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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/38265-8.txt b/38265-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a4de4ae --- /dev/null +++ b/38265-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9097 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, My Life in Many States and in Foreign Lands, +by George Francis Train + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: My Life in Many States and in Foreign Lands + Dictated in My Seventy-Fourth Year + + +Author: George Francis Train + + + +Release Date: December 10, 2011 [eBook #38265] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MY LIFE IN MANY STATES AND IN +FOREIGN LANDS*** + + +E-text prepared by Julia Miller, Pat McCoy, and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from images generously made +available by Internet Archive/American Libraries +(http://www.archive.org/details/americana) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 38265-h.htm or 38265-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38265/38265-h/38265-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38265/38265-h.zip) + + + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive/American Libraries. See + http://www.archive.org/details/mylifemanystates00trairich + + + + + +[Illustration: George Francis Train. + +From a recent photograph.] + + + + + MY LIFE IN MANY STATES AND IN FOREIGN LANDS + + Dictated in My Seventy-Fourth Year + + by + + GEORGE FRANCIS TRAIN + + Illustrated + + + + + + + + + [Illustration] + + New York + D. Appleton and Company + 1902 + + Copyright, 1902 + by D. Appleton and Company + + Published November, 1902 + + + + + +MY LIFE IN MANY STATES + +AND IN FOREIGN LANDS + + + + + + TO THE CHILDREN + AND TO THE CHILDREN'S CHILDREN + IN THIS AND IN ALL LANDS + WHO LOVE AND BELIEVE IN ME + BECAUSE THEY KNOW + I LOVE AND BELIEVE IN THEM + + + + +PREFACE + + +I have been silent for thirty years. During that long period I have +taken little part in the public life of the world, have written nothing +beyond occasional letters and newspaper articles, and have conversed +with few persons, except children in parks and streets. I have found +children always sympathetic and appreciative. For this reason I have +readily entered into their play and their more serious moods; and for +this reason, also, have dedicated this book to them and to their +children. + +For many years I have been a silent recluse, remote from the world in my +little corner in the Mills Hotel, thinking and waiting patiently. That I +break this silence now, after so many years, is due to the suggestion of +a friend who has told me that the world of to-day, as well as the world +of to-morrow, will be interested in reading my story. I am assured that +many of the things I have accomplished will endure as a memorial of me, +and that I ought to give some account of them and of myself. + +And so I have tried to compress a story of my life into this book. With +modesty, I may say that the whole story could not be told in a single +volume. I have tried not to be prolix, keeping in mind while preparing +this record of events, "all of which I saw, and part of which I was," +that there is a limit to the patience of readers. + +I beg my readers to remember that this book was spoken, not written, by +me. It is my own life-story that I have related. It may not, in every +part, agree with the recollections of others; but I am sure that it is +as accurate in statement as it is blameless in purpose. If I should fail +at any point, this will be due to some wavering of memory, and not to +intention. Thanks to my early Methodist training, I have never knowingly +told a lie; and I shall not begin at this time of life. + +While I may undertake other volumes that will present another side of +me--my views and opinions of men and things--that which stands here +recorded is the story of my life. It has been dictated in the mornings +of July and August of the past summer, one or two hours being given to +it during two or three days of each week. Altogether, the time consumed +in the dictation makes a total of thirty-five hours. Before I began the +dictation, I wrote out hastily a brief sketch, or mere epitome, of my +history, so that I might have before my mind a guide that would prevent +me from wandering too far afield or that might save me from +tediousness. I give it here, as a foretaste of the book. I have called +it "My Autobiography boiled down--400 Pages in 200 Words." + +"Born 3-24-'29. Orphaned New Orleans, '33. (Father, mother, and three +sisters--yellow fever.) Came North alone, four years old, to +grandmother, Waltham, Mass. Supported self since babyhood. Farmer till +14. Grocer-boy, Cambridgeport, two years. Shipping-clerk, 16. Manager, +18. Partner, Train & Co., 20 (income, $10,000). Boston, 22 ($15,000). + +"Established G. F. T. & Co., Melbourne, Australia, '53. Agent, Barings, +Duncan & Sherman, White Star Line (income, $95,000). Started 40 clippers +to California, '49. Flying Cloud, Sovereign of the Seas, Staffordshire. +Built A. & G. W. R. R., connecting Erie with Ohio and Mississippi, 400 +miles. + +"Pioneered first street-railway, Europe, America, Australia. (England: +Birkenhead, Darlington, Staffordshire, London, '60.) Built first Pacific +Railway (U. P.), '62-'69, through first Trust, Crédit Mobilier. Owned +five thousand lots, Omaha, worth $30,000,000. (Been in fifteen jails +without a crime.) + +"Train Villa, built at Newport, '68. Daughter's house, 156 Madison +Avenue, '60. Organized French Commune, Marseilles, Ligue du Midi, +October, '70, while on return trip around the world in eighty days. +Jules Verne, two years later, wrote fiction of my fact. + +"Made independent race for Presidency against Grant and Greeley, '71-72. +Cornered lawyers, doctors, clericals, by quoting three columns of Bible +to release Woodhull-Claflin from jail, '72. Now lunatic by law, through +six courts. + +"Now living in Mills Palace, $3 against $2,000 a week, at Train Villa. +(Daughter always has room for me in country.) Played Carnegie forty +years ahead. Three generations living off Crédit Mobilier. Author dozen +books out of print (_vide_ Who's Who, Allibone, Appletons' Cyclopædia). + +"Four times around the world. First, two years. Second, eighty days, +'70. Third, sixty-seven and a half days, '90. Fourth, sixty days, +shortest record, '92. Through psychic telepathy, am doubling age. +Seventy-four years young." + +It may be a matter of surprise to some readers that I should have +accomplished so much at the early age when so many of my most important +enterprises were accomplished. It should be remembered, however, that I +began young. I was a mature man at an age when most boys are still tied +to their mothers' apron strings. I had to begin to take care of myself +in very tender years. I suppose my experiences in New Orleans, on the +old farm in Massachusetts, in the grocery store in Boston, and in the +shipping house of Enoch Train and Company, matured and hardened me +before my time. I was never much of a boy. I seem to have missed that +portion of my youth. I was obliged to look out for myself very early, +and was soon fighting hard in the fierce battle of competition, where +the weak are so often lost. + +It may be worth while to present here some important evidence of the +confidence that was reposed in me by experienced men, when, as a mere +youth, I was undertaking vast enterprises that might have made older men +hesitate. When I was about to leave Boston in '53 for business in +Australia, and organized the house of Caldwell, Train and Company, I was +authorized by the following well-established houses of this and other +countries to use them as references, and did so on our firm circulars: +John M. Forbes, John E. Thayer and Brother, George B. Upton, Enoch Train +and Company, Sampson and Tappan, and Josiah Bradlee and Company, of +Boston; Cary and Company, Goodhue and Company, Josiah Macy and Sons, +Grinnell, Minturn and Company, and Charles H. Marshall and Company, of +New York; H. and A. Cope and Company, of Philadelphia; Birckhead and +Pearce, of Baltimore; J. P. Whitney and Company, of New Orleans; Flint, +Peabody and Company, and Macondray and Company, of San Francisco; George +A. Hopley and Company, of Charleston; Archibald Gracie, of Mobile; and +the following foreign houses: Bowman, Grinnell and Company, and Charles +Humberston, of Liverpool; Russell and Company and Augustine Heard and +Company, of Canton. + +These were among the best known commercial houses in the world at that +time. Any business man, familiar with the commercial history of the +modern world, should consider this list fair enough evidence of the +confidence I enjoyed among men of affairs. Let me reproduce here--partly +as evidence along the same line, and partly because of the value I +attach to it on personal and friendly grounds--the following letter from +Mr. D. O. Mills: + + "NEW YORK, _September 30, 1901_. + "Hon. GEORGE FRANCIS TRAIN, + "_Mills Hotel, Bleecker St., New York_. + + "MY DEAR CITIZEN: + + "The many appreciative notices that have come to my attention of + your distinguished talents of early years lead me also to send you + a line of appreciation, particularly as touching the part played + by you in some of the great commercial enterprises that have so + signally marked the nineteenth century, notably in the Merchant + Marine, and in the building of the Union Pacific Railroad, in the + conception and construction of which you bore so distinguished a + part. + + "The present generation, with its conveniences of travel and + communication, can not realize what were the difficulties and + experiences of the merchant and traveler of those early days when + you were engaged in the China trade, and your Clipper Ships were + often seen in the port of San Francisco. + + "The long voyage around the Horn, the danger experienced from + sudden attack by Indians while traversing the wild and uninhabited + country lying between Omaha and the Pacific Coast, are experiences + which even an old voyager like myself questions as he speeds + across the continent, privileged to enjoy the comforts of a + Pullman car, and a railroad service that has shortened the journey + from New York to San Francisco from months to a few days. In + recalling the many years of our pleasant acquaintance by sea and + land, not the least is the remembrance of your kind and genial + spirit, and I am glad to see that you have lost none of your + sincere wish to do good. + + "With kind regards. + "Very truly yours, + "D. O. MILLS." + +Mr. Mills has known me in many walks of life. We have at times walked +side by side. At others, oceans have roared between us. He is my friend, +and I was glad to receive this kindly word from him, after many long +years of acquaintance. + +Although I am a hermit now, I was not always so. All who read this book +must see that. I spent many happy years in society--and never an unhappy +year anywhere, whether in jail or under social persecution; and I have +lived many years with my family in my own country and in foreign lands. +My wife, of whom I have spoken of in the following pages, passed into +shadow-land in '77. I have children who are scattered widely now. My +first child, Lily, was born in Boston, in '52, and died when five months +old, in Boston. My second daughter, Susan Minerva, was born in '55, and +married Philip Dunbar Guelager, who for thirty-six years was the head of +the gold and silver department of the Subtreasury in this city. She now +lives at "Minerva Lodge," Stamford, Connecticut, with my seven-year-old +grandson. My first son, George Francis Train, Jr., was born in '56, and +is now in business in San Francisco. Elsey McHenry Train, my last child, +now lives in Chicago. He was born in '57. I was able to see these +children well educated, at home and abroad, and to give them some chance +to see the great world I had known. + +A last word as to myself. Readers of this book may think I have +sometimes taken myself too seriously. I can scarcely agree with them. I +try not to be too serious about anything--not even about myself. When I +was making a hopeless fight for the Presidency in '72, I made the +following statement in one of my speeches: + +"Many persons attribute to me simply an impulsiveness, and an +impressibility, as if I were some erratic comet, rushing madly through +space, emitting coruscations of fancifully colored sparks, without +system, rule, or definite object. This is a popular error. I claim to be +a close analytical observer of passing events, applying the crucible of +Truth to every new matter or subject presented to my mind or my senses." + +I think that estimate may be used to-day in this place. It does not so +much matter, however, what I may have thought of myself or what I now +think of myself. What does matter is what I may have done. I stand on my +achievement. + +And with this, I commit my life-story to the kind consideration of +readers. + + CITIZEN GEORGE FRANCIS TRAIN. + + THE MILLS PALACE, + _September 22, '02_. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + CHAPTER I PAGE + + WHEN I WAS FOUR YEARS OLD. 1833 2 + New Orleans then my home--All the family except myself + perish from yellow fever. + + CHAPTER II + + MY VOYAGE FROM NEW ORLEANS TO BOSTON. 1833 16 + Four years old and the sole passenger--Sailors teach me to + swear--My aunt shocked at my depravity. + + CHAPTER III + + MY BOYHOOD ON A FARM. 1833-1843 21 + My grandfather a noted Methodist preacher--My first + money earned. + + CHAPTER IV + + SCHOOLDAYS AND A START IN LIFE. 1840-1844 35 + Leader of the school--George Ripley my school-teacher--Emerson + comes to our village to lecture--Boston visited. + + CHAPTER V + + EARLY NEW ENGLAND METHODISM. 45 + How I was reared religiously--Ideas of right and wrong--Things + outgrown. + + CHAPTER VI + + IN A SHIPPING HOUSE IN BOSTON. 1844-1850 52 + A place with my uncle--Progress rapidly made--I sell Emerson + a ticket for Liverpool--I engage Rufus Choate and + Daniel Webster as our lawyers--My first speculation--Building + fast ships. + + CHAPTER VII + + A VACATION TOUR. 1850 79 + In Washington I meet Webster, Clay, and President Taylor--A + letter with their autographs that served me well. + + CHAPTER VIII + + A PARTNER IN THE LIVERPOOL HOUSE. 1850-1852 90 + In Scotland Lord John Russell receives me, and I meet + Lady Russell--Reform in the shipping business--Money + we made--The Duke of Wellington--I visit Chatsworth. + + CHAPTER IX + + MY COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE--RETURN TO LIVERPOOL. + 1850-1852 109 + How I first met my wife--Engaged to marry her within + forty-eight hours--Governors in my charge--Our wedding + and the commotion that preceded it--Phrenology. + + CHAPTER X + + BUSINESS SUCCESS IN AUSTRALIA. 1853-1855 126 + A fine income at twenty-one--Melbourne in those days--American + ideas introduced--Accused of stealing $2,000,000. + + CHAPTER XI + + THE GOLD-FEVER IN NEW SOUTH WALES AND TASMANIA. + 1853-1855 141 + Lucky and unlucky miners--David D. Porter--Sydney in + those days--Free immigrants--Sir John Franklin. + + CHAPTER XII + + OTHER AUSTRALIAN INCIDENTS--A REVOLUTION 156 + Proposed as a candidate for President--Riotous times--Curious + incidents in business. + + CHAPTER XIII + + A VOYAGE TO CHINA. 1855 171 + Failure of ambitious plans--My first love of flowers--A + remarkable Dutch colony. + + CHAPTER XIV + + IN CHINESE CITIES. 1855-1856 182 + Hetty Green's husband in Hongkong with me--Pirates and + the slave trade--Honesty of the Chinaman--Eating rats-- + Pidgin-English--Li Hung Chang on board. + + CHAPTER XV + + TO INDIA AND THE HOLY LAND. 1856 204 + New ideas in religion--My early Methodism recalled--Where + Christ was born. + + CHAPTER XVI + + IN THE CRIMEA. 1856 215 + Plans in speculation that came to naught--The war, and + what I learned of it. + + CHAPTER XVII + + HOME ONCE MORE, AND THEN A RETURN TO EUROPE. + 1856-1857 221 + Boston and New York after a long absence--With my wife + I go to Paris. + + CHAPTER XVIII + + MEN I MET IN PARIS. 1857 226 + A ball at the Tuileries--Eugénie very gracious to me--An + unexpected woman comes in--William H. Seward. + + CHAPTER XIX + + BUILDING THE ATLANTIC AND GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY. + 1857-1858 237 + Queen Maria Christina's fortune employed--Salamanca, the + banker--How I secured a great loan. + + CHAPTER XX + + A VISIT TO RUSSIA. 1857 249 + I carry a message to the Grand Duke Constantine--A dinner + with Colonel Greig--Moscow and the Nijnii Novgorod + fair. + + CHAPTER XXI + + BUILDING THE FIRST STREET-RAILWAYS IN ENGLAND. 259 + A line in Liverpool that still exists--Making a start in + London--Better success in Staffordshire. + + CHAPTER XXII + + ENGLAND AND OUR CIVIL WAR--BLOCKADE RUNNING. 271 + Speeches for the Union in London halls--A plan to end the + war--Lincoln and Seward--Arrested for interrupting Sumner + in Boston--Dining with Seward when Antietam was + fought. + + CHAPTER XXIII + + BUILDING THE UNION PACIFIC RAILWAY. 1862-1870 283 + Early belief in such a project--The Crédit Mobilier and its + origin--Men with whom I was associated. + + CHAPTER XXIV + + THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE FAR WEST. 1863-1870 293 + Plan for a chain of great cities across the continent--The + creation of Omaha--Cozzen's Hotel--Tour of the Pacific + Coast. + + CHAPTER XXV + + THE SHARE I HAD IN THE FRENCH COMMUNE. 1870 301 + In Marseilles I help to organize the "Ligue du Midi" of the + Commune or "Red Republic"--Attacked by soldiers and + almost shot--Imprisoned and poisoned--Deported by Gambetta. + + CHAPTER XXVI + + A CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT. 1872 314 + "Train Villa" at Newport--Independent candidate for the + presidency against Grant and Greeley--A tour of the country, + in which I address hundreds of thousands. + + CHAPTER XXVII + + DECLARED A LUNATIC. 1872-1873 323 + I defend Mrs. Woodhull--Arrested and imprisoned for + quoting Scripture--Fifteenth imprisonment without a + crime. + + CHAPTER XXVIII + + AROUND THE WORLD IN EIGHTY, SIXTY-SEVEN, AND + SIXTY DAYS. 1870, 1890, 1892 331 + The tour that Jules Verne used as the basis of his famous + story--In '90 I circle the globe in 67 days; and in '92 in 60 + days. + + + + + ILLUSTRATIONS + + + FACING + PAGE + + Portrait of Citizen Train made recently _Frontispiece_ + + Portrait of Citizen Train's grandfather, the Rev. George + Pickering 2 + + Portrait of Mrs. George Francis Train 110 + + Citizen Train in the Mills Hotel dictating his Reminiscences 200 + + Citizen Train's former residence in Madison Avenue, + New York 286 + + Citizen Train's former villa at Newport 314 + + Citizen Train with the children in Madison Square 324 + + Citizen Train and his guests at dinner in the Mills Hotel 338 + + + + +MY LIFE IN MANY STATES AND IN FOREIGN LANDS + + + + +CHAPTER I + +WHEN I WAS FOUR YEARS OLD + +1833 + + +My grandfather was the Reverend George Pickering, of Baltimore--a +slave-owner. Having fallen in with the early Methodists, long before +Garrison, Phillips, and Beecher had taken up the abolition idea, he +liberated his slaves and went to preaching the Gospel. He became an +itinerant Methodist preacher, with the pitiable salary of $300 a year. +The sale of one of his "prime" negro slaves would have brought him in +more money than four years of preaching. He would have been stranded +very soon if he had not had the good sense to marry my beautiful +grandmother, who had a thousand-acre farm at Waltham, ten miles out of +Boston. My grandfather thus could preach around about the neighborhood, +and then come back to the family at home. My father married the eldest +daughter of this Methodist preaching grandfather of mine, Maria +Pickering. + +I was born at No. 21 High Street, Boston, during a snow-storm, on the +24th of March, '29. When I was a baby, my father went to New Orleans and +opened a store. Soon after arriving in that city I was old enough to +observe things, and to remember. I can recollect almost everything in my +life from my fourth year. From the time I was three years old up to this +present moment--a long stretch of seventy years, the Prophet's limit of +human life--I can remember almost every event in my life with the +greatest distinctness. This book of mine will be a pretty fair test of +my memory. + +I can remember the beautiful flowers of the South. How deeply they +impressed themselves upon my mind! I can recall the garden with its +wonderful floral wealth, the gift of the Southern sun. I can recollect +exactly how the old clothesline used to look, with its load of +linen--the resting-place of the long-bodied insects we called "devil's +darning needles," or mosquito hawks--and how we children used to strike +the line with poles, to frighten the insects and see them fly away on +their filmy wings. And I can remember going down to my father's store, +filling the pockets of my little frock with dried currants, which I +thought were lovely, and watching him there at his work. + +[Illustration: Rev. George Pickering, George Francis Train's +grandfather.] + +Then came the terrible yellow-fever year. It is still known there as the +year of the fever, or of the plague. This fearful epidemic swept over +the city, and left it a city of the dead. It was a catastrophe +recalled to me by that of Martinique. My family suffered with the rest +of the city. I remember well the horror of the time. There were no +hearses to be had. Physicians and undertakers had gone to the grave with +their patients and patrons. The city could not afford to bury decently +so many of its dead inhabitants. And the fear of the plague had so +shaken the human soul that men stood afar off, aghast, and did only what +they had to do in a coarse, brutal, swift burial of the dead. + +There were no coffins to be had, and no one could have got them if there +had been enough of them. Corpses were buried, all alike, in coarse pine +boxes, hastily put together in the homes--and often by the very +hands--of the relatives of the dead. One day they brought into our home +a coarse pine box. I did not know what it was or for what it was meant. +Then I saw them take the dead body of my little sister Josephine and put +it hastily into the rough pine box. I was too young to understand it +all, but I can never forget that scene; it starts tears even now. After +nailing up the box and marking it to go "To the Train Vaults," the +family sat and waited for the coming of the "dead wagon." The city sent +round carters to pick up the numerous dead, just as it had formerly sent +out scavenger carts to take away the refuse. + +We could hear the "dead wagon" as it approached. We knew it by the +dolorous cry of the driver. It drew nearer and nearer to our home. It +all seemed so terrible, and yet I could not understand it. I heard the +wagon stop under our window. Now the scene all comes back to me, and it +recalls the rumble and rattle of those tumbrels of the French Reign of +Terror: only it was the fever, instead of the guillotine, that demanded +its victims. The driver would not enter the pest-stricken houses. He +remained in his cart, and shouted out, in a heart-tearing cry, to the +inmates to bring their dead to him. As he drove up to our window he +placed his hands around his mouth, as a hunter does in making a halloo, +and cried: "Bring out--bring out your dead!" + +The long-wailed dolorous cry filled the streets, empty of their +frequenters: "Bring out--bring out your dead!" Again at our home the cry +was heard; and I saw my father and others lift up the coarse pine box, +with the body of my little sister shut inside, carry it to the window, +and toss it into the "dead wagon." And then the wagon rattled away down +the street, and again, as it stopped under the window of the next house, +over the doomed city rang the weird cry: "Bring out--bring out your +dead!" + +A few days later another rough pine box was brought to our home. Again I +did not understand it; but I knew more of the mystery of death than I +had known before. Into this box they placed the body of my little sister +Louise. Then we waited for the approach of the "dead wagon." I knew that +it would again come to our home, to get its freight of death. I went to +the window, and looked up and down the street, and waited. Far in the +distance, I heard the cry: "Bring out--bring out your dead!" + +The wagon finally arrived. The window was thrown open, the rude box was +lifted up, taken to the window, and thrown into the wagon, which was +already loaded with similar boxes. They were in great haste, it seemed +to me, to be rid of the poor little box. And the carter drove on down +the street to other stricken homes, crying: "Bring out--bring out your +dead!" + +I now began to feel the loss of my sisters. Two had gone. Only one was +left with me, my little sister Ellen, as frail and as lovely a flower as +ever bloomed. When the next box came, and she, dead of the plague, was +put into it, I thought it time for me to interfere. I went to the window +and stood guard. Again came the terrible cry: "Bring out--bring out your +dead!" And my last little sister was taken away in the "dead wagon." + +I was too young to understand it all, but I remember going with my +father and mother in the carriage every time they carried one of my +sisters to the graveyard. + +The next strange thing to happen was the arrival in the house of a box +much larger than the others. I did not know what it could be for. The +box was very rough looking. It was made of unplaned boards. My nurse +told me it was for my mother. Again I took my stand by the window. +"Bring out--bring out your dead!" resounded mournfully in the street +just below the window where I stood. I looked out, and there was the +"dead wagon." It had come for my mother. + +I was astonished to find that they did not throw the box containing my +mother into the wagon. It was too large and heavy. Four or five men had +to come into the house and take out the box. It was marked "To the Train +Vaults," and was put into the wagon with the other boxes containing dead +bodies. Only my father and I sat in the carriage that went to the +cemetery and to the vaults that day. There were my mother and my three +little sisters; all had been swept from me in this St. Pierre style--in +this volcano of yellow fever. + +Finally there came one day a letter from my grandmother, the wife of the +old Methodist itinerant preacher of Waltham: "Send on some one of the +family, before they are all dead. Send George." And so my father made +preparations to send me back to Massachusetts. I can remember now the +exact wording of the card he wrote and pinned on my coat, just like the +label or tag on a bag of coffee. It read: + + "This is my little son George Francis Train. Four years old. + Consigned on board the ship Henry to John Clarke, Jr., Dock + Square, Boston; to be sent to his Grandmother Pickering, at + Waltham, ten miles from Boston. Take good care of the Little + Fellow, as he is the only one left of eleven of us in the house, + including the servants [slaves]. I will come on as soon as I can + arrange my Business." + +I remember how we went down to the ship in the river. She lay out in the +broad, muddy Mississippi, and seven other vessels lay between her and +the shore. Planks were laid on the bank, or "levee," as they called the +shore in New Orleans, and up to the side of the nearest ship. We climbed +over these planks and passed over the seven vessels, and came to the +Henry. My father kissed me good-by, and left me on board the ship. + +There I was, aboard this great vessel--for so she seemed to me then--a +little boy, without nurse or guardian to look after me. I was just so +much freight. I was part of the cargo. We floated down the Mississippi +slowly, and floated on and on toward the Gulf. We were floating out into +the great waters, into the great world, floating through the waters of +Gulf and ocean, floating along in the Gulf Stream, and floating on +toward my Northern home. + +Thus I was floating, when I began my life anew; and I have been floating +for seventy years! + +When my father said good-by to me, kissing me as we passed over the last +of the seven ships between the Henry and the shore, I saw him put a +handkerchief to his face, as if to hide from me the tears that were in +his eyes. He feared that my little heart would break down under the +strain. But I didn't cry. Everything was so new to me. I was too small +to realize all that the parting meant and all that had led up to it. I +could not feel that I was leaving behind me all the members of my +family--in the vaults of the graveyard. The ship seemed a new world to +me. I had no eyes for tears--only for wonderment. + +For many years afterward I heard nothing of my father. He had dropped +below the horizon when I floated down the Mississippi, and I saw and +heard nothing more of him. As my mother and three sisters had been +buried together in New Orleans, we had taken it for granted that father +had followed them to the grave, a victim of the same pestilence. But +nothing was known as to this for many years. + +We were anxious to have all the bodies brought together in one graveyard +in the North and buried side by side. The family burying-ground was at +Waltham, where eight generations were then sleeping--that is, eight +generations of Pickerings and Bemises. There were the bodies of my +great-grandmother, and of ancestors belonging to the first Colonial +days. My cousin, George Pickering Bemis, Mayor of Omaha, afterward had +a monument erected over the spot where so many Bemises and Pickerings +lay in their long rest, to preserve their memory. But my father's body +was never to rest there; nor was it ever seen by any of his relatives. + +My uncle, John Clarke, Jr., who had brought me out of New Orleans and +rescued me from the plague, tried to find some trace of my father; but +no record or vestige of him could be found in that city. Every trace of +him had been swept away. His very existence there had been forgotten, +erased. No one could be found who had ever heard of him, or knew +anything about his store. So completely had the pestilence done its +terrible work of destruction and obliteration. As this period was prior +to the invention of the daguerreotype, we had no photographs of him. The +only likenesses that were made then were expensive miniatures on ivory. +I have no picture of him, except the one I carry forever in my memory. + +Sixty years passed away. One day I received a letter from one of my +cousins, Louisa Train, who was living in Michigan. She told me that her +father and mother had died, and that the furniture of the old house, in +which they and her grandparents had lived, had fallen to her. "In moving +an old bureau," she wrote, "it fell to pieces, and, to my surprise, two +documents rolled upon the floor. These papers relate to you. One of +them was a letter from your father to his mother, written from New +Orleans shortly before you left that city. In it he says: + +"'You can imagine my loneliness in being in this great house, always so +lively, with eleven persons in it, including my own family--now all +alone. George is with his tutor. He is a very extraordinary boy, though +only four years old. The other day he repeated some verses, of which I +can remember these lines: + + "'I am monarch of all I survey; + My right there is none to dispute; + From the center all round to the sea, + I am lord of the fowl and the brute.'" + +I was to receive one other message from my father. Since I began writing +this autobiography, my aged aunt, Abigail Pickering Frost, now in her +ninetieth year, discovered a letter that my father had written to her +and to her sister, my aunt Alice, who afterward married Henry A. +Winslow, upon the day that he placed me on the ship Henry, and sent me +to my grandmother at Waltham, Mass. Aunt Abigail, after the death of +aunt Alice, who was one of the victims in the wreck of the Lexington, in +January, '40, hid the letter in the garret of the old Waltham farmhouse, +where she later discovered it. She now sends it to me from her home in +Omaha, Neb., where it had again been lost, and found after a long +search, as she knew that I would appreciate it as a part of my +life-story. + +The letter came to me as a wail from the dead. I was very young, and +childish, and thoughtless when I parted from him forever; but his letter +brought back to me in a flood the bitterness of our life in New Orleans, +the loneliness of my father in his great grief, and made me suffer, +nearly seventy years afterward, for the pain that I was then too young +to understand or feel. I give this letter, which is inexpressibly dear +to me, just as it was written. + + "NEW ORLEANS, _June 10th, 1833_. + + "DEAR SISTERS ABIGAIL AND ALICE: + + "'Tis just two years since I left this place for New York, and + arrived in Boston the evening of the 3d of July. I hope MY DEAR + BOY will arrive safe and pass the 4th of July with you. He is now + on board the ship (and the steamboat alongside the ship) to the + Balize. I have written several letters by the ship, and found I + had a few moments to spare which I will improve by addressing + you. I refer you to the letters to Mother Pickering for + _particulars_--as I have not time to say much. I can only say, my + dear girls, that I am very unhappy here for reasons you well + know. _I part with George as though I was parting with my right + eye_--but 'tis for his good and the happiness of all that he + should go; take him to your own home, care, and protection; _he + is no ordinary boy, but is destined for a great scholar_. + + "I am left here without a friend except my God! in a city where + the cholera is raging to a great extent--100 are dying daily! and + among them some of the most valuable citizens. A sweet little + girl about the age of Ellen, and an intimate acquaintance of + George's, who used to walk arm in arm with him, died this morning + with the cholera, and a great number of others among our most + intimate acquaintances have passed on. Mrs. Simons died in six + hours! What is life worth to me? Oh, my dear sisters! could I + leave this dreadful place I would, and die among my friends! The + thoughts of my dear Maria and Ellen fill me with sorrow! I have + mourned over their tombs in silence. I have been with them in my + dreams, and frequently I meet them in my room and talk with them + as though alive. All here is melancholy. When shall I see you, + God only knows! I have relieved my heavy heart of a burden--a + weight that was almost unsupportable. + + "In parting with my _lovely boy_ I have bequeathed him to Mother + Pickering as a legacy--it being all that I possess! You will take + a share of the care, and I know will be all that mothers could be + for your dear sister Maria's sake! + + "Give my love to Grandpa Bemis, Father Pickering, and all the + rest of the family. Say to them that _my mind is constantly with + them_, and will ever be so. I have written in great haste and + very badly, as I am on board the ship and _all is confusion_, + with the steamboat alongside. Farewell, my dear sisters! Do write + me a line. If you knew how much I prize a letter from you, you + would write often. Adieu, and believe me your affectionate + brother, + + "OLIVER TRAIN. + + "To Misses ABIGAIL and ALICE PICKERING, + _Waltham, Mass._" + +The other document mentioned by my cousin Louisa, was the deed of a farm +by my paternal grandfather, making a certain physician trustee of the +property. I never came into that property! This was my first bequest. I +had begun, even in my infancy, to give away my property, and I have +thrown it away ever since. This first "bequest," however, was none of my +making, although I accepted it, without trying to question the matter. + +Another involuntary "bequest" of my childhood was brought about in this +way. My mother, when a girl, was engaged to marry Stebbins Fiske. It was +by a mere chance that they were not married--and therefore my name is +"Train" by a mere accident which changed the fate of my mother and her +fiancé. My father was a warm friend of Stebbins Fiske, and when Fiske +was called suddenly to New Orleans, just before the day set for the +marriage, he left his betrothed, Maria Pickering, in charge of my +father. The result might have been foreseen. It is the common theme of +romance the world over. My mother and my father fell in love with each +other, and were married. There was no thought of unfaithfulness; it was +merely inevitable. Fiske understood the situation, and forgave both of +them, and continued the stanch friend of both. + +In his will Fiske left a small sum--$5,000--to my mother's mother. It +was the most delicate way in which he could leave some of his money so +that his old sweetheart might get it. The terms of the will were that +this money should be divided at my grandmother's death. It was so +divided, and a certain portion of it should have come to me; but I never +received a penny. This was my second bequest, for I allowed others to +take freely what belonged to me. + +My third bequest was made with my eyes open. When I was about starting +for Australia in '53, another uncle-in-law, George W. Frost, whom I +afterward appointed purchasing agent of the Union Pacific Railway, a +splendid gentleman and a clergyman, came to me and said: "Your Aunt +Abbie" (his wife) "and myself are going to take care of your old +grandmother on the farm. Have you any objections to signing away your +interest in the old place?" + +I said that, of course, I would sign it away. I was all right. I was +going out into the great world to make fortunes. And I signed it away, +as if it were a mere nothing. + +These incidents I mention here as illustrations of my whole life. Since +my fourth year I have given away--thrown away--money. I have made others +rich. But I have never yet got what was due me from others. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +MY VOYAGE FROM NEW ORLEANS TO BOSTON + +1833 + + +I found myself a part of the cargo--shipped as freight, 2,000 miles, +from the tropics to the arctic region, without a friend to take care of +me. I was alone. This feeling, however, did not oppress me overmuch. +Every one on board tried to make a pet of me, and, besides, there was so +much to do, so much to see, so much to feel. From cabin to fo'cas'le I +was made welcome. + +There was only one cabin passenger besides myself. I sat at table +opposite this passenger, and I remember that at the first meal they +brought on some "flapjacks" (our present-day wheat-cakes). I was very +fond of them, and ate them with sirup or molasses. I noticed that my +companion in the cabin did not use molasses with his. I could not +understand why any one should eat his flapjacks without molasses. + +I thought this stranger too ignorant to know that molasses was the +proper thing with flapjacks, and tried to help him to a fuller knowledge +of the resources of the table. I reached over, and tried to pour some +molasses on his plate. Just then a heavy sea struck the ship, and I was +thrown forward with a lurch. The entire contents of the molasses jug +went in a flood over the man's trousers! Of course he was furious, and +did not appreciate my efforts to teach him. I expected him to strike me, +but he did not. It did not occur to me to beg his pardon, as I was doing +what I thought to be a pure act of kindness. We afterward became good +friends. + +We were twenty-three days on the voyage. Before we had been aboard long +I became friendly with everybody on the ship, and they with me. I was +very active, and had the run of the boat. I was like a parrot, a goat, +or a monkey--or all three. There was no stewardess on the boat, and as I +had no one to look after me, I led a wild sort of life. I lived in the +fo'cas'le, or with the sailors on deck or in the riggings. I liked the +fo'cas'le best. I soon got to feel at home there. Sometimes I was in the +cabin with my molasses-hating friend, but the fo'cas'le was my delight, +and there I was to be found at all hours. During the twenty-three days +of the voyage I was not washed once! I wore the same clothes days and +nights, and became a little dirty savage! + +It may be easily imagined that communication with these rough, coarse, +honest, but vulgar sailors had a terrible effect on me. Everything bad +that is known to sailors these sailors knew, and very soon I knew. I +observed everything, learned everything. I soon cursed and swore as +roundly as any of them, using the words as innocently as if they were +quotations from the Bible. + +One of the games the sailors used to play with me was to go up into the +rigging and call down to me that there was a great plantation up there +that I could not see. Then they would throw lumps of sugar to me and +tell me they came from the plantation in the rigging, and monkeys were +throwing them to me. Of course I believed it all. How was I to know they +were lying to me? I was only four years old. They stamped upon my mind +the whole fo'cas'le--its rough life, its jollity, its oaths, and its +lies. + +As soon as our ship came to anchor out came a boat with my uncle. I +remember that there was a little dog in the boat also. My uncle took me +to the wharf, and then to his tobacco store in Dock Square. There I +found awaiting us an old-fashioned chaise, and my uncle said he would +take me right out to my grandmother's, at Waltham. The drive took us +through two or three villages, and through several strips of forest. +Finally we drove up to a little gate that stood about half a mile from +the old farmhouse, and divided the next place from the farm of my +grandmother. There were my aunts, all waiting for me. + +Imagine the astonishment of my grandmother and of my aunts on seeing +the dirty little street Arab that came to see them! I was as intolerably +filthy as any brat that ever came out of a sewer. I fairly reeked with +the smells and the dirt of the fo'cas'le! To the dust and grime of New +Orleans I had added the dust and grime of the ship, for I had not been +near soap and water since I left New Orleans. Fancy going to these clean +and prim old ladies in such a plight! But I was at least in good health, +and magnificently alive. + +The first thing they did was to summon a sort of town-meeting, to have +me narrate the events of my voyage. But before I was to go before my +audience I must be washed and have a change of clothes. This part of the +program was postponed by an accident. The ladies heard me swear! It +shocked their gentle minds immeasurably. But I didn't know what swearing +meant. + +What can not a boy learn in three weeks that is bad? I suppose I must +have picked up all the wickedness of the fo'cas'le without knowing what +it was. It seemed all right to me; but not to my good grandmother and to +my aunts. + +They wanted to cleanse me outwardly and inwardly, and prepared to start +outwardly. They insisted that I must change my clothes and have a good +scrubbing. But before they began I told them some of my experiences +aboard ship. I told them about the sailors getting sugar from the +plantation up in the riggings and the monkeys throwing it down to me. +They told me there were no fields up there, no monkeys and no sugar, +except what the sailors had carried up with them. + +I was indignant. "If you don't believe my story," said I, "about the +plantation in the rigging and about the monkeys and the sugar, you can +not wash me or change my clothes." + +The line of battle was now drawn. If they did not want to believe my +story, I was not going to let them do anything for me. That +monkey-and-sugar story was my ultimatum. They refused to accept it. For +three days they laid siege to me, but I refused to be washed or clothed +in a fresh clean suit until they believed my story. I felt I was telling +the truth, and could not bear to have my word doubted. Finally they said +that they believed my story. + +There is an old tale of a boy who was told by his parents, who did not +want him to cling any longer to the old myth about Santa Claus, that it +was not Santa Claus that brought him all the good things on Christmas, +but that they, his parents, had been giving him the presents year after +year. The boy turned to his mother and said: "Have you been fooling me +about the God question too?" + + + + +CHAPTER III + +MY BOYHOOD ON A FARM + +1833-1843 + + +The old house where I spent these years of my childhood and boyhood is +now more than two hundred years old. It was the home of the old +Methodists in that section, and had been the headquarters of the sect +for a hundred years before it began to have regular "conferences." Here +lived the slave-owner Pickering, who married my grandmother, the +farmer's daughter. If it had not been for this home, which was a refuge +and asylum for the itinerant preacher, grandfather Pickering would have +starved. The farm was his anchorage. Otherwise he would have gone +adrift. + +A religious atmosphere pervaded the place. It left the deepest impress +upon my mind. The only paper we took was Zion's Herald, a religious +weekly published by Stevens, of Boston. The difference between this +calm, religious life of the Methodists and the turbulent, rough, and +swearing life of the fo'cas'le was very marked. But it took me a long +time to get away from the atmosphere of the fo'cas'le and into that of +the Methodists. Even the bath and the clean clothes did not seem to +change me very much. I discovered that cleanliness is not so very near +to godliness, after all. + +Of course the old Methodists had prayers in the morning and at night, +and they had grace at every meal. Every one knelt at prayers. But they +could not make me kneel. I would not bow the knee. I had not got over +the sailors' ways, and the monkeys, and the throwing down sugar from the +plantation in the sails--the Santa Claus part of it. I always remembered +it. + +Of course I was taken to the little church, a mile off up in the woods, +where my grandfather preached. It was in his "circuit." As we were +coming home one day, and I was driving, the chaise struck a stone, and +the old gentleman was jostled considerably. He impatiently seized the +reins from me and gave the horse a severe flip with them, and drove the +rest of the way himself. The little incident made a deep impression on +my mind. I said to myself: "If this is the way Christians act, I do not +want to have anything to do with them." + +The Pickerings were an ancient Southern--and before that, an +English--family. Some of the members lived in South Carolina, some in +Virginia, others in Maryland. One of them sat in Washington's first +cabinet. Like my grandfather, they were all slave-owners. Judge Gilbert +Pickering was chairman of Cromwell's committee that cut off King +Charles's head. Grandfather Pickering was a liberal man in many ways. I +have spoken already of his freeing his own slaves. He chose the calling +of an itinerant Methodist preacher, when to do so meant tremendous +financial sacrifice and the loss of social rank. He almost starved at +it, but he stuck to it with great nobleness of mind. It gave him a sort +of religious freedom. + +Once he could have been a bishop in the New England branch of Methodism; +but he refused the ambitious title. He did not believe in bishops for +their church. And so, setting aside every offer of preferment, every +opportunity of rising or getting on in the world, he chose to labor at +his simple calling, like a martyr. And he would shortly have found +martyrdom in starvation, had it not been for my lovely grandmother, with +her thrift and care. + +The branch of Methodists to which my grandfather belonged was very +liberal. It was so liberal, indeed, that my mother and her five sisters +had all been educated at the Ursuline convent at Charlestown, Mass., +which was destroyed by the mob in '42. I remember that after the mob +burned this convent to the ground the Methodists wanted to buy the site, +and applied to the Roman Catholic archbishop in Boston, who replied: "We +sometimes purchase, but we never sell." + +Another incident of my boyhood may be recalled here, as it illustrates +the stubborn pride that had begun to show itself even then. One day an +elegant carriage drove up to the old house, and a young lady, +beautifully dressed, got out and asked to see George Train. I went up to +her, and she told me who she was. + +"You must remember, when you grow up," she said, "that I am Miss Sallie +Rhoades. We are one of the few families of Maryland," she added, with a +pride that was evident even to my boyish eyes, "that have been able to +support their carriages for one hundred and fifty years." She spoke with +the air of a _grande dame_, which stung my own pride keenly. + +"While I am very glad to meet my Southern relative," I said, with equal +pride, even if I could not equal her manner, "we have kept our ox-cart +on the old farm for two hundred years." I expected the additional half a +century to stagger her. But it did not seem to reach home; and she drove +away. This was the last I ever saw of "Miss Sallie Rhoades, of +Maryland." + +In those days in New England we had to depend very much on ourselves on +the farm, and we made as much of supplies as possible. I became an adept +at making currant wine, cider, maple sugar, molasses candy, and +sausages. I used also to make the candles we burned on the place, +molding them half a dozen at a time in the old candle mold, which was +never absent from a country house of that day. So, in my lifetime, I +have passed from the period of the tallow dip to the electric light. + +From four to ten years of age I earned my own living on the old farm. I +believe it is the only instance in the world where a child of four +supported himself in this way. What I mean by earning my own living is, +that while the expense of keeping a little youngster like me was very +small, I earned more than enough to pay my way. I dressed myself. No one +took care of me. I was left pretty much alone, except in the way of +receiving religious admonition. I was always running errands for the men +and women of the place. There was constantly something for me to do. + +Moreover, I was very ambitious. I wanted to know everything that was +going on about me. This has ever been my characteristic. I was born +inquisitive. I have never been afraid to ask questions. If I ever saw +anything I did not understand, I asked about it; and the information +stuck in my mind, like a burr. I never forgot. I soon learned everything +there was to be learned on the farm. + +The room I slept in was a great wide one, and I slept alone. I was not +afraid; but I remember the great size and depth of that cold New England +room. + +Life on the farm was busy enough. I often set the table and did other +things that the hired girl did, and could soon do almost everything just +as well as she--from setting the table to preparing a meal. All this I +learned before I was ten years old. I mention these little details +merely to show the difference between the life I had to lead in old New +England and the life my children and grandchildren have since led. + +One blessing and glory was that I had the universal atmosphere. The +woods and fields were mine. I could roam in the forest and over the +fields at will. The great farm was a delight to me. I was never afraid +anywhere. In those days there were no "hoboes" or "hoodlums" roaming +over the country. We kept no locks on our doors, or clasps on the +windows. Everything was open. + +On the farm, as about the house, I soon learned everything that I could. +I learned to sow and reap, to plant various crops, to plow, hoe, mow, +harvest. And I had a special garden of my own, where I raised a little +of everything--onions, lettuce, cucumbers, parsnips, and other +vegetables. I knew their seasons, the time to plant them, and when to +gather them. I was an observer from the cradle. Little escaped my eyes. +And I have made it a practise all through my life to master everything +as I came to it. + +Of books I saw little in those days. The only ones we had on the farm +place, in what was termed by courtesy the "library," were the Waverley +Novels, Jane Porter's Scottish Chiefs, Watts's Hymns, and the Bible. +There was, of course, Zion's Herald, the religious weekly paper from +Boston I have already mentioned. These were our literature. I read +everything I could get hold of, and soon exhausted the small resources +of the farm library. + +We were so far from the village and the more frequented roads that the +only persons who came to our house were peddlers, who sold us kitchen +utensils, such as tin pans and buckets, and the lone fisherman, who +would always sound his horn a mile away to warn us of his approach. + +The old house had the usual New England parlor or drawing-room, the room +of ceremony, never aired until some guest came to occupy it, or there +was a funeral or baptism in it. I have never found farmers, anywhere in +the world, who had any idea of ventilation. They slept in closed rooms, +without any regard to health or cleanliness--for nothing is so cleansing +as fresh, pure air. There was the old fireplace, with the great andirons +that could sustain the weight of a forest tree, and often did. +Everything was a century old, and just that much behind the day; but +that was then the case everywhere in New England rural sections. + +And what fires we used to have in that cavernous chimney! We would place +a tremendous log on the andirons, and build a fire about it. Soon it +would give out a terrific heat, but it was not sufficient to warm up the +great room, into which the cold air swept through a thousand cracks and +chinks. Our faces, bending over the blazing log, would be fairly +blistered, while our backs would be chilled with cold. The farther end +of the room would be icy cold, for drafts had free play. The house was +poorly built, so far as comfort was concerned, although it was stout +enough to last a couple of centuries. Not only the winds but the snow +found easy entrance. If it snowed during the night, I would find a +streak of snow lying athwart the room the next morning, often putting my +bare feet in it as I got up in the darkness. + +The ignorance of the Puritan farmers of New England was the densest +ignorance that I have ever seen, even among farmers. They knew nothing, +and seemed to care nothing, about the laws of health or economy. They +were content to live exactly in the way their ancestors had lived for +generations. They learned nothing, and forgot nothing--like the +Bourbons. + +This suggests to me the fact that the climate of New England has changed +tremendously since I was a boy. Most old people say something like this. +When I was a boy there was snow every winter and all winter. Now there +is comparatively little snow. Then it used to begin in November, and we +were practically shut in on our farms, often even in our houses, for the +winter. For six months the snow covered the earth. When we wanted to +get out, we had to break our way out with an ox-sled. The old climate of +New England has gone. + +When I was ten years old I began taking "truck" to the old Quincy market +in Boston. It was ten miles away, but I soon got accustomed to going +there alone and selling out the farm produce and vegetables. I had to +get up at four o'clock in the mornings, in order to look after the horse +and to harness him. He was called "Old Tom," and was a faithful, +trustworthy animal. + +I would arrive at the market before dawn, and would back the wagon up +against the market-house and wait for the light. I fed the horse, and +now and then, if the weather was particularly bad, I would put him in a +stable for a few hours, at a cost of fifty cents, and feed him on oats. + +After closing out the "truck," I would drive to Cambridgeport, where I +bought the groceries and other supplies for the farm. My grandmother +trusted all this to me. After this I got a luncheon, which cost me a +"shilling cut," as it was called then--twelve and a half cents. Then I +would drive home, and could give to grandmother a full and itemized +account of everything, without having set down a word or a figure on +paper. This went on for two or three years. + +For amusement, as I have said, I had the universal atmosphere, and I had +the great old farm, and the forest and the fields. I had them all to +myself. I roamed over them, and through them, at will. I used to set +box-traps for rabbits and snares for partridges. I had a little gun, +also, and a little dog, with which I would hunt rabbits or squirrels. +The dog I have always regarded with wonder. He could see a gray squirrel +at the top of a tree half a mile away. Some persons think he smelled the +squirrel, but I am certain he saw it. And he was only a mongrel, at +that. He would lead me to a tree, and I would shoot the squirrel. The +little dog--a sort of fox terrier--was the only real friend I ever had. +He was my constant companion, whenever I could get to him or he to me. +In the winter I used him as a warming-pan. The old farmhouse was +cold--very cold. We had no means of heating it. At night I would find +the sheets of my bed as cold as an ice-floe. Then I would send my little +dog down under the covering, and he would stay there until he had warmed +up the bed. + +Then there was pigeon-netting. This is an old sport that has, I suppose, +died out in New England. In my boyhood, however, great flocks of wild +pigeons used to come to the New England woods and forests. The device +for catching large numbers of them by netting was quite primitive, but +effective. + +My uncle Francis (for whom I was named), whom I used to help net +pigeons, was quite a sportsman. He was fond of fishing, and he was a +great hand at the nets. We had two places for spreading the nets, one in +the "vineyard" and the other in a "burnt-hill" in the forest. All the +foliage was stripped from several trees that were close together. Then +we would arrange the net so it could be drawn together at the right +time, spread it over the ground, and bait it. Then we would plant our +stool-pigeons. As soon as we saw a flock of pigeons approaching we would +stir the stool-pigeons by pulling on a string to which they were +attached. They would move about, as if they were really alive. The +pigeons would circle about the spot, attracted by the fluttering +stool-pigeons, and then they would catch sight of the grain and come +down. When the net was filled with them, we would draw the strings, and +sometimes we caught as many as a hundred at a time. They were then +killed and sold. + +By such work as this I was earning my own support. This is a sample of +my life on the farm from four to ten years. I wore one suit of clothes a +year, and the suit cost originally not more than $10, and was made at +home. I had some little pocket-money occasionally. I was permitted to +sell the rabbits and partridges, the spoil of my traps and gun. These +small resources usually enabled me to keep a few cents--sometimes a few +dollars--in my pockets. + +There is nothing more extravagant and truly wasteful than a boy with a +few dollars in his pockets. He can throw away his slender fortune with +magnificent bravado. One summer I had accumulated $17, and, naturally, I +was itching to spend it. The hired man was going up to Concord to help +celebrate "Cornwallis Day" (October 19), and I got consent to accompany +him. There was to be a fair, and I took my money with me--very stupidly. +The memory of it was soon all that remained. + +My first step in extravagance was the purchase of a bunch of +firecrackers. It cost me, apparently, ten cents; but actually it was my +financial undoing, and cost me $17. I began to pop the crackers, and +soon had a crowd of boys around me. They were envious of me. They didn't +have money to buy crackers. I popped away with great nonchalance, but +husbanding my ammunition and popping only a single cracker at a time. +This was strategy of a high order; but I could not keep it up. I didn't +know the resourcefulness of boy-nature. Presently, I heard a boy whisper +just behind me, to one of his companions: "Just wait a minute, and you +will see him touch off the whole pack!" + +This was irresistible. My blood was fired with ambition. I fired the +whole bunch at once! The hurrahs and yells were tremendous, and set me +wild. I went and bought another bunch, and set it all off at one time, +as if firecrackers were no new thing to me. But my recklessness was not +to stop there. I had been carried off my feet by the hurrah, as many an +older person has been before. + +Our hired man came to me and said that a very pretty thing was going on +near by. I went with him, and saw a man playing a game with three +thimbles, a pea, and a green cushion. The game was to guess under which +of the thimbles the pea was concealed. The hired man thought he knew and +insisted that he knew, and the gamester wanted to bet him that he +didn't. After a while another man came up and tried his hand at +guessing. He also missed. The loss of his money made him indignant, and +he took up another of the thimbles. The pea was not there. + +The thing then seemed so easy to our hired man that he asked to try a +dollar on the game. Then the irate man who had lost his money took up +the other thimble and brushed the pea off the cushion. Our hired man, +who let nothing that was going on about the green cushion escape his +sight, saw the pea swept away, and eagerly bet the dealer that there was +no pea there at all. The dealer took him up, and lifted the thimble, and +lo! there was the pea. This did not satisfy the hired man, who kept on +betting, and losing until he had no money left. Thus our savings went up +in powder smoke and in guesses at the whereabouts of a fleeting pea. I +did not gamble then, nor have I gambled since. + +But the firecracker day had its lessons for me. It taught me some things +about money and its power, and it got me interested in Cornwallis. I +began to read American history. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +SCHOOLDAYS AND A START IN LIFE + +1840-1844 + + +I went to school, of course, for this was a part of the serious business +of New England life. Our schoolhouse was two and a half miles distant, +and the path to it lay across half a dozen farms and ran through the +forest for a mile. There I was taught the "three R's," and nothing else. +There was no thought of Latin or Greek, and, except the little +'rithmetic, no mathematics. I learned to cipher, read, and write; but I +learned these rudimentary branches very rapidly. At night, in the old +farmhouse, my aunts would go over the tasks of the day with me. + +Our principal diversions were in the winter, when we had delightful +sleighing parties. The school-children always had one great picnic. +There would be a six-horse sleigh, and the teacher would be in charge of +the party. We visited the surrounding towns, and it was a great affair +to us. We looked forward to it from the very commencement of the school +year. On examination day, at the close of the term, we children had to +clean the schoolhouse. There was no janitor, as now. But we enjoyed the +work, and took a certain childish pride in it. + +I remember that one of my earliest ambitions was gratified at that +period when I was chosen leader of the school. I stood at the head of +everything. And it was no idle compliment. Boys are not, like their +elders, influenced by envy or jealousy. They invariably try to select +the best "man" among them for their leader. Jealousies, envy, and +heart-burnings come afterward. + +Reading the account of the collision between the Priscilla and the +Powhatan in the Sound off Newport, this year, and the peril that +threatened five hundred passengers, there came to my mind the +recollection of a catastrophe that happened sixty-two years ago, and how +the tidings were brought to me. I can live over again the horror of that +day. I recall that it was in January, '40. + +It was a stormy, bitter day, and I was in the little schoolhouse at Pond +End, two and a half miles from the farm. The snow had been falling a +long while, and everything was covered with it. As the day advanced, and +the snow piled deeper and ever deeper about the little house, and +covered the forests and fields with a thicker blanket of white, we began +to grow anxious. Now and then a sleigh would drive up through the +drifting, flying snow, and the father and mother of some child in the +school would come in and take away the little boy or girl and disappear +in the storm. I began to think, with dread, of how I, a little fellow, +would be able to find my way home through the blinding snow, when +suddenly there came a tap on the door. The teacher went to the door, and +called to me: "George, your uncle Emery Bemis has just arrived from +Boston in his sleigh, and wants to take you home with him." + +When I got into the sleigh he seemed to be very sad. He sat quiet for +some little time, and then turned to me and said: "George, I have some +terrible news for your grandmother. She is at the farmhouse now, waiting +to see her youngest daughter, your aunt Alice. Your grandmother expects +me to bring her. She was coming from New York on the steamer Lexington, +with the dead body of her husband [and his brother and father], which +she wanted to bury in the family graveyard. There were three hundred +passengers on the ship. The Lexington was wrecked and burned in the +Sound, and three hundred persons were lost--burned or drowned. Your aunt +was lost. Only five passengers were saved." + +Such were the horrible tidings my uncle was bearing to my grandmother +and my aunts, instead of the living presence they were expecting. This +incident left an ineradicable impression upon my mind. There was one +peculiar thing about the accident of the Lexington that struck me at +the time as being weird and unforgettable. When the ship went to pieces +the pilot-house was shattered, and a portion of it floated away and +lodged against the rocks near the shore. The bell itself was uninjured, +and still swung from its hangings, and there it remained, clanging +dolorously in every wind. It seemed to my boyish fancy to be tolling +perpetually for the dead of the Lexington. + +Years afterward, while making a speech in a political campaign, I made +use of this incident. I said the Democratic party of the day was adrift +from its ancient moorings, and was always calling up something of the +remote past. It was like the bell of the Lexington, caught upon the +rocks that had wrecked the ship and tolling forever for the dead. + +George Ripley, who was the leader at Brook Farm and, long afterward, was +associated with Charles A. Dana in the preparation of the American +Cyclopedia, was at one time my school-teacher on Waltham Plains. General +Nathaniel P. Banks, who was a few years older than I, was chairman of +our library committee. We used to have lectures in Rumford Hall. (By the +way, this hall was named for Count Rumford, whom most persons take to +have been a German or other foreigner, on account of his foreign title; +but he was an American.) The lecture night was always a great event in +Waltham. One day a man came to me and said, "Here is a remarkable +letter." He read it to me, and it was as follows: + + "_To the Library Committee, Waltham:_ + + "I will come to lecture for $5 for myself, but ask you for four + quarts of oats for my horse. + + "RALPH WALDO EMERSON." + +The lecture that Mr. Emerson delivered for us boys of the library +committee in Waltham was entitled "Nature." We paid him $5 and four +quarts of oats for it. He delivered it many times afterward, when his +name was on every lip in the civilized world, and he received $150 to +$500 for each delivery. He was just as great then, in that hour in the +little old town of Waltham; it was the same lecture, with the same +exquisite thought and marvelous wisdom; but it took years for the world +to recognize the greatness and the beauty and the wisdom of him, and to +value them at their higher worth. The world paid for the name, not for +the lecture or the truth and beauty. + +During this period I attended school for three months every summer. My +grandparents wanted to make a clergyman of me. But that sort of thing +was not in me. I was sent up to Mr. Leonard Frost, at Framingham, ten +miles distant, and lived with him. Certainly my board could not have +been more than $2 a week, and the tuition amounted to scarcely anything. +I was with Mr. Frost just three months, at a total expenditure for +educational purposes of about $25! This constituted my college +education. I was then fourteen years old; and this is all the school +education I have ever had. + +The chief game we played when I was a boy was what we called "round +ball," which has now developed into the national game of baseball. I was +quite an adept at the game, as I took great interest always in all +sports and easily excelled in them. I had also a fancy for chemistry, +and my first experiment was the result of sitting down upon a bottle of +chemicals. It cost me certain portions of my clothing, and made a +lasting impression upon me. It effectually put an end to my desire to +study chemistry further. + +About this time a sweeping change came in my life. One day I happened to +overhear my aunts talking about my future. The good ladies had come to +the conclusion that a clergyman's life was not the life for me; so they +were debating the question of sending me out to learn a trade. They said +it was evident that I would not be a clergyman, a doctor, or a lawyer; +so I must be a blacksmith, or a carpenter, or a mason. Now I did not +want to be any of these things. + +As soon as I got an opportunity I told my aunts that I did not intend to +be a carpenter, or a mason, or a blacksmith. I said I was going down to +Boston--not to the market, but to get a position somewhere. They were +astounded. They could not believe their ears. But I went. + +The city seemed bigger than ever, now that I had to face it and conquer +it, or have it conquer me. But I was not beaten before the fight. I +began walking through the streets with as bold a heart as I could +summon, and kept searching the windows and doors for any sign of "Boy +wanted." I had seen such notices pasted up in windows when I came into +the town on marketing trips. + +Finally I saw such a sign on a drug-store in Washington Street, and +walked in. I told the druggist I should like to go to work. He offered +me my board and lodging for looking after the place. I asked him what +sort of clothes he wanted me to wear, and he replied that the suit I had +on--my Sunday clothes--would do for every day. I was quite happy and +started to work. + +The first night I slept in the same building with the store, but above +it. About one o'clock in the morning the bell rang. Some one wanted the +doctor at once. I said I wasn't a doctor, and that the doctor was not +there. The messenger ran off. This was bad enough, to be routed up in +the middle of the night that way. The next day the druggist went away +from the store on some business. I sampled everything edible in the +place. I tried the different kinds of candy, and sirups, and then went +out and bought some lemonade and a dozen raw oysters. The result may be +imagined. After a few minutes of Mont Pelée, I decided that I had had +enough of the drug business. I told the druggist my decision, shut the +door, and left the store, a disappointed and lonely little fellow. + +I hesitated as to my next step. But there was the old farmhouse--and it +invited me very tenderly just then to return. I was not conquered yet, +but would fight on. I turned, as if by instinct, toward Cambridgeport, +the scene of my traffickings with the grocer. My uncle Clarke lived +there, the uncle that had brought me on from New Orleans; but I could +not make up my mind to go to him, either. The family would laugh at me. +No! I would get another place--but it would not be in a drug-store! + +Then I had an inspiration. There was the grocer named Holmes! Why not +try him? I would. So I went to the store of Joseph A. Holmes, at the +corner of Main Street and Brighton Road. To my eager inquiry, Mr. Holmes +said: "You have come just in time. We want a boy." Then he asked me what +wages I wanted. "Just enough to live on," I said. "You can live with +us," he said; "and I will give you one dollar a week." That meant $50 a +year. It was a great sum to me. I began to work at once. + +This was the winter of '43-'44, and I was fourteen. My work was to drive +the grocery wagon up to Old Cambridgeport, take orders, and fill them. I +had to get up at four o'clock in the morning to look after the horse, +just as I had done on the farm, and to get everything ready for the +trip. I had the orders of the day before to fill and to deliver at the +college. Besides, I had to work in the store after I came back from Old +Cambridgeport. In the evening I had to look after the lamps, sweep out, +put up the shutters, and do numberless other little things about the +store. The store was closed at ten o'clock at night. Then I would put +out the lights, which were old-fashioned oil lamps. + +It was a long day for a boy--or for a man. I worked eighteen hours every +day. And the laborers in the Pennsylvania coal-mines are now striking +for an eight-hour day! I had six hours of night in which to go to bed +and to find what sleep I could. This life continued for about two years. +In that time I had learned to do almost everything that was to be done +about a grocery store. I had really learned this in the first six +months. + +One of my many little duties was to make paper bags. I had to cut the +paper and paste it together. Another task was to take a hogshead of +hams, put each ham in bagging, and sew it up. Then I had to whitewash +each particular ham. That was a nice business! It went against my nature +more than any other part of my manifold labors in the store. + +Mr. Holmes was a Baptist deacon, but the only thing about him to which +my youthful taste objected was that he chewed tobacco all the time. +Yes, there was another objection. He insisted upon my joining the Bible +class in his Sunday-school. This I would not do. I could not explain it +all to him; but the Santa Claus matter had not yet worn out of my mind. + +One day at the grocery store, Mr. Holmes brought in an elderly gentleman +and said to me: "George, I want you to take this gentleman" (naming him) +"up to the college, and walk about with him." The gentleman seemed to me +to be about sixty years old. Mr. Holmes cautioned me about keeping him +out of any danger, as he was not very well. "Don't talk to him," he said +to me, "unless he wants to talk to you." + +The thing was like a holiday to me. I walked with him up to the college, +and all around, as much as he wanted to; and it never occurred to me, in +all the days I was with him in this way, to find out who he was, or to +think about it at all. + +He was John Jacob Astor, Jr., eldest son of the founder of the great +house of the Astors. He was practically an invalid. He was then in +charge of a Mr. Dowse, who generally left him to the care of Mr. Holmes, +and who, in turn, left him to me. After this, he came to New York, where +he was taken in charge by his brother, William B. Astor. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +EARLY NEW ENGLAND METHODISM + + +Before I get away from my boyhood days, I want to say something about +the manner of my rearing in the bosom of old New England Methodism. I +was reared in the strictest ways of morality, in accordance with the old +system. Grandmother told me that I must not swear, must not drink +intoxicating liquors, must not lie, must not use tobacco in any form. It +seemed to me she was stretching out the moral law a little, and that +there were fifteen, instead of ten, commandments, in the religious +scheme of Methodism. And each commandment was held up to me as an +unfailing precept that would make a man of me. I used to say to myself +that I would be fifteen times a man, as I intended to keep them all. + +But while this training was proceeding, and I was being warned against +drinking and using tobacco, there were some strange inconsistencies +going on side by side with the precepts. My old grandmother smoked what +was known as "nigger-head" tobacco, in a little clay pipe. The pipes +cost about a cent apiece. I used to cut up this tobacco for her. But as +she smoked, she lost no opportunity of impressing upon me the +dreadfulness of the tobacco habit. + +I made bold one day to ask her why it was that she smoked, and yet told +me not to smoke. She touched herself in the right side, and said, "The +doctor tells me to smoke for some trouble here." But she was a very +lovely old lady, and I would never write or speak a word that could harm +the dear memory of the mother of my mother. + +At this time, also, her father was living. I remember the old gentleman +now, in his red cap, then a wonder to me, but which afterward became +very familiar in Constantinople and the East as the Turkish fez. He was +very aged, being then well along in the eighties. Every night I used to +go up to his room and make him a toddy. He always wanted me to mix this +drink for him, as I had learned to make it exactly to his taste. He had +the rare consistency never to say anything to me about the immorality of +drinking, nor did I ever speak to him about the matter. But one day I +asked my grandmother about this "toddy." She touched her left side, and +said, "It is for something here." + +I could not understand it, but here were mysterious "somethings" in my +grandmother's right side, and in her father's left side, that nullified +the Methodist religious system and set at naught the additional +commandments, "Thou shalt not drink," and "Thou shalt not smoke." + +But the scheme of morality proved a good thing for me, and served to +guide me aright in all my wanderings about the world and up and down in +it. I think it very good testimony to the soundness and virtue of my +moral training that I have wandered around the world four times, have +lived in every manner known to man, have been thrown with the most +dissolute and the most reckless of mankind, and have passed through +almost every vicissitude of fortune, and have never tasted a drop of +intoxicating liquor, and have never smoked. I have kept all of the +commandments--those of Sinai and those of the Methodists. + +In my period of wealth and prosperity, I have entertained thousands of +men, have seen thousands drinking and drunken at my table--and under it; +but I never touched a drop of my own wine or of the wine of others. I +have paid a great deal of money for the purchase of all sorts of +tobacco, and for all sorts of pipes--narghiles, hookas, chibouks--as +presents for others; but never touched tobacco myself in any way. I have +been in every rat-hole of the world--but I never touched the rats. It is +for these reasons that I am seventy-three years young, and am hale and +strong to-day, and living my life over again like a youth once more. + +Years afterward, when I was lecturing, my cousin, George Pickering +Bemis, ex-Mayor of Omaha, and my aunt Abbie and my cousin Abbie attended +the one I delivered in Omaha, and all of them felt a little hurt by my +allusions to the old Methodists, and to my grandmother and her father. +Bemis wrote to me that they were horrified. But they forgot that what I +said of the Methodists and of my ancestors was in their praise. I was +not ridiculing them, but extolling them. I told of these incidents of my +childhood, because I was speaking of my childhood, and these were facts. +One of the strictest commandments of old Methodism was to tell the +truth. They were not satisfied with the mild negative of the Sinaitic +commandment, "Thou shalt not lie." They added a positive decree, "Thou +shalt speak the truth." That was all I was doing. I was telling the +truth about my childhood and boyhood. I have never spoken anything but +the truth in all my life. This, too, I owe to the early training in +Methodist virtues and precepts, and to the example and counsel of my +dear old grandmother. + +I could not join the Bible class, at the urgent request of the grocer, +Mr. Holmes, because I could not see the necessity of God, and no one +could ever explain to me the reason why there should be, or is, a God. I +could never recognize the necessity. Morality and ethics I could see the +necessity of, and the high and authoritative reason for; but religion +never appealed to my intelligence or to my emotions. The story of the +Prodigal Son only taught me that to be a Christian one must do something +to be forgiven for, to repent of; and I could not see the strength of +such an argument. The plain and sound "ethics" of Methodism, outside of +"faith" and "belief," always seemed to me to be higher and better than +this. + +I feel that in an autobiography I should say this much about my moral +creed and principles. Later in life the Bible got me into much trouble, +involved me in persecutions, and finally landed me in jail--all of which +I shall refer to in due season. + +Children are born savages and cheats. It is only training that makes +true and honest men and women of them. When a child of five and six, I +slept with my aunt Alice, the one who was afterward lost on the +Lexington. One night I saw a fourpence in her pocket-book. When I saw +that she was asleep, I got up quietly, went to her pocket-book where it +lay on the table and took the fourpence out of it. But I could not +retain it. It seared into my conscience. Before she woke up, I went as +quietly back to the purse and placed the fourpence exactly where I had +found it. My Methodist training saved me. + +On another occasion, my grandmother took me to Watertown to buy me a +suit of clothes. In the store I noticed, while my grandmother was +talking with the clerk, a lovely knife in the show-case. I wanted it. +All my boyish instincts went out to that knife. I had never had a +knife, and was hungry for one. I looked around, with all the inherited +cunning of savage and barbarian and predatory ancestors in a thousand +forests and for a hundred centuries. No one was observing me. Quietly, +stealthily, I went to the case. I lifted the top, took the beautiful +knife, and put it in my pocket. It was done. I had the knife, and no one +would ever be any wiser. I was safe with my spoil. But again my +Methodist-drilled conscience awoke. It made me go back to the show-case +and replace the stolen knife. I actually felt better--for a time. + +Then the appeal of nature came back stronger than before. I longed for +the knife. There was no resisting the predatory impulse. Again I stole +behind the counter, opened the case, took out the knife, and placed it +securely in my pocket. Again it had been done without chance of +detection. But again my Methodist-made conscience came to the fore. +Again it saved me from being a thief. I went back to the case, and put +the knife in its place, but with great reluctance. Still a third time I +took the knife from the case and secreted it in my pocket, and again the +Methodist conscience proved stronger than human nature, and I restored +the treasure to its proper place. I was finally able to leave the store +without the knife, and with a clean conscience. + +These are the only instances when I started to do an evil thing, and in +both of them I did not go the full length, but restored the property I +coveted. Since that time, and with these exceptions, for the entire +period of my life I have never cheated, stolen, or lied. And yet I have +been in fifteen jails. For what? + +When I was clerk in Mr. Holmes's grocery store I was in charge of the +money-drawer. I received no salary from Mr. Holmes, but took out the $1 +a week that I was allowed, and kept an account of it. I was trusted, and +did not betray in the slightest degree this trust and confidence of my +employer. Every cent that I took out of, or put into the cash-drawer was +entered upon my account-book, and I was ready at any and all times to +show exactly how my account stood with the store. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +IN A SHIPPING HOUSE IN BOSTON + +1844-1850 + + +The next change in my life, and the real beginning of my career as a +business man, was soon to come. I had got as much out of the grocery +store as it could give me, and was yearning for a change and a wider +field of labor. + +One day a gentleman drove up to the store in a carriage drawn by an +elegant team of horses, and asked if there was a boy there named Train. +Mr. Holmes thereupon called to me, and said to the strange gentleman, +"This is George Francis Train." He then told me that the stranger was +Colonel Enoch Train, and that he wanted to speak to me. + +The first thing Colonel Train said was, "I am surprised to see you, +George. I thought all your family were dead in New Orleans. Your father +was a very dear friend of mine--and your mother, too." He said, as if +repeating it to himself, like a sort of formula, "Oliver Train, merchant +in Merchants' Row." Then he continued: "He was my cousin. But we had +heard that you were all dead. Where have you been?" I told him where I +had been living for the past ten years, with my grandmother at Waltham, +and how my uncle Clarke had brought me back from New Orleans. + +After he had made a number of inquiries of me, and I had given him all +the stock of information I had, Colonel Train drove back to Boston. I +watched the retreating carriage, and brave and disturbing thoughts came +to me. + +The following day I went to Boston. I had no very definite plan of +action, but I knew that when the time and opportunity came I should find +my way, as usual. And so I went directly to the great shipping house of +Train & Co., at 37 Lewis Wharf. The big granite building seemed titanic +to my eyes then, as if it contained the whole world of business and +enterprise. When I went back to Boston years and years afterward, it +seemed only a plain, ordinary affair. At first sight of it the place was +simply ahead of and greater than anything I had seen. When I had +outgrown it, it seemed small. + +When I came up to the building, my purpose was at once clear. I walked +in and asked to see Colonel Train. The colonel shook hands cordially, +and said he was very glad to see me. "Where do I come in?" I asked. + +"Come in?" he almost gasped at this effrontery. "Why, people don't come +into a big shipping house like this in that way. You are too young." + +"I am growing older every day," I replied. "That is the reason I am +here. I want to make my way in the world." "Well," said the colonel, +smiling at me, "you come in to see me when you are seventeen years old." + +"That will be next year," I replied. "I am sixteen now. I might just as +well begin this year--right away." He tried to put me off one way after +another; but I was not to be got rid of. I was there, and I meant to +stay. + +"I will come in to-morrow," I said. Then I left, quite content with +myself and the turn my venture had taken. Of the issue I had no doubt. + +Early on the following day, I went to the shipping office, and took my +seat at one of the desks. I sat there and waited. After a little while, +Colonel Train came in. He was astonished to see me sitting there, ready +for work. + +"You here?" he stammered. "Have you left the grocery store?" "Yes, sir," +I said; "I have learned everything there is to learn there and in fact +had done so before I had been there six months. I want a bigger field to +work in." + +"You don't mean to say you have come here without being invited?" "As I +was not invited, that was about the only way for me to come," I said. +"As I am here, I might as well stay." And I settled myself in the seat +at the desk. + +Colonel Train looked at the bookkeeper sorely perplexed. But I saw that +he rather admired my persistence and bravado. I had won the first trial +of arms. + +"Well," said he, after a while, turning again to the bookkeeper, "we +shall see if we can find something for you to do." "I will find +something to do," I said. He smiled cordially at this, and said: "I will +make a man of you." "I will make a man of myself," I replied. + +Then the colonel asked Mr. Nazro, who had been the firm's bookkeeper for +many years, to try to find something for me to do. + +It so happened that the ship Anglo-Saxon had just arrived from +Liverpool, Captain Joseph R. Gordon, with goods for 150 consignees. Mr. +Nazro handed me the portage bill showing the amount to be collected from +each of the 150 consignees. The amounts were set down in English money, +and Mr. Nazro asked me to put them into American, or Federal, money. I +fancied he was setting me what would prove to be an impossible task, +just to dispose of me for all time. But he blundered, if this was his +purpose. I had had some experience of English money at the grocery +store, having often to change it into American money. + +I coolly asked Mr. Nazro what was the prevailing rate of exchange, and +he replied that it was $4.80 to the pound. "That is just 24 cents to +the shilling, two cents to the penny," I said, and went to work. It was +then noon. It would have taken some clerks a week to do the task; but I +had completed it by six o'clock that afternoon. + +When I handed the list back to him, he asked, with an astonished air, if +I had finished it. "You can see for yourself," I replied. "There it is, +all made out properly and correctly." "How do you know it is right?" +said he. "Because I have proved it," I replied. + +This little task decided my fate. Mr. Nazro told me the office hours +were from eight until six, with the rest of the time, the evenings, all +my own. + +The next morning I arrived at the office promptly, and asked Mr. Nazro +what I was to do. He handed me a package of bills. I saw they were the +bills upon which I had worked the day before, changing English to +American currency. There were 150 of them. Each was to contain the +amount that must be collected from each of the consignees. I at once set +to work on this new task, and completed it in less time than it had +taken me to change the money. I went with the bills to Mr. Nazro, and +asked what I was to do next. He gave me a collector's wallet into which +to put the bills, and told me to go out and collect the amounts due. +This was a staggerer, but I set about the difficult undertaking without +any feeling of discouragement. + +At that time Boston was a strange city to me. It is true that I had +lived on the edge of it for years; but my ceaseless work at the grocery +store had kept me from roaming over the town and learning anything about +it. The only section I was at all familiar with was the neighborhood of +the old Quincy Market, to which I had driven so many wagon-loads of +garden and farm "truck" in my boyhood days. I was as green as a genuine +countryman who had come to town for the first time in his life. I knew +not a soul in the city. But off I started, nothing abashed, with the +great wallet of bills under my arm. I intended to succeed at this task. + +I soon picked out my course through the city. I worked through street +after street, and collected as I went. I did not stop, but kept steadily +on, and in the afternoon found myself at the end of the list. I had +collected nearly every bill. + +I returned to the office and handed the wallet and money to Mr. Nazro. +Again he was astonished. He asked if I had collected all the bills, and +when I told him nearly all, he asked me for the list. I said I had made +out none, as it was not necessary. There was all the money; he could +count it, and compare with the list on his books. He was very much +surprised, but counted the money, and found it correct to a cent. I did +not need a list, I told him, because I could carry the whole thing in my +head. + +From that day to this I have done everything I have undertaken in my +own way, and have found that it was the best way--at least, for me. + +My next duty was to see that every one of the 150 consignees received +the goods that were billed to him. This gave me opportunity for meeting +a large number of important persons. Among the rest, I met Nathaniel P. +Banks, who was a Custom-House official at the time, and the great +writer, Nathaniel Hawthorne, whom I saw in the Custom-House on a visit +from Salem. He had been appointed by President Polk. Of course I knew +nothing about him at the time, although he was then writing his greatest +work, and perhaps was casting in his mind The Scarlet Letter. He had +only just begun to be famous--an interesting fact enough, but one I did +not learn till long afterward. He seemed very unassuming, and not in +very affluent circumstances. I suppose his salary from the Government at +the time was not more than $1,000 a year. + +My life in the old shipping house of Train & Co., in Boston, lasted some +four years. The first vessel that came in, after I began working with +the company, was the Joshua Bates, named after the American partner of +the famous house of the Barings. It was of 400 tons, quite a big ship +for the time. The next was the Washington Irving, 500 tons; and the +third was the Anglo-Saxon, the bills of which, on a previous voyage, I +had made out in my trial under Mr. Nazro. The Anglo-Saxon was lost the +following year--this was in '46--off Cape Sable, with several +passengers, the captain and crew escaping. After this the Anglo-American +came in, then the Parliament, the Ocean Monarch, and the Staffordshire. +All of these were famous ships in their day. + +In '48, I was at the pier one day on the lookout for the Ocean Monarch. +Although the telegraph had been established in '44, it had not been +brought from Nova Scotia to Boston, and we had only the semaphore to use +for signaling. When a ship entered the harbor, the captain would take a +speaking-trumpet and, standing on the bridge, shout out the most +interesting or important tidings so that the news would get into the +city before the ship was docked. The Persia was also due, with Captain +Judkins, and it came in ahead of the Ocean Monarch. Some three or four +thousand persons were on the pier waiting eagerly for the captain's +news. I was at the end of the pier, and saw Captain Judkins place the +trumpet to his lips, and heard him shout the tidings. And this is what I +heard: + +"The Ocean Monarch was burned off Orm's Head. Four hundred passengers +burned or drowned. Captain Murdoch taken off of a spar by Tom +Littledale's yacht. A steamer going to Ireland passed by, and refused to +offer assistance. Complete wreck, and complete loss." + +The captain shouted hoarsely, like a sentence of doom from the "last +trump." Every one was stunned. The scene was indescribable, both the +dead silence with which the dreadful tidings were received, and the wild +excitement that soon burst forth. + +I took advantage of the awed hush of the people, and rushed toward the +street end of the pier. There I leaped on my horse that was waiting for +me, and galloped off. Crossing the ferry, I went madly through +Commercial Street, up State Street, and to the Merchants' Exchange. +There I mounted a chair, and amid a great hush, shouted out the tidings, +word for word, and in almost the exact intonation the captain had used. + +One day a gentleman, looking like a farmer, came into the office and +asked to see Mr. Train. I remember that it was the 5th of October, '47. +I replied to his question that my name was Train. "I mean the old +gentleman," he said. + +I told him that Colonel Train was out of the office at the time, but +that as I had charge of the ships, I might be able to attend to his +business. But I added that I was in a hurry, as the Washington Irving +was to sail in an hour. "That is just what I am here for," said he. "I +want to sail on that ship; I want passage for England." + +I told him there was one state-room left, and that he could have both +berths for the price of one--$75, but that he must get aboard in great +haste, as everything was ready and the ship waiting for final orders. +He said he was ready, and I started to fill up a passenger slip. "What +is your name?" I asked. "Ralph Waldo Emerson," he replied. + +Then he took out of his pocket an old wallet, with twine wrapped around +it four or five times, opened it carefully, and counted out $75. I could +not wait to see whether it was correct, but threw it in the drawer, and +took him on board. + +Mr. Emerson was then starting on his famous visit to England, during +which he was to visit Carlyle. He afterward mentioned the occurrence in +his English Traits, where he said: "I took my berth in the packet-ship +Washington Irving." From the moment when I thus met Emerson for the +second time, I began to take great interest in him, read him carefully, +and have continued to read him throughout my life. He has had more +influence upon me than any other man in the world. + +We once chartered the ship Franklin to take a cargo of tar, pitch, and +turpentine from Wilmington, N. C., consigned to the Baring Brothers, +London, and return with a cargo of freight. She was about due from +England, thirty-five days having elapsed since she had started to +return. By this time I had been placed in charge of all the shipping, +and I was on the lookout for the Franklin. One day the news came by +semaphore that a large ship had been wrecked just off the lighthouse, +while coming into Boston harbor. It was not known what ship it was. The +sender of the message asked if Train & Co. had a ship due. I thought at +once it might be the Franklin, making a somewhat faster passage than we +had expected. + +The next day some of the wreckage came into the harbor, and, strangely +enough, a piece of the floating timbers bore the name Franklin on it. I +was at the pier when this discovery was made, and rushed at once to the +insurance office to see whether the policy covering the freight had been +arranged. It was all right. On the following day, to the astonishment of +all Boston, the valise of one of the officers of the Franklin was washed +ashore at Nantasket. In it were many letters, and among them were +instructions telling how "to sink the vessel off the lighthouse, as she +was fully insured." When the ship went down the captain was drowned with +the rest of the crew and the passengers. + +I saw at once that here was a case of barratry of the master, and that +the letter would jeopardize the whole affair of the insurance. It was a +matter that needed prompt and able legal work. I hastened to the office +of Rufus Choate, the most famous lawyer in New England of that time. I +hurriedly explained to Mr. Choate that we had lost a ship, and needed a +lawyer. "Will you accept a retainer of $500?" I added. He accepted it at +once, and turned to his desk to write out a receipt. I said there was +no necessity for a receipt, as the check would be receipt enough, and +hurried away. + +I then went directly across the street to the office of Daniel Webster, +who was then practising law in Boston. I was particularly anxious to +have Mr. Webster retained. I remember now the roar of his great, deep +voice as he responded to my knock with a "Come in" that was like a +battle peal. And I recall well the picture of the great man, as I saw +him for the first time. He sat at his flat desk, a magnificent example +of manhood, his massive head set squarely and solidly upon his +shoulders. He did not have very much business in those days, and the +clients that found a way to his office were few. + +"Mr. Webster," I said, "we want your services in a very important case. +Will you accept this as a retainer?" I handed him a check for $1,000. He +accepted it very promptly, and it seemed to me at the time that the +check loomed large to him. Such sums came seldom. + +One incident in the trial of the case impressed me deeply. It was the +masterly manner in which Mr. Choate examined the witnesses. He had the +reputation of being the most effective cross-examiner in New England. +Before him, in the witness-box, stood one of the owners. Mr. Choate +wanted to confuse him in his testimony as to the way in which he had +done a certain thing. He began by asking the longest and most complex +question that I ever heard. It wound all around the case, and straggled +through every street in Boston. "You say," Mr. Choate began, "you say +that you did so and so, that you went to such and such a place, that +after this you did so and so, and thus and so," and he kept on asking +him if after doing this and that if such and such was not the case, +until there was no answering the question, or understanding it. + +But Mr. Choate had tackled the wrong man for once. The man was an +Irishman, and the most nonchalant person I ever saw. Nothing seemed to +confuse him. While Mr. Choate was firing his complicated questions at +him, he sat perfectly unmoved, unshaken. He seemed to be taking it all +in. Then when the astute lawyer had finished, the witness looked at him +quietly, and said: "Mr. Choate, will yez be after rapatin' that again?" + +Bar and bench and spectators broke into roars of laughter. For once Mr. +Choate was confused. But we won the case, as was to be expected, thanks +to our matchless array of legal ability. + +We had two ships engaged in making what was known as "the triangular +run"--from Boston to New Orleans, New Orleans to Liverpool, and +Liverpool back to Boston. They were the St. Petersburg, built in '40 for +the cotton trade, and having for a figurehead the head and shoulders of +the Emperor Nicholas; and the Governor Davis, named for the governor of +the Bay State, whose son is now living at Newport. Once we were +expecting the Governor Davis to arrive at New Orleans, where the freight +rates were higher than they had been in many years--three farthings the +pound. The vessel was to be loaded with cotton for Liverpool. We were +elated at the prospect of big profits, when a telegram came from our +agent, Levi H. Gale, at New Orleans. It read: "The Governor Davis is +burned up." + +Our hearts sank. A fortune had been lost, or at least the opportunity to +make one. I went immediately to the insurance office to see that the +policies were all right, and found them in good shape. Then it occurred +to me that there might be a possibility of error in the message. Eager +with my thought, I rushed to the telegraph office and asked to have the +message repeated carefully, no matter what it might cost. After awhile +there came back what had been a terrifying message in this new form: +"The Governor Davis is bound up." The vessel was safe, and so were our +profits. + +My connection with the packet lines brought me into contact with many +prominent business men of Boston. Very often I was able to do some +little thing for them, and once a very amusing incident occurred in +connection with the attempt of Mr. Milton, of the firm of Milton, +Cushman & Co., to get some English pigs for breeding purposes. I had +charge of the catering for our vessels, and made the purchases. Mr. +Milton asked me to get him some English pigs, and I promised that we +would bring some over by the very next ship. As the vessels were out for +quite a time, we frequently carried live animals aboard for food, and +usually hogs and pigs. It so happened that on this particular trip, when +going east, one of the sows gave birth to a litter of pigs. They were +taken to Liverpool. By some mistake they were brought back and delivered +to Mr. Milton. He prized them very highly, until later on he discovered +that they were American pigs, born under the American flag on the high +seas. The mistake subjected him to much good-natured chaffing. No one +forgot the incident during the old gentleman's life. + +Of course, there was always present the temptation to do a little +business on my own account, during my connection with the Train Packet +Lines. Indeed, the desire to do this, and the experience I got in it, +were the foundations of my subsequent business success. It was +inevitable that I should have undertakings of my own. + +My first speculation was the shipment of a cargo of Danvers onions to +Liverpool in consignment of Baring Brothers. I was eager to have my +first venture turn out a success. The onions were packed carefully in +barrels, and I saw myself that they were in the best condition before +they were shipped. I felt as if I had taken every precaution, and that +I was assured of a pretty good thing. Then came the news from England: +"Onions arrived; not in good order. Debit, £3 17s. 6d." + +That was the disappointing result of my first venture. I was a loser. +Years afterward, when I was launching shipping lines between Australia +and America, I cited this little experience of mine as an example of +what might be expected by many who sent cargoes to the other end of the +world. + +My second venture proved more successful. This was the shipping of fish +on ice to New Orleans. It paid me well. But my real career as a shipper +started in quite another and different way. I am ashamed to confess how +I began this career, which made me a shipper of cargoes to the other end +of the earth. But as I was too ignorant at the time to know much better, +or, indeed, to give any thought at all to the matter, I shall, in the +interest of truth, make a full confession. I became a smuggler of opium +into China! + +It happened in this way. One of our captains, who was about to start +with a cargo for the Orient, asked me if I did not want to send over +something for sale, as he thought a good profit might be made on a +shipment of something in demand there. "What would be a good thing to +send?" I asked. "Opium," said he laconically. + +Opium meant nothing to me then. I had never thought of it in any way +other than as a marketable product and an object in cargoes. So I went +to Henshaw's, in Boston, and got three tins of opium, the best he had. +This I placed in charge of the captain, and he smuggled it into China, +and got a good price for it, to the profit of himself and me. + +But the smuggling did not end there. I had instructed him to lay in a +supply of curios, silks, and other oriental things, and bring them to +Boston. This part of the venture was as successful as the first, and I +made quite a snug little sum. It was my first considerable profit. That +was in '46-'47. + +I do not think any one in good standing in business has an idea now of +cheating the Government out of tariff duties. I had not, at that time, +the slightest idea that I was doing wrong. I felt entirely innocent of +defrauding two governments, and did not realize that I was a smuggler. +The wrong of the transaction I fully understood afterward. + +But I fear that the moral sense as to smuggling, to use an ugly term, +was not so delicate in those days. Even patriotic and good men thought +that it was not very bad to bring in articles from Europe and the Orient +without stopping to pay the duty levied by the United States. There was +no systematic attempt to defraud the Government. There was just no +thought at all, except to get in a few luxuries upon which it did not +seem worth while to pay the customs dues. I can recall a few examples +of this lax way of treating the tariff regulations. They were the acts +of men of great social and business prominence. If done to-day, they +would shock the whole country--even the Democratic and low tariff, or no +tariff, part of it. + +One day a banker, who was a famous figure in Boston, a leader in the +world of business, asked me if I could not bring over for him some +silver he had ordered sent to the Train offices in Liverpool. I +consented. Shortly after this, the steward of the Ocean Monarch told me +he had a very heavy package addressed to "George Francis Train." I +directed him to bring it into the office. Then I saw that the heavy +package was addressed, in the corner, from the shippers to this famous +Boston banker. And so, without any intent to defraud the Government on +my part, and, I suppose, without any intent on the part of the great +banker to do a distinctly wrong act, we had actually conspired to +smuggle in some exquisite silver plate for the richest banker in New +England, to save a few dollars' tariff duty! + +Once while I was in Paris, in '50, I wanted to buy some presents for the +young lady to whom I was engaged to be married--Miss Davis--who was then +living in Louisville, Ky. I called at the Paris office of a famous +American firm of jewelers, and the resident agent took me to a +magnificent establishment, where I saw the wealth of a world in gems. + +An amusing thing happened, which I shall relate before I complete the +story of this smuggling incident. I asked at once to see the most +beautiful things the shop contained, the latest, and most charming. +Imagine my surprise and horror when the young girl who was showing me +around the shop exhibited to me a package of pictures that would have +subjected me to immediate arrest and incarceration had they been found +on my person in this city. She explained to me that this was the part of +the business in her charge, and that she thought, as I was an American +and new to Paris, I wanted to get hold of some startling pictures to +carry back to the United States. + +Passing through this temptation unscathed, I finally got to the jewels +and gems of all sorts, and selected some for my betrothed. I bought +about $1,000 worth. Suddenly the agent of an American house turned on me +and said he was thinking of sending a present to his firm in New York, +and asked if I would not take charge of it and deliver it, or have it +delivered direct. Of course I did not know what this meant--that he +wanted me to get a package of jewels to his firm without paying the +tariff duty. I consented, however, before I went into the ethical +question, and brought over, perhaps, a package of splendid and costly +diamonds for one of the richest houses in the world. + +While in charge of the ships of the house in Boston I had a little +yacht, called The Sea Witch, that I used in boarding vessels in the +harbor. One day there arrived a very great man, in my opinion a tower of +strength in finance--Thomas Baring, afterward Lord Revelstoke, who +succeeded Lord Ashburton as the representative of England in this +country. I had prepared to take him on a trip around the harbor, and +everything was ready for the sail the following day, when he was +suddenly called to Washington, and sent me a note which read as follows: + + "DEAR MR. TRAIN: + + "As I leave for Washington in the morning, I regret that it will + not be possible for me to go with you on The Sea Witch to see + Boston harbor. I remember with pleasure the canvasback ducks that + you sent to me at London, and which gave me and my friends so + much pleasure. I hope to see you on my return. + + "THOMAS BARING." + +The great development of the clippers, the boats that soon made the +reputation of the United States on the seas, was due chiefly to the +discovery of gold in California. This made it necessary to send a great +number of ships to the Pacific coast, and I saw that it was essential to +the success of the trade to send large boats that could make profits on +this long voyage. + +Gold was discovered in '48. At that time our packets had attained to +the size of only 800 tons. They were considered large boats at the time, +but now would be called mere tubs. I saw that if we wanted to enter the +trade with the Pacific we should have to get larger ships. Our first +packets had been built at East Boston by Donald Mackay: the Joshua +Bates, 400 tons; the Washington Irving, 500 tons; the Anglo-Saxon, 600 +tons; the Anglo-American, 700 tons; the Ocean Monarch, 800 tons. In a +few years we had enlarged the packet clipper from a vessel of 400 tons +to one of 800 tons, or twice the size. The Ocean Monarch was regarded as +a veritable monster of the seas. + +When the gold-fever was setting the country frantic, and every one, +apparently, wanted to go to California, I said to Mackay: "I want a big +ship, one that will be larger than the Ocean Monarch." Mackay replied, +"Two hundred tons bigger?" "No," said I, "I want a ship of 2,000 tons." +Mackay was one of those men who merely ask what is needed. He said he +would build the sort of ship I wanted. "I shall call her the Flying +Cloud," I said. This is the history of that famous ship, destined to +make a new era in ship-building all over the world. + +Longfellow sent me a copy of his poem, The Building of the Ship, which +he had written to commemorate the construction of a much smaller vessel. +Not only ship-builders, but the whole world, was talking of the Flying +Cloud. Her appearance in the world of commerce was a great historic +event. + +No sooner was the Flying Cloud built than many ship-owners wanted to buy +her. Among others, the house of Grinnell, Minturn & Co., of the +Swallow-Tail Line, of Liverpool, asked what we would take for her. I +replied that I wanted $90,000, which meant a handsome profit. The answer +came back immediately, "We will take her." We sent the vessel to New +York under Captain Cressey, while I went on by railway. There I closed +the sale, and the proudest moment of my life, up to that time, was when +I received a check from Moses H. Grinnell, the New York head of the +house, for $90,000. + +The Flying Cloud was sent from New York to San Francisco, and made the +passage in eighty-six days, with a full cargo of freight and passengers, +paying for herself in that single voyage out and back. Her record has +not been beaten by any sailing ship in the fifty-three years that have +since elapsed. + +The building of this vessel was a tremendous leap forward in +ship-building; but I was not satisfied. I told Mackay that I wanted a +still larger ship. He said he could build it. And so we began another +vessel that was to outstrip in size and capacity the great Flying Cloud. + +I was desirous to name this ship the Enoch Train, in honor of the head +of the Boston house, and had said as much to Duncan MacLane, who was +the marine reporter for the Boston Post. MacLane had usually written a +column for his paper on the launching of our ships. He wanted to have +something to write about the new vessel. I told him the story of Colonel +Train's life, and that we were going to christen the new vessel with his +name. I did not consult Colonel Train, thinking that, of course, it was +all right. + +The Post published a long account of the ship, and gave the name as the +Enoch Train. When I went down to the office that morning Colonel Train +had not yet arrived, but he soon came in, walking straight as a +gun-barrel, and seeming to be a little stiff. "Did you see the Post this +morning?" I asked. "Premature," he replied. That was all he said. He +would not discuss the matter. I was nettled that he did not appreciate +the honor I thought I was conferring on him. It was not for nothing that +a man's name should be borne by the greatest vessel on the seas. I said +to myself that the name should be changed at once. The ship was to be of +2,200 tons burden, larger than the Flying Cloud and the Staffordshire, +both of 2,000 tons, and I decided to call her the Sovereign of the Seas. + +The news that we were building a still bigger ship was rapidly +circulated throughout the world. Many shipping lines wanted to buy her +before she was off the ways. Despatches from New York shipping lines +making inquiry as to price came almost daily. I invariably replied that +we would take $130,000. But this was a little too stiff a price at that +time, although the Flying Cloud had paid for herself in a single trip. I +finally sold her to Berren Roosen, Jr., of Hamburg, Germany, through the +brokers Funch & Menkier, of New York, for $110,000. She was entered in +my name, although I was at the time only nineteen years of age. I was +quite proud to have the greatest vessel then afloat on any water +associated with my name. She was sent to Liverpool. + +The California business had grown steadily, and the house of Train had +taken a leading part in it. One of the biggest of our ships was built +expressly for it, and employed on the long run from Boston to San +Francisco. This was the Staffordshire, which we had named for the great +potteries in England from which we got so much of our import freight. +She was of the same size and tonnage as the Flying Cloud--2,000 tons. We +sent her to California on her first trip under Captain Richardson, full +of freight and passengers. There were three hundred passengers, each +paying $300 for the trip around the Horn. This brought us in $90,000, +completely paying for the cost of building and equipping, with cash in +hand, before she sailed. + +The Flying Cloud and the Staffordshire were followed by about forty fast +clippers during the great gold-fever of '49. I was still in my teens, +and consider it not an insignificant thing to have accomplished the +initiation of this magnificent clipper service which revolutionized +sailing vessels all over the world, and gave to America the reputation +for building the fastest ships on the seas. + +When the California business first opened up, I was bent upon going to +the Golden Horn myself. I felt that there was to be a great development +in trade and permanent business there, and wanted to "get in on the +ground floor." But this was not to be, and my destiny detained me at +Boston to take my share in the building of fast clippers and in +developing the trade from the Atlantic side of the continent. I saw that +MacKondray & Co., and Flint, Peabody & Co., who went to California about +this time, were making fortunes out of commissions. I also saw men go +there later to become millionaires in a few years--men like John W. +Mackay, the pioneer, who died recently in London, worth somewhere +approximating $100,000,000, most of it taken out of the Comstock Lode, +the last of the "Big Four"--Mackay, Flood, Fair, and O'Brien--all of +whom are dead. But my fortunes led in another direction. I was to go +East, and not West. + +In connection with the clipper service to California, I should mention +here the beginning of the Irish immigration to this country, which +started at the time of the gold-fever. I saw that this country was very +sparsely populated, that there were vast areas entirely unoccupied, and +that there was not only room, but need, for more people. I also had an +eye to increasing our own business, as our ships were returning from +Liverpool with very few passengers. In casting about in my mind to +create business, it occurred to me that the Irish, who were particularly +restive and desirous of coming to America, might be turned into +passengers for our boats and into settlers of our waste places. + +My first step was to engage the services of as many Irish 'longshoremen +and stevedores as possible. These were always talking of their friends +in Ireland, and their friends in the old country were asking them for +information about the United States. I got the 'longshoremen and +stevedores to scatter throughout Ireland information about this country +and about the way to get here. I then set to work to arrange for giving +to the poor Irish immigrants a cheap and convenient means of passage. + +I invented the prepaid passenger certificate, and also the small +one-pound (English money) bill of exchange. To disseminate information +about the plan, I had inserted in the Boston Pilot, the Catholic organ +of the day, the following advertisement, it being a letter from the +Catholic archbishop: + + "The Boston and Liverpool Packet Line of Enoch Train & Co. have + arranged to issue prepaid passenger certificates and small bills + of exchange for one pound and upward. This firm is highly + respectable, and has established agencies throughout Ireland for + the benefit of Irish immigrants.--[Symbol: Cross]FITZPATRICK, + Archbishop of Boston." + +This advertisement, and this indorsement from a high Catholic authority, +gave a marked impetus to the flow of Irish immigrants into America. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +A VACATION TOUR + +1850 + + +In '50 it was decided that I should go to Liverpool to take charge of +the house there. I asked Colonel Train if I could not first have a +holiday, so that I might see a little of my own country. He told me to +take two months, and to see as much as I could in that time. My ship was +scheduled to sail July 25, '50. This was the only holiday I had had in +four years. + +I started for New York. After a brief stay there, I went to Cape May. My +recollections of that place, which was then the great resort of the +Atlantic coast, include a famous score I made in rolling ten-pins. This +game was my forte, and I remember that I defeated a party of +Philadelphians, scoring strike after strike, and left my score, 290, +marked up on the wall. It stood unrivaled for years. + +I hurried on to Washington from Cape May. The trip was then made by +boat, rail, and stage. As soon as I reached Washington, I called on +Daniel Webster, then Secretary of State. I was shown into his office, +gave him news of New England, and said that every one was discussing his +great speech of the 7th of March of that year. He looked at me +inquiringly. "Some are hostile toward your sentiments," I said; "but +most of the people are with you." "They are talking about it, are they?" +This was the only comment he made. + +Afterward he introduced me to his wife, Mrs. Leroy Webster, and asked if +I would like to meet the President. I was delighted, and said so. "Just +wait a moment," he said, and sat down at his desk, took a quill pen and +wrote on a sheet of blue paper, nearly a foot square, "To the President +of the United States, introducing a young friend of mine from Boston, +George Francis Train, shipping merchant, who merely wishes to pay his +respects to the president.--DANIEL WEBSTER." The large writing covered +almost the whole page. I thanked him, and started at once for the White +House. + +On arriving there, I was at once ushered into the presence of General +Taylor, who sat at his desk. The presidential feet rested on another +chair. I begged him not to rise, but to let me feel at home, and handed +him the letter from Mr. Webster. + +At his request, I seated myself opposite him, and from this point of +vantage made a hurried study of his appearance. He wore a shirt that +was formerly white, but which then looked like the map of Mexico after +the battle of Buena Vista. It was spotted and spattered with tobacco +juice. + +Directly behind me, as I was soon made aware, was a cuspidor, toward +which the President turned the flow of tobacco juice. I was in mortal +terror, but I soon saw there was no danger. With as unerring an aim as +the famous spitter on the boat in Dickens's American Notes, he never +missed the cuspidor once, or put my person in jeopardy. + +My conversation--because, I suppose, it was new to him--interested him, +and he would not let me go for half an hour. I told him the news of New +England, and about my journey to Liverpool and its object. This +particularly interested him, and he asked me a hundred questions about +the shipping business and the prospects of developing trade with +England. + +As I was about to leave, I said to him that I prized very highly the +letter from Mr. Webster, and should be very glad to be able to keep it; +"and I should prize it still more highly, Mr. President, if you would +add your autograph to it." "Certainly," he replied, and then took up a +quill pen, and wrote "Z. Taylor." He courteously asked me to call to see +him again before I left for England. + +From the White House, I went direct to the National Hotel, where I asked +to see Mr. Clay. I was shown up to his room, and soon stood in the +presence of the great Southern orator. I observed that his shirt also +bore the same marks as that of the President--stained and smeared with +tobacco juice. + +I told him that I was about to start for England, and that, as I had a +letter signed by Mr. Webster and the President, I should like to add his +signature also. "I believe that two signatures are usually necessary on +Mr. Webster's paper," said Mr. Clay with a smile. He then added his +autograph to the paper. + +Before leaving for Liverpool, I visited Mount Vernon, of course, while +in Washington, saw the Georgetown Convent, and, indeed, everything of +interest in the capital at that time. Then I went back to New York and +up the Hudson to West Point. + +My visit to West Point was especially pleasant. I comraded with the +cadets, who invited me to sleep in their tent on the campus. Among the +young fellows there at the time, who was very pleasant and friendly, was +Alfred H. Terry, afterward one of the most distinguished of our +officers. I attended the cadets' ball at Cozzens's Hotel, messed with +them, and entered into all of their sports and daily routine. I was +astonished to notice that in the morning the roar of the gun did not +disturb their slumbers, although it shook me from sleep. But the +lightest tap of the drum aroused them instantly. It was force of habit, +which, I was to learn later, enables men to sleep amid the roar of +artillery on the battlefield, or amid the howling of storms on the +ocean. In sleep, as in our waking hours, the trained and disciplined +mind hears what it wants to hear. + +From West Point I went on to Saratoga Springs. It was my first visit to +these famous springs, and I enjoyed it immensely. On the boat up the +Hudson I met a beautiful lady, Mrs. Carleton, who was with her sister. +Mrs. Carleton was the wife of a wealthy New York merchant, who had a +villa on Staten Island. I stopped at Marvin's United States Hotel. This +was fifty-two years ago, and the hotel is still there, while Marvin, who +entertained me more than half a century ago, died last year, his age +somewhere in the nineties. I enjoyed every moment of my stay at +Saratoga, for I had never seen anything of social life, and it was all +new and delightful. The enormous caravansary, with its throngs of +guests, its never-ceasing round of gaiety, and its own liberal life, +entranced me. Manners seemed less formal then at the famous spa, and the +ladies were pleased to meet any one in the most unconventional and +charming way. + +As I say, I was very unsophisticated. I knew little or nothing of the +"great world," and I was completely horrified one evening when one of +the ladies said to me in a whisper: "Can you not get me a glass of +brandy?" I had never touched a drop of brandy, whisky, or even wine, and +to have this beautifully dressed and refined lady ask me for a glass of +brandy was a decided shock to me. I understand that now, however, it is +not very uncommon for ladies to drink wine, whisky, and brandy. + +I have seen it stated in the papers recently that the waters at Saratoga +have the effect of lessening thirst for more ardent waters of a +spirituous nature. I did not happen to observe any such effect of the +waters when I was there a half century ago. Drinking was quite general, +and certainly little restraint seemed to be practised. + +I found in society, as elsewhere in the greater affairs of life, that +leadership was wanting. People stood by and waited for some one to take +the initiative. One evening one of the ladies said to me that the ball +had not been arranged for. I asked what ball, and she said the regular +season ball. For some reason, it had not been arranged by the hotel +people, and no one seemed disposed to take hold of it. I said, "It +should be arranged immediately." I saw a few of the leaders, talked it +over with them, and got them together. We brought off the ball--my first +experience in these deep waters of social life--with great success. I +had then been in Saratoga just two days. While I was there I had the +honor of meeting the social leader of Boston, Mrs. Harrison Grey Otis, +and the social leader of Philadelphia, Mrs. Rush. There were also +present at the Springs many representatives of the most prominent +families in the social life of New York. + +I saw in Saratoga the first "gambling hell" that I had ever seen, and I +was so green about such things--another tribute to my dear old Pickering +grandmother and New England Methodism--that I did not know what a +"gambling hell" was when asked if I should like to see one. While I +possess an inquisitive nature, I have found it a good rule not to ask +too many questions, until you have tried to find out things without +betraying your ignorance. I went to the "hell," and was properly +shocked. The scene suggested to me the gaming at Monte Carlo. I saw a +number of men sitting around a table playing as intently as if their +lives depended upon the fall of a card. + +My attention was attracted toward a young man, apparently of about +twenty-five, who was in a desperate plight. Agony was visibly graved in +every feature and in every line of his face. I asked who he was, and +heard the name of a distinguished family of northern New York. "What is +the matter with him!" I asked. My cicerone seemed astonished at my +stupendous ignorance. "Why, can you not see they are 'going through' +him?" he said in turn. The expressive term was sufficient even for my +unsophisticated mind. It told the whole story, like a "scare-head" in a +"yellow" newspaper. + +Then I turned from the victim to the predatory players about him. Who +were they? To my surprise, the names were those of men famous the world +over as bankers, merchants, and financiers. There was one man that +especially interested me. It was the American representative of an +English house whose commercial paper our house frequently used. I said +to myself, "I will cut his name from our list," and I did--for a time. I +learned afterward that banking was only one form of gambling. Great +financiers are often clever gamesters--players for desperate stakes, but +infinitely better players than their victims. This world of finance is a +great Monte Carlo. It was vain to entertain a prejudice against only one +of the players. + +It was now necessary for me to hurry back to Boston in order to catch +the Parliament, on which I had already engaged passage. But before +leaving America, I wanted to see something of Canada, and resolved upon +a rapid trip to Montreal, especially as I found that I could return to +New York that way almost as quickly as to go across the State. I went on +to Niagara, and then sailed for Montreal, and had the novel experience +of shooting La Chine Rapids, an Indian piloting the boat. This was a +great thing in those days, and I was amazed to see how skilfully the +Indian guided the boat in and out among the rocks, never doubtful of his +course, never touching the edges of the reefs and boulders, never +imperiling human life. I understood that for years these pilots had +guided the boats down the rapids without a single accident. + +On the boat on which I went down the St. Lawrence I met Captain +Stoddard, of the Crescent City Steam Packet, New York and Havana, and +Mr. Dinsmore, of the Adams Express Company, with the ladies of their +families. We all saw Montreal together, and some members of the party +made excursions to places elsewhere. One of these was to the famous Grey +Nunnery, the doors of which were closed to the outside world. But these +Americans, with true American spirit, expected all doors to open to +them, and would not accept the situation. + +When they told me of their failure to get into the nunnery, I said I was +astonished that the representative of a big steamboat company and of a +big express company could not get into any building they wished to +enter. "I will show you what I can do," I said. I had already taken +thought of the talismanic letter from Daniel Webster, countersigned by +the President and Mr. Clay, the three biggest men, in popular +estimation, in the United States at that time. As I shall afterward +relate, this letter did me a good turn later in Scotland, opening doors +to me that were closed to nearly all the world. It was now to serve me +well; but this was the first time I had found occasion for its service +since leaving Washington. + +I went immediately to the nunnery, where I asked to see the Lady +Superior. I told her I had visited the Convent of the Sacred Heart at +New York and Georgetown, and that I wanted to see how they compared with +this most famous convent in Canada. This did not impress her very much, +it seemed to me, and I instantly had recourse to my letter. "As you do +not know me," I said, "this letter may serve as a sort of introduction." +Then I brought out with a flourish my Webster-Taylor-Clay letter. The +doors at once flew open before me! After viewing the interior of the +nunnery, I told the Lady Superior that I had a party of friends at the +hotel who would like very much to see the building, and that if she +would permit me, I should like to bring them around in the morning. She +consented, and the next day I took the entire party to the nunnery and +we were shown through by the Lady Superior. + +My time was now running short, and I had to hasten back to New York, if +I wanted to catch the Parliament. I went by way of Lake Champlain, +Ticonderoga, and Lake George, and again saw something of Saratoga and +the Hudson. At Ticonderoga I had the good fortune to meet Bishop Spencer +of Jamaica, and his son-in-law Archdeacon Smith, and we traveled +together to Saratoga. Here we met Commodore Trescot, of the Bermuda +Yacht Club. I invited them all to dine with me at the George Hotel, at +Lake Saratoga. I was struck by the bishop's dress, for it was the first +time I had seen the black knickerbockers and the three-cornered chapeau. +I do not mention the dinner--which was not a great affair--merely for +the sake of referring to the knickerbockers or the chapeau, but because +the bishop pressed upon me a special invitation to call upon him when I +came to London. