaimed 
 Girard, " what shall I do ? I have not 
 got Jive dollars aboard^ 
 
 " Darn the Frenc^^man," was the re- 
 ply, " we don't believe him, he hasn't 
 come to sea without being able to mus- 
 ter five dollars." 
 
 I informed him what the men had 
 said, and he replied — 
 
 " It is really the case — it is out of my 
 'power to muster it — and what shall 1 
 do ? " 
 
 "Well," said I, "I cannot stay with 
 you any longer, for I am going up to 
 Philadelphia myself, and I see one of 
 my shallops coming out of the Lewis- 
 town creek at this moment." 
 
 " Oh, you are going up to Philadel- 
 phia yourself, are you ? " observed Gi- 
 rard.; " can you not stand security to 
 these men for the five dollars, and I 
 will pay you as soon as I get up to the 
 city ? " 
 
 I told him that I would, and one of 
 the pilots then took charge of his sloop, 
 and commenced heaving the anchor im- 
 mediately. I jumped into the boat and 
 parted with them. The boat put me on 
 board of the shallop that was coming 
 out of Lewistown with my goods, and 
 both sloop and shallop proceeded up. 
 
144 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 Before we had got out of sight of the 
 spot where the s1oo]d had cast anchor, 
 we saw a British man-of-war coming 
 in, and had we not started at the time, 
 in less than an hour Stephen Girard 
 would have been a prisoner to the Brit- 
 ish. We both arrived safe in Philadel- 
 phia. 
 
 The foregoing account certainly shows 
 Girard's knowledge of navigation to 
 have been very limited, and his circum- 
 stances far from being prosperous. For, 
 although even a rich merchant might 
 have been without five dollars in cash, 
 under certain circumstances, yet the 
 general description of the little sloop 
 and her commander bespeak a consider- 
 able depreciation from his former con- 
 dition. But the story of his actually 
 having lost himself may very reason- 
 ably be supposed to have been some 
 trick, or manoeuvre, in Girard, to obtain 
 a pilot, knowing, as he must have done, 
 the extreme peril of his situation, owing 
 to the constant visits of the British 
 sloops of war ; and this supposition is 
 strengthened, when taking into account 
 the close observation and uncommon 
 sagacity of this singular man — who thus 
 readily invented a si^ecious fiction, in 
 order to accomplish his purpose. 
 
 Confidence in Mercantile Success. 
 
 BuDGETT, the successful English mer- 
 chant, not long before his death, heard 
 some one saying he wished for more 
 money : " Do you ? " said he, " then I 
 do not ; I have got quite enough. But 
 if I did wish for more, I should get it." 
 He would often say that, place him in 
 what position you might, he would 
 work his way on — ay, leave him with- 
 out a shilling, still he could rise. His 
 faith in the power of ^perseverance was 
 unbounded. In speaking to some of 
 the poorest young men in his neighbor- 
 hood, and urging them to self-improve- 
 ment, he declared that there was no 
 reason why they miglit not — though the 
 reason was manifest why they would 
 
 not — every one of them be worth ten 
 thousand pounds. He placed his confi- 
 dence simply in " enduring powers and 
 extraordinary application." 
 
 Aster's Early Prediction. 
 
 While yet almost a stranger in New 
 York, and in very narrow circumstan- 
 ces, Mr. Astor was one day passing by 
 a row of houses which had just been 
 erected in Broadway, and which, from 
 the superior style of their architecture 
 were the talk and the boast of the city. 
 " I'll build, one day or other, a greater 
 house than any of these, in this very 
 street," said he to himself; — a predic- 
 tion which all will acknowledge has 
 been most amply fulfilled in the stately 
 and magnificent- " Astor House " — one 
 of the most impressive structures on 
 this continent, and exceeded by only a 
 few in Europe, of its class. 
 
 Erastus B. Bigelow's Boyhood Bargrain. 
 
 The name of Erastus B. Bigelow is 
 a notable one among the many sons of 
 New England who have risen from the 
 smallest beginnings to the highest pin- 
 nacle of business success and renown. • 
 
 In Erastus's youth, good John Tem- 
 ple was his neighbor — a substantial 
 farmer. The latter had noticed the 
 lad's capacity, and sometimes jokingly 
 asked him to come and live with him, 
 and learn his occupation. Erastus re- 
 garded this proposition as a business 
 matter. With him, an offer was an 
 offer. Accordingly, one Monday morn- 
 ing, in early spring, this boy of ten 
 years presented himself at Mr. T.'s 
 door, and demanded employment. It 
 was given him, with no expectation 
 that he would continue through the 
 day. He worked on, however, and at 
 the end of the week suggested to Mr. 
 T. that it would be proper to come to 
 some understanding in regard lo wages. 
 On being asked his terms, he offered to 
 work six months, on condition of re- 
 
SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS QUALITIES. 
 
 145 
 
 ceiving at the close, a cosset lamb 
 called " Dolly," to which he had taken 
 a strong liking. The moderate demand 
 was of course acceded to. But scarcely 
 had a month elapsed, ere a difficulty 
 arose. Dolly could not live without 
 eating, and how was he to provide for 
 her? His fellow laborers discovered 
 the cause of his anxiety, and tcasingly 
 aggravated it. At length he proposed 
 and effected an alteration in the con- 
 tract. He relinquished his claim to 
 Dolly, and Mr. T. agreed to furnish, in- 
 stead, a i^air of cowhide boots, and 
 sheep's gray cloth sufficient for a suit 
 of clothes. The agreement was fully 
 carried out on both sides. At the close 
 of the period, an oifer of four dollars a 
 month for the ensuing summer was 
 offered and accepted. The kind-heart- 
 ed man, at parting, gave the young far- 
 mer and future capitalist, a silver dollar. 
 
 General Jackson's Interview with 
 Samuel Slater. 
 
 When making his Northern tour. 
 President Jackson visited the town of 
 Pawtucket. After he and his suite had 
 been duly conducted through the town, 
 and were expressing themselves as de- 
 lighted with its appearance — its numer- 
 ous and well regulated establishments 
 of business, its ample and commodious 
 churches, and especially its intelligent 
 and well-ordered citizens — they repair- 
 ed to the house of Mr. Slater, then con- 
 fined by a rheumatic disorder, to pay 
 their respects to a man whose business 
 enterprise had thus produced such great 
 results. 
 
 With the aflEability and complaisance 
 so peculiar to General Jackson, he ad- 
 dressed Mr. Slater as the father of 
 American manufactures, as the man 
 who had erected the first valuable ma- 
 chinery, and who spun yarn to make 
 the first cotton cloth in America ; and 
 who had, by his superintendence and 
 direction, as well as by intense labor, 
 erected the first cotton mill in Rhode 
 10 
 
 Island, which was the first in the land 
 of the Pilgrims. 
 
 General Jackson, who had been in- 
 formed of the particulars referred to, 
 entered into familiar conversation on 
 the subject. " I understand," said the 
 President, " you taught us how to spin, 
 so as to rival Great Britain in her man- 
 ufactures ; you set all these thousands 
 of spindles at work, which I have been 
 delighted in viewing, and which have 
 made so many happy by a lucrative em- 
 ployment." "Yes, sir," said Mr. Sla- 
 ter, "I suppose that I gave out the 
 Psalm, and they have been singing to 
 the tune ever since." " We are glad to 
 hear also that you have realized some- 
 thing for yourself and family," said the 
 Vice-President. " So am I glad to 
 know it," said Mr. Slater, " for I should 
 not like to be a pauper in this country, 
 where they are put up at auction to the 
 lowest bidder." 
 
 A. T. Stewart's Success. 
 
 " Ireland," says that genial writer, 
 Walter Barrett, "has been the birth- 
 place of many remarkable men, but 
 never has she sent from her shore a 
 more sagacious one than A. T. Stewart. 
 Our land has fostered the Frenchman 
 Girard, of Philadelphia, and the Ger- 
 man Astor, and they died worth mil- 
 lions ; but they never, even at a great 
 age, reached the wealth of the mer- 
 chant Stewart. He is yet in the gristle 
 of his success, and not hardened into 
 the bone of mammoth, overgrown 
 wealth. Stewart is this day worth 
 fourteen to twenty millions of dollars. 
 He owns more real estate than Astor, 
 and if he lives ten years longer, Mr. 
 Stewart will probably be worth from 
 twenty to thirty millions of dollars. 
 In 1848, he moved to his present mar- 
 ble palace. He had bought Washing- 
 ton Hall of young John Coster for sixty 
 thousand dollars, and for a few thou- 
 sand dollars more two additional build- 
 ings and lots on Broadway, corner of 
 
146 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 Chambers street. Upon this magnifi- 
 cent site he erected the present store. 
 The whole cost of the ground and the 
 palace erected did not reach three hun- 
 dred thousand dollars. To-day it 
 would sell at auction for from eight 
 hundred thousand to one million dol- 
 lars. He paid patroon Van Rensselaer 
 five hundred and thirty thousand dol- 
 lars for the Metropolitan Hotel and 
 outbuildings. It is now worth and 
 pays an interest of ten per cent, on one 
 million dollars, and would bring at 
 auction eight hundred thousand dol- 
 lars. He owns more real estate than 
 any other man in New York." 
 
 What John IUcDonogrh said to a 
 Lawyer. 
 
 The following reminiscence of a fa- 
 miliar personal interview between the 
 great millionnaire of New Orleans and 
 a lawyer of that city — as narrated by 
 the latter, is one of the rarest things of 
 the kind to be found in mercantile an- 
 nals : 
 
 I said to 3Ir. McDonogh, " You are 
 a very rich man, and I know that you 
 intend to leave all your property to be 
 expended in charitable purposes. I 
 have been thinking over your singular 
 life, and I want you to give me some 
 advice in regard to the success which 
 has attended you, for I, too, would like 
 to become very rich, having a family, so 
 as to leave my heirs wealthy." " Well," 
 said he, "get up, sir;" and as I rose 
 from my arm-chair, he took my seat, 
 and, turning to me, as if he was the 
 proprietor and I his clerk, said,-r-point- 
 ing to a common chair in which he had 
 been sitting, — " sit down, sir, and I 
 vdll tell you how I became a rich man, 
 and how, ly following three rules, you 
 can become as rich as myself: 
 
 " I first came to Louisiana," con- 
 tinued Mr, McDonogh, " when it was a 
 Spanish colony, as the agent for a 
 house in Baltimore and a house in Bos- 
 ton, to dispose of certain cargoes of 
 goods. After I had settled up their 
 
 accounts and finished their agency, I set 
 up to do business for myself. I had be- 
 come acquainted with the Spanish gov- 
 ernor, who had taken a fancy to me, 
 although I had never so much as flat- 
 tered him, and through his influence I 
 obtained a contract for the army, by 
 which I made ten thousand dollars. 
 After this, I gave a splendid dinner to 
 the principal officers of the army and 
 the governor, and by it obtained an- 
 other contract, by which I made thirty 
 thousand dollars. 
 
 " This is what the French and the 
 Creoles do not understand. I mean 
 the spending of money judiciously. 
 They are afraid of spending money. 
 A man who wishes to make a fortune 
 must first make a show of liberality, 
 and spend money in order to obtain it. 
 By that dinner which I gave to the 
 Spanish authorities, I obtained their 
 good will and esteem, and by this I 
 was enabled to make a large sum of 
 money. To succeed in life, then, you 
 must obtain the favor and influence of 
 the opulent, and the authorities of the 
 country in which you live. This is the 
 Jirst rule. 
 
 " The natural span of a man's life," 
 observed Mr. McDonogh, " is too short, 
 if he is abandoned to his own resources, 
 to acquire great wealth, and, therefore, 
 m order to realize a fortune, you must 
 exercise your influence and power over 
 those who, in point of wealth, are in- 
 ferior to you, and, by availing yourself 
 of their talents, knowledge and infor- 
 mation, turn them to your own advan- 
 tage. This is the second rule." 
 
 Here Mr. McDonogh made a long 
 pause, as if lost in thought ; and seeing 
 him remain silent, I asked, " Is that all ? " 
 " No," said he, " there is a tJdrd and last 
 rule, which it is all essential for you to 
 observe, in order that success may attend 
 your efibrts." " And what is that ? " I 
 inquired. " Why, sir," said he, " it is 
 prayer. You must pray to the Almigh- 
 ty with fervor and zeal, and you will 
 be sustained in all your doings, for I 
 
SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS QUALITIES. 
 
 147 
 
 never prayed sincerely to God, in all 
 my life, without having my prayers 
 answered satisfactorily." He stopped ; 
 and I said, " Is this all ? " He an- 
 swered, " Yes, sir ; follow my advice, 
 and you will become a rich man." 
 And he arose and left. 
 
 Day and Martin, the Millionnaires of 
 " High Holbom." 
 
 The lucky incident which made mil- 
 lionnaires of Day and Martin, of " High 
 Holbom," by the sale of their famous 
 blacking, is as follows : Day was a hair- 
 dresser in a humble way, and was be- 
 nificent and charitable in the extreme. 
 One day, a soldier entered his shop, and 
 stated that he had a long march before 
 him to reach his regiment; that his 
 money was gone, and nothing but sick- 
 ness, fatigue, and punishment awaited 
 him, unless he could get a lift on a 
 coach. The worthy barber presented 
 him with a guinea, at which exhibition 
 of kindness the grateful soldier ex- 
 claimed, " God bless you, sir, — ^how 
 can I ever repay you this? I have 
 nothing in the world except " — pulling 
 a dirty piece of paper from his pocket 
 — " a receipt for blacking ; it is the 
 best ever was seen ; many a half guinea 
 have I had for it from the officers, and 
 many bottles have I sold — may you be 
 able to get something for it, to repay 
 this you have given to a poor soldier ; 
 your kindness I never can repay or for- 
 get." 
 
 Mr. Day, who was a shrewd man, 
 inquired into the truth of the story, 
 tried the blacking, and finding it good, 
 commenced the manufacture and sale 
 of it — with what results, the magnifi- 
 cent fortunes of the partners amply at- 
 test. 
 
 Jacob Barker's Success when a Youth. 
 
 During Mr. Barker's minority the 
 whaling business of Nantucket became 
 very much depressed, insomuch that 
 many merchants wished to sell their 
 
 vessels. This being made known by 
 him to Robert Mott, a gentleman of 
 great merit, he proposed to his friends, 
 Messrs. Robinson and Hartshorn, to 
 join him in the purchase of a ship at 
 Nantucket, and to employ young Bark- 
 er for the purpose. They offered to be 
 concerned in such a speculation, but re- 
 fused to intrust a loy with the mission, 
 saying that their Mr. Robinson would 
 go. Mr. Mott declined unless young 
 Barker was employed. They finally 
 compromised by agreeing that both 
 should go. Application was made to 
 Hicks (young Barker's employer) for 
 permission, to which he consented on 
 condition that he be paid a full com- 
 mission of two and one half per cent., 
 if a purchase was made. 
 
 They both went, Barker not appear- 
 ing to have anything to do with the 
 purchase. Robinson offered nine thou- 
 sand dollars for the ship Portland ; ten 
 thousand was demanded. After sev- 
 eral days' unsuccessful negotiation, he 
 determined to offer five hundred dollars 
 more ; had a meeting with the owners, 
 of whom an inquiry was made if they 
 were disposed to divide the difierence. 
 They replied that "not a dollar less 
 than ten thousand would be accepted." 
 They separated, Robinson deliberating 
 how far it would be best to yield to the 
 demand of ten thousand dollars, when 
 young Barker prevailed on him to re- 
 pair to New Bedford for a ^ew days, 
 leaving him to make the purchase. He 
 did so, and Barker succeeded— pur- 
 chased the ship for nine thousand dol- 
 lars, and this, too, in season to notify 
 Robinson by the first mail, when he 
 returned to Nantucket to attend to 
 her dispatch. On arrival at New York, 
 she was sold to George M. Woolsey, for 
 thirteen thousand five hundred dollars, 
 and young Barker employed to return 
 immediately to Nantucket to purchase 
 a ship for James Lyon, of New York, 
 and John James, of Philadelphia, and 
 another for Jacob Valentine, Samuel 
 Hicks, and Samuel Robinson. He did 
 
148 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BTJSINT:SS ANECDOTES. 
 
 so ; the ship Rose for the former gentle- 
 men, and the ship Beaver for the latter, 
 for which service Mr. Hicks also re- 
 ceived a full commission of two and 
 one half per cent, on the amount of 
 purchase. 
 
 In relation to the Rose: when that 
 Tessel was ready for sea the vendors re- 
 fused to let her go without an indorser 
 on the bills of exchange to be given in 
 payment, amounting to ten thousand 
 dollars, although it had not been be- 
 fore mentioned ; this was very incon- 
 venient. Barker, not having the means 
 on the island to give a satisfactory in- 
 dorser, had to proceed to New Bedford 
 therefor. As there were not any steam- 
 boats running, and the mail-packet had 
 been detained some days by a north- 
 west wind, a change seemed probable, 
 and in the afternoon it came round to 
 west south-west — too scant, however, 
 for the captain of the mail-packet to be 
 induced to leave. Barker, impatient 
 at the delay, took passage on a lumber- 
 loaded vessel that had put in for a har- 
 bor, bound to the neighborhood of 
 New Bedford, which he discovered 
 making sail to leave, late in the after- 
 noon. She proceeded twenty-five miles, 
 when the wind turned back to north- 
 west, which obliged the vessel to come 
 to anchor at eight o'clock in the even- 
 ing. At daylight the next morning a 
 signal was set for a pilot ; a boat soon 
 appeared from the Vineyard, and was 
 chartered to proceed to New Bedford. 
 
 On reaching Wood's Hole, the cur- 
 rent was found running east too swift 
 for the boat to encounter that passage 
 with an unfavorable wind; she there- 
 fore beat up the Vineyard sound and 
 passed through Quicksi's Hole, and ar- 
 rived at New Bedford as the bells, ac- 
 cording to the custom of the place, 
 were ringing for twelve o'clock. The 
 indorsement of "William Rotch, jr., was 
 procured. 
 
 " Walter Barrett's" Cotton Mission. 
 The following well-told story be- 
 longs, of course, to a period when elec- 
 tric telegraphs did not, like a cobweb, 
 cover our land: Goodhue & Co. (the 
 great New York firm then and now) 
 had many rivals to their line of packets, 
 but none were successful. Robert Ker- 
 mit once started a line of " Saint " 
 ships. He owned the ship St. George, 
 and he persuaded Stephen Whitney 
 and old Nat Prime to become owners 
 in a new ship called the St. Andrew. 
 The line never succeeded, although the 
 latter once made a very short passage 
 in the year 1834, and brought the intel- 
 ligence of an advance in the price of 
 cotton in Liverpool. She came in late, 
 one Christmas eve. Old Mr. Prime 
 lived at that time at the corner of 
 Broadway and Marketfield street (now 
 Battery Place). Mr. Whitney lived 
 only a few steps' distance on the cor- 
 ner of State street and Bowling Green 
 Row, where he lived until he died very 
 recently. These old heads and two or 
 three younger ones had the exclusive 
 news, and they intended to make the 
 most of it. It was certain not to be 
 made public until the day after Christ- 
 mas. Letters of credit were prepared 
 in the front parlor of No. 1 Broadway 
 for one million of dollars. Walter Bar- 
 rett was selected to leave next morning 
 for New Orleans, by way of Wheeling, 
 hoping that he would outstrip the 
 great Southern mail, leaving two days 
 ahead, carrying these credits in favor 
 of Thomas Barrett and John Hagan, of 
 New Orleans, both eminent merchants 
 in those days. The letters ordered cot- 
 ton to be bought so long as there was 
 a bale in Jirst hands in New Orleans. 
 Mr. Barrett, the bearer of credits and 
 orders, was told to spare no expense in 
 order to beat the mail. It was now 
 eleven o'clock, Christmas eve. No one 
 had thought about money for the ex- 
 pense of the messenger to New Orleans. 
 Banks were all shut — brokers too. Mr. 
 
SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS QUALITIES. 
 
 149 
 
 Prime seized a blank check, and went 
 up witli it to the City Hotel. , 
 
 " Willard, for what amount can you 
 cash my check to-night ? " 
 
 " How much do you wish, Mr. 
 Prime ? " 
 
 " One thousand dollars." 
 
 Mr. Willard had the money, and 
 gave it to Mr. Prime. It was in the 
 pocket of Mr. Walter Barrett, the next 
 morning, when he embarked at six 
 o'clock in the boat for Amboy, com- 
 manded then by the since famous Capt. 
 Alexander Schultz. 
 
 The messenger, by bribing stage dri- 
 vers, paying Mississippi boat captains 
 $50 or $75 — not to stop and receive 
 freight, reached New Orleans in eleven 
 days. It was daylight when he got 
 into the old City Hotel, in New Or- 
 leans, kept then by Mr, Bishop. Two 
 hours after, John Hagan and Thomas 
 Barrett had the letters of credit and 
 orders to purchase cotton. The South- 
 ern mail did not arrive for three days. 
 Before night, over fifty thousand bales 
 of cotton had been purchased at eleven 
 to twelve cents, or about sixty dollars 
 per bale. That cotton was sold at sev- 
 enteen and eighteen cents when cotton 
 went up a few days after. Some was 
 sent to Liveipool. The profit was on 
 some lots over thirty dollars a bale, and 
 was divided up among the New Orleans 
 houses of Barrett & Co., John Hagan 
 & Co., and the New York operators. 
 The messenger had the profits of two 
 hundred bales awarded him, and his 
 expenses paid. This operation was a 
 lucky one for some of the owners of 
 the St. Andrew, but it did not aid Cap- 
 tain Robert Kermit particularly, and 
 the " Saint" line went down. 
 
 We venture to say that that same 
 Walter Barrett can "do" a good job 
 now! 
 
 Privateering: Exploit of a Salem Mer- 
 chant. 
 
 Joseph Peabody, the merchant-sov- 
 ereign of Salem, left that place in 
 
 1781-'3, in the letter-of-marque Ranger, 
 he being second officer. Proceeding to 
 Richmond, they disposed of their cargo 
 of salt, and then went to Alexandria, 
 where they loaded with flour for Hava- 
 na, and arrived safe. The Ranger re- 
 turned to Alexandria, and after receiv- 
 ing on board another cargo of flour, on 
 the 5th of July, 1783, dropped down 
 the Potomac to near its mouth, where 
 encountering head winds, she was 
 obliged to anchor, and, after making 
 the ordinary aiTangements for the 
 night, the officers and crew retired to ' 
 their berths. 
 
 About eleven o'clock the watch ran 
 aft for a speaking-trumpet, and an- 
 nounced to the officers the unwelcome 
 news that boats were making for the 
 ship. The captain, Simmons, directed 
 Mr. Peabody not to let them come 
 alongside ; but they both rushed up 
 the companion-way, and as they reach- 
 ed the deck, received a discharge of 
 musketry, by which Capt. Simmons fell, 
 badly wounded, and entirely disabled 
 from further action. Mr. Peabody, 
 having no time to dress himself, ran 
 forward in his night-clothes, calling on 
 the crew to seize the boarding-pikes, 
 and grasping one himself, accompanied 
 by a man named Kent, armed in the like 
 manner, sprang to the bows, where they 
 had a fierce encounter with several of 
 the enemy already on the gunwale. 
 The crew having armed themselves, a 
 desperate conflict ensued, in the midst 
 of which another boat came alongside 
 and began a heavy fire on the other 
 quarter. 
 
 The first officer being employed at 
 the magazine in procuring ammunition 
 for those who were armed with mus- 
 kets, the command of the deck devolved 
 on Mr. Peabody, who, wearing a shirt, 
 was a conspicuous mark, even in a dark 
 night. He now ordered cold shot to 
 be thrown into the boats, and it was 
 done with such effect that one of them 
 gave way ; both had been grappled to 
 the Ranger before receiving any damage. 
 
150 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSIXESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 Perceiving the advantage thus obtain- 
 ed, he applied his entire force to the 
 other boat, and cheering his men with 
 the cry of " we have sunk one, my boys, 
 now let us sink the other," the re- 
 sponding cheers of the crew so alarmed 
 the assailants, that they dropped astern, 
 and both were soon lost in the darkness 
 of the night. 
 
 When the confusion was over, one of 
 the crew only was found to be dead, 
 and three wounded. Mr. Peabody was 
 not aware, during the action, that he 
 had received any wounds, but after- 
 ward found his arms stiff, and a ball 
 lodged in his left wrist, that the bone 
 of his right elbow was laid bare, and a 
 ball had grazed his left shoulder. The 
 Ranger was armed with seven guns, and 
 had a crew of twenty, while the barges 
 of the enemy contained sixty men. The 
 assailants, a band of tories headed by 
 two desperate characters, lost fifteen 
 killed, and had thirty-eight wounded. 
 
 Patriotism and Prowess of French. 
 Merchants. 
 
 One of the chief merchants of Mar- 
 seilles, M. de Corse, carried his patri- 
 otic zeal to such an extent, that in 1760 
 he published a manifesto, declaring war 
 in his own private name against the 
 king of England, and put to sea no less 
 than twenty frigates, to cruise against 
 British commerce ! 
 
 This merchant, however, had a rival 
 in M. Gredis, a famous Jewish merchant 
 at Bordeaux. He fitted out, in 17G1, 
 the Prothee, of sixty-four guns, which 
 captured the merchant ship Ajax, an 
 Indiaman, worth about a million and a 
 half dollars. He had also several frig- 
 ates of thirty-six guns cruising at the 
 same time, on his own account. 
 
 In both these cases, it may perhaps 
 be doubted if, with a strong jDatriotic 
 feeling, there was not some motive of 
 commercial gain ; for it has occurred 
 in England, as well as in France, and 
 our own country, that vessels thus fitted 
 out by merchants have done much in- 
 
 jury to the enemy, and no small service 
 to their owners. 
 
 Thomas H. Perkins's Deliberate 
 Habits. 
 
 Thomas H. Perkiiss's self-possession 
 and tranquillity seldom forsook him 
 in any of his multifarious business 
 or private cares. At one time, when 
 he had decided to leave Boston in 
 order to take a long journey of sev- 
 eral thousand miles to the South and 
 West, application had been made to 
 him to give his guaranty for a consid- 
 erable sum, to enable one whose wel- 
 fare he wished to promote to engage in 
 a commercial connection that seemed 
 to offer great advantages. 
 
 As the magnitude of the affair re- 
 quired caution, it was expected, of 
 course, that when he had considered 
 the subject, explanations on various 
 points would be necessary before he 
 could decide to give it ; and it was in- 
 tended to take some favorable oppor- 
 tunity, when he might be entirely at 
 leisure, to explain everything fully. 
 Suddenly, however, he found it best to 
 commence the journey a week or two 
 sooner than had been mentioned, and 
 engagements of various kinds, previous- 
 ly made, so occupied him in the short 
 interval left, that there seemed to be no 
 time for offering such explanation with- 
 out danger of intruding, and the hope 
 of obtaining his aid at that time, in an 
 affair that required prompt action, was 
 given up. The applicant called at his 
 house half an hour before he was to go, 
 merely to take leave, knowing that the 
 haste of departure in such cases usually 
 precludes attention to any matter re- 
 quiring deliberation. On entering the 
 room, however, he found there was no 
 appearance of haste. All preparations 
 for the journey had been entirely com- 
 pleted in such good season that the last 
 half-hour seemed to be one entirely of 
 leisure for anything that might occur. 
 
 After a little chat, Col. Perkins intro- 
 duced the subject himself, and made 
 
SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS QUALITIES. 
 
 151 
 
 pertinent inquiries; which, being an- 
 swered satisfactorily, he gave the guar- 
 anty and very kindly added a further 
 facility by allowing, until his return, 
 the use of a considerable sum of money 
 which he was leaving in the bank. 
 The arrangements were, in consequence, 
 completed the next day ; they proved 
 in the result to be eminently successful, 
 all pledges were redeemed, his guaran- 
 ty w^as cancelled in due course, without 
 the slightest cost or inconvenience to 
 him ; and the person whom he wished 
 to oblige received very large profits, 
 which happily influenced the remain- 
 der of his life, but which, perhaps, he 
 might never have enjoyed, if that last 
 half-hour before the journey had been 
 hurried. 
 
 Rothschild and Astor Compared. 
 
 The elder Rothschild was perhaps a 
 richer man than Mr. Astor, but in other 
 respects his inferior. Rothschild was a 
 good arithmetician and a good banker. 
 He wrought out, skilfully and success- 
 fully, the materials offered to his hand 
 by the social condition of his time; 
 but his was not an original, an inven- 
 tive, a creative mind. That of Mr. As- 
 tor, on the contrary, was strongly 
 marked by such characteristics. All 
 his bold and grand operations were in 
 scenes before untried; carrying out 
 combinations before unthought of; 
 opening up mines of hitherto undis- 
 covered wealth; and all tending not 
 more to his own advantage than to the 
 prosperity of the country, in its mate- 
 rial and commercial interests. Surely, 
 the stock operations of Rothschild 
 never partook of these characteristics. 
 
 Ijaboucliere and Vincent Nolte. 
 
 Vincent Nolte became the Amer- 
 ican agent of the renowned Amsterdam 
 house of Hope & Co., under the follow- 
 ing curious circumstances, as narrated by 
 himself: One day, after the close of the 
 Bourse, Mr. L. placed his arm confiden- 
 
 tially in mine and said, " Let us take a 
 walk ; we will be able to converse un- 
 disturbed, and to better purpose, than 
 in the counting room. I have very 
 often been pressed, by my brother, to 
 give him permission to send an agent 
 to the United States, but would never 
 listen to his request, until he made men- 
 tion of you and your wishes. I think 
 that I have a perfect knowledge of you, 
 and understand you, from your corre- 
 spondence, and that you may be useful 
 to him, to yourself, and to us all." 
 
 The " us all " sounded very pleasant- 
 ly in my ears, for under the word us I 
 was given to understand a mission for 
 the important house of Messrs. Hope 
 itself. I instantly said, " How is that ? 
 Us all ? " 
 
 "I will tell you," he continued: 
 " To make your first appearance as 
 agent for the house of my brother is a 
 very good preliminary introduction to 
 the United States, and you can, accord- 
 ing to the directions and hints I will 
 give you, carefully look about you a 
 couple of months, until we shall have 
 some further additional need of your 
 services. Even were you not to make 
 one single bargain, I should still be 
 well enough satisfied ; but I have some- 
 thing better in store for you. You will 
 be intrusted with a mission that will 
 make you catch your breath to hear of 
 it. You will feel the ground heaving 
 under your feet." 
 
 And here he began to sketch for me 
 the outline of a really colossal under- 
 taking he was then planning in his own 
 mind. He then pointed out the posi- 
 tion he had in view, and the heavy re- 
 sponsibility that would rest upon my 
 shoulders. He was right. I did catch 
 my breath at the magnificence of his 
 project. Ere I had put a hand to it, I 
 at once declared to Mr. L. that I was 
 too young and inexperienced to assume 
 such a responsibility, and that I should 
 only in a moderate degree equal his 
 expectations. His answer was : 
 
 " That is my business, and not yours. 
 
152 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 I have but one thing to recommend to 
 you : never commit any action -which 
 may one day cause you to blush before 
 me, or in the presence of your own con- 
 science I " 
 
 I was now placed upon the right 
 ground. He had correctly judged me, 
 and I had understood him perfectly. 
 At length we touched upon the ques- 
 tion, how much salary I was to receive 
 for all this : He replied : 
 
 "Nothing! Your expenses will be 
 liberally paid ! That is all. If you can- 
 not foresee what a position such a mis- 
 sion may secure for you in the commer- 
 cial world, and the facilities which it 
 cannot fail to open for you in the fu- 
 ture, you had better stay at home." 
 
 My reply was, that his extreme con- 
 fidence honored me, and that I would 
 unconditionally agree to all that he saw 
 fit to point out to me. 
 
 "In order to progress," he added, 
 " you must renounce all impatience to 
 succeed." 
 
 The business, of which Mr. Labou- 
 chere thus communicated only a rough 
 outline, and which Mr. Nolte got to 
 understand and form an opinion of, in 
 its whole extent, only several months 
 later, in the autumn of 1805, originated 
 in one of the many conceptions and 
 combinations of Ouvrard, the once cele- 
 brated French banker. 
 
 Scene in a Merchant's Counting Room, 
 after the Peace in 1815. 
 
 The promptness and energy of Amer- 
 ican merchants is established as char- 
 acteristic of them wherever American 
 commerce is known. Here is an illus- 
 tration — the like of which it would be 
 no difficult labor to find in every city 
 and town in the country. 
 
 At the time of peace, in the winter 
 of 1815, Mr. A., a New York merchant, 
 proceeded to his office. The clerks, 
 four in number, were already at their 
 posts, and met their employer with a 
 smile each. "Well, boys," said he, 
 " this is good news — now ijoe must be 
 
 up and doing." He seldom used the 
 first person, I, but spoke to his clerks, 
 and of them, as being part and parcel 
 with himself. " We shall have our 
 hands full now," he continued, "but 
 we can do as much as anybody." 
 
 Mr. A. w^as the owner and part owner 
 of several ships, which during the war 
 had been hauled ashore three miles up 
 the river, and dismantled, and they 
 were now inclosed by a bay of solid ice, 
 for the whole distance, from one to two 
 feet thick, while the weather was so 
 cold that, when broken up, the pieces 
 would unite and congeal again in an 
 hour or two ; but this proved no dis- 
 couragement in the present case. It 
 would be a month before the ice would 
 yield to the season, and that would 
 give time for merchants in other places, 
 where the harbors were open, to be in 
 the markets abroad, before him. The 
 decision was therefore made on the in- 
 stant. 
 
 " Reuben," said Mr. A. to one of the 
 clerks, as soon as the " peace " greeting 
 was past, and he had told them his in- 
 tentions, " go out, and collect as many 
 laborers as possible to go up the river ; 
 
 Charles, do you go and find Mr. , 
 
 the rigger, and Mr. , the sail maker, 
 
 and tell them I want to see them imme- 
 diately ; John, go and engage half a 
 dozen truckmen for to-day and to- 
 morrow; Stephen, hunt up as many 
 caulkers and gravers as you can find, 
 and engage them to work ; " and Mr. A. 
 then sallied out himself to provide the 
 imi)lements for ice breaking, and before 
 twelve o'clock, more than one hundred 
 men were three miles up the river, clear- 
 ing away the ships and cutting ice, which 
 they sawed out in large squares, and 
 then shoved them under the main body, 
 to open the channel. The roofing over 
 the ships was torn ofi", and the clatter 
 of caulkers' mallets was like the rattling 
 of a hail storm — ^loads of rigging were 
 passing up on the ice — triggers had 
 buckled on their belt and knife — sail 
 makers were plying their needles, and 
 
SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS QUALITIES. 
 
 153 
 
 the whole was such a busy scene as had 
 not been witnessed there for years. 
 Before night the ships were afioat^ and 
 moved some distance in the channel, 
 and by the time they had reached the 
 wharf, which was eight or ten days, 
 their rigging and spars were aloft, their 
 upper works caulked, and everything 
 in a great state of forwardness for sea. 
 
 It would not be safe to doubt that 
 energy like this met with its reward. 
 
 Strong: Point in Mercantile Success— 
 Girard's Silence. 
 
 ^ A POINT in the character of Girarcl, 
 the Napoleon of commerce, gives a 
 strong insight into the cause of his 
 business success. No man ever heard 
 him boast of what he could do. He re- 
 mained quiet and silent until the time 
 came for action, and then he struck the 
 blow with an unerring aim which in- 
 sured him success. He was studious to 
 learn all he could from others, and as 
 careful to impart nothing in return. 
 
 Tudor, the Original Ice Merchant. 
 
 To Mr. Frederick Tudor, of Boston, is 
 due the very creditable honor of origi- 
 nating the ice trade of our country, 
 now so extensive and important. This 
 gentleman, having previously sent 
 agents to the West Indies to pro- 
 cure information, determined to make 
 his first experiment in that region. 
 Finding no one willing to receive so 
 strange an article on shipboard, he was 
 compelled to purchase a vessel, the 
 brig Favorite^ of about one hundred 
 and thirty tons, which he loaded with 
 ice from a pond in Saugus, Massachu- 
 setts, belonging to his father, and sent 
 to St. Pierre, Martinique. This first 
 enterprise resulted in a loss of about 
 $4,500, but was, nevertheless, followed 
 up until the embargo and war put an 
 end to the foreign trade, up to which 
 period it had yielded no profit to its 
 projector. Its operations had been 
 confined to Martinique and Jamaica. 
 
 After the close of the war with Eng- 
 land, in 1815, Mr. Tudor recommenced 
 his operations by shipments to Havana, 
 under a contract with the Government 
 of Cuba, w^hich enabled him to pursue 
 his undertaking without loss, and ex- 
 tend it in a short time to Charleston, 
 S. C, Savannah, Ga., and New Orleans. 
 In the mean time it had been tried 
 again, by other parties, at Martinique 
 and St. Thomas, and failed, and by 
 Mr. Tudor at St. Jago de Cuba, where 
 it also failed, after a trial of some three 
 years. In 1833, the first shipment of 
 ice was made to the East Indies by Mr. 
 Tudor, in the ship Tuscany , for Calcut- 
 ta, and shipments were subsequently 
 made to Madras and Bombay. Up to 
 this time the ice business was of a very 
 complicated nature, and shipowners 
 objected to receive it on freight, fear- 
 ing its effect on the durability of their 
 vessels and the safety of their voyages. 
 It is now, however, one of the most con- 
 veniently conducted, extensive, and 
 profitable kinds of mercantile business, 
 and many parties are engaged in it. 
 
 First Greek Adventure to America. 
 
 The first Greek ship that ever touch- 
 ed at an American port, arrived there 
 in 1811. She was called the Jerusalem^ 
 and had a cargo of wines ; but in en- 
 tering the port of Boston, she ran 
 aground, and sustained so much dam- 
 age, that it took some months to repair 
 her. The captain, having in vain en- 
 deavored to sell his cargo, proceeded 
 to Havana, where he was not more suc- 
 cessful. He then returned to Boston, 
 and having become involved in law- 
 suits, liis ship was seized, his cargo sold 
 at great sacrifice, and himself reduced 
 to such distress, that he was obliged to 
 beg for subsistence, until a subscription 
 was opened to defray the expenses of 
 his return to his own country. All his 
 crew died in prison. 
 
154 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 Roman Idea of Merch.ants. 
 
 Among the Romans, the deity who 
 presided over commerce and banking 
 was Mercury, who, by a strange associa- 
 tion, was also the god of thieves and 
 of orators. The Romans, who looked 
 upon merchants with contempt, fancied 
 there was a resemblance between theft 
 and merchandise, and they easily found 
 a figurative connection between theft 
 and eloquence ; hence, thieves, mer- 
 chants, and orators, were placed under 
 the superintendence of the same deity. 
 On the seventeenth of May, in each 
 year, the merchants held a public festi- 
 val, and walked in procession to the 
 temple of Mercury, for the purpose, as 
 the satirists said, of begging pardon of 
 that deity for all the lying and cheat- 
 ing they had found it convenient to 
 practise, in the way of business, during 
 the preceding year. 
 
 *' MonsieTir Smith," Girard's Man. 
 
 It is known that Girard admired in- 
 dustry as much as he despised sloth, 
 and there was never, it is related, an 
 instance where he did not furnish em- 
 ployment or money to an industrious 
 and worthy man in distress. 
 
 Early one morning, while Mr. Girard 
 was walking around the square where 
 the millionnaire's well-known houses 
 now stand, John Smith, who h^d 
 worked on his buildings in the hum- 
 ble capacity of a laborer, and whom 
 Mr. G. had noted for his unusual activ- 
 ity, applied to him for assistance, when 
 something like the following dialogue 
 took place : 
 
 " Assistance — work— ha ? You want 
 to work ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir ; it's a long time since I've 
 had anything to do." 
 
 " Very well, I shall give yon some. 
 You see dem stone yondare ? '* 
 
 " Yes, sir." 
 
 " Very well, you shall fetch and put 
 them in this place. You see ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir." 
 
 " And when you done, come to me at 
 my bank." 
 
 Smith diligently performed his task, 
 which he accomplished about one 
 o'clock, when he repaired to Mr. Gir- 
 ard, and informed him that it was fin- 
 ished, at the same time asking if he 
 would not give him some more work. 
 
 " Ah, ha ! oui. You want more 
 work ? Very well ; you shall go place 
 dem stone where you got him. XJnder- 
 standez ? You take him back." 
 
 " Yes, sir." 
 
 Away went Smith to his work, which 
 having got through with about sunset, 
 he waited on Mr. Girard for his pay. 
 
 " Ah, ha ! you all finish ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir." 
 
 " Very well, how much money shall 
 I give you ? " 
 
 " One dollar, sir." 
 
 "Dat is honest. You take no ad- 
 vantage. Dare is your dollar." 
 
 " Can I do anything else for you ? " 
 
 " Oui. Come here when you get up 
 to-morrow. You shall have some 
 work." 
 
 Next morning, on calling, Smith was 
 not a little astonished when told that 
 he must " take dem stone back again," 
 nor was his astonishment diminished 
 when the order was repeated for the 
 fourth and last time. However, he was 
 one of that happy kind of persons who 
 mind their own business, and he went 
 on with his job, with all the indif- 
 ference imaginable. When he called 
 on Mr. Girard, in the evening, and in- 
 formed him that the stones " were as 
 they were," he was saluted thus in the 
 most cordial manner : 
 
 " Ah, Monsieur Smithy you shall be 
 my man; you mind your own business ; 
 you do what is told you ; you ask no 
 questions ; you no interfere. You got 
 one vife ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir." 
 
 " Ah, dat is bad. Von wife is bad. 
 Any de little chicks ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir ; five living." 
 
SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS QUALITIES. 
 
 155 
 
 " Five ? dat is good ; I like five ; I 
 like you, Monsieur Smith ; you like to 
 work ; you mind your business. Now 
 I do something for your five little 
 chicks. There, take these five pieces 
 of paper for your five little chicks ; you 
 shall work for them ; you shall mind 
 your business, and your little chicks 
 shall never want five more. Good 
 bye." 
 
 The feelings of the grateful man 
 being too much overcome to allow him 
 to reply, he departed in silence ; and 
 by minding his own business, he be- 
 came one of the wealthiest of his name 
 in Philadelphia. 
 
 Thomas P. Cope's Integrity. 
 
 A PERSON highly recommended ap- 
 proached Mr. Cope, the Philadelphia 
 merchant, one day, and invited him to 
 embark in a certain joint-stock enter- 
 prise. In a careful exposition of the 
 matter, he made it appear that the 
 scheme was likely to succeed, and that 
 the stock would instantly run up to a 
 liberal premium, on being put into the 
 market. "Well," said Mr. Cope, "I 
 am satisfied on that point ; I believe it 
 would be as thou sayest. But what 
 will be the real value of the stock ? " 
 " Why, as to that," answered the specu- 
 lator, " I cannot say (implying by his 
 manner what he thouglit) ; but that is 
 of no account, for all we have to do is 
 to sell out, and make our thirty or for- 
 ty per cent, profit." " I'll have nothing 
 to do with it — I'll have nothing to do 
 with it," was the prompt and indignant 
 reply. " And from that day," he used 
 to say, in relating the occurrence, " I 
 marTced that man, and shunned all trans- 
 actions with him." 
 
 Second Thought on a Trade. 
 
 A MAN had bought a pair of shoes 
 from a dealer in that article, for which 
 he promised to pay him on a future 
 day. He went with his money on the 
 
 day appointed, but found that the deal- 
 er had in the interval departed this life. 
 Without saying anything of his errand, 
 he withdrew from the place, secretly 
 rejoicing at the opportunity thus unex- 
 pectedly afforded him of gaining a pair 
 of shoes for nothing. His conscience, 
 however, would not suffer him to remain 
 at ease under such an act of injustice ; 
 so, taking the money, he returned to 
 the shop, and casting in the money, 
 said, " Go thy ways, for though he is 
 dead to all the world besides, yet he is 
 alive to me." 
 
 Three Merchant Voyages, and their 
 Kesults. 
 
 A New York paper makes the fol- 
 lowing statement : Several years ago, 
 there lived in one of our seaports, three 
 merchants, whom we will designate as 
 A, B, and C, and all of whom were 
 owners of freight ships. Each of these 
 men loaded a ship at the same time, 
 which were to go first to Egypt, and 
 to the Baltic, to one of the Kussian 
 ports. All being loaded, they waited 
 for a favorable wind. The harbor was 
 so situated, that there was no egress for 
 ships unless the wind blew in a particu- 
 lar direction. One Sabbath morning, 
 the wind was fair. The masters of the 
 vessels went to their respective owners 
 for sailing orders. A and B imme- 
 diately had their ships put to sea ; but 
 C told the master that he must remain 
 in port until the next day. Before 
 Monday morning, however, the wind 
 had changed, and remained contrary 
 until the next Sunday, when it again 
 came round fair. The master of the 
 vessel again repaired to the house of C, 
 to procure the ship's papers and orders. 
 But, to his astonishment, C remarked 
 that his ship must not leave the port 
 on the Sabbatli. The captain attempt- 
 ed to reason the point with him, but 
 all in vain. He said if his ship never 
 sailed, it should not put to sea on that 
 day of the week ; and he was willing 
 
156 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 to run all the risks of maintaining his 
 principle. 
 
 Some time during the folio wing week, 
 the ship sailed with a fair breeze, and 
 arrived in Egypt just as the ships of A 
 and B were about to sail for the Baltic. 
 In the mean time, information had cir- 
 culated through the country, that 
 American vessels were in port, washing 
 to sell their cargoes, and purchase a 
 certain kind of their produce, namely, 
 rice. The desired article was brought 
 in such abundance that the market was 
 glutted by the time C's ship arrived. 
 In consequence of this, his cargo was 
 sold at an advanced price, and his ship 
 loaded at a much better rate than the 
 others. Cs vessel proceeded then on 
 her voyage up the Baltic. The ships 
 were to dispose of their rice in the Rus- 
 sian ports, and load for home w ith iron. 
 Cs ship anived in the Baltic after 
 those of A and B had purchased their 
 freight and nearly loaded; and good 
 success continued to attend the former, 
 as it did in the Mediterranean. Abun- 
 dance of iron was brought to the market, 
 and there were enough purchasers for 
 the lice. All these ships reached Amer- 
 ica about the same time, that of C hav- 
 ing actually earned as much by the voy- 
 age as both the others. 
 
 Sharing in a Good Operation. 
 
 With the foibles generally attendant 
 upon an aspiring, money-seeking man, 
 Mr. Fordyce, the celebrated English 
 banker, had many generous qualities. 
 A young, intelligent merchant, who 
 kept cash at his banking house, one 
 morning making a small deposit, he 
 happened to say in the oflBce, that if he 
 could command some thousands at 
 present, there was a certain speculation 
 to be pursued, which in all probablity 
 would turn out fortun^e. This was 
 said carelessly, without Fordyce appear- 
 ing to notice it. 
 
 A few months afterward, when the 
 same merchant was settling his book 
 
 with the house, he was very much sur. 
 prised to see the sum of £500 placed to 
 his credit, more than he knew he pos- 
 sessed. Thinking it a mistake, he 
 pointed it out to the clerk, who seeing 
 the entry in Mr. Fordyce's handwriting, 
 said he must have paid it to him. The 
 merchant knew he had not, and begged 
 to see Mr. Fordyce — who, on appear- 
 ing, said, " It is all right enough, for as 
 I made £5,000 by the hint you careless- 
 ly threw out, I think you fairly entitled 
 to £500." Mr. Fordyce did not stop 
 here ; for when, some years afterward, 
 the merchant became embarrassed, he 
 found a liberal friend in his previous 
 benefactor. 
 
 Secrecy in Business Transactions 
 Practised by Rotlischild. 
 
 One cause of Rothschild's great ad- 
 vantage in his business transactions was 
 the secrecy with which he shrouded 
 them, and the tortuous policy with 
 which he misled those the most who 
 watched him the keenest. If he pos- 
 sessed news calculated to make the 
 funds rise, he would commission the 
 broker who acted on his behalf to sell 
 half a million. The shoal of men who 
 usually follow the movements of others 
 sold with him. The news soon passed 
 through the monetary circle that Roth- 
 schild was " bearing " the market, and 
 the funds fell. Men looked doubtingly 
 at one another ; a general panic spread ; 
 bad news was looked for; and these 
 united agencies sunk the price two or 
 three per cent. This was the result 
 expected ; and other brokers, not usu- 
 ally employed by him, bought all that 
 they could at the reduced rates. By 
 the time this was accomplished, the 
 good news had arrived; the pressure 
 ceased; the funds rose instantly; and 
 Mr. Rothschild reaped his reward. 
 There were, however, periods when his 
 gigantic capital seemed likely to be 
 scattered to the four quarters of the 
 globe. He lost half a million in one 
 English operation; when the French 
 
SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS QUALITIES. 
 
 157 
 
 entered Spain in 1823, he was also in 
 the utmost jeopardy ; but perhaps the 
 most perilous position in which he was 
 placed was with the famous Polignac 
 loan, although his vast intelligence 
 saved him, and placed the burden on 
 the shoulders of others. With this, 
 nevertheless, he suffered greatly, as the 
 price fell thirty per cent. 
 
 Ladder of Commercial Success. 
 
 James Halford rose step by step up 
 the ladder of fortune until he stood se- 
 curely at the summit, with fame, wealth, 
 and honors surrounding him. Some 
 twenty jeata back, this same James 
 Halford was at the very foot of the lad- 
 der, pondering how he should rise. 
 The ladder was very curious to contem- 
 plate, and still more curious was it to 
 hear what the world said about it. 
 
 " It is all luck, sir," cried one, " noth- 
 ing but luck ; why, sir, I have managed 
 at times to get up a step or two, but 
 have always fallen down ere long, and 
 now I have given up striving, for luck 
 is against me." 
 
 '' No, sir," cried another, " it is not 
 so much luck as scheming ; the selfish 
 schemer gets up, while more honest 
 folks remain at the foot." 
 
 " Patronage does it all," said a third ; 
 " you must have somebody to take you 
 by the hand and help you up, or you 
 have no chance." 
 
 James Halford heard all these varied 
 opinions of the world, but still persisted 
 in looking upward, for he had faith in 
 himself. 
 
 " The cry of ' luck's all,' — what does 
 it amount to in reality," thought he, 
 *' but that some people are surrounded 
 by better circumstances than others? 
 They must still, however, take advan- 
 tage of these circumstances permanent- 
 ly to succeed ; and I, having very in- 
 different circumstances around me, have 
 the more need to use great exertion in 
 order to better them; and when re- 
 verses come, I will not despair, as some 
 
 do, but persevere on to fortune. I 
 want no friend to take me by the hand 
 and do that for me which every healthy 
 man can do better for himself. No, I 
 will rise by myself alone." 
 
 The resolution was earnestly made, 
 and faithfully carried out. From the 
 humblest capacity in a store, to the 
 post of highest trust, James Halford 
 rose in a few years. He became a 
 trader for himself, and amassed a heavy 
 fortune. 
 
 Six days for Business and One for Rest. 
 
 A DISTINGUISHED Capitalist and finan- 
 cier, charged with an immense amount 
 of property during the great pecuniary 
 pressure of 1836 and 1837, said: I 
 should have been a dead man, had it 
 not been for the Sabbath. Obliged to 
 work from morning to night, to a de- 
 gree that no hired day-laborer would 
 submit to, through the whole week, I 
 felt on Saturday, especially on Satur- 
 day afternoon, as if I must have rest. 
 It was like going into a dense fog. 
 Everything looked dark and gloomy, 
 as if nothing could be saved. I dis- 
 missed all from my mind, and kept the 
 Sabbath in the " good old way." On 
 Monday it was all bright sunshine. I 
 could see through — and I got through. 
 But had it not been for the Sabbath, I 
 have no doubt I should have been in 
 
 the grave, 
 
 — ♦ 
 
 Boston Merclaant's Opinion of Business 
 Men's Honesty. 
 
 It is said of Mr. Samuel Appleton, a 
 " merchant prince " of Boston, that he 
 was himself so thoroughly upright, that 
 it w^as hard for him to doubt the hon- 
 esty of other men — and, as is often the 
 case, men were really to him what he 
 expected them to be. On a certain oc- 
 casion he was asked— and the answer 
 threw light alike on his own character 
 and on the character of merchants gen- 
 erally — " You have been long engaged 
 in business, under a great variety of cir- 
 
158 
 
 COMMERCIAL AM) BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 cumstances, and in different countries : 
 what is your opinion in regard to the 
 honesty of mankind ? " " Very favora- 
 ble," he replied; "very generally, I 
 think, they mean to be honest. I have 
 never in my life met with more than 
 three or four cases in which I thought 
 a man intended to be dishonest in deal- 
 ing with me." 
 
 Philadelphia Young- Merchant who was 
 not Afraid of Girard. 
 
 A MAN who had just set up in the 
 hardware business, and who had been 
 a clerk where Girard had traded, ap- 
 plied to him for a share of his patron- 
 age. Girard bought of him, and when 
 he brought in the bill, found fault and 
 marked down the prices. " Cask of 
 nails," said he, ^' which I was offered 
 for so and so, you have charged so and 
 so, and you must take it off." "I can- 
 not do it," said the young merchant. 
 "You must do it," said Girard. "I 
 cannot and will not," said the mer- 
 chant. Girard bolted out of the door, 
 apparently in a rage, but soon after 
 sent a check for the whole bill. The 
 young man began to relent and say to 
 himself: " Perhaps he was offered them 
 at that price. But it is all over now ; 
 I am sorry I did not reduce the bill, 
 and get it out of him on something 
 else. His trade would have been worth 
 a good deal to me." By-and-by, Girard 
 came again and gave him another job. 
 The young man was very courteous, and 
 said, " I was almost sorry I did not re- 
 duce your former bill." ^'■Reduce a 
 mi!'''' said Girard, " had you done it, I 
 would never trade with you again. I 
 meant to see if you had cheated me." 
 
 Hiding: the Dollar with a Dime. 
 
 Buckley, in one of his lectures, made 
 use of an illustration that will bear re- 
 peating : Holding a dime close to his 
 eyes with one hand, and a half dollar at 
 some distance with the other, said he : 
 " Now, I cannot see the half dollar with 
 
 this eye, for the dime is so near it, it 
 obscures my vision. So it is with men 
 of business ; in their eagerness to save 
 a dollar, they often lose sight of the 
 fifty within their reach." 
 
 Mercantile Defalcation made grood after 
 Sixty Years. 
 
 In the month of January, 1821, a 
 man of respectable appearance entered 
 the Corn Exchange, in Mark Lane, Lon- 
 don, and advancing to one of the prin- 
 cipal factors, asked him if he was the 
 legal, descendant of the head of a very 
 ancient firm in that line, long since ex- 
 tinct ? Being answered in the afiirma- 
 tive, he made some further inquiries, 
 confirmatory of the first question, and 
 departed. On the same day in the fol- 
 lowing week, he again made his appear- 
 ance with a bag, which he presented to 
 the factor, and containing three hun- 
 dred and seventy sovereigns. The fac- 
 tor, of course, surprised at the transac- 
 tion, began to make some inquiries ; 
 but the person refused to answer any 
 questions, observing, that the property 
 was now returned to its rightful owner 
 — that he wanted no receipt, and that 
 it was a matter of no consequence who 
 he was. On referring to some very old 
 business accounts, it appeared that in 
 the year 1762, the firm alluded to had 
 a very extensive business contract, in 
 the course of which a defalcation to 
 nearly that amount occurred. 
 
 Mysterious Benefactor— Incident of the 
 South Sea Bubble. 
 
 One day, late in the evening, in 1720 
 — a year celebrated for the bursting of 
 the South Sea Bubble — a gentleman 
 called at the banking house of Messrs. 
 Hankey & Co., one of the heaviest in the 
 British kingdom. He was in a coach, 
 but refused to get out, and desired 
 that one of the partners of the house 
 w^ould come to him ; into the hands of 
 this banker, when he appeared, he put a 
 parcel, very carefully sealed up, and de- 
 sired that it might be taken care of till 
 
SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS QUALITIES. 
 
 159 
 
 he should return again, which would 
 be in the course of a few days. A few 
 days passed away, a few weeks, a few 
 months ; but the stranger never return- 
 ed. At the end of the second or third 
 year, the partners agreed to open this 
 mysterious parcel, when they found it 
 to contain the large sum of one hun- 
 dred and fifteen thousand dollars, with a 
 letter, stating that it had been obtained 
 by the South Sea speculation ; and di- 
 recting that it should be put in the 
 hands of three trustees, whose names 
 were mentioned, and the interest to be 
 appropriated to the relief of the poor. 
 
 Touro's Great Gift to a Beg-g-ar. 
 
 A POOR widow once called upon Mr. 
 Touro, the benevolent Hebrew merchant 
 of New Orleans, and opened to him a 
 very moving budget of griefs — she had 
 several children, her rent was due, and 
 her landlord threatened to eject her, 
 nor had she a cent with which to buy 
 food or clothes. Long before she had 
 concluded her affecting jeremiad, Mr. 
 Touro had filled up a check and begged 
 her to go and draw it at once. The 
 poor woman proceeded accordingly to 
 the bank, and eagerly presented the 
 check at the counter. The teller care- 
 fully examined the check, and then sur- 
 veying the poor, scantily dressed, woe- 
 begone looking woman, shook his head, 
 and informed her that the check could 
 not be paid. With a heavy heart, and 
 a sense of mingled shame and indigna- 
 tion, that she should have been thus 
 " cruelly trifled with, " she returned to 
 Mr. Touro's store, and handing him the 
 check, remarked that it ill became a 
 rich man to subject a poor widow to 
 insult and mockery. " My dear mad- 
 am," exclaimed the astonished and 
 philanthropic merchant, " it is all I can 
 give you to-day ; it is, I know, a small 
 sum, but it is all I can spare now." 
 " But the bank officer refuses to give 
 me anything for it," replied the dis- 
 tressed widow. " Oh, yes I I see it all 
 
 — ^he requires proof of your identity. 
 Here," turning to his clerk, " go down 
 to the bank with this lady, and tell 
 them to pay that check." No wonder 
 that the teller refused to pay a chechfor 
 fifteen hundred dollars to so poor and 
 forlorn looking a holder I 
 
 Generosity of Chickering-, the Piano- 
 forte Maker. 
 
 Many years since, a boy, who thought 
 and dreamed of nothing but music, wan- 
 dered into a certain large establishment 
 in Boston, where his favorite instru- 
 ments were manufactured. Passing 
 into the extensive saloons where these 
 instruments were displayed, he sought 
 out a quiet corner, and seating himself 
 at one of those magnificent pianos, he 
 first looked around, to be sure that no 
 one was listening, and then began to 
 play some of those beautiful waltzes of 
 Beethoven, which, at that time, so suit- 
 ed his capacity, and suited his heart. 
 Borne away in a delicious musical rev- 
 erie, he did not for some time observe 
 that a figure had stolen up to him and 
 was listening as he played. A benevo- 
 lent face was over him, and a kind 
 voice addressed words of commenda- 
 tion and praise, which, being the first 
 the boy had received, sent the blood 
 tingling to his cheeks. The proprietor 
 of the establishment, for it was he, then 
 asked the boy if he would like to come 
 and live among those pianos, discours- 
 ing just such music to purchasers — 
 thus forming, in a word, a connection 
 with his establishment. But books and 
 college were before the boy ; and won- 
 dering at the proposition, he timidly 
 thanked the proprietor and declined. 
 
 Years passed away. School and col- 
 lege were done with, and the books 
 thrown aside. The boy had reached 
 manhood ; but still the spirit of music 
 haunted him, and again he found him- 
 self in those spacious saloons. He had 
 just ceased playing upon one of those 
 magnificent instruments again, and 
 stood looking dreamily out of the win- 
 
160 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 dow, and down upon the crowded 
 " Washington street " below. Again a 
 quiet figure stole up to him, and a 
 most musical and pleasant voice began 
 to speak. The person before him was 
 of small stature, had the manners and 
 garb of a gentleman, was dressed in 
 black, with a single magnificent dia- 
 mond pin in his bosom ; the only con- 
 trast in his appearance was the clean 
 white apron of a workman, which he 
 wore. It was the proprietor of the 
 establishment again; who, wealthy as 
 he was, had his own little working 
 cabinet, with an exquisite set of tools, 
 and there put the finishing touch to 
 each of his beautiful instruments — a 
 touch he intrusted to no one else. The 
 proprietor inquired kindly of the young 
 man as to his plans for life. These, 
 alas! were undetermined. The voice 
 of music was more fascinating than 
 ever; but a learned profession of some 
 kind seemed to be the wish and ex- 
 pectation of his friends. Music, how- 
 ever, was his first and strongest love, 
 and he had sometimes thought, if he 
 could but go abroad to study, he would 
 decide for that. His father had given 
 him his college education and his bless- 
 ing, as capital for life. A harsh strug- 
 gle with the world was before him ; 
 music, therefore, was hardly to be 
 thought of. 
 
 In the quietest tone of that low, 
 pleasant voice, the proprietor, as 
 though making an ordinary remark, 
 rejoined, " Well, but then, if the sum 
 of five hundred dollars a year for a 
 period of four years would suit your 
 purpose, I could easily supply you 
 with that." 
 
 The world grew dim before him, and 
 the young man almost staggered with 
 surprise ; but when he recovered him- 
 self, there was the same quiet gentle- 
 man standing beside him, and looking 
 pleasantly out of the window. Two 
 months afterward the young man sailed 
 for Europe, where he passed the allot- 
 ted time and longer, from means with 
 
 which his own compositions in the 
 mean time furnished him. And what- 
 ever of knowledge, and whatever of 
 artistic culture, and whatever of suc- 
 cess in life, as connected with art, have 
 since been his, — and he has long been 
 one of the most distinguished among 
 American musical composers, — he as- 
 cribes entirely to that most generous 
 and noble-hearted Macaenas of art, Jonas 
 Chickering. 
 
 Whale Fishery Enterprise by Amer- 
 icans. 
 
 The first attempts at the whale fish- 
 ery, in Massachusetts, were made from 
 the south shore and the island of Nan- 
 tucket, by persons who went out in 
 small boats, killed their whale, and re- 
 turned the same day. But the whales 
 were in this way soon driven from the 
 coast, the population increased, and the 
 demand for the product of the fisheries 
 proportionably augmented. It became 
 necessary to apply larger capitals to the 
 business. Whaleships were now fitted 
 out at considerable expense, which pur- 
 sued the adventurous occupation from 
 Greenland to Brazil. The enterprise 
 thus manifested, awoke the admira- 
 tion of Europe, and is immortalized in 
 the well-known description by Burke. 
 But the business has gro^vTi, until the 
 ancient fishing grounds have become 
 the first stations on a modern whaling 
 voyage ; and capitals are now required 
 sufficient to fit out a vessel for an ab- 
 sence of forty months, and a voyage of 
 circumnavigation. Fifty thousand dol- 
 lars are invested in a single vessel ; she 
 doubles Cape Horn, ranges from New 
 South Shetland to the coasts of Japan, 
 cruises in unexplored latitudes, stops for 
 refreshments at islands before undiscov- 
 ered, and on the basis, perhaps, of an 
 individual house, in New Bedford or 
 Nantucket, performs an exploit which, 
 eighty or ninety years ago, was thought 
 a great object to be effected by the re- 
 sources of the British government. 
 The " overgrown capitalist " employed 
 
SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS QUALITIES. 
 
 161 
 
 in this business may be said to be an 
 " overgrown lampliglater." 
 
 Enterprise of Yankees and Enssians 
 'Cutely Illustrated. 
 A GOOD anecdote is told, illustrating 
 the ratlier superior enterprise of the 
 Yankees over the Kussians. The squad- 
 rons sent out by the Russians to explore 
 the South Seas, had attained a degree 
 of latitude which it was supposed had 
 never before been reached, w^hen land 
 was descried. The commander was con- 
 gratulating himself upon a discovery 
 which was thus to immortalize his 
 name, when, standing out from the 
 land, a simple schooner was observed, 
 which proved to be a sealing vessel of 
 thirty tons. Hoisting the stars and 
 stripes, the captain of the Yankee craft, 
 for such she proved, ran alongside of 
 the commodore, and politely offered to 
 pilot him in ! The Russian was aston- 
 ished " some," to find such a rig and 
 such a crew at a spot which, in Europe, 
 was not known to exist — though, in- 
 deed, it would be really more astonish- 
 ing to find a place where Yankee trad- 
 ing enterprise had not penetrated. 
 Working a gold mine on the top of 
 Himmaleh, or speculating in dead horse 
 flesh among the Usbecs — heading a 
 caravan across the Siberia, or trapping 
 bears at the Korth Pole — ^bartering yel- 
 low buttons for goats' hair in the capi- 
 tal of the Grand Lama, or exchanging 
 fez-caps and coral for Soudan ingots, in 
 the stalls of Timbuctoo — in any and all 
 of these places and employments, the 
 Yankee might be expected to be found. 
 
 t 
 
 Tempting: Business Paragrraph. 
 
 " We are well acquainted," says the 
 editor of a city journal, " with a young 
 and very handsome girl, who has the 
 principal management of a large mer- 
 cantile establishment in a flourishing 
 country town, who visits different cities 
 alone, stops at hotels, purchases sup- 
 plies of dry goods, dimity, hardware, 
 11 
 
 china, groceries, shoes, nick-nacks, and 
 all the multifarious saleables which make 
 up ' a stock ' in a miscellaneous store. 
 She gives notes, makes contracts, and 
 attends to all such business as belongs 
 to her ; and we have never yet learned 
 that she has sacrificed one iota of the 
 dignity, admiration and respect, which 
 are her just due as a young, amiable, 
 and very pretty woman. There ! " 
 
 Bone and Offal Millionnaire. 
 
 Some years ago, a poor French wom- 
 an, residing at Buenos Ayres, being ex- 
 ceedingly perplexed with regard to the 
 "ways and means," set her inventive 
 genius to work, and hit upon the fol- 
 lowing expedient : 
 
 Observing a vast quantity of bones 
 and animal offal thrown away from the 
 slaughter houses with which Buenos 
 Ayres abounds, a thought struck her 
 that she might turn this waste to a 
 profitable account. Having procured 
 a large iron pot, and collected a quan- 
 tity of bones, etc., she commenced oper- 
 ations by boiling them, and skimming 
 off the fat, which she then sold at the 
 stores. Finding the proceeds of her 
 industry amply rewarded her labor, she 
 persevered, advancing from a pot to a 
 boiler, and from a boiler to a steaming 
 vat, until she possessed a magnificent 
 apparatus, capable of reducing a hun- 
 dred head of cattle to tallow, at one 
 steaming. In course of time she sold 
 her manufactory, and retired from busi- 
 ness wdth a large fortune, rolling through 
 the streets in one of the most sumptu- 
 ous carriages in Buenos Ayres. There 
 is now scarcely a respectable merchant 
 in that place, or in Montevideo, who is 
 not in some way connected with cattle- 
 steaming. 
 
 ♦ 
 
 "Five Years of Privation and a For- 
 ttme." 
 
 Undek the arcades near the markets, 
 in Havana, may be seen a number of 
 shops, not ten feet square, with a show- 
 
162 
 
 COMMERCIAL AXD BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 case in front, before which a restless 
 being is constantly walking; remind- 
 ing one of a caged wild animal that 
 chafes for a wider range. At night, 
 the showcase is carried into his little 
 cabin, which serves him for a shop, 
 dormitory, and kitchen, — and where he 
 may be often seen preparing his frugal 
 meal over a chafing dish of live char- 
 coal. " Five years of privation and a 
 fortune^'' is his motto ; and not a few 
 of the wealthiest Spanish residents in 
 Cuba are said to date the commence- 
 ment of their prosperity from so hum- 
 ble a source. These are the Catalans — 
 an industrious, shrewd, economical 
 class, who have received the sobriquet 
 of Spanish Jews. A large portion of 
 the commerce of the island is in their 
 hands, as well as a very great part of 
 its wealth. In the interior of the 
 island they appear to monopolize every 
 branch of trading, from the pack of the 
 humblest jDcddler to the country tienda 
 with its varied contents ; and, in the 
 maritime towns, many a commercial 
 house, whose ships cover the sea, is 
 theirs. 
 
 McDonogh's Greatest Victory. . 
 
 One of John McDonogh's favorite 
 plans of operation, to increase his for- 
 tune, was to purchase the back lands 
 of plantations on the river, the value 
 of which would be increased enormous- 
 ly by the improvements in front of 
 them. So he eagerly pounced upon all 
 the lands in the neighborhood of the 
 towns and villages in the State. One 
 of the most brilliant of his feats in this 
 sphere was the completion of his lines 
 of circumvallation around the city of 
 New Orleans. For many years he pur- 
 sued this object with the greatest ardor 
 and intensity. Commencing at the up- 
 per end of the city, he stole gradually 
 around through the swamps, i)urchas- 
 ing large belts of land, until at last, a 
 few years before his death, meeting 
 one of his old friends in the street, he 
 
 slapped him on the shoulder, and with 
 his face full of enthusiasm and joy, ex- 
 claimed, " Congratulate me, my friend ; 
 I have achieved the greatest mctory of 
 my life, I have drawn my lines around 
 the city, and now entirely embrace it 
 in my arms — all for the glory of God 
 and the good of my race." 
 
 James G-. Elingr's Treatment of Resent- 
 ments. 
 
 An incident in the life of James Gore 
 King aflfords a pleasing illustration of 
 the tenderness of heart which not un- 
 frequently accompanies high mercantile 
 character. A misunderstanding had 
 for some years existed, and comjDara- 
 tive estrangement between him and one 
 w^ho had been early connected with him 
 by family ties. This state of things 
 grieved him, for having no resent- 
 ment or unkindness in his own heart, 
 he was uneasy even under the appear- 
 ance of cherishing any. A casual and 
 most improbable meeting in a city omni- 
 bus, only four days before his death, with 
 the person thus estranged, the inhabit- 
 ant of another State, afforded him the 
 opportunity of reconciliation. After 
 exchanging friendly salutations in the 
 omnibus, when the person alighted he 
 too got out, and when alone together 
 said, extending his hand, " If, without 
 asking or giving any explanation, you 
 are willing that we should be friends, 
 let it be so ;" adding, with that thought- 
 ful prescience which sometimes goes 
 before the event, " I want, before I die, 
 to be at peace with all." The extend- 
 ed hand was taken ; and the particulars 
 of this interview comprised one of the 
 last subjects upon which Mr. King con- 
 versed, and with much happiness, just 
 before his death. 
 
 Noble Mercantile Trait of Jonathan 
 Goodliue. 
 
 The late IVIr. Jonathan Goodhue was 
 noted for the ready-flowing sympathy 
 and fellow feeling which marked his 
 character. It was especially manifested 
 
SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS QUALITIES. 
 
 163 
 
 toward those in dependent situations 
 and in the more humble walks of life. 
 No laboring man, however low his con- 
 dition, could be engaged in his service 
 without perceiving that he had a con- 
 siderate regard for his feelings and for 
 his rights. No domestic ever lived in 
 his family without being impressed by 
 his condescension and kindness. This 
 feeling made him reluctant to part with 
 those who had faithfully served him, 
 and few men have ever made so few 
 changes in those who have held subor- 
 dinate situations under them. The 
 cartman who, on his first arrival in 
 New York, took his baggage to his 
 lodgings, was employed by him until 
 old age obliged him to retire from ac- 
 tive life. A principal book-keeper, 
 well worthy of his confidence and 
 esteem, remained with him for fifteen 
 years, and then withdrew because of a 
 change in his mode of life. A con- 
 fidential counting-room porter, after 
 being in his service for twenty-five 
 years, still holds his place in the house 
 of Goodhue & Co. These incidents 
 show a trait of character indicating 
 true nobility. 
 
 Bedeemingr Lost Time. 
 
 The diligence and application dis- 
 played by Gideon Lee were remark- 
 able ; he usually worked sixteen hours 
 out of the twenty-four. An anecdote 
 which he used to relate of himself in 
 this connection, is worthy of being told, 
 as illustrating two traits in his charac- 
 ter, which adhered to him through life 
 — his great industry and his resolution. 
 He had " made a bargain with himself," 
 as he expressed it, to " labor each day 
 a certain number of hours, and nothing 
 but sickness or inability should make 
 him break the contract. It was known 
 to my young friends in the neighbor- 
 
 Ihood, and on some convivial occasion, 
 I a quilting frolic, I believe, they came 
 to my shop and compelled me to leave 
 
 being girls also in the deputation, my 
 gallantry could not resist. I lost my 
 night's rest in consequence, for the 
 morning sun found me at work, redeem- 
 ing the lost timey After gratifying his 
 friends by spending the evening in 
 their society, he returned to the shop 
 to gratify himself by not violating his 
 faith. 
 
 Bestitution "by a Shopkeeper. 
 
 A GENTLEMAN, passing througli the 
 streets of Newcastle, was called in by a 
 well known and extensive shopkeeper, 
 who acknowledged himself indebted to 
 him to the amount of a guinea. The 
 gentleman, much astonished, inquired 
 how this was, as he had no recollection 
 of the circumstance. The shopkeeper 
 replied, that about twenty years before, 
 as the gentleman's wife was crossing 
 the river Tyne in a boat which he was 
 in, she accidentally dropped half a 
 guinea, as she took out her money to 
 pay the fare. The now well-oflf shop- 
 keeper, who had then a family at home 
 literally starving, snatched up the half 
 guinea. He had since been prosperous 
 in his business, and now seized the first 
 opportunity since his good fortune, of 
 paying the money, with interest. 
 
 Spanish Mercantile Dealing-. 
 
 The Spanish galleons destined to 
 supply Terra Firma, and the kingdoms 
 of Peru and Chili, with almost every 
 article of necessary consumption, used 
 to touch first at Carthagena, and then at 
 Porto Bello. In the latter place a fair 
 was opened; the wealth of America 
 was exchanged for the manufactures of 
 Europe ; and during its prescribed term 
 of forty days the richest traffic on the 
 face of the earth was begun and finished 
 with unbounded confidence and the 
 utmost simplicity of transaction. No 
 bale of goods was ever opened, no chest 
 of treasure examined ; both were re- 
 ceived on the credit of the persons to 
 
164 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 whom they belonged — only one in- 
 stance of fraud being recorded, during 
 the long period in which trade was 
 carried on with this liberal and unsus- 
 pecting confidence. It seems that all 
 the coined silver which was brought 
 from Peru to Porto Bello, in the year 
 1654, was found to be adulterated, and 
 to be mingled with a fifth part of base 
 metal. The Spanish merchants, with 
 their usual integrity, sustained the 
 whole loss, and indemnified the for- 
 eigners by whom they were employed. 
 The fraud was detected, and the treas- 
 urer of the revenue in Peru, the author 
 of it, was publicly burnt. 
 
 Not Disposed to Lie. 
 
 "When that model merchant, Abbott 
 Lawrence, was at the height of his mer- 
 cantile prosperity, he was offered the 
 post of ambassador to the English 
 Court — an elegant compliment to him- 
 self personally, and to the honorable 
 and influential class of whom he might 
 almost be said to be the head. Before 
 accepting, he asked Mr. Everett, who 
 had already occupied the post, " wheth- 
 er there was really any foundation in 
 truth for the ancient epigrammatic jest, 
 that an ambassador is a person sent to 
 a foreign government to tell lies for his 
 own," adding that, " if such was the 
 case, his mind was made up ; he had 
 never yet told a lie, and was not going 
 to begin at the age of fifty-six." Mr. 
 Everett told him he could answer for 
 himself as a foreign minister, that he 
 had never said a word or written a line 
 which, as far as his own character or 
 that of his government was concerned, 
 he should have been unwilling to see in 
 the newspaper the next day. This ex- 
 planation, the upright merchant re- 
 plied, removed one of his scruples. 
 
 Polly Kenton's Lard Speculation. 
 
 "When IVIiss Kenton first came into 
 Girard's employ, as his housekeeper or 
 
 attendant, which was nearly four score 
 years ago, he was making large ship- 
 ments to the West Indies, and he or- 
 dered her to procure some fifty kegs of 
 lard from her father, who was a farmer, 
 and ship them upon her own account. 
 She did so ; and the product, from some 
 unusual state of the market at that time 
 was immense. This product remained 
 on her hands until her death, and was 
 afterward recovered from his executors. 
 
 Handful ofWool and a Bank of Money. 
 
 A Marseilles merchant had a 
 daughter named Eugenie, who early 
 married a Catalan officer, in the service 
 of Don Carlos. He fell in battle, and 
 after burying him in a grave dug with 
 her own hands, this widow with her 
 two children, wretched, and utterly pen- 
 niless, fled to the solitude of the Span- 
 ish mountains, taking refuge in a ruined 
 convent. There, by various little ser- 
 vices to the shepherds and peasants, 
 she obtained a scanty crust and milk 
 for her infants. Becoming thus more 
 and more acquainted with the women 
 who visited the mountains to carry 
 food to their husbands, she invited 
 them to bring with them their wheels 
 and spin together in her place of 
 abode, as more convenient and less 
 lonely than for each to labor by herself. 
 This they did in great numbers, and at 
 the end of every week the grateful 
 peasants presented her a handful of 
 spun wool each. Out of this handful 
 of wool she in due time made a bank 
 of money and a vast estate. 
 
 Descending occasionally to the near- 
 est town, she sold these little wool 
 gatherings, and had in a few months 
 accumulated, through this means, suf- 
 ficient money to purchase the shep- 
 herds' raw wool, and to beg for an 
 hour's labor, instead of the handful of 
 material from her guests. Before the 
 summer season was over, and its occu- 
 pations, she collecterl, by management 
 and industry, enough funds to pay 
 
SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS QUALITIES. 
 
 165 
 
 them for their work ; and, at the next 
 sheep-shearing, she became the pur- 
 chaser of more than half the wool. 
 
 Encouraged by the rewards of her 
 business skill thus far, she proceeded, 
 the second spring following, under the 
 escort of some of her shepherd friends, 
 to the frontier, where she contracted 
 with one of the greatest wool-buyers 
 in the country, for the produce of the 
 next winter's spinning. In the space 
 of three years the old convent was con- 
 verted into a spinning factory ; became 
 renowned throughout the north of 
 Spain for the fineness of its produce ; 
 and proved both a source of social com- 
 fort and pecuniary prosperity to the 
 poor peasants who had once, out of 
 their humble means, exercised charity 
 toward its then desolate and necessi- 
 tous inmate. 
 
 Madame L 's web of good fortune 
 
 waxed after this agreeable fashion every 
 year, until she became an exceedingly 
 wealthy capitalist, with literally a bank 
 of money, and credit unlimited. She 
 has four factories in Spain, and seven 
 in France, besides cotton and flax mills 
 in Belgium. And all this great fortune 
 has been extracted or irradiated from 
 that handful of wool I 
 
 Jolinsoii's Prejudice agrainst Mer> 
 chants. 
 
 Dr. Johnson was bitterly prejudiced 
 against the mercantile classes, whether 
 of humble or high degree. At break- 
 fast, says his entertaining jackal, Bos- 
 well, I asked : 
 
 " What is the reason that we are an- 
 gry at a trader's having opulence ? " 
 
 " Why, sir," said Johnson, " the rea- 
 son is, though I do not undertake to 
 prove there is a reason, we see no quali- 
 ties in trade that should entitle such a 
 ;inan to superiority. We are not angry 
 at a soldier's getting riches, because we 
 see that he possesses qualities which we 
 have not. If a man returns from battle, 
 having lost one hand, with the other 
 
 full of gold, we feel that he deserves the 
 gold ; but we cannot think that a fel- 
 low sitting all day at a desk is entitled 
 to get above us." 
 
 " But," responded Boswell, " may we 
 not suppose a merchant to be a man of 
 an enlarged mind, such as Addison in 
 the Spectator describes Sir Andrew 
 Freeport to have been ? " 
 
 " Why, sir," quoth Johnson, " we 
 may swppose any fictitious character. 
 We may suppose a philosophical day 
 laborer, who is happy in reflecting that, 
 by his labor, he contributes to the fer- 
 tility of the earth, and the support of 
 his fellow creatures ; but we Jind no 
 such philosophical day laborer. A 
 merchant may, perhaps, be a man 
 of an enlarged mind, but there is noth- 
 ing in trade connected with an enlarged 
 mind." 
 
 Johnson's opinion — he who could say 
 that Americans ought to be thankful 
 for anything " short of hanging," — will 
 not have much weight at the present 
 day. 
 
 Business Habits of A. T. Stewart. 
 
 It is said of A. T. Stewart, that so 
 accurate is his comprehension of all the 
 departments of his great establishment, 
 that his clerks have sometimes imagined 
 that he has an invisible telegraph gird- 
 ling the whole building. They also 
 have a saying, that if any one of them 
 is absent he is the one to be first called 
 for. 
 
 But few of the thousands who trade 
 at Stewart's ever get sight of the pro- 
 prietor. He is only to be found at his 
 oflace, which is situated on the second 
 story, on the side of the house looking 
 into Chambers street. Here he sits at 
 his desk, absorbed by his responsibili- 
 ties, directing the various energies of 
 the great body of which he is the head. 
 None, except a man of the highest exe- 
 cutive ability, could endure the con- 
 stant care, the earnest effort. He is the 
 hardest worker in the concern. It is 
 
166 
 
 COMMERCIAL AXD BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 not generally known that during these 
 hours of application, and while en- 
 grossed in the management of his im- 
 mense operations, no one is allowed to 
 address him personally until his errand 
 or business shall have been first laid be- 
 fore a subordinate. If it is of such a 
 character that that gentleman can at- 
 tend to it, it goes no farther, and hence 
 it rests with him to communicate it to 
 Ms principal. In illustration of this 
 system, the following incident is re- 
 lated : One day a person entered the 
 wholesale department, with an air of 
 great importance, and demanded to see 
 the proprietor. That proprietor could 
 be very easily seen, as he was sitting in 
 his ofl3ce, but the stranger was cour- 
 teously met by the assistant, with the 
 usual inquiry as to the nature of his 
 business. The stranger, who was a 
 Government man, bristled up and ex- 
 claimed, indignantly, " Sir, I come 
 from Mr. L , and shall tell my busi- 
 ness to no one but Mr. Stewart." 
 " Sir," replied the inevitable Mr. 
 
 Brown, " if Mr. L himself, were 
 
 to come here, he would not see Mr. 
 Stewart until he should have first told 
 me his business." 
 
 Thorbum's Flowery Path to Fortune. 
 
 One of the pleasantest stories of the 
 casual manner in which a business was 
 commenced which led on to fortune, is 
 that given by Grant Thorbum, former- 
 ly the keeper of a small grocery, after- 
 ward the leading and most wealthy 
 American seedsman and florist, his 
 business relations extending to almost 
 all parts. Here it is, in the easy and 
 simple style of that remarkable man : 
 
 On the east comer of Nassau and 
 Liberty streets, New York, there lived 
 the venerable old gentleman, Mr. Isaac 
 Van Hook, so well known as the sexton 
 of the New Dutch church opposite his 
 house, for nearly fifty years. In course 
 of time, J. L. and W. S., both cabinet 
 makers, and carrying on a respectable 
 
 business, having in their employment 
 ten or twelve journeymen and appren- 
 tices, took a mad resolution, gave up 
 their business, sold their stock, hired 
 the comer house over the head of poor 
 old Van Hook, turning him and his to- 
 bacco pipes out of doors, and com- 
 menced the grocery business. Theirs 
 being a corner, took away the most of 
 my customers; insomuch that I was 
 obliged to look round for some other 
 mode to support my family. This, you 
 may be sure, I considered a great mis- 
 fortune ; but, in the sequel, prepared 
 the way to put me into a more agree- 
 able and profitable business. 
 
 About this time the ladies in New 
 York were beginning to show their 
 taste for flowers, and it was customary 
 to sell the empty flower pots in the 
 grocery stores ; these articles also com- 
 posed part of my stock. 
 
 In the fall of the year, when the plants 
 wanted shifting, preparatory to their 
 being placed in the parlor, I was often 
 asked for pots of a handsomer quality, 
 or better made. As stated above, I was 
 looking round for some other means to 
 support my family. All at once it came 
 into my mind to take and paint some 
 of my common flower pots with green 
 vamish paint, thinking it would bet- 
 ter suit the taste of the ladies than 
 the common brickbat-colored ones. I 
 painted two pair, and exposed them in 
 front of my window ; they soon drew 
 attention, and were sold. I painted six 
 pair; they soon went the same way. 
 Being thus encouraged, I continued 
 painting and selling to good advantage. 
 This was in the fall of 1802. One day, 
 in the month of April following, I ob- 
 served a man, for the first time, selling 
 flower plants in the Fly market, which 
 then stood at the foot of Maiden lane. 
 As I carelessly passed along, I took a 
 leaf, and rubbing it between my finger 
 and thumb, asked him what was the 
 name of it. He answered, a geranium. 
 This, as far as I can recollect, was the 
 first time I ever heard that the flower in 
 
SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS QUALITIES. 
 
 167 
 
 question was a geranium; as, before 
 this, I had no taste for, nor paid any 
 attention to plants. I looked a few 
 minutes at the plant, thought it had a 
 pleasant smell, and that it would look 
 well if removed into one of my green 
 flower pots, to stand on my counter and 
 thus draw attention. 
 
 Observe, I did not purchase this 
 plant with, the intention of selling it 
 again, but merely to draw attention to 
 my green joots, and let the people see 
 bow well the pots looked when the 
 plant was in them. Next day, some 
 one fancied and purchased both plant 
 and pot. The day following, I went 
 when the market was nearly over, judg- 
 ing the man would sell cheaper, rather 
 than have the trouble of carrying them 
 over the river, as he lived at Brooklyn 
 — and in those days there were neither 
 steam nor horse boats. Accordingly, I 
 purchased two plants, and having sold 
 them, I began to think that something 
 might be done in this way ; and so I 
 continued to go, at the close of the 
 market, and always bargained for the 
 unsold plants. The man, finding me a 
 useful customer, would assist me to 
 carry them home, and show me how to 
 shift the plants out of his pots and put 
 them into the green pots, if any cus- 
 tomers wished it. I soon found, by his 
 tongue, that he was a Scotchman, and 
 being countrymen, we wrought into one 
 another's hands, and thus, from having 
 one plant, in a short time I had fifty. 
 The thing being a novelty, began to 
 draAV attention; people carrying their 
 country friends to see the curiosities of 
 the city, would step in to see my plants. 
 In some of these visits the strangers 
 would express a wish to have some of 
 these plants, but, having so far to go, 
 could not carry them. Then they 
 would ask if I had no seed of such 
 plants ; then, again, others would ask 
 for cabbage, turnip, or radish seed, etc. 
 These frequent inquiries at length set 
 me to thinking that, if I could get 
 seeds, I would be able to sell them ; 
 
 but here lay the difficulty. As no one 
 sold seed in New York, none of the 
 farmers or gardeners saved more than 
 what they wanted for their own use, 
 there being no market for an overplus. 
 In this dilemma, I told my situation to 
 G. I., the man from whom I had always 
 bought the plants in the Fly market. 
 He said he was now raising seeds, with 
 the intention of selling them next spring 
 along with his plants in the market ; 
 but added, that if I would take his 
 seeds, he would quit the market, and 
 stay at home and raise plants and seeds 
 for me to sell. A bargain was imme- 
 diately struck ; I purchased his stock 
 of seeds, amounting to fifteen dollars, 
 and thus commenced a business, on the 
 17th of September, 1805, that became 
 the most extensive establishment of the 
 kind in the western world. 
 
 Bruised, but not Crushed— the Messrs. 
 Brown, of Liverpool. 
 
 The transactions of the eminent firm 
 of the Browns, in Liverpool, are said to 
 have amounted, in the year 1836, to 
 fifty millions of dollars. Li 1837, the 
 American banks all over the country 
 went down one after the other, and 
 many together, almost with a universal 
 crash. They fell, and their fall involv- 
 ed the Messrs. Brown. The latter, 
 though bruised, were not crushed. 
 American commerce was at that time a 
 towering pile in course of erection — 
 bank credit was the scaffolding. It 
 fell ; and the Browns were not far from 
 being smothered in the rubbish. Had 
 they possessed less than the strength of 
 giants, they could not have extricated 
 themselves — and, giants though they 
 were, they would have struggled in 
 vain, had not a powerful hand assisted 
 them. The British government saw, 
 and looked with apprehension as it 
 saw, the struggles of this colossal mer- 
 cantile house. From Inverness to Pen- 
 zance, there was not a single town but 
 would have felt its fall. In Sheffield 
 and Birmingham, and the towns sur- 
 
168 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 rounding them, and in Manchester, 
 Leeds, and all the great factory com- 
 munities, a large number of the mer- 
 chants and employers — and, as a matter 
 of course, every man and woman em- 
 ployed — were more or less involved in 
 the fate of this establishment. The 
 government of that day saw the immi- 
 nent peril, and so did the directors of 
 the Bank of England. The latter met, 
 and passed a resolution to give assist- 
 ance to the extent of some two million 
 pounds to Mr. Brown ; the exact sum 
 which he was authorized to draw — a 
 loan of money, to a single individual, 
 unparalleled in the history of the world, 
 unless it be the case of George Peabody 
 — was one million and nine hundred 
 and fifty-nine thousand pounds, or 
 nearly ten million dollars. Of this 
 loan, Mr. Brown took advantage to the 
 extent of between eight and nine hun- 
 dred thousand pounds, which he after- 
 ward repaid, besides clearing up all 
 other embarrassments, and ultimately 
 possessing one of the greatest personal 
 fortunes ever accumulated in the world. 
 The solid romance of this page in the 
 history of so world-renowned a firm is 
 rarely surpassed in interest. 
 
 Wealthy Men of Cincinnati. 
 
 There is a man doing business on 
 Main street, Cincinnati, who was re- 
 fused credit in 1850 for a stove worth 
 twelve dollars. He is now a director in 
 one of the banks, and is worth $150,000, 
 every cent of which has been made in 
 Cincinnati during that period. There 
 is another business man on the same 
 street, who was refused credit in 1850, 
 by a firm in the- drug line for the 
 amount of five dollars; eight years 
 after, the same firm lent that very man 
 five thousand dollars upon his endorsed 
 note. An extensive dealer in Cincin- 
 nati, now worth $100,000, and who, it 
 is said, can command more money on 
 short notice for sixty, ninety, or one 
 hundred and twenty days, than almost 
 
 any man in Cincinnati, went to a gro- 
 cery store in 1850 to purchase a hogs- 
 head of sugar ; it was sold to him with 
 many misgivings as to getting the pay 
 when it became due. A man whose 
 credit in 1850 was such that when 
 trusted by a clerk for a keg of salt- 
 petre, the employer remarked that it 
 might as well have been rolled into the 
 Ohio, was worth, in 1857, $100,000, 
 again a bankrupt in 1860, and now 
 worth $20,000. A man, now good for 
 $300,000, was ten years ago exhibiting 
 a monkey in the streets of the city, for 
 a living. Another heavy business man, 
 a bank director, sold apples in a basket 
 when a boy, through the streets. One 
 of the first merchants in the place, in 
 1845, and who could at that time have 
 bought entire blocks of houses on cred- 
 it, and who was a bank director, subse- 
 quently died intemperate and insolvent. 
 Another, who in 1837 was rated at half 
 a million of dollars, has since died, leav- 
 ing his estate insolvent. 
 
 Heverses of Mercantile Fortune. 
 
 The array of agents, brokers, book- 
 keepers, and decayed gentlemen, who 
 were but lately numbered among the 
 merchants, bankers, and ship owners 
 of New York, is quite a moving specta- 
 cle. Thus A. B , for thirty years 
 
 connected with trade, during most of 
 which period he was a leading member 
 
 of the great cloth house of , has 
 
 been worth $200,000, but is now a 
 bookkeeper for a concern in John 
 ^t^eet. J. S. has been forty years in 
 trade, and was considered successful 
 beyond all liability to future risk, being 
 for many years ranked among the rich 
 men of the street, failed, and is now 
 
 poor. B and M., princes in the 
 
 dry goods line, built two palatial stores 
 in Broadway, and have been immensely 
 rich, but after battling honorably with 
 adverse fortune, failed. J. R , a re- 
 tired merchant, estimated at $500,000, 
 holding at one time $50,000 in Dela- 
 
SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS QUALITIES. 
 
 169 
 
 ware and Hudson Canal stock, subse- 
 quently got involved and lost all. In- 
 stances like these might be multiplied 
 to any extent. 
 
 William Boscoe, the Poet Banker. 
 
 After Mr. Eoscoe had retired to pri- 
 vate life, he was earnestly solicited to 
 enter a banking house, the officers of 
 which desired the attention of a person 
 possessed of a great business capacity 
 and talent. He had already acted as 
 the confidential adviser of the house 
 when in difficulty, and had rendered it 
 valuable assistance. Yielding to the 
 earnest request of his friends, he became 
 a partner in said house, and for a time 
 devoted himself exclusively to its con- 
 cerns. Some seven years after, owing to 
 the demands of the time and the scarcity 
 of specie, the house was forced to sus- 
 pend. At his solicitation, the creditors 
 of the firm allowed them six years in 
 which to discharge their debts. Dur- 
 ing all this period Mr. Roscoe's labors 
 were unremitted. To meet their obli- 
 gations, however, the private property 
 of the members of the firm had to be 
 sold, and under the most unfavorable 
 circumstances. It was during this sea- 
 son of trial, that Mr. Roscoe wrote the 
 celebrated and immortal sonnet, so well 
 known to all who read the English lan- 
 guage, and so evincive of his resigna- 
 tion during trials so severe. 
 
 Chinese Merchant's Gratitude. 
 
 A MERCHANT resided many years, 
 highly respected, at Canton and Macao, 
 when a sudden reserve of fortune re- 
 duced him from a state of affluence to 
 the greatest necessity. 
 
 A Chinese merchant, to whom he had 
 formerly rendered service, gratefully 
 ofiered him an immediate loan of ten 
 thousand dollars, which the gentleman 
 accepted, and gave his bond for the 
 amount ; this the Chinese immediately 
 threw into the fire, saying, " When you, 
 
 my friend, first came to China, I was a 
 poor man. You took me by the hand, 
 and, assisting my honest endeavors, 
 made me rich. Our circumstances are 
 now reversed — I see you poor, while I 
 have affluence." 
 
 The bystanders had snatched the 
 bond from the flames ; and the mer- 
 chant, sensibly aficcted by such gen- 
 erosity, pressed his Chinese friend to 
 take the security, which he did, and 
 then effectually destroyed it. 
 
 But the disciple of Confucius, ob- 
 serving the renewed distress this act oc- 
 casioned the merchant, said he would 
 accept the latter's watch, or any littlo 
 valuable as a memorial of their friend- 
 ship. The merchant immediately pre- 
 sented his watch, and the Chinese, in 
 return, gave him an old iron seal, say- 
 ing : " Take this seal — it is one I have 
 long used, and possesses no intrinsic 
 value ; but as you are going to India, 
 to look after your outstanding con- 
 cerns, should misfortune further attend 
 you, di'aw upon me for any sum of 
 money you may stand in need of, seal 
 it with this signet, sign it with your 
 own hand, and I will pay the money." 
 
 Father Taylor and the Banker's Ex- 
 hortation. 
 
 An eminent banker fiV/m the West 
 End, Boston, once vibited Father Tay- 
 lor's church during a warm revival, and 
 somewhat varied the usual character of 
 the prayer meeting, by an address set- 
 ting forth the beneficence of the mer- 
 chant princes, the goodness of the Port 
 Society, and above all the duty of sea- 
 men to show their gratitude to the mer- 
 chants. He was somewhat taken aback 
 when Father Taylor arose, at the close 
 of this rather presumptuous exhorta- 
 tion, .and simply inquired, " Is there 
 any other old sinner from up-town that 
 would like to say a word ? " 
 
lYO 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 ** An Error in Shipping tlie Goods." 
 
 Toward the close of the Revolution- 
 ary war, the owners of the North 
 Church in New Haven, Ct., sent to a 
 Boston merchant for some nails, to 
 make repairs with, when one of the 
 kegs sent in return for the order was 
 found to contain Spanish silver dollars. 
 The deacons wrote to the merchant in 
 Boston, that there was " an error in ship- 
 ping the goods ;" but he answered that 
 the goods were sold as he bought them 
 of a privateersman, and " he couldn't 
 rectify mistakes." So the silver was 
 melted up into a service of plate for 
 the church, which is in use at the pres- 
 ent day. Had the deacons been less 
 shrewd, and stated the nature of the 
 " error " to the merchant, that service 
 of plato would never have turned up. 
 As it was, they realized the full benefit 
 of what is so much esteemed in busi- 
 correspondence — brevity. 
 
 however, he sent for a painter, and had 
 the following addition made to his an- 
 nouncement: "Nor at the window 
 either." 
 
 Persevering: Traders. 
 
 An old bachelor who resided in Brix- 
 ton, in order to prevent itinerant trad- 
 ers annoying him by knocking at his 
 door to dispose of their v/ares, affixed 
 to his knocker a label to this effect : 
 'The inhabitant of this house never 
 buys anything at the door— Hawkers, 
 beware ! " He was dreadfully annoyed 
 shortly after by a loud knock at the par- 
 lor window, from which he saw two fel- 
 lows with clothes-lines, mats, and pegs 
 to sell. Throwing uj) the sash in a 
 pretty considerable rage, he accosted 
 them thus : " Can you read ? " " Yes, 
 master," answered the hawker. " Then 
 don't you see a notice affixed to my 
 knocker, that I never buy anything at 
 the door ? " ". To be sure we do ; so 
 we thought we would make bold and 
 try to do a little something at the par- 
 lor window." The fellow's wit pacified 
 the old bachelor, who straightway (he 
 had a good vein in him, after all) made 
 a purchase. Immediately afterward, 
 
 Aptness and Nicety in Business Illus- 
 trated 
 
 On a certain Saturday night, the 
 clerks of the Bank of England could 
 not make the balance come out right 
 by just one hundred pounds. This is a 
 serious matter in that little establish- 
 ment — not the cash, but the mistake in 
 arithmetic ; for it necessitates a world 
 of scrutiny. An error in the balancing 
 has been known to keep a delegation 
 of clerks from each department at 
 work, sometimes, through the whole 
 night. A hue and cry, therefore, was 
 made after this one hundred pounds, 
 as if the old lady in Threadneedle street 
 would be in the Gazette, as an insol- 
 vent, for want of it. Luckily on the 
 Sunday morning following, the clerk — 
 in the middle of the sermon, perhaps, 
 if the truth were knowTi, — felt a suspi- 
 cion of the truth dart through his mind 
 quicker than any flash of the telegraph 
 itself. He told the chief cashier, on 
 Monday morning, that perhaps the mis- 
 take might have occurred in packing 
 some boxes of specie for the West In- 
 dies which had been sent to Southamp- 
 ton for shipment. The suggestion was 
 immediately acted upon. Here was a 
 race — lightning against steam, and 
 steam with eight and forty hours the 
 start given. Instantly the wires asked, 
 "whether such a vessel had left-, the 
 harbor?" "Just weighing anclfor," 
 was the reply. " Stop her ! " frantical- 
 ly shouted the telegraph. It was done. 
 " Have up on deck certain boxes mark- 
 ed so and so ; weigh them carefully." 
 They were weighed ; and one, the de- 
 linquent, was found heavier by just one 
 packet of a hundred sovereigns than it 
 ought to be." " Let her go," says the 
 mysterious telegraph. The West India 
 folks were debited with just one hun- 
 dred pounds more, and the error was 
 
A 
 
 SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS QUALITIES. 
 
 m 
 
 1.-W 
 
 corrected without even looking into 
 the boxes, or delaying the voyage an 
 hour. 
 
 European and American Modes of 
 Doing Business. 
 
 The loose and careless manner in 
 which business is done in this country 
 — at least in these latter days of hurry 
 and venture — as compared with the 
 practice among European merchants — 
 was a subject frequently commented 
 upon by the late John Bromfield, well 
 known as one of the "prince mer- 
 chants" of Boston. In his familiar 
 style, Mr. Bromfield used to say, 
 " Here, if a purchaser is about to buy 
 a cargo of box sugars, he will bore into 
 one box, look at a second, kick a third 
 — and take the lot ; but in Europe, they 
 thrust an iron searcher through and 
 through every box, and carefully exam- 
 ine every layer." 
 
 Minding One's Own Business. 
 
 " During my long commercial expe- 
 rience," says Girard, " I have noticed 
 that no advantage results from telling 
 one's business to others, except to create 
 jealousy or competitors when we are 
 fortunate, and to gratify our enemies 
 when otherwise." He was never known 
 to disregard this theory in all his pro- 
 tracted career as one of the greatest and 
 most successful of merchants. 
 
 Hon. Peter C. Brooks, of Boston, who 
 left one of the largest fortunes ever 
 amassed in this country, on being asked 
 what rule he would recommend to a 
 young man as most likely to ensure suc- 
 cess, answered: "Let him mind his 
 own business ;" and to a similar in- 
 quiry, it has been said that Robert 
 Lenox, of New York, well remembered 
 as one of the most distinguished mer- 
 chants ever known in that great city, 
 and for his wide hospitality, once an- 
 swered : " Let him be beforehand with 
 his business." One answer seems to in- 
 clude the other, as no man can be de- 
 
 forehand with his business, unless he 
 minds it unremittingly, instead of spend- 
 ing his time and wits in looking after 
 others. 
 
 John Jacob Aster's '* Highway to For- 
 tune." 
 
 " It's what thee'll spend, my son," 
 said a sage old Quaker, "not what 
 thee'll make, which will decide whether 
 thee's to be rich or not," — Franklin's 
 advice, only in another shape, " Take 
 care of the pennies, and the pounds 
 will take care of themselves." 
 
 John Jacob Astor used to say, that 
 a man who wishes to be rich and has 
 saved ten thousand dollars, has won 
 half the battle — is on the highway to 
 fortune. Not that Astor thought ten 
 thousand much. But he knew that in 
 making and saving such a sum, a man 
 acquired habits of prudent economy, 
 which would constantly keep him ad- 
 vancing in wealth. The habitual small 
 expenses, which are designated as 
 " only a trifle," amount, in the aggre- 
 gate, like the sands of the shore, to 
 something pretty serious. Ten cents a 
 day, even, is thirty-six dollars and a 
 half a year, and that is the interest on 
 a capital of six hundred dollars; so 
 that the man who saves ten cents a day 
 only, is so much richer than him who 
 does not, as if he owned a life estate in 
 a property worth six hundred dollars. 
 
 Gideon Lee carrsnug the liapstone. 
 
 In the year 1834, the memorable 
 panic year, a report was put in circula- 
 tion among the New York business 
 men, that the house of Gideon Lee, 
 long so eminent and stable, had failed. 
 In allusion to the report, Mr. Lee re- 
 marked : " I commenced business, when 
 poor, on credit ; I thrived by credit.; 
 and I hold it to be my duty to sacrifice 
 my property down to twenty shillings 
 in the pound, before that credit shall 
 be dishonored. / have carried the lap- 
 stone, and I can do it again ; but I will 
 
• 172 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 never sufler a promise of mine to be 
 broken, while I have a shilling left that 
 I can call my own." 
 
 Usurious Interest on Money— Peter C. 
 Brooks's Bule. 
 
 One of the undeviating principles 
 upon which Peter C. Brooks conducted 
 his great business was that of never, 
 either directly or indirectly, taking 
 more than legal interest. Had he been 
 willing to violate this rule, and that in 
 modes not condemned by the letter of 
 the law, nor by public opiDion, he 
 might easily have doubled his fortune. 
 But many considerations led him to 
 adopt and adhere to his rule on this 
 subject. It was contrary to law to 
 take more than legal interest, and he 
 held it to be eminently dangerous to 
 tamper with the duty of a good citizen, 
 and break the law, because he might 
 think the thing forbidden not morally 
 wrong. This consideration was entire- 
 ly irrespective of the fact, that at one 
 period, by the law of Massachusetts, the 
 contract was wholly violated by the 
 demand of usurious interest, and the 
 creditor placed in the debtor's power. 
 But after the mitigation of the law in 
 this respect, Mr. Brooks's practice re- 
 mained unaltered. He believed and 
 often said, that, in the long run, six per 
 cent, is as much as the bare use of 
 money is worth in this country ; that to 
 demand more was for the capitalist to 
 claim the benefit of the borrower's skill 
 in some particular business, or of his 
 courage and energy ; or else it was to 
 take advantage of his neighbor's need. 
 He frequently said that he would never 
 put it in the power of any one, in a re- 
 verse of fortune, to ascribe his ruin to 
 the payment of usurious interest to 
 him. On more than one occasion, 
 when some beneficial public object was 
 to be promoted, he lent large sums at 
 an interest below the legal and current 
 rate. 
 
 Benevolence of Shai-kingr-qua, a Chi- 
 nese Merchant. 
 
 An interesting instance of generosity 
 is given of a Chinese merchant, of the 
 name of Shai-king-qua, who had long 
 known a Mr. Anderson, an English 
 trader, and had large business transac- 
 tions with him. It appears that IVIr. 
 Anderson met with heavy losses, be- 
 came insolvent, and at the time, of his 
 failure owed his Chinese friend upward 
 of eighty thousand dollars. Mr. A. 
 wished to go to England, in the hope 
 of being able to retrieve his affairs ; he 
 called on the Hong merchant, and in 
 the utmost distress, explained his situa- 
 tion, his wishes, and his plans. The 
 Chinese listened with anxious atten- 
 tion, and having heard his story, thus 
 addressed him : 
 
 " My friend Anderson, you have been 
 very unfortunate ; you lose all — I very 
 sorry ; you go to England ; if you more 
 fortunate there, you come back and 
 pay ; but that you no forget Chinaman 
 friend, you take this, and when you 
 look on this, you will remember Shai- 
 king-qua." In saying these words, he 
 pulled out a valuable gold watch, and 
 gave it to Anderson. 
 
 Mr. Anderson took leave of his 
 friend, but he did not live to retrieve 
 his affairs, or to return to China. 
 When the account of his death, and 
 of the distress in which he had left his 
 family, reached Canton, the Hong mer- 
 chant called on one of the merchants 
 of the factory who was about to return 
 to Europe, and addressed him in the 
 following manner : " Poor Mr. Ander- 
 son dead! I very sorry; he good 
 man; he friend, and he leave two 
 childs ; they poor— they have nothing 
 —they childs of my friend ; you take 
 this for them; tell them Chinaman 
 friend send it ! " And he put into the 
 returning merchant's hands several 
 thousand dollars for Mr. A.'s children. 
 
SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS QUALITIES. 
 
 173 
 
 Money-getting Tact of Jews. 
 
 That the Jews are more successful 
 in money-getting than any other people 
 is a generally admitted fact. " As rich 
 as a Jew," is a proverb. How to ac- 
 count for it — to what cause to ascribe 
 it — has long been a puzzle. If the fol- 
 lowing be matter-of-fact, instead of ro- 
 mancing, it may be considered a partial 
 solution of the puzzle : " The politest 
 people in the world are not the French, 
 the English, the American, the Italian, 
 nor the German, but the Jewish. For 
 the Jews are maltreated, and reviled, 
 and despoiled of their civil privileges, 
 and their social rights ; yet are they 
 everywhere polite, affable, insinuating, 
 and condescending. They are remark- 
 able for their industry and persever- 
 ance ; . indulge in few or no recrimina- 
 tions ; are faithful to old associations ; 
 more respectful of the prejudices of 
 others than those are of theirs; not 
 more worldly-minded and money-lov- 
 ing than people generally are ; and, 
 everything considered, they surpass all 
 nations in courtesy, affability, and for- 
 bearance. Few persons excel in ad- 
 dress a bright and polished Jew. 
 There is no rusticity among that peo- 
 ple." Whether this representation be 
 correct or not, we scarcely know, as the 
 majority of the reputed Jews in this 
 country, especially those in the cloth- 
 ing trade, are a mongrel race. But it 
 is certain that much of business success 
 depends on courtesy. 
 
 V. 
 
 Sole dualiflcation of a Bill Broker. 
 
 An ancient writer on money affairs 
 compressed a good deal of shrewd 
 truth in his brief description of what 
 a bill broker should be : A bill broker 
 ought to be a man of honor, and know 
 his business ; he should avoid babbling, 
 and be prudent in his oflSce, which con- 
 sists in one sole point — to hear all and 
 my nothing ; so that he ought never to 
 speak of the negotiations transacted by 
 means of his intervention. 
 
 Peculiar Feature in Rothschild's Busi- 
 ness Character. 
 
 Rothschild's management of the 
 business of exchanges was one of the 
 most remarkable features in his char- 
 acter. He never hesitated for a moment 
 in fixing a rate either as a drawer or pur- 
 chaser of a foreign bill of exchange on 
 any part of the world ; and his memory 
 was so retentive, that, notwithstanding 
 the multifarious and immense transac- 
 tions into which he entered on every 
 foreign post-day on the Exchange, he 
 never took a memorandum of them, 
 but, on his return to his office, could 
 dictate to his clerks the whole of the 
 bargains he had made, with the various 
 rates of exchange, and the names of the 
 several parties with whom he had dealt, 
 with the most perfect exactness. 
 
 Commercial Fortune of a Peer. 
 
 One of the most popular members 
 of the British House of Lords is said to 
 have purchased his peerage with a mil- 
 lion of dollars in gold. One of the 
 methods by which that mercantile 
 house, of which he was the leading 
 member, amassed the large fortune 
 which they now enjoy, was this : they 
 saw that the stock of a certain article, 
 necessary for culinary purposes, was 
 becoming scarce, and that the supply 
 would be limited ; they forthwith sent 
 orders and agents to buy up that parti- 
 cular article, and thus swejjt the mar- 
 ket. The demand for the article in- 
 creased — as is usual— in proportion to 
 its scarcity, the rice went up, and the 
 house cleared within one week, at the 
 expense of tens of thousands of con- 
 sumers in very humble circumstances, 
 hundreds of thousands of dollars. 
 
 Half-a-Million Profit by One of Gi- 
 rard's Operations. 
 
 In the year 1813, an interesting cir- 
 cumstance occurred in the business 
 operations of Girard, through his bank, 
 by which he accomplished an enter- 
 
174 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 prise of great importance to the city of 
 Philadelphia, by the increase of its 
 trade, as well as to his own funds in 
 its profits, besides the advantages which 
 were furnished to the Government by 
 the duties which accrued to the nation- 
 al treasury. It happened that his ship, 
 the Montesquieu, was captured at the 
 mouth of the Delaware river, as was 
 alleged, by a British frigate, and as 
 this vessel had an invoice cargo of two 
 hundred thousand dollars — consisting 
 of teas, nankeens and silks — from Can- 
 ton, it was determined by the captors, 
 in preference to the hazard of being re- 
 captured by an American ship in any 
 attempt to carry their prize to a British 
 port, to send a flag of truce to Mr. Gi- 
 rard, in order to give him the offer of a 
 ransom. Applying to his well-stored 
 vaults, the banker drew from them the 
 sum of ninety-three thousand dollars in 
 doubloons, which was transmitted to 
 the British commander, and his vessel 
 was soon seen coming into port with 
 her rich cargo, — and which, notwith- 
 standing the price of the ransom, is 
 supposed, by the advanced value of 
 every article on board, to have added 
 a half a million of dollars to his for- 
 tune. 
 
 American Merchants of the Olden Time 
 —Joseph Peahody. 
 
 Joseph Peabody, of Salem, Mass., a 
 name known wherever American com- 
 mercial enterprise has been heard of, 
 built and owned eighty-three ahips^ 
 which, in every instance, he freighted 
 himself; and for the navigation of 
 which he shipped, at different times, 
 upward of seven thousand seamen. From 
 the year 1811, he had advanced thirty- 
 five to the rank of shipmaster, who en- 
 tered his employ as boys. He had per- 
 formed by these vessels the following 
 voyages, viz. : to Calcutta, thirty-eight ; 
 Canton, seventeen ; Sumatra, thirty- 
 two ; St. Petersburg, forty-seven ; 
 other ports in the north of Europe, 
 ten ; the Mediterranean, twenty, before 
 
 the war of 1812. The voyages per- 
 formed by his vessels to the West In- 
 dies, Spanish Main, and along our wide 
 extended coast, are unnumbered. The 
 aggregate of his annual state, county, 
 and city taxes paid into the treasury, 
 amounted to about two hundred thou- 
 sand dollars. A business of such vast 
 magnitude and enterprise has rarely, 
 for so long a period, been conducted by 
 the energy and industry of £\n indi- 
 vidual. 
 
 Gresham's Fortunate Letter. 
 
 Thomas Gresham, as is recorded in 
 history, was one of the first English 
 merchants that traded to the East 
 Indies; and, having fitted out several 
 ships, he miscalculated the time at 
 which they would return — a circum- 
 stance that caused him much embar- 
 rassment. He, however, soon recovered 
 from this temporary disquietude. One 
 day, while despondingly walking about 
 the Bourse, or Exchange, which then 
 had its location in Lombard street, a 
 sailor came up and presented him with 
 a letter from the captain of one of his 
 ships, which contained j;he gratifying 
 information that two of his ships had 
 arrived safe from the East Indies ; and 
 that the box, which the bearer would 
 deliver, contained some diamonds and 
 pearls of great value, as a sample of the 
 immense riches the ships had brought 
 home. This peculiar and somewhat 
 romantic incident is said to be an ex- 
 planation of the statue of Gresham, in 
 the old Royal Exchange of London, 
 which represents him as holding an 
 open letter in his hand. 
 
 Private Mercantile Finances and 
 
 Royal Fleets. 
 A SINGLE merchant secured Queen 
 Elizabeth against all the danger with 
 which she was threatened by the soi- 
 disant invincible armada of Spain. 
 When the queen was apprised of the 
 designs of Spain, she had no ships ca- 
 
SIE THOMAS GllESHAM^S FORTUNATE LETTER. 
 
C • r „ c 
 
SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS QUALITIES. 
 
 175 
 
 pable of being opposed to tlie Spanisli 
 fleet ; as a part of those which were 
 lying in the ports and docks could only 
 be used after twelve mouths. Mr. 
 Thomas Sutton, however, the distin- 
 guished merchant who founded the 
 Charter House, being well acquainted 
 with the state of the French finances, 
 knew that the Spanish fleet could not 
 set sail, but through the medium of bills 
 which were to be drawn upon the Ge- 
 noese Bank. He therefore conceived 
 the idea of buying up all the paper or 
 bills that could be met with in every 
 commercial town in Europe, and to 
 deposit them in the Bank of Genoa, 
 that by his large remittances he might 
 have that bank so in his power, as to 
 incapacitate it, whenever he chose, from 
 giving any aid to the Spaniards. Being 
 well aware that it only required to let 
 those remittances remain at Genoa, un- 
 til the season should obstruct the sail- 
 ing of the fleet, he calculated that these 
 exchange operations would cost about 
 forty tljousand pounds sterling, and he 
 proposed to the queen to extricate her 
 at this price from the dilemma. The 
 proposal was accepted, and carried into 
 efibct with so much secresy, that Phil- 
 ip's hands were tied, and he could not 
 send out the fleet until the following- 
 year. 
 
 ♦ 
 
 Poxtugruese Pilgrim in the Streets of 
 Venice. 
 
 Ox a morning of summer, in the year 
 1498, a poor Portuguese pilgrim, clothed 
 in rags, and who had wandered on foot 
 from his native hills, appeared in the 
 streets of Venice, and announced to its 
 citizens that one of those daring naviga- 
 tors sent out by his king, had doubled 
 the Cape of Storms, and discovered a new 
 route to India. He was surrounded and 
 eagerly questioned by a throng of prin- 
 ces, merchants, and artizans. His an- 
 swers struck terror in every heart. They 
 saw at once that the partition wall of 
 their commercial monopoly was broken 
 down ; they saw the lucrative trade of 
 
 the east transferred frcm the Lagoon to 
 Lisbon and the Tagus ; they saw that 
 the rich merchandise which they gath- 
 ered and dispersed throughout Europe, 
 was destined to pass through other 
 hands ; they saw their ships rotting in 
 their docks, and their sailors wander- 
 ing idly about the streets ; they heard 
 the last motion of those looms which 
 had produced the choice silken and 
 woollen fabrics in which the nobles 
 of Europe clothed themselves ; in a 
 word, they rightly fancied they saw 
 the destruction of that commerce 
 whence came all their wealth, their 
 luxury, and their pride ; that com- 
 merce which had sent forth with the 
 third army of the Crusaders, two hun- 
 dred ships, and with the fourth, five 
 hundred ; that commerce whose migh- 
 ty "pulsations had been felt at the far- 
 thest extremities of the earth. Here 
 was the remote, but the chief cause of 
 the Commercial Fall of Venice ! 
 
 Shopkeepers and "Warriors. 
 
 When Napoleon applied to England 
 the contemptuous epithet of a " nation 
 of shopkeepers," he paid her a higher 
 compliment than he intended ; it was 
 an unintentional tribute to the power 
 she had acquired by trade, an extorted 
 homage to that commercial policy by 
 which her merchants had become the 
 arbiters of Europe — of those elements 
 of strength which the shopkeepers of 
 the Royal Exchange and Threadneedle 
 street had furnished to her rulers, by 
 which she alone was enabled to pre- 
 scribe boundaries to the ambition of 
 the great Captain, and say to the migh- 
 ty wave of Gallic usuqjation, " Thus 
 far shalt thou go, and no farther." 
 Military prowess was held in check by 
 mercantile combinations, and the shop- 
 keepers proved an overmatch for the 
 warrior. 
 
176 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 Murdered Merchant Watclied by his 
 Dog-. 
 An account, well attested, is related 
 of two French merchants, who were 
 travelling to a fair, and, while passing 
 through a wood, one of them murdered 
 the other, and robbed him of his money. 
 After burying him, so as to prevent dis- 
 covery, he proceeded on his journey. 
 The dog of the person remained, how- 
 ever, by the grave of his master ; and, 
 by his long and continued howling, 
 attracted the notice of several persons 
 in the neighborhood, who, by this 
 means, discovered the murder. The 
 fair being ended, they watched the re- 
 turn of the merchant. The murderer 
 no sooner appeared in view, than the 
 dog sprung furiously upon him. He 
 was apprehended, confessed the crime, 
 and was executed. The kindness of 
 the merchant had secured even the at- 
 tachment of his dog to such a degree, 
 that not even death could sunder the 
 noble animal from the loved form of 
 his master. 
 
 Agred Merchant Saved from Eobbery 
 by the Weather. 
 
 An aged merchant was one day re- 
 turning from market. He was on 
 horseback, and behind him was a valise 
 filled with money. The rain began to 
 fall with violence, and the good old 
 man was soon wet to his skin. At this 
 he was vexed, and indulged in some 
 pretty audible murmurings that the 
 weather should prove so bad while he 
 was journeying. 
 
 He soon reached the borders of a 
 thick forest. What was his terror on 
 beholding, on one side of the road, a 
 robber, with leveled gun, aiming at 
 him and attempting to fire ! But the 
 powder being wet by the rain, the gun 
 did not go off, and the merchant, giv- 
 ing spurs to his horse, fortunately had 
 time to escape. 
 
 As soon as he found himself safe, he 
 said to himself, " How wrong was I, 
 not to endure the rain patiently, as sent 
 
 by Providence. If the weather had 
 been dry and fair, I should not, proba- 
 bly, have been alive at this hour, and 
 my children would have expected my 
 return in vain. The rain which caused 
 me to murmur, came at a fortunate mo- 
 ment to save my life and preserve my 
 property." It is almost needless to 
 add, that thereafter the good merchant 
 made the best of the weather, which- 
 ever way it turned up, indorsing with 
 a good will the old adage, that it is an 
 ill wind indeed that blows no good to 
 80ine one. 
 
 English Merchant and Spanish Beggar. 
 It is related that an English mer- 
 chant in the neighborhood of Madrid, 
 having no money in his pocket, gener- 
 ously gave a handful of choice cigars 
 to a beggar who approached him : the 
 poorest Spaniard will be more gratified 
 with a cigar than with money, so far as 
 his personal feelings are concerned, as 
 it is a compliment. Three years after- 
 ward, this merchant was seized iiear his 
 country house by a band of robbers. 
 While they were settling his ransom 
 they were joined by an absent comrade, 
 who instantly dismounted, and, ap- 
 proaching the Englishman, whom he 
 had at once recognized, saluted him, 
 and asked if he did not remember hav- 
 ing given, at such a place and time, a 
 handful of cigars to a beggar; then, 
 turning to his comrades, he said, " This 
 is my benefactor — whoever lays a hand 
 on him lays it on me." 
 
 Good Word for Girard. 
 
 One of the most ingenious and plau- 
 sible estimates of Mr. Girard's character 
 as a business man — and the most favor- 
 able — which has ever appeared, is that 
 uttered by Mr. Everett: He told me 
 himself (says Mr. E.), that at the age 
 of forty, his circumstances were so nar- 
 row, that he was employed as the com- 
 mander of his own sloop, engaged in 
 the coasting trade between New York 
 
SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS QUALITIES. 
 
 177 
 
 or Philadelphia and New Orleans; 
 adding that on a certain occasion he 
 was forty-five days in working his way 
 up from the Balize to the city. Few 
 persons enjoyed less personal popularity 
 in the community in which he lived, 
 and to which he bequeathed his prince- 
 ly fortune. If this proceeded from de- 
 fects of personal character, it is a topic 
 to be discussed only in its proper place. 
 Of the effect upon the public welfare of 
 the community of such a fortune in 
 one's hands, freedom of speech may of 
 course be indulged in. While I am far 
 from saying that it might not have 
 been abused by being made the instru- 
 ment of a corrupt and dangerous influ- 
 ence in the community, I have never 
 heard that it was so abused by Mr. 
 Girard ; and, on general principles, it 
 may perhaps be safely said, that the 
 class of men qualified to amass large 
 fortunes by perseverance and exclusive 
 dedication to business, by frugality and 
 thrift, are not at all likely to apply this 
 wealth to ambitious or corrupt designs. 
 As to the effect in all other points of 
 view, I confess I see nothing but public 
 benefit in such capital, managed with 
 unrelaxing economy ; one-half judi- 
 ciously employed by the proprietor 
 himself in commerce — the other half 
 loaned to the business community. 
 What better use could have been made 
 of it ? Will it be said, divide it equal- 
 ly among the community; give each 
 individual in the United States a 
 share ? It would have amounted to 
 half a dollar each for man, woman, and 
 child; and, of course, might as well 
 have been sunk in the middle of the 
 sea. Such a distribution would have 
 been another name for annihilation. 
 How many ships would have furled 
 their sails, how many warehouses would 
 have closed their shutters, how many 
 wheels, heavily laden with the products 
 of industry, would have stood still, how 
 many families would have been reduced 
 to want, and without any advantage 
 resulting from distribution ? 
 12 
 
 In a country like this, where the laws 
 forbid hereditary transmission, and en- 
 courage equality of fortune, accumula- 
 tions of capital, made by industry, en- 
 terprise, and prudence, and employed 
 in active investments, without minis- 
 tering to extravagance and luxury, are 
 beneficial to the public. Their posses- 
 sor becomes, whether he wills it or not, 
 the steward of others ; not merely, as 
 in Mr. Girard's case, because he may 
 destine a colossal fortune after his de- 
 cease for public objects, but because, 
 while he lives, every dollar of it must 
 be employed in giving life to industry 
 and employment to labor. 
 
 Had Mr. Girard lived in a fashion- 
 able part of the city, in a magnificent 
 house; had he dazzled the passer-by 
 with his splendid equipages, and spread 
 a sumptuous table for his " dear five 
 hundred friends," he would no doubt 
 have been a more popular man. But 
 in my apprehension he appears to far 
 greater advantage, as a citizen and a 
 patriot, in his modest dwelling and 
 plain garb; appropriating to his per- 
 sonal wants the smallest pittance from 
 his princely income ; living to the last 
 in the dark and narrow street in which 
 he made his fortune, and, when he died, 
 bequeathing it for the education of or- 
 phan children. For the public, I do 
 not know that he could have done bet- 
 ter : of all men in the world, he proba- 
 bly derived the least enjoyment from 
 his property himself. 
 
 The Banker's Seven-Shilling: Piece. 
 
 It was during one of the great na- 
 tional panics, that a gentleman — who 
 may be called Mr. Thompson — was 
 seated, with something of a melancholy 
 look, in his dreary back room, watch- 
 ing his clerks pay away thousands of 
 pounds hourly. Thompson was a bank- 
 er of excellent credit — there existed, 
 perhaps, in the city of London, no safer 
 concern than that of Messrs. Thomp- 
 son & Co. : but at a moment like the 
 
178^ 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 one referred to, no rational reflection 
 was admitted, no former stability was 
 looked to. A general distrust was felt, 
 and every one rushed to his banker's to 
 withdraw his hoard, fearing that the 
 next instant would be too late — forget- 
 ting entirely that this step was that of 
 all others most likely to insure the ruin 
 that was sought to be avoided. The 
 wealthy citizen named sat gloomily 
 watching the outpouring of his gold, 
 and with a grim smile listening to the 
 <^lamorous demands on his cashier; 
 /or although he felt perfectly easy and 
 secure as to the ultimate strength of his 
 resources, yet he could not altogether 
 suppress a feeling of bitterness as he 
 saw constituent after constituent rush 
 in, and those whom he fondly imagined 
 to be his dearest friends eagerly assist- 
 ing in the run upon his strong box. 
 
 Presently the door opened, and a 
 stranger was ushered in, who, after gaz- 
 ing for a moment at the bewildered 
 banker, coolly drew a chair, and ab- 
 ruptly addressed him : 
 
 " You will pardon me, sir, for asking 
 a strange question, but I am a plain 
 man, and like to come straight to the 
 point." 
 
 " Well, sir," impatiently interrupted 
 the other. 
 
 " I have heard that you have a run 
 on your bank, sir." 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 " Is it— true ? " 
 
 " Really, sir, I must decline to reply 
 to your most extraordinary query. If, 
 however, you have any money in the 
 bank, you had better at once draw it 
 out, and so satisfy yourself; our cashier 
 will instantly pay you," — and the bank- 
 er rose, as a hint to the stranger to 
 withdraw. 
 
 "Far from it, sir; I have not one 
 sixpence in your hands." 
 
 " Then may I ask what is your busi- 
 ness here ? " 
 
 " I vrish to know if a small sum 
 would aid you at tliis moment ? " 
 
 " Why do you ask the question ? " 
 
 " Because if it would, I would gladly 
 pay in a small deposit." 
 
 The money dealer started. 
 
 "You seem surprised; you don't 
 know my person or my motive. I'll at 
 once explain. Do you recollect some 
 twenty years ago when you resided in 
 Essex ? " 
 
 " Perfectly." 
 
 " Well, then, sir, perhaps you have 
 not forgotten the turnpike gate through 
 which you passed daily ? My father 
 kept that gate, and was often honored 
 by a few minutes' talk with you. One 
 Christmas morning, my father was sick, 
 and I attended the toll bar. On that 
 day you passed through, and I opened 
 the gate for you. Do you recollect it, 
 sir?" 
 
 " Not I, my friend." 
 
 "No, sir; few such men remember 
 their kind deeds, but those who are 
 benefited by them ought not to forget 
 them. I am perhaps prolix ; listen, 
 however, only a few moments, and I 
 have done." 
 
 The great banker had become inter- 
 ested, and at once assented. 
 
 " Well, sir, as I said before, I threw 
 open the gate for you, as I considered 
 myself in duty bound — I wished you 
 * a happy Christmas.' ' Thank you, my 
 lad,' replied you — ' thank you ; and the 
 same to you ; here is a trifle to make it 
 so," and you threw me a seven-shilling 
 piece. It was the first money I ever 
 possessed, and never shall I forget my 
 joy at receiving it, nor your kind smile 
 in bestowing it. I long treasured it, 
 and as I grew up, added a little to it, 
 till I was able to rent a toll myself. 
 You left that part of the country, and I 
 lost sight of you. Yearly, however, I 
 have been getting on; your present 
 brought good fortune with it ; I am 
 now comparatively rich, and to you I 
 consider that I owe all. So this morn- 
 ing, hearing accidentally that there was 
 a run on your bank, I gathered all my 
 capital, and brought it to lodge with 
 you, in case it can be of any use ; here 
 
SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS QUALITIES. 
 
 179 
 
 it is — " and he handed a bundle of 
 bank notes to the agitated Thompson ; 
 "in a few days I will call again." 
 Snatching up his hat, and throwing 
 down his card, he walked out of the 
 room. 
 
 Thompson undid the roll— it con- 
 tained thirty thousand pounds ! The 
 stern-hearted banker — for all bankers 
 must be stern — burst into tears. The 
 firm did not require this prop ; but the 
 motive was so noble, that even a mil- 
 lionnaire sobbed ; he could not help it. 
 This house is still one of the first in 
 London. 
 
 The thirty thousand pounds of the 
 turnpike boy has now grown into some 
 two hundred thousand pounds. For- 
 tune has well disposed of her gifts. 
 
 Commencing: with Three Tobacco 
 Boxes— Jacob Barker. 
 
 Jacob Barker's disposition for com- 
 mercial pursuits manifested itself at a 
 very early period — ^his first essay in this 
 line being with three tobacco boxes. 
 The history of the tobacco boxes was 
 this : Mr. Barker was, as a relaxation 
 from the fatigues of attending store and 
 other matters for his brother James, 
 permitted to go as cabin boy in his 
 packet to New York and Boston two 
 or three times a year. On one occa- 
 sion, the passengers presented him with 
 thirty-one cents. This he invested in 
 Boston in three iron tobacco boxes, and 
 took them to Nantucket, where he sold 
 two of them for a penny apiece profit ; 
 the other got a little rusty, and was 
 sold at first cost. When at Nantucket, 
 forty years after this, he met a poor old 
 man hobbling along with the aid of a 
 staff", who abruptly observed, " Jacob, 
 will you take a piece of tobacco ? " at 
 the same time presenting the box. 
 Jacob replied, " No, I thank you, I do 
 not use tobacco in that way," — when 
 the old man said, " Do you know that 
 box?" This brought its sale to the 
 recollection of Jacob, who seizing his 
 hand, said, "Is this you, Mr. Ellis? 
 
 How do you do ? I am glad to see 
 you looking so well after so long a 
 period." 
 
 "Washing-ton as a Business Man. 
 
 At the age of thirteen, Washington 
 studied the intricate forms of business 
 with great ardor. He copied out bills 
 of exchange, notes of hand, bills of sale, 
 receipts, and all the varieties of that 
 class — all being remarkable for the pre- 
 cision and elegance with which they 
 were executed. His manuscripts, even 
 then, were of the utmost neatness and 
 uniformity, the diagrams always beauti- 
 ful, the columns and tables of figures 
 exact ; and all in unstained and unblot- 
 ted order. His business papers, ledg- 
 ers, and daybooks, in which no one 
 wrote but himself, were models of exact- 
 ness. Every fact had its place, and 
 was recorded in a plain, clear hand- 
 writing, and there was neither inter- 
 lineation, blot, or blemish. One of his 
 rules, at this immature age, was, " Let 
 your discourse with men of business be 
 short and comprehensive." 
 
 From 1759 to 1764, Washington was, 
 in some measure, an active merchant ; 
 for, in that calmest period of his event- 
 ful life, he regularly exported to Lon- 
 don the product of his large estate on 
 the Potomac. The shipments were 
 made in his own name, and to his cor- 
 respondents in Bristol and Liverpool, 
 to which places his tobacco was con- 
 signed. In return for the articles ex- 
 ported, it was his custom, twice in each 
 year, to import from London the goods 
 which he desired to use ; and as an in- 
 stance of the accurateness with which 
 he conducted his commercial transac- 
 tions as an importer, it is stated that 
 he required his agent to send him, in 
 addition to a general bill of the whole, 
 the original vouchers of the shopkeep- 
 ers and mechanics, from whom pur- 
 chases had been made. So particular 
 was he in these concerns, that he 
 recorded, with his own hand, in books 
 
180 
 
 COMMERCIAL AXD BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 prepared for the purpose, all tlie long 
 lists of orders, and copies of the multi- 
 farious receipts from the different mer- 
 chants and tradesmen who had sup- 
 plied the goods. In this way he kept 
 a perfect oversight of the business ; 
 ascertained the prices; could detect 
 any imposition, mismanagement, or 
 carelessness, and tell when any advan- 
 tage was taken of him — of which, if he 
 discovered any, he did not fail to re- 
 mind his correspondents. 
 
 Present Prosperity of the Rothscliilds. 
 
 He who does not delay for casual- 
 ties, and has knowledge enough to per- 
 ceive that in all great affairs the success 
 not only depends on the choice and use 
 of the most favorable moment, but eape- 
 cially on the pursuit of an acknowledged 
 fundamental maxim^ has the two prin- 
 ciples which are never neglected by 
 this banking house, and to which — be- 
 sides to a prudent performance of its 
 business and to advantageous conjunc- 
 tures — it owes the greatest part of its 
 present wealth and renown. 
 
 The first of these principles was that 
 which caused the five brothers to carry 
 on their business in a perpetual and un- 
 interrupted communion. This was the 
 golden rule bequeathed to them by 
 their dying father. Since his death, 
 every proposition, let it come from 
 whom it may, is the object of their 
 common deliberations. Every impor- 
 tant undertaking was carried on by a 
 combined effort, after a plan agreed 
 upon, and all had an equal share in the 
 result. Though for several years their 
 customary residences, being in the 
 great capitals of Europe, were very 
 remote, this circumstance could never 
 interrupt their harmony ; it rather 
 gave them this advantage, that they 
 were always perfectly well instructed 
 as to the condition of things in every 
 metropolis, and thus each of them, on 
 his part, could the better prepare and 
 initiate the affairs to be undertaken by 
 
 the firm. The second principle in per- 
 petual view of this house is, not to seek 
 an excessive profit in any undertaking ; 
 to assign certain limits — though, of 
 course, proportioned to their vast means 
 — to every enterprise ; and, as much as 
 human caution and prudence will per- 
 mit, to make themselves independent 
 of the play of accidents. 
 
 Mr. Everett and the Hindoo Merchant. 
 
 The far-reaching influence which 
 American commercial enterprise has 
 abroad, is illustrated by the follow- 
 ing anecdote told by Mr. Everett : 
 "When I had the honor to represent 
 the country at London," says Mr. E., " I 
 was a little struck one day, at the royal 
 drawingroom, to see the President of 
 the Board of Control (the board charg- 
 ed with the supervision of the Govern- 
 ment of India) approaching me with a 
 stranger, at that time much talked of 
 in London — the Babu Dwarkananth 
 Tagore. This person, who is now liv- 
 ing, was a Hindoo of great wealth, 
 liberality, and intelligence. He was 
 dressed with oriental magnificence — he 
 had on his head, by way of turban, a 
 rich Cashmere shawl, held together by 
 a large diamond brooch ; another Cash- 
 mere around his body ; his countenance 
 and manners were those of a highly in- 
 telligent and remarkable person, as he 
 was. After the ceremony of introduc- 
 tion was over, he said he wished to 
 make his acknowledgments to me, as 
 the American minister, for the benefits 
 which my countrymen had conferred 
 upon his countrymen. I did not at 
 first know what he referred to ; I 
 thought he might have in view the 
 mission schools, knowing, as I did, 
 that he himself had done a great deal 
 for education. He immediately said 
 that he referred to the cargoes of ice 
 sent from America to India, conducing 
 not only to comfort but health. He 
 asked me if I knew from what part of 
 America it came. It gave me great 
 
SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS QUALITIES. 
 
 181 
 
 pleasure to tell him that I lived, when 
 at home, within a short distance of the 
 spot from which it was brought." 
 
 Earliest American Whaleship in Eng- 
 land. 
 
 The following interesting scrap is 
 from Barnerd's History of England: 
 " 1783. On the third of February, the 
 ship Bedford, Capt. Moores, belonging 
 to Massachusetts, arrived in the Downs, 
 passed Gravesend on the 4th, and was 
 reported at the custom house on the 
 6th. She was not allowed regular en- 
 try until some consultation had taken 
 place between the commissioners of the 
 custom house and the lords of the coun- 
 cil, on account of the many acts of par- 
 liament yet in force against the rebels 
 of America. She was loaded with five 
 hundred and eighty-seven butts of 
 whale oil, manned wholly with Amer- 
 ican seamen, and belonged to the island 
 of Nantucket, Mass. The vessel lay at 
 the Horsley Down, a little below the 
 river, and was the first which displayed 
 the stars and stripes in any British 
 port." 
 
 Explaining- his Business. 
 
 There is an ancient volume of 
 " Saxon Dialogues," preserved in the 
 British Museum, in which the mer- 
 chant, as one of the characters intro- 
 duced, gives the why and wherefore of 
 his occupation : 
 
 " I say that I am useful to the king, 
 and to aldermen, and to the rich, and to 
 all people. I ascend my ship with my 
 merchandise, and sail over the sea-like 
 places, and sell my things, and buy 
 dear things which are not produced in 
 this land, and I bring them to you 
 here, with great danger over the sea ; 
 and sometimes I suffer shipwreck, with 
 the loss of all my things, scarcely escap- 
 ing myself." He is then asked, " What 
 do you bring to us ?" to which he an- 
 swers, " Skins, silks, costly gems, and 
 gold ; various garments, pigment, wine, 
 
 oil, ivory ; brass, copper and tin, silver, 
 glass, and such like." 
 
 The principle of all commercial deal- 
 ings is distinctly enough stated in the 
 answer to the next question : " Will 
 you sell your things here as you bought 
 them there?" "I will not; because 
 what would my labor benefit me? I 
 will sell them here dearer than I bought 
 them there, that I may get some profit 
 to feed me, my wife, and children." 
 
 Aztec Merchants. 
 
 The Aztec merchant was a sort of 
 itinerant trader, who made his jour- 
 neys to the remotest borders of Ana- 
 huac, and to the countries beyond, 
 carrying with him merchandise of rich 
 stuffs, jewelry, slaves, and other valu- 
 able ' commodities.' 
 
 With this rich freight the merchant 
 visited the different provinces, always 
 bearing some present of value from his 
 own sovereign to their chiefs, and usu- 
 ally receiving others in return, with a 
 permission to trade. Should this be 
 denied him, or should he meet with in- 
 dignity or violence, he had the means 
 of resistance in his power. He per- 
 formed his journeys with a number of 
 companions of his own rank, and a 
 large body of inferior attendants, who 
 were employed to transport the goods. 
 The whole caravan went armed, and so 
 well provided against sudden hostili- 
 ties, that they could make good their 
 defence, if necessary, till reinforced from 
 home. 
 
 It was not unusual for government 
 to allow the merchants to raise levies 
 themselves, for warlike purposes, and 
 which were placed under their com- 
 mand. It was, moreover, very common 
 for the prince to employ the merchants 
 as a sort of spies, to furnish him in- 
 formation of the state of the country 
 through which they passed, and the 
 disposition of the inhabitants toward 
 himself. 
 
 Thus their sphere of action was much 
 
182 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 enlarged beyond that of a humble tra- 
 der, and they acquired a high consider- 
 ation in the body politic. They were 
 allowed to assume insignia and devices 
 of their own. Some of their number 
 composed what is called by the Span- 
 ish writers a council of finance. They 
 were much consulted by the monarch, 
 •who had some of them constantly near 
 his person, addressing them by the title 
 of " uncle." 
 
 ScTirces of "Wealth of the Medici Mer- 
 chants. 
 
 The two brothers, Lorenzo and Cos- 
 mo de Medici, were in conjunction in 
 their great mercantile affairs, until the 
 death of the former, when his propor- 
 tion of the riches they obtained, amount- 
 ing to hundreds of thousands of florins, 
 •was inherited by his son Pier Francesco 
 de Medici, for whose use it was retained 
 by Cosmo until the year 1451, when a 
 distribution took place among the two 
 families. From that time it was agreed 
 that the traffic of the family should be 
 carried on for the joint benefit of Pier 
 Francesco, and of Piero and Giovanni, 
 the sons of Cosmo, who •were to divide 
 the profits in equal shares of one third 
 to each — and immense riches w^ere by 
 them thus acquired. 
 
 Of the particular branch of traffic by 
 which the Medici family acquired their 
 enormous wealth, there is little doubt 
 but that a considerable portion of it 
 arose from the trade which the Floren- 
 tines, in the early part of the fifteenth 
 century, began to carry on to Alexan- 
 dria for the productions of the East, in 
 which they attempted to rival the states 
 of Genoa and Venice. To this they 
 ■were induced by the representations of 
 Taddeo di Cenni, who having resided 
 at Venice, and being apprised of the 
 advantages which that city derived 
 from the traffic in spices and other 
 Eastern merchandise, prevailed upon 
 his countrymen to aim at a participa- 
 tion in the new trade. The initiative 
 was consequently made, and, in 1422, 
 
 the Florentines entered on their new 
 commerce with the most imposing pub- 
 lic pageant. 
 
 But perhaps the principal sources of 
 the riches of this family arose from the 
 commercial baiiks "which they had 
 established in almost all the trading 
 cities of Europe, and which -were con- 
 ducted by agents in whom they placed 
 great confidence. At a time -vNhen the 
 rate of interest principally depended on 
 the necessities of the borrower, and was 
 in most cases very exorbitant, an incon- 
 ceivable profit must have been derived 
 from those establishments, especially as 
 they were at times resorted to for pe- 
 cuniary assistance by the most power- 
 ful sovereigns of Europe. 
 
 Heiaarkable Case of Conscience in a 
 Business Man. 
 
 An old Dutchman, named S , who 
 
 lived in one of the wretched hovels that 
 stand in the rear of Sheriff" street, and 
 whose apparent poverty and sufi'erings 
 from a dreadful case of hernia had long 
 excited the sympathy of his humane 
 neighbors, died of asthma and a com- 
 bination of other diseases. He was 
 well known to be of a very obstinate 
 and eccentric disposition; and, al- 
 though he had been confined to his 
 bed for some weeks, he not only reject- 
 ed all medical aid, but persisted to the 
 last in sleeping in the whole of his 
 wardrobe, which consisted chiefly in a 
 pair of breeches that at some remote era 
 had been constructed of blue velvet, 
 and a sailor's jacket, and a frieze over- 
 coat, all of which exhibited accumu- 
 lated proofs of the old man's attach- 
 ment. He sent for Mr. Van D., a re- 
 spectable countryman of his, residing 
 in the neighborhood, who had given 
 him charitable relief, and privately re- 
 quested him to make his will ! To 
 this gentleman's great surprise, he be- 
 queathed various sums of money, 
 amounting altogether to several thou- 
 sand dollars, to children and grand- 
 children residing at Newark and Al- 
 
SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS QUALITIES. 
 
 183 
 
 bany, and confidentially informed him 
 where his property was deposited. He 
 then narrated to Mr. V. D. the follow- 
 ing remarkable facts in his history : 
 
 He stated that about twenty-five 
 years ago, he was a porter to a mercan- 
 tile house in Hamburg, and having 
 been long in its employ, was frequently 
 intrusted with considerable sums of 
 money for conveyance to other estab- 
 lishments. In an hour of evil influence 
 he was induced to violate his trust, and 
 abscond to this country. Having ar- 
 rived, he invested the greater part of it 
 in the purchase of two houses, which 
 adjoined each other, and which, before 
 he had efiected an insurance upon them, 
 were burned to the ground. Consider- 
 ing this a judgment of heaven upon his 
 dishonesty, he determined to devote 
 the remainder of his life to a severe 
 course of industry and parsimony, with 
 the single object in view of making full 
 restitution to the persons whom he had 
 injured, or to their descendants. 
 
 He adopted another name, and, with 
 the means he had left, commenced busi- 
 ness as a tobacconist, and, although his 
 trade was a retail one, and he had again 
 suffered a heavy loss from fire, he had 
 succeeded, five years since, in acquiring 
 sufficient property to accomplish his 
 just and elevated purpose. He then, 
 accordingly, sold his stock in trade, 
 and was preparing to transmit the ne- 
 cessary amount to Hamburg, where the 
 mercantile firm he had defrauded still 
 continues, when he ascertained that it 
 had a branch establishment or agency 
 counting house in Philadelphia. Thith- 
 er he went, and paid the sum of four- 
 teen thousand dollars^ being equivalent 
 to the original sum he had embezzled, 
 with a certain rate of interest. The 
 latter, however, was generously re- 
 turned to him by a son of one of the 
 partners, and this, together with some 
 surplus money, he bequeathed as above 
 stated. This money was found by his 
 executor, principally in doubloons, and 
 curiously concealed in a certain private 
 
 department of the tenacious breeches 
 before specified ; and it was thus ascer- 
 tained, at last, that the old man's dread- 
 ful case of hernia^ on account of which 
 he had received so much sympathy, 
 was a ' case ' of something far less ob- 
 jectionable, and hardly coming within 
 the category of those dreaded " ills to 
 which human flesh is heir." 
 
 Mr. Grinnell's Liberality. 
 
 The name of Henry Grinnell will 
 have an enduring place in American, 
 mercantile history, as that of the au- 
 thor, advocate, and patron of the 
 United States' expedition in search of 
 Sir John Franklin and his gallant party. 
 With that enterprise and liberality so 
 characteristic of his profession — and of 
 Mr. Grinnell in particular— he promptly 
 came forward at a time when that 
 much talked of undertaking was in 
 special need of influential countenance 
 as well as of pecuniary aid. The vari- 
 ous expeditions which Great Britain 
 had sent out in search of the illustrious 
 pioneer party, though well devised, 
 seemed to suffer from various and pecu- 
 liar drawbacks, so that, before the be- 
 ginning of 1850, all further attempts 
 were abandoned — almost without at- 
 taining the first threshold of inquiry. 
 Their failure aroused everywhere the 
 generous sympathies of men. Science 
 felt for its votaries, humanity mourned 
 its fellows, and an impulse, holier and 
 more energetic than either, invoked a 
 crusade of rescue. That admirable 
 woman, the wife of Sir John Franklin, 
 not content with stimulating the re- 
 newed efforts of her own countrymen, 
 claimed the cooperation of the world. 
 In letters to the President of the United 
 States, full of the eloquence of feeling, 
 she called on us, as a " kindred people, 
 to join heart and hand in the enter- 
 prise of snatching the lost navigators 
 from a dreary grave." The delays inci- 
 dent to much of our national legisla- 
 tion menaced the defeat of her appeal. 
 
184 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 The bill making appropriations for the 
 outfit of an expedition lingered on its 
 passage, and the season for commencing 
 operations had nearly gone by. At this 
 juncture, that noble- spirited merchant 
 of New York, Henry Grinnell, fitted 
 out two of his own vessels, and proffered 
 them gratuitously to the Government. 
 Prompted by such munificent private 
 liberality, Congress hastened to take 
 the expedition under its charge, and 
 authorized the necessary proceedings to 
 that end. — Moses H. GrinneU, a broth- 
 er of Henry, is also distinguished for 
 his merchant-like love of " doing a 
 good thing." 
 
 A Good Besrinuinir— Old Moses Both- 
 scMld. 
 
 An account is given, on another page 
 of this work, of the circumstances un- 
 der which the Prince of Hesse Cassel, 
 in his flight from the French republican 
 army, passed through the city of Frank- 
 fort-on-the-Main, and paid a hasty 
 visit to one Moses Rothschild, a Jewish 
 banker of limited means, but of good 
 repute, both for integrity and ability 
 in the management of his business. 
 As is well known, the Prince's purpose 
 in visiting Moses was to request him to 
 take charge of a large sum in money 
 and jewels, amounting in value to sev- 
 eral millions of dollars. The Jew at 
 first point blank refused so dangerous 
 a charge; but, upon being earnestly 
 pressed to take it, at the prince's own 
 sole risk — nay, that even a receipt 
 should not be required — he at length 
 consented. The money and jewels were 
 speedily but privately conveyed from 
 the prince's treasury to the Jew's resi- 
 dence ; and, just as the advanced corps 
 of the French army had entered through 
 the gates of Frankfort, Moses had suc- 
 ceeded in burying it in a comer of his 
 garden. He, of course, received a visit 
 from the republicans ; but, true to his 
 trust, he hit upon the following means 
 of saving the treasure of the fugitive 
 prince, who had placed such implicit 
 
 confidence in his honor. He therefore 
 did not attempt to conceal any of his 
 own i^roperty (the value of his cash and 
 stock consisting of only forty thousand 
 thalers, or about $30,000), but, after 
 the necessary remonstrances and grum- 
 bling with his unwelcome visitors, 
 and a threat or two that he should re- 
 port them to the general-in-chief— from 
 whom he had no doubt of obtaining 
 redress — he sufiered them to carry it 
 all off". 
 
 As soon as the republicans had evac- 
 uated the city, Moses Rothschild re- 
 sumed his business as banker and money 
 changer ; at first, indeed, in an humble 
 way, but daily increasing and extend- 
 ing it by the aid of the Prince of Hesse 
 Cassel's money. In the course of a 
 comparatively short space of time, he 
 was considered the most stable and 
 opulent banker in all Germany. 
 
 In the year 1802, the prince return- 
 ing to his dominions, visited Frankfort 
 in his route. He w^as almost afraid to 
 call on his Jewish banker ; apprehend- 
 ing that if the French had left any- 
 thing, the honesty of Moses had not 
 been proof against so strong a tempta- 
 tion as he had been compelled from 
 dire necessity to put in his way. On 
 being introduced into Rothschild's sanc- 
 tum, he, in a tone of despairing care- 
 lessness, said : 
 
 " I have called on you, Moses, as a 
 matter of course ; but I fear the result. 
 Did the rascals take all ? " 
 
 ^^ Not a thaler^''^ replied the Jew, 
 gravely. 
 
 " "WTiat say you ? " returned his high- 
 ness. " Not a thaler I Why, I was in- 
 formed that the sans-culottes had emp- 
 tied all your cofiers, and made you a 
 beggar. I even read so in the ga- 
 zettes." 
 
 "Why, so they did, may it please 
 your serene highness," replied Moses ; 
 " but I was too cunning for them. 
 By letting them take my own little 
 stock, I saved your great one. I knew 
 that as I was reputed wealthy, although 
 
SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS QUALITIES. 
 
 185 
 
 by no means so, if I should remove any 
 of my own gold and silver from their 
 appropriate bags or coffers, the robbers 
 would be sure to search for it, and, in 
 doing so, would not forget to dig in 
 the garden. It is wonderful what a 
 keen sense these fellows have got ! they 
 actually poured buckets of water over 
 some of my neighbors' kitchen and 
 cellar floors, in order to discover, by 
 the rapid sinking of the fluid, whether 
 the tiles and earth had been recently 
 dug up ! Well, as I was saying, I 
 buried your treasure in the garden; 
 and it remained untouched until the 
 robbers left Frankfort, to go in search 
 of plunder elsewhere. Now, then, to 
 the point : as the sans-culottes left me 
 not a kreutzer to carry on my business ; 
 as several good opportunities offered 
 of making a very handsome profit ; and 
 as I thought it a pity that so much 
 good money should lie idle, while the 
 merchants were both ready and willing 
 to give large interest; the temptation 
 of converting your highness's florins to 
 present use haunted my thoughts by 
 day and my dreams by night. Not to 
 detain your highness with a long story, 
 I dug up the treasure, and deposited 
 your jewels in a strong box, from 
 which they have never since been 
 moved; I employed your gold and 
 silver in my business ; my speculations 
 were profitable ; and I am now able to 
 restore your deposit, with five per cent, 
 interest since the day on which you left 
 it under my care." 
 
 "I thank you heartily, my good 
 friend," said his highness, "for the 
 great care you have taken and the 
 sacrifice you have made. As to the in- 
 terest of five per cent., let that replace 
 the sum which the French took from 
 you ; I beg you will add to it whatever 
 other profits you may have made. As 
 a reward for your singular honesty, I 
 shall still leave my cash in your hands 
 for twenty years longer, at a low rate 
 of two per cent, interest per annum, 
 the same being more as an acknowledg- 
 
 ment of the deposit in case of the death 
 of either of us, than with a view of 
 making a profit by you. I trust that 
 this will enable you to use my florins 
 with advantage in any way which may 
 appear most beneficial to your own in- 
 terests." 
 
 Perseverance Badly Rewarded. 
 
 Many years ago, when Texas was 
 first admitted into the Union, George 
 Ford, a well-known hardware merchant 
 in Boston, visited that State on busi- 
 ness. He had occasion to travel in dis- 
 tant and thinly-settled parts of the 
 State on horseback, where sometimes 
 he would not see a habitation for thirty 
 or forty miles. He was told' that on 
 reaching the Brazos River, a quarter 
 of a mile wide at a certain point in 
 Washington County, he would find a 
 bridge ; but, on reaching the river, 
 there were no signs of a bridge. The 
 persevering merchant dismounted, un- 
 dressed, and tying his clothes in his 
 handkerchief, he fastened the bundle 
 to the headstall of the horse, and drove 
 him into the river. Ford swimming 
 after him. Both arrived safely on the 
 other side ; and after dressing, he was 
 very much perplexed to find three forks 
 to the road or trail, and the question 
 was now which one to take to reach 
 his destination — a town some fifty miles 
 distant. While pondering on the prob- 
 abilities, he cast his eyes back over the 
 river, and saw a signboard nailed to a 
 tree. He resolved to swim back and 
 read it. Undressing again, in he went, 
 and reached the other side, and read 
 these words : " Five dollars fine for 
 crossing this bridge faster than a walk." 
 It appeared the bridge had been car- 
 ried away during a great fi-eshet, some 
 months previous, the only vestige re- 
 maining being the sign above on the 
 tree. George said it was the only time 
 he ever was " sold " in Texas. 
 
186 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 Correct Appreciation of Mercantile 
 Character by Mr. Astor. 
 
 "While in Liverpool, England, Mr. 
 James G. King was brought into rela- 
 tions of business and much personal in- 
 timacy with Mr. John Jacob Astor, 
 who was on a brief sojourn in Europe ; 
 and such was the impression made 
 upon that sagacious observer and al- 
 most unerring judge of character, by 
 the business tact and promptness of Mr. 
 King, and his general character, that, 
 upon his return to the United States, 
 Mr. Astor invited him to come to New 
 York and take the chief direction of 
 the American Fur Company, with a 
 very liberal salary. The offer was a 
 tempting one, and made at a time 
 when, owing to the mercantile disas- 
 ters which had been battled with, the 
 prospects of Mr. King's house in Liver- 
 pool were not very promising. But the 
 business to which he was invited was 
 wholly new to him ; and, moreover, it 
 was in his character to prefer an inde- 
 pendent position — though it might be 
 less lucrative — to any, however advan- 
 tageous, of which the tenure was at the 
 pleasure of others. Mr. King, there- 
 fore, declined, but with such expres- 
 sion of his sense of the liberal kindness 
 of Mr. Astor as was both natural and 
 fitting; and Mr. Astor continued his 
 fast friend always, and had another 
 occasion of proving his friendship 
 about the close of 1823. Consulted by 
 Mr. Prime, then at the head of the 
 house of Prime, Ward, Sands & Co., as 
 to his knowledge of some fitting person 
 upon whom Mr. Prime might safely 
 devolve a portion of the business of his 
 prosperous house, Mr. Astor at once 
 suggested the name of James G. King, 
 and accompanied it with such eulogies 
 as to determine Mr. Prime, who, it 
 seems, from some business intercourse 
 between their houses, had himself 
 thought of Mr. King, to invite him to 
 become a partner in his house ; and this 
 arrangement was in due time consum- 
 
 mated. The brilliant commercial re- 
 sults of this copartnership, and the 
 whole subsequent career of Mr. King, 
 showed that Mr. Astor was not mis- 
 taken in his appreciation of the man. 
 
 Search for a New Route to China. 
 
 Sir Hugh Willoughby's famous 
 commercial exploring expedition in 
 the fifteenth century — to discover a 
 near route to China — met with a sad 
 fate. By the sudden approach of win- 
 ter he was compelled to seek refuge 
 within an obscure harbor in Russian 
 Lapland, where, with the crew of two 
 of his vessels, he was frozen to death ; 
 and when the Laplanders, in pursuance 
 of their annual custom, sought the sea- 
 coast in summer, for the sake of its fish- 
 ery, they found the remains of the un- 
 happy adventurer, who, meditating a 
 great discovery, had met with an ob- 
 scure death. It is a touching picture 
 to contemplate him as he was found, 
 sitting with his diary and papers before 
 him as in life, and to think how little 
 his aspiring but noble ambition medi- 
 tated so melancholy a fate. The expe- 
 dition, however, was not without its 
 benefit, as one vessel escaped. Richard 
 Chancellor, its commander, landed near 
 Archangel, and inclined the Czar, Ivan 
 Bazilowitz, then engaged in the Livo- 
 nian war, to grant considerable com- 
 mercial privileges to the English. 
 
 Extension and Profits of Mr. Astor's 
 Fur Business. 
 
 If there was anything left undone by 
 Mr. Astor to extend and give success 
 to his early and favorite trade iu furs, 
 then it was something which mortal 
 shrewdness could not compass. He 
 made himself thoroughly acquainted 
 with the nature of that trade, coming 
 in contact with the agents, and obtain- 
 ing a complete knowledge of the meth- 
 ods and profits of the trafiic. His great 
 enterprise induced him to reach for 
 
SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS QUALITIES. 
 
 18^ 
 
 ward to what others would have shrunk 
 from. 
 
 When the revolutionary war closed, 
 Oswego, Detroit, Niagara, and other 
 posts, were in the hands of the British ; 
 and as these were the entrepots of the 
 western and northern countries, the 
 fur trade had languished after their 
 capture and during their detention 
 The traders had been either driven 
 away or drafted into the armies; the 
 trappers had ranged themselves on 
 either side of the political contention ; 
 and the Indians obtained more fire- 
 water and calico for the use of their 
 mercenary rifles and tomahawks from 
 Great Britain, in this her domestic 
 quarrel with the colonies, than if they 
 had employed them on beavers and 
 squirrels. After much negotiation and 
 surveying, and the advancement and 
 consideration of claims, these posts 
 were conceded to the United States, 
 and Canada was opened to the fur 
 trade. Shortly afterward the British 
 retired from the west side of St. Clair, 
 opening up to the enterprising mer- 
 chants of America the great fur trade 
 of the West. 
 
 Mr. Astor saw that the posts thus 
 made free would soon be thronged by 
 Indians eager to dispose of the accumu- 
 lated produce of several years' hunting, 
 and that the time had now come when 
 he was certain to amass a large fortune 
 by the traffic. He immediately estab- 
 lished agencies, over which he exer- 
 cised a sort of personal superintendence, 
 visiting the stations sometimes, but 
 chiefly devoting himself to the New 
 York business. The results verified 
 the sagacious predictions of Mr. Astor, 
 for in a few years his gains from this 
 source were very large. 
 
 The British fur companies had, how- 
 ever, built their block forts at almost 
 every eligible site on the rivers of the 
 northern and southwestern parts of the 
 American continent, and were soon like- 
 ly to acquire a monopoly of the whole of 
 the fur trade, unless some bold measures 
 
 were adopted to rescue it from them. 
 This Astor attempted in 1803, by estab- 
 lishing the American Fur Company. 
 The hardy adventurers who entered 
 into this project, boldly pushed their 
 outposts far into the hitherto unknown 
 prairie, and raised their forts upon the 
 banks of yet unexplored rivers. Tribes 
 unused to see the white man, and who 
 only knew him through vague tradi- 
 tion, or by a passing tale from some 
 visitor of another tribe, now saw and 
 knew him, and brought their abund- 
 ance of beaver, otter, and buffalo skins, 
 and laid- them at his feet for muskets, 
 powder, and fire-water. 
 
 No sooner was the American Fur 
 Company established and in operation 
 than Mr. Astor cast his shrewd eyes 
 toward the region stretching from the 
 Kocky Mountains to the ocean. He 
 proposed to the United States' Govern- 
 ment the establishment of a line of 
 forts along the shores of the Pacific 
 Ocean and on the Columbia Kiver, in 
 order to take from the hands of the 
 British all facilities for establishing a 
 trade west of the Rocky Mountains. 
 The project was agreed to ; and in 
 1810 sixty men, under the command of 
 a hardy and adventurous leader, es- 
 tablished the first post at the mouth of 
 the Columbia, which took its designa- 
 tion of Astoria from the projector of 
 the scheme. This became the germ of 
 the budding State of Oregon. Then 
 commenced a series of operations on a 
 scale altogether beyond anything hith- 
 erto attempted by individual enter- 
 prise. The history is fiill of wildest 
 romance. The whole scheme was the 
 offspring of a capacious mind; and 
 had the plans of Mr. Astor been faith- 
 fully carried out by his associates, it 
 would, no doubt, have been eminently 
 successful. But the enterprise soon 
 failed. During the war a British armed 
 sloop captured Astoria, and the British 
 fur traders entered upon the rich field 
 which Mr. Astor had planted, and 
 reaped the golden harvest. 
 
188 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 Honorable Distinction attained by 
 Mr. Perit. 
 
 Pelatiah Perit had at an early age 
 marked out for himself a professional 
 life, intending to devote himself to the 
 ministry, and possessing a fine collegi- 
 ate education and an unspotted relig- 
 ious character as the basis of such a ca- 
 reer. But a partial failure of his health, 
 and especially of his voice, required a 
 reconsideration of his purpose. Com- 
 pelled thus to relinquish the profession 
 to which he viras led by religious sym- 
 pathies and aspirations, he chose the 
 mercantile profession as better for him 
 than any other secular employment. 
 
 He was in his nineteenth year when 
 he began as a clerk in one of the large 
 importing houses at Philadelphia, 
 which had not then ceased to be the 
 foremost of our American cities. Nor 
 was he long in demonstrating that all 
 his talents and attainments might be 
 made serviceable to him in his chosen 
 employment. After remaining about 
 five years in connection with the house 
 which he had entered as a clerk, and 
 for which he had made several voyages 
 to the West Indies and to South Amer- 
 ica, he returned to New York in 1809, 
 
 the 
 
 just when all the commercial interests 
 of our country were imperilled, and 
 were coming to the brink of annihila- 
 tion, by that series of measures which 
 terminated in the war of 1813. When 
 however, peace was restored, and 
 business of the country had revived, and 
 its foreign commerce once more began 
 to traverse freely every ocean, he be- 
 came a partner in the house of Good- 
 hue & Co., and, through all the changes 
 which time and death made in the 
 partnership, he remained a member of 
 that firm more than forty years. All 
 commercial men know the character 
 and standing of that house, and how 
 much of it was the character and stand- 
 ing of Pelatiah Perit. 
 
 His place among his fellow mer- 
 chants of the great metropolis was rec- 
 ognized by his election, eleven years 
 ago, to the Presidency of the New 
 York Chamber of Commerce. The 
 rules of that body provide that no 
 president shall be reelected for more 
 than three years in succession without 
 a unanimous vote. Yet for ten succes- 
 sive years he held that place of honor, 
 being nine times reelected by the unan- 
 imous vote of his distinguished associ- 
 ates—a rare and honorable distinction. 
 
PART FOURTH. 
 
 Anecdotes of Tbabe and Business Immoralities. 
 
PAET FOUETH. 
 
 Anecdotes of Trade and Business Immoralities. 
 
 THE RAREST INSTANCES OF INGENIOUS FRAUD, FORGERY, COUNTERFEITING, AND SMUGGLING ; 
 USURY, ARTIFICE, TRICKS, AND MALPRACTICE ; WITH EXAMPLES, EXTRAORDINARY AND 
 AMUSING, OP AVARICE, COVETOUSNESS, PARSIMONY, EXTORTION, PRIDE, RUDENESS, TIO- 
 LENCE, AND EXTRAVAGANCE OF BUSINESS MEN. 
 
 A man of sense can artifice disdain, 
 As men of wealth may venture to go plain. —YocNO. 
 A knave is like a tooth drawer, that maintains his own teeth in constant eating hy pulling (iut 
 those of other men. — Botler. 
 
 Lands mortgaged may return, and more esteemed ; 
 
 But lionesty once pawned, is ne'er redeemed. — Middletok. 
 
 For a good old gentlemanly vice, 
 
 I think I must t;ike up with avarice.— Byron's " Don Juan." 
 He is rich whose income is more than his expenses ; and he is poor whose expenses exceed his 
 income.— Bbutkre. 
 
 Selling: Salt by a Chalk Line. 
 
 At one period in the changeful com- 
 mercial life of Girard, he sold salt by 
 the bushel ; and, conceiving one day 
 that his measure, or half bushel, was 
 too large, he determined to regulate or 
 readjust it himself. For this purpose 
 he took a half-gallon liquid measure, 
 and repairing to the wharf, which was 
 at that time constructed with steps, for 
 the convenience of supplying citizens 
 with water from the river, he deposited 
 the requisite number of half gallons 
 into his half bushel, and then drawing 
 a chalk line round the water mark, he 
 found it was too large by an inch or 
 more ; on discovering this to be the 
 case, he forthwith went to a neighbor- 
 ing cooper's shop, and borrowing a saw 
 for the purpose, reduced the measure 
 of his half bushel accordingly, thus 
 making it what he conceived it ought 
 to be. This gave rise to the saying, 
 " that Mr. Girard was a just man, but 
 
 it was according to his own measure of 
 
 justice." 
 
 ♦ 
 
 Rothschild and Lucas— Stratag-em to 
 learn the Former's Secrets. 
 
 When the great Hebrew financier lived 
 on Stamford Hill, there resided oppo- 
 site to him another very wealthy deal- 
 er in stock exchange, Lucas by name. 
 The latter returned one night very late 
 from a convivial party; he observed 
 a carriage and four standing before 
 Rothschild's gate, upon which he or- 
 dered his own carriage to go out of 
 the way, and commanded his coachman 
 to await his return. 
 
 Lucas now went stealthily and 
 watched the movements at Roths- 
 child's gate. He did not lie long in 
 ambush, before he heard a party leav- 
 ing the Hebrew millionaire's mansion, 
 and going toward the carriage. He 
 saw Rothschild, accompanied by two 
 muffled figures, step into the carriage, 
 and heard the word of command, " To 
 
192 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 the city ! " He followed Rothschild's 
 carriage very closely. But when he 
 reached the top of the street in which 
 Rothschild's office was situated, Lucas 
 ordered his carriage to stop, from which 
 he stepped out, and proceeded, reeling 
 to and fro through the street, feigning 
 to be mortally drunk. He made his 
 "way in this same mood as far as Roths- 
 child's office, and sans ceremonie opened 
 the door, to the great consternation and 
 terror of the housekeeper, utteiing sun- 
 dry ejaculations in the broken accents 
 of Bacchus's votaries. Heedless of the 
 affi'ighted housekeeper's remonstrances, 
 he opened Rothschild's private office, 
 in the same staggering attitude, and 
 fell down flat on the floor. Rothschild 
 and his friends became greatly alarmed. 
 Efforts were at once made to restore and 
 remove the would-be drunkard ; but 
 Lucas was too good an actor, and w^as, 
 therefore, in such a state as to be unfit 
 to be moved hither or thither. " Should 
 a physician be sent for ? " asked Roths- 
 child. But the housekeeper threw 
 some cold water into Lucas's face, and 
 the patient began to breathe a little 
 more naturally, and fell into a sound, 
 snoring sleep. He was covered, and 
 Rothschild and the strangers proceeded 
 unsuspectingly to their business. 
 . The strangers brought the good in- 
 telligence that the affairs in Spain were 
 all right, respecting which the members 
 of the exchange were, for a few days 
 previous, very apprehensive, and the 
 funds were consequently in a rapidly 
 sinking condition. The good news, 
 however, could not, in the common 
 course of dispatch, be publicly known 
 for another day. Rothschild, there- 
 fore, planned to order his brokers to 
 buy up, cautiously, all the stock that 
 should be in market, by twelve o'clock 
 that following day. He sent for his 
 principal broker thus early, in order to 
 intrust him with the important instruc- 
 tions. The broker was rather tardier, 
 however, than Rothschild's patience 
 could brook; he therefore determined 
 
 to go himself. As soon as he was gone, 
 Lucas began to recover, and by degrees 
 was able to get up, being distracted, as 
 he said, " with a violent headache," and 
 insisted, in spite of the housekeeper's 
 kind expostulations, upon going home. 
 But Lucas also went to Jiis broker, and 
 instructed him to buy all the stock he 
 could get by ten o'clock the following 
 morning. About eleven o'clock, Lucas 
 met Rothschild, and inquired, in a 
 satirical manner, how he, Rothschild, 
 was off for stock ! Lucas won the 
 day ; and Rothschild is said never 
 to have forgiven what he termed 
 " that base, dishonest, and nefarious 
 stratagem." 
 
 Financiering in Alabama. 
 
 In the times of 1836, there dwelt in 
 a pleasant town of Alabama, a smooth, 
 oily-mannered gentleman, who diversi- 
 fied a common-place pursuit by some 
 exciting episodes of finance — dealing 
 occasionally in exchange brokerage, 
 buying and selling uncurrent money, 
 &c. His name may be supposed to be 
 Thompson. 
 
 It happened that a Mr. Ripley, of 
 North Carolina, was in T., having some 
 $1,200 in North Carolina money ; and, 
 desiring to return to the old North 
 State with his funds, but not wishing 
 to encounter the risk of robbery through 
 the Creek country, in vrhich there were 
 rumors of hostilities between the whites 
 and the Indians, he bethought him of 
 buying exchange on Raleigh, as the 
 safest mode of transmitting his money. 
 On inquiry he was referred to Mr. 
 Thompson, as the only person deal- 
 ing in exchange in that place. He 
 called on Mr. T., and made known his 
 washes. With his characteristic polite- 
 ness, Mr. Thompson agreed to accom- 
 modate him with a sight bill on his 
 correspondent in Raleigh, charging him 
 the moderate premium of five per cent, 
 for it. Mr. Thompson retired into his 
 counting room, and in a few minutes 
 
TRADE AND BUSINESS IMMORALITIES. 
 
 193 
 
 returned vrifh the bill and a letter, 
 which he delivered to Mr. Kipley, at 
 the same time receiving the money 
 from that gentleman, plus the " ex- 
 change." As the interlocutors were 
 exchanging valedictory compliments, 
 it " occurred " to Mr. Thompson that 
 it would be a favor to him if Mr. Rip- 
 ley would be so kind as to convey to 
 Mr, T.'s correspondent a package of 
 " documents" he was desirous of send- 
 ing, which request Mr. Ripley assured 
 Mr. T. it would afford him great pleas- 
 ure to comply with. Mr. Thompson 
 then handed Mr. Ripley a package, 
 strongly enveloiDcd and sealed, ad- 
 dressed to the Raleigh banker, after 
 which the gentlemen parted with many 
 polite expressions of regard and civility. 
 
 Arriving without any accident or 
 hindrance at Raleigh, Mr. Ripley's first 
 care was to call on the banker and pre- 
 sent his documents. He found him at 
 his office, presented the bill and the 
 letter to him, and requested payment 
 of the former. " That," said the bank- 
 er, " will depend a good deal upon 
 the contents of the package ; " opening 
 which, Mr. Ripley had the pleasure of 
 seeing the identical banknotes, minus 
 the premium he had paid Mr. T. for his 
 bill, and which the banker now paid 
 over to Mr. R. The latter was not a 
 little surprised to find that the expert 
 Mr. Thompson had thus charged him 
 five per cent, for carrying his own 
 money to Raleigh, to avoid the risk 
 and trouble of which he had bought 
 the exchange. 
 
 T. used to remark that tMt was the 
 safest operation, all around, he ever 
 knew. He had got his exchange — the 
 buyer had got his bill and the money, 
 too,— and the drawee was fully pro- 
 tected ! There was profit without any 
 outlay or risk. 
 
 Italian Picture Dealer Trapping an 
 Experienced Connoisseur. 
 
 SiGNOR A has long been known 
 
 9 one of the most facetious London 
 13 
 
 dealers in pictures and other objects of 
 art, — not stopping at any clever ruse by 
 which to make a good " sell." It is 
 related, too, that one of his boldest 
 tricks was successfully played off at the 
 expense of an experienced purchaser 
 and acknowledged connoisseur, the la^e 
 
 Mr. C . He persuaded the latter io 
 
 look at a picture of high pretensions 
 and of some merit in his house. While 
 they were discussing it, the jingle of 
 posting bells was heard in the street, 
 and the prolonged crack of a courier's 
 whip soon echoed in the doorway. 
 
 A started, rushed out, and beheld 
 
 an express, booted, spurred, and splash- 
 ed, who handed him a letter. Tear- 
 ing it open, he appeared struck with 
 confusion, and exclaimed : 
 
 " Well, here is a fine scrape I have 
 got into I " 
 
 " What is the matter ? " 
 
 "Why, I am talking about selling 
 you this picture, and here is the courier 
 sent back from Ancona to buy it, by a 
 Russian gentleman, to whom I offered 
 it last week, for such a sum." 
 
 The price was a large one, and Mr. 
 C. would not have thought of giving it 
 for the picture, which did not interest 
 him much ; but so ingeniously did Sig- 
 nor A. contrive to transfer to it the im- 
 portance of this dramatic scene, that, in 
 the excitement of the moment, a bar- 
 gain was struck, and the Englishman 
 went off chuckling at the idea of hav- 
 ing so nicely " done " the Russian, — the 
 latter being an imaginary personage, 
 and his courier a Roman postboy, hired 
 to gallop up in the nick of time ! 
 
 Janxes Bolland's Financial Career. 
 
 About the middle of the last cen- 
 tury, one of the most constant stock 
 dealers in London, although in a small 
 way, was James Holland; a man of 
 low extraction, but of great mind, of 
 immense impudence, and unrivalled 
 crime. There was nothing at which he 
 would hesitate to obtain money with 
 
194 
 
 COMMERCIAL AXD BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 which to carry on "his stock dealings ; 
 and, having once commenced, he soon 
 found that the legitimate wants of his 
 trade — that of a butcher — were not 
 sufficient to support him. He formed, 
 therefore, a wooden weight, which, re- 
 sembling one of fifty pounds, weighed 
 only seven, and thus, in his capacity of 
 tradesman to one of the public institu- 
 tions, practised his roguery with great 
 success. 
 
 From butcher he turned sheriff's 
 officer, revived every past iniquity, in- 
 vented new frauds, and employed his 
 money in buying lottery tickets, to 
 which pursuit he was occasionally at- 
 tached. He robbed the broker with 
 whom he dealt, alike of his mistress 
 and his money ; and with the latter 
 bought the place of city marshal. The 
 citizens, however, discovered that his 
 integrity was scarcely equal to his im- 
 pudence, and refused to maintain their 
 bargain. 
 
 Every moment he could spare was 
 passed at the stock market, where his 
 schemes were marked by a singularly 
 bad fortune. Every speculation went 
 against him ; he never drew a prize in 
 the lottery ; and, finding there was a 
 chance of his becoming penniless, he 
 added forgery to his long list of crimes. 
 The fraud was discovered, and he paid 
 the penalty of his life. 
 
 Business Hagrg-ling- in Scotland. 
 
 In England, when an article is offered 
 for sale, it is immediately purchased, or 
 at once rejected as being too dear. But 
 in Scotland, there is a long haggling 
 and cheapening of every article succes- 
 sively offered. The purchaser objects 
 to the price. He will not buy. The 
 seller urges him, but does not offer to 
 make any reduction. Says he, " You 
 are over dear, sir ; I can buy the same 
 gudes ten per cent, lower ; if ye like to 
 tak' off ten per cent., I'll tak' some of 
 these." The seller tells him that a re- 
 duction in price is quite out of the 
 
 question, and puts the sample of the 
 article aside ; but the Scotchman wants 
 it. 
 
 " Weel, sir, it's a terrible price ; but 
 as I am out o' it at present, I'll just tak' 
 a little till I can be supplied cheaper, 
 but ye maun tak' off five per cent." 
 
 "But, sir," says the seller, "would 
 you not think me an unconscionable 
 knave, to ask ten per cent., or even five 
 per cent., more than I intended to 
 take ? " 
 
 He laughs. "Hoot, hoot, man, do 
 ye expect to get what ye ask ? Gude 
 Lord ! an' I was able to get half what 
 I ask, I would soon be rich. Come, 
 come, I'll gie ye within two an' a half 
 per cent, of your ain price, and gude 
 faith, mon, ye'U be well paid." 
 
 He is told by the seller that he never 
 makes any reduction from the price he 
 first demanded, and that adherence to 
 such a rule " saves much trouble to both 
 parties." 
 
 " Weel, weel," says he, " since ye 
 maun hae it a' your ain way, I maun 
 e'en tak' the article ; but really I think 
 ye are over-keen." 
 
 So much for buying and selling — the 
 settlement is another affair still, at a 
 future time, as will now be seen : 
 
 " How muckle discount do ye tak' 
 aff, sir ? " 
 
 " Discount ! You cannot expect it. 
 The account has been standing a 
 twelve-month." 
 
 " Indeed, but I do expect discount — 
 pay siller without discount ! Na, na, 
 sir, that's not the way here ; ye maun 
 deduct five per cent." 
 
 He is told that no discount at all is 
 made. "Weel, sir, I'll gie ye nae 
 money at a'." 
 
 Rather than go without a settlement, 
 the seller at last agrees to take two and 
 one half per cent, from the amount, 
 which is accordingly deducted. 
 
 " I hae ten shillings doon against ye 
 for short measure, and fifteen shillings 
 for damages." 
 
 "Indeed, these are heavy deduc- 
 
TRADE AND BUSINESS IMMORALITIES. 
 
 195 
 
 tions; but if you say that you shall 
 lose to that amount, I suppose that it 
 must be allowed." 
 
 " Oh, aye, it's a' right ; then, sir, 
 eight shillings and four pence for pack- 
 sheet, and thirteen shillings for car- 
 riage and postage." 
 
 *' These last items are astonishing. 
 What, sir," said the seller, " are we to 
 pay all the charges in your business ? " 
 
 But if these are not allowed, he will 
 not pay his account ; so the seller ac- 
 quiesces, resolving within himself that, 
 since these unfair deductions are made 
 at settlement, it would be quite fair to 
 charge an additional price to cover the 
 extortion. He now congratulates himself 
 on having concluded his business with 
 such a customer ; but is disappointed. 
 
 " Hae ye a stawmpe ? " asks he. 
 
 " A stamp, — for what ? " 
 
 " Just to draw ye a bill," he replies. 
 
 " A bill, my good sir ! I took off 
 two and one-half per cent., on the faith 
 of being paid in cash." But he says it 
 is the custom of his place to pay in 
 bills, and sits down and draws a bill 
 at three months after date, payable at 
 his own shop. 
 
 " And what can I do with this ? " 
 
 " Oh, ye may tak' it to Sir William's, 
 and he'll discount it for you, on paying 
 him three months' interest." 
 
 " And what can I do with his notes ? " 
 
 " He'll gie ye a bill in London, at 
 forty-five days." 
 
 " So, sir, after allowing you twelve 
 months' credit, and two and a half per 
 cent, discount, and exorbitant charges 
 which you have no claim on us to pay, 
 I must be content with a bill which we 
 are not to cash for four months and a 
 half!" 
 
 " Weel, weel — and now, sir," says he, 
 " if ye are going to your inn, I'll gang 
 wi' ye, and tak' a glass of wine." 
 
 Dutchman Illustrating' a Mercantile 
 Principle. 
 
 An anecdote is told of a German, 
 
 who, after it was known that a certain 
 
 bank in Buffalo had closed its doors, 
 went to one of the largest furniture 
 establishments, and purchased articles 
 amounting to $2.75, for which he off- 
 handedly proffered a five dollar bill of 
 said bank in payment. The clerk re- 
 fused to take it, and the Dutchman in- 
 sisted that it was all right, saying : 
 
 "It ish goot; te pank will open; 
 deres lots of beeples dere ; de pank ish 
 opening already." 
 
 Still the clerk persisted in his refusal 
 to take the bill. The proprietor, hear- 
 mg the discussion, put in his oar, and 
 the Teuton went through with his for- 
 mer lingo. Knowing that the bills are 
 well secured against loss to the holders, 
 he finally accepted the bill, and offered 
 as change a quarter of a dollar in spe- 
 cie, and a two dollar bill on the same 
 bank. The German was taken aback 
 for a moment, but finally said : 
 
 " Ich no take dat." 
 
 " But you must take this, or the one 
 you gave me is also bad," said the 
 dealer. 
 
 '■'' I don't TcnoiD as de panic ish so goot as 
 it vas,'''' said Diedrich. 
 
 "Well, you must take this bill, or 
 trade it out in those small chairs," said 
 the furniture dealer, pointing to some 
 juvenile affairs with round holes in 
 their seats, and at which the Dutchman 
 was intently gazing (he had a brood of 
 children). 
 
 "Veil, I dink I'll dake de shairs," 
 and he took them. 
 
 This anecdote illustrates the fact of 
 the dislike of no small portion of man- 
 kind to swallow their own arguments, 
 and illustrates a mercantile principle 
 that much is good to dispose of, which 
 it were quite undesirable to obtain. 
 
 Deadhead Customer— a Clincher. 
 
 Years ago, there dwelt in a certain 
 town a divine, notorious for his parsi- 
 moniousness, which would sometimes 
 run to almost fabulous extremes. 
 
 One day, this doctor of divinity 
 stepped into a hat store in New York, 
 
196 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 and, after rummaging over the stock, 
 selected an ordinary looking hat, put 
 it on his reverend head, ogled himself 
 in the glass, then asked the very lowest 
 price of it, telling the vendor, that if he 
 could get it cheap enough he thought 
 he might buy it. 
 
 " But," said the hatter, " that hat is 
 not good enough for you to wear — here 
 is what you want," showing one of his 
 best beavers. 
 
 " 'Tis the best I can afford though," 
 returned the theologian. 
 
 " Well, there, doctor, I'll make you a 
 present of that best beaver, if you'll 
 wear it, and tell whose store it came 
 from ; I'll warrant you'll send me cus- 
 tomers enough to get my money back 
 with interest ; you are pretty extensive- 
 ly acquainted." 
 
 " Thank you — thank you I " said the 
 doctor, his eyes gleaming with pleasure 
 at raising a castor so cheaply; "how 
 much, however, may this be worth ? " 
 
 " We sell that kind of hat for eight 
 dollars," replied the man of the nap. 
 
 "And the other?" continued the 
 customer. 
 
 " Three." 
 
 The man of sermons put on the bea- 
 ver, looked in the glass, then at the 
 three dollar hat. 
 
 " I think, sir," said he, taking off the 
 beaver, and holding it in one hand, as 
 he donned the cheap ' tile,' " I think, 
 sir, that this hat will answer my pur- 
 pose full as well as the best." 
 
 " But you'd better take the best one, 
 sir, it costs you no more." 
 
 "B-u-t — bu-t," replied the parson, 
 hesitatingly, "I didn't know— but — 
 perhaps— you would as lief I would 
 take the cheap one, and leave the other 
 — and, perhaps, you would not mind 
 giving me the difference in a five dollar 
 Ml!''' 
 
 Determining' the Character of an Arti- 
 cle by its Agre. 
 
 Quite a good story is told — and will 
 bear telling again — of old Bunce, who 
 
 prided himself upon never being mis- 
 taken in his judgment of a person's 
 character from the phiz. He was in 
 Washington market, New York, one 
 day, to get a goose for dinner. In 
 looking about, he saw a lot before a 
 young woman w^ho had a peculiarly 
 fine, open countenance. " She's hon- 
 est," said Bunce to himself; and at 
 once asked her if she had a nice young 
 goose. " Yes," said she ; " here's as 
 fine a one as you will get in the mar- 
 ket," — and she looked up in his face 
 with that perfect sincerity that would 
 at once have won his confidence, had 
 he not already and at first sight made 
 up his mind as to her character. 
 "You're sure it's young?" "To be 
 sure it is ; " and Bunce took it home. 
 All efforts to eat it were fruitless, it was 
 so tough ; and the next day he was at 
 the market betimes, angry with him- 
 self, and more so with the honest-faced 
 girl who had cheated him. "Didn't 
 you tell me that goose was young, yes- 
 terday ? " he exclaimed, stalking up to 
 the girl wrathfully. "To be sure I 
 did." " You cheated me," said Bunce 
 as quickly ; " it was a tough old gan- 
 der." "You don't call me old, do 
 you?" she asked. "No — I should 
 think not," he replied. "No — / 
 should think not, too. I am only 
 twenty, and mother told me that goose 
 was hatched just six months after I 
 was born." Bunce had forgotten that 
 a goose lives a hundred years. 
 
 "Genuine" Wines. 
 
 The substitution of other wines for 
 port was, it seems, practised in " great- 
 grandfather's day " quite as extensively 
 as at present. In an official investiga- 
 tion into the manufacture of wines by 
 the English authorities a while ago, 
 one witness, who had been engaged for 
 many years in importing " 3Iasdeu," a 
 red wine from Roussillon, told the fol- 
 lowing curious story : 
 
 When I got to the port of shipment, 
 
TRADE AND BUSINESS IMMORALITIES. 
 
 197 
 
 Port Veadres, I found very extensive 
 warehouses constructed ; and as it was 
 in a very outlandish place, with not 
 more than two hundred and fifty in- 
 habitants in the port of shipment, such 
 warehouses struck me as very remark- 
 able. I inquired why these warehouses 
 were built, and I was told that they 
 had been put up by the proprietor's 
 father — the age of the present proprie- 
 tor was eighty-five. I inquired for 
 what purpose the father had built them, 
 and I ivas informed that he had built 
 them in connection with a countryman 
 of my own, a Mr. Ireland. *' Had I 
 ever heard of Mr. Ireland ? " My an- 
 swer was, no. But upon further in- 
 quiry, I was told that Mr. Ireland and 
 his — Mr. Durand's — father had had 
 large transactions in wine, and that 
 Mr. I. stated that he wanted a wine for 
 the supply of the troops and the navy, 
 and I was told fine old wine. Upon my 
 return to this country I went to the late 
 Mr. George Hathorn, than whom a more 
 respectable man never existed in any 
 trade : being a very old man, I ques- 
 tioned him if he had ever heard of Mr. 
 Ireland. He said, " Yes ; he recollect- 
 ed Mr. Ireland had commenced life at 
 Bristol in a very obscure position, and 
 died one of the richest men in it." 
 
 " What course of trade did he fol- 
 low ? " 
 
 " He was an importer of red wines." 
 
 " Port wines ? " 
 
 " Port wines." 
 
 " What reputation had his wines in 
 the market ? " 
 
 " They were of the highest class.'''' 
 
 Yet the old gentleman could not 
 seem to tell why — it certainly was not 
 from any want of funds — but, all at 
 once, the house suspended its prosperous 
 operations. 
 
 I supplied the wanting link; he 
 could get no more Roussillon wines, 
 as the first French revolution hindered 
 him ! 
 
 Wliat it Means to be " Selling Off." 
 
 One of those generous, disinterested, 
 sacrificing men, who had flaringly stuck 
 upon every other pane of glass in his 
 shop, " Selling off — no reasonable offer 
 refused — must close on Saturday," once 
 offered himself as bail, or security, in 
 some case which was brought before a 
 magistrate. The magistrate asked him 
 if he was worth a thousand dollars : he 
 said, yes. " But you are about to re- 
 move, are you not ? " " No." " Why, 
 you announce that you are ' Selling 
 Off.' " " Yes — every shopkeeper 's sell- 
 ing off." "You say, 'No reasonable 
 offer will be refused.' " " Yes ; I 
 should be very unreasonable if I did 
 refuse such ' offers.' " " But you say, 
 ' must close on Saturday.' " " To be 
 sure ; you would not have me open on 
 Sunday, would you ? " 
 
 Espionage Practised by Girard. 
 
 Gikard's oversight of his hired 
 hands was most arbitrary and exact- 
 ing. He owned a farm a few miles 
 from his residence in Philadelphia, 
 which he kept under his own cultiva- 
 tion. It was superintended by a farmer 
 who resided on the place, to which the 
 owner often drove out to see how affairs 
 were going on. He not unfrequently 
 went in the morning — before breakfast. 
 On one of those occasions, coming out 
 perhaps somewhat earlier than usual, 
 on arriving at a piece of stone fence 
 which he was building along the road- 
 side, he found his farmer absent. He 
 immediately drove to the house, fasten- 
 ed his horse, and went in, searching the 
 house for him, not overlooking those 
 parts where he suspected the man 
 might be found. Disappointed in his 
 search, he mounted his chaise and re- 
 turned to the fence — and, lo 1 the man 
 was found very diligently at his work. 
 
 " Ah ! how is this ? " said the keen- 
 eyed overseer; "you were too late at 
 your work, this morning. I have driven 
 
198 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 out of town already, and you were not 
 here." " Oh, yes, Mr. Girard," says the 
 man. " I had been here, but I had only 
 stepped aside for a few moments, to get 
 something that I wanted, when you 
 passed by." " You do lie I " said the 
 keen-eyed master. *■'' I did go and put 
 my hand in your led, and it was warm.''''' 
 The man had been informed by his 
 wife, of Girard'S coming, when he 
 jumped up in a hurry, and ran to his 
 work. But Ghard was too cute for 
 him. 
 
 Quaker Ship Owner Economizing the 
 Time of his Men. 
 
 There was once a wealthy ship owner 
 in New Bedford, a member of the So- 
 ciety of Friends, and now deceased, 
 who was very remarkable for economiz- 
 ing the time of his hired men. He had 
 one of his ships hove down to the wharf 
 to repair and copper. It was a cold 
 winter's day, and there was a plank ex- 
 tending from the wharf to the floating 
 stages around the ship, on which the 
 carpenters and caulkers were at work. 
 Among the men was one by the name 
 of John, a man-of-all-work, a man of 
 color, and on free and easy terms with 
 his master. John was carrying matters 
 and things up and down a slippery 
 plank to the workmen, when he slid 
 of a sudden and shot, heels over head, 
 into the water. The old Quaker saw 
 him, and as John came up to blow, 
 called out to him, " Don't make a noise, 
 John, you'll stop the men in their work 
 — keep quiet, and I'll help thee out." 
 
 As good or bad luck would have it, 
 the same day, the kind Quaker was 
 coming down the plank, and away he 
 went, souse into the briny deep. But 
 John was close by, and as his master 
 rose to the surface, and looked the image 
 of ghastliness and despair, the tantaliz- 
 ing negro put on a long face, and cried, 
 " Master, don't make a noise, to call off 
 the men, I'll help thee out." And so 
 he did, while the " men " would look 
 on, laughing at the fun. 
 
 " A Little More." 
 
 A New England merchant, who had 
 accumulated a vast property by care 
 and industry, yet still was as busy as 
 ever, in adding vessel to vessel and 
 store to store, though considerably ad- 
 vanced in life being asked by a neigh- 
 bor, how much property would satisfy 
 a human being? — after a short x^ause 
 replied, " A little more.'''' 
 
 Koyal Prize for Raising- Money— Raid 
 upon the Bankers. 
 
 At one period of his reign, being 
 very much distressed for money, and 
 despairing of obtaining any from the 
 House of Commons, King Charles the 
 Second declared, in a private meeting 
 with his ministers, that if any of them 
 would invent a method by which to 
 raise about one million and a half 
 pounds, without a parliament, he 
 should have the "White Staff," or, 
 in other words, the lord treasurer's 
 place. On the day following. Lord 
 Ashley told Sir Thomas Clifford, in 
 confidence^ that there was a way to sup- 
 ply the king immediately with such a 
 sum ; but that it was hazardous to put 
 it in practice, and might draw a train 
 of ill consequences along with it, by in- 
 flaming both the parliament and the 
 people. 
 
 Sir Thomas was impatient to know 
 the secret, being bold and courageous, 
 entirely in the French interest, and 
 pleased with anything that might ren- 
 der the king unpopular with the par- 
 liament. Therefore, to discover the 
 project, he plied his lordship with wine 
 to excess, and then led the conversation 
 to the subject of the king's wants. 
 Lord Ashley unguardedly dropped the 
 important secret. 
 
 The hint was immediately taken by 
 Sir Thomas, who left his lordship, went 
 directly to the king, and, falling on his 
 knees, he demanded the white staff, 
 according to promise. His majesty 
 cried out : 
 
TRADE AND BUSINESS IMMORALITIES. 
 
 199 
 
 " Odds fish ! I'll be as good as my 
 word, if you can find the money." 
 
 Sir Thomas then informed his royal 
 master that tlie 'bankers had a million 
 and a half pounds in his majesty's ex- 
 chequer^ which money he had an oppor- 
 tunity of seizing, by closing the ex- 
 chequer, and refusing to pay the bank- 
 ers. To this project the king readily 
 assented; and at a privy council, his 
 majesty being present, Sir Thomas pro- 
 posed, " That, as the king must have 
 money to carry on the war against Hol- 
 land, in which his honor was staked, he 
 knew of no other means at present than 
 shutting up the exchequer. He desired 
 none would speak against it without 
 proposing some method more certain 
 and expeditious." The king, after 
 many apologies for this bold step, de- 
 clared that " it should only be for the 
 space of one whole year, and that then 
 no new orders shall interfere to break 
 the course of such property." 
 
 This conduct filled every one — espe- 
 cially the business classes — with con- 
 sternation and dismay, and it was de- 
 clared that the crown had published 
 its own bankruptcy. The money thus 
 forcibly seized did, in point of fact, be- 
 long to the trading community ; and 
 the failure of the bankers, which was 
 the natural result, caused, for a time, 
 a general suspension of all monetary 
 transactions. Sir Thomas Clifibrd, for 
 his services in the affair, was, according 
 to the promise of the king, made lord 
 high treasurer and a peer. 
 
 Ingenious Swindling: of Pawnbrokers. 
 
 The plundering of pawnbrokers has 
 been reduced to quite a system in Lon- 
 don by the " profession." The parties, 
 it seems, are in the habit of sending to 
 auction rooms, for sale, cases of very- 
 handsome medals and coins, finely fin- 
 ished, to represent gold. On the day 
 of the sale, some of the party attend, 
 bid a high price for the article, and, of 
 course, become the purchasers. They 
 
 then request the auctioneer to give a 
 guaranty that they are gold, and he, 
 not having any suspicions, at once gives 
 the necessary certificate. The next step 
 of the swindler is to go to a pawnbrok- 
 er's and pledge the articles for the price 
 they could fetch if they were gold, at 
 the same time producing the auc- 
 tioneer's certificate, which completely 
 thi'ows the pawnbroker off his guard. 
 
 Jack's Bargain for Hope. 
 
 In one of our stores there is a mis- 
 chievous young fellow by the name of 
 George, who now and then acts as sales- 
 man. If his numerous friends ever 
 make game of his short legs, they at 
 least never deny him the possession of 
 a long head. There came into the 
 store one day a roving son of the sea, 
 inquiring for rope. George immediate- 
 ly offered his services, and led him back 
 to where the rope, in snaky folds, lay 
 coiled. The sailor soon found the 
 right size, and asked the price. The 
 selling price was twelm cents the 
 pound; but George, with an eye to 
 the principles of merchandising in 
 general, and the custom of Israelites 
 in particular, was willing to put it to 
 him at fifteen cents. To this the tar 
 made no objection, and said he would 
 take sixty fathoms ; but as it was pret- 
 ty well buried beneath a lot of old and 
 somewhat heavy " truck," he very natu- 
 rally inquired, " How'll you get it out ? " 
 Just then a bright idea shot through 
 the aforesaid long head of George, and 
 sparkled for a moment in his eyes, while 
 he drawled out most innocently, " Well, 
 if you'll pull it all out yo-ur-self, you 
 may have it at twelve cents." Whereat 
 the sailor, economically inclined, com- 
 menced a half-hour's tugging and haul- 
 ing at the buried rope ; while George, 
 more humorously inclined, enjoyed a 
 good half-hour s quiet fun. 
 
200 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 Determined not to be overreached. 
 
 There lives, not a thousand miles 
 from "Gotham," a dealer in small 
 wares, whose greatest fear is that of 
 being overreached. He goes without 
 milk in his coffee, in dread of buying a 
 spoonful of Croton, and never pays a 
 newspaper subscription, lest it should 
 not be published to the end of the year. 
 His little shop is without gas, for he 
 has no faith in the meter ; and he even 
 dips his own candles, to insure that 
 they are all tallow. In one thing he is 
 liberal; he makes large purchases of 
 counterfeit detectors, and buys an " ex- 
 tra " if there are any whisperings of a 
 broken bank. A neighbor of his was 
 imposed upon the other day with a 
 bank note which had been ingeniously 
 altered from one to five ; and the dealer 
 had been sharply on the watch ever 
 since, for fear of a similar imposition. 
 The other day, a young girl from the 
 country stepped into his store and pur- 
 chased a pair of stockings, offering a 
 one dollar note in payment. The old 
 man eyed the girl so penetratingly that 
 her face became suffused with blushes, 
 and this was, to him, acknowledgment 
 of guilt. 
 
 " How dare you offer me this ? " he 
 asked, in an angry tone. 
 
 " I thought it was good," she an- 
 swered timidly and with quivering lip. 
 
 " What is the matter with it ? " asked 
 a bystander, who had been attracted by 
 the dispute ; " it looks like a genuine 
 note." 
 
 " Genuine enough," said the shop- 
 keeper, his face crimson with passion . 
 " but, don't you see — it's a one altered 
 from a twenty ! " 
 
 Jemmy Taylor, the Miser Banker, and 
 the Earl of Northumberland. 
 
 One of the longest, though not best, 
 remembered of the old English stock- 
 brokers was Jemmy Taylor. So acute 
 and cunning did he become in all the 
 trickery pertaining to that kind of busi- 
 
 ness, that his profits were immense, and 
 his wealth prodigious. He was as pe- 
 nurious as he was rich, and as wretch- 
 ed in his personal appearance and his 
 mode of living as a pauper. A short 
 time after the American war, it is said 
 that the Earl of Northumberland, hav- 
 ing occasion for about half a million 
 dollars, applied to a broker, who ac- 
 cordingly appointed a certain day for 
 the transfer. At the time and place for 
 meeting, there was posted in waiting, 
 old Jemmy Taylor, who, in appearance, 
 resembled some itinerant vendor of 
 matches. Upon the Duke's arrival, the 
 broker brought Jemmy the banker for- 
 ward to his grace, who, not knowing 
 him, thought he was a beggar, and was 
 about to bestow a trifle upon him, when 
 he was informed that he was " a warm 
 man." His grace immediately shook 
 hands with the dirty usurer, and Jem- 
 my accommodated him with £74,000 
 out of one stock, in the four per cents., 
 and from whence, as it appeared by the 
 books, he could have sold out as much 
 more, and yet have had an abundance 
 left. He used to say, that " if his suc- 
 cessors had as much pleasure in spend- 
 ing his property, as he had in hoarding 
 it up, they need not complain of their 
 hard lot in the world." It does not ap- 
 pear that they were ever known to utter 
 such a complaint after Jemmy's death. 
 
 Accomplished Canine Shoplifter. 
 
 A gentleman in Edinburgh owned 
 a handsome spaniel, which he had 
 bought from a dealer in dogs. The 
 animal had been educated to steal for 
 the benefit of its protector ; but it was 
 some time ere his new master became 
 aware of this irregularity of morals, 
 and he was not a little astonished and 
 teased by its constantly bringing home 
 articles of which it had felonious- 
 ly obtained possession. Perceiving, at 
 length, that the animal proceeded sys- 
 tematically in this sort of behavior, he 
 used to amuse his friends, by causing 
 
TRADE AND BUSINESS IMMORALITIES. 
 
 201 
 
 tlie spaniel to give proof of its sagacity 
 in the Spartan art of privately stealing, 
 putting, of course, the shopkeepers, 
 where he meant the dog should exer- 
 cise this faculty, on their guard as to 
 the issue. 
 
 The process was curious. As soon 
 as the dog's master entered the shop, 
 the animal seemed to avoid all appear- 
 ance of recognizing or acknowledging 
 any connection with him, but lounged 
 about in an indolent, disengaged, and 
 indifferent sort of manner, as if having 
 come of its own accord, into the shop. 
 In the course of looking over some 
 wares, the master indicated by a touch 
 on the parcel and a look toward the 
 spaniel, that which he desired the dog 
 should appropriate, and then left the 
 shop. The dog, whose watchful eye 
 caught the hint in an instant, instead 
 of following his master out of the shop, 
 continued to sit at the door or lie by 
 the fire, watching the counter, until 
 observing the attention of the people 
 of the shop was withdrawn from the 
 prize to be secured. Whenever he saw 
 an opportunity of doing so, as he imag- 
 ined, unobserved, he never failed to 
 jump upon the counter wdth his fore 
 feet, possess himself of the gloves, or 
 whatever else had been pointed out to 
 him, and escape from the shop to join 
 his master. 
 
 "No Great Judge of de Hemp." 
 
 It was one of Girard's ideas of suc- 
 cess in business, that there was no stage 
 in the process of the exchange of equiv- 
 alents in trading, that might not be 
 made to him an opportunity of present 
 profit. 
 
 On one of these occasions, a merchant 
 who had purchased of Girard a large 
 quantity of hemp, sent a black man to 
 superintend the weighing and loading 
 of it. Girard was busy himself in put- 
 ting it upon the scales, but a great part 
 of it being damaged, the negro man 
 watched him closely, and whenever 
 
 Girard threw on a bad bundle, the ne- 
 gro would carefully throw it off. But 
 this, Girard, of course, would not sub- 
 mit to, and would proceed to replace 
 it, whilst the negro, in his turn, would 
 as quickly fling it off— until, losing his 
 patience, he commenced cursing the 
 negro, and declared he should not 
 touch the hemp, at the risk of chastise- 
 ment. But Sambo, nothing intimidat- 
 ed by the threats of the rich merchant, 
 continued to look after his master's in- 
 terest, telling Girard that if he ventured 
 to touch him, he would knock his other 
 eye out. Girard became pacified, and 
 seeing the determined purpose of the 
 man not to suffer his employer to be 
 wronged, he became reconciled to the 
 negro, saying : 
 
 "Well, I believe you be one very 
 honest fellow, but you no be one great 
 judge of de hemp." 
 
 On another occasion of the same 
 kind, the purchaser of his hemp a'p- 
 'peareA to be somewhat less inflexible 
 than Sambo. Owing to some peculiar 
 circumstances existing between the par- 
 ties, the damaged hemp was taken by 
 a ship chandler, Girard insisting that 
 he would give no other ; and very lit- 
 tle, or none of the article being in the 
 market, the buyer was obliged to sub- 
 mit to his eccentric humor, and take it 
 as he gave it, or get none. It happen- 
 ed, however, that this ship chandler 
 manufactured all Mr. Girard's cordage, 
 and in order to mete out to him mem- 
 urefor measure^ he ordered the damaged 
 liemp to be selected and made up for 
 Mr. Girard. This was done ; and the 
 retribution no doubt proved a more 
 serious loss, than the profit on the un- 
 merchantable hemp amounted to. 
 
 Eraising: the Price of Bread. 
 
 Some years ago, the bread dealers in 
 Lyons thought that they could prevail 
 on M. Dugas, the provost of the mer- 
 chants in that city, to befriend them at 
 the expense of the public. They wait- 
 
202 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 ed upon him in a body, and begged 
 leave to raise the price of bread, which 
 could not be done without the sanction 
 of that magistrate. M. Dugas told 
 them that he would examine their 
 petition, and give them an early an- 
 swer. The bakers then retired, having 
 first left upon the table a good fat 
 purse of two hundred louis d'or, in- 
 tended as private pocket money for 
 the provost. 
 
 In a few days the bakers called upon 
 the magistrate for an answer, not in the 
 least doubting but that the money had 
 very effectually pleaded their cause. 
 " Gentlemen," said M. Dugas, " I have 
 weighed your reasons in the balance 
 of justice, and I find them light. I do 
 not think the people ought to suffer 
 under a pretence of the dearness of 
 com, which I know to be unfounded ; 
 and as to the purse of money left vnth 
 me, I am sure that I have made such a 
 generous and noble use of it, as you 
 yourself intended: I have distributed 
 it among the poor objects of charity in 
 our two hospitals. As you are opulent 
 enough to make such large donations, 
 I cannot possibly think you are incur- 
 ring any losses in your business ; and 
 I shall, therefore, continue the price of 
 bread as it was before I received your 
 petition." 
 
 Trickery in the Clothing Trade. 
 
 A GENTLEMAN from the country, who 
 makes a visit to Gotham once a year, 
 dropped into a fine looking clothing 
 establishment in that city, to buy a 
 coat. Seeing one which pleased him, 
 he inquired the price, which the tailor 
 stated to be thirty dollars. Not exact- 
 ly approving of that price for the coat, 
 the seller fell to twenty-five dollars, and 
 finally to twenty, at which price the 
 coat was knocked down to him, as a 
 bargain. It was immediately " bundled 
 up," and the money paid for it, the 
 buyer stating it to be his intention to 
 leave the city in a few hours. On ar- 
 
 riving at his hotel, he thought he would 
 examine the bundle he received ; when, 
 lo ! on unfolding the same, what a sight 
 met his gaze ! two old tweed coats, worth 
 three or four dollars, looked up pitifully 
 in unconscious guilt, into his astonished 
 face. How he felt, one might imagine ; 
 and mentioning the circumstances to 
 the clerk in attendance at the hotel in 
 which he supped and lodged, he was 
 informed that such a thing was of daily 
 occurrence. In a moment more, the 
 buyer was on his way, with his " bar- 
 gain," to the self-styled fashionable 
 clothing establishment, and, on enter- 
 ing, accosted the man who sold him a 
 Jine llack hroaddoth coat, with a " "Well, 
 how do you do, sir ? " This pleasing 
 salut, instead of receiving a salutation 
 in return, equally as pleasant and agree- 
 able, together with a desire to be hap- 
 py to see a customer return again, was 
 met with an indifference which showed 
 to the customer that there was no dis- 
 position or willingness manifested to Icnow 
 him ! Calmly, however, he proceeded 
 to play his game upon the Peter Funk, 
 or " clo' man," by informing that distin- 
 guished dealer in fine black broadcloth 
 coats, that he had come back to his 
 establishment to inform him of a mis- 
 take that he had committed a few 
 hours before, in selling him two coats, 
 when he had only bargained for and 
 purchased one (here the clo' man be- 
 came twitchy and somewhat uneasy) — 
 that being a man who desired only 
 what was right, his moral scruples 
 would not permit him to go away with- 
 out returning and satisfying (here the 
 Peter Funk began to smell a Tartar !) 
 the error that had been committed. 
 " It cannot be a mistake ; it is not pos- 
 sible ; no, sir ; it cannot be," were the 
 expressions of the Funk at the close of 
 the sentence above. " Now," said the 
 customer, energetically, "you— yo« — 
 had, no doubt, thought that you had 
 in your power a verdant one (here 
 Funk thought he was about to catch a 
 Tartar), and that an opportunity was 
 
TRADE AND BUSINESS IMMORALITIES. 
 
 203 
 
 given you to indulge in your swindling 
 operations, expecting, of course, that I 
 would leave tlie city, and not call again, 
 after discovering your fraud upon my 
 purse." 
 
 The Peter Funk, now finding that he 
 had caught a Tartar, began making ex- 
 planations — declaring that the two 
 coats were made for another gentle- 
 man, and that he would not for ten 
 dollars that they had been kept out of 
 his hands. This attempt to " get off," 
 by telling a downright falsehood, espe- 
 cially in face of the fact that at least a 
 dozen of bundles were on the counter, 
 all of which, doubtless, were intended 
 to be " changed" for real purchases, as 
 was the case with the gentleman in 
 question, did not "take." Apologies 
 not suiting that individual, he depart- 
 ed with nothing less than the fine coat 
 he had purchased, and the money for 
 which was even then warm in the sel- 
 ler's pocket. 
 
 » 
 
 Filibustering among: Parisian Jew- 
 ellers. 
 
 The Parisian jewellers are now and 
 then the victims of people in elevated 
 stations — aristocratic, titled, possessed 
 of everything to avert susj^icion ; and 
 even of ladies in the highest social cir- 
 cles. These swindlers in high-born 
 position find it convenient to take 
 from jewellers what money bankers and 
 usurers refuse to give them. They 
 boldly enter the jewellers' shops, pur- 
 chase and have delivered to them many 
 bracelets and many diamonds, which 
 they will return in a few days (so they 
 say) if they find nothing to suit them. 
 
 The objects thus intrusted to them 
 go from the shop, after delivery, to the 
 pawnbrokers. Time passes away ; at 
 first, the jeweller hesitates to produce 
 scandal, and he accepts notes for the 
 goods which have been taken as good 
 as by force from the shop. At last the 
 notes fall due ; they are protested. 
 The next step of such " patrons " is to 
 offer to return the goods ! And this is 
 
 at the end of ten or twelve months, 
 without interest or damages. So that 
 the jewellers become the bankers of 
 fashionable ladies and gentlemen press- 
 ed for money. 
 
 As an example of this kind of aristo- 
 cratic filibustering, it is mentioned by 
 
 a dealer, that M. de took sixty 
 
 thousand dollars' worth of jewelry from 
 seven or eight jewelry shops in Paris. 
 A twelvemonth passed away, and noth- 
 ing was paid ; all had been sent to the 
 pawnbrokers. Finally, M. de of- 
 fered to return the jewels, but hooted 
 at the idea of paying a single sou for 
 merely " taking time to examine them 
 and make up his mind." The dealers 
 threatened to bring him before the 
 police court ; he laughed at them, and 
 they abandoned it, fearing the loss of 
 time and money. Another case was 
 
 that of M'me de , who took from a 
 
 certain dealer an immense quantity of 
 jewels to " show to her mother," as she 
 said ; but really to carry to her " aunt " 
 (the slang phrase for the pawnbroker), 
 and they could not be got back but by 
 the aid of the police. 
 
 Window *' Gazers" Employed by Lon- 
 don Shopkeepers. 
 
 One of the most " exquisite " tactics 
 of London shopkeepers is the hiring of 
 regular window gazers. This leisurely 
 employ 6, whose very existence is hardly 
 known to one in a thousand (and of 
 course is not intended to be), is a gen- 
 teelly dressed, complacent-looking indi- 
 vidual, having much the appearance and 
 manners of an aristocratic " gentleman 
 about town." It is but rarely that his 
 services are monopolized by a single 
 firm, unless they are the proprietors of 
 several shops in different quarters of 
 the city. It more frequently happens 
 that he is the joint property of several 
 individuals whose occupations and in- 
 terests do not at all clash with each 
 other. 
 
 These various traders manage to rig 
 him out in fashionable trim by general 
 
204 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 contribution ; a hatter takes charge of 
 his head ; a tailor of his back ; the pro- 
 prietor of the " pantaloononicon " con- 
 tributes the trousers; the bootmaker 
 indues him in a pair of the genteelest 
 of boots; he supports a gold-headed 
 cane or a handsome umbrella, supplied 
 by the manufacturer of those articles ; 
 necktie and handkerchief of irreproach- 
 able style and pattern are bestowed by 
 the haberdasher ; while a jeweller finds 
 him a gold watch, a showy ring, and a 
 handsome double eyeglass. 
 
 Thus equipped, he " goeth forth to 
 his labor," whenever the state of the 
 weather is such as to support the proba- 
 bility of his genuineness. All he has 
 to do is to walk leisurely from the shop 
 of one of his patrons to that of another, 
 stopping in front of the window, and 
 scrutinizing with much apparent inter- 
 est and complacency the various objects 
 there displayed to public view. In 
 so doing, he handles his gold eye-glass 
 with aristocratic grace — taps his model 
 boot with his splendid cane — drops a 
 monosyllabic ejaculation of surprise or 
 commendation, and when half a score 
 of simpletons have gathered around to 
 admire the astonishing cheapness and 
 perfection of the goods, he pops into 
 the shop, already commencing to give 
 an order in a loud and pompous tone 
 for a dozen of the article which the 
 tradesman wants to push off— desires 
 that they may be sent to May Fair be- 
 fore dark, and, naively leaving his 
 card with the shopman, who bows him 
 deferentially out, walks leisurely off to 
 the next shop on his beat, there to re- 
 peat the same automatic ceremony. He 
 contrives to arrive at the tailor's at the 
 fashionable hour, when that functionary 
 is engaged with customers, and there 
 he spreads himself in giving his concise 
 and liberal orders : " You have my 
 measure — no immediate hurry — this 
 day week will do — suppose you are 
 driven as usual ; " and he is off again 
 on his way to the jeweller's. 
 
 He accomplishes his easy round in 
 
 the course of the day, and betakes him- 
 self to his scurvy lodging, doffing his 
 "show-toys" before dark. His pay 
 varies from half a crown to three shil- 
 lings and sixpence a day, according to 
 his figure and effrontery ; and he con- 
 siders it easily and pleasantly earned, 
 inasmuch as he is (according to his own 
 notions), to all intents and purposes a 
 gentleman — during the hours of duty. 
 
 One Price, but not the Same Article. 
 
 A LADY went into a drygoods store 
 to buy a silk dress, and after being 
 shown several pieces, at length fixed 
 on one, for which, however, she would 
 only give a certain price, and that con- 
 siderably lower than the one demanded. 
 But in accordance with the " One price 
 — no deduction " rule of the house, no 
 abatement could be allowed to be made, 
 so the ofter could not be taken. 
 
 The customer was just going away, 
 when the salesman dexterously put 
 aside the piece of silk in question, and 
 replaced it by another of an inferior 
 quality and lower price, though simi- 
 lar in appearance to that for which she 
 had been offering. " Come this way, 
 ma'am, you may have it I " he cried, as 
 she was going out at the door. The 
 dress was cut off, the full price paid, 
 and the customer departed, highly 
 pleased at having got it all her own 
 way. 
 
 Drygroods Drummer " Sold." 
 
 The following description, by the 
 hero of a native romance bearing his 
 name, of the manner and tactics of 
 New York drygoods drummers, is a pic- 
 ture which the presiding genius of Har- 
 per's " Drawer " justly pronounces to be 
 one that Dickens himself has rarely ex- 
 celled. The scene succeeds the history 
 of the hero's first acquaintance with a 
 " drummer "—who, mistaking him for 
 a country " dealer," had given him his 
 card on board of a steamboat, taken 
 
TRADE AND BUSINESS IMMORALITIES. 
 
 205 
 
 him to his hotel, sent him his wine, 
 given him tickets to the theatre, and 
 requested him to call at his store in 
 Hanover Square, where (though he 
 didn't say so) it was his intention to 
 turn these courtesies to profitable ac- 
 count. On a bright, pleasant morning, 
 accordingly, our hero visits the store, 
 where Mr. Lummocks, the drummer, 
 receives him with open arms, and in- 
 troduces him to his employer. 
 
 He shook me heartily by the hand, 
 and said he was really delighted to see 
 me. He asked me how the times were, 
 and offered me a cigar, which I took, 
 for fear of giving ofience, but which I 
 threw away the very first opportunity 
 I got. 
 
 " Buy for cash, or on time ? " he 
 asked. 
 
 I was a little startled at the question, 
 it was so abrupt ; but I replied : 
 
 " For cash." 
 
 " Would you like to look at some 
 prints, major ? " he inquired. 
 
 "I am much obliged to you," I 
 answered ; " I am very fond of seeing 
 prints." 
 
 With that he commenced turning 
 over one piece after another, with 
 amazing rapidity. 
 
 " There^ major — very desirable arti- 
 cle — splendid style — only two-and-six ; 
 cheapest goods in the street." 
 
 Before I could make any reply, or 
 even guess at his meaning, he was 
 called away, and Mr. Lummocks 
 stepped up and supplied his place. 
 
 " You had better buy 'em, colonel," 
 said Mr. Lummocks; "they will sell 
 like hot cakes. Did you say you 
 bought for cash ? " 
 
 " Of course,''^ I replied, " if I buy at 
 all." 
 
 He took a memorandum out of his 
 pocket, and looked in it for a moment. 
 
 " Let — me — see," said he, " Franco, 
 Franco — what did you say your firm 
 was? Something and Franco, «r 
 Franco and Somebody? The name 
 has escaped me." 
 
 " I have no firm," I replied. 
 
 " Oh, you haven't, hain't ye ? all 
 alone, eh ? But I don't see that I've 
 got your first name down in my ' tick- 
 ler.' " 
 
 " My first name is Harry," said L 
 
 " Right — yes — I remember," said Mr. 
 Lummocks, making a memorandum, 
 " and your references, colonel, who did 
 you say were your references ? " 
 
 " I have no reference," I replied ; 
 " indeed, I know of no one to whom I 
 could refer, except my father." 
 
 " What — the old boy in the country, 
 eh?" 
 
 "My father is in the country," I 
 answered, seriously, not very well 
 pleased to hear my parent called the 
 " Old Boy." 
 
 " Then you have no city references, 
 eh?" 
 
 " None at all ; I have no friends 
 here, except yourself." 
 
 " Me I " exclaimed Mr. Lummocks, 
 apparently in great amazement. " Oh, 
 ho ! how much of a bill do you mean 
 to make with us, captain ? " 
 
 " Perhaps I may buy a vest pattern," 
 I replied, " if you have got some gen- 
 teel patterns." 
 
 "J. vest pattern f^^ exclaimed Mr. 
 Lummocks ; " what ! haven't you come 
 down for the purpose of buying goods ? " 
 
 " No, sir," I replied ; " I cam.e to 
 New York to seek for employment, 
 and, as you have shown me so many 
 kind attentions, I thought you would be 
 glad to assist me in finding a situation." 
 
 Mr. Lummocks's countenance under- 
 went a very singular change when I 
 announced my reasons for calling on 
 him. 
 
 " Do you see any thing that looks 
 green in there ? " he asked, pulling 
 down his eyelid with his forefinger. 
 
 " No, sir, I do not," I replied, look- 
 ing very earnestly into his eye. 
 
 " Nor in there, either ? " said he, pull- 
 ing open his other eye. 
 
 " Nothing at all, sir," I replied, after 
 a minute examination. 
 
206 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 " I guess not! " said Mr. Lummocks ; 
 and without making any other answer, 
 he turned smartly on his heel, and left 
 me. 
 
 "Regularly sucked, eh, Jack?" 
 asked a young man who had been 
 listening to our conversation. 
 
 " Don't mention it," said Mr. Lum- 
 mocks ; " the man is a fool." 
 
 Harry was about to demand an ex- 
 planation of this strange conduct, when 
 the proprietor came forward and told 
 him that he was not a retailer, but a 
 jobber^ and advised him, " if he wanted 
 a vest pattern, to go into Chatham 
 street ! " The drummer was " sold," 
 instead of his goods. 
 
 Deaconing- both. Ends of the Barrel. 
 In preparing and packing fruit for 
 the market, the practice of "deaconing," 
 as it is called, is very extensively fol- 
 lowed — that is, topping off a barrel of 
 apples with the best specimens; the 
 rather iiTeverent term " deaconing " 
 having its origin, probably, from some 
 one holding that office having been un- 
 fortunately distinguished for his fre- 
 quent adoption of the plan, so as to 
 put an inviting show on his fruit. A 
 dealer down East, who happened to be 
 " posted," sold a barrel of apples to a 
 customer, at the same time recommend- 
 ing them as the choicest apples that had 
 been raised in the town. In due time 
 the barrel was opened, and found to 
 contain a very inferior quality ; where- 
 upon the customer, feeling that he had 
 been imposed upon, made complaint to 
 the seller, who in turn very coolly made 
 answer, that he guessed he must have 
 opened the barrel at the wrong end ! 
 The only change this little episode was 
 known to produce in the seller's prac- 
 tice was to make him careful afterward 
 to " deacon " loth ends. 
 
 Grocers' Baisin-Boxes and Nibbling- 
 Customers. 
 
 Almost every grocer, it may be safe 
 
 to assume, is or has been infested with 
 
 a customer who is perpetually infring- 
 ing on the eighth commandment. This 
 class of pilferers are constantly tasting 
 the cheese, or munching convenient 
 lumps of sugar, dried apples, etc. They 
 occasionally stick their dirty fingers in- 
 to the molasses hogshead, and suck them 
 with infinite gusto. 
 
 A grocer, "not a thousand miles" 
 from South Danvers, was the victim of 
 
 such a bore. Whenever Mr. A 
 
 came to the store, he would steer for 
 the raisin-box, and deliberately ab- 
 stract a handful ; to the cheese, and 
 take a generous slice ; and, with a 
 cracker and a glass of water, serve 
 himself an excellent lunch.' The gro- 
 cer one day undid a box of nice Malaga 
 raisins and placed it on his counter. 
 
 Mr. A , coming in, made direct 
 
 tracks to them, and expressed his ap- 
 probation of their quality by taking an 
 unusually large handful. Our friend, 
 the grocer, observing this, gave orders 
 to his clerks not to sell or allow any 
 one to touch the raisins in that box, 
 except Mr. A. He called frequently. 
 At the end of six months, the box of 
 
 Malagas was gone; Mr. A had 
 
 eaten them all. His bill for that time 
 amounted to about forty dollars, the 
 profits on which were three dollars. 
 The raisins (to say nothing of other 
 nibbluigs) amounted, at cost price, to 
 $3.35. Thus the grocer, from that 
 " customer," in that space of time, 
 made twenty-five cents out of pocket. 
 After that, he insisted upon having 
 
 Mr. A administer firm control 
 
 over his fingers, or else withdraw his 
 patronage. 
 
 Item — to whom it may concern : 
 Don't imagine that when you purchase 
 an ounce of pepper, the grocer can 
 afford you the gratuitous privilege of 
 his raisin box. 
 
 Artful Dodg-e. 
 An ingenious rogue in Berlin, Prus- 
 sia, lately practised one of the most art- 
 ful dodges to be found in the records 
 
TRADE AND BUSINESS IMMORALITIES. 
 
 207 
 
 of any business. A member of the 
 company of players, at Kallenbach's 
 theatre was to have a benefit night; 
 and the question was, how to get to- 
 gether a good audience, as the usual 
 attendance at that place of amusement, 
 even if doubled, would produce far too 
 slender a sum to satisfy the expecta- 
 tions of a benefit night. Accordingly, 
 some days before the memorable even- 
 ing, there appeared in all the Berlin 
 papers an advertisement to the follow- 
 ing effect : 
 
 " A gentleman, who has a niece and 
 ward possessing a disposable property 
 of fifteen thousand thalers, together 
 with a mercantile establishment, desires 
 to find a young man who would be able 
 to manage the business and become the 
 husband of the yoimg lady. The pos- 
 session of property or other qualification 
 is no object. Apply to ." 
 
 Hundreds and hundreds of letters 
 poured in, in reply to this advertise- 
 ment. On the morning of the benefit 
 day each person who had sent a reply 
 received the following note : " The 
 most important point is, of course, 
 that you should like one another. I 
 and my niece are going to Kallenbach's 
 theatre this evening, and you can just 
 drop in upon us in Box No. 1." 
 
 Of course, the theatre was crammed. 
 All the boxes, all the best paying places 
 in the house were filled early in the 
 evening with a mostly male public, got 
 up in a style seldom seen at the royal 
 opera itself. Glasses were levelled on 
 all sides in the direction of " box 
 No. 1," and eyes were strained to catch 
 tlie first glimpse of the niece, when she 
 should appear in company with the 
 uncle. But uncles are proverbially 
 " wicked old men ; " and in the pre ent 
 case neither uncle nor niece was to be 
 found, and the disconsolate lovers — of a 
 fortune — were left to clear up the mys- 
 tery as best they could. The theatre 
 had not had such an audience for years, 
 and, of course, the chief person concern- 
 ed reaped a rich harvest by the trick. 
 
 Half-hour's Experience with. liOndon 
 Brokers. 
 
 I TURNED to the right (says an hon- 
 est visitor to the rendezvous of English 
 brokers, to see how the money-springs 
 were touched), and found myself in a 
 spacious apartment, which was nearly 
 filled with persons more respectable in 
 appearance than the crew I had left at 
 the door. Curious to see all that was 
 to be seen, I began to scrutinize the 
 jjlace and the society into which I had 
 intruded. But I was prevented from 
 indulging the reflections which began 
 to suggest themselves, by the conduct 
 of those about me. A curly-haired 
 Jew, with a face as yellow as a guinea, 
 stepped plump before me, fixed his 
 black, round, leering eyes full on me, 
 and exclaimed without the slightest 
 anxiety about my hearing him : 
 
 " So help me Got, Mo', who is he ? " 
 Instead of replying in a straightfor- 
 ward way, " Mo " raised his voice as 
 loud as he could, and shouted with 
 might and main : 
 
 " Fourteen hundred new fives ! " 
 A hundred voices repeated the mys- 
 terious exclamation, "Fourteen hun- 
 dred new fives ! " 
 
 " Where, where — fourteen hundred 
 new fives — now for a look; where is 
 he — Go it, go it ! " were the cries raised 
 on all sides by the crowd, which now 
 rallied about my person like a swarm 
 of bees. And then " Mo," by way of 
 proceeding to business, repeating the 
 war-cry, staggered sideways against 
 me, so as almost to knock me down. 
 My fall, however, was happily pre- 
 vented by the kindness of a brawny 
 Scotchman, who humorously calling 
 out, " Let the man alone," was so good 
 as to stay me in my course with his 
 shoulder, and even to send me back 
 toward " Mo," with such violence, that, 
 had he not been supported by a string 
 of his friends, he must have infallibly 
 fallen before me. But being thus 
 backed, he was enabled to withstand 
 the shock, and to give me a new im- 
 
208 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 pulse in the direction of the Scotch- 
 man, who, awaiting my return, treated 
 me with another hoist as before, and I 
 found those two worthies were likely 
 to amuse themselves with me as with a 
 shuttlecock, for the next quarter of an 
 hour. I struggled violently to extri- 
 cate myself from this unpleasant situa- 
 tion, and, by aiming a blow at the Jew, 
 inspired Moses to pause and give up 
 his next hit, and to allow me for a mo- 
 ment to regain my feet. 
 
 The rash step which I had taken was 
 likely to produce very formidable con- 
 sequences. All present were highly 
 exasperated and panting for a clinch. 
 The war became more hot and des- 
 perate than ever. Each individual 
 seemed anxious to contribute to my 
 destruction ; and some of their number 
 considerately called out, " Spare his life, 
 but break his limbs." My alarm was 
 extreme ; and I looked nervously round 
 for means of escape. 
 
 " You ought to be ashamed of your- 
 self to use the gentleman in that sort 
 of way," squeaked a small imp-like per- 
 son, affecting sympathy, and then trying 
 to renew the sport. 
 
 " How would you like it yourself," 
 cried another, " if you were a stran- 
 ger ? " shaking his sandy locks with a 
 knowing look, and knocking off my 
 hat as he spoke. 
 
 I made a desperate blow at this 
 offender. It did not take effect, from 
 the expedition with which he retreat- 
 ed, and I had i^rudence enough to re- 
 flect that it would be better to recover 
 my hat than to pursue the enemy. 
 Turning round, I saw my unfortunate 
 beaver, or " canister," as it was called 
 by the gentry who had it in their cus- 
 tody, bandying it backward and for- 
 ward, between the Caledonian and his 
 clan, and the Jew and his tribe. 
 
 Covered with perspiration, foaming 
 with rage, and almost expiring from 
 heat and exhaustion, I at last succeeded 
 in recovering my once glossy and re- 
 spectable hat. I did not dare to rein- 
 
 state it, but was forced to grasp it with 
 both hands, in order to save what re- 
 mained of it. I baffled several desperate 
 snatches, one of which carried away the 
 lining in shreds, and was now trying to 
 keep the enemy at bay, afraid again to 
 attack the host opposed to me ; but not 
 knowing how to retreat, when a person, 
 who had not previously made himself 
 conspicuous, approached and interfered, 
 by saying, " Perhaps you had better go 
 out ; " at the same time pointing to a 
 door which I had been too much in a 
 hurry to have seen before. 
 
 One of tlie Operations in 'Changre 
 AUey. 
 
 "While the war in which the British 
 nation was involved, in 1761, was going 
 on, Mr. Dunbar, the eminent West In- 
 dia merchant in London, finding his 
 affairs much less prosperous than usual, 
 sought " the Alley," as the money street 
 of London was then termed, to retrieve 
 his failing fortunes — with what success, 
 the sequel will show. From some pri- 
 vate information of which he had come 
 into possession, he believed that he had 
 good grounds for supjDosing that a 
 peace would soon be effected, and a 
 rise in the funds at once ensue. He 
 therefore ordered his broker to buy 
 one hundred thousand pounds in stock 
 for his account, telling him privately 
 the opinion he had formed, with the 
 intelligence on which it was based, — 
 and the broker, in violation of his oath, 
 jobbed extensively on his own account 
 as well as for his client. February 
 passed away without the expected 
 peace, and Mr. Dunbar paid the differ- 
 ence. Confident, however, in his views, 
 he continued the operation; but each 
 account day proved that the price had 
 been against him, and with great dif- 
 ficulty did he find money to pay the 
 amounts due. In July, unable to 
 pay cash, he gave notes of hand to 
 the broker, who agreed to receive 
 them. No objection being made, 
 the account was continued on for 
 
TRADE AND BUSINESS IMMORALITIES. 
 
 209 
 
 August. In that montli the pros- 
 pect of peace revived, the funds rose 
 handsomely, and Mr, Dunbar, seeing a 
 chance of paying a greater part of his 
 losses, went with all speed to his bro- 
 ker. His distress may be imagined, when 
 he was coolly told, that, since he had 
 given notes of hand^ no account had been 
 opened, and no advantage could be 
 reaped from the rise in price. Any ap- 
 peal to law was useless; but, as Mr. 
 Dunbar became a bankrupt, the mem- 
 bers of the stock exchange subscribed 
 to pay the amount claimed, in order 
 that so flagrant a case might not be- 
 come public. 
 
 His Kuling: Passion. 
 
 A Mr. L., a master in chancery, was 
 on his deathbed — a very wealthy man. 
 Some occasion of great urgency occur- 
 red, in which it became necessary to 
 make an affidavit; and the attorney, 
 failing of one or two other masters 
 whom he inquired after, ventured to 
 ask if Mr. L. himself would possibly be 
 able to receive the deposition. The 
 proposal actually seemed to give him 
 momentary strength; his clerk was 
 sent for, and the oath taken in due 
 form. The master was lifted up in his 
 bed, and with difficulty subscribed the 
 paper ; as he sank down again, he made 
 a signal to his clerk, "Wallace?" 
 " Sir ? " " Your ear — lower — lower. 
 Erne you got the half crown f " He was 
 dead before the morning. 
 
 Trick for *' the Spashy." 
 
 "When the banks " shut down " on 
 their specie, some people hold on to 
 what coin they get a feel at, to the 
 annoyance of the retail traders, who are 
 importuned every hour to change a bill 
 for some small purpose. An illustra- 
 tion of this fact is that of a Celtic 
 woman who entered a grocery and 
 called for " a cint's 'orth o' sand." The 
 article was measured out, and put into 
 14 
 
 the customer's pail, who tendered a one 
 dollar bill to have the pay taken out 
 of it. " I can't change that for so small 
 an amount," exclaimed the grocer; 
 " you may take the sand, and be wel- 
 come to it." " Indade, sir, and shure 
 it isn't the sand that I'm wanting at all 
 at all; but it's the sulver — the 
 that ye'll be giving me back." 
 
 Game of the Money Packages. 
 
 North, the noted insurance agent, 
 banker, stock gambler, and speculator, 
 who flourished upon such an extensive 
 scale until the hour of his collapse — 
 when he was found to be hundreds of 
 thousands of dollars worse than noth- 
 ing — was a most inveterate and persist- 
 ent borrower of other people's money. 
 
 He went to New York frequently, 
 and took with him large packages of 
 bank bills. Usually arriving in New 
 York after business hours, it was his 
 custom, on such occasions, to deposit 
 the money packages, nicely sealed, with 
 the clerk of the hotel he might de- 
 cide to stop at. L. E. W., who had 
 occasion also to go frequently to New 
 York, and who often chanced to fall 
 into North's company, had noticed that 
 these deposits of money packages gen- 
 erally secured to North nice rooms and 
 much attention at the hotels. He ac- 
 cordingly prepared two handsome pack- 
 ages, sealed them up with heavy seals, 
 marked upon each, in bold characters, 
 " $3,000," placed them in his carpet 
 sack, and in two or three days after, on 
 his way to Gotham, got into the company 
 of North. They went together to the 
 Astor. North booked his name, pulled 
 a key from his pocket, unlocked his 
 caqoet sack, took out a sealed package 
 marked " $2,000," and handed it to the 
 clerk with a pompous request that it 
 be taken care of till called for. L. E. 
 W. then booked his name, and opening 
 his carpet bag, drew out the two pack- 
 ages marked "$3,000," and handed 
 them to the clerk with the same re- 
 
210 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 quest. North looked on with evident 
 satisfaction and surprise, but made no 
 remark. The next day, after break- 
 fast, he called L. E. W. aside myste- 
 riously, spoke to him about having a 
 bank note to pay, said he was " short," 
 and ending by requesting a loan of one 
 of the packages of three thousand dol- 
 lars, which he had seen him deposit the 
 evening before. The temptation was 
 too great ,' and besides it was " All- 
 Fool's Day." "You can have it for 
 three days, if that can be of any accom- 
 modation to you," said "W., looking 
 wisely. Of course it would be an ac- 
 commodation; so North wrote a note 
 for three thousand dollars, payable one 
 day after date, and the package was 
 graciously passed to him. An hour 
 later, and North went into a well- 
 known bank in Wall street, with his 
 usual bluster, bustle, and huiTy. "I 
 have a note here due to-day, I believe," 
 said he to a teller. The note was pro- 
 duced. It was for five thousand dol- 
 lars. A $2,000 and a $3,000 package 
 were handed over in payment. The 
 first was broken, and found to be cor- 
 rect ; the second was then opened, and 
 found to contain nought but blank tis- 
 sue pa,per ! The clerk looked inquir- 
 ingly ; poor North looked deeply mor- 
 tified. He made a hurried apology, 
 gathered up his two thousand dollars, 
 and took his departure. North never 
 afterward asked L. E. W. for a loan of 
 a " money package." 
 
 King: Charles in the Fawners' Clutches. 
 
 In a curious pamphlet, published in 
 1676, an account is given of the out- 
 rageous advantage taken of the neces- 
 sities of King Charles by the pawn- 
 brokers ; showing that the monarch 
 who lives beyond his revenue, must 
 pay the same penalty as the subject 
 who outruns his income. He found 
 himself at the mercy of the rich pawn- 
 broker, who made the royal debtor pay 
 ten, twenty, and thirty per cent, for ac- 
 
 commodation, while he allowed only 
 six per cent, for the money which went 
 to alleviate the difficulties of the " mer- 
 ry monarch." A business so profitable 
 induced the pawnbrokers more and 
 more to become lenders to the king, 
 to anticipate all the revenue, to take 
 every grant of Parliament into pawn 
 as soon as it was given ; also to outvie 
 each other in buying and taking to 
 pawn bills, orders, and tallies, so that, 
 in effect, all the revenue passed tlirough 
 their hands. 
 
 Duplicity Practised by Furnese, the 
 King's Banker. 
 
 The name of Sir Henry Furnese 
 figures largely among the bygone 
 bankers who gave renown to the finan- 
 ciers of that period. Throughout Hol- 
 land, Flanders, France, and Germany, 
 he maintained a complete and perfect 
 train of business intelligence. The 
 news of the many battles fought was 
 thus received first by him, and the fall 
 of Namur added to his profits, owing 
 to his early receipt of the news. On 
 another occasion he was j^resented by 
 King William with a diamond ring of 
 immense value, as a reward for some 
 important information, and as a testi- 
 mony of that monarch's esteem. He 
 was the king's friend and banker. 
 
 But the temptation to deceive was 
 too great, even for this eminent and 
 honored banker. He fabricated news ; 
 he insinuated false intelligence ; he was 
 the originator of some of those plans 
 which at a later period were managed 
 with so much effect by Rothschild. 
 Thus, if Sir Henry wished to buy, his 
 brokers were ordered to look gloomy 
 and mysterious, hint at important news, 
 and after a time sell. His movements 
 were closely watched — the contagion 
 would spread ; the speculators become 
 alarmed ; prices be lowered four or five 
 per cent., — for in those days the loss of 
 a battle might be the loss of a crown, — 
 and Sir Henry would reap the benefit 
 by employing different brokers to pur- 
 
TRADE AND BUSINESS IMMORALITIES. 
 
 211 
 
 chase as much as possible at the re- 
 duced price. Large profits were thus 
 made, but a demoralizing spirit was 
 spread abroad; and bankrupts and 
 beggars sought the same pleasure in 
 which the millionnaire indulged, and 
 often with similar success. 
 
 Talleyrand and tlie Stock Jobber. 
 
 An extensive dealer in stocks, anx- 
 ious about the rise and fall of the 
 public funds, and eager to overreach 
 those similarly situated, came once to 
 Talleyrand for information respecting 
 the truth of a rumor that George the 
 Third had suddenly died, when the 
 statesman replied in a confidential tone, 
 " I shall be delighted if the information 
 I have to give you, be of any use to 
 you." The banker was enchanted with 
 the prospect of obtaining authentic in- 
 formation from so high a source ; and 
 Talleyrand, with a mysterious air, con- 
 tinued : " Some say that the king of 
 England is dead, others that he is not 
 dead, but for my own part, I believe 
 neither the one nor the other; I tell 
 you this in confidence, but do not com- 
 mit me." 
 
 Buying Cheap. 
 
 Some persons have a penchant for 
 buying things cheap— a weakness, in- 
 deed, with which many are troubled, 
 and it is oftentimes a most offensive 
 one. Clapp tells a " good un " of a 
 wandering Jew peddler, who stepped 
 into the counting room of a Boston 
 merchant, on a certain winter's morn- 
 ing, and after warming his hands, turn- 
 ed to the gentleman occupying the seat 
 of authority, and politely inquired : 
 
 " Would you like to examine a vest 
 pattern ? " 
 
 "No, no, don't bother me. Very 
 busy just now." 
 
 " It is the best article and the neatest 
 pattern that you ever saw." 
 
 " Don't want anj vest patterns ! " 
 
 " But just look, sir," — and the ped- 
 dler had a piece of vesting unfolded, 
 which was really quite neat, and the 
 cogitator, unable to unravel the politi- 
 cal web — he was conning the election 
 returns as given by the rival jour- 
 nals — determined to unravel the web 
 of the fabric. 
 
 " All silk, sir ; warranted, and suffi- 
 cient for two double-breasted vests, or 
 three with rolling collars." 
 
 " What do you ask for it ? " 
 
 " Twelve dollars. I bought it in 
 Liverpool, and brought it over with 
 me, and if you want it, you shall have 
 it for just what it cost me — twelve dol- 
 lars." 
 
 " It is too much, shan't give any such 
 price — but will give you six dollars." 
 
 " Oh, my gracious ! " exclaimed the 
 peddler, as if astonished at such an offer, 
 " I can't think of it. " Off he walked. 
 In ten minutes the door was opened, 
 and the peddler thrust in his head : 
 " You may have it for ten dollars." 
 
 " No," was all the reply he got. 
 
 " I will say eight, as the very lowest." 
 
 " No, «ir," and away went the peddler 
 the second time. 
 
 The gentleman was about relapsing 
 into his revery upon the contradictory 
 election returns, as given by the differ- 
 ent political papers, when the peddler 
 reentered boldly, and laid the vesting 
 upon the desk, exclaiming : 
 
 " Well, give us six dollars, and it is 
 yours." 
 
 The money was paid, and the peddler 
 was about leaving the door, when he 
 turned round and took from his pocket 
 another roll, and, undoing it, exposed 
 to view a piece of vesting as far pref- 
 erable to the other as possible. 
 
 The gentleman at once made a propo- 
 sal to exchange. The peddler couldn't 
 think of such a thing — he didn't mean 
 to sell it on any account ; he intended 
 to keep it until he was able to have it 
 made up for himself; but, after con- 
 siderable trading and talking, he gave 
 it up, received his first piece and two 
 
212 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 dollars, and walked off— making eight 
 dollars for his piece of vesting. The 
 gentleman, quite satisfied with the ex- 
 change, walked up to his tailor's, 
 at noon, threw down the piece, order- 
 ing him to cut off suflBcient for one 
 vest. 
 
 " How many vests do you expect it 
 will make ? " inquired the tailor. 
 
 " Three, of course," was the reply. 
 
 The yardstick went down, and look- 
 ing up, he informed the purchaser that 
 it would make two, by piecing out the 
 collar with black silk. The idea of 
 measuring the article had not occurred 
 to him before, but at this piece of news 
 he felt a kind of film spread over his 
 eyes, a lightness of pocket troubling his 
 ribs, while the letters s-o-l-d, by a delu- 
 sion of his optical nerves, appeared to 
 be written on the outer walls of all the 
 adjacent buildings. He then inquired 
 the probable worth, and was informed 
 that such vesting could be purchased at 
 about two dollars and a quarter per 
 yard ! This was suflScient. 
 
 Business Suckers. 
 
 Business suckers, as they are appro- 
 priately termed, are no small class in 
 modern times. They are most numer- 
 ous out West, and ply their tactics after 
 a style that leaves nothing wanting. 
 An individual of this ilk, possessed of 
 a moderate amount of money, com- 
 mences business in some thriving town. 
 He goes to one of the wholesale mar- 
 kets, and with one or two commenda- 
 tory letters, but particularly with his 
 money, he soon becomes acquainted — 
 at first but limited — but he has. only to 
 manage his trumps (money) with a lit- 
 tle professional tact, and his acquaint- 
 ance will very soon extend. At first 
 he purchases cautiously, and meets his 
 obligations promptly, always managing 
 to have his goods carefully packed and 
 marked scientifically, and placed ex- 
 posed on the street several days before 
 he removes them • 
 
 " Like books and money 
 Laid in show 
 
 As nest eggs 
 
 To make clients lay." 
 
 And he succeeds. He soon becomes 
 known as a man of promptness and 
 capital, and doing a dashing business ; 
 and such a business he does do, for the 
 motto at home is to sell low for cash — 
 never mind profits. His acquaintance 
 is courted ; he is be-drammed, be-din- 
 nered and be-suppered. Everything 
 goes on swimmingly, and finally he 
 buys largely, goes in deeply, makes one 
 grand manoeuvre — a most prodigious 
 swell, and then judiciously and 'prqfita- 
 Uy (to himself) explodes. 
 
 Fortune Making in Havana. 
 
 It is a well-known fact, that nearly 
 all the merchants and shopkeepers of 
 Havana are native Spaniards. A large 
 proportion of this class come to Cuba 
 as adventurers — seekers of luck and for- 
 tune, and not particular as to the ways 
 and means, though generally beginning 
 their mercantile career as clerks, on 
 small salaries. After accumulating, or 
 getting, five hundred dollars, they will 
 purchase a share in a joint-stock slave- 
 trading company, and, in the course of 
 a year or two, receive a profit in the 
 shape of a dividend, amounting to ten 
 thousand dollars, which sum, reinvest- 
 ed in the same business, soon makes 
 them millionnaires. These nabobs then 
 generally return to Spain to spend their 
 ill-gotten fortunes, leaving a plentiful 
 crop of clerks to follow in the footsteps 
 of their predecessors. 
 
 Cheating- the Oculist. 
 
 Sir William Smyth, of Bedford- 
 shire, was an immensely rich money 
 dealer, but most parsimonious and 
 grinding in his dealings. At seventy 
 years of age he was entirely deprived 
 of his sight— unable to gloat over his 
 hoarded heaps of gold. In this condi- 
 tion he was persuaded by Taylor, the 
 
TRADE AND BUSINESS IMMORALITIES. 
 
 213 
 
 celebrated oculist, to be couched — who 
 was, by agreement, to have sixty 
 guineas if lie restored the banker to 
 any degree of sight. Taylor succeeded 
 in his operation, and Sir William was 
 enabled to read and write without the 
 aid of spectacles during the rest of his 
 life. But no sooner w^as his sight re- 
 stored, than the banker began to regret 
 that his agreement had been for so 
 large a sum. His thoughts were now 
 how to cheat the oculist. He pretend- 
 ed that he had only a glimmering, and 
 could see nothing distinctly ; for which 
 reason the bandage on his eyes was con- 
 tinued a month longer than the usual 
 time. Taylor was deceived by these 
 representations, and agreed to com- 
 pound the bargain, accepting twenty 
 gumeas instead of sixty. At the time 
 Taylor attended him he had a large 
 estate, an immense sum of money in 
 the stocks, and tens of thousands in 
 gold at his house. 
 
 Mr. Jones's Experience with Peter 
 FTink. 
 
 A GREENHORN, named Mr. Jones, 
 from Hartford, is stopped while career- 
 ing down Broadway, by the sound of a 
 stentorian voice from within, crying 
 " Going." He hears the whack of the 
 auctioneer's hammer, and sees six gentle- 
 men standing round a table. " Things 
 are selling mighty cheap in there," he 
 says to himself, and goes in. Peter 
 Funk holds a piece of linen in his 
 hands, and is just on the point of knock- 
 ing it down at six cents a yard — " fifty- 
 five and one half yards, going, at six 
 cents ! an awful sacrifice." " Seven^'' 
 hastily shouts Jones. " Eight," says 
 Stool Pigeon. "Nine," says Jones. 
 Whack goes the mallet. " Sold," says 
 Peter. " Mr. Jones, fifty 76 ve and one 
 half yards of linen, at fifty-mwe cents," 
 — touching lightly on the ' fifty.' The 
 attentive clerk beckons to Jones, who 
 steps back behind a mysterious desk 
 with a screen in front. Clerk begins 
 to make out the bill, while Jones lays 
 
 down a five-dollar bank note to pay for 
 the linen ; the money goes to the 
 drawer. Clerk hands Jones the bill, 
 which may read thus : — 
 
 Mr. Jones, bought of Peter Funk, SSi 
 yards Irish linen, at 59 c. per yd., — 
 $32.74. 
 
 Jones opens his eyes ; clerk points to 
 the sum, and holds out his right hand, 
 with the remark, "Balance, $37.74." 
 Jones opens his mouth, and essays to 
 speak, but is dumbfounded; he has 
 hearn of those pesky mock auctions, 
 but never dreamed he should ever 
 blunder into one in so respectable a 
 place as Broadway. Mr. Jones rumi- 
 nates and pinches himself to see if he is 
 dreaming ; he is awake — ^he is in New 
 York, Broadway. 
 
 But Mr. Jones, though green, has 
 Yankee presence of mind; he forks 
 over the balance demanded, takes his 
 linen under his arm and gapes at the 
 auctioneer, until that functionary gets 
 nervous, and announces that the sale is 
 adjourned for the day. Mr. Jones, ac- 
 cordingly, to prevent being housed with 
 the precious scamps, steps out and 
 travels toward the Tombs, where he 
 finds a policeman, and tells his tale of 
 woe. In a few moments the swindling 
 shop and the inmates, which meantime 
 have got under full headway again, is 
 
214 
 
 COMMERCIAL AXD BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 taken all aback with an apparition — it 
 is Mr. Jones with, that linen under his 
 arm, and a person with a brass shield 
 on the lappel of his coat. The man 
 with the shield takes the clerk by the 
 nape of his neck, and starts him to- 
 ward the Tombs ; clerk remonstrates 
 — explains — exclaims, and so on, but 
 keeps custodially moving up Broadway 
 and through Chambers street, wben all 
 of a sudden he concludes to disgorge 
 the $32.74 ; which Jones takes, thanks 
 the officer, and vanishes. 
 
 Connection between Small Bank 
 
 Notes and Crinae. 
 The fact appears to be abundantly 
 attested that the circulation of one- 
 pound bank notes in England proved, 
 at first, conducive to a melancholy 
 waste of human life. Considering the 
 advances made in the mechanical arts, 
 at the time of their issue, they were 
 rough and even rude in their execution. 
 Easily imitated, they were also easily 
 circulated ; and from 1797, the execu- 
 tions for forgery augmented to an extent 
 which bore no proportion to any other 
 class of crime. During six years prior 
 to their issue, there was but one capital 
 conviction ; during the four following 
 years, eighty-five occurred. To prevent 
 their imitation, most stringent penal- 
 ties were ordained, and, in 1801, it was 
 enacted that, to prevent forgeries, all 
 the one and two pound notes should 
 " be printed on a peculiar and pur- 
 posely constructed paper, having waved 
 or curved lines." But all these endeavors 
 to repress crime fell sadly short of the 
 necessity, and the connection between 
 the issue of small notes and the effu- 
 sion of blood because of their easy imi- 
 tation was apparent enough. Thus, 
 before 1797, the Bank of England could 
 issue no notes under five pounds. In 
 1802, the average number of notes un- 
 der that value was about three millions 
 and a half. In the former period there 
 were no capital executions ; in the lat- 
 ter, one hundred and sixteen occurred 
 
 in four years. In 1817, there were 
 thirty thousand forged notes of the one 
 and two pounds class stopped at the 
 bank, nine hundred of five pounds, fifty 
 of ten pounds, and two of twenty. The 
 crime is, thkefore, imputed to the small 
 notes ; and the forgery of larger ones to 
 the habits of criminality originating in 
 the temptation of small notes. 
 
 Jacob Barker on " Thewdness " in 
 Stock Dealing-. 
 
 Among the new generation of Wall 
 street, Jacob Barker, notwithstanding 
 his present extensive business charac- 
 ter, is comparatively unknown ; but 
 there was a time when Jacob made his 
 mark upon the stock brokers and 
 money changers of that monetary local- 
 ity. He has long lived and thrived in 
 the Crescent City. Jacob is as active 
 and buoyant as most men at thirty-five ; 
 he cannot be said, however, to enjoy a 
 green old age, unless it may be discov- 
 ered in the suppleness he displays, so 
 peculiar to youth. One of the many 
 amusing stories told of him is where a 
 gentleman called at his office and de- 
 nounced, in the most unmeasured man- 
 ner, certain persons who had swindled 
 him — the gentleman (not Jacob, by any 
 means) — in some stock transactions. 
 Barker listened to the whole matter 
 with professional zest, and finding that 
 everything had been done " right," 
 urged the indignant victim not to go 
 on so, but to forget the thing entirely ; 
 " for," said Jacob, consolingly, " if you 
 thwade in stock, you must call thealing 
 tJieiodness, or you will constantly be out 
 of themper ! " 
 
 Stock Exchangre Conspiracy. 
 A STOCK-joBBmG Operation, which 
 was undertaken in England, in 1814, 
 and which has been celebrated in mon- 
 etary annals because of its gigantic ex- 
 tent, will perhaps afford refreshing read- 
 ing to that not small class who ply so 
 dexterously similar expedients at the 
 present day. The tale is most unique. 
 
T "w pEB.KHirs 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^2^ta'2/^ A^ .^'^. ,_^ 
 
 / ^ 
 
 "W. G, Jacfaaan T^e^TaSz. 
 
 '^m ^ ^^ 
 
TRADE AND BUSINESS IMMORALITIES. 
 
 215 
 
 On the 21st of February, 1815, about 
 one o'clock in the morning, a violent 
 knocking was heard at the door of the 
 Ship Inn, at Dover. On being opened, 
 the intruder announced himself as 
 Lieutenant-colonel Du Bourg, aide-de- 
 camp of Lord Cathcart. His dress sup- 
 ported the assertion. The richly em- 
 broidered scarlet uniform, the star on 
 the breast, the silver medal suspended 
 from his neck, the dark fur cap, with its 
 broad band of gold lace, gave the wearer 
 a military appearance. His clothes ap- 
 peared wet with the sea spray, and he 
 stated that he had been brought over 
 by a French vessel, the seamen of which 
 were afraid of landing at Dover, and 
 had placed him in a boat about two 
 miles from the shore. His news was im- 
 portant. Bonaparte had been slain in 
 battle. The allied armies were in Paris. 
 A great victory had been gained, and 
 peace was certain. 
 
 He immediately ordered a post chaise 
 and four horses to be prepared, and, 
 after writing a letter in great haste to 
 Admiral Foley, which was despatched 
 by special messenger to Deal, he at 
 once departed for London. Wherever 
 he changed horses the news was spread, 
 and the postboys rewarded with napo- 
 leons. In due time information reached 
 the stock exchange ; and it was not 
 long before that resort was filled with 
 rumors of general officers, despatches 
 for Government, victories, and post 
 chaises and four. Expresses from the 
 various places where Du Bourg had 
 changed horses poured into the prin- 
 cipal speculators. The funds rose on 
 the news. Application was made to 
 the lord mayor, but, as his lordship 
 had received no intelligence, they de- 
 clined. 
 
 On the morning of the same day, 
 about an hour before daylight, two, 
 men, in the habiliments of foreigners, 
 landed in a six-oared galley, called on 
 a Mr. Sandon, at Northfleet, and hand- 
 ed him a letter, purporting to be writ- 
 ten, by one whom he formerly knew, 
 
 begging him to take the bearers to 
 London, as they had great public news 
 to communicate. The request was en- 
 ergetically complied with. Between 
 twelve and one o'clock of that day, 
 three persons, two of whom were dress- 
 ed as French officers, proceeded in a 
 post chaise and four, the horses of 
 which were bedecked with laurel, over 
 the then narrow and crowded thor- 
 oughfare of London bridge. While the 
 carriage proceeded with an almost os- 
 tentatious slowness, small billets were 
 scattered among the anxious gazers, an- 
 nouncing that Bonaparte was dead, and 
 the allies in Paris. Through busy Cheap- 
 side and crowded Fleet street, the occu- 
 pants of the carriage paraded their in- 
 telligence. They passed over the fine 
 bridge of Blackfriars, drove rapidly to 
 the Marsh Gate, got out, took ofl* their 
 military, put oh round hats, and speed- 
 ily disappeared. The news again spread 
 far and wide. The neighborhood of the 
 stock exchange was once more full of 
 exaggerated reports. The funds rose. 
 What could resist such accumulated 
 evidence ? The aide-de-camp of Lord 
 Cathcart, at Dover; the foreigners at 
 Northfleet with despatches; private 
 expresses from various places, all tend- 
 ed to convince the members that there 
 must be some foundation for the re- 
 ports. Application was made to the 
 ministry, but they knew nothing. 
 Large bargains were made. 
 
 Altogether, the scene at the stock 
 exchange at this time is spoken of by 
 those who witnessed it as baffling all 
 description. Yet still there was some 
 doubt, so loiig as Government remained 
 ignorant of the important intelligence. 
 And a§ hour after hour of anxious 
 doubt passed by, it would be difficult 
 to imagine the feelings of many who 
 began painfully to suspect that they 
 were victims of a delusion. To the 
 scene of unbounded joy and of greedy 
 expectation of gain, there succeeded, 
 in a few hours, that of disappointment, 
 shame at having been gulled, the 
 
216 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 clenching of fists, the grinding of teeth, 
 the tearing of hair — all the outward 
 and visible signs of those inward com- 
 motions — disappointed avarice in some, 
 consciousness of ruin in others, and, in 
 all, boiling revenge. A committee was 
 appointed by the stock exchange, and 
 various circumstances tending to prove 
 a huge conspiracy were discovered. On 
 the Saturday preceding the Monday on 
 which the deception was undertaken, 
 consols and omnium, to the extent of 
 eight hundred and twenty-six thousand 
 pounds, were purchased for various in- 
 dividuals, many of whom were serious- 
 ly implicated, and some of them suffer- 
 ed the penalties of fine and imprison- 
 ment. 
 
 Blinders for Stockholders. 
 
 EvsN railways have their reckon- 
 ings, and the time of year comes when 
 they are perforce made to show and 
 disgorge their gains. Meetings are re- 
 luctantly summoned by the directors, 
 and crowds of hungry shareholders are 
 squeezed together for hours at a time. 
 If this thing is not professionally un- 
 derstood in America, it certainly is in 
 England. 
 
 The chairman pronounces a report, 
 which is second only to a " speech 
 from the throne," in vagueness, gener- 
 ality, and mystification. Anon comes 
 the "clerk of the corporation," redo- 
 lent of new shares, and he thickens the 
 mist by a jumble of accounts, an incom- 
 prehensible hotchpotch of loans, de- 
 bentures, calls, and balances, and gen- 
 erally winds up his abstruse financial 
 puzzles by a prophetic announcement 
 that the traflBc next year is sure to be 
 imprecedented and immense — at which 
 every countenance is wreathed with the 
 genial smiles inspired by hope. 
 
 All the details, however,' are Greek 
 to the poor shareholders, who really 
 understand but one word in the whole 
 railroad vocabulary — the welcome 
 sound of " dividend ; " but the fear 
 
 of being thought a business nincom- 
 poop compels each one to be perfectly 
 up to snuff, and wondrously sage. It 
 is amusing, moreover, to observe how 
 the directors manage (notwithstanding 
 the " impertinent " interruptions of 
 some inconveniently acute shareholder, 
 whose sayings are recorded as those of 
 " A voice "), somehow or other so to 
 mix up this word dividend with other 
 complicated details, as to leave the un- 
 happy shareholders unable at the end 
 to say whether they have to receive 
 money or to pay it — the difference be- 
 ing the sum. 
 
 How refreshing, then, to find that the 
 reports of one's own pet line are untaint- 
 ed by the faults alluded to ! The public 
 have a right to know this ; and, as a 
 pattern and incentive to other compa- 
 nies, the following extracts are made 
 from the last report of the " Hum and 
 Diddlesex Railway," England : 
 
 The chairman would now refer to 
 their finance statement {Hear!). He 
 felt bound to say it would be found 
 most satisfactory. £7,000 had been 
 mortgaged on annuities at par, and 
 their debentures were now wholly in- 
 dependent of their stock of engines 
 {Cheers^ and cries oi Bravo!). The per- 
 manent way w^as now in trust for the 
 increased debits on the gradients 
 {Rear ! hear !). From this it was clear 
 that there was £4,000 balance per con- 
 tra on the new half shares. (A voice, 
 " What's the receipts ? ") The chair- 
 man could not be expected to go into 
 such details. They had lately opened 
 six miles of the " Navvey and Stoker 
 Extension branch," which he had no 
 doubt would pay well when a town 
 had arisen at each end, and traffic was 
 induced between them. (A voice, 
 "What's the expenditure?") The 
 chairman begged not to be interrupted 
 in the midst of his statement. The 
 meeting would observe one little item 
 of £56,000 for law expenses. It w^as 
 enough to say, they had triumphed 
 over their opponents. True, they had 
 
TRADE AND BUSINESS IMMORALITIES. 
 
 217 
 
 incurred some trifling expense ; but 
 were they, he would ask, to be insulted 
 by the " Grand Gumption ? " {M /)— or 
 by any other line ? (iV(?, no/ and cheers). 
 Then as to the dividend — (" Hear, hear, 
 hear ! " from all parts) — the clerk had 
 recommended a net dividend of 10 per 
 cent. {Loud cheers)— on the deficit, and 
 this, after paying the surplus and the 
 directors' salaries (which, in justice to 
 those faithful servants, he was glad to 
 say had been raised £500 each per an- 
 num), left the 4 per cent, incidental ex- 
 penses as money in hand, which would 
 simply render it necessary for the share- 
 holders at once to pay up the late £20 
 calls. (Sensation. A voice, " What is 
 the dividend to be ? ") The chairman 
 put it to the meeting, whether the gen- 
 tleman's question had not already been 
 distinctly answered, and after some lit- 
 tle confusion he vacated the chair, and 
 the meeting — like the dividend — was 
 dissolved. 
 
 Virgrinia Usurer Foiled. 
 
 Previously to the Revolutionary 
 War, it was provided by an act of the 
 Assembly of Virginia, that if any bill 
 of exchange be drawn for the payment 
 of any sum of money, and such bill is 
 protested for non-acceptance or non- 
 payment, it shall bear interest from 
 the date, at the rate of ten per cent, 
 per annum, until it shall be paid. The 
 following curious circumstance, in con- 
 nection with said law, took j)lace at 
 Williamsburg, Ya., about the year 
 1760. 
 
 A usurious broker, not satisfied with 
 five per cent, legal interest, refused to 
 advance a sum of money to a gentle- 
 man, unless, by way of security, he 
 would give a bill of exchange that 
 should be returned protested, by which 
 he would be entitled to ten per cent. 
 The gentleman, who had immediate 
 occasion for the money, sat down, 
 drew a bill upon a merchant banker 
 in London, with whom he had never 
 
 had any transactions, or carried on the 
 least correspondence. The merchant, 
 on receipt of the bill, observing the 
 name of the drawer, very readily hon- 
 ored it, knowing the gentleman to be a 
 person of large property, and conclud- 
 ing that he meant to enter into a corres- 
 pondence with his house. 
 
 The broker, by this turn in the affair, 
 became entitled to only five per cent. 
 He was, therefore, exceedingly enraged 
 at being, as he supposed, thus tricked, 
 and complained very earnestly to his 
 customer for having giving him a good 
 bill instead of a had one. 
 
 Kentucky Hams and Yankee 
 Nutmegs. 
 
 Some time since, the Kentucky na- 
 tion commenced a rivalship with the 
 Yankee land, in the manufacture of. 
 wooden eatables. A merchant in Port 
 Gibson, Miss., desirous of procuring a 
 lot of choice bacon hams, requested his 
 agent at the Gulf to make the purchase 
 for him, from the boats passing down 
 the Mississippi. After many fruitless 
 inquiries of the passing craft, he met 
 with a Kentucky Jonathan, whose 
 loading was composed of the nicest 
 and choicest hams, all canvased, and 
 that which was shown as a sample 
 looked so well, and tasted so delight- 
 fully, that the confiding agent made 
 the purchase on the spot. 
 
 The new Jonathan had such an inno- 
 cent, unsuspected and unsuspecting 
 countenance, too — giving forth no scin- 
 tillations of vivacity, nor evincing the 
 owner to possess brains more acute 
 than a lobster, on any other subject 
 than that of curing bacon — the art of 
 which appeared to have become im- 
 pressed on his cranium, as drippings 
 wear the rock, or as the knowledge of 
 law and physic reveals itself in the 
 physiognomy of some members of 
 those professions. Who would sus- 
 pect him of perpetrating a Yankee or 
 original art ? Straws show which way 
 
^18 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 the wind blows ; but, alas ! the human 
 countenance may present an unsolvable 
 enigma, even to the most penetrating. 
 Was it so in this case ? 
 
 Jonathan's hams, when opened, 
 proved to be wood, neatly turned in 
 the shape of a hog's hind leg, and 
 excellent for oven fuel — a recommen- 
 dation, by the way, which, with char- 
 acteristic modesty, he had not even 
 alluded to. The Kentuckian showed 
 that he was 'up to a trick or two,' 
 and no one will deny that he threw 
 down the glove, once and forever, to 
 all Yankeedom. 
 
 Latest "SeU" of the Day. 
 
 The latest * sell ' of the day origina- 
 ted in the fertile brain of a Baltimore 
 clothes dealer. He placed in the pock- 
 fet of a ready-made coat an old porte- 
 monnaie, and quietly awaited the ad- 
 vent of a fitting customer. Presently 
 enters an individual desiring to be 
 summer coated. After essaying several 
 coats, the dealer says : 
 
 " Here is a coat made for a gentle- 
 man; he wore it one day and sent it 
 back — it was too small for him — try 
 it on. Ah ! it fits first rate, like as if 
 it was made for you. It is well made ; 
 buttons sewed on strong ; with strong 
 pockets." 
 
 The customer puts his hands into the 
 pockets to try them, when his fingers 
 come in contact with the pocket book. 
 His imagination is kindled with the 
 idea of appropriating the supposed 
 treasure. 
 
 "How much did you say the coat 
 was ? " he eagerly asks. 
 
 The dealer names a good round sum. 
 
 The money is paid, and the self- 
 duped customer walks off hurriedly 
 with his supposed prize — not stop- 
 ping to hear the suppressed chuckle 
 of the dealer as he looks after him out 
 of the comer of his eye. 
 
 Tompkins's Horse Trade. 
 
 ToMPKOfs bought a fine horse — paid 
 three hundred dollars for him. The 
 horse, after a few months, proved to be 
 lame in the right shoulder. Tompkins 
 was distressed about it. Tried all sorts 
 of remedies — embrocations, liniments, 
 Mustang included, under the advice 
 of the very best veterinarians, till the 
 lameness was obstinate and grew rather 
 worse. He became desperate, and hit 
 upon this device to sell the horse. He 
 drove an ugly tenpenny nail plump into 
 the right fore-foot, and left it there for 
 ten days ; when he led the tortured ani- 
 mal limping to a neighboring black- 
 smith, to be shod. The blacksmith was 
 a dealer in horses, and quite a jockey in 
 his way. After a while, Tompkins 
 called at the shop for his horse. 
 " That's a splendid gelding of yours, 
 Mr. Tompkins — pity he's so lame," says 
 the smith. "He is, indeed," replied 
 Tompkins ; " but he is very lame, and 
 I'm afraid he can't be cured." " Per- 
 haps not, and may be he can," says 
 Vulcan; "how much would you be 
 willing to take for him, just as he 
 stands, Mr. Tompkins, money down ? " 
 " Ah, well, I don't know what to say 
 about that. If he is cured, he is worth 
 all I paid for him, and even much 
 more, as prices go now; but if his 
 lameness should continue, you see he 
 is worth nothing — not a dollar." The 
 blacksmith began to chaffer. First he 
 offered fifty dollars, then one hundred, 
 and at last two hundred, for the ani- 
 mal. Tompkins was persuaded, and 
 accepted the last offer. The money 
 was paid, and the horse delivered on 
 the spot. "Now," says the black- 
 smith, " as the bargain is finished, I 
 will be frank with you, Mr. Tompkins. 
 I suppose I can tell you just exactly 
 what ailed that horse." " Can you ? " 
 says Tompkins, " well, I shall be glad 
 to hear it. I thought you must know 
 all about it, or you would not have 
 paid me so much money for him." 
 
TRADE AND BUSINESS IMMORALITIES. 
 
 219 
 
 The blacksmith produced the nail, 
 and assured Tompkins, with great 
 apparent satisfaction, that while par- 
 ing down the horse's hoofs he had 
 found that long piece of iron, and 
 drawn it out of the frog of the near 
 forefoot." " Is that all you know about 
 it ? " Tompkins asked, very quietly. 
 " All ! " replied the blacksmith—" all I 
 isn't that enough, for conscience' sake ? " 
 "Well," replied Tompkins, "I don't 
 know as it is. I will be equally frank 
 with you, since the bargain is finished. 
 / drove the nail into the foot^ but the 
 lameness is in the shoulder.'''' 
 
 *'01d Vinter's" Bank BiUs. 
 
 Away down East — that convenient 
 but much abused locality for pointing 
 a story — a wealthy old merchant, who 
 was especially fond of a glass of good 
 brandy, had established a bank, and, 
 liking his own face better than any 
 one's else, showed his frankness by 
 placing it on both ends of his bank 
 bills. One evening, a bill of this 
 description was offered at the village 
 hotel, and was thought to be a counter- 
 feit. " Put a glass of brandy to the 
 picter," proposed a wag, " and if his 
 mouth opens, you may be sure it is one 
 of old Vinter's." 
 
 Transactions in Worsteds. 
 
 A MAN some six feet three inches in 
 height, and of herculean build, went 
 into a Worcester shopkeeper's estab- 
 lishment, and asked if they had got 
 any " whirlers " — by which he meant, 
 stockings without feet, supposing, of 
 course, that they were to be obtained 
 of any " worsted " merchant. 
 
 " No," said the shopkeeper, " but we 
 have got some famous big and strong 
 stockings, as will just suit such a man 
 as you." 
 
 " Let's ha'e a look at 'em," said the 
 man. 
 
 The counter was immediately covered 
 
 with a quantity. The working Hercules 
 selected the largest pair — of mammoth 
 size — and said : 
 
 " What's the price of them ? " 
 
 " Four shillings and ninepence," was 
 the reply. 
 
 " Can you cut the feet off of them ? " 
 was the next query. 
 
 " Oh, certainly," rejoined the shop- 
 keeper. 
 
 " Then just cut them off," was the 
 laconic direction. 
 
 No sooner said than done. The long 
 shop shears were applied, and instantly 
 the stockings were footless. 
 
 " And what's the price of 'em now f " 
 asked the customer, with all the com- 
 posure imaginable. 
 
 " Price of them now I " exclaimed 
 the ' worsted ' merchant, surprised be- 
 yond measure at the absurdity of the 
 question ; " why, four shillings and 
 ninepence, to be sure ! " 
 
 " Four shillings and ninepence ! " ex- 
 claimed the customer ; " I never gave 
 but one shilling and sixpence for a pair 
 of ' whirlers ' in my life " — and he laid 
 down that amount upon the counter. 
 
 " Well," replied the tradesman, chop- 
 fallen and fairly outwitted, throwing 
 the mutilations at him, "take them 
 and be off with you ! You've ' whirled ' 
 me this time, but I'll take good care 
 that neither you nor any of your ro- 
 guish gang shall do it again, as long 
 as I live." 
 
 This case is similar to that of the 
 cute Yankee auctioneer, who, after dis- 
 posing of a violin, after a hard bidding, 
 to a close-fisted buyer, went on — " Now, 
 gentlemen, how much m' offered for the 
 Txm ? — how much ? — how much ? — how 
 much m' offered for the bow?" Ex- 
 postulation was useless. The fiddle 
 and the bow, he said, were in separate 
 'classes;' so that the former proved 
 not so Dery cheap after all. 
 
 Bargains in "Cochin-Chinas." 
 In the humorous account given by 
 Burnham, of his experience in the fowl 
 
220 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 trade, which a few years ago went to 
 such preposterous lengths, he thus 
 sketches one of the " bargains " of that 
 day: 
 
 A splendid open carriage halted 
 before my door, one day, and there 
 alighted from it a fine, portly-looking 
 man, whom I had never seen before, 
 and whose name I did not then learn ; 
 who, leaving an elegant dressed lady 
 behind in the vehicle, called for me. 
 I saw and recognized the carriage, 
 however, as one of Niles's, and I 
 was satisfied that it came from the 
 Tremont House, Boston. As soon as 
 the gentleman spoke, I was also satis- 
 fied from his manner of speech, that 
 he was a Southerner. He was polite 
 and frank, apparently ; I invited him 
 in, and he went to look at my fowls, 
 that being the object, he said, of his 
 visit. He examined them all, and said 
 quietly : 
 
 " I'd like to get a half dozen of 
 these, if they didn't come too high; 
 but I understand you fanciers have 
 got the price up. I used to buy these 
 chickens for a dollar apiece. Now^ 
 they say, you're asking five dollars each 
 for them." 
 
 I showed him my stock — the ^'' pure- 
 bred " ones, — and informed him at once 
 that I had not sold any of my chickens, 
 latterly, at less than forty dollars a pair. 
 He was astounded. He didn't want 
 any — much ; that is, he wasn't particu- 
 lar. Shouldn't pay that, nohow; he 
 could buy them for five dollars, wanted 
 them for his boy; would come again 
 and see about it, &c., &c. A fi^-year- 
 old stag mounted the low fence at this 
 moment, and sent forth an electrifying 
 crow, such as would (at that period) 
 have taken a novice " right out of his 
 boots;" and a beautiful eight-pound 
 pullet showed herself beside him at 
 the same time. The stranger turned 
 round, and said : 
 
 " There ! What is your price for 
 Buch a pair as that, for instance ? " 
 
 " Not for sale, sir." 
 
 " But you will sell them, I s'pose ? " 
 
 " No, sir, I have younger ones to dis- 
 pose of ; but that pair are my models. 
 I can't sell them.'''' The gentleman's 
 eye was exactly filled with this pair of 
 chickens. 
 
 " What will you take for those two 
 fowls?" 
 
 " One hundred dollars, sir," I replied. 
 
 " I guess you w^ll — when you can 
 get it," he added. " Kame your lowest 
 price, now, for those ? I want good 
 ones, if any." 
 
 " I prefer to keep them, rather than 
 to part with them at any jDrice," I in- 
 sisted. " If, however, a gentleman like 
 yourself, who evidently knows what 
 good fowls are, desires to procure the 
 choicest specimens in the country, why, 
 I confess to you that those are the per- 
 sons into whose hands I prefer that my 
 best stock should fall. But I will show 
 you some at a lower figure," I contin- 
 ued, di'iving this pair from the fence. 
 
 " Do^j't you ! Don't drive 'em away ! " 
 said the gentleman ; — " let's see. That's 
 the cock ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir." 
 
 " And this is the hen ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " One hundred dollars ! You don't 
 mean this, of course," he persisted. 
 
 "No, I mean that I would rather 
 keep them, sir." 
 
 "Well— I'll— toZ;^ them;' said the 
 stranger: "It's cruel. But, I'll take 
 them;" and he paid me five twenty- 
 dollar gold pieces down on the spot, 
 for two ten-months-old chickens, from 
 my "splendid" Royal Cochin- China 
 fowls. 
 
 Messrs. Moan & Groan of Cypress 
 Row. 
 
 The " mourning " shopkeepers have 
 a peculiarly benevolent eye to the 
 griefs and necessities of those families 
 into which death enters. This is con- 
 dolingly manifested by their sending 
 to such a family a remarkably neat 
 envolope, with a handsomely embossed 
 
TRADE AND BUSINESS IMMORALITIES. 
 
 221 
 
 border, bearing the words, ' On especial 
 sercicey under the address, and winged 
 with an appropriate stamp. The en- 
 closure is a specimen of fine printing 
 on smooth, thin vellum, in the form 
 of a quarto catalogue, with a deep, 
 black-bordered title page, emanating 
 from the dreary establishment of 
 Messrs. Moan & Groan, of Cypress 
 Row. 
 
 Here commerce condescends to sym- 
 pathy, and measures forth to bereaved 
 and afflicted humanity the outward and 
 msible symbols of their hidden griefs. 
 Here, when you enter his gloomy pene- 
 tralia, and invoke his services, the sa- 
 ble-clad and cadaverous-featured shop- 
 man asks you, in a sepulchral voice 
 and with quivering lip, whether you 
 are to be suited for inextinguishable 
 sorrow, or for mere passing grief ; and 
 if you are at all in doubt on the sub- 
 ject, he can solve the problem for you, 
 if you lend him your confidence for the 
 occasion. He knows, from long and 
 melancholy observation, the agonizing 
 intensity of woe expressed by bomba- 
 zine, crape, and Paramatta; can tell 
 to a sigh the precise amount of regret 
 that resides in a black bonnet ; and 
 can match any degree of internal 
 anguish with its corresponding shade 
 of color, from the utter desolation and 
 inconsolable wretchedness of dead and 
 dismal black, to the transient senti- 
 ment of sorrowful remembrance so ap- 
 propriately symbolized by the faintest 
 shade of lavender or French gray. 
 
 Messrs. Moan & Groan also know 
 well enough, that when the heart is 
 burdened with sorrow, considerations 
 of economy are likely to be banished 
 from the mind as quite out of place, 
 and disrespectful to the memory of 
 the departed; and, therefore, they do 
 not insult the lacerated sensibilities 
 of their sorrowing patrons with the 
 sublunary details of dollars and cents. 
 They speed on the wings of the post 
 to the house of mourning, with the 
 benevolent purpose of comforting the 
 
 afilicted household. They are the first, 
 after the stroke of calamity has fallen, 
 to mingle the business of life with its 
 regrets^ and to seek to cover the woes 
 of the past with the allowable vanities 
 of the present. 
 
