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 Holborn."
THE lucky incident which made mil-
lionnaires of Day and Martin, of " High
Holborn," 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 ~boy 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 lie 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 difference.
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 few 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 BUSINESS 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
vessel 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 first 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 with 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 clays.
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 Liverpool. 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 Eobert Kermit particularly, and
the " Saint" line went down.
We venture to say that that same
Walter Barrett can "do" a good job
Privateering Exploit of a Salem Mer-
chant.
JOSEPH PEABODY, the merchant-sov-
ereign of Salem, left that place in
1781-'2, 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, 1782, dropped down
the Potomac to near its mouth, where
encountering head winds, she was
obliged to anchor, and, after making
the ordinary arrangements 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 BUSINESS 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
Eanger 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 1761,
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 patriotic
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. PERKINS'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 w r as 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 was 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
Ms 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.
Lafoouchere and Vincent Nolle.
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 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 ice 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. was 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
implements 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 off, and the clatter
of caulkers' mallets was like the rattling
of a hail storm loads of rigging were
passing up on the ice riggers 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 afloat, 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 Girard,
the Napoleon of commerce, gives a
strong insight into the cause of his
business success. No man ever heard
him boast of wliat lie 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, which 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