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +A PARTNER IN THE LIVERPOOL HOUSE + +1850-1852 + + +From Saratoga, I went down the Hudson to New York, and thence to Boston, +where I arrived in time to take the Parliament, Captain Brown, on the +25th of July. I had lived fast in the eight weeks of my holiday. It was +the only vacation I had had since I had begun my business life as a +grocer boy in Holmes's store, and I had worked hard during that long +period. The result was that I sprang back too far, like the released +bow, and was soon to see the effects. As my time was so limited, I had +tried to make the most of it, and had rushed from place to place, had +lived in all sorts of hotels and eaten all sorts of food. Besides, the +travel, all of which had been in a whirl of excitement, aided in +upsetting my physical system. + +A few days on the boat were enough to complete the wreck. I was as badly +shaken up as Mont Pelée, and was ill for most of the voyage. When I +reached Liverpool, I had lost thirty pounds, and had to be taken off +the steamer, and was carried to the house of Mr. Thayer, the Liverpool +partner of Colonel Train. It was two or three months before I completely +recovered. + +I had hardly reached England before I began to realize that the people +there use a somewhat different version of the English language than we +are accustomed to in America. My physician was Dr. Archer. He came to +see me one morning just after I had had my breakfast, and took his stand +immediately before the fire, with his back to it. "I am half starved," +he said. I immediately rang the bell, and when the servant came turned +to the physician and asked what he would have for breakfast. He said he +had eaten breakfast and did not want anything more. "But," said I, "you +said you were half starved; surely you must be hungry." He burst into a +roar of laughter. "I meant that I was half starved with cold." + +With this as a beginning, I began to pick up the vocabulary peculiar to +the modern English. My next acquisition was "nasty." I was informed that +a rather disagreeable day was a very "nasty" day, and that the weather +was simply "beastly." After mastering these three words, which were +entirely new to me, and adding such words as I could pick up from the +daily speech of the men I met, I was soon able to get along in some +fashion with the English of England. + +My first British holiday was spent in Scotland, where I stayed for a +week. When I was at Balmoral the Queen happened to be there. Leaving +Balmoral, I went to Braemar, on the way to Aberdeen. A number of young +students were there at the time, and I spent some moments talking with +them. Suddenly, there was a tremendous uproar and excitement, and I saw +a four-in-hand drive up. The students informed me that it was the +Premier, Lord John Russell, who had just returned from an audience with +the Queen at Balmoral. I saw there was a chance for some sport. Turning +to the students, with a smile, I said: "I wonder how his lordship knew I +had come to Braemar! I hope to have the pleasure of speaking with him." + +The students laughed satirically. One of them said: "Look heah, Mr. +Train, that sort of thing won't do heah, you know. We don't do things as +you do in America." Another suggested that I should not be treated very +civilly if I attempted to approach Lord John Russell. + +For reply, I took out a card and wrote on it: "An American, in the +Highlands of Scotland, is delighted to know that he is under the same +roof with England's Premier, Lord John Russell, and, before he goes, +would ask the pleasure of speaking with his lordship for a moment." I +carefully folded the card in the letter that had been given to me by Mr. +Webster, and afterward signed by the President of the United States and +Henry Clay. I sent the two in to his lordship. + +In a few minutes the door opened, and the secretary of Lord John Russell +came in and asked for "Mr. Train." I said I was Mr. Train. "Lord John +Russell," replied the secretary, "waits the pleasure of speaking with +Mr. Train of Boston." I followed him out of the room, to the amazement +of the young students, who didn't do things that way in England. + +His lordship received me with that easy grace and courtesy which I have +always observed in Englishmen of high rank. I told him I would not take +up any of his time, and that I merely wanted to meet him. He made me +talk about the United States, and insisted upon introducing me to his +wife. She, also, received me graciously, saying she was "always glad to +see Americans." She asked me many questions about this country and +especially about Niagara Falls. A half hour passed by before I was aware +of the time. I begged pardon for staying so long, and left. + +In my book, Young America Abroad, I have referred to this incident and +to the courteous reception I met at Braemar. When I had gone around the +world, and returned to America, and was at Newport with Colonel Hiram +Fuller, in '56, there came to me in the mail one morning a coroneted +note. It was from London, and written by Lady Russell. + +"It was so kind of you," it said, "to remember us at Braemar, and to +send us your Young America Abroad, which his lordship and I have read +with a great deal of pleasure. When you come to London, come to see +us.--FANNIE RUSSELL." + +Our Liverpool office was at No. 5 Water Street, George Holt's building. +As soon as I was able to look after the company's interests, I went down +to the office and took charge. Mr. Thayer returned to Boston, and later +to New York. This left me in complete control. At twenty years of age, I +was the manager of the great house of Train & Co., in Liverpool. + +I at once began to reorganize things in Liverpool, and to develop our +business. I put on two ships a month between Liverpool and Boston, and +arranged the James McHenry line to Philadelphia, and sent transient +ships to New York. We also had what was known as the "triangular line," +handling cotton and naval stores. + +Liverpool I found to be a great port, but very much belated. It was too +conservative, and the old fogies there were quite content to keep up +customs that their ancestors had followed without trying to improve upon +them, or to introduce new and better ones. I set to work to improve +everything in our business that was susceptible of improvement. + +I was astonished, the very first day after I reached the office, to +learn that nothing was done at night. The entire twelve hours from six +in the afternoon to six the following morning were absolutely lost, and +this in a business that requires every minute of time in the twenty-four +hours. Ships can not be delayed, held at ports for day-light, or laid up +while men sleep. The work of loading and unloading must proceed with all +despatch, if there is to be any profit in handling the business, and +ships must be sent on their voyages without loss of valuable time. I had +supposed that the English shippers thoroughly understood these simple +principles of the business in which they have led the world. + +Our vessels were very expensive, and we could not afford to lose the +twelve hours of the night. That much time meant a profit to us, and I +determined to utilize it. What was my surprise, when I went to the +proper authorities, to find that we should not be allowed to light up +the Liverpool docks at night, or to have fires on them. It was feared +that we should burn the structures and destroy the shipping and docks. +These dignified gentlemen even laughed at me for suggesting such a +foolhardy undertaking. + +I said to myself, there is always one way to reach men, and I will find +the way to reach these dignitaries. It occurred to me that I could reach +them most surely through a plea for the prosperity of the port. I went +at once to the representatives of all the American lines having offices +in Liverpool, to organize them into a combined attack on the Liverpool +port authorities. I saw Captain Delano of the Albert Gallatin, Captain +French of the Henry Clay, Captain West of the Cope Philadelphia line, +Captain Cropper of Charles H. Marshall's Black Ball line, Zerega of the +Blue Packet line, and others, and we decided upon asking the dock board +to give us a hearing. This the board very readily consented to do. + +Prior to this meeting, I went to all the American representatives and +outlined my plan of campaign. This was to say very plainly to the dock +board that unless we could have fires and lights on the docks we would +take the shipping to other ports. The captains and others were +astonished, but they agreed to let me approach the board with this plain +threat. + +I then went to the board, with all the representatives of the American +lines, and quietly told the members that we wanted fires and lights on +the docks at night, that we needed this in order to carry on our +business in our way, and that unless we could have them, we should at +once go to other ports. Abandoning a mood of amused laughter, these +gentlemen suddenly became very serious. Their hoary customs did not seem +so sacred then, and they ended by throwing a complete somersault, and +granting us full permission to light up the Liverpool docks at night. + +Of course this made a tremendous difference to all of us. We could now +load our ships at night, thus saving one half of the twenty-four hours, +which we had been losing. I understand that the Morgan combination, +fifty-two years after this, has again forced concessions from the +Liverpool dock board by threatening to take the ships to Southampton. + +Our principal freight from Liverpool at that time consisted of crockery +from the Staffordshire potteries, Manchester dry-goods, and iron and +steel, and what were known as "chow-chow," or miscellaneous articles. We +often had as many as 150 consignees in a single cargo. Our principal +business connections were the firms of John H. Green & Co. and Forward & +Co., who shipped pottery; Bailey Brothers & Co., Jevons & Co., A. & S. +Henry & Co., Crafts & Stell, Charles Humberston, and John Ireland. Our +passenger agent was Daniel P. Mitchell, 18 Waterloo Road. + +The first blunder that I made in Liverpool--and the only serious one, I +believe--was in connection with shipping emigrants to the United States. +One day a man came into the office and said he was from the estate of +the Marquis of Lansdowne, and wanted to contract for the shipment of 300 +passengers for New York. We soon came to terms, and I chartered the ship +President. We charged the Marquis from £3 15s. to £4 a head. I learned +afterward that these passengers were poor tenants of his estates. The +Marquis of that time was the grandfather of the present Marquis of +Lansdowne, Minister of War in the Salisbury cabinet. + +At that time we had to pay $2 a head for all immigrants entering the +country. I had tried to get this changed, through Mr. Webster, but had +failed. We had also to give bond that the immigrants would not become a +public charge. It proved a very expensive contract for us, as we had to +bring back many of these paupers for the old Marquis to take care of. + +When I left Boston, I had taken a partnership, one sixth interest, in +the house of Train & Co. In Liverpool I had twenty-five clerks under me, +and at one time had four ships in Victoria Docks. It may be inferred +that I conducted the business with some degree of success, as my +interest--one sixth--for the first year was $10,000. Next year, when in +London, I was invited to a grand reception given by Abbott Lawrence, 138 +Piccadilly, who was then United States minister at the court of St. +James's. That day I dined with Lord Bishop Spencer of Jamaica, whom I +had met in Saratoga, and took Lady Harvey in. This was my acceptance of +the invitation he had extended to me in Saratoga. The bishop asked if I +was going to the reception of the American minister that night, and, on +my saying that I was, asked me to accept a place in his carriage. This I +very gladly did, as I had, by this time learned a great deal about the +value of state and ceremony in English life. The sequence will show how +this worldly wisdom served me. + +At the dinner, however, I had had a very narrow escape. It was the +"closest call," as we say in the West, that my temperance Methodist +principles ever had. I was asked, as a great mark of distinction, to +taste the pet wine of the bishop. The bishop himself acted as chief +tempter of my old New England principles. He handed me a glass, saying: +"Mr. Train, this is the wine we call the 'cockroach flavor.' I want you +to drink some of it with us," and he glanced around his table, at which +were seated many titled Englishmen and women. + +What was I to do? Should I, caught in so dire an emergency, drown my +principles in the cup that cheers and inebriates? Was all my Methodism +and New England temperance to go down in shipwreck? The exigency nerved +me for the task, and I found a courage sufficient to carry me through. I +had never tasted a drop of wine, and I was not going to begin now. I +glanced about the room, and slowly raised the glass to my lips. I did +not taste the wine, but the other guests thought that I did. "We all +know," I said, "that the wine at your lordship's table is the best." +This passed without challenge, and, in the ripple of applause, my +omission to drink the wine was not observed. + +Later in the evening I went with the bishop to the American minister's +reception, and soon saw how well it was that I was in his lordship's +carriage. Had I been in a hired cab, I should have fared badly. I should +have had to wait in the long line of these vehicles, while flunkeys +called out, in stentorian tones as if to advertise all London of the +fact that you were in a hired concern, "Mr. Train's cab!" and other +flunkeys, down the line, would take up the cry, "Mr. Train's cab!" until +one would sink in a fever of chagrin. But as I came in the bishop's +carriage, I heard respectful voices announce, "Lord Spencer and Mr. +Train." + +I observed several ladies bending over an elderly gentleman, and soon +another lady asked me if I had seen the duke. As there were two or three +dukes present, I asked which one. She looked very much surprised, as if +there could be more than one duke in the world. "Why, the Duke of +Wellington!" she exclaimed. + +I now took occasion to get a good look at the venerable old man. It was +the first time, and proved to be the only time, I ever saw him. He would +not have impressed me, I think, had it not been for the light of history +which seemed, after I once knew it was he, to illuminate his face and +frame. It was the last year of his enjoyment of great renown. He died +shortly afterward. + +While in England, I availed myself of every opportunity to see the +country, and study it from every possible point of view. I may add that +this has been my invariable custom in all countries. I have gone +through the world as an inquirer and an observer of men and things. As I +had visited Scotland, I was desirous of seeing another of the islands, +Wales, so I ran down into that curious country on a vacation, in 1850. I +went to Bangor, on the Menai Straits, and hardly had got into the hotel +when a tremendous commotion in the corridors told me that some guest of +unusual importance had arrived. I asked who it was, and was informed +that it was the Duke of Devonshire. + +"That is exceedingly fortunate for me," I said. "There is no man that I +would rather see at this moment than the Duke of Devonshire." At this, +my companions--among whom were young Grinnell, of Grinnell, Bowman & +Co., whose father sent the Resolute to find Sir John Franklin, young +Russell, and young Jevons, an iron merchant--began laughing +immoderately. I wrote on a card that an American, who happened to be at +the George Hotel when he arrived, would like to see him, if it would not +be too great an intrusion upon his time. I added that it had been one of +the desires of my life to visit his famous estate at Chatsworth. + +This note I sent to the duke by a messenger. Immediately came back a +reply that the duke would be very glad to see me, and I was ushered into +his presence. He was then an elderly man, his voice tremulous and +uncertain. To make it still more difficult to converse with him, he was +deaf, but used an ear-trumpet. I succeeded in telling him that his +palace at Chatsworth was well known throughout America by reputation, +and that I should like very much to see it, while I was in that part of +Great Britain. He replied that I must certainly see it before leaving. +He then called to his secretary to bring him a blue card, and wrote upon +it a pass to enter the grounds and buildings. This was all very kind, +and I thanked him for the courtesy. + +He then completely stunned me by saying: "You must see the emperor!" I +knew that the Czar of Russia had been his guest, but it was not likely +that he was at Chatsworth at that time; so I endeavored to divine what +the duke meant. My mind ran over horses, conservatories, and dogs. + +I could not, for a moment or two, imagine what "the emperor" could be, +and was about to commit myself irrevocably to a conservatory, a favorite +horse, or hound; but before making any remark gave him an appreciative +smile which seemed to please his grace. He called for the blue card +again, and wrote on it: "Let the emperor play for Mr. Train." I learned +afterward that it cost the duke $500 to have "the emperor" play, and so +much the more appreciated his courtesy. I remarked that I had heard "the +emperor" referred to as the highest fountain in all Europe. + +As soon as I got back to Liverpool, I made up a little party to visit +Chatsworth. When we reached the station I was astonished to see almost a +regiment of uniformed servants waiting to meet us. I was even more +astounded when the head of this body-guard of retainers approached and +asked, in the most deferential manner: "When will your royal highness +have luncheon?" I saw, of course, that they were taking me for some one +else, and remarked that they were perhaps waiting for the arrival of the +Prince of Hesse-Cassel, whom I had just seen at the hotel. The prince +came up almost immediately afterward, and had the pleasure of seeing +"the emperor" play, by special authority, on my card from the duke. + +The palace is a magnificent residence, so far exceeding anything of the +kind in England at that time, that George IV. is said to have felt +offended when invited there, because his own residence was shabby in +comparison. I made the acquaintance at Chatsworth of Sir Joseph Paxton, +who the following year modeled the entire glass system of the first +Crystal Palace at London. I was to see something of the Crystal Palace +the next year. + +Six years after this, when I published my book, Young America Abroad, I +sent a marked copy to the Duke of Devonshire, and he wrote me a letter +in which he said: "I am an old man now, sixty-two, but I have not +forgotten the delightful day when I met you on the Menai Straits." + +One day, in my office in Liverpool, I received a card from the +Secretary, inviting me to the exhibition in London, and Mr. Riddle of +Boston, who was then on his way to London, asked me to be present on the +day when the Queen was to come, which was the day before the opening. I +went to London, and that was the first and the only time I ever saw +Queen Victoria. She was with Prince Albert, and they were accompanied, I +remember, by a brilliant staff. + +I recall an incident during my visit to London on this occasion which +aptly illustrates the want of suggestiveness on the part of Englishmen. +They are content to go along in old ruts, provided only they be old +enough. Frank Fuller was the contractor for the Crystal Palace, and a +problem arose, in the construction, as to what to do with a certain +beautiful and aged elm that had been an object of reverence and stood in +the way of the proposed building. It had finally been decided to cut it +down, in order to get it out of the way. + +"What!" said I, "cut it down--this exquisite tree?" Some one remarked +that the authorities did not wish to cut it down, but it stood directly +in the way of the great palace, and would have to be sacrificed. "The +palace is here for time," I said, "and this tree may be here for +eternity. Spare the tree." "But how?" they asked. They were +bewildered--did not have a thought of what to do, except to hew down the +venerable tree. "Build your palace around it," I said. This simple +device had not occurred to them, but it saved the elm. + +Mr. Fuller was so pleased by the suggestion, that he began asking me +about hotels in America, and proposed that I undertake the building of +an American hotel in London. I said that some time I should, perhaps, +try the experiment, but that for the present my shipping business would +keep me fully occupied. + +I might as well mention here, although it is not in its chronological +order, my later experience in trying to establish an American hotel in +London. It was seven years after the exhibition when the question of an +American hotel came up again. I had worked up the plan very thoroughly, +and had some of the most prominent and influential men in England as +directors of the proposed company. We had, also, obtained options on +several acres of desirable land in the Strand as a site. In the board of +directors was Lord Bury, private secretary of the Queen, son of the Earl +of Albemarle; Mark Lemon, of Punch; and others. The only obstacle to our +success was the passage of a bill through Parliament authorizing us to +occupy the land. The hotel caused a great sensation in London, and there +was much talk of it as a daring and not altogether agreeable invasion of +England by Americans. On the other hand, there was much commendation, +and George Augustus Sala, the leading editorial writer of the Telegraph, +wrote a letter in which he mentioned my name as a guaranty that the +hotel would be built and would succeed, as, he said, I had succeeded in +everything. + +Matters were well advanced, and it looked as if we should have the +hotel. I wanted it constructed along distinctly American lines, and sent +to Paran Stevens to get from him the plans of his three hotels, the +Revere House in Boston, the Fifth Avenue Hotel in New York, and the +Continental in Philadelphia. We had everything in readiness, when the +news came that the bill had failed in the House of Lords by sixteen +votes, although the House of Commons had passed it. I came as near as +that to building the first American hotel in London. Fifty years later, +the Hotel Cecil was built, a half century after I had suggested the idea +and perfected the plan. + +My experience in Saratoga had revealed to me the want of suggestiveness +and resource in men in general. They will continue doing the same thing +in the same old way generation after generation, without taking thought +for improving methods in the interest of economy, of time, and of money. +I have, from time to time, suggested a large number of little +improvements, mechanical or other devices, for which I have never taken +out patents or received a cent of profit in any way. I shall bring +together here a few of these suggestions, made at different times and in +different countries. + +I used to go to the old cider-mill at Piper's, about a half mile from +our farm. We went in an ox-cart, filled with apples. When we got to the +cider-mill, all we had to do was to pull out a peg, and the apples would +roll out into the hopper of the mill. + +When I came to New York years afterward I was astonished to notice that +there were a half-dozen men around every coal-cart, unloading the coal. +I thought of the ox-cart, the peg, and the hopper, which I had used +thirty years before. I suggested the use of a device for letting the +coal run from the cart into the cellar, but could not get any one to +listen to the proposition. Now, years after my suggestion, all of these +carts in New York and other large cities of America have small scoops +running from the cart to the coal-hole, and a single man unloads the +cart by winding a windlass and lifting the front end of the wagon. In +London they still keep up the old, clumsy, and expensive method of +unloading with sacks. The English are in some things where we were a +century ago. + +Once in London I was astonished to see a man, after writing something +with a lead-pencil, search through his pockets for a piece of +india-rubber with which to erase an error. He had lost it, and could +only smudge the paper by marking out what he had written. I said to him: +"Why don't you attach the rubber to the pencil? Then you couldn't lose +it." He jumped at my suggestion, took out a patent for the rubber +attachment to pencils, and made money. + +When Rowland Hill, the great English postal reformer, introduced +penny-postage into England, he found it necessary to employ many girls +to clip off the stamps from great sheets. I took a sheet of paper to +him, and showed him how easy it would be by perforation to tear off the +stamps as needed. He adopted my idea; and now a single machine does the +whole work. + +I noticed one day in England a lot of "flunkeys" rushing up to the +carriages of titled ladies and busying themselves adjusting steps, which +were separate from the carriage, and had been taken along with great +inconvenience. I said to myself, why not have the steps attached? and I +spoke about the idea to others. It was taken up, and carried out. Now +every carriage has steps attached as a part of the structure. + +In '50, I was with James McHenry in Liverpool, and in trying to pour +some ink from a bottle into the ink-well, the bottle was upset, and the +ink spilled all over the desk. This was because too much ink came from +the mouth. "Give the bottle a nose, like a milk pitcher," I said; "then +you can pour the ink into the well easily." Holden, of Liverpool, took +up the idea, and patented it, and made a fortune out of it. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +MY COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE--RETURN TO LIVERPOOL + +1850-1852 + + +After the first short stay in Saratoga during my vacation trip in +America, I had started for a journey West; and was soon to meet with an +experience that turned the current of my life. At Syracuse I saw a half +dozen students talking to a lovely girl, bidding her good-by. Her +appearance struck me in a peculiar way. I turned to Alfredo Ward, who, +with his wife, was traveling with me, they having just come from +Valparaiso, Chili. "Look at that girl with the curls," said I. "Do you +know her?" he asked. "I never saw her before," I answered, "but she +shall be my wife." + +I was quite ready to abandon the remainder of my Western trip, to get an +opportunity to meet this girl. Taking my grip up hurriedly, I rushed +over to the train she was on, supposing she was going to New York. I +soon discovered that she was going the other way, and ran through in my +mind the chances I could take, the risks I could run, and so took an +opportunity by the throat. I knew that I was not compelled to leave +Boston until July 25, and so I had ample time to get to my ship. + +I entered the car where the girl was, and found a vacant seat opposite +her. An elderly gentleman was with her, whom I took to be her father. I +selected the seat opposite with the deliberate purpose of making the +acquaintance of the pair at the first opportunity that occurred or that +I could create. + +My chance came sooner than I expected. The elderly gentleman tried to +raise the sash of the window, and could not move it; it had, as usual, +stuck fast. I sprang lightly and very quickly across the aisle and said, +"Permit me to assist you," and adding my youthful strength to his, +raised the window. Both he and the young lady thanked me. The old +gentleman went further and asked me to take the seat directly opposite +him and the young lady, on the same side of the car. I did so, and we +entered into conversation immediately. I continued my speculations as to +the relationship that existed between them. The gentleman seemed rather +elderly for her husband, and she too young to be married at all. He did +not look exactly as if he were her father. + +[Illustration: Mrs. George Francis Train. +From a photograph.] + +Before I could determine this question for myself, he came to my +assistance, and told me the young lady was the daughter of Colonel +George T. M. Davis, who was captain and aide-de-camp, under General +Scott, in the Mexican War, and afterward chief clerk in the War +Department at Washington. He introduced himself as Dr. Wallace, and said +that he was taking Miss Davis to her home in the West. I also learned +that they were going to Oswego, where they would take a boat. I +immediately exclaimed that I, also, was going in that direction, and was +delighted to know we should be fellow passengers. In such matters--for +love is like war--quickness of decision is everything. I would have gone +in any direction, if only I could remain her fellow passenger. + +And so we arrived at Niagara Falls together. Dr. Wallace was kind enough +to permit me to escort his charge about the Falls, and I was foolish +enough to do several risky things, in a sort of half-conscious desire to +appear brave--the last infirmity of the mind of a lover. I went under +the Falls and clambered about in all sorts of dangerous places, in an +intoxication of love. It was the same old story, only with the +difference that our love was mutually discovered and confessed amid the +roaring accompaniment of the great cataract. We were at the Falls +forty-eight hours, and before we left we were betrothed. + +Soon afterward I sailed for London, as already set forth. It was not +till '51 that I came back to America, principally for the purpose of +marrying Miss Davis and taking her back to England with me. + +I arrived in Boston shortly before the celebration of Bunker Hill Day, +which was always a great occasion in that city. General John S. Tyler +was grand-marshal of the day, and he appointed me one of his aides. It +was a time when young people were usually left out of all public +business arrangements. Only the middle-aged or old took part in anything +of the spectacular nature in this great parade. Probably I attracted a +great deal of attention, therefore, because of my youth, being then only +twenty-one. + +In truth, I felt a little flattered by the appointment, and determined +to make as good a show as possible. Having been born and reared on a +farm, I knew how to ride, so I got the stableman to give me the finest +stepper he could furnish. He found a beautiful animal, with a frolicsome +spirit, and I felt that I should prove at least a good part of the +exhibition. I was decked in a flowing red, white, and blue sash that +swept below the saddle-girths, and my horse was a proud-looking and +dainty-paced beast. With a little rehearsing of my part, I was fully +prepared. + +On the occasion of the parade, I am quite sure, I was the observed of +many observers. The spectators were let into the mystery of the +beautiful caracoling and dancing of my horse, whom I touched +occasionally with the spur in a particular way, and who acquitted +himself with great credit. The populace thought he was trying to unseat +me, or to run away, and that it was only by excellent horsemanship that +I was able to hold my seat and look like a centaur. I am ashamed to say, +at this far distance in retrospect, that it was a proud moment for me, +and that I took so much pleasure in so idle and empty a show. But youth +must be served. + +I had charge of the Colonial Governors, who were the guests of the city, +and of the President, and I escorted them from Boston to Charlestown. +There were Sir John A. MacDonald, of Canada; Governor Tilly, of New +Brunswick; the Honorable Joseph Howe, ex-Governor of Nova Scotia; and +Millard Fillmore, President of the United States. President Fillmore and +Sir John MacDonald rode on the back seat of the first carriage, and Howe +and Tilly on the front seat. Somehow, Boston seemed to regard the +colonial officials as equal to, if not a little better than the +President. I suppose this was because of the sentiment of Bunker Hill, +and because the presence of British representatives was a matter of +pride and gratification. + +But the day was to end in gloom. As I was in the midst of the gaiety and +at the height of my exultation, a messenger handed me a despatch. I tore +it open, and found that it was from a friend in Louisville, Ky., and +contained a warning. Miss Davis, to whom I was betrothed, lived in +Louisville, and I was soon to marry her there. The telegram urged me to +hasten my journey, as the report of the coming marriage had created a +great deal of bad feeling. My friend advised me to lay aside everything +and go to Louisville with all possible despatch. + +I could not imagine, at first, what this meant. It seemed to convey only +some presage of disaster. I left the gay scenes of the parade and +hurried to my room at the hotel. There I made instant preparation for a +trip to Louisville. + +Before leaving Boston, however, I learned what it was that had caused my +friend in Louisville so much concern. Some time before, there had been a +marriage of a Kentucky girl with a Northerner--the much-talked of +wedding of Bigelow Lawrence and Miss Sallie Ward. It had aroused a great +deal of bitter feeling, because of the increasing tension and friction +between the North and the South. This was none of my affair; nor did I +share the feeling on either side. Indeed, at that time, I knew little +and cared less about the sectional differences between the North and +South. The only interest I had in the South at that time was a +commercial one in our shipping business, and the more personal interest +attaching to that portion of the South that held my future wife. + +My own approaching marriage to Miss Davis had, it seems, been regarded +as of sufficient importance to arouse the same feeling that had been +created by the Lawrence-Ward marriage. My friends were manifesting much +solicitude. What most alarmed them was the fact that a number of gallant +Kentuckians were trying to marry Miss Davis themselves, and thus +patriotically save her for the South. Among these patriots were Senator +James Shields, Mexican hero of Belleville, Ill., Lieutenant Merriman of +the navy, and an officer of the army. There was, also, a suitor from my +side of the line--"Ned" Baker, of Springfield, Ill., who was afterward +United States consul-general at Montevideo. In her letters to me she had +mentioned all of these gentlemen, but I was not particularly anxious +about the matter, feeling that there was safety in numbers. But now that +my friends were interesting themselves, I thought it full time that I +should be looking after affairs myself. + +I was doomed to suffer from the inconsistency of woman. When I reached +Louisville I wrote to her, mentioning the reports sent me by friends. +This angered her. She became indignant because I had taken any notice of +these rumors, and refused to see me on that day. But on the following +day she was in a milder mood, ready to see me. This meeting put to rest +forever all doubts, suspicions, and jealousies, and my fears melted into +thin air. + +But for all this, I was determined to take no further chances with three +or four rivals, and decided that I should not again leave my affianced +bride behind me. I insisted upon an immediate ceremony, and we were +married by the rector of the Episcopal church in Louisville, October 5, +'51. Her father, Colonel George T. M. Davis, was then editor of +Haldeman's Louisville Courier. Belle Key, the famous Kentucky beauty, +whose sister, Annie Key, married Matthew Ward, who killed a Kentuckian +in a duel, was my wife's bridesmaid, and Sylvanus J. Macey, son of +William H. Macey, was groomsman. My wife was only seventeen years old. +She was very beautiful. Her picture appeared in the Book of Beauty the +following year. + +We came east from Louisville on our wedding journey, stopping at +Cincinnati, where I had a curious experience. The Burnett House was the +most popular hotel in the city at that time, and we stayed there. It had +just fitted up the first "bridal chamber" in this country, if not in the +world. Every little hotel has one now; but then such a thing was unheard +of, so far as I have been able to ascertain. At any rate, Mr. Drake, the +clerk, asked me if I did not wish to take the "bridal chamber." He told +me it was the only one in the world. As I was ever keen and ready for a +novelty, I replied that of course I would. + +I had already been in a great many hotels in this country. The +prevailing rate of charge was about $2 a day, at that time. I supposed +that this splendid room would cost a little more, being a special +apartment--perhaps about $5 a day. It cost $15! But I was willing to pay +for the honor of occupying the first "bridal chamber" in the world. + +From Cincinnati, we came directly on to Boston, and stayed at the +Winthrop House, where I had been before. I soon had a conference with +the Boston house which I represented, and it was determined that I +should return to Liverpool and resume charge of the branch there, but in +somewhat different and better circumstances. I returned in '52. The ship +we sailed on was the Daniel Webster, built by Donald Mackay in East +Boston, and which I had named in special honor of my friend, the great +Daniel. Captain Howard was in command. + +The trip was destined to be eventful. Five days after leaving Boston we +ran into a heavy gale from the west. Our boat was very sturdy, and we +had no fears, but I knew that many smaller and less seaworthy ships +would suffer in such a driving storm. We were, therefore, on the lookout +for vessels in distress. + +For the greater part of the time, during the height of the gale, I stood +on the bridge closely scanning the horizon line in front. Suddenly +something seemed to rise and assume form out of the storm-wrack, and +this gradually grew into the shape of a vessel. I saw that it was a +wreck, shouted to the captain, but he, looking in the direction, could +make out nothing. My eyes seemed to be better than his, although his had +been trained by long practise at sea. He could not see much better when +he got his glasses turned in the direction I indicated, but finally he +discovered the vessel, though he did not seem desirous of leaving his +present course to offer assistance. + +I insisted that we should go to the rescue of the ship and her crew, and +he turned and said: "Mr. Train, we sea captains are prevented from going +to the rescue of vessels, or from leaving our course, by the insurance +companies. We should forfeit our policy in the event of being lost or +damaged." + +"Let me decide that," said I. "We can not do otherwise than go to the +assistance of these persons." And we went. The Webster bore swiftly down +upon the wreck, which proved to be in worse plight than I had imagined. +She was buffeted about by the waves, and seemed in peril of going down +at any moment. Men and women were clinging to her rigging, hanging over +her sides, and trying to get spars and timbers on which to entrust +themselves to the sea. The doomed vessel was the Unicorn, from an Irish +port, bound for St. John's, N. B., with passengers and railway iron. +This iron had been the cause of the wreck, for in the rough weather it +had broken away from its fastenings, or "shipped," as the sailors +express it, and had broken holes in the sides of the boat and +overweighted it on one side. + +A brig that had sighted the Unicorn before we came up had taken off a +few of the passengers--as many as it could accommodate. The Unicorn was +a small vessel, and there seemed little chance for the rest of the +passengers unless we could reach them. The sea was running very swift +and high, and it was not possible to bring the Webster close to the side +of the Unicorn. To make matters worse, the sailors had found that there +was whisky in the cargo, and in their desperation, drank it without +restraint. They were, consequently, unmanageable. They could not help us +to assist the miserable passengers on their own boat. + +There was nothing else to be done except to get into our small boats and +try to save as many passengers as possible. The captain got into one +boat and I into another, and we were rowed to the side of the Unicorn. +There we discovered that many had already perished. Dead bodies were +floating in the sea about the ship. We tried to get up close enough to +reach the passengers, but found it impossible. + +"Throw the passengers into the sea," I shouted to the captain of the +Unicorn, "and we will pick them up. We can't get up to you." In this +way, the crew of the Unicorn throwing men and women into the sea, and +our boats picking them up, we succeeded in saving two hundred. All the +rest--I do not know how many--were drowned. We finally got these two +hundred persons safely on board the Daniel Webster. + +Here we discovered other difficulties, and it seemed, for a time, as if +starvation might do the work that had been denied to the waves. There +was, also, the question of accommodations; but we solved this problem by +taking some of our extra sails and tarpaulin and rigging up a protection +for them on the deck and in the hold, so that we made them all fairly +comfortable. The problem of food was far more difficult. We simply had +no food, the captain said. There was hardly more than enough for the +crew and passengers of our own vessel, as the delay caused by the rescue +and the departure from our course had made an extra demand upon +supplies. + +Here a happy thought occurred to me. We happened to be carrying a cargo +of corn-meal. I had heard that the Irish, in one of their famines, had +been fed with corn-meal, learning to eat and even to like it. + +"Open the hatches!" I cried, with the enthusiasm of the philosopher who +cried "Eureka." The problem of food was soon solved. Two of the barrels +were cut in half, making four tubs. From the staves of other barrels we +made spoons, and from the meal we made mush which the half-starved men, +women, and children ate with great relish. They lived on it until we got +them safely landed on English soil, the entire two hundred persons +reaching port without the loss of a single soul. + +This was my first service at a rescue, and, of course, I was proud of +it. Captain Howard received a handsome medal from the Life Saving +Society of England, and the incident greatly increased the reputation of +our packets. + +On arriving at Liverpool, we went to No. 153 Duke Street, a house then +kept by Mrs. Blodgett, whose husband saw service as consul in Spain. +This house was at that time the favorite resort of American sea captains +and shipping men, and was a sort of central point for all Americans in +Liverpool. John Alfred Marsh, who had been with us in Boston, was with +me in Liverpool at this time, in the branch of our house there; and I +think he is the only man living among all of my friends of that year. He +is now connected with the Guion Line steamships. + +During the first year in Liverpool after my marriage, I had a peculiar +and interesting experience with the science of phrenology. At that time +every one was talking about its "revelations," and I became somewhat +interested in it. My interest came chiefly, however, through James +McHenry, whose line of ships to Philadelphia I had charge of. He +suggested one day that I go to a phrenologist, saying that I had a most +curious head. Up to this time, I had not taken any stock in the science, +which I set down as charlatanry and mountebankism. But he insisted, and +finally I consented to go with him to Bridges, then the most famous +phrenologist in Liverpool or in the west of England. + +Bridges astonished me so greatly by telling me things about myself that +I had supposed no one knew but I, that my interest was awakened. Still I +thought there must be something queer about the thing, and I accused +McHenry of having told Bridges something about me beforehand so that I +might be taken by surprise. McHenry so vehemently denied this that I +knew he was telling me the truth. There was nothing to do but to accept +the "chart" of Bridges as being at least sincere. + +As I like to investigate everything for myself, I determined to see what +there was in phrenology, and to have my head examined in circumstances +where there could be no question that the phrenologist had had any +information about me. So I went to London, and there consulted a still +more famous phrenologist, the octogenarian Donovan. I said to him: "Mr. +Donovan, I want you to tell me the plain truth about my head." +"Phrenology does not lie," he said. "Put down your guinea." + +I put down the guinea, and submitted to an examination. He told me +almost the same things that Bridges had said, and thus confirmed the +first chart of my head. After finishing his examination, Donovan looked +at me and said: "You will be either a great reformer, or a great pirate. +It merely depends upon the direction you take in Ethics!" + +Even this examination did not entirely satisfy me. There were still +higher authorities in phrenology, and I felt that I should not be +satisfied until I had the verdict of the highest court of appeals. I +consulted every phrenologist I could reach--a great professor in Paris, +another from Germany, and finally, I reached the highest authority then +living, the highest that has ever lived, possibly, the great Dr. Fowler, +who was then lecturing in England. + +He came to Liverpool to lecture, and I went to hear him. Fowler asked +for some one from the audience to allow him to examine his head. As he +had never seen me, I felt that I could in this way get an absolutely +impartial and unprejudiced reading. I went on the stage, and my +appearance caused a ripple of surprise, for I was known in Liverpool. +The phrenologist placed his hands on my head and exclaimed: "Jehu, what +a head!" The audience applauded, as if they thought I had a head, and +had used it to good purpose in their city. + +Beverley Tucker was American consul in Liverpool at that time, having +been appointed by President Pierce. When the famous actor and dramatist, +John Brougham, visited Liverpool, I suggested that we Americans, in +whose country Brougham had lived and done his best work, should +entertain him at a dinner at the Waterloo House. We had a large and +lively company present, and Brougham was in his best vein. I asked +Brougham for his autograph, and, at the same time, something about the +poet Willis, who was then our favorite American poet. He gave me +instantly, without apparent thought, the following verse: + + "Hyperion curls his forehead on, + Behold the poet Willis! + For love of such a Corydon, + Who would not be a Phyllis?" + +Thus have I narrated, in this and the previous chapters, the most +interesting events and experiences of my life in Liverpool. The life +there was particularly varied and altogether delightful. It was, of +course, a very busy time, but I managed to get a great deal of pleasure +out of it. There was a constant round of entertainments, and the social +life of the city was generally gay and interesting. At this period I had +two portraits of my wife and myself made. They are now in the possession +of my daughter, who keeps them in the room which she always has ready +for me in the country. + +As for my standing in the city, I may give here the opinion of Charles +Mackay, the poet, author of Cheer, Boys, Cheer, and other well-known +poems, who wrote, in reviewing my book, Young America in Wall Street, +that I "walked up the Liverpool Exchange like a Baring or a Rothschild." +I remained in Liverpool one year with my wife, and then returned to the +United States. This was in '52. The best men of Liverpool had made me +welcome everywhere, in all circles of business or of society. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +BUSINESS SUCCESS IN AUSTRALIA + +1853-1855 + + +My wife and I in returning to Boston came on a visit that we expected to +be brief. I confidently supposed I should go back to Liverpool and +continue the business of the branch house. But this was not to be. +Instead, I was soon to make a far wider departure in business fields and +methods, and to try my fortune at another end of the earth. + +When I arrived in Boston, I had a conference with Colonel Train about +conditions in England, and suggested to him that I should have a +partnership interest in the Boston house, as well as in the house in +Liverpool. To my surprise, Colonel Train was not only astonished, but +indignant. He could not understand how I had pushed ahead so rapidly, +and this swift advance was by no means pleasant to him. He felt that, in +some way, I was pushing him out of his place. + +"Would you ride over me roughshod?" he asked, almost fiercely, when I +ventured to suggest a larger partnership interest. I replied that I +thought I had given full value for everything that the house had done +for me, and that I should be able to do so in the future. After some +further discussion, in which the old gentleman was mollified, the matter +was arranged. I received a partnership interest that was equal to +$15,000 a year--and I was only twenty-two years old at the time. + +As soon as the contract was signed, and it was in my hand, I +said--because I was still nettled by the manner in which he had received +my suggestion of a partnership--"Colonel, as you do not seem to care to +take me into the firm, here is your contract"; and I tore it in two and +handed him the pieces. "I am going to Australia." + +This cool announcement astonished him. He did not know what to do. +Finally, we came to terms. It was decided that I should go to Melbourne +to start my own house with Captain Caldwell, one of our oldest +ship-captains, the house to be known as "Caldwell, Train & Co." It was +Colonel Train's view that this elderly man would act as a check upon my +youthful rashness, he having no interest in the firm but good-will +toward me and one of his captains. + +The arrangements once completed, I was eager to be about my work in the +antipodes, and prepared to sail at the first opportunity. Everything was +taken from Boston--clerks, sets of books, business forms, etc. Nothing +was left to the chance of finding or getting in Australia the material +that we might need. And so the new house of "Caldwell, Train & Co." +sailed away from Boston on the Plymouth Rock for Melbourne, Australia, +on a singularly audacious venture. + +Captain Caldwell went out in charge of the clerks, while I was to go by +a different route a little later. I went to New York and took passage +from there in the old Whitlock Havre packet, Bavaria, Captain Bailey. I +had two clerks with me, and carried, also, a large amount of office +supplies in duplicate. Duncan, Sherman & Co. had appointed me their +agent for the purchase of gold in Melbourne, which was to be shipped to +London or New York as circumstances permitted, and I had also been +appointed by the Boston underwriters their agent to represent them in +the South Seas. The outlook for business seemed especially bright. + +I have traveled a great deal since that time, but this was the longest +period I have ever been on a ship in a single voyage. We were ninety-two +days from New York to Melbourne. I have twice since gone entirely around +the world in less time. It was very dreary at times, and I had to resort +to all manner of things in order to pass the hours. These attempted +diversions were often very amusing. + +I have always wanted to do things a little differently from others, +partly because it has been more interesting to do them in a novel +manner, but chiefly because I have found that a better way than the +accepted one could be found. My desire for novelty led me to do some +curious things during this long and tedious voyage to Melbourne. One day +I was looking at the porpoises playing about the ship's bows, and it +occurred to me that I could harpoon one of them. I asked the captain if +he had a harpoon, and he brought me one. I then had a rope tied fast +about me, so that I could be lowered over the bow. I had a good chance +and let fly the harpoon, and, as luck would have it, succeeded in +getting a fine porpoise. My successful throw astonished every +one--myself more than any. The porpoise was brought aboard, and we found +portions of it very good eating. + +On another day I hooked a shark, a "man-eater," ten feet long, and this, +also, was brought aboard, but no one proposed to eat it. A little later +we passed into the zone of the albatrosses, and myriads of these +exquisite birds flew over or hovered above the ship. I was desirous to +have one of them, and resorted to stratagems learned years ago in the +days when I used to snare rabbits and net pigeons on the old farm in New +England. I baited a hook with pork, and threw it out upon the water. +Instantly a great albatross swooped down upon it and swallowed the bait. +I drew the bird on board, and found it a magnificent specimen, measuring +twelve feet from tip to tip of its wings. Of course, I released the bird +very soon. In such pastimes, we beguiled the time, until we finally +swept through the great South Seas and into Hobson's Bay, passed Point +Nepean, and anchored off Sandridge. + +I had fancied that Melbourne was not a frequented port, off the tracks +of commerce, although springing into life and prominence. Imagine my +surprise when, on rounding the point where one could sweep the expanse +of the bay, I saw before me some six hundred vessels that had reached +the port before we arrived, and all, like ourselves, attracted there by +the rumors of gold, gold, gold! For a second time within a few years, +the whole world had gone wild over a gold discovery, and was now sending +thousands of persons to Australia. Thousands more were deterred from +going only by the fear of starvation, for very few believed at that time +that Australia could feed the hungry searchers after gold, much less +give them a fortune in gold nuggets. + +Before I left Boston I had heard much about the perils of starvation in +Australia. I was told that the country produced little, and that its +scant resources would soon be overtaxed by the horde of gold-seekers. +"Starve!" I said; "why there are twenty million sheep in the island." I +was then told that man could not live by mutton alone. But I knew that, +with these millions of sheep, there was little danger of famine. + +From the anchorage at Sandridge to Melbourne the distance is about ten +miles, the Yarra-Yarra winding and twisting through the tortuous +channel. As this river is too shallow to admit ships of a greater burden +than sixty tons, all large vessels anchor at Sandridge, or Williamstown. +While the distance up the Yarra-Yarra is ten miles, across the spit of +sand it is only two. I went into Melbourne at once, secured buildings +for our cargo, and arranged for lighters to take it up the Yarra-Yarra. + +The very first thing that impressed me in Australia was the miserable +and unnecessary inconvenience of having to send everything up the +twisted channel of the Yarra-Yarra by lighters. I determined to look +into this and see what could be done. The method was too expensive and +too slow to suit me. I immediately called on the most influential men of +the city, like De Graves, Octavius Brown, Dalgetty, Cruikshank & Co., +and James Henty, and said to them: "This thing of coming by way of the +Yarra-Yarra, ten miles, when it is only two miles by land, is out of the +question. Let us build a railway to Sandridge." + +Apparently, this had not occurred to them. They had brought from England +their habits of thought, and accepted things as they found them. But I +kept at the railway suggestion, until the line was built. This was my +first experience in organizing railways. It was not my last. + +I also found that it was not possible to get suitable accommodations in +Melbourne for business. There was no building there that was large +enough. In order to get one sufficiently commodious, I had to build it. +Accordingly, we put up at the corner of Flinders and Elizabeth Streets, +opposite the railway station, the biggest structure in the city. It cost +a pretty penny. The building was 140 feet deep, 40 feet wide and three +stories high. The date, "1854," was cut in stone at the top. The edifice +cost $60,000. I imported iron shutters from England to make it +fireproof. + +It was also necessary to have a building at Sandridge, a warehouse in +which to store our goods until they were needed in Melbourne, or until +they were shipped for America or Europe. In putting up this building, I +resolved to make an experiment. This was to have the building made in +Boston, and shipped out to me to be erected at Sandridge, thousands of +miles away. If successful, the warehouse would cost much less and would +be of better material and in better style than anything I could get in +Australia. It reached Sandridge all right and was put up at the end of +the little line of railway, at a cost of $25,000. It was 60 feet deep by +40 feet wide, and six stories high. + +With a warehouse at each end of the line, with all the business credit +that I could wish, and with the best connections in the world, we were +prepared to do a big business in Melbourne. How far we succeeded may be +inferred from the fact that my commissions the first year amounted to +$95,000. + +Melbourne was a small but promising city. It had some 20,000 population +at the time of the gold-fever, and had grown tremendously in the last +two or three years, so that, in '54, it must have had something like +30,000 or 40,000 inhabitants. It was, of course, a frontier town, crude +and raw, with few of the advantages of civilization. The people were too +busy with their search for gold and profits to think much of the +conveniences or luxuries of life. The only good hotel, for instance, was +the Squatters' Hotel, at Port Philip. There was not even a merchants' +exchange, although one was greatly needed. The merchants had simply +never heard of such a thing. I arranged with Salmi Morse, who afterward +tried to introduce the Passion Play in this country, to assist him in +putting up a building that could be used for a hotel, theater, and +mercantile exchange. The hotel was the Criterion, and we had a hall in +the building for the exchange. The latter was the means of bringing +together ship captains, merchants, agents, and business men generally, +and a great stimulus was given to business. + +I was able to introduce into Australia a great many articles and ideas +from America. I brought over from Boston a lot of "Concord" wagons, of +the same type as the one that "Ben" Holliday drove across the continent, +and I told Freeman Cobb, who was then with Adams & Co., that I wanted +him to start a line of coaches between Melbourne and the gold-mines, a +distance of about sixty miles. I advanced the money for the enterprise, +and a line was established, the first in Australia, to Geelong, +Ballarat, Bendigo, and Castle Maine. These were the first coaches seen +in that continent. The coaches cost in Australia $3,000 apiece. + +I had a chaise brought from Boston for my own use. It was so light in +comparison with the great, heavy, lumbering vehicles that were in use in +all English countries, that the people there said it would break down +immediately. They had not heard of Holmes's "Wonderful One-horse Shay +that ran a hundred years to a day," and did not, of course, know the +toughness of all "Yankee" things. It didn't break down, and its +lightness and general serviceableness made it a big advertisement of +American goods. People urged me to import a great many vehicles from +America. Every ship brought out wagons of the Concord make, chaises, and +vehicles of all sorts. Our carriages and buggies attracted much +attention. They were the first vehicles of the sort that had ever been +seen in the country. I sold these at a great profit. + +A great disappointment and loss occurred, however, through the +carelessness of the American shippers, on one occasion. They had sent a +cargo of carriages, and I was certain of a large profit on the shipment. +What was my surprise and horror, on the arrival of the cargo, to +discover that the stupid shippers had sent only the tops of the +carriages! The bodies of the vehicles had actually been shipped to San +Francisco! + +A thing that greatly surprised me, in a land of Englishmen, Scotchmen, +and Irishmen, was that there were no sports in Australia. It seems more +strange now, after Kipling's fierce denunciation of the "padded fools at +the wickets and the muddied oafs at the goal." As I had always been fond +of outdoor sport, I at once introduced bowling and ten-pins, opened an +alley and organized a club which was composed of Australian +bankers--Manager Blackwood of the Union Bank, MacArthur of the Bank of +Australia, Badcock of the Bank of New South Wales, Bramhall of the +London Chartered Bank, O'Shaughnessy of the Bank of Australasia, and +Mathieson of the Bank of Victoria. I mention these names here merely for +convenience, and to bring together some of the men with whom I was +associated in social and in business life in Melbourne. They represented +some $200,000,000 of capital. MacArthur had a beautiful bungalow four +miles out of Melbourne, where he invited me to shoot. + +I found living at a hotel very dreary and very inconvenient, and decided +to have a home of my own. So I got a two-story house at Collingwood, +near the residence of Governor Latrobe, just out of the city. Here I +accommodated my clerks, also. I took the stewardess, Undine, and the +steward from one of our ships, and was able to set up quite an +establishment. The United States consul, J. M. Tarleton, and his wife, +lived with us for a time. + +After I had been in Melbourne nearly a year I was guilty of a small +piece of patriotism that has ever since seemed very amusing to me. I had +been reared in the belief that every American-born boy has a chance to +become President of the United States. I had also the idea that a child +born out of the United States was not, in this sense, American-born. My +wife expected to give birth to a child in a few months, and, like most +parents, we fully expected it would be a son. So what should I do, in +order not to rob my son of the chance of becoming President of his +country, but send the mother across the seas to Boston, that he might be +born on the soil of the United States! It was not until some little time +after this that I learned that nationality follows the parents, and that +Presidents may be born anywhere, if they are careful in the matter of +their parents. The expected boy was a girl--if I may be pardoned an +Irish bull. This was my daughter Sue, who could never be President, +unless the Woman's Suffrage movement moves along very much faster than +it has up to this time. + +I have not mentioned my partner in the Australian venture, since I said +that he and our clerks sailed away from Boston for Melbourne on the +Plymouth Rock--a curious reversal of history, for the West was going to +exploit the East, and it was singular that a vessel with the historic +name of Plymouth Rock should have been chosen to bear this new +Argonautic expedition into the South Seas. Captain Caldwell, as I have +said, was an elderly man, sober and conservative. He had been a +sea-captain for many years, and was a man of considerable experience. It +was the expectation of the Boston shippers that his conservatism would +serve as a check upon my rashness and venturesomeness. + +Captain Caldwell, however, did not like Australia, but his presence did +not prevent my plunging into whatever speculation or enterprise seemed +inviting. The country was full of chances, and I should have been +stupid, indeed, not to have availed myself of them as far as possible. +But the rough life did not suit Captain Caldwell, although he was +accustomed to roughing it at sea; and he wanted to return to America. So +I consented to his return. He went in the same ship with my wife, the +Red Jacket, which, by the way, was then to make one of the +record-breaking voyages of the world. Although he had been in Melbourne +only a few months, I gave him $7,500, which was the share belonging to +him of the estimated profit in our business. + +There was still another incident connected with this voyage of the Red +Jacket which made it memorable in my experiences. I have mentioned that +the phrenologist Bridges said, in England, some years before this, that +I should become either a great reformer or a great pirate. In Melbourne, +one day, I found myself face to face with a charge of piracy! I was +accused of trying to make away with some $2,000,000 of gold, which I had +put on the Red Jacket for shipment to London. + +It happened in this way. It was of course customary to have all bills of +lading signed by the ship's captain. But Captain Reid, of the Red +Jacket, had been arrested, at the instance of one of the passengers, and +the ship was libeled on account of a claim. For this reason, Captain +Reid had not been present to sign the bills of lading. In Boston, I had +often signed bills of lading in the absence of the captain, so I had had +no hesitancy as to my course in this emergency. I considered that I had +a perfect right to sign the bills, and so I did sign them for the +$2,000,000 in gold, putting it "George Francis Train, for the captain." + +Now, the English are a conservative people. When they see anything new +it "frights" them. They can not understand why there should ever be +occasion for any new thing under the sun. When the Melbourne banks saw +that I had signed the papers, they were scared nearly out of their +boots. They had never heard of such a procedure, and thought their +insurance was gone. + +But this was not all. The Red Jacket was the fastest clipper that had +then visited Melbourne, and it occurred to these bankers that I was +going to run off with this gold, and become a Captain Kidd or a +buccaneering Morgan. They grounded their fears upon the facts that my +wife was aboard, that Captain Caldwell, my partner and friend, was also +a passenger, and they believed that Captain Reid was on board, although +under arrest. To suspicious bankers, here was a really strong case +against me. + +In the meanwhile, the Red Jacket, with her trim sails bellied with the +wind, and sweeping along in a way of her own that nothing in the South +Seas could imitate or approach, was passing down Hobson's Bay. The +Government and the Melbourne authorities despatched two men-of-war after +her. There was no possibility of her being overhauled by these craft, +and I gave orders to make for Point Nepean. The sheriffs from Melbourne, +who thought Captain Reid was aboard, stayed on the ship, but I ordered +them put off at the Point. They were furious, but could do nothing, +since they could not act for Melbourne at sea under the Stars and +Stripes. Accordingly, they were put on a tug and taken back to +Melbourne. Immediately after the sheriffs left the boat, a little yacht, +the Flying Eagle, with Captain Reid aboard, came alongside, and the +captain was put on the Red Jacket, just outside the jurisdiction of +Australia. + +The Red Jacket caught the wind again, and showed her clean heels to the +slow-sailing men-of-war giving chase. She made the run to Liverpool in +sixty-four days. + +The authorities and the bankers of Melbourne did not like the +proceedings at all, but saw that they could do nothing. There was great +anxiety in Australia for two months and more. When it was learned that +the $2,000,000 of gold had been landed in Liverpool without the loss of +a farthing, I was heartily congratulated, although the British spirit +never forgave the taking of matters into my own hands and making the +best of a bad situation. Their conservatism had received a shock. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE GOLD-FEVER IN NEW SOUTH WALES AND TASMANIA + +1853-1855 + + +During my stay in Melbourne the gold-fever was at its height. I was +particularly interested in the mines, and went to Ballarat to see how +the British managed these things. It was while I was there, as it +happened, that the great "bonanza nugget" was discovered. I shall never +forget the impression that this discovery and its tragic ending made +upon my mind. It is a story that the world has heard many times, +perhaps, and as many times forgotten; but for one who felt its terrible +lesson stamped hot upon his heart, it is unforgettable. + +There were lucky and unlucky miners in Australia, as there have been +everywhere else in the world's gold-fields. Many found great nuggets +that contained fortunes--"infinite riches in a little room"--while many +more found nothing but infinite hardship and heart-breaking misery. +Among the army of broken men, there was a "hobo" named Hooligan who had +not found any gold, could no longer find even work, and was starving. +One day he went to the owners of a mine or shaft that had been worked +out, and asked permission to go down to try his luck. They consented. +The desperate fellow took his pick and descended to the bottom of the +shaft. In a few minutes he was worth a fortune. He had found the biggest +nugget ever taken out of the earth's treasure-house. Two hundred feet +below the surface of the ground, he had driven his pick, by merest +chance, against a lump of gold that would have transmuted Midas's wand +into better metal. + +He came up out of the shaft, knowing that he had found a pretty big sum, +but did not realize how much it was. The nugget was brought up and +weighed. It had exactly the weight of a barrel of flour, 196 pounds. He +was rich. That morning he had been a beggar, and now he was the richest +miner in the fields. They weighed the gold carefully, and told him that +he was a rich man. + +"Is--all--that--mine?" he asked, as if the words were as heavy as the +big nugget and as valuable. They told him it was. "It doesn't belong to +the Government?" "No." "All mine," he said in a whisper, and dropped to +the floor, dead. + +No one knew him. His name even was not known. He was a mere restless +wanderer upon the face of the earth, and had broken his heart over the +biggest nugget, the richest piece of gold, on the globe. And so the +nugget became the property of the Government, after all. + +Capt. David D. Porter, who was afterward admiral of the United States +navy, visited Melbourne while I was there, and I gave him a reception, +at which he met the prominent people of the colony. He was a relative of +mine. I was very proud of him then, though more so later. He was in +command of the Golden Age, which was afterward famous for the Black +Warrior incident. He invited my wife and myself to go with him in his +ship to Sydney, New South Wales. We had a delightful trip around the +island. The ship made as great a sensation in Sydney as it had made in +Melbourne. The American flag had rarely been seen above a man-of-war in +those waters. At Sydney we met Sir Charles Fitzroy, Governor of New +South Wales, as well as prominent people in civil and official life. Sir +Charles Fitzroy was a survival of the old "beau" days of the court of +the last of the Georges, and had the heavy courtesy of that time, when +everything said or done was accompanied by a low bow and a gracious +smile. He entertained us handsomely at Government House. We were also +entertained by Sir Charles Nicholson, at his beautiful country seat. I +had the peculiar pleasure, while in Australia, of fulfilling one of the +prophecies of Sidney Smith, made when he had been editor of the +Quarterly Review some forty years before. He said, I remembered, that in +half a century cargoes of tea--the luxury that England of his day and +ours regards as an infallible evidence of civilization--would be landed +at the docks of Sydney. He referred to Port Jackson, which is now +dominated by the thriving city of Sydney, and was then one of the most +promising ports of the South Seas. I was, at that time, receiving tea on +consignment from Nye, of Canton, China, called the "Napoleon of tea +trade," and it occurred to me that Australia should be a good market for +it. Three cargoes came from Canton, with instructions that if the market +at Melbourne proved unfavorable, one of the cargoes should be shipped to +Sydney. It was accordingly sent there, fulfilling the prophecy of Sydney +Smith, and opening the tea trade of that portion of Australia. + +Sir Charles Nicholson, before we were there, entertained Commodore +Wilkes, who was visiting Australia, and who afterward stirred up Great +Britain by removing forcibly from the British mail-steamer Trent the +Confederate States' agents, Mason and Slidell. I was surprised to find +in the harbor two of our old packets, the Anglo-American and the +Washington Irving, Captain Caldwell's packet, under changed names. They +had been sold to English ship-owners. + +Sydney was not a large place at this time, although it was growing fast. +It may be well to recall here that it had been founded as a penal +colony, the effects of which had not entirely passed away at the time of +my visit, although no convicts had arrived since '41, I believe. The +influence of Botany Bay had also been felt by Sydney. I was struck by +the beautiful, narrow, rock-bound entrance to the harbor. It gives to +the port many miles of seashore, and is so winding that when Captain +Cook, who discovered it, sailed in and anchored in Botany Bay, some of +his sailors reported that they saw from the masthead a large inland lake +in the interior. The "lake" proved to be only an apparent one, produced +by one of the many windings of the beautiful, sinuous arm of the sea, +eventually to hold in its embrace the fine city of Sydney. + +We returned from Sydney to Melbourne after a short but delightful visit. +Shortly after leaving port we ran into one of the most terrific storms I +have ever experienced. It was the right time of the year for gales to +appear, and this one, as is characteristic of the wild nature of the +South Seas, seemed to spring from a clear sky and unruffled waters. If +our boat had been one of the usual type of merchantmen, it must +certainly have gone down. But the Golden Age was stanch and strong. She +battled with the seas as with a human foe. In spite of her +seaworthiness, however, almost every one aboard thought she could not +withstand the repeated shock of waves that tumbled in mountains against +her bows. + +In the midst of the storm, I saw one of the most prominent and richest +merchants of Sydney coming across the deck, thrown hither and thither by +the tossings of the ship, and carrying in his hands a very heavy +package. "For the love of goodness, what have you there?" I asked in +amazement. He made no direct reply, and I thought him too much terrified +to speak, but he finally came close up to me and said: "Mr. Train, I +know you have some influence here on the ship. I have brought with me +one thousand sovereigns. They are here"--and he tapped the bag he +carried in his hands. "I want you to go with me to the captain and give +him this amount for putting me off in a small boat." "A small boat would +not live a minute in this sea," I said. "I am prepared," he replied, "to +take my chances, as it would be better there than here, for the ship may +go down any moment." I refused to go to the captain with so foolish a +request, and urged him to be calm, as the ship was stout and would +weather the storm. He could not calm himself, but fretted and fumed in +terror. As fortune favored us, the gale suddenly stopped, sweeping on +away from us as swiftly as it had come. The rich merchant soon took his +thousand sovereigns back to his room. + +I have stated already that I was the agent for Boston insurance people. +This, of course, made me somewhat solicitous about the safety of all +vessels in those waters. One morning the entire city of Melbourne was +startled by the news that a great clipper had gone down or ashore on +Flinder's Island, off Point Nepean. Later we learned that she was +ashore, and that signals of distress were flying from her masthead and +rigging. Of course, I was much alarmed, and began at once to see what +could be done to save the ship and crew. I got a tug, and was soon +taking a rescue party down Hobson's Bay. We steamed as fast as the tug's +engines would carry her through the driving seas. As we neared the +wreck, we saw that the ship was the Whistler from Boston. She seemed to +be a complete wreck, and with our glasses we could not discover any sign +of life aboard her. + +I did not give up the venture there, however, but directed the captain +of the tugboat to make directly for the island. I had a vague hope that +the crew had somehow managed to get ashore in the boats or on floating +timbers. The captain did not relish this part of his work, and his fears +were soon justified, for we very narrowly escaped shipwreck ourselves in +the wild seas. We had, finally, to wait until the waves went down a +little, before attempting to land on Flinder's Island. We got up as near +as we could, however, and then we saw signals flying from shore. We +signaled in reply, and the wrecked crew understood that we were waiting +for the sea to run less wildly before attempting to reach land. + +The wind died down slowly, and it was hours before we could approach +the coast. As soon as possible, I got out with a crew in a small boat +and went to the island. We had a most difficult time in getting through +the surf and avoiding the breakers, but we finally reached shore. There +we found Captain Brown with his wife, the ship's officers and the crew, +all alive and well. They had managed to live on shell-fish and +wallaby--the small bush kangaroos. They had not been able to take +anything from the ship, and could not, of course, reach her after she +had been abandoned. We got them all aboard the tug, and carried them +safely to Melbourne. The American consul afterward sent them all home by +way of Liverpool. This was the second rescue of shipwrecked crew and +passengers that I had made, and I felt a little too proud of it, I +suppose. + +About this time the British and Colonial Governments decided to settle +Tasmania with free emigrants. The idea was to pay the expenses of all +who wanted to go to that island, and the Governments made a contract +with the White Star Line to transport the settlers. The British +Government was to pay one half the expense, and the Colonial Government +the remainder. The contract was signed by Henry T. Wilson, manager of +the White Star Line, the sailing-ship pioneers of Morgan's mammoth +steamship combination, who sent all the papers to me at Melbourne, as +representing the company, to see that the terms of the agreement were +carried out. He also requested me to go to Hobart Town (now called +Hobart) to be there when the first ship-load of emigrants arrived to +collect the money for the passage. I immediately took steamer for Hobart +Town, and I shall never forget the pleasure of that voyage. It was a +revelation. The trip up the estuary to Hobart Town was delightful, and +the scenery, I think, was altogether the most charming I had seen in the +Southern world. At Hobart Town I was received by Mr. Chapman, a shipping +merchant, to whom I had written in advance, and he made me stay with him +at his beautiful bungalow, on the crest of a high hill, commanding a +fine view of the city. + +The emigrants arrived in excellent condition. They were the first free +settlers of Tasmania. There had not been a death aboard ship, and the +moment the newcomers arrived they were employed, for the city of Hobart +Town was very thriving, and there was an abundance of work to be done. I +again had the pleasure of feeling that in this, as in other enterprises, +I was an argonaut and a pioneer. + +I was astonished to find so many persons of prominence, especially in +the world of letters, settled in this far-away colony of England. At +Hobart Town I found the Powers, the Howitts (whose books were then +tremendously popular), and Thorne, the author of Orion. Then, as now, +this colony was regarded as the most pleasant portion of the vast +possessions of Great Britain in the South Seas. The climate and the +aspects of the country were far more pleasant than those of Australia, +some fifty miles distant across Bass Straits. + +At the time of my visit the whole world was talking about the various +efforts being made to discover the remains of the ill-fated expedition +to the North Pole that had been led by the former governor of Tasmania, +the much-beloved Sir John Franklin. He had gone to the north in 1845, +and nothing had been heard of him since. His wife was supposed to be +mourning for him in solitude. + +Curiosity led me to the house where this famous governor and adventurous +explorer had lived, and the janitor, a trusted old servant, showed me +over the building. It was one of those enormous structures which the +English build for the edification and amazement of the natives in their +colonies. I had heard and read a great deal about Sir John and the +lovely woman that was mourning his long absence, and I entered the +silent house with a feeling that I was trespassing upon a great and +unutterable grief. Imagine my astonishment--I may say, horror--to learn +that Lady Franklin, or Lady Jane, as she was generally called, had for +years lived at one end of the long house, while Sir John had lived at +the other, and that, as the story went, they had not spoken to each +other for years. She seemed certainly to have had the grace to assume a +virtue she did not possess, and apparently mourned her lost lord for +years, and spent much of her time in liberal charities. This is the +first time I have referred in any way to this unknown unhappiness of Sir +John Franklin. It was not known to many people in Tasmania at the time, +and I suppose that it is known now only to members of the two families, +the Franklins and the Griffins. + +As I had come half around the island of Tasmania, approaching Hobart +Town from the sea, I had seen nothing of the interior of the country, so +I determined--after finishing my business in Hobart Town--to cross the +island to Launceston. There is now a railway running directly across, +but at that time there was only a stage route. Stages ran every other +day. I engaged passage in the mail-coach, the same style of coach that +had been used for hundreds of years in England and Scotland, still as +rough and cumbersome as when first devised. There, too, was the old +Tudor driver and the Restoration guard. Nothing was wanting. The coach +looked to me as if it had been taken from behind the scenes of some old +comedy--a piece of stage property. + +But if the stage was antiquated and out of touch with the modern stir of +the world, the driver was not. I asked him what he thought would be the +proper thing in the way of a "tip," as I did not know the ways of +Tasmania. "That depends, sir," he said, "upon whom we are riding with." +That settled the business for me, for my tip then had to be a sort of +measure of my self-esteem. I was literally cornered, and had to give him +a big tip, in sheer self-defense. + +The road to Launceston was an excellent one, a macadam built by +convicts, and the scenery was the most beautiful I had seen in +Australasia. When I arrived at Launceston I had to get a pass to leave +the country, as it had been necessary to have a passport to enter it. +The British were very particular whom they permitted to leave Tasmania, +and whom they allowed to go there. + +Near Launceston I saw the room in which Francis, who was afterward a +member of the cabinet of the colony of Victoria and one of the ablest +and most energetic men of Australasia, had his famous and terrible fight +with a burglar. This fight has become a tradition all over the colonies +and is still recalled as one of the thrilling experiences of early days. +One night Francis heard a noise in his dining-room. He was up late, +studying in his library, and as the country was infested by desperate +convicts who had escaped from the camps, he at once went to the room to +see whether a burglar had broken in. + +Peering through the keyhole, he saw a man with a dark lantern putting +the family plate into a bag. Francis came to a decision at once as to +what to do. He would enter the room, and fight it out with the robber. +Silently opening the door, he entered, and then quickly locked the door +and threw away the key. Immediately there was a desperate fight. The +burglar finding himself entrapped, turned upon Francis and tried to kill +him with a huge knife. Francis caught his arm, and a struggle to the +death began. Several times the burglar wrenched his hand free and +slashed at Francis, but the plucky fellow did not flinch. He fought +until he had conquered the robber, threw him to the floor, and bound his +hands behind him. Francis was himself so badly cut that he was in sight +of death for weeks. + +The exploits of the convict Tracy out in Oregon remind me of a far more +terrible case in Australia that occurred while I was there. The country +was a sort of frontier, in the Western sense, from one end to the other. +It was quite possible that a desperate convict lurked in every patch of +bush, who would as soon kill you as ask for bread. But news came to +Melbourne one day that a convict had escaped in a peculiarly terrifying +manner. He was no ordinary man. He had coolly killed two jailers, or +guards, having taken from them their own weapons. Then, going to the +water, he ordered a boatman to row him out to a vessel so that he might +escape from the country. The boatman, not knowing the character of the +man he was dealing with, refused, and was shot dead instantly. The +fugitive then rowed out to the vessel in the dead man's boat, and +demanded of the captain that he take him aboard and carry him to +Melbourne. The captain refused, and he also was shot dead, and with +loaded pistol the convict then compelled the mate to take him to +Melbourne. After he landed he began a forlorn attempt to save himself +from his pursuers. + +This beginning in his career of murder was sufficiently terrible to give +the entire region a shock, when it became known that he was at large and +headed for Melbourne. He was next heard of when he reached Hobson's Bay +at Sandridge. Here he found a farmer plowing in the field. The convict +needed his horse, and shooting the farmer, rode away. Another farmer +followed him, and in turn was killed. + +By this time, of course, the whole country was aroused--even the +police--and parties were hurriedly formed to capture the murderers, for +no one at the time could believe that it was only one man who was +committing all these crimes. When he was last seen, he was heading, +apparently, for Ballarat, where, perhaps, he hoped to be joined by other +men as desperate as himself. Ballarat was about one hundred miles +distant, and a posse started in pursuit. Nothing was heard or seen of +the convict for fifty miles, when one of the party saw a man near a +squatter's hut carrying another man in his arms. This seemed to be a +somewhat curious proceeding, and the posse immediately closed in about +the man. Just as did Tracy, this man shot the leader of the party. The +others then pushed ahead and captured him before he could kill any one +else. In the hut they found nine men, tied with ropes. It was not +understood what use the convict expected to make of them. All were +uninjured. At the time of his capture, the convict had killed fourteen +men. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +OTHER AUSTRALIAN INCIDENTS--A REVOLUTION + + +Once I tried to be President of the United States. Before that I had +been offered the presidency of the Australian Republic. It is true that +there was no Australian Republic at that exact moment, but it looked to +thousands that there might be one very soon. There was a revolution, or, +as it should be called, a rebellion, for it was unsuccessful, in which I +had taken no part or shown any sympathy, but the revolutionists, or +rebels, offered me the chieftaincy of their government, as soon as they +could establish it. + +It came about in this way. In '54 the miners in the fields of Ballarat +and Bendigo were in a state of intense ferment. They were discontented +with existing conditions--their luck in the mines, the way they were +treated by the Government and the mine proprietors, and especially by +the utter failure of the Government to protect them in their rights +against the capitalists. The particular cause of quarrel, however, was +the licenses. + +When I went to Australia, the reader may easily believe, there was very +little feeling for, or knowledge of, the United States. I at once +undertook to spread the gospel of Americanism, and introduced the +celebration of the Fourth of July. The colonists of England have always +been quite friendly to the people of the United States, having a kindred +feeling, and all of them have been looking forward to a day when they, +too, might have a free country to claim for their own, and not merely a +red spot on the map of Great Britain. For this reason, the Australians +took kindly to the idea of celebrating the independence of the United +States, as formerly a colony of Great Britain. + +When the miners, who had heard of my "spread-eagleism," as it has since +been called, started their little revolt against the government of the +British, they thought of me and offered me the presidency of the +republic they wanted to create. In the meantime, they elected me their +representative in the colonial legislature of the miners about +Maryborough, where they held a great meeting. I could not have taken my +seat if I had desired it, and as I did not desire it, of course I +declined. The imaginary presidency I declined, also, as I neither wanted +it, nor could I have obtained it. The "Five-Star Republic," as it was +called, was not to be anything but a dream, and the "revolution" of +Ballarat was only a nightmare. + +Soon after I declined these honors, there was a terrible riot at +Ballarat. The whole mining district had risen against the Government, as +Latrobe, the governor, had made himself most unpopular by his policy of +procrastination. Everything connected with the mining fields, he seemed +to think, could as well be looked after next year as this. The +resentment of the miners had at last become uncontrollable. But, slow as +they were about redressing the grievances of the miners, the British +were fast enough in the business of protecting themselves and in putting +down disturbances with a firm and heavy hand. Latrobe waited until the +thing had almost got beyond him. He felt that he was all right with the +old "squatters," whom he understood and who understood him; but he did +not realize that the new element, the thousands of miners that had +floated in from every nation of the globe, did not understand him or his +ways. They were accustomed to having matters attended to with despatch, +and could not tolerate the slow conservatism and unchangeableness of the +English civil office. Personally he was a good man; but otherwise, he +was as I have described. + +The first fruits of the dilatory policy was the sacrifice of forty men. +Captain Wise and forty of his troops were cut to pieces by the enraged +miners, who had suddenly risen to fight for their rights. Governor +Latrobe immediately called for troops from New Zealand, Tasmania, and +New South Wales, to quell the rioters. The want of preparation of the +revolters at once became apparent, and it was known that they had sent +emissaries into Melbourne itself to buy arms and ammunition. The head of +the insurrection was James McGill, who was an American citizen. He had +disappeared from the neighborhood of Ballarat, and a reward of one +thousand pounds sterling had been offered for his capture, dead or +alive. In Melbourne there was almost a panic. Rumors were that the +forests were filled with armed men marching to the destruction of the +place. There were, it was authentically reported, 800 armed men at +Warren Heap, about eighty miles distant, who were supposed to be +meditating a raid. People hastened to secrete their jewelry, gold was +placed in vaults, the banks were guarded, and a special police force was +sworn in. + +Just as the excitement was at its height, it was reported that James +McGill was in the neighborhood of the city. I was sitting in my office +one morning, during these days of fear, when a man walked in, as cool as +if he were merely going to discuss the weather or some trifle of +business. "I hear," he said, "that you have some $80,000 worth of Colt's +revolvers in stock, and I have been sent down here to get them." I +glanced up at the man, and took him in a little more closely. It came to +me in a flash who he was. "Do you know," said I, "that there is a +reward offered for your head of one thousand pounds?" "That does not +mean anything," he said, and smiled as if it were a joke. "They can not +do anything," he added, as if to allay any fears that I might have. + +I again took him in, and thought of my $60,000 warehouse that we were +then standing in, of the $25,000 warehouse at the other end of the +railway, and of all my interests in Melbourne, under which we were +placing a powder mine, and playing over it with lighted torches. "This +will not do," I said. "You have no right to compromise me in this way." +"We have elected you president of our republic," he added. "Damn the +republic!" said I. "Do you mean to tell me that you refuse to be our +chief?" said he. "I do," I said. "I am not here to lead or encourage +revolutions, but to carry on my business. I have nothing whatever to do +with governments or politics; and you must get out of here, if you do +not want to be hanged yourself, and ruin me." I told him there was not +the slightest possibility of success, as Great Britain would crush the +revolt by sheer weight of men, if she could not beat its leaders in any +other way. + +Just then there came a rap at the door, which I had taken the precaution +to close and lock. I hurried to the door and asked who was there, and +the reply was that it was Captain McMahon, chief of police. He said to +me: "Do you know that rascal McGill is in the city? His men are at +Warren Heap, but he himself has actually come into Melbourne! I want a +dozen of those Concord wagons of yours immediately." I made a motion of +my hand to make McGill understand that he must keep quiet. Then I began +to talk rapidly with the chief of police, and took him to the farther +end of the warehouse, shutting the door of my office behind us. No more +wagons were there, for the Government had already got all I had, but I +wanted time to think. When we had looked around, and had seen that there +were no wagons, Captain McMahon left, and I hurried back to McGill. + +"Now, McGill," I said, "I am not going to betray you, but am going to +save your life. You must do as I tell you." He looked at me for a +moment, and said, "But I am not going back on my comrades." "You will +have no comrades soon, but will be in the hands of the officers +yourself, if you do not do exactly as I tell you." He finally consented +to do as I advised. + +As soon as I saw that the way was clear, I took him out into the street +to the nearest barber, where I had his hair cut and his mustache shaved +off, and then made him put on a workman's suit of clothes. We then got +into my chaise, and I drove him down to the bay and took him aboard one +of our ships that was about to sail, and told the men that I had brought +a new stevedore. McGill pitched in and worked along with the men, and +there was nothing to show that he was in any way connected with the +revolution of Ballarat, much less its leader. + +Three days later the ship sailed, and McGill went on through England to +America. This ended the whole affair of the revolution, the chase of the +leader, and my chance of being President of the Five-Star Republic! + +One day a man, wearing a jaunty silk hat, came into my office. "I see +you bring in rum from New England," said he. "How much have you on +hand?" I went over the invoices, and told him. He then asked if I gave +the same terms as other dealers in Melbourne. "Yes," said I; "cash." +"Oh, no," said he. "I get three months' time." He showed me a contract +he had just signed with Denniston Brothers & Co., of New York, +represented in Melbourne by McCullagh & Sellars, for £3,000 payable in +three months. I was astonished. The house had branches in all of the +great cities of the world. I told the gentlemanly-looking fellow who +wanted the rum that if Denniston could afford to trust him for $15,000, +I thought we could trust him for $3,000. I took pains to see, however, +that our paper bore an earlier date than that of Denniston. But this +precaution amounted to nothing against this shrewd manipulator. He gave +his name as John Boyd. + +By the end of the week, I began to grow a little suspicious, and sent my +clerk to the office of Mr. Boyd early on Monday morning. The office was +closed, and there was no Mr. Boyd there. He had gone to Sydney, and that +was the last seen of Boyd in Australia. He had "buncoed" us and +Denniston & Co. in the easiest sort of way. I really felt cheated, it +was done so smoothly. I had not got the worth of my money, as I should +have done had I been harder to deceive. There had been no sport in that. + +I next heard of Boyd at Singapore; but I was to run up against him +later. In '61, when I was giving a junketing trip to some people on the +Union Pacific road, and a party of us were on the steamboat St. Joseph +going to Omaha, a man came up to me and claimed an acquaintance. +Although more than twelve years had passed, I recognized him at once as +the John Boyd who had got the better of me in that little trade in +Melbourne. I pretended not to know him. I suppose he assumed that the +matter had passed out of my mind and that his face was no longer +familiar to me. He coolly gave me his address on a card, and when I +looked at it I saw "Noble & Co., Bankers, Des Moines, Iowa." I knew him +by his broken nose, that would have betrayed him at the ends of the +earth. + +Perhaps the thing I enjoyed most in Australia was the introduction of +American articles--"Yankee notions," the people there called them--into +Australia, even against the prejudice of the colonists. They would fight +hard against everything that was new or American, but I took a delight +in overcoming their bias, and forcing them to accept our ideas. I made a +calculation once of the things that I had introduced into Australia, and +they amounted to something like fifty. Among these were such common +things as the light wagon, the buggy, shovels, and hoes, and--wonderful +to think of when one hears and reads so much in these days of the "tins" +that the British army consumes--tinned, or canned, goods. These had not +been heard of, and I saw at once that there was a fine chance for some +profitable business. English packers could not begin to compete with us. +On one cargo that I brought in from New London, Conn., we made a profit +of 200 per cent. And now "Tommy Atkins" lives on the "tins" that we +introduced as a method of carrying provisions from one end of the world +to the other. + +I suppose that it was from a part of the returns from this profitable +shipment that the owners of the goods founded the Soldiers' Home at +Noroton, Conn., during the civil war. I must record here a curious +incident. It was in this home that a soldier carved a most elaborate +design upon a cane which he gave to me, showing in brief outline the +whole of my history. It was a wonderful piece of work, and I have kept +it as a souvenir of the regard of this soldier in the home that was +probably founded in part with the proceeds of the first great shipment +of canned goods into Australia, and of my part in introducing this new +trade into the South Seas. + +I had the opportunity of meeting some famous and curious people in +Australia. On one of the celebrations of the 17th of March, I met a +great many Irish patriots, among them Smith O'Brien, John Martin, and +Donohue. I was an invited guest, and sat down with more than two hundred +of the most prominent Irishmen of the Australasian colonies. When Smith +O'Brien was in an Irish jail in '48, I asked him for his autograph. I +have made it a point to collect the autographs of all the famous men and +women I have met, and now have, perhaps, the finest collection of +autographs to be seen in this country. O'Brien immediately wrote on a +card the following verse: + + "Whether on a gallows high, + Or in the battle's van, + The fittest place for man to die, + Is where he dies for man." + +This sentiment of the Irish poet was peculiarly appropriate for men, +who, like the patriots and "rebels" about me, were facing prison or +death at every hour. + +I shall bring together here some incidents of my life in Australia that +are not closely connected with other events there. We made some +tremendous profits in Melbourne, the sort that makes one's blood tingle, +and transforms cool men into wild speculators. I have already mentioned +the profit of 200 per cent on the cargo of canned goods. On a cargo of +flour from Boston, 7,000 barrels, we made a profit of 200 per cent, the +flour selling for £4 sterling the barrel. This flour had been shipped to +us through John M. Forbes, of Boston, for Philo Shelton and Moses +Taylor, the millionaire of New York. + +When I returned to New York in '57, during the panic, I met Taylor in +Wall Street. He must have been in terrible need of money to keep his +head above water, and he at once said to me: "Why did you charge me +7-1/2 per cent commission for handling that cargo of flour in +Melbourne?" I looked at him in astonishment. He had forgotten the +enormous profit he had made on the shipment, and remembered now only the +small matter of the commission he had been compelled to pay. + +I replied that the commission was our usual charge. He told me he was +buying up his own paper in the street, and was not in temporary +distress. "I do not think you should have charged me more than 5 per +cent commission," he said. I was disgusted at this view of a transaction +that had brought him in a profit that would have been considered +marvelous even by a usurer. "All right," I said, "I will give you the +difference now." And I gave him a check for $2,500. + +I met a large number of actors and actresses in Melbourne, for it was +quite the custom as early as that for stars of the stage, whether +tragedians like Edwin Booth, or dancers like Lola Montez, to make a +tour of the world and take in Australia on the circuit. I was astonished +to meet Booth and Laura Keene, "stranded," one day, although they had +made a successful tour in England. They did not appeal to the rough +audiences of Australia, and so did not have enough money to take them +back to the States. It so happened that I had just bought the City of +Norfolk to send to San Francisco as the pioneer of a new line, which is +now thoroughly established, and making rapid passages between the two +ports. I gave them free passage to San Francisco. Laura Keene frequently +mentioned the fact in "asides" on the stage, but I never received a word +of thanks or appreciation from Booth. Kate Hayes and Bushnell also +visited Australia while I was there, and I gave them a concert and +started them off on their tour. + +But the greatest sensation that was created in the theatrical world of +Australia during my stay was made by Lola Montez, the dancer from +Madrid. She danced and pirouetted on the necks and hearts of men. The +rough mining element went wild over her, and she had the wealth and rank +of Melbourne at her feet. One morning she burst into my office, and +called out in her quaint accent, "Is Mr. George Francis Train here? Tell +him that I am his old friend from Boston, and that I have just arrived +from San Francisco." She had called to make a complaint against the +captain of our ship, whom she wanted us to discharge for some supposed +discourtesy to her. We patched up this quarrel, and I did everything I +could to insure her a successful season in Melbourne. She had a +tremendous vogue, and danced before crowded houses. + +One night I called at the green-room of the theater to see her, sending +in my card. I had seated myself on the sofa to wait until she finished +her dancing. Suddenly the door flew open, and in rushed something that +looked like a great ball of feathers. This ball flew toward me and I was +enveloped in a cloud of lace! The bold little dancer had thrown her foot +over my head! + +My life in Australia, now drawing to a close, as I had made arrangements +for leaving there to continue my business operations in Japan, had been +very charming and profitable. Everything was novel and strange to me, +and it all made a deep and lasting impression upon my mind, which was +then eagerly receptive. + +I find, in recalling these impressions, that my first idea of Australia +still remains the most prominent one left in my memory. Australia was +truly the antipodes. Everything seemed to be reversed, a topsy-turvy +land. At Botany Bay I was astonished to find the swans were black, +thereby demolishing our beautiful ideas about "milk-white" swans. The +birds talked, screamed, or brayed, instead of singing, and the trees +shed their bark instead of their leaves. The big end of the pears was +at the stem, and cherry-stones grew on the outside of the fruit. I was +sitting one day in the garden of the governor-general when I thought I +felt some one tap me on the shoulder. Then my coat was wrenched off my +back, and I turned just in time to see it disappear down the throat of a +tame Australian ostrich, called an emu. The bird had taken me for a +vegetable. + +Sidney Smith describes the kangaroo as an animal with the head of a +rabbit, the body of a deer, a tail like a bed-post, and which, when in +danger, puts its young into a pocket in its stomach. But the most +marvelous of all the queer things of Australia, to my mind, was the +animal that laid eggs like a hen, suckled its young like a goat, and was +web-footed, like a duck. This was the duckbill, or water-mole, which the +Australians called the Patybus. + +I also saw in Tasmania, and on Flinder's Island, the race of men that +was then considered the most remarkable on the globe, the original +Tasmanian savages; and I saw, also, the most curious weapon that man has +ever invented, the boomerang. Holmes has described this weapon in one of +his humorous verses: + + "The boomerang, which the Australian throws, + Cuts its own circle, and hits you on the nose." + +I got one of the Bushmen to throw his boomerang for me. He threw it +around a tree and the missile came back toward us. I fully expected to +be sent sprawling. It dropped almost at the feet of the savage that +threw it. Even gold in that land is found where it all ends in our +country--in pockets! + +Before closing the account of my Australian experiences, I want to +record that when I arrived in Melbourne that flourishing port was in a +horrible condition for a city of its size and importance. Its streets +were such as would not have been tolerated in an American city of half +its size or one tenth its wealth. There were practically no public +works. After I had been there for some little time, a plan was put on +foot to improve the city. It moved along very slowly, as no one seemed +to know exactly what to do, or how to do it. Finally, an elaborate +program was drawn up, and all that was needed to carry it out was the +money, which would have to be borrowed. + +The chairman of the improvement committee, or whatever it was called, +came to see me to get me to undertake the floating of the necessary +loan. I suggested a number of improvements, such as fire-engines, better +office buildings, better paved streets, and new gas-works. All of these +suggestions were accepted, and I forecast the floating of the loan. They +got the money in London, and Melbourne was remodeled, so far as its +appearance was concerned, and was finally made one of the most +attractive cities in the British colonies. It now has a population of +half a million. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +A VOYAGE TO CHINA + +1855 + + +I have already referred to my purpose of going to Japan to establish a +branch business there. This idea came to me in Australia, after +Commodore Perry had opened the country to foreigners. It has always been +my desire to be first on the ground, and I saw that Japan offered the +greatest possible opportunities for trade of all sorts. I had fixed upon +Yokohama as the place in which to open our branch house. The rapid +development of that city since then, under new conditions, and the +tremendous increase of its trade with Europe and America, as well as +with India, China, and Australasia, have well justified my early +judgment. I knew we could acquire great influence in the world of +commerce, and become, perhaps, the greatest shipping house of the globe, +with branch houses at Boston, Liverpool, Melbourne, and Yokohama. + +This is as good a place as any to give the reasons for the failure of +these ambitious plans. I had gradually worked out the whole program, +giving to it hours and days of careful and painstaking examination. I +felt that the scheme was absolutely safe from every point of view. It +was big and almost grandiose; but I felt it was sure to result in vast +fortunes, in the building up of a trade that the world had never before +conceived or dreamed of, and in the development of American commerce. + +In fact, I see now that I was more than half a century ahead of J. +Pierpont Morgan. I should have formed a great shipping and navigation +business that would have dwarfed anything else of the kind in the world. +My plan was not limited to a few lines of ships between Europe and New +York. It was not confined to an Atlantic ferry. I foresaw, as I fancied, +American ships dominating the trade of all oceans. I saw the American +merchant flag in every port of the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic oceans, +and doing the carrying trade of the world. I had some such vague idea +when I introduced the fast clipper service between Boston, New York, and +San Francisco, and, again, when I organized the fast sailing-ship +service between Boston and Australia. But I did not see it all clear +before me, as I saw it in Australia. The Orient had cleared my eyes. + +Of course, my first thought was for the up-building of our house. I +wanted it to take the leading part in the stupendous task, and to +become the first house of the world. All this could have been +accomplished, except that I had to contend against the conservatism of +New England, and the very easily understood desire of Colonel Train that +his house should directly own all its ships. This was, of course, +impossible. He could not own them, but he might control them. I urged +upon him the policy of retaining a controlling interest only, and +letting others come in, bringing the capital we should need for the +greater enterprise. This was my idea of "combination," of a great +"shipping combine," more than half a century before it was undertaken, +in another way, by Mr. Morgan and his associates. + +Colonel Train's persistent demand that he should own all the ships, put +an end to the plan. It not only put an end to a grand project, but put +an end to his business. He was soon confronted with difficulties. The +business had outgrown him and his limited means, had become unwieldy and +unmanageable. As I had foreseen, it needed more men, more minds, more +money; and these were not forthcoming. And so, in '57, Colonel Train was +forced down, literally crushed beneath the weight of his own +undertakings, as Tarpeia was crushed beneath the Sabine shields. He was +the victim of his desire to own and dominate everything. + +Two years before this collapse of a great idea, I left Australia for +Japan, by way of Java, Singapore, and China, with high hopes. I had +visions, which were to accompany me for a year or two more, and then I +had to abandon them and turn my attention to other fields. From +Melbourne, I sailed on the Dashing Wave. Has it ever occurred to any one +who writes or thinks of the old days of sailing vessels, those winged +ships, that the very names of boats have changed, indicating the +transformation from romance to reality, from poetry to mere prose and +work-a-day business? In those days we had beautiful and suggestive names +for ships, just as we ought to try to find beautiful and suggestive +names for all truly beautiful and lovable things. Now we send out our +City of Paris, or St. Louis, or St. Paul, or the Minneapolis, or the +Astoria, or Kentucky, or Blaamanden, or Rotterdam, or Ryndam, or +Noordam. Then we had such names as Flying Cloud, the clipper that +shortened the distance between the ends of the world; the Sovereign of +the Seas, the Monarch of the Ocean, the Flying Arrow, the Sea Eagle. The +Dashing Wave, Captain Fiske, carried me to Batavia in twenty-six days. +We were accompanied, for a portion of the trip, by the Flying Arrow. + +At Anjer, in the Straits of Sunda, the Malays came off to the ship in +their little boats with provisions of all sorts to sell. Every one of +them had letters of recommendation, as they thought, from the English +captains and officers who had previously traded with them; but these +letters, if they could have been translated for their possessors, would +have been instantly cast into the sea and a general riot perhaps would +have followed. One of the letters read something like this: "If this +black thief brings any eggs to sell to you, don't buy them, as they are +always rotten. He may also try to sell you a rooster, but don't buy it, +as it is the same cock that crew when Peter denied Jesus." Of course +everybody on the ship roared with laughter as each letter was handed up +to us and read aloud for the edification of all. The simple Malays +guffawed loudly in their boats, thinking that we were heartily pleased +with them and their wares. When next I passed through the Sunda Straits, +Krakatoa had been at work in eruption and had completely changed the +face of the coast, and Anjer itself and the little island it stood on +were gone. + +This Dutch colony was a revelation to me in every way. I had never seen +anything at all like it in any other part of the world, and was never +again to see anything quite so quaint or so delightful. The ride from +Batavia to the hotel was full of surprises. I was accompanied by a troop +of little children, all of them pressing close up to us and crying for +"doits"--small copper coins. I scattered these little coins among them +again and again, but they could never get enough, but kept on crying, +"doit, doit!" Then the color of the trees, the rich shades of the +flowers that flourished everywhere, the beauty of the scenery--all was +a delightful surprise. I have never seen elsewhere so many or such rare +flowers. The whole island of Java, as I was soon to learn, is a vast +botanical garden, far more beautiful and rare than any that science can +create. Nature, the great horticulturist, has here done her best and +final work. The air, too, was delicious. It was perfumed by flowers, +aromatic herbs, and spices. I had never realized before what was meant +by the legends of the "Spice Islands," and I fancied that here was the +place for man to live and die. + +I drove to the residence of the governor-general at Buitenzorg, +thirty-five miles south of Batavia, which was situated in a tremendous +garden of flowers and trees. It was the most beautiful place I had ever +seen, and I am quite sure that I have never seen anything more beautiful +since. I was so delighted with Java, indeed, that I had a model of a +Javanese village made for me, and shipped it home to my wife with the +greatest care. What was my surprise, when I finally reached home, and +asked eagerly if the model had been received, to be told that nothing +had been seen of it. "Didn't something come from me from Java?" Oh, yes, +something had come, but it looked so big and uninteresting that it had +been put down in the cellar. And there my beautiful model of the +Javanese village had lain, in ignominy, for years! I restored it to its +proper position in the world, by sending it to the Boston Museum. It +was lost in the fire that soon afterward destroyed that building. + +It was in Java that I first learned to love flowers, and I have loved +them more and more every year of my life since. The natives of that +wonderful island love to strew flowers over everything, and to garland +everything with beautiful blossoms. I soon became infatuated with the +custom of carrying flowers, and adopted the boutonnière, which I +afterward introduced in Paris in '56, in London in '57, and in New York +in '58. I have endeavored to wear a spray of flowers in the lapel of my +coat every day since my visit to Java. + +There was one particularly pleasing custom, which I think should have +been long ago introduced in this country. This was the fashion of +bringing in fruit to the table covered with flowers. It is a custom that +delights three senses at once--the smell, the sight, the taste. The +first time I saw it was at the table of Mr. Whitelaw Reid, when he gave +a dinner to me and my friends. After we had finished eating, I was asked +if I did not wish for some of the fruit. I looked around and could not +see fruit anywhere. In front of me were great masses of flowers in +baskets, and I could readily detect the odor of fruits of various kinds, +but they were invisible. I had almost decided that they were outside in +the garden, and that possibly we were expected to pluck them from the +trees, which, heavily laden with their burdens, hung temptingly against +the windows. But no, the fruit was immediately before me, hidden beneath +masses of cut flowers, in trays and baskets. I thought it a beautiful +custom, and one that distinctly appeals to esthetic taste. It could well +be introduced at Newport or Saratoga, or in Fifth Avenue mansions. + +I regretted that Great Britain had lost, through a piece of +carelessness, these magnificent islands now controlled by Holland; +although the Dutch have done about as well as any other people could +have done, I suppose. I believe it was because Lord Canning did not open +his eastern mail one morning, that these islands became a possession of +Holland instead of Great Britain. + +I did not, on the occasion of my first visit, see anything of the +Achinese. But I passed, in '92, on my last trip around the world, the +northwestern end of Sumatra, and Captain Hogg, of the Moyune, pointed to +the little town of Achin, built on piles. He said that in the interior +the Dutch were still fighting the Achinese. They had then been fighting +these desperate Mohammedans--converted Malays--for thirty years. I have +since thought, having in view this prolonged struggle for freedom of the +Mohammedan Malays of Sumatra, how desperate is our undertaking in the +Philippines, where we are trying to subjugate a far larger population +of Mohammedans, the Moros of the southern islands of the archipelago. +Holland, I believe, has spent already something like 500,000,000 florins +to exterminate the Achinese. It may cost us far more to exterminate the +Moros. + +I left Batavia for Singapore on a Dutch man-of-war, Captain Fabius. We +stopped first at the island of Banka, belonging to Holland, and I saw +there the famous tin-mines, which are greater than those of Cornwall, +England. They were the property of the brother of the King of Holland. +We did not stop at Sarawak, because of the little war that "Rajah" +Brooke, afterward known as Sarawak Brooke, was carrying on there. We +arrived at Singapore just too late to meet Townsend Harris, the first +American diplomatic representative to Japan, as he had gone up to Siam. +Harris's visit to Japan was the real beginning of a new era in the trade +of the far East, and no other diplomatic mission in the history of this +country has been fraught with greater results. + +Singapore was then a port of much dirtiness and much business. All the +vessels of the world came there, and the greatest variety of cargoes +that I have ever seen. The most interesting thing I saw there was the +magnificent home of a great Chinese millionaire, who managed the largest +business in Singapore, or, indeed, in that part of the world. He had a +splendid palace, surrounded by beautiful and extensive gardens, the +whole being worthy of a king or emperor. Here he lived in the style of +some barbaric prince. This Chinaman had established in Singapore the +kind of store which we in America think we invented--the department +store. But I learned afterward when I went to China, that the department +store is common there, and had been known for hundreds, perhaps +thousands, of years. This development of the store is as old as the +civilization of the Caucasian race, and, perhaps, was known to China +ages before America was discovered. I had the pleasure of receiving an +invitation to visit the Chinaman in his palace, and was astounded by the +extensive grandeur of everything. He had a passion for animals, and +owned two tigers in cages that were the largest animals of their kind I +have ever seen. + +From Singapore, I sailed for China on a P. & O. steamer. On board I met +Dr. Parker, the new American minister to China, and my roommate was +Alexander Collie, of Manchester, England, who, during our civil war, +became the chief English blockade runner. I may as well dispose of my +experiences with Collie while I have him before me. Collie operated his +blockade-running business through the London and Westminster (Limited) +Bank. When I was in England I discovered the nature of his work, and +exposed him through correspondence in the New York Herald. This led to +the breaking down of his enterprise, and to the bank's loss of £500,000 +sterling. Collie escaped arrest by fleeing to Spain. I have never heard +of him since. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +IN CHINESE CITIES + +1855-1856 + + +At Hongkong I went to our correspondents, Williams, Anthon & Co., and +took passage in Endicott's little steamer, the Spark, for Macao, the +Portuguese port of China. Before leaving Hongkong, however, as I had +some little time on my hands, I determined to see everything that was to +be seen there. I had the remarkable experience of meeting the man who +was afterward the husband of Hetty Green. This was E. H. Green, who was +married twelve years later. He was then connected with the house of +Russell & Sturgis, our correspondents in Manila, and he joined me for +the trip to Macao and Canton. After a short stay in Hongkong, we went on +to Macao and Canton. + +We had, on this voyage, the common experiences of Chinese +waters--pirates and typhoons. At the Boca Tigris, the mouth of the +Canton, or Pearl, river, we were overtaken by the typhoon, and we had to +anchor near an island in the midst of a number of junks. These soon +proved to be pirate ships, and we were, apparently, in great danger. The +pirates immediately began to draw up about us, as if meditating an +attack. The little Spark would, of course, stand no chance in such a +contest. I did not think she could last ten minutes in a fight with +those ugly junks. + +The Chinese anchored their boats up close to the Spark, and I noticed +that a dozen of the ugliest ruffians our own sailors had ever +encountered were staring in through the cabin windows. I could not +imagine what they were looking at, and went forward to see what was +wrong. There was Mr. Green, sitting facing the window, his feet on the +table, and making faces at the crew. He was the coolest man, I think, +that I ever saw. Nothing moved him out of his imperturbable calm. The +Chinamen were scowling at him, but this did not at all disconcert him. +If he was going to be killed by these devils, he seemed to be thinking, +he might as well die in a cheerful humor. How could he know they were +not pirates in disguise? + +The pirates expected that we should fall an easy prey into their hands, +as our coal had given out, and there was no assistance within reach. We +were in a dilemma, but we attacked the woodwork of the deck, and got +enough to fire up the engines and get a head of steam, when suddenly, to +the amazement of the pirates, we steamed out and away. The storm having +subsided, the junks were soon left far behind and we reached Macao +safely. + +Macao was at that time the headquarters of the new slave trade. I went +to the top of a high hill for the purpose of looking at the barracoons, +where slaves were kept. The barracoon is, in meaning, a little barrack, +but it is, in reality, a pest-hole. Here were gathered the Chinese who +were to be sent as victims and slaves to the Peruvian islands. The +practise was to bring Chinamen from the interior by telling them of the +great riches their countrymen had found in America, which was then a +name that tempted all Chinamen of the coast regions. Many Chinamen, it +was known, had gone to America and done well, and the wretches that the +slave-dealers wanted to ship to Peru were told that they would be sent +to America. They thought they were going to California; but they were +shipped to the Chincha islands, near Callao, the port of Lima, Peru. + +As Boston was then deeply interested in the subject of slavery in the +Southern States, I wrote a description of this new slavery in the +Chincha islands, giving the names of the boats that had recently sailed +from Macao with full cargoes of slaves. I had heard of this horrible +traffic in human flesh at Singapore, but could not believe it, until I +actually saw it at Macao. Whenever the wretches mutinied, or grew +restive, they were put down in the hold and the hatches closed. The +horrors of such a position were as great as those of the infamous +"Middle Passage," made so conspicuous by the abolitionists in the +campaign against African slavery. Chinamen perished by hundreds, and +many of the survivors were maimed or invalided for life. In a single +case, some two hundred victims were smothered and died in the hold of +one of these slavers. My letters to the New York Herald were copied far +and near. It was discovered that some of the Boston people themselves +were interested in enslaving the Chinese. But the practise could not +stand the light of exposure, and so was broken up. + +We hurried on from Macao to Canton, arriving there during the Chinese +New Year. This city astonished me in a number of ways. It was dirty and +miserable beyond imagination, with narrow streets and indescribable +filth. But that it carried on a tremendous volume of trade was apparent +from a glance. The river was covered with junks and larger vessels at +Whampoa, the lower port, floating the flags of every nation. Warehouses, +the "godowns" of the foreign traders, revealed the existence of an +enormous, and profitable commerce. The word "godown," which many take to +be a "pidgin-English" word composed of "go" and "down," and signifying +putting things down in a warehouse, is a Malay word, and comes from +"gadang," meaning a place for storing articles away. The warehouses were +surrounded by high walls, in the manner of private villas and town +residences of the Chinese, and were adorned by beautiful gardens. + +There was a pretty custom, among foreign residents, to invite all +visitors to dine with them. These invitations were sent informally upon +little cards called "chits." As I was already known in the business +world there, I received a great many of these invitations. I was walking +with Mr. Green one day, when he said it was getting time to think about +dinner. "Where will you dine?" he asked. I replied that I did not know +which invitation to accept. I thought that I would take some of his +conceit out of him, by showing him that I had received a great number of +"chits," and I drew a package of them from my pocket. I remarked coolly +that I could not make up my mind what to do, as I had an _embarras de +richesses_. I counted the "chits," and there were eleven. Green, with +great nonchalance, drew out his package of "chits"; he had thirteen! + +He had a great way of taking care of himself in such circumstances. He +suggested that there was only one thing to do--to find out who, among +our intending hosts, would have the best dinner. He then took me around +to the rear of the residences, where a high wall separated the gardens +from the native city, and where I discovered that the Chinese cooks +always hung up the game, poultry, and other things they were preparing +for meals. From this array we could tell what everybody was going to +have for dinner. After a stroll through the alley, we selected the house +that had displayed behind it some lovely pheasants and salmon. "The +owner of that house shall have the honor of being our host," said Green. +I approved his choice both then and after the dinner, which was an +excellent one, at which the golden pheasants were the _pièce de +résistance_. I soon discovered for myself, what I had long heard, that +the Chinese are the best cooks in the world. + +Another thing I learned about the Chinaman was that he is the most +honest tradesman in the world, and the most careful about debts. The +Chinese New Year is the season when the Chinaman wipes off the slate and +begins life over again, with a clean record. He pays up all debts, and +starts even with the world. I learned that on this anniversary the +Chinaman will sell everything he possesses, even his liberty, his +person, his life itself, to settle his debts, so that he may face the +new year with a clean conscience and a pure heart, as well as with no +bills hanging over him. + +As this was practically the first Chinese city I had seen, I was very +curious about it. It was all new ground to me, and I was eager to +explore it. I knew that this was not permitted, for six Englishmen had +been killed shortly before my arrival, for daring to venture inside the +walls of the Chinese city, which was then as much forbidden ground as +the "Pink City" of Pekin. The fate of the Englishmen only made me more +keen to get inside the walls. I thought I could take care of myself +sufficiently well. I was warned by friends not to risk the thing, but I +took all the responsibility, and went inside, while the gates were open. +I had not gone more than a few rods when I heard behind me and all +around me the wildest cries. Men ran toward me with shouts of +"Fankwai"--foreign devil; and I saw at once that I had stirred up a +hornet's nest. I looked about me, and discovered that the gate I had +come through was still open. There was a pretty fair chance, by running +fast, for getting through it before the Chinamen could head me off. This +calculation took about one-millionth of a second, and I plunged for the +gate, "like a pawing horse let go." If the stop-watch could have been +held on me, I am sure I should have established a record for a +short-distance sprint. + +The next time I visited Canton was in '70. The gates were open, and the +walls were of no avail to keep the foreign devils out. The American +merchant Nye, who was familiarly known as the Napoleon of China, because +of his gigantic enterprises, took me over the city. I had read and heard +about Chinamen eating rats, but this was the only time I ever saw the +thing done, and I could hardly believe my eyes. A Chinaman came up to +Mr. Nye and me in the street, and offered to sell us a rat, a big +fellow still alive. I asked if it was to be eaten, and the Chinaman said +it was. "But it is not cooked," I objected. "I am not going to begin on +live rats." The Chinaman said he would prepare it--the rat cooked and +served to cost me two cents. I told him to go ahead. To my surprise he +took a little stove from under his arm, lighted a fire, and in a few +minutes had the rodent roasted to a crisp. I was astonished--and +ashamed--to see how nice it looked. It did appear toothsome. I said to +the Chinaman, "Now, you can eat it." He did, and with great gusto and +smacking of the lips. So he got his rat and my two cents, also. + +But I ascertained that there is about as much truth in the common +stories in our silly juvenile literature about Chinamen generally eating +rats as there is in stories of other marvelous things in far-off lands. +I also found that there is no deadly upas-tree in Java, which was a +distinct shock to me. I had been reared, so to speak, in the fatal shade +of that upas. I had watched birds drop dead as they tried to fly across +its swath of malignant shadow; I had seen animals stricken by its fatal +exudations and writhing in agony. I saw all these things in the old New +England farmhouse, which was the headquarters of the Methodists; but in +Java, they had all disappeared. There was no upas-tree, and the +mortality among birds and animals was no greater than necessary to +satisfy the predatory natures of other animals, birds, and men. And now +to find in China that the New England stories about general rat-eating +were false, was another shock. + +But the Chinese are not as cleanly as they might be. I learned this +interesting fact in connection with my taste for Canton ginger. I had +always, from earliest childhood, been outrageously fond of this delicate +comfit. I had eaten it in great quantities whenever I got the chance; +and when I arrived in Canton, the home of this conserve, I at once +thought of it, and wanted to know more about its manufacture. I learned, +after some inquiry, that it was put up at a factory on the island of +Ho-nan, near Canton. Ho-nan is also the name of a famous Buddhist temple +on the same island. The factory, as well as most of the so-called +island, is built on piles. I had not altogether overlooked this fact +when I asked the factory people where they got the water for the sirup +of the preserves. They looked at me as if I were demented. "Water! why +we are right over the river!" Yes, they were right over the river, the +dirtiest and most villainous river in the world. The sewage of the +dirtiest city in China--which is saying about all that can be said on +the subject--is emptied into this river. I need not say that I did not +eat any of the Canton ginger then, and I have not eaten any of it since. + +I have set down my views as to the topsy-turviness of things in +Australia. I found China topsy-turvy in a different way. The Chinese +begin their books and letters where we end ours, at what we should call +the back. They read from right to left, instead of from left to right, +and, strangest of all, the men wear gowns, and the women--don't! When I +was introduced to How-kwa, a warm friend of the Russells, I advanced to +shake hands with him, but he stepped back and solemnly shook hands with +himself for me. Then he waved his hands toward the door, as if to say, +so it seemed to me, "get out of here," and I was amazed, but Sturgis +informed me that the great Chinaman was merely beckoning to me to come +nearer to him. I went up to him, by that time so impressed with the +Chinese way of doing things backward that if he had kicked at me, I +should have thought he was asking me to embrace him. We were in +How-kwa's residence, which was surrounded by the most exquisite gardens, +and were invited to partake of a cup of tea. For the first time in my +life I drank tea that cost $30 a pound. We used no sugar nor milk, of +course, as these things are considered in China to spoil good tea. The +next best tea I have drunk, I think, was the tea I got at the fair of +Nijnii Novgorod, Russia, in '57, which had been brought overland +thousands of miles across mountains and deserts, packed in little +bricks. + +Again, I found that the Chinese look backward, and not forward, and +ennoble their ancestors, instead of their offspring, and pay little +attention to the coming generation. They say that they know what their +ancestors--the dead--were, but can not foretell what the living may +become. They scull their boats in the rivers from the bow, instead of +from the stern. Their boatmen are usually women. While we fear the +water, and seek to make our dwelling places upon the rock or upon very +dry land, the Chinaman will get as near as possible to the water. In the +Canton, or Pearl, river there were, when I was there, some 100,000 +persons living on the river, in boats, or on floats, or rafts. A +Westerner would suppose children were in danger of falling into the +water. They do fall in, but their mothers have devised a method of +rescuing them without mischance. Cords are fastened to their bodies, and +when a child falls overboard, the cord, which is made fast to the boat, +prevents it from sinking too far before the mother or father catches +hold and pulls it back into the boat. + +They call all servants, male and female, "boy," which reminds me that in +the Europeanized parts of some of the Japanese cities they do the same, +and when they want to specify definitely that the "boy" is a girl, they +say "onna no boy," which means "girl-boy," or girl servant. This is, of +course, pidgin-English, the business English of the Chinese littoral. I +had an amusing experience with this pidgin-English. I had invited some +friends to dine with me, a merchant and his two sons and three +daughters, and when I asked the servant who had come, he said that the +merchant had arrived and "two bull chilo, and three cow chilo." + +Pidgin-English amused me very much, as it amuses every one who visits +China. Augustine Heard, the merchant, who was a master of this lingo, +used to interest me by reciting phrases from it, and once gave me the +following poem, which is a translation of Longfellow's Excelsior. The +translation was made by Mr. Heard. It has been published throughout the +world as an "anonymous" production: + + THE CHINESE EXCELSIOR + + That nightee teem he come chop-chop + One young man walkee, no can stop; + Maskee snow, maskee ice; + He cally flag with chop so nice-- + Top-side Galah! + + He muchee solly; one piecee eye + Lookee sharp--so fashion--my; + He talkee large, he talkee stlong, + Too muchee cullo; alle same gong. + Top-side Galah! + + Insidee house he can see light, + And evly loom got fire all light, + He lookee plenty ice more high, + Insidee mout'h he plenty cly-- + Top-side Galah! + + Ole man talkee, "No can walk, + "Bimeby lain come, velly dark; + "Have got water, velly wide!" + Maskee, my must go top-side-- + Top-side Galah! + + "Man-man," one girlee talkee he, + "What for you go top-side look--see?" + And one teem more he plenty cly, + But alle teem walk plenty high-- + Top-side Galah! + + "Take care t'hat spilum tlee, young man, + "Take care t'hat ice, must go man-man." + One coolie chin-chin he good night, + He talkee, "My can go all light"-- + Top-side Galah! + + T'hat young man die; one large dog, see, + Too muchee bobbly findee he. + He hand b'long coldee, all same like ice, + He holdee flag wit'h chop so nice-- + Top-side Galah! + +When I was ready to start for Japan, I had made up my mind to visit +Shanghai on the way, and was about to start, when Canton merchants, +native and foreign, tried to dissuade me. They told me it would be +terribly disappointing, and that I would regret wasting any time there. +They did not know my nature, and that this sort of thing merely +stimulated my curiosity and hardened my determination. + +I took passage in the P. & O. boat, the Erin, Captain Jameson, and +supposed, of course, that I should have a state-room. But I was to meet +with another Chinese surprise. A great Chinese mandarin, going from +Hongkong to Shanghai, had engaged the whole cabin. I was very desirous +to see this great personage, and soon had the opportunity. It is my +practise, when at sea, to take exercise by walking rapidly up and down +the deck, thus covering many miles a day. I was taking my daily exercise +the day when the mandarin came on board ship, and every time I passed +the cabin I noticed that he followed me with his eyes. And so we kept it +up for some time, I walking as unconcernedly as I could, and the great +mandarin watching my movements as curiously as if I were some strange +animal. + +After a while he called the first officer, and asked what I was doing. +"Walking up and down the deck," he was told. "But why does he do it? Is +he paid for it?" The officer told him it was for exercise. "What is +that?" asked the Chinese great man. This was explained to him, but he +could not understand why any one wanted to walk up and down, and do so +much unnecessary work. The Chinese are not averse to work; indeed, they +are one of the most industrious people on the face of the earth, but +they do not do unnecessary work, having, I infer, to do as much +necessary work as is good for them. And this great dignitary pointed to +me with scorn and said: "Number one foolo." I hardly need explain that +"number one," throughout the far East, means the superlative degree. + +This mandarin was the great Li Hung Chang, who had been summoned by his +emperor to save the country from the terrible Tai-ping rebellion. He +was on his way from Canton to Shanghai. He there called in the splendid +services of three great foreigners--the Frenchman, Bougevine, the +American, Ward, and the Englishman, "Chinese" Gordon; but it was largely +and chiefly due to the stubbornness and genius of Li that the empire was +saved to the Manchus, at a cost, it is estimated, of twenty millions of +lives. + +When we reached Woosung there were six armed opium ships for cargoes of +opium from Calcutta and Bombay, which the English were forcing upon the +Chinese, much as we should force rum on the Mexicans, and make them pay +for it. The English and Americans were reaping fortunes in the most +unholy traffic the world has seen--and it will never be forgotten in +China, or anywhere else, that England went to war with China to force +China to permit the shipment of opium into that country to ruin millions +of lives and impoverish millions of families. I feel heartily ashamed of +myself for having once smuggled a little of this horrible drug into +China. But I found that many Americans and Englishmen were devoting +themselves to the trade as a regular business. + +In Shanghai I was the guest of Russell & Co., who were then represented +by Cunningham and G. Griswold Gray. The fighting in the great rebellion +was still raging--it was not put down until after Gordon recaptured +Nanking--and when I was in Shanghai the Chinese authorities kept the +gory heads of rebels hanging from the walls as an example to all who +contemplated opposing the Manchu rule. These hideous trophies of the war +were the most impressive things that I saw in Shanghai. + +Dr. Lockhart, the missionary, acted voluntarily as my dragoman and guide +in Shanghai, and showed me things in the city that I could never have +discovered for myself. In one of the squares I noticed a monument 150 +feet high, which, I was told by Lockhart, had been built by the poor +people of China in commemoration of an old lady, who had been the Helen +Gould of her day. Each of the subscribers had contributed cash equal to +one tenth of a cent. + +Some really splendid virtues of the Chinese impressed me deeply. I liked +and admired them the more I saw them. I have already said that they are +the most honest people on the globe. It seems to me an extraordinary +thing that this race, the world's highest type of honesty, should be the +only race to which we are inhospitable. The Chinese were far ahead of +Europeans in many ways for centuries. If they have fallen behind now, it +may be only because Europeans are rushing hastily through their brief +civilizations, while China, having enjoyed hers for ages, is content to +watch us rise, flourish, and decay, as we watch the passing generations +of the forest and the field. + +They invented and used the things that we regard as almost the highest +products of our civilization. They had used the mariner's compass for +centuries before we had it; they invented printing perhaps a thousand +years before Gutenberg; they invented gunpowder, which they had used in +war and every-day life; they had the best paper ever seen long before +the rest of the world had any, and the outside nations have not yet been +able to duplicate theirs; they invented the newspaper, and have the +oldest journal in the world, the Pekin Gazette; they discovered the +Golden Rule, unless that honor belongs to the Greek, Thales; they +developed philosophy--the highest system of the world, in +Confucianism--before the Greeks, and, of course, long before the +Germans; and they were the first people of the world to appreciate +education. + +Moreover, as Mr. Wu, the great Chinese minister at Washington, has so +often pointed out, they were democratic long before Thomas Jefferson, +and long before the Greeks had invented the word "democracy," or had +discovered the idea of a democratic state or city. I had been taught +that the hard-headed and practical Scotch had invented the macadam road, +naming it from a canny Scot of that name; but I found a macadamized road +in China three or four thousand years old, and long enough to wrap +around the British Isles. The Chinese have long preceded us, and they +may long survive us, nullifying all the "imperialism" and +"expansionism" of Europe and America, which would cut her into fragments +as the spoil of the world. + +While I was in China, on this first visit, and on the several occasions +of my later visits, I gave much thought to the vast population of that +country. I have come to the conclusion that the population is less than +half, probably less than one-third, of what it is generally estimated to +be. I notice that the Chinese viceroys have recently made an estimate of +their respective provinces, at the command of the emperor, and that the +total reaches the enormous figure of 425,000,000. I do not believe that +there are 200,000,000 people in the entire empire, and I should prefer +estimating the population at something between 150,000,000 and +175,000,000. + +I found that China is not a densely populated country, as is generally +supposed. The seashore is fairly crowded, and the impression one gets +from seeing the surface of the water covered at Canton with rafts and +floats on which more than 100,000 persons live, is that the inhabitants +must swarm in the same degree over the face of the land. This is not the +case. Even the coast is merely fringed with people. Back in the interior +there are no such dense masses of population. All accounts that I can +read of the interior, from Father Huc down to Mr. Parsons of New York, +bear me out in this. I can not see where there are more than +175,000,000, or 150,000,000, people in that empire. The reports of the +slaughter in the Tai-ping rebellion, of some 20,000,000 people, would +seem to indicate a population of at least 200,000,000 or 250,000,000; +but these figures were greatly exaggerated, as all such things are in +China. All statistics are nothing but guesswork, and the bigger they are +the better people like them. + +I engaged passage in the Greta, which was to go to Shimoda and Hakodate, +Japan. My objective point was Yokohama, where it was my purpose to +establish a branch of the house of Train & Co., Melbourne. My Australian +house was not connected with Colonel Train's Boston and Liverpool packet +firm. At this time, however, the English and Russians, who were not as +good friends then as they are now, were fighting, and the little war +completely upset all of my plans. I could not get to Yokohama at all, +and did not visit Japan until several years later. I had, therefore, to +give up my passage in the Greta, and turn my face from Japan. Just at +this point, Augustine Heard invited G. Griswold Gray, of Russell & Co., +and me to go to Fu-chow, on one of his sailing ships, the John Wade. + +[Illustration: George Francis Train dictating his autobiography in his +room in the Mills Hotel.] + +This trip I very willingly made, as I wanted to see everything of China +that was possible; but it was more adventurous than I had expected. As +we were sailing down the China coast, a typhoon struck us, and over +went sails and masts. Our pilot from Shanghai was immediately in +difficulties, as the pilot from Fu-chow, whom we had just picked up, did +not understand the pilot we had brought from Shanghai. I had the utmost +difficulty, owing to my inadequate mastery of pidgin-English, in +establishing communication between these essential elements of our +little crew. We had, finally, to get into a boat and make our way up the +River Min for forty miles in the dark. It was a very trying experience, +as the river was absolutely unknown to me; the darkness was +"unpierceable by power of any star," and the river was treacherous in +itself for small boats. To make matters worse, it was infested by junk +pirates. This latter danger I had got somewhat accustomed to, as almost +every inch of Chinese water was, in those days, the field of operations +for these pirates. The other nations of the world had not yet adopted +effective means for getting rid of them as the United States got rid of +the Algerian and Tripolitan plunderers. + +We arrived at Fu-chow, after a harassing night on the river. Almost the +first thing to greet my curious eyes, as they were sweeping the horizon +for wonders in that land of wonders, was the old suspension bridge, +which the Chinese assert was built in the fourteenth century. It proved +to be as much of a curiosity as the Chinese wall in the north. At +Fu-chow I was a guest in the house of the Russells. Immediately upon +landing, Gray, Heard, and myself took sedan chairs for a tour through +the city. + +On this occasion I had my first opportunity to appeal to the American +flag for protection. As we were passing through a very narrow, but +important street, our coolies were suddenly set upon and overturned. We +scrambled out of the chairs, and asked what was the matter. We learned +that the viceroy was also passing through the thoroughfare, and that +everything and everybody had to give way for his retinue. My companions +at once stepped out of the way, but my blood was up. I resented being +upset in the street, like so much refuse, in order to have the filthy +thoroughfare cleared for the passage of a mere Chinese viceroy. + +I had a small American flag in my pocket, carefully wrapped about its +little staff, and I took it out with a great deal of display and waved +the tiny emblem around my head. I dared the Chinese servants of the +viceroy to touch me or to interfere with my right to pass through the +streets of Fu-chow. This had its effect. I noticed at once that the +Chinese in the street, who recognized the colors of the United States, +fell back from me, our coolies got up out of the dirt, and once more +took hold of the poles of the chairs. The viceroy passed on, pretending +not to have noticed the incident, and in a few minutes the way was clear +again. + +Fu-chow was the black-tea port of China at that time, and it had been +opened just two years before. It was astonishing at what a rapid pace +business of a certain kind swung along in the coast cities of the Far +East. In two years several of the Canton houses, representatives of the +great shipping and other business concerns of the world, had opened +branch offices in Fu-chow. Commercial life there was intensely active +and very prosperous. + +From Fu-chow I went on down the coast to Hongkong, this being my second +visit there. I noticed at Swatow several ships loaded with Chinese +slaves destined for the Chincha guano islands of Peru. My destination +was Calcutta, so we did not have much time to explore the Chinese coast, +much as I should have liked to do so. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +TO INDIA AND THE HOLY LAND + +1856 + + +I sailed from Hongkong on Jardine's opium steamer, Fiery Cross. As the +course we took had been gone over by me in the voyage to Hongkong from +Singapore, I was not especially interested in it until we had passed the +Straits and got into Indian waters. The Andaman Islands, where dwells +one of the lowest races of mankind, interested me greatly. We saw only a +little of these curious people, the Veddahs, but I learned of a very +interesting custom followed by the widows of the islands to commemorate +their deceased husbands. This consists in wearing the skull of the dead +man on the shoulder as a sort of ornament and memento. It is considered +a delicate way of perpetuating the memory of the husband. + +I had a letter of introduction from Robert Sturgis to George Ashburner, +at Calcutta, and the moment I arrived Mr. Ashburner insisted upon my +becoming his guest. I spent three days with him, and have never partaken +of such luxurious hospitality elsewhere. It is only man in the Orient +who knows how to live fast and furious and get every enjoyment out of +his little span of life. I was surrounded by a retinue of servants, who +stood ready to answer every beck and call. Service in India being highly +specialized, there was a servant for everything. I had a little army of +fourteen serving men, four of whom carried my chair, or palanquin, with +a relay, a man to serve me specially at table, a punka man, and a man +for every other detail of living. + +There was something to do and to see every moment of the time. I was +taken to all the show-places of the city. The first sight shown to me +was the famous Black Hole, where John Z. Holwell and one hundred and +forty-six men were incarcerated in a dungeon twelve feet square. One can +not escape being told the horrible story, if he visits Calcutta, and I +suppose that every one hears the narrative with added adornment, after +the true Hindu style. The special point of the story that was thrust at +me was the orgy and heavy sleep of the rajah, while his servitors were +trying to arouse him to answer the screams of the dying men in the Hole. +In the morning, after the rajah had had his beauty sleep, he was told of +the little difficulty the English had in breathing in the foul and heavy +air of the dungeon, and he ordered them released; but death, lingering, +and as heavy-handed and heavy-hearted as the brutal prince, had already +released most of them. + +One is glad to be told for the ten thousandth time, after hearing this +ghastly tale, of the clerk Clive leaving his ledgers and pens and +leading an army to crush the wretches at Plassy. But, like most things +of the kind, the horrors of the Black Hole have been exaggerated, until +sympathy, palled, refuses longer to be torn and bled over imaginary as +well as real terrors. There have been many worse catastrophes, and of a +nature that should appeal more strongly to the heart. Men, women, and +children have gone down in flood and pestilence, free from any stain of +wrong, which can not be said of the victims of the Black Hole. We can +not forget altogether that they were in India not of right, but as +conquerors, and that they were originally, at least, in the wrong. But +the sufferers in the Johnstown flood, the thousands who died in the +Lisbon, Krakatoa, and Martinique disasters, and other thousands that go +down in ships at sea--these innocent victims demand sympathy much more. + +It seemed that most of my sight-seeing in Calcutta was to be limited to +horrible things. Indeed, the visitor is often hurried from horror to +horror, as if he were in some "chamber of horrors" in a museum. I was +taken to the burning ghaut, where dead bodies are cremated. I saw some +five hundred little fires, which were so many pyres for the dead. I had +heard much of the burning of live women in order that they should +accompany their dead masters, and out of sheer curiosity asked the guard +if there were men only in the fires. For answer, he took a long hook, +thrust it into one of the fires, pulled it back and on its prongs +brought the charred leg of a man. Immediately birds of prey (adjutants) +pounced down upon the smoking flesh and bore it away. These birds are +the scavengers of Calcutta, and the special guardians of the ghaut. +Cremation is a great economy in India. It costs only half a cent to burn +a body. + +Another horror shall complete this gruesome part of my story. Being very +fond of shrimps, one day I inquired, in a moment of forgetfulness--for +it is a safe rule not to ask the source of anything in the East--where +and how they got these shrimps. I was taken to the fishing grounds in +the mouth of the river, and there saw millions of these prawns flocking, +like petty scavengers, about the dead bodies that continually float down +the Ganges. Human flesh was their favorite food. This was enough for me. +I stopped eating shrimps in India, as I had stopped eating Canton ginger +preserves in China. + +On the second day of my stay in Calcutta I received cards to the +reception given by Lord Dalhousie to Lord Canning, the new +Governor-General. Lord Dalhousie, the retiring Governor-General, was +dying. In fact he had been dying for months. I shall not go into any +description of the exceedingly brilliant reception. It made an +ineffaceable impression upon me because of the grouping on that occasion +of some of the most splendid of the British administrators and of some +of the most daring of their enemies, who were even then plotting +revolution and bloodshed. I was introduced to both the passing and the +coming Governor-General and to General Havelock, afterwards the gallant +fighter at Lucknow. I had the rare privilege of seeing these three men +talking amicably with the great Nana Sahib, the leader of the Hindus at +Cawnpore. + +The voyage from Calcutta to Suez was almost devoid of incident. We put +into Madras, a barren, flat, and dismal place, to take on passengers, +and then sailed for Point de Galle, Ceylon. At this place I saw, for the +first time, elephants employed in carrying and piling heavy timbers. +They go about their task with an intelligence that is nearly human, +lifting heavy teak timbers and placing them in regular order in great +piles. I had not before supposed that any animals possessed so much +sense. + +Coming down to Aden, two thousand miles from Galle, sleeping with the +bulkhead open opposite my berth, one night I felt something slap me in +the face. As I was all alone, I did not know what to make of it. There +was no light, and I could not see. As soon as I fell asleep another +slap came. I had heard about the insects of the tropics, but had no idea +they were of such size as to cause these slaps. In the morning, I found +out what had been the matter. Nine flying-fish lay dead in my berth. + +At Aden, the most barren and gloomy place I have ever seen, we went out +to the cantonments, which must have been built thousands of years ago. +We hurried up the Red Sea to Suez, and then crossed over by land from +Suez, eighty-four miles, to Cairo, with six hundred camels in the +caravan. We had coaches carrying six passengers. I have a good idea of +what the Sahara Desert is from having seen this desert between Suez and +Cairo. Just before we reached Cairo, there was a cry from one of the +coaches for us to look up at the sky. There were masts, minarets, and +the whole city, in fact, painted on the sky. It was my first sight of +the mirage I had heard so much about. We were then half-way from Suez to +Cairo. + +I put up at Shepheard's Hotel, and immediately arranged to go out to the +pyramids, ten miles from Cairo. Fifty donkey boys rivaled one another to +get my custom. My donkey started off, and the first thing I knew he was +rolling over me in the sand. He had stepped in a gopher-hole, and down +he went. Travelers now go out in trolley-cars, eat ice-cream and drink +champagne under the shade of the pyramids, and a splendid hotel stands +alongside the Sphinx. + +In going up the pyramids it took three Arabs, two to push and one to +pull, to get me to the top. When we got half-way up, an Arab wanted more +bakshish. I talked to him pretty loud in something he didn't understand, +and he consented to take me farther. The top of the pyramid of Ghizeh +has been taken away, and the pyramid is now about fifteen feet square at +the summit. I made up my mind, the moment I saw the pyramids, that these +gigantic blocks were not stone, but had been produced by one of the lost +arts in preparing concrete. It occurred to me, as the pyramids were +hollow to the base, that they had been storehouses for grain, and were +not built as tombs for the Rameses and Ptolemies. Humane kings had built +them, I thought, in order to employ labor in time of dearth. + +As all travelers are told, it was said that a man would go down one +pyramid and come up on another in so many minutes. I had seen such a +number of "fakes" in my travels that, as I could not tell one Chinaman +from another, how should I be able to tell one Arab from another? When +this trick was done for me I thought it did not follow that the man on +the other pyramid was the man who had been with me. + +I was surprised when I left Cairo to find a modern railway, that had +been built by Said Pasha. We took the train for Alexandria. At +Alexandria we took passage for the Holy Land. The Rev. J. R. MacFarlane, +chaplain of Madras, wanted to see Jerusalem and landed at Joppa, or +Jaffa, which has become famous for Napoleon's massacre. + +In going through the Valley of Sharon, we saw orange and lemon groves, +and fruits of all kinds. It was a lovely valley, but all of a sudden we +struck into the most desolate country I had ever seen--a mountain, a +desert, a wilderness of rocks, ravines and cañons. There were rocks to +the right, rocks to the left, and rocks everywhere. My dragoman had +a mule and I a donkey. One of these mules had irreverently been +named Christ and the other Jesus. To the perfect horror of the +clergyman--until he understood that the men could say nothing else in +English--the names of the donkeys were spoken with every crack of the +whip all the way to Jerusalem. The lashing of those donkeys became a +medley of seeming profanity. + +A few weeks before, several people had been killed by the Bedouins on +the desert. Every one was talking about the dangers of the journey. +After we got over this wild district, through the Valley of Jehoshaphat, +we came upon a plateau and saw Jerusalem in the distance. Beautiful is +that city for situation. Said my companions, at the same instant, "There +are the Bedouins!" A half dozen horsemen were coming from the direction +of Jerusalem. We feared danger, but Abram the dragoman showed no fear. +These men were really not dangerous, being only "barkers" for the hotels +of Jerusalem. Neither my companion nor myself had any idea that they +were employes of that kind. + +One asked if we would go to "Smith's" near Mount Calvary, to "Jones's" +near the Via della Rosa, or to another house on the site of Solomon's +Temple. MacFarlane said, "Don't notice these people. Leave it to the +dragoman." He decided that we should go to Smith's. From that time, +until we left, for three days, I saw nothing but humbug and tinsel, +lying and cheating, ugly women, sand-fleas and dogs, from Joppa through +Ramlah. The one lovely place was an oasis where we stopped for luncheon. +Of course this was a long time before Mark Twain went there and wept +over the tomb of Adam. + +In going through the Valley of Jehoshaphat, up the Mount of Olives, of +course I was impressed with what survived of my Biblical education. New +England training was still strong in me. The women of Bethlehem, +carrying baskets on their heads, with flowing robes of calico, were very +beautiful and healthy-looking; but when I got to Bethlehem, and with my +farm and cattle experience looked for stalls and mangers, I was, of +course, disgusted at being taken down two flights and shown an old wet +cave as the place where the Saviour was said to have been born. I have +kept the morals of the old Methodists, I hope, but my superstitious +notions were disappearing every minute I spent in Jerusalem. + +Being in the Holy Land, all the stories I had heard in boyhood came back +to me. I thought of Moses's life. I had been taught to obey his +commandments, but as a child I saw that he had broken in his own life +those which say, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not commit +adultery--had told Aaron, his brother-in-law, to make a golden image, +and had got up a trust by means of which he might get all the gold. +"Thou shalt do no murder," says the law--but he killed an Egyptian and +hid him in the sand. "Thou shalt not commit adultery "--but he committed +that sin. + +And so on to the end. These commandments were taught by the man who had +broken every one of them himself. Aaron, who wished to be included in +the gold-corner into which Moses had refused him admittance, sought to +make money in some other way, and said, "If we are going for forty years +into the wilderness, we shall want salt provisions," and so bought up +all the hogs he could find, without letting Moses into the corner. Then +Moses spoiled the whole game by the law that no Jews should eat pork! In +the Holy Land these things all came into my mind. You can imagine how I +felt sixteen years after, when arrested and detained for six months in +the Tombs for quoting three columns of the Bible (about which I shall +speak later). + +At night I wanted my clergyman companion to gain an idea of night scenes +in the East. To make sure that we should not be disturbed, I went to the +chief of police for a guide to show us Jerusalem by candle-light. We +went into a dark alley, back of Mount Calvary and the Via della Rosa, +when the man's movements became suspicious. I could not see why a +policeman should be so careful where he went. My object had been to see +the demi-monde of Syria. + +When we got to the door, the policeman tried to shut the door, but I put +my foot in the way. I asked MacFarlane if he was armed. He said he had a +Madras dagger. MacFarlane was already in the room and I drew him out. +"Those are Bedouins," said I; "I could see their pistols and swords." +Intuition told me they were murderers. Sixteen persons had been killed +in Nablus in '55-'56. The chief of police was the head of the gang. I +immediately saw our consul, and there was a meeting of representatives +of the foreign powers, and the whole traffic was exposed. In our case +they found the men, and after we left they were executed. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +IN THE CRIMEA + +1856 + + +The voyage from Joppa to Constantinople was a succession of surprises, +from Latokea to Lanarca, Cyprus, Rhodes, and Smyrna. At Beyrout we were +the guests of a pasha, the leading man of the place. Henry Kennard, +banker, of Heywood, Kennard & Co., of London, who had joined us in +Jerusalem, went with us through Syria and was going as far as the +Crimea. MacFarlane was still with our party. We had a day off in +Beyrout, and went up to Lebanon, inland, where the cedars seem to +antedate the olive-trees in the Garden of Gethsemane. + +When we got to Smyrna we entered a beautiful bay, somewhat like that of +Rio Janeiro, and I went out on the fortified hill that overlooks the +city. I saw from the hill that troops were marching on parade, and went +off alone to see them. I was told to let my donkey go his own way. He +brought me to a place where were about one hundred stone steps, almost +perpendicular. I had a little hesitation about going down these steps, +but he seemed to know what he was about, and I could do nothing with him +but hang on his back. I expected him to tumble, and that would have been +the last of me. He didn't miss a step, however, but took me safely to +the bottom. I thought of General Putnam's stone-step ride. If he had +only had a Turkish donkey he would have missed being a hero. + +My donkey seemed to know more than I about the streets of Smyrna, and I +gave him the rein. He took me past the sentinels to the parade ground, +as he appeared to know the password, and across the parade, which was +against regulations. When we arrived at the center of the ground, he +began very peculiar operations, as if he had been with Barnum. Here was +a donkey that would have made a fortune for a circus. The soldiers were +coming up in platoons, when the donkey began to stand on his hind feet, +and then on his fore feet. The roar of the advancing regiment convinced +me that I was in a tight place. I got off his back and walked alone on +the opposite side, and then escaped through a gate. I have never heard +of the obstinate animal since. + +From Smyrna to Constantinople we passed among famous Greek +islands--Rhodes, and Chios, where twenty-two thousand Greeks were killed +by the Turks--but we had not time to stop at any of them. At +Constantinople I preferred to take passage in a transient steamer, +instead of waiting for the Government boat. I stopped here only to see +our minister, Carroll Spence, of Baltimore, and then hurried on through +the Marmoro Strait and the Bosporus, and into the Black Sea, and there +found an immense fleet of transports, from the port of Sebastopol. I was +delighted to see alongside of one another three of our Boston clippers, +built by Donald Mackay in East Boston, that had brought French troops +from France: the Great Republic, Captain Limeburner, the Monarch of the +Seas, Captain Gardner, and the Ocean Queen of clippers, Captain Zerega. +Ships filled the little bay, bows and sterns touching the shore on one +side and the other. Not one could have got out in case of fire. + +We immediately got horses to go out to Balaklava, and there I was glad +to meet my old friend, Captain Furber, of the Black Ball Line and the +Ocean Clipper, who gave me a state-room and all the courtesies of his +ship. He had come for the French. Kennard went with the British. Horses +and attendants were furnished me by the French generals free of cost. + +My object in going to the Crimea was to speculate in munitions of war, +which I supposed would be sold for a mere bagatelle. But the armies took +their material away with them--English, Russian, Turkish, French, +Sardinian--so there was no chance for business there. The British +troops were in rags and tatters. Their new uniforms had not arrived, +and their shoes were worn out. I went on board one of the clippers and +spoke about the shoes not having arrived. "What!" exclaimed the captain; +"I am loaded with shoes! I have been here six months." "Have you +notified the commissary?" "Yes." What could I do? All this was afterward +described by "Bull Run" Russell. He was then the correspondent of the +London Times, and so exposed the mismanagement of the war that ships +were sent with provisions, uniforms, and everything, after the war was +over. + +Through the courtesy of French officers, I visited the city of +Sebastopol, a ten-mile journey from Balaklava, and saw the +twenty-one-gun battery, the Redan, and the Malakoff, and, of course, the +ruin of the famous city. I could see the masts of the ships at the +entrance of the bay, the fleet that had been sunk by the Russians to +block the channel. Here they had crossed in the night to the Star Fort +on the opposite side, which was strongly fortified. It would have been +almost impossible for the allied armies to interfere with the Russians. +They had made up their minds to fight it out to the end. + +The French zouave commander got up a banquet for me with twenty of the +officers of all the armies--Turkish, French, English, Sardinian, and +Russian. I did something to stir up the battle spirit again, and +several times almost got them fighting over the table, especially when I +asked some question that brought a reply from the zouave general of the +Ninety-sixth regiment of Algiers. He rose and said to the Englishmen who +had disputed his word: "You were asleep at the Alma, you were late at +Inkerman, late at Balaklava, ran from the Redan and at Chernaya." This +of course roused the English officers, and we had to pour oil on +troubled waters. + +There were two princes among the Russians, and of course they were +delighted to see the allies fighting among themselves. They helped me in +stirring up the quarrel. I made them admit that Todleben's earthworks +were a new feature in war--baskets of earth used for forts on the inside +of Sebastopol, put up impromptu, and holding these armies so long at +bay. In the Redan it was complete slaughter, two thousand persons being +killed. MacMahon in the Malakoff saw at once that it was not a close +fort, and said, "J'y suis, j'y reste." Speaking of MacMahon, a very +singular thing has been suggested. Put together a half dozen faces of +French notables--MacMahon, de Lesseps, Alexandre Dumas (_père et fils_), +Victor Hugo, President Faure, and add my portrait, and you could hardly +tell which was which. + +Tennyson has given to the charge of the Light Brigade at Balaklava the +power of his name and genius, but that fight has been a terribly +exaggerated affair, so far as massacre was concerned. Only one third was +killed, with nearly one half the horses. In our civil war, where a +million men were killed, at the cost of a billion dollars, from the +firing into Sumter to Appomattox, on both sides, there were many charges +where the slaughter was proportionately greater than that. Take +Pickett's charge at Gettysburg, where a whole division was mowed +down--or Custer's command (with Sitting Bull, in the Black Hills), all +massacred, with the exception of one man. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +HOME ONCE MORE AND THEN A RETURN TO EUROPE + +1856 + + +From the Crimea I returned to England and thence to America. Wilson, of +the White Star Line, wished to construct the largest clipper ever built +in England. It was to be called the George Francis Train, as I had had +in my consignment or in my charge the fastest four clippers in the +world--Flying Cloud, eighty-six days from New York to San Francisco; +Sovereign of the Seas, which stood in my name at the custom-house (2,200 +tons), which made three hundred and seventy-four miles under sail in one +day, a thing never known before by a sailing ship; the Red Jacket, built +at Rockland, Maine; and the Lightning, built by Donald Mackay at East +Boston, which sailed from Liverpool to Melbourne in sixty-three days; +but I declined the White Star honors. + +The day after my arrival in New York, in July, '56--I had been away +since February, '53--the Herald had sixteen columns, about three pages, +from me in one issue, an amount of space I think that no correspondent +before or since has had--either from India, China, or Japan. I had +arrived ahead of my own mail. The members of the present staff of the +Herald have no idea that the man whom they have looked upon as a lunatic +was sufficiently sane to make a big sensation in their paper in July, +'56. The present James Gordon Bennett was then only fifteen years old. +Frederick Hudson had entire charge of the paper under the elder Bennett. +Mr. Bennett, wishing to put his son ahead, pensioned Mr. Hudson, who +went into the country to live, and, in crossing a railway track, was +killed. Mr. Bennett gave me a very kind reception. He asked if I desired +to go to Congress. "No," I said. "Don't you want to publish books?" +"Yes, but I am going abroad now, as I am not through with my business in +Australia." + +Here, at twenty-seven years of age, I had traveled over the world, and +had had these great business experiences. I had been called, as a +sneering term, "Young America." I kept the name, and used it afterward +in all my newspaper work. But Freeman Hunt, of the Merchants' Magazine, +who edited my books, changed it to An American Merchant in Europe, Asia, +and Australia, thinking the title Young America not dignified enough. +This book was a series of letters from Java, Singapore, China, Bengal, +Egypt, the Holy Land, the Crimea, England, Melbourne, Sydney, etc. It +was published in '57 in New York and London. + +From New York I went to Boston, and escaped my first opportunity of +going to jail by giving bail bond for $80,000. George B. Upton +represented my house in Boston and was in Europe. He was traveling at +the time, and his people instructed him to have me arrested for any +interest the Barings might have, through open credits, in our firm. +Colonel Enoch Train and Donald Mackay signed the bond. The claim was +that I had made a lot of money, and had not given to others what was +their due. I had never used the Barings' credit out in Australia, and +returned to them $50,000. So far as Upton was concerned, I had paid my +partner, Captain Caldwell, $8,000 in cash, when he went home in the Red +Jacket only a few months after his arrival in Melbourne. This was my +first false arrest and legal prosecution. From this time for many years +I kept getting into jail, for no crime whatever. + +After looking over the accounts in the books for '57, Upton came the +next year to me in New York, just as I was going abroad, and said, "We +are in a tight place in Boston." Imagine my astonishment when he asked +if I was willing that any little account coming to me should be placed +to my credit, and used to help him out. Considering that I had been +arrested for $80,000, I thought this peculiar. He gave me a credit for +£500 on the Barings, however; it seems that $6,000 had been sent to me +by the house in Melbourne while I was away. Inasmuch as I have never +since inquired how my account stood with Upton, I should like to have +his son look at the books, and see what may be due me. + +In '56 I took my wife and baby Sue to Paris. I had observed in Europe +that the Germans were more far-sighted than we in learning many +languages. The bright German boy in a country town is taught French and +English, and then sent to Bremen or Hamburg to get the practical +education of merchants in great shipping houses. Afterward, he is sent +to England to find out other modes of doing business. Then perhaps he +establishes a house in New York. I found that German merchants, all over +the world, were far ahead of ours, because of their practical training +and mastery of languages. Seeing, in my travels around the world, that +the German was everywhere, I determined to learn languages, and went to +Paris for that purpose. + +We took rooms at the Grand Hôtel de Louvre, in the Rue de Rivoli, and I +at once went to Galignani, of "The Messenger," to find teachers. Under a +Catholic priest, I studied Italian and French at the same time, which +may account for my having a little of the Italian accent in my French. I +have never known an Italian who was able to master the French accent. I +also learned Portuguese and Spanish. This gave me the four Latin +languages. I had, in '48, studied German under Gasper Bütts, who came to +America during the Revolution of '48 with Carl Schurz. German texts and +pronunciation I had to practise every day, but as I have never had a +fancy for that language, I have not kept it up. I sent my sons to +Frankfort-on-the-Main to learn German, and afterward to Seelig's College +in Vevey, Switzerland, in '71, to learn Italian and French. My daughter +Sue was sent to Stuttgart, and she is thoroughly acquainted with both +German and French. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +MEN I MET IN PARIS + +1856-1857 + + +My life in Paris seems now like a romance to my memory. I was +twenty-seven, and thought I had seen all the world, but discovered how +little I knew, compared with others whom I met. I found, as in all these +foreign cities, that notables in society and in public life often did +not know one another. At Count Arthur De La More's, of the Orleanist +staff, I found the greatest hostility toward the Emperor. One day we +were sitting in the entresol, at his rooms on the Rue de Rivoli, +opposite the Tuileries, and he asked me whether I could see that man +walking on the veranda of the Tuileries. I said I could, to which he +replied: "Could one of your sharpshooters pick him off from here?" I +looked up with surprise, and thought I saw the future assassin of the +Emperor, but said nothing. I told him some of our men like Daniel Boone +and David Crockett could have picked off a squirrel as far as they could +see it. It was a little while after this that the Orsini bomb was fired +at the Emperor. This was because Napoleon, though a member of the +Carbonari, had "gone back on" the order; but his life was spared. + +Prince Galitzen of Russia gave me a dinner at the Café Philippe, where I +met some of the Russian nobility. These men were the cleverest I have +ever seen. All were good linguists, artists, statesmen, soldiers, men of +the world. At Prince Czartoryski's I met leading Poles, who were still +revolutionists, plotting against Russia. One of these, a man of about +eighty, said to me: "In my teens I went to St. Petersburg, saw Alexander +and told him the condition of Poland. I asked him what he was going to +do. He asked me what I should recommend. 'There are two ways of +governing Poland,' I said; 'through interest or through fear.' Fear was +the policy adopted. When I was forty, I again went to St. Petersburg. +Nicholas was Czar, and he repeated the same question. I again answered, +'through interest or through fear.' When I was sixty I met another +Emperor, and the same question was put to me, and I made the same reply. +Poland is partitioned," he added; "and we are now only a memory." + +At Leon Lillo's I met many Spaniards of the nobility and the ruling +family. I still think that Lillo was the son of Queen Cristina, by her +husband the Duke of Rianzares, a common soldier, of physical beauty, +whom she had taken from the ranks and made a Duke. I used to meet him at +Lillo's. Cristina, who was then probably the richest woman in the world, +had bought Malmaison, the palace of Josephine. It was through this +connection that I met Salamanca, the Spanish Rothschild, her banker. I +shall speak later of how I got the funds to build the Atlantic and Great +Western Railway, connecting the Erie Railway with the Ohio and +Mississippi Railway. + +At the Marquis del Grillo's I met his wife, the great Italian +tragedienne, Ristori, whom I had seen on the stage in "Elizabeth." I met +leading men of the Second Empire at the house of the Count de Rouville, +including Persigny, the Foreign Minister, Count de Morny, the Minister +of War, Walewski, Prince "Plon-Plon," and Mocquard, private secretary to +the Emperor. At Triat's Gymnase I met the men who afterward organized +the Commune. At the house of Mrs. Winfield Scott, who was then living +in Paris, I met many Americans, and at Castle's I saw "Bohemia." + +Meeting all these different persons, distinguished in the great world of +Paris, I was gaining the knowledge that would make me a walking library +of political affairs in Europe. This made up for the loss of a college +career. Practical experience and observation were my university. + +That year, '56-'57, was a very important time in my life in many ways. I +received an invitation to a ball at the Tuileries, engraved in the +usual style, on a card a foot square, and bearing the enormous seal of +the Second Empire. For the first time in my life I appeared in borrowed +plumes. I hired what I call a "flunkey" suit, and paid forty-five francs +for it. In this I was presented. It was not a civil nor a military suit, +but a sort of mongrel affair, that served me as a court costume. Of +course, my wife appeared in proper evening dress. There were four +thousand persons present, the highest in the society of Paris, military +and civil--ambassadors in their regalia, regimental officers in their +different uniforms, and the aristocracy in their robes. There were also +Algerian officers. Although the Tuileries was very large, the four +thousand guests found themselves in much crowded rooms. + +During this reception and ball I suddenly felt some cold substance going +down my back. Putting my hand to my neck, I found there a cupful of +ice-cream that an Algerian officer had dropped, with the usual "Pardon, +monsieur." I assured him it was all right, but the ice-cream gave me a +decidedly boreal feeling. + +The ball was in the usual court style, and I shall not undertake to +describe it. After some time had passed, all at once there was silence, +instead of the terrible hum. It was the presage of something important, +I felt sure. The wax candles in the chandeliers burned brilliantly, and +we were all on the _qui vive_ to know what was coming. Looking toward +the great folding doors at the end of the hall, a lady appeared. It was +the age of crinoline, and she must have had a circumference of eight +feet. She was the Emperor's favorite, the Countess Castiglione. The +sensation she made was tremendous. + +I should mention that before this happened I had been presented to the +Empress. We were all ranged in diplomatic order for presentation, and +when it came my turn she seemed particularly courteous, saying in +English to me: "You speak French very fluently." To this I replied: +"When I am able to speak French, your Majesty, as well as you speak +English, I shall be willing to trust myself in that language. In the +meanwhile let me ask you to talk as you prefer." All those presented +seemed surprised to see me talking with the Empress, as it was, I +believe, unusual for a foreigner and a newcomer to be thus honored. She +was very gracious, and made me feel as much at home as if I had been in +my own family. The introduction of the crinoline had been made by the +Empress before the birth of the Prince Imperial. Anti-Imperialists had +been busy gossiping about the coming event, and intimated that it was +impossible the Emperor could become the father of a child. + +After the Countess Castiglione appeared in such dare-devil fashion, in +the presence of the whole court, the Empress appeared in much different +mood. The next day she went to England, and became the guest of the +Queen for three weeks. + +The Italian war was then going on, and I was desirous of mastering the +Italian language, in order to carry out certain contracts I had made +with the Emperor. McHenry was my partner, and I had written to him that +the Emperor wanted a half dozen steamers immediately. The French needed +the boats for the transport of provisions. McHenry was in London, and in +my letter I told him there was no doubt that the war would eventually be +won by France and Italy. This was just after the great battles of +Magenta and Solferino. He sent me back this despatch: "La paix est +signé." You can imagine my surprise. It shows that the most careful of +men sometimes make mistakes. + +Mr. Seward, afterward Secretary of State, was in Paris in '56-'57, and I +showed him as much of Paris as I dared. There were certain places to +which I did not feel authorized to take him, but I managed to make him +see a great deal of Paris that would have been sealed to him had he +undertaken to go about this microcosmic city without a guide. + +Mr. Seward astonished me very much one day by a remark showing his +detachment from the great world of European thought and power. I said +to him: "Mr. Seward, how would you like to see M. Lamartine?" "Which +Lamartine?" he coolly asked, as if there could be more than one. "Why, +Alphonse de Lamartine," said I. "There is only one Lamartine in France +or in the world." He asked if I knew him. I replied that Lamartine gave +receptions twice a week, and that I had attended them during the winter. +As there was a reception that day, I asked Mr. Seward if he cared to go. +He very gladly accepted the invitation, and we went together. + +Lamartine, it will be remembered, married an English lady, a most +charming, lovely woman; but he had never learned to speak English. He +was like Hugo in this respect, and thought it was not worth while to +struggle through the intricacies and difficulties of the spelling and +pronunciation. But Madame Lamartine spoke French very fluently and +accurately. + +I have observed as an invariable rule, from one end of the world to the +other, that if one person addresses another in a language the second +person does not understand, the talker thinks he can make himself +understood by simply bawling out his sentences like a town-crier. Mr. +Seward was no exception to this common frailty among mankind. When he +saw that Lamartine did not understand his English, he placed his hand +over his mouth, and shouted into M. Lamartine's ear. The great Frenchman +smiled at each discharge, but could not reply. At last I said, "Mr. +Seward, M. Lamartine is not deaf, but he does not understand English. If +you will permit either Madame Lamartine or myself to interpret for you, +there will be no difficulty." Mr. Seward continued to shout for some +time, but finally broke down. Madame Lamartine and I then translated his +remarks to Lamartine. After this we got along finely, and a most +delightful conversation followed between the two men. + +It had been my intention, when I came to Paris, to go on to Australia; +but as I passed through the various countries of Europe I saw that the +shadow of panic and failure rested upon all. I had, indeed, completed +many arrangements for going back to Melbourne, and I had got a letter of +credit from the representative in London of the Bank of New South Wales +for £20,000; but the project fell through, because of the panics and +disasters of the year '57. + +In '58--I may mention at this place--I had a few months' leisure on my +hands, and decided to give my wife and her stepmother, Mrs. George T. M. +Davis, a trip about Europe. We traveled through France, Italy, Austria, +and Germany. At Leghorn we went to witness a spectacular exhibition of +the storming of Sebastopol. It was a magnificent spectacle, realistic in +the extreme. No one was astonished, when, at the very point where the +city was taken and the fort blown up, a terrific burst of light +appeared. Instantly thereafter we discovered that the explosion had been +too real. The theater was ablaze. Of course there was a wild rush for +the doors. Panic followed, and while we were crushed and trampled in the +press, we got off finally with only severe bruises. The official report +next morning gave the casualties as forty killed and one hundred +injured; but the Government suppressed the facts. The dead and injured +far outnumbered these figures. + +We had an experience in Naples which illustrated the every-day use of +words by the English that to us are offensive. We were aboard one of the +dirty little steamboats that were found in that part of the +Mediterranean, and, as the weather was somewhat rough, the bilge water +had been shaken about in the night, and a terrible odor pervaded every +nook of the vessel. An English nobleman was aboard, and in the morning, +wishing to say something agreeable to my wife's stepmother, he said: +"Madam, didn't you observe a dreadful stink in your state-room last +night?" The blood of all the Pomeroys was fired by this supposed +indelicacy. "Sir!" Mrs. Davis retorted, stepping back with great +hauteur. I immediately advanced and said, "My dear madam, the gentleman +meant no harm. The English prefer that 'nasty' word to something more +refined and less shocking. He meant no insult." The Englishman +explained; but the lady was not appeased. + +At Rome I was astonished to find a delegation awaiting me. I could not +make out what it meant, when I was hailed as a "liberator." There were +many "liberators" in the Italy of those days; and I supposed they +mistook me for Mazzini, or Garibaldi, or Orsini, or some other leader of +the people. "Whom do you think I am?" I asked. "Citizen George Francis +Train," they said. This was too much for my credulity. What was worse +still, they asked me to go with them. I did not know just where they +expected me to go, or what they would expect me to do when I got there. +Things were pretty black in Italy just then, and I did not desire to be +mixed up in "revolutions," or liberty movements, or conspiracies. +However, they assured me that it would be all right, and I consented to +go. I went through a dark alley, to their meeting place, and was told +more things about the revolution than I cared to know or to remember. It +was not a healthful kind of knowledge to carry about Italy with one. + +But the curious thing about the affair was that here, as everywhere, +these people regarded me as a leader of revolts--Carbonari, La Commune, +Chartists, Fenians, Internationals--as if I were ready for every species +of deviltry. For fifteen years five or six governments kept their spies +shadowing me in Europe and America. + +From Italy we passed into Austria. At Vienna we had the opportunity, +through the courtesy of some friends near the court, of witnessing a +splendid celebration by the Order of Maria Teresa, which was the most +gorgeous and most beautiful spectacle I think I have ever seen. We soon +returned to London, and then came to America, where I was to resume work +on projects and enterprises here. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +BUILDING THE ATLANTIC AND GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY + +1857-1858 + + +The great project of a connecting railway between the Eastern and the +Middle Western States had been in my mind for some years. Queen Maria +Cristina's fortune, which was then the greatest possessed by any woman +in the world, seemed to me to offer a solution of the problem. I had no +idea, of course, of attempting to use her fortune in any schemes of my +own and for my own interest, but I saw at once that I could utilize her +idle wealth to the tremendous advantage of the United States and, at the +same time, render a service to her. + +The Queen had had a large quantity of funds in the old United States +Bank that President Jackson smashed, and James McHenry, who was +connected with me in many enterprises, learned that she had taken as +securities some coal lands in Pennsylvania. I saw the Duke of Rianzares, +the guardsman Fernando Muñoz, whom Maria Cristina had fallen in love +with and made a grandee of her kingdom, and finally married in '44. He +had his headquarters at Lillo's in the Square Clary, and he introduced +me to the Queen's secretary, Salerno. I suggested to the Spaniards the +advisability of hunting up these coal lands of the Queen. McHenry had +already made arrangements for me to go to America with her assistant +secretary, Don Rodrigo de Questa, who did not know a word of English. +The preliminaries were arranged, and we set out for Liverpool and +America. + +One of the first of many difficulties into which poor de Questa fell +because of his ignorance of English occurred the first day out from +Liverpool. The Spaniard, with a fatuous assumption common to Europeans, +thought that whenever he failed to find the exact word he wanted in +another tongue than his own, all that was necessary was to use French. +The Spaniard asked the steward to get him some fish for breakfast. He +knew the Spanish word would not answer, and could not think of the +English word, though he had tried to master it for some time. He then +fell back upon the French, and asked for "poisson." Of course, the +steward thought he wanted poison, and reported the matter to +headquarters, thinking suicide was contemplated. + +De Questa would have had serious trouble but for the thoughtfulness of +the steward, who remembered that I was traveling with him and came to +me for advice. "When did he ask for poison?" I inquired. "At +breakfast-time," said the steward. "Oh, then, he merely wants fish," and +I explained as well as I could to an English steward the meaning of the +French word. + +The English of the ignorant classes look upon French very much as a +clergyman does upon profanity, or as a missionary regards the muttered +charms and incantations of a "voodoo" priestess. De Questa finally got +his fish, but he had long before lost his appetite. This adventure +discouraged him so much that he refused thenceforth to try to convey in +English, Castilian, or French, any of his desires concerning food, but +resorted to the primitive sign language. When he wanted eggs, he would +flap his arms together and cackle like a hen that has just laid an egg. +The steward who, perhaps, had never seen two square inches of +countryside in his life, thought he was imitating a rooster and laughed +until he almost had a fit. De Questa nearly starved. He had, at last, to +eat whatever he could find, without trying to seek what he wanted. I +explained to him that roosters did not lay eggs! + +Our destination was Philadelphia. It was there that the Spaniards who +were living upon Queen Maria Cristina's property had their headquarters. +I found two of them, Christopher and John Fallon, living in fine houses, +with something of a court about them. They had control of about forty +thousand acres of coal lands belonging to the Queen. This large tract +was situated at a place to which the Fallons had given their name, +Fallonville. I at once consulted several of the best lawyers of +Philadelphia, among them William B. Reed, later Minister to China, and +was advised to go immediately to the lands and see what had been done +with them. I made an appointment with John Fallon, and we went out to +the mines. I can not now recall exactly where they were, but I remember +that we passed through a wilderness, after leaving the train that took +us from Philadelphia, and that we had a very long drive in carriages. A +railway track had been built through the forest to the mines, and it +seemed to me about fifteen miles long. I appeared to John Fallon as a +foreigner who was interested in mines and in coal lands in particular, +but not, of course, as representing the Queen. + +As soon as I returned to Philadelphia and reported what I had learned, +my lawyers advised me to go back to Paris and report to the Queen. De +Questa and I, therefore, returned as soon as possible. McHenry met me in +London, and we went on to Paris together. We had a conference with Lillo +and with Don José de Salamanca, the Queen's banker, and it was decided +that the Queen should take active possession of her immense property at +once. I saw that there was a great deal of money in the land, and that +there was a fine opportunity for the Atlantic and Great Western Railway, +if I could in some way get the use of a portion of this vast coal +domain. + +I saw also that my connection with the affair had already given me a +lever with which I could work to some purpose upon Don José de +Salamanca, and that this was the best card to play. + +As soon as possible I went to his banking office and asked for a +conference. I had learned enough, in my dealings with bankers and +financiers, to know that you must approach them on the right side, from +the side of money, and not from that of a mere wish. Accordingly I wrote +on my card that I wished to propose a loan of $1,000,000. I really came +as a borrower, but circumstances permitted me to play the rôle of the +lender. I was admitted at once, but if I had asked outright for a loan I +should have been shown the door. As soon as I was in his presence I +said, without preface: "I have no cash in my pockets, nor would you wish +it if I had; but I want to show you something." + +"I understood that you wanted to lend me a million," said the Spaniard. +"I do not see the million." + +"You will, when I explain," I said. "I want to use your credit." (I knew +that he had none in London and that he could do nothing there.) "I +propose to deposit with you $2,000,000 of the bonds of the Atlantic and +Great Western Railway for $1,000,000 of your notes." + +I knew that the bait of a credit in London would affect him, as the +Spanish bankers had long tried in vain to establish their credit in the +financial metropolis of the world. + +"Where is this property?" he asked. + +I drew a diagram of the property for him, explaining its location and +its relation to other properties and enterprises. I told him of the Erie +Railway, ending at Olean, and the Ohio and Mississippi Railway from +Cincinnati to St. Louis. "There is no connection between these two great +highways," I said, "and a highway that will connect them will prove a +fortune-maker to every one associated with the project." I explained +that there were only four hundred miles between the two, and how I +purposed filling in this gap. Between the two ends of the completed +railways lay three wealthy States. This road has since been reorganized +under the name of the New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio, or as it is +colloquially called, the "Nyp. and O." Near Olean now exists a town that +has the name of my Spanish friend, Salamanca. + +My arguments touched Salamanca, but did not capture him. They paved the +way, however, for his complete capitulation a little later. My next step +was to go to London and confer with the Kennards, famous bankers of +that city. We arranged that a nephew of the Kennards, a son of Robert +William Kennard, then a member of Parliament, and an engineer of note, +should accompany me to America and go over the entire ground of the +proposed route. + +We came to New York in October, '57, and shortly after we arrived had a +conference at the St. Nicholas Hotel, in Broadway, with the men who were +most interested in the proposed road. Maps were exhibited, and the plans +fully explained. We then left for Olean, where we were met by the +contractor in charge of the road, whose name was Doolittle, by Morton +the local engineer, and by General C. L. Ward, the president of the +road. The whole party took wagons for Jamestown, forty miles away. At +this point we were met by a committee appointed to take care of us and +to show us what had been done, and what could be done. This was the +program throughout, as we passed on from point to point. Among the men +who met us at Jamestown was Reuben E. Fenton, who had just been elected +Representative in Congress from that district, and was afterward +Governor and United States Senator. The line of the road was followed as +far as Dayton, Ohio, where it was proposed to connect with the Cleveland +and Cincinnati Railway. + +At Mansfield there was a great gathering in honor of the occasion. The +committees of the three States--New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, were +present, and there was speech-making. I made a speech, which is printed +in full in "Spread-Eagleism," published in '58. Judge Bartley, afterward +famous on the Federal bench, was chairman of the meeting. I asked if +there were not some one present from Ohio who could give us a clear +statement as to what we could expect. Judge Bartley called on "Mr. +Sherman." A tall, spare man arose. It was John Sherman. He made a speech +that was clear, direct, and forcible. Among the other speakers were +Robert E. Schenck, of "Emma Mine" fame, who had been elected to Congress +recently, and Senator Benjamin F. Wade. + +Just before the close of the meeting I introduced Thomas Kennard, the +civil engineer, and told the crowd that the road was to be built, and +that it would be aided by the money of Queen Maria Cristina of Spain and +the great Spanish banker, Salamanca. + +I made a report in London of the work accomplished in America, and at +once began to purchase material for the road. I sought out Mr. Crawshay +Bailey, then a member of Parliament, and a great Welsh iron-master, and +he invited me to dine with him and his wife. He had just married a +charming young lady. At dinner, I found that Mrs. Bailey spoke French +very fluently and that Mr. Bailey did not understand a word of it. So I +asked permission of the iron-worker to carry on a conversation in French +with Mrs. Bailey. This delighted him very much, for he liked to see that +his wife was mistress of a language of which he did not know a single +word. This subtle flattery of his judgment and taste so pleased him that +I was able to close a bargain with him for 25,000 tons of iron at $40 +the ton--$1,000,000--pledging for the debt bonds of the Atlantic and +Great Western Railway, at two to one. This was the first great purchase +made after the panic of '57. + +My second purchase was made from the Ebwvale Company, of Wales. Through +Manager Robinson I negotiated for 30,000 tons of iron at $40 the +ton--$1,200,000--pledging bonds of the road at two to one, as with +Bailey. + +I have already spoken of Salamanca, the Spanish Rothschild, and how I +had tried to obtain his notes for $1,000,000. I finally succeeded in +getting this loan, pledging $2,000,000 bonds of the road as security. At +this time, no Spanish securities had been negotiated in Lombard Street +for years. It was highly necessary for me that these notes of Salamanca +should be negotiated. I went to Mathew Marshall, Jr., of the Bank of +London. He was the son of the old Mathew Marshall who had signed the +notes of the Bank of England for fifty years. I asked him what $50,000 +of the notes of Salamanca would be accepted at by the bank. He replied +that they would not be accepted at all. "No Spanish paper can be used in +London," he said. + +I then had recourse to a scheme that I had previously worked out with +some degree of elaboration. I asked Marshall if he would not oblige me +by telling me, as a friend, what sixty-day bills of the kind I held +would be worth if they could be used. He said they should be handled at +six per centum. I telegraphed immediately to McHenry, in Liverpool, as +follows: "Marshall will not touch this paper under six per cent. Will +Moseley" (the big financier there) "do it for five?" McHenry answered +that Moseley would not handle it for less than Marshall's rate, but +would take $50,000 at six per centum. + +Upon the strength of this, four hundred miles of railway were built, +through three great States, opening up a vast territory, and bringing in +fortunes to a large number of men. My arrangement with McHenry was that +I was to receive £100,000 as commission. No papers were signed, but I +asked McHenry to give me a paper settling $100,000 on my wife, Willie +Davis Train, which was done. After the road was built, Sir Morton Peto +came over from England with some London bankers, on McHenry's +invitation. McHenry believed in playing the part of a prince when it +came to giving an entertainment, and he invited the visitors to a +banquet at Delmonico's, then at Fourteenth Street and Fifth Avenue. It +cost him $15,000. + +As I had not yet secured my commission, I thought this was a good time +to collect it, and instructed my lawyer, Clark Bell, now of No. 39 +Broadway, to present and press my claim. McHenry was so afraid he would +be arrested while these moneyed men were with him that he settled at +once, giving me his notes at four months for the balance due. Gold was +very high at this time, being $1.90, and as the notes were on London, I +found they could be negotiated through McHenry's agents, McAudrey & +Wann. It happened that these agents had lost some $7,000 on information +that I had given to them about the result of the battle of Gettysburg; +so I agreed to reimburse them for the loss, if they would cash the notes +at once, which they did. + +This was in '66, and a singular thing happened. When the notes fell due +in London on the 6th May, that comparatively small amount of gold +precipitated something of a panic in the unsteady market of the day. +Everything went with a crash. Moseley, the banker of Liverpool, failed +for a large sum; Lemuel Goddard, of London, followed with a loss of as +much more; Lunnon & Company failed for a greater amount; McHenry for +some millions; Sir Morton Peto for other millions; and Overend, Gurney & +Company for another large amount. This showed to me the real +shallowness and insubstantiality of the great world of finance. It is +built upon straw and paper. The secret of its great masters and +"Napoleons" is nothing but what is known among other gamblers as +"bluff." + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +A VISIT TO RUSSIA + +1857 + + +The year '57 was a memorable period in my life in many ways. The great +panic of the time swept away my ambitious projects as if they had been +so many dreams and visions. My contracts in Italy were destroyed by the +peace of Villa Franca, and my Australian plans were defeated by the +panic. I was therefore ready to take up anything that looked promising; +but, as I had nothing immediately on hand, I took advantage of the +enforced leisure to see more of England and the continent of Europe. + +I was in Liverpool at the time the Niagara arrived there for the purpose +of laying the Atlantic cable, and suggested giving a banquet to Captain +Hudson and Commander Pennock, who was my cousin, and to the other +officers, at Lynn's Waterloo Hotel. This old landmark, the resort of +American ship-captains for many years, was torn down long ago. At this +time a letter came to Captain Hudson from the Grand Duke Constantine, +of Russia, who had arrived at Dover in his yacht, the Livadia, thanking +him for granting permission for three Russian officers to witness the +laying of the cable. + +In this little incident I saw an opportunity for visiting Russia in a +semi-official capacity, enabling me to see that country to much better +advantage. I said to Captain Hudson that I should like to carry his +answer to the Grand Duke. He replied that no answer was required, and +that, besides, the Grand Duke had returned to St. Petersburg. I assured +him that strict courtesy demanded an acknowledgment of the letter, and +that it would make no difference to me about the Grand Duke being in St. +Petersburg, as I expected to visit that city. So I persuaded him to let +me take an answer to the Russian Prince. I suggested the phrasing of the +letter. The Grand Duke was informed that I was visiting Russia for the +purpose of seeing the Nijnii Novgorod fair, and that the United States +was always glad to do anything that helped to repay Russia for her long +friendship. + +I immediately started for London, where I called on the American +Minister, George M. Dallas. Mr. Dallas was very courteous, but he +evidently wanted to have the opportunity of handing the letter to the +Grand Duke himself. He offered to see that the communication was +expeditiously and properly transmitted. "But," I said, "I desire to take +it in person." I next called on John Delane, who was long the editor of +the London Times, and he asked me to write him some letters from Russia. +Then I left London for The Hague. + +I met at The Hague Admiral Ariens, to whom I had been introduced by +Captain Fabius of the Dutch man-of-war, some years before, at Singapore. +From Holland I went through Germany, visiting Stettin, where I saw the +beginnings of those great ship-yards that are now sending out the +greatest and fastest vessels on the seas. I took a steamer from Stettin +for St. Petersburg. + +At the Russian capital I called at once on our minister, Governor +Seymour, of Connecticut. Mr. Seymour made the same suggestion that Mr. +Dallas had made. He wished to transmit the letter to the Grand Duke. But +I was not to be deprived of the final triumph of my schemes. I told the +Minister that I had come all the way from Liverpool, and that it was my +purpose to hand the letter to the Grand Duke, if I had to travel all +over the Russian empire to do it. I was informed that it was not the +season for seeing this high official, as he had left the city and was at +his country residence, at Strelna. + +My answer to this was, in true Yankee fashion, "Where is Strelna?" I was +told that it was just below Peterhof. Then I was advised not to try to +see the Grand Duke on that day, as it was Saturday. I resolved to go at +once to Strelna, without regard to official days, as I had long since +discovered that the only way to do a thing of this sort was to do it +straightway. I got a fast team, and was taken out to the Grand Duke's +palace. + +I found the residence situated in the midst of an immense forest park, +and sentinels guarded every avenue of approach. These stopped me at +every turn, but at every challenge I showed the letter to the Grand Duke +and told my errand. I was passed on and on, until I was inside the +palace itself. Here I was met by a gentleman in the long frock coat the +Russians affect, with his breast covered with military orders. He +offered, as soon as I told him my errand, to take the letter to the +Grand Duke; but I merely said that it was my purpose to hand it to him +in person. I now began to fear that it would require some little time to +get into the presence of this high dignitary. I expected to be put off +for several days, and then to end up against a secretary or an +aide-de-camp, who would finally have me meet some one very near the +Grand Duke, but not the Grand Duke himself. + +I was at last shown by this military-looking gentleman into a reception +room of the most spacious proportions. I sat down and prepared to wait +for a secretary or aide-de-camp, when, suddenly, the door flew open, +and, with a rapid step, a handsome, delicate-looking gentleman advanced +toward me. I rose, and again went through the tiresome explanation that +I had a letter for the Grand Duke, which I should like to hand to him +in person, and so on, and so on. I expected to receive the reply that +this gentleman would be greatly pleased to relieve me of the trouble, +and was prepared to answer rather severely that I wished to hand the +letter to his Grace myself. He said, with a gracious smile, which played +like a dim light over his pale features, that he would see that the +Grand Duke received the letter. "But," I said, "I must hand it to him +myself." "Is it necessary?" he asked, with his faint smile. "It is," I +replied as firmly as I could. + +He stepped back a little, and said, with a bow, "I am the Grand Duke." I +almost sank into the chair with surprise. As soon as I recovered my +composure, I handed him the letter, which I now felt to be a very small +affair for so much ceremony and trouble. + +While I was waiting for the Grand Duke to read the letter, two great +dogs came into the room, from different directions, and immediately +began fighting. The Grand Duke said something in Russian, which showed +that he at least knew how to speak commandingly. The great beasts, with +drooping tails, slunk from his presence like whipped children. + +The Grand Duke Constantine was a younger brother of the Czar, and was a +man of many accomplishments. He spoke with ease and grace seven +languages, and his English was quite as grammatical and exact as my +own. The Grand Duke, as soon as he had read the letter, called in his +aide-de-camp, Colonel Greig, and said that the colonel would see to it +that all my needs were attended to immediately, and expressed the wish +that he might see me on my return from Nijnii. "I should like to know +what you, as an American, think of Russia." + +Colonel Greig took me to the residence of his mother, the widow of +Admiral Greig of the Russian navy, who lived just opposite Kronstadt. We +were driven over in a troika, or droshky, with one horse trotting in the +middle and one on each side, in full gallop. It was the most +delightfully exhilarating drive I had ever taken, and I still think that +the troika is the most attractive of all vehicles. At the Greigs' I was +treated with the utmost consideration, and was a guest at a banquet the +first night I was there. When I came to prepare for this function, I +remembered that I had no change of clothes with me, as I had come out +from St. Petersburg in a great hurry. + +In this dilemma, I turned to Colonel Greig and explained that it was not +possible for me to attend the banquet as I had no dress clothes with me. +He looked me over, and replied: "I think we are about the same size. +Suppose you try one of my suits?" I accepted the offer at once, and +found that his suit fitted me as well as my own. The banquet was a great +affair, with a vast concourse of "skis," "offs," "neffs," and so +on--little tag-ends of words by which one may tell a Russian name, even +if it were possible not to tell it from its general appearance and sound +without them. + +After a few days at the Greigs', I left for Moscow, where I was received +by Prince Dombriski, brother-in-law of the Emperor. The old city of +Moscow impressed me more than any other city of Europe. It seemed to +belong to quite another world and to a different civilization. There is +something primitive and prehistoric about it--elemental in its +somberness and in its grandeur. I was astonished to find in the Kremlin +a portrait of Napoleon at the battle of Borodino. + +In going from the capital to Moscow over the straight line of railway, I +heard much of the way that the Czar Nicholas had built the road. It is +said that he summoned to him his chief contractor and engineer, +Carmichael, and asked him to make specifications for the line as +arranged for between the two cities. The Czar confidently expected that +he was being deceived about all matters of this kind, and was prepared +for fraud in this enterprise. Carmichael drew up elaborate +specifications, which Nicholas saw at once were entirely too elaborate, +and gave abundant room for "pickings." He turned to Carmichael and asked +if the specifications were all right. Carmichael assured him they were. +"All right, then," said Nicholas, "I shall turn them over, just as they +are, to Major Whistler." The Major was the uncle of the famous artist +of to-day. Whistler built the road on Carmichael's specifications, and +made a fortune, which has been the foundation of a half dozen family +estates--the Winans, Harrison, Whistler estates, et al. + +I observed a peculiar effect of the direct method of the Czar in +building a straight road to Moscow. All the big cities and even the +prosperous and important towns had, without exception, been left at +varying distances from the line of railway. At the little stations on +the route the Russians would get off and get hot water in samovars and +make tea, each of them carrying a supply of tea in bricks, with square +loaf sugar in their pockets. + +Nijnii Novgorod I found a wonderful city. There, on the "Mother" Volga, +as the Russians call it, I saw the origin of all the world's fairs and +expositions, in this great fair, at which the nations of a world unknown +to Europe and America assemble for traffic and barter. More than +100,000,000 rubles, or, roughly, $50,000,000, change hands in six weeks. +There the traveler, who is too indolent or too poor to see the remote +tribes of the earth, may have all these strange and outlandish races +come to him, on the banks of the Volga. It was a marvelous experience to +me, and I considered it as well worth a trip around the world to see +Nijnii Novgorod alone. + +Some time afterward, when I was in England, I received a letter from +Baron Bruno, the Russian Ambassador, enclosing a letter from Colonel +Greig, the aide-de-camp of the Grand Duke Constantine. He said that the +Grand Duke had read my book, Young America Abroad, with interest. The +Grand Duke, he said, was greatly pleased with my descriptions of Russia, +with my exposure of the Crimean fiasco, and with my predictions as to +the future development and greatness of the country. He added that the +Russian Government would like to have me visit the region of the Amur, +Petropauloffski and Vladivostok, and to make a report of the prospects +of far-eastern Siberia. + +The Government proposed to make all the arrangements for me, so that I +could travel in luxury and leisure; but I could not then undertake so +extended an enterprise, besides I have ever preferred to follow my own +ideas rather than those of others. I desired to pursue original lines of +investigation, to go over new routes of travel and of trade, to explore +corners of the world that had not been worn into paths by the myriad +feet of travelers. I have always felt hampered in trying to carry out +the suggestions of others. I have found that there is but one course for +me, if I am to succeed, and that is to follow my own counsel. I must be +myself, untrammeled, unfettered, or I fail. If I had gone to Eastern +Siberia for the Russian Government, I might have succeeded in the way +the Government expected; but the chances, I consider, would have been +against me. If I had gone there at my own motion, I might have created a +sensation by exploiting that vast and magnificent region, which must +soon play a tremendously important part in the history of the world. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +BUILDING THE FIRST STREET-RAILWAYS IN ENGLAND + +1858 + + +In '58, when I visited Philadelphia on business of Queen Maria Cristina, +of Spain, I observed the network of street-railways in that city, which +then, perhaps, had the most perfect system of surface transportation in +the world. I was struck with the idea of the great convenience these +railways must be to business men and to all workers, and wondered why +London, with so many more persons, had never had recourse to the +street-railway. At that time there was not an inch of "tramway," or +street-railway, in Great Britain, or anywhere outside of New York and +Philadelphia. I stored the idea up in my mind, intending to utilize it +some day, when I returned to England. + +Before undertaking the work of constructing street-railways in England, +I was called upon to do a little financiering for my father-in-law, +Colonel George T. M. Davis. Colonel Davis came to me in London and +wished me to assist in organizing the Adirondack Railway in upper New +York. He had been introduced to Hamilton and Waddell, who had a grant +from the New York legislature of 600,000 acres in the Adirondacks; but +nothing could be done at that time. Later, in '64, I organized the +Adirondack road, and met General Rosecrans and Cheney, of Little Falls, +at the Astor House, for the purpose of building the railway. I +subscribed $20,000 for myself and $20,000 for my wife, and got a large +sum from my friends. A large party of us went in carriages from the +United States Hotel, Saratoga, through the country along the proposed +route to Lucerne. George Augustus Sala, who was visiting this country at +the time, was with us, also Dr. T. C. Durant, president of the Crédit +Mobilier, and J. S. T. Stranahan, of Brooklyn. This was the beginning of +the Adirondack road, of which Colonel Davis was the president when he +died in '88. My plan was to build the road through the entire forest to +Ogdensburg, but it was never carried out. This was four decades before +the millionaire colonists began flocking in there, the Huntingtons, +Astors, Webbs, Rockefellers, Woodruffs, Durants, et al. + +My first efforts in introducing street-railways in England were made in +Liverpool. I chose this city because I had been long associated with it +and because, as it was the leading seaport of the world, I had a false +idea that it was progressive. But I was soon set right as to this +estimate of Liverpool. I recalled, in the hour of discouragement, the +great difficulty I had had years before, in '50, in getting the +municipal government to permit us to have lights and fire on the docks +at night, in order to facilitate the handling of the very traffic that +was the basis of the city's prosperity. Now, when I proposed the laying +of a street-railway, I found the leading men of the city just as narrow +and just as hopelessly behind the times as they had been in the matter +of improving shipping facilities. They would not consider the +proposition at all. + +But this did not stop my efforts nor dampen my ardor. I felt that the +plan would succeed somewhere in England, and I began to look about to +see where the best chances of success might be found. All through the +year '58 and into '59 I was at work upon my original plan. I had made +every possible arrangement for the immediate construction of a railway, +if I could only get some municipality to grant the necessary permission. + +Finally, it occurred to me that the man I wanted was John Laird, the +progressive and energetic ship-builder, the man who afterward built the +Alabama and other Confederate craft, and who was at the time chairman of +the Commissioners of Birkenhead, just across the Mersey opposite +Liverpool. Surely, thought I, here is a man with enterprise enough to +appreciate this thing, which means so much for the working people and +all business men. So I went to Mr. Laird, and after a long conference +with him, I made a formal request to the Commissioners for permission to +construct a surface railway, or "tramway," as it is called in England. +My proposition was to lay a track four miles long, running out to the +Birkenhead Park. I offered to lay the road at my own expense, to pave a +certain proportion of the streets through which the line passed, and to +charge fares lower than those then charged by the omnibuses. If the line +did not then satisfy the city authorities, I was to remove it at my own +expense and to place all the streets affected in as good order as when +the road was begun. + +I found Mr. Laird as liberal-minded as I had expected, and with his +influence, the Board of Commissioners consented to let me make the +experiment. I went to work at once, and the road was pushed through with +great despatch. I felt that it ought to get into operation before the +'buses and other transportation companies stirred up too much +opposition. As soon as the working people found how comfortable and +cheap the new mode of conveyance was, I felt sure they would stand up +for it so strongly as to defeat the efforts of the omnibus men to tear +up the line. + +The "tramway" proved a success from the start, and became as popular as +I had expected. It was crowded with passengers at all hours of the day. +The road is there to-day; and I learned a curious thing in connection +with the line only recently. Twelve years ago the cashier of the +restaurant in the Mills Hotel No. 1, Mr. Bryan, was the manager of the +street-railway I had built in Birkenhead forty-two years ago. + +Another incident of this period I should record here. I invited to +Birkenhead most of the leading journalists and writers of London, having +in view, of course, an intended invasion of the great metropolis. While +these men were together I suggested the organization of a literary club, +and this suggestion was the germ from which grew the Savage Club of +London. My speech at the opening of the first street-railway in the Old +World will appear in my forthcoming book of speeches. + +As soon as I had completed my work in Birkenhead, I went to London, and +opened a campaign for "tramways" in that metropolis of 4,000,000 people. +It was a complex business from the first, and I had to make a study of +the government and the conditions, and, above all, of the prejudices of +citizens. The first step was to apply to every parish, for the parish +there is our ward, and something more, for it has a far greater measure +of home rule. Each parish had to grant permission for any tramway that +was to invade its ancient and sacred precincts. + +The greatest difficulty was the one I had most dreaded from the +start--the opposition of the 'bus men. There are, or were at that time, +6,000 omnibuses in the streets of London, and in every one of the +drivers, and in every one who was interested in the profits of the +business, my tramway project had an unrelenting foe. I found that the +influence of these men was tremendous, because they reached the masses +of the people in a way that I could never hope to do. Their efforts were +unremitting. They worked upon the different parish governments, upon the +people at large, upon the municipal government, and upon Parliament +itself. I believe they had sufficient influence to have carried the war +even into the cabinet and to the throne. + +However, as I shall soon relate, the opposition of the 'buses did not +prove to be as terrible in the end as I had feared. The heaviest blows +came from a higher source. The "people," in England, as elsewhere, seem +very powerful at first, in the beginnings of all enterprises. To oppose +them would seem to be inviting destruction. But in the end it is found +that the real power is lodged elsewhere, and whenever this real power +wants a thing done, the "people" do not exist. The fiction that they do +exist disappears at once in the clear atmosphere of "exigency." + +The first of these real powers that I had to attack was the Metropolitan +Board of Aldermen. I appeared before the board with a carefully prepared +model of the tramways I proposed. It was a sort of public hearing, and +I was very closely questioned about the plans of operating the road, the +effect its presence in the narrow streets would have in interfering with +traffic, the danger of accidents, and so on. There was present a noble +lord who, I saw, was fighting desperately against the project. He eyed +me closely and made sharp interrogations. When he wished to be +particularly effective, as is the manner of Englishmen of his class, he +would drop his monocle, then readjust it carefully, with many writhings +and twistings of his eyebrows, and, when the single glass was properly +adjusted, half close the other eye and concentrate the full blaze of the +monocle upon his victim. If the victim survives this, so much the worse +for him, for he will then be subjected to a long drawl and to "hems" and +"haws" that would shatter the composure of a Philadelphia lawyer. + +We soon took up the problem of laying the tramway up Ludgate Hill, where +the street is exceedingly narrow. His lordship fixed me with his +glittering monocle. I saw from which direction the firing would come. +After readjusting his monocle, so as to get the range better, he said: + +"May I--ah--ask a question, Mr.--ah--Train?" When an Englishman wants to +be sarcastic, and ironical, and cutting, he finds the means readiest to +his mind in a pretended forgetting of your name. + +"That is what I am here for, my lord," I replied, as graciously as +possible. + +"You know, of course, how very narrow is Ludgate Hill. Suppose that when +I go down to the Mansion House in my carriage, one of my horses should +slip on your d--d rail, and break his leg--would you pay for the horse?" + +This produced a sensation, for the English love a lord even more than we +plain Americans do. As soon as the stir had ceased, I replied, in a +voice that carried to the ends of the hall: + +"My lord, if you could convince me that your d--d old horse would not +have fallen if the rail had not been there, I certainly should pay for +it." This retort caught the audience so happily that the tide swept +around my way, to the discomfiture of the noble lord. The hearing +resulted in my obtaining permission to lay a tramway from the Marble +Arch at Oxford Street and from Hyde Park to Bayswater, a distance of one +or two miles. + +I soon built other lines, also: one from Victoria Station to Westminster +Abbey and the Houses of Parliament, and another from Westminster Bridge +to Kennington Gate on the way to Clapham. These were constructed on my +patent of a half-inch flange. + +The omnibuses, defeated in this part of the fighting, resorted to +peculiar but effective tactics. As soon as I laid a portion of my +tracks--which was done upon the same terms under which I had put down +the line in Birkenhead--the 'bus drivers tried in every possible way to +wreck their vehicles on the rails. They would drive across again and +again and take the rails in the most reckless way, in order to catch and +twist their wheels. They were very often successful, and there were many +accidents of this sort. The excitement increased greatly with every foot +of track laid down. But the people, as in Birkenhead, were tremendously +in favor of the tramway. It was such a convenience to them that they +sided with me in the fight. The 'bus drivers and companies and the +aristocracy were against me--the one because my trams interfered with +their business, the other because they owned their private conveyances, +and did not like to drive across the rails. I dressed conductors and +drivers in the uniform of volunteers, to which many soldiers objected. +In the meanwhile the cars were crowded with passengers at all hours, +there being throughout the day a rush such as is seen in New York only +in what we call the "rush hours." + +In all this excitement and press of travel, accidents were, of course, +unavoidable. I dreaded one, as I felt it would be the crucial point. It +might turn against me the popular feeling, now so strongly setting in my +direction, for the "mob" (so called) of London is fully as excitable and +as ungovernable as the "mob" of Paris, and its prejudices are more +deeply intrenched. Finally, the dreaded accident came. A boy was +killed, and I was arrested for manslaughter. + +In order to appease public feeling, I paid the expenses of the boy's +funeral, and did everything that could possibly be done to pay, in a +material way, for his death. The accident was entirely unavoidable, and +the tramway was not responsible for it, but there was a great deal of +feeling, chiefly due to the agitation of the 'bus drivers. Sir John +Villiers Shelley, member of Parliament, a relative of the poet, who was +chairman of the Metropolitan Board of Works and the representative of +the omnibus people, led the fight against me. We had a terrific +struggle. The bill to authorize the tramways had gone to Parliament, and +this was now defeated by a few votes. I had six of the ablest lawyers of +England to represent me (through Baxter, Rose & Norton, solicitors), but +the influence of the 'bus men, aided by the sentiment in certain +quarters against me on account of my speeches in favor of the American +Union, was too strong for me, and I had to abandon the fight in London. + +I then went to the Potteries in Staffordshire, and there, after renewing +the same kind of fighting that I had had in London, in every new town I +undertook to lay railways in, I succeeded in building seven miles of +track through the crockery-making country. Those tracks are there +to-day. + +My failure in London, which was to have been expected, must be set off +by these successes in Birkenhead and in Staffordshire. I am entitled to +the credit of laying the first street-railways in England, having to +overcome the most formidable of all the enemies of progress--British +prejudice. I afterward went to Darlington, where Stephenson had built +his first railway, from Stockton to Darlington, in '29, the year of my +birth, and I constructed a tramway there to connect the two steam +railways through that town. + +My life, therefore, spans the entire railway building of the world. The +first railway was built the year I was born, and since that time, in a +space of seventy-three years, more than 200,000 miles of railway have +been constructed in the United States alone. In much of this great work +I have had some share. I suggested the railway that connects Melbourne +with its port, and mapped out the present railway system in Australia +thirty-nine years ago; I organized the line that connects the Eastern +States with the great Middle West--the Atlantic and Great Western +Railway; and I organized and built the first railway that pierced the +great American desert, and brought the Atlantic and Pacific coasts into +close touch and led to the development of the far West. + +I may mention here, also, that I built a street-railway in Geneva, +Switzerland, which is still in use; and one in Copenhagen, which proved +that there was at least something sound in "the state of Denmark." +Other railways, as in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia, suggested by me, +have been changed from horse to trolley lines. I also suggested the road +in Bombay, India, which was the first railway in all Asia, now extended. + +It may be of interest to record that when I began building +street-railways, I sent to the United States and got the plans of the +Philadelphia roads and of the New York Third Avenue line. It was +therefore upon the models of American roads that these foreign railways +were constructed. + +It is sometimes said that it is remarkable that little is known of my +connection with these great enterprises--for they were great, and +epoch-making. But my achievements in England, in the pioneer work of +building street-railways, is a matter of recorded history. An account of +my work there will be found in a book by Dr. Albert Shaw, editor of the +Review of Reviews, Municipal Government in Great Britain, as well as in +other books that deal with the industrial life of the period. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +ENGLAND AND OUR CIVIL WAR--BLOCKADE RUNNING + + +I have referred already to the antagonism felt toward me in certain +English quarters because of my speeches in favor of the Federal American +Union in the hour of its danger. Love of country was always stronger in +me than love of money, and I let slip no opportunity to defend the cause +of the Union and to prove to the English of the upper classes that they +were mistaken in supposing that the Confederacy could succeed. Those who +were not in England at this period, when the South was in the first +flush of its success, and when it seemed likely that England and France +would go to the assistance of the South, merely to strengthen themselves +by weakening the power of the United States, can not appreciate the +extent or the power of British sympathy for the Confederacy. The element +in England that took sides with the South was tremendously influential. +I had already felt its power in a personal way through the defeat of my +street-railway projects. + +As soon as I observed the trend of British opinion, I went into public +halls and spoke in favor of the Union, and tried to show that right and +might were both on the side of the North, and that, no matter how many +successes the South might win in the beginning of the war, it would +inevitably be crushed beneath the weight of the rest of the country. I +did not confine myself to speeches of this sort. I attacked the men who +were trading on the war by sending blockade runners into Southern ports +in violation of the rules of war. And so I was in some relation with +Lord John Russell on the one hand and Emperor Louis Napoleon on the +other, in the critical days of the Mason-Slidell affair and the +discussion of "belligerent rights" of the South. + +Before taking part in this desperate effort to stem the tide of British +opinion, and to defeat the efforts of British traders to make money by +selling merchandise to the South contraband of war, I placed my wife and +children on board a steamer for New York, in order to remove them from +troubled scenes. This fight was to cost me the opportunity of making a +fortune of perhaps $5,000,000, by upsetting my street-railway projects. + +I may mention here that in '58, during the Italian war, I bought the +London Morning Chronicle for the French Emperor, paying $10,000 for it, +and putting Thornton Hunt, son of Leigh Hunt, in editorial charge, at a +salary of $2,000 a year. It was a daily paper; and as the Emperor +wanted a weekly also, I arranged for him the purchase of the London +Spectator at the same price, and put in Townsend (I think that was the +name) as editor, at a salary of $2,000 a year. When the war was over, +these papers of course passed out of our hands, and the Chronicle made a +most savage attack on me in the tramway discussion, taking the part of +the omnibus drivers. It again attacked me for my exposure of blockade +running from British ports. I had given the names of the men interested, +the marks of the cargoes, and the destination of the shipments, in a +letter that I wrote to the New York Herald. These men thought they had +assassinated the United States Republic. + +The feeling against me was so intense at one time that I anticipated an +attempt to kill me. Strong influences were brought to bear upon me to +stop a paper that I had established in London, with my private +secretary, George Pickering Bemis, as manager, for the purpose of +disseminating correct news and views about the civil war. Secretary +Seward, by the way, sent $100, through his private secretary, Mr. J. C. +Derby (who was afterward connected with the house of D. Appleton and +Company, and wrote his recollections under the title, Fifty Years Among +Authors, Books, and Publishers), to assist in keeping up this journal. +The intense strain wore upon me to such an extent that I had an attack +of insomnia, and almost lost my senses at times. I would not go armed, +but relied for defense upon a small cane that I carried under my arm, so +grasped by the end in front as to enable me to whirl it about instantly +in case I should be attacked from the rear. + +In August, '62, I observed that a vessel called the Mavrockadatis was +acting suspiciously, and came to the conclusion that she was a blockade +runner. I believed that she was loaded with supplies for the +Confederates, and that as soon as she was clear at sea she would make +for a Southern port or for some rendezvous with a Confederate ship. I +determined to frustrate this design, and took passage on her for St. +John's, Newfoundland, which I supposed was only her ostensible +destination. Of course, I registered under an assumed name, taking the +name "Oliver" for the occasion. + +As it turned out, I was wrong. The vessel kept on her course as +represented, and we arrived at St. John's, Newfoundland, instead of at a +Southern port. This broke up my program, as I had intended, immediately +upon reaching a Southern port, to go direct to Richmond and see if +anything could be done to end the war. As I may not have occasion again +to refer to this plan, which I had had in mind for some time, I shall +speak of it here. I had arranged with the President and with Mr. Seward +to go to Richmond to see what could be done. + +My idea was that the Southern leaders were in complete ignorance of the +power and resources of the North; they had fancied, because of the great +military reputation of Southern soldiers, that it would be comparatively +easy to beat Northern troops in the field; and that, in the last event, +England and France would come to their assistance. I felt confident of +convincing Jefferson Davis and other Southern leaders that all these +views were erroneous. I thought it would be a simple thing to prove that +they could not count on the assistance of either England or France, as +these two nations would not unite, and neither would undertake the task +alone. I also thought I could give them such evidence of the great +resources of the North, both in men and means, that they would recognize +the uselessness of the struggle. Another view I had in mind was that I +could impress the Southerners with the suggestion that, in the event of +their abandoning the contest at that stage, they could obtain far better +terms than the victorious North would be content to offer after a long +and harrowing war. But this was not to be. Stanton heard of our plans, +and sent Montgomery Blair to negotiate with the Southern leaders, with +what result is too well known. + +I landed in Newfoundland, instead of in the South, as I have said, with +all my immediate plans thwarted. But I took up the course of my life +exactly at the point where I stood. I was in Newfoundland just one day, +and I wrote a history of that Crown Colony from the information I +gleaned in this brief visit. I shall republish it some day. I observed +in St. John's, as I have observed elsewhere, that people are fashioned +by their occupations. These people were physically the creation of +fisheries. I noted the tomcod married to the hake, and the shark wedded +to the swordfish. The fish of the sea, which they ate and upon which +they lived and had their being, were all represented in their features, +from the sardine to the sperm whale. + +From St. John's, Newfoundland, I went to Boston, by way of St. Johns, +New Brunswick, stopping at Portland, Maine, for a brief visit. At +Portland I was met by B. F. Guild on behalf of Curtis Guild, owner of +the Boston Commercial Bulletin, which had just been established. Guild +published my Union speeches, and must have spent $1,000 a week--the +Bulletin was a weekly paper--in advertising them and my other writings. +I published my History of Newfoundland in his paper, receiving for it +$10 a column, the only pay I have ever received from a newspaper or +other periodical for my work. I saw recently a notice of the death of B. +F. Guild, at the age of eighty-nine. I had no idea he was so old. + +I found that I had returned to my country the most popular American in +public life. I was greeted everywhere by vast concourses of people, who +cheered me and demanded speeches about the situation in England and my +experiences there. At Boston I was met by a tremendous gathering, and it +looked like a procession as we went up State Street to the Revere House. +I was placed in the rooms that had been occupied by the Prince of Wales, +now King Edward, on his visit to Boston two years before. + +I was not long in Boston before I got into trouble by trying to +enlighten the people with regard to the war. There was a great +assemblage in Faneuil Hall, where Sumner was to speak, and I went there +to see what was going on. Sumner was not a very effective speaker before +mixed audiences, and could not have stood up for twenty minutes in the +halls of London, where the greatest freedom of debate is indulged in, +and where every speaker must be prepared to answer quickly and to the +point any question that may be hurled at him, or to reply with sharpness +and point to any retort that may come from the crowd that faces him. + +I was very much astonished, therefore, to hear Sumner challenge any one +in the audience to confute his arguments. I knew, of course, that the +gantlet thus lightly thrown down was a mere oratorical figure, but in +England it would have been taken up at once, and Sumner would have been +routed. The temptation was too much for me. I rose, to the apparent +astonishment and embarrassment of the orator and of the committee on the +platform, and said: "Mr. Sumner, when you have finished, I should like +to speak a word." The cheering that greeted my acceptance of the +gaily-flung challenge was cordial. + +As soon as Sumner had finished I climbed to the platform. There I had +the greatest difficulty with the committee, which seemed determined to +suppress any attempt to reply to the hero and god of the upper classes +in Boston. The moment I began to talk the committee signaled to the +band, and the music drowned my voice. When the band stopped I started +again, but the committee endeavored to stop me. I acted as my own +policeman and cleared the platform, when another rush was made upon me, +and all went tumbling from the stage. I was then arrested and taken to +the City Hall. The crowd seemed decidedly with me, although the utmost +it knew as to my sentiments was that I was opposed to making instant +abolition of slavery a condition precedent to putting an end to the war +(that is, on Lincoln's platform, Union, with or without slavery). + +In a few minutes there was a crowd of some thousands of people about the +City Hall demanding loudly that I be set at liberty. I quieted the +people by sending word to them that I was preparing a proclamation to +the American people. This proclamation, entitled "God Save the People," +was published by Guild in the Bulletin--and I should like to get a copy +of it, as I have lost my own. This arrest did not interfere with me very +much. + +I made a contract with Guild to lecture in the North and West, and my +first lecture was given in the Academy of Music, New York. The general +subject was the abolition question, as it related to the war between the +States. At this meeting Cassius M. Clay, of Kentucky, was made chairman, +but the audience did not like that, and a big cabbage was thrown to the +stage from the gallery. I then took charge of the meeting myself, and +walking to the edge of the stage, said: "I see that you do not like Mr. +Clay; but he should have a fair chance. If Mr. Guild will arrange for a +meeting at Cooper Institute to-morrow night, I will debate with Mr. +Clay, and you can then fire at me cabbages or gold dollars, as you like. +I propose the following subject for the discussion: American Slavery as +a Stepping-stone from African Barbarism to Christian Civilization; +hence, it is a Divine Institution." Mr. Clay accepted. + +The next evening, at Cooper Institute, there was a large audience that +packed the hall from door to stage; $1,300 were taken at the box-office. +The papers on the following morning gave from two to four columns of the +discussion, and the London Times considered it sufficiently important, +even to Englishmen, to give a long account and editorial comments. It +said that the honors of the debate had been with me, and gave a specimen +of my repartee, which, it said, had swept Mr. Clay off his feet. + +Mr. Clay had referred in his speech to an interview he had had with +President Lincoln, who was then hesitating as to issuing the +Proclamation of Emancipation. Mr. Clay said, "I told the President that +I would not flesh my sword in the defense of Washington unless he issued +a proclamation freeing the slaves." My reply was: "It is fair to assume +that, in order to make Major-General Cassius M. Clay flesh his sword, +the President will issue the proclamation." There was loud laughter at +this. The President did issue his proclamation three months after this. + +I received a postal card the other day from Clay, who is now a +nonagenarian, in his armed castle in Kentucky. + +I was in Washington after this debate, which occurred in September, '62, +and was warmly received by the President and members of his cabinet. I +had heard very much, of course, about the freedom of speech of Mr. +Lincoln, and was not, therefore, astonished to hear him relate several +characteristic anecdotes. In fact, three of the most prominent men in +the United States at that time were striving to outdo one another in +jests--the President, Senator Nesmyth of Oregon, and Senator Nye. + +Mr. Seward invited me to a dinner at his residence, the historic house +where later the assassin tried to kill him, where General Sickles killed +Philip Barton Key, and which in more recent years was occupied by James +G. Blaine. Most of the members of the cabinet were present. I was asked +to describe some of the scenes of my recent travels, and told about +Chinese dinners, to their great amusement. Afterward I told them a story +then current about Wendell Phillips, the abolitionist. Phillips was once +in Charleston, South Carolina, and returned late to dinner at his hotel. +As he approached the door, it was held open by a negro slave. Phillips +said haughtily that he had never permitted a slave to wait on him, and +that he would not do so now. "How long have you been a slave?" asked Mr. +Phillips. The negro replied: "I ain't got no time to talk erbout dat +now, wid only five minits fur dinner." Mr. Phillips told the slave to +leave the room, that he would not let him serve him at the table; he +would wait on himself. "I cain't do dat, suh; I is 'sponsible for de +silber on de table, suh!" + +Loud laughter greeted this story. In the very midst of the uproar the +door was burst open, and Secretary Stanton appeared, his face white with +emotion. In a choking voice, that was scarcely audible and would not +have been heard had not every nerve in our bodies been strained to catch +the momentous words we expected, he said: "A battle is raging at +Antietam! Ten thousand men have been killed, and the rebels are now +probably marching on Washington!" + +There was a hush, and we told no more stories that night. It is +remarkable that almost all the great battles hung long in the scales of +victory. Neither side knew whether it had won until some time after the +fighting had ceased. It was so at Antietam, and had been so in the case +of Bull Run or Manassas. The true tidings came in slowly. + +I took no part in the war on the battlefield, because as soon as I +looked into the causes of the war and its continuance, I saw that it was +a contract war. I came back to this country fully expecting to serve. I +had been assured of a high commission; but could not conscientiously +take part in a struggle in which thousands of lives were being +sacrificed to greed. Such was my honest belief, and such was my course. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +BUILDING THE UNION PACIFIC RAILWAY + +1862-1870 + + +When the Englishmen tore up my street-railways in England, I made a +speech in which I told them I would build a railway across the Rocky +Mountains and the Great American Desert which would ruin the old trade +routes across Egypt to China and Japan. I pointed out then that this +route would be far shorter in time than the old route, and that Europe +would soon be traversing America to reach the Orient. This was no new +idea, sprung at the moment in a feeling of resentment. I had suggested +this route across America ten years earlier, at Melbourne, Australia. + +New York, then as now, we Americans regarded as the starting point of +all great enterprises, and to New York I came. I called at once upon +leaders in the world of finance--Commodore Vanderbilt, Commodore +Garrison, William B. Astor, Moses H. Grinnell, Marshall O. Roberts, and +others, and frankly told them of my plans. One of them said to me: + +"Train, you have reputation enough now. Why do something that will mar +it? You are known all over the world as the Clipper-Ship King. This is +enough glory for one man. If you attempt to build a railway across the +desert and over the Rocky Mountains, the world will call you a lunatic." + +And this was all that I received from these gentlemen! Not a word of +encouragement, not a cent of contributed funds--only the warning that +the world, like themselves, would call me a madman. + +Unaffected by this cold reception, I kept steadily on with my task, and +proceeded to organize the great railway. Congress granted the necessary +charter in '62. It authorized the building of a road from the Missouri +River to California, with an issue of $100,000,000 of stock and +$50,000,000 of bonds--to be issued in sections, the first section to be +at the rate of $16,000 a mile; and the last at $48,000 a mile, with +20,000,000 acres of land in alternate sections; and $2,000,000 to be +subscribed, ten per centum to be paid into the State treasury at Albany. + +My friends in Boston took the stock, but I failed to get the cash to go +ahead with the road in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and New York. At this +point, when matters looked a little dark, an idea occurred to me that +cleared the sky. It made the construction of the great line a certainty. +In Paris, a few years before, I had been much interested in new methods +of finance as devised by the brothers Émile and Isaac Perrère. These +shrewd and ingenious men, finding that old methods could not be used to +meet many demands of modern times, invented entirely new ones which they +organized into two systems known as the Crédit Mobilier and the Crédit +Foncier--or systems of credit based on personal property and land. The +French Government had supported these systems of the Perrères, and Baron +Haussmann had resorted to them in his great undertaking in rebuilding +and remodeling the French capital, making it the most beautiful city of +the world. I determined upon introducing this new style of finance into +this country. + +I found that a bill had been passed in Pennsylvania in '59, for Duff +Green, granting authority for the organization of the "Pennsylvania +Fiscal Agency," which, on examination, I saw could be used for my +purpose. I bought this charter for $25,000. The bill had been +"engineered" through the Pennsylvania legislature by a man named Hall, +and others of the Philadelphia Custom-House. In order to make it +suitable for our uses, I wanted its title changed, and asked to have the +legislature change the title to "Crédit Mobilier of America." The matter +went through without trouble, and I paid $500 for having this done. When +I happened to mention to William H. Harding, of the Philadelphia +Inquirer, that it had cost me $500 to have the title of the charter +altered, he told me he could have had it done for $50. I did not know +as much of the ways of legislation in Pennsylvania then as I did later. +The sum I paid for the charter was made up from $5,000 cash and $20,000 +of the bonds of the Crédit Mobilier. I was to have $50,000 for +organizing the company. I think it worth while to call attention here to +the fact that this was the first so-called "Trust" organized in this +country. + +Having failed to raise the money elsewhere, I went to Boston, and there +succeeded in launching the enterprise. My own subscription of $150,000 +was the pint of water that started the great wheel of the machinery. I +give here--for it is a matter of historic interest, since the building +of this road marked the opening of a new era in the United States--the +list of the subscribers who were my copartners in the undertaking: + + Lombard and friends $100,000 + Oakes and Oliver Ames 200,000 + Sidney Dillon $100,000 + Cyrus H. McCormick 100,000 + Ben Holliday 100,000 + John Duff 100,000 400,000 + ------- + Glidden & Williams 50,000 + Joseph Nickerson 100,000 + Fred Nickerson 50,000 + Baker & Morrill 50,000 + Samuel Hooper and Dexter 50,000 + Price Crowell 25,000 + Bardwell and Otis Norcross 75,000 400,000 + ------ + Williams & Guion 50,000 + William H. Macy 25,000 + H. S. McComb, Wilmington, Del. 75,000 + George Francis Train, through Colonel George + T. M. Davis, trustee for my wife and children 150,000 300,000 + ------- ---------- + $1,400,000 + +[Illustration: Home of George Francis Train from 1863 to 1869, +No. 156 Madison Avenue, New York.] + +I had offered an interest in the road to old and well-established +merchants of New York and other cities--the Grays, the Goodhues, the +Aspinwalls, the Howlands, the Grinnells, the Marshalls, and Davis, +Brooks & Company; and even to some of the new men, like Henry +Clews--agreeing to put them in "on the ground floor," if I may use an +expression from the lesser world of finance. But they were afraid. It +was too big. Only two of them, William H. Macy and William H. Guion, +would take any stock. + +There was a meeting of the stockholders in Gibson's office in Wall +Street, for the purpose of electing a board of directors. By this time +the importance of the road had become recognized, and there was an +active desire on the part of the chiefs of the trunk lines leading to +the West to obtain control of the charter. They had their +representatives there, and I saw from the first that an attempt would be +made to capture the Union Pacific Railway as a trophy of one of these +powerful Eastern lines. Fortunately, as I perfectly well knew, they were +not quite powerful enough, in the circumstance, even with a united +front, to accomplish their purposes. + +William B. Ogden was in the chair, and a hasty calculation convinced me +that probably $200,000,000 were represented by the men gathered in the +little office. Of the great trunk lines represented I can recall now the +Baltimore and Ohio, the Pennsylvania, and the New York Central. It was +from the forces of the last that the lightning came. + +As soon as the meeting had been called to order, and the purpose of it +stated by the chair, a gentleman arose and began speaking in a wheezy, +squeaky voice. But he had a way of saying what he wanted, and of saying +it shrewdly, adroitly, and very effectively. I could see that he was +accustomed to win in the Shakespearian way--"by indirections find +directions out." He said that as everything was ready for the election +of a board, he would suggest that the chair should appoint a committee +of five which should then name a board of thirty members. I saw that +this was an adroit move to put one of these big roads in control of the +committee and, of course, in control of the Union Pacific. The chair +immediately named five men, three of whom were representatives of the +New York Central. + +I turned to a gentleman sitting next me and asked who was the +wheezy-voiced man who had just taken his seat. "That is Samuel J. +Tilden," said he. + +Matters now went as I had foreseen. Of course, the three New York +Central men on the committee named a New York Central board of +directors. They thought they had quietly and effectively bagged the +game. But I held in my pocket the power that could overturn all their +schemes. In fact I had offered the presidency of the road to Moses +Taylor, founder of the City National Bank, now controlled by Mr. +Stillman, and to A. A. Low, father of the present Mayor of New York. But +both had laughed at me, thinking it absurd that I should presume to have +so much power. I then made up my own list of officers, and named John A. +Dix as president, and John J. Cisco as treasurer. Afterward I made a +short speech, in which I said that I held the control of the road in my +hands. + +The vote was called for by the chair, and out of the $2,000,000 of stock +represented, the New York Central influence cast $300,000 and I the vote +of $1,700,000. This completely surprised those present, and they left +the office as rats fly from a sinking ship. I was indignant, and +shouted: "You stand on the corners of Wall Street again and call me a +'damned Copperhead'; but don't forget that I kicked $200,000,000 worth +of you into the street!" And that is the reason why they called me +"crazy"! + +I went out West in the autumn of '63 to break ground for the first mile +of railway track west of the Missouri river. None of the directors was +with me; I was entirely alone. I made a speech at Omaha in which I +predicted that the road would be completed by '70, and in which I +forecast the great development of Omaha and the Northwest. This speech +was printed all over the world, and I was denounced as a madman and a +visionary. I had, every one said, prophesied the impossible. And yet +every word of that speech was true, both as to its facts and as to its +prophecies. I give here a few extracts from it, as it was published in +the Omaha Republican, December 3, '63, and as it has been republished in +that paper and others many times since: + + America is the stage, the world is the audience of to-day. While + one act of the drama represents the booming of the cannon on the + Rapidan, the Cumberland, and the Rio Grande, sounding the + death-knell of rebellious war, the next scene records the booming + of cannon on both sides of the Missouri to celebrate the grandest + work of peace that ever attracted the energies of man. The great + Pacific Railway is commenced, and if you knew the man who has + hold of the affair as well as I do, no doubt would ever arise as + to its speedy completion. The President shows his good judgment + in locating the road where the Almighty placed the signal + station, at the entrance of a garden seven hundred miles in + length and twenty broad. + + * * * * * + + Before the first century of the nation's birth, we may see in the + New York depot some strange Pacific railway notice. + + "_European passengers for Japan will please take the night + train._ + + "_Passengers for China this way._ + + "_African and Asiatic freight must be distinctly marked: For + Peking via San Francisco._" + + * * * * * + + Immigration will soon pour into these valleys. Ten millions of + emigrants will settle in this golden land in twenty years. + +I had predicted that the railway would be completed in '70. On May 10, +'69, the "golden spike" was driven at Ogden, Utah. Among the papers +throughout the world that had ridiculed me as being mad or visionary +because of my speech at Omaha in '63, was the Hongkong Press, which +said that it was generally thought in China during my visit there in +'55-'56 that I was a little "off," and that this speech, which predicted +a railway across the Rocky Mountains, clearly proved that I was both +visionary and mad. On my journey around the world in '70, after the +completion of the Union Pacific Railway, I stepped into the office of +the Hongkong paper and asked for the editor. When he came out, I asked +him to show me the file of his paper containing my Omaha speech. He +brought it out, and we turned to the column. "Do you know Train?" he +asked me. "Why, I am Train," I said, "and it seems that you did not know +me in Hongkong in '55-'56. I have just come through the Rocky Mountains +over that road." + +The tremendous importance of the Union Pacific Railway is now too well +known to need any further comment here from me. It is enough to say that +it was through my suggestion and through my plans and energy that this +mighty highway across the continent, breaking up the old trade routes of +the world, and turning the tide of commerce from its ancient eastern +tracks across the wide expanse of the American continent, was created. + + NOTE.--Albert D. Richardson in his once famous book Beyond the + Mississippi, writing of the development of Omaha and the + Northwest, due to the building of the Union Pacific Railway, + says: "Here was George Francis Train, at the head of a great + company called the Crédit Foncier, organized for dealing in lands + and stocks for building cities along the railway from the + Missouri to Salt Lake. This corporation had been clothed by the + Nebraska legislature with nearly every power imaginable, save + that of reconstructing the late rebel States. It was erecting + neat cottages in Omaha and at other points west. + + "Mr. Train owned personally about five hundred acres in Omaha, + which cost him only one hundred and seventy-five dollars per + acre--a most promising investment. He is a noticeable, original + American, who has crowded wonderful and varied experiences into + his short life. An orphan boy, employed to sweep the + counting-room, he rose to the head of a great Boston shipping + house; then established a branch in Liverpool; next organized and + conducted a heavy commission business in Australia, and + astonished his neighbors in that era of fabulous prices, with + Brussels carpets, and marble counters, and a free champagne + luncheon daily in his business office. Afterward he made the + circuit of the world, wrote books of travel, fought British + prejudices against street-railways, occupying his leisure time by + fiery and audacious American war speeches to our island cousins, + until he spent a fortune, and enjoyed the delights of a month in + a British prison. + + "Thence he returned to America; lectured everywhere; and now he + is trying to build a belt of cities across the continent. At + least a magnificent project. Curiously combining keen sagacity + with wild enthusiasm, a man who might have built the pyramids, or + been confined in a strait-jacket for eccentricities, according to + the age he lived in, he observes dryly that since he began to + make money, people no longer pronounce him crazy! He drinks no + spirits, uses no tobacco, talks on the stump like an embodied + Niagara, composes songs to order by the hour as fast as he can + sing them, like an Italian improvisatore, remembers every droll + story from Joe Miller to Artemus Ward, is a born actor, is + intensely in earnest, and has the most absolute and outspoken + faith in himself and his future." + + [At the time Richardson saw me at Omaha, in '64, another noted + journalist, William Hepworth Dixon, editor of the London + Athenæum, called on me, traveling with Sir Charles Dilke, who was + writing Greater Britain. I introduced him to Richardson.--G. F. + T.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE FAR WEST + +1863-1870 + + +Very much of my work that has aided most in the development of this +country was done in the great region of the Northwest, then a wild +country, trackless and uninhabited except by savages. Of course, the +chief achievement in the West was the building of the Union Pacific +Railway, which led up to the inception and construction of other +railways and to the present prosperity of the entire section. + +But this enterprise was merely a beginning. I looked upon it only as the +launching of a hundred other projects, which, if I had been able to +carry them to completion, would have transformed the West in a few +years, and anticipated its present state of wealth and power by more +than a full generation. One of my plans was the creation of a chain of +great towns across the continent, connecting Boston with San Francisco +by a magnificent highway of cities. That this was not an idle dream is +shown by the rapid growth of Chicago, which owes its greatness to its +situation upon this natural highway of trade; and to the development of +Omaha, which owes its prosperity directly to the Union Pacific Railway +and to the other enterprises that I organized in the West. Most of these +plans were defeated by a financial panic, by the lack of cooperation on +the part of the very people who were most interested in their success, +and by events which I shall describe in the following chapters of this +book. Some of them succeeded, however, and I was able to accomplish a +great deal of work that has gone into the winning and making of the +West. + +When I went out to Omaha to break ground for the Union Pacific Railway, +on December 3, '63, there was only one hotel in that town. This was the +Herndon House, a respectable affair, now U. P. headquarters. I was +astonished that men of energy, enterprise, and means had not seized the +opportunity to erect a large hotel at this point, which had already +given every promise of rapid and immediate growth. But what directly +suggested to me the building of such a hotel on my own account was a +little incident that occurred at a breakfast that I happened to be +giving in the Herndon House. + +I had invited a number of prominent men--Representatives in Congress, +and others--to take breakfast with me in this house, as I desired to +present to them some of my plans. The breakfast was a characteristic +Western meal, with prairie chickens and Nebraska trout. While we were +seated, one of those sudden and always unexpected cyclones on the plains +came up, and the hotel shook like a leaf in the terrible storm. Our +table was very near a window in which were large panes of glass, which I +feared could not withstand the tremendous force of the wind. They were +quivering under the stress of weather, and I called to a strapping negro +waiter at our table to stand with his broad back against the window. +This proved a security against the storm without; but it precipitated a +storm within. + +Allen, the manager of the Herndon, and a man with a political turn of +mind, saw in the incident an assault on the rights of the negroes. He +hurried over to the table and protested against this act as an outrage. +I could not afford to enter into a quarrel with him at the time, so I +merely said: "I am about the size of the negro; I will take his place." +I then ordered the fellow away from the window, took his post, and +stayed there until the fury of the storm abated. Then I was ready for +Allen. + +I walked out in front of the house and, pointing to a large vacant +square facing it, asked who owned it. I was told the owner's name and +immediately sent a messenger for him post-haste. He arrived in a short +time, and I asked his price. It was $5,000. I wrote out and handed him a +check for the amount, and took from him, on the spot, a deed for the +property. + +Then I asked for a contractor who could build a hotel. A man named +Richmond was brought to me. "Can you build a three-story hotel in sixty +days on this plot?" asked I. After some hesitation he said it would be +merely a question of money. "How much?" I asked. "One thousand dollars a +day." "Show me that you are responsible for $60,000." He did so, and I +took out an envelope and sketched on the back of it a rough plan of the +hotel. "I am going to the mountains," I said, "and I shall want this +hotel, with 120 rooms, complete, when I return in sixty days." + +When I got back, the hotel was finished. I immediately rented it to +Cozzens, of West Point, New York, for $10,000 a year. This is the famous +Cozzens's Hotel of Omaha, which has been more written about, I suppose, +than almost any other hostelry ever built in the United States. It is +the show-place of Omaha to this day. + +The completion of the Union Pacific Railway in '69 was the occasion of +my visit to California and Oregon. In San Francisco I gave a banquet to +men prominent in finance and politics, and took occasion to refer to the +efforts that had been made there, as it seemed to me, to aid the +seceding States. I was making a response to the toast of "The Union," +and had said that if I had been the Federal general in command in +California at the time, I should have hanged certain men, some of whom +were present. This was pretty hot shot, and I did not wonder at the +resentment of the men to whom I referred. I was astonished, however, by +the terrific scoring I received from the city press the following +morning. I read the reports of, and the comments on, my speech as I was +making preparations to have my special car taken back East that +afternoon. I was very indignant, but did not know exactly what to do. + +Just at this moment a man approached me and said that he would like to +have me deliver a lecture that evening in the theater. He was the +manager, Mr. Poole. I saw my opportunity, and accepted, refusing, +however, his proffer of $500 in gold, and agreeing to take one-half the +gross receipts for a series of lectures. I delivered twenty-eight +lectures to crowded houses, and took in, for my share, $10,000 in gold. +I did not spare my critics, but flayed them alive. + +My lectures made me the most conspicuous man on the Pacific coast, and I +received despatches of congratulations, or invitations to deliver +lectures and speeches, almost every hour of the day. I accepted a +five-hundred-dollar check to go to Portland, Oregon, to make the +Fourth-of-July oration, and the Gussie Tellefair was sent to meet me and +take me up the Columbia in state. The oration was delivered to a big +audience of Oregonians, trappers and mountaineers, some of them wearing +the quaintest garb I had ever seen. + +I mention this visit to Portland because it afforded me opportunity for +doing several things of importance. I visited the famous Dalles of the +Columbia river, and while there saw the Indians spearing salmon. I asked +what they were doing, and was told that they were laying in their supply +for the winter. I went to the place where the braves were spearing the +fish and asked one of them to let me try my hand at the fish-spear. +Having accustomed myself a little to throwing the harpoon, I found that +I could manage the Indian's weapon quite skilfully, and succeeded in +landing 200 salmon in two hours. Of course the fish were running in +swarms, but this two hours' work would have brought me $1,000 if I could +have taken the catch to New York. + +I was the first white man, I believe, that had taken salmon out of the +Columbia, and it then occurred to me, if the Indians could lay up a +supply of fish for the winter, why could not white men do the same +thing? I thereupon suggested the canning of salmon, which has since been +developed into so large an industry and has made the Quinnat salmon the +king-fish of the world, putting Columbia salmon into almost every +household of civilization. + +Another fact may be recorded here. My Fourth-of-July oration had been +such a success that I was asked to make another speech at Seattle, on +Puget Sound, which was then a struggling village. I was accompanying a +delegation or committee from the East that was looking for a good place +for the terminus of the Northern Pacific Railway, which had been +projected after the great success of the Union Pacific. When we passed +the point where Tacoma now stands, I was attracted by its appearance and +said: "There is your terminus." The committee selected the spot, and +Tacoma was founded there. + +An amusing incident closed this part of my journey. I went from Seattle +to Victoria, British Columbia, and was astonished to find the town in +the wildest commotion. Troops were at the docks, and the moment I landed +I observed that the greatest interest was taken in me. At last, as they +saw me walking about alone, one of the officials came up and said: "Why, +are you alone?" "Of course," I replied. "Did you expect me to bring an +army with me?" I said this in jest, not knowing how closely it touched +his question. He then took me aside and said, "Read this despatch." I +opened the despatch and read: "Train is on the Hunt." + +I saw what it meant, and how the good people had been deceived. The Hunt +was the vessel I came on, and the telegraph operator at Seattle, knowing +that I had been with the Fenians and had been stirring up a good deal of +trouble in California, thought he would have some fun with the +Canadians. The people of Victoria were on the lookout for me to arrive +with a gang of Fenians! + +I did not smile, but determined to carry the joke a little further. +Walking into the telegraph office, I filed the following cablegram for +Dublin, Ireland. "Down England, up Ireland." The jest cost me $40 in +tolls, but I enjoyed it that much. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +THE SHARE I HAD IN THE FRENCH COMMUNE + +1870 + + +My participation in the Commune in France, in the year '70, was the +result of chance. I arrived at Marseilles at a very critical time in the +history of that city. It was the hour when the Commune, or, as it was +styled there by many, the "Red Republic," was born. I was on a tour of +the world, the voyage in which I eclipsed all former feats of travel, +and circled the globe in eighty days. This served Jules Verne, two years +later, as the groundwork for his famous romance Around the World in +Eighty Days. The whole journey had been eventful, but I shall write of +that in a later chapter. + +The French Empire had fallen and the Republic had risen within the +period of my swift flight; and now one of the darkest and most desperate +enterprises known in history was afoot--the attempt to transform France +and the world into a system of "communes," erected upon the ruins of all +national governments. + +I arrived at Marseilles on the Donai, of the Imperial Messagerie line, +October 20, '70, and went at once to the Grand Hotel de Louvre. Imagine +my astonishment when I was received there by a delegation, and, for the +third time, hailed as "liberator." The empty title of liberator--so +easily conferred by the excitable Latin races--had become rather a joke +with me. The Australian revolutionists who wanted to make me President +of their paper republic, were in earnest, and would have done something +notable, had they ever got the opportunity, with sufficient men behind +them; but the Italians I had not felt much confidence in, nor had I any +desire to work for their cause. + +The acclaim with which the people in the streets of Marseilles received +me, at first jarred upon my sensibilities and seemed an echo merely of +the little affair in Rome. However, I was soon to be convinced of the +deep sincerity of these revolutionists, and was destined to take an +active and honest part in their cause. It is remarkable how a slight +incident may turn the whole current of one's life. It had been my +intention to proceed as rapidly as possible to Berlin, and take a look +at the victorious Prussian army; but here I was at the very moment of my +arrival on French soil, involved in the problems and struggles of the +French people, as precipitated by the Prussian army, having for their +object the undoing of much of the work of the German conquest. + +When the revolutionary committee hailed me as "liberator," I thought +they had mistaken me for some one else, and asked the leaders if they +had not done so. "No," they said; "we have heard of you and want you to +join the revolution." It seemed that they had kept track of my rapid +progress around the world, and told me they knew when I was at Port +Said, and had prepared to receive me as soon as I landed in Marseilles. + +"Six thousand people are waiting for you now in the opera-house," they +said. + +"Waiting for me?" I asked, incredulous. "How long have they been +waiting, and what are they waiting for?" + +"They have been assembled for an hour; and they want you to address them +in behalf of the revolution." + +"Well," said I, making a decision immediately, "I can not keep these +good people waiting. I will go with you." I had decided to trust to the +inspiration of the moment, when I should stand face to face with that +volatile French audience. + +From the moment I entered the opera-house, packed with excited people +from the stage to the topmost boxes, I was possessed by the French +revolutionary spirit. The fire and enthusiasm of the people swept me +from my feet. I was thenceforth a "Communist," a member of their "Red +Republic." I felt this, as soon as I joined that cheering and ecstatic +mob--for it really was a mob then, and mobs have been the germs of all +great national movements in France. + +A committee of some sort, prepared for the occasion, immediately seized +hold of me, and we marched, or rushed, through the crowd, down the +aisle, and up on the stage. About 250 persons, the more important movers +in the agitation, I suppose, were standing, all cheering at the top of +their voices. As I was placed upon the stage, in front of the audience, +there came a burst of cheers of "Vive la République!" "Vive la Commune!" +and many were shouting out my name with a French accent and a nasal "n." +It was irresistible. I stepped to the front of the stage and tried to +speak, but for several minutes could not utter a word that could be +heard a foot away, the din of the shouting and cheering was so +overwhelming. + +When the shouting ceased, I told the people that I was in Marseilles on +a trip around the world, but as they had called upon me to take part in +their movement, I should be glad to repay, in my own behalf, a small +portion of the enormous debt of gratitude that my country owed to France +for Lafayette, Rochambeau, and de Grasse. I repeated a part of the +"Marseillaise," which always stirs Frenchmen to the depths, and a few +verses from Holmes's poem on France-- + + "Pluck Condé's baton from the trench, + Wake up stout Charles Martel; + Or give some woman's hand to clench + The sword of La Pucelle!" + +I also urged that France should not yield an inch of her territory to +the rapacious Prussians. + +The excitement of the hour carried everything before it, and the crowd +outside, numbering at least 20,000, finally was joined by the 6,000 +inside, and the whole mass, making a grand and noisy procession, +escorted me to my hotel where I had taken the entire front suite of +apartments. The next morning I was waited upon by a committee of the +revolutionists. They said they wanted a military leader, and that +Cluseret was the man for the place. He would be able to lead the forces +of the Ligue du Midi. + +Cluseret was then in Switzerland, where he had taken refuge after the +troops drove him out of Lyons at the orders of Gambetta. He was the +Gustave Paul Cluseret who had taken part in our Civil War, serving on +the staffs of McClellan and Frémont, and who later was Military Chief of +the Paris Commune. We sent to Switzerland and invited General Cluseret +to join us in Marseilles. To our surprise he sent word that he would +need a force of 2,000 armed men! This settled Cluseret, as far as I was +concerned. + +A few days later a card was brought to me in the hotel bearing the name +"Tirez," and the statement that M. Tirez occupied room 113 in the same +hotel. I went up to this room, and there found a splendid-looking fellow +with a great military mustache. "Are you M. Tirez?" I asked. "I am +General Cluseret," he said. "I thought you wanted 2,000 armed men?" I +said. "You can probably give me more than that number," he said, with a +smile. "You seem to be in command of everything and everybody here." "We +shall see," I said. I asked him to go to the Cirque with me that +evening. + +There were at least 10,000 men in this gigantic amphitheater. I made a +short speech and said I wanted to give them a surprise. "You want a +military leader. I have brought you one. Here is your leader--General +Gustave Paul Cluseret." He was greeted with tremendous cheers. + +We at once organized military headquarters and prepared to take +possession of the city. In this effort we were aided by the liberal +views of the préfet, M. Esquiros, a republican, and later by the +incapacity of the new préfet appointed by Gambetta, M. Gent. The next +day we marched to the military fortifications with a great mass of men. +General Cluseret and I were arm in arm as we entered the gates. I +observed the officer in charge of the guns at the entrance about to give +an order, which I knew meant a volley that would sweep us into the next +world. I sprang forward and seized the officer by the arm. "Come to see +me at the hotel," I whispered in his ear. The order to fire was not +given, and we filed into the fortifications and took possession in the +name of the Commune--the "Red Republic." + +The following day 150 of the Guarde Mobile came to the hotel and +demanded General Cluseret. I told the officers he was not present, but +they insisted upon invading my rooms. I then told them that they would +not be permitted to cross the threshold alive. I was armed with a +revolver, and three of my own secretaries were armed in the same way. I +said to the chief officer at the door that there were four men inside +and we would shoot any one who tried to enter; we thought we could kill +at least two dozen of them. The Guarde held a short council outside, and +I soon heard their military step resounding down the hall. They had +given up the search for Cluseret. + +The next morning I saw from my window an army marching down the street. +I thought it was our army, and went out on the balcony and began +shouting "Vive la République!" and "Vive la Commune!" with the people in +the street; but there was an ominous silence in the ranks of the troops. +They did not respond to these revolutionary sentiments. Then I saw the +new préfet, M. Gent, Gambetta's man, in a carriage, with the army. +Suddenly I heard a shot, and Gent dropped to the bottom of the vehicle. +Some one had tried to kill him, but missed, and the préfet did not care +to be conspicuous again. + +The troops came to a halt directly in front of the hotel, and I saw that +the officers were regarding with anger the flag of the Commune that +floated from the balcony. Orders were given, and five men, a firing +squad, stepped from the ranks and knelt, with their rifles in hand, +ready to fire. I knew that it was their purpose to shoot me. I do not +know why, but I felt that if the thing had to be, I should die in the +most dramatic manner possible. There were two other flags on the +balcony, the colors of France and America. I seized both of these, and +wrapped them quickly about my body. Then I stepped forward, and knelt at +the front of the balcony, in the same military posture as the soldiers +below me. I then shouted to the officers in French: + +"Fire, fire, you miserable cowards! Fire upon the flags of France and +America wrapped around the body of an American citizen--if you have the +courage!" + +An order was spoken, too low for me to catch, but the kneeling soldiers +dropped their rifles, and then rose, and rejoined the ranks. Another +order was shouted along the line, and the troops marched on down the +street and out of sight. + +The attempted assassination of the préfet had an unexpected effect upon +public opinion in Marseilles. It turned the mercurial Frenchman against +the Commune. I advised General Cluseret to go at once to Paris. I even +purchased a gold-laced uniform for him. His subsequent history, as +military leader of the Commune in Paris, his capture, trial, release, +and retirement to Switzerland, are well known. + +At this time I believe the tide of war might have been turned in favor +of France by some swift movement like those of which the mobile Boers +made good use in South Africa, perhaps by an attack on the rear of the +German armies. France was filled with German soldiers, but Germany was +unguarded; and I believed then that a body of light horsemen, say, like +the Algerians, might have created such a diversion by a rapid raid to +the rear that it would have forced the Germans back to the Rhine, or +even to Berlin. I was astonished by the tremendous amount of munitions +of war, and by the masses of troops that were still available in the +south of France. Leadership, and not troops, was what France lacked. + +I left Marseilles for Lyons, after the troops tried to shoot me in the +balcony of the hotel, and was accompanied by Cremieux, one of the +leaders of the Ligue du Midi. As we left Marseilles, a man, wearing +conspicuously the ribbon of the Legion of Honor, entered our +compartment. I at once set him down as a spy, and began talking with +Cremieux in a loud voice. My estimate of his character was justified in +an unpleasant way at Lyons. No sooner had we entered the suburbs of that +city than our friend left the compartment and got off the train. + +When the train came to a stop in the station, I sprang out of the +compartment with Cremieux, and was confronted by six bayonets. Both of +us were placed under arrest. Immediately I remembered the little slip of +paper in my pocket which might betray Cluseret, if found, and I seized +it hastily and put it into my mouth. The officer of the squad of +soldiers rushed forward to stop me, but it was too late. The slip had +gone. I had swallowed it. + +"That was the address of General Cluseret!" shouted the officer. + +"Of course," said I. "And it has gone to a rendezvous with my +breakfast!" + +The soldiers took Cremieux and myself to the Bastile, in Lyons, and I +was detained there for thirteen days. When I went into the cell I was +very tired and sat up against the wall and leaned my head against it. In +a moment I detected the breathing of a man very near me, and perceived a +crack in the wall, against which a spy in the adjacent cell was +inclining his ear to catch any incriminating words that might pass +between Cremieux and myself. It was the old trick of the Inquisition; +but it did not serve the purposes of these late players of it. + +My secretary, Mr. Bemis, who came on from Marseilles by a later train, +could not find me in Lyons. He spent a week in looking for me. At the +end of that time my wife, who was in New York, telegraphed to the +American legation at Paris asking if the report were true that I had +been killed. It had been currently reported in America that the soldiers +had shot me in Marseilles. Mr. Bemis went immediately to the Guarde +Mobile, which was in sympathy with the Commune, the organization from +which General Cluseret had been driven by Gambetta. The Guarde sent a +deputation of 150 officers to the préfet of the city, who ordered my +immediate release. Gambetta was appealed to, and he directed that I be +sent to him at Tours by special train. + +To Tours I went in style. I had been poisoned in the Lyons Bastile, and +was ill, in consequence, having lost thirty pounds of flesh in thirteen +days. I was met at Tours by Gambetta's secretary, M. Ranc, afterward a +deputy, who told me I could see the Dictator at four o'clock. "Why not +now?" I asked. "Because it is not possible for M. Gambetta to work until +he has had his dinner." I found that these French officials were as fond +of their dinner as English officials. At the appointed hour M. Ranc took +me to the palace of the prefecture, and I was admitted at once to +Gambetta's presence. + +I found everything in confusion. The prefecture was filled with men who +had been waiting for the Dictator's pleasure. In the first ante-rooms I +saw men who had been waiting for three weeks; in the next rooms were +those who had waited for two weeks; and in the third rooms I found +officers of the army and navy, who had waited one week. As I passed in +among these throngs with an air of self-possession, they took me for +some grand personage, and I heard whispers that I must be the ambassador +from Spain or the Papal Nuncio. + +Gambetta was seated at his desk in a large and handsomely furnished +room. He made not the slightest sign of being aware that I was present. +He did not even turn his face toward me. I did not learn until afterward +that the distinguished Italian-Frenchman had one glass eye, and could +see me just as well at an angle as he could full-face. But I grew tired +of standing there silent, and was already weary from my long +incarceration. I decided, after taking in this strange character, then +at the top of the seething pot of French politics, that the best course +for me was to put on a bold front. + +"When a distinguished stranger calls to see you, M. Gambetta, I think +you might offer him a chair." + +The great man smiled, and motioned me to a seat with considerable +graciousness. I took a chair, and said: + +"M. Gambetta, you are the head of France, and I intend to be President +of the United States. You can assist me, and I can assist you." + +He looked at me with a curious regard, but did not smile. + +"Send me to America, and I can help you get munitions of war, and win +over the sympathy and assistance of the Americans." + +I knew, of course, that he was going to send me out of France in any +event, and I wanted to discount his plan. + +The Dictator smiled again, and said: "You sent Cluseret to Paris, and +bought him a uniform for 300 francs." + +"You are only fairly well informed, M. Gambetta. I paid 350 francs for +the uniform." + +"Cluseret is a scoundrel," he said. + +"The Communards call you that," I replied. + +He ended our interview by saying a few pleasant words, bowing me out of +the room, and sending me out of France forthwith. + +I went straight to London, then to Liverpool, and sailed for New York in +the Abyssinia, which, curiously enough, was afterward the pioneer ship +on the line of boats between Vancouver and Yokohama, it having been +bought by the Canadian Pacific. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +A CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT + +1872 + + +I have passed a great many days in jail. A jail is a good place to +meditate and to plan in, if only one can be patient in such a place. +Much of my work was thought out and wrought out while living in the +fifteen jails of which I have been a tenant. It was in a jail in Dublin, +called the Four Courts' Marshalsea, that a feeling of confidence that I +might one day be President of the United States first came into definite +form. It was in this prison, also, that I planned Train Villa, which was +to be built in Newport. As my life in that Villa, which in its day was +one of the most famous and luxurious in America, was a sort of prelude +to my campaign for the Presidency, I may fitly say here what I have to +say about it in this book. + +[Illustration: Train Villa, George Francis Train's summer home in +Newport from 1868 to 1872.] + + +I had long wanted a handsome residence by the sea, and so, when I had +nearly completed the work done in connection with the Union Pacific +Railway, and there seemed to be ahead of me a period of comparative +leisure, I projected this house. My plans were made before I was in +the Dublin jail. My wife built the Villa, or began work on it, while I +was still in the Marshalsea. The lot on which it stands embraced some +two and a half acres in the most delightful region of Newport. In order +that my boys might have an opportunity for sport at home, I had a +building put up for billiards and bowling. This was, I believe, the +first residence in Newport that had a special place of this kind, +although of course, many had billiard tables. A fine cottage was also +built for my father-in-law, Colonel George T. M. Davis. This cottage was +sold recently for $50,000, to the Dolans of Philadelphia. + +The Villa itself must have cost $100,000, but the truth is, I have never +known how much money was lavished upon its building and adornment. I was +called rich and had never, at any time, given a thought to the mere +details of money. What I wanted I got. In those days that was the +substance of my economic system in personal matters. We lived there in +manorial style, entertaining so lavishly and freely that the Villa +became a free guest-house for all Newport. I also recollect that my +living cost me more than $2,000 a week. Now I manage to live on $3 a +week in the Mills Hotel, or Palace, as I call it. Here I am more +contented than I was at Newport. I seem to be saving $1,997 a week. We +turned out, in Newport, six carriages when we went driving; but this was +a display that I always set my heart against. It seemed to be mere +wastefulness. + +Since my occupancy, Train Villa, as it is called to this day, has been +rented by some of the most prominent persons in the fashionable world. +Among those who have lived in it are the Kernochans, the Kips, Governor +Lippitt of Rhode Island, some of the Vanderbilts and the Mortimers. At +the present time, it is occupied by George B. de Forest. It was formerly +rented for $5,000 for three months or the season. It never paid us two +per centum on its cost, and finally was sold by the trustee, Colonel +Davis. + +The Villa was once turned into a jail, although I was not the captive in +that instance. In the famous Crédit Mobilier case, in '72-'73, a man, +who was my guest at the time, was arrested, and, as the Crédit Mobilier +men then in Newport could not give bail in the sum of $1,000,000, as +demanded, an arrangement was made with the sheriff by which the Villa +temporarily became a jail, where my guest was confined. + +So full of confidence was I that I could be elected President in '72, +that I telegraphed from San Francisco that I would reach Newport on a +certain day, and wished arrangements made for a "Presidential" banquet. +Although this banquet was not the end of the campaign, it was the last +flourish of trumpets in my Presidential aspirations. + +My political career in fact was brief. My intention was to have it +extend through at least a Presidential term; but the people would not +have it so. Prior to '69, '70, '71, and '72, I had taken no active part +in politics, although I had been interested in various campaigns and in +many great public questions of the day. I have already referred to the +offer made to me by the revolutionists in Australia to make me their +President. That was, perhaps, the first time that anything political +ever entered my life. The offer was by no means a temptation to me and I +refused to consider it, without a single poignant regret. + +In '65, the Fenians, after I had espoused the general cause of the +Irish, as of the oppressed of every country, asked me to attend their +first convention, which was to be held in Philadelphia. They wished me +to address them. This I did, but I took no active part in the work of +the convention or of the faction. I had already attended the Democratic +Convention in Louisville in '64, when I held a proxy from Nebraska, and +had hoped to have General Dix nominated for President and Admiral +Farragut for Vice-President, but I was not permitted to take my seat. + +While I was in the Four Courts' Marshalsea, in Dublin, in '68, James +Brooks, of the New York Express, sent word to me that the Democrats in +convention were willing to nominate Salmon P. Chase if I would consent +to take the second place on the ticket. This did not suit me at all, and +I sent a despatch to Brooks that I would take the first place only, and +that as Chase was my friend, he could take the second place. This put an +end to the negotiations. + +But the seed of ambition had been sown, even before this, and it +germinated in the old Irish prison. As soon as I got out of that jail, I +began my campaign for President of the United States, and in '69 started +on a program that involved 1,000 addresses to 1,000 conventions. It +seemed to me that, with the effect I had always had upon people in my +speeches and in personal contact, and with the record of great +achievements in behalf of the progress of the world, especially with +regard to the development of this country, I should succeed. I supposed +that a man with my record, and without a stain on my reputation or +blemish in my character, would be received as a popular candidate. + +I had not the slightest doubt that I should be elected; and, with this +sublime self-confidence, threw myself into the campaign with an energy +and fire that never before, perhaps, characterized a Presidential +candidate. I went into the campaign as into a battle. I forced fighting +at every point along the line, fiercely assailing Grant and his +"nepotism," on the one hand, and Greeley, and the spirit of compromise +and barter that I felt his nomination represented, on the other. + +In the year '69 I had made twenty-eight speeches in California, and +eighty on the Pacific coast. I also made a trip over the Union Pacific +Railway, on the first train over that line, and made addresses at many +places throughout the country. The following year, '70, I seriously set +myself to the task of appealing to the people directly for support, and +began a series of public addresses on the issues of the day. But this +year's work was interrupted by my trip around the world in eighty days, +which consumed the end of the year, from the 1st of August to Christmas. + +In '71 I fought hard from January to December, making the total of my +speeches to the people 800, and having spoken directly, up to that time, +to something like 2,000,000 persons. Of course, my campaign was made on +independent lines entirely. I was not the nominee nor the complaisant +tool of any party or faction. I made my race as one who came from the +bosom of the people, and who represented the highest interests of the +people. It was just here that failure came. I thought I knew something +of the people, and felt confident that they would prefer a man of +independence, who had accomplished something for them, to a man who was +a mere tool of his party, a distributor of patronage to his friends and +relatives, or to one who was a mere stalking-horse. But I was mistaken. +The people, as Barnum has said, love to be humbugged, and are quite +ready to pay tribute to the political boss and spoilsman. + +A remarkable feature of my campaign was that, instead of scattering +money broadcast, to draw crowds or to win votes, I made a charge for +admission to hear my addresses. I spoke to audiences that paid to hear +me talk to them in my own behalf and in theirs. In three years of active +work--with the interruption of my trip around the world in '70--I took +in $90,000 in admission charges. In spite of these charges, I spoke to +more people and had greater audiences to listen to me than any other +speaker during that heated campaign. + +There was another remarkable thing about my campaign. I possessed +tremendous power over audiences. So long as I could reach them with my +voice, or talk with them or shake hands with them, I could hold them; +but the moment they got out of my reach they got away from me, and +slipped back again to the sway of the political bosses. + +I saw that my chance of getting the nomination was lost long before the +assembling of the Liberal Republican Convention of '72 in Cincinnati. I +was not astonished by the result of that convention, except that I did +not expect the nomination of Greeley, which I considered as a piece of +political treachery, a deliberately calculated movement in the interest +of Grant. But I still felt, vainly, indeed, some hope that the people +would see the futility of supporting Greeley, and of placing me at the +head of the ticket. + +I can recall now the scenes in the Convention Hall when Carl Schurz +nominated Horace Greeley. Outside of some cheering on the part of those +who were party to the trickery, the nomination was received with ominous +stillness. Suddenly, from out of the gallery, near where I was seated, +there came a thin, quavering, piercing voice, like the cry of a seer of +the wilderness or a wandering Jeremiah: "Sold, by God, but the goods not +delivered!" + +The words sounded then like a pronouncement of doom; but it proved not +to be so. The "deal" was carried out, and the "goods" were delivered. +Grant was elected, and Greeley, betrayed, retired, a heart-broken man. + +Before I close this chapter on the Presidency, I wish to record here one +distinct service which I believe I rendered this city and the country +during my campaign. It was I, and not the New York newspapers, that +first exposed the so-called "Tweed Ring." I began the fight against this +ring of corrupt politicians, single-handed, and kept it up for more than +a year before any New York paper or any other journal took up the issue. +The New York papers, in fact, refused to publish my speech exposing this +gang of public plunderers, and it was published in the Lyons, N. Y., +Republican on April 22, '71. The speech itself was made long before +Tweed had been accused of misuse of public funds. + +While I was on the platform, a voice asked me "Who is the ring?" I had +been attacking the "ring" in every public utterance in New York. I +replied: "Hoffman, Tweed, Sweeney, Fisk, and Gould." Later, in the same +speech, I said: "Tweed and Sweeney are taxing you from head to foot, +while their horses are living in palaces," and then, using, for effect, +some of the methods of the French Commune, I cried: "To the lamp-post! +All those in favor of hanging Tweed to a lamp-post, say aye!" There was +a tremendous outburst of "ayes." + +In other speeches I went into details and gave the sums of which the +people of New York had been plundered, and the amounts that had been +paid in bribes to obtain influence in stilling public suspicion, and to +buy immunity from exposure and opportunity for further theft. + +So my campaign for the Presidency was not entirely in vain. It was +something that seemed unavoidable, toward which I seemed pressed by +circumstance and fate; and I can rest in the consciousness that it +accomplished some permanent good. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +DECLARED A LUNATIC + +1872-1873 + + +I had hardly got out of the Presidential race before I got into jail +again. I passed easily from one kind of life to the other. In fact, the +last thing I did in connection with my political campaign had been the +indirect cause of getting me into the Tombs. The Tombs has the honor of +being the fourteenth jail that has given me shelter for purposes of +meditation. + +In November, '72, I was making a speech from Henry Clews's steps in Wall +Street, partly to quiet a mob, when a paper was thrust into my hand. I +glanced at it, thinking it had to do with myself, and saw that Victoria +C. Woodhull and Tennie C. Claflin had been arrested for publishing in +their paper in Brooklyn an account of a scandal about a famous clergyman +in that city. The charge was "obscenity," and they had been arrested at +the instance of Anthony Comstock. I immediately said: "This may be +libel, but it is not obscenity." + +That assertion, with what I soon did to establish its truth, got me +into jail, with the result that six courts in succession--afraid to +bring me to trial for "obscenity"--declared me a "lunatic," and +prevented my enjoyment of property in Omaha, Nebraska, which is now +worth millions of dollars. + +From Wall Street I hurried to Ludlow Street Jail, where I found Victoria +C. Woodhull and Tennie C. Claflin in a cell about eight by four feet. I +was indignant that two women, who had merely published a current rumor, +should be treated in this way, and took a piece of charcoal and wrote, +on the newly whitewashed walls of the cell a couplet suggesting the +baseness of this attack upon their reputations. It is sufficient to say +here that public feeling was so aroused that these women were soon set +free; but I got myself deeper and deeper into the toils of the courts. + +[Illustration: George Francis Train with the children in Madison +Square.] + +In order to prove that the publication was not obscene, if judged by +Christian standards of purity, I published in my paper, called The Train +Ligue, three columns of quotations from the Bible. Every verse I used +was worse than anything published by these women. I was immediately +arrested on a charge of "obscenity," and taken to the Tombs. I was never +tried on this charge, but was kept in jail as a lunatic, and then +dismissed, under the ban of declared lunacy, and have so remained for +thirty years. Although the public pretended to be against me, it was +very eager to buy the edition of my paper that gave these extracts +from the Bible. The price of the paper rose from five cents a copy to +twenty, forty, sixty cents, and even to one dollar. In a few days it was +selling surreptitiously for two dollars a copy. + +I was put in Tweed's cell, number 56, in "Murderers' Row," in the Tombs, +where at that time were twenty-two men imprisoned under the charge of +murder. I made the twenty-third inhabitant of that ghastly "Row." It is +remarkable that not one of these men was hanged. All were either +acquitted, or tried and sentenced and got off with varying terms of +service. + +It was not a select, but it was at least a famous, group of men in +"Murderers' Row." Across the narrow hallway, just opposite my cell, was +Edward S. Stokes, who had killed James Fisk, Jr. Next to me were John J. +Scannell and Richard Croker, both of whom have been prominent in the +city administration in later years. There was, also, the famous Sharkey, +who might have got into worse trouble than any of us, but who escaped +through the pluck and ingenuity of Maggie Jordan. Maggie happened to be +about the same size as her lover, and changed clothes with him in the +cell. The warden, one morning, found he had a woman in his cage instead +of Sharkey. This was the last ever heard of Sharkey, so far as I know. + +My chief purpose in jail was not to get out, but to be tried on the +charge of obscenity. I had been arrested for that offense, and +determined that I would be either acquitted or convicted. But I have +never had a trial to this day. I do not believe that any court in the +land would face the danger of trying to convict a man of publishing +obscenity for quoting from the standard book on morality read throughout +Christendom. + +However this may be, I was offered a hundred avenues of escape from +jail, every conceivable one, except the honest and straightforward one +of a fair trial by jury. Men offered to bail me out; twice I was taken +out on proceedings instituted by women; but I would not avail myself of +this way to freedom. Several times I was left alone in the court-house +or in hallways, or other places, where access to the street was easy, +entirely without guards, in the vain hope that I would walk off with my +liberty. I was discharged by the courts; and I was offered freedom if I +would sign certain papers that were brought to me, but I invariably +refused to look at them. In all cases I merely turned back and took my +place in the cell, and waited for justice. + +In '73 I was finally taken before Judge Davis in the Court of Oyer and +Terminer. William F. Howe, who died this year, was one of my counsel, +and Clark Bell was another. Howe took the ground, first, that obviously +there could be nothing obscene in the publication of extracts from the +Bible, and, second, if there were, that I was insane at the time of the +publication. The judge hastily said that he would instruct the jury to +acquit me if the defense took this position. Mr. Bell then asked that a +simple verdict of "not guilty" be rendered; but the judge insisted upon +its form being "Not guilty, on the ground of insanity." This verdict was +taken. + +I rose immediately, and said: "I protest against this whole proceeding. +I have been four months in jail; and I have had no trial for the offense +with which I am charged." I felt that I was in the same plight as Paul. +The Bible and the Church, surely, could not condemn me for quoting +Scripture; and I had appealed unto Cæsar; but Cæsar refused, out of +sheer cowardice, to hear me and try me. I was not even listened to when +I made this protest, and I shouted, so that all must hear me: "Your +honor, I move your impeachment in the name of the people!" + +The sensation was tremendous. "Sit down!" roared the judge. He evidently +thought that I would attack him. An order committing me to the State +Lunatic Asylum was issued, and I was taken back to the Tombs. But I did +not go to the asylum. Another writ of habeas corpus took me out of jail, +and I at last turned my back on the Tombs--a lunatic by judicial decree. +I hope that the courts, inasmuch as I am their ward, and have been for +thirty years, have protected me in my rights, and have safeguarded those +interests in Omaha where some millions of dollars depend upon the +question of my sanity. + +The moment I was taken out of the Tombs, I went down town, had a bath, +got a good meal, put on better clothes, and bought passage for England. +I went to join my family at Homburg, as my sons were then in Germany, +studying at Frankfort. + +This Woodhull-Claflin affair had far-reaching effects. Besides leaving +me for thirty years in the grip of the court, it affected many other +persons. I shall refer here only to one of these, the publisher of a +newspaper in Toledo, who printed some of the matter that I had printed +in New York. He was prosecuted, and his paper and press were seized. The +poor fellow asked me to lecture in his interest. I could not do this, +but helped him to raise some money to buy a new printing-press. This was +in August, '83, when I was at Vevay, Switzerland. + +A worthless piece of paper eventually fell into the hands of another +man, who proceeded to prosecute me, and, with the assistance of the +courts, kept me in the Charles Street Jail, Boston, for some time. I was +arrested for this old debt of another man, and was refused the +constitutional relief of habeas corpus by Judge Devins and five other +judges of Massachusetts. The amount of the debt had steadily increased, +and was $800 in '89. Finally, I went before Judge McKim, and he at once +dismissed the case as groundless. + +This brought my jail experiences to a close. Was it fitting that Boston, +where I had lived and worked; where I had devised the building of the +greatest ships the world had known up to that time; where I had +projected and organized the clipper-ship service to California, and +opened a new era in the carrying trade of the world, and where I had +organized the Union Pacific Railway to develop the entire West and draw +continents nearer together, should put me in jail for a petty debt that +I did not owe, as in some sort an evidence of its gratitude? + +My prison experience has been more varied than that of the most +confirmed and hardened criminal; and yet I have never committed a crime, +cheated a human being, or told a lie. I have been imprisoned in almost +every sort of jail that man has devised. I have been in police stations, +in Marshalseas in England and in Ireland, in common jails in Boston, in +the Bastile of Lyons, in the Prefecture at Tours as the prisoner of +Gambetta, Dictator of France, and in the famous old Tombs of New York. I +have used prisons well. They have been as schools to me, where I have +reflected, and learned more about myself--and a man's own self is the +best object of any one's study. I have, also, made jails the source of +fruitful ideas, and from them have launched many of my most startling +and useful projects and innovations. And so they have not been jails to +me, any more than they were to Lovelace: + + "Stone walls do not a prison make, + Nor iron bars a cage; + Minds innocent and quiet take + That for an hermitage." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +AROUND THE WORLD IN EIGHTY, SIXTY-SEVEN, AND SIXTY DAYS + +1870, 1890, 1892 + + +I went around the world in eighty days in the year '70, two years before +Jules Verne wrote his famous romance, Le Tour du Monde en Quatre-vingts +Jours, which was founded upon my voyage. Since then I have made two +tours of the world, one in sixty-seven and a half days, and the other in +sixty. The last voyage still stands as the record trip in circling the +globe. + +I have always been something of a traveler, restless in my earlier +years, and never averse to visiting new scenes and experiencing new +sensations. In Australasia I had improved every opportunity to see the +new world of the South Seas, and later had visited every part of the +Orient that I could by any possibility reach during my various journeys +in that portion of the globe. Europe I had traversed quite thoroughly, +from the Crimea to Nijnii Novgorod, from the Volga to the Thames, from +Spain to Finland. When I left Australia it was my intention to +establish a great business in Yokohama, and, when that had been done, I +intended to pass on across the Pacific, thus girdling the globe; but my +first effort to go around the world was prevented by the war in the +Crimea, and so I turned back and came home, as already described, by way +of China, India, Egypt, and Europe. + +The desire for travel possessed me mightily in '69, just after the +golden spike was driven at the completion of the Union Pacific Railway, +by which California and New York were made nearer one another by many +days of travel. The circumference of the globe had been shrunken. I +wanted, naturally, to be the first man to utilize the great advantage +thus given to travel by making the quickest trip around the world. + +After closing my lecture tour on the Pacific coast in the spring and +summer of '70, I prepared for such a trip, carefully calculating that it +could be made within eighty days, even with the inevitable losses due to +bad connections at different ports. I wanted to take my sons, George and +Elsey, with me, but, at the last moment, they were prevented from going. +I found out only a few days ago, when accusing my daughter Sue of +keeping them in Newport, that their mother had given them ten golden +eagles each not to go. I sailed from San Francisco August 1, '70. On the +same ship was Susan B. King, whom I found in San Francisco waiting to +sail, as she was tired of the way her affairs were going in New York and +wanted a long trip for rest and recreation. She had $30,000 with her, +which she said she would try to invest profitably on the voyage. She was +then quite an old woman, as the world generally estimates age. + +I made Yokohama in very good time, and went immediately to the Japanese +capital, the new seat of the Emperor, Tokyo. I may record here a very +curious thing. I believe I was the last man--the last foreigner, at +least--who had taken part in an old national custom of Japan, by which +persons of opposite sex bathe together, without bathing suits. It was +then considered, in that land of good morals and fine esthetic sense, +that no impropriety was involved in this custom. Manners and customs +there were open and free as in Greece, when Athens was "the eye of +Greece" and the center of the world's civilization. I went to one of the +public baths to experience a decidedly new sensation. I was allowed to +bathe with old men and women, young men and maidens--and no one, except, +perhaps, myself, felt any degree of embarrassment or false modesty. + +But the fact that a foreigner was bathing in this way with Japanese +women and girls made something of a stir in Tokyo that had been +unexpected by me. It seems that, a short time before, some Englishmen +had gone into one of the public baths and made themselves very +offensive. This had taught the Japanese that they could not trust the +foreigner, and they had already nearly decided to exclude foreigners +from their baths, or to separate the sexes. My experience was, +therefore, the last, as I believe. After this the sexes were not +permitted to bathe together. + +I observed that the Japanese used small paper packages for tea, thus +making it convenient to handle tea. I then recalled the custom of the +Chinese in compressing tea for transportation by caravan to the great +Fair of Nijnii Novgorod. Here was an opportunity, I thought, and I +suggested to Susan B. King that she might invest her $30,000 to good +purpose in sending to New York a cargo of tea put up in little paper +packages, and that, if she wanted to try it, I would give her letters to +men in Canton who could arrange the matter for her. She undertook the +scheme, and I wrote a description of it for Anglin's Gazette, in +Yokohama. The tea was shipped to New York, and was handled at the +Demorest headquarters. The tea was in half-pound and pound packages. +This was long before Sir Thomas Lipton employed this method of putting +up teas. + +At Saigon, in French Cochin-China, I met the United States ship Alaska; +and from that port sailed on a ship of the Messagerie Imperiale line for +Marseilles. The remainder of the voyage was uneventful, except for the +diversion just before we left Singapore of hearing the news of the fall +of the Second Empire, the defeat of Louis Napoleon at Sedan, and the +establishment of the republic. + +I have already recorded, in the chapter on the Commune in France, my +arrival at Marseilles and my experiences in the brief period of my +visit. After I had been arrested and liberated, and had had my interview +with Gambetta at Tours, I passed on rapidly to New York, and finished my +tour of the world inside of eighty days. + +My second trip was made in the year '90. I planned it while I was in +jail in Boston for a debt that I did not contract. There had been some +note-worthy efforts on the part of newspaper writers to make a +record-breaking trip, and Miss Bisland had gone around in seventy-eight +days, while Nellie Bly had succeeded in making the voyage in +seventy-three days. I proposed to Col. John A. Cockerill, of the New +York World, who had sent Nellie Bly on her trip, to make the circuit in +less time; but he did not care to upset the World's own record. I then +telegraphed to Radebaugh, proprietor of the Tacoma Ledger, that if he +would raise $1,000 for a lecture in Tacoma, I would make a trip around +the world in less than seventy days. He told me to come on. + +As I started West, to sail on the Abyssinia, I received message after +message from Radebaugh. Instead of the $1,000 I had asked for, $1,500 +had been subscribed by the time I reached Chicago, and at St. Paul it +had gone up to $3,500. I soon reached Tacoma, and lectured there to an +immense audience, taking in $4,200, the largest amount ever paid for a +single lecture--and sailed out into the Pacific March 18th. I was +accompanied by S. W. Wall, editor of the Ledger. Lafcadio Hearn, the +distinguished writer, was on the same ship, on his way to Japan. He was +so ill that he did not leave his state-room during the voyage. + +We made Yokohama in sixteen days, and the moment I landed I telegraphed +to the American legation at Tokyo to get me a passport. It had always +taken three days to get a passport, but I said that I must have this at +once, and I got it. In seven hours I was on the way to Kobe, overland, +three hundred miles across Japan. I caught the German ship for Nagasaki, +from which point, after a short delay, I sailed for Hongkong. In a trip +of this kind, of course, one sees little of interest. It is a mere +question of rushing from vessel to vessel the moment you get into port, +or of catching trains, or of chartering boats to bridge gaps, or of +haggling with ship-captains or railway managers about getting extra +accommodations at very extra prices. + +My longest delay was at Singapore, where I lost forty hours. The next +longest loss of time was in New York--wonderful to relate--where I was +delayed thirty-six hours, although four railways were competing for the +honor of taking me across the continent on a record-breaking journey. I +arrived on Saturday, and had to charter a special car--which cost +$1,500--and could not get away until Monday morning. I was near being +delayed a day at Calais, France, but succeeded in chartering a boat to +take me over the Channel. As this boat carried the British mails, I was +relieved of the expense by the British Government. + +At Portland I met with a most annoying delay of five hours, due entirely +to mismanagement. This most unexpectedly lengthened out my tour at the +very end, and so angered me that I refused to attend a banquet the +people had prepared for me. I pushed on to Tacoma as soon as I could get +anything to carry me, and arrived there exactly sixty-seven days, +thirteen hours, two minutes, and fifty-five seconds from the time I had +started. The actual time of traveling was fifty-nine days and seven +hours. Seven days and five hours had been lost. This was then the +fastest trip around the world. It has been beaten since by myself. + +As I had started on my second trip from a Pacific coast point, there was +a good deal of rivalry among the growing towns in that section with +regard to the honor of being the starting-point of my third trip in '92, +in which I eclipsed all previous records. I had already announced that +this could readily be done, as the Pacific steamships were very much +faster than they had been at the time of my former voyage, and as the +connections at various ports were much better. Sir William Van Horne +had also written that he wanted me to make another tour of the world, +using one of the fast ships of the Canadian Pacific road, the famous +Empresses, that soon would be put on the line to Yokohama. The new town +of Whatcom, on Puget Sound, in the extreme northwest of Washington, +raised the amount necessary for the trip, and I made my start from that +point, catching the Empress of India from Vancouver. + +An account of this voyage would necessarily be only a panoramic glance +at a narrow line around the world. I made Yokohama in eleven days, was +at Kobe, Japan, in thirteen, and at Shanghai in fifteen. Here I had some +difficulty in finding a fast steamer for Singapore, but succeeded in +getting aboard a swift German boat, the Friga, which put me in Singapore +in time to catch the Moyune, the last of the fast tea ships, and on her +I sailed as far as Port Said, through the Suez Canal. At Port Said I +boarded the Ismaila for Brindisi, Italy. Then I again rushed across +Europe, and caught the Majestic at Liverpool for New York. I found a +distinguished company on board, including Ambassador John Hay, D. O. +Mills, Lady Stewart, Mrs. Paran Stevens, and Senator Spooner. + +[Illustration: Dinner in the Mills Hotel given by George Francis Train.] + +I arrived in New York in good time, had a very slight delay in +comparison with that of my second voyage, and went flying across the +continent to Whatcom. The entire trip, giving a complete circuit of +the globe, was made in sixty days. + +To these three trips I attach no more importance, I hope, than is fairly +their due. In each of them, in succession, I had beaten all previous +records of travel; and this was something in the interests of all +persons who travel, as showing what could be done under stress, and as a +stimulus to greater efforts to reduce the long months and days consumed +on voyages from country to country. But they were, as I consider them, +merely incidents in a life that has better things to show. One of these +voyages, the one in which I "put a girdle round the earth" in eighty +days, has the honor of having given the suggestion for one of the most +interesting romances in literature. This, at least, is something. + +But I give this brief account of my voyages, at the end of my +autobiography, chiefly because I regard them as somewhat typical of my +life. I have lived fast. I have ever been an advocate of speed. I was +born into a slow world, and I wished to oil the wheels and gear, so that +the machine would spin faster and, withal, to better purposes. I +suggested larger and fleeter ships, to shorten travel on the ocean. I +built street-railways, so that the workers of the world might save a few +minutes from their days of pitiless toil, and so might have a little +leisure for enjoyment and self-improvement. I built great railway +lines--the Atlantic and Great Western, and the Union Pacific--that the +continent might be traversed by men and commerce more rapidly, and its +waste places made to blossom like the rose. I wished to add a stimulus, +a spur, a goad--if necessary--that the slow, old world might go on more +swiftly, "and fetch the age of gold," with more leisure, more culture, +more happiness. And so I put faster ships on the oceans, and faster +means of travel on land. + +My own rapid tours of the world are, therefore, typical of my life. Thus +an account of them seems to round it off fitly with a "Bon voyage" to +every one. + + + + +INDEX + + + Achinese, subjugation of the, 178. + Aden, visit to, 208. + Adirondack Railway, 260. + American Merchant in Europe, Asia, and Australia, an, 222. + Andaman Islands, 204. + Anglo-American, the, 72, 144. + Anglo-Saxon, the, 55, 58, 72. + Anjer, visit of the natives at, 174. + Antietam, Battle of, 282. + Ariens, Admiral, 251. + Around the world tours, 331. + Around the World in Eighty Days, 301, 331. + Ashburner, George, 204. + Astor, John Jacob, Jr., 44. + Atlantic and Great Western Railway, 237, 269. + Australia, begin business in, 127; + gold-fever in, 130, 141; + outlaws of, 152, 156; + railway system of, 269; + rebellion in, 156. + Austria, travels in, 233. + + Bailey, Crawshay, and Atlantic and Great Western Railway, 244. + Balaklava, visit to, 217. + Balmoral, visit to, 92. + Banka, tin mines of, 179. + Banking and gambling compared, 86. + Banks, Gen. Nathaniel P., 38, 58. + Baring, Thomas, visit to America, 71. + Bartley, Judge, 244. + Bastile at Lyons, a prisoner in the, 310. + Batavia, Java, beauty of, 175. + Bemis, Emery, 37. + Bemis, George Pickering, 8, 48, 273, 311. + Bennett, James Gordon, 222. + Beyrout, visit to, 215. + Birkenhead, tramways in, 261. + Black Hole of Calcutta, 205. + Blockade running, 272. + Bly, Nellie, trip round the world, 335. + Bombay, India, railroad in, 270. + "Bonanza nugget," the, story of, 141. + Boomerang, the, 169. + Booth, Edwin, in Melbourne, 166. + Botany Bay, 144. + Bougevine, Gen., in China, 196. + Bowling, skill in, 79; + in Australia, 135. + Braemar, meeting with Lord John Russell at, 92. + Bridges, the phrenologist, 122. + Briticisms, 91. + Brooke, "Sarawak," 179. + Brougham, John, visit to Liverpool, 124. + Bunker Hill Day, 112. + Bury, Lord, 105. + Bushnell, the actor, in Melbourne, 167. + + Cairo, land trip from Suez to, 209. + Calcutta, visit to, 204. + Caldwell, Captain, partner in the Australian house, 127, 136, 223. + California, discovery of gold in, 71. + Canada, visit to, 86. + Canning, Lord, Governor-General of India, 207. + Canton, visit to, 182, 185. + Cape May, in 1850, 79. + Carleton, Mrs., meeting with, 83. + Castiglione, Countess, 230. + Ceylon, visit to, 208. + Chatsworth, visit to, 102. + China, visit to, 180; + population of, 190. + Chinese, civilization of the, 197; + customs of the, 190; + honesty of the, 187. + Choate, Rufus, retained in the Franklin case, 62. + Chronicle, London, purchase of the, 272. + Cincinnati, honeymoon trip to, 116. + Civil War in the United States, England and the, 271. + Claflin, Tennie C., arrest of, 323. + Clarke, John, Jr., 7, 9. + Clay, Cassius M., debate with, 279. + Clay, Henry, calls on, 81. + Cluseret, Gen. Gustave Paul, summoned from Switzerland, 305. + Collie, Alexander, 180. + Collingwood, home at, 135. + Commune, the, 301. + Constantine, Grand Duke, meeting with, at Strelna, 251. + Constantinople, visit to, 216. + Cook, Captain, in Botany Bay, 145. + Copenhagen, tramway in, 269. + Cozzens's Hotel, Omaha, 296. + Crédit Foncier, 285. + Crédit Mobilier of America, 260, 285, 316. + Crimea, in the, 217. + Cristina, Queen Maria, and Atlantic and Great Western Railway, 227, + 237. + Crystal Palace, 103, 104. + + Dalhousie, Lord, Governor-General of India, 207. + Dallas, George M., 250. + Daniel Webster, the, 117. + Darlington, England, tramways in, 269. + Davis, Col. George T. M., 110, 116, 259. + Delane, John, editor London Times, 251. + Delmonico's, McHenry's $15,000 dinner at, 246. + De Morny, Count, 228. + De Questa, Rodrigo, and Atlantic and Great Western Railway, 238. + Derby, J. C., 273. + Devonshire, Duke of, meeting with the, 101. + Dinsmore, Mr., meeting with, 87. + Dombriski, Prince, received by, 255. + Donohue, Irish patriot, 165. + Donovan, the phrenologist, 122. + Drinking by women in 1850, 83. + Dublin, imprisonment in, 314. + Duckbill, the Australian, 169. + Durant, Dr. T. C., president of Crédit Mobilier, 260. + + Elephants as carriers, 208. + Emerson, Ralph W., lecture at Waltham, 39; + engages passage for Europe, 60. + Emigration, Irish, to America, 76; + of the Landsdowne tenants, 97; + to Tasmania, 148. + "Emperor, the," fountain at Chatsworth, 102. + England, first impressions of, 90; + introduction of tramways in, 259; + and the Civil War in the United States, 271. + Excelsior, the Chinese, 193. + + Fallow, Christopher and John, 239. + Fenton, Reuben E., 243. + Fillmore, Millard, President, 113. + Fiske, Stebbins, 13. + Fitzroy, Sir Charles, Governor of New South Wales, 143. + "Five-Star Republic," the, of Australia, 157. + Flowers, love of, 177. + Flying Cloud, the, 72, 221. + Flying-fish, experience with, 208. + Fowler, the phrenologist, 123. + France, travels in, 233. + Franklin, wreck of the, 61. + Franklin, Sir John, house in Tasmania, 150. + Frost, Abigail Pickering, 10. + Frost, George W., 14. + Frost, Leonard, 39. + Fu-chow, visit to, 200. + Fuller, Frank, builder of Crystal Palace, 104. + Fuller, Col. Hiram, 93. + + Gambetta, interview with, 311. + Gambling at Saratoga in 1850, 85. + Geneva, Switzerland, tramway in, 269. + Georgetown Convent, visit to, 82. + Germany, travels in, 233. + Ginger, preparation of Canton, 190. + "Godowns," 185. + Golden Age, the, and Black Warrior incident, 143. + Gold-fever, in California, 71; + in Australia, 130, 141. + Gordon, "Chinese," 196. + Governor Davis, the, 64. + Grant, U. S., election to the presidency, 321. + Gray Nunnery, Montreal, visit to the, 87. + Greeley, Horace, nomination of, 320. + Green, E. H., in Hongkong, 182. + Greig, Colonel, entertained by, 254. + Guild, B. F., editor of Boston Commercial Bulletin, 276. + + Harris, Townsend, 179. + Havelock, General, 208. + Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 58. + Hayes, Kate, in Melbourne, 167. + Heard, Augustine, author of The Chinese Excelsior, 193, 200. + Henry, voyage to Boston on the, 7, 16. + Herald, New York, in 1856, 221. + Hill, Rowland, English postal reformer, 108. + Hobart Town, Tasmania, visit to, 149. + Holmes, Joseph A., secure employment with, 42. + Hongkong, visits to, 182, 203. + Hooligan, finder of the "bonanza nugget," 141. + Horsemanship, 112. + Hotel scheme for London, 105. + Howe, Joseph, ex-Governor of Nova Scotia, 113. + Howitt, William and Mary, 149. + Hudson, Captain, 249. + Hudson, Frederick, 222. + Hunt, Thornton, made editor of London Morning Chronicle, 272. + + Imprisonment, 314, 334. + India, visit to, 204. + Inventions, 106. + Irish immigration to America, 76. + Italy, travels in, 233. + + Japan, leaves Australia for, 168, 171; + trip abandoned, 200. + Java, visit to, 174. + Jerusalem, visit to, 211. + Joppa, visit to, 211. + Joshua Bates, the, 58, 72. + + Kangaroos, Sidney Smith on, 169. + Keene, Laura, in Melbourne, 166. + Kennard, Thomas, and Atlantic and Great Western Railway, 243. + King, Susan B., 332. + Krakatoa, volcano of, 175. + Kremlin, at the, 255. + + Lachine Rapids, shooting the, 86. + Laird, John, and the Birkenhead tramways, 261. + Lake Champlain, visit to, 88. + Lake George, visit to, 88. + Lamartine, Alphonse de, meeting with Seward, 232. + Lansdowne, Marquis of, 97. + Latrobe, Governor, 158. + Launceston, Tasmania, visit to, 151. + Lawrence, Abbott, United States Minister, 98. + Lawrence, Bigelow, marriage to Sallie Ward, 114. + Leghorn, explosion at, 233. + Lemon, Mark, 105. + Lexington, burning of the, 10, 36. + Lightning, the, 221. + Ligue du Midi, the, 305. + Li Hung Chang, meeting with, 195. + Lillo, Leon, 227; + and Atlantic and Great Western Railway, 238. + Lincoln, President, and emancipation, 280. + Liverpool, take charge of business in, 79, 90; + business facilities of, 94; + return to, after marriage, 117; + introduction of street-railways, 260. + London, visits to, 98, 104; + introduction of tramways, 263. + Lyons, imprisonment at, 310. + + Macao, visit to, 182. + MacDonald, Sir John A., 113. + MacFarlane, Rev. J. R., companion in the Holy Land, 211. + McGill, James, Australian outlaw, 159. + McHenry, James, 94, 108, 121, 231; + and Atlantic and Great Western Railway, 237. + Mackay, Charles, author, 125. + Mackay, Donald, 72, 223. + Mackay, John W., 76. + MacMahon, Marshal, in the Crimea, 219. + Madras, visit to, 208. + Marriage, 109. + Marseilles, in the Commune, 301. + Marsh, John Alfred, 121. + Marshall, Matthew, Jr., and Atlantic and Great Western Railway, 245. + Martin, John, Irish patriot, 165. + Marvin, the hotel-keeper, 83. + Mavrockadatis, the, trip to Newfoundland on, 274. + Melbourne, Australia, begin business in, 127; + in 1854, 133; + public improvement in, 170. + Methodism, New England, 21, 45. + Mirage, a, 209. + Montez, Lola, in Melbourne, 167. + Montreal, visit to, 86. + Morse, Salmi, 133. + Moscow, visit to, 255. + Mount Vernon, visit to, 82. + Muñoz, Fernando, 237. + + Nana Sahib, 208. + Naples, visit to, 234. + Napoleon, Emperor Louis, 272; + hatred of, 226. + New Orleans, yellow fever at, 2. + New South Wales, gold-fever in, 130, 141. + New York, to sell Flying Cloud, 73; + vacation in, 79. + Niagara Falls, visit to, 86, 111. + Nicholson, Sir Charles, 143. + Nijnii Novgorod, visit to, 256. + Noroton, Conn., Soldiers' Home in, 164. + + O'Brien, Smith, Irish patriot, 165. + Ocean Monarch, the, 72; + burning of, 59. + Omaha, development of, 294. + Opium trade, 67; + English, in China, 196. + Otis, Mrs. Harrison Grey, meeting with, 84. + Outlaws, Australian, 152. + + Palestine, visit to, 211. + Paris, first visit to, 224, 226. + Parker, Dr., United States Minister to China, 180. + Parliament, the, trip to Liverpool on, 90. + Paxton, Sir Joseph, meeting with, 103. + Pennock, Commander, 249. + Peto, Sir Morton, 246. + Philippines, war in the, 178. + Phillips, Wendell, and the negro, 281. + Phrenology, experiences with, 121. + Pickering, Rev. George, 1, 21. + Pickering, Judge Gilbert, 23. + Pickering, Maria, 1. + Pidgin-English, 185, 192. + Pigeon-netting, 30. + Pirates, Chinese, 182, 201. + Plymouth Rock, the, trip to Melbourne on, 127. + Point de Galle, Ceylon, visit to, 208. + Porter, Capt. David D., visits Melbourne, 143. + Portland, Ore., speech at, 297. + Presidential aspirations, 314. + Pyramids, trip to the, 209. + + Railway building, in Australia, 131, 269; + Atlantic and Great Western Railway, 237, 269; + English street-railways, 259; + Union Pacific Railway, 269, 283. + Red Jacket, the, 221; + the incident at Melbourne, 138. + Rhoades, Sallie, 24. + Rianzares, Duke of, 227, 237. + Richardson, Albert D., Beyond the Mississippi, 291. + Ripley, George, 38. + Ristori, meeting with, 228. + Rome, hailed as "liberator" in uprising my 235. + Rumford, Count, 38. + Rush, Mrs., meeting with, 84. + Russell, Lord John, meeting with, at Braemar, 92; + and the Civil War, 272. + Russia, visit to, 249. + + St. Petersburg, visit to, 251. + St. Petersburg, the, 64. + Sala, George Augustus, 105; + in America, 260. + Salamanca, José de, Spanish banker, 228; + and Atlantic and Great Western Railway, 240. + San Francisco, lectures in, 296. + Saratoga, visit to, 83. + Savage Club of London, organization of the, 263. + Schenck, Robert E., 244. + Scotland, visit to, 92. + Seattle, speech in, 299. + Sebastopol, visit to, 217. + Seward, William H., in Paris, 231; + and the Mavrockadatis incident, 274; + in Washington, 281. + Seymour, Thomas H., Minister to Russia, 251. + Shanghai, visit to, 194. + Shelley, Sir John Villiers, 268. + Sherman, John, 244. + Ships, naming of, 174. + Singapore, visit to, 179. + Slave trade, Chinese, 184, 203. + Smith, Archdeacon, meeting with, 88. + Smith, Sidney, on kangaroos, 169; + prophecy in regard to Sydney, Australia, 143. + Smuggling, 67. + Smyrna, visit to, 215. + Sovereign of the Seas, the, 74, 221. + Spectator, the London, purchase of, 273. + Spence, Carroll, 217. + Spencer, Bishop of Jamaica, meeting with, 88; + dinner with, in London, 98. + "Spread-Eagleism," 244. + Staffordshire, introduction of tramways in, 268. + Staffordshire, the, 74. + Stettin, visit to, 251. + Stevens, Paran, 106. + Stoddard, Captain, meeting with, 87. + Street-railways, first English, 259. + Strelna, meeting with Grand Duke Constantine at, 251. + Suez, visit to, and land trip to Cairo, 209. + Sumner, Charles, speaks in Boston on the war, 277. + Swans, black, 168. + Sydney, visit to, 143. + + Tai-ping rebellion, 196. + Tasmania, visit to, 148; + gold-fever in, 130, 141. + Taylor, Moses, 166. + Taylor, President, introduced to, 80. + Tea, Chinese and Russian, 191, 334. + Temperance, 47, 99. + Ten-pins, skill in, 79; + in Australia, 135. + The Hague, visit to, 251. + Ticonderoga, visit to, 88. + Tilden, Samuel J., and Union Pacific Railway, 288. + Tilly, Governor, of New Brunswick, 113. + Tombs, imprisonment in the, 324. + Train, Ellen, 5. + Train, Col. Enoch, 52, 126, 223; + failure of, 173. + Train, Josephine, 3. + Train, Louisa, 9. + Train, Louise, 5. + Train, Oliver, 1, 7. + Train Villa, Newport, 314. + Tramways. See Street-railways. + Trescot, Commodore, meeting with, 88. + Tucker, Beverley, consul in Liverpool, 123. + Tweed Ring, exposure of the, 32. + + Unicorn, the wreck of, 118. + Union Pacific Railway, 269, 283. + Upas-tree, fable of the, 189. + Upton, George B., 223. + + Verne, Jules, Le Tour du Monde en Quatre-vingts Jours, 301, 331. + Victoria, Queen, 92, 104. + Vienna, visit to, 235. + + Wade, Benjamin, 244. + Wales, visit to, 101. + Waltham, Mass., homestead at, 1, 19, 21. + Ward, Frederick Townsend, in China, 196. + Ward, Alfredo, 109. + Ward, Gen. C. L., 243. + Ward, Sallie, marriage to Bigelow Lawrence, 114. + Washington, vacation trip to, 79. + Washington Irving, the, 58, 72, 144. + Webster, Daniel, letter from, 80, 87, 92; + retained in the Franklin case, 63; + Secretary of State, 80. + Wellington, Duke of, 100. + West Point, visit to, 82. + Whistler, Major, 255. + Willis, N. P., John Brougham on, 124. + Wilson, Henry T., 148. + Winslow, Henry A., 10. + Woodhull, Victoria C., arrest of, 323. + World tours, 331. + + Young America Abroad, 93, 103, 257. + Young America in Wall Street, 125. + + + + + * * * * * + + + + +Transcriber's note: + +Punctuation has been corrected without note. + +page 280: "nonogenarian" changed to "nonagenarian" (who is now a +nonagenarian, in his armed castle in Kentucky). + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MY LIFE IN MANY STATES AND IN +FOREIGN LANDS*** + + +******* This file should be named 38265-8.txt or 38265-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/8/2/6/38265 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: My Life in Many States and in Foreign Lands</p> +<p> Dictated in My Seventy-Fourth Year</p> +<p>Author: George Francis Train</p> +<p>Release Date: December 10, 2011 [eBook #38265]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MY LIFE IN MANY STATES AND IN FOREIGN LANDS***</p> +<p> </p> +<h4>E-text prepared by Julia Miller, Pat McCoy,<br /> + and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> + (<a href="http://www.pgdp.net">http://www.pgdp.net</a>)<br /> + from images generously made available by<br /> + Internet Archive/American Libraries<br /> + (<a href="http://www.archive.org/details/americana">http://www.archive.org/details/americana</a>)</h4> +<p> </p> +<table border="0" style="background-color: #ccccff;margin: 0 auto;" cellpadding="10"> + <tr> + <td valign="top"> + Note: + </td> + <td> + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive/American Libraries. See + <a href="http://www.archive.org/details/mylifemanystates00trairich"> + http://www.archive.org/details/mylifemanystates00trairich</a> + </td> + </tr> +</table> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a href="images/cover.jpg"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" alt="Cover" title="Cover" /> +</a></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg i] </span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><a id="pagei" name="pagei"></a></p> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a href="images/illus-001.jpg"> +<img src="images/illus-001.jpg" alt="George Francis Train" title="George Francis Train" /> +</a></div> +<p class="caption">George Francis Train. From a recent photograph.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg ii]</span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h1> +My Life in Many States<br /> +and in Foreign Lands</h1> +<p class="title"> +<span class="smaller"><i>DICTATED<br /> +IN MY SEVENTY-FOURTH YEAR</i></span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smaller">BY</span><br /> +<br /> +GEORGE FRANCIS TRAIN<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smaller"><i>ILLUSTRATED</i></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a href="images/illus-002a.png"> +<img src="images/illus-002a.png" alt=" " title=" " /> +</a></div> +<p class="title"><span class="smaller">NEW YORK<br /> +D. APPLETON AND COMPANY<br /> +1902</span><br /></p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg iii]</span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Copyright, 1902</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">By D. APPLETON AND COMPANY</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Published November, 1902</i></p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg iv]</span></p> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>MY LIFE IN MANY STATES<br /> + +AND IN FOREIGN LANDS</h2> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg vi]</span></p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + + +<div class="center"> +TO THE CHILDREN<br /> +AND TO THE CHILDREN'S CHILDREN<br /> +IN THIS AND IN ALL LANDS<br /> +WHO LOVE AND BELIEVE IN ME<br /> +BECAUSE THEY KNOW<br /> +I LOVE AND BELIEVE IN THEM<br /> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg vii]</span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>PREFACE</h2> + + +<p>I have been silent for thirty years. During +that long period I have taken little part in the +public life of the world, have written nothing beyond +occasional letters and newspaper articles, and +have conversed with few persons, except children +in parks and streets. I have found children always +sympathetic and appreciative. For this reason I +have readily entered into their play and their more +serious moods; and for this reason, also, have dedicated +this book to them and to their children.</p> + +<p>For many years I have been a silent recluse, +remote from the world in my little corner in the +Mills Hotel, thinking and waiting patiently. That +I break this silence now, after so many years, is +due to the suggestion of a friend who has told me +that the world of to-day, as well as the world of to-morrow, +will be interested in reading my story. I +am assured that many of the things I have accomplished +will endure as a memorial of me, and that +I ought to give some account of them and of +myself.<span class="pagenum">[Pg viii]</span></p> + +<p>And so I have tried to compress a story of my +life into this book. With modesty, I may say that +the whole story could not be told in a single +volume. I have tried not to be prolix, keeping in +mind while preparing this record of events, "all of +which I saw, and part of which I was," that there +is a limit to the patience of readers.</p> + +<p>I beg my readers to remember that this book +was spoken, not written, by me. It is my own +life-story that I have related. It may not, in +every part, agree with the recollections of others; +but I am sure that it is as accurate in statement +as it is blameless in purpose. If I should +fail at any point, this will be due to some wavering +of memory, and not to intention. Thanks to +my early Methodist training, I have never knowingly +told a lie; and I shall not begin at this time +of life.</p> + +<p>While I may undertake other volumes that will +present another side of me—my views and opinions +of men and things—that which stands here recorded +is the story of my life. It has been dictated +in the mornings of July and August of the past +summer, one or two hours being given to it during +two or three days of each week. Altogether, the +time consumed in the dictation makes a total of +thirty-five hours. Before I began the dictation, I +wrote out hastily a brief sketch, or mere epitome, +of my history, so that I might have before my mind +a guide that would prevent me from wandering too<span class="pagenum">[Pg ix]</span> +far afield or that might save me from tediousness. +I give it here, as a foretaste of the book. I have +called it "My Autobiography boiled down—400 +Pages in 200 Words."</p> + +<p>"Born 3-24-'29. Orphaned New Orleans, '33. +(Father, mother, and three sisters—yellow fever.) +Came North alone, four years old, to grandmother, +Waltham, Mass. Supported self since babyhood. +Farmer till 14. Grocer-boy, Cambridgeport, two +years. Shipping-clerk, 16. Manager, 18. Partner, +Train & Co., 20 (income, $10,000). Boston, 22 +($15,000).</p> + +<p>"Established G. F. T. & Co., Melbourne, +Australia, '53. Agent, Barings, Duncan & Sherman, +White Star Line (income, $95,000). Started +40 clippers to California, '49. Flying Cloud, Sovereign +of the Seas, Staffordshire. Built A. & G. +W. R. R., connecting Erie with Ohio and Mississippi, +400 miles.</p> + +<p>"Pioneered first street-railway, Europe, America, +Australia. (England: Birkenhead, Darlington, +Staffordshire, London, '60.) Built first Pacific +Railway (U. P.), '62-'69, through first Trust, +Crédit Mobilier. Owned five thousand lots, Omaha, +worth $30,000,000. (Been in fifteen jails without +a crime.)</p> + +<p>"Train Villa, built at Newport, '68. Daughter's +house, 156 Madison Avenue, '60. Organized +French Commune, Marseilles, Ligue du Midi, October, +'70, while on return trip around the world in<span class="pagenum">[Pg x]</span> +eighty days. Jules Verne, two years later, wrote +fiction of my fact.</p> + +<p>"Made independent race for Presidency against +Grant and Greeley, '71-72. Cornered lawyers, +doctors, clericals, by quoting three columns of +Bible to release Woodhull-Claflin from jail, '72. +Now lunatic by law, through six courts.</p> + +<p>"Now living in Mills Palace, $3 against $2,000 +a week, at Train Villa. (Daughter always has +room for me in country.) Played Carnegie forty +years ahead. Three generations living off Crédit +Mobilier. Author dozen books out of print (<i>vide</i> +Who's Who, Allibone, Appletons' Cyclopædia).</p> + +<p>"Four times around the world. First, two +years. Second, eighty days, '70. Third, sixty-seven +and a half days, '90. Fourth, sixty days, +shortest record, '92. Through psychic telepathy, +am doubling age. Seventy-four years young."</p> + +<p>It may be a matter of surprise to some readers +that I should have accomplished so much at the +early age when so many of my most important enterprises +were accomplished. It should be remembered, +however, that I began young. I was a +mature man at an age when most boys are still +tied to their mothers' apron strings. I had to +begin to take care of myself in very tender years. +I suppose my experiences in New Orleans, on +the old farm in Massachusetts, in the grocery +store in Boston, and in the shipping house of +Enoch Train and Company, matured and hardened<span class="pagenum">[Pg xi]</span> +me before my time. I was never much of a boy. I +seem to have missed that portion of my youth. I +was obliged to look out for myself very early, and +was soon fighting hard in the fierce battle of competition, +where the weak are so often lost.</p> + +<p>It may be worth while to present here some important +evidence of the confidence that was reposed +in me by experienced men, when, as a mere +youth, I was undertaking vast enterprises that +might have made older men hesitate. When I was +about to leave Boston in '53 for business in Australia, +and organized the house of Caldwell, Train +and Company, I was authorized by the following +well-established houses of this and other countries +to use them as references, and did so on our firm +circulars: John M. Forbes, John E. Thayer and +Brother, George B. Upton, Enoch Train and Company, +Sampson and Tappan, and Josiah Bradlee +and Company, of Boston; Cary and Company, +Goodhue and Company, Josiah Macy and Sons, +Grinnell, Minturn and Company, and Charles +H. Marshall and Company, of New York; H. +and A. Cope and Company, of Philadelphia; +Birckhead and Pearce, of Baltimore; J. P. Whitney +and Company, of New Orleans; Flint, Peabody +and Company, and Macondray and Company, +of San Francisco; George A. Hopley and +Company, of Charleston; Archibald Gracie, of +Mobile; and the following foreign houses: Bowman, +Grinnell and Company, and Charles Hum<span class="pagenum">[Pg xii]</span>berston, +of Liverpool; Russell and Company and +Augustine Heard and Company, of Canton.</p> + +<p>These were among the best known commercial +houses in the world at that time. Any business +man, familiar with the commercial history of the +modern world, should consider this list fair enough +evidence of the confidence I enjoyed among men +of affairs. Let me reproduce here—partly as evidence +along the same line, and partly because of +the value I attach to it on personal and friendly +grounds—the following letter from Mr. D. O. +Mills:</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="quotdate">"<span class="smcap">New York</span>, <i>September 30, 1901</i>.</p> +<p>"Hon. <span class="smcap">George Francis Train</span>,</p> +<p class="quotdate">"<i>Mills Hotel, Bleecker St., New York</i>.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">My Dear Citizen</span>:</p> + +<p>"The many appreciative notices that have come +to my attention of your distinguished talents of +early years lead me also to send you a line of appreciation, +particularly as touching the part played +by you in some of the great commercial enterprises +that have so signally marked the nineteenth +century, notably in the Merchant Marine, and in +the building of the Union Pacific Railroad, in the +conception and construction of which you bore so +distinguished a part.</p> + +<p>"The present generation, with its conveniences +of travel and communication, can not realize what +were the difficulties and experiences of the merchant +and traveler of those early days when you<span class="pagenum">[Pg xiii]</span> +were engaged in the China trade, and your Clipper +Ships were often seen in the port of San +Francisco.</p> + +<p>"The long voyage around the Horn, the danger +experienced from sudden attack by Indians while +traversing the wild and uninhabited country lying +between Omaha and the Pacific Coast, are experiences +which even an old voyager like myself +questions as he speeds across the continent, privileged +to enjoy the comforts of a Pullman car, and +a railroad service that has shortened the journey +from New York to San Francisco from months to +a few days. In recalling the many years of our +pleasant acquaintance by sea and land, not the +least is the remembrance of your kind and genial +spirit, and I am glad to see that you have lost none +of your sincere wish to do good.</p> + +<p class="quotsig"> +"With kind regards.<br /> +"Very truly yours,<br /> +"<span class="smcap">D. O. Mills</span>." +</p></blockquote> + +<p>Mr. Mills has known me in many walks of life. +We have at times walked side by side. At others, +oceans have roared between us. He is my friend, +and I was glad to receive this kindly word from +him, after many long years of acquaintance.</p> + +<p>Although I am a hermit now, I was not always +so. All who read this book must see that. I spent +many happy years in society—and never an unhappy +year anywhere, whether in jail or under<span class="pagenum">[Pg xiv]</span> +social persecution; and I have lived many years +with my family in my own country and in foreign +lands. My wife, of whom I have spoken of in the +following pages, passed into shadow-land in '77. +I have children who are scattered widely now. +My first child, Lily, was born in Boston, in '52, +and died when five months old, in Boston. My +second daughter, Susan Minerva, was born in '55, +and married Philip Dunbar Guelager, who for +thirty-six years was the head of the gold and silver +department of the Subtreasury in this city. She +now lives at "Minerva Lodge," Stamford, Connecticut, +with my seven-year-old grandson. My +first son, George Francis Train, Jr., was born +in '56, and is now in business in San Francisco. +Elsey McHenry Train, my last child, now +lives in Chicago. He was born in '57. I was able +to see these children well educated, at home and +abroad, and to give them some chance to see the +great world I had known.</p> + +<p>A last word as to myself. Readers of this book +may think I have sometimes taken myself too seriously. +I can scarcely agree with them. I try not +to be too serious about anything—not even about +myself. When I was making a hopeless fight for +the Presidency in '72, I made the following statement +in one of my speeches:</p> + +<p>"Many persons attribute to me simply an impulsiveness, +and an impressibility, as if I were +some erratic comet, rushing madly through space,<span class="pagenum">[Pg xv]</span> +emitting coruscations of fancifully colored sparks, +without system, rule, or definite object. This +is a popular error. I claim to be a close analytical +observer of passing events, applying the +crucible of Truth to every new matter or subject +presented to my mind or my senses."</p> + +<p>I think that estimate may be used to-day in this +place. It does not so much matter, however, what +I may have thought of myself or what I now think +of myself. What does matter is what I may have +done. I stand on my achievement.</p> + +<p>And with this, I commit my life-story to the +kind consideration of readers.</p> + +<p class="center"> +<span class="smcap">Citizen George Francis Train.</span></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Mills Palace</span>,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;"><i>September 22, '02</i>.</span><br /> +<span class="pagenum">[Pg xvi]</span></p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg xvii]</span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + + +<ul class="TOC"> +<li>CHAPTER I +<span class="ralign"><span class="smcap">page</span></span></li> + +<li><span class="smcap">When I Was Four Years Old.</span> 1833 <span class="ralign"><a href="#page2">2</a></span> +<p>New Orleans then my home—All the family except myself +perish from yellow fever.</p></li> + +<li>CHAPTER II</li> + +<li><span class="smcap">My Voyage from New Orleans to Boston.</span> 1833<span class="ralign"><a href="#page16">16</a></span> +<p>Four years old and the sole passenger—Sailors teach me to +swear—My aunt shocked at my depravity.</p></li> + +<li>CHAPTER III</li> + +<li><span class="smcap">My Boyhood on a Farm.</span> 1833-1843 <span class="ralign"><a href="#page21">21</a></span> +<p>My grandfather a noted Methodist preacher—My first +money earned.</p></li> + +<li>CHAPTER IV</li> + +<li><span class="smcap">Schooldays and a Start in Life.</span> 1840-1844<span class="ralign"><a href="#page35"> 35</a></span> +<p>Leader of the school—George Ripley my school-teacher—Emerson +comes to our village<br /> to lecture—Boston visited.</p></li> + +<li>CHAPTER V</li> + +<li><span class="smcap">Early New England Methodism.</span> <span class="ralign"><a href="#page45">45</a></span> +<p>How I was reared religiously—Ideas of right and wrong—Things +outgrown.</p></li> + +<li>CHAPTER VI</li> + +<li><span class="smcap">In a Shipping House in Boston.</span> 1844-1850<span class="ralign"><a href="#page52"> 52</a></span> +<p>A place with my uncle—Progress rapidly made—I sell Emerson +a ticket for Liverpool—I engage Rufus Choate and +Daniel Webster as our lawyers—My first speculation—Building +fast ships.</p></li> +<li><p><span class="pagenum">[Pg xviii]</span></p></li> + + +<li>CHAPTER VII</li> + +<li><span class="smcap">A Vacation Tour.</span> 1850<span class="ralign"><a href="#page79">79</a></span> +<p>In Washington I meet Webster, Clay, and President Taylor—A +letter with their autographs that served me well.</p></li> + +<li>CHAPTER VIII</li> + +<li><span class="smcap">A Partner in the Liverpool House.</span> 1850-1852 <span class="ralign"><a href="#page90">90</a></span> +<p>In Scotland Lord John Russell receives me, and I meet +Lady Russell—Reform in the shipping business—Money +we made—The Duke of Wellington—I visit Chatsworth.</p></li> + +<li>CHAPTER IX</li> + +<li><span class="smcap">My Courtship and Marriage—Return to Liverpool.</span> + 1850-1852<span class="ralign"><a href="#page109"> 109</a></span> +<p>How I first met my wife—Engaged to marry her within +forty-eight hours—Governors in my charge—Our wedding +and the commotion that preceded it—Phrenology.</p></li> + +<li>CHAPTER X</li> + +<li><span class="smcap">Business Success in Australia.</span> 1853-1855<span class="ralign"><a href="#page126">126</a></span> +<p>A fine income at twenty-one—Melbourne in those days—American +ideas introduced—Accused of stealing $2,000,000.</p></li> + +<li>CHAPTER XI</li> + +<li><span class="smcap">The Gold-Fever in New South Wales and Tasmania.</span> + 1853-1855 <span class="ralign"><a href="#page141"> 141</a></span> +<p>Lucky and unlucky miners—David D. Porter—Sydney in +those days—Free immigrants—Sir John Franklin.</p></li> + +<li>CHAPTER XII</li> + +<li><span class="smcap">Other Australian Incidents—A Revolution</span><span class="ralign"><a href="#page156">156</a></span> +<p>Proposed as a candidate for President—Riotous times—Curious +incidents in business.</p></li> + +<li>CHAPTER XIII</li> + +<li><span class="smcap">A Voyage to China.</span> 1855 <span class="ralign"><a href="#page171">171</a></span> +<p>Failure of ambitious plans—My first love of flowers—A +remarkable Dutch colony.</p></li> +<li><p><span class="pagenum">[Pg xix]</span></p></li> + + +<li>CHAPTER XIV</li> + +<li><span class="smcap">In Chinese Cities.</span> 1855-1856 <span class="ralign"><a href="#page182">182</a></span> +<p>Hetty Green's husband in Hongkong with me—Pirates and +the slave trade—Honesty of the Chinaman—Eating rats—Pidgin-English—Li +Hung Chang on board.</p></li> + +<li>CHAPTER XV</li> + +<li><span class="smcap">To India and the Holy Land.</span> 1856<span class="ralign"><a href="#page204">204</a></span> +<p>New ideas in religion—My early Methodism recalled—Where +Christ was born.</p></li> + +<li>CHAPTER XVI</li> + +<li><span class="smcap">In the Crimea.</span> 1856 <span class="ralign"><a href="#page215">215</a></span> +<p>Plans in speculation that came to naught—The war, and +what I learned of it.</p></li> + +<li>CHAPTER XVII</li> + +<li><span class="smcap">Home Once More, and then a Return to Europe.</span> + 1856-1857<span class="ralign"><a href="#page221">221</a></span> +<p>Boston and New York after a long absence—With my wife +I go to Paris.</p></li> + +<li>CHAPTER XVIII</li> + +<li><span class="smcap">Men I Met in Paris.</span> 1857 <span class="ralign"><a href="#page226">226</a></span> +<p>A ball at the Tuileries—Eugénie very gracious to me—An +unexpected woman comes in—William H. Seward.</p></li> + +<li>CHAPTER XIX</li> + +<li><span class="smcap">Building the Atlantic and Great Western Railway.</span> + 1857-1858 <span class="ralign"><a href="#page237"> 237</a></span> +<p>Queen Maria Christina's fortune employed—Salamanca, the +banker—How I secured a great loan.</p></li> + +<li>CHAPTER XX</li> + +<li><span class="smcap">A Visit to Russia.</span> 1857 <span class="ralign"><a href="#page249"> 249</a></span> +<p>I carry a message to the Grand Duke Constantine—A dinner +with Colonel Greig—Moscow and the Nijnii Novgorod +fair.</p></li> + +<li>CHAPTER XXI</li> + +<li><span class="smcap">Building the First Street-Railways in England.</span><span class="ralign"><a href="#page259"> 259</a></span> +<p>A line in Liverpool that still exists—Making a start in +London—Better success in Staffordshire.</p></li> +<li><p><span class="pagenum">[Pg xx]</span></p></li> + + +<li>CHAPTER XXII</li> + +<li><span class="smcap">England and our Civil War—Blockade Running.</span> <span class="ralign"><a href="#page271"> 271</a></span> +<p>Speeches for the Union in London halls—A plan to end the +war—Lincoln and Seward—Arrested for interrupting Sumner +in Boston—Dining with Seward when Antietam was +fought.</p></li> + +<li>CHAPTER XXIII</li> + +<li><span class="smcap">Building the Union Pacific Railway.</span> 1862-1870<span class="ralign"><a href="#page283"> 283</a></span> +<p>Early belief in such a project—The Crédit Mobilier and its +origin—Men with whom I was<br /> associated.</p></li> + +<li>CHAPTER XXIV</li> + +<li><span class="smcap">The Development of the Far West.</span> 1863-1870<span class="ralign"><a href="#page293">293</a></span> +<p>Plan for a chain of great cities across the continent—The +creation of Omaha—Cozzen's Hotel—Tour of the Pacific +Coast.</p></li> + +<li>CHAPTER XXV</li> + +<li><span class="smcap">The Share I Had in the French Commune.</span> 1870<span class="ralign"><a href="#page301">301</a></span> +<p>In Marseilles I help to organize the "Ligue du Midi" of the +Commune or "Red Republic"—Attacked by soldiers and +almost shot—Imprisoned and poisoned—Deported by Gambetta.</p></li> + +<li>CHAPTER XXVI</li> + +<li><span class="smcap">A Candidate for President.</span> 1872<span class="ralign"><a href="#page314">314</a></span> +<p>"Train Villa" at Newport—Independent candidate for the +presidency against Grant and Greeley—A tour of the country, +in which I address hundreds of thousands.</p></li> + +<li>CHAPTER XXVII</li> + +<li><span class="smcap">Declared a Lunatic.</span> 1872-1873<span class="ralign"><a href="#page323"> 323</a></span> +<p>I defend Mrs. Woodhull—Arrested and imprisoned for +quoting Scripture—Fifteenth imprisonment without a +crime.</p></li> + +<li>CHAPTER XXVIII</li> + +<li><span class="smcap">Around the World in Eighty, Sixty-seven, and +Sixty Days.</span> 1870, 1890, 1892<span class="ralign"><a href="#page331"> 331</a></span> +<p>The tour that Jules Verne used as the basis of his famous +story—In '90 I circle the globe in 67 days; and in '92 in 60 +days.</p></li> +</ul> +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg xxi]</span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> + + +<ul class="TOC"><li> +<span class="ralign"><span class="smcap">facing</span></span><br /> +<span class="ralign"><span class="smcap">page</span></span><br /> +</li> +<li>Portrait of Citizen Train made recently <a href="#pagei"><i>Frontispiece</i></a> +</li> +<li>Portrait of Citizen Train's grandfather, the Rev. George +Pickering <span class="ralign"><a href="#page2a">2</a></span> +</li> +<li>Portrait of Mrs. George Francis Train <span class="ralign"><a href="#page110a">110</a></span> +</li> +<li>Citizen Train in the Mills Hotel dictating his Reminiscences <span class="ralign"><a href="#page200a">200</a></span> +</li> +<li>Citizen Train's former residence in Madison Avenue, +New York <span class="ralign"><a href="#page286a">286</a></span> +</li> +<li>Citizen Train's former villa at Newport <span class="ralign"><a href="#page314a">314</a></span> +</li> +<li>Citizen Train with the children in Madison Square <span class="ralign"><a href="#page324a">324</a></span> +</li> +<li>Citizen Train and his guests at dinner in the Mills +Hotel <span class="ralign"><a href="#page338a">338</a></span> +</li></ul> + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page1" name="page1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>MY LIFE IN MANY STATES AND<br /> +IN FOREIGN LANDS</h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a id="page2" name="page2"></a>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<p class="title">WHEN I WAS FOUR YEARS OLD<br /> +<br /> +1833</p> + + +<p>My grandfather was the Reverend George Pickering, +of Baltimore—a slave-owner. Having fallen +in with the early Methodists, long before Garrison, +Phillips, and Beecher had taken up the abolition +idea, he liberated his slaves and went to +preaching the Gospel. He became an itinerant +Methodist preacher, with the pitiable salary of +$300 a year. The sale of one of his "prime" +negro slaves would have brought him in more +money than four years of preaching. He would +have been stranded very soon if he had not had +the good sense to marry my beautiful grandmother, +who had a thousand-acre farm at Waltham, +ten miles out of Boston. My grandfather +thus could preach around about the neighborhood, +and then come back to the family at home. My +father married the eldest daughter of this Methodist +preaching grandfather of mine, Maria Pickering.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 2]</span></p> + +<p>I was born at No. 21 High Street, Boston, during +a snow-storm, on the 24th of March, '29. +When I was a baby, my father went to New Orleans +and opened a store. Soon after arriving in that +city I was old enough to observe things, and to remember. +I can recollect almost everything in my +life from my fourth year. From the time I was +three years old up to this present moment—a long +stretch of seventy years, the Prophet's limit of +human life—I can remember almost every event +in my life with the greatest distinctness. This +book of mine will be a pretty fair test of my +memory.</p> + +<p>I can remember the beautiful flowers of the +South. How deeply they impressed themselves +upon my mind! I can recall the garden with its +wonderful floral wealth, the gift of the Southern +sun. I can recollect exactly how the old clothesline +used to look, with its load of linen—the resting-place +of the long-bodied insects we called +"devil's darning needles," or mosquito hawks—and +how we children used to strike the line with +poles, to frighten the insects and see them fly away +on their filmy wings. And I can remember going +down to my father's store, filling the pockets of +my little frock with dried currants, which I thought +were lovely, and watching him there at his work.</p> + +<p><a id="page2a" name="page2a"></a></p> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a href="images/illus-028.png"> +<img src="images/illus-028.png" alt="Rev. George Pickering" title="Rev. George Pickering" /> +</a></div> +<p class="caption">Rev. George Pickering, George Francis Train's grandfather.</p> + +<p>Then came the terrible yellow-fever year. It +is still known there as the year of the fever, or of +the plague. This fearful epidemic swept over the +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page3" name="page3">[Pg 3]</a></span>city, and left it a city of the dead. It was a catastrophe +recalled to me by that of Martinique. My +family suffered with the rest of the city. I remember +well the horror of the time. There were +no hearses to be had. Physicians and undertakers +had gone to the grave with their patients and +patrons. The city could not afford to bury decently +so many of its dead inhabitants. And the +fear of the plague had so shaken the human soul +that men stood afar off, aghast, and did only what +they had to do in a coarse, brutal, swift burial of +the dead.</p> + +<p>There were no coffins to be had, and no one +could have got them if there had been enough of +them. Corpses were buried, all alike, in coarse +pine boxes, hastily put together in the homes—and +often by the very hands—of the relatives of the +dead. One day they brought into our home a +coarse pine box. I did not know what it was or +for what it was meant. Then I saw them take the +dead body of my little sister Josephine and put it +hastily into the rough pine box. I was too young +to understand it all, but I can never forget that +scene; it starts tears even now. After nailing up +the box and marking it to go "To the Train +Vaults," the family sat and waited for the coming +of the "dead wagon." The city sent round carters +to pick up the numerous dead, just as it had +formerly sent out scavenger carts to take away +the refuse.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 4]</span></p> + +<p>We could hear the "dead wagon" as it approached. +We knew it by the dolorous cry of the +driver. It drew nearer and nearer to our home. +It all seemed so terrible, and yet I could not understand +it. I heard the wagon stop under our +window. Now the scene all comes back to me, and +it recalls the rumble and rattle of those tumbrels +of the French Reign of Terror: only it was the +fever, instead of the guillotine, that demanded its +victims. The driver would not enter the pest-stricken +houses. He remained in his cart, and +shouted out, in a heart-tearing cry, to the inmates +to bring their dead to him. As he drove up to our +window he placed his hands around his mouth, as +a hunter does in making a halloo, and cried: +"Bring out—bring out your dead!"</p> + +<p>The long-wailed dolorous cry filled the streets, +empty of their frequenters: "Bring out—bring +out your dead!" Again at our home the cry was +heard; and I saw my father and others lift up the +coarse pine box, with the body of my little sister +shut inside, carry it to the window, and toss it into +the "dead wagon." And then the wagon rattled +away down the street, and again, as it stopped +under the window of the next house, over the +doomed city rang the weird cry: "Bring out—bring +out your dead!"</p> + +<p>A few days later another rough pine box +was brought to our home. Again I did not understand +it; but I knew more of the mystery of<span class="pagenum"><a id="page5" name="page5">[Pg 5]</a></span> +death than I had known before. Into this box +they placed the body of my little sister Louise. +Then we waited for the approach of the "dead +wagon." I knew that it would again come +to our home, to get its freight of death. I +went to the window, and looked up and down +the street, and waited. Far in the distance, +I heard the cry: "Bring out—bring out your +dead!"</p> + +<p>The wagon finally arrived. The window was +thrown open, the rude box was lifted up, taken to +the window, and thrown into the wagon, which +was already loaded with similar boxes. They +were in great haste, it seemed to me, to be rid of +the poor little box. And the carter drove on down +the street to other stricken homes, crying: "Bring +out—bring out your dead!"</p> + +<p>I now began to feel the loss of my sisters. Two +had gone. Only one was left with me, my little +sister Ellen, as frail and as lovely a flower as ever +bloomed. When the next box came, and she, dead +of the plague, was put into it, I thought it time for +me to interfere. I went to the window and stood +guard. Again came the terrible cry: "Bring out—bring +out your dead!" And my last little sister +was taken away in the "dead wagon."</p> + +<p>I was too young to understand it all, but I remember +going with my father and mother in the +carriage every time they carried one of my sisters +to the graveyard.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 6]</span></p> + +<p>The next strange thing to happen was the +arrival in the house of a box much larger than +the others. I did not know what it could be for. +The box was very rough looking. It was made of +unplaned boards. My nurse told me it was for +my mother. Again I took my stand by the window. +"Bring out—bring out your dead!" resounded +mournfully in the street just below the +window where I stood. I looked out, and there +was the "dead wagon." It had come for my +mother.</p> + +<p>I was astonished to find that they did not +throw the box containing my mother into the +wagon. It was too large and heavy. Four or five +men had to come into the house and take out the +box. It was marked "To the Train Vaults," and +was put into the wagon with the other boxes containing +dead bodies. Only my father and I sat in +the carriage that went to the cemetery and to the +vaults that day. There were my mother and my +three little sisters; all had been swept from me in +this St. Pierre style—in this volcano of yellow +fever.</p> + +<p>Finally there came one day a letter from my +grandmother, the wife of the old Methodist itinerant +preacher of Waltham: "Send on some one +of the family, before they are all dead. Send +George." And so my father made preparations +to send me back to Massachusetts. I can remember +now the exact wording of the card he wrote<span class="pagenum"><a id="page7" name="page7">[Pg 7]</a></span> +and pinned on my coat, just like the label or tag +on a bag of coffee. It read:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"This is my little son George Francis Train. Four +years old. Consigned on board the ship Henry to +John Clarke, Jr., Dock Square, Boston; to be sent +to his Grandmother Pickering, at Waltham, ten miles +from Boston. Take good care of the Little Fellow, as +he is the only one left of eleven of us in the house, +including the servants [slaves]. I will come on as +soon as I can arrange my Business."</p></blockquote> + +<p>I remember how we went down to the ship in +the river. She lay out in the broad, muddy Mississippi, +and seven other vessels lay between her +and the shore. Planks were laid on the bank, or +"levee," as they called the shore in New Orleans, +and up to the side of the nearest ship. We climbed +over these planks and passed over the seven vessels, +and came to the Henry. My father kissed +me good-by, and left me on board the ship.</p> + +<p>There I was, aboard this great vessel—for so +she seemed to me then—a little boy, without nurse +or guardian to look after me. I was just so much +freight. I was part of the cargo. We floated +down the Mississippi slowly, and floated on and +on toward the Gulf. We were floating out into the +great waters, into the great world, floating through +the waters of Gulf and ocean, floating along in the +Gulf Stream, and floating on toward my Northern +home.</p> + +<p>Thus I was floating, when I began my life +anew; and I have been floating for seventy years!<span class="pagenum"><a id="page8" name="page8">[Pg 8]</a></span></p> + +<p>When my father said good-by to me, kissing +me as we passed over the last of the seven ships +between the Henry and the shore, I saw him +put a handkerchief to his face, as if to hide from +me the tears that were in his eyes. He feared that +my little heart would break down under the strain. +But I didn't cry. Everything was so new to me. I +was too small to realize all that the parting meant +and all that had led up to it. I could not feel that +I was leaving behind me all the members of my +family—in the vaults of the graveyard. The ship +seemed a new world to me. I had no eyes for +tears—only for wonderment.</p> + +<p>For many years afterward I heard nothing of +my father. He had dropped below the horizon +when I floated down the Mississippi, and I saw +and heard nothing more of him. As my mother +and three sisters had been buried together in New +Orleans, we had taken it for granted that father +had followed them to the grave, a victim of the +same pestilence. But nothing was known as to +this for many years.</p> + +<p>We were anxious to have all the bodies brought +together in one graveyard in the North and buried +side by side. The family burying-ground was at +Waltham, where eight generations were then sleeping—that +is, eight generations of Pickerings and +Bemises. There were the bodies of my great-grandmother, +and of ancestors belonging to the +first Colonial days. My cousin, George Pickering<span class="pagenum"><a id="page9" name="page9">[Pg 9]</a></span> +Bemis, Mayor of Omaha, afterward had a monument +erected over the spot where so many Bemises +and Pickerings lay in their long rest, to preserve +their memory. But my father's body was never +to rest there; nor was it ever seen by any of his +relatives.</p> + +<p>My uncle, John Clarke, Jr., who had brought +me out of New Orleans and rescued me from the +plague, tried to find some trace of my father; but +no record or vestige of him could be found in that +city. Every trace of him had been swept away. +His very existence there had been forgotten, +erased. No one could be found who had ever heard +of him, or knew anything about his store. So +completely had the pestilence done its terrible +work of destruction and obliteration. As this +period was prior to the invention of the daguerreotype, +we had no photographs of him. The +only likenesses that were made then were expensive +miniatures on ivory. I have no picture +of him, except the one I carry forever in my +memory.</p> + +<p>Sixty years passed away. One day I received a +letter from one of my cousins, Louisa Train, who +was living in Michigan. She told me that her +father and mother had died, and that the furniture +of the old house, in which they and her grandparents +had lived, had fallen to her. "In moving +an old bureau," she wrote, "it fell to pieces, and, +to my surprise, two documents rolled upon the<span class="pagenum"><a id="page10" name="page10">[Pg 10]</a></span> +floor. These papers relate to you. One of them +was a letter from your father to his mother, written +from New Orleans shortly before you left that +city. In it he says:</p> + +<p>"'You can imagine my loneliness in being in +this great house, always so lively, with eleven persons +in it, including my own family—now all +alone. George is with his tutor. He is a very +extraordinary boy, though only four years old. +The other day he repeated some verses, of which +I can remember these lines:</p> + +<div class="poem" style="width: 28em;"> +<span class="i0">"'I am monarch of all I survey;</span> +<span class="i1">My right there is none to dispute;</span> +<span class="i0">From the center all round to the sea,</span> +<span class="i1">I am lord of the fowl and the brute.'"</span> +</div> + +<p>I was to receive one other message from my +father. Since I began writing this autobiography, +my aged aunt, Abigail Pickering Frost, now in +her ninetieth year, discovered a letter that my +father had written to her and to her sister, my +aunt Alice, who afterward married Henry A. +Winslow, upon the day that he placed me on the +ship Henry, and sent me to my grandmother at +Waltham, Mass. Aunt Abigail, after the death of +aunt Alice, who was one of the victims in the +wreck of the Lexington, in January, '40, hid the +letter in the garret of the old Waltham farmhouse, +where she later discovered it. She now sends it +to me from her home in Omaha, Neb., where it +had again been lost, and found after a long<span class="pagenum">[Pg 11]</span> +search, as she knew that I would appreciate it as +a part of my life-story.</p> + +<p>The letter came to me as a wail from the dead. +I was very young, and childish, and thoughtless +when I parted from him forever; but his letter +brought back to me in a flood the bitterness of our +life in New Orleans, the loneliness of my father in +his great grief, and made me suffer, nearly seventy +years afterward, for the pain that I was then +too young to understand or feel. I give this letter, +which is inexpressibly dear to me, just as it was +written.</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="quotdate">"<span class="smcap">New Orleans</span>, <i>June 10th, 1833</i>.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Sisters Abigail and Alice</span>: +</p> + +<p>"'Tis just two years since I left this place for +New York, and arrived in Boston the evening of +the 3d of July. I hope <span class="smcap">my dear boy</span> will arrive +safe and pass the 4th of July with you. He is now +on board the ship (and the steamboat alongside +the ship) to the Balize. I have written several letters +by the ship, and found I had a few moments +to spare which I will improve by addressing you. +I refer you to the letters to Mother Pickering for +<i>particulars</i>—as I have not time to say much. I can +only say, my dear girls, that I am very unhappy +here for reasons you well know. <i>I part with George +as though I was parting with my right eye</i>—but 'tis +for his good and the happiness of all that he +should go; take him to your own home, care, and<span class="pagenum">[Pg 12]</span> +protection; <i>he is no ordinary boy, but is destined for +a great scholar</i>.</p> + +<p>"I am left here without a friend except my God! +in a city where the cholera is raging to a great extent—100 +are dying daily! and among them some +of the most valuable citizens. A sweet little girl +about the age of Ellen, and an intimate acquaintance +of George's, who used to walk arm in arm +with him, died this morning with the cholera, and +a great number of others among our most intimate +acquaintances have passed on. Mrs. Simons +died in six hours! What is life worth to me? Oh, +my dear sisters! could I leave this dreadful place +I would, and die among my friends! The thoughts +of my dear Maria and Ellen fill me with sorrow! +I have mourned over their tombs in silence. I +have been with them in my dreams, and frequently +I meet them in my room and talk with them as +though alive. All here is melancholy. When +shall I see you, God only knows! I have relieved +my heavy heart of a burden—a weight that was +almost unsupportable.</p> + +<p>"In parting with my <i>lovely boy</i> I have bequeathed +him to Mother Pickering as a legacy—it being all +that I possess! You will take a share of the care, +and I know will be all that mothers could be for +your dear sister Maria's sake!</p> + +<p>"Give my love to Grandpa Bemis, Father Pickering, +and all the rest of the family. Say to them +that <i>my mind is constantly with them</i>, and will ever<span class="pagenum"><a id="page13" name="page13">[Pg 13]</a></span> +be so. I have written in great haste and very +badly, as I am on board the ship and <i>all is confusion</i>, +with the steamboat alongside. Farewell, my +dear sisters! Do write me a line. If you knew +how much I prize a letter from you, you would +write often. Adieu, and believe me your affectionate +brother,</p> + +<p class="quotsig">"<span class="smcap">Oliver Train.</span></p> + +<p>"To Misses <span class="smcap">Abigail</span> and <span class="smcap">Alice Pickering</span>,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;"><i>Waltham, Mass.</i>"</span> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>The other document mentioned by my cousin +Louisa, was the deed of a farm by my paternal +grandfather, making a certain physician trustee of +the property. I never came into that property! +This was my first bequest. I had begun, even in +my infancy, to give away my property, and I +have thrown it away ever since. This first +"bequest," however, was none of my making, +although I accepted it, without trying to question +the matter.</p> + +<p>Another involuntary "bequest" of my childhood +was brought about in this way. My mother, +when a girl, was engaged to marry Stebbins Fiske. +It was by a mere chance that they were not married—and +therefore my name is "Train" by a mere +accident which changed the fate of my mother and +her fiancé. My father was a warm friend of Stebbins +Fiske, and when Fiske was called suddenly +to New Orleans, just before the day set for the +marriage, he left his betrothed, Maria Pickering,<span class="pagenum"><a id="page14" name="page14">[Pg 14]</a></span> +in charge of my father. The result might have +been foreseen. It is the common theme of romance +the world over. My mother and my father +fell in love with each other, and were married. +There was no thought of unfaithfulness; it was +merely inevitable. Fiske understood the situation, +and forgave both of them, and continued the stanch +friend of both.</p> + +<p>In his will Fiske left a small sum—$5,000—to +my mother's mother. It was the most delicate +way in which he could leave some of his money +so that his old sweetheart might get it. The terms +of the will were that this money should be divided +at my grandmother's death. It was so divided, +and a certain portion of it should have come to +me; but I never received a penny. This was my +second bequest, for I allowed others to take freely +what belonged to me.</p> + +<p>My third bequest was made with my eyes open. +When I was about starting for Australia in '53, +another uncle-in-law, George W. Frost, whom I +afterward appointed purchasing agent of the +Union Pacific Railway, a splendid gentleman and +a clergyman, came to me and said: "Your Aunt +Abbie" (his wife) "and myself are going to take +care of your old grandmother on the farm. Have +you any objections to signing away your interest +in the old place?"</p> + +<p>I said that, of course, I would sign it away. I +was all right. I was going out into the great world<span class="pagenum">[Pg 15]</span> +to make fortunes. And I signed it away, as if it +were a mere nothing.</p> + +<p>These incidents I mention here as illustrations +of my whole life. Since my fourth year I have +given away—thrown away—money. I have made +others rich. But I have never yet got what was +due me from others.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 16]</span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a id="page16" name="page16"></a>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<p class="title">MY VOYAGE FROM NEW ORLEANS TO BOSTON<br /> +<br /> +1833</p> + + +<p>I found myself a part of the cargo—shipped +as freight, 2,000 miles, from the tropics to the +arctic region, without a friend to take care of +me. I was alone. This feeling, however, did not +oppress me overmuch. Every one on board tried +to make a pet of me, and, besides, there was so +much to do, so much to see, so much to feel. From +cabin to fo'cas'le I was made welcome.</p> + +<p>There was only one cabin passenger besides +myself. I sat at table opposite this passenger, and +I remember that at the first meal they brought on +some "flapjacks" (our present-day wheat-cakes). +I was very fond of them, and ate them with sirup +or molasses. I noticed that my companion in the +cabin did not use molasses with his. I could not +understand why any one should eat his flapjacks +without molasses.</p> + +<p>I thought this stranger too ignorant to know +that molasses was the proper thing with flapjacks, +and tried to help him to a fuller knowledge of the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 17]</span> +resources of the table. I reached over, and tried +to pour some molasses on his plate. Just then a +heavy sea struck the ship, and I was thrown forward +with a lurch. The entire contents of the +molasses jug went in a flood over the man's trousers! +Of course he was furious, and did not appreciate +my efforts to teach him. I expected him +to strike me, but he did not. It did not occur to +me to beg his pardon, as I was doing what I +thought to be a pure act of kindness. We afterward +became good friends.</p> + +<p>We were twenty-three days on the voyage. Before +we had been aboard long I became friendly +with everybody on the ship, and they with me. +I was very active, and had the run of the boat. I +was like a parrot, a goat, or a monkey—or all +three. There was no stewardess on the boat, and +as I had no one to look after me, I led a wild sort +of life. I lived in the fo'cas'le, or with the sailors +on deck or in the riggings. I liked the fo'cas'le +best. I soon got to feel at home there. Sometimes +I was in the cabin with my molasses-hating friend, +but the fo'cas'le was my delight, and there I was +to be found at all hours. During the twenty-three +days of the voyage I was not washed once! I wore +the same clothes days and nights, and became a +little dirty savage!</p> + +<p>It may be easily imagined that communication +with these rough, coarse, honest, but vulgar sailors +had a terrible effect on me. Everything bad<span class="pagenum">[Pg 18]</span> +that is known to sailors these sailors knew, and +very soon I knew. I observed everything, learned +everything. I soon cursed and swore as roundly +as any of them, using the words as innocently as if +they were quotations from the Bible.</p> + +<p>One of the games the sailors used to play with +me was to go up into the rigging and call down to +me that there was a great plantation up there that +I could not see. Then they would throw lumps of +sugar to me and tell me they came from the plantation +in the rigging, and monkeys were throwing +them to me. Of course I believed it all. How was +I to know they were lying to me? I was only four +years old. They stamped upon my mind the whole +fo'cas'le—its rough life, its jollity, its oaths, and +its lies.</p> + +<p>As soon as our ship came to anchor out came a +boat with my uncle. I remember that there was a +little dog in the boat also. My uncle took me to +the wharf, and then to his tobacco store in Dock +Square. There I found awaiting us an old-fashioned +chaise, and my uncle said he would take +me right out to my grandmother's, at Waltham. +The drive took us through two or three villages, +and through several strips of forest. Finally we +drove up to a little gate that stood about half a +mile from the old farmhouse, and divided the next +place from the farm of my grandmother. There +were my aunts, all waiting for me.</p> + +<p>Imagine the astonishment of my grandmother<span class="pagenum"><a id="page19" name="page19">[Pg 19]</a></span> +and of my aunts on seeing the dirty little street +Arab that came to see them! I was as intolerably +filthy as any brat that ever came out of a sewer. +I fairly reeked with the smells and the dirt of the +fo'cas'le! To the dust and grime of New Orleans +I had added the dust and grime of the ship, for I +had not been near soap and water since I left New +Orleans. Fancy going to these clean and prim old +ladies in such a plight! But I was at least in +good health, and magnificently alive.</p> + +<p>The first thing they did was to summon a sort +of town-meeting, to have me narrate the events +of my voyage. But before I was to go before my +audience I must be washed and have a change of +clothes. This part of the program was postponed +by an accident. The ladies heard me swear! It +shocked their gentle minds immeasurably. But I +didn't know what swearing meant.</p> + +<p>What can not a boy learn in three weeks that is +bad? I suppose I must have picked up all the +wickedness of the fo'cas'le without knowing what +it was. It seemed all right to me; but not to my +good grandmother and to my aunts.</p> + +<p>They wanted to cleanse me outwardly and inwardly, +and prepared to start outwardly. They +insisted that I must change my clothes and have +a good scrubbing. But before they began I told +them some of my experiences aboard ship. I told +them about the sailors getting sugar from the +plantation up in the riggings and the monkeys<span class="pagenum">[Pg 20]</span> +throwing it down to me. They told me there were +no fields up there, no monkeys and no sugar, except +what the sailors had carried up with them.</p> + +<p>I was indignant. "If you don't believe my +story," said I, "about the plantation in the rigging +and about the monkeys and the sugar, you can not +wash me or change my clothes."</p> + +<p>The line of battle was now drawn. If they did +not want to believe my story, I was not going to +let them do anything for me. That monkey-and-sugar +story was my ultimatum. They refused to +accept it. For three days they laid siege to me, +but I refused to be washed or clothed in a fresh +clean suit until they believed my story. I felt I +was telling the truth, and could not bear to have +my word doubted. Finally they said that they +believed my story.</p> + +<p>There is an old tale of a boy who was told by +his parents, who did not want him to cling any +longer to the old myth about Santa Claus, that it +was not Santa Claus that brought him all the good +things on Christmas, but that they, his parents, +had been giving him the presents year after year. +The boy turned to his mother and said: "Have +you been fooling me about the God question too?"<span class="pagenum">[Pg 21]</span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a id="page21" name="page21"></a>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<p class="title">MY BOYHOOD ON A FARM<br /> +<br /> +1833-1843</p> + + +<p>The old house where I spent these years of my +childhood and boyhood is now more than two hundred +years old. It was the home of the old Methodists +in that section, and had been the headquarters +of the sect for a hundred years before it began +to have regular "conferences." Here lived the +slave-owner Pickering, who married my grandmother, +the farmer's daughter. If it had not been +for this home, which was a refuge and asylum +for the itinerant preacher, grandfather Pickering +would have starved. The farm was his anchorage. +Otherwise he would have gone adrift.</p> + +<p>A religious atmosphere pervaded the place. It +left the deepest impress upon my mind. The only +paper we took was Zion's Herald, a religious +weekly published by Stevens, of Boston. The difference +between this calm, religious life of the +Methodists and the turbulent, rough, and swearing +life of the fo'cas'le was very marked. But it +took me a long time to get away from the atmos<span class="pagenum">[Pg 22]</span>phere +of the fo'cas'le and into that of the Methodists. +Even the bath and the clean clothes did +not seem to change me very much. I discovered +that cleanliness is not so very near to godliness, +after all.</p> + +<p>Of course the old Methodists had prayers in +the morning and at night, and they had grace at +every meal. Every one knelt at prayers. But +they could not make me kneel. I would not bow +the knee. I had not got over the sailors' ways, +and the monkeys, and the throwing down sugar +from the plantation in the sails—the Santa Claus +part of it. I always remembered it.</p> + +<p>Of course I was taken to the little church, a +mile off up in the woods, where my grandfather +preached. It was in his "circuit." As we were +coming home one day, and I was driving, the +chaise struck a stone, and the old gentleman was +jostled considerably. He impatiently seized the +reins from me and gave the horse a severe flip +with them, and drove the rest of the way himself. +The little incident made a deep impression on my +mind. I said to myself: "If this is the way +Christians act, I do not want to have anything to +do with them."</p> + +<p>The Pickerings were an ancient Southern—and +before that, an English—family. Some of the members +lived in South Carolina, some in Virginia, +others in Maryland. One of them sat in Washington's +first cabinet. Like my grandfather, they<span class="pagenum"><a id="page23" name="page23">[Pg 23]</a></span> +were all slave-owners. Judge Gilbert Pickering +was chairman of Cromwell's committee that cut +off King Charles's head. Grandfather Pickering +was a liberal man in many ways. I have spoken +already of his freeing his own slaves. He chose +the calling of an itinerant Methodist preacher, +when to do so meant tremendous financial sacrifice +and the loss of social rank. He almost starved at +it, but he stuck to it with great nobleness of mind. +It gave him a sort of religious freedom.</p> + +<p>Once he could have been a bishop in the New +England branch of Methodism; but he refused the +ambitious title. He did not believe in bishops for +their church. And so, setting aside every offer of +preferment, every opportunity of rising or getting +on in the world, he chose to labor at his simple +calling, like a martyr. And he would shortly have +found martyrdom in starvation, had it not been +for my lovely grandmother, with her thrift and +care.</p> + +<p>The branch of Methodists to which my grandfather +belonged was very liberal. It was so liberal, +indeed, that my mother and her five sisters +had all been educated at the Ursuline convent at +Charlestown, Mass., which was destroyed by the +mob in '42. I remember that after the mob +burned this convent to the ground the Methodists +wanted to buy the site, and applied to the Roman +Catholic archbishop in Boston, who replied: "We +sometimes purchase, but we never sell."<span class="pagenum"><a id="page24" name="page24">[Pg 24]</a></span></p> + +<p>Another incident of my boyhood may be recalled +here, as it illustrates the stubborn pride +that had begun to show itself even then. One day +an elegant carriage drove up to the old house, and +a young lady, beautifully dressed, got out and +asked to see George Train. I went up to her, and +she told me who she was.</p> + +<p>"You must remember, when you grow up," she +said, "that I am Miss Sallie Rhoades. We are one +of the few families of Maryland," she added, with +a pride that was evident even to my boyish eyes, +"that have been able to support their carriages for +one hundred and fifty years." She spoke with the +air of a <i>grande dame</i>, which stung my own pride +keenly.</p> + +<p>"While I am very glad to meet my Southern +relative," I said, with equal pride, even if I could +not equal her manner, "we have kept our ox-cart +on the old farm for two hundred years." I expected +the additional half a century to stagger her. +But it did not seem to reach home; and she drove +away. This was the last I ever saw of "Miss +Sallie Rhoades, of Maryland."</p> + +<p>In those days in New England we had to depend +very much on ourselves on the farm, and we +made as much of supplies as possible. I became +an adept at making currant wine, cider, maple +sugar, molasses candy, and sausages. I used also +to make the candles we burned on the place, molding +them half a dozen at a time in the old candle<span class="pagenum">[Pg 25]</span> +mold, which was never absent from a country +house of that day. So, in my lifetime, I have +passed from the period of the tallow dip to the +electric light.</p> + +<p>From four to ten years of age I earned my own +living on the old farm. I believe it is the only instance +in the world where a child of four supported +himself in this way. What I mean by earning my +own living is, that while the expense of keeping a +little youngster like me was very small, I earned +more than enough to pay my way. I dressed myself. +No one took care of me. I was left pretty +much alone, except in the way of receiving religious +admonition. I was always running errands +for the men and women of the place. There was +constantly something for me to do.</p> + +<p>Moreover, I was very ambitious. I wanted to +know everything that was going on about me. +This has ever been my characteristic. I was born +inquisitive. I have never been afraid to ask questions. +If I ever saw anything I did not understand, +I asked about it; and the information stuck +in my mind, like a burr. I never forgot. I soon +learned everything there was to be learned on the +farm.</p> + +<p>The room I slept in was a great wide one, and +I slept alone. I was not afraid; but I remember +the great size and depth of that cold New England +room.</p> + +<p>Life on the farm was busy enough. I often set<span class="pagenum">[Pg 26]</span> +the table and did other things that the hired girl +did, and could soon do almost everything just as +well as she—from setting the table to preparing a +meal. All this I learned before I was ten years +old. I mention these little details merely to show +the difference between the life I had to lead in old +New England and the life my children and grandchildren +have since led.</p> + +<p>One blessing and glory was that I had the universal +atmosphere. The woods and fields were +mine. I could roam in the forest and over the +fields at will. The great farm was a delight to +me. I was never afraid anywhere. In those +days there were no "hoboes" or "hoodlums" +roaming over the country. We kept no locks on +our doors, or clasps on the windows. Everything +was open.</p> + +<p>On the farm, as about the house, I soon learned +everything that I could. I learned to sow and +reap, to plant various crops, to plow, hoe, mow, +harvest. And I had a special garden of my own, +where I raised a little of everything—onions, lettuce, +cucumbers, parsnips, and other vegetables. +I knew their seasons, the time to plant them, and +when to gather them. I was an observer from the +cradle. Little escaped my eyes. And I have +made it a practise all through my life to master +everything as I came to it.</p> + +<p>Of books I saw little in those days. The only +ones we had on the farm place, in what was termed<span class="pagenum">[Pg 27]</span> +by courtesy the "library," were the Waverley +Novels, Jane Porter's Scottish Chiefs, Watts's +Hymns, and the Bible. There was, of course, +Zion's Herald, the religious weekly paper from +Boston I have already mentioned. These were +our literature. I read everything I could get hold +of, and soon exhausted the small resources of the +farm library.</p> + +<p>We were so far from the village and the more +frequented roads that the only persons who came +to our house were peddlers, who sold us kitchen +utensils, such as tin pans and buckets, and the lone +fisherman, who would always sound his horn a mile +away to warn us of his approach.</p> + +<p>The old house had the usual New England parlor +or drawing-room, the room of ceremony, never +aired until some guest came to occupy it, or there +was a funeral or baptism in it. I have never found +farmers, anywhere in the world, who had any idea +of ventilation. They slept in closed rooms, without +any regard to health or cleanliness—for nothing +is so cleansing as fresh, pure air. There was +the old fireplace, with the great andirons that could +sustain the weight of a forest tree, and often did. +Everything was a century old, and just that much +behind the day; but that was then the case everywhere +in New England rural sections.</p> + +<p>And what fires we used to have in that cavernous +chimney! We would place a tremendous log +on the andirons, and build a fire about it. Soon it<span class="pagenum">[Pg 28]</span> +would give out a terrific heat, but it was not sufficient +to warm up the great room, into which the +cold air swept through a thousand cracks and +chinks. Our faces, bending over the blazing log, +would be fairly blistered, while our backs would +be chilled with cold. The farther end of the room +would be icy cold, for drafts had free play. The +house was poorly built, so far as comfort was concerned, +although it was stout enough to last a +couple of centuries. Not only the winds but the +snow found easy entrance. If it snowed during +the night, I would find a streak of snow lying +athwart the room the next morning, often putting +my bare feet in it as I got up in the darkness.</p> + +<p>The ignorance of the Puritan farmers of New +England was the densest ignorance that I have +ever seen, even among farmers. They knew nothing, +and seemed to care nothing, about the laws +of health or economy. They were content to live +exactly in the way their ancestors had lived for +generations. They learned nothing, and forgot +nothing—like the Bourbons.</p> + +<p>This suggests to me the fact that the climate +of New England has changed tremendously since +I was a boy. Most old people say something like +this. When I was a boy there was snow every +winter and all winter. Now there is comparatively +little snow. Then it used to begin in November, +and we were practically shut in on our farms, +often even in our houses, for the winter. For six<span class="pagenum">[Pg 29]</span> +months the snow covered the earth. When we +wanted to get out, we had to break our way out +with an ox-sled. The old climate of New England +has gone.</p> + +<p>When I was ten years old I began taking +"truck" to the old Quincy market in Boston. It +was ten miles away, but I soon got accustomed to +going there alone and selling out the farm produce +and vegetables. I had to get up at four o'clock +in the mornings, in order to look after the horse +and to harness him. He was called "Old Tom," +and was a faithful, trustworthy animal.