 It is their painful calling to lead 
 their melancholy patrons, step by step, 
 along the cypress margin of their flow- 
 ing pages — from the very borders of 
 the tomb, through all the intermediate 
 changes by which sorrow publishes 
 to the world its gradual subsidence, 
 and land them at last on the sixteenth 
 page, restored to themselves and to 
 society, in the front box of the Opera, 
 glittering in 'splendid head dresses 
 in pearl,' in 'fashionably elegant tur- 
 bans,' and in * dresses trimmed with 
 blonde and Brussels lace.' 
 
 Strong in their modest sense of 
 merit, Messrs. Moan & Groan make no 
 sordid array of prices — oh, no ! They 
 offer you all that in mourning you can 
 possibly want ; they scorn to do you the 
 disgrace of imagining that you would 
 drive a largain on the very brink of 
 the grave ; and you are of course 
 obliged to them for the delicacy of 
 their reserve on so mercenary and ple- 
 beian a point — paying their bill in 
 decorous disregard of the amount. It 
 is true that certain envious rivals 
 have compared them to birds of prey, 
 scenting mortality from afar, and 
 hovering like vultures on the trail 
 of death in order to profit by his 
 dart; but such 'caparisons,' as Mrs. 
 Malaprop says, ' are odorous,' and we 
 will have nothing to do with them. 
 
 CrcBsus and his Avaricious Guest. 
 
 It is related of this well-to-do hillion- 
 naire, that his messengers, having on one 
 occasion been kindly treated by a fami- 
 ly at Athens, he in return invited one 
 of that family to visit him, and on his 
 arrival made to him the offer of as 
 much gold as he could personally 
 carry. The visitor, with avaricious 
 
222 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 eagerness to enhance the value of the 
 gift, provided himself with a large 
 cloak, in which were many folds, and, 
 with the most capacious boots that he 
 could procure, followed Croesus into 
 the treasury, where, rolling among the 
 gold, he first stuffed his boots or bus- 
 kins as full as he could, and then filled 
 all the folds of his robes, his hair, and 
 even his mouth with gold dust. This 
 done, with great difliculty he stagger- 
 ed from the place — from his swelling 
 mouth and projections all around him, 
 resembling anything rather than a man. 
 Crcesus, who, probably from politeness, 
 had left him alone to help himself, 
 when he saw him come out, burst into 
 laughter, and not only suffered him to 
 carry away all he had got, but added 
 other presents equally valuable. 
 
 Saving the Pieces. Girard and his 
 Brother. 
 
 It is known that Girard entertained 
 a perfect horror of parting with even 
 the most trivial object in his possession, 
 without receiving, in every case, a prop- 
 er equivalent therefor. It seems that 
 on one occasion, his brother. Captain 
 John Girard, when fitting out a schoon- 
 er for Cape Francois, had use for some 
 pieces of glass for his cabin window, and 
 observing the fragments of several boxes 
 of that article in his brother Stephen's 
 store, and knowing that the pieces were 
 of little or no use to the owner, he so 
 far presumed on the privileges of con- 
 sanguinity, as to go and appropriate a 
 few of the fragments for the purpose in 
 question — when, while he was in the 
 very act, Stephen suddenly pounced 
 upon him, loudly deprecating the in- 
 tended abstraction of his broken prop- 
 erty, as if ruin would ensue from the 
 loss of a few fractured panes of glass 
 for which he had no earthly use. He 
 continued to vent a torrent of ribaldry 
 and invective upon his brother John — 
 the very atmosphere w^as blue with his 
 indignation. The temperament of John 
 was of a milder and more conciliating 
 
 character than that of Stephen, so 
 that he always retreated from the 
 arbitrary and boisterous ebullitions of 
 his brother. 
 
 "Merchant of Venice "—Shylock's 
 Commercial Character Vindicated. 
 
 A NEW version of Shakspeare's 
 "Merchant of Venice" has recently 
 been given by a Jewish writer, which 
 exhibits the commercial transactions 
 of that renowned personage in quite a 
 different aspect than heretofore. Ac- 
 cording to this authority, the play is 
 founded on fact^ with this important 
 distinction, that it was the Jew who 
 was to forfeit the pound of flesh if 
 he had lost the wager. The circum- 
 stance transpired, not at Venice, but in 
 Rome, during the pontificate of Sixtus 
 the Fifth. The Jew lost; the other 
 party demanded the pound of flesh ; 
 the Jew demurred and offered money, 
 which was refused. Sixtus, to whom 
 the matter was at last submitted, de- 
 cided against the Jew, and that exactly 
 one pound of flesh should be cut from 
 him — not one grain more or less, on 
 pain of the cutter being hanged ; the 
 latter very naturally declined the risk, 
 and the pope fined both parties in 
 heavy sums for engaging in such a 
 transaction. Thus old Shylock's com- 
 mercial character is vindicated at last 
 — ^though the old version of the story 
 will probably continue to be the popu- 
 lar one. 
 
 *'P. D.' 
 
 English grocers have never enjoyed 
 an immaculate reputation in the matter 
 of adulterating goods. Not a few of 
 their most costly wares are temptingly 
 capable of easy and generally harmless 
 mixture. Conscience is generally train- 
 ed to the posture or practice habitual 
 to the trade. Of course, the grocer has 
 exceedingly good reasons for his ap- 
 prentices, why they should adulterate. 
 Yet if he went to the drj^goods dealer, 
 
TRADE AND BUSINESS IMMORALITIES. 
 
 223 
 
 and found that for linen lie had bought 
 a mixture of cotton and flax, he would 
 call that dealer a cheat. Or if he found 
 that the silversmith had sold him plat- 
 ed spoons for silver spoons — zounds ! 
 It happens that only in his own line of 
 business, such strong reasons exist for 
 " doctoring " and " deaconing." 
 
 It happened that in the early busi- 
 ness days of Mr. A., a grocer, pepper 
 was under a heavy tax ; and in the 
 trade, universal tradition said that out 
 of the trade everybody expected pepper 
 to be mixed. Well, in the shop of said 
 grocer stood a cask labelled " P. D.," 
 containing something very like pepper 
 dust, wherewith it was used to mix the 
 pepper before sending it forth to serve 
 the public. The trade tradition had 
 obtained for the apocryphal P. D. a 
 place among the standard articles of 
 the shop, and on the strength of that 
 tradition it was vended for pepper by 
 men who thought they were doing the 
 right thing — by themselves. 
 
 Now this P. D. began to give the 
 clerk no little discomfort. Considering 
 all that might be said, pro and con, he 
 came to the downright conclusion that 
 it was wrong. He instantly decreed 
 that P. D. should perish. It was night ; 
 but back he went to the shop, took the 
 hypocritical cask, carried it to a neigh- 
 boring quarry, then staved it, and scat- 
 tered P. D. among the clods and slag 
 and stones. 
 
 But tliis P. D. is not wholly confined 
 to grocers' traffic. The shipowner has 
 a ship which has become too old to 
 carry sugar from the West Indies, with- 
 out damaging it by leakage ; so he fits 
 her out as a passenger ship, and adver- 
 tizes her for Sidney, as " the well- 
 known, favorite, fast-sailing ship" — 
 and that is P. D. The corn merchant 
 has a cargo damaged in a gale at sea ; 
 but as the underwriters will not pay 
 unless the captain can swear that the 
 vessel struck, the merchant, who was 
 snug in his bed when the gale blew, 
 tries to show the captain very conclu- 
 
 sively that, just off Flambeau Head, 
 the keel did actually touch the ground, 
 and that therefore he may safely take 
 the requisite oath — and that is P. D. 
 The director of some joint-stock com- 
 pany, who sees that the concern is hol- 
 low and all dis-jointed, sells out his own 
 shares, but retains his place until the 
 period during which he is liable is 
 past, that no one else may take fright ; 
 — P. D. The jobber is standing by a 
 parcel of goods which have been on his 
 hands for a considerable time ; a cus- 
 tomer enters, and is received with 
 smiles : " Are these new ? " " The latest 
 things we have — just out, in fact. I 
 almost thought you would look in to- 
 day, and have this moment had the 
 parcel opened for you ; "—P. D. Well, 
 there is more or less P. D. under every 
 trader's roof. But it is bad. Stave 
 the cask in pieces. 
 
 Bad Business. 
 
 Kohl, in his Travels in Russia, ob- 
 serves, that while at Moscow, he hap- 
 pened to take a stroll through one of 
 the markets of that city. He saw there 
 a man who was employed to sell frozen 
 fish by the pound. " Friend," said he 
 to him, " how do you come on in your 
 business ? " " Thank God," replied the 
 man, " very badly." 
 
 Commercial Milk. 
 
 A SUGGESTION lias recently been made 
 for the supply of London with pure 
 country milk, in lieu of that wishy- 
 washy triumph of art over nature, which 
 flows, mornin* and afternoon, into jugs 
 and mugs, from a thousand milh cans 
 — so called. 
 
 Such an announcement has shaken, as 
 if with a panic, all the metropolitan 
 pans ; and those purveyors who have 
 dealt in new milk from the pump and 
 chalk pit, without ever having been in 
 possession of a single pair of horns, 
 have been cowed all of a sudden by the 
 
224 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 very thought of the introduction of the 
 bovine article. And yet, so unaccus- 
 tomed are the Londoners to anything 
 else but the well-known chalk mixture, 
 that the probability is that the pure arti- 
 cle will — like the genuine squeak of the 
 pig in the fable — be pronounced far in- 
 ferior to the imitation with which use 
 or abuse has rendered us so familiar. 
 
 London, in fact, knows nothing of 
 real milk, which differs as thoroughly 
 as chalk is unlike cheese, from the spu- 
 rious stuff which now finds its way into 
 the coffee and tea cup. Commercial 
 milk is a compound which any consci- 
 entious cow would indignantly repudi- 
 ate. As has already been hinted, the 
 Londoner literally knows nothing of 
 milk ; for of the stuff he has been 
 taught to accept as " milk," he knows 
 it would be idle to attempt even to 
 skim the surface. It is understood 
 that the chalk market immediately be- 
 gan to show symptoms of weakness at 
 the bare rumor of real milk being in- 
 troduced into the metropolis, especially 
 when coupled with the current appre- 
 hension of a short supply of water in 
 the city and suburbs. 
 
 Bangers of Legitimate Business 
 Transactions. 
 
 The dangers attending unlawful 
 business transactions are sometimes 
 fully matched by those which accom- 
 pany dealings that are entirely legiti- 
 mate. On one occasion, a merchant in 
 London, having requested his broker to 
 purchase a certain amount of stock, and 
 having concluded his business, was sur- 
 prised in the evening to hear his broker 
 announced as a visitor. Some remark 
 being made, the latter stated that a dis- 
 pute had arisen with the jobber about 
 the price which was in the receipt, 
 and he should be glad to take it with 
 him as an evidence of his correctness. 
 Knowing that a stock receipt is in it- 
 self of no value, the buyer readily com- 
 plied. His visitor thanked him, and 
 
 from that moment was never heard of- 
 The receipt was false, the names were 
 forged ; and, secure in the possession 
 of all evidence against him, the broker 
 sought a foreign land in which to enjoy 
 his ill-gotten gains. 
 
 Hardening Tendency of Business. 
 
 Eemarking on the state of trade in 
 one of the large cities, a commercial 
 editor states that " the hardening ten- 
 dency of prices still continues.^' It is a 
 pity that something cannot be done to 
 counteract the hardening effect of busi- 
 ness generally on the population of some 
 of our mercantile and manufacturing 
 cities. 
 
 Tragical Restdt of Losing Bank Notes. 
 
 One of the most tragical events in 
 the business world took place a while 
 ago in St. Petersburg. The agent of 
 a banker, who had been to the bank to 
 receive the value of fifteen thousand 
 silver roubles, lost the package of bank 
 notes on his return. The money was 
 picked up by a clerk, who, instead of 
 giving the funds at once to the owner, 
 followed the agent to his destination 
 and in this way ascertained his name 
 The clerk then returned home, hesitat 
 ing in his own mind how he should act 
 When he arrived there, a violent quar- 
 rel took place between him and his 
 wife, the latter wishing to keep the 
 money. The clerk, however, on the 
 following day, went to the house of the 
 owner to deliver the money, but the 
 banker would not receive it, saying his 
 agent had committed suicide in the 
 night, on account of the loss. Over- 
 come with remorse, the clerk returned 
 home, where he found that during his 
 absence his wife had hanged herself, 
 from vexation at not having kept the 
 money. He immediately cut down the 
 body, and hung himself with the same 
 rope. 
 
TRADE AND BUSINESS IMMORALITIES. 
 
 225 
 
 Morocco Pocket Book Men. 
 
 The " Morocco men," so called from 
 the red morocco pocket books wliicli 
 they carried, were a remarkable feature 
 in the London money dealings of half 
 a century ago. They began their lives 
 as pigeons ; they closed them as rooks. 
 They had lost their own fortunes in 
 their youth ; they lost those of others 
 in their age. Generally educated, and 
 of bland manners, a mixture of the gen- 
 tleman and the debauchee, they easily 
 penetrated into the society they sought 
 to destroy. They were seen in the 
 deepest alleys of Saint Giles's, and were 
 met in the fairest circles as well. In 
 the old hall of the country gentleman, 
 in the mansion of the city merchant, in 
 the butlery of the rural squire, in the 
 homestead of the farmer, among the 
 reapers as they worked on the hillside, 
 with the peasant as he rested from his 
 daily toil — addressing all with specious 
 promises, and telling lies like truth — 
 was the morocco man found, treading 
 alike the finest and the foulest scenes 
 of society. They whispered beguiling 
 temptation to the innocent ; they hint- 
 ed at easy fraud to the novice. They 
 lured the youthful ; they excited the 
 aged ; and no place was so pure, and 
 no spot so degraded, but, for love of 
 seven and one-half per cent., did the 
 morocco man mark it with his pestilen- 
 tial presence. No valley was so lonely, 
 but what it found some victim ; no hill 
 so remote, but what it offered some 
 chance ; and so enticing were their 
 manners, that their presence was 
 sought, and their appearance wel- 
 comed, with all the eagerness of ava- 
 rice. 
 
 East India Company and tlae Missing* 
 "Witness. 
 
 A century ago was the hanging cen- 
 tury ; and a great fraud was committed 
 toward its close upon the East India 
 Company — one of the most peculiar in 
 the annals of crime, as related to busi- 
 15 
 
 ness. The leading witness — the only 
 man who could prove the guilt of the 
 accused — was accustomed to visit a 
 house in the neighborhood of the 
 Bank, to be dressed and powdered, ac- 
 cording to the fashion of the day. 
 Shortly before the trial came on, a note 
 was placed in his hands, informing 
 him that the attorney for the prosecu- 
 tion was desirous of seeing him, at a 
 certain hour, at his private residence, 
 in or near Portland Place. 
 
 At the time appointed, the witness 
 proceeded to the house ; the door was 
 opened, and the footman, without ask- 
 ing his name, ushered the visitor into 
 a large room, where, discussing some 
 wine upon the table, sat a group of 
 gentlemen in earnest conversation, 
 " There is a mistake," exclaimed the 
 new comer, thinking he had been 
 shown into the wrong room. " No 
 mistake, sir," interrupted one, in a de- 
 termined tone, while the remainder sat 
 quietly but sternly by. Unable to com- 
 prehend the scene, and in some alarm, 
 the visitor prepared to leave the room. 
 "There is no mistake," repeated the 
 same person, unostentatiously stepping 
 before the door; " I am," he continued, 
 " brother to that gentleman who is to 
 be tried for forgery, and against whom 
 you are the chief witness ; the honor 
 of a noble house is at stake ; and your 
 first attempt to escape will lead to a 
 violent death. There is nothing to 
 fear, if you remain quiet ; but all whom 
 you see are sworn to detain you until 
 the trial be over, or," he added, after a 
 pause, " to slay you." The witness was 
 a sensible man ; he saw the determined 
 looks of those around ; and thought it 
 best quietly to acquiesce. 
 
 In the mean time, great surprise was 
 excited in the city. That the missing 
 man had been inveigled away was uni- 
 versally believed ; and every endeavor 
 was made to track him. Whether the 
 calmness with which he bore his con- 
 finement deceived his jailers, is not 
 known ; but it is certain that he effect- 
 
226 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 ed his escape from the house, although 
 not so securely but that his captors 
 were after him before he could get out 
 of sight. A mob collected ; his pur- 
 suers declared that he was an insane 
 nobleman, and that they were liis keep- 
 ers. The mob shouted with delight at 
 the idea of a mad lord ; and the unfor- 
 tunate man was on the point of being 
 again confined, when a carriage drove 
 up. The inmate, a lady, desired the 
 coachman to stop, and she listened to 
 the counter statements of the pursued 
 and his pursuers. Eemembering the 
 current story of a missing witness, she 
 opened the carriage, he sprang in, the 
 door was closed, and the lady, to whom 
 he told his story, ordered the coachman 
 to drive with all speed to the Old Bai- 
 ley. It was the last day; the case, 
 which had been postponed, was being 
 tried ; and the missing witness was just 
 in time to place the rope around the 
 neck of the unhappy forger. 
 
 Smugglers' Honor. 
 
 On the line between Prussia and Rus- 
 sia, smuggling is carried on by desper- 
 ate bands of men, in a most desperately 
 professional manner. These bands are 
 also addicted to robbery. One of them, 
 headed by a man named Krotinus, is 
 very notorious ; it has plundered the 
 house of several of the richer Russian 
 landowners on the frontier, returning 
 across the line into Prussia to spend 
 the proceeds. A party of this band 
 once passed the day at a village wine- 
 house, and were called out toward 
 evening by a man who proved to be 
 the captain himself, " for duty : " he 
 was most particular in inquiring wheth- 
 er his men had behaved respectfully 
 and paid for everything I 
 
 Characteristic Smug-g-ling- Ingrenxiity of 
 Parisians. 
 Some of the curious expedients re- 
 sorted to by Parisian smugglers are 
 given in the following account by a 
 
 personal witness : — I saw, through one 
 of the windows in the mayor's ofl&ce, in 
 the twelfth aiTondissement, the body of 
 a negro hanging by the neck. At the 
 first glance, and even at the second, I 
 took it for a human being, whom dis- 
 appointed love, or perhaps an impro- 
 vised people's tribunal, had disposed 
 of thus suddenly ; but I soon ascertain- 
 ed that the ebony gentleman in question 
 was only a large doll as large as life. 
 What to think of this, I did not know, 
 so I asked the doorkeeper the meaning 
 of it. 
 
 " This is the ' Contraband Muse- 
 um,' " was the answer ; and on my 
 showing a curiosity to see it, he was 
 kind enough to act as my cicerone. 
 
 In a large dirty room are scattered 
 over the floor, along the walls and on 
 the ceiling, all the inventions of roguery 
 which had been confiscated from time 
 to time by these guardians of the law, 
 the revenue officers ; a complete arsenal 
 of the devices of smuggling, ail in com- 
 plete confusion. 
 
 As examples, there is a hogshead 
 dressed up for a nurse, with a child 
 that holds two and one half quarts. 
 On the other side a*e logs, hollow as 
 the Trojan horse, and filled with armies 
 of cigars. On the floor lies a huge boa 
 constrictor, gorged with China silks; 
 and just beyond it a pile of coal curi- 
 ously perforated with spools of cotton. 
 
 The colored gentleman who excited 
 my sympathy at first, met with his fate 
 under the following circumstances : He 
 was built of tin, painted black, and 
 stood like a heyduck, or Ethiopian 
 chasseur, on the footboard of a car- 
 riage, fastened by his feet and hands. 
 He had frequently j)assed through the 
 gates, and was well known by sight to 
 the soldiers, who noticed he was al- 
 ways showing his teeth, which they 
 supposed to be the custom of his coun- 
 try. 
 
 One day the carriage he belonged to 
 was stopped by a crowd at the gate. 
 There was, as usual, a grand chorus of 
 
TRADE AND BUSINESS IMMORALITIES. 
 
 227 
 
 yells and oatlis, the vocal part being 
 performed by the cartmen and drivers, 
 and the instrumental by the well-ap- 
 plied whips. The negro, however, nev- 
 er spoke a single word. His good be- 
 havior, through all this wild and un- 
 heard-of misusage, delighted the sol- 
 diers, who held him up as an example 
 to the crowd. "Look at that black 
 fellow," they cried, " see how well he 
 behaves ! Bravo, nigger, bravo ! " He 
 showed a perfect indifference to their 
 friendly applause. "My friend," said 
 a clerk at the barrier, jumping up on 
 the footboard, and slapping our sable 
 friend on the shoulder, "we are very 
 much obliged to you." What surprise I 
 the shoulder rattled. The officer was be- 
 wildered ; he sounded the footman all 
 over, and found he was made of metal, 
 and as full as his skin could hold of 
 the very best contraband liquor, drawn 
 out of his foot. The juicy mortal was 
 seized at once, and carried off in tri- 
 umph. The first night the revenue 
 people drank up one of his shoulders, 
 and he was soon bled to death. It is 
 now six years since he lost all the 
 moisture of his system, and was reduced 
 to a dry skeleton. 
 
 Terrible Career of Sadleir, the 
 Speculator. 
 
 The name of John Sadleir is still 
 fresh in the annals of criminal specula- 
 tion and its ofttimes tragical end. He 
 was a provincial attorney in Ireland, in 
 very moderate business; but being a 
 man of talent and firmness of character, 
 he was instrumental in establishing a 
 bank in the county, and became a per- 
 son of some consequence. He at length 
 felt his field to be too small, and in an 
 evil hour went to London, where his 
 connection with the bank introduced 
 him at once to the speculators and cap- 
 italists of that city ; and this led to a 
 large business as a parliamentary agent, 
 and to his becoming chairman of a 
 great joint-stock bank in London. 
 
 The road of ambition was now fairly 
 
 opened. He got into Parliament, made 
 himself the leader in the Irish Brigade, 
 then deserted his party, and became a 
 lord of the treasury. In the mean time, 
 he was very busy with the Encumbered 
 Estates Bill ; and having procured from 
 the commissioners under it almost un- 
 limited authority, he organized an asso- 
 ciation in England for purchasing, and 
 afterward selling at enormous advan- 
 tage, properties sold in the Encumbered 
 Estates Court. He now became chair- 
 man of the Swedish railway, arranged 
 a new insurance company, established 
 a newspaper of his own in Dublin, and 
 plunged deep into English, Italian, 
 Spanish, and American railways. 
 
 Such is a very brief outline of Sad- 
 leir's great business career; but when 
 and where the pressure first began — 
 when this originally obscure and mon- 
 eyless man found that he could not 
 pursue such schemes without funds — 
 and what were the precise circumstan- 
 ces that originated Ms crimes, and led 
 him on, step by step, to infamy, is not 
 precisely known. It is known, how- 
 ever, that he obtained money on the 
 security of forged titles, as, from the 
 Encumbered Estate Court. He fabri- 
 cated shares of the Swedish railway to 
 the amount of over a million dollars ; 
 and besides the assignments of numer- 
 ous deeds he held in trust, he forged 
 on private individuals to the amount 
 of at least half a million dollars. 
 
 It appears that for some time he must 
 have contemplated his violent release 
 from the fever of mind in which he had 
 lived so long. But at length the occa- 
 sion came ; the forgery of one of the 
 Encumbered Estates deeds was on the 
 eve of discovery; and the wretched 
 man went forth from his own house in 
 the dead of night, with the instruments 
 of death in his pocket — a midnight 
 suicide ! 
 
 Duplicity of French Speculators. 
 
 One of the most singular illustrations 
 of the methods sometimes resorted to 
 
228 
 
 COMMERCIAL AKD BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 by speculators to accomplish their ends, 
 is found in the history of the present 
 ruler of the French. While Louis 
 Philippe was king, a number of specu- 
 lators in French stocks in London, de- 
 sired, for a particular purpose, to de- 
 press said stocks for a few days. To 
 this end they hired several ships, man- 
 ned them, and gave them ammunition, 
 bulletins, &c., and placed Louis Napo- 
 leon in secret command, in order to 
 make a feint of invading France — using 
 him as the unconcious tool for execut- 
 ing their own schemes. 
 
 Strange as it may seem, that reckless 
 youth was under the delusion that the 
 prestige of his name was sufficient, un- 
 der the unpopularity of the then reign- 
 ing monarch, to cause a general rising 
 of the nation in his own favor. It was, 
 however, a plan gotten up hy some cun- 
 ning l)roJcers, who used him merely as 
 an instrument, knowing his susceptibil- 
 ity to self-delusion ; but they accom- 
 plished their end, and cleared large 
 sums by their adroitly conceived mode 
 of operating. 
 
 Two Flaying- at the Same Game. 
 
 Decio was an extensive London mer- 
 chant, who had large commissions for 
 sugar from several foreign dealers. On 
 a certain occasion, he treated about a 
 considerable quantity of that article 
 with Alcander, an eminent merchant in 
 the West India trade ; both understood 
 the market very well, but could not 
 agree. Decio was a man of substance, 
 and thought nobody ought to be bet- 
 ter able to buy than himself on favor- 
 able terms. Alcander was the same, 
 and, not wanting money, stood for his 
 price. 
 
 While thus engaged in attempts to 
 bargain, at a tavern near the Exchange, 
 Alcander's man brought his master a 
 letter from the West Indies, which in- 
 formed him of a much greater quantity 
 of sugar coming for England than M^as 
 expected. Alcander now wished for 
 
 nothing more than to sell at Decio's 
 price, before the news w^as public ; but, 
 being a cunning fox, and that he might 
 not seem too eager, nor yet lose his cus- 
 tomer, he drops the discourse they were 
 upon, and, putting on a jovial humor, 
 commends the agreeableness of the 
 weather — from whence, descanting up- 
 on the delight he took in his gar- 
 dens, he invites Decio to go along 
 with him to his country seat, about 
 twelve miles out. 
 
 It was in the month of May, and as 
 it happened to be Saturday afternoon, 
 Decio, who was a single man, and 
 would have no pressing business in 
 town before Tuesday, accepted of the 
 other's civility, and away they go in 
 Alcander's coach. Decio was splen- 
 didly entertained that night and the 
 day following. On Monday morning, 
 to get himself an ajDpetite, he goes to 
 take the air upon an easy-paced horse 
 of Alcander's, and coming back, meets 
 with a gentleman of his acquaintance, 
 who tells him news had come, the night 
 before, that the Barbadoes fleet was de- 
 stroyed by a storm, and adds, that be- 
 fore he came out, the news had been 
 confirmed at Lloyd's coffee house, where 
 it was thought sugars would rise twen- 
 ty-five per cent, by 'Change time. 
 
 Decio returns to his friend, and im- 
 mediately resumes the conversation 
 about a sugar trade. Alcander, who, 
 thinking himself sure of his chap, did 
 not design to broach the matter until 
 after dinner, was very glad to find his 
 intention thus anticipated; but how- 
 ever desirous he was to sell, the other 
 was yet more anxious to buy. Yet 
 both of them, afraid of one another, 
 for a considerable time afiected all the 
 indifference imaginable, till at last De- 
 cio, fired with what he had heard, 
 thought delays might prove dangerous, 
 and throwing a guinea upon the table, 
 struck the bargain at Alcander's price. 
 The next day they went to London; 
 the news proved true, and Decio made 
 his "pile" by the sugars. Alcander, 
 
TRADE AND BUSINESS IMMORALITIES. 
 
 229 
 
 while he had striven to overreach the 
 other, was foiled in his mercantile tac- 
 tics, and paid in his own coin. 
 
 Mysteries of Tea Smugrglingr. 
 
 On account of the high tax imposed 
 upon tea by the Russian Government, 
 the smuggling of that article is carried 
 on as briskly as the wits of man can 
 devise ways and means. The Govern- 
 ment pays in cash the extraordinary 
 premium of fifty cents per pound for all 
 that is seized, a reward which is espe- 
 cially attractive to the officers on the 
 frontier, for the reason that it is there 
 paid down without any discount. For- 
 merly, the confiscated tea was sold at 
 public auction, on condition that the 
 buyer should carry it over the frontier. 
 Russian officers were appointed to take 
 charge of it, and deliver it in some 
 Prussian frontier town, in order to be 
 sure of its being carried out of the 
 country. The consequence was, that 
 the tea was regularly carried back into 
 Poland the following night, most fre- 
 quently by the Russian officers them- 
 selves. 
 
 I» order to apply a radical cure to 
 this evil, destruction by fire was de- 
 creed as the fate of all tea that should 
 be seized thereafter. Thus it is that 
 from twenty thousand to forty thou- 
 sand pounds are yearly destroyed in 
 the chief city of the province. About 
 this, the official story is, that it is tea 
 smuggled from Prussia, while the truth 
 is, that it is usually nothing but brown 
 paper or damaged tea that is consumed 
 by the fire. In the first place, the Rus- 
 sian officials are too rational to burn up 
 good tea, when by chance a real confis- 
 cation of that article has taken place ; 
 — in such a case, the gentlemen take 
 the tea, and put upon the burning pile 
 an equal weight of lyrown paper ^ or rags^ 
 done up to resemble genuine packages 
 of the " celestial leaf." In the second 
 place, it is mostly damaged or useless 
 tea that is seized. 
 
 The premium for seizures being so 
 high, the custom-house officers them- 
 selves cause Polish Jews — regular com- 
 mercial rats — to buy up quantities of 
 worthless stuff and bring it over the 
 lines for the express purpose of being 
 seized ! The time and place for smug- 
 gling it are agreed upon. ^ The officer 
 lies in wait with a third person whom 
 he takes with him. The Jew comes 
 with the goods, is hailed by the officer, 
 and takes to flight. The officer pursues 
 the fugitive, but cannot reach him I 
 and fires his musket after him. Here- 
 upon the Jew drops his package, which 
 the officer takes and carries to the office, 
 where he gets his reward. The witness 
 whom he has with him — by accident, 
 of course — testifies to the zeal of his 
 exertions, fruitless though they were, 
 for the seizure of the "unknown" 
 smuggler. The latter afterward re- 
 ceives from the officer the stipulated 
 portion of the reward. This arch trick 
 is constantly practised along the fron- 
 tier, and, to meet the demand, the 
 Prussian dealers patriotically keep 
 stocks of good-for-nothing tea, which 
 they sell generally at the rate of twelve 
 and a half cents per pound. 
 
 Spanish. Contraband Trade. 
 
 Although the Spaniards have a dis- 
 like — so the idea prevails — to foreign- 
 ers and foreign productions, yet the 
 latter necessarily find their way into 
 Spain, because she has no productions 
 of her own, and must have them. But 
 they hate custom houses and custom- 
 house officers as much as they do for- 
 eigners, and they also prefer a smug- 
 gled article, even if it is a foreign pro- 
 duction ; hence it is that there is no 
 scene in Spanish life without a smug- 
 gler — at least, so say the English. The 
 peasant smuggles through necessity, 
 the rich man through avarice, or the 
 pleasure of cheating the revenue. Even 
 the queen, it is told, robs her own ex- 
 chequer, by wearing contraband finery. 
 
230 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 The whole southern coast, from Barce- 
 lona to Cadiz, is said to be perpetually 
 transformed, at night, into a strand for 
 the loading of contraband goods. It is 
 estimated that there are not less than 
 four hundred thousand smugglers hov- 
 ering continually about the mountains 
 near the seacoast, who descend at 
 night to hold communion with pro- 
 scribed foreign smugglers, and receive 
 from them the materials for rendering 
 millions of the Spanish population com- 
 fortable, free of duty. 
 
 Prayers Requested for a New Business 
 Undertaking-. 
 
 The ministers of the English Govern- 
 ment made great use of lotteries in the 
 eighteenth century, as an engine to 
 draw money from the pockets of the 
 people, and at a price alike disgraceful 
 to the Government and demoralizing to 
 all. The extent to which this evil had 
 reached may be inferred from the fact 
 that money was lent on these as on any 
 other marketable securities ; that in 
 1751, upward of thirty thousand tick- 
 ets were pawned to the metropolitan 
 bankers; and this when, to have an 
 even chance for any prize, a purchaser 
 must have held seven tickets — and it 
 was ninety-nine to one that even if a 
 prize were drawn, it did not exceed 
 £50. Suicide, through lotteries, be- 
 came common. All arts were resorted 
 to. Lucky numbers were foretold by 
 cunning women, who, when their art 
 failed, shrouded themselves in their 
 mysticism, or, if fortune chanced to fa- 
 vor them, paraded their prophecies to 
 the public. Insurance of prizes — an 
 art upon which hundreds grew rich, 
 and thousands grew poor — was com- 
 menced with terrible success. Those 
 who were unable to buy tickets, paid a 
 certain sum to receive a certain amount, 
 if a particular number came up a prize. 
 The many iniquities, the household des- 
 olation, the public fraud, and the pri- 
 vate mischief which resulted from this 
 system, are beyond the power of recital. 
 
 "Wives committed domestic treachery; 
 sons and daughters ran through their 
 portions; merchants risked the gains 
 of honorable trade. " My whole 
 house," wrote one, " was infected with 
 the mania, from the head of it down 
 to my kitchen maid and postboy, who 
 have both j^awned some of their rags, 
 that they might put themselves in for- 
 tune's way." The passions and preju- 
 dices of the sex were appealed to. Lov- 
 ers were to strew their paths with roses ; 
 husbands were plentifully promised, 
 and beautiful children were to adorn 
 their homes, through this kind of deal- 
 ing. The melancholy history was oc- 
 casionally enlivened by episodes, which 
 sometimes arose from the humor, and 
 sometimes from the sufferings of the 
 populace. Religion itself was ingeni- 
 ously used as a scapegoat in these trans- 
 actions. Thus, it is recorded as a fact, 
 that to promote the aid of the blind 
 deity, a woman to whom a ticket had 
 been presented, caused a petition to 
 be put up in a church, in the following 
 words : 
 
 " The prayers of the congregation are 
 desired for the success of a person engaged 
 in a new husiness undertaMngP 
 
 •'He's a Country Merchant— Stick 
 Him." 
 
 In a certain city, Mr. A. established 
 himself in business. Among the fre- 
 quent visitors at his store was Mr. B., 
 whose officiousness was never agree- 
 able to the proprietor, and on one oc- 
 casion at least his advice was both in- 
 sulting and disastrous. It happened 
 in this wise : A gentleman came into 
 the store and inquired for sundry arti- 
 cles as to prices, &c. In the midst of 
 the interview, Mr. B. asked Mr. A. to 
 the door, and, taking him by the but- 
 ton, whispered confidentially, regard- 
 ing the inquirer, " He's a country mer- 
 chant—stick him!" Mr. A. turned 
 away in disgust, and resumed his con- 
 versation with the new comer. But 
 the whispered counsel had reached the 
 
TRADE AND BUSINESS IMMORALITIES. 
 
 231 
 
 ear of the latter, and he left the prem- 
 ises without purchasing a single article. 
 
 Spaniard and Chinaman at a Trade. 
 
 Here is an old " trick at trade," and 
 it still puzzles some people to get the 
 right of it. 
 
 A Spaniard called at the store of 
 a Chinese merchant shoemaker and 
 bought a pair of boots at the price of 
 ten dollars, and handed Jinnqua, the 
 seller of the boots, an ounce^ valued at 
 seventeen dollars. As Jinnqua had no 
 change, he stepped over the way to the 
 Palo Gordo and got it changed; re- 
 turned, and gave the boots and seven 
 dollars to the Spaniard, who took them 
 and his departure. Shortly after this, 
 the proprietor of Palo Gordo called on 
 the shoemaker with the ounce, which 
 proved to be a bad one, and the shoe- 
 maker was obliged to pay him seven- 
 teen good dollars for the good-for- 
 nothing metal. Now the question is, 
 how much and what did the shoe- 
 maker lose by the operation ? Some 
 say he lost twenty-four dollars, and 
 others twenty-seven dollars ; but it is 
 very plain that he lost just seven dol- 
 lars aud a pair of new boots. Whether 
 they were worth ten dollars or not, is 
 another question — one for China-tail 
 and his customer to decide. 
 
 Buying Wine by Sample. 
 
 The penetration and management 
 of one of our old commodores in a 
 Spanish port, some years ago, proved 
 too much for the skill of a certain wine 
 merchant, as the following will show. 
 
 He bought a cask of wine— he liked 
 the flavor of it — in one of those enor- 
 taous cellars, where the Spanish mer- 
 chants store their immense stock, and 
 where they, if the truth must be reveal- 
 ed, also mix, brew, and manufacture 
 them. 
 
 "To what place shall I send the 
 pipe ? " inquired the merchant. 
 
 " Nowhere," said the blunt sailor, " I 
 will take it with me ; " and then ap- 
 peared a competent number of sailors 
 with a vehicle all ready for the pur- 
 pose. 
 
 The merchant hesitated, demurred, 
 and objected to delivering it for one 
 reason or other, and finally offered a 
 handsome sum if he would take an- 
 other cask next to it, just as good, in 
 its room, as this particular one had 
 been disposed of. This made the com- 
 modore still more earnest and resolved ; 
 so he insisted on paying the Spanish 
 trader his bill, and took away his prize 
 without asking " by your leave." 
 
 It was worth double the sum he 
 gave for it, as it was a sample cask of 
 the pure article, which he and all who 
 went to that cellar to purchase were to 
 taste, as a criterion of the whole. When 
 the article v/as sold and delivered, after 
 the bargain, another was always put in 
 its place. This time, however, the un- 
 lucky merchant was deprived of his 
 decoy till he could prepare -a new one, 
 at considerable cost. It was a poor 
 bargain that he made with the Ameri- 
 can commodore, who used to tell his 
 friends at Washington, when he treat- 
 ed them to it, that it was the best bat- 
 tle he ever fought, and he had seen 
 sharp service in 1813. 
 
 Smug-grlingr on the Lace-Merchant's 
 Dog. 
 
 Who would have imagined that a 
 dog had been made serviceable as a 
 clerk, and thus rolled up for his master 
 upward of a hundred thousand crowns ? 
 And yet a " big thing " like this hap- 
 pened some years ago. 
 
 One of those industrious beings who 
 know how to make a chaldron of coals 
 out of a billet of wood, determined, in 
 extreme poverty, to engage in trade. 
 He preferred that of merchandize 
 which occupied the least space, and 
 was calculated to yield the greatest 
 profit. He borrowed a small sum of 
 money from a friend, and repairing to 
 
232 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 Flanders, he there bought a piece of 
 lace, which, without any danger, he 
 smuggled into France in the following 
 manner : 
 
 He trained an active spaniel to his 
 purpose. He caused him first to be 
 shaved, and procured for him the skin 
 of another dog, of the same hair and 
 the same shape. He then rolled the 
 lace around the body of the dog, and 
 put over this the garment of the other 
 animal so adroitly that it was impos- 
 sible to discover the trick. The lace 
 being thus arranged in his canine band- 
 box, he would say to his obedient mes- 
 senger, " Forward, my friend ! " At 
 these words, the dog would start, and 
 pass boldly through the gates of Ma- 
 lines or Valenciennes, in the very face 
 of the vigilant officers placed there to 
 prevent smuggling. Having passed the 
 bounds, he would wait for his master 
 at a little distance in the open country. 
 Then they mutually caressed and feast- 
 ed, and the merchant deposited his 
 parcels in places of security, renewing 
 his ventures as necessity required. 
 
 Such was the success of the smug- 
 gler, that in five or six years he amassed 
 a handsome fortune, and kept his 
 coach. But — envy pursues the pros- 
 perous ; a mischievous neighbor be- 
 trayed the lace merchant, and, not- 
 withstanding the efibrts of the latter 
 to disguise his dog, he was tracked, 
 watched, and detected. The game was 
 up. 
 
 How far does the cunning of such an 
 animal extend ! Did the spies of the 
 custom house expect him at one gate, 
 he saw them at a distance, and instant- 
 ly went toward the other. Were the 
 gates shut against him, he overcame 
 every obstacle — sometimes he leaped 
 over the wall, at others passed secretly 
 behind a carriage, or, running slyly be- 
 tween the legs of travellers, he would 
 thus accomplish his aim. One day, 
 however, while swimming a stream 
 near Malines, he was shot, and died in 
 the water. There was then about him 
 
 five thousand crowns' worth of lace — 
 the loss of which did not afilict the 
 master, but he was inconsolable for the 
 loss of his faithful " clerk." 
 
 High-heeled Boots with Watches in 
 them. 
 In the days when high-heeled French 
 boots were the pride of fashion, there 
 was a shoemaker in London, who made 
 a fortune by the sale of the best Paris 
 boots at a price which all his fellow 
 tradesmen declared ruinous. He un- 
 derstood the trade, and obtained troops 
 of customers. " These boots must be 
 stolen," said his rivals, but there was 
 no evidence that they were ; certainly 
 they were not smuggled boots — for any 
 one could satisfy himself that the full 
 duty was paid upon them at the cus- 
 tom house. The shoemaker retired from 
 business with a fortune. Afterward 
 his secret was accidentally discovered 
 — although he had paid for the boots, 
 he had not paid for* everything that 
 was in them. There was a heavy duty 
 payable on foreign watches ; and every 
 boot consigned to him from Paris had 
 contained in its high heel a cavity ex- 
 actly large enough to hold a watch. 
 The great profit obtained by the trade 
 in smuggled watches made it possible 
 for this tradesman, when he had • filled 
 up their heels, to sell his boots under 
 prime cost. This was worth while 
 again, because, of course, by the exten- 
 sion of his boot trade, he increased his 
 power of importing watches duty free. 
 
 Philanthropy and Forty Per Cent. 
 
 Under the name of the Equitable 
 Loan Company, there was many years 
 ago started, in England, a mining 
 scheme for taking money out of the 
 pockets of the many, and putting it in 
 the pockets of the few. In paragraphs, 
 calculated to excite the sympathy of 
 the public, the directors piously de- 
 nounced the profits of the pawnbroker, 
 arraigned his evil practices, and deli- 
 
TRADE AND BUSINESS IMMORALITIES. 
 
 233 
 
 cately concluded by hinting that a com- 
 pany formed upon the most philanthro- 
 pic principles, and paying forty per cent., 
 ■would soon be formed, and thus the pub- 
 lic be saved from any further imposition. 
 The philanthropy element in the scheme 
 might have been proclaimed unavailing- 
 ly for centuries, but forty per cent, was 
 irresistible. The Duke of York good-na- 
 turedly lent his name ; members of Par- 
 liament were bribed with shares ; and 
 when it was honestly said by one that 
 " the bill would never pass the House," 
 the ready reply of the philanthropic 
 schemers was, " Oh ! we have so many on 
 the ministerial, and so many on the op- 
 position side, and we are of course sure 
 of the saints ! " The shares, however, 
 tumbled down to a discount ; both op- 
 position and ministerial members gave 
 the nefarious scheme the go-by, and the 
 philanthropy of the saints faded with 
 the fading vision of " forty per cent." 
 
 Fate of a Clerical Dealer in " Fancies." 
 
 Some time since an account appeared 
 in the London journals of a practical 
 joke — which, however j for one of the 
 parties concerned, was no joke at all — 
 having been played off upon a parson 
 on the Stock Exchange. It appears 
 that the said reverend gentleman in 
 holy orders had been giving a series of 
 most unholy orders to a variety of 
 stockbrokers, who had thus been " let 
 in " to a serious amount by said specu- 
 lating clergyman. Having been per- 
 suaded to visit the " sanctum " of the 
 stock exchange, the parson was forth- 
 with surrounded, and an unceremoni- 
 ous punishment was improvised, with- 
 out the slightest " benefit of clergy " 
 being allowed to him. His coat was 
 covered with flour thrown from bags, 
 "without the remotest respect for his 
 cloth, and he was showered with eggs, 
 of which there was an ample supply in 
 readiness to make — as was remarked 
 by an unhappy punster on the spot — a 
 terrible eggsample of the defaulting 
 
 dominie. The reverend financier's white 
 choker was so besmeared with the bat- 
 ter thus hurriedly compounded, that he 
 was obliged to rush from the stock ex- 
 change to exchange his stock at the 
 nearest hosier's. The affair, happening 
 as it did on or about " Shrove Tues- 
 day," caused some who saw the parson 
 covered with eggs and flour to suppose 
 — naturally enough — that, while on 
 some parochial call, he had unfortu- 
 nately fallen into a mass of batter pre- 
 pared for the manufacture of pancakes. 
 
 French. Nicety in Trade Frauds. 
 
 All is false in wines ; the color, the 
 strength, the flavor, the age, even the 
 name under w^hich they are sold. 
 There are w^ines which do not contain 
 a drop of grape juice. Even science is 
 impotent, in many cases, to distinguish 
 the true from the false, so complete is 
 the imitation, but it nevertheless great- 
 ly aids in the detection. This was de- 
 veloped in a memorable case which 
 came before the French courts. The 
 chemist, after reporting all the ingre- 
 dients of which the wine was com- 
 posed, observed that if one of them 
 were in less quantity, he would have 
 been unable to distinguish it from the 
 natural wine. The prosecuted wine 
 merchant, who was present, listened 
 attentively to the chemist's report, and 
 at last asked him wTiich ingredient it 
 was. The chemist very unguardedly 
 told him, and the accused immediately 
 answered, " I am very much obliged, 
 sir, and I don't regret now my forty 
 hogsheads of wine which will be de- 
 stroyed, because now I am certain of 
 my business." 
 
 Disposing of an Old Stock, 
 
 One Mr. P. G., a gentleman well 
 known to many citizens of New Hamp- 
 shire as a successful merchant of C, 
 owed much of his good fortune to his 
 knowledge of human nature, of which 
 
234 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 he always endeavored to take advan- 
 tage. At one time, he opened, mth 
 another person, a " branch store " in a 
 town in the north part of the State, and 
 which they mostly filled with the un- 
 salable goods from their principal store 
 in C. These goods were " as good as 
 new " among the rustics, and sold quite 
 as well, with the exception of a large 
 lot of that unique article of gentlemen's 
 wear denominated hogskin caps. 
 
 G. generally kept himself at his 
 house in C, though often visiting his 
 country store, staying sometimes a week 
 or more, and attending the country 
 church — as a matter of course being 
 looked at with astonishment by the go- 
 to-meeting young men of the town. In- 
 deed, he was honored by their imita- 
 tion in almost all their acts, dress, «&c. 
 What Mr. G. wore to church of a Sun- 
 day, gentleman as he was, was the pre- 
 vailing fashion there until he intro- 
 duced a new style at some subsequent 
 visit. 
 
 On one of these occasions, G. asked 
 his partner about the business prospects 
 and other matters in which he was in- 
 terested, and received the reply that 
 things went pretty quick at good 
 prices. 
 
 " Keep those old caps yet. I didn't 
 make a great bargain in buying them," 
 said G., espying a large box filled with 
 said caps. " Can't you get rid of them 
 at any price ? " 
 
 " Haven't sold one yet ; people don't 
 like them, and I have had a great no- 
 tion of throwing them out of the back 
 window, and getting rid of the trouble 
 of them. They won't go here, I think." 
 
 G. looked at them a moment, and ex- 
 claimed, " I have it ! You have kept 
 them out of sight, I see ! Next Mon- 
 day, you get them out and brush them 
 up, and I'll send you a score of custom- 
 ers before the week is out." 
 
 The following Sunday, G. appeared 
 in church with one of these identical 
 caps tipped gracefully on one side of 
 his head, and a splendid gold watch- 
 
 chain dangling from his vest pocket. 
 He was, as usual, the observed of all 
 observers ; and it is needless to say 
 that, a fortnight after, when in his own 
 store in C, he received an order for two 
 dozen more of his " imperial " caps. 
 
 Baxguiningr for a Jar. 
 
 Passing by the shop of a dealer in 
 curiosities at Paris, a Neapolitan prince 
 observed a superb Japan jar, five and 
 one half feet high, and very large. He 
 commenced bargaining for it, but the 
 tradesman insisted on having four 
 thousand francs for the article,' while 
 the prince was only willing to give 
 three thousand francs ; " but," said he, 
 " if you had the fellow to it, its value 
 would be infinitely greater to me." 
 " No doubt, Excellenza ; the value of 
 the pair would be fifteen thousand 
 francs." 
 
 A few days elapsed, and the Neapol- 
 itan received a summons to return to 
 his own country, and he went once 
 more to try to obtain the jar. " I again 
 offer three thousand francs," said he. " I 
 will not take less than four thousand," 
 said the tradesman. " I leave to-mor- 
 row." "No matter; I will keep my 
 jar." 
 
 The next day, as the prince was su- 
 perintending the packing up of his 
 eflFects, a waiter of the hotel said, 
 " Your excellency would no doubt be 
 glad to find the fellow of the Japan 
 jar ? Well, there is one in the faubourg 
 St. Germain." " Is it possible ? " " It 
 is quite certain." "Beppo, my car- 
 riage ! " Arrived in the faubourg, the 
 f)rince saw that the jar was precisely 
 the same as the one he had bargained 
 for. " Where did you get it ? " he asked 
 the tradesman who showed it. "At 
 the sale of the Duchess de Montebello. 
 There was a pair of them, but I was 
 outbid for the other." " Ah, yes, I un- 
 derstand. And what do you ask?" 
 " Four thousand francs." " He does 
 not know," thought the Neapolitan, 
 
TRADE AND BUSINESS IMMORALITIES. 
 
 235 
 
 " that the other jar is offered for sale in 
 another part of Paris ! If I give him 
 four thousand for this, I can buy the 
 other at the same price, and so have 
 for eight thousand francs what is worth 
 fifteen thousand." 
 
 He bought the jar at once, paid for 
 it, and had it conveyed to his hotel. 
 He then went to the other tradesman 
 and asked for the jar. He was told 
 that the tradesman was out, and that 
 the jar had been taken away. He re- 
 turned the next day, but could not see 
 the dealer ; but he learned subsequent- 
 ly that the jar which he had purchased 
 for four thousand francs was the very 
 one he had offered three thousand for, 
 and that the waiter at the hotel had re- 
 ceived ten francs to inform the prince 
 of the existence of the jar in the fau- 
 bourg St. Germain — a cool thousand 
 being, by this trick, put int6 the pock- 
 et of the tradesman. 
 
 Three Millionnaires Quarrelling: about 
 One Farthing-. 
 
 Elwes, the millionnaire banker and 
 miser, notwithstanding his dislike of 
 society, was a member of a club which 
 occasionally met at his own village, 
 and to which also belonged two other 
 wealthy and miserly baronets, besides 
 himself, viz., Sir Cord well Firebras and 
 Sir John Bamardiston. With these 
 three, though all so rich, the reckoning 
 was always a subject of minute investi- 
 gation before they separated. One day, 
 when they were at loggerheads in set- 
 tling some trifling item, a wag, who 
 was likewise a member of the club, 
 called out to a friend that was passing, 
 " For heaven's sake, step up stairs, and 
 assist the poor ! Here are three mil- 
 lionnaire baronets chafing and quarrel- 
 ling about one farthing ! " 
 
 Price of Extortion and Revenge. 
 
 In one of our cities there occurred, 
 some years ago, the following illustra- 
 tion of what sometimes comes from ex- 
 
 tortion. Mr. A., a wealthy merchant, 
 built a very expensive warehouse on 
 his lot, and after it was completed, B., 
 his next neighbor, discovered that it 
 was a couple or three inches on his lot. 
 A surveyor was sent for, and A. dis- 
 covered his mistake, and freely offered 
 B. a large sum if he would permit it 
 to remain. B. knew that he had his 
 wealthy neighbor in his power, there- 
 fore he seemed unwilling to sell the 
 narrow gore for twenty times the value 
 of the land. He only waited for a larger 
 sum to be offered, believing that before 
 A, would pull down his warehouse, he 
 would pay half its value. But A., find- 
 ing that B. was determined to be satis- 
 fied with nothing but extortion, began 
 to pull down his noble building. T?ien 
 A. might have settled on his own terms, 
 but he had no offer to make. The last 
 foundation stone was removed. 
 
 But in order to revenge himself, A. 
 ordered his builder to run up the new 
 edifice a couple of inches within his own 
 line, and it was done : and the noble 
 building was again completed. A 
 short time afterward, B. commenced 
 the erection of his splendid warehouse, 
 directly against his neighbor's, and, of 
 course, two inches over on the lot of 
 
 A. The trap Jiaid had succeeded as 
 was expected ; and after B.'s building 
 was completed, and his friends were 
 congratulating him on his splendid 
 warehouse, A. steps up and informs 
 
 B. that his structure encroaches on 
 his land ! B. laughs at the thought, 
 for amid the rubbish and deep founda- 
 tions, a couple of inches cannot be 
 detected by the naked eye. A sur- 
 veyor was sent for, and conceive the 
 blank astonishment that filled the mind 
 of B., when he found himself at the 
 mercy of one whom he had so deeply 
 wronged. This was the moment for A. 
 to show to the sordid B. what a mag- 
 nanimous heart could do. But, no ! A. 
 was deterniined upon revenge, and that 
 neighbor can name no sum at which 
 he would even look. He offered him 
 
236 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 half tlie cost of Ms magnificent ware- 
 house, if he would suffer him to let it 
 stand. No, he must pull it down ; and 
 down it came to the very foundations. 
 Such cases are rare indeed among mer- 
 chants. 
 
 Knowinsr his Customer. 
 
 When George the Second was re- 
 turning from his German dominions, 
 in his way between the Brill and Hel- 
 voetsluis, he was obliged to stay at an 
 obscure public house on the road, 
 while some of his servants went for- 
 ward to obtain another carriage, that 
 in which he had travelled having bro- 
 ken down. The king ordered refresh- 
 ment, but all he could get was a pot 
 of coffee for himself and Lord Delav/ar, 
 and four bottles of gin made into punch, 
 for his footmen ; however, when the 
 bill was called for, the conscientious 
 Dutchman, knowing his customer, pre- 
 sented it as follows : 
 
 "To refreshments for his Sacred 
 Majesty, King George the Second, and 
 his household, £9." 
 
 Lord Delawar was so provoked at 
 this imposition, that the king overheard 
 his altercation with the landlord, and 
 demanded the cause of it. His lord- 
 ship immediately told him; when his 
 majesty good-humoredly replied : " My 
 lord, the fellow is a great knave, but 
 pay him. Kings seldom pass this 
 way." 
 
 A similar anecdote is related of an- 
 other monarch, who, passing through a 
 town in Holland, was charged at the rate 
 of thirty dollars for two eggs. On this, 
 he said, " that eggs were surely scarce 
 in that town." " No, your majesty," 
 replied the landlord, " but kings are." 
 
 "Old Guy" Putting Out the Light; or, 
 Millionnaire Misers Rating- each 
 other's Frugality. 
 
 Guy, the broker and miser, was one 
 evening seated in his little back room, 
 
 meditating over a handfal of half-light- 
 ed embers, confined within the narrow 
 precincts of a brick stove ; a farthing 
 candle was on the table at his side, but 
 it was not lit, and the fire afforded no 
 light to dissipate the gloom. He sat 
 there alone, planning some new spec- 
 ulation — congratulating himself on sav- 
 ing a pennyworth of fuel, or else per- 
 chance cogitating as to how he could 
 bestow some thousand guineas in 
 charity. 
 
 His thoughts, whether on subjects 
 small or great, were inteiTupted by the 
 announcement of a visitor — a shabby, 
 meagre, miserable-looking man; but 
 compliments were exchanged and the 
 guest was invited to take a seat. Guy 
 immediately lighted his farthing can- 
 dle and desired to know the object 
 of the gentleman's call. The visitor 
 was no other than the celebrated Hop- 
 kins, whose fortune was about a million 
 and a half, and who, on account of his 
 avarice and rapacity, was known as 
 Vulture Hopkins. 
 
 " I have been told," said Hopkins, 
 as he entered the presence of Guy, 
 "that you are better versed in the 
 prudent and necessary art of saving, 
 than any man now living. I now wait 
 upon you simply for a lesson in fru- 
 gality, an art in which I used to think 
 I excelled, but I am told by all who 
 know you that you are greatly my 
 superior." 
 
 " If that is all you are come about," 
 said Guy, " why then we can talk the 
 matter over in the dark;" so saying, 
 he with great deliberation put the ex- 
 tinguisher on his newly lighted far- 
 thing candle. Struck with this most 
 ready instance of practical economy, 
 Hopkins— having no need of any mere 
 verlal lessons — at once acknowledged 
 the superior ability of his host, and 
 thoughtfully took his leave, imbued 
 
 with profound respect for 
 adept in the art of saving. 
 
 such 
 
TRADE AND BUSINESS IMMORALITIES. 
 
 237 
 
 Discounting: a Leg-acy. 
 
 Taylor, at one time one of the most 
 eminent stock jobbers in London, and 
 who died worth half a million dollars 
 in cash, was so penurious that he scarce- 
 ly allowed himself the common necessa- 
 ries of this life ; and this spirit he car- 
 ried out as well in his financial and 
 business dealings. A few days before 
 his decease, the officers of the parish 
 in which he resided, waited upon him 
 at his request ; they found the old man 
 on a wretched bed in a garret, making 
 his dinner on a thin slice of bacon and 
 a potato, of which he asked them to 
 partake. One of them accepted the 
 offer ; upon this, the miser desired his 
 cook to broil him another — but, find- 
 ing the larder was totally empty, Tay- 
 lor harshly rebuked her for not having 
 it well supplied with a quarter of a 
 pound, to cut out in slices whenever it 
 was wanted for company. He then in- 
 formed the overseers of the poor, that he 
 had left by his will, one thousand pounds 
 sterling for their relief, and eagerly in- 
 quired if they would not allow him dis- 
 count for prompt payment : this being 
 assented to, apparently much delighted, 
 he immediately gave them a check for 
 nine hundred and fifty pounds, and 
 soon after breathed his last. 
 
 M. Beautte and the 0£B.cial Smugrgrler. 
 
 It is difficult to imagine a collection 
 more rich in those thousand wonders 
 which tempt the female heart, than is 
 seen at Beautte's, who stands at the 
 head of the fashionable jewellers in 
 Geneva ; it is almost enough to drive a 
 Parisian mad, or to make Cleopatra 
 palpitate with longing in her grave. 
 
 This jewelry is liable to a duty on 
 entering France ; but, for a premium 
 of five per cent., M. Beautte under- 
 takes to smuggle it. The bargain be- 
 tween the buyer and seller is publicly 
 made on this condition, as if there 
 were no custom-house officers in the , 
 
 world — M. Beautte possessing won- 
 derful address in setting them at fault, 
 and thus securing a vast amount of 
 profitable trade. 
 
 When the Count de Saint Crieg was 
 director-general of the customs, he 
 heard of this skill, by which the vigil- 
 ance of his officers was thwarted, and, 
 so frequently was it mentioned, that 
 he resolved to assure himself whether 
 all was true that was said of it. He 
 subsequently went to Geneva, presented 
 himself in person at M. Beautte's shop, 
 and purchased thirty thousand francs' 
 worth of jewelry, on condition that it 
 should be delivered, without paying the 
 import duty, at his residence in Paris. 
 M. Beautte agreed to the condition like 
 a man accustomed to bargains of 
 the kind, and merely presented to the 
 purchaser a sort of promissory note, by 
 which he undertook to pay the usual 
 five per cent., besides the thirty thou- 
 sand francs purchase money. The latter 
 smiled ; took up a pen, signed " De 
 Saint Crieg, director-general of the 
 French customs," and handed back the 
 paper to Beautte, who looked at the 
 signature, and contented himself with 
 quietly answering, with a bend of the 
 head, " M. le directeur, the article which 
 you have done me the honor of buying, 
 will arrive at Paris as soon as your- 
 self." 
 
 M. de Saint Crieg, whose interest 
 was now excited to the highest pitch, 
 scarcely gave himself time to dine, sent 
 to the post for horses, and set out an 
 hour afier the bargain had been con- 
 cluded. M. de Saint Crieg made him- 
 self known to the officers who came to 
 examine his carriage, told the principal 
 one what had happened him, enjoined 
 the most active surveillance on the 
 whole line, and promised a reward of 
 fifty louis to the officer who should 
 succeed in seizing the prohibited jew- 
 elry. 
 
 Not a custom-house officer slept dur- 
 ing three days. In the mean while, M. 
 de Saint Crieg arrived at Paris, alight- 
 
238 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 ed at his residence, kissed his wife and 
 children, and went to his room to take 
 oflf his travelling costume. The first 
 thing he perceived on the chimney 
 piece was an elegant box, with the 
 shape of which he was acquainted. 
 He approached it, and read on the 
 silver plate which ornamented the 
 top, "The Count de Saint Crieg, 
 Director-General of the Customs." 
 He opened it, and found the jewelry 
 he had purchased at Geneva ! 
 
 Beautte had made an arrangement 
 with one of the waiters at the inn, 
 who, while assisting M. de Saint Crieg's 
 servants to pack their master's luggage, 
 had slipped the prohibited box among 
 it. On his arriving at Paris, his valet, 
 noticing the elegance of the case, and 
 the inscription engraved upon it, had 
 hastened to place it upon his master's 
 chimney piece. Thus the director-gen- 
 eral of the customs was the first smug- 
 gler in the kingdom. 
 
 drawer, and he was taken, as Prince 
 Hal says, *' in the manner." 
 
 llode of Protecting: the Money Drawer. 
 
 A YOUNG apprentice lad was very 
 ingeniously detected in stealing money 
 from the drawer of Mr. Throop's store. 
 He had for some months made it a 
 practice to call at the store when there 
 was no one in excepting the owner or 
 one of his clerks. He would generally 
 then call for wine, or some trifling arti- 
 cle kept in the store cellar, and, in 
 their absence to procure it, it was sus- 
 pected that he made somewhat too 
 free with the money drawer. One day, 
 Mr. Throop fastened a strong cord to 
 the back of the drawer, and let one 
 end pass through a small hole into the 
 cellar. It was but a short time before 
 the boy came in, and observing no one 
 but the proprietor about the store, 
 called for some wine. On entering the 
 cellar, the owner perceived the cord to 
 move, caught hold of it, and, with a 
 sudden and violent jerk, made it fast. 
 He then ran up stairs, and found the 
 young rogue with his hand i^t in the 
 
 " Done for " Twice. 
 
 A FAT, burly English landlord was 
 sitting one afternoon at the door of his 
 inn, when a person entered the house, 
 and after complimenting its cleanliness 
 and snug appearance, ordered a good 
 dinner and a bottle of wine. The din- 
 ner, when cooked, was laid in an upper 
 apartment, looking out upon a pleasant 
 garden ; and after it had been thorough- 
 ly ' discussed,' and the w^ine sipped 
 toothsomely to the bottom of the bot- 
 tle, the satisfied guest sent for his host, 
 and, when he had entered the room, 
 thus addressed him : " You have a fine 
 inn here, landlord — a very fine inn; 
 everything is particularly nice — in fact, 
 what I call comfortable." The land- 
 lord expressed his gratification. 
 
 " I shall have great pleasure," con- 
 tinued the guest, without noticing the 
 interruption, "in recommending your 
 house to my friends in town. Ahem ! 
 There remains only one thing more to 
 mention, landlord ; and as the subject 
 is one which I have reason to think 
 will be as unpleasant to you as to my- 
 self, I will express it in a few words : 
 I have not, at this moment, any money ; 
 but I will be here again in — " "iVb 
 money ! " exclaimed the landlord, in a 
 voice husky with anger — " no money ! ! 
 Then why did you come to the ' Hen 
 and Chickens,' and run up a bill that 
 you can't pay ? Get out of my house 
 this instant ! Go ! " 
 
 " I expected this," replied the guest, 
 rising ; " I anticipated this treatment ; 
 nor can I much blame you, landlord, 
 to tell the truth, for you don't hnow 
 me. Because you sometimes meet 
 with deception, you think / am de- 
 ceiving you ; but I pledge you my 
 honor that a fortnight from to-day I 
 will be with you again, and you will 
 confess yourself ashamed of your sus- 
 picions." " Bah ! you're a swindler I " 
 
TRADE AND BUSINESS IMMORALITIES. 
 
 239 
 
 ejaculated Boniface ; " this will be the 
 last of you — take that f " and with a 
 vigorous coup de pied, was " sped the 
 parting guest." " You will live to 
 regret this, landlord, I am sure ; but 
 I do not blame you, for you are igno- 
 rant of my character," was the meek 
 reply to this gross indignity. 
 
 Just two weeks from that day, this 
 same ill-used gentleman (with a travel- 
 ling friend) was, with many apologies 
 and protestations, shown into the best 
 room of the celebrated " Hen and Chick- 
 ens " inn. The landlord's profuse apol- 
 ogies were accepted ; he was forgiven ; 
 and even invited to dine with the two 
 friends upon the best dinner, flanked 
 by the very choicest wines which his 
 house afforded. When all was finished, 
 and while the landlord, who had be- 
 come exceedingly mellow, was protest- 
 ing that he should never be so sus- 
 picious of a "real gentleman" again 
 (referring, of course, to the little scene 
 at the previous visit), he was inter- 
 rupted by his first guest with — " But, 
 landlord, there is one thing which we 
 ought, in simple justice to you, to men- 
 tion. J do not happen to have, at this, 
 moment, a single penny ; and, I grieve 
 to say, that my companion, who is a 
 good man, but, in a mere worldly point 
 of view, very poor, is not a whit better 
 off. Under these unpleasant circum- 
 stances, it becomes, as it were, a neces- 
 sity, to bid you a very good evening." 
 It would be difficult to say whether the 
 phiz of the amazed landlord was black 
 or blue at this point. But, ejaculating, 
 " Done twice ! the Hen and Chickens 
 done twice !— and both times exactly 
 alike," he went down to set the swindle 
 to the account of " Profit and Loss." 
 
 liookingr Glass for Wall Street. 
 
 The aptness of Mr. Kimball's de- 
 scription of a certain class of nervous, 
 anxious people, who have to raise 
 money from day to day, and whose 
 business locality is Wall street, will be 
 
 appreciated by all who have seen a 
 certain proverbial animal or his tusks. 
 He says : It seems miraculous how this 
 class can endure such a never-ending 
 state of bondage. Some of these are 
 fashionable, their connections are of 
 the first distinction, their associations 
 most desirable. They keep up hand- 
 some establishments ; they earn by 
 their pursuits $4,000 a year, and spend 
 $5,000. They always anticipate what 
 is due them, and are always harassed for 
 ready money. They are honorable fel- 
 lows, and would not plead usury under 
 circumstances the most aggravating. 
 They make notes, and get a broker to 
 sell them. This broker, understanding 
 their antecedents, and whom they 
 are most intimate with, goes proba- 
 bly to some rich friend of the partic- 
 ular "party" wanting a loan, who 
 is thoroughly acquainted with the 
 " case," and who knows that the notes 
 will be paid when due, although at 
 the sacrifice of putting a new one on 
 the market, and getting it shaved some- 
 where. So he cashes it at a fearful 
 rate, puts the broker under an oath of 
 secrecy not to reveal where he got the 
 money, which oath it is for the broker's 
 interest to keep, and our fashionable 
 acquaintance is relieved. He hurries 
 home in time for the opera or a dinner 
 out, and, meeting several duns in the 
 hall, he pays them off, and sets about 
 his evening's enjoyment. 
 
 There are others who, having an 
 excellent Government contract, either 
 " General," " State," or " Corporation," 
 need funds to help them through 
 with it. They can afford to pay well, 
 and they do pay well for cash accom- 
 modations. In fact, the street is full 
 of persons alout to realize, who want 
 money in advance of the period, and 
 who are ready to pay a large bonus for 
 it. The result is, they do all the work, 
 and the money lender gets nearly all 
 the profits. Sometimes this latter per- 
 sonage mistakes his investment and 
 makes a loss. But he can well afford 
 
240 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 it. And he never quarrels "with the 
 man who has been so unfortunate as^ 
 to " let hun in." 
 
 Hangins: a Broker, One Hundred Years 
 Ag-o. 
 
 Just one hundred years ago, namely, 
 in 1763, a London broker, named John 
 Rice, was hung for malpractice in busi- 
 ness. A female customer of Rice, and 
 for whom Rice was in the habit of 
 receiving stock dividends, was, under 
 false representations, induced to grant 
 a power to sell, as well as to receive the 
 interest. The broker sold all his pa- 
 tron's stock, employed the proceeds 
 to meet his losses, and kept up the 
 deception by sending her the proceeds 
 as usual. The lady, moved by doubt, 
 or by some other impulse, in course of 
 time intimated to Rice her intention 
 of visiting the city. Unable to re- 
 store the principal. Rice took the alarm, 
 and fled, leaving with his wife five 
 thousand pounds of the misappropri- 
 ated property. Ignorant of his deeds, 
 and anxious to join her husband, she 
 also embarked for Holland. The weath- 
 er was rough ; the vessel was driven 
 back ; and the person sent in search of 
 the husband apprehended the wife, who 
 yielded the money in her possession, 
 leaving herself entirely destitute. The 
 search continued for Rice, and being at 
 last found, he was made to sufier the 
 stringent penalty of the law. 
 
 Quaker Broker and the Stolen 
 Doubloons. 
 
 The Quakers were once, more than 
 at present, a power in the commer- 
 cial world in New York. They were 
 an honest, industrious, and extremely 
 shrewd race of merchants, not devoid 
 of humor and sarcasm, and, though 
 religious non-combatants, not in the 
 least disposed to allow themselves to 
 be the victims of roguery. 
 
 One of this fraternity — a dealer in 
 specie and exchange, and a large pur- 
 chaser of gold coin — one day left his 
 
 counting house in haste, and crossed 
 the street to accost a friend. He had 
 just purchased a quantity of doub- 
 loons, which he had omitted to lock 
 up in his safe. The office was empty. 
 When the old Quaker returned, the 
 room w^as in the same condition — no 
 one was in it — but one of the bags of 
 doubloons was missing. The Quaker 
 now locked up the others, and opened 
 not his mouth on the subject of the 
 loss. Days passed, and weeks, but no 
 reward was offered, no policemen were 
 set on the track of the thief — the old 
 Quaker stood his loss like a statue. 
 Two or three months afterward, his 
 neighbor, a small mercantile man, hap- 
 pened to be in his counting room, 
 conversing on the topics of the day. 
 Suddenly turning to the Quaker, he 
 inquired : 
 
 " By the way, Mr. , did you ever 
 
 hear anything of the bag of doubloons 
 you lost ? " 
 
 Up started the old Quaker in an 
 instant. 
 
 " Thee'rs the thief, John ! thee're the 
 thief—/ never told any one I lost the 
 lag!'' 
 
 Needless to say, the doubloons were 
 restored, and the clumsy rogue par- 
 doned, with a caution to go and sin 
 no more. 
 
 liouis the Fifteenth's Opinion of his 
 Own Paper. 
 
 The fact of Louis the Fifteenth's be- 
 ing a stock jobber was a somewhat un- 
 fortunate one for those who fell into 
 his financial clutches. He operated 
 principally, in his exchange and loan 
 transactions, through M. Bertin, his 
 banker. The latter did his master's 
 stockjobbing very profitably, too, by 
 buying, on the spot, good paper at six 
 and seven per cent., according to the 
 scarcity of money. One day the bank- 
 er proposed to Louis the Fifteenth an 
 operation of several millions. 
 
 " Sire," said M. Bertin to the royal 
 stock jobber, " the royal bills lose a great 
 
TRADE AND BUSINESS IMMORALITIES. 
 
 241 
 
 deal in the place; their discount is 
 now considerable ; it is the very mo- 
 ment to buy several millions. I am 
 certain they will rise, and that there 
 must follow a considerable profit to 
 some one in a short time." 
 
 " That paper," replied the " prudent " 
 monarch, " is not to be depended upon ; 
 the risk is too great ! " 
 
 It was his oicn paper of w^hich he was 
 talking ! 
 
 Consequence of a Simple Mercantile 
 Speculation. 
 
 AcconDiNG to a French authority, 
 the war between England and France 
 in 1777 was tlie consequence of a simple 
 mercantile speculation. Several of our 
 ministers (says a writer in high posi- 
 tion at that period) have made among 
 themselves an act of copartnership, in 
 the commerce of America. The fiirst 
 expeditions proved very profitable ; but 
 as they have a considerable outstanding 
 fund^ they will not dissolve their part- 
 nership before they are reimbursed for 
 their advances and receive the profits 
 which are to arise, according to the cal- 
 culations they have made. Peace would 
 overturn all their speculations, and ruin 
 the lenders of the various funds. The 
 expenses, etc., of the " establishment " 
 amount to an enormous sum. First of 
 all must be paid their directors ; their 
 bookkeepers ; their under clerks ; — then 
 follow the mistresses of the ministers, 
 their sons or daughters, brothers, cous- 
 ins, and even their grandchildren; — 
 then those who lend their name to this 
 speculation ; courtiers and protectors. 
 When this world of dependants is paid, 
 ministers are to personally gain, not- 
 withstanding all, cent, per cent. Then 
 calculate the inferior profits which 
 must be made before the net balance. 
 Several of the ministers' proteges, who 
 were known to have had at first only a 
 salary of six thousand livres, afterward 
 enjoyed, by these commercial operations 
 priced with blood, an income of one 
 hundred thousand, and became lords of 
 16 
 
 two or three manors. One of the chief 
 clerks of a French mercantile house was 
 heard to remark, in November, 1777 : 
 If peace took place at this moment, my 
 principal would be ruined, and I too. 
 We have all our fortune in America, 
 and we wait for it with impatience. 
 This is the reason for which the king 
 has not yet declared for the Americans; 
 he will only do this tclien the ships we 
 expect are safely ai^ived. 
 
 -^7- I 
 
 City Merchant Securingr a Customer. 
 
 An eager merchant in New York, 
 having heard of the arrival of a coun- 
 try trader who was known to be a large 
 purchaser and of unquestionable credit, 
 was resolved to get him to visit his es- 
 tablishment — and, once there, he felt 
 sure that he could secure him as a cus- 
 tomer. He accordingly sent out one of 
 his drummers, of whom he had a large 
 number, adapted to every taste and 
 disposition. The one sent, however, 
 returned without success. Number two 
 was despatched, and with no better re- 
 sult ; and again, number three, and so 
 on, until all had gone and come back 
 without their man. The merchant now 
 determined to go himself; and, finding 
 that brandy and water and free tickets 
 to the theatre were of no avail, for the 
 country trader did not take the one nor 
 go to the other, and would not be per- 
 suaded by any such inducements, he 
 was reduced to the necessity of a ruse. 
 It was simple enough, but it proved 
 effectual. On the merchant taking his 
 leave, after a pleasant interview, he 
 took care to commit the " mistake " of 
 taking the trader's hat instead of his 
 own. Next morning, as was expected, 
 the merchant received a prompt visit 
 at his store, from the country trader, 
 who came to look up the hat which 
 had thus, as he supposed, been hur- 
 riedly exchanged. This was, of course, 
 all that was wanted. The visit was se- 
 cured, and a good bill was the result. 
 
242 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 Tradesmen's Ticketing- System. 
 
 The tendency of tradesmen to speak 
 " by the card " is made manifest by 
 the enormous extent to which goods 
 are now-a-days ticketed. At one es- 
 tablishment articles are being " given 
 away," while at the next door the pro- 
 prietors are undergoing the daily tor- 
 ment of an " alarming sacrifice." One 
 would imagine that self-immolation 
 was a popular pastime with the trades- 
 men in our cities.. Innumerable win- 
 dows announce the determination of 
 the proprietor " to sell considerably 
 under cost ; " from which it would 
 seem that keeping a shop is a piece of 
 disinterestedness, by which one man de- 
 termines to victimize himself — and oc- 
 casionally a few creditors — for the ben- 
 efit of the public in general. These 
 sacrifices, however, do not seem to be 
 wholly without their reward, for, 
 strange to say, the tradesmen who re- 
 sort to them very frequently prosper, 
 in spite of their recklessness of their 
 own private interests. Thus, while the 
 tickets in the windows bespeak a " ru- 
 inous reduction,'' the premises them- 
 selves display, from day to day, "a 
 splendid enlargement," and w^hen " sac- 
 rifices " are to be performed, the temples 
 are often decorated in a style of gorge- 
 ous magnificence. That sacrifices are 
 made, there can be no doubt, but it is 
 another question who are the victims. 
 In some houses it is in contemplation 
 to keep a bankrupt permanently on the 
 premises, to professionally preside at a 
 counter set apart for giving things away 
 and going to ruin. 
 
 Economical Hardware Merchant. 
 
 A FEW years since, a snug hardware 
 merchant, who had made his fortune in 
 the city of New York, determined to 
 sell off his stock and retire. His goods 
 were soon disposed of, and the shop 
 empty. In sweeping out the store one 
 day, however, he found in the crevices 
 
 and corners a few stray shot — about 
 twenty — of all sizes. These he gathered 
 up in the hollow of his hand, and stood 
 for some seconds gazing at them ; at 
 length, seizing his hat, he went into an 
 adjoi-ning liquor store, where they also 
 sold shot, and thus addressed the pro- 
 prietor : " In cleaning my store, I found 
 a few shot — they are of no use to me, 
 but to you they are worth something ; 
 I don't value them very highly, but 
 perhaps (here he niggardly lowered his 
 voice) you would give me half a glass 
 of leer for them." 
 
 Unparalleled Parsimony and Benevo- 
 lence of a Millionnaire. 
 
 When, on a certain occasion, a pub- 
 lic hospital was to be built in London, 
 many benevolent individuals volun- 
 teered to solicit contributions by call- 
 ing upon the inhabitants. Two or 
 three gentlemen went to a small house 
 in an impoverished neighborhood — for 
 the pence of the poor were solicited as 
 well as the pounds of the rich. The 
 door was partially open, and as they 
 drew nigh, they overheard an old man 
 giving a female servant a thorough 
 scolding for having thrown away a 
 match, only one end of which had been 
 used. Although so trivial a matter, the 
 master appeared to be greatly enraged, 
 and the collectors remained some time . 
 outside the door, before the old man 
 had finished his angry lecture, and 
 could hear a knock from the outside. 
 When the tones of his voice were some- 
 what subdued, they entered, and, pre- 
 senting themselves to this strict observ- 
 er of frugality and saving, explained 
 the object of their application; but 
 they did not anticipate much success. 
 
 The millionnaire miser, however, for 
 such he was reputed in the neighbor- 
 hood, no sooner understood their ob- 
 ject, than he opened a closet, and 
 bringing forth a well-filled bag, count- 
 ed therefrom four hundred guineas, 
 which he presented to the astonished 
 applicants. They expressed their sur- 
 
TRADE AND BUSINESS IMMORALITIES. 
 
 243 
 
 prise and thankfulness, and could not 
 refrain from telling the old gentleman 
 that they had overheard his difficulty 
 ■with his domestic, and how little they 
 expected, in consequence, to have met 
 with such munificence from him. 
 
 " Gentlemen," replied the old man, 
 "your surprise is occasioned by my 
 care of a thing of such little conse- 
 quence ; but I keep my house and save 
 my money in my own way ; my parsi- 
 mony enables me to bestow more liber- 
 ally on charity. With regard to benev- 
 olent donations, you may always expect 
 most from prudent people who keep 
 their own accounts, and w^ho pay atten- 
 tion to trifles." 
 
 CollocLuy between a Storekeeper and 
 his Customer. 
 
 Storekeeper : " That's a bad fifty- 
 cent piece. I can't take it. It is only 
 lead silvered over." 
 
 " Well," replies the customer, " ad- 
 mitting such to be the fact, I should 
 say that the ingenuity displayed in the 
 deception might well induce you to ac- 
 cept it. Admire, sir, the devotion of 
 the artist to the divine idea of Liber- 
 ty, the idol of us all ! He, having 
 wrought her effigy in humble lead, in 
 order to make it worthier of that glori- 
 ous impression, resorts to the harmless 
 expedient of silvering it over ! And 
 shall we harshly repudiate his patriotic 
 instincts — deny his work the paltry 
 value of fifty cents ? Oh, no^ sir ! you'll 
 take it ; I know you will ! " 
 
 " Enough said : " he did take it, like 
 a man ! 
 
 Jew Losing a Barg-ain. 
 
 It is not often that a Jew, bent on a 
 nice little trade, is outwitted, oi: comes 
 off second best. That such a contin- 
 gency, however, is among the rare pos- 
 sibilities in business affairs, the follow- 
 ing will show : 
 
 Some children were once playing in 
 the Kent road, near Blackheath, Eng- 
 land, amusing themselves with making 
 
 grottos of oyster shells ; and, in order 
 to give effect, one of the children went 
 home and begged of his mother to let 
 him have two old pictures that were 
 lying about the house and considered 
 but as useless lumber, to adorn their 
 grotto. This was readily granted, and 
 the old pictures were placed one on 
 each side of the grotto. 
 
 In a short time a Jew dealer came 
 by, and after looking at the pictures 
 for some time, he offered to give the 
 cliildren sixpence for them ; the chil- 
 dren refused, and said that they be- 
 longed to their parents. The Jew, at 
 last, offered five shillings, bat was still 
 refused, and, at last, went to the par- 
 ents, and offered ten shillings ; but the 
 extreme eagerness of the Jew excited 
 some suspicion that the old pictures 
 were of more value than had been sup- 
 posed, and this was confirmed when the 
 Jew offered five pounds and five shil- 
 lings for them, which was also refused. 
 The next day, the father of the children 
 took the pictures to a connoisseur, to 
 inquire if they were of any value, and 
 that gentleman gave him a letter of re- 
 commendation to a person in London, 
 who purchased them for fourteen hun- 
 dred pounds, and they were afterward 
 sold for much more. 
 
 Attention to Trivial Thing-s by Girard. 
 
 Even after his head was white with 
 the frosts of nearly fourscore years, 
 Girard gave the minutest attention to 
 the most trivial thing that could affect 
 his fortune. " Take that lot of fowls 
 away ; the roosters are too many, they 
 will keep the hens poor," said the old 
 merchant to a farmer who had brought 
 them for one of Girard's ships — " take 
 them away — I will not buy them." 
 
 Jewish Opinion of Rothschild. 
 
 It is very well known that, whatever 
 may have been the redeeming traits in 
 Baron Rothschild's character, the syna- 
 
244 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 gogue generally did not entertain the 
 same respect for him as the German 
 Jews do for the Rothschilds of Frank- 
 fort. Some thought he might have 
 done more for his brethren than he 
 did ; and that if he had only used the 
 influence which he possessed with Gov- 
 ernment and the many friends which 
 he had at court, all the civil disabilities 
 with which the British Jews were stig- 
 matized would have been abolished, 
 when the proposition was first mooted. 
 " But Rothschild," as was said of him 
 by an eminent English Jew, " was too 
 great a slave to his money, and all 
 other slavery was counted liberty in his 
 sight." 
 
 Avarice of Osterwald, the French 
 Banker. 
 
 Osterwald, the wealthy French 
 banker, was a man remarkable for his 
 penuriousness. So strong was this 
 habit in its hold upon him, that, even 
 within a few days of his death, no im- 
 portunities could induce him to buy a 
 few pounds of meat, for the jDurpose of 
 making a little soup, in order to nour- 
 ish him. " 'Tis true," he remarked, " I 
 should not dislike the soup, but I have 
 no appetite for the meat itself; what, 
 then, will become of that, if I cannot 
 eat it ? " At the time that he refused 
 this nourishment, for fear of being 
 obliged to give away two or three 
 pounds of meat, there was tied around 
 his neck a silken bag which contained 
 eight hundred assignats of one thou- 
 sand livres each. At his outset in life 
 he drank a pint of beer, which served 
 him for supper, every night, at a house 
 much frequented, and from which he 
 carried home all the bottle corks he 
 could come at ; of these latter, in the 
 course of eight years, he had collected 
 as many as sold for twelve louis d'ors 
 — a sum that laid the foundation of his 
 fortune, the superstructure of which 
 was rapidly raised by his uncommon 
 success in stock jobbing. He died pos- 
 sessed of the snug sum of one hundred 
 
 and twenty-five thousand pounds ster- 
 ling. 
 
 — ♦— 
 
 Estimate of his Own Life by a Miser. 
 
 An old bachelor, whose trading skill, 
 combined with the most grinding close- 
 fistedness, had enabled him to amass a 
 clever fortune of some fifty thousand 
 dollars, meeting a friend one day, be- 
 gan to harangue him very learnedly 
 upon the detestable sin of avarice, and 
 gave the following instance of it. 
 " About three years ago," said he, " by 
 a very odd accident, I fell into a well, 
 and was absolutely within a very few 
 minutes of perishing, before I could 
 prevail upon an unconscious dog of a 
 laborer, who happened to be within 
 hearing of my cries, to help me out for 
 a shilling. The fellow was so rapacious 
 as to insist upon having twenty-five 
 cents, for above a quarter of an hour, 
 and I verily believe he would not have 
 abated me a single farthing, if he had 
 not seen me at the last gasp ; and I de- 
 termined to die rather than submit to 
 his extortion." 
 
 Stephen Whitney's Charities. 
 
 Notwithstanding he stood in the 
 front rank of New York merchants 
 in point of immense wealth, Mr. Whit- 
 ney's charities were extremely stinted. 
 When the congregation oi which he 
 was a member were building a mission 
 house, he was ajDplied to to head the 
 subscription, which he did with a tri- 
 fiing sum. The gift was refused, and a 
 larger one was demanded, as in better 
 keeping with his position. " Sir," was 
 his reply, " if you go on in this way, 
 there Will not be a rich man left in the 
 city of New York." It is also said 
 that on a certain occasion he was called 
 on to aid a political movement with 
 his subscription. " Sir," was his reply, 
 "I have no money to spare; but I'll 
 come and sit up all night to fold bal- 
 lots for you." 
 
TRADE AND BUSINESS IMMORALITIES. 
 
 245 
 
 Skinflint PMlosophy. 
 
 When that respectable skinflint, 
 Elwes, who left such an enormous for- 
 tune in gold to be divided between 
 his two sons, was advised to give them 
 some education, his characteristic an- 
 swer was : *' Putting things into peo- 
 ple's heads is taking money out of 
 their pocket." 
 
 Raising: his Customer. 
 
 The perseverance of trade hunters in 
 some of our large cities will not lose 
 anything in comparison with the tena- 
 city of that griping little animal called 
 \he leech. One of this hunting or 
 drumming class in Boston, seeing the 
 name of a Western trader registered at 
 one of the hotels, who he knew would 
 be a desirable customer, and anxious to 
 secure him first, put himself upon the 
 said trader's trail in this wise : He sat 
 down in the ofiice of the hotel to watch 
 the key of the Western man's bedroom 
 till he should come in to claim it ; but 
 something kept the stranger out very 
 late, and the drummer fell asleep. 
 When he awoke, he found that his 
 customer had escaped him by coming 
 in and going to bed. He was pbliged 
 to give it up, therefore, for that night, 
 but early on the next morning, he 
 repaired to the door of the gentleman's 
 bedroom, and seeing, as he expected to, 
 his hoots outside, he, with a lead pencil, 
 marked them across again and again, 
 until they could not be mistaken, 
 and once more took up his position 
 in the office, where he could exam- 
 ine at a glance, the boots of all who 
 came down. Finally he discovered 
 the ones with the well-known marks 
 upon them, when, with much suavity, 
 he cordially addressed the wearer by 
 name, as if he had known him for 
 years, and, with some other appropri- 
 ate finesse^ which it would be quite im- 
 possible to describe, "raised his cus- 
 tomer." 
 
 Purloining Speculator in the French 
 Funds. 
 
 X was a speculator upon the 
 
 Bourse of Paris — sometimes successful 
 and sometimes the contrary. He had 
 wasted some years in this uncertain 
 way of livelihood, when a sudden shift- 
 ing of the funds made him utterly pen- 
 niless. He wandered in a melancholy 
 way about the Exchange for a week 
 after, wishing very vainly for a few 
 thousands, to make a new venture on ; 
 when one day he chanced to see a 
 wealthy banker of the town put into 
 his pocket a well- filled portemonnaie, 
 containing some fifty thousand francs. 
 He knew the old banker well — knew 
 his habits — knew his absent habit of 
 thought, and he seemed to him a good 
 subject for an amateur bit of roguery. 
 He therefore pushed after him in the 
 throng which belongs to the closing 
 hour of the Bourse, and, brushing with 
 feigned carelessness against him, man- 
 aged to transfer his bank bills to his 
 own pocket. 
 
 The banker did not miss his purse 
 until he was by his own office fire. It 
 was too late to attempt to find it again 
 in the hall of the Exchange. Indeed, 
 all his inquiries proved vain. On the 
 fourth day after his loss, he received a 
 pleasant letter, informing him that his 
 money was in good hands, and if afi"airs 
 at the Bourse turned well — as the wri- 
 ter hoped might be the case — he would 
 in time refund the money. 
 
 After a time, the banker, who had 
 nearly forgotten the money and the 
 note, received an enclosure of thirty 
 thousand francs, on account of the fifty 
 thousand missing four years before; 
 and the writer condescended at the 
 same time to inform him that his spec- 
 ulations were looking favorably, and, 
 if there was no heavy fall within a 
 month, he hoped to refund him the 
 balance with interest. 
 
 The banker was grateful for the en- 
 closure ; but, on attentive examination 
 of the handwriting, fancied he perceiv- 
 
246 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 ed some resemblance to letters ad- 
 dressed liim by a certain broker of liis 
 acquaintance. 
 
 An " expert " was called, wlio pro- 
 nounced unhesitatingly the ditferent 
 letters to be written by one and the 
 same person. Upon this, the eager 
 banker, just now in need of the addi- 
 tional twenty thousand, entered a pros- 
 ecution against the broker, insisting 
 upon immediate payment of the bal- 
 ance. 
 
 X very naturally defended him- 
 self against a charge of robbery, which 
 rested on so unsubstantial proof, and 
 defied evidence of his misdeeds ; with 
 what result is best known to the 
 parties. 
 
 In view of the uncertainty of the de- 
 cision, it is a question if the banker 
 would not have pursued the safer pol- 
 icy in receiving quietly the disgorge- 
 ment of a rogue who had proved so 
 prompt in his instalments. 
 
 Knavery of British, and Chinese 
 Traders Compared. 
 
 AccoRDrNG to a well-known mercan- 
 tile writer, " A grocer is a man who 
 buys and sells sugar, and plums, and 
 spices, for gain." 
 
 Happy, says a London WTiter, is the 
 English grocer, who can lay his hand 
 upon his commercial heart, and, mak- 
 ing answer to the text, can say — " I am 
 the man." For of the men who take 
 over unto their shop doors the name 
 of grocer, how many are there who buy 
 and sell sugar, and sugar only; who 
 turn the penny upon spices in their 
 purity ; vend nought but the true mace 
 — the undoctored clove ? 
 
 Great is the villany of the Chinese ; 
 but it is written in certain books of the 
 prying chemist, that the roguery of the 
 Englishman — bent, it may be, upon the 
 means of social respectability — doth 
 outblush the pale face of the Tartar 
 tricksters. 
 
 The Chinaman glazes his tea with 
 Prussian blue ; he paints his Congou, 
 
 and adds a perfume to his Twankay ; 
 but he — the pig-tailed heathen — does 
 not recognize in a Britisher a man and 
 a brother, and, in his limited sympa- 
 thies, fails to acknowledge, in any Brit- 
 ish maiden, of any fabulous age soever, 
 a woman and a sister. The China tea- 
 man is a benighted barbarian ; the 
 British grocer is an effulgent Christian. 
 The Chinaman's religion is the gust of 
 revenge ; the Briton's creed is the creed 
 of common love. (Oh !) 
 
 It is possible, if the effort be made, 
 to drop a tear over the ignorance of 
 the Chinaman who dusts his faded tea 
 leaves over with chromate of lead ; but 
 shall not one's eyes flash fire at the en- 
 lightened British tea dealer, who to the 
 withered leaf imparts the mortal glow 
 of plumbago ? Nevertheless, there are 
 grocers, in the commercial form of men, 
 who treat the stomachs of their cus- 
 tomers as customers treat their stoves 
 — namely, they bestow upon their in- 
 ternals the questionable polish of black 
 lead, innocently swallowed in cups of 
 liquid, worse and blacker than the La- 
 cedemonian black broth. How many 
 an innocent tea-loving spinster, proud 
 of the jetty loveliness of her fireplace, 
 would vent a spasm of horror did she 
 know that the polish of her own stove 
 and' the bloom of her own black tea, 
 fragrant and smoking at her lips, were 
 of one and the same black lead — of 
 lead that, in due sufficiency, is akin to 
 coffin lead ! And the English grocer, 
 intent upon deceit, outvies — say the 
 chemists — the teaman of the flowery 
 kingdom. There is not a toss-up be- 
 tween the two ; and if there be, though 
 China beats by a tail, England fails not 
 to win by a head. 
 
 Of coffee (a word still found in some 
 of the dictionaries) it is hardly neces- 
 sary to speak — the acres of chiccory, 
 wherein the pious grocer as well as his 
 customers may " walk forth to muse at 
 eventide," have a language and a les- 
 son of their own. It may be added, 
 however, that perhaps there is not a 
 
TRADE AND BUSINESS IMMORALITIES. 
 
 247 
 
 more touching, a more instructive, and 
 withal a more pathetic picture than 
 either man or woman complacently em- 
 ployed in drinking what the drinker, in 
 more than primitive innocence, believes 
 to be coffee — grc 
 ling per pound ! 
 
 "Cornering" among- Brokers. 
 
 The operation of " cornering," as the 
 term is, is played by brokers in the fol- 
 lowing manner : Four, five, six, or ten 
 (as the case may be) brokers enter into 
 an arrangement with each other to buy 
 and get control of the entire stock of 
 some company. They commence by 
 depressing the stock as much as possi- 
 ble. To do this, they must all appear 
 to be sellers, and cry down the price, 
 representing it to be worthless, and 
 themselves heartily sick of everything 
 pertaining to it. While they are pub- 
 licly selling lots of one hundred or two 
 hundred shares, their agents or tools 
 are buying all that they can get hold 
 of. As soon as they can buy all the 
 cash stock they find in this way, they 
 turn suddenly around and begin to buy 
 on time. Parties not in [the secret, of 
 course, are willing to sell on thirty, six- 
 ty, or ninety days — even though they 
 do not possess the stock — thinking 
 that before the expiration of that time 
 they will be able to buy it at a less 
 price than they sold it at. In this way, 
 thousands of shares are sold, to be de- 
 livered at a future day, to the very men 
 who own every share of the stock that 
 has ever been issued. When the time 
 arrives for delivery, the sellers discover 
 that there is no stock to be had but of 
 the men to whom they have sold it. 
 Of course they must pay whatever the 
 owners choose to demand. If the game 
 is well played, the cornerers will make 
 as much in selling as they did in buy- 
 ing in. Should every one of the party 
 prove true to his comrades, they will so 
 manage as to get rid of the whole stock 
 to outsiders at a high price. It will be 
 
 readily seen that this is a very danger- 
 ous game unless well played ; for should 
 any of the parties interested " let fly " 
 without letting the others know it, the 
 game is up, and although he may make 
 a fortune, it will be at the sacrifice of 
 all the others. 
 
 Stock "Washing-." 
 
 What is known as the game of 
 "washing" among stock brokers, is 
 when John makes a sale in public to 
 Joe, with a previous understanding 
 that Joe is not to take the stock. For 
 instance, John holds a large amount of 
 " Harlem," which he is anxious to get 
 rid of. If he throws it into the market 
 at once, he is pretty sure to knock the 
 price down. His safety depends upon 
 a stiff market ; and he goes to Joe and 
 makes an aiTangement with him to 
 take five hundred shares at full price 
 or one eighth above. They both go 
 into the board, and when Harlem is 
 called, John offers one hundred shares 
 at fifty-eight and one fourth, cash. No 
 one takes them, but several bid fifty- 
 seven, and fifty-seven and one fourth to 
 one half. John comes down one eighth, 
 and Joe " takes 'em ; " — " a hundred 
 more," " take 'em ; " — "a hundred 
 more," " take 'em ; " — "a hundred 
 more," " take 'em." John now " holds 
 up," and Joe offers to take one hun- 
 dred more. If some old stager sees 
 through the game, he "sticks" Joe 
 with a hundred, and the game is up ; 
 if not, why, John may be said to have 
 succeeded, and the market for Harlem 
 is firm. "Washing" will hardly go 
 down at the board ; the game is too 
 old, and there is too much danger in 
 playing it when there are none but old 
 brokers present ; but in the street it is 
 very common, and many a "green" 
 one is taken in by a " wash sale." The 
 truth is, a man who does not under- 
 stand the business had better go to 
 California than speculate in stocks. 
 
248, 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 Comraercial Croakers. 
 
 The commercial croaker is a charac- 
 ter with which every commercial city 
 and neighborhood is infested. Does a 
 friend embark in a mercantile specula- 
 tion of any sort, he is the first to in- 
 form him that he has midertaken im- 
 possibilities, and that the chances of 
 his failure are ten to one. Is a new 
 movement proposed in the city, the 
 croaker spreads his palms and rolls up 
 his eyes with horror at the audacity, or 
 turns up his nose with a sneer at your 
 plans. If you speak of the growth of 
 his native city, or its increased facility 
 for business, he informs you oracularly 
 that "all is not gold that glitters." 
 He knows of at least one hundred 
 houses which are for sale or rent, but 
 which cannot find any tenants upon 
 any terms. He informs you of some 
 nameless friend who has sold real es- 
 tate and stocks at an alarmingly low 
 rate, in order to raise money to j^rovide 
 himself with a new location ; and he 
 lachrymosely expresses the belief that 
 in less than five years the grass will be 
 growing in the main streets of the city. 
 If A fails for a couple of thousand dol- 
 lars, the croaker goes snivelling round 
 the streets, predicting that nine tenths 
 of the merchants in the city will be in 
 the same condition within the year. 
 Does the severity of the winter suspend 
 navigation, the croaker is sure that the 
 spring business is ruined for that year, 
 and that by midsummer half the 
 names in town will be gazetted for 
 bankruptcy. When political excite- 
 ment runs high, the croaker is at the 
 height of his enjoyment. Of course, he 
 predicts the reduction of property, the 
 want of money, and the prospect of an 
 overwhelming commercial crisis. 
 
 Slavers Raising: a Capital. 
 
 Once on a time, two young fellows, 
 brothers, went to Jamaica, with the 
 intention of commencing a mercantile 
 
 business. They were by trade black- 
 smiths. Finding, soon after their ar- 
 rival, that they could do nothing with- 
 out a little money to begin with, but 
 that with a few hundred dollars they 
 might be able to realize a fortune, they 
 hit upon the following novel and inge- 
 nious trick : One of them stripped the 
 other naked, shaved him close, and 
 blackened him from head to foot. This 
 ceremony being performed, he took 
 him to one of the negro dealers, who 
 was so pleased with the appearance of 
 the young fellow, that he advanced 
 four hundred dollars currency upon the 
 bill of sale to the " slavers ; " and prided 
 himself much on the purchase, suppos- 
 ing him the finest negro upon the isl- 
 and. The same evening, this manufac- 
 tured negro made his escape to . his 
 brother, washed himself clean, and re- 
 sumed his former appearance. Rewards 
 were then in vain ofiiered in handbills, 
 pursuit was eluded, and discovery, by 
 care and precaution, rendered imprac- 
 ticable. The brothers, with the money 
 thus obtained, commenced commercial 
 business, and finally left the island with 
 a large fortune. Previous, however, to 
 their departure from the island, they 
 waited upon the trader from whom 
 they had received the money, and, re- 
 calling the circumstance of the negro to 
 his recollection, paid him the principal 
 and interest with thanks. 
 
 Ttirtles and Gold Snnff-Boxes. 
 
 So strict is meant to be the search- 
 ing at Russian custom houses, in order 
 to prevent smuggling, that the ship 
 captain, who is bound to give an in- 
 ventory of every article on board, may 
 fall into unheard-of trouble if he forget 
 so much as his own private Canary 
 bird. 
 
 There was an English captain once 
 at Cronstadt who by accident forgot to 
 enter a fine turtle upon his list. He 
 told the leading custom-liouse official, 
 plainly and honestly, of his unfortunate 
 
TRADE AND BUSINESS IMMORALITIES. 
 
 249 
 
 omission, and the functionary, who was 
 a good-natured man, saw no plain way- 
 out of the difficulty. 
 
 He recommended that the matter 
 should be glossed over by assuming 
 that the turtle was intended for the 
 emperor. The captain did, therefore, 
 formally declare that, if he had not en- 
 tered the turtle, it was because it had 
 been brought expressly as an English- 
 man's gift to the czar, and to the czar 
 the turtle was despatched accordingly. 
 Soon after there arrived a Government 
 messenger, inquiring for this most cour- 
 teous of captains, who brought the gra- 
 cious thanks of the czar Nicholas, to- 
 gether with the gift of a gold snuff- 
 box, embellished with the autocratic 
 cipher set in diamonds. 
 
 Instead of fine and persecution, there 
 were royal gifts and honors for this 
 lucky sailor. But when, afterward, 
 some other trading captains, acting, as 
 they imagined, cunningly upon the 
 hint, brought turtle to exchange for 
 gold snuff-boxes, his astute majesty 
 quietly made the turtles into soup, but 
 declined, by any act of exchange, to 
 add snuff boxes to the articles of Rus- 
 sian trade shipped at the port of Cron- 
 stadt. 
 
 Tobacco in Lioaves. 
 
 Syreen, a custom-house officer at 
 Liverpool, apprehended a woman who 
 had come as passenger on board an 
 American vessel to that port, on suspi- 
 cion of having some smuggled tobacco 
 in her possession. Upon examining her 
 dress, seventeen pounds of tobacco were 
 found concealed under it ; but the most 
 remarkable of the expedients which had 
 been resorted to for the purpose of de- 
 ceiving the lynx-eyed deputies of the 
 customs, was that of giving to the con- 
 traband leaf the resemblance of a loaf. 
 A quantity of cut tobacco had been 
 pressed into a tin, over which a thin 
 layer of dough was spread, and this, 
 being baked, had the appearance to the 
 
 eye of a veritable and edible loaf. The 
 quantity of tobacco which the woman 
 had contrived to secrete in this and 
 other modes, amounted to no less than 
 seventy pounds. 
 
 Custom-House Swearing-. 
 
 Some time ago, says a lively writer, 
 I had charge of a department in one of 
 the Eastern custom houses. Holmes 
 was an officer in the same room with 
 me. On the monthly pay day it was 
 necessary for him to make oath to two 
 pay rolls — one, the account of the offi- 
 cer himself, and the other of the sum 
 due to his assistant. One day. Holmes 
 signed his pay roll, received his money 
 after making oath to its correctness, 
 and walked out, without signing that 
 of his assistant. When the omission 
 was discovered, I went for him, and he 
 bustled in with a " What do you want 
 of me ? " " To sign the pay rolls." 
 " But I have already." " You signed 
 and swore to one, but not to the 
 other." " Well," said Holmes, " I knew 
 I swore to something — I didn't know 
 exactly what." Such swearing is said 
 to be quite custom-ary in the custom 
 house. 
 
 Cool Assurance of a Doomed 
 Financier. 
 
 The cool assurance of Sadleir, the 
 greatest of modern swindlers, when the 
 fearful guilt of his transactions had al- 
 ready become known in more than one 
 quarter, is hardly paralleled in any sim- 
 ilar case. This was particularly mani- 
 fested in a conversation that passed in 
 the office of one of the city newspaper 
 writers at the time referred to. Even 
 steeped as he was to his eyes in crime, 
 he preserved admirable calmness, and 
 betrayed not the least apprehension. 
 
 Scene : Lombard street, London, hour 
 about 1 p. M. 
 
 John Sadleir (pale, cadaverous, but 
 gentlemanly — introduced by a friend 
 and brother director of a bank) : " Oh, 
 
250 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 there has been some slight mistake re- 
 specting the announcement of the drafts 
 of the Tipperary Bank having been re- 
 fused over the way ; it is all set 
 straight ; the remittances have been 
 delayed passing through Hull, when 
 they should have come direct to Lon- 
 don. Just please mention it, so that 
 the fact may be known." 
 
 Party addressed : " You are sure it is 
 all right ; because it will be awkward 
 if there is any further difficulty." 
 
 Sadleir and his friend : " It is all 
 made straight; you can ask over the 
 way." 
 
 Party addressed : " You are sure 
 there will be no fresh hitch ? " 
 
 Sadleir (plainly, but with great em- 
 phasis) : " I am sure there will be no 
 further hitch.'*'' 
 
 The inquiry was made " over the 
 way ; " it w^as stated the drafts had 
 been provided for, and the explanation 
 as requested was afforded. But the 
 party entertained his suspicions, and 
 meeting the friend of Sadleir late in 
 the day, he asked him if there was not 
 something " doubtful " in the business. 
 The reply was, " No, there cannot be ; 
 the bank has just declared a dividend 
 and bonus, and the report is most fa- 
 vorable." Two or three days afterward 
 the explosion took place, with all its 
 tale of Sadleir's infamy. 
 
 Terrible Sequel to Parsimony: 
 M. Foscue's Case. 
 
 M. FoscuE, who had amassed enor- 
 mous wealth by the most sordid par- 
 simony and disreputable extortion, ap- 
 plied his ingenuity to discover some 
 eflFectual way of hiding his gold. With 
 great care and secrecy he dug a cave in 
 his cellar. To this receptacle for his 
 treasure, he descended by a trap door, 
 to which he attached a spring lock, so 
 that, on shutting, it would fasten of it- 
 self. By and by the miser disappeared ; 
 inquiries were made; the house was 
 searched ; woods were explored, and 
 the ponds dragged; but no Foscue 
 
 could they find. Some time passed on. 
 The house where he lived was sold, and 
 workmen were busily employed in its 
 repair. In the progress of their work 
 they met with the door of the secret 
 cave, with the key in the lock outside. 
 They threw back the door, and de- 
 scended with a light. The first object 
 upon which the lamp reflected was the 
 ghastly body of Foscue, and scattered 
 around him were heavy bags of gold, 
 and ponderous chests of untold treas- 
 ure ; a candlestick lay beside him on 
 the floor. The worshipper of Mammon 
 had gone into his cave, to pay his de- 
 voirs to his golden god, and became a 
 sacrifice to his devotion. 
 
 Attempt to Overthrow Bothschild's 
 Power in the Money Market. 
 
 Repeated eflbrts, but always with- 
 out success, and generally to the ruin 
 of the party making the same, have 
 been made to overthrow the power of 
 Rothschild in the money market. It 
 was clear that the only way in which 
 this could be done, if it was to be done 
 at all, would be by the party attempt- 
 ing it engaging in transactions of c*- 
 responding magnitude. 
 
 By far the boldest of these attempts 
 was that once made by a young gentle- 
 man, a Mr. James H . He made a 
 
 number of most extensive purchases, 
 and sold out again to a very large 
 amount, all in a very short period of 
 time ; and so far from imitating the 
 character of the rival whose empire he 
 sought to subvert, in the secrecy of his 
 transactions, he deemed it essential to 
 the success of his schemes that his oper- 
 ations should be performed as speedily 
 as possible. 
 
 Mr. H. was the son of a wealthy 
 banker in the country, and held, at the 
 time of his introduction, money stock 
 in his own name, though it actually 
 was his father's, to the extent of £50,- 
 000. The reputation of being so rich 
 invested him at once with great impor- 
 tance as a banker. The £50,000, after' 
 
TRADE AND BUSINESS IMMORALITIES. 
 
 251 
 
 Mr. H. had been some time a member 
 of the house, was privately retransferred 
 to his father, the real owner of it. For 
 some time, and until he became per- 
 fectly master of the rules and usages 
 of the house, he acted with great pru- 
 dence and caution, confining his transac- 
 tions to small amounts ; but he even- 
 tually began to astonish " the natives " 
 — for so the members of the stock ex- 
 change are often called — by the bold- 
 ness of his manoeuvres. In a very short 
 time he became the dread of all parties 
 — the bulls and bears were anxious to 
 follow him ; but, like Rothschild, he 
 evinced a disposition to act independ- 
 ently of every person and every party." 
 
 About this time consols were as high 
 as 96 or 97. In a few months after- 
 ward symptoms of a coming panic be- 
 gan to manifest .themselves ; and a 
 well-known vrriter on money matters, 
 having at the time, for reasons best 
 known to himself, begun to deal out 
 his fulminations against the Bank of 
 England, in an influential paper, the 
 unhealthy state of the money market 
 was greatly aggravated, though high 
 prices were still maintained. Mr. H. 
 watched the state of things with great 
 penetration ; and being satisfied in his 
 own mind that a leader was only want- 
 ing to commence and carry on a suc- 
 cessful war against Rothschild, he de- 
 termined himself to become that lead- 
 er — and it must be admitted that he 
 acquitted himself as an able general. 
 Going into the house one afternoon, he 
 accosted one of the most respectable 
 jobbers thus : 
 
 " What are consols ? " 
 
 " 96 and 98," was the answer. 
 
 " In £100,000 ? " continued he. 
 
 " Yes," said the jobber. " You have 
 them ; £100,000 more ? " 
 
 " I'll take £100,000 more." 
 
 " They are yours." 
 
 " Another £100,000 ? " 
 
 " No, I don't want any more." 
 
 On this transaction being finished, 
 the adventurous young gentleman im- 
 
 mediately turned round and announced 
 aloud that " £200,000 had been done at 
 96, and more offered." Then walking 
 backward and forward, " like a tiger 
 in a den," he followed up the bold tac- 
 tics he had commenced by offering any 
 part of £1,000,000 at 94. For a great 
 part of this amount he at once found 
 purchasers. But he was not yet con- 
 tent with the extent of his transactions, 
 great as they were ; nor w^ould he wait 
 for buyers at 94. He offered them, viz., 
 consols, at 93, at 92, and eventually as 
 low as 90, at which price they left oft' 
 that day. Next day he renewed his 
 exertions to depress the market, and he 
 succeeded to the utmost of his wishes ; 
 for consols did not stop in their de- 
 scent till they reached 74. As was to 
 be expected, contemporaneous with this 
 sudden and extraordinary fall in the 
 price of consols, there was a run on the 
 Bank of England, which almost ex- 
 hausted it of its specie. He then pur- 
 chased to so large an extent that, when 
 a reaction took place, he found that his 
 gains exceeded £100,000. 
 
 The rivalry of Mr. H. was, however, 
 of short duration, ending in this wise : 
 In about two years after the above ex- 
 tensive " operations," he attempted an- 
 other, on a scale of corresponding mag- 
 nitude. But in this case, Rothschild, 
 anticipating the tactics H. would adopt, 
 laid a trap for him, into which he fell, 
 and became a ruined man. He was 
 declared a defaulter, and his name stuck 
 upon the blackboard. It was only now 
 that the discovery was made that the 
 £50,000 money stock, supposed to be 
 his own, was in reality his father's, and 
 that it had been retransferred in his 
 name. A deputation from the commit- 
 tee waited upon Mr. H. immediately 
 after his failure, at his own house, in the 
 neighborhood of Regent's Park, when 
 one of the most rapacious of the num- 
 ber suggested a sale of his furniture and 
 a mortgage of the annuity settled on 
 his wife. He received the suggestion 
 with the utmost indignation, and ring' 
 
 t 
 
252 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 ing the bell for his servant, desired him 
 to show the deputation down stairs, 
 
 adding that he would be (it need 
 
 not be said what) before he would pay 
 a sixpence after the treatment he had 
 met with from them. " As for ijrou, you 
 vagabond, ' My son Jack ' (one of the 
 brokers who went by that name), who 
 have had the audacity to make such a 
 proposal to me — as for you, sir, if you 
 don't make haste out of the room, I'll 
 pitch you out of the window ! " It is 
 scarcely necessary to say, that " My son 
 Jack " was the first who reached the 
 bottom of the stairs. 
 
 Sharing: in Hothschild's Fortune. 
 
 During the stormy days of 1848, two 
 stalwart mobocrats entered the bank 
 of the late Baron Anselm Rothschild, 
 at Frankfort. " You have millions on 
 millions," said they to him, " and we 
 have nothing; you must divide with 
 us." " Very well ; what do you sup- 
 pose the firm of Rothschild is worth ? " 
 " About forty millions of florins." 
 " Forty millions, you think, eh ? Now, 
 then, there are forty millions of peo- 
 ple in Germany ; that will be a florin 
 apiece. Here's yours." 
 
 Extravag-ant Business Rhetoric. 
 
 Defoe, who wrote of the morals of 
 mercantile trade in England, in former 
 times, mentions among other manoeu- 
 vres of retailers, the false light which 
 they introduced into their shops for 
 the purpose of giving a delusive ap- 
 pearance to their goods. He comments 
 upon the " shop rhetoric," the " flux 
 of falsehoods," which tradesmen habit- 
 ually uttered to their customers; and 
 quotes their defence as being that they 
 could not live without lying. Add to 
 which, he says, that there was scarce a 
 shopkeeper who had not a bag of spu- 
 rious or debased coins, from which he 
 gave change whenever he could. 
 
 The giving and taking presents, as a 
 
 means of obtaining custom, has become 
 a great practice. An extensive dealer 
 once remarked : " Every one of the buy- 
 ers with whom I deal, expects an occa- 
 sional bonus in some form or other. 
 From time to time I have to make a 
 handsome present — perhaps a dozen of 
 choice port, or else to give a round sum 
 as discount. Some require the bribe 
 to be wrapped up, and some take it 
 without disguise." 
 
 Getting wide glimpses through small 
 holes, any one may easily get an idea 
 of how trade is carried on, even by the 
 sights and sounds of the street. Hear- 
 ing the fruiterer cry all his fruit and 
 vegetables as " fine," and the itinerant 
 fish-vendor invariably describe his sup- 
 plies as " fresh " and " alive," one might 
 infer the generality of misrepresenta- 
 tion ; and he would find this inference 
 strengthened when, on turning to the 
 advertising columns of the daily news- 
 papers, he found all the ships and 
 packets characterized as " splendid," 
 " first class," " very fast sailing," " beau- 
 tiful," " celebrated," " magnificent ; " — 
 when he read of the horses that they 
 were all either " finest grown," or " first 
 rate," or " invaluable," or " the hand- 
 somest in town," or " one of the grand- 
 est steppers," and in every case " sold 
 for no fault ; " — or when he saw that 
 all the properties for sale were " ex- 
 ceedingly valuable," " extremely well 
 fitted up," " most eligible," " delight- 
 ful site," " admirably adapted," etc. ; 
 — or when he discovered that all the 
 lodgings were " unsurpassed for com- 
 fort," all the medicines " infallible," all 
 the references " unexceptionable." 
 
 Casting the eye over shop signs and 
 door plates, and meeting* with such 
 titles as " mechanical operative dentist " 
 — implying that other dentists are not 
 mechanical and operative ; or " practi- 
 cal bootmaker," tacitly referring, as it 
 seems, to some class of mere theoreti- 
 cal bootmakers— one gets further im- 
 pressions that the screw which is loose 
 is a verj large one. Add to these the 
 
 # 
 
TRADE AND BUSINESS IMMORALITIES. 
 
 253 
 
 words " patent and registered," applied 
 to commonplace objects, implying im- 
 provements where there are none ; to- 
 gether with the glaring announcements 
 of " great reduction," " selling off," 
 " bankrupt stock," " tremendous sacri- 
 fices," " twenty per cent, below other 
 houses" — and there can be no doubt 
 that " bait " is used as plentifully on 
 the land as in the sea. 
 
 Customs of the Store in Churcli. 
 
 In a certain town, not more than fifty 
 miles from Boston, as the clergyman 
 was holding forth one Sabbath in his 
 usual drowsy manner, one of the dea- 
 cons, probably influenced by the nar- 
 cotic qualities of the discourse, fell into 
 a doze. In connection with the train 
 of thought characterizing his sermon, 
 the preacher happened to use the 
 words, " What is the price of all earth- 
 ly pleasures ? " The money-getting dea- 
 con (he kept a small store, and had a 
 lively eye to the main chance), half 
 consciously, thinking the inquiry was 
 respecting some kind of merchandise, 
 immediately answered, " Seven and 
 sixpence a dozen." 
 
 Hoarding and Amassing- — Noted 
 Instances. 
 
 There died at Paris, in the year 
 1799, literally of want, the noted bank- 
 er Osterwald. He deprived himself of 
 almost every personal comfort and con- 
 venience, alike in sickness and in 
 health, for fear of encroaching on his 
 hoarded treasures. He died worth 
 £125,000. 
 
 Another desperate case of this kind 
 was that of the millionnaire Elwes, 
 whose diet and dress were of the most 
 revolting kind, and his penuriousness 
 almost passing belief. His property 
 was estimated at £800,000. 
 
 Daniel Dancers's miserly propensities 
 were indulged to such a degree, that, 
 among his eccentricities, was that of 
 j)erforming his ablutions at a neighbor- 
 
 ing pond, and drying himself in the 
 sun, in order to save himself the ex- 
 travagant indulgence of a towel ; yet 
 the yearly income of this poor mendi- 
 cant was reckoned by thousands of 
 dollars. 
 
 The well-known Nat Beatty, alias 
 " Dirty Dick," of London, was the vic- 
 tim not only of a craving for gold, but 
 even for old iron. 
 
 Another deplorable case was that of 
 Tom Pitt, of Warwickshire. It is re- 
 lated that some weeks prior to the sick- 
 ness which terminated his remarkable 
 career, he went to several undertakers 
 in quest of a cheap coffin. He left be- 
 hind him a rich hoard in public funds. 
 
 Thomas Cook afforded a precious 
 example of this kind. On his physi- 
 cian intimating to him the possibility 
 of his not existing more than five or six 
 days, he protested against the useless 
 expense of sending him medicine, and 
 charged the doctor never to show his 
 face to him again. His property was 
 rated at £130,000. 
 
 Jewish Money-Makers in the Holy 
 City. 
 
 Some of the Jews residing in the 
 Holy City, though they are ready 
 enough to accept alms from their Eu- 
 ropean brethren, amass money, and are 
 no more above a little sharp practice 
 than are their kindred in Holywell 
 street. " Dog ought not to eat dog," 
 is a proverb, but here is a veritable 
 anecdote, told by a close observer of 
 the Israelites in Jerusalem, which 
 shows some of their traits. 
 
 Sir Moses Montetiore brought with 
 him in wooden barrels a large quantity 
 of dollars in specie, and resolved, with 
 his usual kindness of disposition, to 
 give with his own hand a dollar to 
 every poor person. It took many hours 
 before his task was done and the mis- 
 erable exhibition of poverty concluded. 
 It so happened that the noble distribu- 
 tor, forgetful of himself, gave away the 
 sum which he required to pay his trav- 
 
254 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 elling expenses home. He was obliged 
 to borrow money. A man was soon 
 found, who expressed his readiness to 
 oblige him— for a consideration — and 
 supplied him with the necessary sum, 
 the amount of which was considerable, 
 in specie. And yet this man, the pre- 
 vious day, seemed to be the neediest of 
 the needy, and had received a silver dol- 
 lar from the hand of the lenef actor of 
 Palestine ! Sharp practice that. 
 
 Even among the leading Jews of 
 Jerusalem, the ruling passion seems to 
 be to pervert everything — even charity 
 — to their pecuniary gain. Thus, an 
 institution for advancing money as 
 loans was founded by Mr. Cohen, and 
 endowed by the Rothschild family with 
 one hundred thousand piasters. M. 
 Alteras, one of the Sepharedim, and an 
 Austrian subject, being intrusted with 
 the management of it, lent forty thou- 
 sand piasters to the presidents of the 
 Sepharedim. All of them regarded the 
 money, not as a means of benefiting 
 others by advancing loans without in- 
 terest, but as a means of benefiting 
 themselves by lending it out on usury. 
 One half of the money thus advanced 
 with the best intentions was lost, not- 
 withstanding the efibrts made to recov- 
 er it. 
 
 Presents to Bank Ofiacers— Curious 
 Cases. 
 
 In his admirable exposition of bank- 
 ing in New York, Mr. Gibbons gives a 
 few racy incidents in regard to the ar- 
 tifice of present making to bank ofBcers, 
 and what comes of such " favors : " 
 
 A cashier asked a director of the 
 same bank if he could advise him 
 where to purchase a certain description 
 of tea. The latter engaged to find the 
 article. On the same evening, a " quar- 
 ter chest '' was left at the cashier's house 
 without a bill, and the matter was not 
 again alluded to. The director was sub- 
 sequently indebted to the oflicer for 
 some " favors," which, however, did 
 not keep him solvent. A dealer in 
 
 fancy goods asked the same cashier for 
 his address, without specifying any 
 object. On going home, the latter 
 found his parlor mantel furnished with 
 some elegant ornaments. 
 
 A bank president inquired of a deal- 
 er in foreign porcelain, where he could 
 best get an English dinner set at a cost 
 of not over one hundred dollars. The 
 latter answered that his acquaintance 
 with the wholesale importers would 
 enable him to purchase at a consider- 
 able discount, and he did so. The 
 president never asked for a bill, but he 
 discounted his friend's paper liberally 
 " between the Boards." 
 
 Said a bank officer carelessly, to a 
 jeweller, after serving him with a loan : 
 "By the way — where is that gold- 
 headed cane you promised me ? " The 
 jeweller smiled, but said nothing. In a 
 week, the cane was sent ; and when the 
 donor called at the bank, subsequently, 
 he was greeted with an expression of 
 great surprise : " Why, Mr. D., you 
 didn't suppose I was in earnest the 
 other day, did you ? " 
 
 Another officer called at the store of 
 a drygoods merchant, after assisting 
 the latter to a liberal discount of paper. 
 While walking along the aisle, he was 
 attracted by some ladies' kid gloves of 
 superior quality. " Ah,' said he, " you 
 keep these articles, do you ? They are 
 really very soft and beautiful ! " " Yes, 
 sir," ansv/ered the proprietor, at the 
 same time wrapping up a dozen in 
 some fine tissue paper—" put those in 
 your pocket. Yes, yes, do I " overcom- 
 ing the apparent reluctance of his vis- 
 itor, by unaffected earnestness. The 
 same scene was acted over again on the 
 next occasion, when the merchant had 
 paper discounted. A third rehearsal 
 taught him to add a dozen of the finest 
 kid gloves to the legal rate of seven j^er 
 cent, whenever he obtained accommo- 
 dation at that bank. 
 
 A dealer, who was impatient to rec- 
 tify his accounts, urged a bookkeeper 
 to balance his bank book • after wait- 
 
TRADE AND BUSINESS IMMORALITIES. 
 
 255 
 
 ing several days, tlie request was re- 
 peated, and the clerk promised that it 
 should be done : " But," he added, 
 "you haven't sent me that umbrella 
 yet ! " It was added to his wardrobe. 
 
 A clerk took lodgings at a hotel dur- 
 ing the absence of his family in the 
 country, which led to the landlord open- 
 ing an account with the bank. In the 
 " progress of human events," baskets 
 of brown stout were left at the resi- 
 dence of one of the officers, and dining 
 privileges were enjoyed without cost. 
 The result in this case was a loan of 
 twenty thousand dollars on inferior se- 
 curities ; and although it was finally 
 paid, the process involved transactions 
 of questionable propriety. 
 
 Mr. George Curtis, the first cashier of 
 the New York Bank of Commerce, and 
 late president of the Continental Bank, 
 was occasionally the unwilling recip- 
 ient of " a present." His well-known 
 high sense of honor and propriety 
 would have protected him against all 
 suspicion of improper influence in the 
 administration of his trust ; but so sen- 
 sitive and scrupulous was he on the 
 subject, that he uniformly placed the 
 article, whatever it was, in the direc- 
 tors' room, and related its history at the 
 next meeting of the board of directors. 
 
 Pirst Forg-ed Note on a Bank— Execu- 
 tion for the Crime. 
 
 It is a memorable fact that the Bank 
 of England had circulated its paper 
 with freedom for sixty-four years, be- 
 fore any attempt at imitation was made. 
 The name of the criminal was Vaughan, 
 a Stafford linen-draper, and he was exe- 
 cuted for his crime. 
 
 It appears that the records of Vaugh- 
 an's life do not show want, beggary, 
 or starvation urging him, but a simple 
 desire to seem gTeater than he was. 
 By one of the artists employed, and 
 there were several engaged on different 
 parts of the notes, the discovery was 
 made. The criminal had filled up to 
 the number of twenty, and deposited 
 
 them in the hands of a young lady to 
 whom he was attached, as a proof of his 
 wealth. There is no calculating how 
 much longer bank notes might have 
 been free from imitation, had this man 
 not shown with what ease they might 
 be counterfeited. But from this period 
 forged notes became common. And 
 the fact is, that the faculty of imitation 
 is so great, that when the expectation 
 of profit is added, there is little hope 
 of restraining the destitute or bad man 
 from a career which adds the charm of 
 novelty to the chance of gain. 
 
 The publicity given to this strange 
 and easy fraud, the notoriety of the 
 proceedings, and the execution of the 
 forger, tended to excite that morbid 
 sympathy which, up to the present 
 day, is apt to be evinced for any ex- 
 traordinary criminal ; and it is there- 
 fore possible, that if Vaughan had not 
 been induced by circumstances to star- 
 tle London with his novel crime, the 
 idea of forging notes might have been 
 
 long delayed. 
 
 — ♦ — 
 
 Fauntleroy, the Executed Banker. 
 
 The sensation produced by the 
 criminality of Fauntieroy, the great 
 banker and forger, has never been 
 exceeded by that attending any simi- 
 lar case, in Europe or America. In 
 September, 1824, Plank, the Bow-street 
 officer, might be seen proceeding in 
 the direction of the banking house of 
 Marsh, Stracey & Co. A person 
 who accompanied him entered first, 
 and, requesting an interview with 
 Mr. Fauntieroy, was ushered into his 
 private counting house. Within a 
 minute he was followed by Plank. 
 The interior of a bank is nearly sacred ; 
 but the officer pushed boldly by the 
 clerk, who would have interrupted 
 him, merely saying he wished to speak 
 with Mr. Fauntieroy. On entering, he 
 closed the bar, announced his name, 
 and produced a warrant for the appre- 
 hension of Henry Fauntieroy on a 
 
256 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 charge of forgery. A deadly pallor 
 passed over the face of the latter ; he 
 was fearfully agitated, and hurriedly 
 exclaimed, " Good God ! cannot this 
 business be settled ? " Plank begged 
 him to make no noise, but to walk 
 out for a few minutes, and they could 
 talk about it. Mr. Fauntleroy then 
 signed a few blank checks for the bus- 
 iness of the house with a hand so un- 
 steady that it was difficult to recognize 
 his signature ; and said he should go 
 out for a few minutes. He was then 
 conducted to the private residence of 
 Mr. Conant, the magistrate ; and, after 
 an interview of the prisoner with one 
 of his clerks, Mr. Freshfield, accom- 
 panied by Plank, proceeded to the 
 banking house to search the papers. 
 
 The search was successful. Docu- 
 ments unparalleled in the history of 
 crime were discovered. In a private 
 room, a box, bearing no name, was 
 found. What must the sui-prise have 
 been, on finding in it a list, in the 
 prisoner's handwriting, of forgeries 
 which he had committed on the Bank 
 of England, amounting to one hundred 
 and twelve thousand pounds, with the 
 following extraordinary acknowledg- 
 ment : " In order to keep up the credit 
 of our house, I have forged powers of 
 attorney, and have, thereupon, sold out 
 all these sums, without the knowledge 
 of any of my partners. I have given 
 credit in the accounts for the interest 
 when it became due. Henry Fauntleroy." 
 These words followed : " The bank first 
 began to refuse our acceptances, and 
 thereby destroy the credit of our house. 
 The bank shall smart for it." At the 
 period of his apprehension he had a 
 power of attorney by which he would 
 have replaced the stock that produced 
 the discovery. 
 
 In a conference the forger had with U 
 partner, he expressed great anxiety to 
 obtain possession of a " blue book." 
 Mr. Graham searched, and brought 
 one with a blue sheet for a cover. 
 " No, no," he said, " this is not the 
 
 one I want. It is a bound book." 
 Mr. Graham informed him that it had 
 reached the hands of Mr. Freshfield. 
 " Then," said Fauntleroy, " I'm a dead 
 man. I could have set the bank at 
 defiance." This book was said to con- 
 tain an account of all his forgeries. 
 
 The crime of Mr. Fauntleroy excited 
 intense and universal interest. Hardly 
 anything else was talked about. The 
 newspapers teemed with anecdotes. 
 His past life was inquired into. His 
 portrait was in the windows. His be- 
 havior was analyzed. His person was 
 described. The very way in which he 
 held his hat was re^jresented. The 
 magistrate apologized for an intrusion ; 
 and, when the forger heaved a sigh, 
 the scribe was ready to draw the atten- 
 tion of the public to so memorable a 
 fact. The loss sustained by these 
 forgeries was three hundred and sixty 
 thousand pounds; and the interest 
 alone, which was regularly paid, must 
 have been nine or ten thousand pounds 
 a year. The care required by these 
 accounts, and the constant anxiety 
 weighing on the mind of Fauntleroy, 
 from the knowledge of his perilous 
 position, were, in themselves, a punish- 
 ment. His exertions at the banking 
 house were extraordinary. So energetic 
 was he, that his services were noticed 
 as being equal to those of three clerks. 
 The last time he received from the 
 bank the warrants due to the firm was 
 the day on which Thurtell and Hunt 
 were tried. During the payment, he 
 entered into conversation on the crime 
 with the clerk who paid him ; imagin- 
 ing but little — perhaps — that within a 
 year the same judge who had tried 
 them would try him ; that the very 
 list of warrants he was receiving would 
 be brought in evidence, and that the 
 clerk with whom he was so familiarly 
 conversing would be a witness against 
 him. Before the debtors' door at New- 
 gate, and amidst a vast concourse of 
 spectators, the unhappy man expiated 
 his crime. 
 
TRADE AND BUSINESS IMMORALITIES. 
 
 257 
 
 Restitution of Bank Notes. 
 
 On the 24th of November, 1844, Sun- 
 day, the " strong room " of the bank- 
 ing house of Messrs. Rogers, Towgood 
 & Co., London, was opened, and prop- 
 erty in bank notes, gold, and bills of 
 exchange, taken therefrom, to the 
 amount of nearly fifty thousand pounds. 
 The notes, of various denominations — 
 and of which there were thirty-six one- 
 thousand-pound notes — amounted to 
 about forty-four thousand pounds in 
 all, and the gold to twelve hundred 
 pounds ; the rest consisted of bills of 
 exchange. 
 
 On the day in question, one of the 
 partners was in the house an invalid, 
 and a clerk, whose duty it was to re- 
 main on the premises during the day, 
 was also in attendance ; yet the above 
 property w^as abstracted, and never 
 missed till the following morning, 
 when the safe was opened. 
 
 A reward of three thousand pounds 
 was immediately offered for the recovery 
 of the property, and so ran the offer : 
 " Her most gracious majesty's pardon 
 will be granted to any one of the guilty 
 parties who will give such evidence as 
 will procure the conviction of the other 
 offender or offenders;" and, although 
 this offer, with a description of the 
 notes stolen, which occupied three full 
 pages in octavo, was published in al- 
 most every newspaper and periodical 
 in the three kingdoms and on the con- 
 tinent, no clew could be obtained of the 
 robbers, yet, after a considerable lapse 
 of time, and when the circumstances 
 had been almost forgotten by every 
 one but the losers of the property, the 
 bank notes were returned in a parcel, 
 directed to the bankers in an unknown 
 hand, and without any comment. 
 
 Tough Experience of a Business 
 Drummer. 
 
 One cold January night, the hospi- 
 tably huge fireplace of the best room 
 
 of the best inn in was surrounded 
 
 17 
 
 by a jovial company, composed of com- 
 mercial travellers and their customers 
 of the town. The air of solid comfort 
 which pervaded the scene was height- 
 ened by its contrast with the cheerless 
 aspect of the weather without ; and the 
 complacent manner with which each 
 guest quaffed from his mug of flip, 
 and gave a bland reflection to his 
 neighbor's smile, told that the plea- 
 santness of the situation was not un- 
 appreciated. 
 
 All were overflowing with jest and 
 story, but the most amusing member 
 of the party was a gentlemanly look- 
 ing person, rather smaller than the 
 common size of men, and frank and 
 open in his address. He gave his name 
 as Morris, and (from remarks thrown 
 out, as if casually, by himself, and from 
 that fact alone, for of those present not 
 one had ever seen him previous to that 
 time) he was supposed to be the agent 
 of a new Liverpool house. There was 
 a rich, racy humor, and a power of imi- 
 tation and description, about the man, 
 allied to a knowledge of the light and 
 dark spots in human nature, which 
 lent to the stories that he told a fasci- 
 nation winning entire attention. Iden- 
 tifying himself for the moment with the 
 character whose deeds and words he 
 was narrating, he would seem at times 
 the artless Scotch lassie, the Yorkshire 
 lout, the rude sailor, the querulous bel- 
 dame, the blundering Irishman, chang- 
 ing from one to another with a chame- 
 leon-like facility. 
 
 But his clief-d^ce,uvre, in this kind of 
 narration, was a story of a finished free- 
 booter, who accomplished much in his 
 line of business, by first insinuating 
 himself into the confidence of his in- 
 tended victims in the guise of a gentle- 
 man. His personation of the easy im- 
 pudence of the gentleman of the road 
 was characteristic and excellent. When 
 he had concluded, however, his " free- 
 booter " was criticized by Mr. D. (an 
 agent for a large house in London, con- 
 nected with the coffee trade), whose 
 
258 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 jflip had made him flippant. He in- 
 sisted that Morris had made but "a 
 tame bird " of his hero, instead of 
 a "roystering, rough-handed, ribald 
 rogue," as in nature, and swore with 
 a laugh that he could enact the high- 
 wayman better himself. Morris re- 
 joined, in the same good-natured 
 way, that were it not so late, and the 
 calls of Somnus less inviting, he would 
 try a little competition of the kind 
 with him, and let the company then 
 present decide which was the better 
 of the two. However, he professed to 
 think that an opportunity might yet 
 occur, as they would, 'probably meet again 
 on the road at some time or another. The 
 company laughed heartily at the joke, 
 and, drinking sundry parting toasts, 
 each of which was denominated, as 
 given, the iiery last and best, retired 
 for the night. Mr. D. was fain to 
 maintain his equilibrium by accepting 
 the arm of Morris to his bedroom. 
 Before he bade the latter a good night, 
 he had, in drunken bravado, defied all 
 the highwaymen in Christendom, and 
 in confidence pointed out to his new 
 friend a secret pocket in his coat, con- 
 taining a brace of small pistols loaded, 
 and a considerable amount of money 
 in gold. 
 
 In the morning, several of the " drum- 
 mers" departed in their own vehi- 
 cles. Mr. D. was to take a seat in a 
 stage, but being invited by Morris to 
 take a seat in his chaise, concluded to 
 go with him, as their routes were alike. 
 During the ride of the first few miles, 
 D.'s good opinion of his companion 
 suffered no diminution, but it imme- 
 diately fell below par^ when, in a lone- 
 some part of the road, Morris presented 
 a pistol in juxtaposition with his head, 
 and. begged leave to borrow the funds 
 then in his possession. The altered 
 mien and determined look of the man, 
 as well as his own instinctive assurance 
 that he was in earnest, left no doubt in 
 the mind of the poor agent of the other's 
 character. He determined, however, not 
 
 to comply with the rascal's request, 
 without an effort to save his money for 
 loans more profitable. With the pre- 
 tence of producing the desired funds, 
 he seized one of his pistols from his 
 pocket, and snapped it at the head of 
 the robber. It flashed, but it did not 
 explode. The quondam Morris laughed, 
 and mockingly remarked, as the other 
 grasped at the remaining weapon, that 
 he was obliged to him, but he was suffi- 
 ciently helped, and that the contents 
 of his pocket would be equally accept- 
 able, and much more effective, than 
 those of his pistols, inasmuch as the 
 last were empty — which was not the 
 case with the pocket, that being 
 charged with gold. He explained 
 the failure of the weapons to dis- 
 charge, by saying that lest accident 
 should befall the esteemed friend 
 whom he had the pleasure of address- 
 ing, he had availed himself of the in- 
 formation given him on the evening 
 previous, and drawn the charges from 
 both of the pocket pistols. In effect- 
 ing this friendly measure, he had 
 noticed with great satisfaction, that 
 his friend had the wherewithal to 
 make him the loan, which he now 
 desired receiving without delay. As 
 his fingers, he said, were rather trem- 
 ulous, and the persuader^ into the muz- 
 zle of which his esteemed friend did 
 him the honor to blink, had a hair 
 trigger, he begged leave to suggest 
 the expediency of a speedy delivery 
 of all his funds. Mr. D. cursed the 
 other's impudence, and with a pardon- 
 able ill grace gave up his money. He 
 also handed his watch to the robber, 
 but it was returned to him, with a 
 pathetic request that he would keep it 
 in remembrance of the " tame bird." 
 The poor, plucked agent remembered 
 his boasting of the previous evening, 
 and ground his teeth with vexation. 
 
 After Mr. D. had alighted from the 
 chaise, he was asked by his eccentric ac- 
 quaintance whether or not he thought 
 it would be necessary to find referees 
 
TRADE AND BUSINESS IMMORALITIES. 
 
 259 
 
 to decide which was the better high- 
 wayman of the two ! Before he could 
 answer, the robber was driving at a 
 rapid rate toward the London road, 
 and he was left to pursue his journey 
 on foot. Poor D. never again sought 
 to rival a freebooter. 
 
 Government Contractors in Kussia. 
 
 It would seem that American con- 
 tractors for Government jobs are not 
 alone in the patriotic disinterestedness 
 of their mode of doing business ; but 
 that their equals in this respect may 
 be found even among the rough and 
 grizzly Russians. As for example : 
 
 A certain quantity of well-seasoned 
 oak being required, Government issues 
 tenders for the required amount. A 
 number of contractors submit their 
 terms to a board appointed for the 
 purpose of receiving them, who are 
 regulated in their choice of a con- 
 tractor, not by the amount of his ten- 
 der, but of his bribe. The fortunate 
 individual selected immediately sub- 
 contracts upon a somewhat similar 
 principle. Arranging to be supplied 
 with timber for half the amount of 
 his tender, the sub-contractor carries 
 on the game, and perhaps the eighth 
 link in this contracting chain is the 
 man who, for an absurdly low figure, 
 undertakes to produce the seasoned 
 wood. His agents in the central pro- 
 vinces, accordingly, float a quantity 
 of green pines and firs down the Dnie- 
 per and Bay to Nicholaeff, which are 
 duly handed up to the head contractor, 
 each man pocketing the difference be- 
 tween his contract and that of his 
 neighbor. When the wood is pro- 
 duced before the board appointed to 
 inspect it, another bribe seasons it, 
 and the Government, after paying the 
 price of well-seasoned oak, is surprised 
 that the one-hundred-and-twenty gun- 
 ship, of which it has been built, is unfit 
 for service in five years. 
 
 Muller, the Rich Merchant of Nurem- 
 berg—Fictitious Theft. 
 
 A PHiLosopnEii has said, " Take 
 away interest and vanity from the 
 heart of man, and humanity is per- 
 fect." A little story, apropos of this 
 vanity of our age, concerning an emi- 
 nent German merchant, will .not be 
 out of place in this volume. 
 
 Heinrich Heine, when very young, set 
 out one fine morning, from Hamburg, 
 and started for Germany. He arrived 
 one evening at Manheim, enters the fau- 
 bourg of the Golden Lion, and finds, in 
 the dining hall, a man with white hair 
 and a respectable appearance, digesting 
 his dinner by reading a newspaper. 
 From time to time he sighed heavily. 
 Heinrich Heine moved — he was very 
 young — and asked of the unknown the 
 cause of his grief. 
 
 " Ah, monsieur ! " he groaned, in 
 reply, and ordered a bottle of Johan- 
 nisberg. Our two Germans drank to- 
 gether ; Heinrich Heine renewed his 
 question, and the unknown, who was 
 continually sighing, suddenly yielding 
 to the desire of removing from his 
 heart an enormous weight, said to 
 him : 
 
 " Listen to me. My name is Muller ; 
 I am a very rich merchant of Nurem- 
 berg ; I have two hundred thousand 
 livres income, an adorable wife, and 
 charming children ; my health is ex- 
 cellent, and I am the — most unfortu- 
 nate of men ! " 
 
 " How is that ? " 
 
 " Ah ! (another sigh.) How to make 
 you so terrible an avowal I I have 
 committed a crime in my life. I have 
 stolen ! " 
 
 " Rich as you are, what hinders you 
 from restoring the sum you have 
 taken ? " 
 
 " There does not a pass a month that 
 I do not give, in charities, in pious 
 works, the double, the triple, the quad- 
 ruple of what I have purloined ; but 
 the claw of the vulture does not leave 
 me a moment of sweet repose." 
 
260 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 " And how has a man like you been 
 able to yield to the temptation of 
 theft?" 
 
 "A vertigo. I had the honor of 
 dining with the Duke of Nassau at 
 his chateau at Biebrich ; the prince, 
 who has a very particular considera- 
 tion for me, placed me on his right, 
 and we talked during the dinner of 
 one thing and another. " Monsieur 
 Muller," said the Duke to me, " how 
 is Madame Muller ? " " Your high- 
 ness is too good." " And the little 
 Mullers?" "Very well. But your 
 highness does me too much honor." 
 The Duke de Nassau places me on the 
 footing of a flattering familiarity. 
 
 " Suddenly I saw shining before my 
 eyes a little gilt spoon. What passed 
 in my brain I know not, but the mo- 
 ment when the Duke turned his head 
 I stretched my hand slyly along the 
 cloth, took the spoon and put it in 
 my pocket. This, sir, is what I did at 
 the house of the Duke de Nassau." 
 
 And Mr. Muller, who had just finish- 
 ed his third bottle, tumbled off to sleep, 
 and, in spite of so much remorse, snored 
 like a bass vioL 
 
 Some days after this conversation 
 Heinrich Heine made inquiries in re- 
 gard to this man. He was truly Mr. 
 Muller, a merchant of Nuremberg, pos- 
 sessed of two hundred thousand francs 
 income, he was surrounded by a large 
 family, but — he had never dined at the 
 house of the Duke de Nassau. He 
 had only invented the fable of the 
 spoon to persuade the people that he 
 was the friend of the Duke ; willing to 
 gratify his vanity by imputing to him- 
 self an act of theft. 
 
 Bank TeUer Filing- His Gold Coin. 
 
 A NEW business crime was discovered 
 in 1767. The notice of the clerks at 
 the bank of England had been attracted 
 by the habit of William Guest, a teller, 
 picking new from old guineas, without 
 assigning any reason. An indefinite 
 
 suspicion, increased by the knowledge 
 that an ingot of gold had been seen 
 in Guest's possession, was awakened ; 
 and although he stated that it came 
 from Holland, it was remarked to be 
 very unlike the regular bars of gold, 
 and that it had a considerable quantity 
 of copper on the back. Attention being 
 thus drawn to the movements of Guest, 
 he was observed to hand to one Rich- 
 ard Still some guineas which he took 
 from a private drawer, and placed with 
 others on the table. Still was instantly 
 followed, and on the examination of 
 his money, three of the guineas in his 
 possession were deficient in weight. 
 An inquiry was immediately instituted, 
 and forty of the guineas in the charge 
 of Guest looked fresher than the others 
 upon the edges, and weighed much less 
 than the legitimate amount. On search- 
 ing his home, four pounds eleven ounces 
 of gold filings were found, with instru- 
 ments calculated to produce artifi^cial 
 edges. Proofs soon multiplied, and the 
 prisoner was found guilty. The instru- 
 ment with which he had effected his 
 fraud, and of which one of the wit- 
 nesses asserted it was the greatest im- 
 provement he had ever seen, is said to 
 be yet in the Mint, a memento of the 
 prisoner's capacity and crime. 
 
 Ing-enious Plot against a Banker. 
 
 A London banker was severely 
 grieved by the contents of a letter 
 which, on a certain occasion, he re- 
 ceived from a correspondent at Ham- 
 burg, the postmark of which place it 
 bore. From the statement it contained, 
 it appeared that a person most minutely 
 described had defrauded the writer, 
 under extraordinary circumstances, of 
 three thousand poimds. The letter 
 continued to say information had been 
 obtained that the defrauder— the dress 
 and person of whom it described— was 
 occasionally to be seen on the Dutch 
 Walk of the Royal Exchange. The 
 object of the writer was to induce his 
 
TRADE AND BUSINESS IMMORALITIES. 
 
 261 
 
 correspondent to invite the party to 
 dinner, and, by any moral force which 
 could be used, compel him to return 
 the money ; adding that, if he should 
 be found amenable to reason, and 
 evince any signs of repentance, he 
 might be dismissed with a friendly 
 caution and five hundred pounds, as 
 he was a near relation of the wri- 
 ter. 
 
 As the gentleman whose name this 
 letter bore was a profitable corres- 
 pondent, the London banker kept a 
 keen watch on the Dutch Walk, and 
 w^as at last successful in meeting and 
 being introduced to the cheat. The 
 invitation to dine was accepted ; and 
 the host, having previously given no- 
 tice to his family to quit the table soon 
 after dinner, acquainted his visitor 
 with his knowledge of the fraud. 
 Alarm and horror were depicted in 
 the countenance of the young man, 
 who, with tones apparently tremulous 
 from emotion, begged his disgrace 
 might not be made public. To this 
 the banker consented, provided the 
 three thousand pounds were returned. 
 The visitor sighed deeply, but said that 
 to return all was impossible, as he had 
 unfortunately spent part of the amount. 
 The remainder, however, he proposed 
 to yield instantly, and the notes were 
 handed to the banker, who, after dilat- 
 ing upon the goodness of the man he 
 had robbed, concluded his moral lesson 
 by handing him a check for five hun- 
 dred pounds, as a proof of his bene- 
 ficence. The following morning, the 
 banker, on depositing the money he 
 had received, was told, to his great 
 surprise, that the notes were counter- 
 feit. His next inquiries were concern- 
 ing the check, but that had been 
 cashed shortly after the opening of the 
 bank. He immediately sent an express 
 to his Hamburg correspondent, who 
 replied that the letter was a forgery, 
 and that no fraud had been committed 
 on him. The whole affair had been 
 plotted by a gang, some of whom 
 
 were on the continent, and some in 
 England. 
 
 Exclianeing a Cheese for a Pinch of 
 Snuff. 
 
 John Tice, a New Jersey grocer, 
 came to Philadelphia a short time 
 since, to replenish his stock. Com- 
 pleting his purchases, which in due 
 time were deposited on the docks, to 
 be shipped per river steamer, Mr. Tice 
 thought proper to keep his eye upon 
 his goods until they could be taken 
 on board. Among them was a fine 
 Bucks county cheese, weighing about 
 sixty-five pounds, upon which, for 
 want of better accommodations, the 
 weary grocer seated himself as he 
 watched the remainder of his property 
 on the wharf. "While thus seated, 
 running over the events of the day, 
 calculating the profits that he would 
 realize on this purchase, and every 
 now and then solacing his nasal organ 
 from a "yaller" snuff'-box, two nice 
 young men approached, and entered 
 into conversation. 
 
 " You take snuff", sir," asked young 
 man No. 1. " Yes — couldn't do with- 
 out it — took it for over eight years." 
 " You use the maccoboy, I perceive " 
 (No. 2). " Yes. That suits me the best 
 for a steady snuff." " Let me recom- 
 mend you mine," said the sharper, 
 producing a silver-plated box, engraved 
 with an American eagle and two har- 
 poons ; "I imported it from France. 
 It is the identical snuff used by Mar- 
 shal Pelissier and the officers of the 
 French army." Mr. Tice said, " Cer- 
 tainly," and inserted his thumb and 
 finger in the stranger's box. The 
 moment he placed it to his nose, he 
 was seized with sneezing. At every 
 sneeze he lifted himself about a foot 
 from the cheese upon which he sat. 
 While he was doing this, sharper No. 
 2 was carrying out his share of the 
 programme. As Mr. Tice gave the 
 third sneeze, the rogue pushed the 
 cheese from under him, and in its stead 
 
262 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 placed a peck measure ; and as he was 
 sneezing for the eighth and last time, 
 the sharpers and cheese had disap- 
 peared. 
 
 The grocer continued rubbing his 
 nose for about five minutes more, won- 
 dering as to the style of nose possessed 
 by Marshal Pelissier and the officers 
 of the French army, who took such 
 remarkable snuflT. By this time, the 
 deck hands of the boat commenced 
 to load up Mr. Tice's goods. Mr. Tice 
 rose from his seat and said, " Take 
 this cheese, too." Deck hand said, 
 " What cheese ? " The grocer looked 
 around, and found that instead of the 
 cheese, he had been sitting upon a peck 
 measure. When he understood the 
 manner in which the exchange had 
 been effected, he was the most excited 
 man of the season. He oflfered fifty 
 dollars to any one who would give 
 him an opportunity to fight the thieves 
 with one hand tied behind his back. 
 
 ■Wanting to Pay the Cash. 
 
 In an interior town in old Connec- 
 ticut lives a shaky character, named 
 Ben Hayden. Ben has some good 
 points, but he will run his face when 
 and where he can, and never pay. In 
 the same town lives Mr. Jacob Bond, 
 who keeps the store at the comers. 
 Ben had a " score " there, but to get his 
 pay was more than Mr. Bond was equal 
 to, as yet. One day Ben made his ap- 
 pearance with a bag and wheelbarrow, 
 and said, " Mr. Bond, I want to buy 
 two bushels of corn, and I tcant to pay 
 cash far UP " Very well," replied Mr. 
 Bond, " all right ; " and so they both 
 ascended the loft, and when the neces- 
 sary operations were gone through 
 with, they respectively returned. But 
 by the time the trader had got down 
 and looked around him, old Ben had 
 got some distance from the door, and 
 was rapidly making for home. " Hal- 
 loo, halloo, Ben I " cried out the trader 
 lustily ; " you said you wanted to 
 
 pay cash for that com." Old Ben 
 deliberately sat down on one handle 
 of his barrow, and cocking his head 
 on one side, said, " That's all true, Mr. 
 Bond. I <Z(? want to pay you the cash 
 for the corn, but I can't ! " 
 
 A Rustic Bargaining- for a Hat. 
 
 A JOCKEY country merchant was 
 trafficking one day with a rustic moun- 
 taineer, purchasing hay rakes in ex- 
 change for goods. Of course, the mer- 
 chant's prices were what are called bar- 
 ter prices. Our rustic had need of a 
 new hat, and inquired the price of one 
 from a case just opened, from New 
 York. " Only five dollars," said the 
 merchant. " Isn't that rather dear ? " 
 said the customer. " I never sold one 
 for less," said the sharp merchant. 
 
 The clerk in the store inclined his 
 head to the ear of a bystander, who was 
 listening to the interesting confabula- 
 tion, and whispered : "He never sold 
 one at all." The case was bought at 
 auction in New York for one dollar a 
 piece. 
 
 Results of a Career of Overreaching-. 
 
 One who knew well the late Gideon 
 Lee, remarks of him that no man more 
 thoroughly despised trickery in trade 
 than did Mr. L. He used to say that 
 "no trade can be sound that is not 
 beneficial to both parties — to the buyer 
 as well as to the seller. A man may 
 obtain a temporary advantage by sell- 
 ing an article for more than it is worth ; 
 but the very efi'ect of such operactions 
 must recoil on him, in the shape of bad 
 debts and increased risks." A person 
 with whom he had some transactions 
 once boasted to him that he had, on 
 one occasion, obtained an advantage 
 over such a neighbor, and, upon anoth- 
 er occasion, over another neighbor; 
 "and to-day," said he, "I have ob- 
 tained one over you." 
 
 " Well," said Mr. Lee, " that may be ; 
 
TRADE AND BUSINESS IMMORALITIES. 
 
 263 
 
 but if you will promise never to enter 
 my office again, I will give you that 
 bundle of goatskins." The man made 
 the promise, and took them. 
 
 Fifteen years afterward, he walked 
 into Mr. Lee's office. At the instant, 
 on seeing him, Mr. L. exclaimed : 
 " You have violated your promise ; pay 
 me for the goatskins ! " " Oh ! " said 
 the man, "I am quite poor, and have 
 been very unfortunate since I saw you." 
 "Yes," responded Mr. Lee, "and you 
 always will be poor; that miserable 
 desire for overreaching others must ever 
 keep you so." 
 
 Keen Ruse by a Yankee Peddler. 
 
 Just before the Declaration of Inde- 
 pendence, a Yankee peddler started 
 down to New York, to sell a parcel of 
 bowls and dishes he had made of ma- 
 ple. Jonathan travelled over the city, 
 asking everybody to buy his wares, but 
 no one seemed disposed to buy wooden 
 dishes. It happened, however, that a 
 British fleet was then lying in the har- 
 bor of New York, and Jonathan struck 
 upon a plan of selling his dishes. So 
 he got a naval uniform, by hook or by 
 crook — for history doesn't tell where 
 he got it — and, strutting up town one 
 morning, in his assumed garb, asked a 
 merchant if he had any nice wooden 
 ware; that the commodore wanted a 
 lot for the fleet. The merchant replied 
 that he had none on hand ; but there 
 was some in town, and if he would send 
 in the afternoon he could supply him. 
 " Very good," said our naval officer — 
 and out he went, and cut for home. He 
 had scarcely dofifed his borrowed plu- 
 mage before down came the merchant, 
 who, observing that Jonathan had sold 
 none of his wares, now oft'ered to take 
 the whole, if he would deduct fifteen 
 per cent. ; but Jonathan said " he'd be 
 hanged if he didn't take 'em home be- 
 fore he'd take a cent less than his first 
 price." So the merchant paid him 
 down in gold his price for the wooden 
 
 ware, which laid on his shelves for 
 many a long day thereafter. If any- 
 thing additional is necessary to be 
 said in connection with this trade, it is 
 not — that Jonathan trotted home in 
 high glee at the success of his ruse, 
 while the merchant cursed British uni- 
 forms and officers ever after. 
 
 Trading in Imagrinary Candlesticks. 
 
 In 1808, Vincent Alessi, a native of 
 one of the Italian States, went to Bir- 
 mingham, England, to choose some 
 manufactures likely to return a suffi- 
 cient profit in Spain. Among others 
 he sought a brass founder, w^ho showed 
 him that which he required, and then 
 drew his attention to " another article," 
 which he said he could sell cheaper 
 than any other person in the trade. 
 Mr. Alessi declined purchasing this, as 
 it proved to be a forged bank note; 
 upon which he was shown some dollars, 
 as fitter for the Spanish market. These 
 were also declined. It would seem, 
 however, from what followed, that Mr. 
 Alessi was not quite unprepared, as, in 
 the evening, he was called on by one 
 John Nicholls, and, after some conver- 
 sation, he agreed to take a certain 
 quantity of notes, of different value, 
 which were to be paid for at the rate 
 of six shillings in the pound. 
 
 Alessi thought this a very profita.ble 
 business while it lasted, as he could 
 always procure as many as he liked, by 
 writing for so many dozen candle- 
 sticks, calling them Nos. 5, 2, or 1, ac- 
 corduig to the amount of the note re- 
 quired. The vigilance of the English 
 police, however, was too much even for 
 the subtlety of an Italian ; he was taken 
 by them, and allowed to turn king's 
 evidence, it being thought very desir- 
 able to discover the manufactory whence 
 the notes emanated. 
 
 In December, John Nicholls received 
 a letter from Alessi, stating that he was 
 going to America ; that he wanted to 
 see Nicholls in London : that he re- 
 
264 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 quired twenty dozen candlesticks, No. 
 5, twenty-four dozen No. 1, and four 
 dozen No. 2. Mr. Nicholls, unsuspi- 
 cious of Ms correspondent's captivity, 
 and consequent frailty, came forthwith 
 to town to fulfil so important an order. 
 Here an interview was planned within 
 hearing of the public officers. Nicholls 
 came with the forged notes. Alessi 
 counted up the whole sum he was to 
 pay, at six shillings in the pound, say- 
 ing : " Mr. Nicholls, you will take all 
 my money from me." " Never mind, 
 sir," was the reply, " it will be all re- 
 turned in the way of business." Alessi 
 then remarked that it was cold, and 
 put on his hat. This was the signal 
 for the officers. To the dealer's sur- 
 prise and indignation he found himself 
 entrapped, with the counterfeit notes 
 in his possession, to the precise amount 
 in number and value that had been or- 
 dered in the letter. Thus Mr. Nicholls 
 found his business suddenly brought to 
 a close, and the brisk trade in imagin- 
 ary candlesticks finished. 
 
 The Bank Detectives Foiled. 
 
 The desire of the London banks to 
 discover the makers of forged notes 
 produced, on a certain occasion, a con- 
 siderable amount of anxiety to one 
 whose name is indelibly associated 
 with the fine arts. George Morland — 
 a name rarely mentioned but with feel- 
 ings of admiration and regret — had, in 
 his eagerness to avoid incarceration for 
 debt, retired to an obscure hiding- 
 place, in the suburbs of London. At 
 one period he hid himself in Hackney, 
 where his anxious looks and secluded 
 manner of life induced some of his 
 charitable neighbors to believe him a 
 maker of forged notes. The bank di- 
 rectors despatched two of their most 
 dexterous emissaries to inquire, recon- 
 noitre, search, and seize. The men ar- 
 rived, and began to draw lines of cir- 
 cumvallation round the painter's re- 
 treat. He was not, however, to be sur- 
 
 prised ; mistaking those agents of evil 
 mien for bailifis, he escaped from be- 
 hind as they approached in front, fled 
 into Hoxton, and never halted till he 
 had hid himself in London. Nothing 
 was found to justify suspicion; and 
 when Mrs. Morland, w^ho was his com- 
 panion in this retreat, told them who 
 her husband was, and <Bhowed them 
 some unfinished pictures, they made 
 such a report to the bank that the di- 
 rectors presented him with a couple of 
 bank notes of twenty pounds each, by 
 way of compensation for the alarm 
 they had given him. 
 
 Sharp at a Trade— Sharper in Getting 
 out of it. 
 
 There once flourished in one of our 
 commercial cities a little French mer- 
 chant, who was very well known in 
 said locality, and who himself " knew 
 a thing or two." During the last war, 
 our little Frenchman was doing a very 
 thriving business in the drygoods line, 
 and was supposed to be a little sharper 
 at a bargain than most, at least, of his 
 fellow tradesmen. There also flourished 
 at the same time, and in the same city, 
 an importing merchant, of Yankee ori- 
 gin, who was noted as a long-headed, 
 close-fisted dealer. 
 
 It is w^ell known that during the war 
 English goods were sold at enormous 
 prices. The Yankee merchant was in 
 that line of trade ; and a few days be- 
 fore the arrival in this country of the 
 news of peace, he received private ad- 
 vices from the continent, which led him 
 to anticipate it. As he had a large 
 supply of English goods on hand at the 
 time, the prices of w^hich would of 
 course instantly fall, he set about dis- 
 posing of them as soon as possible to 
 his less informed and unsuspecting 
 customers. The little Frenchman was 
 one of his victims. After much hag- 
 gling, and the off'er of a long credit, the 
 importer efiected a bill of sale of goods 
 to him, to the amount of something 
 like twenty thousand dollars, taking 
 
TRADE AND BUSINESS IMMORALITIES. 
 
 265 
 
 his notes on long time in payment. 
 These he considered perfectly good, of 
 course, as his customer's reputation in 
 the money market was unsullied. The 
 bargain being consummated, the two 
 friends parted, each in a capital humor 
 with himself; the Yankee to deposit 
 • the notes in his strong box, and the 
 Frenchman to his store, where, receiving 
 his newly purchased goods, he imme- 
 diately commenced marking them one 
 hundred per cent, above cost, thus 
 making, before midnight, to use his 
 own boast, a profit of twenty thousand 
 dollars on his purchase ! 
 
 Three days afterward the oflScial 
 news of peace came ; English goods in- 
 stantly fell one half, and our little 
 Frenchman awoke in horror from his 
 dream of cent, per cent. Nine persons 
 out of every ten, under such circum- 
 stances, would have failed at once. 
 But nil desjperandum was the motto of 
 our Frenchman. He saw that he had 
 been lit by his commercial friend, and 
 he immediately set his wits at work to 
 turn the tables upon him. So, late in 
 the evening of the next day, he re- 
 paired to the dwelling of the importer, 
 and told a long and pitiful story of his 
 embarrassments. He said his con- 
 science already smote him for making 
 so heavy a purchase while in failing 
 circumstances, and that he had come 
 to make the only reparation in his pow- 
 er — namely, to yield up the goods ob- 
 tained of the importer, on the latter's 
 cancelling the notes given therefor. 
 The Yankee at first demurred ; but on 
 the Frenchman insisting that he was 
 a bankrupt, and that he feared the 
 moment he opened in the morning the 
 sheriflF would pounce upon him with a 
 writ that would swallow up everything, 
 he finally agreed to the proposition. 
 " Half a loaf was better than no bread," 
 he thought ; so the notes and the bill 
 of sale were accordingly cancelled. 
 
 By daylight in the morning, the 
 Yankee was at the Frenchman's store, 
 with his teams, as had been agreed 
 
 upon the night before, and every pack- 
 age of his goods was soon removed. 
 The two merchants again parted, the 
 Frenchman relieved of a heavy load, 
 and the Yankee rather down in the 
 mouth at the result of his trade. 
 
 Two or three days afterward, as the 
 importer was passing the Frenchman's 
 store, he observed his sign still up, and 
 everything apparently as flourishing as 
 ever. He stepped in to see what it all 
 meant. " Hallo ! Mr. S.," said he, " I 
 thought you had failed ! " " Failed ! " 
 repeated the little Frenchman, thrust- 
 ing his thumbs in the arm holes of his 
 vest, and sliding his legs apart from 
 counter to counter, till he resembled a 
 small Colossus of Rhodes: ^^ Failed? 
 No, be gar ! Firmer than ever, Mr. 
 H. ; but I should have failed, almosht, if 
 I hadn't got rid of dem tamn'd English 
 goods at cost ! '- 
 
 Coal Dealer's Prediction Fulfilled— 
 Perhaps. 
 
 An English coal dealer, who was 
 notorious for his continual and unpro- 
 voked swearing, had occasion to pro- 
 ceed with a boat to a neighboring port, 
 with a cargo of coals, and ordered one 
 of his men to take charge of it. As the 
 boat was leaving the wharf, an ac- 
 quaintance civilly accosted the man, 
 asking where he was going. "I am 
 going to hell," he characteristically re- 
 plied, with an oath. Strange to relate, 
 he died suddenly before reaching the 
 port of his destination. Perhaps his 
 profane prediction was fulfilled; he 
 knows best. 
 
 Deserved Reward of Blasphemy. 
 
 In the strait between Johor and Rhio 
 there is a small white rock, called the 
 " White Stone," only slightly elevated 
 above the water, and so exactly in the 
 centre of the passage that many ves- 
 sels, unacquainted with it, have there 
 been wrecked. 
 
 A Portuguese merchant passing this 
 
266 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 strait, in a vessel of his own, richly 
 laden with gold and other valuable 
 commodities, asked the pilot when this 
 rock would be passed : but each mo- 
 ment appearing to him long until he 
 was secure from the danger it involved, 
 he repeated his question so often that 
 the pilot impatiently told him "the 
 rock was passed." The merchant, trans- 
 ported with joy at this announcement, 
 rashly exclaimed, that " God himself 
 could not now make him poor." But 
 in a little while, the vessel did reach 
 and struck on the Wliite Stone, and all 
 his wealth was in a moment engulfed 
 in the deep sea. His life alone was 
 spared, which he spent in misery and 
 remorse. 
 
 Priend Hopper and the Due Bill. 
 
 Upon a certain occasion a man called 
 upon Isaac T. Hopper, the Quaker, with 
 a due bill for twenty dollars against an 
 estate he had been appointed to settle. 
 Friend Hopper put it aside, saying he 
 would attend to it as soon as he had 
 leisure. The man called again a short 
 time after, and stated that he had need 
 of six dollars, and was willing even to 
 give a receipt for the whole if that sum 
 were advanced just then. This propo- 
 sition excited suspicion, and the ad- 
 ministrator decided in his own mind 
 that he would pay nothing on that de- 
 mand till he had examined the papers 
 of the deceased. Searching carefully 
 among these, he found a receipt for the 
 money, mentioning the identical items, 
 date, and circumstances of the transac- 
 tion, and stating that a due bill had 
 been given and lost, and was to be re- 
 stored to the creditor when found. 
 When, therefore, the man called again, 
 Isaac said to him, in a quiet way : 
 
 "Friend Jones, I understand thou 
 hast become pious lately." 
 
 He replied in a solemn tone : " Yes, 
 thanks to the Lord Jesus, I have found 
 out the way of salvation." 
 
 " And thou hast been dipped, I hear," 
 
 continued the Quaker. "Dost thou 
 know James Hunter ? " 
 
 Mr. Jones answered in the affirmative. 
 
 " Well, he was also dipped some time 
 ago," rejoined friend Hopper, " but the 
 neighbors say they didn't get the 
 crown of his head under water. The 
 devil crept into the unbaptized part, 
 and has been busy with him ever since. 
 I'm afraid they didn't get thee quite 
 under water. I think thou hadst bet- 
 ter be dipped again." 
 
 As he thus spoke, he held up the 
 receipt for twenty dollars. The coun- 
 tenance of the pretended pious man be- 
 came scarlet, and he disappeared in- 
 stantly. 
 
 Bit of Yankee Financiering in "Wall 
 Street. 
 
 A LITTLE colloquy, after the follow- 
 ing fashion, is reported in the Knicker- 
 locker^ as having occurred in the count- 
 ing house of a mercantile firm : " A 
 man kind o' picks up a good many 
 idees abeout. I larnt a few in Wall 
 street." "In Wall street?" "Yes; 
 'see, I studied it eout while I was stage 
 drivin'. I got a little change together ; 
 didn't know where to place it ; couldn't 
 hire it eout hum, 'cause I was pleadin' 
 poverty all the time ; that, 'see, wouldn't 
 deu : so I goes deown and claps it in 
 the Dry Dock Bank ; got five per cent., 
 tew. Had a brother thair who was tell- 
 er. One day I 'gin a check for fifty dol- 
 lars : all right. At last the bank got in 
 trouble : I had some four or five thou- 
 sand dollars ; I goes to my brother and 
 draws eout my money — he pays me in 
 
 Bank of 
 
 notes. Well, I took 'em 
 
 hum, but they forgot to take eout my 
 check for fifty dollars. So I goes, and 
 sez I, ' I owe you fifty that you haint 
 charged me ; will you take your own 
 notes ? ' ' Sartin,' says they ; so I pays 
 'em in notes that I bought at twenty- 
 five off. ' That's a good spec,' says I ; 
 so I goes areound, and buys up about 
 tew hundred Dry Dock notes. When 
 I got to the city, I couldn't pass 'em 
 
TRADE AND BUSINESS IMMORALITIES. 
 
 267 
 
 off. I tried a good many banks — no 
 go. At last they creowded me off the 
 pavement in Wall street, the creowd 
 was so big, and I stood in the middle 
 of the street, and calculated. ' I've got 
 the idee,' sez I ; ' I'll come country 
 over 'em.' So I walked into the Bank 
 
 of , took off my hat, and looked 
 
 areound as if didn't know what I was 
 abeout. I know'd the cashier ; so he 
 comes up : ' Sam ! ' sez he, ' what neow ? 
 — how's the family ? ' ' All well,' sez 
 I, 'but what's the matter with your 
 banks ? I don't know who to depend 
 on. Here's your neighbor, the Dry 
 Dock's, gone, and maybe you^U go next ; 
 and I've got abeout five thousand dol- 
 lars of your money, and I guess I'll 
 come deown to draw the specie.' I 
 expect I must a-looked as if I was 
 frightened to death ; for he said to 
 once, ' Deon't do that, Sam ! ' sez he ; 
 ' you'll frighten the hull country, and 
 they'll come and run us.' ' Can't help 
 it,' sez I ; ' here's abeout tew hundred 
 dollars of the Dry Dock, and if I don't 
 get the money somewhere before I go 
 hum, I'll draw on you seoon.' ' Heow 
 much ? ' sez he : ' Abeout tew hundred.' 
 * "We'll take it, Sam,' sez he, ' and you 
 keep our paper.' ' Well,' sez I, ' on 
 that condition I'll keep still.' I guess 
 I made my twenty-five per cent, eout 
 of Wall street tliat time. ' if I am Dutch ' 
 — as the saying is ! " 
 
 Taking him at his Word. 
 
 " Will you give me a glass of ale, 
 jjlease ? " asked a rather seedy-ish look- 
 ing person, with an old but well-brush- 
 ed coat, and a'most too shiny a hat. It 
 was produced by the bartender, cream- 
 ing over the edge of the tumbler. 
 "Thanky'e," said the recipient as he 
 placed it to his lips. Having finished 
 it at a swallow, he smacked his lips, 
 and said : " That is very fine ale — 'cery.. 
 Whose i? it ? " " It is Harman's ale." 
 " Ah ! Harman's, eh ? well, give us an- 
 other glass of it." It was done, and 
 
 holding it up to the light and looking 
 through it, the connoisseur said : 
 " 'Pon my word, it is superb ale — 
 superb ! clear as madeira. I must have 
 some more of that. Give me a mug of 
 it." The mug was furnished, but, be- 
 fore putting it to his lips, the imbiber 
 said : " Whose ale did you say this 
 was ? " " Harmaifi' s^'' emphatically re- 
 peated the bartender. The mug was 
 exhausted, and also the vocabulary of 
 praise ; and it only remained for the 
 appreciative gentleman to say, as he 
 wiped his mouth and went toward the 
 door : " Harman's ale, is it ? I know 
 Harman very well — I shall see him 
 soon, and will settle with him for two 
 glasses and a mug of his incomparable 
 brew ! Good mawning ! " 
 
 Lodgrin? a Banker in the Gutter. 
 
 There is a class of retail dealers in 
 London who keep accounts with bank- 
 ers, but who seldom, or perhaps never, 
 have the privilege of the entree to a 
 banker's parlor or " sweating room." 
 (A banker's parlor is called a " sweat- 
 ing room," a significant term, as all who 
 have been under the necessity of ask- 
 ing for " accommodation " will readily 
 allow.) This privilege is almost exclu- 
 sively enjoyed by the merchants and 
 wholesale dealers ; and on this account 
 the retail tradesman scarcely knows the 
 person of the banker with whom he 
 lodges his money, or the banker that 
 of his customer. This ignorance gave 
 rise to a ludicrous scene between a 
 wealthy London banker and a baker, 
 one of his customers. 
 
 It happened on a certain day that 
 the baker had paid in to his account a 
 large sum of money, and on his retir- 
 ing from the bank he paused on the 
 step of the door, and began to reflect 
 which way he should steer his course. 
 While in this position of innocent un- 
 certainty, as ill luck would have it, the 
 banker came up ; and, as he could not 
 pass the dusty baker without touching 
 
268 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 Mm, and thus soiling his own clothes 
 — for the baker was in his working 
 gear — he very haughtily said : " Move 
 away, fellow.'' This language, applied 
 to a trader who had just paid five hun- 
 dred pounds in to his account, which 
 already had a large sum to his credit, 
 was, to say the least of it, very irritat- 
 ing, and such as the baker thought, no 
 doubt, he ought to resent, for he re- 
 plied : " I shan't move for you nor any 
 coxcomb like you ; and, what's more, 
 if you give me your lip again in that 
 manner, I'll put your nose in the ken- 
 nel." 
 
 The banker, not being, in his turn, 
 used to such a mode of address, still 
 authoritatively ordered the baker to 
 move and let him pass, or he would let 
 him know who he was. Words ran 
 very high. At last the pugnacious 
 baker, unable any longer to restrain his 
 passion, with one blow — for he was a 
 powerful man — knocked the danker into 
 the gutter. The banker's fall shook 
 Lombard street; but, unlike most 
 bankers, who, when they fall, fall like 
 Lucifer, never to rise again, he did rise, 
 and, rushing into his banking shop, 
 covered with mud, foaming with rage, 
 and followed by the still bristling 
 baker, eager for a clinch, he called 
 loudly for the parties to fetch a con- 
 stable to " take this fellow into cus- 
 tody." 
 
 The cashier, who but a few minutes 
 before had attended upon the baker, to 
 his utter amazement witnessed this ex- 
 traordinary scene. He immediately ran 
 to the banker, and whispered in his 
 
 ear : " That is Mr. , our customer." 
 
 These few words acted upon the excit- 
 able feelings of the banker in the same 
 manner as oil upon troubled water; 
 for, without uttering another word, he 
 retired to his room — which, on this 
 occasion, might with peculiar propriety 
 be called a " sweating room," and after 
 a while requested the cashier to calm 
 the belligerent baker, who, in a men- 
 acing attitude, was still chewing the 
 
 cud of his resentment outside the room. 
 This the cashier soon effected ; and the 
 customer was then, for the first time, 
 formally introduced to him, when apo- 
 logies were mutually interchanged, and 
 the banker and baker were from that 
 day well known to each other. 
 
 The Prince Regent's "Wine and the 
 Confidential Dealer. 
 
 An anecdote is related in TaWs Mag- 
 azine of the Prince Regent, which gives 
 some insight into the mysteries of the 
 wine trade. The incidents of the case 
 relate to how the Prince Regent had, 
 in a corner of his cellar, a small quan- 
 tity of remarkably fine wine, of a pecu- 
 liar quality and flavor ; how, this wine 
 remaining untouched for some time, 
 the household thought their master 
 had forgotten it, and to make up for 
 this inexcusable lapse of memory, took 
 upon themselves to drink it nearly 
 out ; how the prince, one day, expect- 
 ing some illustrious connoisseurs to 
 dinner, ordered this particular wine to 
 be served, and thus threw " the house- 
 hold " into a state of consternation, and 
 how one of them hastened thereupon 
 to take confidential counsel of a icine 
 merchant in the city, who quickly al- 
 layed his terrors. " Send me," said the 
 ingenious dealer, " a bottle of what re- 
 mains, and I will send you in return as 
 much wine of that description as you 
 want ; only you must take care that 
 what I send is drunk immediately." 
 This advice was followed, the success 
 was complete. The Prince Regent and 
 his distinguished guests (so the story 
 goes) were delighted with this rare old 
 wine, whose peculiar merits had been 
 so long overlooked. Three or four 
 times afterward, the prince, whose 
 taste in wine was exquisite, ordered 
 some from the same batch; and on 
 every occasion the confidential dealer 
 had recourse to his private vineyard in 
 his cellar, and " the mixture as before " 
 was forthcoming. This process was 
 continued until " the household," fear- 
 
TRADE AND BUSINESS IMMORALITIEa 
 
 269 
 
 ing a discovery, tliouglit it prudent 
 to inform their royal master that the 
 stock of this favorite beverage was ex- 
 hausted. 
 
 "Dummies," or Counterfeit Show 
 Windows. 
 
 It is stated that the demand for 
 " dummies " has wonderfully increased 
 in the large towns of England, as well 
 as on the Continent, since the recent 
 elevation and widening of shop win- 
 dows. Though the shopkeeper may 
 carry his magnificent crystal windows 
 up to the first or second floor, as many 
 of them do, it is out of his power to 
 conveniently lift the heads of his cus- 
 tomers to the same level ; he conse- 
 quently finds out, sooner or later, that 
 it is a losing game to exhibit his perish- 
 able stock at a height of half a dozen 
 feet or more above the heads of the 
 public, and he has recourse to the 
 maker of dummies, who can counter- 
 feit any description of solid-looking 
 goods, and save him from the dete- 
 rioration which would befall genuine 
 goods thus exposed to the glare and 
 dust, damp, smoke, &c. 
 
 The dummies, therefore, go aloft, 
 and economically fill in the ample 
 background, and, for purposes of show, 
 their attractive appearance enables 
 them to be used about as advantage- 
 ously as the real article. They are not, 
 however, confined to the window sole- 
 ly; a young tradesman with a small 
 capital may fill the major portion of 
 his shelves with a "rich stock of 
 goods," by means of dummies, displa- 
 cing them gradually by real wares, as 
 success enables him to do so. 
 
 Pieces of linen, rolls of broadcloth or 
 Brussels carpeting, splendid brocades, 
 whole fathoms of backs of elegantly 
 bound books, chests of tea, huge tuns 
 of " Old Tom," or real Jamaica rum, 
 packets of patent medicines, and in- 
 numerable things besides, are counter- 
 feited with such perfect effect as to 
 reality and beauty, as to defy recogni- 
 
 tion by a stranger — nay, the tradesman 
 
 himself will sometimes lay hands on 
 
 the dummy, mistaking it for a genuine 
 
 piece of goods. 
 
 — ♦ — 
 
 Smuggled Needles and the American 
 Eagle. 
 
 Somebody tells the following anec- 
 dote, capital of its kind : In the time 
 of the last war, there were two hot- 
 headed politicians, whose contempt for 
 John Bull was so hearty, that, taking 
 their own word for it, they would not so 
 much as eat with a knife and fork of 
 English manufacture, if they could 
 avoid it. During the war, the English 
 had possession of Castine, at the head 
 of Penobscot Bay, and smuggling Eng- 
 lish goods from that place into the 
 country was extensively practised. The 
 temptation was too great for the cupid- 
 ity of our two republicans, and finally 
 overcame all their scruples. I lived at 
 that time (says the narrator) in an 
 eastern town, and one bitter cold night 
 in February, I was called, at two 
 o'clock, from my bed, by two men 
 whom I never knew before, to go and 
 receive several loads of smuggled 
 goods, which, by direction of my em- 
 ployer, I took into the cellar, through 
 a back way in the store where I was a 
 clerk, and secreted them carefully. 
 
 One of the sleighs was loaded with 
 hardware, and in crossing the ferry 
 over the Kennebeck, they met with a 
 sad accident. The only ferry boat was 
 a large, flat gondola. When they ar- 
 rived on the opposite side, intending 
 to stop for some refreshment, they 
 drove the sleighs out of the gondola, 
 except the hindmost one, which, being 
 loaded with the hardware, was very 
 heavy, and tipped the boat very much. 
 This was permitted to remain, and while 
 they were regaling themselves, the tide 
 rose, overflowed the sides of the boat, 
 and sank it. The goods were, of course, 
 wet. Among them was a package "of 
 sewing needles, and being accustomed 
 to handling such goods, our republicans 
 
270 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 employed me to open, dry, and repack 
 them in emery, which I did very care- 
 fully, at the expense of several days' 
 labor. Needles were many times as 
 dear then as now, so that the case was 
 valued at some hundreds of dollars, 
 which, but for my care and industry, 
 would have been spoiled entirely. And 
 one day, when a custom-house officer 
 came into the store to search for smug- 
 gled goods, I showed him every place 
 in the store except where they were. 
 The goods were delivered out again, 
 and sent in small parcels to Boston and 
 New York, for sale. 
 
 The pains I had taken, and the value 
 of my services, led me to expect a gen- 
 erous reward, and I congratulated my- 
 self with the anticipated, profits of fidel- 
 ity to the trust reposed in me. When 
 the last package of goods was removed, 
 one of the smugglers came to me and 
 said, " You are a capital . little fellow ; 
 if I had you in my store you would be 
 worth your weight in gold. Always 
 be as faithful, and you will always be 
 trusted." 
 
 Expectation was now on tiptoe; I 
 would not have given a sixpence to in- 
 sure a twenty-dollar bill in my hand 
 the next moment, but, like most high 
 worldly hopes, mine were doomed to 
 disappointment. The republican smug- 
 gler put his hand in his pocket and 
 solemnly drew forth an American half 
 dollar! "That," said he, "is the real 
 coin, the true American eagle; "ke^^ it, 
 and be sure you always avoid an Eng- 
 lishman as you would an adder." He 
 took his valise in his hand and walked 
 toward the stage office ; I looked after 
 him till he was out of sight, and his 
 gait, form, and figure, to the smallest 
 outline, are as fresh in memory now as 
 at that moment (I was then a boy), and 
 the contempt I then felt for him has 
 never been efiaced. I have met him 
 often in the streets of New York ; he 
 does not know me, but I never passed 
 him without laughing, though I have 
 kept his secret to this day. 
 
 Throwing- Sawdust in the Eyes of 
 Custom-House OfB.cers. 
 
 An ingenious ruse was played by a 
 wag who, before the working of the 
 saline springs of New York, made it a 
 business to smuggle salt from Canada 
 into the " States." One day, having 
 got wind that he was suspected, he 
 loaded his bags with sawdust, and 
 drove past the tavern where the sus- 
 picious excisemen w^ere waiting for 
 him. He was ordered to stop, but he 
 only increased his speed. At length 
 he was overtaken, and his load in- 
 spected, with many imprecations from 
 the eager officials, after which he was 
 permitted to pass on. A day or two 
 after he drove up again, with a full 
 load of salt, and asked, banteringly, if 
 they didn't want to search him again. 
 " Go on ! go on ! " said the officials ; 
 " we've had enough of you I " 
 
 Snug" Place for Bank Notes. 
 
 A GREAT number of false bank notes 
 were at one time put into circulation 
 within the dominions of the Czar. 
 They could only have been imported ; 
 but although the strictest search was 
 made habitually over every vessel en- 
 tering a Russian port, no" smuggling of 
 false notes was discovered. Accident, 
 however, at last brought the mystery 
 to light. It happened that several 
 cases of lead pencils arrived one day 
 from England, and were being exam- 
 ined, when one of them fell out from a 
 package, and the custom-house officer, 
 picking it up, cut it to a point, and 
 used it to sign the order which deliv- 
 ered up the cases to the consignee. He 
 kept the one loose pencil for his own 
 use ; and a few days afterward, because 
 it needed a fresh point, cut it again, 
 and found that there was no more lead. 
 Another chip into the cedar brought 
 him to a roll of paper nested in a hol- 
 low place. This paper was one of the 
 false notes engraved in London, and 
 
TRADE AND BUSINESS IMMORALITIES. 
 
 271 
 
 thus smuggled into the dominions of 
 the Muscovite. 
 
 Parisian Female Smuggrlers. 
 
 The smuggling of game and such 
 taxable articles into Paris, under the 
 petticoats of women, has become so fre- 
 quent that a female has been attached 
 to the bureau of the department, in or- 
 der that she may search under the gar- 
 ments of suspected individuals of her 
 sex. Recently a woman — known as the 
 Hottentot Venus — presented herself at 
 one of the gates. The agents, who are 
 always jealous of stout people, request- 
 ed the lady with the phenomenal con- 
 tour to stop. She refused, and pushed 
 by. One of the custom-house employes 
 seized her, and commenced pressing his 
 fingers on various parts of her fictitious 
 body, as if he were feeling to see wheth- 
 er she was ripe. She screamed and 
 fought, and in her struggles a partridge 
 fell from under her skirts to the ground. 
 Her contraband wares were probably 
 strung like dried apples, and the escape 
 of the partridge loosened the whole. 
 Down came a quail, and then a snipe, 
 and then another quail, and a wood- 
 cock, until the woman, whose embon- 
 point had now visibly diminished, was 
 thrust into the office, where the female 
 attendant of the establishment com- 
 menced a thorough investigation. Wlien 
 all was over, the victim was found to 
 be a very spare person, not weighing 
 over ninety -five pounds. 
 
 Smuggling by the Chinese. 
 
 Although the Chinese smugglers do 
 not precisely fear the mandarin boats, 
 they always endeavor to avoid them, 
 unless they have come to some agree- 
 ment. If, however, they cannot escape 
 being overhauled, they endeavor to ne- 
 gotiate, and will offer the mandarin and 
 his crew a cumsha (a present) in order 
 to obtain permission to continue their 
 voyage. They do not fight except at 
 
 the last extremity, or unless the de- 
 mands of the mandarin are too exorbi- 
 tant — or, what is still more rare, unless 
 that functionary shows himself inacces- 
 sible to corruption, and will not traffic 
 his duties. 
 
 Doing Things on Shares. 
 
 Here is a case illustrating the work- 
 ing of the " peculiar institution of" 
 doing things on shares. A happened 
 to have more pigs than he could keep, 
 while his neighbor B had more milk 
 than he could dispose of. One day, A 
 brought two pigs over and deposited 
 them in B's pen, saying that he wished 
 B to keep them two months and have ' 
 one of them as his share. B replied 
 that, as he had plenty of feed, he would 
 keep them four months and have them 
 both, as, of course, that would amount 
 to the same thing I A left, saying that 
 he supposed it was all right, but 
 guessed he wouldn't bring any more. 
 
 "l^oing" and "Shaving" Customers. 
 
 " A FOOL and his money are soon 
 parted " — a proverb not founded on 
 fact, but a great favorite with mer- 
 chant princes and cabmen on the oc- 
 casion of their having, in their respect- 
 ive callings, succeeded in " doing " a 
 liberal customer. With what gusto 
 does the " gentleman " relate to his 
 partner, over a bottle at his country 
 seat, how easily the greenhorn took the 
 bait ! " An entire cargo — ten per cent, 
 above the market price — said he sup- 
 posed it was ' all right ' — would take 
 my word for it ; ha ! ha ! ha ! — a fool 
 and his money are soon parted ! " And 
 listen to the humbler but not meaner 
 chuckling of the hackdriver over his 
 gin twist : " Charged him a dollar from 
 Whitehall to the Astor — forked over 
 the tin without a word ! A fool and 
 his money," etc. The fact is, an avari- 
 cious man sees no wit in liberality or 
 open dealing. 8hylock began it : " This 
 
272 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 is tlie fool that lent out money gratis ! " 
 It's all wrong. A Wall-street broker of 
 the best reputation once said that the 
 hardest man to " shave " — as he tech- 
 nically expressed himself— is a fool. 
 " Sir," said he, " you don't know where 
 to have 'em ; you can't stick soft cheese 
 on a hook ! " 
 
 Settlingr a Question of Taste and Trade. 
 
 Mr. Jones was down to 'York once, 
 and being very fond o' sassengers, he 
 went into an eatin' shop to get some. 
 While he was a-hearin' of 'em fry, his- 
 sin' and sputterin' away, a man was 
 buyin' some of 'em raw at the counter, 
 and while he was a-tyin' of 'em up, a 
 chap came in with a fuz cap and a 
 dirty drab sustout, and laid down a lit- 
 tle bundle at fur eend o' the coimter. 
 He looked at the keeper, and see he 
 was a little busy ; so he said, lookin' 
 sly at him as he went out, says he, 
 " 'Tan't no matter about the money 
 now^ but that inakes eleven " — p'intin' 
 toward the bundle. Jones looked at 
 the bundle, and says he saw the head 
 of a cat stickin' out at the eend, vdth 
 long smellers onto it as long as his fin- 
 ger I He left that shop 'mazin' quick, 
 and has had no relish for the article 
 sence, tho' once so savory and tooth- 
 some to him. 
 
 "Newscloth." 
 
 A PUBLISHER in Greenock, Scotland, 
 having been fined for printing news on 
 unstamped sheets of paper — contrary to 
 the law in such cases — retaliated by 
 printing on cloth^ which is not speci- 
 fied in the act — calling his journal the 
 "Greenock ^e-wacloth,'*^ in allusion to 
 the material. 
 
 Expedient of a Russian Miser. 
 
 A Russian merchant, who was so 
 immensely rich that on one occasion he 
 lent the Empress Catharine the Second 
 
 a million of roubles, used to live in a 
 small, obscure room in St. Petersburg, 
 with scarcely any fire, furniture, or at- 
 tendants, though his house was larger 
 than many palaces. He buried his 
 money, in cash, in the cellar, and was 
 so great a miser that he barely allowed 
 himself the common necessaries of life. 
 He placed his principal security in a 
 large dog of singular fierceness, which 
 used to protect the premises by barking 
 nearly the whole of the night. At length 
 the dog died ; when the master, either 
 impelled by his sordidness from buying 
 another dog, or fearing that he might 
 not meet with one that he could so well 
 depend on, adopted the singular meth- 
 od of performing the canine service 
 himself, by going his rounds every 
 evening, and barking as well and as 
 loud as he could, in imitation of his 
 more excusable beast. 
 
 Bums and the Drowning- Merchant. 
 
 Burns was standing one day upon 
 the quay at Greenock, when a most 
 wealthy merchant, belonging to the 
 town, had the misfortune to fall into 
 the harbor. He was no swimmer, and 
 his death would have been inevitable, 
 had not a sailor, who happened to 
 be passing at the time, immediately 
 plunged in, and, at the risk of his own 
 life, rescued him from his dangerous 
 situation. 
 
 The Greenock merchant, upon recov- 
 ering a little from his fright, put his 
 hand into his pocket, and generously 
 presented the sailor with a — shilling ! 
 The crowd, who were by this time col- 
 lected, loudly protested against the 
 contemptible insignificance of the sum ; 
 but Bums, with a smile of ineffable 
 scorn, entreated them to restrain their 
 clamor— " for," said he, "the gentle- 
 man is of course the best judge of the 
 value of his own life." "^ 
 
TRADE AND BUSINESS IMMORALITIES. 
 
 273 
 
 One Cent with Qirard. 
 
 A GENTLEMAN from Europe pur- 
 chased a bill of exchange on Girard, to 
 defray the expenses of a tour to this 
 country. It was duly honored on pre- 
 sentation ; but in the course of their 
 transactions, it so happened that one 
 cent remained to be refunded on the 
 part of the European ; and, on the eve 
 of his departure from this country, Gi- 
 rard dunned him for it. The gentle- 
 man apologized, and tendered him a 
 six-and-a-quarter-cent piece, requesting 
 the difference. Mr. Girard tendered 
 him in change Jive cents, which the 
 gentleman declined to accept, alleging 
 that he was entitled to an additional 
 quarter of a cent. In reply, Girard ad- 
 mitted the fact, but informed him that 
 it was not in his power to comply, as 
 the Government had neglected to pro- 
 vide the fractional coin in question, 
 and returned the gentleman the six- 
 cent piece, reminding him, however, in 
 unmistakable language, that he must 
 still consider him his debtor for the 
 balance unpaid — the one cent. 
 
 Resolving to be Rich. 
 
 " I MEAN to be a rich man, cost what 
 it may. A man is nothing in the world 
 without wealth. With plenty of money 
 he is everything. I mean to get rich, 
 anyhow." 
 
 This was the soliloquy of a young 
 merchant, who, with a small capital, 
 had recently established himself in 
 business. He made a stern resolve to 
 be rich, and having great perseverance, 
 he went busily to work in the execu- 
 tion of his project. 
 
 Everything was made subordinate to 
 the realization of his golden vision. 
 Ease and pleasure were out of the ques- 
 tion. Domestic enjoyments were of no 
 account. The merchant's brow ached 
 with incessant care ; his heart chilled 
 and warmed with the rise and fall of 
 the markets ; the changes of commerce 
 18 
 
 shaped his dreams ; money was his su- 
 perlative idea. He had time for nothing 
 but business. In vain did his wife lan- 
 guish under the weight of her domestic 
 cares. He had no time to unbend him- 
 self at home, and contribute to the bliss 
 of his little world there. Neither could 
 he bestow attention to the wants of the 
 world, nor the miseries of his fellow 
 creatures around him. All calls were 
 vain, for our merchant had neither eyes 
 nor ears for aught but mammon. 
 
 After many years of toil and care — 
 after enduring anxieties and labors 
 sufficient to wear out his over-taxed 
 energies — he had reached the goal. 
 The merchant had grown rich — so rich 
 that he could forsake the counting 
 room, and live with princely splendor 
 in a palace-like home ! 
 
 This was the fulfilled vision of his 
 youth. He had sought gold, and his 
 massive coffers did, indeed, sweat be- 
 neath the weight of their glittering load ; 
 and when men passed him, they said, 
 " That is old , the millionnaire." 
 
 Was the prize worth what it cost? 
 Thirty years of sacrifice had been de- 
 voted to its pursuit I During that pe- 
 riod, true enjoyment had been a stran- 
 ger to his heart ; how could it be 
 otherwise ? For thirty years he had 
 not had time to be happy — he had sur- 
 rendered all this for the expected advan- 
 tage of future wealth I He had literally 
 sold these for gold I He had his prize. 
 
 The merchant had not been many 
 months out of the counting room be- 
 fore his mind, missing the stimulus of 
 business, began to prey upon itself. 
 For intellectual and philanthropic pur- 
 suits it had no sort of relish ; they had 
 been avoided so long for want of time, 
 for the sake of the money god, that 
 they would not now afford any satis- 
 faction. Without occupation, the mer- 
 chant's life became a blank. His mind 
 sank into weakness, his memory failed, 
 his energies dried up ; first he sank into 
 the imbecility of second childhood, and 
 then into the stupidity of an idiot. 
 
274 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 They carried him to the asylum of 
 departed intellect, and there, ever talk- 
 ing of notes and ships, his soulless eyes 
 gazing into vacancy, his fingers tracing 
 figures in the air, the at last " success- 
 ful " merchant ended his days with 
 maniacs and fools, and the treasures 
 which he had heaped up were gathered 
 and enjoyed by others. This is no fan- 
 cy sketch. 
 
 Hard Philosophy of an Annuity 
 Monger. 
 
 AuDLEY, the old English banker, 
 usurer, and what not, was equally 
 ready to lend money to the gay gallants 
 of the town on annuities, as he was to 
 receive it from the thrifty poor who 
 took, on " the security of the great 
 Audley," the savmgs of their youth to 
 secure an annuity for their age. But 
 needy as the youngsters of that day 
 might be, the usurer was as willing as 
 they were needy. He lent them, how- 
 ever, with affected remonstrances on 
 their extravagance, and took the cash 
 they paid him with a well-feigned air 
 of paternal regret. His money bred. 
 He formed temporary partnerships with 
 the stewards of country gentlemen, and 
 having, by the aid of the former, gulled 
 the latter, finished by smartly cheating 
 the associates who had assisted him to 
 his prey. 
 
 The annuity monger was also a phi- 
 losopher. He never pressed for his debts 
 when he knew they were safe. When 
 one of his victims, mistakenly assuming 
 Audley to possess a conscience, asked 
 him where it was, he replied, " We 
 moneyed people must balance accounts. 
 If you don't pay me my annuity, you 
 cheat me ; if you do, I cheat you." 
 He said his deeds were his children, 
 which nourished best by sleeping. 
 
 His word was his bond, as many 
 could testify to their sorrow ; his hour 
 was punctual, striking terror to the un- 
 prepared ; his opinions were compressed 
 and sound. In his time he was called 
 " the great Audley," " old Audley," «S;c. ; 
 
 and though the fathers of the church 
 proclaimed the sin of usury to be the 
 original sin, he smiled at their asser- 
 tions, and went on his golden way re- 
 joicing. As his wealth increased, he 
 put himself in a position where his an- 
 nuity jobbing increased — an ofiSce in 
 the Court of Wards — the entire for- 
 tunes of the wards of Chancery being 
 under his control. 
 
 When he quarrelled with one who 
 disputed the payment of an annuity, 
 and who, to prove his resisting power, 
 showed and shook his money bags, 
 Audley sarcastically asked "whether 
 they had any bottom ? " The exulting 
 possessor answered in the afBrmative. 
 " In that case," replied Audley, " I care 
 not, for in my ofiSce I have a constant 
 spring." Here, indeed, he pounced 
 upon encumbrances which lay upon es- 
 tates ; he prowled about to discover the 
 cravings of their owners, and this he 
 did to such purpose that, when asked 
 what was the value of his oflBce, he re- 
 plied, " Some thousands of pounds to 
 any one who wishes to get to heaven 
 immediately ; twice as much to him 
 who does not mind being in purga- 
 tory ; and nobody knows what to him 
 who will adventure to go to hell." 
 Charity forbids a guess as to which of 
 these places Audley himself went. 
 
 Old-School Money Jobbers. 
 
 The old English money brokers had 
 arts peculiar to their day. They had a 
 walk upon the Exchange devoted to 
 the funds of the East India and other 
 great corporations, and many of the 
 terms now in vogue among the initi- 
 ated arose from their dealings with 
 that description of stock. Jobbing in 
 the great chartered corporations was 
 thoroughly understood — reports and 
 rumors were as plentiful and well-man- 
 aged as now. No sooner was it known 
 that one of the fine vessels of the East 
 India Company, laden with gold and 
 jewels from the East, was on its way. 
 
TRADE AND BUSINESS IMMORALITIES. 
 
 275 
 
 than every method was had recourse to. 
 Men were employed to whisper of hur- 
 ricanes which had sunk the well-stored 
 ship ; of quicksands which had swal- 
 lowed her up ; of war, which had com- 
 menced when peace was unbroken ; or 
 of peace being concluded when things 
 were actually in the utmost danger. 
 
 Kor were the brains of the specula- 
 tors less capable than now. If at the 
 present day an English banker conde- 
 scends to raise a railway or other kind 
 of bubble fifty per cent., the broker or 
 money jobber of that day understood 
 his craft sufficiently to cause a varia- 
 tion in the price of East India stock of 
 two hundred and sixty-three per cent ! 
 Everything which could inflate the 
 hopes of the schemer, was brought into 
 operation by the brokers. If shares 
 were dull, they jobbed in the funds, or 
 tried exchequer bills ; and if these 
 failed, rather than remain idle, they 
 dealt in bank notes at forty per cent, 
 discount. 
 
 Sober citizens were entangled as 
 well as the more adventurous. Their 
 first impulse was to laugh at the sto- 
 ries currently circulated of fortunes 
 lost and won ; but when they saw men 
 who were yesterday threadbare pass 
 them to-day in their carriages — when 
 they saw wealth which it took their 
 plodding industry years of patient la- 
 bor to acquire, won by others in a few 
 weeks — unable to resist the temptation, 
 the greatest merchants deserted their 
 regular vocations for these more glitter- 
 ing avenues to fortune. 
 
 These jobbers came from all classes 
 of society, and those who won were at 
 once on a par with the nobility. As an 
 illustration of these ups and downs, it 
 is related that a worthy Quaker, a 
 watchmaker by trade, having success- 
 fully speculated in the shares and 
 funds, was of sufficient importance to 
 invite to the marriage feast of his 
 daughter such guests as the Duchess 
 of Marlborough and the Princess of 
 Wales, who, with three hundred others 
 
 of " the quality," graced the wedding 
 entertainment. 
 
 Making: a Good Job of it. 
 
 A WOKKMAN recently purchased, in 
 a small provincial town of Germany, 
 ten pounds of powdered sugar ; but on 
 examining it, he found that the grocer 
 had generously mixed with it at least a 
 pound of lime. On the succeeding day 
 he advertised as follows in the public 
 prints : " Should the grocer who sold 
 me a pound of lime along with nine 
 pounds of sugar, not bring to me the 
 pound he cheated me of, I shall forth- 
 with disclose his name in the papers." 
 The next day the customer received 
 nine pounds of sugar from several dif- 
 ferent grocers who had similar actions 
 on their conscience, and feared publici- 
 ty. The customer was so well satis- 
 fied, that at last accounts he was mak- 
 ing a vigorous examination of his re- 
 cent supplies of coffee, spices, etc., and 
 the prospect was that he would soon be 
 performing among the grocers what the 
 bull enacted in the crockery shop. 
 
 French Usurers and Pig-eons. 
 
 The chronicles of the French money 
 and credit system partake of that 
 piquancy which might naturally be 
 looked for among such a lively race. 
 There are usurers, courtiers, pigeons, 
 &c., &c., almost without number. But 
 the usurer never sees the pigeon, or very 
 rarely. He is banker, count, minister 
 of state, director of theatres, lives in a 
 grand hotel of his own, gives dinners 
 to princes, dresses superbly d^ la mode^ 
 and is far above the acquaintance of a 
 mere pigeon. This he leaves to the 
 courtier, a genteel and knowing per- 
 sonage, who deals in everything. He 
 
 tells the pigeon that if M. , not 
 
 being inclined to part with his ready 
 money, can only give wine or furniture 
 in exchange for the bill, he, the cour- 
 tier, will undertake the sale, and this 
 
2Y6 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 he does, upon occasion. But in the 
 majority of instances, wine, furniture, 
 and all the rest of the old story, is a 
 mere pretence. 
 
 The pigeon proposes a bill. The 
 agent, or faiseur^ goes to the banker 
 and gets it done at fifty per cent, in 
 ready money. He returns to the pi- 
 geon, says that the bill is discounted, 
 but that the price is given in goods, 
 which he will not undertake to sell. In 
 two or three days he returns with the 
 story that the goods are not to be sold. 
 The pigeon is impatient. The faiseur 
 then offers to take the goods at his own 
 risk, at a discount. This the pigeon is 
 only too glad to do, and gets one half 
 of the money which was received by the 
 faiseur — just one quarter of his bill. 
 The faiseur gets the other half, without 
 any risk whatever ; and in half an hour 
 is to be seen trotting down the Kue 
 Vivienne, eager for the excitement of 
 the new loan or the latest scheme. 
 
 Instances are known where the pigeon 
 has taken a horse for a note of a thou- 
 sand francs. The horse remains in the 
 stable of the courtier, who in a few 
 days sends in the bill for its keep — 
 thirty francs. The pigeon orders the 
 horse to be sold at auction. It fetches 
 twenty-seven francs ! All the pigeon 
 gets by the transaction is the pleasure 
 of paying three francs ready money, 
 and the bill, when it becomes due. In 
 another case, a young man is known to 
 have signed a note of twenty-eight 
 thousand francs ; he was credited in 
 return with sixty thousand blocks of 
 marble, eleven thousand mouse traps, six 
 thousand iron rods, and three thousand 
 francs in money. The marble remained 
 in the quarry ; no one would buy it in 
 situ, or advance the large sum necessary 
 to remove it. The mouse traps and the 
 rods sold for about one thousand francs, 
 and the pigeon was finally credited four 
 thousand francs, of which he received 
 about half, the courtier pocketing the 
 rest. 
 
 Imitating Signatures. 
 
 The imitation of signatures with in- 
 conceivable accuracy was a quality 
 possessed by John Mathison, an Eng- 
 lish mechanic, and probably never sur- 
 passed by any one in any country or ' 
 age. Tempted by the hope of sudden 
 wealth, he applied this faculty to the 
 forging of bank notes, which, being 
 discovered, a reward was offered, with 
 a description of his person, and he es- 
 caped to Scotland. There, scorning to 
 let his wonderful talent lie idle, he 
 counterfeited the notes of the Royal 
 Bank of Scotland, amused himself by 
 negotiating them during a pleasure 
 excursion through the country, and 
 reached London, supported by his imi- 
 tative talent. Here a fine sphere open- 
 ed for his genius, which was so active, 
 that in twelve days he had bought the 
 copper, engraved it, fabricated notes, 
 forged the watermark, printed, and 
 negotiated several. When he had a 
 sufficient number, he travelled from 
 one end of the kingdom to the other, 
 disposing of them. Having been in 
 the habit of procuring notes from the 
 bank — the more accurately to copy 
 them — he chanced to be there when a 
 clerk from the excise office paid in sev- 
 en thousand guineas, one of which was 
 scrupled. Mathison, from a distance, 
 said it was a good one. " Then," said 
 the bank clerk, on the trial, " I recol- 
 lected him." 
 
 The frequent visits of Mathison, who 
 was very incautious, together with 
 other circumstances, created some sus- 
 picion that he might be connected 
 with those notes, which, since his first 
 appearance, had been presented at the 
 bank. On another occasion, when 
 Mathison was there, a forged note of 
 his own was presented, and the teller, 
 half in jest and half in earnest, charged 
 Maxwell— the name by which he was 
 known — ^with some knowiiedge o^ the 
 forgeries. Further suspicion was ex- 
 cited, and directions were given to de- 
 
TRADE AND BUSINESS IMMORALITIES. 
 
 211 
 
 tain him at some future period. The 
 following day, the teller was informed 
 that " his friend Maxwell," as he was 
 styled ironically, was in Cornhill. The 
 clerk instantly went, and under the 
 pretence of having paid Mathison a 
 guinea too much on a previous occa- 
 sion, and of losing his situation if the 
 mistake were not rectified by the 
 books, induced him to return with 
 him to the hall ; from which place he 
 was taken before the directors. To all 
 the inquiries he replied, " He had a 
 reason for declining to answer. He 
 was a citizen of the world, and knew 
 not how he had come into it, or how 
 he should go out of it." Being de- 
 tained during a consultation with the 
 bank solicitor, he suddenly jumped out 
 of the window. On being taken and 
 asked his motive, if innocent, he said 
 " it was his humor." 
 
 In the progress of the inquiry, the 
 Darlington paper, containing his de- 
 scription, was read to him, when he 
 turned pale, burst into tears, and say- 
 ing he was a dead man, added, " now 
 I will confess all." He was, indeed, 
 found guilty only on his own acknowl- 
 edgment, which stated he could accom- 
 plish the whole of a note in one day. 
 It was asserted at the time, that, had it 
 not been for this confession, he could 
 not have been convicted. He offered 
 to explain the secret of his discovery 
 of the water-mark, provided the corpo- 
 ration would spare his life; but his 
 proposal was rejected, and he paid the 
 penalty of his crime. 
 
 Bad Bank Bill. 
 
 A CITY journal, describing a new 
 
 counterfeit bank bill, says the vignette 
 
 is " cattle and hogs, with a church far- 
 
 in the distance." A good illustration 
 
 £ the world ! 
 
 Selling: a Bad Article. 
 
 At a business meeting of one of the 
 Methodist churches in Philadelphia, 
 
 not long since, a rare incident occurred, 
 as showing the relation which a man's 
 business may sustain toward his stand- 
 ing as a church member. The question 
 on the tapis, among the official members 
 of said church, was to find a suitable 
 man to fill a vacancy in the board of 
 trustees. A gentleman in business as a 
 wholesale grocer was named by a mem- 
 ber present as a very suitable man for 
 the place ; but his nomination was 
 vehemently opposed by another brdth- 
 er, who was very zealous in the tem- 
 perance cause, on the ground that in 
 the way of his business he sold liquor. 
 And appealing to Brother A., one of 
 the oldest members present, who, from 
 his solid and clerical look, was called 
 " the Bishop," he said, " What do you 
 say. Brother A. ? " 
 
 " Ah ! " said Brother A., looking 
 very grave, drawing up his cane with 
 a view to emphasize and give point to 
 what he had to say, " that is not the 
 worst of it" (solemn shake of the 
 head) ; " that is not the worst of it ! " 
 
 " Why, Brother A.," said the others, 
 crowding around and looking for some 
 astounding developments, "what else is 
 there ? " 
 
 " Why," said Brother A., bringing 
 down his cane with a rap, " he don't 
 keep a good article — I've tried it 1 " 
 
 Prejudice against Yankee Clock Ped- 
 dlers, and how it was Overcome. 
 
 Near one of the rural villages in 
 Ohio there dwelt, a few years since, an 
 elderly gentleman, who went by the 
 familiar name of " Uncle Jonathan." 
 He was a rigid member of the Lutheran 
 church, sober, exemplary, and withal, 
 possessed of considerable wealth. Like 
 many of his neighbors in that region 
 of the country, he entertained a bitter 
 prejudice toward " Yankees ; " and, 
 notwithstanding his piety, he had 
 avowed his intention of kicking out 
 of his door the first Yankee clock-ped- 
 dler that should enter. 
 
2*78 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 One sultry day in summer a covered 
 wagon was drawn up to his gate ; a 
 keen-eyed, gaunt-looking individual 
 alighted, and rapping softly at the 
 door, requested, in subdued tones, a 
 drink of water. After drinking, the 
 traveller asked permission of the old 
 gentleman to sit and rest for a few 
 minutes, saying he was overcome by 
 the heat. The stranger said but little, 
 and the old gentleman eyed him sus- 
 piciously. Presently the old man's eye 
 began to brighten. 
 
 " What papers have you got there ? " 
 said he, pointing to the stranger's 
 pocket, which bore the appearance of a 
 travelling post office. 
 
 " Oh," said the stranger, " those are 
 a few copies of our Jjutheran Observer 
 that I carry to read along the road." 
 
 "Indeed! Then you belong to the 
 Lutheran Church ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir. Would you not like to 
 look at a copy of the paper ? " 
 
 The old man was delighted ; asked 
 stranger to stay for dinner. Of course 
 he accepted. As they were putting up 
 the team, the old gentleman remarked, 
 
 " You drive a queer-looking wagon." 
 
 "Yes," said the stranger; "I have 
 been out West, and have suffered sev- 
 eral months from chills and fever. 
 Wishing to get home to my family, 
 and having no means of defraying my 
 expenses, I purchased a few clocks to 
 sell along the way." 
 
 Stranger stayed, and fed himself and 
 horses without money and without 
 price. He did more. He sold Uncle 
 Jonathan every clock on his wagon, 
 and took his note, which he turned in- 
 to money within two hours. 
 
 " Well," said the landlord, " didn't I 
 tell you that he would abuse you ? " 
 
 " Very much mistaken," said Yan- 
 kee ; "the old man is a gentleman. 
 Here, take these papers [ Observers] ; I 
 have no further use for them." 
 
 Uncle Jonathan is silent on the sub- 
 ject of Yankee clock peddlers. 
 
 Bisks of the Currency. 
 
 A RocHESTEB darkey named Pete 
 got a five-dollar counterfeit bill, and 
 taking some friends to a lager beer 
 saloon, treated them to the extent of 
 forty cents, passed the bill, and got the 
 change. The Dutchman soon found 
 the bill was bad, and overhauling Pete, 
 charged him with passing counterfeit 
 money. Pete expressed great surprise, 
 said he knew where he got the bill, 
 and would take it and get a good one 
 for it. This was agreed to, but day 
 after day passed, and Pete did not 
 bring back the money. The Dutch- 
 man overhauled him again, and Pete 
 said the man who gave it to him was 
 now trying to get it back from the man 
 Tie took it from. The Dutchman was 
 furious, and threatened to have him 
 taken up for passing counterfeit money. 
 "Guess you couldn't do that," said 
 Pete ; " can't took up a man for pass- 
 ing counterfeit money, when you Jiairi't 
 got de Mil ! " This was a new idea to 
 Mr. Lagerbeer and Pete comforted him 
 by paying him a dollar and a half of 
 the change, as he said, " goin' halves " 
 with him in the loss of the V. 
 
 llaking: Chang-e at Bailroad Befresh.- 
 ment Stands. 
 
 Yeabs ago Lewis Holt kept a railroad 
 refreshment stand at the station at At- 
 tica, on the road running west. He had 
 a way which men of his persuasion have 
 — not altogether abandoned — of taking 
 the money of passengers, sweeping it 
 into his drawer, and fumbling after the 
 change till the cars were off^ when the 
 passenger would have to run and leave 
 his money. Charlie Dean stepped out 
 of the cars there one day, took a " gin- 
 ger pop," price six cents, laid down a 
 quarter, which Holt dropped into his 
 till, and went hunting to get the 
 change. Away went the cars, and 
 Charlie jumped on without his change ; 
 but he had time to read the name of 
 
TRADE AND BUSINESS IMMORALITIES. 
 
 279 
 
 Lewis Holt over the door, and, mak- 
 ing a note of it, rode on. 
 
 Postage was high in those days, and 
 was not required in advance. From 
 Buffalo he wrote a letter to Holt — 
 "Sell foam at 25 cents a glass, will 
 you?" Holt paid ten cents on this 
 letter, and ten more on one from De- 
 troit, and twenty -five on another from 
 St. Louis, and for two or three years he 
 kept getting letters from his unknown 
 customer, and would have got more to 
 this day, but for the law requiring 
 postage to be jDaid in advance. He 
 had to pay two or three dollars in 
 postage before the letters ceased to 
 come, and as they were always directed 
 in a new handwriting, he hoped each 
 one was of more importance than the 
 ones before. 
 
 Weig-hing: Short. 
 A WESTERN man, too smart by half 
 for his own interest or the good of his 
 soul, drove into town with a load of 
 wheat in bags, to be sold by weight, so 
 many pounds to the bushel. Finding 
 a merchant ready to purchase, the sell- 
 er demurred to the proposal to drive 
 upon the buyer's scales, as he was afraid 
 he might not be fairly dealt with. 
 "Very well," said the merchant, "if 
 you prefer it, drive on and be weighed 
 out there," pointing to the next plat- 
 form. On he went, keeping his seat 
 on the load; the merchant opened a 
 little door in the floor, asked the seller 
 how many bags there were, and being 
 told twenty, pronounced the load to be 
 forty-two bushels. " All right ! " said 
 the seller, and then returned and de- 
 posited his wheat at the buyer's store 
 and went off, never finding out that 
 he had been weighed on the platform 
 of a fire cistern, and that he had sold 
 fifty bushels of wheat for forty-two I 
 
 Italian Knavery in Picture Selling-. 
 
 If modern copies and paintings in 
 Florence can be counted by myriads. 
 
 there seems to be equally a mine of old 
 copies and originals as inexhaustible as 
 the coal pits of England. For centuries 
 Italy has been furnishing the rest of 
 Europe with pictures, yet the supply 
 still remains as plentiful as its beggars. 
 Lumber rooms are stored with them ; 
 streets are lined with them ; every tai- 
 lor has his gallery ; each Italian gentle- 
 man his heirlooms ; in short, Florence 
 is a vast picture shop. One would 
 imagine that every man, woman, and 
 child, for the last century, had been 
 bom with pencil in hand. There is no 
 possibility of diminishing them. One 
 dealer has sold twelve thousand in Eng- 
 land alone — at least he says so — and 
 yet his rooms are full to repletion, 
 though he is diminishing his stock to 
 give up business. Cargoes go annual- 
 ly to the United States — the matter 
 being much after this wise : 
 
 A speculator arrives, and gives out 
 that he is a purchaser of pictures by 
 the wholesale. A flock of crows can- 
 not light sooner upon an open cornbag, 
 than do the sellers upon him. He is 
 not after good pictures, but the trash 
 that can be bought for the value of 
 the wood in their frames. They are 
 brought to him by wagon loads. He 
 looks at the pile, and makes an offer 
 according to its size. In this way he 
 buys several thousand daubs at an 
 average of a few dimes each, spends as 
 much more in varnish, regilding, and a 
 little retouching, sends them to Amer- 
 ica, where they are duly offered for sale 
 as so many Titians, Vandykes, Muril- 
 los, or other lights of the European 
 school. One lucky sale pays for the 
 entire lot. No other art affords a wider 
 scope for fraud. There are fair dealers, 
 but Italian reputation in general, in 
 this respect, is of a slippery character. 
 A dealer will sometimes practise his 
 trickery after this fashion : have a fine 
 copy, in a frame, exposed as a sample, 
 for which a buyer is found, at what 
 appears a reasonable price, the bargain 
 concluded, and the purchaser's name 
 
280 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 marked by himself on the back of the 
 picture. Upon receiving it at home, 
 however, he could not believe his own 
 senses, so inferior did it appear to the 
 one he selected ; but on the back there 
 was the veritable evidence of his own 
 handwriting. Upon investigation, it 
 was proved that the seller had two pic- 
 tures in the same frame, the outer one 
 being good and the inner bad, and that 
 he had withdrawn the former and sent 
 the latter. ^ 
 
 "To what Base TJses have we Come at 
 Last I" 
 
 "When poor Law's "Mississippi 
 scheme " had run itself out, to the ter- 
 rible damage of those who had invest- 
 ed in it, the excitement knew no 
 bounds, and there were thousands of 
 ruined and frenzied men seeking to lay 
 revengeful hands upon the author of 
 their misery. Law took good care 
 not to expose himself unguarded in 
 the streets. Shut up in the apart- 
 ments of the Regent, he was secure 
 from all attack, and, whenever he ven- 
 tured abroad, it was either incognito, or 
 in one of the royal carriages, with a 
 powerful escort. An amusing anecdote 
 is recorded of the detestation in which 
 he was held by the people, and the ill- 
 treatment he would have met, had he 
 fallen into their hands. 
 
 A merchant by the name of Boursel 
 was passing in his carriage down the 
 Rue St. Antoine, when his further 
 progres was stayed by a hackney 
 coach that had blocked up the road. 
 M. BourseFs servant called impatiently 
 to the hackney coachman to get out of 
 the way, and, oh his refusal, struck 
 him a spirited smack on the face. A 
 crowd was soon drawn together by the 
 disturbance, and M. Boursel got out of 
 the carriage to restore order. The 
 hackney coachman, imagining now that 
 he had another assailant, bethought 
 him of an ingenious feint to rid him- 
 self of both, and called out as loudly 
 as he was able : 
 
 " Help ! help ! murder ! murder I 
 Here are Law and Ms servant going to 
 Mime! Help! help!" 
 
 At this cry, the people came out of 
 their shops, armed with sticks and 
 other weapons, while the mob gath- 
 ered stones to inflict summary ven- 
 geance upon the supposed financier. 
 Happily for M. Boursel and his servant, 
 the door of a church near by stood 
 wide open, and, seeing the fearful odds 
 against them, the two rushed toward 
 it with all speed. They reached the 
 altar, still pursued by the people, and 
 would have been ill-treated even 
 there, if, finding the door open leading 
 to the sacristy, they had not sprang 
 through, and. closed it after them. The 
 mob were then persuaded to leave the 
 church by the alarmed and indignant 
 priests ; and, finding M. Boursel's car- 
 riage still in the streets, they vented 
 their ill-will against it, and did it con- 
 siderable damage. 
 
 Little did the once powerful and 
 pampered Law imagine that he would 
 thus ever be made the convenient 
 scapegoat of a hackney coachman I 
 
 Plan to Kuin the Ancient Firm of 
 Child & Co. by the Bank of Eng- 
 land. 
 It is well known that in the year 
 1745, on account of the domestic con- 
 fusion which prevailed in some parts 
 of England, bank notes were at a con- 
 siderable discount. The notes, how- 
 ever, which were issued by Child's 
 house, as well as those of Hoare & Co., 
 still maintained their credit, and were 
 circulated at par. The bank directors, 
 alarmed at the depreciation of their 
 paper, and attributing it to the high 
 estimation in which the house of 
 Messrs. Child still remained, attempt- 
 ed, by very unfair artifices, to ruin 
 their reputation. This plan they en- 
 deavored to accomplish by collecting a 
 very large quantity of their notes, and 
 pouring them all in together for pay- 
 
TRADE AND BUSINESS IMMORALITIES. 
 
 281 
 
 ment on tlie same day. Before the 
 project was executed, her Grace, the 
 Duchess of Marlborough, who had re- 
 ceived some intimation of it, imparted 
 the information to Mr. Child, and sup- 
 plied him with a sum of money more 
 than sufficient to answer the amplest 
 demand that could be made upon 
 them. In consequence of this scheme, 
 the notes were sent by the bank, and 
 were paid in their own paper — a cir- 
 cumstance which occasioned consider- 
 able loss to that corporation, their pa- 
 per being circulated considerably be- 
 low par. Perhaps this anecdote finds 
 confirmation in the well-known cir- 
 cumstance of the hostility of her Grace 
 to the administrators of that trust. 
 
 Bubble Prospectuses. 
 
 The most laughable reading may be 
 found by looking over the prospectuses 
 of the joint-stock bubble companies 
 which flourished in England in 1824. 
 At that time mines were proposed in 
 all parts of the world. One was issued 
 at a premium avowedly for the benefit 
 of the projector. Another was cele- 
 brated " for having a vein of tin ore in 
 
 its bottom, as pure and solid as a tin 
 flagon." A third was pronounced by 
 the directors as "no speculative under- 
 taking — no problematic or visionary 
 scheme — it was founded on a sure and 
 permanent basis, adopted after months 
 of mature deliberation, after inquiries, 
 surveys, investigations, and reports ; " 
 and this was dissolved almost imme- 
 diately. Another declared that " lumps 
 of pure gold, weighing from two to 
 fifty pounds, were totally neglected," 
 and that its mines alone would yield 
 " considerably more than the quantity 
 necessary for the supply of the whole 
 world." The romantic aspect of the 
 land was described in a fifth ; while a 
 sixth, proposing to supply England 
 with granite, lamented, in plausible 
 and poetic strain, the " soft and per- 
 ishable materials " of the buildings of 
 "the mighty head of a mighty em- 
 pire." Innumerable laborers and arti- 
 sans were to be employed, "and," 
 continued the prospectus, " perhaps by 
 the efibrts of this company the dingy 
 brick fronts, the disgrace of the metro- 
 polis, may give way to more durable 
 and magnificent elevations, worthy of 
 the throne of the queen of the isles." 
 
PART FIFTH. 
 
 Anecdotes of Famous Commercial Resorts Aim 
 Localities. 
 
 
l^ATHAlSr MEYER ROTHSCHILD 
 
 Died, cLt: Fr-a.n.lcfor1j , O.'M'., ,Tu.ly 28,J836, ^dged- S iacty Ye 
 
 •i, D.^pletoxL&C'r' 
 
PAET FIFTH. 
 
 Anecdotes of Famous Commercial Eesorts and Localities. 
 
 THE EXCHANGE, CUSTOM HOUSE, BOARDS OF TRADE, MARKETS, ETC. — THEIR ANNALS, USAGES, 
 PECULIARITIES ; WITH PERSONAL MISCELLANIES, APHORISMS, ODDITIES, WHIMS, AND CA- 
 PRICES OP THEIR HABITUES. 
 
 BuBiness is the salt of life, which not only gives a grateful smack to it, but dries up those crudities 
 that would offend.— Arion. 
 
 Long has this worthy been conversant in bartering, and knows, that when stocks are lowest, it is 
 the time to buy.— Tatler. 
 
 I'll give thrice eo much land 
 
 To any well-deserving friend ; 
 
 But in the way of bargain — mark me ! 
 
 I'll cavil on the ninth part of a hair. 
 
 Shakspeare''s " Hbnkt IV." 
 And conscience, truth, and honesty are made 
 To rise and fall, like other wares of trade.— Moore. 
 
 Custom-House Official Dealing- with 
 a Princess. 
 
 The Princess of Prussia having ordered 
 some rich silks from Lyons, which paid a 
 high duty at Stettin, the place of her resi- 
 dence, the custom-house officer rudely 
 seized them, until the duties were paid. 
 The princess, highly indignant at such 
 an affront, desired the officer to bring 
 the silks to her apartments. He did so, 
 when the princess seized them, and 
 giving the officer a few cuffs in the 
 face, turned him out of doors. The 
 proud and mortiJBed man of excise, in 
 a violent fit of resentment, presented a 
 memorial to Frederic the Great, in 
 which he complained bitterly of the 
 dishonor put upon him in the execu- 
 tion of his office. The king, having 
 read the memorial, returned the follow- 
 ing answer : " Sir, the loss of the duties 
 belongs to my account ; the silks are to 
 remain in the possession of the princess 
 — the cuffs with him who received them. 
 As to the supposed dishonor, I cancel it 
 
 at the request of the complainant ; but 
 it is itself null, for the lily hand of a 
 fair lady cannot possibly dishonor the 
 face of a. custom-house officer. Feed- 
 eric." 
 
 Rencontre between Rothschild and 
 Rose the Broker, on 'Changre. 
 
 There was no more constant attend- 
 ant on 'Change, every Tuesday and 
 Friday, than Rothschild, and, for 
 years, he was in the habit of planting 
 himself at a particular spot, wdth his 
 back to the pillar known to every fre- 
 quenter of that precinct as "Roths- 
 child's pillar;" but, alas for human 
 greatness ! he was on one occasion 
 doomed to the sad annoyance, that he 
 had no especial right to that particular 
 spot. A person of the name of Rose, 
 possessed of great courage, one Tues- 
 day afternoon purposely placed him- 
 self on the spot hitherto occupied by 
 the world's financial dictator. On Mr. 
 Rothschild's approach, he requested 
 
286 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 - ( 
 
 the party to move. This was just what 
 the other expected, and what he was pre- 
 pared to dispute. He argued that this 
 was the royal exchange, free to all ; and 
 he, as a British subject, had a right 
 to stand there if he thought fit. This 
 doctrine could not of course be dis- 
 puted, but he was told that it was the 
 spot that Mr. Eothschild invariably 
 occupied, and, as such, ought to be 
 yielded ; but no ! Mr. Rose, being a 
 powerful man, defied Mr. Rothschild 
 and all his tribe to remove him. For 
 nearly three-quarters of an hour — the 
 most valuable portion of the exchange 
 time — did he keep deliberate posses- 
 sion of the autocrat's pillar; and not 
 until the whole business of the ex- 
 change of the day was jeopardized did 
 Mr. Rose, after having, as he said, es- 
 tablished his right, retire, amidst the 
 yells and howls of the friends of Roths- 
 child there assembled. 
 
 Paying" Govemment Pishing- Bounties. 
 
 On the accession of a new auditor in 
 one of our custom houses, several years 
 ago, he found considerable looseness in 
 the machinery by which the fishing 
 bounties were paid at that establish- 
 ment. He determined to correct the 
 proceeding, and then return with joy 
 to the original and honest state of 
 things. 
 
 Be it known, that the oath required 
 of an applicant for this bounty is a 
 long, rude complication of solemnities, 
 and had usually been sputtered over 
 with indelicate and unseemly haste. 
 
 One day a blustering and confident- 
 looking skipper came to the desk with 
 his bundle of papers, looking as if he 
 had robbed the circumlocution office, 
 and wanted some bounty. The new 
 auditor rose to a tall majesty, took the 
 great book of oath in his hand, fixed 
 his keen eye on Mr. Skipper, requested 
 him to uncover his head, hold up his 
 right hand, and repeat after him the 
 oath as he read it. They had not trav- 
 
 elled more than half way through the 
 serious business, when the hand of the 
 skipper fell as quick as if his arm had 
 been struck by a chain shot. 
 
 " You may stop there," he exclaimed ; 
 "I can't swear to any more of that» 
 Give me back the papers." 
 
 He nervously grasped the package, 
 hurried out of the office, and to this 
 day his fkte and reflections are un- 
 known. 
 
 Photograph of Wall Street. 
 
 The view given of this great thor- 
 oughfare by Mr. Kimball, in his " Un- 
 dercurrents of "Wall Street," is admi- 
 rable in its descriptive power. He 
 says: — Its advantages for a universal 
 mart are incredible. It is Lombard 
 Street, Threadneedle Street, Old Broad 
 Sreeet, Wapping, the Docks, Thames 
 Street, and the Inns of Court, com- 
 bined. In it is the Custom House as 
 well as the Exchange. It is a good 
 dog market, cow market, and bird 
 market. If you want a pair of horses, 
 and any description of new or second- 
 hand carriage, wait a little, and they 
 will be paraded before you. You will 
 find there the best fruit, and the finest 
 flowers in their season. If you would 
 have a donkey, a Shetland pony, or a 
 ^Newfoundland dog, a good milch cow 
 and calf, a Berkshire pig, a terrier, 
 white mice, a monkey or parroquets, 
 they are to be had in Wall street. It 
 is a strange spot. On Sunday or early 
 in the morning during the week it is 
 like the street of a deserted city. About 
 ten o'clock it begins to show signs of 
 extraordinary animation. Through the 
 day the turmoil increases, people rush 
 to and fro, and literally " stagger like 
 drunken men." Toward three o'clock 
 the street appears undergoing a series 
 of desperate throes. Men rush madly 
 past each other with bank boo^s in 
 their hands, uncurrent money, notes, 
 drafts, checks, specie. Occasionally you 
 may see an individual on the steps of a 
 
FAMOUS COMMERCIAL RESORTS AND LOCALITIES. 
 
 287 
 
 building, evidemtly waiting for some- 
 thing, with an air of forced calmness. 
 From time to time he turns his eyes anx- 
 iously to the great dial-plate which is 
 displayed from the church, and then up 
 and down the street. The minute-hand 
 has marked five into the last quarter. 
 In ten more minutes it will be three 
 o'clock. Occasionally an acquaintance 
 passes ; the man attempts as he bows 
 to smile pleasantly ; he can't do it, he 
 only makes a grimace. What is he 
 waiting for? That individual has a 
 note to pay, or a check to make good 
 before three. He has worked hard, 
 but the fates are against him. One 
 friend is out of town, a second is short, 
 a third can't use his paper : he has 
 sent to the last possible place. Look ! 
 the young man is coming. Yes ? No ? 
 He runs eagerly up, thrusts the wel- 
 come little slij), a check for the desired 
 amount, into the hands of the now 
 agitated principal ; it is rapidly in- 
 dorsed, and on flies the youth to the 
 bank. 
 
 Our hero relieved— he has probably 
 borrowed the money for a day only, 
 and has to renew the attack next morn- 
 ing — now proposes to leave his affairs, 
 lie lights a cigar, invites the first friend 
 he meets to take a drink with him, and 
 strolls leisurely, up Broadway as un- 
 concernedly as if he had not a care in 
 the world. Perhaps he does not come 
 off so luckily ; perhaps his young man 
 reports to him, while standing gloomily 
 on the steps, that it is " no go ; " then 
 the fatal hand which points toward 
 three, travels fast. He considers a 
 moment ; he sees it can't be done ; he 
 waits until he hears the chimes ring 
 out the full hour, and then " his mind 
 is easy." Your shrewd money-lender 
 understands this perfectly. He knows 
 how unsafe it is to let his victim 
 pass the point unrelieved ; for, once 
 having gone to protest, he becomes 
 demoralized, and in consequence 
 indifferent. So, just before the hour, 
 the money is generally " found." 
 
 Drinking the Health of Custom House 
 OflBicers. 
 
 " Will Watch," the bold smuggler, 
 as a once popular song has it, sleeps, 
 or rather slept for a considerable time, 
 at peace with the dead. That is a 
 pity certainly on one account, — for if 
 Ml'. Watch were, conformably to his 
 surname, alive and wide awake, he 
 would have a capital story told him 
 of a somewhat novel importation. 
 
 It appears that among the cargo of 
 the Dane steamer, unloaded at the 
 Southampton docks, Eng., from the 
 Cape of Good Hope, were seven cases 
 addressed to Dr. Schwarz, Germany. 
 The contents being unknown, they 
 were taken to the " sight floor " for 
 examination by the customs' ofBcers, 
 when they were found to contain, ac- 
 cording to the judgment of the officials 
 in question, various specimens of natu- 
 ral history, illustrating the science of 
 anatomy. One case was filled with 
 "human bones," and in another case 
 were four tins, each containing the 
 " head of a negro," preserved in 'brandy 
 in a jar closely secured in the tin. The 
 whole were pronounced to be in a most 
 perfect condition. 
 
 The fact, which Mr. Watch would 
 hardly have required to be pointed out 
 to liim^ evidently is, that a very neat 
 trick was in this instance played on 
 the custom house officers, resulting in 
 their being most cleverly " sold." The 
 simple fact is that they, in their inno- 
 cence, did not taste the brandy in 
 which the heads of the blackamoors 
 were preserved. If they had tried that 
 formidable but, as it would have proved, 
 safe experiment, they would have found 
 the spirituous liquor none the worse for 
 the preserves. By the art of the model- 
 ler and colorist, no doubt, heads, black 
 or white, and of the right kind of 
 material — as incapable of affecting as 
 of being affected by brandy — may be 
 manufactured in any required quantity ; 
 and it was not a very long time after 
 the decision in question, that certain 
 
288 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 gentlemen might have been seen, pro- 
 vided access could have been obtained 
 to the scene of their good cheer, convi- 
 vially and with a hearty gusto drinking 
 the health of the Southampton custom house 
 ojffkers in the fluid supposed to have 
 served an antiseptic purpose in relation 
 to the heads of the black men. 
 
 It is wonderful that such expert offi- 
 cers were so easily done. The address, 
 " Dr. Schwarz," ought to have opened 
 their eyes. "What would they have said 
 to "Mr. Smith," London? The case 
 shows one more of the secrets of smug- 
 gling, which is an occupation much 
 more romantic than reputable, for the 
 smuggler inflicts a downright injury on 
 the really fair trader — assuming that 
 the latter character still exists. Such 
 a case also causes the imposition of a 
 very disagreeable duty on custom house 
 officers — those usually bland and accom- 
 modating persons. They will henceforth 
 have to assure themselves, beyond a 
 doubt, that the brandy in which alleged 
 anatomical preparations are imported, 
 really contain those objects of medical 
 science; and it is only to be hoped 
 that they will find the means of deter- 
 mining this point by some other sense 
 than that of taste. 
 
 Manners at the Eng'lish Stock 
 Exchangre. 
 
 The manners — no less than the 
 morals — of the London Stock Ex- 
 change, are curious, to say the least. 
 Some time since, the papers reported 
 a limb broken " in sport ; " occasional 
 duels arise from the "fun" of the 
 members; and the courtesies of life 
 are wanting on the part of many of its 
 habitues^ if a stranger ventures among 
 them. When such an " intruder " ap- 
 pears, instead of the bearing of gentle- 
 men, the first discoverer of the visitor 
 cries out, "Fourteen hundred fives!" 
 and a hundred voices re-echo the cry. 
 Youth or age is equally disregarded; 
 and the following description of what 
 occurred to an unconscious interloper, 
 
 and which is no rarer instance, will 
 show that there are financial as well as 
 political " roughs." j 
 
 Not long ago (according to an Eng-< 
 lish journal), a rural gentleman, igno-' 
 rant of the rule so rigidly enforced foi? 
 the expulsion of strangers, chanced ta 
 " drop in," as he phrased it, to thai 
 Stock Exchange. He walked about! 
 for nearly a minute, without being dis^^ 
 covered to be an intruder, indulging! 
 in surprise at finding that the greats 
 est uproar and frolic prevailed in ai 
 place in which he expected there woul(^ 
 be nothing but order and decorum* 
 All at once, a person who had justi 
 concluded a hasty but severe scrutiny* 
 of his features, called out at the full 
 stretch of his voice the usual signal 
 in such cases — "Fourteen hundred.'*] 
 Then a bevy of the " gentlemen " of I 
 the resort clamorously surrounded him.! 
 " Will you purchase any new navy fival 
 per cent. ? " said one, eagerly and mena*! 
 cingly looking him in the face. " I anoij 
 not — ," the stranger was about to sayj 
 he was not going to purchase stock of' 
 any kind, but was unceremoniously 
 prevented finishing his sentence by hiai 
 hat being, through a powerful applica-- 
 tion of some one's fist to its crown^ 
 not only forced over his eyes, but over^ 
 his mouth also. Before he had time toi 
 recover from the stupefaction into* 
 which the suddenness and violence of' 
 the eclipse threw him, he was seized^ 
 by the shoulders and whirled aboutsj 
 as if he had been a revolving machine^ 
 accompanied by several smart cufisi 
 which told, with stinging effect, in thfti 
 region of his ears. He was thens 
 dragged about, from one person to an- : 
 other, each having a fraternal " turn "j 
 at him, as if he had only been the ' 
 effigy of some human being, instead of '- 
 a human being himself. After tossing i 
 and hustling him about in the roughest \ 
 possible manner, abbreviating his coat : 
 of one of its tails, and tearing into 
 fragments other parts of his wardrobe, ; 
 they carried him to the door, where, i 
 
FAMOUS COMMERCIAL RESORTS AND LOCALITIES. 
 
 289 
 
 after depositing him on liis feet, they 
 left him to recx)vcr his lost senses at his 
 leisure — but in some other place and 
 comj)any than theirs. 
 
 Origin of Boards of Trade. 
 
 Cromwell seems, according to the 
 best accounts we have, to have given 
 the first notions of a board of trade. 
 In 1665, he appointed his son Richard, 
 with many lords of his council, judges 
 and gentlemen, and about twenty mer- 
 chants of London, York, Newcastle, 
 Yarmouth, Dover, etc., to meet and 
 consider by what means the trade and 
 navigation of the republic might be 
 best promoted. Charles the Second, 
 ou his restoration, established a council 
 of trade for keeping a control over the 
 whole commerce of the nation ; he 
 afterwards instituted a board of trade 
 and plantations, which was afterwards 
 re-modelled by William the Third. 
 This board of commercial superinspec- 
 tion was abolished in 1772 ; and a new 
 council for the affairs of trade, on its 
 present plan, was appointed in 1786. 
 
 Attacks on the Stock Exchange. 
 
 The character of the old stock ex- 
 change, of London, has been set forth 
 in terms about as strong as language 
 can express it. Even as far back as a 
 century ago, a writer of that time says, 
 " The centre of jobbing is the king- 
 dom of 'Change Alley;" and what 
 was true then is by many regarded as 
 the same at the present day. The enor- 
 mous profits made by the association, 
 the malpractices of the greater part of 
 its members, and the insolence of the 
 richer ones, excited long since the alarm 
 of those unacccustomed to such manoeu- 
 vres, %nd the public writers began to 
 attack their increasing power. 
 
 " The villany of stock-jobbing is 
 called a mystery or machine of trade," 
 says one of these writers. " This de- 
 structive hydra ! this new corporation 
 19 
 
 of hell ! " exclaims another ; while one 
 of them gives directions, in order to 
 besiege and bring to surrender "that 
 infamous place, 'Change Alley," "to 
 storm it," etc. ' 
 
 Another writer declares that " the 
 general cry against stock-jobbing has 
 been so long, and it has been so justly 
 complained of as a public nuisance, 
 that these people are hardened in 
 crime ; all their art is a mere system 
 of cheat and delusion ; their characters 
 are as dirty as their employments ; and 
 the best thing that can be said of them, 
 perhaps, is that there hap'pen to be two 
 honest men among them." " Exchange 
 Alley is, in fact, as dangerous to the 
 public safety as a magazine of gun- 
 powder to a populous city." 
 
 But all these invectives did not ob- 
 struct the progress of the establish- 
 ment ; on the contrary, it continued 
 to become more powerful, and in- 
 creased in proportion as the govern- 
 ment was more extravagant and care- 
 less of the public money. It became, 
 in short, an indispensable engine of 
 the government itself; but the latter 
 was finally compelled, by public opin- 
 ion against the detested operations of 
 the exchange, and in order to keep up 
 appearances, to pass several acts against 
 the very operations and the very gam- 
 bling it was so deeply, though secretly, 
 fomenting. Avarice, idleness, and the 
 hope of becoming rich in a short time 
 without industry, eluded and evaded 
 all laws. The members of this corpo- 
 ration have not only become the exclu- 
 sive masters of the British money 
 market, but have acquired the im- 
 mense power of secretly controlling and 
 regulating the funds and money market 
 of almost the whole world. 
 
 Custom Houses and Star Chambers. 
 
 A MERCHANT In Loudon, of the name 
 of Richard Chambers, having sustained 
 some loss by a confiscation of part of 
 his property by the custom-house ofli- 
 
290 
 
 COMMERCIAL AXD BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 cers, in a moment of indignation said, 
 in the hearing of some of the privy 
 council, " that the merchants in Eng- 
 land were more wrung and screwed 
 than in foreign parts." For the offence 
 of this language he was forthwith 
 brought before "the honorable court 
 of Star Chamber," as it was termed, 
 and fined two thousand pounds, for 
 refusing to pay which he was ordered 
 to be imprisoned six years, and even 
 this punishment was by some members 
 of the court considered too small. It 
 was also part of Chambers' sentence to 
 sign a very mean submission, which 
 was accordingly prepared. But when 
 this was brought to him he absolutely 
 refused, and, with all the terrors of a 
 prison in view, wrote under it that 
 " he abhorred and detested it as unjust 
 and false, and never until death would 
 he acknowledge any part, of it." In 
 consequence of his determined opposi- 
 tion to the tyranny of the government, 
 on this and other occasions. Chambers 
 was utterly ruined, and died of poverty 
 and brokenheartedness at an advanced 
 age. 
 
 Quotations of the New Exchang-e. 
 
 The commercial phrases peculiar to 
 the new Matrimonial Exchange, Lon- 
 don, are from time to time delineated 
 by the stock reporters for Punch — a 
 journal which appears to be the exclu- 
 sive organ of the dealers and habitues 
 of that important mart. Quotations 
 are given as follows — though the varia- 
 tions are so rapid and anomalous as 
 almost to defy the reporter's skill : 
 
 The demand for hands has been flat. 
 Rings have been heavy, and so were 
 not fingered. Acceptances were at a 
 discount — offers fluctuating. "Yes's" 
 were in plenty, but no takers. Kisses 
 were liberally showered on new visitors. 
 Hearts that were to be had for love went 
 off unsteadily, and, in some cases, at con- 
 siderable risk ; those with high interest 
 eagerly sought for, though, in many 
 
 cases, at a great risk, as permanent in 
 vestments. 
 
 Banns might have been had witl 
 asking for; but licenses kept thei 
 prices — there were very few transac 
 tions in this stock. Smiles anc 
 squeezes were unchangeable at par 
 and one gentleman who speculatec 
 boldly in foot touches, met witl 
 favorable returns. Sighs latterly wer( 
 heavy, but small-talk continued brist 
 to the close. Bright eyes looked uj 
 occasionally, but soon fell again 
 Though some business, as usual, wa; 
 done in blushes, silly looks were nol 
 in demand; free-and-easies, however 
 rose to a high premium, and drov( 
 genuine modesty almost out of the 
 market. 
 
 Maternal frowns were in consider 
 able quantities, and prevented, it ij 
 thought, many imprudent bargains 
 from being finally settled. Scanda" 
 kept its customary high ground ; anc 
 more transactions occurred in that line 
 than in the three others put together 
 Serenades — particularly of wind instru 
 ments — were in great demand and ir 
 plentiful supply during the equinox 
 Slights were complained of by manj 
 dealers. 
 
 On the whole, at the close of the 
 season and markets, the single pei 
 cents were not much reduced, as com 
 pared with the business of formei 
 years; and there was a sluggishness 
 in even improper flirtations, which had 
 no doubt its share in casting a gloom 
 and monotony over the general course 
 of the Exchange. 
 
 P. S. — A later report gives the mar- 
 ket an aspect of greater steadiness and 
 encouragement. Liberal offers being 
 more difficult to obtain, has caused 
 acceptances to be had at a great dis- 
 count compared with previous quota- 
 tions. Not much doing in maternal 
 frowns, on which account time bar- 
 gains are settled without much diffi- 
 culty. Heavy purses are much in- 
 quired for; but stocks with small 
 
FAMOUS COMMERCIAL RESORTS AND LOCALITIES. 
 
 291 
 
 capitals, have not once been sought 
 after. Sly squeezes are very brisk. 
 Blushes are remarked as quite scarce, 
 none having been seen in the market 
 for a length of time. Jealousy is 
 rising considerably. Other stocks re- 
 main almost the same as before, with 
 the exception of scandal, v^hich may be 
 said to be rather on the advance. 
 
 Scenes in a Turkisli Custom House. 
 
 There is a slight difference between 
 an American and a Syrian custom- 
 house. On entering the latter, the 
 Hadji dons a pair of spectacles, and 
 taking a scrap of paper from the 
 nearest applicant, carefully peruses the 
 same before handing it over to some 
 subordinate. The room is a long 
 oblong one, with only one entrance 
 door, and a few pigeon holes close to 
 the ceiling, which do duty for win- 
 dows. Round three sides are placed 
 long, narrow divans, with equally low 
 wooden desks before them. Only the 
 Hadji, in compliment to the high office 
 he fills, is accommodated with a lofty 
 seat, which serves for manifold pur- 
 poses ; on it he sits, tailor fashion, 
 himself; on it are his ink-horn, his 
 pepper-box, full of steel gratings (to 
 serve instead of blotting paper), his 
 tobacco pouch, his private account 
 book, his seal of office, a large pair of 
 shears, to cut his paper with, a quire 
 of paper, and a few envelopes. All the 
 clerks have the same inventory of goods, 
 with the exception of the signet, either 
 on the desk before them, or on the 
 divan beside them ; and, as far as can 
 be judged, very few of the clerks seem 
 to pay any particular heed as to what 
 is going on around them. Some are 
 playing backgammon, shuffling the 
 dice, and speaking or laughing as loud- 
 ly as though the place were an hotel ; 
 others are playing at cat's cradle ; some 
 are narrating little episodes of private 
 adventure ; and one or two, with in- 
 tense anxiety depicted in their faces, 
 
 may be seen endeavoring to unravel a 
 sum in simple addition, adding up some 
 six lines of figures, and arriving re- 
 peatedly at most unsatisfactory re- 
 sults. 
 
 At the farther end of the room, 
 and nearest the door, are some half- 
 dozen patient individuals, who, see- 
 ing the throng pressing around the 
 Hadji's desk, despair of transacting 
 any business for a good half-hour to" 
 come, and endeavor to while away the 
 time with the stale old newspaper, or 
 in desultory conversation. In the cen- 
 tre of the room, wrangling with each 
 other in no measured accents, are a 
 couple of Hebrews, the one the seller, 
 the other the purchaser of a few barrels 
 of sugar, which are warehoused in the 
 custom house ; the bone of contention 
 between them is a couple of rusty old 
 hoops, which have fallen off said casks, 
 and which both lay claim to as their 
 respective perquisites ; their joint value 
 might be somewhat under six cents — 
 but six cents are six cents, and the dis- 
 pute grows fierce and loud. At last 
 they appeal to the Hadji; and the 
 Hadji, who always has an eye to the 
 main chance, claims them as his own. 
 The customs charge nothing for ware- 
 housing, therefore he considers himself 
 entitled to occasional windfalls. Vainly 
 they expostulate against this, pale with 
 anxiety and rage to think that they are 
 both outwitted ; the order is given to 
 the warehouse scribe, who chances to 
 be in the room at the time, to make an 
 immediate memorandum of the mat- 
 ter; and this dignitary^ who to all 
 appearance is totally unfurnished with 
 materials, squats down immediately 
 upon the floor, and, producing ink- 
 horn and paper, thrusts up one knee, 
 which serves him as a desk, and the 
 minute is forthwith entered. Then the 
 two dealers go away, full of enmity 
 toward each other, their tempers not 
 being improved by a sly allusion, on 
 the part of some witty individual, to 
 the fable of the two cats and the 
 
292 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 cheese — which fable itself was origi- 
 nally copied from the Arabs. 
 
 Every one is talking and clamorous, 
 when a hurried shipmaster, accompa- 
 nied by a consular cawass and an inter- 
 preter, elbows his way up to the Hadji's 
 desk and demands, as the wind is fair, 
 to have his ship cleared out instanter, 
 " Shuay, shuay, ye ebney ! Yauash ! 
 yauash ! " (Gently, gently, my son ! 
 quietly, quietly !) " Does the man 
 think we work by steam in this 
 office ? " 
 
 Thus demands the Hadji, to w^hich 
 on due interpretation, the captain 
 allows that he would be mad or blind 
 to think so. Nevertheless, the Hadji 
 has a wholesome fear of the English 
 consul ; wherefore, he takes the docu- 
 ments out of the captain's hands, and 
 gives them to his own private transla- 
 tor. This individual, who is clad in 
 hybrid costume, reads out the mani- 
 fest, line by line, the Hadji making 
 note of the same, and comparing them 
 with his own entries of shipments, 
 which are found to tally exactly. Then 
 comes the most important question, 
 viz., Have all these shipments paid 
 the right export duty? The Greek 
 broker has made some omission, it ap- 
 pears, and matters cannot be proceeded 
 with till the mistake is corrected. 
 Upon this information, the shipmaster 
 is naturally annoyed, but there is no 
 remedy ; he is obliged to go all the 
 way back to the broker's, thence to the 
 shipper, and in all probability is forced 
 to appeal to the consul. Meanwhile 
 the fair wind subsides, and the owners, 
 the underwriters, and all parties con- 
 cerned, have lost a week, if not more — 
 a week of hardship, wear and tear, of 
 expenses in pay and sustenance, and 
 perhaps the cargo is about ruined by 
 so long confinement. 
 
 Manchester Cotton Dlerchants. 
 
 There is, perhaps, no part of the 
 commercial world in which so much is 
 
 done and so little said in the same 
 space of time, as among the merchants 
 of Manchester, Eng., at the time of 
 " high " change. A stranger sees noth- 
 ing at first but a collection of gentle- 
 men, with thoughtful, intelligent faces, 
 who converse with each other in 
 laconic whispers, supply the non-use 
 of words by nods and signs, move 
 noiselessly from one part of the room 
 to another, guided as if by some hidden 
 instinct to the precise person in the 
 crowd with whom they have business 
 to transact. 
 
 A phrenologist will nowhere meet 
 such a collection of decidedly clever 
 heads. The physiognomist who de- 
 clared that he could find traces of 
 stupidity in the faces of the wisest 
 philosophers, would be at a loss to find 
 any indication of its presence in the 
 countenances assembled at the Man- 
 chester Exchange. Genius appears to 
 be not less rare than folly ; the charac- 
 teristic features of these habitues, col- 
 lectively and individually, are those of 
 talent and sagacity in high working 
 order. 
 
 Whether trade be brisk or dull, high 
 'change is equally crowded ; and the 
 dificrence of its aspect at the two 
 periods is sufficiently striking. In stir- 
 ring times, every man on 'change seems 
 as if he belonged to the community 
 of the dancing dervishes, being utterly 
 incapable of remaining for a single 
 second in one place. It is the prin- 
 ciple of a Manchester man, that 
 " naught is done while aught remains 
 to do ; " let him but have the oppor- 
 tunity, and he will undertake to supply 
 all the markets between China and Peru, 
 and will be exceedingly vexed if he has 
 lost the chance of selling some yam at 
 Japan, on his way. When trade is 
 dull, the merchants and factors stand 
 motionless as statues, or move about 
 as slowly -as if they followed a funeral— 
 the look of eagerness exchanged for 
 that of dogged obstinacy ; it seems to 
 say—" My mind is made up to lose so 
 
FAMOUS COMMERCIAL RESORTS AND LOCALITIES. 
 
 293 
 
 much, but I am resolved to lose no 
 more." An increase of sternness and 
 inflexibility accompanies tlie decline 
 of tlie Manchester trade, and foreigners 
 declare that the worst time to expect a 
 bargain is a season of distress. 
 
 Free Trade. 
 
 The well known Hussey Burgh, at the 
 opening of the session of parliament 
 in 1777, moved the usual address to the 
 king, in which was the following sen- 
 tence : " It is not by temporary expe- 
 dients, but by an extension of trade, 
 that Ireland can be ameliorated." On 
 the reading of this paragraph, Flood, 
 who was seated in the vice-treasurer's 
 place, said, audibly. " Why not a free 
 trade?" The amendment electrified 
 the house ; the words were adopted 
 by his friend, and the motion was 
 carried unanimously. It was a bold 
 commercial stroke, accomplished with 
 a master's skill and brevity. 
 
 Animated Scenes at the French 
 
 Fxchangre. 
 The spirit which animates the French 
 Exchange wakes up at one o'clock pre- 
 cisely. The stroke of the clock gives 
 the signal of business. At this sound 
 everything is in motion; a thousand 
 cries are sent forth ; a universal shout 
 fills the vast hall, and strikes the roof. 
 The " basket "—corbeille— a kind of 
 circular balcony occupying the east 
 end of the hall, around which sixty 
 brokers crowd, bristles with threaten- 
 ing arms, and furious memorandum 
 books. In the wink of an eye, the 
 floor is covered with a multitude of 
 little torn bits of paper ; these are the 
 orders of purchase and sale, sent by 
 their principals, and the answers re- 
 turned by the brokers. Iron railings 
 keep off the profane vulgar, who besiege 
 the basket on all sides, and whose con- 
 tinual buzz mixes with the shriekings 
 of the brokers, and of the pages of the 
 Exchange. A general stamping and 
 
 buzzing — a perpetual coming and 
 going, as in an ant hill or a bee hive 
 — seeming confusion yet perfect order ; 
 — such is the aspect of the Exchange 
 from one o'clock to three. 
 
 From the gallery above, which is 
 also thronged with multitudes of the 
 curious, a strange spectacle is presented 
 by this furnace in full blast, where 
 writhe, like twigs in the flame, the 
 most violent passions of the human 
 heart. The floor of fine and well-swept 
 sand, which surrounds the centre of the 
 parquet, or inclosure, is simply the 
 spitting-box of .the brokers. These 
 threatening cries — this defiance — these 
 exorcisms — are good natured words 
 and pantomines, always the same, and 
 meaning " I have fifty Northerns ! " 
 " I'll take ten thousand of the Fives ! 
 two thousand of the Threes ! " " Let 
 me have some Premiums^ early day — 
 next day ! " " Let me have some Pied- 
 mont!" " I'll sell some Gas ! " "Who 
 wants Zinc?" Here is Bank!" "Here 
 is City ! " «&c., &c., 
 
 That personage who from time to time 
 raises his voice in a corner of the Ex- 
 change, and whose purple face rises 
 above all other heads, thanks to the stool 
 which forms his pedestal, is the muezzin 
 of this mosque — the auctioneer of the 
 Exchange — the person whose duty it 
 is to minute and announce the rates of 
 public stock as they are ascertained. 
 At right angles with the inclosure, on 
 entering by the facade, a sort of human 
 alley-way is opened through the crowd, 
 in order to afford a passage for the 
 brokers' clerks, who go and come. Two 
 similar, but shorter alley-ways, run to 
 the right and the left of the basket, 
 like the two arms of a cross. These 
 three openings of the inclosure are 
 incessantly crowded with orders of 
 sale and purchase, which are sent to 
 the brokers by the busy messengers, 
 who bear the oflicial insignia em- 
 broidered conspicuously on the coat- 
 collar. 
 
 The lower sides of the hall, furnished 
 
294 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 ■with benclies at -wide intervals, serve 
 as a promenade for tlie sages of the 
 portico — the dreamers and the idle. 
 
 The Origin of the Clearing: House. 
 
 Not many years after the London 
 bankers had ceased to issue notes, the 
 inconvenience of making all payments 
 in Bank of England notes and gold, 
 had become so great, that some change 
 w^as indispensably necessary ; -when the 
 plan of adjusting each other's daily 
 payments by an interchange of liabil- 
 ities was adopted as the best mode of 
 economizing the use of money. At first 
 the system adopted was of the most 
 primitive kind, and certainly not the 
 safest. The clerks of the various bank- 
 ing houses used to perform the opera- 
 tion of exchanges at the comers of the 
 streets, and on the top of a post. They 
 then met, by appointment, at a public 
 house ; but, from the insecurity of these 
 arrangements, it was at last thought 
 best that the principal city bankers 
 should rent a house near the old post 
 ofl5ce in Lombard street. This house 
 was called the Clearing House. 
 
 Derivation of the Commercial Term 
 Bourse. 
 
 The original name of bourse, given 
 to edifices for the accommodation of 
 merchants, is thus stated : There was, 
 in former times, a square commodiously 
 situated in the middle of the city of 
 Bruges, in which stood a large building 
 that had been erected by the noble 
 family of La Bourse, whose coat of 
 arms, on its wall, was three purses. 
 The merchants of Bruges made this old 
 house the place of their daily assem- 
 blies ; and when afterward they went 
 to the fairs of Antwerp and Mons, they 
 called the places they found there for 
 the assembling of merchants, by the 
 name of La Bourse, or the Bourse. 
 
 Reduction of Custom-Honse Duties:— 
 "Death to the Beet-Root! " 
 
 The news of the reduction of the 
 customs duty on sugar was celebrated 
 with great enthusiasm in the towns 
 and cities of France — nowhere more 
 joyously than in Havi'e. Not only 
 were all the ships in the harbor gayly 
 dressed, and the houses profusely 
 adorned with tri-colored flags, but the 
 laboring class, whose work had been 
 so diminished by the smallness of the 
 cargoes brought by ships from the col- 
 onies, paraded the streets in great 
 numbers, preceded by a banner, with 
 a sugarcane surmounted by a nosegay, 
 below which was a beet-root covered 
 with crape, and bearing the inscription 
 " Death to the Beet-root ! " 
 
 Ludicrous Custom-House 
 Examinations. 
 
 Nothing can exceed the lynx-eyed 
 scrutiny and annoying detail of the 
 British custom-house officers. Upon 
 the arrival of a vessel from the Conti- 
 nent, for instance, the passengers are 
 asked for their trunk keys, and they 
 look as if they were about to offer to 
 the British Government their entire 
 stock of movables. Each has his sin- 
 gle carpet bag, and waits his turn. The 
 first bag opened may exhibit an old 
 coat, a hair brush, a checked shirt, an 
 empty flask, and a toothbrush ; the 
 next, a checked shirt, an empty flask, 
 and a hair brush; the third contains 
 an empty flask, a hair brush, and a 
 checked shirt. Then comes a bag 
 which actually contains a large portion 
 of dirty striped linen, which one of the 
 men engaged in the search begins to 
 rummage with a minuteness and curi- 
 osity which, after the very general way 
 of disposing of the other things, seems 
 quite surprising. The truth is, the 
 man has smelt brandy in the clothes, 
 and is looking out for the bottle. His 
 search for it is very much like that of 
 Page for Falstaff in the buck-basket,' 
 
FAMOUS COMMERCIAL RESORTS AND LOCALITIES. 
 
 295 
 
 and, as it turns out, 
 cessful. 
 
 is as little sue- 
 
 Business in London at Four ©'Clock. 
 
 A GRAPHIC picture — though not very 
 complimentary — of " Commercial Lon- 
 don " at four o'clock in the afternoon, 
 may be seen in the following, from the 
 pen of North : — Attorneys are cheating 
 their clients, or assisting them to cheat 
 other people. Merchants are calculat- 
 ing the chances of the markets, like 
 gamblers inventing martingales. Clerks 
 are adding up figures as clocks add up 
 minutes. Cashiers and secretaries are 
 reflecting on the facilities of an im- 
 promptu voyage to California. Direc- 
 tors of companies are "cooking" the 
 accounts of their shareholders. Waiters 
 at Joe's, Sam's, Tom's, Betsy's, and 
 other chop houses, whose proprietors 
 are apparently more proud of their 
 Christian names than usual, order 
 countless chops, through patent gutta- 
 percha telegraphs. Cooks baste them- 
 selves with half and half, while roast- 
 ing before their fires, like Fox's mar- 
 tyrs, bound to the steaks of their ty- 
 rants. Crossing-sweepers are industri- 
 ously cleaning streets as dry as carpets, 
 and begging of passengers as charitable 
 as cannibals. Usurers are meeting gen- 
 tlemen who want to borrow money at 
 any rate of — non-payment. Adven- 
 turers are keeping appointments with 
 capitalists they hope to drag into 
 speculations ; capitalists are contriving 
 monopolies by which to crush non-cap- 
 italist adventurers. Stock brokers are 
 playing money tricks on the Stock Ex- 
 change. Hebrew gold-kings are manu- 
 facturing intelligence to astonish the 
 stock brokers. Couriers are dashing 
 off with the commands of London 
 financiers to foreign potentates. Mes- 
 sengers are arriving from the sham, en- 
 treating aid from the real sovereigns of 
 Europe. And the plenipotentiaries of 
 that greater monarch still — the daily 
 press — are calmly overlooking the 
 
 whole anthill, with sublime indiffer- 
 ence to the struggles of its busy insects, 
 and generalizing for millions the knowl- 
 edge which, even to those in the midst 
 of the bustle, is too often but semi-ob- 
 scurity and chromatropic confusion. 
 
 Merchants and Susiness Resorts in 
 Moscow. 
 
 The mercantile portion of Moscow 
 presents characteristics peculiarly its 
 own. The quarter in which the retail 
 business is carried on is called Kitai- 
 gorod, or Chinese Town, a name which 
 it obtained in the earliest times as the 
 seat of the Chinese trade. At present 
 it contains two Gostivie dvori, or ba- 
 zaars, resembling that of St. Petersburg 
 in arrangement, but far surpassing it 
 in variety and amount of business. 
 One can hardly think of a desirable 
 object, for the sale of which a row of 
 stalls is not to be found there. Each 
 dealer both buys and sells in his own 
 line of business. Specie is also ranked 
 among the articles of commercial traf- 
 fic. The current coins of all countries 
 are to be purchased, as well as those 
 which time or circumstances have con- 
 verted into mere articles of curiosity. 
 
 The mercantile population of Mos- 
 cow cling to the same antique habits 
 which distinguish the commercial 
 classes in St. Petersburg; indeed, na- 
 tionality is much more developed in 
 the former place. St. Petersburg is a 
 chameleon, the color of which changes 
 from contrast. The foreigner thinks it 
 Russian, while to the native of Moscow 
 it appears a foreign city. The comfort- 
 able tradesmen in Moscow have a quar- 
 ter to themselves ; and while their ser- 
 vants keep the shops, the bearded 
 owners chat with one another in the 
 street. They live in indolent resigna- 
 tion on whatever fortune sends them, 
 and their language is proverbially that 
 of careless indifference. 
 
296 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 Railway Clearing House. 
 
 On account of the difficulty wliich 
 the multitude of English railway com- 
 panies found in keeping their mutual 
 accounts, they adopted, some years ago, 
 a system analogous to that of the 
 " clearing house " established by bank- 
 ers and merchants in large cities. The 
 clearing house, carried on in the inter- 
 est of mercantile classes, is, it is known, 
 an establishment which keeps up a sort 
 of imaginary debtor and creditor ac- 
 count with all the bankers and mer- 
 chants. The latter send their bills and 
 checks, not to each other, for payment, 
 but to the clearing house, where they 
 are sorted and classed under the name 
 of the firm which is to pay them. As 
 four o'clock approaches, each banker's 
 debits for the day are arranged in one 
 column in a printed form, and his cred- 
 its in the other ; and the payment of a 
 small sum of money, either to him or 
 by him, may balance a complicated list 
 of large sums. 
 
 It is this convenient principle, as ap- 
 plied in their mutual dealings in re- 
 spect to passengers, merchandise, mile- 
 age, and lost luggage, which the rail- 
 way companies have adopted. In a 
 street near the vast Euston station — the 
 great root whence most of the railroad 
 lines spring — is a plain doorway, with 
 a plain plate bearing the plain inscrip- 
 tion — Railway Clearing House. 
 
 Few passers by ever think, or could 
 think to any purpose, of what is done 
 within that doorway ; few would ima- 
 gine that commercial accounts to a stu- 
 pendous extent are there daily settled, 
 by clerks more numerous and in rooms 
 more extensive than those employed 
 by the most world-renowned banker. 
 The building was constructed at the 
 joint expense of all the companies, 
 who also bear the charge of salaries 
 and office expenses. The companies all 
 elect deputies or delegates, who form, 
 collectively, a committee for managing 
 afi*airs — or rather, there is a manager. 
 
 to carry on all the operations of the es- 
 tablishment, while the delegates attend 
 principally to seeing after the interests 
 of their respective companies. There 
 are several hundred clerks, who have 
 the management and adjustment of ac- 
 counts, and the amount involved annu- 
 ally is said to be from thirty to forty 
 million dollars. . There is an excellent 
 library, news room, reading room, etc., 
 combined with the vast business apart- 
 ments of this great concern. 
 
 Lloyd's Establishment, London. 
 
 The designation Lloyd's, so well 
 known in the mercantile world, origi- 
 nated with a person of the name of 
 Lloyd, who kept a cofiee house in Ab- 
 church lane, Lombard street. From 
 the vicinity of this house to the old 
 royal exchange, it speedily became a 
 rendezvous of merchants for news, and 
 for the transaction of business. It was 
 afterward removed to Pope's Head al- 
 ley, and thence again, in 1774, to the 
 Royal Exchange. After the destruction 
 of the Exchange, in 1838, by fire, which 
 originated in Lloyd's, the business was 
 carried on in the South Sea House, in 
 Old Broad street, where it remained 
 until the opening of the present Royal 
 Exchange in 1844, when it was removed 
 to its now splendid apartments. 
 
 These rooms are frequented by un- 
 derwriters, merchants, ship owners, ship 
 and merchandise brokers, and others, 
 chiefly for the purpose of obtaining 
 shipping intelligence, and of transact- 
 ing business connected with marine in- 
 surance. The principal room is that of 
 the underwriters, in which two enor- 
 mous ledgers lie constantly open ; the 
 one containing notices of speakings^ or 
 ships spoken with, and arrivals of ves- 
 sels at their various destinations; the 
 other recording distances at sea. The 
 immense amount of insurance business 
 done at Lloyd's may be appreciated 
 when it is said, that the value of the 
 interest annually insured at the present 
 
FAMOUS COMMERCIAL RESORTS AND LOCALITIES. 
 
 297 
 
 is estimated at about $200,000,000. 
 The shipping intelligence received at 
 Lloyd's is furnished by responsible 
 agents, in the especial employ of the 
 establishment, in almost every port. 
 
 One Thousand Million Pounds' Busi- 
 ness Annually at th.e Liondon Clear- 
 ing House. 
 
 On his "Visit to the Bank of 
 France," by Francis Lloyd, he says: 
 I explained to the regents of the bank 
 the operations of the London Clearing 
 House ; that system so economical of 
 time and trouble, and without which 
 concentration and rapid settlement the 
 enormous balances between the bank- 
 ing houses in the great emporium of 
 the commercial world could not be so 
 promptly struck — the wheels of our 
 complicated monetary system could 
 not revolve so evenly and quickly. I 
 have always thought that the system 
 of making bills, drawn from whatever 
 quarter of the world, or from whatever 
 town or village in Great Britain, upon 
 all parts of Great Britain, payable in 
 one place — that is, as effected daily by 
 one hour's adjustment of the clearing 
 house — that such united regulation and 
 acceleration of finance are to the com- 
 plex machinery of banking what the 
 flywheel and governor are to the steam 
 engine. 
 
 Imagine the regent's surprise when I 
 told him that in the London clearing 
 room — a plain room, on part of the site 
 of the old post office in Lombard street 
 — a clerk from each private bank in 
 London attended twice a day but for 
 half an hour ; and commercial obliga- 
 tions were collectively discharged to the 
 amount of three millions sterling every 
 day in the year, with not more than a 
 fifteenth of this sum in bank notes. 
 That, as to using coin (silver and cop- 
 per), I could readily picture to myself 
 the contemptuous and derisive expres- 
 sion of the face which the most juve- 
 nile of those clearing clerks would as- 
 
 sume at the bare suggestion. A thou- 
 sand millions of pounds sterling, I told 
 him, were paid last year in this room 
 by those clerks, not more than forty in 
 number — a sum larger than the nation- 
 al debt ; and that all the money used 
 for the operation — this balancing of a 
 year's commercial enterprise in all quar- 
 ters of the globe — was effected without 
 a single error or moment's delay, and 
 with bits of paper only, viz., the promis- 
 sory notes of the Bank of England. 
 
 'Change Alley as a Business Resort. 
 
 The centre of financial jobbing in 
 London is in 'Change alley and its ad- 
 jacencies. The limits are easily sur- 
 rounded in a minute and a half. Step- 
 ping out of Jonathan's into the alley, 
 you turn your face fiill south ; moving 
 on a few paces, and then turning due 
 east, you advance to Garraway's ; from 
 thence, going out at the other door, 
 you go on still east into Birchin lane, 
 and then, halting a little at the sword- 
 blade bank, you immediately face to 
 the north, enter Comhill, visit two or 
 three petty provinces there on your 
 v/ay to the west; and thus having 
 boxed your compass, and sailed round 
 the stock-jobbing globe, you turn into 
 Jonathan's again. Such is the descrip- 
 tion given by a pamphleteer of this 
 depot of the dealers and jobbers in the 
 funds and stocks market — long so fa- 
 mous throughout the business world. 
 Here assembled the sharper and the 
 saint ; here jostled one another the Jew 
 and the Gentile ; here met the courtier 
 and the citizen ; here the calmness of 
 the gainer contrasted with the despair 
 of the loser ; and here might be seen 
 the carriage of some minister, into 
 which the head of his broker was anx- 
 iously stretched, to gain the intelli- 
 gence which was to raise or depress 
 the market. In one corner might be 
 witnessed the anxious, eager counte- 
 nance of the occasional gambler, in 
 strange contrast with the calm, cool 
 
298 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 demeanor of the man whose regular 
 trade it was to deceive. In another, 
 the Hebrew measured his craft with 
 that of the Quaker, and scarcely came 
 off victorious in the contest. 
 
 Amusing Perplexities at the Custoxn 
 House. 
 
 The occasional importation of arti- 
 cles which are not enumerated in the 
 tariff of custom-house duties is in some 
 instances productive of amusing per- 
 plexity. A singular case of this nature 
 occurred once at the London custom 
 house, the solution of which was beyond 
 the skill of all the officials, and was 
 only reached at last by the native power 
 of the article itself. This case was the 
 importation of some ice from Norway. 
 A doubt was started as to what duty it 
 ought to pay, and this point was re- 
 ferred from the custom house to the 
 treasury department, and from the 
 treasury to the board of trade. Oddly 
 enough, it was the opinion of the latter 
 officials, that the ice might be intro- 
 duced on the payment of the duty on 
 dry goods— but, as the thing turned out, 
 " the ice was dissolved before the ques- 
 tion was solved." In another case, the 
 officials came to an equally dead lock : 
 A gentleman had imported a mummy 
 from Egypt, and the officers of the cus- 
 toms were not a little puzzled as to 
 what to do with this non-enumerated 
 article. These remains of mortality — 
 muscles and sinews, pickled and pre- 
 served three thousand years ago — could 
 not be deemed a raw material, and, 
 therefore, upon deliberation, it was de- 
 termined to tax them as a manufac- 
 tured article. The importer, anxious 
 that his mummy should not be seized, 
 concluded, before the decision was 
 made, just to state its value at two 
 thousand dollars — an unfortunate de- 
 claration, which cost him one thousand 
 dollars, being at the rate of fifty per 
 cent, on the "manufactured merchan- 
 dise." 
 
 Duty on Pictures. 
 
 Mr. N., an American, used to relate, 
 with much good humor, the following 
 adventure, which happened to him on 
 his arrival at the custom house at Do- 
 ver, England. Being an amateur of 
 pictures, he had brought with him a 
 view of the Falls of Niagara, which he 
 had himself painted during his resi- 
 dence in Canada. The size of the pic- 
 ture was about six square feet, and as 
 the duty on painted canvas was rated 
 at one guinea the foot, the demand was 
 consequently the very considerable one 
 of six guineas. Mr. N. demurred to 
 such a charge on a picture of no value 
 to any one but himself, and appealed 
 to the director of the customs, who, 
 however, informed him that the regula- 
 tion was positive, and could not be de- 
 parted from. Mr, N. still complained 
 of the exorbitant duty. " Very well," 
 said the director, "I only know one 
 way for you to avoid the payment of 
 it; leave your picture here for six 
 months ; as you are the sole proprietor, 
 no one will claim it, and at the end of 
 that period I shall put it up for sale. 
 Of course, no one will purchase such a 
 horrid daub, which is certainly not 
 worth six shillings, and you will then 
 have it for nothing." With this timely 
 advice Mr. N. complied, and in due 
 season obtained his picture. 
 
 Higrh 'Changre Hours. 
 
 High 'change hour is fixed at one 
 o'clock by the merchants of Philadel- 
 phia. New York exchange assembles 
 at two and three quarters o'clock, but 
 is not fully attended until three and 
 one quarter o'clock. In Liverpool, the 
 hours are from two to five o'clock; 
 and, if the visitor wishes to be sure of 
 seeing the persons who frequent it, he 
 may be obliged to wait or waste three 
 hours before he can accomplish his 
 purpose. In the London exchange, 
 the crowd begins to pour in at four 
 
FAMOUS COMMERCIAL RESORTS AND LOCALITIES. 
 
 299 
 
 o'clock, and in a quarter of an hour it 
 is " high 'change." At half past four 
 it ceases, when beadles go round with 
 large bells, with which they make such 
 a deafening noise that the assembly is 
 soon dispersed, the gates are locked, 
 and no one is allowed to enter till the 
 next day. 
 
 In European cities, all the principal 
 houses or firms have regular places of 
 resort on 'change. For example, Mr. 
 Rothschild is always to be found, on 
 foreign post days, on the " Italian 
 Walk ; " the Messrs. Baring, Brothers 
 & Co. are to be found at the column 
 which they have frequented for years ; 
 those merchants who are in the Ameri- 
 can trade frequent the " American 
 Walk ; " those who are in the Russian 
 and Swedish trade frequent the " Bal- 
 tic Walk ; " and those in the German 
 trade, frequent the " Hamburg Walk." 
 
 In Amsterdam, the exchange bell be- 
 gins to ring at half past two o'clock, and 
 if all persons who wish to enter the gates 
 before the clock strikes three, do not 
 succeed in getting in, they are com- 
 pelled to pay a small fee, amounting to 
 eight or ten cents, for admission. If 
 any one wishes to enter at half past 
 three, he is obliged to pay a fine of 
 half a guilder. So much importance 
 is attached to regular attendance on 
 'change, that if a house is not repre- 
 sented, either personally or by one of 
 the confidential clerks, it is considered 
 that a death has occurred in the family 
 of some one of the partners, or that bank- 
 luptcy or some other misfortune has oc- 
 curred. High 'change at Antwerp is at 
 five o'clock in the afternoon, when the 
 gates are closed, after which, to gain ad- 
 mittance, a fee of half a franc is paid. 
 
 First East India Company House. 
 
 The tradition is, that the East India 
 Company, incorporated December 31, 
 1600, first transacted their business in 
 the great room of the Nag's Head inn, 
 opposite St. Botolph's church, Bishops- 
 
 gate street. The maps of London, soon 
 after the great fire of 1666, place the 
 India House on a part of its present site 
 in Leadenhall street. Here originally 
 stood the mansion of Alderman Kerton, 
 built in the reign of Edward the Sixth, 
 rebuilt on the accession of Elizabeth, 
 and enlarged by its next purchaser. Sir 
 W. Craven, lord mayor in 1610. Here 
 was born the great Lord Craven, who, 
 in 1701, leased his house and a tenement 
 in Lime street to the company, at one 
 hundred pounds a year. A scarce 
 Dutch etching, still preserved, shows 
 this house to have been half timbered, 
 its lofty gable surmounted with two 
 dolphins and a figure of a mariner, or, 
 as some say, the first governor; be- 
 neath are merchant ships at sea, the 
 royal arms, and those of the company. 
 This famous and grotesque structure 
 was taken down in the year 1726, and 
 upon its site was erected the old East 
 India House, portions of which yet re- 
 main — although the present stone front, 
 two hundred feet long, and a great part 
 of the house, was built in 1798. 
 
 Homance and Trade. 
 
 There is nothing so sentimental in 
 the columns of a daily new^spaper as 
 the article devoted to the state of the 
 markets. We seldom peruse it — quoth 
 Punch — without a tendency to tears, 
 which are only checked by the recol- 
 lection that it is only on bags of coffee, 
 bales of cotton, parcels of pepper, and 
 barrels of flour, that we are exhausting 
 our useless sympathy. 
 
 We, however, defy any one to be 
 otherwise than moved by the descrip- 
 tion of the markets, which is evidently 
 the production of a writer who luxuri- 
 ates in a strain of melancholy tender- 
 ness, that is excluded by universal con- 
 sent from every other portion of the 
 newspaper. The literary sentimentalist, 
 finding no market among the booksel- 
 lers for his goods, has gone to the very 
 markets themselves, and has secured a 
 
300 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 corner in tlie journals, where he may- 
 indulge without restraint his tendency 
 to pathos. 
 
 Let us take a specimen of that affect- 
 ing style of writing, which has found 
 its way, appropriately enough, to Min- 
 cing Lane : " An improved feeling has 
 again begun to show itself in the coffee 
 market, where dulness had until lately 
 prevailed, and sugars began to assume 
 a livelier aspect." 
 
 Surely this must be written by some 
 fashionable novelist " out of luck," 
 whose Rosa-Matilda-isms, that once 
 used to cloy the circulating libraries 
 with their sweetness, have rushed to 
 the sugar cask as the only alternative 
 to avoid the butter shop. Substitute 
 Augustus Danvers for the " coffee mar- 
 ket," insert Rosalie in the place of " su- 
 gars," and we get a sentence that would 
 seem to form part of a melting novel 
 of ten years back, when the writers of 
 the same sort of stuff could command 
 their three or five hundred pounds for 
 an adequate lot of it. The paragraph, 
 as amended, will stand thus : " An im- 
 proved feeling had again begun to 
 show itself in Augustus Danvers (the 
 coffee market), where dulness had until 
 lately prevailed, and Rosalie (sugars) 
 began to assume a livelier aspect." 
 