</p> + +<p>I would arrive at the market before dawn, and +would back the wagon up against the market-house +and wait for the light. I fed the horse, and +now and then, if the weather was particularly bad, +I would put him in a stable for a few hours, at a +cost of fifty cents, and feed him on oats.</p> + +<p>After closing out the "truck," I would drive +to Cambridgeport, where I bought the groceries +and other supplies for the farm. My grandmother +trusted all this to me. After this I got a luncheon, +which cost me a "shilling cut," as it was called +then—twelve and a half cents. Then I would drive +home, and could give to grandmother a full and +itemized account of everything, without having +set down a word or a figure on paper. This went +on for two or three years.</p> + +<p>For amusement, as I have said, I had the universal +atmosphere, and I had the great old farm,<span class="pagenum"><a id="page30" name="page30">[Pg 30]</a></span> +and the forest and the fields. I had them all to +myself. I roamed over them, and through them, +at will. I used to set box-traps for rabbits and +snares for partridges. I had a little gun, also, and +a little dog, with which I would hunt rabbits or +squirrels. The dog I have always regarded with +wonder. He could see a gray squirrel at the top +of a tree half a mile away. Some persons think +he smelled the squirrel, but I am certain he saw it. +And he was only a mongrel, at that. He would +lead me to a tree, and I would shoot the squirrel. +The little dog—a sort of fox terrier—was the only +real friend I ever had. He was my constant companion, +whenever I could get to him or he to me. +In the winter I used him as a warming-pan. The +old farmhouse was cold—very cold. We had no +means of heating it. At night I would find the +sheets of my bed as cold as an ice-floe. Then I +would send my little dog down under the covering, +and he would stay there until he had warmed up +the bed.</p> + +<p>Then there was pigeon-netting. This is an old +sport that has, I suppose, died out in New England. +In my boyhood, however, great flocks of +wild pigeons used to come to the New England +woods and forests. The device for catching large +numbers of them by netting was quite primitive, +but effective.</p> + +<p>My uncle Francis (for whom I was named), +whom I used to help net pigeons, was quite a<span class="pagenum">[Pg 31]</span> +sportsman. He was fond of fishing, and he was +a great hand at the nets. We had two places for +spreading the nets, one in the "vineyard" and the +other in a "burnt-hill" in the forest. All the +foliage was stripped from several trees that were +close together. Then we would arrange the net so +it could be drawn together at the right time, spread +it over the ground, and bait it. Then we would +plant our stool-pigeons. As soon as we saw a +flock of pigeons approaching we would stir the +stool-pigeons by pulling on a string to which +they were attached. They would move about, as +if they were really alive. The pigeons would +circle about the spot, attracted by the fluttering +stool-pigeons, and then they would catch sight of +the grain and come down. When the net was +filled with them, we would draw the strings, +and sometimes we caught as many as a hundred +at a time. They were then killed and +sold.</p> + +<p>By such work as this I was earning my own +support. This is a sample of my life on the farm +from four to ten years. I wore one suit of clothes +a year, and the suit cost originally not more than +$10, and was made at home. I had some little +pocket-money occasionally. I was permitted to +sell the rabbits and partridges, the spoil of my +traps and gun. These small resources usually +enabled me to keep a few cents—sometimes a few +dollars—in my pockets.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page32" name="page32">[Pg 32]</a></span></p> + +<p>There is nothing more extravagant and truly +wasteful than a boy with a few dollars in his pockets. +He can throw away his slender fortune with +magnificent bravado. One summer I had accumulated +$17, and, naturally, I was itching to spend it. +The hired man was going up to Concord to help +celebrate "Cornwallis Day" (October 19), and I +got consent to accompany him. There was to be +a fair, and I took my money with me—very +stupidly. The memory of it was soon all that remained.</p> + +<p>My first step in extravagance was the purchase +of a bunch of firecrackers. It cost me, apparently, +ten cents; but actually it was my financial undoing, +and cost me $17. I began to pop the crackers, and +soon had a crowd of boys around me. They were +envious of me. They didn't have money to buy +crackers. I popped away with great nonchalance, +but husbanding my ammunition and popping +only a single cracker at a time. This was +strategy of a high order; but I could not keep it +up. I didn't know the resourcefulness of boy-nature. +Presently, I heard a boy whisper just behind +me, to one of his companions: "Just wait a +minute, and you will see him touch off the whole +pack!"</p> + +<p>This was irresistible. My blood was fired with +ambition. I fired the whole bunch at once! The +hurrahs and yells were tremendous, and set me +wild. I went and bought another bunch, and<span class="pagenum">[Pg 33]</span> +set it all off at one time, as if firecrackers were no +new thing to me. But my recklessness was not +to stop there. I had been carried off my feet by +the hurrah, as many an older person has been +before.</p> + +<p>Our hired man came to me and said that a very +pretty thing was going on near by. I went with +him, and saw a man playing a game with three +thimbles, a pea, and a green cushion. The game +was to guess under which of the thimbles the pea +was concealed. The hired man thought he knew +and insisted that he knew, and the gamester wanted +to bet him that he didn't. After a while another +man came up and tried his hand at guessing. He +also missed. The loss of his money made him indignant, +and he took up another of the thimbles. +The pea was not there.</p> + +<p>The thing then seemed so easy to our hired +man that he asked to try a dollar on the game. +Then the irate man who had lost his money took +up the other thimble and brushed the pea off the +cushion. Our hired man, who let nothing that was +going on about the green cushion escape his +sight, saw the pea swept away, and eagerly bet +the dealer that there was no pea there at all. The +dealer took him up, and lifted the thimble, and lo! +there was the pea. This did not satisfy the hired +man, who kept on betting, and losing until he had +no money left. Thus our savings went up in +powder smoke and in guesses at the whereabouts<span class="pagenum">[Pg 34]</span> +of a fleeting pea. I did not gamble then, nor have +I gambled since.</p> + +<p>But the firecracker day had its lessons for me. +It taught me some things about money and its +power, and it got me interested in Cornwallis. I +began to read American history.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 35]</span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a id="page35" name="page35"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<p class="title">SCHOOLDAYS AND A START IN LIFE<br /> +<br /> +1840-1844</p> + + +<p>I went to school, of course, for this was a part +of the serious business of New England life. Our +schoolhouse was two and a half miles distant, and +the path to it lay across half a dozen farms and +ran through the forest for a mile. There I was +taught the "three R's," and nothing else. There +was no thought of Latin or Greek, and, except the +little 'rithmetic, no mathematics. I learned to +cipher, read, and write; but I learned these rudimentary +branches very rapidly. At night, in the +old farmhouse, my aunts would go over the tasks +of the day with me.</p> + +<p>Our principal diversions were in the winter, +when we had delightful sleighing parties. The +school-children always had one great picnic. +There would be a six-horse sleigh, and the teacher +would be in charge of the party. We visited the +surrounding towns, and it was a great affair to +us. We looked forward to it from the very commencement +of the school year. On examination<span class="pagenum"><a id="page36" name="page36">[Pg 36]</a></span> +day, at the close of the term, we children had to +clean the schoolhouse. There was no janitor, as +now. But we enjoyed the work, and took a certain +childish pride in it.</p> + +<p>I remember that one of my earliest ambitions +was gratified at that period when I was chosen +leader of the school. I stood at the head of everything. +And it was no idle compliment. Boys are +not, like their elders, influenced by envy or jealousy. +They invariably try to select the best +"man" among them for their leader. Jealousies, +envy, and heart-burnings come afterward.</p> + +<p>Reading the account of the collision between +the Priscilla and the Powhatan in the Sound off +Newport, this year, and the peril that threatened +five hundred passengers, there came to my +mind the recollection of a catastrophe that happened +sixty-two years ago, and how the tidings +were brought to me. I can live over again the +horror of that day. I recall that it was in January, +'40.</p> + +<p>It was a stormy, bitter day, and I was in the +little schoolhouse at Pond End, two and a half +miles from the farm. The snow had been falling +a long while, and everything was covered with it. +As the day advanced, and the snow piled deeper +and ever deeper about the little house, and covered +the forests and fields with a thicker blanket +of white, we began to grow anxious. Now and then +a sleigh would drive up through the drifting, fly<span class="pagenum"><a id="page37" name="page37">[Pg 37]</a></span>ing +snow, and the father and mother of some child +in the school would come in and take away the +little boy or girl and disappear in the storm. I +began to think, with dread, of how I, a little fellow, +would be able to find my way home through the +blinding snow, when suddenly there came a tap +on the door. The teacher went to the door, and +called to me: "George, your uncle Emery Bemis +has just arrived from Boston in his sleigh, and +wants to take you home with him."</p> + +<p>When I got into the sleigh he seemed to be +very sad. He sat quiet for some little time, and +then turned to me and said: "George, I have some +terrible news for your grandmother. She is at the +farmhouse now, waiting to see her youngest +daughter, your aunt Alice. Your grandmother +expects me to bring her. She was coming from +New York on the steamer Lexington, with the dead +body of her husband [and his brother and father], +which she wanted to bury in the family graveyard. +There were three hundred passengers on the ship. +The Lexington was wrecked and burned in the +Sound, and three hundred persons were lost—burned +or drowned. Your aunt was lost. Only +five passengers were saved."</p> + +<p>Such were the horrible tidings my uncle was +bearing to my grandmother and my aunts, instead +of the living presence they were expecting. This +incident left an ineradicable impression upon my +mind. There was one peculiar thing about the ac<span class="pagenum"><a id="page38" name="page38">[Pg 38]</a></span>cident +of the Lexington that struck me at the time +as being weird and unforgettable. When the ship +went to pieces the pilot-house was shattered, and +a portion of it floated away and lodged against the +rocks near the shore. The bell itself was uninjured, +and still swung from its hangings, and there +it remained, clanging dolorously in every wind. +It seemed to my boyish fancy to be tolling perpetually +for the dead of the Lexington.</p> + +<p>Years afterward, while making a speech in a +political campaign, I made use of this incident. I +said the Democratic party of the day was adrift +from its ancient moorings, and was always calling +up something of the remote past. It was like the +bell of the Lexington, caught upon the rocks that +had wrecked the ship and tolling forever for the +dead.</p> + +<p>George Ripley, who was the leader at Brook +Farm and, long afterward, was associated with +Charles A. Dana in the preparation of the American +Cyclopedia, was at one time my school-teacher +on Waltham Plains. General Nathaniel P. Banks, +who was a few years older than I, was chairman +of our library committee. We used to have lectures +in Rumford Hall. (By the way, this hall +was named for Count Rumford, whom most persons +take to have been a German or other foreigner, +on account of his foreign title; but he was +an American.) The lecture night was always a +great event in Waltham. One day a man came to<span class="pagenum"><a id="page39" name="page39">[Pg 39]</a></span> +me and said, "Here is a remarkable letter." He +read it to me, and it was as follows:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"<i>To the Library Committee, Waltham:</i></p> + +<p>"I will come to lecture for $5 for myself, but +ask you for four quarts of oats for my horse.</p> + +<p class="quotsig">"<span class="smcap">Ralph Waldo Emerson.</span>"</p></blockquote> + +<p>The lecture that Mr. Emerson delivered for +us boys of the library committee in Waltham was +entitled "Nature." We paid him $5 and four +quarts of oats for it. He delivered it many times +afterward, when his name was on every lip in the +civilized world, and he received $150 to $500 for +each delivery. He was just as great then, in that +hour in the little old town of Waltham; it was the +same lecture, with the same exquisite thought and +marvelous wisdom; but it took years for the world +to recognize the greatness and the beauty and the +wisdom of him, and to value them at their higher +worth. The world paid for the name, not for the +lecture or the truth and beauty.</p> + +<p>During this period I attended school for three +months every summer. My grandparents wanted +to make a clergyman of me. But that sort of +thing was not in me. I was sent up to Mr. Leonard +Frost, at Framingham, ten miles distant, and +lived with him. Certainly my board could not +have been more than $2 a week, and the tuition +amounted to scarcely anything. I was with Mr.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 40]</span> +Frost just three months, at a total expenditure for +educational purposes of about $25! This constituted +my college education. I was then fourteen +years old; and this is all the school education I +have ever had.</p> + +<p>The chief game we played when I was a boy +was what we called "round ball," which has now +developed into the national game of baseball. I +was quite an adept at the game, as I took great interest +always in all sports and easily excelled in +them. I had also a fancy for chemistry, and my +first experiment was the result of sitting down +upon a bottle of chemicals. It cost me certain portions +of my clothing, and made a lasting impression +upon me. It effectually put an end to my +desire to study chemistry further.</p> + +<p>About this time a sweeping change came +in my life. One day I happened to overhear my +aunts talking about my future. The good ladies +had come to the conclusion that a clergyman's life +was not the life for me; so they were debating the +question of sending me out to learn a trade. They +said it was evident that I would not be a clergyman, +a doctor, or a lawyer; so I must be a blacksmith, +or a carpenter, or a mason. Now I did not +want to be any of these things.</p> + +<p>As soon as I got an opportunity I told my aunts +that I did not intend to be a carpenter, or a mason, +or a blacksmith. I said I was going down to Boston—not +to the market, but to get a position some<span class="pagenum">[Pg 41]</span>where. +They were astounded. They could not believe +their ears. But I went.</p> + +<p>The city seemed bigger than ever, now that I +had to face it and conquer it, or have it conquer +me. But I was not beaten before the fight. I began +walking through the streets with as bold a +heart as I could summon, and kept searching the +windows and doors for any sign of "Boy wanted." +I had seen such notices pasted up in windows when +I came into the town on marketing trips.</p> + +<p>Finally I saw such a sign on a drug-store in +Washington Street, and walked in. I told the +druggist I should like to go to work. He offered +me my board and lodging for looking after the +place. I asked him what sort of clothes he wanted +me to wear, and he replied that the suit I had on—my +Sunday clothes—would do for every day. +I was quite happy and started to work.</p> + +<p>The first night I slept in the same building +with the store, but above it. About one o'clock in +the morning the bell rang. Some one wanted the +doctor at once. I said I wasn't a doctor, and that +the doctor was not there. The messenger ran off. +This was bad enough, to be routed up in the middle +of the night that way. The next day the druggist +went away from the store on some business. +I sampled everything edible in the place. I tried +the different kinds of candy, and sirups, and then +went out and bought some lemonade and a dozen +raw oysters. The result may be imagined. After<span class="pagenum"><a id="page42" name="page42">[Pg 42]</a></span> +a few minutes of Mont Pelée, I decided that I had +had enough of the drug business. I told the druggist +my decision, shut the door, and left the store, +a disappointed and lonely little fellow.</p> + +<p>I hesitated as to my next step. But there was +the old farmhouse—and it invited me very tenderly +just then to return. I was not conquered yet, but +would fight on. I turned, as if by instinct, toward +Cambridgeport, the scene of my traffickings with +the grocer. My uncle Clarke lived there, the +uncle that had brought me on from New Orleans; +but I could not make up my mind to go to him, +either. The family would laugh at me. No! I +would get another place—but it would not be in a +drug-store!</p> + +<p>Then I had an inspiration. There was the +grocer named Holmes! Why not try him? I would. +So I went to the store of Joseph A. Holmes, at +the corner of Main Street and Brighton Road. To +my eager inquiry, Mr. Holmes said: "You have +come just in time. We want a boy." Then he +asked me what wages I wanted. "Just enough to +live on," I said. "You can live with us," he said; +"and I will give you one dollar a week." That +meant $50 a year. It was a great sum to me. I +began to work at once.</p> + +<p>This was the winter of '43-'44, and I was +fourteen. My work was to drive the grocery +wagon up to Old Cambridgeport, take orders, and +fill them. I had to get up at four o'clock in the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 43]</span> +morning to look after the horse, just as I had done +on the farm, and to get everything ready for the +trip. I had the orders of the day before to fill and +to deliver at the college. Besides, I had to work in +the store after I came back from Old Cambridgeport. +In the evening I had to look after the lamps, +sweep out, put up the shutters, and do numberless +other little things about the store. The store was +closed at ten o'clock at night. Then I would put +out the lights, which were old-fashioned oil lamps.</p> + +<p>It was a long day for a boy—or for a man. I +worked eighteen hours every day. And the laborers +in the Pennsylvania coal-mines are now striking +for an eight-hour day! I had six hours of +night in which to go to bed and to find what sleep +I could. This life continued for about two years. +In that time I had learned to do almost everything +that was to be done about a grocery store. I had +really learned this in the first six months.</p> + +<p>One of my many little duties was to make paper +bags. I had to cut the paper and paste it together. +Another task was to take a hogshead of hams, put +each ham in bagging, and sew it up. Then I had +to whitewash each particular ham. That was a +nice business! It went against my nature more +than any other part of my manifold labors in the +store.</p> + +<p>Mr. Holmes was a Baptist deacon, but the only +thing about him to which my youthful taste objected +was that he chewed tobacco all the time.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page44" name="page44">[Pg 44]</a></span> +Yes, there was another objection. He insisted +upon my joining the Bible class in his Sunday-school. +This I would not do. I could not explain +it all to him; but the Santa Claus matter had not +yet worn out of my mind.</p> + +<p>One day at the grocery store, Mr. Holmes +brought in an elderly gentleman and said to me: +"George, I want you to take this gentleman" +(naming him) "up to the college, and walk about +with him." The gentleman seemed to me to be +about sixty years old. Mr. Holmes cautioned me +about keeping him out of any danger, as he was +not very well. "Don't talk to him," he said to me, +"unless he wants to talk to you."</p> + +<p>The thing was like a holiday to me. I walked +with him up to the college, and all around, as much +as he wanted to; and it never occurred to me, in +all the days I was with him in this way, to find out +who he was, or to think about it at all.</p> + +<p>He was John Jacob Astor, Jr., eldest son of +the founder of the great house of the Astors. He +was practically an invalid. He was then in charge +of a Mr. Dowse, who generally left him to the care +of Mr. Holmes, and who, in turn, left him to me. +After this, he came to New York, where he was +taken in charge by his brother, William B. Astor.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 45]</span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a id="page45" name="page45"></a>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<p class="title">EARLY NEW ENGLAND METHODISM</p> + + +<p>Before I get away from my boyhood days, I +want to say something about the manner of my +rearing in the bosom of old New England Methodism. +I was reared in the strictest ways of morality, +in accordance with the old system. Grandmother +told me that I must not swear, must not +drink intoxicating liquors, must not lie, must not +use tobacco in any form. It seemed to me she was +stretching out the moral law a little, and that there +were fifteen, instead of ten, commandments, in the +religious scheme of Methodism. And each commandment +was held up to me as an unfailing precept +that would make a man of me. I used to say +to myself that I would be fifteen times a man, as +I intended to keep them all.</p> + +<p>But while this training was proceeding, and I +was being warned against drinking and using tobacco, +there were some strange inconsistencies +going on side by side with the precepts. My old +grandmother smoked what was known as "nigger-head" +tobacco, in a little clay pipe. The pipes<span class="pagenum">[Pg 46]</span> +cost about a cent apiece. I used to cut up this tobacco +for her. But as she smoked, she lost no +opportunity of impressing upon me the dreadfulness +of the tobacco habit.</p> + +<p>I made bold one day to ask her why it was that +she smoked, and yet told me not to smoke. She +touched herself in the right side, and said, "The +doctor tells me to smoke for some trouble here." +But she was a very lovely old lady, and I would +never write or speak a word that could harm the +dear memory of the mother of my mother.</p> + +<p>At this time, also, her father was living. I remember +the old gentleman now, in his red cap, then +a wonder to me, but which afterward became very +familiar in Constantinople and the East as the +Turkish fez. He was very aged, being then well +along in the eighties. Every night I used to go up +to his room and make him a toddy. He always +wanted me to mix this drink for him, as I had +learned to make it exactly to his taste. He had the +rare consistency never to say anything to me about +the immorality of drinking, nor did I ever speak +to him about the matter. But one day I asked my +grandmother about this "toddy." She touched +her left side, and said, "It is for something +here."</p> + +<p>I could not understand it, but here were mysterious +"somethings" in my grandmother's right +side, and in her father's left side, that nullified +the Methodist religious system and set at naught<span class="pagenum"><a id="page47" name="page47">[Pg 47]</a></span> +the additional commandments, "Thou shalt not +drink," and "Thou shalt not smoke."</p> + +<p>But the scheme of morality proved a good thing +for me, and served to guide me aright in all my +wanderings about the world and up and down in it. +I think it very good testimony to the soundness +and virtue of my moral training that I have wandered +around the world four times, have lived in +every manner known to man, have been thrown +with the most dissolute and the most reckless of +mankind, and have passed through almost every +vicissitude of fortune, and have never tasted a +drop of intoxicating liquor, and have never +smoked. I have kept all of the commandments—those +of Sinai and those of the Methodists.</p> + +<p>In my period of wealth and prosperity, I have +entertained thousands of men, have seen thousands +drinking and drunken at my table—and under it; +but I never touched a drop of my own wine or of +the wine of others. I have paid a great deal of +money for the purchase of all sorts of tobacco, +and for all sorts of pipes—narghiles, hookas, chibouks—as +presents for others; but never touched +tobacco myself in any way. I have been in every +rat-hole of the world—but I never touched the +rats. It is for these reasons that I am seventy-three +years young, and am hale and strong to-day, +and living my life over again like a youth once +more.</p> + +<p>Years afterward, when I was lecturing, my<span class="pagenum"><a id="page48" name="page48">[Pg 48]</a></span> +cousin, George Pickering Bemis, ex-Mayor of Omaha, +and my aunt Abbie and my cousin Abbie attended +the one I delivered in Omaha, and all of +them felt a little hurt by my allusions to the old +Methodists, and to my grandmother and her father. +Bemis wrote to me that they were horrified. But +they forgot that what I said of the Methodists +and of my ancestors was in their praise. I was not +ridiculing them, but extolling them. I told of these +incidents of my childhood, because I was speaking +of my childhood, and these were facts. One of +the strictest commandments of old Methodism was +to tell the truth. They were not satisfied with the +mild negative of the Sinaitic commandment, "Thou +shalt not lie." They added a positive decree, +"Thou shalt speak the truth." That was all I was +doing. I was telling the truth about my childhood +and boyhood. I have never spoken anything but +the truth in all my life. This, too, I owe to the +early training in Methodist virtues and precepts, +and to the example and counsel of my dear old +grandmother.</p> + +<p>I could not join the Bible class, at the urgent +request of the grocer, Mr. Holmes, because I could +not see the necessity of God, and no one could ever +explain to me the reason why there should be, or +is, a God. I could never recognize the necessity. +Morality and ethics I could see the necessity +of, and the high and authoritative reason for; but +religion never appealed to my intelligence or to<span class="pagenum">[Pg 49]</span> +my emotions. The story of the Prodigal Son only +taught me that to be a Christian one must do something +to be forgiven for, to repent of; and I could +not see the strength of such an argument. The +plain and sound "ethics" of Methodism, outside +of "faith" and "belief," always seemed to me to +be higher and better than this.</p> + +<p>I feel that in an autobiography I should say +this much about my moral creed and principles. +Later in life the Bible got me into much trouble, +involved me in persecutions, and finally landed me +in jail—all of which I shall refer to in due season.</p> + +<p>Children are born savages and cheats. It is +only training that makes true and honest men and +women of them. When a child of five and six, I +slept with my aunt Alice, the one who was afterward +lost on the Lexington. One night I saw a +fourpence in her pocket-book. When I saw that +she was asleep, I got up quietly, went to her pocket-book +where it lay on the table and took the fourpence +out of it. But I could not retain it. It +seared into my conscience. Before she woke up, +I went as quietly back to the purse and placed the +fourpence exactly where I had found it. My Methodist +training saved me.</p> + +<p>On another occasion, my grandmother took me +to Watertown to buy me a suit of clothes. In the +store I noticed, while my grandmother was talking +with the clerk, a lovely knife in the show-case. I +wanted it. All my boyish instincts went out to<span class="pagenum">[Pg 50]</span> +that knife. I had never had a knife, and was hungry +for one. I looked around, with all the inherited +cunning of savage and barbarian and predatory +ancestors in a thousand forests and for a hundred +centuries. No one was observing me. Quietly, +stealthily, I went to the case. I lifted the top, +took the beautiful knife, and put it in my pocket. +It was done. I had the knife, and no one would +ever be any wiser. I was safe with my spoil. But +again my Methodist-drilled conscience awoke. It +made me go back to the show-case and replace the +stolen knife. I actually felt better—for a time.</p> + +<p>Then the appeal of nature came back stronger +than before. I longed for the knife. There was +no resisting the predatory impulse. Again I stole +behind the counter, opened the case, took out the +knife, and placed it securely in my pocket. Again +it had been done without chance of detection. But +again my Methodist-made conscience came to the +fore. Again it saved me from being a thief. I +went back to the case, and put the knife in its place, +but with great reluctance. Still a third time I took +the knife from the case and secreted it in my +pocket, and again the Methodist conscience proved +stronger than human nature, and I restored the +treasure to its proper place. I was finally able to +leave the store without the knife, and with a clean +conscience.</p> + +<p>These are the only instances when I started to +do an evil thing, and in both of them I did not<span class="pagenum">[Pg 51]</span> +go the full length, but restored the property I +coveted. Since that time, and with these exceptions, +for the entire period of my life I have never +cheated, stolen, or lied. And yet I have been in +fifteen jails. For what?</p> + +<p>When I was clerk in Mr. Holmes's grocery +store I was in charge of the money-drawer. I received +no salary from Mr. Holmes, but took out +the $1 a week that I was allowed, and kept an account +of it. I was trusted, and did not betray in +the slightest degree this trust and confidence of +my employer. Every cent that I took out of, or +put into the cash-drawer was entered upon my account-book, +and I was ready at any and all times +to show exactly how my account stood with the +store.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 52]</span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a id="page52" name="page52"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<p class="title">IN A SHIPPING HOUSE IN BOSTON<br /> +<br /> +1844-1850</p> + + +<p>The next change in my life, and the real beginning +of my career as a business man, was soon to +come. I had got as much out of the grocery store +as it could give me, and was yearning for a change +and a wider field of labor.</p> + +<p>One day a gentleman drove up to the store in +a carriage drawn by an elegant team of horses, +and asked if there was a boy there named Train. +Mr. Holmes thereupon called to me, and said to +the strange gentleman, "This is George Francis +Train." He then told me that the stranger was +Colonel Enoch Train, and that he wanted to speak +to me.</p> + +<p>The first thing Colonel Train said was, "I am +surprised to see you, George. I thought all your +family were dead in New Orleans. Your father +was a very dear friend of mine—and your mother, +too." He said, as if repeating it to himself, like +a sort of formula, "Oliver Train, merchant in +Merchants' Row." Then he continued: "He was<span class="pagenum">[Pg 53]</span> +my cousin. But we had heard that you were all +dead. Where have you been?" I told him where +I had been living for the past ten years, with my +grandmother at Waltham, and how my uncle +Clarke had brought me back from New Orleans.</p> + +<p>After he had made a number of inquiries of me, +and I had given him all the stock of information +I had, Colonel Train drove back to Boston. I +watched the retreating carriage, and brave and +disturbing thoughts came to me.</p> + +<p>The following day I went to Boston. I had no +very definite plan of action, but I knew that when +the time and opportunity came I should find my +way, as usual. And so I went directly to the great +shipping house of Train & Co., at 37 Lewis Wharf. +The big granite building seemed titanic to my +eyes then, as if it contained the whole world of +business and enterprise. When I went back to +Boston years and years afterward, it seemed only +a plain, ordinary affair. At first sight of it the +place was simply ahead of and greater than anything +I had seen. When I had outgrown it, it +seemed small.</p> + +<p>When I came up to the building, my purpose +was at once clear. I walked in and asked to see +Colonel Train. The colonel shook hands cordially, +and said he was very glad to see me. "Where do +I come in?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"Come in?" he almost gasped at this effrontery. +"Why, people don't come into a big ship<span class="pagenum">[Pg 54]</span>ping +house like this in that way. You are too +young."</p> + +<p>"I am growing older every day," I replied. +"That is the reason I am here. I want to make +my way in the world." "Well," said the colonel, +smiling at me, "you come in to see me when you +are seventeen years old."</p> + +<p>"That will be next year," I replied. "I am +sixteen now. I might just as well begin this year—right +away." He tried to put me off one way +after another; but I was not to be got rid of. I +was there, and I meant to stay.</p> + +<p>"I will come in to-morrow," I said. Then I +left, quite content with myself and the turn my +venture had taken. Of the issue I had no doubt.</p> + +<p>Early on the following day, I went to the shipping +office, and took my seat at one of the desks. +I sat there and waited. After a little while, Colonel +Train came in. He was astonished to see me +sitting there, ready for work.</p> + +<p>"You here?" he stammered. "Have you left +the grocery store?" "Yes, sir," I said; "I have +learned everything there is to learn there and in +fact had done so before I had been there six +months. I want a bigger field to work in."</p> + +<p>"You don't mean to say you have come here +without being invited?" "As I was not invited, +that was about the only way for me to come," I +said. "As I am here, I might as well stay." And +I settled myself in the seat at the desk.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page55" name="page55">[Pg 55]</a></span></p> + +<p>Colonel Train looked at the bookkeeper sorely +perplexed. But I saw that he rather admired my +persistence and bravado. I had won the first trial +of arms.</p> + +<p>"Well," said he, after a while, turning again +to the bookkeeper, "we shall see if we can find +something for you to do." "I will find something +to do," I said. He smiled cordially at this, and +said: "I will make a man of you." "I will make +a man of myself," I replied.</p> + +<p>Then the colonel asked Mr. Nazro, who had +been the firm's bookkeeper for many years, to try +to find something for me to do.</p> + +<p>It so happened that the ship Anglo-Saxon had +just arrived from Liverpool, Captain Joseph R. +Gordon, with goods for 150 consignees. Mr. +Nazro handed me the portage bill showing the +amount to be collected from each of the 150 consignees. +The amounts were set down in English +money, and Mr. Nazro asked me to put them into +American, or Federal, money. I fancied he was +setting me what would prove to be an impossible +task, just to dispose of me for all time. But he +blundered, if this was his purpose. I had had +some experience of English money at the grocery +store, having often to change it into American +money.</p> + +<p>I coolly asked Mr. Nazro what was the prevailing +rate of exchange, and he replied that it was +$4.80 to the pound. "That is just 24 cents to the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 56]</span> +shilling, two cents to the penny," I said, and went +to work. It was then noon. It would have taken +some clerks a week to do the task; but I had completed +it by six o'clock that afternoon.</p> + +<p>When I handed the list back to him, he asked, +with an astonished air, if I had finished it. "You +can see for yourself," I replied. "There it is, all +made out properly and correctly." "How do you +know it is right?" said he. "Because I have +proved it," I replied.</p> + +<p>This little task decided my fate. Mr. Nazro +told me the office hours were from eight until six, +with the rest of the time, the evenings, all my own.</p> + +<p>The next morning I arrived at the office +promptly, and asked Mr. Nazro what I was to do. +He handed me a package of bills. I saw they were +the bills upon which I had worked the day before, +changing English to American currency. There +were 150 of them. Each was to contain the amount +that must be collected from each of the consignees. +I at once set to work on this new task, and completed +it in less time than it had taken me to +change the money. I went with the bills to Mr. +Nazro, and asked what I was to do next. He gave +me a collector's wallet into which to put the bills, +and told me to go out and collect the amounts due. +This was a staggerer, but I set about the difficult +undertaking without any feeling of discouragement.</p> + +<p>At that time Boston was a strange city to me.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 57]</span> +It is true that I had lived on the edge of it for +years; but my ceaseless work at the grocery store +had kept me from roaming over the town and +learning anything about it. The only section I +was at all familiar with was the neighborhood of +the old Quincy Market, to which I had driven so +many wagon-loads of garden and farm "truck" +in my boyhood days. I was as green as a genuine +countryman who had come to town for the first +time in his life. I knew not a soul in the city. +But off I started, nothing abashed, with the great +wallet of bills under my arm. I intended to succeed +at this task.</p> + +<p>I soon picked out my course through the city. +I worked through street after street, and collected +as I went. I did not stop, but kept steadily on, +and in the afternoon found myself at the end of +the list. I had collected nearly every bill.</p> + +<p>I returned to the office and handed the wallet +and money to Mr. Nazro. Again he was astonished. +He asked if I had collected all the bills, +and when I told him nearly all, he asked me for the +list. I said I had made out none, as it was not +necessary. There was all the money; he could +count it, and compare with the list on his books. +He was very much surprised, but counted the +money, and found it correct to a cent. I did not +need a list, I told him, because I could carry the +whole thing in my head.</p> + +<p>From that day to this I have done everything<span class="pagenum"><a id="page58" name="page58">[Pg 58]</a></span> +I have undertaken in my own way, and have found +that it was the best way—at least, for me.</p> + +<p>My next duty was to see that every one of the +150 consignees received the goods that were billed +to him. This gave me opportunity for meeting a +large number of important persons. Among the +rest, I met <a id="page58a" name="page58a"></a>Nathaniel P. Banks, who was a Custom-House +official at the time, and the great writer, +Nathaniel Hawthorne, whom I saw in the Custom-House +on a visit from Salem. He had been appointed +by President Polk. Of course I knew +nothing about him at the time, although he was +then writing his greatest work, and perhaps was +casting in his mind The Scarlet Letter. He had +only just begun to be famous—an interesting fact +enough, but one I did not learn till long afterward. +He seemed very unassuming, and not in +very affluent circumstances. I suppose his salary +from the Government at the time was not more +than $1,000 a year.</p> + +<p>My life in the old shipping house of Train & +Co., in Boston, lasted some four years. The +first vessel that came in, after I began working +with the company, was the Joshua Bates, named +after the American partner of the famous house +of the Barings. It was of 400 tons, quite a big +ship for the time. The next was the Washington +Irving, 500 tons; and the third was the Anglo-Saxon, +the bills of which, on a previous voyage, +I had made out in my trial under Mr. Nazro. The<span class="pagenum"><a id="page59" name="page59">[Pg 59]</a></span> +Anglo-Saxon was lost the following year—this +was in '46—off Cape Sable, with several passengers, +the captain and crew escaping. After this +the Anglo-American came in, then the Parliament, +the Ocean Monarch, and the Staffordshire. All of +these were famous ships in their day.</p> + +<p>In '48, I was at the pier one day on the lookout +for the Ocean Monarch. Although the telegraph +had been established in '44, it had not been +brought from Nova Scotia to Boston, and we had +only the semaphore to use for signaling. When +a ship entered the harbor, the captain would take +a speaking-trumpet and, standing on the bridge, +shout out the most interesting or important tidings +so that the news would get into the city before +the ship was docked. The Persia was also due, +with Captain Judkins, and it came in ahead of the +Ocean Monarch. Some three or four thousand +persons were on the pier waiting eagerly for the +captain's news. I was at the end of the pier, and +saw Captain Judkins place the trumpet to his lips, +and heard him shout the tidings. And this is what +I heard:</p> + +<p>"The Ocean Monarch was burned off Orm's +Head. Four hundred passengers burned or +drowned. Captain Murdoch taken off of a spar +by Tom Littledale's yacht. A steamer going to +Ireland passed by, and refused to offer assistance. +Complete wreck, and complete loss."</p> + +<p>The captain shouted hoarsely, like a sentence<span class="pagenum"><a id="page60" name="page60">[Pg 60]</a></span> +of doom from the "last trump." Every one was +stunned. The scene was indescribable, both the +dead silence with which the dreadful tidings were +received, and the wild excitement that soon burst +forth.</p> + +<p>I took advantage of the awed hush of the people, +and rushed toward the street end of the pier. +There I leaped on my horse that was waiting for +me, and galloped off. Crossing the ferry, I went +madly through Commercial Street, up State +Street, and to the Merchants' Exchange. There +I mounted a chair, and amid a great hush, shouted +out the tidings, word for word, and in almost the +exact intonation the captain had used.</p> + +<p>One day a gentleman, looking like a farmer, +came into the office and asked to see Mr. Train. +I remember that it was the 5th of October, '47. +I replied to his question that my name was Train. +"I mean the old gentleman," he said.</p> + +<p>I told him that Colonel Train was out of the +office at the time, but that as I had charge of the +ships, I might be able to attend to his business. +But I added that I was in a hurry, as the Washington +Irving was to sail in an hour. "That is +just what I am here for," said he. "I want to sail +on that ship; I want passage for England."</p> + +<p>I told him there was one state-room left, and +that he could have both berths for the price of one—$75, +but that he must get aboard in great haste, +as everything was ready and the ship waiting for<span class="pagenum"><a id="page61" name="page61">[Pg 61]</a></span> +final orders. He said he was ready, and I started +to fill up a passenger slip. "What is your +name?" I asked. "Ralph Waldo Emerson," he +replied.</p> + +<p>Then he took out of his pocket an old wallet, +with twine wrapped around it four or five times, +opened it carefully, and counted out $75. I could +not wait to see whether it was correct, but threw it +in the drawer, and took him on board.</p> + +<p>Mr. Emerson was then starting on his famous +visit to England, during which he was to visit +Carlyle. He afterward mentioned the occurrence +in his English Traits, where he said: "I took +my berth in the packet-ship Washington Irving." +From the moment when I thus met Emerson +for the second time, I began to take great interest +in him, read him carefully, and have continued +to read him throughout my life. He has +had more influence upon me than any other man +in the world.</p> + +<p>We once chartered the ship Franklin to take +a cargo of tar, pitch, and turpentine from Wilmington, +N. C., consigned to the Baring Brothers, +London, and return with a cargo of freight. She +was about due from England, thirty-five days having +elapsed since she had started to return. By +this time I had been placed in charge of all the +shipping, and I was on the lookout for the Franklin. +One day the news came by semaphore that a +large ship had been wrecked just off the light<span class="pagenum"><a id="page62" name="page62">[Pg 62]</a></span>house, +while coming into Boston harbor. It was +not known what ship it was. The sender of the +message asked if Train & Co. had a ship due. I +thought at once it might be the Franklin, making +a somewhat faster passage than we had expected.</p> + +<p>The next day some of the wreckage came into +the harbor, and, strangely enough, a piece of the +floating timbers bore the name Franklin on it. I +was at the pier when this discovery was made, and +rushed at once to the insurance office to see +whether the policy covering the freight had been +arranged. It was all right. On the following +day, to the astonishment of all Boston, the valise +of one of the officers of the Franklin was washed +ashore at Nantasket. In it were many letters, +and among them were instructions telling how "to +sink the vessel off the lighthouse, as she was fully +insured." When the ship went down the captain +was drowned with the rest of the crew and the passengers.</p> + +<p>I saw at once that here was a case of barratry +of the master, and that the letter would jeopardize +the whole affair of the insurance. It was a matter +that needed prompt and able legal work. I +hastened to the office of Rufus Choate, the most +famous lawyer in New England of that time. I +hurriedly explained to Mr. Choate that we had +lost a ship, and needed a lawyer. "Will you accept +a retainer of $500?" I added. He accepted +it at once, and turned to his desk to write out a re<span class="pagenum"><a id="page63" name="page63">[Pg 63]</a></span>ceipt. +I said there was no necessity for a receipt, +as the check would be receipt enough, and hurried +away.</p> + +<p>I then went directly across the street to the +office of Daniel Webster, who was then practising +law in Boston. I was particularly anxious to have +Mr. Webster retained. I remember now the roar +of his great, deep voice as he responded to my +knock with a "Come in" that was like a battle +peal. And I recall well the picture of the great +man, as I saw him for the first time. He sat at +his flat desk, a magnificent example of manhood, +his massive head set squarely and solidly upon his +shoulders. He did not have very much business +in those days, and the clients that found a way to +his office were few.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Webster," I said, "we want your services +in a very important case. Will you accept this as +a retainer?" I handed him a check for $1,000. +He accepted it very promptly, and it seemed to +me at the time that the check loomed large to him. +Such sums came seldom.</p> + +<p>One incident in the trial of the case impressed +me deeply. It was the masterly manner in which +Mr. Choate examined the witnesses. He had the +reputation of being the most effective cross-examiner +in New England. Before him, in the witness-box, +stood one of the owners. Mr. Choate wanted +to confuse him in his testimony as to the way in +which he had done a certain thing. He began by<span class="pagenum"><a id="page64" name="page64">[Pg 64]</a></span> +asking the longest and most complex question that +I ever heard. It wound all around the case, and +straggled through every street in Boston. "You +say," Mr. Choate began, "you say that you did +so and so, that you went to such and such a place, +that after this you did so and so, and thus and so," +and he kept on asking him if after doing this and +that if such and such was not the case, until there +was no answering the question, or understanding +it.</p> + +<p>But Mr. Choate had tackled the wrong man for +once. The man was an Irishman, and the most +nonchalant person I ever saw. Nothing seemed +to confuse him. While Mr. Choate was firing his +complicated questions at him, he sat perfectly unmoved, +unshaken. He seemed to be taking it all +in. Then when the astute lawyer had finished, the +witness looked at him quietly, and said: "Mr. +Choate, will yez be after rapatin' that again?"</p> + +<p>Bar and bench and spectators broke into roars +of laughter. For once Mr. Choate was confused. +But we won the case, as was to be expected, thanks +to our matchless array of legal ability.</p> + +<p>We had two ships engaged in making what was +known as "the triangular run"—from Boston to +New Orleans, New Orleans to Liverpool, and Liverpool +back to Boston. They were the St. Petersburg, +built in '40 for the cotton trade, and having +for a figurehead the head and shoulders of the Emperor +Nicholas; and the Governor Davis, named<span class="pagenum">[Pg 65]</span> +for the governor of the Bay State, whose son is +now living at Newport. Once we were expecting +the Governor Davis to arrive at New Orleans, +where the freight rates were higher than they had +been in many years—three farthings the pound. +The vessel was to be loaded with cotton for Liverpool. +We were elated at the prospect of big profits, +when a telegram came from our agent, Levi H. +Gale, at New Orleans. It read: "The Governor +Davis is burned up."</p> + +<p>Our hearts sank. A fortune had been lost, or +at least the opportunity to make one. I went immediately +to the insurance office to see that the +policies were all right, and found them in good +shape. Then it occurred to me that there might +be a possibility of error in the message. Eager +with my thought, I rushed to the telegraph office +and asked to have the message repeated carefully, +no matter what it might cost. After awhile there +came back what had been a terrifying message in +this new form: "The Governor Davis is bound +up." The vessel was safe, and so were our profits.</p> + +<p>My connection with the packet lines brought +me into contact with many prominent business +men of Boston. Very often I was able to do some +little thing for them, and once a very amusing incident +occurred in connection with the attempt of +Mr. Milton, of the firm of Milton, Cushman & Co., +to get some English pigs for breeding purposes. +I had charge of the catering for our vessels, and<span class="pagenum">[Pg 66]</span> +made the purchases. Mr. Milton asked me to get +him some English pigs, and I promised that we +would bring some over by the very next ship. As +the vessels were out for quite a time, we frequently +carried live animals aboard for food, and +usually hogs and pigs. It so happened that on +this particular trip, when going east, one of the +sows gave birth to a litter of pigs. They were +taken to Liverpool. By some mistake they were +brought back and delivered to Mr. Milton. He +prized them very highly, until later on he discovered +that they were American pigs, born under +the American flag on the high seas. The mistake +subjected him to much good-natured chaffing. No +one forgot the incident during the old gentleman's +life.</p> + +<p>Of course, there was always present the temptation +to do a little business on my own account, +during my connection with the Train Packet Lines. +Indeed, the desire to do this, and the experience I +got in it, were the foundations of my subsequent +business success. It was inevitable that I should +have undertakings of my own.</p> + +<p>My first speculation was the shipment of a +cargo of Danvers onions to Liverpool in consignment +of Baring Brothers. I was eager to have my +first venture turn out a success. The onions were +packed carefully in barrels, and I saw myself that +they were in the best condition before they were +shipped. I felt as if I had taken every precaution,<span class="pagenum"><a id="page67" name="page67">[Pg 67]</a></span> +and that I was assured of a pretty good thing. +Then came the news from England: "Onions arrived; +not in good order. Debit, £3 17s. 6d."</p> + +<p>That was the disappointing result of my first +venture. I was a loser. Years afterward, when +I was launching shipping lines between Australia +and America, I cited this little experience of mine +as an example of what might be expected by many +who sent cargoes to the other end of the world.</p> + +<p>My second venture proved more successful. +This was the shipping of fish on ice to New Orleans. +It paid me well. But my real career as a +shipper started in quite another and different way. +I am ashamed to confess how I began this career, +which made me a shipper of cargoes to the other +end of the earth. But as I was too ignorant at +the time to know much better, or, indeed, to give +any thought at all to the matter, I shall, in the interest +of truth, make a full confession. I became +a smuggler of opium into China!</p> + +<p>It happened in this way. One of our captains, +who was about to start with a cargo for the +Orient, asked me if I did not want to send over +something for sale, as he thought a good +profit might be made on a shipment of something +in demand there. "What would be a good thing +to send?" I asked. "Opium," said he laconically.</p> + +<p>Opium meant nothing to me then. I had never +thought of it in any way other than as a marketable +product and an object in cargoes. So I went<span class="pagenum">[Pg 68]</span> +to Henshaw's, in Boston, and got three tins of +opium, the best he had. This I placed in charge of +the captain, and he smuggled it into China, and +got a good price for it, to the profit of himself +and me.</p> + +<p>But the smuggling did not end there. I had +instructed him to lay in a supply of curios, silks, +and other oriental things, and bring them to Boston. +This part of the venture was as successful +as the first, and I made quite a snug little sum. It +was my first considerable profit. That was in +'46-'47.</p> + +<p>I do not think any one in good standing in +business has an idea now of cheating the Government +out of tariff duties. I had not, at that +time, the slightest idea that I was doing wrong. +I felt entirely innocent of defrauding two governments, +and did not realize that I was a smuggler. +The wrong of the transaction I fully understood +afterward.</p> + +<p>But I fear that the moral sense as to smuggling, +to use an ugly term, was not so delicate in +those days. Even patriotic and good men thought +that it was not very bad to bring in articles from +Europe and the Orient without stopping to pay the +duty levied by the United States. There was no +systematic attempt to defraud the Government. +There was just no thought at all, except to get in +a few luxuries upon which it did not seem worth +while to pay the customs dues. I can recall a few<span class="pagenum">[Pg 69]</span> +examples of this lax way of treating the tariff +regulations. They were the acts of men of great +social and business prominence. If done to-day, +they would shock the whole country—even the +Democratic and low tariff, or no tariff, part of it.</p> + +<p>One day a banker, who was a famous figure in +Boston, a leader in the world of business, asked +me if I could not bring over for him some silver +he had ordered sent to the Train offices in Liverpool. +I consented. Shortly after this, the steward +of the Ocean Monarch told me he had a very heavy +package addressed to "George Francis Train." I +directed him to bring it into the office. Then I saw +that the heavy package was addressed, in the corner, +from the shippers to this famous Boston +banker. And so, without any intent to defraud +the Government on my part, and, I suppose, without +any intent on the part of the great banker to +do a distinctly wrong act, we had actually conspired +to smuggle in some exquisite silver plate +for the richest banker in New England, to save a +few dollars' tariff duty!</p> + +<p>Once while I was in Paris, in '50, I wanted +to buy some presents for the young lady to whom +I was engaged to be married—Miss Davis—who +was then living in Louisville, Ky. I called at the +Paris office of a famous American firm of jewelers, +and the resident agent took me to a magnificent +establishment, where I saw the wealth of a +world in gems.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 70]</span></p> + +<p>An amusing thing happened, which I shall relate +before I complete the story of this smuggling +incident. I asked at once to see the most +beautiful things the shop contained, the latest, and +most charming. Imagine my surprise and horror +when the young girl who was showing me around +the shop exhibited to me a package of pictures +that would have subjected me to immediate arrest +and incarceration had they been found on my person +in this city. She explained to me that this was +the part of the business in her charge, and that +she thought, as I was an American and new to +Paris, I wanted to get hold of some startling pictures +to carry back to the United States.</p> + +<p>Passing through this temptation unscathed, I +finally got to the jewels and gems of all sorts, and +selected some for my betrothed. I bought about +$1,000 worth. Suddenly the agent of an American +house turned on me and said he was thinking of +sending a present to his firm in New York, and +asked if I would not take charge of it and deliver +it, or have it delivered direct. Of course I did not +know what this meant—that he wanted me to get a +package of jewels to his firm without paying the +tariff duty. I consented, however, before I went +into the ethical question, and brought over, perhaps, +a package of splendid and costly diamonds +for one of the richest houses in the world.</p> + +<p>While in charge of the ships of the house in +Boston I had a little yacht, called The Sea Witch,<span class="pagenum"><a id="page71" name="page71">[Pg 71]</a></span> +that I used in boarding vessels in the harbor. One +day there arrived a very great man, in my opinion +a tower of strength in finance—Thomas Baring, +afterward Lord Revelstoke, who succeeded Lord +Ashburton as the representative of England in +this country. I had prepared to take him on a trip +around the harbor, and everything was ready for +the sail the following day, when he was suddenly +called to Washington, and sent me a note which +read as follows:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Mr. Train</span>:</p> + +<p>"As I leave for Washington in the morning, +I regret that it will not be possible for me to go +with you on The Sea Witch to see Boston harbor. +I remember with pleasure the canvasback ducks +that you sent to me at London, and which gave me +and my friends so much pleasure. I hope to see +you on my return.</p> + +<p class="quotsig">"<span class="smcap">Thomas Baring.</span>"</p></blockquote> + +<p>The great development of the clippers, the +boats that soon made the reputation of the United +States on the seas, was due chiefly to the discovery +of gold in California. This made it necessary to +send a great number of ships to the Pacific coast, +and I saw that it was essential to the success of the +trade to send large boats that could make profits +on this long voyage.</p> + +<p>Gold was discovered in '48. At that time our<span class="pagenum"><a id="page72" name="page72">[Pg 72]</a></span> +packets had attained to the size of only 800 tons. +They were considered large boats at the time, but +now would be called mere tubs. I saw that if we +wanted to enter the trade with the Pacific we +should have to get larger ships. Our first packets +had been built at East Boston by Donald Mackay: +the Joshua Bates, 400 tons; the Washington Irving, +500 tons; the Anglo-Saxon, 600 tons; the Anglo-American, +700 tons; the Ocean Monarch, 800 +tons. In a few years we had enlarged the packet +clipper from a vessel of 400 tons to one of 800 +tons, or twice the size. The Ocean Monarch was +regarded as a veritable monster of the seas.</p> + +<p>When the gold-fever was setting the country +frantic, and every one, apparently, wanted to go +to California, I said to Mackay: "I want a big +ship, one that will be larger than the Ocean Monarch." +Mackay replied, "Two hundred tons bigger?" +"No," said I, "I want a ship of 2,000 +tons." Mackay was one of those men who merely +ask what is needed. He said he would build the +sort of ship I wanted. "I shall call her the Flying +Cloud," I said. This is the history of that +famous ship, destined to make a new era in ship-building +all over the world.</p> + +<p>Longfellow sent me a copy of his poem, The +Building of the Ship, which he had written to commemorate +the construction of a much smaller vessel. +Not only ship-builders, but the whole world, +was talking of the Flying Cloud. Her appearance<span class="pagenum"><a id="page73" name="page73">[Pg 73]</a></span> +in the world of commerce was a great historic +event.</p> + +<p>No sooner was the Flying Cloud built than +many ship-owners wanted to buy her. Among +others, the house of Grinnell, Minturn & Co., of +the Swallow-Tail Line, of Liverpool, asked what +we would take for her. I replied that I wanted +$90,000, which meant a handsome profit. The +answer came back immediately, "We will take +her." We sent the vessel to New York under +Captain Cressey, while I went on by railway. +There I closed the sale, and the proudest moment +of my life, up to that time, was when I received a +check from Moses H. Grinnell, the New York head +of the house, for $90,000.</p> + +<p>The Flying Cloud was sent from New York to +San Francisco, and made the passage in eighty-six +days, with a full cargo of freight and passengers, +paying for herself in that single voyage out +and back. Her record has not been beaten by any +sailing ship in the fifty-three years that have since +elapsed.</p> + +<p>The building of this vessel was a tremendous +leap forward in ship-building; but I was not satisfied. +I told Mackay that I wanted a still larger +ship. He said he could build it. And so we began +another vessel that was to outstrip in size and +capacity the great Flying Cloud.</p> + +<p>I was desirous to name this ship the Enoch +Train, in honor of the head of the Boston house,<span class="pagenum"><a id="page74" name="page74">[Pg 74]</a></span> +and had said as much to Duncan MacLane, who +was the marine reporter for the Boston Post. +MacLane had usually written a column for his +paper on the launching of our ships. He wanted +to have something to write about the new vessel. +I told him the story of Colonel Train's life, and +that we were going to christen the new vessel with +his name. I did not consult Colonel Train, thinking +that, of course, it was all right.</p> + +<p>The Post published a long account of the ship, +and gave the name as the Enoch Train. When I +went down to the office that morning Colonel +Train had not yet arrived, but he soon came in, +walking straight as a gun-barrel, and seeming to +be a little stiff. "Did you see the Post this morning?" +I asked. "Premature," he replied. That +was all he said. He would not discuss the matter. +I was nettled that he did not appreciate the honor +I thought I was conferring on him. It was not +for nothing that a man's name should be borne +by the greatest vessel on the seas. I said to myself +that the name should be changed at once. The +ship was to be of 2,200 tons burden, larger than +the Flying Cloud and the Staffordshire, both of +2,000 tons, and I decided to call her the Sovereign +of the Seas.</p> + +<p>The news that we were building a still bigger +ship was rapidly circulated throughout the world. +Many shipping lines wanted to buy her before she +was off the ways. Despatches from New York<span class="pagenum">[Pg 75]</span> +shipping lines making inquiry as to price came +almost daily. I invariably replied that we would +take $130,000. But this was a little too stiff a +price at that time, although the Flying Cloud had +paid for herself in a single trip. I finally sold her +to Berren Roosen, Jr., of Hamburg, Germany, +through the brokers Funch & Menkier, of New +York, for $110,000. She was entered in my name, +although I was at the time only nineteen years of +age. I was quite proud to have the greatest vessel +then afloat on any water associated with my +name. She was sent to Liverpool.</p> + +<p>The California business had grown steadily, +and the house of Train had taken a leading part in +it. One of the biggest of our ships was built expressly +for it, and employed on the long run from +Boston to San Francisco. This was the Staffordshire, +which we had named for the great potteries +in England from which we got so much of our import +freight. She was of the same size and tonnage +as the Flying Cloud—2,000 tons. We sent +her to California on her first trip under Captain +Richardson, full of freight and passengers. There +were three hundred passengers, each paying $300 +for the trip around the Horn. This brought us in +$90,000, completely paying for the cost of building +and equipping, with cash in hand, before she +sailed.</p> + +<p>The Flying Cloud and the Staffordshire were +followed by about forty fast clippers during the<span class="pagenum"><a id="page76" name="page76">[Pg 76]</a></span> +great gold-fever of '49. I was still in my teens, +and consider it not an insignificant thing to have +accomplished the initiation of this magnificent +clipper service which revolutionized sailing vessels +all over the world, and gave to America the +reputation for building the fastest ships on the +seas.</p> + +<p>When the California business first opened up, +I was bent upon going to the Golden Horn myself. +I felt that there was to be a great development in +trade and permanent business there, and wanted +to "get in on the ground floor." But this was not +to be, and my destiny detained me at Boston to +take my share in the building of fast clippers and +in developing the trade from the Atlantic side of +the continent. I saw that MacKondray & Co., and +Flint, Peabody & Co., who went to California about +this time, were making fortunes out of commissions. +I also saw men go there later to become +millionaires in a few years—men like John W. +Mackay, the pioneer, who died recently in London, +worth somewhere approximating $100,000,000, +most of it taken out of the Comstock Lode, the last +of the "Big Four"—Mackay, Flood, Fair, and +O'Brien—all of whom are dead. But my fortunes +led in another direction. I was to go East, and +not West.</p> + +<p>In connection with the clipper service to California, +I should mention here the beginning of the +Irish immigration to this country, which started at<span class="pagenum">[Pg 77]</span> +the time of the gold-fever. I saw that this country +was very sparsely populated, that there were +vast areas entirely unoccupied, and that there was +not only room, but need, for more people. I also +had an eye to increasing our own business, as our +ships were returning from Liverpool with very +few passengers. In casting about in my mind to +create business, it occurred to me that the Irish, +who were particularly restive and desirous of +coming to America, might be turned into passengers +for our boats and into settlers of our waste +places.</p> + +<p>My first step was to engage the services of as +many Irish 'longshoremen and stevedores as possible. +These were always talking of their friends +in Ireland, and their friends in the old country +were asking them for information about the +United States. I got the 'longshoremen and stevedores +to scatter throughout Ireland information +about this country and about the way to get here. +I then set to work to arrange for giving to the +poor Irish immigrants a cheap and convenient +means of passage.</p> + +<p>I invented the prepaid passenger certificate, +and also the small one-pound (English money) +bill of exchange. To disseminate information +about the plan, I had inserted in the Boston Pilot, +the Catholic organ of the day, the following advertisement, +it being a letter from the Catholic +archbishop:<span class="pagenum">[Pg 78]</span></p> + +<blockquote> +<p>"The Boston and Liverpool Packet Line of +Enoch Train & Co. have arranged to issue prepaid +passenger certificates and small bills of exchange +for one pound and upward. This firm is highly +respectable, and has established agencies throughout +Ireland for the benefit of Irish immigrants.—☨<span class="smcap">Fitzpatrick</span>, +Archbishop of Boston."</p></blockquote> + +<p>This advertisement, and this indorsement from +a high Catholic authority, gave a marked impetus +to the flow of Irish immigrants into America.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 79]</span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a id="page79" name="page79"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<p class="title">A VACATION TOUR<br /> +<br /> +1850</p> + + +<p>In '50 it was decided that I should go to +Liverpool to take charge of the house there. I +asked Colonel Train if I could not first have a +holiday, so that I might see a little of my own +country. He told me to take two months, and to +see as much as I could in that time. My ship was +scheduled to sail July 25, '50. This was the only +holiday I had had in four years.</p> + +<p>I started for New York. After a brief stay +there, I went to Cape May. My recollections of +that place, which was then the great resort of the +Atlantic coast, include a famous score I made in +rolling ten-pins. This game was my forte, and I +remember that I defeated a party of Philadelphians, +scoring strike after strike, and left my +score, 290, marked up on the wall. It stood unrivaled +for years.</p> + +<p>I hurried on to Washington from Cape May. +The trip was then made by boat, rail, and stage. +As soon as I reached Washington, I called on Dan<span class="pagenum"><a id="page80" name="page80">[Pg 80]</a></span>iel +Webster, then Secretary of State. I was shown +into his office, gave him news of New England, +and said that every one was discussing his great +speech of the 7th of March of that year. He looked +at me inquiringly. "Some are hostile toward +your sentiments," I said; "but most of the +people are with you." "They are talking about +it, are they?" This was the only comment he +made.</p> + +<p>Afterward he introduced me to his wife, Mrs. +Leroy Webster, and asked if I would like to meet +the President. I was delighted, and said so. "Just +wait a moment," he said, and sat down at his desk, +took a quill pen and wrote on a sheet of blue paper, +nearly a foot square, "To the President of the +United States, introducing a young friend of mine +from Boston, George Francis Train, shipping +merchant, who merely wishes to pay his respects +to the president.—<span class="smcap">Daniel Webster</span>." The large +writing covered almost the whole page. I thanked +him, and started at once for the White House.</p> + +<p>On arriving there, I was at once ushered into +the presence of General Taylor, who sat at his +desk. The presidential feet rested on another +chair. I begged him not to rise, but to let me feel +at home, and handed him the letter from Mr. +Webster.</p> + +<p>At his request, I seated myself opposite him, +and from this point of vantage made a hurried +study of his appearance. He wore a shirt that was<span class="pagenum"><a id="page81" name="page81">[Pg 81]</a></span> +formerly white, but which then looked like the map +of Mexico after the battle of Buena Vista. It was +spotted and spattered with tobacco juice.</p> + +<p>Directly behind me, as I was soon made aware, +was a cuspidor, toward which the President turned +the flow of tobacco juice. I was in mortal terror, +but I soon saw there was no danger. With as unerring +an aim as the famous spitter on the boat +in Dickens's American Notes, he never missed the +cuspidor once, or put my person in jeopardy.</p> + +<p>My conversation—because, I suppose, it was +new to him—interested him, and he would not let +me go for half an hour. I told him the news of +New England, and about my journey to Liverpool +and its object. This particularly interested him, +and he asked me a hundred questions about the +shipping business and the prospects of developing +trade with England.</p> + +<p>As I was about to leave, I said to him that I +prized very highly the letter from Mr. Webster, +and should be very glad to be able to keep it; "and +I should prize it still more highly, Mr. President, +if you would add your autograph to it." "Certainly," +he replied, and then took up a quill pen, +and wrote "Z. Taylor." He courteously asked me +to call to see him again before I left for England.</p> + +<p>From the White House, I went direct to the +National Hotel, where I asked to see Mr. Clay. +I was shown up to his room, and soon stood in the +presence of the great Southern orator. I observed<span class="pagenum"><a id="page82" name="page82">[Pg 82]</a></span> +that his shirt also bore the same marks as that of +the President—stained and smeared with tobacco +juice.</p> + +<p>I told him that I was about to start for England, +and that, as I had a letter signed by Mr. +Webster and the President, I should like to add his +signature also. "I believe that two signatures +are usually necessary on Mr. Webster's paper," +said Mr. Clay with a smile. He then added his +autograph to the paper.</p> + +<p>Before leaving for Liverpool, I visited Mount +Vernon, of course, while in Washington, saw the +Georgetown Convent, and, indeed, everything of +interest in the capital at that time. Then I went +back to New York and up the Hudson to West +Point.</p> + +<p>My visit to West Point was especially pleasant. +I comraded with the cadets, who invited me to +sleep in their tent on the campus. Among the +young fellows there at the time, who was very +pleasant and friendly, was Alfred H. Terry, afterward +one of the most distinguished of our officers. +I attended the cadets' ball at Cozzens's Hotel, +messed with them, and entered into all of their +sports and daily routine. I was astonished to notice +that in the morning the roar of the gun did not +disturb their slumbers, although it shook me from +sleep. But the lightest tap of the drum aroused +them instantly. It was force of habit, which, I +was to learn later, enables men to sleep amid the<span class="pagenum"><a id="page83" name="page83">[Pg 83]</a></span> +roar of artillery on the battlefield, or amid the +howling of storms on the ocean. In sleep, as in +our waking hours, the trained and disciplined mind +hears what it wants to hear.</p> + +<p>From West Point I went on to Saratoga +Springs. It was my first visit to these famous +springs, and I enjoyed it immensely. On the boat +up the Hudson I met a beautiful lady, Mrs. Carleton, +who was with her sister. Mrs. Carleton was +the wife of a wealthy New York merchant, who +had a villa on Staten Island. I stopped at Marvin's +United States Hotel. This was fifty-two +years ago, and the hotel is still there, while Marvin, +who entertained me more than half a century +ago, died last year, his age somewhere in the nineties. +I enjoyed every moment of my stay at Saratoga, +for I had never seen anything of social life, +and it was all new and delightful. The enormous +caravansary, with its throngs of guests, its never-ceasing +round of gaiety, and its own liberal life, +entranced me. Manners seemed less formal then +at the famous spa, and the ladies were pleased to +meet any one in the most unconventional and +charming way.</p> + +<p>As I say, I was very unsophisticated. I knew +little or nothing of the "great world," and I was +completely horrified one evening when one of the +ladies said to me in a whisper: "Can you not get +me a glass of brandy?" I had never touched a +drop of brandy, whisky, or even wine, and to have<span class="pagenum"><a id="page84" name="page84">[Pg 84]</a></span> +this beautifully dressed and refined lady ask me +for a glass of brandy was a decided shock to me. +I understand that now, however, it is not very +uncommon for ladies to drink wine, whisky, and +brandy.</p> + +<p>I have seen it stated in the papers recently that +the waters at Saratoga have the effect of lessening +thirst for more ardent waters of a spirituous +nature. I did not happen to observe any such +effect of the waters when I was there a half century +ago. Drinking was quite general, and certainly +little restraint seemed to be practised.</p> + +<p>I found in society, as elsewhere in the greater +affairs of life, that leadership was wanting. People +stood by and waited for some one to take the +initiative. One evening one of the ladies said to +me that the ball had not been arranged for. I +asked what ball, and she said the regular season +ball. For some reason, it had not been arranged +by the hotel people, and no one seemed disposed +to take hold of it. I said, "It should be arranged +immediately." I saw a few of the leaders, talked +it over with them, and got them together. We +brought off the ball—my first experience in these +deep waters of social life—with great success. I +had then been in Saratoga just two days. While +I was there I had the honor of meeting the social +leader of Boston, Mrs. Harrison Grey Otis, and +the social leader of Philadelphia, Mrs. Rush. +There were also present at the Springs many rep<span class="pagenum"><a id="page85" name="page85">[Pg 85]</a></span>resentatives +of the most prominent families in the +social life of New York.</p> + +<p>I saw in Saratoga the first "gambling hell" +that I had ever seen, and I was so green about such +things—another tribute to my dear old Pickering +grandmother and New England Methodism—that +I did not know what a "gambling hell" was when +asked if I should like to see one. While I possess +an inquisitive nature, I have found it a good rule +not to ask too many questions, until you have tried +to find out things without betraying your ignorance. +I went to the "hell," and was properly +shocked. The scene suggested to me the gaming +at Monte Carlo. I saw a number of men sitting +around a table playing as intently as if their lives +depended upon the fall of a card.</p> + +<p>My attention was attracted toward a young +man, apparently of about twenty-five, who was in +a desperate plight. Agony was visibly graved in +every feature and in every line of his face. I +asked who he was, and heard the name of a distinguished +family of northern New York. "What +is the matter with him!" I asked. My cicerone +seemed astonished at my stupendous ignorance. +"Why, can you not see they are 'going through' +him?" he said in turn. The expressive term was +sufficient even for my unsophisticated mind. It +told the whole story, like a "scare-head" in a +"yellow" newspaper.</p> + +<p>Then I turned from the victim to the predatory<span class="pagenum"><a id="page86" name="page86">[Pg 86]</a></span> +players about him. Who were they? To my surprise, +the names were those of men famous the +world over as bankers, merchants, and financiers. +There was one man that especially interested me. +It was the American representative of an English +house whose commercial paper our house frequently +used. I said to myself, "I will cut his name +from our list," and I did—for a time. I learned +afterward that banking was only one form of +gambling. Great financiers are often clever gamesters—players +for desperate stakes, but infinitely +better players than their victims. This world of +finance is a great Monte Carlo. It was vain to +entertain a prejudice against only one of the +players.</p> + +<p>It was now necessary for me to hurry back to +Boston in order to catch the Parliament, on which +I had already engaged passage. But before leaving +America, I wanted to see something of Canada, +and resolved upon a rapid trip to Montreal, especially +as I found that I could return to New York +that way almost as quickly as to go across the +State. I went on to Niagara, and then sailed for +Montreal, and had the novel experience of shooting +La Chine Rapids, an Indian piloting the boat. +This was a great thing in those days, and I was +amazed to see how skilfully the Indian guided the +boat in and out among the rocks, never doubtful +of his course, never touching the edges of the +reefs and boulders, never imperiling human life.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page87" name="page87">[Pg 87]</a></span> +I understood that for years these pilots had guided +the boats down the rapids without a single accident.</p> + +<p>On the boat on which I went down the St. Lawrence +I met Captain Stoddard, of the Crescent +City Steam Packet, New York and Havana, and +Mr. Dinsmore, of the Adams Express Company, +with the ladies of their families. We all saw Montreal +together, and some members of the party +made excursions to places elsewhere. One of these +was to the famous Grey Nunnery, the doors of +which were closed to the outside world. But these +Americans, with true American spirit, expected +all doors to open to them, and would not accept +the situation.</p> + +<p>When they told me of their failure to get into +the nunnery, I said I was astonished that the representative +of a big steamboat company and of a +big express company could not get into any building +they wished to enter. "I will show you what +I can do," I said. I had already taken thought of +the talismanic letter from Daniel Webster, countersigned +by the President and Mr. Clay, the three +biggest men, in popular estimation, in the United +States at that time. As I shall afterward relate, +this letter did me a good turn later in Scotland, +opening doors to me that were closed to nearly all +the world. It was now to serve me well; but this +was the first time I had found occasion for its +service since leaving Washington.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page88" name="page88">[Pg 88]</a></span></p> + +<p>I went immediately to the nunnery, where I +asked to see the Lady Superior. I told her I had +visited the Convent of the Sacred Heart at New +York and Georgetown, and that I wanted to see +how they compared with this most famous convent +in Canada. This did not impress her very +much, it seemed to me, and I instantly had recourse +to my letter. "As you do not know me," I said, +"this letter may serve as a sort of introduction." +Then I brought out with a flourish my Webster-Taylor-Clay +letter. The doors at once flew open +before me! After viewing the interior of the nunnery, +I told the Lady Superior that I had a party +of friends at the hotel who would like very much +to see the building, and that if she would permit +me, I should like to bring them around in the +morning. She consented, and the next day I took +the entire party to the nunnery and we were shown +through by the Lady Superior.</p> + +<p>My time was now running short, and I had to +hasten back to New York, if I wanted to catch the +Parliament. I went by way of Lake Champlain, +Ticonderoga, and Lake George, and again saw +something of Saratoga and the Hudson. At Ticonderoga +I had the good fortune to meet Bishop +Spencer of Jamaica, and his son-in-law Archdeacon +Smith, and we traveled together to Saratoga. +Here we met Commodore Trescot, of the +Bermuda Yacht Club. I invited them all to dine +with me at the George Hotel, at Lake Sara<span class="pagenum">[Pg 89]</span>toga. +I was struck by the bishop's dress, for it +was the first time I had seen the black knickerbockers +and the three-cornered chapeau. I do not +mention the dinner—which was not a great affair—merely +for the sake of referring to the knickerbockers +or the chapeau, but because the bishop +pressed upon me a special invitation to call upon +him when I came to London.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 90]</span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a id="page90" name="page90"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<p class="title">A PARTNER IN THE LIVERPOOL HOUSE<br /> +<br /> +1850-1852</p> + + +<p>From Saratoga, I went down the Hudson +to New York, and thence to Boston, where I arrived +in time to take the Parliament, Captain +Brown, on the 25th of July. I had lived fast in +the eight weeks of my holiday. It was the only +vacation I had had since I had begun my business +life as a grocer boy in Holmes's store, and I had +worked hard during that long period. The result +was that I sprang back too far, like the released +bow, and was soon to see the effects. As my time +was so limited, I had tried to make the most of it, +and had rushed from place to place, had lived in +all sorts of hotels and eaten all sorts of food. +Besides, the travel, all of which had been in a +whirl of excitement, aided in upsetting my physical +system.</p> + +<p>A few days on the boat were enough to complete +the wreck. I was as badly shaken up as Mont +Pelée, and was ill for most of the voyage. When +I reached Liverpool, I had lost thirty pounds, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="page91" name="page91">[Pg 91]</a></span> +had to be taken off the steamer, and was carried +to the house of Mr. Thayer, the Liverpool partner +of Colonel Train. It was two or three months before +I completely recovered.</p> + +<p>I had hardly reached England before I began +to realize that the people there use a somewhat +different version of the English language than we +are accustomed to in America. My physician was +Dr. Archer. He came to see me one morning just +after I had had my breakfast, and took his stand +immediately before the fire, with his back to it. +"I am half starved," he said. I immediately rang +the bell, and when the servant came turned to +the physician and asked what he would have +for breakfast. He said he had eaten breakfast +and did not want anything more. "But," said +I, "you said you were half starved; surely +you must be hungry." He burst into a roar of +laughter. "I meant that I was half starved with +cold."</p> + +<p>With this as a beginning, I began to pick up +the vocabulary peculiar to the modern English. +My next acquisition was "nasty." I was informed +that a rather disagreeable day was a very "nasty" +day, and that the weather was simply "beastly." +After mastering these three words, which were entirely +new to me, and adding such words as I could +pick up from the daily speech of the men I met, I +was soon able to get along in some fashion with the +English of England.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page92" name="page92">[Pg 92]</a></span></p> + +<p>My first British holiday was spent in Scotland, +where I stayed for a week. When I was at +Balmoral the Queen happened to be there. Leaving +Balmoral, I went to Braemar, on the way to +Aberdeen. A number of young students were +there at the time, and I spent some moments talking +with them. Suddenly, there was a tremendous +uproar and excitement, and I saw a four-in-hand +drive up. The students informed me that it was +the Premier, Lord John Russell, who had just returned +from an audience with the Queen at Balmoral. +I saw there was a chance for some sport. +Turning to the students, with a smile, I said: "I +wonder how his lordship knew I had come to +Braemar! I hope to have the pleasure of speaking +with him."</p> + +<p>The students laughed satirically. One of them +said: "Look heah, Mr. Train, that sort of thing +won't do heah, you know. We don't do things as +you do in America." Another suggested that I +should not be treated very civilly if I attempted to +approach Lord John Russell.</p> + +<p>For reply, I took out a card and wrote on it: +"An American, in the Highlands of Scotland, is +delighted to know that he is under the same roof +with England's Premier, Lord John Russell, and, +before he goes, would ask the pleasure of speaking +with his lordship for a moment." I carefully folded +the card in the letter that had been given to +me by Mr. Webster, and afterward signed by the<span class="pagenum"><a id="page93" name="page93">[Pg 93]</a></span> +President of the United States and Henry Clay. I +sent the two in to his lordship.</p> + +<p>In a few minutes the door opened, and the secretary +of Lord John Russell came in and asked +for "Mr. Train." I said I was Mr. Train. "Lord +John Russell," replied the secretary, "waits the +pleasure of speaking with Mr. Train of Boston." +I followed him out of the room, to the amazement +of the young students, who didn't do things that +way in England.</p> + +<p>His lordship received me with that easy grace +and courtesy which I have always observed in Englishmen +of high rank. I told him I would not take +up any of his time, and that I merely wanted to +meet him. He made me talk about the United +States, and insisted upon introducing me to his +wife. She, also, received me graciously, saying +she was "always glad to see Americans." She +asked me many questions about this country and +especially about Niagara Falls. A half hour +passed by before I was aware of the time. I +begged pardon for staying so long, and left.</p> + +<p>In my book, Young America Abroad, I have +referred to this incident and to the courteous reception +I met at Braemar. When I had gone +around the world, and returned to America, and +was at Newport with Colonel Hiram Fuller, in '56, +there came to me in the mail one morning a coroneted +note. It was from London, and written by +Lady Russell.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page94" name="page94">[Pg 94]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It was so kind of you," it said, "to remember +us at Braemar, and to send us your Young America +Abroad, which his lordship and I have read +with a great deal of pleasure. When you come +to London, come to see us.—<span class="smcap">Fannie Russell.</span>"</p> + +<p>Our Liverpool office was at No. 5 Water Street, +George Holt's building. As soon as I was able to +look after the company's interests, I went down to +the office and took charge. Mr. Thayer returned +to Boston, and later to New York. This left me +in complete control. At twenty years of age, I +was the manager of the great house of Train & +Co., in Liverpool.</p> + +<p>I at once began to reorganize things in Liverpool, +and to develop our business. I put on two +ships a month between Liverpool and Boston, and +arranged the James McHenry line to Philadelphia, +and sent transient ships to New York. We +also had what was known as the "triangular line," +handling cotton and naval stores.</p> + +<p>Liverpool I found to be a great port, but very +much belated. It was too conservative, and the old +fogies there were quite content to keep up customs +that their ancestors had followed without trying +to improve upon them, or to introduce new +and better ones. I set to work to improve everything +in our business that was susceptible of improvement.</p> + +<p>I was astonished, the very first day after I +reached the office, to learn that nothing was done<span class="pagenum">[Pg 95]</span> +at night. The entire twelve hours from six in the +afternoon to six the following morning were absolutely +lost, and this in a business that requires +every minute of time in the twenty-four hours. +Ships can not be delayed, held at ports for day-light, +or laid up while men sleep. The work of +loading and unloading must proceed with all despatch, +if there is to be any profit in handling the +business, and ships must be sent on their voyages +without loss of valuable time. I had supposed +that the English shippers thoroughly understood +these simple principles of the business in which +they have led the world.</p> + +<p>Our vessels were very expensive, and we could +not afford to lose the twelve hours of the night. +That much time meant a profit to us, and I determined +to utilize it. What was my surprise, when +I went to the proper authorities, to find that we +should not be allowed to light up the Liverpool +docks at night, or to have fires on them. It was +feared that we should burn the structures and +destroy the shipping and docks. These dignified +gentlemen even laughed at me for suggesting such +a foolhardy undertaking.</p> + +<p>I said to myself, there is always one way to +reach men, and I will find the way to reach these +dignitaries. It occurred to me that I could reach +them most surely through a plea for the prosperity +of the port. I went at once to the representatives +of all the American lines having offices in Liverpool,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 96]</span> +to organize them into a combined attack on the +Liverpool port authorities. I saw Captain Delano +of the Albert Gallatin, Captain French of the +Henry Clay, Captain West of the Cope Philadelphia +line, Captain Cropper of Charles H. Marshall's +Black Ball line, Zerega of the Blue Packet +line, and others, and we decided upon asking the +dock board to give us a hearing. This the board +very readily consented to do.</p> + +<p>Prior to this meeting, I went to all the American +representatives and outlined my plan of campaign. +This was to say very plainly to the dock +board that unless we could have fires and lights +on the docks we would take the shipping to other +ports. The captains and others were astonished, +but they agreed to let me approach the board with +this plain threat.</p> + +<p>I then went to the board, with all the representatives +of the American lines, and quietly told +the members that we wanted fires and lights on +the docks at night, that we needed this in order to +carry on our business in our way, and that unless +we could have them, we should at once go to other +ports. Abandoning a mood of amused laughter, +these gentlemen suddenly became very serious. +Their hoary customs did not seem so sacred then, +and they ended by throwing a complete somersault, +and granting us full permission to light up +the Liverpool docks at night.</p> + +<p>Of course this made a tremendous difference<span class="pagenum"><a id="page97" name="page97">[Pg 97]</a></span> +to all of us. We could now load our ships at night, +thus saving one half of the twenty-four hours, +which we had been losing. I understand that the +Morgan combination, fifty-two years after this, +has again forced concessions from the Liverpool +dock board by threatening to take the ships to +Southampton.</p> + +<p>Our principal freight from Liverpool at that +time consisted of crockery from the Staffordshire +potteries, Manchester dry-goods, and iron and +steel, and what were known as "chow-chow," or +miscellaneous articles. We often had as many as +150 consignees in a single cargo. Our principal +business connections were the firms of John H. +Green & Co. and Forward & Co., who shipped pottery; +Bailey Brothers & Co., Jevons & Co., A. & +S. Henry & Co., Crafts & Stell, Charles Humberston, +and John Ireland. Our passenger agent was +Daniel P. Mitchell, 18 Waterloo Road.</p> + +<p>The first blunder that I made in Liverpool—and +the only serious one, I believe—was in connection +with shipping emigrants to the United +States. One day a man came into the office and +said he was from the estate of the Marquis of +Lansdowne, and wanted to contract for the shipment +of 300 passengers for New York. We soon +came to terms, and I chartered the ship President. +We charged the Marquis from £3 15s. to £4 a head. +I learned afterward that these passengers were +poor tenants of his estates. The Marquis of that<span class="pagenum"><a id="page98" name="page98">[Pg 98]</a></span> +time was the grandfather of the present Marquis +of Lansdowne, Minister of War in the Salisbury +cabinet.</p> + +<p>At that time we had to pay $2 a head for all +immigrants entering the country. I had tried to +get this changed, through Mr. Webster, but had +failed. We had also to give bond that the immigrants +would not become a public charge. It +proved a very expensive contract for us, as we +had to bring back many of these paupers for the +old Marquis to take care of.</p> + +<p>When I left Boston, I had taken a partnership, +one sixth interest, in the house of Train & Co. In +Liverpool I had twenty-five clerks under me, and +at one time had four ships in Victoria Docks. It +may be inferred that I conducted the business with +some degree of success, as my interest—one sixth—for +the first year was $10,000. Next year, when +in London, I was invited to a grand reception +given by Abbott Lawrence, 138 Piccadilly, who +was then United States minister at the court of +St. James's. That day I dined with Lord +Bishop Spencer of Jamaica, whom I had met in +Saratoga, and took Lady Harvey in. This was my +acceptance of the invitation he had extended to +me in Saratoga. The bishop asked if I was going +to the reception of the American minister that +night, and, on my saying that I was, asked me to +accept a place in his carriage. This I very gladly +did, as I had, by this time learned a great deal<span class="pagenum"><a id="page99" name="page99">[Pg 99]</a></span> +about the value of state and ceremony in English +life. The sequence will show how this worldly +wisdom served me.</p> + +<p>At the dinner, however, I had had a very narrow +escape. It was the "closest call," as we say in +the West, that my temperance Methodist principles +ever had. I was asked, as a great mark of +distinction, to taste the pet wine of the bishop. +The bishop himself acted as chief tempter of my +old New England principles. He handed me a +glass, saying: "Mr. Train, this is the wine we call +the 'cockroach flavor.' I want you to drink some +of it with us," and he glanced around his table, at +which were seated many titled Englishmen and +women.</p> + +<p>What was I to do? Should I, caught in so dire +an emergency, drown my principles in the cup that +cheers and inebriates? Was all my Methodism +and New England temperance to go down in shipwreck? +The exigency nerved me for the task, and +I found a courage sufficient to carry me through. +I had never tasted a drop of wine, and I was not +going to begin now. I glanced about the room, +and slowly raised the glass to my lips. I did not +taste the wine, but the other guests thought that I +did. "We all know," I said, "that the wine at +your lordship's table is the best." This passed +without challenge, and, in the ripple of applause, +my omission to drink the wine was not observed.</p> + +<p>Later in the evening I went with the bishop<span class="pagenum"><a id="page100" name="page100">[Pg 100]</a></span> +to the American minister's reception, and soon +saw how well it was that I was in his lordship's +carriage. Had I been in a hired cab, I should have +fared badly. I should have had to wait in the long +line of these vehicles, while flunkeys called out, in +stentorian tones as if to advertise all London of +the fact that you were in a hired concern, "Mr. +Train's cab!" and other flunkeys, down the line, +would take up the cry, "Mr. Train's cab!" until +one would sink in a fever of chagrin. But as I +came in the bishop's carriage, I heard respectful +voices announce, "Lord Spencer and Mr. Train."</p> + +<p>I observed several ladies bending over an elderly +gentleman, and soon another lady asked me +if I had seen the duke. As there were two or three +dukes present, I asked which one. She looked very +much surprised, as if there could be more than one +duke in the world. "Why, the Duke of Wellington!" +she exclaimed.</p> + +<p>I now took occasion to get a good look at the +venerable old man. It was the first time, and +proved to be the only time, I ever saw him. He +would not have impressed me, I think, had it not +been for the light of history which seemed, after +I once knew it was he, to illuminate his face and +frame. It was the last year of his enjoyment of +great renown. He died shortly afterward.</p> + +<p>While in England, I availed myself of every +opportunity to see the country, and study it from +every possible point of view. I may add that this<span class="pagenum"><a id="page101" name="page101">[Pg 101]</a></span> +has been my invariable custom in all countries. +I have gone through the world as an inquirer and +an observer of men and things. As I had visited +Scotland, I was desirous of seeing another of the +islands, Wales, so I ran down into that curious +country on a vacation, in 1850. I went to Bangor, +on the Menai Straits, and hardly had got into the +hotel when a tremendous commotion in the corridors +told me that some guest of unusual importance +had arrived. I asked who it was, and was +informed that it was the Duke of Devonshire.</p> + +<p>"That is exceedingly fortunate for me," I said. +"There is no man that I would rather see at this +moment than the Duke of Devonshire." At this, +my companions—among whom were young Grinnell, +of Grinnell, Bowman & Co., whose father sent +the Resolute to find Sir John Franklin, young +Russell, and young Jevons, an iron merchant—began +laughing immoderately. I wrote on a card +that an American, who happened to be at the +George Hotel when he arrived, would like to see +him, if it would not be too great an intrusion upon +his time. I added that it had been one of the desires +of my life to visit his famous estate at Chatsworth.</p> + +<p>This note I sent to the duke by a messenger. +Immediately came back a reply that the duke +would be very glad to see me, and I was ushered +into his presence. He was then an elderly man, +his voice tremulous and uncertain. To make it<span class="pagenum"><a id="page102" name="page102">[Pg 102]</a></span> +still more difficult to converse with him, he was +deaf, but used an ear-trumpet. I succeeded in telling +him that his palace at Chatsworth was well +known throughout America by reputation, and +that I should like very much to see it, while I was +in that part of Great Britain. He replied that I +must certainly see it before leaving. He then +called to his secretary to bring him a blue card, +and wrote upon it a pass to enter the grounds and +buildings. This was all very kind, and I thanked +him for the courtesy.</p> + +<p>He then completely stunned me by saying: +"You must see the emperor!" I knew that the +Czar of Russia had been his guest, but it was not +likely that he was at Chatsworth at that time; so +I endeavored to divine what the duke meant. My +mind ran over horses, conservatories, and dogs.</p> + +<p>I could not, for a moment or two, imagine what +"the emperor" could be, and was about to commit +myself irrevocably to a conservatory, a favorite +horse, or hound; but before making any remark +gave him an appreciative smile which seemed to +please his grace. He called for the blue card +again, and wrote on it: "Let the emperor play for +Mr. Train." I learned afterward that it cost the +duke $500 to have "the emperor" play, and so +much the more appreciated his courtesy. I remarked +that I had heard "the emperor" referred +to as the highest fountain in all Europe.</p> + +<p>As soon as I got back to Liverpool, I made up<span class="pagenum"><a id="page103" name="page103">[Pg 103]</a></span> +a little party to visit Chatsworth. When we +reached the station I was astonished to see almost +a regiment of uniformed servants waiting to meet +us. I was even more astounded when the head of +this body-guard of retainers approached and asked, +in the most deferential manner: "When will your +royal highness have luncheon?" I saw, of course, +that they were taking me for some one else, and +remarked that they were perhaps waiting for the +arrival of the Prince of Hesse-Cassel, whom I had +just seen at the hotel. The prince came up almost +immediately afterward, and had the pleasure of +seeing "the emperor" play, by special authority, +on my card from the duke.</p> + +<p>The palace is a magnificent residence, so far +exceeding anything of the kind in England at that +time, that George IV. is said to have felt offended +when invited there, because his own residence was +shabby in comparison. I made the acquaintance at +Chatsworth of Sir Joseph Paxton, who the following +year modeled the entire glass system of the +first Crystal Palace at London. I was to see something +of the Crystal Palace the next year.</p> + +<p>Six years after this, when I published my book, +Young America Abroad, I sent a marked copy to +the Duke of Devonshire, and he wrote me a letter +in which he said: "I am an old man now, sixty-two, +but I have not forgotten the delightful day +when I met you on the Menai Straits."</p> + +<p>One day, in my office in Liverpool, I received<span class="pagenum"><a id="page104" name="page104">[Pg 104]</a></span> +a card from the Secretary, inviting me to the +exhibition in London, and Mr. Riddle of Boston, +who was then on his way to London, asked me to +be present on the day when the Queen was to come, +which was the day before the opening. I went to +London, and that was the first and the only time I +ever saw Queen Victoria. She was with Prince +Albert, and they were accompanied, I remember, +by a brilliant staff.</p> + +<p>I recall an incident during my visit to London +on this occasion which aptly illustrates the +want of suggestiveness on the part of Englishmen. +They are content to go along in old ruts, provided +only they be old enough. Frank Fuller was the +contractor for the Crystal Palace, and a problem +arose, in the construction, as to what to do with a +certain beautiful and aged elm that had been an +object of reverence and stood in the way of the +proposed building. It had finally been decided to +cut it down, in order to get it out of the way.</p> + +<p>"What!" said I, "cut it down—this exquisite +tree?" Some one remarked that the authorities +did not wish to cut it down, but it stood directly in +the way of the great palace, and would have to be +sacrificed. "The palace is here for time," I said, +"and this tree may be here for eternity. Spare +the tree." "But how?" they asked. They were +bewildered—did not have a thought of what to do, +except to hew down the venerable tree. "Build +your palace around it," I said. This simple<span class="pagenum"><a id="page105" name="page105">[Pg 105]</a></span> +device had not occurred to them, but it saved the +elm.</p> + +<p>Mr. Fuller was so pleased by the suggestion, +that he began asking me about hotels in America, +and proposed that I undertake the building of an +American hotel in London. I said that some time +I should, perhaps, try the experiment, but that for +the present my shipping business would keep me +fully occupied.</p> + +<p>I might as well mention here, although it is not +in its chronological order, my later experience in +trying to establish an American hotel in London. +It was seven years after the exhibition when the +question of an American hotel came up again. I +had worked up the plan very thoroughly, and had +some of the most prominent and influential men +in England as directors of the proposed company. +We had, also, obtained options on several acres of +desirable land in the Strand as a site. In the +board of directors was Lord Bury, private secretary +of the Queen, son of the Earl of Albemarle; +Mark Lemon, of Punch; and others. The only +obstacle to our success was the passage of a bill +through Parliament authorizing us to occupy the +land. The hotel caused a great sensation in London, +and there was much talk of it as a daring and +not altogether agreeable invasion of England by +Americans. On the other hand, there was much +commendation, and George Augustus Sala, the +leading editorial writer of the Telegraph, wrote a<span class="pagenum"><a id="page106" name="page106">[Pg 106]</a></span> +letter in which he mentioned my name as a guaranty +that the hotel would be built and would succeed, +as, he said, I had succeeded in everything.</p> + +<p>Matters were well advanced, and it looked +as if we should have the hotel. I wanted it constructed +along distinctly American lines, and sent +to Paran Stevens to get from him the plans of his +three hotels, the Revere House in Boston, the Fifth +Avenue Hotel in New York, and the Continental +in Philadelphia. We had everything in readiness, +when the news came that the bill had failed in the +House of Lords by sixteen votes, although the +House of Commons had passed it. I came as near +as that to building the first American hotel in London. +Fifty years later, the Hotel Cecil was built, +a half century after I had suggested the idea and +perfected the plan.</p> + +<p>My experience in Saratoga had revealed to me +the want of suggestiveness and resource in men in +general. They will continue doing the same thing +in the same old way generation after generation, +without taking thought for improving methods in +the interest of economy, of time, and of money. I +have, from time to time, suggested a large number +of little improvements, mechanical or other devices, +for which I have never taken out patents or +received a cent of profit in any way. I shall bring +together here a few of these suggestions, made at +different times and in different countries.</p> + +<p>I used to go to the old cider-mill at Piper's,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 107]</span> +about a half mile from our farm. We went in an +ox-cart, filled with apples. When we got to the +cider-mill, all we had to do was to pull out a peg, +and the apples would roll out into the hopper of +the mill.</p> + +<p>When I came to New York years afterward I +was astonished to notice that there were a half-dozen +men around every coal-cart, unloading the +coal. I thought of the ox-cart, the peg, and the +hopper, which I had used thirty years before. I +suggested the use of a device for letting the coal +run from the cart into the cellar, but could not get +any one to listen to the proposition. Now, years +after my suggestion, all of these carts in New +York and other large cities of America have small +scoops running from the cart to the coal-hole, and +a single man unloads the cart by winding a windlass +and lifting the front end of the wagon. In +London they still keep up the old, clumsy, and expensive +method of unloading with sacks. The +English are in some things where we were a century +ago.</p> + +<p>Once in London I was astonished to see a man, +after writing something with a lead-pencil, search +through his pockets for a piece of india-rubber +with which to erase an error. He had lost it, and +could only smudge the paper by marking out what +he had written. I said to him: "Why don't you +attach the rubber to the pencil? Then you couldn't +lose it." He jumped at my suggestion, took out a<span class="pagenum"><a id="page108" name="page108">[Pg 108]</a></span> +patent for the rubber attachment to pencils, and +made money.</p> + +<p>When Rowland Hill, the great English postal +reformer, introduced penny-postage into England, +he found it necessary to employ many girls to clip +off the stamps from great sheets. I took a sheet +of paper to him, and showed him how easy it +would be by perforation to tear off the stamps as +needed. He adopted my idea; and now a single +machine does the whole work.</p> + +<p>I noticed one day in England a lot of "flunkeys" +rushing up to the carriages of titled ladies +and busying themselves adjusting steps, which +were separate from the carriage, and had been +taken along with great inconvenience. I said to +myself, why not have the steps attached? and I +spoke about the idea to others. It was taken up, +and carried out. Now every carriage has steps +attached as a part of the structure.</p> + +<p>In '50, I was with James McHenry in Liverpool, +and in trying to pour some ink from a bottle +into the ink-well, the bottle was upset, and the ink +spilled all over the desk. This was because too +much ink came from the mouth. "Give the bottle +a nose, like a milk pitcher," I said; "then you can +pour the ink into the well easily." Holden, of +Liverpool, took up the idea, and patented it, and +made a fortune out of it.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 109]</span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a id="page109" name="page109"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<p class="title">MY COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE—RETURN TO +LIVERPOOL<br /> +<br /> +1850-1852</p> + + +<p>After the first short stay in Saratoga during +my vacation trip in America, I had started for a +journey West; and was soon to meet with an experience +that turned the current of my life. At +Syracuse I saw a half dozen students talking to a +lovely girl, bidding her good-by. Her appearance +struck me in a peculiar way. I turned to Alfredo +Ward, who, with his wife, was traveling with me, +they having just come from Valparaiso, Chili. +"Look at that girl with the curls," said I. "Do +you know her?" he asked. "I never saw her before," +I answered, "but she shall be my wife."</p> + +<p>I was quite ready to abandon the remainder of +my Western trip, to get an opportunity to meet +this girl. Taking my grip up hurriedly, I rushed +over to the train she was on, supposing she was +going to New York. I soon discovered that she +was going the other way, and ran through in my +mind the chances I could take, the risks I could<span class="pagenum"><a id="page110" name="page110">[Pg 110]</a></span> +run, and so took an opportunity by the throat. I +knew that I was not compelled to leave Boston until +July 25, and so I had ample time to get to my +ship.</p> + +<p>I entered the car where the girl was, and found +a vacant seat opposite her. An elderly gentleman +was with her, whom I took to be her father. I +selected the seat opposite with the deliberate purpose +of making the acquaintance of the pair at the +first opportunity that occurred or that I could +create.</p> + +<p>My chance came sooner than I expected. The +elderly gentleman tried to raise the sash of the +window, and could not move it; it had, as usual, +stuck fast. I sprang lightly and very quickly +across the aisle and said, "Permit me to assist +you," and adding my youthful strength to his, +raised the window. Both he and the young lady +thanked me. The old gentleman went further and +asked me to take the seat directly opposite him +and the young lady, on the same side of the car. +I did so, and we entered into conversation immediately. +I continued my speculations as to the +relationship that existed between them. The gentleman +seemed rather elderly for her husband, and +she too young to be married at all. He did not look +exactly as if he were her father.</p> + +<p><a id="page110a" name="page110a"></a></p> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a href="images/illus-138.jpg"> +<img src="images/illus-138.jpg" alt="Mrs. George Francis Train" title="Mrs. George Francis Train" /> +</a></div> + +<p class="caption">Mrs. George Francis Train.</p> + + +<p>Before I could determine this question for myself, +he came to my assistance, and told me the +young lady was the daughter of Colonel George +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page111" name="page111">[Pg 111]</a></span>T. M. Davis, who was captain and aide-de-camp, +under General Scott, in the Mexican War, and +afterward chief clerk in the War Department at +Washington. He introduced himself as Dr. Wallace, +and said that he was taking Miss Davis to +her home in the West. I also learned that they +were going to Oswego, where they would take a +boat. I immediately exclaimed that I, also, was +going in that direction, and was delighted to know +we should be fellow passengers. In such matters—for +love is like war—quickness of decision +is everything. I would have gone in any +direction, if only I could remain her fellow passenger.</p> + +<p>And so we arrived at Niagara Falls together. +Dr. Wallace was kind enough to permit me to escort +his charge about the Falls, and I was foolish +enough to do several risky things, in a sort of half-conscious +desire to appear brave—the last infirmity +of the mind of a lover. I went under the Falls +and clambered about in all sorts of dangerous +places, in an intoxication of love. It was the same +old story, only with the difference that our love +was mutually discovered and confessed amid the +roaring accompaniment of the great cataract. We +were at the Falls forty-eight hours, and before we +left we were betrothed.</p> + +<p>Soon afterward I sailed for London, as already +set forth. It was not till '51 that I came back to +America, principally for the purpose of marry<span class="pagenum"><a id="page112" name="page112">[Pg 112]</a></span>ing +Miss Davis and taking her back to England +with me.</p> + +<p>I arrived in Boston shortly before the celebration +of Bunker Hill Day, which was always a great +occasion in that city. General John S. Tyler was +grand-marshal of the day, and he appointed me +one of his aides. It was a time when young people +were usually left out of all public business arrangements. +Only the middle-aged or old took +part in anything of the spectacular nature in this +great parade. Probably I attracted a great deal +of attention, therefore, because of my youth, being +then only twenty-one.</p> + +<p>In truth, I felt a little flattered by the appointment, +and determined to make as good a show as +possible. Having been born and reared on a farm, +I knew how to ride, so I got the stableman to give +me the finest stepper he could furnish. He found +a beautiful animal, with a frolicsome spirit, and +I felt that I should prove at least a good part of +the exhibition. I was decked in a flowing red, +white, and blue sash that swept below the saddle-girths, +and my horse was a proud-looking and +dainty-paced beast. With a little rehearsing of my +part, I was fully prepared.</p> + +<p>On the occasion of the parade, I am quite sure, +I was the observed of many observers. The spectators +were let into the mystery of the beautiful +caracoling and dancing of my horse, whom I +touched occasionally with the spur in a particular<span class="pagenum"><a id="page113" name="page113">[Pg 113]</a></span> +way, and who acquitted himself with great credit. +The populace thought he was trying to unseat me, +or to run away, and that it was only by excellent +horsemanship that I was able to hold my seat and +look like a centaur. I am ashamed to say, at this +far distance in retrospect, that it was a proud moment +for me, and that I took so much pleasure in +so idle and empty a show. But youth must be +served.</p> + +<p>I had charge of the Colonial Governors, who +were the guests of the city, and of the President, +and I escorted them from Boston to Charlestown. +There were Sir John A. MacDonald, of Canada; +Governor Tilly, of New Brunswick; the Honorable +Joseph Howe, ex-Governor of Nova Scotia; +and Millard Fillmore, President of the United +States. President Fillmore and Sir John MacDonald +rode on the back seat of the first carriage, +and Howe and Tilly on the front seat. Somehow, +Boston seemed to regard the colonial officials as +equal to, if not a little better than the President. +I suppose this was because of the sentiment of +Bunker Hill, and because the presence of British +representatives was a matter of pride and gratification.</p> + +<p>But the day was to end in gloom. As I was in +the midst of the gaiety and at the height of my +exultation, a messenger handed me a despatch. I +tore it open, and found that it was from a friend in +Louisville, Ky., and contained a warning. Miss<span class="pagenum"><a id="page114" name="page114">[Pg 114]</a></span> +Davis, to whom I was betrothed, lived in Louisville, +and I was soon to marry her there. The +telegram urged me to hasten my journey, as the +report of the coming marriage had created a great +deal of bad feeling. My friend advised me to lay +aside everything and go to Louisville with all possible +despatch.</p> + +<p>I could not imagine, at first, what this meant. +It seemed to convey only some presage of disaster. +I left the gay scenes of the parade and hurried +to my room at the hotel. There I made instant +preparation for a trip to Louisville.</p> + +<p>Before leaving Boston, however, I learned +what it was that had caused my friend in Louisville +so much concern. Some time before, there +had been a marriage of a Kentucky girl with a +Northerner—the much-talked of wedding of Bigelow +Lawrence and Miss Sallie Ward. It had +aroused a great deal of bitter feeling, because of +the increasing tension and friction between the +North and the South. This was none of my +affair; nor did I share the feeling on either side. +Indeed, at that time, I knew little and cared less +about the sectional differences between the North +and South. The only interest I had in the South +at that time was a commercial one in our shipping +business, and the more personal interest attaching +to that portion of the South that held my future +wife.</p> + +<p>My own approaching marriage to Miss Davis<span class="pagenum">[Pg 115]</span> +had, it seems, been regarded as of sufficient importance +to arouse the same feeling that had been +created by the Lawrence-Ward marriage. My +friends were manifesting much solicitude. What +most alarmed them was the fact that a number of +gallant Kentuckians were trying to marry Miss +Davis themselves, and thus patriotically save her +for the South. Among these patriots were Senator +James Shields, Mexican hero of Belleville, +Ill., Lieutenant Merriman of the navy, and an +officer of the army. There was, also, a suitor +from my side of the line—"Ned" Baker, of +Springfield, Ill., who was afterward United States +consul-general at Montevideo. In her letters +to me she had mentioned all of these gentlemen, +but I was not particularly anxious about the +matter, feeling that there was safety in numbers. +But now that my friends were interesting themselves, +I thought it full time that I should be looking +after affairs myself.</p> + +<p>I was doomed to suffer from the inconsistency +of woman. When I reached Louisville I wrote to +her, mentioning the reports sent me by friends. +This angered her. She became indignant because +I had taken any notice of these rumors, and refused +to see me on that day. But on the following +day she was in a milder mood, ready to see me. +This meeting put to rest forever all doubts, suspicions, +and jealousies, and my fears melted into +thin air.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page116" name="page116">[Pg 116]</a></span></p> + +<p>But for all this, I was determined to take no +further chances with three or four rivals, and decided +that I should not again leave my affianced +bride behind me. I insisted upon an immediate +ceremony, and we were married by the rector of +the Episcopal church in Louisville, October 5, +'51. Her father, Colonel George T. M. Davis, +was then editor of Haldeman's Louisville Courier. +Belle Key, the famous Kentucky beauty, whose +sister, Annie Key, married Matthew Ward, who +killed a Kentuckian in a duel, was my wife's +bridesmaid, and Sylvanus J. Macey, son of William +H. Macey, was groomsman. My wife was +only seventeen years old. She was very beautiful. +Her picture appeared in the Book of Beauty the +following year.</p> + +<p>We came east from Louisville on our wedding +journey, stopping at Cincinnati, where I had a +curious experience. The Burnett House was the +most popular hotel in the city at that time, and +we stayed there. It had just fitted up the first +"bridal chamber" in this country, if not in the +world. Every little hotel has one now; but then +such a thing was unheard of, so far as I have been +able to ascertain. At any rate, Mr. Drake, the +clerk, asked me if I did not wish to take the "bridal +chamber." He told me it was the only one in +the world. As I was ever keen and ready for a +novelty, I replied that of course I would.</p> + +<p>I had already been in a great many hotels in<span class="pagenum"><a id="page117" name="page117">[Pg 117]</a></span> +this country. The prevailing rate of charge was +about $2 a day, at that time. I supposed that this +splendid room would cost a little more, being a +special apartment—perhaps about $5 a day. It +cost $15! But I was willing to pay for the honor +of occupying the first "bridal chamber" in the +world.</p> + +<p>From Cincinnati, we came directly on to Boston, +and stayed at the Winthrop House, where I +had been before. I soon had a conference with +the Boston house which I represented, and it was +determined that I should return to Liverpool and +resume charge of the branch there, but in somewhat +different and better circumstances. I returned +in '52. The ship we sailed on was the +Daniel Webster, built by Donald Mackay in East +Boston, and which I had named in special honor +of my friend, the great Daniel. Captain Howard +was in command.</p> + +<p>The trip was destined to be eventful. Five +days after leaving Boston we ran into a heavy +gale from the west. Our boat was very sturdy, +and we had no fears, but I knew that many smaller +and less seaworthy ships would suffer in such a +driving storm. We were, therefore, on the lookout +for vessels in distress.</p> + +<p>For the greater part of the time, during the +height of the gale, I stood on the bridge closely +scanning the horizon line in front. Suddenly +something seemed to rise and assume form out<span class="pagenum"><a id="page118" name="page118">[Pg 118]</a></span> +of the storm-wrack, and this gradually grew into +the shape of a vessel. I saw that it was a wreck, +shouted to the captain, but he, looking in the direction, +could make out nothing. My eyes seemed +to be better than his, although his had been trained +by long practise at sea. He could not see much +better when he got his glasses turned in the direction +I indicated, but finally he discovered the vessel, +though he did not seem desirous of leaving his +present course to offer assistance.</p> + +<p>I insisted that we should go to the rescue of +the ship and her crew, and he turned and said: +"Mr. Train, we sea captains are prevented from +going to the rescue of vessels, or from leaving our +course, by the insurance companies. We should +forfeit our policy in the event of being lost or +damaged."</p> + +<p>"Let me decide that," said I. "We can not +do otherwise than go to the assistance of these +persons." And we went. The Webster bore +swiftly down upon the wreck, which proved to be +in worse plight than I had imagined. She was +buffeted about by the waves, and seemed in peril +of going down at any moment. Men and women +were clinging to her rigging, hanging over her +sides, and trying to get spars and timbers on which +to entrust themselves to the sea. The doomed +vessel was the Unicorn, from an Irish port, bound +for St. John's, N. B., with passengers and railway +iron. This iron had been the cause of the wreck,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 119]</span> +for in the rough weather it had broken away from +its fastenings, or "shipped," as the sailors express +it, and had broken holes in the sides of the boat +and overweighted it on one side.</p> + +<p>A brig that had sighted the Unicorn before we +came up had taken off a few of the passengers—as +many as it could accommodate. The Unicorn +was a small vessel, and there seemed little chance +for the rest of the passengers unless we could +reach them. The sea was running very swift and +high, and it was not possible to bring the Webster +close to the side of the Unicorn. To make matters +worse, the sailors had found that there was whisky +in the cargo, and in their desperation, drank it +without restraint. They were, consequently, unmanageable. +They could not help us to assist the +miserable passengers on their own boat.</p> + +<p>There was nothing else to be done except to +get into our small boats and try to save as many +passengers as possible. The captain got into one +boat and I into another, and we were rowed to the +side of the Unicorn. There we discovered that +many had already perished. Dead bodies were +floating in the sea about the ship. We tried to get +up close enough to reach the passengers, but found +it impossible.</p> + +<p>"Throw the passengers into the sea," I shouted +to the captain of the Unicorn, "and we will pick +them up. We can't get up to you." In this way, +the crew of the Unicorn throwing men and women<span class="pagenum">[Pg 120]</span> +into the sea, and our boats picking them up, we +succeeded in saving two hundred. All the rest—I +do not know how many—were drowned. We finally +got these two hundred persons safely on board +the Daniel Webster.</p> + +<p>Here we discovered other difficulties, and it +seemed, for a time, as if starvation might do the +work that had been denied to the waves. There +was, also, the question of accommodations; but we +solved this problem by taking some of our extra +sails and tarpaulin and rigging up a protection for +them on the deck and in the hold, so that we made +them all fairly comfortable. The problem of food +was far more difficult. We simply had no food, +the captain said. There was hardly more than +enough for the crew and passengers of our own +vessel, as the delay caused by the rescue and the +departure from our course had made an extra demand +upon supplies.</p> + +<p>Here a happy thought occurred to me. We +happened to be carrying a cargo of corn-meal. I +had heard that the Irish, in one of their famines, +had been fed with corn-meal, learning to eat and +even to like it.</p> + +<p>"Open the hatches!" I cried, with the enthusiasm +of the philosopher who cried "Eureka." +The problem of food was soon solved. Two of the +barrels were cut in half, making four tubs. From +the staves of other barrels we made spoons, and +from the meal we made mush which the half-<span class="pagenum"><a id="page121" name="page121">[Pg 121]</a></span>starved +men, women, and children ate with great +relish. They lived on it until we got them safely +landed on English soil, the entire two hundred +persons reaching port without the loss of a single +soul.</p> + +<p>This was my first service at a rescue, and, of +course, I was proud of it. Captain Howard received +a handsome medal from the Life Saving +Society of England, and the incident greatly increased +the reputation of our packets.</p> + +<p>On arriving at Liverpool, we went to No. 153 +Duke Street, a house then kept by Mrs. Blodgett, +whose husband saw service as consul in Spain. +This house was at that time the favorite resort of +American sea captains and shipping men, and was +a sort of central point for all Americans in Liverpool. +John Alfred Marsh, who had been with us +in Boston, was with me in Liverpool at this time, +in the branch of our house there; and I think he +is the only man living among all of my friends of +that year. He is now connected with the Guion +Line steamships.</p> + +<p>During the first year in Liverpool after my +marriage, I had a peculiar and interesting experience +with the science of phrenology. At that +time every one was talking about its "revelations," +and I became somewhat interested in it. +My interest came chiefly, however, through James +McHenry, whose line of ships to Philadelphia I +had charge of. He suggested one day that I go<span class="pagenum"><a id="page122" name="page122">[Pg 122]</a></span> +to a phrenologist, saying that I had a most curious +head. Up to this time, I had not taken any +stock in the science, which I set down as charlatanry +and mountebankism. But he insisted, and +finally I consented to go with him to Bridges, then +the most famous phrenologist in Liverpool or in +the west of England.</p> + +<p>Bridges astonished me so greatly by telling me +things about myself that I had supposed no one +knew but I, that my interest was awakened. +Still I thought there must be something queer +about the thing, and I accused McHenry of having +told Bridges something about me beforehand so +that I might be taken by surprise. McHenry so +vehemently denied this that I knew he was telling +me the truth. There was nothing to do but to +accept the "chart" of Bridges as being at least +sincere.</p> + +<p>As I like to investigate everything for myself, +I determined to see what there was in phrenology, +and to have my head examined in circumstances +where there could be no question that the phrenologist +had had any information about me. So +I went to London, and there consulted a still +more famous phrenologist, the octogenarian Donovan. +I said to him: "Mr. Donovan, I want you +to tell me the plain truth about my head." "Phrenology +does not lie," he said. "Put down your +guinea."</p> + +<p>I put down the guinea, and submitted to an <span class="pagenum"><a id="page123" name="page123">[Pg 123]</a></span>examination. +He told me almost the same things +that Bridges had said, and thus confirmed the first +chart of my head. After finishing his examination, +Donovan looked at me and said: "You will be +either a great reformer, or a great pirate. It +merely depends upon the direction you take in +Ethics!"</p> + +<p>Even this examination did not entirely satisfy +me. There were still higher authorities in phrenology, +and I felt that I should not be satisfied until +I had the verdict of the highest court of appeals. +I consulted every phrenologist I could reach—a +great professor in Paris, another from Germany, +and finally, I reached the highest authority then +living, the highest that has ever lived, possibly, +the great Dr. Fowler, who was then lecturing in +England.</p> + +<p>He came to Liverpool to lecture, and I went to +hear him. Fowler asked for some one from the +audience to allow him to examine his head. As he +had never seen me, I felt that I could in this way +get an absolutely impartial and unprejudiced reading. +I went on the stage, and my appearance +caused a ripple of surprise, for I was known in +Liverpool. The phrenologist placed his hands on +my head and exclaimed: "Jehu, what a head!" +The audience applauded, as if they thought I had +a head, and had used it to good purpose in their +city.</p> + +<p>Beverley Tucker was American consul in Liv<span class="pagenum"><a id="page124" name="page124">[Pg 124]</a></span>erpool +at that time, having been appointed by +President Pierce. When the famous actor and +dramatist, John Brougham, visited Liverpool, I +suggested that we Americans, in whose country +Brougham had lived and done his best work, +should entertain him at a dinner at the Waterloo +House. We had a large and lively company present, +and Brougham was in his best vein. I asked +Brougham for his autograph, and, at the same +time, something about the poet Willis, who was +then our favorite American poet. He gave me +instantly, without apparent thought, the following +verse:</p> + +<div class="poem" style="width: 28em;"> +<span class="i0">"Hyperion curls his forehead on,</span> +<span class="i1">Behold the poet Willis!</span> +<span class="i0">For love of such a Corydon,</span> +<span class="i1">Who would not be a Phyllis?"</span> +</div> + +<p>Thus have I narrated, in this and the previous +chapters, the most interesting events and experiences +of my life in Liverpool. The life there +was particularly varied and altogether delightful. +It was, of course, a very busy time, but I managed +to get a great deal of pleasure out of it. There +was a constant round of entertainments, and the +social life of the city was generally gay and interesting. +At this period I had two portraits of +my wife and myself made. They are now in the +possession of my daughter, who keeps them in the +room which she always has ready for me in the +country.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page125" name="page125">[Pg 125]</a></span></p> + +<p>As for my standing in the city, I may give here +the opinion of Charles Mackay, the poet, author +of Cheer, Boys, Cheer, and other well-known +poems, who wrote, in reviewing my book, Young +America in Wall Street, that I "walked up the +Liverpool Exchange like a Baring or a Rothschild." +I remained in Liverpool one year with my +wife, and then returned to the United States. +This was in '52. The best men of Liverpool had +made me welcome everywhere, in all circles of +business or of society.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 126]</span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a id="page126" name="page126"></a>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<p class="title">BUSINESS SUCCESS IN AUSTRALIA<br /> +<br /> +1853-1855</p> + + +<p>My wife and I in returning to Boston came on +a visit that we expected to be brief. I confidently +supposed I should go back to Liverpool and continue +the business of the branch house. But this +was not to be. Instead, I was soon to make a far +wider departure in business fields and methods, +and to try my fortune at another end of the earth.</p> + +<p>When I arrived in Boston, I had a conference +with Colonel Train about conditions in England, +and suggested to him that I should have a partnership +interest in the Boston house, as well as in +the house in Liverpool. To my surprise, Colonel +Train was not only astonished, but indignant. He +could not understand how I had pushed ahead so +rapidly, and this swift advance was by no means +pleasant to him. He felt that, in some way, I was +pushing him out of his place.</p> + +<p>"Would you ride over me roughshod?" he +asked, almost fiercely, when I ventured to suggest +a larger partnership interest. I replied that I<span class="pagenum"><a id="page127" name="page127">[Pg 127]</a></span> +thought I had given full value for everything that +the house had done for me, and that I should be +able to do so in the future. After some further +discussion, in which the old gentleman was mollified, +the matter was arranged. I received a partnership +interest that was equal to $15,000 a year—and +I was only twenty-two years old at the time.</p> + +<p>As soon as the contract was signed, and it was +in my hand, I said—because I was still nettled by +the manner in which he had received my suggestion +of a partnership—"Colonel, as you do not +seem to care to take me into the firm, here is your +contract"; and I tore it in two and handed him +the pieces. "I am going to Australia."</p> + +<p>This cool announcement astonished him. He +did not know what to do. Finally, we came to +terms. It was decided that I should go to Melbourne +to start my own house with Captain Caldwell, +one of our oldest ship-captains, the house +to be known as "Caldwell, Train & Co." It was +Colonel Train's view that this elderly man would +act as a check upon my youthful rashness, he having +no interest in the firm but good-will toward +me and one of his captains.</p> + +<p>The arrangements once completed, I was eager +to be about my work in the antipodes, and prepared +to sail at the first opportunity. Everything +was taken from Boston—clerks, sets of books, +business forms, etc. Nothing was left to the +chance of finding or getting in Australia the ma<span class="pagenum">[Pg 128]</span>terial +that we might need. And so the new house +of "Caldwell, Train & Co." sailed away from Boston +on the Plymouth Rock for Melbourne, Australia, +on a singularly audacious venture.</p> + +<p>Captain Caldwell went out in charge of the +clerks, while I was to go by a different route a +little later. I went to New York and took passage +from there in the old Whitlock Havre packet, Bavaria, +Captain Bailey. I had two clerks with me, +and carried, also, a large amount of office supplies +in duplicate. Duncan, Sherman & Co. had appointed +me their agent for the purchase of gold in +Melbourne, which was to be shipped to London or +New York as circumstances permitted, and I had +also been appointed by the Boston underwriters +their agent to represent them in the South Seas. +The outlook for business seemed especially bright.</p> + +<p>I have traveled a great deal since that time, but +this was the longest period I have ever been on +a ship in a single voyage. We were ninety-two +days from New York to Melbourne. I have twice +since gone entirely around the world in less time. +It was very dreary at times, and I had to resort +to all manner of things in order to pass the hours. +These attempted diversions were often very +amusing.</p> + +<p>I have always wanted to do things a little differently +from others, partly because it has been +more interesting to do them in a novel manner, but +chiefly because I have found that a better way than<span class="pagenum">[Pg 129]</span> +the accepted one could be found. My desire for +novelty led me to do some curious things during +this long and tedious voyage to Melbourne. One +day I was looking at the porpoises playing about +the ship's bows, and it occurred to me that I could +harpoon one of them. I asked the captain if he +had a harpoon, and he brought me one. I then had +a rope tied fast about me, so that I could be lowered +over the bow. I had a good chance and let +fly the harpoon, and, as luck would have it, succeeded +in getting a fine porpoise. My successful +throw astonished every one—myself more than +any. The porpoise was brought aboard, and we +found portions of it very good eating.</p> + +<p>On another day I hooked a shark, a "man-eater," +ten feet long, and this, also, was brought +aboard, but no one proposed to eat it. A little +later we passed into the zone of the albatrosses, +and myriads of these exquisite birds flew over or +hovered above the ship. I was desirous to have +one of them, and resorted to stratagems learned +years ago in the days when I used to snare rabbits +and net pigeons on the old farm in New England. +I baited a hook with pork, and threw it out +upon the water. Instantly a great albatross +swooped down upon it and swallowed the bait. I +drew the bird on board, and found it a magnificent +specimen, measuring twelve feet from tip to tip +of its wings. Of course, I released the bird very +soon. In such pastimes, we beguiled the time, un<span class="pagenum"><a id="page130" name="page130">[Pg 130]</a></span>til +we finally swept through the great South Seas +and into Hobson's Bay, passed Point Nepean, and +anchored off Sandridge.</p> + +<p>I had fancied that Melbourne was not a frequented +port, off the tracks of commerce, although +springing into life and prominence. Imagine my +surprise when, on rounding the point where one +could sweep the expanse of the bay, I saw before +me some six hundred vessels that had reached the +port before we arrived, and all, like ourselves, attracted +there by the rumors of gold, gold, gold! +For a second time within a few years, the whole +world had gone wild over a gold discovery, and +was now sending thousands of persons to Australia. +Thousands more were deterred from going +only by the fear of starvation, for very few believed +at that time that Australia could feed the +hungry searchers after gold, much less give them +a fortune in gold nuggets.</p> + +<p>Before I left Boston I had heard much about +the perils of starvation in Australia. I was told +that the country produced little, and that its scant +resources would soon be overtaxed by the horde +of gold-seekers. "Starve!" I said; "why there +are twenty million sheep in the island." I was +then told that man could not live by mutton alone. +But I knew that, with these millions of sheep, +there was little danger of famine.</p> + +<p>From the anchorage at Sandridge to Melbourne +the distance is about ten miles, the Yarra-Yarra<span class="pagenum"><a id="page131" name="page131">[Pg 131]</a></span> +winding and twisting through the tortuous channel. +As this river is too shallow to admit ships +of a greater burden than sixty tons, all large vessels +anchor at Sandridge, or Williamstown. While +the distance up the Yarra-Yarra is ten miles, +across the spit of sand it is only two. I went into +Melbourne at once, secured buildings for our +cargo, and arranged for lighters to take it up the +Yarra-Yarra.</p> + +<p>The very first thing that impressed me in Australia +was the miserable and unnecessary inconvenience +of having to send everything up the +twisted channel of the Yarra-Yarra by lighters. I +determined to look into this and see what could be +done. The method was too expensive and too slow +to suit me. I immediately called on the most influential +men of the city, like De Graves, Octavius +Brown, Dalgetty, Cruikshank & Co., and James +Henty, and said to them: "This thing of coming +by way of the Yarra-Yarra, ten miles, when it is +only two miles by land, is out of the question. Let +us build a railway to Sandridge."</p> + +<p>Apparently, this had not occurred to them. +They had brought from England their habits of +thought, and accepted things as they found +them. But I kept at the railway suggestion, until +the line was built. This was my first experience in +organizing railways. It was not my last.</p> + +<p>I also found that it was not possible to get suitable +accommodations in Melbourne for business.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 132]</span> +There was no building there that was large +enough. In order to get one sufficiently commodious, +I had to build it. Accordingly, we put up +at the corner of Flinders and Elizabeth Streets, +opposite the railway station, the biggest structure +in the city. It cost a pretty penny. The building +was 140 feet deep, 40 feet wide and three stories +high. The date, "1854," was cut in stone at the +top. The edifice cost $60,000. I imported iron +shutters from England to make it fireproof.</p> + +<p>It was also necessary to have a building at +Sandridge, a warehouse in which to store our +goods until they were needed in Melbourne, or +until they were shipped for America or Europe. +In putting up this building, I resolved to make an +experiment. This was to have the building made +in Boston, and shipped out to me to be erected at +Sandridge, thousands of miles away. If successful, +the warehouse would cost much less and would +be of better material and in better style than anything +I could get in Australia. It reached Sandridge +all right and was put up at the end of +the little line of railway, at a cost of $25,000. It +was 60 feet deep by 40 feet wide, and six stories +high.</p> + +<p>With a warehouse at each end of the line, with +all the business credit that I could wish, and with +the best connections in the world, we were prepared +to do a big business in Melbourne. How +far we succeeded may be inferred from the fact<span class="pagenum"><a id="page133" name="page133">[Pg 133]</a></span> +that my commissions the first year amounted to +$95,000.</p> + +<p>Melbourne was a small but promising city. It +had some 20,000 population at the time of the gold-fever, +and had grown tremendously in the last two +or three years, so that, in '54, it must have had +something like 30,000 or 40,000 inhabitants. It +was, of course, a frontier town, crude and raw, +with few of the advantages of civilization. The +people were too busy with their search for gold +and profits to think much of the conveniences or +luxuries of life. The only good hotel, for instance, +was the Squatters' Hotel, at Port Philip. There +was not even a merchants' exchange, although one +was greatly needed. The merchants had simply +never heard of such a thing. I arranged with +Salmi Morse, who afterward tried to introduce +the Passion Play in this country, to assist him in +putting up a building that could be used for a +hotel, theater, and mercantile exchange. The +hotel was the Criterion, and we had a hall in the +building for the exchange. The latter was the +means of bringing together ship captains, merchants, +agents, and business men generally, and a +great stimulus was given to business.</p> + +<p>I was able to introduce into Australia a great +many articles and ideas from America. I brought +over from Boston a lot of "Concord" wagons, of +the same type as the one that "Ben" Holliday +drove across the continent, and I told Freeman<span class="pagenum">[Pg 134]</span> +Cobb, who was then with Adams & Co., that I +wanted him to start a line of coaches between +Melbourne and the gold-mines, a distance of about +sixty miles. I advanced the money for the enterprise, +and a line was established, the first in Australia, +to Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo, and Castle +Maine. These were the first coaches seen in that +continent. The coaches cost in Australia $3,000 +apiece.</p> + +<p>I had a chaise brought from Boston for my +own use. It was so light in comparison with the +great, heavy, lumbering vehicles that were in use +in all English countries, that the people there said +it would break down immediately. They had not +heard of Holmes's "Wonderful One-horse Shay +that ran a hundred years to a day," and did not, +of course, know the toughness of all "Yankee" +things. It didn't break down, and its lightness +and general serviceableness made it a big advertisement +of American goods. People urged me to +import a great many vehicles from America. +Every ship brought out wagons of the Concord +make, chaises, and vehicles of all sorts. Our carriages +and buggies attracted much attention. +They were the first vehicles of the sort that had +ever been seen in the country. I sold these at a +great profit.</p> + +<p>A great disappointment and loss occurred, +however, through the carelessness of the American +shippers, on one occasion. They had sent a<span class="pagenum"><a id="page135" name="page135">[Pg 135]</a></span> +cargo of carriages, and I was certain of a large +profit on the shipment. What was my surprise +and horror, on the arrival of the cargo, to discover +that the stupid shippers had sent only the tops +of the carriages! The bodies of the vehicles had +actually been shipped to San Francisco!</p> + +<p>A thing that greatly surprised me, in a land +of Englishmen, Scotchmen, and Irishmen, was that +there were no sports in Australia. It seems more +strange now, after Kipling's fierce denunciation +of the "padded fools at the wickets and the muddied +oafs at the goal." As I had always been fond +of outdoor sport, I at once introduced bowling and +ten-pins, opened an alley and organized a club +which was composed of Australian bankers—Manager +Blackwood of the Union Bank, MacArthur of +the Bank of Australia, Badcock of the Bank of +New South Wales, Bramhall of the London Chartered +Bank, O'Shaughnessy of the Bank of Australasia, +and Mathieson of the Bank of Victoria. I +mention these names here merely for convenience, +and to bring together some of the men with whom +I was associated in social and in business life in +Melbourne. They represented some $200,000,000 +of capital. MacArthur had a beautiful bungalow +four miles out of Melbourne, where he invited me +to shoot.</p> + +<p>I found living at a hotel very dreary and very +inconvenient, and decided to have a home of my +own. So I got a two-story house at Collingwood,<span class="pagenum"><a id="page136" name="page136">[Pg 136]</a></span> +near the residence of Governor Latrobe, just out +of the city. Here I accommodated my clerks, also. +I took the stewardess, Undine, and the steward +from one of our ships, and was able to set up quite +an establishment. The United States consul, J. +M. Tarleton, and his wife, lived with us for a time.</p> + +<p>After I had been in Melbourne nearly a year +I was guilty of a small piece of patriotism that +has ever since seemed very amusing to me. I had +been reared in the belief that every American-born +boy has a chance to become President of the United +States. I had also the idea that a child born out +of the United States was not, in this sense, American-born. +My wife expected to give birth to a +child in a few months, and, like most parents, we +fully expected it would be a son. So what should I +do, in order not to rob my son of the chance of +becoming President of his country, but send the +mother across the seas to Boston, that he might +be born on the soil of the United States! It was +not until some little time after this that I learned +that nationality follows the parents, and that +Presidents may be born anywhere, if they are +careful in the matter of their parents. The expected +boy was a girl—if I may be pardoned an +Irish bull. This was my daughter Sue, who could +never be President, unless the Woman's Suffrage +movement moves along very much faster than it +has up to this time.</p> + +<p>I have not mentioned my partner in the Aus<span class="pagenum">[Pg 137]</span>tralian +venture, since I said that he and our clerks +sailed away from Boston for Melbourne on the +Plymouth Rock—a curious reversal of history, for +the West was going to exploit the East, and it was +singular that a vessel with the historic name of +Plymouth Rock should have been chosen to bear +this new Argonautic expedition into the South +Seas. Captain Caldwell, as I have said, was an +elderly man, sober and conservative. He had been +a sea-captain for many years, and was a man of +considerable experience. It was the expectation +of the Boston shippers that his conservatism +would serve as a check upon my rashness and venturesomeness.</p> + +<p>Captain Caldwell, however, did not like Australia, +but his presence did not prevent my plunging +into whatever speculation or enterprise seemed +inviting. The country was full of chances, and I +should have been stupid, indeed, not to have +availed myself of them as far as possible. But +the rough life did not suit Captain Caldwell, +although he was accustomed to roughing it at sea; +and he wanted to return to America. So I consented +to his return. He went in the same ship +with my wife, the Red Jacket, which, by the way, +was then to make one of the record-breaking voyages +of the world. Although he had been in Melbourne +only a few months, I gave him $7,500, +which was the share belonging to him of the estimated +profit in our business.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page138" name="page138">[Pg 138]</a></span></p> + +<p>There was still another incident connected with +this voyage of the Red Jacket which made it memorable +in my experiences. I have mentioned that +the phrenologist Bridges said, in England, some +years before this, that I should become either a +great reformer or a great pirate. In Melbourne, +one day, I found myself face to face with a charge +of piracy! I was accused of trying to make away +with some $2,000,000 of gold, which I had put on +the Red Jacket for shipment to London.</p> + +<p>It happened in this way. It was of course customary +to have all bills of lading signed by the +ship's captain. But Captain Reid, of the Red +Jacket, had been arrested, at the instance of one +of the passengers, and the ship was libeled on account +of a claim. For this reason, Captain Reid +had not been present to sign the bills of lading. +In Boston, I had often signed bills of lading in +the absence of the captain, so I had had no hesitancy +as to my course in this emergency. I considered +that I had a perfect right to sign the bills, +and so I did sign them for the $2,000,000 in +gold, putting it "George Francis Train, for the +captain."</p> + +<p>Now, the English are a conservative people. +When they see anything new it "frights" them. +They can not understand why there should ever +be occasion for any new thing under the sun. +When the Melbourne banks saw that I had signed +the papers, they were scared nearly out of their<span class="pagenum">[Pg 139]</span> +boots. They had never heard of such a procedure, +and thought their insurance was gone.</p> + +<p>But this was not all. The Red Jacket was the +fastest clipper that had then visited Melbourne, +and it occurred to these bankers that I was going +to run off with this gold, and become a Captain +Kidd or a buccaneering Morgan. They grounded +their fears upon the facts that my wife was +aboard, that Captain Caldwell, my partner and +friend, was also a passenger, and they believed +that Captain Reid was on board, although under +arrest. To suspicious bankers, here was a really +strong case against me.</p> + +<p>In the meanwhile, the Red Jacket, with her +trim sails bellied with the wind, and sweeping +along in a way of her own that nothing in the +South Seas could imitate or approach, was passing +down Hobson's Bay. The Government and +the Melbourne authorities despatched two men-of-war +after her. There was no possibility of her +being overhauled by these craft, and I gave orders +to make for Point Nepean. The sheriffs from Melbourne, +who thought Captain Reid was aboard, +stayed on the ship, but I ordered them put off at +the Point. They were furious, but could do nothing, +since they could not act for Melbourne at sea +under the Stars and Stripes. Accordingly, they +were put on a tug and taken back to Melbourne. +Immediately after the sheriffs left the boat, a little +yacht, the Flying Eagle, with Captain Reid<span class="pagenum">[Pg 140]</span> +aboard, came alongside, and the captain was put +on the Red Jacket, just outside the jurisdiction of +Australia.</p> + +<p>The Red Jacket caught the wind again, and +showed her clean heels to the slow-sailing men-of-war +giving chase. She made the run to Liverpool +in sixty-four days.</p> + +<p>The authorities and the bankers of Melbourne +did not like the proceedings at all, but saw that +they could do nothing. There was great anxiety +in Australia for two months and more. When it +was learned that the $2,000,000 of gold had been +landed in Liverpool without the loss of a farthing, +I was heartily congratulated, although the British +spirit never forgave the taking of matters into +my own hands and making the best of a bad situation. +Their conservatism had received a shock.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 141]</span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a id="page141" name="page141"></a>CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<p class="title">THE GOLD-FEVER IN NEW SOUTH WALES AND +TASMANIA<br /> +<br /> +1853-1855</p> + + +<p>During my stay in Melbourne the gold-fever +was at its height. I was particularly interested +in the mines, and went to Ballarat to see how the +British managed these things. It was while I was +there, as it happened, that the great "bonanza +nugget" was discovered. I shall never forget the +impression that this discovery and its tragic ending +made upon my mind. It is a story that the +world has heard many times, perhaps, and as +many times forgotten; but for one who felt its terrible +lesson stamped hot upon his heart, it is unforgettable.</p> + +<p>There were lucky and unlucky miners in Australia, +as there have been everywhere else in the +world's gold-fields. Many found great nuggets +that contained fortunes—"infinite riches in a little +room"—while many more found nothing but +infinite hardship and heart-breaking misery. +Among the army of broken men, there was a<span class="pagenum">[Pg 142]</span> +"hobo" named Hooligan who had not found +any gold, could no longer find even work, and was +starving. One day he went to the owners of a +mine or shaft that had been worked out, and asked +permission to go down to try his luck. They consented. +The desperate fellow took his pick and +descended to the bottom of the shaft. In a few +minutes he was worth a fortune. He had found +the biggest nugget ever taken out of the earth's +treasure-house. Two hundred feet below the surface +of the ground, he had driven his pick, by +merest chance, against a lump of gold that would +have transmuted Midas's wand into better metal.</p> + +<p>He came up out of the shaft, knowing that he +had found a pretty big sum, but did not realize +how much it was. The nugget was brought up +and weighed. It had exactly the weight of a barrel +of flour, 196 pounds. He was rich. That morning +he had been a beggar, and now he was the +richest miner in the fields. They weighed the gold +carefully, and told him that he was a rich man.</p> + +<p>"Is—all—that—mine?" he asked, as if the +words were as heavy as the big nugget and as valuable. +They told him it was. "It doesn't belong +to the Government?" "No." "All mine," he +said in a whisper, and dropped to the floor, dead.</p> + +<p>No one knew him. His name even was not +known. He was a mere restless wanderer upon +the face of the earth, and had broken his heart +over the biggest nugget, the richest piece of gold,<span class="pagenum"><a id="page143" name="page143">[Pg 143]</a></span> +on the globe. And so the nugget became the property +of the Government, after all.</p> + +<p>Capt. David D. Porter, who was afterward admiral +of the United States navy, visited Melbourne +while I was there, and I gave him a reception, +at which he met the prominent people of the +colony. He was a relative of mine. I was very +proud of him then, though more so later. He was +in command of the Golden Age, which was afterward +famous for the Black Warrior incident. +He invited my wife and myself to go with him in +his ship to Sydney, New South Wales. We had a +delightful trip around the island. The ship made +as great a sensation in Sydney as it had made in +Melbourne. The American flag had rarely been +seen above a man-of-war in those waters. At Sydney +we met Sir Charles Fitzroy, Governor of New +South Wales, as well as prominent people in civil +and official life. Sir Charles Fitzroy was a survival +of the old "beau" days of the court of the +last of the Georges, and had the heavy courtesy of +that time, when everything said or done was accompanied +by a low bow and a gracious smile. He +entertained us handsomely at Government House. +We were also entertained by Sir Charles Nicholson, +at his beautiful country seat. I had the peculiar +pleasure, while in Australia, of fulfilling one +of the prophecies of Sidney Smith, made when he +had been editor of the Quarterly Review some forty +years before. He said, I remembered, that in half<span class="pagenum"><a id="page144" name="page144">[Pg 144]</a></span> +a century cargoes of tea—the luxury that England +of his day and ours regards as an infallible evidence +of civilization—would be landed at the +docks of Sydney. He referred to Port Jackson, +which is now dominated by the thriving city of +Sydney, and was then one of the most promising +ports of the South Seas. I was, at that time, receiving +tea on consignment from Nye, of Canton, +China, called the "Napoleon of tea trade," and +it occurred to me that Australia should be a +good market for it. Three cargoes came from +Canton, with instructions that if the market at +Melbourne proved unfavorable, one of the cargoes +should be shipped to Sydney. It was accordingly +sent there, fulfilling the prophecy of Sydney +Smith, and opening the tea trade of that portion +of Australia.</p> + +<p>Sir Charles Nicholson, before we were there, +entertained Commodore Wilkes, who was visiting +Australia, and who afterward stirred up Great +Britain by removing forcibly from the British +mail-steamer Trent the Confederate States' agents, +Mason and Slidell. I was surprised to find in the +harbor two of our old packets, the Anglo-American +and the Washington Irving, Captain Caldwell's +packet, under changed names. They had +been sold to English ship-owners.</p> + +<p>Sydney was not a large place at this time, although +it was growing fast. It may be well to +recall here that it had been founded as a penal<span class="pagenum"><a id="page145" name="page145">[Pg 145]</a></span> +colony, the effects of which had not entirely passed +away at the time of my visit, although no convicts +had arrived since '41, I believe.<a id="page144a" name="page144a"></a> The influence of +Botany Bay had also been felt by Sydney. I was +struck by the beautiful, narrow, rock-bound entrance +to the harbor. It gives to the port many +miles of seashore, and is so winding that when +Captain Cook, who discovered it, sailed in and +anchored in Botany Bay, some of his sailors reported +that they saw from the masthead a large +inland lake in the interior. The "lake" proved +to be only an apparent one, produced by one of +the many windings of the beautiful, sinuous arm +of the sea, eventually to hold in its embrace the +fine city of Sydney.</p> + +<p>We returned from Sydney to Melbourne after +a short but delightful visit. Shortly after leaving +port we ran into one of the most terrific storms +I have ever experienced. It was the right time +of the year for gales to appear, and this one, as is +characteristic of the wild nature of the South +Seas, seemed to spring from a clear sky and unruffled +waters. If our boat had been one of the +usual type of merchantmen, it must certainly have +gone down. But the Golden Age was stanch and +strong. She battled with the seas as with a +human foe. In spite of her seaworthiness, however, +almost every one aboard thought she could +not withstand the repeated shock of waves that +tumbled in mountains against her bows.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 146]</span></p> + +<p>In the midst of the storm, I saw one of the +most prominent and richest merchants of Sydney +coming across the deck, thrown hither and thither +by the tossings of the ship, and carrying in his +hands a very heavy package. "For the love of +goodness, what have you there?" I asked in +amazement. He made no direct reply, and I +thought him too much terrified to speak, but he +finally came close up to me and said: "Mr. Train, +I know you have some influence here on the ship. +I have brought with me one thousand sovereigns. +They are here"—and he tapped the bag he carried +in his hands. "I want you to go with me to the +captain and give him this amount for putting me +off in a small boat." "A small boat would not live +a minute in this sea," I said. "I am prepared," +he replied, "to take my chances, as it would be +better there than here, for the ship may go down +any moment." I refused to go to the captain with +so foolish a request, and urged him to be calm, as +the ship was stout and would weather the storm. +He could not calm himself, but fretted and fumed +in terror. As fortune favored us, the gale suddenly +stopped, sweeping on away from us as swiftly +as it had come. The rich merchant soon took +his thousand sovereigns back to his room.</p> + +<p>I have stated already that I was the agent for +Boston insurance people. This, of course, made +me somewhat solicitous about the safety of all vessels +in those waters. One morning the entire city<span class="pagenum">[Pg 147]</span> +of Melbourne was startled by the news that a great +clipper had gone down or ashore on Flinder's Island, +off Point Nepean. Later we learned that she +was ashore, and that signals of distress were flying +from her masthead and rigging. Of course, +I was much alarmed, and began at once to see +what could be done to save the ship and crew. I +got a tug, and was soon taking a rescue party down +Hobson's Bay. We steamed as fast as the tug's +engines would carry her through the driving seas. +As we neared the wreck, we saw that the ship was +the Whistler from Boston. She seemed to be a +complete wreck, and with our glasses we could not +discover any sign of life aboard her.</p> + +<p>I did not give up the venture there, however, +but directed the captain of the tugboat to make +directly for the island. I had a vague hope that +the crew had somehow managed to get ashore in +the boats or on floating timbers. The captain did +not relish this part of his work, and his fears +were soon justified, for we very narrowly escaped +shipwreck ourselves in the wild seas. We had, +finally, to wait until the waves went down a little, +before attempting to land on Flinder's Island. We +got up as near as we could, however, and then we +saw signals flying from shore. We signaled in +reply, and the wrecked crew understood that we +were waiting for the sea to run less wildly before +attempting to reach land.</p> + +<p>The wind died down slowly, and it was hours<span class="pagenum"><a id="page148" name="page148">[Pg 148]</a></span> +before we could approach the coast. As soon as +possible, I got out with a crew in a small boat and +went to the island. We had a most difficult time +in getting through the surf and avoiding the breakers, +but we finally reached shore. There we found +Captain Brown with his wife, the ship's officers +and the crew, all alive and well. They had managed +to live on shell-fish and wallaby—the small +bush kangaroos. They had not been able to take +anything from the ship, and could not, of course, +reach her after she had been abandoned. We got +them all aboard the tug, and carried them safely to +Melbourne. The American consul afterward sent +them all home by way of Liverpool. This was the +second rescue of shipwrecked crew and passengers +that I had made, and I felt a little too proud of it, +I suppose.</p> + +<p>About this time the British and Colonial Governments +decided to settle Tasmania with free emigrants. +The idea was to pay the expenses of all +who wanted to go to that island, and the Governments +made a contract with the White Star Line +to transport the settlers. The British Government +was to pay one half the expense, and the Colonial +Government the remainder. The contract was +signed by Henry T. Wilson, manager of the White +Star Line, the sailing-ship pioneers of Morgan's +mammoth steamship combination, who sent all +the papers to me at Melbourne, as representing +the company, to see that the terms of the agree<span class="pagenum"><a id="page149" name="page149">[Pg 149]</a></span>ment +were carried out. He also requested me to +go to Hobart Town (now called Hobart) to be +there when the first ship-load of emigrants arrived +to collect the money for the passage. I immediately +took steamer for Hobart Town, and +I shall never forget the pleasure of that voyage. +It was a revelation. The trip up the estuary to +Hobart Town was delightful, and the scenery, +I think, was altogether the most charming +I had seen in the Southern world. At Hobart +Town I was received by Mr. Chapman, a shipping +merchant, to whom I had written in advance, and +he made me stay with him at his beautiful bungalow, +on the crest of a high hill, commanding a fine +view of the city.</p> + +<p>The emigrants arrived in excellent condition. +They were the first free settlers of Tasmania. +There had not been a death aboard ship, and the +moment the newcomers arrived they were employed, +for the city of Hobart Town was very +thriving, and there was an abundance of work to +be done. I again had the pleasure of feeling that +in this, as in other enterprises, I was an argonaut +and a pioneer.</p> + +<p>I was astonished to find so many persons of +prominence, especially in the world of letters, settled +in this far-away colony of England. At Hobart +Town I found the Powers, the Howitts +(whose books were then tremendously popular), +and Thorne, the author of Orion. Then, as now,<span class="pagenum"><a id="page150" name="page150">[Pg 150]</a></span> +this colony was regarded as the most pleasant portion +of the vast possessions of Great Britain in the +South Seas. The climate and the aspects of the +country were far more pleasant than those of Australia, +some fifty miles distant across Bass Straits.</p> + +<p>At the time of my visit the whole world was +talking about the various efforts being made to discover +the remains of the ill-fated expedition to the +North Pole that had been led by the former governor +of Tasmania, the much-beloved Sir John +Franklin. He had gone to the north in 1845, and +nothing had been heard of him since. His wife +was supposed to be mourning for him in solitude.</p> + +<p>Curiosity led me to the house where this famous +governor and adventurous explorer had +lived, and the janitor, a trusted old servant, +showed me over the building. It was one of those +enormous structures which the English build for +the edification and amazement of the natives in +their colonies. I had heard and read a great deal +about Sir John and the lovely woman that was +mourning his long absence, and I entered the silent +house with a feeling that I was trespassing upon +a great and unutterable grief. Imagine my astonishment—I +may say, horror—to learn that Lady +Franklin, or Lady Jane, as she was generally +called, had for years lived at one end of the long +house, while Sir John had lived at the other, and +that, as the story went, they had not spoken to +each other for years. She seemed certainly to<span class="pagenum"><a id="page151" name="page151">[Pg 151]</a></span> +have had the grace to assume a virtue she did not +possess, and apparently mourned her lost lord for +years, and spent much of her time in liberal charities. +This is the first time I have referred in any +way to this unknown unhappiness of Sir John +Franklin. It was not known to many people in +Tasmania at the time, and I suppose that it is +known now only to members of the two families, +the Franklins and the Griffins.</p> + +<p>As I had come half around the island of Tasmania, +approaching Hobart Town from the sea, +I had seen nothing of the interior of the country, +so I determined—after finishing my business in +Hobart Town—to cross the island to Launceston. +There is now a railway running directly across, +but at that time there was only a stage route. +Stages ran every other day. I engaged passage +in the mail-coach, the same style of coach that had +been used for hundreds of years in England and +Scotland, still as rough and cumbersome as when +first devised. There, too, was the old Tudor +driver and the Restoration guard. Nothing was +wanting. The coach looked to me as if it had been +taken from behind the scenes of some old comedy—a +piece of stage property.</p> + +<p>But if the stage was antiquated and out of +touch with the modern stir of the world, the driver +was not. I asked him what he thought would be +the proper thing in the way of a "tip," as I did +not know the ways of Tasmania. "That depends,<span class="pagenum"><a id="page152" name="page152">[Pg 152]</a></span> +sir," he said, "upon whom we are riding with." +That settled the business for me, for my tip then +had to be a sort of measure of my self-esteem. I +was literally cornered, and had to give him a big +tip, in sheer self-defense.</p> + +<p>The road to Launceston was an excellent one, +a macadam built by convicts, and the scenery was +the most beautiful I had seen in Australasia. +When I arrived at Launceston I had to get a pass +to leave the country, as it had been necessary to +have a passport to enter it. The British were very +particular whom they permitted to leave Tasmania, +and whom they allowed to go there.</p> + +<p>Near Launceston I saw the room in which +Francis, who was afterward a member of the +cabinet of the colony of Victoria and one of +the ablest and most energetic men of Australasia, +had his famous and terrible fight with a burglar. +This fight has become a tradition all over the colonies +and is still recalled as one of the thrilling +experiences of early days. One night Francis +heard a noise in his dining-room. He was up late, +studying in his library, and as the country was +infested by desperate convicts who had escaped +from the camps, he at once went to the room to +see whether a burglar had broken in.</p> + +<p>Peering through the keyhole, he saw a man +with a dark lantern putting the family plate into +a bag. Francis came to a decision at once as to +what to do. He would enter the room, and fight<span class="pagenum">[Pg 153]</span> +it out with the robber. Silently opening the door, +he entered, and then quickly locked the door and +threw away the key. Immediately there was a +desperate fight. The burglar finding himself entrapped, +turned upon Francis and tried to kill him +with a huge knife. Francis caught his arm, and +a struggle to the death began. Several times the +burglar wrenched his hand free and slashed at +Francis, but the plucky fellow did not flinch. He +fought until he had conquered the robber, threw +him to the floor, and bound his hands behind him. +Francis was himself so badly cut that he was in +sight of death for weeks.</p> + +<p>The exploits of the convict Tracy out in Oregon +remind me of a far more terrible case in Australia +that occurred while I was there. The country +was a sort of frontier, in the Western sense, +from one end to the other. It was quite possible +that a desperate convict lurked in every patch of +bush, who would as soon kill you as ask for bread. +But news came to Melbourne one day that a convict +had escaped in a peculiarly terrifying manner. +He was no ordinary man. He had coolly +killed two jailers, or guards, having taken from +them their own weapons. Then, going to the +water, he ordered a boatman to row him out to a +vessel so that he might escape from the country. +The boatman, not knowing the character of the +man he was dealing with, refused, and was shot +dead instantly. The fugitive then rowed out to<span class="pagenum">[Pg 154]</span> +the vessel in the dead man's boat, and demanded +of the captain that he take him aboard and carry +him to Melbourne. The captain refused, and he +also was shot dead, and with loaded pistol the convict +then compelled the mate to take him to Melbourne. +After he landed he began a forlorn attempt +to save himself from his pursuers.</p> + +<p>This beginning in his career of murder was +sufficiently terrible to give the entire region a +shock, when it became known that he was at large +and headed for Melbourne. He was next heard +of when he reached Hobson's Bay at Sandridge. +Here he found a farmer plowing in the field. The +convict needed his horse, and shooting the farmer, +rode away. Another farmer followed him, and in +turn was killed.</p> + +<p>By this time, of course, the whole country was +aroused—even the police—and parties were hurriedly +formed to capture the murderers, for no +one at the time could believe that it was only one +man who was committing all these crimes. When +he was last seen, he was heading, apparently, for +Ballarat, where, perhaps, he hoped to be joined by +other men as desperate as himself. Ballarat was +about one hundred miles distant, and a posse started +in pursuit. Nothing was heard or seen of the +convict for fifty miles, when one of the party saw +a man near a squatter's hut carrying another man +in his arms. This seemed to be a somewhat curious +proceeding, and the posse immediately closed<span class="pagenum">[Pg 155]</span> +in about the man. Just as did Tracy, this man +shot the leader of the party. The others then +pushed ahead and captured him before he could +kill any one else. In the hut they found nine men, +tied with ropes. It was not understood what use +the convict expected to make of them. All were +uninjured. At the time of his capture, the convict +had killed fourteen men.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 156]</span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a id="page156" name="page156"></a>CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<p class="title">OTHER AUSTRALIAN INCIDENTS—A REVOLUTION</p> + + +<p>Once I tried to be President of the United +States. Before that I had been offered the presidency +of the Australian Republic. It is true that +there was no Australian Republic at that exact +moment, but it looked to thousands that there +might be one very soon. There was a revolution, +or, as it should be called, a rebellion, for it was +unsuccessful, in which I had taken no part or +shown any sympathy, but the revolutionists, or +rebels, offered me the chieftaincy of their government, +as soon as they could establish it.</p> + +<p>It came about in this way. In '54 the miners +in the fields of Ballarat and Bendigo were in a +state of intense ferment. They were discontented +with existing conditions—their luck in the mines, +the way they were treated by the Government and +the mine proprietors, and especially by the utter +failure of the Government to protect them in their +rights against the capitalists. The particular +cause of quarrel, however, was the licenses.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page157" name="page157">[Pg 157]</a></span></p> + +<p>When I went to Australia, the reader may +easily believe, there was very little feeling for, or +knowledge of, the United States. I at once undertook +to spread the gospel of Americanism, and +introduced the celebration of the Fourth of July. +The colonists of England have always been quite +friendly to the people of the United States, having +a kindred feeling, and all of them have been +looking forward to a day when they, too, might +have a free country to claim for their own, and not +merely a red spot on the map of Great Britain. +For this reason, the Australians took kindly to the +idea of celebrating the independence of the United +States, as formerly a colony of Great Britain.</p> + +<p>When the miners, who had heard of my +"spread-eagleism," as it has since been called, +started their little revolt against the government +of the British, they thought of me and offered me +the presidency of the republic they wanted to +create. In the meantime, they elected me their +representative in the colonial legislature of the +miners about Maryborough, where they held a +great meeting. I could not have taken my seat if +I had desired it, and as I did not desire it, of +course I declined. The imaginary presidency I +declined, also, as I neither wanted it, nor could I +have obtained it. The "Five-Star Republic," as +it was called, was not to be anything but a dream, +and the "revolution" of Ballarat was only a +nightmare.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page158" name="page158">[Pg 158]</a></span></p> + +<p>Soon after I declined these honors, there was +a terrible riot at Ballarat. The whole mining +district had risen against the Government, as Latrobe, +the governor, had made himself most unpopular +by his policy of procrastination. Everything +connected with the mining fields, he seemed +to think, could as well be looked after next year +as this. The resentment of the miners had at last +become uncontrollable. But, slow as they were +about redressing the grievances of the miners, +the British were fast enough in the business of +protecting themselves and in putting down disturbances +with a firm and heavy hand. Latrobe +waited until the thing had almost got beyond him. +He felt that he was all right with the old "squatters," +whom he understood and who understood +him; but he did not realize that the new element, +the thousands of miners that had floated in from +every nation of the globe, did not understand him +or his ways. They were accustomed to having +matters attended to with despatch, and could not +tolerate the slow conservatism and unchangeableness +of the English civil office. Personally he was +a good man; but otherwise, he was as I have described.</p> + +<p>The first fruits of the dilatory policy was the +sacrifice of forty men. Captain Wise and forty +of his troops were cut to pieces by the enraged +miners, who had suddenly risen to fight for their +rights. Governor Latrobe immediately called for<span class="pagenum"><a id="page159" name="page159">[Pg 159]</a></span> +troops from New Zealand, Tasmania, and New +South Wales, to quell the rioters. The want of +preparation of the revolters at once became apparent, +and it was known that they had sent emissaries +into Melbourne itself to buy arms and ammunition. +The head of the insurrection was James +McGill, who was an American citizen. He had disappeared +from the neighborhood of Ballarat, and a +reward of one thousand pounds sterling had been +offered for his capture, dead or alive. In Melbourne +there was almost a panic. Rumors were +that the forests were filled with armed men marching +to the destruction of the place. There were, it +was authentically reported, 800 armed men at +Warren Heap, about eighty miles distant, who +were supposed to be meditating a raid. People +hastened to secrete their jewelry, gold was placed +in vaults, the banks were guarded, and a special +police force was sworn in.</p> + +<p>Just as the excitement was at its height, it was +reported that James McGill was in the neighborhood +of the city. I was sitting in my office one +morning, during these days of fear, when a man +walked in, as cool as if he were merely going to +discuss the weather or some trifle of business. "I +hear," he said, "that you have some $80,000 worth +of Colt's revolvers in stock, and I have been sent +down here to get them." I glanced up at the man, +and took him in a little more closely. It came to +me in a flash who he was. "Do you know," said<span class="pagenum">[Pg 160]</span> +I, "that there is a reward offered for your head +of one thousand pounds?" "That does not mean +anything," he said, and smiled as if it were a joke. +"They can not do anything," he added, as if to +allay any fears that I might have.</p> + +<p>I again took him in, and thought of my $60,000 +warehouse that we were then standing in, of the +$25,000 warehouse at the other end of the railway, +and of all my interests in Melbourne, under which +we were placing a powder mine, and playing over +it with lighted torches. "This will not do," I said. +"You have no right to compromise me in this +way." "We have elected you president of our +republic," he added. "Damn the republic!" said +I. "Do you mean to tell me that you refuse to +be our chief?" said he. "I do," I said. "I am +not here to lead or encourage revolutions, but to +carry on my business. I have nothing whatever to +do with governments or politics; and you must +get out of here, if you do not want to be hanged +yourself, and ruin me." I told him there was not +the slightest possibility of success, as Great Britain +would crush the revolt by sheer weight of men, +if she could not beat its leaders in any other way.</p> + +<p>Just then there came a rap at the door, which +I had taken the precaution to close and lock. I +hurried to the door and asked who was there, and +the reply was that it was Captain McMahon, chief +of police. He said to me: "Do you know that +rascal McGill is in the city? His men are at War<span class="pagenum">[Pg 161]</span>ren +Heap, but he himself has actually come into +Melbourne! I want a dozen of those Concord wagons +of yours immediately." I made a motion of +my hand to make McGill understand that he must +keep quiet. Then I began to talk rapidly with the +chief of police, and took him to the farther end of +the warehouse, shutting the door of my office behind +us. No more wagons were there, for +the Government had already got all I had, but I +wanted time to think. When we had looked +around, and had seen that there were no wagons, +Captain McMahon left, and I hurried back to +McGill.</p> + +<p>"Now, McGill," I said, "I am not going to betray +you, but am going to save your life. You +must do as I tell you." He looked at me for a +moment, and said, "But I am not going back on +my comrades." "You will have no comrades soon, +but will be in the hands of the officers yourself, if +you do not do exactly as I tell you." He finally +consented to do as I advised.</p> + +<p>As soon as I saw that the way was clear, I took +him out into the street to the nearest barber, where +I had his hair cut and his mustache shaved off, and +then made him put on a workman's suit of clothes. +We then got into my chaise, and I drove him down +to the bay and took him aboard one of our ships +that was about to sail, and told the men that I had +brought a new stevedore. McGill pitched in and +worked along with the men, and there was nothing<span class="pagenum">[Pg 162]</span> +to show that he was in any way connected with +the revolution of Ballarat, much less its leader.</p> + +<p>Three days later the ship sailed, and McGill +went on through England to America. This ended +the whole affair of the revolution, the chase of the +leader, and my chance of being President of the +Five-Star Republic!</p> + +<p>One day a man, wearing a jaunty silk hat, came +into my office. "I see you bring in rum from New +England," said he. "How much have you on +hand?" I went over the invoices, and told him. +He then asked if I gave the same terms as other +dealers in Melbourne. "Yes," said I; "cash." +"Oh, no," said he. "I get three months' time." +He showed me a contract he had just signed with +Denniston Brothers & Co., of New York, represented +in Melbourne by McCullagh & Sellars, for +£3,000 payable in three months. I was astonished. +The house had branches in all of the great cities +of the world. I told the gentlemanly-looking fellow +who wanted the rum that if Denniston could +afford to trust him for $15,000, I thought we could +trust him for $3,000. I took pains to see, however, +that our paper bore an earlier date than that of +Denniston. But this precaution amounted to nothing +against this shrewd manipulator. He gave his +name as John Boyd.</p> + +<p>By the end of the week, I began to grow a little +suspicious, and sent my clerk to the office of Mr. +Boyd early on Monday morning. The office was<span class="pagenum">[Pg 163]</span> +closed, and there was no Mr. Boyd there. He had +gone to Sydney, and that was the last seen of +Boyd in Australia. He had "buncoed" us and +Denniston & Co. in the easiest sort of way. I +really felt cheated, it was done so smoothly. I +had not got the worth of my money, as I should +have done had I been harder to deceive. There +had been no sport in that.</p> + +<p>I next heard of Boyd at Singapore; but I was +to run up against him later. In '61, when I was +giving a junketing trip to some people on the +Union Pacific road, and a party of us were on the +steamboat St. Joseph going to Omaha, a man came +up to me and claimed an acquaintance. Although +more than twelve years had passed, I recognized +him at once as the John Boyd who had got the better +of me in that little trade in Melbourne. I pretended +not to know him. I suppose he assumed +that the matter had passed out of my mind and +that his face was no longer familiar to me. He +coolly gave me his address on a card, and when I +looked at it I saw "Noble & Co., Bankers, Des +Moines, Iowa." I knew him by his broken nose, +that would have betrayed him at the ends of the +earth.</p> + +<p>Perhaps the thing I enjoyed most in Australia +was the introduction of American articles—"Yankee +notions," the people there called them—into +Australia, even against the prejudice of the colonists. +They would fight hard against everything<span class="pagenum"><a id="page164" name="page164">[Pg 164]</a></span> +that was new or American, but I took a delight in +overcoming their bias, and forcing them to accept +our ideas. I made a calculation once of the things +that I had introduced into Australia, and they +amounted to something like fifty. Among these +were such common things as the light wagon, the +buggy, shovels, and hoes, and—wonderful to think +of when one hears and reads so much in these days +of the "tins" that the British army consumes—tinned, +or canned, goods. These had not been +heard of, and I saw at once that there was a fine +chance for some profitable business. English +packers could not begin to compete with us. On +one cargo that I brought in from New London, +Conn., we made a profit of 200 per cent. And now +"Tommy Atkins" lives on the "tins" that we introduced +as a method of carrying provisions from +one end of the world to the other.</p> + +<p>I suppose that it was from a part of the returns +from this profitable shipment that the owners of +the goods founded the Soldiers' Home at Noroton, +Conn., during the civil war. I must record +here a curious incident. It was in this home that +a soldier carved a most elaborate design upon a +cane which he gave to me, showing in brief outline +the whole of my history. It was a wonderful +piece of work, and I have kept it as a souvenir of +the regard of this soldier in the home that was +probably founded in part with the proceeds of the +first great shipment of canned goods into Austra<span class="pagenum"><a id="page165" name="page165">[Pg 165]</a></span>lia, +and of my part in introducing this new trade +into the South Seas.</p> + +<p>I had the opportunity of meeting some famous +and curious people in Australia. On one of the +celebrations of the 17th of March, I met a great +many Irish patriots, among them Smith O'Brien, +John Martin, and Donohue. I was an invited +guest, and sat down with more than two hundred +of the most prominent Irishmen of the Australasian +colonies. When Smith O'Brien was in an +Irish jail in '48, I asked him for his autograph. I +have made it a point to collect the autographs of +all the famous men and women I have met, and +now have, perhaps, the finest collection of autographs +to be seen in this country. O'Brien immediately +wrote on a card the following verse:</p> + +<div class="poem" style="width: 28em;"> +<span class="i0">"Whether on a gallows high,</span> +<span class="i1">Or in the battle's van,</span> +<span class="i0">The fittest place for man to die,</span> +<span class="i1">Is where he dies for man."</span> +</div> + +<p>This sentiment of the Irish poet was peculiarly +appropriate for men, who, like the patriots and +"rebels" about me, were facing prison or death +at every hour.</p> + +<p>I shall bring together here some incidents of +my life in Australia that are not closely connected +with other events there. We made some tremendous +profits in Melbourne, the sort that makes +one's blood tingle, and transforms cool men into +wild speculators. I have already mentioned the<span class="pagenum"><a id="page166" name="page166">[Pg 166]</a></span> +profit of 200 per cent on the cargo of canned +goods. On a cargo of flour from Boston, 7,000 +barrels, we made a profit of 200 per cent, the flour +selling for £4 sterling the barrel. This flour had +been shipped to us through John M. Forbes, of +Boston, for Philo Shelton and Moses Taylor, the +millionaire of New York.</p> + +<p>When I returned to New York in '57, during +the panic, I met Taylor in Wall Street. He must +have been in terrible need of money to keep his +head above water, and he at once said to me: +"Why did you charge me 7 ½ per cent commission +for handling that cargo of flour in Melbourne?" +I looked at him in astonishment. He had forgotten +the enormous profit he had made on the shipment, +and remembered now only the small matter +of the commission he had been compelled to pay.</p> + +<p>I replied that the commission was our usual +charge. He told me he was buying up his own +paper in the street, and was not in temporary distress. +"I do not think you should have charged +me more than 5 per cent commission," he said. I +was disgusted at this view of a transaction that +had brought him in a profit that would have been +considered marvelous even by a usurer. "All +right," I said, "I will give you the difference +now." And I gave him a check for $2,500.</p> + +<p>I met a large number of actors and actresses +in Melbourne, for it was quite the custom as early +as that for stars of the stage, whether tragedians<span class="pagenum"><a id="page167" name="page167">[Pg 167]</a></span> +like Edwin Booth, or dancers like Lola Montez, to +make a tour of the world and take in Australia on +the circuit. I was astonished to meet Booth and +Laura Keene, "stranded," one day, although they +had made a successful tour in England. They did +not appeal to the rough audiences of Australia, +and so did not have enough money to take them +back to the States. It so happened that I had +just bought the City of Norfolk to send to San +Francisco as the pioneer of a new line, which is +now thoroughly established, and making rapid passages +between the two ports. I gave them free +passage to San Francisco. Laura Keene frequently +mentioned the fact in "asides" on the stage, +but I never received a word of thanks or appreciation +from Booth. Kate Hayes and Bushnell also +visited Australia while I was there, and I gave +them a concert and started them off on their tour.</p> + +<p>But the greatest sensation that was created in +the theatrical world of Australia during my stay +was made by Lola Montez, the dancer from Madrid. +She danced and pirouetted on the necks +and hearts of men. The rough mining element +went wild over her, and she had the wealth and +rank of Melbourne at her feet. One morning she +burst into my office, and called out in her quaint +accent, "Is Mr. George Francis Train here? Tell +him that I am his old friend from Boston, and +that I have just arrived from San Francisco." She +had called to make a complaint against the captain<span class="pagenum"><a id="page168" name="page168">[Pg 168]</a></span> +of our ship, whom she wanted us to discharge for +some supposed discourtesy to her. We patched +up this quarrel, and I did everything I could to +insure her a successful season in Melbourne. She +had a tremendous vogue, and danced before +crowded houses.</p> + +<p>One night I called at the green-room of the +theater to see her, sending in my card. I had +seated myself on the sofa to wait until she finished +her dancing. Suddenly the door flew open, and +in rushed something that looked like a great ball +of feathers. This ball flew toward me and I was +enveloped in a cloud of lace! The bold little +dancer had thrown her foot over my head!</p> + +<p>My life in Australia, now drawing to a close, +as I had made arrangements for leaving there to +continue my business operations in Japan, had +been very charming and profitable. Everything +was novel and strange to me, and it all made a +deep and lasting impression upon my mind, which +was then eagerly receptive.</p> + +<p>I find, in recalling these impressions, that my +first idea of Australia still remains the most prominent +one left in my memory. Australia was truly +the antipodes. Everything seemed to be reversed, +a topsy-turvy land. At Botany Bay I was astonished +to find the swans were black, thereby demolishing +our beautiful ideas about "milk-white" +swans. The birds talked, screamed, or brayed, instead +of singing, and the trees shed their bark in<span class="pagenum"><a id="page169" name="page169">[Pg 169]</a></span>stead +of their leaves. The big end of the pears +was at the stem, and cherry-stones grew on the +outside of the fruit. I was sitting one day in the +garden of the governor-general when I thought I +felt some one tap me on the shoulder. Then my +coat was wrenched off my back, and I turned just +in time to see it disappear down the throat of a +tame Australian ostrich, called an emu. The bird +had taken me for a vegetable.</p> + +<p>Sidney Smith describes the kangaroo as an animal +with the head of a rabbit, the body of a deer, a +tail like a bed-post, and which, when in danger, puts +its young into a pocket in its stomach. But the +most marvelous of all the queer things of Australia, +to my mind, was the animal that laid eggs like +a hen, suckled its young like a goat, and was web-footed, +like a duck. This was the duckbill, or water-mole, +which the Australians called the Patybus.</p> + +<p>I also saw in Tasmania, and on Flinder's Island, +the race of men that was then considered the +most remarkable on the globe, the original Tasmanian +savages; and I saw, also, the most curious +weapon that man has ever invented, the boomerang. +Holmes has described this weapon in one of +his humorous verses:</p> + +<div class="poem" style="width: 28em;"> +<span class="i0">"The boomerang, which the Australian throws,</span> +<span class="i0">Cuts its own circle, and hits you on the nose."</span> +</div> + +<p>I got one of the Bushmen to throw his boomerang +for me. He threw it around a tree and the missile +came back toward us. I fully expected to be sent<span class="pagenum"><a id="page170" name="page170">[Pg 170]</a></span> +sprawling. It dropped almost at the feet of the +savage that threw it. Even gold in that land is +found where it all ends in our country—in +pockets!</p> + +<p>Before closing the account of my Australian +experiences, I want to record that when I arrived +in Melbourne that flourishing port was in a horrible +condition for a city of its size and importance. +Its streets were such as would not have +been tolerated in an American city of half its size +or one tenth its wealth. There were practically +no public works. After I had been there for some +little time, a plan was put on foot to improve the +city. It moved along very slowly, as no one +seemed to know exactly what to do, or how to do +it. Finally, an elaborate program was drawn up, +and all that was needed to carry it out was the +money, which would have to be borrowed.</p> + +<p>The chairman of the improvement committee, +or whatever it was called, came to see me to get +me to undertake the floating of the necessary loan. +I suggested a number of improvements, such as +fire-engines, better office buildings, better paved +streets, and new gas-works. All of these suggestions +were accepted, and I forecast the floating +of the loan. They got the money in London, and +Melbourne was remodeled, so far as its appearance +was concerned, and was finally made one of +the most attractive cities in the British colonies. +It now has a population of half a million.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 171]</span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a id="page171" name="page171"></a>CHAPTER XIII</h2> + +<p class="title">A VOYAGE TO CHINA<br /> +<br /> +1855</p> + + +<p>I have already referred to my purpose of +going to Japan to establish a branch business +there. This idea came to me in Australia, after +Commodore Perry had opened the country to foreigners. +It has always been my desire to be first +on the ground, and I saw that Japan offered the +greatest possible opportunities for trade of all +sorts. I had fixed upon Yokohama as the place +in which to open our branch house. The rapid +development of that city since then, under new +conditions, and the tremendous increase of its +trade with Europe and America, as well as with +India, China, and Australasia, have well justified +my early judgment. I knew we could acquire great +influence in the world of commerce, and become, +perhaps, the greatest shipping house of the globe, +with branch houses at Boston, Liverpool, Melbourne, +and Yokohama.</p> + +<p>This is as good a place as any to give the reasons +for the failure of these ambitious plans. I<span class="pagenum">[Pg 172]</span> +had gradually worked out the whole program, giving +to it hours and days of careful and painstaking +examination. I felt that the scheme was absolutely +safe from every point of view. It was big +and almost grandiose; but I felt it was sure to result +in vast fortunes, in the building up of a trade +that the world had never before conceived or +dreamed of, and in the development of American +commerce.</p> + +<p>In fact, I see now that I was more than half +a century ahead of J. Pierpont Morgan. I should +have formed a great shipping and navigation +business that would have dwarfed anything else +of the kind in the world. My plan was not limited +to a few lines of ships between Europe and +New York. It was not confined to an Atlantic +ferry. I foresaw, as I fancied, American ships +dominating the trade of all oceans. I saw the +American merchant flag in every port of the Pacific, +Indian, and Atlantic oceans, and doing the +carrying trade of the world. I had some such +vague idea when I introduced the fast clipper +service between Boston, New York, and San Francisco, +and, again, when I organized the fast sailing-ship +service between Boston and Australia. But +I did not see it all clear before me, as I saw it in +Australia. The Orient had cleared my eyes.</p> + +<p>Of course, my first thought was for the up-building +of our house. I wanted it to take the +leading part in the stupendous task, and to become<span class="pagenum"><a id="page173" name="page173">[Pg 173]</a></span> +the first house of the world. All this could have +been accomplished, except that I had to contend +against the conservatism of New England, and the +very easily understood desire of Colonel Train +that his house should directly own all its ships. +This was, of course, impossible. He could not +own them, but he might control them. I urged +upon him the policy of retaining a controlling interest +only, and letting others come in, bringing +the capital we should need for the greater enterprise. +This was my idea of "combination," of a +great "shipping combine," more than half a century +before it was undertaken, in another way, by +Mr. Morgan and his associates.</p> + +<p>Colonel Train's persistent demand that he +should own all the ships, put an end to the plan. +It not only put an end to a grand project, but put +an end to his business. He was soon confronted +with difficulties. The business had outgrown him +and his limited means, had become unwieldy and +unmanageable. As I had foreseen, it needed more +men, more minds, more money; and these were +not forthcoming. And so, in '57, Colonel Train +was forced down, literally crushed beneath the +weight of his own undertakings, as Tarpeia was +crushed beneath the Sabine shields. He was the +victim of his desire to own and dominate everything.</p> + +<p>Two years before this collapse of a great idea, +I left Australia for Japan, by way of Java, Sin<span class="pagenum"><a id="page174" name="page174">[Pg 174]</a></span>gapore, +and China, with high hopes. I had visions, +which were to accompany me for a year or two +more, and then I had to abandon them and turn +my attention to other fields. From Melbourne, I +sailed on the Dashing Wave. Has it ever occurred +to any one who writes or thinks of the old days +of sailing vessels, those winged ships, that the very +names of boats have changed, indicating the transformation +from romance to reality, from poetry to +mere prose and work-a-day business? In those +days we had beautiful and suggestive names for +ships, just as we ought to try to find beautiful and +suggestive names for all truly beautiful and lovable +things. Now we send out our City of Paris, +or St. Louis, or St. Paul, or the Minneapolis, or +the Astoria, or Kentucky, or Blaamanden, or Rotterdam, +or Ryndam, or Noordam. Then we had +such names as Flying Cloud, the clipper that shortened +the distance between the ends of the world; +the Sovereign of the Seas, the Monarch of the +Ocean, the Flying Arrow, the Sea Eagle. The +Dashing Wave, Captain Fiske, carried me to Batavia +in twenty-six days. We were accompanied, +for a portion of the trip, by the Flying Arrow.</p> + +<p>At Anjer, in the Straits of Sunda, the Malays +came off to the ship in their little boats with provisions +of all sorts to sell. Every one of them +had letters of recommendation, as they thought, +from the English captains and officers who had +previously traded with them; but these letters, if<span class="pagenum"><a id="page175" name="page175">[Pg 175]</a></span> +they could have been translated for their possessors, +would have been instantly cast into the sea +and a general riot perhaps would have followed. +One of the letters read something like this: "If +this black thief brings any eggs to sell to you, +don't buy them, as they are always rotten. He +may also try to sell you a rooster, but don't buy it, +as it is the same cock that crew when Peter denied +Jesus." Of course everybody on the ship roared +with laughter as each letter was handed up to us +and read aloud for the edification of all. The simple +Malays guffawed loudly in their boats, thinking +that we were heartily pleased with them and +their wares. When next I passed through the +Sunda Straits, Krakatoa had been at work in eruption +and had completely changed the face of the +coast, and Anjer itself and the little island it stood +on were gone.</p> + +<p>This Dutch colony was a revelation to me in +every way. I had never seen anything at all like +it in any other part of the world, and was never +again to see anything quite so quaint or so delightful. +The ride from Batavia to the hotel was full +of surprises. I was accompanied by a troop of +little children, all of them pressing close up to us +and crying for "doits"—small copper coins. I +scattered these little coins among them again and +again, but they could never get enough, but kept +on crying, "doit, doit!" Then the color of the +trees, the rich shades of the flowers that flourished<span class="pagenum">[Pg 176]</span> +everywhere, the beauty of the scenery—all was a +delightful surprise. I have never seen elsewhere +so many or such rare flowers. The whole island +of Java, as I was soon to learn, is a vast botanical +garden, far more beautiful and rare than any that +science can create. Nature, the great horticulturist, +has here done her best and final work. The +air, too, was delicious. It was perfumed by flowers, +aromatic herbs, and spices. I had never realized +before what was meant by the legends of the +"Spice Islands," and I fancied that here was the +place for man to live and die.</p> + +<p>I drove to the residence of the governor-general +at Buitenzorg, thirty-five miles south of Batavia, +which was situated in a tremendous garden +of flowers and trees. It was the most beautiful +place I had ever seen, and I am quite sure that I +have never seen anything more beautiful since. I +was so delighted with Java, indeed, that I had a +model of a Javanese village made for me, and +shipped it home to my wife with the greatest care. +What was my surprise, when I finally reached +home, and asked eagerly if the model had been +received, to be told that nothing had been seen of +it. "Didn't something come from me from +Java?" Oh, yes, something had come, but it +looked so big and uninteresting that it had been +put down in the cellar. And there my beautiful +model of the Javanese village had lain, in ignominy, +for years! I restored it to its proper posi<span class="pagenum"><a id="page177" name="page177">[Pg 177]</a></span>tion +in the world, by sending it to the Boston +Museum. It was lost in the fire that soon afterward +destroyed that building.</p> + +<p>It was in Java that I first learned to love +flowers, and I have loved them more and more +every year of my life since. The natives of that +wonderful island love to strew flowers over everything, +and to garland everything with beautiful +blossoms. I soon became infatuated with the custom +of carrying flowers, and adopted the boutonnière, +which I afterward introduced in Paris in +'56, in London in '57, and in New York in '58. +I have endeavored to wear a spray of flowers in +the lapel of my coat every day since my visit to +Java.</p> + +<p>There was one particularly pleasing custom, +which I think should have been long ago introduced +in this country. This was the fashion of bringing +in fruit to the table covered with flowers. It is a +custom that delights three senses at once—the +smell, the sight, the taste. The first time I saw it +was at the table of Mr. Whitelaw Reid, when he +gave a dinner to me and my friends. After we +had finished eating, I was asked if I did not wish +for some of the fruit. I looked around and could +not see fruit anywhere. In front of me were great +masses of flowers in baskets, and I could readily +detect the odor of fruits of various kinds, but they +were invisible. I had almost decided that they +were outside in the garden, and that possibly<span class="pagenum"><a id="page178" name="page178">[Pg 178]</a></span> +we were expected to pluck them from the trees, +which, heavily laden with their burdens, hung +temptingly against the windows. But no, the fruit +was immediately before me, hidden beneath masses +of cut flowers, in trays and baskets. I thought it a +beautiful custom, and one that distinctly appeals +to esthetic taste. It could well be introduced at +Newport or Saratoga, or in Fifth Avenue mansions.</p> + +<p>I regretted that Great Britain had lost, through +a piece of carelessness, these magnificent islands +now controlled by Holland; although the Dutch +have done about as well as any other people could +have done, I suppose. I believe it was because +Lord Canning did not open his eastern mail one +morning, that these islands became a possession +of Holland instead of Great Britain.</p> + +<p>I did not, on the occasion of my first visit, see +anything of the Achinese. But I passed, in '92, +on my last trip around the world, the northwestern +end of Sumatra, and Captain Hogg, of the Moyune, +pointed to the little town of Achin, built on +piles. He said that in the interior the Dutch were +still fighting the Achinese. They had then been +fighting these desperate Mohammedans—converted +Malays—for thirty years. I have since thought, +having in view this prolonged struggle for freedom +of the Mohammedan Malays of Sumatra, how +desperate is our undertaking in the Philippines, +where we are trying to subjugate a far larger<span class="pagenum"><a id="page179" name="page179">[Pg 179]</a></span> +population of Mohammedans, the Moros of +the southern islands of the archipelago. Holland, +I believe, has spent already something +like 500,000,000 florins to exterminate the Achinese. +It may cost us far more to exterminate the +Moros.</p> + +<p>I left Batavia for Singapore on a Dutch man-of-war, +Captain Fabius. We stopped first at the +island of Banka, belonging to Holland, and I saw +there the famous tin-mines, which are greater than +those of Cornwall, England. They were the property +of the brother of the King of Holland. We +did not stop at Sarawak, because of the little war +that "Rajah" Brooke, afterward known as Sarawak +Brooke, was carrying on there. We arrived +at Singapore just too late to meet Townsend +Harris, the first American diplomatic representative +to Japan, as he had gone up to Siam. +Harris's visit to Japan was the real beginning +of a new era in the trade of the far East, and +no other diplomatic mission in the history of +this country has been fraught with greater results.</p> + +<p>Singapore was then a port of much dirtiness +and much business. All the vessels of the world +came there, and the greatest variety of cargoes +that I have ever seen. The most interesting thing +I saw there was the magnificent home of a great +Chinese millionaire, who managed the largest +business in Singapore, or, indeed, in that part of<span class="pagenum"><a id="page180" name="page180">[Pg 180]</a></span> +the world. He had a splendid palace, surrounded +by beautiful and extensive gardens, the whole being +worthy of a king or emperor. Here he lived +in the style of some barbaric prince. This Chinaman +had established in Singapore the kind of store +which we in America think we invented—the department +store. But I learned afterward when I +went to China, that the department store is common +there, and had been known for hundreds, perhaps +thousands, of years. This development of +the store is as old as the civilization of the Caucasian +race, and, perhaps, was known to China +ages before America was discovered. I had the +pleasure of receiving an invitation to visit the +Chinaman in his palace, and was astounded by the +extensive grandeur of everything. He had a passion +for animals, and owned two tigers in cages +that were the largest animals of their kind I have +ever seen.</p> + +<p>From Singapore, I sailed for China on a P. & +O. steamer. On board I met Dr. Parker, the new +American minister to China, and my roommate +was Alexander Collie, of Manchester, England, +who, during our civil war, became the chief English +blockade runner. I may as well dispose of +my experiences with Collie while I have him before +me. Collie operated his blockade-running +business through the London and Westminster +(Limited) Bank. When I was in England I discovered +the nature of his work, and exposed him<span class="pagenum">[Pg 181]</span> +through correspondence in the New York Herald. +This led to the breaking down of his enterprise, +and to the bank's loss of £500,000 sterling. Collie +escaped arrest by fleeing to Spain. I have never +heard of him since.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 182]</span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a id="page182" name="page182"></a>CHAPTER XIV</h2> + +<p class="title">IN CHINESE CITIES<br /> +<br /> +1855-1856</p> + + +<p>At Hongkong I went to our correspondents, +Williams, Anthon & Co., and took passage in Endicott's +little steamer, the Spark, for Macao, the +Portuguese port of China. Before leaving Hongkong, +however, as I had some little time on my +hands, I determined to see everything that was to +be seen there. I had the remarkable experience +of meeting the man who was afterward the husband +of Hetty Green. This was E. H. Green, who +was married twelve years later. He was then connected +with the house of Russell & Sturgis, our +correspondents in Manila, and he joined me for +the trip to Macao and Canton. After a short +stay in Hongkong, we went on to Macao and +Canton.</p> + +<p>We had, on this voyage, the common experiences +of Chinese waters—pirates and typhoons. +At the Boca Tigris, the mouth of the Canton, or +Pearl, river, we were overtaken by the typhoon, +and we had to anchor near an island in the midst<span class="pagenum">[Pg 183]</span> +of a number of junks. These soon proved to be +pirate ships, and we were, apparently, in great +danger. The pirates immediately began to draw +up about us, as if meditating an attack. The little +Spark would, of course, stand no chance in such a +contest. I did not think she could last ten minutes +in a fight with those ugly junks.</p> + +<p>The Chinese anchored their boats up close to +the Spark, and I noticed that a dozen of the ugliest +ruffians our own sailors had ever encountered +were staring in through the cabin windows. I +could not imagine what they were looking at, and +went forward to see what was wrong. There was +Mr. Green, sitting facing the window, his feet on +the table, and making faces at the crew. He was +the coolest man, I think, that I ever saw. Nothing +moved him out of his imperturbable calm. +The Chinamen were scowling at him, but this did +not at all disconcert him. If he was going to be +killed by these devils, he seemed to be thinking, +he might as well die in a cheerful humor. How +could he know they were not pirates in disguise?</p> + +<p>The pirates expected that we should fall an +easy prey into their hands, as our coal had given +out, and there was no assistance within reach. We +were in a dilemma, but we attacked the woodwork +of the deck, and got enough to fire up the engines +and get a head of steam, when suddenly, to the +amazement of the pirates, we steamed out and +away. The storm having subsided, the junks<span class="pagenum"><a id="page184" name="page184">[Pg 184]</a></span> +were soon left far behind and we reached Macao +safely.</p> + +<p>Macao was at that time the headquarters of +the new slave trade. I went to the top of a high +hill for the purpose of looking at the barracoons, +where slaves were kept. The barracoon is, in +meaning, a little barrack, but it is, in reality, a +pest-hole. Here were gathered the Chinese who +were to be sent as victims and slaves to the Peruvian +islands. The practise was to bring Chinamen +from the interior by telling them of the great +riches their countrymen had found in America, +which was then a name that tempted all Chinamen +of the coast regions. Many Chinamen, it was +known, had gone to America and done well, and +the wretches that the slave-dealers wanted to ship +to Peru were told that they would be sent to America. +They thought they were going to California; +but they were shipped to the Chincha islands, near +Callao, the port of Lima, Peru.</p> + +<p>As Boston was then deeply interested in the +subject of slavery in the Southern States, I wrote +a description of this new slavery in the Chincha +islands, giving the names of the boats that had +recently sailed from Macao with full cargoes of +slaves. I had heard of this horrible traffic in human +flesh at Singapore, but could not believe it, +until I actually saw it at Macao. Whenever the +wretches mutinied, or grew restive, they were put +down in the hold and the hatches closed. The hor<span class="pagenum"><a id="page185" name="page185">[Pg 185]</a></span>rors +of such a position were as great as those of +the infamous "Middle Passage," made so conspicuous +by the abolitionists in the campaign +against African slavery. Chinamen perished by +hundreds, and many of the survivors were +maimed or invalided for life. In a single case, +some two hundred victims were smothered and +died in the hold of one of these slavers. My letters +to the New York Herald were copied far +and near. It was discovered that some of the Boston +people themselves were interested in enslaving +the Chinese. But the practise could not stand +the light of exposure, and so was broken up.</p> + +<p>We hurried on from Macao to Canton, arriving +there during the Chinese New Year. This city +astonished me in a number of ways. It was dirty +and miserable beyond imagination, with narrow +streets and indescribable filth. But that it carried +on a tremendous volume of trade was apparent +from a glance. The river was covered with junks +and larger vessels at Whampoa, the lower port, +floating the flags of every nation. Warehouses, +the "godowns" of the foreign traders, revealed +the existence of an enormous, and profitable +commerce. The word "godown," which many +take to be a "pidgin-English" word composed of +"go" and "down," and signifying putting things +down in a warehouse, is a Malay word, and comes +from "gadang," meaning a place for storing articles +away. The warehouses were surrounded by<span class="pagenum">[Pg 186]</span> +high walls, in the manner of private villas and +town residences of the Chinese, and were adorned +by beautiful gardens.</p> + +<p>There was a pretty custom, among foreign residents, +to invite all visitors to dine with them. +These invitations were sent informally upon little +cards called "chits." As I was already known +in the business world there, I received a great +many of these invitations. I was walking with Mr. +Green one day, when he said it was getting time +to think about dinner. "Where will you dine?" +he asked. I replied that I did not know which invitation +to accept. I thought that I would take +some of his conceit out of him, by showing him +that I had received a great number of "chits," and +I drew a package of them from my pocket. I remarked +coolly that I could not make up my mind +what to do, as I had an <i>embarras de richesses</i>. I +counted the "chits," and there were eleven. Green, +with great nonchalance, drew out his package of +"chits"; he had thirteen!</p> + +<p>He had a great way of taking care of himself +in such circumstances. He suggested that there +was only one thing to do—to find out who, among +our intending hosts, would have the best dinner. +He then took me around to the rear of the residences, +where a high wall separated the gardens +from the native city, and where I discovered that +the Chinese cooks always hung up the game, poultry, +and other things they were preparing for<span class="pagenum"><a id="page187" name="page187">[Pg 187]</a></span> +meals. From this array we could tell what everybody +was going to have for dinner. After a stroll +through the alley, we selected the house that had +displayed behind it some lovely pheasants and +salmon. "The owner of that house shall have the +honor of being our host," said Green. I approved +his choice both then and after the dinner, which +was an excellent one, at which the golden pheasants +were the <i>pièce de résistance</i>. I soon discovered +for myself, what I had long heard, that the +Chinese are the best cooks in the world.</p> + +<p>Another thing I learned about the Chinaman +was that he is the most honest tradesman in the +world, and the most careful about debts. The +Chinese New Year is the season when the Chinaman +wipes off the slate and begins life over again, +with a clean record. He pays up all debts, and +starts even with the world. I learned that on this +anniversary the Chinaman will sell everything he +possesses, even his liberty, his person, his life itself, +to settle his debts, so that he may face the +new year with a clean conscience and a pure heart, +as well as with no bills hanging over him.</p> + +<p>As this was practically the first Chinese city +I had seen, I was very curious about it. It was +all new ground to me, and I was eager to explore +it. I knew that this was not permitted, for six +Englishmen had been killed shortly before my arrival, +for daring to venture inside the walls of the +Chinese city, which was then as much forbidden<span class="pagenum">[Pg 188]</span> +ground as the "Pink City" of Pekin. The fate of +the Englishmen only made me more keen to get +inside the walls. I thought I could take care of +myself sufficiently well. I was warned by friends +not to risk the thing, but I took all the responsibility, +and went inside, while the gates were +open. I had not gone more than a few rods when +I heard behind me and all around me the wildest +cries. Men ran toward me with shouts of "Fankwai"—foreign +devil; and I saw at once that I +had stirred up a hornet's nest. I looked about +me, and discovered that the gate I had come +through was still open. There was a pretty fair +chance, by running fast, for getting through it before +the Chinamen could head me off. This calculation +took about one-millionth of a second, and I +plunged for the gate, "like a pawing horse let go." +If the stop-watch could have been held on me, I am +sure I should have established a record for a +short-distance sprint.</p> + +<p>The next time I visited Canton was in '70. +The gates were open, and the walls were of no +avail to keep the foreign devils out. The American +merchant Nye, who was familiarly known as +the Napoleon of China, because of his gigantic enterprises, +took me over the city. I had read and +heard about Chinamen eating rats, but this was +the only time I ever saw the thing done, and I +could hardly believe my eyes. A Chinaman came +up to Mr. Nye and me in the street, and offered<span class="pagenum"><a id="page189" name="page189">[Pg 189]</a></span> +to sell us a rat, a big fellow still alive. I asked +if it was to be eaten, and the Chinaman said it +was. "But it is not cooked," I objected. "I am +not going to begin on live rats." The Chinaman +said he would prepare it—the rat cooked and +served to cost me two cents. I told him to go +ahead. To my surprise he took a little stove from +under his arm, lighted a fire, and in a few minutes +had the rodent roasted to a crisp. I was astonished—and +ashamed—to see how nice it looked. +It did appear toothsome. I said to the Chinaman, +"Now, you can eat it." He did, and with great +gusto and smacking of the lips. So he got his rat +and my two cents, also.</p> + +<p>But I ascertained that there is about as much +truth in the common stories in our silly juvenile +literature about Chinamen generally eating rats +as there is in stories of other marvelous things in +far-off lands. I also found that there is no deadly +upas-tree in Java, which was a distinct shock to +me. I had been reared, so to speak, in the fatal +shade of that upas. I had watched birds drop +dead as they tried to fly across its swath of malignant +shadow; I had seen animals stricken by its +fatal exudations and writhing in agony. I saw all +these things in the old New England farmhouse, +which was the headquarters of the Methodists; +but in Java, they had all disappeared. There +was no upas-tree, and the mortality among birds +and animals was no greater than necessary to sat<span class="pagenum"><a id="page190" name="page190">[Pg 190]</a></span>isfy +the predatory natures of other animals, birds, +and men. And now to find in China that the New +England stories about general rat-eating were +false, was another shock.</p> + +<p>But the Chinese are not as cleanly as they +might be. I learned this interesting fact in connection +with my taste for Canton ginger. I had +always, from earliest childhood, been outrageously +fond of this delicate comfit. I had eaten it in +great quantities whenever I got the chance; and +when I arrived in Canton, the home of this conserve, +I at once thought of it, and wanted to know +more about its manufacture. I learned, after +some inquiry, that it was put up at a factory on +the island of Ho-nan, near Canton. Ho-nan is also +the name of a famous Buddhist temple on the +same island. The factory, as well as most of the +so-called island, is built on piles. I had not altogether +overlooked this fact when I asked the +factory people where they got the water for the +sirup of the preserves. They looked at me as if +I were demented. "Water! why we are right over +the river!" Yes, they were right over the river, +the dirtiest and most villainous river in the world. +The sewage of the dirtiest city in China—which is +saying about all that can be said on the subject—is +emptied into this river. I need not say that I +did not eat any of the Canton ginger then, and I +have not eaten any of it since.</p> + +<p>I have set down my views as to the topsy-tur<span class="pagenum"><a id="page191" name="page191">[Pg 191]</a></span>viness +of things in Australia. I found China topsy-turvy +in a different way. The Chinese begin +their books and letters where we end ours, at what +we should call the back. They read from right to +left, instead of from left to right, and, strangest +of all, the men wear gowns, and the women—don't! +When I was introduced to How-kwa, a warm +friend of the Russells, I advanced to shake hands +with him, but he stepped back and solemnly shook +hands with himself for me. Then he waved his +hands toward the door, as if to say, so it seemed +to me, "get out of here," and I was amazed, but +Sturgis informed me that the great Chinaman +was merely beckoning to me to come nearer to him. +I went up to him, by that time so impressed with +the Chinese way of doing things backward that if +he had kicked at me, I should have thought he was +asking me to embrace him. We were in How-kwa's +residence, which was surrounded by the most exquisite +gardens, and were invited to partake of a +cup of tea. For the first time in my life I drank +tea that cost $30 a pound. We used no sugar nor +milk, of course, as these things are considered in +China to spoil good tea. The next best tea I have +drunk, I think, was the tea I got at the fair of +Nijnii Novgorod, Russia, in '57, which had been +brought overland thousands of miles across mountains +and deserts, packed in little bricks.</p> + +<p>Again, I found that the Chinese look backward, +and not forward, and ennoble their ancestors,<span class="pagenum"><a id="page192" name="page192">[Pg 192]</a></span> +instead of their offspring, and pay little attention +to the coming generation. They say that +they know what their ancestors—the dead—were, +but can not foretell what the living may become. +They scull their boats in the rivers from the bow, +instead of from the stern. Their boatmen are +usually women. While we fear the water, and +seek to make our dwelling places upon the rock or +upon very dry land, the Chinaman will get as near +as possible to the water. In the Canton, or Pearl, +river there were, when I was there, some 100,000 +persons living on the river, in boats, or on floats, +or rafts. A Westerner would suppose children +were in danger of falling into the water. They +do fall in, but their mothers have devised a method +of rescuing them without mischance. Cords are +fastened to their bodies, and when a child falls +overboard, the cord, which is made fast to the boat, +prevents it from sinking too far before the mother +or father catches hold and pulls it back into the +boat.</p> + +<p>They call all servants, male and female, +"boy," which reminds me that in the Europeanized +parts of some of the Japanese cities they do +the same, and when they want to specify definitely +that the "boy" is a girl, they say "onna no boy," +which means "girl-boy," or girl servant. This is, +of course, pidgin-English, the business English of +the Chinese littoral. I had an amusing experience +with this pidgin-English. I had invited some<span class="pagenum"><a id="page193" name="page193">[Pg 193]</a></span> +friends to dine with me, a merchant and his two +sons and three daughters, and when I asked the +servant who had come, he said that the merchant +had arrived and "two bull chilo, and three cow +chilo."</p> + +<p>Pidgin-English amused me very much, as it +amuses every one who visits China. Augustine +Heard, the merchant, who was a master of this +lingo, used to interest me by reciting phrases +from it, and once gave me the following poem, +which is a translation of Longfellow's Excelsior. +The translation was made by Mr. Heard. It has +been published throughout the world as an +"anonymous" production:</p> + +<div class="poem" style="width: 28em;"> +<span class="i0">THE CHINESE EXCELSIOR</span> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">That nightee teem he come chop-chop</span> +<span class="i0">One young man walkee, no can stop;</span> +<span class="i0">Maskee snow, maskee ice;</span> +<span class="i0">He cally flag with chop so nice—</span> +<span class="i5">Top-side Galah!</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">He muchee solly; one piecee eye</span> +<span class="i0">Lookee sharp—so fashion—my;</span> +<span class="i0">He talkee large, he talkee stlong,</span> +<span class="i0">Too muchee cullo; alle same gong.</span> +<span class="i5">Top-side Galah!</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Insidee house he can see light,</span> +<span class="i0">And evly loom got fire all light,</span> +<span class="i0">He lookee plenty ice more high,</span> +<span class="i0">Insidee mout'h he plenty cly—</span> +<span class="i5">Top-side Galah!</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Ole man talkee, "No can walk,</span> +<span class="i0">"Bimeby lain come, velly dark;</span> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page194" name="page194">[Pg 194]</a></span></p><span class="i0">"Have got water, velly wide!"</span> +<span class="i0">Maskee, my must go top-side—</span> +<span class="i5">Top-side Galah!</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Man-man," one girlee talkee he,</span> +<span class="i0">"What for you go top-side look—see?"</span> +<span class="i0">And one teem more he plenty cly,</span> +<span class="i0">But alle teem walk plenty high—</span> +<span class="i5">Top-side Galah!</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Take care t'hat spilum tlee, young man,</span> +<span class="i0">"Take care t'hat ice, must go man-man."</span> +<span class="i0">One coolie chin-chin he good night,</span> +<span class="i0">He talkee, "My can go all light"—</span> +<span class="i5">Top-side Galah!</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">T'hat young man die; one large dog, see,</span> +<span class="i0">Too muchee bobbly findee he.</span> +<span class="i0">He hand b'long coldee, all same like ice,</span> +<span class="i0">He holdee flag wit'h chop so nice—</span> +<span class="i5">Top-side Galah!</span> +</div></div> + +<p>When I was ready to start for Japan, I had +made up my mind to visit Shanghai on the way, +and was about to start, when Canton merchants, +native and foreign, tried to dissuade me. They +told me it would be terribly disappointing, and +that I would regret wasting any time there. They +did not know my nature, and that this sort of +thing merely stimulated my curiosity and hardened +my determination.</p> + +<p>I took passage in the P. & O. boat, the Erin, +Captain Jameson, and supposed, of course, that I +should have a state-room. But I was to meet with +another Chinese surprise. A great Chinese mandarin, +going from Hongkong to Shanghai, had en<span class="pagenum"><a id="page195" name="page195">[Pg 195]</a></span>gaged +the whole cabin. I was very desirous to see +this great personage, and soon had the opportunity. +It is my practise, when at sea, to take exercise +by walking rapidly up and down the deck, +thus covering many miles a day. I was taking my +daily exercise the day when the mandarin came on +board ship, and every time I passed the cabin I noticed +that he followed me with his eyes. And so +we kept it up for some time, I walking as unconcernedly +as I could, and the great mandarin watching +my movements as curiously as if I were some +strange animal.</p> + +<p>After a while he called the first officer, and +asked what I was doing. "Walking up and down +the deck," he was told. "But why does he do it? +Is he paid for it?" The officer told him it was +for exercise. "What is that?" asked the Chinese +great man. This was explained to him, but he +could not understand why any one wanted to walk +up and down, and do so much unnecessary work. +The Chinese are not averse to work; indeed, they +are one of the most industrious people on the face +of the earth, but they do not do unnecessary work, +having, I infer, to do as much necessary work as is +good for them. And this great dignitary pointed +to me with scorn and said: "Number one foolo." +I hardly need explain that "number one," throughout +the far East, means the superlative degree.</p> + +<p>This mandarin was the great Li Hung Chang, +who had been summoned by his emperor to save<span class="pagenum"><a id="page196" name="page196">[Pg 196]</a></span> +the country from the terrible Tai-ping rebellion. +He was on his way from Canton to Shanghai. He +there called in the splendid services of three great +foreigners—the Frenchman, Bougevine, the American, +Ward, and the Englishman, "Chinese" Gordon; +but it was largely and chiefly due to the stubbornness +and genius of Li that the empire was +saved to the Manchus, at a cost, it is estimated, of +twenty millions of lives.</p> + +<p>When we reached Woosung there were six +armed opium ships for cargoes of opium from +Calcutta and Bombay, which the English were +forcing upon the Chinese, much as we should force +rum on the Mexicans, and make them pay for it. +The English and Americans were reaping fortunes +in the most unholy traffic the world has seen—and +it will never be forgotten in China, or anywhere +else, that England went to war with China to force +China to permit the shipment of opium into that +country to ruin millions of lives and impoverish +millions of families. I feel heartily ashamed of +myself for having once smuggled a little of this +horrible drug into China. But I found that many +Americans and Englishmen were devoting themselves +to the trade as a regular business.</p> + +<p>In Shanghai I was the guest of Russell & Co., +who were then represented by Cunningham and G. +Griswold Gray. The fighting in the great rebellion +was still raging—it was not put down until +after Gordon recaptured Nanking—and when I<span class="pagenum"><a id="page197" name="page197">[Pg 197]</a></span> +was in Shanghai the Chinese authorities kept the +gory heads of rebels hanging from the walls as +an example to all who contemplated opposing the +Manchu rule. These hideous trophies of the war +were the most impressive things that I saw in +Shanghai.</p> + +<p>Dr. Lockhart, the missionary, acted voluntarily +as my dragoman and guide in Shanghai, and +showed me things in the city that I could never +have discovered for myself. In one of the squares +I noticed a monument 150 feet high, which, I was +told by Lockhart, had been built by the poor people +of China in commemoration of an old lady, +who had been the Helen Gould of her day. Each +of the subscribers had contributed cash equal to +one tenth of a cent.</p> + +<p>Some really splendid virtues of the Chinese +impressed me deeply. I liked and admired them +the more I saw them. I have already said that +they are the most honest people on the globe. It +seems to me an extraordinary thing that this race, +the world's highest type of honesty, should be the +only race to which we are inhospitable. The Chinese +were far ahead of Europeans in many ways for +centuries. If they have fallen behind now, it may +be only because Europeans are rushing hastily +through their brief civilizations, while China, having +enjoyed hers for ages, is content to watch us +rise, flourish, and decay, as we watch the passing +generations of the forest and the field.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 198]</span></p> + +<p>They invented and used the things that we regard +as almost the highest products of our civilization. +They had used the mariner's compass for +centuries before we had it; they invented printing +perhaps a thousand years before Gutenberg; they +invented gunpowder, which they had used in war +and every-day life; they had the best paper ever +seen long before the rest of the world had any, +and the outside nations have not yet been able to +duplicate theirs; they invented the newspaper, and +have the oldest journal in the world, the Pekin +Gazette; they discovered the Golden Rule, unless +that honor belongs to the Greek, Thales; they developed +philosophy—the highest system of the +world, in Confucianism—before the Greeks, and, +of course, long before the Germans; and they were +the first people of the world to appreciate education.</p> + +<p>Moreover, as Mr. Wu, the great Chinese minister +at Washington, has so often pointed out, they +were democratic long before Thomas Jefferson, +and long before the Greeks had invented the word +"democracy," or had discovered the idea of a +democratic state or city. I had been taught that +the hard-headed and practical Scotch had invented +the macadam road, naming it from a canny Scot +of that name; but I found a macadamized road in +China three or four thousand years old, and long +enough to wrap around the British Isles. The +Chinese have long preceded us, and they may long<span class="pagenum">[Pg 199]</span> +survive us, nullifying all the "imperialism" and +"expansionism" of Europe and America, which +would cut her into fragments as the spoil of the +world.</p> + +<p>While I was in China, on this first visit, and +on the several occasions of my later visits, I gave +much thought to the vast population of that country. +I have come to the conclusion that the population +is less than half, probably less than one-third, +of what it is generally estimated to be. I +notice that the Chinese viceroys have recently +made an estimate of their respective provinces, +at the command of the emperor, and that the total +reaches the enormous figure of 425,000,000. I do +not believe that there are 200,000,000 people in +the entire empire, and I should prefer estimating +the population at something between 150,000,000 +and 175,000,000.</p> + +<p>I found that China is not a densely populated +country, as is generally supposed. The seashore +is fairly crowded, and the impression one gets +from seeing the surface of the water covered at +Canton with rafts and floats on which more than +100,000 persons live, is that the inhabitants must +swarm in the same degree over the face of the +land. This is not the case. Even the coast is +merely fringed with people. Back in the interior +there are no such dense masses of population. All +accounts that I can read of the interior, from +Father Huc down to Mr. Parsons of New York,<span class="pagenum"><a id="page200" name="page200">[Pg 200]</a></span> +bear me out in this. I can not see where there are +more than 175,000,000, or 150,000,000, people in +that empire. The reports of the slaughter in the +Tai-ping rebellion, of some 20,000,000 people, +would seem to indicate a population of at least +200,000,000 or 250,000,000; but these figures were +greatly exaggerated, as all such things are in +China. All statistics are nothing but guesswork, +and the bigger they are the better people like them.</p> + +<p>I engaged passage in the Greta, which was to +go to Shimoda and Hakodate, Japan. My objective +point was Yokohama, where it was my purpose +to establish a branch of the house of Train +& Co., Melbourne. My Australian house was not +connected with Colonel Train's Boston and Liverpool +packet firm. At this time, however, the English +and Russians, who were not as good friends +then as they are now, were fighting, and the little +war completely upset all of my plans. I could +not get to Yokohama at all, and did not visit Japan +until several years later. I had, therefore, to give +up my passage in the Greta, and turn my face from +Japan. Just at this point, Augustine Heard invited +G. Griswold Gray, of Russell & Co., and me +to go to Fu-chow, on one of his sailing ships, the +John Wade.</p> + +<p><a id="page200a" name="page200a"></a></p> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a href="images/illus-230.jpg"> +<img src="images/illus-230.jpg" alt="dictating his autobiography" title="George Francis Train dictating +his autobiography" /> +</a></div> + +<p class="caption">George Francis Train dictating his autobiography in his room in +the Mills Hotel.</p> + +<p>This trip I very willingly made, as I wanted +to see everything of China that was possible; but +it was more adventurous than I had expected. As +we were sailing down the China coast, a typhoon +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page201" name="page201">[Pg 201]</a></span>struck us, and over went sails and masts. Our +pilot from Shanghai was immediately in difficulties, +as the pilot from Fu-chow, whom we had just +picked up, did not understand the pilot we had +brought from Shanghai. I had the utmost difficulty, +owing to my inadequate mastery of pidgin-English, +in establishing communication between +these essential elements of our little crew. We +had, finally, to get into a boat and make our way +up the River Min for forty miles in the dark. It +was a very trying experience, as the river was absolutely +unknown to me; the darkness was "unpierceable +by power of any star," and the river +was treacherous in itself for small boats. To +make matters worse, it was infested by junk +pirates. This latter danger I had got somewhat +accustomed to, as almost every inch of +Chinese water was, in those days, the field of +operations for these pirates. The other nations +of the world had not yet adopted effective means +for getting rid of them as the United States got +rid of the Algerian and Tripolitan plunderers.</p> + +<p>We arrived at Fu-chow, after a harassing +night on the river. Almost the first thing to greet +my curious eyes, as they were sweeping the horizon +for wonders in that land of wonders, was the +old suspension bridge, which the Chinese assert +was built in the fourteenth century. It proved to +be as much of a curiosity as the Chinese wall in the +north. At Fu-chow I was a guest in the house of<span class="pagenum">[Pg 202]</span> +the Russells. Immediately upon landing, Gray, +Heard, and myself took sedan chairs for a tour +through the city.</p> + +<p>On this occasion I had my first opportunity to +appeal to the American flag for protection. As +we were passing through a very narrow, but important +street, our coolies were suddenly set upon +and overturned. We scrambled out of the chairs, +and asked what was the matter. We learned that +the viceroy was also passing through the thoroughfare, +and that everything and everybody had to +give way for his retinue. My companions at once +stepped out of the way, but my blood was up. I +resented being upset in the street, like so much +refuse, in order to have the filthy thoroughfare +cleared for the passage of a mere Chinese viceroy.</p> + +<p>I had a small American flag in my pocket, carefully +wrapped about its little staff, and I took it +out with a great deal of display and waved the +tiny emblem around my head. I dared the +Chinese servants of the viceroy to touch me or to +interfere with my right to pass through the streets +of Fu-chow. This had its effect. I noticed at once +that the Chinese in the street, who recognized the +colors of the United States, fell back from me, +our coolies got up out of the dirt, and once more +took hold of the poles of the chairs. The viceroy +passed on, pretending not to have noticed the incident, +and in a few minutes the way was clear +again.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page203" name="page203">[Pg 203]</a></span></p> + +<p>Fu-chow was the black-tea port of China at +that time, and it had been opened just two years +before. It was astonishing at what a rapid pace +business of a certain kind swung along in the +coast cities of the Far East. In two years several +of the Canton houses, representatives of the +great shipping and other business concerns of the +world, had opened branch offices in Fu-chow. +Commercial life there was intensely active and +very prosperous.</p> + +<p>From Fu-chow I went on down the coast to +Hongkong, this being my second visit there. I +noticed at Swatow several ships loaded with Chinese +slaves destined for the Chincha guano islands +of Peru. My destination was Calcutta, so we did +not have much time to explore the Chinese coast, +much as I should have liked to do so.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 204]</span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a id="page204" name="page204"></a>CHAPTER XV</h2> + +<p class="title">TO INDIA AND THE HOLY LAND<br /> +<br /> +1856</p> + + +<p>I sailed from Hongkong on Jardine's opium +steamer, Fiery Cross. As the course we took had +been gone over by me in the voyage to Hongkong +from Singapore, I was not especially interested in +it until we had passed the Straits and got into +Indian waters. The Andaman Islands, where +dwells one of the lowest races of mankind, interested +me greatly. We saw only a little of these +curious people, the Veddahs, but I learned of a +very interesting custom followed by the widows of +the islands to commemorate their deceased husbands. +This consists in wearing the skull of the +dead man on the shoulder as a sort of ornament +and memento. It is considered a delicate way of +perpetuating the memory of the husband.</p> + +<p>I had a letter of introduction from Robert +Sturgis to George Ashburner, at Calcutta, and the +moment I arrived Mr. Ashburner insisted upon +my becoming his guest. I spent three days with +him, and have never partaken of such luxurious<span class="pagenum"><a id="page205" name="page205">[Pg 205]</a></span> +hospitality elsewhere. It is only man in the Orient +who knows how to live fast and furious and +get every enjoyment out of his little span of life. +I was surrounded by a retinue of servants, who +stood ready to answer every beck and call. Service +in India being highly specialized, there was a +servant for everything. I had a little army of +fourteen serving men, four of whom carried my +chair, or palanquin, with a relay, a man to serve +me specially at table, a punka man, and a man for +every other detail of living.</p> + +<p>There was something to do and to see every +moment of the time. I was taken to all the +show-places of the city. The first sight shown to +me was the famous Black Hole, where John Z. +Holwell and one hundred and forty-six men were +incarcerated in a dungeon twelve feet square. One +can not escape being told the horrible story, if he +visits Calcutta, and I suppose that every one hears +the narrative with added adornment, after the +true Hindu style. The special point of the story +that was thrust at me was the orgy and heavy +sleep of the rajah, while his servitors were trying +to arouse him to answer the screams of the +dying men in the Hole. In the morning, after +the rajah had had his beauty sleep, he was told +of the little difficulty the English had in breathing +in the foul and heavy air of the dungeon, +and he ordered them released; but death, lingering, +and as heavy-handed and heavy-hearted as<span class="pagenum">[Pg 206]</span> +the brutal prince, had already released most of +them.</p> + +<p>One is glad to be told for the ten thousandth +time, after hearing this ghastly tale, of the clerk +Clive leaving his ledgers and pens and leading an +army to crush the wretches at Plassy. But, like +most things of the kind, the horrors of the Black +Hole have been exaggerated, until sympathy, +palled, refuses longer to be torn and bled over imaginary +as well as real terrors. There have been +many worse catastrophes, and of a nature that +should appeal more strongly to the heart. Men, +women, and children have gone down in flood and +pestilence, free from any stain of wrong, which can +not be said of the victims of the Black Hole. We +can not forget altogether that they were in India +not of right, but as conquerors, and that they were +originally, at least, in the wrong. But the sufferers +in the Johnstown flood, the thousands who +died in the Lisbon, Krakatoa, and Martinique disasters, +and other thousands that go down in ships +at sea—these innocent victims demand sympathy +much more.</p> + +<p>It seemed that most of my sight-seeing in Calcutta +was to be limited to horrible things. Indeed, +the visitor is often hurried from horror to +horror, as if he were in some "chamber of horrors" +in a museum. I was taken to the burning +ghaut, where dead bodies are cremated. I saw +some five hundred little fires, which were so many<span class="pagenum"><a id="page207" name="page207">[Pg 207]</a></span> +pyres for the dead. I had heard much of the +burning of live women in order that they should +accompany their dead masters, and out of sheer +curiosity asked the guard if there were men only +in the fires. For answer, he took a long hook, +thrust it into one of the fires, pulled it back and +on its prongs brought the charred leg of a man. +Immediately birds of prey (adjutants) pounced +down upon the smoking flesh and bore it away. +These birds are the scavengers of Calcutta, and +the special guardians of the ghaut. Cremation is +a great economy in India. It costs only half a cent +to burn a body.</p> + +<p>Another horror shall complete this gruesome +part of my story. Being very fond of shrimps, +one day I inquired, in a moment of forgetfulness—for +it is a safe rule not to ask the source of +anything in the East—where and how they got +these shrimps. I was taken to the fishing +grounds in the mouth of the river, and there saw +millions of these prawns flocking, like petty scavengers, +about the dead bodies that continually float +down the Ganges. Human flesh was their favorite +food. This was enough for me. I stopped +eating shrimps in India, as I had stopped eating +Canton ginger preserves in China.</p> + +<p>On the second day of my stay in Calcutta I received +cards to the reception given by Lord Dalhousie +to Lord Canning, the new Governor-General. +Lord Dalhousie, the retiring Governor-<span class="pagenum"><a id="page208" name="page208">[Pg 208]</a></span>General, +was dying. In fact he had been dying +for months. I shall not go into any description +of the exceedingly brilliant reception. It made +an ineffaceable impression upon me because of +the grouping on that occasion of some of the most +splendid of the British administrators and of some +of the most daring of their enemies, who were +even then plotting revolution and bloodshed. I +was introduced to both the passing and the coming +Governor-General and to General Havelock, afterwards +the gallant fighter at Lucknow. I had the +rare privilege of seeing these three men talking +amicably with the great Nana Sahib, the leader of +the Hindus at Cawnpore.</p> + +<p>The voyage from Calcutta to Suez was almost +devoid of incident. We put into Madras, a +barren, flat, and dismal place, to take on passengers, +and then sailed for Point de Galle, Ceylon. +At this place I saw, for the first time, elephants +employed in carrying and piling heavy timbers. +They go about their task with an intelligence that +is nearly human, lifting heavy teak timbers and +placing them in regular order in great piles. I +had not before supposed that any animals possessed +so much sense.</p> + +<p>Coming down to Aden, two thousand miles +from Galle, sleeping with the bulkhead open opposite +my berth, one night I felt something slap +me in the face. As I was all alone, I did not know +what to make of it. There was no light, and I could<span class="pagenum"><a id="page209" name="page209">[Pg 209]</a></span> +not see. As soon as I fell asleep another slap came. +I had heard about the insects of the tropics, but +had no idea they were of such size as to cause +these slaps. In the morning, I found out what +had been the matter. Nine flying-fish lay dead in +my berth.</p> + +<p>At Aden, the most barren and gloomy place I +have ever seen, we went out to the cantonments, +which must have been built thousands of years +ago. We hurried up the Red Sea to Suez, and +then crossed over by land from Suez, eighty-four +miles, to Cairo, with six hundred camels in the +caravan. We had coaches carrying six passengers. +I have a good idea of what the Sahara +Desert is from having seen this desert between +Suez and Cairo. Just before we reached Cairo, +there was a cry from one of the coaches for us to +look up at the sky. There were masts, minarets, +and the whole city, in fact, painted on the sky. It +was my first sight of the mirage I had heard so +much about. We were then half-way from Suez +to Cairo.</p> + +<p>I put up at Shepheard's Hotel, and immediately +arranged to go out to the pyramids, ten +miles from Cairo. Fifty donkey boys rivaled one +another to get my custom. My donkey started off, +and the first thing I knew he was rolling over me +in the sand. He had stepped in a gopher-hole, and +down he went. Travelers now go out in trolley-cars, +eat ice-cream and drink champagne under the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 210]</span> +shade of the pyramids, and a splendid hotel stands +alongside the Sphinx.</p> + +<p>In going up the pyramids it took three Arabs, +two to push and one to pull, to get me to the top. +When we got half-way up, an Arab wanted more +bakshish. I talked to him pretty loud in something +he didn't understand, and he consented to +take me farther. The top of the pyramid of +Ghizeh has been taken away, and the pyramid is +now about fifteen feet square at the summit. I +made up my mind, the moment I saw the pyramids, +that these gigantic blocks were not stone, +but had been produced by one of the lost arts in +preparing concrete. It occurred to me, as the +pyramids were hollow to the base, that they had +been storehouses for grain, and were not built as +tombs for the Rameses and Ptolemies. Humane +kings had built them, I thought, in order to employ +labor in time of dearth.</p> + +<p>As all travelers are told, it was said that a man +would go down one pyramid and come up on +another in so many minutes. I had seen such a +number of "fakes" in my travels that, as I could +not tell one Chinaman from another, how should I +be able to tell one Arab from another? When this +trick was done for me I thought it did not follow +that the man on the other pyramid was the man +who had been with me.</p> + +<p>I was surprised when I left Cairo to find a +modern railway, that had been built by Said<span class="pagenum"><a id="page211" name="page211">[Pg 211]</a></span> +Pasha. We took the train for Alexandria. At +Alexandria we took passage for the Holy Land. +The Rev. J. R. MacFarlane, chaplain of Madras, +wanted to see Jerusalem and landed at Joppa, or +Jaffa, which has become famous for Napoleon's +massacre.</p> + +<p>In going through the Valley of Sharon, we saw +orange and lemon groves, and fruits of all +kinds. It was a lovely valley, but all of a sudden +we struck into the most desolate country I had +ever seen—a mountain, a desert, a wilderness of +rocks, ravines and cañons. There were rocks to +the right, rocks to the left, and rocks everywhere. +My dragoman had a mule and I a donkey. One of +these mules had irreverently been named Christ +and the other Jesus. To the perfect horror of the +clergyman—until he understood that the men could +say nothing else in English—the names of the +donkeys were spoken with every crack of the whip +all the way to Jerusalem. The lashing of those +donkeys became a medley of seeming profanity.</p> + +<p>A few weeks before, several people had been +killed by the Bedouins on the desert. Every one +was talking about the dangers of the journey. +After we got over this wild district, through the +Valley of Jehoshaphat, we came upon a plateau and +saw Jerusalem in the distance. Beautiful is that +city for situation. Said my companions, at the +same instant, "There are the Bedouins!" A half +dozen horsemen were coming from the direction of<span class="pagenum">[Pg 212]</span> +Jerusalem. We feared danger, but Abram the +dragoman showed no fear. These men were +really not dangerous, being only "barkers" for +the hotels of Jerusalem. Neither my companion +nor myself had any idea that they were employes +of that kind.</p> + +<p>One asked if we would go to "Smith's" near +Mount Calvary, to "Jones's" near the Via della +Rosa, or to another house on the site of Solomon's +Temple. MacFarlane said, "Don't notice these +people. Leave it to the dragoman." He decided +that we should go to Smith's. From that time, +until we left, for three days, I saw nothing +but humbug and tinsel, lying and cheating, ugly +women, sand-fleas and dogs, from Joppa through +Ramlah. The one lovely place was an oasis where +we stopped for luncheon. Of course this was a +long time before Mark Twain went there and wept +over the tomb of Adam.</p> + +<p>In going through the Valley of Jehoshaphat, up +the Mount of Olives, of course I was impressed +with what survived of my Biblical education. New +England training was still strong in me. The +women of Bethlehem, carrying baskets on their +heads, with flowing robes of calico, were very +beautiful and healthy-looking; but when I got to +Bethlehem, and with my farm and cattle experience +looked for stalls and mangers, I was, of course, +disgusted at being taken down two flights and +shown an old wet cave as the place where the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 213]</span> +Saviour was said to have been born. I have kept +the morals of the old Methodists, I hope, but my +superstitious notions were disappearing every +minute I spent in Jerusalem.</p> + +<p>Being in the Holy Land, all the stories I had +heard in boyhood came back to me. I thought of +Moses's life. I had been taught to obey his commandments, +but as a child I saw that he had +broken in his own life those which say, thou shalt +not steal, thou shalt not commit adultery—had told +Aaron, his brother-in-law, to make a golden image, +and had got up a trust by means of which he might +get all the gold. "Thou shalt do no murder," says +the law—but he killed an Egyptian and hid him in +the sand. "Thou shalt not commit adultery "—but +he committed that sin.</p> + +<p>And so on to the end. These commandments +were taught by the man who had broken every one +of them himself. Aaron, who wished to be included +in the gold-corner into which Moses had +refused him admittance, sought to make money in +some other way, and said, "If we are going for +forty years into the wilderness, we shall want salt +provisions," and so bought up all the hogs he could +find, without letting Moses into the corner. Then +Moses spoiled the whole game by the law that no +Jews should eat pork! In the Holy Land these +things all came into my mind. You can imagine +how I felt sixteen years after, when arrested and +detained for six months in the Tombs for quoting<span class="pagenum">[Pg 214]</span> +three columns of the Bible (about which I shall +speak later).</p> + +<p>At night I wanted my clergyman companion +to gain an idea of night scenes in the East. To +make sure that we should not be disturbed, I went +to the chief of police for a guide to show us Jerusalem +by candle-light. We went into a dark alley, +back of Mount Calvary and the Via della Rosa, +when the man's movements became suspicious. I +could not see why a policeman should be so careful +where he went. My object had been to see the +demi-monde of Syria.</p> + +<p>When we got to the door, the policeman tried to +shut the door, but I put my foot in the way. I +asked MacFarlane if he was armed. He said he +had a Madras dagger. MacFarlane was already +in the room and I drew him out. "Those are +Bedouins," said I; "I could see their pistols and +swords." Intuition told me they were murderers. +Sixteen persons had been killed in Nablus in +'55-'56. The chief of police was the head of the +gang. I immediately saw our consul, and there +was a meeting of representatives of the foreign +powers, and the whole traffic was exposed. In +our case they found the men, and after we left +they were executed.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 215]</span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a id="page215" name="page215"></a>CHAPTER XVI</h2> + +<p class="title">IN THE CRIMEA<br /> +<br /> +1856</p> + + +<p>The voyage from Joppa to Constantinople was +a succession of surprises, from Latokea to Lanarca, +Cyprus, Rhodes, and Smyrna. At Beyrout +we were the guests of a pasha, the leading man of +the place. Henry Kennard, banker, of Heywood, +Kennard & Co., of London, who had joined us in +Jerusalem, went with us through Syria and was +going as far as the Crimea. MacFarlane was still +with our party. We had a day off in Beyrout, and +went up to Lebanon, inland, where the cedars seem +to antedate the olive-trees in the Garden of Gethsemane.</p> + +<p>When we got to Smyrna we entered a beautiful +bay, somewhat like that of Rio Janeiro, and I +went out on the fortified hill that overlooks the +city. I saw from the hill that troops were marching +on parade, and went off alone to see them. I +was told to let my donkey go his own way. He +brought me to a place where were about one hundred +stone steps, almost perpendicular. I had a<span class="pagenum"><a id="page216" name="page216">[Pg 216]</a></span> +little hesitation about going down these steps, but +he seemed to know what he was about, and I could +do nothing with him but hang on his back. I expected +him to tumble, and that would have been +the last of me. He didn't miss a step, however, but +took me safely to the bottom. I thought of General +Putnam's stone-step ride. If he had only had a +Turkish donkey he would have missed being a +hero.</p> + +<p>My donkey seemed to know more than I about +the streets of Smyrna, and I gave him the rein. +He took me past the sentinels to the parade +ground, as he appeared to know the password, and +across the parade, which was against regulations. +When we arrived at the center of the ground, he +began very peculiar operations, as if he had been +with Barnum. Here was a donkey that would +have made a fortune for a circus. The soldiers +were coming up in platoons, when the donkey began +to stand on his hind feet, and then on his fore +feet. The roar of the advancing regiment convinced +me that I was in a tight place. I got off +his back and walked alone on the opposite side, and +then escaped through a gate. I have never heard +of the obstinate animal since.</p> + +<p>From Smyrna to Constantinople we passed +among famous Greek islands—Rhodes, and Chios, +where twenty-two thousand Greeks were killed by +the Turks—but we had not time to stop at any of +them. At Constantinople I preferred to take pas<span class="pagenum"><a id="page217" name="page217">[Pg 217]</a></span>sage +in a transient steamer, instead of waiting +for the Government boat. I stopped here only +to see our minister, Carroll Spence, of Baltimore, +and then hurried on through the Marmoro +Strait and the Bosporus, and into the Black +Sea, and there found an immense fleet of transports, +from the port of Sebastopol. I was delighted +to see alongside of one another three of our +Boston clippers, built by Donald Mackay in East +Boston, that had brought French troops from +France: the Great Republic, Captain Limeburner, +the Monarch of the Seas, Captain Gardner, and the +Ocean Queen of clippers, Captain Zerega. Ships +filled the little bay, bows and sterns touching the +shore on one side and the other. Not one could +have got out in case of fire.</p> + +<p>We immediately got horses to go out to Balaklava, +and there I was glad to meet my old friend, +Captain Furber, of the Black Ball Line and the +Ocean Clipper, who gave me a state-room and all +the courtesies of his ship. He had come for the +French. Kennard went with the British. Horses +and attendants were furnished me by the French +generals free of cost.</p> + +<p>My object in going to the Crimea was to speculate +in munitions of war, which I supposed would +be sold for a mere bagatelle. But the armies took +their material away with them—English, Russian, +Turkish, French, Sardinian—so there was no +chance for business there. The British troops<span class="pagenum">[Pg 218]</span> +were in rags and tatters. Their new uniforms +had not arrived, and their shoes were worn out. +I went on board one of the clippers and spoke +about the shoes not having arrived. "What!" +exclaimed the captain; "I am loaded with shoes! +I have been here six months." "Have you notified +the commissary?" "Yes." What could I +do? All this was afterward described by "Bull +Run" Russell. He was then the correspondent of +the London Times, and so exposed the mismanagement +of the war that ships were sent with provisions, +uniforms, and everything, after the war +was over.</p> + +<p>Through the courtesy of French officers, I +visited the city of Sebastopol, a ten-mile journey +from Balaklava, and saw the twenty-one-gun +battery, the Redan, and the Malakoff, and, of +course, the ruin of the famous city. I could +see the masts of the ships at the entrance of the +bay, the fleet that had been sunk by the Russians +to block the channel. Here they had crossed in the +night to the Star Fort on the opposite side, which +was strongly fortified. It would have been almost +impossible for the allied armies to interfere with +the Russians. They had made up their minds to +fight it out to the end.</p> + +<p>The French zouave commander got up a banquet +for me with twenty of the officers of all the +armies—Turkish, French, English, Sardinian, and +Russian. I did something to stir up the battle<span class="pagenum"><a id="page219" name="page219">[Pg 219]</a></span> +spirit again, and several times almost got them +fighting over the table, especially when I asked +some question that brought a reply from the +zouave general of the Ninety-sixth regiment of +Algiers. He rose and said to the Englishmen +who had disputed his word: "You were asleep +at the Alma, you were late at Inkerman, late at +Balaklava, ran from the Redan and at Chernaya." +This of course roused the English officers, and +we had to pour oil on troubled waters.</p> + +<p>There were two princes among the Russians, +and of course they were delighted to see the +allies fighting among themselves. They helped me +in stirring up the quarrel. I made them admit +that Todleben's earthworks were a new feature +in war—baskets of earth used for forts on the inside +of Sebastopol, put up impromptu, and holding +these armies so long at bay. In the Redan it +was complete slaughter, two thousand persons being +killed. MacMahon in the Malakoff saw at +once that it was not a close fort, and said, "J'y +suis, j'y reste." Speaking of MacMahon, a very +singular thing has been suggested. Put together +a half dozen faces of French notables—MacMahon, +de Lesseps, Alexandre Dumas (<i>père et +fils</i>), Victor Hugo, President Faure, and add my +portrait, and you could hardly tell which was +which.