 We know nothing of the mysteries 
 of what is termed the " staff" of a daily 
 paper ; but we certainly picture to our- 
 selves the writer of the markets as a 
 pale gentleman, with a forehead bared 
 to its highest, a Byron tie, a turned- 
 down shirt collar, and a melancholy 
 cast of countenance, with a feminine 
 tinge of the romantic. We can imagine 
 him walking moodily about the mar- 
 kets, looking out anxiously for a 
 glimpse of gloom in sugars, and feel- 
 ing an indescribable satisfaction in the 
 dulness of peppers. Why is it neces- 
 sary that wool should be " flat," Bengal 
 figs "low," indigo "dull," rice "de- 
 pressed," and everything that seems 
 nice and eatable so vrretchedly low- 
 spirited ? It is seldom we meet with a 
 
 bit of sensible " firmness " in something 
 or other ; but, even if we do, we are 
 told of a " tendency to give way," be- 
 fore we get to the end of the article. 
 
 Hall of tlie St. Petersburg: Exchange. 
 
 The hall of the Exchange in St. Pe- 
 tersburg is one of the most rare places 
 of business which our planet affords. 
 It is built only for whispers. An 
 audible conversation was never held 
 there. Nothing is spoken aloud save 
 mere bagatelles. " How is your good 
 lady ? " " Oh, we enjoyed exceedingly 
 our water party yesterday ; we were at 
 this place and that, at such a one's and 
 such a one's." " Yes, I admit that A 
 gives excellent dinners, but I find my- 
 self more comfortable at B's." Nothing 
 but this kind of conversation is spoken. 
 But when two persons are seen to put 
 their heads together, talk in the lowest 
 whispers, and palisade themselves in a 
 circle with their backs, so that not a 
 wedge could get into it, then there is 
 surely something in the wind, a hargain 
 has been made — the whispering has led 
 to some result. " Yes, sir." " No, eir." 
 " Too much — three thousand — four — 
 twenty — a hundred thousand." " Oc- 
 tober." " November," " London." 
 " Hull." " Baltimore." " Well, I will 
 take it." " Done ! that is settled then, 
 Mr. Curtins." 
 
 In the six side rooms, the sugar ba- 
 kers, and the dealers in tallow, corn, 
 and timber) have established them- 
 selves, though without any formal 
 regulation to that effect; and each 
 class has, from habit, taken possession 
 of a particular spot. These are com- 
 posed almost exclusively of Russians, 
 with and without beard, some old men 
 still in kaftans, others in modern 
 French coats. Between them and the 
 lords of the sea in the centre, are the 
 German brokers, with silver marks at 
 the button hole. Lastly, in the outer- 
 most circles, are the " artelschtschiki," 
 a sort of messenger class, for carrying 
 
FAMOUS COMMERCIAL RESORTS AND LOCALITIES. 
 
 301 
 
 letters or money, and performing other 
 errands, one of whom constantly at- 
 tends every Petersburg merchant ; and 
 these are always Russians. 
 
 This assemblage of the mercantile 
 classes of St. Petersburg is certainly 
 the largest company of respectable and 
 polished men that is to be seen in Rus- 
 sia, without order or cross of any kind. 
 Besides these silver marks, which are 
 worn by the brokers in their business, 
 as a sign that they have been duly ap- 
 pointed and sworn, and medals of 
 a pound weight hanging about the 
 necks of a few of the Russian mer- 
 chants, no distinctions are seen — noth- 
 ing but black frocks and simple green 
 surtouts. An observer has here ah ex- 
 cellent opportunity of studying the 
 Russian commercial character, and will 
 be struck with the difference in manner 
 and other respects between the mer- 
 chants of St. Petersburg and those of 
 any other city. 
 
 Men of Letters frequenting the Share 
 Mart. 
 
 The Hotel de Soissons, in Paris, was 
 made famous for a time as the head- 
 quarters of John Law, while blowing 
 his Mississippi bubbles. All classes 
 were represented in the eager throng 
 that besieged that mart of financial 
 lunacy. This hotel was the property 
 of the Prince de Carignan, together 
 with the adjoining garden of several 
 acres in the rear. Law became the 
 I^urchaser of the hotel, at an enormous 
 price, paying for it out of his prodig- 
 ious stock-jobbing gains, — the prince 
 reserving to himself the magnificent 
 gardens for his personal profit. They 
 contained fine statues, beautiful foun- 
 tains, and various other embellishments 
 and decorations. 
 
 As soon as Law was installed in his 
 new abode, an edict was published (for 
 there were high officials involved in 
 Law's project), forbidding all persons 
 to buy or sell stock anywhere but in 
 
 the gardens of the Hotel de Soissons. 
 In the midst, among the trees, about 
 five hundred small tents and pavilions 
 were erected, for the convenience of the 
 stock-jobbers. Their various colors, 
 the gay ribbons and banners which 
 floated from them, the busy crowds 
 which passed continually in and out — 
 the incessant hum of voices, the noise, 
 the music, the strange mixture of busi- 
 ness and pleasure on the countenances 
 of the throng, all combined to give the 
 place an air of enchantment that quite 
 enraptured the Parisians. The Prince 
 de Carignan made enormous i^rofits 
 while the delusion lasted. 
 
 As is well known, all classes became 
 enamored with Law's dazzling promises 
 of cent, per cent, for their investments ; 
 at any rate, the exceptions were so rare 
 as to attract attention. One day, two 
 sober, quiet, and philosophic men of 
 letters, M. de la Motte and the Abb6 
 Terrason, were heard to congratulate 
 each other that they, at least, were free 
 from this strange infatuation. A few 
 days afterward, as the worthy Abb6 
 was coming out of the Hotel de Sois- 
 sons, whither he had gone to buy shares 
 in the Mississippi, whom should he see 
 but his friend La Motte entering for 
 the same purpose. 
 
 " Ha ! " said the Abbe, smiling, " is 
 that you f " 
 
 " Yes," said La Motte, pushing past 
 him as fast as he was able ; " and can 
 that be you ? " 
 
 The next time the two scholars met, 
 they talked of philosophy, of science, 
 and of religion, but neither had cour- 
 age for a long time to breathe a syl- 
 lable about the Mississippi. At last, 
 when it was mentioned, they agreed 
 that a man ought never to swear 
 against his doing any one thing, and 
 that there was no sort of extravagance 
 of which even a wise man was not ca- 
 pable. 
 
 Something like this was the case of 
 Gay, the poet. Receiving a present 
 from his friend Mr. Scraggs of some 
 
302 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 South Sea stock, he once supposed him- 
 self to be master of twenty thousand 
 pounds. His friends persuaded him 
 to sell his share, but he dreamed of 
 dignity and splendor, and could not 
 bear to obstruct his own fortune. He 
 was then importuned to sell as much as 
 would purchase a hundred a year for 
 life, " which," says Fenton, " will make 
 you sure of a clean shirt and a shoulder 
 of mutton every day." This counsel 
 was rejected ; the profit and principal 
 were lostj and Gay sunk under the ca- 
 
 lamity so low that his life became in 
 danger. 
 
 It will hardly be wondered at, how- 
 ever, that literary men should have 
 been thus beguiled, in view of the fact 
 that so multitudinous was the crowd 
 around Law's quarters, and so eager 
 were all classes of the population to 
 buy the stock, that a hump-backed 
 man who stood in the street gained 
 considerable sums by lending his hump 
 as a writing desk to the anxious specu- 
 lators ! 
 
PAET SIXTH. 
 
 Anecdotes of Commebgial Abt and Pbhaseoloot. 
 
PAET SIXTH. 
 
 Anecdotes of Commercial Art and Phraseology. 
 
 ADVEUTISEMENTS, SIGN BOARDS, TRADE MARKS, TOKENS, ENVELOPES, LABELS, INSCRIPTIONS, 
 MOTTOES, AND TERMS — QUAINT, CURIOUS, GROTESQUE, INGENIOUS, AND LAUGHABLE. 
 
 The great skill in an advertiser is chiefly seen in the style which he makes use of. He is to men- 
 tion " tbe universal esteem or general reputation" of things that were never heard of.— Tatler, 
 
 Liberal trade ia good scholarship popularized, and commerce is literature on a sign board.— Anon. 
 
 Adepts in Commercial Puffing-. 
 
 Packwood, some fifty years ago, led 
 the way in England of liberal and sys- 
 tematic advertising, by impressing his 
 razor strop indelibly on the mind of 
 every bearded member of the kingdom. 
 Like other great potentates, he boasted 
 a laureate in his pay, and every one 
 remembers the reply made to the indi- 
 viduals so curious to know who drew 
 up his advertisements: "La, sir, we 
 keeps a poet ! " 
 
 But by universal consent, the world 
 has accorded to the late George Robins 
 the palm in this style of commercial 
 puffing. His advertisements were 
 really artistically written. Like Mar- 
 tin, he had the power of investing 
 every landscape and building that 
 he touched with an importance and 
 majesty not attainable by meaner 
 hands. He did perhaps go beyond the 
 yielding line of even poetical license, 
 when he described one portion of a para- 
 dise he was about to subject to public 
 competition, as adorned, among other 
 charms, with a " hanging wood," which 
 the astonished purchaser found out 
 meant nothing more nor less than an 
 old gallows. But then he redeemed 
 20 
 
 slight manoeuvres of this kind by 
 touches which displayed a native and 
 overflowing genius for puffing. On 
 one occasion, he had made the beauties 
 of an estate so enchanting, that he 
 found it necessary to blur it by a fault 
 or two, lest it should prove too bright 
 and good " for human nature's daily 
 food." " But there are two drawbacks to 
 this property," sighed out this Apostle 
 of the Mart, " the litter of the rose leaves 
 and the noise of the nightingales!''^ Cer- 
 tainly the rhetoric of exquisite puffing 
 could no farther go. 
 
 "Up to Snuff." 
 Li the days when every London shop- 
 keeper had a sign hanging out before 
 his door, a dealer in snuff and tobacco 
 on Fish-street hill carried on a large 
 trade, especially in tobacco, for his shop 
 was greatly frequented by sailors from 
 the ships in the river. In the course 
 of time, a person of the name of Farr 
 opened a shop nearly opposite, and 
 hung out his sign inscribed : 
 
 " The best Tobacco hy Farr:' 
 
 This— like the shoemaker's incription, 
 "Adam Strong Shoemaker," so well 
 known — attracted the attention of the 
 
306 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 sailors, who left the old shop to buy 
 "the best tobacco by far." The old 
 shopkeeper, observing that his oppo- 
 nent obtained much custom by his sign, 
 had a new one put up at his door, in- 
 scribed : 
 
 " Far better Tobacco than the best Tobacco 
 by Farr:' 
 This turned the tide of trade — his 
 customers came back — and finally his 
 opponent found himself so " far " in the 
 background as to be obliged to give 
 
 up business. 
 
 ♦ 
 
 Irish Pun on a Sign. 
 
 Aif Irishman once saw the popular 
 sign of the Rising Sun near Seven Dials, 
 beneath which the name of the jovial 
 landlord, Aaron Moon, was written 
 with only the initial letter of the Chris- 
 tian name, whereupon he exclaimed to 
 a friend : " Och ! Phelim, dear, see here. 
 They talk of Irish bulls ; why, here's a 
 fellow now, who puts up the Rising Sun, 
 nnd calls it A Moon ! " 
 
 Dean Swift and the Barber's Sigm. 
 
 Dean Swift, while resident on his 
 living in the county of Meath, was daily 
 shaved by the village barber, who be- 
 came a great favorite with him. Razor, 
 while lathering him one morning, said 
 he had a great favor to request of his 
 reverence — that his neighbors had ad- 
 vised him to take the little public 
 house at the corner of the churchyard, 
 which he had done, in the hope that 
 by uniting the profession of publican 
 with his own, he might gain a better 
 maintenance for his family. 
 
 " Indeed," said the dean, " and what 
 can I do to promote this happy union? " 
 
 " And please you," said Razor, " some 
 of our customers have heard much of 
 your reverence's poetry ; so that, if you 
 would but condescend to give me a 
 smart little touch in that way, to clap un- 
 der my sign, it might be the making of 
 me and mine forever." 
 
 "But what do you intend for your 
 sign ? " says the dean. 
 
 " The jolly barber, if it please your 
 reverence, with a razor in one hand and 
 a full pot in the other." 
 
 " Well," rejoined the dean, " in that 
 case there can be no great difficulty in 
 supplying you with a suitable inscrip- 
 tion." So taking up his pen, he in- 
 stantly scratched the following " smart 
 little touch " of a couplet, which was 
 affixed to the sign, and remained there 
 for many years : 
 
 " Rove not from pole to pole, but step in 
 here, 
 Where nought excels the shaving but — the 
 Jeer." 
 
 Killbury and Maimswortli Railway's 
 Advertisement. 
 
 The Board of Directors of the Kill- 
 bury and Maimsworth line of Railway, 
 respectfully announce that they intend 
 starting Excursion Trains during the 
 present season, to run at greatly reduced 
 fares, setting out from Killbury in the 
 morning, getting to Maimsworth at 
 twelve, and returning, with as many 
 passengers as are capable of being 
 brought back, every hour of the fore- 
 noon, up to twelve o'clock, or later, 
 according to the state of the engines, 
 and the breakdowns and collisions — 
 depending on management of the en- 
 gineers, brakesmen, and the rest of the 
 Company's employes. Owing to the 
 prevailing competition occasioned by 
 the overcrowded state of the medical 
 profession, the Company have been en- 
 abled to secure the services of a numer- 
 ous staff of experienced surgeons, who 
 will accompany each train, together 
 with a large body of dressers from the 
 principal hospitals, to act as their as- 
 sistants — thus seeing practice, for which 
 so large a field is afforded by the Kill- 
 bury and Maimsworth line. Medical 
 students will find splendid opportuni- 
 ties for amateur surgery in these excur- 
 sions. Amputations (under chloroform, 
 several carboys of which have been ob- 
 
COMMERCIAL ART AND PHRASEOLOGY. 
 
 307 
 
 tained expressly for these excursions) 
 at the shortest notice. Tourniquets, 
 with directions for use, in each car. 
 Splints, bandages, and every other com- 
 fort and convenience for the mutilated, 
 in abundance (supplied by the Com- 
 pany's own manufactory), gratuitously 
 furnished. 
 
 Earliest Printed Advertisements. 
 
 The very first advertisement discov- 
 erable in any newspaper is one which 
 refers to the theft of two horses. It is 
 contained in an early number of an 
 English newspaper called the Impartial 
 Intelligencer^ published in the year 
 1648, and consequently now consider- 
 ably more than two centuries old. It 
 was inserted by a gentleman of Can- 
 dish, in Sufiblk. After this, these noti- 
 fications are very few and far between 
 for several years, until the era of the 
 London Gazette. 
 
 Next to the above, in point of prece- 
 dence, so far as an active search among 
 the earliest newspapers can be relied 
 on, is an advertisement relating to a 
 book, which is entitled : 
 
 " IRENODIA GRATULATORIA, an He- 
 oick Poem ; being a congratulatory pane- 
 gyrick for my Lord GeneraFs late return, 
 summing up his successes in an exquisite 
 manner. 
 
 " To be sold by John Holden, in the New 
 Exchange, London. Printed by Tho. New- 
 court, 1652." 
 
 The above appeared in the January 
 number of the Parliamentary paper, 
 Mercurius Politicus. It is evidently a 
 piece of flattery to Cromwell upon his 
 victories in Ireland. Booksellers ap- 
 pear, therefore, to have been the first to 
 take advantage of this then new me- 
 dium of publicity, and they have con- 
 tinued to avail themselves very liberally 
 of its benefits up to the present day. 
 
 Boston Merchants' Business Marks or 
 Tokens. 
 
 There are some interesting speci- 
 mens of New England merchants' marks, 
 or tokens, of an ancient date, still in 
 existence. Among these are those of 
 Thomas Sandbrook, of Boston, and 
 William Holmes — the former bearing 
 the initials T. S., with the triangle and 
 cross ; the latter, W. H., with a rude 
 figure of a tree between. Another is 
 that of John Mills, of Boston, 1651; 
 James Astwood, of Roxbury, 1653 ; 
 and Nicholas Busby, of Watertown, 
 1657. That of Mills bears the initials 
 I. M., the triangle and cross at top, a 
 heart pierced with an arrow at the bot- 
 tom, six stars, and some other figures ; 
 that of Astwood, the initials I. A., with 
 a branch between them ; and that of 
 Busby, the initials N. B. united, the 
 triangle, some scrolls, etc. 
 
 New York Business Tokens. 
 
 Occasional memorials of old New 
 York business firms, of the last century, 
 come to light, and are of peculiar in- 
 terest. A piece in copper, issued by 
 Messrs. Matts, New York jewellers, in 
 1789, appears to have been the first 
 business token put in circulation in 
 that city. It bears on one side a clock, 
 on the other an American eagle ; one of 
 these was sold at auction, a short time 
 ago, for $1.63i. Talbot, Allum & Lee, 
 New York, merchants in the India 
 trade, issued their " one cent " in 1794 
 -^having an emblematic figure of liber- 
 ty guarding a bale of goods on one 
 side, and a ship under full sail on the 
 other ; one of these tokens, issued in 
 1794, was sold at auction for the sum 
 of $1.25, and another, issued by this 
 house in 1795, brought $2.25. 
 
 Inscriptions on Trade Coins. 
 
 The trade coins, once so common 
 among British shopkeepers, usually 
 bore on one side the issuer's name, and 
 
308 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 on the other his address and calling ; 
 sometimes a sign and date. Few trades 
 ■were unrepresented in this way, as the 
 coins still preserved show. 
 
 Some of these country trade coins 
 bear a simple promise to pay, as " I 
 will exchange my one penny ; " or an 
 announcement, " I pass for a half penny 
 in Leeds ; " "I am for a public good in 
 Cockermouth." Another, combining a 
 request and a prayer, " Send me to the 
 mercer of Knox Hall — God grant 
 peace." One says, " Paines bring 
 gaines ; " another that, " Plain dealing 
 is best." W. Wakeling shows his loyal- 
 ty with " Vive le Roy in Uttoxeter ; " 
 while another shopkeeper profanely 
 exclaims, " Touch not mine anointed, 
 and do my profits no harm." There is 
 a mock humility in " Poore Ned, of 
 Feversham ; " unintelligible quaintness 
 in " Pharaoh in Barley ; " and a ming- 
 ling of the practical and poetical in 
 such inscriptions as 
 
 and 
 
 " Welcome you be 
 To trade with me," — 
 
 " Although but brass, 
 Yet let me pass." 
 
 Scotch Tobacconist's Motto. 
 
 Persons who retire from trade are 
 sometimes disposed, from a false shame, 
 to conceal the mode by which they ac- 
 quired their wealth. A notable excep- 
 tion to this occurred in the case of a 
 Mr. Gillespie, a tobacconist, in the city 
 of Edinburgh. Having acquired an 
 ample fortune by the sale of snuff at the 
 end of the American war, he set up a 
 carriage ; and, lest the public, or liim- 
 self, might forget how he had acquired 
 the means of keeping one, to arms of 
 three snuff boxes rampant, he added 
 the following doggerel couplet as a 
 motto : 
 
 " Who would have thought it, 
 That noses could have bought it ? " 
 
 Mottoes in Ancient Times. 
 
 When printed books first became an 
 article of sale, they found such eager 
 purchasers, that spurious and imperfect 
 editions of the more celebrated works 
 began to be circulated. To remedy 
 this evil, and to give security and pro- 
 tection to those printers whose publica- 
 tions combined great literary merit 
 with rare typographical excellence, 
 princes and potentates granted them 
 permission to use on the title page 
 some symbol and motto, to counterfeit 
 which was legally as well as morally 
 criminal. 
 
 Thus, Aldus Manutius, who estab- 
 lished the famous Aldine press at 
 Venice, and was the inventor of the 
 type called Italic, adopted for his sign 
 on his title pages a dolphin and anchor. 
 Henry Stephens, the founder of the 
 celebrated family of printers of that 
 name, when established at Paris, took 
 for his symbol an olive tree, and which 
 long continued to be used by his son. 
 
 One of the earliest printers, of much 
 celebrity in England, was Henry Day ; 
 upward of two hundred works issued 
 from his press, all distinguished by his 
 symbol — the rising sun, with a boy 
 awaking his companion with the words, 
 "Arise, for it is day ! " in allusion to 
 the dawning day of the Protestant Ref- 
 ormation. Christopher Plantin, of Ant- 
 werp, adopted for his emblem and 
 motto a hand and pair of compasses, 
 with Lahore et Constantia — " By labor 
 and perseverance : " he stuck to his 
 own motto, and became very rich and 
 eminent. Juan de la Cuesta, of Madrid, 
 the printer and publisher of the first 
 edition of " Don Quixote," took for his 
 device a stork, surrounded by ihe 
 words Poet tenebras, spero lucem — " After 
 the darkness, I expect light." 
 
 English. Business Mottoes. 
 
 The great trading and business com- 
 panies in England, which were estab- 
 
COMMERCIAL ART AND PHRASEOLOGY. 
 
 309 
 
 lished before the Reformation, and en- 
 joyed exclusive monopolies by royal 
 grant, had each its patron saint, to 
 ■whom altars were built in the churches 
 of which they held the control — the 
 saint being generally chosen from some 
 relation, suf)posed or real, to the craft 
 or mystery of the company. Thus, the 
 fishmongers chose St. Peter, and met in 
 St. Peter's Church ; the drapers chose 
 the Virgin Mary, " Mother of the Holy 
 Lamb, or fleece," and assembled for 
 their ecclesiastical services in St. Mary 
 Bethlem Church ; the merchant tailors 
 selected as their patron saint, St. John 
 the Baptist, as the messenger or proph- 
 et who announced the advent of the 
 " Holy Lamb ; " and the goldsmiths' 
 patron was St. Dunstan, reputed to 
 have been a fellow craftsman. Their 
 liveries also bore their mottoes : that 
 of the skinners was, " To God be all 
 the glory ; " that of the grocers, " God 
 grant grace ; " the clothvvorkers' was, 
 " My trust is in God alone ; " the iron- 
 mongers', " God is our strength ; " and 
 the drapers', " Unto God be honor and 
 glory." 
 
 Fresh, Gems from. Engrlish. Advertising 
 Colum.ns. 
 
 The English journals continue to 
 furnish, now and then, an emerald of 
 the first water, in the way of ambigu- 
 ous advertisements — as complete a tri- 
 umph, indeed, over Lindley Murray, as 
 was that of Wellington over Napoleon. 
 The two specimens which follow, taken 
 from a London jjaper, appeared under 
 the head of " For sale : " 
 
 " Pianoforte— Cottage, 7 octaves — the 
 property of a Lady leaving England, in re- 
 mai'kably elegant Walnut Case on beautifully 
 carved supports. The tone is superb, and 
 eminently adapted for any one requiring a 
 first-class instrument. Price, 22 guineas, 
 cost double three months since." 
 
 We have heard of Arion riding on a 
 dolphin, and of the wise men of Goth- 
 am who went to sea in a bowl; we 
 have heard of Helle on her ram, and of 
 
 Europa on her bull ; but we never be- 
 fore heard of a lady designing to cross 
 the English Channel in a remarkably 
 elegant walnut case with beautifully 
 carved supports. Indeed, we might go 
 so far as to ask — as probably every 
 reader of the advertisement would be 
 led to — whether the " beautifully carved 
 supports " are those of the walnut case 
 or of the lady herself. In either case, 
 they would seem equally ill adapted to 
 struggle with the winds and billows. 
 
 The other advertisement referred to 
 is as follows : 
 
 " Business Chance. — To be disposed of, 
 a Genuine Pried Fish Business, at the West 
 End." 
 
 The meaning of this advertisement 
 is quite as obscure as that of the first. 
 Does the genuineness apply to the busi- 
 ness, to the fish as objects of ichthyol- 
 ogy, or the manner in which they are 
 fried ? We can guess what is meant 
 by Genuine Patent Medicines, Genuine 
 Bear's Grease, etc, but " Genuine Fried 
 Fish," and still more, a " Genuine Fried 
 Fish Business," is something hopelessly 
 beyond us. There was a time when 
 we did not know what was meant by 
 an " old fish for a mast," but, thanks 
 to many kind friends, we know now 
 very well. Perhaps a like confession 
 of ignorance may lead to our enlighten- 
 ment on the possibly kindred subject 
 of this " Genuine Pried Pish Business, 
 at the West End." 
 
 An TJntried Method. 
 
 There seems to be no end to the 
 new advertising projects which are 
 daily springing up in all directions. 
 There is, however, still one method of 
 advertising left untried, and it is a 
 wonder no one makes the experiment. 
 Umbrellas are still left blank— their am- 
 ple and conspicuous surface bearing no 
 announcement of any new pill, new ad- 
 hesive gum, bankrupt's sale, or " What 
 is it ? " It is pretty certain that the 
 
310 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 umbrella, with its little brood of para- 
 solettes, sunshades, etc., is destined to 
 become a tremendous vehicle for infor- 
 mation. An umbrella maker might try 
 the experiment by placing a puffing 
 broadside on all the articles of his own 
 manufacture. Or perhaps it would be 
 a better plan — as some persons might 
 foolishly object to caiTy an advertising 
 or pictorial umbrella — that on wet days 
 there should be stations, with placards 
 ready printed, to be pasted on (for a 
 consideration) to the umbrellas of any 
 one who might be disposed to combine 
 profit with convenience. 
 
 Classical Shop Langruag-e. 
 
 To use plain and pure English seems 
 now quite foreign to the taste of many 
 shopkeepers. French is pressed into 
 their service quite as much as Greek 
 and Latin, and by ill-educated tongues, 
 which talk of " hany other harticle," it 
 is not easy to imagine, without having 
 the headache, how the French language 
 must be mispronounced. One can 
 hardly ever take up a newspaper, now- 
 a-days, without seeing an advertise- 
 ment of some " recherche stock of 
 goods" which are to be disposed of 
 forthwith, "aa/is reserve." A hair- 
 dresser now styles himself in general an 
 artiste^ and advertises to the universe 
 his famed esprit de molette^ or louquet 
 de Rhine. One enterprising dealer has 
 • had the courage to combine his classics 
 with his French, and to advertise for 
 sale a lot of troche madapolums^ which 
 must be something rather curious if 
 they at all be really like their name. 
 Corsets and chapeau have quite sup- 
 planted such old English words as 
 " stays " and " bonnet ; " and of course 
 no upper-ten dressmaker would ever 
 dream of naming petticoats by any 
 other term than jupes. Why this is so, 
 it would be difficult to say ; nor is it 
 very easy to guess why in a newspaper 
 professedly intended for circulation 
 among those who speak the English 
 
 language, U sommier elastique portatif 
 should be advertised, when " portable 
 spring mattress " is vastly more intelli- 
 gible and far more easily pronounced. 
 
 Chinese Trade PuflB.ng. 
 
 The advertisement of Messrs. Chops 
 & Co., the great Chinese firm in Lon- 
 don — as it appears in the columns of 
 Punch — is formed after the choicest 
 models of English and American trade- 
 puffers, as the following will show : 
 
 We, Chop-chin, Chop-lip, Circassian- 
 cree, & Co-cree, having, in the pleni- 
 tude of our hearts, set uj) a shop in the 
 very bowels of this barbarian city, now 
 graciously invite all to come and feast 
 on the wonders of our celestial genius. 
 If, after this glorious proclamation, ye 
 will come and look, then most assuredly 
 will we benignantly smile ; and if, fur- 
 ther, ye should buy, we will as assured- 
 ly laugh very heartily. Delay not ! 
 hasten, hasten ! ! be speedy ! ! 
 
 Our luxuriant and nourishing Tartar 
 Cream, eo highly sought for by the 
 Chinese to polish and finish off their 
 tails, is much recommended for pro- 
 ducing a beautiful head of hair. 
 
 The True Keying Cold Cream the 
 Messrs. Chops can safely recommend, 
 it having been used for many years on 
 the nose of the Jolly Keying, when 
 heated by a vast multitude of red 
 bunkles, occasioned, it was believed, by 
 a constant flow of good spirits. 
 
 Since the arrival of the Messrs. Chops 
 into this country, they have witnessed 
 the fashion of reducing all things to 
 the smallest possible size and lightest 
 conceivable weight. Under this im- 
 pression, we have manufactured the 
 smallest, lightest, and most shallow 
 pots ever beheld ; two will go into a 
 pillbox, and any six can be carried in 
 a gentleman's waistcoat pocket. Each 
 pot 48. 6^., being only one shilling 
 more than the usual large and clumsy 
 pots sold at perfumers. 
 
 The Imperial Dentifrice, for procur- 
 
COMMERCIAL ART AND PHRASEOLOGY. 
 
 311 
 
 ing a beautiful set of teeth, is composed 
 of pulverized bricks from tbe Porcelain 
 Tower, Nankin. The wonders of this 
 beautiful powder can be at once dis- 
 covered by merely buying a pot. 
 
 Commercial Envelopes, Wrappers, 
 liabels, etc. 
 
 To such a degree is the ornamental 
 enveloping of the objects of commerce 
 and the products of industry now car- 
 ried on, in some departments of trade, 
 that the outside aspects of certain 
 goods, in the popular estimate, actually 
 outvies the goods themselves — the de- 
 corated packing case surpasses its con- 
 tents — the shell excels the kernel. In- 
 deed, this is the Tcey to the whole busi- 
 ness : the plainest envelope would answer 
 all the purposes of the most luxurious 
 and ornamental one, with a single ex- 
 ception — it would not sell the article ! 
 
 The most expensive of the articles 
 which may be classed as commercial 
 envelopes, is the envelope of the jeicel- 
 ler — the morocco case, lined with silk 
 velvet. The gold watch, the costly 
 ring, the bracelet, the gem, are present- 
 ed to the buyer in a morocco case, 
 which, however costly it may be in it- 
 self, forms a very trifling item in the 
 bill. Much capital is invested and 
 much skill employed in the manufac- 
 ture of these articles. 
 
 It is the paper maker who is the great 
 source of the commercial envelope. The 
 dress boxes, cap boxes, flower boxes, 
 pattern boxes, lace boxes, and all that 
 legion of envelopes, of every shape and 
 size, are made of j)aper, in some of its 
 numberless forms, such as card board, 
 mill board, etc. There is no limit to 
 articles of this description, comprising 
 the finest and whitest, or plain, or 
 grained, or embossed, with the most 
 elaborate designs, or spread with gor- 
 geous arabesques and radiant with 
 gold. 
 
 The pictorial element comes largely 
 into play in the various kinds of paper 
 boxes and envelopes; and it is said 
 
 that none of the pleasing discoveries in 
 chromo-typography, chromo-lithogra- 
 phy, and block printing in colors, would 
 have proved profitable, but for the use to 
 which they are applied by the makers 
 of j)aper boxes and ornamental wrappers 
 of various kinds. The perfumer, 'the 
 fancy stationer, the lace man, the glove 
 maker, are the wholesale patrons of those 
 beautiful arts, and not the public, who 
 admire their cliefs-d'' o&uvre in the shop 
 windows, but rarely purchase. It is by 
 the sale of tens and hundreds of thou- 
 sands of small colored designs and vig- 
 nettes, which are in demand to envel- 
 ope the scents, the soaps, the cutlery, 
 the conserves, the toilet gear of the la- 
 dies, or the choice filigree stationery 
 they use, that the chromo-photograph- 
 er is paid. For every picture which 
 the chromo-typographist sells as a 
 picture, a hundred at least are nomi- 
 nally given away as part and parcel of 
 the envelope to some kind of merchan- 
 dise. This luxurious species of envel- 
 ope originated in Paris, and is there 
 manufactured most extensively, and 
 sent in exquisite parcels to almost 
 every part of the world. 
 
 A rival of the paper-box maker is the 
 worTc&r in metal. The thinnest sheet or 
 film of lead, or tin, or brass, or bronze, 
 may be pressed in the form of a box 
 and its cover, with an endless variety 
 of most attractive patterns. Millions 
 of these metal envelopes are used, some 
 of them being exceedingly handsome 
 and perfect in design, and of course 
 helping largely the sale of the articles 
 to which they are applied. 
 
 The glass blower is another important 
 agent in the fabrication of commercial 
 envelopes. The dealers in scents and 
 odors know full well that it is the bot- 
 tle^ more than anything else, which re- 
 commends and sells the perfume, and 
 they spend infinitely more time and 
 trouble, and — it may as well be told — 
 capital, too, in elaborating a new toilet 
 bottle, than they do in the composition 
 of its contents. A delicious scent — the 
 
312 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 " extract of a thousand flowers," for in- 
 stance — may be concocted from essence 
 of lavender, a modicum of eau de Co- 
 logne, and a trifle of attar of roses, ho- 
 moeopatliically diffused in an ocean of 
 aqua pura — and may be varied ad in- 
 finitum by the least change in the in- 
 gredients; but the lottle^ which is to 
 glitter on the toilet table, demands all 
 the genius of the artist and the skill of 
 the craftsman. It is here the chief diflS- 
 culty lies — to achieve a two-ounce bot- 
 tle of classical design, toned down to 
 the modern standard of dressing-room 
 elegance; he is a lucky man indeed 
 who will accomplish it, and may reck- 
 on upon an influx of profit compared to 
 which cent, per cent, is mere zero. 
 
 The potter is in still greater request 
 than the glass blower, among a certain 
 class of dealers. Not to detail the va- 
 rious jars and earthen bottles which he 
 makes for trade purposes, there is a 
 shallow pot and cover, varying in di- 
 ameter from two inches, or less, to eight 
 inches or more, and formed of every 
 species of ceramic compound, from 
 plainest delf to finest porcelain, the 
 demand for which is almost incredible. 
 They are used as the deposits of poma- 
 tums, hair paste, cold cream, " bear's 
 grease," and so on. There are also 
 larger ones, for other purposes, some of 
 which are moulded with great care, 
 and delicately painted by hand with 
 groups of flowers or small landscapes. 
 
 Literature and Groceries. ^ 
 
 Pope's saying, that " a little learn- 
 ing is a dangerous thing," is pretty 
 well verified in the following inscrip- 
 tion over the door of a trader in Hel- 
 ton East, England, and which very 
 naturally arrests the attention of the 
 passers by : 
 
 Watkinson's 
 
 Acadamy ; 
 
 Whatever man has done man may do. 
 
 Also 
 
 Dealer in Groceries, 
 
 &c. 
 
 Sigmboard Ptmctuation. 
 
 Painters of signboards are too often 
 negligent or incompetent in the matter 
 of punctuation. They either indulge 
 themselves in a redundancy of stops, or 
 totally omit them. In the latter case 
 there will sometimes be met with such 
 non-punctuated inscriptions as — " A 
 Wood Smith," " Lamb Butcher," " Clay 
 Baker," "Winch Turner," "Peacock 
 Builder," "Gay Painter," "Church 
 Saddler," " Moon Gilder," &c. 
 
 "For Her Majesty." 
 
 A TRAVELLER in England, in a pe- 
 destrian tour through the principal 
 business streets, speaks of the amuse- 
 ment afforded him on reading the in- 
 scriptions on the ancient signboards; 
 one was coat maker, hat maker, boot 
 or spur maker, and so on, " for his 
 Majesty." Another — frock maker, cape 
 maker, corset, or glove maker, " for 
 her Majesty." Thousands are "li- 
 censed" to sell tea, sugar, and coffee, 
 l^rovisions, snuff and tobacco, porter 
 and pies, hay and straw, etc., and this 
 is duly specified on the board. On the 
 front of a three-story building, in large 
 letters, reaching from top to bottom, 
 was the following : " Sight restored, 
 and Headache cured, by Grindstone's 
 celebrated Eye Snuff— sold here ; " 
 something rather hard and gritty, it 
 would seem, this process of curing eyes 
 by a grindstone. Many have on their 
 signboards, under their name, the num- 
 ber of years they have done business in 
 that house ; as "John Thomas, Wine 
 Dealer, since 1794," — thus signifying 
 that he is a man of steady habits to re- 
 side and do business in the same house 
 for scores of years. Some of the signs 
 state that father and son have done 
 business on the same spot for one hun- 
 dred years and upward. 
 
COMMERCIAL ART AND PHRASEOLOGY. 
 
 313 
 
 Evasions of Trade Marks. 
 
 An English journal gives an account 
 of several remarkable evasions of trade 
 marks, some of which, at least, can 
 scarcely be heard of without a smile. 
 A Burlington Arcade " Perruquier " in- 
 troduced a Medicated Mexican Balm, 
 to which he prefixed his name ; where- 
 upon a neighbor speedily advertised 
 his Medicated Mexican Balm. A quar- 
 rel and a lawsuit ensued, ending in 
 the award of protection to the trade 
 mark. 
 
 Prof. H.'s pills and ointments may or 
 may not be worthy of the puffery which 
 surrounds them ; but by all business 
 men it must be regarded as an obvious- 
 ly mean trick when another person, 
 taking advantage of the same name, 
 opened a shop within the distance of a 
 few houses, and advertised, in the same 
 surname, pills and ointment, and which 
 was another case brought before the 
 law courts. 
 
 A third, and quite a curious case, ex- 
 hibited the following facts : Mr. Craw- 
 shay, the eminent ironmaster of South 
 Wales, marks his iron " W. Crawshay," 
 or " W. C," enclosed in a ring. One 
 day he observed on a wharf some bars 
 of iron bearing a mark which he sup- 
 posed to be his own, but which, on 
 closer inspection, he found to be " "W. 
 0.," enclosed in a ring. He ascertained, 
 moreover, that this mark commonly 
 passed in the Turkish market for his 
 own (Crawshay's) mark. Although 
 this trade mark was not exactly like 
 Crawshay's, yet the O, which was sub- 
 stituted for the C, was, when combined 
 with the W and the ring, a proof of 
 imitation. That Thompson, the pro- 
 prietor of this iron, was aware of the 
 imitation, was made clear; but there 
 was an absence of technical proof of 
 an intention to imitate. 
 
 Mr. Linnell, the distinguished paint- 
 er, painted a picture, and put his name 
 to it ; a copy of this picture, name and 
 all, got into the market. That this was 
 
 an infringement of a trade mark, and 
 something worse, was clear enough, yet, 
 through the inconsistencies of the law, 
 the perpetrator of the fraud escaped 
 both on the charge of forgery and on 
 that of obtaining money on false pre- 
 tences. 
 
 One George Borwick invented what 
 he called baking powder, and ^gg 
 powder, sold in packets, with his name 
 printed on the wrapper. Another deal- 
 er, failing to sell his own baking pow- 
 der, applied to a printer to print ten 
 thousand labels as nearly as possible 
 like Borwick's, except the signature. 
 This signature had been rendered in- 
 visible by the peculiar wrapping of 
 Borwick's packets, until the wrapper 
 was torn off; and therefore the cunning 
 cheat deemed himself in this particular 
 safe. Many of these deceptive packets 
 were sold as Borwick's, before the 
 scheme was discovered. 
 
 Foreign manufacturers have in many 
 cases had to vindicate themselves 
 against the arts of nimble-witted and 
 unprincipled English adventurers. The 
 never-dying Jean Maria Farina had 
 once to go into an English court of 
 law, to demand justice for his trade 
 mark. Relying on the confusion be- 
 tween the many eau-de-Cologne makers 
 who, in almost every part of the world, 
 assume that cognomen, an English 
 printer imitated a label with the signa- 
 ture, " Jean Maria Farina, gegenviber 
 dem Julich Platz," with a peculiar 
 flourish, and a\so a stamp and seal. 
 Although a Prussian subject, Farina 
 was able, in this particular instance, to 
 obtain justice in an English court of 
 law. 
 
 Another instance is that of the Col- 
 lins Company, manufacturers of edge 
 tools, Hartford, Conn. They stamp on 
 their manufactured articles the words, 
 " Collins & Co., Hartford, cast steel, 
 warranted," and also affix labels on 
 which is printed, " Look out for the 
 stamp Hartford^ if you want the genu- 
 ine Collins & Co." A Birmingham 
 
314 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 (England) merchant was clearly proved 
 to have imitated the trade mark and 
 labels of this company, and to have 
 been in the habit of sellmg and export- 
 ing tools so stamped as being the tools 
 of the company. The latter got the 
 merited justice in this case. 
 
 Shop and Business Signs : Ancient 
 lExamples. 
 
 The bearing of devices over the doors 
 of shops and other places of business, 
 was a very common practice before the 
 introduction of the plan of numbering 
 the houses, which did not take place 
 until about one hundred years ago. 
 The sign of the house in Bread street, 
 where Milton's father resided, was a 
 spread eagle, which appears to have 
 been the arms of that family. Remains 
 of this custom are still to be observed 
 in several parts of London, and, as is 
 pretty well known, the Messrs. Hoares, 
 the bankers, in Fleet street, retain to 
 this day over the door the symbol of a 
 leather bottle, gilt ; and the same was 
 also represented on their notes which 
 they formerly issued. The Messrs. 
 Gostlings also retain their sign of the 
 three squirrels, and Strahan, Paul & 
 Co., the sign of the golden anchor. 
 
 The three gilt balls so commonly 
 hung out as signs at pawnbrokers' 
 shops, and by the mass humorously 
 said to indicate that it is two to one 
 the things pledged are never redeemed, 
 were in reality the arms of a set of mer- 
 chants from Lombardy, who were the 
 first that publicly lent money on 
 pledges; these merchants borrowed 
 this triple symbol from the great mer- 
 chant, De Medicis. They dwelt to- 
 gether in a street, from them named 
 Lombard street, in London, and also 
 gave their name to another in Paris. 
 The appellation of Lombard was for- 
 merly all over Europe considered as sy- 
 nonymous with that of usurers. 
 
 The barber's pole has been the sub- 
 ject of many conjectures, some conceiv- 
 ing it to have originated from the word 
 
 poll or head, with several other con- 
 ceits as far-fetched and unmeaning; 
 but the true intention of that party- 
 colored staff was to show that the mas- 
 ter of the shop practised surgery, and 
 could breathe a vein as well as mow a 
 beard. The white band which encom- 
 passes the staff was meant to represent 
 the fillet thus elegantly twined about it. 
 
 Fresh Sea-water. 
 
 Over a door on the road from Brigh- 
 ton to Lewes, is a signboard with the 
 very intelligible announcement — " Fresh 
 sea-water sold here.'''' 
 
 Titles of Business Firms. 
 
 One of the most expressive titles of a 
 mercantile firm that could be met with, 
 is that of " Call & Switchem," which is 
 painted in golden letters on a sign in 
 one of the eastern cities ; also another, 
 that is equally unique, viz., " Bangs & 
 Swett ; " and that of " Lanceman & 
 Payne." " Neal, Pray & Co.," is the 
 title — sufficiently devotional, certainly 
 — of another firm. But the following 
 " beats all." Two attorneys, who were 
 many years ago in partnership, had for 
 the name of their firm, "Catchum & 
 Chetum ; " but as the singularity and 
 ominous juxtaposition of the words led 
 to many a disparaging joke from the 
 passers by, the men of law attempted 
 to destroy in part the efl'ect of the odd 
 association, by the insertion of the ini- 
 tials of their Christian names, which 
 happened to be Isaac and Uriah ; but, 
 in reality, this made the matter ten 
 times worse, for the inscription ran, 
 " I. Catchum & U. Chetum," and peo- 
 ple could not, for the life of 'em, dis- 
 possess their minds or imaginations of 
 " high doings " in said law office. 
 
 Arms and Seal of the Bank of Ireland. 
 
 The arms and seal of the Bank of 
 Ireland are : Hibemia bearing a crown, 
 
COMMERCIAL ART AND PHRASEOLOGY. 
 
 315 
 
 as a symbol of lier independence ; an 
 anchor in her hand, to denote the sta- 
 bility of her commerce, with the words 
 " Bank of Ireland ; " and under the 
 anchor, '•''Bona fide respuhliccB stdbilitas'''' 
 — intimating that the existence of a 
 people depends upon the faithful dis- 
 charge of their public debts. 
 
 Unexampled Enterprise : The Chinese 
 Wall for Advertisements. 
 
 An enterprising and opulent bill- 
 sticker has, it is privately understood, 
 made offers to the leader of the Chi- 
 nese insurgent forces to rent of him, in 
 the event of his being made emperor, 
 the renowned wall of China. The sum 
 offered has not transpired, but it is 
 said to be something extremely muni- 
 ficent. 
 
 It is the bill sticker's intention, as 
 soon as he obtains an imperial grant, 
 to form a company of persons who 
 spend large sums of money every year 
 in advertisements, and to cover the en- 
 tire length of the wall with their bills 
 and posters, a larger price being, of 
 course, charged for those which will be 
 posted outside than for those inside 
 the wall, where comparatively but few 
 people will be able to see them. The 
 bills will be in English, or specially 
 translated into Chinese, at the option 
 of the advertiser. In the event of China 
 being thrown open to universal com- 
 merce — and there is, at present, every 
 prospect of such a fact— it will be at 
 once seen what "a desirable medium 
 for advertisements " this national post- 
 ing-station will be. So favorably is 
 the scheme entertained, by some lead- 
 ing advertisers, that already twelve 
 thousand miles of that part of the wall 
 which runs through the most densely 
 populated districts of the empire, has 
 been bespoken at an enormous rental. 
 
 The company will be announced at a 
 future day, and it is expected that the 
 shares will be quoted on 'Change at a 
 heavy premium the very first day. A 
 good judge has been heard privately 
 
 to say, that next to a celebrated mil- 
 lionnaire's property, it will be the 
 largest hoarding in the world, and 
 there is no doubt it will be. All the 
 pufiing tailors, pill merchants, quack- 
 medicine sellers, etc., are actively on 
 the look out — though, in the present 
 case, instead of trying to " drive one 
 another to the wall," as is too generally 
 the case among competitors, each one 
 is doing all he can to keep the rest 
 from that position. Professor Liebig's 
 testimonial in favor of bitter beer is al- 
 ready printed in all the Chinese dia- 
 lects, only waiting to be posted up. 
 
 First Trade Advertisement. 
 
 With the exception of quack-medi- 
 cine and book advertisements, the first 
 record of a tradesman turning the 
 newspaper to account in making 
 Imown his goods to the public, is in 
 1658. Independently of its being in 
 itself a curiosity, it possesses a very 
 strong interest, from the fact that it 
 marks the introduction of a new article 
 of food and commercial traflac. The 
 advertisement reads thus : 
 
 THAT Excellent and by all Physitians ap- 
 proved China drink called by the Chineans 
 Tcha^ by other Nations Tay alias Tee, is 
 sold at the Sulianess Head Cophee House 
 in Sweetings Rents, by the Royal Ex- 
 change, London. — Mercurius FoliticuSy 
 September 30, 1658. 
 
 This is undoubtedly the earliest au- 
 thentic announcement yet made known, 
 of the public sale in England of this 
 now universal beverage. The mention 
 of " cophee house " proves that the sis- 
 ter stimulant had already got a start. 
 
 "Tight Times." 
 
 That financial visitor, of such bad 
 renown, " Tight Times," is thus set off: 
 
 He may be seen on 'Change every 
 day. He bores our merchants, and 
 seats himself cozily in lawyers' offices. 
 He is everywhere. 
 
316 
 
 COMMERCIAL AXD BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 A great disturber of the public quiet, 
 a pestilent fellow, is this same Tight 
 Times. Everybody talks about him ; 
 everybody looks out for him ; every- 
 body hates him ; and a great many hard 
 words and not a few profane epithets 
 are bestowed upon him. Everybody 
 would avoid — " cut " him, if they 
 could; everybody would hiss him 
 from 'Change, hustle him out of the 
 street, kick him from the banks, throw 
 him out of the stores, out of the hotels 
 — but they carCt. Yes, Tight Times is 
 a bore — he will stick like a brier. 
 
 An impudent fellow, too, is Tight 
 Times. Ask for a discount, and he 
 looks over your shoulder, winks at the 
 cashier, and your note is thrown out. 
 Ask a loan of the usurers at one per 
 cent, per month, he looks over your se- 
 curities, and marks " two and a half." 
 Present a bill to your debtor. Tight 
 Times shrugs his shoulders, rolls up hfs 
 eyes, and you must " call again." A 
 wife asks for a fashionable brocade and 
 a daughter for a new bonnet; Tight 
 Times puts in his caveat, and the bro- 
 cade and bonnet are postponed. 
 
 A great depredator in stocks is 
 Tight Times. He steps in among the 
 bankers, and down go the " favorites 
 of the market." He goes along the 
 railroads in process of construction, 
 and the Irishmen throw down their 
 shovels and walk away. 
 
 A famous exploder of bubbles is Mr. 
 Tight Times. He looks into the affairs 
 of gold companies, and they fly to 
 pieces ; into " kiting " banks, and they 
 stop payment. He walks around " cor- 
 ner lots," draws a line across litho- 
 graph cities, and they disappear. He 
 leaves his footprints among mines, and 
 the rich metal becomes dross. He 
 breathes upon the cunningest specula- 
 tions, and — they burst like torpedoes. 
 
 A hard master for the poor is this 
 Tight Times — a cruel enemy to the la- 
 boring classes. He takes the mechanic 
 from his bench, the laborer from his 
 work, the hod carrier from his ladder. 
 
 He runs up the prices of provisions, 
 and he runs down the wages of toil. 
 He runs up the prices of food, and he 
 runs down the ability to purchase it at 
 any price. His picture is hung up in 
 everybody's memory. 
 
 Irish Advertisement. 
 
 The Edinburgh Remew, in an article 
 on Plowden's History of Ireland, where- 
 in the historian has much to say of the 
 splendid efforts of the Irish literati — 
 their essays, histories, and learned effu- 
 sions, or rather the assumed absence of 
 such, on account of the wicked irrup- 
 tion of the Danes in the ninth and 
 tenth centuries — says that in such an 
 apology there is something that strong- 
 ly reminds one of the Irish advertise- 
 ment : 
 
 " Lost, on Saturday last, but the loser 
 does not know when or where, an emp- 
 ty sack, with a cheese in it. On the 
 sack the letters ' P. G.' are marked, but 
 so completely worn out, as not to be 
 legible." 
 
 Carmeline the Dentist's Sig-n. 
 
 Carmeline, the famous toothdrawer 
 and maker of artificial teeth, had his 
 portrait painted and placed in his 
 chamber window, with a motto taken 
 from Virgil's line of the Golden Bough, 
 in the sixth book of the ^neid : 
 " Uno avulso, non deficit alter." 
 
 The application of this line [When 
 one is drawn out, another is never 
 wanting] was extremely happy. 
 
 Criticism of a Hatter's Sigrn. 
 
 A JOURNEYMAN hatter, a companion 
 of Dr. Franklin, on commencing busi- 
 ness for himself, was anxious to get a 
 handsome signboard with a suitable 
 inscription. This he composed himself, 
 as follows : " John Thompson, hatter, 
 mahes and sells hats for ready rmney^'' 
 with the figure of a hat subjoined. But 
 
COMMERCIAL ART AND PHRASEOLOGY. 
 
 Si*? 
 
 he tliought lie would submit it to his 
 friends for criticism — and amendments, 
 if susceptible of any. 
 
 The first he showed it to thought 
 the word liatter tautologous, because 
 followed by the words " makes hats," 
 which of themselves showed he was a 
 hatter. It was struck out. The next 
 observed that the word makes might 
 as well be omitted, because his custo- 
 mers would not care who made the 
 hats — if good, and to their mind, they 
 would buy, by whomsoever made. He 
 struck that out also. A third said, he 
 thought the words for ready money 
 were useless ; as it was not the custom 
 of the place to sell on credit, every one 
 who purchased expected to pay. These 
 too were parted with, and the incrip- 
 tion then stood, " John Thompson sells 
 hats." " Sells hats ! " says his next 
 friend ; " why, who expects you to give 
 them away? What, then, is the use 
 of the word ? " It was struck out, and 
 " hats " was all that remained attached 
 to the name of John Thompson. Even 
 this inscription, brief as it was, was 
 reduced ultimately to John Thompson, 
 with the figure of a hat subjoined. 
 
 Cabalistic Sig-n for an Alehouse. 
 
 The keeper of a paltry Scotch ale- 
 house having on his sign, after his 
 name, the letters M. D. F. R. S., a phy- 
 sician, who was a member, or fellow, of 
 the Royal Society, asked him how he 
 presumed to affix those letters to his 
 name. " Why, sir," said the publican, 
 " I have as good a right to them as you 
 have." " What do you mean, you im- 
 pudent scoundrel ? " replied the doctor. 
 " I mean, sir," retorted the other, " that 
 I was Drum Major of the Royal Scots 
 Fusileers." 
 
 Pleasant History of a Familiar Word. 
 
 Some signboards have much of his- 
 tory connected with them. A slight 
 instance of this sort is as follows : Be- 
 
 fore the year 1730, the English publi- 
 cans sold to the thirsty souls of their 
 day three sorts of beer, which they 
 drew from different casks into the same 
 glass, and gave to this mixture the name 
 of half-and-half The owner of one of 
 these resorts (history has handed down 
 the name), Horwood, wishing to spare 
 himself the trouble of performing this 
 task so constantly during the day, hit 
 upon brewing the beer which would 
 combine the qualities of all these beers. 
 To this compound he gave the name 
 6f " Entire," which has adhered to it 
 till this day, at least on the signboards. 
 It was afterward christened '•'"porter^"' 
 because principally drunk by that 
 class. 
 
 Streets and Shop Sig-ns in Canton. 
 
 The streets oi Canton present, to a 
 stranger, an extraordinary sight ; they 
 are very narrow, and hung about in all 
 directions with signs and advertise- 
 ments. Every shop has a large upright 
 board on each side of the door, usually 
 painted white, and on it, in red or 
 black letters, is inscribed a list of all 
 the articles sold. Other signs are hung 
 over the street, and some are fixed to 
 poles reaching from one side of the 
 street to the other. Many of these dis- 
 play puffing advertisements, such as — 
 " Tills Old Established Shop,''^ etc. ; 
 " The Refulgent Sign : Original MaJcer 
 of the finest quality of Gaps,'''' etc. ; " Can- 
 ton Security Banking Establishment ;^'' 
 and " No two Prices at this Shop " is a 
 very cornmon notification. The Chi- 
 nese writing looks very w^ell in this 
 way; and being generally red letters 
 upon white, black upon red or yellow, 
 and blue upon white, the array of signs 
 presents a most gaudy and extraordi- 
 nary appearance. 
 
 Ancient Pictorial Signboards. 
 
 It became quite customary, in the 
 seventeenth century, among English 
 
318 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 traders, to have emblazoned some ani- 
 mal or object spreading upon tbe sign- 
 boards, in order more effectually to 
 catch the eye. In course of time, when 
 fancy became capricious, something 
 more grotesque or piquant was adopt- 
 ed, such as blue boars, black swans, 
 red lions, flying pigs, hogs in armor, 
 swans with two necks, and all such 
 queer skimble-skamble stuff. Then 
 there were multitudes of compound 
 signs, such as the fox and seven stars, 
 ball and neat's tongue, dog and grid- 
 iron, sheep and dolphin, pig and whis- 
 tle. These comical combinations seem 
 to have originated in the apprentice 
 quartering his master's symbol with 
 his own, like the combined but very 
 dissimilar arms of a matrimonial 
 heraldic alliance. Some curious in- 
 stances of this kind are given on 
 another page of this department of 
 Anecdotes* 
 
 In not a few instances — which can 
 be traced to the ignorance of the peo- 
 ple, or the customary contraction or 
 abbreviation of speech — these absurd 
 emblems became most ridiculously per- 
 verted. Thus, the Bologne mouth, the 
 mouth of the harbor of Bologne, in 
 France, became the " bull and mouth ; " 
 a noted traveller's inn in St. Martin's 
 lane, the Satyr and Bacchanals, became 
 the " devil and bag of nails ; " and the 
 praiseworthy legend or phrase, " God 
 encompasseth us,'''' became, after being 
 many times mouthed over by vari- 
 ous provincial ists, profanely metamor- 
 phosed into the " goat and cow passes." 
 These signs, which then projected into 
 the street at all lengths and angles, 
 where they swung from their elegant 
 and elaborately curled iron supports, 
 creaked to and fro, most hideously, 
 with every blast. 
 
 mouth, stepped quietly, one day, into 
 the well-known establishment of " Call 
 & Tuttle," Boston, and quietly re- 
 marked to the clerk in attendance, 
 "I want to tuUh:' "What do you 
 mean, sir ? " " Well, I want to tuttle : 
 noticed the invitation over your door, 
 so I ^called,'' and now I should like 
 to tuttle ! " He was ordered to leave 
 the establishment, which he did, with 
 an assumed look of angry wonder, and 
 facetiously grumbling to himself, " If 
 they don't uant strangers to ' call and 
 tuttle,' what do they put up a sign for, 
 calling 'em in to do it ? " 
 
 Joke npon a Boston Sign. 
 
 A FOLEJm-LOOKiNG fellow, with a 
 certain air of dry humor about the 
 corners of his rather sanctimonious 
 
 "Cotton is auiet." 
 
 In consequence of the snow, says 
 Punch, Liverpool was last w^eek in a 
 state of isolation from the rest of the 
 world, there being no traflic by rail 
 or news by letter, and indeed nothing 
 by which any idea could be formed 
 of the doings or condition of the Liv- 
 erpoolians. Of course, indefatigable 
 efforts were made to open the com- 
 munication with the metropolis ; but 
 all was in vain, for the ordinary electric 
 telegraph had got into a state of en- 
 tanglement through the ice and snow, 
 thus baffling all hopes of hearing any- 
 thing from Liverpool. 
 
 Bills were falling due in London, and 
 were being dishonored for want of 
 " advice ; " commercial firms were fall- 
 ing into discredit, and all for want of 
 communication with the north; when 
 at last, after almost superhuman en- 
 deavors, it was announced that the 
 magnetic telegraph had succeeded in 
 bringing news from Liverpool. Every- 
 body rushed to the second edition of 
 the morning papers, to drink in the 
 long looked-for news, when public 
 curiosity was put in possession of the 
 fact, that by tremendous energy, a com- 
 munication had reached London, 
 bringing the news that " Cotton is 
 quiety We cannot judge of the effect 
 of this intelligence on the commercial 
 
COMMERCIAL ART AND PHRASEOLOGY. 
 
 319 
 
 world, but, to us, it seems as though 
 the result of the telegraphic achieve- 
 ments had, after " much cry," ended 
 in " little wool " — though there might 
 be a fair supply of cotton. 
 
 We had no idea that the condition 
 of this raw material was of such vital 
 consequence as to make it paramount 
 to every other subject of curiosity. 
 We shall, however, henceforth, look 
 out for the bulletins about cotton with 
 unprecedented anxiety and interest. 
 If we can only be assured by the paper 
 on our breakfast table that " cotton has 
 had a quiet night and is better," we 
 shall have^ all our mental trepidations 
 soothed, and shall even be contented 
 with the knowledge that " cotton is 
 not worse " — or worsted. 
 
 Stock Terms in the Sickroom. 
 
 M. DE Chirac, a celebrated physi- 
 cian, had bought some joint-stock 
 shares at what proved an unlucky 
 period, and was very anxious to sell 
 out. The stock, however, continued 
 to fall for two or three days, much to 
 his alarm. His mind was filled with 
 morbid concern in regard to the sub- 
 ject, when he was suddenly called 
 upon to attend a lady who im- 
 agined herself unwell. He arrived, 
 was shown up stairs, and at once felt 
 the lady's pulse. "It falls! it falls! 
 good God ! it falls continually ! " said 
 he musingly though audibly, while 
 the lady looked up in his face all 
 anxiety for his opinion. " Oh, M. de 
 Chirac," said she, starting to her feet 
 and ringing the bell for assistance, " I 
 am dying! I am dying! it falls— it 
 falls— it falls!" "What falls?" in- 
 quired the doctor in amazement. " My 
 pulse ! my pulse ! " said the lady ; " I 
 must be dying ! " " Calm your appre- 
 hensions, my dear madam," said M. de 
 Chirac, " I was speaking of the stocks. 
 The truth, is, I have been a great loser, 
 and my mind is so disturbed, I hardly 
 know what I have been saying." 
 
 Phenomena Extraordinary. 
 
 The following announcement of 
 facts, taken from a city advertising 
 column, may fairly be said to come 
 under the head of " phenomena extra- 
 ordinary." In one place it is announced 
 that there may be had " An airy bed- 
 room for a gentleman twenty-two feet 
 long by fourteen feet wide ; " — the bed 
 room ought, indeed, to be airy, to ac- 
 commodate a gentleman of such tre- 
 mendous dimensions. Again, one may 
 read of " A house for a family in good 
 repair," which is advertised to be let 
 with immediate possession ; — a family 
 in good repair meaning, no doubt, one 
 in which none of the members are at 
 all " cracked." Another oddity in this 
 line, is an announcement of there being 
 now vacant " A delightful gentleman's 
 residence ; " the " delightful gentle- 
 man" must be rather proud of his 
 delightful qualities, to allow himself 
 to be thus strangely advertised A 
 rare bit in this way, in addition to 
 the above morceaux^ is an advertise- 
 ment offering a reward for " a large 
 Spanish blue gentleman's cloak, lost 
 in the neighborhood of the market." 
 The fact can easily be realized, of a 
 gentleman looking rather blue at the 
 loss of his cloak ; still there is some- 
 thing rather unaccountable in his 
 advertising the fact of his blueness in 
 connection with the loss of his gar- 
 ment. 
 
 Q,uack Advertisement Two Centuries 
 A^o. 
 
 That great— though not quite the 
 earliest — progenitor of the newspaper 
 tribe, the London Gazette^ of Nov. 
 16th, 1660, shows that the quack frater- 
 nity of that day were the first to avail 
 themselves of its pages to make knov.m 
 their nostrums. It is really astonish- 
 ing to see what an ancestry some of the 
 quack medicines of the present day 
 have had. " Nervous powders," speci- 
 fics for gout, rheumatism, etc., seized 
 
320 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 upon the newspapers almost as early as 
 they were published. Here is a speci- 
 men of the above date — rising two 
 hundred years ago — which might still 
 serve as a model for such announce- 
 ments : 
 
 " Gentlemen^ you are desired to take 
 notice, That Mr. 'nieoj)hilus Buclcworth doth 
 at his house on Mile-end-Green., make and 
 expose to sale, for the publick good, those 
 so famous Lozenges or Pectorals approved 
 for the cure of Consumption, Coughs, Ca- 
 tarrhs, Asthmas, Hoarseness, Strongness of 
 Breath, Colds in General, Diseases incident 
 to the Lungs, and a sovereign Antidote 
 against the Plague, and all other contagious 
 Diseases, and obstructing of the Stomach : 
 and for more convenience of the people, 
 constantly leaving them sealed up with his 
 coat of arms on the papers, with Mr. Rich. 
 Zowndes (as formerly), at the sign of the 
 White Lion, near the little north door of 
 PauFs Church; Mr. Henry Seile, over 
 against S. Dunstan's Church in Fleet Street : 
 Mr. William Milward at Westminster Hall 
 Gate ; Mr. John Place, at FurnivaVs Inn 
 Gate in Holborn ; and Mr. Robert Horn, at 
 the Turk's head near the entrance of the 
 Royal Exchange, Booksellers, and no others. 
 
 " This is published to prevent the designs 
 of divers Pretenders, who counterfeit the said 
 Lozenges to the disparagement of the said 
 Gentleman, and great abuse of the people. — 
 Mercuritis Politicus, Nov. 16, 1660." 
 
 Baking and Banking-. 
 
 A SAD blunder is mentioned by a 
 writer in " Harper's," showing that the 
 best signs do fail sometimes. He says 
 that old Mr. Spoon kept a cake and 
 beer shop in the village, and made a 
 fortune in the business, leaving his 
 money and the stand to his only son, 
 who has long been flourishing on his 
 father's profits, and turning up his nose 
 at the baking business as altogether 
 beneath a sprig of his quality. As 
 soon as the old man was fairly under 
 the sod, the rising son fitted up the 
 shop on the corner, put in a show 
 window, through which a heap of 
 
 bills and shining gold was seen, and 
 over the door he spread a sign in hand- 
 some gilt letters — " Banking House." 
 He was now in a new line, adapted to 
 his taste and genius. One day, as he 
 was lolling over the counter, a stranger 
 drove his horses close to the door, and 
 called out to the new broker : " I say. 
 Mister, got any crackers ? " Spoon (very 
 red and indignant) : " Kone at all ; 
 you've mistaken the place." "Any 
 cakes, pies, and things ? " " No, sir ! " 
 — accompanied by a look intended as 
 an extinguisher. Stranger (in turn 
 getting red) : " Then what on airth 
 makes you have * Bakin' House ' 
 writ in sich big letters over your door 
 for ? Tell me that ! " The difiference 
 between *' baking " and " baulking " 
 was not so great as young Spoon sup- 
 
 Questionable Sign for a Clothier. 
 
 A SIGN painter being called upon to 
 letter the front of a large general cloth- 
 ing establishment, finished one line 
 across the whole front thus : 
 
 " Dealer in all Sorts of Ladies' " 
 
 — and finding his ladder too long to 
 paint the next line, returned to his 
 house to get one of suitable length; 
 but stepping unguardedly upon a 
 stone, it turned his foot up, spraining 
 his ankle, so that he could not finish 
 the lettering till the next day. 
 
 In the mean time, the people — rea- 
 sonably enough — stared at the new 
 sign, and many of them, knowing the 
 character of the man to be strictly in 
 keeping with that of a good husband, 
 father, and citizen, it was certainly un- 
 accountable ; as ^'- all sorts of ladies^'' 
 in a city like New York, comprised 
 commodities at their antipodes, the 
 best and worst on earth. 
 
 The citizens made themselves busy 
 that day in surmises, scurrilous innuen- 
 does, and injurious quizzings ; which 
 could be hardly overcome when the fin- 
 
COMMERCIAL ART AND PHRASEOLOGY. 
 
 321 
 
 ishiiig lettering, ^^ and Oentlemen's ready- 
 made Clothing,''^ was at last added. 
 
 Out of Style. 
 
 One of tlie most eminent painters 
 of signs, in London, was Mr. Wale, 
 one of the founders of the Royal Acad- 
 emy, and who was appointed the first 
 professor of perspective in that institu- 
 tion. The most notable of his achieve- 
 ments in signboards, was a whole 
 length of Shakspeare, about five feet 
 high, which was executed for and dis- 
 played at the door of a public house, 
 at the northwest corner of Little Russell 
 street, Drury Lane. It was enclosed in 
 a sumptuously carved gilt frame, and 
 suspended by rich ironwork, the cost 
 being several hundred pounds. But 
 this splendid and costly object for at- 
 tracting trade did not hang long, 
 before it was taken down, in conse- 
 quence of the act of parliament which 
 was passed for removing signs and 
 other obstructions from the streets of 
 London. Such was the total change 
 of style and fashion, and the universal 
 disuse of such signs, that this costly 
 representation of the great dramatist 
 was sold for hardly more than its value 
 as oven wood, to a broker, at whose 
 door it stood for several years, until it 
 was totally destroyed by the weather 
 and various accidents. 
 
 Natural Advertising. 
 
 Several years ago, and soon after 
 the " anti-license law " went into force 
 in the Green Mountain State, a traveller 
 stopped at a village hotel and asked 
 for a glass of brandy. "Don't keep 
 it," said the landlord ; " forbidden by 
 law to sell liquor of any kind." " The 
 deuce you are ! " retorted the stranger 
 incredulously. " Such is the fact," 
 replied the host ; " the house don't 
 keep it." " Then bring your own 
 bottle," said the traveller, with decis- 
 ion ; " you needn't pretend to me that 
 21 
 
 you keep that face of yours in repair on 
 water." The landlord laughed heartily, 
 and his " private " bottle, advertised so 
 well in his phiz, was at once forth- 
 coming. No mere decanters or arti- 
 ficial signs were needed in his case. 
 
 Class Advertisements in City Papers. 
 
 Both in Europe and the United 
 States there are newspapers which are 
 distinguished by class advertisements. 
 The London Times, in its multifarious 
 announcements, may be said to have 
 no speciality in this respect. But the 
 Morning Post, of the same city, almost 
 exclusively monopolizes the advertise- 
 ments which relate to fashions and 
 high life ; the Morning Advertiser, the 
 organ and property of the liquor ven- 
 dors, obtains the lion's share of what- 
 ever pertains to that craft ; the Morning 
 Herald, even yet, though its circulation 
 is greatly reduced, contains a goodly 
 array of auction sales of property ; the 
 Era, and Sunday Times contain a ma- 
 jority of theatrical advertisements; 
 the Shipping Gazette chronicles the 
 times, rates, and ports of departure, for 
 the commercial marine ; Bell's Life is 
 devoted to the sporting fraternity ; the 
 Athenaeum has the principal portion 
 of the book advertisements — and so 
 on, through an extensive series. 
 
 In the city of New York, the Herald 
 and the Sun may be said to engross the 
 greater part of the "wants" and 
 " boarding " advertisements ; the Tri- 
 bune and Evening Post have a consid- 
 erable proportion of the literary and 
 real estate announcements ; the Courier 
 and Enquirer, or the World, is a favor- 
 ite organ of the auctioneers ; the Jour- 
 nal of Commerce, Commercial Adver- 
 tiser, and Express, have their full share 
 of the shipping notices; the Daily 
 Times engrosses a liberal share of the 
 banking and financial advertisements ; 
 and the other dailies and weeklies 
 combine, more or less, all these varie- 
 
322 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 ties, without being considered the 
 medium of any one kind in particular. 
 
 First Advertisement in America. 
 
 The first newspaper in America 
 (with the exception of a solitary copy 
 issued in 1690), the "iVezcs Letter^^ 
 published in Boston, Sept. 24th, 1704, 
 contained a notice by the publisher, 
 inviting advertisements; and in the 
 succeeding number. May 1st, 1704, was 
 one response — the^rs^ newspa'per adver- 
 tisement in America^ as follows : 
 
 "Lost on the 10. of April last, off Mr. 
 Shippens's Wharf in Boston^ Two Iron An- 
 vils, weighing between 120 and 140 pound 
 each : Whoever has taken them up, and 
 will bring or give true intelligence of them 
 to John Campbclj Post-Master, shall have a 
 sufficient reward." 
 
 The charges for advertising then, as 
 given in the first number of the " JVetcs 
 Letter,''^ were to be "at a Reasonable 
 Rate, from Twelve Pence to Five Shil- 
 lings, and not to exceed : Who may 
 agree with John Camplel, Post-master 
 of Boston^ 
 
 Compare the above with the seven 
 solid columns which sometimes consti- 
 tute a single advertisement in city 
 newspapers at the present day ! 
 
 •* Punch " on Commercial Phraseology. 
 
 In the intelligence from the Brazils, 
 last week, we met, says Punch, in one 
 of the papers, with the following curi- 
 ous paragraph : " Dry Germans opened 
 at 59i reals, but declined to 58 for 
 half ox, half cow, and 60 for ox, this 
 quotation being merely nominal." 
 
 The above is a complete mystifica- 
 tion. Of course, in our travelling ex- 
 periences, we have met with many 
 " dry Germans," but we little sus- 
 pected that they ever formed an article 
 of commerce. Besides, who could 
 wish to purchase a, " dry German " ? 
 Then the question arises, how do you 
 dry a German ? After this, comes the 
 
 further mystery of his being " opened." 
 It is rather undignified to talk in this way 
 of a " dry German," as if he were no bet- 
 ter than a dried haddock, or a cured her- 
 ring, or a Teutonic mummy, that had the 
 accumulated dust and cobwebs of cen- 
 turies upon him. However, we are so 
 far pleased as to notice that " dry Ger- 
 mans" fetch so good a price — in the 
 " dry goods " market, we suppose. It 
 is more than zee should feel inclined to 
 give for such a specimen of dried meta- 
 physics and transcendentalistic Kant- 
 ism. 
 
 But another puzzle that bewilders us 
 still more is the revelation that your 
 " dry German " is " half ox, half cow." 
 We have heard of the multifarious 
 nature pertaining to an Irish lull, and 
 of a vache Fspagnole, and of other 
 curiosities belonging to the animal 
 kingdom; but we must confess that 
 such an ethnological specimen as a 
 " dry German," who was at the same 
 time " half ox, half cow " — having the 
 head of an ox and the tail of a cow, 
 perhaps — never, fortunately for us, 
 crossed our scientific path before. We 
 are so mystified that we must write to 
 Prof O. on the subject, though it looks 
 very suspiciously as if Barnum, under 
 a strong attack of " animal " spirits, 
 had had a hand in stitching this new 
 hybrid together, for the enrichment of 
 his Museum. However, our Foreign 
 Office, that always evinces such a 
 strong sympathy for German interests, 
 should take the matter up. If slavery 
 is abolished, why, we want to know, 
 are " dry Germans " thus off'ered pub- 
 licly for sale ? 
 
 Dialects of Different Trades. 
 Every trade has its own peculiarities 
 and its own dialect. Stage drivers and 
 hostlers have a language of their own. 
 Hod carriers and masons always speak 
 understandingly to each other, if not 
 to strangers. Thieves and gamblers 
 have their own phrases, and house- 
 
COMMERCIAL ART AND PHRASEOLOGY. 
 
 323 
 
 breakers their signs ; all of which is as 
 unintelligible to the uninitiated as so 
 much Greek. 
 
 Drygoocls dealers and grocers have 
 a language of their own. In speaking 
 of the standing of a countryman, they 
 often say he is good—thej have sold 
 him, or are going to sell him — which 
 means, not that they have sold Mm 
 for a price, but that they have trusted 
 him with a certain amount of goods. 
 They are never heard to say they have 
 bought him. So at auction sales they 
 have signs ; if they want to bid two 
 dollars a dozen for a box of gloves, or 
 two dollars apiece for a box of ribbons, 
 they hold up two fingers; — and if a 
 business man is in an omnibus and 
 wants the driver to take pay for one, 
 when he hands up a quarter he will 
 hold up one finger to him, while a law- 
 yer or mechanic will bawl out, '' One — 
 take out one, one, one." 
 
 Grocers talk about things in their 
 trade being heavy, hard, quick, slow, 
 and easy. Thus feathers may be heavy, 
 cotton down, pork slow, beef quick, 
 oranges flat, &c. 
 
 Brokers have, like all others, a lan- 
 guage of their own. Thus, " b 3 " 
 means that the buyer has the privilege 
 of taking the stock any time within 
 three days; "b 30," within thirty 
 days. If, for instance, A buys one 
 hundred shares of Canton, of B, b 30, 
 he can call upon B to-morrow, or next 
 day, or next week, or whenever he 
 chooses, for the stock, and B must 
 deliver it. " S 30 " means the seller 
 has the privilege of delivering it at 
 any time he chooses within thirty 
 days. The seller is always entitled to 
 interest on stocks sold on time. 
 "Thwk" means this week; " nwk," 
 next week; " opg," opening of the 
 transfer books, which are closed for the 
 time to make dividends. 
 
 Trade Placards and Shop Bills. 
 Notwithstanding the frequent an- 
 nouncement to be met with, " SticJc no 
 
 Bilh^'' bills are stuck somewhere, every- 
 where, and the trade of the bill-sticker, 
 though not down in the cyclopaedias 
 of commerce, is such as makes him a 
 definite, genuine, distinct character — 
 one who keeps alive other trades — and 
 who may also be said to live in the eye 
 of the public as literally as any other 
 man of his day. If not a literary man, 
 he may at least rank as a commercial 
 publisher, largely patronized by almost 
 all trades. 
 
 There is one singularity in the fol- 
 lower of this profession, which to many 
 is a mystery — that he invariably pastes 
 over his bills on both sides; having 
 stuck them to the wall or boarding, 
 he is not content with that, but imme- 
 diately gives them a coat of paste on 
 the outer and printed side as well. 
 This, which appears to others a sheer 
 w^ork of supererogation, is perhaps 
 mysteriously connected with some im- 
 portant element in the process; he 
 knows. 
 
 But if in this point of his art he 
 puzzles others, he himself is sometimes 
 in as odd a predidament — for instance, 
 when he has a batch of announcements 
 in Hebrew, addressed to the " children 
 of Israel." While conning the square 
 letters, he will get perplexed indeed 
 as to which end of the poster has the 
 most right to stand uppermost on the 
 wall ; and, when the spectators cannot 
 help him to a conclusion, he will solve 
 the problem in a sort of hit-or-miss 
 way, by placing a couple of copies side 
 by side, one on its head, the other on 
 its feet, in accordance, it may be sup- 
 posed, with the prudent maxim, that it 
 is better to lose a part than to risk the 
 whole. 
 
 This bill sticking is, after all, more 
 of an art than shopkeepers who make 
 use of it are accustomed to consider. 
 Said an adept in the business — the very 
 apostle of it in one of the large cities 
 — a little old man with a wooden leg, 
 equipped with a long cross-stick and 
 an equally long hook upon his shoul- 
 
324 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 der, and a majestic pot of paste in 
 front — " These young fellows, sir, are 
 quite unfit for their business. They 
 do not know what they ought to do, 
 and sometimes they will not even do 
 what they know they ought. "When 
 /undertake a bill, I go over the whole 
 town with it. I paste it from end to 
 end! I also take care never to cover 
 over a bill too soon. In fact, sir, I do 
 justice to my business as a business 
 man, which they never think of doing. 
 Then, sir, how can they pretend to 
 paste a bill with me ? Why, tliey have 
 not the machinery ! (glancing at his 
 cross-stick and hook). 
 
 He added — 'I'll give out a shop- 
 bill, too, sir, with any man in tlie 
 country. Some that pretend to do 
 it, give their bills to anybody who 
 will take them. Now, / give them 
 only to people who are going in the 
 direction of the shop. Some give them 
 to people who they can see at a glance 
 are too poor to buy goods — / give 
 them only to people who can. It 
 requires some study, sir, to give out a 
 shop bill rightly ! " 
 
 Odd Comminglingrs. 
 
 The subject of commercial art finds 
 abundance of material, and of the 
 greatest variety, in the pictorial signs 
 and embellishment of ware now so 
 much in vogue. Painting stops to 
 make progress along with the crafts 
 of buying and selling ; nor is the sister 
 art of sculpture discountenanced by 
 the disciples of trade, for now and 
 then the bust of some great man is 
 found presiding over the stock of some 
 petty trade — Sir Isaac Newton among 
 piles of potatoes, and Shakspeare and 
 Milton imbedded among the thread, 
 wax, heel ball, and sparables of the 
 retail leather seller. 
 
 Sometimes a tradesman shows his- 
 torical proclivites. Some remarkable 
 event of ancient or modem days — some 
 battle, siege, earthquake, or terrible 
 
 volcanic eruption is delineated in his 
 shop window, as a background to his 
 goods. Thus, the earthquake of Lis- 
 bon, the overwhelming of Pompeii, or 
 the forcing of the Northwest Passage, 
 are events sought to be illustrated to 
 the spectator's mind by the destruc- 
 tion of vermin by Dosem's Patent 
 Cockroach Exterminator, or the new- 
 ly invented heel tips by Simon Bend- 
 leather. 
 
 With eating houses and cofiee shops, 
 the pictorial subject generally consists 
 of a loaf, or two loaves, of bread, a 
 wedge of cheese on a plate of the wil- 
 low pattern, a lurajD of " streaky bacon," 
 a cup appearing to be full of coffee, or 
 a tankard of beer, a lump of butter on 
 a plate, and a knife and fork — perhaps 
 a bunch of radishes and a red herring, 
 eloquent of relish. 
 
 The fishmongers are not so generally 
 given to the public patronage of art, 
 but the pedestrian will come now and 
 then upon a really well-painted picture 
 gracing the wall or panel of the fish- 
 monger's stand. It may be a group 
 of fish in the grand style — salmon, 
 cod, frost or silver fish, among which 
 crabs and lobsters seem temptingly 
 dripping with the salt ooze ; or, it 
 may be, a coast scene, with the bluff 
 fishermen up to their waists in the 
 brine, dragging their nets upon the 
 beach, which is covered with their 
 spoils. But whatever it is, it is sure to be 
 pretty well done, if executed under the 
 artistic auspices of the fishmonger. 
 
 Very Express-ive. 
 
 The symbol long adopted by the 
 American Express Company was the 
 picture of a dog guarding a safe. 
 Their new building upon Hudson 
 street. New York, is adorned with 
 a fine bas-relief of that appropriate 
 emblem of care and fidelity, sculptured 
 in marble. A symbol, less felicitous, 
 used by an express manager, was a 
 greyhound running at full speed — m- 
 
THE HIDE DEALER'S SIGN. 
 
COMMERCIAL ART AND PHRASEOLOGY. 
 
 325 
 
 tended probably to indicate despatch. 
 Unfortunately for his customers it ob- 
 tained at length a more pregnant sig- 
 nificance, for the manager himself ran 
 away. It only wanted a sack of gold 
 on the back of the " hound," to render 
 the picture perfect. Another express 
 emblem, used somewhere, has been 
 that of a deer, going at the rate of 
 1.20, to signify speed. Harnden's em- 
 blem upon a circular advertising the 
 first express between the New World 
 and the Old, was a vignette representing 
 the two hemispheres, with himself 
 striding from one to the other — one 
 foot being on the American shore, and 
 the other on " the chalky clifis of Al- 
 bion ; " while upon his back he carried 
 a bag of newspajDcrs, letters, etc. If, 
 in spanning the ocean in that figura- 
 tive way, it ever occurred to the fruitful 
 brain of Harnden that a suspension 
 bridge might at some future day serve 
 the same purpose, he wisely kept the 
 crotchet to himself. 
 
 Pawnbrokers' Three Balls. 
 
 Though the fact is generally ad- 
 mitted that the three golden balls of 
 the pawnbrokers had their origin with 
 the Italian bankers — the Lombards — 
 it is an interesting point quite gener- 
 ally overlooked in connection with 
 this fact, that the greatest of those 
 traders in money were the celebrated 
 and eventually princely house of the 
 Medici of Florence. They bore pills 
 on their shield — and those pills, as 
 usual then, were gilded— in allusion 
 to the professional origin from whence 
 they had derived the name of Medici ; 
 and their commercial agents in Eng- 
 land and other countries put that ar- 
 morial bearing over their doors as 
 their sign, and the great reputation of 
 that house induced others to put up 
 the same sign. 
 
 Hide Dealer's Sign : Rare Bit of 
 Philosophy. 
 
 The proprietor of a tanyard adja- 
 cent to a certain town in Virginia, 
 concluded to build a stand, or sort of 
 store, on one of the main streets, for 
 the purpose of vending his leather, 
 buying raw hides, and the like. After 
 completing his building, he began to 
 consider what sort of a sign it would 
 be best to ]3ut up for the purpose of 
 attracting attention to his new estab- 
 lishment ; and for days and weeks he 
 was sorely puzzled on this subject. 
 Several devices were one after the 
 other adopted, and, on further consid- 
 eration, rejected. 
 
 At last a happy idea struck him. 
 He bored an auger hole through the door 
 post, and sticch a calfs tail into it, icith 
 the hushy end flaunting out. After a 
 while, he noticed a grave-looking per- 
 sonage standing near the door, with his 
 spectacles, gazing intently on the sign. 
 And there he continued to stand, dumb- 
 ly absorbed, gazing and gazing, until 
 the curiosity of the hide dealer was 
 greatly excited in turn. He stepped 
 out and addressed the individual : 
 
 " Good morning," said he. 
 
 " Morning," said the other, without 
 moving his eyes from the sign. 
 
 "You want to buy leather?" said 
 the storekeeper. 
 
 " No." 
 
 " Do you want to sell hides ? " 
 
 " No." 
 
 " Perhaps you are a farmer." 
 
 " No." 
 
 " A merchant, maybe." 
 
 " No." 
 
 " Are you a doctor ? " 
 
 " No." 
 
 " "What are you, then ? " 
 
 ''I'm a philosopher. I have been 
 standing here for an hour, trying to 
 see if I could ascertain how that calf got 
 through that auger hole ! " 
 
826 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 liatin on Business Sig-ns. 
 
 There went from the good city of 
 Baltimore, some years ago, to Norfolk 
 Va., a painter of signs, who professed 
 to know a thing or two beyond the 
 general run of his craft. He took very 
 readily, for in truth he was no mean 
 workman. Upon every sign that he 
 painted, he put his " imprint," Sprague 
 (that was his name), to which he com- 
 placently added the Latin word fecit. 
 The unlearned, " the little boys and all," 
 supposing the two words to constitute 
 the name of the painter, accosted him 
 everywhere as Mr. Fecit, Mr. Sprague 
 Fecit, until the poor fellow, annoy- 
 ed to death by the ridicule which 
 his little learning had brought upon 
 him, ran away. He was some years 
 after succeeded by another knight of 
 the brush, from the same goodly city, 
 who was something of a humorist, 
 and disposed to throw Latin, like 
 physic, to the dogs. He, too, painted 
 many signs there, but was content to 
 boast of his work in plain English, as 
 might be seen by the modest inscrip- 
 tion, customary with him — " Coppuch 
 did it:' 
 
 Shopkeepers' Nomenclature of Goods. 
 
 OxE can hardly get an idea of how 
 extensively diffused is the knowledge 
 of languages in a community, at the 
 present day, without taking notice of 
 the signboard and shop announcements 
 which meet the eye at every turn. In- 
 deed, a walk along any of the principal 
 shopping thoroughfares of a city, will 
 very naturally excite one's curiosity as 
 to the source whence so many traders 
 derive their Greek, etc. 
 
 Thus, a tailor draws attention to his 
 "anaxyridian trousers" — presumed to 
 convey the idea of braceless and stay- 
 less trousers, using Greek as the tai- 
 lor would have it used. A shop is called 
 an " emporium " or " bazaar." Some- 
 times the names given to woven goods 
 is an elaborate combination of Greek or 
 
 Latin syllables, to denote in some degree 
 the quality of the cloth ; sometimes it is 
 an imported French or Italian or Span- 
 ish name. 
 
 Among cotton goods may be found 
 saccharillas, nainsooks, tarlatans, su- 
 rougs, grandvilles, Selampores, denims, 
 panos da Costa, Polynesian swansdown 
 (did the cotton come from the breast 
 of a swan, or did it grow in Polyne- 
 sia ?), doeskins and moleskins and 
 lambskins, coutils (sometimes inele- 
 gantly corrupted into " cowtails "), and 
 a host of other examjDles. 
 
 The woollen and worsted people are 
 not less liberal in nomenclature, for 
 they give us anti-rheumatic flannel, 
 swanskin, valencias, reversible Witneys, 
 double-surfaced beavers, Himalayas, 
 satin-faced doeskins (a doe would 
 liardly know himself with such a face), 
 fur James beavers, Moscow beavers, 
 Alpa Viennas, three-point Mackinaws, 
 barege-de-laine, Saxe-Coburgs, Orleans, 
 napped pilots, double Napiers, ele- 
 phanta ribs, elephant beavers (un- 
 known to naturalists, certainly), rhi- 
 noceros skins, paramattas, barracans, 
 moskittos, stockinettes, wildboars, ura- 
 venas ponchos, princettas, plainbacks, 
 fearnoughts, chameleons, figured Amo- 
 zonians (exclusively for female wear ?), 
 alpaca inkas and madelinas, velillos, 
 and cristales, and cubicas, and Circas- 
 sians, madonnas, balzarines, durants, 
 and cotillons, Genappes, Henriettas, 
 rumswizzles — all, be it observed, varie- 
 ties of woollen and worsted goods. 
 
 Nor do the silk dealers forget to sup- 
 ply us with mayonettes, diaphanes, 
 glac6 gros d'Afrique, brocatelles, bar- 
 rattheas, armayine royales, Balmorals, 
 paraphantons, Radzimores, moire an- 
 tiques, Algerias, levantines, and other 
 oddly named goods. 
 
 The linen folks, too, have their own 
 favorite list ; such as dowlases, ducks, 
 drills, huckabucks, gray Baden-Badens, 
 drabbets, crankies, commodores, Wel- 
 lingtons, dustings, paddings, Osna- 
 burgs, Ficklenburgs, Silesias, platillas, 
 
COMMERCIAL ART AND PHRASEOLOGY. 
 
 327 
 
 estapillas, bretanas, creas legitimas, 
 etc. 
 
 The loot and shoe fraternity give us 
 a verbal crash in the "red morocco 
 leg patent goloshed vandyked button 
 boot," and the "ladies' ottoman silk 
 goloshed elastic button gaiter ; " and 
 the more classical " soccopedes elasti- 
 cus." The " pannuscorium boots" 
 ought, surely, to be worn by every 
 Latin schoolboy; and the "resilient 
 boots " must not be forgotten by fas- 
 tidious pedestrians of a lexicological 
 turn. 
 
 But the tailors beat the shoemakers 
 all hollow in their Latin and Greek. 
 The " subclavien sector " is tremendous 
 — ^it sounds so surgical-like ; it is, how- 
 ever, simply a tailor's measure, and an- 
 other tailor's measure is the " registered 
 symmetrometer." It would be some- 
 what hazardous to say how many 
 learned names besides " siphonia " are 
 given to waterproof garments. There 
 is also the "unique habit," the "bis- 
 unique or reversible garment," and the 
 " monomeroskiton " (long enough to 
 form a very pretty Greek lesson), or 
 " single-piece coat, cut from one piece 
 of cloth." Then we have the " du- 
 plexa," the "registered auto-crematic 
 gown," and the " patent euknemeda." 
 
 Nor have hats and lonnets and ho- 
 siery and shirts been left unadorned 
 with Greek and Latin trimmings ; wit- 
 ness the " ventilating chaco," or for- 
 eign hat. But the " korychlamyd " — 
 a helmet cap — is a crusher. The " no- 
 vum pileum " hat suggests the very du- 
 bious query, whether the Latins ever 
 wore silk hats. The " areophane bon- 
 net," a pretty name for a pretty gar- 
 ment, is too transparently beautiful to 
 seem like hard Greek. As to " goffered 
 crinoline," we can only hint that it is 
 used for garments which men folk are 
 supposed to know nothing about. The 
 " brayama gloves " we cannot interpret, 
 and flatly " give it up ! " 
 
 Of shirts^ the " el dorado " must 
 surely be a golden fit ; if not, then we 
 
 can try the " eureka," the " corazza," 
 the " giubba," the " elastique trans- 
 pirante," the "tourist sottanello," the 
 " registered sans-pli," and others so be- 
 dizened with names that one can hard- 
 ly recognize them as plain, honest, 
 well-meaning shirts. 
 
 As to the florid and prolific nomen^ 
 clature of the patent-medicine people, 
 we can give no accurate information, 
 until we have time to walk leisurely 
 among them, with a Greek or polyglot 
 dictionary in hand. 
 
 Pottery used to be pottery, but now 
 it is "ceramic" manufacture. Burnt 
 clay would be a poor, dull name in- 
 deed, but " terra cotta " has a fine aes- 
 thetic sound about it. Fine China is 
 not a good enough name for statuette 
 material — it must be called "Parian." 
 The good people of yore delighted to 
 look at a magic la7item^ but now it 
 must be a camera obscura, or a phan- 
 tasmagoria, or both ; and if public, the 
 exhibition must be called by the name 
 of diorama, cosmorama, cyclorama, pa- 
 norama, polytechnic, pantechnicon, etc. 
 
 A rush has likewise been made into 
 Greek and Latin by musical instrument 
 malcers^ who give us piccolos, harmon- 
 iums, microchordions, microphonic 
 pianos, seolians, ophicleides, cornope- 
 ans, floetinas, flutinas, accordions, con- 
 certinas, melodeons, seraphines, auto- 
 phons, serpentcleides, enharmonic gui- 
 tars and organs, symphonions, seolo- 
 phons, etc. 
 
 Paying at *' Maturity." 
 
 A PROMINENT mule dealer, doing 
 business in Kentucky, sold a lot of 
 stock to a trader, who was to pay him 
 in four months — ^lawful tender in Bour- 
 bon. At the expiration of two months 
 the trader sent him an accepted bill on 
 New York for half the money, and 
 wrote him he would pay the balance at 
 maturity. After overhauling all the 
 maps and school geographies, he goes 
 down to the store, and says, " See here ! 
 
328 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 where is this place they call Maturity ? 
 I can't find it on the map, and I have 
 a note payable there; and I fear I 
 won't be able to get there, for I can't 
 find it on the map ! " 
 
 "Ditto." 
 
 An honest old man, rather ignorant 
 of the improved method of abbrevia- 
 tion or j)hraseology in business ac- 
 counts, on looking over his grocer's 
 bill, occasionally found charges like 
 the following : " To 1 lb. tea— to 1 lb. 
 ditto." " Wife," said he, " this 'ere's a 
 putty business ; I should like to know 
 what you have done with so much of 
 this 'ere dittos " Ditto, ditto," replied 
 the old lady, " never had a pound of 
 ditto in the house in all my life ! " So 
 back went the honest old customer, in 
 high dudgeon that he should have been 
 charged with things that he had never 
 received. " Mr. B.," said he, " shan't 
 stand this — wife says she hain't had a 
 pound of this tarnal ditto in the house 
 in her life." The grocer, thereupon, 
 explained the meaning of the term, and 
 the customer went home satisfied. His 
 wife inquired, if he had found out the 
 meaning of that " ditto." " Yes," said 
 he, " as near as I can get the hang on't, 
 it means that I'm an old fool, and 
 
 you're ditto." 
 
 ♦ 
 
 Where *' Tariff" came from. 
 
 Everybody knows the meaning of 
 the word "tariff" — viz., a fixed scale 
 of duties, levied upon imports. Let 
 any one turn to a map of Spain, and he 
 will notice at its southern point, and 
 running out into the Straits of Gibral- 
 tar, a promontory which, from its posi- 
 tion, is admirably adapted for com- 
 manding the entrance of the Mediter- 
 ranean sea, and watching the exit and 
 entrance of all ships. A fortress stands 
 upon this promontory, called now, as it 
 was also called in the times of the 
 Moorish domination in Spain, " Ta 
 
 rifa ; " the name, indeed, is of Moorish 
 origin. It was the custom of the Moors 
 to watch, from this point, all merchant 
 ships going into or coming out of the 
 midland sea; and, issuing from this 
 stronghold, to levy duties according to 
 a fixed scale on all merchandise passing 
 in and out of the Straits, and this was 
 called, from the place where it was 
 levied, "tarifa," or "tarifi"," and, in 
 this way, the word has been acquired. 
 
 Meaning: of " Fund " and *' Stock." 
 
 The term fund was applied origin- 
 ally to the taxes or funds set apart as 
 security for repayment of the principal 
 sums advanced, and the interest upon 
 them ; but when money was no longer 
 borrowed to be repaid at any given 
 time, the term began to mean the prin- 
 cipal sum itself. These facts, of course, 
 apply to the English monetary opera- 
 tions. In the year 1751, the Govern- 
 ment began to unite the various loans 
 into one fund, called the consolidated 
 fund — though not to be confused with 
 that of the same name into which part 
 of the revenue is collected ; and sums 
 due in this are now shortly termed 
 " consols." These come under the gen- 
 eral denomination of " stocks." 
 
 lyierchants' Kelig-ious Formulss or 
 Phrases. 
 
 There are many little religious for- 
 mulae, or terms, now fallen into disuse, 
 which once prevailed universally among 
 those engaged in the various depart- 
 ments of trade and commerce. " Laus 
 Deo " (Praise be to God) was once the 
 usual heading of every page of a mer- 
 chant's journal. When goods were sent 
 to some foreign port, the bill of lading, 
 as it is technically termed, invariably 
 stated that they had been " shipped ly 
 the grace of God in and upon the good 
 ship " — called by such a name. A pol- 
 icy of insurance against sea risks still 
 begins with the words, " In the name of 
 Ood, Amen ; " and, up to a late date, 
 
COMMERCIAL ART AND PHRASEOLOGY. 
 
 829 
 
 all commercial appointments were 
 made " God willing." 
 
 Responding: to an Advertisement. 
 
 An important mercantile house in 
 New York had occasion to advertise 
 for sale a quantity of Irass hoppers, such 
 as are used in coffee mills. But instead 
 of brass hoppers, the newspaper read 
 grass hoppers. In a short time the mer- 
 chant's counting room was thronged 
 with inquirers for the new article of 
 merchandise thus advertised. 
 
 " Good morning, Mr. Invoice ; how 
 do you sell grasshoppers ? " said a fat 
 merchant ; " what are they worth a 
 hogshead ? " 
 
 The importer was astonished; but 
 before he had time to reply, in came a 
 druggist, who, being bent on specula- 
 tion, determined to purchase the whole 
 lot, provided he could get them low. 
 Taking the importer aside, for fear of 
 being overheard by the merchant, he 
 asked him how he sold those grasshop- 
 pers — if they were prime quality, and 
 whether they were to be used in medi- 
 cine. The importer was about opening 
 his mouth to answer in an angry man- 
 ner to what he began to suspect was a 
 conspiracy to torment him, when a 
 doctor entered, smelling at his cane, 
 and looking wondrous wise. 
 
 " Mr. Invoice," said he, " ahem ! will 
 you be good enough to show me a 
 specimen of your grasshoppers ? " 
 
 " Grasshoppers ! grasshoppers ! " ex- 
 claimed the importer, as soon as he 
 had a chance to speak, " what, gentle- 
 men, do you mean by grasshoppers ? " 
 
 " Mean ? " said the merchant, " why, 
 I perceive you have advertised the ar- 
 ticle for sale." 
 
 " Certainly," said the druggist, " and 
 when a man advertises an article, it is 
 natural for him to expect inquiries re- 
 lating to the price and quality of the 
 thing." 
 
 " Nothing in the world more natu- 
 ral," said the doctor. " As for myself, I 
 
 have at present a number of cases on 
 hand, in the treatment of which I 
 thought the article might be service- 
 able. But since you are so — ahem ! so 
 uncivil — why, I must look out else- 
 where, and my patients — " 
 
 " You and your patience be hanged ! " 
 interrupted the importer ; " mine is fair- 
 ly worn out, and if you don't explain 
 yourselves, gentlemen, I'll lay this poker 
 over your heads ! " 
 
 To save their heads, the advertise- 
 ment was now referred to, when the 
 importer found out the cause of his 
 vexations, by reading the following: 
 " Just landed, and for sale by Invoice 
 & Co., ten hogsheads prime grasshop- 
 pers." 
 
 ♦ 
 
 Business FufBugr Two Hundred Teaxs 
 Ag-o. 
 
 Some two centuries ago, the number 
 of shopkeepers in England had got to 
 be so numerous, that they commenced 
 the practice of genuine, downright 
 puffing — the art assuming some shapes 
 hardly ventured upon even by the 
 boldest at the present day. Some- 
 times, for example, a shopkeeper, 
 scorning a direct puff advertisement 
 of his articles, commenced with ap- 
 parent anger, thus: "Whereas it has 
 been maliciously reported that A. B. is 
 going to leave off business ; " and then 
 would follow an earnest assurance that 
 such was not the case — " that he con- 
 tinued, as before, to sell the undermen- 
 tioned articles, at lowest prices." A 
 more ingenious plan was for H. Z. to 
 advertise in the public prints that a 
 purse of gold, of large amount, with 
 other valuables, had been, in the great 
 hurry of business, dropped in his shop, 
 and would be restored to the proper 
 owner on describing its contents. Of 
 course, every one was disposed to deal 
 with such an honest tradesman, and 
 the latter soon found his supposititious 
 purse becoming a golden reality to 
 him. 
 
330 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 Transactions in the Cab Market. 
 
 Though the numerous fluctuations 
 in tlie money market are made the sub- 
 ject of acute comments in the public 
 journals, it does not appear that any 
 notice is taken of the fluctuations in 
 the cab market, -which are upon a very 
 wide and extensive scale. A reporter 
 for one of the English papers — more 
 enterprising than its contemporaries — 
 quotes as follows : 
 
 During the gloom which prevailed 
 for a portion of the past week, the pat- 
 ent safeties without the coupon — or 
 blind for wet weather — were done at a 
 shilling a mile ; and the reduced fives 
 — or old clarences, that will hold five 
 at a cram — ^were buoyant at eighteen 
 pence, with a prospect of improvement. 
 Open cabs during the rain were steady 
 at nothing, and the list shows no tran- 
 sactions. 
 
 There was a rush of bears from the 
 Adelphic Theatre, which caused the 
 cab market to assume a very active ap- 
 pearance for a short time ; and fathers 
 of families, with their children, were 
 done at a very high figure, with a pros- 
 pect of advance at the settlement. 
 
 "White handkerchiefs and polished 
 boots were freely taken at lower rates 
 than those demanded in the earliest 
 part of the day, when it was under- 
 stood that they had made bargains for 
 time, and they were accordingly made 
 to pay for the accommodation some- 
 what heavily. In one concern there 
 was a breaking down, and a conse- 
 quent failure in making the deposits at 
 the time and place appointed. This is 
 the only smash in the cab market which 
 we have to report, and in this the get- 
 ting out was ultimately arranged to the 
 satisfaction of all parties. 
 
 Striking: a Barg-ain. 
 
 AuBERY, in his manuscript collec- 
 tions, relates that in several parts of 
 England, when two persons are driving 
 
 a bargain, one holds out his right hand> 
 and says, " Strike me ; " and if the other 
 strike, the bargain holds ; whence the 
 phrase "striking a bargain." The 
 practice is retained in the custom of 
 saying " Done " to a wager offered, at 
 the same time striking the hand of the 
 wagerer. 
 
 "Five Per Cent." 
 
 A VERDANT-LOOKiNG pcrson Called 
 upon a jeweller in Montreal, and stated 
 that he had managed to accumulate, 
 by hard labor, for the few past years, 
 seventy-five dollars, which he wished 
 to invest in something, whereby he 
 might make money a little faster ; and 
 he had concluded to take some of the 
 stock and peddle it out. The jeweller 
 selected what he thought would sell 
 readily, and the new peddler started 
 on his first trip. He was gone but a 
 few days when he returned, bought as 
 much again as before, and started on 
 his second trip. Again he returned, and 
 greatly increased his stock. He suc- 
 ceeded so well, and accumulated so 
 fast, that the jeweller ventured, one 
 day, to ask him what profit he obtain- 
 ed on what he sold ? " Well, I put on 
 'bout five per cent." The jeweller 
 thought that a very small profit, and 
 expressed as much. " "Well," said the 
 peddler, "I don't know as I exactly 
 understand about your "per cent.; but 
 an article for which I pay you one dol- 
 lar, I generally sell for^^d." 
 
 Historical and Poetical Sigrns. 
 
 It is related of a barber in Paris, 
 that, to establish the utility of his bag 
 wigs, he caused the history of Absalom 
 to be painted over his door ; and that 
 one of the profession, in an English 
 town, used this inscription: "Absa- 
 lom, hadst thou worn a periwig, thou 
 hadst not been hanged." It is some- 
 where told of another, that he inge- 
 niously versified his brother peruke- 
 
COMMERCIAL ART AND PHRASEOLOGY. 
 
 831 
 
 maker's inscription : under a sign which 
 represented the death of Absalom, and 
 David weeping, he wrote thus : 
 " Absalom ! Absalom ! 
 Absalom ! my son, 
 If thou hadst worn a periwig, 
 Thou hadst not been undone ! " 
 
 Jemmy Wrig-ht's Modesty. 
 
 Old Jemmy "Wright, an eccentric 
 barber of wide and harmless fame in 
 his day, opened a shop under the walls 
 of the King's Bench prison. The win- 
 dows being broken when he entered it, 
 he mended them with paper, on which 
 appeared " Shave for a penny," with 
 the usual invitation to customers. 
 Whether his proximity to the gray 
 walls of a prison had a salutary in- 
 fluence in developing his honest traits, 
 cannot with certainty be stated ; but 
 over his door were scrawled the follow- 
 ing words, which exhibit the rare busi- 
 ness quality of a man speaking a better 
 word for others of his craft than for 
 himself: 
 
 " Here lives Jemmy Wright, 
 
 Shaves as well as any man in England, 
 Almost — not quite^ 
 
 " Take Down that Old Sign." 
 
 One summer morning, quoth the 
 Kiiickerboclcer, Mr. Leupp — well known 
 as an honored merchant in New York 
 — was standing in the vestibule of the 
 great " Leather House," No. 20 Ferry 
 street, in the " Swamp," when some 
 one, passing by at that time, and look- 
 ing up, said, " Leupp, why don't you 
 take down that old sign, ' Gideon 
 Lee ' ? It's all worn out ; the wood has 
 dropped away from the letters, and the 
 paint has e'en a'most rolled off o' them. 
 Why don't you take it down and split 
 it up ? " Leupp looTced at his inter- 
 locutor, with that watery, blue, fuU- 
 13upiled, interior German eye of his, 
 and with a motion of his hand waved 
 the questioner on his way, without 
 
 saying a word in reply. The memory 
 of that name was precious in the es- 
 teem of Mr. Leupp. And there it is 
 still, in the old place. 
 
 Signs are very curious things. Down 
 in Murray street, there may be seen 
 some rusty, dingy, forbidding-looking 
 iron chests — but, like Gideon Lee's 
 sign, they are types of something 
 worthy to be remembered; they are 
 safes that have been tried by fierce 
 flames for hours upon hours together, 
 and yet delivered their precious and 
 otherwise irrecoverable contents un- 
 harmed. And in West street, toward 
 the Battery, there is another " case in 
 p'int," — a ship chandler's sign, an 
 anchor, that " held wonderful onto a 
 schooner," in a celebrated September 
 gale, and a block and tackle that seem 
 coeval with Sol Gil's midshipman sign, 
 so reverenced by himself and Captain 
 Cuttle. 
 
 Charg-ing- for Advertisements. 
 
 The practice of charging for adver- 
 tisements commenced at a very early 
 period. A few might at first have 
 been inserted gratuitously, but the 
 revenue flowing from this source was 
 so obvious a consideration, that the 
 system soon began of charging a fixed 
 sum for each. In the Mercurius Libra- 
 rius, a bookseller's paper, it is stated 
 that, " to show that the publishers de- 
 sign the public advantage of trade, they 
 will expect but sixpence for inserting 
 any book, nor but twelve pence for 
 any other advertisement relating to the 
 trade, unless it be excessive long." The 
 next intimation of price is in the 
 Jockey^s Intelligencer^ which charged 
 a shilling for each, and sixpence for 
 renewing. The Observator, in 1704, 
 charged a shilling for eight lines ; and 
 the Country Gentleman'' s Courant^ in 
 1706, inserted advertisements at two 
 pence a line. The PuUic Advertiser 
 charged for a length of time two shil- 
 lings for each insertion. 
 
332 
 
 COMMERCIAL AXD BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 The Napoleon of Advertising". 
 
 Perhaps tlie crowning fact in 
 modern advertising is that whicli is 
 stated by Thackeray, in his " Journey 
 from Cornhill to Cairo," namely, that 
 " WarreTh's BlacMng " is jjainted up over 
 an obliterated inscription to Psamme- 
 tichus on Pompey's Pillar ! 
 
 The greatest man of the day, how- 
 ever, as an advertiser, is Holloway, of 
 London, who expends the enormous 
 sum of one hundred and fifty thousand 
 dollars annually, in advertisements 
 alone. 
 
 His name is not only to be seen in 
 nearly every paper and periodical pub- 
 lished in the British Isles, but, as if 
 that country were too " pent up " for 
 this individual's exploits, he stretches 
 over the whole of India, having agents 
 in all the dififerent parts of the upper, 
 central, and lower provinces of that 
 immense country, publishing his medi- 
 caments in the Hindoo, Ooordoo, Gooz- 
 ratee, Persian, and other native lan- 
 guages, so that the Indian public can 
 take the pills, and use his ointment, as 
 a cockney would do within the sound 
 of Bowbells. 
 
 We find him again at Hong Kong 
 and Canton, making his medicines 
 known to the Celestials by means of a 
 Chinese tranlation. We trace him from 
 thence to the Philippine Islands, where 
 he is circulating his preparations in 
 the native languages. At Singapore 
 he has a large depot ; his agents there 
 supply all the islands in the Indian 
 seas. His advertisements are published 
 in most of the papers at Sydney, Ho- 
 bart Town, Launceston, Adelaide, 
 Port Philip, and indeed in almost 
 every town of that region of the 
 world. 
 
 Returning homeward, his pills and 
 ointment are found on sale at Valpa- 
 raiso, Lima, Callao, and other ports in 
 the Pacific. Doubling the Horn, w^e 
 track him in the Atlantic: at Monte 
 Video, Buenos Ayres, Santos, Rio 
 
 Janeiro, Bahia, and Pemambuco, he is 
 advertising in Spanish and Portuguese. 
 
 In all the British West Indian Is- 
 lands, as also in the Upper and Lower 
 Canadas, and the neighboring provin- 
 ces of Nova Scotia and New Bruns- 
 wick, his medicines are as familiarly 
 known, and sold by every druggist, as 
 they are at home. 
 
 In the Mediterranean, we find them 
 selling at Malta, Corfu, Athens, and 
 Alexandria, besides at Tunis, and other 
 portions of the Barbary States. 
 
 Any one taking the trouble to look 
 at the Journal and Courier of Con- 
 stantinople, may find in these, as well 
 as other papers, that Hollo way's medi- 
 cines are regularly advertised and sell- 
 ing throughout the Turkish empire. 
 
 And even in Russia, where an almost 
 insurmountable barrier exists — the laws 
 there prohibiting the entree of patent 
 medicines — Holloway's ingenuity has 
 been at work, and obviates this difficul- 
 ty by forwarding supplies to his agent 
 at Odessa, a port situated on the Black 
 Sea, where they filter themselves sur- 
 reptitiously by various channels into 
 the very heart of the empire. 
 
 Africa has not been forgotten 
 by this determined " benefactor " of 
 suffering humanity ; he has an agent 
 on the river Gambia, also at Sierra 
 Leone, the plague spot of the world, 
 the inhabitants readily availing them- 
 selves of the ointment and pills. 
 
 Thus it is that Holloway has made 
 the complete circuit of the globe, com- 
 mencing with India, and ending with 
 the Cape of Good Hope, where his 
 medicines are published in the Dutch 
 and English languages. 
 
 Business Sigrnboards in Different 
 Nations. 
 
 The Roman traders and vendws had 
 their signs ; and at Pompeii a pig over 
 the door represented a wine shop 
 within. 
 
 The Middle Ages adopted a bush— 
 " Good wine needs no bush," &c., an- 
 
COMMERCIAL ART AND PHRASEOLOGY. 
 
 333 
 
 swering to the gilded grapes at a 
 modern vintner's. The bush is still a 
 common sign. At Charles the First's 
 death, a cavalier painted his bush 
 black. Then came the modern square 
 sign, formerly common to all trades. 
 
 Old signs are generally heraldric, 
 and represent royal bearings, or the 
 blazonings of great families. Some 
 of these will be found briefly noticed 
 in another part of this volume, under 
 the title of " Ancient Pictorial Sign- 
 boards." The White Hart was pecu- 
 liar to Richard the Second ; the White 
 Swan, of Henry the Fourth and Edward 
 the Third ; the Blue Boar, of Richard 
 the Third; the Red Dragon came in 
 with the Tudors, and also the Rose 
 and Fleur de Lys ; the Bull, the Fal- 
 con, and Plume of Feathers commemo- 
 rated Edward the Fourth; the Swan 
 and Antelope, Henry the Fifth; the 
 Greyhound and Green Dragon, Henry 
 the Seventh; the Castle, the Spread 
 Eagle, and the Globe were probably 
 adopted from Spain, Germany, and 
 Portugal, by inns which were the 
 resort of merchants from those coun- 
 tries. Then there were the Bear and 
 Ragged Staff, etc., and some the origin 
 of which is lost in obscurity. 
 
 Monograms are common to the same 
 period— as Bait and Ton for Balton ; 
 Hare and Tun, for Harrington. The 
 three Suns is the favorite bearing of 
 Edward the Fourth; and all Roses, 
 red or white, are indications of politi- 
 cal predilections. Other signs — and 
 these are naturally very numerous — 
 commemorate historical events. 
 
 The Pilgrim, Cross Keys, Salutation, 
 Catharine Wheel, Angel, Three Kings, 
 St. Francis, etc., are mediaeval signs. 
 Many of these became curiously cor- 
 rupted, as already mentioned in the 
 anecdotes of ancient pictorial sign- 
 boards above referred to. As addi- 
 tional examples of this amusing verbal 
 change may be mentioned that of the 
 Coeur Dor6 (Golden Heart) to the Queer 
 Door ; Pig and Whistle — Peg and Was- 
 
 sail Bow ; the Swan and Two Necks — 
 Two Nicks ; the Goat in the Golden 
 Boots — from the Dutch, Goed in der 
 Gooden Boote — Mercury, or the God 
 in the Golden Boots; the Cat and 
 Fiddle— the Caton Fidele. 
 
 The Swan with Two Nicks repre- 
 sented the Thames Swans, so marked 
 on their bills under the " Conservatory " 
 of the Goldsmiths' Company. The 
 Coach and Horses pertain to the times 
 when the superior inns were the only 
 posting houses, in distinction to such 
 as bore the sign of the Packhorse. 
 The Fox and Goose denoted the games 
 played within; the country inn, the 
 Hare and Hounds, . the vicinity of a 
 sporting squire. 
 
 The Puritans altered many of the mo- 
 nastic signs, during their sway ; such 
 as the Angel and Lady, to the Soldier 
 and Citizen. The Crusaders brought 
 in the signs of the Saracen's Head, the 
 Turk's Head and the Golden Cross. 
 
 In the various business signs of dif- 
 ferent periods may be read every phase 
 of ministerial popularity, and all the 
 ebbs and flows of war — as, the Sir 
 Home Popham, Rodney, Shovel, Duke 
 of York, Wellington's Head, etc. One 
 such sign, in Chelsea, called the Snow 
 Shoes, still indicates the excitement of 
 the American war. 
 
 The chemist's sign was that of a 
 dragon — some astrological device ; the 
 haberdasher and wool draper, the gold- 
 en fleece ; the tobacconist, the snuff- 
 taking Highlander ; the vintners, the 
 ivy bush and the bunch of grapes; 
 and the church-and-state bookseller, 
 the Bible and crown. 
 
 Harlow's Sig-n Painting Extra- 
 ordinary. 
 
 There is a clever anecdote connect- 
 ed with the ancient and celebrated sign 
 of the Queen's Head, Epsom. This 
 sign — that is, the original, for the 
 board has been repainted — was execut- 
 ed by Harlow, an eminent artist, and 
 a pupil of the renowned Sir Thomas 
 
334 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 Lawrence. He was a young man of 
 consummate vanity, and having un- 
 warrantably claimed the merit of paint- 
 ing the Newfoun<|land dog introduced 
 in Lawrence's portrait of Mrs. Anger- 
 stein, the two artists quarrelled, and 
 Harlow took his resentment as follows : 
 He repaired to the Queen's Head, at 
 Epsom, where his style of living hav- 
 ing incurred a bill which he could not 
 discharge, he proposed, like Morland, 
 under similar circumstances, to paint a 
 signboard in liquidation of his score. 
 This was accepted. He painted both 
 sides : the one presented a front view 
 of her Majesty, in a sort of clever, 
 dashing caricature of Sir Thomas's 
 style; the other represented the back 
 view of the queen's person, as if look- 
 ing into the signboard — and underneath 
 was painted, " T. L., Greek street, So- 
 ho." When Sir Thomas met him, he 
 addressed him with, " I have seen your 
 additional act of perfidy at Epsom; 
 and if you were not a scoundrel, I 
 would kick you from one end of the 
 street to the other." " There is some 
 privilege in being a scoundrel, for the 
 street is very long," replied Harlow, 
 unabashed, but moving out of reach of 
 the threatened demonstration. 
 
 Free Shave and a Drink. 
 
 There was once a barber who had 
 on his sign the words — 
 
 " What do you think 
 I will shave you for nothing 
 And give you something to drink." 
 A man went in on the supposed in- 
 vitation, and, after he was shaved, 
 asked for something to drink. " No," 
 said the barber, " you do not read my 
 sign right. I say, ' What ! do you 
 think I will shave you for nothing, 
 and give you something to drink ? ' " 
 
 "Words have their Meaning." 
 
 A MEDICINE man many years ago had 
 a shop in Beekman street, New York, 
 
 where he sold various medicaments, 
 which were duly sign-ed at the door, 
 as well as sealed and delivered within. 
 Conspicuous among these signs, was 
 one which bore the following inscrip- 
 tion, namely, " The Celebrated Cure for 
 the Spanish Piles." It was an infallible 
 specific for a painful malady, the ven- 
 der said one day to a friend, " but, by 
 gar ! nobody come to buy him ! Yet 
 his sign is biggest one at de door I " 
 The friend looked at the sign. " I see 
 how it is," said he ; " nobody Tiere has 
 the Spanish piles — your sign is wrong. 
 Have it changed to ' The celebrated 
 Spanish cure for the piles.' " This ad- 
 vice was taken, and a few days after, 
 the foreign pot'ecary met his adviser in 
 the street, when, holding out his hand, 
 with a cordial smile and a fervent 
 grasp, he said, * Aha I it is ver' good ; 
 now I sell de Spanish cure ver' moch ! 
 Everybody say he ver' most good 
 t'ing 1 " 
 
 French Ideas of Advertising:. 
 
 A MARCHAND de papier — or paper 
 merchant — took an advertisement of 
 such wares to a provincial newspaper 
 in France, whose regisseur was proprie- 
 tor, printer, and all — besides canydng 
 on a little of another kind of paper 
 business. The gentleman refused to in- 
 sert the advertisement. 
 
 "Why not?" asked the dealer, in 
 astonishment. " Here's the money down, 
 if you are afraid of that I " 
 
 "Heu! heu!" said the editor, "I 
 neither want your money nor your ad- 
 vertisement. I, too, sell paper — fools- 
 cap, quarto, letter paper, fine, coarse, 
 and demi-fine, besides envelopes, cards, 
 and letters of faire-part^ of deaths and 
 marriages, all in the newest style — a 
 very large assortment. I cannot pub- 
 lish the advertisement of any one who 
 would undersell my paper. What would 
 you have ? " 
 
 Too proud to make vain remon- 
 strance, the customer went away. But 
 
COMMERCIAL ART AND PHRASEOLOGY. 
 
 335 
 
 in a few days returned to the office, 
 and humbly asked : 
 
 "Monsieur, have you an attic to 
 let ? " 
 
 " What do you mean ? I don't un- 
 derstand your question. Pray, now, 
 what p»-oject can you have in respect to 
 my attic ? " 
 
 "Before I can explain my inten- 
 tions," the merchant replied, "you 
 must answer my question, whether you 
 have an attic to let ? " 
 
 " No, I have not." 
 
 " Very well, monsieur ; I can now 
 proceed to business without fear of a 
 rebuff. Please inSv^rt this in your next 
 number. / have an attic to let, but I 
 thought I would ask whether you had 
 one to let also, before I ventured to 
 present the advertisement." 
 
 Pathos and Puffing" Extraordinary. 
 
 The tone of sentiment adopted in 
 advertising the death of a trader or 
 man of business, in England, not unfre- 
 quently affords matter of peculiar enter- 
 tainment. There is sometimes a face- 
 tious — not to say barefaced — union of 
 puff and despondency. Here is one of 
 these pseudo-lachrymose specimens of 
 a death : " Died, on the 11th ultimo, 
 at his shop in Fleet street, Mr. Edward 
 Jones, much respected by all who knew 
 and dealt with him. As a man he was 
 amiable, as a hatter upright and mod- 
 erate. His virtues were beyond all 
 price, and his beaver hats were only 
 £1 4s. each. He has left a widow to de- 
 plore his loss, and a large stock, to be 
 sold cheap, for the benefit of his fam- 
 ily. He was snatched to the other 
 world in the prime of life, and just as 
 he had concluded an extensive pur- 
 chase of felt, which he got so cheap 
 that the widow can supply hats at a 
 more moderate charge than any house 
 in London. His disconsolate family 
 will carry on the business with punc- 
 tuality." 
 
 Alliteration in Advertising. 
 
 Advertising, now-a-days, has be- 
 come reduced — or elevated ! — to a sci- 
 ence. Somebody alliterizes in this man- 
 ner, in an advertisement of an asserted 
 superior article of marking ink : to wit, 
 that it is remarkable for " requiring no 
 preparation, preeminently preengages 
 peculiar public predilection ; produces 
 palpable, plainly perceptible, perpetual 
 perspicuities ; penetrates powerfully, 
 precluding previous prerequisite prep- 
 arations ; possesses particular preroga- 
 tives ; protects private property ; pre- 
 vents presumptuous, pilfering persons 
 practising promiscuous proprietorship ; 
 pleasantly j)erfonning plain practical 
 penmanship ; perfectly precludes pue- 
 rile panegyrics, preferring proper public 
 patronage." 
 
 " Universal Stores." 
 
 Royal Tyleb, the famous New 
 Hampshire wit, thus set off, in parody, 
 the advertisements of the " Universal 
 Stores," so common in former times : 
 
 VARIETY STORE. 
 
 To the Literati : 
 
 Messrs. COLON & SPONDEE, 
 
 wholesale dealers in 
 Verse, Prose, and Poetry, 
 
 beg leave to inform the Public, and the Learned 
 
 in particular, that 
 
 —previous to the ensuing 
 
 COMMENCEMENT — 
 
 They propose to open a fresh Assortment of 
 
 LEXICOGRAPHIC, BURGURSDICIAN, AND 
 
 PARNASSIAN 
 
 GOODS, 
 
 suitable for the season^ 
 At the Room on the Plain, lately occupied 
 by Mr. Frederick Wiser, Tonsor^ 
 if it can be procured — 
 Where they will expose to Sale — 
 Salutatory and Valedictory Orations, Syllo- 
 gistic and Forensic Disputations and Dia- 
 logues among the living and the dead — 
 Theses and Masters, Questions, Latin, Greek, 
 
336 
 
 COMMERCIAL AXD BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic, and the ancient 
 Coptic, neatly modified into Dialogues, Ora- 
 tions, etc., on the shortest notice — with Dis- 
 sertations on the Targum and Talmud, and 
 Collations after the manner of Kennicott — 
 Hebrew roots and other Simples — Dead Lan- 
 guages for living Drones — Oriental Lan- 
 guages with or without points, prefixes, or 
 suffixes— Attic, Doric, Ionic, and -^Eolic Dia- 
 lects, with the Wabash, Onondaga, and Mo- 
 hawk Gutturals — Synalsephas, Elisions, and 
 Ellipses of the newest cut — v's added and 
 dovetailed to their vowels, with a small as- 
 sortment of the genuine Peloponnesian Na- 
 sal Twangs — Classic Compliments adapted to 
 all dignities, with superlatives in o, and ge- 
 runds in di, gratis — Monologues, Dialogues, 
 Trialogues, Tetralogues, and so on, from one 
 to twenty logues. 
 
 Anagrams, Acrostics, Anacreontics, Chro- 
 nograms, Epigrams, Hudibrastics, and Pane- 
 gyrics, Rebuses, Charades, Puns, and Co- 
 nundrums, by the gross or single dozen. 
 Sonnets, Elegies, Epithalamiums ; Bucolics, 
 Gearics, Pastorals; Epic Poems, Dedica- 
 tions, and Adulatory Prefaces, in verse and 
 prose. 
 
 Ether, Mist, Sleet, Rain, Snow, Lightning, 
 and Thunder, prepared and personified after 
 the manner of Delia Crusca, with a quantity 
 of Brown Horror, Blue Fear, and Child-Be- 
 getting Love, from the same Manufactory ; 
 with a pleasing variety of high-colored Com- 
 pound epithets, Avell assorted — Farragoes, 
 and other Brunonian Opiates — Anti-Insti- 
 tutes, or the new and concise patent mode 
 of applying /or^3/ letters to the spelling of a 
 monosyllable — Love Letters by the Ream — 
 Summary Arguments, both Merry and Seri- 
 ous — Sermons, moral, occasional, or polemi- 
 cal — Sermons for Texts, and Texts for Ser- 
 mons — Old Orations scoured, Forensics fur- 
 bished. Blunt Epigrams newly pointed, and 
 cold Conferences hashed; with Extempora- 
 neous Prayers, corrected and amended — Al- 
 literations artfully allied — and Periods pol- 
 ished to perfection. 
 
 Airs, Canons, Catches, and Cantatas — 
 Fugues, Overtures, and Symphonies, for any 
 number of instruments — Serenades for Noc- 
 turnal Lovers — with Rose Trees full blown, 
 and BlacJc jokes of all colors— Amen?, and 
 Hallelujahs, trilled, quavered, and slurred — 
 with Couplets, Syncopations, Minim and 
 
 Crotchet Rests, for female voices — and Solosy 
 with the three parts, for hand organs. 
 
 Classic College Bows, clear starched, lately 
 imported from Cambridge, and now used by 
 all the topping scientific connoisseurs in hair 
 and wigs, in this country. 
 
 Adventures, Paragraphs, Letters from Cor- 
 respondents, Country Seats for Rural Mem- 
 bei's of Congress, provided by Editors of 
 Newspapers — with Accidental Deaths, Bat- 
 tles, Bloody Murders, Premature News, Tem- 
 pests, Thunder and Lightning, and Hail- 
 stones, of all dimensions, adapted to the 
 Season. 
 
 Circles squared, and Mathematical Points 
 divided into quarters, and half shares ; and 
 jointed Assymp totes which will meet at any 
 given distance. 
 
 Syllogisms in Bocardo, and Baralipton; 
 Serious Caution against Drunkenness, etc., 
 and other coarse Wrapping Paper, gratis, to 
 those who buy the smallest article. 
 
 On hand, a few Tierces of Attic 
 Salt — also, Cash, and the highest price, 
 given for Raw Wit, for the use of the 
 Manufactory, or taken in exchange for the 
 above Articles. 
 
 Buying: a Claizn. 
 
 From the oil diggings a correspon- 
 dent of Harper's " Drawer " writes, un- 
 der date of Oleana : The world is full of 
 good things. You also are in a simi- 
 lar state of repletion, and yet the half 
 is not told. There are many things 
 yet unknown, and, let us hope, many 
 more yet to happen. We live in the 
 midst of a good thing — oil ; good for 
 everything under the sun but to smell ; 
 it is not good for that. Three friends 
 were discussing " the subject " (oil, 
 
 of courseX Says A : " Old Billy G 
 
 has bought a good claim." " WTiat 
 does he give ? " says B. " One thou- 
 sand dollars, and a quarter of the oil 
 for a quarter of the claim," replied A. 
 " Then," says C, " as a matter of course, 
 had he bought the whole claim he 
 would have had to pay four thousand 
 dollars and all the oiV This is an 
 opinion as is an opinion. 
 
COMMERCIAL ART AND PHRASEOLOGY. 
 
 337 
 
 Very Racy. 
 
 Peevious to the destruction of the 
 JSTatioual Theatre in Boston, one of the 
 stores in the basement was occupied by 
 one Patrick L Grace. A wag meeting 
 a friend in the street, and knowing his 
 penchant for rare and exciting sights, 
 inquired if he had seen the pig race ? " 
 
 " Pig race ! " repeated Dapee, " no ; 
 I never heard of one before. Where is 
 it?" 
 
 " Down to the National Theatre ; 
 you had better go down; it's worth 
 seeing," was the answer. 
 
 Dupee, who had been " spoiling" for 
 something new in the way of amuse- 
 ments, started for the National at once, 
 but of course found the doors closed, 
 and no signs of any race around there, 
 except the human race. Feeling that 
 he was the victim of a " sell," he turned 
 dryly away, when his eye caught Mr. 
 Grace's sign. The stupid painter had 
 omitted to insert any punctuation, and 
 it read thus : PIGRACE. 
 
 "Yery good," remarked Dupee; 
 "that does look like a pig race, sure 
 enough ! " and off he hurried, to find 
 a victim in his turn. 
 
 Getting- rid of his Neighbor's 
 Customers. 
 
 In the pleasant city of Canton, Mis- 
 sissippi, lives a worthy landlord by the 
 name of Colonel Pierce. Next door to 
 the Pierce House was a gunsmith's 
 shop, kept by Bob Leonard, whose 
 chief failing was the love of fish, squir- 
 rels, etc. When Bob wanted a day in 
 the woods he had no scruples about 
 closing up his establishment. Of 
 course Bob's customers would be more 
 numerous on the days the shop was 
 closed. Now no place was so handy 
 as Colonel Pierce's for the disappoint- 
 ed to inquire, " Do you know where 
 Bob Leonard is ? " The Colonel, getting 
 heartily tired of the annoyance, be- 
 thought him of a plan for ridding him- 
 23 
 
 self of the trouble of answering. He 
 had a sign painted, and hung up in the 
 most conspicuous part of the ofl[ice, 
 with this inscription : " I want it dis- 
 tinctly understood that I don't know 
 where Bob Leonard is." 
 
 Broadway Sig-ns. 
 
 Not long since there could be seen a 
 very singular and purely accidental col- 
 lection of occupations in one building 
 on Broadway — the signs across the front 
 standing out like some great Ogre's 
 eyes, nose, and mouth, ready to gobble 
 a person up. The first floor, occupied 
 by the " Broadway Hestavrant,^^ where 
 you could be taken in, fed, and pre- 
 pared; the second floor, occupied by 
 the " Office of the West Point Foundry,''' 
 where you could be killed by the latest 
 inventions ; the third floor occupied by 
 the " Office of Greenwood Cemetery^ 
 where you could be buried in the most 
 approved style. Feed, Mil, and iuryj 
 all in one building. 
 
 Pat's Definition of Railroad *' Stock." 
 
 Pat Donahue was a " broth of a 
 boy," right from the "Gem of the 
 Say," and he had a small contract on 
 the Conway Railroad, New Hampshire, 
 in the year of grace 1855, in which he 
 agreed to take his pay part in cash, 
 part in bonds, and part in stock. The 
 stock of this road, be it remembered — 
 like many others — was not worth a 
 " Continental," and has always kept 
 up its value with remarkable uniformi- 
 ty. In due time Pat, having com- 
 pleted his job, presented himself at the 
 treasurer's ofiice for settlement. The 
 money, the bonds, and the certificate 
 of stock were soon in his possession. 
 
 " And what is this now ? " said Pat, 
 flourishing his certificate of stock, bear- 
 ing the " broad seal " of the corpora- 
 tion. 
 
 " That is your stock, sir," blandly re- 
 plied the treasurer. 
 
338 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 "And is this what I'm to git for 
 me labor ? "Wasn't me contract for 
 sthock ? " 
 
 " Why, certainly ; that is your stock. 
 What did you expect ? " 
 
 " What did I expect ! " said Pat, ex- 
 citedly ; " what did I expect ! AYhy 
 pigs, and shape, and horses, shure ! " 
 
 Silk-Dyer's Poetical Si&n. 
 
 Poor Goldsmith's familiar and touch- 
 ing lines : 
 
 " When lovely woman stoops to folly," 
 fare sadly in the hands of a silk-dyer, 
 who puts on his sign and circular this 
 wicked parody : 
 
 *' When lovely woman tilts her saucer, 
 
 And finds too late that tea will stain — 
 Whatever made a woman Grosser — 
 What art can wash all white again ? 
 
 " The only art the stain to cover, 
 To hide the spot from every eye, 
 And wear an unsoiled dress above her. 
 Of proper color, is to dye I " 
 
 Fnll-size Headings to Advertise- 
 ments. 
 
 As the editor of " old Knick." 
 vouches for the strict ter-ruth of the 
 following little legend, it mS,y be safely 
 assumed to be strictly ter-rue, especially 
 in view of the extrinsic probability 
 which is so obvious in the narration : 
 
 A few years since, the writer of the 
 following sketch was one of the editors 
 and proprietors of a daily and weekly 
 newspaper, published in one of the 
 large towns of Western New York. 
 Among the numerous patrons of the 
 paper was a man whom I shall describe 
 as Levi Lapp, a carpenter by trade, and 
 a very clever man in his way, but as the 
 sequel shows, entirely unacquainted 
 with the art which claims as its shining 
 lights the names of Guttemberg and 
 Faust. 
 
 Having considerable Yankee adapt- 
 edness to one thing or the other, in the 
 
 useful as well as ornamental line, Mr. 
 Lapp had recently purchased the right 
 to manufacture a patent pump, which 
 he was very desirous of introducing to 
 the public, through the columns of our 
 paper. In other words, he wanted to 
 advertise it, and in the course of con- 
 versation about the price and other de- 
 tails, mentioned to me that he would 
 like a cut of his new pump inserted as 
 a heading to the advertisement. I re- 
 plied, " Very well," and immediately 
 asked, " Have you the cut here ? " He 
 replied, " No, but I have got one at my 
 house, and vnW fetch it in." 
 
 In a day or two Mr. Lapp came into 
 the oflBce with a hand-bill, which he 
 unfolded, and which contained a fac 
 simile of the pump he was manufac- 
 turing. 
 
 He said to me : " Now you can get 
 in my cut, and do so at once, for I wish 
 to see it in print in your paper." 
 
 " Where is your cut ? " I asked. 
 
 " On the bill," he replied, with all 
 the seriousness of a post captain. 
 
 I then told him that it would require 
 a block of wood cut by an engraver in 
 the shape and likeness of the pump ; 
 that this was called a cut or engraving, 
 and that it would have to be used in 
 the press, in connection with the types, 
 to make up such an advertisement as 
 he desired. I further told him who 
 could do the job, and the probable 
 expense — some fifteen or twenty dol- 
 lars. 
 
 A bright idea appeared to influence 
 Mr. Lapp, and he informed me that he 
 thought he could do the job himself, 
 and save just so much outlay. I told 
 him if he could it would suit me 
 equally as well; but I thought he 
 would find it a trifle difficult. 
 
 We separated, and I saw no more 
 of Levi Lapp for several weeks. In 
 fact, I had forgotten all about the mat- 
 ter. One morning, bright and early, 
 as I was busy at the desk, in came Mr. 
 Lapp, in a great hurry and bluster. 
 He quickly explained himself, and 
 
COMMERCIAL ART AND PHRASEOLOGY. 
 
 339 
 
 said he had his cut finished, and had 
 brought it as a heading to his adver- 
 tisement. 
 
 I said : " Very well. Where is it ? " 
 
 He answered : " Down stairs." 
 
 Without giving the matter a mo- 
 ment's thought, I said to him, " Bring 
 it up ; " and he instantly left the room 
 for that purpose. 
 
 His back was hardly turned, how- 
 ever, before the thought struck me that 
 he had rather a huge engraving for a 
 paper of limited size like ours. And 
 calling to the foreman to see if I was 
 not correct in my opinion, I turned 
 again to the desk. 
 
 The foreman was back in an instant, 
 and I was soon aware that Levi Lapp's 
 bright idea had grown into giant pro- 
 portions, and that the engraving or cut 
 he had brought for our press was no 
 less than a 'veritable wood pump of full 
 size, even to the pump log^ chain, cranio 
 and water spout. 
 
 Lapp was proceeding to bring his 
 " extended cut " into our establishment, 
 but at that very moment was deterred 
 from executing his plan by the shouts 
 and laughter of the entire printing office 
 force, including the devil himself, who 
 stood at the windows making merry at 
 his expense. 
 
 The true condition of afiairs slowly 
 dawned upon Mr. Lapp's vision ; and 
 when informed that he had made a 
 much larger "cut" than the present 
 condition of the art preservative would 
 justify, he hurriedly replaced his " en- 
 graving" on the wagon that brought 
 it to our door and drove off, evidently 
 making a greater " impression " in this 
 way than the pump could, by any pos- 
 sibility, have made in our limited es- 
 tablishment. 
 
 Bush's Celebrated Figure-Heads. 
 
 Edwakd Cutbush was considered 
 the best carver of his day. Among his 
 apprentices, at the close of the last 
 century, was William Rush, of Phila- 
 delphia. When Rush first saw, on a 
 foreign vessel, a walking figure — most 
 unusual, in that day — he instantly 
 conceived the design of more tasteful 
 and graceful figures than had been be- 
 fore executed. He at once surpassed 
 his master; and having thus opened 
 his mind to the contemplation and 
 study of such attitudes and figures as 
 he saw in nature, he was very soon 
 enabled to surpass all his former per- 
 formances. Then his figures began to 
 excite admiration in foreign ports. The 
 figure of the " Indian Trader " to the 
 ship " William Penn " (the Trader was 
 dressed in Indian habiliments), excited 
 great admiration in London. The car- 
 vers there would come in boats and 
 station themselves near the ship, so as 
 to sketch designs from it. They even 
 came to take casts of plaster-of-Paris 
 from the head. This was directly after 
 the Revolution, when she was com- 
 manded by Captain Josiah. When he 
 carved a river god as the figure for the 
 ship " Ganges," the Hindoos came off 
 in numerous boats to pay their admira- 
 tion, and perhaps reverence, to the va- 
 rious emblems in the trail of the image. 
 On one occasion, the house of Nicklin 
 & Griffiths actually had orders from 
 England to Rush (fifty years and more 
 ago), to carve two figures for two ships 
 building there. One was a female per- 
 sonation of Commerce. The duties 
 charged in that instance amounted to 
 more than the first cost of the images 
 themselves. 
 
PART SEVENTH. 
 
 Anecdotes and Things IIemohable congerninq 
 Business Transit and Communication. 
 
PAET SEYES-TH. 
 
 Anecdotes and Things Memorable concerning Business Transit and 
 
 Oonmmnication. 
 
 SHIPPING, STEAMBOATS, RAILWAYS, EXPRESSES, TELEGRAPHS, COACHES, OMNIBUSES, ETC.,— 
 THEIR OWNERS, OFFICERS, PATRONS, AND ATTACHES. 
 
 The heaven-conducted prow 
 
 Of navigation bold, that fearless braves 
 
 The burning line, or dares the wintry pole. — Thomson. 
 
 Soon shall thy power, unconquered Steam I afar 
 Drag the swift barge and drive the rapid car. 
 
 Darwin {more than ninety years ago'). 
 
 Now there is nothing gives a man such spirits 
 As going at full speed.— Don Juan. 
 
 No longer geeup and gee-ho, 
 But tiz— fiz-z 1 oft" we go 1— Anon. 
 
 Purcliase of Jacob Barker's Ship " Uni- 
 ted States" by the Emperor Nicholas. 
 
 At one period of his business career, 
 Jacob Barker was extensively engaged 
 in the Russian trade, and gave the 
 name of " Russia " to the last ship he had 
 built. Among the vessels employed 
 by Mr. Barker in his Russian business, 
 •was a vei7 fine New- York built ship, 
 named the *' United States." 
 
 This ship was lying at anchor at 
 Cronstadt, in 1829, when the young 
 emperor, Nicholas, passing by in his 
 barge, on his way to the inspection of 
 his fleet, being attracted by her fine 
 appearance, the boatswain's whistle was 
 sounded, and the men peaked their 
 oars, while the emperor took a full 
 view of the vessel ; it again sounded, 
 the boat went round the ship, and then 
 landed ; the captain was invited on 
 shore, when the emperor inquired of 
 him if his ship was for sale — and if so, 
 what was the price. The reply was, 
 " She was for sale until yesterday, when 
 
 a charter was obtained, to take a car- 
 go of copper, &c., to Bordeaux — price, 
 $50,000 ; she cannot now be sold with- 
 out the consent of the charterers." The 
 emperor responded : " I will send down 
 commissioners to inspect the vessel; 
 if they report favorably, I will obtain 
 the consent of the charterers, and give 
 you the required $50,000 for the ship." 
 On the czar's return to the city, he 
 directed his minister of marine to con- 
 fer with the charterers ; he did so, and 
 stipulated to pay a specified amount for 
 their annulling the charter, provided 
 she, on inspection, should prove satis- 
 factory — allowing three days for the 
 examination. She proved satisfactory. 
 But the minister of marine omitting to 
 give the notice within the three days, 
 the cargo was sent down, and the ship 
 commenced loading. The emperor 
 passed again the next day, and per- 
 ceived her to be a foot and a half 
 deeper in the water than when he 
 resolved to make the purchase. He 
 
344 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 returned immediately to the city, and 
 sent for the minister of marine, from 
 whom he obtained an explanation. In 
 place of directing him to disregard the 
 delay in giving the answer, as a frivo- 
 lous objection, he directed him to in- 
 form the captain that he might proceed 
 to Bordeaux with his cargo ; and as it 
 would be too late to return that season 
 to Russia, he might go to the United 
 States and procure another cargo, come 
 back with it to Europe, and then return 
 to St. Petersburg, when he, the emper- 
 or, would take the ship at the same 
 price. She did return, was received, 
 and promptly paid for, the royal pur- 
 chaser personally superintending the 
 consummation of his bargain. 
 
 Such high-minded conduct, such 
 business-like attention to mercantile 
 usage, on the part of a crowned head, 
 is seldom met with, though in this in- 
 stance quite consistent with the auto- 
 crat's well-known respect for American 
 merchants. 
 
 ** Considering" a Ship Bmlder. 
 
 John Morgan was a merchant and 
 ship owner, formerly residing in Penn- 
 sylvania. He made a contract with a 
 builder to build him a vessel. When 
 the vessel was partly finished, and he 
 had received payment for all he had 
 done, he went to Mr. M., and told him 
 that he had ascertained that he could 
 not build the vessel for the price agreed, 
 as he should lose all he was worth, and 
 perhaps more, and had therefore con- 
 cluded he must abandon the job where 
 it was, and let him get some one else 
 to finish it. This was a poser to Mor- 
 gan, who, after thinking of it for a 
 few moments, said to him, " "Well, well, 
 you go on with it, and when we settle, 
 I'll consider you ; " — which, to the 
 builder, was satisfactory. He there- 
 fore went on until the job was finished, 
 Morgan advancing money from time to 
 time. When they came to settle, Mor- 
 gan drew his check for the balance due 
 
 according to contract. The builder 
 stood and hesitated for a while, and 
 then said, "You know, IMr. Morgan, 
 you said that if I would go on with 
 the job, you would — consider me." 
 "Well, well," gruffly replied the old 
 man, " I have considered yer^ and con- 
 sidered yer a great fool for doin^ on't so 
 cheap." 
 
 — ♦— — 
 
 Imaginative Expressmen— an 
 Artificial Corpse. 
 
 It is quite usual, now-a-days, to send 
 corpses by express. But the business 
 is mry unpopular with expressmen, 
 especially if the body has far to 
 travel. 
 
 One morning, a messenger, having 
 among his freight, in the express com- 
 pany's car, one of those ominously 
 oblong boxes, declared confidentially 
 to the conductor of the train, that the 
 body inside " must be very far gene in- 
 deed — the smell of it fairly upset him." 
 In vain he tried to forget it, or salubri- 
 fy the odor by smoking a magnificent 
 cigar. The smell became more offen- 
 sive to him every minute during the 
 long night that he was whizzing away 
 with it over the rail track ; and before 
 the train arrived in New York, it af- 
 fected him so much that he could not 
 stay in the car. 
 
 When the drivers, with the wagons 
 of the New York office, went to the de- 
 pot for the express freight, the illness 
 of the unfortunate messenger was ob- 
 vious, and in answer to inquiries, he 
 explained the cause. All eyes at once 
 fell on the oblong box, and every man 
 held his nose. It was decided unani- 
 mously that it was too far gone to be 
 taken to the office, and as the railroad 
 men swore (through their suppressed 
 olfactories) that they would not sufier 
 it to remain in the depot, the strongest- 
 nerved and most accommodating driver 
 present took it to the " dead house," 
 up town. 
 
 No one knew where the obnoxious 
 box came from. It was usual to make 
 
BUSINESS TRANSIT AND COMMUNICATION. 
 
 345 
 
 a special bargain in such cases, but no 
 allusion was made to it on tlie way 
 bill. In the course of the day, how- 
 ever, the mystery was solved. A gen- 
 tleman came into the express office in 
 Broadway, and called for the box. 
 
 " It has been taken to the dead 
 4iouse," was the reply of the clerk. 
 
 " The dead house ! " exclaimed the 
 applicant. 
 
 " Yes, sir," rejoined the clerk, firmly ; 
 "we couldn't stand it, sir. Too far 
 gone, sir." 
 
 " Too far gone ! " was the quick re- 
 tort ; " I should think so, if you have 
 sent it way up to — th street. Explain 
 yourself ! What do you mean ? " 
 
 " I mean that the body smelt too lad^ 
 sir ! " responded the clerk. 
 
 " Smelt bad ! " cried the visitor ; " I 
 have handled it for ten years past, and 
 I never yet smelt anything but the var- 
 nish, and that not at all unpleasantly. 
 Hang it, sir, that box contains my man- 
 nikin, an artificial anatomy or model 
 
 of the human body. I am Dr. W , 
 
 the lecturer on physiology." 
 
 Risks and Accidents Insured Against. 
 
 It would appear that the notion, 
 broached so long ago, of a railway in- 
 surance office, has been carried into ex- 
 ecution. A company has been actu- 
 ally started at Paris, to insure persons 
 against railway risks and accidents. 
 The directors promise to give so much 
 for the loss of an arm, a leg — and even 
 the value of a burn is calculated to a 
 nicety. They offer annuities, also, to 
 surviving relations, and undertake, free 
 of expense, to bury any one who has 
 been killed. Similar companies, it is 
 thought, would be desirable in other 
 parts— say in our own Western States. 
 The only apprehension is, that so many 
 railways in that section would have to be 
 rated " Doubly Hazardous ; " and that 
 a person travelling by them, would be 
 charged at the same rate as a medical 
 insurance office would charge a person 
 
 who is on the point of sailing for Sierra 
 Leone. 
 
 Pleating Railways. 
 
 Some ingenious gentleman of a prac- 
 tical turn of mind, who seems to think 
 that capital does not get sunk rapidly 
 enough in railways of the usual con- 
 struction, has, as the result of much 
 speculation, proposed a floating line, 
 which will, of course, if carried out, be 
 exposed to more than the ordinary fluc- 
 tuations to which those things are lia- 
 ble. The scheme may work well 
 enough when matters go on smoothly, 
 but when Neptune has a bill — or a bil- 
 low — to take up, and Boreas may be 
 raising the wind to help him out, it is 
 to be feared the traffic on the floating 
 line would be entirely swamped, to say 
 nothing of the difficulty the engineers 
 might experience in taking their loads. 
 However, the committee who have the 
 subject under consideration, may be 
 able to show that it will be practicable 
 to outride these difficulties — which 
 merely suggest themselves at first 
 thought. 
 
 ♦ 
 
 Superseding: Steam. 
 
 A LETTER in Galignani's Messenger 
 having fully proved the facility with 
 which tables can be moved by means 
 of a " company " through mere volition, 
 after the hands of the company have 
 been placed for a short time on the ta- 
 ble, it is proposed that a company shall 
 be formed for the application of tabu- 
 lar locomotion to practical purposes — 
 transportation of merchandise and the 
 conveyance of passengers ; to be called 
 the Locomotive Table Company. The 
 principal object of the association will 
 be to supersede steam engines on rail- 
 ways ; an improvement in travelling by 
 which it is hoped many serious acci- 
 dents will be prevented which would 
 otherwise have occurred. The table 
 will be placed where the engine is at 
 
346 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 present, in front of the train. It will 
 go on grooved castors, and a certain 
 number of the directors of the company 
 will be seated at a board in connection 
 with it, which will insure that addi- 
 tional guarantee of safety so much 
 wanted on railroads. The expenses in- 
 volved in carrying out the company's 
 object will not, it is expected, be very 
 considerable ; but shareholders will be 
 required to pay down the whole of 
 their subscriptions, as the projectors 
 anticipate some little difficulty in ob- 
 taining credit. 
 
 TTniversal Salvagre Company. 
 
 Among the various enterprises to 
 which the ingenuity of the day has 
 turned itself, is that of a company 
 which advertises to raise sunken or 
 wrecked vessels, all over the world, 
 and divide the profits. It is not impos- 
 sible that this very promising associa- 
 tion may in time be followed by the In- 
 corporated Mudlarks, or Joint-Stock 
 Dredging Company — ^which, indeed, 
 the first-named concern seems in fact 
 to be, only on a somewhat extended 
 principle. Directors are already ap- 
 pointed, and " a manager afloat " is ad- 
 vertised. It is to be hoped that " share- 
 holders aground " will not be the end 
 of this very useful nautical enterprise. 
 
 DisTnlssing a Shipmaster. 
 
 One of the most faithful shipmasters 
 in the employ of Stephen Girard was 
 Captain Guligar. He had been seventeen 
 years in his service, from an apprentice 
 until he rose to the command of one of 
 his favorite and finest ships. Having 
 thus by diligence and industry been 
 promoted to the berth of first officer, 
 he sailed in that capacity to Batavia, 
 in the Voltaire or Rousseau. At Bata- 
 via the captain died ; and Guligar, as 
 first officer, took the command of the 
 ship, sailing for Holland with a very 
 rich cargo, and arriving at an excellent 
 
 market. From Holland he brought the 
 ship safe into the port of Philadelphia, 
 making altogether an immensely profit- 
 able voyage for his owner. 
 
 Girard having concluded to repeat 
 the voyage to Batavia, Captain Guligar, 
 being either averse to the climate, or 
 from some other cause, observed to Mr. 
 Girard, " that if he had no objection, 
 he would prefer taking the command 
 of such a ship," naming her, which 
 Girard was then loading for a port in 
 Europe. Girard, without uttering a 
 syllable in reply, called to his clerk, 
 and directed him to make out the ac- 
 counts of Captain Guligar immediately. 
 He discharged him on the same day 
 from his employ, saying : "I do not 
 make the voyage for my captains, but 
 for myself," a declaration which no one 
 acquainted with him could possibly 
 venture to dispute. 
 
 Commercial Importance of the Cat. 
 
 The peculiar relations which grimal- 
 kin sustains to commerce is not gener- 
 ally known. It is stated in a London 
 journal that marine insurance in some 
 parts of Europe does not cover damage 
 done to cargo by the depredations of 
 rats ; but if the owner of the cargo thus 
 damaged can prove that the ship was 
 not furnished with a cat, he can recover 
 compensation from the owner of the 
 ship. Again, a ship that is found 
 under certain circumstancea, without a 
 limng creature on hoard^ is considered a 
 derelict, and, according to certain con- 
 ditions, a forfeiture to the sovereign, 
 lords of the admiralty, and other in- 
 terested parties. And it has not unfi-e- 
 quently occurred, after all the crew 
 have been lost, or the ship otherwise 
 abandoned, that a live canary bird, 
 domestic fowl, but most frequently a 
 cat, being found on board, has saved 
 the vessel from being condemned as a 
 derelict. Consequently, the ship own- 
 ers, considering the cat's proverbial 
 tenacity of life, as well as its presence 
 
BUSINESS TRANSIT AND COMMUNICATION. 
 
 847 
 
 being a bar to claims of damage by 
 rats, always take care not to send a 
 sliip to sea without having a cat on 
 board. 
 
 Reading- the Annual Report. 
 
 A CERTAIN little railway, the route 
 and character of which will presently 
 appear, has been following the example 
 of larger companies, by holding a gen- 
 eral meeting, presenting a report, and 
 performing, on its own snug little scale, 
 all the operations of a line of first-rate 
 magnitude. A few extracts from the 
 report, as read to the meeting, are here 
 given in advance of its publication : 
 
 " Your Directors had hoped to render 
 this a favorite trunk line for the con- 
 veyance of baggage belonging to the 
 boys and girls going home for the holi- 
 days from the various boarding schools 
 in the neighborhood; but as there is 
 not as yet any scholastic establishment 
 at Wormwood Scrubs, nor any proba- 
 bility of a large juvenile population in 
 the Canal Basin, which form the two 
 termini and the only stations on the 
 permanent way, there has been as yet 
 no chance of pushing the resources of 
 the line as a trunk, or even a carpet- 
 bag line, into full development. 
 
 " It is with regret that your Directors 
 have to state that the 'branch' con- 
 cerns, commenced last year, have not 
 yet borne any fruit, though the aspa- 
 ragus cuttings yielded a small revenue 
 — applicable to the Holfast Fund in- 
 tended as superannuation money for the 
 one fireman — and some of the cuttings 
 remaining uncut from last year, have in 
 due course run to seed, with a view to 
 forming the seeds of future prosperity. 
 
 " A negotiation was undertaken by 
 your Directors with the Great Western, 
 for the sale of the whole of their plant 
 (fixture and tools) ; but as the most 
 valuable portion was a lot of cabbage 
 plants, the negotiation fell to the 
 ground just as the cabbages were shoot- 
 ing out of it. 
 
 '' The canal has been looked at with 
 great caution by your Directors, and they 
 have in fact gone very deeply into it. 
 They have also, after due deliberation, 
 abandoned that part of the line known 
 as the Shepherd's Bush Clothes Line, 
 though the laundresses have been hang- 
 ing out for better terms; but your 
 Directors prefer the chance of the dry- 
 goods to the prospect of having a damp 
 thrown on any of their lines by a class 
 of people who refused to stir a peg— or 
 even a clothes peg — to meet the views 
 of the proprietors. 
 
 " Your Directors are still undecided 
 what to do with the first-class car ori- 
 ginally built for the passenger traffic on 
 this line, and are now considering a 
 proposition from the Messrs. Wee, the 
 great nurserymen, who have made an 
 offer for the car without its wheels, 
 with a view to its conversion into a 
 Chinese summer house, or an extensive 
 melon frame." 
 
 Every separate sentence of the 
 above report was received with shouts 
 of applause ; and, after voting, by ac- 
 clamation, to the chairman of the Board, 
 a teacup of peanuts, to be debited to 
 the company's treasury when the re- 
 ceipts should warrant the expenditure, 
 the meeting broke up with a vote of 
 confidence in everybody and every- 
 thing. 
 
 — « — 
 
 Ask any Committee Man. 
 
 Did you ever know a railway from 
 a place no one knows where, to a 
 place no one ever heard of before, with 
 branches everywhere, of which the 
 gradients were not easy, the cuttings 
 few, the tunnelling next to nothing, 
 and the traffic immense ? 
 
 Unparalleled Railway Damages. 
 
 The transaction of Lord Petrie with 
 the directors of the Eastern Counties 
 Kailroad, England, stands unparalleled, 
 of its class, in railway annals — the Shy- 
 
348 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 lock, perseveringly exacting his full 
 bond. 
 
 Previous to the company's obtaining 
 a bill, or charter it appears that a se- 
 cret engagement was entered into with 
 his lordship by the provisional com- 
 mittee, who engaged to pay him the 
 enormous sum of six hundred thousand 
 dollars^ nominally for the land through 
 which the rail was to pass, but really 
 for the withdrawal of an opposition 
 which might have been disastrous to 
 the road. When, however, the bill was 
 passed, there seems to have been some 
 objection to fulfilling the contract, on 
 the pretended ground of misrepresenta- 
 tion. Nor did the directors hesitate to 
 assert that to fulfil it would be a fraud 
 on the proprietors, the legislature, and 
 the public. 
 
 But if the company were unwilling 
 to pay the money, his lordship was 
 equally unwilling to give it up. He 
 obtained an injunction against them ; 
 he opposed and prevented them from 
 passing through his grounds ; he har- 
 assed and irritated them as they had 
 irritated him, and with far more effect. 
 But the stake was too great to yield 
 quietly. In addition to the money in- 
 volved. Lord P.'s pride was touched 
 to the quick by the treatment he re- 
 ceived. 
 
 The company, wishing to be safe, 
 appointed seven eminent surveyors to 
 report as to the damage likely to be 
 caused to his lordship's estate ; copies 
 of their reports were forwarded to Lord 
 P., and an offer was made to use them 
 as the basis of an amicable arrangement. 
 His lordship, however, positively and 
 squarely declined any change in the 
 terms of the bond. Finally, the direc- 
 tors thought it best to stay proceedings, 
 and, seeing the hopelessness of their 
 case, urged a decision by arbitration. 
 Lord P., however, flatly refused all 
 such interference, and the company was 
 emphatically grounded ; the amended 
 bill, too, which they had caused to be 
 brought in their favor before the legis- 
 
 lature, seemed little likely to result in 
 any good. Still, if the bill were aban- 
 doned, the compulsory power of the 
 company by its first act would soon 
 cease to exist ; and even if they gained 
 a chancery suit and annulled the con- 
 tract, their opponent might refuse to 
 sell his land at all, and thus a gap of 
 six unfinished miles grace the line. 
 
 It only remained, therefore, for the 
 company to pay the money. Thus his 
 lordship beat the board, and exacted 
 the full amount of his bond — the pro- 
 digious sum of six hundred thousand 
 dollars, with interest, being paid for 
 land said by appraisers to be possibly 
 worth twenty-five thousand. This is 
 believed to be a case which stands 
 alone by itself, in respect to the immense 
 amount involved and the peculiar cir- 
 cumstances investing the whole affair. 
 
 S.ather Ominous. 
 
 The directors of a railway company, 
 it is announced, made a few days since 
 a preliminary " trip " upon the newly 
 completed line. There have been so 
 many trips and slips on the various rail- 
 ways, that a little preliminary practice 
 of that work might prove beneficial to 
 persons who prefer making a rapid 
 transit by steam to another world, to 
 the old-fashioned and tedious mode of 
 travelling by post. 
 
 Up Trains and Down Trains. 
 
 " What do you mean by an * Up 
 Train ' ? " inquired a rural passenger. 
 
 " A train whose engine explodes and 
 blows up the whole concern, of course," 
 replied the conductor. 
 
 "Then,* what do you mean by a 
 ' Down Train ' ? " asked verdant. 
 
 " What else could it be but a train 
 whose engine gets off the track and 
 plunges down the bank or into the 
 river, with the cars after it ? " 
 
 " To which of the two does this 'ere 
 belong — eh ? " 
 
BUSINESS TRANSIT AND COMMUNICATION. 
 
 349 
 
 " We can answer no sucli question in 
 advance ! " 
 
 The Ladder of Gold. 
 
 In 1845, when the new railroad ma- 
 nia had so frantically seized upon the 
 English populace, the iron track was 
 familiarly, and yet seriously, termed 
 the ladder of gold, and all classes strug- 
 gled for a foothold that should enable 
 them to ascend its beckoning heights 
 of speedy affluence. The facts almost 
 exceed belief. A colony of solicitors, 
 engineers, and seedy accountants set- 
 tled in the purlieus of Threadneedle 
 street. Every town and parish in the 
 kingdom blazed out in zinc plates over 
 the doorways. From the cellar to the 
 roof, every fragment of a room held its 
 committee. The darkest cupboard on 
 the stairs contained a secretary or a 
 clerk. Men who were never east of 
 Temple Bar, before or since, were now 
 as familiar to the pavement of Moor- 
 gate street — the great rendezvous of 
 the railway craft — as the stock brokers. 
 Ladies of title, lords, members of 
 Parliament, and fashionable loungers 
 thronged the noisy passages, and were 
 jostled by adventurers, by gamblers, 
 rogues, and impostors. The choicest 
 phraseology was employed in picturing 
 the advantages and profits of the differ- 
 ent roads. Everything was to pay a 
 large dividend; everything was to 
 yield a large profit. The shares of one 
 company rose 2,400 per cent. From 
 his garret in some nameless suburb the 
 outcast scamp ; from his West-end ho- 
 tel, the spendthrift fop ; from his dim 
 studio, the poor artist ; from his starved 
 lodging, the broken-down gentleman ; 
 from his flying address, the professional 
 swindler; from his fine mansion, the 
 man of notoriety, whose life was a daily 
 fight to keep up appearances — all these 
 poured into Moorgate street, side by 
 side, and with kindred purposes, every 
 day. Fraud, fiction, and fun made up 
 the staple of these flash projects. On 
 
 one ®f the contracts the name of a half- 
 pay pensioner for £54 a year was down 
 for £41,500 ; a curate, known to be 
 poor, was down for £35,000 ; a clerk, 
 for £50,000 ; and two brothers, sons of 
 a charwoman living in a garret, were 
 down for £12,000 and £25,000 respec- 
 tively. Duchesses' delicate fingers han- 
 dled scrip ; old maids inquired with 
 trembling eagerness the price of stocks ; 
 young ladies' eyes ceased to scan the 
 marriage list — deserting this for the ta- 
 ble of shares, and startling their lovers 
 with questions respecting the opera- 
 tions of bulls and bears. One person 
 was a director in twenty-three compa- 
 nies, a second in twenty-two, a third in 
 twenty-one, and a fourth in twenty. 
 Thus " madness ruled the hour." On 
 Thursday, October 16, 1845, the Bank 
 of England raised the rate of interest ; 
 the effect was immediate. Men looked 
 doubtfully and darkly at each other. 
 The panic came, and the crash that fol- 
 lowed brought a haggard shadow upon 
 the path of peer and peasant, and a 
 frightful page to almost every family 
 history. 
 
 Oldest Vessel in America. 
 
 It is believed that the oldest vessel 
 in this country, of American build, is 
 the barque Maria, of which a New 
 Bedford (Mass.) paper of Aug. 11, 
 1859, thus speaks : The bark Maria 
 arrived at this port last evening, from 
 a three-years' cruise in the Indian 
 ocean. She was built at the town of 
 Pembroke, now called Hanson, for a 
 privateer, during the Revolutionary war. 
 She was bought by William Rotch, a 
 merchant of Nantucket, afterward of 
 this city, in the year 1783, and in the 
 same year she made a voyage to Lon- 
 don with a cargo of oil. Her register 
 is dated a.d. 1782, and she is conse- 
 quently in her seventy-seventh year. 
 She claims to be the first ship that dis- 
 played the United States flag in a Brit- 
 ish port after the Revolutionary war, 
 
350 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 which flag is now in existence, though 
 in shreds. Her model is of the old 
 French construction, tumbling home, 
 or rounding very much in her top 
 sides, and she is consequently very 
 narrow on deck, in proportion to her 
 size, two hundred and two tons. It is 
 said that there stands to her credit 
 over two hundred thousand dollars; 
 and from the earliest history of this 
 ship, she never has been any expense 
 by loss to underwriters except once, 
 and that to a very small amount. 
 
 Names of Vessels and Trade of New 
 York in 1680. 
 
 A LIST of the clearances from the 
 port of Kew York, for the year 1680 
 and a few years subsequent, shows the 
 following quaint names of vessels : Re- 
 store Peace, Bachelor's Delight, the 
 Golden Hind, Happy Returne, Prudent 
 Mary ; and in the way of " adventures " 
 — The Brothers' Adventure, John's Ad- 
 venture, Nathaniel's Adventure, the 
 Friends' Adventure, the Best Adven- 
 ture, the Drovers' Adventure, and the 
 Owners' Adventure. 
 
 The foreign ports ^with which trade 
 was carried on in those days were 
 Barbadoes, Jamaica, the Caribee Isl- 
 ands, Madeira, Nevio, Surinam, Cura- 
 goa, Bermuda, Providence Islands, 
 Fayal, Madagascar, Antigua, the Lee- 
 ward Islands, St. Christopher's, Monser- 
 rat, Newfoundland, St. Augustine, St. 
 Jago, Honduras, London, Amsterdam, 
 Isle of Man, Falmouth, Dover, Cowes, 
 Carlisle. 
 
 Chirious Division of Ships into Ounces. 
 
 It was lately stated in evidence in a 
 bankruptcy case in Wales, that the 
 sixty-four shares into which a vessel, 
 the ownership of which was connected 
 with the case, was divided, were con- 
 sidered equal to one pound avoirdupois, 
 the owner of four shares being called 
 the owner of an ounce, of two shares of 
 
 half an ounce, and so on. This resem- 
 bles the mode of division among the 
 Romans. 
 
 First Vessel in the World. 
 
 The first vessel of which we have 
 any authentic account — the first not 
 only in point of time, but in size, and 
 the magnitude of purpose for which it 
 was intended, is the Ark. The more 
 the dimensions, proportions, and ar- 
 rangement of this wonderful vessel (as 
 given in the simple but comprehensive 
 directions for its construction found 
 recorded) are considered, the more 
 does one's admiration of it increase, as 
 a work of nautical art, and as the most 
 perfect adaptation of a means to an 
 end. Her tonnage, estimated from the 
 data of size given, must have been for- 
 ty-two thousand four hundred and 
 thirteen tons, equal to about eighteen 
 ships of the line. 
 
 Eng-lisb. Hares by Express. 
 
 A TRICK practised considerably of 
 late years, by rogues in the name of 
 expressmen, is to call upon people at 
 their houses with bundles, purporting 
 to have come by express from a dis- 
 tance, upon which they have the hardi- 
 hood to collect charges. Their de- 
 mands are usually paid, and their vic- 
 tims too late discover that they have 
 got in exchange for their money only a 
 parcel of paper rags, or other trash. In 
 one instance, a box of " game " was left 
 at a house up town. New York, and 
 " twenty shillings charges " collected — 
 the rascal remarking that he believed 
 it was English hares. The lady was de- 
 lighted with the idea that it was a 
 present from a very dear friend in Eng- 
 land, and she was dying of impatience 
 until her servant man had opened it, 
 and discovered that it contained only a 
 deceased cat I 
 
BUSINESS TRANSIT AND COMMUNICATION. 
 
 351 
 
 Telegraph, vs. Express. 
 
 " Can you take a box to Albany to- 
 day ? " was the question of a good- 
 looking young gentleman, wbo was 
 trying to raise a crop of bair on bis 
 upper lip, but which seemed more 
 like the down on the south side of a 
 peach. 
 
 " We will start it to-day, and it will 
 arrive in Albany some time during the 
 night, provided the train has the good 
 luck to arrive here." 
 
 " Oh, but it must reach there by nine 
 o'clock to-night, at the farthest." 
 
 " Had you not better send it by tele- 
 graph?— then there will be no doubt 
 of its arriving in time." 
 
 " The telegraph man laughed at me 
 when I asked him to do it, and said I 
 had better carry the box to Albany 
 myself." 
 
 " As it is now near five o'clock, and it 
 ' must ' be there by nine, you had bet- 
 ter follow his advice. Those gentle- 
 men who work the telegraph under- 
 stand velocity in a remarkable degree, 
 and I have no doubt they judged cor- 
 rectly when they advised you to take it 
 there yourself." 
 
 " I suppose they judged me to be a 
 fast young man, from the observations 
 they made, and I was not pleased with 
 them." 
 
 " They seldom form an incorrect 
 opinion of those persons who visit 
 them, and I doubt much whether they 
 were mistaken with you." 
 
 " What must I do, then ? " 
 
 " Take the advice of the telegraph 
 operator." 
 
 " What ! and carry the box there 
 myself?" 
 
 " Certainly. You know it must be 
 there by nine o'clock, and I know of 
 no other way of its getting there." 
 
 And such impossibilities are expect- 
 ed by persons every day, of those en- 
 gaged in the express business. 
 
 Church and State vs. Railways. 
 
 A TRANSACTION peculiarly illustrat- 
 ing the character and policy of George 
 Hudson is thus related : In negotiating 
 for the Newcastle and Darlington line, 
 he had outwitted the Dean and Chap- 
 ter of Durham, showing the vanity of 
 the idea that the " Church and State " 
 could interpose to stay such great in- 
 dustrial undertakings. He now again 
 visited that ancient archiepiscopal see, 
 in company with George Stephenson, 
 for the purpose of outwitting the share- 
 holders of the Durham junction, by 
 buying up the railway between them. 
 Great was the astonishment of the pub- 
 lic when they came to hear the particu- 
 lars of the affair. A railway put into 
 the pocket of an engineer and director ! 
 The proprietors did not so slowly re- 
 cover from their surprise. Mr. Hudson, 
 by this purchase, which he handed over 
 to the company, had gained a further 
 step on the new highway to the north, 
 a further security for carrying out un- 
 checked all his plans, and sustaining 
 without impediment the whole fabric 
 of his power. 
 
 Lliyd's Nautical Book. 
 
 An examination of this curious 
 British commercial catalogue, and in 
 which ten thousand five hundred and 
 forty-eight vessels are registered, af- 
 fords some little amusement in connec- 
 tion with the names most popular, or 
 contrariwise, among British merchants. 
 
 The largest proportion are named 
 after their owners, or some member of 
 their immediate family. The royal 
 family also, the nobility, and eminent 
 characters, seem to be favorite names 
 with shipmasters: for example, there 
 are twenty-five Victorias, thirteen Al- 
 berts or Prince Alberts, seven Prince 
 of Wales, and fourteen Princess Royals ; 
 while each junior prince or princess has 
 their representatives as well. 
 
 There are sixteen Dukes, besides the 
 
352 
 
 COMMERCIAL AXD BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 Iron Duke, and six Wellingtons, and 
 one called, par excellence, the Duke, 
 and six Duchesses. Descending a step 
 in the peerage, there are found six Mar- 
 quises and seven Marchionesses, thirty- 
 ; three Earls and twenty-one Countesses, 
 I forty-four Lords, and exactly double 
 that number of Ladies. 
 
 The army is represented by eighteen 
 • Generals, and the navy by thirteen Ad- 
 mirals. The bench has one solitary 
 representative in Baron Martin; and 
 the only literary characters are Burns, 
 Byron, and Boz. Some of those good 
 men whose names are as household 
 words are also remembered, such, for 
 example, as John Wesley, John Bun- 
 yan, Heber, Hedley Vicars, General 
 Havelock, and Livingstone. 
 
 Names expressive of speed are natu- 
 rally favorites, there being eleven Ac- 
 tives, and several Velocity, Alacrity, 
 Alert, Flying Foam, Driving Mist, Ar- 
 row, and Faugh a Ballagh, or Clear the 
 Way. 
 
 Some names let us into a little bit of 
 family history ; thus, there is something 
 of filial affection in calling a vessel the 
 Faithful Mother, and her owner can 
 easily be imagined to be one who re- 
 spects the fifth commandment. On the 
 other hand, the Only Son is doubtless 
 a tribute of parental love. There are 
 numbers of Brothers, Sisters, Friends, 
 and Cousins — quite a large family — 
 even excluding the Seven Brothers, 
 Five Sisters, and the Twins. The Girl 
 I Love tells her own tale. 
 
 Several names have an airish smack of 
 defiance ; thus, Cock-o'-the-Walk, Touch 
 me Not, and Let me Alone, seem to 
 imply that any competitor has but a 
 poor chance, and had better not try a 
 race with them. Come On, on the con- 
 trary, invites a trial of speed, which I'll 
 Try apparently accepts. There's some- 
 thing cheering about All Eight, Fear 
 Not, and Better Luck Still ; and some- 
 thing a little conceited in Wide Awake, 
 Look Out, Matchless, and Mark That ! 
 It is presumable that Bloomer and Cri- 
 
 noline belong to the same o^\Tier, and, 
 no doubt, if he builds a third vessel, 
 he will call her — well, the Sky Reach- 
 er. The man who put his savings in 
 a ship, and named her the Ascendant, 
 can comfort himself with the pleasur- 
 able feeling that he must be growing 
 wealthy, for are not all his fortunes in 
 the ascendant ? So, too, the owner 
 of Profit and Loss, doubtless, hopes the 
 results of his vessel's earnings may be 
 represented by the first part of her 
 name ; and likewise the owner of Cornu- 
 copia, that she may indeed prove to 
 him a horn of plenty. 
 
 National characteristics are often ex- 
 hibited in the names given to vessels 
 in different countries. The Spaniard 
 evinces the somewhat superstitious ten- 
 dency of his mind by such titles as San- 
 tissima Trinidada, St. Joseph, Mother 
 Mary, the Twelve Apostles, &c. 
 
 The French, again, manifest their gaie- 
 te and gallantry, by such titles for their 
 ships, as La Belle Julie, La Bayadere, 
 La Prima Donna, Mademoiselle, &c. 
 
 The Dutch, being an industrious, 
 frugal people, may naturally be expect- 
 ed to confirm their character in these 
 respects, by naming their vessels the 
 Beaver and the Gold Hunter. 
 
 John Bull's crustiness and pugnacity 
 are abundantly exemplified by such 
 names as the Badger, Lion, Gladiator, 
 Spitfire, Boxer, Julius Caesar, Ven- 
 geance, Retribution, Bull Dog, and the 
 like. 
 
 Rival SteaxxxTsoat Lines. 
 
 In the month of September, 1809, 
 says Prof. Renwick, I was a partaker 
 in the exciting scene, then first enacted, 
 of a steamboat race. A company from 
 Albany had been formed for the pur- 
 pose of competing with Fulton. The 
 first vessel of this rival line was adver- 
 tised to leave Albany at the same time 
 with Fulton's. Parties ran high in the 
 hotels of Albany. The partisans of Ful- 
 ton were enrolled under Prof. Kemp, 
 
BUSINESS TRANSIT AND COMMUNICATION. 
 
 353 
 
 of Columbia College ; those of the op- 
 position under Jacob Stout. The vic- 
 tory was long in suspense ; and it was 
 not until after the thirtieth hour of a 
 hard struggle that the result was pro- 
 claimed by Dr. Kemp, on the taffi-ail 
 of Fulton's vessel, and holding out, in 
 derision, a coil of rope to Captain Stout, 
 for the purpose, as he informed him, 
 of towing him into port. When the 
 age, high standing, and sedate charac- 
 ter of these two gentlemen are consid- 
 ered, it did not surprise me — remarks 
 Prof. R., w^ho witnessed the excite- 
 ment — when I afterward heard of West- 
 ern women having devoted their bacon 
 to feed the fires of a steamboat furnace ! 
 
 Arrival of the Steamer. 
 
 Colonel Snow, a most incorrigible 
 wag, came in one morning to Grant's ton- 
 sorial establishment in Ann street, Kew 
 York, and with a face beaming with 
 honest excitement, remarked, " Well ! 
 the steamer's in at last. She has made 
 quick time ; but she brought away her 
 pilot, and carried away her pipes. She 
 had a fine lot of passengers ; more than 
 one hundred and fifty. The news she 
 brings is not — " Here half a dozen lis- 
 teners, "under treatment," arrest the 
 barber's hand, and wiping the lather 
 from their faces, inquire with eager- 
 ness : " What steamer is it— the Hiber- 
 nia, or Caledonia ? " " Oh, bless you, 
 no ! " replies the colonel ; " oh, no ; the 
 Olive Branch ferry boat from Brook- 
 lyn ; she came over very full this morn- 
 ing, and in about six minutes ; she car- 
 ried back the pilot she brought away, 
 and at the same time she carried away 
 her pipes ! " 
 
 Eailcar Privilegres. 
 
 Everybody who has travelled much 
 on the Northern railroads, must have 
 noticed that in many of the cars, the 
 name of the makers, " Eaton, Gilbert & 
 Co.," is conspicuously posted. Not long 
 
 2e3 
 
 since, in one of these cars, a passenger 
 of the name of Gilbert was travelling 
 with a company of his friends, and see- 
 ing another notice just over the above, 
 to the eSect that "passengers are re- 
 quested not to crack nuts in the cars," 
 his innate love of fun was awakened. 
 At the first stopping place he filled his 
 pockets with peanuts, and distributing 
 them among his friends, they were all 
 soon busily engaged in eating them, 
 and strewing the floor with the shells. 
 The conductor, in passing, gently inti- 
 mated that it was against the rules, and 
 pointed to the printed notice. 
 
 " Oh, yes," said Gilbert, " I see, I see 
 that; but you see by your own rules 
 that we are privileged." 
 
 The conductor, thinking that they 
 would soon stop, without any further 
 trouble, passed on. On his next 
 rounds, he found the same party still 
 at the nuts, and making a great dis- 
 play of shells on the floor. Out of pa- 
 tience, he now spoke up quite sharply, 
 and said to Mr. Gilbert : 
 
 " You must comply with the rules 
 of the company, if you travel in these 
 cars." 
 
 " Certainly, certainly, we will, but 
 you do not seem to be aware that I and 
 my company are excepted from the rule 
 you refer to." 
 
 " No, I do not know anything of the 
 sort, nor you either, and there is no use 
 having any words about it ; you must 
 stop or quit the cars." 
 
 " Be quiet a minute," replied Mr. Gil- 
 bert, " and I will convince you. To be 
 sure it says, ' Passengers are forbidden 
 to crack nuts in the cars,' but right un- 
 derneath is written, ' Eaton, Gilbert & 
 Co.' Now, my name is Gilbert, and 
 this is my company, and we are doing 
 as we are told." 
 
 The conductor " gave it up." 
 
 Pirst Railroad in Europe and America. 
 
 The first instance of the use of rails 
 appears to have been some time pre- 
 
354 
 
 COMMERCIAL AXD BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 vious to the year 1676, at the collieries 
 near Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England. 
 At that time, the coals were conveyed 
 from the mines to the banks of the 
 river, " by laying rails of timber exact- 
 ly straight and parallel; and bulky 
 carts were made, with four rollers fit- 
 ting those rails, whereby the carriage 
 was made so easy that one horse would 
 draw four or five chaldrons of coal." 
 
 An advance was made about the year 
 1767, in the use of iron bars as a sub- 
 stitute for the upper rail of the road ; 
 they were cast five feet long, four inches 
 wide, and one and three fourths inches 
 thick, with holes for the spikes by 
 which they should be secured to the 
 lower rail. 
 
 The first railroad company opened 
 for conveying passengers was the 
 Stockton and Darlington road in 1825, 
 and this was worked with horse power. 
 In 1826, the French engineer, M. Se- 
 guin, successfully introduced locomo- 
 tives upon the railways from St. Eti- 
 enne to Lyons, and to Andrezieux. 
 
 In the United States, a horse railroad 
 was built of pine rails, in 1826, from 
 the granite quarries of Quincy, Mass., 
 to the Neponset river, a distance of 
 three miles. This^ was the first in 
 America, except a temporary railway 
 with two tracks in Boston, for remov- 
 ing gravel from Beacon Hill ; this was 
 so arranged, that while one train de- 
 scended the hill with its load, the emp- 
 ty train would thereby be hauled up 
 for loading. The first use of a locomo- 
 tive in this country was in 1829, and 
 was used on the railroad built by the 
 Delaware and Hudson canal company 
 in 1828, from their coal mines to 
 Honesdale, the terminus of the canal. 
 
 Mode of Getting Money Transmitted. 
 
 In the bankerless twelfth century, so 
 great was the difficulty of conveyance 
 for the transmitting of money from Spain 
 to Rome — which was generally done by 
 pilgrims returning from Santiago — that 
 
 for every ounce of gold brought safely 
 to the treasuiy of St. Peters, a year's 
 indulgence was granted to the soul of 
 the bearer, by the Roman pontiff. 
 
 Thomas Gray, the Originator of 
 Railways. 
 
 It is now a little more than forty 
 years since a thoughtful man, Thomas 
 Gray, travelling in the north of Eng- 
 land on commercial business, stood 
 looking at a small train of coal wagons 
 impelled by steam along a tramroad 
 which connected the mouth of one of 
 the collieries of that district w^ith the 
 wharf at which the coals were shipped. 
 
 " Why," asked Gray of the engineer, 
 " are not these tramroads laid down 
 all over England, so as to supersede 
 our common roads, and steam engines 
 employed to convey goods and passen- 
 gers along them, so as to supersede 
 horse power ? " 
 
 " Just propose you that " — said the 
 engineer, looking at the questioner with 
 the corner of his eye — " to the nation, 
 sir, and see what you will get by it ! 
 Why, sir, you would be worried to 
 death for youi* pains." 
 
 Nothing more was said ; but the intel- 
 ligent traveller did not take the engi- 
 neer's warning. Tramroads, locomotive 
 steam engines, horse power superseded ! 
 — the idea he had conceived continued 
 to infest his brain, and would not be 
 driven out. Tramroads, locomotive 
 steam engines, horse power superseded I 
 — he would talk of nothing else to his 
 friends. Tramroads, locomotive steam 
 engines, horse power superseded ! — he 
 at length broached the scheme openly ; 
 first to the public men by means of let- 
 ters and circulars, and afterward to the 
 public itself by means of a printed 
 book. Hardly any one would listen to 
 his words, or be bothered with his fan- 
 cies ; the engineer's words seemed like- 
 ly to prove true. 
 
 Still he persevered, holding the pub- 
 lic by the button, as it were, and din- 
 ning into its ears the same wearisome 
 
BUSINESS TRANSIT AND COMMUNICATION. 
 
 355 
 
 words. From public political men, in- 
 cluding the cabinet ministers of the 
 day, he received little encouragement ; 
 a few influential commercial men, how- 
 ever, began at length to be interested 
 in his plan. Persons of eminence took 
 it up, and advocated it almost as eulo- 
 gistically as the original projector. It 
 having thus been ^roxed^ according to 
 Dogberry's immortal phrase, that the 
 scheme was a good scheme, it soon 
 went near to be thought so. Capital 
 came to its aid. In 1826, Parliament 
 passed an act authorizing the construc- 
 tion of the first British railway, proper- 
 ly so called. 
 
 Largest Ship-owner in England. 
 
 The number of ships belonging to 
 Mr. Dunbar, of Limehouse, the eminent 
 Protectionist ship-owner, has been set 
 down at thirty-three, the aggregate 
 burthen of which is twenty-two thou- 
 sand tons, or about one thousand more 
 than the Messrs. Green. Nearly the 
 whole of these vessels were bought 
 while the repeal of the navigation laws 
 was under agitation, or since they were 
 repealed — some of them very lately. 
 And yet Mr. Dunbar has been the lead- 
 er among those who declared that Brit- 
 ish shipping has been and is in a state 
 of ruin, during the whole of the period 
 which he has employed in accumulat- 
 ing this enormous mercantile fleet — the 
 largest ever owned in that country by 
 an individual ship-owner. 
 
 liiterature of the Cabin. 
 
 Many a downcast man has made a 
 crack sea-captain, while he was a poor 
 hand at spelling. Capt. Ezekiel Jen- 
 kins was one of these men ; he knew 
 the ropes well, but writing letters was 
 not his forte. He sailed the ship Jelm^ 
 from Boston to South America, while 
 the republics were in a disturbed condi- 
 tion, and the port he designed to make 
 was blockaded; he could not enter, 
 
 and his cargo could find no market. 
 He informed his owners of the state of 
 things, in a letter so remarkably con- 
 densed as to incline toward the ob- 
 scure. It was in these words : " Sir — 
 Own to the blockhead the vig is spilt." 
 The owners could not make it out, but 
 a friend of the captain, more familiar 
 with his laconic style, read it thus : 
 " Sir — Owing to the blockade, the 
 voyage is spoilt." 
 
 Paying oflf Jack. 
 
 A SHIP-OWNER, in despatching a ves- 
 sel, had a good deal of trouble with one 
 of his men, who had got very " top- 
 heavy " on his advance wages. After 
 the vessel had accomplished her voy- 
 age, on settling with the crew, it came 
 to this man's turn to be paid. " What 
 name ? " asked the merchant. " Cain, 
 sir," was the reply. " What ! are you 
 the man who slew his brother ? " face- 
 tiously rejoined the merchant. " No, sir," 
 was the ready and witty reply of Jack, 
 with a knowing wink, and giving his 
 trowsers a nautical hitch, " Fm the man 
 that was slewed ! " 
 
 "No Swearing among the Crew." 
 
 A MERCHANT in ouc of our seaports, 
 on fitting out a ship for India, told the 
 captain at the time of making the con- 
 tract for the voyage, that there must be 
 no swearing among the crew ; that he, 
 the captain, must engage not to swear 
 himself nor permit others to be pro- 
 fane ; that he must do as he pleased, 
 with respect to taking command of the 
 ship on these terms, but, if he accepted 
 the employment, it would be expected 
 that he should rigidly adhere to the 
 stipulation, and that it should be 
 known as the law of the ship, that no 
 profaneness could be permitted. 
 
 The captain seemed to have no ob- 
 jection to reforming, but inquired: 
 " How can I suddenly break off an in- 
 veterate habit ? " "I will take care that 
 
356 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 you be reminded of your duty," said 
 tbe owner ; " wear the ring that I shall 
 give you, and let the law of the vessel 
 be explicitly known." Accordingly he 
 l^rocured a ring for the captain, wdth 
 this motto engraved upon it : " Swear 
 not at all." 
 
 The vessel soon sailed, and after per- 
 forming the voyage, returned to the 
 seaport from whence she sailed. On 
 being inquired of respecting the sub- 
 ject, the supercargo declared that there 
 had been no profanity on board, except- 
 ing a little within the first twenty days 
 after sailing. At the close of this short 
 period, the old habit was entirely mas- 
 tered ; and during the remainder of the 
 voyage, both at sea and in port, the 
 success of the experiment was complete. 
 
 Usefulness of Steamboats in Keducin^ 
 the Population. 
 
 AccoKDiNG to one of the most ob- 
 serving of modem writers, it is to the 
 over-population of a country that its 
 social or commercial depression is due. 
 Of the numerous remedies applicable to 
 this evil, none have been found so effec- 
 tual as steamboats ; and, although their 
 superiority over the small-jDox and rail- 
 roads has sometimes been sharply dis- 
 puted, yet, from the increased favor in 
 which every succeeding season they 
 are held, as engines of destruction, it 
 is clear that the highest opinion is en- 
 tertained of their efficacy. 
 
 In proof of this, any one who doubts 
 may safely be cited to the cheap excur- 
 sion boats on their Sunday trips. The 
 deck crammed, and no convenient 
 standing-room on the paddle-wheels, 
 he will be wedged in by the crowd so 
 tightly as to save him from any use of 
 his limbs when the accident, which is 
 sure to occur, takes place. Exactly at 
 the moment of the start, an opposition 
 boat will also set off, so that the speed 
 will be deliciously exhilarating, and 
 everything will be done to realize, to 
 the most ardent expectant, the usual 
 catastrophe. In trying to give "Hell 
 
 turn" as narrow a berth as possible, 
 each captain will foul his adversary, 
 and a few passengers will be missed 
 from the paddle boxes, to make an ad- 
 ditional hole or turn in the water. As 
 they will very likely amount to a dozen 
 or so — quite enough to help one an- 
 other — it would be nonsense to stop 
 either vessel, and so the burthen being 
 thus lightened, the speed is doubled. 
 
 In furtherance, too, of the praisewor- 
 thy object for which these vessels were 
 originally started (the reduction of the 
 population), they are ordered to "go 
 on " at the precise moment a passenger 
 is stepping off. 
 
 American Shipnology. 
 
 Perhaps nothing so strikingly indi- 
 cates the change which has taken place 
 in the mercantile marine of this coun- 
 try — at least so far as mere taste is con- 
 cerned — as the ingenuity displayed in 
 the invention of names for ships. For- 
 merly, merchants were satisfied with a 
 plain and modest nomenclature, calling 
 their vessels after their wives, or their 
 friends, or by the name of some an- 
 cient worthy or modern hero, or by 
 some homespun adjective, expressive 
 of strength and safety. Now all this is 
 changed. "We have the Courser, the 
 Bucephalus, the Storm King, the Fly- 
 ing Cloud, the Flying Dutchman, and 
 the Flying Childers ; the Stag Hound, 
 the Wild Pigeon, the Sea Gull, and 
 the Bald Eagle ; the Sea Foam, the 
 Billow Crest, the Ocean Spray, and the 
 Ocean Wave ; the West Wind and the 
 Whirlwind, the Simoom and the Siroc- 
 co ; and lastly, the Thunder Cloud, the 
 Phantom, the Tornado, the Tempest, 
 the Wings of the Morning, Ocean Mon- 
 arch, Leviathan, Fury of the Billow, 
 Hurricane, Wildfire, Thunderer, &c. 
 
 Origrin of the Express Business : 
 
 Harnden's First Trip. 
 With the innovations of railways, 
 the stage drivers and wagoners found, 
 
BUSINESS TRANSIT AND COMMUNICATION. 
 
 357 
 
 like Othello, their " occupation gone." 
 The loss of their services seriously in- 
 commoded the public, but the rail- 
 road offered no remedy. Years passed, 
 trade and intercommunication between 
 town and country suffering, in the 
 meanwhile, from this cause. At length, 
 hardly realizing what an improvement 
 he was about to effect, William F. Harn- 
 den, then a railroad conductor, started 
 the express business. The idea was 
 not original with him exclusively, as 
 will presently be seen, but to him is 
 due the honor of having been the first 
 to put it into execution. 
 
 It was in 1839 that Major Pullen and 
 Mr. Harnden were both in the employ 
 of the Boston, Providence, Worcester 
 and New York Railroad and Steamboat 
 Companies. Mr. Harnden's health was 
 so bad, at this time, that he was unfit- 
 ted for his accustomed duties. His pe- 
 cuniary circumstances were such that he 
 could not remain idle. In this crisis 
 of his affairs he knew not what to do 
 to sustain himself and his family. 
 
 Speaking to his friend, Major Pullen, 
 on the subject, who was agent of the 
 Steamboat Company at Boston, he ask- 
 ed his advice as to what he had bet- 
 ter do. They were, on this occasion, 
 in the office on board the steamer John 
 W. Richmond ; near them, a number 
 of small packages were lying about, 
 which were intrusted to the care of the 
 agent for delivery, as was the custom 
 at that time. Major Pullen says to Mr. 
 H. substantially as follows: "I think 
 you can make a good living by taking 
 care of these packages and delivering 
 them. If you will try it, I will give 
 you all the packages and errands that 
 are left with me, and give you all the 
 aid in my power to help you along in 
 the business." Some friends standing 
 by advised Mr. H. to do so. After 
 some deliberation, Mr. Harnden com- 
 menced his new avocation. 
 
 From this small beginning, express- 
 ing has attained its present prominent 
 position, as among the first class of bu- 
 
 siness occupations in the country. The 
 only through route from Boston to 
 New York, at that time, was by rail- 
 road to Providence, and thence to New 
 York by the steamer John W. Rich- 
 mond. The old line of steamboats ran 
 from Stonington to New York. Harn- 
 den had no paid agent in the latter city 
 at the outset. The messengers (called, 
 during the first year or two, conduc- 
 tors), attended to all the business. 
 Harnden himself acted in that capacity, 
 usually making the trip in the "J. W. 
 R.," and carrying his entire express in 
 an ordinary valise. Upon his arrival 
 in New York or Boston, he would has- 
 ten to deliver the parcels intrusted to 
 him by his customers, who were most- 
 ly booksellers and brokers. 
 
 Out of compliment to Mr. Harnden, 
 as the originator of that line, and the 
 first one in the business, the line still 
 retains the name of " Harnden's Ex- 
 press," though none of his name or kin, 
 now he is dead, are connected with it. 
 
 The express tries to do everything 
 for everybody — any and all kinds of 
 service. They carry the exchange for 
 the banks; they collect notes, bills, 
 drafts, accounts, rents, etc. ; they carry- 
 all the small and large packages which 
 are either too valuable, or otherwise 
 unsafe to intrust to the mails ; and they 
 extend over all sections of our own 
 continent, besides forming one of the 
 most important links in the great com- 
 mercial chain which connects us with 
 the old world. 
 
 Selling- a Brig— Tlie Ruling Passion. 
 
 A TERTY good story is told of old em- 
 bargo times and the war of 1812. Un- 
 der the impulse of the removal of em- 
 bargo, there was a sudden rise in the 
 value of property, and such a demand 
 for it that merchandise was sometimes 
 carried off from vessels before the own- 
 ers arrived at their place of business ; 
 and the parties taking it came in after- 
 ward to say that they were at the own- 
 
358 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSIXESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 er's mercy, and must pay what they 
 chose to ask. 
 
 A brig was lying at Boston harbor, 
 which had come up from Plymouth 
 just before the embargo was laid, fit 
 for sea. The Plymouth owner thought 
 it was a good time to sell the brig, and 
 sent up his son for the purpose, telling 
 him to demand $8,000 for her, and not 
 take less than $6,000. John went to 
 Boston, found how things stood, sold 
 the brig in a moment, as it were, and 
 hurried home, elated with his bargain. 
 As he neared the house, he saw the old 
 man marching up and down the piazza, 
 and presently he hastened out to meet 
 his son, and hear the result of the sale. 
 
 " Have you sold the brig, John ? " 
 
 " Yes, father." 
 
 '' For how much, John ? " 
 
 " For ten thousand dollars ! " 
 
 " Ten thousand dollars ! " cried the 
 old man, with staring eyes, at hearing 
 a price more than double what the ves- 
 sel cost — " Ten thousand dollars ? I'll 
 bet youVe sold her to some swindler, 
 who don't care what the price is, and 
 never means to pay his notes." 
 
 " Notes, did you say, father ? Why, 
 there are no notes in the case ; I got 
 the money, and put it in the bank. 
 Draw, and you will get it." 
 
 The old gentleman's excitement was 
 suddenly cooled, and as the ruling pas- 
 sion rose in its place, he said : 
 
 " I say, John, couldn't you have got 
 a leetle more ? " 
 
 Forwarding- by Telegraph. 
 
 Of all the telegraphic absurdities to 
 be met with, none can be much more 
 amusing than that relating to a man in 
 the south of France, who received a 
 letter from his son in the army before 
 Sebastopol, begging his father to send 
 him a pair of new shoes, and a five- 
 franc piece. The old man was very 
 ^Tilling to comply with the request, but 
 having no readier means of forwarding 
 the articles than the telegraph, which 
 
 conveniently passed within half a mile 
 of his house, he procured the shoes, 
 and hung them on the wire, with the 
 money inside. A laborer returning 
 homeward, seeing the shoes dangling 
 to the wires, took them down, and 
 finding they fitted him, carried them 
 off, leaving his old ones in their place. 
 In the evening, the old man came out 
 to see how the wires had performed 
 their work, and was delighted at the 
 result : " My poor boy," said he, " has 
 not only received the shoes I sent him, 
 but has already returned the old ones," 
 
 Jumel the Merchant, and the Carman. 
 
 Stephen Jumel was among the early 
 merchant princes of New York. One 
 morning, about ten o'clock, in the year 
 1806, this gentleman, in company with 
 William Bayard, Harmon Leroy, Archi- 
 bald Gracie, and some dozen others, 
 were reading and discussing the news 
 just arrived from Liverpool, in the 
 extra short passage of seven weeks. 
 The matter mostly concerned Napoleon 
 the First and the battle of Wagram. 
 While thus engaged, a carman's horse 
 backed his cart into the Whitehall slijD, 
 at the head of which these gentlemen 
 were grouped together. The cart was 
 got out, but the horse was drowned, 
 and eveiy one began pitying the poor 
 carman's ill luck. Jumel instantly 
 started, and placing a ten dollar bill 
 between his thumb and fingers, and 
 holding it aloft, while it fluttered in 
 the breeze, and with his hat in the 
 other hand he walked through the 
 length and breadth of the crowd, ex- 
 claiming, " How much you pity the 
 poor man ? / pity him ten dollars. 
 How much you pity him ? " By this 
 ingenious and noble coup-d'etat, says 
 Barrett, he collected, in a few moments, 
 about seventy dollars, which he gave 
 over at once to the unfortunate and 
 fortunate carman. 
 
BUSINESS TRANSIT AND COMMUNICATION. 
 
 359 
 
 Scene in an Express Office. 
 
 " How much will you charge to take 
 this package to Illinois ? " 
 
 " One dollar." 
 
 " Outrageous ! It is only worth fifty 
 cents, and you have the conscience to 
 charge twice the worth of it." 
 
 It is not our fault that the cost was 
 only fifty cents ; you can make the 
 package twice as large and a hundred 
 times as valuable, and the cost of trans- 
 portation will only be the same." 
 
 " But that I do not want to do, as it 
 will be so much out of my pocket for 
 nothing." 
 
 "Yet you do not think it will be 
 ' outrageous ' for us to be out of pock- 
 et in carrying this to your friend ! " 
 
 "I cannot see that you will be at 
 any loss by taking -it for fifty cents. 
 If you can explain it to me I will be 
 satisfied." 
 
 " Sensible to the last, and I am truly 
 glad that you ask for the information. 
 Well, in the first place, we charge you 
 two shillings to carry this to B., then 
 pa^ two shillings to get it to C, two 
 shillings from C. to M., and two shil- 
 lings from M. to S., where your friend 
 resides, thus making one dollar. If we 
 take it for fifty cents, we will be obli- 
 ged to carry it to B. for nothing, and 
 2)ay from B. to C. two shillings out of 
 our own pocket, thus losing cash two 
 shillings, and the freight from here to 
 B., which we pay to the railroad — 
 thus actually losing about forty cents, 
 besides assuming the responsibility of 
 delivering your package to your friend 
 in Illinois." 
 
 " I was not aware that such was the 
 case, and pardon me for speaking so 
 abruptly when I came in." 
 
 " Granted, my dear sir ; and it al- 
 ways afibrds us pleasure to give any 
 information in our power in regard to 
 business. And I assure you, that if 
 many persons who think we are extor- 
 tioners and swindlers, and call us many 
 other hard names, would only ask for a 
 
 reason, they would be as satisfied as 
 you are." __^_ 
 
 Ijtixuries in the Car. 
 
 The smoking saloon, it now appears, 
 is only the first of a series of luxuries 
 which it is intended to bestow upon 
 travellers by railway. Thus, it is in 
 contemplation to run a refreshment- 
 room with every train, so that people 
 will have their time allowed them to 
 eat the articles sold, instead of being 
 restricted, as at present, simply to the 
 privilege of payment. 
 
 Various plans have from time to time 
 been suggested, to enable passengers to 
 swallow a cup of boiling tea or cofiee, 
 or a basin of hot soup in a minute and 
 a half at the stations ; but it has been 
 over and over again provfed that the 
 time specified is absolutely insufficient 
 for such a purpose. It has even been 
 suggested that there might be kept 
 and sold at all the refreshment-rooms 
 a preparation similar to that which 
 enabled a certain Frenchman some 
 years ago to swallow melted lead 
 without any inconvenience. Others 
 have proposed that parties should be 
 allowed to take soup or tea into the 
 car with them, and send back the cup 
 or basin by the up or down train, with 
 a return ticket fastened to the piece 
 of crockery as a proof of its contents 
 having been paid for. 
 
 The most feasible scheme, however, is 
 believed to be the one above hinted at, 
 namely, a portable refreshment room, 
 one of which should travel with every 
 train; and it might be advisable to 
 have the boiler of the engine supplied 
 with soup instead of plain water. It 
 has been calculated that the steam pro- 
 duced from the former liquid — ^being 
 somewhat spicy — would have much 
 greater strength or force than the 
 vapor arising from the latter ; and the 
 power of propwZsion natural to pea 
 soup would have a wonderful in- 
 fluence on the speed of a powerful 
 locomotive. 
 
360 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 On one line there has for some time 
 been a shaving saloon, the want of 
 which had long been sadly feit. The 
 length of time on the journey by this 
 line was so considerable that a person 
 quitting the car on arriving at his des- 
 tination felt ashamed to go forth, in 
 consequence of his beard and hair 
 having grown to a most unsightly 
 length since he left the terminus he 
 started from. 
 
 On another line, something has been 
 said about a course of lectures on ana- 
 tomy, amputation, life insurance, and 
 kindred subjects, likely to possess an 
 immediate interest to persons travelling 
 on railways, but the plan has not been 
 matured, — an almost insuperable diffi- 
 culty being the frequent interruption 
 of the lecturer occasioned by the 
 shrieks and thinning off of the pas- 
 sengers, on account of collisions and 
 similar catastrophes along the line. 
 
 Probable Origin of Sdiooners. 
 
 The first schooner ever launched in 
 this country, is said to have been built 
 at Cape Ann, in 1714, — that is, a ves- 
 sel of the build and rig described by 
 that word. In regard to the origin of 
 the name or term " schooner," Cotton 
 Tufts says : " Being in Gloucester, 
 Mass., Sept. 8, 1790, I was informed, 
 and committed the same to writing, 
 that the kind of vessel called schoon- 
 ers, derived their name from this cir- 
 cumstance, viz, : Mr. Andrew Robinson, 
 of that place, having constructed a ves- 
 sel which he masted and rigged in the 
 same manner as schooners are at this 
 day, on her going off the stocks into 
 the water, a bystander cried out, " Oh, 
 how she schoons ! " Robinson instantly 
 replied, " A schooner let her be," — from 
 which time vessels thus masted and 
 rigged have gone by the name of 
 " schooners," but before which instance 
 vessels of this classification were not 
 known in Europe or America. This ac- 
 count was confirmed to me by a great 
 
 number of persons in Gloucester. 1 
 made particular inquiry of an aged sea 
 captain, who informed me that he had 
 not, in any of his voyages to Europe or 
 in America, seen any of those vessels 
 prior to Robinson's construction." 
 
 Female Shipmaster from Cape Horn to 
 San Francisco. 
 The name of Mary Patten will long 
 be remembered as that of one of the 
 most heroic of her sex. She was the 
 wife of a merchant shipmaster, who, 
 far off on the lonely Pacific, with no 
 eye to witness, and no voice to cheer 
 her, when her husband was taken down 
 by illness, now tended him in his cabin, 
 now took his place at the quarter-deck 
 of his forlorn vessel, — took her chief 
 observation every day with the sextant, 
 laid down the ship's course on the 
 chart, cheered and encouraged the 
 desponding crew, arrested the mu- 
 tinous chief mate, who was for creep- 
 ing into the nearest port — and, poor 
 young wife as she was, hardly twenty 
 years of age, yet with a strong will and 
 a stout heart, steered her husband's 
 vessel, through storm and through 
 calm, from Cape Horn to San Fran- 
 cisco. 
 
 Prussian Ship navigated by a Lady. 
 
 In Prussia, as well as in Holland, 
 captains in the merchant service, of 
 small property, — which generally con- 
 sists of a small class vessel commanded 
 by themselves — make the vessel their 
 home, and live there constantly, with 
 their families, who accompany their 
 head in all his v5yages. 
 
 One of these Prussian captains, M. 
 Hesser, was navigating his galliot 
 Minerva, from Konigsberg to Riga. 
 On board his vessel was his young wife, 
 wdth three small children, and his crew, 
 composed of a mate and four sailors. 
 In the Baltic, during a violent storm in 
 the night, while Hesser and his men 
 were on deck, the galliot was run into 
 
BUSINESS TRANSIT AND COMMUNICATION. 
 
 361 
 
 by an English merchant-ship ; and the 
 shock of the two vessels was so great 
 that Captain Hesser and one of his sai- 
 lors was tLrown against the prow of the 
 English vessel, to which they clung, 
 and from whence they crawled on 
 hoard that ship. The three other 
 sailors fell into the sea and disap- 
 peared immediately, so that there re- 
 mained on the galliot only Mrs. Hesser, 
 her three children, and the mate — the 
 latter having, during the accident, met 
 with a severe fall, by which he was so 
 seriously wounded as to be unable to 
 work. 
 
 In this state of things, Mrs. Hesser 
 had the courage to take upon herself 
 the charge of navigating the ship. By 
 turns captain, mate and sailor, using 
 the little nautical knowledge she had 
 been able to acquire in her former 
 voyages, — this intrepid young woman 
 succeeded, by incessant labor, in gain- 
 ing, with her vessel, the port of Kiga. 
 The native and foreign sailors at Riga, 
 having learned the courageous conduct 
 of Mrs. Hesser, caused a medal to be 
 struck in her honor, and the corpora- 
 tion of seamen at Riga presented her 
 with one thousand dollars. Captain 
 Hesser and his sailor, who were 
 saved on board the English vessel, were 
 carried in the latter to Rostock, where 
 they arrived safe and sound at Riga. 
 
 Eoyal Schemers in Railways. 
 
 The madness of railway speculation 
 which some years since spread like a 
 contagion abroad, involved royal blood 
 and the peers of more than one realm. 
 Prince de Joinville mounted a tender ; 
 Lord F. Egerton sought to make a rail- 
 way all by himself; Earl Lonsdale 
 bought one ; Lord Belhaven conde- 
 scended to speak at meetings ; Lord 
 Worsley even took the chair ; the Mar- 
 quis of Ormonde trundled a wheelbar- 
 row in the presence of his admiring 
 peasantry; and Lord Whamcliffe, 
 "high in the councils of her Majes- 
 
 ty," cut turf on correct geometrical 
 principles. The schemes in which 
 these illustrious names figured were 
 got up, in many cases, somewhat on 
 the following plan : A flattering pros- 
 pectus is issued, promising ten per 
 cent., and perfect prosperity. Some 
 secret agent of the directors is on the 
 stock exchange, puffing up the shares. 
 A price is named ; it is eagerly accept- 
 ed by him, the bargain is made, and 
 the price of the scrip established. The 
 agents continue to buy; the jobbers, 
 calculating on plenty of scrip being in 
 the market, are willing to sell on the 
 liberal term which the agent pays; 
 and they enter into engagements to 
 deliver a large quantity of scrip. 
 "When a sufficient number of shares 
 are sold to satisfy the grasping avarice 
 of the directors, they profess to con- 
 sider the applications; and it is an- 
 nounced that no more letters will be 
 received, and that letters of allotment 
 have been forwarded to the fortunate 
 applicants, taking care, however, not 
 to issue a tenth part of the number pre- 
 viously sold in the market. The letters 
 applying for shares are burnt by bush- 
 els, without even the trouble of open- 
 ing them ; and those who have sold at 
 five pounds a share cannot even buy at 
 three times that sum, if the consciences 
 of the directors are sufficiently elastic 
 to allow so enormous a robbery. Pre- 
 miums, patronage, and pay, made the 
 brains of the directors swim and swell. 
 Men who were known to have been 
 penniless a year before, suddenly kept 
 their broughams or started barouches. 
 Valuable diamonds gleamed from fin- 
 gers which had hitherto been guiltless 
 of the bright adornment. Railway 
 papers and railway pantaloons, railway 
 ties and railway tricks, abounded. It 
 was railway madness indeed. London 
 was to be tunnelled that the train 
 might run beneath her mighty heart ; 
 colonnades were to be formed in the 
 air that the engine might pass over the 
 path of the pedestrian, and it was final- 
 
362 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 ly suggested that there should be one 
 great terminus for all the companies, 
 and that that terminus should be a 
 lunatic asylum ! 
 
 The system was fruitful, and every 
 one said there was no risk. "When 
 shares were demanded of a company, 
 and they only came out at par, the 
 letter of allotment was put into the 
 fire ; if they arrived at a premium they 
 were sold. Men without a shilling wrote 
 for hundreds of shares. Journeymen 
 mechanics styled themselves esquires, 
 and signed deeds for thousands. The 
 names of men well known in the city 
 as gamblers, whose notorious character 
 had banished them from the society of 
 all good men, suddenly reappeared on 
 the lists of the proprietors and directors, 
 their names graced by the cheap " es- 
 quire," and their residences given in 
 some far distant county. Tricks of 
 all sorts were played ; and in one in- 
 stance the whole of the type and stock 
 in trade of a printer was purchased by 
 one company, to prevent its rival from 
 publishing an important document by 
 a i^articular period — this ruse proving 
 successful, and the document behind 
 its time. 
 
 On the last day allotted for the recep- 
 tion of plans by the Board of Trade, 
 a most astonishing scene was witnessed. 
 As the time approached, an anxiety 
 which passes belief was evinced. 
 Higher wages were paid to those who 
 could or would work in preparing the 
 IDlans. Night after night witnessed 
 the earnest workman still snatching a 
 brief repose for an hour or two, that 
 he might resume his labors with greater 
 energy. Post-horses were in demand. 
 Special trains brought plans from all 
 sections. Railway companies refused 
 trains which would assist opposition 
 projects ; and the exertion made to 
 lodge those which were ready, is 
 almost incredible. The clerks were 
 overwhelmed with them ; and though 
 an additional number of those gentle- 
 men were employed, it was impossible 
 
 to keep pace with the incessant arri- 
 vals. The place became crowded. 
 The last hour was ai3proaching. An 
 alarm seized on all that the necessary 
 forms could not be gone through in 
 time. The clock struck, and the doors 
 were closing, when a gentleman, with 
 the plans of a proposed railway for 
 Surrey, rushed in, and succeeded in 
 lodging his charge. The doors were 
 then closed, and, in a short time, a post- 
 chaise, with foaming steeds, galloped 
 up to the entrance. Down the passage, 
 and toward the office, rushed the three 
 occupants, with their cherished papers. 
 The door was shut ; but railway per- 
 sons deemed themselves privileged, and 
 the bell was loudly rung. The unsus- 
 picious inspector of jDolice answered 
 the ring; and the huge documents 
 were thrown in at a venture ; but were 
 again thrown into the street. Many 
 were too late for the appointed hour. 
 The labor of anxious days and weary 
 nights, the results of plotting heads and 
 crafty brains, were rejected. 
 
 liEugrhable Opposition to Steam Trains. 
 
 Perhaps the most interesting and 
 romantic pages that could be furnished 
 readers at the present day, might be 
 found in the literature of early railways 
 — gleanings from the speeches, pam- 
 phlets, reports, etc., which the pro- 
 posal of such schemes brought forth. 
 A few scraps will meet the purpose of 
 this volume. 
 
 It was contended by the opponents 
 of these enterprises, that canal convey- 
 ance was quicker; that the smoke of 
 the engines would injure gentlemen's 
 seats and villas ; and one writer, more 
 imaginative than perceptive, described 
 the locomotives as "terrible things," 
 although, on further questioning, he 
 admitted he had never seen one. It 
 was boldly declared, too, that a gale 
 of wind would stop the progress of the 
 carriage ; that there would be no more 
 practical advantage in a railway than 
 
BUSINESS TRANSIT AND COMMUNICATION. 
 
 363 
 
 in a canal; that Mr. Stephenson was 
 totally devoid of common sense. The 
 plan was asserted to be based on fraud 
 and folly; that balloons and rockets 
 were as feasible ; and that the whole 
 line would be under water for two or 
 three weeks in succession. 
 
 " It is quite idle and absurd," said 
 one, " to say that the present schemes 
 can ever be carried into execution, 
 under any circumstances, or in any 
 way." " "Whenever," said another, 
 with the authority of an oracle, 
 "Providence in Lancashire is pleased 
 to send rain or a little mizzling weath- 
 er, expeditious it cannot be." A third 
 gave it as Ms opinion, that " no engine 
 CQuld go in the night time, because," 
 he added, more scripturally than perti- 
 nently, " the night time is a period 
 when no man can work ! " 
 
 The public benefits of a railroad were 
 put in disparaging competition with 
 the annoyance which an individual 
 would receive from the smoke of the 
 engines coming within two hundred 
 and fifty yards of his house, and it was 
 pathetically asked, " Can anything 
 compensate for this?" Gentlemen 
 objected because it would injure their 
 prospects, and land-owners because it 
 would injure their pockets ! Of Mr. 
 Stephenson it was declared, " he makes 
 schemes without seeing the diflicul- 
 ties." " Upon this shuffling evidence, 
 we are called to pass the bill." " It 
 is impossible to hold this changing 
 Proteus in any knot whatsoever." " It 
 is the greatest draught upon human 
 credulity ever heard of." 
 
 " There is nothing," said one, " but 
 long sedgy grass to prevent the train 
 from sinking into the shades of eternal 
 night," Another appealed to the pock- 
 et : " If this bill succeeds, by the time 
 railroads are set a-going, the poor, 
 gulled subscribers will have lost all 
 their money ; and, instead of locomo- 
 tive engines, they must have recourse 
 to horses or asses, not meaning to say 
 which." Numberless were the sneers 
 
 at the idea of engines galloping as 
 fast as five miles an hour. One sapient 
 gentleman thought, however, that the 
 trains might go at four and one-half 
 miles in fine weather, but not more than 
 two and one-half in wet. 
 
 " "When we set out with the original 
 prospectus," was the remark of the 
 counsel, " we were to gallop — I know 
 not at what rate. I believe it was 
 twelve miles an hour, with the aid of 
 a devil in the form of a locomotive, 
 sitting as postilion on the fore house, 
 and an honorable member sitting behind 
 him to stir up the fire, and keep it up 
 at full speed. I will show they cannot 
 go six. I may be able to show we shall 
 keep up with them by the canal." 
 "Thus, sir, I prove that locomotive 
 engines cannot move at more than four 
 and a-quarter miles an hour; and I 
 will show the scheme to be bottomed 
 on deception and fallacy." 
 
 Lady Ship-master. 
 
 That Irish ladies are ' smart,' abun- 
 dant evidence might be forthcoming, if 
 necessary. But the following single iur 
 stance will do much to establish the 
 general assertion. Amongst the fleet 
 lately wind-bound in Lamlash, not the 
 least, but perhaps the greatest wonder, 
 was the good old brig Cleotus, of Salt- 
 coats, which for more than twenty years 
 has been commanded by an heroic and 
 exceedingly clever lady. Miss Betsey Mil- 
 ler, daughter of Mr. "W. Miller, ship- 
 owner and wood dealer of that town. 
 He was concerned with several vessels, 
 both in the American and coasting trade. 
 Miss Betsey, before she went to sea, 
 acted as " ship's husband " to her fath- 
 er, and seeing how the captains in many 
 cases behaved, her romantic and ad- 
 venturous spirit impelled her to go to 
 sea herself. Her father gratified her 
 caprice, and gave her the command of 
 the Cleotus, which she holds to the 
 present day ; and she has weathered the 
 storms of the deep when many comman- 
 
364 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 ders of the other sex have been driven 
 on the rocks. The Cleotus is well 
 known in the ports of Belfast, Dublin, 
 Cork, etc. 
 
 liucky and Unlucky Names of Ships, 
 and Sailini: Days. 
 
 That there is ill omen as well as bad 
 luck attending vessels having certain 
 names has long been believed by many, 
 and curious instances are cited to prove 
 that it is not mere superstition. Among 
 the memorable in this respect is the 
 bark Raleigh, fitted out and called af- 
 ter his family name by the great Sir Wal- 
 ter, and intended to assist his half 
 brother. Sir Humphrey Gilbert, in his 
 North American researches. This ves- 
 sel sailed with Sir Humphrey, and, we 
 are told in the sad record of his fate, ap- 
 peared to predict the fatal termination 
 of the expedition by returning in less 
 than a week, through a contagious dis- 
 temper which seized on the ship's crew. 
 She was lost on a similar expedition to 
 the one which hastened Sir Walter's sad 
 doom. So of the Amazon, and Birken- 
 head, which sailed on Friday, and were 
 lost so disastrously. 
 
 An attempt was once made to 
 prove, once for aU, that Friday was 
 not the unlucky day poor Jack always 
 fancied it to be. A ship was built with 
 such an intention some years ago ; she 
 was named Friday, was launched on Fri- 
 day, commanded by a captain whose 
 name was Friday, sailed on a Friday, 
 which no ship does if it can convenient- 
 ly be helped, and was never — heard of 
 aftei-ward! But against all this, and 
 other similar instances, must be placed 
 the fact that vessels with even the luck- 
 iest names, have, in innumerable cases, 
 perished, and that for each and every 
 day of the week alike there is the fruit- 
 ful record of mischance and disaster. 
 
 Columbus sailed on his great voy- 
 age of discovery, on Friday, August 
 21st. On Friday, October 12th, 1492, 
 he made his first discovery of land ; on 
 Friday, January 4th, 1493, he sailed on 
 
 his return to Spain, which if he had 
 not reached in safety, the happy result 
 would never have been known ; on Fri- 
 day, March loth, 1493, he arrived at 
 Palos in safety ; on Friday, November 
 22d, 1493, he arrived at Hispaniola, on 
 his second voyage to America, and on 
 Friday, he, though unknown to him- 
 self, discovered the continent of Amer- 
 ica. The Mayflower, with the pilgrims, 
 made the harbor of Provincetown 
 on Friday, November 10th, 1620. Sure- 
 ly, in a maritime and commercial sense, 
 such facts send Friday up to a premium, 
 and ought to disarm seamen of their ill- 
 starred theory of that day. 
 
 liocoznotion and Amalgramation. 
 
 Passenger : " What's the matter, 
 conductor ? 
 
 Conductor (with accustomed pres- 
 ence of mind) : " Oh, nothing partic- 
 ular, sir. We've only been run into by 
 an excursion train ! " 
 
 Passenger : " But, good gracious ! 
 there's a train just behind us, isn't 
 there ? " 
 
 Conductor: " Well, yes, sir ! But a 
 boy has gone down the line with a sig- 
 nal, and it's very likely they'll see it ! " 
 
 New Rules for Railways. 
 
 Some new regulations, recently pro- 
 posed for the benefit of all concerned, 
 have found their way into print, and 
 are now being seriously considered by 
 the various railways. A few are given 
 below. 
 
 No stoppage at a railway station is 
 to exceed half an hour. 
 
 No railway dividend is to exceed one 
 hundred per cent, and no bonus to be 
 divided oftener than once a month, oth- 
 erwise shareholders shall have a right 
 to throw up their certificates. 
 
 Lectures and dramatic representa- 
 tions are to be given at the stations to 
 entertain the passengers when they are 
 detained beyond the limit above speci- 
 
BUSINESS TRANSIT AND COMMUNICATION. 
 
 365 
 
 fied, and payment of one shilling an 
 hour is to be made to every laboring man 
 for every hour of such detention. 
 
 Every tunnel must be illuminated 
 with one candle at least, except during 
 the season of fireflies, when it may be 
 dispensed with. 
 
 A magistrate is to be in attendance 
 at every station to grant summonses, on 
 complaint, against the directors ; and 
 all law expenses incurred are to be paid 
 by the Company. 
 
 Never less than one minute is to be al- 
 lowed for dinner or refreshment. 
 
 One director must always travel 
 with every train, either in one of the 
 cars or in front of the engine — he hav- 
 ing the liberty to choose. 
 
 Hospitals are to be built at every 
 terminus and a surgeon to be in atten- 
 dance at every station. 
 
 All the fines and damages levied upon 
 a railway are to be paid into a fund for 
 building a series of almshouses, for the 
 maintenance of indigent persons muti- 
 lated from day to day by accidents on 
 the railways. 
 
 There must be some communication 
 between every car and the conductor, 
 either by a bell, or a speaking tube, or 
 a portable electric telegraph, so that 
 the passengers may have some means 
 of giving information when their car is 
 off the track, or falling over an embank- 
 ment, or a maniac has broken loose, or 
 a robbery by chloroform has taken place. 
 
 Yankee Calculation of Eailroad Speed. 
 
 " Well, it's curous how we du git 
 over the ground ! Why, the trees all 
 look as if they was a-dancin' a jig to 
 double-quick time. I kin recollect ten 
 or twelve years ago, that if I started 
 from Bosting on a Wednesday, I cud 
 git in Filedelphy on the next Saturday, 
 makin' just three days. Kow I kin git 
 from Bosting to Filedelphy in one day ; 
 and I've been cal'latin' that if the pow- 
 er of steam increases for the next ten 
 years as it has been doin' for the last 
 
 ten years, I'd be in Filedelphy jist two 
 days before I started from Bosting I " 
 
 Railroad Damages : The Tables Turned. 
 
 A CERTAIN community somewhere in 
 Texas had made it a pretty frequent 
 practice to get all the money they could 
 from the railroad corporation there- 
 about, by allowing their cattle to get 
 upon the track and obtaining damages 
 when they were killed by the locomo- 
 tive. At last, however, a law with 
 due penalties was enacted, against the 
 roaming of cattle upon the track of 
 said road. 
 
 A new president of this corporation, 
 Mr. Blank, was chosen, whose manage- 
 ment proved him to be considerably 
 ahead of some with whom he was soon 
 called to deal. When Mr. Blank as- 
 sumed the presidential control, it was 
 in a dark day indeed. Acres of wood- 
 land, fields of grain, houses and barns 
 had been consumed by the locomotive 
 sparks, and cattle without number had 
 been killed on the track. Demands 
 against the company and impending 
 law suits were more numerous than 
 agreeable. 
 
 One day a man made his appearance 
 at Mr. Blank's office. He was the cham- 
 pion of his neighborhood in this kind 
 of business, and had come down to en- 
 force payment for a valuable pair of 
 oxen, suddenly converted into jerked 
 beef by the iron horse. Our claimant 
 entered the office as bold as a lion. 
 
 " I want payment for my cattle you 
 killed last Saturday," said he. 
 
 " Your cattle ! " inquired Mr. Blank ; 
 "were those your cattle that were 
 killed ? " 
 
 " Mighty apt to be," was the answer, 
 " and I want two hundred for them." 
 
 "And J," said Mr. Blank, "want 
 proof. You must make an affidavit of 
 the particulars, and then we will come 
 to a settlement." 
 
 Right willingly did the claimant as-: 
 sent; but when the instrument was 
 
386 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 properly drawn up, signed, and authen- 
 ticated, Mr. Blank turned to him with — 
 
 " Now, sir, I want two hundred dol- 
 lars from you.'''' 
 
 " From me ? " exclaimed the amazed 
 rustic. 
 
 " Yes, sir, from 2/<?w," reiterated the 
 president. " Here I have proof, under 
 your own hand, that your cattle were, 
 contrary to law, upon the track, and 
 thereby our engine was damaged to the 
 extent of two hundred dollars. Are 
 you prepared to settle the affair amica- 
 bly, or must I proceed legally ? " 
 
 The applicant spoke no word, but 
 rushed open-mouthed from the office, 
 sought his wagon, and upon reaching 
 his house advised his friends generally 
 to pocket their grievances, or worse 
 would come of it. From that day the 
 demands upon the road were few in- 
 deed. 
 
 Telegraphing: agrainst Time.' 
 
 An incident occurred at Niagara 
 Falls during the Prince of Wales' stay, 
 which illustrates some of the fortuities 
 of telegraphic operating, and which 
 has been frequently, but — excepting by 
 a writer in Harper's Magazine — never 
 correctly reported ; so it is stated. 
 
 The special reporter of a New York 
 journal had ordered the telegraph line 
 to be kept open, one Sunday evening, 
 when the offices were usually closed, 
 and had engaged to pay the operators 
 liberally for their extra work. Before 
 he had finished telegraphing his usual 
 reports, along came the reporter of an- 
 other New York journal, who, having 
 obtained some exclusive news, and find- 
 ing the line in fine working order, as- 
 serted his right to have his despatches 
 transmitted to New York also. Report- 
 er the first resisted. Reporter the 
 second insisted. Reporter the first ap- 
 pealed to the telegraph operators, and 
 after a great deal of conversation be- 
 tween the Niagara and Rochester offi- 
 ces, the operator decided that both re- 
 
 ports must be telegraphed. Reporter 
 the second was calmly triumphant, and 
 coolly prepared his notes. Reporter the 
 first attempted to bribe the operators, 
 and finding them incorruptible, began 
 a long and desultory argument over the 
 wires, in order to kill time and crowd 
 out his opponent. Reporter the second, 
 therefore, obtained an interview with 
 the Hon. John Rose, the Premier of 
 Canada, who sent down a message to 
 the operators that he was, or had been, 
 President, Vice-President, or Director 
 — he really could not tell which — of 
 the Telegraph Company, and that by 
 virtue of his authority, he ordered both 
 despatches to be telegraphed immedi- 
 ately. This order added fuel to the 
 fire of indignation which glowed in the 
 bosom of Reporter the first. A Cana- 
 dian official dictate to an American re- 
 porter ? Never ! Meanwhile the mo- 
 ments slipped hurriedly away, and the 
 hour was approaching when it would 
 be useless to attempt to send a despatch 
 to New York in time for publication in 
 the morning papers. Observing this. 
 Reporter the first suddenly recovered 
 his self-control, and referred all the 
 parties concerned to the standard rule 
 of the Telegraph Company, that " des- 
 patches must be sent in the order in 
 which they were received, and that one 
 despatch must be finished before an- 
 other could be transmitted." This rule 
 was acknowledged to be telegraphic 
 law. Reporter the first then claimed 
 priority for his report. This point was 
 also conceded. The reporter then elo- 
 quently but briefly informed the by- 
 standers that they might as well go to 
 bed, as his report could never be con- 
 cluded while a chance of a despatch 
 reaching New York that night remain- 
 ed to his competitor. Immediately he 
 set to work to telegraph against time. 
 His original report having been de- 
 spatched, he jotted down every item 
 worth sending, and ransacked his brains 
 for any little incident of the Prince's 
 doings which might possibly have been 
 
BUSINESS TRANSIT AND COMMUNICATION. 
 
 367 
 
 forgotten. His pencil flew over the 
 paper like lightning. Click — click — 
 click — the operator hurried off page 
 after page almost as rapidly as the re- 
 porter could indite them. Reporter 
 the second stalked gloomily up and 
 down the office, despairing, but uncon- 
 quered. To him the minute-hand of the 
 clock moved with terrible swiftness. 
 To Reporter the first the moments 
 seemed shod with lead. Every item 
 being exhausted, a description of Niag- 
 ara Falls, carefully reserved to be sent 
 by mail, was handed to the operator 
 and flashed over the line at a cost of 
 six or eight cents a word. This done, 
 there was a moment's pause. Reporter 
 the first reflected. Reporter the second 
 breathed more freely, and even ven- 
 tured to smile hopefully, and nervously 
 finger his detained despatches. Alas ! 
 Reporter the first again writes — this 
 time a note to the Rochester operator : 
 " Which would you prefer to telegraph, 
 a chapter of the Bible or a chapter of 
 Claude Duval, the Highwayman ? These 
 are the only two books I can find in 
 the hotel." The lightning flashes off 
 with the query, and returns with the 
 answer : " It is quite immaterial which 
 you send." The Reporter seizes the 
 Bible, transcribes the first chapter of 
 Matthew, with all its hard genealogi- 
 cal names, adds this to his previous 
 despatches, tacks portions of the twen- 
 ty-first chapter of Revelation — describ- 
 ing the various precious stones — to the 
 incongruous report, hands it all to the 
 operator, sends his blessing and an in- 
 junction to be careful of the spelling 
 to the Rochester ofiice, and gleefully 
 awaits the result with his eyes on the 
 clock. Before this scriptural news is 
 fully transmitted, the hour arrived when 
 no more telegrams could be sent. Re- 
 porter the first retired in glory; but 
 although his telegrams reached New 
 York safely, the Biblical portions were 
 unfortunately never published. Re- 
 porter the second telegraphed his news 
 the next morning, at the same time 
 
 good-naturedly acknowledging Ms de- 
 feat. 
 
 Telegraphic Capers. 
 
 On a certain occasion, says a London 
 journal, the French telegraph made the 
 following announcement : 
 
 " Abd-el-Kader has been taken " — 
 but it was mentioned that a fog envel- 
 oi^ed the remainder of the sentence in 
 obscurity. The excitement, however, in 
 the money market was at fever height, at 
 the supposed capture of that adroit en- 
 emy, and the funds rose tremendously. 
 
 The following day, the sentence be- 
 ing completed, the intelligence ran 
 thus: 
 
 " Abd-el-Kader has been taken with 
 a dreadful cold in his head." 
 
 The funds fell, but the coup — ^which 
 was worthy of a Rothschild — had been 
 sufficiently successful for those who 
 made the telegraph play into the hands 
 of their agents at the Bourse. A fog in 
 Paris is frequently a great windfall in 
 a monetary and commercial point of 
 view. 
 
 Guarding- the Track. 
 
 The Hon. Erastus Coming, President 
 of the New York Central Railway, not- 
 withstanding his remarkable activity, 
 has the misfortune to be lame. He 
 was one day hobbling over the rail- 
 road track at Albany, when an Irish-, 
 man who was placed to guard the 
 track, sang out, with marked Celtic 
 accent, " Will ye leave the track ? " 
 Mr. Corning smiled inwardly and stum- 
 bled on, when the Irishman again cried, 
 " Begone, ye stumbling high-binder, or 
 the 11.30 Express will be forninst ye, 
 and Mister Corning will have to pay 
 for ye the full price of a well man with 
 two legs. Begone ! sare ! " This was 
 too much for " Old Central ; " he yield- 
 ed the track for the 11.30 Express, and 
 sent a reward and commendation to 
 the faithful watchman, who had never 
 
!68 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 once suspected tlie name or position of 
 that " stumbling liigli-binder." 
 
 A Deep Design. 
 
 A PLAN is about to be carried out by- 
 some enterprising London capitalists 
 for passing an electric telegraph under 
 the streets of that city. That walls have 
 ears has been heard by all ; but this is 
 a plain matter-of-fact sort of scheme for 
 giving tongues to the streets, which will 
 enable them to rival the celebrated 
 stones that were nearly rising up to 
 remonstrate, in a certain exigency, to 
 say nothing of those stones of the poet, 
 in which he assures us there are ser- 
 mons. It is presumed that an under- 
 tone will be best adapted to this sub- 
 terranean language. 
 
 It has been decided that this tele- 
 graph, when completed, shall be let 
 out to the whole public at so much a 
 message. This plan will do very well, 
 unless the whole population wants, as 
 usual, to talk at once, when the effect 
 would be most extraordinary. Nor is 
 any statement made, as yet, to prevent 
 the wrong people from receiving the 
 messages that are thus sent by the tele- 
 graph. It would be very awkward if 
 a somewhat general observation should 
 arrive at a station, for there would be 
 a difficulty in finding an owner for 
 
 remark of such a common-place 
 character. 
 
 The project seems a good one, but it 
 will require much modification to ren- 
 der it efi'ectual. One regulation pro- 
 vides that ladies who avail themselves 
 of the telegraph shall be charged by 
 the length of the message, an immense 
 revenue being calculated from this 
 source alone ; in order, however, that 
 all may share the benefits of such an 
 enterprise, no one female is to be al- 
 lowed to monopolize the use of the 
 subterranean tongue for a longer time 
 at once than thirteen hours. 
 
 Unsociable Travelling- Companion. 
 
 A RARE incident occurred in an Eng- 
 lish stage-coach, on "a certain occasion, 
 before railroads came into vogue. Two 
 passengers, one a merchant, set out 
 from a London inn early on a Decem- 
 ber morning. It was dark as pitch ; 
 and one of them, not being sleepy, and 
 wishing for a little conversation, en- 
 deavored, in the usual travelling mode, 
 to stimulate his companion to discourse. 
 "A very dark morn, sir. Shocking 
 cold weather for travelling ! Slow 
 going in the heavy roads, sir." None 
 of these very civil observations pro- 
 ducing a word in response, the sociable 
 merchant made one more efibrt. He 
 stretched out his hand and feeling the 
 other's habit, exclaimed, " What a very 
 comfortable coat, sir, you have got to 
 travel in I " No answer was made, and 
 the merchant, fatigued and disgusted, 
 fell into a sound nap, nor awoke until 
 the brightest rays of a winter's sun ac- 
 counted to him for the taciturnity of 
 his comrade, by presenting to his as- 
 tonished view a huge bear (luckily for 
 him muzzled and confined) in a sitting 
 posture. 
 
 Decoration of Hailroad Depots. 
 
 At one of our railway stations, a pas- 
 senger on looking round saw the bill 
 announcing the arrival and departure 
 of the train, and by its side was posted 
 — with most innocent candor on the 
 part of the directors — another bill, ad- 
 vising him, in the most alluring terms, 
 to insure his life. Of course the two 
 things thus placed in juxtaposition, put 
 him in a reflecting mood. 
 
 Eailway companies might improve 
 on this system of starting trains of se- 
 rious thought. They should illuminate 
 the walls of their waiting-rooms with 
 moral sentences, expressive of the un- 
 certainty of human existence, such as 
 Memento Mori, Mors Janua Vitse, &c. ; 
 which, executed in appropriate char- 
 
BUSINESS TRANSIT AND COMMUNICATION. 
 
 369 
 
 acters, might be made to have a pic- 
 turesque and pleasing, as well as profit- 
 able effect. The intermixture -with 
 these legends, of tombstone cherubs, 
 skulls, and femoral bones, and views in 
 cemeteries well painted, would be veiy 
 suitable ; and to these aesthetic decora- 
 tions might be added the figure of old 
 Time with his scythe and hourglass. 
 It may be mentioned, as a matter not 
 unrelated to these suggestions, that 
 some of the newspapers have adopted 
 the plan of inserting their "Eailway 
 Intelligence " next to the " Obituary." 
 
 Punch's Own Kailway. 
 
 This snug little suburban line (says 
 its proprietor) occasionally makes a 
 mild demand on public attention, by a 
 sort of popgun-like proceeding, known 
 as the issuing of its annual report, 
 which is usually accompanied with a 
 very little smoke, and somewhat less 
 fire. Everything is on the smallest 
 possible scale; and the rolling stock 
 includes a garden roller, which is kept 
 for the purpose of rolling the gravel 
 walks by the side of those cabbage 
 beds which form the vegetable wealth 
 of the company. The property of the 
 railway is understood to have some- 
 what increased ; but there has been a 
 loss of one engine and two buffers, the 
 former being the moral engine which 
 the company once possessed in the sup- 
 port of a now apathetic press ; and the 
 latter consisting of two old buffers who 
 have got better places, after having 
 been for some years in the service of 
 the line as gardeners. 
 
 The balance at the banker's had been 
 augmented by a few pounds, and the 
 goods traffic is nearly eight ounces 
 more this year than it was last — an in- 
 crease which, considering the level of 
 former times, may be considered fever- 
 ish. Of coal, there is a skuttle more in 
 the company's cellars than there was 
 last year ; and the directors propose 
 that this surplus shall not be disturbed, 
 34 
 
 but that it shall be added to the " rest," 
 and carried over to the credit — the 
 very great credit, of the company. 
 
 The engineer of the line has inspect- 
 ed the boilers, and reports that " the 
 concern is not yet out of hot water, nor 
 likely to be for some time to come," — 
 nor have the law proceedings been 
 brought to a termination. Thanks 
 were voted to the chairman, who had 
 lent a Bath chair for a visit of the resi- 
 dent director to the terminus. 
 
 Stage Coach. Experience of two Mer- 
 chants. 
 
 ' One of the very pleasantest episodes 
 to be found in the range of mercantile 
 travelling experience, is that of the in- 
 terview between Vincent Nolte, the 
 great merchant of two hemispheres, 
 and John McNeil, a Liverpool mer- 
 chant of celebrity. It is one of those 
 "happenings" which do not need to 
 be read of more than once, as one read- 
 ing will serve the memory ever after. 
 It is almost worth the full price of Nol- 
 te's Autobiography, an admirable trans- 
 lation of which, from the German, has 
 been published in this country. Mr. 
 Nolte says: 
 
 I took a place, at five o'clock in the 
 morning, in the Birmingham coach, the 
 best conveyance then between Liver- 
 pool and London. It was a troubled, 
 misty, unpleasant morning. In the cor- 
 ner of the coach opposite me, wrapped 
 in his cloak, sat a gloomy looking per- 
 son, besides myself the only passenger. 
 More than two hours elapsed before the 
 spirit moved us to any conversation. 
 At length my companion roused him- 
 self, and brought forward the subject 
 which always opens a conversation in 
 England — the weather. 
 
 " We have a very nasty, disagreeable 
 day before us, I fear," he remarked. 
 
 Whereupon I asked him if he were 
 going all the way to London. 
 
 " No, no," he answered, " I will get 
 out at a pottery near Wolverhampton, 
 where I have to buy some hundred 
 
370 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 baskets of crockery for my ship, the 
 'Peter Ellis.'" 
 
 " In order to send it to New Orleans, 
 I suppose," said I. 
 
 " Certainly," he said, " but I beg 
 your pardon, how did you know that ? " 
 
 " I did not know it," I replied, " I 
 only guessed it. I have seen the ship 
 several times in New Orleans. She was 
 consigned to my friends, Denistoun, 
 Hill & Co." 
 
 " Oh, ho," said he, " so you have 
 been in New Orleans." 
 
 " Very often," said I. 
 
 " How is the credit of the firm ? " 
 was his next question. 
 
 " Admirable," said I ; " Mr. Hill is a 
 man much esteemed and beloved." 
 
 " So I have always thought," he re- 
 plied. 
 
 " Those gentlemen," I continued, 
 " veiy often have ships to their address 
 — for instance, the Liverpool brig ' The 
 Brothers,' the ship ' Mary Wood,' and 
 others. The Liverpool ship ' Ottawa,' 
 was in other hands (namely, in ours), 
 as well as many others." 
 
 " You appear to know our vessels 
 well," said he, " and also most of the 
 English houses in New Orleans." 
 
 " Oh, yes," I said ; " I know nearly 
 all the houses of any position there, 
 pretty well." 
 
 " I am glad to hear it," said my 
 companion, and then our dialogue con- 
 tinued. 
 
 " Do you know Munro, Milne & Co. ? 
 How do they stand ? " 
 
 ■ " Very well. They are the estab- 
 lished correspondents of James Finley 
 & Co., of Glasgow." 
 
 " Do you know P. W. & Co. ? How 
 do they stand ? " 
 
 " So, so, no general credit." 
 
 " Do you know G., F. & Co. ? " 
 
 " G. is a clever business man, and F. 
 is a windbag, who, however, has thrown 
 into the firm a large capital inherited 
 jfrom his aunt." 
 
 " The devil ! " quoth my interlocu- 
 tor; "you appear to know them all. 
 
 You must have lived some years in New 
 Orleans." 
 
 " Yes, several." 
 
 " Do you know Vincent Mite ? " 
 
 " As well as he knows himself." 
 
 " What sort of a man is he ? " 
 
 " Well," said I, " he has many friends, 
 and perhaps quite as many foes ; take 
 him all in all, however, I believe he is 
 a good sort of a fellow, with whom 
 folks like to deal." 
 
 " Yes," he said, " our captains like 
 him very much. He was prompt and 
 expeditious, and when he had freight- 
 ed a vessel, the goods came down as 
 fast as they could be received on board." 
 
 " I believe," said I, " that this praise 
 is not undeserved. It was always his 
 custom to do quickly whatever he un- 
 dertook." 
 
 Thereupon our conversation ended ; 
 and in half an hour the coach stopped 
 before a large pottery belonging to 
 Baker, Bourne & Baker. As he got 
 out, my companion gave me his card — 
 " John McNeil, Liverpool," saying : 
 
 " I have found so much pleasure in 
 your conversation, that you must prom- 
 ise to pay me a visit when you return 
 to Liverpool. I will present you to my 
 two daughters, and we will all receive 
 you with pleasure." 
 
 I was of course obliged to give him 
 my card in exchange. He glanced at 
 it twice, and in a doubtful sort of way 
 read it over. 
 
 " Vincent N-o-ble!" 
 
 "No, sir," I said; "Vincent Mite, 
 the very gentleman you were inquiring 
 about." 
 
 " Ah ! so, so," he said. " Well, sir, 
 glad to have had a sight of you. Do 
 not fail to call when you come to Liv- 
 erpool again. Farewell, sir ! " 
 
 And so the coach rolled on. 
 
 An Interesting- Consig-nment. 
 
 One of the most interesting consign- 
 ments — at least in an historical point 
 of view— of which there is any record, 
 
BUSINESS TRANSIT AND COMMUNICATION. 
 
 371 
 
 is tliat which was received from Lon- 
 don, by Mr. Jacob Barker, of New 
 York, viz., the first steam engine ever 
 in successful operation for propelling 
 vessels. It was made by Messrs. Bol- 
 ton and Watts, celebrated for construct- 
 ing steam machinery in that day. Af- 
 ter its arrival it remained in Mr. Bar- 
 ker's store in South street many months 
 before Mr. Fulton could raise the funds 
 to pay for it. This engine was placed 
 on the first steamboat that navigated 
 the Hudson, and Mr. Barker thinks 
 that she attained the speed of four 
 miles an hour. Little did he then 
 think that this discovery of the im- 
 mortal Fulton would in less than half 
 a century regulate the commerce of the 
 whole world, saving time and shorten- 
 ing space to such a degree that to be 
 deprived of its use would be univer- 
 sally considered a calamity of the first 
 
 magnitude. 
 
 ■» — 
 
 ScLuelching a Director's Impertinence. 
 
 The plenary indulgence conceded to 
 Mr. Hudson, the English railway mon- 
 arch, by which his will was made law 
 — all complaints of those who natural- 
 ly esteemed themselves not fairly dealt 
 with in various operations being silenc- 
 ed by his mere beck — cannot be better 
 comprehended than in an anecdote of 
 Mr. H. in his palmy days ; being a cir- 
 cumstance which occurred at the board 
 meeting of a certain line. The honor- 
 able gentleman had allotted to himself 
 six hundred Shares, and to another 
 member of the board, two hundred. 
 These shares having risen to five 
 pounds premium, the latter gentle- 
 man thought he ought to have a lar- 
 ger number, and accordingly intimated 
 his opinion to Mr. Hudson. " I have 
 
 been accustomed, Mr. ," replied the 
 
 dictator, " to have gentlemen with 
 whom I am associated, satisfied with 
 my arrangements ; and if you are not, 
 I'll retire and leave the affairs in your 
 custody, which I dare say you'll man- 
 
 age better than I do, as I have so much 
 other business on my hands." " Oh, 
 certainly not ; by no means, Mr. Hud- 
 son," bowingly responded the crest-fal- 
 len director ; '■ I am sure all you do is 
 right, and I am quite satisfied with 
 your arrangement." It is pretty cer- 
 tain that HP further complaint was 
 made by any of George's colleagues at 
 tJiat board ! 
 
 Bare Passeng-er in an Omnibus. 
 
 John McDonogh, of New Orleans, 
 was one of those who rarely spent ten- 
 pence for an omnibus ride, his habit 
 being to economize to the last extremi- 
 ty in these minor as well as in larger 
 things. He was an untiring pedestrian, 
 being ever on foot, on some errand per- 
 taining to his vast money concern. Sud- 
 denly, one day, while pursuing so eager- 
 ly his imaginary goal, he was seized 
 with faintness on the street. Other 
 men would have taken a cab, and rid- 
 den home, or at least to a physician's ; 
 but when did John McDonogh turn 
 aside from business to relieve any weak- 
 ness or want ? " He had an important 
 document to file in court. It must be 
 done that day. He is too weak to 
 walk. There is the omnibus ; the fare 
 is only a dime — but that dime is so 
 much taken from the poor, for John 
 McDonogh is only an agent for the 
 poor, so appointed and called of God. 
 Such were the reflections, probably, 
 that passed through his mind before he 
 could be induced to perpetrate this se- 
 rious violation of the settled rules of a 
 life — this single blot and stain on a ca- 
 reer of unbroken self-abnegation. With 
 a sigh he took his seat in the omnibus. 
 It was his last ride. 
 
 First Ship at St. Petersburg:. 
 
 The first ship which entered the port 
 of St. Petersburg, w^as a Dutch vessel, 
 the same in which Peter the Great ac- 
 quired in Holland a practical knowl- 
 
372 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 edge of seamanship. She was received 
 with extraordinary rejoicings and fes- 
 tivities, and whatever she might at any 
 future period bring into the country 
 was sacredly exempted from duty. 
 This privilege she enjoyed, until the 
 end of the last century, when she was 
 obliged to discontinue her trips, be- 
 cause it was found impossible to patch 
 her up any longer so as to be seawor- 
 thy. The first ship that arrives in May, 
 like the swallow proclaiming the return 
 of spring, is still greeted with unusual 
 demonstrations of joy, and has various 
 favors granted her. 
 
 Proposed Line from England to China. 
 
 In consequence of the extreme diffi- 
 culty at present experienced in making 
 the voyage to China and India, togeth- 
 er with the delay and chances of ship- 
 wreck, it has been proposed by gentle- 
 men connected with the London Punch 
 — ^under the advice of an eminent en- 
 gineer — to construct a railway direct 
 from that city to the Celestial Empire. 
 
 The plan suggested i^ the very feasi- 
 ble one of penetrating the bowels of 
 the earth, through the medium of a suit- 
 able tunnel from London to Canton, 
 passing through the centre of the globe, 
 — thus obviating altogether the enor- 
 mous expense usually incurred in the 
 purchase of land, and avoiding the op- 
 position likely to be encountered from 
 hostile nations. 
 
 From the Report made to the Com- 
 mittee by Sinko Shaft, Esq., the engi- 
 neer, who has descended some of the 
 deepest wells and sewers in and about 
 the metropolis, and has sounded the 
 earth in various places at the outskirts, 
 there is every reason to believe that the 
 centre of the globe consists of a mass of 
 softest soil, except where intersected by 
 solid rocks of gold and silver, and 
 caverns of precious stones ; and that, 
 from his examination, there is no reason 
 whatever to believe, as some have con- 
 jectured, that the earth is a mere crust, 
 
 filled in the interior with nothing at all 
 — a state of things which would natu- 
 rally have rendered the cutting of a tun- 
 nel through it an expedient of some 
 difficulty. As it is, however, the cut- 
 ting will be exceedingly easy, except 
 where the masses of precious metals and 
 jewels interpose an obstacle ; but inas- 
 much as this material, when removed, 
 will be immensely valuable, and, accor- 
 ding to the most moderate calculations 
 of the engineer, will be many hundred 
 times more than sufficient to cover the 
 entire expense of the undertaking, but 
 little fear need be apprehended upon 
 this point. 
 
 It is intended that the terminus in 
 England shall be at what is now the 
 building known as St. Paul's Cathedral, 
 London, which for the purposes of this 
 line is to undergo the necessary architec- 
 tural alterations, after permission has 
 been obtained from the metropolitan 
 bishop. 
 
 The journey by this route will, it is 
 calculated, be accomplished as soon as 
 the passengers get from one terminus to 
 another. And as the railway will pass 
 immediately under Mount Vesuvius, a 
 station will be erected there, at which 
 trains will stop for the purpose of tak- 
 ing in coals and lava, or blacksmiths, 
 should there be any residing in those 
 parts. Another stoppage will be made 
 immediately under the Mediterranean, 
 with a view of getting a supply of wa- 
 ter — conveniently drawn down through 
 a pipe from the sea aboye. 
 
 As regards the intermediate traffic be- 
 tween the two termini, there is, from 
 the recent investigations into the sub- 
 ject by the learned members of the 
 University Nhowhere, strong reason for 
 believing that the population swallow- 
 ed up at various periods by earth- 
 quakes, as at Lisbon, Port Royal, etc., 
 etc., have only disappeared from the 
 surface of the globe to colonize and 
 people the interior. Should this be 
 proved to be the case the most interest- 
 ing results are likely to follow upon 
 
BUSINESS TRANSIT AND COMMUNICATION. 
 
 373 
 
 the establisliment of this undertaking 
 — which indeed may be the means at 
 once of opening an immense market for 
 manufactures and a passage for the in- 
 habitants of the interior regions of the 
 earth of the most profitable and ad- 
 vantageous description. In addition to 
 this it is confidently expected that most 
 of the Continental nations will establish 
 branch tunnels running into that of the 
 parent Company, which will be both a 
 most lucrative source of revenue, and be 
 the means of opening an immense field to 
 commercial enterprise. 
 
 Assuming the Responsibility. 
 
 Hudson, the railway king, knew well 
 how to make steady, gradual, and 
 permanent encroachments in the con- 
 duct of those vast undertakings of 
 which he was the body and soul, so as to 
 compel others to concede to him the 
 absolute influence necessary for that 
 free individual action on which he felt 
 the very existence of the organizations 
 he brought about, and the success of 
 the negotiations into which he entered, 
 depended. He further knew how to 
 make capital out of the feelings of 
 reverence and admiration he excited. 
 Having entered into some arrangements 
 for the famous Midland Company 
 which he had not vouchsafed to disclose 
 to the board of directors, these gentle- 
 man, after having vainly endeavored, 
 to worm out the coveted secret, screw- 
 ed up their courage one day to demand 
 it. They accordingly met much earlier 
 one day than usual, and when their supe- 
 rior arrived, they were all exceedingly 
 quiet. 
 
 " How now, gentlemen," said Mr. 
 Hudson, " has anything happened ? " 
 
 " Only," replied one, " that we being 
 equally responsible with yourself for 
 what is done, are desirous of know- 
 ing the nature of your future plans." 
 
 " You are, are you ? " rejoined the 
 premier ; " then you will not ! " And 
 the business of the board proceeded. 
 
 Eothchild's Omnibus Fare. 
 
 There is a good story told of Baron 
 Rothschild, which shows that it is not 
 only money which"makes the mare go," 
 — or horses either, as in this case, — but 
 ready money, " unlimited credit " to 
 the contrary notwithstanding. On a 
 very wet and disagreeable day, the Bar- 
 ron took a Parisian omnibus, on his way 
 to the Bourse or Exchange, near which 
 the nabob of finance alighted, and was 
 going away without paying. The dri- 
 ver stopped him, and demanded his fare. 
 Rothschild felt in his pocket, but he 
 had not a " red cent " of change. The 
 driver was very wroth : 
 
 " What did you get in for, if you 
 could not pay ? You must have hnown 
 that you had no money ! " 
 
 " I am Baron Rothschild," exclaimed 
 the great capitalist, " and there is my 
 card ! " 
 
 The driver threw the card into 
 the gutter. 
 
 " Never heard of you before," said 
 Jehu, " and don't want to hear of you 
 again. But I want my fare — and I 
 must have it." 
 
 The great banker was in haste : " I 
 have only an order for a million," he said ; 
 " give me change ? " and he proffered a 
 " coupon" for fifty thousand francs. The 
 conductor stared, and the passengers set 
 up a horse laugh. Just then an " agent 
 de change " came by, and Baron Roths- 
 child borrowed of him the six sous. 
 The driver was now seized with a kind 
 of remorseful respect ; and turning to 
 the money-king, he said— 
 
 " If you want ten francs, sir, I don't 
 mind lending them to you on my own 
 account." 
 
 Great North Pole Railway. 
 
 There is a railway enterprise on foot, 
 which, according to the prospectus, is 
 to literally rise above everything in the 
 line of that class of transit undertak- 
 ings. It is styled, with that modesty 
 of terms which distinguishes all real 
 
374 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 enterprises from those wliich are merely 
 chimerical, the " Great North Pole Rail- 
 way, forming a junction with the Equi- 
 noctial Line, with a branch to the ho- 
 rizon. Capital, two hundred millions. 
 Deposit, three pence." The directors 
 named for the North Pole terminus are 
 J. Frost, Esq., chairman of the northwest 
 passage ; and Baron Iceberg, keeper of 
 the great seal on the Northern Ocean. 
 Director for the horizon, Hugh de Rain- 
 bow — admiral of the red, blue, and 
 orange, etc., etc. And in addition to these 
 are Simon Scamp, Esq, chairman of the 
 East Jericho Junction Railway ; Tliomas 
 Trapper, Esq., manager of the Gener- 
 al Aerial Navigation Company ; and Sir 
 Edward Alias, non-resident director of 
 the Equitable Coal and Slate Associa- 
 tion ; — with power to add to their num- 
 ber, by " taking in " as many as possible. 
 
 The proposed line will take the hori- 
 zon for its point of departure, and, pass- 
 ing near the equator, will terminate at 
 the North Pole, which will be the prin- 
 cipal station of the company. 
 
 It is calculated that sunbeams may 
 be conveyed along the line by a new 
 process, which Professor Twaddle has 
 been employed by the provisional com- 
 mittee to discover ; and the professor's 
 report will be laid before the subscri- 
 bers at the very earliest opportunity. 
 
 By bringing the Equator within a 
 week of the North Pole, and cooperat- 
 ing with the proprietors of the Great 
 Equinoctial Line (long so vigorous in its 
 operations), the advantages to the share- 
 holders will be so obvious, that it is 
 hardly necessary to allude to them. 
 
 It is estimated that the mere luggage 
 traffic, in bringing up ice from the 
 North Pole to the readiest market, will 
 return a profit of sixty-five per cent. 
 on the capital. 
 
 Should any unforeseen circumstance 
 occur to prevent the Railway being car- 
 ried out, the deposit will be returned, on 
 application to Messrs. Walker, Gammon 
 & Co. (Solicitors to the Company), at 
 their temporary offices in Leg Alley. 
 
 Protective Costume for Travellers. 
 
 It is in contemplation to provide, at 
 all the stations on a certain western 
 railway, a dress adapted for travellers 
 along that celebrated line, by which it 
 is thought they will be secured from the 
 chances of injury by the collisions that 
 are continually happening. 
 
 Considering that padding is not un- 
 fre'quently resorted to, for the purpose 
 of improving the figure, it has been 
 thought quite reasonable that the 
 fashion should be extended to the pur- 
 pose of protecting the limbs as well as 
 merely adding to their symmetry. A 
 good pair of false calves, got up at a 
 reasonable price, would doubtless be in 
 very great demand, among those who 
 risk their legs whenever they set their 
 foot in a car on the line alluded to. 
 The public would have no objection to 
 a slight addition to the fares, for the 
 purpose of insuring something like 
 protection against accident. 
 
 The tariff of the Company might easi- 
 be so varied as to allow of the " first 
 class, with paddings," being available at 
 a small extra cost ; while the " second 
 class, with calves or knee-caps," might 
 be charged something lower. 
 
 Wagrhorn's Great Scheme. 
 
 The great pioneer of the Overland 
 Communication with India was poor 
 Thomas Waghorn. It is now upward 
 of thirty years since Waghorn arrived 
 in Bombay, full of a scheme for navi- 
 gating a steamer round the Cape of 
 Good Hope, which steamer, that it 
 might carry a sufficiency of fuel for 
 the whole trip, was only to take the 
 mails and one passenger. On the day 
 of Waghorn's arrival a meeting was 
 held by the merchants to receive pro- 
 posals from a Mr. Taylor for the for- 
 mation of a company which was to 
 open a communication with India via 
 the Red Sea. Waghorn's scheme was 
 scouted, Taylor received great en- 
 
BUSINESS TRANSIT AND COMMUNICATION. 
 
 375 
 
 couragement, as far as promises could 
 be relied upon, and he started for Eu- 
 rope with a party of friends, travelling 
 up the Persian Gulf and Euphrates en 
 route to Constantinople ; but the whole 
 party was murdered by the Vezedees 
 near Diarbekir. 
 
 On the receipt of the news in India, 
 Waghorn changed his tactics, and 
 declared for the Red Sea route, offer- 
 ing to return to Europe with mercan- 
 tile letters. But the " Ducks " — as the 
 Bombay people are familiarly called in 
 India — thought him mad or eccentric. 
 Certainly he was afflicted with mono- 
 mania — he could think, speak, dream 
 of nothing but " steam." It became 
 necessary, when in his company, to 
 avoid all allusion to anything which 
 could supply him with an excuse for 
 bursting out on his favorite topic. 
 Kettles, smojiing tureens, condensed 
 vapor, one shunned; for he watched, 
 as a cat watches for a mouse, for an op- 
 portunity of bringing in steam naviga- 
 tion. On one unfortunate occasion 
 (says the narrator of this), I introduced 
 him to a Major Hawkins, a military 
 engineer, saying : " Waghorn, make 
 the acquaintance of my esteemed friend. 
 Major Hawkins." " Steamed^ sir, did 
 you say ? " exclaimed Waghorn ; " I 
 am delighted ! " He seized Hawkins 
 by the buttons and victimized him. 
 
 Mad as he was, however, Waghorn 
 contrived, to carry his point with the 
 London merchants and the ministry. 
 He besieged the office of the Foreign 
 Secretary, he worried the Premier, tor- 
 tured the Duke of Wellington, and 
 bullied the public through the press. 
 At length the merchants consented to 
 test his repeated asseverations that let- 
 ters could be carried to India, tiia Egypt 
 and the Red Sea, in half the time that 
 it required to send them around the 
 Cape of Good Hope. They intrusted 
 him with a large packet and the means 
 of paying his expenses. He set out : 
 travelled express to Marseilles, went on 
 a French vessel to Alexandria, hasten- 
 
 ed across the desert on a canal, hired 
 a small vessel at Kosseir, and sailed 
 down to India, accomplishing the feat 
 in less than two months. All scep- 
 ticism now vanished. I^ this feat 
 could be accomplished by sailing ves- 
 sels, what might not a steamer achieve ? 
 A company was formed ; Waghorn was 
 rewarded with a lieutenancy in the 
 Royal Navy, and soon drank himself 
 to death ; and thenceforward India 
 was brought ten thousand miles nearer 
 to England. Mighty have been the 
 results ! 
 
 Bather Dry. 
 
 A French merchant — as usual viva- 
 cious and polite in the extreme — while 
 travelling in a coach, had for his fel- 
 low traveller, a demure and taciturn 
 old English banker. With character- 
 istic French courtesy, he endeavored 
 to engage his British companion in a 
 little social chat, by addressing him 
 thus : " Sare, I hope you are well ; " 
 he however received no reply, and 
 therefore repeated the remark more 
 emphatically, — " Sare, I hope you are 
 'cev well." To this the old nabob sulki- 
 ly rejoined, " I was very well, sir, when 
 we came away ; I am very well now ; 
 and when I get ill, I'll let you know." 
 
 New York to Boston in Four Days. 
 
 The first stage coach from New York 
 to Boston, started on the 24th of June, 
 1 773, from the " Fresh Water." It was 
 to leave each terminus once a fortnight. 
 The fare was four pence. New York 
 currency, per mile. It reached Hart- 
 ford, Conn, in two days, and Boston in 
 two more. The proprietors promised 
 a weekly stage, " if encouraged in their 
 great enterprise." 
 
 Good Land for Bailroad. 
 
 At an early ^age in the proceedings 
 of the Erie and New York City Rail- 
 
376 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 road, while the directors were negotiat- 
 ing with the chiefs for the land around 
 Jennison Hill, the colonel and others 
 had made some strong speeches depict- 
 ing the worthlessness of the land and 
 enlarging considerably upon the fact 
 that it was good for nothing for corn, 
 and, consequently, should be leased 
 very cheap. 
 
 When the colonel sat down, the old 
 chief replied in the Seneca tongue to 
 the interpreter, to the effect that " he 
 knew it was poor land for com ; but 
 mighty good land for railroad ! " The 
 shrewdness and force of this remark 
 will be fully appreciated when it is 
 known that the little strip of land 
 around Jennison Hill was the only pos- 
 sible place for a railroad that did not 
 involve the building of two expensive 
 bridges across the Alleghany. 
 
 Disinterested Bailroad Contractor I 
 
 It has become so common for persons 
 to engage in railroad enterprises, and 
 seek to become directors, presidents, 
 or contractors, for the purpose of spec- 
 ulating — in the opprobrious use of that 
 term, — that it is really refreshing to 
 record the instance of one who sacri- 
 ficed his own interest for that of the 
 persons whom he represented. Mr. F. C. 
 went to New York, with authority to 
 purchase iron for twenty miles of the 
 railroad of which he was president. 
 When in market, he found he could 
 purchase enough for seventy miles 
 more at good rates, but his limit by 
 the directors was to twenty miles. He 
 determined to close the contract for 
 the seventy miles on private account, 
 which he did. Iron soon rose in value 
 Bo much sc> that his contract was 
 $300,000 above what he had agreed 
 to pay. It was, of course, legally and 
 fairly his, but with a disinterestedness 
 almost without a parallel, he gave the 
 company the entire benefit of his bar- 
 gain without a cent of compensation. 
 A disinterested railroad contractor! 
 
 No wonder that the speedy dawn of 
 the millennium has been so confidently 
 expected, of late years ! 
 
 Bigrid Obsdience of Shipmasters 
 Exacted by Girard. 
 
 It is stated as a fact peculiar to 
 Girard's management of his business, 
 that he was always his own insurer 
 upon his ships, and he never forgave 
 the slightest disobedience of his orders 
 on the part of any captain or super- 
 cargo in his employ. 
 
 He would at once dismiss his cap- 
 tains, even if they saved the ship 
 through disobedience of his orders ; 
 and this practice he carried out in the 
 most arbitrary manner, no matter how 
 long a period the offender may have 
 been in his employ, nor how faithful 
 and valuable the services rendered by 
 them. Such conduct is without a par- 
 allel among American merchants. 
 
 Scale of Railway Politeness. 
 
 The classification adopted in the 
 management of English railways ap- 
 pears not to be confined to the cars ; 
 but the distinctions of first, second, 
 and third class are as scrupulously ob- 
 served in the degree of politeness 
 shown by the employes of the com- 
 pany to the passengers. The old 
 maxim that civility costs nothing 
 seems to be treated as a fable by the 
 railway managers, who calculate per- 
 haps that politeness at all events takes 
 time, and, as time is money, the oflScers 
 of the company are not justified in 
 giving it without an equivalent. Any 
 one who doubts the fact of this dis- 
 crimination has only to present him- 
 self at different times as an applicant 
 for information at a railway station, 
 in the different characters of a first, a 
 second, or a third class passenger. 
 
 If he is going in the first class, he 
 will get speedy attention from the 
 clerks in the office; bows, and even 
 smiles, fi'om the policemen on the plat- 
 
PAYING THE FIRST STEAMCOAT MONEY, 
 
BUSINESS TRANSIT AND COMMUNICATION. 
 
 377 
 
 form ; and perhaps a touch of the hat 
 from the conductor. The second class 
 passengers will get bare civility — but 
 rather more of the bear than the civili- 
 ty, from the ofHcials who deliver the 
 checks ; these latter are very fond of 
 trying to cheat themselves into the 
 belief that they are quite on a par 
 with the petted " gentlemen in govern- 
 ment office," whom the railway clerks 
 chiefly resemble in an assumed noncha- 
 lance, which, however, the plain speak- 
 ing of a passenger who will be attended 
 to, and who may be a shareholder, is 
 pretty sure to dissipate. A second 
 class passenger will get little else than 
 a " Now, sir," from the policeman, and 
 a " Come, jump up ! " from the con- 
 ductor ; while, alas ! the third class 
 passenger will perhaps suddenly find 
 himself catching a smart poke in his 
 chest from the conductor's staiF, by way 
 of keeping him back till it is conve- 
 nient to let him enter. 
 
 In fact, there are short answers as 
 well as short trains, and each class has 
 a set of rules of courtesy or " atten- 
 tion " applied to it, which the officers 
 are bound to vobey as scrupulously as 
 they do the railway signals. 
 
 " Pleasure Excursions." 
 
 One would imagine that railways 
 were of that " grave " nature that 
 would drive away joking. One would 
 about as soon expect to fall upon a 
 comic churchyard, as to meet with a 
 jocund railway — for smash-ups and 
 mutilations, somehow, are not very 
 favorable to fun. One style of joking 
 which has been adopted by a certain 
 railw^ay company that has always been 
 the most fruitful in accidents, is that 
 of advertising " Pleasure Excursions." 
 The directors' notions of amusement 
 must have been learned in the slaugh- 
 ter house. One day of such pleasure, it 
 would rationally be supposed, must 
 suffice a man his entire life — his day 
 of pleasure and his life or limb will 
 
 probably prove in this case to be 
 neck and neck. The words "Last 
 Chance," which commonly wind up 
 such advertisements, are also intensely 
 suggestive. The names of the en- 
 gines, too, are frequently conducive 
 to anything but pleasant emotions — 
 there seems to be a cruel delight in 
 christening them after the gloomiest 
 objects : One railway, for instance, 
 has the following lively stud of engines 
 — " Lethe," " Styx," " Minos," " Pluto,' 
 and several others, introducing every 
 member of the latter gentleman's in- 
 teresting family, as if it w^as absolutely 
 necessary that every traveller should be 
 on companionable terms with them, 
 preparatory to what is to follow. One 
 cannot help thinking that the very 
 bad names which directors are in the 
 habit of giving their engines may have 
 had some influence in making them, 
 as they so often prove, such emphati- 
 cally thorough-going engines— of de- 
 struction. 
 
 The First Steamboat Passage-Money 
 ever Paid. 
 
 One of the most interesting incidents 
 of a business nature is that which con- 
 cerns the first steamboat fare paid to 
 Fulton. The narrator of this, who was 
 also one of the actors in the scene, says : 
 " I chanced to be at Albany on busi- 
 ness when Fulton arrived there, in his 
 unheard-of craft, which everybody 
 felt so much interest in seeing. Being 
 ready to leave, and hearing that this 
 craft was going to return to New 
 York, I repaired on board and in- 
 quired for Mr. Fulton ; I was referred 
 to the cabin, and there found a plain, 
 gentlemanly man, wholly alone, and 
 engaged in writing. 
 
 " Mr. Fulton, I presume." 
 
 " Yes, sir." 
 
 " Do you return to New York, with 
 this boat ? " 
 
 " We shall try to get back, sir." 
 
 " Can I have a passage down ? " 
 
378 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 " You can take your chance with us, 
 sir." 
 
 " I inquired the amount to be paid, 
 and, after a moment's hesitation, a sum, 
 I think six dollars, was named. The 
 amount, in coin, I laid in his open 
 hand, and, with his eye fixed upon 
 it, he remained so long motionless, 
 that I supposed there might be a mis- 
 count, and said to him, ' Is that right, 
 sir?'" 
 
 This question roused him as from a 
 kind of reverie, and as he looked up to 
 me the big tear was brimming in his 
 eye, and his voice faltered as he said, 
 "Excuse me, sir; but memory was 
 busy as I contemplated this, the first 
 pecuniary reward I have ever received 
 for all my exertions in adapting steam 
 to navigation. I should gladly com- 
 memorate the occasion over a bottle 
 of wine with you but, really I am too 
 poor, even for that, just now; yet I 
 trust we may meet again when this 
 will not be the case." 
 
 That voyage to New York was suc- 
 cessful, as all know, and terminated 
 without accident. 
 
 Some four years after this, when the 
 Clermont had been greatly improved, 
 and her name changed to the North 
 Kiver, and when two other boats, viz., 
 the Car of Neptune and the Paragon, 
 had been built, making Mr. Fulton's 
 fleet three boats regularly plying 
 between New York and Albany, I 
 took passage upon one of these for 
 the latter city. The cabin in that day 
 was below; and, as I walked its 
 length, to and fro, I saw I was very 
 closely observed by one I supposed a 
 stranger. Soon, however, I recalled 
 the features of Mr. Fulton ; but, with- 
 out disclosing this, I continued my 
 walk. At length, in passing his seat, 
 our eyes met, when he sprang to his 
 feet, and, eagerly seizing my hand, 
 exclaimed, " I knew it must be you, 
 for your features have never escaped 
 me ; and, although I am still far from 
 rich, yet I may venture that lottle 
 
 now ! " It was ordered ; and during 
 its discussion Mr. Fulton ran rapidly, 
 but vividly, over his experiences of the 
 world's coldness and sneers, and of the 
 hopes, fears, disappointments, and diffi- 
 culties, that were scattered through his 
 whole career of discovery, — up to the 
 very point of his final, crowning 
 triumph, at which he so fully felt he 
 had arrived at last. 
 
 Ajid in reviewing all these, said he : 
 " I have again and again recalled the 
 occasion, and the incident, of our first 
 interview at Albany; and never have 
 I done so without renewing in my mind 
 the vivid emotion it originally caused. 
 That seemed, and does still seem, to 
 me, the turning point in my destiny — 
 the dividing line between light and 
 darkness, in my career upon earth; 
 for it was the first actual recognition 
 of my usefulness to my fellow men." 
 
 George Hudson, the Railway King:. 
 
 George Hudson, who will always 
 be known as the English railway king, 
 may be said to have left his counter as 
 a linen draper and sprang upon the 
 steam engine. His first notable move- 
 ment in this line was the subscription 
 for several hundred shares in the York 
 railway enterprise, and by a natural 
 progress, under a strong and vigorous, 
 bold and determined mind like his, he 
 soon became known as the railway 
 monarch. His influence extended sev- 
 enty-six miles over the York and North 
 Midland railroads; fifty-one over the 
 Hull and Selby and Leeds and Selby ; 
 over the North Midland, Midland coun- 
 ties, and another, one hundred and sev- 
 enty-eight miles; over the Newcastle 
 and Darlington, and the Great North 
 of England, one hundred and eleven 
 miles; while over the Sheffield and 
 Rotherham, the York and Scarborough, 
 the North British, "VVhitby and Picker- 
 ing, it affected near six hundred miles 
 more, making a total of more than one 
 thousand miles, all of which were sue- 
 
BUSINESS TRANSIT AND COMMUNICATION. 
 
 379 
 
 cessful in developing traflBc, and equal- 
 ly successful in paying good dividends. 
 
 For a time, no other name was heard 
 in the great world of railways. In the 
 journals of the day men read of his 
 wonderful doings. The press recorded 
 his whereabouts; the draughtsman 
 pencilled his features. His name was 
 connected with preference, shares, and 
 profits. He wielded an influence un- 
 paralleled and unprecedented. Peers 
 flattered the dispenser of scrip, and 
 peeresses fawned upon the allotter of 
 premiums. It was told with pleasure 
 and repeated with delight, that his 
 empire extended over one thousand 
 miles of railway. His fortune was 
 computed with an almost personal 
 pride. Almack's was deserted when 
 Albert house was full. The ducal crest 
 was seen on the carriage at his door. 
 The daintiest aristocracy of England 
 sought his presence. Foreign poten- 
 tates sued for his society. The coronet 
 of the peer was veiled before the crown 
 of the railway king. The minister paid 
 his court, and the bishop bent in hom- 
 age. The ermine of the judge lost its 
 dignity, and the uniform of the ofiicer 
 its pride. The Christian banker and 
 the Hebrew capitalist alike acknowl- 
 edged his greatness. Stories were plen- 
 tiful of the fortunes he had won, and 
 the dividends his enterprises had paid. 
 The prince consort was proud to be 
 introduced to him, " shook hands very 
 heartily with the member (he was in 
 the House of Commons), and remained 
 in conversation with him for some 
 time," 
 
 When his name graced an advertise- 
 ment, men ran to buy the share. In 
 regard to lines known to be worthless, 
 and on which no business was doing, 
 if a rumor was skilfully spread that 
 Hudson was after them, the stock ex- 
 change was" in a ferment, and prices 
 rose" enormously, to the cool loss of the 
 holder, however, when the contradic- 
 tion came. He was their railway po- 
 tentate, their iron king — their golden 
 
 god. His appearance on the platform 
 was a perfect ovation. Sober, steady- 
 minded men shouted with joy — shrewd 
 speculators ditto ; and one intense, 
 universal homage greeted the image 
 they had set up. The thought of ten 
 per cent, enraptured them, and the 
 loud applause which hailed his tram- 
 way periods would only have been jus- 
 tified by the discourse of a Macaulay 
 or the oration of a Peel. Over railways 
 and railway managers he maintained 
 an imperial sway. 
 
 His exertions in behalf of the pro- 
 jects he espoused were absolutely as- 
 tonishing. Nothing seemed to wear 
 his mind ; nothing appeared to weary 
 his frame. He battled in parliamentary 
 committees, day by day; he argued, 
 pleaded, and gesticulated with an ear- 
 nestness which rarely failed in its ob- 
 ject. One day in town cajoling a com- 
 mittee—the next persuading an arch- 
 bishop. In the morning adjusting 
 some rival claim in an obscure office ; 
 in the afternoon astonishing the stock 
 exchange with some daring coup de 
 main. 
 
 But his connection with the railways 
 of the Eastern counties, the bad man- 
 agement of which brought things to 
 such a desperate pass, turned the scale 
 of his fortune at last. The unwise ex- 
 periment was made of declaring divi- 
 dends which had not been earned, and 
 paying them out of the capital, in or- 
 der to keep up the value of the stock, 
 and the prestige of Mr. Hudson. The 
 imprudence was bitterly paid for. In 
 a short time the railway king, stripped 
 of crown and sceptre, was sent into ig- 
 nominious exile ! The revulsion in pop- 
 ular feeling was fierce, and he was now 
 as intensely hated as he had been before 
 admired, Tlie more sweet had been 
 the accents of praise, the more bitter 
 were now the objurgations uttered by 
 the same tongues against that name. It 
 was a malignant delight to repeat and 
 repeat over again the thousand stories 
 of his unheard-of villanies. The rail- 
 
380 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 way king had now become the railway- 
 demon, and his many roads were but 
 iron ways for transporting the whole 
 realm to the infernal latitudes. 
 
 Personally, he was a plain, solid- 
 looking man with a large and heavy 
 build; a keen, penetrating, gray eye; 
 a broad, wrinkled, and severe face; 
 gray and scanty hair; a nervous and 
 rather peculiar gait, somewhat shuf- 
 fling ; in dress inclined to be careless. 
 His speech was rapid, without grace 
 of delivery, his utterance somewhat 
 thick, and he aJQfected no refinement of 
 manner. He pitched at once into his 
 subject, and said what he had to say 
 in the fewest words he could put it 
 in. 
 
 Among the causes of his success, one 
 was an excellent arithmetical capacity, 
 enabling him to form in his head the 
 most elaborate combinations of figures 
 in a very brief time. Another thing 
 was his close personal attention to the 
 minutiae ; nothing was too small to be 
 overlooked or to be left to others, if he 
 could see to it himself. He examined 
 personally every department of the 
 roads under his management, and 
 knew the duties of every man. 
 
 Stephenson, the Pioneer in Railway 
 Construction. 
 
 To Mr. Stephenson is commonly 
 awarded the honor of first constructing 
 a railway for general transportation. 
 Three years elapsed from the com- 
 mencement of the work, and those in- 
 terested began to be impatient. They 
 wished — as was natural — for some re- 
 turns from the vast amount of capital 
 they had expended. 
 
 "Now, George," said Friend Crup- 
 per to him one day, " thou must get on 
 with the railway, and have it finished 
 without further delay. Thou must 
 really have it ready for opening by the 
 first day of January next." 
 
 " It is impossible," said Stephenson. 
 
 ** Impossible I I wish I could get Na- 
 
 poleon at thee. He would tell thee 
 that there is no such word." 
 
 " Tush ! Don't speak to me about 
 Napoleon. Give me men, money, and 
 materials, and I will do what Napoleon 
 couldn't do-^-drive a railroad firom Liv- 
 erpool to Manchester over Chat Moss." 
 
 Mr. Grigg's Mode of Overcoming: 
 Obstaclesi 
 
 Ojt the death of Mr. Warner, the 
 eminent Philadelphia bookseller, with 
 whom Mr. John Grigg was for a con- 
 siderable time associated in business, 
 the settlement of the afi'airs of the firm 
 was devolved upon Mr. G. Nor was 
 this a slight undertaking. The busi- 
 ness of the house had been immense ; 
 connected with it were numerous 
 branches and agencies ; it had dealings 
 with various houses at the South and 
 West, and the settlement of affairs ren- 
 dered frequent journey ings necessary. 
 During one of those journeys, an inci- 
 dent occurred which is too characteris- 
 tic of the days of stage-coach travel- 
 ling, and of the determined energy of 
 Mr. Grigg's character, not to be worthy 
 of mention. He was at Charleston. It 
 was the latter part of December, 1825, 
 and by Christmas day he must be in 
 Philadelphia. He pushed forward, 
 travelling day and night; at Balti- 
 more, the steamboat which usually 
 connected was found to have left off 
 running, and the travellers were forced 
 to take to the mail coach. But every 
 seat was full when Mr. Grigg arrived ; 
 there was no alternative for the deter- 
 mined traveller, weary and excited as 
 he was by incessant journeying for 
 seven long days and sleepless nights, 
 but to ride outside with the driver. 
 The day, or rather the night, was 
 cold, the air was full of sleet, the 
 road miry. But to the driver's seat 
 he mounted and pushed on. . At 
 Havre de Grace another driver took 
 the reins, who was unacquainted with 
 the road ; it was long after dark, and 
 
BUSINESS TRANSIT AND COMMUNICATION. 
 
 381 
 
 the " insides," wlio began to be fearful 
 of their necks as the coach pkinged 
 and tossed in the mire, grew clamorous 
 for putting back till the morning. But 
 Mr. Grigg was determined that the 
 stage should go ahead and be in Phila- 
 delphia by Christmas day, and, besides, 
 they carried the mails, and a public 
 conveyance must not be delayed ! So 
 ho procured a lantern, and going be- 
 fore the coach piloted the travellers 
 though the darkness and mire for 
 about two miles. Finally, mounting 
 tlic box again, he took the reins into 
 his own hands, and daylight saw the 
 delighted travellers arrived at Elkton, 
 and well on their way. They at once 
 entreated him to take a seat inside. 
 And early on Christmas morning Mr. 
 Grigg was in Philadelphia. 
 
 Southern Accommodation Trains. 
 
 OujR railroad is a slow coach (writes 
 a Southern traveller) ; going along at 
 the usual speed of six or eight miles an 
 hour, we came to a dead halt ; several 
 passengers left the cars, and went to 
 climbing the trees by the side of the 
 track. I asked the conductor what 
 they were after. " Grapes," he an- 
 swered. " Why," said I, " is it possi- 
 ble you stop whenever the passengers 
 wish to get some grapes ? " " Oh, cer- 
 tainly, this is the accommodation train ! " 
 
 "Your Ticket, Sir I" 
 
 On one of the Georgia railroads there 
 was a conductor named Snell, a very 
 clever, sociable, gentlemanly man, a 
 great favorite with the company he 
 was connected with, and the travelling 
 public in general— fond of a joke, quick 
 at repartee, and faithful in the discTiarge 
 of his duties. During one of his trips, 
 as his train, well filled with passengers, 
 was crossing a bridge over a wide 
 stream, some seven or eight feet deep, 
 the bridge broke down, precipitating 
 the two passenger cars into the stream. 
 
 As the passengers emerged from the 
 wreck they were borne away by the 
 force of the current. Snell had suc- 
 ceeded in catching hold of some bushes 
 that grew on the bank of the stream, 
 to which he clung for dear life. A 
 passenger less fortunate came rushing 
 by ; Snell extended one hand, saying, 
 " Your ticket, sir ; give me your tick- 
 et ! " The effect of such a dry joke in 
 the midst of the water may be imagined. 
 
 Thompson's Travels in California. 
 
 It is not unlikely (though the cajiital 
 contributor to " Harper's " does not say 
 so) that Thompson; who figures in the 
 following whirligig of fun, was a Yan- 
 kee, having an eye to " sites," " water 
 privileges," etc., and ready for an 
 " operation " when the opportunity 
 should present itself. Assuming this 
 very reasonable probability, we are only 
 too happy to give it a place in these 
 pages. 
 
 In the northern part of California is 
 a stream called Yuba River. Across it 
 some enterprising individual built a 
 bridge ; and on the banks somebody 
 else built three or four houses. The 
 inhabitants called the place Yuba 
 Dam. Three bars were instantly erect- 
 ed, and the " town " increased rapidly. 
 About noon one cool day a traveller 
 and a sojourner in the land passed this 
 flourishing locality, and seeing a long- 
 legged specimen of humanity in a red 
 shirt smoking before one of the bars, 
 thus addressed him : 
 
 " Hello ! " 
 
 "Hello!" replied the shirt, with 
 vigor, removing his pipe from his 
 mouth. 
 
 "What place is this?" demanded 
 the traveller, whose name was Thomp- 
 son. 
 
 The answer of the shirt was unex- 
 pected : 
 
 " Yuba Dam ! " 
 
 There was about fifty yards between 
 them, and the wind was blowing. Mr. 
 
382 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 Thompson thouglit he had been mis- 
 taken. 
 
 " What did you say ? " he asked, 
 
 " Yuba Dam ! " replied the stranger, 
 cheerfully. 
 
 "What place is this?" roared IVIr. 
 Thompson. 
 
 "Yu-ba Dam," said the shirt, in a 
 slightly elevated tone of voice. 
 
 " Lookee here ! " yelled the irate 
 Thompson ; " I asked you politely 
 what place this was ; why in thunder 
 don't you answer ? " 
 
 The stranger became excited. He 
 rose, and replied with the voice of an 
 80-pounder, 
 
 " YU-BA DAM ! You hear that ? " 
 
 In a minute Thompson, burning 
 with the wrath of the righteous, 
 jumped off his horse, and advanced to 
 the stranger with an expression not to 
 be mistaken. The shirt arose, and as- 
 sumed a posture of offence and defence. 
 Arrived within a yard of him, Thomp- 
 son said : 
 
 " I ask you for the last time. What 
 place is this ? " 
 
 Putting his hand to his mouth, his 
 opponent roared •. 
 
 " YU-BA DAM ! " 
 
 The next minute they were at it. 
 First, Thompson was down ; then the 
 shirt ; and then it was a dog-fall — that 
 is, both were down. They rolled about, 
 kicking up a tremendous dust. They 
 squirmed around so energetically that 
 it appeared as though they had a dozen 
 legs instead of four. It looked like a 
 prize fight between two pugilistic cen- 
 tipedes. Finally, they both rolled off 
 the bank and into the river. The 
 water cooled them. They went down 
 together, but came up separate, and 
 put out for the shore. Both reached it 
 about the same time, and Thompson 
 scrambled up the bank, mounted his 
 warlike steed, and made tracks, leav- 
 ing his foe gouging the mud out of one 
 of his eyes. 
 
 Having left the business portion of 
 the town, that is to say, the corner 
 
 where the three bars were kept, he 
 struck a house in the " suburbs," before 
 which a little girl of about four years 
 of age was playing. 
 
 "What place is this, sissy?" he 
 asked. 
 
 The little girl, frightened at the 
 drowned-rat figure which the stranger 
 cut, streaked it for the house. Having 
 reached the door, she stopped, turned, 
 and squealed, " Oo-bee Dam ! " 
 
 "Good Heavens!" said Thompson, 
 digging his heels between his horse's 
 ribs — " Good Heavens ! let me get out 
 of this horrid place, where not only the 
 men, but the very babes and sucklings, 
 swear at inoffensive travellers ! " 
 
 From Honolulu to Kaui. 
 
 Two citizens of Honolulu, Judge B. 
 and Dr. N., had occasion to go to the 
 island of Kaui, the land of sugar and 
 coffee. They returned in a schooner, 
 and among the passengers was the 
 governor of the island, who was com- 
 ing to visit the metropolis— the great 
 city of Honolulu. The governor is a 
 native, and so is the captain of the 
 schooner — a first-rate seaman as long 
 as land was in sight. There came up 
 a gale that blew them off; and having 
 no compass, and a short sujjply of pro- 
 visions, they were soon in a sad plight 
 indeed. On and on, for nine days, 
 they sailed, when they ought to have 
 been in port in two. The judge and 
 the doctor thought it about time to 
 take matters into their own hands, or 
 they would all be starved to death; 
 for neither law nor physic would seiTC 
 them without something to eat. They 
 deemed it proper to ask the governor 
 what he thought best to be done. His 
 excellency took the subject into con- 
 sideration, and with great sagacity re- 
 marked, " Well, now, as we are lost, I 
 think we had better go back to where 
 we started from." The poor captain 
 would have been but too happy to 
 comply with the governor's suggestion, 
 
BUSINESS TRANSIT AND COMMUNICATION. 
 
 383 
 
 had there been any such thing as 
 knowing where that place was ; but 
 that day a whaler hove in sight, and 
 supplying them with provisions, led 
 them into port. They were actually 
 on the way to America. 
 
 Not Posted in Geography. 
 
 There was once an old gentleman 
 of the utmost integrity of character, 
 but keen as a brier in all business mat- 
 ters, who, not having had early oppor- 
 tunities of acquiring knowledge, some- 
 times made sad mistakes in his use of 
 language. Although largely engaged 
 in shipping, he was profoundly igno- 
 rant of geography. He came one day, 
 with a letter in his hand, which he had 
 just received, into the insurance office, 
 and asked to see a chart of the Medi- 
 terranean. It was promptly unrolled, 
 and spending a long time in an ap- 
 parently unsatisfactory examination, 
 the curiosity of the president of the 
 office was excited, and he offered his 
 aid to assist him in his trouble. " Why," 
 says the old gentleman, " I have just 
 got a letter from one of my captains, 
 who states that he has experienced a 
 violent hurricane, and consequently 
 put in great jeopardy. Now, I know 
 Great Jeopardy is a port in the Medi- 
 terranean, but I can't find the plaguey 
 place on the map." 
 
 Working a Hand Car. 
 
 The thriving town of Scranton, 
 Pennsylvania, where railroad iron and 
 other products of the same substantial 
 metal are extensively manufactured, is 
 situated on the Delaware, Lackawanna, 
 and Western Railroad. There is a very 
 heavy ascending grade for several miles 
 westward from this place, to overcome 
 which requires not a little power of 
 steam with an ordinary train of cars. 
 Just before this part of the road was 
 opened, an officer connected with it 
 had occasion to go three or four 
 
 miles west to superintend some oper- 
 ations. 
 
 He took a light hand car and two 
 powerful men to work it, one of whom 
 was a German, not an accomplished 
 engineer, nor very familiar with the 
 working of railroads. They toiled 
 hard at the crank, working their way 
 up the steep grade, landing their pas- 
 senger at his destined point, who sent 
 the car back to Scranton by the Ger- 
 man alone, knowing that no labor was 
 required to descend, excepting when it 
 was necessary to hold back by putting 
 on the brake. Not having received any 
 specific directions, however, as to the 
 manner in which he was to work his 
 way down, the German mounted the 
 car, and thinking as it had been such a 
 severe labor for two men to take the car 
 out, it would require still more exer- 
 tion for one to work it back, he applied 
 all his strength to the crank, and was 
 soon moving with tremendous velocity, 
 down the hill toward the town and the 
 terminus of the road. As he passed 
 through the town over the last half 
 mile, all unconscious of what was be- 
 fore him, his danger excited universal 
 apprehension, and the cry was raised 
 on every hand, " Put on the brake ! 
 Put on the brake ! " Interpreting the 
 cry to mean " Put on more strength," 
 he laid out all his power upon one last 
 grand effort. Reaching the end of the 
 road, where there was some heavy ob- 
 struction, sufficient to stop a train of 
 cars, the hand car was instantly con- 
 verted into kindling wood, and the 
 poor German was thrown head over 
 heels some twenty-five or thirty feet 
 beyond where it struck. As he was 
 picked up, in a mangled condition, 
 some one asked him, 
 
 "Why didn't you put on the 
 brake ? " 
 
 " Put on the prake," said he, " vy, it 
 ish preak all to pieces ! " 
 
 And this was the end of that ride. 
 
364 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 Amending: the Charter. 
 
 A LITTLE transaction between a New 
 York merchant and a Frenchman is 
 thus related by the former : He was a 
 captain of a coasting craft, and I char- 
 tered his vessel for a round sum, to 
 take a cargo of wheat up the river to a 
 mill, and to return with a load of flour 
 in barrels. There was a written agree- 
 ment between us, which required 
 him to load without unnecessary delay. 
 Having a limited knowledge of Eng- 
 lish, and being a cautious skipper, he 
 took the agreement, before signing it, 
 to a compatriot — who was, or pretend- 
 ed to be, in the legal profession — whose 
 knowledge of our language was much 
 more contracted than his own, and 
 gave him a small fee to read it over 
 and see if it was correct. They came 
 together to my office, and the lawyer 
 addressed me with much politeness 
 and gravity, while his countryman 
 stood by with approbative visage : 
 " Sare, I have read this little papier. 
 It is entierement cor-r-rect, except von 
 vord. I do not like zat expr-r-ression 
 unnecessa-rie f ''^ "Very well," said I, 
 with great frankness, " I will scratch it 
 out," and I did so. The skipper a ad 
 lawyer both seemed relieved immensely 
 now that the former was obliged to 
 load his vessel " without delays 
 
 "Soaking:" the old Coach. 
 
 In olden times, before the introduc- 
 tion of railroads, there lived in the 
 town of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, 
 a certain tavern keeper named Ramsay, 
 proprietor of all the stage coaches in 
 that region of country. His house was 
 not one of those miserable, dirty holes 
 usually selected as the stopping places 
 of the stages, but a fine, spacious, old- 
 fashioned inn, where one was sure to 
 find cleanliness and comfort — the best 
 of everything that rich country could 
 afibrd, and plenty of it. Squire Ram- 
 say had become rich, and was much re- 
 
 spected by all his neighbors. Unfortu- 
 nately, however, he became also a little 
 too fond of his '• pure old rye," and 
 was likely to become a regular drunk- 
 ard. His friends felt the necessity of 
 cautioning him against this besetting 
 sin ; but the Squire, being a high- 
 spirited old colt, required, careful 
 handling. 
 
 Finally, it was agreed that the doctor 
 of the place, one of his oldest friends, 
 should deal with him in the most deli- 
 cate manner possible. The doctor 
 thought best to ajDproach his friend in 
 the way of a parable, as Nathan did 
 David, and felt certain of success. At 
 their next interview he led the conver- 
 sation intentionally to the subject of 
 stage coaches — how long they would 
 last, etc. 
 
 " Now, Mr. R.," said he, " suppose 
 you had a fine, well-built, old coach, 
 that had done good service and was yet 
 sound, though perhaps a little shack- 
 ling, and the seams a little open ; would 
 you put it to a team of fiery young 
 horses on the roughest part of the road, 
 or would you not put it to a team of 
 steady old stagers, and on the smooth- 
 est part of the road you could find ? " 
 
 " Well, doctor," said the squire, in 
 perfect ignorance of the doctor's drift, 
 " if I had such a stage as you describe, 
 I would soah it ! " 
 
 The doctor was silenced, but, wheth- 
 er from the advice of his friends or the 
 promptings of his own good sense, the 
 squire ceased to run the " old coach " 
 so hard, and died highly esteemed and 
 
 respected. 
 
 ♦ 
 
 Strang:e Terminus to a Bailroad. 
 
 There is a small town on the North 
 Missouri Railroad called Renick ; and 
 Renick is a hard place— a 'aery hard 
 place. In one of the cars on this road, 
 on a certain occasion, sat — with his 
 feet upon the cushions and his hat 
 down over his. eyes— a flashy but dirty- 
 looking individual, evidently some 
 
BUSINESS TRANSIT AND COMMUNICATION. 
 
 385 
 
 "three sheets" gone; indeed, he was 
 " maudlin drunk." 
 
 The conductor, in coming around, 
 gave him a shove, and aroused him with 
 a short " Ticket, sir ! " 
 
 " Aint got none," said loafer. 
 
 " Pay your fare, then." 
 
 "How much is it ? " demanded the 
 fellow. 
 
 " "Where are you going to ? " inquired 
 the conductor. 
 
 "Guess I'm— [hie]— goin' [hie]— to 
 the devil ! " spoke loafer, with some 
 air of truthfulness. 
 
 "Then," said the conductor, 
 your fare to Reuick— $5.70 ! " 
 
 pay 
 
 Drinking: Success to the First 
 Railway. 
 
 In 1823 the second Stockton and 
 Darlington Railway Act was obtained 
 from Parliament. Mr. Stephenson was 
 appointed the company's engineer, at a 
 salary of £300 per annum. He laid out 
 every foot of the ground himself, ac- 
 companied by his assistants. He sur- 
 veyed indefatigably from daylight to 
 dusk, dressed in top-boots and breeches, 
 and took his chance of bread and milk, 
 or a homely dinner, at some neighbor- 
 ing farmhouse ; for the country people 
 were fond of his cheerful talk. One 
 day, when the works were approaching 
 completion, he dined at Stockton, and 
 after dinner the great engineer ordered 
 in a bottle of wine, to drink success to 
 the railway. He then said to the young 
 men assembled : " Now, I will tell you 
 that I think you will live to see the 
 day, though I may not live so long, 
 when railways will come to supersede 
 almost all other methods of conveyance 
 in this country ; when mail coaches will 
 go by railway, and railroads will be- 
 come the great highway for the king 
 and all his subjects. The time will 
 come when it will be cheaper for a 
 workingman to travel on a railway 
 than to walk on foot. I know that 
 there are great and almost msurmount- 
 25 
 
 able obstacles that will have to be en- 
 countered. But what I have said will 
 come to pass, as sure as I am now alive. 
 I only wish I may live to see the day, 
 though that I can scarcely hope for, as 
 I know how slow all human progress 
 iri, and with what difficulty I have been 
 able to get the locomotive adopted, 
 notwithstanding my more than ten 
 years' successful experiment at Killing- 
 worth." The anticipations of the great 
 engineer were more than realized. At 
 the opening of the road in question — 
 the first public railway — Mr, Stephen- 
 son himself drove the engine. The 
 train consisted of thirty-eight vehicles, 
 among which were twenty-one wagons 
 fitted up with temporary seats for pas- 
 sengers, and a carriage filled with the 
 directors and their friends. The speed 
 attained in some parts was twelve miles 
 an hour. It was a complete success ; 
 and the goods and passengers soon 
 exceeded the expectations of the di- 
 rectors. 
 
 In surveying a line for the Liverpool 
 and Manchester railway, great opposi- 
 tion was exhibited on the part of the 
 proprietors of the lands through which 
 the line was to pass. Lord Derby's 
 farmers and servants, and Lord Sefton's 
 keepers, turned out in full force to re- 
 sist the aggressions of the surveying 
 party. The Duke of Bridgewater's 
 property-guard threatened to duck Mr. 
 Stephenson in a pond if he proceeded ; 
 and he had to take the survey by 
 stealth, when the people were at 
 dinner. 
 
 Change of '* Packet Day." 
 
 To show what vras the nature of Pe- 
 latiah Perit's influence as a Christian, 
 in mercantile circles, and how much of 
 that influence was the efiect of his rare 
 judgment and skill in dealing with 
 men, an illustration is afibrded in the 
 change which he accomplished, perhaps 
 thirty years ago, in the regulations of 
 the packet-ships sailing from the port 
 of New York. 
 
386 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 Formerly the packets for Liverpool 
 and other trans-atlantic ports were ad- 
 vertised to sail regularly on certain 
 days of the month, and whenever the 
 appointed days for sailing fell on Sun- 
 day, the Christian Sabbath was disre- 
 garded. To the house of Goodhue & 
 Co. this was an inconvenience. It in- 
 terfered with the Sabbath of the part- 
 ners, and with the Sabbath to which 
 their clerks and other employes were 
 entitled. It interfered also with the 
 religious feelings of all the passengers 
 who honored the Christian Sabbath, 
 and were unwilling to violate their 
 consciences by commencing a voyage 
 on that day. At the same time it in- 
 terfered with the Sunday rest— religi- 
 ous or irreligious — of every merchant, 
 who had occasion to send by every 
 packet, the latest advices to his corre- 
 spondents beyond the sea. But the 
 practice was a settled one, and how 
 could it be changed ? Those were the 
 days when tide and time waited for no 
 man; and was not the sailing of a 
 packet ship on her appointed day, even 
 though that day happened to fall on 
 Sunday, a work of necessity and 
 mercy ? 
 
 How, then, should the ship-owners 
 and merchants, many of whom had no 
 religious regard for the sanctity of the 
 Sabbath, be brought to agree upon a 
 change ? Some men undertaking such 
 a reform, would have begun w^ith a 
 public agitation on purely moral and 
 religious grounds, and with denuncia- 
 tion of all persons implicated in up- 
 holding the existing arrangement, and 
 the result would have been a failure. 
 The personal influence of Mr. Perit 
 with men who, whatever may have 
 been their own position in relation to 
 Christianity, could not but honor his 
 Christian character, was such that he 
 found no difficulty in effecting a new 
 arrangement. He succeeded in con- 
 vincing all parties that the change of 
 "packet day," from a certain day of 
 the month to a certain day of the week, 
 
 was no infringement of any man's reli- 
 gious liberty, and was required not 
 only in the interest of religion and 
 Christian morals, but also in the in- 
 terest of merchants and their clerks, 
 and in the general interests of com- 
 merce. 
 
 Palmerston and the Station-Master. 
 
 At one of the chief stations on the 
 Great Western Railway, England, is a 
 station-master, noted for self-conceit 
 and flunkeyism. His reverence for a 
 person wdth a handle to his name is 
 equalled only by the esteem in which 
 he holds himself. One day he descried 
 a gentleman pacing the platform with 
 a cigar in his mouth — contrary to the 
 rule. Official at once accosted the au- 
 dacious offender, and requested him 
 forthwith to stop smoking. The gen- 
 tleman, absorbed in the most abstract 
 thought, took no notice whatsoever of 
 his command, but continued his walk 
 with the utmost nonchalance, emitting 
 a silvery cloud. Irritated by this diso- 
 bedience, Official repeated his behests 
 more peremptorily than before; but 
 still the owner of the Havana maintain- 
 ed a provoking disregard. A third time 
 the order was repeated, accompanied 
 with an emphatic threat that if the ob- 
 stinate sinner did not obey, he would 
 at once be collared by the porters. The 
 stranger took no more heed than be- 
 fore, and so at last, enraged beyond all 
 further patience. Official pulled the ci- 
 gar out of the smoker's mouth and flung 
 it away. This violent act produced no 
 more effect than the previoils commands 
 and threats, and the peripatetic philos- 
 opher continued his walk with imper- 
 turbable serenity. Presently a carriage 
 and four drove up, an equipage well 
 known to Official as that of the Duke 
 of Beaufort. To his now inconceivable 
 horror, the refractory smoker entered 
 the said chariot, and drove off in style 
 to Badminton. Official asked, in trem- 
 ulous tones, who the stranger was, and 
 
BUSINESS TRANSIT AND COMMUNICATION. 
 
 387 
 
 lie felt ready to sink into the earth 
 when told that it was Viscount Pal- 
 merston, K, G., First Lord of the 
 Treasury. He did not hesitate long, 
 however ; he at once ordered a chaise 
 and pair, and drove off to Badminton. 
 Arrived there, he sent in his card, and 
 urgently requested a private interview 
 with Lord Palmerston. His lordship 
 soon appeared, when Official began a 
 most abject apology for having " so 
 grossly insulted his lordship : " 
 
 " Had I known who your lordship 
 was, I would not have so treated your 
 lordship for the world ! " 
 
 The Premier heard the station-mas- 
 ter out, then looking down upon him 
 sternly, and with his hands in his pock- 
 ets, said : 
 
 " Sir, I respected you because I 
 thought you were doing your duty like 
 a Briton ; but now I see you are noth- 
 ing but a snob." 
 
 Captaifn Macalester and his Fast Ship 
 "Fanny." 
 
 About the beginning of the present 
 century, the shipwrights of Philadel- 
 phia had attamed great celebrity for 
 the beauty of the models of their ves- 
 sels, which united, in a remarkable de- 
 gree, celerity in sailing and fitness for 
 the purposes of commerce. Among the 
 most skilful of these was Mr. Grice. 
 Captain Macalester— eminent as a ship- 
 master and subsequently as a merchant 
 — engaged him to construct a ship, 
 called the " Fanny," in building which 
 Mr. Grice exhibited his ablest skill in 
 the adaptation of the principles of na- 
 val architecture, and Captain Macales- 
 ter added the suggestions derived from 
 his own experience as a practical and 
 observing navigator. The result was 
 
 that the "Fanny," when launched* 
 proved to be the fastest sailing mer- 
 chantman of the day. Captain Mac- 
 alester accomplished his first voyage in 
 her, from Philadelphia to Cowes in the 
 Isle of Wight, in seventeen days, a ra- 
 pidity of passage of which there was no 
 previous record. He took with him, as 
 passengers on that occasion, the weal- 
 thy and distinguished merchant of 
 Philadelphia and Senator of the United 
 States, Mr. William Bingham, with his 
 beautiful and accomplished wife. It is 
 probable that this incident was the 
 foundation of a particularly friendly 
 intercourse, which, from his corre- 
 spondence, appears to have existed be- 
 tween him and Mr. Alexander Baring 
 (afterward Lord Ashburton), who w^as 
 the son-in-law of Mr. and Mrs. Bing- 
 ham. 
 
 In London, Captain Macalester en- 
 gaged to make a voyage in the " Fan- 
 ny " to Batavia and back. What was 
 the surprise of the consignees of his 
 vessel in London, when he presented 
 himself in their counting house, having 
 accomplished the entire voyage in sev- 
 en months and twenty days, a speed, 
 at that time, without a parallel. It 
 was in the course of this voyage that 
 he was chased by a British frigate, 
 which fell in with him at daylight in 
 the morning, but could not overtake 
 him until ten o'clock at night. When 
 the British boarding officer stepped 
 upon his deck, he said to Captain Mac- 
 alester : 
 
 " Sir, you have a very fast ship." 
 
 " I thought so until to-day," was the 
 reply. 
 
 " Our frigate," answered the officer, 
 "is reputed to be the fastest in the 
 navy, and we never before have had 
 such a chase." 
 
PART EIGHTH. 
 
 Ajs'ecdotfs of Commebge and Traffig in their 
 Leqal and Judicial Aspects, 
 
PAET EIGHTH. 
 
 Anecdotes of Oommerce and Traffic in their Legal and Judicial 
 
 Aspects. 
 
 PARTNERSHIP, BANKRUPTCY, DEBTOR AND CREDITOR, BONDS AND MORTGAGES, DUNNING, PE- 
 CULIAR CASES OE MERCANTILE LITIGATION ; PLEASANTRIES AND PERPLEXITIES, LIGHTS 
 AND SHADES. 
 
 Laws are like cobwebs, which may catch small flies, but let wasps and hornets break through.— 
 
 BWIFT. 
 
 It is a remarkable peculiarity with debts that their expanding power continues to increase as you 
 contract them.— Anon. 
 
 How cold he hearkens to some bankrupt's woe, 
 Nods his wise head, and cries—" I told you so ! "— Sprague. 
 Creditors have better memories than debtors, and creditors are a superstitious set— great obser- 
 vers of set days and ^mes.— Franklin. 
 
 Consult your means, avoid the tempter's wiles, 
 Shun grinning hosts of unreceipted files. — Fields. 
 
 De"bts Owinir and Balances Due. 
 
 An old trader about to die, had his 
 friends around him, to hear his last 
 words and to exchange the usual ex- 
 pressions of farewell attachment. His 
 wife, who had an eye to that which is 
 "laid up on earth," improved this 
 pathetic occasion, by desiring him to 
 tell what debts were owing to him. 
 
 This he complied with. " There's 
 
 owes me five shillings for mutton." 
 " Oh," interjected the delighted help- 
 mate, " to see a man at this time o' day, 
 and just gaun to close his last account, 
 hae the use o' his faculties — just say 
 away, James." " Ay, an' ten shil- 
 lings for beef" "What a pleasant 
 thing to see a man bein' sensible to the 
 last ! ony mair ? " "An' a crown for a 
 cow's hide." " Ay," quoth the wife, 
 " sensible yet — weel, Jamts, what was't 
 ye was gaun to say?" " Nae mair, 
 said James, " but I am oiiPn Jock Tarn- 
 son two pounds in 'balance o' a cow 
 
 and — " " Hoot, toot ! " quoth the wife, 
 " he's a ravin' now — he's just demented 
 — dinna mind ony mair that he says." 
 
 Happy End to a Debt. 
 
 In the fall of 1847, a young man 
 went to New York in quest of employ- 
 ment. After weeks of unsuccessful 
 search, he found himself without a 
 prospect of work, and considerably 
 in debt for board. In despair, he made 
 arrangements to dispose of his clothes 
 by auction, in order to defray his debts, 
 when a letter was sent him containing 
 a twenty-dollar bill, and directing him 
 to apply for the situation of card strip- 
 per, to the overseer of one of the corpo- 
 rations. The letter requested him to 
 sign a note of hand for the amount 
 loaned, and to place it in a certain un- 
 occupied box in the post office, where it 
 would be called for by the lender. The 
 young man did as directed, and receiv- 
 ed the situation, the overseer stating 
 
392 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 that it had been secured for him at the 
 earnest solicitation of a young lady. 
 Years passed away, and all attempt to 
 discover his creditor was unavailing. 
 The young man prospered in business, 
 and at length plighted his affections to 
 an amiable young lady with whom he 
 had been acquainted. On the day be- 
 fore their marriage he received a letter 
 requesting him to call at a certain place 
 and pay the note of twenty dollars, 
 with interest, which he had signed 
 some years before. Anxious to settle 
 an indebtedness which from the myste- 
 ry of the whole affair had occasioned 
 many hours of unhappiness, he hasten- 
 ed to the place indicated, and was 
 ushered by the domestic into the par- 
 lor, where, to his astonishment he dis- 
 covered in the person of his unknown 
 benefactor, the lady with whom, upon 
 the next day, he was to unite his earth- 
 ly fortune. It was her first business 
 transaction, and the partnership which 
 followed was the long and happy one, 
 only dissolved when the last debt of all 
 — ^the debt of nature — had to be paid. 
 
 Oavrard's Profitable Imprisonment. 
 
 OuvKARD, the great French contrac- 
 tor-general, refusing to pay a debt to 
 one of his creditors, was compelled to 
 undergo imprisonment — a punishment 
 which he preferred to endure, rather 
 than pay the demand. He led a life 
 of princely expenditure in his prison, 
 and, among other instances of extrava- 
 gance, it is told of him that for the 
 purpose of adding a neighboring room 
 to his quarters, he paid the debt of the 
 prisoner who occupied it. One day, 
 ■when M. de Villele, the Finance Minis- 
 ter, was dining with him, the minister 
 urged Ouvrard to settle matters with 
 his creditor, representing the scandal 
 which his conduct reflected on the 
 Government which had so long retained 
 him as contractor-general. *' Parbleu, 
 Monseigneur," replied Ouvrard, "you 
 speak very much at your ease. I am 
 
 here for five years, for five millions of 
 money ; I gain, therefore, by my im- 
 prisonment, one million a year ; and if 
 you know of any speculation at once 
 more lucrative and sure, I am not obsti- 
 nately wedded to this, observe. In 
 that case, I will pay to-morrow ! " 
 
 Paying a Balance. 
 
 At the death of Sir Joseph Banks, 
 there was left at the apartments of the 
 Royal Society, at Somerset House, an 
 instrument called a balance, constructed 
 by Ramsden, and belonging to Sir 
 Joseph. The secretaries, accordingly, 
 wrote to his widow, stating that there 
 was a balance remaining m their hands, 
 and requesting to know her wishes as 
 to its disposal. " Pay into Coutts's," 
 was her ladyship's reply. 
 
 Swan, the Millionnaire, in Prison more 
 than Twenty Years for Debt. 
 
 James Swan, an American merchant 
 of vast wealth, was committed to the 
 prison of St. Pelagic, in Paris, on the 
 28th of July, 1808, for a sum of six 
 hundred and twenty-five thousand six 
 hundred and forty francs, and repassed 
 the gates, for the first time, on their 
 opening to the Revolution on the 29th 
 of July, 1830, twenty-two years after- 
 ward. Mr. Swan, though possessed of 
 a fortune amounting to nearly four mil- 
 lion francs, denied the justness of the 
 claim beyond the sum of six or seven 
 thousand francs, and determined to 
 spend his life in prison rather than 
 obey a judicial sentence which he con- 
 sidered unjust. Having first caused it 
 to be intimated to his wife and chil- 
 dren that he would disinherit them to 
 the last farthing of his property if they 
 paid the debt, he furnished his prison 
 apartment in a style of princely mag- 
 nificence, and hired, in the Rae de la 
 Cele, opposite the gates of St. Pelagic, 
 a spacious dwelling, with coach house 
 and stables, for his friends, cooks, etc. 
 
THEIR LEGAL AND JUDICIAL ASPECTS. 
 
 393 
 
 For the former class he kept two car- 
 riages, and they were commissioned to 
 appear before him and spend his money 
 in the Bois-de-Boulogne, public streets 
 and promenades, balls and theatres. A 
 curious original was this James Swan. 
 He strutted and attitudinized in his 
 prison like Chodruc-Duclos in his rags ; 
 it was his method of flinging defiance 
 in the face of society. Consistent in 
 his determination, he was prepared to 
 return to his prison, after the events of 
 the " three days," when, on the 31st of 
 July, he was seized with apoplexy at 
 his temporary lodging, and consigned 
 to the closer and longer imprisonment 
 of the grave. 
 
 Lucrative Deed of Trust. 
 
 Some years ago, a St. Louis merchant, 
 well known and highly respected, fail- 
 ed in business, and after settling up his 
 affairs, gave to his principal creditor a 
 deed of trust on certain real estate, to 
 secure the payment of twelve thousand 
 dollars. At the time, the property was 
 barely valued at that, so the creditor 
 put the deed in his safe, and there, so 
 far as he was concerned, the matter 
 ended. The merchant, broken down, 
 disappointed, poor, but yet enterpris- 
 ing, went South, visited California, 
 Mexico, and South America, specu- 
 lated, and, as is not uncommon with 
 such men, made half a dozen fortunes, 
 and lost them again. In the course of 
 years he returned to the city, sick, 
 travel worn, needy, and disheartened. 
 By chance he soon met his old lawyer, 
 a gentleman of high professional and 
 personal standing. After the first 
 greeting, the lawj-er remarked : 
 
 " I am glad to see you back, and, as 
 you seem to be in want of funds, the 
 sale will be just in time." 
 
 The merchant looked hard at his 
 friend, and finally said : " Sale ! what 
 sale ? F'ce got nothing to sell." 
 
 " Nonsense, my dear fellow, you are 
 richer than you imagine. Don't you 
 
 remember the deed of trust I drew up 
 for you some twelve years ago ? " 
 
 "I do, what of it?" 
 
 " Well, at that time the property 
 would not have realized the sum, so 
 it was ' let lie ; ' but it is now in the 
 market, and I expect to close a contract 
 for its sale this week." 
 
 " You amaze me ; w^hat price do you 
 expect to get ? " 
 
 " I've asked eighty-six thousand dol- 
 lars, and shall get it, too. Your debt 
 and interest will amount to twenty-one 
 thousand dollars, or thereabouts, so 
 you'll have sixty-five thousand to go 
 upon." 
 
 The sensations of the benefited par- 
 ty may almost be personally shared by 
 those who read this story of his good 
 fortune. 
 
 Dunning" as a Profession. 
 
 A GENTLEMAN from Ncw York, who 
 had been in Boston for the purpose of 
 collecting some moneys due him in 
 that city, was about returning, when 
 he found that one bill or account for a 
 hundred dollars had been overlooked. 
 His landlord, who knew the debtor, 
 thought it a doubtful case ; but added, 
 that if it teas collectable at all, a tall, 
 raw-boned Yankee, then dunning a 
 lodger in another part of the hall, 
 would " worry it out " of the man. 
 Calling him up, therefore, he intro- 
 duced him to the creditor, who showed 
 him the account. 
 
 "Wall, Square," said he, '"taint 
 much use o' tryin', I guess. I hnow 
 that critter. You might as well try to 
 squeeze ile out of Bunker Hill monu- 
 ment, as to c'lect a debt out of Mm. 
 But aw?/how. Square, what'll you give, 
 sposin' I <Z(? try ? " 
 
 " Well, sir, the bill is one hundred 
 dollars. I'll give you — yes, I'll give 
 you half, if you'll collect it." 
 
 " 'Greed," replied the collector, 
 " there's no harm in tryin\ any way." 
 
 Some weeks after, the collector 
 
394 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 chanced to be in Boston, and in walk- 
 ing up Tremont street, encountered 
 his enterprising friend. 
 
 " Look o'here," said he, " Square, I 
 had considerable luck with that bill o' 
 youm. You see I stuck to him like a 
 dog to a rat, but for the first week or 
 so 'twant no use — not a bit. If he was 
 home, he was 'short,' if he wasn't 
 home, I couldn't get no satisfaction. 
 By and by, says I, after goin' sixteen 
 times, I'll fix you ! says I. So I sat 
 down on the doorstep, and sat all day 
 and part of the evening, and I begun 
 early next day ; but about ten o'clock 
 he ' gin in.' He paid me my half, and 
 I gin him up the note ! " 
 
 Stratagem to Collect a Debt. 
 
 Four creditors started from Boston 
 in the same train of cars, for the pur- 
 pose of attaching the property of a cer- 
 tain debtor in Farmington, Me. He 
 owed each one separately, and they 
 each were suspicious of the object of 
 the other, but dare not say a word 
 about it. So they rode, acquaintances 
 all, talking upon everything except 
 that which they had most at heart. 
 When they arrived at the depot at F., 
 which was three miles from where the 
 debtor did his business, they found 
 nothing to " put 'em over the road," 
 but a solitary cab, toward which they 
 all rushed. Three got in, and refused 
 admittance to the fourth, and the cab 
 started. The fourth ran after, and got 
 upon the outside with the driver. He 
 asked the driver if he wanted to sell 
 his horse. He replied that he did not 
 want to — that he was not worth more 
 than fifty dollars, but he would not sell 
 him for that. He asked him if he 
 would take one hundred dollars for 
 him. " Yes," said Jehu. The ' fourth ' 
 man quickly paid over the money, took 
 the reins, and backed the cab up to a 
 bank, slipped it from the harness, and 
 tipped it up so that the door could not 
 
 be readily opened, jumped upon the 
 horse's back and rode off 'lick-a-ty- 
 switch,' while the ' insiders ' were gaz- 
 ing out of the window, looking like 
 singed cats. He rode to a lawyer's, and 
 got a writ made and served, and his 
 debt secured, and got back to the ho- 
 tel just as the ' insiders ' came up puff- 
 ing and blowing. The cabman soon 
 bought back his horse for fifty dollars. 
 The ' sold ' men offered to pay that sum 
 if the fortunate one, who found proper- 
 ty sufficient to pay his debt, would not 
 ' let on ' about the affair in Boston ! 
 
 Curious Financierine:. 
 
 GiLFERT was in the habit of borrow- 
 ing money from everybody, very little 
 of which was ever paid back ; but that 
 he always intended to return it at the 
 time promised, there is no doubt. He 
 was a visionary man, and he did not 
 make the best calculations in the 
 world. One day, meeting a friend in 
 the Bowery, the following conversation 
 took place : 
 
 " Ah," said Gilfert, " you are the 
 very man I wanted to see ; lend me 
 two hundred dollars." 
 
 " I would in a moment," replied his 
 friend, "but it is impossible, I have 
 a note to pay, and I don't know where 
 to get the money." 
 
 " A note," said Gilfert, " so have L 
 Let me see your notice." 
 
 The gentleman produced it from his 
 pocketbook. 
 
 " Well, how much are you short ? " 
 
 " About two hundred dollars," said 
 his friend. 
 
 To his utter surprise Gilfert handed 
 him the money. " There," said he, " go 
 and pay your note. I'll let mine be 
 protested, as they can't be both taken 
 up. If your note laid over, it might 
 hurt your credit ; but with me it don't 
 matter, as I am used to that sort of 
 business." 
 
B.L.STEVENS: 
 
 Syz^r.^'^r /rr jQl ,S^///^A 
 
 ''/p-/zy // rr>: 
 
 A ■i.nnltn„l.y,.l,.C,>.N<-,v-Ynrk. 
 
THEIR LEGAL AND JUDICIAL ASPECTS. 
 
 395 
 
 Nice Snare for a French. Creditor. 
 
 A LAW formerly j^revailed in France, 
 that if a debtor escaped, tlie keeper 
 became responsible for his debt. Of 
 course this arrangement rendered eva- 
 sion extremely difficult ; nevertheless, 
 to revenge some real or fancied injus- 
 tice, a singular trick was played by a 
 debtor, which greatly amused the Paris- 
 ians. 
 
 A certain Monsieur L., having con- 
 trived to escape, presented himself one 
 evening at the house of his astonished 
 creditor, with the salutation : 
 
 " You see, I am free. You may seize 
 me, certainly, and send me back to jail, 
 but I can never pay you ; whereas, if 
 you will give me money enough to es- 
 cape out of the country, you can claim 
 your debt of the keeper, who can." 
 
 The creditor, who does not seem to 
 have been very scrupulous, consented 
 to this arrangement, on the condition 
 that he himself saw Monsieur L. off by 
 the diligence, which having done, and 
 feeling himself safe, he on the follow- 
 ing morning knocked at the gate of 
 Clichy, and asked the keeper if he re- 
 membered him. 
 
 " Certainly," said the functionary, 
 "you are the creditor of Monsieur 
 L." 
 
 "Exactly," answered the creditor, 
 "and you are doubtless aware that 
 Monsieur L. has effected his escape, 
 and that you are now responsible to 
 me for the six thousand francs he owes 
 me." 
 
 Biit instead of the face of dismay the 
 creditor expected, the officer began to 
 laugh, and assured him that Monsieur 
 L. was safe in his room, and should im- 
 mediately make his appearance, which 
 on being summoned, he did. The 
 prisoner thus had his joke and his few 
 hours of liberty, and the creditor his 
 disappointment — which his dishonest 
 intentions upon the poor jailer well 
 merited. 
 
 Shopkeepers groing- to Law. 
 
 It is stated as a remarkable fact, and 
 certainly not a very promising one, that 
 the shopkeepers in Paris, eighty thou- 
 sand in number, had in one year no 
 less than forty-six thousand lawsuits 
 before the Tribunal of Commerce alone, 
 to say nothing of any of the other tri- 
 bunals for the legal settlement of differ- 
 ences. Such a fact is altogether with- 
 out its parallel in any other city. 
 
 Singrular Suit against "Mi. Appleton, 
 of Boston. 
 
 Truth is surely stranger and more 
 romantic than fiction, as the following 
 will show. Samuel Appleton, one of 
 the most generous of Boston merchants, 
 was once sued, and only once, during 
 his long and vast career of business. 
 About the year 1820, a merchant tailor, 
 named Endicot, died, leaving a residue 
 of his estate to a Baptist society. 
 Among his papers was a note signed 
 by Samuel Appleton, and indorsed by 
 Ducoster & Marshall, for a few hundred 
 dollars. The committee of the society 
 called upon Mr. Appleton for payment. 
 The handwriting was so much like his, 
 that it was impossible to distinguish 
 one from the other ; but he refused to 
 pay it, declaring it to be, in spite of 
 the resemblance, a forgery. A suit was 
 brought on the note, which was, in 
 fact, outlawed— but he would not, 
 however, allow any plea of this kind 
 to be made, but steadily denied the 
 signature. 
 
 As the indorsement was evidently 
 genuine, and no other person of the 
 same name was known, the whole mat- 
 ter was involved in mystery. This was 
 increased by the fact that he had had 
 dealings with the house of Ducoster & 
 Marshall, as appeared by his books, 
 though nothing was found in them 
 that confirmed this note. On the trial, 
 his brother was called as one of the 
 witnesses. He testified that he could 
 
396 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 not distinguish the signature from Mr. 
 Appleton's handwriting; but that, as 
 he himself had kept the books at the 
 time, and his brother's notes were al- 
 ways paid when due, and there was no 
 trace of such a note, it could not be 
 genuine. Notwithstanding this ad- 
 mitted resemblance of the handwriting, 
 and notwithstanding the charge of the 
 judge was regarded as rather against 
 the defendant, the jury found a verdict 
 in his favor. The verdict was founded 
 on the fact that the jury felt quite sure 
 that Mr. Appleton would not dispute 
 the payment of the note, except on the 
 certainty that he did not owe it. 
 
 Mr. Appleton, however, w^as not sat- 
 isfied to leave the matter here, if it were 
 possible to unravel the mystery. Some 
 years after, he was in Italy, and went to 
 Naples, where Mr. Degen then resided 
 — the gentleman who was assignee of 
 Ducoster & Marshall, and had made 
 the indorsement in their behalf. His 
 first step on landing was, not to visit 
 any of the wonders of nature or art, 
 but to search out Mr, Degen, who, in 
 answer to his inquiries, stated that he 
 perfectly well recollected the circum- 
 stance of there being such a note, but 
 that the signer of the note was a ship- 
 master of the same name, who resided 
 in Portland, and who had. been dead 
 for some years. Besides his memory 
 of the event, he had at his country 
 house the books of the firm, and on ex- 
 amining them they were found to con- 
 firm entii'ely Mr. Appleton's convictions. 
 
 liongworth's Celebrated Pee. 
 
 Mr. Longworth, the celebrated Cin- 
 cinnati millionnaire, once received as a 
 legal fee from a fellow who was ac- 
 cused of horse stealing, and who had 
 nothing else to give, two second-hand 
 copper stills. The gentleman who had 
 them in possession refused, however, to 
 give them up, but proposed to Mr. L. 
 to give him a lot of thirty-three acres 
 on Western Row in lieu of them, a pro- 
 
 posal which the latter, w^hose opinions 
 of the value of such property were 
 ahead of his time, gladly accepted. 
 This transaction alone, taking into view 
 the prodigious increase of real estate 
 in that city, would have formed the 
 basis of an immense fortune, the naked 
 ground being worth two millions of 
 dollars. This fact afi"ords an example 
 of the facility with which comparative- 
 ly small amounts secured to Mr. Long- 
 worth the property which has since 
 become of such immense value. 
 
 Bankruptcy and Barbarism in Court. 
 
 A MIXTURE of romance and reality 
 was recently exhibited in the proceed- 
 ings of the Bankruptcy Court of Lon- 
 don in the case of Mr. Mark Boyd. 
 Amid dry details of certificates, as- 
 signees, dividends, and unsecured cred- 
 itors, there suddenly started up an ele- 
 ment at once romantic and ghastly. 
 
 A question was raised as to whether 
 the bankrupt's brother, Mr. Benjamin 
 Boyd, was alive or dead. This gentle- 
 man went on a yachting voyage to the 
 South Sea Islands, without being heard 
 of afterward. It was stated in reply, 
 that the fact of Mr. Boyd's death was 
 by no means proved ; for that a skull, 
 said to be his, and brought to London, 
 had been found to have sound and per- 
 fect teeth, whereas the unfortunate gen- 
 tleman ' wore ' artificial teeth, and thpre 
 were consequently still some grounds 
 for the belief that Mr. Benjamin Boyd 
 was not dead, but was a captive among 
 the natives. Could M. Sue hafe in- 
 vented anything more melodramatic 
 than this ? One brother haggarded by 
 misfortune, beset by ' men of tape and 
 quill ' in London, interrogated by ac- 
 countants, examined by commissioners; 
 the other brother wandering, perhaps, 
 among antipodean savages, naked and 
 tattooed, or perhaps tomahawked, or 
 probably eaten! And all this while 
 shrewd men of business bandy about 
 musty counting houses a grinning skull, 
 
THEIR LEGAL AND JUDICIAL ASPECTS. 
 
 397 
 
 that merchants may speculate as to 
 whose flesh once covered the ghastly 
 relic ! 
 
 Sealingr with a Bankrupt in Hamburg: 
 —"Execution" on the Bourse. 
 The following account of an occur- 
 rence which took place in Hamburg, 
 suggests the somewliat whimsical but 
 withal serious query, How would such 
 a course answer in any of our commer- 
 cial cities ? At noon (according to this 
 account), just as the Exchange, crowd- 
 ed with merchants, presented its busi- 
 est aspect, two drummers in the civic 
 uniform, came up and rolled their 
 drums for the space of ten minutes, 
 causing a great commotion both within 
 and out of the Bourse. While this was 
 going on, workmen were seen over the 
 principal gate v» ay of the building, ele- 
 vating a black board, on which was 
 painted in white letters the name of a 
 merchant of the city who had lately 
 suspended payment and absconded with 
 all his assets. When the name had been 
 fairly set up, a bell called the ' shand 
 glocke,' or shame bell, only rung on 
 such occasions, was sounded for two 
 hours from a tower of the Bourse. This 
 penalty of disgrace, called the " execu- 
 tion of a fraudulent bankrupt," is or- 
 dained by a law which can be traced 
 to the fourteenth century, when the 
 Hanseatic league was at the height of 
 its greatness. At that period, however, 
 the bankrupt's patent of citizenship, 
 and his certificate as a merchant, were 
 also burnt by the hangman. 
 
 Bankrupts in Batavia. 
 
 Imiviediately on a person becoming 
 bankrupt in Java, the name of the par- 
 ty is placarded about town and in the 
 Exchange, as if 'prima fade infamous. 
 The books are then examined by the 
 public officer for that purpose. If the 
 estate does not pay sixty per cent., and 
 the bankrupt can be proved to have 
 done business after he knew the fact, 
 
 he is put into prison as a criminal, for 
 a number of years, and declared 
 ' aloost,' which signifies infamous, or 
 without character. After this, the 
 ' aloost ' person is indeed excommuni- 
 cated. His word is not to be taken ; 
 he is not allowed to be a witness, even 
 on oath ; and if a man trusts him, he 
 does so on his own risk — he has no le- 
 gal remedy against him. On the other 
 hand, if a man takes his books to the 
 public officer, and declares that he has 
 given up all he has, and it does not 
 appear that he has been doing business, 
 knowing he was a bankrupt, and after 
 a strict investigation there are no suspi- 
 cious circumstances, his creditors must 
 sign his papers. 
 
 Western Method of Collecting a Deht. 
 
 A St. Louis merchant was on a col- 
 lecting tour through the western part 
 of Missouri. The boat on which he 
 embarked landed first at a small town, 
 and the merchant repaired to the house 
 of one of his debtors. On inquiring of 
 the good lady for her husband, she ex- 
 pressed her regret that he had just left 
 town, and would not, positively, be 
 back for a week. The merchant re- 
 gretted that very much, as he "had 
 some money " for her husband. 
 
 Lady : " You liate ? — well — really — 
 let me see — John, are you sure that 
 your father has gone ? go see — perhaps 
 I'm mistaken — run quick, and tell your 
 father, if you can find him, that a gen- 
 tleman is here who wishes to pay him 
 some money." 
 
 (The boy ran, full speed, for his 
 daddy.) 
 
 " I hope I am mistaken — husband 
 was telling me this morning he expect- 
 ed some money from St. Louis. Money 
 is so scarce these days, and people are 
 so negligent in paying their debts: 
 Jane, bring the gentleman some water, 
 quick now — stop, come here — (in a 
 whisper, but audible to the merchant) 
 — tell Sarah to bring some of those 
 
^98 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 largest and best apples, do you hear ? 
 — now run, quick. When did you 
 leave St. Louis, sir ? " 
 
 " Last Monday was two — " 
 
 (Running to the window) — " There's 
 husband, as true as I'm born — I really 
 was afraid he'd left." 
 
 (Husband enters, puffing and blow- 
 ing) — " My dear G , I was so fear- 
 ful you had left." 
 
 (In an undertone) — " I wish to heav- 
 en I had ! " (To the merchant) : " Ah, 
 
 Mr. 
 
 how are you ? " 
 
 "Very well — pleasant day— all well 
 — hark ! the bell is ringing — not much 
 time to talk — I have a little business 
 (presents two or three bills) — would be 
 very glad if you would settle them to- 
 day." 
 
 "Ah! ah, yes, sir — well, I don't 
 know — Col. Wiston promised to be 
 here to-day, who owes me some bor- 
 rowed money — hard times — when will 
 you leave, probably ? " 
 
 (Bell rings again) — "I must be off, 
 sir ; * lift ' one of those notes, and I'll 
 wait for the rest; the bell is ringing, 
 and I must be off." 
 
 " Well, sir." (Aside to his wife) — 
 " Why did you tell I was at home, 
 confound it ? " 
 
 The merchant receives five hundred 
 dollars, and bids the gentleman " good 
 morning," much pleased to pocket the 
 amount. The good wife quietly coun- 
 termanded her orders for '' those lar- 
 gest and best apples," before he settled 
 with the husband. 
 
 Forg-iving" a Debt and Giving: a Wife. 
 
 A SHOPKEEPER, who resided two or 
 three days' journey from Paris, pre- 
 served his good standing and credit for 
 many years. At last, by some persons 
 making undue purchases, and keeping 
 him too long out of his money, he was 
 obliged to proceed to Paris, to desire 
 two things of his creditors : one was 
 an extension of their forbearance, and 
 the other was, to be furnished with a 
 
 fresh assortment of goods, that he 
 might keep open his shop with its 
 usual supply. 
 
 They were so pleased with the hon- 
 esty and frankness of the man, that 
 they all agreed to grant his request, ex- 
 cept one — his chief creditor, a proud 
 and exacting merchant, who had never 
 experienced any adversities, and knew 
 not how to sympathize with those thus 
 tried. " So," said he, " I find, by your 
 asking for a prolongation of credit, and 
 a further indulgence of goods, that you 
 are going down hill; and therefore I 
 am resolved to have my money." Ac- 
 cordingly, he sent at once for an offi- 
 cer, who arrested the tradesman, and 
 conducted him to jail. In this perplex- 
 ing situation, he wrote home to his 
 wife, who communicated the news to 
 her six children, who were thus over- 
 whelmed in sorrow. What could be 
 done ? To sit still in despair was the 
 ready road to ruin. After a frank con- 
 versation with her eldest son, a young 
 man of fine sense and great upright- 
 ness, about nineteen years of age, he 
 resolved on a speedy visit to Paris, 
 with a view to softening the hardness 
 of this creditor. After a short inter- 
 view with his father, he went to the 
 house of the merchant, sent in his 
 name, and desired an audience. The 
 creditor, thinking he had come to pay 
 him, had him at once admitted ; but 
 he soon found that liis first request was 
 that he should release his father from 
 jail, to go home and provide for his 
 mother, and keep up the credit of the 
 shop. 
 
 The merchant, being disappointed in 
 his expectation, fiew into a violent pas- 
 sion, and declared that he would have 
 the money or the bones of his father. 
 The young man, finding him inexor- 
 able, fell down on his knees, and with 
 tears accompanying his earnest utter- 
 ance, addressed the merchant as fol- 
 lows : " Sir," said he, " if I go home 
 without my father, I shall see my 
 mother die with a broken heart, the 
 
THEIR LEGAL AND JUDICIAL ASPECTS. 
 
 399 
 
 credit of the shop will be entirely 
 ruined, and we children must be turn- 
 ed as vagabonds and beggars into the 
 open street. I have this one, this last 
 request, to make — let me be sent to jail 
 in the room of my father, and keep me 
 there until all demands are satisfied." 
 
 The merchant walked back and forth 
 in the room with evident emotion. The 
 young man continued his suppliant ap- 
 peals and entreaties on his knees, when 
 at last the merchant went to him with 
 great tenderness of manner, and taking 
 him by the hand, said, " Rise, young 
 man. I have but one daughter in the 
 world, and for whose hajDpiness I am 
 concerned ; I'll give thee my daughter 
 — she must be happy with a fellow of 
 thy virtue ; I'll settle upon you all my 
 fortune ; I'll release your father out of 
 prison, and make you all happy to- 
 gether." And he was as good as his 
 word. 
 
 Frencli Mode of Paying Bills. 
 
 A SOME^VHAT prominent banker at 
 Paris, having a draft brought to him 
 from a public office in that city, which 
 he could not answer, after cramming 
 down the draft into a loaded pistol, 
 called to the gentleman who brought 
 it, and telling him, " This, sir, is the 
 way that persons who have no money 
 pay bills that are due," instantly clap- 
 ped the pistol to his ear, and shot him- 
 self dead. 
 
 Advantage of Being- a Larg-e Debtor. 
 
 As the world goes, the moment that 
 a man becomes largely in debt, he blos- 
 soms out into a respectable and respon- 
 sible member of society. It is not, as 
 many suppose, that he has earned this 
 character before he became intrusted 
 with the property of others. A very 
 little ability, a certain degree of bold- 
 ness and assurance, a taking exte- 
 rior, and a willingness to contract to 
 pay the market rate of interest and a 
 
 little more, will place him in posses- 
 sion of capital beyond the dreams of 
 avarice. 
 
 Once master of the position, he is in- 
 vested with all the qualities and vir- 
 tues that inspire admiration, confidence, 
 and respect. If he wants raw produce, 
 he has merely to hold up his finger, 
 and a dozen ships are loaded for him 
 in the ports of the world. If he wants 
 the fabricated article, he has merely to 
 breathe a wish, and mountainous wag- 
 ons hasten to unload their heavy treas- 
 ures at his gate. If he covets that pre- 
 cious metal which divines call " filthy 
 lucre," and economists " circulating 
 medium," he has but to send in his 
 card to any banker, and have a sack 
 of it shovelled to him as if it was dirt. 
 These are the gross and material ad- 
 vantages of being in debt — serving as 
 the basis for a superstructure of higher 
 things. 
 
 First, there is the immense advance 
 in social position. What doors are 
 closed to the large and noble debtor ? 
 What dinner parties would be consid- 
 ered perfect without him ? How many 
 needy men are anxious to sit near him 
 at the table, in the hope of learning 
 something useful to guide them in the 
 path which lie has seemingly followed 
 with such distinguished success ! Who 
 would think of a public meeting with- 
 out the gigantic debtor- in the chair? 
 If a trustee is wanted for a charitable 
 fund, who so fit and proper to be ap- 
 pointed as the leviathan debtor ? 
 
 If a public company or a joint-stock 
 enterprise is flagging for various rea- 
 sons, what is wanted to put it firmly 
 and flourishingly upon its legs ? — the 
 chairmanship of the enterprising debt- 
 or 1 Did any wild scheme ever ad- 
 vance or commend itself to public no- 
 tice, or endeavor to strike root, without 
 sending one of its earliest prospectuses 
 to the energetic and prosperous debtor ? 
 Never ! 
 
 Then there is the almost affectionate 
 interest taken in nearly everything that 
 
400 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 happens to the pampered debtor. If 
 he falls ill, what crowds of people — 
 chiefly creditors — come hurriedly for- 
 ward with pressing kindness, day after 
 day, anxiously consulting his physi- 
 cian, and inquiring after his health ! If 
 he meets with an accident, what a 
 number of persons hasten tenderly to 
 his side, keenly calculating whether it 
 is likely to be fatal. Many of these 
 kind creatures — chiefly creditors — even 
 go to the length of insuring the life of 
 the important debtor for a considera- 
 ble sum, so strongly does their interest 
 in him, under these circumstances, de- 
 velop itself. If the mammoth debtor 
 goes upon a foreign tour for a length- 
 ened period, how many persons — chiefly 
 creditors — are waiting anxiously to give 
 him a joyous welcome back! If his 
 house, or warehouse, is accidentally 
 burned down, what a bevy of jDersons 
 — chiefly creditors — are at once upon 
 the spot to render assistance, and ascer- 
 tain, if possible, what insurances there 
 are — what amounts, and in what offices ! 
 In the great world of debt, the small 
 debtor is governed by his creditor ; the 
 large creditor is governed by his debtor. 
 
 Tender in Payment. 
 
 A TENDER in payment is rarely made 
 in a legal manner. People commonly 
 clog it with some condition, which 
 makes it no tender in law. One man 
 goes to another, and says, " Here is 
 your money ; I must have a receipt in 
 full of all demands." A tender, to be 
 good, must be an unconditional one, 
 clogged with no stipulation whatever. 
 
 "Parsons on Promissory Notes." 
 
 A puBLisHrNG house advertised in a 
 city journal, " Parsons on Promissory 
 Notes ; " referring to which the editor 
 remarked: "There are few parsons 
 whose notes, not to speak of their in- 
 dorsements, are of much account in 
 Wall street." "And this," says the 
 
 Knickerbocker^ reminds us of a remark 
 once made by the late John Sanderson, 
 the witty author of " The American 
 in Paris," touching certain unnegoti- 
 able clerical " paper " which he held : 
 " They will take the minister's locyrd, 
 unquestioned, every Sunday, for the 
 eternal future, but won't take his note, 
 with only ninety days to run ! " 
 
 Pasringr an Old Debt. 
 
 A MAI? who had run up a long score 
 at a shop for liquor, cigars, and other 
 creature comforts, found himself utterly 
 unable to pay a stiver of it. In vain 
 w^as he urged to pay the bill, and in 
 vain was he threatened if he didn't ; he 
 hadn't the money — the true secret of 
 his getting in debt in the first place — 
 and the creditor gave it up. At last 
 he thought he would compromise the 
 matter, and let the man work the debt 
 out. 
 
 The creditor had a large pile of 
 wood in his barn, several cords of it, 
 nicely sawed and split, and he forth- 
 with set the debtor at work to throw 
 the wood into the street and then pile 
 it back again, at the rate of a shil- 
 ling an hour, until the whole debt 
 should be wiped out. The man took 
 hold with a will, and, in a short time, 
 the wood was all in the street ; then 
 it went back with equal celerity, and 
 then out again and then in — every one 
 wondering what it could all mean. 
 Some charitably intimated that he was 
 crazy, and others, equally charitable, 
 said he was drunk. He toiled on thus 
 the whole day, throwing the wood 
 back and forth, but every hour seemed 
 sixty minutes longer than its pre- 
 decessor, as he watched the clock on 
 the old church in the neighborhood. 
 He was working a dead horse, and it 
 was hard making him go. But the 
 longest road must have an end, and 
 the hour neared when the labor and 
 debt vould cease together, and, as the 
 hammer of the clock told the hour of 
 
THEIR LEGAL AND JUDICIAL ASPECTS. 
 
 401 
 
 his release, the freed man threw the 
 last stick of wood into the street with 
 a shout of triumph. The shout brought 
 the owner of the wood to the door, 
 who found his late debtor putting on 
 his coat to go away. 
 
 " Hallo ! " said he, " you are not 
 going away w^ithout putting the wood 
 back again, are you ? " 
 
 " I'll put it back again for a shilling 
 an hour," said the man. 
 
 The proprietor of the wood saw that 
 he had been " done," and good-natured- 
 ly told his late debtor to go ahead and 
 put it back. He went about it, but, 
 strange to say, it took him just three 
 times as long to put it back as it did 
 to throw it out ! This, if not " Mrs. 
 Partington's last," is one of her best in 
 the domain of commercial humor. 
 
 Debts of Honor. 
 
 A GOOD story is told relative to the 
 — now — rather old-fashioned idea of a 
 " debt of honor." A tradesman, to 
 whom Sheridan had given a bill for 
 two hundred pounds, called on him 
 for the amount. A heap of gold was 
 lying on the table. " Don't look that 
 way," cried Sheridan, after protesting 
 that he had not a penny in the world, 
 " that is to pay a debt of honor." The 
 applicant, with some wit, tore up the 
 bill of demand he held : " Now, Mr. 
 Sheridan," quoth he, " mine is a debt 
 of honor too." It is to be hoped that 
 " Sherry '' handed him the money. 
 
 The story of Gunter's bill— the con- 
 fectioner—is not so much to the good 
 name of his debtor. Hanson, the 
 ironmonger, called upon him and 
 pressed for payment. A bill sent in 
 by the famous confectioner was lying 
 on the table. A thought struck the 
 debtor, who had no means of getting 
 rid of his importunate applicant. " You 
 know Gunter ? " he asked. " One of 
 the safest men in London," replied the 
 ironmonger, " Then will you be satis- 
 fied if I give you his bill for the 
 26 
 
 amount ? " " Certainly." Thereupon 
 Sheridan handed him the neatly folded 
 account — and rushed from the room, 
 leaving the creditor to discover the 
 point of Mr. Sheridan's little fun. 
 
 Drawing an Inference. 
 
 A MERCHANT who had become re- 
 duced in fortune, went to a person 
 who had formerly been his servant, to 
 borrow money of him. The upstart 
 servant gave his former master a very 
 mortifying reception, and asked in a 
 haughty tone, " Sir, why do you give 
 me all this trouble ? Upon my honor 
 I have no money to lend you or any 
 one else." "I am certain that what 
 you say is false," said the gentleman ; 
 " for if you were not rich, you dared not 
 be so saucy." 
 
 A Bankrupt on his Legs Again. 
 
 A WEALTHY merchant having expe- 
 rienced some hard reverses which 
 caused his bankruptcy, was met some 
 time after his misfortunes by a friend, 
 who asked him how he was getting 
 on ? " Pretty well," said he, " I am 
 upon my legs again." " How ! al- 
 ready ? " " Yes, I have been obliged 
 to part with my coach and horses, and 
 must now walk." 
 
 Tick.' 
 
 The word " tick " is considered by 
 some as merely an abbreviation of 
 ticket. In the " Sportsman's Slang 
 Dictionary " may be found the follow- 
 ing amusing definition : " Tick : credit 
 in small quantities ; usually scored up 
 with chalk, which being done with a 
 sound resembling * tick, tick, tick,' 
 gives the appellation ' going to tick,' 
 'tick it upj' *my tick is out,' 'no 
 more tick.' " 
 
 A well-meaning friend, calling one 
 morning on Mr. Sheridan, wound up 
 a rather prosy exordium on the pro- 
 
402 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 priety of domestic economy, by ex- 
 pressing a hope, tliat the pressure of 
 some difficulties, from which he had 
 been temporarily removed, would in- 
 duce a more cautious arrangement in 
 future. Sheridan listened with great 
 gravity, and thanking his visitor, 
 assured him that he never felt so 
 happy, as all his affairs were now 
 proceeding with the regularity of clock- 
 worh^ adding (with a roguish twinkle 
 of the eye, and giving his arm the 
 oscillating motion of the pendulum), 
 " Tick, tick, tick ! " It is needless to 
 add that the Mentor took a hasty 
 leave of his witty but incorrigible 
 companion. 
 
 — — ♦ — 
 
 The "Model Debtor" Described. 
 
 The model debtor (says Mayhew) 
 never thinks a thing dear so long as he 
 gets it on credit. No dinner is too 
 good for him ; the dearest wines ; the 
 earliest peas, the most juvenile straw- 
 berries, the choicest liquors, the most 
 exotic luxuries — everything that is ex- 
 pensive, delicious and toothsome, so 
 that he is not called upon to give 
 ready money for it. The world pays, 
 and he enjoys himself. His cab is found 
 him free of expense, and by some 
 charm he has a two hundred guinea 
 horse sent home to him without paying 
 a single penny for it. The rent of his 
 house is several quarters due; the 
 furniture is of the very best, but not a 
 stick nor stitch of it has been settled 
 for, and the very sheet he sleeps on 
 might be taken from under him by his 
 washerwoman, foT terrible arrears of 
 aebt. These thoughts, however, never 
 trouble his happiness. He trusts, for 
 everything, to his appearance. He 
 knows well enough that a man with a 
 shabby exterior never gets " credit " 
 for anything in this world. He has a 
 good coat, and on the back of it orders 
 as many clothes as he likes. He has 
 only to ask for hats, boots, walking 
 sticks, pistols, dressing cases, and they 
 
 are all left at his " residence," exactly 
 as if he had paid for every one of them. 
 No questions are asked — not a soul is 
 in a hurry ; for " any one can see he is 
 a perfect gentleman." He flourishes a 
 check-book, though his " drafts " 
 would not be liquid-ated at any other 
 bank but Oldgate Pump. 
 
 The aay of reckoning, however, 
 sooner or later, comes. Then it is 
 that the wonderful impudence, the 
 real • genius, of the Model Debtor, 
 bursts out in all its greatness. It is 
 not convenient for him to pay "just at 
 present" — it would be ruination to 
 sell out when the funds are so low\ He 
 wonders at Mr. Smith's impatience 
 (Smith is his butcher) — the bill can 
 barely have been owing two years — 
 but he will call and settle next week. 
 Some he threatens to expose ; the im- 
 pertinence of others he will certainly 
 report to all his friends; and he 
 silences the noisiest with a piece of 
 stamped paper, on which his name is 
 inscribed as the representative of hun- 
 dreds of pounds. But the bubble gets 
 larger and larger until it bursts. Then 
 the Model Debtor tumbles from his 
 high " estate " — if he ever had any — 
 and from an " eligible mansion " he 
 falls to a " desirable lodging " at a few 
 shillings per week. 
 
 His life is now a constant game of 
 hide and seek. He is never " at home," 
 especially to top-boots and Jerusalem 
 noses, that bring letters and wait for 
 answers in the passage. He grows 
 nervous. Every knock at the door 
 throws him back, and he rings the bell 
 violently two or three times, whispers 
 to the servant through the door, turns 
 the key, and crouches down with his 
 ear at the key-hole. He looks out of 
 the window before he ventures in the 
 street. He only walks when he cannot 
 afford to pay for a cab. Omnibuses are 
 dangerous — it is not so easy to avoid a 
 creditor inside. He selects the dreariest 
 thoroughfares, and never penetrates 
 into a cul-de-sac^ or approaches within 
 
THEIR LEGAL AND JUDICIAL ASPECTS. 
 
 403 
 
 a mile of Chancery Lane. His impu- 
 dence, however, does not desert him. 
 He never recollects any bill whatever, 
 and if stopped and questioned about 
 his name, he threatens in the grandest 
 manner to call the police. When pressed 
 for money, he is sure the account was 
 paid long ago, and that he has got the 
 receipt somewhere among " his papers." 
 He is most fruitful in excuses, and 
 lavish in promises. He generally ex- 
 pects " a good round sum in a day or 
 two." He can never get his accounts 
 in, and was disappointed only last week 
 of a large balance he had relied upon 
 for paying your little " trifle." 
 
 As he falls lower in the world, he 
 gets weaker. He would pay if he 
 could. All he asks for is time. Busi- 
 ness ia very bad — never was worse. 
 He only wants to look around him. He 
 hopes you won't be hard upon him; 
 but if prosecuted, if goaded to death 
 in this way, sooner than lead the life 
 he does, he will go into the Gazette, 
 and then his creditors must not blame 
 liim if they don't get a farthing. He 
 means well, if they will only leave Mm 
 alone. He will be happy to give you 
 a bill. He has a wife and seven chil- 
 dren. In fact, he is a most affectionate 
 parent, and the sacrifices he has made 
 for his family no one can tell but him- 
 self—which he does upon every possi- 
 ble opportunity. He grows tired of 
 answering letters. He meets a bill 
 and a bailiff with equal horror, but 
 does not care much for either, if he can 
 only be sure of " a good long run." 
 He is very sensitive about the left 
 shoulder, going off, like a hair trigger, 
 at the slightest touch. His great day 
 or jubilee is Sunday. He is then every- 
 where — in the Park especially, — and 
 any one to see him would imagine " he 
 could look the whole world in the 
 face, and defy any one to say he owed 
 him a shilling." He is brave, too, 
 during " vacation." 
 
 He is very intimate with the law, and 
 has a profound respect for the Statute 
 
 of Limitations; but thinks England 
 not worth living in since the County 
 Courts Act. He carries this antipathy, 
 indeed, so far, as to run over some fine 
 morning to Boulogne — never coming 
 back again, leaving all his " property," 
 though, behind him, in a carpet bag 
 replete with bricks. There his first 
 care is to cultivate a moustache, and 
 to procure new clothes, new dinners, 
 fresh victims. He is always expecting 
 a remittance by the next post. His 
 bankers, however, are perseveringly 
 remiss, and he is lodged at last by his 
 landlord in the Hotel (TAngleterre — in 
 plain English, the prison. He only 
 asks for time ; and at last he gets more 
 of it than he likes, for he is locked up 
 for two or three years in jail, unless he 
 is very lucky and is liberated by a 
 Revolution. He disappears — no one 
 knows where. His " friends " wonder 
 what has become of him, till there is a 
 vague report that he has been seen as 
 an attache to one of the gaming houses 
 about Leicester Square, or, if he is toler- 
 ably w^ell off, that he has been recog- 
 nized on the road to Epsom, driving a 
 cab, with a large number, say 2584, 
 painted upon it. 
 
 The Model Debtor is now honest at 
 last, for he has arrived at that stage oif 
 life at which no man will put any trust 
 in him. He pays his " way " — turn- 
 pikes included — and does not over- 
 charge more than what is perfectly 
 Hansom. He pays ready money for 
 everything, even down to the water- 
 man on the cabstand, and gives him- 
 self out as " a gentleman who has seen 
 better days." His great boast, however, 
 is, that all through the ups and downs 
 of his racketty career he never left un- 
 paid a single debt of " honor." Doubt- 
 lessly, this is a great source of consola- 
 tion to the numerous tradesmen to 
 whom he never paid a penny. 
 
 Comfort for Scotch Debtors. 
 In Scott's " Antiquary," the subject 
 of imprisonment for debt in Scotland 
 
404 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 is discussed most piquantly by Jona- 
 than Oldbuck, Esq., of Monkbarns, 
 wlio proves to bis nephew, Captain 
 M'lntire, that in that happy country 
 no man can be legally imprisoned for 
 debt. He says: You suppose now a 
 man's committed to prison because he 
 cannot pay his debts? Quite other- 
 wise ; the truth is, the king is so good 
 as to interfere at the request of the 
 creditor, and to send the debtor his 
 royal command to do him (the king) 
 justice within a certain time — fifteen 
 days, or six, as the case may be. Well, 
 the man resists, and disobeys (by not 
 paying) ; what follows ? Why, that 
 he may be lawfully and rightfully de- 
 clared a rebel to our gracious sovereign, 
 whose command he had disobeyed, 
 and that by three blasts of a horn, at 
 the market place of Edinburgh, the 
 metropolis of Scotland. And he is 
 then legally imprisoned — not on ac- 
 count of any mere ciml deht^ but because 
 of his ungrateful contempt of the royal 
 mandate ! 
 
 Peter C. Brooks, the Boston Million- 
 naire, in Court. 
 
 Peteb C. Brooks had led an active 
 business life, or had been engaged in 
 important pecuniary transactions, for 
 forty years, without ever having been 
 involved in a lawsuit on his own ac- 
 count, either as plaintiff or defendant. 
 At length, after three years of prepara- 
 tion, an action was brought against 
 him in 1829, on a bill of equity, by the 
 administrators of Tuthill Hubbart, who 
 had been dead about a quarter of a 
 century. This gentleman had been 
 one of Mr. Brooks's underwriters ; an 
 extensive confidential connection had 
 existed between them for many years ; 
 and, after Mr. Hubbart's decease, Mr. 
 Brooks made a general settlement with 
 his estate. The action brought was to 
 set aside this settlement, which had 
 been thus made and accepted, on the 
 ground that items belonging to Mr. 
 Hubbart's credit had been omitted, to 
 
 the amount of nearly one hundred 
 thousand dollars. In his answer to the 
 bill of equity, Mr. Brooks declared his 
 anxious desire to pay any amount aris- 
 ing from any error, though it was well 
 understood by all concerned that the 
 settlement with lilr. Hubbart's admin- 
 istrators by the payment of a gross sum 
 — customary then — was intended to 
 cover the possibility of any such eiTor. 
 The case excited most intense interest 
 in the community, Mr. Wirt, of Balti- 
 more, being the chief counsel for the 
 plaintiff, and Mr. Webster and Mr. Gor- 
 ham for the defendant, and the forensic 
 display of these rivals was magnificent. 
 Throughout the trial, the avenues of 
 the courthouse were besieged long be- 
 fore the doors were opened, and every 
 inch of space was crowded. At the 
 close of the argument of Mr. Webster, 
 Mr. Brooks himself obtained permission 
 to address a few words to the court by 
 way of explanation. Few are the men 
 who, with fortune and reputation at 
 stake, at the age of sixty-two, wholly 
 unaccustomed to speak in public, 
 would have ventured to rise before an 
 immense auditory, comprising all that 
 was most distinguished for character 
 and intellect in the profession or the 
 community, to add anything on their 
 own behalf to the defence of a cause 
 which had been argued by Messrs. 
 Gorham and Webster. Few are the 
 clients who, under these circumstances, 
 would have been permitted by counsel 
 to take the risk of speaking for them- 
 selves. Mr. Brooks was not only per- 
 mitted but encouraged to do so, by his 
 counsel. A profound silence fell upon 
 the court, as, with a voice slightly 
 tremulous, his hand resting on his old 
 account books, which had been drawn 
 from the dust of thirty years (and 
 which were pronounced by the bench 
 such a set of books as had never been 
 seen in that court), he uttered his few 
 and final sentences of explanation. 
 The court negatived in direct terms 
 the charge of fraud, either legal or 
 
THEIR LEGAL AND JUDICIAL ASPECTS. 
 
 405 
 
 teclinical, and declared tlieir inability 
 to discover anything that justified a 
 charge even of impropriety against the 
 defendant. In his private journal, after 
 recording the result of the action, Mr. 
 Brooks observes, that " it has terminat- 
 ed to his entire satisfaction." 
 
 Small Debts. 
 
 An action having been tried at Taun- 
 ton assize, England, to recover forty- 
 five shillings for goods sold and deliv- 
 ered, Mr. Justice Best expressed his 
 regret that such a cause should have 
 found its way into court. " Here," said 
 the judge, " is a man so foolish as to 
 bring an action for forty-five shillings ; 
 and a man so foolish as to defend it ! 
 Few lines had more truth in them, 
 than two which he would quote to the 
 jury— 
 " Causes are traversed, and so little won, 
 
 That be yvhoffains them, is at last undone." 
 
 Tailors' Bills. 
 
 The model tailor is the gentleman's 
 best friend. Sometimes, it must be 
 confessed, he sends in his bill, though 
 payment, generally speaking, never en- 
 ters into his thoughts. But then he is 
 soon ashamed of the liberty he has 
 taken, and apologizes most profusely 
 for it. He is fully sensible that he is 
 doing wrong, and blushes in his soul 
 for the shabbiness he is guilty of. It 
 is only that he is terribly distressed for 
 money, or else he would not think of 
 "troubling" you. He is greatly sub- 
 ject to that heaviest of all social ca- 
 lamities — a " little bill." He asks you, 
 as the greatest favor, to let him have a 
 " trifle upon account," and leaves you 
 happier than poets can express, if you 
 promise to let him have something in 
 a day or two. Should it be inconve- 
 nient, however, he never presses the 
 point, and will look in some other time. 
 Should you express astonishment at his 
 demand — that you cannot have had his 
 
 bill more than two years — he excuses 
 himself in the most penitential manner, 
 and begs your pardon for having men- 
 tioned the subject. The next day he 
 inquires if you want anything in his 
 way ; the generous creature forgives as 
 quickly as he forgets. His anger is 
 only aroused when you leave him to 
 go to another tailor. In his anger he 
 has been known to send a lawyer's let- 
 ter ; but if you go to him, and tell him 
 what you think of his conduct, and or- 
 der a new wrap-rascal, he will settle 
 the matter himself, and assure you that 
 the thing is purely a mistake, and that 
 no one can possibly be more sorry for 
 it than himself. As might be supposed, 
 the model tailor rarely makes a fortune 
 — unless he has been very unfortunate 
 through life. An insolvency just puts 
 him straight ; a first bankruptcy leaves 
 him a handsome surplus, and a second 
 one enables him to retire. The sad 
 truth is, that the simple child of Eve 
 knows he owes all his business to the 
 fact of her biting the apple, and he has 
 not the heart to distress any son of 
 Adam for the clothes he wears. Per- 
 haps he feels that it would be like 
 pocketing the wages of sin. His as- 
 signees, therefore, are obliged to col- 
 lect his debts for him, and accordingly, 
 the oftener he fails, the richer he be- 
 comes. 
 
 An Unsettled Commercial Question. 
 
 One of the commercial questions of 
 the day which remains to this time un- 
 decided, is, whether the fact of a gen- 
 tleman having No Tin may not have 
 something to ,do with the answer he 
 invariably sends of Not In, when any 
 one calls upon him with a bill ? 
 
 Hotel Keeper's Advice to his Sen. 
 
 " If there's been a grand dinner, al- 
 ways get the party to settle before leav- 
 ing. The dinner bill, my son, is never 
 so severely scrutinized as when a gen- 
 
406 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 tleman looks over it the next morn- 
 ing ! " 
 
 Boyal Promissory Notes. 
 
 A Prussian, of the name of Mylius, 
 found among his father's papers a 
 promissory note of considerable amount, 
 which the Prince Royal, afterward 
 Frederic the Great, had given him. He, 
 therefore, immediately sent it to the 
 king, with the following letter : 
 
 " Sire : Among my father's papers I 
 have found the enclosed note. I can- 
 not tell whether it has been through 
 negligence, or any other means, that it 
 has not been cancelled. I know not, 
 but I leave the matter to the disposal 
 of your majesty." . 
 
 The king immediately sent for My- 
 lius, and said that he well remembered 
 receiving the money from his father, 
 and that, if there was any error, he 
 would be the loser himself. He at once 
 paid the money, with interest. 
 
 An Insolvent Tradesman in the 
 Clutches of Old Audley. 
 
 A TRADESMAN, named Miller, unfor- 
 tunately got into arrears with his mer- 
 chant, whose name was White. Many 
 fruitless applications were made for 
 the debt, and at last Miller was sued 
 by the merchant for the sum of two 
 hundred pounds. He was unable to 
 meet the demand, and was declared in- 
 solvent. 
 
 At this stage, the notoriously greedy 
 shark, Audley, whose wealth was only 
 exceeded by his heartless avarice, went 
 to White, and ojafered him forty pounds 
 sterling for the debt, T^Jiich the mer- 
 chant gladly accepted. He then went 
 to Miller, and undertook to obtain his 
 quittance of the debt for fifty pounds, 
 upon condition that he entered into a 
 bond to pay for the accommodation. 
 The drowning man catches at a straw, 
 and the insolvent, with many protesta- 
 tions of thanks, eagerly signed a con- 
 tract which, without consideration, he 
 
 regarded as one so light, and so easy 
 in its terms, as to satisfy him that the 
 promptings of benevolence and friend- 
 ship could alone actuate his voluntary 
 benefactor. The contract was, that he 
 should pay to Audley some time with- 
 in twenty years from that date, one 
 penny progressively doubled on the 
 first day Of twenty consecutive months ; 
 and, in case he failed to fulfil those easy 
 terms, he was to pay a fine of five hun- 
 dred pounds. Thus acquitted of his 
 debt of two hundred pounds. Miller ar- 
 ranged with the rest of his creditors, and 
 again commenced business. Fortune 
 turned, and he again participated liber- 
 ally in her smiles. Every month added 
 greatly to his trade, and at last he be- 
 came firmly established. Two or three 
 years after signing the almost forgotten 
 contract. Miller was accosted one fine 
 morning in October by " old Audley," 
 who politely and humorously demand- 
 ed the first instalment of the agree- 
 ment. With a laugh, and many re- 
 newed expressions of thankfulness, the 
 hopeful tradesman paid his penny. On 
 the first of the succeeding month, Aud- 
 ley again called, and demanded two 
 pence, and was as politely satisfied as 
 before. On the first of December he 
 received a groat ; the first of February, 
 one shilling and four pence. Still Mil- 
 ler did not see through the artifice, but 
 paid him with a gracious smile; per- 
 haps, however, there was something 
 cynical in the look of Audley as he left 
 the shop this time — for the poor trades- 
 man's suspicions were aroused, and he 
 put his pen to paper, as he ought to 
 have done years before, to ascertain the 
 amount of his subsequent payments. 
 
 According to this arrangement, the 
 amount of the payment due on the first 
 of the twentieth month — the sum the 
 little penny had become — would be no 
 less than £2,180; and the aggregate of 
 all these twenty monthly payments, the 
 enormous sum of £4,366 lis. Sd. Of 
 course, Miller refused the payment of 
 his bond, and forfeited £500 by the be- 
 
THEIR LEGAL AND JUDICIAL ASPECTS. 
 
 407 
 
 nevolence and charity of his 
 tary benefactor." 
 
 volun- 
 
 Convenient Substitute for Money. 
 
 The principal market in Guernsey 
 was built without money. The gov- 
 ernor issued four thousand market 
 notes, and with these paid the work- 
 men who built it. These notes circu- 
 lated through the island, until the 
 market was built and occupied; and 
 when the rents came in, these notes 
 were received in payment of the rents, 
 and were cancelled. In the course of a 
 few years, the notes, being all paid in, 
 were publicly burnt in the market. 
 The Water Works, Upper Canada, 
 were constructed by a similar use. 
 
 "What the Word "Pay" Signifies. 
 
 The word "^ay," in ordinary lan- 
 guage, is only used to signify the deliv- 
 ering over of money, or other valuables, 
 in discharge of a debt. But in its 
 original meaning, it seems to have had 
 a particular reference to the act or 
 manner of blotting out the record of a 
 debt. This was done in times not 
 long past, and is sometimes done now, 
 by drawing a line, or more commonly 
 two lines, crossing each other, athwart 
 the writing in the book ; and from the 
 custom, it is often said by country peo- 
 ple, when they have paid a debt, that 
 " the book is crossed." But at the time 
 when very few were able to read what 
 was written, not only would it be 
 thought unsatisfactory to have nothing 
 more than a written receipt entered in 
 the book, but this drawing a line 
 across the record of the debt was sup- 
 posed too slight a matter ; and, there- 
 fore, the obliteration was made by dip- 
 ping the tip of the finger in ink, and 
 smearing it over the writing. This 
 blotting out of the record was what 
 was particularly understood by the 
 word paying^ and not simply the act 
 of delivering the money; and hence 
 
 the mercantile application of the words 
 to pay is only an extension of the origi- 
 nal meaning, when it is applied to the 
 smearing over of the bottom of a ship 
 or boat with pitch. When a new coat 
 of tar or pitch is thus laid on, the boat 
 is said to be payed over. 
 
 "Bankrupt." 
 
 Few words have so remarkable a his- 
 tory as the familiar word bankrupt. 
 The money changers of Italy had, it is 
 said, benches or stalls, in the bourse or 
 exchange, in former times, and at these 
 they conducted their ordinary business. 
 When any of them fell back in the 
 world, and became insolvent, his bench 
 was broken, and the name of broken 
 bench, or lanco rotto, was given to 
 him. When the word was adopted 
 into English, it was nearer the Italian 
 than it now is, being " bankerout " in- 
 stead of bankrupt. 
 
 Dun.' 
 
 Some have derived this word from 
 the French word donnez^ signifying 
 give, implying a demand of something 
 due ; and others, from the Saxon word 
 dunon, to clamor. Both are wrong. 
 The origin of the word is proved to be 
 simply this : In the reign of Henry VII. 
 a famous bailiff, named Joe Dun, lived 
 in the town of Lincoln. This man was 
 so extremely dexterous in his rough 
 business, that it was usual, when a per- 
 son refused to pay his debts, to say, 
 " Why don't you Dun him ? "—that is, 
 "Why don't you send Dun to arrest 
 him ? " And hence the custom of call- 
 ing a person who presses another for 
 the payment of money, a Bun. It is a 
 custom which has been in vogue since 
 the days of Henry VII. 
 
 Subduing a Creditor's Fury. 
 
 It is related that Filippo, the cele- 
 brated singer, having been arrested by 
 
408 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 one of his largest and most enraged 
 creditors — a trader from wliom lie liad 
 been long skulking — made no otlier re- 
 ply to liis abuse and threats than by 
 sitting down to the harpsichord and 
 singing two or three of his most pleas- 
 ing and touching airs to his own ac- 
 companiment ; the fury of the creditor 
 was thus, gradually, so perfectly sub- 
 dued, that he not only forgave his 
 debtor, but lent him ten guineas to 
 appease the clamor of other creditors 
 who threatened him with sjDeedy jail 
 
 quarters. 
 
 ♦ 
 
 Great Failures in Hamburgh, in 1799. 
 
 The year 1799 was memorable for 
 the havoc which befell the great mer- 
 cantile houses of Hamburgh. Within 
 the space of only a few weeks, some 
 one hundred and thirty-six failures oc- 
 curred, amounting to no less a total 
 than fifteen million dollars, and crip- 
 pled or prostrated every branch of busi- 
 ness and business connection. The 
 largest of these failures was that of 
 Messrs. De Dabbeler & Hesse, for an 
 immense amount ; the next, that of J. 
 T>. Rodde. Of all the rest, only three 
 were enabled, afterward, to resume 
 payment and fully satisfy their credi- 
 tors. 
 
 During this convulsive state of the 
 Hamburgh Bourse, the London Ex- 
 change bestirred itself, since merchan- 
 dise and bills of exchange could afford 
 no immediate relief, at a time when 
 discount had risen so enormously, and 
 merchandise had fallen thirty-five per 
 cent, in price, to render aid by cash re- 
 mittances, and procured fi-om Govern- 
 ment the use of the frigate Lutine, 
 which took on board over a million 
 pounds sterling worth of silver, and 
 sailed for the Texel. The anxiety with 
 which the arrival of this ship was look- 
 ed forward to was very intense ; as was 
 also the disappointment that followed, 
 when the terrible news came that the 
 frigate had been wTccked on the Dutch 
 
 coast, near the Texel, and lost, with all 
 on board except the third steersman, 
 who alone succeeded in saving his life, 
 and brought the disastrous intelligence. 
 Among the great houses which were 
 compelled to suspend payment at this 
 time, was that of the Brothers Kauf- 
 mann. It appears, however, that one 
 of these gentlemen, who had just mar- 
 ried, had presented his wife with a 
 ticket in the Hamburgh City Lottery. 
 The highest prize was one hundred 
 thousand marks-banco, or about thirty 
 thousand dollars. About the same time 
 the tickets of a lottery, to be drawn for 
 a prize of some thirty thousand dollars, 
 in the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg, 
 were put in circulation, and the win- 
 ning number was to be the same that 
 should draw the prize in the Hamburgh 
 lottery. Mr. K.'s bride had taken it 
 into her head to purchase the same 
 number as the one on her Hamburgh 
 ticket in the other lottery, and make a 
 present of it to her husband. They 
 were the winners ; and with the means 
 thus gained, the house began again 
 some time afterward, and completely 
 reestablished themselves. 
 
 Kentucky Banker who kept Besuming. 
 
 At the height of one of the feverish 
 runs upon the banks and bankers in 
 Louisville, Ky., a German banker of 
 that city, named John Smidt, found 
 that he had paid out all his money, 
 and that he was compelled to stop. 
 Instead of writing a card for publica- 
 tion, he frankly announced his suspen- 
 sion by a handbill affixed to his open 
 doors, in which he said he had no 
 money on hand, but expected in a day 
 or two to make some collections, and 
 that he would then resume payment. 
 Accordingly, in a day or two, another 
 handbill appeared on his doors, announ- 
 cing that he had collected some fifteen 
 thousand dollars, which he would pay 
 to those of his creditors who should 
 first call on him for it. This was soon 
 
THEIR LEGAL AND JUDICIAL ASPECTS. 
 
 409 
 
 paid out, and the first handbill again 
 displayed; and in a few days he an- 
 nounced that he had collected some 
 more money, which he was ready to 
 pay on demand. This frank and 
 straightforward course had the efiect 
 which was to have been reasonably an- 
 ticipated. His German fellow citizens, 
 seeing that John S. was in earnest 
 about paying his debts, and was not 
 disposed to higgle for an extension, 
 concluded he was a man who ought 
 to be sustained, and accordingly came 
 forward and deposited the sums they 
 had withdrawn, and induced others to 
 do the same thing. There was no long- 
 er any " run " on J. S. 
 
 Quaker Merchant's Thousand-Dollar 
 Fee to Mr. Webster. 
 
 A Quaker merchant doing business 
 in Nantucket, Mass., one day called 
 upon Mr. Webster, at his office in Bos- 
 ton, for the purpose of securing his ser- 
 vices in a suit which was about to be 
 tried on the island, and wound up his 
 application by demanding the terms. 
 
 " I will attend to your case for one 
 thousand dollars," replied Mr. Webster. 
 
 The merchant demurred, but finding 
 that the lawyer would not visit Nan- 
 tucket for a less amount than the one 
 specified, he promised to pay the pro- 
 posed fee, provided Mr. Webster would 
 agree " to attend to any other matters 
 that he might present during the sit- 
 ting of the court," to which Mr. W. 
 consented. 
 
 The appointed time arrived, and Mr. 
 Webster was at his post. The leading 
 case of his client was brought forward, 
 argued, and decided in his favor. An- 
 other case w^as taken up, and the Quaker 
 assigned it to the care of Mr. Webster, 
 when it was satisfactorily disposed of; 
 another still, and with the same result ; 
 and still another and another, until Mr. 
 Webster became impatient, and de- 
 manded an explanation : whereupon 
 the shrewd Quaker merchant remarked ; 
 
 "I hired thee to attend to all the 
 business of the court, and thou hast 
 done it handsomely ; so here is thy 
 money, one thousand dollars." 
 
 Salting- an Invoice. 
 
 Whek the " Dictionary of Commer- 
 cial Slang," comes to be written, it is 
 to be hoped that the lexicographer will 
 not forget to give due prominence to 
 the word " Salting," which is used to 
 describe a peculiar operation that is 
 sometimes performed on " the market." 
 In the report of a commercial trial in 
 one of the English courts, mention 
 having been made of one of the in- 
 voices involved in the litigation, the 
 defendant alluded to the custom of 
 salting invoices as very prevalent at 
 that time in the Australian trade. On 
 being asked the meaning of the term, 
 he replied that the price inserted in 
 the invoice is not the true price given 
 for the goods — it is a larger one, and 
 the goods in Australia are sold at an 
 advance upon the invoice price; the 
 invoice is shown to the customer, and 
 he believes the sum mentioned in it to 
 be the real price. This practice is very 
 common. The judge remarked that in 
 most criminal courts, such a transac- 
 tion would be called obtaining money 
 under false pretences. In answer to 
 this it was remarked, that the buyer 
 has the goods to examine, and that it 
 was a general custom. An English 
 writer, commenting upon this acknowl- 
 edgment, says, it is strongly to be sus- 
 pected that, according to the rules of 
 morality — which, however, by common 
 consent, are not supposed to apply to 
 trade — half the business in the nation 
 is carried on upon the principle of ob- 
 taining money under false pretences. 
 Nor is it to be wondered at, that when, 
 in old comedy, there comes in the clap- 
 trap about " the honor of the British 
 merchant" and the "integrity of the 
 British tradesman," there is a super- 
 cilious sneer from the boxes, a gentle 
 
410 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 giggle from the pit, and a lusty laugh 
 from the gallery. It has been common 
 to say that commercial rogueiy is con- 
 fined to the petty tradesman, and that 
 the " merchant princes " are quite above 
 anything of fhat sort ; but then, what 
 can be said of this " general custom " 
 among wholesale houses of " Salting an 
 Invoice ? " 
 
 Soliloquy of a Debtor. 
 
 " It must be confessed that my cred- 
 itors are singularly, peculiarly unfor- 
 tunate. They invariably apply the 
 day after I have spent all my money. 
 I always have to say to them, ' Now, 
 this is very provoking. Why didn't 
 you come yesterday, and I could have 
 paid you in full ? ' But no, they never 
 will. They seem to take a perverse 
 pleasure in arriving always too late. 
 It's my belief the rascals do it oa pur- 
 pose." 
 
 — « — 
 
 Disreputable for a Broker to be Hon- 
 est toward his Creditors. 
 
 A MEMBER of the London stock ex- 
 change, who fails and gives up his last 
 farthing to his creditors, is not, at least 
 by a considerable portion of the other 
 members, thought so favorably of as 
 he who takes care to make a " reserve " 
 for himself. An instance of this oc- 
 curred in the case of a person who used 
 to go among the members and act, as 
 it was supposed, for a party connected 
 with a large newspaper estate, and who 
 lost on one account fifty thousand dol- 
 lars. He paid the amount without a 
 murmur, but lost his credit from that 
 moment, and never afterward recover- 
 ed it ; for it was thought the payment 
 of so large a sum must have broken his 
 back, he being, in stock exchange 
 phraseology, but a " little man," that is 
 to say, of but moderate means. 
 
 But a still more striking illustration 
 of how integrity is regarded among the 
 fraternity, is afforded in the case of M. 
 De la Chaumette, a gentleman of for- 
 
 eign extraction. He had previously 
 been in the Manchester trade, but been 
 unfortunate. Being a man much re- 
 spected, and extensively connected, his 
 Mends advised him to go on the stock 
 exchange. He adopted their advice, 
 and became a member, establishing at 
 once an excellent business as a broker. 
 Not only did he make large sums in 
 the shape of commissions, on the trans- 
 actions in which he was employed by 
 others, but one of the largest mercan- 
 tile houses in London, having the high- 
 est possible opinion of his judgment 
 and integrity, intrusted him with the 
 sole disposal of an immense sum of 
 money belonging to the French refu- 
 gees, which was in their hands at the 
 time. He contrived to employ his 
 money so advantageously, both to his 
 constituents and to himself, that he ac- 
 quired a handsome fortune. Before he 
 had been a member three years, he in- 
 vited his creditors to dine with him on 
 a particular day, at the London Tav- 
 ern ; but concealed from them the par- 
 ticular object he had in so doing. On 
 entering the dining room, they several- 
 ly found their own names on the differ- 
 ent plates, which were reversed, and on 
 turning them up, each found a check 
 for the amount due to him, with inter- 
 est. The entire sum which M. Chau- 
 mette paid away on this occasion, and in 
 this manner, was one hundred and fifty 
 thousand dollars. Next day he went 
 into the exchange as usual ; but such 
 was the feeling entertained of his con- 
 duct, that many members refused to do 
 a bargain with him to the extent of a 
 single thousand. They looked on his 
 payment of the claims of his former 
 creditors as a foolish affair. He even- 
 tually died worth nearly three million 
 dollars. 
 
 Advantage of Prison-Iiife to a French 
 Debtor. 
 
 An immensely wealthy French bank- 
 er, and formerly prefect of a depart- 
 ment, found his way to Clichy, the 
 
THEIR LEGAL AND JUDICIAL ASPECTS. 
 
 411 
 
 French prison, in this case, as in some 
 other notable instances, without com- 
 pulsion. He recognized the doctor of 
 the establishment as his physician in 
 former days. The doctor expressed his 
 astonishment at finding so great and 
 wealthy a man in such a situation. 
 
 " "What would you have, my friend ? " 
 was the response ; " I have a rent-roll 
 — rather a large one — but it had to go 
 to pay the interest on my debts. Now, 
 I receive it without deduction; boil 
 my own coffee in the morning ; an ex- 
 cellent femme de menage prepares my 
 dinner ; I have five or six capital fel- 
 lows to share it ; I spend the evening 
 in whist and punch — a jovial life, of 
 which I shall certainly not be tired for 
 five years. I shall then go abroad into 
 the world not owing a sou, and with- 
 out the disagreeable necessity of re- 
 ceiving my rents only to hand them 
 over to other people." 
 
 It is the commonest thing in French 
 society to hear men expatiating on the 
 delights of their " little boudoir in Key 
 street," Rue de Clef, the cant term for 
 Clichy, among all " choice spirits." 
 Another term is " the palace of debt," 
 arising from its gay courts, where flow- 
 ers, water, trees, and a well-swept lawn 
 afford the occupant amusement in the 
 sunny hour ; a joyous companion and 
 good cheer when the sun no longer 
 shines; a well-stocked library of ro- 
 mance, and the knowledge that all re- 
 straint will end in five years, without 
 the stigma of bankruptcy, or the dis- 
 tasteful gathering of creditors. 
 
 Easy Creditors. 
 As showing the anxiety on the part 
 of some men to " trade," it is stated that 
 there was a London tailor who used to 
 make periodical visits to Cambridge, 
 almost forcing his coats and trousers 
 upon every one to whom he had the 
 shadow of an introduction, charging 
 high prices and offering infinite credit. 
 One of his customers left the university 
 
 much in his debt, and the tailor lost 
 sight of him for years. At last he 
 found him and took the liberty to pre- 
 sent his bill. His quondam customer 
 fairly told him that he could not jDay 
 him. The tailor fidgeted, remonstrated, 
 threatened. What was the use? the 
 man had no money. At last the tailor 
 said, " Well, sir, if you will not give 
 me my money, at least give me an or- 
 der, that I may not quite have lost my 
 time." With this he was content. He 
 belonged to that class of tradesmen 
 who will furnish goods on credit when 
 they are morally certain of never being 
 paid. With these men " to trade " is 
 everything. If they can " do " a certain 
 amount in the day, they go to bed hap- 
 py, and lull themselves into forgetful- 
 ness as to how much of that amount 
 will ever be paid for — perhaps safe 
 enough, as they know after all, for the 
 profits on their genuine business are the 
 established and ample set-off against 
 all losses. That's it. 
 
 Hard Old Creditor. 
 The foreign papers mention that a 
 certain well-known speculator has been 
 trying to raise a loan of seven millions 
 on the Amsterdam Bourse. That sum, 
 however, large as it is, will not suffice 
 to get him out of his difficulties. Even 
 if it should enable him to extricate him- 
 self from the tight crack in which he is 
 placed, there will still be ' the devil to 
 
 pay.' 
 
 — » 
 
 Presenting- a Frivolous Bill against 
 Girard. 
 
 One of the greatest improvements in 
 the city of Philadelphia was that effect- 
 ed by Mr. Girard, in Second, below 
 Spruce street, where he erected a range 
 of stores and dwellings, and caused the 
 street to be regulated in such a manner 
 that it should no longer be a depository 
 of filth and waste matter. An incident 
 occurred in connection with this under- 
 taking, which strongly exhibited the 
 
412 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 character of the man. A lamp post 
 that had obstructed the progress of his 
 buildmgs, had been temporarily re- 
 moved to the opposite side of the street. 
 When his houses were finished, the in- 
 habitants of the neighborhood requested 
 that it might be replaced, which was 
 accordingly done. The expense of this 
 removal was fifty cents, which the 
 board of commissioners charged to Mr. 
 Girard, and sent in a bill for its collec- 
 tion. But he refused to pay the bill, 
 alleging that his buildings were for the 
 improvement of the city, and not for 
 his mere individual profit, which latter 
 was too small to be an inducement for 
 investing his capital in such a manner. 
 His best houses, he stated, did not 
 bring him in more than three per cent, 
 interest, and as he built for the benefit 
 of the city and the public, he contend- 
 ed that it was not just that he should 
 pay an expense which properly belong- 
 ed to the city commissioners and the 
 corporation, to whom he paid annually 
 an immense amount of tax, without 
 having, in a single instance, ever soli- 
 cited an abatement of assessments. It 
 was not the money consideration, Mr. 
 Girard said, he was contesthig, but 
 " the principle of the thing." " I will 
 give,," said JVIr. G., " thousands of dol- 
 lars to imj^rove the city, but I will not 
 submit to the exaction of one cent con- 
 trary to justice. You know I am an 
 American citizen; and what did we 
 tell the French, when they attempted 
 to degrade us by their exactions — ' mil- 
 lions for defence, but not a cent for 
 tribute ; ' so I say to you, Mr. Commis- 
 sioners, thousands for improvement, but 
 not one cent for taxation." The city 
 agreed to the payment of the frivolous 
 claim. 
 
 creditors, showing how the former 
 ought to be addressed by the latter. 
 For the benefit of those merchants and 
 gentlemen who are m the habit of being 
 pestered with importunities from trades- 
 men at home and abroad, a quantity of 
 oaths, translated into all the modern 
 languages, and due-ly classified so as 
 to meet any possible case, will appear 
 in an appendix to the work. 
 
 Important to Dunners and Debtors. 
 
 It is announced that a well-known 
 author— high authority in such matters 
 —is preparing a sort of " Conversation 
 Lexicon" for the use of debtors and 
 
 Dishonest Grocer Punished by his Son. 
 
 A GROCER of the city of Smyrna had 
 a son, who, with the help of thd little 
 learning the country could afi'ord, rose 
 to one of the highest judicial posts — 
 that of Naib, or deputy of the Cadi ; 
 and as such visited the markets, and 
 inspected the weights and measures of 
 all the dealers. One day, as this officer 
 was going his rounds, the neighbors, 
 who knew enough of his father's char- 
 acter to suspect that he might stand in 
 need of the official caution, advised him 
 to remove his weights; but the old 
 cheat, trusting to his relationship to 
 the inspector, laughed at their advice. 
 
 The Naib, on coming to his shop, 
 coolly said to him, " Good man, fetch 
 out your weights, that we may exam- 
 ine them." Instead of obeying, the 
 grocer endeavored to evade the order 
 with a laugh, but was soon convinced 
 that his son was serious, by his order- 
 ing his officers to search the shop. The 
 instruments of his fraud were soon dis- 
 covered, and, after an impartial exam- 
 ination, openly condemned and broken 
 to pieces. He was also sentenced to a 
 fine of fifty piastres, and to receive a 
 bastinado of as many blows on the 
 soles of his feet. 
 
 After this had been efiected on the 
 spot, the Naib, leaping from his horse, 
 threw himself at the feet of his father, 
 and watering them with his tears, thii-s 
 addressed him : " Father, I have dis- 
 charged my duty to my God and my 
 country, as well as to the station I 
 hold ; permit me now, by my respect 
 
THEIR LEGAL AND JUDICIAL ASPECTS. 
 
 413 
 
 and submission, to acquit the debt I 
 owe a parent. Justice is blind ; it is 
 the power of God on earth ; it has no 
 regard to the ties of kindred. God and 
 our neighbor's rights are above the ties 
 of nature ; you had offended against 
 the laws of justice ; you deserved this 
 punishment, but I am sorry it was your 
 fate to receive it from me. My con- 
 science would not suffer me to act 
 otherwise. Behave better for the fu- 
 ture, and, instead of censuring me, pity 
 my being reduced to so cruel a neces- 
 sity." 
 
 So extraordinary an act of justice 
 gained the functionary the acclamations 
 and praise of the whole city ; and an 
 account of it being made to the Sub- 
 lime Porte, the Sultan advanced the 
 Naib to the post of Cadi, and he soon 
 after rose to the dignity of Mufti. 
 
 Commercial Justice in Morocco. 
 
 A Jew had ordered a French mer- 
 chant in Morocco to furnish him with 
 a considerable quantity of black hats, 
 green shawls, and red silk stockings. 
 When the articles were ready for deliv- 
 ery, the Jew refused to receive them. 
 Being brought before the Emperor, 
 who administers justice himself, he de- 
 nied having given him the order, and 
 maintained that he did not even know 
 the French merchant. 
 
 *' Have you any witnesses ? " said the 
 Emperor to the Frenchman. 
 
 " None ! " 
 
 " So much the worse for 
 should have taken care to 
 witnesses ; you may retire." 
 
 The poor merchant, completely ru- 
 ined, returned home in despair. He 
 was, however, soon alarmed by a noise 
 in the street ; he ran to see what it was. 
 A numerous multitude were following 
 one of the emperor's officers, who was 
 making the following proclamation at 
 all the comers : " Every Jew, who with- 
 in four-and-twenty hours after this 
 proclamation, shall be found in the 
 
 you; 
 have 
 
 you 
 had 
 
 streets without a black beaver hat on 
 his head, a green shawl round his neck, 
 and red silk stockings on his legs, shall 
 be immediately seized and conveyed to 
 the first court of our palace, to be there 
 flogged to death." 
 
 Alarmed at this, the children of Israel 
 all thronged to the French merchant, 
 and before evening the articles were 
 purchased at any price he chose to de- 
 mand for them. 
 
 Peddler Matching: a Slieriff. 
 
 Theue was a sheriflf in Illinois, who 
 was rather " taken in and done for," on 
 one occasion. He made it a prominent 
 part of his business to ferret out and 
 punish peddlers of merchandise who 
 travelled without a license ; but one 
 morning he met his match — a genuine 
 Yankee peddler. 
 
 " What have you got to sell ? Any- 
 thing ? " asked the sheriflF. 
 
 " Yaas, sartin' ; what would you like 
 to hev ? Got razors — first rate ; that's 
 an article that you want, tew, Square, 
 I should say, by the look o' your laird. 
 Got good blackin' — 'fill make them 
 old cowhide boots o' yourne shine so't 
 you can shave into 'em, e'enamost. 
 Balm o' Klumby, tew— only a dollar a 
 bottle ; good for the hair, and assist- 
 in' poor human natur', as the poet 
 says." 
 
 And so he rattled on ; at length the 
 sheriff bought a bottle of the Balm of 
 Columbia, and in reply to the question 
 whether he wanted anything else, that 
 functionary said that he did — he want- 
 ed to see the Yankee's license for ped- 
 dling in Illinois, that being his duty as 
 high sheriff of the State. 
 
 The peddler showed him a docu- 
 ment, fixed up good and strong, in. 
 black and white. The sheriff looked 
 at it, and pronounced it " all right.'* 
 Then handing back the bottle to the 
 peddler, he said — 
 
 " I don't know, now that I've hougTit 
 this stuff, that I shall ever want it. I 
 
414 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 reckon that I may as well sell it to you 
 again. What will you give for it ? " 
 
 " Oh, I don't know that the clamed 
 stuff is any use to me^ but seeing its you, 
 sheriff, I'll give you twenty- five cents 
 for it, ef you raly dori't want it." 
 
 The sheriff handed over the bottle, 
 at the six shillings discount from his 
 own purchase, and received his change. 
 
 " Now," said the peddler, " I've got 
 a question or tew to ask you. Hev you 
 got a peddler's license about your trow- 
 sers anywhere ? " 
 
 " No ; I haven't any use for the arti- 
 cle myself,'''' replied the sheriff. 
 
 " Haint, eh ? Wal, I guess we'll see 
 about that pooty darn'd soon. Ef / 
 understand the law, it's a clean case 
 that you've been tradin' with me — 
 hawkin' and peddlin' Balm o' Klumby 
 on the highway, and I shall inform on 
 you — darn'd ef I don% now ! " 
 
 The Yankee was as good as his word. 
 When he reached the next village, he 
 made his complaint, and the sheriff was 
 fined eight dollars for selling without a 
 license. The Yankee was heard after- 
 ward to say, that " you might as well 
 try to hold a greased eel as a live 
 Yankee." 
 
 Old Scores Wiped Out. 
 
 A MOST extraordinary advertisement 
 appeared in the London Gazette of Oc- 
 tober, 1818. It announced to the cred- 
 itors of Boyle & Co., formerly of Love 
 Lane, Eastcheap, who were bankrupts 
 in the year 1772 — being a lapse of forty- 
 six years — that they or their legal rep- 
 resentatives might receive the entire 
 amount of their respective debts. The 
 total amount advertised was £5,500. 
 The lowest sum mentioned was a 
 glover's bill for 5s. 4d. ; the largest, a 
 banker's, for £920. The list of credit- 
 ors enumerated a curious medley of pro- 
 fessions, snuff merchants, tailors, haber- 
 dashers, shoemakers, &c. ; and one debt 
 was due a " Mr. Shakespeare, alderman 
 of the city of London, merchant." 
 
 German Delicacy in Paying and Re- 
 ceiving Money. 
 
 Some of the Germans— in their own 
 land at least — have a singular sensitive- 
 ness as to money ; that is, in the hand- 
 ling of it as a thing of transfer, they 
 often show a delicacy beyond the finest 
 instincts of other Europeans. For in- 
 stance, is a lady teacher of any kind to 
 be paid for a quarter's instruction, — is 
 it imagined that the gross and base 
 money is thrust into the lady's hand, 
 with the request superadded thereto 
 that she would count it ? Delicacy and 
 good breeding forbid I The party pay- 
 ing puts the unsesthetic and disgrace- 
 ful commodity into an outside tissue 
 wrapper — this again into an envelope, 
 and with the greatest delicacy slips it 
 into her hand while they are pleasantly 
 talking about something less demean- 
 ing. A reduced German lady, of the 
 best family and connections, who had 
 been compelled in this country to make 
 a profession of an accomplishment — 
 that of music — remarked that she was 
 never more inexpressibly shocked than 
 at the unceremonious manner of an 
 American gentleman, on the occasion 
 of her receiving, for the first time in 
 her life, her '' wages," at the end of her 
 first quarter. The cool, business-like 
 manner in which he took out hi^ huge 
 leather wallet, counted through the 
 bank notes, and handed her a crumpled 
 parcel, requesting her " to count it her- 
 self to see that all was right," well nigh 
 overcame her. 
 
 Response to a Tax Commissioner's 
 Dun. 
 
 The following curious return was 
 sent in by a supposed " public debtor," 
 to the " Commissioner for the Income 
 Tax, sitting in London : " 
 
 " I, A. B., declare 
 I have but little money to spare ; 
 I have 
 
 1 little house, 
 1 " maid, 
 
THEIR LEGAL AND JUDICIAL ASPECTS. 
 
 416 
 
 2 little boys, 
 
 2 " trade, 
 
 2 " land, 
 
 2 " money to command ; 
 
 Rather 2 little is my little all 
 
 2 supply with comfort my little squall 
 
 And 2 little to pay taxes at all. 
 
 By this you see 
 
 I have children three 
 
 Depending on me — 
 
 A. B." 
 
 Is it Lawful to Dun a Debtor P 
 
 In one of the criminal courts of Bos- 
 ton, some time ago, a man was brought 
 up on a charge of being a disturber of 
 the peace, in consequence of his repeat- 
 edly dunning a debtor, much to the 
 annoyance of the latter, and the dunner 
 was fined. From this sentence, how- 
 ever, the mulcted and surprised creditor 
 appealed, and in the due course of the 
 docket, the case came up before the 
 municipal court. The judge, in the 
 latter tribunal, ruled that a creditor 
 might dun his debtor for payment as 
 often as he saw fit, unless his proceed- 
 ings were of such a nature as to create 
 public disturbance, — a decision not 
 very comforting to debtors who dislike 
 " disturbance " of a private nature ! 
 
 Politeness in Dunning-. 
 
 An old gentleman had owed a firm 
 for years ; at last, after everybody's pa- 
 tience and temper were absolutely ex- 
 hausted, a new clerk, named Frank, 
 undertook to get the money. 
 
 Frank called upon the gentleman, and 
 met with a polite reception, and the 
 usual answer, with the addition : " You 
 need not trouble yourself, young man, 
 about the matter ; I will make it all 
 right." 
 
 " Oh, no," replied Frank, " I could 
 not think for a moment of compelling 
 you to call at the store for a few dol- 
 lars. It will not be the slightest incon- 
 venience for me to step in, as I pass 
 
 your place of business six times a day, 
 to and from my meals, and I can call 
 every time I go by." 
 
 " Here," said the old fellow to his 
 bookkeeper, alarmed at the prospect of 
 being dunned six times a day for the 
 next six months, " pay this impertinent 
 rascal. He can beat me in politeness, 
 and, if he wants a situation, I will give 
 him two thousand dollars a year." 
 
 Sprot, tlie Banker, and the Patrician 
 Debtor. 
 
 Mark Sprot was one of the greatest 
 capitalists in England, and his name is 
 associated with many a refreshing anec- 
 dote — for in business matters he was 
 always as lively as an eel in a frying 
 pan. On one occasion a broker applied 
 to Mr. Sprot, and with great sorrow 
 told him that he was a ruined man. 
 Mr. Sprot was surprised, for he knew 
 the man was careful, industrious, and 
 not likely to speculate. He asked the 
 cause, and the broker replied that he 
 had been employed largely by a princi- 
 pal, who, the prices having gone against 
 him, had refused to pay his losses. 
 Mr. Sprot immediately inquired his 
 name ; and on being told it was a no- 
 ble earl, of whose resources he was well 
 aware, could scarcely believe he heard 
 correctly. 
 
 He knew the noble debtor to be in 
 possession of large landed estates ; and, 
 when informed that his lordship had 
 thus refused to give any reason except 
 that it was not convenient, Mr. Sprot 
 told his visitor not to be alanned, that 
 he would not press his claim, and con- 
 cluded by making an arrangement with 
 him to visit his lordship. 
 
 Together they went, and were received 
 with patrician dignity. Mr. S. deliber- 
 ately detailed the business he had in 
 hand, and received the cool reply that 
 it was not convenient to pay. But the 
 wide-awake jobber was not a man to 
 bow or cringe before rank, unless ac- 
 companied by worth ; and Sprot there- 
 
416 
 
 COMMERCIAL AXD BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 fore unhesitatingly declared, that if the 
 account was not settled by a certain 
 hour next day, he would post his lord- 
 ship as a defaulting debtor. The latter 
 grew alarmed, and attempted to con- 
 ciliate ; but the conference closed with 
 the repeated determination of Sprot to 
 post the delinquent. Long before the 
 hour appointed, however, his lordship's 
 solicitor waited on the broker to ar- 
 range the payment of the debt. 
 
 Two Aspects of Trade. 
 
 Trade is a very legitimate mode. 
 It consists in buying at one price, and 
 selling at another. But of tradesmen 
 there are two kinds — both observing 
 the said mode or rule, yet with a differ- 
 ence. For example : One buys his 
 wares and sells them at a profit ; while 
 the other sells them at a loss, and yet, 
 strange to say, is generally the most 
 thriving man of the two ! getting rap- 
 idly rich in spite of his debts and 
 bankruptcies, while the former only 
 becomes " respectable and pays his 
 way." One in fact hatches his chick- 
 ens by the old and tedious, though na- 
 tural mode of incubation — the other 
 by steam ! 
 
 Borrowinir Money ; or, Doing: Business 
 on Credit: P. C. Brooks's Idea. 
 
 It was a principle with Peter C. 
 Brooks, never, himself, to borrow mon- 
 ey. It is true, when starting in his 
 career, he obtained a moderate loan, 
 but this was under circumstances of a 
 very peculiar nature, resembling less a 
 business loan than a friendly advance- 
 ment, made by a person in years to a 
 young man entering life, and standing, 
 pro tanto, in a filial relation to the lend- 
 er. It is believed that, with this ex- 
 ception, Mr. Brooks's name was never 
 subscribed to a note of hand. "What 
 he could not compass by present means 
 was to him interdicted. Equally in- 
 vincible was his objection to becoming 
 responsible by endorsements for the 
 
 obligations of others. Without deny- 
 ing the necessity, in active trade, of an- 
 ticipating the payment of business pa- 
 per, he shunned every transaction, how- 
 ever brilliant the promise of future 
 gain, which required the use of bor- 
 rowed means. 
 
 Trading for Heady Money. 
 
 Experience would seem to bear 
 abundant testimony to the value of 
 the principle of trading only for ready 
 money. If we begin with Holland, we 
 find that bargains in that country were, 
 in its better days, almost always made 
 for ready money, or for so short a date 
 as six weeks or two months. Profits 
 were small in their ratio, but the quick- 
 ness of their return made them even- 
 tually large. Failures were rare, even 
 in so distressing an era as the occupa- 
 tion of the country by the French, 
 which involved from the outset a stop- 
 page of maritime intercourse with all 
 their possessions in India and America. 
 The consequence of this stoppage was a 
 decay of trade, a suspension of various 
 undertakings, a scarcity of work, a de- 
 pressing dulness in the sale of goods — 
 all tending, in the first instance, to 
 diminish income, and eventually to en- 
 croachment on capital. But amidst all 
 this distress, the failures were surpris- 
 ingly few — fewer, indeed, than occur in 
 other countries, in any ordinary season. 
 Another example, equally to the point, 
 was the state of France, after the 
 double invasion of 1814 and 1815. 
 There prevailed, at that time, a general 
 discouragement among the upper ranks, 
 and a great deal of wretchedness among 
 the lower, trade being at a stand, and 
 stocks of goods lying unsold in shops 
 or workhouses for years; still bank- 
 ruptcy was very rare. 
 
 Colloquy in a Dry Goods Jobbing 
 
 Store. 
 If the reader has ever had the privi- 
 lege of the inner sanctum of a large dry 
 
THEIR LEGAL AND JUDICIAL ASPECTS. 
 
 417 
 
 goods jobbing house in Boston or New 
 York, he will recognize the following 
 colloquy as no uncommon occurrence. 
 Let it be understood as taking place 
 between a merchant and his confiden- 
 tial clerk : 
 
 Merchant. — Mr. Jones, how about 
 our customers, Holfast and Driver, do 
 they pay us promptly ? 
 
 Jones. — A little behind, sir. Ex- 
 tended their last note. 
 
 Merchant.— How much do they 
 owe, Mr. Jones, and when due ? 
 
 Jones. — Two thousand dollars, su', 
 and all coming due within sixty days. 
 
 Merchant. — They have sometimes 
 asked for an introduction to other 
 houses when it was not convenient. 
 Advise them now, however, Mr. Jones, 
 to extend their acquaintance, and give 
 them leave to refer to us. Say to in- 
 quirers, that we have had the utmost 
 confidence in them, and have always 
 sold them all we could. I think, Mr. 
 Jones, that in this way they may last 
 until we get our pay. 
 
 This is a pretty fair illustration of 
 the credit system. 
 
 "Died of a Street Debt." 
 
 " No, sir 1 he did not die of cholera 
 at aU ! He died of brokers, sir," said a 
 man to another in the streets of Bufi'alo. 
 " He projected an unwise improvement 
 of a piece of real estate, made loans, 
 covered himself with bonds and mort- 
 gages, and finally incurred ^a street 
 deW of two thousand dollars, which 
 rapidly rolled up to eight thousand, 
 and crushed the life right out of him. 
 He borrowed Canada money ' on call,' 
 to be paid in current funds ; got paper 
 discounted, payable in seven days, in 
 the city of New York ; borrowed Ohio 
 and Kentucky currency for one day, 
 returnable in notes of Bufi'alo banks ; 
 ' shinned it ' from street to street, and 
 friend to friend, to keep the debt ahead 
 of him. Why, sir, I couldn't sit down 
 to consult with him, or to do any kind 
 37 
 
 of business with him, with the least as- 
 surance that he would not jump up 
 suddenly to go out and give another 
 shave to that accursed debt. The 
 memorandum book of his obligations, 
 was always in his bosom ; and, sir, it 
 durned to the poor man's heart! He 
 was owned by brokers. He uorTced for 
 them — limd for them — died for them. 
 He did not die of cholera at all, sir. 
 He DIED OF a street debt, upon 
 which he had expended his strength 
 every week, in throwing it ahead from 
 one day to seven days 1 " 
 
 Keply to a Dtmning: Epistle. 
 
 The following cool passages are con- 
 tained in a letter from a " gentleman " 
 to his tailor, Mr. Stitchington, in reply 
 to an epistle asking him for " the 
 amount of his bill : " 
 
 "Is it indeed five years that I have 
 ' graced your books ? ' How fleet is 
 life ! It scarcely appeared to me as 
 many months. Although I have never 
 given you a note for the amount, how 
 have the years passed by ! You will 
 guess my meaning, when I assure you 
 it is a theory of mine that the ' wings 
 of time ' are no other than two large 
 notes, duly drawn and accepted. With 
 these, he brings his three, six, or nine 
 months into as many weeks. He is 
 continually wasting the sand from his 
 glass, drying the wet ink of promissory 
 notes. But let me not moralize. 
 
 " You want money, you say, Mr. 
 Stitchington. As I am in the like pre- 
 dicament, you are in a capital condition 
 to sympathize with me. You say, ' you 
 never recollect so bad a season as the 
 present.' Of course not : no tailor ever 
 did. The present season is invariably 
 the worst of the lot, no matter how bad 
 the others may have been. It says 
 much for the moral and physical 
 strength of tailors, to see them still 
 flourishing on from worse to worse: 
 they really seem, like churchyard grass, 
 to grow fat and rank upon decay. 
 
•418 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 " You touchingly observe, ' that pres- 
 ent profits do not pay for taking down 
 the shutters.' My good sir, then why 
 proceed in a ruinous expense ? In the 
 name of prudence, why not keep them 
 constantly up ? 
 
 " You say, ' you never press a gentle- 
 man.' Now, in familiar phrase, we 
 never ' press a lemon ; ' but then we 
 squeeze it, most inexorably. That men 
 should go into bankruptcy, yet live and 
 laugh afterward, is great proof of the 
 advancing philosophy of our times. A 
 Roman tailor, incapable of meeting his 
 debts, would, heathen-like, have fallen 
 upon his own needle, or hung himself. 
 
 "P. S. — My humanity suggests this 
 advice to you: Don't go to any law 
 expenses, as your letter found me mak- 
 ing up my schedule. An odd coinci- 
 dence — I had just popped down your 
 name as your letter arrived ! " 
 
 liOrd Mansfield's Mercantile Cases in 
 Court. 
 
 The learned and brilliant peer, as 
 well as preeminent jurist, Lord Mans- 
 field — great must he always be in the 
 respect of the merchant, for he may be 
 said to have built up the present won- 
 derful system of commercial law — was 
 in the habit of personally consulting 
 with merchants, when he had doubts 
 in any of the mercantile trials in which 
 he was engaged. In a reported case 
 of this nature — upon adjustment — he is 
 made to say : " As I expected the other 
 cause would be tried, I thought a good 
 deal upon the point, and endeavored 
 to get what assistance I could, by con- 
 versing with some business gentlemen 
 of experience in adjustments." 
 
 CurioTis Suit against a Bank Ag-ent. 
 
 One of those singular actions for 
 false imprisonment, which now and 
 then occur in mercantile as well as in 
 other circles, was once brought against 
 an agent of the Bank of England. It 
 appeared that the plaintijQT had paid 
 
 away a one-pound bank note, which 
 was pronounced by the bank to be a 
 forgery. Having by a little stratagem 
 afterward got possession of the note, 
 the plaintiflf paid the amount, and, 
 upon refusing to deliver up the forged 
 note, he was taken before a magistrate 
 on a charge of having a note in his 
 possession, knowing it to be forged 
 and counterfeit. On the evidence of 
 the agent, or bank inspector, and at his 
 instance, the plaintifi" was committed to 
 prison, and after three days' confine- 
 ment was released on bail, to appear 
 when called on. At the expiration of 
 twelve months, not having been called 
 on, he brought his action, when, strange 
 to relate, the note was proved to be a 
 genuine Bank of England one-pound 
 note ! The jury immediately brought 
 in a verdict of one hundred pounds 
 damages in his favor. 
 
 "Something: or Nothing— and that 
 Very Quick!" 
 
 The art of dunning is not usually 
 reckoned among the fine or polite arts. 
 Indeed, there are no rules on the sub- 
 ject, as each case must be managed by 
 itself, the success of various expedients 
 being very much " as you light upon 
 chaps." At times, a lucky accident 
 brings the money out of a slow debtor, 
 after the manner following: A mer- 
 chant, who was nervous and irritable, 
 received a letter from a customer in 
 the country begging for more time. 
 Turning to one of his counting-room 
 clerks, he says : " Write to this man 
 immediately." "Yes, sir; what shall 
 I say ? " The merchant was pacing the 
 office, and repeating the order, " Write 
 to him at once." " Certainly, sir ; what 
 do you wish me to say ? " The merchant 
 was impatient, and broke out : " Some- 
 thing or nothing, and that very quick." 
 
 The clerk waited for no farther or- 
 ders, but consulting his own impression 
 of the merchant's meaning, wrote and 
 despatched the letter. By the return 
 of mail came a letter from the delin- 
 
THEIR LEGAL AND JUDICIAL ASPECTS. 
 
 419 
 
 quent customer, enclosing the money 
 in full of the account. The merchant's 
 eye glistened when he opened it, and, 
 hastening to his desk, said to the clerk : 
 " What sort of a letter did you write to 
 this man ? Here is the money in full ! " 
 " I wrote just what you told me to, sir. 
 The letter is copied into the book." 
 The letter book was consulted, and there 
 it stood, short and sparkling, and right 
 to the point: "Dear Sir, — Something 
 or nothing, and that very quick. 
 Yours, etc., ." And this la- 
 conic letter brought the money, when 
 a more elaborate dun would have failed 
 of the happy effect. 
 
 Benefit of a Doubt. 
 
 One day, during a period of general 
 business panic, a firm in Boston gave a 
 check to one of their creditors for 
 $2,000, which he presented at the bank, 
 where he was informed that it was 
 drawn for $500 more than stood to the 
 firm's credit. Having some little doubt 
 . of the solvency of the firm, he drew his 
 own check for $500, and deposited it 
 to the account of the firm, when he was 
 promptly paid the full amount. The 
 firm stopped payment the same day, and 
 paid but about thirty cents on the dol- 
 lar, but the merchant, by a little timely 
 gumption — availing himself, on the 
 spot, of that " little doubt " — obtained 
 seventy-five per cent, of his claim. 
 
 One of the Causes of Bankruptcy. 
 
 One fact is generally allowed to be 
 of more value than a baker's dozen of 
 arguments. Says a prominent New 
 York merchant : " I have particularly 
 observed, that those merchants in New 
 York who have kept their counting 
 rooms open on the Sabbath day, during 
 my residence there (twenty-five years) 
 have failed without exception." The 
 remark once made by an old gentleman 
 in Boston is precisely similar : " Men 
 do not gain anything in the end by 
 
 working on the Sabbath, though they 
 think they do. I can recollect men 
 who, when I was a boy, used to load 
 their vessels down on the Long Wharf, 
 and keep their men at work from morn- 
 ing to night on the Sabbath day. But 
 they have come to nothing." 
 
 Novel Trade-Case before a Prussian 
 Mag-istrate. 
 
 When the new government regula- 
 tions of trade in Prussia began to be 
 carried into effect, some years ago, 
 about all the different trades of Berlin 
 were suing each other, to establish what 
 occupations belong to one guild and 
 what to another. One of the most 
 recherche of these trade quarrels was 
 that between the barbers and the wig 
 makers. The latter claimed an exclu- 
 sive right, according to the statute, to 
 cut the hair of the public ; the barbers 
 insisted that their profession was not 
 limited to shaving. 
 
 The arguments on both sides of this 
 very comical case had to be formally 
 heard by the magistracy, whose judicial 
 gravity was indeed severely tried on 
 the occasion. 
 
 It was solemnly urged on behalf of 
 the barbers that, in the abstract, there 
 is no distinction between the hair of 
 the chin and the hair of the head ; the 
 form of the instrument used to remove 
 it did not affect the question ; whether 
 the operation was performed by the 
 razor or scissors was a matter of indif- 
 ference. The office of the barber was 
 to remove superfluous hair, wherever it 
 grew ; ergo, they had as good a right 
 to clip as to mow. 
 
 The wig makers, evading the abstract 
 question of right, represented that the 
 barbers do not confine themselves to 
 clipping, but comb, brush, trim, curl, 
 oil, wash, anoint, and otherwise dress 
 and adorn the heads of the customers, 
 and that these higher branches of the 
 art belonged of right to the wig makers, 
 who alone can legally create a chevelure ! 
 
 The barbers then rejoined by an ob- 
 
420 
 
 COMMERCIAL AXD BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 jection as fatal as that in the cele- 
 brated case of Shylock v. Antonio (in 
 Sliakspeare's Reports). They contend- 
 ed that the business of the wig makers 
 only began where that of the barbers 
 ended, when there was no hair left to 
 be cut ; with perfect baldness the head 
 became the property of the artist in 
 perukes, and at this point the barbers 
 were ready to abandon it, retaining 
 only a right of property in the chin. 
 The magistrates conceded the force of 
 this objection, and the barbers tri- 
 umphed. 
 
 < — 
 
 Selling: one's Body to a Creditor: 
 Marshal Badetzky. 
 
 The veteran Radetzky, who, it seems, 
 was constantly in debt, sold his body, 
 some time previously to his death, to 
 one of his creditors, a linen goods deal- 
 er in Vienna, named Barkfrieder. It 
 appears that B., who had acquired an 
 immense fortune from government con- 
 tracts for furnishing goods in his line 
 to the army, was desirous of obtaining 
 a position among the high dignitaries 
 of the city, and determined by a mas- 
 ter-stroke to accomplish his elevation 
 from the plebeian ranks. Radetzky 
 figured largely on the books of this 
 drygoods dealer ; and the latter offered 
 to cancel the obligations if the field- 
 marshal would place his body, after 
 death, at his disposal, to be buried in 
 his (B.'s) country-seat at Watzdorf, 
 promising, at the same time, that the 
 veteran's grave should be surmounted 
 by a handsome monument. Radetzky 
 readily assented, and signed a written 
 agreement to that effect. The old sol- 
 dier, consequently, now slumbers in the 
 grounds of M. Barkfrieder, whose coun- 
 try-seat has, on this account, become 
 the Mecca of princes, dukes, barons, 
 counts, and generals. The linen-deal- 
 er's scheme has been crowned with suc- 
 cess — members of the imperial family 
 and titled nobles have necessarily be- 
 come his guests, and he is a member of 
 the " court circle." 
 
 Losses among- Russian Merchants. 
 
 It is a remarkable circumstance, that 
 notwithstanding the fondness of Rus- 
 sian merchants for money, they never 
 take their losses very deeply to heart ; 
 no such thing ever happens as a bank- 
 rupt Russian trader putting an end to 
 his life — a catastrophe so frequent in 
 most other countries. This may be at- 
 tributed chiefly to the levity of the 
 Russian temperament, and partly to 
 this — that the Russian merchant, in 
 losing his money, does not consider his 
 honor as a trader and his credit as a 
 man at all affected, because for him 
 nothing of the sort exists. " Bog S^nim " 
 (God with them !) he says of his last 
 moneys, and begins " 8''I)ogom " (with 
 God) his card house afresh. There are 
 in St. Petersburg not a few Russian 
 merchants who have more than once 
 saved nothing from the wreck but their 
 red shirt and their kaftan, and yet 
 stroke their long beards again upon 
 'change as thriving men. Many of the 
 merchants of St. Petersburg who are as 
 rich as Crcesus, look like poor peasants. 
 
 English Stock Broker's Blackboard. 
 
 The origin of the blackboard — that 
 moral pillory of the English stock ex- 
 change—dates back to 1787. There 
 were, said a journal of that day, no less 
 than twenty-five lame ducks who wad- 
 dled out of the alley. Their deficiency 
 was estimated at one million and a 
 quarter dollars ; and it was upon this 
 occasion that the plan in question was 
 first proposed, and, at a very full meet- 
 ing it was resolved, that those who did 
 not either pay their deficiencies or name 
 their principals should be publicly ex- 
 posed on a blackboard to be provided 
 for such occasions. Thus the above 
 deficiencies— larger than had l^een pre- 
 viously known — alarmed the gentlemen 
 devoted to stock dealing, and produced 
 that system which is yet regarded with 
 wholesome awe 
 
THEIR LEGAL AND JUDICIAL ASPECTS. 
 
 421 
 
 "Immediate Relief." 
 
 During one of the panics in the 
 New York money market, the mer- 
 chants held a meeting in the Exchange, 
 to devise ways and means to extricate 
 themselves from their pecuniary diffi- 
 culties. The great hall was crowded, 
 addresses were made, resolutions passed, 
 committees appointed, and everything 
 done that is usual and practicable in 
 such cases. After all this, one of the 
 company moved that the meeting stand 
 adjourned until some future day, when 
 up jumped a little jobber in a great 
 state of excitement, and requested the 
 merchants to linger a moment, as he 
 had something of the greatest impor- 
 tance to communicate. The jobber 
 was known to be a very diffident per- 
 son ; and, as he had never ventured on 
 the responsibilities of speaking on any 
 former occasion, all were anxious to 
 hear what he had to say. " Gentle- 
 men," said he, with evident emotion, 
 and in the most emphatic, feeling, and 
 eloquent manner, " what's the use of 
 talking of some /z^^^r<3 day ? We want 
 relief, I tell you I immediate relief ! " 
 and down he sat, amid a universal roar 
 of laughter and cries of " Bravo ! " 
 But his speech was characterized by 
 one important element, not usually 
 forming a superabundant staple with 
 speech-makers — that of truth ; for the 
 next day he failed and went into bank- 
 ruptcy ! 
 
 Merchants' Wit on the Stand. 
 
 A MERCHANT who was Severely cross- 
 examined, in a case for debt, by Mr. 
 Dunning, the prosecuting counsel, was 
 repeatedly asked if he did not lodge 
 in the verge of the court ; at length he 
 answered that he did. "And pray, 
 sir," said the counsel, " for what reason 
 did you take up your residence in that 
 place ? " " To avoid the rascally im- 
 pertinence of dunning^"^ answered the 
 witness. This case is not imlike that 
 
 of Mr. Barnum, the showman, whose 
 bankruptcy brought him so often be- 
 fore the courts that, on one occasion, 
 when asked by a creditor's counsel 
 what was his present business, he an-, 
 swered promptly, " Tending bar, sir." 
 
 Erskine Sifting an Auctioneer's 
 Character. 
 
 An auctioneer in London, named 
 Spurrier, once brought an unsuccessful 
 suit against a Mr. Beard, to recover a 
 sum of about £230, being a charge of 
 one per cent, commission for selling an 
 estate. 
 
 Mr. Christie, another auctioneer, was 
 called as a witness for the plaintiff. 
 He said "he had been an auctioneer 
 upward of twenty-five years. The busi- 
 ness of an auctioneer consisted in some- 
 thing more than in making bows, and 
 in knocking down the hammer. It 
 required knowledge grounded on ex- 
 perience; a proper acquaintance with 
 all the circumstances belonging to the 
 estate, and the mode of preparing prop- 
 er advertisements to enlarge the ideas of 
 tlie publicy 
 
 Mr. Erskine, who was the opposing 
 counsel, said, in his speech, that "he 
 found the profession of an auctioneer 
 was infinitely preferable in point of 
 pleasure and profit to that of a barris- 
 ter, for the difference between the 
 charge of the present plaintiff and his 
 was as follows : Auctioneer^ cliarge — 
 'To a pleasant journey into Sussex, 
 where I was hospitably entertained 
 (out two days), £230;' Mr. ErsUne's 
 charge — ' To pleading from nine in the 
 morning till four in the afternoon, by 
 which I was melted down, by fatigue, 
 to the size of a silver penny, £10 10s.' '' 
 
 The counsel further said, if auction- 
 eers were paid the demand in question 
 on every adventure, they would be the 
 richest subjects in the nation. By en- 
 larging tlie ideas of the piAlic^ which he 
 found was the business of the gentle- 
 man of the hammer, he supposed was 
 
422 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 meant, representing an estate to be 
 worth £20,000, when it would only sell 
 for £10,000. 
 
 Nine Days in the liife of a Merchant. 
 
 A nine-days' diar;^ of a New York 
 merchant like the following is sketchy 
 reading (like all that comes from the 
 pen which wrote it), but, as many will 
 testify of the period to which it refers, 
 a stern and crushing reality : — 
 
 August 18th, 1857.— Refused dis- 
 counts at bank. Couldn't raise money 
 to pay duties, and obliged to make 
 over a valuable importation of goods. 
 Cashier says come again next offering 
 day. 
 
 21st. — Went, and saw matters ten 
 times worse. Saw the President, who 
 told me I deserved to be " pinched " for 
 importing so heavily, and that I 
 needn't come there again for six weeks. 
 Couldn't discount a dollar. Concluded 
 to call on B. and borrow a few thou- 
 sands. Found a note on my desk from 
 B., begging me to lend him some 
 money, or he would break. Tried C. 
 Same luck. 
 
 22d. — ^Pitched out at another bank. 
 Customer in, wanting to see that fresh 
 importation. Spent three hours trying 
 to borrow enough to pay the duties. 
 No success. 
 
 24th. — Ohio Life and Trust Company 
 failed. Tried to sell paper in the street 
 at three per cent, a month. No buyers. 
 Fortunate remittance from the West — 
 know the post-mark — Jones is a good 
 fellow. Draft $5,000— ori the Trust 
 Company ! 
 
 25th. — Note on collaterals due at the 
 bank. Couldn't get it renewed for a 
 dollar. Made temporary loan. Stocks 
 down twenty per cent. Best securities 
 unsalable at half price. 
 
 26th.— Loan called in. Begin to 
 feel choky in the throat. No appetite. 
 Tried to sell out my importation of dry 
 goods at twenty per cent. less. Nobody 
 any money to buy. Went home sick. 
 
 27th. — Resolved never to put myself 
 in the power of the banks again. Mis- 
 erable institutions. Spent the whole 
 day trying to borrow, and barely 
 escaped protest. My own notes stuck 
 in my face at three per cent, a month. 
 Overheard broker say, " You're a gone 
 man, if you can't take your own paper 
 at that price." Feel very much so, but 
 got to keep a stiff upper lip. 
 
 28th. — Four brokers failed. Times 
 worse than in 1837. Feet sore with 
 running about to raise money. Can't 
 collect a dollar from the country. 
 Everybody out on the same business — 
 all borrowers, no lenders. Desk full 
 of bills receivable, perfectly useless. 
 Specie line of the banks down to 
 $9,000,000. Wish I'd never seen a 
 piece of dry goods. Would have 
 been as easy as an old shoe if I had 
 not imported. I had no business to 
 build that new house; the old one 
 good enough. Ought to have been 
 content with the moderate things, and 
 lived on half the money Store rent 
 too high. Obliged to spread out too 
 much on credit to pay expenses. 
 
 29th.— Neighbor failed. Bank failed. 
 Friends call to ask if the rumor of ray 
 failure be true. Air black with foul 
 reports. Half past 2 P. M., account 
 withdrawn, and — notes 
 
 " Not Down on the BiU.' 
 
 Dr. Franklin relates the following 
 anecdote of Mr. Denham, an American 
 merchant, with whom he once went a 
 passenger to England. " He had former- 
 ly," he says, " been in business in Bris- 
 tol, had failed, in debt to a number of 
 people, compounded, and went to 
 America ; there, by a close application 
 to business as a merchant, he acquired 
 a plentiful fortune in a few years. Re- 
 turning to England with the ship with 
 me, he invited his old creditors to an 
 entertainment, at which he thanked 
 them for the easy compensation they 
 had favored him with ; and when they 
 
THEIR LEGAL AND JUDICIAL ASPECTS. 
 
 423 
 
 expected nothing but the treat, every 
 man, at the first remove, fouad under 
 his plate an order on a banker, for the 
 full amount of the unpaid remainder, 
 with interest." Besides a good dinner, 
 this last was an additional item not 
 down on the hill. 
 
 Merchant-like. 
 
 Some years ago, the extensive mer- 
 cantile house of S., B. & Co., of Boston, 
 found it necessary to suspend payment 
 of their debts, and to close up the busi- 
 ness of the firm. Their creditors, after 
 an examination of the concerns of the 
 firm, agreed to receive fifty per cent. 
 of the amount of their respective de- 
 mands, and release the house entirely 
 from their obligations. This agree- 
 ment was entered into by all the credi- 
 tors, the stipulated percentage was 
 paid, and the demands cancelled. 
 Subsequently to the failure of the 
 house, one of the partners died. The 
 surviving partner, however, proceeded 
 with undaunted and persevering energy, 
 to wind up the concerns of the old firm, 
 and to commence business anew, on his 
 own account. In his enterprise he was 
 prospered, and he then made a new 
 dividend of twenty-five per cent, 
 among all his creditors, upon the 
 full amount of their cancelled demands 
 against the original house, paying out 
 to them the aggregate sum of forty 
 thousand dollars, for which they had 
 no legal claim upon him whatever. 
 This payment was entirely voluntary 
 on his part ; and it was made not only 
 to individual creditors, but also to rich 
 corporations, by whom the loss would 
 not have been felt. 
 
 Example of Spanish. Mercantile Credit. 
 
 There is no public credit in Spain, 
 in the English sense of that term, but 
 there is real credit, for in Spain man 
 trusts man, A great traflSc was carried 
 on through the Basque provinces, 
 
 during the Continental blockade ; no 
 books were kept — the recovery of debts 
 by any legal process was impossible — 
 yet the traffic was distinguished by the 
 most perfect confidence, and entire 
 absence of failures or embezzlement. 
 This statement was confirmed by a 
 gentleman who managed the largest 
 English concern in the Basque pro- 
 vinces during the war. He had no 
 clerks. The goods w^ere disembarked 
 and put in warehouses. He could 
 keep no regular accounts. The mule- 
 teers came themselves to get the bales, 
 and all he could do was to tell them 
 what the bales contained, and to receive 
 their own note of what they had taken 
 in an amount of £300,000, and there 
 was but one parcel missing. Several 
 years afterward, a priest brought him 
 fifty dollars, which was the value of 
 the missing bale of goods, saying, 
 " Take that and ask no questions." 
 
 Debtor's Complaint in Court. 
 
 In an action of debt, tried before 
 Lord Mansfield, at Guildhall, the de- 
 fendant, a merchant of London, com- 
 plained with great warmth to his lord- 
 ship of the great indignity which 
 had been put on him by the plaintiff, 
 in causing him to be arrested, not only 
 in the face of the day, but in the Royal 
 Exchange, in the face of the whole 
 assembled credit of the metropolis. 
 The chief justice stopped him with 
 great composure, saying, " Friend, you 
 forget yourself; you were the defaulter 
 in refusing to pay a just debt ; and let 
 me give you a piece of advice worth 
 more to you than the debt and costs : 
 Be careful in future not to put it in 
 any man's power to arrest you for a 
 just debt in public or in private." 
 
 Profitable and Unprofitable Bank- 
 ruptcy. 
 
 Soon after the failure of C, S. & Co., 
 an eminent New Orleans house, the day 
 arrived on which it was to be declared 
 
424 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 how much they would pay on their 
 $700,000 liability. 
 
 " They will pay 25 per cent.," a clerk 
 was heard to say. 
 
 " They will be fools if they do," ex- 
 claimed his employer, an old man in 
 gold spectacles. 
 
 " I suppose, sir," he added, turning 
 to one who was near by, " that you will 
 think it strange that I should say so. 
 But they had better stow away all they 
 can. They can as well put away $200,- 
 
 000 as not, and the world will think 
 better of them for doing it. Their 
 honesty will not keep them from being 
 despised if they are poor. Look at my 
 own case," he continued ; " on the night 
 of the great fire in this city, I was 
 worth $200,000. The next morning 
 the contents of my store, worth all that, 
 were destroyed and only $9,000 insured. 
 
 1 gave up all I had in the world to my 
 creditors, including a home in Warren 
 street worth $30,000. Not a cent was 
 reserved. And was my honesty appre- 
 ciated ? Not at all. My poverty ren- 
 dered me despised. One man whom I 
 owed $6,000, which I paid, principal 
 and interest, called me a ' poor devil,' 
 though I paid him one hundred cents 
 for a dollar. That man, rich as he then 
 was, has broken to pieces, and paid 
 only twelve and a-half cents on a dol- 
 lar. There's my friend , who failed 
 
 at the same time I did, and saved $150,- 
 000 ; and there is neighbor , a simi- 
 lar case." And he went on and named 
 some half a dozen wealthy men, who 
 have got rich by bankruptcy ! 
 
 Said he, " They ride in their car- 
 riages, and here I am keeping this 
 little shop." 
 
 The reply was made to him that, 
 " to be in his shoes was much better 
 than to be in theirs, for conscious 
 meanness must mar all their pleasure." 
 
 " The world don't agree vrith that," 
 he rejoined bitterly. Probably, how- 
 ever, in his calm moments, he was con- 
 soled with the assurance that " the end 
 of the upright is peace." 
 
 "s Bonfire of Debtors' Papers. 
 
 It was a custom among the Jews, as 
 well as the Christians, to deposit the 
 securities on which they had lent money 
 in some public building ; and at the 
 general massacre of the Jews at York, 
 in the early j^art of the reign of Rich- 
 ard the First, the gentry of the neigh- 
 borhood, who were all indebted to the 
 Jews, ran to the cathedral, the place 
 where their bonds were kept, and made 
 a solemn bonfire of the papers before 
 the altar, thus destroying the evidence 
 of an immense amount of indebted- 
 ness. 
 
 Dunup's Distressing Failure. 
 
 The house of IVIr. Dunup is men- 
 tioned as among those which have sus- 
 pended payment, and a statement has 
 been made of its liabilities, which are 
 not large, though rather numerous. 
 Mr. Dunup's paper was in the hand of 
 his newsman, by whom it had been 
 held as security for a debt, ever since 
 it came into his hands, for binding. 
 Mr. Dunup's largest creditor — ^his laun- 
 dress — holds security in the shape of 
 two shirts ; but the realization of this 
 security cannot be effected in the pres- 
 ent state of the rag market, without a 
 sacrifice. Mr. Dunup's credit had been 
 a good deal shaken lately by his 
 knocker, which had been going inces- 
 santly for a whole fortnight. A credi- 
 tor had it in his hands when the sus- 
 pension of payment was announced — 
 through the letter-box. !Mr. Dunup 
 assigns "the state of matters in the 
 city " as the primary cause of his fail- 
 ure, at the same time complaining bit- 
 terly of the general want of confidence. 
 
 He had announced to his creditors a 
 hope that he shall soon be enabled " to 
 resume ; " but they say they " hope he 
 will not," and ask what is the use of 
 his "resuming," when his goings on 
 hitherto have never resulted in any- 
 thing but predicament. After all, Mr. 
 
BONFIRE OF DEBTOES' PAPERS. 
 
THEIR LEGAL AND JUDICIAL ASPECTS. 
 
 425 
 
 Dunup's affiiirs will be easily wound 
 up, for his watcli is understood to be 
 the only thing he has got remaining. 
 But, to show his integrity in endeavor- 
 ing to meet the demands upon him, it 
 is stated that soon after his attempt to 
 raise a loan at the bank, he retired in 
 some disgust to his private banker — a 
 pawnbroker — with whom he invested 
 his coat, and thus increased his stock 
 of bullion to the extent of three and 
 ninepence. 
 
 It is particularly hard upon Mr. Dun- 
 up, to have become a victim to the 
 general want of confidence, when he on 
 his own part gave an extraordinary in- 
 stance of confidence, which was as 
 universally appreciated as it became 
 known : — that is, such was Mr. D.'s 
 confidence in his own banker, that he 
 actually overdrew his account by two 
 and twenty shillings, as a delicate inti- 
 mation of his assurance that that firm, 
 notwithstanding the times, had a sur- 
 plus beyond their liabilities. 
 
 Bankruptcy of a Dealer in "Women's 
 Blacks." 
 
 "Women's blacks" is the term for 
 the common black worsted stockings, 
 formerly an article of very extensive 
 consumption; they are now little 
 made, because little worn. One of the 
 greatest wholesale dealers in these 
 " women's blacks," in an English man- 
 ufacturing town, was celebrated for 
 the largeness of his stock ; his means 
 enabled him to purchase all that were 
 offered to him for sale, and it was his 
 favorite article. He was an old-fash- 
 ioned man, and while the servant maids 
 were leaving them oft', he was uncon- 
 scious of the change, because he could 
 not believe it ; he insisted that it was 
 impossible that household work could 
 be done in "white cottons," staking 
 his judgment as a business man on this 
 assertion. Offers of quantities were 
 made to him at reduced prices, which 
 he bought; his immense capital thus 
 
 became locked up in his favorite " wo- 
 men's blacks ; " whenever their price 
 in the market lowered, he could not 
 make his mind up to put his stock low 
 enough to invite purchasers ; his ware- 
 houses were filled with them. When, 
 however, he at last determined to sell, 
 the demand had wholly ceased; he 
 could effect no sales; and, becoming 
 bankrupt, he literally died of a broken 
 heart — all from an extensive and un- 
 requited attachment to " women's 
 blacks," 
 
 Cool Operation. 
 
 Literally, one of the coolest opera- 
 tions known in the annals of trade, 
 will readily be accorded to that which 
 is here narrated. New England is said 
 to have but two native products, gran- 
 ite and ice, and this story pertains to 
 the latter. A gentleman long identified 
 with the ice trade, after some twenty- 
 five years of successful enterprise, 
 thought to enlarge his sphere of 
 knowledge and action by entering 
 into some other branch of mercantile 
 business. He soon became entangled, 
 however, by his relation to some un- 
 fortunate commercial houses, and 
 found himself a debtor to the amount 
 of two hundred and ten thousand dol- 
 lars. This must have given him more 
 of a chill than his ice-houses ever did. 
 But he knew that faint heart never 
 won either fair lady or other noble 
 prize. He told his creditors, therefore, 
 that if they would give him time, and 
 not hamper him at all, he would pay 
 the whole, principal and interest. For 
 thirteen years he labored for it, and 
 finally one day made the closing pay- 
 ment on two hundred and ten thousand 
 dollars principal, and seventy thousand 
 dollars interest. He did all this in his 
 old and original business, as the ice- 
 king of the globe. He sold his cargoes 
 in the great southern ports of the two 
 hemispheres, at low prices, kept rigid 
 faith, bought largely the needed store- 
 
426 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 houses in the various centres of the 
 trade, secured the lands around his 
 ponds, made friends everywhere, and 
 came out with an independent fortune, 
 and free from debt. Such was his gen- 
 erous policy that the English residents 
 of Calcutta presented him with a fire- 
 proof stone storehouse, as a token of 
 respect, and to retain him in that 
 market. 
 
 Iioxiis tlie Sixteenth and tlie Saddler's 
 Bill. 
 
 A Fbench bishop owed his saddler 
 ten thousand livres, of which the poor 
 man was not able to obtain a single 
 sou from his mitred debtor; but was 
 at length turned out of the jDalace by 
 his servants, when he went to ask for 
 the debt. The saddler, who was ruined 
 for want of his money, was obliged to 
 leave Paris, in order to avoid a jail ; 
 but previous to doing this, he called 
 on a relation of his, who was the king's 
 valet-de-chambre, to take his leave of 
 him. In stating his distressed situa- 
 tion, he spoke so loud that the king, 
 the amiable Louis the Sixteenth, who 
 was in an adjoining apartment, called 
 out to ask the cause. The valet made 
 the best apology he could, at the same 
 time hinting the cause of his friend's 
 distress. The king interrogated the 
 saddler, and immediately paid the bill, 
 taking a receipt for the money. 
 
 A few days afterward, the bishop ap- 
 peared at court. " I come, sire," he 
 pompously said, " to pay my duty to 
 your majesty." " There is another 
 duty," said the king ; " you must first 
 pay the duty of honesty." Then call- 
 ing for the saddler's receipt, he ordered 
 him to send the money within two 
 hours, giving him, at the same time, a 
 severe reprimand for eluding the pay- 
 ment of his traders' biUs. 
 
 "Debt" and the Contribution Box. 
 
 A MINISTER in Liverpool, preaching 
 a sermon in aid of an infirmary, among 
 
 other arguments to efiect his purpose, 
 naively observed, " Such was the im- 
 portance and excellence of the institu- 
 tion, that no man could possibly be 
 prevented from bestowing liberally, ac- 
 cording to his ability, but by some 
 positive distress of circumstances. Wlio- 
 ever, therefore," he added, "shrinks 
 from his duty on this occasion, must 
 be inevitably concluded to be in debt 
 — and therefore very excusable." The 
 result showed a remarkable degree of 
 solvency on the part of the worshippers 
 in that congregation. 
 
 Failures in Business. 
 
 The statement of which the late 
 General Dearborn, of Massachusetts, 
 was the author, some years ago, in re- 
 gard to the great number of failures 
 among business men, has had a world- 
 wide circulation. This statement was, 
 that after a most extensive acquaint- 
 ance with business men, and having long 
 been an attentive observer of the course 
 of events in the mercantile community, 
 he was satisfied that, among one Jiundred 
 merchants and traders in Boston, not 
 mare than three ever acquire independ- 
 ence! 
 
 So startling a statement as this chal- 
 lenged a careful investigation by several 
 intelligent gentlemen. One of these, 
 determined to sift the matter, says that 
 he called upon a friend, a great anti- 
 quarian — one always referred to in 
 whatever concerns the city of Boston — 
 who told him, that, in 1800, he took a 
 memorandum of every person doing 
 business there on Long "Wharf, and 
 that, forty years after (which may be 
 said to be as long as a merchant con- 
 tinues in business), only five in one 
 hundred remained. They had all, in 
 that time, failed or died destitute of 
 property. One of the directors of the 
 Union Bank — a very strong bank to 
 this day — also stated that the bank 
 commenced business in 1798 ; that 
 there was then but one other bank in 
 
THEIR LEGAL AND JUDICIAL ASPECTS. 
 
 427 
 
 Boston, the Massachusetts Bank, and 
 that the " Union " was so overrun with 
 business that the clerks and officers 
 were obliged to work until twelve 
 o'clock at night, and all Sundays ; that 
 they had occasion to look back, a year 
 or two ago, and they found that, of the 
 one thousand accounts which were found 
 to have been opened with them in 
 starting, only six remained ; they had, 
 in the forty years, either failed or died 
 destitute of property. Houses, whose 
 paper had passed without a question, 
 had all gone down in that time. An- 
 other informant, who had occasion to 
 look through the probate office a few 
 years since, was surprised to find that 
 over ninety per cent, of all the estates 
 settled there were insolvent. 
 
 It has been ascertained that not more 
 than one per cent, of the best class of 
 merchants escape from failing in Phila- 
 delphia ; and that not more than two 
 per cent, of the merchants of New York 
 ultimately retire on an independence, 
 after having submitted to the usual 
 ordeal of failure. These calculations 
 are based upon periods of twenty-five 
 and thirty years. 
 
 In Cincinnati, out of a list of some 
 four hundred of the principal business 
 men who were in trade in that city at 
 a certain period, there were only five 
 in business at the end of twenty years 
 from that date. Such is mercantile 
 success. 
 
 Grandest Instance of Debt. 
 
 The grandest instance of growing 
 debt upon record is that of the king 
 of Leon, mentioned by Mariana. Fer- 
 dinand Gonzalves had sold this prince 
 a falcon upon credit. The interest was 
 high, and it compounded itself in the 
 course of a few years into a sum so 
 enormous that the king was forced to 
 make over to Gonzalves his rights on 
 the kingdom of Castile to be quit of 
 the liability. 
 
 Quaker's Reply to Fordyce the 
 
 Bankrupt Banker. 
 When the great banker, Fordyce, be- 
 came bankrupt, or nearly so, through 
 his speculations, his efibrts to "raise 
 the wind " were earnest and incessant. 
 Among those to whom Mr. Fordyce 
 went was a shrewd Quaker. " Friend 
 Fordyce," was the reply of the latter, 
 " I have known many men ruined by 
 "two dice, but I will not be ruined even 
 by Four-dice ! " 
 
 General Jackson's Endorsement among: 
 Boston Capitalists. 
 
 Some twenty-five years ago, a mer- 
 chant in Tennessee became involved 
 and wanted money ; he had property, 
 and owed debts. His property, how- 
 ever, could not be made available just 
 then, and off he posted to Boston, 
 backed by the names of several of the 
 most solid men of Tennessee. Money 
 was then everywhere " tight," and Bos- 
 ton capitalists looked closely at the 
 names. 
 
 " Very good," said they, " but — but 
 do you know General Jackson ? " 
 
 " Certainly." 
 
 " Could you get his endorsement ? " 
 
 *' Yes ; but he is not worth one tenth 
 as much as either of these men whose 
 names I offer you." 
 
 " No matter ; General Jackson has 
 always protected himself and his paper, 
 and we'll let you have the money on 
 the strength of his name." 
 
 In a few days the papers with his 
 signature arrived. The moment those 
 Boston bankers saw the tall A. and 
 long J. of Andrew Jackson's signature, 
 the Tennesseean debtor found he could 
 have raised a hundred thousand dol- 
 lars upon it without the slightest diffi- 
 culty. 
 
 Legal Eccentricities of Commerce. 
 
 Some of the peculiarities of English 
 trade, in former times, are illustrated 
 
428 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 by the fact that the granting of monop- 
 olies, or the legal protection afforded 
 to exclusive companies, once obtained 
 an enormous height. Thus, the town 
 of Bridgeport, noted then for its rope- 
 making establishments, obtained the 
 passage of a law, which prohibited the 
 mystery of rope-making in its vicinity 
 to any save the townsmen. The city 
 of York was favored with a similar 
 monopoly in the article of bed cover- 
 lets. The city of London procured 
 many similar enactments against the 
 resident foreigners. The Fishmongers' 
 Company, one of the most influential in 
 that city, was protected by a law which 
 obliged all the queen's subjects to eat 
 fish twice a week for the benefit of the 
 fishers. The Capmakers' Company, 
 too, procured an ordinance, under 
 which every one, save ladies, knights, 
 and noblemen, were obliged to wear 
 woollen caps. These, and many simi- 
 lar arbitrary interferences with private 
 right, and the ordinary course of trade 
 — laws against crowding the city — laws 
 specifying the quantity of land to be 
 used for pasture — ^laws regulating dress, 
 etc.,— all these constitute what may be 
 called the legal eccentricities of com- 
 merce. 
 
 gave way to what his friend advanced, ! 
 
 without interposing his own view of [ 
 
 the matter. This hurt Mr. Addison so i 
 
 much, that he said to Mr. Stanyan : ; 
 
 " Either contradict me, or pay me the j 
 money." 
 
 Addison's lioan of Five Hundred 
 Pounds to Stanyan. 
 
 Addison and IVIr. Temple Stanyan 
 were very intimate. In the familiar 
 conversations which passed between 
 them they were accustomed freely to 
 dispute each other's opinions. Upon 
 some occasion, Mr. Addison lent Mr. 
 Stanyan the sum of five hundred pounds. 
 After this, Mr. S. behaved with a 
 timid reserve, deference, and respect ; 
 not conversing with the same freedom 
 as formerly, or canvassing his friend's 
 sentiments. This gave great uneasi- 
 ness to Mr. Addison. One day they 
 happened to fall upon a subject on 
 which Mr. Stanyan had always been 
 used strenuously to oppose his opin- 
 ion. But even upon this occasion he 
 
 Borrowing of Hicli Relatives. 
 
 Money may sometimes be borrowed. 
 This is very innocent ; but they are 
 doubly innocent who make advances, 
 and, besides, the lenders are a very 
 small body — so small, indeed, that 
 " one trial will prove the fact," as the 
 patent medicine venders phrase it. 
 Among relatives, especially, one will 
 find a great difficulty in obtaining or 
 extracting the " needful ; " they are 
 generally nervously tenacious of being 
 cozened. Therefore, " try it on " with 
 strangers; for, it frequently does hap- 
 pen, the less you are known the better ! 
 
 A poor cousin of a very opulent mer- 
 chant stood cooling his heels in the 
 outer office for two long hours, when 
 at length he was admitted. His dis- 
 tress, by the way, was genuine. 
 
 " Well, sir, what is it ? " said the rich 
 man fiercely. 
 
 "I am sorry to intrude upon you, 
 sir. I am really in great difficulty." 
 
 "No long stories. What do you 
 leant? Come to the point," and he 
 impatiently drew out his gold chro- 
 nometer. 
 
 "A fortnight's rent is unpaid — my 
 wife is ill, very ill — and they threaten 
 to turn us into the street." 
 
 " Well ? " 
 
 " A trifle, sir, would — " 
 
 " Pshaw ! I've nothing to give : I 
 have too many claims upon me al- 
 ready. I beg you will not trouble 
 yourself to call here again. I hate poor 
 people. Work, sir, work. I cannot 
 waste more time. I am going to 
 ' Changey 
 
 " The sooner the better," replied the 
 applicant; and, casting a withering 
 look of indignation at his opulent cou- 
 
THEIR LEGAL AND JUDICIAL ASPECTS. 
 
 429 
 
 sin, he was soon in tlie street. He was 
 a wit — as usual, however, a poor wit. 
 His cousin was a fool, but — a rich 
 fool. 
 
 Sometimes a little may be done in 
 tiie way of borrowing, by " I, O. U.'s," 
 and notes of hand, but the worst of it 
 is, that the debts one contracts in this 
 way render him liable, and creditors 
 will put him in that awkward position 
 which, at one tap, makes a man and his 
 circumstances on a par— being both 
 confined. 
 
 No Trust for Merchants in Small- 
 clothes. 
 
 Mr. Elias Hasket Derby, an old- 
 school merchant of Salem, Massachu- 
 setts, was once cheated by a merchant 
 to whom he had sold some merchandise 
 under circumstances that should have 
 ensured a better return on the part of 
 the customer. When the loss was as- 
 certained, he called his clerks around 
 him, and charged them not to trust a 
 man again who wore nankeen, small- 
 clothes in mid-winter, " for if he cheats 
 himself, you may expect he will cheat 
 you." A few weeks afterward, one of 
 the first merchants of Boston drove 
 down to Salem, while Mr. Derby was 
 absent, to buy an invoice of goods ; but 
 the clerks observing his dress, and tak- 
 ing Mr. Derby at his word, refused to 
 trust him a single dollar, and he re- 
 turned without his merchandise. His 
 anger was appeased when he discovered 
 what part of his costume had destroyed 
 his credit. 
 
 Portunate Debtor— Washingrton as a 
 Creditor. 
 
 One Reuben Rouzy, of Virginia, owed 
 General Washington about one thou- 
 sand pounds. 
 
 While President of the United States, 
 one of his agents brought an action for 
 the money; judgment was obtained, 
 and execution issued against the body 
 of the defendant, who was taken to 
 jail. He had a considerable landed 
 
 estate, but this kind of property cannot 
 be sold in Virginia for debts, unless at 
 the discretion of the person. He had 
 a large family, and for the sake of his 
 children preferred lying in jail to sell- 
 ing his land. A friend hinted to him 
 that probably Gleneral Washington did 
 not know anything of the proceeding, 
 and that it might be well to send him 
 a petition, with a statement of the cir- 
 cumstances. He did so, and the very 
 next post from Philadelphia, after the 
 arrival of his petition in that city, 
 brought him an order for his immediate 
 release, and a severe reprimand to the 
 agent for having acted in such a man- 
 ner. 
 
 Poor Rouzy was, in consequence, re- 
 stored to his family, who never laid 
 down their heads at night without a 
 prayer for their " beloved Washington." 
 
 The labors of the grateful family 
 prospered, and in a few years Rouzy 
 enjoyed the exquisite pleasure of ten- 
 dering to his gracious benefactor the 
 one thousand pounds with interest. 
 Washington reminded him that the 
 debt was discharged; Rouzy replied 
 that the debt of his family to the father 
 of their country and preserver of their 
 parent could never be discharged ; and 
 the general, to avoid the pressing im- 
 portunity of the grateful Virginian, 
 who would not be denied, accepted 
 the money — only, however, with the 
 secret intention to divide it among 
 Rouzy's children, which he immediately 
 did. 
 
 Indian's Idea of Imprisonment for 
 Debt. 
 
 The reply of the Oneida Indian to a 
 person who was showing him a trader 
 in prison for debt in a county jail, is 
 perhaps more to the point than the 
 most learned essays on the subject it 
 involves. " What had him to do ? " 
 asked the Indian. " He couldn't pay 
 his skins," said the other, alluding to 
 the Indian's currency, at that time, of 
 furs, "jffd catch no skin locked up in 
 
430 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 Jiouse,''^ was the ready and unanswer- 
 able reply of the Indian " savage." It 
 is stated that Whittier based his well- 
 known production, '^ Prisoner for Debt," 
 upon the fact that a man who had 
 fought in four battles of the Revolution 
 was in confinement within plain sight 
 of Bunker Hill battle ground, on a 
 fourth of July, for a debt of fourteen 
 dollars ! 
 
 " Gave his Note." 
 
 A GENTLEMAN was about entering a 
 drygoods shop on Broadway, when a 
 young buck, with a large moustache 
 and small income, but born like Jaffier 
 with " elegant desires," drove up a pair 
 of spanking bays, glittering with their 
 
 splendid caparison. " Ah, G ," said 
 
 he, " how de do ? How d'you like me 
 ho'ses ? Fine animals, but very costly. 
 What d'you think I gave for the pair ? " 
 " I guess you gave your note,''^ said G. 
 " Good mawning ! " responded the 
 blood, putting the mettle of his " ho'ses " 
 to the test ; " good mawning 1 " 
 
 Giving Credit To-Morrow. 
 
 A COMMON inscription in front of the 
 Neapolitan wine and maccaroni houses 
 is : " Domani si fa credenza ma aggi 
 no " — or, " To-morrow we give credit, hut 
 not to-dayy 
 
 Frodsham's Watch Cheat. 
 
 Mr. Gant, a celebrated London 
 watchmaker, had long manufactured 
 watches for the markets of Constan- 
 tinople and other places in the Levant; 
 and his watches had acquired great 
 repute there, and a ready sale. They 
 were distinguished from all others, not 
 only by the names, but also by the 
 word cesendede (warranted) impressed 
 upon each in Turkish characters. It 
 appeared that, at the same time, Messrs. 
 Parkinson & Frodsham had manu- 
 factured and were exporting, together 
 
 with two other persons, who gave them 
 the order, a number of watches with 
 that distinguishing word upon them, 
 and made, also, in other respects, to 
 resemble and pass for Mr. G.'s watches. 
 Messrs. P. & F. essayed to excuse them- 
 selves by showing that they were not 
 aware that they had been counterfeit- 
 ing Mr. G.'s watches; that they had 
 been ordered to make a quantity of 
 watches for export, and to express on 
 them the Turkish characters in ques- 
 tion. They, however, argued that there 
 was no law to prevent them from affix- 
 ing the word *' warranted," in Turkish, 
 to their own watches, or limit the ex- 
 clusive use of it to Mr. Gant. It was 
 decided, on a suit being brought in the 
 case, that Mr. G. having long used a 
 Turkish word, in Turkish characters, 
 engraved upon the watches made by 
 him for the foreign market, where they 
 were in high estimation and enjoyed 
 great sale, had an exclusive right to the 
 distinguishing marks which he had 
 thus originated. 
 
 Foimd Goods. 
 
 It was one of the laws of Stagira, 
 that " no one shall take up what he 
 never laid down." Biblius used to say : 
 " It was a kind of blossom of injustice 
 to seize upon what was so found ; " and 
 in the practice of his life, never was a 
 man more scrupulously observant in 
 this respect. 
 
 Narrow Escape from Bankruptcy. 
 
 Some years ago, a New York mer- 
 chant had in his employment a young 
 man who robbed him of several thou- 
 sand dollars. It being impossible to 
 recover the money, he was allowed to 
 go unpunished upon his promise to re- 
 turn the amount stolen if ever he should 
 be able to do so. He was not heard 
 of until a long time had elapsed, when 
 a stranger entered the counting house 
 of his former employer. 
 
THEIR LEGAL AND JUDICIAL ASPECTS. 
 
 431 
 
 " You do not remember me," said the 
 stranger. 
 
 " No," was the reply. 
 
 " Did you not once have in your em- 
 ploy a young man by the name of 
 Thomas ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " What became of him ? " 
 
 " He left me about ten years ago, and 
 I have never heard from him since." 
 
 " Why did he leave you ? " 
 
 "No matter. It was a long time 
 ago." 
 
 " Was he an honest youth ? " 
 
 " I think he was naturally, but he 
 got into bad company, who misled 
 him." 
 
 " Had you confidence in him ? " 
 
 " The most implicit ; and I cannot, 
 somehow, help having confidence in 
 him still, and believe he will one day 
 return and pay the money he owes me." 
 
 " Here it is, principal and interest, 
 every cent of it, in current money ; I 
 have come on purpose to pay it ; and 
 implore your forgiveness for an early 
 crime." 
 
 " Who are you ? " said the merchant. 
 
 " Thomas " — he replied — " who rob- 
 bed you so many years ago, and who 
 has been fortunate enough, in his traffic 
 abroad, to honestly obtain the means of 
 returning to you the sum he had frau- 
 dulently abstracted from you." 
 
 This case derives additional interest 
 from the circumstance that, had it not 
 been for the receipt of this money, the 
 merchant, who was on the eve of bank- 
 ruptcy, must have failed in the course 
 of a few weeks. 
 
 Collecting: a Draft. 
 
 Grant Thorburn, in his " Life and 
 Times," records the following incident 
 in his business career — an incident, by 
 the way, very characteristic of that sui 
 generis type of the old-fashioned trader : 
 
 " In April last," says Mr. Thorburn, 
 " we received a letter from Mr. C, or- 
 dering about two hundred and fifty 
 
 dollars' worth of seeds and trees, and 
 stating that B, & Co. would pay our 
 bill. Before complying with the order, 
 we showed the letter to B, & Co. ; they 
 stated, that had the amount not exceed- 
 ed one hundred dollars, they would 
 have paid it, but being already consid- 
 erably in advance, they were not in- 
 clined to go further, but added, they 
 considered him a good man, and 
 thought we should be safe in trusting 
 him that amount. My son being anx- 
 ious to fill the order, I consented — the 
 goods and invoice were forwarded, but 
 receiving no answer for some six weeks 
 thereafter, we wrote to him again, re- 
 questing him to send us a draft on P. 
 W. & Co. ; still no answer came. One 
 day, during the cholera, about the be- 
 ginning of September, I picked up a 
 piece of paper from the floor, which, 
 ftom some words on it, brought the 
 matter to my mind, and I then told 
 my son I was anxious about the afiair 
 with C, and was resolved to stir in the 
 business; he, however, thought we 
 would better let it rest till after the 
 cholera, as it was probable Mr. C. 
 might be out of town, etc. But the 
 thing kept harassing my mind, so I 
 determined to see the Messrs. B., and 
 consult with them before the day 
 closed. I called at their office about 
 fifteen minutes past four, presuming 
 they would have returned from dinner ; 
 I waited some time, and they not re- 
 turning, I went home, drank my tea, 
 and resolved to call again, if spared, 
 next morning. But something in my 
 mind kept prompting me on ; so hav- 
 ing fifiished tea, I returned to the office, 
 and found Mr, B. alone, showed him 
 Mr. C.'s letter, and asked his advice. 
 He advised me to draw on C. at ten 
 days' sight, in favor of R. C, to give 
 the draft to him (Mr. B.), and he would 
 give it to C. to forward. I came home, 
 told my son, bid him take his tea, and 
 draw the drafts as soon as he went 
 back ; he smiled, and said he could not 
 see what made me so pushing in this 
 
432 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 business all at once. Says I : ' I can't 
 either; but something hurries me on, 
 so that I can't rest satisfied till I push 
 it as fast as I can.' The draft was 
 drawn that night, Next morning I 
 gave it to B., with an earnest request 
 that he would give it to Mr. C. to for- 
 ward by that day's mail. About a 
 month after, Mr. B. came into our store, 
 and told us a long story about the 
 failure of our debtor, and how much 
 had been lost by him, but added, * Tour 
 draft is paid., and paid too the very day 
 before he failed.' Next day, another 
 stepped in and told us the same story, 
 remarking : ' You are a lucky fellow, 
 Thorburn, for had not the draft gone 
 on that very day, I don't think you 
 would have got a cent.' " 
 
 Talleyrand's Promise to Pay. 
 
 One of the many creditors to whom 
 the great Talleyrand was indebted in 
 such he^avy sums, waited on him as he 
 was setting off on one of his last jour- 
 neys — not to take so vulgar a liberty 
 as to ask for the money which had so 
 long been his due, but merely to ascer- 
 tain any time, however remote, when 
 he might presume to ask for a part of 
 it. The diplomatist's only reply to the 
 inquisitive intruder was: "Monsieur, 
 vous ^tes bien curieux ; " and no one 
 but the diplomatist could have made 
 such a reply. 
 
 Taxing Bills and Receipts. 
 
 The great art of taxation is to get as 
 much as is possible, and to lay iluties 
 on those articles which are likely to 
 bring in the largest product. The 
 English stamp on receipts is all well 
 enough, but Punch declares that a 
 stamp on Mils would be much better — 
 for it has been ascertained that receipts 
 are rare in proportion to bills, there 
 being, at the lowest computation, at 
 least a thousand of the latter to one of 
 the former. If it were compulsory on 
 
 every tradesman to send in his bill to 
 his debtor upon a stamp, a much larger 
 revenue would be the result. Let any 
 one look through his private papers, 
 and he will find the preponderance of 
 bills over receipts to be very consider- 
 able ; and when it is remembered how 
 very large a class are never in the habit 
 of seeing a receipt at all, it seems a 
 piece of gross partiality to let the bur- 
 den fall on the paying part of the pub- 
 lic, while the dishonest man who never 
 settles an account — and never therefore 
 gives occasion for a receipt — contrib- 
 utes nothing to the public income. So- 
 ciety in general would also benefit by 
 the proposed change, for tradesmen 
 would not be so pertinacious in sending 
 in their accounts where there is no 
 chance of getting the money, if a proper 
 check in the shape of a stamp were to 
 be put upon the very obnoxious prac- 
 tice. 
 
 Getting an Injunction Dissolved. 
 
 Jacob Barker is a man who is al- 
 ways " up to time." On a certain oc- 
 casion, when his bank was unable to 
 meet punctually its engagements, a bill 
 in chancery was filed, enjoining all his 
 proceedings, of which proceeding he 
 got notice at two o'clock in the after- 
 noon. His impetuosity would not al- 
 low him to wait to receive a copy of the 
 said bill from the oflacers of the court 
 — in place of which, at his request, his 
 solicitor borrowed the original bill. 
 Mr. Barker took this home with him 
 to his country seat, and, after having 
 his dinner, segar, and accustomed nap, 
 he drafted an answer, reviewing all his 
 business transactions, ships, houses, 
 stocks, merchandise, etc., and took it 
 back to the city at daylight the follow- 
 ing morning, returned the original to 
 the clerk of the court, and placed his 
 draft in the hands of the said solicitor, 
 to be thrown into form and filed, which 
 was done, the document comprising 
 eighty folio pages. This answer under- 
 
THEIR LEGAL AND JUDICIAL ASPECTS. 
 
 43( 
 
 went a most searching investigation, 
 was sustained in every j)articular, and 
 the injunction dissolved. 
 
 Notes with and without Security. 
 
 Not "long, long ago," but during 
 pretty tight times, there lived in one 
 of the small river towns of Tennessee, 
 more noted for its bad whiskey than 
 its good morals, a " Creole of Jerusa- 
 lem." He retailed goods to country 
 customers. A bad paymaster had owed 
 said Creole for some years, and he de- 
 spaired of ever collecting it, although 
 the debtor was profuse in his promises 
 to pay. The chap owned some little 
 property, about enough to satisfy half 
 the debt. The Jew called on him one 
 day, and made the following proposi- 
 tion : 
 
 " Do you give me your note for half 
 the amount, and interest, with some of 
 your friends as security — it is a mere 
 form, you know." "Yes." "Then 
 give me your note for the other half, 
 and interest at twelve months, without 
 security. I know you will pay it, but 
 I want to get all my little matters in 
 right shape." Agreed to. 
 
 As soon as the Jew obtained the 
 note with security he put it in suit, and 
 obtained judgment on it. The note 
 for the other half he nailed the custom- 
 er's property with, and thus obtained 
 the whole debt, — one of those pretty 
 little operations in which the Israelite 
 always bears off the palm. 
 
 Celebrated Lawsuit among- Rival 
 Crafts. 
 
 An amusing but yet important case 
 was tried in the highest court of French 
 judicature, at the time when the rage 
 for elaborate hair dressing was so great 
 in that nation. The case was the uni- 
 versal topic of conversation ; and the 
 published proceedings were bought 
 with great avidity, being found on the 
 merchant's counting-house table, and 
 
 on the brilliant toilettes of high-bom 
 ladies as well. The cause was that 
 of "the coiffeurs de dames of Paris, 
 against the corporation of master bar- 
 bers, hair dressers, and bagnio keepers." 
 The latter generally dressed the ladies' 
 hair after bathing. 
 
 Those hair dressers, who presumed 
 to dress both sexes, in this case, main- 
 tained that it was their exclusive priv- 
 ilege to dress the ladies ; and, indeed, 
 they had several of their adversaries 
 imprisoned or fined. These, in their 
 turn, defended themselves, and claimed 
 that the exclusive privilege was in their 
 favor — because, first, the art of dressing 
 ladies' hair was a liberal art, and for- 
 eign to the profession of the maitres 
 perruquiers ; secondly, that the statute 
 of the perruquiers gave them no such 
 pretended exclusive right ; and thirdly, 
 that they had hitherto oppressed them, 
 and were therefore indebted to them 
 in considerable damages and interests. 
 
 That the case was conducted with 
 art and elegance cannot be disputed. 
 In his first division, the orator, who 
 made his clients speak in their own 
 persons, maintained that the art of 
 dressing the ladies' hair was one of the 
 liberal, aesthetic, or fine arts — comparing 
 it to those of the poet, the painter, and 
 the sculptor : 
 
 " By those talents," say they, " which 
 are peculiar to ourselves, we give new 
 graces to the beauty who is sung by 
 the poet; it is when she comes from 
 under our hands that the painting and 
 the statuary then really represent her ; 
 and if the locks of Berenice have been 
 placed among the stars, who will deny 
 that, to attain this superior glory, she 
 was first in want of our aid ? " 
 
 "A forehead more or less open, a 
 face more or less oval, require very 
 different modes ; everywhere we must 
 embellish Nature, or correct its de- 
 ficiencies. It is also necessary to con- 
 ciliate with the color of the flesh, that 
 of the dress which is to beautify it. 
 This is the art of the painter ; we must 
 
434 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 seize witli taste the variegated shades ; 
 we must employ the chiar' oscuro, and 
 the distribution of the shadows to give 
 more spirit to the complexion, and 
 more expression to the graces. Some- 
 times the whiteness of the skin will 
 be heightened by the auburn tint of 
 the locks, and the too lively splendor 
 of the fair will be softened by the 
 grayish cast with which we tinge the 
 tresses." 
 
 In another place, to prove that their 
 art has claims to genius, the coifleurs 
 de dames add : 
 
 " If the arrangement of the hair, and 
 the various colors we give the locks, do 
 not answer our intention, we have un- 
 der our hands the brilliant treasures of 
 Golconda. To us belongs the happy 
 disposition of the diamonds, the placing 
 the pearl pins, and the suspending of 
 the feathers. The general of an army 
 knows what reliance he can make on a 
 ' half moon ' (a term of the then fash- 
 ionable dress) placed in front — he has 
 engineers, who are distinguished by 
 their titles ; and we, with a sparkling 
 cross advantageously placed, know 
 how difficult it is for an enemy not to 
 yield. It is we, indeed, who strengthen 
 and extend the statelier and eternal 
 empire of— beauty." And then fol- 
 lows the felicitous peroration : 
 
 " Some rigid censurers will perhaps 
 say, that they could very well do with- 
 out us, and that, if there were less art 
 and ornaments at the toilettes of the 
 ladies, things would be all for the bet- 
 ter. It is not for us to judge, if the 
 manners of Sparta were preferable to 
 those of Athens ; and if the shepherdess 
 who gazes on herself in the glassy foun- 
 tain, interweaves some flowers in her 
 tresses, and adorns herself with natural 
 graces, merits a greater homage than 
 those brilliant citizens, who skilfully 
 employ the refinements of a fashionable 
 dress. We must take the age in the 
 state we find it. We feel a congenial 
 disposition to the living manners to 
 which we owe our existence, and while 
 
 they subsist, we must subsist with 
 them." 
 
 The coiffeurs gained their cause 
 against the perruquiers. The trial was 
 crowded throughout, not only by rep- 
 resentatives of the two trades enlisted 
 in the question at issue, but by a most 
 brilliant assemblage of wealth and fash- 
 ion ; and when the grave decision of 
 the court wa-s finally made, it was ap- 
 proved by rapturous applause. 
 
 This is decidedly one of the richest 
 cases of litigation between two oppos- 
 ing trades anywhere to be found. 
 
 Treatment of Insolvents by the Bank 
 of Eng-land. 
 
 As soon as an English house has 
 failed, the Bank of England picks out 
 the bills accepted by that firm, and re- 
 turning them to the house from whom 
 it has received them, demands instanter 
 the amount less the discount for the 
 time they have to run. As the law 
 does not recognize this proceeding, nor 
 furnish any means for compelling ac- 
 quiescence in the demand, it is quite 
 optional with the indorser to comply 
 with it or not ; but if he does not com- 
 ply, or makes even a momentary hesi- 
 tation in handing bank notes for the 
 undue bills bearing his indorsement, 
 his credit with the bank is ended, his 
 discount account closed, and the best 
 and easiest source of obtaining accom- 
 modation cut off. Under these circum- 
 stances, the unfortunate merchant will 
 make strenuous exertions to uj^hold his 
 standing in such an important quarter. 
 
 Rare Magnanimity of a French. 
 Creditor. 
 
 A RICH French merchant, doing busi- 
 ness in Lyons, wishing to befriend a 
 manufacturer in that city, advanced 
 him fifty thousand livres for goods 
 which he was to furnish. The manu- 
 facturer, soon afterward finding that so 
 far from being able to fulfil his engage- 
 
THEIR LEGAL AND JUDICIAL ASPECTS. 
 
 435 
 
 ment, he was in danger of bankruptcy, 
 repaired immediately to the merchant, 
 and acquainting Mm with the critical 
 situation of his affairs, returned the 
 whole sum he had received in advance. 
 " No," said the magnanimous merchant, 
 " you have made me your confidant, 
 but I should consider myself as an ac- 
 complice in your bankruptcy, if I were 
 to receive this money without the 
 knowledge of your other creditors; 
 therefore take it back — forget that you 
 are my debtor, and, if possible, pre- 
 serve your honor and credit. But if, 
 notwithstanding this, you are under 
 the necessity of giving up your effects, 
 enter me among the rest of your credit- 
 ors, and let me be paid in proportion 
 to the dividends they may receive." 
 
 Borrowers and Lenders : a Melangre. 
 
 The borrowers and lenders of money 
 form two classes, as simply distinct as 
 the dead and the living. 
 
 First in this throng is the licensed 
 lender, affectionately termed by the 
 grateful borrowers " uncle," whose ar- 
 morial bearings are Three Balls or, with 
 the well understood motto, 
 
 " Ex nihilo nihil Jit : " 
 
 for he never advances except on the de- 
 posit of a valuable security, in the tan- 
 gible and convertible shape of plate, 
 linen, wearing apparel, or other per- 
 sonal property, for which he delivers a 
 memorandum written on a miserable 
 specimen of pasteboard, two inches by 
 one and a half inches square, termed 
 a " duplicate," charging the moderate 
 interest of— well, twenty per cent. 
 Truly, he ought to be an excellent 
 chess player; for no one knows the 
 value of a pawn better than " mine un- 
 cle." From a " flat " to a flatiron, he 
 " takes in " everything. And thus it is 
 no stretch of the imagination to fancy 
 a literary man " pledging " Anacreon, 
 or " spouting " Cicero ! or an old woman 
 " raising the wind " upon a pair of bel- 
 
 lows — both these beneficiaries conge- 
 nially leaning over the same counter, 
 and mutually gazing upon the same 
 oUapodrida of " traps." 
 
 Then there are borrowers, whose real 
 and personal estate it would puzzle the 
 most expert to define or catalogue, who 
 condescendingly communicate their 
 need to a friend, abducting a certain 
 portion of superfluous coin in the most 
 off-hand manner imaginable, as if they 
 were actually conferring a favor. But, 
 although these " metallic tractors," or 
 rather sub-tractors, appear always quite 
 " at home," they are invariably " found 
 out," when their too easy friends " make 
 a call upon them." 
 
 The lenders, of course, are numerous, 
 or it would be impossible for the bor- 
 rowers to live ; and, notwithstanding 
 the vocation requires the utmost cir- 
 cumspection, is fraught with danger, 
 and bristles with the thorns of anxiety, 
 it is well known that most of these pe- 
 cuniary purveyors take a great interest 
 in lending ! With some, indeed, this 
 lending becomes a perfect passion ; and, 
 mixing as they do with men of no prin- 
 cipal, they frequently abandon their 
 own and are ruined, while the chorus 
 of the ungrateful and designing bor- 
 rowers is more curious than classical in 
 its strain— as, " The old fellow's ' done 
 brown,' " says A. " I always thought 
 him ' green,' " adds B. " He looks 
 ' blue,' at any rate, now," chimes in C. 
 " He's a ' gray ' old badger," declares 
 D. " He is," ejaculates E., " an extor- 
 tionate old hunks. I once borrowed a 
 cool hundred pounds of him, and he 
 actually deducted twenty-five pounds 
 for interest and commission." " Shock- 
 ing ! " cries A., indignantly. " Did you 
 repay the hundred pounds ? " inquires 
 B., with a dubious leer. " Repay ! " 
 replies E., "certainly not. Why, I 
 should have considered such an act a 
 downright encouragement of usury. 
 No, sir, I had too much attachment to 
 my principal, as well as respect for the 
 ' morals ' of society to do that." 
 
436 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 The advertising borrowers, under tlie 
 cabalistics of " C. D.," " Y. Z.," etc., do 
 this thing in a more business-like man- 
 ner. Thus, " Five pounds will be given 
 for the loan of fifty pounds for three 
 months. Undeniable security and ref- 
 erences if required. No money-lender 
 need apply. Address C. D.," etc. 
 
 Five pounds for three months ! This 
 bait is nibbled at by many, and eagerly 
 devoured by some retired middling- 
 class tradesman, who is probably dis- 
 contented with the dull and paltry 
 three per cents., the produce of his 
 savings invested in the bank. He con- 
 cludes, without however intimating to 
 any one his intentions, to just seek an 
 interview with C. D., confesses prelimi- 
 narily that he is " not in the habit of 
 doing these things," and asks as a favor 
 just to glance at the " securities." C. D. 
 forthwith produces a cash box, and dis- 
 plays some old leases (already assigned, 
 or long since expired, or perhaps ficti- 
 tious altogether), and a number of 
 shares in the Pen-gully mines, situated 
 — somewhere, and which, he gratuit- 
 ously informs the small capitalist, are, 
 according to the last annual report, ex- 
 pected to produce " lots of tin." Then, 
 as to promised references, he can give 
 some of the first names in the city, but 
 confesses it is rather a ticklish aifair, 
 and might compromise his credit (?) to 
 let his friends suppose that a man of 
 his " resources " is in want of money ,^- 
 many of them being ready to hand him 
 a check for ten times that amount ; but 
 he wishes to be independent, and would 
 rather make a sacrifice (of the small 
 capitalist ?) than lay himself under an 
 obligation. Still, to satisfy the lender, 
 if not already assured of his ability to re- 
 imburse the trifle in question, of course 
 he is ready, etc., etc. The novice, who 
 is probably quite as anxious as the bor- 
 rower to keep this delicate transaction 
 a secret, willingly foregoes the " mere 
 formality " of references. The aff'air is 
 thus amicably arranged ; notes are ex- 
 changed — that is, a note of hand for a 
 
 bank note — and the lender walks gin- 
 gerly away with the very liberal dis- 
 count in his pocket, his flustered imagi- 
 nation filled with lively visions of raj)- 
 idly increasing his store. He has 
 opened a new mine ; but, should he 
 continue to " work it," he may find to 
 his cost what many other and wiser 
 heads have done before, that new mines 
 often consume more than they produce. 
 
 Aid in the Nick of Time : Jacob Bar- 
 ker and John "Wells. 
 
 The unexpected failure, at the close 
 of the last war with Great Britain, of 
 Jacob Barker's Liverpool house, to- 
 gether with the opposition to his bank- 
 ing operations in New York, finally re- 
 sulted in the overthrow of his bank ; 
 all of its depositors, and a vast propor- 
 tion of its circulation, were paid at 
 sight; yet the suspension created a 
 strong prejudice with all those who 
 continued to hold his bank notes, and 
 all this had a withering influence on 
 his further operations. 
 
 Distressed by the multitudinous ap- 
 plications to redeem bank notes in the 
 hands of needy persons — which, al- 
 though the amounts were small, he had 
 not the means at command to redeem, 
 on their first presentation, he called 
 upon his friend, Mr. John Wells, stated 
 his troubles, and observed : " I believe 
 I had better shoot myself." That gen- 
 tleman replied : " Are you crazy ? How 
 much do you want?" taking up his 
 pen and commencing to write. IVIr. 
 Barker, wanting five thousand dollars, 
 replied three thousand. Mr. Wells 
 gave him one of his most earnest looks, 
 and said, "Is that all? if you want 
 more, name it now, and forever after 
 hold your peace." " That will answer ; 
 but why do you give it to me ? If I 
 should die you will never get a cent." 
 
 Mr. Wells, saying, " That's none of 
 your business," went on writing, and 
 handed to Mr. Barker an order for 
 three thousand dollars, in the stock of 
 
THEIR LEGAL AND JUDICIAL ASPECTS. 
 
 437 
 
 the Bank of America, saying, " I have 
 no money; make that stock answer 
 your purpose." 
 
 The yellow fever soon after termina- 
 ted the life of this " friend in need," on 
 which event Mr. Barker showed his 
 gratitude as well as mercantile honor 
 by promptly handing the amount to 
 the administrator. 
 
 "Settling" an Account. 
 
 To settle coffee with an egg is an easy 
 matter ; but it is not eggsactly so easy 
 to settle an old account — a truth which 
 will be found illustrated in the follow- 
 ing conversation between an honest 
 miner, named Riley, upon the north 
 fork of the Salmon River, in California, 
 and one Mike Donelly, a trader, to 
 whom, it seems, Riley was indebted 
 some forty dollars for provisions. Said 
 D. to R., " You ought to pay me this 
 little bill, for you know I trusted you 
 when no other trader on the river 
 would. Come, now, I'll throw off half, 
 if you'll pay the rest." " Well, Mike," 
 said Riley, " I'll be hanged if I'll allow 
 you to be more liberal than I am. If 
 you throw off one half, I'll throw off 
 the other ! " But this proof of liberali- 
 ty did not satisfy Mike, and he replied, 
 as might be expected, " But that don't 
 settle my account." "Then break an 
 egg into it ! " said Riley, and coolly 
 walked off. 
 
 German financial Operation. 
 
 There were once two well-known 
 settlers in the western part of York 
 County, Pa., both of honest old Ger- 
 man stock, and belonging to those 
 good old times when everybody was 
 " as honest as the days are long." Pe- 
 ter, it appears, had increased the size 
 of his farm, by annexing thereto a 
 small tract adjoining, and lacked 
 about one hundred dollars of the sum 
 necessary to pay for the new acquisi- 
 tion. He called upon his neighbor. 
 
 George, to borrow the amount. George 
 brought out an old bread basket, and 
 counted down the desired number of 
 " thalers," and then, of course, the two 
 sat down to two large earthen mugs of 
 cider, and so many pipes of tobacco. 
 After smoking over the matter for a 
 while, it occurred to Peter that in simi- 
 lar transactions he had heard or seen 
 something like a "note" passing be- 
 tween the borrower and the lender, 
 and he suggested as much to George. 
 The lender assented to the reasonable- 
 ness of the thing — papers, pen, and ink 
 were produced — and between the two 
 a document was concocted, stating that 
 George had loaned Peter one hundred 
 dollars, which Peter would repay to 
 George in " dree monts " (three months). 
 This Peter signed, and thus far our two 
 financiers had made the thing all regu- 
 lar and shipshape. 
 
 But at this point a difficulty present- 
 ed itself. They both knew that notes 
 were made in the operations of borrow- 
 ing and lending, which they had some- 
 times witnessed ; but it now appeared 
 that neither of them had observed what 
 disposition was made of the document — 
 neither could tell whether it was en re- 
 gie for the borrower or lender to take 
 charge of the paper — and here was a 
 dilemma ! At length a bright idea 
 struck George. 
 
 " You has de money to pay, Peter ; 
 so be sure you must take dis paper, so 
 you can see as you has to pay it ! " 
 
 This was conclusive — the common 
 sense of the thing was obvious and un- 
 answerable — and Peter pocketed the 
 money and his note, " so as he could 
 see as he had to pay it." The three 
 months passed over, and punctually 
 to the day appeared our friend Peter, 
 and paid over the promised sum to 
 George. This being done, the mugs 
 and pipes were again paraded. After 
 puffing awhile, Peter produced the note, 
 and handed it to George, with the 
 remark — 
 
 " Now you must take de note, so as 
 
438 
 
 COMMERCIAL AXD BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 you can see 
 paid." 
 
 as dat de money has been 
 
 Backing up his Becozuznendation. 
 
 A YOUNG man, desirous of entering 
 into business on his own account, ap- 
 plied to a wholesale dealer in linens, to 
 give him credit for goods to the amount 
 of £500. Being met with the usual in- 
 quiry for a reference as to character, he 
 mentioned Mr. B., a well known gentle- 
 man, and belonging to the Quaker 
 body. On being applied to, Mr. B. 
 gave the young man such a character, 
 as induced the tradesman immediately 
 to let him have the goods he wished 
 for. After being some time in business, 
 and by his conduct justifying the trust 
 reposed in him, he unfortunately fell 
 into habits of dissipation, neglected his 
 store, and, as a natural consequence, 
 became insolvent. The injured credit- 
 or, meeting Mr. B., complained that he 
 had been deceived as to the character 
 of the man, and had thus lost £500. 
 The honest Quaker replied, that he had 
 spoken to the best of his knowledge, 
 and had himself been deceived. As, 
 however, it was on his representation 
 the credit had been given to the insol- 
 Tent, he would himself pay the debt ; 
 which he did immediately, by a check 
 on his banker. 
 
 Ziawsuits of Girard. 
 
 Of all the various attitudes and 
 qualifications of character presented in 
 Girard's wonderful career, he appears 
 in none more extraordinary than in his 
 address and tact as a quack lawyer. 
 Few men could defeat or circumvent 
 Girard in a lawsuit; and notwith- 
 standing the great number in which he 
 was a party, during his eventful life- 
 time, he was seldom known to be van- 
 quished, and he took a peculiar pride 
 in boasting of his victories in this line. 
 
 Nothing mortified him so deeply as 
 to be cast in a lawsuit, whether for a 
 
 petty amount before a magistrate or an 
 alderman, or for a hundred thousand 
 dollars in the supreme court of the 
 United States. Ambition to defeat his 
 adversary quite as much as mere pecu- 
 niary advantage seemed to animate him 
 to obtain a verdict. This feeling, it is 
 supposed, influenced him on the occa- 
 sion when, prosecuted for the bank in- 
 terest on the funded debt of the United 
 States, by certain subscribers to the Na- 
 tional Bank stock, he pleaded the 
 statute of limitations, and by this 
 means secured a verdict in his own 
 favor for a small amount. In petty 
 cases before justices and aldermen, he 
 exhibited the same skill, art, finesse and 
 evasion. 
 
 Once he was sued by a country neigh- 
 bor for a trespass, by suffering his fen- 
 ces to go unrepaired, so that his cattle 
 broke into the fields, and trod down 
 the wheat of the farmer. Girard met 
 the case at all points like a well drilled 
 lawyer, thrusting his attorney aside, 
 and taking the case into his own hands. 
 He came to trial, fortified by witnesses, 
 together with drawings and maps of 
 all his fields and fences; and after a 
 full examination, turned the whole force 
 of the suit against his neighbor — prov- 
 ing that it was the plaintiff who allow- 
 ed his fences to go unrepaired, and that 
 it was the plaintiff's cattle that had 
 trespassed upon him, and not his cattle 
 upon the farmer. So that Girard not 
 only escaped, but obtained a judgment 
 against the farmer. 
 
 Grant Thorburn's Bankruptcy. 
 
 Mr. Thorburn, though distinguish- 
 ed for the old-school carefulness in 
 business transactions peculiar to his 
 day, at one time of his life found that, 
 after toiling and striving by sunlight 
 and moonlight, in wet weather and diy 
 weather, he was several thousands of 
 dollars w^orse than nothing. Under 
 these circumstances, he gave up all to 
 his creditors, and that he might be en- 
 
THEIR LEGAL AND JUDICIAL ASPECTS. 
 
 439 
 
 abled to commence business anew, he 
 applied, with an empty pocket and a 
 clear conscience, for the benefit of the 
 Insolvent Act. To this end it was 
 necessary, as a first step, that he should 
 either go to jail or the limits. He pre- 
 ferred the former, as he could board for 
 one half the expense. So, in Decem- 
 ber, 1813, he left his wife with one dol- 
 lar and sixty-two cents, and four young 
 children to support, without any cer- 
 tainty where the next dollar was to 
 come from. As he was walking down 
 the main street, in Newark, while be- 
 ing conducted to jail, the sheriff's oflS- 
 cer politely going some distance before 
 or behind him— it matters not which — 
 he was accosted by a man whom he had 
 not seen for two years previous. Said 
 he to Mr. Thorburn, " I have owed you 
 fifteen dollars for a long time, but it 
 was never in my power to pay you un- 
 til now ; just step in this store, and I 
 will pay you," pointing to one close by. 
 Mr. T. says he received the money with 
 as much wonder and thankfulness as 
 if he had seen it drop from the clouds 
 into his path. He had not seen the 
 man for so long a time, that he never 
 expected the money. This man told 
 Mr. T. some months after, that at the 
 time he paid him that money, he knew 
 nothing whatever of his diflSculties. 
 After having staid the time appointed 
 in jail, and gone through the forms by 
 law prescribed, " I came out," says Mr. 
 T., " whitewashed from all claims as 
 far as the law could go, but I thought 
 I was as much bound in justice as ever 
 I was to pay my honest debts, should 
 Providence put it in my power, by 
 prospering my future exertions. He 
 did prosper my future exertions, and 
 I can now show receipts for thousands 
 of dollars which were by law cancelled." 
 
 liegral Damages and Coxapound Inter- 
 est in Africa. 
 
 Some of the natives of Africa, al- 
 though they may have little pretensions 
 
 to a knowledge of mathematics in gen- 
 eral, seem to have a very clear and 
 comprehensive idea of the principles 
 of compound interest on debts result- 
 ing from legal damages. 
 
 This appears from the custom of a 
 certain tribe, according to which, if a 
 native should steal a fowl from another, 
 the owner, if he had witnesses of the 
 fact, would suffer the matter to rest for 
 two or three years. He would then in- 
 stitute an action for damages, which 
 are measured by this curious standard : 
 it is in the first place calculated how 
 many eggs the fowl would probably 
 have laid in the course of one or two 
 years, how many of these would have 
 been hatched, how many of these 
 chickens themselves would have be- 
 come parents, for the period of time 
 between the commission of the robbery 
 and the conviction of the offender. For 
 this imaginary wrong, damages have 
 been given to the fullest extent, and 
 the husbands and wives, and whole 
 family sold, to requite the owner of 
 the fowl for his loss. 
 
 Pecuniary Anxiety of the Greatest 
 Merchant in tlie "World. 
 
 It would seem as though no pinnacle 
 of power and affluence can place a man 
 wholly out of the reach of pecuniary 
 exigencies, or the anxiety engendered 
 by their anticipation. It was so with 
 that merchant monarch — the greatest in 
 his day — Lorenzo de Medici. In pro- 
 viding for the expenses of the wars in 
 which the Florentines had been en- 
 gaged, considerable debts had been in- 
 curred; and as they had not then 
 learnt the destructive expedient of an- 
 ticipating their future revenue, or trans- 
 ferring their own burdens to their pos- 
 terity, it became necessary to provide 
 for the payment of those demands. 
 
 Besides the debts contracted in the 
 name of the republic, Lorenzo had been 
 obliged to have recourse to his agents 
 in different countries to borrow large 
 
440 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 sums of money which had been applied 
 to the exigencies of the State ; but it 
 was no improbable conjecture, that the 
 money which had been lavishingly ex- 
 pended during the heat of the contest 
 would be repaid with reluctance when 
 the struggle was over. These consider- 
 ations occasioned him the most harrow- 
 ing anxiety ; for while on the one hand 
 he dreaded the disgrace of being want- 
 ing in the performance of his pecuniary 
 engagements, he was not perhaps less 
 apprehensive on the other hand of di- 
 minishing his influence in Florence, by 
 the imposition of additional taxes. 
 From this difficulty he saw no possi- 
 bility of extricating himself, but by 
 the most rigid attention, as well to the 
 improvement of the public revenue, as 
 to the state of his own business con- 
 cerns. The increasing prosperity of 
 the city of Florence seconded his eflbrts, 
 and in a short time the creditors of the 
 State were fully reimbursed, without 
 an increase of the public burdens. 
 
 His own engagements yet remained 
 incomplete ; but whilst he was endeav- 
 oring, from his large property and ex- 
 tensive concerns, to discharge the de- 
 mands against him, a decree providing 
 for the payment of his debts out of the 
 public treasury relieved him of his 
 difficulties, and proved that the affec- 
 tion of his fellow citizens yet remained 
 unimpaired. Lorenzo did not, how- 
 ever, receive this mark of esteem with- 
 out utter humiliation at the negligence 
 and imprudence of his factors and cor- 
 respondents, who by their inattention 
 to his affairs, had reduced him to the 
 necessity of accepting such a favor. 
 From this period he determined to re- 
 linquish the fluctuating advantages of 
 commerce — to close his mercantile af- 
 fairs with all possible expedition — well 
 considering, that besides the inherent 
 uncertainty of commercial transactions 
 on so vast a scale, the success of them 
 depended too much on the industry and 
 integrity of others. 
 
 On the Forgiven List. 
 
 One of the old-school merchants of 
 Boston, very extensively engaged in 
 commerce, and located on Long Wharf, 
 in that city, died in February, 1806, 
 intestate, at the age of seventy-nine. 
 His eldest son administered upon the 
 estate. This old gentleman used pleas- 
 antly to say, that for many years he 
 had fed a large number of Catholics on 
 the shores of the Mediterranean during 
 Lent — referring to his very extensive 
 connection with the fishing business. 
 In his day he was certainly well known ; 
 and to the present time is well remem- 
 bered by some of the " old ones down 
 along shore," from the Garnet's Nose 
 to Race Point. 
 
 Among his papers, a package of con- 
 siderable size was found after his death, 
 carefully tied up, and labelled as fol- 
 lows : " Notes, due bills, and accounts 
 against sundry persons down along 
 shore. Some of these may be got by a 
 suit or severe dunning. But the peo- 
 ple are poor ; most of them have had 
 fisherman's luck. My children wUl do 
 as they think best. Perhaps they will 
 think with me, that it is best to burn 
 this package entire." 
 
 About a month (said the narrator of 
 this), after our father died, the sons 
 met together, and, after some general 
 remarks, our eldest brother, the admin- 
 istrator, produced this package, read 
 the superscription, and asked what 
 course should be taken in regard to it. 
 Another brother, a few years younger 
 than the eldest, a man of strong, impul- 
 sive temperament, unable at the mo- 
 ment to express his feelings by words, 
 while he brushed the tears from his 
 eyes with one hand, by a spasmodic jerk 
 of the other toward the fireplace, in- 
 dicated his desire to have the paper 
 put into the flames. It was suggested 
 by another of our number, that it 
 might be well to make a list of debtors' 
 names, and of the dates and accounts, 
 that we might be enabled, as the in- 
 
THEIR LEGAL AND JUDICIAL ASPECTS. 
 
 441 
 
 tended discharge was for all, to inform 
 such as might offer payment, that their 
 debts were forgiven. On the following 
 day we again assembled, the list had 
 been prepared, and all the notes, due 
 bills, and accounts, whose amount, in- 
 cluding interest, exceeded thirty- two 
 thousand dollars, were committed to 
 the flames. 
 
 It was about four months after our 
 father's death, in the month of June, 
 that, as I was sitting in my eldest broth- 
 er's counting room, waiting for an op- 
 portunity to speak to him, there came 
 in a hard- favored, little old man, who 
 looked as if time and rough weather 
 had been to the windward of him for 
 seventy years. He asked if my brother 
 was not the executor. He replied that 
 he was administrator, as our father died 
 intestate. " Well," said the stranger, 
 " I have come up from the Cape to pay 
 a debt I owed the old gentleman." My 
 brother requested him to be seated, 
 being at the moment engaged. 
 
 The old man sat down, and putting 
 on his glasses, drew out a very ancient 
 wallet. When he had thus done, — and 
 there was quite a parcel of notes, — as 
 he sat waiting his turn, slowly twisting 
 his thumbs, and his old gray medita- 
 tive eyes fixed upon the floor, he sighed ; 
 and I well supposed the money, as the 
 phrase runs, came hard, and secretly 
 wished the old man's name might be 
 found upon the forgiven list. My 
 brother was soon at leisure, and asked 
 him the common question — his name, 
 etc. The original debt was $440; it 
 had stood a long time, and, with the 
 interest, amounted to $800. My broth- 
 er went to his table, and after examin- 
 ing the forgiven list attentively, a sud- 
 den smile lighted up his countenance, 
 and told me the truth at a glance — the 
 old man's name was there ! My broth- 
 er quietly took a chair at his side, and 
 a conversation ensued between them. 
 
 "Your note is outlawed; it was 
 dated twelve years ago, payable in two 
 years ; there is no witness, and no in- 
 
 terest has ever been paid ; you are not 
 bound to pay this note — we cannot re- 
 cover the amount." 
 
 " Sir," said the old man, " I wish to 
 pay it. It is the only heavy debt I 
 have in the world. I should like to 
 pay it," and he laid the bank notes be- 
 fore the administrator, and requested 
 him to count them over. 
 
 " I cannot take this money," was the 
 reply. 
 
 The old man became confused. " I 
 have cast simple interest for twelve 
 years and a little over," said he; "I 
 will pay you compound interest, if yoii 
 say so. That debt ought to have been 
 paid long ago, but your father, sir, was 
 very indulgent; he knew I had been 
 unfortunate, and told me not to worry 
 about it." 
 
 My brother then set the whole matter 
 plainly before him, and, taking the 
 bills, returned them to the old man, 
 telling him, that although our father 
 left no formal will, he had recommend- 
 ed to his children to destroy certain 
 notes, due bills, and other evidences of 
 debt, and release those who might be 
 legally bound to pay them. For a mo- 
 ment the worthy old man seemed to be 
 stupefied. After he had collected him- 
 self, and wiped a few tears from his 
 eyes, he stated, that from the time he 
 had heard of our father's death, he had 
 raked and scraped, and pinched and 
 spared, to get the money to pay this 
 debt. " About ten days ago," said he, 
 " I had made up the sum within twen- 
 ty dollars. My wife knew how much 
 the payment of this debt lay upon my 
 sj)irits, and advised me to sell a cow, 
 and make up the difference, and get 
 the heavy burden off my mind. I did 
 so, and now, what will my old woman 
 say ? I must get home to the Cape, 
 and tell her this good news. She'll 
 probably say over the very words she 
 said when she put her hands on my 
 shoulder as we parted : ' I have never 
 seen the righteous forsaken, nor his 
 seed begging bread.' " With a hearty 
 
442 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 shake of the hand, and a blessing upon 
 our father's memory, he went upon his 
 way rejoicing. 
 
 After a short silence, seizing his pen- 
 cil and casting a few figures, " There ! " 
 exclaimed my brother, " your part of 
 the amount would be so much; con- 
 trive a plan to convey to me your share 
 of the pleasure derived from this opera- 
 tion, and the money is at your service." 
 
 Changes in Mercantile Standing-. 
 
 In old times, when debtors were lia- 
 ble to imprisonment, a gentleman, now 
 well known in Philadelphia, failed, and 
 was forced by some of his relentless 
 creditors to become the inmate of a 
 prison. But among his creditors there 
 was one glorious spirit, who, by great 
 exertion, and by personally involving 
 himself, accomplished the liberation of 
 his friend. He was a commission mer- 
 chant and partner in a house that 
 ranked with the first in that city for 
 nearly fifty years, without the slightest 
 taint or blemish. In the evening of 
 his days, however, misfortune reached 
 him, and he found his house tottering 
 amidst the financial storm then raging; 
 and while his distress was greatest, and 
 his fortunes looked darkest, the bread 
 he had cast upon the waters six-and- 
 twenty years before, came fioating back 
 to his door. It was his former debtor^s 
 check hook^ showing a halance in one of 
 the city danJcs, of two hundred and fifty 
 thousand dollars^ with checks signed in 
 blank to his order, and a request that 
 he would use the whole or any part, if 
 it would be of service to him ! 
 
 Hypothecating one's Person for a 
 lioan. 
 
 Pawnbrokers have all sorts of cus- 
 tomers, pledges, and experiences. The 
 celebrated tragedian, Mr. Cooke, was 
 always fond of a frolic, on his benefit 
 night, declaring that he never took 
 liberties with his friends at any other 
 
 time. It once happened, during an 
 engagement in Philadelphia, that on 
 such an occasion he was short of money, 
 and at a loss to raise the wind for the 
 accustomed breeze. In this dilemma he 
 started up town in a speculative mood, 
 determined to inspirit himself in some 
 way or other. Having reached the 
 corner of Callowhill and Eighth streets, 
 he cast his eyes toward the Delaware, 
 and perceived one of those enticing 
 signs of three golden balls. He turned 
 the corner, and, entering the fatal door, 
 addressed the man behind the counter 
 thus : " My name is Cooke. This is 
 my benefit night. The manager can't 
 do without me, as I am up for Richard 
 the Third. I want some liquor. I 
 have no money. Now I propose to hy- 
 pothecate my royal person for ten dol- 
 lars, and you may lay me upon one of 
 your shelves." The joke was a queer 
 one, and the master of ceremonies paid 
 the ten dollars, and Cooke was laid up. 
 The theatre that night was crowded, 
 and at seven o'clock the manager came 
 forward to apologize, stating that with 
 the permission of the audience the per- 
 formance would commence with the 
 farce. He had sent in difierent direc- 
 tions, but was unable to find Mr. Cooke 
 in the city. He presumed the trage- 
 dian would be forthcoming in the 
 course of the next half hour. As the 
 manager retired, he was informed that 
 a boy wished to see him in the green- 
 room. He found the lad, who presented 
 a note written in cypher, which he at 
 length translated thus : " My dear 
 
 , I am in pawn for $10 ; send and 
 
 redeem me, or it will be impossible for 
 Richard to be himself to-night. Yours, 
 Cooke." The manager started imme- 
 diately after the fixed star, and found 
 him nicely shelved, with a plate of 
 crackers and cheese, and a bottle of 
 brandy by him. In the button-hole of 
 his coat was a piece of paper marked 
 "No. 1473, pawned for $10." The 
 amount was paid, a hack called, and 
 Mr. Cooke and manager rolled to the 
 
THEIR LEGAL AND JUDICIAL ASPECTS. 
 
 443 
 
 theatre, where the former had just time 
 to dress, and commence " Now ia the 
 winter of our discontent," &c. It is 
 said he never played Richard better, or 
 received greater applause. 
 
 Business, Bankruptcy and Literature : 
 John Pierpont and John Neal. 
 John Neal and John Pierpont, 
 whose names are now so famous as lit- 
 terateurs, were formerly active business 
 men, ceasing to be such only with mis- 
 fortune and bankruptcy. Neal once 
 tried shopkeeping in Boston awhile, 
 opening a small establishment on a 
 capital of some two hundred dollars — 
 sometimes prosperous in money affairs, 
 and then again suffering the greatest 
 embarrassments. In the course of time 
 he made the acquaintance of John Pier- 
 pont, and the two Johns subsequently 
 opened a large wholesale establishment 
 together in the city of Baltimore, with 
 a brother-in-law of Mr. Pierpont as 
 partner, and did an extensive and prof- 
 itable business for some time, upon the 
 revival of commerce following the war 
 of 1812. But in the space of two years, 
 " Pierpont, Neal & Lord," having then 
 two wholesale establishments and a re- 
 tail one in full blast, found their busi- 
 ness utterly ruined by the depreciation 
 of all imported articles, and they failed, 
 — failed honestly and entirely, leav- 
 ing themselves so poor that Pierpont 
 sold his wife's spoons in order to pay 
 for lodgings in chambers ; and Neal 
 parted with all the little comforts and 
 luxuries he possessed in order to ap- 
 pease a Shylock of a creditor, who 
 would take nothing less than "the 
 pound of flesh." The future career of 
 these two men proved that, if their 
 bankruptcy was a damage to some, the 
 next generation were gainers by it. 
 
 Kindness to Debtors: Chickering:, 
 Peabody, Lorillard. 
 
 Jonas Chickering, whose great 
 business involved multitudes in the 
 relation to him of debtor, was most 
 
 indulgent to those who, from disap- 
 pointment or other honest causes, 
 became unable to make prompt pay- 
 ment. He was accustomed to say, " If 
 you cannot pay me now, pay me when 
 you can ; and if never able to pay me, 
 I shall not trouble you ; do not be 
 discouraged; go about your business, 
 and you will get along well enough." 
 Such assurances quieted many a one, 
 who had unexpectedly become unable 
 to meet his liabilities, and it was doubt- 
 less the manifestation of this accommo- 
 dating si^irit on the part of Mr. Chick- 
 ering toward others, that secured to 
 him the indulgent consideration of his 
 workmen and others, at a time when 
 his own business was so shaken by the 
 great commercial crisis of a former 
 day. 
 
 Joseph Peabody, the Salem mer- 
 chant, lost between one and two hun- 
 dred thousand dollars, by the failure 
 of Mr. Williams, the American banker 
 of London. Yet, so far from bearing 
 him ill-will, when that gentleman re- 
 turned to Salem, after an absence of 
 forty years, Mr. Peabody, then at a very 
 advanced age, painstakingly crossed 
 the street, and, with an extended 
 hand, welcomed him to his native city. 
 
 " When you meet with another honest 
 man in similar circumstances," wrote 
 Dr. Franklin once to a poor man whom 
 he had generously assisted, " you must 
 pay me by lending this sum to Jiim, 
 enjoining him to discharge the debt by 
 a like operation when he shall be able, 
 and shall meet with such another 
 opportunity. This is a trick of mine 
 for doing a deal of good with a little 
 money." 
 
 Jacob Lorillard was not only very 
 considerate of his own debtors, but as 
 much so of others' debtors. One who 
 had been the companion of his youth, 
 and the friend of his age, and who, 
 like him, had been blessed with pros- 
 perity and honor, was suddenly over- 
 taken with calamity and threatened 
 with ruin. When he received the 
 
444 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 news, he was affected even to tears. 
 This shall not be, said he ; if I can sus- 
 tain him, I will mortgage my property 
 first — and he did so. He immediately 
 assumed all the debts of his friend to 
 a particular institution, which were 
 heavy. When creditors, knowing the 
 intimacy which had subsisted between 
 them, crowded around him to ascertain 
 the truth or falsehood of the rumored 
 failure, he simply replied, " Bring me 
 the notes which are due to you, and on 
 the usual guaranty I will pay them." 
 He did do it, to a large amount ; and 
 by the aid which he rendered, and the 
 confidence he inspired, he not only sus- 
 tained and reestablished his friend, 
 but the whole profits of the operation 
 for the risk which he incurred were 
 entirely devoted to charity. 
 
 Rougrh, Treatment of Insolvents. 
 
 The insolvent debtor, among the 
 Romans, was cut to pieces and dis- 
 tributed among his creditors, — more 
 barbarous than the Thugs. Even in 
 England, the bankrupt was formerly 
 treated as a criminal, and subjected to 
 personal punishment. In Scotland, till 
 within a hundred years, they set the 
 " dyvour " upon a pillory, with stock- 
 ings of various colors, to subject him 
 to the scorn of the multitude. 
 
 Jewish Traders, and Straw BaU. 
 
 " Are you worth £1,800, after all your 
 debts are paid ? " said a London magis- 
 trate to a Jew trader, who had been 
 placed before him by an attorney, to 
 justify in bail for one of his roguish 
 clients. " Eighteen hundred pounds," 
 replied the Jew, "is a great deal o' 
 monish ; I haven't got half so much ; 
 but as the attorney has given me a 
 twenty-pun' note, what am I to do 
 with it ? " " Put it in your pocket," 
 said the judge. The old Jew folded up 
 the bank-note deliberately, placed it in 
 bis pocket, and retired. 
 
 Philanthropic Debtor. 
 
 The fine moral tone and exquisite 
 sense of justice of a certain unfortunate 
 debtor, is worthy of all appreciation. 
 He was in the kindly benevolent stage 
 of inebriety, and full of universal phi- 
 lanthropy and exuberant liberality. 
 After pouring forth his warmest desires 
 to make all men happy," he wound up 
 thus : " And if I owe any man any- 
 thing, I freely forgive him the debt ! " 
 
 Imperial Affection for a Banker. 
 
 One of the tight Jew bankers, in the 
 reign of Frederic, being fearful of sub- 
 sidies and loans, sent a letter, petition- 
 ing the king " to allow him to travel 
 for the benefit of his health," and re- 
 ceived the following tender answer : 
 
 " Dear Ephraim. — Nothing but 
 death shall part us. Frederic." 
 
 A reply pregnant with terrible mean- 
 ing to the poor Israelite. 
 
 Washington Irving' s Commercial 
 Bankruptcy. 
 
 Prior to 1817, Washington Irving 
 was engaged in commercial affairs with 
 his brother-in-law, Mr. Van Wart, of 
 Birmingham; and the house was in 
 that year, like many others, subjected 
 to the ruinous effects of one of those 
 extended revulsions of trade, which 
 were more frequent and more disas- 
 trous then than in recent times. In 
 the winter of 1817-18 (says Mr. Lord, 
 a friend of Mr. Irving), being in Liver- 
 pool at the crisis of those calamities, 
 I passed a considerable period in daily 
 intercourse with Mr. Irving. Meeting 
 him one morning after the receipt of 
 letters from New York, I observed a 
 smile on his countenance, and con- 
 gratulated him on the receipt of what 
 I presumed to be good news concern- 
 ing his affairs. "Yes," said he, "I 
 was relieved : I feel that I have got 
 down to hard pan. The last debts on 
 
THEIR LEGAL AND JUDICIAL ASPECTS. 
 
 445 
 
 wliich I relied have proved bad ; and 
 in that respect I have no more ill news 
 to receive." It is believed that it was 
 in pursuance of suggestions made to 
 him by Roscoe the banker and author 
 of the lives of the Medici family of 
 merchants, that Mr. Irving, after the 
 bankruptcy of the house in which he 
 was a partner, determined upon his 
 future pursuit as a writer of books. 
 
 Qranting: an Extension. 
 
 Mr. B. had failed ; that is, a series 
 of misfortunes unlocked for, and against 
 which it was impossible to provide, had 
 reduced his means, so that he was un- 
 able to meet his engagements. With 
 a gloom of mind natural under the 
 circumstances, B. prepared to meet his 
 creditors and give them satisfaction, 
 so far as he was able. The day on 
 which they assembled at his counting- 
 room was rainy and dreary — a day on 
 which a single gleaming ray of the sun 
 would have been, to him, a blessing. 
 
 The creditors were gathered around 
 a table, and with gloomy brows they 
 awaited the announcement of the 
 amount they were to expect upon 
 each dollar they had advanced to the 
 broken merchant. B. appeared with 
 an expression of resignation upon his 
 countenance, and yet it was not diffi- 
 cult to perceive the suppressed agony 
 in his heart. 
 
 For a time there was a silent examina- 
 tion of books and papers, as each credi- 
 tor sought to ascertain the amount for 
 which he would have to suffer. Then, 
 a man of ready sympathies, to whom 
 this silence was painful, remarked, " It 
 is a rainy day." "Yes," replied B., 
 and there was now a beam of light 
 on his countenance, " but it will not 
 always be rainy." The tone and nature 
 of this expression struck the sym- 
 pathizing merchant, and he almost 
 immediately arose, and proposed that 
 an extension should be granted, to 
 allow B. to recover from his disaster. 
 
 There was but little discussion. The 
 proposition was received with general 
 favor, and unanimously agreed to. The 
 result of this extension was, that B. re- 
 turned to his business with a light 
 heart, labored earnestly and devotedly, 
 and in a surprisingly short time was 
 enabled to pay all to whom he was 
 indebted. 
 
 Breach of the Bond. 
 
 An English trader, having sustained 
 a heavy loss, began, in great despair, 
 to denounce his calling, and to declare 
 that he would never follow it. One, 
 for some trifling consideration, pro- 
 cured his bond, with a penalty, not to 
 be again engaged in that occupation. 
 Afterward, the necessities of his family 
 forcing him to a breach of his bond, an 
 action was brought upon the penalty. 
 On the facts being disclosed, in the 
 trial of the case, the judge, who seems 
 to have been a firm and just, but im- 
 petuous man, is reported to have flown 
 into a violent passion, and given this 
 very emphatic opinion in Norman 
 French : — " In my opinion there should 
 have been a demurrer, because the obli- 
 gation is void, and the condition is 
 against the common law ; and by — t 
 if the plaintiff were here, I would im- 
 prison him until he paid a fine to ^the 
 king." 
 
 Pay or Charge. 
 
 There was a landlord in Georgia, 
 jolly and free-hearted, but his wit was 
 often blunt-pointed, and missed fire. 
 He had furnished a hurried breakfast 
 for some Southern passengers by the 
 cars — bustling about, with all sorts of 
 helter skelter sayings. " Gentlemen, 
 here's your breakfast. I've seen better, 
 and I've seen worse." " I never did 
 see much worse," says one of the pas- 
 sengers. The landlord was taken 
 down. As they rose to pass out, ask- 
 ing what was to pay, "Fifty cents 
 
446 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 down, or a dollar when we charge it," 
 said the landlord, with emphatic brev- 
 ity. " Well, charge it, then," said our 
 grumbling friend. " I'm sold ! " said 
 the landlord — " Go on, gentlemen, I'll 
 charge it." 
 
 Business Value of a Name. 
 
 M. Alexis Benoit Soyer, the pre- 
 siding cook of the Reform Club in 
 London, had become so famous in his 
 line of business, that his name alone 
 had a high commercial or money yalue. 
 Of this the law reports of the London 
 journals record an amusing instance. 
 One Piper & Gibbs entered into a 
 partnership for the manufacture and 
 sale of a beverage invented by Piper, 
 and called " Tortoni's AmanaP After- 
 ward a Mr. Baker joined the concern, 
 bringing a capital of five thousand 
 dollars. Still they were not content. 
 Tortoni was not the name to make 
 men's mouths water for their divine 
 drink. So they finally induced M. 
 Soyer to join, on the understanding 
 that he was to have one third of the 
 profits for allowing the drink to be 
 called " Soyer's Nectar.'''' The concern 
 in this way became so flourishing that 
 the other partners wished to cheat the 
 inventor out of his share of the gains, 
 resulting in a suit at law. 
 
 Treatment of Chinese Bankruptcy. 
 
 In China, the merchants doing busi- 
 ness on a particular street or immediate 
 neighborhood are associated together 
 for immediate protection, counsel, etc., 
 under the name of the Kai-fong. In 
 Canton, there are several thousands of 
 these small bodies. 
 
 These men, in the event of a bank- 
 ruptcy occurring among them, mark the 
 delinquent, and watch lest he should 
 ever return to do business in their quar- 
 ter. " Gone to Hong Kong," is as famil- 
 iar a phrase applied to an absconding 
 debtor in Canton, as " gone to Texas " 
 
 was in by-gone days to a northern debtor 
 on his sudden withdrawal from his 
 creditors. On the shop door of a trader 
 who has thus " vamosed," is posted a 
 red paper — an ordinary bill made out 
 in usual form by some creditor, and 
 thus attached to the house as a formal 
 demand for payment ; this is followed 
 in a few days by many others, until the 
 shop door and windows completely 
 glare with the vermilion hue. And 
 there they remain, none daring to re- 
 move them, continually publishing to 
 every passer-by the name and just lia- 
 bilities of the abscondmg debtor. The 
 law of the land gives to the creditor 
 the right to sell the wife and children 
 of a debtor into slavery, and not unfre- 
 quently recourse is had to this mode 
 of reimbursement ; but there is gener- 
 ally a dread of having anything to do 
 with Chinese officers of justice. 
 
 If the delinquent return, the Kai- 
 fong, as a body, belabor and worry him 
 in various ways, injure his credit, inter- 
 fere with his custom, and, by many 
 methods, so harass him, that he is 
 obliged to quit. And even should he 
 go to another quarter of the city, the 
 Kai-fong of that neighborhood are soon 
 posted up, and the bankrupt is com- 
 pletely driven away. He must, of 
 necessity, go to another city, where 
 he is not known. As to appealing to 
 the police for help, in such a case, it 
 is entirely useless; the Kai-fong are 
 too powerful to fear any interference. 
 It is not, generally speaking, to any 
 settled principle of honesty, but rather 
 to the dread of the commercial disabili- 
 ties involved, that these Chinese shop- 
 keepers' wholesome observance of sol- 
 vency is owing. 
 
 Sharp Hit at Repudiation. 
 
 Shortly after that startling fact 
 in American finance— the repudiation 
 of the Pennsylvania bonds,— Sydney 
 Smith was shown a lump of American 
 ice, upon which he remarked, " That he 
 
THEIR LEGAL AND JUDICIAL ASPECTS. 
 
 447 
 
 was glad to see anything solvent 
 from America ! " 
 
 from America 
 
 come 
 
 Obtaining- a Certificate of Bankruptcy. 
 
 The " Brothers Cheeryble " of the 
 novelist are, in fact, scarcely over- 
 charged portraits of two real English 
 merchants ; and of these men the fol- 
 lowing story is well authenticated : 
 
 The elder brother of this house of 
 merchant princes amply revenged him- 
 self upon a libeller, who had made 
 himself merry with the peculiarities of 
 the amiable fraternity. This man pub- 
 lished a pamphlet, in which one of the 
 brothers (D.) was designated as Billy 
 Button, and talking largely of their 
 foreign trade, having travellers who 
 regularly visited Chowbent, Bullock 
 Smithy, and other foreign parts. Some 
 "kind friend" had told W. of this 
 pamphlet, and W. had said that the 
 man would live to repent of its jDubli- 
 cation. This saying was in turn kind- 
 ly conveyed to the libeller, who said 
 that he should take care never to be in 
 their debt. But — the man in business 
 does not always know who shall be his 
 creditor. The author of this pamphlet 
 in course of time became bankrupt, and 
 the brothers held an acceptance of his 
 which had been indorsed by the draw- 
 er, who had also become bankrupt. 
 The wantonly libelled men had thus 
 become creditors of the libeller — they 
 now had it in their power to make 
 him repent of his audacity. He could 
 not obtain his certificate without their 
 signature, and, destitute of that, he 
 could not enter into business again. 
 He had secured the number of signa- 
 tures required by the bankrupt laws, 
 except one. 
 
 It seemed folly to hope that the firm 
 of brothers would supply the important 
 deficiency in question. What ! they 
 who had been cruelly made the laugh- 
 ing-stock of the public, forget the 
 wrong, and favor the wrong-doer? 
 He despaired ; but the claims of a wife 
 
 and children forced him at last to make 
 the application. Humbled by misery, 
 he presented himself at the counting 
 room of the wronged, W. was there 
 alone, and his first words to the delin- 
 quent were, " Shut the door, sir ! " 
 sternly uttered. The door was shut, 
 and the libeller stood coweringly be- 
 fore the libelled. He told his tale, and 
 produced his certificate, which was 
 instantly clutched by the injured mer- 
 chant. 
 
 " You wrote a pamphlet against us 
 once ! " exclaimed W. The supplicant 
 expected to see his parchment thrown 
 into the fire ; but this was not its des- 
 tination. W. took a pen, and writing 
 something on the document, handed it 
 back to the owner. He, poor bank- 
 rupt, expected to see there, "Rogue, 
 scoundrel, libeller ! " inscribed ; but 
 there was, in fair, round characters, the 
 signature of the firm ! " We make it 
 a rule," said W., " never to refuse sign- 
 ing the certificate of an honest trades- 
 man, and we have never heard that you 
 were anything else." The tears started 
 into the poor man's eyes. 
 
 " Ah," said W., " my saying was true. 
 I said you would live to repent writing 
 that pamphlet. I did not at all mean 
 it as a threat ; I only meant that some 
 day you would know us better, and 
 would repent you had tried to injure us. 
 I see you repent it now." " I do — I do," 
 said the grateful man. " Well, well, 
 my dear fellow," said W., " you know 
 us now. How do you get on ? What 
 are you going to do ? " The poor man 
 stated that he had friends who would 
 assist him when his certificate was ob- 
 tained. " But how are you off in the 
 mean time ? " — to which the answer 
 was, that having given up everything 
 to his creditors, he had been compelled 
 to stint his family of even the necessa- 
 ries of life, that he might be enabled to 
 pay the cost of his certificate. " My 
 dear fellow," said W., " this will never 
 do ; your family must not suffer. Be 
 kind enough to take this ten-pound 
 
448 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 note to your wife from me. There^ 
 there, my dear fellow — don't sob ; it 
 will be all well with you yet. Keep up 
 your spirits, set to work like a man, 
 and you will raise your head yet." The 
 overpowered man endeavored in vain 
 to express his thanks — his tears and 
 emotions forbade words. 
 
 Day & Martin— New and Old. 
 
 On the death of the surviving part- 
 ner of the celebrated and wealthy firm 
 of Day & Martin, blacking manufac- 
 turers, the executors continued the 
 business and the name of the old firm, 
 the same as heretofore. One of the 
 original Day's nephews, however, soon 
 after associated himself with a person 
 named Martin, and set up a blacking 
 manufactory, thus using the old firm's 
 name, and labelling their bottles in 
 close imitation of those of the old es- 
 tablishment. The genuine blacking 
 was put up in bottles, with a label 
 containing, as the place of manufacture, 
 the words " 97 High Holborn." The 
 new concern, in devising the cut for 
 their label, substituted the royal arms 
 for those of the original firm, and in- 
 serted " 901 Holborn Hill," in place of 
 97 High Holborn. This affair led to a 
 suit at law, when it was decided that 
 the contrivances of the new concern 
 were calculated to lead the bulk of the 
 unwary public into the impression that 
 that concern was connected with the 
 old manufactory, and thus to benefit 
 the new to the injury of the old estab- 
 lishment; and "No. 901 Holborn Hill" 
 was soon among the things that were 
 and are not. 
 
 Slieridan's Treatment of a Creditor. 
 
 Shehidan had for some years hired 
 his carriage horses from Mrs. Edbrooke 
 in Clarges street, and his bill was a 
 heavy one. Well, IVIrs. Edbrooke 
 wanted a new bonnet, and blew up her 
 mate for not insisting on payment. The 
 
 curtain lecture was followed next day 
 by a refusal to allow Mr. Sheridan to 
 have the horses till the account was 
 settled. Mr. S. sent the politest possi- 
 ble message in reply, begging that Mrs. 
 Edbrooke would allow his coachman to 
 drive her in his own carriage to his 
 door, and promising that the matter 
 in question should be satisfactorily ar- 
 ranged. The good woman Avas de- 
 lighted ; dressed in her best, and bill 
 in hand, she entered the M. P.'s chari- 
 ot. Sheridan had meanwhile given or- 
 ders to his servants. Mrs. Edbrooke 
 was shown up into the back drawing 
 room, where a slight luncheon, of which 
 she was begged to partake, was laid 
 out; and she was assured that her 
 debtor would not keep her waiting 
 long, though for the moment engaged. 
 The horse-dealer's wife sat down and 
 discussed a wing of chicken and glass 
 of wine, and in the mean time her vic- 
 timizer had been watching his oppor- 
 tunity, slipped down stairs, jumped 
 into the vehicle, and drove off. JMrs. 
 Edbrooke finished her lunch and wait- 
 ed in vain ; ten minutes, twenty, thirty 
 passed, and then she gave the bell a 
 woman's pull : " Very sorry, ma'am, 
 but Mr. Sheridan went out on impor- 
 tant business half an hour ago." " And 
 
 the carriage 
 
 " Oh, ma'am, Mr. 
 
 Sheridan never walks ! 
 
 Won't Look at Him. 
 
 That eminent and excellent Boston 
 merchant, Robert G-. Shaw, was one 
 day met by a gentleman, who, after a 
 brief conversation, asked Mr. S. to lend 
 him a certain sum of money, as he was 
 short of that article— not an uncommon 
 thing with said individual, as with 
 many others. Mr. Shaw, raising his 
 spectacles, replied, "Yes, sir, with 
 pleasure, on one condition." "What 
 is that, sir ? " " Why, that when we 
 next meet, you will turn your face 
 toward me, look pleasant, and not turn 
 away I I lent Mr. a small sum of 
 
THEIR LEGAL AND JUDICIAL ASPECTS. 
 
 449 
 
 money, about a month ago, and ever 
 since that time he has cut me, most de- 
 cidedly. Meet him where I may, on 
 State street. Commercial street, or in 
 the Exchange, and he always turns his 
 head away. When I lend a man money, 
 and he is owing me, I want him to look 
 me full in the face, as though nothing 
 had happened ; and then I shall be wil- 
 ling to lend him again." 
 
 No Use for Pistols. 
 
 On a certain occasion, a French mer- 
 chant from Bordeaux, who had a house 
 at Barcelona, where he resided, receiv- 
 ed, in the course of business, a large 
 sum of money from a Spanish trader, 
 at a time when he was much embar- 
 rassed in his affairs ; he was, therefore, 
 unwilling to receive the money, and 
 yet fearful to refuse it, lest his credit 
 should be shaken. Shortly afterward, 
 he failed and absconded. His creditor 
 traced him to Gibraltar, and thence to 
 Cadiz. There he found him lying sick, 
 without attendants, in a garret. On 
 entering the room, the Spaniard stern- 
 ly demanded his debtor's books. Re- 
 ceiving them, he sat himself down, and 
 spent several laborious hours examin- 
 ing them, referring to the Frenchman 
 merely upon points where he wanted 
 information. When he had completed 
 this investigation, he returned the 
 books without comment, and departed. 
 Shortly afterward he returned, accom- 
 panied by a physician, and had his 
 debtor removed to a comfortable apart- 
 ment, and then addressed him thus : 
 *' I am satisfied that you have not been 
 guilty of fraud, but you have done me 
 a great wrong : had you been frank, I 
 should have enabled you to hold your 
 ground. Now that we are in the same 
 boat, let me know how much will ena- 
 ble you to recommence business." The 
 sum being specified, he said, " Well, 
 you shall have it, on condition that 
 you pledge me your word of honor 
 that you will not leave Spain without 
 29 
 
 my permission." The debtor was about 
 to give vent to expressions of grati- 
 tude, when his creditor stopped him : 
 '' It is you," said he, " who have ren- 
 dered me a service," and, unbuttoning 
 his coat, showed him a brace of pistols, 
 adding, " one of these was for myself." 
 
 Credit." 
 
 Among the piquant aphorisms upon 
 this somewhat shaky topic may be 
 mentioned Lord Alvanley's description 
 of a man who " muddled away his for- 
 tune in paying his tradesmen's bills ; " 
 Lord Orford's definition of timber, " an 
 excrescence on the face of earth, placed 
 there by Providence for the payment 
 of debts ; " and Pelham's argument, 
 that "it is respectable to be arrested 
 for debt, because it shows that the 
 party once had credit." 
 
 " What is Sauce for the Goose is," &c. 
 
 EvEKYBODY in the city of New York, 
 and many outside of that village, re- 
 member how actively Mayor Kings- 
 land exerted himself in causing various 
 city nuisances to be abated, during his 
 term of office. Among his various re- 
 forms, he caused the various boxes, 
 bales, and barrels which had so long 
 encumbered sidewalks, in the business 
 portion of the city, to be removed, and 
 any merchant caught using the side- 
 walk as a storehouse was forthwith 
 made to pay a penalty for his violation 
 of the city ordinance. Many mer- 
 chants were victims of the mayor's un- 
 relenting adherence to the laws, and a 
 vast improvement was certainly mani- 
 fest in the regions of the old " burnt 
 district." But it proved the mayor's 
 lot to play in the same meshes which 
 had thus involved others. While the 
 persons employed by him at his oil 
 store were engaged in receiving a large 
 consignment of oil, his neighbors were 
 taking notes and entering complaints 
 at the mayor's office for his violations 
 
450 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 of the city laws. The complaints were 
 well founded, the proofs abundant, and 
 before the well-directed wrath of Kings- 
 land the mayor could be appeased, 
 Kingsland the merchant enriched the 
 city treasury some three hundred dollars. 
 
 Buying: a Pianoforte Establishment. 
 
 On the death of Mackay, of the firm 
 of Chickering & Mackay, the Boston 
 pianoforte makers, Mr. C. was the pur- 
 chaser of the whole concern, amount- 
 ing, it is believed, to more than half a 
 million of dollars. The condition of 
 sale was, Mr. Chickering was to give 
 his own notes, secured by mortgage on 
 the premises. Thus the security was 
 good, although perhaps the best friends 
 of Mr. Chickering scarcely dared to 
 hope he would ever be able to pay a 
 sum so large. It was divided into in- 
 stalments, for each of which a distinct 
 note was given, payable " on or before " 
 a specified day. This mode of making 
 the notes was indicated by Mr. Chick- 
 ering, and to which, of course, no ob- 
 jection was offered. The legal adviser, 
 however, of Captain Mackay, a shrewd 
 lawyer and a friend also of Mr. Chick- 
 ering, intimated his scepticism in re- 
 gard to the utility of the permission to 
 pay the notes " before " they came due, 
 by playfully asking the maker of them, 
 if he emr expected to pay them I Mr. 
 Chickering without hesitation replied 
 in his wonted simplicity, that he should 
 not have given them, did he not expect 
 to pay them. Accordingly, all of these 
 notes were paid, as they became due, 
 till the agent of Captain Mackay's es- 
 tate requested that they might remain, 
 desiring no better investment than the 
 notes themselves. Yet, shortly subse- 
 quent to the great fire, notwithstanding 
 this request, the notes were all paid. 
 
 Saving tlie Credit of a City : Theodore 
 Payne. 
 In the gloomiest days that San Fran- 
 cisco has ever known — when the city 
 
 was involved in debt to an immense 
 amount, and very few could discern 
 by what means its liabilities could 
 ever be met, or its difficulties over- 
 come — when many lost all confidence, 
 and even left the place in despair — 
 when real estate had deteriorated in 
 value to almost nothing — when the 
 corporation scrip could not be sold 
 for one third its face value — when, in 
 fact, the great mass of the population 
 were fast relinquishing all hopes of its 
 future prosperity — there was one mer- 
 chant prince, Theodore Payne, a clear- 
 sighted and therefore far-seeing citizen, 
 who doubted not its subsequent great- 
 ness. A large portion of the city prop- 
 erty had been sold at sheriff's sale un- 
 der executions in favor of the creditors, 
 at mere nominal prices, redeemable six 
 months after date of sale. The limited 
 time expired, but the commissioners 
 were without funds to redeem the 
 property. Mr. P. took a deep interest 
 in matters thus vitally affecting the 
 credit and honor of the city, and per- 
 ceiving that this large amount of prop- 
 erty was likely to be inevitably sacri- 
 ficed, nobly stepped forward and offered 
 the needed relief — drawing his check 
 for the whole sum, which was gladly 
 accepted. "With great exertion and 
 persevering tact he succeeded in call- 
 ing the attention of capitalists to the 
 true condition of things, and the ulti- 
 mate destiny of the city as a great com- 
 mercial metropolis : and the advice he 
 gave to others he followed himself, and 
 thus became one of the wealthiest citi- 
 zens of the place. 
 
 Death of an old Business Favorite. 
 
 CoKGAT, in his " Crudities," says that 
 he saw the following quasi-obituary 
 inscription, which some witty rogue 
 had posted up : " On ne loge pas ceans 
 a credit : car il est mort— les mauvais 
 payeurs I'ont tue."— (" Here is no 
 lodging upon credit : for credit is 
 dead— bad payers have killed it.") 
 
AFRAID OF SHERIFFS HAT. 
 
THEIR LEGAL AND JUDICIAL ASPECTS. 
 
 451 
 
 Eriuli, the Florentine Merchant, and 
 his liost Purse. 
 
 A PEASANT once entered the hall of 
 justice at Florence, at the time that 
 Alexander, duke of Tuscany, was pre- 
 siding. He stated that he had the 
 good fortune to find a purse of sixty 
 ducats ; and learning that it belonged 
 to Friuli the merchant, who offered a 
 reward of ten ducats to the finder, he 
 restored it to him, but that the latter 
 had refused the promised reward. The 
 duke instantly ordered Friuli to be 
 summoned into his presence, and ques- 
 tioned him as to why he refused the 
 reward. The merchant replied, that 
 he conceived the peasant had paid 
 himself; for although, when he gave 
 notice of his loss, he said this purse 
 only contained sixty ducats, it, in fact, 
 had seventy in it. The duke inquired 
 if this mistake was discovered before 
 the purse was found. Friuli answered 
 in the negative. "Then," said the 
 duke, " as I have a very high opinion 
 of the honesty of this peasant, I am in- 
 duced to believe that there is indeed a 
 mistake in this transaction ; for, as the 
 purse you lost had in it seventy ducats, 
 and this which he found contains sixty 
 only, it is impossible that it can be the 
 same." He then gave the purse to the 
 peasant, and promised to protect him 
 against all future claimants. 
 
 Wine Merchant at his Debtor's Table. 
 
 CHAiiiER, the wine merchant, was 
 Sheridan's creditor to a large amount, 
 and had stopped supplies. Sheridan 
 was to give a grand dinner to the lead- 
 ers of the Opposition, and had no port 
 or sherry to offer them. On the morn- 
 ing of the day fixed, he sent for Cha- 
 lier, and told him he wanted to settle 
 his account. The importer, much 
 pleased, said he would go home and 
 bring it at once. "Stay," cried the 
 debtor, "will you dine with me to- 
 day ? Lord , and So-and-so 
 
 are coming." Chalier felt flattered, 
 and readily accepted. Returning to 
 his office he told his clerk that he 
 should dine with Mr. Sheridan, and 
 therefore leave early. At the proper 
 hour the merchant arrived in full dress, 
 and was no sooner in the house than 
 his host dispatched a message to the 
 clerk at the ofl[ice, saying that Mr. Cha- 
 lier wished him to send up at once 
 three dozen of Burgundy, two of claret, 
 two of port, etc., etc. Nothing seemed 
 more natural, and the wine was for- 
 warded, just in time for dinner. It was 
 highly praised by the guests, who ask- 
 ed Sheridan who was his wine mer- 
 chant. The host bowed graciously 
 toward Chalier, gave him a high re- 
 commendation, and impressed him 
 with the belief that he was telling a 
 polite falsehood, in order to secure him 
 other customers. Little did Chalier 
 think that he was drinking his own 
 wine, and that it was not, and probably 
 never would be, paid for ! 
 
 Afraid of the Sheriff's Hat. 
 
 C was an unfortunate man, so far 
 
 as financial and business matters were 
 concerned. Bills were presented to him 
 for payment, and writs served upon him 
 so often, that he finally became desper- 
 ate. One warm summer day, he was 
 passing by the Skinpenny North Amer- 
 ican Hotel, on the steps of which he 
 all at once discovered the sheriff" stand- 
 ing. Now the sheriff was a portly man, 
 and perspired freely. Accordingly he 
 took off his hat to wipe his brow, just 
 as the . unfortunate individual came 
 alongside. "For Heaven's sake, Mr. 
 
 Sheriff; don't ! " shrieked C ; " shoot 
 
 me, stab me, but dori't let me see them 
 ''are papers ! " 
 
 "Them 'are papers" didn't happen 
 
 to be in the hat that time, and C > 
 
 bore the laugh willingly. 
 
452 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 Jobbinir in Debtors' Shop-Lieases. 
 
 Speculation in shop-leases is a favo- 
 rite species* of excitement and traffic 
 with a certain class of jobbers in Lon- 
 don. The plan is to lend money at a 
 usurious interest upon the lease of a 
 tradesman in difficulty ; if he recovers 
 his position, and pays off the loan, it 
 is not a bad stroke of business for him ; 
 but if he fails, and goes into the 
 " Gazette," it is a better one, as the 
 lease is sure to be bought at a good 
 profit by some one in the same line of 
 business, who on the strength of the 
 bankrupt's connection added to his 
 own, hopes to do better. A tradesman 
 who has a lease can always make money 
 upon it; and there are a prodigious 
 number of leases at all times in the 
 hands of the money lenders. Some- 
 times it comes to pass, at the failure 
 of a trader, that the lease of his shop 
 forms the sum total of the assets of 
 the bankrupt, and even that, it may be, 
 is mortgaged for its full value. 
 
 Cabinet of Debtors' Autographs. 
 
 The man who, in the late " tin pan- 
 ic," or crisis, replied to the remark of 
 a polite notary " that he had brought 
 a notice of protest for five thousand 
 dollars, probably a mistake," — " Oh ! 
 no, a regular bu'st ! " — that man is 
 almost equalled by the editor of a 
 western paper, who owes a bank a 
 thousand dollars, for which they hold 
 his note. The wag of a debtor an- 
 nounces it thus in his paper : — " There 
 is a large and rare collection of auto- 
 graphs of distinguished individuals de- 
 posited for safe-keeping in the cabinet 
 of the Farmers' and Merchants' Bank, 
 each possessing an additional associa- 
 tive value from being accompanied 
 with a note in the hand-writing of the 
 autographist. We learn that they have 
 cost the bank a great deal of money. 
 They paid over a thousand dollars for 
 ours. We hope great care is exercised 
 
 in preserving these capital and interest- 
 ing relics, as, should they be lost, we 
 doubt whether they could be easily 
 collected again. Should the bank, 
 however, be so unfortunate as to lose, 
 we'll let them have another at half 
 price, in consequence of the very hard 
 times, — a gain of five hundred dollars 
 to the bank, considering that they had 
 to pay us a thousand for our first auto- 
 graph ! " 
 
 "Wouldn't Steal Indiana Money at 
 Par." 
 
 By the laws of Indiana, the jury are 
 obliged, in the trial of all indictments 
 of larceny, if they find the defendant 
 guilty, to estimate the value of the 
 property stolen ; when, if the amount 
 is five dollars, or over, the penalty is 
 imprisonment in the State penitentiary. 
 If under five dollars, the culprit is only 
 confined in the county jail. 
 
 A fellow was under trial for stealing 
 a five-dollar note of the State Bank of 
 Indiana ; and his counsel, finding an 
 acquittal hopeless, called several brokers 
 to testify that the note was at a dis- 
 count of one per cent, for specie, which 
 testimony the prosecuting attorney 
 rebutted by calling several business 
 men, who testified that they were 
 always in the- habit of receiving and 
 paying such notes at five dollars. 
 
 In summing up and giving the case 
 to the jury, the prosecutor, a man of 
 little cultivation but considerable 
 shrewdness, told the jury that this 
 defendant was "the meanest man he 
 ever saw. Why, gentlemen of the 
 jury," said he, "I have practised in 
 the courts of this state twelve years, 
 and have prosecuted criminals guilty of 
 all sorts of crimes and meannesses, but 
 I never before found a rascal so * all 
 fired ' mean, that he wouldn't be wil- 
 ling to steal Indiana money at par ! " 
 
 Honest Quaker Bankrupt. 
 A PROMINENT Quaker merchant, 
 having through accumulated reverses 
 
THEIR LEGAL AND JUDICIAL ASPECTS. 
 
 45a 
 
 become insolvent, and not being able 
 to pay more than about fifty per cent, 
 on his creditors' demands, formed a 
 resolution, if fortune favored bis future 
 endeavors, to pay the whole amount, 
 and in case of death he ordered his 
 sons to liquidate his debts by their 
 joint proportions. His life, however, 
 was spared, and, after struggling with 
 a variety of difficulties,— for his liveli- 
 hood chiefly depended on his own 
 labor, — he at length saved sufficient 
 to satisfy every demand. One day, the 
 old man went with a very considerable 
 sum to the surviving son of one of his 
 creditors, who had been dead thirty 
 years, and insisted on paying him the 
 money he owed his father, which he 
 accordingly did with heartfelt satis- 
 faction. 
 
 Wiping: out an Old Score. 
 
 Mr. , a Boston merchant, who 
 
 was unfortunate in business thirty 
 years ago, and consequently unable at 
 that time to meet his engagements with 
 his creditors, after more than twenty 
 years of toil, succeeded in paying every 
 creditor, except one whose residence 
 could not be ascertained, the whole 
 amount due them. During those 
 twenty years he brought up and edu- 
 cated a large family ; but still he owed 
 one of his former creditors. He was 
 not satisfied to thus keep another's 
 j>roperty ; he made inquiry, and re- 
 ceived information that the part^ had 
 died some years since. He then pur- 
 sued his inquiries respecting the 
 administrator, and ascertained his 
 name and residence, wrote to him, 
 explained the circumstances of the 
 debt, and requested him to inform him 
 of the manner in which he would receive 
 the money. The answer to this was 
 responded to by a remittance of the 
 whole amount, principal and interest. 
 
 James G. King-, the Banker, and Lord 
 Ashburton : Cause of Merchants 
 Pailingr. 
 
 In the year 1832, James G. King, the 
 renowned banker, took up his residence 
 on the heights of Weehawken, on the 
 Hudson river, where he had previously 
 bought some fifty acres of land and 
 built a substantial house. The beauty 
 of the spot, rough and unimproved as 
 it was when he purchased, its fine 
 natural forest, and its great capabili- 
 ties, gave ample employment to his 
 taste and his means, yet never tempted 
 him into hasty, excessive, or other than 
 gradual and measured outlay and im- 
 provement — a sure test of his calm and 
 sober judgment. 
 
 The late Lord Ashburton, when 
 walking round these grounds with 
 Mr. King, and listening to his descrip- 
 tion of what he had done and how 
 long he had been doing it, and of 
 what yet might be done, and the time 
 it would require to accomplish it, said 
 to him : " Half the failures of eminent 
 London merchants have been occa- 
 sioned by the ambition to have a fine 
 place, and by undue, excessive, and 
 hasty expenditure thereon; but I see, 
 by the manner in which you have gone 
 about your improvements, that you are 
 in no danger from that source." 
 
 Helping: G-irard to Collect a Debt. 
 
 Mr. Girard was once waited on by 
 a gentleman, who said : " Mr. Girard, 
 if I can tell you how you can make a 
 thousand dollars, will you give me five 
 hundred toward our new church ? " 
 To this Mr. Girard readily assented. 
 The gentleman then told him of a debt 
 of a thousand dollars, which he, Girard, 
 had long considered dead, but which 
 might be recovered by taking certain 
 steps. The debt was recovered by the 
 means thus pointed out, and Girard 
 subscribed the five hundred dollars. 
 
454 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 English Booksellers and American 
 Customers. 
 
 Daniel Appleton was almost the 
 pioneer American bookseller who visit- 
 ed England, for the purpose of opening 
 a commercial credit in that country, 
 and the result proved that he was equal 
 to what he undertook. 
 
 He found that Americans were in bad 
 odor, and it was difficult to produce 
 any impression which would counteract 
 that feeling. He called on one large 
 firm, with whom he wished to open an 
 account, but was met by the cold reply, 
 that they had lost too much by Ameri- 
 cans, and made up their minds not 
 to trust any more dealers from that 
 country. 
 
 Mr. Appleton at once replied, " You 
 say you have lost money by Ameri- 
 cans ! "Will you be kind enough to 
 turn to the accounts, and make out 
 bills for all the goods sold to Ameri- 
 cans, and I will give you a check for 
 the amount on the spot." 
 
 The English publisher was complete- 
 ly taken aback, and could not believe 
 what he had heard. 
 
 " Turn to the accounts," says Mr. 
 Appleton, "and I will pay every bill 
 that you have lost by trusting an 
 American." The bookkeeper was call- 
 ed and told off the debit amounts and 
 names, but not one single American 
 firm was found. They were all Eng- 
 lishmen ! 
 
 After that, Mr. Appleton had no 
 difficulty in procuring credit. 
 
 Jolin J. Audubon and John J. Astor. 
 
 Among the subscribers to Audubon's 
 magnificent work on ornithology, the 
 subscription price of which was one 
 thousand dollars a copy, appeared the 
 name of John Jacob Astor. During 
 the progress of the work, the prosecu- 
 tion of which was exceedingly expen- 
 sive, Mr. Audubon, of course, called 
 upon several of his subscribers for pay- 
 
 ments. It so happened that Mr. Astor 
 (probably that he might not be trou- 
 bled about small matters) was not ap- 
 plied to before the delivery of all the 
 the letterpress and plates. Then, how- 
 ever, Audubon asked for his thousand 
 dollars; but he was put off with one 
 excuse or another. 
 
 " Ah, M. Audubon," would the own- 
 er of millions observe, " you come at a 
 bad time ; money is very scarce ; I have 
 nothing in bank; I have invested all 
 my funds." 
 
 At length, for the sixth time, Audu- 
 bon called upon Astor for his thousand 
 dollars. As he was ushered into the 
 presence, he found William B. Astor, 
 the son, conversing with his father. No 
 sooner did the rich man see the man of 
 art, than he began — 
 
 "Ah, M. Audubon, so you have 
 come again after your money. Hard 
 times, M. Audubon — money scarce." 
 But just then, catching an inquiring 
 look from his son, he changed his tone : 
 " However, M. Audubon, I suppose we 
 must contrive to let you have some of 
 your money, if possible. William," he 
 added, calling to his son, who had 
 walked into an adjoining parlor, " have 
 w^e any money at all in the bank ? " 
 
 " Yes, father," replied the son, sup- 
 posing that he was asked an earnest 
 question relating to a matter which 
 they had been talking about when the 
 ornithologist came in, " we have two 
 hundred and twenty thousand dollars 
 in tlfe Bank of New York, seventy 
 thousand in the City Bank, ninety 
 thousand in the Merchants', ninety- 
 eight thousand four hundred in the 
 Mechanics', eighty-three thousand — " 
 
 "That'll do, that'll do," exclaimed 
 his father, interrupting him. " It seems 
 that William can give you a check for 
 your money." 
 
 Crinkles in the Credit System. 
 
 The advantage of the credit system 
 is pretty well illustrated in the follow- 
 
THEIR LEGAL AND JUDICIAL ASPECTS. 
 
 455 
 
 ing item : In one of the interior villages 
 of Wisconsin is a tavern keeper, and in 
 the same place an honest old German 
 blacksmith, of whom the former relates 
 that he employed him to do some iron 
 work, and paid him cash for it at the 
 time ; but afterward that a neighbor 
 had some similar work done on time for 
 a less price ; he inquired the reason 
 therefor, and the reply was as follows : 
 " You zee, I 'ave zo much scharge on 
 my book, and I zometimes lose um, 
 and zo ven I 'ave a goot cash customer 
 I scharge goot price ; but ven I puts it 
 on my book I do not like to scharge zo 
 much, zo if he never pay um I no lose 
 zo much." 
 
 Confidence in a Debtor's Promise. 
 
 In , Connecticut, Mr. Ewing had 
 
 borrowed twenty dollars of his neigh- 
 bor. Squire Robinson, and had failed 
 to make payment according to promise. 
 Two or three times he had failed ; and 
 at length he told the squire that he 
 would certainly pay him on Saturday 
 next, if his life was spared till that 
 day. The day came and went, and 
 no money came. The next morning, 
 bright and early, the squire sent word 
 to the sexton of the church that Mr. 
 Ewing was dead, and, as was custom- 
 ary in those days, the bell should be 
 tolled. The sexton tolled forty-nine 
 times, the deceased being in his fiftieth 
 year. " Who is dead ? " the neighbors 
 asked. " Mr. Ewing," said the sexton. 
 But in the course of the morning Mr. 
 Ewing was out as usual, on his way to 
 church, and learned that he was dead, 
 and the town had been told of it when 
 the sexton tolled the bell in the morn- 
 ing. The joke soon leaked out, and 
 the next day the squire got his money. 
 
 Staying his Own Debt. 
 
 One of the kindest-hearted men in 
 the world, probably, is Squire Paul, of 
 Nashville. The squire is a rich man, 
 
 has tenants, sells property, and has 
 many debts owing to him. His agent 
 sued a man for a debt, and according 
 to law the debt must be paid when 
 judgment was rendered, or " stayed " 
 by some good man becoming security 
 for the payment of the debt, interest, 
 and costs at the end of eight months. 
 The "poor party" applied to Squire 
 Paul to stay a debt for him, and, ac- 
 cording to custom, the squire could not 
 say no, but complied ; and thus, much 
 to the agent's disgust, became t\\G stay- 
 er of his own debt. 
 
 Jury Deliberations on a Kailroad 
 Case. 
 
 " Once on a time," a case was tried 
 before the Wisconsin Circuit Court, 
 against a railroad comjDany. The 
 plaintiff had sold to the company in 
 former years a piece of land for about 
 |1,000, and was to take his pay in the 
 stock of the company, if delivered 
 within a certain time. It was proved 
 on the trial of the cause, that the stock 
 was delivered to the agent of plaintiff, 
 but not till long after the time agreed 
 upon, and it had thus depreciated, so 
 as to be almost worthless. The plain- 
 tiff, in consequence, refused to accept 
 it as pay, and brought his suit for the 
 value of the land. There was consider- 
 able said in the progress of the cause 
 about this stock, etc., but the attorney 
 for the defendant contented himself 
 with excepting to certain rulings of 
 the judge, and when the case went to 
 the jury, knowing that under the 
 rulings of the Court the plaintiff had 
 made a complete case, declined making 
 any argument to the jury. The jury 
 retired. To the astonishment of the 
 bar, and everybody else, they were 
 out a long while, but they finally re- 
 turned a verdict for the plaintiff for all 
 he claimed. Considerable curiosity was 
 manifested to know the reason why the 
 jury delayed so long in finding a ver- 
 dict in so plain a case. One of the jury 
 
456 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 finally let the secret escape. It appears 
 that . Jemmy Mann v/as on that jury. 
 Jemmy had dealt some in cattle, etc., 
 but not largely in law, nor did he 
 know much about railroads. After the 
 jury retired, the first ballot showed 
 eleven to one — eleven for plaintiff and 
 one for defendant. Several ballots were 
 taken with the same effect. After some 
 investigation, it was ascertained that 
 Jemmy was the man who was for the 
 defendant. His reason for voting in 
 this way was demanded. " And sure," 
 replied Jemmy, " would you be after 
 paying a man twice for his land? 
 Didn't the witness say that the plain- 
 tiff had received his pay in stock; and 
 wouldn't I like to know what he did 
 with the cattle, before, as an honest 
 man, I can vote for giving him any 
 more ? " It took some time to make 
 Jemmy understand the difference be- 
 tween railroad stoclc, at fifteen cents on 
 the dollar, and horses and cattle, etc. ; 
 but he finally yielded to the persisten- 
 cy of the eleven obstinate men who 
 were for the plaintiff, and who didn't 
 seem to care what he had done with 
 the " cattle." 
 
 Stealing: Goods at the Retail Price. 
 
 At a session of the Circuit Court in 
 Pepin County, Wisconsin, a criminal 
 was on trial for grand larceny — the in- 
 dictment charging the stealing of 
 sundry articles of dry goods, clothing, 
 etc. — and the amount proved to be 
 stolen was but little more than suffi- 
 cient to make the required amount ne- 
 cessary to sustain the indictment for 
 grand larceny. The jury found him 
 
 guilty; and Judge W , presiding, 
 
 asked him if he had anything to say 
 why he should not proceed to pro- 
 nounce sentence. The prisoner quietly 
 remarked that he thought the goods 
 were valued too high, and that they 
 ought to charge them at cost. Judge 
 
 W replied that the construction 
 
 of the law was such that a prisoner 
 
 could not steal at cost, but only at the 
 retail 'price ; and he was thereupon sen- 
 tenced to be sent to the State prison 
 for two years. 
 
 Certificates of Solvency. 
 
 The moral of the following is to pay 
 as you go ; and if you can't, don't go 
 at all. (Fi^e" Harper.") 
 
 One of the legal fraternity of the 
 village of Cohoes is a man who not 
 many years ago earned his bread and 
 butter by making boots and shoes; 
 but having been assured by an itine- 
 rant phrenologist that he had mistaken 
 his calling, he applied himself to the 
 study of law, and in due time " de- 
 scended from the bench to the bar." 
 Finding it impossible in his new voca^ 
 tion to make both ends meet, he was 
 not unfrequently annoyed by brief and 
 uncourteous notes, reminding him of 
 long-forgotten notes that needed some- 
 thing to place them in equilibrio. One 
 of these was (unfortunately, as the se- 
 quel will show) thrust in his coat 
 pocket and forgotten. Having ex- 
 hausted his credit among the tailors 
 of Cohoes, he attempted to "stick" 
 Messrs. Tape and Linen, of Albany. A 
 coat having been made according to 
 his order, he called to take it away, 
 at the same time remarking that " he 
 would send his check for the amount 
 next week." To this the senior part- 
 ner replied that, "although it was 
 probably all right, yet, as he was an 
 entire stranger, they could not be con- 
 sidered unreasonable if they required 
 some sort of reference before allowing 
 the coat to be taken from the shop." 
 The propriety of this was, after a 
 slight affectation of wounded pride, 
 admitted; and our seedy counsellor 
 left in search of a certificate of solven- 
 cy. Having finally secured the neces- 
 sary document, he returned to the 
 scene of his late discomfiture, and with 
 an air of triumph drew an envelope 
 from his pocket, threw it on the coun- 
 
THEIR LEGAL AND JUDICIAL ASPECTS. 
 
 467 
 
 ter, and requested Mr. Tape to " read 
 that." The latter gentleman complied, 
 and read as follows : 
 
 " CoHOES, October 25, 1853. 
 
 " J M , Esq. : 
 
 " Sir : Inclosed find our bill of $43 
 against you, for clothing furnished 
 nearly two years ago. Unless paid at 
 once, it will be placed in the hands of 
 an attorney for collection. 
 
 " Yours, etc., Jones & Mason." 
 
 It is needless to say that when the 
 above note was handed back with the 
 remark that there had evidently been 
 some mistake, the counsellor left the 
 store very abruptly, and in a style that 
 contrasted most ludicrously with that 
 in which he entered. 
 
 Suit against a Railroad Company. 
 
 In a city not one hundred miles from 
 New York, the president of one of the 
 city railroads was informed by his 
 counsel that a suit was commenced 
 against his company by a neighboring 
 corporation. The counsel stated that 
 the suit was by lill in equity, Not 
 being familiar with law terms, he was 
 heard informing a number of his broth- 
 er presidents of the suit in question, 
 which he said most sincerely was ly 
 lill of iniquity ! That he came so near 
 the truth in the novel statement, made 
 some amusement to the parties listen- 
 ing to him. 
 
 Unexpected Judgment against Bank 
 Directors. 
 
 One of the most curious legal and 
 criminal events in the history of the 
 Bank of England occurred in the year 
 1819. Mr. Ransom, an engraver, hav- 
 ing paid a one-pound note to a Mr. 
 Mitchener, the latter found it was de- 
 tained by the bank, upon the ground 
 of its being a forgery. Upon this, Mr. 
 Mitchener claimed a repayment of the 
 amount from Mr. Ransom, which was 
 
 refused until the return of the note. 
 Mr. M. immediately summoned him, 
 and procured the attendance of Mr. 
 Fish, an inspector of the bank, with 
 the note in question. Ransom request- 
 ed to look at it, and permission having 
 been granted, he deliberately placed it 
 in his pocket, and avowed his inten- 
 tion of keeping it. An appeal to the 
 magistrate was of no. avail, as he de- 
 clined to interfere ; on which Ransom 
 went to Mitchener's house, and paid 
 the twenty shillings. 
 
 This style of treatment was rather 
 too decided for the bank quietly to 
 permit, and Fish — it is presumed at 
 the instigation of the directors — made 
 a charge in writing against Ransom, 
 for knowingly having a forged note in 
 his possession. On this the magistrate 
 committed him, to remain till duly dis- 
 charged by law. After a few days' in- 
 carceration, he was liberated on bail. 
 Mr. Ransom, however, was not to be so 
 quietly dismissed. He, in turn, brought 
 an action for false and malicious im- 
 prisonment against Fish; and, after 
 IDroducing several witnesses, the evi- 
 dence of whom went to show that the 
 note was genuine, and no person being 
 present from the bank to prove the 
 contrary, as the directors were quite 
 unprepared for this statement, the jury 
 brought in a verdict for the plaintiff 
 of £100. Previous to this period, it 
 had always been the practice of the 
 bank to detain the forged notes which 
 were offered to them for payment, with 
 the view of saving the public from be- 
 ing again imposed upon. Since the 
 circumstances enumerated, however, the 
 notes have been returned to the parties 
 presenting them; the same beneficial 
 result being obtained by stamping the 
 word " forged " upon them in several 
 places. ___^_ 
 
 Deciding a Case in Botany before a 
 Dutcli Magistrate. 
 
 An English amateur botanist, while 
 travelling in Holland when the tulip 
 
458 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 fever was raging, and being quite a 
 novice in tuberous plants, happened 
 one day to see a tulip root lying in the 
 conservatory of a wealthy Dutch mer- 
 chant. Being ignorant of its quality, 
 he took out his penknife and peeled off 
 its coats, with the view of making ex- 
 periments upon it. When it was by 
 this means reduced to half its original 
 size, he cut it into two equal sections, 
 making all the time many learned re- 
 marks on the singular appearance of 
 the unknown bulb. Suddenly the 
 owner pounced upon him, and with 
 fury in his eyes, and stamping with ex- 
 citement, asked the amazed botanist if 
 he knew what he had been doing ? 
 
 "Peeling a most extraordinary on- 
 ion," replied the philosopher. 
 
 ''^ Hundert tausend duytel^'' said the 
 Dutchman, ''it's an Admiral Van der 
 Eych ! " 
 
 " Thank you," replied the traveller, 
 taking out his note book to make a 
 memorandum of the same ; " are these 
 admirals common in your country ? " 
 
 " Death and the devil,'''' said the Dutch- 
 man, seizing the astonished man of sci- 
 ence by the collar, "come before the 
 syndic, and you shall see." 
 
 In spite of his remonstrances, the 
 traveller was led forthwith through the 
 streets, followed by a mob of persons. 
 When brought into the presence of the 
 magistrate, he learned, to his consterna- 
 tion, that the root upon which he had 
 been quietly experimenting was worth 
 four thousand florins; and, notwith- 
 standing all he could urge in extenua- 
 tion, he was lodged in prison until he 
 found securities for the payment of this 
 sum. 
 
 Artifice to Escape Bankruptcy. 
 
 The expedition of Charles Edward 
 fills a conspicuous page in the history 
 of England. It was as romantic as it 
 was remarkable, and struck a panic 
 into the commercial heart of England. 
 Landing in the wilds of Moidart, at- 
 
 tended by only seven devoted men, the 
 prize at which he aimed was a king- 
 dom. His march was one scene of tri- 
 umph. With but a solitary guinea in 
 his pocket, the gallant adventurer en- 
 tered the fair city of Perth. From 
 Perth he passed on to the capital of 
 Scotland— the lofty loyalty of the peo- 
 ple of Scotland responding to the 
 claims of the unfortunate house, and 
 the tartan of the clan Stuart waving a 
 joyous welcome from street and square 
 of the city of palaces. The person of 
 the Pretender, his chivalrous adven- 
 ture, his princely bearing, won him 
 golden opinions. Men fought for him. 
 Women embraced him. At Doune 
 some Scottish lasses kissed his hand; 
 and one, with the romantic enthusiasm 
 of girlhood, begged permission to kiss 
 the royal lips. The favor was gracious- 
 ly granted by the young chevalier, who, 
 taking the loyal lady in his arms, kissed 
 her blushing face from ear to ear, to 
 the great vexation of the other ladies, 
 who had been contented with a less 
 liberal allowance of his princely grace. 
 When, therefore, Carlisle had capitu- 
 lated, when Pearith was invested, and 
 Manchester, with its thirty thousand 
 inhabitants, " was taken by a sergeant, 
 a drummer, and a girl," dismay pos- 
 sessed all hearts. London expected, at 
 once, to witness the triumphant entry 
 of the rebel army, the seizure of her 
 treasure, and the plunder of her citi- 
 zens. Substantial traders exaggerated 
 the alarm thus spread throughout the 
 shops and the counting houses; and 
 the merchants outvied each other in 
 liberal subscriptions — for the Pretend- 
 er was already at Derby. 
 
 The effect of this alarming state of 
 things upon the national bank was as 
 usual. Its interests were closely in- 
 volved in those of the State ; and the 
 creditors flocked in crowds to obtain 
 payment for their notes. The direct- 
 ors, unprepared for such a casualty, 
 had recourse to a justifiable artifice. 
 The Chevalier Johnston, whose evi- 
 
THEIR LEGAL AND JUDICIAL ASPECTS. 
 
 459 
 
 dence was collected immediately after 
 the battle of CuUoden, says, that the 
 bank only escaped lankruptcy hy a strat- 
 agem. Payment was not refused, but 
 the corporation retained its specie, by 
 employing agents to enter with notes, 
 who, to gain time, were paid in six- 
 j)euces ; and as those who came first 
 were entitled to priority of payment, 
 the agents went out at one door with 
 the specie they had received, and 
 brought it back to another, so that the 
 dona fide holders of notes could never 
 get near enough to present them. By 
 this artifice, the bank preserved its 
 credit, and literally faced its creditors. 
 History records the retreat of the young 
 Pretender from Derby, the news of 
 which stopped the run. 
 
 Pailure of the Governor of the Bank 
 of England. 
 
 In 1834 a great sensation was created 
 throughout England by a circumstance 
 Vv'hich was only important from its in- 
 cidental connection with the Bank of 
 England. Mr. Richard Mee Raikes, 
 governor of the bank, a gentleman 
 universally respected, was compelled, 
 from various unforeseen events, to an- 
 nounce a suspension of payments, which 
 was followed by the appearance of his 
 name in the list of bankrupts. The 
 rumor spread among the less-informed 
 class — among the dwellers in the sub- 
 urbs, and the inhabitants of the coun- 
 try, that the governor of the bank had 
 failed. The annuitants and small class 
 of fund-holders, who look upon the 
 head of the establishment as an inte- 
 gral part of the corporation, regarded 
 their fortunes gone, and their property 
 forfeited. The autumn dividends were 
 just due : and it was remarkable to 
 witness the earnestness with which 
 they were applied for. The offices 
 were crowded with applicants; and, 
 if the slightest delay occurred, though 
 occasioned by their own ignorance, 
 they regarded it as an invidious delay 
 
 of their rights, and a confirmation of 
 their fears. Time, however, in this as 
 in other things, brought "healing on 
 its wings," and confidence to the breasts 
 of public creditors. 
 
 Subscriptions for the Government "by 
 Philadelphia Merchants. 
 
 At a critical period of the Revolu- 
 tionary War, when there was great 
 danger of the dissolution of the Ameri- 
 can army, for want of provisions to 
 keep it together, a number of patriotic 
 gentlemen in Philadelphia — principally 
 the bankers and merchants — subscribed 
 to the amount of some two hundred 
 and sixty thousand pounds, payable in 
 gold and silver, for procuring them. 
 This movement was considered nearly 
 equivalent to assuming the debt of the 
 Government, and was in the highest 
 degree creditable to the mercantile 
 community. The provisions were pro- 
 cured. The two highest subscriptions 
 were those of Robert Morris, for £10,- 
 000, and Blair McClenachan, £10,000. 
 Thomas Willing subscribed £5,000. Mr. 
 Willing, and his associate in commerce, 
 Robert Morris, as well as his connec- 
 tion, Mr. Clymer, were all members of 
 Congress of 1776. To the great credit 
 and well-known patriotism of the house 
 of Willing & Morris, the country owed 
 its extrication from those trying pecu- 
 niary embarrassments so familiar to the 
 readers of our Revolutionary history. 
 The character of Mr. Willing has been 
 thought to resemble, in many respects, 
 that of Washington ; and in the discre- 
 tion of his conduct, the fidelity of his 
 professions, and the great influence, 
 both public and private, which belong- 
 ed to him, the destined leader (Wash- 
 ington) was certain to find the elements 
 of an affinity by which they would be 
 united in the closest manner. 
 
 Lafayette's Loan to Matthew Carey. 
 After passing through many strik- 
 ing experiences as a politician and 
 
460 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 journalist abroad, Matthew Carey land- 
 ed in Philadelphia on the 1st of No- 
 vember, 1784 ; and, while he was yet 
 contemplating a removal to the coun- 
 try, until sufficient funds should be re- 
 ceived from the sale of his newspaper 
 in Dublin (which place he found it 
 prudent to leave, in view of the Gov- 
 ernment prosecution for libel which 
 hung like a drawn sword over his 
 head) to enable him to engage in busi- 
 ness, the Marquis de Lafayette, having 
 heard of his arrival, desired that he 
 should call upon him. The marquis^ 
 previously aware of the persecutions he 
 had suffered, and admiring his noble 
 spirit, made inquiries of him as to his 
 future plans and prospects. On stating 
 that it was his intention, at as early 
 a day as possible, to establish a news- 
 paper, Lafayette entered fully into 
 the project, and promised him such 
 influence as he could command 
 with Robert Morris, Thomas Fitzsim- 
 
 mons, and other leading men in that 
 region. 
 
 On the following morning, Mr. Carey 
 was surprised at receiving a letter from 
 Lafayette, containing the sum of four 
 hundred dollars. This was the more 
 remarkable from his not having said a 
 word about desiring to borrow, or in 
 any way to receive money from the 
 marquis — no such thought having en- 
 tered his mind. This sum of money — 
 the fabric upon which it may be said 
 Mr. Carey built his fortune, first as a 
 journalist and then as a printer and 
 bookseller — he considered it a solemn 
 duty to repay, in assisting Frenchmen 
 in distress; which he did, fully and 
 amply. While it was not the desire of 
 Lafayette that it should be regarded in 
 the light of a loan, but as a free gift, 
 Mr. Carey, in after years, consigned to 
 him an invoice of tobacco, besides, on 
 his arrival in New York, in 1824, re- 
 paying him the entire amount. 
 