</p> + +<p>Tennyson has given to the charge of the Light +Brigade at Balaklava the power of his name and<span class="pagenum">[Pg 220]</span> +genius, but that fight has been a terribly exaggerated +affair, so far as massacre was concerned. +Only one third was killed, with nearly one half +the horses. In our civil war, where a million +men were killed, at the cost of a billion dollars, +from the firing into Sumter to Appomattox, on +both sides, there were many charges where the +slaughter was proportionately greater than that. +Take Pickett's charge at Gettysburg, where a whole +division was mowed down—or Custer's command +(with Sitting Bull, in the Black Hills), all massacred, +with the exception of one man.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 221]</span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a id="page221" name="page221"></a>CHAPTER XVII</h2> + +<p class="title">HOME ONCE MORE AND THEN A RETURN TO EUROPE<br /> +<br /> +1856</p> + + +<p>From the Crimea I returned to England and +thence to America. Wilson, of the White Star +Line, wished to construct the largest clipper ever +built in England. It was to be called the George +Francis Train, as I had had in my consignment +or in my charge the fastest four clippers in the +world—Flying Cloud, eighty-six days from New +York to San Francisco; Sovereign of the Seas, +which stood in my name at the custom-house +(2,200 tons), which made three hundred and +seventy-four miles under sail in one day, a thing +never known before by a sailing ship; the Red +Jacket, built at Rockland, Maine; and the Lightning, +built by Donald Mackay at East Boston, +which sailed from Liverpool to Melbourne in +sixty-three days; but I declined the White Star +honors.</p> + +<p>The day after my arrival in New York, in July, +'56—I had been away since February, '53—the +Herald had sixteen columns, about three pages,<span class="pagenum"><a id="page222" name="page222">[Pg 222]</a></span> +from me in one issue, an amount of space I +think that no correspondent before or since has +had—either from India, China, or Japan. I had +arrived ahead of my own mail. The members of +the present staff of the Herald have no idea that +the man whom they have looked upon as a lunatic +was sufficiently sane to make a big sensation in +their paper in July, '56. The present James +Gordon Bennett was then only fifteen years old. +Frederick Hudson had entire charge of the paper +under the elder Bennett. Mr. Bennett, wishing to +put his son ahead, pensioned Mr. Hudson, who +went into the country to live, and, in crossing a +railway track, was killed. Mr. Bennett gave me a +very kind reception. He asked if I desired to go +to Congress. "No," I said. "Don't you want to +publish books?" "Yes, but I am going abroad +now, as I am not through with my business in Australia."</p> + +<p>Here, at twenty-seven years of age, I had traveled +over the world, and had had these great business +experiences. I had been called, as a sneering +term, "Young America." I kept the name, +and used it afterward in all my newspaper work. +But Freeman Hunt, of the Merchants' Magazine, +who edited my books, changed it to An American +Merchant in Europe, Asia, and Australia, +thinking the title Young America not dignified +enough. This book was a series of letters from +Java, Singapore, China, Bengal, Egypt, the Holy<span class="pagenum"><a id="page223" name="page223">[Pg 223]</a></span> +Land, the Crimea, England, Melbourne, Sydney, +etc. It was published in '57 in New York and +London.</p> + +<p>From New York I went to Boston, and escaped +my first opportunity of going to jail by giving +bail bond for $80,000. George B. Upton represented +my house in Boston and was in Europe. He +was traveling at the time, and his people instructed +him to have me arrested for any interest the Barings +might have, through open credits, in our firm. +Colonel Enoch Train and Donald Mackay signed +the bond. The claim was that I had made a +lot of money, and had not given to others what +was their due. I had never used the Barings' +credit out in Australia, and returned to them +$50,000. So far as Upton was concerned, I had +paid my partner, Captain Caldwell, $8,000 in cash, +when he went home in the Red Jacket only a few +months after his arrival in Melbourne. This was +my first false arrest and legal prosecution. From +this time for many years I kept getting into jail, +for no crime whatever.</p> + +<p>After looking over the accounts in the books for +'57, Upton came the next year to me in New York, +just as I was going abroad, and said, "We are in a +tight place in Boston." Imagine my astonishment +when he asked if I was willing that any little +account coming to me should be placed to my +credit, and used to help him out. Considering +that I had been arrested for $80,000, I thought<span class="pagenum"><a id="page224" name="page224">[Pg 224]</a></span> +this peculiar. He gave me a credit for £500 on the +Barings, however; it seems that $6,000 had been +sent to me by the house in Melbourne while I was +away. Inasmuch as I have never since inquired +how my account stood with Upton, I should like +to have his son look at the books, and see what may +be due me.</p> + +<p>In '56 I took my wife and baby Sue to Paris. I +had observed in Europe that the Germans were +more far-sighted than we in learning many languages. +The bright German boy in a country +town is taught French and English, and then +sent to Bremen or Hamburg to get the practical +education of merchants in great shipping houses. +Afterward, he is sent to England to find out other +modes of doing business. Then perhaps he establishes +a house in New York. I found that German +merchants, all over the world, were far ahead of +ours, because of their practical training and mastery +of languages. Seeing, in my travels around +the world, that the German was everywhere, I determined +to learn languages, and went to Paris for +that purpose.</p> + +<p>We took rooms at the Grand Hôtel de Louvre, +in the Rue de Rivoli, and I at once went to Galignani, +of "The Messenger," to find teachers. Under +a Catholic priest, I studied Italian and French +at the same time, which may account for my having +a little of the Italian accent in my French. +I have never known an Italian who was able to<span class="pagenum">[Pg 225]</span> +master the French accent. I also learned Portuguese +and Spanish. This gave me the four Latin +languages. I had, in '48, studied German under +Gasper Bütts, who came to America during the +Revolution of '48 with Carl Schurz. German +texts and pronunciation I had to practise every +day, but as I have never had a fancy for that language, +I have not kept it up. I sent my sons to +Frankfort-on-the-Main to learn German, and afterward +to Seelig's College in Vevey, Switzerland, +in '71, to learn Italian and French. My daughter +Sue was sent to Stuttgart, and she is thoroughly +acquainted with both German and French.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 226]</span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a id="page226" name="page226"></a>CHAPTER XVIII</h2> + +<p class="title">MEN I MET IN PARIS<br /> +<br /> +1856-1857</p> + + +<p>My life in Paris seems now like a romance to +my memory. I was twenty-seven, and thought I +had seen all the world, but discovered how little +I knew, compared with others whom I met. I +found, as in all these foreign cities, that notables +in society and in public life often did not know one +another. At Count Arthur De La More's, of the +Orleanist staff, I found the greatest hostility +toward the Emperor. One day we were sitting in +the entresol, at his rooms on the Rue de Rivoli, +opposite the Tuileries, and he asked me whether I +could see that man walking on the veranda of the +Tuileries. I said I could, to which he replied: +"Could one of your sharpshooters pick him off +from here?" I looked up with surprise, and +thought I saw the future assassin of the Emperor, +but said nothing. I told him some of our +men like Daniel Boone and David Crockett could +have picked off a squirrel as far as they could see +it. It was a little while after this that the Orsini<span class="pagenum"><a id="page227" name="page227">[Pg 227]</a></span> +bomb was fired at the Emperor. This was because +Napoleon, though a member of the Carbonari, +had "gone back on" the order; but his life +was spared.</p> + +<p>Prince Galitzen of Russia gave me a dinner +at the Café Philippe, where I met some of the +Russian nobility. These men were the cleverest +I have ever seen. All were good linguists, artists, +statesmen, soldiers, men of the world. At Prince +Czartoryski's I met leading Poles, who were still +revolutionists, plotting against Russia. One of +these, a man of about eighty, said to me: "In my +teens I went to St. Petersburg, saw Alexander +and told him the condition of Poland. I asked +him what he was going to do. He asked me what +I should recommend. 'There are two ways of +governing Poland,' I said; 'through interest or +through fear.' Fear was the policy adopted. When +I was forty, I again went to St. Petersburg. +Nicholas was Czar, and he repeated the same question. +I again answered, 'through interest or +through fear.' When I was sixty I met another +Emperor, and the same question was put to me, +and I made the same reply. Poland is partitioned," +he added; "and we are now only a +memory."</p> + +<p>At Leon Lillo's I met many Spaniards of the +nobility and the ruling family. I still think that +Lillo was the son of Queen Cristina, by her husband +the Duke of Rianzares, a common soldier, of<span class="pagenum"><a id="page228" name="page228">[Pg 228]</a></span> +physical beauty, whom she had taken from the +ranks and made a Duke. I used to meet him at +Lillo's. Cristina, who was then probably the +richest woman in the world, had bought Malmaison, +the palace of Josephine. It was through this +connection that I met Salamanca, the Spanish +Rothschild, her banker. I shall speak later of +how I got the funds to build the Atlantic and +Great Western Railway, connecting the Erie Railway +with the Ohio and Mississippi Railway.</p> + +<p>At the Marquis del Grillo's I met his wife, the +great Italian tragedienne, Ristori, whom I had seen +on the stage in "Elizabeth." I met leading men of +the Second Empire at the house of the Count de +Rouville, including Persigny, the Foreign Minister, +Count de Morny, the Minister of War, +Walewski, Prince "Plon-Plon," and Mocquard, private +secretary to the Emperor. At Triat's Gymnase +I met the men who afterward organized the, +Commune. At the house of Mrs. Winfield Scott, +who was then living in Paris, I met many Americans, +and at Castle's I saw "Bohemia."</p> + +<p>Meeting all these different persons, distinguished +in the great world of Paris, I was gaining +the knowledge that would make me a walking +library of political affairs in Europe. This made +up for the loss of a college career. Practical experience +and observation were my university.</p> + +<p>That year, '56-'57, was a very important time +in my life in many ways. I received an invitation<span class="pagenum">[Pg 229]</span> +to a ball at the Tuileries, engraved in the usual +style, on a card a foot square, and bearing the +enormous seal of the Second Empire. For the +first time in my life I appeared in borrowed +plumes. I hired what I call a "flunkey" suit, and +paid forty-five francs for it. In this I was presented. +It was not a civil nor a military suit, but +a sort of mongrel affair, that served me as a +court costume. Of course, my wife appeared in +proper evening dress. There were four thousand +persons present, the highest in the society of +Paris, military and civil—ambassadors in their regalia, +regimental officers in their different uniforms, +and the aristocracy in their robes. There +were also Algerian officers. Although the Tuileries +was very large, the four thousand guests +found themselves in much crowded rooms.</p> + +<p>During this reception and ball I suddenly felt +some cold substance going down my back. Putting +my hand to my neck, I found there a cupful of ice-cream +that an Algerian officer had dropped, with +the usual "Pardon, monsieur." I assured him +it was all right, but the ice-cream gave me a decidedly +boreal feeling.</p> + +<p>The ball was in the usual court style, and I +shall not undertake to describe it. After some +time had passed, all at once there was silence, instead +of the terrible hum. It was the presage of +something important, I felt sure. The wax candles +in the chandeliers burned brilliantly, and we were<span class="pagenum"><a id="page230" name="page230">[Pg 230]</a></span> +all on the <i>qui vive</i> to know what was coming. Looking +toward the great folding doors at the end of +the hall, a lady appeared. It was the age of crinoline, +and she must have had a circumference of +eight feet. She was the Emperor's favorite, the +Countess Castiglione. The sensation she made +was tremendous.</p> + +<p>I should mention that before this happened I +had been presented to the Empress. We were all +ranged in diplomatic order for presentation, and +when it came my turn she seemed particularly +courteous, saying in English to me: "You speak +French very fluently." To this I replied: +"When I am able to speak French, your Majesty, +as well as you speak English, I shall be willing to +trust myself in that language. In the meanwhile +let me ask you to talk as you prefer." All those +presented seemed surprised to see me talking with +the Empress, as it was, I believe, unusual for a +foreigner and a newcomer to be thus honored. She +was very gracious, and made me feel as much +at home as if I had been in my own family. +The introduction of the crinoline had been made by +the Empress before the birth of the Prince Imperial. +Anti-Imperialists had been busy gossiping +about the coming event, and intimated that it was +impossible the Emperor could become the father +of a child.</p> + +<p>After the Countess Castiglione appeared in +such dare-devil fashion, in the presence of the<span class="pagenum"><a id="page231" name="page231">[Pg 231]</a></span> +whole court, the Empress appeared in much different +mood. The next day she went to England, +and became the guest of the Queen for three +weeks.</p> + +<p>The Italian war was then going on, and I was +desirous of mastering the Italian language, in +order to carry out certain contracts I had made +with the Emperor. McHenry was my partner, +and I had written to him that the Emperor +wanted a half dozen steamers immediately. The +French needed the boats for the transport of provisions. +McHenry was in London, and in my letter +I told him there was no doubt that the war +would eventually be won by France and Italy. +This was just after the great battles of Magenta +and Solferino. He sent me back this despatch: +"La paix est signé." You can imagine my surprise. +It shows that the most careful of men +sometimes make mistakes.</p> + +<p>Mr. Seward, afterward Secretary of State, +was in Paris in '56-'57, and I showed him as much +of Paris as I dared. There were certain places +to which I did not feel authorized to take him, but +I managed to make him see a great deal of Paris +that would have been sealed to him had he undertaken +to go about this microcosmic city without +a guide.</p> + +<p>Mr. Seward astonished me very much one day +by a remark showing his detachment from the +great world of European thought and power. I<span class="pagenum"><a id="page232" name="page232">[Pg 232]</a></span> +said to him: "Mr. Seward, how would you like to +see M. Lamartine?" "Which Lamartine?" he +coolly asked, as if there could be more than one. +"Why, Alphonse de Lamartine," said I. "There +is only one Lamartine in France or in the world." +He asked if I knew him. I replied that Lamartine +gave receptions twice a week, and that I had attended +them during the winter. As there was a +reception that day, I asked Mr. Seward if he cared +to go. He very gladly accepted the invitation, and +we went together.</p> + +<p>Lamartine, it will be remembered, married an +English lady, a most charming, lovely woman; but +he had never learned to speak English. He was +like Hugo in this respect, and thought it was not +worth while to struggle through the intricacies +and difficulties of the spelling and pronunciation. +But Madame Lamartine spoke French very +fluently and accurately.</p> + +<p>I have observed as an invariable rule, from +one end of the world to the other, that if one person +addresses another in a language the second +person does not understand, the talker thinks he +can make himself understood by simply bawling +out his sentences like a town-crier. Mr. Seward +was no exception to this common frailty among +mankind. When he saw that Lamartine did not +understand his English, he placed his hand over +his mouth, and shouted into M. Lamartine's ear. +The great Frenchman smiled at each discharge,<span class="pagenum"><a id="page233" name="page233">[Pg 233]</a></span> +but could not reply. At last I said, "Mr. Seward, +M. Lamartine is not deaf, but he does not understand +English. If you will permit either +Madame Lamartine or myself to interpret for you, +there will be no difficulty." Mr. Seward continued +to shout for some time, but finally broke +down. Madame Lamartine and I then translated +his remarks to Lamartine. After this we got along +finely, and a most delightful conversation followed +between the two men.</p> + +<p>It had been my intention, when I came to Paris, +to go on to Australia; but as I passed through the +various countries of Europe I saw that the shadow +of panic and failure rested upon all. I had, indeed, +completed many arrangements for going +back to Melbourne, and I had got a letter of +credit from the representative in London of the +Bank of New South Wales for £20,000; but the +project fell through, because of the panics and +disasters of the year '57.</p> + +<p>In '58—I may mention at this place—I had a +few months' leisure on my hands, and decided to +give my wife and her stepmother, Mrs. George T. +M. Davis, a trip about Europe. We traveled +through France, Italy, Austria, and Germany. At +Leghorn we went to witness a spectacular exhibition +of the storming of Sebastopol. It was a magnificent +spectacle, realistic in the extreme. No one +was astonished, when, at the very point where the +city was taken and the fort blown up, a terrific<span class="pagenum"><a id="page234" name="page234">[Pg 234]</a></span> +burst of light appeared. Instantly thereafter we +discovered that the explosion had been too real. +The theater was ablaze. Of course there was a +wild rush for the doors. Panic followed, and +while we were crushed and trampled in the press, +we got off finally with only severe bruises. The +official report next morning gave the casualties as +forty killed and one hundred injured; but the Government +suppressed the facts. The dead and injured +far outnumbered these figures.</p> + +<p>We had an experience in Naples which illustrated +the every-day use of words by the English +that to us are offensive. We were aboard one of +the dirty little steamboats that were found in that +part of the Mediterranean, and, as the weather +was somewhat rough, the bilge water had been +shaken about in the night, and a terrible odor pervaded +every nook of the vessel. An English +nobleman was aboard, and in the morning, wishing +to say something agreeable to my wife's stepmother, +he said: "Madam, didn't you observe a +dreadful stink in your state-room last night?" +The blood of all the Pomeroys was fired by this +supposed indelicacy. "Sir!" Mrs. Davis retorted, +stepping back with great hauteur. I immediately +advanced and said, "My dear madam, the gentleman +meant no harm. The English prefer that +'nasty' word to something more refined and less +shocking. He meant no insult." The Englishman +explained; but the lady was not appeased.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page235" name="page235">[Pg 235]</a></span></p> + +<p>At Rome I was astonished to find a delegation +awaiting me. I could not make out what it meant, +when I was hailed as a "liberator." There were +many "liberators" in the Italy of those days; and +I supposed they mistook me for Mazzini, or Garibaldi, +or Orsini, or some other leader of the people. +"Whom do you think I am?" I asked. +"Citizen George Francis Train," they said. This +was too much for my credulity. What was worse +still, they asked me to go with them. I did not +know just where they expected me to go, or what +they would expect me to do when I got there. +Things were pretty black in Italy just then, and I +did not desire to be mixed up in "revolutions," or +liberty movements, or conspiracies. However, +they assured me that it would be all right, and I +consented to go. I went through a dark alley, to +their meeting place, and was told more things +about the revolution than I cared to know or to +remember. It was not a healthful kind of knowledge +to carry about Italy with one.</p> + +<p>But the curious thing about the affair was that +here, as everywhere, these people regarded me as +a leader of revolts—Carbonari, La Commune, +Chartists, Fenians, Internationals—as if I were +ready for every species of deviltry. For fifteen +years five or six governments kept their spies +shadowing me in Europe and America.</p> + +<p>From Italy we passed into Austria. At +Vienna we had the opportunity, through the cour<span class="pagenum">[Pg 236]</span>tesy +of some friends near the court, of witnessing +a splendid celebration by the Order of Maria +Teresa, which was the most gorgeous and most +beautiful spectacle I think I have ever seen. We +soon returned to London, and then came to +America, where I was to resume work on projects +and enterprises here.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 237]</span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a id="page237" name="page237"></a>CHAPTER XIX</h2> + +<p class="title">BUILDING THE ATLANTIC AND GREAT WESTERN +RAILWAY<br /> +<br /> +1857-1858</p> + + +<p>The great project of a connecting railway between +the Eastern and the Middle Western States +had been in my mind for some years. Queen +Maria Cristina's fortune, which was then the +greatest possessed by any woman in the world, +seemed to me to offer a solution of the problem. +I had no idea, of course, of attempting to use her +fortune in any schemes of my own and for my +own interest, but I saw at once that I could utilize +her idle wealth to the tremendous advantage of +the United States and, at the same time, render a +service to her.</p> + +<p>The Queen had had a large quantity of funds +in the old United States Bank that President Jackson +smashed, and James McHenry, who was connected +with me in many enterprises, learned that +she had taken as securities some coal lands in +Pennsylvania. I saw the Duke of Rianzares, the +guardsman Fernando Muñoz, whom Maria Cris<span class="pagenum"><a id="page238" name="page238">[Pg 238]</a></span>tina +had fallen in love with and made a grandee +of her kingdom, and finally married in '44. He had +his headquarters at Lillo's in the Square Clary, +and he introduced me to the Queen's secretary, +Salerno. I suggested to the Spaniards the advisability +of hunting up these coal lands of the +Queen. McHenry had already made arrangements +for me to go to America with her assistant +secretary, Don Rodrigo de Questa, who did not +know a word of English. The preliminaries were +arranged, and we set out for Liverpool and +America.</p> + +<p>One of the first of many difficulties into which +poor de Questa fell because of his ignorance of +English occurred the first day out from Liverpool. +The Spaniard, with a fatuous assumption common +to Europeans, thought that whenever he failed to +find the exact word he wanted in another tongue +than his own, all that was necessary was to use +French. The Spaniard asked the steward to get +him some fish for breakfast. He knew the Spanish +word would not answer, and could not think of +the English word, though he had tried to master +it for some time. He then fell back upon the +French, and asked for "poisson." Of course, the +steward thought he wanted poison, and reported +the matter to headquarters, thinking suicide was +contemplated.</p> + +<p>De Questa would have had serious trouble but +for the thoughtfulness of the steward, who remem<span class="pagenum"><a id="page239" name="page239">[Pg 239]</a></span>bered +that I was traveling with him and came to +me for advice. "When did he ask for poison?" +I inquired. "At breakfast-time," said the steward. +"Oh, then, he merely wants fish," and I explained +as well as I could to an English steward +the meaning of the French word.</p> + +<p>The English of the ignorant classes look upon +French very much as a clergyman does upon profanity, +or as a missionary regards the muttered +charms and incantations of a "voodoo" priestess. +De Questa finally got his fish, but he had long before +lost his appetite. This adventure discouraged +him so much that he refused thenceforth to +try to convey in English, Castilian, or French, +any of his desires concerning food, but resorted +to the primitive sign language. When he wanted +eggs, he would flap his arms together and cackle +like a hen that has just laid an egg. The steward +who, perhaps, had never seen two square inches of +countryside in his life, thought he was imitating a +rooster and laughed until he almost had a fit. De +Questa nearly starved. He had, at last, to eat +whatever he could find, without trying to seek +what he wanted. I explained to him that roosters +did not lay eggs!</p> + +<p>Our destination was Philadelphia. It was +there that the Spaniards who were living upon +Queen Maria Cristina's property had their headquarters. +I found two of them, Christopher and +John Fallon, living in fine houses, with something<span class="pagenum"><a id="page240" name="page240">[Pg 240]</a></span> +of a court about them. They had control of about +forty thousand acres of coal lands belonging to +the Queen. This large tract was situated at a +place to which the Fallons had given their name, +Fallonville. I at once consulted several of the +best lawyers of Philadelphia, among them William +B. Reed, later Minister to China, and was advised +to go immediately to the lands and see what +had been done with them. I made an appointment +with John Fallon, and we went out to the +mines. I can not now recall exactly where they +were, but I remember that we passed through a +wilderness, after leaving the train that took us +from Philadelphia, and that we had a very long +drive in carriages. A railway track had been +built through the forest to the mines, and it seemed +to me about fifteen miles long. I appeared to John +Fallon as a foreigner who was interested in mines +and in coal lands in particular, but not, of course, +as representing the Queen.</p> + +<p>As soon as I returned to Philadelphia and reported +what I had learned, my lawyers advised me +to go back to Paris and report to the Queen. De +Questa and I, therefore, returned as soon as possible. +McHenry met me in London, and we went +on to Paris together. We had a conference with +Lillo and with Don José de Salamanca, the Queen's +banker, and it was decided that the Queen should +take active possession of her immense property +at once. I saw that there was a great deal of<span class="pagenum">[Pg 241]</span> +money in the land, and that there was a fine opportunity +for the Atlantic and Great Western +Railway, if I could in some way get the use of a +portion of this vast coal domain.</p> + +<p>I saw also that my connection with the affair +had already given me a lever with which +I could work to some purpose upon Don José +de Salamanca, and that this was the best card to +play.</p> + +<p>As soon as possible I went to his banking +office and asked for a conference. I had learned +enough, in my dealings with bankers and financiers, +to know that you must approach them on +the right side, from the side of money, and not +from that of a mere wish. Accordingly I wrote +on my card that I wished to propose a loan of +$1,000,000. I really came as a borrower, but circumstances +permitted me to play the rôle of the +lender. I was admitted at once, but if I had asked +outright for a loan I should have been shown the +door. As soon as I was in his presence I said, +without preface: "I have no cash in my pockets, +nor would you wish it if I had; but I want to show +you something."</p> + +<p>"I understood that you wanted to lend me a +million," said the Spaniard. "I do not see the +million."</p> + +<p>"You will, when I explain," I said. "I want +to use your credit." (I knew that he had none +in London and that he could do nothing there.)<span class="pagenum">[Pg 242]</span> +"I propose to deposit with you $2,000,000 of the +bonds of the Atlantic and Great Western Railway +for $1,000,000 of your notes."</p> + +<p>I knew that the bait of a credit in London +would affect him, as the Spanish bankers had long +tried in vain to establish their credit in the financial +metropolis of the world.</p> + +<p>"Where is this property?" he asked.</p> + +<p>I drew a diagram of the property for him, explaining +its location and its relation to other properties +and enterprises. I told him of the Erie +Railway, ending at Olean, and the Ohio and Mississippi +Railway from Cincinnati to St. Louis. +"There is no connection between these two great +highways," I said, "and a highway that will connect +them will prove a fortune-maker to every one +associated with the project." I explained that +there were only four hundred miles between the +two, and how I purposed filling in this gap. Between +the two ends of the completed railways lay +three wealthy States. This road has since been +reorganized under the name of the New York, +Pennsylvania and Ohio, or as it is colloquially +called, the "Nyp. and O." Near Olean now exists +a town that has the name of my Spanish friend, +Salamanca.</p> + +<p>My arguments touched Salamanca, but did not +capture him. They paved the way, however, for +his complete capitulation a little later. My next +step was to go to London and confer with the Ken<span class="pagenum"><a id="page243" name="page243">[Pg 243]</a></span>nards, +famous bankers of that city. We arranged +that a nephew of the Kennards, a son of Robert +William Kennard, then a member of Parliament, +and an engineer of note, should accompany me +to America and go over the entire ground of the +proposed route.</p> + +<p>We came to New York in October, '57, and +shortly after we arrived had a conference at the +St. Nicholas Hotel, in Broadway, with the men +who were most interested in the proposed road. +Maps were exhibited, and the plans fully explained. +We then left for Olean, where we were +met by the contractor in charge of the road, whose +name was Doolittle, by Morton the local engineer, +and by General C. L. Ward, the president of the +road. The whole party took wagons for Jamestown, +forty miles away. At this point we were +met by a committee appointed to take care of us +and to show us what had been done, and what +could be done. This was the program throughout, +as we passed on from point to point. Among +the men who met us at Jamestown was Reuben E. +Fenton, who had just been elected Representative +in Congress from that district, and was afterward +Governor and United States Senator. The line +of the road was followed as far as Dayton, Ohio, +where it was proposed to connect with the Cleveland +and Cincinnati Railway.</p> + +<p>At Mansfield there was a great gathering in +honor of the occasion. The committees of the<span class="pagenum"><a id="page244" name="page244">[Pg 244]</a></span> +three States—New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, +were present, and there was speech-making. I +made a speech, which is printed in full in +"Spread-Eagleism," published in '58. Judge +Bartley, afterward famous on the Federal bench, +was chairman of the meeting. I asked if there +were not some one present from Ohio who could +give us a clear statement as to what we could expect. +Judge Bartley called on "Mr. Sherman." A +tall, spare man arose. It was John Sherman. He +made a speech that was clear, direct, and forcible. +Among the other speakers were Robert E. +Schenck, of "Emma Mine" fame, who had been +elected to Congress recently, and Senator Benjamin +F. Wade.</p> + +<p>Just before the close of the meeting I introduced +Thomas Kennard, the civil engineer, and +told the crowd that the road was to be built, and +that it would be aided by the money of Queen +Maria Cristina of Spain and the great Spanish +banker, Salamanca.</p> + +<p>I made a report in London of the work accomplished +in America, and at once began to purchase +material for the road. I sought out Mr. Crawshay +Bailey, then a member of Parliament, and a +great Welsh iron-master, and he invited me to +dine with him and his wife. He had just married +a charming young lady. At dinner, I found that +Mrs. Bailey spoke French very fluently and that +Mr. Bailey did not understand a word of it. So I<span class="pagenum"><a id="page245" name="page245">[Pg 245]</a></span> +asked permission of the iron-worker to carry on a +conversation in French with Mrs. Bailey. This +delighted him very much, for he liked to see that +his wife was mistress of a language of which +he did not know a single word. This subtle flattery +of his judgment and taste so pleased him +that I was able to close a bargain with him for +25,000 tons of iron at $40 the ton—$1,000,000—pledging +for the debt bonds of the Atlantic and +Great Western Railway, at two to one. This +was the first great purchase made after the panic +of '57.</p> + +<p>My second purchase was made from the Ebwvale +Company, of Wales. Through Manager Robinson +I negotiated for 30,000 tons of iron at $40 +the ton—$1,200,000—pledging bonds of the road +at two to one, as with Bailey.</p> + +<p>I have already spoken of Salamanca, the Spanish +Rothschild, and how I had tried to obtain his +notes for $1,000,000. I finally succeeded in getting +this loan, pledging $2,000,000 bonds of the +road as security. At this time, no Spanish securities +had been negotiated in Lombard Street for +years. It was highly necessary for me that these +notes of Salamanca should be negotiated. I went +to Mathew Marshall, Jr., of the Bank of London. +He was the son of the old Mathew Marshall who +had signed the notes of the Bank of England for +fifty years. I asked him what $50,000 of the notes +of Salamanca would be accepted at by the bank.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page246" name="page246">[Pg 246]</a></span> +He replied that they would not be accepted at all. +"No Spanish paper can be used in London," he +said.</p> + +<p>I then had recourse to a scheme that I had previously +worked out with some degree of elaboration. +I asked Marshall if he would not oblige me +by telling me, as a friend, what sixty-day bills of the +kind I held would be worth if they could be used. +He said they should be handled at six per centum. +I telegraphed immediately to McHenry, in Liverpool, +as follows: "Marshall will not touch this +paper under six per cent. Will Moseley" (the big +financier there) "do it for five?" McHenry answered +that Moseley would not handle it for less +than Marshall's rate, but would take $50,000 at six +per centum.</p> + +<p>Upon the strength of this, four hundred miles +of railway were built, through three great States, +opening up a vast territory, and bringing in fortunes +to a large number of men. My arrangement +with McHenry was that I was to receive +£100,000 as commission. No papers were signed, +but I asked McHenry to give me a paper settling +$100,000 on my wife, Willie Davis Train, which +was done. After the road was built, Sir Morton +Peto came over from England with some London +bankers, on McHenry's invitation. McHenry believed +in playing the part of a prince when it came +to giving an entertainment, and he invited the +visitors to a banquet at Delmonico's, then at Four<span class="pagenum">[Pg 247]</span>teenth +Street and Fifth Avenue. It cost him +$15,000.</p> + +<p>As I had not yet secured my commission, I +thought this was a good time to collect it, and instructed +my lawyer, Clark Bell, now of No. 39 +Broadway, to present and press my claim. McHenry +was so afraid he would be arrested while +these moneyed men were with him that he settled +at once, giving me his notes at four months for the +balance due. Gold was very high at this time, being +$1.90, and as the notes were on London, I +found they could be negotiated through McHenry's +agents, McAudrey & Wann. It happened that +these agents had lost some $7,000 on information +that I had given to them about the result of the +battle of Gettysburg; so I agreed to reimburse +them for the loss, if they would cash the notes at +once, which they did.</p> + +<p>This was in '66, and a singular thing happened. +When the notes fell due in London on the 6th +May, that comparatively small amount of gold precipitated +something of a panic in the unsteady +market of the day. Everything went with a crash. +Moseley, the banker of Liverpool, failed for a +large sum; Lemuel Goddard, of London, followed +with a loss of as much more; Lunnon & Company +failed for a greater amount; McHenry for some +millions; Sir Morton Peto for other millions; and +Overend, Gurney & Company for another large +amount. This showed to me the real shallow<span class="pagenum">[Pg 248]</span>ness +and insubstantiality of the great world of +finance. It is built upon straw and paper. The +secret of its great masters and "Napoleons" is +nothing but what is known among other gamblers +as "bluff."<span class="pagenum">[Pg 249]</span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a id="page249" name="page249"></a>CHAPTER XX</h2> + +<p class="title">A VISIT TO RUSSIA<br /> +<br /> +1857</p> + + +<p>The year '57 was a memorable period in my +life in many ways. The great panic of the time +swept away my ambitious projects as if they had +been so many dreams and visions. My contracts +in Italy were destroyed by the peace of Villa +Franca, and my Australian plans were defeated +by the panic. I was therefore ready to take up anything +that looked promising; but, as I had nothing +immediately on hand, I took advantage of the +enforced leisure to see more of England and the +continent of Europe.</p> + +<p>I was in Liverpool at the time the Niagara +arrived there for the purpose of laying the Atlantic +cable, and suggested giving a banquet to +Captain Hudson and Commander Pennock, who +was my cousin, and to the other officers, at Lynn's +Waterloo Hotel. This old landmark, the resort of +American ship-captains for many years, was torn +down long ago. At this time a letter came to Captain +Hudson from the Grand Duke Constantine, of<span class="pagenum"><a id="page250" name="page250">[Pg 250]</a></span> +Russia, who had arrived at Dover in his yacht, the +Livadia, thanking him for granting permission for +three Russian officers to witness the laying of the +cable.</p> + +<p>In this little incident I saw an opportunity for +visiting Russia in a semi-official capacity, enabling +me to see that country to much better advantage. +I said to Captain Hudson that I should like to +carry his answer to the Grand Duke. He replied +that no answer was required, and that, besides, +the Grand Duke had returned to St. Petersburg. +I assured him that strict courtesy demanded an +acknowledgment of the letter, and that it would +make no difference to me about the Grand Duke +being in St. Petersburg, as I expected to visit that +city. So I persuaded him to let me take an +answer to the Russian Prince. I suggested the +phrasing of the letter. The Grand Duke was informed +that I was visiting Russia for the purpose +of seeing the Nijnii Novgorod fair, and that the +United States was always glad to do anything that +helped to repay Russia for her long friendship.</p> + +<p>I immediately started for London, where I +called on the American Minister, George M. Dallas. +Mr. Dallas was very courteous, but he evidently +wanted to have the opportunity of handing +the letter to the Grand Duke himself. He offered +to see that the communication was expeditiously +and properly transmitted. "But," I said, "I desire +to take it in person." I next called on John<span class="pagenum"><a id="page251" name="page251">[Pg 251]</a></span> +Delane, who was long the editor of the London +Times, and he asked me to write him some letters +from Russia. Then I left London for The Hague.</p> + +<p>I met at The Hague Admiral Ariens, to whom I +had been introduced by Captain Fabius of the +Dutch man-of-war, some years before, at Singapore. +From Holland I went through Germany, +visiting Stettin, where I saw the beginnings of +those great ship-yards that are now sending out +the greatest and fastest vessels on the seas. I +took a steamer from Stettin for St. Petersburg.</p> + +<p>At the Russian capital I called at once on our +minister, Governor Seymour, of Connecticut. Mr. +Seymour made the same suggestion that Mr. +Dallas had made. He wished to transmit the letter +to the Grand Duke. But I was not to be deprived +of the final triumph of my schemes. I +told the Minister that I had come all the way from +Liverpool, and that it was my purpose to hand the +letter to the Grand Duke, if I had to travel all over +the Russian empire to do it. I was informed that +it was not the season for seeing this high official, +as he had left the city and was at his country residence, +at Strelna.</p> + +<p>My answer to this was, in true Yankee fashion, +"Where is Strelna?" I was told that it was +just below Peterhof. Then I was advised not to +try to see the Grand Duke on that day, as it was +Saturday. I resolved to go at once to Strelna, +without regard to official days, as I had long since<span class="pagenum">[Pg 252]</span> +discovered that the only way to do a thing of this +sort was to do it straightway. I got a fast team, +and was taken out to the Grand Duke's palace.</p> + +<p>I found the residence situated in the midst of +an immense forest park, and sentinels guarded +every avenue of approach. These stopped me at +every turn, but at every challenge I showed the +letter to the Grand Duke and told my errand. I +was passed on and on, until I was inside the palace +itself. Here I was met by a gentleman in the long +frock coat the Russians affect, with his breast covered +with military orders. He offered, as soon +as I told him my errand, to take the letter to the +Grand Duke; but I merely said that it was my +purpose to hand it to him in person. I now began +to fear that it would require some little time to get +into the presence of this high dignitary. I expected +to be put off for several days, and then to +end up against a secretary or an aide-de-camp, +who would finally have me meet some one very +near the Grand Duke, but not the Grand Duke +himself.</p> + +<p>I was at last shown by this military-looking +gentleman into a reception room of the most spacious +proportions. I sat down and prepared to +wait for a secretary or aide-de-camp, when, suddenly, +the door flew open, and, with a rapid step, +a handsome, delicate-looking gentleman advanced +toward me. I rose, and again went through the +tiresome explanation that I had a letter for the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 253]</span> +Grand Duke, which I should like to hand to him in +person, and so on, and so on. I expected to receive +the reply that this gentleman would be +greatly pleased to relieve me of the trouble, and +was prepared to answer rather severely that I +wished to hand the letter to his Grace myself. +He said, with a gracious smile, which played like +a dim light over his pale features, that he would +see that the Grand Duke received the letter. +"But," I said, "I must hand it to him myself." +"Is it necessary?" he asked, with his faint smile. +"It is," I replied as firmly as I could.</p> + +<p>He stepped back a little, and said, with a bow, +"I am the Grand Duke." I almost sank into the +chair with surprise. As soon as I recovered my +composure, I handed him the letter, which I now +felt to be a very small affair for so much ceremony +and trouble.</p> + +<p>While I was waiting for the Grand Duke to +read the letter, two great dogs came into the room, +from different directions, and immediately began +fighting. The Grand Duke said something in +Russian, which showed that he at least knew how +to speak commandingly. The great beasts, with +drooping tails, slunk from his presence like +whipped children.</p> + +<p>The Grand Duke Constantine was a younger +brother of the Czar, and was a man of many accomplishments. +He spoke with ease and grace +seven languages, and his English was quite<span class="pagenum"><a id="page254" name="page254">[Pg 254]</a></span> +as grammatical and exact as my own. The Grand +Duke, as soon as he had read the letter, called in +his aide-de-camp, Colonel Greig, and said that the +colonel would see to it that all my needs were attended +to immediately, and expressed the wish +that he might see me on my return from Nijnii. +"I should like to know what you, as an American, +think of Russia."</p> + +<p>Colonel Greig took me to the residence of his +mother, the widow of Admiral Greig of the Russian +navy, who lived just opposite Kronstadt. +We were driven over in a troika, or droshky, with +one horse trotting in the middle and one on +each side, in full gallop. It was the most delightfully +exhilarating drive I had ever taken, and +I still think that the troika is the most attractive +of all vehicles. At the Greigs' I was treated with +the utmost consideration, and was a guest at a +banquet the first night I was there. When I came +to prepare for this function, I remembered that I +had no change of clothes with me, as I had come +out from St. Petersburg in a great hurry.</p> + +<p>In this dilemma, I turned to Colonel Greig and +explained that it was not possible for me to attend +the banquet as I had no dress clothes with me. He +looked me over, and replied: "I think we are +about the same size. Suppose you try one of my +suits?" I accepted the offer at once, and found +that his suit fitted me as well as my own. The +banquet was a great affair, with a vast concourse<span class="pagenum"><a id="page255" name="page255">[Pg 255]</a></span> +of "skis," "offs," "neffs," and so on—little tag-ends +of words by which one may tell a Russian +name, even if it were possible not to tell it from +its general appearance and sound without them.</p> + +<p>After a few days at the Greigs', I left for Moscow, +where I was received by Prince Dombriski, +brother-in-law of the Emperor. The old city of +Moscow impressed me more than any other city +of Europe. It seemed to belong to quite another +world and to a different civilization. There is +something primitive and prehistoric about it—elemental +in its somberness and in its grandeur. +I was astonished to find in the Kremlin a portrait +of Napoleon at the battle of Borodino.</p> + +<p>In going from the capital to Moscow over the +straight line of railway, I heard much of the way +that the Czar Nicholas had built the road. It is +said that he summoned to him his chief contractor +and engineer, Carmichael, and asked him to make +specifications for the line as arranged for between +the two cities. The Czar confidently expected +that he was being deceived about all matters of +this kind, and was prepared for fraud in this enterprise. +Carmichael drew up elaborate specifications, +which Nicholas saw at once were entirely +too elaborate, and gave abundant room for "pickings." +He turned to Carmichael and asked if the +specifications were all right. Carmichael assured +him they were. "All right, then," said Nicholas, +"I shall turn them over, just as they are, to Major<span class="pagenum"><a id="page256" name="page256">[Pg 256]</a></span> +Whistler." The Major was the uncle of the +famous artist of to-day. Whistler built the road +on Carmichael's specifications, and made a fortune, +which has been the foundation of a half +dozen family estates—the Winans, Harrison, +Whistler estates, et al.</p> + +<p>I observed a peculiar effect of the direct +method of the Czar in building a straight road to +Moscow. All the big cities and even the prosperous +and important towns had, without exception, +been left at varying distances from the line of +railway. At the little stations on the route the +Russians would get off and get hot water in samovars +and make tea, each of them carrying a supply +of tea in bricks, with square loaf sugar in their +pockets.</p> + +<p>Nijnii Novgorod I found a wonderful city. +There, on the "Mother" Volga, as the Russians +call it, I saw the origin of all the world's fairs and +expositions, in this great fair, at which the nations +of a world unknown to Europe and America +assemble for traffic and barter. More than +100,000,000 rubles, or, roughly, $50,000,000, +change hands in six weeks. There the traveler, +who is too indolent or too poor to see the remote +tribes of the earth, may have all these strange and +outlandish races come to him, on the banks of the +Volga. It was a marvelous experience to me, and +I considered it as well worth a trip around the +world to see Nijnii Novgorod alone.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page257" name="page257">[Pg 257]</a></span></p> + +<p>Some time afterward, when I was in England, +I received a letter from Baron Bruno, the Russian +Ambassador, enclosing a letter from Colonel +Greig, the aide-de-camp of the Grand Duke Constantine. +He said that the Grand Duke had +read my book, Young America Abroad, with interest. +The Grand Duke, he said, was greatly +pleased with my descriptions of Russia, with my +exposure of the Crimean fiasco, and with my predictions +as to the future development and greatness +of the country. He added that the Russian Government +would like to have me visit the region of +the Amur, Petropauloffski and Vladivostok, and +to make a report of the prospects of far-eastern +Siberia.</p> + +<p>The Government proposed to make all the +arrangements for me, so that I could travel in +luxury and leisure; but I could not then undertake +so extended an enterprise, besides I have ever +preferred to follow my own ideas rather than those +of others. I desired to pursue original lines of investigation, +to go over new routes of travel and of +trade, to explore corners of the world that had not +been worn into paths by the myriad feet of travelers. +I have always felt hampered in trying to +carry out the suggestions of others. I have found +that there is but one course for me, if I am to succeed, +and that is to follow my own counsel. I +must be myself, untrammeled, unfettered, or I +fail. If I had gone to Eastern Siberia for the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 258]</span> +Russian Government, I might have succeeded in +the way the Government expected; but the chances, +I consider, would have been against me. If I had +gone there at my own motion, I might have +created a sensation by exploiting that vast and +magnificent region, which must soon play a tremendously +important part in the history of the +world.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 259]</span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a id="page259" name="page259"></a>CHAPTER XXI</h2> + +<p class="title">BUILDING THE FIRST STREET-RAILWAYS IN +ENGLAND<br /> +<br /> +1858</p> + + +<p>In '58, when I visited Philadelphia on business +of Queen Maria Cristina, of Spain, I observed the +network of street-railways in that city, which +then, perhaps, had the most perfect system of surface +transportation in the world. I was struck with +the idea of the great convenience these railways +must be to business men and to all workers, and +wondered why London, with so many more persons, +had never had recourse to the street-railway. At +that time there was not an inch of "tramway," or +street-railway, in Great Britain, or anywhere outside +of New York and Philadelphia. I stored the +idea up in my mind, intending to utilize it some +day, when I returned to England.</p> + + + +<p>Before undertaking the work of constructing +street-railways in England, I was called upon to +do a little financiering for my father-in-law, Colonel +George T. M. Davis. Colonel Davis came to me +in London and wished me to assist in organizing<span class="pagenum"><a id="page260" name="page260">[Pg 260]</a></span> +the Adirondack Railway in upper New York. He +had been introduced to Hamilton and Waddell, who +had a grant from the New York legislature of +600,000 acres in the Adirondacks; but nothing +could be done at that time. Later, in '64, I organized +the Adirondack road, and met General Rosecrans +and Cheney, of Little Falls, at the Astor +House, for the purpose of building the railway. I +subscribed $20,000 for myself and $20,000 for my +wife, and got a large sum from my friends. A +large party of us went in carriages from the United +States Hotel, Saratoga, through the country along +the proposed route to Lucerne. George Augustus +Sala, who was visiting this country at the time, was +with us, also Dr. T. C. Durant, president of the +Crédit Mobilier, and J. S. T. Stranahan, of Brooklyn. +This was the beginning of the Adirondack road, +of which Colonel Davis was the president when he +died in '88. My plan was to build the road through +the entire forest to Ogdensburg, but it was never +carried out. This was four decades before the +millionaire colonists began flocking in there, the +Huntingtons, Astors, Webbs, Rockefellers, Woodruffs, +Durants, et al.</p> + +<p>My first efforts in introducing street-railways +in England were made in Liverpool. I chose this +city because I had been long associated with it and +because, as it was the leading seaport of the world, +I had a false idea that it was progressive. But I +was soon set right as to this estimate of Liverpool.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page261" name="page261">[Pg 261]</a></span> +I recalled, in the hour of discouragement, the great +difficulty I had had years before, in '50, in getting +the municipal government to permit us to +have lights and fire on the docks at night, in order +to facilitate the handling of the very traffic that +was the basis of the city's prosperity. Now, +when I proposed the laying of a street-railway, I +found the leading men of the city just as narrow +and just as hopelessly behind the times as they +had been in the matter of improving shipping +facilities. They would not consider the proposition +at all.</p> + +<p>But this did not stop my efforts nor dampen my +ardor. I felt that the plan would succeed somewhere +in England, and I began to look about to +see where the best chances of success might be +found. All through the year '58 and into '59 I +was at work upon my original plan. I had made +every possible arrangement for the immediate +construction of a railway, if I could only get some +municipality to grant the necessary permission.</p> + +<p>Finally, it occurred to me that the man I +wanted was John Laird, the progressive and +energetic ship-builder, the man who afterward +built the Alabama and other Confederate craft, +and who was at the time chairman of the Commissioners +of Birkenhead, just across the Mersey +opposite Liverpool. Surely, thought I, here is a +man with enterprise enough to appreciate this +thing, which means so much for the working peo<span class="pagenum">[Pg 262]</span>ple +and all business men. So I went to Mr. Laird, +and after a long conference with him, I made a +formal request to the Commissioners for permission +to construct a surface railway, or "tramway," +as it is called in England. My proposition +was to lay a track four miles long, running out to +the Birkenhead Park. I offered to lay the road at +my own expense, to pave a certain proportion of +the streets through which the line passed, and to +charge fares lower than those then charged by the +omnibuses. If the line did not then satisfy the city +authorities, I was to remove it at my own expense +and to place all the streets affected in as good +order as when the road was begun.</p> + +<p>I found Mr. Laird as liberal-minded as I had expected, +and with his influence, the Board of Commissioners +consented to let me make the experiment. +I went to work at once, and the road was pushed +through with great despatch. I felt that it ought +to get into operation before the 'buses and other +transportation companies stirred up too much +opposition. As soon as the working people found +how comfortable and cheap the new mode of conveyance +was, I felt sure they would stand up for +it so strongly as to defeat the efforts of the omnibus +men to tear up the line.</p> + +<p>The "tramway" proved a success from the +start, and became as popular as I had expected. +It was crowded with passengers at all hours of +the day. The road is there to-day; and I learned<span class="pagenum"><a id="page263" name="page263">[Pg 263]</a></span> +a curious thing in connection with the line only +recently. Twelve years ago the cashier of the +restaurant in the Mills Hotel No. 1, Mr. Bryan, +was the manager of the street-railway I had built +in Birkenhead forty-two years ago.</p> + +<p>Another incident of this period I should record +here. I invited to Birkenhead most of the leading +journalists and writers of London, having in +view, of course, an intended invasion of the +great metropolis. While these men were together +I suggested the organization of a literary club, +and this suggestion was the germ from which +grew the Savage Club of London. My speech at +the opening of the first street-railway in the +Old World will appear in my forthcoming book +of speeches.</p> + +<p>As soon as I had completed my work in Birkenhead, +I went to London, and opened a campaign +for "tramways" in that metropolis of +4,000,000 people. It was a complex business from +the first, and I had to make a study of the government +and the conditions, and, above all, of the +prejudices of citizens. The first step was to +apply to every parish, for the parish there is our +ward, and something more, for it has a far greater +measure of home rule. Each parish had to grant +permission for any tramway that was to invade +its ancient and sacred precincts.</p> + +<p>The greatest difficulty was the one I had most +dreaded from the start—the opposition of the 'bus<span class="pagenum">[Pg 264]</span> +men. There are, or were at that time, 6,000 omnibuses +in the streets of London, and in every one +of the drivers, and in every one who was interested +in the profits of the business, my tramway +project had an unrelenting foe. I found that the +influence of these men was tremendous, because +they reached the masses of the people in a way +that I could never hope to do. Their efforts were +unremitting. They worked upon the different +parish governments, upon the people at large, +upon the municipal government, and upon Parliament +itself. I believe they had sufficient influence +to have carried the war even into the cabinet +and to the throne.</p> + +<p>However, as I shall soon relate, the opposition +of the 'buses did not prove to be as terrible in the +end as I had feared. The heaviest blows came +from a higher source. The "people," in England, +as elsewhere, seem very powerful at first, in +the beginnings of all enterprises. To oppose +them would seem to be inviting destruction. But +in the end it is found that the real power is lodged +elsewhere, and whenever this real power wants a +thing done, the "people" do not exist. The fiction +that they do exist disappears at once in the +clear atmosphere of "exigency."</p> + +<p>The first of these real powers that I had to +attack was the Metropolitan Board of Aldermen. +I appeared before the board with a carefully prepared +model of the tramways I proposed. It was<span class="pagenum">[Pg 265]</span> +a sort of public hearing, and I was very closely +questioned about the plans of operating the road, +the effect its presence in the narrow streets would +have in interfering with traffic, the danger of +accidents, and so on. There was present a noble +lord who, I saw, was fighting desperately against +the project. He eyed me closely and made sharp +interrogations. When he wished to be particularly +effective, as is the manner of Englishmen of +his class, he would drop his monocle, then readjust +it carefully, with many writhings and twistings +of his eyebrows, and, when the single glass +was properly adjusted, half close the other eye +and concentrate the full blaze of the monocle upon +his victim. If the victim survives this, so much +the worse for him, for he will then be subjected to +a long drawl and to "hems" and "haws" that +would shatter the composure of a Philadelphia +lawyer.</p> + +<p>We soon took up the problem of laying the +tramway up Ludgate Hill, where the street is exceedingly +narrow. His lordship fixed me with his +glittering monocle. I saw from which direction the +firing would come. After readjusting his monocle, +so as to get the range better, he said:</p> + +<p>"May I—ah—ask a question, Mr.—ah—Train?" +When an Englishman wants to be sarcastic, +and ironical, and cutting, he finds the means +readiest to his mind in a pretended forgetting of +your name.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 266]</span></p> + +<p>"That is what I am here for, my lord," I replied, +as graciously as possible.</p> + +<p>"You know, of course, how very narrow is +Ludgate Hill. Suppose that when I go down to +the Mansion House in my carriage, one of my +horses should slip on your d—d rail, and break his +leg—would you pay for the horse?"</p> + +<p>This produced a sensation, for the English +love a lord even more than we plain Americans +do. As soon as the stir had ceased, I replied, in +a voice that carried to the ends of the hall:</p> + +<p>"My lord, if you could convince me that your +d—d old horse would not have fallen if the rail +had not been there, I certainly should pay for it." +This retort caught the audience so happily that +the tide swept around my way, to the discomfiture +of the noble lord. The hearing resulted in my +obtaining permission to lay a tramway from the +Marble Arch at Oxford Street and from Hyde +Park to Bayswater, a distance of one or two miles.</p> + +<p>I soon built other lines, also: one from Victoria +Station to Westminster Abbey and the Houses of +Parliament, and another from Westminster Bridge +to Kennington Gate on the way to Clapham. These +were constructed on my patent of a half-inch +flange.</p> + +<p>The omnibuses, defeated in this part of the +fighting, resorted to peculiar but effective tactics. +As soon as I laid a portion of my tracks—which +was done upon the same terms under which<span class="pagenum">[Pg 267]</span> +I had put down the line in Birkenhead—the 'bus +drivers tried in every possible way to wreck their +vehicles on the rails. They would drive across +again and again and take the rails in the most +reckless way, in order to catch and twist their +wheels. They were very often successful, and +there were many accidents of this sort. The excitement +increased greatly with every foot of +track laid down. But the people, as in Birkenhead, +were tremendously in favor of the tramway. +It was such a convenience to them that they sided +with me in the fight. The 'bus drivers and companies +and the aristocracy were against me—the +one because my trams interfered with their business, +the other because they owned their private +conveyances, and did not like to drive across the +rails. I dressed conductors and drivers in the uniform +of volunteers, to which many soldiers objected. +In the meanwhile the cars were crowded +with passengers at all hours, there being throughout +the day a rush such as is seen in New York +only in what we call the "rush hours."</p> + +<p>In all this excitement and press of travel, accidents +were, of course, unavoidable. I dreaded +one, as I felt it would be the crucial point. It +might turn against me the popular feeling, now so +strongly setting in my direction, for the "mob" +(so called) of London is fully as excitable and as +ungovernable as the "mob" of Paris, and its +prejudices are more deeply intrenched. Finally,<span class="pagenum"><a id="page268" name="page268">[Pg 268]</a></span> +the dreaded accident came. A boy was killed, and +I was arrested for manslaughter.</p> + +<p>In order to appease public feeling, I paid the +expenses of the boy's funeral, and did everything +that could possibly be done to pay, in a material +way, for his death. The accident was entirely unavoidable, +and the tramway was not responsible +for it, but there was a great deal of feeling, +chiefly due to the agitation of the 'bus drivers. +Sir John Villiers Shelley, member of Parliament, +a relative of the poet, who was chairman of the +Metropolitan Board of Works and the representative +of the omnibus people, led the fight against +me. We had a terrific struggle. The bill to authorize +the tramways had gone to Parliament, and +this was now defeated by a few votes. I had six +of the ablest lawyers of England to represent +me (through Baxter, Rose & Norton, solicitors), +but the influence of the 'bus men, aided by the sentiment +in certain quarters against me on account +of my speeches in favor of the American Union, +was too strong for me, and I had to abandon the +fight in London.</p> + +<p>I then went to the Potteries in Staffordshire, +and there, after renewing the same kind of fighting +that I had had in London, in every new town I +undertook to lay railways in, I succeeded in building +seven miles of track through the crockery-making +country. Those tracks are there to-day.</p> + +<p>My failure in London, which was to have been<span class="pagenum"><a id="page269" name="page269">[Pg 269]</a></span> +expected, must be set off by these successes in +Birkenhead and in Staffordshire. I am entitled +to the credit of laying the first street-railways in +England, having to overcome the most formidable +of all the enemies of progress—British prejudice. +I afterward went to Darlington, where Stephenson +had built his first railway, from Stockton to +Darlington, in '29, the year of my birth, and I constructed +a tramway there to connect the two steam +railways through that town.</p> + +<p>My life, therefore, spans the entire railway +building of the world. The first railway was +built the year I was born, and since that time, in a +space of seventy-three years, more than 200,000 +miles of railway have been constructed in the +United States alone. In much of this great work +I have had some share. I suggested the railway +that connects Melbourne with its port, and mapped +out the present railway system in Australia thirty-nine +years ago; I organized the line that connects +the Eastern States with the great Middle West—the +Atlantic and Great Western Railway; and I +organized and built the first railway that pierced +the great American desert, and brought the Atlantic +and Pacific coasts into close touch and led to +the development of the far West.</p> + +<p>I may mention here, also, that I built a street-railway +in Geneva, Switzerland, which is still in +use; and one in Copenhagen, which proved that +there was at least something sound in "the state<span class="pagenum"><a id="page270" name="page270">[Pg 270]</a></span> +of Denmark." Other railways, as in Sydney and +Melbourne, Australia, suggested by me, have been +changed from horse to trolley lines. I also suggested +the road in Bombay, India, which was the +first railway in all Asia, now extended.</p> + +<p>It may be of interest to record that when I began +building street-railways, I sent to the United +States and got the plans of the Philadelphia roads +and of the New York Third Avenue line. It was +therefore upon the models of American roads +that these foreign railways were constructed.</p> + +<p>It is sometimes said that it is remarkable that +little is known of my connection with these great +enterprises—for they were great, and epoch-making. +But my achievements in England, in the +pioneer work of building street-railways, is a matter +of recorded history. An account of my work +there will be found in a book by Dr. Albert Shaw, +editor of the Review of Reviews, Municipal Government +in Great Britain, as well as in other +books that deal with the industrial life of the +period.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 271]</span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a id="page271" name="page271"></a>CHAPTER XXII</h2> + +<p class="title">ENGLAND AND OUR CIVIL WAR—BLOCKADE RUNNING</p> + + +<p>I have referred already to the antagonism +felt toward me in certain English quarters because +of my speeches in favor of the Federal American +Union in the hour of its danger. Love of country +was always stronger in me than love of money, +and I let slip no opportunity to defend the cause +of the Union and to prove to the English of the +upper classes that they were mistaken in supposing +that the Confederacy could succeed. Those +who were not in England at this period, when the +South was in the first flush of its success, and when +it seemed likely that England and France would +go to the assistance of the South, merely to +strengthen themselves by weakening the power of +the United States, can not appreciate the extent +or the power of British sympathy for the Confederacy. +The element in England that took sides +with the South was tremendously influential. I +had already felt its power in a personal way +through the defeat of my street-railway projects.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page272" name="page272">[Pg 272]</a></span></p> + +<p>As soon as I observed the trend of British +opinion, I went into public halls and spoke in +favor of the Union, and tried to show that right +and might were both on the side of the North, and +that, no matter how many successes the South +might win in the beginning of the war, it would +inevitably be crushed beneath the weight of the +rest of the country. I did not confine myself to +speeches of this sort. I attacked the men who +were trading on the war by sending blockade runners +into Southern ports in violation of the rules +of war. And so I was in some relation with Lord +John Russell on the one hand and Emperor Louis +Napoleon on the other, in the critical days of the +Mason-Slidell affair and the discussion of "belligerent +rights" of the South.</p> + +<p>Before taking part in this desperate effort to +stem the tide of British opinion, and to defeat the +efforts of British traders to make money by selling +merchandise to the South contraband of war, I +placed my wife and children on board a steamer +for New York, in order to remove them from +troubled scenes. This fight was to cost me the opportunity +of making a fortune of perhaps $5,000,000, +by upsetting my street-railway projects.</p> + +<p>I may mention here that in '58, during the Italian +war, I bought the London Morning Chronicle +for the French Emperor, paying $10,000 for it, +and putting Thornton Hunt, son of Leigh Hunt, +in editorial charge, at a salary of $2,000 a year.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page273" name="page273">[Pg 273]</a></span> +It was a daily paper; and as the Emperor wanted +a weekly also, I arranged for him the purchase of +the London Spectator at the same price, and put +in Townsend (I think that was the name) as +editor, at a salary of $2,000 a year. When the war +was over, these papers of course passed out of +our hands, and the Chronicle made a most savage +attack on me in the tramway discussion, taking +the part of the omnibus drivers. It again attacked +me for my exposure of blockade running +from British ports. I had given the names of +the men interested, the marks of the cargoes, and +the destination of the shipments, in a letter that I +wrote to the New York Herald. These men +thought they had assassinated the United States +Republic.</p> + +<p>The feeling against me was so intense at one +time that I anticipated an attempt to kill me. +Strong influences were brought to bear upon me +to stop a paper that I had established in London, +with my private secretary, George Pickering +Bemis, as manager, for the purpose of disseminating +correct news and views about the civil war. +Secretary Seward, by the way, sent $100, through +his private secretary, Mr. J. C. Derby (who was +afterward connected with the house of D. Appleton +and Company, and wrote his recollections under +the title, Fifty Years Among Authors, Books, +and Publishers), to assist in keeping up this journal. +The intense strain wore upon me to such an<span class="pagenum"><a id="page274" name="page274">[Pg 274]</a></span> +extent that I had an attack of insomnia, and almost +lost my senses at times. I would not go armed, +but relied for defense upon a small cane that I +carried under my arm, so grasped by the end in +front as to enable me to whirl it about instantly +in case I should be attacked from the rear.</p> + +<p>In August, '62, I observed that a vessel called the +Mavrockadatis was acting suspiciously, and came +to the conclusion that she was a blockade runner. +I believed that she was loaded with supplies for +the Confederates, and that as soon as she was clear +at sea she would make for a Southern port or for +some rendezvous with a Confederate ship. I determined +to frustrate this design, and took passage +on her for St. John's, Newfoundland, which +I supposed was only her ostensible destination. +Of course, I registered under an assumed name, +taking the name "Oliver" for the occasion.</p> + +<p>As it turned out, I was wrong. The vessel +kept on her course as represented, and we arrived +at St. John's, Newfoundland, instead of at a Southern +port. This broke up my program, as I had intended, +immediately upon reaching a Southern +port, to go direct to Richmond and see if anything +could be done to end the war. As I may not have +occasion again to refer to this plan, which I had +had in mind for some time, I shall speak of it here. +I had arranged with the President and with Mr. +Seward to go to Richmond to see what could be +done.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 275]</span></p> + +<p>My idea was that the Southern leaders were in +complete ignorance of the power and resources of +the North; they had fancied, because of the great +military reputation of Southern soldiers, that it +would be comparatively easy to beat Northern +troops in the field; and that, in the last event, England +and France would come to their assistance. +I felt confident of convincing Jefferson Davis and +other Southern leaders that all these views were +erroneous. I thought it would be a simple thing +to prove that they could not count on the assistance +of either England or France, as these two nations +would not unite, and neither would undertake +the task alone. I also thought I could give them +such evidence of the great resources of the North, +both in men and means, that they would recognize +the uselessness of the struggle. Another view I +had in mind was that I could impress the Southerners +with the suggestion that, in the event of their +abandoning the contest at that stage, they could +obtain far better terms than the victorious North +would be content to offer after a long and harrowing +war. But this was not to be. Stanton heard +of our plans, and sent Montgomery Blair to negotiate +with the Southern leaders, with what result +is too well known.</p> + +<p>I landed in Newfoundland, instead of in the +South, as I have said, with all my immediate plans +thwarted. But I took up the course of my life +exactly at the point where I stood. I was in New<span class="pagenum"><a id="page276" name="page276">[Pg 276]</a></span>foundland +just one day, and I wrote a history of +that Crown Colony from the information I +gleaned in this brief visit. I shall republish it +some day. I observed in St. John's, as I have observed +elsewhere, that people are fashioned by +their occupations. These people were physically +the creation of fisheries. I noted the tomcod married +to the hake, and the shark wedded to the +swordfish. The fish of the sea, which they ate +and upon which they lived and had their being, +were all represented in their features, from the +sardine to the sperm whale.</p> + +<p>From St. John's, Newfoundland, I went to +Boston, by way of St. Johns, New Brunswick, +stopping at Portland, Maine, for a brief visit. +At Portland I was met by B. F. Guild on behalf +of Curtis Guild, owner of the Boston Commercial +Bulletin, which had just been established. +Guild published my Union speeches, and must +have spent $1,000 a week—the Bulletin was a +weekly paper—in advertising them and my other +writings. I published my History of Newfoundland +in his paper, receiving for it $10 a column, +the only pay I have ever received from a newspaper +or other periodical for my work. I saw +recently a notice of the death of B. F. Guild, +at the age of eighty-nine. I had no idea he was +so old.</p> + +<p>I found that I had returned to my country +the most popular American in public life. I was<span class="pagenum"><a id="page277" name="page277">[Pg 277]</a></span> +greeted everywhere by vast concourses of people, +who cheered me and demanded speeches about the +situation in England and my experiences there. +At Boston I was met by a tremendous gathering, +and it looked like a procession as we went up +State Street to the Revere House. I was placed +in the rooms that had been occupied by the Prince +of Wales, now King Edward, on his visit to Boston +two years before.</p> + +<p>I was not long in Boston before I got into +trouble by trying to enlighten the people with regard +to the war. There was a great assemblage +in Faneuil Hall, where Sumner was to speak, and +I went there to see what was going on. Sumner +was not a very effective speaker before mixed +audiences, and could not have stood up for twenty +minutes in the halls of London, where the greatest +freedom of debate is indulged in, and where every +speaker must be prepared to answer quickly and +to the point any question that may be hurled at +him, or to reply with sharpness and point to any +retort that may come from the crowd that faces +him.</p> + +<p>I was very much astonished, therefore, to hear +Sumner challenge any one in the audience to confute +his arguments. I knew, of course, that the +gantlet thus lightly thrown down was a mere oratorical +figure, but in England it would have been +taken up at once, and Sumner would have been +routed. The temptation was too much for me. I<span class="pagenum">[Pg 278]</span> +rose, to the apparent astonishment and embarrassment +of the orator and of the committee on the +platform, and said: "Mr. Sumner, when you +have finished, I should like to speak a word." The +cheering that greeted my acceptance of the gaily-flung +challenge was cordial.</p> + +<p>As soon as Sumner had finished I climbed +to the platform. There I had the greatest difficulty +with the committee, which seemed determined +to suppress any attempt to reply to the +hero and god of the upper classes in Boston. The +moment I began to talk the committee signaled to +the band, and the music drowned my voice. When +the band stopped I started again, but the committee +endeavored to stop me. I acted as my own +policeman and cleared the platform, when +another rush was made upon me, and all went +tumbling from the stage. I was then arrested and +taken to the City Hall. The crowd seemed decidedly +with me, although the utmost it knew as to +my sentiments was that I was opposed to making +instant abolition of slavery a condition precedent +to putting an end to the war (that is, on Lincoln's +platform, Union, with or without slavery).</p> + +<p>In a few minutes there was a crowd of some +thousands of people about the City Hall demanding +loudly that I be set at liberty. I quieted the +people by sending word to them that I was preparing +a proclamation to the American people. +This proclamation, entitled "God Save the Peo<span class="pagenum"><a id="page279" name="page279">[Pg 279]</a></span>ple," +was published by Guild in the Bulletin—and +I should like to get a copy of it, as I have +lost my own. This arrest did not interfere with +me very much.</p> + +<p>I made a contract with Guild to lecture in the +North and West, and my first lecture was given +in the Academy of Music, New York. The general +subject was the abolition question, as it related +to the war between the States. At this meeting +Cassius M. Clay, of Kentucky, was made chairman, +but the audience did not like that, and a big +cabbage was thrown to the stage from the gallery. +I then took charge of the meeting myself, and +walking to the edge of the stage, said: "I see +that you do not like Mr. Clay; but he should have +a fair chance. If Mr. Guild will arrange for a +meeting at Cooper Institute to-morrow night, I +will debate with Mr. Clay, and you can then fire at +me cabbages or gold dollars, as you like. I propose +the following subject for the discussion: +American Slavery as a Stepping-stone from African +Barbarism to Christian Civilization; hence, it +is a Divine Institution." Mr. Clay accepted.</p> + +<p>The next evening, at Cooper Institute, there +was a large audience that packed the hall from +door to stage; $1,300 were taken at the box-office. +The papers on the following morning gave from +two to four columns of the discussion, and the +London Times considered it sufficiently important, +even to Englishmen, to give a long account and<span class="pagenum"><a id="page280" name="page280">[Pg 280]</a></span> +editorial comments. It said that the honors of +the debate had been with me, and gave a specimen +of my repartee, which, it said, had swept Mr. Clay +off his feet.</p> + +<p>Mr. Clay had referred in his speech to an interview +he had had with President Lincoln, who +was then hesitating as to issuing the Proclamation +of Emancipation. Mr. Clay said, "I told the +President that I would not flesh my sword in the +defense of Washington unless he issued a proclamation +freeing the slaves." My reply was: "It +is fair to assume that, in order to make Major-General +Cassius M. Clay flesh his sword, the +President will issue the proclamation." There +was loud laughter at this. The President did +issue his proclamation three months after this.</p> + +<p>I received a postal card the other day from +Clay, who is now a nonagenarian, in his armed +castle in Kentucky.</p> + +<p>I was in Washington after this debate, which +occurred in September, '62, and was warmly received +by the President and members of his cabinet. +I had heard very much, of course, about the +freedom of speech of Mr. Lincoln, and was not, +therefore, astonished to hear him relate several +characteristic anecdotes. In fact, three of the most +prominent men in the United States at that time +were striving to outdo one another in jests—the +President, Senator Nesmyth of Oregon, and +Senator Nye.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page281" name="page281">[Pg 281]</a></span></p> + +<p>Mr. Seward invited me to a dinner at his residence, +the historic house where later the assassin +tried to kill him, where General Sickles killed Philip +Barton Key, and which in more recent years was +occupied by James G. Blaine. Most of the members +of the cabinet were present. I was asked to describe +some of the scenes of my recent travels, and told +about Chinese dinners, to their great amusement. +Afterward I told them a story then current about +Wendell Phillips, the abolitionist. Phillips was +once in Charleston, South Carolina, and returned +late to dinner at his hotel. As he approached the +door, it was held open by a negro slave. Phillips +said haughtily that he had never permitted a +slave to wait on him, and that he would not do so +now. "How long have you been a slave?" asked +Mr. Phillips. The negro replied: "I ain't got no +time to talk erbout dat now, wid only five minits +fur dinner." Mr. Phillips told the slave to leave +the room, that he would not let him serve him at +the table; he would wait on himself. "I cain't +do dat, suh; I is 'sponsible for de silber on de table, +suh!"</p> + +<p>Loud laughter greeted this story. In the very +midst of the uproar the door was burst open, +and Secretary Stanton appeared, his face white +with emotion. In a choking voice, that was scarcely +audible and would not have been heard had not +every nerve in our bodies been strained to catch +the momentous words we expected, he said: "A<span class="pagenum"><a id="page282" name="page282">[Pg 282]</a></span> +battle is raging at Antietam! Ten thousand men +have been killed, and the rebels are now probably +marching on Washington!"</p> + +<p>There was a hush, and we told no more stories +that night. It is remarkable that almost all the +great battles hung long in the scales of victory. +Neither side knew whether it had won until some +time after the fighting had ceased. It was so at +Antietam, and had been so in the case of Bull Run +or Manassas. The true tidings came in slowly.</p> + +<p>I took no part in the war on the battlefield, because +as soon as I looked into the causes of the +war and its continuance, I saw that it was a contract +war. I came back to this country fully expecting +to serve. I had been assured of a high +commission; but could not conscientiously take +part in a struggle in which thousands of lives were +being sacrificed to greed. Such was my honest +belief, and such was my course.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 283]</span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a id="page283" name="page283"></a>CHAPTER XXIII</h2> + +<p class="title">BUILDING THE UNION PACIFIC RAILWAY<br /> +<br /> +1862-1870</p> + + +<p>When the Englishmen tore up my street-railways +in England, I made a speech in which I told +them I would build a railway across the Rocky +Mountains and the Great American Desert which +would ruin the old trade routes across Egypt to +China and Japan. I pointed out then that this +route would be far shorter in time than the old +route, and that Europe would soon be traversing +America to reach the Orient. This was no new +idea, sprung at the moment in a feeling of resentment. +I had suggested this route across America +ten years earlier, at Melbourne, Australia.</p> + +<p>New York, then as now, we Americans regarded +as the starting point of all great enterprises, +and to New York I came. I called at once +upon leaders in the world of finance—Commodore +Vanderbilt, Commodore Garrison, William B. +Astor, Moses H. Grinnell, Marshall O. Roberts, +and others, and frankly told them of my plans. +One of them said to me:</p> + +<p>"Train, you have reputation enough now.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 284]</span> +Why do something that will mar it? You are +known all over the world as the Clipper-Ship +King. This is enough glory for one man. If you +attempt to build a railway across the desert and +over the Rocky Mountains, the world will call you +a lunatic."</p> + +<p>And this was all that I received from these gentlemen! +Not a word of encouragement, not a cent +of contributed funds—only the warning that the +world, like themselves, would call me a madman.</p> + +<p>Unaffected by this cold reception, I kept +steadily on with my task, and proceeded to organize +the great railway. Congress granted the +necessary charter in '62. It authorized the building +of a road from the Missouri River to California, +with an issue of $100,000,000 of stock and +$50,000,000 of bonds—to be issued in sections, the +first section to be at the rate of $16,000 a mile; +and the last at $48,000 a mile, with 20,000,000 +acres of land in alternate sections; and $2,000,000 +to be subscribed, ten per centum to be paid into +the State treasury at Albany.</p> + +<p>My friends in Boston took the stock, but I failed +to get the cash to go ahead with the road in Philadelphia, +Baltimore, and New York. At this point, +when matters looked a little dark, an idea occurred +to me that cleared the sky. It made the construction +of the great line a certainty. In Paris, a few +years before, I had been much interested in new +methods of finance as devised by the brothers<span class="pagenum"><a id="page285" name="page285">[Pg 285]</a></span> +Émile and Isaac Perrère. These shrewd and +ingenious men, finding that old methods could +not be used to meet many demands of modern +times, invented entirely new ones which they organized +into two systems known as the Crédit +Mobilier and the Crédit Foncier—or systems of +credit based on personal property and land. The +French Government had supported these systems +of the Perrères, and Baron Haussmann had resorted +to them in his great undertaking in rebuilding +and remodeling the French capital, making it +the most beautiful city of the world. I determined +upon introducing this new style of finance +into this country.</p> + +<p>I found that a bill had been passed in Pennsylvania +in '59, for Duff Green, granting authority +for the organization of the "Pennsylvania Fiscal +Agency," which, on examination, I saw could be +used for my purpose. I bought this charter for +$25,000. The bill had been "engineered" through +the Pennsylvania legislature by a man named Hall, +and others of the Philadelphia Custom-House. In +order to make it suitable for our uses, I wanted +its title changed, and asked to have the legislature +change the title to "Crédit Mobilier of America." +The matter went through without trouble, and I +paid $500 for having this done. When I happened +to mention to William H. Harding, of the Philadelphia +Inquirer, that it had cost me $500 to have +the title of the charter altered, he told me he could<span class="pagenum">[Pg 286]</span> +have had it done for $50. I did not know as much +of the ways of legislation in Pennsylvania then as +I did later. The sum I paid for the charter was +made up from $5,000 cash and $20,000 of the bonds +of the Crédit Mobilier. I was to have $50,000 for +organizing the company. I think it worth while +to call attention here to the fact that this was the +first so-called "Trust" organized in this country.</p> + +<p>Having failed to raise the money elsewhere, I +went to Boston, and there succeeded in launching +the enterprise. My own subscription of $150,000 +was the pint of water that started the great wheel +of the machinery. I give here—for it is a matter +of historic interest, since the building of this road +marked the opening of a new era in the United +States—the list of the subscribers who were my +copartners in the undertaking:</p> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left">Lombard and friends</td><td align="left"> </td><td align="right">$100,000</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Oakes and Oliver Ames</td><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"> 200,000</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Sidney Dillon</td><td align="right">$100,000</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Cyrus H. McCormick</td><td align="right"> 100,000</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Ben Holliday</td><td align="right"> 100,000</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">John Duff</td><td align="right"> 100,000</td><td align="right"> 400,000</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="right">——— </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Glidden & Williams</td><td align="right"> 50,000</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Joseph Nickerson</td><td align="right"> 100,000</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Fred Nickerson</td><td align="right"> 50,000</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Baker & Morrill</td><td align="right"> 50,000</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Samuel Hooper and Dexter</td><td align="right"> 50,000</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Price Crowell</td><td align="right"> 25,000</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Bardwell and Otis Norcross</td><td align="right"> 75,000</td><td align="right"> 400,000</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="right">——— </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Williams & Guion</td><td align="right"> 50,000</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">William H. Macy</td><td align="right"> 25,000</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">H. S. McComb, Wilmington, Del.</td><td align="right"> 75,000</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">George Francis Train, through Colonel George</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">T. M. Davis, trustee for my wife and children </td><td align="right">150,000</td><td align="right"> 300,000</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="right">——— </td><td align="right">—————</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="right">$1,400,000</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<p><a id="page286a" name="page286a"></a></p> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a href="images/illus-318.jpg"> +<img src="images/illus-318.jpg" alt="Home" title="Former Residence" /> +</a></div> + +<p class="caption">Home of George Francis Train from 1863 to 1869,<br /> + +No. 156 Madison Avenue, New York.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 287]</span></p> +<p>I had offered an interest in the road to old and +well-established merchants of New York and other +cities—the Grays, the Goodhues, the Aspinwalls, +the Howlands, the Grinnells, the Marshalls, and +Davis, Brooks & Company; and even to some +of the new men, like Henry Clews—agreeing to put +them in "on the ground floor," if I may use an +expression from the lesser world of finance. But +they were afraid. It was too big. Only two of +them, William H. Macy and William H. Guion, +would take any stock.</p> + +<p>There was a meeting of the stockholders in +Gibson's office in Wall Street, for the purpose of +electing a board of directors. By this time the +importance of the road had become recognized, +and there was an active desire on the part of the +chiefs of the trunk lines leading to the West to obtain +control of the charter. They had their representatives +there, and I saw from the first that an +attempt would be made to capture the Union +Pacific Railway as a trophy of one of these powerful +Eastern lines. Fortunately, as I perfectly +well knew, they were not quite powerful enough, +in the circumstance, even with a united front, to +accomplish their purposes.</p> + +<p>William B. Ogden was in the chair, and a hasty +calculation convinced me that probably $200,000,000 +were represented by the men gathered in the little +office. Of the great trunk lines represented I can +recall now the Baltimore and Ohio, the Pennsyl<span class="pagenum"><a id="page288" name="page288">[Pg 288]</a></span>vania, +and the New York Central. It was from +the forces of the last that the lightning came.</p> + +<p>As soon as the meeting had been called to +order, and the purpose of it stated by the chair, a +gentleman arose and began speaking in a wheezy, +squeaky voice. But he had a way of saying what +he wanted, and of saying it shrewdly, adroitly, +and very effectively. I could see that he was +accustomed to win in the Shakespearian way—"by +indirections find directions out." He said that as +everything was ready for the election of a board, +he would suggest that the chair should appoint a +committee of five which should then name a board +of thirty members. I saw that this was an adroit +move to put one of these big roads in control of +the committee and, of course, in control of the +Union Pacific. The chair immediately named five +men, three of whom were representatives of the +New York Central.</p> + +<p>I turned to a gentleman sitting next me and +asked who was the wheezy-voiced man who had +just taken his seat. "That is Samuel J. Tilden," +said he.</p> + +<p>Matters now went as I had foreseen. Of +course, the three New York Central men on the +committee named a New York Central board of +directors. They thought they had quietly and +effectively bagged the game. But I held in my +pocket the power that could overturn all their +schemes. In fact I had offered the presidency of<span class="pagenum">[Pg 289]</span> +the road to Moses Taylor, founder of the City +National Bank, now controlled by Mr. Stillman, +and to A. A. Low, father of the present Mayor of +New York. But both had laughed at me, thinking +it absurd that I should presume to have so +much power. I then made up my own list of officers, +and named John A. Dix as president, and +John J. Cisco as treasurer. Afterward I made +a short speech, in which I said that I held the control +of the road in my hands.</p> + +<p>The vote was called for by the chair, and out +of the $2,000,000 of stock represented, the New +York Central influence cast $300,000 and I the vote +of $1,700,000. This completely surprised those +present, and they left the office as rats fly from a +sinking ship. I was indignant, and shouted: +"You stand on the corners of Wall Street again +and call me a 'damned Copperhead'; but don't +forget that I kicked $200,000,000 worth of you +into the street!" And that is the reason why they +called me "crazy"!</p> + +<p>I went out West in the autumn of '63 to break +ground for the first mile of railway track west of +the Missouri river. None of the directors was +with me; I was entirely alone. I made a speech +at Omaha in which I predicted that the road would +be completed by '70, and in which I forecast the +great development of Omaha and the Northwest. +This speech was printed all over the world, and I +was denounced as a madman and a visionary. I<span class="pagenum">[Pg 290]</span> +had, every one said, prophesied the impossible. +And yet every word of that speech was true, both +as to its facts and as to its prophecies. I give +here a few extracts from it, as it was published in +the Omaha Republican, December 3, '63, and as +it has been republished in that paper and others +many times since:</p> + +<blockquote><p>America is the stage, the world is the audience of to-day. +While one act of the drama represents the booming of the cannon +on the Rapidan, the Cumberland, and the Rio Grande, sounding +the death-knell of rebellious war, the next scene records the booming +of cannon on both sides of the Missouri to celebrate the +grandest work of peace that ever attracted the energies of man. +The great Pacific Railway is commenced, and if you knew the man +who has hold of the affair as well as I do, no doubt would ever +arise as to its speedy completion. The President shows his good +judgment in locating the road where the Almighty placed the +signal station, at the entrance of a garden seven hundred miles in +length and twenty broad.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Before the first century of the nation's birth, we may see in the +New York depot some strange Pacific railway notice.</p> + +<p>"<i>European passengers for Japan will please take the night train.</i></p> + +<p>"<i>Passengers for China this way.</i></p> + +<p>"<i>African and Asiatic freight must be distinctly marked: For +Peking via San Francisco.</i>"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Immigration will soon pour into these valleys. Ten millions +of emigrants will settle in this golden land in twenty years.</p></blockquote> + +<p>I had predicted that the railway would be completed +in '70. On May 10, '69, the "golden spike" +was driven at Ogden, Utah. Among the papers +throughout the world that had ridiculed me as +being mad or visionary because of my speech at +Omaha in '63, was the Hongkong Press, which said<span class="pagenum"><a id="page291" name="page291">[Pg 291]</a></span> +that it was generally thought in China during my +visit there in '55-'56 that I was a little "off," and +that this speech, which predicted a railway across +the Rocky Mountains, clearly proved that I was +both visionary and mad. On my journey around +the world in '70, after the completion of the Union +Pacific Railway, I stepped into the office of the +Hongkong paper and asked for the editor. When +he came out, I asked him to show me the file of his +paper containing my Omaha speech. He brought +it out, and we turned to the column. "Do you +know Train?" he asked me. "Why, I am Train," +I said, "and it seems that you did not know me in +Hongkong in '55-'56. I have just come through +the Rocky Mountains over that road."</p> + +<p>The tremendous importance of the Union +Pacific Railway is now too well known to need any +further comment here from me. It is enough to +say that it was through my suggestion and through +my plans and energy that this mighty highway +across the continent, breaking up the old trade +routes of the world, and turning the tide of commerce +from its ancient eastern tracks across the +wide expanse of the American continent, was created.</p> + +<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Note.</span>—Albert D. Richardson in his once famous book Beyond +the Mississippi, writing of the development of Omaha and the +Northwest, due to the building of the Union Pacific Railway, says: +"Here was George Francis Train, at the head of a great company +called the Crédit Foncier, organized for dealing in lands and stocks +for building cities along the railway from the Missouri to Salt Lake. +This corporation had been clothed by the Nebraska legislature with<span class="pagenum">[Pg 292]</span> +nearly every power imaginable, save that of reconstructing the late +rebel States. It was erecting neat cottages in Omaha and at other +points west.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Train owned personally about five hundred acres in Omaha, +which cost him only one hundred and seventy-five dollars per acre—a +most promising investment. He is a noticeable, original American, +who has crowded wonderful and varied experiences into his +short life. An orphan boy, employed to sweep the counting-room, +he rose to the head of a great Boston shipping house; then established +a branch in Liverpool; next organized and conducted a +heavy commission business in Australia, and astonished his neighbors +in that era of fabulous prices, with Brussels carpets, and marble +counters, and a free champagne luncheon daily in his business office. +Afterward he made the circuit of the world, wrote books of travel, +fought British prejudices against street-railways, occupying his +leisure time by fiery and audacious American war speeches to our +island cousins, until he spent a fortune, and enjoyed the delights of +a month in a British prison.</p> + +<p>"Thence he returned to America; lectured everywhere; and now +he is trying to build a belt of cities across the continent. At least a +magnificent project. Curiously combining keen sagacity with wild +enthusiasm, a man who might have built the pyramids, or been +confined in a strait-jacket for eccentricities, according to the age +he lived in, he observes dryly that since he began to make money, +people no longer pronounce him crazy! He drinks no spirits, uses +no tobacco, talks on the stump like an embodied Niagara, composes +songs to order by the hour as fast as he can sing them, like an Italian +improvisatore, remembers every droll story from Joe Miller to Artemus +Ward, is a born actor, is intensely in earnest, and has the most +absolute and outspoken faith in himself and his future."</p> + +<p>[At the time Richardson saw me at Omaha, in '64, another noted +journalist, William Hepworth Dixon, editor of the London Athenæum, +called on me, traveling with Sir Charles Dilke, who was writing +Greater Britain. I introduced him to Richardson.—G. F. T.]</p></blockquote> +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 293]</span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a id="page293" name="page293"></a>CHAPTER XXIV</h2> + +<p class="title">THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE FAR WEST<br /> +<br /> +1863-1870</p> + + +<p>Very much of my work that has aided most in +the development of this country was done in the +great region of the Northwest, then a wild country, +trackless and uninhabited except by savages. Of +course, the chief achievement in the West was the +building of the Union Pacific Railway, which led +up to the inception and construction of other railways +and to the present prosperity of the entire +section.</p> + +<p>But this enterprise was merely a beginning. +I looked upon it only as the launching of a hundred +other projects, which, if I had been able to +carry them to completion, would have transformed +the West in a few years, and anticipated its present +state of wealth and power by more than a full +generation. One of my plans was the creation of +a chain of great towns across the continent, connecting +Boston with San Francisco by a magnificent +highway of cities. That this was not an idle +dream is shown by the rapid growth of Chicago,<span class="pagenum"><a id="page294" name="page294">[Pg 294]</a></span> +which owes its greatness to its situation upon this +natural highway of trade; and to the development +of Omaha, which owes its prosperity directly to +the Union Pacific Railway and to the other enterprises +that I organized in the West. Most of +these plans were defeated by a financial panic, by +the lack of cooperation on the part of the very people +who were most interested in their success, and +by events which I shall describe in the following +chapters of this book. Some of them succeeded, +however, and I was able to accomplish a great +deal of work that has gone into the winning and +making of the West.</p> + +<p>When I went out to Omaha to break ground for +the Union Pacific Railway, on December 3, '63, +there was only one hotel in that town. This was the +Herndon House, a respectable affair, now U. P. +headquarters. I was astonished that men of energy, +enterprise, and means had not seized the opportunity +to erect a large hotel at this point, which +had already given every promise of rapid and immediate +growth. But what directly suggested to +me the building of such a hotel on my own account +was a little incident that occurred at a breakfast +that I happened to be giving in the Herndon +House.</p> + +<p>I had invited a number of prominent men—Representatives +in Congress, and others—to take +breakfast with me in this house, as I desired to +present to them some of my plans. The break<span class="pagenum">[Pg 295]</span>fast +was a characteristic Western meal, with prairie +chickens and Nebraska trout. While we were +seated, one of those sudden and always unexpected +cyclones on the plains came up, and the +hotel shook like a leaf in the terrible storm. Our +table was very near a window in which were large +panes of glass, which I feared could not withstand +the tremendous force of the wind. They were quivering +under the stress of weather, and I called to +a strapping negro waiter at our table to stand +with his broad back against the window. This +proved a security against the storm without; but +it precipitated a storm within.</p> + +<p>Allen, the manager of the Herndon, and a man +with a political turn of mind, saw in the incident +an assault on the rights of the negroes. He hurried +over to the table and protested against this +act as an outrage. I could not afford to enter into +a quarrel with him at the time, so I merely said: +"I am about the size of the negro; I will take his +place." I then ordered the fellow away from the +window, took his post, and stayed there until the +fury of the storm abated. Then I was ready for +Allen.</p> + +<p>I walked out in front of the house and, pointing +to a large vacant square facing it, asked who +owned it. I was told the owner's name and immediately +sent a messenger for him post-haste. He +arrived in a short time, and I asked his price. It +was $5,000. I wrote out and handed him a check<span class="pagenum"><a id="page296" name="page296">[Pg 296]</a></span> +for the amount, and took from him, on the spot, a +deed for the property.</p> + +<p>Then I asked for a contractor who could +build a hotel. A man named Richmond was +brought to me. "Can you build a three-story +hotel in sixty days on this plot?" asked I. After +some hesitation he said it would be merely a question +of money. "How much?" I asked. "One +thousand dollars a day." "Show me that you are +responsible for $60,000." He did so, and I took +out an envelope and sketched on the back of it a +rough plan of the hotel. "I am going to the mountains," +I said, "and I shall want this hotel, with +120 rooms, complete, when I return in sixty days."</p> + +<p>When I got back, the hotel was finished. I immediately +rented it to Cozzens, of West Point, +New York, for $10,000 a year. This is the famous +Cozzens's Hotel of Omaha, which has been more +written about, I suppose, than almost any other +hostelry ever built in the United States. It is the +show-place of Omaha to this day.</p> + +<p>The completion of the Union Pacific Railway +in '69 was the occasion of my visit to California +and Oregon. In San Francisco I gave a banquet +to men prominent in finance and politics, and took +occasion to refer to the efforts that had been made +there, as it seemed to me, to aid the seceding +States. I was making a response to the toast of +"The Union," and had said that if I had been the +Federal general in command in California at the<span class="pagenum"><a id="page297" name="page297">[Pg 297]</a></span> +time, I should have hanged certain men, some of +whom were present. This was pretty hot shot, +and I did not wonder at the resentment of the men +to whom I referred. I was astonished, however, +by the terrific scoring I received from the city +press the following morning. I read the reports +of, and the comments on, my speech as I was making +preparations to have my special car taken back +East that afternoon. I was very indignant, but +did not know exactly what to do.</p> + +<p>Just at this moment a man approached me and +said that he would like to have me deliver a lecture +that evening in the theater. He was the +manager, Mr. Poole. I saw my opportunity, and +accepted, refusing, however, his proffer of $500 +in gold, and agreeing to take one-half the gross +receipts for a series of lectures. I delivered +twenty-eight lectures to crowded houses, and took +in, for my share, $10,000 in gold. I did not spare +my critics, but flayed them alive.</p> + +<p>My lectures made me the most conspicuous +man on the Pacific coast, and I received despatches +of congratulations, or invitations to deliver lectures +and speeches, almost every hour of the day. +I accepted a five-hundred-dollar check to go to +Portland, Oregon, to make the Fourth-of-July +oration, and the Gussie Tellefair was sent to +meet me and take me up the Columbia in state. +The oration was delivered to a big audience of +Oregonians, trappers and mountaineers, some<span class="pagenum">[Pg 298]</span> +of them wearing the quaintest garb I had ever +seen.</p> + +<p>I mention this visit to Portland because it +afforded me opportunity for doing several things +of importance. I visited the famous Dalles of the +Columbia river, and while there saw the Indians +spearing salmon. I asked what they were doing, +and was told that they were laying in their supply +for the winter. I went to the place where the +braves were spearing the fish and asked one of +them to let me try my hand at the fish-spear. +Having accustomed myself a little to throwing the +harpoon, I found that I could manage the Indian's +weapon quite skilfully, and succeeded in landing +200 salmon in two hours. Of course the fish were +running in swarms, but this two hours' work would +have brought me $1,000 if I could have taken the +catch to New York.</p> + +<p>I was the first white man, I believe, that had +taken salmon out of the Columbia, and it then occurred +to me, if the Indians could lay up a supply +of fish for the winter, why could not white men do +the same thing? I thereupon suggested the canning +of salmon, which has since been developed +into so large an industry and has made the Quinnat +salmon the king-fish of the world, putting Columbia +salmon into almost every household of civilization.</p> + +<p>Another fact may be recorded here. My +Fourth-of-July oration had been such a success<span class="pagenum"><a id="page299" name="page299">[Pg 299]</a></span> +that I was asked to make another speech at Seattle, +on Puget Sound, which was then a struggling +village. I was accompanying a delegation or +committee from the East that was looking for a +good place for the terminus of the Northern +Pacific Railway, which had been projected after +the great success of the Union Pacific. When we +passed the point where Tacoma now stands, I was +attracted by its appearance and said: "There is +your terminus." The committee selected the spot, +and Tacoma was founded there.</p> + +<p>An amusing incident closed this part of my +journey. I went from Seattle to Victoria, British +Columbia, and was astonished to find the town +in the wildest commotion. Troops were at the +docks, and the moment I landed I observed that +the greatest interest was taken in me. At last, +as they saw me walking about alone, one of the +officials came up and said: "Why, are you alone?" +"Of course," I replied. "Did you expect me to +bring an army with me?" I said this in jest, not +knowing how closely it touched his question. He +then took me aside and said, "Read this despatch." +I opened the despatch and read: "Train is on the +Hunt."</p> + +<p>I saw what it meant, and how the good people +had been deceived. The Hunt was the vessel +I came on, and the telegraph operator at Seattle, +knowing that I had been with the Fenians and had +been stirring up a good deal of trouble in Cali<span class="pagenum">[Pg 300]</span>fornia, +thought he would have some fun with the +Canadians. The people of Victoria were on the +lookout for me to arrive with a gang of Fenians!</p> + +<p>I did not smile, but determined to carry the +joke a little further. Walking into the telegraph +office, I filed the following cablegram for Dublin, +Ireland. "Down England, up Ireland." The +jest cost me $40 in tolls, but I enjoyed it that +much.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 301]</span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a id="page301" name="page301"></a>CHAPTER XXV</h2> + +<p class="title">THE SHARE I HAD IN THE FRENCH COMMUNE<br /> +<br /> +1870</p> + + +<p>My participation in the Commune in France, in +the year '70, was the result of chance. I arrived +at Marseilles at a very critical time in the history +of that city. It was the hour when the Commune, +or, as it was styled there by many, the "Red Republic," +was born. I was on a tour of the world, +the voyage in which I eclipsed all former feats +of travel, and circled the globe in eighty days. +This served Jules Verne, two years later, as the +groundwork for his famous romance Around the +World in Eighty Days. The whole journey had +been eventful, but I shall write of that in a later +chapter.</p> + +<p>The French Empire had fallen and the Republic +had risen within the period of my swift flight; +and now one of the darkest and most desperate enterprises +known in history was afoot—the attempt +to transform France and the world into a system +of "communes," erected upon the ruins of all national +governments.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 302]</span></p> + +<p>I arrived at Marseilles on the Donai, of the Imperial +Messagerie line, October 20, '70, and went +at once to the Grand Hotel de Louvre. Imagine +my astonishment when I was received there by a +delegation, and, for the third time, hailed as +"liberator." The empty title of liberator—so +easily conferred by the excitable Latin races—had +become rather a joke with me. The Australian +revolutionists who wanted to make me President +of their paper republic, were in earnest, and +would have done something notable, had they ever +got the opportunity, with sufficient men behind +them; but the Italians I had not felt much confidence +in, nor had I any desire to work for +their cause.</p> + +<p>The acclaim with which the people in the +streets of Marseilles received me, at first jarred +upon my sensibilities and seemed an echo merely +of the little affair in Rome. However, I was soon +to be convinced of the deep sincerity of these revolutionists, +and was destined to take an active +and honest part in their cause. It is remarkable +how a slight incident may turn the whole current +of one's life. It had been my intention to +proceed as rapidly as possible to Berlin, and +take a look at the victorious Prussian army; +but here I was at the very moment of my arrival +on French soil, involved in the problems +and struggles of the French people, as precipitated +by the Prussian army, having for their<span class="pagenum">[Pg 303]</span> +object the undoing of much of the work of the +German conquest.</p> + +<p>When the revolutionary committee hailed me +as "liberator," I thought they had mistaken me +for some one else, and asked the leaders if they +had not done so. "No," they said; "we have +heard of you and want you to join the revolution." +It seemed that they had kept track of +my rapid progress around the world, and told +me they knew when I was at Port Said, and had +prepared to receive me as soon as I landed in +Marseilles.</p> + +<p>"Six thousand people are waiting for you now +in the opera-house," they said.</p> + +<p>"Waiting for me?" I asked, incredulous. +"How long have they been waiting, and what are +they waiting for?"</p> + +<p>"They have been assembled for an hour; and +they want you to address them in behalf of the +revolution."</p> + +<p>"Well," said I, making a decision immediately, +"I can not keep these good people waiting. +I will go with you." I had decided to +trust to the inspiration of the moment, when I +should stand face to face with that volatile +French audience.</p> + +<p>From the moment I entered the opera-house, +packed with excited people from the stage to the +topmost boxes, I was possessed by the French +revolutionary spirit. The fire and enthusiasm<span class="pagenum">[Pg 304]</span> +of the people swept me from my feet. I was +thenceforth a "Communist," a member of their +"Red Republic." I felt this, as soon as I joined +that cheering and ecstatic mob—for it really was +a mob then, and mobs have been the germs of all +great national movements in France.</p> + +<p>A committee of some sort, prepared for the occasion, +immediately seized hold of me, and we +marched, or rushed, through the crowd, down the +aisle, and up on the stage. About 250 persons, +the more important movers in the agitation, I +suppose, were standing, all cheering at the top +of their voices. As I was placed upon the stage, +in front of the audience, there came a burst of +cheers of "Vive la République!" "Vive la Commune!" +and many were shouting out my name +with a French accent and a nasal "n." It was +irresistible. I stepped to the front of the stage +and tried to speak, but for several minutes could +not utter a word that could be heard a foot away, +the din of the shouting and cheering was so overwhelming.</p> + +<p>When the shouting ceased, I told the people +that I was in Marseilles on a trip around the world, +but as they had called upon me to take part in +their movement, I should be glad to repay, in my +own behalf, a small portion of the enormous debt +of gratitude that my country owed to France for +Lafayette, Rochambeau, and de Grasse. I repeated +a part of the "Marseillaise," which always<span class="pagenum"><a id="page305" name="page305">[Pg 305]</a></span> +stirs Frenchmen to the depths, and a few verses +from Holmes's poem on France—</p> + +<div class="poem" style="width: 28em;"> +<span class="i0">"Pluck Condé's baton from the trench,</span> +<span class="i1">Wake up stout Charles Martel;</span> +<span class="i0">Or give some woman's hand to clench</span> +<span class="i1">The sword of La Pucelle!"</span> +</div> + +<p>I also urged that France should not yield an +inch of her territory to the rapacious Prussians.</p> + +<p>The excitement of the hour carried everything +before it, and the crowd outside, numbering at +least 20,000, finally was joined by the 6,000 inside, +and the whole mass, making a grand and noisy +procession, escorted me to my hotel where I had +taken the entire front suite of apartments. The +next morning I was waited upon by a committee +of the revolutionists. They said they wanted a +military leader, and that Cluseret was the man for +the place. He would be able to lead the forces of +the Ligue du Midi.</p> + +<p>Cluseret was then in Switzerland, where he +had taken refuge after the troops drove him out +of Lyons at the orders of Gambetta. He was the +Gustave Paul Cluseret who had taken part in our +Civil War, serving on the staffs of McClellan and +Frémont, and who later was Military Chief of +the Paris Commune. We sent to Switzerland and +invited General Cluseret to join us in Marseilles. +To our surprise he sent word that he would need +a force of 2,000 armed men! This settled Cluseret, +as far as I was concerned.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 306]</span></p> + +<p>A few days later a card was brought to me +in the hotel bearing the name "Tirez," and the +statement that M. Tirez occupied room 113 in the +same hotel. I went up to this room, and there +found a splendid-looking fellow with a great military +mustache. "Are you M. Tirez?" I asked. +"I am General Cluseret," he said. "I thought +you wanted 2,000 armed men?" I said. "You +can probably give me more than that number," he +said, with a smile. "You seem to be in command +of everything and everybody here." "We shall +see," I said. I asked him to go to the Cirque with +me that evening.</p> + +<p>There were at least 10,000 men in this gigantic +amphitheater. I made a short speech and said I +wanted to give them a surprise. "You want a +military leader. I have brought you one. Here +is your leader—General Gustave Paul Cluseret." +He was greeted with tremendous cheers.</p> + +<p>We at once organized military headquarters +and prepared to take possession of the city. In +this effort we were aided by the liberal views of the +préfet, M. Esquiros, a republican, and later by +the incapacity of the new préfet appointed by +Gambetta, M. Gent. The next day we marched +to the military fortifications with a great mass of +men. General Cluseret and I were arm in arm +as we entered the gates. I observed the officer in +charge of the guns at the entrance about to give +an order, which I knew meant a volley that would<span class="pagenum">[Pg 307]</span> +sweep us into the next world. I sprang forward +and seized the officer by the arm. "Come to see +me at the hotel," I whispered in his ear. The +order to fire was not given, and we filed into the +fortifications and took possession in the name of +the Commune—the "Red Republic."</p> + +<p>The following day 150 of the Guarde Mobile +came to the hotel and demanded General Cluseret. +I told the officers he was not present, but they insisted +upon invading my rooms. I then told them +that they would not be permitted to cross the +threshold alive. I was armed with a revolver, and +three of my own secretaries were armed in the +same way. I said to the chief officer at the door +that there were four men inside and we would shoot +any one who tried to enter; we thought we could +kill at least two dozen of them. The Guarde held +a short council outside, and I soon heard their +military step resounding down the hall. They +had given up the search for Cluseret.</p> + +<p>The next morning I saw from my window an +army marching down the street. I thought it was +our army, and went out on the balcony and began +shouting "Vive la République!" and "Vive la +Commune!" with the people in the street; but +there was an ominous silence in the ranks of the +troops. They did not respond to these revolutionary +sentiments. Then I saw the new préfet, +M. Gent, Gambetta's man, in a carriage, with +the army. Suddenly I heard a shot, and Gent<span class="pagenum">[Pg 308]</span> +dropped to the bottom of the vehicle. Some one +had tried to kill him, but missed, and the préfet +did not care to be conspicuous again.</p> + +<p>The troops came to a halt directly in front of +the hotel, and I saw that the officers were regarding +with anger the flag of the Commune that +floated from the balcony. Orders were given, +and five men, a firing squad, stepped from the +ranks and knelt, with their rifles in hand, ready to +fire. I knew that it was their purpose to shoot +me. I do not know why, but I felt that if the thing +had to be, I should die in the most dramatic manner +possible. There were two other flags on the +balcony, the colors of France and America. I +seized both of these, and wrapped them quickly +about my body. Then I stepped forward, and +knelt at the front of the balcony, in the same military +posture as the soldiers below me. I then +shouted to the officers in French:</p> + +<p>"Fire, fire, you miserable cowards! Fire +upon the flags of France and America wrapped +around the body of an American citizen—if you +have the courage!"</p> + +<p>An order was spoken, too low for me to catch, +but the kneeling soldiers dropped their rifles, and +then rose, and rejoined the ranks. Another order +was shouted along the line, and the troops marched +on down the street and out of sight.</p> + +<p>The attempted assassination of the préfet had +an unexpected effect upon public opinion in<span class="pagenum">[Pg 309]</span> +Marseilles. It turned the mercurial Frenchman +against the Commune. I advised General Cluseret +to go at once to Paris. I even purchased a +gold-laced uniform for him. His subsequent history, +as military leader of the Commune in Paris, +his capture, trial, release, and retirement to Switzerland, +are well known.</p> + +<p>At this time I believe the tide of war might +have been turned in favor of France by some swift +movement like those of which the mobile Boers +made good use in South Africa, perhaps by an attack +on the rear of the German armies. France +was filled with German soldiers, but Germany was +unguarded; and I believed then that a body of +light horsemen, say, like the Algerians, might have +created such a diversion by a rapid raid to the rear +that it would have forced the Germans back to the +Rhine, or even to Berlin. I was astonished by +the tremendous amount of munitions of war, and +by the masses of troops that were still available +in the south of France. Leadership, and not +troops, was what France lacked.</p> + +<p>I left Marseilles for Lyons, after the troops +tried to shoot me in the balcony of the hotel, and +was accompanied by Cremieux, one of the leaders +of the Ligue du Midi. As we left Marseilles, a +man, wearing conspicuously the ribbon of the +Legion of Honor, entered our compartment. I at +once set him down as a spy, and began talking +with Cremieux in a loud voice. My estimate of<span class="pagenum"><a id="page310" name="page310">[Pg 310]</a></span> +his character was justified in an unpleasant way +at Lyons. No sooner had we entered the suburbs +of that city than our friend left the compartment +and got off the train.</p> + +<p>When the train came to a stop in the station, +I sprang out of the compartment with Cremieux, +and was confronted by six bayonets. Both of us +were placed under arrest. Immediately I remembered +the little slip of paper in my pocket which +might betray Cluseret, if found, and I seized it +hastily and put it into my mouth. The officer of +the squad of soldiers rushed forward to stop me, +but it was too late. The slip had gone. I had +swallowed it.</p> + +<p>"That was the address of General Cluseret!" +shouted the officer.</p> + +<p>"Of course," said I. "And it has gone to a +rendezvous with my breakfast!"</p> + +<p>The soldiers took Cremieux and myself to the +Bastile, in Lyons, and I was detained there for +thirteen days. When I went into the cell I was +very tired and sat up against the wall and leaned +my head against it. In a moment I detected the +breathing of a man very near me, and perceived +a crack in the wall, against which a spy in the adjacent +cell was inclining his ear to catch any incriminating +words that might pass between Cremieux +and myself. It was the old trick of the Inquisition; +but it did not serve the purposes of +these late players of it.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page311" name="page311">[Pg 311]</a></span></p> + +<p>My secretary, Mr. Bemis, who came on from +Marseilles by a later train, could not find me in +Lyons. He spent a week in looking for me. At +the end of that time my wife, who was in New +York, telegraphed to the American legation at +Paris asking if the report were true that I had +been killed. It had been currently reported in +America that the soldiers had shot me in Marseilles. +Mr. Bemis went immediately to the Guarde +Mobile, which was in sympathy with the Commune, +the organization from which General Cluseret +had been driven by Gambetta. The Guarde +sent a deputation of 150 officers to the préfet +of the city, who ordered my immediate release. +Gambetta was appealed to, and he directed that I +be sent to him at Tours by special train.</p> + +<p>To Tours I went in style. I had been poisoned +in the Lyons Bastile, and was ill, in consequence, +having lost thirty pounds of flesh in thirteen days. +I was met at Tours by Gambetta's secretary, M. +Ranc, afterward a deputy, who told me I could +see the Dictator at four o'clock. "Why not now?" +I asked. "Because it is not possible for M. Gambetta +to work until he has had his dinner." I +found that these French officials were as fond +of their dinner as English officials. At the appointed +hour M. Ranc took me to the palace of +the prefecture, and I was admitted at once to Gambetta's +presence.</p> + +<p>I found everything in confusion. The prefec<span class="pagenum">[Pg 312]</span>ture +was filled with men who had been waiting for +the Dictator's pleasure. In the first ante-rooms I +saw men who had been waiting for three weeks; +in the next rooms were those who had waited for +two weeks; and in the third rooms I found officers +of the army and navy, who had waited one week. +As I passed in among these throngs with an air +of self-possession, they took me for some grand +personage, and I heard whispers that I must be +the ambassador from Spain or the Papal Nuncio.</p> + +<p>Gambetta was seated at his desk in a large and +handsomely furnished room. He made not the +slightest sign of being aware that I was present. +He did not even turn his face toward me. I did +not learn until afterward that the distinguished +Italian-Frenchman had one glass eye, and could +see me just as well at an angle as he could full-face. +But I grew tired of standing there silent, +and was already weary from my long incarceration. +I decided, after taking in this strange +character, then at the top of the seething pot of +French politics, that the best course for me was +to put on a bold front.</p> + +<p>"When a distinguished stranger calls to see +you, M. Gambetta, I think you might offer him a +chair."</p> + +<p>The great man smiled, and motioned me to a +seat with considerable graciousness. I took a +chair, and said:</p> + +<p>"M. Gambetta, you are the head of France,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 313]</span> +and I intend to be President of the United States. +You can assist me, and I can assist you."</p> + +<p>He looked at me with a curious regard, but did +not smile.</p> + +<p>"Send me to America, and I can help you get +munitions of war, and win over the sympathy and +assistance of the Americans."</p> + +<p>I knew, of course, that he was going to send +me out of France in any event, and I wanted to +discount his plan.</p> + +<p>The Dictator smiled again, and said: "You +sent Cluseret to Paris, and bought him a uniform +for 300 francs."</p> + +<p>"You are only fairly well informed, M. Gambetta. +I paid 350 francs for the uniform."</p> + +<p>"Cluseret is a scoundrel," he said.</p> + +<p>"The Communards call you that," I replied.</p> + +<p>He ended our interview by saying a few pleasant +words, bowing me out of the room, and sending +me out of France forthwith.</p> + +<p>I went straight to London, then to Liverpool, +and sailed for New York in the Abyssinia, which, +curiously enough, was afterward the pioneer ship +on the line of boats between Vancouver and Yokohama, +it having been bought by the Canadian +Pacific.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 314]</span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a id="page314" name="page314"></a>CHAPTER XXVI</h2> + +<p class="title">A CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT<br /> +<br /> +1872</p> + + +<p>I have passed a great many days in jail. A jail +is a good place to meditate and to plan in, if only +one can be patient in such a place. Much of my +work was thought out and wrought out while living +in the fifteen jails of which I have been a tenant. +It was in a jail in Dublin, called the Four Courts' +Marshalsea, that a feeling of confidence that I +might one day be President of the United States +first came into definite form. It was in this prison, +also, that I planned Train Villa, which was to be +built in Newport. As my life in that Villa, which +in its day was one of the most famous and luxurious +in America, was a sort of prelude to my +campaign for the Presidency, I may fitly say here +what I have to say about it in this book.</p> + +<p><a id="page314a" name="page314a"></a></p> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a href="images/illus-348.jpg"> +<img src="images/illus-348.jpg" alt="Train Villa" title="Train Villa" /> +</a></div> +<p class="caption">Train Villa, George Francis Train's summer home in Newport from 1868 to 1872.</p> + + +<p>I had long wanted a handsome residence by the +sea, and so, when I had nearly completed the work +done in connection with the Union Pacific Railway, +and there seemed to be ahead of me a period of +comparative leisure, I projected this house. My +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 315]</span>plans were made before I was in the Dublin jail. +My wife built the Villa, or began work on it, while I +was still in the Marshalsea. The lot on which it +stands embraced some two and a half acres in the +most delightful region of Newport. In order that +my boys might have an opportunity for sport at +home, I had a building put up for billiards and +bowling. This was, I believe, the first residence +in Newport that had a special place of this kind, +although of course, many had billiard tables. A +fine cottage was also built for my father-in-law, +Colonel George T. M. Davis. This cottage was +sold recently for $50,000, to the Dolans of Philadelphia.</p> + +<p>The Villa itself must have cost $100,000, but +the truth is, I have never known how much money +was lavished upon its building and adornment. I +was called rich and had never, at any time, given a +thought to the mere details of money. What I +wanted I got. In those days that was the substance +of my economic system in personal matters. +We lived there in manorial style, entertaining so +lavishly and freely that the Villa became a free +guest-house for all Newport. I also recollect that +my living cost me more than $2,000 a week. Now I +manage to live on $3 a week in the Mills Hotel, or +Palace, as I call it. Here I am more contented +than I was at Newport. I seem to be saving $1,997 +a week. We turned out, in Newport, six carriages +when we went driving; but this was a display that<span class="pagenum"><a id="page316" name="page316">[Pg 316]</a></span> +I always set my heart against. It seemed to be +mere wastefulness.