PART NINTH. 
 
 Anecdotes of Merchants, Bankers, Traders, and 
 millionnaires, in their domestic relations. 
 
 V 
 
f 
 
PAET E'lI^TTH. 
 
 Anecdotes of Merchants, Bankers, Traders, and Millionnaires, in 
 their Domestic Eolations. 
 
 PERSONAL APPEARANCE, MANNERS, CONVERSATION, TASTES, SOCIAL TRAITS AND HABITS ; PE- 
 CULIAR EXPERIENCES ; GENIAL SALLIES, JESTS, AND JOCULARITIES ; LAST HOURS, WILLS, 
 ETC. 
 
 Domestic happiness, thou only hliss 
 
 Of paradise that hath eurvived the fall ! 
 
 Cowper's "Task." 
 No money is better spent than \vhat is laid out for domestic satisfaction.— Johnsok. 
 A man that knows how to mix pleasures with business, is never entirely possessed by them.— St. 
 
 EVRKMOND. 
 
 He is so full of pleasant anecdote — 
 So ricb, so gay, so poignant in his wit. 
 
 Baillib's "Db Montford." 
 
 What you leave at your death, let it be without controversy , else the lawyers will be your heirs. 
 
 — -OSBORN. 
 
 The grave is the common treasury to which we must all be taxed.— Burke. 
 
 Baring's Daughter and M. LalDOU- 
 chere. 
 
 In 1823, M. Labouchere, then a clerk 
 in the banking house of Hope & Co., 
 Amsterdam, was sent by his patrons to 
 Mr. Baring, the London banker, to nego- 
 tiate a loan. He displayed in the affair 
 so much ability, as to entirely win the 
 esteem and confidence of the great 
 English financier. 
 
 " Faith ! " said Labouchere one day 
 to Baring, " your daughter is a charm- 
 ing creature ; I wish I could persuade 
 you to give me her hand." 
 
 " Young man, you are joking ; for 
 seriously, you must allow that Miss 
 Baring could never become the wife of 
 a simple clerk." 
 
 " But," said Labouchere, " if I were 
 in partnership with Mr. Hope ? " 
 
 " Oh ! that would be quite a differ- 
 ent thing; that would entirely make 
 up for all other deficiences." 
 
 Returned to Amsterdam, Labouchere 
 
 said to his patron, " You must take me 
 into partnership." 
 
 " My young friend, how can you 
 think of such a thing ? It is impossi- 
 ble. You are without fortune, and " — 
 
 " But if I became the son-in-law of 
 Mr. Baring ? " 
 
 "In that case the affair would be 
 soon settled, and so you have my 
 word." 
 
 Fortified with these two promises, 
 M. Labouchere returned to England, 
 and in two months after married Miss 
 Baring, because Mr. Hope had promised 
 to take him into partnership ; and he 
 thus became allied to the house of 
 Hope & Co. His was a magnificent 
 fcareer. 
 
 Domestic Trouble of Eothschild. 
 
 At the time of the decease of Baron 
 Rothschild's grandson, a very young 
 child, the Baron was so much afflicted, 
 that for some time he gave up the care 
 
464 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 of his affairs, and neglected his vast 
 business enterprises. During this sea- 
 son of grief, a friend came to offer him 
 his condolence ; the Baron recalled, 
 with a melancholy tenderness, the win- 
 ning ways of the lost little child : 
 " They brought him to me every morn- 
 ing," said he, " here is my cabinet, and 
 I think I see him now, on my table, 
 overturning all my papers." 
 
 At this moment, an agent from the 
 exchange came in. It was the hour 
 when he came to take the orders of the 
 prince of finance, and to render him an 
 account of the movement in the funds, 
 and the aspect affairs had taken on the 
 Bourse down to the latest period. In- 
 terrupted in the overflowings of his 
 memories and regrets, M. de Rothschild 
 fell into a melancholy revery, while the 
 agent launched bravely into the subject 
 of his habitual visit, and continued, 
 with the most minute detail, his expos6 
 of the state of financial matters, with- 
 out being disconcerted by the silence 
 of his auditor, which he attributed to 
 continued and deep financial calcula- 
 tion. 
 
 Having thus finished his report on 
 the state of all the various stocks nego- 
 tiated on 'Change, the agent added : 
 " A new advance in the public funds is 
 expected — do you believe in it, M. le 
 Baron ? " M. de Rothschild, aroused 
 from his revery, raised his head, and 
 replied, with an accent full of sadness 
 and gravity, " I, sir ? I believe only in 
 God." 
 
 Coutts, the Great Banker, choosing: a 
 " Partner." 
 
 Not a partner for his counting-house, 
 but for the domestic circle. When a 
 single man, and known to be a banker 
 of such great wealth, Mr. Coutts was 
 an object of attraction to more than 
 one noble family having portionless 
 daughters, in the hope that such an al- 
 liance would be the means of relieving 
 them from their pecuniary necessities ; 
 but these aristocratic matrimonial spec- 
 
 ulators were all self- deceived and con- 
 founded by the choice Mr. Coutts made 
 of a wife — falling, as it did, upon Eliz- 
 abeth Starkey, a superior domestic in 
 his brother's service, with whom he 
 lived many years in the enjoyment of 
 every domestic comfort. The result of 
 this union was, three daughters, who 
 respectively married the Marquis of 
 Bute, the Earl of Guilford, and Sir 
 Francis Burdett. 
 
 On the death of his wife, Mr. Coutts 
 married Miss Mellon, an actress — a 
 marriage which caused both Mr. and 
 Mrs. C. much ridicule. These attacks, 
 however, were mainly directed against 
 the lady; but they only tended to 
 strengthen the confidence Mr. Coutts 
 had placed in his wife, and this confi- 
 dence was in the end displayed in a 
 most remarkable manner. When he 
 died, he left the whole of his vast 
 property — nine hundred thousand 
 pounds — ^to Mrs. Coutts, for her sole 
 use and benefit, and at her own dis- 
 posal, without even mentioning any 
 other person, or leaving a single legacy, 
 large or small, to any individual or for 
 any object. 
 
 Mrs. Coutts subsequently married the 
 Duke of St. Albans, but under her mar- 
 riage settlement reserved to herself the 
 sole control over the property left by 
 Mr. Coutts ; and on her death, true to 
 the confidence placed in her by Mr. C, 
 she left the whole of his great wealth 
 to his favorite grand-daughter Angela 
 Burdett, now Miss Angela Burdett 
 Coutts, who is the principal proprietor 
 of the Coutts Bank, the business being 
 conducted by trustees for Miss Burdett, 
 under the old style of Coutts & Co. 
 
 Personal Appearance of Stephen 
 Qirard. 
 
 Girard's form was low and square, 
 although muscular, with feet large, and 
 his entire person and address exhibit- 
 ing the aspect of a rough old sailor. 
 Nor was his countenance calculated to 
 
DOMESTIC RELATIONS OF MERCHANTS, BANKERS, ETC. 
 
 465 
 
 alter tlie imi3ressioii that would be 
 likely to be produced by the appear- 
 ance of his person. 
 
 A face dark, and colorless, and cold, 
 although deeply marked with the lines 
 of thought, indicated a man who had 
 been accustomed to the hard fare of 
 life ; and it possessed an iron, or, as it 
 has been, perhaps, more properly desig- 
 nated, a stone-like expression. His 
 " wall-eye " seemed to add to that air 
 of general abstraction, which was 
 evinced by his general demeanor, 
 whether engaged in his domestic 
 affairs, or the more active business of 
 his banking operations. But the dull 
 eye, which seemed ordinarily to sleej) 
 in its socket, and whose predominant 
 expression was cunning, sometimes kin- 
 dled as if with fire, when any topic 
 adapted to his taste was pressed upon 
 his attention. His mouth, when not 
 relaxed by an insinuating smile, ex- 
 pressed unutterable determination. His 
 high cheek bones, and breadth of face, 
 gave indications of the extraordinary 
 character of the man ; and this was not 
 diminished by his wearing a queue. 
 
 His mind appeared to be engaged 
 less upon the little details of business 
 than in devising those great projects of 
 mercantile speculation which tended so 
 directly to swell his coffers, and yet he 
 was scrupulous in his devotion to all 
 those minute points of business which 
 fell within the wide circle of his enter- 
 prises. But if a ship was to be built, 
 or a house constructed, or a vessel to 
 be freighted, his presence was seldom 
 wanting to superintend and direct the 
 most unimportant details. 
 
 From the year 1812, he was partially 
 defective in the hearing of one ear, and 
 as he could only speak in broken Eng- 
 lish, and seldom conversed, excepting 
 upon business, this circumstance threw 
 around his appearance an air of even 
 greater mystery. His ordinary style of 
 dress was in exact keeping with his 
 plain and homely traits. He constant- 
 ly wore an old coat cut in the French 
 30 
 
 style, and remarkable only for its an- 
 tiquity, generally preserving the same 
 garment in use for four or five years. 
 Nor did he maintain a mry costly 
 equipage. An old chair, distinguished 
 chiefly for its rickety construction, as 
 well as its age, which he at last caused 
 to be painted and marked with the 
 letters S. G., drawn by an indifferent 
 horse, suited to such a vehicle, was the 
 style he j)referred in this respect. 
 
 Astor's Appearance and Manners. 
 
 Considering his extraordinary ac- 
 tivity until a late period of his life, Mr. 
 Astor submitted to the helplessness of 
 age with uncommon resignation. When 
 his impaired eyesight no longer permit- 
 ted him to read, his principal relief 
 from the wearisomeness of unoccupied 
 time was in the society of his friends 
 and near relatives. All who knew him 
 were strongly attached to him, and 
 none but those who were ignorant of 
 his true character believed him unami- 
 able and repulsive. His smile was pe- 
 culiarly benignant, and expressive of 
 genuine kindness of heart, and his 
 whole manner candid and courteous to 
 every one entitled to his respect. There 
 was something so impressive in his 
 appearance, that no one could stand 
 before him without feeling that he was 
 in the presence of a superior intelli- 
 gence. His deep, sunken eye, his over- 
 arched brow, denoted the prophetic 
 mind within. Although he lived to a 
 great age, and was the victim of much 
 suffering, he did not murmur, nor did 
 he become unreasonable and peevish. 
 He was not wont to talk much on the 
 subject of religion, or freely communi- 
 cate his views in relation to the life 
 beyond the grave. With regard to his 
 religious views, it is known that he 
 was a member of the German Reformed 
 Congregation in New York. 
 
.466 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 De Medici, the " Magnificent Mer- 
 chant," when a Child. 
 
 LoBENZo DE Medici, the "magnifi- 
 cent mercliant " of his time, was, when 
 a child, presented one day by his father 
 to a royal ambassador, to whom he wa-s 
 talking of him with the natural fond- 
 ness of a parent, and desired the am- 
 bassador to put some question to his 
 son, and thus see by his answer wheth- 
 er he was not a boy of parts. The am- 
 bassador did as he was desired, and 
 was soon convinced of the truth of 
 what the father had told him; but 
 added, oracularly, " This child, as he 
 grows old, will most probably become 
 stupid, for it has in general been ob- 
 served that those who, when young, are 
 very sprightly and clever, hardly ever 
 increase in talent as they grow older." 
 Young Lorenzo, hearing this, crept 
 gently to the ambassador, and looking 
 him archly in the face, said to him, " I 
 am certain that when you were young, 
 you were a boy of very great genius." 
 Lorenzo being then asked, " Who are 
 the greatest fools in the world ? " re- 
 plied promptly, " Those, surely, who 
 put themselves in a passion with fools." 
 
 Slightly Personal. "^ 
 
 From some cause or other. Lord Al- 
 len had taken it into his head to make 
 a butt of a certain banker, who be- 
 longed to the same club as himself; 
 and hearing that this banker had peti- 
 tioned for the removal of a monument 
 which had been placed opposite to his 
 place of business, asked him, one day, 
 in rather an imperious manner, his mo- 
 tive for joining the inhabitants of the 
 district in such a petition. 
 
 The banker replied that it collected 
 a throng of idlers and dirty boys about 
 the spot, to the great hindrance of 
 business, and the annoyance of his 
 neighbors. 
 
 " Oh," said his lordship, " of course 
 every man knows his own business best. 
 
 but I should have thought it rather 
 advantageous to you than otherwise." 
 
 " How so, my lord ? " rejoined the 
 banker. 
 
 " Because," said his lordship, " while 
 you are standing idle at your own shop 
 door, it would prevent your seeing the 
 crowds of people that flock to the re- 
 spectable banking house of Messrs. Bul- 
 lion & Co., on the opposite side of the 
 street ! " 
 
 Of course his lordship's spleen was 
 now gratified, for the whole club was 
 convulsed with laughter; but the tri- 
 umph was only of short duration, for 
 the banker soon learned that his lord- 
 ship — whose peculiarly pompous man- 
 ner had obtained for him the sobriquet 
 of " King," by which title and no other 
 was he commonly known among his 
 most intimate friends — had previously 
 arranged with his creditors by the pay- 
 ment of ten shillings on the pound. 
 The banker was determined to be re- 
 venged, and within a few hours, before 
 the novelty of King Allen's last had 
 subsided, he went to the club, when it 
 was crammed with members, and hav- 
 ing got their attention, observed that 
 " if ' King Allen's ' coronation was to 
 take place, and his champion were to 
 throw down his gauntlet in Westmin- 
 ster Hall, he would pick it up." 
 
 " Why, why ? " resounded from all 
 the members of the club. 
 
 " Because," said the banker, " I find 
 he has assumed a title to which he has 
 no claim, for he has compounded with 
 his creditors, and paid them ten shil- 
 lings in the pound ; he is therefore no 
 king, but merely a half-sovereign." 
 
 Baron Rothschild Defending- Himself 
 with a Big Leger. 
 
 Threats of murder were frequently 
 sent to Rothschild by persons intent on 
 obtaining from him sums of money. A 
 stranger once waited upon him with 
 the information that a plot had been 
 formed to take his life ; that the loans 
 
DOMESTIC RELATIONS OF MERCHANTS, BANKERS, ETC. 
 
 467 
 
 which he had made to Austria, and his 
 connection with Governments adverse 
 to the liberties of Europe, had marked 
 him lor assassination ; and that the 
 mode by which he was to lose his life 
 was arranged. 
 
 But though Rothschild smiled out- 
 wardly at this and similar threats, they 
 said, who knew him best, that his mind 
 was often troubled by these remem- 
 brances, and that they haunted him at 
 moments when he would willingly 
 have forgotten them. Occasionally his 
 fears took a ludicrous form. Two tall, 
 mustachioed men were once shown 
 into his counting house. Mr. Roths- 
 child bowed ; the visitors bowed, and 
 their hands wandered first in one pock- 
 et, and then in another. To the anx- 
 ious eye of the millionnaire they as- 
 sumed the appearance of persons search- 
 ing for deadly weapons. Ko time 
 seemed for thought; a big leger, 
 without a moment's warning, was 
 hurled at the intruders ; and, in a 
 paroxysm of fear, he called for assist- 
 ance, to drive out two customers, who 
 were only feeling in their pockets for 
 letters of introduction. There is no 
 doubt that he dreaded assassination 
 greatly. 
 
 "You must be a happy man, Mr. 
 Rothschild," said a gentleman who was 
 sharing the hospitality of his splendid 
 home, as he glanced at the more than 
 regal sumptuousness of the appoint- 
 ments of the mansion. 
 
 " Happy ! me happy ! " was the re- 
 ply. " What ! happy, when, just as 
 you are going to dine, you have a let- 
 ter placed in your hand, saying, ' If 
 you don't send me £500, I will blow 
 your brains out ! Happy ! me happy ! " 
 And the fact that he frequently slept 
 with loaded pistols at the side of his 
 gilded bed, is comment enough upon 
 the happiness of the richest man on the 
 face of the globe. 
 
 Francis Baring: at the Virginia Inn. 
 
 When a young man, Mr. Baring 
 travelled through the western part of 
 Virginia, which was at that time peo- 
 pled, in some of its localities, by a pret- 
 ty rough class, and the vehicle he used 
 was a very handsome and newly var- 
 nished travelling carriage, in style 
 comporting with his high personal and 
 business character. In accordance with 
 the favorite custom of those wild fel- 
 lows, who usually carried a penknife 
 or nail in their pockets, one of the 
 idlers, who stood and leaned about the 
 door of the tavern, when the banker 
 had alighted for refreshment, amused 
 himself by scratching, with a nail, all 
 sorts of ridiculous figures on the var- 
 nished surface of the carriage door. 
 Baring, who came out of the inn, and 
 caught our friend engaged in this 
 agreeable and polite occupation, the 
 instant he saw what was going on, 
 very sharply expressed his disappro- 
 bation. The loiterer responded as 
 quickly : 
 
 " Look here, %ir ! don't be saucy ; 
 we make no ceremony. T'other day 
 we had a European fellow here, like 
 yourself, who was mighty saucy, so I 
 pulled out my pistol and shot him 
 dead, right on the spot. There he 
 lies ! " The banker rejoined, in the 
 coolest manner imaginable, by asking : 
 
 " And did you scalp him, too ? " 
 
 The fellow was so struck with this, 
 and felt the reproach upon his savage 
 rudeness so keenly, that, after gazing 
 at Baring suddenly and earnestly for a 
 laoment in silence, he exclaimed : 
 
 " By ! sir, you must be a clever 
 
 fellow ! let's shake hands ! " 
 
 It would not have been easy to give 
 a sharper lesson. 
 
 Palace of Lafitte, the French Banker. 
 
 The long-celebrated "Rue Lafitte," 
 in Paris, was originally christened Rue 
 d'Artois, in 1770— in honor of the ill- 
 
468 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 fated prince whom, after sixty agitated 
 years, the great banker Lafitte was, by 
 his masterly combinations, to drive 
 from the throne. After a while, the 
 name of Cerutti was substituted. At the 
 end of the street rose the magnificent 
 Hotel Thelusson — a residence of the 
 Genevese banker, the patron of Necker, 
 whose fortune and less ambitious pop- 
 ularity survived those of his more illus- 
 trious junior partner. It became the 
 headquarters of the luxury of the day. 
 In course of time, Murat took this pal- 
 ace ; and not long after it fell into the 
 hands of Berchut, an army tailor, who 
 had made a fortune by selling uniforms, 
 in days when their first owners seldom 
 had the good luck to wear them out. 
 He invested it in the erection of build- 
 ings on speculation, and, in the carry- 
 ing out of these schemes, the hotel 
 which had become so famous in the 
 annals and chronicles of its occupants 
 was at last demolished. 
 
 Here, in this memorable quarter^ 
 lived Jacques Lafitte, whose financial 
 greatness was felt in both hemispheres, 
 at times overtopping the influence and 
 power even of crowned heads. Hither, 
 on the 29th of July, 1830, when the 
 battle was well-nigh decided, flocked 
 the courtiers of his provisional majesty, 
 the populace, and who seemed on the 
 eve of a definite reinstatement in his 
 anarchical rights. The sordid in- 
 triguer, the waiter on Providence, the 
 timid capitalist who sought protection 
 rather than promotion — all eagerly 
 crowded these approaches, now so soli- 
 tary, with urgent advice and covert 
 solicitations. It was a trembling and 
 undignified assemblage in such a place ; 
 for the result of affairs out of doors yet 
 hung in the balance ; the fear of being 
 too late was in ludicrous conflict with 
 that of being too early ; at any moment 
 a few files of infantry might direct 
 their steps thitherward, become the 
 focus of insurrection— and then the 
 game was up ! 
 
 It is due to the brilliant and cour- 
 
 ageous banker to say, that he stood 
 firm, as became the representative of 
 the great moneyed interest, in this its 
 crowning struggle. On one occasion, 
 the sound of musketry in the neighbor- 
 hood actually cleared the palace of all 
 its visitors; it proved to be only the 
 discharge in the air of a regiment fra- 
 ternizing with the mob— but Lafitte, 
 unterrified and unconquerable, remain- 
 ed at his post, and profited by the in- 
 terval of domestic solitude to get his 
 sore leg dressed. 
 
 But Lafitte was ruined by this revo- 
 lution, as is well known. His palace 
 was repurchased for him by subscrip- 
 tion; and an inscription on the front 
 long recorded this fact to passers by. 
 It has, however, now been removed into 
 the courtyard. Surely, it was not a 
 thing to be ashamed of. The genius 
 of finance, however, in its domesticity, 
 has not quite abandoned its favor- 
 ite quarter. M. Rothschild himself 
 long lived in the Rue Lafitte, and now 
 and then illumined the locality with a 
 splendor of Hebrew hospitality which 
 reduced the Christendom of Paris to 
 envy and despair. 
 
 " merely a Pamily Dinner." 
 
 The maxim " All is not gold that 
 glitters," if not purely English in its 
 origin and application, is at all events 
 not much recognized in France. In 
 the latter country, the reputation of a 
 man for wealth is about in proportion 
 to his display of it. A showy house 
 of business, and an elegant style of liv- 
 ing, indicating that the proprietor has 
 abundant wealth himself, are essential 
 prerequisites to his being intrusted 
 with the wealth of others. 
 
 The contrast which prevails to this 
 state of things in England, is strikingly 
 illustrated by the following domestic 
 incident : A retired merchant, of enor- 
 mous fortune, and living in great seclu- 
 sion, is said to have kept his money 
 account with a banking firm headed by 
 
 i 
 
DOMESTIC RELATIONS OF MERCHANTS, BANKERS, ETC. 
 
 469, 
 
 a baronet. His balance in the bank 
 was generally from thirty to forty thou- 
 sand pounds, and the baronet deemed 
 it only a proper attention to so valua- 
 ble a customer, to invite him to dinner 
 at his villa in the country. The splen- 
 dor of the banquet, to which the old 
 man reluctantly repaired, impelled him 
 to indulge in an apology to his host 
 for subjecting the latter to so much do- 
 mestic inconvenience. The baronet re- 
 plied that, on the contrary, it was in- 
 cumbent on him to apologize, for tak- 
 ing the liberty of asking his guest 
 to partake of a merely family dinner. 
 Nothing further passed ; but the next 
 morning, the customer, who had thus 
 partaken of only a " family dinner " at 
 his titled banker's, drew his whole bal- 
 ance out of the bank. It would not be 
 safe to estimate the customer's " spec " 
 by that invitatipn to dinner at much 
 less ^han "thirty to forty thousand 
 pounds," the amount which he shrewd- 
 ly drew out the next morning. 
 
 Scene at a Banker's Dejeuner : Kobert 
 Morris and his Father. 
 
 In the zenith of Robert Morris's 
 mercantile fame, a friend had presented 
 him with a fine turtle. Unwilling to 
 incur the trouble of dressing it at 
 home, Mr. Morris sent it to a celebrated 
 refectory a few miles from the city of 
 Philadelphia, on the banks of the 
 Schuylkill, and gave quite a general 
 invitation to ladies and gentlemen to 
 partake of his hospitality. 
 
 Festivity was at its height; every 
 countenance was clothed in smiles, 
 when suddenly the countenance of the 
 lively host grew pale, his gayety for- 
 sook him, and every attempt to rally 
 his paralyzed spirits was Ineifectual. 
 A general anxiety to discover the cause 
 of this change was evident through the 
 whole circle ; yet a restraining delicacy 
 prevented a too minute inquiry ; until, 
 at length, Mr. Morris himself, taking 
 one of the company aside, addressed 
 
 him thus : "A circumstance has oc- 
 curred which has greatly affected me. 
 I am this moment informed that the 
 man who killed my father is in this 
 house." The association of ideas pro- 
 duced by this accident was too power- 
 ful to be subdued ; and he added, to 
 the information of the cause of his dis- 
 tress, a request that his friend would 
 apologize for his weakness, and retired 
 from a scene, the cheerfulness of which 
 was now become irksome, and its mirth 
 a scene of intolerable anguish. 
 
 The circumstances of the event in 
 question were, in brief, as follows: 
 About two years had elapsed since his 
 father's establishment in this country as 
 a merchant. On the fatal morning, he 
 had received information of the arrival 
 in the Delaware of a ship from Liver 
 pool, consigned to himself; he imme- 
 diately went on board, and having 
 made the necessary inquiries and ar- 
 rangements, left the vessel to return to 
 the shore. At this moment, just as he 
 had reached the boat, the captain, as a 
 tribute of particular respect to his vis- 
 itor, ordered a gun to be fired — it was 
 the flattery of death ; the wadding of 
 the gun lodged in his shoulder, and, 
 notwithstanding the promptest and 
 most able exertions of medical skill, a 
 mortification took place, which, in a 
 few days, terminated his existence, 
 leaving Robert, in his fifteenth year, 
 fatherless. 
 
 Unfortunate Polly lium, the Wife of 
 Girard. 
 
 At the early age of nineteen, Girard 
 appears to have been r.usceptible to the 
 " tender passion ; " for at that period 
 his affections became warmly interested 
 in the daughter of an old caulker, or 
 shipbuilder, who resided in that section 
 of the city where Girard kept his shop. 
 The object of his attachment was Mary, 
 or Polly Lum, as she was then familiar- 
 ly called, a damsel who was then but 
 very young, distinguished for her plain 
 comeliness, and who resided as a servant 
 
470 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 girl in the family of one of the citizens. 
 As soon as it was found that affairs 
 were hastening to a crisis, and Girard 
 harboring serious designs of making 
 her his wife, a feeling of downright 
 opposition was aroused, and he was for- 
 bidden an entrance to the house. This 
 difficulty was, however, encountered 
 with success, and Polly Lum became 
 his wife. The matrimonial alliance 
 thus formed, was attended with any- 
 thing but domestic hapijiness. A want 
 of congeniality in their dispositions, a 
 neglect of duty on her part, or an 
 austere and morose temper in himself, 
 appears to have prevented any portion 
 of domestic bliss, which ended in his 
 application to the Legislature of Penn- 
 sylvania for a divorce, but unsuccess- 
 fully. She was subsequently received 
 into the hospital as a lunatic, where 
 she remained twenty-five years, till her 
 death. His only child, a daughter, 
 born in the hospital, died in infancy. 
 On receiving information of her death, 
 her husband selected the place of her 
 interment, and requested that as soon 
 as all the arrangements for her funeral 
 had been completed, he should be 
 called. At the close of the day, her 
 coflin was seen moving along the 
 avenue to the grave, and was there 
 deposited in the manner of the Friends. 
 Among the group of mourners was her 
 husband, whose countenance remained 
 unchanged as monumental bronze while 
 the funeral obsequies were performing. 
 He shed no tear; and after bending 
 over the remains of his wife, as if to 
 take a last look, he departed, saying 
 to his companions, in the tone of a 
 stoic, as he left the spot, " It is very 
 well," and thus returned home. Some 
 reparation was, however, made for this 
 unfeeling spirit by a gift to the hospi- 
 tal, about this time, of three thousand 
 dollars, besides suitable presents to the 
 attendants ; and also a considerable 
 sum that was originally granted, in- 
 cluding his fee as a member of the cor- 
 poration. It is related that he first saw 
 
 Polly Lum, when she was a servant girl, 
 going to the pump, without shoes or 
 stockings, but with rich, black, and 
 glossy hair, hanging in dishevelled 
 curls about her neck. On applying to 
 the Legislature for a divorce — because 
 the condition of his wife was a great 
 inconvenience to him in the manage- 
 ment of his vast real-estate property — 
 he offfered a large sum, for the use of 
 the State, if it might be effected, but 
 unavaUingly. 
 
 * — 
 
 Boston Mercliant's Reason for not 
 Marrying". 
 
 John Beomfield, a wealthy Boston 
 merchant, remained, through life, proof 
 against the binding charms of " the 
 silken cord." It was a subject seldom 
 touched upon by his friends, as they 
 knew it rather annoyed him. Occa- 
 sionally, however, the matter would be 
 brought up — as is almost inevitable ; 
 and, when questioned as to his motives 
 for remaining in a state of" single bless- 
 edness," he would treat it pleasantly, 
 and reply, in substance, that he regard- 
 ed the other sex too highly to inflict 
 upon any one of them such a husband 
 as he should make. " No woman," he 
 would say, " who has a grain of dis- 
 cretion, would consent to bind herself 
 to such a nervous old bachelor as I am ; 
 and a woman without discretion would 
 be — not to my taste." 
 
 Thirty Thousand Dollars' "Worth of 
 Sleep by a Boston Merchant. 
 
 One of the wealthy merchants of 
 Boston, now dead, often told his friends 
 an anecdote in his own experience, and 
 which he recommended to all those 
 who desired to enjoy a serene old age, 
 without allowing their wealth to dis- 
 turb their peace of mind. He said that 
 when he had obtained his fortune, he 
 found that he began to grow uneasy 
 about his i3ecuniary affairs, and one 
 night — ^when he was about sixty years 
 of age — his sleep was disturbed by un- 
 
DOMESTIC RELATIONS OF MERCHANTS, BANKERS, ETC. 
 
 471 
 
 pleasant thoughts respecting some ship- 
 ments he had just made. In the morn- 
 ing, he said to himself: "This will 
 never do ; if I allow such thoughts to 
 get the mastery over me, I must bid 
 farewell to peace all my life. I will 
 stop this brood of care at once, and at 
 a single blow ! " Accordingly, he went 
 to his counting room, and upon exam- 
 ination found that he had thirty thou- 
 sand dollars on hand. He made out a 
 list of his relations and others he de- 
 sired to aid, and before he went to bed 
 again he had given away every dollar 
 of the thirty thousand. He said he 
 slept well that night, and for a long 
 time after his dreams were not, as for- 
 merly, disturbed by anxious thoughts 
 about vessels or property. There may 
 perhaps be some among the relatives 
 of other such rich but anxious mer- 
 chants, who would like to have the 
 sleep of the latter promoted by just 
 such means ! __.__ 
 
 Glut in the Market. 
 
 A WEALTHY London merchant, who 
 resided near Windsor, and lately retired 
 from business, called upon Sir Astley 
 Cooper, to consult with him upon the 
 state of his health. The patient was 
 not only fond of the good things of 
 this world, but indulged in high living 
 to a great excess. This was soon dis- 
 covered by Sir Astley, who thus ad- 
 dressed him : " You are a merchant, 
 sir, and therefore must possess an ex- 
 tensive knowledge of trade ; but did 
 you ever know of an instance in which 
 the imports exceeded the exports, that 
 there was not a glut in the market? 
 That's the case with you, sir; take 
 more physic, and eat less ! " The gen- 
 tleman took the hint, and has since 
 declared that Sir Astley 's knowledge 
 of the " first principles of commerce," 
 and the mode of giving his advice, ren- 
 dering it " clear to the meanest capaci- 
 ty," has not only enabled him to enjoy 
 good health since, but has probably 
 prolonged his life for many years. 
 
 W. B. Astor and his Clerical Classmate. 
 
 Among the classmates of William B. 
 Astor, in Columbia College, was a 
 young man who became a preacher. 
 The students separated — the one to 
 handle millions and to touch the 
 springs of the money market, and be- 
 come the colossus of wealth ; the other 
 to his flock, as a poor domestic mis- 
 sionary, whose history was indeed a 
 " shady side." The latter struggled on, 
 through thick and thin, and never in 
 all his privations thought of sending a 
 begging letter to his old classmate. 
 But being once on a time in New York, 
 he yielded to the inclination to make 
 him a visit. Mr. Astor received him 
 courteously, and the two conversed on 
 the scenes of their early days. As the 
 pastor rose to depart, an idea struck 
 the capitalist's heart, which may be 
 mentioned to his credit. " Can I do 
 anything for you ? " he inquired. He 
 had, in fact, misconceived the object 
 of the visit, and supposed that under 
 the guise of a friendly call, lurked an 
 inclination to beg, which fear of refusal 
 had repressed. The poor clergyman at 
 once perceived the drift of the ques- 
 tion. Nothing could have been further 
 from his mind, and, blushing at the 
 thought, he acknowledged the sugges- 
 tion with gratitude, and retired. 
 
 Making: a "Will: Samuel Appleton. 
 
 The practical form which Samuel 
 Appleton's faith in a spiritual life as- 
 sumed was touchingly illustrated in an 
 incident that occurred during the year 
 preceding his own death. A favorite 
 nephew, to whom he had bequeathed 
 in his will a large proportional amount 
 of his estate, died before him ; and by 
 the terms of the will, a half sister, be- 
 tween whom and Mr. Appleton there 
 was no blood relationship, became en- 
 titled to these bequests. The executor 
 called Mr. Appleton's attention to the 
 fact, thinking that he might wish to 
 
472 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 make some change in the disposition 
 of his property. After taking the sub- 
 ject into full consideration, his reply 
 was : " K in the other world there is 
 any knowledge of what is done in this, 
 I should not like to have my nephew, 
 whom I so loved and trusted, find that 
 my first act, on learning his death, was 
 the revocation or curtailment of a be- 
 quest made in his favor, and which, if 
 he had survived me, would have even- 
 tually benefited her who was nearest 
 and dearest to him. The will must 
 stand as it is." 
 
 "Will of Guyot, the Frencli Millionnaire. 
 
 An old man, of the name of Guyot, 
 lived and died in the town of Mar- 
 seilles, France. He amassed a large 
 fortune by the most laborious industry 
 and the severest habits of abstinence 
 and privation. His neighbors consid- 
 ered him a miser, and thought that he 
 was hoarding up money from mean and 
 avaricious motives. The populace often 
 pursued him with hootings and execra- 
 tions, and the boys not unfrequently 
 amused themselves by throwing stones 
 and other missiles at him, all of which 
 treatment he bore without the least re- 
 sentment. He at length died, and in 
 his will were found the following calm 
 and generous words : " Having ob- 
 served, from my infancy, that the poor 
 of Marseilles are ill supplied with wa- 
 ter, which can only be purchased at a 
 great price, I have cheerfully labored, 
 the whole of my life, to procure for 
 them this great blessing ; and I direct 
 that the whole of my property shall be 
 laid out in building an aqueduct for 
 their use." 
 
 Anselm Bothschild's Will. 
 
 Anselm Rothschild, who died in 
 1855, left no issue, but a fortune valued 
 at some twenty-five to thirty million 
 dollars. He bequeathed the sum of 
 five hundred thousand dollars to con- 
 
 tinue the alms which he was in the 
 habit of distributing every week, as 
 well as for the distribution of wood to 
 the poor in winter. To the fund for 
 giving a dower to Jewish maidens, he 
 left twenty-five thousand dollars; to 
 the fund for the sick, as well as to the 
 Jewish hospital, five thousand dollars 
 each ; to the Jewish school, twenty-five 
 thousand dollars, and sums of twelve to 
 fifteen hundred dollars each to the sev- 
 eral Christian establishments. To the 
 clerks who were more than twenty 
 years in the employ of the firm, he left 
 one thousand dollars each ; to the 
 others, five hundred dollars each ; to 
 the juniors, from one hundred and fifty 
 to two hundred and fifty dollars each ; 
 and many legacies to servants. It is 
 said that he left to his godson. Sir An- 
 thony Rothschild, of London, ten mil- 
 lion dollars, and an equal share with 
 the other nephews and nieces in the 
 residue of his estate. 
 
 Gastronomic Peats of a Merchant. 
 
 There are some curious anecdotes 
 told about the awful eating habits of 
 " Old Salles," so well known in former 
 times as an eccentric and wealthy New 
 York merchant. At one time he went 
 to a boarding house in Pearl street, 
 kept by Mr. and Mrs. Conrad. He had 
 been turned out of various places, 
 where his voracity became too great for 
 any profit. At the new place he was 
 unknown, and terms were agreed upon 
 for one month. When it expired, the 
 bill was handed to him, with a request 
 to leave. The proprietor informed him 
 that he could not afi'ord to keep him 
 at that price. 
 
 "Is dat de matter? Den chargee 
 more," said Salles. The previous price 
 was four dollars a week ; two dollars 
 were added, making it six dollars per 
 week, and another month was com- 
 menced." At its expiration, a bill was 
 presented to Mr. Salles, and he was 
 a^ain told he must leave. The bill 
 
DOMESTIC RELATIONS OF MERCHANTS, BANKERS, ETC. 
 
 473 
 
 was paid. Another montli was entered 
 upon at eight dollars a week. Another 
 month, and it was raised to ten dollars 
 per week. When that expired, the un- 
 happy landlord received the sum due, 
 and again besought Mr. Salles to leave. 
 Salles said, with an oath, " Chargee 
 more. Chargee all you want." 
 
 With tears in his eye, the man re- 
 plied : " It is no use, Mr. Salles. I will 
 not have you any longer, anyhow. 
 The more I charge, the more you eat." 
 
 Cope, the Quaker Merchant, mistaken 
 for a Major-General. 
 
 Some years since, Thomas P. Cope, 
 the eminent Quaker merchant of Phila- 
 delphia, was travelling in the Western 
 States with General Cadwallader, who 
 was indeed " every inch a general." 
 On arriving at a hotel, the names of 
 the travellers were of course registered. 
 Having, perhaps, some business with, 
 or, more probably, desiring to be hos- 
 pitable to General Cadwallader, a resi- 
 dent of the place where the travellers 
 were spending the night, after examin- 
 ing the record of the names, stepped 
 to the porch, and observing a gentle- 
 man walking up and down, with a 
 quick, firm step, and wearing a surtout 
 icith an upright military collar^ he 
 thought he could not be deceived as it 
 regarded the ofiicial title of the visitor, 
 whom he immediately saluted as " Gen- 
 eral," and proceeded at once to intro- 
 duce himself and his business. It was 
 not an easy matter to satisfy him that 
 he had mistaken a worthy member of 
 the " Society of Friends," in the full 
 dress of that peaceable sect, for a 
 United States " Major-General." 
 
 "William Sturgis in the Legrislature. 
 
 The name of William Sturgis is well 
 known as that of a Cape Cod man who 
 became, in due time, one of the " solid 
 men of Boston '' — in early days captain 
 of a ship trading on the northwest 
 
 coast, and afterward of the firm of 
 Bryant «& Sturgis. A man of indomi- 
 table energy and unerring sagacity, he 
 amassed a large fortune, and then en- 
 joyed in his old age the luxury— the 
 greatest luxury for which the afiluent 
 are to be envied — of doing good. 
 Years since, Mr. Sturgis was a member 
 of the Massachusetts Legislature. On 
 one occasion a somewhat pretentious 
 member interlarded his speech with 
 Latin quotations, to the annoyance of 
 the practical merchant, who was in- 
 terested in the matter under discussion, 
 and meditated taking part in it. To 
 his request that the learned gentleman 
 would confine himself to the vernacu- 
 lar, he received a curt response. But 
 in making his reply, he put his adver- 
 sary to utter confusion by a long har- 
 angue in Indian, with which language 
 he was familiar through his commercial 
 dealings. 
 
 ♦ 
 
 Too Much Money. 
 
 Mr. p., a wealthy man retired from 
 business, was urged by a friend to en- 
 gage in a mercantile scheme, from 
 which the realization of large profits 
 was very apparent. " You are right," 
 said he, " as regards the probable suc- 
 cess of the speculation, but I shall not 
 embark in it. / have too much money 
 nowy 
 
 He was naturally asked for an expla- 
 nation of this very unusual remark, and 
 said, in reply : " Yes, I would not cross 
 the street to gain thousands ; I should 
 be a happier man if my income were 
 less. I am old, and, in a year or two, 
 whatever I possess will avail me nought 
 — my daughters are dead, and I have 
 three sons upon whom I look with a 
 father's fondness. My own education 
 had been neglected; my fortune was 
 gained by honest labor and careful 
 economy ; I had no time for study, but 
 I resolved that my sons should have 
 every advantage. Each had the oppor- 
 tunity of gaining a fine classical educa- 
 
474 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 tion, and then I gave them the choice 
 of a profession. The eldest would be a 
 physician ; the second chose the law ; 
 the third resolved to follow my foot- 
 steps as a merchant. This was very 
 well — I was proud of my sons, and 
 hoped that one day I might see them 
 distinguished, or at least useful to their 
 fellow men. I had spared no expense 
 in their training ; they had never want- 
 ed money, for I gave each a liberal al- 
 lowance. Never had men fairer pros- 
 pects of becoming honored and re- 
 spected — but look at the result. The 
 physician has no patients ; the lawyer 
 not a single client ; and the merchant 
 is above visiting his counting room. 
 In vain I urge them to be more indus- 
 trious. "What is the reply ? ' There is 
 no use in it, father — we never shall 
 want for money; we know you have 
 enough for all.' Thus, instead of being 
 active, energetic members of society, 
 my sons are but idlers, men of fashion 
 and display. Had they been obliged 
 to struggle against diflSculties, to gain 
 their professions, and were they now 
 dependent on their own exertions for 
 support, my sons would have gained 
 honor to themselves and me." 
 
 Experience of a lievantine Merchant. 
 
 Matthias, the renowned Levantine 
 merchant of former days, had spent his 
 whole life, from his boyhood upward, 
 in travelling, for the sake of gain — to 
 the east, and the west, and to the 
 islands of the South Seas. He had re- 
 turned to his native place, Tarsus, in 
 the full vigor of manhood, and in pos- 
 session of the vast wealth which his 
 commercial enterprise had enabled him 
 to amass. His first step was to make 
 a respectful call upon the governor, 
 and to present him with a purse and 
 a string of pearls, in order to bespeak 
 his good will. Then he built himself 
 a spacious palace in the midst of a gar- 
 den of unvarying beauty on the borders 
 of an enchanting stream, and began to 
 
 lead a quiet life — so congenial after the 
 fatigues of his many voyages. Most 
 persons considered him to be the hap- 
 piest of men and merchants ; but those 
 intimate with him knew that his con- 
 stant companions were sadness and dis- 
 content. When he had departed, in 
 youth, in quest of fortune, he had left his 
 father, and his brothers and sisters, in 
 health', although poor ; but when he re- 
 turned, in hopes to brighten and gild 
 the remainder of their days, he found 
 that during his years of absence the 
 hand of death had fallen upon them 
 every one, and that there was no one to 
 share his prosperity. The blight that 
 came over his heart no wealth of gold 
 or brilliant surroundings could remove 
 
 or make up for. 
 
 — ♦ — 
 
 Going: to g-et Acquainted with his 
 Family. 
 
 Some men devote themselves so ex- 
 clusively to business concerns, as to al- 
 most entirely neglect their domestic and 
 social relations. A gentleman of this 
 class having at last failed, was asked 
 what he intended to do : "I am going 
 home to get acquainted with my wife 
 and children," said he. 
 
 Girard's E.eception of Mr. Baring*. 
 
 When one of the head partners of 
 the house of Baring, — Francis, the 
 second son of Lord Ashburton, — visited 
 Philadelphia, his birthplace, in 1818, 
 he supposed that he might excite an 
 agreeable surprise to Mr. Girard, by 
 informing him of the safe arrival of 
 his ship, the Voltaire, from India. Ac- 
 cordingly, he called at the counting 
 room of Mr. Girard, whom he, how- 
 ever, did not find there at the time. 
 The clerk told him, that if he wanted 
 to see Mr. Girard himself, he must 
 visit him early in the morning, at his 
 large farm, in the neighborhood of 
 the city. Having engaged a carriage, 
 Mr. Baring proceeded to the farm of 
 the banker, in Passyunk, and imme- 
 
DOMESTIC RELATIONS OF MERCHANTS, BANKERS, ETC. 
 
 475 
 
 diately asked for Mr. Girard. He 
 received in reply, " Yonder he stands." 
 They pointed out to him a small, low- 
 set man, of about sixty, "with gray hair, 
 bare-headed, without coat or jacket, 
 and in his shirt sleeves, rolled up above 
 the elbows, who stood with a hay-fork 
 in his hand helping to load hay on a 
 farm-wagon. He said, " Is that Mr. 
 Girard ? " " Yes," they answered ; 
 whereupon he stepped up to him and 
 gave his name. 
 
 " So, so ! " remarked Mr. Girard ; 
 " then you are the son of the man that 
 got married here ? " 
 
 " I came to inform you," said Mr. 
 Baring, " that your ship, the Voltaire, 
 has arrived safely." 
 
 " I knew that she w^ould reach port 
 safely," replied Girard ; " my ships 
 always arrive safe ; she is a good ship. 
 Well, now, I am very glad to see you, 
 but I have no time to talk with you at 
 present ; it is harvest time, and I have 
 a great deal to do. There, walk around 
 yonder a little, look at 'my cows, and 
 get some of the folks to give you a 
 glass of milk, for yon can't get such 
 milk in all London." 
 
 Baring complied with Girard's blunt 
 invitation; and, as he himself was 
 something of an eccentric, and, conse- 
 quently, liked eccentrics, he was not a 
 little amused at thinking what a 
 curious reception was this, for one of 
 the heads of the first house in London 
 to meet with, at the hands of one who 
 was at the head of the American com- 
 mercial world ! 
 
 German Merchant of One Hundred 
 Houses. 
 
 At Hanau a merchant resided, whose 
 history was somewhat curious. A 
 quarrel with his stepmother induced 
 him to " leave his father's house," w^hen 
 young, and embark for England. 
 Having acquired in trade, in London, 
 a fortune sufficient for comfort in Ger- 
 many, he married, and returned to his 
 native town, where he found that his 
 
 parents were dead, and that their pro- 
 perty had fallen to him. A large ram- 
 bling house containing thirteen rooms 
 on a floor, and adorned with pictures 
 of old electors and landgraves was a 
 part of his patrimony. The house goes 
 by the name of Noah's Ark, from the 
 singularity of its construction, arising, 
 as the story goes, from a cause not less 
 singular. The upper story is a com- 
 plete second house, erected on the first. 
 The builder, an opulent citizen, who 
 possessed ninety-nine houses in Hanau, 
 was ambitious of rounding his number 
 to one hundred, but the jealousy of the 
 citizens opposed his whim, unless he 
 consented to pave a path to the church, 
 some hundred yards long, with rix-dol- 
 lars. He declined this exorbitant tax 
 to gratify their " whim ; " but unwil- 
 ling to forego the distinction of owning 
 one hundred houses, he contented him- 
 self with a hundredth placed on the top 
 of one of the ninety-nine. 
 
 Stock Broker and his Family in the 
 Studio of Hoppner. 
 
 A WEALTHY stock broker once drove 
 up to the door of Hoppner, the cele- 
 brated painter — and who was one of 
 the genus irritdbile — and two carriages 
 emptied into his hall, the party com- 
 prising a gentleman (the said broker) 
 and lady, with five sons and seven 
 daughters, all samples of pa and ma, 
 as well fed and as city bred and comely 
 a family as any within the sound of 
 Bow bell. 
 
 " Well, Mr. Painter," said the stock 
 broker, " here we are — a baker's dozen. 
 How much will you demand for paint- 
 ing the whole lot of us — prompt pay- 
 ment for discount ? " " Why," replied 
 the astonished painter, who then might 
 be likened to a superannuated ele- 
 phant, — "why, sir, that will depend 
 upon the 
 tion, and- 
 quoth the enlightened broker: "we 
 are all to be touched off in one piece 
 
 dimensions, style, composi- 
 " " Oh, that is settled," 
 
476 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 as large as life, all seated upon our 
 lawn at Clapliam, and all singing ' God 
 save the King.' " 
 
 " These things," said Hoppner, in 
 relating the circumstance to his edito- 
 rial friend and crony, Gifford, — " these 
 things — and be hanged to you scrib- 
 blers ! are part and parcel of the delec- 
 tables of portrait painting." 
 
 The Merchant and his Disting-uished 
 Valet, Joh.n Philpot Curran. 
 
 One morning, at an inn in the south 
 of Ireland, a gentleman who was travel- 
 ling on mercantile business, came run- 
 ning down stairs, a few minutes before 
 the appearance of a stage coach, in 
 which he had taken a seat for Dublin. 
 Seeing an ugly looking little fellow 
 leaning against the door post, with 
 dirty face and shabby clothes, he hailed 
 him, and ordered him to brush his coat. 
 The operation proceeded rather slowly ; 
 the impatient merchant cursed the lazy 
 valet as an idle, good for nothing dog, 
 and threatened him with corporal 
 punishment on the spot, if he did not 
 make haste and finish his job well 
 before the arrival of the coach. Terror 
 seemed to produce its effect ; the fel- 
 low brushed the coat, and then the 
 trowsers, with great diligence, and was 
 rewarded with sixpence, which he re- 
 ceived with a low bow. 
 
 The merchant went to the bar, and 
 paid his bill just as the expected vehi- 
 cle arrived at the door. Upon getting 
 inside, guess his astonishment to find 
 his friend, his quondam valet, seated 
 snugly in one corner, with all the look 
 of a person well used to comfort. After 
 two or three hurried glances, to be sure 
 his eyes did not deceive him, he com- 
 menced a confused apology for his 
 blunder, condemning his own rashness 
 and stupidity; but he was speedily 
 interrupted by the other exclaiming — 
 
 " Oh, never mind ; make no apolo- 
 gies ; these are hard times, and it is 
 well to earn a trifle in an honest way. 
 
 I am much obliged for your handsome 
 fee for so small a job. My name, sir, 
 is John Philpot Curran ; pray what is 
 yours ? " 
 
 The merchant was thunderstruck by 
 the idea of such an introduction ; but 
 the drollery of Curran soon overcame 
 his confusion, and the traveller never 
 rejoiced more at the termination of a 
 long journey than when he beheld the 
 distant spires of Dublin glittering in 
 the light of a setting sun. 
 
 Polly Kenton and Qirard's Doctors. 
 
 Conscious, on one occasion, of being 
 overtaken by a violent disease, Girard 
 called to him Miss Polly Kenton, who 
 had lived with him for upward of 
 thirty years, and said to her, " Polly, 
 I am about to be sick. I shall proba- 
 bly become deranged or delirious, and 
 the doctors will be called in, and they 
 will stuff me with medicine. Now, I 
 wish you to swear that you will taste 
 everything they prescribe, before giving 
 it to me, and don't allow me to take 
 anything except camomile tea, and 
 senna and manna." She was accord- 
 ingly sworn ; and in the result the 
 patient recovered. 
 
 A short time before his death. Miss 
 Kenton, in putting up a curtain, fell 
 and dislocated her wrist. Upon Girard 
 being informed of it, he directed her to 
 place her arm in a bucket of ice water, 
 which she did; but the pain became 
 so excessive, that she was induced in 
 her situation to send for a physician ; 
 unluckily, Girard returned, discharged 
 the physician, and followed that up by 
 discharging Miss Kenton, who had been 
 so many years his indispensable attend- 
 ant. He afterward, it is true, left her, 
 in his will, three hundred dollars a year, 
 but he never forgave the disregard of 
 his orders. 
 
 He had an agent and a confidential 
 clerk, Mr. R., who had been years with 
 him, and who was what might be called 
 his right-hand man. Mr. R. was sick 
 
DOMESTIC KELATIONS OF MERCHANTS, BANKERS, ETC. 
 
 477 
 
 with typhus fever. Of course Mr. 
 Girard was 7iis only doctor also; he 
 prescribed, as a cure, Holland gin, and 
 of course the patient died. 
 
 Italian Banker's Bargain for a Fish. 
 
 A WEALTHY banker in Italy was 
 about to celebrate his marriage feast. 
 All the elements were propitious to his 
 pm-pose, except the ocean, which had 
 been so boisterous as to deny the very 
 necessary appendage of a fish " course." 
 On the very morning of the f6te, 
 however, a poor fisherman made his 
 appearance, with a turbot so large, 
 that it seemed to have been created for 
 the occasion. There was much satis- 
 faction at its appearance, and the fisher- 
 man was ushered with his splendid 
 prize into the saloon, where the banker, 
 in the presence of his gay visitors, re- 
 quested him to put any price he thought 
 proper on so rare an object, and it 
 should be instantly paid him. 
 
 " One hundred lashes," said the fisher- 
 man, " on my bare back, is the price of 
 my fish, and I will not bate one strand 
 of whip-cord on the bargain." 
 
 The banker and his guests were not 
 a little astonished, but our chapman 
 was resolute, and remonstrance was in 
 vain. At length the banker exclaimed, 
 " Well, well, the fellow is a humorist, 
 and the fish we must have, but lay on 
 lightly, and let the price be paid in our 
 presence." 
 
 After fifty lashes had been adminis- 
 tered, " Hold, hold ! " exclaimed the 
 fisherman, " I have a partner in this busi- 
 ness, and it is fitting that he should 
 receive his share." 
 
 " What ! are there two such mad- 
 caps in the world?" exclaimed the 
 banker; "name him, and he shall be 
 sent for instantly ! " 
 
 " You need not go for him," said the 
 fisherman ; " you will find him at your 
 gate, in the shape of your own porter, 
 who would not let me in until I prom- 
 ised that he should have the half of 
 
 whatever I might receive for my tur- 
 bot." 
 
 " Oh, oh ! " said the banker ; " I now 
 see through it — bring him up instantly ; 
 he shall receive his stijDulated moiety 
 with the strictest justice." 
 
 The ceremony being finished, the 
 porter was discharged, and the banker 
 amply rewarded the fisherman. 
 
 Dress and Personal Peculiarities of 
 Iiongrv7ortli. 
 
 Mb. Longworth was of small stat- 
 ure, his height being five feet and one 
 inch, an evident stoop in his figure 
 making him appear shorter than he 
 really was. His hair was partially gray, 
 thin, and scattered over the sides and 
 back of his head. It was to him a 
 matter of thorough indiff'erence wheth- 
 er his clothes were new or old, or in 
 any possible resemblance to style and 
 fit ; and if they became somewhat over- 
 worn, or soiled by labor in his garden, 
 or here and there torn a bit, it was to 
 him no matter. He might, when the 
 dilapidation was a little excessive, and 
 the company more elegant than he ex- 
 pected, get off a sly joke or two about 
 his appearance in such fiishionable 
 company, and say that his wife would 
 scold him for not brushing up a little 
 when he was going out among gentle- 
 men ; but he felt not the slightest per- 
 sonal concern about it, and the very 
 consciousness of it would pass away 
 with the quizzical smile that always 
 accompanied his apology. 
 
 He was always regular and temperate 
 in his habits, vigorous and active in 
 body, and gave daily personal atten- 
 tion to his business, spending much of 
 his time with strings and pruning knife 
 in his grapery and garden. Until a few 
 years before his death, when a stroke 
 of disease somewhat impaired the fac- 
 ulty, he was possessed of a remarkably 
 comprehensive and tenacious memory, 
 forgetting nothing he ever knew, and 
 nothing he ever said. He repeated his 
 
478 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 quotations and told his stories, of 
 which a varied and endless store 
 seemed at his command, always in the 
 same invariable words. He finally 
 found frequent occasion to complain, 
 when at a loss for a name or a date, 
 that " Old Longworth has got so for- 
 getful." To aid his memory in matters 
 relating to his business and his daily 
 engagements, he usually carried a mis- 
 cellaneous assortment of papers in the 
 crown of his hat, and a small paper 
 memorandum pinned upon his coat- 
 sleeve. 
 
 Mr. Longworth was exceedingly 
 talkative and companionable, perfectly 
 sincere, and in his hospitality knew no 
 distinction of persons. He was sharp 
 and sarcastic in repartee, thoroughly 
 informed in his facts, facetious and 
 cheerful in his humor — which was one 
 of his most characteristic traits — and 
 abounded in quizzes and anecdotes of 
 the most enlivening description. He 
 was particularly fond of banter, and 
 sly, jocular personalities, and of speak- 
 ing of himself in the third persou — 
 most commonly as " Old Longworth." 
 
 His house was a plain, capacious, 
 home-looking building, its fine locality 
 and beautiful garden and surrounding 
 grounds rendering it the most popular- 
 ly attractive spot in the city — univer- 
 sally known throughout the western 
 country, and freely used by citizens 
 and strangers as a place of visit and 
 promenade. 
 
 Extravagance of French Bankers in 
 Private Life. 
 
 The enormous accumulations of the 
 French bankers and financiers of the 
 old school were, in many instances, 
 dissipated in a manner which, at least, 
 showed the easy method by which 
 their gains were obtained. M. de Ca- 
 lonne, one of the great bankers of his 
 day, furnishes a notable example of 
 this. For a New Year's gift, he gave 
 a favorite lady a handful of pistachio 
 
 nuts, wrapped up in papillotes ; and in 
 presenting them, he warned her not to 
 destroy the papillotes without proper 
 precaution. The lady wanted a comfit- 
 box to contain the pistachios. The ex- 
 travagant and enamored financier offer- 
 ed her, for the purpose named, a superb 
 gold box enriched with diamonds ; but 
 what was the surprise of his mistress 
 when, opening the box, she found it 
 full of new louis, and, unfolding the 
 multitude of papers, discovered each 
 of them to be a cash note for three 
 hundred livres. 
 
 Another banker, M. Baudard de 
 Saint James, affords a similar case of 
 reckless prodigality in his personal 
 habits. This renowned financier, hav- 
 ing more money than taste or principle, 
 spent enormous sums on the noted cy- 
 prian, Mademoiselle de Beauvoisin, 
 who had long held his heart by her 
 captivating spell. The weak-minded 
 millionnaire gave her, in jewels and 
 other presents, nearly two million 
 livres, besides an annuity of sixty 
 thousand livres. At her death, the 
 sale of her effects, derived from her 
 connection with the banker, furnished 
 some curious developments touching 
 her past relations to that monarch of 
 the money mart. Among the number- 
 less articles pertaining to her toilette 
 were some two hundred rings, each ri- 
 valling the other in value ; there were 
 above one hundred suits of the most 
 elegant dresses ; linen of choicer qual- 
 ity than any known in court circles; 
 and her collection of loose diamonds, 
 like the shop of a jeweller, were amas- 
 sed in papers. This sale made a great 
 noise in Paris ; and every frail one as- 
 pired to become the mistress of the be- 
 reaved millionnaire. But M. de Saint 
 James — whose real name was Saint- 
 gemme, which he had thus anglicized 
 — shortly afterward became bankrupt, 
 and finally insane. 
 
DOMESTIC RELATIONS OF MERCHANTS, BANKERS, ETC. 
 
 479 
 
 Magnificent Residence of Rothschild 
 in Paris. 
 
 The French chateau or palace of M. 
 Rothschild — the Ferrieres domain, once 
 the property of Fouche— was built by 
 Sir Joseph Paxton ; it covers an im- 
 mense surface, and is all in a style of 
 kingly splendor. 
 
 The internal decorations have all 
 been executed after the designs of Eu- 
 gene Lami, architect. Independent of 
 the auxiliary buildings and stables, 
 which are all that wealth can make 
 them (the stables being made to ac- 
 commodate eighty horses), the chateau 
 is a magnificent establishment, the ser- 
 vice of which is carried on by one hun- 
 dred and fifty servants. Besides the 
 private apartments of the Rothschilds, 
 there are eighteen complete suites of 
 apartments for visitors. 
 
 An extensive porch, remarkable for 
 candelabra in Italian earthenware, 
 forms the entrance. A winding stair- 
 case leads into the hall — a room which 
 is always unique in France — and which 
 occupies the grand centre of the build- 
 ing ; it is about one hundred and thirty 
 feet long, and of nearly the same width, 
 seventy feet high, and is covered in by 
 a glass roof. It is in this vast apart- 
 ment that the chief portion of the artis- 
 tic riches of the chateau is to be found, 
 and the number and value of which is 
 so great, that it has as yet been found 
 impossible to catalogue them. A li- 
 brary containing thousands of superb 
 volumes, Italian cabinets, a collection 
 of gems and medals, noble canvases 
 by Velasquez, Vandyke, Giorgione, etc., 
 are arrayed round the walls, the upper 
 part of which is surrounded by a gal- 
 lery hung with tapestry from the Gobe- 
 lins. This gallery is reached by an 
 immense stone staircase, protected by a 
 richly-carved ebony balustrade, and 
 decorated with pictures by Snyders. 
 Underneath runs a frieze of Limoges 
 enamels, let into the wall. 
 
 The staircase leads to the hall gallery 
 ou one side, and on the other to a 
 
 sumptuously decorated lobby, which 
 communicates with the private and 
 reception rooms, the splendor of these 
 latter being almost beyond description. 
 The style of the dining room is similar 
 to that of the great Garter Room at 
 Windsor Castle, only it is more splen- 
 did, and in better taste. It opens into 
 a smaller family dining room, decorat- 
 ed with fresco-paintings by Rousseau. 
 It would fill a volume to describe the 
 grandeur of the furniture, the gold and 
 silver plate, and other appointments of 
 this palace of wealth and luxury. 
 
 Louis d'Ors and Razors; or, Bankers 
 and Barbers. 
 Shortly before the French Revolu- 
 tion, a perruquier attending a banker 
 in Paris, had dressed his hair, and was 
 proceeding to shave him, when he sud- 
 denly quitted the room in great haste 
 and apparent embarrassment. After 
 waiting some time, the banker sent to 
 the house of the hair dresser, to inquire 
 why he had left him without finishing 
 his dressing. The poor fellow was with 
 much difiiculty induced to go back, 
 when at last he consented, and was in- 
 terrogated as to the cause of his quit- 
 ting the rooni so suddenly. " Why, 
 sir," said the poor fellow to the banker, 
 much agitated, "the sight of those 
 rouleaus of louis d'ors on your table, 
 and the recollection of my starving 
 family, so wrought upon me, that I 
 was strongly tempted to murder you ; 
 but I thank God that I had resolution 
 to quit the room instantly, or I fear 
 I should have committed the horrid 
 crime." The banker, sensible of the 
 danger he had escaped, inquired into 
 the circumstances of the barber's fam- 
 ily, and, finding them embarrassed, set- 
 tled an annuity on him of one thousand 
 livres. 
 
 Bleeding a Banker by the Job. 
 
 Monsieur Vaudeville, the banker, 
 was one of the most remarkable men in 
 
480 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 Paris on the score of avarice, though 
 rated at one million sterling. At the 
 age of seventy-two he contracted a fe- 
 ver, which obliged him to send — the 
 first time in his life — for a surgeon to 
 bleed him, but who, asking him ten- 
 pence for said operation, was forthwith 
 dismissed. He sent for an apothecary, 
 but he was as high in his demand. He 
 then sent for a barber, who at length 
 agreed to undertake the operation for 
 threepence each time. " But," said the 
 stingy old fellow, "how often will it 
 be requisite to bleed ? " " Three times," 
 answered the barber. "And what 
 quantity of blood do you intend to 
 take ? " " About eight ounces," was 
 the reply. " That will be ninepence — 
 too much, too mwcA," said the miser ; 
 " I have determined to adopt a cheap- 
 er way: take the whole quantity you 
 design to take at three times at once, 
 and it will save me sixpence." This 
 being insisted upon, he lost twenty- 
 four ounces of blood, which caused his 
 death in a few days. He left his im- 
 mense property to the king. 
 
 Marriag-e Suit by Colston, the 
 Millionnaire. 
 
 The well known charitable inclina- 
 tions of Colston, the English million- 
 naire and merchant, were put to a very 
 peculiar test, at a time when he enter- 
 tained some thoughts of " changing his 
 condition" — as even rich men will, 
 sometimes. He paid his addresses to 
 a lady with whose attractions he had 
 become somewhat smitten, but being 
 somewhat timorous lest he should be 
 hindered in his favorite charitable de- 
 signs, he thought he would once for all 
 make a trial of her temper and disposi- 
 tion ; he therefore, one morning, filled 
 his pockets with gold and silver, in or- 
 d^r that, if any object presented itself 
 in the course of their tour over London 
 Bridge, he might satisfy his intentions. 
 "While they were walking near St. Mag- 
 nus' church, a woman in extreme mis- 
 
 ery, with twins in her lap, sat begging ; 
 and, as he and his interested lady were 
 arm in arm, he beheld the wretched 
 object, put his hand into his pocket, 
 and took out a handful of gold and sil- 
 ver, casting it unhesitatingly into the 
 poor woman's lap. The lady, being 
 greatly alarmed at the profuse generos- 
 ity, colored prodigiously ; so that, when 
 they had gone a little further toward 
 the bridge, she turned to him and said, 
 " Sir, do you know what you did a few 
 minutes ago ? " " Madam," replied Mr. 
 C, "I never let my left hand know 
 what my right hand doeth." He then 
 took his leave of her, and for this rea- 
 son he never married to the day of his 
 death, although he lived to the age of 
 fourscore and five. 
 
 Gideon Lee and His liitirary. 
 
 When Gideon Lee commenced busi- 
 ness in New York, on his return from 
 the South, his health was impaired and 
 feeble, yet he was compelled to labor 
 by the strong law of necessity. "I re- 
 member," said he, " one day, while 
 lifting and piling up leather, my 
 strength failed me, and I fell on the 
 floor. I wept. My spirits were so 
 broken by the thought that I must die 
 in the day-spring of life, and leave my 
 family unprovided for ; it seemed to be 
 so cruel a fate. I got home and sent 
 Ibr my physician. He was a man of 
 sound sense, and knew me w^ell. I 
 asked him if he thought I could recov- 
 er ? ' Why, yes, if you choose.' ' Well, 
 I do choose.' ' Then send that library 
 of yours to the auction — that will stop 
 your reading; eat a fresh beefsteak 
 every day, and with it drink a glass of 
 brown stout ; buy yourself a horse — ^ 
 ' Why, doctor, I am unable to incur the 
 expense.' ' Then die ; for die you will, 
 if you don't do so.' I sent every book 
 in my possession, except the Bible, im- 
 mediately to the auction. I bought an 
 old horse, and lived as he had directed. 
 I did not suffer myself for years to looTc 
 
DOMESTIC RELATIONS OF MERCHANTS, BANKERS, ETC. 
 
 481 
 
 into a book, nor did I omit to take my 
 exercise each day. I gradually got 
 better, but I had a long and tedious 
 time of it." 
 
 The independence and steadiness of 
 Lee's character were manifested on a 
 tour of travel which he had undertaken 
 on foot, when wanting a supper and 
 night's lodging, and having no money 
 to pay for them. He knocked at the 
 door of a farmer, and, after explaining 
 his circumstances, he proposed to chop 
 enough wood to pay for his meal and 
 lodging ; which, being assented to by 
 the farmer, he went to work and earned 
 what his self-respect forbade him to ac- 
 cept as a charity. 
 
 Jewisli Banker's Pree Table. 
 
 It is one of the many interesting an- 
 ecdotes told of the domestic life of 
 Abraham Goldsmid, of London, so 
 eminent as a banker in the last century, 
 that he was unstinted in the hospitali- 
 ties of his house, manifesting this trait 
 sometimes in a peculiar manner. Being 
 an extraordinary early riser — generally 
 the first in his family — it was his con- 
 stant habit to call up his numerous vis- 
 itors by four o'clock on summer morn- 
 ings, and after taking a refreshment of 
 the choicest tea and coffee, etc., he 
 would take them round his grounds 
 and garden till the hour of breakfast, 
 after which he dressed for the day, and 
 was in his town counting house gene- 
 rally by ten o'clock. 
 
 Notwithstanding the vast extent and 
 responsibilities of his business, no man 
 seemed to take more delight in domes- 
 tic pleasures and hospitalities. Accord- 
 ing to the tenets of his religion, he 
 strictly observed the Jewish Sabbath ; 
 and that of the Christians, on the fol- 
 lowing day, was kept by him, at his 
 country house, with a general and lux- 
 urious hospitality, open to all who had 
 ever been once introduced to him. 
 
 On these occasions, the table was fur- 
 nished with everything in its season, 
 31 
 
 cooked both according to the Dutch 
 and English fashions, the latter of 
 which he never partook of himself, but 
 his visitors — generally as many Chris- 
 tians as Jews — were at liberty to in- 
 dulge themselves either according to 
 fancy or religion ; and the great bank- 
 er seemed never happier than when, 
 mingling in this social company, he 
 divested himself of all ideas of ^^ Jive per 
 cent. 1 " 
 
 Pleasant Parlor Voyagres. 
 
 A MERCHANT well known for his 
 facetiousness, was dining with an Eng- 
 lish nobleman, and as the company 
 were talking of a voyage to India, 
 some glasses of Cape wine were handed 
 round the table. All the guests ex- 
 pressed their praises of its exquisite fla- 
 vor, and wished much to have a sec- 
 ond taste of it. When the merchant 
 found it was in vain to indulge this 
 hope, he turned to the person who sat 
 next to him, and, happily alluding to 
 the voyage to India, said, " As we can- 
 not dovhle the Gape^ suppose we go back 
 to Madeira." 
 
 Rothschild's Purchase of a Painting. 
 
 That Rothschild's liberality was not 
 commensurate with his wealth, is at- 
 tested by an anecdote related by Mar- 
 goliouth, who had a particular knowl- 
 edge of the great Hebrew. There was, 
 he says, a Mr. Herman, in London, an 
 Israelite, who dealt in fine pictures and 
 paintings. He used to know Eoths- 
 child, when in Manchester. They 
 used frequently to meet together at the 
 same dining rooms. When Mr. Herman 
 subsequently established himself in 
 London, he called upon the then chief 
 rabbi, Dr. Herschell, and asked him 
 for a line of recommendation to Roths- 
 child, with a view to disposing of a 
 couple of most valuable paintings. 
 The rabbi vouchsafed the recommen- 
 dation. Mr. Herman called upon the 
 
482 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 millionnaire, his co-religionist, witli the 
 precious objects of art. Rothschild 
 seemed startled when Mr. Herman 
 asked £300 for a picture, which was 
 really cheap at that price. " What ! 
 three hundred pounds ! I cannot afford 
 to spend so much money on pictures ; 
 I must buy ponies for my boys, and 
 such like things, which are either use- 
 ful or profitable; but I cannot throw 
 away money on paintings. However, 
 as the rabbi recommends you to me, I 
 will buy a picture from you for one 
 hundred and thirty pounds. I do not 
 care what sort of a thing it is— I want 
 to make it a present to some one. 
 Choose one from among your collec- 
 tion for that amount." 
 
 "The Stona that was Rejected:" 
 Judah Touro's Benefactions. 
 
 An instance of the disinterested 
 character of Judah Touro's religious 
 benefactions is thus related : • Some 
 poor wandering Orientals, professing 
 to be agents to collect funds for the 
 relief of the persecuted Christians in 
 Jerusalem, had applied in vain to sev- 
 eral rich men in New Orleans. At last, 
 a gentleman, of rather a jocular turn of 
 mind, suggested, as a joke, that the 
 poor Christians, who desired to raise 
 funds to build up their church in Jeru- 
 salem, should seek the aid of Mr. Touro 
 (who, though a most wealthy and be- 
 nevolent merchant, was a strict Jew)^ in 
 behalf of their object. The missiona- 
 ries acted upon the suggestion, and 
 soon returned to thank the gentleman 
 who had directed them to so " liberal a 
 Christian." Mr. Touro had subscribed 
 two hundred dollars to their cause ! 
 
 TTnder Medical Treatment— Jacob 
 Barker as a Patient. 
 
 Jacob Barker having occasion to 
 expose himself to peculiar danger, 
 when the yellow fever was raging in 
 New Orleans in 1837, and not being 
 
 acclimated, asked his physician. Dr. 
 Kerr, for a prescription to be used in 
 case of attack ; the doctor prepared the 
 medicine, and instructed Mr. B. under 
 no circumstances to have a vein opened 
 — that as soon as the approach of the 
 enemy was perceptible, usually indicat- 
 ed by a chill, to resort to cupping of 
 the head and ancle, baths of warm wa- 
 ter strongly impregnated with cayenne 
 pepper and mustard, drinking warm 
 lemonade, and as soon as the skin be- 
 came a little softened, to take the medi- 
 cine. Should there be much pain in 
 the head or back, w^hich is usual, ice to 
 be applied constantly, refraining from 
 all food save ice, and eating as much 
 of this as inclination dictated. If the 
 fever continued or returned, twenty 
 grains of calomel to be taken the fol- 
 lowing day, in either case in a day or 
 two a large dose of castor oil. Mr. 
 Barker was taken at Plaquemine, in 
 the office of the clerk of the court. He 
 immediately repaired to the hotel, pur- 
 sued the course recommended by Dr. 
 Kerr, sending for Dr. Cummings, a 
 highly respectable physician of that 
 place, to visit him with his cupping 
 apparatus. He came, said he had no 
 such apparatus, and proposed to open 
 a vein, which Mr. Barker, of course, de- 
 clined. 
 
 " Sir," said the doctor, " you are a 
 very sick man, and ought to have some 
 medicine immediately." 
 
 " I know that, but not until I have 
 been cupped." 
 
 " Then, for what have you sent for 
 me?" 
 
 " To cup me." 
 
 " You might as well have sent for a 
 barber." 
 
 "Provided he could cup me as 
 well." 
 
 Cupping apparatus not being found 
 in Plaquemine, an express was sent to 
 Baton Rouge. Dr. Ogden came pro- 
 vided, and the operation being per- 
 formed, the doctor remarked : 
 
 "You are a veiy sick man, and 
 
DOMESTIC RELATIONS OF MEIICIIAXTS, BANKERS, ETC, 
 
 483 
 
 ought to take some medicine imme- 
 diately." 
 
 "I intend to do so," replied Mr. 
 Barker, " for which purpose I have it 
 in my pocket." 
 
 " I suppose," said the doctor, " you 
 have no objection to letting me see it ; " 
 and who, having seen it, said, " I do 
 not think it will do you any harm, al- 
 though I should not give you half the 
 quantity." 
 
 Mr. Barker took it, believing it to be 
 fifty grains of calomel, when the doctor 
 remarked, " You seem to love it." " Oh, 
 no," said Mr. Barker, " I do it mechan- 
 ically, because it is to be done." Mr. 
 Barker was well again in ten days. 
 
 Hancock, the Patriot Merchant. 
 
 During the siege of Boston, General 
 Washington consulted Congress upon 
 the propriety of bombarding the town of 
 Boston. Mr, Hancock, a distinguished 
 merchant, was the President of Congress. 
 After General Washington's letter was 
 read, a solemn silence ensued. This 
 was broken by a member making a 
 motion that the House should resolve 
 itself into a committee of the whole, in 
 order that Mr. Hancock might give his 
 opinion upon the important subject, as 
 he was deeply interested, from having 
 all his estate in Boston, which estate 
 was very large and valuable. ' 
 
 After Mr. Hancock had left the 
 chair, he addressed the chairman of 
 the committee of the whole, in the fol- 
 lowing words : " It is true, sir ; nearly 
 all the property I have in the world is 
 in houses and other real estate in the 
 town of Boston ; but if the expulsion 
 of the British army from it, and the 
 liberties of the country, require their 
 being burnt to ashes — issue the order 
 for that purpose immediately." 
 
 Priend Coates's Management of Girard. 
 
 GiRARD insisted on being the sole 
 
 and immovable judge of his benevolent 
 
 duty. If rightly approached, he would 
 give largely, but if dictated to or treat- 
 ed with impertinence, he would not 
 give at all. Samuel Coates, one of the 
 old Friends, knew how to manage 
 Girard, while many, from want of this 
 specific knowledge, sought aid from 
 him unsuccessfully. Mr. Coates was 
 one of the managers of the Pennsylva- 
 nia Hospital, which was then much in 
 need of funds. He undertook to get a 
 donation from Mr. Girard, and meeting 
 him in the street, stated his object. 
 Mr. Girard asked him to come to him 
 the next morning. 
 
 Mr. Coates called, and found Girard 
 at breakfast. He asked him to take 
 some, which Mr. Coates did. After 
 breakfast, Mr. Coates said, " Well, Mr. 
 Girard, we will proceed to business." 
 " Well, what have you come for, Sam- 
 uel?" said Mr. Girard. "Just what 
 thee pleases, .Stephen," replied Mr. 
 Coates. Girard drew a check of two 
 thousand dollars, which Mr. Coates put 
 in his poeket without looking at it. 
 " What ! you no look at the check I 
 gave you ? " said Mr. Girard. " No ; 
 beggars must not be choosers, Ste- 
 phen," said Mr. Coates. * " Hand me 
 back again the check I handed you," 
 demanded Girard. " No, no, Stephen 
 — a bird in the hand is worth two in 
 the bush," responded Mr. Coates. " By 
 George," said Girard, " you have caught 
 me upon the right footing." He then 
 drew a check for five thousand dollars 
 and presented it to Mr. Coates, observ- 
 ing, " Will you now look at it ? " 
 " Well, to please thee, I will," said Mr. 
 Coates. " Now give me back the first 
 check," demanded Mr. Girard — which 
 was accordingly done. 
 
 John J. Aster's Board and Clothes. 
 
 It is said that when John Jacob 
 Astor was once congratulated by a cer- 
 tain person for his wealth, he replied 
 by pointing to his pile of bonds, and 
 maps of property, at the same time in- 
 
484 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 quiring, " "Would you like to manage 
 these matters for your board and 
 clothes ? " The man demurred at the 
 idea. " Sir," continued the rich man, 
 '' it is all that I get I '' 
 
 Seventy-Pive Thousand Dollars at one 
 Draug-ht. 
 
 One of the most singular anecdotes 
 is related of Thomas Gresham, the 
 princely merchant of Queen Elizabeth's 
 time. The Spanish ambassador to the 
 English court having extolled the 
 great riches of the king his master, and 
 of the grandees of his kingdom, before 
 the queen, Sir Thomas, who was pres- 
 ent, told him that the queen had sub- 
 jects who, at one meal, expended not 
 only as much as the daily revenues of 
 his king, but also of all his grandees ; 
 and added, " this I will prove any day, 
 and lay you a considerable sum on the 
 result."' 
 
 The ambassador soon after came un- 
 awares to the house of Sir Thomas, 
 and dined with him ; and, finding only 
 an ordinary meal, said, " Well, sir, you 
 have lost your wager." " Not at all," 
 replied Sir Thomas, " and this you 
 shall presently see." He then pulled 
 out a box from his pocket, and taking 
 one of the largest and finest eastern 
 pearls out of it, exhibited it to the am- 
 bassador, and then ground it, and 
 drank the powder of it in a glass of 
 wine, to the health of the queen his 
 mistress. " My lord ambassador," said 
 Sir Thomas, " you know I have often 
 refused fifteen thousand pounds for 
 that pearl ; have I lost or won ? " "I 
 yield the wager as lost," said the am- 
 bassador, " and I do not think there 
 are four subjects in the world that 
 would do as much for their sovereigns." 
 
 New Orleans Broker Benouncing a 
 Fortune. 
 
 When Mr. Lefevre, the wealthy 
 Louisiana sugar planter, died, his es- 
 
 tate was appraised at about seven hun- 
 dred thousand dollars. He died with- 
 out issue, and his wife had some time 
 previously preceded him to the grave. 
 On his will being opened, it was found 
 that he had left the whole of his prop- 
 erty to be divided equally between two 
 gentlemen of New Orleans, one a neph- 
 ew of the testator's wife, and the other 
 the broker who had transacted his 
 business in that city — a man in no 
 wise related to him, only in the way of 
 business. To the astonishment of his 
 friends, this broker, on finding that he 
 had been made legatee to half the mil- 
 lionnaire's vast estate, went before a 
 notary public and renounced the whole 
 legacy, making it over in favor of the 
 relatives of the deceased in France, 
 consisting of nephews and nieces to the 
 number of twenty or thirty, and all 
 humbly situated in life. The old man 
 had previously made a will, in which 
 his French relatives were handsomely 
 remembered ; but, on returning from a 
 visit from them, for some reason known 
 only to himself, he tore the will to 
 pieces and wrote a new one, leaving 
 everything to his wife's nephew and 
 his broker. The broker who thus so 
 magnanimously renounced his share of 
 the estate, gave as his reason for so do- 
 ing, that he was already as rich as he 
 wished to be, and felt so independent 
 that he did not wish it to be in the 
 power of any one to say that any part 
 of his fortune was not of his own 
 making. 
 
 Amos Lawrence's Opinion of 
 Marriage. 
 
 This distinguished and excellent 
 merchant w^as an advocate of early 
 maiTiages, but was strenuously opposed 
 to any man's marrying a fortune. Speak- 
 ing of a desirable match for a friend, 
 he said, " My only objection to her is, 
 she has a few thousand dollars in cash. 
 This, however, might be remedied ; for 
 after purchasing a house, the lalance 
 
DOMESTIC RELATIONS OF MERCHANTS, BANKERS, ETC. 
 
 485 
 
 might de given to near connections^ or to 
 some puUic institutiony As this benev- 
 olent millionnaire was in the habit of 
 illustrating and giving point to his 
 opinions by pleasing reminiscences, the 
 absence of anything of the kind in con- 
 nection with the above remark, is evi- 
 dence that the good man was unable to 
 cite any ! 
 
 Ebenezer Francis and the Students* 
 Table. 
 
 When the late Ebenezer Francis, 
 one of the heaviest of Boston bankers, 
 was treasurer of Harvard College, he 
 used occasionally to visit the Com- 
 mons' Hall, and from the first w^as dis- 
 agreeably struck with the ordinary ap- 
 pearance of the table, both the food and 
 the equipage. He saw only a bare 
 pine table, on which no cloth was ever 
 spread, the cheapest kind of crockery, 
 iron spoons, and the poorest descrip- 
 tion of knives and forks. Of this for- 
 bidding scene he gave a lively picture 
 to the corporation, and proposed an 
 entire reform. Induced by his repre- 
 sentations, some of the faculty made a 
 personal inspection, which convinced 
 them of the justice of Mr. Francis's dis- 
 satisfaction, and rendered them equally 
 displeased with the condition of things 
 in the Commons' Hall. But with an 
 impoverished treasury, there seemed to 
 be an insuperable bar to effecting the 
 needed changes. Indeed, much hesi- 
 tancy was felt as to the expediency of 
 the proposed reform, both on account 
 of the cost, and the liability to destruc- 
 tion of the property by a set of unruly 
 young men. These objections were 
 met by Mr. Francis, by the declara- 
 tion that, as to the cost, he would see 
 that the college was not the poorer by 
 the reform, and as to the destruction of 
 the property, he would trust to the stu- 
 dents' honor. Immediately he pur- 
 chased, at his own expense, a suitable 
 supply of good table linen; ordered 
 from England the necessary quantity 
 
 of tableware of the best kind, and, to 
 give it a distinctive character, had it 
 decorated with views of the college 
 buildings; he also sent an order to 
 Sheffield for the best knives and forks, 
 and procured from Boston a supply of 
 spoons. Such decided improvements 
 naturally astonished the students, who 
 could scarcely believe their own eyes. 
 So great was the contrast, that they 
 doubted the reality of the scene, and 
 suspected the spoons to be only the old 
 iron ones, slightly coated with silver. 
 To satisfy their doubts, a student car- 
 ried one of the spoons to an assayer in 
 Boston, who pronounced it the best of 
 silver. There was, as Mr. Francis had 
 predicted, no destruction of the table 
 wares. So carefully, indeed, was it 
 kept, that a part of the same service 
 is now in use at the commencement 
 dinners. 
 
 Unparalleled "Will of Thelluson, the 
 liondon Banker. 
 
 Peter Thelluson was a London 
 banker whose ruling passion was an in- 
 satiate love of money. He died in 
 July, 1787, worth upward of seven 
 hundred thousand pounds sterling. 
 By his singular will, after bequeathing 
 to his wife and children about one 
 hundred thousand pounds, he directed 
 that the residue of his property should 
 be vested in the purchase of estates, to 
 accumulate until such time as all his 
 children, and the male children of his 
 sons and grandsons, shall die, and then 
 the lineal male descendants, who must 
 bear the name of Thelluson, shall in- 
 herit in three equal lots — the number 
 of his sons — thus creating prospective- 
 ly three large landed estates. In case 
 of failure of male descendants, the es- 
 tates to be sold and the proceeds ap- 
 plied toward the paying of the nation- 
 al debt. Many attempts were made to 
 upset this singular will, but they all 
 failed. It has been calculated that 
 ninety or one hundred years must 
 
486 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 elapse, from tlie date of the will, before 
 the lineal male descendants can take 
 possession of the property; and if, 
 during that period, the sums of money 
 left by the testator could have been in- 
 vested at five per cent., compound in- 
 terest, they would amount to more 
 than three hundred and fifty million 
 dollars. No more wills of this kind 
 can be made, for a subsequent act of 
 Parliament limits the power of bequest 
 to a life or lives in being, and twenty- 
 one years after the death of the sur- 
 vivor. 
 
 Business and Something: Else. 
 
 A YOUNG man went from New York 
 city to the far West, where he com- 
 menced business on his own account, 
 and married. His former business asso- 
 ciates in the city were interested in his 
 " luck," and when a merchant of that 
 city was about to journey to the place 
 where the young man had located, he 
 was requested just to visit the emi- 
 grant trader, and ascertain how things 
 vrere getting along. Accordingly, the 
 New York Paul Pry ascertained the 
 whereabouts of the young man, and 
 called on him quite early in the morn- 
 ing. The introduction of the New York- 
 er to his wife was quite ofi'hand and un- 
 ceremonious, and he was requested to 
 be seated, and partake of the morning 
 meal. The young wife had prepared the 
 steak, biscuit, and coffee with her own 
 hands, and for a table had used her 
 kneading-board, over which a napkin 
 was spread, and the " board " placed 
 on her lap. The New Yorker declined 
 a seat at the meal, and by and by took 
 his leave. On making his report to his 
 New York friends as to how he found 
 their former comrade living, he describ- 
 ed the style as " magnificent ! " — and 
 for explanation of the superlative, he 
 said that, " were he the owner of that 
 young man's furniture, Tieicould not take 
 ten thousand dollars for the legs of Ms 
 table r' 
 
 Medical Practice as viewed "by Girard. 
 
 Girard's belief in the many simple, 
 though not always adapted remedies 
 with which he was in the habit of 
 treating the sick, was accompanied, as 
 is not unusual in such cases, with a 
 rather disparaging opinion of the medi- 
 cal profession. In the annual recur- 
 rence of the fever which followed for 
 many years the epidemic of 1793, and 
 in which his services w^ere always freely 
 rendered to the sick and poor, he at- 
 tributed much of the severity of the 
 disease to the ignorance of the local 
 physicians about the nature of the pes- 
 tilence. The following humorous allu- 
 sion to the doctors is found in a letter 
 written in January, 1799, to his friend 
 Devize, then in France, but w^ho had 
 been associated with him as physician 
 of the Bush Hill hospital in 1793. Af- 
 ter describing the effects of the epi- 
 demic, he says : " During all this 
 frightful time, I have constantly re- 
 mained in the city, and without neg- 
 lecting my public duties, I have played 
 a part which wiH make you smile. 
 Would you believe it, my friend, that I 
 have visited as many as fifteen sick 
 peojDle in a day^ and what will sur- 
 prise you still more, I have lost only 
 one patient, an Irishman, who would 
 drink a little. I do not flatter myself 
 that I have cured one single person, 
 but you will think with me, that in 
 my quality of Philadelphia physician, 
 I have been very moderate, and that 
 not one of my confreres has killed 
 fewer than myself." 
 
 An old Merchant's Style and 
 Equipag-e. 
 
 Among the most eminent New Eng- 
 land merchants of the last century was 
 Thomas Russell, who was one of the 
 first who engaged in the American 
 trade with Russia at the close of the 
 revolutionary war, his place of busi- 
 ness being Boston. He was of an old 
 
DOMESTIC RELATIONS OF MERCHANTS, BANKERS, ETC. 
 
 487 
 
 Charlestown (Mass.) family— if any- 
 thing relating to family can be called 
 old in this country, especially in refer- 
 ence to the middle of the last century — 
 and resided there a part of the year till 
 his death. Mr. Russell was regarded, 
 in his day, as standing at the head of 
 the merchants of Boston. According 
 to the fashion of the day, he generally 
 appeared on 'Change in full dress — 
 which implied at that time, for elderly 
 persons, usually a coat of some light- 
 colored cloth, small-clothes, diamond 
 or paste buckles at the knee and in the 
 shoes, silk stockings, powdered hair, 
 and a cocked hat ; in cold weather, a 
 scarlet cloak. A scarlet cloak and a 
 white head were, in the last centurj^, to 
 be seen at the end of every pew in some 
 of the Boston churches. Though living 
 on the bank of Charles river, on great 
 occasions, before the bridge connected 
 Charlestown with Boston, his family 
 drove to town in a coach drawn by 
 four black horses, through Cambridge, 
 Brighton, and Roxbury. Mr. Russell, 
 at his decease in 1796, is supposed to 
 have left the largest property which 
 had at that time been accumulated in 
 New England. 
 
 Tavern-Waiter and his Banker. 
 
 To be a tavern-waiter and yet have a 
 banker is what falls to the lot of but 
 few. Indeed, such a case, if existing 
 at all, must be found to stand quite by 
 itself. Old Mr. Goldsmid, the million- 
 naire banker, was for many years ac- 
 customed to dine in a plain and simple 
 way at the London Tavern, and was 
 usually served by the same waiter. 
 This waiter had always been remark- 
 able for his civility and attention. One 
 day, however, Mr. Gr. observed th9,t he 
 was very inattentive, and seemingly 
 absent-minded. 
 
 " What's the matter with you to-day, 
 John ? " inquired the banker, just as he 
 was about to quit the house. 
 
 "Nothing, sir; that is to say, sir, 
 
 nothing very particular," observed John, 
 in a somewhat faltering tone. 
 
 Mr. Gr. was strengthened in his con- 
 viction, by the waiter's confused man- 
 ner of speaking, that something j)ar- 
 ticular was the matter. 
 
 " Come, come, John, just tell me 
 what makes you so absent-minded and 
 unhappy like ? " said Mr. G. 
 
 " Well, Mr. Goldsmid, since you are 
 so pressing in your kind inquiries, I 
 am soiTy to say that about half an hour 
 ago I w^as arrested for debt, and must 
 go to prison this evening, if I cannot 
 pay the money." 
 
 "Arrested for debt, John! What 
 induces you to get into debt ? " 
 
 " Why, sir, to tell the truth, I am 
 not able to support my wife and five 
 children with what I can make in this 
 house," said the waiter, in very touch- 
 ing terms. 
 
 " And what may be the amount for 
 which you are arrested ? " 
 
 " I am ashamed to mention it, sir." 
 
 " Let me hear it," said Mr. G. 
 
 " Why, sir, it's for fifty-five pounds," 
 stammered the waiter, in broken ac- 
 cents, and looking steadfastly at the 
 floor. 
 
 " Bring me a pen and ink," said Mr. 
 G. A pen and ink were immediately 
 brought, when Mr. G. drew from his 
 pocket his check book, and having 
 written a check for one hundred pounds, 
 put it into the waiter's hand, saying, 
 "Here, go with that, John, to my 
 banking house, and you will get as 
 much for it as will pay your debt, and 
 be a few pounds to your family be- 
 side." 
 
 " One among- Ten Thousand." 
 
 About the year 1772, the well-known 
 London grocer Higgins died, and left a 
 considerable amount to a merchant in 
 that city, saying to him at the time 
 that he made his will, " I do not know 
 that I have any relations, but should 
 you ever by accident hear of such, give 
 
488 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 them some relief." The merchant, 
 though thus left in full and undisputed 
 possession of a large fortune, on which 
 no person could have any legal claim, 
 advertised for the next of kin to the 
 deceased, and after some months were 
 spent in inquiries of this sort, he at 
 length discovered some scattered links 
 in the genealogical chain. He called 
 these distant relatives together to dine 
 with him, and after distributing the 
 whole of the money, according to the 
 different degrees of consanguinity, jDaid 
 the expenses of advertising out of his 
 own pocket. The fact of such conduct 
 on the part of a man no more than hu- 
 man is almost ^beyond credence. 
 
 Hansion of Morris, tlie Philadelphia 
 Financier. 
 
 It has been remarked as somewhat 
 striking in the personal history of Rob- 
 ert Morris, that while his financial ope- 
 rations for the Government were pre- 
 eminently characterized by a wise and 
 successful management, his direction 
 of his own private affairs was attended 
 with little else than error and ruin. 
 This was strikingly manifested in the 
 building of his palatial residence, the 
 grandest ever attempted in Philadel- 
 phia. The whole proved, by the mis- 
 calculations of his architect, Major 
 I'Enfant, a ruinous and abortive 
 scheme. A gentleman was present at 
 Mr. Morris's table when I'Enfant was 
 there, and first broached the scheme of 
 building him a grand house for $60,- 
 000. Ml'. Morris said he could sell out 
 his lots and houses on High street, for 
 $80,000, and so the thing was begun. 
 
 Mr. Morris purchased the whole 
 square, extending from Chestnut to 
 "Walnut street, and from Seventh to 
 Eighth streets, for $50,000— a great 
 sum, for what had been, till then, the 
 Norris family's pasture ground. Its 
 original elevation was twelve to fifteen 
 feet above the present level of the adja- 
 cent streets ; and with such an extent 
 
 of high ground in ornamental cultiva- 
 tion, and a palace fronting on Chest- 
 nut street, the effect could not but be 
 signally grand. 
 
 Immense funds w^ere expended before 
 the structure reached the surface of the 
 ground, and the arches, vaults, and la- 
 byrinths were numerous. It was final- 
 ly got up to its intended elevation of 
 two stories, presenting four sides of en- 
 tire marble surface, and much of the 
 ornamentation worked in costly relief. 
 It, however, failed to meet the owner's 
 taste, and, as he became more and more 
 sensible of the ruin thus brought upon 
 him by the undertaking, he was often 
 seen contemplating it, and heard to 
 vent imprecations on himself and his 
 lavish architect. He had, besides, pro- 
 vided by importation and otherwise 
 the most costly furniture — all of which, 
 together with the marble mansion it- 
 self, had to be abandoned to his cred- 
 itors. 
 
 He saw the mansion raised enough 
 to make a picture, and to preserve the 
 ideal presence of his scheme ; but that 
 was all. The magnitude of the estab- 
 lishment could answer no individual's 
 wealth ; and the fact was speedily real- 
 ized, that what cost so much to rear, 
 could find no purchaser at any reduced 
 price. The creditors were therefore 
 compelled, by slow and patient labor, 
 to pull down, piecemeal, what had 
 been so expensively got up. Some of 
 the underground labyrinths were so 
 deep and massive as to have been left 
 undisturbed, and at some future age 
 may be discovered,- to the great per- 
 plexity of archaeological Quidnuncs. 
 
 ♦♦ Old Ben Russell." 
 
 Probably no man was better known 
 in the business and social circles of 
 Boston, at a former period, than the 
 above-named worthy. He was a good 
 joker, but " once on a time " was fair- 
 ly caught in his own trap. He was 
 perhaps better known as Major Ben. 
 
DOMESTIC RELATIONS OF MERCHANTS, BANKERS, ETC. 
 
 489 
 
 Russell, and being met one day by his 
 old friend Busby, he was familiarly sa- 
 luted -with a hearty shake of the hand, 
 and " How do you do, old Ben. Rus- 
 sell ? " " Come, now," said Major Ben., 
 "I'll not take that from you — not a bit 
 of it ; you are as old as I am this min- 
 ute." " Upon my word," said Mr. Bus- 
 by, " you are my senior by at least ten 
 years." "Not at all, friend Busby; 
 and, if you please, we will determine 
 that question very soon — ^just tell me 
 what is the first thing you can recol- 
 lect ? " " Well, the mry first thing I 
 recollect," said Mr. Busby, " was hear- 
 ing people say, ' There goes old Ben. 
 Russell!'" 
 
 Girard and the Beg-gur. 
 
 A POOR beggar, on a stormy winter 
 evening, called at Mr. Girard's office, 
 and stated that his family was in want 
 of bread. Girard refused to give him 
 anything, but took a memorandum of 
 his residence, and dismissed him. Up- 
 on the poor man's leaving, Girard told 
 one of his clerks to follow him and as- 
 certain whether his story was true. 
 Upon the clerk's return, with the in- 
 formation that the statement was true, 
 Girard gave orders^ that his baker 
 should leave four loaves of bread a day 
 for the poor man's family, as long as it 
 might be necessary, and send the bill 
 to him. 
 
 Samuel Applet on' s Disposition of his 
 Income. 
 
 Among the resolutions formed by 
 Samuel Appleton, of Boston, as found 
 among his papers, was the following : 
 " I promise during the following year, 
 to spend the whole of my income, 
 either in frivolity, amusement, public 
 utility, or benevolence." Although the 
 last object is introduced so casually, 
 those who were acquainted with him 
 will understand how large a place it 
 held in his thoughts. 
 
 Another similar paper was found, of 
 a subsequent date, in which, after say- 
 ing in general terms that he has ob- 
 served men, as they have grown old in 
 years, growing anxious about property 
 tilhthey have seemed to think of little 
 else — and wishing himself to avoid that 
 state of mind, he promises that during 
 the ensuing year he will spend tJie icJioIe 
 of his income ; making, however, with 
 the careful forethought of one who 
 meant to perform what he resolved, the 
 single reservation of such a part of the 
 dividends on his manufacturing stocks 
 as should be required to pay any new 
 assessments. How large and liberal 
 w^ere his ideas of one's duty to promote 
 the welfare of others, is attested by the 
 fact that the amount which he gave 
 away during his life was scarcely less 
 than what he had retained for himself. 
 
 A Millionnaire on Giving: Away 
 Money : Peter C. Brooks. 
 
 Peter C. Brooks, one of New Eng- 
 land's most noted millionnaires, made 
 it a systematic practice to give away 
 considerable sums of money, both for 
 public and private purposes, though 
 always in the same way that he did 
 everything else, namely, without any 
 parade. It appeared from his books, 
 that he annually expended, in this way, 
 large amounts, but known at the time 
 only to " Him who seeth in secret.*^ 
 He remarked to one of his sons, not 
 long before his death, that " of all the 
 ways of disposing of money, giving it 
 away is the most satisfactory." 
 
 Mr. GHrard and th.e Baptist Clergyman. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Stoughton called on Mr. 
 Girard for aid in behalf of the Sansom 
 street new Baptist church edifice, Phila- 
 delphia, Dr. S. being pastor, and very 
 highly distinguished at the time. Girard 
 received him, as he usually did beg- 
 gars, coolly and courteously, and gave 
 him a check for five hundred dollars. 
 
490 
 
 COMMERCIAL AXD BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 Dr. Stoughton received it with a low 
 bow ; but upon examining it, expressed 
 his astonishment, adding : " only five 
 hundred dollars : surely you will not 
 give us less than a thousand ! " " Let 
 me see the check, Mr. Stoughton," s?iid 
 Girard; "perhaps I have made one 
 mistake." The doctor returned him 
 the check. With the utmost sangfroid 
 Girard tore it into fragments, observ- 
 ing, " Well, Mr. Stoughton, if you will 
 not have what I give, I will give noth- 
 ing." 
 
 Belig-ious Opinions of Girard. 
 
 The religious sentiments which Gir- 
 ard maintained, and which he was un- 
 willing to disguise, were of the school of 
 Rousseau and Voltaire ; and so deeply 
 did he venerate their characters, that 
 the marble busts of these two scholars 
 were, it is stated, the only works of art 
 that adorned his confined chamber, and 
 a complete set of the writings of the 
 latter author, together with a few 
 treatises on gardening, were the only 
 volumes which constituted the library 
 of his dwelliug house. The, respect 
 with which he regarded the names of 
 these individuals is evinced in the 
 beautiful ships which, from time to 
 time, were dispatched by him from the 
 port of Philadelphia. He appears, in- 
 deed, to have preseiwed throughout 
 life a stoicism in his merely speculative 
 opinions, which referred all surround- 
 ing circumstances to second causes, 
 rather than to their true source. A 
 total disbeliever in the Christian sys- 
 tem, he was still willing to bestow large 
 sums upon dififerent Christian denomi- 
 nations, bounties which took effect 
 while he was yet alive. 
 
 Suspected Religious Fidelity 
 of Rothschild: Remarkable Scene. 
 
 There has long been a curious story 
 current amongst the Jews, to the effect 
 that Baron Rothschild was at one time 
 
 thinking of renouncing Judaism and 
 of embracing Christianity. His eldest 
 brother, Anselm, was informed of the 
 report; he immediately wrote letters 
 to his four brothers, Solomon, Nathan, 
 Charles, and James, urging upon them 
 to repair with the least possible delay 
 to Frankfort. The brothers obeyed 
 the summons. When all met, Anselm 
 said : "I want you all to accompany 
 me to our father's grave." When there, 
 the first-bom said : " I insist upon all 
 of you taking a solemn oath at this 
 solemn jDlace, that you will never re- 
 nounce the religion of your father, nor 
 ever embrace Chiistianity." The broth- 
 ers were taken by surprise, and of 
 course took the required oath. Whether 
 the precise details of this story be true, 
 it at least shows that Baron Rothschild 
 was looked upon with suspicion by his 
 Jewish brethren, since they^ould con- 
 jure up a fiction of this kind, and give 
 it the widest circulation. 
 
 Judab. Touro and Dr. Clapp. 
 
 One of the personal legacies in Judah 
 Touro's will, was the sum of three 
 thousand dollars to Rev. Dr. Clapp, 
 the prominent Universalist divine, who 
 so long officiated in the first and only 
 church of that denomination in the 
 State of Louisiana. The personal rela- 
 tions of Dr. Clapp and this Hebrew 
 merchant were of a very interesting 
 nature, and strikingly illustrate the 
 liberality and expansiveness of Mr. 
 Touro's religious character. The church 
 erected many years ago for Mr. Clapp's 
 society became incumbered with debt, 
 and was sold by the sheriff. The rapid 
 growth of the second municipality, in 
 the most central part of which this 
 church stood, had rendered this a very 
 desirable site for stores. It was apf)re- 
 hended by Mr. Clapp's friends that the 
 church would be bought by parties in- 
 imical to him, and that this then small 
 congregation would be left without a 
 suitable place in which to hold their 
 
DOMESTIC RELATIONS OF MERCHANTS, BANKERS, ETC. 
 
 491 
 
 worship. Great sympathy and interest 
 were exhibited in behalf of the popular 
 divine, but the great value of the prop-. 
 erty placed it beyond the power of his 
 friends to save it from passing out of 
 the hands of the pastor and congrega- 
 tion. Mr. Touro having received a 
 hint of the state of ajffairs, appeared at 
 the sale, in his usual quiet, modest 
 manner, and without intimating to any 
 person his intention, bid off the church. 
 He then informed Mr. Clapp, that he 
 could continue to worship God in his 
 own way as long as the edifice stood, 
 " with none to make him afraid." And 
 so, for twenty years, the Universalists 
 of New Orleans, with their eloquent 
 minister, were indebted to the kindness 
 and liberality of a strict Israelite, for a 
 temple in which to perform their relig- 
 ious duties. All this time, the property 
 occupied by the church was of the value 
 of fifty or eighty thousand dollars. Not 
 a cent of rent was ever demanded by 
 Mr. Touro, for the use of the property, 
 and the pastor was allowed to receive 
 the pew rents for his own remuneration. 
 
 John McDonogrli's Personal Appear- 
 ance. 
 
 JoHisr McDoNOGH, the eccentric mil- 
 lionnaire of New Orleans, is thus de- 
 scribed by a most pleasing writer in 
 the Continental Magazine, who also fur- 
 nishes some other most readable me- 
 morabilia concerning this and other 
 noted capitalists, which have been 
 transferred to these pages : 
 
 In the year 1850, and for nearly 
 forty years previous, there could be 
 seen almost every day in the streets of 
 New Orleans, a very peculiar and re- 
 markable-looking old gentleman. Tall 
 and straight as a pillar, with stem, de- 
 termined features, lit up by eyes of un- 
 common, almost unnatural brilliancy, 
 with his hair combed back and gath- 
 ered in a sort of queue, and dressed m 
 the fashion of half a century ago — to 
 wit, an old blue coat, with high collar, 
 
 well-brushed and patched but some- 
 what seedy, pantaloons of like date and 
 texture, hat somewhat more modern, 
 but bearing unmistakable proof of long 
 service and exposure to sun and rain ; 
 old round-toed shoes, the top-leathers 
 of which had survived more soles than 
 the wearer had outlived souls of his 
 early friends and companions ; a scant 
 white vest, ruflled shirt, and voluminous 
 white cravat, completed the costume of 
 this singular gentleman, who, with his 
 ancient blue silk umbrella under his 
 arm, and his fierce eye fixed on some 
 imaginary goal ahead, made his way 
 through the struggling crowds which 
 poured along the streets of New Or- 
 leans. 
 
 The last time this strange and spec- 
 tral figure was seen making its accus- 
 tomed rounds was on the 26th of Oc- 
 tober, 1850. On that day, a very re- 
 markable event occurred, which at- 
 tracted the notice of passers-by, and 
 was even snatched up as an item by 
 the ever-vigilant reporters of the daily 
 press ; this consisted simply in a nota- 
 ble variation from the routine and hab- 
 its of the old gentleman in the long- 
 tailed blue. He was seen to stop on 
 Canal street, to hesitate for a few mo- 
 ments, and then deliberately enter an 
 omnibus bound for the lov/er part of 
 the city. Such an occurrence created 
 quite a sensation among street-corner 
 gossipers. There must really be some 
 new and pressing emergency, which 
 could produce this departure from the 
 custom and invariable habits of forty 
 years : so said every one who knew the 
 old gentleman. The omnibus stopped 
 at the court house ; the subject of these 
 observations and his blue umbrella 
 emerged from it, and both soon disap- 
 peared in the corridor leading to the 
 so-called "halls of justice." 
 
 That was the last that was ever seen 
 of the strange old gentleman on the 
 streets of New Orleans. The evening 
 journals of the next day contained the 
 following :— 
 
492 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 " Died, this morning, the 27th of Oc- 
 tober, 1850, at McDonoghville, opposite 
 the city of New Orleans, after a short 
 illness, John McDonogh, a native of 
 Baltimore, but for forty years a resi- 
 dent of Louisiana." 
 
 Looks and Manners of RothscMId. 
 
 Rothschild's beauty of countenance 
 was in no sort of equality with the per- 
 fection of his finances. He was, in- 
 deed, a butt in this respect, for the 
 satirists of the day, who " loved a shin- 
 ing mark" then, as now. His huge 
 and somewhat slovenly appearance ; 
 the lounging attitude he assumed as 
 he leaned ponderously against his pillar 
 in the Royal Exchange ; his rough and 
 rugged speech ; his foreign accent and 
 idiom, made caricature fasten upon and 
 claim him as its own — while even ridi- 
 cule lost all power, in the end, over a 
 subject which defied its utmost skill. 
 
 Taking Care of His Umbrella. 
 
 A MERCHANT in the Dutch trade, 
 who had been a resident of New York 
 some fifteen or twenty years, had in his 
 possession a silk umbrella of rather 
 antique appearance and uncommonly 
 large proportions, which attracted the 
 notice of a friend in company, who 
 said to him in jest : " I should not be 
 surprised to hear you had brought out 
 that ancient umbrella with you from 
 Holland." " You have guessed right," 
 he replied ; " I did bring it when I 
 came to this country, and have had it 
 m constant use ever since ; but I sent 
 it once during the time to Holland to be 
 newly covered." This merchant was 
 liberal and charitable, but he took good 
 care of his umbrella, as of other things, 
 and died worth a million of dollars. 
 
 Wealthy Men Imag-ming: Themselves 
 Poor. 
 
 Men who have accumulated large 
 
 fortunes from small beginnings, when 
 
 they have passed the middle age of 
 life, often imagine themselves in pover- 
 ty. A singular case of this kind is re- 
 lated of an Englishman, as follows: 
 A large manufacturer residing in York- 
 shire, one day called on the relieving 
 officer of the district, and pleaded for 
 relief. Appreciating instantly the state 
 of mind in which the well-known 
 applicant was, the officer replied, 
 
 " Certainly, Mr. ; call to-morrow, 
 
 and you shall have it." Satisfied, the 
 applicant retired, and the officer has- 
 tened to the gentleman's son, stated the 
 case, and expressed his opinion that 
 the relief demanded should be given. 
 " Give it," said the son, " and we'll re- 
 turn you the money." Accordingly, 
 this wealthy manufacturer next day re- 
 ceived relief, and for many weeks regu- 
 larly applied for his five shillings per 
 week; until at last the hallucination 
 vanished, and his mind was completely 
 restored. 
 
 Death-bed Stirronnding-s of the New 
 Orleans Croesus. 
 
 In a cold, desolate, dreary, brick 
 building, constituting almost the only 
 visible sign of the existence of the town 
 of McDonoghville, situate on the right 
 bank of the Mississippi, opposite to the 
 centre of New Orleans, and in a large 
 room, the furniture of which was old- 
 fashioned, worn, and time stained, there 
 lay on a small hard mattress the gaunt 
 figure of John McDonogh, the million- 
 naire, tortured with pain and fast sink- 
 ing under the ravages of that terrible 
 disease, the Asiatic cholera. The only 
 beings near were negroes ; no white 
 persons were ever allowed to spend the 
 night under that roof. Those negroes 
 Avere the rich man's slaves in law, but 
 companions and friends in fact. His 
 immense business, his vast estates were 
 administered through them. Even his 
 documents were copied by them. They 
 were true to him in his moment of dis- 
 tress and sickness. All that their 
 limited knowledge of medicine could 
 
DOMESTIC RELATIONS OF MERCHANTS, BANKERS, ETC. 
 
 493 
 
 suggest was done for his relief. At 
 last, in disregard of his command, a 
 physician was brought from the city, 
 who pronounced his condition a very 
 critical one. The doctor's first demand 
 was for brandy. 
 
 " Massa, there aVt bin no brandy in 
 this house for twenty years," was the 
 reply of an old, gray-headed domestic. 
 
 A servant was despatched to the 
 nearest grocery, but it proved to be too 
 late. The dying man perceived his 
 condition, and requested that his law- 
 yer should be sent for. In an hour that 
 gentleman arrived. He was just in 
 time, 
 
 " Roselins," he said, addressing one 
 of the most eminent of the lawyers of 
 the New Orleans bar, as he held his 
 hand, " you see I am going ; you see I 
 am not afraid to die. Take care of the 
 estate ; 'tis not mine, 'tis God's and the 
 poor's." And thus, without a struggle, 
 the soul of John McDonogh passed to 
 its Maker. 
 
 Signora Almonastre and John 
 McDonogh.. 
 
 In his early manhood, John McDon- 
 ogh was styled the handsomest of his sex 
 in New Orleans. That such a young 
 man should attract the favorable notice 
 of a.nbitious Creole beauties, who then 
 composed the only female society in 
 New Orleans, of managing mothers, 
 desirous of providing for their daugh- 
 ters, or of fathers, who, in addition to 
 the latter motive, might also desire to 
 secure a connection which might pro- 
 mote their own business prospects, 
 was quite natural. The handsome 
 American merchant, with his still hand- 
 somer fortune, was, therefore, much 
 courted. Though always gay, gallant, 
 and polite, Mr. McDonogh proved for 
 some time invulnerable to even the 
 charms of Creole beauty. At last there 
 were indications that a young Orleaur 
 noise, of fortune equal to his own, and 
 of personal charms that were the theme 
 of general praise and admiration, had 
 
 captured the obdurate Croesus. This 
 young damsel was then emerging into 
 sweet sixteen. She was the toast and 
 heiress of the city. Her name and 
 family were among the oldest in the 
 French and Spanish colonies. Her 
 father was Sen or Don Pedro Almonas- 
 tre, an old oiScial under the Spanish 
 Government, who, by prudent invest- 
 ments, accumulated a large property in 
 the very centre of New Orleans. He it 
 was who donated the ground on which 
 the Cathedral of St. Louis now stands. 
 It is for the rest of his soul that mass 
 is offered up and the bells are tolled 
 every Sunday afternoon in that venera- 
 ble temple. 
 
 This daughter and only child of Al- 
 monastre was born in the colony, of a 
 French Creole mother. She had at- 
 tained the age of sixteen about the year 
 1811. It was then that Mr. McDon- 
 ogh's propositions for an alliance were 
 favorably considered, and all the ar- 
 rangements were made for the betrothal 
 of the parties. 
 
 Suddenly, however, a new actor ap- 
 peared on the stage, who overturned 
 this well-arranged scheme. There re- 
 sided in the city a grim, austere, and 
 wealthy man, who had served in the 
 French and Spanish armies, and was 
 noted no less for his ferocity and pride 
 — which had been displayed in several 
 sanguinary duels — than for his wealth. 
 He had an only son, a handsome, grace- 
 ful, and fascinating young man, who, 
 at the suggestion of his father, and per- 
 haps at the prompting of his own 
 heart, stepped forward to lay his claims 
 at the feet of the lovely heiress of Al- 
 monastre. Fortunately for the cause 
 of humanity, though unfortunately for 
 the American merchant, the young 
 Frenchman supplanted him in the re- 
 gard of the fair Creole. 
 
 The alliance of two such wealthy 
 families as the Pontalbas and Almo- 
 nastres, was a great event in the city, 
 and it was duly celebrated by many 
 brilliant festivities, at the close of 
 
494 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 wliicli the happy couple departed for 
 Paris, accompanied by the father of the 
 yoang man. Purchasing a splendid 
 hotel in the Faubourg St. Germain, the 
 Pontalbas gave themselves up to all 
 the fashionable dissipations of that gay 
 city. The younger Pontalba was ap- 
 pointed by Napoleon one of his pages, 
 with the title of count. But in course 
 of time, discontent, contention, and 
 jealousy swept like a storm through 
 that household ; the husband, thinking 
 he had been dishonored, left his own 
 roof for the chateau of his father, where 
 they both lived morose and secluded 
 On the occasion of a visit of the count- 
 ess, on business, one day, to her father- 
 in-law, during the absence of her hus- 
 band, a terrible tragedy ensued — the 
 blowing out of the elder Pontalba's 
 brains by his own hand, and the al- 
 most fatal wounding of the countess in 
 her breast and hand, by shot and bul- 
 let, probably by the same pistol as that 
 in her father-in-law's grasp. After her 
 recovery, she lived in Paris, in great 
 elegance, until 1830, when the Revolu- 
 tion finding her a fierce Bourbonite, she 
 returned to New Orleans for a short 
 time, when finding Louis Philippe's 
 dynasty an unproscriptive one, she left 
 for Paris again. Here she resided un- 
 til 1840, when she came back to New 
 Orleans once more, directing her atten- 
 tion to the improvement of her splen- 
 did property, which encloses Jackson 
 Square, where she built some forty ele- 
 gant houses, and otherwise beautified 
 
 that locality. 
 
 ♦ 
 
 Disposing: of One's Surplus Income. 
 
 Nathaniel Ripley Cobb, of Boston, 
 displayed the character of a conscien- 
 tious merchant in a remarkable degree. 
 He was one of those noble-hearted men 
 of wealth whose afiiuence is constantly 
 proved by their munificence. Yet it 
 was not always proved from what is 
 strictly denominated " affluence " that 
 he was so benevolent, insomuch as the 
 
 most solemn vows, voluntarily assumed, 
 were upon him, that he would never be- 
 come rich. Thus, in November, 1821, 
 he drew up the following remarkable 
 document : 
 
 " By the grace of God, I will never, 
 be worth more than fifty thousand 
 dollars. By the grace of God, I wiU 
 give one fourth of the net profits of 
 my business to charitable and religious 
 uses. If I am ever worth twenty thou- 
 sand dollars, I will give one half of my 
 net profits; and if I am ever worth 
 thirty thousand, I will give three 
 fourths — and the whole after fifty 
 thousand. So help me God, or give to 
 a more faithful steward, and set me 
 aside.— N. R. Cobb, Nov., 1821." 
 
 He adhered to this covenant with 
 strict fidelity. At one time, finding 
 that his property had increased beyond 
 fifty thousand, he at once devoted the 
 surplus, seven thousand five hundred, 
 as a foundation for a professorship in 
 an institution for the education of 
 ministers, to which he also gave, on 
 various occasions, during his short life, 
 twice that amount. He was likewise a 
 generous friend to multitudes of young 
 men, whom he assisted in establishing 
 themselves in business, and to many 
 who were unfortunate. 
 
 Girard's Treatment of *' Splendid 
 Church" Projects. 
 
 It is known that Mr. Girard had no 
 preference for one sect more than an- 
 other, and he not unfrequently contribu- 
 ted considerable sums toward building 
 churches, sometimes of one denomina- 
 tion and sometimes of another. 
 
 The Methodists w^ished to build a 
 church in Tenth street, just north of 
 Chestnut. Thomas Haskins, a mer- 
 chant, and a neighbor of Girard, called 
 on him, and urged his suit for aid in 
 very modest terms. Girard replied, " I 
 approve of your object," and presented 
 him with a check for five hundred dol- 
 lars. The Methodist society failed, and 
 
DOMESTIC RELATIONS OF MERCHANTS, BANKERS, ETC. 
 
 495 
 
 the house was bought by the Episcopa- 
 lians, who wished to alter it into the 
 splendid Gothic house now called St. 
 Stephen's Church. A committee waited 
 upon Mr. Girard, told him their plan, 
 and asked his aid. He gave them a 
 check for five hundred dollars. They 
 were disappointed, and said, " Why, 
 you gave the Methodists five hundred 
 dollars for their little church, and we 
 are going to build a more splendid 
 edifice, and surely you will give us 
 something comporting with the grand- 
 eur of our design. Have you not 
 omitted a cipher ? " 
 
 They returned the check, asking 
 Girard to make it five thousand dol- 
 lars. Girard tore it in pieces, and 
 added, " I will not give you one cent. 
 Your society is rich — the Methodists 
 are poor. You remind me of the rich 
 man in the Gospel. fe[e would pull 
 down and build greater. Profit by his 
 fate, gentlemen. I have nothing to 
 give for your splendid church." 
 
 Last Days of Business and Financial 
 Celebrities. 
 
 Peter C. Brooks, the Boston mil- 
 lionnaire, who lived to the age of 
 eighty years, retained the management 
 of his affairs in his own hands, till 
 about a month before his decease. 
 Finding himself, one morning, some- 
 what at a loss to understand a matter 
 of business which required his atten- 
 tion, he calmly said to a son who was 
 with him, " It is time for me to abdi- 
 cate," and having executed a power 
 of attorney to dispossess himself of the 
 management of his property with as 
 little concern as he would have signed 
 a receipt for a few dollars, never spoke 
 of afiairs again. Mr. Brooks was for 
 many years a prominent Unitarian, as 
 have also been his sons-in-law, Hon. 
 Edward Everett (formerly a Unitarian 
 preacher), Rev. Dr. Frothingham, and 
 Hon. Charles Francis Adams, now 
 Minister to England. 
 
 Samuel Appleton had always dread- 
 ed a lingering dissolution, and his desire 
 that the last hour might come suddenly 
 was granted. On the last morning of 
 his life he enjoyed his usual health. 
 During the day he had sufiered some 
 pain and uneasiness, but the remedies 
 applied had relieved him, and he said, 
 " I will now try to sleep." He com- 
 posed himself for this purpose, and 
 sank into slumber. In a few minutes, 
 however, his companion was alarmed 
 by his louder breathng ; she ran to his 
 bedside and summoned an attendant. 
 He was lying in the same attitude of 
 repose, but it proved to be the repose of 
 death. His gifts to religious and bene- 
 volent objects, through his long life, 
 were constant and generous, and in his 
 last will and testament there was abun- 
 dant evidence of his desire that at his 
 death " his works should follow him." 
 
 Gideon Lee spent his last moments in 
 a dying charge to his sons, in which he 
 enjoined them always to "fill up the 
 measure of time," " Be," said he, 
 " always employed profitably in doing 
 good, in building up ; aim to promote 
 the good of yourselves and of society ; 
 no one can do much good without 
 doing some harm, but you will do less 
 harm by striving to do good ; be indus- 
 trious, be honest." 
 
 Jacob Lorillard, when he perceived 
 that his death was approaching, which 
 he had not expected until it was near 
 at hand, exhibited no agitation nor 
 fear. He called his children around 
 him, and, beginning with the youngest, 
 he gave, in an affecting and impressive 
 manner, to each of them, according to 
 their respective dispositions, characters, 
 and habits, the particular kind of coun- 
 sel appropriate to the case. After do- 
 ing this, he gradually passed away. 
 
 Lorenzo de Medici sustained the 
 last conflict with equanimity. It appear- 
 ed from his conduct as thou«xh it were 
 
496 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 those about Wm who momentarily 
 expected that fate, and that he alone 
 was to be exempt. Even to the last, 
 tJie scintillations of his former vivacity 
 were perceptible. Being asked, on 
 taking a morsel of food, how he 
 relished it, " As a dying man always 
 does," was his reply. Having affection- 
 ately embraced his surrounding friends, 
 and submitted to the last ceremonies 
 of the church, he became absorbed in 
 meditation, occasionally repeating por- 
 tions of Scripture, and accompanying 
 his ejaculations with elevated eyes and 
 solemn gestures of his hands, till the 
 energies of life declining, he pressed to 
 his lips a magnificent crucifix, and 
 calmly expired. 
 
 GiRARD, in liis eighty-second year, 
 had nearly lost the use of his eye, and 
 was frequently seen groping in the 
 vestibule of his bank, disregarding the 
 assistance of others, a species of temerity 
 which, as it proved, nearly cost him his 
 life; for, crossing Second street and 
 Market, a dearborn wagon rapidly 
 drove by, and nearly took off his ear, 
 and bruised his face, having struck 
 furiously against his head, and pros- 
 trated Iiis person ; an injury which 
 proved serious and permanent. By 
 this accident the whole of his right ear 
 was nearly lost, and his eye, which was 
 before but opened slightly, was entirely 
 shut ; and from that time his flesh was 
 gradually wasted away, and his health 
 declined, Mr. Girard had long re- 
 garded death with apparent indiffer- 
 ence, having stated many years pre- 
 viously that it fell within the course 
 of nature that his life should terminate, 
 even at that period. And this event 
 was soon to be realized. During the 
 month of December he was attacked 
 with a species of influenza, and the 
 disease undermined his system until 
 the 26th of that month, when he ex- 
 pired, in a back room of the third story 
 of his house in Water street. A short 
 time before he died, he got out of bed 
 
 and walked across the room to a chair, 
 but almost immediately returned to 
 his bed, placing his hand to his head, 
 and uttering the words, " How violent 
 is this disorder! How very extraordi- 
 nary it is ! " — being the last intelligible 
 words that ever fell from his lips. 
 
 JuDAH TouRO, a few days before his 
 death, sent for a notary public, and 
 dictated the remarkable will, in which 
 he made so noble and philanthropic a 
 distribution of his large wealth. The 
 bequests were all conveyed in such 
 calm and specific terms, and were so 
 entirely free from all conditions or 
 saving clauses, that there could not be 
 the slightest prospect of any dispute 
 or litigation growing out of them. Of 
 all things, he most disliked lawsuits 
 and controversijes of every kind. He 
 had provided in his will that his mor- 
 tal remains should be deposited by the 
 side of the other members of his family, 
 in the Jewish cemetery of Newport, R. 
 I. Almost in his last moments he re- 
 newed this injunction, and said to those 
 around his dying couch, " When I am 
 dead, carry me to the spot of my birth, 
 and bury me by the side of my mother." 
 
 Rothschild's sickness and death 
 proved that a millionnaire — though 
 the greatest under the sun — is but a 
 man. His affairs called him to Frank- 
 fort, and he was there seized with his 
 last illness. The profession there 
 could do nothing for him, and, scarcely 
 even as a last hope, Mr. Travers, the 
 eminent surgeon, made a rapid journey 
 to see if English science could avail the 
 dying CroGsus. The effort was vain, 
 and the inevitable fate was well and 
 worthily met. There appears even a 
 certain degree of dignity in his resig- 
 nation to the last struggle, and some- 
 thing touchingly manful in the wording 
 of the will which was to surrender to 
 others the gold w^on by the sweat of 
 his brain. Breathing an almost patri- 
 archal simplicity, it recommends his 
 
DOMESTIC RELATIONS OF MERCHANTS, BANKERS, ETC. 
 
 497 
 
 sons to undertake no great transaction 
 without the advice of their motlier^ of 
 -whom he speaks with tender and even 
 touching affection : " It is my special 
 wish that my sons shall not engage in 
 any transaction of moment, without 
 having previously asked her maternal 
 advice." The first intelligence of the 
 death of the great financial monarch 
 was received by the same method 
 which had so often contributed to his 
 success. Beneath the wings of a pi- 
 geon, shot in sport at Brighton, were 
 discovered the words, " /Z est morV 
 (He is dead). His remains were carried 
 to England. The Austrian, Prussian, 
 Neapolitan, and Portuguese ambassa- 
 dors assisted at his funeral. The 
 cofiiu or casket which contained his 
 massive remains was elaborately carved 
 and gorgeously ornamented, looking 
 like some splendid piece of artistic 
 skill, destined for the boudoir of a 
 lady, rather than for the damp of the 
 grave. ^ 
 
 Rekindling- of the Old Spark. 
 
 The youthful flame of John McDon- 
 ogh, of New Orleans, when he was a 
 young and prosperous merchant of 
 that city, was the Countess Pontalba, 
 or Miss Almonastre, as was her maid- 
 en name. It happened one day, many 
 years after, while the countess was in a 
 notary's office, for the purpose of sign- 
 ing some deeds, that a tall, grave, and ec- 
 centric-looking old gentleman entered, 
 and seeing the notary engaged, took 
 his seat to wait his turn. After com- 
 pleting her signature of the deeds, the 
 countess, raising her eyes from the 
 parchment, perceived that she was the 
 object of close and keen observation 
 of the eccentric old gentleman with 
 tlie very brilliant and piercing eyes. 
 A single glance served to bring that 
 face and form distinctly back to her 
 memory. Bushing up to the old gen- 
 tleman, she threw her arms around his 
 neck, in an affectionate embrace, ex- 
 claiming : 
 
 32 
 
 " Oh, Mr. McDonogh ! is it you ? I 
 have not forgotten you during our 
 long separation." And after a pause, 
 her emotions checking her utterance, 
 she continued : " We were once be- 
 trothed ; it would have been better for 
 both if we had married. Is it too late 
 to repair that fatal error ? " 
 
 For the first time for forty years, the 
 old man was deeply affected by a ten- 
 der and human feeling. The ancient 
 love was aroused from the deep re- 
 cesses of his heart, where it had lain 
 dormant and forgotten, and for a 
 moment triumphed over the passion 
 w^hich had been growing and expand- 
 ing for the half of his lifetime, until it 
 had gained the entire mastery of his 
 soul. Greatly moved by this peni- 
 tence of his once-loved and betrothed, 
 Mr. McDonogh begged to be permit- 
 ted to consult his better judgment, and 
 tearing himself away from the bewitch- 
 ments of the countess, he repaired in- 
 stantly to the ofiB.ce of his lawyer. 
 Walking in with the appearance of 
 great excitement, he paced the office 
 of the lawyer in an anxious and excited 
 manner for some time, to the profound 
 astonishment of his ancient counsellor. 
 At last the cause of this emotion was 
 explained, when, turning to his lawyer, 
 Mr. McDonogh confessed that he was 
 under a great excitement produced by 
 meeting his old love, the countess. 
 "And what would you think now, 
 R , if I were to marry her ? " 
 
 " I should think," replied the unsen- 
 timental counsellor, "that you had 
 become crazy." 
 
 " Ah ? " replied the millionnaire in- 
 terrogatively, and then pausing thought- 
 fully, he continued : " And you would 
 think right — you would think right ; 
 so let us to business." 
 
 EdinbTirg-h Merchant Finding- a Pnrse. 
 
 While prosecuting his accustomed 
 morning tour in the suburbs of Edin- 
 burgh, a merchant of that city found, 
 
498 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 as he walked along, a purse containing 
 a considerable sum of money. He ob- 
 served a lady at a considerable dis- 
 tance, who, he thought, might be the 
 owner and loser. Determined to be 
 correct as to the party to whom he 
 delivered it, he fell upon a strange yet 
 ingenious plan to effect this. He re- 
 solved to act the part of a " poor, dis- 
 tressed tradesman," and boldly went 
 forward, hat in hand, and asked alms. 
 This was answered with a polite " Go 
 away I I have nothing to give you." 
 The poor man, however, persisted in 
 his entreaties until he had got assist- 
 ance for his " famishing wife and 
 children ; " the lady, from reasons, no 
 doubt, similar to "Mrs. Maclarty's," 
 at last condescended — but, to her dis- 
 may, found that the wherewith was 
 minus. The good merchant, now satis- 
 fied that he was correct, with a polite 
 bow returned the purse, with a word 
 of advice to her, that in future she 
 should be more generous to the dis- 
 tressed and destitute. 
 
 Tile Mercliant Family of Medici, 
 Hesurgrazu. 
 
 As whatever relates to the illustrious 
 merchant family of the Medici is of 
 universal interest, the following remark- 
 able account of the disinterment, a few 
 years ago, of about sixty of its mem- 
 bers, who were buried in the crypt of 
 the stately pile of San Lorenzo at Flo- 
 rence, is peculiarly noteworthy. 
 
 The wooden coffins of the vaults 
 having been found mouldering away, 
 orders were giving to have them re- 
 placed, and consequently all the bodies, 
 with the exception of two, were trans- 
 ferred into new receptacles. 
 
 During these operations, the remains 
 of the famous Giovanni delle Bande 
 Keri, and his son Cosimo, the first 
 Grand Duke of Tuscany, were once 
 more exposed to mortal gaze. The 
 bodies of Eleanora di Toledo, wife of 
 the latter, and her son Francis the First, 
 
 were found to be so fresh as to appear 
 only recently laid in the sepulchre; 
 that of Francis, especially, warranted 
 the supposition of his having died from 
 some strong arsenical poison. By the 
 side of Cosimo lay his dagger, possibly 
 the one which he plunged into the 
 breast of his son Garcia, the fratricide. 
 Each body was accompanied with a 
 medal, and ticketed and labelled with 
 the most business-like precision; and 
 all were arranged in the state costume 
 of their day. Giovanni, the father of 
 Cosimo, was the only one covered with 
 a helmet. Gaston, the last of the house, 
 closed the series. 
 
 Household Magnificence of Portingna, 
 the Great Chinese Merchant. 
 
 PoRTiNGUA, the famous Chinese mer- 
 chant of Canton, has an estate on 
 which he spends half a million dollars 
 a year — an immense sum in a country 
 where labor is to be had almost for 
 nothing. The property is larger than 
 a king's domain. 
 
 This China merchant made his for- 
 tune in the opium trade, and is said 
 to possess more than twenty million 
 dollars. He has fifty wives and eigh- 
 ty domestics, without counting some 
 thirty laborers, gardeners, &c., and 
 owns in the north of China a still 
 finer estate. In front of his residence 
 is a fine garden of vast extent, in which 
 are the rarest flowers, and a wide alley 
 leads to the principal entrance. The 
 apartments of the house are magnifi- 
 cent in size, and the floors are in 
 marble; the rooms are also orna- 
 mented with columns of the same 
 material and of sandal wood, encrusted 
 with mother-of-pearl, gold, silver, and 
 precious stones. Splendid mirrors of 
 unsurpassed height, furniture in rare 
 and costly wood covered with Japan 
 lacquer, and sumptuous carpets of 
 velvet and silk, decorate the rooms. 
 The apartments are separated from 
 each other by movable partitions of 
 
DOMESTIC KELATIONS OF MERCHANTS, BANKERS, ETS. 
 
 499 
 
 cypress and sandal wood, which parti- 
 tions are ornamented with charming 
 designs, cut right through the wood, 
 so as to permit one room to be seen 
 from the other. From the ceilings are 
 suspended the most gorgeous chande- 
 liers, glittering with gems of every 
 hue. 
 
 There are more than thirty piles of 
 buildings in the whole of this private 
 palace, which ^re united by covered 
 galleries, with columns, and pavements 
 in marble. The lodgings of the women 
 are decorated with more than Eastern 
 splendor. An entire army might be 
 lodged in the house and grounds. 
 Watercourses, upon which are gilded 
 junks, traverse in all directions; and 
 at intervals are prodigious basins, in 
 which are swans, ibices, and an infinite 
 variety of birds. In front of the women's 
 apartments is a theatre, in which a 
 hundred actors can perform, and so 
 placed that those who are in the apart- 
 ments can see without difficulty. Near 
 the outer door is a printing office, in 
 which Portingua causes the memoirs 
 of his family to be prepared for pos- 
 terity. 
 
 Doctrine of Benevolence held "by 
 Girard. 
 
 Although Girard granted large aids 
 to large objects, he withheld assistance 
 from deserving subjects of individual 
 benevolence. No man sought his alms 
 with a prospect of relief, and beggary, 
 in most cases, departed from his door 
 as hungry as when it came. His doc- 
 trine appears to have been this : that 
 the granting of small sums to obscure 
 objects, that the opening of his heart 
 to those appeals which would naturally 
 be made upon the wealth of so opulent 
 a man, would have diminished his 
 chances of bestowing his bounties 
 upon those important subjects which 
 would redound to his fame. And it 
 was necessary to understand his pecu- 
 liar self-will, and the character of his 
 temper, to obtain aid at ail. The so- 
 
 licitor for aid who made small de- 
 mands upon his charity, was relieved 
 with thousands; the individual who 
 came before him in the spirit of exac- 
 tion, was put away with nothing. 
 
 Lorillard and the Load of Wood. 
 
 It was an opinion entertained by 
 many persons, that Lorillard was too 
 free and undiscriminating in the exer- 
 cise of his bounty, for " even his fail- 
 ings leaned to virtue's side." On one 
 occasion, in the depths of winter, a 
 woman, whom he had often relieved, 
 called upon him for a little assistance 
 to procure some wood. Having some 
 doubts of her worthiness, he said that 
 he would inquire about her, and dis- 
 missed her without any relief. 
 
 A short time after, he left his office 
 in company with a gentleman who had 
 been present at the interview, and ob- 
 serving a cartman with a load of wood 
 on his cart, he asked the price of it, 
 and directed him to take it to a certain 
 street and number, which was the place 
 where the disappointed petitioner re- 
 sided. His companion remarked, with 
 some surprise, " Did you not say that 
 you intended to make some inquiry 
 about her?" He replied, "While I 
 should have been inquiring about the 
 matter, the poor woman might have 
 frozen to death." 
 
 Colston, the Benevolent Millionnaire 
 Merchant. 
 
 Edwaed Colston, at the age of for- 
 ty years, became a very eminent East 
 India merchant, prior to the incorpora- 
 tion of the great East India Company, 
 and had forty sail of ships of his own, 
 with immense riches flowing in upon 
 him. He still remained uniform in 
 his charitable disposition, distributing 
 many thousand pounds to various 
 charities in and about London, besides 
 private gifts in many parts of the king- 
 dom. In the year 1708, he instituted 
 a very magnificent school in Bristol, 
 
500 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES 
 
 which cost him an immense sum, and 
 endowed the same with a large annual 
 income. He likewise gave ten pounds 
 for apprenticing every boy in that 
 place, and, for twelve years after his 
 death, the same amount to put them 
 into business. His private charities, 
 however, are believed to have far ex- 
 ceeded those in public. 
 
 A most interesting act of beneficence 
 on the part of Mr. C. was the follow- 
 ing : It appears that one of his ships, 
 trading to the East Indies, had been 
 missing upward of three years and was 
 supposed to be destroyed at sea, but at 
 length she arrived, richly laden. When 
 his principal clerk brought him the re- 
 port of her arrival, and of the riches 
 on board, he said, that as she was to- 
 tally given up for lost, he would by no 
 means claim any right to her; he there- 
 fore ordered the ship and merchandise 
 to be sold, and the proceeds thereof to 
 be applied toward the relief of the 
 needy, which directions were imme- 
 diately carried into effect. 
 
 Betnming' a Favor. 
 
 A Philadelphia merchant, in for- 
 mer times, whose wealth and standing 
 were only equalled by the uprightness 
 of his principles and the benevolence 
 of his acts, rescued a mechanic from 
 the clutches of poverty, and, what was 
 worse in those days, from the hands of 
 the sheriflF. The son of the mechanic 
 was young at this time, but old enough 
 to know his father's benefactor. Many 
 years after this, the merchant himself 
 fell into difficulties; and at the most 
 trying moment, when all his friends 
 had forsaken him, the mechanic's son, 
 now comparatively wealthy, stepped 
 forward to his relief. " I am much in- 
 debted to you," said the reduced mer- 
 chant. " By no means," was the reply ; 
 *' I have only paid the debt which my 
 father contracted, at the corner of 
 Chestnut street, thirty years ago, when 
 I was just old enough to know the 
 
 cause of my poor mother's grief." The 
 merchant, at this allusion to that by- 
 gone but touching reminiscence, grasp- 
 ed his hand, while the tears were al- 
 lowed free course down his cheek. 
 
 Settling a Knotty Account : Quaker 
 Philosophy. 
 
 A MERCHANT had a dispute with a 
 Quaker respecting the settlement of an 
 account. The merchant was deter- 
 mined to bring the account into court, 
 a proceeding which the Quaker very 
 earnestly deprecated, using every argu- 
 ment in his power to convince the mer- 
 chant of his error ; but the merchant 
 was inflexible. Desirous to make a last 
 effort, the Quaker called at his house 
 one morning, and inquired of the ser- 
 vant if his master was at home; the 
 merchant, hearing the inquiry, and 
 knowing the voice, called out from 
 the top of the stairs, " Tell that rascal 
 I am not at home." The Quaker, 
 quietly looking up at him, calmly said, 
 " Well, friend, the Lord put thee in a 
 better mind." 
 
 The merchant, struck afterward with 
 the meekness of the reply, and having 
 more deliberately investigated the mat- 
 ter, became convinced that the Quaker 
 was right and himself wrong. He re- 
 quested to see him, and, after acknowl- 
 edging his error, he said, " I have one 
 question to ask you— how were you 
 able, with such patience, on various oc- 
 casions, to bear my abuse ? " " Friend," 
 replied the Quaker, "I will tell thee. 
 I was naturally as hot and violent as 
 thou art. I knew that to indulge this 
 temper was sinful, and I also found 
 that it was unprofitable. I observed 
 that men in a passion always speak 
 loud; and I thought that if I could 
 control my voice, I should repress my 
 passion. I have, therefore, made it a 
 rule never to let my voice rise above a 
 certain key ; and by a careful observ- 
 ance of this rule, I have, by the bless- 
 ing of God, entirely mastered my nat- 
 
>< 
 
 DOMESTIC RELATIONS OF MERCHANTS, BANKERS, ETC. 
 
 501 
 
 ural tongue." Such good, frank pMl- 
 osoi^liy was not lost upon the merchant 
 in after years. 
 
 Why Guy the Millionnaire never 
 Married. 
 
 Thomas Guy, for many years a book- 
 seller carrying on business at No. .1 
 Cornhill, London, known as the " lucky 
 corner," and afterward a broker and 
 banker, made his immense fortune by 
 shrewd speculations in stocks and Gov- 
 ernment securities. Among the various 
 anecdotes related of this marvellous 
 money-getter, is one of a somewhat 
 domestic ^nature, and which not only 
 illustrates his personal traits, but also 
 confirms the homely adage, that " there 
 is many a slip," &c. 
 
 After he had, as he thought, discov- 
 ered in the conduct of his maid ser- 
 vant, in addition to a frugal disposi- 
 tion, one who would at all times con- 
 form to his rules and regulations, he on 
 a particular occasion intimated to her 
 that it was his intention to make her his 
 wife ; and, having taken the necessary 
 steps toward the completion of that in- 
 teresting ceremony, the wedding, and, 
 as a preparative, given particular in- 
 struction to a stone mason to repair 
 the pavement opposite his house, it 
 chanced that Sally, the intended bride, 
 observed a dilapidated stone, not ex- 
 actly within the line of her master's 
 house, but very near it ; she, therefore, 
 heedless of Guy's positive orders to the 
 contrary, directed the man to remove 
 it, and to replace it by a new one, 
 which was accordingly done. 
 
 On Guy's return — for he had been 
 absent during the day — his eye caught 
 sight of the new stone, and in an angry 
 tone he desired to know why his or- 
 ders had not been obeyed, and why 
 that stone, pointing to the new one, 
 had been placed there. The mason 
 replied that it was by his mistress's 
 orders. Guy immediately called poor 
 Sally, and told her that she had over- 
 stepped her duty, adding, " If you take 
 
 upon yourself to order matters con- 
 trary to my instructions before we are 
 married, what will you not do after ? I 
 therefore renounce my matrimonial in- 
 tentions toward you." So Sally failed 
 to become the banker's wife, and as the 
 day for " breach of promise " cases did 
 not belong to that period, the matter 
 here ended. 
 
 Sir Thoraas F. Buxton's Conversations 
 with Hothschild. 
 
 Sir Thomas F. Buxton, in a letter 
 to his daughter, says : " We yesterday 
 dined at Ham House, to meet the 
 Rothschilds, and very amusing it was. 
 He (Rothschild) told us his life and 
 adventures. He was the third son of 
 the banker at Frankfort. " There was 
 not," he said, " room enough for us aU 
 in that city. I dealt in English goods. 
 One great trader came there, who had 
 the market to himself: he was quite 
 the great man, and did us a favor if he 
 sold us goods. Somehow I offended 
 him, and he refused to show me his 
 patterns. This was on a Tuesday. I 
 said to my father, I will go to Eng- 
 land. I could speak nothing but Ger- 
 man. On the Thursday I started. The 
 nearer I got to England, the cheaper 
 goods were. As soon as I got to Man- 
 chester, I laid out all my money, things 
 were so cheap, and I made good profit." 
 
 " I hope," said , " that your chil- 
 dren are not too fond of money and 
 business, to the exclusion of more im- 
 portant things. I am sure you would 
 not wish that." 
 
 " I am sure I would wish that," said 
 Rothschild ; " I am sure I would wish 
 that. I tcish them to give mind, and 
 soul, and heart, and lody, and every- 
 thing to Imsiness ; that is the way to te 
 happy. Stick to one business, young 
 man," said Rothschild, addressing Ed- 
 ward ; " stick to your brewery, and 
 you may be the great brewer of Lon- 
 don. But be a brewer, and a banker, 
 and a merchant, and a manufacturer, 
 and you will soon be in the Qazette.'''' 
 
502 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 Robert Barclay becoming: a Banker 
 instead of a Courtier. 
 
 The celebrated financial house of 
 Barclay, in London, narrowly escaped 
 never coming into existence — no less a 
 personage than the king himself stand- 
 ing in near and peculiar relation to this 
 fact, as the following will show : 
 
 On the occasion of the state visit of 
 George the Third to the city, on the 
 first lord mayor's day after his acces- 
 sion to the throne, and when the caval- 
 cade had reached Cheapside, the ac- 
 clamations of the people were so great 
 as to pierce the air with their shouts ; 
 added to w^ch the dismal noise made 
 by the creaking of the various signs 
 which then hung across the streets, 
 caused one of the horses attached to 
 the king's carriage to become unman- 
 ageable, causing considerable confusion 
 to the procession, and alarm to their 
 majesties. 
 
 Just at this moment, a certain Qua- 
 ker, named David Barclay, a linen dealer 
 in Cheapside, and who was viewing the 
 procession from the balcony of his first- 
 floor window, perceived the critical sit- 
 uation of the king and queen, and at 
 once descended to the street. The 
 procession had now halted, and the 
 Friend, approaching the carriage, calm- 
 ly addressed the king, saying, "Wilt 
 thee alight, George, and thy wife Char- 
 lotte, and come into my house and view 
 the mayor's show?" The king, who 
 had on many occasions before he came 
 to the throne evinced a strong partial- 
 ity for Quakers, and who, from the 
 plainness of his manner, would very 
 likely have been one himself, had he 
 not been born to a throne, condescend- 
 ed to accept the invitation of the wor- 
 thy shopkeeper, and in the balcony of 
 the first floor of that house, the king 
 and queen stood during the remainder 
 of the pageant. 
 
 David, with simple gravity of man- 
 ner, introduced to their majesties the 
 whole of his family. His eldest son. 
 
 Robert, who was then a young man 
 about twenty years of age, received 
 especial notice from their majesties. 
 On taking their leave to proceed to 
 Guildhall, his majesty said, "David, 
 let me see thee at Saint James's, next 
 Wednesday, and bring thy son Robert 
 with thee." Accordingly, plain David 
 Barclay and his son Robert attended 
 the court levee, and on approaching 
 the royal presence, the king, throwing 
 aside all regal restraint, descended from 
 the throne, and giving the Friend a 
 hearty shake of the hand, welcomed 
 him to St. James's. He said many 
 kind things both to the father and to 
 his son — among the rest he asked Da- 
 vid what he intended to do with Rob- 
 ert ? and without waiting for a reply, 
 said, " Let him come here, and I will 
 provide him with honorable and profit- 
 able employment." 
 
 The cautious and self-possessed Qua- 
 ker, with many decorous apologies, and 
 with much humility, requested permis- 
 sion to reject the proposal, saying, " I 
 fear the air of the court of your majesty 
 would not agree with my son." The 
 king, who had seldom or never wit- 
 nessed a similar rejection of intended 
 royal favor, said, " Well, David, well, 
 well, you know best, you know best ; 
 but you must not omit to let me see 
 you occasionally at St. James's." 
 
 Soon after this, " David " saw his son 
 Robert established as a banker in Lom- 
 bard street; and who, instead of be- 
 coming a courtier, under such flatter- 
 ing favoritism of the king, became the 
 founder of one of the most eminent 
 and powerful banking firms of the day. 
 
 Hospitality of Stephen Girard. 
 
 Every day, Mr. Girard performed a 
 journey to the " Neck," where lay his 
 farm, and to the laborious cultivation 
 of which he devoted the greater por- 
 tion of his leisure time. But even here, 
 where it might be supposed that he 
 would have exercised at least the 
 
DOMESTIC RELATIONS OF MERCHANTS, BANKERS, ETC. 
 
 503 
 
 ordinary rites of hospitality, no friend 
 was welcomed with a warm greeting. 
 In one instance an acquaintance was 
 invited to witness his improvements, 
 and was shown to a strawberry bed 
 which had been, in the greater part, 
 gleaned of its contents, and told that 
 he might gather the fruit in that bed, 
 when the owner took leave, stating 
 that he must go to work on a neigh- 
 boring bed. That friend, finding that 
 this tract had been nearly stripped of 
 its fruit by his predecessors, soon stray- 
 ed to another tract, which appeared to 
 bear more abundantly, when he was ac- 
 costed by Mr. Girard. "I told you," 
 said he, " that you might gather straw- 
 berries only in that bed." Such was his 
 hospitality. 
 
 M. Rothschild at Home. 
 
 As might be expected, the entertain- 
 ments given by the elder Rothschild, 
 the charities to which he occasionally 
 subscribed, and the amount and char- 
 acter of his transactions in the money 
 market, afforded constant material for 
 everybody's talk. Peers and princes of 
 the blood sat at his table, clergymen 
 and laymen bowed before him, and 
 they who preached loudest against 
 mammon, bent lowest before the mam- 
 mon worshipper. Gorgeous plate, ex- 
 quisite furniture — an establishment such 
 as many a noble of Norman descent 
 would envy — graced his entertain- 
 ments. 
 
 Without social refinement, with man- 
 ners which, offensive in the million, 
 were considered but hrusque in the mil- 
 lionnaire, he collected around him the 
 fastidious members of the most fastidi- 
 ous aristocracy in the world. He saw 
 the representatives of all the states in 
 Europe proud of his friendship. By 
 the democratic envoy of the new world, 
 by the ambassadors of the imperial 
 Russ, was his hospitality alike accept- 
 ed ; while the man who warred with 
 slavery in all its forms and phases was 
 
 himself slave to the golden reputation 
 and gracious favors of the Hebrew. 
 Though never having cultivated a taste 
 for literature or the fine arts, his palace 
 contained in abundance the richest vol- 
 umes of the European press, in the 
 different languages, and he deferred to 
 the exactions of his position by possess- 
 ing himself of the rarest and costliest 
 productions of painter and sculptor for 
 the adornment of his halls and draw- 
 ing rooms. Yet, in respect to these, he 
 was in no sense a connoisseur, for his 
 taste and perceptions lay in an entirely 
 different direction. It is not known 
 that he ever exhibited any reluctance 
 to gratify the wants of his household, 
 no matter what the expense, nor how 
 widely their preferences might differ 
 from his own. 
 
 Mr. Vanderbilt's Holiday. 
 
 Early in the spring of 1854, the at- 
 tention of the public was directed to an 
 item in the New York papers, contain- 
 ing information that Mr. Cornelius 
 Vanderbilt, the enterprising and opu- 
 lent merchant, was constructing an im- 
 mense and magnificent steamship, which 
 he intended as a yacht for the accom- 
 modation of his family and some in- 
 vited friends in a voyage to the prin- 
 cipal seaports of Europe. The an- 
 nouncement of this project excited no 
 little interest in the public mind, and 
 the excursion became one of the pleas- 
 ant topics of conversation of the day. 
 Mr. Vanderbilt was known— and still 
 continues to be — as a thoroughly prac- 
 tical man, whose energy and persever- 
 ance, combined with strong intellect 
 and high commercial integrity, had 
 given him immense wealth ; all his un- 
 dertakings had been crowned with sig- 
 nal success, and his great enterprise in 
 opening a communication with the 
 Pacific by the Nicaragua route made 
 him a reputation in Europe. A general 
 expectation was naturally excited, there- 
 fore, that he would carry out his plan, 
 
504 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 in connection with the noble vessel in 
 process of construction, in a manner 
 that would redound to the honor of 
 the country, and of the mercantile pro- 
 fession, of which he was then and is 
 now so prominent a member. 
 
 Various opinions were entertained as 
 to Mr. Vanderbilt's ultimate designs. 
 Many imagined that he purposed to 
 effect some great commercial operation 
 — he was to sell his ship to this mon- 
 arch or that Government ; or, that he 
 was to take contracts for the supply of 
 war steamers : all sorts of speculations 
 were entertained by that frequently 
 misinformed character — the public. In , 
 February, Mr. Vanderbilt gave to a 
 friend who was sitting with him in his 
 library, the first information of his in- 
 tention in respect to the vessel, and in- 
 vited his guest to accompany him to 
 Europe in the month of May. 
 
 The ship was then on the stocks, but 
 the owner named the very day on which 
 he should sail, giving the details of his 
 proposed route, and from which few 
 deviations were afterward made. Mr. 
 Vanderbilt expressly stated that his 
 sole object was to gratify his family 
 and afford himself an opportunity to 
 see the coast of Europe, which he could 
 do in no other way— ^remarking that, 
 after more than thirty years' devotion 
 to his business, in all which period he 
 had known no rest from labor, he felt 
 that he had a right to a complete holiday. 
 It is well known that the cruise of the 
 North Star — a most superb craft of 
 twenty-five hundred tons burden, and 
 most sumptuous in all its appointments 
 — was peculiarly pleasant and success- 
 ful, and did high honor abroad to the 
 merchant who thus, in the style of a 
 sovereign, visited the four quarters of 
 the globe. 
 
 Costly Banquet by a Merchant to 
 Charles the Fifth. 
 
 M. Daniels, a Jewish merchant of 
 Anvers, gave a dinner one day to 
 Charles the Fifth, and had served up 
 
 for him, at the dessert, pies cooked 
 upon a cash bond for two millions, 
 which the emperor had given him for 
 that sum, borrowed of the Jew some 
 time previously, when the monarch was 
 " hard up." As the company were in 
 ecstasies at so rich a hospitality, Dan- 
 iels said that he did not pay too dearly 
 for the honor which the emperor had 
 done him, a simple merchant, in dining 
 at his table. " You esteem yourself too 
 little," interrupted the imperial visitor ; 
 " for, while the nobility ruin me, the 
 men of learning instruct me, and the 
 merchants enrich me." 
 
 Parlor Talk between James E,othschild, 
 the Banker, and the Poet Heine. 
 
 Baron James Rothschild had, like 
 his brother Nathan, the reputation of 
 being a boor — or brute, socially ; at any 
 rate, when he took a whim to be. He 
 seemed, when in this mood, to delight 
 in showing off his parvenu vulgarity, 
 and assumed the airs of a nabob with 
 every one for whom he did not particu- 
 larly care. One or two good anecdotes 
 are told of his encounters with men of 
 mind. Having quizzed the poet Heine 
 once rather sharply, at dinner, the lat- 
 ter betrayed his host into some remark 
 on the name of the wine they were 
 drinking — Lacrima Christi. " Curious 
 name — I can't account for it," said the 
 millionnaire. " Oh ! " replied the wit, 
 " the etymology is very simple ; Christ 
 weeps that Jews should drink such 
 excellent wine ! " 
 
 On another occasion having been in- 
 troduced to the famous lawyer, M. Cr^- 
 mieux — a coreligionist of the banker's, 
 by the way,, and slightly deformed — 
 Rothschild rudely said : " Wliy, are 
 you Cremieux ? I should have thought 
 the famous Cremieux w ould have been 
 a better-looking man." Cremieux 
 laughed, and after some remarks ob- 
 served, " Well, I am glad I have met 
 you, baron. You are sure, by the way, 
 that you are Baron Rothschild ? " " Of 
 
DOMESTIC RELATIONS OF MERCHANTS, BANKERS, ETC. 
 
 505 
 
 course," replied tlie counting-liouse 
 monarch; "why doubt it?" "Oh! 
 only because I fancied the great Baron 
 Rothschild would have been a better- 
 bred man." 
 
 Commercial Advantage of a Blind Eye. 
 
 The fact of Mr. Girard having one 
 of his eyes blind is t^iought to have 
 contributed — as Miltp4i has expressed 
 it under a similar afiiictic^ — to drive 
 Ids thoughts inward, and thus to have 
 engrafted upon his native stem of be- 
 nevolence something of a morose and 
 rugged spirit, under the dissatisfaction 
 which he would naturally feel with his 
 destiny, and panting after a recompense 
 for his loss. 
 
 This defect in his vision, and which 
 subsequently increased so as to cause 
 total blindness, was not observed or felt 
 by him until he was in his eighth year. 
 At that time, his attention was first di- 
 rected to it by tfee bo^^s, who began to 
 ridicule him forfhis blind eye, or what 
 was then an obvious' deformity to 
 others, though unknown to himself. 
 This ridicule from his playmates and 
 companions he felt so keenly, that he 
 resolved to go to a doctor, and take his 
 advice how to cure it. The physician, 
 after an examination of the eye, assured 
 him the defect could easily be removed, 
 by cutting the skin or film, which had 
 grown over it ; but Girard, always in- 
 clined to be self-willed and obstinate, 
 and having a boyish repugnance to a 
 surgical operation, declined to undergo 
 such treatment. After that, he does 
 not appear to have made any efforts to 
 have it restored, until very late in life, 
 when he resorted to a nostrum present- 
 ed to him by one of his captains ; he 
 used it without success. 
 
 It is probable that his active life and 
 incessant movements kept him from 
 devoting any time to its cure ; or that 
 he early despaired of it, having made 
 up his mind never to submit to the 
 operation of the knife. Many supposed 
 
 that he had lost his eye entirely, and 
 that it was closed up ; but this was not 
 the fact — the eye was entire, though 
 deformed and blind. He himself con- 
 fessed that the ridicule of the boys hurt 
 him much. This bodily defect con- 
 tributed, no doubt, in some measure, 
 to sour his temper, and, at an after pe- 
 riod, to turn the current of his thoughts 
 so shrewdly and with such concentration 
 to the pursuits which he folloiced with 
 such incomparaUe success. At a later 
 day, his eye was still further injured, 
 while passing through the streets, by a 
 blow from a snowball. This defect 
 contributed to give a severe and harsh 
 expression to his ample, and otherwise 
 well-expressed and well-formed coun- 
 tenance. 
 
 Banker vs. Musician. 
 
 M. C K, a German tenor singer of 
 
 some note, resident in Paris, was in- 
 jured by a fall, so as to be unable to 
 use his voice professionally, until the 
 lapse of a long time, and his recovery 
 was attended with the presentation 
 of medical and apothecaries' bills which 
 he was unable to meet. On applying 
 to Meyerbeer, the great composer, also 
 a German, that brother introduced him 
 to his friends, who aff'orded him tem- 
 porary aid; but in order to meet all 
 his necessities he projected a musical 
 matinee, and was favored by Meyerbeer 
 with a note of introduction to Baron 
 Rothschild, whose countenance of the 
 project was known to be very desira- 
 ble in order to its success. M. C r 
 
 delivered the letter to Baron R., whom 
 he found at breakfast. The baron in- 
 vited his visitor to share his meal, and, 
 at its conclusion, retiring for a few 
 minutes to his cabinet, returned and 
 handed him two papers — one a note 
 for five hundred francs, and the other 
 a note to M. Meyerbeer, as follows : 
 
 " M. GiAcoMO Meyerbeer : — Dear 
 and great friend : I am only an earthly 
 
506 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 baron. You, on tlie contrary, are a 
 prince of the harmonious spheres. I 
 am more than a millionnaire ; you are 
 more than I. Let us each give to our 
 friend of our abundance — I of my 
 bank-notes, you of your genius. I com- 
 mend him to your high and mighty 
 protection. He needs assistance to- 
 ward a matinee. Were it a financial 
 matinee, my bank-bills might aid ma- 
 terially toward its success ; but it is a 
 musical matinee, and this comes under 
 your province. Do you as follows : 
 Cause it to be announced that you will 
 play a new composition. The matinee 
 will bring in ten thousand francs — that 
 is to say, nine thousand and five hun- 
 dred more than I contribute. You are 
 more than eighteen times as rich as 
 
 Yours, Rothschild." 
 
 Meyerbeer read the note, and ex- 
 claimed with anger, "What egotism 
 this financier has ! " but he forgave the 
 point of the rather practical joke, and 
 
 M. C ^r's matinee brought him ten 
 
 thousand francs, as the banker fore- 
 told. 
 
 Goldschmid's Comforting: Sort of 
 Hoaz. 
 
 Abraham Goldschmid, " the benev- 
 olent Jew banker," as he was commonly 
 and very justly termed, accidentally 
 became acquainted with one of those 
 simple and single-minded country cu- 
 rates, whose poverty was the disgrace, 
 and whose piety was the glory, of the 
 Establishment. This was the man for 
 Abraham Goldschmid— Jew though he 
 was — at once to approve and benefit. 
 He obtained all the particulars, as was 
 his custom in such a case, and in a few 
 weeks a letter was received which told 
 the curate he had been allotted a share 
 of the new loan. Such a letter was in- 
 deed a mystery to the worthy clergy- 
 man, who indifferently put it aside, 
 with a confirmed notion that some sort 
 of a hoax was intended. He had not 
 long to wait. The next day brought a 
 
 second letter, and with it comfort and 
 consolation in the shape of a large sum 
 which had been realized in the allot- 
 ment. 
 
 Grand Scheme Disclosed in McDon- 
 ogli's Will. 
 
 Intense was the curiosity of the pub- 
 lic to know what disposition had been 
 made by John McDonogh of his enor- 
 mous property, wtien his will was pro- 
 bated and read in court. It was a cu- 
 rious document, written on stout fools- 
 cap by the testator himself, in a re- 
 markably neat, clear hand, with the 
 lines as close as type, and his autograph 
 signed to every page. Being a holo- 
 graphic will, under the law of Louisiana 
 it required no witness. Ever since 
 1838, the will had lain among certain 
 old papers of the deceased. In its pre- 
 paration, he had consulted the most 
 eminent lawyers and studied the most 
 approved law books bearing on his 
 grand scheme. 
 
 After setting forth, in the usual form, 
 his nativity, his present residence, his 
 belief in God and the uncertainty of 
 life, and that he has no heirs living in 
 the ascendiag or descending line, and 
 directing an inventory of his property 
 to be taken immediately after his death, 
 he proceeds to bequeath to the children 
 of his sister, a widow lady in Balti- 
 more, a ten-acre lot in that city, the 
 usufruct to remain in the widow, with 
 six thousand dollars in cash. He then 
 emancipates his old servants, ten in 
 number, whom he designates. The 
 rest of his slaves he provides shall be 
 sent to Liberia. Certain of them are 
 to be sent after serving those who shall 
 succeed to his estate for fifteen years. 
 The slaves to be sent to Liberia are to 
 be supplied with ploughs, hoes, spades, 
 axes, clothing, garden seeds, etc. ; also 
 with letters of recommendation to the 
 colonists, and with a copy for each of 
 the Holy Gospel of the Old and New 
 Testament. 
 
 The will then proceeds to declare 
 
DOMESTIC RELATIONS OF MERCHANTS, BANKERS, ETC. 
 
 507 
 
 that, " for the more general diffusion 
 of knowledge and consequent well- 
 being of mankind, convinced as I am 
 that I can make no disposition of those 
 worldly goods which the Most High 
 has been pleased so bountifully to place 
 under my stewardship, that will be so 
 pleasing to Him as that by means of 
 which the poor will be instructed in 
 wisdom and led into the path of virtue 
 and holiness," he gives all the residue 
 of his estate to the corporations of New 
 Orleans and Baltimore, in equal propor- 
 tions of one half to each, for the several 
 intents and purjDOses set forth, and es- 
 pecially for the establishment of free 
 schools for all classes and castes of col- 
 or, wherein they shall all be instructed 
 in the knowledge of the Lord, and in 
 reading, writing, arithmetic, history, 
 geography, etc., provided that the Bible 
 shall be used as one of the class-books, 
 and singing taught as an art. 
 
 And now comes the ingenious scheme 
 which had engaged the constant 
 thought and study of the testator for 
 forty years. Of his real estate, no part 
 is ever to be sold ; but it is all to be 
 let out on leases never to exceed twen- 
 ty-five years, to be improved by the 
 tenants or lessees. At the expiration 
 of those leases the property is to revert, 
 free of cost, to his estate, to be there- 
 after rented out by the month or year. 
 All his personal property is to be sold 
 and converted into real estate, the ag- 
 gregate of which is styled his general 
 estate, and which is to " constitute " a 
 permanent fund on interest, as it were, 
 namely, — a real estate, affording rents, 
 no part of which fund (of the principal) 
 shall ever be touched, divided, sold, or 
 alienated, but shall forever remain to- 
 gether as one " estate." 
 
 Home Luxuries of Ancient Merchants. 
 
 An antique specimen of the trading 
 craft from Norway, reproaching a 
 Dutchman with luxury, " What is be- 
 come," said he, " of those happy times, 
 
 when a merchant on going from Am- 
 sterdam to the Indies left a quarter of 
 dry beef in his kitchen, and found it at 
 his return? Where are your wooden 
 spoons and iron forks? Is it not a 
 shame for a sober Dutchman to lie in 
 a damask bed ? " " Go to Batavia," 
 answered the man of Amsterdam ; " get 
 ten tons of gold, as I have done, and 
 see whether you will not want to be a 
 little better clothed, fed, and lodged ! " 
 
 English Merchant's "Wife Priced by a 
 Mandarin. 
 
 Not long since a young English mer- 
 chant took his blooming wife with him 
 to Hong Kong, where the couple were 
 visited by a wealthy mandarin. The 
 latter regarded the lady very attentive- 
 ly, and seemed to dwell with delight 
 upon her movements. When she at 
 length left the apartment, he said to 
 the merchant, in broken English (worse 
 than broken China) : " What you give 
 for that wifey-wife yours ? " " Oh," 
 replied the husband, laughing at the 
 singular error of his visitor, " two thou- 
 sand dollars." This the merchant 
 thought would appear to the Chinese 
 rather a high figure ; but he was mis- 
 taken. " Well," said the mandarin, 
 taking out his book with an air of 
 business, " s'pose you give her to me ; 
 I give joujive thousand dollars ! " 
 
 It is difficult to say whether the 
 young merchant was more amazed than 
 amused ; but the very grave and solemn 
 air of the Chinaman convinced him that 
 he was in sober earnest; and he was 
 compelled, therefore, to refuse the offer 
 with as much placidity as he could as- 
 sume. The mandarin, however, con- 
 tinued to press the bargain : " I give 
 you seven thousand dollar," said he ; 
 " you to/L-e 'em ? " 
 
 The merchant, who had no previous 
 notion or thought of the commercial 
 value of the commodity which he had 
 taken out with him on his business 
 tour, was compelled, at length, to in- 
 form his visitor that Englishmen were 
 
508 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 not in the habit of selling their wives 
 after they once came in their posses- 
 sion — an assertion which the Chinaman 
 was very slow to believe. The mer- 
 chant afterward had a hearty laugh 
 with his young and pretty wife, and 
 told her that he had just discovered 
 her full value, as he had that moment 
 been offered seven thousand dollars for 
 her ; a very high figure, " as wives were 
 going " ifli China at that time I 
 
 Disinterested Feat of a Merchant, and 
 its 2Eleward. 
 
 M. LoBAT, a notable merchant of 
 Bayonne, ill in heath, had retired in 
 the beginning of winter, to a country 
 house on the banks of the Adour. One 
 morning, when promenading in his 
 robe-de-cliambre^ on a terrace elevated 
 a little above the river, he saw a travel- 
 ler thrown by a furious horse, from the 
 opposite banks, into the midst of the 
 torrent. M. Lobat was a good swim- 
 mer ; he did not stop a moment to re- 
 flect on the danger of the attempt, but 
 ill as he was, threw off his robe-de- 
 chambre, leaped into the flood, and 
 caught the drowning stranger at the 
 moment when, having lost all sensa- 
 tion, he must have otherwise inevitably 
 perished. " O God ! " exclaimed M. 
 Lobat, clasping him in his arms, and 
 recognizing with a transport of joy the 
 individual he had saved, " sacred hu- 
 manity ! what do I not owe to thee ? 
 I have saved my son ! " 
 
 Thomas Gresham's Curious Armorial 
 or Crest. 
 
 Thomas Gresham, v/ho built the 
 Royal Exchange in London, was the 
 son of a poor woman, who, while he 
 was an infant, abandoned him in a field. 
 While thus exposed, the chirping of a 
 grasshopper attracted a boy to the spot 
 where the child lay ; and his life was, 
 by this means, preserved. After Sir 
 Thomas, had, by his unparalleled suc- 
 
 cess as a merchant, risen to the pinnacle 
 of commercial wealth and greatness, he 
 chose a grasshopper for his crest ; and 
 becoming, under Queen Elizabeth, the 
 founder of the Royal Exchange, his 
 crest was placed on the walls of the 
 building in several parts, and a vane 
 or weathercock, in the figure of a grass- 
 hopper, was fixed on the summit of the 
 tower. 
 
 Garden of a French Stock Broker. 
 
 M. DE la Borde, whose stock op- 
 erations made him, at one time, a sec- 
 ond Croesus in the money circles of 
 Paris, conceived the idea of displaying 
 his opulence and taste by the formation 
 of a garden of marvellous extent, beauty 
 and cost. The spot, respecting which 
 he formed this conception, appeared to 
 be the most unfavorable possible, being 
 an extensive marshy ground — a turfy 
 earth surrounded by mountains, crossed 
 by the river d'Etampes. The financier, 
 however, said let there be a garden, 
 and there was a garden. 
 
 To give this loose and muddy bot- 
 tom a proper firmness, was the first 
 command; about four hundred labor- 
 ers were at once employed to trench a 
 mountain, to smooth its fragments, and 
 to spread it in a layer, after having 
 cleared away the first bed of the marsh, 
 of its immense accumulation of slime 
 and mire. This marshy earth was 
 then thrown over the smooth bed of 
 the mountain which had disappeared ; 
 and the mingled soils thus produced 
 one, equally adapted for the future 
 plantations. The river, which ran in 
 a straight line, was made to assume 
 that of Hogarth's line of beauty, roll- 
 ing its waters in serpentine brightness ; 
 they were ingeniously conducted, and 
 were seen falling into a magnificent 
 basin, and then passing under an im- 
 mense artificial bridge, formed of ir- 
 regular pieces of rock. They some- 
 times rolled into little cascades, by sub- 
 terranean grottoes, where the velvet 
 
DOMESTIC RELATIONS OF MERCHANTS, BANKERS, ETC. 
 
 509 
 
 turf lured the eye by its enchantment. 
 Without, its sparkling brightness riv- 
 eted the attention, and anon its deep- 
 swelling reverberations engaged the 
 ear; within, mystical murnmrs lulled 
 with their softness, and, at a farther 
 distance, to vary the sensations of the 
 traveller, a deep silence prevailed. In 
 still another place, the eflect was to 
 startle with bewilderment and alarm. 
 The rocks, piled above one another in 
 a gloomy light, discovered their point- 
 ed and threatening fragments— every- 
 thing appeared in a crumbling state, 
 and every breeze, echoing through hol- 
 low arches, seemed to betoken disaster. 
 And then more agreeable objects di- 
 versified the scene and delighted the 
 vision. The way was studded with 
 elysian beauties and winsome views. 
 Floating islands displayed their varie- 
 gated charms, and rarest gems of sculp- 
 ture-art were liberally scattered about 
 the lawns and green bowers. 
 
 Thus, the art of the banker vanquish- 
 ed nature. The cost — upward of a mil- 
 lion dollars — was enormous, and the 
 taste exquisite. Though seemingly 
 wasteful, the employment of so many 
 hundreds of persons, at a time when 
 France was crowded with living skele- 
 tons for want of bread, was perhaps 
 the most profitable financial *' opera- 
 tion " (for others) which the great bro- 
 ker ever engaged in. 
 
 Wedding: Gift of Rothschild to his 
 Niece. 
 
 The fashionable world of London, 
 and indeed of all Europe, was, in 1853, 
 in a state 'of the greatest ferment, on 
 account of the marriage of Miss Leo- 
 nora Rothschild, of London, daughter 
 of Baron Lionel de Rothschild of that 
 city, to her cousin, Baron Alphonso, of 
 Paris, son of Baron James Rothschild, 
 of the latter place. All the prepara- 
 tions were on a scale of magnificence 
 comporting with the position of the 
 "wealthiest family in the world, and the 
 
 gifts from friends ranged all the way 
 from ten-cent pincushions, from Jewish 
 charity pupils who were made com- 
 fortable by the endowments of the 
 bride'";; family, up to a set of jewels val- 
 ued at one hundred and fifty thousand 
 dollars — or as much as an East India- 
 man loaded. 
 
 But strangest among all the gifts 
 was a fat, rather dirty, strong, plain 
 envelope with broken seal, and ad- 
 dressed to Madame la Baronne Al- 
 phonse de Rothschild. " What might 
 this contain, pray ? " said the brides- 
 maids, hustling each other excitedly. 
 Thereon hung a tale. This marriage 
 was the doing of Anselm de Roths- 
 child, who loved his fair young niece 
 Leonora, as though she had been his 
 daughter. He it was who repressed 
 the somewhat vagrant tendencies of 
 young Alphonse — hankering after Pa- 
 risian sweets — and forced him, by a 
 gentle pressure, to cany out the Roths- 
 child policy of intermarriage. So, 
 when the old man had carried his 
 point, there was a fluttering among the 
 little breasts of the fair daughters of 
 the kindred families, and a terrible 
 curiosity to know how " Uncle An- 
 selm " would testify his joy. Day after 
 day it leaked out that this uncle had 
 ordered that, and that that aunt in- 
 tended to give this — but what Uncle 
 Anselm was to give no living soul could 
 divine. Even when the day came, and 
 strong-backed porters arrived deeply 
 laden with the treasures of this world, 
 and the present-room was duly set out 
 with gorgeous gifts, no word came from 
 Baron Anselm, and a dreadful sus- 
 picion came over the minds of the fam- 
 ily that he was going to disgrace him- 
 self by giving nothing. At the very 
 last moment, when the old gentleman 
 had depreciated immensely in credit 
 with the female members of his family, 
 there was a cry that he was coming. 
 There was a strange mixture of twdnkle 
 in his eye — reminding one of the stories 
 told of his father — and of quivering 
 
510 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 about the corners of his lips, as he ap- 
 proached his pet and kissed her. 
 
 "■ Here, Leonora," said the old baron, 
 "here is a letter for you." And he 
 handed her a fat envelope, and sidled 
 away. 
 
 " A letter, uncle ! for me ! " 
 
 " Yes," said the old man, with a stop- 
 page in the throat, "a letter— good 
 advice." And he disappeared. 
 
 Of course there was a rush to open 
 the letter. It contained hanh bills for Jive 
 millions of dollars. This was the bank- 
 er's present. 
 
 — — ♦ — 
 
 A Banker's Iiove of Birds— Girard's 
 Xiittle Song:sters. 
 
 The smallest means of adding to his 
 fortune were never neglected or over- 
 looked by Girard. To him nothing 
 was a trifle, if a penny could be made 
 by it. His breed of canary lirds was 
 among the most choice and extensive 
 in the world, and he was careful to sell 
 them at the highest price. The fond- 
 ness of Girard for these little creatures 
 was remarkable; he had his favorites 
 among them, and doubtless enjoyed 
 many a happy moment under the in- 
 fluence of the music of their songs — a 
 sweet and singular solace from the dis- 
 tractions of trade, and which seemed 
 to indicate, after all, a native trait of 
 tenderness lurking at the bottom of his 
 heart. True, he sold them, and they 
 contributed to gratify his superlative 
 passion in that way ; but it would be 
 ungenerous to suppose that he was not 
 susceptible to feelings of delight from 
 those winsome strains of melody which, 
 at the same time, naturally commanded 
 so high a price in the market. 
 
 Household Peculiarities of Girard. 
 
 The private habits of Girard, and 
 his manner of living, partook of that 
 seclusion and simplicity which charac- 
 terized him through life. Without be- 
 ing ostentatious, he was remarkable in 
 his household arrangements for a neat- 
 
 ness that made up for lack of splendor, 
 and an appearance of comfort and utili- 
 ty which nothing could exceed. 
 
 His dwelling house, in winter, was 
 carpeted from the cellar kitchen to the 
 attic story. His furniture, though 
 plain, was substantial, and sometimes 
 bearing an impress of the opulence of 
 its owner. Thus, his drawing room 
 was furnished with ebony chairs and 
 sofa having crimson velvet seats, which 
 though sombre, were rich, and capable 
 of enduring for centuries. But the gen- 
 eral aspects of his rooms was that of 
 plain, simple, and uncostly character, 
 which one would expect in the man- 
 sion of a respectable citizen, who had 
 no reputation for wealth. His furni- 
 ture, like his dress, exhibited a perfect 
 contrast to the wealth of the man. 
 
 In his chamber there was nothing 
 either sumptuous or elegant; on the 
 table, he kept, unloaded, a brace of 
 splendid blunderbusses, of Ketland's 
 make, with brass barrels and steel bay- 
 onets — they were of admirable work- 
 manship, but appeared never to have 
 been used. In one comer of his bed 
 chamber stood an old-fashioned small 
 mahogany desk and bookcase, in which 
 was contained his library of Voltaire's 
 works. The walls were ornamented 
 with colored prints, representing the 
 female negroes of St. Domingo, and in 
 one spot was a small print of his bank- 
 ing house, so situated that his first 
 glance, when he awoke, as he lay in 
 bed, must necessarily light upon it. 
 
 His meals occupied but a brief pe- 
 riod. To his breakfast he gave but a 
 few minutes, unless he had a guest, out 
 of whom he was extracting'information 
 essential to business and conducive to 
 profit. He generally dined about one ; 
 and though, when in robust health, a 
 good feeder, yet he never gratified his 
 appetite to the full extent. Supper, he 
 took none, except occasionally a biscuit 
 and a glass of water, previous to going 
 to bed. At a more advanced period 
 of his life, he varied his diet and mode 
 
DOMESTIC RELATIONS OF MERCHANTS, BANKERS, ETC. 
 
 511 
 
 of living, so as to adapt them to his 
 impaired vigor and altered constitu- 
 tion; and for the last seven or eight 
 years of his existence, he abstained al- 
 together from animal food, but dined 
 liberally on bean broth, and similar 
 vegetable and farinaceous preparations. 
 He was a water drinker, with the ex- 
 ception of claret and cider, of both of 
 which he was extremely fond. 
 
 With the society of children, Girard 
 was excessively gratified, and nothing 
 pleased him so much as to have some 
 little prattler waiting on him — for he 
 always made it a point to keep them 
 employed on something useful. When 
 his nephews amved from France, en- 
 gaging boys of twelve and fourteen, he 
 expressed much satisfaction, and seem- 
 ed ardently attached to them. But he 
 appeared afraid to indulge this feeling, 
 and hastily despatched them off to 
 school, lest he might contract a habit 
 toward them which would spoil them 
 in the end. 
 
 Gideon, the Jew Banker, Catechising 
 his Child. 
 
 Sampson Gideon, the great Jew 
 banker in London, and the founder 
 of the house of Eardley, was, like most 
 men whose minds are absorbed in 
 one engrossing pursuit, not veiy ad- 
 vanced in literary or religious knowl- 
 edge. He educated his children in 
 the Christian faith, but said he was too 
 old himself to change. Being desirous 
 to know the proficiency of his son in 
 his new creed, he asked, " Who made 
 you ? " to which the fitting reply was 
 given, viz., " God." He then asked, 
 " Who redeemed you ? " and to this 
 the Christian response was promptly 
 made. Npt knowing what else to say, 
 he stammered out, " Who — who — who 
 gave you that hat?" when the boy, 
 with parrot-like precision, replied in 
 the third person of the Trinity. The 
 story was related with great unctionL 
 at that period, at the wealthy banker's 
 expense. 
 
 Groceries and Literature. 
 
 A GROCER who, naturally enough for 
 his trade, had retired on a " plum " — 
 being the reverse of one making many, 
 since in this case many plums had made 
 one — took a literary turn, in order to 
 amuse himself in his retirement. One 
 day, at table, some of his commercial 
 guests mentioned the town of Stockton- 
 upon-Tees. " Bless me," said the gro- 
 cer, " I never heard of that work before. 
 I should certainly like to read Stockton 
 upon Teas." Bent upon satisfying his 
 literary taste, he on the same day took 
 his way to the nearest bookseller, and 
 inquired for the work, handing him 
 the name of the book carefully written 
 thus: " Stockton upon Teas." "There 
 is no such book — never heard of it," 
 said the bookseller. Still further to 
 satisfy the grocer, he looked over his 
 catalogue. "No," said the man of 
 books, " no such work here, and Vm 
 sure you wo'nt find it anywhere. There 
 is a city called ' Stockton-upon-Tees ' — 
 perhaps it is that you mean." The 
 man of ounces and pounds vamosed — 
 a ray of light broke upon him — the 
 first that had invaded his plodding 
 cranium since he stood behind the 
 counter weighing his codfish — the 
 genus to which he himself belonged. 
 
 Business and Beauty. 
 
 The deficien-cy in the practical part 
 of female education is a fact which has 
 been often but never too much de- 
 plored. The following notes of an 
 examination instituted by a mercan- 
 tile gentleman in search of a wife into 
 a young lady's knowledge of business 
 is testimony complete on this point. 
 
 Young lady examined : Has heard 
 of the monetary question ; should think 
 it was a warning. Knew what Stocks 
 were; regard them as the "highest" 
 necessity in a gentleman's dress. A 
 dividend was a sum in Long Division. 
 A bonus was a sort of pill. Scrip was 
 
512 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 a little bag — something like a reticule. 
 Excliaiige was no robbery. Had read 
 about Consols— they were ancient Ro- 
 mans; Julius Caesar was one, so was 
 Pompey. Supposed the Three Per 
 Cents must mean the Triumvirate. A 
 Bull was a horned animal, or an Irish 
 mistake. A Bear was a cross, disagree- 
 able person, like some people she could 
 name. An Exchequer Bill was an in- 
 strument with a hook. The Bullionists 
 were a religious sect. Was afraid the 
 Inconvertibles were very wicked people. 
 Gold was a metal ; knew nothing more 
 about it, except that it was the root of 
 all evil, and that railway cuttings and 
 branch banks come of the root. 
 
 Philanthropic Courage of Girard. 
 
 During the prevalence of the yellow 
 fever in Philadelphia, in 1793, the indi- 
 vidual who was seen with the badges 
 of mourning upon his arm was avoided 
 as the Upas tree, and almost every per- 
 son was involved in the fumes of cam- 
 phor or tobacco. 
 
 While this pestilence was raging at 
 its utmost height, an individual, of 
 low and square stature, was perceived 
 alighting from a coach which drew up 
 before a hospital where the most loath- 
 some victims of this disease had been 
 collected for the purpose of being at- 
 tended by medical aid. The man en- 
 tered this living sepulchre, and soon 
 returned bearing in his arms a form 
 that appeared to be suffering in the 
 last stages of the fever — a being whose 
 countenance was suffused with that 
 saffron color which seemed to be the 
 certain harbinger of death. The body 
 was deposited in a coach, and the 
 carriage drove away. The man who 
 was thus seen performing this act was 
 Stephen Oirard. It might be, and 
 indeed has been said, that having gone 
 through the seasoning process in a 
 tropical climate, he was proof against 
 the disease. But whether that was or 
 was not the case, it docs not abate in I 
 
 any measure the credit which is due in 
 thus exposing, at least, his life in behalf 
 of a fellow being. And it is a well-at- 
 tested fact, that during the prevalence 
 of the disease he continued a constant 
 attendant at the hospital, performing 
 all those offices which would seem revolt- 
 ing to the most humble menial. 
 
 Practical Eloquence of a Boston 
 
 Merchant. 
 While a committee of Boston mer- 
 chants were collecting subscriptions in 
 aid of the Boston testimonial to the San 
 Francisco rescuers, a person was called 
 upon whose benevolence was not usu- 
 ally commensurate with his pecuniary 
 ability, and something of a " set-to " 
 was therefore not wholly unanticipated 
 by his visitors on the occasion in ques- 
 tion. He hesitated about subscribing, 
 averring that the testimonial should 
 come from persons engaged in com- 
 merce, and he himself was not in mer- 
 cantile pursuits. The member of the 
 committee, with great promptness and 
 justice, answered this quibble in the fol- 
 lowing terms : " Sir, your own family re- 
 cently crossed the ocean as passengers in 
 a ship. Had she met with a disaster, and 
 a friendly boat come to take off those on 
 board, and refused to save any persons 
 but the sailors, as society had adopted 
 the rule that each class of the community 
 must take care of its own members and 
 no others, — what would have been your 
 feelings to have known that your 
 daughters were lost on account of their 
 father's advocating such distinctions 
 in cases of relief ? " This manly and 
 felicitous appeal was successful — the 
 right sort of a response coming at once 
 from the gentleman's pocketbook. 
 
 Old-School Merchant's Offering to his 
 Country: John Langrdon, of New 
 Hampshire. 
 
 When the news of the fall of Ticon- 
 deroga reached New Hampshire, the 
 provincial legislature was in session at 
 Exeter. It was a period when the re- 
 
DOMESTIC RELATIOXS OF MERCHANTS, BANKERS, ETC. 
 
 513 
 
 sources of the patriots were almost 
 exhausted; the public credit was 
 gone ; and the members of the assem- 
 bly Trere disheartened. John Langdon, 
 one of the noblest and most thorough- 
 bred merchants, was speaker of the as- 
 sembly at the time. He rose in his place, 
 on the morning after the intelligence 
 was received, and addressed the house, 
 in mercantile brevity, to the following 
 effect : " My friends and fellow citizens 
 — I have three thousand dollars in hard 
 money ; I will pledge my plate for 
 three thousand more. I have seventy 
 hogsheads of Tobago rum, which shall 
 be sold for the most it will bring. 
 These are at the service of the State. 
 If we succeed in defending our fire- 
 sides and homes, I may be remunera- 
 ted ; if we do not, the property would 
 be of no value to me." Langdon was 
 an old-school merchant of the genuine 
 
 stamp. 
 
 — » 
 
 Samuel Slatsr on Extravagance in 
 Living-. 
 
 Mr. Samuel Slater's habits of living 
 was often the topic of remark among 
 his townsmen. On a certain occasion, 
 this subject was made the staple of 
 quite an interesting conversation be- 
 tween himself and a few of his inti- 
 mate friends, when he was a little more 
 than fifty years of age, and estimated 
 to be worth half a million of dollars. 
 It was in the front room of the Bank, 
 where they were accustomed to meet 
 and discuss all sorts of things of inter- 
 est. At that time he lived in an old 
 wooden house which might have cost 
 two or three thousand dollars — decent 
 and comfortable, it is true, and much 
 like the better sort of houses in the 
 village, excepting perhaps half a dozen. 
 He also owned a good horse and chaise^ 
 the common pleasure vehicle at that 
 period in many parts of New England. 
 His friends told him it was not right 
 for a man of his property to live in 
 that style; that he ought to build a 
 better house and keep a coach. 
 33 
 
 Mr. Slater replied much in the fol- 
 lowing manner : " Gentlemen, I admit 
 that I am able to have a large and 
 costly house, rich furniture, and ser- 
 vants to take care of it ; that I am able 
 to have a coach, with a driver and foot- 
 man to attend me. And it is not that 
 I am miserly that I do not have them. 
 But it is a duty in me to set an exam- 
 ple of prudence to others, and especially 
 to my children. The world is too much 
 inclined to extravagance. If the style 
 you recommend is to be considered an 
 evidence of wealth, and I were on that 
 account to adopt it, others not able 
 might follow my example, in order to 
 be thought rich. In the end it might 
 prove their ruin, while prudent and 
 honest people would have to suffer for 
 it. And you know I have six boys. If 
 they live, and have families, each will 
 want to live in as much style as their 
 father. Now, if I am able to live as you 
 recommend, my property, when divided 
 in six parts, might not be sufficient to 
 support six such establishments; be- 
 sides, business may not continue as 
 good as it is at present. I wish to 
 set a good example for my children. 
 If they do not follow it, the fault is 
 not mine." 
 
 Freaks of Wealthy Merchants. 
 
 The wealth which now exists in 
 Amsterdam is said to fall much short 
 of what it was during the period of 
 Dutch commercial preeminence. It 
 is not long since strangers, in visiting 
 Amsterdam, were shown the spacious 
 house of a merchant, who, after lavish- 
 ing much on furniture and paintings, 
 actually caused the floor of one of his 
 apartments to be laid with Spanish 
 dollars, set on edge. 
 
 Whims equally ridiculous, for dispo- 
 sing of an overplus of wealth, appear 
 to have been far from uncommon in 
 former times in Holland. There is, in 
 Arnheim, an old, fantastical-looking 
 dwelling, the original owner of which 
 
514 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 was a Jew merchant, and lie erected 
 the house out of pure revenge. His 
 coffers were so well replenished that he 
 was at a loss how to employ his super- 
 fluous cash. At last he hit upon a 
 fanciful expedient. He determined to 
 make a pavement before his residence 
 of large massive plates of silver, and to 
 surround it with an ornamental chain, 
 of the same costly material. Before 
 carrying this plan into effect, however, 
 it behooved him to obtain the sanction 
 of the authorities. These worthies, 
 however, void of sympathy, set their 
 faces against a proposition which 
 might have compelled them to increase 
 the strength of the town-guard. En- 
 raged at their non-compliance, Moses 
 determined to punish them. He ordered 
 his dwelling, situated in the principal 
 street, to be pulled down, and on its 
 site he erected the one now standing. 
 It is literally covered with diabolical 
 figures, amounting, it is said, to three 
 hundred and sixty-five, — one for each 
 day in the year, to afford the city 
 worthies both abundance and variety. 
 
 Sportive Death of the Prench Banker, 
 Dangre. 
 
 On the evening before his death, M. 
 Dange, illustrious on the roll of French 
 bankers and millionnaires, received vis- 
 its of fashion in the most pompous 
 manner. His apartment was embel- 
 lished in the most luxurious style. 
 Seated on a sumptuous couch, and 
 dressed in a magnificent robe de cham- 
 tre^ which floated around him in folds 
 shining with the most curious embroi- 
 dery, and buttoned with a diamond of 
 rarest size and brilliancy, he talked of 
 quitting the world in the gayest man- 
 ner possible. But this was not the 
 effect even of French philosophy, but 
 rather of that characteristic apathy of 
 his nature, which had rendered him 
 dead to every touch of sensibility— a 
 quality quite in keeping with the re- 
 quisites of an unscrupulous financier, as 
 he was. He made his nephew his ex- 
 
 clusive legatee, on condition of his pay- 
 ing five millions of livres in legacies — a 
 condition which that favored mortal 
 very cheerfully complied with, and ap- 
 propriated to himself the comfortable 
 sum of eight millions, that being the re- 
 mainder of M. Dange's fortune. 
 
 Tliat little Child in the CoTinting 
 Room. 
 
 The counting room of a well-known 
 mercantile house in London was enter- 
 ed by a gentleman, just as some unfa- 
 vorable intelligence had been received. 
 The head of the firm, with his hard but 
 honest features, looked at once stern 
 and anxious. A small hand twitched his 
 coat hehind ! He turned slowly around, 
 with a sullen and almost savage brow. 
 His eye fell upon the prettiest little hu- 
 man face that ever gleamed upon the 
 earth. But the child's merry laughter 
 was scarcely more delightful than the 
 bland and radiant smile that kindled 
 on the merchant's careworn cheek. His 
 aspect underwent such an instantaneous 
 and entire change, that he looked as if 
 he had changed his nature also. Had 
 a painter stamped his portrait on the 
 canvas at that happy moment, it would 
 have presented an exquisite illustration 
 of amenity and love. Few, however, 
 of his mercantile friends, would have 
 recognized in that portrait the man of 
 business. He was single and childless ; 
 but the fondest parent could not have 
 greeted his own offspring with a sweet- 
 er welcome than he gave to that little 
 child in the counting room. 
 
 Nicholas Long-worth's Bread. 
 
 One of Mr. Longworth's permanent 
 and quiet charities was the weekly dis- 
 tribution at his house, every Monday 
 morning, of three hundred to eight 
 hundred ten-cent loaves of bread to 
 whoever would apply for them. Once, 
 when flour was high, and the bakers 
 had reduced the size of their loaves, 
 Mr. Longworth thought he would be 
 
THAT LITTTLE OH'LD IN THE COr-NTING KOOM. 
 
■ f < * cr "•*«'•« 
 
DOMESTIC RELATIONS OF MERCHANTS, BANKERS, ETC. 
 
 615 
 
 doing his beneficiaries a good turn by- 
 having the loaves made partly of rye, 
 and thus considerably enlarging instead 
 of reducing their size. His " patrons," 
 however, as soon as they found it out, 
 raised such a clamor, and called him so 
 many disparaging names, and annoyed 
 him so much with their threats and 
 complaints, that he was glad to order 
 a return to the pure wheat. 
 
 Relig-ious Bearing- of Judaisra on Stock 
 Operations: the Pereires. 
 
 The name of the Pereire brothers, 
 Jewish bankers in Paris, is well known. 
 A member of some large stock com- 
 pany, of which one brother is a chief 
 manager, fell into dispute with him 
 concerning some of the operations, and 
 being dissatisfied at the absorbing 
 share which M. Pereire took in the 
 management, as well as vexed at the 
 rough way in which he treated his 
 protestations, finally exclaimed, " Do 
 you mean to eat me up ? " " My reli- 
 gion," answered the banker, " prohibits 
 me from doing that." 
 
 Out of FasMon. 
 
 A MERCHANT dcsircd the most fash- 
 ionable tailor in Paris to make him a 
 coat in a particular way. " Sir," said 
 the tailor, " that shape has been out of 
 fashion these six months ; pray, do 
 have it of a proper cut." "I do not 
 care for the fashion," said the mer- 
 chant, " I will wear my coat in the way 
 that is most agreeable to me." The 
 tailor remonstrated, and begged in 
 vain ; but at last, unwilling to lose a 
 good customer, he said, " Well, sir, I 
 have only to entreat, as a return for ex- 
 ecuting your order, that you will keep 
 it a secret who is your tailor, or I shall 
 lose all my business."' 
 
 Retiring: from Business: "Melting* 
 Day." 
 
 Almost every man sets out in life 
 
 with the determination, when a certain 
 
 sum has been accumulated, to retire 
 from the cares of business and enjoy 
 for the balance of his days " otium cum 
 dignitate." Visions of sunny farms 
 and rural retreats are ever before hira ; 
 but, unfortunately, few men have the 
 courage, when the required sum has 
 been obtained, to be contented to re- 
 tire. In the course of year»3, new tastes 
 have been acquired, and new wants 
 added to the humble catalogue with 
 which he commenced life. The rural 
 retreat has now become a suburban 
 residence, with coach, horses, stable, 
 &c., &c., and a few thousands more 
 have become necessary. So he goes 
 toiling on, his ambition widening and 
 extending as he pushes and urges his 
 way on to competence and fortune. 
 During all this time he forgets that he 
 is getting older — that his capacity for 
 enjoyment is getting more contracted 
 every day — that his tastes and habits 
 are becoming unalterably confirmed in 
 business life, so that when he does mus- 
 ter up the firmness to yield his place in 
 the business world to younger men, he 
 is about as unhappy a mortal as one 
 could wish to meet on a summer's day. 
 Here is a case in point : 
 
 A tallow chandler of London, after 
 many years' devotion to his calling, 
 accumulated a handsome fortune, and 
 retired to his villa ; but time hung so 
 heavily on his hands that he used to 
 have a melting day once a week, and 
 made his own candles for amusement. 
 He had neglected through his life to 
 lay in any store of knowledge but what 
 pertained to candles, had neglected a 
 taste for reading, or otherwise to pre- 
 pare his mind as well as his pocket for 
 the purposes of a period of leisure. 
 His great object had been to make 
 enough to retire on^ without caring to 
 provide siamething to retire mth. 
 
 Girard's Will : the Item about 
 Ministers. 
 
 Girard's will contains the following 
 
 memorable provision, which, it may 
 
516 
 
 COMMERCIAL AXD BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 safely be asserted, is without a parallel 
 in any document of the kind drawn up 
 in a Christian land : " I enjoin and re- 
 quire, that no ecclesiastic, missionary, 
 or minister, of any sect whatever, shall 
 ever hold or exercise any station or duty 
 whatever in the said college ; nor shall 
 any such person ever be admitted for 
 any purpose, or as a visitor, within the 
 premises appropriated to the purposes 
 of said college." 
 
 Halifax, the Engrlish. Banker's Opinion 
 of " Lending- to the Lord;" with, a 
 Personal Application. 
 
 Thomas Halifax, the once noted 
 millionnaire, did not enjoy a high 
 reputation for liberality. During a 
 severe winter, when requested to join 
 his neighbors in a subscription for the 
 poor, and being pleasantly remarked 
 to, that " he who giveth to the poor 
 lendeth to the Lord," he replied, " He 
 did not lend on such slight security ; " 
 and it is curious that, when he himself 
 afterward applied — on his becomhig 
 bankrupt — to a rich neighbor for assist- 
 ance, a similar reply, couched in similar 
 language, was given to his application. 
 
 Female Members of the Bothschild 
 Family. 
 
 Most of the members of the Roths- 
 child family have married, and lived 
 in great splendor ; and it is observed, 
 as something characteristic of the race, 
 that their choice of wives has usually 
 been very creditable. In London, the 
 widow of Baron Kathan was held in 
 great esteem on account of her inex- 
 haustible charity ; her sister, the lady 
 of Sir Moses Montefiore, was not less 
 popularly known as a suitable helpmate 
 for her philanthropic partner ; and the 
 same may be said of the sister of Baron 
 Nathan, widow of the brother of Sir 
 Moses Montefiore. 
 
 But there is another woman of this 
 wonderful family who deserves to be 
 mentioned in an especial manner. This 
 
 is the widow — since dead — of the bank- 
 er of Frankfort, the mother of the five 
 brothers, and grandmother of those 
 flourishing men, whose fame has risen 
 so proudly among the moneyed aris- 
 tocracy of Europe. The following no- 
 tice of this remarkable and most vener- 
 ated lady, written a short time before 
 her decease, by a pleasant German 
 author, is of peculiar interest : 
 
 In the Jews' street at Frankfort-on- 
 the-Maine, in the midst of Gothic fa- 
 cades, black copings, and sombre al- 
 leys, there is a house of small exterior, 
 distinguished from others by its luxu- 
 rious neatness, which gives it an ap- 
 pearance singularly cheerful and fresh. 
 The brass on the door is polished, the 
 curtains at the window are as white as 
 snow, and the staircase — an unusual 
 thing in the damp atmosphere of this 
 dirty quarter — is always dry and sliin- 
 ing. The traveller who, from curios- 
 ity, visits this street — a true specimen 
 of the times when the Jews of Frank- 
 fort, subjected to the most intolerable 
 vexations, were restricted to this in- 
 fected quarter — will be induced to stop 
 before the neat and simple house, and 
 perhaps ask, " Who is that venerable old 
 lady seated in a large arm chair behind 
 the little shining squares of the window 
 of the first story ? " And this is the 
 reply every citizen of Frankfort will 
 make : " In that house dwelt an Israel- 
 ite merchant, named Meyer Anselm 
 Rothschild. He there acquired a good 
 name, a great fortune, and a numerous 
 oflspring ; and when he died, the wid- 
 ow declared she would never quit, ex- 
 cept for the tomb, the unpretending 
 dwelling which had served as a cradle 
 to that name, that fortune, and those 
 children." ^ 
 
 Reminiscences of IMr. Astor's Library 
 Bequest. 
 In an account of the interviews of 
 friendship which were held, not un- 
 frequently, between John Jacob Astor 
 and Washington Irving, a few reminis- 
 
DOMESTIC RELATIONS OF MERCHANTS, BANKERS, ETC. 
 
 517 
 
 cenccs are given of the manner in 
 which the former prince merchant was 
 led to found the magnificent library 
 which bears his name. According to 
 Irving, Mr. Astor desired to leave to 
 New York some memorial of his citi- 
 zenship. He thought of several ways, 
 and among others that of endowing a 
 Professorship, but finally determined 
 to found a library, and frequently con- 
 sulted him concerning it. The plan 
 met with his most hearty approval ; 
 and he frequently endeavored to in- 
 duce him to establish it during his life- 
 time, in order that he might be witness 
 to its good results. Mr. Astor fre- 
 quently invited Irving to dine with 
 Mm at his country residence at Hell 
 Gate, and talk about the library. After 
 dinner he would call for the city plot 
 and discuss its location. The first in- 
 tention was to locate it in Astor Place, 
 which was finally changed for its pres- 
 ent more eligible site in Lafayette 
 Place. On one occasion he told Irving 
 that he thought of altering his will in 
 regard to the library. This intelligence 
 completely dumbfounded Irving, who 
 supposed that after all the whole pro- 
 ject was to be abandoned. He was, 
 however, quickly reassured by the in- 
 formation that Mr. Astor proposed to 
 add to the original bequest of three 
 hundred and fifty thousand dollars 
 an additional fifty thousand dollars, 
 making the legacy for the purpose 
 four hundred thousand dollars. Irving 
 was delighted, and proposed imme- 
 diately to draw up a codicil to that 
 effect, which he did on the spot. He 
 afterward ascertained that the codicil 
 containing this bequest was not the one 
 written by him, but was drawn up by 
 Mr. Astor's legal adviser. 
 
 Domestio Advantagres of Coixunercial 
 Decay. 
 
 The city of Salem, Massachusetts, 
 once rivalled Boston in the extent and 
 importance of its trade, but within the 
 
 last fifty years it has fallen from its 
 high estate, and dwindled into com- 
 parative commercial insignifiance. The 
 people of this ancient burgh are natur- 
 ally sore on this point, and their sensi- 
 tiveness gives the point to the follow- 
 ing, which occurred not many years 
 ago: 
 
 A merchant of Salem meeting a 
 friend from the adjoining town of 
 Marblehead told him that he had 
 been over to that town to engage 
 summer lodgings for his family by 
 the seashore, that his children might 
 have the benefit of the pure air and 
 green fields; and, in playful allusion 
 to the well-known propensities of the 
 urchins of that town, he added, " And, 
 strange to say, for once the boys did'nt 
 moch me as I went along." The Marble- 
 header, a little touched, humphed once 
 or twice, and said, as he walked away, 
 " I don't see why you want to run such 
 risks in sending your children to our 
 town at all; the air of Salem is pure 
 enough, and there is grass enough for 
 them to play on in any of your streets.'''' 
 
 Matrimonial and Financial Bonds in 
 John Law's Time. 
 
 One of the lucky speculators in John 
 Law's notorious Mississippi Scheme, of 
 the last century, was a man of the name 
 of Andre. Without character or educa- 
 tion, this man had, by a series of well- 
 timed speculations in Mississippi bonds, 
 gained enormous wealth, in an incredi- 
 bly short space of time. As a writer 
 of that day expresses it ; " he had 
 amassed mountains of gold." As he 
 became rich, he grew ashamed of the 
 lovmess of his birth, and anxious 
 above all things to be allied to nobility. 
 He had a daughter, an infant only three 
 years of age, and he opened a negotia- 
 tion with the aristocratic and needy 
 family of D'Oyse, that this child 
 should, upon certain conditions, marry 
 a member of that house. The Marquis 
 D'Oyse, to his shame, consented, and 
 
518 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 promised to marry her himself on her 
 attaining the age of twelve, if the 
 father would pay him down the sum 
 of a hundred thousand crowns, and 
 twenty thousand livres every year, 
 until the celebration of the marriage. 
 The Marquis was himself in his thirty- 
 third year. This scandalous bargain 
 was duly signed and sealed, the stock- 
 jobber furthermore agreeing to settle 
 upon his daughter, on the marriage 
 day, a fortune of several millions. The 
 Duke of Brancas, the head of the family, 
 was present throughout this negotiation, 
 and shared in all the profits. M. Simon, 
 in his account of this transaction, and 
 who treats the matter with the levity 
 becoming what he thought so good a 
 joke, adds, that " people did not spare 
 their animadversions on this beautiful 
 marriage," and further states that the 
 project fell to the ground some months 
 afterward by the overthrow of Law, 
 and the ruin of the ambitious Mon- 
 sieur Andr6. It would appear, how- 
 ever, that the " noble " family never 
 had the honesty to return the hundred 
 thousand crowns. 
 
 Executorsliip of Mr. Astor's "Will. 
 
 The personal fiiendship and intimate 
 confidential relations which subsisted 
 between those great New York mer- 
 chants, John Jacob Astor and James 
 Gore King, were well known. This 
 continued without interruption, until 
 death removed the former from among 
 the living. It was a cherished wish of 
 Mr. Astor, many years previously urged 
 upon Mr. King, that he would consent 
 to be one of the executors of his estate. 
 Mr. King was very averse, however, to 
 undertaking any such trust, of which 
 the responsibilities w^ould, as in this 
 case, extend beyond the probable 
 period of his own life ; but after re- 
 peated requests he consented, and by 
 the last will of ISIr. Astor, Mr. King 
 was named an executor and also a 
 trustee of the public library, for the 
 
 establishment of which the will made 
 so liberal provision. It so happened 
 that owing to his change of residence, 
 and consequently ceasing to be a citi- 
 zen of New York, Mr. King could not, 
 according to the laws of the State, 
 enter upon the duty of an executor 
 without giving bond in twice the 
 amount of the personal property of 
 the deceased, for the faithful perform- 
 ance of that duty. Mr. W. B. Astor, 
 who well knew, and himself shared in, 
 his father's strong desire that Mr. King 
 should serve in that capacity, at once 
 offered to give the required bonds him- 
 self, but Mr. King absolutely declined, 
 not willing that any one should be bound 
 in the penalty of millions for him. He, 
 however, at the request of the executors, 
 habitually met with them as a friend 
 and adviser, but without any official 
 character. 
 
 Down on the Doctors. 
 
 Benjamin Fuller was the most 
 eminent ship broker of his time in 
 Philadelphia, and was remarkable for 
 his correctness in business transactions. 
 He accumulated a handsome fortune, 
 and died a bachelor. Like many other 
 gentlemen of that day, he abhorred 
 physic, and the visits of medical men 
 in their official capacity. At one time, 
 while lying dangerously ill, on his snug 
 little bed, in his bachelor chamber, over 
 his counting house, a consultation of 
 physicians was held in his room. The 
 doctors conversed together in an audible 
 voice, and just as they had concluded 
 him past recovery, and that nothing 
 further could be done in his case, to 
 their great astonishment he drew aside 
 the curtains, and exclaimed, in his usu- 
 al energetic manner : 
 
 " Gentlemen, I am greatly obliged to 
 you — ^I feel much better since you en- 
 tered the room ! You may go away 
 now, gentlemen ; I shall not want your 
 services any longer." 
 
 While the physicians looked at each 
 
DOMESTIC RELATIONS OF MERCHANTS, BANKERS, ETC. 
 
 619 
 
 other in amazement, he rang the bell, 
 and addressing the servant, said, 
 
 " Show the gentlemen down stairs." 
 
 The medical dignitaries assured the 
 servant that his master was delirious, 
 and presuming there was no hope of 
 his recovery, were proceeding to give 
 directions that he might be indulged 
 in anything he might desire to have, 
 when Mr. Fuller cut them short by 
 calling out, 
 
 "John, John, turn them out, and 
 fasten the doors after them; Til take 
 no more of their infernal drugs." 
 
 On the return of the servant, he had 
 all the bottles and medicines thrown 
 out of the window, and the crisis of 
 his disease being then passed, he from 
 that moment rapidly recovered. He 
 lived for many years afterward, and 
 w^hen his friends joked with him on 
 this treatment of the doctors, he would 
 reply, " The scoundrels wanted to kill 
 me with their cursed stuffs, but I lived 
 to attend both their funerals." 
 
 Incidents of William Bingham's 
 Domestic Life. 
 
 The name of William Bingham was 
 one of the most distinguished among 
 the ciiizens and capitalists of Philadel- 
 phia, during the last half of the eight- 
 eenth century. He married Anne, the 
 daughter of Thomas Willing, one of 
 the early celebrated families of that 
 city. He was well known in Europe, 
 and his wealth and position introduced 
 him to the notice of many eminent for- 
 eigners. Among the most distinguish- 
 ed were the Barings. Alexander and 
 Henry Baring married daughters of Mr. 
 Bingham, which gave to the family a 
 very high standing— so much so, that 
 Mr. Bingham carried an aristocratic 
 
 hauteur to the farthest extent. Alex- 
 ander Baring married Anna, the eldest 
 daughter ; and the inheritance he had 
 to thank her for, at the death of her 
 father, amounted to $900,000. She 
 bore him nine children, of whom seven 
 are still living. The eldest of these, 
 called William Bingham, after his 
 grandfather, became afterward better 
 known as Lord Ashburton. His wife 
 w^as Lady Sandwich, but their mar- 
 riage was childless. Alexander Baring 
 was just twenty-four years of age, in 
 1798, when he was married. 
 
 Mr. Bingham was the first person 
 that gave a masquerade ball in Phila- 
 delphia, and, true to his predilections, 
 the strictest measures were used to 
 keep out mechanics and their wives^ 
 But it is in connection with his Man- 
 sion House that Mr. Bingham will most 
 peculiarly be remembered, so far as his 
 personal or social characteristics are 
 concerned. The ground in the rear of 
 the Mansion House, to Fourth street, 
 was a vacant lot, inclosed by a rail 
 fence, and to this the boys resorted to 
 fly their kites. Mr. Bingham built the 
 Mansion House about the year 1790 ; 
 and it was considered, at the time, the 
 finest house in the city. He inclosed 
 the whole area with a painted board 
 fence, and planted a line of Lombardy 
 poplars around it. These poplars were 
 the first ever seen in Philadelphia. The 
 grounds generally were laid out in 
 beautiful style, and variegated with 
 clumps of shade trees. The fence, be- 
 ing very high, prevented the public 
 from seeing this beautiful woodland 
 scene ; and, in consequence of this, 
 William Bingham was much cen- 
 sured for doing what he chose with his 
 own property. After his death, the 
 whole was sold off in lots, and was soon 
 covered with brick houses. 
 
PART TENTH. 
 
 Anecdotes of Chance Dealings and Ventures. 
 
PAET TENTH. 
 
 Anecdotes of Chance Dealings and Ventures. 
 
 AUCTIONS, FANCY STOCKS, SHARE COMPANIES, LOTTERIES, AND QUIXOTIC SPECULATIONS ; WITH 
 NOTICES OF WONDERFUL COMMERCIAL DELUSIONS, FINANCIAL MANIAS, BUBBLES, PANICS, 
 V— THEIR CAUSES, ABETTORS, INCIDENTS, VICTIMS, AND RESULTS. 
 
 Mess. O yes 1 O yes ! This, 8irt«, is to give notice,— 
 The auction of Mencechmus -will bet;in 
 The seventh of this month '. when will be sold 
 Slaves, household goods, farm^, houses, and— et cetera. 
 
 " Twin Brothers," Act V. 8C. 7. 
 Hope 1 fortune's cheating^ lottery I 
 Where for one prize an hundred blanks there be.— Anok. 
 The earth hath bubbles, as the water has, 
 And these are of them.— Shakspeare. 
 Credulity's always in fashion : 
 For folly's a fund 
 Will ne'er lose p:round 
 While fools are so rife in the nation. 
 
 Fielding's "Farce." 
 The Tulip next appeared ; all over gay, 
 But wanton, full of pride, and full of play. — Cowlet. 
 
 Jack and the Dutcli Tulip Speculator. 
 
 "When that greatest of all modern 
 Utopias — the Dutch tulip speculation — 
 had blinded the eyes of the usually 
 staid capitalists and circumspect bank- 
 ers and traders of Holland, a man's 
 "wealth was estimated not according 
 to any such vulgar standard as houses 
 and lands, bonds and mortgages, etc., 
 nor by the plebeian treasures represent- 
 ed by troy weight, but by the num- 
 ber of tulip bulbs or plants which he 
 possessed — or perhaps had merely seen ; 
 so precious was the sight or touch of 
 them regarded at that period of com- 
 mercial fanaticism. 
 
 It happened, one day, that an Eng- 
 lish sea-captain had occasion to call at 
 the residence of a distinguished capi- 
 talist of that country, at an early hour 
 of the morning, accompanied by one 
 
 of his sailors, in the capacity of a ser- 
 vant, and the latter was told that he 
 might walk in Meinherr's beautiful 
 garden, till he was ready to return. 
 After admiring the regularity of the 
 walks, the extreme beauty of the shrub- 
 bery and flowers that bordered the be- 
 witchingly attractive paths, as they led 
 successively to sparkling fountains, par- 
 terres fragrant with the rarest exotics, 
 and arbors rich with song birds and 
 hanging vases, he noticed — in con- 
 trast with all this affluence of style — a 
 slender stem of a plant which he took 
 to be an onion ; without hesitation he 
 pulled it up, and devoured it, but 
 found that he had mistaken its char- 
 acter on chewing it. Directly after, 
 the man of the palace came into the 
 garden to gratify the English ship- 
 master with a sight of the basis of his 
 acknowledged wealth. On discovering 
 
524 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 tlie fact of the destruction of his tulip 
 — for this it was on which Jack had 
 attempted to make his morning re- 
 past — the luckless man exclaimed, in 
 an agony of mind, " I am ruined ! I am 
 ruined ! " 
 
 Panic Blunders— Wrong Certificate at 
 the Bank. 
 
 In the midst of one of the worst of 
 our business panics, and at the moment 
 when everybody thought all the banks 
 were going to the dogs together, Jones 
 — the inevitable Jones — rushed into the 
 bank of which he was a stockholder, 
 and thrusting the certificate into the 
 face of the transfer clerk, he said, in 
 great haste, " Here, please transfer half 
 that to James P. Smith ! " The clerk 
 looked at it, and asked, " Which half, 
 Mr. Jones ? " "I don't care which half," 
 replied Jones, puzzled at the inquiry. 
 "You had better go to the courts; I 
 can't make the transfer without a legal 
 decision. If you really wish to trans- 
 fer your other half to Mr. Smith, we 
 can't do it here." Jones was confound- 
 ed. He knew the banks were all in a 
 muddle, but this was too deep for him. 
 He took his certificate from the hand 
 of the smiling clerk, and, on looking at 
 it, lo ! it was his marriage certificate ! 
 Being a printed form, on fine paper, 
 and put away among his private pa- 
 pers, it was the first thing that Mr. 
 Jones laid hands on when he went to 
 his secretary for his bank-stock scrip. 
 He went home, kissed his wife — glad 
 to find she hadn't been transferred to 
 Mr. Smith — and, taking the right pa- 
 pers this time, hastened down town, in 
 season to get the matter all straight. 
 
 Great ** Spec." on the Tapis. 
 
 Among the speculations at present in 
 progress, is a Great Libyan Desert and 
 West End Junction Arabian Sand As- 
 sociation, for the purpose of supplying 
 England and the Continent of Europe 
 with sand paper. Tables have already 
 
 been prepared, showing the daily con- 
 sumption of this useful article in the 
 metropolis alone ; and it is suggested 
 that, by the manufacture of scouring 
 paper also, the Company will be able 
 to take advantage of the present rage 
 for travelling, and put it in the power 
 of any person of moderate means to 
 scour the whole continent. A sample 
 of the sand may be seen at the Com- 
 pany's temporary (very temporary) 
 office in street. 
 
 Speculative Frenzy of the Prenc6, in 
 John Law's Time. 
 
 The volatile and inconsiderate char- 
 acter of the French has perhaps never 
 been so strikingly illustrated as in the 
 frenzy which characterized their treat- 
 ment of Law's Quixotic Mississippi 
 scheme. On his issuing the fifty thou- 
 sand new shares, at five hundred and 
 fifty livres each, the dirty street, Quin- 
 campoix, in which Law resided, was 
 fairly impassable. People of the high- 
 est rank clustered about his dwelling, 
 to learn their destiny, and delicate 
 women braved all weathers with the 
 hope of enriching themselves. Three 
 hundred thousand applications were 
 made for the fifty thousand shares; 
 and the destiny of an empire, remark- 
 able for its national hauteur, seemed in 
 the hands of John Law, the son of a 
 Scottish jeweller. Advantage was taken 
 of this eagerness. Three hundred thou- 
 sand additional shares were issued at 
 five thousand livres each, and the re- 
 gent availed himself of the popular ex- 
 citement to pay off the national debt. 
 The whole of the foreign trade was 
 placed in the possession of the com- 
 pany, and the public ran with increased 
 eagerness at each creation of stock. 
 Prelates, marshals, and peers cringed 
 to the lacqueys, and swarmed in the 
 ante-chamber of a Scottish adventurer. 
 A rumor of his indisposition sent the ^ 
 stock down nearly two hundred per ^ 
 cent., and the announcement of his re- 
 
CHANCE DEALINGS AND VENTURES. 
 
 525 
 
 covery sent it up in the same propor- 
 tion. The frenzy became general. A 
 rage for shares infatuated every rank, 
 and the air echoed with Mississippi 
 and Quincampoix. From six in the 
 morning until eight in the evening the 
 street was filled with fervent worship- 
 pers of this scheme. 
 
 The dissolute courtiers of the yet 
 more dissolute regent shared in this 
 spoil. The princes of the blood were 
 not too proud to participate. The ante- 
 chamber of Law was crowded by women 
 of rank and beauty — the mistress of 
 Law was flattered by ladies as irre- 
 proachable as the court of the regent 
 would allow them to be — and inter- 
 views with Law were sought with so 
 much assiduity, that one lady caused 
 her carriage to be upset to attract his 
 attention, and another stopped before 
 his hotel, and ordered her servant to 
 raise the cry of "Fire." The people 
 emulated one another in luxury. Equip- 
 ages more remarkable for splendor than 
 taste rolled about the streets. Footmen 
 got up behind their own carriages, so 
 accustomed were they to that position. 
 One of those who had done so, recol- 
 lected himself in time to cover his mor- 
 tifying mistake by saying he wished to 
 see if room could be made for two or 
 three more lacqueys, whom he had re- 
 solved to hire. The son of a baker, 
 wishing a service of plate, sent the con- 
 tents of a jeweller's shop to his wife, 
 with directions to arrange the articles 
 properly for supper. The opera was 
 crowded with cooks, ladies' maids, and 
 grisettes^ dressed in the superbest style 
 of fashion, who had fallen from a gar- 
 ret into a carriage. 
 
 At last, the Rue Quincampoix be- 
 came too confined for the mighty fever 
 which infested the metropolis, and the 
 Place Vendome, chosen in its stead, 
 soon presented the appearance of a fair. 
 But Law was again compelled to move, 
 owing to the complaint of the Chan- 
 cellor, who could not hear the pleading 
 of the advocates. The projector then 
 
 purchased tlie Hotel de Soissons, and 
 in its beautiful gardens established his 
 temple. In the midst, among the trees, 
 about five hundred small tents and pa- 
 vilions were erected. Their various 
 colors, their gay ribbons and banners, 
 the busy crowd which passed in and 
 out, the hum of voices, the noise, the 
 music, the strange mixture of business 
 and pleasure, combined to give the 
 place the air of enchantment. 
 
 " Down with your Dust I " 
 
 This is one of the patent phrases in 
 sham auction establishments, and these 
 establishments are now a decided insti- 
 tution in the mercantile making-up of 
 large cities. They are composed of 
 imaginary auctioneers, imaginary buy- 
 ers, and " lots " of imaginary valuable 
 property. They are to be found in va- 
 rious parts of our great city, and those 
 who attend them out of mere curiosity 
 are never known to complain that they 
 were not enlightened to the full extent 
 of their desire. The establishments 
 generally present a large assortment of 
 showy and tempting articles, whose 
 real value is determined by what they 
 will fetch. The casual visitor has only 
 to wink his eye, rub his nose, yawn, 
 sneeze, or cough, and if he will " down 
 with his dust," he is sure to find him- 
 self the fortunate purchaser of a pair- 
 of elegant cut-glass decanters, which 
 cannot be matched — no, not even by 
 one another ; or a dozen of table knives, 
 w^hich could not be injured by opening 
 oysters. 
 
 The Waterloo among: Auction-Battles. 
 
 The sale by auction of the Duke of 
 Roxburghe's celebrated library is ac- 
 knowledged to have been the greatest 
 auction contest that ever took place. 
 The great passion and pursuit of the 
 Duke's life was the collection of rare 
 and costly volumes. There were of it 
 some ten thousand separate "lots," as 
 
526 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 auctioneers call tliem, and almost every 
 book was one of rank and mark. 
 
 The most memorable event of this 
 auction related to the Editio Pnnceps 
 of Boccaccio^ a book printed in Yenice 
 in 1474, but which, at the time of its 
 being sought for by the Duke, was so 
 extremely rare as to have been obtained 
 by him only at a cost of several hun- 
 dred dollars, and, a thorough biblio- 
 maniac as he was, he prized it beyond 
 any other volume in his collection. 
 
 When, therefore, after several weeks 
 of the sharpest competition among the 
 book-hunters for the various works al- 
 ready offered, the auctioneer arrived at 
 this volume, the climax of the battle 
 was reached. The moment of sale ar- 
 rived. Evans, the knight of the ham- 
 mer, prefaced the putting up of the 
 article by an appropriate oration, in 
 which he expatiated on its extreme 
 rarity, and concluded by informing the 
 company of the regret, and even an- 
 guish of heart, expressed by Mr. Van 
 Praet, that such a treasure was not to 
 be found in the imperial collection at 
 Paris. Silence followed this address. 
 
 The honor of firing the first shot was 
 due to a gentleman of Shropshire, un- 
 used to this species of warfare, and 
 who seemed to recoil from the rever- 
 beration of the report himself had 
 made. " One hundred guineas," he 
 exclaimed. Again a pause ensued, but 
 anon the biddings rose rapidly to five 
 hundred guineas. Hitherto, however, 
 it was evident that the firing was but 
 marked and desultory. At length all 
 random shots ceased, and the cham- 
 pions stood gallantly up to each other, 
 resolving not to flinch from a trial of 
 their respective strengths. 
 
 A thousand guineas were bid by Earl 
 Spencer — ^to which the Marquess of 
 Blandford added tm. One could now 
 have heard a pin drop. All eyes were 
 turned — all breathing well-nigh stopped 
 — every sword was put home within its 
 scabbard — and not a piece of steel was 
 seen to wave or to glitter, except that 
 
 which each of these champions bran- 
 dished in his valorous hand. At last 
 the contest closed down. " Two thou- 
 sand two hundred and fifty 'pounds^'' said 
 Lord Spencer. The spectators were at 
 this absolutely electrified. The Mar- 
 quess quietly adds his usual " ten^^ and 
 so there was an end. 
 
 Mr. Evans, ere his hammer fell, made 
 a short pause — and indeed, as if by 
 something preternatural, the ebony in- 
 strument itself seemed to be charmed 
 or suspended in the mid-air. However, 
 at last down dropped the hammer. 
 Such a result naturally created excite- 
 ment in commercial as well as book- 
 collectors' circles, for here was an ac- 
 tual stroke of trade in which a profit 
 of more than two thousand per cent, 
 had been netted. Eleven thousand dol- 
 lars for a single volume f 
 
 New York Pawnbroker's Customer. 
 
 It would be difficult to find a more 
 readable sketch of a man's feelings and 
 expedients when in a financial strait, 
 than that which Kimball gives of Par- 
 kinson at the pawnbroker's. Here it 
 is : Up to that time I had never visited 
 a pawnbroker's shop. It seemed as if 
 it were a species of humiliation to en- 
 ter one. Disappointed of receiving a 
 small sum I had that day counted on, 
 and knowing I must not go home with- 
 out some money, I determined to make 
 the trial. I had in my pocket a valu- 
 able watch, of an approved maker. It 
 had cost me $200. I looked at it. Nev- 
 er did it seem so much of a companion 
 as at that moment. I strolled slowly 
 along Nassau street till I reached the 
 Park, and stood quite undecided. ' It 
 was here that Downer, on his way 
 home, came up with me. 
 
 " What are you waiting for ? " 
 
 I told him. 
 
 "It's of no use," he replied, "to 
 pawn anything. You will lose it, that's 
 all ; and you will be just as bad off af- 
 terward. If you have anything to part 
 
CHANCE DEALINGS AND VENTURES. 
 
 62'i 
 
 with, sell it ; for you will keep on pay- 
 ing twenty -five per cent, per annum for 
 two or three years, and it goes in the 
 end." 
 
 " That may be," I said, " but there is 
 no help for it ; I must have the money 
 to-night." 
 
 " Hold on, Parkinson," said Downer, 
 as I started to cross the street; "let 
 me go ; I have been through with it ; 
 just as lief as not, I tell you." 
 
 I was on the point of assenting, and 
 had partly raised my hand to my pock- 
 et, when I looked in his face, and saw 
 his harsh, repulsive features betraying 
 the strongest feeling. He seemed actu- 
 ally, as it were, in pain on my account. 
 Had I been a child, about exposing 
 myself to some great peril, he could 
 not have appeared more apprehensive 
 or considerate. 
 
 " No, my friend ! " I exclaimed, " I 
 will go through it too ; better now than 
 at any other time." 
 
 "Mind, you ask for as much again 
 as you want," he said. 
 
 I nodded, and crossed over to where 
 Simpson displays three golden balls, 
 the arms of the Lombard merchants, 
 who were the first in old times to lend 
 money on pledge of chattel securities. 
 
 My heart beat violently as I entered. 
 I would not thrust myself into one of the 
 cofiin-like stalls, but walked straight 
 up to the counter, where a man was al- 
 ready engaged, attempting precisely 
 what I proposed to do, to wit : to get 
 a loan on his watch. 
 
 He had just handed it in. Behind 
 the counter stood not a black-eyed, 
 long-bearded, sharp-visaged Jew, as 
 my imagination had pictured, but an 
 intelligent, business-like looking indi- 
 vidual, who carelessly opened one side 
 of the watch, and shutting it again, 
 without the least examination, said : 
 
 " How much do you want ? " 
 
 "Twenty-five dollars," replied the 
 man. "Will give you ten." "Can't 
 you give fifteen ? " " Only ten." 
 
 It was now my turn. My hand trem- 
 
 bled as I drew out my watch. The 
 fate of my predecessor argued poorly 
 for me. 
 
 The watch was speedily transferred 
 to the hand of the pawnbroker. The 
 same careless examination was passed 
 —just a springing of one of the sides, 
 as if by habit, and then the monoto- 
 nous " How much do you want ? " "I 
 must have fifty dollars on it." " 'Tis 
 good for that," was the answer, " but 
 we are not loaning over twenty-five 
 dollars on any watch. The demand is 
 so great, and we must give our small 
 customers the preference." " I suppose 
 so, but really I must have this money, 
 and I beg you to accommodate me." 
 There was a moment's hesitation ; then 
 he turned around, and took up two 
 pieces of paper. What name ? " he in- 
 quired. " Parkinson." 
 
 In just a minute a ticket was handed 
 to me (the name written on it looked 
 more like Frogson than anything else), 
 fifty dollars was placed in my hand, 
 and the transaction was closed. A new- 
 comer took my place, and I marched 
 away triumphant. I felt very grateful 
 to the man behind the counter. I 
 hardly knew why, but I stepped out 
 on the pavement with a happy appreci- 
 ation of the institution of pawnbrokers, 
 since it could thus so suddenly bring 
 relief to the suffering. Just then I cast 
 my eyes up at the dial plate on the City 
 Hall, and was surprised that it was so 
 late, and unconsciously I undertook to 
 compare the time with my own. My 
 hand took its usual course to my 
 watchguard, but it grasped vacancy ; 
 a slight pang, and it was over. After 
 all, my friend of the three balls had a 
 very perfect security, and an excellent 
 rate of interest. 
 
 Female Strategry to obtain Bubble 
 Stock. 
 
 One among the many ludicrous strat- 
 agems employed to obtain access to 
 John Law, in order to secure shares in 
 his Mississippi scheme — then the imi- 
 
528 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 versal rage, and bearing a premium 
 many times manifolding the par rate — 
 was that resorted to by a lady. She 
 had striven in vain, during many long 
 and anxious days, so much so as to put 
 her in a state of despair of ever seeing 
 him at his own house ; she therefore 
 ordered her coachman to keep a strict 
 watch whenever she was out in her car- 
 riage, and if he saw Mr. Law coming, 
 to drive against a post and upset her. 
 The coachman promised obedience, 
 and for three days the lady was driven 
 incessantly through the town, praying 
 inwardly and watching intently for the 
 opportunity to be overturned. At last 
 she espied Mr. Law, and, pulling the 
 string, called out to the coachman, 
 " Upset us now I for God's sake, upset 
 us now ! " The coachman drove against 
 a post, the lady screamed as only woman 
 can, the coach was overturned, and 
 Law, who had seen the accident, has- 
 tened to the spot to render assistance. 
 The cunning dame was led into Law's 
 Hotel de Soissons, where she soon 
 thought it advisable to recover from 
 her fright, and, after apologizing to 
 Mr. Law, confessed her stratagem. 
 Though so honest a man. Law smiled 
 at the deception, and entered the lady 
 in his books as the purchaser of his 
 stock. 
 
 Financial TTse of Saints. 
 
 In Lima, there is a public lottery, 
 which the Government farms to a pri- 
 vate individual, for a considerable sum. 
 The tickets are drawn weekly, and the 
 price of a ticket is one real. The larg- 
 est prize is one thousand dollars, and 
 from that down to one hundred. A 
 lottery on a larger scale is drawn every 
 three months ; the highest prize in this 
 lottery is four thousand dollars, and 
 the price of the ticket is four reals. To 
 every ticket is affixed a motto, usually 
 consisting of an invocation to a saint, 
 and a prayer for good luck ; and at the 
 drawing of the lottery, this motto is 
 
 read aloud, when the number of the 
 ticket is announced. Few of the in- 
 habitants of Lima fail to buy at least 
 one ticket in the weekly lottery. The 
 negroes are particularly fond of trying 
 their luck in this way, and in many in- 
 stances they have drawn large sums. 
 
 Burlesque on Modern Business 
 Utopias. 
 
 Reykolds's inimitable burlesque 
 of the " Universal Stone-Expelling 
 and Asphaltum-Substituting Equitable 
 Company" will answer for all that 
 class of trading Utopias which so won- 
 derfully ensnare both the simple and 
 the wary alike, of the staid English 
 public. 
 
 To commence with Captain Walsing- 
 ham, who appears to have been the 
 projector of this peerless Company, and 
 who was taking measures to give it its 
 due prominence before the public, will 
 suffice. He began by hiring a splendid 
 suite of offices in Bartholomew Lane, 
 and forthwith purchased desks, tables, 
 and chairs, to place in them. He pro- 
 cured a painter, who painted the words 
 " Public Office " upon the door, " Wait- 
 ing Room " upon another, " Committee 
 Room" upon a third. He then hired 
 three individuals, who, under the de- 
 nomination of clerks, were to sit at a 
 desk in the Public Office, chatter and 
 read the newspapers when they were 
 alone, and apply themselves like mad- 
 men to three great books with clasps, 
 when a stranger came in. A servant in 
 blue livery, with white buttons, was 
 also engaged, to lounge about in the 
 passage outside the entrance door 
 which led to the offices; and a man 
 with printed prospectuses to give away, 
 was stationed in the street. A general 
 meeting of the directors was then called 
 and advertised, to discuss the business 
 and dispose of the capital of the Com- 
 pany ; but as there was as yet no busi- 
 ness to occupy their attention, they dis- 
 cussed a capital luncheon instead. 
 
CHANCE DEALINGS AND VENTURES. 
 
 529 
 
 Burlesque on Modern Business Utopias. 
 
 In a few days, a paragraph was 
 drawn up by the excellent chakman 
 and inserted — upon payment — in one 
 or two of those accommodating daily 
 papers which do not put the absurd 
 word " Advertisement " at the begin- 
 ning ; and this paragraph stated that 
 they — the papers — were informed upon 
 the best authority that the materials 
 which composed said Asphaltum were 
 derived from Asiatic sources; where- 
 upon Mr. SnulTery, as treasurer and 
 secretary, wrote a letter to all the jour- 
 nals to contradict this report — and, as 
 Mr. Snuffery's letter was inserted for 
 nothing, the Company gained its aim 
 in obtaining publicity at the least 
 possible expense. 
 
 Another paragraph, tending to show 
 that the Asphaltum would never be 
 applied to universal use, was then paid 
 for and inserted conspicuously in the 
 Morning Teapot ; at this, the Company 
 pretended to be in the most direful 
 wrath— so much so, that Messieurs 
 Rumrig & Sharp, the Company's soli- 
 citors, were instructed to bring an ac- 
 tion against the aforesaid Morning Tecu- 
 jpot^ which had thus been used to pour 
 34 
 
 hot water upon the heads of the associa- 
 tion. But, after a great deal of public 
 display, red-hot letter writing, pamph- 
 leteering, fending and proving, that 
 eminent legal firm declared that it was 
 not necessary to proceed with the suit ; 
 and so the whole business was an- 
 nounced, to the great relief of the agi- 
 tated (!) public — to have been arranged 
 in the most amicable manner possible. 
 
 A few shares were next issued, and 
 private friends were sent round to pur- 
 chase up these shares at a premium ; 
 so that the transaction took wind, and 
 the Company succeeded in getting it- 
 self blamed for allowing only the ac- 
 quaintances and favorites of the direct- 
 ors to get any of the stock and profit 
 by the speculation. The demand for 
 shares was therefore immediate and 
 great ; and when a piece of the pave- 
 ment fronting the house in which the 
 offices of the Company were situate, 
 was robbed of its stone and subjected 
 to the process of the Asphalte, the en- 
 thusiasm and credulity of the public in 
 favor of this great institution knew no 
 bounds. A grand dinner was given by 
 the directors at the City of London 
 
630 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 Tavern; and Mr. Muggins was gene- 
 rously permitted by the worthy chair- 
 man to advance the Company another 
 five hundred pounds. 
 
 Buying- his own Goods at Auction. 
 
 Old Colonel "W., formerly one of the 
 best known characters in a certain east- 
 ern city, was really remarkable for but 
 one passion out of the ordinary range 
 of humanity, and that was for buying 
 at auction any little lot of trumpery 
 W'hich came under the head of " miscel- 
 laneous," for the reason that it couldn't 
 be classified. Though close-fisted in 
 general, he was continually throwing 
 away his money by fives and tens upon 
 such trash. In this way he had filled 
 all the odd corners in his dwelling and 
 outbuildings with a mass of nondescript 
 articles, that would have puzzled a 
 philosopher to conjecture what they 
 were made for, or to what use they 
 could ever be put. This, however, was 
 but a secondary consideration with the 
 Colonel ; for he seldom troubled his 
 head about such articles after they were 
 fairly housed. Not so with his wife, 
 however, who was continually remon- 
 strating against these purchases, which 
 served only to clutter up the house, and 
 as food for the mirth of the domestics. 
 But the Colonel, though he often sub- 
 mitted to these remonstrances of his 
 better half, couldn't resist bis passion ; 
 and so he went on, adding from week 
 to week to his heap of miscellanies. 
 
 One day, while sauntering down the 
 street, he heard the full, rich tones of 
 his friend C, the well-known auction- 
 eer, and as a matter of course stepped 
 in to see what was being sold. On the 
 floor he observed a collection that look- 
 ed as if it might have been purloined 
 from the garret of some museum, and 
 around which a motley group was as- 
 sembled ; while on the counter stood 
 the portly auctioneer, in the very height 
 of a mock-indignant remonstrance with 
 his audience : " Nine dollars and ninety 
 
 cents ! " cried the auctioneer ; " Gentle- 
 men, it is a shame, it is barbarous, to 
 stand by and j)ermit such a sacrifice of 
 property ! Nine dol-lars and ninety — 
 good morning. Colonel ! A magnifi- 
 cent lot of — of^antiques — and all go- 
 ing for nine dollars and ninety cents. 
 Gentlemen ! you'll never see another 
 such lot; and all going — going— for 
 nine dollars and ninety cents. Colonel 
 W., can you permit such a sacrifice ? " 
 The Colonel glanced his eye over the 
 lot, and with a nod and a wink assured 
 him that he could not. The next in- 
 stant the hammer came down, and the 
 purchase was the Colonel's, at ten 
 dollars. 
 
 As the articles were to be paid for 
 and removed immediately, the Colonel 
 lost no time in getting a cart, and hav- 
 ing seen everything packed up and on 
 the way to his house, he proceeded to 
 his own store, chuckling within him- 
 self that now at least he had made a 
 bargain at which even his wife couldn't 
 grumble. In due time he was seated at 
 the dinner table, when, lifting his eyes, 
 he observed a cloud upon his wife's 
 brow. " Well, my dear ? " said he, in- 
 quiringly. " Well ! " responded his wi fe ; 
 " it is not well, Mr. W. ; I am vexed be- 
 yond endurance. You know C, the 
 auctioneer ? " " Certainly," replied the 
 Colonel ; " and a very gentlemanly per- 
 son he is, too." " You may think so," 
 rejoined the wife, " but / don''t, and I'll 
 tell you why. A few days ago I ga h- 
 ered together all the trumpery with 
 w^hich you have been cluttering up the 
 house for the last twelve-month, and 
 sent it to Mr. C, with orders to sell 
 the lot immediately to the highest bid- 
 der, for cash. He assured me he would 
 do so in all this week, at farthest, and 
 pay over the proceeds to my order. 
 And here I've been congratulating my- 
 self on two things : first, on having got 
 rid of an intolerable nuisance— and 
 secondly, on receiving money enough 
 therefor to purchase that new velvet 
 hat you promised me so long a^o. 
 
CHANCE DEALINGS AND VENTURES. 
 
 631 
 
 And now, what do you think ! This 
 morning, about an hour ago, the w?ix)le 
 load came dach again^ without a word of 
 explanation. The Colonel looked blank 
 for a moment, and then proceeded to 
 clear up the mystery. But the good 
 wife wa3 pacified only by the promise 
 of a ten-dollar note beside that in the 
 hands of the auctioneer — on condition, 
 however, that she should never mention 
 it. Of course she kept her word ! 
 
 Hogrartli's Plan of Selling: Pictures by 
 Auction. 
 
 Hogarth supported himself by the 
 sale of his prints : the prices, however, 
 of his paintings kept pace neither with 
 his fame nor with his expectations. 
 But he knew the passion of his coun- 
 trymen for novelty — how they love to 
 encourage whatever is strange and mys- 
 terious ; and, hoping to profit by these 
 feelings, the artist determined to sell 
 his principal paintings by an auction 
 of a very singular nature. 
 
 To this end, he offered for sale the 
 six paintings of the Harlot's Progress, 
 the eight paintings of the Rake's Prog- 
 ress, the four Times of the Day, and 
 the Strolling Actresses, on the follow- 
 ing conditions : 
 
 First, that every bidder shall have 
 an entire leaf numbered in the book of 
 sale, on the top of which will be enter- 
 ed his name and place of abode, the 
 sum paid by him, the time when, and 
 for what pictures. 
 
 Second, that on the day of sale, a 
 clock, striking every five minutes, shall 
 be placed in the room, and when it has 
 struck five minutes after twelve, the 
 first picture mentioned in the sale book 
 shall be deemed as sold; the second 
 picture, when the clock has struck the 
 next five minutes after twelve, and so 
 on in succession, till the nineteen pic- 
 tures are sold. 
 
 Third, that none advance anything 
 short of gold at each bidding. 
 
 Fourth, no person to bid on the last 
 
 day, except those whose names were 
 before entered in the book. As Mr. 
 Hogarth's room is small, he begs the 
 favor that no persons, except those 
 whose names are entered on the book, 
 will come to view his paintings, on the 
 last day of sale. 
 
 This plan was new, peculiar, and un- 
 productive. It was probal^ly planned 
 to prevent biddings by proxy, and so 
 secure to the artist the price which men 
 of wealth and rank might be induced 
 to offer publicly for works of genius. 
 A method so novel probably disgusted 
 the town ; they might not exactly un- 
 derstand this tedious formula of enter- 
 ing their names and places "bf abode in 
 a book open to indiscriminate inspec- 
 tion ; they might wish to humble an 
 artist who, by his proposals, seemed to 
 consider that he did the world a favor 
 in suffering them to bid for his works ; 
 or the rage for paintings might be con- 
 fined to the admirers of the old mas- 
 ters. Be that as it may, he received 
 but little more than two thousand dol- 
 lars for his nineteen pictures — a price 
 by no means equal to their merit. 
 
 Pirst Book Auction in Eng-land. 
 
 The first book auction in England, 
 of which there is any record, is of a 
 date as far back as 1676, when the li- 
 brary of Dr. Seaman was brought to 
 the hammer. Prefixed to the catalogue 
 there is an address, which thus com- 
 mences : "Reader, it hath not been 
 usual here in England to make sale of 
 books by way of auction, or who will 
 give the most for them ; but it having 
 been practised in other countries, to 
 the advantage of both buyer and seller, 
 it was therefore conceived (for the en- 
 couragement of learning) to publish 
 the sale of these books in this manner 
 of way." _____ 
 
 Bank Notes at Ten Cents a Yard. 
 The failure of the Citizens' Bank, 
 Memphis, some years ago, naturally 
 
532 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 occasioned intense excitement, as well 
 as severe hardship to many of those 
 who were the yictims of its ruinous 
 career. When the crowd gathered 
 around, composed mostly of mechanics 
 and working men, with here and there 
 a woman, and at intervals a poor mar- 
 ket man, there was observed one wiry 
 little fellow, with a wonderfully exag- 
 gerated nose, who had a package of 
 the Bowleg's notes in his hands. Some 
 one asked him how much he had. He 
 said, " Those bills, amounting to $300, 
 are the profits of my labor for the last 
 six months, — look at my hard hands, 
 and see how I have toiled ; I have a 
 wife and children for whom I must 
 buy bread, and for whom I must pro- 
 vide a shelter, and a home ; but, gen- 
 tlemen, it is all gone. They may be 
 houseless wanderers and homeless beg- 
 gars, if I should knuckle to this mis- 
 fortune. It is all gone." The little 
 gentleman, with the Slaukenbergius 
 nose, which Tristram Shandy tells 
 about, at this point in his speech, 
 " humped " himself, and began to lay 
 his wild-cat bills in a lineal row down 
 in the centre of the street. When they 
 were thus arranged, he turned to the 
 crowd, saying, " Gentlemen and ladies, 
 
 / will sell this infernal stuff at ten 
 
 cents a yard^ tape measurey The crowd 
 roared, and good humor was thus sub- 
 stituted for the angry mutterings which 
 had become pretty audible, and which, 
 by any accident, might have resulted 
 in the demolition of the bank building. 
 
 Virtuous and Touching: Appeal. 
 
 " Here, ladies ! " said an auctioneer, 
 " I have a very interesting picture to 
 offer you — a representation of the mur- 
 derer Robinson, in the very act of ap- 
 proaching his victim. The head of 
 Miss Jewett is a portrait, taken from a 
 plaster cast shortly after her death, 
 and admitted by Robinson himself to 
 be a most astonishing likeness. The 
 figure of Robinson is a fac-simile — as 
 
 hke him as two peas. I have been cred- 
 ibly informed that at the trial, two re- 
 spectable old gentlemen, who had never 
 seen the prisoner, recognised him at 
 once from his resemblance to this pic- 
 ture. And the cloak, ladies ! the cloak 
 is the very identical one which the 
 murderer wore ! What shall I have 
 for this valuable painting ? " 
 
 " One dollar,"— from an old lady. 
 
 " Thank you, ma'am ; one dollar, one 
 dollar — half— two — two and a half- 
 three, three dollars ; three dollars are 
 bid for this invaluable picture; only 
 three ; worth at least ten ! Three dol- 
 lars, three dollars — going at three dol- 
 lars ! — going, going ! Ladies, this pic- 
 ture is invaluable as a moral lesson as 
 w^ell as a work of art. I would recom- 
 mend it to all mothers who have 
 grown-up daughters. Put this picture 
 before them, and what temptation 
 could ever induce them to leave the 
 paths of virtue ! Ladies, the owner of 
 this picture has daughters ; they have 
 grown up from youth to womanhood ; 
 they have never left the paths of vir- 
 tue ; and their mother ascribes it to 
 the influence of this very picture ! " 
 
 This address produced a manifest sen- 
 sation. There was quite a stir among 
 the matrons, and one vixenish-look- 
 ing old maid, with a sharp face, hooked 
 nose, and iron spectacles, was heard to 
 whisper to her neighbor, that " to be 
 sure it was so ; and that if she had'nt 
 had just such a pictur,she did'nt know 
 what might'nt have happened to her." 
 The auctioneer put up the picture again, 
 and the good ladies now vied with each 
 other in purchasing this invaluable 
 safeguard to female virtue; and as 
 they were assured that there was not 
 another to be had in the city for love 
 or money, it was finally knocked down 
 to Mrs. Chasteley, — a faded dame wear- 
 ing green goggles — at three dollars and 
 a half; having cost originally, frame 
 included, the sum of three shillings. 
 
CHANCE DEALINGS AND VENTURES. 
 
 633 
 
 Mr. Hume's Anxiety to Avoid a 
 Pecuniary Loss. 
 
 Joseph Hume was a heavy invester 
 in the disastrous Greek loan, which he 
 loudly advocated both in his position 
 as a member of the government and as 
 a speculator. He had £10,000 of the 
 loan assigned him. The price fell six- 
 teen per cent., and his ardor was said 
 to have fallen in proportion. Alarmed 
 at a loss so great, the senator endeav- 
 ored to release himself from the bur- 
 den ; but Avlien he applied to the depu- 
 ties and contractors, he was met with 
 the reply, that, had the stock risen, he 
 would not have returned the gain. The 
 argument was sound, but the head is 
 obtuse when the purse is endangered ; 
 and Mr. Hume — clear-headed generally 
 — " could not see " the fairness of the 
 position. 
 
 After some correspondence, the depu- 
 ties at last agreed to take the scrip off 
 of Mr. Hume's hands, at thirteen instead 
 of sixteen per cent, discount ; thereby 
 saving Mr. Hume £300 out of the loss 
 of £1,600, which he at first feared. In 
 time, the Greek cause grew prosperous, 
 the stock rose to par, and Mr. Hume, 
 with a singular power of perception 
 compared with his previous notions, 
 claimed the £1,300 which he had lost. 
 The surprise of the deputies may be 
 imagined. Mr. Hume, however, was 
 powerful — he was a senator — and to 
 him was accorded a privilege for which 
 others might have looked in vain. 
 
 But a further question arose. Mr. 
 Hume, remarkable for the closeness of 
 his calculations, discovered that £54 
 was due for interest! This also he 
 applied for, and this too was granted. 
 
 The defence of Mr. Hume in this 
 transaction was comprised in the asser- 
 tion, that, some of his public or politi- 
 cal actions having been misinterpreted, 
 because he was a proprietor of stock, 
 he had determined to part with it. 
 The deputies offered to save the friend 
 of the cause so great a loss ; and Mr. 
 Hume thought the conclusion at which 
 
 they had arrived a sound one. After 
 some correspondence, they agreed to 
 take his stock at thirteen per cent, 
 discount, the market price of sixteen 
 per cent, being but nominal. Mr. Hume 
 wdshed to be relieved entirely ; but 
 this the deputies declined. Shortly 
 after Mr. Hume was definitely informed 
 that those gentlemen would pay him 
 the sum he was deficient ; and, as he 
 considered this but simply fair, and 
 not as a favor, he also considered he 
 was entitled to claim the interest. " The 
 worst that any one can say of me," said 
 this cunning casuist, " is, that I may 
 have evinced an over-anxiety to avoid a 
 pecuniary lossy 
 
 Marking a Lottery Ticket. 
 
 A London merchant, while staying 
 in the country with a friend, happened 
 to mention that he intended, the next 
 year, to buy a ticket in the lottery ; his 
 friend desired that he would buy one 
 for him at the same time, which of 
 course was very wdllingly agreed to. 
 The conversation dropped ; the ticket 
 never arrived, and the whole affair was 
 entirely forgotten — when, most unex- 
 pectedly, the country gentleman re- 
 ceived information that the ticket pur- 
 chased for him by his friend had come 
 up a prize of twenty thousand pounds ! 
 Upon his arrival in London, he inquired 
 of his friend, the merchant, where he 
 had kept the ticket, and why he had 
 not informed him that it was pur- 
 chased. " I bought them both the same 
 day, mine and your ticket, and I flung 
 them both into a drawer of my bureau, 
 and I never thought of them afterward." 
 " But how do you distinguish one ticket 
 from the other? and why am I the 
 holder of the fortunate ticket more than 
 you ? " " Why, at the time I put them 
 into the drawer, I put a little marlc in 
 inJs upon the ticket which I resolved 
 should be yours ; and upon reopening 
 the drawer, I found that the one so 
 marked was the fortunate ticket." 
 
634 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 Jonathan Hunt's Land Speculations. 
 
 The late eccentric Jonatlian Hunt, 
 of New York, who accumulated a vast 
 fortune South, was quite noted, a few 
 years ago, for his dashing land specula- 
 tions in New York, and his relatives 
 actually served on him a warrant de 
 lunatico inquirendo, with a view of pre- 
 venting him wasting his estate. Sub- 
 sequently, however, it turned out that 
 these incessant purchases which had 
 made him a leading man at the Mer- 
 chants' Exchange, and an object of 
 distrust .to his family, were splendid 
 operations. Poor Hunt's bid was sub- 
 sequently refused by the auctioneers, 
 on the score of insanity ; while the lots 
 he bought on Madison avenue and else- 
 where, were, in fact, as speculations, 
 superior to the operations of the most 
 sagacious speculators. 
 
 Winners and Losers in Grant's Bubble. 
 
 Three hundred thousand pounds — 
 a most prodigious sum — was embarked 
 by the marquis of Chandos, in " Grant's 
 Bubble," and the duke of Newcastle 
 advised him to sell when he could 
 make the tolerable profit of cent, per 
 cent. The marquis was greedy — hoped 
 to make it half a million, and the advice 
 was declined. The panic came, and the 
 entire enormous investment went in the 
 shock. Samuel Chandler, the eminent 
 non-conformist divine, risked his whole 
 fortune in the bubble, lost it, and was 
 obliged to serve in a bookseller's shop 
 for a number of years, while he also 
 continued to perform ministerial duty. 
 The elder Scraggs gave Gay one thou- 
 sand j)ounds stock, and, as the poet 
 had been a previous purchaser, his 
 gain at one time amounted to twenty 
 thousand pounds. He consulted Dr. 
 Arbuthuot, who strongly advised him 
 to sell out. The bard doubted, hesi- 
 tated, and lost all. The doctor, who 
 gave such shrewd advice, was too irre- 
 solute to act on his own opinion, and 
 
 lost two thousand pounds; but, with 
 an amiable philosophy, comforted him- 
 self by saying, it would be only two 
 thousand more pairs of stall's to ascend. 
 Thomas Hudson, having been left a 
 large fortune, was tempted to embark 
 the whole of it in the scheme. After 
 his loss, he went to London, became 
 insane, and " Tom of Ten Thousand " 
 as he called himself, wandered through 
 the public streets, a piteous and pitiable 
 object of charity. One tradesman, who 
 had invested his entire resources in the 
 stock, came to town to dispose of it, 
 when it reached " one thousand." On 
 his arrival, it had fallen to nine hundred, 
 and, as he had decided to sell at one 
 thousand, he determined to wait. The 
 stock continued to decline ; the trades- 
 man continued to hold, and became, as 
 he deserved, a ruined man. Others were 
 more fortunate, but the great majority 
 were of course involved in ruin. 
 
 "Our Lady of Hope." 
 
 In the city of Barcelona, Spain, there 
 is a peculiar pawnbroking establishment 
 bearing the dainty name of " Our Lady of 
 Hope," where loans are made without in- 
 terest to necessitous persons, on the depo- 
 sit of any articles in pledge. Two thirds 
 of the value of the deposit are at once 
 advanced, and the loan is made for six 
 months and a day : but if, at the expira- 
 tion of that period, the depositor should 
 declare himself unable to redeem it, 
 another period of six months is allowed. 
 At the end of the second six months 
 the pledges are sold, but if they yield 
 more than the amount advanced, the 
 difference is given to the original 
 owner. This institution is very popu- 
 lar. Thousands are every year suitors 
 for the favor thus afforded by "Our 
 Lady of Hope." 
 
 " Tattersall's." 
 
 The name of Tattersall's is familiar 
 and respected throughout Europe, and 
 
\ 
 
CHANCE DEALINGS AND VENTURES. 
 
 135 
 
 it is the synonym for honorable horse- 
 dealing by auction wherever known. 
 The founder of this great auction mart 
 was Richard Tattersall, who was train- 
 ing groom to the second and last Duke 
 of Kingston, until his employer's death 
 in 1773. He then appears to have 
 opened his establishment, though the 
 foundation of his fortune was laid by 
 the sale to him of the race horse 
 '^ Highflyer," for the enormous sum of 
 twelve thousand dollars ; and, it is 
 supposed, on credit — an evidence of 
 the purchaser's high standing for in- 
 tegrity. His mart is now, and has 
 been from the outset, a place where 
 gentlemen might congregate without 
 breathing — or at all events in a greatly 
 lessened degree — the bad vapor that 
 usually surrounds the stable ; where 
 men of taste might enjoy the glimpses 
 afforded of the most beautiful speci- 
 mens of an exquisitely beautiful race, 
 without being continually disgusted 
 with the worst of all contacts — a 
 merely professional jockey or horse 
 dealer. 
 
 There is an area or tap room set apart 
 for the throngs of grooms, jockeys, 
 and poorer horse dealers and horse 
 fanciers. At another point is the sub- 
 scription room, fitted up in the interior 
 with desks, and ornamented with a 
 rare portrait of " Eclipse." Here the 
 wealthier and more aristocratic classes, 
 who, in a great measure, dispense law 
 and fashion, and opinion in all that 
 concerns horse breeding, racing, and 
 betting, congregate in .exclusive pri- 
 vacy. 
 
 The courtyard is the great business 
 place of Tattersall's — renowned through 
 all the length and breadth of horse- 
 loving, horse-breeding, horse-racing 
 Europe, and which from all parts 
 sends hither its representatives. There 
 is a bust of George IV., conspicuously 
 displayed, because, when he was a 
 prince, in his eighteenth year, he was 
 a constant attendant at Tattersall's. 
 Since then, there is no important name 
 
 in sporting annals but can be found 
 among the list of visitors. Around 
 three sides of the courtyard extends 
 a covered way ; and at the extremity 
 of one side stands the auctioneer's ros- 
 trum, overlooking the whole area. 
 The ranges of ordinary stabling are 
 also admirable specimens of what has 
 been done in modern times to serve 
 the health and comfort of their stately 
 inhabitants. The public days are the 
 Mondays in each week, through the 
 year, with the addition of Thursdays 
 in the height of the season. 
 
 A more motley assemblage than the 
 buyers or lookers on, during sale days, 
 it would be impossible to find. Noble- 
 men and ambitious peddlers, bishops 
 and blacklegs, horse breeders, grooms, 
 jockeys, mingling promiscuously with 
 the man of retired habits and studious 
 mind, fond of riding and breeding the 
 wherewithal to ride, tradesmen about 
 to set up their little pleasure chaise or 
 business cart, and commercial travel- 
 lers, whose calling has inoculated them 
 with a passion for dabbling in horse 
 flesh, and who, in the inns along their 
 routes, talk with great gusto and decis- 
 ion of all that pertains to Tattersall's, 
 on the strength of some occasional 
 half hour's experience in the court- 
 vard! 
 
 Last Word at an Auction : a Lady in 
 the Case. 
 
 An auction affords a rare opportu- 
 nity for the exercise of that determined 
 penchant^ sometimes ascribed to ladies, 
 for having " the last word." We can- 
 not tell. But here is a stray example 
 of the alleged peculiarity, as it exhib- 
 ited itself at an auction sale of a large 
 old-fashioned chest of drawers, in the 
 offer of which no one at first seemed to 
 take the least sort of interest. 
 
 The auctioneer of course enlarged on 
 all its supposable excellences, directed 
 attention to the size, soundness, and 
 durability of the article, and eventually 
 a low voice from the heart of the crowd 
 
536 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 gave a bid, and but little below its 
 actual value. The orator now tried, as 
 usual, to get up an opposition, but in 
 vain; and after repeated declarations 
 that lie would sell if there were no 
 advance, the hammer came down. 
 With its descent came a squeak from 
 the opposite end of the room, offering 
 two shillings more. 
 
 " Was ye in time, man ? " demanded 
 the auctioneer. 
 
 " Yes, and it's mine," replied a shrill 
 whisper. 
 
 "Then, ladies and gentlemen," he 
 continued, " this splendid article must 
 go up again, for justice is the motto of 
 the sale." 
 
 Up it went, and the woman's offer 
 was forthwith followed by a still higher 
 bid from the man, who seemed deter- 
 mined on having the drawers ; but she 
 was equally resolute, and advanced 
 proportionally. The contest was left 
 to the pair, and they continued to bid 
 against each other, being mutually iras- 
 cible, till the drawers rose to a price 
 considerably above that of their pris- 
 tine beauty and fashion ; then the 
 deeper voice was silenced, and the lady, 
 having the last word, was declared the 
 purchaser. 
 
 The crowd opened a way to her 
 prize ; but as she advanced, a respect- 
 able looking artizan fi-om the centre 
 exclaimed with a most rueful tone, 
 "Oh, Maggie, is it ye? Guid life, I 
 wud hae had them an hour syne at 
 thirty shillin' less ! " 
 
 Bidding* on G-irard's Old Chaise. 
 
 In front of an auction store in Phila- 
 delphia, there was exposed, at high 
 noon, a personal souvenir of old Stephen 
 Girard, long the great merchant-mil- 
 lionnaire of that city, in the shape of 
 a strong-built, antique chaise, in w^hich 
 he used to ride about in the transaction 
 of his business. As a memento of its 
 former renowned owner, its sale was 
 doubtless expected to attract great 
 
 competition ; but no one appeared to 
 be in sympathy with it or its associa- 
 tions. Occasionally a hasty glance 
 would be directed toward it by a 
 feverish broker, on his way to 'Change ; 
 and one stout countryman seated him- 
 self in it, and tried the springs. No 
 antiquarians, no lovers of Girard or 
 Mammon, no speculators appeared to 
 be present. As the day advanced, 
 however, and the imaginations of 
 people became a little awakened, in 
 justice to the mortified vanity of the 
 chaise, it may be said that considerable 
 excitement was manifested, and it was 
 momentarily expected that a committee 
 of little boys from the college, or a 
 deputation of Third-street brokers, or 
 the posterity of those whom" Girard 
 might have befriended, would be seen 
 meeting on the hallowed ground, and 
 magnanimously rivalling each other 
 by high bidding, in their eagerness to 
 obtain the cherished " vehicular." But 
 no ; the chaise was knocked down for 
 less than half its real value, the Girard 
 prestige to the contrary notwithstand- 
 ing. There is a lesson in this, for all 
 " poor-rich men." 
 
 Wager between a Stock Broker and a 
 Capitalist. 
 
 A STOCK BROKER, shortly before his 
 death, had laid a wager on parole with 
 a rich capitalist at Paris. About two 
 months after his decease, the latter 
 made his appearance at the residence 
 of the widow, and informed her that 
 her late husband had lost a bet of six- 
 teen thousand francs. Upon his pro- 
 ceeding to inquire whether she could 
 rely solely on her informant's assurance 
 that the transaction had taken place, 
 and fulfil the engagement contracted 
 by the deceased, the widow without 
 hesitation produced a book from her 
 secretary, and proceeded to count bank 
 notes to the amount of sixteen thou- 
 sand francs ; when she did so, however, 
 she was immediately interrupted by the 
 
CHANCE DEALINGS AND VENTURES. 
 
 537 
 
 capitalist : " Madam," said he, " as you 
 give such convincing proof that you 
 consider the wager binding, I have to 
 pay you sixteen thousand francs. Here 
 is the sura, for I am the loser, and not 
 your late husband." 
 
 Perils of Stock Qamblinff : "William 
 Abbott. 
 
 The late William Abbott, in his 
 " Life and Times," gives a specimen of 
 his stock-broking experience when in 
 London. It is a passage worth not- 
 ing : 
 
 " A friend of mine," says Mr. Abbott, 
 " connected with the stock exchange, 
 on one occasion pointed out to me the 
 great advantage of occasionally pur- 
 chasing five thousand consols on time, 
 knowing that I had capital unem- 
 ployed ; the certain profits were placed 
 before me in such an agreeable point 
 of view, that I could not resist the bait. 
 In the course of two days, I received a 
 check for fifty pounds, a sum by no 
 means unpleasant, considering that I 
 had not advanced one farthing. The 
 natural consequence was that I repeated 
 the dose with various success, until I 
 was ultimately well plucked. I sus- 
 tained a loss of a thousand pounds. I 
 then began to be very uneasy, until I 
 fortunately discovered that by one coup 
 I had made two hundred pounds. My 
 broker had muddled, of course, with- 
 out being able to make up his differ- 
 ences. The parties of whom I had 
 purchased, through my agent, refused 
 to pay me, as they had no knowledge 
 of a third person, and were therefore 
 considerable sufferers by the aforesaid 
 broker. I could not understand the jus- 
 tice of this measure, for I always paid 
 my losses to the moment ; so I walked 
 to Temple Bar, pulled off my hat most 
 gracefully to that venerable arch, and 
 vowed never again to pass it in the 
 pursuit of ill-gotten wealth." 
 
 Auctioneeringr in Engrlaud and America. 
 
 Auction sales of books in London 
 are not so numerously attended as in 
 the United States, and there is no noise, 
 no bustle, and rarely any disputing 
 about who bids off the books. A table, 
 some ten or twelve feet in length, is 
 placed at the foot of the auctioneer's 
 desk, around which the buyers sit or 
 stand as they prefer; the books, as 
 they are led out to the sacrifice, are 
 placed on the table for inspection, and 
 an offer being made in an ordinary tone 
 of voice, the auctioneer takes it up in 
 the same tone, repeating the bids pretty 
 much in this way : " A pound — a 
 guinea — two-and-twenty shillings — 
 three and twenty — four and twenty — 
 shall I say once more for you ? — five 
 and twenty shillings; are you all 
 done ? " etc., and a tap with his little 
 ivory hammer gives notice that the 
 victim is guillotined ; and then another 
 is brought to the block. Little or noth- 
 ing is said by the auctioneer in com- 
 mendation of his wares ; he presumes 
 that the bystanders know what they 
 came for, and allows them to act for 
 themselves. They sell more rapidly 
 than is the case in the United States. 
 In another respect, also, the usage is 
 different; the bids are made for the 
 lot, and not per volume ; and where the 
 books are of no peculiar value, fifteen 
 or twenty volumes are put up in a lot 
 — but, whether valuable or not, they 
 are never sold by the volume. It is 
 rare that the bookseller will allow a 
 book to be knocked down at less than 
 two thirds its shop price, unless it is 
 one that is wholly decried. 
 
 Allaying a Panic. 
 
 DuKiNG one of the panics which 
 overtook the trading community of the 
 city of London, a committee of bankers, 
 headed by Lord Overstone — but then 
 plain Mr. Lloyd — waited upon the 
 Chancellor of the Exchequer, and re- 
 
638 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 quested liim to authorize the Bank of 
 England to issue a few millions more 
 bank notes, such notes, as is well 
 known, being regarded by the British 
 public as the absolute equivalent of 
 specie. They urged that such an issue 
 would at once have the effect of allay- 
 ing the panic, and that, without it, most 
 of the mercantile firms must fail. 
 
 The Chancellor, a man of experience, 
 replied : " No, gentlemen ; the mer- 
 chants and private bankers must take 
 care of themselves." " Very well, my 
 lord," replied ]\Ir. Lloyd, " we shall 
 take care of ourselves. Be so good as 
 to examine that memorandum. You 
 will there perceive that our balances in 
 the Bank of England exceed the bal- 
 ance to the credit of the banking de- 
 partment by several hundred thousand 
 pounds. "We shall draw them out 
 bright and early to-morrpw morning, 
 and before night the bank will fail. 
 My lord, I have the honor to wish you 
 a very good morning." 
 
 Lord John Russell happened to be 
 in the room, and he begged the depu- 
 tation to wait a few moments, while he 
 withdrew to consult with the Chancel- 
 lor. Mr. Lloyd waited. In five min- 
 utes the Chancellor stepped forward 
 with a grim smile, and said : " Gentle- 
 men, the order in council will issue to- 
 morrow morning, and the bank will be 
 authorized to make the extra issue you 
 demand." 
 
 The deputation left ; the promise of 
 the Chancellor was kept ; the order in 
 council appeared, and the panic was 
 allayed at once. Strange to say, it was 
 not necessary to issite one of the notes au- 
 tJiorked. Confidence was restored, and 
 business went on as usual. 
 
 Selling- a Dying- Horse under the 
 Hamzner. 
 
 An auctioneer, who kept a celebrated 
 hqrse bazaar, and at which place he 
 held regular weekly sales of said ani- 
 mals, was accosted by a thorough-bred 
 
 Green Mountain Yankee one day, about 
 fifteen minutes before the commence- 
 ment of a sale, in the following manner : 
 " You ! " says the Yankee, " how do 
 you sell horses now ? " " How do I 
 sell horses now ? What do you mean ? " 
 " 'Cause I've got an almiglity smart 
 cretur I should like to sell at auction ; 
 but I shouldn't like to hove him away." 
 " Well, my friend, you bring your ani- 
 mal along; I won't give him away. 
 What do you expect to get for your 
 animal ? " " Well, if I should put him 
 up to auction, I should calkelate to 
 limit him at fifteen dollars, but you 
 might sell him for five." " For five 
 dollars ! sell him lor five ! Why what 
 kind of an animal is he ? Is he sound ? " 
 " Sound as a dollar (whispering up to 
 his ear)— I shouldn't like to warrant 
 him." "Well, well, my friend, bring 
 your horse along, and I'll see what I 
 can get for him." 
 
 Accordingly, when the fellow's horse 
 was put up, the greatest hid the auc- 
 tioneer had on him was one dollar and 
 a half. Thinking it too bad to sell the 
 animal for less than five dollars, at 
 which price he was limited, he stooped 
 down to the Yankee owner, who was 
 fidgeting at his elbow all the time, and 
 said to him : " Friend, do you wish to 
 sell this animal for only one dollar and 
 a half?" (In the auctioneer's ear:) 
 " Sell him, sir, he's dying ! " 
 
 He had not been knocked down more 
 than fifteen minutes before they led 
 him a few yards, and he fell down 
 dead. 
 
 After the sale, the Yankee came to 
 the auctioneer, saying : " Well, rather 
 bad business, that cretur's dying so. 
 Well, now you've got the money for 
 him, take out your fees, and I'll take 
 the balance." "Oh, no!" says the 
 auctioneer, " it will take all the money 
 he brought to eat up the charges." 
 " Well, I guess I got off pretty cheap— 
 I couldn't gke him away, last Tewsday." 
 
CHANCE DEALINGS AND VENTURES. 
 
 539 
 
 •' Going:— Going:— Gone I " 
 
 The difference between a person's 
 main body and a person's mere ear, 
 when tliey are respectively arrested, 
 may be said to be tliis : that, whereas 
 the former is immediately seized with 
 a violent desire to run, the latter is only 
 taken with agreeable curiosity to stop. 
 
 Accordingly, the above sounds of 
 " Going— going— gone," no sooner beat 
 upon the drum of a city pedestrian's 
 ear, than he suddenly pauses and looks 
 about to see where the blow has come 
 from, for it is but natural to turn round 
 on receiving a blow— at least to see 
 whom it is has been dealt to you by. 
 
 The dealer, on these occasions, is an 
 auctioneer, and his dealings are so open 
 to the scrutiny of the world that he 
 plies his honest vocation in a shop, the 
 front of which seems to have flown 
 away. Indeed, there is such an air of 
 openness about him and his business, 
 that you involuntarily walk in. The 
 greatest respect is shown to you as you 
 enter. Dark-looking gentlemen creep 
 backward to make room for you, and 
 the auctioneer at once appeals to your 
 judgment, in the case in hand, in the 
 most flattering manner. The boy with 
 the dirty apron and bags of sleeves, 
 
 that look as if they had been black 
 leaded, is sharply directed to " hand 
 the tray to the gentleman for his in- 
 spection." 
 
 Every little article, from a boot jack 
 downward, is held up admiringly un- 
 der your nose, as if they were bouquets 
 that only required to be sniffed to be 
 appreciated ; and the bidding, which, 
 on your entrance, was only carried on 
 in timid and fictitious whispers, breaks 
 out now into that big, confident tone, 
 which can only be inspired by some 
 fresh source of encouragement. The 
 auctioneer's manner grows twice as 
 big — his hammer knocks twice as loud. 
 You know this is all done in honor of 
 yourself, and you feel called upon to 
 do something to deserve it. A silver 
 cruet stand is being eagerly disputed 
 for (apparently) among the quack mil- 
 lionnaire purchasers present. It is 
 only twenty dollars. How remarkably 
 cheap ! It is true you do not want it, 
 and you have a long fight within your- 
 self whether you shall buy it. But the 
 worthy auctioneer sees your distress, 
 and relieves your embarrassment by 
 knocking down the cruet stand to you, 
 congratulating you, moreover, in the 
 kindness of his heart, upon " the very 
 great bargain you have got." You 
 
540 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSIXESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 take it home covetously, but only to 
 discover, alas ! that your " bargain " 
 would be dear at five shillings. 
 
 One can scarcely pass one of these 
 mock-auction establishments, that only 
 keep open house that they may the 
 easier " take in " visitors, and not walk 
 in for five minutes purposely to enjoy 
 the popular farce of Raising the Wind 
 that is being acted inside in the broad 
 daylight. The company is invariably 
 the same, having a large dash of Jews ; 
 and the Jews one meets at these auc- 
 tions are allowed by their own race to 
 be seldom particularly handsome. It 
 would almost seem, indeed, as if their 
 physiognomy, from attending such 
 places, had been made especially /or- 
 Mdding 
 
 ■♦ 
 
 Very Hopeful Investment. 
 
 The wit who put this leaf into Har- 
 pers' "Drawer" deserves a pension, 
 and a good long life to enjoy it : 
 
 " Can you give me specie for this ? " 
 
 "No." 
 
 " What can you give me ? " 
 
 " Nothing." 
 
 " Nothing ! Why ? " 
 
 " You are making * a run ' upon our 
 institution — a run, sir. This species 
 of presentation we are bound to resist. 
 Ton are trying to break us, sir— to 
 make us stop payment, sir. But you 
 can't do it, sir." 
 
 "But hamn't joM stopped payment, 
 when you refuse to redeem ? " 
 
 " No, sir. Ours is a stock institution. 
 Your ultimate security, sir, is deposited 
 with the auditor. We can't 'break,' 
 sir — we can't stop payment." 
 
 " But have you no specie on hand ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir, and we are bound to keep 
 it on hand ; the law obliges us to keep 
 twelve and one half of specie on hand. 
 If we paid it out every time one of you 
 fellows calls, how, sir, could we ' keep 
 it on hand,' according to law ? We 
 should be in a 'pretty box." 
 
 " Then I shall proceed to have the 
 note protested." 
 
 " Very well, sir, you will find a no- 
 tary public at , provided he is at 
 
 home. He lives about one hundred 
 and forty miles from here. But you'd 
 better go home, sir, and rely upon your 
 ultimate security. We canH pay specie ; 
 find it won't do— but you are ultimate- 
 ly secure." 
 
 The " ultimate security " is disregard- 
 ed, the note is protested, " without re- 
 gard to expense,^'' and the notary direct- 
 ed to prosecute the " Squash Bank at 
 Lost Prairie," to collection as soon as 
 possible. "How long, by the way," 
 asks the holder, " will it be before I 
 can expect to realize upon the ultimate 
 security of the institution? Thirty 
 days, is it not ? " 
 
 " Not quite so soon as that, sir. I 
 shall forthwith give notice to the offi- 
 cers of the Squash Bank. If they pay 
 no attention to it, I shall offer its se- 
 curities in my hands for sale ; but in 
 discharging my necessary duty to all 
 the creditors of the institution, I shall 
 not proceed to offer any of its assets in 
 this market until after at least ninety 
 days' notice in New York, London, and 
 Paris, so as to insure the largest and 
 best prices for the securities — and not 
 even then, if, in my opinion, the ulti- 
 mate interests of all concerned will be 
 promoted by a further extension I 
 Hem ! " 
 
 " But, my dear sir, how long will it 
 be before I shall be able to actually 
 realize upon my demand ? " 
 
 To this pregnant question the notary 
 replies, that " he couldn't say, indeed ; 
 it depends something on the fate of the 
 war in Europe— even now more doubt- 
 ful than ever. Still, you can rely upon 
 your ultimate security." 
 
 " Ultimate security — but I — I want 
 my money ! " 
 
 " Oh, ay, ah ! that's a different thing ! " 
 
 This was what might be termed a 
 very " hopeful " investment. 
 
CHANCE DEALINGS AND VENTURES. 
 
 541 
 
 Puror for Chartered Companies. 
 
 The following are some among the 
 many companies which applied for 
 charters, during the mercantile stock- 
 jobbing excitement which possessed 
 the minds of the English during the 
 fore part of the last century, and which 
 involved so many in the crash of finan- 
 cial ruin which followed soon after: 
 For supplying London with sea coal — 
 capital, £3,000,000 ; erecting salt works 
 in Holy Island, £2,000,000; paving 
 streets of London, £2,000,000 ; buying 
 and selling lands and lending money, 
 £5,000,000 ; carrying on the royal fish- 
 ery, £10,000,000 ; erecting loan offices, 
 £2,000,000 ; improving leasable lands, 
 £4,000,000 ; exporting woollens, £4,000,- 
 000 ; for a grand dispensary, £3,000,- 
 000 ; purchasing lead mines, £2,000,000 ; 
 importing walnut trees from Virginia, 
 £2,000,00^0; dealing in lace, holland, 
 etc., £2,000,000; trading in produce, 
 £3,000,000 ; making looking glasses, 
 etc., £2,000,000 ; paying pensions, 
 £2,000,000 ; improving malt liquors, 
 £4,000,000 ; purchasing fenny lands in 
 Lincolnshire, £2,000,000 ; insuring mas- 
 ters and mistresses all losses by servants, 
 £3,000,000 ; importing tobacco, £4,000,- 
 000 ; furnishing the cities of London 
 and Westmmster with hay and straw, 
 £3,000,000 ; erecting hospitals for ille- 
 gitimate children, £2,000,000 ; import- 
 ing beaver fur, £2,000,000. 
 
 Chronicles of the "Black Day" in 
 Xiondon. 
 
 The terrible and long-to-be-remem- 
 bered panic in London, of 1835, grow- 
 ing out of the foreign loan speculations, 
 commenced on the 21st of May. Every 
 one grew alarmed, and those who had 
 bought as a permanent investment 
 parted with all their interest at a mere 
 song. Private gentlemen, who had 
 been tempted to invest, hurried with 
 heavy hearts to their brokers, and, to 
 add to the distress, the greatest holder 
 turned " bear." 
 
 At the close of the market in the 
 evening the confusion was indescrib- 
 able. Some were rejoicing at their 
 deliverance, though suffering a large 
 loss, while others were absolutely 
 ruined. In many panics there had 
 been hope. They were known to be 
 clamors which time would rectify ; but 
 there was no hope for the holder of the 
 Spanish and Portuguese stock, which 
 had ridden over everything else in the 
 market, and now engulfed so many for- 
 tunes — it was hopeless, beyond any fu- 
 ture redemption. Every one felt as- 
 sured that no dividend could ever be 
 paid upon it; and when this was re- 
 membered, men cursed the fatuity 
 which had led them to buy waste pa- 
 per, and execrated the greediness which 
 had lured them to ruin. Those who 
 the week before possessed " securities " 
 which would have realized hundreds 
 of thousands, found themselves reduced 
 to utter bankruptcy. Brokers who 
 had kept to their legitimate business 
 were defaulters ; most who had bought 
 for time were unable to pay their dif- 
 ferences ; while sedate and respectable 
 men, who had laughed at speculation, 
 and thought themselves too sagacious 
 to be taken in by companies, had ven- 
 tured their all on the faith of foreign 
 Governments. 
 
 Establishments w^ere reduced, fami- 
 lies were ruined and scattered, delicate- 
 ly nurtured women were compelled to 
 earn their bread. Death ensued to some 
 from the shock, gaunt misery was the 
 lot of others, and frantic confusion 
 marked the money-dealers' haunts of 
 business. Almost every third man was 
 a defaulter. All foreign securities were 
 without a price; the bankers — those 
 who yet stood on their legs — refused to 
 advance money ; the brokers' checks 
 were first doubted, and then rejected — 
 nothing but bank notes would be 
 taken ; and, with a desperation which 
 will never be forgotten, the jobbers 
 closed their books, refused to transact 
 any business, and waited the result in 
 
542 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 almost abject despair. The various 
 stocks bore no price, the brokers ceased 
 to issue their lists, and the blackboard 
 was found inadequate to contain the 
 names. It was not the dark, but the 
 Hack day of the London Exchange. 
 
 Atkinson, the Eccentric Speculator. 
 
 At the close of the last century there 
 flourished in England an adventurous 
 but successful speculator, and whose 
 fortune, at the time of his death, amount- 
 ed to half a million pounds. A curious, 
 and not at all a parsimonious man, he 
 occasionally performed eccentric ac- 
 tions, but never to any one's hurt. One 
 day, during one of the brief pauses in 
 a dinner conversation, he suddenly 
 turned to a lady by whom he was sit- 
 ting, and said : " If you, madam, will 
 trust me with one thousand pounds, for 
 three years, I will employ it advantage- 
 ously." The speculating but success- 
 ful character of the speaker was famil- 
 iarly known ; the offer so frankly made 
 was as frankly accepted ; and in three 
 years, to the very day, Mr. Atkinson 
 waited on the lady with ten thousand 
 pounds, to which amount his speculat- 
 ing sagacity had enabled him to in- 
 crease the sum intrusted to him. 
 
 Our American Iiand Fever. 
 
 The years 1835 and 1836 will long 
 be remembered by the Western settler 
 — and by not a few people at the East 
 too — as the period when the madness 
 of speculation in lands had reached a 
 point to which no historian of the time 
 will ever be able to do justice. A faith- 
 ful picture of those red-hot days — the 
 first gigantic babble from which our 
 country has suffered — would subject 
 the most veracious chronicler to the 
 charge of exaggeration. The whirl, 
 the fervor, the flutter, the rapidity of 
 step, the sparkling of eyes, the beating 
 of hearts, the striking of hands, the utter 
 abandon of the hour ! The " man of one 
 
 idea " was visible everywhere ; no man 
 had two. He who had no money beg- 
 ged, borrowed, or stole it ; he who had, 
 thought he made a generous sacrifice 
 if he lent it at cent per cent. The 
 tradesman forsook his shop ; the farmer 
 his plough ; the merchant his counter ; 
 the lawyer his oflace ; the clergyman 
 his study — to join the general chase. 
 The man with one leg, or he that had 
 none, could at least get on board a 
 steamer, and make for Chicago or Mil- 
 waukie ; the strong, the able, but above 
 all, the " enterprising," set out with his 
 pocket map and his pocket compass, to 
 thread the dim woods, and see w^ith his 
 own eyes. Who would waste time in 
 planting, in building, in hammering 
 iron, in making shoes — in commerce, in 
 stocks — when the path of wealth lay 
 wide and flowery before him ? 
 
 A ditcher was hired by the job to do 
 a certain piece of work in his line. 
 " Well, John, did you make anything ? " 
 " Pretty well ; I cleared about ten dol- 
 lars a day, but I could have made more 
 by standing round " — i. e., watching the 
 land market for bargains. 
 
 The host of travellers on their West- 
 ern speculating tours met with many 
 difficulties, as might be supposed. a 
 Such searching of trees for town lines ! "]■ 
 Such ransacking of the woods for sec- 
 tion corners, ranges, and base lines ! 
 Such anxious care in identifying spots 
 possessing particular advantages ! And 
 then, alas I after all, such precious 
 blunders. These blunders called into 
 action another class of operators, who 
 became popularly known as "land 
 lookers." These were plentiful at every 
 turn, ready to furnish " water power," 
 " pine lots," or anything else, at a mo- 
 ment's notice. It was impossible to 
 mention any part of the country which 
 they^ had not " personally surveyed." 
 They would tell you, with the gravity 
 of astrologers, what sort of timber pre- 
 dominated on any given tract, draw- 
 ing sage deductions as to the capabili- 
 ties of the soil ! Did you incline to city 
 
CHANCE DEALINGS AND VENTURES. 
 
 543 
 
 property ? Lo ! a splendid chart, set- 
 ting forth the advantages of some un- 
 equalled site, and your confidential 
 friend, the land looker, able to tell you 
 more than all about it, or to accom- 
 pany you to the happy spot — though 
 tJiat he "would not admire," on ac- 
 count of bad roads, nothing fit to eat, 
 etc. — all from a purely disinterested 
 solicitude for your welfare. 
 
 Mr. Barker's Auction Watch, and 
 wliat it broug-ht him. 
 
 When Jacob Barker was quite young, 
 he visited New York for the purj)ose 
 of obtaining a situation in some com- 
 mercial house, through the efforts of 
 his brother Abraham. While thus 
 waiting, he attended street auctions 
 and other places of novelty to him. At 
 one of those auctions, regardless of the 
 admonition often heard from his se- 
 niors, to avoid dealing in old watches 
 and old horses, he was tempted to bid 
 twenty dollars for a gold watch ; it was 
 immediately struck off to him, when he 
 supposed he had been taken in. It 
 proved otherwise ; for he parted with 
 it at a smart profit, shortly after enter- 
 ing the counting house of Mr. Hicks. 
 The circumstances of this trade with an 
 auction-bought watch were as follows : 
 
 One day, Jacob was sent to Meszrs. 
 James & Samuel Watson, an extensive 
 commission house on Front street, by 
 Mr. Hicks, for a note for sperm can- 
 dles sold them. Those extensive mer- 
 chants playfully proposed to this small 
 boy a sale of shipbread, saying that 
 his fellow clerk, Mr. Samuel Hicks, 
 often purchased the article of them in 
 exchange for liver oil, for which article 
 they frequently had orders from Vir- 
 ginia, and with which bread he sup- 
 plied the ships consigned to Mr. Hicks 
 to profit. Jacob replied that he had 
 not any money wherewith to pay for 
 bread ; they proposed to give him 
 credit — a confidence doubtless arising 
 from his being in the employ of Mr. 
 
 Hicks. He thanked them, saying he 
 dared not incur a debt — a squeaniishness 
 which did not last long— adding that 
 he had not any liver oil, indeed notliing 
 but a gold watch, which he should like 
 to barter for bread. They asked to see 
 the watch, which being exhibited, and 
 the price named, payable in shipbread, 
 they proposed to have it left, and they 
 would decide in the morning, if he 
 would call when he went to the post 
 office for letters; to this he assented, 
 saying, " You wish to have it examined 
 by a watchmaker ; I have had that 
 service performed, and know the watch 
 to be good." 
 
 He called in the morning, when the 
 Messrs. Watson agreed to keep the 
 watch on the terms proposed by the 
 boy from Nantucket. And now the 
 next object with Jacob was to find a 
 market for his bread. He was sent by 
 his employer to collect a note for cod- 
 fish sold Thomas Knox, a merchant 
 doing business on Wall street. Inquiry 
 was made of Mr. Knox if he did not 
 w^ish to purchase some shipbread as 
 stores for the vessel on board which the 
 fish had been sent ; the reply was, that 
 the stores were all on board, but that 
 he had an order for three hundred bar- 
 rels of bread for a ship which was un- 
 dergoing repairs at the shipyard, which 
 would be wanted in about three weeks, 
 and inquired of the lad at what price 
 he would furnish that quantity. He 
 had but ten barrels ; his reply was, that 
 he would go for and immediately bring 
 a sample, with the information re- 
 quired, for which he repaired to the 
 store of the Messrs. Watson. They ex- 
 pressed a great disposition to sell ; said 
 it was a consignment which had been 
 long on hand, therefore they would 
 sell cheap. A conditional bargain was 
 made, they to take Mr. Knox's note at 
 four months, without Barker's endorse- 
 ment, if he could not get it at a shorter 
 period. 
 
 A sample of the bread was taken to 
 Mr. Knox, the price named on a credit 
 
544 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 of sixty days ; an answer vpas promised 
 the next morning, for which Barker 
 was punctual to call, when he was in- 
 formed that John Hyslop, an extensive 
 baker, asked the same price for the 
 same quality of bread, on a credit of 
 ninety days, Mr. Knox remarking, " You 
 are a pleasant little fellow, and if you 
 will allow the same credit, I will take 
 the bread of you." This being agreed 
 to, Barker observed that he "should 
 like to have a memorandum to that 
 effect." Knox smiled, gave the memo- 
 randum of the agreement, taking an or- 
 der on the Messrs. Watson for the 
 bread ; when delivered, a note was 
 drawn for the amount due them, and, 
 as a matter of accommodation, Mr. 
 Knox paid the balance in cash. 
 
 Barker thus turned his watch into 
 more money than he gave for it, and 
 made one hundred and twenty-five dol- 
 lars profit on the bread. When the 
 sickly season came on, he had leave of 
 absence, visited Ballston, purchased a 
 horse, on which he travelled to New 
 Bedford, swapped the horse for crude 
 sperm oil, had the oil refined and sent 
 to New York, where it yielded double 
 the cost of the horse — which termi- 
 nated Jacob's auction traffic in old 
 horses and old watches. 
 
 Selling- the Gem of the Collection. 
 
 " Gentlemen, I most particularly 
 call your attention to this lot, which 
 cost my employer an immense sum. 
 He alvv^ays esteemed it the gem of his 
 collection. A finer work of this great 
 master cannot be seen, and in such a 
 state of purity ; often and often has he 
 refused five hundred guineas for this 
 masterpiece, which I am now submit- 
 ting entirely to your hands ; you will 
 have it at yoar own price — there is no 
 reserve. Gentlemen, give me a bid- 
 ding; shall I begin at four hundred 
 guineas ? " 
 
 No answer — a pause. " Well I am 
 astonished. Gentlemen, do look again ! 
 
 I shall be ashamed to give an account 
 of this to my employer. I fully ex- 
 pected for such a treasure of art to 
 obtain a great sum. Say two hundred 
 guineas — one hundred guineas — well, 
 anything you please: I am in your 
 hands, there is no reserve ! " 
 
 Upon this, the real owner of the pic- 
 ture, who is a dealer, left his seat, took 
 out his eyeglass, advanced to the easel 
 upon which the picture was placed, 
 and bended down on one knee the 
 more closely to scrutinize his own 
 property. The auction room, in wiiich 
 this scene took place, has a low ceiling, 
 and but indifferent light. The owner 
 played this art of attitudinizing and 
 viewing with wondi'ous dramatic effect ; 
 and, in a voice pregnant with affect- 
 ed suqjrise and anxiety, he bid thirty 
 guineas. The auctioneer already had 
 his cue. " Well, I am astonished ! 
 thirty guineas for such a recTierche gem ! 
 You must be joking with me, gentle- 
 men ! — you canH be serious." Forty 
 guineas are now offered by a confed- 
 erate, which in turn is eagerly bid on 
 by the owner at forty-five guineas. 
 This dalliance was carried on by the 
 auctioneer, the owner, and the confed- 
 erate, interspersed with a deal of by 
 play and mysterious nods and whisper- 
 ings, until a stranger present was be- 
 guiled into an offer of seventy guineas, 
 when the owner of the picture shut up 
 his eyeglass and coolly turned his back 
 to the auctioneer— a telegraphic signal 
 understood by the wdiole party that 
 the right victim was entrapped. 
 
 As the picture in question w^as thus, 
 of course, knocked down to a pur- 
 chaser, it may be of interest to state, 
 that it was bought by the dealer some 
 time before, at a sale of imported rub- 
 bish, for twenty-five shillings; was 
 lined, the dirt rubbed off, one unsatis- 
 factory figure obliterated, and the heads 
 of the figures altered. A poor but 
 cleverish artist did all this for the pit- 
 tance of thirty shillings. 
 
 That night, the health of said pur- 
 
CHANCE DEALINGS AND VENTURES. 
 
 545 
 
 chaser of " masterpieces " was gayly 
 toasted — a few bottle of extra " Pine 
 Apple " brand being broken on the oc- 
 casion. 
 
 South Sea Schemes. 
 
 The South Sea delusion had its date 
 in 1720, and, were it not, in its conse- 
 quences, so full of the materials that 
 make tragedy, it might have been rep- 
 resented on the stage as an admirable 
 farce. It was commenced in 1710, and 
 was remarkable for the wild excitement 
 which attended its operations. The 
 pretence for the scheme was to dis- 
 charge the national debt by reducing 
 all the funds into one. It was favored 
 by the Government, and large pre- 
 miums were paid for the refusal of the 
 stock at high prices. Some of the di- 
 rectors were created baronets for " their 
 great services," and all kinds of artifice 
 and exaggeration were resorted to, to 
 maintain the inflation of prices. Fifty 
 per cent, was confidently predicted ; 
 inestimable markets and valuable ac- 
 quisitions in the South Seas were prom- 
 ised ; and mines of hidden treasure 
 mysteriously alluded to by the agents 
 of the scheme. 'Change Alley was 
 crowded with peers of the realm, who 
 forgot their pride ; country gentlemen, 
 who forsook their homes ; clergymen, 
 who disregarded the sobriety of their 
 calling; and ladies, who forgot their 
 natural timidity, in the hope of making 
 money. The monarch was said to have 
 profited by it. His ill-favored German 
 mistresses made great fortunes and sent 
 them over to Hanover. One of the 
 journals of that time says : " Our South 
 Sea equipages increase eveiy day ; the 
 city ladies buy South Sea jewels, hire 
 South Sea maids, take new country 
 South Sea horses; the gentlemen set 
 up South Sea coaches, and buy South 
 Sea estates — they neither examine the 
 situation, the nature or quality of the 
 soil, or price of the purchase, only the 
 annual rent and the title — for the rest, 
 35 
 
 they take all by the lump, and pay 
 forty or fifty years' purchase." All the 
 anticipations indulged in respecting 
 this scheme, were in spite of the fact 
 that it promised no commercial advan- 
 tages of importance, and was buoyed 
 up by nothing but the folly and rapaci- 
 ty of individuals. 
 
 Stock-Jobbing: Bubbles— Commercial 
 Lunacy. 
 
 Such was the absurd enthusiasm in 
 speculation in England, in the early 
 part of the last century, that new 
 *' companies " started up almost every 
 day. One of the London papers thus 
 alludes to these events : " The hurry 
 of our stock-jobbing bubblers has been 
 so great this week that it has exceeded 
 all that was ever known. There has 
 been nothing but running about from 
 one coffee house to another, and from 
 one tavern to another, to subscribe^ with- 
 out examining what the proposals were. 
 The general cry has been, ' For G — '5 
 saTce^ let us hut subscribe to something ; we 
 don't care what it is? So that, in short, 
 many have taken them at their words, 
 and entered them adventurers in some 
 of the greatest cheats and improbable 
 undertakings that ever the world heard 
 of." 
 
 Among these, was a " company for 
 carrying on an undertaking of great 
 advantage, but nobody to know what 
 it is ; every subscriber who deposits 
 two pounds per share to be entitled 
 to one hundred pounds per annum." 
 Even this insolently audacious attempt 
 on the credulity of the nation succeed- 
 ed ; and, when the arch rogue opened 
 his shop, the house was besieged with 
 applicants. In five hours, two thou- 
 sand pounds were deposited in the 
 hands of the projector, and from that 
 day he ceased to be discoverable in 
 England. Projects like these enlisted 
 the lowest with the highest. On some 
 sixpence, and on others one shilling 
 per cent, was paid ; and, as no capital 
 
546 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 was thus required, the comparative 
 beggar might indulge in the same ad- 
 venturous gambling, and enjoy the 
 same bright castles in the air which 
 marked the dreams of the rich and the 
 great. Some came so low as to ask 
 only one shilling deposit on every thou- 
 sand pounds. Persons of quality, of 
 both sexes, were engaged in these. 
 Avarice triumphed over all social dis- 
 tinctions ; gentlemen met their brokers 
 at taverns — ladies at their milliners' 
 shops. The perquisites of the projectors 
 were so great that they wore dresses of 
 gold and lace, and answered, when re- 
 monstrated with, that " if they did not 
 put gold on their clothes, they could 
 not make away with half their earn- 
 ings." __^_ 
 
 Peruvian Loan Infatuation. 
 
 The desire to invest in foreign loans, 
 on the part of English capitalists, has 
 sometimes amounted to a mania. The 
 way in which the Peruvian loan was 
 arranged, together with the circum- 
 stances which attended it, is a fa- 
 mous illustration in point. No sooner 
 was it understood that the State of 
 Peru had consented to borrow, than the 
 utmost anxiety prevailed to lend. The 
 ostensible contractor was overwhelmed 
 with applications. The reply was, that 
 he would dispose of the scrip in the 
 open market. At the time appointed, 
 a crowd of speculators surrounded him, 
 begging to know terms, and pressing 
 for an early delivery. All voices were 
 lost in the confusion, and the agent 
 calmly waited the bidding of the eager 
 multitude. 
 
 Various prices were vociferated, but 
 the contractor maintained a reserved si- 
 lence. By this it was understood that the 
 point desired was not reached. After a 
 pause, eighty-eight was named by him. 
 This was known to be a premium of eight 
 per cent, on the contracting price, and 
 a storm of indignation arose at the 
 idea of any one, but the assembly, 
 making so large a profit. " Shame, 
 
 shame ! " " Gross extortion ! " met the 
 contractor's ears. Still there was an 
 eager pressure to get near him, and 
 those who could approach sufficiently 
 close considered themselves fortunate 
 in taking sums vai7ing from five thou- 
 sand to ten thousand pounds. The 
 practical reception of his terms ap- 
 peared so satisfactory that the contrac- 
 tor soon advanced the price to eighty- 
 nine, on which he was once more met 
 with the same expressive language. 
 Again, however, his acuteness proved 
 correct, and some of the scrip was 
 taken at the increased rate. The noise 
 became so great, and the confusion so 
 excessive, that few could be supplied ; 
 and though many applications were 
 made, there was no answer. The at- 
 tention of the crowd was soon diverted 
 by the offer of a broker to supply the 
 scrip at eighty-eight. 
 
 The speculator w^as taken at his 
 word, and very large amounts were 
 sold. By this time the news had reach- 
 ed the Stock Exchange ; and in a short 
 period a considerable number of the 
 members had assembled, and, pressing 
 round the contractor with great indig- 
 nation, moved him and his agents from 
 one part of the edifice to another. The 
 crowd soon became so exasperated, that 
 they forced them out of the building. 
 A desperate struggle followed, and at 
 last they were allowed to reenter. Be- 
 ing tumultuously called upon to name 
 a price, one of them mentioned ninety 
 as the minimum. Soon after this they 
 left; with their departure the mania 
 appeared to subside ; and many of the 
 purchasers, fancying their bargains 
 were imprudent, actually sold on the 
 spot at a lower price than they had 
 given. Such was the anxiety to obtain 
 a portion of the loan to Peru, a loan 
 which now bears no interest whatever. 
 
 Satire on Speculation. , 
 In a satirical novel, the writer pro- 
 poses the prospectus of a company to 
 
CHANCE DEALINGS AND VENTURES. 
 
 547 
 
 drain the Red Sea in search of the 
 gold and jewels left by the Egyptians 
 in their passage after the Israelites. 
 Another bubble to be projected is call- 
 ed " The Gold, Wine, and Olive Joint- 
 Stock Company," one of the characters 
 of which is represented as saying to 
 some honest verdant : " Why, you talk 
 as if we had any real business to trans- 
 act. All we have to do is to puff our 
 shares up to a premium, humbug the 
 public into buying them, and then let 
 the whole concern go to ruin." 
 
 Paterson and His Darien Expedition. 
 
 William Paterson, the merchant 
 statesman, was the soul of the renown- 
 ed Darien Expedition. On visiting the 
 West India Islands, he made himself 
 thoroughly acquainted with the capa- 
 bilities of the Isthmus of Darien, better 
 known as the Isthmus of Panama. 
 This place, which is between Mexico 
 and Peru, is within six weeks' sail of 
 most parts of Europe, the East Indies, 
 and a part of China — one of the best 
 situations for a colony from a trading 
 and manufacturing country on the face 
 of the earth. He first proposed the 
 plan to the English, and then to other 
 European people, all unsuccessfully. 
 Finally, taking advantage of the hatred 
 between England and Scotland, he 
 brought it plausibly before the latter, 
 the people of which country, anxious 
 to participate in advantages similar to 
 those enjoyed by the East India Com- 
 pany of England, warmly countenanced 
 the project. Indeed, the prospect of 
 sharing in the profits of another East 
 India Company stirred all the accu- 
 mulative propensities of human na- 
 ture ; and the every thought of a nation 
 remarkable for an absence of undue 
 speculation, seemed now embarked in 
 a scheme which promised universal 
 riches. 
 
 The frenzy of the Scotch nation to 
 sign " the solemn league and covenant," 
 never exceeded the rapidity with which 
 
 they ran to subscribe to the Darien 
 Company. The nobility, the gentry, 
 the merchants, the people, the royal 
 burghs, without the exception of one, 
 and most of the other public bodies, 
 subscribed. Young women threw their 
 little fortunes into the stock ; widows 
 sold their jointures to get command of 
 money for the same purpose. Four 
 hundred thousand pounds — half the 
 cash in Scotland — was subscribed, and 
 to this, England added three hundred 
 thousand, and Hamburg and Holland 
 two hundred thousand more. Twelve 
 hundred persons sailed in five vessels 
 from Leith ; and those who had been 
 refused for want of room, hid them- i 
 selves in the ships, and clung to the 
 ropes and timbers, imploring the liber- 
 ty to go. They set sail in July and ar- 
 rived at their destination in September, 
 where they purchased land of the In- 
 dian possessors, proclaimed freedom of 
 faith and trade to all ; built a fort, es- 
 tablished a station, and commenced 
 labor in earnest. Upon many a fair 
 summer's eve did the companions of 
 Paterson find themselves on the sum- 
 mit of the loftiest peak, gazing through 
 the clear air of that fine climate to- 
 ward the bleak mountains of their 
 northern home. In the watch tower 
 which they had built upon a mountain 
 a mile above the surface of the sea, 
 they often sat, enjoying the beautiful 
 air and speculating upon their future 
 prospects. 
 
 The first letters written from the 
 colony were fired with enthusiasm — the 
 wealth, fruitfulness, etc., of the situa- 
 tion — the abundant resources of hunt- 
 ing, fowling, fishing — these were the 
 themes. One river was named the 
 Golden River ; another place was called 
 the Golden Island. But, unhappily, 
 by and by their stock of provisions 
 ran low, making them dependent on 
 Indian hospitality for their necessities. 
 Summer brought disease; provisions 
 grew scarcer ; the other colonists were 
 forbidden to trade with them. Thus, 
 
548 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 with their numbers daily diminishing 
 beneath the tropical sun, the bold Scots 
 began to shrink from the dangers they 
 had dared. The fort -was soon after 
 attacked by the Spaniards and com- 
 pelled to surrender, and thus, his colony 
 ■weakened and famished, Paterson saw, 
 with anguish almost inexpressible, the 
 failure of his cherished scheme and the 
 call for a speedy departure. Thirty 
 only of those who left the pier of Leith 
 with such bounding ambition, again 
 set foot on their native soil. The pro- 
 jector, though seized with derange- 
 ment on the voyage, and more like a 
 skeleton than a man, was one of them. 
 Not a family in Scotland escaped. In 
 cash or kindred all suffered. It was a 
 national calamity, which fell alike on 
 peer and peasant. That it was not the 
 mere dream of a speculative enthusiast, 
 is certain from the interest taken in 
 discouraging it. That it was eminent- 
 ly practical, is almost proved from a 
 people so cautious as the Scotch ad- 
 venturing so freely. The mere fact that 
 Paterson embarked in it, if not a direct 
 evidence in its favor, is at least a direct 
 proof of his faith in its practicability. 
 Paterson survived many years in Scot- 
 land, pitied, respected, but neglected. 
 
 "Old Dig-by" at an Auction Sale. 
 
 " Old Digby " was an English mil- 
 lionnaire, noted for his extreme penury 
 combined with unaffected kindness of 
 manner in dealing, so that he never ad- 
 vanced his rents, no matter how easy 
 the opportunity. He was frequently to 
 be seen dressing scabbed sheep, pick- 
 ing up sticks, locks of wool, cabbage 
 leaves, etc. ; and when he died there 
 was found a heap of stones, or coggles, 
 upon his premises, which are said to 
 have been carried there, by a few at a 
 time, in his own pockets — a part of his 
 " gains." 
 
 It happened, on a certain time, that 
 a very considerable estate was to be 
 sold at auction, in the southern part of 
 
 the kingdom. Mr. Digby attended the 
 sale, in a dress of ludicrously small val- 
 ue, and the auction room was crowded 
 with persons of the first distinction ; 
 of course such a curious-looking stran- 
 ger caused many side looks and sneer- 
 ing whispers, and some, supposing the 
 old Hunks could have but little busi- 
 ness there, teasingly asked him if he 
 knew the conditions of sale ? He, not 
 at all put by at such treatment, said 
 he should be glad to hear them read — 
 they were read, and business proceeded 
 with. 
 
 Mr. Digby was silent until the estate 
 got up to forty thousand pounds ; he 
 then bid ! and the whole assembly 
 stared with amazement. The biddings 
 went on briskly for a time ; but his 
 competitors imagining, perhaps, that 
 he could not make good the engage- 
 ment, and that there would be a re- 
 sale, dropped the contest, and the estate 
 was knocked down to Mr. D. at forty- 
 five thousand pounds. Being directly 
 called upon for the deposit, he said: 
 " You shall have it, gentlemen, imme- 
 diately, and the money for the whole 
 estate to-morrow, if you can make it 
 safely over to me at that time." He 
 then took out his pocket book and 
 gave a draft at sight on his banker for 
 the sum required. Mr. Digby died 
 worth one million dollars. 
 
 Scenes at a Turkish Auction. 
 
 The Turkish auctioneer is by no 
 means so august and consequential a 
 person as in America. Sometimes before 
 one has time to sit down and light a 
 cigar, he will have returned three times 
 from a sally to sell the same cracked 
 pipkin, and three times have been 
 thrust back by the scuff of the neck 
 for not having obtained a reasonable 
 offer for it. Somebody in the auction 
 shed bids for it at last, and the de- 
 lighted auctioneer, with a most villan- 
 ous wink, is preparing to hand over his 
 unsalable pipkin to the somebody in 
 
CHANCE DEALINGS AND VENTURES. 
 
 549 
 
 question, when, whack ! the same re- 
 morseless knuckles, as usual, are thrust 
 between the collar of his shirt and the 
 nape of his neck. Thus goaded, he 
 makes another excited bolt out of the 
 shed, and, next moment, is heard shout- 
 ing the praises of the cracked pipkin 
 again, in the same furious manner as be- 
 fore. The somebody who was disposed 
 to purchase — one not broken in at auc- 
 tion — looks rather disconcerted ; but 
 nobody else pays any further attention 
 to the proceedings for the present. In 
 fact, all seem to be rather glad than 
 otherwise, to have got rid of the auc- 
 tioneer, probably in the hope that the 
 festive occasion may be prolonged until 
 a later hour. So they sit down, light 
 their cigars, and talk over the news. 
 Presently the auctioneer returns. While 
 the majority of his customers are wran- 
 gling, he has slyly disposed of the pip- 
 kin to the somebody who first bid for 
 it — his roguish wink to the purchaser 
 rather signifying that he should expect 
 a con-si-de-ra-tion for himself at a con- 
 venient season. After this sale of the 
 pipkin — the only thing thus far dis- 
 posed of— the auctioneer desires a little 
 rejjose, and, squatting eross-legged on 
 the bankrupt's counter, joins in the 
 general discourse. The whole com- 
 pany heedlessly forget why they as- 
 sembled together, and idle away their 
 time until it is necessary to disperse, 
 and the auction continues at some fu- 
 ture day. 
 
 Trade between Flywheel and 
 Singecat. 
 
 Flywheel was an acute trader — so, 
 at least, he thought himself — whose 
 forte was dealing in patent rights. Af- 
 ter some years of itinerant vending, he 
 conceived the design of exchanging 
 the remainder of his " inventions " for 
 a nice little farm, on which he might 
 crown a youth of labor with an age of 
 ease ; and, when not busy expatiating 
 upon the merits of improved boot jacks 
 or baby jumpers, he would often, by 
 
 anticipation, enjoy the comforts of 
 such a possession. 
 
 One day he met with an innocent- 
 looking farmer from New Hampshire, 
 who intimated his willingness to change 
 his occupation, if he could obtain an 
 equivalent for his farm, which he de- 
 scribed as high land in a wholesome 
 locality, with other apparently attract- 
 ive qualities. " In short," said Mr. 
 Singecat, the owner, " a man might 
 raise anything on it." 
 
 Now, thought Flywheel, if I can only 
 induce my friend to go into the patent 
 line, and get him to take my stock of 
 documents and models in exchange for 
 his place, it will be a glorious trade. 
 So, suggesting the subject in his most 
 j^ersuasive manner, dwelling strongly 
 upon " the profits of the business to a 
 thorough-going man, which," said he, 
 insinuatingly, " I perceive you are, Mr. 
 Singecat," and earnestly declaring that 
 nothing but a desire to retire to a coun- 
 try life would tempt him to propose 
 such a sacrifice of his own articles— his 
 talk and chat, after considerable chaf- 
 fering about " boot," etc., were effect- 
 ive, and a barter was concluded. 
 
 Now, Flywheel valued himself as an 
 infallible physiognomist, and knew he 
 could tell an honest man at first sight ; 
 therefore, waiving the delay necessary 
 for an examination of the title and 
 property, the respective transfers were 
 immediately made, when, pocketing 
 his deed, he went home well pleased at 
 having done such a " good thing." Of 
 course, he told a few friendly neighbors 
 all about it, not omitting some self- 
 complacent remarks relative to the cut- 
 ting of eye teeth, concerning a man be- 
 ing posted, and so forth. By and by 
 he set out to see his new homestead ; 
 but soon returned with, it was observ- 
 ed, a diminished fiow of spirits. Time 
 passed ; and as he had not moved to his 
 " country seat," but had, instead, quite 
 subsided upon the topic of agriculture, 
 which had hitljerto been his special 
 theme, his friends began to ask the rea- 
 
550 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 son why. At last he yielded to their 
 importunity, and thus confessed : 
 
 " Well, gentlemen, I hired a guide to 
 point it out to me, and went to look at 
 my ' estate.' The approach to the 
 premises was rather rough, but roman- 
 tic. At length we reached a spot com- 
 prising less than a hundred acres of 
 barren heights, almost inaccessible to a 
 goat — and this was the farm ! Nearly 
 a perpendicular one, sirs. Egad, I 
 needed a long ladder with which to 
 get on my own ground ! 
 
 " After dolefully viewing the ' crops ' 
 — of stone, alas ! which completely 
 clothed the prolific soil — slightly mor- 
 alizing upon the folly of buying ' a pig 
 in a poke,' and estimating the money 
 value of what I had given for this ele- 
 vated tract, I recalled Singecat's say- 
 ing, when, with seeming reluctance, he 
 agreed to a trade, that ' a man might 
 raise anything on it ! ' And, upon re- 
 flection, I had to admit that, even sup- 
 posing superphosphates were power- 
 less, and Archimedes' lever unattain- 
 able, still a man might, at least upon a 
 pinch, if his talent were only fair, as he 
 himself had done, cunningly ' raise the 
 wind ! ' " 
 
 The moral of Flywheel's experience 
 is, that we should never be too anxious 
 to " go it blind " in any transaction. 
 
 Mock-Auction *' Capitalists." 
 
 Among the very select company pe- 
 culiar to a mock-auction establishment, 
 there is one character that always takes 
 the leading business, and remarkably 
 well he performs it. He may be called 
 the capitalist of the concern, and 
 though he spends hundreds every busi- 
 ness day, he is not known ever to ar- 
 rive at the end of his capital. The 
 amount that prodigal man must spend 
 every year would infallibly drive Roths- 
 child into the workhouse. 
 
 Nothing is too good or too common 
 — too expensive or too cheap^for him. 
 One minute he will buy " silver " can- 
 
 delabra, the next a "gold" thimble. 
 In the morning he will add a five-hun- 
 dred-dollar dressing case to his enor- 
 mous property, and in the afternoon 
 amuse himself by bidding a shilling for 
 a little trumpery penknife. He must 
 thus have somewhere between forty- 
 nine and fifty million penknives, for 
 one article alone ! 
 
 But the articles he has the greatest 
 hankering for are evidently razors, and 
 yet, to look at his unshorn beard, no 
 one would imagine that he ever 
 "shaved," from one month to another. 
 The hairs stick out on his chin like the 
 wires in a musical snufi'-box. It is most 
 amusing to watch him when the razors 
 are handed round. He will snatch one 
 off the tray, draw the edge across his 
 nail, breathe upon it, then hold it up 
 to the light, and, after wiping it in the 
 gentlest manner upon the cuff of his 
 coat, bid for it as ravenously as though 
 he had seen it only a thousand times 
 before, and as if he would not lose the 
 rare article for all the wealth of the 
 Indus. He has clearly a mania for the 
 article that works the keenest " shave." 
 
 What he does with all the wares he 
 buys it would be difficult to tell — cer- 
 tainly no one place would be large 
 enough to contain all the rubbish of 
 which he has been the " purchaser " for 
 years past. His collection of bureaus 
 alone would cover a Western prairie, 
 and he must possess by this time more 
 dumb waiters than there are real wait- 
 ers in the whole country. The number 
 of bootjacks, too, which he must have 
 " upon his hands," would have crushed 
 any other man long ago. 
 
 Good Speculation Lost in Chicagro 
 Liands. 
 
 In the summer of 1839, happening to 
 be in Chicago, 111., Dr. Humphrey, of 
 Amherst, Mass., bought two small lots 
 of land, at the going rate, and sold 
 them seven or eight years after, for 
 twenty-five hundred dollars, which was 
 
CHANCE DEALINGS AND VENTURES. 
 
 551 
 
 thought to be a fair price. "Now," 
 said the doctor, writing of his experi- 
 ence in the matter, " the New Rich- 
 mond Hotel, one of the first in Chica- 
 go, stands on the same ground, which 
 I am assured would, if I had kept it to 
 this time, have brought me eighty- 
 thousand dollars. So you see how nar- 
 rowly I escaped being a rich man, and 
 rearing my boys, had they been young, 
 to rely upon my fortune, and not upon 
 their own industry, economy, and good 
 behavior. I slept upon the premises 
 last night, at a fair hotel charge, and 
 without being kept awake one moment 
 in thinking of what I had lost. I had ex- 
 cellent accommodations, and what could 
 I ask for more ? If the children of the 
 proprietor, who bought the land of me 
 (if he has any), escape with the great 
 fortune as safely as mine have done 
 without it, it will be an exception to 
 the general experience of wealthy fam- 
 ilies." 
 
 Caricature of Comraercial Speculation. 
 
 There is presented in a French work 
 — " Memoires de la Regence " — a fac- 
 simile of an ancient caricature of com- 
 mercial speculation, representing the 
 " Goddess of Shares " in her triumphal 
 car, driven by the " Goddess of Folly." 
 Those who are drawing the car are im- 
 personations of the Mississippi, with 
 his wooden leg, the South Sea, the Bank 
 of England, the Company of the West 
 of Senegal, and of various assurance 
 schemes. Lest this car should not roll 
 fast enough, the agents of these com- 
 panies, known by their long foxtails 
 and their cunning looks, turn round 
 the spokes of the wheels, upon which 
 are marked the names of the several 
 stocks and their value, sometimes high 
 and sometimes low, according to the 
 turns of the wheel. Upon the ground 
 are the merchandise, day books and 
 ledgers of legitimate commerce, crushed 
 under the chariot of Folly. Behind is 
 an immense crowd of persons, of all 
 
 ages, sexes, and conditions, clamoring 
 after Fortune, and fighting with each 
 other to get a portion of the shares 
 which she distributes so bountifully 
 among them. In the clouds sits a 
 demon, blowing bubbles of soap, which 
 are also the objects of the admiration 
 and cupidity of the crowd, who jump 
 upon one another's backs, to reach 
 them ere they burst. Right in the 
 pathway of the car, and blocking up 
 the passage, stands a large building, 
 with three doors, through one of which 
 it must pass, if it proceeds farther, and 
 all the crowd along with it. Over the 
 first door are the words " Hopital dea 
 Foux ; " over the second, " Hopital des 
 Malades ; " and over the third, " Hopi 
 tal des Gueux." 
 
 Dutchman's Gold in a Safe Place at 
 Last. 
 
 Everybody will remember the star- 
 tling money panic they had at San 
 Francisco some years ago, and the 
 story " John Phoenix " used to tell of 
 its eflFects — individually illustrated. Be- 
 fore the fright, an old Dutchman, by 
 dint of hard labor, had accumulated 
 some five hundred dollars, which he 
 cautiously deposited in one of the 
 banking houses for safe keeping. Ru- 
 mor soon came to his ears that they 
 were not very safe — some said that they 
 had " broke." Next morning he trem- 
 blingly drew his balance, and put the 
 shining gold into his pocket. He 
 breathed decidedly freer, but here was 
 a dilemma. What should he do with 
 it ? He did not dare to keep it in his 
 shanty — and as for carrying it about 
 with him, 'twas too precious heavy. 
 So, after a sleepless night or two, in 
 constant apprehension of burglars, he 
 deposited it in another " banking 
 office." Another day — the panic in- 
 creased — there was a run on his bank 
 —he pushed in— drew his gold — and 
 felt easier once more. Another anxious 
 day and night for his " monish," and 
 again it was deposited in a mfe bank. 
 
652 
 
 COMMERCIAL AXD BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 This time lie felt safer than ever before, 
 and went quietly to his work. But the 
 panic reached that bank, and anxious 
 depositors besieged the doors. Myn- 
 heer heard the news, and put post 
 haste, book in hand, for the scene of 
 action — jammed in with the crowd — 
 drew his gold, new and bright — put it 
 safe in his corduroys — and was happy 
 once more ; but here was the dilemma 
 fresh again — where to put it ! He had 
 gone pretty much the rounds of the 
 banks, and having had such narrow es- 
 capes, couldn't and wouldn't trust them 
 any more. He sat down on a curb 
 stone, and soliloquized thus : " I put 
 mine monish in von bank, ven he 
 preak; I put him in de oder bank, 
 ven he preak too ; I draw him out ; I 
 can no keep him home ; I put him into 
 dis bank, now dis one preak; vat te 
 tuvil shall I do ? I now take him home 
 and sew him up in my frow's petticoat, 
 and if she preakes, I preakes — her 
 head I" 
 
 Bidding- and Winking at Auctions. 
 
 Smith, the auctioneer, is a popular 
 man, a wit, and a gentleman. No per- 
 son is offended at what he says, and 
 many a hearty laugh has he provoked 
 by his humorous sayings. He was re- 
 cently engaged in a sale of venerable 
 household furniture and " fixings." He 
 had just got to " going, and half, a 
 half, going ! " when he saw a smiling 
 countenance, upon agricultural shoul- 
 ders, wink at him. A wink is always 
 as good as a nod to a blind horse or 
 a keen-sighted auctioneer; so Smith 
 winked, and they kept " going, going, 
 going ! " with a lot of glassware, stove 
 pipes, carpets, pots, and perfumery, and 
 finally this lot was knocked down. 
 " To — whom ? " said Smith, gazing at 
 the smiling stranger. " Who ? heigh ! " 
 said the stranger, " I don't know who." 
 " Why, you, sir," said Smith. " Who ? 
 me ? " " Yes, yes ; you bid on the lot," 
 said Smith. " Me ? hang me if I did," 
 
 insisted the stranger. " Why, did you 
 not wink and keep winking ? " " Wink- 
 ing ! well, I did, and so did you at me. 
 I thought you were v/inking as much 
 as to say, ' Keep dark, I'll stick some- 
 body into that lot of stuff;' and I 
 winked, as much as to say, ' I'll be 
 hanged if you don't, mister.' " 
 
 "Candle" Auctions. 
 
 The Romans gave to this kind of 
 trading the descriptive name of audio 
 — an increase, because the property was 
 publicly sold to him who would offer 
 most for it. In modern times, a differ- 
 ent method of sale has been sometimes 
 adopted, which is called a Dutch auc- 
 tion, thus indicating the local origin 
 of the practice. It consists in the pub- 
 lic offer of property at a price beyond 
 its value, and then gradually lowering 
 or diminishing that price, until some 
 one consents to become the purchaser. 
 In England, persons are now sometimes 
 invited to a " sale by the candle," or 
 by the " inch of candle." The origin 
 of this expression seems to have been 
 the employment of candles as the means 
 of measuring time, it being declared 
 that no one lot of goods should con- 
 tinue to be offered to the biddings of 
 the persons who were present for a 
 longer period than would suffice for 
 the burning of an inch of candle : as 
 soon as the candle had wasted to that 
 extent, the then highest bidder was de- 
 clared to be the purchaser. 
 
 Earliest American Sale of Books by 
 Catalogue at Auction. 
 
 The first sale of books by catalogue 
 at auction in this country was in Bos- 
 ton, in 1717, and had the following 
 title : 
 
 " A Catalogue of Curious and Valu- 
 able Books Belonging to the late Reve- 
 rend & Learned Mr. Ebenezer Pember- 
 ton, consisting of Divinity, Philosophy, 
 History, Poetry, &c., generally well 
 
CHANCE DEALINGS AND VENTURES. 
 
 653' 
 
 bound; To be Sold by Auction, at 
 the Crown Coffee-House in Boston, the 
 Second Day of July, 1717, Beginning 
 at Three o' Clock afternoon, and so De 
 Die ill Diem, until the whole be sold. 
 
 "Also a Valuable Collection of 
 Pamphlets will then be exposed to 
 sale. 
 
 "The Books may be viewed from 
 the 25th Day of June until the Day of 
 Sale, at the House of the Reverend Mr. 
 Pemberton, where attendance wdll be 
 given." 
 
 The first bookseller's catalogue was 
 issued by Benjamin Franklin, in 1744, 
 in Philadelphia. 
 
 Stray Leaf from a Speculator's History. 
 
 Along with an undue expansion of 
 his regular business, Mr. Beers had ven- 
 tured largely in one of the most bril- 
 liant and promising speculations of the 
 day. These were the foundations on 
 v/hich he had latterly essayed to build 
 the temple . of his fortune, and he now 
 felt them swelling and sinking beneath 
 his feet, while the edifice itself, totter- 
 ing to its fall, threatened every moment 
 to crush him. 
 
 Far and wide, over land and sea, to 
 the east and west, to the north and 
 south, the chain of his correspondence 
 extended, and his semi-annual importa- 
 tions flew from his warehouses, as it 
 were, on the wings of the wind. Heavy 
 discounts and long credits, rendered 
 easy and general by the fatal facilities 
 which the banks afforded, sustained for 
 a long time the bright delusion, and all 
 hearts beat high, and all tongues were 
 eloquent with the hope of splendid for- 
 tunes, realized almost by the toss of a 
 copper. But by and by, alas ! the so- 
 ber certainty of protested notes, and 
 extensive country failures, startled men 
 into suspicion and reflection. In pro- 
 portion as facilities were withdrawn, 
 the fall of the million jobbers, scattered 
 " thick as leaves " everywhere over the 
 land, became accelerated. Then com- 
 
 menced the crash in the distant cities 
 — then in those more near — then the 
 metropolis itself began to ring with 
 harsh, iron-tongued rumors of her 
 proudest houses ; confidence gave way 
 to universal caution and distrust, and 
 the dark leaden clouds rolled heavily 
 over the firmament, charged wdth the 
 black and sulphurous artillery of the 
 coming tempest. Black, indeed, — al- 
 most rayless, was the firmament which, 
 for a short period, had hung over Ju- 
 lian Beers. A bolt or two had already 
 scathed the greenness of his fortune ; 
 every moment might bring the unmiti- 
 gated fury and the overthrow. Had 
 his adventures run only in the regular 
 channel of his business, he might, per- 
 haps, have defied the storm; he now 
 felt, at least, that in that case there 
 was a possibility that all his engage- 
 ments might have been protected. But 
 that speculation ! 
 
 The originators of it — many of them, 
 at least — had secured themselves ; some 
 of them had realized fortunes by it. 
 But Mr. Beers, deceived by its unusual 
 popularity, had entered into it as it ap- 
 proached the crisis. That crisis soon 
 came. It was as destructive as it was 
 unlooked for in its movements, and he 
 now stood among the vanishing bub- 
 bles of the exploded air-castle. To him 
 this was the finishing blow, and he felt 
 it to be so. 
 
 In the presence of his difficulties, be- 
 fore he could realize the probability of 
 others still more severe, he had been 
 led to adopt expedients which, in the 
 ordinary course of business, he would 
 have repudiated. In the protracted 
 agony of his situation, he went on, day 
 after day, making the most serious 
 sacrifices in order to sustain himself. 
 But such sacrifices generally render the 
 evaded ruin only the more certain and 
 deadly. And such the sacrifice proved 
 to be in his case. 
 
 The fatal crisis having spent itself 
 upon him, he sat for a long time ab- 
 sorbed in the study of the documents 
 
554 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 before him, and when he arose it was 
 with a cheek and brow of deadly pale- 
 ness. He paced the floor, at first with 
 a step somewhat languid, then rapidly, 
 and with some show of agitation. He 
 sat down again, and smote the paper 
 with his open hand, exclaiming, ^^AU, 
 ALL scattered to the winds of heaven ! 
 Great God ! can I be calm — can I live 
 under a state of things so dreadful — I, 
 Julian Beers, with the cold civility, the 
 sneer of the world before me? And 
 for this I have toiled — for this — pover- 
 ty, want, and wretchedness, with my 
 helpless, miserable family ! " His feel- 
 ings became too strong for words. He 
 leaned upon his clenched hands, and — 
 it may not be said he wept, for the 
 manhood of Julian Beers was strong— 
 but the convulsive movement of the 
 chest, and the workings of the counte- 
 nance, told that. even tears might be a 
 relief. But there was no help for it. 
 Ruin was upon him, " as a strong man 
 armed." , 
 
 Syrian Auctioneers—" Harag-e I 
 Harag-e! Harag-e!" 
 
 Before mounting for action, the 
 Syrian auctioneer opens the "lot" 
 which he is to dispose of, and selects 
 the most attractive articles. Thus pre- 
 pared, he jumps upon the bale, and, 
 unsheathing a formidable looTcivg dagger^ 
 flourishes the weapon over his head, 
 making imaginary thrusts and stabs 
 in every direction, and halloing out 
 " Harage ! " (which signifies " auction " 
 in Arabic,) with stentorian lungs. 
 
 The auctioneer seizes upon a hand- 
 some piece of Tripoli silk shawling, 
 for instance, and, cutting away the 
 binding, flings it at full length over 
 the heads of the surrounding crowd, 
 so that they may at once appreciate 
 its size and beauty. Whilst comment- 
 ing upon the superlative excellence of 
 the article, a dirty little camel-driver's 
 son will very likely c'u^ch the costly 
 article in his dirty hands for closer 
 inspection. The antics of the auc- 
 
 tioneer ati this — the savage and mena- 
 cing dance he performs — the fearful 
 threats hurled by him at the juvenile 
 offender — are past all description. The 
 small delinquent, however, terrified by 
 these demonstrations of displeasure, 
 takes to his heels, and cautiously, if 
 ever, shoAvs his head again in that 
 neighborhood. 
 
 The auction proceeds. There are 
 Hebrews, with flowing beards and 
 dusky robes, amongst the bidders ; 
 there are camel-drivers, just like the 
 pictures one sees of Eleazar the Syrian 
 at the well ; there are Persians in their 
 queer-shaped caps ; dervishes, with 
 their characteristic attire ; muftis, ule- 
 mas, soldiers, sailors, tinkers and tail- 
 ors ; Greeks, Armenians, Turks, Druses, 
 Syrians, Arabs, Copts, Egyptians, Swiss, 
 Swedes, Americans, English, French, 
 Italians, Austrians, etc., etc., and fore- 
 most amongst this motley gathering, 
 boldly stands forth Captain John 
 Brown, of the British schooner " Tear- 
 away," who, the weather being oppres- 
 sive, has landed for convenience' sake 
 in his shirt sleeves and a straw hat. 
 The captain mumbles something about 
 " Dolly and the little uns," from which 
 is inferred his resolve to purchase some 
 of the rarest articles, as gifts for those 
 whom he loves at home. 
 
 " Harage ! Harage ! Harage ! " — he 
 of the hammer (or rather of the dag- 
 ger) is a bit of a linguist ; that is to 
 say, he can count in almost every 
 tongue. Captain Brown, for example, 
 bids fifty piastres; to make the bid 
 intelligible to every one present, the 
 auctioneer translates the bid rapidly 
 into every tongue that he is master of : 
 " Fifty piastre," — " cinquanta piastree," 
 — " cinquanta piastree," — " Humseen 
 grosh," — "Elli croosh." No one bids 
 higher, and so the shawl is knocked 
 down to John Brown, master of the 
 British schooner " Tearaway." To 
 make things ship-shape and secure, 
 the captain carries off his prize, and 
 goes straight on board with it ; but 
 
THE SYEIAN AUCTIONEER. 
 
CHANCE DEALINGS AND VENTURES. 
 
 655 
 
 even after it has been locked up in the 
 cabin, and be is lolling musingly over 
 tbe bulwarks, smoking bis afternoon 
 pipe, be can still bear tbe auctioneer 
 at work, as tbe land breeze, amidst a 
 babel of otber sounds, wafts oflf tbe 
 piercing shriek of " Harage I " "Ha- 
 rare!" "Harase!" 
 
 A Trade, and a Wagrer Won. 
 
 " I RECKON I could'nt drive a trade 
 with you to-day. Square," said a " gin- 
 ooine " specimen of a Yankee peddler, 
 as he stood at the door of a merchant 
 in St. Louis. 
 
 " I reckon you calculate about right, 
 for you cavbtj'' was the sneering reply. 
 
 " Well, I guess you need'nt git huffy 
 'beout it. Now here's a dozen ginooine 
 razor-strops — worth $3.50 ; you may 
 have 'em for $2.00. 
 
 " I tell you I don't want any of your 
 traps — so you may as well be going 
 along." 
 
 " Wal, now look here. Square, I'll 
 bet you five dollars, that if you make 
 me an offer for them 'ere strops, we'll 
 have a trade yet." 
 
 " Done ! " replied the merchant, 
 placing the money in the bauds of 
 a bystander. The Yankee deposited 
 a like sum. 
 
 "Now," said the merchant, "I'll 
 give you a picayune (sixpence) for the 
 strops." 
 
 " They're your'n ! " said the Yankee 
 as he quietly pocketed the stakes. 
 
 "But," said be, after a little re- 
 flection, . and with great apparent 
 honesty, " I calculate a joke's a joke ; 
 and if you don't want them strops, I'll 
 trade back." 
 
 The merchant's countenance bright- 
 ened. 
 
 " You are not so bad a chap, after 
 all," said he ; " here are your strops, 
 give me the money." 
 
 " There it is," said the Yankee, as 
 he received the strops and passed over 
 tbe sixpence. " A trade is a trade ; 
 
 anrl, now you are wide awake, the 
 next time you trade with that 'ere 
 sixpence, you'll do a little better than 
 to buy razor strops." 
 
 And away walked the peddler with 
 bis strops and bis wager, amidst the 
 shouts of the laughing crowd. 
 
 Jolin Law's Notorious Bubble. 
 
 Law's Bubble was the most ruinous 
 speculation of modern times. The pro- 
 jector, John Law, of Edinburgh, raised 
 himself to the dignity of comptroller- 
 general of the finances of Europe, upon 
 the strength of a scheme for establish- 
 ing a bank, an East India and a Missis- 
 sippi Company, by the profits of which 
 the national debt of France was to be 
 paid off. He first offered his plan to 
 Victor Amadous, King of Sardinia, 
 who told him be was not powerful 
 enough to ruin himself. The French 
 ministry accepted of it in 1710 ; and in 
 1716 be opened a bank in his own 
 name under the protection of the Duke 
 of Orleans, regent of France, — and most 
 of the people of property of every rank 
 in that kingdom, seduced by the pros- 
 pects of immense gains, subscribed 
 both in the bank and in tbe compa- 
 nies. In 1718, Law's was declared a 
 royal bank, and the shares rose to up- 
 ward of twenty-fold the original value, 
 so that in 1719 they were worth more 
 than eighty times the amount of all the 
 current specie in France. But tJie fol- 
 lowing year this great fabric of false 
 credit fell to the ground, and almost 
 overthrew the French government, ruin- 
 ing tens of thousands of families. It is 
 remarkable that the same desperate 
 game was played by the South Sea 
 directors in England in the same fatal 
 year. 
 
 Law was a genius from the start. 
 Born in Edinburgh, he resided for 
 several years abroad, and was noted 
 for the facility with which he solved 
 the most intricate problems in arith- 
 metic and geometry. He resided first 
 
556 
 
 COMMERCIAL AXD BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 at Paris, where he acquired great 
 dexterity in all games of chance, and 
 afterward at Genoa and Venice. One 
 cause assigned for leaving Paris, was 
 his eloping with Lady Catharine, third 
 daughter of Nicholas, Lord Banbury, 
 and wife of Mr. Senor, or Semour. His 
 success in play was so great, that he is 
 said to have acquired twenty thousand 
 pounds. The favorite maxim incul- 
 cated by Law, and upon which his 
 whole fabric of the Mississippi scheme 
 was reared, was, that the power and 
 prosperity of a nation increase in pro- 
 portion to the quantity of money circu- 
 lating therein, and that, as the richest 
 nations have not specie sufficient to 
 afford full employment to their inhabi- 
 tants, this defect may be supj^lied by 
 paper credit. 
 
 It is not true, however, that Law built 
 solely on a speculation concerning the 
 Mississippi; he added the East India 
 trade, he added the African trade, he 
 added the farms of all the farmed 
 revenue of France ; but all these un- 
 questionably could not support the 
 structure which the public enthusiasm 
 — not he — chose to build on these 
 bases. He laid the best foundation 
 that he could, perhaps the best which, 
 in the circumstances, it was possible to 
 lay ; but the nation went suddenly mad, 
 an event which he could scarcely have 
 foreseen ; the Company was hurried on- 
 ward by the general frenzy ; and when 
 the delirium had reached its height, 
 the regent was advised to issue the 
 fatal edict which levelled the whole 
 fabric to the dust. 
 
 Meinorable Auction Sale in New 
 Orleans. 
 
 There once stepped into the office 
 of an old auctioneer on St. Louis street, 
 New Orleans, no less an individual than 
 the rich and elegant American mer- 
 chant, John McDonogh. It was the 
 day after the marriage of Miss Almo- 
 nastre — McDonogh's flame — to young 
 
 Pontalba ; a disappointment to the 
 merchant which changed the whole 
 habit, aim, and destiny of his life; 
 and the welfare and destiny of very 
 many besides. 
 
 " Sir," remarked the merchant to 
 the auctioneer, at the same time hand- 
 ing him a voluminous roll of paper, 
 " there is the inventory of my furniture, 
 carriages, horses, liquors, stores, plate, 
 and all that pertains to my establish- 
 ment in Chartres street. I desire you 
 to sell them all for cash, immediately." 
 Accordingly in three days the extensive 
 establishment of Mr. McDonogh was 
 all converted into money, to the great 
 surprise and deep regret of his many 
 friends and guests. "With the proceeds 
 of this memorable auction, he purchased 
 a small, lonely house, on the opposite 
 bank of the river, where, with scarcely 
 furniture enough to satisfy the most ordi- 
 nary use and demands of humble life, 
 he immured himself in perfect seclusion. 
 From that ]3eriod until his death — forty 
 long years —he ceased, to have any con- 
 nection or association with the world 
 except in the course of business. He 
 would neither dispense hospitality him- 
 self, nor share that of others. Purchas- 
 ing all the land around him, he placed 
 himself beyond the curiosity and an- 
 noyance of near neighbors. His negro 
 servants alone were permitted to reside 
 in his house ; they were the deposita- 
 ries of the secrets of his household, and 
 acted as his clerks and agents in all 
 his transactions with the outside world. 
 Whilst thus socially secluded and 
 morose, Mr. McDonogh continued to 
 prosecute his acquisition of projDerty 
 with augmented vigor and ardor. It 
 was about this time his passion for 
 accumulating vast acres of waste and 
 suburban land began to manifest itself. 
 All his views regarded the distant 
 future. The present value and pro- 
 ductiveness of land were but little 
 regarded by him. His only recreation 
 and pleasure were in estimating the 
 value of his swamp and waste land 
 
CHANCE DEALINGS AND VENTURES. 
 
 557 
 
 fifty, a hundred, and even a thousand 
 years to come. 
 
 Character displayed in Auction 
 Dealing-s. 
 
 The maxim " Take care of the pen- 
 nies and the pounds will take care of 
 themselves " should ever walk arm-in- 
 arm with that more sensible one, 
 " Do'nt save at the spigot and lose at the 
 bung." A few five-cent pieces penu- 
 riously cherished, in following out the 
 first-named maxim, may cause many a 
 heartburn in the end, and he who 
 adopts il as a rule of conduct runs a 
 risk of earning the application of 
 Bishop Earle's remark — " He will re- 
 deem a penny with his reputation, and 
 lose all his friends to boot ; and his 
 reason is, ' he will not be undone.' " 
 
 The advocate of the penny-wise sen- 
 timent is very likely to be in his element 
 when chaffering and higgling with a 
 strawberry woman ; there's a fine " I'm 
 not to be swindled " look about him as 
 he worries the poor worn-down creature 
 from his richly-draped parlor window 
 into parting with five sixpenny baskets 
 for two shillings ; but to see him in his 
 glorij^ follow him into an auction room, 
 and observe him there, if not too much 
 hidden by the dust from that second- 
 hand carpel which he is so slowly 
 examining with a view to purchasing 
 " if it do'nt go too high.'* That specu- 
 lative look which he is now putting on 
 is caused by a measurement in his 
 mind of the third story back room of • 
 his palace in Waverley Place, and not 
 from any misgivings as to smallpox ; 
 but his calculations are to no purpose 
 — the woman in the rusty black dress 
 will bid over Mm — God help her ! she 
 has no " pounds to take care of them- 
 selves ! " 
 
 Keen Auction Dod^e "by Rembrandt. 
 
 Being at one time in great want of 
 money, and finding his work went off 
 
 heavy, the celebrated Rembrandt put 
 into the newspaper that he was dead, 
 and advertised an auction sale of the 
 finished and unfinished paintings in 
 his house. 
 
 Crowds flocked to the auction, eager 
 to possess one of the last efibrts of so 
 great a master. The merest sketch sold 
 at a price which entire pictures had 
 never brought before. After collecting 
 the proceeds, Rembrandt came to life 
 again ; but the Dutch, who resent im- 
 probity even in genius, never would em- 
 ploy him after his resurrection. 
 
 Parisian Auction— How Conducted. 
 
 The French mode of conducting 
 auctions is curious. In sales of im- 
 portance, such as of land, houses, etc., 
 the aflFair is placed in the hands of a 
 notary, who, for the time being, be- 
 comes an auctioneer. The property, 
 whatever be its nature, is visually first 
 examined by competent judges, who 
 fix upon it a price, considerably less 
 than its value, but always sufficient to 
 prevent any ruinous loss by a concerted 
 plan or combination of bidders. The 
 property is then offered, conformably 
 to previous notice, with this fixed valu- 
 ation stated. The notary-auctioneer is 
 provided with a number of small wax 
 tapers, each capable of burning three 
 or five minutes. As soon as a bid is 
 made one of these tapers is placed in 
 view of all the interested parties and 
 lighted. If, before it expires, another 
 bid is offered it is immediately extin- 
 guished and a fresh taper placed in its 
 stead, and so on until one flickers and 
 dies of itself, when the last bid becomes 
 irrevocable. This simple plan prevents 
 all contention among rival bidders, 
 and affords each a reasonable time for 
 reflection before making a higher offer 
 than his predecessor. By this means, 
 too, the auctioneer is prevented from 
 exercising undue influence upon the 
 bidders, or hastily accepting the bid 
 of a favorite. It also saves him from 
 
658' 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 deciding between two parties, eacli 
 protesting himself to be the first — as 
 it must become evident before the taper 
 expires, who the proposed purchaser 
 really is. 
 
 ——4 
 
 Tonti's Money-Raising Projects. 
 
 The word " Tontine " is often met 
 with, and has a curious commercial his- 
 tory. It is known that the reign of 
 King "William was productive of all 
 conceivable modes and methods of bor- 
 rowing money. Short and long annui- 
 ties, annuities for lives, tontines, and 
 lotteries, alike occupied his attention. 
 The former are still in existence, the 
 latter have fallen into oblivion. To the 
 brain of a Neapolitan, and the city of 
 Paris, the tontine is due. 
 
 Lorenzo Tonti, in the middle of the 
 seventeenth century, with the hope of 
 making the people of France forget 
 their discontents in the excitement of 
 gambling, suggested to Cardinal Maza- 
 rin the idea of annuities with the ben- 
 efit to the survivors of those incomes 
 ■which fell by death. The idea was ap- 
 proved by the cardinal and allowed by 
 the court. The English Parliament, 
 however, refused to register the decree 
 and the scheme failed. Tonti again 
 endeavored to establish a society on 
 this plan, and to build by its means a 
 bridge over the Seine ; but the invent- 
 or christened it, unfortunately, " Ton- 
 tine,''^ and not a man in Paris would 
 trust his money to a project with an 
 Italian title. A complete enthusiast, 
 he allowed Paris no rest on his favorite 
 theme, and proposed to raise money for 
 the benefit of the clergy in the same way. 
 The assembly reported on the scheme, 
 and the report contained all that could 
 flatter the projector's vanity, but refused 
 a permission to act on it ; and again it 
 was abandoned. The idea, however, 
 which could not be carried out for the 
 people, which was refused for the ben- 
 efit of the city, and not allowed for the 
 clergy, was claimed as a right for the 
 
 crown, and Louis XIV. created the first 
 tontine to meet his great expenses — an 
 example which was soon imitated by 
 other monarchs. 
 
 Lord Castlereagrh and the Ruined 
 Broker. 
 
 When the war of Napoleon was 
 raging on the Continent, a blunt and 
 honest stock speculator, who had an 
 immense stake depending on the re- 
 sults of the conflict, having heard a ru- 
 mor that a certain battle had taken 
 place of immense importance financially 
 as well as politically, but not knowing 
 whether the intelligence was true or 
 merely trumped up by interested sche- 
 mers, determined on waiting personally 
 on Lord Castlereagh, the foreign minis- 
 ter, with the view of endeavoring to get 
 at the truth. He sent up his name to 
 his lordship, with a note, stating the 
 liberty he had taken, in consequence 
 of the amount he had at stake, and 
 begging, as a favor, to be informed 
 whether the news of the battle in ques- 
 tion was true. The noble lord desired 
 the gentleman to be sent up stairs. He 
 was shown into his lordship's room. 
 
 " Well, 'sir," said his lordship, " I am 
 happy to inform j^outhat it is perfectly 
 true this great battle has been fought, 
 and that the British troops have been 
 again victorious." 
 
 "I am exceedingly obliged to your 
 lordship for your kindness in giving 
 me the information ; I am a ruined 
 •man," said the stock speculator, stun- 
 ned at the tidings, making a low bow 
 and withdrawing. 
 
 He had calculated on the triumph, 
 at the next conflict, of Napoleon's 
 army. He had speculated accordingly ; 
 a contrary issue at once rendered him a 
 
 beggar. 
 
 ♦ 
 
 Early Stock Jobbing and liOtteriea, 
 
 It was something less than two hun- 
 dred years ago that the word stock 
 
CHANCE DEALINGS AND VENTURES. 
 
 559 
 
 jobber was heard in London. But in 
 the short space of four years a crowd 
 of companies, every one of which held 
 out to subscribers the hope of immense 
 gains, sprang into existence — the In- 
 surance Company, the Lutestring Com- 
 pany, the Pearl Fishery Company, the 
 Glass Bottle Company, the Alum Com- 
 pany, the Blythe Coal Company, the 
 Sword Blade Company. There was a 
 Tapestry Company, which would soon 
 furnish pretty hangings for all the par- 
 lors of the middle classes, and for all 
 the bed chambers of the higher. There 
 was a Copper Company, which pro- 
 posed to explore the mines of England, 
 and held out a hope that they would 
 prove not less valuable than those of 
 Potosi. There was a Diving Company, 
 which undertook to bring up precious 
 effects from shipwrecked vessels, and 
 which announced that it had laid in a 
 stock of wonderful machines resembling 
 complete suits of armor ; in front of the 
 helmet was a huge glass eye like that 
 of a cyclop, and out of the crest went 
 a pipe throrugh which the air was to be 
 admitted. This process was exhibited 
 on the Thames; fine gentlemen and 
 fine ladies were invited to the show, 
 were hospitably regaled, and were de- 
 lighted by seeing the divers in their 
 panoply descend into the river, and re- 
 turn laden with old iron and ships' 
 tackle. There was, too, a Tanning 
 Company, which promised to furnish 
 leather superior to the best brought 
 from Turkey or Russia. 
 
 Besides the above, there was a fa- 
 mous society which undertook the 
 business of giving gentlemen a liberal 
 education on low terms, and which as- 
 sumed the sounding name of the Royal 
 Acadamies' Company. In a pompous 
 advertisement it was announced that 
 the Directors of the Royal Academies' 
 Company had engaged the best masters 
 in every branch of knowledge, and 
 were about to issue twenty thousand 
 tickets at twenty shillings each, to be 
 conducted as follows : 
 
 There was to be a lottery ; two thou- 
 sand prizes were to be drawn, and the 
 fortunate holders of the prizes were to 
 be taught, at the charge of the Com- 
 pany, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, French, 
 Spanish, conic sections, trigonometry, 
 heraldry, japanning, fortification, book- 
 keeping and the art of playing on the 
 theorobo. Some of these companies 
 took large mansions, and printed 
 their advertisements in gilded letters. 
 Others, less ostentatious, were content 
 with ink, and met at coffee houses in 
 the neighborhood of money dealers. 
 Jonathan's and Garraway's were in a 
 constant ferment with brokers, buyers, 
 sellers, meetings of directors, meetings 
 of proprietors. Time bargains soon 
 came into fashion. Extensive combi- 
 nations were formed, and monstrous 
 fables were circulated, for the purpose 
 of raising or depressing the price of 
 shares. 
 
 Lottery Vagaries in the Sixteenth 
 Century. 
 
 The first lottery on record in Eng- 
 land was drawn in London, in 1569 — 
 the proceeds being devoted to public 
 purposes. The prizes were partly in 
 money and partly in silver plate ; four 
 hundred thousand lots were drawn, 
 and the people were kept in a state of 
 excitement, day and night, for nearly 
 four months. The grim, grotesque de- 
 spair of the losers, and the eager delight 
 of the gainers, was for the time the 
 great entertainment of the town. It 
 was not long before the people in their 
 individual capacity and for individual 
 ends, followed the example set by the 
 Government. Thus, lottery magazine 
 proprietors, lottery tailors, lottery stay 
 makers, lottery glovers, lottery hat 
 makers, lottery tea ^merchants, lottery 
 snuff and tobacco merchants, lottery 
 barbers — where a man, for being shaved 
 and paying threepence, stood a chance 
 of receiving £10 — lottery shoeblacks, 
 lottery eating houses — where, for six- 
 pence, a plate of meat and the 
 
560 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 chance of sixty guineas were given — 
 lottery oyster stalls, where threepence 
 gave a supply of oysters and a remote 
 chance of five guineas, — all these were 
 plentiful ; and to complete a catalogue 
 ■which speaks volumes, at a sausage 
 stall in a narrow alley was the impor- 
 tant intimation written up, that for 
 one farthing's w^orth of sausages, the 
 fortunate purchaser might realize a capi- 
 tal of five shillings ! 
 
 Grand United Gold and Diamond Dust 
 Company. 
 
 The eagerly expected prospectus has 
 at last appeared of the " Grand United 
 Gold and Diamond Dust Company." 
 The act is already in existence— the in- 
 solvent act — to limit the liability of the 
 shareholders. 
 
 To show the confidence felt in the 
 undertaking on the spot, it is respect- 
 fully announced that fifty thousand 
 shares are reserved for the locality 
 ^ where the dust exists, or, in other 
 words, for the dust hole. 
 
 This company is formed for the pur- 
 pose of working the rich deposits sup- 
 posed to be imbedded in the various 
 banks of an extensive district. The 
 directors are in treaty for the lease of 
 an extensive river in the Brazils, the 
 tide of which is supposed to lead on 
 to fortune. 
 
 They hope, by getting into the right 
 current, to be able to stir up the sources 
 of wealth already alluded to, when they 
 may anticipate that the numerous 
 " flats " OQ all sides will yield an abun- 
 dance of the precious ore they are in 
 search of. Should these means of profit 
 become exhausted, the directors have 
 the satisfaction of feeling that the ad- 
 jacent plantations will enable them to 
 take advantage of the numerous plants, 
 and thus, the gold being used up, they 
 can cut their sticks immediately. 
 
 It is proposed by the directors to 
 take further powers for pocket smelt- 
 ing, and otherwise reducing the quan- 
 
 tities of auriferous matters that remain 
 unappropriated, on account of the im- 
 perfect manner in which the process 
 of extracting gold from any place in 
 which it exists, has been hitherto car- 
 ried on. 
 
 Notwithstanding the numerous arts 
 that have been employed, the directors 
 flatter themselves that they are in pos- 
 session of a machinery by which gold 
 can be squeezed out from "quarters" 
 where it has, until now, remained so 
 tightly held as to have been regarded 
 as utterly unattainable. The process 
 is one of refinement, but it would be 
 obviously imprudent to say more on 
 this point in a public advertisement. 
 
 The directors hope that enough 
 money for their purpose will be ob- 
 tained at once, and they anticipate no 
 further calls, but the subscribers will 
 have the right of making as many calls 
 as they please — for the recovery of 
 their money — at the office of the com- 
 pany, should the undertaking be un- 
 remunerative to the shareholders. 
 
 Applications for shares, in the usual 
 form, may be made forthwith to the 
 secretary ^ro tem.^ who will be happy to 
 throw liberal samples of the dust im- 
 mediately into the eye of any appli- 
 cant. 
 
 Bacon fcy the Shilling's Worth. 
 
 Keese, an apostle of the hammer, 
 was once selling a fine copy of Bacon. 
 " How much for this Bacon ! " said he ; 
 " give us a bid ; start it, gentlemen — 
 how much ? " "A shilling ! " exclaim- 
 ed a moderate bidder. " Oh, no ! " re- 
 sponded the auctioneer; "here's 'too 
 much pork for a shilling.' " 
 
 Origin of Auctions. 
 
 The name " auction," as well as the 
 thing, comes originally from the Ro- 
 mans, who, during their warlike pros- 
 perities, established the custom of sell- 
 ing military spoils, with no more cere- 
 
CHANCE DEALINGS AND VENTURES. 
 
 561 
 
 ChriBtie's Auction Room. 
 
 mony than that of merely sticking a 
 spear in the ground, under which the 
 sales immediately took place; and as 
 each bidder increased his bidding on 
 the one before him, the descriptive ap- 
 pellation of auction^ an increase, was 
 given to them. The late celebrated 
 London auctioneer, James Christie, en- 
 joyed a reputation all throughout Eu- 
 rope, for his singular tact in his profes- 
 sion, and no auction house has, prob- 
 ably, ever obtained a loftier position in 
 the mercantile world than his. Gar- 
 raway's is now, with one exception — 
 the Mart — the place where the greatest 
 number of important sales occur in 
 London. The Mart is an immense 
 building, built expressly for auctioneers, 
 and owned in shares, the directors 
 being among the most eminent of the 
 London auctioneers. 
 
 86 
 
 Lessons of an Auctioneer's Hammer. 
 
 The hammer of the auctioneer tells 
 many a sad story of ruined fortunes, 
 blasted hopes, and of death, that scat- 
 ters the much cherished and hard earn- 
 ed property to the four winds. Each 
 tap of the ivory ball consigns some 
 treasured memento, to which affection 
 has clung for many long years, into the 
 hands of a stranger, to whom it comes 
 divested of its charm and the hold it 
 had upon the human heart — a mere ob- 
 ject of curiosity, perhaps, to its new 
 possessor, or it may be to gratify a pas- 
 sion for display. The venerable man- 
 sion, that has witnessed the loves and 
 the hopes, the joys and the sorrows of 
 more than one generation, passes under 
 the hammer of the auctioneer to entire 
 strangers — mere bargain hunters and 
 speculators perhaps — to whom no room, 
 
562 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 or chambers, or fireplace is crowded 
 with associations of happy childhood, 
 youth, manhood, old age — sickness, 
 birth, marriage, death. The new owner 
 sees only timber, bricks, and mortar, 
 and forthwith commences the work of 
 demolition, or of alteration and repair. 
 The auctioneer's books, too, tell a sad 
 story of ruinous speculation, bankrupt- 
 cy in trade, unfortunate investments, 
 ships cast away, splendid misery, fraud, 
 misfortune, and death. 
 
 Warranty of Perfect Soundness. 
 
 Colonel T., of Boston, now deceased, 
 was a man of rare tact and ability, and 
 by no means devoid of wit, in his pro- 
 fession as an auctioneer. On one occa- 
 sion, while engaged in the sale of a ves- 
 sel, he was abruptly interrupted by a 
 Mr. A., who, with a nasal sound char- 
 acteristic of him, inquired if the vessel 
 was sound ? The reply was " Yes." 
 While the sale was progressing, and 
 another half a thousand was being tried 
 for by the man of the hammer, the 
 same Mr. A. burst out again : " Colonel, 
 do I understand you to say that this 
 vessel is perfectly sound ? " The Colo- 
 nel paused, and drew up his portly 
 frame to its full measure ; then looking 
 Mr. A. full in the face, thus addressed 
 him : " Mr. A., if a man should ask 
 me if Mr. A. is a gentleman, my answer 
 would be, 'Yes.' But if he should 
 ask me if he is a perfect gentleman 
 — ^lialf! half! am I offered another 
 half?" It is doubtful whether old 
 Christie himself in his palmiest days, 
 as the head of the auctioneer fraternity 
 in London, ever equalled this instance 
 of professional wit. 
 
 English Railway Mania of 1845. 
 
 The history of the railway mania in 
 England, in 1845, is one of the most 
 remarkable among the business phe- 
 nomena of modern times, and. was prob- 
 ably due, in great part, to the plentiful 
 
 supply of money at that period. The 
 diiectors of the railways were formed 
 of all classes, and all conditions. Long 
 lists of provisional committee men, 
 with their residences and professions, 
 were paraded in papers. The journals 
 were increased in size to contain the 
 numerous advertisements. The heat 
 of India was no objection. The cold 
 of Canada no preventive. Men who 
 had mingled in the bubbles of 1825 ; 
 men who were known and recognized 
 as adventurous swindlers, but who had 
 disappeared when no money was to be 
 obtained, reappeared, to exercise their 
 customary vocation. 
 
 The environs of the stock exchange 
 were crowded. The countess came 
 down in her carriage, and hovered in 
 a state of excitement round the doors 
 of her broker. Grave and sober men 
 dabbled in scrip. The literary man 
 and the artist risked their well-earned 
 money to procure a share in the profitF'. 
 The youth of the land sought to grati- 
 fy expensive habits. The old man 
 sought to indulge his avarice. The 
 clergyman traded in " undeniable se- 
 curities." The physician murmured of 
 the broad and narrow gauge. The 
 lawyer forsook his fee ; the lady jeop- 
 ardized her soft and gentle influences ; 
 the matron forgot her children, and the 
 maiden her embroidery, in one uni- 
 versal pursuit. The railways formed 
 the current theme of the time. Pre- 
 miums and discounts were the topics 
 at breakfast, dinner and supper, and 
 everything wore the same smiling ap- 
 pearance which, twenty years before, 
 lured the people to destruction, and, as 
 then, almost everything came out at a 
 profit. If they went to a discount, the 
 company was abandoned, the whole of 
 the expenses deducted from the few de- 
 posits which were paid, the directors 
 liberally rewarded, and the small re- 
 maining dividend returned. The names 
 of the clergy on the lists of directors 
 produced an opinion from the Bishop 
 of Exeter, that for a clergyman to specu- 
 
CHANCE DEALINGS AND VENTURES. 
 
 563 
 
 late in railways came under the denomi- 
 nation of " dealing for gain or profit," 
 and this was against the statute. " As 
 the statute only mentions dealing," re- 
 marked a writer in their defence, " and 
 railway speculation involves shuffling, 
 some of the reverend gentlemen main- 
 tain that they do not violate the act of 
 Parliament." 
 
 The following is undoubtedly a faith- 
 ful picture of the way in which many 
 railways were " established : " A young 
 gentleman need only look to a half-crown 
 railway map, and search for a district 
 tolerably clear of the rail. Taking two 
 of the towns that form that open space, 
 he draws a diagonal with his pencil, 
 and thus creates a direct line. He then 
 writes down the name of the company, 
 his own name as " promoter," either 
 alone, or with the names of as many 
 friends as he can venture to take that 
 liberty with, or with any names, real or 
 fictitious ; his own occupation, whether 
 gentleman or esquire, engineer, artist, 
 or solicitor, or clerk or perfumer, or 
 tailor, or M.A., or M.D. ; his place of 
 business, if he has one ; his place of 
 residence also, whether it be castle or 
 hall, or in Berkeley Square, or in 
 rooms in Gray's Inn, or lodging in the 
 borough. In the course of his walk to 
 the ofiSce in Sergeants" Inn, he may, if he 
 please, remodel his company, changing 
 every name in it, whether of place or 
 person, including himself. Arrived at 
 the office, he invests a few sovereigns, 
 begged, borrowed, or stolen, in fees, and 
 enters his company. Advertisements 
 and letters of allotment do the rest. It 
 may, for anything the registrar knows 
 or cares, be straight across a mountain 
 a mile high, or straight across an arm 
 of the sea ten miles broad. It would be 
 his duty to register a tunnel under the 
 Atlantic, and he would hardly have the 
 option of refusing a railroad to Jupiter, 
 with extension to the other planets, and 
 a short branch to the moon. 
 
 Rival Blacking: Companies. 
 
 The Morning Advertiser^ London, of 
 November 25, 1807, contained the fol- 
 lowing — which would have been more 
 appropriately placed in its columns of 
 entertainments, than in those devoted 
 to business : — 
 
 Anthony Varnish in the chair, Sir 
 John Blackwell, Knight, being indis- 
 posed ; Jacob Brushwell, Secretary. 
 
 The chairman reported that Mr. Tim- 
 othy Lightfoot, the treasurer, had 
 brushed off with the old fund, and that 
 the deputation who had waited on Mr. 
 Fawcett, the proprietor of the Brilliant 
 Fluid Blacking, at No. 76 Hounds- 
 ditch, could not prevail on him to dis- 
 pose of his right thereto in favor of the 
 company, although they made him the 
 most liberal offers. It was then 
 
 Resolved : That this meeting being 
 fully sensible that any attempt to es- 
 tablish a rival blacking would totally 
 fail of success, from the high estima- 
 tion in which the above popular article 
 is held, and the mishap of the treasurer 
 having damped the ardor of the under- 
 taking, that this design be altogether 
 abandoned. 
 
 Resolved : That the character of this 
 Company ought not to be blackened in 
 public esteem, as there is no direct 
 proof of their having shared the spoils 
 with the treasurer. 
 
 J. Brushwell, Sec'y. 
 
 One of the Sufferers. 
 
 HooKE, the historian of Rome, was a 
 severe sufferer by the South Sea Bub- 
 ble. He thus addressed Lord Oxford, 
 in a letter dated soon after the great 
 explosion : " I cannot be said at present 
 to be in any form of life, but rather to 
 live extempore. The late epidemical 
 (South Sea) distemper seized me. I 
 endeavored to be rich, imagined for a 
 while that I was, and am in some 
 measure happy to find myself at this 
 instant but just worth nothing. If your 
 
564 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 lordship, or any of your Di^merous 
 friends, have need of a servant, with 
 the bare qualifications of being able to 
 read and write, and to be honest, I shall 
 gladly undertake any employments 
 your lordship shall not think me un- 
 worthy of." 
 
 Proposed Ice Speculation. 
 
 Sm Peter Laurie has conceived 
 a plan by which he anticipates to real- 
 ize a large sum of money. It will be 
 remembered that Captain Ross, the 
 Arctic explorer, discovered a tract of 
 ice somewhere in the immediate neigh- 
 borhood of the north pole, which, with 
 a prodigality only found in a true 
 sailor, he presented to his friend Sir 
 Felix, and named it Boothia. Laurie 
 has therefore proposed to purchase this 
 valuable lot of floating capital, and 
 should his offer be accepted will im- 
 mediately despatch some steamers to 
 tow it home, as he says it will form a 
 cool watering place during the dog 
 days, and may then be let out in square 
 acres to enterprising confectioners, to 
 grow their raspberry and strawberry 
 ices. Sir Peter has always been known 
 as a long-eared man, but, until this 
 promising commercial project, was 
 never considered to be especially long 
 headed — at least, not beyond the aver- 
 age of mercantile speculators. 
 
 Pancy Hen Fever. 
 
 The fever for "fancy" hen stock 
 broke out at a time when money was 
 plenty, and when there was no other 
 speculation rife in which every one, al- 
 most, could easily participate. The 
 prices for fowls increased with aston- 
 ishing rapidity. The whole community 
 rushed into the breeding of poultry, 
 without the slightest consideration, and 
 the mania was by no means confined to 
 any particular class of individuals — 
 though there was not a little shyness 
 among certain circles who were attack- 
 
 ed at first ; but this feeling soon gave 
 way, and men of the highest standing, 
 at home and abroad, were soon deeply 
 and riotously engaged in the subject of 
 henology. 
 
 Meantime, in England they were do- 
 ing up the matter somewhat more ear- 
 nestly than on this side of the water. 
 To learn how even the nobility never 
 " put their hand to the plough and look 
 back," when anything in this line is to 
 come off, and the better to realize how 
 fully the poultry interests were looked 
 after in England, it is only necessary to 
 read the names of those who, from 1849 
 to 1855, patronized the London and 
 Birmingham associations for the im- 
 provement of domestic poultry. The 
 Great Annual Show, at Bingley Hall, 
 was got up under the sanction of his 
 Royal Highness Prince Albert, the 
 Duchess of Sutherland, Lady Charlotte 
 Gough, the Countess of Bradford, Rt. 
 Hon. Countess Littlefield, Lady Cliet- 
 wynd, Hon. Viscountess Hill, Lady 
 Littleton, Hon. Mrs. Percy, Lady Scott, 
 and a host of other noble lords and la- 
 dies, whose names are well known 
 among the English aristocracy. 
 
 But, as time advanced, the star of 
 Shanghae-ism began to wane. The 
 nobility tired of the excitement, and 
 the people both of England and of the 
 United States began to ascertain that 
 there was absolutely nothing in this 
 " hum " save what the *' im.porters and 
 breeders" had made, through the in- 
 fluence of the newspapers ; and while a 
 few of the last men were examining the 
 thickness of the shell, cautiously and 
 warily, the long-inflated bubble burst ! 
 
 Gold-Making- and Silver-Mining 
 Companies. 
 
 Among the share or joint-stock com- 
 panies, which once played a prominent 
 part on the public credulity in Eng- 
 land, was one to make gold ; and suc- 
 cess was declared to be undoubted. 
 The shares were all greedily taken; 
 
CHANCE DEALINGS AND VENTURES. 
 
 565 
 
 and it was then advertised that, as the 
 expense of producing an ounce of gold 
 would be double the value of the prod- 
 uce, the company would be dissolved, 
 and the deposits kept to pay expenses. 
 The capital of another company — for 
 mining silver — was divided between 
 fifty proprietors; the advertisements 
 and puffs resorted to were disgraceful. 
 The meanest utensils of the peasantry 
 in this mining region were boldly de- 
 clared to be silver ; and, although there 
 w^ere but ninety-nine mines of any kind 
 in the whole district, the company pro- 
 fessed to have purchased three hundred 
 and sixty. In a place containing five 
 thousand inhabitants, it was affirmed 
 the projectors possessed three thousand 
 mines ; and, although they had been 
 previously abandoned after a loss of 
 £170,000, they were purchased at a 
 high price, and pufied to an enormous 
 premium. 
 
 Jacob Keen of Wall Street. 
 
 One of the New York " money char- 
 acters " is thus dressed up, for a savory 
 public dish, by that all-spicy humorist, 
 Hammett. Let us spread our napkin, 
 and enj©y the feast : 
 
 In one of the numerous dens of Wall 
 street lives and flourishes, and has lived 
 and flourished, for many a squally year, 
 a man whose name, in the Wall street 
 roll of fame, stands next to that of the 
 father of American financiering — Jacob 
 Barker. It is not meant by " lived and 
 flourished " that Jacob the second— for 
 he is a Jacob — had not experienced 
 many an up and down, in fact, enough 
 of them to upset and shelve any one 
 but a man of his peculiarly India-rub- 
 ber constitution. 
 
 He is the greatest of all men for a 
 " corner," and has a wonderful fancy 
 for the fancies ; only the worst of it is, 
 that you never know when you have 
 him ; and his best friends and co- 
 workers, when engaged with him in 
 some desperate scheme, with only their 
 
 noses above water, are not perfectly 
 sure but that he may be leading them 
 on, and is perhaps doubly interested in 
 putting down the identical " fancy " 
 that he seems to be sustaining with 
 the weight of an Atlas. 
 
 No one, in fact, can tell for a certain- 
 ty whether Jacob Keen is a bull or a 
 bear. 
 
 Quite a number of years since, not 
 before his "smartness" was fully de- 
 veloped, but ere the full power and ex- 
 tent of it w^ere known and had been 
 experienced, Jacob went into what — in 
 the vernacular of brokers — is termed 
 " an operation." 
 
 Now, a Wall street operation has 
 nothing to do with the effects of a ca- 
 thartic drug, although it often pro- 
 duces a very cathartic efiect upon the 
 pockets of operators and operatees. 
 Neither does it bear any relation to the 
 legitimate employment of the surgeon's 
 knife, and yet no " sharper " steel can 
 eat more surely or more fatally. 
 
 Jacob, as has been said, entered into 
 an operation, and thus it was : 
 
 Among the very lightest of the fan- 
 cies — blown about by every wind that 
 swept the street — was the celebrated 
 Hardscrabble-Soap-Mining Company, 
 which Jacob had long regarded with a 
 loving eye, as offering peculiar facilities 
 for a sly stroke of genius. The capital 
 stock of the company was represented 
 by an upright figure — the only one, by 
 the way, connected with it — and six 
 ciphers, thus: 1,000,000. The real 
 value of the shares, in the aggregate, 
 was considerably less than nothing, 
 but, at a particular time, they were sell- 
 ing for about $5 each. 
 
 As it did not suit Jacob's purpose to 
 work this mine alone, he proposed to 
 a Boston firm — Messrs. Coggins and 
 Scroggins — to take hold of the rope 
 with him. They consented, and fell to 
 work with right good will, on the fol- 
 lowing terms : 
 
 The contracting parties were to pur- 
 chase — the one in New York, and the 
 
566 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 other in Boston — every share that they 
 could buy on time, or deliverable ahead, 
 until the stock began to feel the effects, 
 and then to commence purchasing for 
 cash, until the price should be carried 
 up to $50 per share. When this point 
 should be reached, neither party should 
 allow the price to decline, but both 
 were bound to purchase every share 
 offered at that price, in their market, 
 until, having cleared their decks for a 
 fall, each should agree to " let go all." 
 
 In this there was no copartnership or 
 division of profits, but each worked for 
 their own interests. 
 
 Everything prospered for a while, 
 and men who had sold for five and ten 
 were forced to come in and pay up 
 heavy deficiencies. But Jacob soon 
 found that when the magic price of 
 " 50 " was attained, the stock flowed 
 in rather too freely for him. All this 
 he had anticipated and prepared for, 
 so that when his pockets exhibited 
 symptoms of exhaustion, a shrewd 
 broker was despatched to Boston, 
 through whose hands he pressed his 
 stock upon that market, thus forcing 
 his colaborers to buy up his own stock. 
 
 The Boston house was a " warm " 
 one, and warm work they had of it for 
 a time. But there is an end to all 
 things — except perhaps, a ring — and 
 our friend Jacob was not much sur- 
 prised, one fine morning, by the re- 
 ceipt of the following epistle : 
 
 "Dear Keen: We cannot hold on 
 any longer. Let go, and get out as 
 well as you can. 
 
 " Your fellow sufferers, 
 
 " COGGINS & SCROGGmS." 
 
 They, however, were considerably 
 more astonished than delighted by the 
 reply : 
 
 " Dear Coggins & Scroggins : Sell 
 away, I haven't a share. 
 
 " Yours, very truly, 
 
 " J. Keen. 
 " P.S.— I have another capital opera- 
 tion in view. J. K." 
 
 As Messrs. C. & S. probably consid- 
 ered that the new operation in xiew 
 might perhaps be what is vulgarly 
 termed " all in their eye," it is said 
 they declined it. 
 
 Lotteries Vindicated by Scripture. 
 
 The early advocates of lotteries, 
 when their trade was threatened with 
 legal demolishment, were accustomed 
 to defend it somewhat ingeniously by 
 quotations from Scripture. As the 
 Bible was turned upside and down, 
 and shaken and winnowed, by the sup- 
 porters of the slave trade, so was it 
 scrutinized to prove the antiquity and 
 sanctity of lotteries. " By lot," it was 
 said, " it was determined which of the 
 goats should be offered to Aaron. By 
 lot the land of Canaan was divided. 
 By lot Saul was marked out for the 
 kingdom. By lot Jonah was discov- 
 ered to be the cause of the storm. By 
 lot it was decided to whom Christ's 
 vesture should belong, instead of rend- 
 ing it. By lot the place left vacant by 
 the treachery of Judas was filled by 
 the apostles," &c., &c. 
 
 Getting up a Money Panic. 
 
 In May, 1832, a run upon the Bank 
 of England was produced by the walls 
 of London being placarded with the 
 emphatic words : " Stop tlie Duke I Qo 
 for gold ! " — advice which was follow- 
 ed as soon as given, to a prodigious 
 extent. The Duke of Wellmgton was 
 then very unpopular ; and on Monday, 
 the 14th of May, it being currently be- 
 lieved that the Duke had formed a 
 cabinet, the panic became universal, 
 and the run upon the Bank of England 
 for coin was so incessant, that in a few 
 hours upward of half a million was car- 
 ried off. It was afterward ascertained 
 that the placards in question were the 
 device of four gentlemen, two of whom 
 had been elected members of the Re- 
 formed Parliament. Each put down 
 
CHANCE DEALINGS AND VENTURES. 
 
 5G7 
 
 one hundred dollars, and the sum thus 
 clubbed was expended in printing 
 thousands of those terrible missives, 
 which were eagerly circulated, and 
 were speedily seen upon every wall in 
 London. The effect is hardly to be de- 
 scribed. It was electric. 
 
 Bargain-Hunters at Pawnbrokers' and 
 Auctions. 
 
 You will perhaps be surprised (we 
 quote from LacMngtorCs Memoirs)^ that 
 there are in London, and probably in 
 other populous places, persons who 
 purchase every article which they have 
 occasion for— and also many articles 
 which they have no occasion for, nor 
 ever will — at stalls, beggarly shops, 
 pawnbrokers', etc., under the idea of 
 buying cheaper than they could at re- 
 spectable shops, and of men of property. 
 
 A considerable number of these cus- 
 tomers I had in the beginning, who for- 
 sook my shop as soon as I began to 
 appear more respectable, by introdu- 
 cing better order, possessing more val- 
 uable books, and having acquired a 
 better judgment, etc. Notwithstand- 
 ing which, I declare to you upon my 
 honor, that these very bargain-hunters 
 have given me double the price that I 
 now charge for thousands and tens of 
 thousands of volumes. For, as a 
 tradesman increases in respectability 
 and opulence, his opportunities of pur- 
 chasing increase proportionally, and 
 the more he buys and sells the more he 
 becomes a judge of the real value of 
 his goods. It was for want of the ex- 
 perience and judgment, stock, etc., that 
 for several years I was in the habit of 
 charging more than double the price I 
 now do for many thousand articles. 
 But professed bargain-hunters purchase 
 old locks at the stalls in Moorfields 
 when half the wards are rusted off, or 
 taken out, and give more for them than 
 they would have paid for new ones to 
 any reputable ironmonger. 
 
 And what numerous instances of this 
 
 infatuation do we meet with daily at 
 sales by auction not of books only, but 
 of many other articles, of which I could 
 here adduce a variety of glaring in- 
 stances. At the sale of Mr. Rigby's 
 books at Mr. Christie's, Martin's Dic- 
 tionary of Natural History sold for fif- 
 teen guineas, which then stood in my 
 catalogue at four pounds fifteen shil- 
 lings ; Pilkington's Dictionary of Paint- 
 ers at seven guineas, usually sold at 
 three ; Francis's Horace^ two pounds 
 eleven shillings ; and many others in 
 the same manner. At Sir George Col- 
 brook's sale the octavo edition of the 
 Tatler sold for two guineas and a half. 
 At a sale a few weeks since, Rapin's 
 History in folio, the two first volumes 
 only (instead of five), sold for upward 
 of five pounds I I charge for the same 
 from ten shillings and sixpence to one 
 pound ten shillings. I sell great num- 
 bers of books to pawnbrokers, who sell 
 them out of their windows at much 
 higher prices, the purchasers believing 
 that they were buying bargains, and 
 that such articles have been pawned. 
 And it is not only books that pawn- 
 brokers purchase, but various other 
 matters, and they always purchase the 
 worst kind of every article they sell. I 
 will even add, that many shops which 
 are called pawnbrokers' never take in 
 any pawn, yet can live by selling things 
 which are supposed to be kept overtime. 
 
 Q,uite Professional. 
 
 Aisr auctioneer, speaking to a horse- 
 dealer about the situation of an estate 
 he was going to sell, in a level neigh- 
 borhood, said: "The country is ex- 
 ceedingly beautiful, and I do so admire 
 a rich flat ! '''' 
 
 " So do I, sir," replied the grinning 
 jockey 
 
 ♦ 
 
 Dutch Tulip Mania of the Seventeenth 
 Century 
 
 Perhaps the earliest existence of 
 that fatal love of speculation so ruinous 
 
568 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 to the credit and fortune of all who 
 press it to hazardous extent, occurred 
 in 1634, viz., the Tulip Mania— one 
 of the most astonishing of commercial 
 phenomena. 
 
 In the year named, the chief cities 
 of the Netherlands engaged in a traffic 
 which destroyed commerce and encour- 
 aged gambling, which enlisted the 
 greediness of the rich and the desire of 
 the poor, which raised the value of a 
 flower to infinitely more than its weight 
 in gold, and which ended, as all such 
 concerns have ended, in wild and 
 wretched despair. The many were 
 ruined; the few were enriched. Bar- 
 gains were made for the deliveiy of 
 autumn roots, and when, as in one 
 case, there were but two in the market, 
 lordship and land, horses and oxen, 
 were sold to pay the deficiency. Con- 
 tracts were made, and thousands of 
 florins paid for tulips which were never 
 seen by broker, by buyer, or by seller. 
 For a time, as usual, all won, and no 
 one lost. Poor persons became wealthy. 
 High and low traded in flowers ; sump- 
 tuous entertainments confirmed their 
 bargains ; notaries grew rich ; and even 
 the unimaginative Hollander fancied 
 he saw a sure and certain prosperity 
 before him. 
 
 People of all professions turned their 
 property into cash; houses and furni- 
 ture were oflfered at ruinous prices ; the 
 idea spread throughout the country 
 that the passion for tulips would last 
 forever ; and when it was known that 
 foreigners were seized with the fever, it 
 was believed that the wealth of the 
 world would concentrate on the shores 
 of the Zuyder Zee, and that poverty 
 would become a tradition in Holland. 
 That they were honest in their belief is 
 proved by the price they paid. Goods 
 to the value of thousands of florins 
 were given for one root ; another spe- 
 cies commonly fetched two thousand 
 florins; a third was valued at a new 
 carriage, two gray horses, and a com- 
 plete harness; twelve acres of land 
 
 were paid for a fourth, and sixty thou- 
 sand florins were made by one dealer 
 in a few weeks. 
 
 Merchants possessed a vast or limit- 
 ed capital, in proportion to the magni- 
 tude or insignificance of their tulip 
 roots. Daughters were portioned with 
 a few ounces magnificently, and noble- 
 men of the highest consideration and 
 family importance vested their posses- 
 sions in a i^erishable vegetable that 
 could be carried in a teacup. When 
 the bubble burst, and the roots sud- 
 denly fell in public estimation, abject 
 poverty stared the nation in the face. 
 
 The panic did come at last. Confi- 
 dence vanished; contracts were void, 
 defaulters were announced in every 
 town of Holland; dreams of wealth 
 were dissipated ; and they who, a week 
 before, rejoiced in the possession of a 
 few tulips which would have realized 
 a princely fortune, looked stupefied and 
 aghast on the miserable bulbs before 
 them, valueless in themselves, and un- 
 salable at any price. To parry the 
 blow, the tulip merchants held public 
 meetings, and made pompous speeches, 
 in which they proved that their goods 
 were worth as much as ever, and that 
 a panic was absurd and unjust. The 
 si3eeches produced the greatest ap- 
 plause, but the bulb continued value- 
 less ; and though actions for breach of 
 contract were threatened, the law re- 
 fused to take cognizance of gambling 
 transactions. 
 
 Merino-Slieep Bubble. 
 
 The Sheep Bubble had its commence- 
 ment in the year 1815 or 1816, after 
 the treaty of Ghent, and at a period 
 when thousands of the American peo- 
 ple were actually " wool-mad " in refer- 
 ence to the huge profits that were then 
 apparent, prospectively, in manufactur- 
 ing enterprises. 
 
 In the summer of the last-named year 
 (as nearly as can be fixed upon), a gen- 
 tleman in Boston first imported some 
 
CHANCE DEALINGS AND VENTUREa 
 
 569 
 
 half a dozen slieep from one of the 
 southern provinces of Spain, whose 
 fleeces were of the finest texture, as it 
 was said ; and such, undoubtedly, was 
 the fact, though the sheep were so 
 thoroughly and completely imbedded 
 in tar, and every other ofiensive article, 
 upon their arrival in America, that it 
 would have been very difficult to have 
 proved this statement. But the very 
 offensive appearance of the sheep seem- 
 ed to imbue them with a mysterious 
 value, that rendered them doubly at- 
 tractive. 
 
 It was contended that the introduc- 
 tion of these sheep into the United States 
 would enable our manufactories, then 
 in their infancy, to produce broadcloths 
 and other woollen fabrics, of a texture 
 that would compete with England and 
 Europe. Even Mr. Clay was consulted 
 with reference to the sheep ; and he at 
 once decided that they were exactly 
 the animals that were wanted — some 
 of them subsequently finding their way 
 to Ashland. 
 
 The first merino sheep sold for fifty 
 dollars the head. They cost just one dol- 
 lar each in Andalusia ! The speculation 
 was too profitable to stop here; and, 
 before a long period had elapsed, a 
 small fleet sailed on a sheep adventure 
 to the Mediterranean. By the end of 
 the year 1816 there were probably one 
 thousand merino sheep in the Union, 
 and they had advanced to twelve hun- 
 dred dollars the head. 
 
 Before the winter of that year had 
 passed away, they sold for fifteen hun- 
 dred dollars the head ; and a lusty and 
 good-looking buck would command two 
 thousand dollars at sight. Of course, 
 the natural Yankee spirit of enterprise, 
 and the. love of the " almighty dollar," 
 were equal to such an emergency as 
 this, and hundreds of " merino sheep " 
 soon accumulated in the Eastern 
 States 
 
 But, in the course of the year 1817, 
 the speculation, in consequence of the 
 surplus importation, began to decline ; 
 
 yet it steadily and rapidly advanced 
 throughout the western country, while 
 Kentucky, in consequence of the influ- 
 ence of Mr. Clay's opinions, was especi- 
 ally benefited 
 
 In the fall of 1817, what was then 
 deemed a very fine merino buck and 
 ewe were sold to a gentleman in the 
 western country for the sum of eight 
 thousand dollars; and even that was 
 deemed a very small price for the ani- 
 mals ! They were purchased by a Mr. 
 Samuel Long, a house-builder and con- 
 tractor, who fancied he had by the 
 transaction secured an immense for- 
 tune. Mr. Long had become, in fact, 
 really raUd with the merino mania, as 
 the following authentic anecdote will 
 show : 
 
 There resided, at this time, in Lex- 
 ington, Ky., and but a short distance 
 from Mr. Clay's villa of Ashland, a 
 wealthy gentleman, named Samuel 
 Trotter, who was, in fact, the money- 
 king of Kentucky, and who, to a very 
 great extent, at that time, controlled 
 the branch of the Bank of the United 
 States. He had two sheep — a buck and 
 an ewe — and Mr. Long was very anx- 
 ious to possess them. Mr. L. repeated- 
 ly bantered and importuned Mr. Trot- 
 ter, to obtain this pair of sheep from 
 him, but without success. One day, 
 however, the latter said to the former : 
 
 " If you will build me such a house, 
 on a certain lot of land, as I shall de- 
 scribe, you shall have the merinos." 
 
 " Draw your plans for the buildings," 
 replied Long, instantly, " and let me 
 see them ; T will then decide." 
 
 The plans were soon after submitted 
 to him, and Long eagerly accepted the 
 proposal, and forthwith engaged in the 
 undertaking. He built for Trotter a 
 four-story brick house, about fifty feet 
 by seventy, on the middle of an acre of 
 land ; he finished it in the most ap- 
 proved modern style, inclosed it with a 
 costly fence, and finally handed it over 
 to Trotter, for the two merino sheep. 
 The establishment must have cost, at 
 
670 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 the very least, fifteen thousand dollars. 
 But, alas ! A long while before this 
 beautiful and costly estate was fully 
 completed, the price of merinos de- 
 clined gradually ; and six months had 
 not passed away before they would not 
 command twenty dollars each, even in 
 Kentucky. Mr. Long was thereafter a 
 wiser but a poorer man. He held on 
 to this pair until their price reached 
 the par value only of any other sheep ; 
 and then he absolutely killed this buck 
 and ewe, made a princely barbecue, 
 called all his friends to the feast, and 
 while "the goblet went its giddy 
 rounds," he, like the ruined Venetian, 
 thanked God that, at that moment, he 
 was not worth a ducat I 
 
 Globe Permits. 
 
 " Globe permits " were among the 
 most famous, or infamous, of the proli- 
 fic crop of financial schemes of the 
 " Mushroom Era." This fictitious com- 
 pany had its location in London, and 
 the permits which it issued came at 
 last to be currently sold for sixty 
 guineas and upward — though they were 
 only square bits of card, on which was 
 the impression of a seal in wax, having 
 the sign of the Globe Tavern. A bur- 
 lesque upon this acme of madness ap- 
 peared as an advertisement in one of 
 the journals of the day, in which it was 
 set forth, that at a certain fictitious 
 place on the following Tuesday, books 
 would be opened for a subscription of 
 two millions, for the invention of melt- 
 ing down sawdust and chips, and cast- 
 ing them into clean deal boards with- 
 out knots. From morning till evening 
 there were crowds of purchasers for 
 these permits ; and such was the wild 
 confusion of the multitude, that the 
 permits were known to have been sold, 
 at the same moment, ten per cent, 
 higher at one end of the street than 
 the other. The project at last burst, 
 and left lut a wreck behind ! 
 
 Universal Bed and Bolster Mart. 
 
 The attention of all persons about 
 to marry— and that of purchasers in 
 general— is respectfully directed to the 
 " Immense stock of the Universal Bed 
 and Bolster Mart," where every article 
 is warranted for three weeks, and the 
 money returned if had back again. 
 Houses furnished and families settled 
 at a few hours' notice. The dining ta- 
 bles of the Bolster Mart are especially 
 adapted to the cabins of ships, for 
 when placed near a fire they assume a 
 graceful curl — sloping from the side to 
 the centre, and preventing the proba- 
 bility of plates slipping off from them. 
 Captains and others going abroad, and 
 not likely to come back again, are par- 
 ticularly invited to purchase. Every 
 article bought at the great bolster con- 
 cern is invariably warranted to stand 
 until the legs fall off^in any climate. 
 Persons desirous of furniture for tem- 
 porary purposes, cannot do better than 
 to resort to the cheap mart, for all the 
 goods sold there are particularly adapt- 
 ed to those who have an idea of their 
 establishments being broken up within 
 a short period. 
 
 Auction Sale of old Furniture, etc., 
 
 Extraordinary. 
 An auction sale of very old and rare 
 furniture is stated to have come off 
 lately in London, including several ar- 
 ticles which every one supposed would 
 always remain as heir-looms in the na- 
 tional family. Among the articles thus 
 disposed of was the " seat " of war. 
 This seat had been very much knocked 
 about, and had scarcely a leg to stand 
 upon. With a little money, however, 
 judiciously laid out, it could have 
 been put into repair and made fit for 
 immediate use. It was offered to the 
 French Government as a seat the best 
 adapted for the standing army in Al- 
 giers ; and with a little French polish, 
 and turning the seat into Morocco, the 
 article would last for years. 
 
CHANCE DEALINGS AND VENTURES. 
 
 571 
 
 The Glass of Fashion — which had 
 lost some of its brilliancy from having 
 been so frequently looked into — was 
 also " put up." It is best calculated 
 for those persons whose evening's 
 amusements will bear the morning's 
 reflection, as every object viewed 
 through it is seen in a new light. Old 
 beaux and young ladies, residing on 
 the shady side of forty, find their sil- 
 ver well laid out in buying the glass 
 of fashion. 
 
 The identical tapis upon which have 
 come all the marriages in high life for 
 the last fifty years, was also disposed 
 of. 
 
 It was hoped that the pipe of peace 
 would likewise be ofiered, but it was 
 withheld on account of its being 
 smoked just at that time by two well- 
 known parties. 
 
 A parcel of silver spoons which had 
 been in the mouths of certain individ- 
 uals of renown when they were born, 
 were put up, and excited considerable 
 competition on the part of antiqua- 
 rians, fortune-tellers, and the like. 
 
 In addition to the above, the cele- 
 brated rod of iron which was formerly 
 used in England, was sent over from 
 Ireland expressly for this sale, and the 
 rule which Britannia uses in ruling the 
 waves, was kindly lent — not disposed 
 of — for this occasion. 
 
 Old Martin, the Scotch. Auctioneer, 
 aniong: the Lang-uaires. 
 
 Old William Martin was for a Ions: 
 time the most noted aucticmeer in 
 Edinburgh, Scotland. "While in his 
 auction rooms, Martin was full of anec- 
 dote and humor, but somewhat fond 
 of laughing at his own jokes. Being 
 of humble origin, he was rather illiter- 
 ate—at least he was no classical scholar 
 — and perhaps in the course of his busi- 
 ness he frequently sufiered by his igno- 
 rance of the dead languages. If the 
 book he was about to sell happened to 
 be Greek, his usual introduction was, 
 
 " Here comes crawtaes^ or whatever else 
 you like to call it,'' and on other occa- 
 sions, if the volume happened to be in 
 a more modern language, but the title 
 of which he was as little able to read, he 
 would say to the company, after a 
 blundering attempt, " Gentlemen, I am 
 rather rusty in my French, but were it 
 Hebrew, ye Icen I would be quite at 
 hame ! " 
 
 Martin, however, was certainly more 
 " at hame " in some instances than he 
 was either in French, Latin, Greek, or 
 Hebrew. On one occasion, at the time 
 Manfredo was performing in Edinburgh, 
 Martin, in the course of his night's la 
 bor, came across the " Life of Robinson 
 Crusoe." Holding up the volume, and 
 pointing to the picture of Robinson's 
 man, Friday, he exclaims, " Weel, gen- 
 tlemen, what will ye gie me for my 
 Man-Fredo? — worth a dozen of the 
 Italian land-louper." Manfredo, who 
 happened to be present, became ex- 
 ceedingly wroth at this allusion to 
 him. "Yat do you say about Man- 
 fredo ! Call me de land-loupeur ! " 
 Nothing disconcerted by this unex- 
 pected attack, Martin, again holding 
 up the picture, cried, " I'll refer to the 
 company, if my Man-Fredo is no worth 
 a dizen o' him ! " The Italian fumed 
 and fretted, but, amid the general 
 laughter, was obliged to retire. 
 
 Owing to ignorance, he sold many 
 valuable Greek and Latin books for 
 mere trifles. Sometimes, when at a 
 loss to read the title of a Latin or 
 French book, he would, if he could 
 find a young student near him, thrust 
 the book before him, saying, " Read 
 that, my man ; it's sae lang since I was 
 at the college, I hae forgotten a' my 
 Latin." Having one night made even 
 a more blundering attempt than usual 
 to unriddle the title of a French book, 
 a young dandy, wishing to have an- 
 other laugh at Martin's expense, de- 
 sired him to read the title of the book 
 again, as he did not know what it was 
 about. "Why," said Martin, "it's 
 
512 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 something about inanners^ and that's 
 what neither you nor me has owre 
 muckle o'." 
 
 "Crack Horses" at Auction. 
 
 When Mr. Tattersall has any very 
 superior horses " intrusted to his care," 
 especially if he sees some of the noble- 
 men or other gentry of the realm 
 around him, who are likely to " bite," 
 he deviates a leetle from his usual disre- 
 gard of the oily vernacular of the ham- 
 mer, and tries his hand at a little flat- 
 tery of those persons, trusting to the 
 potent effects of that commodity in 
 procuring some better " biddings." He 
 knows how to graciously " suit the 
 bridle to the horse." 
 
 "There, my lords and gentlemen," 
 he will exclaim in such cases, " there is 
 a chance for you. You'll never get 
 such a chance again. My lord duke, I 
 know your stud is unrivalled ; but this 
 beautiful, this unequalled mare would 
 be an honor and an ornament to it. 
 Do you say three hundred and fefty 
 (he always substitutes the e for the i in 
 pronouncing the words ' fifty,' * thirty,' 
 etc), guineas for her ? " Three hundred 
 and fifty guineas are bid. 
 
 " Thank you, my lord duke, I admire 
 your taste. She possesses rare blood ; 
 just only look at the symmetry of her 
 form ; she is perfection itself. I could, 
 but I will not, dwell on her matchless 
 beauties — they are not to be described. 
 Only three hundred and fsfty guineas 
 bid for her. Hj lord duke, she will be 
 yours, if some one else does not — three 
 hundred and sexty guineas are bid for 
 her; I know that she is too great a 
 prize to be suffered to escape at such a 
 price. Eeally, ray lord duke, with your 
 lordship's known taste and skill in 
 horse-flesh, I should be sorry if you al- 
 lowed such an opportunity of proving 
 that you possess this taste, to pass. 
 Three hundred and eighty guineas bid 
 for her; thank you again, my lord 
 duke ; I'm sure you'll not repent your 
 
 bargain. Does any one say more for 
 her ? Three hundred and nenty guineas 
 are bid. You see, my lord duke, your 
 admiration of this beautiful and excel- 
 lent mare is not peculiar. She will, 
 positively, adorn your stud, as she did 
 that of royalty, when she belonged to 
 it. Who says the four hundred guineas ? 
 She's just a going. One moment long- 
 er, and off she goes. Her action, my 
 lord duke, is beyond all praise ; she 
 has no vice ; she is a perfect paragon 
 in every way you can take her. I must 
 knock her down, my lord duke ; but I 
 would really be sorry to see you lose so 
 noble and charming a creature for the 
 sake of ten paltry guineas. Just say the 
 four hundred guineas, and she is yours." 
 " Four hundred^ " Thank you ! my 
 lord duke, for adopting my advice. 
 I'm sure you'll never repent your bar- 
 gain. Going — gone. She is yours, my 
 lord duke." 
 
 Pleasantries of Keese, the Book 
 Auctioneer. 
 
 The question has been propounded, 
 " Who has made a jest in a New York 
 auction room since the hammer of John 
 Keese fell for the last time ? " Keese is 
 remembered by the trade with affec- 
 tion. He was a bright, intelligent 
 man, and an estimable member of so- 
 ciety. Of an old New York family, he 
 was brought up to the book trade by 
 one of the Quaker fraternity— the Col- 
 lins's — and it was only in middle life, 
 after various experiments in business, 
 that he became an auctioneer. He be- 
 gan somewhere about the year 1845 
 with a sale to the trade in a large back 
 building in Broadway near Cortlandt 
 street. He certainly opened proceed- 
 ings with an excellent entertainment 
 of oysters and champagne. He was the 
 life of the company, and was called 
 upon, of course, for a speech, probably 
 for half a dozen. One of his good 
 things, toward the close, is worth re- 
 membering. It particularly pleased the 
 trade at the time. " Gentlemen," said 
 
CHANCE DEALINGS AND VENTURES. 
 
 673 
 
 he, in allusion to the entertainment, 
 " we are scattering our bread upon the 
 waters, and we expect to find it after 
 many days — buttered ! " 
 
 It was in retail sales, however, in the 
 small change of the auction room, that 
 his wit appeared to the most advantage. 
 No catalogue could be too dull for his 
 vivacity. He was always rapid, and 
 an unwary customer would be decapi- 
 tated by his quick electric jest before 
 he felt the stroke. The following, 
 among other things of the kind attrib- 
 uted to him, will give some notion of 
 his pleasantries : 
 
 "Js that binding calf?" asked a sus- 
 picious customer. " Come up, my good 
 sir, put your band on it, and see if there 
 is any fellow feeling," was the ready 
 rej)ly. A person one evening had a 
 copy of " Watts's Hymns " knocked 
 down to him for a trifle, and interrupt- 
 ed the business of the clerk by calling 
 for its " delivery." Keese, finding out 
 the cause of the interference, exclaim- 
 ed, " Oh, give the gentleman the book. 
 He wants to learn and sing one of the 
 hymns before he goes to bed to- 
 night ! " Apropos of this time-honor- 
 ed book, in selling a copy on another 
 occasion, when there was some rivalry 
 in the profession, he turned off a par- 
 ody as he knocked it down : 
 
 Blest is the man who shuns the place 
 
 Where other auctions be ; 
 And has his money in his fist, 
 
 And buys his books of me. 
 
 His puns were usually happy, and 
 slipped in adroitly. Offering one of 
 the Kev. Dr. Hawks's books, he added, 
 in an explanatory way, "A bird of 
 prey." " Going— going — gentlemen — 
 one shilling for Caroline Fry — why, it 
 isn't the price of a siew." Selling a 
 book labelled " History of the Tatars," 
 he was asked, " Isn't that Tartars ! " 
 *' No ! " he replied : " their wives were 
 the Tartars ! " " This," said he hold- 
 ing up a volume of a well-known type 
 
 to critics, " is a book by a poor and 
 pious girl, of poor and pious poems." 
 
 No one could better introduce a 
 quotation. Some women one day 
 found their way into the auction room 
 to a miscellaneous sale of furniture. 
 They were excited to an emulous con- 
 tention for a saucepan, or something of 
 the sort. Keese gave them a fair chance 
 with a final appeal — " Going, going — 
 ' the woman who deliberates is lost ' — 
 gone ! " 
 
 ■Weathering- the Storm of 1828. 
 
 For a long series of years, Samuel 
 Slater, of Pawtucket, experienced un- 
 interrupted prosperity in his great 
 manufacturing enterprises, his posses- 
 sions increasing in number and value 
 with incredible rapidity. The war of 
 1813 placed the seal upon his high 
 destiny. By that time he had got so 
 far under way, and his preparations 
 were so complete, others stood no 
 chance for competition with him. 
 Cotton cloth then sold for forty cents 
 the yard, and the demand had no 
 limits. The opinion became prevalent, 
 that such was his wealth, such was his 
 general prudence and sagacity, and 
 especially that such were his talents as 
 a financier, no business disaster could 
 reach him. However, in the great 
 revulsion of 1828, among manufac- 
 turers, it was made manifest that he 
 was the sole endorser of three or four 
 large establishments among the unfortu- 
 nate. Now, for the first time, he was 
 known to make his own business a 
 subject of conversation. He became 
 seriously alarmed and distressed ; not 
 that two or three hundred thousand 
 dollars, under ordinary circumstances, 
 would ruin or essentially injure him — 
 but, such was the general panic in the 
 community, and among the moneyed 
 institutions of the country, that a 
 man's solvency was estimated in a 
 ratio transverse to the amount of his 
 property connected with manufactur- 
 
574 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 ing. But, as usual, the storm subsided. 
 The frantic delirium of the occasion 
 passed off, and thousands wondered 
 how they could have been such fools 
 as to have participated in the excite- 
 ment. And the financial ability of Mr. 
 Slater was not like the seamanship of 
 the mariner who simply makes a quick 
 voyage on a calm ocean, but is unable 
 to navigate his ship in a violent tem- 
 pest ; it had long been distinguished for 
 the former, and was now proved emi- 
 nently sufficient for the latter exigency. 
 Instead of experiencing any ultimate 
 injury, it is believed he was greatly 
 enriched by the occasion. 
 
 Scraps of Auction Wit. 
 
 It is rarely that even that intrepid 
 class of men, short-hand writers, under- 
 take to jot down an auctioneer's run of 
 words — especially one so witty as was 
 the late John Keese. Somebody, how- 
 ever, appears to have performed this 
 feat, and has rendered the readers of 
 Harper the peculiar favor of serving 
 up a few samples of Keese's inimitable 
 spirit when under the inspiration of 
 " the hammer " : 
 
 " N'alf, n'alf, n'alf ; three, do I have ? 
 three, three; quarter, did you say? 
 Never let me hear an Irishman cry 
 quarter. N'alf, n'alf; knocked down 
 to Maguire at three dollars and a half. 
 Now, gentleman, give me a bid for 
 ' Byron's Works,' London edition, full 
 of illustrations. Two dollars, two, 
 two ; an eighth, eighth, eighth ; quar- 
 ter, quarter, quarter — the man that 
 deliberates is lost. Moffat, at two dol- 
 lars and a quarter. The next thing, 
 gentlemen, is ' The Four Last Things, 
 by Dr. Bates.' Fifty cents, fifty— TTAa^ 
 are they? Bid away, gentlemen, the 
 book'll tell you exactly what they are : 
 five eighths, five eighths ; five and six, 
 five and six. Chase has it, at five and 
 six. ' 8top ! thafs my lid.'' Too 
 late. Sir, all booked to Chase; had 
 such a confounded short name, got 
 
 it right down. Start, if you please, 
 gentlemen, on ' Protestant Discussions, 
 by Dr. Cummings,' an original D. D., — • 
 none of your modem fiddle-dee-dees : 
 three quarters, quarters ; seven eighths ; 
 do I have seven eighths ? — yes, it is all 
 complete ; a perfect book, gentlemen ; 
 wants nothing but a reader. Dollar; 
 dollar, n'eighth, n'eighth. Black has 
 it, at one and one eighth. Black has it, 
 at (me and one eighth. Now, gentlemen, 
 I offer you a superb 'Prayer Book,' 
 Appleton's edition, best morocco, gilt 
 all over, like the sinner ; three quar- 
 ters, three quarters, quarters, quarters — 
 look at it, gentlemen. Here, Sirj let 
 me show it up to this goodly com- 
 pany ; you've looked at it many a time 
 with more care than profit: seven 
 eighths; dollar; n'eighth; quarter, 
 quarter — large print, gentlemen; good 
 for those whose eyes are weak and 
 whose faith is strong; remember 
 your grandmothers, gentlemen — three 
 eighths, three eighths. Brown has it, 
 at one and three eighths. Now, gen- 
 tlemen, I come to a line of splendid 
 illustrated English books. Be so 
 kind as to bid for ' Finden's Beauties 
 of Moore,' cloth extra, full of superb 
 illustrations, and I've how much bid 
 for this ? Start, if you please ; go on. 
 Two dollars ; and a half, n'alf, n'alf; 
 three, three; n'alf, n'alf; four, four, 
 four. These are all English books, 
 printed in England, bound in England, 
 and sacrificed in America ; and I have 
 only four dollars for this superb book — 
 quarter, quarter, quarter, and this goes 
 to the great Maguire [at that time Kos- 
 suth was being called everywhere the 
 great Magyar], at four dollars and a 
 quarter. 'The Gems of Beauty' is 
 the next book, gentlemen. This is a 
 glowing book, beautiful as Venus, and 
 bound by Vulcan in his best days, red 
 morocco, well read outside, gentlemen, 
 and what do I hear for that ? Fifty 
 cents— horrible ! Two dollars, by some 
 gentleman whose feelings are outraged ; 
 quarter, quarter; half, shall I say? 
 
CHANCE DEALINGS AND VENTURES. 
 
 575 
 
 Cash has it, at two dollars and a half. 
 Now, gentlemen, for the ' Philosophical 
 Works of John Locke,' best edition, 
 opened by John Keese ; start, if you 
 please — go on. Dollar; n'alf, n'alf; 
 three quarters. ' Bound in muslin f ' 
 Yes, Sir ; don't you respect the cloth ? 
 Seven eighths, seven eighths ; two, 
 two, two ; quarter, quarter — brought 
 three dollars tlie other day. ' No, it 
 didn't!'' Well, one just like it did, 
 Moffat takes it, at two dollars and a 
 quarter. Now for a beautiful Annual, 
 gentlemen, ' The Ladies' Diadem,' 
 splendid steel engravings, and no date, 
 may be 1855, 6, 7, or 8. Can't tell ; 
 they publish them so much in advance 
 nowadays. What do I hear ? seventy- 
 five, seventy-five ; new book, jpublished 
 in England ; dollar, dollar ; eighth, do 
 I hear ? eighth ; quarter ; three eighths, 
 three eighths — down. What's the 
 name ? whose bid is that ? Well, just 
 as you please ; quarter, quarter — that's 
 your bid, Sir ; 'gainst you out there ; 
 three eighths, that's yours. Sir ; what's 
 the name ? ' Pll take it ; you seem to 
 te tjery anxious to sell it? No, Sir, I'm 
 not on the anxious bench ; those are 
 the anxious seats where you are. I 
 take a decided stand on that ; I face 
 the whole congregation. Go on, if 
 you please. The next book, ' Kirke 
 White's Remains,' London edition, 
 with splendid portrait, taken from 
 some old daguerreotype; dollar, dol- 
 lar, dollar, and down it goes. Who'll 
 have it ? Well, start it, gentlemen. 
 What do I hear? seventy-five cents; 
 seven eighths, seven eighths ; dollar by 
 all the house ; n'eighth, n'eighth. Cash 
 has it, at a dollar and one eighth ; 
 horrible ! I've been the high priest of 
 many a sacrifice. Now, gentlemen, 
 who wants ' Ross's last Expedition ; ' 
 went to the poles, and, no doubt, voted 
 twice. Start, if you please — go on ; 
 dollar, did you say ? quarter, quarter, 
 quarter; bidder here, half, half" — and 
 so on through the catalogue. 
 
 Virtue of One-Po-und Notes in 
 Stopping- a Bank Hun. 
 
 In 1825 that vast corporation, the 
 Bank of England, narrowly saved it- 
 self from a ci'ash that would have been 
 to it and all concerned the " crack of 
 doom." Mr. Alexander Baring states 
 that the gold of the bank was drained 
 to within a very few thousand pounds, 
 — for, although the published returns 
 showed a result rather less scandalous, 
 a certain Saturday night closed with 
 nothing worth mentioning remaining f 
 Gold was expected, but its receipt was 
 subject to the winds and the waves. 
 The mercantile barometer was at the 
 fever point, and there was intense anx- 
 iety for money. 
 
 The day for eflecting discounts at 
 the bank on London bills was one full 
 of dramatic scenes. It is customary 
 to leave them the day before, and the 
 answer is returned on Thursday. The 
 decision is usually given before one 
 o'clock, at the latest. Long before 
 that hour had struck, the place was 
 besieged ; and when at last the expect- 
 ed time came, notice was given that 
 the answers could not be announced 
 before two. Two o'clock arrived, and 
 the anxiety of those who waited was 
 at the highest pitch ; and then another 
 notice was given, stating that a further 
 delay must take place till half-past two. 
 During the whole of this period the 
 directors were in close deliberation in 
 the bank parlor. By this time the 
 assembly was immense ; and, when 
 intimation was made that the arrange- 
 ments were complete, a rush, similar to 
 that at a theatre, was made, to gain 
 access to the window at which answers 
 were to be given. The confusion was 
 so great that when four o'clock arrived 
 the crowd had not dispersed, and it 
 actually could not be ascertained 
 whether the bills were discounted, or 
 part discounted, or rejected. During 
 the ministration of the clerk at the 
 window he was frequently called away 
 
576 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 to receive fresh instructions. So great 
 was the emergency, that the principals 
 of some of the first mercantile firms 
 waited in person, in anxious expectation, 
 to hear their fate. The directors did 
 all in their power, but that power was 
 limited. The confusion spread. The 
 distress continued to increase. Trade 
 was at a stand. The labor displayed 
 in the bank parlor was unceasing, and 
 the labor of the clerks in the discount 
 office was trebled. The counters were 
 besieged ; the drain of notes and specie 
 for the country was prodigious. The 
 bank determined to pay their last 
 guinea. Fortunately, on the last day 
 of the week, the tide turned. Reeling 
 with fatigue and exhaustion, the officers 
 of the bank were able to call out, at 
 last, " All is well." 
 
 The incidental mention to one of the 
 directors that there was a lox of one- 
 pound notes ready for issue, turned the 
 attention of the authorities to the 
 propriety of attempting to circulate 
 them ; and the memorable declaration 
 of Mr. Thornton, in 1797, probably was 
 called to mind, that it was the want 
 of small change, not a necessity for 
 gold, that was felt, and as the pressure 
 on the country banks arose from the 
 holders of the small notes, it was sug- 
 gested to the Government that the pub- 
 lic might, perhaps, receive one-pound 
 notes in place of sovereigns. The 
 Government approved of the idea, and 
 the eflfect was electrical. The delight 
 with which they were received in the 
 country, proved that the want of a 
 secure small currency alone was felt ; 
 and that the notes of the bank were 
 considered eminently safe, is proved 
 from the fact of the run suddenly stop- 
 ping after the introduction of these 
 small bills. In Norwich, the Messrs. 
 Gurney staid the plague by merely 
 placing a thick pile of one-pound 
 notes of the Bank of England on the 
 counter. 
 
 It has frequently been stated, that 
 by a mere accident the box of one- 
 
 pound notes was discovered. But such 
 was not the case. It was not recol- 
 lected by the officials that there were 
 any one-pound notes ; they were put 
 by. It was the casual observation that 
 there were such things in the house, 
 which suggested to the directors that 
 it would be possible to use them — with 
 what result was soon seen. 
 
 Last Kesort for Petroleum Companies. 
 
 Some time ago a number of parties, 
 being attacked with the oleaginous 
 fever, resolved to associate themselves 
 together and dig for oil in the petro- 
 leum country. They selected a site in 
 the woods, which had been " prospect- 
 ed " and highly recommended by one 
 of their number (about six miles from 
 a railroad station laid down on the 
 map, but not yet built), and having 
 organized, agreed to have the first of a 
 series of proposed wells dug, not by 
 contract, as was usual, but by day's 
 work. Having procured the necessary 
 tools, including a compass for guidance 
 in the woods, the work was duly pro- 
 ceeded with, and progress from time to 
 time reported. Calls for the " sioews " 
 were also made, and promptly met, un- 
 til the well was said to be down over 
 one hundred feet, with a good show for 
 oil. This was about the time of the 
 " Annual Meeting," and more money 
 being called for, it was deemed advisa- 
 ble to have the well remeasured and 
 reported on. Judge of the surprise of 
 the stockholders when, to use the lan- 
 guage of one of the patriarchs in oil, 
 the force of tTie oil from Mow had sJioved 
 the hole up to eighty-six feet ! Here was 
 a stunner, and as the well had cost 
 something like $400, and the resources 
 of the company w^ere limited, matters 
 have ever since remained in statu quo. 
 
 The latest, and probably the most 
 feasible proposal, is to have the balance 
 of the hole talcen up and cut into lengths 
 for pump logs ! 
 
CHANCE DEALINGS AND VENTURES. 
 
 577 
 
 Cigars at Public Sale. 
 
 There was a public sale of cigars at 
 the auction house of Messrs. Flint, in 
 Front street. The auctioneer was dwell- 
 ing on one of the finest lots of " im- 
 ported," and according to custom was 
 passing a brand among the company to 
 allow those who saw proper to judge 
 of the quality by smoking. Says the 
 narrator of this : A man near me, with 
 a florid complexion, curved nose, bright 
 black eyes, and withal rather a respect- 
 able representation of the used-up man 
 of the world who bad not abused him- 
 self much, took two of tbe last three; 
 the remaining one being handed to me. 
 With the greatest care he wrapped 
 them in a piece of paper, and placed 
 them in the watch pocket of his vest. 
 I inspected the one I took, cut off the 
 end, and was about reaching for a light, 
 when a hand tapped me lightly on the 
 shoulder. Turning, I beheld my red- 
 faced friend smiling very graciously, 
 and, holding out his hand, he asked, 
 with the utmost politeness : 
 
 " Will you allow me to looTc at that 
 cigar, sir ? " 
 
 " Certainly, sir," I replied, handing 
 it to him. He examined it very mi- 
 nutely, turning it over and over, and 
 placing it occasionally to his nasal 
 organ by way of variety. When my 
 patience was nearly exhausted, and I 
 was about demanding it of him, he 
 reached for a candle, placed the cigar 
 complacently between his lips, and 
 commenced to light and smoke it with 
 the greatest expression of satisfaction I 
 ever saw pictured on a countenance. I 
 must confess I felt somewhat ruffled ; 
 but determined to show him that I did 
 not appreciate his " good joke," I turn- 
 ed my back to him, and endeavored to 
 devote my attention to the sale. To 
 my astonishment my pleasant neigh- 
 bor again touched me on the shoulder. 
 I met his gaze with anything but pleas- 
 ure depicted on my countenance. 
 
 " Sir ! " said I. 
 37 
 
 He smiled, and, looking me full in 
 the face all the time, remarked, with a 
 patronizing air that made me almost 
 feel as if I was guilty of rudeness to- 
 ward him : 
 
 " A veiy fine cigar, sir. I haven't 
 smoked a cigar like that in a twelve- 
 month, sir. See what a beautiful ash ! 
 If I was luying cigars, that would be 
 the brand for me, sir." 
 
 " Yes, sir," said I, completely floored. 
 And touching his hat with a " G-o-o-d 
 morning, sir," he departed. I hastily 
 inquired of several who he was, but 
 none knew him ; and as we cannot tell 
 how soon any of us may be " short " in 
 these war times, I forgive him. 
 
 Share Sellers and Hope Dancers. 
 
 In the early age of English commer- 
 cial manias, some of the most unscrupu- 
 lous and most successful of that race 
 of stock gamesters were men in sad- 
 colored clothes and lank hair, men who 
 called cards the Devil's books, men 
 who thought it a sin and a scandal to 
 win or to lose twopence over a back- 
 gammon board. It was in the last 
 drama of the famous Shadwell that 
 the hypocrisy and knavery of these 
 speculators were, for the first time, ex- 
 posed to public ridicule. He died in 
 November, 1692, just before the stock- 
 jobbers came upon the stage ; and the 
 epilogue was spoken by an actor dress- 
 ed in deep mourning. ' The best scene 
 is that in which four or five stern non- 
 conformists, clad in the full Puritan 
 costume, after discussing the prospects 
 of the Mousetrap Company and the 
 Fleakilling Company, examine the ques- 
 tion whether the godly may lawfully 
 hold stock in a company for bringing 
 over Chinese rope-dancers. 
 
 " Considerable men have shares," says 
 one austere person in cropped hair and 
 bands ; " but verily I question whether 
 it be lawful or not." 
 
 These doubts are removed by a 
 stout old Roundhead colonel, who had 
 
578 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 fought at Marston Moor, and who re- 
 minds his weaker brother that the 
 saints need not see the rope-dancing, 
 and that, in all probability, there will 
 be no rope-dancing to see. 
 
 " The thing," he says, " is likely to 
 take; the shares will sell well; and 
 then we shall not care whether the 
 dancers come over or no." 
 
 Bed Herrings and Dutch Onions. 
 
 A STORY is told by an English travel- 
 ler, in the times of the Dutch tulip 
 mania, which is scarcely less ludicrous 
 than that of the sailor who, taking a 
 walk in the beautiful garden of a specu- 
 lator in bulbs, took his knife to the pro- 
 prietor's chief treasure in the shape of 
 a tulip root. In this case, the proprie- 
 tor was a merchant, who received upon 
 one occasion a very valuable consign- 
 ment of merchandise from the Levant. 
 Intelligence of its arrival was brought 
 him by a sailor, who presented himself 
 for that purpose in the counting house, 
 among bales of goods of every descrip- 
 tion. The merchant, to reward him for 
 his news, munificently made him a 
 present of a fine red herring for his 
 breakfast. The sailor had, it appears, 
 the usual partiality of that class for 
 herrings, and seeing a bulb very like 
 an onion lying upon the counter of 
 this liberal trader, and thinking it, no 
 doubt, very much out of its place among 
 silks and velvets, he slyly seized an op- 
 portunity and slipped it into his pock- 
 et, as a relish for his herring. He got 
 clear off with his prize, and proceeded 
 to the quay to eat his breakfast. Hard- 
 ly was his back turned when the mer- 
 chant missed his valuable Semper Au- 
 gustus^ worth three thousand florins, or 
 nearly fifteen hundred dollars. The 
 whole establishment was instantly in 
 an uproar; search was everywhere 
 made for the precious root, but it was 
 not to be found. At last some one 
 thought of the sailor. 
 
 The unhappy merchant sprang into 
 
 the street at the bare suggestion. His 
 alarmed household followed him. The 
 sailor, simple soul ! had not thought 
 of concealment. He was found quietly 
 sitting on a coil of ropes, masticating 
 the last morsel of his " onion." Little 
 did he dream that he had been eating 
 a breakfast whose cost might have re- 
 galed a whole ship's crew sumptuously 
 for a twelvemonth ; or, as the plunder- 
 ed merchant himself expressed it, 
 " might have sumptuously feasted the 
 Prince of Orange and the whole court 
 of the Stadtholder." Cleopatra caused 
 pearls to be dissolved in wine to drink 
 the health of Antony; Sir Richard 
 Whittington was as foolishly magnifi- 
 cent in an entertainment to King Hen- 
 ry the Fifth ; and Sir Thomas Gresham 
 drank a diamond, dissolved in wine, 
 to the health of Queen Elizabeth, when 
 she opened the Royal Exchange; but 
 the breakfast of this roguish Dutchman 
 was as splendid as either. He had an 
 advantage, too, over his wasteful prede- 
 cessors ; their gems did not improve the 
 taste or the wholesomeness of their 
 wine, while his tulip was quite delicious 
 with his red herring. The most unfor- 
 tunate part of the business for him 
 was, that he remained in prison some 
 months, on a charge of felony, preferred 
 against him by the merchant. 
 
 Reasons given by Thomas H. Perkins 
 for Declining a Proposed Coffee 
 Speculation. 
 
 An instance of the readiness with 
 which that eminent merchant, the late 
 Thomas H. Perkins, of Boston, could 
 sometimes decide on the advantages to 
 be reasonably expected from commer- 
 cial operations when proposed, will 
 serve to show the extent of his infor- 
 mation, and the value of such informa- 
 tion in enabling those who engage in 
 commerce to act with clear discern- 
 ment, instead of trusting to blind luck 
 or chance in speculation. 
 
 The particular instance referred to 
 
CHANCE DEALINGS AND VENTURES. 
 
 579 
 
 was tWs : At a certain period the price 
 of coffee, which for a long time pre- 
 viously had been as high as twenty-five 
 cents, had declined to fifteen cents per 
 pound, and Mr. Perkins being in New 
 York for a day or two, a wish was ex- 
 pressed by a certain party to have it 
 suggested to him that the temporary 
 depression having made it a fit subject 
 for speculation, there was an oppor- 
 tunity — should he be disposed to en- 
 gage in it on the extended scale of 
 trade to which he was accustomed — to 
 secure a large quantity on even more 
 advantageous terms. As coffee was an 
 article out of the line of his usual op- 
 erations, and not likely to attract his 
 particular attention, the subject was 
 mentioned to him rather for entertain- 
 ment, in conversing upon the occur- 
 rences of the time and the news of the 
 day, than in the belief that he would 
 give it a serious thought. 
 
 Without hesitation, and with the 
 ease and precision of an able lawyer or 
 surgeon in giving an opinion on any 
 case presented to either of them pro- 
 fessionally, he answered to this effect : 
 " The depression in coffee is not ' tem- 
 porary.' Whoever makes purchases now 
 at fourteen, or even at thirteen cents, 
 will find that he has made a mistake, 
 unless he means to take advantage of 
 any transient demand to dispose of it 
 speedily. There are more coffee trees 
 now in bearing than are sufficient to 
 supply the whole world, by a propor- 
 tion that I could state with some pre- 
 cision if necessary. The decline in 
 price is owing to accumulation, which 
 will be found to increase, particularly 
 as there are new plantations yet to 
 come forward. Coffee will eventually 
 fall to ten cents, and probably telow 
 that, and will remain depressed for 
 some years. The culture of it will be 
 diminished. Old plantations will be 
 suffered to die out, and others will, in 
 some cases, be grubbed up that the 
 land may be converted to new uses. 
 At length, the plantations will be found 
 
 inadequate to the supply of the world. 
 But it requires five or six years for the 
 coffee tree to reach its full bearing. 
 Time, of course, will be required for the 
 necessary increase, and the stocks on 
 hand will be diminishing in the mean 
 time. A rise must follow. Whoever buys 
 coffee twelve or fifteen years hence at the 
 market price, whatever it may be, will 
 probably find it rising on his hands, and 
 fortunes may be made, unless specula- 
 tive movements should have disturbed 
 the regular course of events." 
 
 With so. clear an outline for the fu- 
 ture, it was interesting to observe what 
 followed. Coffee did fall, gradually, to 
 less than ten cents, and remained low. 
 One consequence, usual in such cases, 
 ensued. The consumption increased. 
 Misled, perhaps, by this, and an im- 
 patient desire to be foremost in secur- 
 ing advantages which by that time 
 were generally foreseen, parties began 
 to move in a speculative spirit about 
 five years before the time thus indi- 
 cated. They made great purchases, 
 and large quantities were held in ex- 
 pectation of profit. Coffee rose con- 
 siderably. Some of them secured a 
 moderate profit while they could. 
 Others argued that as coffee had been 
 at twenty-five cents, there was no rea- 
 son why it should not attain that price 
 again, and determined to wait for 
 greater profits. The stimulant given 
 to the demand by withholding large 
 quantities from sale developed larger 
 stocks than were supposed to exist ; the 
 movement was found to be premature, 
 and coffee fell again in price. Immense 
 sums were lost. Bankruptcy followed, 
 with many a heartache that might have 
 been prevented had the same reasoning 
 guided the action of those thus concern- 
 ed as that which governed the judgment 
 
 of Mr. Perkins. 
 
 — « 
 
 Rise and Reminiscences of the Trade- 
 Sales. 
 
 The first trade sale of books in New 
 York was held at the old Tontine Cof- 
 
580 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 fee House, about the year 1805. Ma- 
 tliew Carey and other leading publish- 
 ers of the day had borrowed money on 
 the security of some of their surplus 
 stock, and, not being able to meet their 
 obligations on maturity, they had the 
 books sold at auction by one Robert 
 McMenamy. The trade were invited by 
 circular to be present, and some ac- 
 tually came. After the sale there was a 
 dinner, at which there was much wine- 
 drinking and speech-making, and the 
 auctioneer received his notes from the 
 buyers. It is said that not more than 
 half of them were ever paid, and the 
 unlucky auctioneer was forced to fail. 
 At intervals until 1826 similar book 
 auctions were held, but in that year 
 P. W. Johnson held the first formal 
 trade sale in New York, in a house 
 which stood on the site of the present 
 United States Hotel in Fulton street, 
 fronting the ferry. The whole cata- 
 logue w^as printed on a sheet of letter 
 paper, and the sale lasted from ten 
 A. M. until six p. M. 
 
 Johnson held his trade sales for three 
 or four years subsequently at the old 
 Panorama Sales Rooms, No. 157 Broad- 
 way. The rival house of Wiggins & 
 Pearson were doing business at No. 
 169 Broadway, and held a trade sale, 
 the catalogue of which was printed on 
 an imperial folio sheet, folded in 12mo. 
 But Johnson failed, and was succeeded 
 by John Doyle, and the rival concern 
 followed suit, and the new house of 
 Pearson & Gurley hung out its sign. 
 Doyle had a short reign, and was suc- 
 ceeded by Peasley & Cowperthwaite. 
 At about the same time, G. W. Lord 
 was holding trade sales on his own ac- 
 count ; so that there were actually thre^ 
 concerns in the field at once. In the 
 spring of 1832 came the cholera, and 
 with its panic a crash among the auc- 
 tioneers. All three houses failed, but 
 in September of that year, J. E. Cooley 
 held a trade sale, which he repeated 
 annually in his own name until 1838, 
 when he retired, and placed the busi- 
 
 ness in the hands of his clerks, who 
 formed a copartnership under the style 
 of Bangs, Richards & Piatt. Mr. Cooley 
 went to Europe for several years, but in 
 1847 formed the house of Cooley, Keese 
 & Hill, with which he remained until 
 1850, when he retired from business 
 altogether. Two trade sales w^ere held 
 simultaneously in tlie city from 1847 to 
 1855, when trouble arose among the 
 trade with reference to the practice of 
 duplicating lots over and above the 
 amount offered in the catalogue. Bangs 
 & Company were then the official auc- 
 tioneers, but the controversy waxed so 
 warm between the Harpers and other 
 leading publishers, that the American 
 Publishers' Association was formed, the 
 new house of Geo. A. Leavitt & Com- 
 pany was organized (the principal 
 partner in which was a son-in-law of 
 Mr. Cooley), and Bangs & Company 
 were deserted by all except Messrs. Har- 
 pfers and a few others. The result was 
 that the Harpere sold about sixty thou- 
 sand dollars of their own publications 
 at Bangs's sale, while the young house 
 was flooded with business. In the 
 spring and fall of 1856 they are said to 
 have sold nearly four million three hun- 
 dred thousand dollars' worth of books. 
 
 Bold but Calamitous Speculation of 
 John Guest. 
 
 In 1800, Mr. John Guest, one of the 
 most upright and enterprising mer- 
 chants ever resident in Philadelphia, 
 established the largest American house 
 in Europe, locating the chief house in 
 London, under the firm of John Guest 
 & Co. ; with a branch in Philadelphia, 
 under the firm of Guest & Bancker; 
 one at Baltimore, under the firm of 
 Guest, Atterbury & Co. ; besides others 
 at Charleston, New York, Pitts- 
 burg, &c. 
 
 All these houses became embarrassed 
 about the year 1810, owing to a bold 
 and laudable speculation, founded 
 upon information derived from the 
 
CHANCE DEALINGS AND VENTURES. 
 
 681 
 
 American minister, Mr. Pinckney, then 
 residing in London. In anticipation 
 of a war between America and Eng- 
 land, Mr. Guest made large purchases 
 of drygoods in England, Ireland, and 
 Scotland, and shipped the chief part 
 of them to the house in Philadelphia, 
 when, very unexpectedly, the aflfairs 
 between England and America took a 
 favorable, pacific turn, and the news 
 was received at Annapolis by the arri- 
 val of a British vessel called the Bram- 
 ble, stating the fact, and causing all 
 European goods to fall, even below 
 their real value and cost of importa- 
 tion. A large portion of these im- 
 mense importations were hypothecated, 
 and placed in the stores of Willing & 
 Francis, as the agents of David Par- 
 rish, and a slight effort made to sustain 
 the London house ; goods still fell in 
 price, and were greatly sacrificed as the 
 time for their redemption arrived. All 
 hopes of upholding the concern were 
 now abandoned, and the several firms 
 closed, yieldiDg up to the London 
 house enough to pay the English cred- 
 itors something less than a dividend of 
 tw^enty-five per cent. The partner in 
 Philadelphia had taken care to pay all 
 the American creditors in full. 
 
 But the predicted war did take place, 
 soon after — in 1813 — and all that Mr. 
 Pinckney promised was fulfilled. Dur- 
 ing the embargo between the two coun- 
 tries goods advanced, but now they 
 rose to extreme high prices ; and if all 
 the goods sacrificed by the different 
 firms could have been retained until 
 the period in question, it is believed 
 that, after securing the payment of the 
 interest to the English loan creditors 
 (there were no others), John Guest & 
 Co. would have realized, after paying 
 twenty shillings on the pound to all 
 their creditors, almost millions of dol- 
 lars, to be distributed among the differ- 
 ent co-partners. 
 
 Mr. Guest was one of the great pio- 
 neers of the trade of Philadelphia ; his 
 enterprise and perseverance paved the 
 
 way, half a century since, for the great 
 business she now enjoys. No other 
 American, in his time, obtained so ex- 
 tensive a credit in England; and no 
 other commercial house ever carried on 
 business upon so large a scale. His 
 failure to reach the highest pinnacle of 
 commercial success was owing simply 
 to a difference in a few months of time, 
 founded upon an almost certain con- 
 catenation of events, which did take 
 place, as his friend, Mr. Pinckney, had 
 predicted. 
 
 Missing a Good Chance. 
 
 A SINGLE act of a man's life may 
 make him remarkable, if not eminent, 
 and may tend to complete the history 
 of a country and people in their rapid 
 strides of improvement. The follow- 
 ing anecdote will illustrate the prin- 
 ciple : 
 
 Anthony Duch6, a French refugee, 
 came over with his wife to Pennsylva- 
 nia, in the same ship with William 
 Penn, who had borrowed the small 
 sum of about thirty pounds from him. 
 After the arrival, Penn offered him, in 
 lieu of the return of the money, " a 
 good bargain," as he said — a square of 
 ground between Third and Fourth 
 streets, Philadelphia, with only the 
 exception of the burial ground occu- 
 pied by Friends on Mulberry and 
 Fourth street. It was first offered to 
 Thomas Lloyd, whose wife was the first 
 person buried there. The proprietor, 
 Mr. Penn, observing that he knew the 
 lot was cheap, but that he had a mind 
 to favor him, in return for his kind- 
 ness, Mr. Duche replied, 
 
 " You are very good, Mr. Penn, and 
 the offer might prove advantageous, 
 but the money would suit me better." 
 
 " Blockhead ! " rejoined the proprie- 
 tor, provoked at such an intended 
 benefit being overlooked ; " Well, well, 
 thou shalt have thy money ; but canst 
 thou not see that this will be a great 
 city in a very short time ? " 
 
582 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 " So I was paid," said Duche, who 
 told the story, " and have ever since 
 repented my own folly." 
 
 Foundation of tlie Friendship between 
 Coates and Girard. 
 
 Samuel Coates, of Philadelphia, 
 reckoned three remarkable men among 
 his particular friends — Dr. Rush, Ste- 
 phen Girard, and Dr. Physick. With 
 JMr. Girard his friendship was some- 
 what peculiar, Girard being, at the 
 time of its commencement, a very ac- 
 tive philanthropist, in connection with 
 the yellow fever and the hospital. It 
 was easy for those who could afford it, 
 to give money to the distressed and 
 forsaken ; but a much more formidable 
 difficulty was to obtain competent per- 
 sons, or, in fact, any persons at all, to 
 risk, as it was then universally be- 
 lieved, their lives. Many of the sick 
 suffered most shockingly by neglect, 
 from the dread of contagion ; and the 
 feeling in regard to service in wards of 
 yellow fever patients, amounted to hor- 
 ror. Stephen Girard and John Connel- 
 ly were, at some intervals, the only 
 nurses in the calamitous yellow fever 
 
 hospital of 1793. They spent their 
 whole time in the building, attended 
 the sick personally, fed them, adminis- 
 tered medicine to them, and, at the 
 same time, gave all practicable assist- 
 ance and advice — and this was much — 
 to the external members of the commit- 
 tee of public safety, who were obliged 
 to volunteer on this melancholy service. 
 In tlie frequent intercourse thus occa- 
 sioned between them, near the beds of 
 their sick and dying neighbors, their 
 friendship was first cemented. At a 
 later period, the attention of the great 
 merchant could not be withheld from a 
 director of the Bank of the United 
 States; and the probity with which 
 both that institution, and the private 
 affairs of his new friend were conduct- 
 ed, was exactly adapted, as is well 
 known, to confirm the respect and es- 
 teem of such a man as Girard. The 
 Pennsylvania hospital was in want of 
 funds; and Girard, who had freely 
 exposed his life to what was deemed 
 the most imminent and appalling dan- 
 ger, now contributed liberally in money 
 also. The conversations which took 
 place on the occasions when these aids 
 were solicited, gave rise to many inci- 
 dents and scenes of humor. 
 
PART ELEVENTH. 
 
 Anecdotes of CuRiom Trades and Objects of 
 
 Traffic 
 
PAET ELEVENTH. 
 
 Anecdotes of Curious Trades and Objects of Traffic. 
 
 NOVEL BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS ; BUYING, SELLING, BARTERING, AND SIIOPKEEPING, CHARAC- 
 TERISTIC OF DIFFERENT COUNTRIES; RUSES, JEUX d'eSPRITS, AND DROLLERIES. 
 
 There is no man who ia rot in some degree a merchant ; who has rot Bomething to buy or some- 
 thing to sell. — Samuel Johnson. 
 
 "Without moui ting by degrees, a man cannot attain to high things.— Sidney. 
 
 A eiijgle farthing is the semlna of wealth— the seed of a golden progeny. — Anon, 
 Then let us beat this ample field, 
 Try what the opei.', wliat the covert, yield.— Pope. 
 
 How many things there are in this world, of which D ogems bath no need ! — Izaak "Walton. 
 In gospel phrase, t1 eir chapmen th( y bitray. 
 Their shops are dens, the buyer is their prey. — Dryden. 
 
 Before and Behind the Connter. 
 
 Every object or article purchased in 
 a Roman shop, by an English or Amer- 
 ican customer, is rated at very nearly 
 double its value; and the universal 
 custom there, even among the people 
 themselves, is to carry on a haggling 
 market of aggression on the part of the 
 purchaser, and defence on that of the 
 vender, which is often as comical as it 
 is disgusting. 
 
 In Nataletti's shop, a scene, is de- 
 scribed as having some time since oc- 
 curred between the salesman and a lady 
 purchaser, which would doubtless have 
 amazed the parties behind and before 
 the counters of Howell & James, Stew- 
 art, etc. The lady, after choosing her 
 stuff and the quantity she required, 
 was observed to begin a regular attack 
 upon the shopman ; it was mezza voce, 
 indeed, but continuous, eager, vehe- 
 ment, pressing, overpowering, to a 
 degree indescribable— and the luckless 
 man having come for a moment from 
 
 behind the shelter of his long table, the 
 lady smartly seized him by the arm, 
 and holding him fast, argued her point 
 with increasing warmth. She next 
 caught hold of the breast of his coat, 
 her face within a few inches of his, 
 and the amazonian stream still pouring 
 forth. Her husband meanwhile stood 
 by and smiled approvingly at the thrif- 
 ty and eloquent vocabulary of his wife. 
 The shopman looked disgusted. 
 
 Going into Gayiati's, in the Corso — 
 the great omnium gatherum, or variety 
 store — for a morning's shopping, an 
 English visitor says that he noticed 
 first an attempt to cheat a lady, in 
 giving change for gold. Looking at 
 some fans which were being shown to 
 an Italian purchaser at the same time, 
 the visitor took up one, which the 
 shopkeeper said was worth eighteen 
 scudi — the Roman buyer took up an- 
 other, which had been shown the Eng- 
 lish visitor at the same price, and with 
 sundry " nods and becks and wreathed 
 smiles" at the shopman, said in an 
 
586 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 under tone, " Dunque quindici ? " The 
 latter nodded, returned the significant 
 pantt)mine, and added, " Eh I capite." 
 
 Traits of the Shop in Havana. 
 
 The stores in Havana are designated 
 by different names, which, however, 
 have no reference to their contents — 
 as, " The Bomb," a favorite one ; " The 
 Stranger;" "Virtue;" etc., but the 
 name of the owner never appears on 
 the signboard. The principal com- 
 mercial houses have neither sign nor 
 name, and can only be distinguised 
 from the larger private dwellings, by 
 the bales of goods, or boxes of sugar 
 and bags of coffee, that are piled up in 
 their lower stories ; the merchant and 
 his family, and clerks, living in the up- 
 per part. 
 
 Nearly all the retail shops are owned 
 by Spaniards ; and, with very few ex- 
 ceptions, none but men are seen behind 
 the counters. The Parisian shop girl, 
 so celebrated for her skill in selling, 
 might, however, here learn a lesson, not 
 only in overcharging, but also in that 
 assiduity in serving, that will scarcely 
 permit the visitor to leave without pur- 
 chasing something. Let the novice 
 take care' how he offers one half the 
 price asked for an article, if he does 
 not wish it, for that, not unfrequently, 
 is its real one ; in almost every case, 
 one fourth will be deducted. 
 
 " How much for this xippee-xappee 
 (hippe happe,) ? " inquires a customer 
 at the hat merchant's. " Twelve dol- 
 lars." " I will give you six." " Say 
 eight ? " " Only six." " It is a very 
 fine one, sefior, take it for seven ; " and 
 finding that to be about its value, the 
 bargain is closed. "You shall have 
 this cane for a dollar," said a Catalan 
 to a gentleman who was examining his 
 various articles spread out under one 
 of the arcades ; the gentleman not wish- 
 ing to buy it, offered two rials, and it 
 was handed to him, the latter giving 
 the trader two reales sevillanas, but he 
 
 insisted on fuertes^ and the cane wa3 
 bought for one fourth the price asked. 
 The ladies, in shopping, do not, in 
 general, leave their volantes, but have 
 the goods brought to them, — the strict- 
 ness of Spanish etiquette forbidding 
 such dainty mortals to deal with a 
 shopman ; and it is only when the seller 
 of goods happens to be of their own 
 sex, that they venture into a store. 
 
 Bad Operation in Leather. 
 
 Deacon Johnson was in the shoe 
 business in a certain village, and on 
 one occasion he bought a large lot of 
 leather of a dealer, larger than he need- 
 ed, and more than be would have 
 bought but for the fact that the seller 
 was hard pressed, and let him have it 
 at a little reduction. The deacon 
 stored it in his barn, and " calculated " 
 that the price would rise and that he 
 should make a good spec out of it. 
 But just then the panic and the hard 
 times came on, and leather, like every- 
 thing else, went down flat. After a 
 while, the deacon came to the conclu- 
 sion that he should have to wait a long 
 time for the price to come up so as to 
 enable him to get his money back. 
 One night his wife waked him out of 
 a sound sleep, and told him that she 
 heard a noise in the bam, and she was 
 sure that thieves were there, stealing 
 his leather. It took her some time to 
 rouse him enough to understand what 
 was to pay ; and when he did, he 
 growled out : " Well, if it falls on their 
 hands as it has on mine, they'll wish 
 they had let it alone." 
 
 Mengrin, the French Pencil Seller. 
 
 The most celebrated and the most 
 successful charlatan of Paris was Men- 
 gin, the itinerant pencil seller. He 
 lately died, leaving behind him a for- 
 tune of some four hundred thousand 
 dollars. 
 
 No one can have passed many days 
 
CURIOUS TRADES AND OBJECTS OF TRAFFIC. 
 
 587 
 
 in Paris, within the last ten years, with- 
 out having observed, on the Place de la 
 Bourse, the Place du Chatelet, or some 
 other open space, the conspicuous fig- 
 ure of a tall, handsome man, with a 
 brass helmet and plumes, and a beard 
 — the very model of that of Hudibras, 
 " in shape and hue most like a tile " — 
 standing on the box of a light cart, and 
 haranguing a crowd. He wore a costly 
 mantle of green velvet embroidered 
 with gold, and on the fingers of his 
 white hands were many rings of great 
 price. Behind him was a squire, who 
 from time to time blew a trumpet 
 to attract public attention, and whose 
 garments were only less splendid than 
 those of his master. The only end or 
 aim of all this pomp and circumstance 
 was the sale of lead pencils at two sous 
 apiece. 
 
 Mengin possessed in a high degree 
 the art of commanding the attention 
 of his audience. The laughs he raised 
 were rare, but his face was full of prom- 
 ise of something good coming, and 
 thus he kept alive curiosity. 
 
 Though his speeches occupied a con- 
 siderable time in the delivery, he was 
 essentially a man of few words. He 
 made long pauses, which were filled up 
 by pantomime, and making grotesque 
 sketches on a slate, to exhibit to his 
 audience the superior quality of^ his 
 pencils. 
 
 The substance of every one of his 
 discourses was, that he had originally 
 set up in a quiet shop, but finding that 
 he could not get a living in it, he had 
 resolved to become a quack, and that 
 from the hour of his taking that reso- 
 lution he had done well. 
 
 " Why," he would say, " do I rig my- 
 self up in this ludicrous costume? I 
 will tell you candidly. Because, going 
 about in this dress I sell a great many 
 pencils ; and if I staid at home in a 
 warehouse coat, I should sell very few. 
 I am a quack, I admit, but I am an 
 honest one, for I sell a good article ; 
 and if you want a pencil, I doubt 
 
 whether you will get as good a one 
 anywhere else for the money." 
 
 The speech was always followed by 
 numerous demands, which he supplied 
 from cases packed in the cart. In 
 course of time he was wont to speak 
 of the large fortune he had made, and 
 he v/ould not unfrequently turn out the 
 contents of several rouleaux of gold, and 
 count them in the public view. 
 
 Portuguese Diamond Mercliant's Bar- 
 gain with Philip the Second. 
 
 A Portuguese merchant brought 
 an exceedingly brilliant diamond to 
 court one day, about which all the 
 courtiers were in ecstasies, but which 
 the king, being accustomed to rare 
 things, did not so much extol. " Well," 
 said his majesty, addressing the mer- 
 chant, " what would you ask a gentle- 
 man for this diamond, if one took a 
 fancy to it ? " " Sire," answered the 
 dealer, " seventy thousand ducats, the 
 price which I gave for this offspring of 
 the sun." " Why did you give so much 
 money ? who did you suppose would 
 purchase it ? " inquired the king. " I 
 knew," replied the shrewd merchant, 
 " that there was a Philip the Second in 
 the world." The reply of the flatterer 
 pleased King Philip more than the 
 beauty of the diamond, and he imme- 
 diately ordered that great sum to be 
 paid the merchant, with a royal gift in 
 addition. 
 
 English Idol Manufacturers. 
 
 It is a curious and not very flattering 
 fact that Christian manufacturers, in the 
 foremost Christian land, should be en- 
 gaged in producing objects of idolatry 
 with which to supply heathen coun- 
 tries. Alluding to this description of 
 English trade, the editor of Punch has 
 a few telling paragraphs — not " found- 
 ed upon," but all fact : Having learned 
 from the " Record " (says Punch,) that 
 a very brisk manufacture of Hindoo 
 
588 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 idols is carried on by a most respect- 
 able and orthodox house at Birming- 
 ham, we have, though, we confess it, 
 with some difficulty, obtained a list of 
 the articles. The bill we have had 
 duly translated from Hindostanee : 
 
 Yamen — Oocl of Death : In fine cop- 
 per ; very tasteful. 
 
 ISTiBOND — King of the Demons: In 
 great variety. The giant he rides is 
 of the boldest design, and his sabre of 
 the present style. 
 
 Varonnin — God of the Sun: Very 
 spirited. Crocodile in brass, and whip 
 in silver. 
 
 Canberen— G^o<^ of Wealth: This 
 god is of the most exquisite workman- 
 ship ; having stimulated the best pow- 
 ers of the manufacturers. 
 
 Smaller Demi-Gods and Minor 
 Demons in evert variety. 
 
 No Credit ; and Dicounts allowed for 
 Beady Money. 
 
 Eastern Trade in Ostrich and Bird-of- 
 Paradise Feathers. 
 
 Leghorn, after the decline of its 
 commerce with the Levant, remained 
 the great entrepot of ostrich feathers, 
 and did business in that article to the 
 amount of about two hundred thousand 
 dollars annually. Now, however, Lon- 
 don is the principal centre of that 
 curious trade. Seven eighths of the os- 
 trich feathers which Leghorn receives 
 come from Egypt, and the rest from 
 Tripoli and Aleppo. About three 
 fourths of the whole are sent to Paris, 
 and the other one fourth to England. 
 
 White feathers are worth from five 
 to twenty times more than the black 
 ones. All feathers, white and black, 
 are sold by weight, except however, 
 the very finest sorts, which are disposed 
 of according to quality. The price of 
 white feathers varies from one hundred 
 and fifty to three hundred francs the 
 Tuscan pound — nearly twelve ounces ; 
 and of black, from thirty to eighty-five 
 francs. 
 
 This trade in ostrich feathers requires 
 a good deal of experience, as it is easy 
 to be deceived in the quality when 
 they are not prepared. Four or five 
 houses alone are engaged in the trade 
 at Leghorn, and their profits are large. 
 The dealers at Paris are beginning to 
 obtain from London the ostrich feathers 
 which the latter get from the Cape of 
 Good Hope. They already procure 
 from that city marabout and bird-of- 
 paradise feathers which come from Cal- 
 cutta, and vulture and heron feathers 
 which come from Brazil. 
 
 Traffic in Beautiful Circassian Girls. 
 
 The traffic in Circassian girls, in 
 Turkey, has long been a regular trade. 
 Perceiving that when the Russians 
 shall have reoccupied the Caucasus, 
 this traffic in girls would be over, the 
 Circassian dealers redoubled their ef- 
 forts to introduce into Turkey the 
 greatest possible number of them, while 
 the opportunity lasted. Such success 
 attended this movement, that the " ar- 
 ticle " was greatly reduced in price, be- 
 yond any former period. So extensive 
 was the supply, and such a glut in the 
 market, that dealers were obliged to 
 throw away or part company with 
 their " goods." In former times, a fair 
 and comely Circassian girl was thought 
 very cheap at five hundred dollars, but 
 this became reduced to less than one 
 twentieth that sum. 
 
 Viper Merchants. 
 
 Snakes and serpents furnish quite 
 an article of trade among the Chinese 
 — used pharmaceutlcally— and the mer- 
 chants engaged in this kind of trafilc 
 in that country are numerous. The 
 viper, more particularly, is exposed for 
 sale, either alive in small baskets of 
 twisted bamboo, or dead and reduced 
 to soup, or pickled and preserved with 
 various seasonings in jars or barrels. 
 
CURIOUS TRADES AND OBJECTS OF TRAFFIC. 
 
 589 
 
 These dealers generally exhibit a 
 board, inscribed, in due business shape, 
 with the quality and value of the rep- 
 tiles they have for sale. In this respect 
 they are the same as the shopkeepers, 
 who make it a practice to exhibit a 
 long and flaming list of the different 
 sorts of snakes they have on hand. It 
 is also the practice of these traders to 
 write up, after or under their names on 
 the signboard, the words " Pu hu," 
 which may be translated, " No cheating 
 here ; " but, alas ! corroborative evi- 
 dence is much wanting to substantiate 
 the truth of the declaration. 
 
 CMffonniers, or " Rag* Merchants," of 
 Paris. 
 
 The rag gatherers, or chiffonniers, of 
 Paris, are a peculiar class, and once in 
 a while they have a grand banquet. 
 One of the most notable of these took 
 place in Paris, at a public house called 
 the Pot Trincolore, near the Barriere 
 de Fontainebleau, which is frequented 
 by the rag-gathering fraternity. In 
 this house there are three rooms, each 
 of which is specially devoted to the use 
 of different classes of rag gatherers : 
 one, the least dirty, is called the 
 " Chamber of Peers," and is occupied 
 by the first class — that is, those who 
 possess a basket in a good state and a 
 crook ornamented with copper ; the 
 second, called the " Chamber of Depu- 
 ties," belonging to the second class, is 
 much less comfortable, and those who 
 attend it have baskets and crooks, not 
 of the first-rate quality ; the third room 
 is in a dilapidated condition, and is 
 frequented by the lowest order of rag 
 gatherers, who have no basket or crook, 
 and who place what they find in the 
 streets in a piece of sackcloth, as a re- 
 ceptacle — this being their only " stock 
 in trade." 
 
 This fraternity call themselves the 
 " Reunion des Vrais Proletaires." The 
 name of each room is written in chalk 
 above the door, and generally such 
 
 strict etiquette is observed among the 
 rag gatherers that no one goes into an 
 apartment not occupied by his own 
 class. 
 
 At the " banquet," however, all " dis- 
 tinctions of rank" are set aside, and 
 delegates of each class unite as a broth- 
 erhood. The President is the oldest 
 rag gatherer in Paris ; his age is eighty- 
 eight, and he is called the Emperor. 
 The banquet consists of a sort of ollapo- 
 drida, which the master of the establish- 
 ment pompously calls a gilelotte, though 
 of what animal it is mainly comj)osed 
 is beyond one's knowledge. It is 
 served up in huge earthen dishes, and, 
 before it is allowed to be touched, pay- 
 ment is demanded and obtained. The 
 other articles are also paid for as soon 
 as brought in, and a deposit is exacted 
 as security for the plates, knives, and 
 forks. The wine, or what does duty 
 as such, is contained in an earthen pot„ 
 called the Petit Pere Noir, and is filled 
 from a gigantic vessel named Le Mori- 
 caud. The dinner is concluded by each 
 guest taking a glass of brandy. Busi- 
 ness is then proceeded to. It consists 
 in the reading and adoption of the 
 statutes of the association, followed by 
 the drinking of numerous toasts to the 
 president, to the prosperity of rag gath- 
 ering, to the union of rag gatherers, 
 etc. A collection is then taken up in 
 aid of the sick members of the fra- 
 ternity. 
 
 Barnum Buying- the American Museum 
 with Brass. 
 
 In 1841, says Mr. Barnum, I pur- 
 chased the American Museum in New 
 York, without a dollar, for I was not 
 worth a dollar in the world. But I 
 was never disheartened ; I always felt 
 that I could make money fast enough, 
 if I only set my mind to it. I remem- 
 ber meeting a friend in Broadway a few 
 weeks before I came in possession of 
 the Museum. 
 
 " Well," says I, " Mr. A., I am going 
 to buy the American Museum." 
 
590 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 " Buy it ? " says he, for he knew I 
 had no property. " What do you in- 
 tend buying it with ? " 
 
 " Brass," I replied, " for ' silver and 
 gold I have none.' " 
 
 It was even so. Everybody who has 
 had any connection with theatrical, 
 circus, or exliibition business, from Ed- 
 mund Simpson, manager of the Old 
 Park Theatre, or William Niblo, down 
 to the most humble puppet-show man 
 of the day, knew me perfectly well. 
 Mr. Francis Olmsted, the owner of the 
 Museum building, a noble, whole-souled 
 man as one often meets with, having 
 consulted my references, who all con- 
 curred in telling him that I was "a 
 good showman, and would do as I 
 agreed," accepted my proposition to 
 give security for me in the purchase of 
 the Museum collection, he appointing 
 a money taker at the door, and credit- 
 ing me, toward the purchase, with all 
 the money received, after paying ex- 
 penses, allowing me fifty dollars per 
 month, on which to support my family, 
 consisting of a wife and three chil- 
 dren. 
 
 This was my own proposition, as I was 
 determined so to live that six hundred 
 dollars per annum should defray all the 
 expenses of my family, until I had paid 
 for the Museum ; and my treasure of a 
 wife (for such a wife *5 a " treasure ") 
 gladly assented to the arrangement, 
 and expressed her willingness to cut 
 the expenses down to four hundred 
 dollars per annum, if necessary. 
 
 One day, some six months after I 
 had purchased the Museum, my friend, 
 Mr. Olmsted, happened in at my ticket 
 office, at about twelve o'clock, and 
 found me alone, eating my dinner, 
 which consisted of a few slices of corn- 
 ed beef and bread that 1 had brought 
 from home in the morning. 
 
 " Is this the way you eat your din- 
 ner ? " he inquired. 
 
 " I have not eaten a warm dinner 
 since I bought the Museum, except on 
 the Sabbath," I replied, " and I intend 
 
 never to eat another on a week day 
 until I get out of debt." 
 
 " Ah ! you are safe, and will pay for 
 the Museum before the year is out," he 
 replied, slapping me familiarly on the 
 shoulders ; and he was right, for in less 
 than a year from that period I was in 
 full possession of the Museum, as my 
 own property, every cent paid out of 
 the profits of the establishment. 
 
 Coleridgre and the " Ogh Clo' " Man. 
 
 CoLEHiDGE says : I have had a good 
 deal to do with Jews, in the course of 
 my life, though I never borrowed any 
 money of thera. The other day I was 
 what you may call floored by a Jew. 
 He passed me several times, crying for 
 old clothes in the most nasal and extra- 
 ordinary tone I ever heard. At last, I 
 was so provoked, that I said to him : 
 " Pray, why can't you say ' old clothes' 
 in a plain way, as I do now ? " The 
 Jew stopped, and looking very gravely 
 at me, said, in a clear and even fine ac- 
 cent, " Sir, I can say ' old clothes ' as 
 well as you can ; but if you had to say 
 so ten times a minute, or an hour to- 
 gether, jou would say ' ogTi do' ' as I do 
 now " — and so he marched off. I was so 
 confounded with the justice of his re- 
 tort, that I followed him and gave him 
 a shilling, the only one I had. 
 
 Boy Traders in Moscow. 
 
 The Russian youth are said to show 
 an address and dexterity in business 
 dealings such as are displayed only by 
 long-practised traders in most other 
 countries. M. Kohl, the traveller and 
 author, says that when in Moscow he 
 went one day into a wax-chandler's 
 shop on the invitation of a manikin of 
 seven years of age only — adroit, cun- 
 ning, and too clever by half. 
 
 Dressed in his little blue caftan of 
 precisely the same cut as that worn by 
 men, the infant merchant entreated him 
 to enter his shop, bowing in the same 
 
CURIOUS TRADES AND OBJECTS OF TRAFFIC. 
 
 591 
 
 obsequious fashion as his elders ; and 
 when told by M. Kohl that he was not 
 going to buy, but only wanted to look 
 at his wares, he answered, as com- 
 plaisantly as his pa' could have done, 
 " Pray, oblige me by looking at what- 
 ever you please." 
 
 He showed me all his stock, opened 
 every press with a dexterous willing- 
 ness which could not but be admired ; 
 knew not only the price of every sort 
 of candle, but the whole capital invest- 
 ed in the stock ; the yearly returns, the 
 wholesale price, the profit at so much 
 per cent. — in a word, he had in every 
 respect the demeanor of an experienced 
 trader. Just such children as these are 
 often found at the money-broker's ta- 
 ble ; and at an age when, in other na- 
 tions, they would hardly be trusted 
 with a few cents, a considerable capital 
 will be committed to their care. Many 
 similar millionnaires in embryo peddle 
 small wares in the streets, jingling their 
 money and handling their reckoning 
 boards with so much address, that it is 
 easy to comprehend how so many opu- 
 lent individuals issue from their ranks. 
 There are, in Russia, a great number of 
 wealthy merchants who look back to 
 the streets and peddlers' booths for their 
 youthful reminiscences, when all their 
 merchandise consisted of picture books, 
 kwas, or wax tapers. 
 
 Day & Martin's Precursors. 
 
 The shoeblacks of Dublin were a 
 numerous and pretty formidable body 
 — the precursors of Day & Martin, till 
 the superior merits of the latter put an 
 end to their trade. The polish they 
 used was lampblack and eggs, for 
 which they purchased all the rotten 
 ones in the markets. Their imple- 
 ments consisted of a three-legged stool, 
 a basket containing a blunt knife which 
 they called a spudd, a painter's brush, 
 and an old wig. A gentleman usually 
 "vrent out m the morning with dirty 
 boots or shoes, sure to find a shoe- 
 
 black sitting on his stool at the corner 
 of the street. He laid his foot on his 
 lap without ceremony, where the " ar- 
 tist " scraped it with his spudd, wiped 
 it with his wig, and then laid on his 
 composition as thick as black paint 
 with his painter's brush. The stuff 
 dried with a rich polish, requiring no 
 friction, and really but little inferior to 
 the elaborated modern fluids, save only 
 the intolerable odors exhaled from eggs 
 in a high state of putridity, and which 
 filled any house which was entered be- 
 fore the composition was quite dry — 
 sometimes even tainting the au* of fash- 
 ionable drawing rooms. At present, 
 the shoeblacks who ply their trade so 
 industriously in all the various cities 
 of considerable size in Europe and 
 America, are boys of from eight to 
 eighteen years of age, and the price 
 obtained for a job by these urchins 
 varies all the way from three or five 
 cents up to a shilling, according to the 
 whim of the customer. They are a 
 bright, sharp set, only excelled in these 
 respects by the newsboys — the latter, 
 however, being looked upon as a j)eg 
 above the shoeblacks, in a " business 
 point of view." 
 
 Italian Marriage Brokers. 
 
 In Genoa there are regular marriage 
 brokers, who have pocket books filled 
 with the names of the marriageable 
 girls of the different classes, with notes 
 of their figures, personal attractions, for- 
 tunes, and other circumstances. These 
 brokers go about endeavoring to ar- 
 range connections, in the same off-hand, 
 mercantile manner which they would 
 bring to bear upon a merchandise tran- 
 saction; and when they succeed, they 
 get a commission of two or three per 
 cent, upon the portion, with such ex- 
 tras or bonuses as may be voluntarily 
 bestowed by the party benefited. Mar- 
 riage at Genoa is thus oftentimes sim- 
 ply a matter of business calculation, 
 generally settled by the parents or rela- 
 
592 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 tions, who often draw up the contract 
 before the parties have seen one an- 
 other ; and it is only when everything 
 else is arranged, and a few days previ- 
 ous to the marriage ceremony, that the 
 future husband is introduced to his in- 
 tended partner for life. Should he find 
 fault with her manners or appearance, 
 he may annul the contract, on condi- 
 tion of defraying the brokerage, and 
 any other expenses incurred. 
 
 Egryptian Mummy Trade. 
 
 The most lucrative business in which 
 the Egyptian Jews were engaged, ceased 
 in the seventeenth century. For a long 
 time, " mummy " was an article of great 
 value in the practice of medicine. It 
 was found in all the drug shops of Eu- 
 rope, and, even to this day, mummy 
 powder, mixed with camel's-milk but- 
 ter, is regarded by the Arabs as a 
 sovereign remedy for bruises. " Make 
 mummy of my flesh, and sell me to the 
 apothecaries," was not a mere figure of 
 speech. The repulsive drug was pre- 
 scribed by the physicians of the six- 
 teenth century, for fractures, concus- 
 sions, palpitation of the heart, and the 
 like ; while even Lord Bacon says, 
 " Mummy hath great force in staunch- 
 ing of blood." 
 
 Many speculators embarked in the 
 trade, and vast sums were expended in 
 purchasing mummies, principally from 
 the Jews in Egypt. Tombs and cata- 
 combs were searched ; and when the 
 Government forbade the transportation 
 of the bodies from their sepulchral 
 habitation, the Jews had recourse to 
 fraud and imposition. In order to 
 supply the great demand for mummy, 
 they embalmed dead bodies, and after- 
 ward sold them. In like manner, the 
 bodies of slaves, of executed criminals, 
 of unclaimed strangers, and even the 
 dried and withered corpses of travel- 
 lers buried in the sands of the desert, 
 were by the Jews transmuted into 
 gold. 
 
 De la Fontaine, physician to the king 
 of Navarre, when travelling in Egypt, 
 made some inquiries respecting the 
 supply of mummy as a drug. The 
 Jewish dealers, to whom he applied 
 for information, showed him thirty or 
 forty mummies in a single pile. The 
 physician was anxious to know where 
 the bodies had been obtained, and 
 whether the accounts given by the an- 
 cients relative to the treatment of the 
 dead, and their mode of sepulture, 
 could be confirmed. The Jew laughed, 
 and informed him that the mummies 
 before him were all of his own manu- 
 facture ! A ghastly trade, surely, but 
 by no means confined to the children 
 of Abraham or the land of the pyra- 
 mids. 
 
 Chartier, the Leech Merchant. 
 
 Henri Chartier, the leech mer- 
 chant, has long been an important 
 character among those engaged in the 
 trade of which he is the acknowledged 
 head — his arrival makes quite a fete, 
 for all are eager to greet him. If ever 
 you pass through La Brenne, France, 
 you will see a man, pale and straight- 
 haired, with a woollen cap on his head, 
 and his legs and arms naked ; he walks 
 along the borders of a marsh, among 
 the spots left dry by the surrounding 
 waters, but particularly wherever the 
 vegetation seems to preserve the subja- 
 cent soil undisturbed ; this man is a 
 leech fisher — a horrid trade, in which- 
 ever way it is carried on. To see him 
 from a distance — his woe-begone aspect 
 —his hollow eyes — his livid lips — his 
 singular gestures — ^lie might easily be 
 mistaken for a patient who had left his 
 sickbed in a fit of delirium. If you 
 observe him every now and then rais- 
 ing his legs and examining them one 
 after the other, you might suppose him 
 a fool ; but no ; he is bright and intel- 
 ligent in his way. The leeches attach 
 themselves to his legs and feet as he 
 moves among their haunts, he feels 
 
CURIOUS TRADES AND OBJECTS OF TRAFFIC. 
 
 693 
 
 tlieir presence from their bite, and 
 gathers them as they ckister about the 
 roots of the bulrushes and seaweeds, 
 or beneath the stones covered with 
 green and gluey moss. Some repose 
 on the mud, while others swim about, 
 but so slowly that they are easily gath- 
 ered with the hand. Sometimes the 
 leech gatherer will be seen armed with 
 a kind of spear or harpoon ; with this 
 he deposits pieces of decayed animal 
 matter in places frequented by the 
 leeches, which soon gather around the 
 prey, and are presently themselves gath- 
 ered into a vessel half full of water. In 
 summer the leech retires into deep wa- 
 ter ; and the fishers have then to strip 
 naked, and walk immersed up to the 
 chin. One of the traders — what with 
 his own fishing and ^ that of his chil- 
 dren, and what with his acquisitions 
 from the carriers, who sell quantities 
 at second hand — ^has been enabled to 
 hoard up nearly eighteen thousand 
 leeches in the course of a few months. 
 
 Poor Kind of Ice. 
 
 An American gentleman living in 
 London in 1851, had frequently noticed 
 at his fishmonger's, sundry signs of 
 " American Ice," " Norway Ice," and 
 " English Ice," posted up. One day he 
 asked, " Which ice do you esteem the 
 best ? — the American, I suppose ? " 
 " No, sir, not at all," replied the fish- 
 monger ; " the English ice is the best, 
 and next the Norway. The fact is, 
 that American ice is nothing more than 
 water congealed / " A novelty in nature, 
 surely, this trader dealt in I 
 
 Commercial Value of Insects. 
 
 The importance of insects to com- 
 merce IS but little known or appreciat- 
 ed. Great Britain does not pay less 
 than a million of dollars annually for 
 the dried carcasses of a tiny insect, the 
 cochineal. A million and a half of hu- 
 man beings derive their sole support 
 38 
 
 from the culture and manufacture of 
 silk, and the little silkworm alone cre- 
 ates an annual circulating medium of 
 hundred millions of dollars. Honey 
 and beeswax, the product of the beCy 
 create a large trade, of great commer- 
 cial importance, every year. Then there 
 is the Spanish Jly, or cantharides, the 
 value of which is well known. Coral 
 is another insect product of much ac- 
 count. 
 
 Bugs have long been a considerable 
 article in the Rio Janeiro trade. Their 
 wings are made into artificial flowers, 
 and some of the more brilliant varieties 
 are worn as ornaments in ladies' hair. 
 One man manages to earn quite a liv- 
 ing by selling curious specimens of in- 
 sects to the strangers who visit that 
 port. He keeps twelve slaves constant- 
 ly employed in finding the bugs — also 
 serpents and shells — which are most in 
 demand. The nearest approach to this 
 curious business in other parts of the 
 world, is that of the trade in fireflies 
 at Havana; the insect being caught, 
 and carefully fed on the sugar cane, is 
 used as an ornament for ladies' dresses, 
 giving to the latter, when tastefully ar- 
 ranged, a very pleasing appearance. 
 Being twice the size of the American 
 firefly, it is very brilliant at night. 
 The Creoles catch them on the planta- 
 tions and sell them to the city belles, 
 some of whom carry them in tiny silver 
 cages attached to their bracelets— mak- 
 ing a sparkling display in the evening. 
 
 Old Women's Trades in London. 
 
 In London there are a large number 
 of old women who carry on a trade pe- 
 culiar to themselves — not rag pickers 
 simply, but snappers up of trifles of 
 every kind— and by means of which 
 some come into possession of pretty 
 considerable gains. They are known 
 by their peculiar and grotesque ap- 
 pearance. Some wear a hat, but cover 
 their shoulders with a gown. Some are 
 crowned with an old bonnet, but, as if 
 
594 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 Street Merchants. 
 
 to keep up the mystery, button a shab- 
 by dress coat tightly around their per- 
 son. In fact, the sex to which they be- 
 long might puzzle the most expert in 
 matters of gender. They are draggle- 
 skirt-looking creatures, and some are 
 not unlike the hags in Macbeth. They 
 keep their eyes constantly on the 
 ground, glancing along the gutters of 
 the street with amazing rapidity ; and, 
 considering how old they are, it is sur- 
 prising how quickly they discern the 
 objects of their search. They usually 
 carry a coarse dirty bag, into which 
 they put up promiscuously every little 
 bit of linen or woollen rag, string, bone, 
 or iron, which they may be fortunate 
 enough to discover in the mud and 
 filth. . The little heaps of dust swept 
 out by shopboys from behind the coun- 
 ters, are constant mines of treasure — 
 they are sure to find among them some- 
 thing to reward their pains. All the 
 things thus gathered have their appro- 
 priate value in the finder's classifica- 
 tion, and these are the persons who 
 know how to assort, prepare, and dis- 
 pose of them at the proper places. 
 
 Street Merchants. 
 
 Some facile writer has set off, in 
 good lines, that numerous but general- 
 ly overlooked class of " merchants," 
 consisting of street retailers of small 
 goods, wares, and merchandise : " Ap- 
 ples, two or three cents — peanuts, three 
 cents a ha' pint — lozenges, two cents a 
 roll," is the cry of many poor old ap- 
 ple women, who are daily found on the 
 corners of the streets and wharves, 
 clothed in old dilapidated apparel, pre- 
 senting an outside appearance of pov- 
 erty, and offering for sale at retail a 
 few apples, half a peck of peanuts, a 
 box of lozenges, a dozen sticks of can- 
 dy, &c. Appearances are sometimes 
 deceitful, however, and although many 
 of these women are undoubtedly poor, 
 others have accumulated quite a com- 
 petence. The same may be said of 
 some of the male peddlers. Not a few 
 of both sexes of this class have money 
 hoarded in the savings banks, or in- 
 vested in real estate, stocks, &c., and 
 occasionally one is found living at the 
 expense of the city, during the winter 
 
CURIOUS TRADES AND OBJECTS OF TRAFFIC. 
 
 595 
 
 season, at one of the commodious pub- 
 lic institutions, being too miserly, lazy, 
 or indolent to continue the " apple, 
 nut, and lozenge trade," in cold weath- 
 er. As an instance of how these people 
 accumulate the coppers, it is related 
 that a pew in one of the Catholic 
 churches of Boston was at one time bid 
 oflf by a woman for $450. As the suc- 
 cessful bidder had not the appearance 
 of being one who would be likely to 
 pay so high a price for a pew for her 
 own accommodation, some of the by- 
 standers intimated that she could not 
 pay for it. On being asked by the auc- 
 tioneer when she would settle the bill, 
 she replied, " This afternoon, or as soon 
 as I can draw the money." This she 
 did, and met her agreement. The 
 woman in question was for many years 
 known as an apple seller on Long 
 Wharf, in that city. And what is true 
 of Boston, is equally true of other cit- 
 ies, in respect to the thrift of some of 
 these " street merchants.' Their endur- 
 ance of heat and cold, and of the vari- 
 ous changes in the weather to which 
 they are necessarily exposed, is truly 
 surprising. 
 
 National Characteristics of Money Get- 
 ters : Prench, Irish, Scotch, German. 
 
 The Frenchman is a very witty, 
 mercurial, light-heeled gentleman, and 
 is, it must be acknowledged, the dancer, 
 and the cook, without a peer ; but then 
 the palm of money getting cannot be 
 yielded to him, while there are such 
 beings in existence as the Irishman, the 
 Scotchman, and the German. In this 
 free and enlightened country they are 
 all admitted without duty — there is no 
 tariff on their national or personal char- 
 acters, these characteristics, considered 
 from a business point of view, being 
 about as follows : 
 
 The Frenchman, in ordinary " cases," 
 imports nothing but politesse and ro- 
 mancing. 
 
 The Irishman — the " broth of a boy " 
 
 — has a " stock " of dash and blar- 
 ney. 
 
 The Scotchman — pride (of the right 
 sort, being founded not so much upon 
 self-esteem as self-respect), and an in- 
 exhaustible " capital " of perseverance. 
 
 The German has many points in com- 
 mon with the Scotchman ; but, unfor- 
 tunately, he is more devoted to the 
 metaphysical than the mathematical, 
 the visionary than the substantial, and 
 has, therefore, almost always a whim, a 
 crotchet, or a mystery, in his otherwise 
 clever brain, that frequently stands in 
 the way of his business promotion : " I 
 haf a broject vitch sail zurbrise de 
 vorld— but it's a zegret. Ven I vill 
 gommunigate it, you sail be asdonish- 
 ed — zo zimple, you sail vonder as it 
 nefer endered beoples' prains ! " As he 
 rarely can find any one to " buy a pig 
 in a poke," and he refuses to go the 
 " whole hog " by imparting his " ze- 
 gret," he eventually drops down from 
 his elevation to whatever comes upper- 
 most; for he is naturally an honest 
 man, and abhors both poverty and 
 crime. 
 
 The Frenchman turns cook, or 
 dancing master, or a teacher of lan- 
 guages, unless he has mercantile or 
 trading auspices ; if he has travelled, 
 he will also teach the Spanish and 
 Italian languages — and he gets money. 
 In regard to the Spanish and Italian, 
 however, his accent will very likely 
 render his " method " somewhat akin 
 to "teaching English with an Irish 
 brogue." 
 
 The Irishman, who in all cases is a 
 " born gentleman," despises drudgery, 
 as he terms everything that requires a 
 steady application, and frequently turns 
 his undeniable talents to reporting for 
 the press, or — marries an heiress. 
 
 To turn again to the Scotchman: 
 He thinks nothing beneath his dignity 
 that is honest, and boldly and confi- 
 dently places his foot on the lowest 
 round of the ladder of promotion, rely- 
 ing upon his zeal and ability to enable 
 
596 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 liim to reach the top, which is almost 
 infallibly the case ; for he is cool and 
 collected, and never misses the oppor- 
 tunity — ^for which he is continually on 
 the watch — to push his interest. If he 
 engages with a firm, however wealthy, 
 even as a junior clerk, he merely re- 
 gards it as the preliminary to a part- 
 nership. 
 
 ♦ 
 
 Shipments of Butcher Birds. 
 
 'Many years ago, when rice was dear 
 in Eastern China, efforts were made to 
 bring it from Luzon, where it was 
 abundant. At Manilla there was, how- 
 ever, a singular law, to the effect that 
 no vessel for China should be allowed 
 to load with rice, unless it brought to 
 Manilla a certain number of cages full 
 of the little "butcher birds," well 
 known for their usefulness. The rea- 
 son for this most eccentric commercial 
 regulation simply was that the rice in 
 Luzon suffered much from locusts, and 
 these locusts were destroyed in great 
 numbers by butcher birds. Sparrows 
 are also imported from England to 
 K'ew Zealand, for the destruction of 
 caterpillars, and sell at a good price to 
 
 the shipper. 
 
 ♦ — 
 
 "Cheap" and "Dear." 
 
 Without the privilege of the shop 
 windows, the London lounger's occupa- 
 tion would be " gone." Without their 
 aid, and the auction rooms, how, in 
 the name of laziness, would the wretch- 
 ed member of a West End club contrive 
 to annihilate the time between break- 
 fast and dinner ? 
 
 Let a man walk leisurely, in London, 
 from Oxford street, down Regent street, 
 along the Strand, Fleet street. Cheap- 
 side, to the India House ; let him stop 
 and introduce himself to the outsides 
 of individual shops ; let him enter into 
 conversation with them, and hear what 
 they have to say, and he will return to 
 his chamber with more weird ideas of 
 
 the tremendous wealth, importance, and 
 enterprise of that mighty metroj)olis, 
 than ever he had before. 
 
 When a shop is once established in 
 London, it is no longer a shop ; it is, 
 in point of fact, an estate^ from which 
 the posssesor can quietly retire, receiv- 
 ing his rents, through the hands of his 
 shopkeeping representative, wdth the 
 same certainty as if his property were 
 in lands, funds, or houses. 
 
 There are what may be termed the 
 dear shops and the cheap shops in Lon- 
 don. Here is a shop, for instance, with 
 wide mouth, bleared eyes, and dusky 
 features — a shop that a poor man would 
 no more think of entering than he 
 would of intruding into a duke's par- 
 lor ; a shop that says, as plain as it can 
 speak, " I care not, I, for chance cus- 
 tomers ; I am a shop of high connec- 
 tions and good family." The employes 
 of such a shop as this are more like 
 clergymen than shopmen — bald-head- 
 ed, confidential, black-coated, long- 
 service shopmen — men of good salaries 
 and manner, grave and independent in 
 their deportment, who have been in the 
 establishment nine and twenty years 
 come next lord-mayor's day, and intend 
 to be there the remainder of their re- 
 spectable lives. These old-established 
 shops stare at a chance customer ; they 
 are civil, but cool in serving him, and 
 take care to charge a little higher than 
 they do to their own connections ; they 
 do not condescend to enter into any 
 conversation with him ; and if any ob- 
 jection be made to the price or quality 
 of any article, they return the money 
 with great indifference and solemnity. 
 Such is called a " dear " store ; but it 
 is simply a high price for a good arti- 
 cle, and money is well spent that is 
 spent there. 
 
 In strong contrast is one of those 
 ticket shops, or pretended cheap shops, 
 a lying, Jeremy Diddler concern, that 
 assumes to be always selling off at a 
 great sacrifice, as if with the sole ambi- 
 tion to ruin itself for the benefit of a 
 
CURIOUS TRADES AND OBJECTS OF TRAFFIC. 
 
 597 
 
 discerning public. There are no shop- 
 men in these places, but only some- 
 thing between young men and boys 
 — raw twenty-pounds-a-year counter 
 jumpers, in sallow, half-starched cra- 
 vats, and seedy, second-hand-looking 
 coats ; there is great bustle and appear- 
 ance of business, which is seldom no- 
 ticed in shops that enjoy the reality. 
 The shopboys have a servile, insolent 
 manner, and an open, undisguised de- 
 sire of cheating and taking you in. 
 "Whatever you are wheedled or bullied 
 into buying at the pretended cheap 
 shops, is sure to be dear, or, what 
 amounts to the same thing in the end, 
 of inferior quality ; you never quit the 
 counter without the sensation — always 
 unpleasant — of having been taken in, 
 or at least of having been dealing with 
 people whose trade is to take people 
 in. 
 
 Remarkable Customs of Oriental 
 Shopkeepers. 
 
 The Armenians, who divide with the 
 Greeks and Jews the entire mercantile 
 traffic of Western Asia, are accustomed 
 to sit down and weep bitterly when 
 they have sold any article of value, de- 
 claring that the purchaser has ruined 
 them. The Jews, on similar occasions, 
 rend their garments (which, by the 
 way, are said to be worn purposely for 
 such sacrifice) with still louder protest- 
 ations of ruin. 
 
 The Greek shopkeepers, in most of 
 the Turkish towns, send a crier through 
 the city to proclaim the arrival of new 
 goods and their prices, every announce- 
 ment being regularly concluded with a 
 declaration that his employer is ruin- 
 ing himself, but must sell. 
 
 In Asiatic Russia, the shopkeepers 
 consider it incumbent on them to abso- 
 lutely refuse selling their goods to any 
 customer, and the latter is expected to 
 employ himself at least an hour in per- 
 suading the merchant to deal with 
 him. 
 
 But the most extraordinary custom 
 
 is that which prevails among the mer- 
 chants of Thibet, a regular stand-up fight 
 being required to take place between 
 the seller and the purchaser, on the dis- 
 posal of any considerable quantity of 
 goods, the former obstinately rejecting 
 the price to which he has already once 
 agreed, and the latter as resolutely for- 
 cing it upon him. It is not considered 
 business-like to settle matters till a few 
 blows have been exchanged on both 
 sides, after which they peaceably shake 
 hands, and the bargain is concluded. 
 
 Scale of Prices for London Civilities. 
 
 One of the English magazine writers 
 furnishes the following scale of metro- 
 politan civilities, and the orthodox 
 rates of payment, by means of which 
 many persons eke out a livelihood in 
 that over-populous city : 
 
 Holding a horse for a few minutes, 
 twopence; if with extra politeness, 
 fourpence. 
 
 Directions in topography, or street 
 seeking, twopence; with personal at- 
 tendance, threepence. 
 
 Picking up a handkerchief, one pen- 
 ny to boys, twopence to men. 
 
 Shutting a cab door, to the water- 
 man, one penny : Where does your hon- 
 or want to go ? — twopence. 
 
 Assistance in case of accident — varies 
 from sixpence to a shilling. 
 
 And so on. He who would be so fool- 
 hardy as to refuse these " regular rates," 
 while his bravery might be extolled, 
 would incur the odium of every pro- 
 fessional bystander, and might think 
 himself fortunate if he escaped the 
 open execrations of the disappointed 
 benefactor. 
 
 Wig's "by the Cargo. 
 
 It is related that one La Rose, first 
 'valet-de-chamlyre to the French ambas- 
 sador at Constantinople, in 1690, was 
 persuaded by some one in Paris to lay 
 out his savings in wigs, as a good spec- 
 
698 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 ulation for the Turkish market. Find- 
 ing, on reaching Constantinople, that 
 his stock remained on hand, and that 
 he had been duped, he fell into low 
 spirits, and had nigh died of despond- 
 ency. The ambassador, seeing this, 
 bethought himself of applying to the 
 grand vizier, to see if he could not de- 
 vise some plan of getting rid of the 
 cargo. " Nothing can be more easy," 
 replied the sultan; "leave the matter 
 to me." On the following day, a fir- 
 man was issued and read in the Jewish 
 synagogues, commanding all Jews to 
 wear wigs. Terrible was the confu- 
 sion and running to and fro among 
 the bewildered Israelites. Few knew 
 even the meaning of " wigs ; " none 
 knew where to find them. This hav- 
 ing quickly reached La Rose's ears, he 
 joyously delivered his stock to a bro- 
 ker, who disposed of the whole in a 
 few hours, the result being a rich har- 
 vest to La *Rose, not taking into ac- 
 count the grotesque appearance of 
 "Abraham's seed" thus caparisoned. 
 The speculator was, however, directed 
 by his master not to renew the venture. 
 
 Paying by the Clock instead of the 
 Thing-. 
 
 "You have charged me for a full- 
 priced breakfast," said a complaining 
 guest, looking at his bill ; " and all I 
 had was a cup of milk and a chip of 
 toast." " You might have had coffee 
 and eggs for the same money," replied 
 the waiter. "Ah!" cried the guest, 
 "then it seems you charge according 
 to the clock ; and if a man was to eat 
 only eggs at dinner time, I suppose he'd 
 have to pay for full-grown turkeys." 
 
 Realizing a Profit. 
 
 A RIGHT smart business woman 
 (there are not a few such) was " come 
 up to " on this wise by her promising 
 son. She kept a small store and a sort 
 of tavern on a public thoroughfare be- 
 
 tween two seaport towns — ^now digni- 
 fied by the title of cities — and had a 
 most successful way of " realizing a 
 profit." The said son, a jolly sailor 
 lad, w^ho had just returned from a voy- 
 age, was one day left by his mother in 
 charge of the shop for a short time, 
 while she w^ent out to keep her place 
 good in the village gossip society. Jack 
 "took the helm," and told the old 
 woman not to hurry, and he would 
 keep a sharp look out. During her 
 absence an old soldier, worn and scored 
 in his country's service, came along, and 
 halted a moment to rest and refresh 
 himself. Jack " put his foot " into his 
 new vocation by asking the " customer " 
 if he would like something to eat — 
 though in every place where he thought 
 there was a likelihood of anything eat- 
 able being stowed away, all he could 
 find was the remnants of the dinner of 
 the day before. This he placed before 
 the hero, and bade him " fall to," which 
 he did quite readily. When he had 
 finished and gone on his way, there re- 
 mained of what Jack had set before 
 him only a few well-picked bones. On 
 his mother returning, he related the 
 fact of his customer's visit, and asked 
 her what it was worth to pick those 
 old bones. " Well, Jack," she replied, 
 quite elated at what she supposed was 
 the shrewdness of the lad, "a shil- 
 ling would be about right." "So I 
 thought," said Jack, " and that is what 
 
 I gave him." 
 
 — *- — 
 
 American Customer at a Turkish 
 
 Bazaar. 
 
 An American traveller was once 
 wandering through the trading bazaars 
 of Turkey, and wished to buy an em- 
 broidered handkerchief of one of the 
 shopkeepers. He asked the price.' 
 "Seventy-five piasters." "No," said 
 the customer— aware that it is usual 
 among all traders, whatever their creed, 
 to ask at first more than the value— 
 "that is too much, I will give you 
 seventy ; " and as the dealer seemed to 
 
CURIOUS TRADES AND OBJECTS OF TRAFFIC. 
 
 599 
 
 nod assent, tie counted out the money. 
 But his surprise was great, when the 
 rough-bearded Osmanli, gravely push- 
 ing back to him twenty piasters, ob- 
 served : " This is more than the just 
 price. It is always the custom here to 
 bargain over a thing down to its fair 
 value, and as fifty piasters is my fair 
 price, these twenty belong to you." 
 
 Matrimonial Export. 
 
 In the early settlement of Virginia, 
 when the adventurers were principally 
 unmarried men, it was deemed neces- 
 sary to export such women as could be 
 prevailed upon to quit England, as 
 wives for the planters. A letter accom- 
 panying one of these matrimonial ship- 
 ments, dated London, August 13, 1631, 
 says : 
 
 " We send you, in the ship, one wid- 
 ow and eleven maids, as wives for the 
 people of Virginia; there hath been 
 especial care had in the choice of them, 
 for there hath not one of them been re- 
 ceived but upon good recommenda- 
 tions. There are nearly fifty more that 
 are ready to come. For the reimburs- 
 ing of charges, it is ordered that every 
 man that marries them, give one hun- 
 dred pounds of best leaf tobacco for 
 each of them." 
 
 Peculiarities of the Northwest Fur 
 Traders. 
 
 The character of the hunters and 
 trappers engaged in the fur trade 
 throughout the extreme northwest is 
 peculiar and original. The trade is not 
 carried on now, as in former times, by 
 means of bateaux and canoes, which, 
 imder the old French and English sys- 
 tems, enlivened the rivers and lakes of 
 our old northwestern territory. The 
 fur-bearing animals have been driven 
 from a great portion of the borders by 
 the advance of emigration, and their 
 shores have become, to a great extent, 
 the sites of subtantial farmhouses and 
 prosperous settlements. The canoe has 
 
 given place to the steamboat, the trad- 
 ing post to the city. The great bulk 
 of the trade has been transferred to the 
 region oi the mountains, whose wild 
 recesses contain no lakes where they 
 can disport their canoes, no streams 
 which can float their furs to market. 
 These traders and trappers transport 
 their goods or furs upon pack horses, 
 or carry them on their own backs to a 
 navigable stream. They move from 
 place to place on horseback, sometimes 
 conveying their traps upon their shoul- 
 ders through deep ravines, up steep 
 precipices, inaccessible to the hoi?se, in 
 search of places which contain their 
 favorite game. The life of one thus en- 
 gaged becomes, therefore, a scene of 
 toil and privation, and yet of passion- 
 ate excitement. His views are exag- 
 gerated, his habits unsettled, his senti- 
 ments, generally, noble and generous, 
 like those of a sailor — for the causes 
 which act upon him arc similar in their 
 character — and, like the sailor, he is 
 nowhere contented except when leading 
 a life of danger and excitement. 
 
 Snow Trade of Sicily. 
 
 The principal export from Catania 
 is snow, in which a very lucrative trade 
 is carried on with Malta, and some 
 parts of the South of Italy. It is col- 
 lected during the winter in pits and 
 hollows on the mountain, and covered 
 with the scoriae and ashes, to prevent its 
 thawing. It is brought down on mules 
 to the coast at night, in panniers cov- 
 ered with leaves. The revenue derived 
 from this source is immense, and ren- 
 ders the Prince of Paterno one of the 
 richest men in Sicily. Snow is the uni- 
 versal luxury, from the highest to the 
 lowest ranks. It is sold at about the 
 rate of four cents a rotolo, or thirty 
 ounces ; and the poorest cobbler would 
 sooner deprive himself of his dinner 
 than of his glass of " acqua gelata." It 
 is also, of course, extensively used in 
 the hospitals: and a scarcity of it 
 
600 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 would be considered as great a misfor- 
 tune as a famine, or any other national 
 visitation, and would more infallibly 
 occasion popular tumults. To guard 
 against any such accidents, the Govern- 
 ment at Naples have made the providing 
 it a monopoly, the contractor being re- 
 quired to give security to the amount 
 of sixty thousand ducats, which sum 
 is forfeited if it can be proved that for 
 one hour the supply was not equal to 
 the demand. 
 
 French Toads an Article of Commerce. 
 
 A siNGULAE feature in the commerce 
 between England and France is the 
 toad trade. It is well known that on 
 some of the choice market gardens near 
 London, as many as five crops are raised 
 in one year, the principal object being, 
 however, to grow the finest possible 
 specimens for high prices. Under such 
 a system of culture, slugs and other in- 
 sects are very formidable foes, and to 
 destroy them, toads have been found so 
 useful as to be purchased at high prices. 
 As much as a dollar and a half per 
 dozen is given for full-grown lively 
 toads, which are generally imported 
 from France, where they have also been 
 in use for a long time in this same way. 
 
 Mike Schnapps, the Fiddle Dealer. 
 
 Mike Schnapps is well known in 
 the trade as a ravenous fiddle ogre, 
 who buys and sells everything that 
 bears the fiddle shape, from a double- 
 double bass to a dancing master's 
 pocketable kit. His house is one vast 
 musical collectanea — with fiddles on 
 the walls, fiddles on the staircases, and 
 fiddles hanging like stalactites from 
 the ceilings. He and his establishment 
 have never been dramatized, but that 
 there is material in either for a " clever 
 comedy in traflBc," the following will 
 show: 
 
 "You vant to py a pfeedel," says 
 Schnapps. " I sail sell you de pest — dat 
 
 ish, de pest for de money. Vat you sail 
 give for him ? " 
 
 " Well, I can go as far as ten guineas," 
 says the customer. 
 
 " Ten kinnis is goot for one goot 
 pfeedel; bote besser is twenty, tirty, 
 feefty kinnis, or von hunder, look you ; 
 bote ten kinnis is goot — you sail see." 
 
 Schnapps is all simplicity and candor 
 in his dealings. The probability is, 
 however, that his ten-guinea fiddle 
 would be fairly purchased at five, and 
 that the customer might have been 
 treated to the same article had he 
 named thirty or forty guineas instead 
 of ten. 
 
 Schnapps was once asked if he knew 
 wherein lay the excellence of the old 
 Italian instruments. 
 
 " Mein Gott ! " said he, " if I don't, 
 who de teifil does ? " 
 
 Then he went on to say, that it did 
 not lie in any peculiarity in the model, 
 though there was something in that; 
 nor in the wood of the back, though 
 there was something in that; nor in 
 the fine and regular grain of the pine, 
 though there was something in that ; 
 nor in the position of the grain, run- 
 ning precisely parallel with the strings, 
 though there was something in that 
 too ; nor in the sides, nor in the finger 
 board, nor in the linings, nor in the 
 bridge, nor in the strings, nor in the 
 waist, though there was something in 
 all of them, nor yet in the putting 
 together, though there was much in 
 that. 
 
 " Where does it lie then, Mr. 
 Schnapps ? " 
 
 " Ah, der henker ! hang if I know." 
 
 " Has age much to do with it, think 
 you ? " 
 
 ' Not moshe. Dere is pad pfeedels 
 two hunder years ole as veil as goot 
 vons ; and dere is goot pfeedels of pad 
 models, vitch is very pad, and pad 
 pfeedels of de fery pest models, and 
 peautiful make as you sail vish to see." 
 
 This is the sum total of the informa- 
 tion to be got out of Schnapps on this 
 
CURIOUS TRADES AND OBJECTS OF TRAFFIC. 
 
 601 
 
 mysterious subject, but of wMch Mike's 
 head is the very lexicon ! 
 
 Queer Bartering in Northern Africa. 
 
 At Temenhint, in Northern Africa, 
 the inhabitants have a curious mode 
 of barter. The person who has any 
 goods to sell, mentions what he wishes 
 in exchange for certain commodities, 
 whether oil, liquid butter, or shahm, 
 which latter is a kind of salted fat, 
 much resembling bad tallow in taste 
 and smell. If liquids, he pours water 
 into a pot, in proportion to the quan- 
 tity of oil or butter he requires; if 
 solids, he brings a stone of the size of 
 the shahm, or other article demanded. 
 The buyer pours out water, or sends 
 for smaller stones, until he thinks a fair 
 equivalent is offered. The quantities 
 then agreed for are made up to the size 
 of the stone or the depth of the water. 
 
 Adam and Eve Ijeadingr on in Trade. 
 
 The first " bargain " may be said to 
 have been made in Paradise, and it was 
 a bargain to gratify the eye and taste, 
 but it was a ruinous speculation, in 
 many of its aspects. Cain, and Lamech, 
 and Tubal Cain, and the builders of 
 cities, and the workers in metals, how- 
 ever, were not deterred from trading 
 with Nimrod for skins and furs. 
 
 The first trading after the flood was 
 between the mothers and daughters of 
 Noah's three sons, when they were 
 packing up to come out of the ark, 
 and no doubt it was then found that 
 those who had been the neatest, and 
 had preserved the best order in their 
 part of the vessel, were able to make 
 the best bargain, and there is but very 
 little doubt that Shem's family were the 
 best traders. 
 
 The Midianites, who traded in Egypt, 
 in spices, balm, and myrrh, to whom 
 Joseph was sold, were travelling mer- 
 chants. What may be called the first 
 actual commercial transaction, recorded 
 
 in the oldest book in the world, took 
 place seventeen hundred years before 
 the Christian era, long before Homer or 
 Hesiod was bom, or the Greeks and 
 Romans, or even the Medes and Per- 
 sians were dreamed of. " And behold 
 a company of Ishmaelites came from 
 Gilead, with their camels, bearing 
 spicery, and balm, and myrrh, going to 
 carry it down to Egypt ; and they drew 
 and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, 
 and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for 
 twenty pieces of silver; and they 
 brought Joseph to Egypt." 
 
 Dealing in " Orrd Things." 
 
 In one of the small streets of Edin- 
 burgh, called Niddries Wynd, some 
 time ago there lived an eccentric char- 
 acter, named Willie Tamson. He ex- 
 hibited a sign bearing this singular in- 
 scription : " Orrd Things Bought and 
 Sold Here," — which signified that he 
 dealt in odd articles, such as a single 
 shoe buckle, one of a pair of skates, a 
 right-hand or left-hand glove, a teapot 
 wanting a lid, or perhaps as often a lid 
 without a teapot. By this craft, how- 
 ever, this curious mortal contrived to 
 earn a decent living ; for it is a trait in 
 human nature, that when a store or 
 person gets the reputation for selling 
 cheap, every one takes it for granted 
 that it must be so — the same principle, 
 or crotchet, which leads persons to flock 
 to the shop where damaged goods are 
 advertised for sale cheap, but where 
 customers often pay several cents per 
 yard more for the damaged article than 
 they would have got it for, dry and un- 
 soiled, in another store. So it was by 
 this craft that "old Willie" thrived, 
 for every housewife that had an odd 
 shoe, or an odd glove, or an odd part 
 of a pair of scissors, or of a pair of 
 tongs and snuffers, a knife without a 
 handle, or a handle without the blade, 
 went to Willie Tamson to get them 
 paired ; in short, he was perhaps the 
 greatest matdi-makei in Europe. 
 
602 
 
 COMMERCIAL AXD BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 Exportation of Scotch Periwinkles. 
 It would hardly be supposed that so 
 trifling an article in itself as the peri- 
 winkle could form a matter of extensive 
 traffic ; but so it is. Sometimes as 
 many as fifty or sixty tons of these lit- 
 tle shells are brought at a time to Glas- 
 gow, Scotland, from the island of Ker- 
 vera, opposite Oban, where they abound, 
 and are gathered by the poor people, 
 who get sixpence a bushel for collect- 
 ing them. From this they are shipped 
 to Liverpool, and thence by rail to 
 London, to satisfy the insatiable maw 
 of the modern Babylonians. Very few 
 are consumed in Scotland, as the popu- 
 lar taste for " whilks and buckles " is 
 not so strongly marked in that country, 
 and better profits are consequently ob- 
 tained in London, even after paying so 
 much sea and land carriage. 
 
 Tea Shops in China. 
 The Chinese tea shops are very much 
 resorted to, and a brisk business is done 
 in their own favorite beverage. The 
 charge is ridiculously small. For half 
 a penny, a customer may have what 
 they call a sumptuous meal — " three 
 cash " being the price of a cup of tea, 
 fifteen hundred cash going to the dol- 
 lar. Their mode of making tea is very 
 dififerent from ours. They put the tea 
 into the cups, and then take them to im- 
 mense copper kettles with furnaces in- 
 side ; filling each cup with boiling 
 water, they put on its little cover, and 
 allow it to stand for a few minutes, 
 then, pushing the cover just within the 
 rim of the cup, so as to prevent the 
 leaves making their escape, they drink 
 it, without sugar or milk. The shop- 
 keeper will refill the cups for the same 
 money, but if more is wanted, a second 
 payment must be made. 
 
 Turkish Fez Shops: Stationers, 
 
 Tailors, and Jewellers. 
 The fez shops are very numerous in 
 the " sick man's city," for turbans de- 
 
 crease, though slowly. They are of a 
 deep crimson, and have at the top a 
 little red stalk, to which the heavy 
 blue tassel is tied, and which always, 
 to prevent entanglement, is kept in 
 stock with a sort of ornament of paper 
 cut into a lace pattern round it. The 
 blocks, too, for fezes to be kej^t on, are 
 sold in distinct shops. They may be 
 seen round as cheeses, ranged in front 
 of a Turk, who watches them as if ex- 
 pecting them to grow. Sometimes one 
 can hardly help thinking them to be 
 pork pies, but for the bare-legged boy 
 in the background, who, pushing the 
 block with the flexible sole of his foot, 
 keeps it even upon the lathe. 
 
 Stationers and booksellers hardly 
 show at all in Stamboul, but in the ba- 
 zaar, and there in a very limited way 
 — and in a way, too, that makes an 
 Englishman or American wish he were 
 away altogether. 
 
 The tailor, too, does not figure 
 largely, though the Turks are seen busy 
 in their shops sewing at quilted gowns 
 and coverlets stuffed with down ; and 
 one can seldom pass down a street 
 without seeing a man with a bow, bow- 
 ing cotton, with the twang and flutter 
 peculiar to that occupation, the slave 
 behind half buried in flock, or emerg- 
 ing from a swansdown sea of loose 
 white feathers. 
 
 The jewellers — frequently Jews — are 
 chiefly in the bazaars, both for safety 
 and convenience. There they sit, sort- 
 ing great heaps of seed pearl, like so 
 much rice, squinting through lumps of 
 emerald, or weighing filigree earrings, 
 with veiled ladies looking on, and 
 black duennas in yellow boots in wait- 
 ing ; but still there are a few outsiders 
 who sell coarse European watches with 
 unseemly French cases, and large bossy 
 silver cases for rose water, or some such 
 frivolous use, shaped like huge melons, 
 and crusted with patterning. 
 
 It is not possible to go up a Turk- 
 ish street, if it contain any shops, with- 
 out also findinor among them a furni- 
 
CURIOUS TRADES AND OBJECTS OF TRAFFIC. 
 
 603 
 
 ture shop, where Chinese-looking stools 
 and large chests are sold, their whole 
 surface diced over with squares of 
 mother-of-pearl, frequently dry and 
 loose with extreme age. 
 
 Settling: a Question of Trade. 
 
 The crew of a vessel was taken by a 
 Barbary corsair. When they were 
 brought before the dey, he inquired 
 their several occupations. The rig- 
 gers, and blacksmiths, and carpenters, 
 were all sent off to the dockyard. The 
 sailors had a comfortable berth pro- 
 vided for them ; and even the officers 
 were turned to account one way or 
 another. 
 
 At last his highness came to a literary 
 man — a passenger and a poet. What to 
 do with him, for a long while, his high- 
 ness could not, for the life of him, say ; 
 till at last, learning that the prisoner 
 was a man of sedentary occupations, 
 and having the peculiarity of the 
 habits of such a one explained to him 
 somewhat by the interpreter, he ordered 
 the poet a pair of feather breeches, and 
 set him to hatching chickens. 
 
 Bargraining- by Pantomime— Trade in 
 Camels. 
 
 The Blue Town, Tartary, is noted 
 for its great trade in camels. The camel 
 market is a large square in the centre 
 of the town. The animals are ranged 
 here in long rows, their front feet raised 
 upon a mud elevation constructed for 
 that purpose, the object being to show 
 off the size and height of the creatures. 
 The uproar and confusion of this 
 market are tremendous, with the in- 
 cessant bavvling of the buyers and 
 sellers as they dispute, their chattering 
 after they have agreed, and the horri- 
 ble shrieking of the animals at having 
 their noses pulled, for the purpose of 
 making them show their agility in 
 kneeling and rising. 
 
 In order to test the strength of the 
 
 camel, and the burden it is capable of 
 bearing, they make it kneel, and then 
 pile one thing aft^er another upon its 
 back, causing it to rise under each 
 addition, until it can rise no longer. 
 They sometimes use the following ex- 
 pedient : While the camel is kneeling, 
 a man gets upon his hind heels, and 
 holds on by the long hair of its hump 
 — if a camel can rise then, it is consid- 
 ered an animal of superior strength. 
 
 The trade in camels is entirely by 
 proxy — the seller and the buyer never 
 settle the matter between themselves. 
 They select indifferent persons to sell 
 their goods, who propose, discuss, and 
 fix the price ; the one looking to the 
 interests of the seller, the other to 
 those of the purchaser. These " sale 
 speakers " exercise no other trade ; they 
 go from market to market, to promote 
 business, as they say. They have gener- 
 ally a great knowledge of cattle, have 
 much fluency of tongue, and are, above 
 all, endowed with a knavery beyond all 
 shame. They dispute by turns, furious- 
 ly and argumentatively, as to the merits 
 and defects of the animal ; but as soon 
 as it comes to a question of price, the 
 tongue is laid aside as a medium, and 
 the conversation proceeds altogether in 
 signs. They seize each other by the 
 wrist, and beneath the long, wide 
 sleeve of their jackets indicate with 
 their fingers the progress of the bar- 
 gain. After the affair is concluded, 
 they partake of the dinner, which is 
 always given by the purchaser, and 
 then receive a certain number of sa- 
 peks, according to the custom of the 
 different places. 
 
 Mercantile Agency Management 
 Illustrated. 
 
 A REPRESENTATIVE of One of the 
 mercantile agency establishments in 
 New York once called on a merchant 
 in Broad street (we quote from Mr. 
 Barrett's racy volume on the " Old 
 Merchants"), and asked him to become 
 
604 
 
 COMMERCIAL AXD BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 *a subscriber. He explained its advan- 
 tages. The merchant hesitated — at last 
 he says, " Tell me all about ' James 
 Samson,' and I will subscribe." " The 
 name is not on the agency books, but 
 give me two days, and I will find out 
 all about him." The clerk got the 
 name correctly, and said, " 111 find out 
 all about him if he is in the United 
 States." A week elapsed. The clerk 
 of the agency called, and reported as 
 follows : " James Samson is a peddler, 
 aged thirty; he comes to Albany to 
 buy his goods, and then peddles them 
 out along the canal from Albany to 
 Buffalo. He is worth two thousand 
 dollars ; owns a wooden house in 
 Lockport in his own name ; his family 
 reside in it ; has a wife and three chil- 
 dren, two boys and one girl ; boys 
 named Henry and Charles, aged four 
 and six years, girl named Margaret, two 
 years old; no judgment out or mort- 
 gage on property; drinks two glasses 
 cider brandy, plain, morning and eve- 
 ning — never more; drinks water after 
 each; chews fine-cut; never smokes; 
 good teeth generally ; has lost a large 
 double tooth on lower jaw, back, 
 second from throat on left side ; has 
 a scar an inch long on his left leg knee- 
 pan ; cause, cut himself with a hatchet 
 when only three years old; can be 
 found when in Albany at Pete Mason's, 
 83 State street; purchases principally 
 jewelry and fancy articles ; belongs to 
 the Shoe." This is evidence of how 
 systematically the system is carried on. 
 The report was conclusive. It satisfied 
 the Broad street merchant. The event 
 was fifteen years ago. The merchant 
 subscribed one hundred and fifty dol- 
 lars, and has paid it yearly ever since. 
 
 Funny Commercial Transaction All 
 Round. 
 
 An old fellow living at Frankfort-on- 
 the-Maine, sent to a business corres- 
 pondent at Frankfort-on-the-Oder, a 
 large consignment of cotton stockings. 
 
 and, at the same time, to another cor- 
 respondent at the same place, an equal- 
 ly large consignment of cotton night- 
 caps, the product of his own manufac- 
 ture. He wrote to each the price at 
 which they were to sell, but the sum 
 designated was found to be too large, 
 of which fact they took the liberty to 
 inform him. 
 
 He yielded a little in his demands, 
 but still there was no offer for his 
 fabrics. Again he writes, in reply to 
 other letters of his correspondents, 
 naming a yet smaller amount ; but 
 weeks elapse, and yet no sales. At 
 length he writes to each correspondent 
 to make some disposition of his manu- 
 factures; if they can't get money for 
 them, at least to exchange them, no 
 matter at what reasonable sacrifice, for 
 any other goods. 
 
 Under these instructions, the stock- 
 ing factor calls upon the nightcap 
 agent, both unknown to each other in 
 connection with their principal, and 
 " names his views ; " he wishes to ex- 
 change a lot of superior stockings for 
 some other goods— he is not particular 
 what kind, as the transaction is for a 
 friend, who is desirous of " closing his 
 stock." The man at first can think of 
 nothing which he would like to ex- 
 change for so large a supply of stock- 
 ings, but at length a bright thought 
 strikes him. " I have," said he, " a 
 consignment of cotton nightcaps from 
 an old correspondent, which I shall 
 not object to exchange for your stock- 
 ings." The bargain was soon closed. 
 The stocking factor wrote back at once, 
 that he had at length been enabled to 
 comply with the instructions of his 
 principal. He had exchanged his 
 stockings for " a superior article of 
 nightcap," in an equal quantity, which 
 he was assured were likely to be much 
 in demand before a great while. The 
 next day came a letter from the night- 
 cap agent, announcing his success, and 
 appended to the letter was a big bill 
 for commissions! As Yellowplush 
 
CURIOUS TRADES AND OBJECTS OF TRAFFIC. 
 
 605 
 
 would say, " Fanzy that gentleman's 
 feelinks." 
 
 liOgran, the Fan Painter. 
 
 Logan, so famous in England for Ms 
 marvellous skill as a painter of fans, 
 at Tun bridge, was an odd, diminutive 
 figure, but a most sensible, honest, and 
 ingenious man. For some years he 
 kept a shop at the extreme end of the 
 parade ground. From this point he 
 could see the whole military body, and 
 constantly delineated any particular 
 character among them, on his fans, so 
 as to be immediately known by their 
 forms ; these he introduced in his 
 views of the parade — the cold bath — 
 the fish ponds, etc., and which gave 
 him constant employ. But his origi- 
 nality of character, his quaint good 
 sense, jokes, and trenchant repartees, 
 for which he was so distinguished, are 
 IDrobably better remembered than his 
 mechanic skill. 
 
 Jolly Sign-Painters : Bich Professional 
 Tragedy. 
 
 In the western part of a certain city, 
 live and flourish two jolly young fel- 
 lows who follow sign-painting for a 
 livelihood, and who are sometimes in 
 the habit of cutting up what are called 
 " high shines." We shall see. 
 
 It so occurred that one of the painters 
 had some out-door business to attend 
 to, and left the shop in charge of his 
 partner and a little boy who was em- 
 ployed to grind paints. During his 
 absence, the partner remaining went 
 to work and painted the boy's neck 
 so as to represent a large gash, and a 
 cut over the eye. He then took red 
 paiht, bespattered it over the floor, and 
 clotted the boy's hair, and made him 
 lie down in a corner. He then painted 
 a great gash on his own cheek, bared 
 his bosom, disordered his dress, dipped 
 a long-bladed knife in the red paint 
 pot, and patiently awaited the coming 
 of his partner. 
 
 Directly afterwards he heard him at 
 the door, and the performance com- 
 menced. The partner stuck his head 
 into the room door; one glance was 
 sufficient — the boy was prostrate on 
 the floor, with his throat cut, groaning 
 and crying murder; chairs, tables, 
 benches, jugs, and paint pots, were 
 strewed around the room in dire con- 
 fusion, while the murderous looking 
 partner, with the bloody knife uplifted 
 in his hand, was running through the 
 room and uttering wild and incoherent 
 expressions. 
 
 It was evident to the partner at the 
 door that his partner had killed the 
 boy. 
 
 The thought was horrid. Swift as 
 lightning, he flew to his father, and in- 
 formed him of the circumstances. A 
 number of friends were mustered, who 
 repaired forthwith to the tragical scene. 
 The crowd augmented as it neared the 
 shop, and in hastened the whole posse 
 with suspended breath ; but what was 
 their astonishment to find the boy, 
 without a mark of any kind, the room 
 in perfect order, no marks of blood 
 perceptible, and the partner engaged 
 in lettering a sign ! and utter igno- 
 rance of any transaction of the kind 
 avowed by both him and the boy, to 
 the other partner's great mortification 
 — more especially as the persons he 
 brought there hinted to one another 
 that during his absence from the shop 
 he might have indiilged too freely in 
 " fire water." 
 
 The Miller and his Portrait. 
 
 A WORTHY miller, wishing for a por- 
 trait of himself, applied to a painter to 
 have it accomplished. " But," said he, 
 " as I am a very industrious man, I 
 wish to be painted as looldng out of the 
 window of my mill ; but when any one 
 looks at me, I wish to jDop my head m, 
 so as not to be thought lazy, or as 
 spending too much time at the win- 
 dow." 
 
606 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 "Very well," said the painter, "it 
 shall be clone so." He painted the mill 
 and the mill window. The miller 
 looked at it and inquired, " Where is 
 myself looking out ? " " Oh," said the 
 painter, " whenever one looks at the 
 mill, as you and I are doing now, you 
 know you pop in your head to preserve 
 your credit for industry." " That's 
 right," said the miller, " I'm content — 
 that's right— that will do ! " 
 
 Bussian Shop Customs. 
 
 The Russians have the custom, which 
 is very convenient for purchasers, of 
 exhibiting on one and the same spot 
 almost everything that is to be sold in 
 a town, the most different articles being 
 collected in one and the same building. 
 A stranger, therefore, has no occasion 
 to inquire, " Where is tliis or that to 
 be bought ? " for he finds at once 
 everything that he can ask for. In 
 every town in Russia of any impor- 
 tance there is a " Gostinnoi Dwor," and 
 this structure is where the buyers and 
 sellers congregate. In no country does 
 like stick closer to like than in Russia. 
 Not only are the tradesmen to be found 
 together at one rendezvous, but all 
 those who deal in the same commodity 
 unite to form a smaller mass. Thus, 
 all the stationers are in one row, all the 
 silk dealers are together, and all the 
 leather sellers in one group. 
 
 A peculiarity of the Russian trades- 
 man is to deliver everything they offer 
 for sale as much as possible in a state 
 fit for immediate use. The reason of 
 this is because Russian buyers scarcely 
 purchase anything till they are in 
 urgent want of it. Hence the manu- 
 facture-like production of every possi- 
 ble sort of goods. Each commodity 
 has its row of shops, w^hich is named 
 after it, and the ignorant or the juve- 
 nile may be heard incessantly ask- 
 ing, "Father, where is Fur Row?" 
 "Where is Cap Row?" ('Brother, 
 where is Boot Row?" "Mother, is 
 
 this the way to Stocking Row ? to 
 Petticoat Row ? " 
 
 If the lounger perambulating the 
 colonnade is amused by the inquiries 
 of buyers, he will be still more inter- 
 ested by the characteristic sayings and 
 doings of the Russian tradesmen. 
 These are all extremely sharp fellows, 
 with flaxen or light brown hair and 
 beard, dressed in the kaftan and blue 
 cloth cap, which is worn of the same 
 form by the shopkeepers throughout 
 all Russia. They are incessantly and 
 clamorously recommending their goods 
 to passengers by the most extravagant 
 panegyrics. " What are you looking 
 for, sir ? Clothes— the very best, of the 
 newest cut. Hats — the best that can 
 be made. Kasan boots — first rate." — 
 " What is your pleasure, madam ? 
 what can I do for you ? what can I 
 serve you with?" — "Have I nothing 
 that suits you, sir ? — a bear-skin, a fox- 
 skin, a wolf-skin pelisse ? You will 
 find everything here, if you will be 
 pleased to step in." 
 
 Officious attendants are always ready, 
 cap in hand, to open the door to every 
 one who passes, chanting the while 
 their accustomed tunes, and pouring 
 forth their eloquence without distinc- 
 tion of person, rank, sex, or age. Little 
 boys invite you in to the bear-skin 
 pelisses, fine gentlemen to the clumsy 
 boots, old women to the toy shops, 
 young lasses to the shops for swords 
 and fire-arms, peasants and laboring 
 men to those for millinery and haber- 
 dashery. They care not whom they 
 address, their only thought being, " No 
 matter who the people are — so they 
 have money, in with them ! " When 
 the shopkeeper himself does not under- 
 take this office, he employs a young 
 " barker," who, walking to and fro the 
 whole day, rubbing his hands, sings 
 out his polite invitations. 
 
 A genuine German tradesman, seated 
 in his shop, brooding over plans and 
 thinking of his wife and children, looks 
 like calculation personified. The Hus- 
 
CURIOUS TRADES AND OBJECTS OF TRAFFIC. 
 
 607 
 
 sians^ on the contrary, are almost in^ 
 variably without thought or care. 
 Rarely do you see them writing or 
 keeping accounts; their business is 
 simple, and needs no such artificial 
 aids. When, therefore, they are not 
 engaged with customers, or with 
 chanting their invitations to passen- 
 gers, they are in general full of all sorts 
 of fun and frolic 
 
 Paris •' Gratteurs." 
 
 The gratteur of Paris is a " trades- 
 man " just below the chifFonnier. The 
 man of this craft scratches, the livelong 
 day, between the stones of the pave- 
 ment, for old nails from horses' shoes, 
 and other bits of iron — always, of 
 course, in hope of a bit of silver, and 
 even perhaps a bit of gold ; more hap- 
 py in his hope than hundreds of others 
 in the possession. He has a store or 
 " magazin " in the faubourgs, where 
 he deposits his ferruginous treasure. 
 His wife keeps this store, and is a 
 '•^ marchande defer.'''' He maintains a 
 family, like another man ; one or two 
 of his sons he brings up to scratch for 
 a living, and the other he sends to col- 
 lege ; and he has a lot " in perpetuity " 
 in Pere la Chaise. His rank, however, 
 in social circles, is inferior to that of 
 the chifFonnier, who will not give him 
 his daughter in marriage, and he don't 
 ask him to his soirees. 
 
 Vocation Peculiar to China ; Gossip 
 at Pifty Cents per Hour. 
 
 There is a kind of employment — a 
 paying vocation too, it is said — which, 
 at least in its financial aspects, is pecu- 
 liar to China alone. The Chinese name 
 for this trade literally signifies gossip 
 monger. Now, a number of elderly 
 ladies, generally widows, make it their 
 business to collect gossip, on dits, chit- 
 chat, and stories of all sorts, with which 
 they repair to the houses of the rich, 
 announcing their arrival by beating a 
 
 small drum, which they carry for that 
 purpose, and ofier their services to 
 amuse the ladies of the family. When 
 it is recollected that shopping, public 
 assemblies, and even morning calls, are 
 all but forbidden to the beauty and 
 fashion of China by their country's no- 
 tions of both propriety and feet, some 
 idea may be formed of the welcome 
 generally given to these reporting 
 dames. They are paid according to 
 the time employed, at the rate of about 
 fifty cents an hour, and are besides in 
 the frequent receipt of presents — their 
 occupation affording many opportu- 
 nities of making themselves generally 
 useful in matters of couitship, rivalry, 
 etiquette, etc. On these accounts they 
 generally retire from business in easy 
 circumstances, but are said never to do 
 so unless obliged by actual infirmity — 
 so congenial is the business to their fe- 
 male tastes. 
 
 Saint Shops. 
 
 Russians are given to imagining 
 that they are forsaken by God and all 
 his angels, unless they have visible and 
 palpable representations of his omni- 
 presence about them, and unless he has 
 taken actual possession by the hand of 
 the priest ; they therefore hang their 
 persons, their rooms, their doorways, 
 and their gateways, as well as their 
 churches, with images of saints. On 
 this account, the necessity arises for in- 
 credible quantities of the latter articles. 
 The manufacture of these is quite an 
 important business matter, and there 
 are places especially carried on for this 
 devotional traffic. In heaps, like gin- 
 gerbread nuts, and sold by dozens, lit- 
 tle brass crosses, portraits of the Virgin 
 Mary, St. John, and St. George, and 
 other amulets, lie exposed like any 
 other kind of merchandise before the 
 shops. On the walls of the latter hang 
 glittering figures of false silver and 
 gold, of all forms and dimensions : 
 small ones, a few inches in length and 
 
608 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 breadth, which the servants of great 
 families fetch away by the gross, to 
 supply new-built houses, where they 
 are nailed up in every room, behind 
 the curtains ; large ones, six or eight 
 feet high, for orthodox tradesmen, who, 
 with their wives and children, prostrate 
 themselves before them ; others for the 
 use of village churches and city chap- 
 els. Some are fitted, after the new 
 fashion, into mahogany frames, others 
 adorned in the old style, with pillars, 
 porches, and whole temjDles, curiously 
 plated with silver wire. 
 
 •* Four-and-twenty Self-Sealing Enve- 
 lopes, Po-oo-Tir Cents." 
 
 It is about needless to give any 
 preface to our present character, after 
 so descriptive a title as the above. 
 Nor can we do better than to borrow 
 the portrait of this sui-generis eccen- 
 tricity which we find hanging up on 
 the walls of the Knickerbocker — drawn 
 by one of its most skilful artists, with 
 only one or two misshadings of the 
 pencil : 
 
 The stationery man ! Who does not 
 know him ? Lives there the individ- 
 ual with soul so dead, who never to 
 his friend has made an observation 
 concerning the stationery man ? All 
 the world is acquainted with him, so 
 far as a knowledge which is all on one 
 side can be called an acquaintance. 
 All New York has seen him. Every- 
 body in the rural districts has heard 
 of him. Indeed, it is a common thing 
 in Connecticut, among persons who 
 have never been to New York, but who 
 like to pretend to have made that pil- 
 grimage, to claim an acquaintance with 
 the stationery man, and to ask you : 
 " Does he stand there yet ? " Of course 
 he stands there yet. That man will 
 never die : he couldn't afford to do it. 
 He may pass away at some time within 
 the next fifty years ; but when he does 
 so, mark my words— don't pass up Nas- 
 sau street, after midnight, if you would 
 
 not desire to hear the sepulchral voice 
 of a ghostly stationery man proclaim- 
 ing : " Four-and-twenty self-sealing en- 
 velopes, fo-oo-ur cents ! " 
 
 There have been more pen-and-ink 
 sketches of that individual taken than 
 were ever made of the Duke of "Wel- 
 lington or Tippoo Saib. I have one of 
 them, and I keep it. You might kill 
 me, or burn the house over my head ; 
 but induce me to part with that por- 
 trait ? — not quite ! 
 
 Because I respect the stationery man, 
 I admire him. What else can I do, 
 when I see him every day, and at all 
 hours, with his heavy rough coat in 
 the warmest weather, and his chin 
 buried in that now immortal muffler, 
 standing at the corner under the cloth- 
 ier's awning, in rain or sunshine, from 
 mom to dewy eve, and, indeed, till 
 eight o'clock at night, proclaiming to 
 the city in general, and to Nassau street 
 pedestrians in particular, the cheering 
 intelligence that he will give you, if 
 you are disposed to take them, " four- 
 and-twenty self-sealing envelopes for 
 fo-oo-ur cents." I never bought any of 
 him. I never saw him sell any : though 
 I have stood and watched him by the 
 hour. I don't believe he ever effects a 
 transaction. It is his fate, his destiny, 
 to stand at the corner of Nassau street, 
 and repeat those mystic words. He is, 
 I believe, the Wandering Jew of the 
 paper trade. I once plucked up cour- 
 age enough to speak to him : " Sir," 
 said I, " can you tell me what o'clock 
 it is ? " He turned upon me a glassy 
 but yet shining gray eye, and answered 
 me in accents already familiar to my 
 ear — " Four-and-twenty self-sealing en- 
 velopes, fo-oo-ur cents 1 " I hurried on 
 and left him. 
 
 No man knows where he dines, or 
 whether he ever dines at all. His com- 
 ings out and his comings in, are alike 
 shrouded in mystery. I once tried to 
 follow him home. Home ? Ha ! ha ! 
 Seeing him make up his little pack, I 
 determined to track him. The rain 
 
CURIOUS TRADES AND OBJECTS OF TRAFFIC. 
 
 609 
 
 was pouring down heavily that gloomy 
 night, as / saw him leave the corner, a,nd 
 direct his steps up Nassau street. I 
 watched him until he came within half 
 a block of the end of Nassau street, and 
 then — well, I lost him. Out of Nassau 
 street I knoio he did not go, I believe 
 he cannot leave Nassau street. I can ; 
 but before I left it on that memorable 
 evening, I heard once more, as from a 
 distance, the mysterious announcement 
 which declared the unchangeable value 
 of "four and twenty self-sealing en- 
 velopes." 
 
 What manner of man is this ? 
 Through how many years has he ex- 
 isted on our globe, and for how many 
 centuries more is he doomed to occupy 
 the corner of Nassau street, and pro- 
 claim to a heedless world his self-seal- 
 ing destiny ? Ah ! who can tell ? 
 
 He has been wrapped in the " en- 
 velope " which awaits all mortals, and 
 now lies " sealed " in his final rest. 
 
 Patent-Medicine Makers— Morrison, 
 Brandreth, Townsend, etc. 
 
 The business of making patent medi- 
 cines is much overdone, even to an ex- 
 tent beyond almost any other. A few 
 only have realized a fortune in it. It 
 is an uncommonly flattering business, 
 considering alone the actual cost of 
 the stock : hence thousands have been 
 rashly invested in the manufacture and 
 distribution of remedies without count- 
 ing the tremendous cost of popularity. 
 Unless large sales are made, ruin must 
 follow ; so that, by a safe calculation, 
 it is believed ninety in every one hun- 
 dred fail, who undertake in this line. 
 
 The manner of doing this remarkable 
 business is invariably to manufacture 
 large quantities, and establish agencies 
 in every part of the country ; it being 
 almost without exception a commis- 
 sion, and this is the only means of ex- 
 tending it. Of course, without a very 
 large capital, nothing of late years can 
 be done to compete with the already 
 39 
 
 established remedies. Townsend la- 
 bored two years, and accomplished 
 nothing. Finally a wealthy citizen of 
 Albany joined him, investing ample. 
 means ; since which the sarsaparilla 
 era soon reached its zenith, but, as 
 everything must have its day, it in time 
 rapidly declined. 
 
 Morrison, the London pill maker, 
 was one of the leaders in this business. 
 His pills were put up in packages of 
 three boxes each — " one," " two," and 
 " three " — and to be taken in regular 
 order ; holding out the impression that 
 they contained three different kinds of 
 medicine. These pills became at one 
 time quite popular in the United States, 
 till the general agent's sale in New 
 England was one hundred dollars a 
 day, when he, becoming an extensive 
 counterfeiter of them, had to leave the 
 place. It was afterward proved that 
 these pills were made in New York, 
 and that number one, two, and three, 
 were all the same article. The medical 
 faculty came out in London, at one 
 time, and stated that Dr. Morrison wa8 
 destroying much life by the recommen- 
 dation of such quantities of medicines. 
 He in turn prosecuted the faculty for 
 libel, but in every instance was beaten. 
 In fifteen years he amassed a princely 
 fortune, and built himself a magnificent 
 palace. 
 
 Dr. Brandreth came to this country 
 from London about five years after 
 Morrison's pills became popular, and 
 established the sale of his pills, adopt- 
 ing Morrison's plan of recommending 
 every one to take his pills in large 
 quantities ; and he has accumulated a 
 fortune. He gave the agency in Penn- 
 sylvania to Mr. Wright, a brother Eng- 
 lishman, for a number of years. When 
 his sales became very extensive, he got 
 up a counterfeit, which caused Brand- 
 reth to take away the agency from 
 him, when he changed the name of 
 the counterfeit pills, and called them 
 " Indian Vegetable Pills," and got a 
 number of Brandreth's travelling agents . 
 
610 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 to put them out in the country. 
 Another Englishman got up a pill call- 
 ed " Old Parr's," stating that he lived 
 one hundred and fifty years on his 
 pills ; the story was too absurd to be 
 believed, and they found httie or no 
 sale. 
 
 It is to be presumed that everybody 
 is acquainted with the facts, to some 
 extent, connected with the career of 
 Swaim, the originator of Swaim's Pa- 
 nacea, once so popular, and how, being 
 a bookbinder, he came to find on the 
 Uank leaf of a xolume Tie was Unding^ the 
 recipe for the extensively sold medi- 
 cine which laid the foundation of the 
 princely fortune which he left behind. 
 There are but few instances of such rare 
 good fortune in business as this. 
 
 Chinese Shcpkeepeirs. 
 
 The streets of Pekin are built in a 
 direct line, the greatest being about 
 one hundred and twenty feet broad, 
 and a good league long — and the shops 
 where they sell silks and chinaware, 
 which generally take up the whole 
 street, make a fine appearance. Each 
 shopkeeper puts out before his house, 
 on a little kind of pedestal, a board 
 twenty or two-and-twenty feet high, 
 painted, varnished, and often gilt, on 
 which are written, in large characters, 
 the names of the several commodities 
 he sells. These kind of pilasters, thus 
 placed on each side of the street, and 
 almost at an equal distance from each 
 other, make a pretty odd show. This 
 is usual in almost all the cities of 
 China. 
 
 A visit to the shops of the merchants 
 affords a " barbarian " much amuse- 
 ment. There is one street, very narrow 
 and dirty, where the booksellers' shops 
 are to be found, and where Chinese and 
 Mantchoo works are sold. These are 
 kept ready bound and in good order ; 
 but an examination proves many of 
 them to be imperfect, and, besides ask- 
 ing five times the value of the book. 
 
 the dealers will try to put off copies 
 which want some of the leaves, or are 
 composed of the sheets of three or four 
 different works. They are most dexter- 
 ous in the arts of imposition. 
 
 Genoese Merchants and French Ped- 
 dlers. 
 
 It is a strange fact, and one which re- 
 markably illustrates the vicissitudes of 
 commerce and commercial places, that 
 in Genoa, the French peddlers are those 
 who have taken the place of her once 
 princely merchants, and help to keep 
 alive the remnant of a commerce which 
 once accumulated opulence in that city, 
 and extended its ramifications over half 
 the world. At present, one sees streets 
 and palaces without inhabitants, ware- 
 houses without goods, a custom house 
 where almost no duties are paid, and a 
 mole which has too frequently no ships 
 to shelter from the weather. 
 
 The descendants of grandees with 
 pompous titles, and of merchants, each 
 of whom possessed a little navy of his 
 own, now in many cases subsist by sup- 
 plying goods to French peddlers. The 
 latter, when preparing to start on their 
 enterprise, go to the warehouses of the 
 merchant, with whom they deal always 
 in pairs, with capacious knapsacks on 
 their backs. They bestow much care 
 on the selection of their goods, which 
 necessarily consist of small articles, or | 
 things that will pack close, such as 
 handkerchiefs, shawls, dresses, cheap 
 laces, ribbons, reels of cotton, needles, 
 etc. To these they add a quantity of 
 Genoese silver jewelry, remarkable for 
 its tastefulness and elegance. 
 
 Shopkeepers of Bag-dad. 
 
 Perhaps the tradesmen of Bagdad 
 are surpassed by none in the East, ex- 
 cepting, possibly, their neighbors, the 
 Persians. No one at a glance can de- 
 tect the " weak points " of a customer 
 better. For example, a passer-by (not 
 
CURIOUS TRADES AND OBJECTS OF TRAFFIC. 
 
 611 
 
 a novice, but one who has had consid- 
 erable experience in such matters) 
 sauntering along — a carpet catches his 
 eye, he approaches, and becomes de- 
 sirous of purchasing it. The price is 
 demanded in a careless tone : " Sixty 
 dollars ! " with a start of surprise or a 
 sneer. " You must mean ten dollars." 
 It is now the seller's turn to express 
 astonishment : " Mashallah ! " exclaims 
 he, shrugging his shoulders, and ele- 
 vating his eyebrows; but, pausing a 
 little—" you shall have it for fifty 
 dollars "—then forty— thirty. No ! the 
 would-be purchaser quits the shop, but 
 before he has proceeded ten yards, he 
 is called back, and for twenty dollars, 
 a third of the sum first demanded, does 
 the carpet change owners. 
 
 Men Manteau Makers. 
 
 It seems hardly possible to believe 
 that in the nineteenth century there are 
 milliners with beards ; men, authentic 
 men, who, with their massy hands, take 
 the exact dimensions of the Parisian 
 women of the highest rank, dress them, 
 undress them, make them turn round 
 and round to be looked at, neither more 
 nor less than the waxen figures in the 
 shop windows of hairdressers. In the 
 Rue de la Paix, Paris, there is a manteau 
 maker of this sort — an Englishman, 
 who enjoys a great popularity in the 
 world of furbelows. When he tries on 
 a gown on a living figure of that flighty 
 metropolis, it is with profound concen- 
 tration that he feels, that he sounds, 
 that he marks with chalk the faulty 
 fold or flounce. From time to time he 
 draws back, and, to judge the better 
 of his work, surveys if through an 
 opera glass at a distance, and then re- 
 sumes, with an oracular finger, the in- 
 terrupted modelling of the gown on the 
 body of his customer. Sometimes he 
 plants a flower in one place, or ties a 
 bow of ribbon in another, to judge of 
 the general harmony of the toilet ; all 
 this time, the new Eve, in the process 
 
 of formation, immovable and resigned, 
 lets the fashionmonger finish his work 
 at his will. At length, when he has 
 moulded his stuff according to his 
 ideal, he takes his position at the end 
 of the saloon on a canopy, and, the 
 head of the woman thrown back, he 
 directs her manoeuvres with a wand : 
 "To the right, madame 1" "To the 
 left!" "Face the artist!" "From 
 behind ! " etc. 
 
 Jew Traders in Holywell Street. 
 
 Like Chatham street, New York, 
 Holywell street, London, is a noted lo- 
 cality of Jewish traders. Here are to 
 be found at least a hundred noble 
 Samaritans, whose daily occupation it 
 is to watch at their hospitable thresh- 
 olds, that they may take in their fel- 
 low men, and — whether they will or 
 no — clothe them. 
 
 " Do you vant a coat ? " — " a waist- 
 coat ? " — " a cloak, better as new ? " 
 These are the words, uttered with a 
 melody of intonation, that all the life- 
 long day awaken in the breasts of the 
 benevolent the tenderest yearning to- 
 ward the querists. There stands Ikey 
 Levi, glancing mildly from his door- 
 way as a jackal from a tomb ! There 
 watches Solomon Salamons, with drop- 
 ping lip — as though heavy with a 
 weight of honey ! — asking the wants 
 of passing bipeds. And there, too, 
 Miriam Jonas, the mother of a whole 
 Israel of Jonases — (poor pilgrims vend- 
 ing the aprocryphal fruit of Seville 
 and Tenerifi*e, and selling black lead 
 pencils never made to mark) — there she 
 stands, with the oil of new-fried floun- 
 ders lustrous on her face and balmy on 
 her lip ! 
 
 Here, too, bookworms loiter. A 
 " first edition " of Shakspeare has been 
 bought for two-and-sixpence, whilst 
 the magnanimous picture dealers of 
 this favored spot commonly add Ra- 
 phaels and Correggios at eighteen pence 
 apiece — " genooine I " 
 
612 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 Surely, there are solemn thoughts 
 awakened in Holywell street. Are not 
 its dealers the descendants of the pa- 
 triarchs ? May not the blood of him 
 who " wrestled with the angel " run in 
 the veins of that red-haired Israelite 
 now hanging on the buttonhole of that 
 newly caught customer? And is it 
 possible to look at that white-bearded 
 Jew, and not think of Moses and — the 
 profits ? 
 
 New Material for Sausag-e StuflB.ng- : 
 the *' Sauciesse d'Or." 
 
 As every traveller knows, the " Brus- 
 sels sausages" are a savory nutrition. 
 Working men, particularly, dine oftenest 
 on Brussels sausages. To make a living 
 by the sale of so cheap an article, how- 
 ever, it is necessary to sell many, and 
 Monsieur Vaudenvale, of the " Sauciesse 
 d'Or" (as he descriptively names his 
 eating house), has hit upon the way to 
 bring this about. 
 
 At the usual price, and like every- 
 body else, Monsieur Vaudenvale sells 
 sausages — but the one you eat at the 
 " Sauciesse d'Or " may be a " blank," 
 or it may be a " prize." In every fifty 
 sausages there is one in whose savory 
 bowels is hidden a gold dollar. Your 
 chance, therefore, to come upon this 
 pleasant variation of minced meat, is 
 one in fifty. It is said that the number 
 of sausages eaten at this place since the 
 establishment of the golden prize sys- 
 tem is truly incredible. So great is 
 the crowd, that it is difficult to gain 
 admission at the door. 
 
 Nothing: like Sarsaparilla. 
 
 The time was when there was " noth- 
 ing like sarsaparilla," — like every dog, 
 this had its day. Pills had their pop- 
 ularity, and elixirs had their run. 
 Lozenges took their turn on the wheel 
 of fortune, and even pastes were stuck 
 to, for a time, by a number of adher- 
 ents. The period at length arrived for 
 sarsaparilla to have its fling. Every- 
 
 body was asked in a hundred different 
 ways to buy sarsaparilla at a hundred 
 diflerent establishments. 
 
 At one concern the public were 
 tempted by a gaudy picture of a heavi- 
 ly freighted vessel arriving amid en- 
 thusiastic millions, eager to purchase 
 its cargo of sarsaparilla, and it was 
 delicately hinted that no time was to 
 be lost in purchasing a bottle of that 
 precious decoction which was the ob- 
 ject of so much interest to assembled 
 crowds — especially to those afflicted 
 with^aifulence. 
 
 At another shop, the allurement con- 
 sisted in full-length portraits of Queen 
 Victoria and the President of the 
 United States, both of whom, it was 
 ingeniously insinuated, were large con- 
 sumers of sarsaparilla — in this way, 
 indeed, preserving the constitution of 
 the countries over which they were in 
 authority. 
 
 A few doors farther off, the customer 
 was enticed by a portrait of a bald- 
 headed individual, and were requested 
 to apply for " Old Doctor Jacob Tovvn- 
 send's Sarsaparilla," which he no sooner 
 made up his mind not to do, than he 
 was reminded of a still older Doctor 
 Jacob Townsend, with his still better 
 sarsaparilla, a few doors off. Having 
 crossed over to avoid all this sarsaparil- 
 la nuisance, he found himself assailed 
 by men whose chests were placarded 
 with an invitation to buy somebody 
 else's genuine article, and having at this 
 recrossed in disgust, he tumbled unre- 
 sistingly into the very arms of the bill 
 deliverer of the hygeist, who offered to 
 pour Ms " own peculiar " sarsaparilla 
 down the tl\roats of the public at a 
 contemptibly low figure. 
 
 Great Shaving- Operation in a 
 Broker's Office. 
 
 There lived in Macon, a dandified 
 individual, whom we (" Sol. Smith ") 
 will call Jenks. This individual had a 
 tolerably favorable opinion of his per- 
 
CURIOUS TRADES AND OBJECTS OF TRAFFIC. 
 
 613 
 
 sonal appearance. His fingers were 
 liooped with rings, and his shirt-bosom 
 was decked witli a magnificent breast- 
 pin ; coat, hat, vest, and boots were 
 made exactly to fit; he wore kid 
 gloves of remarkable whiteness ; his 
 hair was oiled and dressed in the latest 
 and best style; and to complete his 
 killing appearance, he sported an enor- 
 mous pair of real whiskers. Jenks 
 was as proud as a young cat is of her 
 tail, when she first discovers she has 
 one. 
 
 I was sitting one day in a broker's 
 office, when Jenks came in to inquire 
 the price of exchange on New York. 
 He was invited to sit down, and a cigar 
 was ofl^ered him. Conversation turning 
 upon buying and selling stocks, a re- 
 mark was made by a gentleman pre- 
 sent, that he thought no person should 
 sell out stock in such-and-such a bank 
 at that time, as it 7nust get better in a 
 few days. "I will sell anyt\img I've 
 got, if I can make anything on it," 
 replied Jenks. " Oil, no," replied one, 
 "not any thing; you wouldn't sell 
 your whiskers ! " A loud laugh fol- 
 lowed this chance remark. Jenks im- 
 mediately answered : " I would — but 
 who would want tli^em ? Any person 
 making the purchase would lose money 
 by the operation, I'm thinking." 
 " Well," I observed, " I would be wil- 
 ling to take the speculation, if the price 
 could be made reasonable." " Oh, I'll 
 sell 'em cheap," answered Jenks, wink- 
 ing at the gentlemen present. " What 
 do you call cheap ? " I inquired. " I'll 
 sell 'em for fifty dollars," Jenks an- 
 swered, puffing forth a cloud of smoke 
 across the counter, and repeating the 
 wink. " Well, that is ; and you'll sell 
 your whiskers for fifty dollars?" "I 
 will." " Both of them ? " " Both of 
 them." " ni take them !■ When can I 
 have them ? " " Any time you choose 
 to call for them." " Very well — they're 
 mine. I think I shall double my money 
 on them, at least." I took a bill of 
 sale as follows : " Received of Sol 
 
 Smith, Fifty Dollars^ in full for my 
 crop of whiskers, to be worn and 
 taken care of by me, and delivered to 
 him when called for. J. Jenks." 
 
 The sum of fifty dollars was paid, 
 and Jenks left the broker's office in 
 high glee, flourishing five Central Bank 
 X's, and telling all his acquaintances of 
 the great bargain he had made in the 
 sale of his whiskers. The broker and his 
 friends laughed at me for being taken in 
 so nicely. " Never mind," said I, " let 
 those laugh who win ; I'll make a profit 
 out of these whiskers, depend on it." 
 For a week after this, whenever I met 
 Jenks, he asked me when I intended 
 calling for my whiskers. " I'll let you 
 know when I want them," was always 
 my answer : " take good care of them 
 — oil them occasionally ; I shall call for 
 them one of these days." 
 
 A splendid ball was to be given. I 
 ascertained that Jenks was to be one 
 of the managers — he being a great 
 ladies' man (on account of his whiskers, 
 I suppose,) and it occurred to me that 
 before the ball took place, I might as 
 well call for my whiskers. One morn- 
 ing, I met Jenks in a barber's shop. 
 He was adonizing before a large mir- 
 ror, and combing up my whiskers at 
 a devil of a rate. 
 
 " Ah ! there you are, old fellow^," 
 said he, speaking to my reflection 
 through the glass. " Come for your 
 whiskers, I suppose ? " " Oh, no hurry," 
 I replied, as I sat down for a shave. 
 " Always ready, you know," he an- 
 swered, giving a final tie to his cravat. 
 " Come to think of it," I said, musing- 
 ly, as the barber began to put the lather 
 on my face, " perhaps now would be as 
 good a time as another ; you may sit 
 down, and let the barber try his hand 
 at the whiskers." " You could'nt wait 
 until to-morrow, could you ? " he asked 
 hesitatingly : " There's a ball to-night, 
 
 you know " "To be sure there is, 
 
 and I think you ought to go with a 
 clean face ; at all events, I don't see 
 any reason why you should expect to 
 
614 
 
 COMMERCIAL AXD BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 wear my whiskers to tliat ball ; so sit 
 down." He rather sulkily obeyed, and 
 in a few moments his cheeks were in a 
 perfect foam of lather. The barber 
 flourished his razor, and was about to 
 commence operations, when I suddenly 
 changed my mind. " Stop, Mr. Barber," 
 I said ; " you need'nt shave off those 
 whiskers just yet." So he quietly put 
 up his razor, while Jenks started up 
 from the chair in something very much 
 resembling a passion. " This is tri- 
 fling ! " he exclaimed : " You have 
 claimed your whiskers — take them." 
 " I believe a man has a right to do as 
 he pleases with his own property," I 
 remarked, and left Jenks washing his 
 face. 
 
 At dinner that day, the conversation 
 turned upon the whisker affair. It 
 seems the whole town had got wind 
 of it, and Jenks could not walk the 
 street without the remark being con- 
 tinually made by the boys — " Tliere 
 goes the mxin with old SoVs whiskers!'''' 
 And they had grown to an immense 
 size, for he dared not trim them. In 
 short, I became convinced that Jenks 
 was waiting impatiently for me to 
 assert my rights in the property. It 
 happened that several of the party 
 were sitting, opposite me at dinner, 
 who were present when the singular 
 bargain was made, and they all urged 
 me to take the whiskers that very day, 
 and thus compel Jenks to go to the 
 ball whiskerless, or stay at home. I 
 agreed with them it was about time to 
 reap my crop^ and promised, if they 
 would all meet me at the broker's shop, 
 where the purchase was made, I would 
 make a call on Jenks that evening after 
 he had dressed for the ball. All prom- 
 ised to be present at the proposed 
 shaving operation in the broker's office, 
 and I sent for Jenks and the barber. 
 On the appearance of Jenks, it was 
 evident he was much vexed at the sud- 
 den call upon him, and his vexation 
 certainly was not lessened when he saw 
 the broker's office was filled to over- 
 
 flowing to behold the barber-ous pro- 
 ceeding. 
 
 " Come, be in a hurry," he said, as 
 he took a seat, and leaned his head 
 against the counter for support, " I 
 can't stay here long ; several ladies are 
 waiting for me to escort them to the 
 ball." " True, veiy true — you are one 
 of the managers— I recollect. Mr. Bar- 
 ber, don't detain the gentleman — go to 
 work." 
 
 The lathering was soon over, and 
 with about three strokes of the razor, 
 one side of Ms face was deprived of its 
 ornament. " Come, come," said Jenks, 
 "push ahead — there is no time to be 
 lost — let the gentleman have his whis- 
 kers—he is impatient." " Not at all," 
 I replied, coolly, " I'm in no sort of a 
 hurry myself— and now I think of it, as 
 your time must be precious at this par- 
 ticular time, several ladies being in 
 waiting for you to escort them to the 
 ball, I believe FIX not take the other 
 whisker to-night.'''' 
 
 A loud laugh from the bystanders, 
 and a glance in the mirror, caused 
 Jenks to open his eyes to the ludi- 
 crous appearance he cut with a single 
 whisker, and he began to insist upon 
 my taking the whole of my property ! 
 But all wouldn't do. I had a right to 
 take it when I chose ; / was not obliged 
 to take it all at cnce ; and I chose to take 
 but half at that particular period — in- 
 deed, I intimated to him very plainly 
 that I was not going to be a very hard 
 creditor, and that, if he " behaved him- 
 self," perhaps I should never call for the 
 balance of what he owed me ! 
 
 When Jenks became convinced I was 
 determined not to take the remaining 
 whisker, he began, amidst the loudly 
 expressed mirth of the crowd, to pro- 
 pose terms of compromise — first ofler- 
 ing me ten dollars, then twenty, thirty, 
 forty — ^fifty ! to take off the remaining 
 whisker. I said, firmly, " My dear sir, 
 there is no use talking; I insist on 
 your wearing that whisker for me a 
 month or two." " What will you take 
 
CURIOUS TRADES AND OBJECTS OF TRAFFIC. 
 
 615 
 
 for the whiskers ? " he at length asked ; 
 " won't you sell them back to me ? " 
 " Ah," replied I, " now you begin to 
 talk as a business man should. Yes, I 
 bought them on speculation — I'll sell 
 them, if I can obtain a good price." 
 " What is your price ? " " One hundred 
 doWars—must double my money ! " 
 " Nothing less ? " " Not a farthing less 
 — and I'm not anxious to sell even at 
 that price." "Well, I'll take them," 
 he groaned, " there's your money, and 
 here, barber, shave off this d d infer- 
 nal whisker in less than no time — I 
 shall be late at the ball." 
 
 Itinerant Traders in Rio Janeiro. 
 
 The " cries " of the itinerant traders 
 of London are mere bagatelles to those 
 of the Brazilian capital. Both sexes 
 cry their wares through every street. 
 Vegetables, flowers, fruits, edible roots, 
 fowls, eggs, and every rural product ; 
 cakes, pies, rusks, doces, confectionery, 
 bacon, and other delicacies, pass one's 
 window continually. Your cook wants 
 a skillet — and hark ! the signal of a 
 pedestrian coppersmith is heard ; his 
 bell is a stewpan, and the clapper a 
 hammer. A water-pot is shattered ; in 
 half an hour a moringue merchant ap- 
 proaches. You wish to replenish your 
 table furniture with fresh sets of knives, 
 new-fashioned tumblers, decanters, and 
 plates, and, peradventure, a cruet, with 
 a few articles of silver — well ! you need 
 not want them long. If cases of cut- 
 lery, of glass ware, china, and silver, 
 have not already passed the door, they 
 will appear anon. So of every article 
 of female apparel, from a silk dress or 
 shawl to a handkerchief and a paper 
 of pins ! Shoes, bonnets ready trimmed, 
 fancy jewelry, toy-books for children, 
 novels for young folks, and works of 
 devotion for the devout — these things, 
 and a thousand others, are hawked 
 about daily. 
 
 Proprietors accompany silver ware, 
 silks, and also bread, for the blacks are 
 
 not allowed to touch the latter. When 
 a customer calls, the slave brings his 
 load, puts it down, and stands by till 
 the owner delivers the articles wanted. 
 The signal of dry goods venders is made 
 by the yard-stick, which is jointed like 
 a two-foot rule. Holding it near the 
 joint, they keep up a continual snap- 
 ping by bringing one leg of the stick 
 against the other. Young Minas and 
 Mozambiques are the most numerous, 
 and are reputed to be the smartest 
 marcha^ndes. 
 
 The way customers call street venders 
 is peculiar. You step to the door, or 
 open a window, and give utterance to 
 a short sou,nd resembling sJiir — some- 
 thing between a hiss and the exclama- 
 tion used to chase away fowls ; and it 
 is singular to what a distance it is 
 heard. If the person is in sight, Ms 
 attention is at once arrested ; he turns 
 and comes direct to you, now guided 
 by a signal which you address to his 
 eyes— closing the fingers of the right 
 hand two or three times, with the palm 
 downward, as if grasping something — 
 a sign in universal use, and signifying 
 " Come." There is here no bawling or 
 chasing after people in the street. 
 
 Goods for a *' Private Venture." 
 
 One of the Chinese papers contains 
 the following advertisement : " Achan 
 Tea Chinchin, sculptor, respectfully 
 acquaints masters of ships, trading 
 from Canton to India, that they 
 may be furnished with figure heads 
 of any size, according to order, at 
 one fourth of the price charged in 
 Europe. He also recommends for pri- 
 Tiate venture^ the following idols, brass, 
 gold, and silver: The hawk of Vish- 
 noo, which has reliefs of his incarna- 
 tion in a fish, boar, lion, and turtle. 
 An Egyptian apis, a golden calf and 
 bull, as worshipped by the pious fol- 
 lowers of Zoroaster. Two silver mam- 
 mosits, with golden ear rings, a ram, 
 an alligator, a crab, a laughing hyena, 
 
,616 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 with a variety of household gods on a 
 small scale, calculated for family wor- 
 ship. Eighteen months' credit will be 
 given, or a discount of fifteen per cent. 
 for prompt payment of the sum afiixed 
 to each article. Direct China street, 
 Canton, under the Marble Rhinoceros 
 and Gilt Hydra." 
 
 Shop Architecture, Old and New. 
 
 The shops in London of the twelfth 
 and thirteenth centuries, are described 
 by a historian of that day as of " ane 
 meane appearance" — consisting of an 
 open shop, at the entrance of which 
 stood the owner or his apprentice, and 
 a " solar " or upper chamber above, in 
 which solar, the proprietor resided with 
 his household. 
 
 The mercantile " guilds," which be- 
 came so wealthy and prosperous, were 
 then comparatively in their infancy, 
 and struggling with debt and difficul- 
 ties. When "^they became prosperous, 
 the shops of London became splendid ; 
 but even then, their magnificence was 
 for a long time confined to a single lo- 
 cality. In the fifteenth century there 
 was a vast deal of wealth accumulated 
 in the metropolis, but it was engrossed 
 by comparatively few individuals. One 
 of the most wealthy of these was 
 Geoffrey Boleyn, a mercer in the Old 
 Jewry. He was great-great-grandfather 
 of Queen Elizabeth by her mother's 
 side, and was lord mayor of London in 
 1457. In his time, the whole of the 
 foreign and wholesale trade was con- 
 fined to the hands of a few great capi- 
 talists ; and some of the most illustrious 
 families in the kingdom may trace 
 their origin from men who were at that 
 period London merchants. 
 
 The oldest shops of which there is 
 any account are those of the goldsmiths, 
 or money-dealers, standing in Cheap — 
 the modern Cheapside, and of which 
 these traders would seem to have had 
 possession from time immemorial. Of 
 these, the most remarkable by far is 
 
 that which was built by Thomas Wood, 
 and described as "the most beautiful 
 frame and front of fair houses and 
 shops that were within the Vv^alls of 
 London, or elsewhere in England, com- 
 monly called Goldsmiths' Row, betwixt 
 Bread Street End and the Cross in 
 Cheap, but within Bread Street AVard. 
 It contained in number, ten dwelling 
 houses and fourteen shops, all in one 
 frame^ uniformly built four stories 
 high, beautified toward the street with 
 the goldsmiths' arms, and the likeness 
 of woodmen in memory of his (Thomas 
 Wood's) name, rising on monstrous 
 beasts; all which were cast in lead, 
 richly painted over, and gilt. These 
 he gave to the goldsmiths, with stocks 
 of money to be lent to young men hav- 
 ing those shops, &c. This said front 
 was again painted and gilt over in the 
 year 1594." 
 
 Parrot and Monkey Market. 
 
 In the spring season, soon after the 
 opening of the navigation, a peculiar 
 kind of market is held in St. Peters- 
 burg, which draws all the city, and 
 affords an extraordinary and impa- 
 tiently-awaited pleasure to young and 
 old, high and low, and to many a skip- 
 per the source of a profit that is not to 
 be despised. Here are then exposed 
 for sale many of those foreign produc- 
 tions, which the merchants consider as 
 beneath their attention, and in which 
 the captains of the ships and the sail- 
 ors speculate on their own account. 
 Parrots, monkeys, apes, and other rare 
 birds and animals, are intermingled 
 with the magnificent flowers of tropical 
 regions. Sometimes, also, shells, and 
 the singular implements and dresses of 
 foreign nations, are offered for sale. 
 After the dull, silent, and colorless win- 
 ter, this busy, many-tinted scene— the 
 first gift presented by foreign lands to 
 the great northern city, as an earnest 
 of the commencement of a new business 
 —is particularly gratifying, and the 
 
CURIOUS TRADES AND OBJECTS OF TRAFFIC. 
 
 617 
 
 *' goods " go off rapidly, especially tlie 
 screeching and grinning class of them. 
 
 Nothing- Lost in a Good Market. 
 
 A YOUNG man, brought up in the 
 city of London to the business of an 
 undertaker, went to Jamaica to better 
 his condition. Business flourished, and 
 he wrote home to his father to send 
 him, with a quantity of black and gray 
 cloth, twenty gross of black Tacks. 
 Unfortunately he had omitted the top 
 to his T, and the order, as near as it 
 could be made out, stood, twenty gross 
 of black Jaclts. His correspondent, on 
 receiving the letter, recollected of a 
 man, near Fleet market, who made 
 quart and pint tin pots, ornamented 
 with painting, and which were called, 
 for convenience, " black Jacks," and to 
 him he went. The maker, surprised, 
 said he had not so many ready, but 
 would endeavor to complete the order ; 
 this, by the employment of extra hands, 
 and working day and night, was done, 
 and the articles were shipped. The 
 Jamaica man received them with other 
 consignments, and was astonished at 
 the mistake. A friend, however, fond 
 of speculation, offered to purchase the 
 whole lot at the invoice price — an offer 
 which the holder, glad to get rid of an 
 article he considered so useless in that 
 market, took up with at once. His 
 friend immediately advertised a num- 
 ber of " Fashionable Punch Vases " 
 just arrived from England, and sold 
 the jacks at the pleasing profit of two 
 hundred per cent. 
 
 Trials of Egg- Merchants. 
 
 It is stated that the London egg 
 merchants, whose hopes had been great- 
 ly raised by the announcement of the 
 expected speedy arrival of the king of 
 Hanover, held a meeting, at the sug- 
 gestion of Mr. Fowle and others, to 
 know what could be done with the 
 enormous stock of eggs that had been 
 
 "laid in" — somewhat prematurely, as 
 it turned out — with a view to the im- 
 mediate arrival of his Hanoverian ma- 
 jesty. The meeting took place under 
 the leadership of Mr. Fowle, supported 
 by the Messrs. Hatch, at Lambeth, 
 where the investment had been most 
 considerable— thousands of dealers hav- 
 ing been in attendance along that por- 
 tion of the route, with the intention of 
 showing the Hanoverian autocrat how 
 the yolk may le throicn off In/ a free peo- 
 ple. (Oh !) His majesty, not wishing 
 to run the risk of a game at chicken 
 hazard with the populace, delayed his 
 arrival till the next day, and ultimately 
 came by a different road— the eggs, of 
 course, being thus left on the hands of 
 the dealers. It was stated, however, at 
 the meeting, that Baron Nathan had, 
 in the handsomest manner, come for- 
 ward, and offered to shell out, by tak- 
 ing off a large proportion of the eggs, 
 for the purpose of teaching his pupils 
 the Crack-oviene — an announcement 
 which was received with eggatraordi- 
 nary cheering. 
 
 Odd Purchase at a Grocer's. 
 
 Mr. L., a well-known professional 
 singer in London, one day entered a 
 grocer's shop, to make a purchase of 
 cheese. 
 
 " Have you any more of this paper ? " 
 said he to the tradesman, regarding 
 with curiosity and astonishment that 
 in which his purchase was wrapped. 
 
 " Plenty, sir, a great pile of it." 
 
 Mr. L. requested to see it, and fol- 
 lowed the tradesman into a little back 
 room, where many reams of waste pa- 
 per were collected, to be used in his 
 business. 
 
 " Well," said Mr. L., after inspecting 
 the pile from whence the wrapper of 
 his parcel had been taken, " Will you 
 sell this ? what would you ask for it ? " 
 
 " Twopence halfpenny per pound," 
 answered the man, much astonished at 
 the uncommon greenness of his custom- 
 
618 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 er ; " you can have it as waste paper at 
 that price, if you like." 
 
 Mr. L. readily assented, and thus 
 purchased for a few shillings thirty- 
 three complete oratorios and operas of 
 Handel, besides fragments of the best, 
 viz., Arnold's edition. Henceforth, let 
 no one despise the literature that may 
 find its way to the grocer's, the trunk- 
 maker's, the chandler's, &c. 
 
 Chatham Street Clo' Dealers. 
 
 Scene — Chatham street, New York. 
 Company assembled — three Jew " bark- 
 ers " for ready-made garments. 
 
 Levi : " Mishter Salamonsh, kin you 
 inform me vhy de shentlemens here 
 present ish like a leetle pit of a shmall 
 room ? " 
 
 Salamons : " I gifes him oop." 
 Itzig Rosenbaum {aus Frankfort am 
 Main), " Und I forgifes him oop, too." 
 Levi : " Becase ve're a clo' set." 
 Outside Irishman : " An' can yees till 
 me why ye're like five-sixths av a 
 closet ? " 
 
 Israelites in chorus : " No, nein.''^ 
 Irish outsider : " Because ye're a 
 Zo' seV 
 
 General confusion, ending in the par- 
 ties joyously kicking one another all 
 round, and a harmonious knocking off 
 of hats, terminated by the appearance 
 of a green-looking, wondering country- 
 man. 
 
 Tong Chow Traders in Dogs and Cats. 
 
 In the market of Tong Chow, to 
 which the stewards of the noble fam- 
 ilies of Peking repair to purchase vi- 
 ands for their lords, it is a good diver- 
 sion to see the butchers when they are 
 carrying dogs' flesh to any place, or 
 when they are leading five or six dogs 
 to the slaughter-house ; for all the dogs 
 in the street, drawn together by the 
 cries of those going to be killed, or the 
 smell of those already dead, fall upon 
 the butchers, who are obliged to go 
 
 always armed with a long cudgel or 
 great whip, to defend themselves from 
 their attack; they also have to keep 
 their doors close shut, that they may 
 exercise their trade in safety. 
 
 The salesmen enter the market place, 
 or step from their junks on shore, hav- 
 ing baskets suspended from the ex- 
 tremities of a carrying-pole, in which 
 are contained dogs, cats, rats, or birds, 
 either tame or wild, generally alive — 
 sea slugs, and grubs found in the sugar- 
 cane. The species of dog most in re- 
 quest is a small spaniel, and the poor 
 animals appear particularly dejected in 
 their imprisonment, not even looking 
 up in the hope of freedom ; the cats, 
 on the contrary, maintain an incessant 
 squalling, and seem never to despair of 
 escaping from a fate which otherwise 
 must prove inevitable. To a foreigner, 
 Christian or Turk, the sight is pecu- 
 liarly trying, both regarding the dog as 
 among the most faithful animals, and 
 the cat as one of the most useful. In 
 the ancient Oriental writings, cats are 
 spoken of as a delicacy at table ; but 
 the species alluded to was found wild 
 in Tartary, and brought thence into 
 China, where they were regularly fat- 
 tened for the markets of the piincipal 
 cities. As far as appearances are con- 
 cerned, rats, when butchered — for they 
 are not brought to market alive — are 
 by no means disgusting. They are 
 neatly prepared, slit down the breast, 
 and hung in rows from the carrying- 
 poles by skewers passed through their 
 distended hind legs. 
 
 Flutes vs. Pistols. 
 
 It is almost a standing rule with 
 shopkeepers, when asked for an article 
 which is not in their stock, to offer 
 something resembling it. Thus, a coun- 
 tryman inquiring at a village store for 
 a mowing scythe, was replied to by 
 the pert youngster behind the coun- 
 ter, " Sorry, sir, we have no scythes ; 
 but we've got first-chop penknives." 
 
COMMERCIAL DIGNITY AT THE APPLE-STAND. 
 
CURIOUS TRADES AND OBJECTS OF TRAFFIC. 
 
 619 
 
 The following circumstance, related in 
 a Scotch paper, is of the same nature : 
 
 A vender of buttons, buckles, and 
 -other small ware, who occupied a little 
 shop at the head of the street in Glas- 
 gow, in which erewhile the notable 
 Bailie Nichol Jarvie domiciled, noticed 
 a country clown standing at his win- 
 dow one day, with an undecided kind 
 of wanting-to-buy expression on his 
 face, and who finally inquired whether 
 he had any pistols to sell. The shop- 
 man had long studied the counter logic 
 of endeavoring to persuade a customer 
 to buy what you have for sale, rather 
 than what the customer may ask for. 
 " Man," said he, " what be the use of a 
 pistol to you ? Lame yourself, an' may 
 be some ither body w'it ! You should 
 buy a flute ; see, there's ane ; an' it's 
 na sae dear as a pistol, just stop an' 
 open finger, about, thae sax wee holes, 
 an' blow in at this big ane, an' ye can 
 hae any tune ye like, after a wee while's 
 practice ; besides, you'll may-be blow 
 a tune into the heart o' some blithe 
 lassie that'll bring to you the worth o' 
 a thousand pistols or German flutes 
 ither." " Man," said the simpleton, 
 " I'm glad that I have met wi' you the 
 day— just tie't up ; " and paying down 
 the price asked, and bidding " guid 
 day," with a significant nod of the 
 head, remarked, " It'll no be my faut 
 'gin ye get na an opportunity of ri- 
 ding the broose at my wedding, sin' ye 
 hae learned me to be my ain piper." 
 
 Commercial Diirnity at tlie Apple 
 Stand. 
 
 "The other day," says a pleasant 
 writer, "in the neighborhood of the 
 Park (New York), we encountered a 
 tall, dignified-looking man, in a long, 
 seedy frock coat, buttoned to the chin, 
 with a very glossy old silk hat, presid- 
 ing at an apple stand. Somehow or 
 other, his manner, his " style," struck 
 us. " What is the price of these ap- 
 ples ? " we asked, pointing to a small 
 
 pile of tempting red ones. " We shall 
 have to charge you two cents for fruit 
 like that," said he, "they are a very 
 superior article. But there is an article, 
 and of a good quality, that we can put 
 to you at one cent per apple ! " Shade 
 of Commerce ! He couldn't have said 
 more, nor in a more solid and absorbed 
 manner, if he had been offeiing the 
 rarest goods in Stewart's marble palace. 
 He was far from being what Mrs. Par- 
 tington terms ' non pompous mentis.'' " 
 
 "Glasspteenl" 
 
 This is one of the street employ- 
 ments of the city. He is almost inva- 
 riably a German, or, as the profane 
 have it, a Dutchman, of an age any- 
 where between eighteen and forty. His 
 peculiarities are a determined inability 
 to make himself understood in the 
 English language, and a violent pas- 
 sion for overcharging. If you are ever 
 asked to give an example of cleanli- 
 ness, please not to say, a Glasspteen 
 man ; for you will tell a story, in addi- 
 tion to furnishing an incorrect illustra- 
 tion. The Glasspteen man is rather 
 dirty than otherwise, in dress as in 
 visage, and is remarkable for a strong 
 smell of new putty, which, after a 
 gas-house, furnishes the most disa- 
 greeable odor known to nosology. 
 He walks about the street with a 
 frame slung over his back, and con- 
 taining some score or so of panes 
 of glass of various sizes. His cry 
 of " Glasspteen," whence his designa- 
 tion in society is derived, signifies " Do 
 you want any glass put in ? " His avo- 
 cation, in short, is to increase the panes 
 of families, or to supply those which 
 have been removed or broken. If you 
 call him he will come in with alacrity, 
 but will make no haste to go away 
 again. Once admit him into your 
 house, and he will linger there half the 
 day, unpleasantly mixing the smell of 
 putty with your breakfast and your 
 lunch. He will charge you for putting 
 
620 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 in a pane of glass exactly double what 
 he is prepared to take ; and when you 
 have once employed him, he w^ll make 
 you such a litter of broken glass and 
 dry and new putty in front of your 
 house, as might well induce any one 
 who does not know you, to believe that 
 you have gone extensively into the 
 " Glasspteen " business yourself. 
 
 P,icliardson, the Eccentric Showman. 
 
 This eccentric individual, who died 
 some years ago, left behind him such a 
 fortune as rarely comes out at the end 
 of a showman's career. He was born in 
 the workhouse of No. Mario w, in Bucks, 
 but ran away from that place to seek 
 Ms fortune in London. After various 
 vicissitudes, he became landlord of the 
 Harlequin public house, in Drury Lane, 
 where he saved some money, which he 
 embarked in fitting up a portable thea- 
 tre, and was known for forty years as 
 the "Prince of Showmen." He used 
 to boast that Edmund Kean, and seve- 
 ral other eminent actors, were brought 
 out by him. His property, after various 
 legacies to the itinerant company which 
 had attended him for many years, de- 
 scended to two nephews and a niece, 
 and he desired, in his will, to be buried 
 in the same grave as his " spotted boy " 
 — a lad who, some years before, was 
 exhibited by him, and attracted great 
 notice in consequence of the extraordi- 
 nary manner in which he was marked 
 on various parts of his body. 
 
 Human Hair as an Article of Traffic. 
 
 HuMA2ir hair is an article of extensive 
 traffic. The London hair merchants 
 alone import annually no less a quantity 
 than five tons. But the market would 
 be very inadequately supplied if de- 
 pendence were solely placed on chance 
 clippings. There must be a regular 
 harvest, which can be looked forward 
 to at a particular time; and as there 
 are different markets for black tea and 
 
 green tea, or pale brandy and brown 
 brandy, so is there a light-haired mar- 
 ket distinct from the dark-haired. 
 
 The light hair is exclusively a Ger- 
 man product. It is collected by the 
 agents of a Dutch company w^ho visit 
 England yearly for orders. Until about 
 fifty years ago, light hair was esteemed 
 above all others. One peculiar golden 
 tint was so supremely prized, that deal- 
 ers only produced it to favorite custom- 
 ers, to whom it was sold for nearly 
 double the price of silver. 
 
 But the dark brown hair of France 
 now rules the market. Whether dark 
 or light, however, the hair purchased 
 by the dealer is so closely scrutinized, 
 that he can discriminate between the 
 German and the French article by the 
 smell alone ; indeed, he even claims the 
 power, " when his nose is in," of distin- 
 guishing accurately between the Eng- 
 lish, the French, the Irish, and the 
 Scotch commodity. 
 
 Black hair is imiDorted chiefly from 
 Brittany and the south of France, 
 where it is annually collected by the 
 agents of a few wholesale Parisian 
 houses. The average crops harvested 
 by these firms amount yearly to upward 
 of two hundred thousand pounds. 
 The price paid for each head of hair 
 ranges from one to five francs, accord- 
 ing to its weight and beauty, the for- 
 mer seldom rising above a pound, and 
 rarely falling below twelve ounces. 
 The itinerant dealers are always pro- 
 vided with an extensive assortment of 
 ribbons, silks, laces, haberdashery, and 
 cheap jewelry of various kinds, with 
 which they make their purchases as 
 frequently as with money. The hair 
 thus obtained is transmitted to the 
 wholesale houses, by whom it is dressed, 
 sorted, and sold to the hair- workers in 
 the chief towns, at about two dollars 
 per pound. When suitably prepared 
 for perukes, it is sold at a greatly ad- 
 vanced price — it may be ten, or it may 
 be twenty dollars per pound. Choice 
 heads of hair, like choice old pictures, 
 
CURIOUS TRADES AND OBJECTS OF TRAFITC. 
 
 621 
 
 or rare old china, have, however, no 
 limit to the price they may occasionally 
 command. 
 
 Praying' and Trading Simultaneously. 
 
 Mr. Hume, whose experiences in 
 Bombay are so well known, narrates a 
 curious instance of a wealthy Parsee 
 merchant carrying on his devotions and 
 trading pursuits at the same time. Mr. 
 Hume says : 
 
 I had occasion to go into the shop 
 of a Parsee, with whom I had consider- 
 able acquaintance. It was in the after- 
 noon, and I found him standing on the 
 steps of his shop, with his face toward 
 the setting sun, busily engaged in saying 
 his prayers. Many persons were pass- 
 ing along the street just before him ; 
 but this seemed to cause him no con- 
 cern, unless when he had occasion to 
 bow to some acquaintance. When I 
 turned to enter his shop, he gave me a 
 very cordial salutation, bowing, and 
 moving his hand for me to enter, but 
 all the time repeating his prayers as 
 rapidly as ever. Perceiving that no 
 one was in the shop to attend to me, 
 he clapped his hands several times, 
 making a loud noise, the chief object 
 of which seemed to be well understood 
 by the fVimily, as his son, a young man 
 of about twenty years of age, came run- 
 ning into the shop. 
 
 I asked him the price of the article 
 which I had come to purchase ; when 
 he, being in doubt, went and inquired 
 of his father, who, with the forefinger 
 of his right hand, wrote upon the palm 
 of the other the price to be charged. 
 The young man then came back and 
 told me what his father had said ; but 
 the price being extravagant, I objected 
 to it, and told him what I would give. 
 The son, not feeling at liberty to act 
 on his own responsibility, went and re- 
 ported my offer to his father, who 
 shook his head, and again wrote on his 
 hand, as before, a sum considerably less 
 than the first mentioned. The young 
 
 man again came and stated the price 
 now asked ; which being still very un- 
 reasonable, I was about to leave, but 
 said I would give him the sum offered 
 at first, if he chose to take it. The 
 young man again hastened to his father 
 with my offer, and, as he shook his 
 head at this, I passed out at another 
 door, leaving him repeating his pray- 
 ers as busily as ever. While I remain- 
 ed, he appeared much interested in 
 what was passing in the shop ; and al- 
 though praying with his face in an op- 
 posite direction, he every moment 
 turned so far about as to catch a 
 glance of us, and observe what we 
 were doing. 
 
 Losing: a Good Customer. 
 
 It has been understood, from time im- 
 memorial, that dress indicates the stand- 
 ing of a person in society ; so much so, 
 indeed, that even business is in many 
 instances done on this absurd principle. 
 If a person of genteel dress steps into a 
 store, the utmost politeness is shown, 
 and the greatest pains are taken to ex- 
 hibit the stock ; but if a meanly-clad 
 person enters, scarcely anything but a 
 yawn, or a dull, reluctant movement at 
 best, is extended to such a visitor. This 
 course has been detrimental to the 
 trade of many a store. Here is an ex- 
 ample : 
 
 A very wealthy family moved to 
 Cincinnati from Philadelphia, and from 
 reputation they were acquainted "v^f^th 
 a certain firm in the former city before 
 their arrival, as said firm had a branch 
 in the Quaker City which knew of 
 these wealthy customers there, and 
 who prized their money and patronage 
 much. Said family wished to pur- 
 chase a large amount of things on their 
 becoming settled, and stepping into the 
 establishment of said firm in their com- 
 monest dress one morning, were met 
 with the most forbidding coldness. 
 The clerks and attendants took the 
 party for "mere servants" or serving 
 
622 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 girls, and did not show them even 
 common courtesy. The result was, that 
 the wealthy family in question, with 
 five hundred dollars in their pockets to 
 spend, left that store to purchase else- 
 where. 
 
 Perhaps some other stores go as far 
 the other way — that is, the clerks and 
 salesmen are too polite, and quite too 
 oUiging^ and by their acts, become too 
 familiar, and disgust the would-be cus- 
 tomer, thereby forever losing good pat- 
 ronage. The proper course is to steer 
 between extremes, to study aptly human 
 nature, so as to discover at a glance a 
 person who desires to buy, and the med- 
 dling jade that promenades the streets 
 and makes trouble for the clerks, only 
 to show a 'pretty hand and face. 
 
 Native Traders in Guinea. 
 
 The chief native traders of Guinea 
 are as keen men of business in their 
 way as can be found in any nation ; 
 and it is said to be astonishing with 
 what confidence some of them — per- 
 haps nearly naked — will ask for thou- 
 sands of dollars' worth of goods on 
 credit, and get trusted accordingly. 
 Not one in ten, however, who asks for 
 credit is worthy of it — the matter of 
 trusting and his worth as a man of 
 business being decided by the charac- 
 ter the trader bears, the size of his 
 house, and the number of his slaves 
 and wives. 
 
 Some of them are splendid mer- 
 chants. They are hard at bargaining ; 
 but the agreement once made, they 
 conscientiously adhere to it, and are ex- 
 act in their payments. But they are 
 roguishly expert in adulterating their 
 goods — mixing sand and copper filings 
 with gold dust, pouring molten lead 
 into the cavities of elephants' tusks to 
 increase their weight, mixing palm oil 
 with chopped plaintain-sucker and 
 mud, etc. 
 
 The rich traders buy all descriptions 
 of elegant and costly furniture — sofas, 
 
 fauteuils, ottomans, mirrors, gold and 
 silver cloth, damask table covers, car- 
 pets, musical boxes, pianos, etc. Not 
 that they care for these things, but for 
 the mere fact of possession — the ability 
 to boast of having them. As to put- 
 ting them to use, that is usually out of 
 the question. They may be seen lum- 
 bered together in a large hut, or packed 
 in boxes, and sometimes kept in the 
 ground. 
 
 When a ship has sold all her cargo, 
 the upper masts are sent aloft again, as 
 a signal that the vessel has done trad- 
 ing, and is now awaiting the settle- 
 ment of all outstanding accounts. If 
 the negro merchant has fairly pledged 
 his word to pay on a certain day, he 
 generally redeems his promise ; but in 
 the absence of this he puts off payment 
 on all sorts of pretences, or perhaps 
 tries cajolery and threats alternately, 
 until, the white man's patience being 
 exhausted, the debtor yields to neces- 
 sity, and sends the stipulated quantity 
 of oil, or what not, on board. 
 
 St. PetersTaurg: Trade in Frozen 
 Articles. 
 
 To strangers in St. Petersburg, 
 nothing appears more peculiar than 
 that part of the city dedicated to the 
 sale of frozen provisions. The aston- 
 ished sight is there arrested by a vast 
 open square, containing the bodies of 
 many thousand animals, piled in pjTa- 
 midal heaps, on all sides ; cows, sheep, 
 hogs, fowls, butter, eggs, fish, all are 
 stiffened into granite. The fish are 
 thus rendered attractively beautiful, 
 possessing the vividness of their living 
 color, with the transparent clearness of 
 wax imitations. The beasts present a 
 far less pleasing spectacle., The pecu- 
 liar manner in which they are piled, on 
 their hind legs, — the apparent anima- 
 tion of their attitudes, as if suddenly 
 seized in moving, and petrified by frost 
 — gives a horrid life to this dead scene. m. 
 Their hardness, too, is so extreme, that ^ 
 
CURIOUS TRADES AND OBJECTS OF TRAFFIC. 
 
 623 
 
 the dealers chop them up for purchasers 
 like wood, and the chips of their car- 
 casses fly ofl* in the same way as splin- 
 ters from timber or coal. At certain 
 hours, every day, the market, while it 
 lasts, is quite a fashionable resort. The 
 beauty and gayety of St. Petersburg 
 are there, from representatives of the 
 imperial family down to the merchant 
 and his wife. 
 
 Songr-Bird Shops in New York. 
 
 There are twenty to thirty thousand 
 song birds of different kinds sold year- 
 ly in the city of New York. Most of 
 these are canaries. The "bird mer- 
 chants " go to Europe about the first 
 of August, and buy their stock of cana- 
 ries, linnets, finches, blackbirds, and 
 thrushes, of the Germans who raise 
 them for sale. They come back in 
 September and October. The pure 
 golden yellow canary takes the highest 
 price, and they are sometimes sold as 
 high as twenty-five and fifty dollars a 
 pair. How many homes are made 
 happier by their cheerful notes ! 
 
 "Mighty Monarch, let me send a 
 Shop!" 
 
 "When Charles Lamb was asked his 
 opinion of the Vale of Keswick and 
 the hills of Ambleside, he frankly ac- 
 knowledged that there was -more pleas- 
 ure for him in the London shop win- 
 dows, when filled and lighted up in 
 the frosty evenings before Christmas. 
 This answer, remarks an English writer, 
 though odd and unexpected, is not sur- 
 prising. Where, in the wide world, is 
 there such an exhibition of artistic 
 wealth and magnificence as is seen 
 dally in the London shop windows ? No 
 doubt some of the shops of Paris and 
 New York rival anything of the kind in 
 the British metropolis ; but, taken as a 
 whole, the stock and the array of the 
 London shops are unmatchable. All 
 Orientals and Africans, on visiting 
 
 Europe for the first time, are most 
 struck with the splendor of the shops. 
 There was nothing unreasonable in tne 
 request of an African king's son whose 
 tribe had been serviceable to the 
 French settlements on the Senegal, in 
 return for which the young prince was 
 taken under the protection of Louis 
 the Fourteenth, and sent to receive an 
 education in Paris. After having seen 
 and been astonished at the French 
 capital, Louis asked of him what 
 would be the most desirable present 
 for his father, promising that whatever 
 might be selected should be sent ; when 
 the youth exclaimed, with a look of the 
 most imploring earnestness, "Mighty 
 monarch, let me send a shop I " 
 
 One of the Branches of the Tea 
 Trade. 
 
 It is not generally known that tea- 
 tasting is a regular commercial profes- 
 sion or business — one which is certain 
 death to those w^ho pursue it. The 
 success of the tea-broker, or taster, de- 
 pends upon the trained accuracy of his 
 nose and palate, his experience in the 
 wants of the American market, and a 
 keen business tact. If he has these 
 qualities in high cultivation, he may 
 make from twenty to forty thousand 
 dollars per annum while he lives — and 
 die of ulceration of the lungs. He 
 overhauls a cargo of tea, classifies it, 
 and determines the value of each sort. 
 In doing this, he first looks at the color 
 of the leaf, and the general cleanliness 
 of it. He next takes a quantity of the 
 herb in his hand, and breathing his 
 warm breath upon it, he snuffs up the 
 fragrance. In doing this, he draws 
 into his lungs a quantity of irritating 
 and stimulating dust, which is by no 
 means wholesome. Then, sitting down 
 to the table in his office, on which is a 
 long row of little porcelain cups and a 
 pot of hot water, he " draws " the tea 
 and tastes the infusion. In this way 
 he classifies the different sorts to the 
 
624 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 minutest shade; makes the different 
 prices, and is then ready to compare 
 his work with the invoice. The skill 
 of these brokers, or tasters, is fairly a 
 marvel ; but the effect of the business 
 on their health is ruinous. They grow 
 lean, nervous and consumptive. 
 
 Grocers and Bank Presidents. 
 
 In a certain city resides Mr. Brown, 
 who keeps rather an extensive grocery, 
 and Mr. Green, president of one of the 
 banks. Mr. Green dealt occasionally 
 with Mr. Brown. IVIr. Brown is a man 
 who has paid more attention to busi- 
 ness and making money than to book 
 knowledge. Mr. Green is an inquiring 
 man, and seeks knowledge in every- 
 thing, and sometimes under difficulties. 
 A few years ago in the winter season, 
 when eggs were scarce, an article was in- 
 troduced by some enterprising Yankee, 
 under the name of Egg Powders, was 
 sold by the principal grocers, and ap- 
 peared to answer the purpose very 
 well. Mr. Green dropped in one day 
 to Mr. Brown, and thus : 
 
 "Mr. Brown, have you got any of 
 those Egg Powders ? " 
 
 " Yes, Mr. Green, we have." 
 
 " Let me have a dozen of them." 
 
 The powders were laid upon the 
 counter. 
 
 " Mr. Brown, do you know what 
 these powders are made of? " 
 
 " Well, no, Mr. Green, I can't say I do ; 
 but I suppose they must be made out 
 of the same kind of stuff the hens eat." 
 
 Mr. Green paid for his powders and 
 left, not much satisfied with the ex- 
 planation. 
 
 Puzzling- an Apothecary. 
 
 The following colloquy is vouched 
 for by the storekeeper at whose estab- 
 lishment it occurred, in Indiana, and 
 who thus reproduces it : A few even- 
 ings since, while musing, " solitary and 
 alone," upon the fortunes (or rather 
 
 misfortunes) of war, especially the late 
 Rappahannock disaster, a gentleman 
 stepped into the drug store, inquired 
 for two or three essential oils, took a 
 seat, and with a countenance expres- 
 sive of the highest admiration of his 
 own wisdom, gave a short dissertation 
 upon the virtues of the medicines called 
 for, showing them to be "good for 
 horses, and also for baiting bees." To 
 all of which we nodded assent. He 
 then inquired if we had " such a thing 
 as stra-ta-gum f " Upon my giving him 
 a negative answer, and expressing a 
 doubt as to there being " such a thing," 
 he confidently insisted that there was, 
 as he " had been reading about their 
 capturing elephants, and it is said they 
 used stra-ta-gum to bait them with, like 
 they bait bees, and he would like to 
 know what it was." Seeing he was so 
 anxious about it, I turned to the Dispen- 
 satory to look for it, when, thinking, no 
 doubt, it would facilitate my search, 
 he said he " believed it was spelled 
 s-t-r-a-t-a-g-e-m ! " And thereupon we 
 discovered the joke ; and well we 
 might, for if a " wayfaring man " had 
 failed to see it at that point, he must 
 indeed have been the prince of " fools." 
 After as much of an explanation as the 
 circumstances would warrant, our friend 
 left, seemingly much disappointed at 
 not finding his " stra-ta-gum," and per- 
 haps less troubled with an enlargement 
 of the brain than when he first entered 
 the drug store. 
 
 Making the Best of a Bad Article. 
 
 Mr. L was, many years ago, and 
 
 may be yet, extensively engaged in one 
 of the Eastern States in the manufac- 
 ture of paper, which at one time ob- 
 tained considerable reputation. Pre- 
 vious to his engaging in this business 
 he had attempted another, which did 
 not prove so successful. During the 
 war of 1813, gunpowder became veiy 
 scarce, and commanded a correspond- 
 ing price, and L., who was a very en- 
 
CURIOUS TRADES AND OBJECTS OF TRAFFIC. 
 
 625 
 
 terprising fellow, and watchful for every 
 chance of making an " honest " living, 
 although thoroughly ignorant of the 
 business, embarked in the manufacture 
 of this indispensable requisite of war. 
 He succeeded in obtaining a contract 
 from Government for a large supply, 
 but the very first instalment was con- 
 demned and thrown on hia hands. 
 This was a serious loss ; but he deter- 
 mined to make the best of it ; and the 
 way to do that, he concluded, was to 
 peddle the rejected article among the 
 storekeepers in his region. According- 
 ly, he loaded a two-horse wagon, and 
 in two or three days he had got rid of 
 twenty or thirty kegs. After the lapse 
 of a few weeks, he thought he would 
 make another tour. Now he had dis- 
 posed of a keg to Major Conover, a 
 whole-souled native of the Emerald Isle 
 — a shrewd and thrifty man of busi- 
 ness, honest in his dealings, generous 
 in disposition, and the greatest wag in 
 those parts. Hailing the major from 
 
 his wagon, L asked him if he 
 
 should leave him another keg of pow- 
 der? 
 
 Major {with a Jiedtancy of manner, as 
 if Ms mind was not entirely made ujS). — 
 "Well, I guess not to-day. I am of 
 the opinion that the stock I have will 
 last till you come round again." 
 " How did the other turn out ? " 
 Major.— " Well, I can't complain. 
 What has been disposed of has certain- 
 ly gone off much to my satisfaction. 
 It might have been a good deal worse. 
 The greatest difficulty I have, is to 
 know what to call it, and what to sell 
 
 it for. The fact is, L , when I 
 
 bought that keg I had it placed for 
 safety in my wife's chamber. I knocked 
 out the head, and left it uncovered, 
 which, I confess, was a little careless in 
 me. One day my wife wanted a fire 
 made in the room, and told our help 
 to take a shovelful of hickory coals up 
 stairs. Now what does the h. ssy do 
 but knocks her elbow against the cheek 
 of the door, and dowses the coals right 
 40 
 
 into the powder. She showed great 
 presence of mind, that I must allow, 
 and screamed fire with all her might. 
 I happened to be at the foot of the 
 stairs with a bucketful of v/ater, which 
 I was just taking into the store. 1 tore 
 up stairs like a catamount, and dash- 
 ing the water upon the flaming mass, I 
 soon had the fire out, but, would you 
 believe it, not till nigh on to one third 
 of the pesky stuff was burned up 1 
 Now, L., that article of yours is a good 
 article, I have no doubt ; but it is my 
 deliberate judgment, that if it was made 
 for ammunition, it is rayther too slow ; 
 if it was intended for kindlin', it's a 
 consarned sight too fast." 
 
 L did not wait to press a sale, 
 
 but giving the whip to his ponies, he 
 went out of that town at the rate of 
 something like 3 50. 
 
 Grindstones by the Fraction. 
 
 Tradesmen are so often seriously an- 
 noyed by tedious customers that they are 
 not apt to enjoy any imposition of fun. 
 One day a wag entered a hardware 
 store and inquiring for grindstones was 
 taken to the back yard where there were 
 rows of the desired article ranged on 
 either side. The day was drizzly, the 
 rain pouring down silently but stead- 
 ily. He examined a number, but none 
 seemed to suit his purposes. One was 
 too large, another was too small ; one 
 was too coarse in grain, another the 
 opposite. At last, when he saw the 
 tradesman was getting somewhat damp 
 and uncomfortable from exposure to 
 the weather, he thought that he would 
 bring matters to 2i finale; and laying 
 his hands on a pretty fair specimen, he 
 inquired, " How much do you charge' a 
 pound for this one ? " " Well," replied 
 the clerk, "I guess we can let you 
 have that one at four cents a pound." 
 " Well," returned Sam, " knock me off 
 a pound and a half." , 
 
626 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 Pancy Stoves and Imaginative 
 Customers. 
 
 A CnsTcrPTNATi dealer in dry goods, 
 hardware, etc., says : Among our as- 
 sortment of goods we introduced a new 
 style of parlor stoves, and in the fall of 
 the year, as the weather became cold 
 enough for fires, we fixed up a fancy plat- 
 form and placed thereon one of the fancy 
 stoves, putting an elbow of pipe on the 
 smoke-hole to designate where it was. 
 So there it stood, exciting the admira- 
 tion of some of our customers, and the 
 curiosity of others. In the back part 
 of the store we had one of them in use, 
 to show its operation. So one pretty 
 cold morning we were quite busy, cus- 
 tomers coming and going, some merely 
 to warm, some to chat, and others to 
 purchase. While we were all engaged 
 in selling, a lady walked in, and pick- 
 ing up a counter-stool, placed it by the 
 cold stove. None seemed to pay any 
 particular attention to her until she 
 began to show signs of getting too 
 warm. First off went mittens, then 
 shawl, then moving back a little. Ob- 
 serving a broad smile on the face of 
 the person I was waiting upon, I be- 
 came aware of the laughable mistake 
 the woman was laboring imder. So 
 stepping down to her, I said, "Madam, 
 if you wish to warm yourself, step back 
 to the rear of the room, and you will 
 find a stove with a fire in it." The 
 blank look that came over her face can- 
 not be described ; but wetting her first 
 finger, she touched the stove with a 
 jerk, and finding her finger did not 
 fiz-z, she realized her mistake, then 
 looked at the pipe, and seeing it was 
 disconnected, and no smoke issuing, 
 confirmed its coldness. So picking up 
 her shawl, she confessed it was no use 
 going back to the other stove, for " she 
 believed she was warm enough any 
 how," but would look at some calico. 
 From that day on our friend always 
 took a look at the stove-pipe to see if 
 it really went into a chimney. 
 
 Orthography behind the Counter. 
 
 Amused at the style of orders which 
 were sometimes presented at his coun- 
 ter for medicine, a Philadelphia drug- 
 gist made a collection of curious speci- 
 mens—forming, altogether, quite a tri- 
 umph over pharmaceutical orthogra- 
 phy. A few of them are here given : 
 
 6 cents word spice Ruback (rhu- 
 barb). 
 
 6 cents word crima datoer (cream of 
 tartar). 
 
 Gum Rabick (gum Arabic). 
 
 6 cents of exolasses (oxalic acid). 
 
 Clanaide (chloride) Lime to take the 
 bad smeell out of the scelar. 
 
 I — A — did potass (iodide of potas- 
 sium). 
 
 A fip's worth of Blood Rought 
 (root). 
 
 Abekack (ipecacuanha). 
 
 3 Sinic A (Seneca) Snake root. 
 
 3 Pruvian borks (Peruvian bark). 
 
 3 black liciice (licorice). 
 
 3 cts. Mur. 
 
 3 cts. Charcole. 
 
 3 cts. Ores root. 
 
 A box of Brandeth's pills or some 
 kind that is good for clensing the 
 stumech. 
 
 Wone ounce of the Surrip of Epeca- 
 cuanna. 
 
 Bossom Compey (balsam of copai- 
 va). 
 
 A Botel of Bruster's Coler (cholera) 
 mixter. 
 
 Gum De Achum (gum guaiacum). 
 
 2 ownces of gumarrerbeck and 2 
 ownces of Kiann Pepper & one quart 
 of alcohaw I want the pulverised gum- 
 arrerbac give him a slip of paper with 
 figers of how much it caust. 
 
 please put the costoc (caustic) in a 
 quill whith one Eight of a inch out. 
 
 3 Cents worth of peneroil the Earb. 
 
 Florentine Flower-Girls. 
 
 The most fragant bouquets are as- 
 siduously profiiered to pedestrians in 
 
CURIOUS TRADES AND OBJECTS OF TRAFFIC. 
 
 627 
 
 Florence — sold by unsentimental-look- 
 ing flower-girls at prices that seem al- 
 most of fabulous cbeapness in contrast 
 vntli floral sales elsewhere. But with 
 the Florentines flowers would appear 
 to be too vulgar an attraction, for few 
 but strangers display taste in this re- 
 spect. With them, however, it can- 
 not ever be said to be a matter of 
 choice, for, like carriages, they must 
 receive the offered bouquets in self- 
 defence. By some incomprehensible 
 singularity, these flower girls are among 
 the grossest and most ill-favored of the 
 peasantry — or, if they are fair speci- 
 mens of the peasantry, the rural Tus- 
 cans are remarkably deficient in good 
 looks. But even when one has a pret- 
 ty face, and turns it to profitable ac- 
 count, she runs the risk of having it 
 peeled by the knife of some jealous 
 rival. This actually took place a short 
 time since, because it proved to its 
 possessor worth, in the sale of flowers, 
 something more than twice that of her 
 enraged and homely competitor. The 
 sum total of the monthly gains that ex- 
 cited the one to a deed that sent her, 
 or, rather, her agent — for she did it by 
 proxy — to the penitentiary, and the 
 other to the hospital, was — eleven 
 dollars ! 
 
 The flower girls are as pertinacious 
 as hack drivers or picture dealers. 
 They do not demand money — only 
 you must accept their flowers ; if you 
 will not take them, they arrest you by 
 the collar, and decorate your button- 
 hole with a dainty bunch, and then slip 
 modestly off, declining all recompense, 
 knowing that bachelor nature can never 
 long hold its purse strings closed 
 against the language of flowers. This 
 they repeat every morning. If you 
 
 breakfast at Doney's, the Delmonico 
 of Florence, a fresh bouquet is on your 
 table as soon as you are seated. If you 
 escape this, you are overtaken in the 
 street, or at the Cascine, and decorat- 
 ed, despite all modest resistance, with 
 the infallible sign of a newly caught 
 stranger. After all, it is a very pretty 
 and innocent affair, barring the adver- 
 tisement it holds out of a greenhorn to 
 be plucked. ___^_ 
 
 Batavian Trade in Birds' Nests. 
 
 Birds' nests constitute quite an arti- 
 cle of trade in Batavia, being sold for 
 2,500 paper dollars the picul — about 
 one hundred and thirty-three pounds. 
 The birds that make these nests are 
 shaped like the swallow, and fly with 
 the same velocity, but are smaller. 
 They are very numerous on the islands. 
 The coast of Sumatra gives the greatest 
 supply of them — called the Salignare, 
 and found in great numbers in the 
 Philippines. They always lay in the 
 same nest unless it be destroyed, and 
 will keep continually rebuilding when 
 their nests are taken away ; late meth- 
 ods of insuring good nests by destroy- 
 ing all the old ones. The nests are 
 formed of a glutinous substance found 
 in the water. They are about the size 
 of the inside of a swallow's nest, and 
 some of them almost transparent. The 
 soup made of them is very palatable, 
 but as it is dear, it is not often met 
 with ; the old nests are of a black cast, 
 and are not near so valuable as the 
 white. There are three layers or thick- 
 nesses in the nests, which, when sepa- 
 rated, appear like three distinct nests ; 
 the first or outside layer brings the least 
 price, increasing to the inside, which 
 brings the large price above quoted. 
 
PART TWELFTH. 
 
 Anecdotes and Chronicles of Insurance. 
 
PART TWELFTH. 
 
 Anecdotes and Chronicles of Insurance. 
 
 ITS PIONEERS, VARIETIES ; CURIOUS RATES, TERMS, SUBJECTS ; HUMORS, FANCIES, AND EX- 
 CESSES ; NOTABLE CASES OF LOSS AND ADJUSTMENT ; CARICATURES, PUNS, RAILLERY, 
 ETC. 
 
 In vain are all insurances, for still 
 The ratting wind must answer heaven or hell 
 To what wise purpose must we then insure? 
 Since some must lose whate'er the seas devour. 
 
 Eng. Bard. 
 
 The vain insurancers of life, 
 
 And he who most performed and promised lees, 
 Ev'n Short and Hobbs, forsook th' uiiequal strife. 
 
 "Thrbnodia Augustalis.** 
 Come all ye generous husbands with your wives, 
 Insure round sums on your precarious lives, 
 That, to your comfort, when you're dead and rotten, 
 Your widows may be rich wiien you're forgotten.— Ano. 
 Everything is insurable— at a premium I— PerrotT. 
 
 Insuring Dr. Lieb's Life. 
 
 At tlie time when the famous Doctor 
 LiEB was figuring so largely in politi- 
 cal life, prejudices were strong, and 
 party feeling ran high — application 
 was made to the Legislature of Penn- 
 sylvania to incorporate a " Life Insu- 
 rance Company " for the term of fifty 
 years. On this, a zealous member rose 
 and addressed Mr. Speaker with — " Sir, 
 I don't like this bill, and I sha'n't vote 
 for it. The petitioneers have asked 
 leave to be incorporated to insure lives 
 for fifty years, and what will be the 
 consequence of granting their prayer ? 
 Why, the first thing you'll know, that 
 mischievous Dr. Lieb will get Ids life 
 insured for the whole time, and then 
 we shall have him tormenting us for 
 half a century to come." 
 
 Porcelain Jars and liow Premiums. 
 During the mania in England for 
 insuring anything and everything, 
 
 there was a man named John Pereott, 
 wealthy, consequential, and eccentric — 
 an insurer of lives, of merchandise, and 
 of anything that was offered ; his motto 
 being, " Everything is insurable — at a 
 premium.'''' In his private tastes, his 
 chief delight was to collect fine china, 
 and in this he indulged himself to an 
 extravagant extent. The uglier the 
 specimen the dearer it was to John 
 Perrott, and the more he was willing 
 to pay for it. His clerks were charged 
 to board the vessels from the East as 
 soon as they reached the Thames, and 
 he would at any time stop in the midst 
 of pressing business to listen to infor- 
 mation about pottery and porcelain. 
 When a man came to insure his life or 
 his ship, to buy an annuity or to sell 
 one, he was sure of a favorable bargain 
 if he could but procure some vase or 
 jar which had been seen by no one else. 
 He had one fine specimen in his collec- 
 tion, which however required a second 
 and similar one to complete its value 
 
632 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 in his eyes. This he once possessed ; 
 but being lost or broken, it afforded 
 him a constant topic of complaint, and 
 out of it arose a characteristic story of 
 the man. 
 
 One day he was applied to by a mer- 
 chant to effect an insurance on a ship 
 which had been long absent, and of the 
 safety of which many doubts were en- 
 tertained. Perrott demanded a very 
 high premium, and the applicant de- 
 murred. 
 
 In the course of conversation, how- 
 ever, the merchant "carelessly" al- 
 luded to a fine porcelain jar of which 
 a friend was possessed, and which he 
 thought he could procure. Perrott's 
 eyes opened as the description pro- 
 ceeded. It was the apple of his eye — 
 the very specimen his soul desired, — 
 and his visitor, on witnessing the anx- 
 iety he evinced, offered to go for it, 
 good-naturedly declaring it was of no 
 value to Am, and at the express solici- 
 tation of Perrott went off immediately 
 to fetch the valued prize. 
 
 The merchant seemed a long time 
 gone, but Perrott attributed this to his 
 own impatience, and felt fully rewarded 
 when he saw him return bearing the 
 porcelain he coveted. With eager 
 hands he grasped it ; the insurance on 
 the missing ship was most advantageously 
 coTwluded for his client; and Perrott 
 went home a happy man. On entering 
 the boudoir where all his treasures 
 were deposited, lo I his own jar was 
 missing, and he found on inquiry that 
 he had been outwitted by his mercan- 
 tile friend, who had tempted him to a 
 low premium with information about 
 his own property, and at his urgent 
 wish had procured it from his home by 
 a deception on his own housekeeper. 
 
 Burning with rage, and vowing ven- 
 geance against the crafty merchant, 
 whom he determined to expose on 
 'change, Perrott went to town the next 
 morning, where the first information 
 that greeted him was the arrival of the 
 vessel he had just insured. Finding 
 
 the tables thus turned in his own favor 
 and profit, he wisely held his peace, 
 merely making a special visit to the 
 merchant to congratulate him on the 
 arrival of his merchandise, so imme- 
 diately after he had insured it. 
 
 Ang-erstein, the Great English Under- 
 writer. 
 
 John Julius Angerstein is a name 
 preeminent in the annals of English in- 
 surance enterprise by private merchants. 
 Mr. Angerstein, though born in St. 
 Petersburg, went to England at an early 
 age, and soon became eminent as a 
 broker and underwriter. In the last 
 character, such was his remarkable 
 judgment, that when his name ap- 
 peared on a policy, it was a sufficient 
 recommendation for the rest to follow 
 where he led, without further exami- 
 nation ; accordingly, other underwriters 
 were eager to see policies sanctioned by 
 his name or subscription, which speed- 
 ily acquired so great an authority in 
 commercial and other circles, that for 
 some years after, they were, by way of 
 distinction, called Julians — after his 
 name. This peculiar ability and suc- 
 cess increased very largely Mr. A.'a 
 mercantile business and celebrity, and 
 he attained the highest rank among 
 that class, together with a princely for- 
 tune. Were a parallel to the brilliant 
 career of Mr. Angerstein to be sought 
 in our own country, it would be found 
 in the honored name of Walter R. 
 Jones, whose ability and accomplish- 
 ments in this department of commerce 
 may be said to be unsurpassed in the 
 commercial metropolis of which he was 
 so long an ornament. 
 
 Introduction of Iffiarina Insurance. 
 
 From the best authorities that can 
 be found, it would appear that the con- 
 tract of insurance was first invented by 
 the Lombards in the thirteenth cen- 
 tury ; and as the Italians were at that 
 
CHRONICLES OF INSURANCE. 
 
 633 
 
 time engaged in an extensive trade 
 with foreign countries, and carried on 
 a rich traffic with India, it is but rea- 
 sonable to suppose that in order to sup- 
 port so extensive a commerce, they 
 would introduce insurance into their 
 system of mercantile affairs. It is true, 
 there is no positive and conclusive evi- 
 dence that they were the originators of 
 this kind of contract, but it is certain 
 that the knowledge of it came with 
 them into the different maritime states 
 of Europe, in which parties of them 
 settled ; and in view of the fact that 
 they were the merchants, bankers, and 
 carriers of Europe, it is quite reasonable 
 to presume that they also led the way 
 in a matter which is so important for 
 the building up and continuance of 
 commercial prosperity. It is certain, 
 also, that the Lombards were the first 
 who introduced this contract into Eng- 
 land ; and a clause is inserted in all 
 policies of insurance made in that coun- 
 try, that the policy shall be of as much 
 force and effect, as any before made in 
 Lombard street — the place where these 
 Italians are known to have first taken 
 up their residence. 
 
 Companies for Insuring Female Chas- 
 tity, Childrens' Fortunes, etc. 
 
 Among the numerous quixotic in- 
 surance companies which were formed 
 when the rage for that kind of " job- 
 bing" was so popular, in years gone 
 by, in England, the following named 
 will doubtless appear sufficiently ab- 
 surd, even to the present speculative 
 generation : William Helmes, Ex- 
 change Alley, Insurance of Female 
 Chastity. A company for insuring and 
 increasing children's fortunes. An in- 
 surance office for horses dying natural 
 deaths, stolen or disabled, — Crown 
 Tavern, Smithfield. Insurance from 
 housebreakers. Insurance from high- 
 waymen. Insurance from lying. Plu- 
 mer & Petty's insurance from death by 
 drinking rum. But these vagaries 
 
 were not the wildest. After a time 
 "insurance wagers" became the rage. 
 Policies were openly laid on the lives 
 of all public men. When George the 
 Second fought at Dettingen, twenty- 
 five per cent, was paid against his safe 
 return. When in 1745 the Pretender 
 was defeated, thousands of pounds 
 were laid upon his capture, his death, 
 even his whereabouts. When Lord 
 Nithsdale escaped from the tower by 
 his wife taking his place, the wretches 
 who had perilled money on his life, 
 and to whom his impending execution 
 would have been a profit, were noisy in 
 their complaints and execrations. But 
 no sooner was it known that he was 
 really free than they turned about and 
 wagered upon his recapture. Sir Rob- 
 ert Walpole's life was insured for many 
 thousands, and at periods of political 
 excitement, when his person seemed in 
 danger, the odds were proportionately 
 enlarged by the speculators. When 
 Wilkes was committed to the tower, 
 policies were issued at ten per cent, 
 that he would remain there for a speci- 
 fied time. King George, when he was 
 ill, and Lord North, when he was un- 
 popular, were both good objects on the 
 brokers' schedules. 
 
 Curious Inconsistencies in Insuring 
 Life. 
 
 Before the present comparatively 
 perfect system of regulating life in- 
 surance was inaugurated, the incon- 
 sistencies of the plan pursued were 
 very striking, as viewed from the exist- 
 ing standpoint. Average lives were 
 declined, and for him whose health 
 was not perfect there was no chance. 
 
 The healthy but nervous man, whose 
 pulse, when examined, beat like a steam 
 engine, was very often refused, — and 
 stories of rejected applicants, which 
 speak volumes, are prevalent. One gen- 
 tleman was declined because he was 
 deaf^ as he ran more risk of being run 
 over. Another was refused because he 
 
634 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 had been three times hanJcrupt, and his 
 system might have suffered. A third 
 was too full of health, and might die 
 of apoplexy. A fourth was deficient, 
 and might die of decline. No life was 
 taken that presented any exceptionable 
 point. The consequence was, that men 
 in rude, robust health, if blind in one 
 eye, or deaf in one ear, were often re- 
 jected ; and there are numerous in- 
 stances of the refused party living to a 
 good old age — while cases are not 
 wanting, in which, after outliving doc- 
 tor, actuary, and half the board of di- 
 rectors, the very man who thirty years 
 before was refused at any price, was 
 f gladly taken by the same company at 
 the ordinary premium. ' 
 
 One of the CompanieB. 
 
 Some years ago, the English country 
 papers were filled with advertisements 
 drawing attention to the peculiar 
 claims of a new Life and Fire Insurance 
 Company. Its capital was stated to be 
 five millions ; it was declared to be a 
 legal corporation, and acts of parlia- 
 ment to prove this were boldly quoted. 
 Cautiously, however, did the promo- 
 ters proceed in the metropolis, where 
 they did not at first advertise, content- 
 ing themselves with establishing agen- 
 cies in various parts of the country, 
 and publishing advertisements in coun- 
 try papers. An imposing array of 
 names as directors, declared to be of 
 the first character and responsibility, 
 was promulgated; and when such 
 names as Drummond and Perkins ap- 
 peared in the list, the uninitiated be- 
 lieved the one to be the great banker, 
 and the other the rich brewer, bearing 
 the same names. To add to the de- 
 lusion, the Bank of England was ad- 
 vertised as their bankers; and when 
 they opened handsome premises in 
 London, Dublin, Edinburgh, and Glas- 
 gow, the minds of the many were thor- 
 oughly deluded. 
 
 They not only insured lives at smaller 
 
 premiums than other offices, but gave 
 larger annuities for smaller sums. Ac- 
 cording to their tables, a man of thir- 
 ty? by paying five hundred dollars, 
 could obtain forty dollars yearly, and 
 could insure his life at nine dollars 
 per cent., thus making a clear interest 
 of thirty-one dollars per annum. 
 
 The deed of the company — for, 
 strange to say, it had a deed — was 
 signed by any one who chose. Any one 
 who asked for a situation was made a 
 governor. A schoolmaster who re- 
 quested a clerkship was made a direc- 
 tor. An errand-man was employed as 
 manager. A boy of sixteen was ap- 
 pointed to a seat in the board. One 
 director had been tapman to a London 
 tavern ; another had been dismissed 
 from his employ as a journeyman bell- 
 hanger; a third had been a valet-de- 
 chambre. All had orders to dress well, 
 to place rings on their fingers^ and adorn 
 their persons with jewelry — fines being 
 instituted if they omitted to wear the 
 ornaments provided. By all these 
 means, together with extraordinary 
 puffing, premiums to a large amount 
 were procured by them, and they pros- 
 pered. 
 
 It was known, however, by many, that 
 a great crash must one day come. This 
 was brought about by the sharp and 
 persevering exposures made in a Scotch 
 newspaper, the editor of which stood 
 his ground against every combination 
 and menace directed by those whom he 
 opposed. The company placed a large 
 amount in the hands of their law agent 
 to destroy their accuser, declaring him 
 to be a false and malicious calumniator 
 and themselves injured men. One of 
 the agents, who had been in London, 
 had the audacity to state, on his return, 
 that the deputy governor of the Bank 
 of England had personally assured him 
 of the respectability of the association ; 
 but this statement was followed up, 
 and was met with a complete denial 
 from the official in question. 
 
 Finally, the practices of the company 
 
CHRONICLES OF INSURANCE. 
 
 635 
 
 could not hold out against the expo- 
 sures made ; and one fine morning^ the 
 entire gang absconded, taking with 
 them from the premises every article 
 of furniture, after having realized by 
 their operation a booty largely rising 
 a million dollars. 
 
 Instiraiice for Husbands. 
 
 Some of the principal capitalists of 
 London are engaged in the formation 
 of a new company for insurance from 
 damage by fire. In consequence of the 
 constantly occurring accidents in that 
 metropolis, by which ladies, owing to 
 the immensity of their dresses, are 
 either burnt to death, or have a large 
 portion of the valuable and extensive 
 stock of drapery which they carry 
 about them destroyed, the eminent 
 financial gentlemen alluded to have de- 
 termined to establish a Wife Insurance 
 Company. 
 
 ♦ 
 
 Bomance and Beality of Insurance. 
 
 In the days when crusades were so 
 common, and men undertook pilgrim- 
 ages from impulse as much as from re- 
 ligion, it was desirable that the pilgrim 
 should perform his vow with safety, if 
 not with comfort. The chief danger of 
 his journey was captivity. The ballads 
 of the fifteenth century are full of 
 stories which tell of pilgrims taken 
 prisoners, and of emirs' daughters re- 
 leasing them; but as the release by 
 Saracen ladies was more in romance of 
 song than in reality, and could not be 
 calculated on with precision, a personal 
 insurance was entered into, by which, 
 in consideration of a certain payment, 
 the assurer agreed to ransom the trav- 
 eller, and thus the devotee performed 
 his pilgrimage as secure from a long 
 or dangerous captivity as money could 
 make him. Another mode of assurance 
 was commonly practised, by which any 
 traveller departing on a long or danger- 
 ous voyage deposited a specific amount 
 
 in the hands of a money broker, on 
 condition that if he returned he should 
 receive double or treble the amount he 
 had paid ; but in the event of his not 
 returning, the money broker was to 
 keep his deposit, which was in truth 
 an insurance premium under another 
 name. 
 
 ♦ 
 
 The United Glass and Crockery In- 
 surance Company. 
 
 This office unites the benefit of a 
 mutual association with the security of 
 a proprietary company, and offers to 
 the insured the following advantages : 
 
 To all domestics, from coachman to 
 maid-of-all-work, an insurance against 
 the accidents — so frequent and so 
 alarming in families — of broken glass, 
 china, crockery, and delf of every kind, 
 from carelessness, ill-temper, or the 
 mischievous habits of dog or cat. 
 
 A very trifling percentage on the 
 rate of wages received will enable the 
 servant thus insuring, to break more 
 than an average amount of glass or 
 crockery ; whilst the feeling of inde- 
 pendence assured to the breaker will 
 considerably tend to elevate him or her 
 in the social position. 
 
 When it is remembered that the do- 
 mestic is peculiarly liable to those ac- 
 cidents of broken glass and earthen- 
 ware that, for a time, tend to ruin the 
 peace of families and endanger the 
 situation of the unfortunate servant — 
 such a company as the present must be 
 productive of the greatest good, as 
 creating a cordial understanding be- 
 tween the employer and the employed. 
 
 When, however, it is borne in mind 
 that servants, covenanting to pay for 
 " all they break," are more than likely 
 to be overcharged by the cupidity of 
 their master— or, what is more fre- 
 quently the case, their mistress — this 
 society will step in, and throwing its 
 shield about the defenceless, will fairly 
 arbitrate the cost of the broken pieces. 
 
 To servants of eccentric or violent 
 
636 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 temper, who love to express tlieir in- 
 dependence of master or mistress by 
 smashing a finger-basin, or letting drop 
 a dozen of plates, this ofiice will be 
 found to offer the most consoling ad- 
 vantages, as the terms are at once 
 equitable and without preference — the 
 directors making only a slight advance 
 in the case of applicants having un- 
 usually red hair. 
 
 Messrs. Crocker and Ewer have, for 
 many years, been incessantly occupied, 
 calculating the average duration and 
 existence of cups, saucers, dishes, plates, 
 decanters, tumblers, cruets, ewers, and 
 crockery in general, in every walk of 
 life ; and are enabled, after the most 
 earnest and minute research into their 
 various longevity, to draw up such a 
 set of " tables " as will allow the most 
 independent footman and the most 
 careless housemaid to break to their 
 hearts' content, at a rate of insurance 
 inconceivably contemptible. The quar- 
 rels, the bickerings, the ill-blood here- 
 tofore occasioned by broken glass or 
 china, may henceforth be avoided ; and 
 squalls in the pantry and tears in the 
 kitchen be forever abolished. 
 
 Heads of families, also, will at once 
 see the evident value of this company, 
 and that it is in every way worthy of 
 their countenance; as, upon engaging 
 a servant, they cannot but feel doubly 
 secure of their property, if the domes- 
 tic to be hired is duly insured in the 
 " United Glass and Crockery." 
 
 To render the rates of insurance as 
 easy as possible, servants may insure 
 separately for breakfast, dinner, or tea 
 service; or for lamp glasses only. 
 Office, No. 1, Pitcher Court, China 
 Road. 
 
 Jacob Barker's Insurance Case— Eedi- 
 vivus. 
 
 This story is so like Jacob, that it 
 might safely have been imagined of 
 him, even if it had never been narrated 
 of him as having taken place. It has 
 
 been often told in days past, but will 
 bear to be told again. 
 
 Mr. Barker was a large shipowner. 
 He had many ships at sea, and — as was 
 the custom in those days as well as at 
 present — some of them would be lost. 
 One of Mr. B.'s ships had been a long 
 time out of port. Fears were enter- 
 tained for her safety. Sharing the 
 general anxiety, Mr. B. called at a 
 marine insurance office, and expressed 
 his desire to effect a fresh insurance on 
 the vessel. The office demanded a high 
 rate of premium. Mr. B. offered a 
 lower figure. "Without coming to any 
 understanding, Mr. B. left the office. 
 That night a swift messenger from 
 New England brought him news of the 
 total loss of the vessel. 
 
 He said simply, " Very well." Next 
 morning, as he drove down to his 
 counting house, he stopped at the in- 
 surance office. He did not get out of 
 his carriage, but calling the secretary 
 from his seat, observed to him, quietly : 
 
 " Friend, thee need not make out that 
 policy ; T'se lieard of the ship.'''' 
 
 " Oh, sir !— but, sir — Mr. Barker," 
 stammered the cunning secretary, dash- 
 ing back into the office, and reappear- 
 ing again in a moment, " we've made 
 out the policy, and you can't back out 
 of it ! " 
 
 "How so, friend?" asked the old 
 Quaker, very demurely. 
 
 "When you left last evening we 
 agreed to your proposal, and the policy 
 was made out at once. The office be- 
 came liable, and you must take it. 
 See, here it is ! " — and a clerk at that 
 moment brought out the policy, with 
 the signatures hardly dry. 
 
 Well, friend," said old Jacob plainly, 
 " if thee will have it, I suppose I must 
 take it." And he put the policy into 
 his pocket and drove to his office. Be- 
 fore that evening, the insurance com- 
 pany and all the world had heard of 
 the loss of the ship, and of the round 
 sum with which the company stood 
 self-mulcted. 
 
CHRONICLES OF INSURANCE. 
 
 637 
 
 liife-and-Death Brokers, and their 
 
 *' Humble Servant.'* 
 Walpole relates the following odd 
 story : If a man insures his life, killing 
 himself vacates the bargain. This has 
 produced an office for insuring in spite 
 of self-murder ; but not beyond three 
 hundred pounds. It is presumable 
 that voluntary deaths were not then 
 the 1)011 ton of people in higher life. A 
 man went and insured his life, securing 
 this privilege of a free-dying English- 
 man. He carried along with him the 
 insurers, to dine at a tavern, where 
 they met several other persons. After 
 dinner, he said to the life-and-death 
 brokers : " Gentlemen, it is fit that you 
 should be acquainted with the com- 
 pany ; these honest men are tradesmen, 
 to whom I was indebted, without any 
 means of paying but your assistance, 
 and now I am your humble servant." 
 He pulled out a pistol and shot him- 
 self. 
 
 Pitt, the Insolvent Premier, Insured 
 by his Coachmakers. 
 
 The greatest British minister of the 
 last century died insolvent, and from 
 this arose a most interesting insurance 
 action. In 1803, William Pitt was in- 
 debted to Godsall & Co., his coach- 
 makers, for something rising five thou- 
 sand dollars. To secure some part of 
 this, in the event of his death, they in- 
 sured his life for seven years, with the 
 Pelican Company, for twenty-five hun- 
 dred dollars, at the rate of about six- 
 teen dollars per cent. In 1806, three 
 years after this, the premier died, with- 
 out sufficient assets to meet his liabili- 
 ties. The greatness of his services to 
 the country — the fact that he had died 
 in debt being a proof of his self-abnega- 
 tion — demanded an acknowledgement, 
 and the state very properly determined 
 to pay his creditors. This was not 
 sufficient for the coachmakers; and 
 immediate claim was made by them for 
 payment of the twenty-five hundred 
 
 dollars insured. As Godsall & Co., 
 however, had received the entire 
 amount of their bill when Mr. Pitt's 
 other debts were discharged, the Peli- 
 can refused to pay, on the ground that 
 their insurable interest in the life of 
 the deceased had been terminated by 
 the payment of his debts, and that, as 
 the insurance was to meet a special 
 debt, since discharged, they could not 
 recover. On a trial of the case, the 
 court decided against the coachmakers* 
 claim. 
 
 Underwriters Jobbing- with Napo- 
 leon's Life. 
 
 During the whole of the first Napo- 
 leon's wonderful career, his life w^as 
 trafficked with in every sort of way by 
 the underwriters of that period. The 
 various combinations in the funds, de- 
 pendent on his life, entered into by job- 
 bers, made it very desirable to insure 
 it; and as every campaign and every 
 battle altered the aspect of affairs, the 
 premiums varied. Sometimes private 
 persons acted as insurers. Thus, in 
 1809, as Sir Mark Sykes, the banker, 
 entertained a dinner party, the conver- 
 sation turned — as almost all thoughts 
 then turned — to Bonaparte, and from 
 him to the danger to which his life 
 was daily exposed. The baronet, ex- 
 cited partly by wine and partly by loy- 
 alty, offered, on the receipt of one hun- 
 dred guineas, to pay any one a guinea 
 a day so long as the French emperor 
 should live. One of the guests, and 
 he a clergyman, closed with the offer ; 
 but finding the company object, said 
 that if Sir Mark would ask it as a fa- 
 vor, he would let him off from his bar- 
 gain. To a high spirited man this was 
 by no means pleasant, and the baronet 
 refused. The clergyman sent the one 
 hundred guineas next day, and for 
 three years the banker paid three hun- 
 dred and sixty-five guineas — when, 
 thinking he had suffered sufficiently 
 for an idle joke, he refused to pay any 
 
638 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 longer. The recipient, not disposed to 
 lose his annuity, brought an action, 
 ■which was eventually carried up to the 
 highest legal authorities, and there 
 finally decided in favor of Sir Mark, 
 the law lords not being disposed to 
 give the plaintiff a life interest in Bona- 
 parte to the extent of nearly two thou- 
 sand dollars a year. 
 
 Apt Illustration of a Principle. 
 
 An agent of one of the metropolitan 
 life insurance companies, while travel- 
 ling in the north of Scotland, met with 
 an intelligent man who farmed some 
 thousand acres. This estate he delight- 
 ed to cultivate ; and though the period 
 was long before that when science was 
 employed by the agriculturist, he in- 
 vested all his profits in the estate he 
 rented. "With great satisfaction he 
 took the life insurance agent over his 
 land, pointed to his improvements, and 
 boasted his gains. 
 
 When they returned to the farm 
 house, the agent, who saw that if his 
 host died, all that he had done would 
 be for his landlord's benefit, only said 
 to him," You must have spent a large 
 sum on this estate." 
 
 " Many thousands," was the brief 
 reply. 
 
 "And if you die," was the ready 
 rejoinder, " your landlord will receive 
 the benefit, and your wife and daugh- 
 ter be left penniless. Why not insure 
 your life ? " 
 
 The man rose, strode across the room, 
 and drawing himself up as if to exhibit 
 his huge strength, said, almost in the 
 words of one of Sir Bulwer Lytton's 
 heroes : " Do I look like a man to die 
 of consumption ? " 
 
 The agent, true to his vocation, was 
 not daunted — he persevered, explained 
 his meaning, enlisted the kindly feel- 
 ings of his host, persisted in asking 
 him how much he would leave his 
 family, and at last induced him to lis- 
 ten. They examined his accounts, and 
 
 found that he could spare about six 
 hundred dollars a year. The village 
 apothecary was almost immediately 
 sent for, the life was accepted, and 
 policies were granted for fifteen thou- 
 sand dollars. 
 
 In less than nine months, this man, 
 so full of vigorous health, took cold, 
 neglected the symptoms, and died, 
 leaving only the amount for which he 
 had insured his life to keep his family 
 from want. 
 
 Oddities of a Former Period. 
 
 In the early period of English in- 
 surance, as soon as it was known that 
 any great man was seriously ill, in- 
 Burances on his life, at rates in propor- 
 tion to his chance of recovery, were 
 freely made. These bargains were re- 
 ported in the public journals ; and the 
 effect on an invalid who knew his 
 health to be precarious, may be ima- 
 gined, when he saw in the Whitehall 
 Evening Post, that 
 
 " Lord might be considered in 
 
 great danger, as his life could only be 
 insured in the Alley at ninety per 
 cent." 
 
 Of a less questionable, though still 
 novel character, was the habit of in- 
 suring property in any besieged city ; 
 or the yet more common mode of pay- 
 ing a premium to receive a certain sum 
 should the city be taken by the day 
 named in the contract. The Spanish 
 ambassador was accused of insuring 
 one hundred and fifty thousand dollars 
 on Minorca, during the seven years' 
 war, when the despatches announcing 
 its capture were in his pocket. 
 
 Terrible Mode of Rendering- an In- 
 surance Policy Void. 
 
 There resided, at the close of the 
 last century, in one of the districts of 
 Yorkshire, England, one of those coun- 
 tiy squires of whom we read in the 
 pages of the elder novelists. He could 
 
CHRONICLES OF INSURANCE. 
 
 639 
 
 write sufficiently to sign his name ; he 
 could ride so as always to be in at the 
 death ; he could eat, when his day's 
 amusement was over, sufficient to star- 
 tle a whole caravan of epicures — and 
 drink enough to float himself to bed 
 tipsy, as regularly as the night came. 
 He was young, having come to his es- 
 tate early, through the death of a father 
 who had broken his neck when his 
 morning draught had been too much 
 for his seat, and he seemed at first ex- 
 ceedingly likely to follow his father's 
 footsteps. 
 
 In due time, however, being com- 
 pelled to visit London on some busi- 
 ness, he found that there were other 
 pleasures than those of hunting foxes, 
 drinking claret, following the hounds, 
 and swearing at the grooms ; and that, 
 although on his own estate, and in the 
 neighborhood of his own hall, he might 
 be a great person, all his greatness van- 
 ished in the metropolis. With the 
 avidity of a young man entirely un- 
 curbed, enjoying also huge animal pow- 
 ers, he rushed into the dissipation of 
 London, where, as he possessed a con- 
 siderable share of mental capacity, he 
 contrived to polish his behavior and 
 to appear in the character of a buck 
 about town with some success. 
 
 His estate and means now became fa- 
 miliar to those who had none of their 
 own; and as he was free enough in 
 spending his money, and was not very 
 particular in his company, he was 
 quickly surrounded by all the younger 
 sons, roysterers, and men who lived by 
 their wits, of the circle in which he 
 visited. With such as these his career 
 was rapidly determined. The gaming 
 of the period was carried to such an 
 extent that it might almost be termed 
 a national vice, and into this terrible 
 vortex he threw himself with unstinted 
 recklessness. Mortgage after mortgage 
 was given on his estate; but as this 
 was entailed, it was necessary that he 
 should also insure his life^ which was 
 done at Lloyds', on the Koyal Ex- 
 
 change, and with those usurers who 
 added this to their other branches of 
 business. 
 
 In the midst of his career there seem- 
 ed a chance for his escape. It may 
 well be supposed that many intriguing 
 women fixed their eyes on " so desira- 
 ble a match," and that many young 
 ladies were willing to share the for- 
 tunes, for better or for worse, of the 
 possessor of a fine estate. At last the 
 hour and the woman came— the York- 
 shire squire fell in love with a young 
 lady of singular beauty. To fall in 
 love was to propose — to propose was in 
 this case to be accepted — and the mar- 
 riage took place. Immediately after- 
 ward they left the metropolis for the 
 Yorkshire home, with many dainty 
 dreams of bliss in the future. A son, 
 heir to the entail, was born to them, 
 and soon after he again went to Lon- 
 don, where, tempted beyond his resolu- 
 tion, he plunged again into his former 
 pursuits, pleasures and vices. He gam- 
 bled, he betted, he hazarded his all, 
 until one fine morning, after a deep de- 
 bauch, he arose a ruined man. He had 
 lost more than his whole life would re- 
 deem, the only security now left to the 
 winners being his annuity bonds on 
 the estate, and his various life insurances 
 should he die. 
 
 Thus situated, he was aroused to a 
 sense of the wrongs he had suffered ; 
 he saw that he had been the dupe of 
 gentlemen sufficiently practised in the 
 art of play to be called sharjiers, and 
 saw also, what was doubtless the fact, 
 that he had been cheated to their 
 hearts' content. Almost mad, burning 
 with consuming fire, he determined to 
 be revenged. Another night he was 
 resolved to try his luck, and, by play- 
 ing more desperately than ever, win 
 back, if possible, the money he had 
 lost, and then forswear the dangerous 
 vice. With a desperate resolve to out- 
 wit them, in life or in death, he once 
 more met the gamesters. He had hither- 
 to honorably arranged all the losses he 
 
C40 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 had sustained, and his opponents were 
 prepared to humor him. The doors 
 were finally closed, the shutters were 
 down to exclude light, refreshments 
 were placed in an antechamber, and for 
 thirty-six hours the last game was 
 played. 
 
 The result may be guessed. The 
 squire had no chance with the men 
 banded against him, and high as his 
 stakes were, and wildly as he jDlayed, 
 they fooled him to the top of his bent. 
 Exhausted nature completed the scene, 
 and the loser retired to his hotel. He 
 was ruined, wretched, reckless. He 
 knew that if he lived it would be a 
 miserable existence for himself and his 
 wife, and he knew also that if lie died 
 Jyy Ids own Imnd, not only would his 
 family be placed in a better position 
 than if he lived, but that the men who 
 had wronged him would be outwitted, 
 as the policies on his life would le for- 
 feited^ and his bonds become waste 
 paper. 
 
 His mind soon became resolved. He 
 evinced to the people of the hotel no 
 symptoms of derangement ; but saying 
 he should visit the theatre that night, 
 and go to bed early, as he had been 
 rather dissipated lately, he paid the 
 bill he had incurred, giving at the same 
 time gratuities to the waiters. He then 
 wrote a letter to one of the persons 
 with whom his life had been insured, 
 stating that as his existence was now 
 of no value to him, he meant to destroy 
 himself; that he was perfectly calm 
 and sane ; that he did it for the ex- 
 press purpose of punishing the men 
 who had contrived to ruin him ; and, 
 as the policy would be void by this 
 act, he charged him to let his suicide 
 be known to all with whom his life 
 had been insured. In the evening he 
 walked to the Thames, where he took 
 a wherry with a waterman to row him, 
 and when they were in the middle of 
 the current, plunged suddenly into the 
 stream, and was seen no more. 
 
 The underwriter who had received 
 
 the letter, communicated it to the other 
 insurers ; and when a claim was made by 
 the gamblers, they saw that they in turn 
 had been duped by the squire, although 
 at the fearful price of self-murder. 
 
 Oriiriu of Fire Insurance Companies. 
 
 It is amusing, indeed, to trace the 
 incidents which attended the introduc- 
 tion of fire insurance companies. The 
 basis of a plan of this sort appears to 
 have been suggested as early as two 
 hundred and fifty years ago. At that 
 time, a person proposed to Count An- 
 thony Gunther von Oldenburg, that, as 
 a new species of finance, he should in- 
 sure the houses of all his subjects 
 against fire, on their paying so much 
 per cent, annually, according to their 
 value; but the prospect of gain, so 
 tempting to most persons, could not 
 induce the count to adopt the plan. 
 He thought it good if a company was 
 formed of individuals to insure each 
 other's houses, but he doubted that it 
 could by him be " honorably, justly, 
 and irreproachfully instituted without 
 tempting Providence — without incur- 
 ring the censure of neighbors, and 
 without disgracing one's naaie and dig- 
 nity," adding that " God had without 
 such means preserved and blessed, for 
 many centuries, the ancient house of 
 Oldenburg, and He would still be pres- 
 ent with him through his mercy, and 
 protect his subjects from destructive 
 fires." 
 
 The Count's plan appears not to have 
 been again thought of until the great 
 fire of 1666 had laid the city of Lon- 
 don in ashes. In consequence of this 
 calamitous event, the citizens began to 
 see the importance, and indeed neces- 
 sity, of erecting their buildings of a 
 material less susceptible of fire than 
 hitherto; also of adopting a regular 
 system of precaution against future ac- 
 cidents, as well as of devising some 
 scheme for mutual pecuniary protec- 
 tion and relief. 
 
CHRONICLES OF INSURANCE. 
 
 641 
 
 Various proposals were accordingly 
 submitted to the Court of Common 
 Council of the City of London, be- 
 tween 1669 and 1680, for the mutual 
 relief of such as might have their 
 houses destroyed by fire — the most no- 
 table and acceptable of which was by 
 one of their own body, Mr. Deputy 
 Newbold. But if we may judge from 
 the length of time that elapsed ere the 
 worshipful committee made their re- 
 port to the Court, we should conclude 
 the adopting of the proposal to have 
 been attended with serious difficulties ; 
 and, in verification of the old proverb 
 that " delays are dangerous," during 
 the period between the first presenta- 
 tion of Mr. Newbold's proposal to the 
 Lord Mayor and the final report of the 
 committee to whom the matter was re- 
 ferred by the Court of Common Coun- 
 cil, several private individuals asso- 
 ciated themselves together, and sub- 
 mitted to the good citizens of London 
 a " design for insuring houses from 
 fire," and on the 16th of September, 
 1681, a notice or advertisement was 
 issued from their " office on the hack side 
 of the Boyal Exchange,'''' ofiering to in- 
 sure irick houses against fire for six- 
 pence, and timher houses for twelvepence 
 in the pound— hting at the rate of £2 
 10s. per cent, for the brick houses, and 
 of £5 per cent, for timber. 
 
 Subsequently, on the 13th of Octo- 
 ber, 1681, the Court of Common Coun- 
 cil did " agree and resolve to under- 
 take y° insuring all houses w*^in this 
 city and libertyes from fire, and execute 
 y® same with all expedicion," and there- 
 fore " resolved forthwith to engage a 
 sufficient fund, and undoubted security 
 by the chamber of London, in lands 
 and good ground rents, for the per- 
 formance thereof." Much amusing 
 pamphleteering and advertising in the 
 Oazeite took place between the advo- 
 cates of the corporation scheme, and 
 the " interested " in the sale insurance 
 office on the back side of the Royal 
 Exchange. The journals, too, of the 
 41 
 
 Court of Common Council at that pe- 
 riod record the signing of many poli- 
 cies, and bear amusing evidence of the 
 zeal and prudence of the fire insurance 
 committees in promulgating the bene- 
 fits of the corporation scheme, and com- 
 bating the antagonistic pamphlets is- 
 sued by their competitors. 
 
 Exciting Life of an TTnderwriter. 
 
 It is not possible to conceive of a 
 more exciting life than that of a pri- 
 vate underwriter. A sudden change 
 of weather, or the non-arrival of a 
 ship at the time she is expected or is 
 " due," sinks him from the highest 
 hopes of profit to the deepest dread of 
 loss. 
 
 Some branches of this business may 
 well be said to be a sort of gambling ; 
 at all events, the risks of marine in- 
 surance are much less easily reckoned, 
 and are of a far less precise kind, than 
 those of life or fire insurance. Yet 
 wonderful efibrts are made to give it 
 certainty; the age and soundness of 
 the ship, the kind of cargo with which 
 she is laden, the part of the world to 
 which she is going, the time of year, as 
 well as the skill and character of the 
 captain who commands her, are ele- 
 ments in the calculation. Sometimes, 
 as is well known, insurances are in- 
 creased, or new ones effiected, while 
 the ship is at sea : when she has not 
 been met with by other vessels reported 
 to have crossed her track, or when she 
 has delayed her arrival into home port, 
 the rate is augmented, according as the 
 chance of some accident is great. 
 
 The steamship President, which went 
 down years ago, and has never since 
 been heard of, was " done," or, in other 
 words, risks were taken on her at a 
 very high premium, up to the latest 
 minute of hope. Underwriters are 
 found who do not object to speculate 
 on the safety of ships in equally des- 
 perate circumstances, or, to use their 
 own slang, " to take a few thousands 
 
642 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 on them at a very long price ; " and 
 vast sums of money are frequently won 
 and lost in this way. This is gam- 
 bling, than which no lottery schemes 
 
 are greater. 
 
 ♦ 
 
 Policies and Tragredies. 
 
 A Mrs. E. came to the office of a 
 London insurance company, in her car- 
 riage, to take out a policy upon Ann 
 E., whom she described as a friend 
 whose life had already been insured 
 for three thousand pounds, also for 
 twenty-live hundred in a second office, 
 and seven hundred in a third. The 
 medical referee was a member of the 
 Eoyal College of Surgeons, and resided 
 near one of the fashionable squares at 
 the West End. Three months after 
 the insurance had been effected, Ann 
 E. died. Upon the life of her she 
 had effected an insurance for three 
 thousand pounds in one office, four 
 hundred and ninety-nine in a sec- 
 ond, and two thousand in a third, 
 while the life had been refused in a 
 fourth. The lady had also effected in- 
 surances on the life of her sister, to 
 the amount of twenty-four thousand 
 pounds, but all of them had been re- 
 fused. Further, the same lady had 
 had policies granted upon the lives of 
 almost every member of her family, 
 and in every case the insured had died 
 within a few months after the grant 
 was made, the certificates of death 
 being invariably signed by the Hon. 
 M.R.C.S., who had figured as medical 
 referee in connection with, all these 
 cases. These circumstances were so 
 suspicious and startling, that this com- 
 pany resisted the claim, and an action 
 was accordingly brought to trial. Mrs. 
 E. gained the case, but the publicity 
 given to the facts brought a volley of 
 letters, volunteering information con- 
 cerning the plaintiff. It then came to 
 light that the lady had been the in- 
 mate of a hospital for females of ques- 
 tionable virtue ; that she was then the 
 
 mistress of an eminent baronet banker 
 at the West End, to whom belonged 
 the carriage in which she had invaria- 
 bly called to effect the insurance, and 
 the appearance of which had aided her 
 materially in doing so. It is supposed 
 that she must have poisoned more than 
 thirty persons, in these criminal in- 
 surance transactions — a catalogue of 
 tragedies certainly without a parallel. 
 
 Leaving a Case Out. 
 
 A Philadelphia merchant, in the 
 olden time, chartered a vessel and 
 laded her with an invoice of valuable 
 wines for a port in the West Indies, 
 and insured the vessel and cargo at a 
 remarkably high figure in an office 
 w^here one of his acquaintances — a man 
 of about the same honesty as himself — 
 was a director. The vessel (as was 
 commercially foreordained) sprang a 
 leak at sea, was abandoned, and, as 
 Byron says, " going down head-fore- 
 most — sunk — in short." The shipper 
 demanded his insurance money ; but 
 being unable to satisfy the office as to 
 when and how he became possessed of 
 such a large quantity of valuable wines, 
 they refused to pay, and the matter re- 
 mained for a long time unsettled, the 
 shipper urging his claims, and the 
 office professing their readiness to pay 
 whenever he produced the proper evi- 
 dences. One day the shipper, meeting 
 the director, complained bitterly of the 
 treatment of the office, and wound up 
 by saying he was willing to leave the 
 case out to the decision of three honest 
 men. " Three honest men ! Why, my 
 dear fellow, where would you get 
 them ? There are you and 7, to be 
 sure ; but where would you find the 
 other f " It leaked out afterward that 
 the vessel had been scuttled by the 
 captain, who was interested in the ad- 
 venture, and that the valuable wine 
 was only colored water. 
 
CHRONICLES OF INSURANCE. 
 
 643 
 
 "Poor Tim Rooney." 
 
 Tim Rooney had his life insured in 
 one of the British offices, and the hold- 
 er of the policy was anxious, if possi- 
 ble, to avoid paying the premiums, 
 and to receive the sum insured during 
 the life-time of his assignor. Finally, 
 a premium became due, and he found 
 himself unable to pay it. He had still 
 a few days' grace, when, crossing the 
 Liffey at night with a party of friends, 
 he saw a body floating on the stream. 
 He lost no time in pulling it on shore, 
 and then, with a look of pity, exclaim- 
 ed, " Why, it's 'poor Tim Booney ! " His 
 friends at first thought him crazy ; but 
 when he repeated, " Sure enough, it's 
 Tim Rooney," adding, " and hadn't I 
 to pay the next premium on his life ? " 
 the whole party were courteous enough 
 to understand him. Accordingly, the 
 report was circulated that Tim Rooney 
 had fallen into the Lifi'ey. An inquest 
 subsequently held confirmed the fact, 
 the news of which in due time reached 
 the insurance office. A certificate, 
 signed by the coroner, and testifying 
 as to the cause of death, was soon after- 
 ward forwarded to the office, and the 
 money for which Tim Rooney's life 
 had been insured, was paid to the 
 proper representative. Some time af- 
 terward, the agent of the company met 
 and identified " poor Tim Rooney " in 
 the streets of London, and reproached 
 him with being still alive. " Was not 
 an inquest held on you ? " inquired the 
 agent. "That there was," replied Tim, 
 " and I am told that twelve men sat on 
 my body ; but I am not at all dead for 
 all that." 
 
 Examining an Applicant. 
 
 A PEEP into that room of mysteries 
 — the examining apartment of a life in- 
 surance company — reveals some side- 
 shaking dealings. In vain does the 
 board endeavor to persuade some of 
 the faded and rickety adventurers, that 
 
 they are half dead already ; they still 
 swear that their fathers were almost 
 immortal, and that their whole families 
 have been as tenacious of life as eels 
 themselves. Among these one old gen- 
 tleman had a large premium to pay for 
 a totter in his knees ; another for an 
 extraordinary circumference in the 
 girth ; and a lady of high respecta- 
 bility, who was afflicted with certain 
 undue proportions of width, was fined 
 most exorbitantly. The only customer, 
 on this occasion, who met with any- 
 thing like satisfaction, was a gigantic 
 man of Ireland, with whom it was evi- 
 dent that Death was likely to have a 
 puzzling contest. 
 
 " How old are you ? " inquired the 
 examiner. • 
 
 « Forty." 
 
 " You seem a strong man." 
 
 " I am the strongest man from Ire- 
 land." 
 
 " But subject to the gout ? " 
 
 " No — the rheumatism. Nothing else, 
 upon my soul." 
 
 " What age was your father when he 
 died ? " 
 
 " Oh, he died young ; but then he 
 was killed in a row." 
 
 " Have you any uncles alive ? " 
 
 " No — they were all killed in rows 
 too." 
 
 " Pray, sir, do you think of return- 
 ing to Ireland ? " 
 
 " May be I shall, some day or 
 other." 
 
 " What security, then, can we have 
 that you will not be killed in a row 
 yourself ? " 
 
 " Oh, never fear I I am the sweetest 
 temper in the world, barring when I'm 
 dining out, which is not often." 
 
 " What, sir, you can drink a little ? " 
 
 " Three bottles, with ease." 
 
 " Aye, that is bad. You have a red 
 face, and look apoplectic. You will, 
 no doubt, go off suddenly." 
 
 " Devil a bit. My red face was bom 
 with me ; and I'll lay a bet I Hve long- 
 er than any two in the room." 
 
644 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 Examining an Applicant. 
 
 " But three bottles—" 
 
 " Never you mind that. I don't mean 
 to drink more than a bottle and a half 
 in future. Besides, I intend to get 
 married, if I can, and live snug." 
 
 A debate arose among the directors 
 respecting the gentleman's eligibility. 
 The words " row " and " three bottles " 
 ran, hurry-scurry, round the table. 
 Every dog had a snap at them. At 
 last, however, the leader of the pack 
 addressed hira in a demurring growl, 
 and agreed that, upon his paying a 
 slight additional premium for his ir- 
 regularities, he should be treated as a 
 fit subject. ^ 
 
 Life-insurance Obituary Announce- 
 ment. 
 
 Concerning life-insurance compa- 
 nies, Gaylord Clark once said : We 
 verily believe that by-and-by they w^ill 
 create a new style of announcing the 
 deaths of our " friends and fellow citi- 
 zens." It will not be long before we 
 shall see in the newspapers, under the 
 obituary head, such announcements as 
 this : " Died of fever, on Wednesday 
 morning, Timothy Pipkin, aged fifty- 
 
 six ; no insurance^ Or, " Died, on Fri- 
 day morning, Jerothnail P. Hopkins, 
 of a lingering ' squinancy,' aged forty- 
 eight ; insured one thousand dollars in 
 the Wall street Life-insurance Com- 
 pany, and two thousand in the Connec- 
 ticut Mutual." 
 
 An epidemic, also, taking away 
 whole neighborhoods, we may look to 
 see under the head of " Great Epide- 
 mic : Failure of Life-insurance Com- 
 panies^^'' something like the following : 
 " We regret to learn that two of our 
 prosperous life-insurance companies 
 have been compelled to suspend pay- 
 ment. An epidemic which broke out 
 recently in Tinnecum, and which at 
 one time threatened the destruction of 
 the whole village, could not be arrested 
 until the raging scourge had destroyed 
 more than three hundred thousand dol- 
 lars' worth of sound insurance. The 
 loss falling on individuals and families 
 is immense." 
 
 Marriage and Baptism Insurance. 
 
 The following advertisements relate 
 to a department of insurance which we 
 
CHRONICLES OF INSURANCE. 
 
 C45 
 
 believe does not pertain to that busi- 
 ness as carried on at present. In the 
 British Apollo for 1710 is the following 
 notice : 
 
 " A first and second claim is made at 
 the oflace of Assurance on Marriage in 
 Roll Court, Fleet street. The first will 
 be paid on Saturday next, wherefore 
 all persons concerned are desired to 
 pay two shillings into the joint stock, 
 pursuant to the articles, or they will be 
 excluded. The two claimants married 
 each other and have paid but two shil- 
 lings each." Yet they were to receive 
 thirty-seven pounds. This advertise- 
 ment may receive its explanation in 
 another : 
 
 "Any person, by paying two shil- 
 lings at their entrance for a policy and 
 stamps, and tw^o shillings toward each 
 marriage until their own, when [the 
 number is] full, will secure to them- 
 selves two hundred pounds, and in the 
 mean time in proportion to the number 
 of subscribers." 
 
 It appears that so well did this specu- 
 lation answ^er, that three offices shortly 
 opened in the same line, one at least of 
 which appears to have had a very ap- 
 propriate location, viz., in ^'•Petticoat 
 Lane." Growing out of such a concern 
 was another company — that for insar- 
 ance upon infant baptism. In this case, 
 persons were to pay two shillings and 
 sixpence toward each infant baptism 
 until they had a case' of their own. If 
 the list was full, they could then receive 
 two hundred pounds, " the interest of 
 which is sufficient," says the advertise- 
 ment, " to give a child a good educa- 
 tion, and the principal reserved until 
 the child comes to maturity." For a 
 time these speculative projects of cre- 
 dulity were greedily run after. 
 
 Assessments in Old Times. 
 
 Here is an instance of the singular 
 manner in which fire-insurances w^ere 
 conducted in old times. It is a notice, 
 or advertisement, copied from the Lon- 
 
 don OazetU of July 6th, 1685 : " There 
 having happened a fire on the 24tli of 
 the last month, by which several houses 
 of the friendly society were burned, to 
 the value of nine hundred and sixty- 
 five pounds, these are to give notice to 
 all persons of the said society, that they 
 are desired to pay at the office, Faulcon 
 Court, in Fleet street, their several pro- 
 portions of their said loss, which comes 
 to five shillings and one penny for 
 every hundred pounds issued, before 
 the 12th of August next." 
 
 TrafSckers in Insurance Run Mad- 
 Astounding: Policies on the Chev- 
 alier d'Eon's Sex I 
 
 Chaeles Genevieve Louis Au- 
 gusts d'Eon de Beaumont, popularly 
 known as the Chevalier d'Eon, was the 
 cause of a famous trial before Lord 
 Mansfield, as to the validity of a policy 
 without an insurable interest. The ca- 
 reer of this man, or woman — for the 
 question w^as long doubtful — was most 
 remarkable. Equerry to Louis Fif- 
 teenth, doctor of law, ambassador, and 
 royal censor, employed in a confiden- 
 tial mission to the Russian court, and 
 said to be a favorite of its empress, 
 d'Eon's reputation in England was es- 
 tablished. Coming to the latter coun- 
 try, he soon quarrelled w' ith the Due de 
 Nivernois, ambassador from the most 
 Christian king, and being regarded as 
 a calumniator, he was mobbed where- 
 ever he appeared. 
 
 In the mean time, doubts being set 
 afloat as to his sex, his calumnies were 
 all forgotten, and a new interest was 
 attached to the chevalier, by the asser- 
 tion of some that he was male, and of 
 others that he was female. This was 
 something decidedly fresh — a positive 
 windfall — for the wide-awake and 
 scheming insurance, brokers of' that 
 period, and the question was forthwith 
 mooted at Lloyds's. At first wagers or 
 bets were made ; but as there was no 
 readily available mode of deciding 
 
>646 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 whether this extraordinary individual 
 was man or woman, they were neces- 
 sarily abandoned. 
 
 It was decided, therefore, that regular 
 insurance policies should de opened on his 
 sex, by which it was undertaken that 
 on payment of fifteen guineas, one hun- 
 dred should be returned whenever the 
 chevalier was proved to be a woman. 
 At first he pretended to be indignant, 
 and advertised that on a certain day 
 and hour, he would satisfy all whom it 
 concerned. The place was a city cofiee 
 house, the hour was that of high 
 'change, and the curiosity of the citi- 
 zens was greatly excited. 
 
 The insurances on this eccentric per- 
 son's sex were, under these stirring cir- 
 cumstances, greatly and immediately 
 increased, policies to a very large 
 amount were made out, and to the ren- 
 dezvous thronged bankers, underwri- 
 ters, and brokers innumerable. The 
 hour approached, and with it came the 
 chevalier, who, dressed in the uniform 
 of a French officer, and decorated with 
 the order of St. Louis, rose to address 
 the assembly. 
 
 It is easy to imagine the breathless 
 attention of this teeming throng (for " a 
 million" was said to depend on his 
 words), the eager interest of some, the 
 cool cupidity of others, the ribaldry of 
 more, and the astonishment of all, 
 as, with an audacity only to be 
 equalled by his charlatanry, he said 
 " he came to prove that he belonged to 
 that sex whose dress he wore, and 
 challenged any one there to disprove 
 his manhood, with sword or with cud- 
 gel." The spirit of the citizens had 
 passed away, or at any rate it did not 
 serve them on this occasion ; commerce 
 had sheathed the sentimental sword of 
 chivalry, and none grasped the gaunt- 
 let thus thrown down by the knight. 
 Bankers, brokers, and underwriters 
 gaped at one another as though they 
 had lost their senses ; and while the 
 boldness of the speech pleased many, it 
 was far from satisfactory to those who 
 
 came with the hope of winning a wa- 
 ger, or claiming their insurance money. 
 The knight departed in triumph. 
 
 Large sums — in one case amounting 
 to one hundred and fifty thousand dol- 
 lars — were said to be offered him to di- 
 vulge his sex. However this may be, 
 it was thought necessary to settle the 
 question, if possible, at the last tribu- 
 nal ; and one of the first actions tried 
 after the act to prevent gaming in in- 
 surance, arose from one of the policies 
 on the sex of d'Eon, in which it ap- 
 peared that Mr. Jacques, a broker, had 
 received several premiums of thirty-five 
 guineas, for which he had granted poli- 
 cies undertaking to return one hundred 
 guineas whenever the chevalier was 
 proved to be a woman. The chief jus- 
 tice declared that a policy of insurance, 
 although not even on life, when enter- 
 ed into without an insurable interest, 
 was against the purport of the act in 
 question, and contrary to English no- 
 tions of moralitv. 
 
 Daniel Webster's Insurance Anecdote. 
 
 Da^s^iel Webster said, that some 
 time after he commenced the practice 
 of his profession in Boston, a circum- 
 stance occurred which forcibly im- 
 pressed upon liis mind the sometimes 
 conclusive eloquence of silence, and he 
 wondered no longer that the ancients 
 had erected a statue to her as a di- 
 vinity. 
 
 A man in New Bedford, Mass., said Mr. 
 Webster, had insured a ship, lying at the 
 time at the wharf there, for an amount 
 much larger than its real value, in one 
 of the Boston insurance offices. One 
 day, news arrived in Boston, that this 
 ship had suddenly taken fire, and been 
 burned to the water's edge. It had 
 been insured in the Massachusetts In- 
 surance Company, of which General 
 Arnold Wells was president, and Mr. 
 Webster the attorney. 
 
 General Wells told Mr. Webster of 
 the misfortune that had happened to 
 
CHRONICLES OF INSURANCE. 
 
 647 
 
 the company, in the loss of a vessel so 
 largely insured ; communicating to him, 
 at the same time, the somewhat extra- 
 ordinary manner in which it had been 
 destroyed. 
 
 " Do you intend," asked Mr. Web- 
 ster, " to pay the insurance ? " 
 
 " I shall be obliged to do so," replied 
 the general. 
 
 " I think not ; for I have no doubt, 
 firom the circumstances attending the 
 loss, that the ship was set on fire, with 
 the intent to defraud the comj)any of 
 the insurance." 
 
 " But how shall we prove that ? and 
 
 what shall we say to Mr. , when 
 
 he makes application for the money ? " 
 
 " Say nothing," replied Mr. Web- 
 ster, " but hear quietly what he has to 
 say." 
 
 Some few days after this conversa- 
 tion, Mr. came up to Boston, and 
 
 presented himself to General Arnold 
 Wells, at the insurance office. Mr. 
 was a man very careful of his per- 
 sonal appearance, and of punctilious 
 demeanor. He powdered his hair, 
 wore clean ruffles and well-brushed 
 clothes, and had a gravity of speech 
 becoming a person of respectable posi- 
 tion. All this demanded civil treat- 
 ment ; and whatever might be thought 
 of him, one would naturally use no 
 harsh language toward him. He had 
 a defect in his left eye, so that, when 
 he spoke, he turned his right and sound 
 eye to the person he addressed, with a 
 somewhat oblique angle of the head, 
 giving it something such a turn as a 
 hen who discovers a hawk in the air. 
 General Arnold Wells had a corre- 
 sponding defect in his right eye. 
 
 " I was not present at the interview," 
 says Mr. Webster, " but I have heard it 
 often described by those who were. 
 General Wells came out from an inner 
 office on the announcement of Mr. 
 
 's arrival, and fixed him (to use a 
 
 French expression) with his sound eye 
 — looking at him seriously, but calmly^ 
 Mr. looked at General Wells with 
 
 liu sound eye, but not steadily — rather 
 as if he thought to turn the general's 
 right flank. 
 
 " They stood thus, with their eye$ cocked 
 at each other^ for more than a minute, 
 
 before either spoke ; when Mr. 
 
 thought it best to take the initiative. 
 
 " ' It is a pleasant day. General Wells, 
 though rather cold.' 
 
 " ' It is as you say, Mr. , a pleas- 
 ant though rather cold day,' replied 
 the general, without taking his eye 
 down from its range. 
 
 " ' I should not be surprised, general,' 
 
 continued Mr. , 'if we should 
 
 have a fall of snow soon.' 
 
 " ' There might be more surprising 
 
 circumstances, Mr. , than a fall of 
 
 snow in February.' 
 
 " Mr. hereupon shifted his foot, 
 
 and topic. He did not feel at ease, 
 and the less so from his desperate at- 
 tempts to conceal his embarrassment. 
 
 " ' When do you think, general,' he 
 inquired, after a pause, ' that Congress 
 will adjourn ? ' 
 
 " ' It is doubtful, I should think, Mr. 
 , when Congress will adjourn ; per- 
 haps not for some time yet, as great 
 bodies, you know, move slowly.' 
 
 " ' Do you hear anything important 
 from that quarter, general ? ' 
 
 " ' Nothing, Mr. .' 
 
 " Mr. by this time had become 
 
 very dry in the throat— a sensation, I 
 have been told," says Mr. Webster, 
 " one is very apt to feel who finds him- 
 self in an embarrassing position, from 
 which he sees no possibility of escape. 
 He feared to advance, and did not 
 know how to make a successful retreat. 
 At last, after one or two desperate and 
 ineflfectual struggles to regain self-pos- 
 session, finding himself all the while 
 within point-blank range of that raking 
 eye, he wholly broke down, and took 
 his leave, without the least allusion to 
 the matter of insurance. 
 
 ^'' He never returned to claim his 
 moneys 
 
648 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 Adjusting: an Insurance XjOss. 
 
 The adjusters of losses under policies 
 of insurance against fire sometimes have 
 funny cases, or meet an exhilarating 
 turn. A common method of determin- 
 ing the damages is to inquire the cost 
 of restoration or repairs of the property 
 injured. An adjuster for one of the 
 Hartford companies was once hurried 
 out to Elmira to pay for the partial 
 destruction of a steam engine used in a 
 saw-mill. The holder of the policy de- 
 manded the sum of six hundred dollars 
 as an indemnity, and had procured the 
 formal certificate for that sum, with 
 which to assert his claim. The adjust- 
 er had a survey made at once by an ex- 
 pert, who, as the result of his examina- 
 tion, engaged to repair all the damages 
 for the sum of two hundred and sixty 
 dollars, and it was therefore proposed 
 to pay the claimant that amount, or re- 
 pair the machine. Mr. Claimant was 
 terribly astonished at all this; he 
 didn't believe any man living could 
 repair the damage for that sum ; pro- 
 tested earnestly against the injustice of 
 asking him to take less than the ori- 
 ginal six hundred dollars — but, on the 
 whole, if he could have his cash that 
 day, he would take four hundred dol- 
 lars. Mr. Adjuster finally told him 
 that he must take one hand or the 
 other, and he accepted the two hun- 
 dred and sixty dollars. After the set- 
 tlement was made, Mr. A. offered claim- 
 ant to contract to repair for the sum 
 paid, which he indignantly refused, 
 with the delicate remark, " No, hang 
 him 1 he shan't do it ! There's a man 
 up to Corning will do it for one hun- 
 dred and fifty dollars ! " 
 
 Playing a Bold Game. 
 
 It is sometimes the case in England, 
 that rich men insure the lives of pau- 
 pers, merely as a speculation. A man 
 at one time wrote from the Limerick 
 (Ireland) workhouse to an insurance 
 
 office, saying that his life had been 
 insured for several hundred pounds; 
 that he was in a bad state of health, 
 and that he was prepared to give five 
 distinct reasons why the company 
 should not pay a farthing of the sum 
 insured for. At present he felt that he 
 was sinking fast, but if the company 
 would place hira in a comfortable 
 house and feed him well, he was con- 
 vinced that he should get better, and 
 live for many years. The letter also 
 contained an earnest appeal for money, 
 to be sent by return of post, for the 
 purpose of prolonging the author's life, 
 and relieving the company from paying 
 a large sum of money to the persons 
 who had insured him on speculation. 
 He thought that if brought to London 
 he could distinguish himself, and live 
 to a good old age. He appeared to 
 have stated, in a previous letter, that 
 he had met with a violent accident, 
 which he now wished to explain away. 
 " My axidence," he wrote, " was a spark 
 which fell in my eye — " after which he 
 added that the company would do well 
 to turn his abilities to account, as he 
 was " a good clerk, and by profession 
 a bricklayer." This extraordinary epis- 
 tle was accompanied by an affidavit, 
 acknowledged before a magistrate, tes- 
 tifying to the false answers which had 
 been given to the inquiries of the in- 
 surance company respecting the wri- 
 ter's life. 
 
 An agent subsequently went down to 
 Limerick on behalf of another compa- 
 ny, w^hich had received a proposal to 
 insure the life of Kinna, the author of 
 this letter, and naturally felt some anx- 
 iety to ascertain the real sanitary con- 
 dition of a man who alternately repre- 
 sented himself as a dying man and as 
 destined t6 live to a ripe old age. On 
 arriving there, he was told by one of 
 the local magistrates, that he "had 
 better mind what he was about, as 
 they all speculated a little on life in- 
 surance down there." Finding that 
 Kinna had left the workhouse, he 
 
CHRONICLES OF INSURANCE. 
 
 649 
 
 naturally looked for him in the nearest 
 tavern ; here the agent was soon recog- 
 nized and surrounded by the inmates, 
 who exclaimed, " Here's the chap from 
 the insurance oflBce ! " They appeared 
 at first, inclined to kill him, but their 
 anger soon resolved itself into thirst, 
 and he was obliged to "treat" all 
 around. 
 
 Having inquired for Kinna's address, 
 he was told where Kinna lived, but at 
 the same time reminded that he was a 
 big man, and likely to thrash him or 
 any one else connected with a life in- 
 surance office. The agent, nevertheless, 
 continued his search for Kinna, and 
 finally found him in a miserable hut. 
 Kinna not getting an answer from the 
 insurance office to which he had ap- 
 plied for money, had consented for a 
 small bonus to have his life insured iu 
 another office. He mistakenly imag- 
 ined, however, that tlie agent had come 
 from the office to which he had written to 
 forward money to him, and accordingly 
 represented himself as sufiering the 
 most horrible tortures from an illness 
 which could only be cured by the kind- 
 est treatment. One symptom which he 
 complained of especially was an acute 
 pain in the groin, which almost bent 
 him double. He felt unable to walk, 
 and was convinced that he was break- 
 ing up, and would soon die, unless the 
 company did something for him. The 
 agent persuaded him to endeavor to 
 walk a short distance, and even pre- 
 vailed upon him to accompany him as 
 far as the bridge, where policemen in 
 plain clothes were in attendance to pre- 
 vent any violence which might be at- 
 tempted by Kinna, in case of his disap- 
 proving of any of the questions which 
 the agent intended to put to him. 
 
 At last, Kinna determined to play a 
 bold game — pretended that he could 
 walk no more. " I am sinking ! " he 
 exclaimed. " Then," replied the agent, 
 emboldened by his proximity to the 
 bridge, " I am afraid we shall be un- 
 able to accept your life." Kinna at 
 
 once saw the mistake. Without being in 
 the least disconcerted, he drew himself 
 up to his full height, and said to the 
 agent, " Did you ever see my brother, 
 now ? " The agent replied in the nega- 
 tive. " You have not ? " continued 
 Kinna ; " then I'm just like him ; bar- 
 ring that I've lost my eye, I'm as good- 
 looking a fellow as he is ; and if you'd 
 known him, you'd have known he's 
 always had a pain in the groin, and 
 that it's a family complaint of not the 
 least importance at all, at all." 
 
 Kinna's life was insured for more 
 than one hundred and fifty thousand 
 dollars by the speculators; and being 
 afraid to live in Limerick, he requested 
 the agent to remove him, stating that 
 he had been insured to so great an ex- 
 tent, that he felt his life was unsafe in 
 that town. 
 
 German Idea of the Thing-. 
 
 A THIN, cadaverous-looking German, 
 about fifty years of age, entered the 
 office of a health insurance company in 
 Indiana, and inquired : 
 
 " Ish te man in vot inshures de peo- 
 ple's belts ? " 
 
 The agent politely answered, "I 
 attend to that business, sir." 
 
 " Veil, I vants mine belts inshured ; 
 vot you charge ? " 
 
 " Different prices," answered the 
 agent, "from three to ten shillings a 
 year ; pay ten dollars a year, and you 
 get ten dollars a week, in case of sick- 
 
 " Vel," said Mynheer, " I vants ten 
 dollars' vort." 
 
 The agent inquired his state of 
 health. 
 
 " Veil, I ish sick all te time. I'se 
 shust out te bed too tree hours a tay, 
 und te doctor says he can't do nothing 
 more goot for me." 
 
 " If that's the state' of your health," 
 returned the agent, "we can't insure 
 it. We only insure persons who are in 
 good health." 
 
650 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 At this, Mynheer bristled up in great 
 anger. 
 
 "You must tink I'se a tarn fool; 
 vot ! you tink I come pay you ten 
 dollars for inshure my helt ; wn I vos 
 
 Lively Operations. 
 
 If there be any question as to the 
 verity of what follows, it must " lie " 
 with the editor of the " Drawer," who 
 gives it in the inimitable style of that 
 piquant feature in Harpefs : 
 
 Borem was the soliciting agent of 
 the Gotham Life Insurance Company 
 in this city. His business was to in- 
 duce as many of the mortal population 
 of this world as possible to insure their 
 lives in his company. Of course it was 
 a good thing for them, a better thing 
 for the Company, and the best thing 
 for Borem. Because, according to 
 Borem's bargain, was he not entitled 
 to ten per cent, on every policy taken 
 out by any man whom he solicited, and 
 five per cent, on every year's renewal ? 
 No sooner was this agreement made, 
 than Borem commenced and carried out 
 a system of visitation and solicitation 
 so extended and thorough that, in the 
 course of two or three years, there was 
 not a live man in the company whom 
 Borem had not bored almost to death 
 to induce him to insure his precious life. 
 Every day he compared his own book 
 of memoranda with the records of the 
 company, and when he found that a 
 man was down whom he had spoken 
 with, even if it were months or years 
 before, he claimed him as his man, 
 showed his entries, and pocketed his 
 premiums. In this way it was fast 
 coming to pass that all parties insuring 
 in the company were yielding a profit 
 to Borem, whose percentage was eating 
 up the profits of their business. So far 
 did he carry his system that he would 
 stand in the street, and whenever he 
 saw a man entering he would address 
 him, " Groing to insure, sir ? " and then 
 
 taking his name and address, would 
 book him as one of Ms men, and 
 demand his per cent., on the score of 
 having solicited him. The company 
 was finally obliged to compromise with 
 Borem, and lay him off, by paying him 
 thirty thousand dollars, and giving 
 him a handsome policy on his own life. 
 With this sum he bought a splendid 
 farm, and lives like a nabob on the pre- 
 vious profits which he had made out 
 of this very profitable business. Here 
 is an illustration of his mode of opera- 
 tion : 
 
 Mr. Lively had a dry goods store 
 above Chambers street, and, moreover, 
 had an interest in a broker's office, in 
 "Wall street. Now Borem had often 
 seen the merchant up town and the 
 broker down town, for Mr. Lively was 
 part of the day in one place and part 
 of the day in the other. It had not 
 occured to Borem that the Lively of 
 one latitude was the Lively of the 
 other ; and so calling in at the Wall 
 street office, he says : 
 
 " Mr. Lively, I believe, sir ? " 
 
 " That is my name," said the gentle- 
 man addressed. 
 
 "Ah, yes, sir, you have a brother, 
 have you not ? " 
 
 " Yes," said Mr. Lively, " I have a 
 twin brother." 
 
 " Oh, yes, I know him," said Borem ; 
 "he is a merchant up town. He is about 
 insuring his life in our company, and 
 I called to ask if you would not like to 
 insure at the same time.'* 
 
 Mr. Lively knew the tricks that 
 Borem was up to; and saying that 
 he would think of it, turned away. 
 Borem left the office. Mr. Lively fol- 
 lowed him out, passed on the other 
 side of the street, and reached his store 
 a few minutes before Borem, who was 
 on his way up. Mr. Lively was read- 
 ing the newspaper when Borem entered, 
 and coming up to him, said — 
 
 " Mr. Lively, I believe, sir ? " 
 
 " That is my name," said the mer- 
 chant. 
 
CHRONICLES OF INSURANCE. 
 
 651 
 
 " Ah, yes, you have a brother, have 
 you not ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir," said Mr. Lively, " I have 
 a twin brother." 
 
 " Oh, yes, I know him," said Borem, 
 " he is a broker in Wall street ; he is 
 about insuring his life in our company, 
 and I called to see if you would like 
 to insure at the same time." 
 
 Mr. Lively said he would think of 
 it ; and Borem took his leave, after 
 pressing the subject with his customary 
 volubility and impudence. The next 
 day he called on Mr. Lively the broker, 
 and the day following on Mr. Lively 
 the merchant; and this visitation he 
 continued for two weeks, making six 
 calls at each place of business, in all 
 twelve times that he bored poor Mr. 
 Lively, without suspecting that the 
 two "brothers" were one and the 
 same man. At last, Mr. Lively up- 
 town agreed that if his brother would 
 meet him the next day at Mr. Wright's, 
 a mutual friend, who, Mr. Borem said, 
 was going to insure, — ^he would apply, 
 and all three would take out a policy 
 at the same time. " I have just dis- 
 covered," said Borem to Mr. Lively, 
 "how to distinguish you from your 
 brother — there is a little bit more of a 
 protuberance on the bridge of your 
 nose." 
 
 So saying, he hurried over to Mr. 
 Wright, to arrange for the meeting of 
 the brothers Lively. 
 
 " The Irrothers I " said Mr. Wright ; 
 " what brothers ? " 
 
 " Why, the merchant over here, and 
 the broker in Wall street." 
 
 "It's the same man, Borem; you've 
 been sold.^^ 
 
 " I have — I see it all ; it's a fact ; I'm 
 done for." 
 
 And rushing back to Mr. Lively's 
 store, he looked in, and putting his 
 finger on the handle of his face, and at 
 a peculiar angle, he said, laughingly, 
 " Come to think of it, Mr. Lively, your 
 nose is just about the size of your broth- 
 er's." But Borem never recovered from 
 
 the mortification of his trickery ex- 
 posed, and it probably helped to bring 
 him to terms in his settlement with the 
 company. 
 
 Taking his own Bisk. 
 
 That there are times when a mer- 
 chant may incur risks without an im- 
 peachment of his prudence is readily 
 admissible. The occasion for such a 
 risk occurred, once, at least, in the mer- 
 cantile experience of Mr. Cope, of Phil- 
 adelphia. His favorite ship, the Lan- 
 caster, was on her return voyage from 
 Canton with a cargo of great value, at 
 the breaking out of the war of 1813. 
 He made repeated applications for in- 
 surance, but the alarm was general and 
 great, and the offices refused to take a 
 risk upon the ship and cargo for less 
 than seventy-five per cent. This was 
 an enormous deduction ; but the ocean 
 swarmed with British cruisers, and the 
 amount of the premium of insurance, 
 considering the course of the Lancaster, 
 could scarcely be regarded as unreason- 
 able. 
 
 Mr. Cope understood his own affairs 
 perfectly, and, satisfying himself that 
 he could sustain the loss of the whole, 
 and, consequently, that he could be his 
 own insurer, he calmly awaited the 
 result, though each day's papers con- 
 veyed intelligence of important inroads 
 upon the mercantile marine of our 
 country by British ships of war. The 
 resolution, however, had been taken 
 after careful deliberation, and the only 
 course was a " patient waiting." And 
 when darkness seemed to hang thickest 
 upon the prospects of the merchants, 
 the Lancaster arrived at Philadelphia, 
 one evening, with her immensely val- 
 uable cargo, and the captain received 
 from the pilot, in the Delaware, the first 
 intimation of hostilities between this 
 country and Great Britain ; the captain 
 remarking that he should have hailed 
 a British cruiser for the news, had one 
 come within "speaking" distance. 
 
652 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 The result of this was au immense profit 
 upon the cargo. 
 
 Hiirli Compliment to "W. R. Jones, as 
 an Underwriter. 
 
 The name of Walter Restored Jones 
 is perhaps better known in this coun- 
 try, in connection with insurance, than 
 that of any other man. He was admit- 
 ted to be without a rival in that com- 
 plicated science, and earned the title 
 of the first marine underwriter of his 
 age and country. The middle name 
 of Mr. Jones has a circumstance con- 
 nected with it, which is worth alluding 
 to. An elder brother of the same name, 
 having met his death by an accident, it 
 was the wish of his mother, when the 
 subject now under notice was born, to 
 retain the name, for which she had a 
 peculiar fondness; hence the epithet 
 " Restored " was added to the original 
 Christian name. 
 
 At the early age of eleven years, "Wal- 
 ter was placed in the store of his eldest 
 brother, William H. Jones, then en- 
 gaged in the flour business. In this 
 sphere, the future underwriter acquired 
 his first insight into the principles and 
 modes of business, his true scTiool. A 
 few years later he was introduced into 
 the office of the United States Insur- 
 ance Company, as clerk, where he be- 
 came remarkable for his habits of meth- 
 od, industry, and attention to business, 
 laying a firm basis for his future emi- 
 nence in a province of insurance requir- 
 ing caution, accuracy, precision, and 
 promptness. The United States Insur- 
 ance Company was one of the first, if 
 not absolutely the earliest in point of 
 time, in New York, and perhaps in the 
 Union, for undertaking marine risks. 
 But owing to novelty, or ignorance of 
 the proper mode of conducting the 
 business, or from some other untoward 
 causes, the association failed to realize 
 its objects, and it became embarrassed 
 and was discontinued. 
 
 At. an early period of his career, Mr. 
 
 Jones conceived an aversion to litiga- 
 tion, of which there had been much, 
 both unnecessary and of a vexatious 
 character, in the early insurance com- 
 panies, and which proved in the end 
 detrimental to their interests, and 
 served to exclude customers. Mr. Dan- 
 iel Lord, counsellor to the company, 
 stated in his speech at the dinner given 
 to Mr. Jones, on the occasion of the 
 complimentary presentation to him of 
 a rich service of plate, that " for the 
 twenty-four years of the administration 
 of this company, not more than six law- 
 suits have occurred to it, and I can re- 
 collect but four." Perhaps no higher 
 compliment than this could have been 
 paid to Mr. Jones's skill and tact as an 
 underwriter. 
 
 Mr. Jones was one of the worthies of 
 Long Island, though so long — from 
 early boyhood — connected with New 
 York city as to be regarded as one of 
 her denizens; yet, as he never for a 
 moment lost sight of the place of his 
 nativity and his rural home, as he vis- 
 ited it weekly, built his noble mansion 
 there, and there looked to end his days 
 in peace and domestic happiness, he 
 must not be forgotten in the list of emi- 
 nent Long Islanders, — Conckling, Sand- 
 ford, Miller, Wickham, Golden, Post, 
 Seaman, Mott, Elias Hicks, Mount, 
 Rhodes, Hackett, Sands, WoodhuU, 
 Truxton, and others. 
 
 Juvenile Evidence in an Insurance 
 Case. 
 
 At the Court of Oyer and Terminer, 
 in New York, Judge Leonard presid- 
 ing, a • German was tried for arson in 
 the first degree — having set fire to his 
 store in order to get the insurance. 
 His nephew, a small and honest-look- 
 ing boy, was the principal witness 
 against him — he having kindled the 
 fire at the instigation of his uncle ; and 
 confessing to that effect while in prison, 
 the district attorney put him forward 
 as a witness for the State. 
 
CHRONICLES OF INSURANCE. 
 
 653 
 
 The boy was upon the stand some 
 hours the first day, and was subjected 
 to a rigorous cross-examination by the 
 prisoner's counsel ; but without making 
 him alter his statement in the least. 
 
 Toward the close, the counsel, not 
 being satisfied that the poor little fel- 
 low rightly understood his questions, 
 had an interpreter appointed by the 
 Court, and began anew to endeavor to 
 confuse him, and, if possible, break 
 down his strong and truthful testi- 
 mony. 
 
 " Ask him," said he to the interpre- 
 ter, " if he does not know that his evi- 
 dence in this case will injure his uncle, 
 and if he does not think it will benefit 
 himself?" 
 
 The interpreter put the question (the 
 boy looking at him with earnest eyes), 
 awaited his answer, then turned and 
 said, " He does not know whether it 
 will injure his uncle. He does not 
 know whether it will benefit himself. 
 He believes in God ! " 
 
 There was no sympathetic heart in 
 that court room but must have thrilled 
 at the pathos of that simple reply. 
 
 Protective Tariffs and the "Genesee 
 Mutual." 
 
 Not many miles from the county 
 town of " Old Genesee," New York, 
 there was a defunct Mutual Insurance 
 Company, drawing its slimy length 
 along, and the dread of many who gave 
 their premium notes to the same in its 
 days of prosperity. One of its former 
 secretaries was a popular stump speaker. 
 During the campaign of 1844, while 
 addressing a large audience — and 
 among the number was Newt S., a most 
 worthy man and clever wag — the speak- 
 er, coming to the question of a protect- 
 ive tariff, and while annihilating its op- 
 ponents, was interrupted by Newt S., 
 with the remark, that, if not objection- 
 able, he would like to propound an in- 
 terrogatory. " Most certainly not," the 
 speaker replied; "it will afford me 
 pleasure to answer, my good friend." 
 " Well, Squire, will you please to in- 
 form me the difference between a high, 
 a mry Ugh Protective Tariff and the 
 Genesee Mutual ? " 
 
 In that locality the question and its 
 effect will be long remembered. 
 
PART THIRTEENTH. 
 
 Anecdotes of Business Employes. 
 
>.' 
 
 .# 
 
 
 
 f 
 
 %* • 
 
 • ^ 
 
! 
 
 ^ 
 
 v*- 
 
PAET THIETEEIsTTH. 
 
 Anecdotes of Business Employes. 
 
 CASHIERS, CLERKS, SALESMEN, AGENTS, FACTORS, ETC.; BOOKKEEPING, ACCOUNTS, PRICES 
 AND VALUES, CORRESPONDENCE, SHOP TALK TRIALS AND MISERIES, BLUNDERS, FACE- 
 UP, WAIFS AND STRAYS, 
 
 This fellow harl an admirable knack of fishine: out the Becrets of his customers. He would rub 
 and lather a man's head, till he had got out everything that was in it —Guardian. 
 
 Young men soon give, and soon forget ailronts. — Addison. 
 
 Little that is truly noble can be expected from one who is ever poring over his cash book or balan- 
 cing his accounts.— Anon. 
 
 I asked him to come and sit an hour with me ; he excused himself— and what do you think was 
 his excuse ? He was engaged with his mother and some ladies to go shopping ! — Byron. 
 
 Pitz-Greene Halleck's Clerkship with 
 Jacob Barker. 
 
 It was the good fortune of Jacob 
 Barker, while a merchant in New York, 
 to have the services of Fitz-Greene 
 Halleck, for nearly twenty years, as his 
 confidential clerk ; when his business at 
 last ceased to yield him the power to 
 employ others. Upon this, Mr. Halleck 
 devoted himself to literary pursuits, 
 in the expectation that Mr. Barker 
 would retrieve his fortunes and have 
 occasion for his further services. For- 
 tune, however, continuing to frown on 
 Mr. Barker's efforts, a neighboring mer- 
 chant offered Mr. Halleck employment 
 at fifteen hundred dollars per annum. 
 This offer was named by Mr. Halleck 
 to Mrs. Barker, when she inquired if he 
 would enter the service of another for 
 the miserable sum of fifteen hundred 
 dollars. The reply was, " No, madam • 
 it is the miserable want of fifteen hun- 
 dred dollars that may tempt me." The 
 offer was declined ; but he soon after- 
 ward entered the employ of John 
 Jacob Astor, with whom he continued 
 until the death of that gentleman. 
 42 
 
 On the great New York conspiracy 
 trials of 1826, the public prosecutor 
 called Miss Jarvis, Mr. William R. 
 Thurston, Mr. Halleck, and many 
 other friends and relatives of Mr. 
 Barker into court, to prove Avho Mr. 
 Barker's intimates and associates were, 
 who visited his house — in other words, 
 with whom he would be likely to con- 
 fer. Mr. Halleck, with apparent aston- 
 ishment, repeated the question as it fell 
 from the attorney's lips, and answered, 
 " Jacob Barker does in all things as he 
 lists, without counselling with any one," 
 — a fact which the prosecutor could 
 only have been ignorant of, from not 
 knowing Mr. Barker. 
 
 Precision in. Keeping- Accounts. 
 
 The following anecdote will show 
 with what nice precision the accounts 
 are required to be kept in the great 
 private banking houses of the English 
 metropolis. After closing the doors to 
 customers, every clerk makes up his 
 accounts, and a general balance is 
 struck, which must tally to the veriest 
 
658 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 farthing before the clerks separate. It 
 happened, on the occasion in question, 
 that in one of these great establish- 
 ments, there was two shillings and ten- 
 pence minus in balance. Every clerk 
 was ordered to revise his account, the 
 silver and copper money in the vast 
 vaults was re-counted, — but still there 
 was no solution of the cause of the 
 deficit; this was repeated over and 
 over again, still there wanted two shil- 
 lings and tenpence ; the resident part- 
 ner would not suffer the clerks to depart 
 without a correct balance ; — gladly 
 would each clerk have paid the differ- 
 ence ten times over from his own 
 pocket. The affair remained unex- 
 plained until the next morning, when, 
 on the arrival of one of the non-resident 
 partners, he recollected taking that 
 exact sum out of the till, for payment 
 of the postage on a foreign letter, but 
 without making the usual memoran- 
 dum of the same. 
 
 Bemarkable Sacrifice for Principle. 
 
 Some time since, says the Journal de 
 Franckfort, a foreigner presented him- 
 self at the office of a merchant in Ham- 
 burg, to receive cash for a bill of two 
 thousand double louis, and received 
 from the clerk in attendance ten thou- 
 sand francs too much. He did not per- 
 ceive the mistake until he had reached 
 his hotel, when he returned and men- 
 tioned the fact. The merchant looked 
 at him, and then said, 
 
 " It is impossible." 
 
 " Your cashier has certainly made a 
 mistake," persisted the foreigner. 
 
 " That is not possible," replied the 
 merchant, in a decided tone. " Take 
 your money — no mistakes are ever 
 made, sir, at my office." 
 
 The stranger then pocketed the 
 money and left the place, w^hen the 
 merchant, turning to the bookkeeper, 
 told him to enter ten thousand francs 
 to the account of profit and loss, adding 
 that though the cashier would never 
 
 hear a word of reproach from him on, 
 the subject he would not allow any one 
 to imagine that a mistake could occur 
 in his office. 
 
 Englisla Bank Clerks' Pinesse. 
 
 On the 31st of August, 1731, a scene 
 was presented at the Bank of England, 
 which is strongly illustrative of the 
 money adventures of that, period. The 
 tickets for the state lottery were deliv- 
 ered out to the subscribers by numer- 
 ous clerks at the bank counter ; when 
 the crowd becoming so great as to 
 obstruct the clerks in their handling 
 and delivery of the tickets, they told 
 the eager throng, " We deliver blanks 
 to-day, but to-morrow we shall deliver 
 prizes," — upon which many, who were 
 by no means in pursuit of blanks, re- 
 tired, and by this stratagem the clerks 
 obtained room to proceed in their busi- 
 ness. 
 
 Broadway Clerks, Japonicas, and 
 Sweethearts. 
 
 Grant Thorburn gives the follow- 
 ing quaint reminiscence in his eventful 
 business career : — One morning, there 
 came into our premises a young man, 
 leading on his arm a very pretty girl. 
 They stopped about an hour; she 
 seemed very fond of flowers, and par- 
 ticularly fixed her laughing eyes on a 
 beautiful japonica. He appeared much 
 inclined to indulge her taste, and would 
 have bought it, but the price w^as five 
 dollars. Her I knew ; him I knew not. 
 He appeared to me, however, to be one 
 of those thoughtless young men who, in- 
 stead of going to church, ride out of a 
 Sunday, and thus spend their week's 
 wages — by which means they have no 
 means to spare, either to treat their 
 sweetheart, or to pay their washer- 
 woman ; be this as it may, that even- 
 ing, between eight and nine o'clock, 
 the time of shutting our gates, the 
 plant disappeared; my suspicions fell 
 
BUSINESS EMPLOYES. 
 
 659 
 
 on tlie young man as above. I resolved, 
 next morning, on going immediately 
 to the house of the young lady, with 
 pretext of giving her some advice 
 about the plants I knew she had in the 
 yard, hoping I would find my own 
 gracing the company. At once, my 
 mind took a different turn ; I thought 
 with myself thus : these young people 
 seemed very fond of one another — pity 
 that I should spoil so much happiness 
 for the sake of a paltry five dollar bill. 
 Should I find the plant, it will expose 
 him, ^nd no doubt spoil the marriage, 
 for her father is .a sterling, honest 
 Dutchman. Now, the ugh j I, should 
 they get married, she ma/ save him 
 from the paws of the devil, from whom 
 many a wayward bachelor has been 
 snatched ere this, by the helping hand 
 of a good wife ; besides, should the 
 old gentleman approve the match, no 
 doubt he will empty one of the black 
 leather bags to set them a housekeep- 
 ing, and she, having the money, will be 
 able to indulge her fine taste for plants, 
 — so, by this means, I may help to 
 count some of the dollars, and thus 
 recover more than I have lost. On 
 thus reflecting, I very resignedly gave 
 up the pursuit. To make a long story 
 short, in a few weeks after this, they 
 were married, by the consent of all 
 parties ; but whether my surmises were 
 right or wrong-founded, gave me no 
 further concern, as, from the delicate 
 hand of the pretty daughter, I came 
 in for a share of the old gentleman's 
 dollars, sufficient to make up the pre- 
 vious loss, and pay a reasonable per- 
 centage besides. 
 
 Pen Portrait by an Old Master. 
 
 Seventy-five years ago, most of 
 the dry goods stores in Kew York 
 were in Pearl and William streets, — the 
 shop in front, and generally a room 
 behind ; a glass door intervened 
 through which the master of the 
 house could see while eating his din- 
 
 ner, and if a person entered, he imme- 
 diately arose, left all and waited on his 
 customer. " But (says one who belong- 
 ed both to that period and the present) 
 look at it now — half past three o'clock 
 yesterday afternoon, I called at the 
 boarding-house of Mrs. S,, in Broad- 
 way, rang the bell, and was answered 
 by a ' Uach nigger.'' ' Is Mr. B. with- 
 in ? ' ' He is at dinner, and can't be 
 disturbed when at dinner.' Says I, 
 ' Go tell Mr. B. my business is urgent 
 and can't be delayed.' However, he 
 did not appear till after fifteen minutes, 
 while I sat in the parlor gazing on 
 some shabby pictures, and magnifying 
 each minute into ten. When he ap- 
 peared, said I, ' Sir, I have seen your 
 employer, hear forty years ago, rise 
 from his dinner to sell . a yard of tape.' 
 TJiis fellow is now third or fourth clerk 
 undei\ in a vendue store in Pearl street ; 
 receives about one hundred dollars per 
 annum and board. He was just from 
 the tail of the plough, about eighteen 
 months ago ; he now wore a coat much 
 in appearance like the wind-sail of a 
 vessel in the tropics — it reached to the 
 middle of his thighs, which, with his 
 legs, were covered with a stuff called 
 ' gum elastic,' adhering so close as to 
 resemble, in appearance, the bandages 
 around the limbs of an Egyptian mum- 
 my, and made his legs seem not much 
 thicker than a Bologna sausage; the 
 toes of his shoes were as broad as his 
 heel ; his neck screwed up in a black 
 leather collar. His face was of the true 
 Wethersfield cut, of a mixed hue, be- 
 tween Dutch pink and brick dust. His 
 nose sharp enough to have gouged the 
 eye of a mosquito; whiskers enough 
 to have covered his whole visage. 
 Such is the miserable remnant of mor- 
 tality, who expects to become a mer- 
 chant for the next generation ! " 
 
 Caledonian Adroitness. 
 
 " Once on a time," a teller in one of 
 the Glasgow banks found, at the close 
 
660 
 
 COMMERCIAL AXD BUSINESS ANECDOTES 
 
 of the day's transactions, tliat his cash 
 was deficient to the extent of one thou- 
 sand pounds. After much fruitless 
 search, a reward of fifty pounds was 
 offered for the recovery of the missing 
 sum, and by and by an anonymous let- 
 ter came, proposing to restore it if the 
 reward was raised to one hundred 
 pounds. It immediately occurred to 
 the bank clerk to compare the dis- 
 guised handwriting with that of every 
 document which had passed through 
 his hands on the day in question. In 
 the process of a comparison more than 
 once repeated, he lighted upon a draft 
 in which he thought he could trace 
 some indication of similarity. His 
 next step was to have the whole of the 
 drafts of this individual,— stretching 
 over a considerable period, and written 
 under every variety of circumstances, — 
 sought out and carefully scrutinized. 
 His suspicions were confirmed. 
 
 Being a resolute fellow, and fearing 
 that delay might be dangerous, he sup- 
 plied himself with a brace of pistols, 
 and, with two friends on whom he 
 could rely, took the bold step of going 
 to the house of the suspected party, 
 which was reached at a late hour in 
 the evening. On obtaining a private 
 interview, he stated blandly that he 
 believed some mistake had taken place 
 between them on money matters, which 
 he was desirous should be quietly ar- 
 ranged. In reply, he received a flat 
 denial of any such mistake ever having 
 occurred. 
 
 Finding that " soft sawder " would 
 be of no avail, the clerk altered his 
 tactics, told him with stern and deter- 
 mined air that he was in no mood to 
 be trifled with — that he had indubita- 
 ble evidence of the money having been 
 obtained by him ; and, presenting his 
 pistols, threatened to shoot him on the 
 spot, if it were not that very instant 
 forthcoming. Thrown off his guard 
 by this sudden and extraordinary ap- 
 peal, the poor man fell into a fit of 
 trembling from head to toe ; admitted 
 
 that one-hundred-pound notes instead 
 of ten-pound-notes had been paid to 
 him, and stated that they were lying 
 concealed in the heart of one of the 
 walls of Crookston Castle. Suspecting 
 that some plan to escape was contem- 
 plated, the bank clerk was for a while 
 sceptical of the truth of this statement ; 
 but at length he fell upon a method 
 whereby he could test its truth, and, 
 at the same time, prevent any escape — 
 it was that of locking up his two 
 friends along with the defaulter, while 
 he should proceed alone to Crookston. 
 He accordingly set out, and reached 
 the old castle about midnight, proceed- 
 ed, as directed, to remove the fourth 
 stone from the bottom, in the corner 
 nearest Glasgow; and there, sure 
 enough, between two slips of wood, to 
 protect them from damp, lay the iden- 
 tical notes. That clerk exhibited the 
 native Caledonian grit and adroitness ! 
 
 Simple Entries and Calculation- 
 Jacob Barker's Method. 
 
 The method of keeping account 
 books adopted by Jacob Barker, when 
 he was a clerk in New York, consisted 
 in making a full explanation in the 
 original entry, referring to it hereafter 
 by folios, and when goods were pur- 
 chased or sold for account of parties, 
 or moneys drawn from different banks 
 and delivered among different parties, 
 commenced his entries with " Sundry 
 accounts debtor to sundry accounts," 
 debiting each receiver for what he had 
 received, and crediting each bank or 
 owner with their proportion of all that 
 had been parted with, all in one entry ; 
 and when a parcel of goods belonging 
 to a single concern had been sold to 
 different parties, or money drawn from 
 a bank and divided among several per- 
 sons, there was made a single entry of 
 " Sundry accounts debtor to the party," 
 embracing the whole without mingling 
 it with the cash account, unless a portion 
 of the money remained, in which case 
 
BUSINESS EMPLOYES. 
 
 661 
 
 that account became one of the sundry 
 accounts for such residue. Mr. Barker 
 thought that if young men wishing to 
 acquire a knowledge of book-keeping 
 would consider well this form of entry, 
 and understand the principle, they 
 would have but little more to do to 
 acquire the whole art, nothing being 
 more easy than to transfer such entries 
 from the waste to the journal and from 
 the journal to the ledger. 
 
 His i^lan of calculating interest was 
 to incre.ase the amount of each item of 
 dollars by multiplying them by the 
 number of days — throwing away the 
 fractions under fifty, adding one dollar 
 to the items where the fractions were 
 over fifty — leaving a single sum (the 
 balance of debits and credits) on which 
 to calculate the interest for one day, 
 thus having but one item on which to 
 calculate the interest, however long the 
 account might be, in place of calcu- 
 lating it ou each item. 
 
 Amos Lawrence when a Clerk. 
 
 To his abstinence from liquor and 
 tobacco, Amos Lawrence was accus- 
 tomed to attribute much of his success 
 in life. In his youth, he was accus- 
 tomed, with his companions, every fore- 
 noon to make a drink compounded of 
 rum, raisins, sugar, nutmegs, &c., with 
 biscuit — all palatable to eat and drink. 
 After being in the store four weeks, he 
 found himself admonished by his ap- 
 petite of the approach of the hour 
 of indulgence. Thinking the habit 
 might make trouble if allowed to grow 
 stronger, without further apology to 
 his seniors, he declined partaking with 
 them. His first resolution was to ab- 
 stain for a week, and when the week 
 was out, for a month, and then for a 
 year. Finally, he resolved to abstain 
 for the rest of his apprenticeship, which 
 was for five years longer. During the 
 whole period, he never drank a spoon- 
 ful, though he mixed gallons daily for 
 his old master and his customers. It 
 
 must have been a difficult thing for 
 young Lawrence, when but a clerk, 
 thus to form and to adhere to such a 
 resolution — for the contempt now so 
 frequently bestowed upon the drinker 
 was then the portion of him who would 
 not drink. 
 
 At the same time, he resolved not to 
 use tobacco in any form, though not 
 indifferent to the fascinations of the 
 weed. He loved its odor in youth, and 
 in advanced life he kept in his drawer 
 a fine Havana cigar to smell of. He 
 confessed to a weakness for the " scent- 
 ed rappee " with which those of former 
 times were accustomed to cram their 
 nostrils ; yet he never used an ounce of 
 snufil He chewed but " one quid," and 
 that before he was fifteen. 
 
 In Pursuit of an Agreeable Business. 
 
 A YOUNG pink, sprucely brushed up, 
 and of very genteel appearance, entered 
 a banker's office, and with a polite air 
 addressed the gentleman there with : 
 
 " Sir, you want a young man here, 
 I believe ? " 
 
 " Yes," was the reply. 
 
 " Here are my recommendations," 
 said the young man, as he handed a 
 paper certifying that he was worthy of 
 confidence, etc. 
 
 The gentleman read the paper, and 
 looked up, remarking: "We should 
 be glad to do your friends the compli- 
 ment of engaging you, and therefore 
 you will please let me say something in 
 regard to fitness." 
 
 " What shall I be expected to do ? " 
 asked the young man. 
 
 " To aid in the office as opportunity 
 may present, and to pay notes, collect 
 drafts, &c.," was the answer. 
 
 "I don't think collecting drafts 
 would agree with my feelings," replied 
 the young man. 
 
 " Well," quietly responded the bank- 
 er, "I would not advise you to do any- 
 thing against your feelings. Good 
 mornmg." {Exit Hyacinth. 
 
662 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 Brief Biograpliical Sketch, of a 
 Banker's Clerk. 
 
 The English banker's clerk is born 
 to a high stool. He is taught vulgar 
 fractions, patience, and morals, in a 
 suburban school. At fourteen he shoul- 
 ders the office quill — or " Gillott's fine." 
 He copies letters from morning till 
 night, but has no salary ; he is to be 
 "remembered at Christmas." He is 
 out in all weathers ; and at twenty is 
 thoroughly impervious to rain, snow, 
 and sunshine. At last he gets forty 
 pounds per annum. Out of that revenue 
 he pays five pounds a year to the " Guar- 
 antee Fund." He walks five miles to 
 business, and five miles home. He 
 never stirs out without his umbrella. 
 He never exceeds twenty minutes for 
 his dinner. He drinks water — " beer 
 gets into his head." He has three 
 holidays a year — Christmas day and 
 Good Friday being two of them — and 
 even then walks to the office and back 
 again to pass away the time. He runs 
 about all day with a big chain round 
 his waist, and a gouty bill-book in his 
 breast jDOcket. He marries, and asks 
 for an increase of salary. He is told 
 " the house can do without him." He 
 reviews every day a large array of ledg- 
 ers, and has to " write up " the cus- 
 tomers' books before he leaves. He 
 reaches home at nine o'clock, and falls 
 asleep over the yesterday's paper, bor- 
 rowed from the public house. He 
 reaches eighty pounds a year. He 
 fancies his fortune is made ; but small 
 boots and shoes, and large school bills, 
 stop him on the high road to inde- 
 pendence, and bring him no nearer to 
 Leviathan Rothschild. He tries to get 
 " evening employment," but his eyes 
 fail him. He grows old, and learns 
 that " the firm never pensions." One 
 morning his stool is found to be unoc- 
 cupied, and a subscription is made 
 amongst his old companions to pay the 
 expenses of his funeral. 
 
 "What is a "Flemish" Account? 
 
 The saying or phrase "A Flemish 
 Account" has long been current. It 
 always means, that the sum to be re- 
 ceived turns out less than had been 
 expected. It is a commercial joke, 
 familiarly bantered by clerks, and is 
 believed to admit of explanation by 
 reference to the early commercial 
 transactions between the English and 
 the Flemings, though this explanation 
 has some pleasant variations — for exam- 
 ple : When commerce was young, the 
 Flemings were the great merchants of 
 Western Europe ; but those worthies 
 were notorious, when furnishing their 
 accounts current, for always having the 
 balance at the right side (for them- 
 selves,) and hence arose the term. 
 
 Or it is probable that the expression 
 may have been derived from the fact 
 that the Flemish ell measures only 
 three quarters of the English yard, 
 while the English ell measures five 
 quarters, and that thence the epithet 
 "Flemish" was adopted as denoting 
 something deficient. 
 
 The derivation of the phrase has 
 also been traced to the word fiem, 
 which, in old Sctoch and English, is 
 to " run away ; " in modern slang, to 
 "make oneself scarce," — to "levant." 
 Flemen is an outcast, an outlaw. The 
 application of the word to accounts, in 
 certain cases, is pertinent. 
 
 Fancy Costume among the Ledgers. 
 
 An amusing story is told of the first 
 appearance of a new clerk in one of 
 the ancient English banking-houses of 
 celebrity. He was dressed in the fash- 
 ion thus described : He wore a long 
 flapped coat with large pockets; the 
 sleeves had broad cuffs with three 
 large buttons, somewhat like the coats 
 worn by the Greenwich pensioneers 
 of the present day; an embroidered 
 waistcoat reaching nearly down to his 
 knees, with an enormous houquet in tlie 
 
BUSINESS EMPLOYES. 
 
 663 
 
 lutton Iwle ; a cocked hat; powdered 
 hair, with pig-tail and bag-wig ; and 
 a ponderous gold-headed cane. The 
 gentleman who thus made his debut 
 in this fancy costume was, nevertheless, 
 possessed of the most remarkable bus- 
 iness qualities, — so much so, that he 
 remained in the house a great many 
 years, and died only a few years ago 
 at a very advanced age, much respected 
 by his employers. 
 
 rirst Set of Double-Entry Booka 
 Opened in Boston. 
 
 " I PRACTISED," says Amos Lawrence, 
 " upon the maxim, ' Business lefore 
 friends,^ from the commencement of 
 my coarse. During the first seven 
 years of my business in Boston, I never 
 allowed a bill against me to stand un- 
 settled over the Sabbath. If the pur- 
 chase of goods was made at auction on 
 Saturday, and delivered to me, I 
 always examined and settled the bill 
 by note or by crediting it, and leaving 
 it clear ; so that, in case I w^ as not on 
 duty on Monday, there would be no 
 trouble for my boys — thus keeping the 
 business lefore me, instead of allowing 
 it to drive me." 
 
 Mr. Lawrence had a remarkable 
 faculty of bringing the sterling money 
 into our currency, with any advance, 
 by a calculation in his mind, and 
 w^ould give the result with great accu- 
 racy in one quarter of the time which 
 it took most other persons to do it by 
 figures. When employing clerks, he 
 daily examined every entry to detect 
 errors. He was dissatisfied with the 
 loose way of keeping books by single 
 entry, and, at his request, the clerk 
 studied bookkeeping with Mr. G. Gibbs, 
 who had just introduced the new and 
 shorter method of double entry. The 
 accounts were then transferred into a 
 new set of books on this plan, during 
 which process Mr. Lawrence manifested 
 much anxiety, but expressed his satis- 
 faction when the work was completed 
 
 and his clerk had succeeded in making 
 the first trial balance come out right. 
 This was the first set of books opened 
 in Boston on the new system, and to 
 Mr. Lawrence's business taste and skill 
 is this improvement due. 
 
 Jacob Barker's Clerks at Dinner. 
 
 " Walter Barrett " seldom says a 
 dry or witless thing, and, in one of his 
 racy mercantile sketches, he expresses 
 the opinion — as to which there can be 
 no variance — that there is no man of 
 whom so many wonderful things are 
 related as of Jacob Barker. The cele- 
 brated Jacob Little, says Mr. Barrett, 
 was once a clerk with the banker, and 
 if young Jacob should ever get poor, 
 he can rise again by publishing a book 
 to be called " Recollections of the Na- 
 poleon of Wall street." But to the 
 story. 
 
 Two sons of old Peter Embury, 
 Daniel and Peter J., were clerks with 
 the famed Jacob Barker. There were 
 seventeen more clerks in the office. 
 Jacob Barker had no equal, on the 
 contrary he was superior to any 
 money broker or banker that ever lived 
 before, in, or since, his time. He went 
 ahead — stopped for nothing — not even 
 to go home to dinner. His wife sent 
 his dinner down to his office. His 
 clerks perfectly detested old Jacob 
 Barker. He was a tyrant. When 
 his dinner arrived, it would be on a 
 tin warmer, and wrapped up in a 
 towel. This would be placed on his 
 desk, and then Jacob would sit and eat 
 it, the clerks laughing and making 
 faces at each other in a quiet, subdued 
 way. Sometimes old Jacob would not 
 be in when the dinner arrived. In 
 such a case one of the clerks — who was 
 a great wag — would take Jacob's place, 
 and while he took off the broker in 
 first rate style, amidst screams of 
 laughter from the admiring clerks, 
 would also positively eat up the din- 
 ner — ^put the dishes aside, and Jacob 
 
664 
 
 Commercial and business anecdotes. 
 
 would suppose the dinner had not 
 come. But on one occasion, when this 
 dinner scene was being enacted, old 
 Jacob popped in, and witnessed almost 
 the entire performance before his pres- 
 ence was discovered by the principal 
 performer. " Oh, don't let me inter- 
 rupt you — eat on," said Jacob. The 
 clerk slid. He was not discharged, 
 but remained with Jacob until he went 
 into business on his own account. 
 
 Mr. Barker was a remarkably driving 
 man. If he had an appointment with 
 a man, he waited just five minutes, and 
 not a second longer ; then, if the man 
 with whom he had the appointment 
 did not come, Mr. Barker left, and 
 never after would he make an appoint- 
 ment with the same man. At one 
 time, he was indicted for conspiracy, 
 in connection with some stock-jobbing 
 afiairs. Hugh Maxwell was the district 
 attorney in those gay days. Barker 
 plead his own case. He was so suc- 
 cessful that it gave him the first idea 
 he ever entertained that he was capa- 
 ble of becoming a clever lawyer. In 
 after years he went to New Orleans, 
 studied law regularly, and made it his 
 profession. Jacob was also a good 
 pilot, and he frequently piloted his 
 own ships out to sea. He did this for 
 two reasons: the first was, that he 
 saved the pilotage ; and the second, he 
 believed that he could do it better and 
 with more safety to his ships than any 
 professed pilot could do. Fitz Greene 
 Halleck, the celebrated poet, was the 
 cashier of Jacob Barker for many 
 
 years. 
 
 — > 
 
 " One Thinff Needful " in a Clerk. 
 
 If a vacancy occurs in a New York 
 jobbing or importing house in the dry 
 goods trade, the first question likely to 
 be proposed to the applicant for the 
 place is, " How many goods can you 
 sell?" If the answer is fifty or one 
 hundred thousand dollars, that settles 
 the question; and the young man is 
 
 accepted. Of course he must not steal, 
 and he is therefore charged by his new 
 employer, that " honesty is the best 
 policy." If he drinks, even to intoxi- 
 cation, when away from business, it is 
 a matter of some regret, — but, after all, 
 of no very great consequence, provided 
 he will sell his " fifty thousand." 
 
 A large and very respectable dry 
 goods establishment in New York 
 thought best to dispense with one of 
 these " fifty thousand " salesmen, be- 
 cause he would get drunk on brandy. 
 Every few days, in spite of all appeal 
 and expostulation, he would disgrace 
 both himself and his employers in this 
 way, but, notwithstanding, in the course 
 of a year he would sell onore than his 
 " fifty thousand." 
 
 Well, this young man, with a bold 
 face, sought another situation among 
 the merchant princes. He declared em- 
 phatically that he could sell his fifty 
 thousand. The engagement was con- 
 cluded, and, as a mere matter of form, 
 the merchant prince sent his confiden- 
 tial clerk to inquire about the integrity 
 of his new salesman. He was told that 
 the young man could sell his "fifty 
 thousand " easily, but that every now 
 and then he would get drunk on bran- 
 dy. This fact was faithully communi- 
 cated to headquarters. " He drinks 
 brandy, does he" — said the merchant 
 prince ; " is that all you can find against 
 him ? He'll do. Why, I drink brandy 
 myself— that's no objection I " The 
 salesman's ability to sell his " fifty thou- 
 sand" was the one thing needful for 
 the success of his application ; and that 
 he possessed. 
 
 Overpaying: a Check. 
 
 A QUAKER once presented a check for 
 three hundred pounds at a banker's in 
 London, and the cashier paid him four 
 hundred. The Friend discovered the 
 error, and in the usual quaint manner 
 of his class addressed the cashier, say- 
 ing : "Friend, hast thee not made a 
 
BUSINESS EMPLOYES. 
 
 4665 
 
 ^ mistake ? " but the cashier, being very 
 busy, gave no heed to the question. In 
 a few minutes it was repeated with like 
 success, and it was not till after the 
 question had been put for the third 
 time, that the cashier deigned to ask 
 in a somewhat haughty tone to what 
 he alluded. The Friend, with much 
 humility, said : " I wanted from thee 
 three hundred pounds, and thou hast 
 given me four hundred. I have been 
 desirous to draw thy attention to the 
 mistake, but could not until now in- 
 duce thee to regard me. Here is the 
 one hundred back again." The cashier, 
 as may be supposed, was overwhelmed 
 with shame at this quiet though point- 
 ed rebuke. 
 
 Nice Lesson for Retail Salesmen. 
 
 A YOUNG lady having entered a dry 
 goods store, politely requested to be 
 shown a certain article. An impatient 
 clerk, in a churlish manner, obeyed her 
 wishes. "What's the price?" asked 
 she. " Three dollars," was the uncere- 
 monious reply. " Three dollars ! " ex- 
 claimed the maiden in surprise ; " how 
 very high your prices are I " " They're 
 cheap enough, if you'll only imagine 
 so ! " was the surly reply. " Well, you 
 may wrap it up for me, and I will take 
 it," said the lady. The article was ac- 
 cordingly packed, and Miss Sweet- 
 pretty, taking it in her hands, was leav- 
 ing the store ; but the alarmed clerk, 
 running after her, exclaimed : " Mad- 
 ame, you have not paid me ! " " Oh, 
 yes, I have, if you'll only imagine «<>," she 
 archly replied. 
 
 Bubble-Bank Book-keeping- Tauglit in 
 Sire Lessons. 
 
 Professob McDooal, B.B.,G.U. J.S.S. 
 (Blower of Bubbles and Getter Up of 
 Joint Stock Swindles), begs to acquaint 
 the swell nobility, light-fingered gen- 
 try, and the hard-up public generally, 
 that he continues to give instructions 
 
 in the Art of Book-keeping, as applied 
 to bubble banks and other joint stock 
 swindles. 
 
 Having for some years devoted his 
 most careful attention to the subject, 
 the professor can with confidence re- 
 commend his system (which is founded 
 nominally upon the Scotch, but diff"ers 
 from it widely in its integrity and prin- 
 ciples) as being at once safe, simple, 
 and eftective. It is remarkable espe- 
 cially for the facilities it ofi'ers for cook- 
 ing the accounts, as it entirely prevents 
 any possibility of checking them. It 
 allows, therefore, of overdrawing with- 
 out danger of detection, and at the 
 same time ofiers most peculiar advan- 
 tages to those who may avail them- 
 selves of this directors' privilege, and 
 may be afterward accused of having 
 fraudulently done so. By its complete 
 mystification of all matters of account, 
 it will enable any so calumniated per- 
 son to declare that he was totally un- 
 conscious how his debt really stood, 
 and defy the most expert accountant to 
 make out the contrary. The professor 
 guarantees, moreover, from his personal 
 experience, that no unpleasant conse- 
 quences ever will result from this or 
 any other advantages of his system, — 
 the liability of those wiio practise it 
 being strictly limited in all respects to 
 the harmless jurisdiction of the civil 
 courts. 
 
 To clerks of gentlemanly habits and 
 expenses, the professor's system will be 
 found invaluable ; as it will enable 
 them, by the opportunities it afibrds 
 for perquisites, to live on a salary of a 
 hundred a year, in the style and at the 
 rate at least of a couple of thousand. 
 But it is to managers, perhaps, that the 
 professor's method will be found most 
 advantageous, since it sufiiers them to 
 " do " what and whom they please — an 
 operation which is much facilitated by 
 the professor's plan of double-shufile 
 entry, which, by the addition of a pri- 
 vate " little book " to those which are 
 kept for public business and inspection, 
 
COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 greatly assists the managers in all mat- 
 ters of subtraction. 
 
 Playing Even. 
 
 Jones was an Oregon merchant, 
 smoked a great many cigars, and 
 prided himself upon the accuracy and 
 infallibility of his business capacities. 
 He never was known to make more 
 than one error in business calculation, 
 and that was not Ms fault particularly. 
 In sending an order to San Francisco 
 for beans, he added a cipher more than 
 ae intended, and thereby ordered and 
 received fourteen thousand pounds, or 
 seven tons, instead of fourteen hundred 
 pounds. The merchants all had their 
 sport about his seven tons of " regular 
 beans," and he bore it meekly, but 
 awaited an opportunity to *' play even," 
 by turning the tables on them. The 
 time finally arrived for him to prove 
 beyond cavil that he was not the only 
 merchant capable of erring, and he 
 seized the opportunity to vindicate his 
 long-established reputation for acute 
 reasoning. He had ordered some ci- 
 gars from a Crescent City merchant, 
 and when the bill came, with a short 
 note appended, his visage brightened 
 for once, and he hastened to expose, 
 for twenty-five cents a sight, " the 
 greatest blunder ever exhibited;" if 
 not, he would return the money. He 
 had taken in only $2 50, when the lit- 
 eral copy TV as exhibited, and was as 
 follows : " Mr. Jones, — Yours received, 
 and contents noted. I send you the 
 best I have now. On the ColumMa^ I 
 get about fifty mille of the best select- 
 ed, and trust to get your further orders. 
 —Yours, M. Goldman." " That, sir," 
 said Jones, " is the very richest thing 
 of the kind I ever saw or heard of! 
 Flfly millions of cigars ! Why, sir, just 
 think of it I At forty dollars per thou- 
 sand, they would amount to two hun- 
 dred million of dollars— more, sir, than 
 all Oregon is worth ! That beats the 
 'beans I " 
 
 Railway Clerks— a Burlesque. 
 
 The railway clerk dresses smartly. 
 He is a friend of a director, or the 
 cousin of a large shareholder. Business 
 with him is quite a secondary consid- 
 eration. He opens at five minutes be- 
 fore the train, and closes it the minute 
 the clock has struck. He will take 
 your money if you want a ticket, but 
 mind — he is not answerable for any 
 mistake. He has no time to count 
 change, or answer questions about 
 trains, or attend to stupid people who 
 come inquiring about the persons who 
 were killed by yesterday's accident. 
 It is not his business. He cannot at- 
 tend to every one at once, and he runs 
 his diamond fingers through his rich, 
 Macassared hair. It's really no fault 
 of his if you lose the train — you ought 
 to have come sooner; and then he 
 pares off, with a very pretty penknife, 
 a sharp corner that pains the symmetry 
 of one of his filbert nails. What should 
 Tie know about " dogs ? " — you had bet- 
 ter inquire at the luggage train. You 
 can write to the newspapers, by all 
 means, if you like : the newspapers 
 don't pay him. The parcels are not in 
 liis department — the porters can per- 
 haps tell. He is very sorry he has no 
 change for a trv'^enty-dollar bill — he has 
 no doubt you can get it round the cor- 
 ner. He yawns all the morning, his 
 eyes are only half open at eight o'clock, 
 and his white waistcoat betrays his 
 dreadful impatience to get to the opera, 
 as the time draws slowly toward the 
 mail train. What he does between the 
 dreary intervals, as we cannot peep 
 over the walls of mahogany into the 
 small circle of his duties, we cannot 
 tell. On a Sunday, however, his usual 
 amiability deserts him. His cambric 
 shirt is beautifully smooth, but his tem- 
 per is sadly ruffled. The excursions 
 upset him. The number of absurd 
 questions annoy him. He wonders 
 how people can be so foolish, and at 
 last makes a resolution not to answer 
 
BUSINESS EMPLOYES. 
 
 667 
 
 any more inquiries ; and the railway- 
 clerk knows his own dignity too well 
 not to keep it. He only stares ; but 
 occasionally troubles himself to the 
 utmost of his abilities to give a nod 
 that may express " Yes," or " No," just 
 as the person pleases. Beyond this, 
 the railway clerk is as obliging as most 
 clerks; he is also very good-looking, 
 and after coming out of an omnibus on 
 a wet d^iy, is quite pleasant to look at. 
 In the heat of summer he looks cool — 
 in the depths of winter he always ap- 
 pears warm and comfortable. He is 
 really a pattern of politeness to ladies, 
 and smiles most condescendingly to 
 pretty girls, displaying his gallantry 
 and white teeth in a thousand little 
 ways. He was evidently intended by 
 nature as an ornament to a tea-party, 
 or bom to grace a pic-nic. 
 
 Rich Reward of Integrity. 
 
 DuniNG the last century, a London 
 merchant, somewhat remarkable for 
 absence of mind, left his counting- 
 house for the bank, with a large sum 
 of money, which he intended deposit- 
 ing there ; on reaching Lombard street, 
 he found his pocket cut, and his pock- 
 et-book missing. He immediately sus- 
 pected that his pocket had been picked 
 of all his money, and going back, men- 
 tioned the circumstance to his clerk. 
 What, however, was his astonishment, 
 at finding that he had left the money 
 behind, and that though his pocket- 
 book had been taken (from him, yet it 
 contained nothing but a few papers of 
 but little consequence. Pleased with 
 the integrity of his clerk, who handed 
 him the money he thought he had lost, 
 he promised him a handsome present ; 
 but neglecting to fulfil his promise was 
 reminded of it. Unwilling to part with 
 money, he gave the clerk one of two 
 lottery tickets he had purchased. This 
 ticket drew a prize of twenty thousand 
 pounds, which the clerk made use of as 
 his capital in going into business, and 
 
 soon rose to great eminence and wealth 
 as a merchant. 
 
 Good Supply in Prospect. 
 
 A LADY inquired at a city dry goods 
 store, some time ago, for whalebone. 
 The clerk in attendance produced bun- 
 dle after bundle, as the fair customer 
 successively rejected the article sub- 
 mitted for inspection. The whalebone 
 was all too short, by several feet, for the 
 purpose desired. But the clerk, not to 
 be outdone, made another search 
 through the store, in hope of discover- 
 ing the article of the desired longitude. 
 He was unsuccessful, and flatly " broke " 
 his chagrin to the lady in a polite 
 speech to the effect " that the extraor- 
 dinary expansion of the ladies causing 
 so great a demand for long whalebones, 
 all the big whales had been killed and 
 used up, and there were none but little 
 ones now in the ocean — but, madam, 
 we have some superior ones growing, 
 and shall soon have the best supply in 
 the market." 
 
 Iffioustaches in the Bank. 
 
 Somehow or other, there is in the 
 English Gentile world— as distinguish- 
 ed from the Jewish— an antagonism 
 between moustaches and money ; oddly 
 enough, pounds, shillings, and pence, 
 will have nothing to do with the least 
 assertion of the " tip." The young men 
 of our generation have been exhorted 
 to lay down their razors and to take up 
 with moustaches; many unsophisti- 
 cated enthusiasts have answered to the 
 appeal with somewhat of the vigor of a 
 Samson, putting, as it may be, the 
 hairiest or downiest countenance upon 
 the movement. On this, the tyranny 
 of bare-faced Mammon asserts itself in 
 Mammon's very highest place — ^yea, in 
 its golden pulpit. Gallant young clerks 
 of the Bank of England were beginning 
 to grow good promissory notes of 
 moustaches, when. Mammon, looking 
 
668 
 
 COMMERCIAL AXD BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 upon those hirsute shootings, cried — 
 " Shave, young men : shave, or re- 
 sign." This is a hard, tyrannous fact. 
 The youths of England, intrusted with 
 the treasures of the Bank, were ordered 
 by a certain day to present clean faces, 
 or else a fairly- written resignation. 
 The clerks did both : that is, they one 
 and all exhibited their resignation, by 
 sacrificing the objectiona]:)le hair. And 
 this in a free country— a clerk not al- 
 lowed to keep his moustaches and his 
 
 place ! 
 
 ♦ — 
 
 One of his "Little Specs." 
 
 When Jacob Barker was a clerk to 
 Mr. Hicks, of New York, he early dis- 
 played that peculiar aptitude for spec- 
 ulation which subsequently distin- 
 guished his career as a merchant. Oue 
 day, Mr. Hicks was ascending the stairs 
 in full view of a lot of soap which had 
 been very long on hand, and remarked, 
 "Jacob, why does thee not sell that 
 soap ? " The reply was, " For the want 
 of an applicant. I will purchase it at 
 eight cents if thee will give me four 
 months' credit and allow me to send it 
 as an adventure to the Havana." Mr. 
 Hicks replied, in his rapid manner : 
 " Take it, take it; I am tired of the 
 sight of it." 
 
 It w^s shipped by a fast schooner, 
 commanded by Capt. Daniel Waterman, 
 about sailing for the Havana, at the 
 time when the British were capturing 
 and sending into New Providence all 
 vessels in that trade, depriving the in- 
 habitants of their accustomed supplies. 
 Capt. W. returned safely in six weeks, 
 bringing back fifty cents per pound in 
 specie for the soap. The money was 
 brought to the office, and Jacob was 
 engaged in counting it, when Mr. 
 Hicks, coming in from breakfast, in- 
 quired, " What's all this ? " The reply 
 was, " Money for the soap, and I am 
 now ready to pay for it, although not 
 due for more than two months." Mr. 
 H. appeared quite pleased with his 
 
 young clerk's success, and passed on. 
 This, it may be presumed, is one of 
 what Jacob would call his "little 
 specs.'' 
 
 Countryman and Clerk. 
 
 One morning an enraged country- 
 man came into Mr. M.'s store, with very 
 angry looks ; he had left a team in the 
 street, and held a good stick in his 
 hand. " Mr. M." said the angry coun- 
 tryman, " I bought a paper of nutmegs 
 here in your store, and when I got 
 home, they were more than half wal- 
 nuts ; and thafs the young villain that 
 I bought 'em of," — pointing to John. 
 
 " John," said Mr. M., " did you sell 
 the man walnuts for nutmegs ? " 
 
 " No, sir," was the ready answer. 
 
 " You lie, you little villain," said the 
 countryman, still more enraged at his 
 assurance. 
 
 " The fact is, he does tell a great many 
 lies," said Mr. M. " and I don't know 
 what to do with him ; " and with this 
 license to his enraged feelings, the 
 countryman made at John with his 
 good stick, which compelled him to 
 scamper up a flight of stairs, throwing 
 down the scuttle after him, that, in its 
 fall, crushed the countryman's hat over 
 his eyes, and nothing allayed his wrath. 
 These scuttle doors were, in those days, 
 common in warehouses, at the heads 
 of stairs, instead of casements built 
 around them as now ; and John briskly 
 fastened it down, and kept the country- 
 man from following him — not, how- 
 ever, without having got two or three 
 licks of the sternly-applied good stick 
 across his legs and thighs, as he went 
 up the stairs. 
 
 Isli. M., who had just come into the 
 store, withdrew to the counting-room, 
 but with scarcely repressed laughter, 
 determined to let things take their 
 course, while the rest of them were en- 
 joying John's predicament, and the 
 general confusion, with great gieQ. 
 When, however, lyir. M. saw that the 
 
BUSINESS EMPLOYES. 
 
 669 
 
 countryman was foiled, and was still 
 complaining of the abuse, while John 
 was secure in his beleaguered position, 
 he came out again, and told the coun- 
 tryman that, if he had been imposed 
 upon, it should be made up to him, 
 trouble and alL 
 
 John, who overheard what was said, 
 now came to the hoistway, and rubbing 
 his thighs at the same time, said : " If 
 the goose had taken the trouble to 
 weigh his nutmegs, he would have 
 found that I put in the walnuts gratis^ 
 
 " Oh, you gave them to him, did 
 you ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir. I threw in a handful for 
 the children to crack," said John, 
 laughing at the same time. 
 
 " You were certainly very consider- 
 ate," said Mr. M., turning away, and 
 unable to repress a sympathy with 
 John's mirth. 
 
 " Well, now, if that ain't a young 
 scamp," said the countryman, his fea- 
 tures relaxing into a grin, as he saw 
 through the matter. 
 
 The fact is, John had thrown in the 
 handful of walnuts unobserved, and 
 enjoyed beforehand all the country- 
 man's disappointment and rage when 
 he should see them, but without antici- 
 pating the good stich feature of the case. 
 
 Langruag-e and Business Letters of 
 Botlischild. 
 
 The language which Mr. Rothschild 
 could use when his anger overbalanced 
 his discretion was what must be called 
 a license allowed to his wealth; and 
 he who, when placed in a position 
 which almost compelled him to sub- 
 scribe to a pressing charity, could ex- 
 claim to his clerk, " Here, write a check, 
 I have made a — fool of myself! " was 
 courted and caressed by the clergy, was 
 feted and flattered by the peer, was 
 treated as an equal by the first min- 
 ister of the crown, and more than wor- 
 shipped by those whose names stood 
 foremost on the roll of commercial aris- 
 
 tocracy — not, of course, because of his 
 personal worth, but because of the 
 wealth in his breeches. 
 
 His mode of dictating letters to his 
 commercial correspondents was charac- 
 teristic of a mind entirely absorbed in 
 money-making, to the exclusion of all 
 amenities and compliments— even such 
 as business men sometimes, for the sake 
 of courtesy and mutual good feeling, 
 refresh themselves with ; and his rav- 
 ings, when he found a bill unexpectedly 
 protested, were translated by the clerk 
 into mercantile language, ere they were 
 fit to meet a correspondent's eye. There 
 was, however, an occasional gleam of 
 humor in him, sternly as his thoughts 
 were devoted to heaping up riches. " I 
 am as much as you," he said to the 
 Due de Montmorenci, when his title 
 was granted : " you style yourself the 
 first Christian baron, and I am the first 
 Jew baron.'' 
 
 Squaring: Accounts among the 
 Celestials. 
 
 It is the custom ahiong the Celestials, 
 once a year or oftener, to close all their 
 accounts of a business character. The 
 summer, or fifth month of the Chinese 
 year, — the dragon boat festival, eighth 
 month,— Che winter solstice, or eleventh 
 month, — and the new year, these are 
 the epochs of settlement adopted by a 
 large number of the business men. But 
 in any case, the commencement of the 
 new year must find every merchant free 
 of all debt, otherwise he is not permit- 
 ted to open his store for a fresh cam- • 
 paign. The intense anxiety of the mer- 
 chants thus to begin the year solvent in 
 their various business relations, will 
 often prevent a manufacturer from tak- 
 ing a contract at the end of the year, 
 lest the dreaded new year day should 
 find him without sufl5cient ready cash 
 to liquidate all his debts. 
 
 This peculiar custom gives origin to 
 a kind of festival among buyers, and 
 especially among foreigners, who wish 
 
670 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 to make good bargains. The pressing 
 necessities of those native merchants who 
 find a deficit in their treasury, to meet 
 the demands of creditors, drive them 
 to sell — and sometimes at an immense 
 sacrifice — objects of luxury or 'cirtu^ or 
 whatever else, in the shape of embroi- 
 deries and clothing, they may have, not 
 essential to life. This is generally ef- 
 fected on new year's eve. On that 
 evening, different streets in the city are 
 occupied on either side by row^s of 
 such goods, exhibited for sale in tem- 
 porary stalls, or even on the bare 
 ground, all the sellers being clothed in 
 blue. Side oy side stand the common 
 calico-clad dealers, whose whole stock 
 seems to be scarce worth a dollar, and 
 the satin-embroidered merchant, with 
 articles of rarest taste and elegance. 
 There may be seen the Chinaman who 
 has a dollar or two in cash beyond his 
 debts, and the foreigner, both anxious 
 to secure bargains at the expense of the 
 needy sellers. 
 
 HoTT a Dry-Qoods Clerk lost his Place. 
 
 A GENTLEMAN in the country placed 
 his son with a dry-goods merchant in 
 Boston, and, for a season, all went on 
 well. But at length the young man 
 sold a dress to a lady, and as he was 
 folding it up, he observed a fiaw in the 
 silk, and remarked to his customer, 
 "Madam, I deem it my duty to tell 
 you there is a fracture in the silk." 
 This spoiled the bargain. 
 ♦ But the employer overheard the re- 
 mark ; and had he reflected a moment, 
 he might have reasoned thus with him- 
 self : " Now I am safe, while my afiairs 
 are committed to the care of an honest 
 clerk." But he was not pleased; so 
 he wrote immediately to the father to 
 come and take him home — for, said he, 
 " He will never make a merchant." 
 The father, who had brought up his 
 son with faithful care, was not a little 
 surprised and grieved, and hastened to 
 
 the city to ascertain wherein his son 
 had been deficient. 
 
 Said the anxious father, " And why 
 will he not make a merchant ? " " Be- 
 cause," said the employer, " he has no 
 tact; he voluntarily told a lady who 
 was buying silk, that the goods were 
 damaged, and so I lost the bargain. 
 Purchasers must look out for them- 
 selves. If they cannot discover ' flaws,' 
 it would be foolishness in me to tell them 
 of their existence." " And is this all 
 the fault ? " " Yes ; he is very well in 
 other respects." " Well, I prize my son 
 more than ever ; and I thank you, sir, 
 for telling me of the matter. I w^ould 
 not have him in your employ another 
 day, for all your store contains." 
 
 Philadelphia Clerk and his Bible. 
 
 In the same office with Mr. Inglis, 
 of Philadelphia, was a young gentle- 
 man in whom he took great interest. 
 He was a young man of fine character 
 and talents, but inclining to infidelity. 
 He was the only son of a widowed 
 mother, and her only support. He was 
 devoted to her happiness. By degrees 
 his health, through constant applica- 
 tion to business, was wasting away. 
 His friend, IMr. Inglis, urged him to re- 
 mit his labors, and take a journey. The 
 reply was, that his circumstances for- 
 bade it. He had saved nothing, and 
 his mother needed ail his salary after 
 meeting his own personal wants. The 
 answer was : 
 
 " But you must go. You will die if 
 you do not. What will become of your 
 mother then ? " 
 
 The young man sadly shook his 
 head. 
 
 " Then I will tell you what I will do. 
 You are aware of my rapidity in busi- 
 ness. I can do your work and mine 
 too. I will take your place while you 
 are gone, and pay over the salary to 
 your mother, and when you return give 
 it up to you again. The sole condition 
 of this is, that you will accept this Bi- 
 
BUSINESS EMPLOYES. 
 
 671 
 
 ble (taking a pocket Bible from his 
 desk), and read a chapter in it every 
 day." 
 
 With deep emotion the book was re- 
 ceived and the promise given. The 
 youth took his departure, and Mr. 
 Inglis fulfilled his part of the engage- 
 ment faithfully. But the invalid was 
 past all human remedy — the disease was 
 too deeply seated ; so, after prolonging 
 his absence much beyond the supposed 
 period, he finally died. But he left en- 
 couraging evidence that the Bible had 
 been attended with the profit desired 
 by the giver. 
 
 After his death, the directors of the 
 insurance company said that, as Mr. 
 Inglis had faithfully and satisfactorily 
 performed the double duties, hence- 
 forth the double oflice and the double 
 pay should be his. 
 
 Beward of Business Fidelity. 
 
 Mb. Cuthbert, a merchant in the 
 East Indies, of world-wide repute, had 
 a clerk who was taken very ill, and be- 
 came unusually thoughtful and melan- 
 choly. Mr. Cuthbert inquired the cause 
 of his uneasiness. The young man re- 
 plied that he was not afraid to die, but 
 had a mother and two sisters in Eng- 
 land, to whom he had been accustomed 
 to send one hundred pounds every 
 year, and his only regret at dying was, 
 that they would be left destitute. Mr. 
 Cuthbert begged him to make his mind 
 perfectly easy on that account, as he 
 would take care of his mother and sis- 
 ters. He was as good as his word, for 
 he immediately went to his attorney, 
 and executed a deed, granting an an- 
 nuity of one hundred pounds a year, in 
 favor of the mother and her two daugh- 
 ters, during their joint lives, and with 
 the benefit of survivorship. He then 
 sent the bond to his clerk, who, clasp- 
 ing it in his hands, uttered a hearty 
 exclamation of gratitude, and at once 
 closed his eyes in death. " 
 
 Oiling the Joints of Business. 
 
 It is oftentimes better for the har- 
 mony and success of men in business 
 not to make too great a matter out of 
 a small one, when anything happens 
 which may temporarily derange the 
 details of business. Budgett, the fa- 
 mous English merchant, was noted for 
 the smooth and easy way in which he 
 disposed of business discrepancies and 
 annoyances, and says he found his ac- 
 count in thus doing, in the end. 
 
 " Well, what's the matter ? " said he 
 to one of his clerks, " I understand you 
 can't make your cash quite right." 
 " No, sir." " How much are you 
 short ? " " Eight pounds, sir." " Nev- 
 er mind ; I am quite sure you have 
 done what is right and honorable; it 
 is some mistake— and you won't let it 
 happen again. Take this, and make 
 your account straight." The young 
 man sees the proffered paper — an order 
 for ten pounds — and he brightens up, 
 as full of admiration and good resolve 
 as he had previously felt anxiety. 
 
 Now, what is the next matter. This 
 time a porter is summoned. He comes 
 forward as if he expected rebuke. 
 " Oh ! I have had such a complaint re- 
 ported against you. You know that 
 will never do. You will not, I'm sure, 
 let that occur again." It certainly did 
 not occur again. 
 
 Thus, with the greatest despatch 
 matter after matter was settled in this 
 way — without the "grievous words, 
 which stir up anger " — and all who be- 
 longed to his office went to work as if 
 some one had oiled their joints. 
 
 Pictorial Bookkeeping:. 
 
 An old trader, whose father attended 
 more to teaching his son the methods 
 of accumulating money than knowl- 
 edge, lived some time since in a town 
 in one of the Eastern States. From ap- 
 plication and industry, he had amassed 
 a property of about twenty thousand 
 
672 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 dollars; and althougli not able either 
 to read or write, lie never hired a clerk, 
 but had always been in the habit of 
 keeping his own books. He had in- 
 vented some few pictorial characters 
 for the purpose of conveying his ideas 
 to himself and others ; they were formed 
 as nearly similar to the shape of the ar- 
 ticle sold as the nature of the circum- 
 stances would admit. One day a cus- 
 tomer of his called on him for the pur- 
 pose of settling his account ; the book 
 of hieroglyphics was handed down, and 
 the merchant commenced with, " such 
 a time you had a gallon of rum, and 
 such a time a pound of tea — such a 
 time a gallon of molasses, and such a 
 time a cheese." " Stop there," says the 
 customer ; " I never had a cheese from 
 you or any other person — I make my 
 own cheese." " You certainly must 
 have had it," said the merchant ; " it 
 is down in my book." The other still 
 denied ever buying an article of that 
 kind. After a promiscuous bantering 
 of pros and cons, upon recollection, he 
 informed him that he believed he had 
 purchased a grindstone about that time. 
 "It is the very thing," said the mer- 
 chant, " and I must have forgotten to 
 put the hole in the middle.'''' 
 
 Eeformingr instead of Destroying-. 
 
 An instructive case for merchants 
 and others engaged in business occur- 
 red in Boston, where the city constable 
 traced a large quantity of stolen goods 
 to a young clerk in one of the large 
 wholesale stores in the vicinity of Milk 
 street, and in which establishment 
 business to the amount perhaps of a 
 million or more is carried on during 
 the year. The officer in the first place 
 informed the young man of his detec- 
 tion, and he acknowledged his crime. 
 He then went to a member of the firm 
 and informed him also of what had 
 taken place. The merchant seemed 
 troubled ; said that the boy had for 
 some time been with him, and to all 
 
 appearance was a faithful clerk ; that 
 he had sole control of a room contain- 
 ing one hundred thousand dollars' 
 worth of goods, wuth several lads under 
 him, and further stated that he paid 
 him three and a half dollars per week 
 for his services. The officer asked if 
 the young man did not pay nearly that 
 amount for board, washing, &c. The 
 merchant acknowledged that he prob- 
 ably did. He then called the clerk 
 down, and asked him to confess the 
 whole truth, which he did, with tears 
 in his eyes, and promises of reforma- 
 tion. The merchant then told the offi- 
 cer that he wanted time to consider as 
 to his course. When the officer called 
 again, the young man was found still 
 continuing at his old employment — 
 with this difference, that his pay had 
 been increased to six dollars per week. 
 The officer asked how the boy got 
 along, to w^hich his master replied, 
 " Admirably, admirably ; I have not 
 a better servant in the store." Thus 
 ended the matter, the young man still 
 continuing in his position, with the 
 firm intention to deserve, by his future 
 good character, the confidence which, 
 perhaps, he so little deserved by his 
 previous course. This conduct on the 
 part of the employer was thus the 
 means of reforming his clerk ; while 
 exposure and dismissal would in all 
 probability have destroyed him. 
 
 Getting Kich by Bookkeeping:. 
 
 In old times, it was the custom of 
 the merchants of the city of New York 
 to keep their accounts in pounds, shil- 
 lings, and pence currency. About fifty 
 years ago, a frugal, industrious Scotch 
 merchant, well known to the then small 
 mercantile community of that city, had, 
 by dint of fortunate commercial adven- 
 ture and economy, been enabled to save 
 something like four thousand pounds — 
 a considerable sum of money at that 
 period, and one which secured to its 
 j)ossessor a degree of enviable inde- 
 
BUSINESS EMPLOYES. 
 
 673 
 
 pendence. His place of business and 
 residence were, as was customary at 
 that time, under the same roof. 
 
 This merchant had a clerk in his em- 
 ployment, whose reputation as an ac- 
 countant inspired the utmost confi- 
 dence of his master, whose frugal hab- 
 its he emulated with the true spirit 
 and feeling of a genuine Caledonian. 
 It was usual for the accountant to make 
 an annual balance sheet, for the inspec- 
 tion of his master, in order that he 
 might see what had been the profits of 
 his business for the past ydar. On this 
 occasion, the balance showed to the 
 credit of the business some six thou- 
 sand pounds, which somewhat aston- 
 ished the incredulous merchant. " It 
 canna be," said he ; "ye had better 
 count up agen. I dinna think I ha' 
 had sae profitable a beesness as this 
 represents." The clerk, with his usual 
 patience, re-examined, the statement, 
 and declared that it was " a' right," 
 and that he was willing to wager his 
 salary on its correctness. The some- 
 what puzzled merchant scratched his 
 head with surprise, and commenced 
 adding up both sides of the account 
 for himself. " I didna think," said he, 
 " that I was worth over four thousand 
 pounds ; but ye ha' made me a much 
 richer man. Weel, weel, I may ha' been 
 mair successful than I had thought, 
 and I'll na' quarrel wi' mysel' for being 
 worth sax thousand instead." 
 
 At early candlelight, the store was 
 regularly closed by the faithful ac- 
 countant ; and as soon as he had gone, 
 the sorely perplexed and incredulous 
 merchant commenced the painful task 
 of going over and examining the ac- 
 counts for himself. Night after night 
 did he labor in his solitary counting 
 room alone, to look for the error ; but 
 every stage of the examination con- 
 firmed the correctness of the clerk, 
 until the old Scotchman began to be- 
 lieve it possible that he was really 
 worth " sax thousand pounds." Stim- 
 ulated by this addition to his wealth, 
 43 
 
 he soon felt a desire to improve the 
 condition of his household ; and, with 
 that view, made purchase of new furni- 
 ture, carpets, and other elegances, con- 
 sistent with the condition of a man 
 possessing the large fortune of six 
 thousand pounds. Painters and car- 
 penters were set to work to tear down, 
 build up, and beautify ; and in a short 
 time the gloomy residence in Stone 
 street was renovated to such a degree 
 as to attract the curiosity and envy of 
 all the neighbors. 
 
 The doubts of the old man would, 
 however, still obtrude themselves upon 
 his mind ; and he determined, once 
 more, to make a most searching exami- 
 nation of his accounts. On a dark and 
 stormy night he commenced his labors, 
 with the patient and investigating spir- 
 it of a man determined to probe the 
 matter to the very bottom. It was past 
 the hour of midnight, yet he had not 
 been able to detect a single error ; but 
 still he went on. His heart beat high 
 with hope, for he had nearly reached 
 the end of his labor. A quick suspi- 
 cion seized his mind as to one " item " 
 in the account. EureTca ! He had 
 found it — he had found it I With the 
 frenzy of a madman, rie drew his broad- 
 brimmed white hat over his eyes, and 
 rushed into the street. The rain and 
 storm were nothing to him. He hur- 
 ried to the residence of his clerk in 
 Wall street, and seized the handle of 
 the huge knocker, with which he 
 rapped until the neighborhood was 
 roused with the loud alarm. The dis- 
 mayed clerk poked his night-cap out 
 of an upper window, and demanded 
 " Wha's there ? " " It's me^ you dom 
 scoundrel ! " said the frenzied mer- 
 chant ; " ye''tie added up the yeo/r of our 
 Laird with the pounds.'''' Such was the 
 fact. The addition of the year of our 
 Lord in a certain place among the items 
 had swelled the fortune of the merchant 
 to nearly two thousand pounds beyond 
 its actual amount. 
 
674 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 Two Clerks in a C^uarrel. 
 
 Something in the way of a quarrel 
 once took place between two clerks — 
 Jonas and Jonathan — in a merchant's 
 counting house. The quarrel was of 
 little importance in itself, for it was 
 merely as to the quantity of work that 
 each had to do. The merchant had 
 given six letters to be copied. Jonas 
 said that each should copy three : Jon- 
 athan said that, as they were not of the 
 same length, one should copy four and 
 the other two. They disputed violent- 
 ly about it, and from words came to 
 blows. Jonas beat Jonathan severely, 
 and Jonathan vowed that he would be 
 revenged. In this determination he 
 persevered, and it was a part of his 
 every day's thoughts how he could in- 
 jure Jonas. 
 
 Jonas kept what is called the " petty 
 cash " in the merchant's counting room, 
 that is, he was charged with the pay- 
 ment of all the small sums for the ordi- 
 nary expenses of the business, and was 
 settled with by the merchant every 
 week, on his producing the accounts, 
 and the vouchers for payment when 
 any receipts were given. Jonas was 
 particularly careful to keep his docu- 
 ments in order, and Jonathan, who 
 knew Jonas's pride in having his cash 
 book right, determined to do all that 
 he could to embarrass and confuse 
 him. Whenever Jonathan could lay 
 his hands upon any voucher that Jonas 
 wanted, to show that his accounts were 
 regular, he took the opportunity, when 
 nobody was present, either to burn or 
 otherwise destroy it. This was a great 
 trial to Jonas, and especially when, on 
 three succeeding Saturdays, instead of 
 receiving the merchant's accustomed 
 praise, he was reprimanded for negli- 
 gence. Jonas protested that he had 
 been as careful as usual, but could not 
 conceive how the documents had dis- 
 appeared. He determined, in future, 
 to lock them up, instead of leaving 
 them under the leads of the desk, as 
 
 he had hitherto done. The next week, 
 all Jonas's accounts were as correct as 
 usual, and all the vouchers in order^ 
 and his tranquillity returned. 
 
 But this did not last long, for Jona- 
 than, finding that he had not succeed- 
 ed in his ill-natured attempt, was re- 
 solved to injure Jonas even more seri- 
 ously ; and one day, when Jonas had 
 gone to the docks, and had by accident 
 left the key in his desk, Jonathan took 
 a bank note out of the cash book which 
 Jonas had kept there, and concealed it 
 in another part of the desk. 
 
 Jonas came back, and put the keys 
 in his pocket — he did not even recol- 
 lect that he had put them in the desk ; 
 but the next day, when he opened his 
 desk to count the money in his cash 
 box, the bank note was found missing. 
 This was, indeed, a sad discovery ; he 
 racked his brains to remember whether 
 he had made any payments that he had 
 not entered. He inquired of Jonathan 
 whether he had seen him pay any 
 money away. Jonathan professed to 
 feel for his distress, while, in fact, he 
 was rejoicing in it ; and he was de- 
 lighted, indeed, when he heard the 
 merchant, in his private room, severely 
 reproaching Jonas for his growing 
 carelessness. A few weeks after, Jonas, 
 having occasion to ransack his desk for 
 some papers, found the missing bank 
 note, and supposed that he had, by ac- 
 cident, stowed it away with other pa- 
 pers. He told his good fortune to the 
 merchant; the latter recommended 
 more caution in future. 
 
 Jonathan now tried a little bolder 
 game. It was Jonas's duty to take the 
 letters to the post office. One day, a 
 letter of great importance, containing 
 a bill of exchange for a large amount, 
 was missing. The merchant had, as 
 usual, intrusted the correspondence to 
 Jonas's care, and had left the city for 
 his country abode. Next day, the first 
 inquiry, when the merchant came, was, 
 whether said letter had been despatch- 
 ed. Jonas burst into tears, and said 
 
BUSINESS EMPLOYES. 
 
 675 
 
 that the letter with the remittance was 
 not to be found. " What ! " said the 
 merchant, with extreme displeasure, 
 " tlmt letter missing ? " — and, quickly- 
 scanning the floor, he saw the identical 
 letter at Jonas's feet, wet and dirty, as 
 if it had been trampled on. This had 
 been also Jonathan's doing. He had 
 concealed the letter the night before ; 
 he had flung it, unperceived— having 
 himself trodden upon it — under Jonas's 
 desk. 
 
 In this way many months passed. 
 Jonathan managed with so much cun- 
 ning as to be undiscovered in his mal- 
 ice ; but things went on so ill, that 
 finally the merchant dismissed them 
 both. 
 
 Years rolled by, and Jonas and Jon- 
 athan had become merchants them- 
 selves ; but nothing could eradicate 
 from Jonathan's mind the determina- 
 tion to injure, and, if possible, ruin 
 Jonas. And he at last accomplished 
 it, though his own ruin was the conse- 
 quence. He undermined the credit of 
 Jonas, by indirect insinuations as to 
 his affairs, by doubts and innuendos, 
 and shrugs of the shoulder ; and, by a 
 succession of unfounded reports and 
 malevolently expressed suspicions, Jo- 
 nas's reputation as a merchant suffered, 
 and bankruptcy took place. Some of 
 the statements by which Jonas had 
 been injured were, however, traced to 
 Jonathan. He was prosecuted for 
 damages, convicted, and his own insol- 
 vency followed soon. 
 
 London Trade Report. 
 
 A London journal thus enters into 
 the facetiae of mercantile nomenclature 
 in its Trade Report : — Beer is still flat 
 in your own jugs, and seidlitz powders 
 are on the rise everywhere. Bones are 
 steady, at two pence for three pounds ; 
 and wine bottles are in demand at five 
 farthings. New milk from the cow has 
 become dearer since the recent extraor- 
 dinary rise in chalk ; and as far as the 
 
 wine trade is concerned, the champagne 
 dealers have been playing old goose- 
 berry. The tea trade is looking up on 
 account of the unhealthy appearance 
 of the hedges ; and the arrival of four 
 barges laden with sand has produced a 
 powerful effect on inferior sugar. But- 
 ter is not so firm as it has been during 
 the severe weather ; and the new-laid 
 eggs having been released from bond, 
 where they have remained for some 
 time, preserved in lime, are a good deal 
 lower than our last quotations. Pigs 
 were quite stationary when taken by 
 the leg, and dealers who went the 
 whole hog got enormous prices. 
 
 The business done in the vegetable 
 market has been limited. Potatoes 
 have suffered from a disease in the kid- 
 neys, and the growers have been fairly 
 beaten out of the field for want of cham- 
 pions. Parsley was firm at a half-penny 
 a sprig, and a good deal of thyme was 
 lost by a misunderstanding among the 
 principal dealers. Rhubarb was flat 
 during the rains, but rallied at the end 
 of the week on account of the fine 
 weather. Horseradish was in a feverish 
 state until the close of business ; and a 
 few transactions in onions under the 
 very eyes of some inexperienced per- 
 sons, produced a very powerful effect 
 on their mode of looking at the market 
 in general. Roasted chestnuts witJiout 
 the coupons were uncommonly active at 
 first handling, but those who failed to 
 exercise caution in this investment 
 only burnt their fingers. Spanish 
 (nuts) were freely taken — while the 
 owners turned their backs — by some 
 doubtful parties in the market ; and 
 grapes were exceedingly sour and unsea- 
 sonable, at a shilling a pound, to those 
 who could not purchase them. Aspar- 
 agus is looking up, and radishes arc 
 taking a downward direction. Peas 
 were almost nothing at the opening; 
 and new potatoes were buoyant in the 
 basket, but turned out rather heavy at 
 the settling. 
 
 Oysters were dull at the opening. 
 
616 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 but went down rapidly soon after. 
 Flounders were of course flat, but to 
 the surprise of every one they showed 
 an inclination to come round toward 
 the afternoon, and there were one or 
 two transactions in whelks, but they 
 were of a comparatively insignificant 
 character. Lobsters' claws were lazy 
 at the opening, but closed heavily, and 
 those who had a hand in them would 
 gladly have been released if such a 
 course had been possible. 
 
 Very little is doing in calico, though 
 several extraordinary shifts are being 
 made by some of the manufacturers. 
 Inferior stuffs have not gone down since 
 the speech of Mr. Ferrand, but fustian 
 for parliamentary use is a good deal 
 sought after. Coarse material is much 
 wanted for the newspaper press, which 
 has had a glut of the raw article ; and 
 the latter is now considered so flimsy 
 that it may be seen through — which 
 entirely defeats the object it is intended 
 for. 
 
 Money was very plentiful in the city 
 this morning, and the man at the cross- 
 ing near the bank carried off a large 
 sum at the clearing. Mohair stock was 
 not very buoyant, but gloves were easy 
 at eighteen pence a pair and upward. 
 Coats were nominally heavy, but were 
 found much lighter on being weighed ; 
 and eggs, though they looked very 
 promising yesterday, opened very badly 
 this morning, purchasers exhibiting 
 considerable shyness. In spices there 
 was very little done ; but a party suf- 
 fered greatly who had been keeping 
 too close an eye to pepper. 
 
 Improving" a Banker's Broth. 
 
 jEMiiY Taylor, noted as one of the 
 sharpest and most successful, as well as 
 miserly, English stockbrokers of the 
 last century, once graciously invited two 
 of the clerks of a fellow banker to take 
 "pot luck" with him. On paying 
 their respects to him, therefore, at his 
 residence, — though with no intention 
 
 to dine, — ^these rollicking bucks found 
 the old boy boiling a solitary mutton 
 chojD, in an ocean of water, to make, 
 what he called, some " comfortable " 
 broth for himself, and his boon friend, 
 old Daniel Dancer, whom he expected. 
 
 After some complimentary solicita- 
 tions, the two " benders " humorously 
 prevailed upon him to fetch a pot of 
 porter, and, while he was gone, they 
 threw some stray pieces of his half- 
 penny candles into his cookery — which, 
 no doubt, ameliorated the scantiness of 
 the culinaiy mess, and made it more 
 delectable to those old hunks, who, as 
 appears from the sequel, devoured it 
 with keen appetites, cordially uniting 
 in their commendations of its unusual 
 richness. 
 
 But the next time Jemmy Taylor 
 met those two larks upon 'change, the 
 skinflint banker stoutly accused them 
 of theft and robbery, in stealing his 
 candles, and grew warm in his denun- 
 ciation of their knavery. The clerks, 
 however, immediately cleared them- 
 selves of the charge, by solemnly de- 
 claring to the perspiring miser, that 
 they had only committed them to the 
 pot, at the bottom of which he would 
 find the wicks, if his hunger had not 
 swallowed them. 
 
 Jemmy was bred a weaver, but after- 
 ward became a banker, which " trade " 
 he pursued with such usurious keen- 
 ness, that he was not long in amassing 
 a fortune such as is attained by only a 
 few. 
 
 Apprehended Embezzlements. 
 
 Clerks have of late years been play- 
 ing fast and loose to such an enormous 
 extent with their employers' money 
 and property, that it has become ex- 
 tremely difficult to know whom to 
 trust. Apprehensions have for some 
 time been entertained that the clerk of 
 the weather will be hard up next, as 
 having been engaged in some act of 
 embezzlement, his course having been 
 
IMPROVING A HAXKER'S BROTH. 
 
Xng *V ■"^'S- .Tiulcm^i. 
 
 ' oc^i/m/"^ 
 
BUSINESS employ:63. 
 
 677 
 
 very erratic for some time past, so 
 much so indeed as to have excited very 
 general remark. It is hinted that he 
 may be taken up on a charge of having 
 been in the habit, for years past, of 
 skimming the milky way and apj)ro- 
 priating the cream to Ms own use. If 
 we were Saturn, we certainly should 
 count our rings every night to see that 
 none of them were missing. 
 
 Hitting: the Nail on the Head. 
 
 Chakles Lamb's description of his 
 sensation ' on being emancipated from 
 his daily labor as a clerk in the " India 
 House " hits the nail on the head. He 
 says : "It was like passing from life 
 into eternity. I wandered about, thinlc- 
 ing I was happy, but feeling that I was 
 not. When all is holiday there are no 
 holidays. Think of this, thou man of 
 sudden wealth ; and if it shall so chance 
 that thou hast been a tallow chandler 
 in thy days of usefulness, make a clause 
 in thy bill of sale that shall reserve to 
 thee the right of still assisting at the 
 * factoiy ' on ' melting days.' " 
 
 Filling- a Grocer's Order. 
 
 A Cincinnati grocer's house, finding 
 out that cranberries commanded six 
 dollars per bushel, and under the im- 
 pression that the article could be 
 bought to advantage at St. Mary's, 
 wrote out to a customer, acquainting 
 him with the fact, and requesting him 
 to send " one hundred bushels per Sim- 
 mons," (the wagoner usually sent.) The 
 correspondent, a plain, uneducated 
 man, had considerable difficulty in de- 
 ciphering the fashionable scrawl com- 
 mon with merchants' clerks of late 
 years, and the most important word, 
 "cranberries," he failed altogether to 
 make out, but he plainly read, " 100 
 lushels persimmons.''^ As the article was 
 growing all around him, all the boys in 
 the neighborhood were set to gathering 
 it, and the wagoner made his appear- 
 
 ance in due time, in Cincinnati, with 
 eighty bushels, all that the wagon bed 
 would hold, and a line from the coun- 
 try dealer stating that the remainder 
 would follow, the next trip. An expla- 
 nation soon ensued, but the customer 
 insisted that the clerk of the Cincin- 
 nati house should have written " 5y 
 Simmons ".and not " per Simmons." 
 
 Ellin produced by Bad Reckoning-. 
 
 A VERY deserving trader was ruined 
 by his miscalculations respecting mer- 
 cantile discounts — a subject requiring, 
 at all times and in every branch of com- 
 merce, the close and intimate knowl- 
 edge of an experienced accountant. 
 
 The article he manufactured he at 
 first supplied to retail dealers at a large 
 profit of about thirty per cent. He 
 afterward confined his trade almost 
 exclusively to large wholesale houses, 
 to whom he charged the same price, 
 but under discount of twenty per cent., 
 believing that he was still realizing ten 
 per cent, for his own profit. His trade 
 was very extensive ; and it was not un- 
 til after some years that he discovered 
 the fact, that in the place of making 
 ten per cent, profit, as he imagined, by 
 this mode of making his sales, he was 
 realizing only four per cent. To £100 
 value of goods he added thirty per 
 cent., and invoiced them at £130. At 
 the end of each month, in the settle- 
 ment of accounts, amounting to some 
 thousands of pounds sterling with indi- 
 vidual houses, he deducted twenty per 
 cent., or twenty-six on each one hun- 
 dred and thirty pounds, leaving one 
 hundred and four net for every one 
 hundred pounds' value of goods at 
 prime cost, in place of one hundred 
 and ten pounds as he all along ex- 
 pected. 
 
 Dexterity of Specie Clerks. 
 
 Upon an occasion when a large 
 amount of bank notes was required, a 
 
678 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 clerk in the Bank of England is stated 
 to have signed his name, consisting of 
 seven letters, including the initial of his 
 Christian name, five thousand three hun- 
 dred times during eleven working hours, 
 and he also arranged the notes he had 
 signed in parcels of fifty each. It is an 
 interesting fact, which also may be 
 mentioned in this connection, that 
 when the hand or the head has been 
 for some time occupied in any kind of 
 special work, it cannot instantly change 
 its employment with full efiect. The 
 muscles of the limbs employed have 
 acquired a flexibility during their ex- 
 ertion — and those to be put into action 
 a stiflfening during rest — which renders 
 every, change slow and unequal in the 
 commencement. A similar result like- 
 wise takes place in any change of 
 mental exertion ; the attention bestow- 
 ed on the new subject is not so perfect 
 at the first commencement as it be- 
 comes after some exercise. 
 
 Commercial •'Drummers" or Travel- 
 ling Clerks. 
 
 Not an uninteresting feature of the 
 internal traffic of Great Britain, and the 
 same may apply in a good degree to 
 our own land, is the system commonly 
 termed commercial travelling. For- 
 merly, almost every commercial house 
 of any note, employed one or more 
 agents or clerks, whose business it was 
 to travel about the country and procure 
 custom for their principals. The sys- 
 tem, wherever pursued at present, is 
 substantially the same now as then. 
 
 The commercial traveller — as this 
 kind of agent or clerk is denominated 
 — is generally a young and very shrewd 
 individual, possessing great suavity of 
 manner, and a remarkable ability to 
 suit himself readily to all the varied 
 modes of his various customers. Fur- 
 nished by his principals with choice 
 samples of their goods, he steps into 
 his conveyance, and with a light heart 
 commences his circuit. It is not con- 
 
 sidered unusual if nearly a year elapses 
 before he returns to his employers. At 
 each town upon his route, he tarries at 
 the principal inn, where he is sure to 
 find a hearty welcome. After thus en- 
 sconcing himself in comfortable quar- 
 ters, he arranges his samples, and, if it 
 be forenoon, puts them under his arm 
 and issues forth to visit the shopkeep- 
 ers in the place. Wherever he goes, he 
 is met with cordiality. Like all travel- 
 lers, he is full of anecdote, and has at 
 his command the rarest news of his 
 time. None are more glad to see him 
 than the shopkeepers' wives and daugh- 
 ters. To these he imparts the most 
 recent scandal and the latest fashions, 
 and thus afibrds them subjects for gos- 
 sip until his next visit to the town. To 
 the tradesman he lauds his samples 
 with all the eloquence and ingenuity 
 of which he is capable, and seldom 
 leaves them without making considera- 
 ble bargains in behalf of his principals. 
 He then collects money due on former 
 purchases, and, if in convenient shape, 
 forwards the funds, together with his 
 customers' orders for goods, by mail, to 
 his employers. 
 
 With few exceptions, these drum- 
 mers, or clerks, are an intelligent, con- 
 scientious, whole-souled company. Gen- 
 erous, convivial, and full of anecdote, 
 the mercantile agent is a good com- 
 panion, and his conversation never fails 
 to make glad and jocund the society 
 where he mingles. In his continuous 
 journeying about the country, he has 
 mixed with all classes, and gleaned in- 
 formation of all kinds and from all 
 sources — humorous and grave, light 
 and substantial. His temperament is 
 mercurial, and he readily adapts him- 
 self to the company which he is in. 
 But if there be one place at which he 
 feels more at home than another, that 
 place is at the dinner table, where he 
 meets his professional fellows. There 
 are generally as many as five or six, and 
 sometimes more than twice that num- 
 ber of these travellers, in every town, 
 
BUSINESS EMPLOYES. 
 
 679 
 
 at certain seasons, tarrying only so long 
 a time as will suffice them to accom- 
 plish their business there. These stop 
 at the same inn, and eat together in a 
 room apart from the ordinary. As the 
 morning is devoted exclusively to busi- 
 ness, they take their ease after dinner, 
 and linger over their "wine. In the 
 evening, some of their -customers drop 
 in, a circle is formed, and the evening 
 hours are forgotten in the recital of 
 story And anecdote, the cracking of 
 brittle jests, and the enjoyment of good 
 ■wine and cigars. 
 
 Keeping- Score by Double Entry. 
 
 An Illinois correspondent of the 
 Knickerbocker cracks a nut for book- 
 keepers, in the following style: — ^You 
 know Elije Scroggins, up here in White 
 county ? Yes ? Well, about six years 
 ago, Elije kept a kind of " one horse " 
 grocery, on the edge of "Seven-mile 
 Prairie." I don't think he kept much 
 besides "bald-faced, thirty-day whis- 
 key," and maybe some ginger brandy. 
 Times were mighty tight, and not 
 much money stirring in that settle- 
 ment ; so Elije had to credit most of 
 his customers till corn-gathering time, 
 or till fur was good ; and as he had no 
 " book-learning," he used to make some 
 kind of a mark for his different patrons, 
 on a clapboard, which he kept for the 
 purpose, and then chalk down the 
 " drinks " against them as they got 
 them, which in some cases was pretty 
 often. 
 
 One day there was a big meeting ap- 
 pointed at the Possum-Ridge school- 
 house, about five miles from Elije's, 
 and his wife persuaded him to go ; so 
 on Sunday morning they gathered up 
 the children and toted off to meeting 
 to make a day of it. 
 
 Along through this day, some of the 
 neighbors, getting a leetle dry, went 
 over to Elije's to moisten their clay, 
 and finding the door shut, and nobody 
 about, they were somewhat alarmed, 
 
 and didn't know but somebody was 
 either sick or dead ; so they jjushed in 
 to see about it, and finding things all 
 right, they concluded that Elije and 
 his old woman had gone off on a visit. 
 So they took a drink all around out 
 of friendly feeling to him, and were 
 about going off, when one of them 
 caught sight of the tally-board stuck 
 under the rafter, and pulled it down — 
 and, either out of pure devilment, or 
 thinking it an easy way to pay off a 
 score, just gave it a wipe, and stuck it 
 back again. 
 
 In the evening, when Elije got back, 
 he had occasion to look at his " ac- 
 counts" for some purpose or other, 
 when, to his great astonishment and 
 dismay, he found it, in groggery par- 
 lance, considerably " mixed." He 
 scratched his head over it for some 
 time, evidently trying to make it out, 
 and finally calling his wife in, he show- 
 ed it to her, and said : " There, thafs 
 what a man gets for going off and neg- 
 lecting his business." 
 
 On the whole, however, he got over 
 it pretty quietly for him, for Elije used 
 to swear mightily when his back was 
 up. He didn't have much to say now, 
 though, but sat, with his chin on his 
 hands, and his elbows on his knees, 
 looking in the fire all the evening ; but 
 on Monday morning, he got up bright 
 and early, and taking down the clap- 
 board, gave it a good wash, and began 
 very industriously to figure away upon 
 it? Two or three times during the 
 morning, his wife looked in, and he 
 was still working away at it ; and at 
 dinner time, when she came to call 
 him, she ventured to ask how he was 
 getting on. " Well," said he, holding 
 the tally-board off at arm's length, and 
 looking at it very earnestly, with his 
 head on one side, " I don't know as I've 
 got as much charged as I had, but Fm 
 got it on letter men ! " 
 
680 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 Charming: Customer in a Bank— Perils 
 of a Cashier. 
 
 When a casMer in a banking house 
 commits an error by paying too much, 
 the loss falls upon the clerk, unless 
 there be some extenuating circum- 
 stances to justify a contrary course ; the 
 mistake is then called a clerical error. 
 The reader will not be at much loss to 
 know in which category to place the 
 following : 
 
 One Monday morning, a very ele- 
 gantly dressed female entered the bank- 
 ing house of , and presented a check 
 
 for payment, at the same time request- 
 ing, with a great show of politeness, 
 that she might have gold in exchange 
 for the check. The lady was not only well 
 dressed, but she was very beautiful ; so 
 much so that the attention of the cashier 
 was riveted upon her. He weighed 
 fifty sovereigns, which he handed to 
 the lady; and, supposing she would 
 count them, one by one, he anticipated 
 that the pleasure he enjoyed in looking 
 upon her would thereby be prolonged ; 
 but he was mistaken — for, to his sur- 
 prise, instead of counting them, she 
 huddled them all up together, and put 
 them in a white pocket handkerchief 
 The cashier, observing this unusual 
 mode, said : *' You had better count 
 ihem, madam ; " but the lady, looking 
 iat him with a most winsome smile, re- 
 plied: "I am quite satisfied, sir, that 
 jou are right ,; ■" and with another be- 
 witching look, wished him " good-day," 
 ,and walked leisurely out of the bank. 
 
 The cashier was so overpowered with 
 rthe beauty of his customer, that imme- 
 .diately on her retiring, he went a few 
 :paces to a fellow cashier and asked if 
 he had ever seen so lovely a creature — 
 •" Puch a 'bewitcliing woman ! " said he, 
 •" and what a sparkling brilliancy there 
 was in her eye ! I wonder who she 
 is ? " This caused him to look at the 
 check, which on first receiving he had 
 placed on his book, without entering 
 or once glancing at it again ; when he 
 
 was startled at discovering that it was 
 for five pounds instead of fifty ! Ut- 
 tering an exclamation, he jumped over 
 the counter, and was in the street in a 
 second. He looked to the right and 
 the left, but could distinguish no trace 
 of the beautiful lady. He ran in and 
 out of the several courts that surround- 
 ed the bank, but in vain ; he returned 
 to the banking house to take counsel 
 vdih. his fellow-admirer of the charm- 
 ing woman, as to the best course to 
 adopt, when it was decided that he 
 should immediately apply to the draw- 
 er of the check for the name and ad- 
 dress of the party to whom he paid it, 
 — the body of the check simply ex- 
 pressing it to be payable to " house 
 expenses or bearer." 
 
 The drawer of the check, Mr. P., on 
 being asked by the cashier to furnish 
 him with the desired information, ex- 
 pressed his surprise at what he called 
 such impertinent curiosity ; but, on 
 being informed of the mistake that had 
 been made, he immediately gave the 
 name and address, "Miss Thompson, 
 Bury street, St. James's," adding, "I 
 beg you will not utter a word of this 
 afi'air to any one, for if it should come 
 to the ears of Mrs. P., I fear the most 
 serious consequences would result from 
 my indiscretion, for the party in ques- 
 tion is, I believe, only too celebrated." 
 
 Anxious to catch the lady on her re- 
 turn home, the cashier assured the gen- 
 tleman of his silence, and proceeded 
 with the utmost expedition to Bury 
 street. The door was opened by an 
 innocent-looking girl, who, on being 
 asked if Miss Thompson was at home, 
 replied, with great simplicity, "No, 
 sir, Miss Thompson is not at home ; " 
 and, as though she wished to stifle all 
 further inquiries, she added, " I don't 
 think she will come back." 
 
 It ultimately turned out, that the 
 moment that "Miss Thompson" re- 
 turned from the city, she packed up 
 her things and left the house, of course 
 without leaving her address or any 
 
~r ",.-;K 
 
O DE MEDICI 
 
 (§>f^^/ti^. ^^/^M.^ %r 
 
 VT.G. JackraaiL ITgw^ark.. 
 
BUSINESS EMPLOYES. 
 
 681 
 
 clue to her whereabouts, enjoying, no 
 doubt, the satisfaction of having proved 
 the truth of the saying that " love is 
 blind " — for she had, by a naive exer- 
 cise of her charms, so far blinded the 
 eyes of a city banker that he could 
 not distinguish between five and fifty 
 pounds. 
 
 This was a sad termination of the 
 affair to the cashier, who on his return 
 to the bank felt ashamed to mention 
 the circumstance to the house, and it 
 was arranged that the drawer of the 
 check should, by way of purchasing 
 the silence of the cashier, pay one half 
 of the amount, and the cashier the 
 other, which was done. 
 
 Lafitte's Wasteful Clerk. 
 
 In the zenith of his prosperity as a 
 w^orld-renowned banker, Lafitte retain- 
 ed the same principles of frugality and 
 saving that characterized him in his 
 days of indigence. He was never the 
 avaricious and grasping miser, but he 
 was ever the parsimonious saver. He 
 would scold, and sometimes read his 
 clerks a lecture upon their wilful waste 
 of a pen, a piece of paper, or an inch 
 of twine ; yet he had a vein of charity, 
 and could be magnificent in his benev- 
 olence. 
 
 One morning a lady entered the 
 boudoir of the banker, to solicit his 
 subscription to some charitable object. 
 He appeared somewhat ruffled in his 
 temper just at the moment, but he re- 
 ceived her graciously, as a Frenchman 
 knows how. 
 
 " What do you require, my good sis- 
 ter ? " asked the banker. 
 
 " Sir," she replied, " I come to you 
 on behalf of my distressed neighbors ; 
 their necessity is great." 
 
 " Indeed I you have called at the 
 right time, for just now I am angry 
 with that gentleman for wasting my 
 wafers." At the same time he pointed 
 to a young man seated at a desk, who 
 
 smiled, but was evidently discon- 
 certed. 
 
 The benevolent lady pretty much 
 concluded that her mission would be a 
 fruitless one ; and that her visit might 
 not be without some good result, she 
 amiably applied herself to excuse the 
 fault of the clerk, who had called down 
 the reproof of the careful money dealer, 
 by not maJcing one icafer serve to seal two 
 letters. Lafitte listened attentively, and 
 afterward presented to the lady a check 
 for one thousand francs, saying, at the 
 same time : 
 
 " If, in my career, I had not econo- 
 mized in trifles, it would not be so easy 
 for me to have contributed to-day to 
 the excellent object which you have in 
 hand. Pray, look in upon me from 
 time to time ! " 
 
 Chickering: and his Employes on 
 "Blue" Day. 
 
 The third of October, 1857, is still 
 remembered and spoken of in Boston 
 business circles, as "blue day;" and 
 could all the incidents of mercantile 
 and trading life on that day be gather- 
 ed in the form of a volume, it would 
 constitute a book of chronicles indeed. 
 One of those incidents— but in this case 
 a refreshing one — is well known to 
 many, but will bear repetition. The 
 firm of Chickering & Sons emiDloyed in 
 their establishment over three hundred 
 persons, and consequently their weekly 
 pay roll was very large. Owing to 
 non-remittances, from all parts of the 
 country, of funds due, this firm did 
 not pay their men, having business 
 paper maturing which required all 
 their available money. The men, with- 
 out one dissenting voice, passed a se- 
 ries of resolutions tendering to Messrs. 
 Chickering their regrets at such a 
 financial crisis, and stating their wil- 
 lingness and ability to wait for their 
 pay until a more favorable time, also 
 intimating in the kindest manner that 
 if a loan of six or eight thousand dol- 
 
682 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 lars would be useful at that moment, 
 they would be happy to tender that 
 sum as a willing contribution from 
 
 their savings. 
 
 — « — 
 
 Prench. Female Plot against a Clerk. 
 
 A VERY elegantly dressed lady once 
 entered one of the most fashionable 
 shops in Toulouse, in quest of some ar- 
 ticles indispensable for the toilette of a 
 lady a la mode. A rich carriage waited 
 at the door, and everything about the 
 lady was calculated to inspire the 
 greatest confidence. 
 
 The shopping was soon done, and 
 the bill presented. "It is well," said 
 the lady ; " send one of your clerks 
 with me — ^he shall be paid, and the 
 carriage shall bring him back." 
 
 A clerk is soon ready; the carriage 
 moves on, and after a short ride, stops 
 before a large building. The door is 
 opened, and the lady and the clerk 
 enter a parlor. After a few minutes' 
 delay, a gentleman of very respectable 
 appearance enters, and receives them 
 cordially. 
 
 " Take charge of Monsieur — I will 
 soon return," says the lady, and leaves. 
 In two minutes the noise of carriage 
 w^heels is heard. 
 
 The young man, thus left alone with 
 the gentleman, becomes impatient, and 
 exclaims : 
 
 " Pay me, if you please." 
 
 " For what ? " 
 
 "For the shawls and dresses, you 
 know." 
 
 " Be not so hasty, my young friend, 
 I'll answer." 
 
 " For what ? " 
 
 " For your convalescence — calm your- 
 self" 
 
 The clerk was thinking all the time 
 that he was speaking to the lady-cus- 
 tomer's brother, when, in reality, he 
 
 was addressing Dr. D , a celebrated 
 
 physician of maniacs. The lady had 
 made the doctor a visit shortly before 
 making her bargain — had consulted 
 
 him, and solicited his aid in favor of 
 her young brother, who was mentally 
 deranged. She had given him a full 
 account of the mania of this brother, 
 who, she said, believed himself to be 
 the clerk of some merchant, and would 
 continually demand money for shawls 
 and dresses, which he had sold on ac- 
 count of his employer. Dr. D , be- 
 lieving thus that he was with a lunatic, 
 treats him as such. The clerk asks for 
 his money; the doctor, offers him a 
 room. At last the young man works 
 himself into a passion, and screams, in 
 despair, most fearfully. This only con- 
 firms the doctor's suspicion, and he is 
 contemplating treating his patient to 
 shower baths, when the clerk demands 
 paper and ink, proposing to write to 
 his employer. The doctor agrees, think- 
 ing to discover some new symptom. 
 The letter is written and despatched; 
 half an hour afterward, the merchant 
 arrives, and an explanation ensues. 
 The success of the plot was up to this 
 moment complete. The beautiful lady 
 was — nowhere. 
 
 Serious Bargain for a Clerkship. 
 
 Not many months ago, a hop dealer 
 of the neighborhood of Prague entered 
 the counting house of a large merchant 
 of the latter place, with whom he had 
 commercial relations. The latter asked 
 him how business was going on, when 
 he replied : " I am doing so little that 
 I am almost inclined to enter your ser- 
 vice as a clerk." " What salary would 
 you require?" asked the merchant. 
 " Only two thousand florins a year," 
 replied the other, laughing. The mer- 
 chant shook hands with him, saying, 
 " That is a bargain." After a little 
 further conversation the hop dealer re- 
 tired, and neither one nor the other 
 appeared to think any more of the 
 matter. 
 
 Six days after, a considerable rise 
 began to take place in hops, and the 
 merchant went to Saaz, the largest 
 
BUSINESS EMPLOYES. 
 
 683 
 
 market in Bohemia, to make purchases, 
 and to his annoyance found that the 
 dealer had got the start of him, and 
 purchased all he could find. Meeting 
 the dealer in the street, the merchant 
 asked him what hops he had purchas- 
 ed, and the price. " That is my affair," 
 was the reply. " What do you mean 
 by your affair ? You forget, then, that 
 you are my clerk, and that I have a 
 right to inquire what business you trans- 
 act on my account. You are free to 
 cancel your engagement hereafter, but 
 for the present you act for me." 
 
 The dealer went to consult an advo- 
 cate, who told him that his engage- 
 ment as a clerk was legally valid, and 
 that in any case a trial would be a 
 tedious affair. He then went to the 
 merchant, and after a long discussion 
 agreed to jDay four thousand florins 
 (two thousand dollars) damages for 
 cancelling his engagement, in order to 
 retain for his own account the profit- 
 able speculation he had made. When 
 the money had been paid, the Prague 
 merchant declared that he would not 
 keep a farthing of it, and distributed 
 it among some poor relations of the 
 dealer. 
 
 Refusal to become Girard's Cashier; 
 the Reason Why. 
 
 GiRATiD had a high appreciation of 
 the business capacity of Joseph L. In- 
 glis — especially as an accurate and rap- 
 id accountant — as well as undoubting 
 confidence in his integrity. For his 
 strict religious character he had not 
 the least regard. When the cashier of 
 his bank died, he tendered the place to 
 Mr. Inglis, who was then clerk in an 
 insurance company. 
 
 " Mr. Girard," was the immediate re- 
 ply, " I cannot serve you." Mr. Inglis 
 well knew that Girard had no respect 
 for the Sabbath, and that in his service 
 he would be called on to post his books 
 and attend to financial matters on that 
 day. 
 
 " Why you not serve me ? " said the 
 rich banker ; " I give you more salary 
 than you get now. It is a better place. 
 Why you not be my cashier ? " 
 
 " Mr. Girard," was the grave and de- 
 termined answer, " I appreciate all 
 that ; but you and I serve different 
 masters, and we never could agree." 
 Mr. Girard understood the allusion, 
 and said no more. 
 
 Reason for Trusting- a Clerk. 
 
 The late president of the United 
 States Bank once dismissed a private 
 clerk, because the latter refused to 
 write for him on the Sabbath. 
 
 The young man, with a mother de- 
 pendent on his exertions, was thus 
 thrown out of employment, by what 
 some would call an over-nice scruple 
 of conscience. But a few days after, 
 when the president was requested to 
 nominate a cashier for another bank, 
 he recommended this very individual, 
 mentioning this incident as a sufficient 
 testimony to his trustworthiness. 
 
 " You can trust him," said he, " for 
 he would not work for me on the Sab- 
 bath." 
 
 Too Conscientious an Accountant. 
 
 A CLERK in Boston was dismissed 
 from his place, because he Mould not 
 become a party to a falsification in a 
 trade, by which refusal on his part the 
 firm failed to secure several hundred 
 dollars which did not belong to them, 
 but which they expected to obtain. 
 For this fidelity to truth, which ought 
 to have added a hundred per cent, to 
 the estimation in which he was held 
 by his employers, the young man was 
 dismissed from his position. A few 
 days afterward, hearing of a vacant sit- 
 uation, he applied for it. The mer- 
 chant, who wished for an accountant, 
 asked if he could refer him to any in- 
 dividual by whom he was known, and 
 who would recommend him as an up- 
 
684 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 right young man. Conscious of his 
 uprightness, he replied, " I have just 
 
 been dismissed from Mr. 's, of 
 
 whom you may inquire. He has tried 
 me, he has known me." When applied 
 to, his former employer gave a full and 
 free recommendation, and added, " He 
 was too conscientious about little 
 matters." This young man is now part- 
 ner in a large firm in Boston, and on 
 the high road to honorable wealth. 
 
 Misfortune Tending: to Liberality. 
 
 A WEALTHY merchant having lost, 
 by one shipwreck, to the value of sev- 
 enty thousand dollars, ordered his 
 clerk to distribute five hundred dollars 
 among poor ministers and other per- 
 sons ; adding, that if his fortune was 
 going by seventy thousand dollars at a 
 lump, it was high time to make sure 
 of some part of it before it was gone. 
 The clerk forthwith proceeded to dis- 
 pense that charity which knows no 
 earthly account book. 
 
 Shocking- Ignorance of City Clerks 
 Illustrated. 
 
 An illiterate deacon, in a certain town 
 adjacent to Worcester, Mass., gave to 
 the coachman a slip of paper, upon 
 which, he said, were written the names 
 of a couple of books which he wished 
 him to call for at Mr. A.'s bookstore. 
 The driver called a* the store, and 
 handing the memorandum to a clerk, 
 said, " There's a couple of books which 
 Deacon B. wished you to send him." 
 The clerk, upon a careful examination 
 of the paper, was unable to make 
 " head or tail " of it, and passed it to 
 the bookkeeper, who was supposed to 
 know something of letters ; but to him 
 it was also " Greek." The proprietor 
 was called, and he also gave the thing 
 up in despair ; and it was finally con- 
 cluded to send the memorandum back 
 to the deacon, as it was supposed that 
 he must have sent the wrong paper. 
 
 As. the coach arrived at the village 
 inn, the driver saw the deacon waiting 
 on the steps. " Well, driver," said he, 
 " did you get my books to-day ? " 
 " Boohs ? no — and a good reason why, 
 for there couldn't a man in Worcester 
 read your old hen-tracks." " Couldn't 
 read 'ritin' ? Let me see the paper ! " 
 The driver drew it from his jDocket, 
 and passed it to the deacon ; who, 
 taking out and carefully adjusting his 
 spectacles, held the memorandum at 
 arm's length, exclaiming, as he did so, 
 in a very satisfied tone, " Why, it's as 
 plain as the nose on your face ! — ' T o 
 S-A-M B-u-x — two psalm books ! ' I 
 guess those city clerks had better go 
 to school again ! " And here the 
 deacon muttered some impatient reflec- 
 tions upon the times and of clerks in 
 particular, the want of attention to 
 books by the risin' generation, &c., &c. 
 
 Bank Clerks and their "Friends." 
 
 The embezzlement of bank funds, in 
 many cases, has either had its origin in, 
 or been greatly aggravated by the folly 
 and vice of gambling; and this has 
 generally been brought about by the 
 persuasion or the arts of persons con- 
 nected with gambling houses. The 
 bank clerk or the bank officer, is a 
 most promising victim in this line, if 
 he can be induced to make the first ex- 
 periment in such a direction; and a 
 single victim will reward many plans. 
 The following is one instance of this 
 kind : 
 
 A paying teller accepted the invita- 
 tion of a friend to take a ride in the 
 country. The farther end of the ride 
 proved to be a house frequented by 
 sporting characters. He believed this 
 to be accidental — until a subsequent 
 proposition, after an interval of sev- 
 eral weeks, revealed the true character 
 and design of his polite friend — and 
 the natural result followed. 
 
 Thus inveigled, this clerk or teller 
 practised fraud on a most adroit plan. 
 
BUSINESS EMPLOYES. 
 
 685 
 
 He began by certifying a check in ad- 
 vance of the dealer's deposit ; and on 
 the following day certified another, 
 that it might be negotiated, and the 
 means thus obtained to remove the first 
 out of sight ; to provide for the second, 
 a third was certified — and so continu- 
 ously on, the negotiations of one day 
 furnishing the means to redeem the 
 checks of the day before. The amount 
 was gradually increased, until twelve 
 or fifteen checks, for amounts between 
 four and five thousand dollars each, were 
 afloat in the various channels of negotia- 
 tion. They were drawn for irregular 
 sums, that they might wear a business- 
 like appearance. No entry was made 
 of any of them on the books, and no 
 apparent deficiency was caused in the 
 teller's daily cash. An examination of 
 his statement would have developed no 
 clue to the fraud, which consisted en- 
 tirely of floating certifications. There 
 were two confederates in the plan — one 
 a dealer at the bank, and the other a 
 broker whose account had been closed 
 for iiTcgularity several months before 
 the exposure came about. As the fraud 
 conld be maintained only by a com- 
 plete daily renewal and negotiation of 
 the whole of it, the three met in the 
 evening at the office of the broker, and 
 the teller was advised of the banks in 
 which the checks had been deposited, 
 so that he could lay aside those parti- 
 cular exchanges in the morning, and 
 thus prevent them from passing into 
 the hands of the assistant teller. It 
 was then also ascertained what amount 
 of checks must be negotiated on the 
 following day, and they were written 
 by the confederates and then certified 
 by the paying teller. The develop- 
 ments of the case proved that this 
 process had been carried on for many 
 months, the amount gradually increas- 
 ing, until it reached seventy-five thou- 
 sand dollars. There had been, in the 
 mean time, five or six examinations by 
 committees of the directors, and the 
 usual certificate of accuracy in the ac- 
 
 counts was recorded. The teller who 
 perpetrated this fraud was a very ac- 
 complished clerk. His self-possession, 
 when all around him was excitement 
 and hurry, seemed to increase with the 
 emergency. He manifested an extraor- 
 dinary faculty for detecting the slight- 
 est indications of fraudulent or dishon- 
 orable purpose in others, and the bank 
 owed to him many fortunate escapes 
 from loss by the various tricks and im- 
 positions which are practised by deal- 
 ers when in extremity. It was subse- 
 quently ascertained that he had been 
 a regular attendant at a gambling 
 house. 
 
 After the development of the fraud 
 in question, several respectable dealers 
 with the bank came forward and said : 
 " Didn't you know that that fellow was 
 a gambler? — why, I've known it for 
 more than a year." " Why didn't you 
 tell us of it ? " " Because it wasn't my 
 business." 
 
 Bookkeepingr in Former Times. 
 
 In the middle of the last century in 
 this country, as at a somewhat earlier 
 period in England, it was not the uni- 
 versal practice of merchants, — except 
 those who were in very extensive busi- 
 ness, — to have a regular set of books 
 kept by a partner or clerk. The trans- 
 actions of the day were entered in a 
 waste, and once or twice a week, ac- 
 cording to the extent of the business, 
 a professed bookkeeper, well versed in 
 what were considered the mysteries of 
 his calling, came and compiled the 
 journal and ledger. It was only in 
 the progress of time, and at a com- 
 paratively recent period, that it was 
 deemed indispensable to have the 
 books wholly kept within the estab- 
 lishment, and that the system of double 
 entry was reduced substantially to its 
 present form. The work of Booth, 
 which contributed materially to this 
 result, was published in England so 
 lately as 1789. He had been a practical 
 
686 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 merchant both in London and New 
 York. 
 
 Keeping- Accounts in Guinea. 
 
 The Guinea merchants give and 
 receive receipts for all their goods in 
 writing. Agreements of all kinds, 
 and promissory notes, and orders, 
 from w^hom they trade, are folded 
 carefully and tied in the corners 
 of their handkerchiefs. A native trader, 
 doing business with ten or fifteen ships 
 at the same time, and whose transac- 
 tions extend to every article of com- 
 merce they have, has an incredible num- 
 ber of written documents or books per- 
 taining to his business, but the wrong 
 book is never known to be presented. 
 
 Placing: the Pen behind tha Ear. 
 
 The practice, so general among mer- 
 chants and clerks, of resting their pen 
 behind the ear, when not in actual 
 use, is ancient. According to the best 
 account concerning this matter, the 
 scribes in ancient Egypt would clap 
 the reed-pencil which they used be- 
 hind the ear, when listening to any 
 person on business, as the painter was 
 also in the habit of doing when paus- 
 ing to examine the effects of his paint- 
 ing. In the middle ages, also, public 
 clerks "and registrars were accustomed 
 to carry a pen behind the ear. 
 
 Waste-Book and Ledger— their 
 Meaning:. 
 The waste-book in a counting room 
 is that in which all the transactions of 
 the day, receipts, payments, etc., are 
 entered miscellaneously as they occur, 
 and of which no account is imme- 
 diately taken, no value immediately 
 found ; whence, so to speak, the mass 
 of affairs is undigested, and the wilder- 
 ness or waste is uncultivated, and with- 
 out result until entries are methodically 
 made in the day-book and ledger, with- 
 out which latter appliances there would, 
 
 in business dealings, and in bookkeep- 
 ing, be icaste indeed, in the worst sense 
 of the term. 
 
 Another explanation of this term may 
 be found in the following: The mer- 
 chant's system of bookkeeping was not 
 invented perfect. Thus, in many re- 
 spectable shops, in the country espe- 
 cially, these waste-books formerly con- 
 sisted of a quire or two of the com- 
 monest paper used in the trade there 
 carried on, that would bear pen and 
 ink, sewed together. An advance upon 
 this was the waste-book as a distinct 
 book, bound and ruled, of which the 
 day-book or journal is merely a fair 
 copy ; and this being made, the former 
 is held of no account. The word 
 " ledger " is of Dutch derivation, sig- 
 nifying a book that lies in the count- 
 ing house permanently in one place. 
 The word " day-book " explains itself. 
 
 Cost of a K"ap on the Ledg-er. 
 
 It was a hot sultry day in the latter 
 part of August, a day truly worthy of 
 New York ; the dirt in the streets, 
 which had been swept into little heaps, 
 was scattered about by the cart wheels 
 and found its way into every nook and 
 crevice, — a day which makes merchants' 
 clerks wish for a mouthful of pure air 
 and a cool draught of that which 
 " drips from the old oaken bucket." 
 
 In the afternoon of this very day, 
 there might have been seen in the 
 counting room of Messrs. Shaver & 
 Skinem — if that be the correct read- 
 ing of the sign, — a pale, sickly looking 
 young man, about twenty years of 
 age ; he is bending over a large ledger, 
 but he soon closes it, and resting his 
 head upon his hand he gazes at the 
 cover, but he does not see it, for his 
 thoughts are far away on the banks of 
 the Hudson. 
 
 "I wish I was at home — he solilo- 
 quizes. Brother John must be driving 
 the cows from pasturing, and the boys 
 collecting the sheep from the hills, and 
 
BUSINESS EMPLOYES. 
 
 687 
 
 tlie fowls going to roost on the old 
 pear tree, and the whippoorwill singing 
 his clear song on the cow-yard fence. 
 I wish / was there." Now his head 
 has fallen on the ledger, and wearied 
 by incessant toil he has sunk into a 
 quiet slumber. It will take many hours 
 of railroad travel to reach the destina- 
 tion of his thoughts, for they are far, 
 far away from the city. 
 
 Look ! something more than a 
 shadow glides in at the doors, 
 cautiously unlocks a drawer of the 
 safe, and takes therefrom something 
 that looks very like a five-hundred- 
 dollar bank note — he closes the drawer, 
 locks it, and glides out so quick, so 
 noiselessly, that he disturbed nothing ; 
 and the clerk, all unconsciously, still 
 sleeps on. 
 
 Suddenly he wakes with a convul- 
 sive start, but he soon resumes his usual 
 composure ; he puts the book into the 
 safe, locks it, and calling to the porter, 
 who is on the next floor above, he tells 
 him he can close the office now for he 
 is going home. Home, indeed ! A home 
 from necessity — a boarding house. 
 
 The next day he is looked at with a 
 suspicious eye by Messrs. Shaver & 
 Skinem, and in the afternoon a gentle- 
 man with a star on his breast walks 
 into the office and presents a warrant 
 for the arrest of Christopher Call, clerk 
 with Messrs. Shaver & Skinem, charged 
 with grand larceny. That night he 
 sleeps in the Tombs — Tombs for the 
 living, not for the dead, though there 
 are deaths there very often. He is 
 tried — pleading not guilty ; he looked 
 so thin and pale, and his voice was so 
 hollow, but clear and distinct, that it 
 is said that he haunted the court-room 
 for months afterward. Yet he was 
 acquitted. That night he was thunder- 
 ing along the railroad, and early the 
 next morning he was — at home. But 
 he was sick, yes, very sick, for more 
 than a month after. But he at last re- 
 gained his health. He never entered 
 into mercantile life again, but he com- 
 
 menced farming, and became a wealthy 
 and much respected farmer in the 
 vicinity of Hudson. 
 
 The Prose of Shopkeeping set to 
 Poetry. 
 
 ' She stood beside the counter. 
 
 The day he'll ne'er forget ; 
 She thought the muslin dearer 
 
 Than any she'd seen yet. 
 He watched her playful fingers 
 
 The silks and satins toss ; — 
 The clerk looked quite uneasy, 
 
 And nodded to the boss. 
 
 * Show me some velvet ribbon, 
 
 Barege and satin turc,' 
 She said ; ' I want to purchase ! ' 
 
 Then gave the goods a jerk ; 
 The clerk was all obedience — 
 
 He travelled ' on his shape ; ' 
 At length, with hesitation. 
 
 She bought — a yard of tape I " 
 
 Scissors vs. Shears. 
 
 " Is that the lowest you can take for 
 these lawns, Mr. Scissors ? " 
 
 " Yes, Miss, the very least, and a bar- 
 gain they are too; I bought them at 
 auction, where they were closed out at 
 a great sacrifice, and I ofi"er them to you 
 precisely at cost.'''' 
 
 " But I saw the same goods at Shears 
 & Co.'s at five cents a yard less." 
 
 " Not the same goods at all, ma'am ; 
 theirs are steam colors, quite an imita- 
 tion article, and not near so wide as 
 this ! " 
 
 The lady, being timid on the point 
 of colors, is at last persuaded to pay 
 the price ; and the shopkeeper pockets 
 his fifteen per cent, profit with as much 
 complacency as if he had only drawn 
 out his purse to give a dollar in 
 charity. ^ 
 
 Obtaining a Clerkship in a Banking 
 House. 
 Mr. Lawson, one of the most reada- 
 ble English authors on money and 
 
COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 finance, has given a sketchy account of 
 his first connection with the banking 
 fraternity. On visiting Lombard street 
 one day, to get a shilling changed into 
 pennies, he, impelled by some unknown 
 and indefinable influence, boldly ven- 
 tured into the office of one of the 
 largest banking houses in that noted 
 locality. What took place, he thus 
 narrates : — 
 
 I looked about me, but nobody ap- 
 peared to take any notice. I saw 
 young men standing behind long 
 counters, weighing gold and silver in 
 scales. I stood there for some time, 
 watching the tellers, and inwardly 
 admiring the magnificence of the 
 money-changers ; at last I said to one 
 of them, "Pray, sir, do you want a 
 clerk ? " He answered sharply, " Who 
 told you that we wanted a clerk ? " I 
 replied, " Nobody told me so, but, 
 having recently left school, I am desir- 
 ous of getting some employment. I 
 am living with my mother, who cannot 
 afibrd to keep me idle at home, and 
 what to do, I know not." 
 
 Whether the teller was struck with 
 the novelty of the application, or the 
 reason I adduced for making it, I never 
 could discover. Suffice it to say, that, 
 after waiting about ten minutes, I was 
 requested to walk into the partners' 
 room. 
 
 On my entering this sanctum sancto- 
 rum, I perceived three persons sitting 
 at a table. One was a venerable and 
 amiable looking old gentleman, the 
 head of the firm ; the others were 
 younger. One of the latter, the junior 
 partner, addressed me, putting the 
 question the teller had done ; and, 
 nothing daunted, I gave the same an- 
 swer, adding, "I do not like to be 
 beholden to my friends for my support, 
 if I can anyhow get my own living." 
 
 "A very praiseworthy determina- 
 tion," he said ; " and how old are you, 
 my boy, and how long have you been 
 from school?" Having satisfied him 
 upon these points, he continued his 
 
 queries, asking what sort of a hand I 
 wrote. " A very good one," I replied, 
 " at least so my master used to say ; " 
 and at the same time pulling out my 
 school copy-book, which I had been 
 thoughtful enough to put in my pocket, 
 I displayed it before them. " Aye," he 
 said, " that is very good writing ; but 
 can you get any one to be security for 
 you ? " I said at once, and without the 
 least hesitation, " Yes, sir." This reply 
 was made without my having at that 
 time the remotest idea what the term 
 security meant, as applied in the sense 
 in which he used it. I gave him the 
 name of a gentleman, who I said would 
 no doubt do what was required ; I also 
 gave him the name of the steward of 
 Christ's Hospital. 
 
 Inquiries were made of these gentle- 
 men, which proving satisfactory, I 
 received on the following Wednesday 
 a visit from the gentleman at the bank- 
 ing house whom I had accosted on my 
 first entering, and who on this occasion 
 said he was very happy to be the bearer 
 of the intelligence that I had been n,p- 
 pointed to a clerkship in the banking 
 house of Barclay, Tritton, Bevan & Cc, 
 and that I was to commence the duties 
 of my office on the following morning. 
 " Your salary," he added, " will be 
 seventy pounds per annum." This was 
 indeed a most agreeable and joyful piece 
 of information, and such as I had no 
 reason to expect. I accordingly made 
 my appearance at the office on the fol- 
 lowing morning, which but a week 
 before I had entered a wandering 
 stranger. I remained in the house 
 fifteen years, when the love of change 
 operating upon an active mind, induced 
 me to leave the bank, and seek for more 
 enlivening scenes. 
 
 Wife of a Merchant's Clerk. 
 
 A merchant's clerk, of the Rue 
 Hautville, took it into his head to get 
 married. His master had a niece *of 
 Spanish birth, an orphan— not pretty, 
 
BUSINESS EMPLOYES. 
 
 689 
 
 though very sensible and well inform- 
 ed. At the balls, during the winter, 
 little or no attention was paid to her ; 
 indeed, she seemed to attend them 
 rather as a whim than from inclination 
 or amusement, as she seldom danced. 
 But if she did not dance, she noticed 
 much, and listened to more. The clerk 
 soon observed that the lady was only 
 invited to dance when no other partner 
 could be obtained. She herself had 
 already noticed the same fact. Being 
 a gallant man, he acted accordingly. 
 The incidents that led to the denouement 
 may be easily divined. In six weeks 
 after his first dance with the fair Span- 
 iard, he obtained her permission to ask 
 her uncle for her hand in marriage. 
 He, astonished, gave his clerk's pro- 
 posal a very cool reception, and then 
 had a long interview with his niece. 
 Finally, however, all was arranged, and 
 the lovers were married on Tuesday. 
 The Thursday after, at breakfast, Ade- 
 line said to her husband, who exhibited 
 considerable chagrin at being compelled 
 to return to the duties of his office thus 
 early in the honeymoon : 
 
 "Very well — don't go there — go 
 there no more 1 " 
 
 " My love, it is very easy to say so, 
 but"— 
 
 " Easy to say and easy to do — both. 
 I have a million and a half. Nobody 
 knows it but my uncle. I always made 
 a point of forgetting it myself, because 
 I wished to choose a really disinterested 
 husband. There need be no more office- 
 work for you, if you do not wish it. 
 Yet still, my advice is, husband, that 
 you neglect nothing." It is rather to 
 be feared, that notwithstanding the 
 advice of " my love," the revelation of 
 her "million and a half" caused him 
 to " spread " somewhat. 
 
 Ben liippincott, Girard's Clerk. 
 
 Mr. Girard had a favorite clerk, and 
 he always said " he intended to do well 
 by Ben Lippincott." So when Ben 
 44 
 
 got to be twenty-one, he expected to 
 hear the governor say something of his 
 future prospects, and perhaps lend a 
 helping hand in starting him in the 
 world. But the old fox carefully avoid- 
 ed the subject. Ben mustered courage. 
 "I supj)ose I am free, sir," said he, 
 " and I thought I would say something 
 to you as to my course ; what do you 
 think I would better do ? ' " Yes, yes, 
 I know you are," said the old million- 
 naire, " and my advice is that you go 
 and learn the cooper's trade." This 
 application of ice nearly froze Ben out, 
 but recovering equilibrium, he said if 
 Mr. Girard was in earnest, he would, do 
 so. " I am in earnest ; " and Ben sought 
 the best cooper in Spring Garden, be- 
 came an apprentice, and in due time 
 could make as good a barrel as the 
 best. He announced to old Stephen 
 that he had graduated, and was ready 
 to set up business. The old man 
 seemed gratified, and immediately or- 
 dered three of the best barrels he could 
 turn out. Ben did his prettiest, and 
 wheeled them up to the old man's 
 counting room. Old Girard pro- 
 nounced them first rate, and demanded 
 the price. " One dollar," said Ben, 
 " is now as low as I can live by." 
 " Cheap enough — make out your bill." 
 
 The bill was made out, and "old 
 Steve" settled it with a check for 
 $20,000, which he accompanied with 
 this little moral to the story : — 
 
 "There, take that, and invest it in 
 the best possible manner, and if you 
 are unfortunate and lose it, you have a 
 good trade to fall back upon, which 
 will afford you a good living." 
 
 Sample Clerk wanted in a Drug Store. 
 
 Jem B. is a wag. A joke to Jem is 
 both food and raiment ; and whenever 
 and wherever there is an opening for 
 fun, he " goes into " it. 
 
 Jem was recently in a drug store, 
 when a youth, apparently fresh from 
 the " mounting," entered the store, and 
 
690 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 at once accosted Jem, stating that he 
 was in search of a job. 
 
 " What kind of a job ? " inquired the 
 wag. 
 
 " Oh, a'most anything — I want to git 
 a kind of a ginteel job ; I'm tired o' 
 farmin', an' kin turn my hand to most 
 anything." 
 
 " Well, we want a man — a good, 
 strong, healthy man, as sample clerk." 
 
 '' What's the wages ? " 
 
 " Wages are good ; we pay $1,000 to 
 a man in that* situation." 
 
 " What's a feller have to do ? " 
 
 " Oh, merely to test medicines, that's 
 all. It requires a stout man, one of 
 good constitution, and after he gets 
 used to it, he doesn't mind it. You see, 
 we are very particular about the qual- 
 ity of our medicines, and before we sell 
 any, we test every parcel. You would 
 be required to take — say, six or seven 
 ounces of castor oil some days, with a 
 few doses of rhubarb, aloes, croton oil, 
 and similar preparations. Some days 
 you would not be required to test any- 
 thing ; but, as a general thing, you can 
 count upon — say, from six to ten doses 
 of something daily. As to the work, 
 that does not amount to much — the 
 testing department, simply, would be 
 the principal labor required of you; 
 and, as I said before, it requires a per- 
 son of very healthy organization to en- 
 dure it, but you look hearty and I guess 
 you would suit us. That young man 
 (pointing to a very pale-faced, slim- 
 looking youth, who happened to be pres- 
 ent) has filled the post for the past two 
 weeks, but he is hardly stout enough to 
 stand it. We should like to have you 
 take right hold, if you are ready, and if 
 you say so, we'll begin to-day. Here is 
 a new barrel of castor oil just come in; 
 I'll go and draw an ounce — " 
 
 Here verdant, who had been gazing 
 intently upon the slim youth, inter- 
 rupted him with — 
 
 "N-no, no, I g-u-ess not, not to- 
 day, anyhow. I'll go down and see 
 my aunt; and ef I o'clude to come. 
 
 I'll come up terhiorrer an' let you 
 know." 
 
 He has not yet turned up. 
 
 Saying of an Old Merchant. 
 
 A DISTINGUISHED merchant, long ac- 
 customed to extensive observation and 
 experience, and who had gained an un- 
 common knowledge of men, said: 
 " When I see one of my apprentices or 
 clerks riding out on the Sabbath, on 
 Monday I dismiss him. Such an one 
 cannot be trusted." There is many a 
 clerk, compelled to post accounts on 
 Sunday, who would be glad of just such 
 an employer. 
 
 t 
 
 Lady's Portrait of a Dry Goods Clerk. 
 
 A LADY — somewhat querulous, but, 
 as is generally the case, au fait in mat- 
 ters of shopping — thus limns, or, per- 
 haps we should say, lams the clerks : — 
 Some stores in — street (she says) are 
 noted and a\roided, for the imperti- 
 nently familiar manner which the 
 clerks think proper to adopt toward 
 their lady customers. When a lady 
 goes into a store in search of some 
 article that she is in want of, as soon 
 as the gentleman sees her, he comes 
 forward, makes a grimace, pulls up his 
 collar, runs his fingers through his hair, 
 and assumes an air of easy familiarity 
 that is quite refreshing to look upon. 
 It is true he may not have much sense, 
 but then he has a wealth of smiles ; in- 
 deed, to listen to his conversation with 
 his victimized customer, a bystander 
 might come to the conclusion that he 
 was proprietor of the establishment, 
 and the lady had made the article in 
 question a mere excuse for a morning 
 call. This is annoying, though in such 
 a case, one can leave the article, and 
 walk out ; but there is one retail store 
 in this city that is a perfect trap— once 
 in it, it is impossible to get out ; if the 
 article does not suit yoa, you are wor- 
 ried and talked at ; if you attempt to 
 
BUSINESS EMFLOYfiS. 
 
 691 
 
 move toward the door, you are run 
 after and brought back ; if you tax 
 your genius to give a most unmistaka- 
 bly minute description of what you do 
 ■want, the reply is, " Oh, yes, madam, 
 in the back store — if you will walk 
 back, we have exactly the article you 
 describe." And so, instead of your 
 getting out, they really get you further 
 in ; after looking about on the shelves, 
 they profess to have found the object 
 of their search, and down comes the 
 very opposite of anything you ever 
 wished to possess. After making half 
 a dozen fruitless attempts to reach the 
 street door, and being each time perse- 
 veringly caught and brought back, you 
 give it up, and become submissive and 
 willing to buy anything they wish you 
 to, making at the same time a firm re- 
 solve — as you see your money going 
 for the things that are not what you 
 want — that if you live to be the senior 
 of Methuselah, you will never enter 
 that store again. 
 
 B.eward of Promptness in a Mer- 
 cliant's Clerk. 
 
 A YOUNG man who had just com- 
 menced life as a clerk, was one day told 
 by his employer, "Now, to-morrow, 
 that cargo of cotton must be got out 
 and weighed, and we must have a reg- 
 idar account of it," 
 
 He was a young man of energy, and 
 this was the first time he had been in- 
 trusted to superintend the examination 
 of such work. He made his arrange- 
 ments over night, spoke to the drivers 
 about their teams and horses, and, re- 
 solving to commence very early in the 
 morning, he instructed the usual gang 
 of laborers to be on hand at half past 
 four o'clock. All right ! 
 
 His employer comes in at the usual 
 business hour, and seeing him sitting 
 in the counting-room, looks very black, 
 — supposes that his commands had not 
 been executed. 
 
 " I thought," said the master, " you 
 
 were requested to get out that cargo of 
 cotton this morning ? " 
 
 '' It is all done, sir," said the young 
 man, "and here is the account of it." 
 
 Need it be said that that clerk soon 
 became as important a man as any in 
 that firm, and that he accumulated an 
 ample fortune ? 
 
 Charles Lamb as a Clerk. 
 
 Who, says an American traveller, has 
 not heard of the great East India House 
 in London, which controls so many mil- 
 lions of people and of money, and where 
 Lamb, of topmost literary fame, used to 
 " post ? " We cared not, however, for 
 its wealth or fame, when we entered its 
 dusty corridors, so full were we of other 
 memories — of clevei* Charlie, the hu- 
 morous clerk. 
 
 After a tedious ramble among the 
 heroes of the ledger, some of whom 
 were Lamb's successors in the dignities 
 and emoluments of office, we eventually 
 stumbled upon a son of his executor, 
 who greeted us with English courtesy, 
 and good naturedly chatted about his 
 father's friend. He related many anec- 
 dotes ; not otherwise noteworthy than 
 as proving that the personal recollec- 
 tions of our author were still perpetu- 
 ated. He sometimes came late to 
 business, and when cautioned by his 
 worthy superior, would dryly answer : 
 " Oh ! I'll make it up by leaving ear- 
 lier." 
 
 As Lamb never married, the East 
 India Company, after his demise, kindly 
 settled upon his sister the " Widow's 
 Portion " of one hundred and twenty 
 pounds a year. In the register for the 
 " Home Department " of the Company, 
 the clerk, after erasing Lamb's name, 
 made the usual annotation, that he was 
 " to retire upon a pension of four hun- 
 dred and fifty pounds per annum." 
 
 The accountants' apartment, which 
 Lamb occupied, is rather gloomy. His 
 old companions of the establishment 
 said he enjoyed the reputation of a 
 
692 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 good-natured, odd little fellow, fonder 
 of holidays than of hard work. 
 
 Remarkable Discernment of Mercan- 
 tile Oharacter. 
 
 There was once a London merchant 
 who was remarkable for his intuitive 
 discernment of the character of business 
 men and their clerks. After passing 
 through the store of a friend, on a cer- 
 tain occasion, he said : " Where did 
 you get that young man ? " The infor- 
 mation was given. " I would not keep 
 him for a day." " Why ? He is a very 
 clever young man." " Yes, he is clever 
 enough ; but he is a rogue." " Well, 
 certainly, 1 have seen nothing wrong 
 about him, and I never yet saw his 
 equal behind the counter." "Very 
 well ; I tell you I would not keep him 
 an hour, and you will find it out yet." 
 "But I can't dismiss him without 
 cause, and he has given me no cause." 
 The merchant insisted to the last on 
 his estimate of the young man, and, 
 after leaving, told a mutual friend that 
 a very improper young man was clerk 
 in such a man's shop — he was sure of 
 it. His discernment was so well known, 
 that the young shopman had now his 
 employer's eye upon him with restless 
 vigilance. It was not long before he 
 was detected stealing money— a result 
 which perhaps would not have occurred, 
 had the " discerning merchant " put a 
 friendly word into the clerk's ear in- 
 stead of a suspicious one into his em- 
 ployer's. 
 
 SingTilar Mode of Keeping Accoxmts 
 in a Pair of Boots. 
 
 An old tradesman used to keep his 
 accounts in a singular manner. He 
 hung up two boots, one on each side 
 of the chimney ; into one of these he put 
 all the money he received, and into the 
 other all the receipts and vouchers for 
 the money he paid. At the end of the 
 year, or whenever he wanted to make 
 
 up his accounts, he emptied the boots, 
 and by counting their several and re- 
 spective contents, he was enabled to 
 make a balance, perhaps with as much 
 regularity, and as little trouble, as any 
 bookkeeper in the country. 
 
 Quaker Investig-ation of Accounts. 
 
 When public suspicion had seriously 
 set down upon the method of keeping 
 and rendering his accounts pursued by 
 Mr. Hudson, the English railway mon- 
 arch, an official inquiry was instituted, 
 and Mr. H. was obliged to descend 
 from his iron throne and " walk up to 
 the ledger." 
 
 " George Hudson," said Mr. Cash, 
 the chairman of the committee, and a 
 member of the Society of Friends, 
 " Wilt thou take a seat ? As thou hast 
 the financial department of this com- 
 pany under thy especial control, thou 
 art required to answer a few questions 
 which the committee will put to thee. 
 Didst thou ever, after the accountant 
 had made up the yearly accounts, alter 
 any of the figures ? " 
 
 Mr. Hudson, in a subdued tone, an- 
 swered, after a few moments' hesita- 
 tion, " Well, I may perhaps have add- 
 ed a thousand or two to the next ac- 
 count." 
 
 "Didst thou ever add £10,000?" 
 continued Mr. Cash. 
 
 " Ten thousand ! that is a large sum." 
 
 " It is a large sum, and that is the 
 reason why I put the question to thee. 
 Wilt thou give the committee an an- 
 swer, yea or nay ? " 
 
 Mr. Hudson, in a very depressed 
 tone, and evidently much embarrassed, 
 replied: "I cannot exactly say what 
 may have been the largest sum I car- 
 ried to the following account." 
 
 " Perhaps, George Hudson, thou 
 couldst inform the committee whether 
 thou ever carried to the next account 
 so large a sum as £40,000." 
 
 " Oh, I should think not so large a 
 sum as that I " 
 
BUSINESS EMPLOYES. 
 
 693 
 
 " But art tliou quite sure tliou never 
 didst ? " 
 
 Here again the deposed monarch of 
 the railway kingdom showed consid- 
 erable embarrassment, on which his 
 Quaker inquisitor did not further press 
 the question ; and putting the interrog- 
 atories, upon a sheet of paper, into his 
 hand, observed, with a dry noncha- 
 lance which seemed almost to petrify 
 the former chairman of the company : 
 
 " George Hudson, take the questions 
 home with thee, and send wiitten an- 
 swers to the committee at thy earliest 
 convenience." 
 
 Perplexities of Mercantile Correspon- 
 dence. 
 
 A MERCHANT of Mobile, Ala., wrote 
 an important business letter to a gen- 
 tleman in Mississippi, and in due course 
 of time he received- a letter with his 
 own signature cut out and pasted on 
 the envelope. In the letter which was 
 enclosed, the writer stated that he had 
 received the Mobile merchant's com- 
 munication, but did not know who was 
 the writer nor a word that was written 
 in it, and that his only expedient for 
 finding out the author was to cut out 
 the signature and use it as the address, 
 with the hope that the postmaster in 
 Mobile might be able to do more by it 
 than he had. An instance is also re- 
 lated, of an American merchant being 
 actually obliged to go to Europe in 
 person, because of his inability to make 
 out certain paragraphs in an important 
 letter which he had received from his 
 commercial agent abroad. 
 
 " Old Salles," the Silk Buyer, and Mr. 
 Bayard's Clerks. 
 
 There was some years ago, says the 
 writer of those piquant sketches, " The 
 Old Merchants of New York," a famous 
 man named Salles. He was always 
 spoken of as " Old Salles." He was a 
 glove maker by profession. He had in 
 
 that business a partner named Ton- 
 nelly. The Tonnelly estate, near the 
 Sixth avenue, takes its name from him. 
 They made the old-fashioned deer-skin 
 suspender, and after Salles dissolved 
 partnership, Tonnelly carried on busi- 
 ness in the old slow but sure way. 
 
 Old Salles was a plain man ; in fact, 
 those who can now recall him to mem- 
 ory, must say he was very slovenly in 
 his appearance. He appeared to be a 
 poor man. On one occasion, about the 
 time of the war, Le Roy, Bayard & Co., 
 had one of their fast clippers arrive. 
 She had escaped capture, and brought 
 in a large quantity of silks. The value 
 was immense. At that time the count- 
 ing room of Le Roy, Bayard & Co. was 
 in Washington street. William Bayard 
 knew old Salles by sight, but to the 
 clerks he was not known. At that time 
 old Mr. Salles was a great shaver of 
 notes, but it is certain he never would 
 shave higher than seven per cent, per 
 annum, the legal interest of the State. 
 
 When the clipper arrived, old Mr. 
 Salles went down to the office of Le Roy 
 & Co. He was a capital judge of silks. 
 There was no better in the city. He 
 asked the young salesman to show him 
 the samples. He did so. Old Salles 
 selected lot after lot, amounting to 
 thousands of dollars. The clerks 
 thought him crazy. Finally he stopped, 
 and the bill was made out. " Send the 
 goods to mine shtore, and I vil pay de 
 bill," said old Salles. The clerks laugh- 
 ed, and old Mr. Salles left, and went to 
 get his dinner. He boarded in Pearl 
 street, and took his meals under the old 
 Tontine CoJBfee House. He. was a terri- 
 ble eater, and dreaded by all private 
 boarding-house or hotel keepers. He 
 ate three plates of turkey, and other 
 things in proportion, at a meal. 
 
 When it was three o'clock, the time 
 for the goods he had bought of Le Roy, 
 Bayard, & Co., to be at his store, old 
 Salles went there. No silks had come. 
 Down he went to the office of Le Roy, 
 Bayard, & Co. 
 
694 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 " Did I not buy goods here ? " he 
 asked. 
 
 " Yes, but we want pay ! " said the 
 clerk. But at this moment Mr. Bayard 
 came in, and Mr. Salles narrated what 
 had occurred. 
 
 "You shall have the goods imme- 
 diately, Mr. Salles." The clerk started ; 
 but the silks were sent round to ScUes's 
 store, and he gave a check for them. 
 
 The next time that a vessel of Le Roy, 
 Bayard & Co. came in, Salles was sent 
 for, aud again he purchased the entire 
 cargo^ He made a monstrous amount 
 of money in such purchases. Old Salles 
 would resell to King & Mead (the A. 
 T. Stewart of 1812), the largest dry 
 goods jobbers in America, and other 
 retail dealers. 
 
 Best Part of a Grocer's Business. 
 
 " Well, Augustus, you have been ap- 
 prentice three months, and have got 
 some idea of the several departments 
 of your trade ; I wish to give you a 
 choice of occupation." Apprentice, — 
 " Thank 'ee.'' Grocer,—" Well, now, 
 what, part of the business do you like 
 best ? " Augustus (with a sharpness 
 beyond his years)—" Shuttin' up, sir ! " 
 
 Betty Starkey and Coutts's Clerk. 
 
 It is well known that Thomas 
 Coutts, richest among all the bankers 
 of his day, selected for his wife Betty 
 Starkey, a domestic in the employ of 
 his brother and partner in business, 
 James Coutts— and, of course, to the 
 astonishment and against the wishes of 
 all his friends. So very sudden and 
 unlooked for was the elevation of 
 " Miss Starkey " that, only a few days 
 before her marriage, while employed in 
 scouring the stairs, one of the resident 
 clerks, who had been out in a very 
 heavy shower of rain, was going up to 
 change his clothes, when he was de- 
 sired by Betty to take off his shoes— a 
 request which, according to the mettle 
 
 of his standing, he deemed so imperti- 
 nent, that he blustered out a perfect 
 crash of adjectives against her, and as- 
 cending deliberately, left the dirty 
 prints of his feet on every step. Betty, 
 on her part, did not endure this provo- 
 cation in utter silence, but exclaimed, 
 with some anger : 
 
 " Before long, I'll make you j)ull off 
 your shoes and stockings too, if I 
 choose it." 
 
 After her marriage with Mr. Coutts, 
 the clerk expected no better luck than 
 his speedy discharge. The bride, how- 
 ever, never again alluded to the matter, 
 and always treated the clerk with en- 
 tire affability; and so little did the 
 affair affect his interests, that in course 
 of time he became the chief clerk of 
 the house. It may well be supposed 
 that a woman with such a disposition 
 would prove a good wife to the rich 
 banker. She did.* 
 
 That Bottle of Wine among- "Old 
 Puller's" Clerks. 
 
 A BANKER of the genuine old school 
 was Mr. Fuller — " Old Fuller " he was 
 generally called — of Cornhill, London. 
 On the day he completed his eightieth 
 year, he happened to make mention of 
 the circumstance at his bank ; and one 
 of his numerous clerks, more venture- 
 some than the rest, expressed a hope 
 that they might have the pleasure of 
 drinking his health and many happy 
 returns. of the day. To the surprise of 
 all, the old gentleman took the hint 
 graciously, and said, " Well, we shall 
 see." Just before dinner time, he with- 
 drew for a moment or two, with a 
 somewhat mysterious and satisfied air 
 — such as a rich banker might be sup- 
 posed to wear who had just drawn a 
 check for a score of thousands which 
 he was going to make a gift of — and 
 returned, after a considerable time, 
 into the office with a bottle of port 
 held carefully in his hand, and which 
 he placed upon the challenging clerk's 
 
THE COTTLE OF V/INE AMONG OLD FULLEES CLERKS 
 
BUSINESS EMPLOYlfiS. 
 
 695 
 
 desk, saying, " Well, I have brought 
 you a bottle of port wine to drink my 
 health, as you wished it ; it is good 
 wine, and I hope, young men, that you 
 will commit no excess loith iV It will 
 do no harm to state, that the old gen- 
 tleman's delay in returning was ascer- 
 tained to have been caused by his en- 
 deavors to beat down the trader in his 
 price for the bottle. 
 
 Htunors of Partnerships in Reference 
 to Names. 
 
 From the English directories may be 
 culled some amusing facts with refer- 
 ence to the junction of names in part- 
 nerships — as, for example, Bowyer & 
 Fletcher ; Carpenter & Wood ; Spinage 
 & Lamb; Sage & Gosling; Rumfit & 
 Cutwell, tailors ; Pipe & Tabor ; Green- 
 goose & Measure, another lirm of tai- 
 lors ; Single & Double ; Foot & Stock- 
 ing, hosiers; and Wright — ^late Read 
 & Wright. Adam & Eve were for 
 some time surgeons in partnership, in 
 Paradise Row, London. In Holborn, 
 Byers & Sellers live in pleasant proxim- 
 ity on opposite sides of the street. 
 
 Sometimes the occupation of persons 
 harmonizes admirably with their sur- 
 names — a fact particularly apparent in 
 the case of London innkeepers. Gin 
 and Ginman are innkeepers ; so is Ale- 
 house ; Seaman is the landlord of the 
 Ship Hotel, and A. King holds the 
 " Crown and Sceptre " resort in City 
 Road 1 Portwine and Negus are li- 
 censed victuallers, one in Westminster, 
 the other in Bishopsgate street. Cork- 
 er is a potboy, whose name affords a 
 hopeful omen of his one day rising to 
 the rank of a butler. Mixwell's coun- 
 try inn is a well-known resort. 
 
 Again, Pegwell is a shoemaker ; so 
 are Fitall and Treadaway, likewise 
 Pinch — the latter rather unpromising- 
 ly so; another, Tugwell, is a noted 
 dentist, so is Gunn — though he uses 
 none but the ordinary arms in his prac- 
 tice ; Bird, an egg merchant ; Hemp, a 
 
 sheriff's officer; Captain Isaac Paddle 
 commands a steamboat ; Mr. Punt is a 
 favorite member of the Surrey wherry 
 club ; Laidman was formerly a noted 
 pugilist; and Smooker or Smoker, a 
 lime burner. Skin & Bone were the 
 names of two millers at Manchester, 
 and of course furnished abundant ma- 
 terial for joke and sarcasm. 
 
 Fogg & Mist were china dealers in 
 Warwich street; the firm afterward 
 became Fogg & Son, on which it was 
 naturally enough remarked that "the 
 sun had driven away the mist ! " Go- 
 ing & Gonne was the style of a well- 
 known banking house in Ireland, and 
 on their failure in business some one 
 wrote, 
 
 " Going & Gonne are now both one, 
 For Gonne is going, and Going 's gone." 
 
 But this is hardly so good as an en- 
 try in the custom-house bobks of Edin- 
 burgh, where it appears that ("A." 
 meaning Alexander) — " A. Gunn was 
 discharged for making a false report ! " 
 
 The late Mr. I. Came, the wealthy 
 shoemaker of Liverpool, who left his 
 immense property to public charities, 
 opened his first shop on the opposite 
 side of the street to that in which he 
 had been a servant, and inscribed its 
 front with "I- Came from over the 
 way." 
 
 Advantage of Skilful Bookkeeping:. 
 
 If a merchant wishes to get pretty 
 deeply in debt, and then get rid of his 
 liabilities by bankruptcy — if, in fact, 
 he proposes to himself to go systemat- 
 ically into the swindling business, and 
 engage in wholesale pecuniary transac- 
 tions without a shilling of his own, the 
 first thing he should take care to learn 
 would be the whole art of bookkeep- 
 ing. From what may occasionally be 
 seen of the reports of the proceedings 
 in bankruptcy, it is found that well-lcept 
 loolcs are regarded as quite a test of 
 honesty, and though assets may have 
 
696 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 disappeared, or never have existed, 
 tliough large liabilities may have been 
 incurred without any prospect of pay- 
 ment, the bankrupt will be compli- 
 mented on the straight look of his 
 dealings, if he has shown himself a 
 good bookkeeper. To common appre- 
 hension, it would seem that well-kept 
 books would only help to show a reck- 
 less trader the ruinous result of his pro- 
 ceedings ; and that while the man with- 
 out books might flatter himself that all 
 would come out right at last, the man 
 with exact accounts would only get 
 into hot water with his eyes open. If 
 a man may trade on the capital of 
 others without any of his own, and get 
 excused on the ground that he has 
 kept his books correctly, it is diflEicult 
 to see why a thief who steals purses 
 and pocket handkerchiefs — being none 
 of his own — may not plead in mitiga- 
 tion of purfishment, that he has care- 
 fully booked the whole of his transac- 
 tions. It would be interesting to know 
 the effect of producing a ledger on a 
 trial for felony, as well as curious to ob- 
 serve whether a burglar would be le- 
 niently dealt with, on the ground that 
 his housebreaking accounts gave proof 
 of his experience in the science of 
 " double entry." 
 
 Unexpected Promotion. 
 
 A YOUNG man obtained a situation 
 to take charge of a store in New York 
 State, at a moderate salary for the first 
 year or so. It became, in course of 
 time, the interest of his employer to 
 advance him to the head of his estab- 
 lishment, which, however, compelled 
 him to be employed during Sabbath 
 forenoons, which was contrary to his 
 custom and desires. He therefore con- 
 cluded that he must be relieved of this 
 kind of duty, or ask permission to re- 
 sign his situation. Knowing the char- 
 acter of his employer, he confidently 
 expected that he should be set adrift, 
 and accordingly began casting around 
 
 to see what he could do. He finally 
 made the request, and it was taken under 
 consideration for several days. The 
 next week, he was informed that " his 
 services must be given on the Sabbath 
 if he remained, otherwise he might be 
 on the lookout for another berth ; the 
 head clerk must be on hand Sabbath 
 morning." 
 
 The young man, in consequence of this, 
 quietly commenced his preparations for 
 leaving, and requested a settlement. 
 Bat the employer had only given this 
 answer in order to test his clerk's prin- 
 ciple. He cared not for the principle 
 involved in the question at issue, but 
 he did care for a trusty cleric — one 
 whom nothing in a pecuniary way 
 could swerve or tempt. The result was, 
 not only a release from Sabbath occu- 
 pation, but also an increase of his 
 salary. 
 
 Identifying- a Clerk. 
 
 A German woman in Buffalo was 
 taken up for parsing a bogus half dol- 
 lar. She said that she had received it 
 at the store of one of the first-class 
 drygoods men, and she could point out 
 the man who gave it to her. The ofiicer 
 accompanied her to the store, and she 
 surveyed the clerks. 
 
 " Is it this one ? " 
 
 " Nix— no." 
 
 " This one ? " 
 
 ^'Nix — no." Until her eye lighted 
 on one across the store who gloried in 
 a moustache of formidable dimensions 
 and fiery hue. 
 
 " That is him — that man mit a big 
 mouthful of hair ! " 
 
 He denied it lustily, but she insist- 
 ed ; and he deemed it prudent to prune 
 his lips and afterward avoid such a 
 flaming mark of recognition. 
 
 Ready for a Trade. 
 It is told of a well-known American 
 map agent, that while making one of 
 
X 
 
 ^^'^"Z^-^Z^^^c^^u-^ 
 
BUSINESS EMPLOYES. 
 
 697 
 
 his travelling trips in the interior of 
 , he was attacked by highway rob- 
 bers, who demanded his money. Being 
 more prudent than to carry money with 
 him in that country, they failed in 
 making a haul. " But," said the Yan- 
 kee, " I have some splendid maps of 
 the island along with me, which I 
 would like to show you ; " and in a 
 twinkling he was off his horse, had a 
 map stuck up on a pole, and explained 
 it so effectually that he sold each of 
 the banditti a map, pocketed the 
 money, and resumed his journey, better 
 off for the encounter. 
 
 Irving' and the English Salesman. 
 
 While in England, not long after 
 his name had become familiar to the 
 public by the publication of the 
 " Sketch Book," "Washington Irving 
 made a purchase at a shop, and desired 
 the parcel to be sent to his lodgings, 
 directed to Mr. Irving. " Is it pos- 
 sible," said the salesman, with a look 
 and manner that indicated profound 
 admiration, " that I have the honor to 
 serve Mr. Irving ? " 
 
 Irving modestly acknowledged the 
 compliment paid to his accumulating 
 fame, and a conversation ensued in 
 which the dealer manifested addition- 
 al interest in his distinguished custom- 
 er, until a direct inquiry concerning 
 his last work disclosed the fact that he 
 supposed he was engaged in conversa- 
 tion with the Rev. Edward Irving, of 
 the Scottish kirk, whose polemical 
 works had given him an exalted posi- 
 tion among the members of that church. 
 The existence of the " Sketch Book " 
 was probably unknown to him. " All 
 I could do," added Irving, with that 
 look of peculiar drollery which those 
 who have heard him narrate an inci- 
 dent of this kind will remember, " was 
 to take my tail between my legs and 
 slink away in the smallest possible 
 compass." 
 
 In Business for Themselves. 
 
 While waiting for a friend in Third 
 street, Philadelphia, a gentleman ob- 
 served a party of newsboys who were 
 waiting for the afternoon papers. A 
 well-dressed lad walked up to them. 
 They eagerly saluted their former com- 
 panion, and examined him on every 
 side, and seemed to admire him very 
 much. Soon a little fellow, with a 
 coat reaching to the ground and el- 
 bows out, began to question him thus : 
 
 " Why, what are you at now ? " 
 
 " I'm in a store." 
 
 " What do you do ? " 
 
 "I sweep out the store and run er- 
 rands." 
 
 " Well, tell me. You don't feel as 
 good now as when you were in business 
 for yourself do you ? " 
 
 ** Done Brown." 
 
 The coolness of the person who, 
 after drinking a glass of Richardson's 
 ale at the bar room of a hotel, walked 
 off, saying he would pay that gentle- 
 man for it, is remarkable ; but the au- 
 dacity of the individual who figures in 
 the following is more wonderful : A 
 clerk of a large down-town house in 
 New York, named Brown, wa^ one 
 evening approaching the box-office of 
 one of the Broadway theatres to pur- 
 chase a ticket of admission. It was 
 somewhat late, and but one or two per- 
 sons entering at the time he reached 
 the building. But as he was putting 
 his hand in his pocket for his money 
 he was accosted by an individual of 
 respectable appearance, who politely 
 inquired of the clerk if he could 
 change a bill for him. Mr. Brown, 
 replying he thought so, brought forth 
 several silver coins from the recesses of 
 his pocket, the largest of which was a 
 fifty-cent piece. The stranger looked at 
 the cash, bowed, thanked him, and 
 took the half dollar. Without another 
 word he handed the coin to the box- 
 
6»S 
 
 COMMERCIAL AXD BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 keeper, and the next moment was in 
 the theatre, leaving agape with wonder 
 the gentleman whose funds he had thus 
 appropriated. After Mr. Brown had 
 recovered from the effects of this sin- 
 gular proceeding, he entered the tem- 
 ple devoted to Thespis. But the un- 
 known abstractor, who was now enjoy- 
 ing the performances in some snug cor- 
 ner of the house, was never seen again. 
 Of course not. Clerk was done Brown. 
 
 Correctingr an Erroneoiis Entry. 
 
 In a manufacturing city of Kew 
 England, not many years since, there 
 was a young man from the " Gim of the 
 Say," employed as bookkeeper in a 
 large machine shop and foundery. At 
 one time two castings were made for a 
 customer, each casting about three feet 
 square and eight inches thick ; one sol- 
 id, the other having a circular hole in 
 it about twenty inches in diameter. He 
 entered both in his books as solid. Dis- 
 covering his mistake, he computed the 
 weight of a piece of cast iron twenty 
 inches in diameter and eight inches 
 thick, when he corrected his erroneous 
 entry by giving the customer credit in 
 the following manner : 
 
 " Mk. Smith, Cr. 
 
 By one Jwle^ weighing 433 pounds." 
 
 Probably this is the heaviest hole on 
 record. 
 
 Shipping" Goods by Ticket. 
 
 There was in one of the large ware- 
 houses in Boston a porter — an " intelli- 
 gent contraband" — who had a great 
 propensity of laughing at other peoples' 
 mistakes, and always took the oppor- 
 tunity to tax the delinquent with his 
 shortcomings before a crowd. The 
 system of shipping goods at this estab- 
 lishment was this : To give a ticket to 
 the porter with the number of packages 
 and the name of the party from whom 
 they were purchased, that they might 
 
 be selected from among other goods of 
 a similar nature, and no mistake made. 
 Now it seems he had a ticket given 
 him with only the numbers on; and 
 he, thinking he had a good joke on 
 some one, wrote the name on himself 
 and shipped the goods — treasuring up 
 the ticket, however, until near the close 
 of business, when he finds the delin- 
 quent talking over the transactions of 
 the day with his fellow clerks. He 
 immediately presents the ticket to one 
 of the number, and asks him what he 
 should think of a man that would give 
 him a ticket like that. The party re- 
 plied "that his ticket was all right." 
 " Ah ! but," says the contraband, point- 
 ing to the name, " dat little epitaph 
 wern't on dar when it first come to 
 me I" 
 
 Introducing a New System of 
 Accounts. 
 
 One of the greatest achievements in 
 the facilities for keeping accounts — 
 the reduction of the labor involved and 
 in the number of those performing it — 
 in the Bank of England, is due to Mr. 
 W. R. Smee. The scheme was simple. 
 By the old system, the numbers, 
 amounts, and dates of the notes issued 
 were co^Died into books, in the order in 
 which they were received. The amounts 
 were then added, and the notes posted 
 in a ledger, that they might be referred 
 to for the courts of the law and the 
 public, in cases of fraud or litigation. 
 These postings were afterward exam- 
 ined from a copy of the cash books, in 
 which the notes were entered, giving 
 the balance of each ledger. 
 
 The new system established the entry 
 in the cash books, and stamped every 
 note on its entrance with a number 
 giving the full particulars of the par- 
 ties sending it in. The notes are then 
 arranged numerically, thereby saving 
 the copying of the date and number, 
 except the last two or three figures, 
 and altogether saving the entry of the 
 
BUSINESS EMPLOYES. 
 
 699 
 
 amount, wliile fhe posting was done by 
 about one sixth the former number of 
 clerks. In all, a saving of eighty 
 clerks. 
 
 On the day of the commencement of 
 this improved system, one hundred and 
 twenty clerks were employed. From 
 the novelty of the various operations, 
 the balance — the great proof of success 
 — was not arrived at till near eight 
 o'clock. On the second day of its trial, 
 the same result was arrived at by five 
 o'clock. On the third it was tried by 
 three o'clock, but without the same 
 success, being ^^e i:)0und8 deficient. 
 
 Every plan that could be imagined 
 was now tried, in order to discover the 
 supposed error. For seven hours were 
 the clerks of the department employed 
 in examining and re-examining the 
 books. For seven hours were they de- 
 tained investigating and re-investigat- 
 ing the notes, of which the books were 
 a copy ; and it was curious to witness 
 a young man of three and twenty, with 
 unchangeable confidence in the sound- 
 ness of his system, directing, or at- 
 tempting all those experiments which 
 a perfect knowledge of the accounts 
 suggested as most likely to discover 
 the presumed error. At ten o'clock the 
 search was given up^ and the ruin of the 
 new system seemed complete. The infor- 
 mation spread rapidly that the office 
 had separated without a balance ; and 
 it could have been no pleasant task to 
 Mr. Smee to meet the governor next 
 morning with the news. The confi- 
 dence of the latter was, however, com- 
 plete ; the plan went on ; a mode of 
 detection was adopted; and it is to be 
 presumed that the dread of discovery 
 produced the note, as the balance, a 
 few days afterward, was fi'ce pounds 
 over^ and the very note Vy^hich had been 
 proved to be missing was found to 
 have been returned ! The success of 
 the new plan was complete, and work- 
 ed a vast change in the management 
 of the books and afiairs of the insti- 
 tution. 
 
 Trying his Hand at the Accounts. 
 
 Mr. Mellish, one of the directors of 
 the Bank of England, once undertook 
 to improve upon the mode of keeping 
 the books of that institution — aiming 
 at nothing less than a radical change. 
 Being desirous to ascertain once for all 
 the real nature of the duty he had in 
 contemplation, he announced his deter- 
 mination to the principal of the ac- 
 countants' office, to come and attempt 
 a day's work. 
 
 The morning arrived, and with it 
 Mr. Mellish. The day was indeed a 
 heavy one ; the business was new ; and 
 the books were brought him with all 
 the gravity suitable to the occasion, 
 and perhaps more frequently than was 
 absolutely necessary. They came too 
 fast for him. In vain he exerted him- 
 self with all the energy of which he 
 was master ; there was to him a diffi- 
 culty in finding the proper folios ; that 
 which clerks, accustomed to the opera- 
 tion, performed almost intuitively, was 
 a great exertion to a novice, and, long 
 before the day had passed, Mr. Mellish 
 had beheld such an accumulation of 
 ponderous tomes, both before and be- 
 hind him, that he gave up the attempt 
 in despair, and from this period an al- 
 teration was made in the amount of 
 labor, which was perhaps more in 
 proportion to the clerks' views of 
 propriety than before. The same gen- 
 tleman — and these things, trifling in 
 themselves, show a desire on the part 
 of the directors to improve the econ- 
 omy of the establishment — afterward 
 saw the principal of the office in which 
 he had worked in the area of the Royal 
 Exchange. Immediately accosting that 
 gentleman, he earnestly addressed him 
 on the subject of the proposed altera- 
 tion in the mode of keeping the books, 
 and seizing the button of his coat, 
 pulled at it with the same energy with 
 which he was talking, nor was it until 
 the button was divorced from the coat 
 that the accountant whom the director 
 
100 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 held captive was enabled to make his 
 escape. , 
 
 "Rich. Enough, to Retire : Abraham New- 
 land, Cashier of the Bank of Eng- 
 land. 
 
 The name of Abraham Newland 
 was, perhaps, more generally known in 
 English financial circles, and for a 
 longer time, than that of any other one 
 individual. In 1807, he retired from 
 the office of cashier of the Bank of 
 England, after a service of more than 
 half a century. His last act was to de- 
 cline the pension which the liberality 
 of the directors offered— and this he 
 could well afford to do. The same 
 year he died ; and as a specimen of the 
 fortunes which were occasionally amass- 
 ed in the service of that establishment, 
 it is stated that his property amounted 
 to two hundred thousand pounds ster- 
 ling, or one million dollars, besides the 
 sum of one thousand pounds a year 
 on landed estates. It is not to be sup- 
 posed, however, that this was saved 
 from his salary. During the whole of 
 Mr. New land's career, the loans, which, 
 during the war, were made almost 
 yearly, and occasionally oftener, proved 
 very prolific. A certain amount of 
 them w^as always reserved for the cash- 
 ier's office — say one hundred thousand 
 pounds — and as they generally came 
 out at premium, the profits were great. 
 The family of the Goldsmiths, then the 
 leaders of the stock exchange, con- 
 tracted for many of these loans, and 
 to each of them he left five hundred 
 pounds, to purchase a mourning ring. 
 From some remarks in the papers it 
 may be gathered that the large funds 
 of Mr. Newland were occasionally lent 
 to these gentlemen, to assist their va- 
 ried speculations. It was also the sub- 
 ject of frequent allusion in the pamph- 
 lets of the period ; and as those who 
 know the least are frequently the most 
 confident, there was not much cere- 
 mony observed in the strictures passed 
 upon Mr. Abraham Newland. 
 
 George Simpson's High Reputation as 
 a Cashier. 
 
 George Simpson, of Philadelphia, 
 enjoyed, through his long career, the 
 reputation of being one of the most 
 competent and reliable cashiers in 
 America. On the establishment of the 
 Bank of North America, the first bank 
 in the Union, and incorporated by the 
 Continental Congress and by the State 
 of Pennsylvania, he was appointed one 
 of its chief officers ; and of the first 
 Bank of the United States, chartered 
 by the Government, he was appointed 
 the cashier, and continued to be so 
 until its expiration in 1811. "When 
 Stephen Girard established his bank- 
 ing house, he appointed George Simp- 
 son his cashier. Stephen w^as not mis- 
 taken in his man, as the following fact 
 illustrates: Mr. Simpson offered him 
 the same security in amount, and the 
 same individual, he had given the ori- 
 ginal Bank of the United States, when 
 Mr. Girard replied, 
 
 " No, Mr. Simpson ; I would rather 
 have you as my cashier without secu- 
 rity, than anybody else with it." 
 
 The officers of the Bank of the United 
 States were all retained by Mr. Simp- 
 son, when he was invested with ple- 
 nary power over the concerns of the 
 institution. This fact gave moneyed 
 men confidence in transacting business 
 with the bank of Stephen Girard ; and 
 even European bankers sought an ac- 
 quaintance and business with the great 
 banker and his efficient cashier. On 
 the establishment of his bank, Mr. 
 Simpson remarked to him : 
 
 "Well, Mr. Girard, to be a good 
 merchant, you see it is necessary to 
 have a bank." 
 
 " Yes, Mr. Simpson," replied Girard, 
 " and to have a good bank, it is neces- 
 sary to have a cashier like you." 
 
 This took place when his ship, the 
 "Montesquieu," was ransomed from 
 the British at the Capes of the Dela- 
 ware; when the sum of ninety-three 
 
BUSINESS EMPLOYES. 
 
 vol 
 
 thousand dollars in gold was sent from 
 Ms bank as the price of her ransom, 
 and at a time when specie payments 
 were suspended by all the other banks, 
 and gold to that amount could not 
 easily have been purchased in the mar- 
 ket. His knowledge of banking was 
 acquired by nearly forty, years' labor in 
 the vocation of cashier. The system 
 on which he loaned money was simple, 
 being founded on the combined prin- 
 ciple of equity and interest. All the 
 small notes that were considered good 
 were discounted in preference to those 
 that were large. A fair running ac- 
 count was considered sufficient to en- 
 title a creditable applicant to liberal 
 discounts of business paper. 
 
 In Europe, too, as well as in the 
 United States, Mr. Simpson was widely 
 and honorably known ; and his corre- 
 spondence with and agencies for the 
 first and largest commercial and bank- 
 ing houses in England, France, and 
 Germany, stood without a parallel in 
 his day. David Parrish, who was at 
 one time connected with the famous 
 house of Hope & Co., of Amsterdam, 
 and also largely engaged with Baring, 
 Brothers & Co., of London, brought 
 letters of introduction from these 
 houses to him. Such was his high 
 standing that a letter from him to any 
 of his correspondents in Europe, in- 
 sured for the bearer the greatest hos- 
 pitality and attention. 
 
PAET FOURTEENTH. 
 
 Anecdotes of Some of the Occupations Auxiliary 
 TO Commerce and Merchandise. 
 
PAET FOUETEES'TH. 
 
 Anecdotes of Some of the Occupations Auxiliary to Commerce 
 and Merchandise. 
 
 EDITORS, PUBLISHERS, BOOKSELLERS, THE MANUAL AND INDUSTRIAL TRADES, ETC. ; WITH 
 RARE INCIDENTS OF BARGAIN AND SALE, LUDICROUS ADVENTURES, HAPS AND MISHAPS 
 — BUSINESS FREAKS, GENIUS, APTITUDE, NOVELTY AND RENOWN, ETC., ETC. 
 
 Of all the bonds by which society is united, those of business connection are the most numerous 
 and most extensive.— Roscoe. 
 
 Sweet is the destiny of all trades, whether of the brow or of the mind.- Bishop Hall. 
 Work for some good, be it ever bo lowly ; 
 Labor — all labor Is noble and holy. — Osgood. 
 
 Music-Seller's Customers. 
 
 Haydn used to relate, with much 
 pleasure, a dispute which he had with 
 a music seller in London. Amusing 
 himself, one morning, after the Eng- 
 lish fashion, in shopping, he inquired 
 of a music seller : 
 
 *' Have you any select and beautiful 
 music ? " 
 
 " Certainly," replied the shopman ; 
 "I have just printed some sublime 
 music of Haydn's." 
 
 "Oh," returned Haydn, " TH have 
 nothing to do with that." 
 
 " How, sir ; you will have nothing to 
 do with Haydn's music ! and pray 
 what fault have you to find with it ? " 
 
 " Oh, plenty ; but it is useless talk- 
 ing about it, since it does not suit me ; 
 show me some other." 
 
 The music seller, who was a warm 
 friend of Haydn, replied, " Ko, sir ; I 
 have music, it is true, but not for such 
 as you," and turned his back upon 
 him. 
 
 As Haydn was going away, smiling, 
 45 
 
 a gentleman of his acquaintance en- 
 tered and accosted him by name. The 
 music seller, still out of humor, turned 
 round at hearing the name pronounced 
 which had just been the occasion of 
 such a flutter, and said to the person 
 who had entered the shop : 
 
 " Haydn ! ay, here's a fellow who 
 says he does not like that great man's 
 music." 
 
 A laugh followed this remark; an 
 explanation took place, and the music 
 seller was made personally acquainted 
 with the " fellow " who found fault 
 with Haydn's music. 
 
 Books and Newspapers in China. 
 
 The best Chinese books, and chiefly 
 historical ones, are printed at the im- 
 perial press, where the booksellers of 
 Pekin and other towns buy them at 
 prices fixed by the Government. This 
 press publishes, likewise, eveiy two 
 days, a gazette, containing the extraor- 
 dinary events which occur in the em- 
 pire, the ordinances, and especially a 
 
706 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 list of the promotions and favors grant- 
 ed by the emperor, such as yellow robes 
 and peacock's feathers, which are equiv- 
 alent to orders of knighthood in Eu- 
 rope ; it also announces the punishment 
 inflicted on mandarins who have been 
 guilty of misconduct, etc. Printers, 
 and even booksellers have copper and 
 wooden plates engraved for works of 
 minor interest; as many copies are 
 printed off as required, and sold at ar- 
 bitrary prices. Very neat and legible 
 characters, printed on fine paper, en- 
 hance the prices of the work. Movable 
 types cannot be used for the Chinese 
 language. Their best paper is made 
 of cotton. 
 
 Tonson, the Literary Trader. 
 
 Jacob Tonson's portrait represents 
 him in his gown and cap, holding in 
 his right hand a volume lettered Para- 
 dise Ljst — such a favorite object was 
 Milton and copyright. His rise in life 
 is curious. He was at first unable to 
 pay twenty pounds for a play by Dry- 
 den, and joined with another bookseller 
 to advance that sum; the play sold, 
 and Tonson was afterward enabled to 
 produce the succeeding ones. He and 
 his nephew died leaving the large for- 
 tune of two hundred thousand pounds. 
 
 Tonson owed much to his industry ; 
 but he was a mere literary trader. He 
 and Dryden had frequent bickerings; 
 he insisted on receiving ten thousand 
 verses for two hundred and sixty-eight 
 pounds, and poor Dryden threw in the 
 fi-nest ode in the language to make up 
 that number. He would pay in the 
 base coin which was then current, and 
 which of course was a loss to the poet. 
 
 On one occasion, Tonson complained 
 to Dryden, that he had only received 
 fourteen hundred and forty-six lines of 
 his translations of Ovid for his Miscel- 
 lany, for fifty guineas, when he had 
 calculated at the rate of fifteen hundred 
 and eighteen lines for forty, guineas; 
 he gives the poet a piece of critical rea- 
 
 soning, that he considered he had a 
 better bargain with Juvenal^ which is 
 reckoned not so easy to translate as 
 Ovid. Fortunately for men of letters, 
 such mere traders in literature have 
 about disappeared. Tonson, and all 
 his family and assignees, rode in their 
 carriages, mih. the immense profits of 
 MMtoii'^ five-pound Epic. 
 
 "Wimprecht, the Blind Eookselles. 
 
 Perhaps one of the greatest curiosi- 
 ties in the city of Augsburg, some years 
 since, was a bookseller of the name of 
 Wimprecht, who had the misfortune to 
 be born blind, but whose enterprising 
 spirit enabled him to struggle success- 
 fully against the melancholy privations 
 he was doomed to sustain, and to pro- 
 cure, by his industry and intelligence, 
 a respectable support for a large family 
 dependent upon him. His library con- 
 sisted of more than eight thousand vol- 
 umes, which were of course subjected 
 to frequent change and renewal. But 
 as soon as he acquired a new stock, the 
 particulars of each book were read to 
 him by his wife, and his discrimination 
 enabled him to fix its value. His touch, 
 to recognize it at any period, however 
 distant, and his memory, never failed 
 him in regard to its arrangement in his 
 shop. His readiness to oblige, his hon- 
 esty, and information of books in gen- 
 eral, procured him a large custom ; and 
 under such extraordinary natural dis- 
 advantages, he became a useful, and 
 happily rendered himself a wealthy 
 member of the trade to which he be- 
 longed. 
 
 > 
 
 The First Color Shop. 
 
 It was of advantage to the old school 
 of Italian painters, that they were un- 
 der the necessity of making most of 
 their colors themselves, or at least un- 
 der the inspection of such as possessed 
 chemical knowledge, which excluded 
 all possibility of those adulterations to 
 
OCCUPATIONS AUXILIARY TO COMMERCE. 
 
 707 
 
 wliicli the moderns are exposed. The 
 same also was the case in England, till the 
 time of Sir Godfrey Kneller, who, when 
 he went to London, took a servant with 
 him, whose sole employment was to pre- 
 pare all the colors and materials for his 
 work. Kneller afterward set him up 
 as a color-maker for artists ; and this 
 man's success in his establishment — the 
 first in London, and perhaps in the 
 world, of its kind — caused a great in- 
 crease of the trade, and they are now 
 to be found, some of them too on a 
 most extensive scale, in all civilized 
 countries. 
 
 Queer Phases of the Butcher Trade. 
 
 Down in Frankfort street, hard 
 by William street. New York, lives a 
 Dutch pork seller and sausage-maker. 
 Some rude boys in his vicinity had 
 annoyed him with taunting inqui- 
 ries as to the materiel of which his 
 " links " were composed, and he had 
 trounced one or two of them rather 
 roughly for their impertinence. The 
 whirligig of time, however, soon 
 brought about their revenges. They 
 went down, one morning, into "the 
 Swamp," and collected a long string of 
 the rats that infest the stores of that 
 neighborhood ; and while tw^o or three 
 boys, by dint of joke and taunt, se- 
 duced the butcher to pursue them down 
 the street, another entered his shop and 
 hung up the string of rats on a nail in 
 his show-window, between the tempt- 
 ing festoons of his savory sausages ! 
 
 By-and-by, people began to stop be- 
 fore his shop, and stare into his win- 
 dow — then roar out laughing, and pass 
 on. Presently a large crowd collected, 
 and the butcher at last came out to 
 ascertain what it was that could attract 
 their curiosity. He was not long in 
 finding out. " Is that the kind of stuff 
 you make sausages of ? " asked one, 
 pointing to the string of rats : " Got 
 any rat steaks?" inquired another: 
 " Send me over a rat sparerib ! " added 
 
 a third : until the man, livid with rage, 
 shut his door upon the crowd, removed 
 the " incumbrance " from his window, 
 and " sat him down and wept," like a 
 big Dutch baby ! 
 
 Johnson and the Butcher. 
 An eminent carcase butcher, as mea- 
 gre in his person as he was in his un- 
 derstanding, being one day in a book- 
 seller's shop, took up a volume of 
 Churchill's poems, and by way of show- 
 ing his taste, rejjeated the following 
 lino : — 
 
 " Who rules o'er freemen should himself be 
 free." 
 
 Then turning to Dr. Johnson, "What 
 think you of that, sir ? " said he. 
 
 " Rank nonsense," replied Dr. J. " It 
 is an assertion without a proof; and 
 you might with as much propriety, 
 say: 
 Who slays fat oxen, should himself be fat." 
 
 Copy of a Painter's Bill. 
 
 A Scotch newspaper, of 1707, gives 
 the following copy of a painter's bill, 
 presented to the vestry of a church, for 
 professional work done therein : — 
 
 " To filling up a chink in the Red 
 Sea, and repairing the damages 
 of Pharaoh's host. 
 
 To a new pair of hands for Daniel in 
 the lions' den, and a new set of 
 teeth for the lioness, 
 
 To repairing Nebuchadnezzar's 
 beard. 
 
 To cleaning the whale's belly, var- 
 nishing Jonah's face, and mend- 
 ing his left arm. 
 
 To a new skirt for Joseph's garment, 
 
 To a sheet anchor, a jury mast, and a 
 long-boat for Noah's ark. 
 
 To giving a blush to the cheek of 
 Eve, on presenting the apple to 
 Adam, 
 
 To painting a new city in the land 
 of Nod, 
 
108 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 To clearing the garden of Eden, after 
 
 Adam's expulsion, 
 To making a bridle for the Samari- 
 tan's horse, and mending one of 
 his legs, 
 To putting a new handle to Moses' 
 
 basket and fitting bulrushes, 
 To adding more fuel to the fire of 
 Nebuchadnezzar's furnace. 
 
 Rec'd payment, 
 
 D. Z." 
 
 Napoleon's Opinion of a Journalist. 
 
 About the worst recommendation 
 which a man could have, in Napoleon's 
 eyes, was to carry on the business of a 
 newspaper writer or editor. Shortly 
 after the 18th Brumaire, Fabre de 
 I'Aude, who was always a favorite with 
 Napoleon, solicited, in imperial hear- 
 ing, an appointment for one of his ac- 
 quaintance. 
 
 " What has he done ? " was the la- 
 conic inquiry. 
 
 " He has been a journalist." 
 
 " A journalist ! " repeated the first 
 consul ; " that means a grumbler, a cen- 
 surer, a giver of advice, a regent of sov- 
 ereigns, a tutor of nations. The caba- 
 710718 of Bicetre are the fittest places for 
 people of tTiat stamp." 
 
 English Peruquiers "before the "King. 
 
 In the month of February, 1765, the 
 peruke makers presented a petition to 
 the king of England, stating their dis- 
 tressed condition, occasioned by so 
 many people wearing their own hair, 
 and employing foreigners to cut and 
 dress it ; or, when they employ natives, 
 obliging them to work on the Lord's 
 day, to the neglect of their religious 
 duties. 
 
 They therefore humbly besought his 
 majesty, that he would be pleased to 
 grant them relief; submitting to his 
 majesty's goodness and wisdom, wheth- 
 er Ms own example was not the only 
 means of rescuing them from their dis- 
 
 tresses, as far as it occasioned so many 
 people wearing their own hair. His 
 majesty was " graciously pleased " to 
 receive the petition, and to return for 
 answer, " That he held nothing dearer 
 to his heart than the happiness of his 
 people, and that they might be assured, 
 he should at all times use his endeavors 
 to promote their welfare." 
 
 Several of the adventurous barbers 
 who attended on this occasion, gave 
 such oficnce by their inconsistency in 
 wearing their own hair, that it was cut 
 off by the mob on their return. His 
 majesty was not unmindful of the 
 promise he gave to the fraternity — at 
 least, if we may judge from some of his 
 public exhibitions, on which he appears 
 to have sacrificed everything like per- 
 sonal vanity, to his reverence for wigs. 
 
 Theatrical Debut of a Barber. 
 
 A HAIRDRESSER, in a considerable 
 town in England, made an unsuccessful 
 attempt in tragedy. To silence an 
 abundant hissing, he stepped forward 
 and delivered the following speech : 
 
 " Ladies and gentlemen : yesterday I 
 dressed you ; to-night I ad -dress you ; 
 and to-morrow, if you please, I will re- 
 dress you. While there is virtue in 
 powder, pomatum, and horsetails, I 
 find it easier to make an actor than to 
 be one. Vive- la. bagatelle f I hope I 
 shall yet shine in the capital part of a 
 5mw, though I have not the felicity of 
 pleasing you in the character of an em- 
 peror." 
 
 ♦ 
 
 Penny Newspapers in America. 
 
 Only about thirty years ago, or less, 
 two journeyman printers commenced 
 the publication of the New York Sun, 
 writing and setting up their own edi- 
 torials and other matter. They issued 
 seven hundred copies daily, which they 
 sold to the newsboys at the price of 
 sixty-tvfo and a half cents a hundred 
 copies, and the boys sold them for a 
 
OCCUPATIONS AUXILIARY TO COMMERCE. 
 
 709 
 
 cent each. An old Ramage press was 
 worked with their own hands. As their 
 edition increased— which it did— the 
 printing was done on a Napier press. 
 Afterward they employed a steam 
 press. One of the parties sold his in- 
 terest for ten thousand dollars, and be- 
 came a lawyer and public man at the 
 West. Now, some tens of thousands of 
 copies of this paper are thrown off 
 daily, and it was not long before a 
 brood of penny papers sprung up in 
 different parts of the country. 
 
 *• Concerned in Trade." 
 
 At a political meeting in England, a 
 " noble lord " — par excellence^ ventured 
 to speak disrespectfully of several dis- 
 tinguished individuals of opposite prin- 
 ciples to his own, because they or their 
 ancestors had been " concerned in 
 trade." Let us see : 
 
 Euripides was the son of a fruiterer ; 
 Virgil's father was a potter or brick- 
 maker; Plautus was a baker; Luther 
 was the son of a poor miner ; the cel- 
 ebrated Italian writer, Gelli, when hold- 
 ing the high dignity of council of the 
 Florentine Academy, still continued to 
 work at his original profession of a 
 tailor. 
 
 The father of John Opie, the great 
 English portrait painter, was a working 
 carpenter in Cornwall ; Opie was raised 
 from the bottom of a sawpit, where he 
 was employed in cutting wood, to the 
 professorship of painting, in the Royal 
 Academy. 
 
 The lather of Haydn, the famous 
 musical composer, was a wheelwright ; 
 and filled also the humble occupation 
 of a sexton. 
 
 Boccaccio was the natural son of a 
 merchant ; Columbus was the son of a 
 weaver, and originally a weaver him- 
 self; Bunyan was the son of a travel- 
 ling tinker ; the founder of the house 
 of Baring Brothers was a weaver; 
 Shakspeare was the son of a butcher ; 
 
 Cowley, of a grocer ; Ben Jonson, of a 
 mason ; Fletcher, of a chandler ; Pope, 
 of a linen draper ; Collins, of a hatter ; 
 Gray, of a notary ; Akenside, of a 
 butcher ; Whitehead, of a baker ; 
 Henry Kirke White of a butcher, and 
 Thomas Moore, of a grocer. 
 
 Gay was apprenticed to a silk mer- 
 cer ; Sir Edward Sugden, Lord Tenter- 
 den, and Jeremy Taylor, w^ere sons of 
 barbers ; Dr. Maddox, Bishop of Wor- 
 cester, was the son of a pastry cook ; 
 Dr. Milner was a weaver, and Sir Sam- 
 uel Romilly was the son of a gold- 
 smith ; Richardson, the gifted writer, 
 and Franklin, the philosopher, were 
 printers ; John Hunter was the son of 
 a carpenter; Defoe was a hosier, and 
 son of a butcher ; and Dymond, author 
 of Principles of Morality, etc., was a 
 linen draper, and traded, or wrote, ac- 
 cording as he had, or had not, custom- 
 ers. Woods, Curran, Jeffi'ey, Brydges, 
 Atkins, and Lord EUenborough, were 
 all the sons of humble tradesmen ; Am- 
 yot, of France, was the son of a currier ; 
 Rabelais, of an apothecary; Voltaire, 
 of a tax gatherer ; Lamothe, of a hat- 
 ter ; Massillon, of a turner ; Grienault, 
 of a baker; Molibre, of a tapestry 
 maker; Rousseau, of a watchmaker; 
 Claude Lorraine was bred a pastry 
 cook, and Quentin Matsys was a black- 
 smith. 
 
 *' Our Editor," Sixty Years Ago. 
 
 " Our editor," as one may read in 
 Jerdan's Autobigraphy, " was originally 
 intended for the kirk, and was a well- 
 informed person ; but to see him at or 
 after midnight in his official chair, a 
 writing his ' leader,' was a treat for a 
 philosopher. With the slips of paper 
 before him, a pot of porter close at 
 hand, and a piece of tobacco in his 
 mouth, or casually laid down, he pro- 
 ceeded secundem arteyn. The head hung 
 with the chin on his collar-bone, as in 
 deep thought, — a whiff— another — a 
 tug at the beer — and a line and a half 
 
\ 
 
 710 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 or two lines committed to tlie blotted 
 paper." 
 
 Hivalry in Business Beneficial. 
 
 "When I was a young man, — says a 
 wealthy retired hatter, — I set up in the 
 hat trade, and took a store where there 
 was not a ha^ store within a quarter 
 of a mile, thinking I should do more 
 where there were no others; but I 
 found that, at the end of a year, all 
 that I had made might have been put 
 into my naturally small eye, and not 
 injured its sight. 
 
 I sat down one day, and after think- 
 ing that my lot was a mighty hard one, 
 told my boy that I was going out 
 awhile, and that he must keep a sharp 
 look out for customers. I went down 
 town, and, looking around, found that 
 two or three hatters were driving a very 
 good trade quite near together, and, 
 passing into one of these stores, I found 
 its owner quite a talkative man. "We 
 put our heads together, and in the 
 course of a week, the store directly op- 
 posite his received my stock in trade, 
 and a coat of blue paint on the outside, 
 while his received a coat of green. 
 
 The first day I did nothing but stand 
 at the door, and look pouty at the green 
 store, and my friend Blake stood on his 
 steps looking ditto at me. As people 
 came in, I commenced running down 
 the green store, and Blake always run 
 the blue ; so between us both we built 
 up a trade that was quite lively. Peo- 
 ple having " taken sides," and new- 
 comers always purchasing of one or the 
 other, we gradually grew rich, and at 
 the end of some dozen years, we settled 
 up, and I found that opposition, or 
 what answered that name, had brought 
 custom, and had made my fortune. 
 
 Quaker Hatter and His Journeyman. 
 
 When I was in the hatting business, 
 says Mr. Hanchett, I employed a man 
 by the name of Jonas Pike, from Mas- 
 
 sachusetts, who was a skilful workman 
 in the manufacture of hats. But he 
 was one of that kind of journeymen 
 who will have their " trains," as they 
 were familiarly called in former days. 
 Therefore, as a natural consequence, he 
 was without comfortable clothing the 
 most of the time. After he got a shop 
 he would work very industriously until 
 he had earned from twenty to thirty, 
 and sometimes forty dollars' worth of 
 clothing, — for he was always in want 
 of clothing when he commenced work ; 
 and then he would get on one of his 
 trains, and dispose of every article of his 
 clothing that would fetch six cents, ex- 
 pending all for whiskey. When all 
 was gone, and he began to cool off a 
 little, he would be very ugly; some- 
 times he would fret and scold, and then 
 he would coax and plead, to get trust- 
 ed for a hat or something else, that he 
 might sell, and by that means get more 
 whiskey. When I refused him, he 
 would become very angry and threaten 
 to whip me, which I told him he might 
 do as soon as he pleased. " But, " said he, 
 " I will not do it in your own shop — if 
 I had you out of doors, I would thrash 
 you like a sack." After hearing him 
 repeat these sayings several times, I 
 walked out at the door. I then spoke 
 to him, saying, " I am now out of the 
 shop, thou canst whip me if thou w^ish- 
 est to do so very much ; " at which he 
 stepped out of the shop, came furiously 
 toward me, squaring himself for a box, 
 and struck me a blow on my breast, at 
 which I put my hand upon my cheek, 
 and presenting it to his notice, said: 
 " Now strike here, Jonas." At this, he 
 looked at me with dumb astonishment, 
 saying, at the same time, with an oath, 
 " If you will not fight, I will let you 
 alone," — and went into the shop, sat 
 down, and was quiet. He got sober, 
 and went to work ; and ever afterward, 
 during the long period I employed 
 him, his peaceable and obliging dispo- 
 sition was most marked. 
 
OCCUPATIONS AUXILIARY TO COMMERCE. 
 
 Yll 
 
 Juvenile Bookseller's "Wit. 
 
 A GENTLEMAN crossing one of the 
 New York ferries was accosted by one 
 of tliose peripatetic venders of cheap 
 literature and weekly newspapers, who 
 are to be found in shoals about all our 
 public places, with " Buy Bulwer's last 
 work, sir ? only two shillin'." The gen- 
 tleman, disposed to have a laugh with 
 the urchin, said : " "Why, I am Bulwer 
 myself ! " Off went the knowing little 
 lad, and whispering to another, at a 
 little distance, excited his wonderment 
 at the information he had to impart. 
 Eying the pretended author of " Pel- 
 ham " with a kind of awe, he approach- 
 ed him timidly, and, holding out a 
 pamphlet, said, modestly : " Buy the 
 Women of England, sir ? You're not 
 Mrs. Ellis., he's you ? " Of course the 
 proposed sale was effected. 
 
 Almanao Making— Fortunate Hit. 
 
 "When Mr. Thomas was preparing one 
 of his first almanacs, a man who was 
 employed upon the work with him, 
 asked what he should say about the 
 weather opposite a certain week in 
 July. Thomas humorously or peevishly 
 replied, " Thunder, hail, and snoioy It 
 was so put down and printed ; and it 
 so happened that it did thunder, hail, 
 and even snow, at the very time. This 
 fortunate hit or prediction raised the 
 almanac maker in the estimation of 
 many, and made his almanac the most 
 popular in America. 
 
 Derivation of Names of Trades. 
 
 The names that designate the va- 
 rious orders of tradesmen are in some 
 cases very curiously derived. 
 
 Tinkers, for instance, or tinklers, as 
 the Scotch call them, were originally so 
 called, because the itinerant members 
 of that profession used to give notice 
 of their approach to villages and farm- 
 
 houses by making a tinkling noise on 
 an old brass kettle. 
 
 Milliner is a word corrupted, or at 
 least altered from Milaner, which sig- 
 nified a person from Milan, in Italy. 
 Certain fashions of female dress, that 
 first prevailed in that city, were intro- 
 duced, by notices of it, into England, 
 and hence arose the word milliner. 
 
 The term cordwainer was one applied 
 to a numerous and flourishing frater- 
 nity, but is now falling into disuse. A 
 cordwainer was maker of a peculiar 
 kind of shoes, much worn formerly; 
 and the appellation is a corruption 
 from cordovaner, a worker of leather — 
 brought from the city of Cordova, in 
 Spain. The same kind of leather is 
 now manufactured in abundance else- 
 where, from horsehides, and is still fa- 
 miliarly called Cordovan. 
 
 The word landlord was first applied 
 to the keeper of an inn. Formerly, 
 wayfaring guests were for the most 
 part entertained by the proprietors of 
 the land, the lords of the manor through 
 which they journeyed. 
 
 Iron Merchant and the Blacksmith. 
 
 There was in the city of Philadel- 
 phia a blacksmith who was in the 
 habit of complaining to his iron mer- 
 chant, that such was the scarcity of 
 money that he could not pay his rent. 
 The merchant then asked him how 
 much rum he used in his family, in the 
 course of the day. Upon his answering 
 this question, the merchant made a cal- 
 culation, and showed him that his rum 
 account amounted to more money in 
 the year than his house rent. The cal- 
 culation so astonished the mechanic, 
 that he determined from that day to 
 buy and drink no spirits of any kind. 
 In the course of the ensuing year, he 
 paid his rent and bought a new suit of 
 clothes out of the savings of his tem- 
 perance. He persisted in it through 
 the course of his life, and the result 
 was competence and respectability. 
 
712 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 Hitting Ms Trade. 
 
 A Friend having been cited as a 
 witness at a quarter sessions, one of the 
 magistrates, who had been a black- 
 smith, desired to know of the Quaker 
 why he would not take off his hat. 
 " It is a privilege," said the Friend, " in 
 which the laws and liberties of my 
 country indulge people of our religious 
 mode of thinking." " If I had it in my 
 power," replied the justice, " I would 
 have your hat nailed to your head." 
 " I thought," rejoined the Quaker, dryly, 
 *' that thou hadst given over the trade 
 of driving nails." 
 
 "Honor and Fame from no Condition 
 Rise." 
 
 An American President, when asked 
 what was his coat-of-arms, remember- 
 ing that he had been a hewer of wood 
 in his youth, replied : " A pair of shirt 
 sleeves I " 
 
 Lord Tenterden was proud to point 
 out to his son the shop in which his 
 father had shaved for a penny. 
 
 A French doctor once taunted Flei- 
 chier. Bishop of Nismes, who had been 
 a tallow chandler in his youth, with 
 the meanness of his origin, to which 
 Fleichier replied : " l^you had been bom 
 in the same condition that I was, you 
 would still have been but a dipper of 
 candles." 
 
 A distinguished man, once a fiddler, 
 being reproached because of his voca- 
 tion, replied : " Did I not fiddle well ? " 
 
 Per contra: a wealthy but stupid 
 English dyer, having gained his money 
 by honest chimney sweeping, and on 
 this account feeling ashamed of chim- 
 neys, built his house without one, send- 
 ing all his smoke into the shaft of his 
 dye works. 
 
 Butch.er's Blue Blouse or Frock. 
 
 The custom is almost universal in 
 England— and the same may be said to 
 
 apply in a good degree to America, 
 excepting that white is also extensively 
 worn — for butchers to wear a blouse or 
 frock of a blue color ; a color or custom 
 so common as to form a distinctive 
 mark of the trade— a sort of uniform. 
 The explanation of this custom is, that 
 a blue dress does not show stains of 
 blood, inasmuch as blood, when dry, 
 becomes of a somewhat bluish color. 
 
 Shoemaker Determined to Benefit the 
 World. 
 
 Shoemakers have in all ages been a 
 somewhat remarkable class of men. 
 Meditative and energetic, as it would 
 appear, fiom the nature of their profes- 
 sion, they have at various times distin- 
 guished themselves as patriots, men of 
 letters, and other high callings. Nu- 
 merous examples are related of indi- 
 viduals who have thus imparted a gloss 
 to the " gentle craft " — as shoemaking 
 has been called, since the days of the 
 illustrious Crispin. 
 
 Timothy Bennett, a shoemaker, re- 
 sided in the village of Hampton- Wick, 
 near Richmond, in Surrey. The first 
 passage from this village to Kingston- 
 upon-Thames, through Bushy Park (a 
 royal demesne), had been for many 
 years shut up from the public. This 
 honest shoemaker, " unwilling " — as he 
 said— "to leave the world any worse 
 than he found it," consulted a lawyer 
 upon the practicability of recovering 
 this road, and the probable expense of 
 a legal process : " I have seven hun- 
 dred pounds," said he, " which I should 
 be willing to bestow upon this attempt. 
 It is all I have, and has been saved 
 through a long course of honest in- 
 dustry." 
 
 The lawyer informed him that no 
 such sum would be necessary to pro- 
 duce this result; and Timothy deter- 
 mined accordingly to proceed with 
 vigor in the prosecution of this public 
 claim. In the meantime. Lord Halifax, 
 ranger of Bushy Park, was made ac- 
 
OCCUPATIONS AUXILIARY TO COMMERCE. 
 
 V13 
 
 quainted with his intentions, and sent 
 for him : " Who are you, sir," inquired 
 his lordship, " that has the assurance 
 to meddle in this affair ? " 
 
 "My name, my lord, is Timothy 
 Bennett, shoemaker, of Hampton- Wick. 
 I remember, an't please your lordship, 
 when I was a young man, of seeing, 
 while sitting at my work, the people 
 cheerfully pass by to Kingston market ; 
 but now, my lord, they are forced to go 
 round about, through a hot sandy road, 
 ready to faint beneath their burdens, 
 and I am unwilling (it was his favor- 
 ite expression) to leave the world any 
 worse than I found it. This, my lord, 
 I humbly represent, is the reason of my 
 conduct." 
 
 "Begone; you are an impertinent 
 fellow ! you are an impertinent fel- 
 low ! " However, upon more mature 
 reflection, being convinced of the equi- 
 ty of the claim, and anticipating the 
 ignominy of defeat — " Lord Halifax, 
 the nobleman, non-suited by Timothy 
 Bennett, the shoemaker " — he desisted 
 from his opposition, and opened the 
 road, which is enjoyed, without mo- 
 lestation, to this day. 
 
 Payment for News. 
 
 Perhaps the origin of newspaper 
 publishers paying for reliable news 
 from distant places may be found in 
 the advertisement announcing the first 
 number of the London Evening Post, 
 Sep. 6, 1707, as follows :—" There 
 must be three or four pound per 
 ann. paid by those gentlemen who 
 are out of town, for written news, 
 which is so far, generally, from having 
 any probability of matter-of-fact in it, 
 that it is frequently stuffed up with a 
 We hear, &c. ; or. An eminent Jew mer- 
 chant has received a letter, &c. ; being 
 nothing more than downright fiction." 
 The same advertisement, speaking of 
 the published papers, says : " We read 
 more of our own affairs in the Dutch 
 papers than in any of our own." 
 
 ' ' Letting'-out ' ' Clothes. 
 
 An Irish tailor making a gentleman's 
 coat and vest too small, was requested 
 to take them back and let them out. 
 Some days after, the gentleman, on 
 calling at the tailor's establishment, 
 was told that his garments happened 
 to fit a countryman of his, and he had 
 " let them out " at a shilling a week. 
 
 Peculiar Custom of a Tailor. 
 
 A TAILOR of Samarcand, living near 
 the gate leading to the burying place, 
 had by his shop board an earthen pot 
 hanging on a nail, into which he threw 
 a little stone when any corpse was car- 
 ried by, and at the end of every day 
 he counted the contents of his pot, in 
 order to ascertain the number of the 
 dead. At length the tailor died him- 
 self; and some time after, one that was 
 unacquainted with the fact of his death, 
 observing his shop to be deserted, in- 
 quired what had become of him, when 
 one of the deceased's neighbors replied, 
 " The fellow has gone to pot, as well as 
 the rest." 
 
 Archaeological Tailor's Ileasures. 
 
 One day. Sir Robert Cotton, being 
 at his tailor's, discovered that the man 
 was holding in his hand, ready to cut 
 up for " measures," an original Magna 
 Charta, with all its appendages of seals 
 and signatures. He bought the singu- 
 lar curiosity for a trifle, and recovered 
 in this manner what had been given 
 over for lost. This anecdote is told by 
 Colomies, who long resided and died 
 in Great Britain. The original Magna 
 Charta is preserved in the Cottonian 
 library. It exhibits marks of dilapida- 
 tion ; but whether from the invisible 
 scythe of time, or the humble scissors 
 of a tailor, archaeologists must be left 
 to decide. 
 
1U 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 "ShaU I Cut?" 
 
 At the first representation of tlie 
 Tom Jones of Poinsinet, two persons 
 were observed in the pit, one of whom 
 was overheard saying to the other, from 
 time to time, '' Shall I cut ? Shall I 
 cut ? " This suspicious phrase attracted 
 attention, and the pair were just on the 
 point of being arrested as pickpockets. 
 *'What have we done?" said one of 
 them ; " we are only tailors, and have 
 the honor of making clothes for M. 
 Poinsinet, the author of the new play. 
 As I have to furnish him with a new 
 dress to appear before the public, which 
 will be sure to demand his appearance 
 at the second representation, and as I 
 know very little of dramatic works, I 
 have brought with me my principal 
 journeyman, a very clever man, for he 
 makes out all my accounts ; and I was 
 only asking him, from time to time, if 
 he would advise me to cut the cloth in 
 question, which must be paid for out 
 of the profits of the play." 
 
 Answering a Tailor's Dun. 
 
 Sheridan, — scholar, wit, and spend- 
 thrift — being dunned by a tailor to pay 
 at least the interest on his bill, an- 
 swered, that it was not his interest to 
 pay the principal, nor his principle to 
 pay the interest. The tailor thought- 
 fully retired. 
 
 Byron's Genoese Tailor. 
 
 It is said that Byron would never 
 have gone to Greece but for a tailor 
 in Genoa. The noble bard was very 
 economical, as was well known, in 
 small matters. He had hired a villa 
 at Genoa, and furnished it with the 
 intention of making it a permanent 
 residence. Lord and Lady Blessington, 
 and a large society of English people, 
 of good style, were residing there at 
 the time. In the fullest enjoyment of 
 his house and his mode of life, Byron 
 
 wanted a new coat ; and, having some 
 English cloth, he left it, wuth his meas- 
 ure, in the hands of a Genoese tailor, 
 with no particular instructions as to 
 the making. 
 
 The tailor, overcome with the honor 
 of making a coat for an Eccelenza Inglese, 
 embroidered it from collar to tail, and 
 sent it home with a bill as thickly em- 
 broidered as the coat. Byron kept the 
 coat, for fear of its being sold as Ms to 
 an actor of English parts on the stage, 
 but resolutely refused to pay for more 
 than the making of a plain and plebeian 
 garment. The tailor threatened an at- 
 tachment, and Byron assigned over his 
 furniture to his banker, and finally 
 quitted Genoa in disgust, ready, of 
 course, as he would not otherwise have 
 been, for a new project. 
 
 From indignation at an embroidered 
 coat tail, the transition to " Liberty or 
 death ! " " Woe to the Moslem ! " or any 
 other vent for his accumulated bile, was 
 easy and natural. He embarked in the 
 Greek cause soon after, and the em- 
 broidered coat was not (as it should 
 have been) "flung to the breeze at 
 Salamis" — the banner of inspired 
 heroism. 
 
 "A Roland for an Oliver." 
 
 " Will you pay me this bill, sir ? " 
 said a tailor in Charles street, New 
 Orleans, to a waggish debtor. 
 
 "Do you owe anybody anything?" 
 asked the wag. 
 
 " No, sir," replied the tailor. 
 " Then you can afford to wait I " and 
 off he walked. 
 
 A day or two afterward the tailor 
 called again. Our wag was not "at 
 his wit's end ; " so, turning to his cred- 
 itor, he said — 
 
 " Are you in debt to anybody ? " 
 •' Yes, sir, I am sorry to say I am." 
 " Well, w^hy don't you pay ? " 
 "I haven't got the money, ^^ replied 
 the tailor, with a woe-begone counte- 
 nance. 
 
OCCUPATIONS AUXILIARY TO COMMERCE. 
 
 715 
 
 " That's just my case, my dear sir ! 
 I am glad to see that you can appre- 
 ciate my position. I always respected 
 your judgment, sir — give me your 
 
 hand, sir ! " 
 
 ♦ 
 
 Canine News Dealer. 
 
 One of the carriers of a New York 
 paper having become indisposed, his 
 son took his place ; but not knowing 
 the subscribers he was to supply he 
 took for his guide a dog which had 
 usually attended his father. The 
 animal trotted on, ahead of the boy, 
 and stopped at every door where the 
 paper used to be left, w ithout making 
 a single omission or mistake. 
 
 Newspaper Publisher Described. 
 
 None but such as have been regular- 
 ly initiated into the mysteries of the 
 newspaper world know the activity, 
 the intense mental labor, or the fore- 
 sight and unceasing energy that are 
 required to insure the commercial pros- 
 perity of a first-rate journal. A person 
 involved in the conducting of a high- 
 class daily newspaper lives in a perpetual 
 whirl of excitement, his existence being 
 little else, from the first day of Janu- 
 ary to the last day of December, than 
 one continued worry. From morning 
 to night he is obliged to be in harness, 
 and at every person's command, never 
 having one moment of the day that he 
 can call his own ; his eye must be on 
 all, and his active body everywhere. 
 At one moment he is deep in a confabu- 
 lation with the party who is fitting up 
 his new machine; at another he is 
 arranging terms of agreement with a 
 special correspondent who is required 
 in some foreign country ; now he has 
 to complain of the non-arrival of his 
 new types, or the unpunctuality of the 
 person who supplies him with ink; 
 now he gets into a passion at an im- 
 pudent liner who has "done" the 
 paper with an invented, murder, or a 
 
 " heart-rending suicide ; " anon, a con- 
 ference with the principal editor as to 
 the line of writing to be taken up con- 
 sequent on some great political move- 
 ment, demands his presence. Or the 
 paper maker has a woeful tale to harass 
 him : His machinery has become de- 
 ranged, and he has unfortunately run 
 out of rags in consequence of difiiculties 
 attending their importation — and so, 
 with melancholy visage, he announces 
 that there is only sufficient paper on 
 hand to last three days, and that it will 
 take four days to get his machinery 
 put right, even if the rags should arrive 
 in the mean time. And so the day 
 speeds its length along, till wearied, 
 worried, and headached, the poor 
 manager hurries away home, to dinner. 
 On the morrow, a similar routine of 
 cares and anxieties is repeated, vdth 
 similar expenditure of bodily and 
 mental labor. These little annoyances, 
 it may be stated, are only a little of 
 what the proprietor has to endure ; 
 indeed, the efforts required to com- 
 pete with other journals are alone 
 sufficient to wear out his life in a very 
 short time. 
 
 Commercial "Value of Dramatic 
 Literature. 
 
 The value of dramatic literature 
 varies with different managers, different 
 authors, different theatres, in England. 
 Mr. Webster is very liberal, and w^ill, 
 perhaps, pay from fifteen hundred to 
 twenty-five hundred dollars for a good 
 and successful play ; two hundred and 
 fifty dollars, two hundred dollars, and 
 one hundred dollars, for a farce. Some- 
 times, when the continued prosperity 
 of a piece is rather doubtful, the quid 
 pro quo takes the form of a nightly 
 payment up to a certain sum. The 
 Keeleys used to pay seven hundred and 
 fifty dollars for a good burlesque ; or 
 fifteen dollars per night up to seven 
 hundred and fifty, which the authors^ 
 consider very generous. But the r 
 
716 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 muneration does not stop with the 
 London pay. A good metropolitan 
 reputation will insure a frequent pro- 
 vincial perl'ormance and subsequent 
 revivals, and if the author preserves 
 his interest in the copyright, he may 
 derive a perpetual income from the 
 frequency of performance. Sir E. Bul- 
 wer Lytton is said to receive fifty dol- 
 lars for every performance of the " Lady 
 of Lyons." This, however, is a rare 
 exception to the average rate of remu- 
 neration. From ten dollars to two 
 dollars and a half is the price ordinarily 
 paid. 
 
 Report of a Lord's Speech. 
 
 Mr. Wedderburn, afterward Lord 
 Loughborough, was once asked whether 
 he really delivered in the House of Com- 
 mons a speech which was reported in 
 the newspaper as having been made by 
 him. " Why, to be sure," said he, 
 " there are many things in that speech 
 which I did say, and there are more 
 which I wish I had said." A fair 
 average of reported speeches of public 
 men, not only of that period, but of 
 the present also 
 
 Pro"by, the Reporter. 
 
 John Proby, according to his biog- 
 rapher, had never been out of Lon- 
 don, never in a boat, never on the back 
 of a horse. To the end of bagwigs he 
 wore a bag ; he was the last man that 
 walked with a cane as long as himself, 
 ultimately exchanged for an umbrella, 
 which he was never seen without in 
 wet weather or dry; yet he usually 
 reported the whole debates in the Peers 
 from memory, without a note, for the 
 daily paper, and wrote two or three 
 novels, depicting the social manners 
 of the times. He was a strange feeder, 
 and ruined himself in eating pastry at 
 the confectioners' shops (for one of 
 whose scores his friends had to bail 
 him) ; he was always in a perspiration. 
 
 whence he acquired the sotn^iquet of 
 " King Porus ; " and he was always so 
 punctual to a minute that when he 
 arrived in sight of the office window, 
 the hurry used to be—" There's Proby, 
 it is half-past two," and yet he never 
 set his watch. If ever it came to right 
 time, no one can tell; but if asked 
 what o'clock it was, he would look at 
 it and calculate something in this sort 
 — " I am twenty-six minutes past seven 
 — four, twenty- one from twelve forty — 
 it is just three minutes past three ! " 
 Poor, strange, and simple, yet curious- 
 ly informed Proby ! his last domicile 
 was the parish workhouse, out of which 
 he would come in his coarse gray garb, 
 and call upon his friends as freely and 
 unceremoniously as before, to the sur- 
 prise of servants, who always entertain 
 " an 'orrid " jealousy of paupers, and 
 who could not comprehend why a 
 person so clad was allowed to be 
 shown in. 
 
 Rising in the "World. 
 
 SmoN Eyre, a name familiarly 
 known in British annals, — was origi- 
 nally a humble shoemaker in Leaden- 
 hall street, in the city of London, and 
 worked his way up a " peg " or two, in 
 a manner bordering somewhat on the 
 romantic. Hearing that a vessel laden 
 with leather from Tripoli, was wrecked 
 on the coast of Cornwall, he conceived 
 he might realize a handsome profit by 
 purchasing it. He accordingly col- 
 lected as much money as his limited 
 means and good name would permit, 
 and departed from London on foot to 
 Penzance, where he bought the leather, 
 and returned to London. Here he es- 
 tablished himself as a dealer in that 
 article, and soon amassed an immense 
 fortune, sufficient to erect Leadenhall, 
 obtain the royal honor of knighthood, 
 and found a splendid ecclesiastical 
 brotherhoood. 
 
OCCUPATIONS AUXILIARY TO COMMERCE. 
 
 717 
 
 Pranklin and the London Printer. 
 
 When quite a youth, Franklin went 
 to London, entered a printing o3ice, 
 and inquired if he could get employ- 
 ment as a printer. " Where are you 
 from ? " inquired the foreman. " Amer- 
 ica," was the reply. "Ah," said the 
 foreman, " from America 1 a lad from 
 America seeking employment as a 
 printer! Well do you really under- 
 stand the art of printing ? Can you set 
 type ? " Franklin stepped to one of 
 the cases, and in a very brief space, set 
 up the following passage from the first 
 chapter of the Gospel of St. John: 
 "Nathaniel saith unto him. Can any 
 good thing come out of Nazareth ? 
 Philip saith unto him, Come and see." 
 This was done so quickly, so accurate- 
 ly, and contained a delicate reproof so 
 appropriate and powerful, that it at 
 once gave him a character and stand- 
 ing with all in the oflSce. 
 
 Placard Printing- in Vienna. 
 
 There is a printing ofiice in Vienna, 
 the sole employment of which is the 
 announcement oi fetes^ plays, and con- 
 certs — nothing else being printed there 
 but placards. The proprietor of the 
 establishment has many persons in his 
 service, who thoroughly understand the 
 most striking way of announcing such 
 matters to the street public, by the 
 unique arrangement of the alluring 
 words, " Bal Brilliant," " Magic Illumi- 
 nation," " Rose-tinted Garments of 
 Pleasure," etc. 
 
 The monster types used are all of 
 wood; the effect of the great colored 
 letters upon men's eyes and fancies is 
 always speculated upon ; and the pic- 
 torial announcements of estates for sale 
 by lottery, \a hen all the letters are com- 
 posed of pictures of castles and rural 
 views, and where every " million " is 
 represented entwined with the elegant 
 and flowery wreaths of hope, are really 
 
 masterpieces in a psychological as in a 
 xylographic point of view. 
 
 The unusual words, or those that do 
 not frequently occur, arc composed, as 
 occasion may require, from single let- 
 ters ; but the celebrated names, Strauss, 
 Lanner, Sperl, Elysium, Prater, Golden 
 Pear, etc., are cut out of single blocks. 
 It is the same with the standing phrases, 
 such as " Splendid Illuminations," 
 " Dancing Sciree^^'' etc. 
 
 Uothiing like Lieather. 
 
 At a public sale of books in a cer- 
 tain city, the auctioneer put up a copy 
 of " Drew's Essay on Souls." The book 
 was finally knocked down to a shoe- 
 maker, who very innocently — but to 
 the infinite amusement of the crowded 
 room — asked the auctioneer if he had 
 "any more works on shoemaking to 
 sell." 
 
 Need of Reference for a Tailor. 
 
 In the British Museum there is a 
 manuscript with a remarkable anec- 
 dote of a tailor and his mysterious cus- 
 tomer. The tailor was met out of doors 
 by a person who requested to be meas- 
 ured for a suit of clothes, to be ready 
 on that spot by that day week; and 
 the stranger gave him a piece of cloth 
 to make them with. From certain cir- 
 cumstances, the tailor suspected his 
 new customer to be the devil, and com- 
 municated his conjectures to a clergy- 
 man, who advised him to execute the 
 order, but carefully to save every jjiece, 
 even the minutest shred, he cut from 
 the cloth, and put the whole into a 
 wrapper with the clothes; he further 
 promised the tailor to go with him on 
 the appointed day to the place where 
 they were delivered. When all was 
 ready, and the day arrived, they both 
 went thither, and the person waiting 
 justified the tailor's suspicions ; for he 
 abused the tailor with unearthly im- 
 precations because he brought a divine, 
 
118 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 and immediately vanished in their pres- 
 ence, leaving the clothes and pieces of 
 cloth in possession of the tailor, who 
 could not sell the devil's cloth to pay 
 himself for the making, for fear of the 
 consequences — from which may he 
 drawm, by way of moral, that a tailor 
 ought not to take an order from a 
 stranger without a reference. 
 
 Preaks of the Hair-Dressing Trade in 
 France. 
 
 Along toward the close of the last 
 century, the hair-dressing of ladies was 
 so important and increasing a business 
 in France, that it became necessary to 
 augment the number of the builders of 
 those " edifices of beauty." In conse- 
 quence of this, the Government declared 
 that six hundred ladies' hair-dressers 
 should be admitted to the company 
 of Maitres Barbiers-Perruquiers. The 
 price of their admission was fixed at 
 six hundred livres. Besides this com- 
 pany, whose talents were to be devoted 
 only to illustrious and brilliant heads, 
 there were hair-dressers for the ladies of 
 the poorer classes, and the Bourgeoises. 
 But the affairs of these ladies' hair- 
 dressers became rather serious in course 
 of time. Their order was augmenting 
 at every hour, and they formed one of 
 the most important bodies among the 
 business circles of Paris. Proud of the 
 daily favors they enjoyed, and giddy 
 with their pride, they openly showed 
 the most liberal contempt for the rest 
 of their honorable confraternity. Bar- 
 bers and wig-combers they considered 
 as unworthy peers, and attempted to 
 separate themselves from such ignoble 
 associates. They even pretended that 
 they had a just right to be joined to 
 some scientific corps. This imperious 
 rivalry, and the melancholy groans of 
 the barbers, at last caused government 
 interference. Another decree was is- 
 sued from the king, which fixed their 
 number at six hundred; prohibited 
 their having more than one apprentice 
 
 every three years ; to keep " schools " 
 of hair-dressing ; and, above all, to 
 place under their signs, the words — 
 Academie de Coiffeurs 1 
 
 Partridge's Almanac Making-. 
 
 A PLEASANT story is told of Par- 
 tridge, the celebrated almanac maker, 
 about one hundred years since. In 
 travelling on horseback in the country, 
 he stopped for his dinner at an inn, 
 and afterward called for his horse, that 
 he might reach the next town, where 
 he intended to sleep. 
 
 " If you will take my advice, sir," 
 said the hostler, as he was about to 
 mount his horse, " you will stay where 
 you are for the night, as you will sure- 
 ly be overtaken by a pelting rain." 
 
 " Nonsense, nonsense," exclaimed the 
 almanac maker ; " there is a sixpence 
 for you, my honest fellow, and good 
 afternoon to you." 
 
 He proceeded on his journey, and 
 sure enough he was well drenched in a 
 heavy shower. Partridge was struck 
 by the man's prediction, and being 
 always intent on the interest of his 
 almanac, he rode back on the. instant, 
 and was received by the hostler with a 
 broad grin. 
 
 " Well, sir, you see I was right after 
 all." 
 
 " Yes, my lad, you have been so, and 
 here is a crown for you ; but I give it 
 to you on condition that you tell me 
 how you knew of this rain." 
 
 " To be sure, sir," replied the man ; 
 " why, the truth is, we have an al- 
 manac at our house called Partiidge's 
 Almanac^ and the fellow is such a no- 
 torious liar, that whenever he promises 
 us a fine day, we always know that it 
 will be the direct contrary. Now, your 
 honor, this day, the 31st of June, is put 
 down in our almanac indoors as ' set- 
 tled fine weather; no rain.' I looked 
 at that before I brought your honor's 
 horse out, and so was enabled to put 
 you on your guard." 
 
OCCUPATIONS AUXILIARY TO COMMERCE. 
 
 Y19 
 
 Sale of Noted "Works and Plays. 
 
 The ultimate sale of the copyright 
 of Paradise Lost, produced to Milton's 
 widow eight pounds. The publisher 
 of Lalla Roohh gave three thousand 
 guineas for the copyright of that poem. 
 
 From an old account book of Ber- 
 nard Lintot, the bookseller, the follow- 
 ing information respecting the prices 
 paid heretofore for the copyright of 
 plays is obtained : Tragedies were then 
 the fashionable drama, and obtained 
 the best price. Dr. Young received for 
 his Busiris, eighty-four pounds ; Smith, 
 for his Phcedra and Hippolytug, fifty 
 pounds ; Rowe, for his Jane STwre, fifty 
 pounds and fifteen shillings ; and for 
 Lady Jane Gray, seventy-five pounds 
 and five shillings ; and Gibber, for his 
 Nonjuror^ obtained one hundred and 
 five pounds. 
 
 RoUnson Crusoe, in manuscript, ran 
 through the whole trade; nor would 
 any one print it, though the writer, 
 Defoe, was in good repute as an author. 
 One bookseller, at last, not remarkable 
 for his discernment, but for his specula- 
 tive turn, engaged in this publication. 
 This bookseller got above a thousand 
 guineas by it ; and the booksellers may 
 be said to be accumulating money every 
 hour by editions of this work in all 
 shapes. 
 
 Goldsmith was astonished when the 
 "bookseller gave him five shillings a 
 couplet for his delightful poem of the 
 Deserted Village — though each line was 
 fairly worth as many pounds. 
 
 Balance of Trade ; or, Beauties of 
 Competition. 
 
 The owner of a thriving mutton-pie 
 concern, which, after much difiiculty 
 and on borrowed capital, he had suc- 
 ceeded in firmly establishing, died be- 
 fore he had well extricated himself 
 from the responsibilities of a debt. 
 The widow carried on the establish- 
 ment after his decease, and throve so 
 
 well, that a speculating baker on the 
 opposite side of the street made her 
 the ofler of his hand. The lady re- 
 fused, and the enraged suitor, deter- 
 mined on revenge, immediately con- 
 verted his baking into an opposition 
 pie shop ; and acting on the principle 
 universal among bakers of doing busi- 
 ness for the first month or two at a loss, 
 made his pies twice as big as he could 
 honestly afford to make them. The 
 consequence was, that the widow lost 
 her custom, and was hastening fast to 
 her ruin, when a friend of her late hus- 
 band, who was also a small creditor, 
 paid her a visit. She detailed her 
 grievances to him, and lamented her 
 lost trade and direful prospects. " Ho, 
 ho ! " said her friend, " that 'ere's the 
 move, is it ? Never you mind, my dear. 
 If I don't git your trade ag'in, there 
 ain't no snakes, mark me — that's all I '* 
 So saying, he took his leave. 
 
 About eight o'clock the same even- 
 ing, when the baker's new pie shop 
 was crammed to ovei'flowing, and the 
 principal was below superintending the 
 production of a new batch, in walks the 
 widow's friend in the costume of a ken- 
 nel-raker, and elbowing his way to the 
 counter, dabs down upon it a brace of 
 huge dead cats, vociferating at the 
 same time to the astonished damsel in 
 attendance, " Tell your master, my 
 dear, as how them two makes six-and- 
 thirty this week, and say I'll bring 
 t'other four to-morrer arternoon ! " 
 With that he swaggered out and went 
 his way. 
 
 Singular enough, so distasteful was 
 mi5~mutton, or the idea of it, among the 
 prejudiced population of that neighbor- 
 hood, that the shop was cleared in an 
 instant, and the floor was seen covered 
 with hastily abandoned specimens of 
 every variety of segments of a circle. 
 The spirit-shop at the corner of the 
 street experienced an unusually large 
 influx of customers and calls for 
 " goes " of brandy, while interjectional 
 ejaculations not purely grammatical 
 
720 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 were not only audible, but visible, too, 
 in the district. It is averred that the 
 ingenious expedient of the widow's 
 friend, founded, as it was, upon a jjro- 
 fouud knowledge of human prejudices, 
 had the desired effect of restoring the 
 lalance of trade. The widow recovered 
 her commerce ; the resentful baker was 
 done as brown as if he had been shut 
 up in his own oven; and the friend 
 who conceived this measure of justice 
 against her competitor received the 
 hand of the lady as a reward for his 
 commercial aptness. 
 
 Ijearning the Saddler's Trade. 
 
 A mcH saddler, whose daughter was 
 afterward married to a duke, the cele- 
 brated Earl of Halifax, ordered in his 
 will, that she should lose the whole of 
 her fortune, if she did not marry a sad- 
 dler. The young Earl of Halifax, see- 
 ing how things stood, and being anx- 
 ious to win so desirable a bride — or 
 fortune— actually served as an appren- 
 tice, for the usual period of seven years, 
 to a saddler, and afterward "bound 
 himself " to the rich saddler's daughter 
 for life. He was probably a firm be- 
 liever that there's " nothing like 
 leather." 
 
 Printers and Editors at Midnig-ht. 
 
 NigTit scene in the printing office of a 
 metropolitan daily journal: The clock 
 I has just struck one, and the paper be- 
 gins to assume a definite shape. As 
 usual, there is too much matter in 
 hand ; the printer fidgets about the 
 sub-editor's room, and looks nervously 
 at " new copy " (manuscript to be set 
 into type). He is quite a peculiar in 
 his way — the master or boss printer in 
 the newspaper office ; a high forehead, 
 an intelligent eye, and a manner half 
 deferential, half conscious of his own 
 importance, giving serious and useful 
 advice in the quietest possible form of 
 good-natured complaint — he is never 
 
 put out of his way, and never at a loss 
 in cases of absolute necessity. 
 
 " This can't go in, sir." " It must go 
 in." " Very well, sir,"— is the regular 
 colloquy, about this time of the night, 
 between the printer and the sub-editor. 
 The printer's ingenuity in finding space 
 is certainly wonderful, and his tact in 
 suggesting what should be preferred 
 for insertion, is of more value than 
 editors sometimes choose to acknowl- 
 edge. Much lies in the appearance and 
 first aspect of the newsjjaper, and this 
 the printer has fully before him ; and 
 even in the discernment of mere liter- 
 ary reasons, long experience and nat- 
 ural shrewdness make him a safe ad- 
 viser. He seldom gives advice unless 
 asked; but when it does come, it is 
 almost always worth having. 
 
 No one who has not had experience 
 in the newspaper office, could imagine 
 how long it takes to complete the mi- 
 nor details of arrangement. Things 
 w^hich look only like the offshoots of 
 business— correcting proofs, cutting 
 down paragraphs, after the great work 
 appears to be entirely over — all these, 
 and a hundred small matters, run away 
 with one minute after another. Two 
 hours after the last reporter has been 
 asleep — three after the critic has done 
 praising prima donnas, and torturing 
 musical phrases — the editor has given 
 his last instructions, and the sub cor- 
 rected his last proof. They wend their 
 way — the one to his cottage, some 
 "miles out," the other on foot to his 
 city lodgings. The printers are left 
 alone in the deserted oflBce, working 
 silently, diligently, and coldly. Hours, 
 news, passions, opinions— all come 
 alike to them. The most horrible in- 
 cident, the most magnificent oration, is 
 to them all so much bourgeois and bre- 
 vier type. 
 
 » 
 
 Patriotic Hatter. 
 
 During the visit of General Lafayette 
 to the United States, when all classes 
 
OCCUPATIONS AUXILIARY TO COMMERCE. 
 
 121 
 
 of citizens were eager to testify the re- 
 spect and gratitude wMch they felt for 
 the last general of the Revolutionary 
 army, a hatter in New York sent the 
 noble patriot a hat of the last Ameri- 
 can manufacture. The General's son, 
 George Washington Lafayette, was so 
 much pleased with it, that he at once 
 ordered a similar one for himself. It 
 was most readily furnished ; but when 
 his servant offered money, "Tell your 
 master," said the grateful American, 
 " that all the hats I can furnish the 
 Fayette family, were paid for forty 
 years ago." 
 
 Pirst Newspaper in America. 
 
 The first newspaper established in 
 America, was issued at Boston, in 1690, 
 September 25th. It immediately at- 
 tracted the attention of the colonial 
 legislature, which declared that its 
 publication w^as contrary to law, and 
 that it contained " reflections of a very 
 high nature." The authorities prob- 
 ably prohibited the further publica- 
 tion, for a second number does not ap- 
 pear to have been issued, and only one 
 copy of number one is known to be in 
 existence, which is in the state paper 
 office at London, and is a small sheet 
 of four quarto pages; one of them 
 blank. Its contents record public oc- 
 currences, foreign and domestic. Rich- 
 ard Pierce was the printer, and Ben- 
 jamin Harris the publisher. 
 
 The first regular paper in this country 
 was also issued at Boston. Its title was 
 the '"'■ News-Letter,^'' and its date was 
 September 24 :h, 1704, copies of it be- 
 ing still preserved in the Boston His- 
 torical Society's collections. An exam- 
 ination of its earliest numbers is of 
 peculiar interest. Thus, its latest news 
 from England was dated one hundred 
 and twenty days previously, and con- 
 sisted of a speech of Queen Anne to 
 Parliament. There is a notice, also, 
 that the mail between Boston and New 
 York set out once a fortnight. In the 
 4G 
 
 succceeding numbers of the paper, ne- 
 gro men, women, and children are ad- 
 vertised for sale ; and an urgent appeal 
 is made in one, calling upon a female 
 who had stolen a piece of fine lace, val- 
 ued at fourteen shillings a yard — and 
 upon another who had conveyed a piece 
 of fine calico from its proper destina- 
 tion under her riding-hood, to return 
 the same, or suffer exposure in the 
 newspapers. 
 
 The first newspaper published in 
 Virginia was established in 1780. The 
 subscription was fifty dollars a year. 
 Price for advertising, ten dollars the 
 first week, and seven dollars for each 
 subsequent insertion. The paper was 
 issued weekly. 
 
 Oldest Daily Newspaper. 
 
 The " Penmyhania Packet and Gen- 
 eral Advertiser,^'' which was commenced 
 in 1771 by John Dunlap, was published 
 in 1784, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sat- 
 urdays, by Daniel C. Claypole. Its last 
 issue as a tri-weekly, was Saturday, 
 September 18th, 1784, No. 1754. The 
 next paper. No. 1755, was issued Sep- 
 tember 21st, by John Dunlap and Da- 
 vid C. Claypole, as the ^'■Pennsylvania 
 Packet and Daily Advertiser,'''' and from 
 that day onward it was published daily. 
 In Isaiah Thomas's " History of Print- 
 ing," and, indeed, in every book con- 
 taining any account of American news- 
 papers, this is alluded to as the first 
 daily newspaper in the United States. 
 The name was afterward changed to 
 " American Daily Advertiser.'''' It is now 
 the " North American.'''' 
 
 The first daily in New York, was 
 commenced March 1st, 1783, and called 
 the ^^ New York Daily Advertiser, by 
 Francis Child & Co. No. 17 Dutch 
 street, one door from the corner of Old 
 Slip and Smith street. Price four 
 cents." Attempts were made to pub- 
 lish a daily newspaper in Boston, in 
 1796, 1798, and 1809, but the " Boston 
 Daily Advertiser,''^ commenced about 
 
■722 
 
 COMMERCIAL AXD BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 1813, was the first successful daily in 
 that city. 
 
 Showing Up Tailoi-s. 
 
 Tailors must live ; at least they 
 think so, and what here follows must 
 not be considered any objection to 
 such an idea being entertained by most 
 of them. But the fact is — says a some- 
 what roiled writer, who must have 
 failed to have got suited in his deal- 
 ings with one of the fi-aternity — the 
 " leaders " are great tyrants, and have in- 
 genious ways of torturing their victims. 
 One way is this : They invent a fashion 
 which is strikingly peculiar, and get it 
 into vogue by acts best known to them- 
 selves ; for example, very short overcoats, 
 with long waists, which look well on 
 men like Count Rossi, whose figure is 
 faultless. Their next movement, after 
 everybody is overcoated for the winter, 
 is to bring out a garment which differs 
 as mucli as 'possible from the one in fash- 
 ion, that is, an overcoat with skirts to 
 the heels, and waist under the armpits. 
 They get half a dozen men of high 
 fashion, who look well in anything, to 
 parade their new invention in Broad- 
 way, and this makes the short-coated 
 majority appear out of date. The 
 manoeuvre succeeds; all the dandies 
 are driven to the extravagance of or- 
 dering a superfluous coat; the tailors 
 smile, and the dandies bleed — or their 
 fathers do. Some time ago these tailor 
 tyrants put everybody into long waist- 
 coats, and, consequently, into " contin- 
 uations " that just lapped over the hips. 
 Suddenly the waistcoats were abbrevi- 
 ated four inches. What was the conse- 
 quence ? Why, of course, the continua- 
 tions " failed to connect," and he who 
 would not exhibit to mankind a broad 
 belt of white around his waist, was 
 compelled to discard all his store of 
 well-saved unnamables. And in vain 
 might the oldest customer protest and 
 order garments of the last fashion. 
 " Consider my reputation, sir," says 
 
 the tailor, with the air of off'ended 
 majesty. 
 
 Of course, no clever tailor will take 
 the above to himself; and whoever 
 wrote it, deserves to be passed over to 
 the tender mercies of the yardstick and 
 shears, vv'ithout benefit of clergy. 
 
 Ungrateful Publisher. 
 
 When Mr. Holt, a printer, establish- 
 ed his newspaper in New York in 1766, 
 a person in the vicinity of Albany, who 
 was wealthy, but notorious for his nar- 
 row, penurious disposition, became one 
 of his earliest subscribers. At the end 
 of the first year, the editor sent his ac- 
 count for the yearly subscription, urg- 
 ing a request that it might be settled 
 the first convenient opportunity. No 
 answer, however, came. The bills were 
 sent regularly for eighteen years, but 
 with the same success ; till at length 
 Mr. Holt, as may well be supposed, got ^ 
 out of all patience with his customer, 
 and had the whole account made out 
 and sent to him — adding, at the foot 
 thereof, that if it was not immediately 
 paid, he would put' it in suit, and dis- 
 continue sending any more newspapers. 
 The subscriber, having read the ac- 
 count and notice, exclaimed, with a 
 disdainful sneer, " What an ungrateful 
 puppy ! I was one of the first that en- 
 couraged his paper by subscribing — 
 have continued it ever since — and this 
 is the return he makes me ! " 
 
 Mr. Gales Reporting: Mr. Webster's 
 Speech. 
 
 At the time that Colonel Hayne, of 
 South Carolina, made his memorable 
 speech on Mr. Foot's resolution, in the 
 United States Senate, Mr. Joseph Gales, 
 of the National Intelligencer^ happened 
 to be present; and hearing that Mr. 
 Webster intended to reply, and would 
 probably be quite brief, he resolved to 
 try his hand, for this particular occa- 
 sion, of his long-neglected vocation of 
 
OCCUPATIONS AUXILIARY TO COMMERCE. 
 
 '723 
 
 short-hand reporter. He undertook the 
 task, but finding the " reply " was like- 
 ly to occupy a number of hours instead 
 of some thirty minutes, the magnitude 
 of the labor it would be to write out 
 his notes appeared so formidable, that 
 he shrank from it as an impossibility, 
 with the many engagements that de- 
 manded his attention. The friends of 
 Mr. Webster urged upon Mr. Gales the 
 imi)erative necessity of writing out the 
 speech, but the prospect w^as gloomy, 
 when suddenly an intimation was re- 
 ceived from Mrs. Gales — who had in 
 former years been in the habit of as- 
 sisting her husband in elaborating his 
 reports— that she would do all in her 
 power to write out the speech in full. 
 The result was, that in the course of a 
 week a copy was presented to Mr. 
 Webster in the handwriting of Mrs. 
 Gales, and when published in the Na- 
 tional Intelligencer had an extraordi- 
 nary circulation. The original notes, 
 adorned with a few unimportant alter- 
 ations in the handwriting of Mr. Web- 
 ster himself, were subsequently neatly 
 bound in a volume and preserved in 
 Mr. G.^s library. It is also well known 
 that the faithfulness of the report not 
 only elicited the warmest commenda- 
 tions from Mr. Webster, but likewise a 
 costly gift from him to Mrs. Gales, in 
 token of his gratitude. 
 
 America's First Printed Book. 
 
 It seems to have been pretty defi- 
 nitely ascertained, that the first printed 
 book on this continent, was by Crom- 
 berger, in Mexico, in 1544. The first 
 book in our own territory was the Bay 
 Psalm Book, printed in 1640, at Cam- 
 bridge, by Stephen Daye. 
 
 Scotch Cabinet Maker's Apprentice. 
 
 A TOTJN& Highlander was appren- 
 ticed to a cabinet maker in Glasgow, 
 and, as a first job, had a chest of ve- 
 neered drawers to clean and polish. 
 
 After a sufficient time had elapsed for 
 doing the work assigned him, the fore- 
 man inquired whether he was ready 
 with the drawers yet ? " Oich no ; it's 
 a tough job ; I've almost taken the 
 skin off my ain two hands before I'll 
 get it off the drawers." " What ! " re- 
 plied the startled director of plane and 
 chisel, " you are not taking the 'deneer- 
 ing off, you blockhead ? " " What I'll 
 do, then ? I could not surely put a 
 polish on before I'll take the bark 
 off!" 
 
 Billingsgate Market Dealers. 
 
 There are about fifty fish-salesmen 
 who have stalls in the famous Billings- 
 gate market, London, for which they 
 pay a comparatively trifling rent. The 
 tables of the salesmen, which are ranged 
 from one side of the covered area to 
 the other, afford ample space for clus- 
 tering throngs of buyers around each. 
 Each range appears to form one table, 
 but the portion assigned to each sales- 
 man is nine feet by six. 
 
 Each seller sits with his back to an- 
 other, and between tliem is a wooden 
 board, so that they are apparently en- 
 closed in a recess ; but by this arrange- 
 ment their pockets escape the pick- 
 pocket, which was not the case when 
 they were not separated from the 
 crowd. The market management is 
 as follows : 
 
 At the lower end of the market, 
 nearest the fishing boats, porters stand 
 with baskets of fish on their heads. 
 Not one of them is allowed to have the 
 advantage over his fellows by an unfair 
 start, or to overstep a line marked out 
 by the clerk of the market. The in- 
 stant the clock strikes the accustomed 
 hour, the race commences, and each 
 porter rushes at his utmost speed to 
 the respective salesman to whom his 
 budren is assigned. The baskets are 
 instantly emptied on the tables, and 
 the porters hasten for a fresh supply 
 repeating this until all is brought. It 
 
724 
 
 COMMERCIAL AXD BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 is the fishmonger's interest to bring his 
 whole cargo into the market as soon as 
 possible, for, if the quantity brought to 
 market be large, prices will fall the 
 more quickly, and if they are high, 
 buyers purchase less freely, and he may 
 miss the sale. Some of these heaps of 
 glistening fish would enchant a Dutch 
 painter. The manners of Billingsgate 
 — so proverbial and disparaging — have 
 improved, and yet the standard phrase 
 for abuse, either of the tongue or pen, 
 will probably never be altered. 
 
 Millionnaire Butcher of London. 
 
 M. Wey, a French writer of distinc- 
 tion, while riding in a London omni- 
 bus, formed a passing acquaintance 
 with a fellow traveller, and addressed 
 a few words to him concerning a car- 
 riage which just drove by. It was too 
 fine to be elegant, and was drawn by 
 two magnificent horses. On the box, 
 adorned with beautiful fringe, sat a 
 black-coated coachman ; there was not 
 a wrinkle in his white cravat — his 
 snowy gloves were spotless. In the 
 vehicle, on downy cushions, carelessly 
 lounged a man without a coat, his arms 
 bare, his sleeves turned up to the 
 shoulders ; an apron, with the corners 
 turned up, served him as a girdle — so 
 that the coachman looked like a mil- 
 Honnaire driving a mechanic in his 
 working dress. Mr. Wey asked his 
 neighbor who and what was the 
 strange-looking occupant of the dash- 
 ing carriage. " The richest butcher in 
 London," was the reply; "he is re- 
 turning in his own carriage from the 
 slaughter-house to his residence. His 
 forefathers were in the same business ; 
 his father left him a fortune of two 
 millions, and he, out of modesty, fol- 
 lows his profession — a very honorable 
 old custom. This gentleman-butcher 
 possesses four millions." 
 
 Profits of a Stall. 
 
 A Polish woman, who has a stall in 
 the Franklin market, New York, found 
 herself, about five years ago, a widow 
 with four young children and an estate 
 of just one dollar and fifty cents in 
 money. Though embarrassed by a 
 very poor knowledge of our language, 
 she immediately invested her capital in 
 some articles which she could sell, and 
 commenced operations, employing her 
 children as she could for her assistance. 
 For a year or two past she has had the 
 market stall. A few months ago she 
 learned that the owner of a good farm 
 of seventy-five acres, in one of the cen- 
 tral counties of the State, was desirous 
 to sell his farm for ready money. She 
 examined the farm, found a good house, 
 barn, etc., and fifty acres under cultiva- 
 tion. Her small pittance had grown to 
 $1,200. The Polish widow thus se- 
 cured her a country estate, though still 
 carrying on the business of her stall. 
 Five years of determined effort, even 
 in a small sphere, -will bring a large 
 amount to the credit side of the cash 
 book. 
 
 Classification of Newspaper Readers. 
 
 Shenstone, the poet, divides the 
 readers of a newsjDaper into seven 
 classes. These are as follows : The ill- 
 natured look at the list of bankrupts ; 
 the poor to the price of bread; the 
 stockjobber to the lies of the day ; the 
 old maid to marriages ; the prodigal to 
 the deaths; the monopolizers to the 
 hopes of a wet and bad harvest; the 
 boarding-school and all other young 
 misses, to all matters relative to Gret- 
 na Green. 
 
 "Extras," etc. 
 
 When Mr. Hallock became the part- 
 ner of IVIr. Hale, in the publication of 
 the Journal of Commerce^ a new era in 
 some respects was inaugurated in 
 
OCCUPATIONS AUXILIARY TO COMMERCE 
 
 725 
 
 Americau journalism. The tiiues were 
 troublous in Europe. The great revo- 
 lution of 1830 was approaching. There 
 was intense anxiety in America for 
 news. The new partners bought and 
 equipped a small schooner, called her 
 " The Journal of Commerce," and sent 
 her out to cruise for packet ships, get 
 the European papers, and bring them 
 in, one, two, or three days ahead of the 
 vessel's arrival. This was the jBrst 
 American newsboat of any size. The 
 other papers had row-boats cruising in 
 the harbor. The new plan was laughed 
 at — " they are fools, and will only ruin 
 themselves the sooner," was the com- 
 mon remark. But the result proved 
 the wisdom of the idea. The sema- 
 phoric telegraph would announce " Tlie 
 Journal of Cmnmerce in the offing, stand- 
 ing in," A few hours later, " The Jour- 
 nal of Commerce passing the Hook." 
 Then the crowd would begin to collect 
 in the publishing office. No news 
 would be delivered until an extra even- 
 ing edition was ready, and then Mr. 
 Hale would sometimes read the news 
 aloud to hundreds of citizens, while the 
 extras were sold by thousands. This 
 was the commencement of New York 
 Extras. 
 
 sir; I hope no offence, but I've tried 
 him at my own profession, but he 
 hadn't the genius for it." 
 
 Lawyers and Barbers. 
 
 It is a singular circumstance that 
 two of the most eminent lawyers of 
 the present century. Lord St. Leonards 
 and the late Chief Justice Abbott (Lord 
 Tenterden) were the sons of operative 
 barbers. The late chief justice perhaps 
 never practised tonsorially — in tl^e 
 shop, at least; but certainly the ex- 
 lord chancellor spent part of his boy- 
 hood in the parental shaving shop, in 
 Duke street, St. James. It is also nar- 
 rated that on one occasion, an eminent 
 counsellor called at the shop of the 
 elder Sugden, when the latter, in the 
 course of some familiar small talk, of 
 which barbers are so fond, remarked, 
 "I have sent my son to be a lawyer. 
 
 Perils of Reporting: the Parliamentairy 
 Debates. 
 
 The first attempt at a monthly pub- 
 lication of the parliamentary debates 
 was made in the OentlemarCs Magazine^ 
 for August, 1735 ; and the practice was 
 continued in succeeding numbers. The 
 reports were of the most timid and 
 cautious description, the names of the 
 speakers being given only by the first 
 and last letters, and, in many cases, no 
 speaker's name is mentioned ; all that 
 appears is a summary of the argument 
 and discussion. They got bolder by 
 degrees, and at last published the 
 names at length. This audacity, cou- 
 pled with the fact that some of the 
 members appeared in a light not very 
 satisfactory to themselves, either from 
 their own defects, or the incorrect ver- 
 sion of their oratory, caused the atten- 
 tion of the Commons to be drawn to 
 the subject. It was brought under no- 
 tice by the speaker, who 'was followed 
 by Yonge, Windham, and Sir Thomas 
 Winnington. The last concluded a very 
 angry speech with these words : " Why, 
 sir, you will have the speeches of this 
 house every day printed, even during 
 your session; and we shall be looked 
 upon as the most contemptible assem- 
 bly on the face of the earth." The re- 
 sult was a thundering resolution, unan- 
 imously agreed to, declaring it " a high 
 indignity to, and a notorious breach of, 
 the privileges of the house to publish 
 the debates, either while Parliament 
 is sitting, or during the recess," and 
 threatening to proceed against offend- 
 ers "with the utmost severity." The 
 OentlemarCs Magazine published them 
 under the title of the " Debates of the 
 Senate of Lilliput," and the London 
 Magazine under that of a " Journal of 
 the Proceedings and Debates in the 
 Political Club ; " giving Roman names 
 
726 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 to tlie speakers, while eacli publication 
 printed an explanatory key at the end 
 of the year. 
 
 Dr. Johnson in the Capacity of a 
 Reporter. 
 
 Dr. Johnson was at one time em- 
 ployed by the editor of the Gentlemari's 
 Magazine in the composition of the par- 
 liamentary debates, having the assist- 
 ance of Mr. Guthrie, somewhat famous 
 in this line. The latter, who had a 
 good memory, brought home as much 
 as he could recollect from the house, 
 mending his draught by whatever other 
 assistance he could command ; after 
 which, the matter thus collected under- 
 went the finishing touches of Johnson. 
 At times, Johnson had no other aid 
 than the names of the speakers, and 
 the side they took, being left to his 
 own resources for the argument and 
 language. A speech — the celebrated 
 speech, commencing " The atrocious 
 crime of being a young man," which 
 he put into the mouth of Pitt, when 
 that distinguished orator replied to 
 the taunts of "Walpole — Johnson after- 
 ward declared, in the cohipany of 
 Francis, Wedderburn, Foote, and Mur- 
 phy, that he " wrote in a garret in Exe- 
 ter street." His reports, however, are 
 considered by the editors of Hansard's 
 Parliamentary History^ the most au- 
 thentic extant, faithfully embodying 
 the argument, if not the style, of the 
 speakers. It was once observed to him, 
 that he dealt out reason and eloquence 
 with an equal hand to both parties. 
 " That is not quite true," said John- 
 son ; " I saved appearances pretty well ; 
 but I took caj*e that the Whig dogs 
 should not have the best of it." 
 
 OTataining- a Copyrig-lit. 
 
 Mr. Johnson, the bookseller in St. 
 Paul's churchyard, London, obtained 
 the copyright of Cowper's Poems, 
 which proved a source of great profit 
 
 to him, in the following manner: A 
 relation of Cowper called one evening 
 at dusk on Johnson, with a bundle of 
 these poems, which he offered to him 
 for publication, provided he would 
 print them on his own risk, and let the 
 author have a few copies to give to his 
 friends. Johnson, perused and approv- 
 ed of them, and accordingly printed 
 and published them. Soon after they 
 had appeared before the public, there 
 was not a review which did not load 
 them with the most scurrilous abuse, 
 and condemn to the butter shops. In 
 consequence of the public taste being 
 thus terrified, or misled, these charm- 
 ing efiusions lay in a corner of the 
 bookseller's shoj) as an unsalable jjile 
 for a long period. Some time after- 
 ward, the same person appeared, with 
 another bundle of manuscripts from 
 the same author; which were offered 
 and accepted upon the same terms. In 
 this fresh collection was the inimitable 
 poem of The Task. Not alarmed at the 
 fate of the former publication, and 
 thoroughly assured, as he was, of 
 their great merit, Mr. Johnson resolved 
 to publish them. Soon after they had 
 appeared, the tone of the reviewers 
 instantly changed, and Cowper was 
 hailed as the first poet of bis age. The 
 success of this second publication set 
 the first in motion, and Johnson imme- 
 diately reaped the fruits of his un- 
 daunted judgment. 
 
 Johnson and His Dictionary. 
 
 Mr. Andrew Millar, bookseller in 
 the Strand, had the principal charge in 
 conducting the publication of John- 
 son's Dictionary; and as the patience 
 of the proprietors was repeatedly tried, 
 and almost exhausted, by their expect- 
 ing that the wcrk would be completed 
 within the time which Johnson had 
 sanguinely supposed, the learned au- 
 thor was often goaded to dispatch, 
 more especially as he had received all 
 the copy money by different drafts, a 
 
OCCUPATIONS AUXILIARY TO COMMERCE. 
 
 m 
 
 considerable time before he had finished 
 his task. When the messenger who 
 carried the last sheet to Millar return- 
 ed, Johnson asked him, " Well, what 
 did he say ? " " Sir," answered the 
 messenger, " he said, ' Thank God I 
 have done with him.' " " I am glad," 
 replied Johnson, with a smile, " that 
 he thanks God for anything." 
 
 Price of "Akenside's Pleasures of 
 Imagination.'" 
 
 DoDSLEY, who published Akenside's 
 Pleasures of Imagination, says, that 
 when the copy was offered him, the 
 price demanded for it, which was a 
 hundred and twenty pounds, being 
 such as he was not inclined to give 
 precipitately, he carried the work to 
 Pope, who, having looked into it, ad- 
 vised him not to make a niggardly 
 offer, for "this w^as no everyday 
 writer." 
 
 Benjamin Franklin as a Bookseller. 
 
 One fine morning when Franklin 
 was busy preparing his newspaper for 
 the press, a lounger stepped into the 
 store, and spent an hour or more look- 
 ing over the books, etc., and finally, 
 taking one in his hand, asked the shop 
 boy the price. 
 
 " One dollar," was the answer. 
 
 " One dollar ! " said the lounger, 
 " can't you take less than that ? " 
 
 " No, indeed ; one dollar is the 
 price." 
 
 Another hour had nearly passed, 
 when the lounger said, 
 
 " Is Mr. Franklin at home ? " 
 
 " Yes ; he is in the printing office." 
 
 " I want to see him," said the 
 lounger. 
 
 The shop boy immediately informed 
 Mr. Franklin that a gentleman was in 
 the store, waiting to see him. Frank- 
 lin was soon behind the counter, when 
 the lounger, with book in hand, ad- 
 dressed him thus : 
 
 " Mr. Franklin, what is the lowest 
 you can take for that book ? " 
 
 " One dollar and a quarter," was the 
 ready answer. 
 
 " One dollar and a quarter ! Why, 
 your young man asked me only a dol- 
 lar." 
 
 " True," said Franklin, " and I could 
 better have afforded to have taken a 
 dollar then, than to have been taken 
 out of the office." 
 
 The lounger seemed surprised, and 
 wishing to end the parley of his own 
 making, said : 
 
 " Come, Mr. Franklin, tell me what 
 is the lowest you can take for it ? " 
 
 " One dollar and a half." 
 
 "A dollar and a half! Why, you 
 offered it yourself for a dollar and a, 
 quarter." 
 
 "Yes," said Franklin, "and I had 
 better have taken that price then, than 
 a dollar and a half now." 
 
 The lounger paid down the price, 
 and went about his business^f he had 
 any— and Franklin returned into the 
 printing office. 
 
 Bival Publishers. 
 
 Both Tonson and Lintot were rivals 
 for publishing a work of Dr. Young's. 
 The poet happened to answer both of 
 their letters the same morning, and un- 
 fortunately misdirected them. In these 
 epistles he complained of the rascally 
 cupidity of each. In the one he in- 
 tended for Tonson, he said that Lintot 
 was so great a scoundrel, that printing 
 with him was out of the question ; and 
 writing to Lintot, he declared that 
 Tonson was an old rascal, with many 
 other epithets equally opprobrious. 
 
 Sir Robert Peel's Factory Operative. 
 
 EvEBY one knows that old Sir Rob- 
 ert Peel, father of the late prime minis- 
 ter of England and grandfather of the 
 present baronet, made his money by 
 the cotton spinning. In the early part 
 
'28 
 
 COMMERCIAL AXD BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 of his career Ms business was not re- 
 markably extensive, but suddenly he 
 made a tremendous start, and soon dis- 
 tanced all his rivals. He grew immense- 
 ly rich, as we all know, but all do not 
 know the lucky accident to which he 
 was indebted for his enormous wealth. 
 
 In the early days of the cotton spin- 
 ning machinery, a great deal of trouble 
 used to be caused by filaments of cot- 
 ton adhering to the bobbins or tapes, 
 which then formed portions of the 
 looms. These filaments accumulating, 
 soon clogged the wheels and other parts 
 of the machinery, and rendered it ne- 
 cessary that they should be cleared, 
 which involved frequent stoppages, and 
 much loss of time. 
 
 The great desideratum was to find 
 out some plan of preventing this clog- 
 ging by the cotton, and Sir Robert, or 
 Mr. Peel, as he was then, spent vast 
 sums in experiments. He employed 
 some of the ablest machinists in the 
 kingdom — among them James "Watt — 
 who suggested various corrections ; but 
 spite of all they could do the incon- 
 venience remained — the cotton would 
 adhere to the bobbins, and the evil 
 appeared to be insurmountable. 
 
 Of course, these delays seriously 
 affected the wages of the operatives, 
 who, on Saturdays, generally came 
 short in proportion to the stoppages 
 during the previous days. It was 
 noticed, however, that one man always 
 drew his full pay — his work was al- 
 ways accomplished ; in fact, his loom 
 never had to stop, while every other in 
 the factory was idle. Mr. Peel was in- 
 formed of this, and knew there must 
 be a secret somewhere. It was import- 
 ant that it should be discovered, if pos- 
 sible. 
 
 The man was watched, but all to no 
 purpose; his fellow workmen tried to 
 "pump" him, but they couldn't; at 
 last Mr. Peel sent for the man into his 
 private office. 
 
 He was a rough Lancashire man — 
 unable to read or write — ^little better. 
 
 indeed, than a mere animal. He enter- 
 ed the " presence " pulling his forelock, 
 and shuffling on the ground with his 
 great clumsy wooden shoes. 
 
 " Dick," said Mr. Peel, " Ferguson, 
 the overlooker, tells me your bobbins 
 are always clean, is that so ? " 
 
 " Ee's, master, 't be." 
 
 " Well, Dick, how do you manage it 
 — have you any objection to let me 
 know ? " 
 
 " Why, master Pill, 't be a sort o' 
 sacret loike, ye see, and if oi told, 
 t'others 'd know 's much as oi," replied 
 Dick, with a cunning grin. 
 
 " Of course, Dick, I'll give you some- 
 thing if you'll tell me — and if you can 
 make all the looms in the factory work 
 as smoothly as yours — " 
 
 " Ev'ry one 'n them, master Pill." 
 
 " Well, what shall I give you ? Name 
 your price, Dick, and let me have your 
 secret." 
 
 Dick grinned, scratched and shook 
 his great head, and shuffled for a few 
 minutes, while Mr. Peel anxiously 
 awaited his reply. The cotton lord 
 thought his servant would probably 
 ask a hundred pounds or so, which he 
 would most willingly have given him. 
 Presently Dick said, 
 
 "Well, master Pill, Til tell 'ee all 
 about it, if you'll give me — a quart o' 
 beer a day as long as I'm in the mills 
 — you'll save that ten." 
 
 Mr. Peel rather thought he should, 
 and quickly agreed to the terms. 
 
 " You shall have it, Dick, and half a 
 gallon every Sunday into the bargain." 
 
 " Well, then," said Dick, first look- 
 ing cautiously around to see that no 
 one was near — " this be it ; " and put- 
 ting his lips close to Mr. Peel's ear, he 
 whispered, " Chalh your Idbbins! " 
 
 That indeed was the great secret. 
 Dick had been in the habit of furtively 
 chalking his bobbins, which simple 
 contrivance had effectually prevented 
 the adherence of the cotton. As the 
 bobbins were white, the chalking had 
 escaped detection. 
 
OCCUPATIONS AUXILIARY TO COMMERCE. 
 
 m 
 
 Mr. Peel was a sagacious man, and 
 saw through the affair at a glance. He 
 at once patented the invention — had 
 " chalking " machinery contrived, and 
 soon took the lead in the cotton spin- 
 ning department. This was the found- 
 ation of his princely fortune. It is but 
 right to add that he pensioned off Dick 
 
 handsomely. 
 
 — » 
 
 Publisher's Generosity to an Author. 
 
 The celebrated work so well known 
 as "Burn's Justice," was written by 
 Burn, a poor clergyman in the north 
 of England. He went to London to 
 sell his manuscript, and inquired of 
 the landlord of the inn where he lodg- 
 ed if he was acquainted with any book- 
 seller. The innkeeper introduced him 
 to one, who, after keeping the manu- 
 scrij)t for eight days, offered him twen- 
 ty pounds. After a variety of disap- 
 pointments of the same kind, the author 
 waited on Mr. Millar, who was then 
 rising fast into fame and fortune. He 
 had sufficient strength of mind to see 
 that honesty is the best policy, and by 
 treating every writer with justice, and 
 often with generosity, he acquired a 
 most opuLent fortune. He had in his 
 employment gentlemen, in every differ- 
 ent branch of learning, who w^ere to in- 
 form him of the merits of the different 
 books submitted to their inspection. 
 
 The manuscript in question was sent 
 to a Scotch student in the Temple, and 
 Bum, in the interim, received a general 
 invitation to Millar's table. In eight 
 or ten days the manuscript was return- 
 ed to Mr. Millar, with a note that it 
 would be an excellent bargain at two 
 hundred pounds. Next clay, after din- 
 ner, when the glass had begun to circu- 
 late, he asked Bum what was the low- 
 est sum that he would be willing to 
 receive for his work. The poor man 
 replied that the highest offer which he 
 had received was twenty pounds — a 
 sum too small to defray the expenses 
 of his journey ! 
 
 " Will you accept two hundred gui- 
 neas ? " said Mr. Millar. 
 
 " Two hundred guineas ! " cried the 
 parson, clapping his hands ; " I am ex- 
 tremely fortunate." 
 
 The book went through many im- 
 pressions, and Mr. Millar, of his own 
 good will, paid the author one hun- 
 dred pounds additional for each of 
 them. As the author loved port, the 
 bookseller further gave him a letter of 
 credit for the purchase of a pipe per 
 annum, during the rest of his life, in 
 any wine cellar in London, where he 
 thought proper. 
 
 " After all this," added Mr. Millar, 
 in telling the story, " I have lived to 
 clear eleven thousand pounds by the 
 bargain." 
 
 Mr. Millar gave two hundred pounds 
 for the copyright of " Tom Jones." Be- 
 fore he died, he had cleared eighteen 
 thousand jDounds by it, out of which 
 he had the generosity to make Fielding 
 presents, at different times, of various 
 sums, till they amounted to two thou- 
 sand pounds. He also bequeathed a 
 handsome legacy to each of Mr. Field- 
 ing's sons. 
 
 Business Mistakes of Publishers. 
 
 Cave offered half the booksellers in 
 London the property of the " Gentle- 
 man's Magazine ; " as they all refused to 
 engage in it, he was obliged to publish 
 it himself, and it became one of the 
 most popular and profitable magazines 
 in the world. 
 
 Dr. Buchan offered his "Domestic 
 Medicine" to every principal book- 
 seller of Edinburgh and London, for 
 one hundred pounds, without obtain- 
 ing a purchaser; and, after it had 
 passed through twenty-five editions, it 
 was sold in thirty-two shares of fifty 
 pounds each, 
 
 Beresford offered his copyright of 
 the " Miseries of Human Life " to a 
 bookseller, for twenty pounds. It was 
 rejected. It was subsequently publish- 
 
730 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 ed, however, and over five thousand 
 pounds realized by its publication. 
 
 Chinese Barbers. 
 
 The barbers, in the towns of China, 
 go about ringing bells to get customers. 
 They carry with them a stool, a basin, 
 a towel, and a pot containing fire. 
 When any person calls them, they run 
 to him ; and, planting their stool in a 
 convenient place in the street, shave the 
 head, clean the ears, dress the eyebrows, 
 and brush the shoulders — all for the 
 value of one cent. They then ring the 
 bell again, and start in pursuit of an- 
 other customer. 
 
 Barbers' Chairs. 
 
 The chair in a barber's shop was long 
 proverbial, from its capaciousness, for 
 accommodating all sizes of occupants ; 
 whence arose the phrase — " as common 
 as a larler's chair.'''' 
 
 Plutarch remarks that barbers are 
 naturally a loquacious race ; and gives 
 an anecdote of king Archelaus, who 
 stipulated with his barber to shave him 
 in silence. Not so, however, have 
 thought most of barbers' customers : 
 the cithara, or lute, was hung up in 
 the shop, to be played for their diver- 
 sion ; and snapping his shears or fingers 
 was a barber's qualification. Of his art, 
 or trade, as practised of old, Lyly gives 
 a curious sample : " How, sir, will you 
 be trimmed ? will you have your beard 
 like a spade or a bodkin ? a penthouse 
 on your upper lip, or an ally on your 
 chin ? a low curie on your head like a 
 bull, or dangling locke like a spaniell ? 
 your moustachios sharpe at the ends, 
 like shoemakers' aulas, or shaggie to 
 fall on your shoulders ? " 
 
 Forfeits in a Barber's Shop. 
 
 Formerly forfeits were enforced for 
 certain breaches of conduct in a barber's 
 shop — as, for handling the razors ; for 
 
 talking of cutting throats ; for calling 
 hair-powder fiour ; for meddling with 
 any tiling on the shopboard. 
 
 In 1856, there was hanging in a bar- 
 ber's shop at Stratford, Eng., a set of 
 rules, which the possessor mounted when 
 he was an apprentice, some fifty years 
 previously; and his employer, who 
 was in business as a barber at Stratford, 
 in 1769, frequently alluded to this list 
 of forfeits as being generally acknowl- 
 edged by all the fraternity to have been 
 in use for centuries. The old man well 
 remembered large v/ooden bowls for 
 lathering; which bowls were placed 
 under the chin, a convenient niche 
 having been cut in the side in which 
 the chin dropped and kept the bowl 
 suspended during the lathering opera- 
 tion. He used to relate that some of 
 the customers paid by the quarter, and 
 for these an especial bowl was set apart, 
 to be used only at the time when their 
 shaving money was due ; and inside 
 this particular bowl, inscribed in per- 
 fectly unmistakable characters, were 
 the words, " Sir, your quarter's up ! " 
 
 Pushing- Business. 
 
 A GENEROUS-HEARTED but thorough- 
 ly driving business man was coming 
 out of a hair-dresser's rooms, when he 
 paused in the shop and looked around : 
 " Oh, you sell brushes, and things of 
 this kind ? " " Yes, sir." " Well, I sup- 
 pose you sell to about every one that 
 comes ? " " No, indeed, sir." " But I 
 should. At all events you try, I sup- 
 pose, to sell to every one that comes ? " 
 " Well, no, we do not, sir ; one doesn't 
 always think of it." " But you ought 
 — you have your family to provide for, 
 and you should have tact and push ; if I 
 were in your place, I would sell something 
 to every one that comes, and you ought to 
 try." " Very well, sir, suppose we begin 
 with you," making a show of displaying 
 some wares. "Yes, to be sure, why 
 not?— let us see." To work he sets, 
 and by way of encouraging the hair- 
 
OCCUPATIONS AUXILIARY TO COMMERCE. 
 
 Y31 
 
 dresser in the proposed plan of doing 
 business, he bouglit brushes, combs, 
 etc., to the amount of nearly ten dollars. 
 
 Moses as an Engraver. 
 
 From the book of Exodus, it appears 
 that when Moses had liberated the Jews 
 from Egyptian bondage, he was com- 
 manded to make a plate of pure gold, 
 and grave upon it, like the engravings 
 of a signet, " holiness to the Lord." 
 He was also commanded to " take two 
 onyx stones, and grave on them the 
 names of the children of Israel, accord- 
 ing to their birth, with the work of an 
 engraver on stone, like the engravings 
 of a signet." Both of these passages 
 distinctly imply the practice of gem 
 and seal engraving, and also of engrav- 
 ing on metal plates. , ' 
 
 Wit of a Gravestone Maker. 
 
 A GOOD story is told of the facetious 
 Dr. Thornton, of Derry, N. H., who 
 undertook to quiz a neighbor of his — 
 an old Scotch gravestone maker. The 
 doctor, one day, in passing the resi- 
 dence of the Scotchman, who was busi- 
 ly at work, drew up and accosted him 
 as follows : " Mr. W., don't you believe 
 it to be your duty,, as a rational man 
 and a Christian, to pray for your daily 
 bread ? " " Ay," quoth Old Mortality, 
 "I have thought it to be my duty, 
 but I dinna noo min muckle about it." 
 "I suppose, then," said the doctor, 
 " that you pray that people may die, 
 in order for you to enjoy the profit of 
 furnishing their gravestones ? " " No, 
 fath," replied the old man ; " there's 
 no need o'that, while one Matthew 
 Thornton continues to practise physic ; 
 he kills off folks faster than I can make 
 stones for them." 
 
 The Learned Blacksmitli. 
 
 Elihu Buekitt is known the world 
 over as " the learned blacksmith." Mr. 
 
 Burritt mentions that, being one of a 
 large family, and his parents poor, he 
 apprenticed himseli, when very young, 
 to a blacksmith, but that he had always 
 had such a taste for reading, that he 
 carried it with him to his trade. He 
 commenced the study of Latin when 
 his indentures were not half expired, 
 and completed reading Virgil in the 
 evenings of one winter. He next stud- 
 ied Greek, and carried the Greek gram- 
 mar about him in his hat, studying it 
 for a few moments while heating some 
 large iron. In the evenings he sat 
 down to Homer's Iliad, and read twenty 
 books of it during the second winter. 
 He next turned to the modern tongues, 
 and w^ent to New Haven, where be re- 
 cited to native teachers in French, 
 Spanish, German and Italian, and at 
 the end of two years he returned to his 
 forge, taking with him such books as 
 he could procure. He next commenced 
 Hebrew, and mastered it with ease, 
 reading two chapters in the Bible before 
 breakfast, this, with an hour at noon, 
 being all the time he could spare from 
 work. Being unable to procure such 
 works as he desired, he determined to 
 hire himself to some ship bound to 
 Europe, thinking that he could there 
 meet with books at the different ports 
 he touched at. He (travelled more than 
 one hundred miles on foot, to Boston, 
 with this view, but was not able to find 
 what he sought ; and at this period he 
 heard of the American Antiquarian 
 Society at Worcester. Thither he bent 
 his steps, and arrived in the city in the 
 most utter indigence. Here he found a 
 collection of ancient, modern, and 
 oriental books, such as he never im- 
 agined to be collected in one place. He 
 was there allowed to read whatever 
 books he liked, and reaped great benefit 
 from the privilege. He used to spend 
 three hours daily in the hall, and he 
 made such use of his opportunities, 
 as to be able to read upward of 
 fifty languages, with greater or less 
 facility. 
 
732 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 Incorrect Editions of the Bible. 
 
 The number of typograpliical inac- 
 curacies which abound in the bibles 
 printed by the king's printers is re- 
 markable. Dr. Lee states, "I do not 
 know any book in which it is so diffi- 
 cult to find a very correct edition as 
 the English bible." What is in Eng- 
 land called the Standard Bible, is that 
 printed at Oxford, in 1769, which was 
 superintended by Dr. Blayney ; yet it 
 has been ascertained that there are at 
 least one hundred and sixteen errors 
 in it. 
 
 These errors were discovered in print- 
 ing an edition in London, in 1806, 
 which has been considered as very cor- 
 rect ; yet Dr. Lee says that that edition 
 contains a greater number of mistakes. 
 Mr. T. Curtis corroborates Dr. Lee's tes- 
 timony. He states his general impres- 
 sion to be, that the text of the common 
 English bible is incorrect, and he gives 
 a great variety of instances. 
 
 Dr. A. Clarke, in his preface to the 
 bible, states that he has corrected many 
 thousand errors in the Italics, which, 
 in general, are said to be in a very in- 
 correct state. Between the Oxford 
 edition of 1830 and the Cambridge 
 edition, there are eight hundred varia- 
 tions in the Psalms alone. Dr. Home 
 says : " Booksellers' edition, 1806. In 
 the course of printing, by Woodfall, 
 this edition from the Cambiidge copy, 
 a great number of very gross errors 
 were discovered in the latter, and the 
 errors of the common Oxford edition 
 were not so few as twelve hundred." 
 
 Mr. Ofifor, a retired bookseller, and 
 "who made a collection of upward of 
 four hundred bibles of different edi- 
 tions, states that he was not aware of 
 any edition he had examined which 
 was without errors ; but Pasham's 
 bible, in 1776, and another printed at 
 Edinburgh, in 1811, were the most ac- 
 curate and the most beautiful he had 
 found. 
 
 Printed Books; or, the Devil and Dr. 
 Faustus. 
 
 The first printed book on record is 
 the Booh of Psalms^ by one Faust, of 
 Mentz, and his son-in-law, Schseffer. It 
 appeared in 1457, more than four hun- 
 dred years ago. Several works were 
 printed many years before, by Guttem- 
 berg; but as the inventors wished to 
 keep the secret to themselves, they 
 sold their first printed works as manu- 
 scripts. 
 
 This gave rise to an adventure that 
 brought calamity on Faust. Having 
 in 1450, begun an edition of the bible, 
 and finished it in 1460, he carried sev- 
 eral printed copies of it to Paris, and 
 offered them for sale as manuscripts. 
 This made him at once an object of 
 suspicion. It was in those days when 
 Satan was thought to be ready at every 
 man's elbow, to offer his magic if called 
 upon, and as the French could not con- 
 ceive how so many books should per- 
 fectly agree in every letter and point, 
 they ascribed it to infernal agency, and 
 poor Faust had the misfortune to be 
 thrown into prison. Here it was, that, 
 in order to prove he had no aid from 
 the devil, he was obliged to reveal the 
 secret, and show to the proper officers 
 how the work was ,done. 
 
 Perhaps it was upon this adventure 
 that somebody built up the story of the 
 league of the devil and Dr. Faustus, as 
 well as wrote those ludicrous dialogues, 
 which, in some of the puppet-shows, 
 Faust, under the name of Dr. Faustus, 
 is made to hold with the devil. 
 
 Paying- a Newspaper Bill. 
 
 A LONG- WINDED subscriber to a news- 
 paper — there are many such — after re- 
 peated dunnings, at last promised that 
 the bill sJwuld be paid by a certain 
 day, if lie were then alive. The day 
 passed over, and no money reached the 
 office. 
 
 In the next number, therefore, of 
 
OCCUPATIONS AUXILIARY TO COMMERCE. 
 
 738 
 
 the newspaper, the publisher inserted 
 among the deaths a notice of his sub- 
 scriber's departure from this life. Pret- 
 ty soon after this announcement, the 
 subject of it appeared to the publisher 
 — not with the pale and ghastly coun- 
 tenance ascribed to apparitions, nor, 
 like them, did he wait to be spoken to, 
 but broke silence with — " What, sir, did 
 you mean by publishing my death ? " 
 " "Why, sir, I mean what I mean when 
 I publish the death of any other per- 
 son, viz., to let the world know that 
 you are dead." " Well, but I am not 
 dead." "Not dead; then it is your 
 own fault ; for you told me you would 
 positively pay your bill by such a day 
 if you lived to that time. The day 
 passed, the bill is not paid, and you 
 positively must be dead — for I will not 
 believe that you would forfeit your 
 word." ^' Oh, ho ! I see that you have 
 got round me, Mr. Publisher ; but say 
 no more about it — here's the money. 
 And hearkee, my wag, you'll contra- 
 dict my death next week?" "Oh, 
 certainly, sir, just to please you; 
 though, upon my word, I can't help 
 thinking you were dead at the time 
 specified, and that you have really 
 come back to pay this bill, on account 
 of your friendship to me." 
 
 Trading in News. 
 
 The desire of the English for news 
 from the capital, on the part of the 
 wealthier country residents, and prob- 
 ably the false information, as well as 
 the impertinence, of the news writers, 
 led, anciently, to the common establish- 
 ment of a very curious trade— that of a 
 news correspondent, who, for a sub- 
 scription of three or four pounds per 
 annum, wrote a letter of news every 
 post day to his subscriber in the coun- 
 try This profession probably existed 
 in the reign of James I. ; for in Ben 
 Jonson's play, the Staple of News, 
 written in the first year of Charles I., 
 we have a very curious and amusing 
 
 description of an office of news manu- 
 facturers : 
 " This is the outer room where my clerks sit, 
 
 And keep their sides, the register i' the 
 midst : 
 
 The examiner, he sits private there within ; 
 
 And here I have my several rolls and files 
 
 Of news by the alphabet, and all put up 
 
 Under their heads." 
 
 The news thus communicated ap- 
 pears to have fallen into as much dis- 
 repute as the public news. In the ad- 
 vertisement announcing the first num- 
 ber of the Evening Post] September 6th, 
 1709, it is said : " There must be three 
 or four pounds per annum paid by 
 those gentlemen who are out of town, 
 for written news, which is so far gene- 
 rally from having any probability of 
 matter of fact in it, that it is frequently 
 stuffed up with We hear, &c., or, An 
 eminent Jew merchant has received a let- 
 ter, &c. ; being nothing more than 
 downright fiction." The same adver- 
 tisement, speaking of the published pa- 
 pers, says : " We read more of our own 
 affairs in the Dutch papers, than in 
 any of our own." The trade of a news- 
 paper correspondent seems to have sug- 
 gested a sort of union of written news 
 and published news ; for toward the 
 end of the seventeenth century, we 
 have news letters printed in type to 
 imitate writing. The most famous 
 of these was that commenced by Icha- 
 bod Dawks in 1696, the first num- 
 ber of which was thus announced: 
 "This letter will be done upon good 
 writing paper, and blank space left, 
 that any gentleman may write his own 
 private business. It does undoubtedly 
 exceed the best of the written news, con- 
 tains double the quantity, is read with 
 abundantly more ease and pleasure, and 
 will be useful to improve the younger 
 sort in writing a curious hand." 
 
 Tailor Turned Prophet. 
 
 A TAiLOE, in Dublin, near the resi- 
 dence of Dean Swift, took into the 
 
734 
 
 COMMERCIAL AXD BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 " ninth part " of his head, that he was 
 specially and divinely inspired to inter- 
 pret the prophecies, and more especially 
 the Book of Revelation. Quitting the 
 shop-board, he turned out a preacher, 
 or rather a prophet, until his customers 
 had left his shop, and his family were 
 likely to famish. His monomania was 
 well known to the dean, who benevo- 
 lently watched for an opportunity to 
 turn the current of his thoughts. 
 
 One night the tailor, as he fancied, 
 got an especial revelation to go and 
 convert Dean Swift, and next morning 
 took up his line of march to the dean- 
 ery. The dean, whose study was fur- 
 nished with a glass door, saw the tailor 
 approach, and instantly surmised the 
 nature of his errand. Throwing him- 
 self into an attitude of solemnity and 
 thoughtfulness, with the Bible opened 
 before him, and his eyes fixed on the 
 tenth chapter of Revelation, he awaited 
 his approach. The door opened, and 
 the tailor announced in an unearthly 
 voice, " Dean Swift, I am sent by the 
 Almighty to announce to you — " 
 
 " Come in, my friend," said the 
 dean ; " I am in great trouble, and no 
 doubt the Lord has sent you to help 
 me out of my difiiculty." 
 
 The unexpected welcome inspired the 
 tailor, and strengthened his assurance 
 in his own prophetic character, and 
 disposed him to listen to the disclosure. 
 
 " My friend," said the dean, " I have 
 just been reading the tenth chapter of 
 Revelation, and am greatly distressed 
 at a difficulty I have met with, and you 
 are the very man sent to help me out. 
 Here is an account of an angel that 
 came down from heaven, who was so 
 large that he placed one foot on the 
 earth and lifted up his hands to heaven. 
 Now, my knowledge of mathematics," 
 continued the dean, "has enabled me 
 to calculate exactly the size and form 
 of the angel ; but I am in great diffi- 
 culty, for I wished to ascertain how 
 much cloth it will take to make a pair 
 of breeches ; and, as that is exactly in 
 
 you?' line of husiness, I have no doubt 
 the Lord has sent you to show me." 
 
 This exposition came like an electric 
 shock to the poor tailor. He rushed 
 from the house, hastened to his shop, 
 and a sudden revulsion of thought and 
 feeling came over him. Making breech- 
 es was exactly in his line of business. 
 He returned to his occupation, thor- 
 oughly cured of prophetical revelation 
 by the wit of the dean. 
 
 ** A Tailor for Many Years." 
 
 It was a good trait in the character 
 of that quaint old Quaker, Isaac T. 
 Hopper, that he was not ashamed of 
 the shop. It is related of him by his 
 biographer, that one day, while he was 
 visiting a wealthy family in Dublin, 
 during his sojourn abroad, a note was 
 handed to him, inviting him to dine 
 the next day. When he read it aloud, 
 his host remarked : " Those people are 
 very respectable ; but they are not of 
 the first circle. They belong to our 
 church, but not exactly to our ' set.' 
 Their father was a mechanic." " Well, 
 Pm a mechanic myself," said Isaac; 
 " perhaps if thou hadst known that 
 fact, thou wouldst not have invited 
 me ! " " Is it possible," responded his 
 host, " that a man of your information 
 and appearance can be a mechanic ? " 
 " I followed the business of a tailor for 
 many years," rejoined his guest ; " look 
 at my hands. Dost thou not see the 
 mark of the shears ? Some of the may- 
 ors of Philadelphia have been tailors. 
 When I lived there, I often walked the 
 street with the chief justice. It nev- 
 er occurred to me that it was any hon- 
 or, and I don't think it did to him." 
 
 "Spanish." 
 
 A BRiCKMAKER, being hired by a 
 brewer to make some brick for him at 
 his country house, wrote to the brewer 
 that he could not go forward unless he 
 had two or three loads of " Spanish ; " 
 
OCCUPATIONS AUXILIARY TO COMMERCE. 
 
 135 
 
 that otherwise his brick would cost 
 him six or seven thousand chaldrons of 
 coal extra, and the bricks would not be 
 so good nor so hard, by a great deal, 
 when they were burnt. The brewer 
 hereupon sends down two cartloads, 
 with about twelve hogsheads or casks 
 of molasses, which startled the brick- 
 maker almost out of his senses. The 
 case was this: The brewers formerly 
 mixed molasses with the ale to sweeten 
 it, and abate the quantity of malt, mo- 
 lasses being at that time much cheaper, 
 and this they called " Spanish," not 
 willing their customers should know it. 
 Again, the brickmakers all about Lon- 
 don, mix sea-coal ashes with their clay, 
 and by that shift, manage to save eight 
 chaldrons of coal out of eleven, to the 
 burning of one hundred thousand 
 bricks, in proportion to what other 
 people burn with them ; and these 
 ashes they call " Spanish ; " but neither 
 the brewer on the one hand, nor the 
 brickmaker on the other, understood 
 anything else of the term than as it 
 related to his own separate business. 
 
 Country Bankers. 
 
 Quite a ludicrous case is told of a 
 young woman of shabby genteel ap- 
 pearance, who was taken before a Lon- 
 don magistrate for vagrancy. The 
 constable reported that he detected her 
 in the act of begging. The magistrate, 
 in the usual authoritative tone of ad- 
 dressing beggars, said, " Now, young 
 woman, you cannot be allowed to go 
 about begging. I think you are an 
 impostor. What is your name ? Where 
 did you come from? What is your 
 father?" 
 
 These three interrogatories were all 
 put at once, but, of course, required 
 separate replies. The young woman, 
 not having been used to aj)pear before 
 a magistrate, began to cry. She was 
 told that that sort of whimpering 
 would not do there, but the questions 
 must be answered. The girl hesitated 
 
 for some time, but, on being threatened 
 with the treadmill, she replied, " My 
 name is Smith ; I came from Lincoln- 
 shire, and my father is a banker." 
 
 On hearing this, the tone and tenor 
 of the worthy magistrate's address un- 
 derwent a change. " What ! " he said, 
 " my good young woman, your father a 
 country danJcer, and allow his daughter 
 to be begging in the streets of Lon- 
 don ! I consider he disgraces himself 
 by such conduct. But surely, my good 
 youifg creature, you must have done 
 something to offend your father." 
 " No, sir ; my father said he could not 
 afford to keep me, so I was obliged to 
 leave home." 
 
 " Not afford to keep you, and yet a 
 country banker. How can that be ? I 
 must inquire into this ; I shall write to 
 the clergyman of your town, whom I 
 happen to know, and ascertain the 
 truth of your story, and, if possible, 
 prevail on your father to take you 
 home again." 
 
 In the mean time, the now kind and 
 attentive magistrate ordered that the 
 young woman should be taken good 
 care of, and every requisite afforded 
 her until he received a reply to his 
 letter. 
 
 A few days brought the clergyman's 
 answer, who stated that the young 
 woman was not a daughter of the 
 highly respectable banker of that name, 
 but was the daughter of a mud lanker 
 in the fens, and that her father had 
 been compelled to refuse to support her. 
 The writer also added, that it was pos- 
 sible the mistake into which the wor- 
 thy magistrate had fallen arose from 
 the circumstance that in his part of the 
 country all tlie laborers engaged in drain- 
 ing are called MnTcers—hQncQ the term 
 " country banker." 
 
 Hutton's Success as a Bookseller. 
 
 The well-known bookseller William 
 Hutton, struggled in early life with in- 
 
736 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 numerable difficulties. His own ac- 
 count of his first adventure as a book- 
 seller is a good specimen of tbat spirit 
 of indomitable perseverance vybich is 
 ever the forerunner of success. He de- 
 termined to set up that character in the 
 town of Southwell, about fourteen miles 
 from Nottingham. Here he according- 
 ly opened a shop, with, as he expresses 
 it, about twenty shillings* worth of 
 trash for all his stock. 
 
 " I was," says he, " my own joiner, 
 put up my shelves and furoiture* and 
 in one day became the most eminent 
 bookseller in the place." Being em- 
 ployed, however, during the other days 
 of the week, in working at Nottingham 
 as a bookbinder, he could only give 
 his attendance at Southwell on Satur- 
 days, that being, besides, quite enough 
 for the literary wants of the place. 
 " Throughout a very rainy summer," 
 says he, " I set out at five every Satur- 
 day morning, carried a burden of from 
 three pounds' weight to thirty, opened 
 shop at ten, starved in it all day upon 
 bread, cheese, and a pint of ale, took 
 from one to six shillings, shut up at 
 four, and, by trudging through the 
 solitary night and the deep roads five 
 hours more, I arrived at Nottingham at 
 nine, where I always found a mess of 
 milk jDorridge by the fire, prepared by 
 my valuable sister." 
 
 This humble attempt, however, was 
 the beginning of his great prosperity. 
 Next year he was ofiered about two 
 hundred pounds' weight of old books, 
 on his note of hand, for twenty-seven 
 shillings, by a clergyman, to whom he 
 was known; and upon this he imme- 
 diately determined to break up liis es- 
 tablishment at Southwell, and to trans- 
 fer himself to Birmingham. He did so, 
 and succeeded so well, that by never 
 sufiering his expenses to exceed five 
 shillings a week, he found that by the 
 end of the first year he had saved about 
 twenty pounds. This, of course, ena- 
 bled him to extend his business, which 
 he soon made a very valuable one, and 
 
 by which he in time acquired an ample 
 fortune. 
 
 Bookmaking: a Trade. 
 
 La Bruyeke, many years ago, ob- 
 served, that " 'tis as much a trade to 
 make a book as a clock ; c'est un me- 
 tier que de faire un livre, comme de 
 faire une pendule." But since his day 
 many and vast improvements have been 
 made. Solomon said, that " of making 
 books there is no end ; " and Seneca 
 complained, that " as the Romans had 
 more than enough of other things, so 
 they had also of books and bookmak- 
 ing." But Solomon and Seneca lived in 
 an age when books were considered as 
 a luxury, and not a necessary of life. 
 The case is now altered ; and though, 
 perhaps, as a wit once observed, no 
 man gets a bellyful of knowledge, 
 every one has at least a mouthful. 
 
 Lee, the Learned Carpenter in 
 !Eng-land. 
 
 Samuel Lee, professor of Hebrew at 
 the University of Cambridge, England, 
 was seventeen years of age before he 
 conceived the idea of learning a for- 
 eign language. Out of the scanty pit- 
 tance of his weekly earnings as a car- 
 penter, he purchased, at a bookstore, a 
 volume, which, when read, was ex- 
 changed for another ; and soon, by de- 
 grees, he advanced in knowledge. He 
 had not even the privilege of balancing 
 between reading and relaxation; he 
 was obliged to pass from bodily fatigue 
 to mental exertion. During six years 
 previous to his twenty-fifth year, he 
 omitted none of the hours usually ap- 
 propriated to manual labor, and he re- 
 tired to rest regularly at ten o'clock in 
 the evening. And yet at the age of 
 thirty-one years he had actually taught 
 seventeen languages. 
 
OCCUPATIOXS AUXILIARY TO COMMERCE. 
 
 m 
 
 Apt Speech, by a Carpenter. 
 
 At the time when Sir Eicliard Steele 
 was preparing his great room in York 
 Buildings for public orations, he hap- 
 pened to be pretty much behindhand 
 in his payments to the workmen ; and 
 coming one day among them to see 
 what progress they made, he requested 
 the carpenter to get upon the rostrum 
 and make a speech, that he might judge 
 how it could be heard. The fellow 
 mounted, and stretching his poll, told 
 Sir Richard that he knew not what to 
 say, for he was no orator. 
 
 " Oh," cries the knight, " no matter 
 for that; speak anything that comes 
 uppermost." 
 
 " Why, then. Sir Richard," says the 
 carpenter-orator, "here have we been 
 working for your honor these six 
 months, and cannot get one penny of 
 money. Pray, sir, when do you design 
 to pay us ? " 
 
 " Very well, very well," said Sir 
 Richard, " pray come down. I have 
 heard quite enough. I cannot but own 
 you speak very distinctly, though I 
 don't much admire your subject." 
 
 Sticking to the Contract. 
 
 A SEA captain, in the vicinity of Bos- 
 ton, was about to start on a long voy- 
 age, and entered into a contract with 
 a builder to erect him a commodious 
 house during his absence. Everything 
 was to be done according to the con- 
 tract — no more, no less — which the 
 captain caused to be drawn up with 
 great care. A large sum was to be for- 
 feited by the builder if he should fail 
 to observe any of the stipulations, or at- 
 tempt to put in his notions where the 
 contract made no provision for them. 
 
 The captain sailed, and returned. 
 His house stood in ample and im- 
 posing proportions before his sight, 
 and he confessed, himself delighted 
 with the exterior. But when he en- 
 tered and attempted to ascend to the 
 47 
 
 second floor of the building, he found 
 no stairs, and no means of ascent were 
 to be had till ladders were sent for. 
 The captain felt that he was trifled 
 with, and a bit of a nautical gale seem- 
 ed brewing. But this was soon quieted 
 by the opening of the written contract, 
 and there was found not the least pro- 
 vision for stairs in any part of the 
 house ! " Give me your hand, sir," 
 said the noble captain at once ; "all 
 right ! You've stuck to the contract, 
 and I like it." 
 
 The stairs were subsequently, at a 
 great expense, put in, and the captain 
 often remarked that one of the pleas- 
 antest things about his elegant resi- 
 dence was, the remembrance of one 
 man who could stick to the very terms 
 of a contract ! 
 
 Ben Russell, the Printer : Exciting 
 Scene. 
 
 Benjamin Russell— or " Major 
 Ben," as he was familiarly called — 
 who for years figured with such diver- 
 sified conspicuousness, as editor and 
 publisher of the Colurribian Centinel, 
 Boston, was always a model of enter- 
 prise and industry. For years after 
 the publication of that paper, he not 
 only acted as the sole editor and re- 
 porter, but also worked .considerably 
 at the " case," in setting type, and per- 
 formed a goodly share of the press- 
 work. 
 
 It is related of him — among a thou- 
 sand anecdotes and incidents illustrat- 
 ing his marked individuality of char- 
 acter — that once having published an 
 article which was considered personal 
 and highly offensive by a certain gen- 
 tleman of high standing in the commu- 
 nity, the aggrieved person visited the 
 unfortunate printer, armed with a san- 
 guinary-looking cowskin, and fully de- 
 termined to give him a sound thrash- 
 ing. According to the custom of the 
 times, he was arrayed in white kersey- 
 mere small clothes, white silk stock- 
 
128 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 ings, and white vest. Iilr. Russell was 
 at the time most busily engaged, with 
 his coat off and shirt sleeves rolled up, 
 in handling the press balls for distrib- 
 uting ink — rollers were not known in 
 those days — and his astonishment may 
 barely be conceived when he saw a 
 well-dressed gentleman enter the office 
 abruptly, in a towering passion, and, 
 making toward him, " fall to " with a 
 cowskin. 
 
 The printer fronted his antagonist, 
 and very professionally made a pass at 
 him with his press balls, which took 
 effect, one on his visitor's snowy vest, 
 the other on his left cheek and fore- 
 head. Another blow with the cowskin 
 — another thrust with the balls — which 
 served admirably well the purposes of 
 both sword and shield. 
 
 In a few minutes the advocate of 
 Lynch law, who, when he entered the 
 office, looked as neat and trim as if he 
 had just been taken from a bandbox, 
 was covered with ink— printers* ink, 
 black and oily — from head to foot ; his 
 hat was knocked off in the melee, his 
 gay costume was transformed into a suit 
 of mourning, and his face was as black 
 and glossy as a native citizen of Tim- 
 buctoo. He soon found he was playing 
 a losing game, and beat a retreat, fol- 
 lowed by Major Ben, who had now got 
 his hand conveniently in, and gave his 
 assailant a last furious push between 
 the shoulders, as he sprang into the 
 street, mentally resolving never again 
 to molest a printer, especially when en- 
 gaged in his calling. 
 
 Wholesale Joke upon Shoemakers. 
 
 Henley, the celebrated mob orator, 
 succeeded in collecting the greatest 
 number of shoemakers ever known to 
 assemble, at one time, by announcing 
 that he would teach them " a new and 
 most expeditious mode of making 
 shoes." When they were gathered to- 
 gether in prodigious numbers, they 
 learned that the "new art" to be 
 
 taught them was no other than that 
 of cutting off the tops of boots ! Being 
 thus enlightened in respect to their 
 " understandings," the innocent fra- 
 ternity dispersed. 
 
 The writer of this anecdote displays 
 his penchant for punning by saying, " I 
 cannot think the representatives of 
 Prince Crispin would have pocketed 
 this 'bootless' insult. I think they 
 would have 'bristled' up, one and 
 'all,' and 'waxing' wroth, would 
 not have waited for the ' ends ' of 
 justice, but would have brought the 
 orator down from his 'gilt tub,' and, 
 persevering to the ' last,' have put 
 their ' soles ' upon his neck till he 
 had discovered, too late, that the 
 'gentle craft' might not be insulted 
 with impunity." 
 
 German Book Fairs. 
 
 The long celebrated Leipsic book 
 fair was established before the end of 
 the sixteenth century. It prospered so 
 rapidly that, in 1600, the Easter cata- 
 logue, which has been annually printed 
 ever since, was printed for the first 
 time. It now presents every year, in a 
 thick octavo volume, a collection of 
 new books and new editions, to which 
 there is no parallel in Europe. At the 
 fair all the brethren of the trade flock 
 together in Leipsic, not only from every 
 part of Germany, but from every Euro- 
 pean country where German books are 
 sold, to settle accounts and examine the 
 harvest of the year. The number al- 
 ways amounts to several hundreds, and 
 they have built an exchange for them- 
 selves. It is here that eveiy German 
 author wishes to produce the children 
 of his brain, and that, too, only during 
 the Easter fair. He will submit to any 
 degree of exertion that his work may 
 be ready for publication by that im- 
 portant season, when the whole broth- 
 erhood is in labor, from the Ehine to 
 the Vistula. If the auspicious moment 
 pass away, he willingly bears his bur- 
 
W1IOT.KSAT.E JOKK UPON SlIOEM.iKEkS 
 
OCCUPATIONS AUXILIARY TO COMMERCE. 
 
 739 
 
 den twelve montlis longer, till the next 
 bibliopolical littering. 
 
 Property in Books. 
 
 Mr. Alexander Donaldson, book- 
 seller, of Edinburgh, had for some time 
 opened a shoj) in London, and sold his 
 cheap editions of the most popular 
 English books, in defiance of the sup- 
 posed common law right of literary 
 property. Dr. Johnson, though he con- 
 curred in the opinion which was after- 
 ward sanctioned by a judgment of the 
 House of Lords, that there was no such 
 right, was at this time very angry that 
 the booksellers of London, for whom 
 he uniformly professed much regard, 
 should suffer from an invasion of what 
 they had ever considered to be secure, 
 and he was loud and violent against 
 Mr. Donaldson. Johnson : "He is a 
 fellow who takes advantage of the law 
 to injure his brethren ; for notwith- 
 standing that the statute secures only 
 fourteen years of exclusive right, it has 
 always been understood by the trade 
 that he who buys the copyright of a 
 book from the author, obtains a per- 
 petual property ; and, upon that belief, 
 numberless bargains are made to trans- 
 fer that property after the expiration 
 of the statutory term. Now Donald- 
 son, I say, takes advantage here of 
 people who have really an equitable 
 title from usage ; and if we consider 
 how few of the books of which they 
 buy the property succeed so well as to 
 bring profit, we should be of opinion 
 that the term of fourteen years is too 
 short ; it should be sixty years." 
 
 Dempster: "Donaldson, sir, is anx- 
 ious for the encouragement of litera- 
 ture. He reduces the price of books, 
 so that poor students may buy them." 
 
 Johnson (laughing) : " Well, sir, air 
 lowing that to be his motive, he is no 
 better than Robin Hood, who robbed 
 the rich in order to give to the poor." 
 
 English Almanacs— First Issue. 
 
 The first almanac in England was 
 printed in Oxford, in 1673. There were 
 near thirty thousand of them printed, 
 besides a sheet almanac for twopence, 
 that was printed for that year; and 
 because of the novelty of said almanac, 
 and its title, they were all vended. Its 
 sale was so great, that the Society of 
 Booksellers in London bought off the 
 copy for the future, in order to engross 
 the profits in their own hands. 
 
 Bather a Puzzling Occupation. 
 
 Of Stuart — no mean name, certainly 
 — the following anecdote is related: 
 He had put up at an inn, and his com- 
 panions were desirous, by putting 
 roundabout questions, to find out his 
 calling or profession. Stuart answered 
 with a grave face and serious tone, that 
 he sometimes dressed gentlemen's and 
 ladies' hair. At that time, high-cropped 
 pomatumed hair was all the fashion. 
 
 " You are a hair-dresser, then ? " 
 
 " What ! " said he, " do I look like a 
 barber ? " 
 
 " I beg your pardon, sir, but I infer- 
 red it from what you said. If I mis- 
 took you, may I take the liberty to ask 
 you what you are then ? " 
 
 " Why, I sometimes brush a gentle- 
 man's coat or hat, and sometimes adjust 
 a cravat." 
 
 " Oh, you are a valet, then, to some 
 gentleman ? " 
 
 " A valet ! Indeed, sir, I am not. I 
 am not a servant. To be sure, I make 
 coats and waistcoats, for gentlemen." 
 
 " Oh, you are a tailor." 
 
 " A tailor ! Do I look like a tailor ? 
 I assure you, I never handled a goose, 
 other than a roasted one." 
 
 By this time they were all in a roar, 
 
 " What are you then ? " said one. 
 
 " I'll tell you," said Stuart. " Be as- 
 sured, all I have said is literally true. 
 I dress hair, brush hats and coats, ad- 
 just a cravat, and make coats, waist- 
 
740 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 coats, and breeches, and likewise boots 
 and shoes, at your service." 
 
 " Oh, ho ! a boot and shoemaker, af- 
 ter all ! " 
 
 "Guess again, gentlemen. I never 
 handled boot or shoe, but for my own 
 feet and legs ; yet all I have told you 
 is true." 
 
 " "We may as well give up guess- 
 ing ! " 
 
 ""Well, then, I will tell you, upon 
 my honor as a gentleman, my lona fide 
 profession. I get my bread by making 
 faces." 
 
 He then screwed his countenance, 
 and twisted the lineaments of his vis- 
 age, in a manner such as Samuel Foote 
 or Charles Mathews might have envied. 
 His companions, after loud peals of 
 laughter, each took credit to himself 
 for having suspected that the gentle- 
 man, after all, belonged to the theatre, 
 and they all knew he must be a come- 
 dian by profession — when to their in- 
 creased astonishment, he assured them 
 that he was never on the stage, and 
 very rarely saw the inside of a play- 
 house, or any similar place of amuse- 
 ment. They all now looked at each 
 other in utter amazement. Before 
 parting, Stuart said to his companions, 
 
 " Gentlemen, you will find that all I 
 have said of my various employments 
 is comprised in these few words, / am 
 a p&rtrait painter! As such, if you 
 will call at John Palmer's, York Build- 
 ings, I shall be ready and willing to 
 brush you a coat or hat, dress your 
 hair d la mode^ supply you, if in need, 
 with a wig of any fashion or dimen- 
 sions, accommodate you with boots or 
 shoes, give you rufiles or cravat, and 
 make faces for you." 
 
 Humors of a Reporter. 
 
 Mauk Supple was a well-known 
 parliamentary reporter. He took his 
 wine frequently at Bellamy's, and then 
 went up into the gallery and reported 
 like a gentleman and a man of genius. 
 
 The members hardly knew their own 
 speeches again; but they admired his 
 free and bold manner of dressing them 
 up. None of them ever went to the 
 printing office of the Morning Chronicle, 
 to complain that the tall Irishman had 
 given a lame, sneaking version of their 
 sentiments. They pocketed the afii'ont 
 of their metamorphosis, and fathered 
 speeches they had never made. His 
 way was the hyperbole ; a strong spice 
 of orientalism, wdth a dash of the l)og- 
 trotter. His manner seemed to please, 
 and he presumed upon it. One eve- 
 ning, as he sat at his post in the gallery, 
 waiting the issue of things, and a hint 
 to hang his own tropes and figures 
 upon, a dead silence happened to pre- 
 vail in the house. It was when Mr. 
 Addington was speaker. The bold 
 leader of the press-gang was never bent 
 upon serious business much, and at this 
 time he was particularly full of meat 
 and wine. 
 
 Delighted, therefore, with the pause, 
 but thinking that something might as 
 well be going forward, he called out 
 lustily, "A song from Mr. Speaker." 
 Imagine Addington's long, prim, ui> 
 right figure, his consternation, and 
 utter want of preparation for, or of a 
 clue to repel, such an interruption of 
 the rules and orders of the Parliament. 
 The house was in a roar. Pitt, it ia 
 said, could hardly keep his seat for 
 laughing. When the bustle and the 
 confusion were abated, the sergeant-at- 
 arms went into the gallery to take the 
 audacious culprit into custody, and in- 
 dignantly desired to know who it was ; 
 but nobody would tell. Mark sat like 
 a tower on the hindermost bench of 
 the gallery, imperturbable in his own 
 gravity, and safe in the faith of the 
 brotherhood of reporters, who alone 
 were in the secret. At length, as the 
 mace-bearer was making fruitless in- 
 quiries, and getting impatient, Supple 
 pointed to a fat Quaker, who sat in 
 the middle of the crowd, and nodded 
 assent that he was the man. The 
 
OCCUPATIONS AUXILIARY TO COMMERCE. 
 
 741 
 
 Quaker was, to his great surprise, taken 
 into immediate custody ; but after a 
 short altercation and some further ex- 
 planation, he was released, and the hero 
 of our story put in his place for an hour 
 or two, but let off on an assurance of 
 his contrition, and of showing less wit 
 and more discretion in future. 
 
 Reporting: from Memory. 
 
 Mr. William Woodfall, the son 
 of the celebrated printer of the Public 
 Advertiser, in which the Letters of 
 Junius first appeared, undertook, with- 
 out any assistance, the arduous task of 
 reporting the debates of both houses of 
 Parliament, day by day, in his father's 
 paper, and afterward in other daily 
 journals. This gentleman possessed a 
 most extraordinary memory, as well as 
 wonderful powers of literary labor. 
 It is asserted that he has been known 
 to sit through a long debate of the 
 House of Commons, not making a 
 single note of the proceedings, and 
 afterward to write out a full and faith- 
 ful account of what had taken place, 
 extending to sixteen columns, without 
 allowing himself an interval of rest. 
 The remarkable exertions of this most 
 famous reporter gave the newspaper 
 for which he wrote a celebrity which 
 compelled other newspapers to aim at 
 the same fulness and freshness in their 
 parliamentary reports. 
 
 Bare Editorial Philosophy. 
 
 Perhaps it would be difiicult to find 
 an instance of calmer or more pleasant 
 philosophy uiider business trials than 
 that exhibited by Mr. Greeley, on the 
 occasion of the burning of the Tribune 
 Buildings in 1845. In his editorial 
 article the day after, he says of the 
 catastrophe : — "We have been called, 
 editorially, to scissor out a great many 
 fires, both small and great, and have 
 done so with cool philosophy, not re- 
 flectino: how much to some one man 
 
 the little paragraph would assuredly 
 mean. The late complete and sum- 
 mary burning up of our office, licked 
 clean as it was by the red flames, in a 
 few hours, has taught us a lesson on 
 this head. Aside from all pecuniary- 
 loss, how great is the sufi'ering pro- 
 duced by a fire ! A- hundred little 
 articles of no use to any one save the 
 owner, things that people would look 
 at day after day and see nothing in, 
 that we ourselves have contemplated 
 with cool indifference, now that they 
 are irrevocably destroyed, come up in 
 the shape of reminiscences, and seem 
 as if they had been worth their weight 
 in gold. We would not indulge in 
 unnecessary sentiment, but even the 
 old desk at which we sat, the ponder- 
 ous inkstand, the familiar faces of files 
 of Correspondence, the choice collec- 
 tion of pamphlets, the unfinished essay, 
 the charts by which we steered — can 
 they all have vanished, never more to 
 be seen ? Truly your fire makes clean 
 work, and is, of all executive officers, 
 supereminent. Perhaps that last choice 
 batch of letters may be somewhere on 
 file ; we are almost tempted to say, 
 " Devil ! find it up ! " Poh ! it is a 
 mere cinder now. 'No Arabian tale 
 can cradle a wilder fiction, or show 
 better how altogether illusory life is. 
 Those solid walls of brick, those five 
 decent stories, those steep and difficult 
 stairs, the swinging doors, the Sanctum, 
 scene of many a deep political drama, 
 of many a pathetic tale — utterly whiffed 
 out, as one summarily snuffs out a sper- 
 maceti on retiring for the night. And 
 all perfectly true. 
 
 Editors in a hard Fix. 
 
 Some time since, an eminent English 
 jurist. Lord Denman, laid down the 
 law of an editor's liability, to the effect 
 that an editor has no right to insert any 
 paragraph before he has ascertained 
 " that the assertion made in it is abso- 
 lutely true." So, then, in the case of 
 
742 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSIXESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 the recent discoveries by the Earl of 
 Rosse's telescope, an editor ought to 
 have proceeded to the different planets 
 mentioned and thoroughly ferreted out 
 the whole matter, before he inserted 
 any statement respecting them. Ac- 
 cording to Lord Denman's rather loose 
 phraseology, the man in the Moon and 
 Orion would both recover swinging 
 damages from almost every editor in 
 the United Kingdom for the "reflec- 
 tions " cast by the Earl's telescope on 
 their character as planets. 
 
 Affidavit by an Apothecary. 
 
 A HIGHWAYMAN, named Bolland, 
 confined in Newgate, sent for a soli- 
 citor, to know how he could defer his 
 trial, and was answered, " By getting 
 an apothecary to make an affidavit of 
 his illness." This was accordingly 
 done in the following manner: "The 
 deponent verily believes, that if the 
 said James Bolland is obliged to take 
 his trial at the ensuing sessions, he will 
 be in imminent danger of his life ; " to 
 which the learned judge on the bench 
 answered that he verily believed so 
 too. The trial was ordered to proceed 
 immediately. 
 
 Pun on a Cooper. 
 
 A_ TOUKG man, a cooper by trade, 
 being pressed very hard by some of his 
 companions to sing, even after he had 
 earnestly assured them that he could 
 not, observed, testily, that they merely 
 intended to make a hitt of him. " No, 
 my good sir," replied one of them, " we 
 only want to get a stave out of you." 
 
 "Hopping" from Obscurity. 
 
 There was an Englishman of some 
 celebrity, who used to say that the first 
 of his ancestors, of any note, was 
 a baker and dealer in hops, who, 
 on one occasion, to procure a sum of 
 money, robbed his feather beds of their 
 
 contents, and supplied the deficiency 
 with unsalable hops. In a few years a 
 severe blight universally prevailed, and 
 hops became very scarce, and enor- 
 mously dear ; the hoarded treasure 
 was ripped out, and a good sum pro- 
 cured for hops which, in a plentiful 
 season, would not have been salable, — 
 and thus, said he, " our family Jiopped 
 from obscurity." 
 
 Hatter's Present to a Judg-e. 
 
 Judge Sew all, of Massachusetts, 
 whose judicial career, in the last cen- 
 tury, was an honor to himself and his 
 profession, went one day into a hatter's 
 shop, in order to purchase a pair of 
 second-hand brushes for cleaning his 
 shoes. The master of the sbop pre- 
 sented him with a couple. " "What is 
 your price, sir ? " said the judge. " If 
 they will answer your purpose," replied 
 the other, " you may have them and 
 welcome." The judge, upon hearing 
 this, laid them down, and bowing, was 
 leaving the shop ; upon which the 
 hatter said to him, "Pray, sir, your 
 honor has forgotten the principal 
 object of your visit." " By no means," 
 answered the judge ; " if you please to 
 set a price I am ready to purchase; 
 but ever since it has fallen to my lot to 
 occupy a seat on the bench, I have 
 studiously avoided receiving to the 
 value of a single copper, lest at some 
 period of my life, it might have some 
 kind of influence in determining my 
 
 judgment." 
 
 — ♦_ — 
 
 Compliment to Wharfingers. 
 
 A BILL was once brought into the 
 House of Assembly of Jamaica, for 
 regulating the duties and fees of wharf- 
 ingers. During its discussion, Mr. 
 Paul Phipps, a distinguished member, 
 said, " I very much approve the bill. 
 The wharfingers are a set of knaves, — I 
 teas one myself far ten years, sir / " 
 
OCCUPATIONS AUXILIARY TO COMMERCE. 
 
 743 
 
 Old Englisli Ticker. 
 
 An account is given of an old Eng- 
 lish watch, which was purchased of 
 Joseph Story, Clerkenwell street, Lon- 
 don, in 1676, by Benjamin Andrews, 
 then about the first hardware merchant 
 in Boston, Mass. It was given to the 
 father of the present owner, for good 
 behavior and attention to business, in 
 his sixteenth year, on condition that 
 he would never dispose of it. He died 
 in 1803, and the present owner has had 
 it in his possession ever since. The 
 first time it was cleaned, there w^ere 
 but two watchmakers in Boston, and 
 one of them was unwilling to take it 
 in hand lest he should injure the fine 
 work. The watch was then sent to 
 London, where it remained a year, and 
 was cleaned at a cost of five pounds. 
 The original watch paper still remains 
 in the case with the date of its pur- 
 chase. This venerable ticker keeps as 
 good time as ever, and seems likely to 
 hold good for a hundred years more. 
 
 Ship-building- in Ancient Times. 
 
 The art of ship-building has been 
 attributed to the Egyptians as the first 
 inventors, the first ship — probably a 
 galley — having been brought from 
 Egypt to Greece, by Danaus, 1485 B. C. 
 The first double-decked ship was built 
 by the Tyrians, 786 B. C. The first 
 double-decked one built in England was 
 of one thousand tons burthen, by order 
 of Henry VH., 1509 ; it was called the 
 Great Harry, and cost about sixty 
 thousand dollars. Ship-building was 
 first treated as a science by Hoste, 1696. 
 
 Too Awkward to be a Watchmaker. 
 
 Beaumarchais, the author of the 
 Marriage of Figaro, was the son of a 
 Parisian watchmaker, but raised him- 
 self to fame, wealth, and rank by the 
 mere force of his talents. A young 
 nobleman, envious of Beaumarchais's 
 
 reputation, once undertook to wound 
 his vanity and pride by an allusion to 
 his humble origin — handing him his 
 watch, and saying, " Examine it, sir ; 
 it does not keep time well — pray ascer- 
 tain the cause." Beaumarchais ex- 
 tended his hand awkwardly, as if to 
 receive the watch, but contrived to let 
 it fall on the pavement. " You see, my 
 dear sir," replied he, " you have applied 
 to the wrong person ; my father always 
 declared that I was too awkward to be 
 a watchmaker." 
 
 An Emperor Blowing- a Blac"k smith's 
 Bellows. 
 
 During the journey of the Emperor 
 Joseph the Second, to Italy, one of the 
 wheels of his coach broke down on 
 the road, so that it was with difficulty 
 he reached a small village at a short 
 distance. On his arrival there, his 
 majesty got out at the door of the only 
 blacksmith's shop the town afibrded, 
 and desired him to repair the wheel 
 without delay. 
 
 " That I would do, very willingly," 
 replied the smith, " but it being holi- 
 day, all my men are at church, — the very 
 boy who blows the bellows is not at 
 home." 
 
 " An excellent method then presents 
 of warming one's self," replied the 
 emperor, preserving his incognito ; and 
 he immediately set about blowing the 
 bellows, while the blacksmith forged 
 the iron. 
 
 The wheel repaired, six sols were 
 demanded for the job ; but the emperor 
 gave six ducats. The blacksmith re- 
 turned them to the traveller, saying, 
 " Sir, you have made a mistake, and 
 instead of six sols have given me six 
 pieces of gold, which no one in the vil- 
 lage can change." 
 
 " Change them when you can," said 
 the emperor, stepping into the car- 
 riage ; " an emperor should pay for 
 such a pleasure as that of blowing the 
 bellows." 
 
744 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 Errors of the Press. 
 
 The original memoirs of Cowper the 
 poet, were apparently printed from an 
 obscurely written manuscript. Of this 
 there is a whimsical proof, where the 
 Persian Letters of Montesquieu are 
 spoken of, and the compositor, unable 
 to decipher the author's name, has con- 
 verted it into Mules Quince ! 
 
 A newspaper heads an advertisement, 
 " Infernal Remedy." This may be 
 quite true, but it is probable that " in- 
 ternal remedy " was intended. Mis- 
 takes, even of a single letter, are sad 
 things. As another example, a news- 
 paper commenced an article on Pro- 
 fanity, with saying, " It was a practice 
 with our immoral Washington, never 
 to allow profanity in his presence," 
 etc. ; the word " immoral " should of 
 course have been " immortal." So, in 
 publishing an obituary notice of a dis- 
 tinguished and esteemed man, the com- 
 positor made the waiter to say of the 
 deceased, " He has truly left no shal- 
 low " fooZprints on the sands of time," 
 instead of " footprints," as Longfellow's 
 immortal line has it. 
 
 The editor of a religious newspaper, 
 in reference to an individual, took oc- 
 casion to write that he was rectus in 
 ecclesia, that is, in good standing in the 
 church. The type-setter, to whom this 
 was a dead language, converted it into 
 rectus in culina, which, although pretty 
 good Latin, alters, in some degree, the 
 sense, as it accorded to the reverend 
 gentleman spoken of, only a good stand- 
 ing in the Tcitchen. 
 
 By a ridiculous error of the press, 
 the Eclectic Review was advertised as 
 the Epileptic Review^ and, on enquiry 
 being made for it at a bookseller's shop 
 the bibliopole replied: "He knew of 
 no periodical called the Epileptic Be- 
 mew, though there might be such a 
 publication coming out by fits and 
 starts." 
 
 Modem Newspaper OfiB.ce. 
 
 To take a peep at the busy picture pre- 
 sented in the office of a largely circulat- 
 ing city newspaper, is an era in one's life. 
 Such a picture is thus graphically drawn 
 by an English writer, and the descrip- 
 tion will answer about equally as well 
 on this side of the Atlantic : — See that 
 gigantic machine, instinct with life, 
 throwing off the printed sheets as 
 quickly — or more so — than the eye can 
 count them. See the host of men, re- 
 minding one of a body of large ants, 
 picking up tons of metal by half a 
 pennyweight at a time. See the great 
 intellectual head, the foremost man of 
 all, the mighty " we," at whose fiown 
 potentates tremble and ministries dis- 
 solve, surrounded by his aides — the 
 busy reporter new from his turn in 
 " the gallery," industriously extending 
 his notes, — the sub-editor, condensing 
 verbose communications, and extract- 
 ing information and readable matter 
 from a mountain of letters, blue books, 
 and country papers. See also how the 
 post-office, the telegraph, and the train 
 rain a countless succession of commu- 
 nications upon the editorial table from 
 all the corners of the earth. Look — 
 there is a packet from " our special 
 correspondent," who is tracking the 
 steps of the British army in India; 
 another from our " own " correspond- 
 ent, who has been assisting to annihi- 
 late time and distance between Britain 
 and America, by laying down an elec- 
 tric cable in the depths of the Atlan- 
 tic ; a third from a lively correspond- 
 ent, who is dodging the footsteps of 
 royalty at the Cherbourg fetes. Then, 
 again, observe that active gentleman 
 in the closely buttoned coat, who drops 
 a letter into the communication box 
 and disappears ; that is a x)enny-a-liner, 
 who has just gleaned the particulars 
 of an exciting murder, perpetrated in 
 "the most mysterious manner"; an- 
 other liner has preceded him with 
 what he calls a capital suicide ; and a 
 
OCCUPATIONS AUXILIARY TO COMMERCE. 
 
 145 
 
 third will follow, just as tlie paper is 
 going to press, with a terrific coDfla- 
 gration accompanied by loss of life. 
 The knowing sub-editor has in a few 
 minutes revised, and — most necessary 
 duty of all— abridged this " copy," and 
 given it a corner in the pajoer. 
 
 Greatest Reportorial Feat. 
 
 The greatest reportorial feat of ante- 
 telegraphic journalism is stated to be 
 that which was performed by Mr. 
 Attree, of the New York Herald. Daniel 
 Webster delivered a speech one after- 
 noon, at Patchogue, Long Island, some 
 fifty or sixty miles from New York. 
 Mr. Attree went down t* Patchogue, 
 took full notes of the speech, rode the 
 entire distance to New York on relays 
 of horses, wrote out his report, and 
 published it complete in the next 
 morning's Herald. For reportorial skill 
 and physical endurance combined this 
 achievement is believed to be unsur- 
 passed. 
 
 Reason why Pitt's Great Speech was 
 not Reported. 
 
 In former times, the reporters of the 
 proceedings in the British parliament 
 were obliged to sit or stand with the 
 rest of the unofficial spectators, no ac- 
 commodations whatever being provided 
 for the newspaper press. 
 
 While Pitt, therefore, was premier, 
 all the reporters consulted together, and 
 agreed that, upon a certain day, they 
 would omit to notice the premier's 
 speech. The day came ; Pitt delivered 
 a great and important oration ; in the 
 next morning's paper the triumphant 
 gladiator found no record of his mag- 
 nificent effort. Highly incensed, the 
 premier sent for the editors, and de- 
 manded the reason for this remarkable 
 omission. The editors referred him to 
 the reporters. The reporters repre- 
 sented that they were so crowded and 
 inconYenienced, and at such a distance 
 
 from the speakers, that it was almost 
 impossible to hear, much less to report, 
 the speeches. 
 
 The result of this well-devised pro- 
 test w^as an order from the premier that 
 benches should be reserved for the re- 
 porters ; .and afterward a portion of the 
 gallery was railed in for them, with a 
 lattice-work in front, so that they could 
 see and hear, but be unseen by the 
 members. Thus the reporters, by a 
 thoroughly British fiction, were present 
 in, but not actually in the presence of, 
 parliament, and were therefore allowed 
 to remain in spite of the old rule 
 against them. 
 
 Verbatim Reporters. 
 
 For a long while, American reporters 
 followed the example of Doctor John- 
 son, and reported no speech which they 
 did not adorn or spoil. Daniel Web- 
 ster complained bitterly of this habit, 
 and frequently demanded that his 
 speeches should be reported as deliv- 
 ered or not at all. Of all reporters, Mr. 
 Henry J. Raymond, then connected 
 with the Courier, and now the chief 
 editor of the New Y^ork Hail^ TimeSy 
 is said to have pleased Mr. Webster 
 most. The classical quotations in 
 which Webster indulged were always 
 remarkably apropos, and he felt con- 
 siderable pride in having them re- 
 ported correctly. Mr. Raymond, with 
 an equal pride in his profession, never 
 depended upon his notes or his memory 
 for these quotations, but took the trouble 
 of looking them out in the books and 
 copying them veriatim et literatem. In 
 those days it was a great feat to report 
 and publish a long speech. Upon one 
 occasion, Webster delivered an address 
 at Washington, and Mr. Raymond was 
 among the reporters present. Web- 
 ster concluded his remarks but a few 
 moments before the mail closed, and 
 the reporters were therefore unable to 
 write out their notes for transmission 
 to the New York papers before the next 
 
746 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 day. Mr. Raymond, however, being an 
 exceeding rapid writer, had taken down 
 the speech in long hand, with only a 
 few simple abbreviations, and observing 
 the perplexity of the other reporters, he 
 determined to send off his notes as they 
 were, and trust to the compositors to 
 decipher them. This plan was suc- 
 cessful. 
 
 Shoes and Shoemakers— Facetiee. 
 
 Among the works which may be face- 
 tiously classed under the head of " Cob- 
 bler Literature," are the veracious his- 
 tories of " Goody Two Shoes," and the 
 " Giant with his Seven-League Boots " ; 
 the affecting story of " Cinderella and 
 her Glass Slipper," and the pathetic 
 and touching poem of the " Old 
 Woman who Lived in a Shoe," with 
 her interesting or at least numerous 
 progeny. 
 
 It is also most curious how many 
 proverbs, and sayings, and witticisms 
 have had their origin in the vocabulary 
 of the shoemaker. Thus, the young 
 are enjoined on all occasions to " put 
 their best foot forward " ; to rely on 
 themselves, and " not to wait for dead 
 men's shoes"; "whatever the value 
 of a body, it is useless without a sole.^^ 
 It was a sentimental shoemaker who 
 invented the name of the " Oxford 
 Ties " — how appropriate to the friend- 
 ships and associations formed at that 
 celebrated seat of learning, and which 
 had their origin in that place ! When 
 one is haughty or presuming, he is said 
 to be " high in the instep " ; when he 
 has become poor, he is said to be " run 
 down in the heel." Formerly, shoes 
 were made so extravagantly large in 
 France, that the toes had to be looped 
 up, until at length a law was made re- 
 ducing their length " in foJo." There 
 can be no more useful and economical 
 proverb than the familiar one, that " a 
 stitch in time saves nine." 
 
 Lord Byron was exceedingly sensi- 
 tive on account of the deformity of his 
 
 feet, which was probably the reason of 
 his avoiding the " clubs." In Hood's 
 " Diary of a Joke-Hunter," the uncon- 
 scious punster of a coachman says : " I 
 expect to draw the boot of my vehicle 
 on the heel of Lunnen Bridge by twelve 
 o'clock." A traveller in China says, 
 that no Chinese will allow himself to 
 be visited until his boots are on ; and 
 any one calling must wait till he has 
 performed that part of etiquette. The 
 Roman Catholics remove their hats in 
 passing the door of a cathedral ; and 
 the Mohammedans take off their shoes on 
 entering a mosque. An old gouty gen- 
 tleman, having lost a pair of capacious 
 shoes, said that the worst wish he had 
 was, that the shoes might j^i the thief. 
 
 The celebrated radical. Hunt, made 
 a fortune by the manufacture of shoe- 
 blacking. After he obtained a seat in 
 parliament, Sir Robert Peel satirically 
 made an allusion, in a speech, to the 
 shining qualities of his opponent — to 
 which Hunt replied, that whereas he 
 (Hunt) was the first of his family who 
 had obtained a fortune by trade, Sir 
 Robert was the first of his who had 
 been able to live without trade. 
 
 There have been several eminent 
 shoemakers who, having taken Pegasus 
 for their hobby, have become devoted 
 followers of the muses. Foote, the 
 actor, had a wooden leg. Coleman 
 says : " this prop to his person, I once 
 saw standing by his bedside, ready 
 dressed in a handsome silk stocking, 
 with a polished shoe and a gold buckle, 
 waiting the owner's getting-up ; it had 
 a kind of tragically comic appearance, 
 and I leave to inveterate wags the in- 
 genuity of punning upon a Foote in bed 
 and a leg out of it. Although rather 
 too serious a subject for a pun, it seems 
 somewhat of a paradox, how a man 
 could be so long a celebrated come- 
 dian tcith one foot in tlie grave I " 
 
 Mrs. Partington,— a dame of well- 
 known understanding^ — one day took 
 up the papers, in which she saw some- 
 thing about the " Shoe Dealers' Bank," 
 
OCCUPATIONS AUXILIARY TO COMMERCE. 
 
 H7 
 
 and laying down her spectacles, she 
 exclaimed, " Law, me ! I wonder who 
 will have a bank next ? I don't want 
 any of their ' bills ; ' I have had 
 enough of 'em ; and Mr. Partington 
 was always complaining of their ex- 
 travagant charges.''^ It is a custom, still 
 kept up among superstitious people, to 
 throw their old shoes over their heads 
 for good luck, when vacating a house 
 in which they have lived; to insure 
 success, the person must not look be- 
 hind after the performance of the oper- 
 ation. 
 
 An old woman having predicted to 
 her graceless son, that he would " die 
 in his shoes," the unfilial vagabond, 
 determined to disappoint so tender a 
 parental prophecy, took the malicious 
 pains to kick them off, just previous to 
 being hanged ! 
 
 Shooting: a Bookseller. 
 
 "Many a true word is spoken in 
 jest," the proverb teaches ; and an 
 anecdote told of Campbell may be 
 thought to indicate a feeling within not 
 very favorable to those who had given 
 his poem to the world. Being in a 
 festive party at a period when the ac- 
 tions of Bonaparte were most severely 
 condemned, on being called upon for a 
 toast, Campbell gave, " The Health of 
 Kapoleon." This caused great surprise 
 to all the company, and an explanation 
 was called for. 
 
 " The only reason I have for propos- 
 ing to honor Bonaparte," said he, " is, 
 that he had the virtue to shoot a looh- 
 sellery Palm, a bookseller, had re- 
 cently been executed in Grermany, by 
 order of the French chief. 
 
 Profitable Book Job. 
 
 A Dublin paper says, that about the 
 year 1837 Longfellow, being engaged 
 in making a tour of Europe, selected 
 Heidelberg for a permanent winter 
 residence. There his wife was attacked 
 
 with an illness, which ultimately proved 
 fatal. 
 
 It so happened, however, that some 
 time afterward there came to the same 
 romantic place a young lady of con- 
 siderable personal attractions. The 
 poet's heart was touched — he became 
 attached to her ; but the beauty of six- 
 teen did not sympathize with the poet 
 of six-and-thirty, and Longfellow re- 
 turned to America, having lost his 
 heart as well as his wife. 
 
 The young lady, also an American, re- 
 turned home shortly afterward. Their 
 residences, it turned out, were con- 
 tiguous, and the poet availed himself 
 of the opportunity of prosecuting his 
 addresses, which he did for a consider- 
 able time with no better success than at 
 first. Thus foiled, he set himself reso- 
 lutely down, and instead, like Petrarch, 
 of laying siege to the heart of his mis- 
 tress through the medium of sonnets, 
 he resolved to write a whole book ; a 
 book which would achieve the double 
 object of gaining her affections, and of 
 establishing his own fame. Hyperion 
 was the result. 
 
 His labor and his constancy were not 
 thrown away ; they met their due re- 
 ward. The lady gave him her hand, 
 her heart, and a large fortune, and the 
 book also brought fame and money, — a 
 very profitable job all around ! 
 
 Attempt to Print a Perfect Book. 
 
 The celebrated Foulises, of Glasgow, 
 attempted to publish a work which 
 should be perfect as a specimen of typo- 
 graphical accuracy. Every precaution 
 was taken to secure the desired result. 
 Six experienced proof-readers were em- 
 ployed, who devoted hours to the read- 
 ing of each page, and after it was 
 thought to be perfect, it was posted up 
 in the hall of the university, with a 
 notification that a reward of fifty 
 pounds would be paid to any person 
 who could discover an error. Each 
 page was suffered to remain two weeks 
 
748 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 in tlie place where it had been posted, 
 before the work was printed, and the 
 printers thought that they had attained 
 the object for which they had been 
 striving. When the work was issued, 
 it was discovered that several errors had 
 been committed, one of which was in 
 the very first line of the first page. The 
 Foulis editions of classical works are 
 still much prized by scholars and col- 
 lectors. 
 
 Austen, the Pamous Metal Pounder. 
 
 All have heard of the English " Tu- 
 bal Cain," William Austen, who worked 
 *' at his peril " in the construction of 
 the celebrated tomb at Warwick, in 
 St. Mary's church, of Kichard de Beau- 
 champ, Earl of Warwick, who died in 
 1439. 
 
 In a document given in Dugdale's 
 Warwickshire, William Austen is orac- 
 ularly styled " citizen and founder of 
 London," from which and the details 
 of the agreement it appears that he 
 was not the designer or modeller of the 
 figures which he cast in brass, for it is 
 expressly stated that he is to work from 
 models made of timber. This docu- 
 ment is rather an amusing one, as will 
 be seen : Will- Austen, citizen and 
 founder, of London, xiv. Martii, 30 h. 
 6, covenanteth &c. to cast, work, and 
 perfectly to make, of the finest latten 
 (brass) to be gilded, that may be found, 
 xiv. images embossed, of lords and 
 ladies in divers vestures called weepers, 
 to stand in housings made about the 
 tomb, those images to be made in 
 breadth, length, and thickness, &c., to 
 xiv. patterns made of timbers. Also he 
 shall make xviii. less images of angells, 
 to stand in other housings, as shall be 
 appointed by patterns, whereof ix. after 
 one side, and ix. after another. Also 
 he must make an hearse to stand on 
 the tombe above and about the princi- 
 pal image that shall lye in the tomb 
 according to a pattern ; the stufi^ and 
 workmanship to be at the charge of 
 
 the said Will. Austen. The said Wil 
 liam Austen, xi. Feb., 28 h. 6, doth 
 covenant to cast and make an image 
 of a man armed, of fine latten, gar- 
 nished with certain ornaments, viz., 
 with sword and dagger; with a gar- 
 ter ; with a helm and crest under his 
 head, and at his feet a tear musted 
 (muzzled), and a grifibn perfectly made 
 of the finest latten, according to j)at- 
 terns; all of which to be brought to 
 Warwick and laid on the tombe, at the 
 peril (risk) of the said Austen. 
 
 Miners' Commandments. 
 
 Thou shalt not go j^rospecting before 
 thy claim gives out. Thou shalt not 
 take thy money, nor thy gold dust, nor 
 thy good name, to the gambling-table 
 in vain ; for monte, twenty-one, roulette, 
 faro, lansquenet and poker, will prove 
 to thee that the more thou j)uttest 
 dovm, the less thou shalt take up. 
 
 Thou shalt not pick up specimens 
 from the company pan and put them 
 in thy mouth or in thy purse. Neither 
 shalt thou take from thy cabin mate 
 his gold dust to add to thine, lest he 
 find thee out, and straightway call his 
 fellow miners together, and they hang 
 thee, or give thee fifty lashes and two 
 hours to leave the country; or brand 
 thee like a horse-thief, with r upon thy 
 cheek, to be " known and read of all " 
 — Californians in particular. And if 
 thou steal a shovel, or a pick or a pan 
 from thy toiling fellow miner, hanging 
 will be too good for thee, and thou 
 wilt be kicked and cowhided for thy 
 pains. 
 
 Thou shalt not tell any false tales 
 about "good diggings in the moun- 
 tains " to thy neighbor, that thou may- 
 est benefit thy friend who hath mules 
 and provisions and tools and blankets 
 that he cannot sell ; lest, in deceiving 
 thy neighbor, when he returneth 
 through the snow, with naught save 
 his rifle, he presenteth thee with the 
 contents thereof. 
 
PROFESSIONAL USE OF BOOKS. 
 
OCCUPATIONS AUXILIARY TO COMMERCE. 
 
 749 
 
 Son of an Eminent Turkey Mercliant. 
 
 HoRNE TooKE was the son of a 
 poulterer, wliicli fact he facetiously 
 alluded to, when called upon by the 
 proud striplings of Eton to describe 
 himself: "I am," said young Home, 
 " the son of an eminent Turkey mer- 
 chant." 
 
 Dryden Describing his Publisher. 
 
 ToNSON, the eminent publisher of his 
 time, having refused to advance Dryden 
 a sum of money for a work on which he 
 was engaged, the enraged bard sent a 
 message to him, and the following lines, 
 adding, " Tell the dog that he who 
 wrote these can write more : 
 
 With leering looks, bull-faced and freckled 
 
 skin, 
 With two left legs, and Judas-colored hair. 
 And frowzy, pores, that taint the ambient 
 
 air.' " 
 
 The bookseller felt the force of the 
 description, and to avoid the comple- 
 tion of the portrait, lost no time in 
 sending the money. 
 
 Professional Use of Books. 
 
 Tom Osborne, the bookseller, was 
 one of " that mercantile, rugged race, 
 to which the delicacy of the poet is 
 sometimes exposed," as the following 
 anecdote will more fully evince : 
 
 It appears that Johnson being en- 
 gaged by him to translate a work of 
 some consequence, he thought it a re- 
 spect which he owed his own talents, 
 as well as the credit of his employer, to 
 be as circumspect in the performance 
 of it as possible, and in consequence of 
 which the work went on, according to 
 Osborne's ideas, rather slowly ; he 
 therefore frequently spoke to Johnson 
 of this circumstance, and, being a man 
 of coarse mind, sometimes, by his ex- 
 pressions, made him feel the situation 
 of dependence. Johnson, however. 
 
 seemed to take no notice of him, but 
 went on according to the plan which 
 he had prescribed for himself. 
 
 Osborne, irritated by what he thought 
 an unnecessary delay, went one day into 
 the room where Johnson was sitting, 
 and abused him in the most illiberal 
 manner : among other things, he told 
 Johnson he had been much mistaken 
 in his man ; that he was recommended 
 to him as a good scholar and a ready 
 hand— but he doubted both ; for " Tom 
 Such-a-one would have turned out the 
 work much sooner; and that being 
 the case, the probability was, that by 
 this here time the first edition would 
 have moved off." 
 
 Johnson listened to all this for some 
 time unmoved ; but, at last, losing all 
 patience, he seized a huge folio, which 
 he was at that time consulting, and, 
 aiming it at the bookseller's head, suc- 
 ceeded so forcibly as to send him 
 sprawling on the floor. Osborne 
 alarmed the family with his cries ; but 
 Johnson, clapping his foot on his 
 breast, would not let him stir, till he 
 had exposed him in that situation ; and 
 then left him, with this triumphant 
 expression, — " Lie there, thou son of 
 dulness, ignorance, and obscurity ! " 
 
 First Newspaper in the world. 
 
 The oldest news sheet appearing to 
 be of a periodical character, is one 
 which was offered for sale with the 
 Libri Collection on the 25th of July, 
 1862, and of which there is a duplicate 
 in the British Museum. Its title is, 
 '•'• Newe Zeitung aus Hispanien uncL 
 Italien (New Tidings from Spain 
 and Italy) ; black letter, 4 leaves 4to. 
 Mense Februario, 1534." 
 
 The description of this in the cata- 
 logue is as follows : " A gazette of ex- 
 cessive rarity, which appears to have 
 been printed at Nuremberg. It con- 
 tains the first news of the discovery of 
 Peru, and has remained unknown to 
 all the bibliographers we have been 
 
!r50 
 
 COMMERCIAL AXD BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 able to consult. It it is announced 
 tliat the governor of Panumya (Pana- 
 ma), in the Indies, has written to his 
 Majesty (the emperor Charles V.) that 
 a ship had arrived from Peru with a 
 letter from the regent Francisco Pis- 
 cario (Pizarro), stating that he had 
 disembarked and seized the country; 
 that with two hundred Spaniards 
 (infantry and cavalry) he had em- 
 barked ; that he had arrived at the 
 lands of a great lord named Cassiko, 
 who had refused peace and attacked 
 liim; that the Spaniards had been 
 victorious, and had seized five thousand 
 castillons (pieces of gold), and had 
 twenty thousand marks of silver ; that 
 they had drawn two millions in gold 
 from the said Cassiko," etc. 
 
 It has generally been supposed, from 
 the various researches which have been 
 made, that the first newspaper published 
 in modern Europe made its appearance 
 at Venice in 1536 ; but the jealousy 
 of the government would not allow of 
 its being printed, so that, for many 
 years, it was circulated in manuscript. 
 
 • Earliest Newspaper in the English 
 Langruage. 
 
 It would seem that newspapers were 
 first issued in England by authority 
 during the alarm occasioned by the 
 approach of the Armada to her shores 
 — in order, as was stated, by giving 
 real information, to allay the general 
 anxiety, and to hinder the dissemination 
 of false and exaggerated statements. 
 From this era, newspapers, of one sort 
 or other, have, with a few intermissions, 
 generally appeared in London, some- 
 times at regular, and sometimes at 
 irregular intervals. The 'English 
 Mercuric " has been regarded the first 
 printed newspaper in the English lan- 
 guage, and was, by authority, "im- 
 printed at London by her highness's 
 printer, 1588 ; " in the days of Queen 
 Elizabeth. The earliest number pre- 
 served is dated July 23, in that year. 
 
 The following are the names of some 
 of the earliest publications which, 
 whether correctly or incorrectly need 
 not now be argued, were regarded as 
 " newspapers " :— " England's Memor- 
 able Accidents," " The Kingdom's In- 
 telligencer," " The Diurnal of Certain 
 Passages in Parliament," " Tlie Mer- 
 curius Aulicus," "The Parliament's 
 Scout," "The Parliament's Scout 
 Discovery, or Certain Information," 
 "The Mercurius Civicus," "The 
 Country's Complaint," " Mercurius 
 Britannicus," etc. 
 
 The first regular series of weekly 
 newspapers hitherto discovered was 
 entitled the " Weekly Newes from 
 Italy, Germanic," &c., published in 
 London in 1622. This statement is 
 founded on the assertion made by a 
 British historian, that the "English 
 Mercuric of 1588," long regarded as 
 the first English newspaper, was a 
 myth — a forgery. The first daily 
 morning newspaper was the "Daily 
 Courant," 1702, London. It consisted 
 of but one page of two columns, and 
 containing five paragraphs translated 
 from foreign journals. 
 
 It has been supposed by many that 
 'the " Gentleman's Magazine " was the 
 earliest periodical of that descrip- 
 tion, while, in fact, it was preceded 
 nearly forty years by the " Gentle- 
 man's Journal" of Matteux, a work 
 much more resembling our modem 
 magazines. 
 
 Faceti80 for Shoemakers. 
 
 " Stick to your last " is a homely 
 but common proverb, enjoining per- 
 severance, and may have originated 
 with those who made it the means of 
 such honorable promotion. 
 
 " None but the wearer knows where 
 the shoe pinches," is another as com- 
 mon, and originated with a noble 
 Roman who was asked why he had 
 put away his beautiful wife, and gave 
 this for an answer. 
 
OCCUPATIONS AUXILIARY TO COMMERCE. 
 
 751 
 
 " The shoemaker must not go beyond 
 his last," is immediately understood 
 to advise no one to pass judgment on 
 things concerning which he has no 
 knowledge ; and is derived from the 
 incident of a shoemaker's criticizing 
 a slipper which an artist had painted, 
 and, being applauded, he attempted to 
 extend his strictures to other parts of 
 the picture, thus making himself ridic- 
 ulous. 
 
 Koiuan Saint Making* Shoes. 
 
 By common consent, Crisi^in is the 
 patron saint of shoemakers, and he, it 
 appears, suffered martyrdom about the 
 year 303, for his efforts to propagate the 
 doctrines of the Christian religion, 
 travelling fp om Rome to France for this 
 purpose, and making shoes by the way 
 as a means of obtaining nourishment 
 for the body. St. Crispin's Day is the 
 twenty-fifth of October, and Shaks- 
 peare and many inferior poets have 
 immortalized its festivals and promoted 
 its importance in the list of holidays. 
 
 Buying: Shoes and Sermons. 
 
 An anecdote is told of the chaplain 
 of the Duke of Leeds and his shoe- 
 maker, which the facetious like to relate 
 as an instance of the wit of the " gentle 
 craft "of the thread and last. A shoe- 
 maker, named Walkden, had made for 
 him a pair of shoes, and on being asked 
 the price replied, " Half a guinea, sir." 
 
 " Half a guinea for a pair of shoes I " 
 replied the astonished chaplain ; " why, 
 I could go to Cranbourne Alley and buy 
 a better pair of shoes than these ever 
 were or will be, for five and sixpence." 
 He then threw one of the shoes to the 
 other end of the room, and Walkden 
 threw the other after it, saying, at the 
 same time, " Sir, I can go to a store 
 in Moorfields and buy a better ser- 
 mon than my lord gives you a guinea 
 for." 
 
 The duke, being present, was much 
 
 amused by this retort, and immediately 
 ordered half a dozen pairs of shoes to 
 be made directly. 
 
 Dowse, the "Literary Leather 
 Dresser." 
 
 Thomas Dowse was a leather dresser, 
 living in Cambridgeport, Mass., and 
 who, to good industry and success in 
 his calling, added a most liberal taste 
 for books and engravings of the rarest 
 quality. He was commonly known as 
 " the literary leather dresser," and his 
 case is almost if not wholly without a 
 parallel. From an early age, all his 
 spare earnings were expended in the 
 purchase of books. After pursuing his 
 trade as an apprentice to his father 
 until he was twenty-one years of age, 
 he made the endeavor to visit Europe, 
 but was prevented from fulfilling that 
 purpose on account of poverty and 
 other obstacles. He therefore applied 
 himself to his trade, and in this voca- 
 tion he was eminently fortunate. He 
 attended to the duties of his shop 
 during business hours, and to reading 
 in those of the morning and evening, 
 devoting constantly a large part of his 
 income to the purchase of books. His 
 taste was not only for good books, but 
 for handsome editions, and these he 
 imported directly from London. About 
 the year 1820, his agent in London sent 
 him the prospectus of a lottery for the 
 disposal of the sets of a costly collection 
 of engravings of the most famous works 
 of the old masters, and of the water- 
 color copies made from the originals. 
 Mr. Dowse bought three tickets in this 
 lottery, and drew two prizes, one prize 
 consisting of two sets of the engravings, 
 colored and uncolored ; the other prize 
 being one-half of the water-color copies 
 framed, fifty-two in number. He thus 
 became possessed of a large collection 
 of admirable copies of some of the most 
 celebrated paintings in England. The 
 paintings were advantageously arranged 
 in rooms adjoining Mr. Dowse's library, 
 
V52 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 and formed with it an attraction of 
 great interest to persons of letters and 
 taste resident in the neighborhood, and 
 to strangers. 
 
 Mr. Dowse continued to work at his 
 trade till after he was seventy years of 
 age, and he lived a life of retirement 
 as well as celibacy. He was a great 
 admirer of Benjamin Franklin — so 
 much so, that he erected, at his own 
 expense, a substantial granite obelisk 
 in Mount Auburn, to Franklin's mem- 
 ory. A few months before his decease, 
 Mr. Dowse presented his library to 
 the Massachusetts Historical Society. 
 It consisted of about five thousand 
 volumes of a miscellaneous character, 
 many of them in elegant bindings, and 
 of the best editions. It is almost exclu- 
 sively an English library, containing 
 translations of the principal authors 
 in the ancient languages, and the cul- 
 tivated languages of modern Europe. 
 It is estimated to have cost Mr. Dowse 
 forty thousand dollars, without interest. 
 He left forty thousand dollars to lit- 
 erary, scientific, and charitable pur- 
 poses. 
 
 — « — 
 
 Eminent Shoemakers. 
 
 Abnigio, an Italian poet of the six- 
 teenth century, of considerable genius 
 and learning, followed his father's trade, 
 that of a shoemaker, and in the course 
 of his life published a very elaborate 
 work on the shoemaking of the an- 
 cients. 
 
 Linnaeus, the founder of the science 
 of botany, was apprenticed to a shoe- 
 maker in Sweden, but was afterward 
 taken notice of, in consequence of his 
 ability, and sent to college. 
 
 David Parens, the elder, who was 
 afterward a celebrated professor of 
 theology at Heidelberg, Germany, was 
 at one time apprentice to a shoe- 
 maker. 
 
 Joseph Pendell, of London, who was 
 a profound and scientific scholar, leav- 
 ing a superb library, was bred to and 
 
 pursued through life the trade of a 
 shoemaker. 
 
 Hans Sachs, one of the most famous 
 of the early poets, was the son of a 
 tailor, served an apprenticeship to a 
 shoemaker, and afterward became 
 and continued a weaver 
 
 Benedict Badlouth, one of the most 
 learned men of the sixteenth century, 
 was a shoemaker, as was likewise his 
 father. This man wrote a treatise on 
 the shoemaking of the ancients, which 
 he traced up to the time of Adam him- 
 self. Thus Adam was a shoemaker, 
 and Eve a tailoress. She " sewed fig 
 leaves together," proving truly the 
 antiquity of these two branches of in- 
 dustry and skill. 
 
 To these may be added those orna- 
 ments of literature, Holcroft, the author 
 of the Critic and other works ; Gifford, 
 the founder, and for many years the edi- 
 tor, of the London Quarterly Review, 
 one of the most profound writers and 
 elegant scholars of the age ; Bloom- 
 field, the celebrated author; Gibbon, 
 Lackington, Dr. Carey, and "Whittier, 
 — all these were shoemakers. 
 
 John Brand, of the London Anti- 
 quarian Society, and author of several 
 learned works, was originally a shoe- 
 maker, but fortunately found means 
 to complete his studies at Oxford. 
 Winckelmann, the learned German 
 antiquary, was the son of a shoemaker, 
 and was for some time engaged in the 
 same employment, but finally burst from 
 his obscurity, and became a professor 
 of belles-lettres : he was the friend and 
 correspondent of the most learned men 
 of his times. 
 
 Fox, the founder of the sect or body 
 called Quakers, was the son of a weaver, 
 and apprenticed to a shoemaker. 
 
 Roger Sherman, the distinguished 
 Connecticut statesman, was apprenticed 
 to a shoemaker, and found ample time, 
 during his minority, to acquire a stock 
 of knowledge that led him cii to fame 
 and fortune. 
 
 Long worth, the great real estate mil- 
 
OCCUPATIONS AUXILIARY TO COMMERCE. 
 
 753 
 
 lionnaire, of Cincinnati, was formerly 
 shoemaker. 
 
 Breaking- and Waxing the ** Thread." 
 
 A CERTAIN member of the Irish Par- 
 liament, whose father had followed the 
 honest occupation of a shoemaker, hav- 
 ing, in the course of his speech, used 
 some language which caused him to be 
 called to order by Mr. Curran, the gen- 
 tleman complained that Mr. Curran had 
 " 'broken the thread of Ms discourse.^'' 
 
 " Then icax it better, the next time," 
 replied Curran, disdainfully. 
 
 One of the Largest Book Establish- 
 ments in the World. 
 
 This well-known house was estab- 
 lished by the two senior partners, 
 James and John Harper, who opened 
 a small book and job printing office in 
 Dover street. New York, in 1817. Their 
 first employer in book printing was Mr. 
 Evert Duyckinck, a leading publisher 
 of that day, to whose order, on the 
 5th of August, they delivered two thou- 
 sand copies of Seneca's Morals ; on the 
 3d of December, twenty-five hundred 
 copies of Mair's Introduction to Latin ; 
 and on the 7th of April, 1818, five hun- 
 dred copies of Locke's Essay on the 
 Human Understanding. These were 
 the first books they printed. In 1823, 
 the third brother, John Wesley Harper, 
 became a partner in the establishment, 
 and in 1826 Fletcher Harper entered as 
 a member of the firm. At that time 
 their printing office had become the 
 largest in the city, though it employed 
 but fifty persons, and did all its work 
 on ten hand-presses. The establish- 
 ment is at present believed to be the 
 largest of its kind in the world. Thur- 
 low Weed worked as a journeyman 
 printer at the same time and in the 
 same establishment with Mr. Harper. 
 " James," says he, " was our partner 
 at the press. We were at work as soon 
 as the day dawned ; and though, on a 
 48 
 
 pleasant summer afternoon, we used to 
 sigh occasionally for a walk upon the 
 Battery before sundown, he never would 
 allow the 'balls to be capped' until 
 he had broken the back of the thir- 
 teenth 'token.'" Thus, by habits of 
 industry, perseverance, economy and 
 industry, the journeyman printer be- 
 came the head of the greatest pub- 
 lishing house in the western world, 
 amassed an ample fortune, and at 
 one time filled the chair of chief 
 magistrate of the greatest metropolis 
 in America. 
 
 Charles Knight's Reminiscences of the 
 London Book Trade. 
 
 Paternoster Row and the imme- 
 diate neighborhood of St. Paul's church- 
 yard and Ave-Maria Lane, were the 
 principal seats of the wholesale book- 
 trade in former days. At the begin- 
 ning of the present century, according 
 to Britton, " most of the tradesmen at- 
 tended to their respective shops, and 
 dwelt in the upper part of their houses." 
 He had lived to see the heads of many 
 of the largest establishments visit their 
 counting houses only for a few hours in 
 the day, and leave the working part to 
 junior partners, clerks, and appren- 
 tices. The greater number of city book- 
 sellers did not carry on the business of 
 pubUsher pur et simple. They were 
 factors of books for the London col- 
 lectors; they were the agents of the 
 country booksellers ; they almost all 
 were shareholders of what were called 
 chapter books, from the business con- 
 cerning them being conducted at the 
 Chapter Coflee House. If we open a 
 book (says Mr. Charles Knight, in his 
 interesting volume, "Passages of a 
 Working Life"), of fifty years ago, 
 which had become a standard work in 
 its frequent reprints, we find the names 
 of twelve or twenty or even more book- 
 sellers on the title page. The cojDyright 
 had probably long expired. But these 
 shareholders, who formed a Limited 
 
V54 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 Liability Company (not registered), 
 were considered as the only legitimate 
 dealers, and their editions the only 
 legitimate ones. It was long before 
 their monopoly was broken up by a 
 few daring adventurers who defied these 
 banded hosts, and were ready to pounce 
 upon an expired copyright before it 
 could be appropriated by the large and 
 small potentates who had parcelled out 
 the realms of print, with absolute ex- 
 clusiveness, in the good times before 
 innovation. Trade sales, as they were 
 called, were frequent and general among 
 the primitive race of booksellers; at 
 which sales these share books were 
 sold, among other wares, to the best 
 bidders. The company was not at- 
 tracted by elegant banquets, such as 
 those at which, in later times, I have 
 assisted as a guest and as a host. 
 There was a plain dinner of substan- 
 tial beef and mutton, which the book- 
 seller ordered at an adjacent tavern, 
 directing what dishes should be pro- 
 vided to meet the number of his ex- 
 pected guests. I have heard an illus- 
 trative anecdote — I do not vouch for 
 its truth — of one of the respectable firm 
 that lived under the sign of the Bible 
 and Crown. In the midst of family 
 prayer he suddenly paused, and ex- 
 claimed, " John, go and tell Higgins to 
 make another marrow pudding." 
 
 The " legitimate " trade had its code 
 of " protection," on which it had re- 
 posed since the days of the Tonsons 
 and Lintots. Its system of associating 
 many shareholders in the production 
 and sale of an established work kept 
 up its price. The retailers were only 
 allowed to purchase of the wholesale 
 houses upon certain conditions, which 
 had the effect of making it difl5cult, if 
 not impossible, for the private pur- 
 chaser to obtain a book under the sum 
 advertised. No publisher had discov- 
 ered that it was to his interest that the 
 profit of the middle man should be 
 small, so that a book should be vended 
 at the cheapest rate. The very notion 
 
 of cheap books stank in the nostrils 
 not only of the ancient magnates of the 
 East, but of the new potentates of the 
 West. For a new work which involved 
 the purchase of copyright, it was the 
 established rule that the wealthy few, 
 to whom price was not a consideration, 
 were alone to be depended upon for 
 the remuneration of the author and the 
 first profit of the publisher. The proud 
 quarto, with a rivulet of text meander- 
 ing through a wide plain of margin, 
 was the " decus et tutamen " of the 
 Row and of Albemarle street. Conduit 
 street now and then vied in its grandi- 
 osity; but more commonly sent forth 
 legions of octavos, translated from the 
 French with a rapidity that was not 
 very careful about correctness or ele- 
 gance — qualities which were not con- 
 templated in the estimate of the liter- 
 ary cost. These were the books whose 
 cheapness was deceptive, like the books 
 issued by the number-publishers. One 
 of these successful tradesmen, who, al- 
 though he became lord mayor, was once 
 " Thomas " the porter in an old con- 
 cern for the production of the dearest 
 books in folio — such as we may still 
 find among the heir-looms of a humble 
 family in some remote village — was 
 never solicitous to buy an author ; his 
 great object was to buy a " ground." 
 "A ground" was like a milk-walk — 
 there were a body of customers to be 
 transferred to the new capitalist. He 
 was once tempted into the employment 
 of original authorship. When his press 
 one day stood still for want of a suffi- 
 cient supply of the commodity for 
 which he had indiscreetly bargained, 
 he exclaimed, " Give me dead authors ! 
 — they never keep you waiting for 
 
 copy." 
 
 » 
 
 Buying: a Saddle. 
 
 Monkeys are scarce in Michigan. A 
 saddler in Detroit kept one for a pet, 
 who usually sat on the counter. A 
 countryman came in one day, the pro- 
 
OCCUPATIONS AUXILIARY TO COMMERCE. 
 
 prietor being in the back room. The 
 customer, seeing a saddle that suited 
 him, asked the price. 
 
 Monkey said nothing. 
 
 Customer said, " I'll give you twenty 
 dollars for it," which monkey shoved 
 into the drawer as the man laid it 
 down. The man then took the saddle, 
 but monkey mounted the man, tore his 
 hair, scratched his face, and the fright- 
 ened customer screamed for dear life. 
 Proprietor rushes in, and wants to 
 know what's the fuss. 
 
 " Fuss ? " said the customer ; " fuss ? 
 I bought a saddle of your son settin' 
 there, and when I went to take it, he 
 won't let me have it ! " 
 
 The saddler apologized for the mon- 
 key, but assured him he was no rela- 
 tion. 
 
 Digmity Conferred by the Blacking: 
 Business. 
 
 The report of M. Dumas, member of 
 the French Institute, on the Great Ex- 
 position of French Industry, has been 
 " done into English " for the benefit of 
 a manufacturer of blacking, whose ar- 
 ticle is highly spoken of. The follow- 
 ing is an extract in the translator's 
 most polished style : 
 
 " The service done by Messrs. Jac- 
 quand is real. One does perceive it 
 the better when one does consider his 
 effects on the less comfortable orders 
 of the population, on those for which 
 there are not little economies, and on 
 which it is of a great importance to 
 spread habits of cleanliness, which con- 
 duct to the self-consideration, and 
 which announce at the man who ob- 
 serves them, the sentiment of his dig- 
 nity. The jury confers on Messrs. Jac- 
 quand a medal of bronze." 
 
 Breeches without a Body. 
 
 Brooks is an oflBce boy, and is quite 
 a character. He is about sixteen years 
 old, and five feet ten inches in height, 
 
 and proportionably narrow. A more 
 brief and very graphic description of 
 his physical build is expressed by him 
 when speaking of himself. He says, 
 " Very little Brooks — principally legs." 
 Brooks needed a renewal of that useful 
 article of raiment known to him as 
 " trowsis," wherewith to protect the be- 
 fore-menj;ioned legs from the inclemen- 
 cy of the weather and the vulgar gaze. 
 
 Brooks applied to a gentleman of 
 the Jewish persuasion, who published 
 to the world the fact that he manufac- 
 tured raiment of every description. By 
 "particular request" the tailor meas- 
 ured Brooks for the required article of 
 clothing, insuring, at the same time, a 
 " dead fit." Our friend of the shears, 
 being of an inquiring turn of mind — 
 though we suspect some irony in his 
 remark — thought to question his cus- 
 tomer, as he inquired, addressing 
 Brooks : 
 
 " Does my fine shentleman vish any 
 pody to his pantaloons ? " 
 
 Brooks answered, " Of course I want 
 a body to them. Who ever heard of 
 breeches without a body ? " 
 
 " Yel, den," said the Jew, " if such 
 is the case, den you musht tie dem 
 round your neck ; for, help me Moses, 
 I never saw such long legs before ! " 
 
 Books and Music. 
 
 " Not very long ago, two gentlemen 
 from our town," writes a rural reader 
 to Jlarjoer's Magazine^ " paid a visit of 
 pleasure and business to New York 
 city. Not particularly well acquainted 
 with localities, they were upon one af- 
 ternoon absent on an exploring expedi- 
 tion, and suddenly and unexpectedly 
 ' fetched up ' opposite your magnifi- 
 cent publishing house and printing es- 
 tablishment in Franklin Square. Hav- 
 ing of course a knowledge, acquired by 
 reading, of your extensive buildings 
 and grounds, when the large gilt let- 
 ters which indicate to the rural visitor 
 the name and nature of the firm struck 
 
156 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 the eye of one of the friends, he incon- 
 tinently cried out, 'Hold on, Joe ! I 
 want to take a look at the Harpers ! ' 
 Joe dropped his head, and stood for 
 several minutes in musing mood, in- 
 tently listening, during which time his 
 friend was surveying the building and 
 its surroundings. Presently Joe said, 
 
 *' ' Well, come along ; you won't hear 
 any more music if you stand here all 
 day!' 
 
 " ' Music ? What music ? ' said his 
 friend, eyeing Joe curiously. 
 
 " ' Why, " the Harpers " playing,' re- 
 plied Joe, very innocently. 
 
 " The strain on Andy's vest buttons 
 was intense for some minutes; and it 
 has never been settled to this day 
 whether the music was in Joe's head, 
 or whether he really expected to hear 
 ' the Harpers ' playing." 
 
 Willingr to Swallow the Joke. 
 Everybody in Cincinnati knows 
 that Jake Myers is a good fellow, and 
 considerable of a wag. He and thirty- 
 five other German cabinet makers put 
 their funds together and fonned them- 
 selves into an association known as the 
 Cabinet Makers' Union. Jake was 
 made agent of the concern, and, by his 
 good management and the hard work 
 of the others, they prospered, and ship- 
 ped a large amount of their wares to 
 the South. Some time ago, one of 
 their customers living in Kentucky, 
 and in debt to the concern about 
 $1,500, showed signs of weakness, and 
 they thought it necessary for Jake to 
 go and look after their interests. He 
 found the man had just sold out, and 
 he had to take a house and lot instead 
 of the money. Jake was a stanch friend 
 of the South, and the balance of the 
 concern were abolitionists, and had 
 bored Jake a good deal about his no- 
 tions on the slavery question ; so Jake 
 found he had a chance of getting even 
 or a little ahead of his partners. On 
 his return he told them he had to take 
 
 two negroes (a boy and girl), or get 
 nothing; but knowing his thirty-five 
 partners to be strong abolitionists, he 
 thought they might wish to set the 
 darkeys free, and he had declined tak- 
 ing the money he had been ofiered for 
 them until after he had a consultation 
 with his partners. They all bit ; and, 
 after some deliberation, concluded to 
 sell the negroes, as it would be too 
 great a loss ($43 to each partner) for 
 them to stand. They directed Jake to 
 sell them as soon as possible, for fear 
 they might run away. A few days af- 
 terward they found out that Jake had 
 sold them instead of the negroes, and 
 thereon they all adjourned over to the 
 nearest grocery store, and had a good 
 time of it the balance of the day ; de- 
 claring, by the strength of the lager, 
 that they all knew that Jake was only 
 joking. 
 
 Paying- the Driver. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. , of Boston, was 
 
 to supply the pulpit of the Rev. Orville 
 Dewey, whilom of New York. Taking 
 the Sound boat on Saturday night, he 
 did not arrive at the pier, in conse- 
 quence of a dense fog, until long after 
 the bells had ceased to call the people 
 to church. He immediately jumped 
 into a cab and drove with all haste to 
 the church, jumped out, whispered to 
 the sexton to pay the driver, and 
 walked with ministerial dignity up the 
 aisle. When about to ascend the steps 
 of the pulpit a hand was laid on his 
 shoulder, and— judge of his surprise, on 
 turning, to behold cabby with out- 
 stretched hand for his fare. This must 
 be true, for he told it himself. 
 
 Explaining the Philosophy of Trade. 
 
 The following dialogue between a 
 " saucy "-looking Irishwoman and a 
 fellow countryman, who had apparent- 
 ly just come over from the old sod, was 
 
OCCUPATIONS AUXILIARY TO COMMERCE. 
 
 757 
 
 accidentally overliearcl by a Broadway 
 pedestrian : 
 
 " Well, Misther Murphy, ye tell me 
 that ye think of gettin' into the daling 
 [trading] way here," said the lady, 
 with that patronizing air ^always as- 
 sumed toward late arrivals by the ould 
 residenthers. 
 
 " Yis, ma'am, I was thinking some- 
 thing about it ; and I'd like to have 
 your advice, Mrs. Dimpsey, upon it, if 
 y'd plase," humbly responded Mr. Mur- 
 
 pby- 
 
 " Take my advice, thin," said the fe- 
 male oracle, " and thry the provision 
 bisiness, Misther Murphy ; it's always 
 lookey, and always safe. Calicoes and 
 coats gits out of fashion, and lift on 
 your hands often ; but who ever heard 
 of the cut of a ham, or a shojilder of 
 beef, or a leg of mutton changin' ? " 
 
 Mr. Murphy's countenance brightened 
 up at the originality of the idea sug- 
 gested to him ; and by this time he is 
 ready to supply all consumers of ham, 
 beef, and mutton, on reasonable terms. 
 
 Would not Stoop. 
 
 Sir Robert Peel made George Ste- 
 phenson, the great engineer, the offer 
 of knighthood more than once, but he 
 steadily refused. He was not the crea- 
 ture of patronage, and had no desire to 
 shine with borrowed lustre. He gave 
 a characteristic reply to a request that 
 he would state what were his ornament- 
 al or honorary initials, in order that 
 they might be added to his name in the 
 title of a work proposed to be dedicated 
 to him : " I have to state, that I have 
 no flourishes to my name, either before 
 or after ; and I think it will be as well 
 if you merely say ' George Stephenson.' 
 It is true that I am a Belgian knight ; 
 but I do not wish to have any use 
 made of it. I have had the offer of 
 knighthood of my own country made 
 to me several times, but would not 
 have it. I have been invited to become 
 a Fellow of the Royal Society, and also 
 
 of the Civil Engineers' Society, but ob- 
 jected to the empty addition to my 
 name. I am a member of the Geologi- 
 cal Society, and I have consented to 
 become president of, I believe, a highly 
 respectable mechanics' institution at 
 Birmingham." He wished to join the 
 Civil Engineers' Institute ; but the 
 council Avould not waive the condition 
 that he should compose a probationary 
 essay in proof of his capacity as an en- 
 gineer ! Mr. Stephenson would not 
 stoop to enter, and turned his back 
 upon the institute. 
 
 Lord Eardley's *' Gentleman" 
 Applicant. 
 
 During breakfast, one d^y, Lord 
 Eardley was informed that a person 
 had applied for a footman's place, then 
 vacant. He was ordered into the room ; 
 and a double-refined specimen of a ge- 
 nus greatly detested by his lordship, 
 made his appearance. The manner of 
 the man was extremely affected and 
 consequential, and it was evident that 
 he determined to lower him a little. 
 
 " Well, my good fellow," said he, 
 " what, you want a lackey's place, do 
 you ? " 
 
 " I came about an upper footman's 
 situation, my lord," said the gentleman, 
 bridling up his head. 
 
 " Oh ! do ye, do ye ? " replied Lord 
 Eardley ; " I keep no ' upper servants ; ' 
 all alike, all alike, here." 
 
 " Indeed, my lord," exclaimed this 
 upper footman, with an air of shocked 
 dignity ; " what department^ then, am 
 I to consider myself expected to fill ? " 
 
 " Department, department," quoth 
 my lord, in a tone of inquiry. 
 
 " In what capacity, my lord ? " 
 
 My lord repeated the word " capaci- 
 ty " as if not understanding its applica- 
 tion to the present subject. 
 
 " I mean, my lord," exclaimed the 
 man, " what shall I be expected to do, 
 if I take the situation ? " 
 
 " Oh ! you mean if you take the 
 
758 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 place. I understand you now," rejoin- 
 ed my lord ; " why, you're to do every- 
 thing but sweep the chimneys and clean 
 the pig-sties, and those I do myself! " 
 
 The "gentleman" stared, scarcely 
 knowing what to make of this, and 
 seemed to wish himself out of the 
 room ; he, however, grinned a ghastly 
 smile, and after a short pause, inquir- 
 ed, "What salary does your lordship 
 give ? " 
 
 " Salary, salary ! " reiterated his in- 
 corrigible lordship; "don't know the 
 word, my good man." 
 
 Again the " gentleman " explained — 
 ' " I mean, what wages ? " 
 
 " Oh ! what wages," echoed my lord ; 
 " what d'ye ask, what d'ye ask ? " 
 
 Trip regained his self-possession at 
 this question, which looked like busi- 
 ness ; and, considering for a few min- 
 utes, answered — first stipulating to be 
 found in hair powder, and (on state 
 occasions) silk stockings, gloves and 
 bouquets — that he should expect thirty 
 pounds a year. 
 
 " How much !— how much ! " de- 
 manded my lord, rapidly. 
 
 " Thirty pounds, my lord." 
 
 "Thirty pounds!" exclaimed Lord 
 Ear^ley, in affected amazement, " make 
 it guineas, and I'll come and live with 
 YOtJ ; " then ringing the bell, said to 
 the servant who answered it : " Let 
 out this ^gentleman!'' — he's too good 
 for me ; " and then turning to a vis- 
 itor, who was much amused, said, as 
 the man made his exit, " Conceited, 
 impudent puppy ! — soon sent him off — 
 soon sent him off ! " 
 
 Prize "Won by Stephenson for his 
 Famous Lioconiotive. 
 
 "While the Liverpool and Manches- 
 ter railroad was in process of construc- 
 tion (in the early days of railroads), 
 many consultations were held by the 
 directors as to the kind of power which 
 was to be employed in the working of 
 the line when opened for traffic. 
 
 Two eminent practical engineers re- 
 ported against the employment of the 
 locomotive. The whole profession stood 
 opposed to George Stephenson, but he 
 still held to his purpose. Urged by 
 his solicitations to test the powers of 
 the locomotive, the directors at last de- 
 termined to offer a prize of £500 for the 
 best locomotive engine which, on a cer- 
 tain daj', should be produced on the 
 railway and fulfil certain conditions in 
 the most satisfactory manner. A speed 
 of ten miles an hour was all that was 
 required to be maintained. 
 
 Mr. Stephenson, assisted by his son, 
 immediately set about the construction 
 of his famous " Rocket." An impor- 
 tant principle introduced in the con- 
 struction of this engine, was the mul- 
 titubular boiler, by which the power 
 of generating steani was greatly in- 
 creased. 
 
 On the day appointed for the com- 
 petition at Rainhill, four engines were 
 entered for the prize : first, Messrs. 
 Braithwaite & Ericsson's " Novelty " ; 
 second, Mr. Timothy Hackworth's 
 " Sanspareil " ; third, Mr. Robert Ste- 
 phenson's " Rocket " ; fourth, Mr. Bur- 
 stall's " Perseverance." Mr. Stephen- 
 son's engine was first ready, and enter- 
 ed upon the contest. It drew after it 
 thirteen tons' weight, in wagons, and 
 the maximum velocity attained during 
 the trial tiip was twenty-nine miles an 
 hour — three times the speed that one 
 of the judges had declared to be the 
 limit of possibility. The average speed 
 was fifteen miles an hour. The specta- 
 tors were filled with astonishment; 
 and one of the directors lifted up his 
 hands and exclaimed, " Now is George 
 Stephenson at last delivered 1 " The 
 " Sanspareil " weighed five hundred- 
 weights beyond the weight specified, 
 and was therefore excluded from com- 
 petition. The steam-generator of the 
 "Novelty" burst, and ended its per- 
 formance. The " Perseverance " did 
 not fulfil the advertised conditions; 
 and the prize of £500 w^as accordingly 
 
OCCUPATIOXS AUXILIARY TO COMMERCE. 
 
 759 
 
 awarded to the " Rocket," as the suc- 
 cessful engine. 
 
 Samuel Wheeler, the Iron-Smith, and 
 General Washing-ton. 
 
 Samuel "Wheeler was the most 
 eminent iron-smith of his time in the 
 United States, and probably equal to 
 any in the world. During the Revo- 
 Jiutionary War, Mr. Wheeler made a 
 chain, to be put across the North River, 
 to stop the British troops in ships. 
 General Washington had thought that 
 the river could not be defended except 
 by two armies, one on each side. He 
 happened to say, in the hearing of Gen- 
 eral Mifflin, " I wish I could get a chain 
 made ; but that is impossible." Said 
 General Mifflin, " I know a man that 
 can make such a chain." "Who is 
 he ? " " Mr. Samuel Wheeler, a friend 
 and a townsman of mine." " I should 
 like to see that man." Mifflin said, 
 " He is here, now, in the army." Mr. 
 Wheeler was forthcoming. General 
 Washington then said, " I wish a chain 
 made, to put across the North River, to 
 stop the British ships. Can you make 
 it ? " "I can." " Then I wish you to 
 make it." "I cannot do it here." 
 " Then," said General Washington, " I 
 will cheerfully give you dismission 
 from the army. Badly as we want 
 men, we cannot afford to keep such a 
 man as you." Mr. Wheeler made the 
 chain. It was hauled in links across 
 New Jersey. It was hung, and did 
 good service. It was ultimately cut, 
 by building a fire about a link, and 
 then using a chisel and sledge-hammer. 
 
 Ludwick, the Baker-General in the 
 Revolutionary War. 
 
 Christopher Ludwick was by birth 
 a German, who, after various experien- 
 ces, went to Philadelphia, in 1753, with 
 an adventure of £25 worth of clothing, 
 on which he made a profit of three 
 hundred dollars, and again returned to 
 
 Europe. He had taken the idea of be- 
 coming a gingerbread baker in Phila- 
 delphia ; and in 1754 he came out with 
 the necessary prints — seemingly a new 
 idea among the simple cake eaters 
 then ! He commenced his career in 
 Letitia Court, and began to make 
 money fast by his new employment. 
 He proved himself an industrious, 
 honest, and good neighbor, which led 
 to a deserved influence among the peo- 
 ple, and to the sobriquet of the " Gov- 
 ernor of Letitia Court." 
 
 At the commencing period of the 
 Revolution, in 1774, he had become 
 rich, and gave his influence and his 
 money freely to help on the resistance 
 of the Colonies. He was elected read- 
 ily on all the committees and conven- 
 tions of the time for that object. On 
 one occasion, when it was proposed by 
 General Mifflin to procure firearms by 
 private subscription, and while several 
 demurred to it as not feasible, he put 
 down the opposition by saying aloud, 
 " Let the poor gingerbread baker be put 
 down for £200 ! " He became a soldier, 
 and was active and influential as such. 
 
 In the year 1777, he was cordially ap- 
 pointed by Congress as baker-general 
 of the American army, and to choose 
 freely his own assistants and necessa- 
 ries. In their instructions to him, they 
 expected to require from him one pound 
 of bread for every pound of flour, but 
 Christopher readily replied, "Not so; 
 I must not be enriched by the war [are 
 there no Lud wicks in 1864 ?]. I shall 
 return one hundred and thirty-five 
 pounds of bread for every one hundred 
 pounds of flour." 
 
 As a proof that he was respected and 
 valued in his sphere, he was often in- 
 vited to dine with Washington in large 
 companies, besides having many oppor- 
 tunities of long conferences alone with 
 him, as commander of the army, ia re- 
 lation to the bread supplies. The gen- 
 eral appreciated his worth, and usually 
 addressed him in company as his " hon- 
 est friend." 
 
lA- 
 
 '760 
 
 COMMERCIAL AXD BUSINESS ANECDOTES. 
 
 
 Trades and Genealogies. 
 
 The connection between trades and 
 surnames — the derivation of the latter 
 from tlie former — affords some curious 
 material, and is by no means destitute 
 of practical information. The fact 
 that a particular vocation was, in for- 
 mer times much more than in modern 
 days, pursued hereditarily, throws a 
 good deal of light upon the subject, 
 and is indeed the key to its solution. 
 Of the surnames thus derived, the 
 following list will be found quite 
 ample : — 
 
 Barber, Bottler, Mason, and Builder, 
 Carrier, Carter, Carver, and Gilder ; 
 Dancer, Drover, Dresser, and Dyer, 
 Cartwright, Clothier, Caner, and Crier ; / 
 Arrqwsmith, Arkwright, Ageht, and But- 
 ler, 
 Carpenter, Chandler, Cooper, and Cutler ; 
 Bdthmaker, Butcher, Brewer, and Broker, 
 Cardmaker, Carman, Corder, and Coker ; 
 Bellringer, Bellman, Bowman, and Black- 
 er, 
 ~ Pavior, Peddler, Painter, and Packer ; 
 Currier, Collier, Chanter, and Cropper^ 
 Huntsman, Hosier, Hacker, and Hopper ; 
 Boatwright, Baker, Binder, and Brazier, 
 Grocer, Gouger, Grinder, and Glazier; 
 Merriman, Mercer, Merchant, and Miller, 
 Banker, Chapman, Cutter, and Killer ; 
 
 Fiddler, Farmer, Joiner, and Stringer, , 
 Gardener, Goldsmith, Tapper, and Ring- 
 er ; 
 Horseman, Hooker, Barker, and Peeler, 
 Fryman, Fowler, Draper, and Dealer ; 
 Ploughright, Packman, Puller, and piater, 
 Traveller, Tapster, Thatclier, and Slater ; 
 Plater, Pitman, Pinch^r, and Potter,, 
 Turner, Trimi^er, Tanner, and Trotter ; 
 Shoveller, Swindler, Stainer, and Smoker, 
 Saddler, Shearer, Salter, and Stoker ; 
 Fleshman, Foreman, Fuller, and Fjler, ^ ' 
 Taverner, Taylor, Tasker, and Tyler ; 
 Dairyman, Doctor, Drawer, and Dredger, 
 Herdsman, Hawker, Hewer, and Hed^er; 
 Quarrier, Quitter, Rhymer, and Reader, 
 Bowmaker, Scrivener, Presser, and Plead- 
 er; / 
 Pressman, Plainer, Poet, and Pinner, 
 Staymaker, Sheppard, Glover, and Skin- 
 ner ; 
 Tuner, Threader, Bridgcr, and Ar^er, 
 Tirer, Thro\N'er, Loader, and Marcher ; 
 Girdler, Stamper, Keeper, and Nailer, 
 Rasper, Trainer, Baster, and Sailer; 
 Warrener, "Workman, Webber, and "Whit; 
 
 er, y- ,4- 
 
 "Wheelwright, "W^atchman, Roper, and 
 "Writer. 
 
 This list of names we might extend, 
 And fifty more at least append ; 
 Nay — if inclined, we could recite 'em 
 Thus, one by one, ad injinitum. 
 
 p.t 
 
 XkA 
 
INDEX 
 
 TO THE LEADING ANECDOTES. 
 
HDEX TO THE LEADING ANECDOTES, ETC. 
 
 A Banker's Love of Birds— Girard's little 
 Songsters, 510 
 
 A Bankrupt on his Legs Again, 401 
 
 A Deep Design, 36S 
 
 A Good Beginning -Old Moses Rothschild, 184 
 
 " A Little More," 198 
 
 A Millionnaire on Giving Away Money ; Pe- 
 ter C. Brooks, 489 
 
 "A Roland for an Oliver," 714 
 
 A Rustic bargaining for a Hat, 262 
 
 A Tailor for many Years, 734 
 
 A Trade and a Wager Won, 555 
 
 A. T. Stewart's Success, 145 
 
 "Accommodation " offered at the Bank, 119 
 
 Accomplished Canine Shoplifter, 200 
 
 Adam and Eve Leading on in Trade, 601 
 
 Addison's Loan of Five Hundred Pounds to 
 Stanyan, 428 
 
 Addison's Opinion of the Royal Exchange and 
 its Frequenters, 112 
 
 Adapts in Commercial Puffing, 305 
 
 Auj Listing an Insurance Loss, 648 
 
 Advantage of being a Large Debtor, 399 
 
 Advantage of Prison Life to a French Debtor, 
 410 
 
 Advantage of Skilful Book-keeping, 695 
 
 Affidavit by an Apothecary, 742 
 
 Afraid of the SherifiTs Hat, 451 
 
 Aged Merchant Saved from Robbery by the 
 Weather, 176 
 
 Agreement for a Loan, 142 
 
 Aid in the Nick of Time: Jacob Barker and 
 John Wells, 436 
 
 Albert Gallatin declining Mr. Baring's offer 
 of a Fortune, 115 
 
 Allaying a Panic, 537 
 
 Alliteration in Advertising, 335 
 
 Almanac making ; Fortunate Wit, 711 
 
 Alrnonastre Signora, and John McDonogh, 493 
 
 Amending the Charter, 384 
 
 American Customers at a Turkish Bazaar, 598 
 *' Merchants of the Olden Time — Jo- 
 seph Peabody, 174 
 
 American Shipnology, 356 
 
 America's First Printed Book, 723 
 
 Amos Lawrence when a Clerk, 6(51 
 
 Amos Lawrence's Opinion of Marriage, 484 
 
 Amusing Perplexities at the Custom House, 
 
 2U8 
 An Emperor Blowing the Blacksmith's Bel- 
 lows, 743 
 " Error in Shipping the Goods, 170 
 " Excited Specie Hunter, 97 
 " Insolent Tradesman in the Clutches of Old 
 
 Audley, 406 
 " Interesting Consignment, 370 
 " Old Merchant's Style and Equipage, 486 
 " Unsettled Commercial Question, 405 
 " Untried Method, 309 
 Angerstein, the Great English Underwriter, 
 
 632 
 Animated Scenes at the French Exchange, 293 
 Another Bank Project, 72 
 Anselm Rothschild's Will, 472 
 Answering a Tailor's Dun, 714 
 Appleton, Daniel, English Booksellers and 
 
 American Customers, 454 
 Appleton, Nathan, Merchant of Boston, 32 
 " Samuel, " " " 48 
 
 " William, " '* " 5 
 
 Application for a Discount by Astor, 102 
 Apprehended Embezzlements, 676 
 Apt Illustration of a Principle, 638 
 
 " Speech by a Carpenter, 737 
 Aptness and Nicety in Business illustrat- 
 ed, 170 
 Arab Honesty in Business Transactions, 140 
 Archaeological Tailor's Measures, 713 
 Arms and Seal of the Bank of Ireland, 314 
 Arrival of the Steamer, 353 
 Artful Dodge, 206 
 Artifice to Escape Bankruptcy, 458 
 " Ask any Committee Man," 347 ': 
 
 Assessments in Old Times, 645 
 Assuming the Responsibility, 373 
 Astor's Appearance and Manners, 465 t 
 
 " Early Prediction, 144 
 " Secret Pain, 88 
 
764 
 
 IXDEX TO THE LEADING ANECDOTES. 
 
 Atchafalaya Currency by the Cord, 75 
 Atkinson, the Eccentric Speculator, 542 
 Attempt to overthrow Rothschild's Power in 
 
 the Money Market, 250 
 Attempt to Print a Perfect Book, 74T 
 Attention to Trivial Things by Girard, 243 
 Auction Sale of Old Furniture, etc., Extra- 
 ordinary, 570 
 Auctioneering in England and America, 537 
 Audubon, John J., and John J. Astor, 454 
 Austen, the Famous Metal Founder, 748 
 Avarice of Osterwald, the French Banker, 244 
 Avoiding Specie Suspension, 74 
 Aztec Merchants, 181 
 
 Backing up his Recommendation, 438 
 Bacon by the Shilling's Worth, 560 
 Bad Bank Bill, 277 
 " Business, 223 
 " Operation in Leather, 586 
 Baking and Banking, 320 
 Balance of Trade ; or, Beauties of Compe- 
 tition, 719 
 Bank Clerks and their Friends, 684 
 " Notes at Ten Cents a Yard, 531 
 " Parlor in the Winter, 74 
 •* Teller Filing his Gold Coin, 260 
 " Tellers' "Varieties," 92 
 Banker vs. Musician, 505 
 Bankers of the Old School, 76 
 
 " Snubbing Napoleon, 87 
 Banking Habits of Girard, 66 
 *' Bankrupt," 407 
 Bankruptcy and Barbarism in Court, 396 
 
 " of a Dealer in "Women's 
 
 Blacks," 425 
 Bankrupts in Batavia, 397 
 Banks Failing, 84 
 " of Ease, 108 
 Barbers' Chairs, 730 
 Barclay, Robert, becoming a Banker instead 
 
 of a Courtier, 502 
 Bargain Hnnters at Pawnbrokers' and Auc- 
 tions, 567 
 Bargaining by Pantomime— Trade in Camels, 
 
 603 
 Bargaining for a Jar, 234 
 Bargains in Cochin Chinas, 219 
 Baring, Francis, at the Virginia Inn, 467 
 Baring's Daughter and M. Labouchere, 4^3 
 Barings (The), Bankers, of London, 27 
 Barker, Jacob, merchant, of New Orleans, 43 
 " " under Medical Treatment, 482 
 
 Barnard, the Proud Broker, 114 
 Barnum,P T., " the Prince of Showmen," of 
 
 New York, 29 
 Barnum Buying the American Museum with 
 Brass, 589 
 
 Baron Rothschild Defending himself with a 
 Big Ledger, 466 
 
 Batavian Trade in Bird's Nests, 627 
 
 Bates, Joshua, of the House of Barings, Lon- 
 don, 21 
 
 Beatty, James, merchant, of Baltimore, 23 
 
 Before and Behind the Counter, 585 
 
 Ben. Lippincott, Girard's Clerk, GS9 
 
 Ben. Russell, the Printer : Exciting Scene, 737 
 
 Benefitof aDoubt, 419 
 
 Benevolence of Goldschmid, the Old Jew 
 Broker, 126 
 
 Benevolence of Shai-king-qua, the Chinese 
 Merchant, 172 
 
 Benjamin Franklin as a Bookseller, 727 
 
 Betty Starkey and Coutts's Clerk, 694 
 
 Bewitching a Bank Teller, 114 
 
 Bidding on Girard's Old Chaise, 536 
 
 Biddle, Nicholas, financier, of Philadel- 
 phia, 26 
 
 Billingsgate Market Dealers, 723 
 
 Bit of Yankee Financiering in Wall St., 266 
 
 Bleeding a Banker by the Job, 479 
 
 Blinders for Stockholders, 216 
 
 Bold but Calamitous Speculation of John 
 Guest, 580 
 
 Bone and Offal Millionnaire, 101 
 
 Bonfire of a Debtor's Papers, 424 
 
 Bookkeeping in Former Times, 685 
 
 Bookmaking a Trade, 736 
 
 Books and Music, 755 
 
 " Newspapers in China, 705 
 
 "Borrow Money ! Borrow Money !" 90 
 
 Borrowing and Lending — a Melange, 435 
 
 " Money, or Doing Business on 
 Credit : Peter C. Brooks's Idea, 416 
 
 Borrowing Money of Rich Relations, 428 
 
 Boston Merchant's Reason for Not Marry- 
 ing, 470 
 
 Boston Merchant's Opinion of Business Men's 
 Honesty, 157 
 
 Boston Merchants' Business ^Marks or To- 
 kens, 307 
 
 Bound not to Break, 86 
 
 Boy Traders in Morocco, 590 
 
 Boyhood Struggles of a Merchant, 12o 
 
 Breach of the Bond, 445 
 
 Breaking and Waxing the Thread, 753 
 
 Breeches without a Body, 755 
 
 Brief Biographical Sketch of a Banker's 
 Clerk, 662 
 
 Brief Explanation of Banking, 83 
 
 Broadway Clerks, Japonicas, and Sweet- 
 hearts, 658 
 
 Broadway Signs, 337 
 
 Brooks, Peter C, millionnaire, of Boston, 49 
 " " " in Court, 404 
 
 Bruck, M., Austria's great merchant banker, 7 
 
 Bruised, but not Crushed : the Messrs. 
 Brown, of Liverpool, 167 
 
INDEX TO THE LEADING ANECDOTES. 
 
 765 
 
 Bubble-Bookkeeping Taugbt in Six Les- 
 sons, QQo 
 Bubble Prospectuses, 281 
 Burlesque on Modern Business Utopias, 528 
 Burning a Banker's Notes, 76 
 Burns and the Drowning Merchant, 272 
 Business and Beauty, 511 
 
 " " Something Else, 486 
 
 " Aspect and Conduct of the Richest 
 
 Banker in the World, 71 
 Business, Bankruptcy, and Literature : John 
 
 Pierpont and John Neal, 443 
 Business Habits of A. T. Stewart, 165 
 
 '* Haggling in Scotland, 194 
 
 " in London at Four o'Clock, 295 
 
 " Mistakes of Publishers, 729 
 Business PuflSng Two Hundred Years Ago, 
 
 329 
 Business Signboards in Different Nations, 832 
 
 " "Suckers," 212 
 
 " "Value of a Name, 446 
 
 " versus Disease, 141 
 Bussey, Benjamin, merchant, of Boston, 15 
 Butchers' Blue Blouse or Frock, 712 
 Buying a Claim, 336 
 
 " Pianoforte Establishment, 450 
 
 " Saddle, 754 
 
 " Cheap, 211 
 
 " His Own Goods at Auction, 530 
 
 " Shoes and Sermons, 751 
 
 " Wine by Sample, 231 
 Byron's Genoese Tailor, 714 
 
 Cabalistic Sign for an Ale House, 817 
 Cabinet of Debtors' Autographs, 452 
 Caledonian Adroitness, 659 
 California Gold Seventy Years Ago, 73 
 Callaghan, Daniel, the Irish Mercantile 
 
 Celebrity, 9 
 " Candle" Auctions, 552 
 Canine News Dealer, 715 
 Capital of European Bankers, 81 
 Captain Macalester and his Fast Ship " Fanny," 
 
 387 
 Caricature of Commercial Speculations, 551 
 Carmeline, the Dentist's Sign, 316 
 Cashier Inviting a Run upon his Bank, 77 
 Celebrated Law Suits among Rival Crafts, 433 
 
 " Question in Commerce put by 
 
 Cicero, 140 
 Certificates of Solvency, 456 
 Change of " Packet Day," 885 
 'Change Alley as a Business Resort, 297 
 Changes in Mercantile Standing, 442 
 Character Displayed in Auction Dealings, 557 
 Characteristic Smuggling, Ingenuity of 
 
 Parisians, 226 
 
 Charging for Advertisements, SSI 
 
 Charles Lamb as a Clerk, 6'Jl 
 
 Charming Customer in a Bank — Perils of a 
 
 Cashier, 680 
 Chartier, the Leech Merchant, 592 
 Chatham Street Clo' Dealers, 618 
 " Cheap and Dear," 596 
 Cheating the Oculist, 212 
 Chickering and his Employes on " Blue Day," 
 
 681 
 Chiffoniers, or " Rag Merchants " of Paris, 589 
 Child, Francis, Founder of English Banking 
 
 Houses, 14 
 Chinese Barbers, 730 
 
 " Merchant's Gratitude, 169 
 " Shopkeepers, 610 
 •' Trade Puffing, 310 
 Chronicles of the " Black Day," in London, 
 
 541 
 Church and State vs. Railways, 851 
 Cigars at public sale, 577 
 City Merchant Securing a Customer, 241 
 Class Advertisements in City Papers, 321 
 Classical Shop Language, 310 
 Classification of Newspaper Readers, 724 
 Coal Dealer's Prediction Fulfilled — Perhaps, 
 
 265 
 Cceur Jacques : French Merchant in the Mid- 
 dle Ages, 36 
 Coin used by Judas, 100 
 Coleridge and the " Ogh Clo' " Man, 590 
 Collecting a Draft, 431 
 Colloquies inside the Bank, 106 
 Colloquy between a Shopkeeper and his 
 
 Customer, 243 
 " in a Dry Goods Jobbing Store, 416 
 Colston, the Benevolent Millionnaire Mer- 
 chant, 499 
 Comfort for Scotch Debtors, 405 
 Commencing in the Sub cellar, 135 
 Commercial Advantage of a Blind Eye, 505 
 " Croakers, 248 
 
 " Dignity at the Apple-stand, 619 
 
 Commercial Drummers, or Travelling Clerks, 
 
 678 
 Commercial Envelopes, Wrappers, Labels, &c., 
 
 311 
 Commercial Fortune of a Peer, 173 
 
 " Importance of the Cat, 346 
 
 " Milk, 223 
 
 " Value of Dramatic Literature, 715 
 
 " <' " Insects, 593 
 
 Companies for Insuring Female Chastity, 
 
 Childrens' Fortunes, Ac, 633 
 Compliment to Wharfingers, 742 
 " Concerned in Trade," 709 
 Conducting Business on the Paris Bourse, 95 
 Confidence in a Debtor's Promise, 455 
 
 " *' Hard Times, 62 
 
 " ** Mercantile Success, 144 
 
766 
 
 INDEX TO THE LEADING ANECDOTES. 
 
 Connection between small Bank Notes and 
 Crime, 214 
 
 Consequence of a Simple Mercantile Specula- 
 tion, 241 
 
 " Considering " a Ship Builder, 344 
 
 Controversy among Wine Dealers, 137 
 
 Convenient Substitute for Money, 407 
 
 Cool Assurance of a Doomed Financier, 249 
 " "Operation," 425 
 
 Cooper, Peter, Merchant, of New York, 16 
 
 Cope, the Quaker Merchant, mistaken for 
 a Major-General, 473 
 
 Cope, Thomas P., Merchant of Philadelphia, 53 
 
 Cope's, Thomas P., Integrity, 155 
 
 Copy of a Painter's Bill, 707 
 
 " Cornering" among Brokers, 247 
 
 Corning, Erastus, Merchant, of New York, 51 
 
 Correct Appreciation of Mercantile Character 
 by Mr. Astor, 186 
 
 Correcting an Erroneous Entry, 698 
 
 Cost of a Nap on the Ledger, 687 
 
 Costly Banquet by a Merchant to Charles the 
 First, 504 
 
 " Cotton is Quiet," 318 
 
 Counting-House Dinners of Girard, 69 
 
 " Country Bankers," 735 
 
 Countryman and Clerk, 668 
 
 Coutts, the English Banker, 3 
 
 " " " " Choosing a Part- 
 
 ner, 464 
 
 " Crack Horses " at Auction, 572 
 
 Crinkles in the Credit System, 454 
 
 Criticism of a Hatter's Sign, 316 
 
 Croesus and his Avaricious Guest, 221 
 " Wealth of, 91 
 
 "Credit," 449 
 
 Curious Division of Ships into Ounces, 350 
 " Financiering, 394 
 " Inconsistencies in Insuring Life, 633 
 " Reason for Borrowing Money, 74 
 " Suit against a Bank Agent, 418 
 
 Custom-House OflBcial dealing with a Princess, 
 285 
 
 Custom-House Swearing, 249 
 
 Custom-Houses and Star Chambers, 289 
 
 Customs of the Store in Church, 253 
 
 Dadabhoy Jeejeebhoy, Parsee Banker and Mer- 
 chant, 41 
 Dangers of Legitimate Business Transactions, 
 
 224 
 Daniel Webster's Insurance Anecdote, 646 
 Day and Martin — New and Old, 448 
 " " The Millionnaires, of High 
 
 Holbom, 147 
 Day and Martin's Precursors, 591 
 Deaconing Both Ends of the Barrel,. 206 
 
 Deadhead Customer — a Clincher, 195 
 Dealing in " Orrd Things," 601 
 
 " With a Bankrupt in Hamburg: Ex- 
 ecution on the Bourse, 397 
 Dean Swift and the Barber's Sign, 306 
 Death of an Old Business Favorite, 450 
 Death-bed Surroundings of the New Orleans 
 
 Croesus, 492 
 Debt and the Contribution Box, 426 
 Debtor's Complaint in Court, 423 
 Debts of Honor, 401 
 Debts Owing and Balances Due, 391 
 De Buirette, the Illustrious German Merchant, 
 
 28 
 Deciding a Case in Botany before a Dutch 
 
 Magistrate, 457 
 Decoration of Railroad Depots, 363 
 De Medici, " the Magnificent Merchant," 
 
 when a Child, 466 
 " Denison, Old Mr ", of St. Mary Axe, 46 
 Derivation of Names of Trades, 711 
 Derivation of " The Commercial Term 
 
 " Bourse," 294 
 Deserved Reward of Blasphemy, 265 
 Detecting Bad Bills, 96 
 Determined not to be Overreached, 200 
 Determining the Character of an Article by its 
 
 Age, 196 
 Determining the Genuineness of a Check, 96 
 Dexter, Lord Timothy, Eccentric Merchant, 
 
 of Newburyport, 20 
 Dialect of Different Trades, 322 
 " Died of a Street Debt ! " 417 
 Dignity Conferred by the Blacking Busi- 
 ness, 755 
 Disadvantage of being a Bank Director, 107 
 Discounting a Legacy, 237 
 
 " an Hibernian's Note, 111 
 
 Dishonest Grocer Punished" by his Son, 412 
 Disinterested Brokers, 68 
 
 " Feat of a Merchant, and its 
 
 Reward, 508 
 Disinterested Railroad Contractor, 376 
 Dismissing a Shipmaster, 346 
 Disposing of an Old Stock, 233 
 
 " one's Surplus Income, 494 
 
 Disreputable for a Biokerto be Honest toward 
 
 his Creditors, 410 
 " Ditto," 328 
 
 Doctrine of Benevolence held by Girard, 499 
 Doing Things on Shares, 271 
 Domestic Advantages of Commercial De- 
 cay, 517 
 Domestic Trouble of Rothschild, 463 
 " Done Brown," 697 
 "Done For" Twice, 238 
 Down on the Doctors, 518 
 " Down with Your Dust," 525 
 Dowse, the " Literary Leather Dresser," 751 
 Dr Johnson in the Capacity of a Reporter, 726 
 
INDEX TO THE LEADING ANECDOTES. 
 
 767 
 
 Drawing an Inference, 401 
 " the Specie, 59 
 
 Dress and Personal Peculiarities of Long- 
 worth, 477 
 
 Drinking Success to the First Railway, 385 
 " the Health of Custom-House Offi- 
 cers, 287 
 
 Dry Goods Drummer " Sold," 204 
 
 Dryden Describing his Publisher, 749 
 
 Dudley North's Opposition to Brokerage, and 
 How he was Caught, 81 
 
 Dummies, or Counterfeit Show Windows, 2G9 
 
 "Dun," 407 
 
 Dunning as a Profession, 393 
 
 Dunup's Distressing Failure, 434 
 
 Duplicity of French Speculators, 227 
 
 " Practised by Furnese, the King's 
 Banker, 210 
 
 Dutch Tulip Mania of the Seventeenth Cen- 
 tury, 567 
 
 Dutchman Illustrating a Mercantile Prin- 
 ciple, 195 
 
 Dutchman's Gold in a Safe Place at Last, 551 
 
 Duty on Pictures, 298 
 
 Earliest American Sale of Books by Cata- 
 logue at Auction, 552 
 Earliest American Whaleship in England, 181 
 
 " Newspaper in the English lan- 
 guage, 750 
 Earliest Printed Advertisements, 307 
 Early Stock-jobbing and Lotteries, 553 
 East-India Company and the Missing Wit- 
 ness, 225 
 Eastern Trade in Ostrich and Bird-of-Par- 
 
 adise Feathers, 588 ' 
 Easy Creditors, 411 
 
 Ebenezer Francis and the Students' Table, 485 
 Economical Hardware Merchant, 242 
 Edinburgh Merchant Finding a Purse, 497 
 Editors in a Hard Fix, 741 
 Egyptian Mummy Trade, 592 
 Eminent Shoemakers, 752 
 Endorsers' Qualifications, 110 
 English Almanacs — First Issue, 739 
 
 " Bank Clerks' Finesse, 658 
 
 " Booksellers and American Customers : 
 Daniel Appleton, 454 
 English Business Matters, 308 
 
 " Hares by Express, 350 
 
 " Idol Manufacturers, 587 
 
 " Merchant and Spanish Beggar, 176 
 
 " Merchant's Wife priced by a Man- 
 darin, 507 
 English Peruquiers before the King, 708 
 
 " Railway Mania of 1845, 562 
 
 " Stockbrokers' Blackboard, 420 
 
 Enterprise of Yankees and Russians 'Cutely 
 
 Illustrated, 161 
 Erastus B. Bigelow's Boyhood Bargain, 144 
 Errors of the Press, 744 
 
 Erskine Sifting an Auctioneer's Character, 421 
 Espionage Practised by Girard, 197 
 Establishment of the Bank of England-^ 
 
 Curious Facts, 85 
 Estimate of his Own Life by a Miser, 244 
 European and American Mode of Doing 
 
 Business, 171 
 Evasions of Trade Marks, 313 
 Everything by Turns— Girard's Example, 136 
 Examining an Applicant, 643 
 Example of Spanish Mercantile Credit, 423 
 Exchanging a Cheese for a Pinch of Snuff, 261 
 Exciting Life of an Underwriter, 641 
 Executorship of Mr. Astor's Will: James 
 
 G.King, 518 
 Expectations against Results,138 
 Expedient of a Russian Miser, 272 
 Experience of a Levantine Merchant, 474 
 Explaining his Business, 181 
 
 " the Philosophy of Trade, 756 
 
 Exportation of Scotch Periwinkles, 602 
 Extension and Profits of Mr. Astor's Fur 
 
 Business, 186 
 " Extras," &c., 724 
 Extravagance of French Bankers in Private 
 
 Life, 478 
 Extravagant Business Rhetoric, 252 
 
 Facetiae for Shoemakers, 750 
 Failure of the Governor of the Bank of Eng- 
 land, 459 
 Failures in Business, 426 
 Fancy Costume among the Ledgers, 662 
 " Hen Fever, 564 
 
 " Stoves and Imaginative Customers, 626 
 Fate of a Clerical Dealer in '* Fancies," 233 
 Father Taylor and the Banker's Exhorta- 
 tion, 169 
 Fauntleroy, the Executed Banker, 255 
 Female Members of the Rothschild Family, 516 
 " Ship-master from Cape Horn to San 
 Francisco, 360 
 Female Strategy to Obtain Bubble Stock, 527 
 Fillibustering among Parisian Jewellers, 203 
 Filling a Grocer's Order, 677 
 Final Argument at a Bank Counter, 80 
 Financial Physic, 82 
 
 " Use of Saints, 528 
 Financiering in Alabama, 192 
 First Advertisement in America, 322 
 " Book Auction in England, 521 
 " East India House, 299 
 " Forged Note on a Bank, 255 
 
768 
 
 INDEX TO THE LEADING ANECDOTES. 
 
 First Greek Adventure to America, 153 
 " Jewish Bill of Exchange, 80 
 " Newspaper in America, 721 
 
 " " the World, 749 
 " Penny gained by a Millionnaire, 126 
 " Railroad in Europe or America, 353 
 " Run upon Bankers, 116 
 " Set of Double-Entry Books opened in 
 
 Boston, 663 
 " Ship at St. Petersburgh, 371 
 " Trade Advertisement, 315 
 " Vessel in the World, 350 
 Fish, Preserved, Merchant of New York, 10 
 Fitz-Greene Halleck's Clerkship with Jacob 
 
 Barker, 657 
 "Five Per Cent," 330 
 
 Five Years of Privation and a Fortune, 161 
 Floating Railways, 345 
 Florentine Brokers and Money Loaners, 94 
 
 " Flower Girls, 626 
 
 Flutes vs. Pistols, 618 
 Foot's, Lundy, ** Blackguard Snuff," 135 
 ♦' For Her Majesty," 312 
 Forbes, William, Scotch Banker, 6 
 Fordyce, Alexander, the Shark of the Ex- 
 change, 44 
 Forfeits in a Barber's Shop, 730 
 Forgiving a Debt and Giving a Wife, 298 
 Fortunate Debtor ; Washington as a Cred- 
 itor, 429 
 Fortune of a Commercial Peer, 173 
 Fortune-making in Havana, 212 
 Fortunes at a Single Blow, 130 
 Forwarding by Telegraph, 358 
 Found Goods, 430 
 Foundation of the Friendship between Coates 
 
 and Girard, 582 
 " Four-and-twenty Self-sealing Envelopes, Fo- 
 
 oo-ur Cents," 608 
 Francis Baring at the Virginia Inn, 467 
 Francis, Ebenezer, and the Students' Ta- 
 ble, 481 
 Franklin and the London Printer, 717 
 
 " Benjamin, as a Bookseller, 727 
 Franklin's Multitude of Capitalists, 98 
 Freaks of the Hair-Dressing Trade in 
 
 France, 718 
 Freaks of Wealthy Merchants, 513 
 Free Shave and a Drink, 334 
 
 " Trade, 293 
 French Female Plot against a Clerk, 682 
 " Ideas of Advertising, 334 
 « Mode of Paying Bills, 399 
 •* Nicety in Trade Frauds, 233 
 " Toads an Article of Commerce, 600 
 " Usurers and Pigeons, 275 
 Fresh Gems from English Advertising Col- 
 umns, 809 
 " Fresh Sea Water," 314 
 Friend Coates's Management of Girard, 483 
 
 Friend Hopper and the Due Bill, 266 
 
 Friuli, the Florentine Merchant and his Lost 
 Purse, 451 
 
 Frodsham's Watch-Cheat, 430 
 
 From Honolulu to Kaui, 382 
 
 Fugger, Johannes, and the Great Commer- 
 cial Family of Fuggers, 15 
 
 Full-size Headings to Advertisements, 338 
 
 Funny Commercial Transaction All 'Round, 
 604 
 
 Furor for Chartered Companies, 541 
 
 Gallatin, Albert, Declining Mr. Baring's 
 
 Offer of a Fortune, 115 
 Game of the Money Packages, 209 
 Garden of a French Stock-Broker, 508 
 Garrison, C. K., Merchant, of San Fran- 
 cisco, 40 
 Gastronomic Feats of a Merchant, 472 
 Gave his Note, 430 
 General Jackson's Indorsement among Boston 
 
 Capitalists, 427 
 General Jackson's Interview with Samuel 
 
 Slater, 145 
 Generosity of Chickering, the Piano-Forte 
 
 Maker, 159 
 "Genuine" Wines, 196 
 George Hudson, the Railway King, 378 
 
 " Peabody's Colossal Fortune, 72 
 
 " Simpson's High Reputation as a 
 Cashier, 700 
 German Book Fairs, 738 
 
 " Delicacy in Paying and Receiving 
 Money, 414 
 German Financial Operation, 437 
 
 " Idea of the'Thing, 649 
 
 " Merchant of One Hundred Houses, 475 
 Getting an Injunction Dissolved, 432 
 
 " Rich by Bookkeeping, 672 
 
 " Rid of his Neighbor's Customers, 337 
 
 " The Hang of Mercantile Trans- 
 actions, 138 
 Gideon, Sampson, the Rival of Rothschild, 18 
 Gideon, the Jew Banker, Catechizing his 
 
 Child, 511 
 Gideon Lee and his Library, 480 
 
 " " Carrying the Lapstone, 171 
 Girard, Stephen, Merchant and Banker, of 
 
 Philadelphia, 29 
 Girard and the Beggar, 4S9 
 
 " Trying to raise Five Dollars, 142 
 Girard's Great Government Loan, 100 
 
 " Reception of Mr. Baring, 474 
 
 « Will— the Item about Ministers, 515 
 Giving Credit " To-morrow," 430 
 Glances Behind the Shop Counter, 61 
 " Glass-pteen !" 619 
 
INDEX TO THE LEADING ANECDOTES. 
 
 769 
 
 Globe Permits, 570 
 
 Glut in the Market, 471 
 
 «' Going— Going— Gone ! " 589 
 
 Going to Get Acquainted with his Family, 474 
 
 Gold-Making & Silver-Mining Companies, 564 
 
 Goldschmid, Abraham and Benjamin, Old 
 
 English Bankers, 38 
 Goldschmid and Baring's Unfortunate Con- 
 tract—Suicide of the Former, Gl 
 Goldschmid's Comforting Sort of Hoax, 506 
 Good Land for Railroad, 375 
 " Speculation Lost in Chicago Lands, 550 
 " Supply in Prospect, 667 
 " Word for Girard, 176 
 Goodhue, Jonathan, Merchant, of New- 
 York, 50 
 Goodhue, Jonathan, Noble Mercantile Trait 
 
 of, 162 
 Goods for a " Private Venture," 615 
 Government Contractors in Russia, 259 
 Governor of the Bank of England taken by 
 
 Surprise, 113 
 Gracie, Archibald, Merchant of New York, 52 
 Grand Scheme disclosed in McDonogh's 
 
 Will, 506 
 Grand United Gold and Diamond Dust 
 
 Company, 560 
 Grandest Instance of Debt, 427 
 Grant Thorburn's Bankuptcy, 438 
 Granting an Extension, 445 
 " Gray, Old Billy," Merchant of Boston, 85 
 Great Deeds of European Merchants, 134 
 *' Failures in Hamburg, in 1799, 408 
 " North Pole Rail way, 373 
 " ** Shaving " Operation in a Brokei-'s 
 Office, 612 
 " Great Spec " on the Tapis, 524 
 Greatest Lending House in Europe, 105 
 
 " Reportorial Feat, 745 
 Gresham, Thomas, Royal Merchant and 
 
 Financier, of London, 26 
 Gresham's Fortunate Letter^ 174 
 
 " Scheme of Exchanges, 115 
 
 Grindstones by the Fraction, 625 
 Grinnell's, Mr., Liberality, 183 
 Groceries and Literature, 511 
 Grocers and Bank Presidents, 624 
 Grocer's Raisin-Boxes and Nibbling Cus- 
 tomers, 206 
 Guarding the Track— Erastus Corning and 
 the Irishman, 367 
 
 Haase, Henry Engelbert, Banker, of Bremen, 9 
 Half a Million Profit by one of Girard's 
 
 Operations, 173 
 Half an Hour's Experience with London Bro- 
 kers, 207 
 49 
 
 Halifax, the English Banker: Opinion of 
 " Lending to the Lord," with a Personal 
 Application, 516 
 Hall of the St. Petersburg Exchange, 300 
 Halleck's, Fitz-Greene, Clerkship with Jacob 
 
 Barker, 657 
 Hancock, the Patriotic Merchant, 483 
 Handful of Wool and a Bank of Money, 164 
 Hanging a Broker, One Hundred Years Ago, 
 
 240 
 Happy End to a Debt, 391 
 Hard Old Creditor, 411 
 
 " Philosophy of an Annuity Monger, 274 
 Hardening Tendency of Business, 224 
 Harlow's Sign Painting Extraordinary, 833 
 Hatter's Present to a Judge, 742 
 Helping Girard to Collect a Debt, 453 
 Herodotus, a Merchant, 41 
 *' He's a Country Merchant — Stick Him !" 230 
 Hide Dealer's Sign — Rare Bit of Philoso- 
 phy, 325 
 Hiding the Dollar with a Dime, 158 
 High 'Change Hours, 298 
 " Compliment to W. R. Jones, as an 
 Underwriter, 652 
 High-heeled Boots with Watches in them, 232 
 Hinges upon which Trade Swings, 138 
 His Ruling Passion, 209 
 Historical and Poetical Signs, 330 
 History of the Old Red Cent, 101 
 Hitting his Trade, 712 
 
 " the Nail on the Head, 677 
 Hoarding and Amassing : Noted Instances, 253 
 Hogarth's Plan of Selling Pictures by 
 
 Auction, 531 
 Hogg, William, Pennsylvania Millionnaire, 41 
 Home Luxuries of Ancient Merchants, 507 
 Honest Quaker Bankrupt, 452 
 " Honor and Fame from no Condition 
 
 Rise," 712 
 Honorable Distinction attained by Mr. 
 
 Perit, 188 
 Hope, Henry, Banker of Amsterdam, 13 
 Hope & Co., Peremptory Refusal of, to do 
 
 Business with Girard, 134 
 "Hopping" from Obscurity, 742 
 Hospitality of Stephen Girard, 502 
 Hotel Keeper's Advice to his Son, 405 
 Household Magnificence of Portinqua, the 
 
 Great Chinese Merchant, 498 
 Household Peculiarities of Girard, 510 
 How a Dry Goods Clerk Lost his Place, 670 
 Howqua, Senior Hong Merchant, 2 
 Human Hair as an Article of Merchandise, 620 
 Humors of a Reporter, 740 
 
 " " Partnership in Reference to 
 Names, 695 
 Hunt's, Jonathan, Land Speculations, 534 
 Hutton's Success as a Bookseller, 735 
 Hypothecating One's Person for a Loan, 442 
 
770 
 
 INDEX TO THE LEADING ANECDOTES. 
 
 Identifying a Clerk, 696 
 
 Imaginative Expressman — Artificial Corpse, 
 344 
 
 Imitating Signatures, 276 
 
 " Immediate Relief," 421 
 
 Immense Consignment of Gold to a New York 
 House, 119 
 
 Imperial Affection lor a Banker, 444 
 
 Important to Dunners and Debtors, 412 
 
 Improving a Banker's Broth, 676 
 
 In Business for themselves, 697 
 " Pursuit of an Agreeable Business, 661 
 
 Incidents of William Bingham's Domestic 
 Life, 519 
 
 Incorrect Editions of the Bible, 732 
 
 Indian's Idea of Imprisonment for Debt, 429 
 " Mode of Judging a Trader, 132 
 
 Ingenious Plot against a Banker, 260 
 
 " Swindling of Pawnbrokers, 199 
 
 Inscriptions on Trade Coins, 307 
 
 Insurance for Husbands, 635 
 
 Insuring Dr. Lieb's Life, 631 
 
 Introducing a New System of Accounts, 698 
 
 Intruding into the Bullion Room, 99 
 
 Irish Advertisement, 316 
 " Banker Redeeming his Notes, 93 
 " Pun on a Sign, 306 
 
 Irishman at the Bank, 108 
 
 Iron Merchant and the Blacksmith, 711 
 
 Irving, Washington, and the English Sales- 
 man, 697 
 
 Is it Lawful to Dun a Debtor? 415 
 
 Italian Banker's Free Table, 481 
 " " Knavery in Picture Selling, 279 
 " Marriage Brokers, 591 
 " Picture Dealer Trapping an Expe- 
 rienced Connoisseur, 193 
 
 Itinerant Traders in Rio Janeiro, 615 
 
 Jack and the Dutch Tulip Speculator, 523 
 
 Jack's Bargain for Rope, 199 
 
 Jacob Barker on ** Thewdness " in Stock 
 
 Dealing, 214 
 Jacob Barker's Clerks at Dinner, 663 
 
 " FortyKegs of Specie, 79 
 
 " Insurance Case, Redivivus,' 636 
 
 " Success when a Youth, 147 
 
 Jacob Keen, of Wall Street, 565 
 Jacob Little and the Missing Bank Bill, 83 
 Jacob Lorillard's Note of Accommodation, 110 
 James BoUand's Infamous Financial Ca- 
 reer, 193 
 James G. King, the Banker, and liOrd Ash- 
 burton : Cause of Merchants Failing, 453 
 
 James G. King's Treatment of Resent- 
 ments, 162 
 Jeejeebhoy Jamsetjee, Great Parsee Mer- 
 chant, 19 
 Jemmy Taylor, the Miser Broker, and the Earl 
 
 of Northumberland, 200 
 Jemmy Wright's Modesty, 331 
 Jew Losing a Bargain, 243 
 
 " Traders in Holywell Street, 611 
 Jewish Banker's Free Table, 481 
 " Money Lenders, 111 
 " '* Makers in the Holy City, 253 
 
 " Opinion of Rothschild, 243 
 " Perseverance and Shrewdness, 88 
 " Traders and Straw Bait, 444 
 Jobbing in Debtors' Shop Leases, 452 
 John Jacob Astor's Board and Clothes, 483 
 " " " Highway to Fortune," 
 
 171 
 John Law's Notorious Bubble, 555 
 John McDonogh's Personal Appearance, 491 
 Johnson and his Dictionary, 726 
 
 " the Butcher, 707 
 
 Johnson's Prejudice against Merchants, 165 
 Joke upon a Boston Sign, 318 
 Jolly Sign-Painters : Rich Professional Trage- 
 dy, 605 
 Jonathan Hunt's Land Speculations, 534 
 Judah Touro and Dr. Ciupp, 4'JO 
 Jumel, the Merchant, and the Carman, 358 
 Jury Deliberations on a Railroad Case, 455 
 Juvenile Contempt of the Bank, 108 
 
 " Evidence in an Insurance Case, 652 
 
 Keen Auction Dodge by Rembrandt, 557 
 " Ruse by a Yankee Peddler, 263 
 
 Keeping Accounts in Guineas, 683 
 " Score by Double Entry, 679 
 
 Keese, the Book Auctioneer, Pleasantries of, 
 572 
 
 Kentucky Banker who Kept Resuming, 
 408 
 
 Kentucky Hams and Yankee Nutmegs, 217 
 
 Khan, the Celebrated Persian Merchant, 
 18 
 
 Killbury and Maimsworth Railway Advertise- 
 ment, 306 
 
 Kindness to Debtors: Chickering, Peabody, 
 Lorillard, 443 
 
 King Charles in the Pawners' Clutches, 210 
 
 King, James G., and Lord Ashburton, 453 
 
 Knavery of British and Chinese Traders Com- 
 pared, 246 
 
 Knight's, Charles, Reminiscences of the Book 
 Trade, 753 
 
 Knowing his Customers, 236 
 
INDEX TO THE LEADING ANECDOTES. 
 
 m 
 
 Labouchere, P. C, the Youthful Prince Mer- 
 chant, 2. 
 
 Labouchere and Vincent Nolte, 151 
 
 Ladder of Commercial Success, 157 
 
 Lady Shipmaster, 3G3 
 
 Lady's Portrait of a Dry Goods' Clerk, 690 
 
 Lafayette's Loan to Mathew Carey, 459 
 
 Lafitte, Jacques, French Banker 5 
 « " in a Tight Place, G5 
 
 Lafitte's Wasteful Clerk, 681 
 
 Language and Business Letters of Rothschild, 
 609 
 
 Largest Book Establishment in the World, 753 
 ** Dealer in Commercial Paper in the 
 United States, 90 
 
 Largest Private Check ever Drawn, 105 
 '* Ship-owner in England, 355 
 
 Last Days of Business and Financial Celebri- 
 ties, 495 
 
 Last Resort of Petroleum Companies, 576 
 " Word at an Auction : a Lady in the Case, 
 535 
 
 Late at a Dinnner Party : George Hudson, the 
 Railway King, 142 
 
 Latest *' Sell " of the Day, 219 
 
 Latin on Business Signs, 326 
 
 Laughable Opposition to Steam Trains, 862 
 
 Law Suits of Girard, 438 
 
 Lawrence, Abbott, Merchant, of Boston, 42 
 " " not disposed to Lie, 164 
 
 " " Amos, Merchant, of Bos- 
 
 ton, 11 
 
 Lawrence, Cornelius W., Merchant, of New 
 York, 12 
 
 Lawrence's, Amos, Opinion of Marriage, 484 
 
 Lawyers and Barbers, 725 
 
 Learning the Currency in a Small Way, 66 
 « " Saddler's Trade, 720 
 
 Leather Money, 60 
 
 Leaving a Case Out, 642 
 
 Leavitt, David, Merchant, of New York, 11 
 
 Lee, the Learned Carpenter in England, 736 
 
 Lee and his Travelling Companion, 125 
 
 Legal Damages and Interest in Africa, 439 
 " Eccentricities of Commerce, 427 
 
 Lending a Helping Hand : Abbott Lawrence, 
 141 
 
 Lenox, James, Merchant, of New York, 8 
 
 Lessons of an Auctioneer's Hammer, 561 
 
 "Letting out" Clothes, 713 
 
 Liberality of Yakooleff, the Russian Mer- 
 chant, 127 
 
 Life and Death Brokers, and their "Humble 
 Servant," 637 
 
 Life Insurance Obituary Announcements, 644 
 
 Literature of the Cabin, 355 
 " and Groceries, 312 
 
 Little, Jacob, " of Wall Street," 22 
 
 Little Too Candid, 137 
 
 " Lively " Operations, 650 
 
 Lives of Bank Notes, 73 
 
 Lloyd, James, Banker, of London, 8 
 
 Lloyd's Establishment, London, 296 
 
 " Nautical Book, 3»1 
 Locking- up Foreign Merchants in England, 128 
 Locomotion and Amalgamation, 364 
 Lodging a Banker in tlie Gutter, 267 
 Logan, the Fan Painter, 605 
 Logic of Specie Payments, 68 
 Loudon Bankers and Banking Houses, 78 
 
 " Trade Report, 675 
 Longworth, Nicholas, Millionnaire of Cincin- 
 nati, 45 
 Longvvorth's Celebrated Fee, 396 
 Looking-Glass for Wall Street, 239 
 Looks and Manners of Rothschild, 492 
 Lopez, Judah M., Speculator in Annuities, 88 
 Lord Castlereagh and the Ruined Broker, 558 
 ** Eardley's " Gentleman " Applicant, 757 
 " Mansfield's Mercantile Cases in Court, 418 
 Lorillard, the New York Tobacconist, 46 
 Lorillard and the Load of Wood, 499 
 
 " Paying a Bequest in Bank Stock, 105 
 Losing a Bank Customer, 110 
 " "Good " 621 
 Loss of Bank Notes, 64 
 Losses among Russian Merchants, 420 
 Lost Bank Note of Thirty Thousand Pounds,103 
 Lotteries Vindicated by Scripture, 566 
 Lottery Vagaries in the Sixteenth Century, 559 
 Louis d'Ors and Razors; or. Bankers and 
 
 Barbers, 479 
 Louis the Fifteenth's Opinion of his own Pa- 
 per, 240 
 Louis the Sixteenth and the Saddler's Bill, 426 
 Lowell, Francis C, Merchant of Boston, 14 
 Lucky and Unlucky Names of Ships and 
 
 Sailing Days, 364 
 Lucrative Deed of Trust, 893 
 Ludicrous Custom House Examination, 294 
 Ludwick the Baker-General in the Revolution- 
 ary War, 759 
 Luxuries in the Car, 359 
 
 M 
 
 M. Beautte and the Official Smuggler, 237 
 M. Rothschild at Home, 503 
 " " on the Secret of his Success, 101 
 
 Magnificent Residence of Rothschild in 
 
 Paris, 479 
 Making a Good Job of It, 275 
 
 " " Will— Samuel Appleton, 471 
 " Conditions ; King James and the Corn 
 Merchants, 123 
 Making the Best of a Bad Article, 624 
 I Manchester Cotton Merchants, 292 
 
772 
 
 INDEX TO THE LEADING ANECDOTES. 
 
 Manifolding Bank Notes, 98 
 
 Manners at the English Stock Exchange, 238 
 
 Mansion of Morris, the Philadelphia Financier, 
 488 
 
 Marking a Lottery Ticket, 533 
 
 Marriage and Baptism Insurance, 644: 
 
 " Suit by Colston, the Millionnaire, 480 
 
 Matrimonial and Financial "Bonds," in John 
 Law's Time, 517 
 
 Matrimonial Export, 599 
 
 McDonogh, John, Millionnaire, of New Or- 
 leans, 17 
 
 McDonogh's, John, Greatest Victory, 162 
 
 Meaning of " Stock " and " Fund," 328 
 
 Medici, Lorenzo de, " the Magnificent Mer- 
 chant," of Florence, 12 
 
 Memorable Auction — Sale in New Orleans, 556 
 
 Men Mantua-Makers, 611 
 " of Letters frequenting the Share Mart., 
 301 
 
 Mengin, the French Pencil Seller, 586 
 
 Mercantile Agency Management Illustrated, 
 603 
 
 Mercantile Character Comparatively Esti- 
 mated, 131 
 
 Mercantile Defalcation made Good after Sixty 
 Years, 158 
 
 Merchant-like, 423 
 
 Merchant of Venice ; Shylock's Commercial 
 Character Vindicated, 222 
 
 Merchant Patrons of Literature, 130 
 
 Merchant's Wit on the Stand, 421 
 
 Merchants and Business Resorts in Moscow,295 
 " " Legislators, 133 
 
 " Getting to be Gentlemen, 133 
 " of the Golden Fleece, 128 
 
 Merchants' Notes as Currency, 103 
 
 " , Religious Formulae or Phrases, 328 
 
 " Merely a Family Dinner," 468 
 
 Merino-Sheep Bubble, 568 
 
 Messrs. Moan and Groan, of Cypress Row, 220 
 
 " Mighty Monarch, Let me Send a Shop ! " 623 
 
 Mike Schnapps, the Fiddle Dealer, 600 
 
 Millionnaire Butcher of London, 724 
 
 Minding One's Own Business, 171 
 
 Miners' Commandments, 748 
 
 Misfortune Tending to Liberality, 684 
 
 Missing a Good Chance, 581 
 
 Mock Auction " Capitalists," 550 
 
 Mode of Conducting Operations by Roths- 
 child, 92 
 
 Mode of Getting Money Transmitted, 354 
 
 Model English Bankers, 90 
 
 Modern Bank Director's Parlor, 96 
 " Newspaper Office, 744 
 
 Mahommedan Mercantile Morality, 135 
 
 Mahommedan's Reason for not Storing Goods, 
 131 
 
 Money Changers in China, 76 
 " Enough to Break on, 131 
 
 Money Getting Tact of Jews, 173 
 " Street of New York, 112 
 
 " Monsieur Smith," Girard's Man, 154 
 
 More Cunning than Rothschild, 111 
 
 Morgan, Edwin D., Merchant, of New York, 31 
 
 Morocco Pocket Book Men, 225 
 
 Morris, Robert, Financier, of Philadelphia, 1 
 
 Morrison, James, " of Twenty Millions," 21 
 
 Moses, as an Engraver, 731 
 
 Mottoes, Business in Ancient Times, 303 
 
 Mr. Barker's Auction Watch, and what it 
 Brought Him, 543 
 
 Mr. Biddle's Wit, 87 
 " Everett and the Hindoo Merchant, 180 
 " Gales Reporting Mr. Webster, 722 
 " Girard and the Baptist Clergyman, 489 
 " Grigg's Mode of Overcoming Obstacles, 380 
 " Grinnell's Liberality, 183 
 " Hume's Anxiety to Avoid a Pecuniary 
 
 Loss, 533 
 " Jones's Experience with Peter Funk, 213 
 " Vanderbilt's Holiday^ 503 
 
 Muller, the Rich Merchant of Nuremberg: 
 Fictitious Theft, 259 
 
 Murdered Merchant Watched by his Dog, 176 
 
 Music-Seller's Customers, 705 
 
 Mustaches in the Bank, 667 
 
 Mutations of a Merchant's Life; the New Or- 
 leans Stock Seller, 129 
 
 Mysteries of Tea Smuggling, 229 
 
 Mysterious Benefactor— Incident of the South 
 Sea Bubble, 158 
 
 N 
 
 Names of Vessels and Trade in New York in 
 1680, 350 
 
 Napoleon and Byron on Trading, 131 
 
 Napoleon's Opinion of a Journalist, 708 
 
 Narrow Escape from Bankruptcy, 430 
 
 National Characteristics of Money Getters- 
 French, Irish, Scotch, German, 595 
 
 Native Traders in Guinea, 622 
 
 Natural Advertising, 321 
 
 Neapolitan Cambiamoneta, or Money-Chan- 
 ger, 104 
 
 Need of a Reference for a Tailor— The Devil for 
 a Customer, 717 
 
 New Material for Sausage Stuffing : the Sau- 
 ciesse d'Or, 612 
 
 New Orleans Broker Renouncing a For- 
 tune, 484 
 
 New Rules for Railways, 364 
 " York Bankers and Western Court 
 Houses, 83 
 
 New York Business Tokens, 307 
 K « Pawnbroker's Customer, 526 
 " " to Boston in Four Days, 375 
 
 "Newscloth,"272 
 
INDEX TO THE LEADING ANECDOTES. 
 
 773 
 
 Newspaper Publisher Described, 715 
 Nice Lesson for Retail Salesmen, 665 
 " Snare for a French Creditor, 395 
 Nicholas BidoTe and the Mississippi Loan, 61 
 Nicholas Longvvorth's Bread, 514 
 Nine Days in the Life of a Merchant, 422 
 " No Great Judge of de Hemp :" Girard and 
 the Negro in a Quarrel, 201 
 I " No Swearing among the Crew," 355 
 
 No Trust for Merchants in Small Clothes, 429 
 
 " Use for Pistols, 449 
 Noble Mercantile Trait of Jonathan Good- 
 hue, 162 
 Nolte, Vincent, the Wandering Merchant, 19 
 Not Ashamed of Work : Astor's Diligence, 133 
 " Disposed to Lie : Abbott Lawrence, 164 
 " Down on the Bill, 422 
 " Posted in Geography, 383 
 Note Buyers, 1()9 
 
 Notes with and without Security, 433 
 Nothing like Leather, 717 
 " " Sarsaparilla, 612 
 
 " lost in a Good Market, 617 
 Novel Securities for Loans, 70 
 
 '* Trade Case before a Prussian Magis- 
 trate, 419 
 
 Obtaining a Certificate of Bankruptcy, 447 
 
 " Clerkship in a Banking House, 687 
 
 " Copyright, 726 
 
 " Security to be a Broker: George 
 Hudson's Treatment of his Enemies, 78 
 Odd Comminglings, 324 
 
 " Purchase at a Grocer's, 617 
 Oddities of a Former Period, 638 
 Oiling the Joints of Business, 671 
 Old Ben. Russell-Boston Celebrity, 488 
 " Billy Gray, Merchant, of Boston, 35 
 " Digby at an Auction Sale, 548 
 " English Ticker, 743 
 " fashioned Shopkeepers, 128 
 " Guy putting out the Light : or, Misers 
 
 Rating Each Other's Frugality, 236 
 " Martin, the Scotch Auctioneer, among the 
 
 Languages, 571 
 " Salles, the Silk Buyer, and Mr. Bayard's 
 
 Clerks, 693 
 " School Merchant's Offering to his 
 Country: John Langdon, of New Hamp- 
 shire, 512 
 " School Moneyjobbers, 274 
 " Scores Wiped Out, 414 
 " Vinter's Bank Bills, 219 
 " Women's Trades in London, 593 
 Oldest Bill of Exchange in the World, 106 
 " Daily Newspaper, 721 
 " Vessel in America, 349 
 
 On the Forgiven List, 440 
 One among Ten Thousand, 487 
 *' Cent with Girard, 273 
 " of his " Little Specs," 668 
 " " the Branches of the Tea Trade, 623 
 " " •' Causes of Bankruptcy, 419 
 " " " " Companies," 634 
 " " '* Operations in 'Change Alley, 208 
 " " " Sufferers, 563 
 " Price but not the Same Article, 204 
 " Thing Needful in a Clerk, 664 
 " Thousand Million Pounds Business An- 
 nually at the London Clearing House, 297 
 Opulent New York Merchants, 133 
 Origin of Auctions, 560 
 
 " Boards of Trade, 289 
 " Fire Insurance Companies, 640 
 " Paper Money, 101 
 " the Express Business : Harnden's 
 First Trip, 356 
 Orthography behind the Counter, 626 
 Our American Land Fever, 542 
 " Editor Sixty Years Ago, 709 
 " Lady of Hope, 534 
 Out of Fashion, 515 
 
 " Style, 321 r 
 
 Ouvrard, G. J., " the Napoleon of Finance," 25 
 
 " the Banker, and Napoleon, 65 
 Ouvrard's Profitable Imprisonment, 392 
 Overend, John, Pioneer Bill Broker, of Lon- 
 don, 46 
 Overpaying a Check, 664 
 
 "P. D.", 222 
 
 Palace of Lafitte, the French Banker, 467 
 Palmerston and the Station Master, 386 
 Panic Blunders — Wrong Certificate at the 
 
 Bank, 524 
 Paris " Gratteurs," G07 
 Parisian Auctions — How Conducted, 557 
 
 " Female Smugglers, 271 
 Parlor Talk between James Rothschild, the 
 
 Banker, and the Poet Heine, 504 
 Parrot and Monkey Market, 616 
 *' Parsons on Promissory Notes, 400 
 Partridge's Almanac-Making, 718 
 Patent Medicine Makers— Morrison, Bran- 
 
 dreth, Townsend, &c., 609 
 Paterson and his Darien Expedition, 547 
 Pathos and Puffing Extraordinary, 335 
 Patriotic Hatter, 720 
 
 " Merchants of the Revolution, 127 
 Patriotism and Prowess of French Merchants, 
 
 150 
 Pat's Definition of Railroad " Stock," S37 
 Pawnbrokers' Three Balls, 325 
 Pawning Money in Ireland, 70 
 
774 
 
 INDEX TO THE LEADING ANECDOTES. 
 
 Pay or Charge, 445 
 Paying a " Balance," 392 
 " A Newspaper Bill, 732 
 « An Old Debt, 400 
 « At " Maturity," 327 
 " By the Clock instead of the Thing, 598 
 " Government Fishing Bounties, 2S6 
 " Notes in Specie, 79 
 " Oflf Jack, 355 
 " The Driver, 756 
 Payment for News, 713 
 Peabody, George, Merchant and Banker, of 
 
 London, 16 
 Peculiar Custom of a Tailor, 713 
 
 " Feature in Rothschild's Business 
 
 Character, 173 
 " Management of the Bank of Amster- 
 dam, 102 
 Peculiarities of the North-west Fur Traders,599 
 Pecuniary Anxiety of the Greatest Merchant 
 
 in the World, 439 
 Pedlar Matching a Sheriff, 413 
 Peep at the Treasure in Tbreadneedle Street, 91 
 Peeresses Conducting Banking Operations, 89 
 Pennsylvania Bonds, 120 
 ffenny Newspapers in America, 708 
 Pen Portrait by an Old Master, 659 
 Peremptory Refusal of Hoj»e and Co. to do 
 
 Business with Girard, 134 
 Perils of Reporting the Parliamentary Debates, 
 
 725 
 " " Stock Gambling : William Abbott, 537 
 Perit,' Pelatiah, Merchant, of New York, 37 
 Perkins, Thomas H., Merchant, of Boston, 50 
 
 " " " Deliberate Habits of, 150 
 
 Perplexities of Mercantile Correspondence, 693 
 Perseverance Badly Rewarded, 185 
 Persevering Traders, 170 
 Personal Appearance of Stephen Girard, 464 
 Peter C. Brooks, the Boston Millionnaire, in 
 
 Court, 404 
 Peruvian Loan Infatuation, 546 
 Phenomena Extraordinary, 319 
 Philadelphia Clerk and his Bible — Mr. In- 
 
 glis's Proposal, 670 
 Philadelphia Young Merchant who was not 
 
 Afraid of Girard : the Sequel, 158 
 Philanthropic Courage of Girard, 512 
 
 " Debtor, 444 
 
 Philanthropy and Forty Per Cent., 232 
 Photograph of Wall Street, 286 
 Picayunes and Coppers, 113 
 Pictorial Bookkeeping, 671 
 Pitt, the Insolvent Premier, Insured by his 
 
 Coach makers, 637 
 Placard Printing in Vienna, 717 
 Placing the Pen behind the Ear, 6"^6 
 Plan to Ruin the Ancient Firm of Child & Co. 
 
 by the Bank of England; its Defeat, 280 
 Playing a Bold Game, 649 
 
 Playing Even, 666 
 
 Pleasant History of a Familiar Word, 317 
 " Parlor Voyages— Cupe Wine and Ma- 
 deira, 481 
 Pleasantries of Keese, the Book Auctioneer, 572 
 " Pleasure Excursions," 377 
 Policies and Tragedies, 642 
 Politeness in Dunning, 415 
 Polly Kenton and Girard's Doctors, 476 
 Polly Kenton's Lard Speculation, 164 
 Poor Kind of Ice, 593 
 " Poor Tim Rooney," 643 
 Porcelain Jars and Low Premiums, 631 
 Portuguese Diamond Merchant's Bargain with 
 
 Philip the Second, 587 
 Portuguese Pilgrim in the Streets of Venice 
 
 Proclaiming its Commercial Doom, 175 
 Practical Eloquence of a Boston Merchant, 512 
 Prayers Requested for a New Undertaking, 230 
 Praying and Trading Simultaneously, 621 
 Precision in Keeping Accounts, 6')7 
 Prejudice against Yankee Clock Pedlars, and 
 
 How It was Overcome, 277 
 Present Prosperity of the Rothschilds, 180 
 Presenting a Frivolous Bill to Girard, 411 
 Presents to Bank Officers ; Cuiious Cases, 254 
 Price of Akenside's "Pleasures of the Imagi- 
 nation," 727 
 Price of Extortion and Revenge, 235 
 Printed Books ; or, the Devil and Dr. Faus- 
 
 tus, 732 
 Printers and Editors at Midnight, 720 
 Private Mercantile Finances and Royal Fleets, 
 
 174 
 Privateering Exploit of a Salem Merchant, 149 
 Prize Won by Stephenson for his Famous Lo- 
 comotive, 758 
 Probable Origin of Schooners, 360 
 Proby, the Celebrated Reporter, 716 
 Professional Use of Books, 749 
 Profitable and Unprofitable Bankruptcy, 423 
 
 Book Job, 747 
 Profits of a Stall, 724 
 Property in Books, 739 
 Proposed Ice Speculation, 564 
 
 " Line from England to China, 372 
 Protective Costume for Travellers, 374 
 
 *' Tariffs and the " Genesee Mutual," 
 
 653 
 Proud Broker Barnard, The, 114 
 Prussian Ship Navigated by a Lady, 360 
 Publisher's Generosity to an Author, 729 
 Pun on a Cooper, 742 
 
 " Punch" on Commercial Phraseology, 322 
 Punch's Money Vagaries, 66 
 
 " Own Railway, 369 
 Purchase of Jacob Barker's Ship "United 
 
 States " by the Emperor Nicholas, 343 
 Purloining Speculator in the French Funds, 
 245 
 
INDEX TO THE LEADING ANECDOTES. 
 
 775 
 
 Pursuit of Specie under Difficulties, 63 
 Pushing Business, 730 
 Puzzliug an Apotiaecary, 624 
 
 Q 
 
 Quack Advertisement : Two Centuries Ago, 319 
 Quaker Banker and the Stolen Doubloons, 240 
 " Hatter and his Journeyman, 710 
 " Investigation of George Hudson's Ac- 
 counts, 6'J2 
 
 " Merchant's Idea of Pnvateering, 132 
 " " Thousand Dollar Fee to 
 
 Mr. Webster, 409 
 Quaker Ship-owner Economizing the Time of 
 
 his Men, 198 
 Quaker's Reply to Fordyce, the Bankrupt 
 
 Banker, 427 
 Queen Anne Saving the Government Bank 
 from Pillage, 116 
 ** Jane's Opinion of Merchants, 125 
 Queer Bartering in Northern Africa, 601 
 " Phases of the Butcher Trade, 707 
 Questionable Sign for a New York Clothier, 320 
 Quite Professional, 567 
 Quotations of the New Exchange, 290 
 
 R 
 
 Rail-car Privileges, 353 
 
 Railroad Damages — the Tables Turned, 365 
 
 Railway ClearingHouse, 296 
 
 " Clerks— a Burlesque, 666 
 
 " Politeness, Scale of, 376 
 Raising his Customer, 245 
 
 " Money on Manuscript, 93 
 
 " The Price of Bread, 201 
 Rare Editorial Philosophy, 741 
 " Magnanimity of a French Creditor, 434 
 " Passenger in an Omnibus, 371 
 Rather a Puzzling Occupation, 739 
 
 " Dry, 375 
 
 " Ominous, 348 
 Reading the Annual Report, 347 
 Ready for a Trade, 696 
 Realizing a Profit, 598 
 Reason for Trusting a Clerk, 683 
 
 •* Why Pitt's Great Speech was not Re- 
 ported, 745 
 Reasons given by Thomas H. Perkins for de- 
 clining a Proposed Coflfee Speculation, 578 
 Recovering a Wasted Fortune, 130 
 Red Herrings and Dutch Onions, 578 
 Redeeming Lost Time, 163 
 Reduction of French Custom House Duties — 
 
 "Death to the Beet Root," 294 
 Reforming instead of Destroying, 672 
 Refusal to become Girard's Clerk: Telling 
 him the Reason Why, 683 
 
 Rekindling of the Old Spark ; Curious Ex- 
 perience of John McDonogh, 497 
 
 Religious Bearing of Judaism on Stock Oper- 
 ations : the Perieres, 515 
 
 Religious Opinions of Girard, 490 
 
 Remarkable Case of Conscience in a Business 
 Man, 182 
 
 Remarkable Customs of Oriental Shopkeepers, 
 597 
 
 Remarkable Discernment of Mercantile Char- 
 acter, 692 
 
 Remarkable Sacrifice for Principle, 658 
 
 Reminiscences of Mr. Astor's Library Be- 
 quest, 516 
 
 Rencontre between Rothschild and Rose, the 
 Broker, on 'Change, 285 
 
 Rendering Bank Notes Serviceable, 116 
 
 Renewing a Note, 98 
 
 Reply to a Dunning Epistle, 417 
 
 Report of a Lord's Speech, 716 
 
 Reporting from Memory, 741 
 
 Resolving to be Rich, 273 
 
 Responding to an Advertisement, 329 
 
 Response to a Tax Commissioner's Dun, 414 
 
 Restitution by a Shopkeeper, 163 
 " ofBank Notes, 257 
 
 Results of a Career of Overreaching, 262 
 
 Retiring from Business — Engaging to Blow 
 the Bellows, 141 
 
 Retiring from Business— "Melting" Day, 615 
 
 Returning a Favor, 500 
 
 Reverses of Mercantile Fortune, 168 
 
 Reward of Business Fidelity, 691 
 
 " " Promptness in a Merchant's Clerk, 
 671 
 
 Reynolds, the Charitable Quaker Merchant, 127 
 
 Ricardo, David, English Financier, 33 
 
 Ricardo's Three Golden Rules in Business, 101 
 
 Rich Enough to Retire : Abraham Newland, 
 Cashier of the Bank of England, 700 
 
 Rich Reward of Integrity, 667 
 
 Richardson, the Eccentric Showman, 620 
 
 Ridgway, Jacob, merchant, of Philadelphia, 37 
 
 Rigid Obedience of Shipmasters exacted by 
 Girard, 376 
 
 Rise and Reminiscences of the Trade Sales, 579 
 
 Rising in the World, 716 
 
 Risks and Accidents Assured Against, 845 
 " of the Currency, 278 
 
 Rival Blacking Companies, 563 
 " Publishers, 727 
 " Steamboat Lines, 352 
 
 Rivalry in Business Beneficial, 710 
 
 Robert Barclay becoming a Banker instead of 
 a Courtier, 502 
 
 Roman Idea of Merchants, 154 
 ** Money Lenders, 68 
 " Saint making Shoes, 751 
 
 Romance and Reality of Insurance, 635 
 " Trade, 299 
 
776 
 
 INDEX TO THE LEADING ANECDOTES. 
 
 Romance of Trade : " Blackguard Snuff," 135 
 Roscoe, William, the Poet Banker, 16U 
 Rothschilds, The, Wealthiest Bankers in the 
 
 World, 23 
 Rothschild and Astor Compared, 151 
 
 " " Lucas : Astonishing Strategy 
 
 to Learn the Former's Secrets, lyi 
 Rothschild trying to Raise a Small Loan, 100 
 Rothschild's Omnibus Fare, S73 
 
 " Purchase of a Painting, 481 
 
 Rough Treatment of Insolvents, 444 
 Royal Pawners and Brokers, 107 
 
 " Prize for Raising Money: Raid upon 
 the Bankers, I'JS 
 Royal Promissory Notes, 406 
 
 " Schemes in Railways, 361 
 Ruin Produced by Bad Reckoning, 677 
 Running a Bank, 99 
 Rush's Celebrated Figureheads, 339 
 Russian iloney Brokers, 109 
 " Shop Customs, 606 
 
 s 
 
 Sabbath Experiences of a Shipmaster, 139 
 
 Saint Shops, 607 
 
 Sale of Noted Works and Plays, 719 
 
 Salting an Invoice, 409 
 
 Sample Clerk Wanted in a Drug Store, 689 
 
 Samuel Appleton disposing of his Income, 489 
 
 Samuel Slater on Extravagance in Living, 513 
 
 Samuel Wheeler, the Iron Smith, and General 
 
 Washington, 759 
 Satire on Speculation, 546 
 Saving the Credit of a City : Theodore Payne, 
 
 450 
 Saving the Fleece : Girard and his Brother, 222 
 Saying of an Old Merchant, 690 
 Scale of Prices for London Civilities, 597 
 
 " " Railway Politeness, 376 
 Scene at a Banker's Dejeuner : Robert Morris 
 
 and his Father, 469 
 Scene in a Merchant's Counting Room after 
 
 the Peace of 181 5, 152 
 Scene at an Express Office, 359 
 Scenes after Discount Day, 104 
 " At a Turkish Auction, 548 
 " In a Turkish Custom House, 291 
 Scissors vs. Shears, 687 
 Scotch Cabinetmaker's Apprentice, 723 
 
 " Tobacconist's Motto, 308 
 Scraps of Auction Wit, 574 
 Search for a New Route to China, 186 
 Second Thought on a Trade, 155 
 Secrecy in Business Transactions Practised 
 
 by Rothschild, 156 
 Securing Trustworthy Bank Officers and the 
 
 Safety of Capital, 69 
 Security for a Discount, 79 
 
 Selling a Bad Article, 277 
 
 " a Brig: the Ruling Passion, 357 
 *' a Dying Horse under the Hammer, 538 
 " One's Body to a Creditor: Marshal 
 Radetzky, 420 
 Selling Salt by a Chalk Line, 191 
 
 " The Gem of the Collection, 544 
 Serious Bargain for a Cleikship, 682 
 Settling a Knotty Account— Quaker Philoso- 
 phy, 500 
 Settling a Question of Taste and Trade, 272 
 " " " " Trade, 603 
 " An Account, 437 
 Seventy-five Thousand Dollars at One Draught, 
 
 484 
 Shaking One's Business Credit, 123 
 "Shall I Cut?" 714 
 Share-Sellers and Rope Dancers, 577 
 Sharing in a good Operation, 156 
 
 " " Rothschild's Fortune, 252 
 Sharp at a Trade — Sharper in Getting out of 
 
 It, 264 
 Sharp Hit at Repudiation, 446 
 Sheridan's Treatment of a Creditor, 448 
 Shipbuilding in Ancient Times, 743 
 Shipments of Butcher-Birds, 596 
 Shipping Goods by Ticket, 698 
 Shocking Ignorance of City Clerks Illustrated, 
 
 684 
 Shoemaker Determined to Benefit the World, 
 
 712 
 Shoes and Shoemakers— Facetiae, 746 
 Shooting a Book-seller, 747 
 Shop and Business Signs : Ancient Examples, 
 
 314 
 Shop Architecture, Old and New, 616 
 Shopkeepers and Warriors, 175 
 " Going to Law, 395 
 
 " Nomenclature of Goods, 326 
 
 " of Bagdat, 610 ^ 
 
 Showing Up Tailors, 722 
 Signboard Punctuation, 312 
 Signora Almonastre and John McDonogb, 493 
 Silkdyer's Poetical Sign, 338 
 Simple Entries and Calculation— Jacob Bar- 
 ker's Method, 660 
 Singular Mode of Keeping Accounts in a Pair 
 
 of Boots, 692 
 Singular Suit against Mr. Appleton, of Boston, 
 
 395 
 Sir Robert Peel's Factory Operative, 727 
 
 « " Opinion of his Son as a 
 
 Financier, 89 
 Sir Thomas F. Buxton's Conversations with 
 
 Rothschild, 501 
 Six Days for Business and One for Rest, 157 
 Skinflint Philosophy, 245 
 Slavers Raising a Capital, 248 
 Slightly Personal, 466 
 Small Debts, 405 
 
INDEX TO THE LEADING ANECDOTES. 
 
 777 
 
 Smuggled Needles and the American Eagle, 209 
 Smuggler's Honor, 226 
 Smuggling by the Chinese, 271 
 
 " on a Lace Merchant's Dog, 231 
 Snow Trade of Sicily, 599 
 Snug Place for Bank Notes, 270 
 " Soaking" the Old Coach, 384 
 Sole Qualification of a Bill Broker, 173 
 Soliloquy of a Debtor, 410 
 Solomon, the Merchant Sovereign, 7 
 "Something or Nothing, and that very 
 
 Quick!" 418 
 Son of an Eminent Turkey Merchant, 749 
 Song-bird Shops in New York, 623 
 Sources of Wealth of the Medici Family of 
 
 Merchants, 182 
 South Sea Schemers, 545 
 Southern Accommodation Trains, 381 
 Spaniard and Chinaman at a Trade, 231 
 " Spanish," 734 
 Spanish Contraband Trade, 229 
 
 " Mercantile Dealings, 163 
 
 " Reals versus Spanish Bonds, 84 
 Specie in the Broker's Window, 04 
 Speculative Frenzy of the Fi'ench in John 
 
 Law's Time, 524 
 "Spencer, Rich." merchant and banker, of 
 
 London, 35 
 Sportive Death of the French Banker, M. 
 
 Dange, 514 
 Sprot, the Banker, and the Patrician Debtor, 
 
 415 
 Squaring Accounts among the Celestials, 669 
 Squelching a Director's Impertinence, 371 
 St. Petersburg Trade in Frozen Articles, 622 
 Stagecoach Experience of Two Merchants, 369 
 Staying his Own Debt, 455 
 Stealing Goods at the Retail Price, 456 
 Steiglitz, Richest of Russian Merchants, 7 
 Stephen Girard's Treatment of "Splendid 
 
 Church " Projects, 494 
 Stephen Whitney's Charities, 244 
 Stephenson, the Pioneer in Railroad Con- 
 struction, 380 
 Stewart, Alexander T., Merchant, of New 
 
 York, 30 
 Stewart's, A. T., Success, 162 
 " Stick to Your Last," 137 
 Sticking to the Contract, 737 
 Stock Broker and his Family in the8tudio of 
 
 Hoppner, 475 
 Stock Exchange Conspiracy, 214 
 " Jobbing Bubbles — Commercial Lunacy, 
 
 545 
 " Terms in the Sick Room, 319 
 " " Wasting," 247 
 Strange Terminus to a Railroad, 384 
 Stratagem to Collect a Debt, 394 
 Stray Leaf from a Speculator's History, 553 
 Street Merchants, 694 
 
 Streets and Shop Signs in Canton, 317 
 
 Striking a Bargain, 330 
 
 Strong Point in Mercantile Success : Girard's 
 Silence, 153 
 
 Strongest Bank in the World, 82 
 
 Sturgis, William, in the Legislature, 473 
 
 Subduing a Creditor's Fury, 407 
 
 Subscriptions for the Government by Phila- 
 delphia Merchants, 459 
 
 Suit against a Railroad Company, 457 
 
 Superseding Steam, 345 
 
 Supposititious Will of the Bank of England 
 Directors, 117 
 
 Suspected Religious Fidelity of Rothschild: 
 Remarkable Scene, 4'JO 
 
 Swan, the Millionnaire, Voluntarily in Prison 
 more than Twenty Years, for Debt, 392 
 
 Syrian Auctioneers — "Harage! Harage! 
 Harage!" 554 
 
 Tailor turned Prophet, 733 
 Tailors' Bills, 405 
 " Take down that Old Sign," 331 
 Taking Care of his Umbrella, 492 
 " Him at his Word, 267 
 " His Own Risk ;^ Mr. Cope of Phila- 
 delphia, 651 
 Talleyrand and the Stock Jobber, 211 
 Talleyrand's Promise to Pay, 432 
 Tattersall, the London Auctioneer, 4 
 " Tattersall's," 534 
 Tavern-waiter and his Banker, 487 
 Taxing Bills and Receipts, 432 
 Tea Shops in China, 602 
 Telegraph vs. Express, 351 
 Telegraphic Capers, 307 
 Telegraphing against Time, 366 
 Tempting Business Paragraph, 161 
 Tender in Payment, 400 
 Terrible Career of Sadler the Speculator, 227 
 " Mode of Rendering an Insurance 
 Policy Void, 638 
 Terrible Revenge on a Bank by Rothschild, 95 
 " Sequel to Parsimony : M. Foscue's 
 Case, 250 
 That Bottle of Wine among " Old Fuller's " 
 
 Clerks, 694 
 That Little Child in the Counting Room, 514 
 The Bank Detectors Foiled, 264 
 " Banker's Seven-Shilling Piece, 177 
 " First Color Shop, 706 
 " " Steamboat Passage-Money ever Paid, 
 377 
 The Great Bankers of the World together in 
 
 Rothschild's Parlor, 60 
 The Ladder of Gold, 349 
 " Lady's Broker, 77 
 
778 
 
 INDEX TO THE LEADING ANECDOTES. 
 
 The Learned Blacksmith, 731 
 ** Merchant and his Distinguished Valet, 
 
 John Philpot Curran, 476 
 " Merchant Family of Medici, Besurgam^AdS 
 " Miller and his Portrait, 605 
 " " Model Debtor " Described, 402 
 " Napoleon of Advertising, S32 
 " Origin of the Clearing House, 294 
 " Prince Regent's Wine and the Confiden- 
 tial Dealer, 268 
 " Prose of Sbopkeeping Set to Poetry, 687 
 " Stone that was Rejected: Judah Touro's 
 
 Benefactions, 482 
 " United Glass and Crockery Insurance 
 
 Company, 635 
 ** United Job and Lazarus Bank, 81 
 " "Waterloo of Auction Battles, 525 
 Theatrical Debut of a Barber, TOS 
 Thirty Thousand Dollars' Worth of Sheep by 
 
 a Boston Merchant, 470 
 Thomas Gray, the Originator of Railways, 354 
 " Gresham's Curious Armorial or Crest, 
 508 
 Thomas U. Perkins's Deliberate Habits, 150 
 
 " P. Cope's Integrity, 155 
 Thompson's Travels in California, 881 
 Thorbum's Flowery Path to Fortune, 166 
 
 ", Grant, Bankruptcy, 438 
 Three Merchant Voyages and their Results, 
 
 155 
 Three Millionnaires Quarrelling about One 
 
 Farthing, 235 
 Throwing out Jacob Barker's Notes, 84 
 
 " Sawdust in the Eyes of Custom 
 House Officers, 270 
 "Tick," 401 
 Tight Times, 315 
 Timely Hard-money Loan, 67 
 Titles of Business Firms, 314 
 " To what Base Uses have we Come at Last!" 
 
 280 
 Tobacco in Loaves, 249 
 Tompkins' Horse Trade, 218 
 Tong-Chow Traders in Dogs and Cats, 618 
 Tonson, the Literary Trader, 706 
 Tonti's Money raising Projects, 558 
 Too Awkward to be a Watchmaker, 743 
 " Close Application to Business, 141 
 " Conscientious an Accountant, 683 
 " Much Money, 473 
 Tough Experience of a Business Drummer, 257 
 Touro, Judah, Merchant, of New Orleans, 84 
 Touro's Great Gift to a Beggar, 159 
 Trade between Flywheel and Singecat, 549 
 
 " Placards and Shop Bills, 323 
 Trades and Genealogies, 760 
 Tradesmen's Ticketing System, 242 
 Trading for Ready Money, 416 
 
 " in Imaginary Candlesticks, 263 
 " " News, 733 
 
 Traffic in Beautiful Circassian Girls, 588 
 Traffickers in Insurance Run Mad — Astound- 
 ing Policies on the Chevalier d'Eon's 
 Sex ! 645 
 Tragical Result of Using Bank Notes, 224 
 Traits of the Shop in Havana, 586 
 Transactions in the Cab Market, 330 
 
 " " Worsteds, 219 
 
 Treatment of Chinese Bankrupts, 446 
 
 " " Insolvents by the Bank of Eng- 
 land, 434 
 Trials of Egg Merchants, 617 
 Trick for the " Spashy," 209 
 Trickery in the Clothing Trade, 202 
 Trying his Hand at the Accounts, 699 
 Tudor, the Original Ice Merchant, 153 
 Turkish Fez Shops : Stationers, Tailors, Jew- 
 elers, 602 
 Turtles and Gold Snuff Boxes, 248 
 Two Aspects of Trade, 413 
 ** Clerks in a Quarrel, 674 
 " Playing at the Same Game, 228 
 
 U 
 
 Under Medical Treatment— Jacob Barker as a 
 
 Patient, 482 
 Underwriters Jobbing with Napoleon's Life, 
 
 637 
 Unexampled Enterprise ; the Chinese Wall 
 
 for Advertisements, 315 
 Unexpected Balance at Coutts's Bank, 106 
 
 " Judgment against Bank Direc- 
 
 tors, 457 
 Unexpected Promotion, 696 
 Unfortunate Polly Lum, the W^ife of Girard, 
 
 469 
 Ungrateful Publisher, 722 
 Universal Bed and Bolster Mart, 570 
 
 *' Salvage Company, 346 
 
 " Stores, 335 
 Unparalleled Parsimony and Benevolence of 
 
 a Millionnaire, 242 
 Unparalleled Railway Damages, 347 
 
 " Will of Thelluson, the London 
 
 Banker, 485 
 Unsociable Travelling Companion, 368 
 " Up to Snuff," 305 
 Up Trains and Down Trains, 848 
 Usefulness of Steamboats in Reducing the 
 
 Population, 356 
 Usurious Interest on Money ; Peter C. Brooks's 
 
 Rule, 172 
 
 Value of a Good Credit, 132 
 Vast Wealth of Croesus, 91 
 Vaults of the Bank of France, 
 
INDEX TO THE LEADING ANECDOTES. 
 
 779 
 
 Verbatim Reporters, 745 
 Very Express-ive, 324 
 ** Hopeful lavestment, 540 
 " Racy, 837 
 Viper Merchants, 588 
 Virginia Usurer Foiled, 217 
 Virtue of One- Pound Notes in Stopping a 
 
 Bank Run, 575 
 Virtuous and Touching Appeal of an Auc- 
 tioneer, 532 
 Vocation Peculiar to China: Gossip at Fifty 
 
 Cents per Hour, 607 
 Voltaire's Dealings in Government Stocks, 111 
 
 W 
 
 Wager between a Stock Broker and a Capital- 
 ist, 536 
 "Waghorn's Great Scheme, 374 
 " Walter Barrett's " Cotton Mission, 148 
 Wanting to Pay the Cash, 262 
 Warranty of Perfect Soundness, 562 
 Washington as a Business Man, 179 
 
 " Irving's Commercial Bankrupt- 
 
 cy, 444 
 Waste Book and Ledger— their Meaning, 686 
 Wealthy Men Imagining Themselves Poor, 
 
 402 
 Wealthy Men of Cincinnati, 168 
 Weathering the Storm of 1828, 573 
 Wedding-Gift of Rothschild to his Niece, 509 
 Weighing Short, 279 
 
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 Western Method of Collecting a Debt, 397 
 Whale Fishery Enterprise of Americans, 160 
 What is a " Flemish " Account? 662 
 " What is Sauce for the Goose is," Ac, 449 
 
 What it means to be " Selling Off,'' 197 
 " John McDonogh said to a Lawyer, 146 
 " The Word " Pay " Signifies, 407 
 Where "Tariff" came from, 328 
 Whitney, Stephen, Merchant, of New York, 14 
 Who were the first Whalemen ? 129 
 Wholesale Joke upon Shoemakers, 738 
 Why Guy, the Milliounaire, never Married, 
 
 501 
 Wife of a Merchant's Clerk, 688 
 Wigs by the Cargo, 597 
 Will of Guyot, the French Millionnaire, 472 
 William Roscoe, the Poet Banker, 169 
 William Sturgis in the Legislature, 473 
 Willing to Swallow the Joke, 756 
 Wimprecht, the Blind Bookseller, 706 
 Window " Gazers" employed by London 
 
 Shopkeepers, 203 
 Wine Merchant at his Debtor's Table, 451 
 Winking and Bidding at Auctions, 552 
 Winners and Losers in Grant's Bubble, 534 
 Wiping out an Old Score, 453 
 Wit of a Gravestone Maker, 731 
 " Won't Look at Him," 448 
 Wood, James, the Gloucester Millionnaire, 3 
 " Words have their Meaning," 334 
 Working a Hand car, 383 
 Would not Stoop, 757 
 Would'nt Steal Indiana Money at Par, 452 
 
 Yankee Calculation of Railroad Speed, 365 
 
 ** Hoarding Specie, 72 
 
 " Shrewdness Handsomely Illustrated, 
 124 
 " Your Ticket, Sir ! " 381 
 
 ft4it 
 
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YC 0574 
 
 GENERAL LIBRARY - U.C. BERKELEY 
 
 B0Q05M'1Q33 
 
 86901 2 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY OF CAUFORNIA LIBRARY