</p> + +<p>Since my occupancy, Train Villa, as it is called +to this day, has been rented by some of the most +prominent persons in the fashionable world. +Among those who have lived in it are the Kernochans, +the Kips, Governor Lippitt of Rhode Island, +some of the Vanderbilts and the Mortimers. +At the present time, it is occupied by George B. de +Forest. It was formerly rented for $5,000 for +three months or the season. It never paid us two +per centum on its cost, and finally was sold by the +trustee, Colonel Davis.</p> + +<p>The Villa was once turned into a jail, although +I was not the captive in that instance. In the +famous Crédit Mobilier case, in '72-'73, a man, +who was my guest at the time, was arrested, and, +as the Crédit Mobilier men then in Newport could +not give bail in the sum of $1,000,000, as demanded, +an arrangement was made with the sheriff by +which the Villa temporarily became a jail, where +my guest was confined.</p> + +<p>So full of confidence was I that I could be +elected President in '72, that I telegraphed from +San Francisco that I would reach Newport on a +certain day, and wished arrangements made for a +"Presidential" banquet. Although this banquet +was not the end of the campaign, it was the last +flourish of trumpets in my Presidential aspirations.</p> + +<p>My political career in fact was brief. My in<span class="pagenum">[Pg 317]</span>tention +was to have it extend through at least a +Presidential term; but the people would not have +it so. Prior to '69, '70, '71, and '72, I had taken no +active part in politics, although I had been interested +in various campaigns and in many great +public questions of the day. I have already referred +to the offer made to me by the revolutionists +in Australia to make me their President. That +was, perhaps, the first time that anything political +ever entered my life. The offer was by no means a +temptation to me and I refused to consider it, without +a single poignant regret.</p> + +<p>In '65, the Fenians, after I had espoused the +general cause of the Irish, as of the oppressed of +every country, asked me to attend their first convention, +which was to be held in Philadelphia. +They wished me to address them. This I did, but +I took no active part in the work of the convention +or of the faction. I had already attended the +Democratic Convention in Louisville in '64, when +I held a proxy from Nebraska, and had hoped to +have General Dix nominated for President and +Admiral Farragut for Vice-President, but I was +not permitted to take my seat.</p> + +<p>While I was in the Four Courts' Marshalsea, +in Dublin, in '68, James Brooks, of the New York +Express, sent word to me that the Democrats in +convention were willing to nominate Salmon P. +Chase if I would consent to take the second place +on the ticket. This did not suit me at all, and I<span class="pagenum">[Pg 318]</span> +sent a despatch to Brooks that I would take the +first place only, and that as Chase was my friend, +he could take the second place. This put an end to +the negotiations.</p> + +<p>But the seed of ambition had been sown, even +before this, and it germinated in the old Irish +prison. As soon as I got out of that jail, I began +my campaign for President of the United States, +and in '69 started on a program that involved 1,000 +addresses to 1,000 conventions. It seemed to me +that, with the effect I had always had upon people +in my speeches and in personal contact, and with +the record of great achievements in behalf of the +progress of the world, especially with regard to +the development of this country, I should succeed. +I supposed that a man with my record, and without +a stain on my reputation or blemish in my +character, would be received as a popular candidate.</p> + +<p>I had not the slightest doubt that I should be +elected; and, with this sublime self-confidence, +threw myself into the campaign with an energy +and fire that never before, perhaps, characterized +a Presidential candidate. I went into the campaign +as into a battle. I forced fighting at every +point along the line, fiercely assailing Grant and his +"nepotism," on the one hand, and Greeley, and the +spirit of compromise and barter that I felt his +nomination represented, on the other.</p> + +<p>In the year '69 I had made twenty-eight speeches<span class="pagenum">[Pg 319]</span> +in California, and eighty on the Pacific coast. I +also made a trip over the Union Pacific Railway, +on the first train over that line, and made addresses +at many places throughout the country. +The following year, '70, I seriously set myself to +the task of appealing to the people directly for +support, and began a series of public addresses on +the issues of the day. But this year's work was +interrupted by my trip around the world in eighty +days, which consumed the end of the year, from +the 1st of August to Christmas.</p> + +<p>In '71 I fought hard from January to December, +making the total of my speeches to the people +800, and having spoken directly, up to that time, +to something like 2,000,000 persons. Of course, +my campaign was made on independent lines entirely. +I was not the nominee nor the complaisant +tool of any party or faction. I made my race as +one who came from the bosom of the people, +and who represented the highest interests of the +people. It was just here that failure came. I +thought I knew something of the people, and felt +confident that they would prefer a man of independence, +who had accomplished something for +them, to a man who was a mere tool of his party, +a distributor of patronage to his friends and relatives, +or to one who was a mere stalking-horse. +But I was mistaken. The people, as Barnum has +said, love to be humbugged, and are quite ready +to pay tribute to the political boss and spoilsman.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page320" name="page320">[Pg 320]</a></span></p> + +<p>A remarkable feature of my campaign was that, +instead of scattering money broadcast, to draw +crowds or to win votes, I made a charge for admission +to hear my addresses. I spoke to audiences +that paid to hear me talk to them in my own behalf +and in theirs. In three years of active work—with +the interruption of my trip around the world +in '70—I took in $90,000 in admission charges. In +spite of these charges, I spoke to more people and +had greater audiences to listen to me than any +other speaker during that heated campaign.</p> + +<p>There was another remarkable thing about my +campaign. I possessed tremendous power over +audiences. So long as I could reach them with my +voice, or talk with them or shake hands with them, +I could hold them; but the moment they got out of +my reach they got away from me, and slipped back +again to the sway of the political bosses.</p> + +<p>I saw that my chance of getting the nomination +was lost long before the assembling of the Liberal +Republican Convention of '72 in Cincinnati. I +was not astonished by the result of that convention, +except that I did not expect the nomination +of Greeley, which I considered as a piece of political +treachery, a deliberately calculated movement +in the interest of Grant. But I still felt, vainly, +indeed, some hope that the people would see the +futility of supporting Greeley, and of placing me +at the head of the ticket.</p> + +<p>I can recall now the scenes in the Convention<span class="pagenum"><a id="page321" name="page321">[Pg 321]</a></span> +Hall when Carl Schurz nominated Horace Greeley. +Outside of some cheering on the part of those who +were party to the trickery, the nomination was received +with ominous stillness. Suddenly, from out +of the gallery, near where I was seated, there came +a thin, quavering, piercing voice, like the cry of a +seer of the wilderness or a wandering Jeremiah: +"Sold, by God, but the goods not delivered!"</p> + +<p>The words sounded then like a pronouncement +of doom; but it proved not to be so. The "deal" +was carried out, and the "goods" were delivered. +Grant was elected, and Greeley, betrayed, retired, +a heart-broken man.</p> + +<p>Before I close this chapter on the Presidency, +I wish to record here one distinct service which I +believe I rendered this city and the country during +my campaign. It was I, and not the New York +newspapers, that first exposed the so-called +"Tweed Ring." I began the fight against this ring +of corrupt politicians, single-handed, and kept it +up for more than a year before any New York +paper or any other journal took up the issue. The +New York papers, in fact, refused to publish my +speech exposing this gang of public plunderers, +and it was published in the Lyons, N. Y., Republican +on April 22, '71. The speech itself was made +long before Tweed had been accused of misuse of +public funds.</p> + +<p>While I was on the platform, a voice asked me +"Who is the ring?" I had been attacking the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 322]</span> +"ring" in every public utterance in New York. I +replied: "Hoffman, Tweed, Sweeney, Fisk, and +Gould." Later, in the same speech, I said: "Tweed +and Sweeney are taxing you from head to foot, +while their horses are living in palaces," and then, +using, for effect, some of the methods of the +French Commune, I cried: "To the lamp-post! +All those in favor of hanging Tweed to a lamp-post, +say aye!" There was a tremendous outburst +of "ayes."</p> + +<p>In other speeches I went into details and gave +the sums of which the people of New York had +been plundered, and the amounts that had been +paid in bribes to obtain influence in stilling public +suspicion, and to buy immunity from exposure and +opportunity for further theft.</p> + +<p>So my campaign for the Presidency was not +entirely in vain. It was something that seemed unavoidable, +toward which I seemed pressed by circumstance +and fate; and I can rest in the consciousness +that it accomplished some permanent +good.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 323]</span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a id="page323" name="page323"></a>CHAPTER XXVII</h2> + +<p class="title">DECLARED A LUNATIC<br /> +<br /> +1872-1873</p> + + +<p>I had hardly got out of the Presidential race +before I got into jail again. I passed easily from +one kind of life to the other. In fact, the last thing +I did in connection with my political campaign had +been the indirect cause of getting me into the +Tombs. The Tombs has the honor of being the +fourteenth jail that has given me shelter for purposes +of meditation.</p> + +<p>In November, '72, I was making a speech from +Henry Clews's steps in Wall Street, partly to quiet +a mob, when a paper was thrust into my hand. I +glanced at it, thinking it had to do with myself, and +saw that Victoria C. Woodhull and Tennie C. Claflin +had been arrested for publishing in their paper +in Brooklyn an account of a scandal about a famous +clergyman in that city. The charge was "obscenity," +and they had been arrested at the instance of +Anthony Comstock. I immediately said: "This +may be libel, but it is not obscenity."</p> + +<p>That assertion, with what I soon did to estab<span class="pagenum"><a id="page324" name="page324">[Pg 324]</a></span>lish +its truth, got me into jail, with the result +that six courts in succession—afraid to bring me +to trial for "obscenity"—declared me a "lunatic," +and prevented my enjoyment of property in +Omaha, Nebraska, which is now worth millions of +dollars.</p> + +<p><a id="page323a" name="page323a"></a>From Wall Street I hurried to Ludlow Street +Jail, where I found Victoria C. Woodhull and +Tennie C. Claflin in a cell about eight by four feet. +I was indignant that two women, who had merely +published a current rumor, should be treated in +this way, and took a piece of charcoal and wrote, +on the newly whitewashed walls of the cell a +couplet suggesting the baseness of this attack upon +their reputations. It is sufficient to say here that +public feeling was so aroused that these women +were soon set free; but I got myself deeper and +deeper into the toils of the courts.</p> + +<p><a id="page324a" name="page324a"></a></p> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a href="images/illus-360.jpg"> +<img src="images/illus-360.jpg" alt="with the children" title="George Francis Train with children" /> +</a></div> +<p class="caption">George Francis Train with the children in Madison Square.</p> + +<p>In order to prove that the publication was not +obscene, if judged by Christian standards of purity, +I published in my paper, called The Train +Ligue, three columns of quotations from the Bible. +Every verse I used was worse than anything published +by these women. I was immediately arrested +on a charge of "obscenity," and taken +to the Tombs. I was never tried on this charge, +but was kept in jail as a lunatic, and then dismissed, +under the ban of declared lunacy, and +have so remained for thirty years. Although +the public pretended to be against me, it was +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 325]</span>very eager to buy the edition of my paper that +gave these extracts from the Bible. The price of +the paper rose from five cents a copy to twenty, +forty, sixty cents, and even to one dollar. In a few +days it was selling surreptitiously for two dollars +a copy.</p> + +<p>I was put in Tweed's cell, number 56, in "Murderers' +Row," in the Tombs, where at that time +were twenty-two men imprisoned under the charge +of murder. I made the twenty-third inhabitant of +that ghastly "Row." It is remarkable that not +one of these men was hanged. All were either +acquitted, or tried and sentenced and got off with +varying terms of service.</p> + +<p>It was not a select, but it was at least a famous, +group of men in "Murderers' Row." Across the +narrow hallway, just opposite my cell, was Edward +S. Stokes, who had killed James Fisk, Jr. +Next to me were John J. Scannell and Richard +Croker, both of whom have been prominent in the +city administration in later years. There was, also, +the famous Sharkey, who might have got into worse +trouble than any of us, but who escaped through +the pluck and ingenuity of Maggie Jordan. Maggie +happened to be about the same size as her lover, +and changed clothes with him in the cell. The +warden, one morning, found he had a woman in his +cage instead of Sharkey. This was the last ever +heard of Sharkey, so far as I know.</p> + +<p>My chief purpose in jail was not to get out, but<span class="pagenum">[Pg 326]</span> +to be tried on the charge of obscenity. I had been +arrested for that offense, and determined that I +would be either acquitted or convicted. But I have +never had a trial to this day. I do not believe that +any court in the land would face the danger of trying +to convict a man of publishing obscenity for +quoting from the standard book on morality read +throughout Christendom.</p> + +<p>However this may be, I was offered a hundred +avenues of escape from jail, every conceivable one, +except the honest and straightforward one of a +fair trial by jury. Men offered to bail me out; +twice I was taken out on proceedings instituted by +women; but I would not avail myself of this way +to freedom. Several times I was left alone in the +court-house or in hallways, or other places, where +access to the street was easy, entirely without +guards, in the vain hope that I would walk off with +my liberty. I was discharged by the courts; and I +was offered freedom if I would sign certain papers +that were brought to me, but I invariably refused +to look at them. In all cases I merely turned back +and took my place in the cell, and waited for +justice.</p> + +<p>In '73 I was finally taken before Judge Davis +in the Court of Oyer and Terminer. William F. +Howe, who died this year, was one of my counsel, +and Clark Bell was another. Howe took +the ground, first, that obviously there could be +nothing obscene in the publication of extracts<span class="pagenum">[Pg 327]</span> +from the Bible, and, second, if there were, that I +was insane at the time of the publication. The +judge hastily said that he would instruct the +jury to acquit me if the defense took this position. +Mr. Bell then asked that a simple verdict +of "not guilty" be rendered; but the judge +insisted upon its form being "Not guilty, on +the ground of insanity." This verdict was +taken.</p> + +<p>I rose immediately, and said: "I protest against +this whole proceeding. I have been four months +in jail; and I have had no trial for the offense with +which I am charged." I felt that I was in the same +plight as Paul. The Bible and the Church, surely, +could not condemn me for quoting Scripture; and +I had appealed unto Cæsar; but Cæsar refused, +out of sheer cowardice, to hear me and try me. I +was not even listened to when I made this protest, +and I shouted, so that all must hear me: "Your +honor, I move your impeachment in the name of +the people!"</p> + +<p>The sensation was tremendous. "Sit down!" +roared the judge. He evidently thought that I +would attack him. An order committing me to the +State Lunatic Asylum was issued, and I was taken +back to the Tombs. But I did not go to the asylum. +Another writ of habeas corpus took me out of jail, +and I at last turned my back on the Tombs—a +lunatic by judicial decree. I hope that the courts, +inasmuch as I am their ward, and have been for<span class="pagenum">[Pg 328]</span> +thirty years, have protected me in my rights, and +have safeguarded those interests in Omaha where +some millions of dollars depend upon the question +of my sanity.</p> + +<p>The moment I was taken out of the Tombs, +I went down town, had a bath, got a good meal, +put on better clothes, and bought passage for +England. I went to join my family at Homburg, +as my sons were then in Germany, studying at +Frankfort.</p> + +<p>This Woodhull-Claflin affair had far-reaching +effects. Besides leaving me for thirty years in +the grip of the court, it affected many other +persons. I shall refer here only to one of these, +the publisher of a newspaper in Toledo, who +printed some of the matter that I had printed in +New York. He was prosecuted, and his paper and +press were seized. The poor fellow asked me to +lecture in his interest. I could not do this, but +helped him to raise some money to buy a new +printing-press. This was in August, '83, when I +was at Vevay, Switzerland.</p> + +<p>A worthless piece of paper eventually fell into +the hands of another man, who proceeded to +prosecute me, and, with the assistance of the +courts, kept me in the Charles Street Jail, Boston, +for some time. I was arrested for this old debt of +another man, and was refused the constitutional +relief of habeas corpus by Judge Devins and five +other judges of Massachusetts. The amount of<span class="pagenum">[Pg 329]</span> +the debt had steadily increased, and was $800 in +'89. Finally, I went before Judge McKim, and he +at once dismissed the case as groundless.</p> + +<p>This brought my jail experiences to a close. +Was it fitting that Boston, where I had lived and +worked; where I had devised the building of the +greatest ships the world had known up to that +time; where I had projected and organized the +clipper-ship service to California, and opened a +new era in the carrying trade of the world, and +where I had organized the Union Pacific Railway +to develop the entire West and draw continents +nearer together, should put me in jail for a petty +debt that I did not owe, as in some sort an evidence +of its gratitude?</p> + +<p>My prison experience has been more varied +than that of the most confirmed and hardened +criminal; and yet I have never committed a crime, +cheated a human being, or told a lie. I have been +imprisoned in almost every sort of jail that man +has devised. I have been in police stations, in +Marshalseas in England and in Ireland, in common +jails in Boston, in the Bastile of Lyons, in the Prefecture +at Tours as the prisoner of Gambetta, +Dictator of France, and in the famous old Tombs +of New York. I have used prisons well. They +have been as schools to me, where I have reflected, +and learned more about myself—and a man's own +self is the best object of any one's study. I have, +also, made jails the source of fruitful ideas, and<span class="pagenum">[Pg 330]</span> +from them have launched many of my most startling +and useful projects and innovations. And so +they have not been jails to me, any more than they +were to Lovelace:</p> + +<div class="poem" style="width: 28em;"> +<span class="i0">"Stone walls do not a prison make,</span> +<span class="i1">Nor iron bars a cage;</span> +<span class="i0">Minds innocent and quiet take</span> +<span class="i1">That for an hermitage."</span> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 331]</span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a id="page331" name="page331"></a>CHAPTER XXVIII</h2> + +<p class="title">AROUND THE WORLD IN EIGHTY, SIXTY-SEVEN, +AND SIXTY DAYS<br /> +<br /> +1870, 1890, 1892</p> + + +<p>I went around the world in eighty days in the +year '70, two years before Jules Verne wrote his +famous romance, Le Tour du Monde en Quatre-vingts +Jours, which was founded upon my voyage. +Since then I have made two tours of the +world, one in sixty-seven and a half days, and the +other in sixty. The last voyage still stands as the +record trip in circling the globe.</p> + +<p>I have always been something of a traveler, +restless in my earlier years, and never averse to +visiting new scenes and experiencing new sensations. +In Australasia I had improved every opportunity +to see the new world of the South Seas, +and later had visited every part of the Orient that +I could by any possibility reach during my various +journeys in that portion of the globe. Europe +I had traversed quite thoroughly, from the Crimea +to Nijnii Novgorod, from the Volga to the Thames, +from Spain to Finland. When I left Australia it<span class="pagenum"><a id="page332" name="page332">[Pg 332]</a></span> +was my intention to establish a great business in +Yokohama, and, when that had been done, I intended +to pass on across the Pacific, thus girdling +the globe; but my first effort to go around the +world was prevented by the war in the Crimea, +and so I turned back and came home, as already +described, by way of China, India, Egypt, and +Europe.</p> + +<p>The desire for travel possessed me mightily in +'69, just after the golden spike was driven at the +completion of the Union Pacific Railway, by which +California and New York were made nearer one +another by many days of travel. The circumference +of the globe had been shrunken. I wanted, +naturally, to be the first man to utilize the great +advantage thus given to travel by making the +quickest trip around the world.</p> + +<p>After closing my lecture tour on the Pacific +coast in the spring and summer of '70, I prepared +for such a trip, carefully calculating that it could +be made within eighty days, even with the inevitable +losses due to bad connections at different +ports. I wanted to take my sons, George and +Elsey, with me, but, at the last moment, they were +prevented from going. I found out only a few +days ago, when accusing my daughter Sue of keeping +them in Newport, that their mother had given +them ten golden eagles each not to go. I sailed +from San Francisco August 1, '70. On the same +ship was Susan B. King, whom I found in San<span class="pagenum">[Pg 333]</span> +Francisco waiting to sail, as she was tired of the +way her affairs were going in New York and +wanted a long trip for rest and recreation. She +had $30,000 with her, which she said she would try +to invest profitably on the voyage. She was then +quite an old woman, as the world generally estimates +age.</p> + +<p>I made Yokohama in very good time, and went +immediately to the Japanese capital, the new seat +of the Emperor, Tokyo. I may record here a very +curious thing. I believe I was the last man—the +last foreigner, at least—who had taken part in an +old national custom of Japan, by which persons of +opposite sex bathe together, without bathing suits. +It was then considered, in that land of good morals +and fine esthetic sense, that no impropriety was +involved in this custom. Manners and customs +there were open and free as in Greece, when +Athens was "the eye of Greece" and the center of +the world's civilization. I went to one of the public +baths to experience a decidedly new sensation. +I was allowed to bathe with old men and women, +young men and maidens—and no one, except, perhaps, +myself, felt any degree of embarrassment or +false modesty.</p> + +<p>But the fact that a foreigner was bathing in +this way with Japanese women and girls made +something of a stir in Tokyo that had been unexpected +by me. It seems that, a short time before, +some Englishmen had gone into one of the public<span class="pagenum"><a id="page334" name="page334">[Pg 334]</a></span> +baths and made themselves very offensive. This +had taught the Japanese that they could not trust +the foreigner, and they had already nearly decided +to exclude foreigners from their baths, or to +separate the sexes. My experience was, therefore, +the last, as I believe. After this the sexes were +not permitted to bathe together.</p> + +<p>I observed that the Japanese used small paper +packages for tea, thus making it convenient to +handle tea. I then recalled the custom of the +Chinese in compressing tea for transportation by +caravan to the great Fair of Nijnii Novgorod. +Here was an opportunity, I thought, and I suggested +to Susan B. King that she might invest her +$30,000 to good purpose in sending to New York +a cargo of tea put up in little paper packages, and +that, if she wanted to try it, I would give her +letters to men in Canton who could arrange the +matter for her. She undertook the scheme, and I +wrote a description of it for Anglin's Gazette, in +Yokohama. The tea was shipped to New York, +and was handled at the Demorest headquarters. +The tea was in half-pound and pound packages. +This was long before Sir Thomas Lipton employed +this method of putting up teas.</p> + +<p>At Saigon, in French Cochin-China, I met the +United States ship Alaska; and from that port +sailed on a ship of the Messagerie Imperiale line +for Marseilles. The remainder of the voyage was +uneventful, except for the diversion just before we<span class="pagenum"><a id="page335" name="page335">[Pg 335]</a></span> +left Singapore of hearing the news of the fall of the +Second Empire, the defeat of Louis Napoleon at +Sedan, and the establishment of the republic.</p> + +<p>I have already recorded, in the chapter on the +Commune in France, my arrival at Marseilles and +my experiences in the brief period of my visit. +After I had been arrested and liberated, and had +had my interview with Gambetta at Tours, I +passed on rapidly to New York, and finished my +tour of the world inside of eighty days.</p> + +<p>My second trip was made in the year '90. I +planned it while I was in jail in Boston for a debt +that I did not contract. There had been some note-worthy +efforts on the part of newspaper writers +to make a record-breaking trip, and Miss Bisland +had gone around in seventy-eight days, while +Nellie Bly had succeeded in making the voyage in +seventy-three days. I proposed to Col. John A. +Cockerill, of the New York World, who had sent +Nellie Bly on her trip, to make the circuit in less +time; but he did not care to upset the World's own +record. I then telegraphed to Radebaugh, proprietor +of the Tacoma Ledger, that if he would +raise $1,000 for a lecture in Tacoma, I would make +a trip around the world in less than seventy days. +He told me to come on.</p> + +<p>As I started West, to sail on the Abyssinia, I +received message after message from Radebaugh. +Instead of the $1,000 I had asked for, $1,500 had +been subscribed by the time I reached Chicago, and<span class="pagenum">[Pg 336]</span> +at St. Paul it had gone up to $3,500. I soon +reached Tacoma, and lectured there to an immense +audience, taking in $4,200, the largest amount ever +paid for a single lecture—and sailed out into the +Pacific March 18th. I was accompanied by S. W. +Wall, editor of the Ledger. Lafcadio Hearn, the +distinguished writer, was on the same ship, on his +way to Japan. He was so ill that he did not leave +his state-room during the voyage.</p> + +<p>We made Yokohama in sixteen days, and the +moment I landed I telegraphed to the American +legation at Tokyo to get me a passport. It had +always taken three days to get a passport, but I +said that I must have this at once, and I got it. +In seven hours I was on the way to Kobe, overland, +three hundred miles across Japan. I caught +the German ship for Nagasaki, from which point, +after a short delay, I sailed for Hongkong. In a +trip of this kind, of course, one sees little of interest. +It is a mere question of rushing from +vessel to vessel the moment you get into port, or +of catching trains, or of chartering boats to bridge +gaps, or of haggling with ship-captains or railway +managers about getting extra accommodations at +very extra prices.</p> + +<p>My longest delay was at Singapore, where I +lost forty hours. The next longest loss of time +was in New York—wonderful to relate—where I +was delayed thirty-six hours, although four railways +were competing for the honor of taking me<span class="pagenum">[Pg 337]</span> +across the continent on a record-breaking journey. +I arrived on Saturday, and had to charter a special +car—which cost $1,500—and could not get away +until Monday morning. I was near being delayed +a day at Calais, France, but succeeded in chartering +a boat to take me over the Channel. As this +boat carried the British mails, I was relieved of the +expense by the British Government.</p> + +<p>At Portland I met with a most annoying delay +of five hours, due entirely to mismanagement. +This most unexpectedly lengthened out my tour at +the very end, and so angered me that I refused to +attend a banquet the people had prepared for me. +I pushed on to Tacoma as soon as I could get anything +to carry me, and arrived there exactly sixty-seven +days, thirteen hours, two minutes, and fifty-five +seconds from the time I had started. The +actual time of traveling was fifty-nine days and +seven hours. Seven days and five hours had been +lost. This was then the fastest trip around the +world. It has been beaten since by myself.</p> + +<p>As I had started on my second trip from a +Pacific coast point, there was a good deal of rivalry +among the growing towns in that section with regard +to the honor of being the starting-point of my +third trip in '92, in which I eclipsed all previous +records. I had already announced that this could +readily be done, as the Pacific steamships were +very much faster than they had been at the time of +my former voyage, and as the connections at vari<span class="pagenum">[Pg 338]</span>ous +ports were much better. Sir William Van +Horne had also written that he wanted me to make +another tour of the world, using one of the fast +ships of the Canadian Pacific road, the famous +Empresses, that soon would be put on the line to +Yokohama. The new town of Whatcom, on Puget +Sound, in the extreme northwest of Washington, +raised the amount necessary for the trip, and I +made my start from that point, catching the Empress +of India from Vancouver.</p> + +<p>An account of this voyage would necessarily be +only a panoramic glance at a narrow line around +the world. I made Yokohama in eleven days, was +at Kobe, Japan, in thirteen, and at Shanghai in +fifteen. Here I had some difficulty in finding a fast +steamer for Singapore, but succeeded in getting +aboard a swift German boat, the Friga, which put +me in Singapore in time to catch the Moyune, the +last of the fast tea ships, and on her I sailed as +far as Port Said, through the Suez Canal. At +Port Said I boarded the Ismaila for Brindisi, +Italy. Then I again rushed across Europe, and +caught the Majestic at Liverpool for New York. +I found a distinguished company on board, +including Ambassador John Hay, D. O. Mills, +Lady Stewart, Mrs. Paran Stevens, and Senator +Spooner.</p> + +<p><a id="page338a" name="page338a"></a></p> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a href="images/illus-376.jpg"> +<img src="images/illus-376.jpg" alt="Dinner in the Mills Hotel" title="Dinner in the Mills Hotel" /> +</a></div> +<p class="caption">Dinner in the Mills Hotel given by George Francis Train.</p> + +<p>I arrived in New York in good time, had a very +slight delay in comparison with that of my second +voyage, and went flying across the continent to +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 339]</span>Whatcom. The entire trip, giving a complete circuit +of the globe, was made in sixty days.</p> + +<p>To these three trips I attach no more importance, +I hope, than is fairly their due. In each of +them, in succession, I had beaten all previous +records of travel; and this was something in the +interests of all persons who travel, as showing +what could be done under stress, and as a stimulus +to greater efforts to reduce the long months +and days consumed on voyages from country to +country. But they were, as I consider them, +merely incidents in a life that has better things to +show. One of these voyages, the one in which I +"put a girdle round the earth" in eighty days, has +the honor of having given the suggestion for one of +the most interesting romances in literature. This, +at least, is something.</p> + +<p>But I give this brief account of my voyages, at +the end of my autobiography, chiefly because I regard +them as somewhat typical of my life. I have +lived fast. I have ever been an advocate of speed. +I was born into a slow world, and I wished to oil +the wheels and gear, so that the machine would +spin faster and, withal, to better purposes. I suggested +larger and fleeter ships, to shorten travel on +the ocean. I built street-railways, so that the workers +of the world might save a few minutes from +their days of pitiless toil, and so might have a little +leisure for enjoyment and self-improvement. I +built great railway lines—the Atlantic and Great<span class="pagenum">[Pg 340]</span> +Western, and the Union Pacific—that the continent +might be traversed by men and commerce more +rapidly, and its waste places made to blossom like +the rose. I wished to add a stimulus, a spur, a +goad—if necessary—that the slow, old world +might go on more swiftly, "and fetch the age of +gold," with more leisure, more culture, more happiness. +And so I put faster ships on the oceans, +and faster means of travel on land.</p> + +<p>My own rapid tours of the world are, therefore, +typical of my life. Thus an account of them seems +to round it off fitly with a "Bon voyage" to +every one.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 341]</span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>INDEX</h2> + +<table style="width:75%;" border="1" summary=""> + <tr> + <td> <a href="#IX_A">A</a></td> + <td> <a href="#IX_B">B</a></td> + <td> <a href="#IX_C">C</a></td> + <td> <a href="#IX_D">D</a></td> + <td> <a href="#IX_E">E</a></td> + <td> <a href="#IX_F">F</a></td> + <td> <a href="#IX_G">G</a></td> + <td> <a href="#IX_H">H</a></td> + <td> <a href="#IX_I">I</a></td> + <td> <a href="#IX_J">J</a></td> + <td> <a href="#IX_K">K</a></td> + <td> <a href="#IX_L">L</a></td> + <td> <a href="#IX_M">M</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> <a href="#IX_N">N</a></td> + <td> <a href="#IX_O">O</a></td> + <td> <a href="#IX_P">P</a></td> + <td> Q</td> + <td> <a href="#IX_R">R</a></td> + <td> <a href="#IX_S">S</a></td> + <td> <a href="#IX_T">T</a></td> + <td> <a href="#IX_U">U</a></td> + <td> <a href="#IX_V">V</a></td> + <td> <a href="#IX_W">W</a></td> + <td> X</td> + <td> <a href="#IX_Y">Y</a></td> + <td> Z</td> + </tr> +</table> + +<div class="index"><ul class="none"> +<li>Achinese<a id="IX_A"></a>, subjugation of the, <a href="#page178">178</a>.</li> + +<li>Aden, visit to,<a href="#page208"> 208</a>.</li> + +<li>Adirondack Railway,<a href="#page260"> 260</a>.</li> + +<li>American Merchant in Europe, Asia, and Australia, an,<a href="#page222"> 222</a>.</li> + +<li>Andaman Islands,<a href="#page204">204</a>.</li> + +<li>Anglo-American, the,<a href="#page72"> 72</a>,<a href="#page144"> 144</a>.</li> + +<li>Anglo-Saxon, the,<a href="#page55"> 55</a>,<a href="#page58"> 58</a>,<a href="#page72"> 72</a>.</li> + +<li>Anjer, visit of the natives at,<a href="#page174"> 174</a>.</li> + +<li>Antietam, Battle of,<a href="#page282"> 282</a>.</li> + +<li>Ariens, Admiral,<a href="#page251"> 251</a>.</li> + +<li>Around the world tours,<a href="#page331"> 331</a>.</li> + +<li>Around the World in Eighty Days,<a href="#page301"> 301</a>,<a href="#page331"> 331</a>.</li> + +<li>Ashburner, George,<a href="#page204"> 204</a>.</li> + +<li>Astor, John Jacob, Jr.,<a href="#page44"> 44</a>.</li> + +<li>Atlantic and Great Western Railway,<a href="#page237"> 237</a>,<a href="#page269"> 269</a>.</li> + +<li>Australia, begin business in,<a href="#page127"> 127</a>; +<ul class="IX"> +<li>gold-fever in,<a href="#page130"> 130</a>,<a href="#page141"> 141</a>; </li> +<li>outlaws of,<a href="#page152"> 152</a>,<a href="#page156"> 156</a>; </li> +<li>railway system of,<a href="#page269"> 269</a>; </li> +<li>rebellion in,<a href="#page156"> 156</a>.</li> +</ul></li> + +<li>Austria, travels in,<a href="#page233"> 233</a>.</li> +</ul></div> + +<div class="index"><ul class="none"> +<li>Bailey<a id="IX_B"></a>, Crawshay, and Atlantic and Great Western Railway,<a href="#page244"> 244</a>.</li> + +<li>Balaklava, visit to,<a href="#page217"> 217</a>.</li> + +<li>Balmoral, visit to,<a href="#page92"> 92</a>.</li> + +<li>Banka, tin mines of,<a href="#page179"> 179</a>.</li> + +<li>Banking and gambling compared,<a href="#page86"> 86</a>.</li> + +<li>Banks, Gen. Nathaniel P.,<a href="#page38"> 38</a>,<a href="#page58a"> 58</a>.</li> + +<li>Baring, Thomas, visit to America,<a href="#page71"> 71</a>.</li> + +<li>Bartley, Judge,<a href="#page244"> 244</a>.</li> + +<li>Bastile at Lyons, a prisoner in the,<a href="#page310"> 310</a>.</li> + +<li>Batavia, Java, beauty of,<a href="#page175"> 175</a>.</li> + +<li>Bemis, Emery,<a href="#page37"> 37</a>.</li> + +<li>Bemis, George Pickering,<a href="#page8"> 8</a>,<a href="#page48"> 48</a>,<a href="#page273"> 273</a>,<a href="#page311"> 311</a>.</li> + +<li>Bennett, James Gordon,<a href="#page222"> 222</a>.</li> + +<li>Beyrout, visit to,<a href="#page215"> 215</a>.</li> + +<li>Birkenhead, tramways in,<a href="#page261"> 261</a>.</li> + +<li>Black Hole of Calcutta,<a href="#page205"> 205</a>.</li> + +<li>Blockade running,<a href="#page272"> 272</a>.</li> + +<li>Bly, Nellie, trip round the world,<a href="#page335"> 335</a>.</li> + +<li>Bombay, India, railroad in,<a href="#page270"> 270</a>.</li> + +<li>"Bonanza nugget," the, story of,<a href="#page141"> 141</a>.</li> + +<li>Boomerang, the,<a href="#page169"> 169</a>.</li> + +<li>Booth, Edwin, in Melbourne,<a href="#page166"> 166</a>.</li> + +<li>Botany Bay,<a href="#page144a"> 144</a>.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 342]</span></li> + +<li>Bougevine, Gen., in China, 196.</li> + +<li>Bowling, skill in,<a href="#page79"> 79</a>; +<ul class="IX"> +<li>in Australia,<a href="#page135"> 135</a>.</li> +</ul></li> +<li>Braemar, meeting with Lord John Russell at,<a href="#page92"> 92</a>.</li> + +<li>Bridges, the phrenologist,<a href="#page122"> 122</a>.</li> + +<li>Briticisms,<a href="#page91"> 91</a>.</li> + +<li class="lsoff">Brooke, "Sarawak,"<a href="#page179"> 179</a>.</li> + +<li>Brougham, John, visit to Liverpool,<a href="#page124"> 124</a>.</li> + +<li>Bunker Hill Day,<a href="#page112"> 112</a>.</li> + +<li>Bury, Lord, <a href="#page105">105</a>.</li> + +<li>Bushnell, the actor, in Melbourne,<a href="#page167"> 167</a>.</li> +</ul></div> + +<div class="index"><ul class="none"> +<li>Cairo<a id="IX_C"></a>, land trip from Suez to,<a href="#page209"> 209</a>.</li> + +<li>Calcutta, visit to,<a href="#page204"> 204</a>.</li> + +<li>Caldwell, Captain, partner in the Australian house,<a href="#page127"> 127</a>,<a href="#page136"> 136</a>,<a href="#page223"> 223</a>.</li> + +<li>California, discovery of gold in,<a href="#page71"> 71</a>.</li> + +<li>Canada, visit to,<a href="#page86"> 86</a>.</li> + +<li>Canning, Lord, Governor-General of India,<a href="#page207"> 207</a>.</li> + +<li>Canton, visit to,<a href="#page182"> 182</a>,<a href="#page185"> 185</a>.</li> + +<li>Cape May, in 1850,<a href="#page79"> 79</a>.</li> + +<li>Carleton, Mrs., meeting with,<a href="#page83"> 83</a>.</li> + +<li>Castiglione, Countess,<a href="#page230"> 230</a>.</li> + +<li>Ceylon, visit to,<a href="#page208"> 208</a>.</li> + +<li>Chatsworth, visit to,<a href="#page102"> 102</a>.</li> + +<li>China, visit to,<a href="#page180"> 180</a>; +<ul class="IX"> +<li>population of,<a href="#page190"> 190</a>.</li> +</ul></li> +<li>Chinese, civilization of the,<a href="#page197"> 197</a>; +<ul class="IX"> +<li>customs of the,<a href="#page190"> 190</a>;</li> +<li>honesty of the,<a href="#page187"> 187</a>.</li> +</ul></li> +<li>Choate, Rufus, retained in the Franklin case,<a href="#page62"> 62</a>.</li> + +<li>Chronicle, London, purchase of the,<a href="#page272"> 272</a>.</li> + +<li>Cincinnati, honeymoon trip to,<a href="#page116"> 116</a>.</li> + +<li>Civil War in the United States, England and the,<a href="#page271"> 271</a>.</li> + +<li>Claflin, Tennie C., arrest of,<a href="#page323"> 323</a>.</li> + +<li>Clarke, John, Jr.,<a href="#page7"> 7</a>,<a href="#page9"> 9</a>.</li> + +<li>Clay, Cassius M., debate with,<a href="#page279"> 279</a>.</li> + +<li>Clay, Henry, calls on,<a href="#page81"> 81</a>.</li> + +<li>Cluseret, Gen. Gustave Paul, summoned from Switzerland,<a href="#page305"> 305</a>.</li> + +<li>Collie, Alexander,<a href="#page180"> 180</a>.</li> + +<li>Collingwood, home at,<a href="#page135"> 135</a>.</li> + +<li>Commune, the,<a href="#page301"> 301</a>.</li> + +<li>Constantine, Grand Duke, meeting with, at Strelna,<a href="#page251"> 251</a>.</li> + +<li>Constantinople, visit to,<a href="#page216"> 216</a>.</li> + +<li>Cook, Captain, in Botany Bay,<a href="#page145"> 145</a>.</li> + +<li>Copenhagen, tramway in,<a href="#page269"> 269</a>.</li> + +<li>Cozzens's Hotel, Omaha,<a href="#page296"> 296</a>.</li> + +<li>Crédit Foncier,<a href="#page285"> 285</a>.</li> + +<li>Crédit Mobilier of America,<a href="#page260"> 260</a>,<a href="#page285"> 285</a>,<a href="#page316"> 316</a>.</li> + +<li>Crimea, in the,<a href="#page217"> 217</a>.</li> + +<li>Cristina, Queen Maria, and Atlantic and Great Western Railway,<a href="#page227"> 227</a>,<a href="#page237"> 237</a>.</li> + +<li>Crystal Palace,<a href="#page103"> 103</a>,<a href="#page104"> 104</a>.</li> +</ul></div> + +<div class="index"><ul class="none"> +<li>Dalhousie<a id="IX_D"></a>, Lord, Governor-General of India,<a href="#page207"> 207</a>.</li> + +<li>Dallas, George M.,<a href="#page250"> 250</a>.</li> + +<li>Daniel Webster, the,<a href="#page117"> 117</a>.</li> + +<li>Darlington, England, tramways in,<a href="#page269"> 269</a>.</li> + +<li>Davis, Col. George T. M.,<a href="#page110"> 110</a>,<a href="#page116"> 116</a>,<a href="#page259"> 259</a>.</li> + +<li>Delane, John, editor London Times,<a href="#page251"> 251</a>.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 343]</span></li> + +<li>Delmonico's, McHenry's $15,000 dinner at,<a href="#page246"> 246</a>.</li> + +<li>De Morny, Count,<a href="#page228"> 228</a>.</li> + +<li>De Questa, Rodrigo, and Atlantic and Great Western Railway,<a href="#page238"> 238</a>.</li> + +<li>Derby, J. C.,<a href="#page273"> 273</a>.</li> + +<li>Devonshire, Duke of, meeting with the,<a href="#page101"> 101</a>.</li> + +<li>Dinsmore, Mr., meeting with,<a href="#page87"> 87</a>.</li> + +<li>Dombriski, Prince, received by,<a href="#page255"> 255</a>.</li> + +<li>Donohue, Irish patriot,<a href="#page165"> 165</a>.</li> + +<li>Donovan, the phrenologist,<a href="#page122"> 122</a>.</li> + +<li>Drinking by women in 1850,<a href="#page83"> 83</a>.</li> + +<li>Dublin, imprisonment in,<a href="#page314"> 314</a>.</li> + +<li>Duckbill, the Australian,<a href="#page169"> 169</a>.</li> + +<li>Durant, Dr. T. C., president of Crédit Mobilier,<a href="#page260"> 260</a>.</li> +</ul></div> + +<div class="index"><ul class="none"> +<li>Elephants<a id="IX_E"></a> as carriers,<a href="#page208"> 208</a>.</li> + +<li>Emerson, Ralph W., lecture at Waltham,<a href="#page39"> 39</a>; +<ul class="IX"> +<li>engages passage for Europe,<a href="#page60"> 60</a>.</li> +</ul></li> +<li>Emigration, Irish, to America,<a href="#page76"> 76</a>; +<ul class="IX"> +<li>of the Landsdowne tenants,<a href="#page97"> 97</a>;</li> +<li>to Tasmania,<a href="#page148"> 148</a>.</li> +</ul></li> +<li>"Emperor, the," fountain at Chatsworth,<a href="#page102"> 102</a>.</li> + +<li>England, first impressions of,<a href="#page90"> 90</a>; +<ul class="IX"> +<li>introduction of tramways in,<a href="#page259"> 259</a>;</li> +<li>and the Civil War in the United States,<a href="#page271"> 271</a>.</li> +</ul></li> +<li>Excelsior, the Chinese,<a href="#page193"> 193</a>.</li> +</ul></div> + +<div class="index"><ul class="none"> +<li>Fallow<a id="IX_F"></a>, Christopher and John,<a href="#page239"> 239</a>.</li> + +<li>Fenton, Reuben E.,<a href="#page243"> 243</a>.</li> + +<li>Fillmore, Millard, President,<a href="#page113"> 113</a>.</li> + +<li>Fiske, Stebbins,<a href="#page13"> 13</a>.</li> + +<li>Fitzroy, Sir Charles, Governor of New South Wales,<a href="#page143"> 143</a>.</li> + +<li>"Five-Star Republic," the, of Australia,<a href="#page157"> 157</a>.</li> + +<li>Flowers, love of,<a href="#page177"> 177</a>.</li> + +<li>Flying Cloud, the,<a href="#page72"> 72</a>,<a href="#page221"> 221</a>.</li> + +<li>Flying-fish, experience with,<a href="#page208"> 208</a>.</li> + +<li>Fowler, the phrenologist,<a href="#page123"> 123</a>.</li> + +<li>France, travels in,<a href="#page233"> 233</a>.</li> + +<li>Franklin, wreck of the,<a href="#page61"> 61</a>.</li> + +<li>Franklin, Sir John, house in Tasmania,<a href="#page150"> 150</a>.</li> + +<li>Frost, Abigail Pickering,<a href="#page10"> 10</a>.</li> + +<li>Frost, George W.,<a href="#page14"> 14</a>.</li> + +<li>Frost, Leonard<a href="#page39">, 39</a>.</li> + +<li>Fu-chow, visit to,<a href="#page200"> 200</a>.</li> + +<li>Fuller, Frank, builder of Crystal Palace,<a href="#page104"> 104</a>.</li> + +<li>Fuller, Col. Hiram,<a href="#page93"> 93</a>.</li> +</ul></div> + +<div class="index"><ul class="none"> +<li>Gambetta<a id="IX_G"></a>, interview with,<a href="#page311"> 311</a>.</li> + +<li>Gambling at Saratoga in 1850,<a href="#page85"> 85</a>.</li> + +<li>Geneva, Switzerland, tramway in,<a href="#page269"> 269</a>.</li> + +<li>Georgetown Convent, visit to,<a href="#page82"> 82</a>.</li> + +<li>Germany, travels in,<a href="#page233"> 233</a>.</li> + +<li>Ginger, preparation of Canton,<a href="#page190"> 190</a>.</li> + +<li>"Godowns,"<a href="#page185"> 185</a>.</li> + +<li>Golden Age, the, and Black Warrior incident,<a href="#page143"> 143</a>.</li> + +<li>Gold-fever, in California,<a href="#page71"> 71</a>; +<ul class="IX"> +<li>in Australia,<a href="#page130"> 130</a>,<a href="#page141"> 141</a>.</li> +</ul></li> +<li>Gordon, "Chinese,"<a href="#page196"> 196</a>.</li> + +<li>Governor Davis, the,<a href="#page64"> 64</a>.</li> + +<li>Grant, U. S., election to the presidency,<a href="#page321"> 321</a>.</li> + +<li>Gray Nunnery, Montreal, visit to the,<a href="#page87"> 87</a>.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 344]</span></li> + + +<li>Greeley, Horace, nomination of, <a href="#page320">320</a>.</li> + +<li>Green, E. H., in Hongkong,<a href="#page182"> 182</a>.</li> + +<li>Greig, Colonel, entertained by,<a href="#page254"> 254</a>.</li> + +<li>Guild, B. F., editor of Boston Commercial Bulletin,<a href="#page276"> 276</a>.</li> +</ul></div> + +<div class="index"><ul class="none"> +<li>Harris<a id="IX_H"></a>, Townsend,<a href="#page179"> 179</a>.</li> + +<li>Havelock, General,<a href="#page208"> 208</a>.</li> + +<li>Hawthorne, Nathaniel,<a href="#page58"> 58</a>.</li> + +<li>Hayes, Kate, in Melbourne,<a href="#page167"> 167</a>.</li> + +<li>Heard, Augustine, author of The Chinese Excelsior, 193, 200.</li> + +<li>Henry, voyage to Boston on the,<a href="#page7"> 7</a>,<a href="#page16"> 16</a>.</li> + +<li>Herald, New York, in 1856,<a href="#page221"> 221</a>.</li> + +<li>Hill, Rowland, English postal reformer,<a href="#page108"> 108</a>.</li> + +<li>Hobart Town, Tasmania, visit to,<a href="#page149"> 149</a>.</li> + +<li>Holmes, Joseph A., secure employment with,<a href="#page42"> 42</a>.</li> + +<li>Hongkong, visits to,<a href="#page182"> 182</a>,<a href="#page203"> 203</a>.</li> + +<li>Hooligan, finder of the "bonanza nugget,"<a href="#page141"> 141</a>.</li> + +<li>Horsemanship,<a href="#page112"> 112</a>.</li> + +<li>Hotel scheme for London,<a href="#page105"> 105</a>.</li> + +<li>Howe, Joseph, ex-Governor of Nova Scotia,<a href="#page113"> 113</a>.</li> + +<li>Howitt, William and Mary,<a href="#page149"> 149</a>.</li> + +<li>Hudson, Captain,<a href="#page249"> 249</a>.</li> + +<li>Hudson, Frederick,<a href="#page222"> 222</a>.</li> + +<li>Hunt, Thornton, made editor of London Morning Chronicle,<a href="#page272"> 272</a>.</li> +</ul></div> + +<div class="index"><ul class="none"> +<li>Imprisonment<a id="IX_I"></a>,<a href="#page314"> 314</a>,<a href="#page334"> 334</a>.</li> + +<li>India, visit to,<a href="#page204"> 204</a>.</li> + +<li>Inventions,<a href="#page106"> 106</a>.</li> + +<li>Irish immigration to America,<a href="#page76"> 76</a>.</li> + +<li>Italy, travels in,<a href="#page233"> 233</a>.</li> +</ul></div> + +<div class="index"><ul class="none"> +<li>Japan<a id="IX_J"></a>, leaves Australia for,<a href="#page168"> 168</a>,<a href="#page171"> 171</a>; +<ul class="IX"> +<li>trip abandoned,<a href="#page200"> 200</a>.</li> +</ul></li> +<li>Java, visit to,<a href="#page174"> 174</a>.</li> + +<li>Jerusalem, visit to,<a href="#page211"> 211</a>.</li> + +<li>Joppa, visit to,<a href="#page211"> 211</a>.</li> + +<li>Joshua Bates, the,<a href="#page58"> 58</a>,<a href="#page72"> 72</a>.</li> +</ul></div> + +<div class="index"><ul class="none"> +<li>Kangaroos<a id="IX_K"></a>, Sidney Smith on,<a href="#page169"> 169</a>.</li> + +<li>Keene, Laura, in Melbourne,<a href="#page166"> 166</a>.</li> + +<li>Kennard, Thomas, and Atlantic and Great Western Railway,<a href="#page243"> 243</a>.</li> + +<li>King, Susan B.,<a href="#page332"> 332</a>.</li> + +<li>Krakatoa, volcano of,<a href="#page175"> 175</a>.</li> + +<li>Kremlin, at the,<a href="#page255"> 255</a>.</li> +</ul></div> + +<div class="index"><ul class="none"> +<li>Lachine Rapids<a id="IX_L"></a>, shooting the,<a href="#page86"> 86</a>.</li> + +<li>Laird, John, and the Birkenhead tramways,<a href="#page261"> 261</a>.</li> + +<li>Lake Champlain, visit to,<a href="#page88"> 88</a>.</li> + +<li>Lake George, visit to,<a href="#page88"> 88</a>.</li> + +<li>Lamartine, Alphonse de, meeting with Seward,<a href="#page232"> 232</a>.</li> + +<li>Lansdowne, Marquis of,<a href="#page97"> 97</a>.</li> + +<li>Latrobe, Governor,<a href="#page158"> 158</a>.</li> + +<li>Launceston, Tasmania, visit to,<a href="#page151"> 151</a>.</li> + +<li>Lawrence, Abbott, United States Minister,<a href="#page98"> 98</a>.</li> + +<li>Lawrence, Bigelow, marriage to Sallie Ward,<a href="#page114"> 114</a>.</li> + +<li>Leghorn, explosion at,<a href="#page233"> 233</a>.</li> + +<li>Lemon, Mark,<a href="#page105"> 105</a>.</li> + +<li>Lexington, burning of the,<a href="#page10"> 10</a>,<a href="#page36"> 36</a>.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 345]</span></li> + + +<li>Lightning, the,<a href="#page221"> 221</a>.</li> + +<li>Ligue du Midi, the,<a href="#page305"> 305</a>.</li> + +<li>Li Hung Chang, meeting with,<a href="#page195"> 195</a>.</li> + +<li>Lillo, Leon,<a href="#page227"> 227</a>; +<ul class="IX"> +<li>and Atlantic and Great Western Railway,<a href="#page238"> 238</a>.</li> +</ul></li> +<li>Lincoln, President, and emancipation,<a href="#page280"> 280</a>.</li> + +<li>Liverpool, take charge of business in,<a href="#page79"> 79</a>,<a href="#page90"> 90</a>; +<ul class="IX"> +<li>business facilities of,<a href="#page94"> 94</a>;</li> +<li>return to, after marriage,<a href="#page117"> 117</a>;</li> +<li>introduction of street-railways,<a href="#page260"> 260</a>.</li> +</ul></li> +<li>London, visits to,<a href="#page98"> 98</a>,<a href="#page104"> 104</a>; +<ul class="IX"> +<li>introduction of tramways,<a href="#page263"> 263</a>.</li> +</ul></li> +<li>Lyons, imprisonment at,<a href="#page310"> 310</a>.</li> +</ul></div> + +<div class="index"><ul class="none"> +<li>Macao<a id="IX_M"></a>, visit to,<a href="#page182"> 182</a>.</li> + +<li>MacDonald, Sir John A.,<a href="#page113"> 113</a>.</li> + +<li>MacFarlane, Rev. J. R., companion in the Holy Land,<a href="#page211"> 211</a>.</li> + +<li>McGill, James, Australian outlaw,<a href="#page159"> 159</a>.</li> + +<li>McHenry, James,<a href="#page94"> 94</a>,<a href="#page108"> 108</a>,<a href="#page121"> 121</a>,<a href="#page231"> 231</a>; +<ul class="IX"> +<li>and Atlantic and Great Western Railway,<a href="#page237"> 237</a>.</li> +</ul></li> +<li>Mackay, Charles, author,<a href="#page125"> 125</a>.</li> + +<li>Mackay, Donald,<a href="#page72"> 72</a>,<a href="#page223"> 223</a>.</li> + +<li>Mackay, John W.,<a href="#page76"> 76</a>.</li> + +<li>MacMahon, Marshal, in the Crimea,<a href="#page219"> 219</a>.</li> + +<li>Madras, visit to,<a href="#page208"> 208</a>.</li> + +<li>Marriage,<a href="#page109"> 109</a>.</li> + +<li>Marseilles, in the Commune,<a href="#page301"> 301</a>.</li> + +<li>Marsh, John Alfred,<a href="#page121"> 121</a>.</li> + +<li>Marshall, Matthew, Jr., and Atlantic and Great Western Railway,<a href="#page245"> 245</a>.</li> + +<li>Martin, John, Irish patriot,<a href="#page165"> 165</a>.</li> + +<li>Marvin, the hotel-keeper,<a href="#page83"> 83</a>.</li> + +<li>Mavrockadatis, the, trip to Newfoundland on,<a href="#page274"> 274</a>.</li> + +<li>Melbourne, Australia, begin business in,<a href="#page127"> 127</a>; +<ul class="IX"> +<li>in 1854,<a href="#page133"> 133</a>;</li> +<li>public improvement in,<a href="#page170"> 170</a>.</li> +</ul></li> +<li>Methodism, New England,<a href="#page21"> 21</a>,<a href="#page45"> 45</a>.</li> + +<li>Mirage, a,<a href="#page209"> 209</a>.</li> + +<li>Montez, Lola, in Melbourne,<a href="#page167"> 167</a>.</li> + +<li>Montreal, visit to,<a href="#page86"> 86</a>.</li> + +<li>Morse, Salmi,<a href="#page133"> 133</a>.</li> + +<li>Moscow, visit to,<a href="#page255"> 255</a>.</li> + +<li>Mount Vernon, visit to,<a href="#page82"> 82</a>.</li> + +<li>Muñoz, Fernando,<a href="#page237"> 237</a>.</li> +</ul></div> + +<div class="index"><ul class="none"> +<li>Nana Sahib<a id="IX_N"></a>,<a href="#page208"> 208</a>.</li> + +<li>Naples, visit to,<a href="#page234"> 234</a>.</li> + +<li>Napoleon, Emperor Louis,<a href="#page272"> 272</a>; +<ul class="IX"> +<li>hatred of,<a href="#page226"> 226</a>.</li> +</ul></li> +<li>New Orleans, yellow fever at,<a href="#page2"> 2</a>.</li> + +<li>New South Wales, gold-fever in,<a href="#page130"> 130</a>,<a href="#page141"> 141</a>.</li> + +<li>New York, to sell Flying Cloud,<a href="#page73"> 73</a>; +<ul class="IX"> +<li>vacation in,<a href="#page79"> 79</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Niagara Falls, visit to,<a href="#page86"> 86</a>,<a href="#page111"> 111</a>.</li> + +<li>Nicholson, Sir Charles,<a href="#page143"> 143</a>.</li> + +<li>Nijnii Novgorod, visit to,<a href="#page256"> 256</a>.</li> + +<li>Noroton, Conn., Soldiers' Home in,<a href="#page164"> 164</a>.</li> +</ul></div> + +<div class="index"><ul class="none"> +<li>O'Brien<a id="IX_O"></a>, Smith, Irish patriot,<a href="#page165"> 165</a>.</li> + +<li>Ocean Monarch, the,<a href="#page72"> 72</a>; +<ul class="IX"> +<li>burning of,<a href="#page59"> 59</a>.</li> +</ul></li> +<li>Omaha, development of,<a href="#page294"> 294</a>.</li> + +<li>Opium trade,<a href="#page67"> 67</a>; +<ul class="IX"> +<li>English, in China,<a href="#page196"> 196</a>.</li> +</ul></li> +<li>Otis, Mrs. Harrison Grey, meeting with,<a href="#page84"> 84</a>.</li> + +<li>Outlaws, Australian,<a href="#page152"> 152</a>.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 346]</span></li> + +</ul></div> + +<div class="index"><ul class="none"> +<li>Palestine<a id="IX_P"></a>, visit to,<a href="#page211"> 211</a>.</li> + +<li>Paris, first visit to,<a href="#page224"> 224</a>,<a href="#page226"> 226</a>.</li> + +<li>Parker, Dr., United States Minister to China,<a href="#page180"> 180</a>.</li> + +<li>Parliament, the, trip to Liverpool on,<a href="#page90"> 90</a>.</li> + +<li>Paxton, Sir Joseph, meeting with,<a href="#page103"> 103</a>.</li> + +<li>Pennock, Commander,<a href="#page249"> 249</a>.</li> + +<li>Peto, Sir Morton,<a href="#page246"> 246</a>.</li> + +<li>Philippines, war in the, <a href="#page178">178</a>.</li> + +<li>Phillips, Wendell, and the negro,<a href="#page281"> 281</a>.</li> + +<li>Phrenology, experiences with,<a href="#page121"> 121</a>.</li> + +<li>Pickering, Rev. George,<a href="#page1"> 1</a>,<a href="#page21"> 21</a>.</li> + +<li>Pickering, Judge Gilbert,<a href="#page23"> 23</a>.</li> + +<li>Pickering, Maria,<a href="#page1"> 1</a>.</li> + +<li>Pidgin-English,<a href="#page185"> 185</a>,<a href="#page192"> 192</a>.</li> + +<li>Pigeon-netting,<a href="#page30"> 30</a>.</li> + +<li>Pirates, Chinese,<a href="#page182"> 182</a>,<a href="#page201"> 201</a>.</li> + +<li>Plymouth Rock, the, trip to Melbourne on,<a href="#page127"> 127</a>.</li> + +<li>Point de Galle, Ceylon, visit to,<a href="#page208"> 208</a>.</li> + +<li>Porter, Capt. David D., visits Melbourne,<a href="#page143"> 143</a>.</li> + +<li>Portland, Ore., speech at,<a href="#page297"> 297</a>.</li> + +<li>Presidential aspirations,<a href="#page314"> 314</a>.</li> + +<li>Pyramids, trip to the,<a href="#page209"> 209</a>.</li> +</ul></div> + +<div class="index"><ul class="none"> +<li>Railway building<a id="IX_R"></a>, in Australia,<a href="#page131"> 131</a>,<a href="#page269"> 269</a>; +<ul class="IX"> +<li>Atlantic and Great Western Railway,<a href="#page237"> 237</a>,<a href="#page269"> 269</a>;</li> +<li>English street-railways,<a href="#page259"> 259</a>;</li> +<li>Union Pacific Railway,<a href="#page269"> 269</a>,<a href="#page283"> 283</a>.</li> +</ul></li> +<li>Red Jacket, the,<a href="#page221"> 221</a>; +<ul class="IX"> +<li>the incident at Melbourne,<a href="#page138"> 138</a>.</li> +</ul></li> +<li>Rhoades, Sallie,<a href="#page24"> 24</a>.</li> + +<li>Rianzares, Duke of,<a href="#page227"> 227</a>,<a href="#page237"> 237</a>.</li> + +<li>Richardson, Albert D., Beyond the Mississippi,<a href="#page291"> 291</a>.</li> + +<li>Ripley, George,<a href="#page38"> 38</a>.</li> + +<li>Ristori, meeting with,<a href="#page228"> 228</a>.</li> + +<li>Rome, hailed as "liberator" in uprising in,<a href="#page235"> 235</a>.</li> + +<li>Rumford, Count,<a href="#page38"> 38</a>.</li> + +<li>Rush, Mrs., meeting with,<a href="#page84"> 84</a>.</li> + +<li>Russell, Lord John, meeting with, at Braemar,<a href="#page92"> 92</a>; +<ul class="IX"> +<li>and the Civil War,<a href="#page272"> 272</a>.</li> + </ul></li> +<li>Russia, visit to,<a href="#page249"> 249</a>.</li> +</ul></div> + +<div class="index"><ul class="none"> +<li>St. Petersburg<a id="IX_S"></a>, visit to,<a href="#page251"> 251</a>.</li> + +<li>St. Petersburg, the,<a href="#page67">64</a>.</li> + +<li>Sala, George Augustus,<a href="#page105"> 105</a>; +<ul class="IX"> +<li>in America,<a href="#page260"> 260</a>.</li> +</ul></li> +<li>Salamanca, José de, Spanish banker,<a href="#page228"> 228</a>; +<ul class="IX"> +<li>and Atlantic and Great Western Railway,<a href="#page240"> 240</a>.</li> +</ul></li> +<li>San Francisco, lectures in,<a href="#page296"> 296</a>.</li> + +<li>Saratoga, visit to,<a href="#page83"> 83</a>.</li> + +<li>Savage Club of London, organization of the,<a href="#page263"> 263</a>.</li> + +<li>Schenck, Robert E.,<a href="#page244"> 244</a>.</li> + +<li>Scotland, visit to,<a href="#page92"> 92</a>.</li> + +<li>Seattle, speech in,<a href="#page299"> 299</a>.</li> + +<li>Sebastopol, visit to,<a href="#page217"> 217</a>.</li> + +<li>Seward, William H., in Paris,<a href="#page231"> 231</a>; +<ul class="IX"> +<li>and the Mavrockadatis incident,<a href="#page274"> 274</a>;</li> +<li>in Washington,<a href="#page281"> 281</a>.</li> +</ul></li> +<li>Seymour, Thomas H., Minister to Russia,<a href="#page251">251</a>.</li> + +<li>Shanghai, visit to,<a href="#page194"> 194</a>.</li> + +<li>Shelley, Sir John Villiers,<a href="#page268"> 268</a>.</li> + +<li>Sherman, John,<a href="#page244"> 244</a>.</li> + +<li>Ships, naming of,<a href="#page174"> 174</a>.</li> + +<li>Singapore, visit to,<a href="#page179"> 179</a>.</li> + +<li>Slave trade, Chinese,<a href="#page184"> 184</a>,<a href="#page203"> 203</a>.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 347]</span></li> + + +<li>Smith, Archdeacon, meeting with,<a href="#page88"> 88</a>.</li> + +<li>Smith, Sidney, on kangaroos,<a href="#page169"> 169</a>; +<ul class="IX"> +<li>prophecy in regard to Sydney, Australia,<a href="#page143"> 143</a>.</li> +</ul></li> +<li>Smuggling,<a href="#page67"> 67</a>.</li> + +<li>Smyrna, visit to,<a href="#page215"> 215</a>.</li> + +<li>Sovereign of the Seas, the,<a href="#page74"> 74</a>,<a href="#page221"> 221</a>.</li> + +<li>Spectator, the London, purchase of,<a href="#page273"> 273</a>.</li> + +<li>Spence, Carroll,<a href="#page217"> 217</a>.</li> + +<li>Spencer, Bishop of Jamaica, meeting with,<a href="#page88"> 88</a>; +<ul class="IX"> +<li>dinner with, in London,<a href="#page98"> 98</a>.</li> +</ul></li> +<li>"Spread-Eagleism,"<a href="#page244"> 244</a>.</li> + +<li>Staffordshire, introduction of tramways in,<a href="#page268"> 268</a>.</li> + +<li>Staffordshire, the,<a href="#page74"> 74</a>.</li> + +<li>Stettin, visit to,<a href="#page251"> 251</a>.</li> + +<li>Stevens, Paran,<a href="#page106"> 106</a>.</li> + +<li>Stoddard, Captain, meeting with,<a href="#page87"> 87</a>.</li> + +<li>Street-railways, first English,<a href="#page259"> 259</a>.</li> + +<li>Strelna, meeting with Grand Duke Constantine at,<a href="#page251"> 251</a>.</li> + +<li>Suez, visit to, and land trip to Cairo,<a href="#page209"> 209</a>.</li> + +<li>Sumner, Charles, speaks in Boston on the war,<a href="#page277"> 277</a>.</li> + +<li>Swans, black,<a href="#page168"> 168</a>.</li> + +<li>Sydney, visit to,<a href="#page143"> 143</a>.</li> +</ul></div> + +<div class="index"><ul class="none"> +<li>Tai-ping rebellion<a id="IX_T"></a>,<a href="#page196"> 196</a>.</li> + +<li>Tasmania, visit to,<a href="#page148"> 148</a>; +<ul class="IX"> +<li>gold-fever in,<a href="#page130"> 130</a>,<a href="#page141"> 141</a>.</li> +</ul></li> +<li>Taylor, Moses,<a href="#page166"> 166</a>.</li> + +<li>Taylor, President, introduced to,<a href="#page80"> 80</a>.</li> + +<li>Tea, Chinese and Russian,<a href="#page191"> 191</a>,<a href="#page334"> 334</a>.</li> + +<li>Temperance,<a href="#page47"> 47</a>,<a href="#page99"> 99</a>.</li> + +<li>Ten-pins, skill in,<a href="#page79"> 79</a>; +<ul class="IX"> +<li>in Australia,<a href="#page135"> 135</a>.</li> +</ul></li> +<li>The Hague, visit to,<a href="#page251"> 251</a>.</li> + +<li>Ticonderoga, visit to,<a href="#page88"> 88</a>.</li> + +<li>Tilden, Samuel J., and Union Pacific Railway,<a href="#page288"> 288</a>.</li> + +<li>Tilly, Governor, of New Brunswick,<a href="#page113"> 113</a>.</li> + +<li>Tombs, imprisonment in the,<a href="#page324"> 324</a>.</li> + +<li>Train, Ellen,<a href="#page5"> 5</a>.</li> + +<li>Train, Col. Enoch,<a href="#page52"> 52</a>,<a href="#page126"> 126</a>,<a href="#page223"> 223</a>; +<ul class="IX"> +<li>failure of,<a href="#page173"> 173</a>.</li> +</ul></li> +<li>Train, Josephine,<a href="#page3"> 3</a>.</li> + +<li>Train, Louisa,<a href="#page9"> 9</a>.</li> + +<li>Train, Louise,<a href="#page5"> 5</a>.</li> + +<li>Train, Oliver,<a href="#page1"> 1</a>,<a href="#page7"> 7</a>. </li> +<li>Train Villa, Newport,<a href="#page314"> 314</a>.</li> + +<li>Tramways. See Street-railways.</li> + +<li>Trescot, Commodore, meeting with,<a href="#page88"> 88</a>.</li> + +<li>Tucker, Beverley, consul in Liverpool,<a href="#page123"> 123</a>.</li> + +<li>Tweed Ring, exposure of the,<a href="#page32"> 32</a>.</li> +</ul></div> + +<div class="index"><ul class="none"> +<li>Unicorn<a id="IX_U"></a>, the wreck of,<a href="#page118"> 118</a>.</li> + +<li>Union Pacific Railway,<a href="#page269"> 269</a>,<a href="#page283"> 283</a>.</li> + +<li>Upas-tree, fable of the,<a href="#page189"> 189</a>.</li> + +<li>Upton, George B.,<a href="#page223"> 223</a>.</li> +</ul></div> + +<div class="index"><ul class="none"> +<li>Verne<a id="IX_V"></a>, Jules, Le Tour du Monde en Quatre-vingts Jours,<a href="#page301"> 301</a>,<a href="#page331"> 331</a>.</li> + +<li>Victoria, Queen,<a href="#page92"> 92</a>,<a href="#page104"> 104</a>.</li> + +<li>Vienna, visit to,<a href="#page235"> 235</a>.</li> +</ul></div> + +<div class="index"><ul class="none"> +<li>Wade<a id="IX_W"></a>, Benjamin,<a href="#page244"> 244</a>.</li> + +<li>Wales, visit to,<a href="#page101"> 101</a>.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 348]</span></li> + + +<li>Waltham, Mass., homestead at,<a href="#page1"> 1</a>,<a href="#page19"> 19</a>,<a href="#page21"> 21</a>.</li> + +<li>Ward, Frederick Townsend, in China,<a href="#page196"> 196</a>.</li> + +<li>Ward, Alfredo,<a href="#page109"> 109</a>.</li> + +<li>Ward, Gen. C. L.,<a href="#page243"> 243</a>.</li> + +<li>Ward, Sallie, marriage to Bigelow Lawrence,<a href="#page114"> 114</a>.</li> + +<li>Washington, vacation trip to,<a href="#page79"> 79</a>.</li> + +<li>Washington Irving, the,<a href="#page58"> 58</a>,<a href="#page72"> 72</a>,<a href="#page144"> 144</a>.</li> + +<li>Webster, Daniel, letter from,<a href="#page80"> 80</a>,<a href="#page87"> 87</a>,<a href="#page92"> 92</a>; +<ul class="IX"> +<li>retained in the Franklin case,<a href="#page63"> 63</a>;</li> +<li>Secretary of State,<a href="#page80"> 80</a>.</li> +</ul></li> +<li>Wellington, Duke of,<a href="#page100"> 100</a>.</li> + +<li>West Point, visit to,<a href="#page82"> 82</a>.</li> + +<li>Whistler, Major,<a href="#page255"> 255</a>.</li> + +<li>Willis, N. P., John Brougham on,<a href="#page124"> 124</a>.</li> + +<li>Wilson, Henry T.,<a href="#page148"> 148</a>.</li> + +<li>Winslow, Henry A.,<a href="#page10"> 10</a>.</li> + +<li>Woodhull, Victoria C., arrest of,<a href="#page323a"> 323</a>.</li> + +<li>World tours,<a href="#page331"> 331</a>.</li> +</ul></div> + +<div class="index"><ul class="none"> +<li>Young America Abroad<a id="IX_Y"></a>,<a href="#page93"> 93</a>,<a href="#page103"> 103</a>,<a href="#page257"> 257</a>.</li> + +<li>Young America in Wall Street,<a href="#page125"> 125</a>.</li> +</ul></div> + + +<p class="title">THE END</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Transcriber's Note:</p> + +<p>Punctuation has been corrected without note.</p> + +<p>page 280: "nonogenarian" changed to "nonagenarian" (who is now a nonagenarian, in his armed +castle in Kentucky).</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MY LIFE IN MANY STATES AND IN FOREIGN LANDS***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 38265-h.txt or 38265-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/8/2/6/38265">http://www.gutenberg.org/3/8/2/6/38265</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: My Life in Many States and in Foreign Lands + Dictated in My Seventy-Fourth Year + + +Author: George Francis Train + + + +Release Date: December 10, 2011 [eBook #38265] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MY LIFE IN MANY STATES AND IN +FOREIGN LANDS*** + + +E-text prepared by Julia Miller, Pat McCoy, and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from images generously made +available by Internet Archive/American Libraries +(http://www.archive.org/details/americana) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 38265-h.htm or 38265-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38265/38265-h/38265-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38265/38265-h.zip) + + + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive/American Libraries. See + http://www.archive.org/details/mylifemanystates00trairich + + + + + +[Illustration: George Francis Train. + +From a recent photograph.] + + + + + MY LIFE IN MANY STATES AND IN FOREIGN LANDS + + Dictated in My Seventy-Fourth Year + + by + + GEORGE FRANCIS TRAIN + + Illustrated + + + + + + + + + [Illustration] + + New York + D. Appleton and Company + 1902 + + Copyright, 1902 + by D. Appleton and Company + + Published November, 1902 + + + + + +MY LIFE IN MANY STATES + +AND IN FOREIGN LANDS + + + + + + TO THE CHILDREN + AND TO THE CHILDREN'S CHILDREN + IN THIS AND IN ALL LANDS + WHO LOVE AND BELIEVE IN ME + BECAUSE THEY KNOW + I LOVE AND BELIEVE IN THEM + + + + +PREFACE + + +I have been silent for thirty years. During that long period I have +taken little part in the public life of the world, have written nothing +beyond occasional letters and newspaper articles, and have conversed +with few persons, except children in parks and streets. I have found +children always sympathetic and appreciative. For this reason I have +readily entered into their play and their more serious moods; and for +this reason, also, have dedicated this book to them and to their +children. + +For many years I have been a silent recluse, remote from the world in my +little corner in the Mills Hotel, thinking and waiting patiently. That I +break this silence now, after so many years, is due to the suggestion of +a friend who has told me that the world of to-day, as well as the world +of to-morrow, will be interested in reading my story. I am assured that +many of the things I have accomplished will endure as a memorial of me, +and that I ought to give some account of them and of myself. + +And so I have tried to compress a story of my life into this book. With +modesty, I may say that the whole story could not be told in a single +volume. I have tried not to be prolix, keeping in mind while preparing +this record of events, "all of which I saw, and part of which I was," +that there is a limit to the patience of readers. + +I beg my readers to remember that this book was spoken, not written, by +me. It is my own life-story that I have related. It may not, in every +part, agree with the recollections of others; but I am sure that it is +as accurate in statement as it is blameless in purpose. If I should fail +at any point, this will be due to some wavering of memory, and not to +intention. Thanks to my early Methodist training, I have never knowingly +told a lie; and I shall not begin at this time of life. + +While I may undertake other volumes that will present another side of +me--my views and opinions of men and things--that which stands here +recorded is the story of my life. It has been dictated in the mornings +of July and August of the past summer, one or two hours being given to +it during two or three days of each week. Altogether, the time consumed +in the dictation makes a total of thirty-five hours. Before I began the +dictation, I wrote out hastily a brief sketch, or mere epitome, of my +history, so that I might have before my mind a guide that would prevent +me from wandering too far afield or that might save me from +tediousness. I give it here, as a foretaste of the book. I have called +it "My Autobiography boiled down--400 Pages in 200 Words." + +"Born 3-24-'29. Orphaned New Orleans, '33. (Father, mother, and three +sisters--yellow fever.) Came North alone, four years old, to +grandmother, Waltham, Mass. Supported self since babyhood. Farmer till +14. Grocer-boy, Cambridgeport, two years. Shipping-clerk, 16. Manager, +18. Partner, Train & Co., 20 (income, $10,000). Boston, 22 ($15,000). + +"Established G. F. T. & Co., Melbourne, Australia, '53. Agent, Barings, +Duncan & Sherman, White Star Line (income, $95,000). Started 40 clippers +to California, '49. Flying Cloud, Sovereign of the Seas, Staffordshire. +Built A. & G. W. R. R., connecting Erie with Ohio and Mississippi, 400 +miles. + +"Pioneered first street-railway, Europe, America, Australia. (England: +Birkenhead, Darlington, Staffordshire, London, '60.) Built first Pacific +Railway (U. P.), '62-'69, through first Trust, Credit Mobilier. Owned +five thousand lots, Omaha, worth $30,000,000. (Been in fifteen jails +without a crime.) + +"Train Villa, built at Newport, '68. Daughter's house, 156 Madison +Avenue, '60. Organized French Commune, Marseilles, Ligue du Midi, +October, '70, while on return trip around the world in eighty days. +Jules Verne, two years later, wrote fiction of my fact. + +"Made independent race for Presidency against Grant and Greeley, '71-72. +Cornered lawyers, doctors, clericals, by quoting three columns of Bible +to release Woodhull-Claflin from jail, '72. Now lunatic by law, through +six courts. + +"Now living in Mills Palace, $3 against $2,000 a week, at Train Villa. +(Daughter always has room for me in country.) Played Carnegie forty +years ahead. Three generations living off Credit Mobilier. Author dozen +books out of print (_vide_ Who's Who, Allibone, Appletons' Cyclopaedia). + +"Four times around the world. First, two years. Second, eighty days, +'70. Third, sixty-seven and a half days, '90. Fourth, sixty days, +shortest record, '92. Through psychic telepathy, am doubling age. +Seventy-four years young." + +It may be a matter of surprise to some readers that I should have +accomplished so much at the early age when so many of my most important +enterprises were accomplished. It should be remembered, however, that I +began young. I was a mature man at an age when most boys are still tied +to their mothers' apron strings. I had to begin to take care of myself +in very tender years. I suppose my experiences in New Orleans, on the +old farm in Massachusetts, in the grocery store in Boston, and in the +shipping house of Enoch Train and Company, matured and hardened me +before my time. I was never much of a boy. I seem to have missed that +portion of my youth. I was obliged to look out for myself very early, +and was soon fighting hard in the fierce battle of competition, where +the weak are so often lost. + +It may be worth while to present here some important evidence of the +confidence that was reposed in me by experienced men, when, as a mere +youth, I was undertaking vast enterprises that might have made older men +hesitate. When I was about to leave Boston in '53 for business in +Australia, and organized the house of Caldwell, Train and Company, I was +authorized by the following well-established houses of this and other +countries to use them as references, and did so on our firm circulars: +John M. Forbes, John E. Thayer and Brother, George B. Upton, Enoch Train +and Company, Sampson and Tappan, and Josiah Bradlee and Company, of +Boston; Cary and Company, Goodhue and Company, Josiah Macy and Sons, +Grinnell, Minturn and Company, and Charles H. Marshall and Company, of +New York; H. and A. Cope and Company, of Philadelphia; Birckhead and +Pearce, of Baltimore; J. P. Whitney and Company, of New Orleans; Flint, +Peabody and Company, and Macondray and Company, of San Francisco; George +A. Hopley and Company, of Charleston; Archibald Gracie, of Mobile; and +the following foreign houses: Bowman, Grinnell and Company, and Charles +Humberston, of Liverpool; Russell and Company and Augustine Heard and +Company, of Canton. + +These were among the best known commercial houses in the world at that +time. Any business man, familiar with the commercial history of the +modern world, should consider this list fair enough evidence of the +confidence I enjoyed among men of affairs. Let me reproduce here--partly +as evidence along the same line, and partly because of the value I +attach to it on personal and friendly grounds--the following letter from +Mr. D. O. Mills: + + "NEW YORK, _September 30, 1901_. + "Hon. GEORGE FRANCIS TRAIN, + "_Mills Hotel, Bleecker St., New York_. + + "MY DEAR CITIZEN: + + "The many appreciative notices that have come to my attention of + your distinguished talents of early years lead me also to send you + a line of appreciation, particularly as touching the part played + by you in some of the great commercial enterprises that have so + signally marked the nineteenth century, notably in the Merchant + Marine, and in the building of the Union Pacific Railroad, in the + conception and construction of which you bore so distinguished a + part. + + "The present generation, with its conveniences of travel and + communication, can not realize what were the difficulties and + experiences of the merchant and traveler of those early days when + you were engaged in the China trade, and your Clipper Ships were + often seen in the port of San Francisco. + + "The long voyage around the Horn, the danger experienced from + sudden attack by Indians while traversing the wild and uninhabited + country lying between Omaha and the Pacific Coast, are experiences + which even an old voyager like myself questions as he speeds + across the continent, privileged to enjoy the comforts of a + Pullman car, and a railroad service that has shortened the journey + from New York to San Francisco from months to a few days. In + recalling the many years of our pleasant acquaintance by sea and + land, not the least is the remembrance of your kind and genial + spirit, and I am glad to see that you have lost none of your + sincere wish to do good. + + "With kind regards. + "Very truly yours, + "D. O. MILLS." + +Mr. Mills has known me in many walks of life. We have at times walked +side by side. At others, oceans have roared between us. He is my friend, +and I was glad to receive this kindly word from him, after many long +years of acquaintance. + +Although I am a hermit now, I was not always so. All who read this book +must see that. I spent many happy years in society--and never an unhappy +year anywhere, whether in jail or under social persecution; and I have +lived many years with my family in my own country and in foreign lands. +My wife, of whom I have spoken of in the following pages, passed into +shadow-land in '77. I have children who are scattered widely now. My +first child, Lily, was born in Boston, in '52, and died when five months +old, in Boston. My second daughter, Susan Minerva, was born in '55, and +married Philip Dunbar Guelager, who for thirty-six years was the head of +the gold and silver department of the Subtreasury in this city. She now +lives at "Minerva Lodge," Stamford, Connecticut, with my seven-year-old +grandson. My first son, George Francis Train, Jr., was born in '56, and +is now in business in San Francisco. Elsey McHenry Train, my last child, +now lives in Chicago. He was born in '57. I was able to see these +children well educated, at home and abroad, and to give them some chance +to see the great world I had known. + +A last word as to myself. Readers of this book may think I have +sometimes taken myself too seriously. I can scarcely agree with them. I +try not to be too serious about anything--not even about myself. When I +was making a hopeless fight for the Presidency in '72, I made the +following statement in one of my speeches: + +"Many persons attribute to me simply an impulsiveness, and an +impressibility, as if I were some erratic comet, rushing madly through +space, emitting coruscations of fancifully colored sparks, without +system, rule, or definite object. This is a popular error. I claim to be +a close analytical observer of passing events, applying the crucible of +Truth to every new matter or subject presented to my mind or my senses." + +I think that estimate may be used to-day in this place. It does not so +much matter, however, what I may have thought of myself or what I now +think of myself. What does matter is what I may have done. I stand on my +achievement. + +And with this, I commit my life-story to the kind consideration of +readers. + + CITIZEN GEORGE FRANCIS TRAIN. + + THE MILLS PALACE, + _September 22, '02_. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + CHAPTER I PAGE + + WHEN I WAS FOUR YEARS OLD. 1833 2 + New Orleans then my home--All the family except myself + perish from yellow fever. + + CHAPTER II + + MY VOYAGE FROM NEW ORLEANS TO BOSTON. 1833 16 + Four years old and the sole passenger--Sailors teach me to + swear--My aunt shocked at my depravity. + + CHAPTER III + + MY BOYHOOD ON A FARM. 1833-1843 21 + My grandfather a noted Methodist preacher--My first + money earned. + + CHAPTER IV + + SCHOOLDAYS AND A START IN LIFE. 1840-1844 35 + Leader of the school--George Ripley my school-teacher--Emerson + comes to our village to lecture--Boston visited. + + CHAPTER V + + EARLY NEW ENGLAND METHODISM. 45 + How I was reared religiously--Ideas of right and wrong--Things + outgrown. + + CHAPTER VI + + IN A SHIPPING HOUSE IN BOSTON. 1844-1850 52 + A place with my uncle--Progress rapidly made--I sell Emerson + a ticket for Liverpool--I engage Rufus Choate and + Daniel Webster as our lawyers--My first speculation--Building + fast ships. + + CHAPTER VII + + A VACATION TOUR. 1850 79 + In Washington I meet Webster, Clay, and President Taylor--A + letter with their autographs that served me well. + + CHAPTER VIII + + A PARTNER IN THE LIVERPOOL HOUSE. 1850-1852 90 + In Scotland Lord John Russell receives me, and I meet + Lady Russell--Reform in the shipping business--Money + we made--The Duke of Wellington--I visit Chatsworth. + + CHAPTER IX + + MY COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE--RETURN TO LIVERPOOL. + 1850-1852 109 + How I first met my wife--Engaged to marry her within + forty-eight hours--Governors in my charge--Our wedding + and the commotion that preceded it--Phrenology. + + CHAPTER X + + BUSINESS SUCCESS IN AUSTRALIA. 1853-1855 126 + A fine income at twenty-one--Melbourne in those days--American + ideas introduced--Accused of stealing $2,000,000. + + CHAPTER XI + + THE GOLD-FEVER IN NEW SOUTH WALES AND TASMANIA. + 1853-1855 141 + Lucky and unlucky miners--David D. Porter--Sydney in + those days--Free immigrants--Sir John Franklin. + + CHAPTER XII + + OTHER AUSTRALIAN INCIDENTS--A REVOLUTION 156 + Proposed as a candidate for President--Riotous times--Curious + incidents in business. + + CHAPTER XIII + + A VOYAGE TO CHINA. 1855 171 + Failure of ambitious plans--My first love of flowers--A + remarkable Dutch colony. + + CHAPTER XIV + + IN CHINESE CITIES. 1855-1856 182 + Hetty Green's husband in Hongkong with me--Pirates and + the slave trade--Honesty of the Chinaman--Eating rats-- + Pidgin-English--Li Hung Chang on board. + + CHAPTER XV + + TO INDIA AND THE HOLY LAND. 1856 204 + New ideas in religion--My early Methodism recalled--Where + Christ was born. + + CHAPTER XVI + + IN THE CRIMEA. 1856 215 + Plans in speculation that came to naught--The war, and + what I learned of it. + + CHAPTER XVII + + HOME ONCE MORE, AND THEN A RETURN TO EUROPE. + 1856-1857 221 + Boston and New York after a long absence--With my wife + I go to Paris. + + CHAPTER XVIII + + MEN I MET IN PARIS. 1857 226 + A ball at the Tuileries--Eugenie very gracious to me--An + unexpected woman comes in--William H. Seward. + + CHAPTER XIX + + BUILDING THE ATLANTIC AND GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY. + 1857-1858 237 + Queen Maria Christina's fortune employed--Salamanca, the + banker--How I secured a great loan. + + CHAPTER XX + + A VISIT TO RUSSIA. 1857 249 + I carry a message to the Grand Duke Constantine--A dinner + with Colonel Greig--Moscow and the Nijnii Novgorod + fair. + + CHAPTER XXI + + BUILDING THE FIRST STREET-RAILWAYS IN ENGLAND. 259 + A line in Liverpool that still exists--Making a start in + London--Better success in Staffordshire. + + CHAPTER XXII + + ENGLAND AND OUR CIVIL WAR--BLOCKADE RUNNING. 271 + Speeches for the Union in London halls--A plan to end the + war--Lincoln and Seward--Arrested for interrupting Sumner + in Boston--Dining with Seward when Antietam was + fought. + + CHAPTER XXIII + + BUILDING THE UNION PACIFIC RAILWAY. 1862-1870 283 + Early belief in such a project--The Credit Mobilier and its + origin--Men with whom I was associated. + + CHAPTER XXIV + + THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE FAR WEST. 1863-1870 293 + Plan for a chain of great cities across the continent--The + creation of Omaha--Cozzen's Hotel--Tour of the Pacific + Coast. + + CHAPTER XXV + + THE SHARE I HAD IN THE FRENCH COMMUNE. 1870 301 + In Marseilles I help to organize the "Ligue du Midi" of the + Commune or "Red Republic"--Attacked by soldiers and + almost shot--Imprisoned and poisoned--Deported by Gambetta. + + CHAPTER XXVI + + A CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT. 1872 314 + "Train Villa" at Newport--Independent candidate for the + presidency against Grant and Greeley--A tour of the country, + in which I address hundreds of thousands. + + CHAPTER XXVII + + DECLARED A LUNATIC. 1872-1873 323 + I defend Mrs. Woodhull--Arrested and imprisoned for + quoting Scripture--Fifteenth imprisonment without a + crime. + + CHAPTER XXVIII + + AROUND THE WORLD IN EIGHTY, SIXTY-SEVEN, AND + SIXTY DAYS. 1870, 1890, 1892 331 + The tour that Jules Verne used as the basis of his famous + story--In '90 I circle the globe in 67 days; and in '92 in 60 + days. + + + + + ILLUSTRATIONS + + + FACING + PAGE + + Portrait of Citizen Train made recently _Frontispiece_ + + Portrait of Citizen Train's grandfather, the Rev. George + Pickering 2 + + Portrait of Mrs. George Francis Train 110 + + Citizen Train in the Mills Hotel dictating his Reminiscences 200 + + Citizen Train's former residence in Madison Avenue, + New York 286 + + Citizen Train's former villa at Newport 314 + + Citizen Train with the children in Madison Square 324 + + Citizen Train and his guests at dinner in the Mills Hotel 338 + + + + +MY LIFE IN MANY STATES AND IN FOREIGN LANDS + + + + +CHAPTER I + +WHEN I WAS FOUR YEARS OLD + +1833 + + +My grandfather was the Reverend George Pickering, of Baltimore--a +slave-owner. Having fallen in with the early Methodists, long before +Garrison, Phillips, and Beecher had taken up the abolition idea, he +liberated his slaves and went to preaching the Gospel. He became an +itinerant Methodist preacher, with the pitiable salary of $300 a year. +The sale of one of his "prime" negro slaves would have brought him in +more money than four years of preaching. He would have been stranded +very soon if he had not had the good sense to marry my beautiful +grandmother, who had a thousand-acre farm at Waltham, ten miles out of +Boston. My grandfather thus could preach around about the neighborhood, +and then come back to the family at home. My father married the eldest +daughter of this Methodist preaching grandfather of mine, Maria +Pickering. + +I was born at No. 21 High Street, Boston, during a snow-storm, on the +24th of March, '29. When I was a baby, my father went to New Orleans and +opened a store. Soon after arriving in that city I was old enough to +observe things, and to remember. I can recollect almost everything in my +life from my fourth year. From the time I was three years old up to this +present moment--a long stretch of seventy years, the Prophet's limit of +human life--I can remember almost every event in my life with the +greatest distinctness. This book of mine will be a pretty fair test of +my memory. + +I can remember the beautiful flowers of the South. How deeply they +impressed themselves upon my mind! I can recall the garden with its +wonderful floral wealth, the gift of the Southern sun. I can recollect +exactly how the old clothesline used to look, with its load of +linen--the resting-place of the long-bodied insects we called "devil's +darning needles," or mosquito hawks--and how we children used to strike +the line with poles, to frighten the insects and see them fly away on +their filmy wings. And I can remember going down to my father's store, +filling the pockets of my little frock with dried currants, which I +thought were lovely, and watching him there at his work. + +[Illustration: Rev. George Pickering, George Francis Train's +grandfather.] + +Then came the terrible yellow-fever year. It is still known there as the +year of the fever, or of the plague. This fearful epidemic swept over +the city, and left it a city of the dead. It was a catastrophe +recalled to me by that of Martinique. My family suffered with the rest +of the city. I remember well the horror of the time. There were no +hearses to be had. Physicians and undertakers had gone to the grave with +their patients and patrons. The city could not afford to bury decently +so many of its dead inhabitants. And the fear of the plague had so +shaken the human soul that men stood afar off, aghast, and did only what +they had to do in a coarse, brutal, swift burial of the dead. + +There were no coffins to be had, and no one could have got them if there +had been enough of them. Corpses were buried, all alike, in coarse pine +boxes, hastily put together in the homes--and often by the very +hands--of the relatives of the dead. One day they brought into our home +a coarse pine box. I did not know what it was or for what it was meant. +Then I saw them take the dead body of my little sister Josephine and put +it hastily into the rough pine box. I was too young to understand it +all, but I can never forget that scene; it starts tears even now. After +nailing up the box and marking it to go "To the Train Vaults," the +family sat and waited for the coming of the "dead wagon." The city sent +round carters to pick up the numerous dead, just as it had formerly sent +out scavenger carts to take away the refuse. + +We could hear the "dead wagon" as it approached. We knew it by the +dolorous cry of the driver. It drew nearer and nearer to our home. It +all seemed so terrible, and yet I could not understand it. I heard the +wagon stop under our window. Now the scene all comes back to me, and it +recalls the rumble and rattle of those tumbrels of the French Reign of +Terror: only it was the fever, instead of the guillotine, that demanded +its victims. The driver would not enter the pest-stricken houses. He +remained in his cart, and shouted out, in a heart-tearing cry, to the +inmates to bring their dead to him. As he drove up to our window he +placed his hands around his mouth, as a hunter does in making a halloo, +and cried: "Bring out--bring out your dead!" + +The long-wailed dolorous cry filled the streets, empty of their +frequenters: "Bring out--bring out your dead!" Again at our home the cry +was heard; and I saw my father and others lift up the coarse pine box, +with the body of my little sister shut inside, carry it to the window, +and toss it into the "dead wagon." And then the wagon rattled away down +the street, and again, as it stopped under the window of the next house, +over the doomed city rang the weird cry: "Bring out--bring out your +dead!" + +A few days later another rough pine box was brought to our home. Again I +did not understand it; but I knew more of the mystery of death than I +had known before. Into this box they placed the body of my little sister +Louise. Then we waited for the approach of the "dead wagon." I knew that +it would again come to our home, to get its freight of death. I went to +the window, and looked up and down the street, and waited. Far in the +distance, I heard the cry: "Bring out--bring out your dead!" + +The wagon finally arrived. The window was thrown open, the rude box was +lifted up, taken to the window, and thrown into the wagon, which was +already loaded with similar boxes. They were in great haste, it seemed +to me, to be rid of the poor little box. And the carter drove on down +the street to other stricken homes, crying: "Bring out--bring out your +dead!" + +I now began to feel the loss of my sisters. Two had gone. Only one was +left with me, my little sister Ellen, as frail and as lovely a flower as +ever bloomed. When the next box came, and she, dead of the plague, was +put into it, I thought it time for me to interfere. I went to the window +and stood guard. Again came the terrible cry: "Bring out--bring out your +dead!" And my last little sister was taken away in the "dead wagon." + +I was too young to understand it all, but I remember going with my +father and mother in the carriage every time they carried one of my +sisters to the graveyard. + +The next strange thing to happen was the arrival in the house of a box +much larger than the others. I did not know what it could be for. The +box was very rough looking. It was made of unplaned boards. My nurse +told me it was for my mother. Again I took my stand by the window. +"Bring out--bring out your dead!" resounded mournfully in the street +just below the window where I stood. I looked out, and there was the +"dead wagon." It had come for my mother. + +I was astonished to find that they did not throw the box containing my +mother into the wagon. It was too large and heavy. Four or five men had +to come into the house and take out the box. It was marked "To the Train +Vaults," and was put into the wagon with the other boxes containing dead +bodies. Only my father and I sat in the carriage that went to the +cemetery and to the vaults that day. There were my mother and my three +little sisters; all had been swept from me in this St. Pierre style--in +this volcano of yellow fever. + +Finally there came one day a letter from my grandmother, the wife of the +old Methodist itinerant preacher of Waltham: "Send on some one of the +family, before they are all dead. Send George." And so my father made +preparations to send me back to Massachusetts. I can remember now the +exact wording of the card he wrote and pinned on my coat, just like the +label or tag on a bag of coffee. It read: + + "This is my little son George Francis Train. Four years old. + Consigned on board the ship Henry to John Clarke, Jr., Dock + Square, Boston; to be sent to his Grandmother Pickering, at + Waltham, ten miles from Boston. Take good care of the Little + Fellow, as he is the only one left of eleven of us in the house, + including the servants [slaves]. I will come on as soon as I can + arrange my Business." + +I remember how we went down to the ship in the river. She lay out in the +broad, muddy Mississippi, and seven other vessels lay between her and +the shore. Planks were laid on the bank, or "levee," as they called the +shore in New Orleans, and up to the side of the nearest ship. We climbed +over these planks and passed over the seven vessels, and came to the +Henry. My father kissed me good-by, and left me on board the ship. + +There I was, aboard this great vessel--for so she seemed to me then--a +little boy, without nurse or guardian to look after me. I was just so +much freight. I was part of the cargo. We floated down the Mississippi +slowly, and floated on and on toward the Gulf. We were floating out into +the great waters, into the great world, floating through the waters of +Gulf and ocean, floating along in the Gulf Stream, and floating on +toward my Northern home. + +Thus I was floating, when I began my life anew; and I have been floating +for seventy years! + +When my father said good-by to me, kissing me as we passed over the last +of the seven ships between the Henry and the shore, I saw him put a +handkerchief to his face, as if to hide from me the tears that were in +his eyes. He feared that my little heart would break down under the +strain. But I didn't cry. Everything was so new to me. I was too small +to realize all that the parting meant and all that had led up to it. I +could not feel that I was leaving behind me all the members of my +family--in the vaults of the graveyard. The ship seemed a new world to +me. I had no eyes for tears--only for wonderment. + +For many years afterward I heard nothing of my father. He had dropped +below the horizon when I floated down the Mississippi, and I saw and +heard nothing more of him. As my mother and three sisters had been +buried together in New Orleans, we had taken it for granted that father +had followed them to the grave, a victim of the same pestilence. But +nothing was known as to this for many years. + +We were anxious to have all the bodies brought together in one graveyard +in the North and buried side by side. The family burying-ground was at +Waltham, where eight generations were then sleeping--that is, eight +generations of Pickerings and Bemises. There were the bodies of my +great-grandmother, and of ancestors belonging to the first Colonial +days. My cousin, George Pickering Bemis, Mayor of Omaha, afterward had +a monument erected over the spot where so many Bemises and Pickerings +lay in their long rest, to preserve their memory. But my father's body +was never to rest there; nor was it ever seen by any of his relatives. + +My uncle, John Clarke, Jr., who had brought me out of New Orleans and +rescued me from the plague, tried to find some trace of my father; but +no record or vestige of him could be found in that city. Every trace of +him had been swept away. His very existence there had been forgotten, +erased. No one could be found who had ever heard of him, or knew +anything about his store. So completely had the pestilence done its +terrible work of destruction and obliteration. As this period was prior +to the invention of the daguerreotype, we had no photographs of him. The +only likenesses that were made then were expensive miniatures on ivory. +I have no picture of him, except the one I carry forever in my memory. + +Sixty years passed away. One day I received a letter from one of my +cousins, Louisa Train, who was living in Michigan. She told me that her +father and mother had died, and that the furniture of the old house, in +which they and her grandparents had lived, had fallen to her. "In moving +an old bureau," she wrote, "it fell to pieces, and, to my surprise, two +documents rolled upon the floor. These papers relate to you. One of +them was a letter from your father to his mother, written from New +Orleans shortly before you left that city. In it he says: + +"'You can imagine my loneliness in being in this great house, always so +lively, with eleven persons in it, including my own family--now all +alone. George is with his tutor. He is a very extraordinary boy, though +only four years old. The other day he repeated some verses, of which I +can remember these lines: + + "'I am monarch of all I survey; + My right there is none to dispute; + From the center all round to the sea, + I am lord of the fowl and the brute.'" + +I was to receive one other message from my father. Since I began writing +this autobiography, my aged aunt, Abigail Pickering Frost, now in her +ninetieth year, discovered a letter that my father had written to her +and to her sister, my aunt Alice, who afterward married Henry A. +Winslow, upon the day that he placed me on the ship Henry, and sent me +to my grandmother at Waltham, Mass. Aunt Abigail, after the death of +aunt Alice, who was one of the victims in the wreck of the Lexington, in +January, '40, hid the letter in the garret of the old Waltham farmhouse, +where she later discovered it. She now sends it to me from her home in +Omaha, Neb., where it had again been lost, and found after a long +search, as she knew that I would appreciate it as a part of my +life-story. + +The letter came to me as a wail from the dead. I was very young, and +childish, and thoughtless when I parted from him forever; but his letter +brought back to me in a flood the bitterness of our life in New Orleans, +the loneliness of my father in his great grief, and made me suffer, +nearly seventy years afterward, for the pain that I was then too young +to understand or feel. I give this letter, which is inexpressibly dear +to me, just as it was written. + + "NEW ORLEANS, _June 10th, 1833_. + + "DEAR SISTERS ABIGAIL AND ALICE: + + "'Tis just two years since I left this place for New York, and + arrived in Boston the evening of the 3d of July. I hope MY DEAR + BOY will arrive safe and pass the 4th of July with you. He is now + on board the ship (and the steamboat alongside the ship) to the + Balize. I have written several letters by the ship, and found I + had a few moments to spare which I will improve by addressing + you. I refer you to the letters to Mother Pickering for + _particulars_--as I have not time to say much. I can only say, my + dear girls, that I am very unhappy here for reasons you well + know. _I part with George as though I was parting with my right + eye_--but 'tis for his good and the happiness of all that he + should go; take him to your own home, care, and protection; _he + is no ordinary boy, but is destined for a great scholar_. + + "I am left here without a friend except my God! in a city where + the cholera is raging to a great extent--100 are dying daily! and + among them some of the most valuable citizens. A sweet little + girl about the age of Ellen, and an intimate acquaintance of + George's, who used to walk arm in arm with him, died this morning + with the cholera, and a great number of others among our most + intimate acquaintances have passed on. Mrs. Simons died in six + hours! What is life worth to me? Oh, my dear sisters! could I + leave this dreadful place I would, and die among my friends! The + thoughts of my dear Maria and Ellen fill me with sorrow! I have + mourned over their tombs in silence. I have been with them in my + dreams, and frequently I meet them in my room and talk with them + as though alive. All here is melancholy. When shall I see you, + God only knows! I have relieved my heavy heart of a burden--a + weight that was almost unsupportable. + + "In parting with my _lovely boy_ I have bequeathed him to Mother + Pickering as a legacy--it being all that I possess! You will take + a share of the care, and I know will be all that mothers could be + for your dear sister Maria's sake! + + "Give my love to Grandpa Bemis, Father Pickering, and all the + rest of the family. Say to them that _my mind is constantly with + them_, and will ever be so. I have written in great haste and + very badly, as I am on board the ship and _all is confusion_, + with the steamboat alongside. Farewell, my dear sisters! Do write + me a line. If you knew how much I prize a letter from you, you + would write often. Adieu, and believe me your affectionate + brother, + + "OLIVER TRAIN. + + "To Misses ABIGAIL and ALICE PICKERING, + _Waltham, Mass._" + +The other document mentioned by my cousin Louisa, was the deed of a farm +by my paternal grandfather, making a certain physician trustee of the +property. I never came into that property! This was my first bequest. I +had begun, even in my infancy, to give away my property, and I have +thrown it away ever since. This first "bequest," however, was none of my +making, although I accepted it, without trying to question the matter. + +Another involuntary "bequest" of my childhood was brought about in this +way. My mother, when a girl, was engaged to marry Stebbins Fiske. It was +by a mere chance that they were not married--and therefore my name is +"Train" by a mere accident which changed the fate of my mother and her +fiance. My father was a warm friend of Stebbins Fiske, and when Fiske +was called suddenly to New Orleans, just before the day set for the +marriage, he left his betrothed, Maria Pickering, in charge of my +father. The result might have been foreseen. It is the common theme of +romance the world over. My mother and my father fell in love with each +other, and were married. There was no thought of unfaithfulness; it was +merely inevitable. Fiske understood the situation, and forgave both of +them, and continued the stanch friend of both. + +In his will Fiske left a small sum--$5,000--to my mother's mother. It +was the most delicate way in which he could leave some of his money so +that his old sweetheart might get it. The terms of the will were that +this money should be divided at my grandmother's death. It was so +divided, and a certain portion of it should have come to me; but I never +received a penny. This was my second bequest, for I allowed others to +take freely what belonged to me. + +My third bequest was made with my eyes open. When I was about starting +for Australia in '53, another uncle-in-law, George W. Frost, whom I +afterward appointed purchasing agent of the Union Pacific Railway, a +splendid gentleman and a clergyman, came to me and said: "Your Aunt +Abbie" (his wife) "and myself are going to take care of your old +grandmother on the farm. Have you any objections to signing away your +interest in the old place?" + +I said that, of course, I would sign it away. I was all right. I was +going out into the great world to make fortunes. And I signed it away, +as if it were a mere nothing. + +These incidents I mention here as illustrations of my whole life. Since +my fourth year I have given away--thrown away--money. I have made others +rich. But I have never yet got what was due me from others. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +MY VOYAGE FROM NEW ORLEANS TO BOSTON + +1833 + + +I found myself a part of the cargo--shipped as freight, 2,000 miles, +from the tropics to the arctic region, without a friend to take care of +me. I was alone. This feeling, however, did not oppress me overmuch. +Every one on board tried to make a pet of me, and, besides, there was so +much to do, so much to see, so much to feel. From cabin to fo'cas'le I +was made welcome. + +There was only one cabin passenger besides myself. I sat at table +opposite this passenger, and I remember that at the first meal they +brought on some "flapjacks" (our present-day wheat-cakes). I was very +fond of them, and ate them with sirup or molasses. I noticed that my +companion in the cabin did not use molasses with his. I could not +understand why any one should eat his flapjacks without molasses. + +I thought this stranger too ignorant to know that molasses was the +proper thing with flapjacks, and tried to help him to a fuller knowledge +of the resources of the table. I reached over, and tried to pour some +molasses on his plate. Just then a heavy sea struck the ship, and I was +thrown forward with a lurch. The entire contents of the molasses jug +went in a flood over the man's trousers! Of course he was furious, and +did not appreciate my efforts to teach him. I expected him to strike me, +but he did not. It did not occur to me to beg his pardon, as I was doing +what I thought to be a pure act of kindness. We afterward became good +friends. + +We were twenty-three days on the voyage. Before we had been aboard long +I became friendly with everybody on the ship, and they with me. I was +very active, and had the run of the boat. I was like a parrot, a goat, +or a monkey--or all three. There was no stewardess on the boat, and as I +had no one to look after me, I led a wild sort of life. I lived in the +fo'cas'le, or with the sailors on deck or in the riggings. I liked the +fo'cas'le best. I soon got to feel at home there. Sometimes I was in the +cabin with my molasses-hating friend, but the fo'cas'le was my delight, +and there I was to be found at all hours. During the twenty-three days +of the voyage I was not washed once! I wore the same clothes days and +nights, and became a little dirty savage! + +It may be easily imagined that communication with these rough, coarse, +honest, but vulgar sailors had a terrible effect on me. Everything bad +that is known to sailors these sailors knew, and very soon I knew. I +observed everything, learned everything. I soon cursed and swore as +roundly as any of them, using the words as innocently as if they were +quotations from the Bible. + +One of the games the sailors used to play with me was to go up into the +rigging and call down to me that there was a great plantation up there +that I could not see. Then they would throw lumps of sugar to me and +tell me they came from the plantation in the rigging, and monkeys were +throwing them to me. Of course I believed it all. How was I to know they +were lying to me? I was only four years old. They stamped upon my mind +the whole fo'cas'le--its rough life, its jollity, its oaths, and its +lies. + +As soon as our ship came to anchor out came a boat with my uncle. I +remember that there was a little dog in the boat also. My uncle took me +to the wharf, and then to his tobacco store in Dock Square. There I +found awaiting us an old-fashioned chaise, and my uncle said he would +take me right out to my grandmother's, at Waltham. The drive took us +through two or three villages, and through several strips of forest. +Finally we drove up to a little gate that stood about half a mile from +the old farmhouse, and divided the next place from the farm of my +grandmother. There were my aunts, all waiting for me. + +Imagine the astonishment of my grandmother and of my aunts on seeing +the dirty little street Arab that came to see them! I was as intolerably +filthy as any brat that ever came out of a sewer. I fairly reeked with +the smells and the dirt of the fo'cas'le! To the dust and grime of New +Orleans I had added the dust and grime of the ship, for I had not been +near soap and water since I left New Orleans. Fancy going to these clean +and prim old ladies in such a plight! But I was at least in good health, +and magnificently alive. + +The first thing they did was to summon a sort of town-meeting, to have +me narrate the events of my voyage. But before I was to go before my +audience I must be washed and have a change of clothes. This part of the +program was postponed by an accident. The ladies heard me swear! It +shocked their gentle minds immeasurably. But I didn't know what swearing +meant. + +What can not a boy learn in three weeks that is bad? I suppose I must +have picked up all the wickedness of the fo'cas'le without knowing what +it was. It seemed all right to me; but not to my good grandmother and to +my aunts. + +They wanted to cleanse me outwardly and inwardly, and prepared to start +outwardly. They insisted that I must change my clothes and have a good +scrubbing. But before they began I told them some of my experiences +aboard ship. I told them about the sailors getting sugar from the +plantation up in the riggings and the monkeys throwing it down to me. +They told me there were no fields up there, no monkeys and no sugar, +except what the sailors had carried up with them. + +I was indignant. "If you don't believe my story," said I, "about the +plantation in the rigging and about the monkeys and the sugar, you can +not wash me or change my clothes." + +The line of battle was now drawn. If they did not want to believe my +story, I was not going to let them do anything for me. That +monkey-and-sugar story was my ultimatum. They refused to accept it. For +three days they laid siege to me, but I refused to be washed or clothed +in a fresh clean suit until they believed my story. I felt I was telling +the truth, and could not bear to have my word doubted. Finally they said +that they believed my story. + +There is an old tale of a boy who was told by his parents, who did not +want him to cling any longer to the old myth about Santa Claus, that it +was not Santa Claus that brought him all the good things on Christmas, +but that they, his parents, had been giving him the presents year after +year. The boy turned to his mother and said: "Have you been fooling me +about the God question too?" + + + + +CHAPTER III + +MY BOYHOOD ON A FARM + +1833-1843 + + +The old house where I spent these years of my childhood and boyhood is +now more than two hundred years old. It was the home of the old +Methodists in that section, and had been the headquarters of the sect +for a hundred years before it began to have regular "conferences." Here +lived the slave-owner Pickering, who married my grandmother, the +farmer's daughter. If it had not been for this home, which was a refuge +and asylum for the itinerant preacher, grandfather Pickering would have +starved. The farm was his anchorage. Otherwise he would have gone +adrift. + +A religious atmosphere pervaded the place. It left the deepest impress +upon my mind. The only paper we took was Zion's Herald, a religious +weekly published by Stevens, of Boston. The difference between this +calm, religious life of the Methodists and the turbulent, rough, and +swearing life of the fo'cas'le was very marked. But it took me a long +time to get away from the atmosphere of the fo'cas'le and into that of +the Methodists. Even the bath and the clean clothes did not seem to +change me very much. I discovered that cleanliness is not so very near +to godliness, after all. + +Of course the old Methodists had prayers in the morning and at night, +and they had grace at every meal. Every one knelt at prayers. But they +could not make me kneel. I would not bow the knee. I had not got over +the sailors' ways, and the monkeys, and the throwing down sugar from the +plantation in the sails--the Santa Claus part of it. I always remembered +it. + +Of course I was taken to the little church, a mile off up in the woods, +where my grandfather preached. It was in his "circuit." As we were +coming home one day, and I was driving, the chaise struck a stone, and +the old gentleman was jostled considerably. He impatiently seized the +reins from me and gave the horse a severe flip with them, and drove the +rest of the way himself. The little incident made a deep impression on +my mind. I said to myself: "If this is the way Christians act, I do not +want to have anything to do with them." + +The Pickerings were an ancient Southern--and before that, an +English--family. Some of the members lived in South Carolina, some in +Virginia, others in Maryland. One of them sat in Washington's first +cabinet. Like my grandfather, they were all slave-owners. Judge Gilbert +Pickering was chairman of Cromwell's committee that cut off King +Charles's head. Grandfather Pickering was a liberal man in many ways. I +have spoken already of his freeing his own slaves. He chose the calling +of an itinerant Methodist preacher, when to do so meant tremendous +financial sacrifice and the loss of social rank. He almost starved at +it, but he stuck to it with great nobleness of mind. It gave him a sort +of religious freedom. + +Once he could have been a bishop in the New England branch of Methodism; +but he refused the ambitious title. He did not believe in bishops for +their church. And so, setting aside every offer of preferment, every +opportunity of rising or getting on in the world, he chose to labor at +his simple calling, like a martyr. And he would shortly have found +martyrdom in starvation, had it not been for my lovely grandmother, with +her thrift and care. + +The branch of Methodists to which my grandfather belonged was very +liberal. It was so liberal, indeed, that my mother and her five sisters +had all been educated at the Ursuline convent at Charlestown, Mass., +which was destroyed by the mob in '42. I remember that after the mob +burned this convent to the ground the Methodists wanted to buy the site, +and applied to the Roman Catholic archbishop in Boston, who replied: "We +sometimes purchase, but we never sell." + +Another incident of my boyhood may be recalled here, as it illustrates +the stubborn pride that had begun to show itself even then. One day an +elegant carriage drove up to the old house, and a young lady, +beautifully dressed, got out and asked to see George Train. I went up to +her, and she told me who she was. + +"You must remember, when you grow up," she said, "that I am Miss Sallie +Rhoades. We are one of the few families of Maryland," she added, with a +pride that was evident even to my boyish eyes, "that have been able to +support their carriages for one hundred and fifty years." She spoke with +the air of a _grande dame_, which stung my own pride keenly. + +"While I am very glad to meet my Southern relative," I said, with equal +pride, even if I could not equal her manner, "we have kept our ox-cart +on the old farm for two hundred years." I expected the additional half a +century to stagger her. But it did not seem to reach home; and she drove +away. This was the last I ever saw of "Miss Sallie Rhoades, of +Maryland." + +In those days in New England we had to depend very much on ourselves on +the farm, and we made as much of supplies as possible. I became an adept +at making currant wine, cider, maple sugar, molasses candy, and +sausages. I used also to make the candles we burned on the place, +molding them half a dozen at a time in the old candle mold, which was +never absent from a country house of that day. So, in my lifetime, I +have passed from the period of the tallow dip to the electric light. + +From four to ten years of age I earned my own living on the old farm. I +believe it is the only instance in the world where a child of four +supported himself in this way. What I mean by earning my own living is, +that while the expense of keeping a little youngster like me was very +small, I earned more than enough to pay my way. I dressed myself. No one +took care of me. I was left pretty much alone, except in the way of +receiving religious admonition. I was always running errands for the men +and women of the place. There was constantly something for me to do. + +Moreover, I was very ambitious. I wanted to know everything that was +going on about me. This has ever been my characteristic. I was born +inquisitive. I have never been afraid to ask questions. If I ever saw +anything I did not understand, I asked about it; and the information +stuck in my mind, like a burr. I never forgot. I soon learned everything +there was to be learned on the farm. + +The room I slept in was a great wide one, and I slept alone. I was not +afraid; but I remember the great size and depth of that cold New England +room. + +Life on the farm was busy enough. I often set the table and did other +things that the hired girl did, and could soon do almost everything just +as well as she--from setting the table to preparing a meal. All this I +learned before I was ten years old. I mention these little details +merely to show the difference between the life I had to lead in old New +England and the life my children and grandchildren have since led. + +One blessing and glory was that I had the universal atmosphere. The +woods and fields were mine. I could roam in the forest and over the +fields at will. The great farm was a delight to me. I was never afraid +anywhere. In those days there were no "hoboes" or "hoodlums" roaming +over the country. We kept no locks on our doors, or clasps on the +windows. Everything was open. + +On the farm, as about the house, I soon learned everything that I could. +I learned to sow and reap, to plant various crops, to plow, hoe, mow, +harvest. And I had a special garden of my own, where I raised a little +of everything--onions, lettuce, cucumbers, parsnips, and other +vegetables. I knew their seasons, the time to plant them, and when to +gather them. I was an observer from the cradle. Little escaped my eyes. +And I have made it a practise all through my life to master everything +as I came to it. + +Of books I saw little in those days. The only ones we had on the farm +place, in what was termed by courtesy the "library," were the Waverley +Novels, Jane Porter's Scottish Chiefs, Watts's Hymns, and the Bible. +There was, of course, Zion's Herald, the religious weekly paper from +Boston I have already mentioned. These were our literature. I read +everything I could get hold of, and soon exhausted the small resources +of the farm library. + +We were so far from the village and the more frequented roads that the +only persons who came to our house were peddlers, who sold us kitchen +utensils, such as tin pans and buckets, and the lone fisherman, who +would always sound his horn a mile away to warn us of his approach. + +The old house had the usual New England parlor or drawing-room, the room +of ceremony, never aired until some guest came to occupy it, or there +was a funeral or baptism in it. I have never found farmers, anywhere in +the world, who had any idea of ventilation. They slept in closed rooms, +without any regard to health or cleanliness--for nothing is so cleansing +as fresh, pure air. There was the old fireplace, with the great andirons +that could sustain the weight of a forest tree, and often did. +Everything was a century old, and just that much behind the day; but +that was then the case everywhere in New England rural sections. + +And what fires we used to have in that cavernous chimney! We would place +a tremendous log on the andirons, and build a fire about it. Soon it +would give out a terrific heat, but it was not sufficient to warm up the +great room, into which the cold air swept through a thousand cracks and +chinks. Our faces, bending over the blazing log, would be fairly +blistered, while our backs would be chilled with cold. The farther end +of the room would be icy cold, for drafts had free play. The house was +poorly built, so far as comfort was concerned, although it was stout +enough to last a couple of centuries. Not only the winds but the snow +found easy entrance. If it snowed during the night, I would find a +streak of snow lying athwart the room the next morning, often putting my +bare feet in it as I got up in the darkness. + +The ignorance of the Puritan farmers of New England was the densest +ignorance that I have ever seen, even among farmers. They knew nothing, +and seemed to care nothing, about the laws of health or economy. They +were content to live exactly in the way their ancestors had lived for +generations. They learned nothing, and forgot nothing--like the +Bourbons. + +This suggests to me the fact that the climate of New England has changed +tremendously since I was a boy. Most old people say something like this. +When I was a boy there was snow every winter and all winter. Now there +is comparatively little snow. Then it used to begin in November, and we +were practically shut in on our farms, often even in our houses, for the +winter. For six months the snow covered the earth. When we wanted to +get out, we had to break our way out with an ox-sled. The old climate of +New England has gone. + +When I was ten years old I began taking "truck" to the old Quincy market +in Boston. It was ten miles away, but I soon got accustomed to going +there alone and selling out the farm produce and vegetables. I had to +get up at four o'clock in the mornings, in order to look after the horse +and to harness him. He was called "Old Tom," and was a faithful, +trustworthy animal. + +I would arrive at the market before dawn, and would back the wagon up +against the market-house and wait for the light. I fed the horse, and +now and then, if the weather was particularly bad, I would put him in a +stable for a few hours, at a cost of fifty cents, and feed him on oats. + +After closing out the "truck," I would drive to Cambridgeport, where I +bought the groceries and other supplies for the farm. My grandmother +trusted all this to me. After this I got a luncheon, which cost me a +"shilling cut," as it was called then--twelve and a half cents. Then I +would drive home, and could give to grandmother a full and itemized +account of everything, without having set down a word or a figure on +paper. This went on for two or three years. + +For amusement, as I have said, I had the universal atmosphere, and I had +the great old farm, and the forest and the fields. I had them all to +myself. I roamed over them, and through them, at will. I used to set +box-traps for rabbits and snares for partridges. I had a little gun, +also, and a little dog, with which I would hunt rabbits or squirrels. +The dog I have always regarded with wonder. He could see a gray squirrel +at the top of a tree half a mile away. Some persons think he smelled the +squirrel, but I am certain he saw it. And he was only a mongrel, at +that. He would lead me to a tree, and I would shoot the squirrel. The +little dog--a sort of fox terrier--was the only real friend I ever had. +He was my constant companion, whenever I could get to him or he to me. +In the winter I used him as a warming-pan. The old farmhouse was +cold--very cold. We had no means of heating it. At night I would find +the sheets of my bed as cold as an ice-floe. Then I would send my little +dog down under the covering, and he would stay there until he had warmed +up the bed. + +Then there was pigeon-netting. This is an old sport that has, I suppose, +died out in New England. In my boyhood, however, great flocks of wild +pigeons used to come to the New England woods and forests. The device +for catching large numbers of them by netting was quite primitive, but +effective. + +My uncle Francis (for whom I was named), whom I used to help net +pigeons, was quite a sportsman. He was fond of fishing, and he was a +great hand at the nets. We had two places for spreading the nets, one in +the "vineyard" and the other in a "burnt-hill" in the forest. All the +foliage was stripped from several trees that were close together. Then +we would arrange the net so it could be drawn together at the right +time, spread it over the ground, and bait it. Then we would plant our +stool-pigeons. As soon as we saw a flock of pigeons approaching we would +stir the stool-pigeons by pulling on a string to which they were +attached. They would move about, as if they were really alive. The +pigeons would circle about the spot, attracted by the fluttering +stool-pigeons, and then they would catch sight of the grain and come +down. When the net was filled with them, we would draw the strings, and +sometimes we caught as many as a hundred at a time. They were then +killed and sold. + +By such work as this I was earning my own support. This is a sample of +my life on the farm from four to ten years. I wore one suit of clothes a +year, and the suit cost originally not more than $10, and was made at +home. I had some little pocket-money occasionally. I was permitted to +sell the rabbits and partridges, the spoil of my traps and gun. These +small resources usually enabled me to keep a few cents--sometimes a few +dollars--in my pockets. + +There is nothing more extravagant and truly wasteful than a boy with a +few dollars in his pockets. He can throw away his slender fortune with +magnificent bravado. One summer I had accumulated $17, and, naturally, I +was itching to spend it. The hired man was going up to Concord to help +celebrate "Cornwallis Day" (October 19), and I got consent to accompany +him. There was to be a fair, and I took my money with me--very stupidly. +The memory of it was soon all that remained. + +My first step in extravagance was the purchase of a bunch of +firecrackers. It cost me, apparently, ten cents; but actually it was my +financial undoing, and cost me $17. I began to pop the crackers, and +soon had a crowd of boys around me. They were envious of me. They didn't +have money to buy crackers. I popped away with great nonchalance, but +husbanding my ammunition and popping only a single cracker at a time. +This was strategy of a high order; but I could not keep it up. I didn't +know the resourcefulness of boy-nature. Presently, I heard a boy whisper +just behind me, to one of his companions: "Just wait a minute, and you +will see him touch off the whole pack!" + +This was irresistible. My blood was fired with ambition. I fired the +whole bunch at once! The hurrahs and yells were tremendous, and set me +wild. I went and bought another bunch, and set it all off at one time, +as if firecrackers were no new thing to me. But my recklessness was not +to stop there. I had been carried off my feet by the hurrah, as many an +older person has been before. + +Our hired man came to me and said that a very pretty thing was going on +near by. I went with him, and saw a man playing a game with three +thimbles, a pea, and a green cushion. The game was to guess under which +of the thimbles the pea was concealed. The hired man thought he knew and +insisted that he knew, and the gamester wanted to bet him that he +didn't. After a while another man came up and tried his hand at +guessing. He also missed. The loss of his money made him indignant, and +he took up another of the thimbles. The pea was not there. + +The thing then seemed so easy to our hired man that he asked to try a +dollar on the game. Then the irate man who had lost his money took up +the other thimble and brushed the pea off the cushion. Our hired man, +who let nothing that was going on about the green cushion escape his +sight, saw the pea swept away, and eagerly bet the dealer that there was +no pea there at all. The dealer took him up, and lifted the thimble, and +lo! there was the pea. This did not satisfy the hired man, who kept on +betting, and losing until he had no money left. Thus our savings went up +in powder smoke and in guesses at the whereabouts of a fleeting pea. I +did not gamble then, nor have I gambled since. + +But the firecracker day had its lessons for me. It taught me some things +about money and its power, and it got me interested in Cornwallis. I +began to read American history. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +SCHOOLDAYS AND A START IN LIFE + +1840-1844 + + +I went to school, of course, for this was a part of the serious business +of New England life. Our schoolhouse was two and a half miles distant, +and the path to it lay across half a dozen farms and ran through the +forest for a mile. There I was taught the "three R's," and nothing else. +There was no thought of Latin or Greek, and, except the little +'rithmetic, no mathematics. I learned to cipher, read, and write; but I +learned these rudimentary branches very rapidly. At night, in the old +farmhouse, my aunts would go over the tasks of the day with me. + +Our principal diversions were in the winter, when we had delightful +sleighing parties. The school-children always had one great picnic. +There would be a six-horse sleigh, and the teacher would be in charge of +the party. We visited the surrounding towns, and it was a great affair +to us. We looked forward to it from the very commencement of the school +year. On examination day, at the close of the term, we children had to +clean the schoolhouse. There was no janitor, as now. But we enjoyed the +work, and took a certain childish pride in it. + +I remember that one of my earliest ambitions was gratified at that +period when I was chosen leader of the school. I stood at the head of +everything. And it was no idle compliment. Boys are not, like their +elders, influenced by envy or jealousy. They invariably try to select +the best "man" among them for their leader. Jealousies, envy, and +heart-burnings come afterward. + +Reading the account of the collision between the Priscilla and the +Powhatan in the Sound off Newport, this year, and the peril that +threatened five hundred passengers, there came to my mind the +recollection of a catastrophe that happened sixty-two years ago, and how +the tidings were brought to me. I can live over again the horror of that +day. I recall that it was in January, '40. + +It was a stormy, bitter day, and I was in the little schoolhouse at Pond +End, two and a half miles from the farm. The snow had been falling a +long while, and everything was covered with it. As the day advanced, and +the snow piled deeper and ever deeper about the little house, and +covered the forests and fields with a thicker blanket of white, we began +to grow anxious. Now and then a sleigh would drive up through the +drifting, flying snow, and the father and mother of some child in the +school would come in and take away the little boy or girl and disappear +in the storm. I began to think, with dread, of how I, a little fellow, +would be able to find my way home through the blinding snow, when +suddenly there came a tap on the door. The teacher went to the door, and +called to me: "George, your uncle Emery Bemis has just arrived from +Boston in his sleigh, and wants to take you home with him." + +When I got into the sleigh he seemed to be very sad. He sat quiet for +some little time, and then turned to me and said: "George, I have some +terrible news for your grandmother. She is at the farmhouse now, waiting +to see her youngest daughter, your aunt Alice. Your grandmother expects +me to bring her. She was coming from New York on the steamer Lexington, +with the dead body of her husband [and his brother and father], which +she wanted to bury in the family graveyard. There were three hundred +passengers on the ship. The Lexington was wrecked and burned in the +Sound, and three hundred persons were lost--burned or drowned. Your aunt +was lost. Only five passengers were saved." + +Such were the horrible tidings my uncle was bearing to my grandmother +and my aunts, instead of the living presence they were expecting. This +incident left an ineradicable impression upon my mind. There was one +peculiar thing about the accident of the Lexington that struck me at +the time as being weird and unforgettable. When the ship went to pieces +the pilot-house was shattered, and a portion of it floated away and +lodged against the rocks near the shore. The bell itself was uninjured, +and still swung from its hangings, and there it remained, clanging +dolorously in every wind. It seemed to my boyish fancy to be tolling +perpetually for the dead of the Lexington. + +Years afterward, while making a speech in a political campaign, I made +use of this incident. I said the Democratic party of the day was adrift +from its ancient moorings, and was always calling up something of the +remote past. It was like the bell of the Lexington, caught upon the +rocks that had wrecked the ship and tolling forever for the dead. + +George Ripley, who was the leader at Brook Farm and, long afterward, was +associated with Charles A. Dana in the preparation of the American +Cyclopedia, was at one time my school-teacher on Waltham Plains. General +Nathaniel P. Banks, who was a few years older than I, was chairman of +our library committee. We used to have lectures in Rumford Hall. (By the +way, this hall was named for Count Rumford, whom most persons take to +have been a German or other foreigner, on account of his foreign title; +but he was an American.) The lecture night was always a great event in +Waltham. One day a man came to me and said, "Here is a remarkable +letter." He read it to me, and it was as follows: + + "_To the Library Committee, Waltham:_ + + "I will come to lecture for $5 for myself, but ask you for four + quarts of oats for my horse. + + "RALPH WALDO EMERSON." + +The lecture that Mr. Emerson delivered for us boys of the library +committee in Waltham was entitled "Nature." We paid him $5 and four +quarts of oats for it. He delivered it many times afterward, when his +name was on every lip in the civilized world, and he received $150 to +$500 for each delivery. He was just as great then, in that hour in the +little old town of Waltham; it was the same lecture, with the same +exquisite thought and marvelous wisdom; but it took years for the world +to recognize the greatness and the beauty and the wisdom of him, and to +value them at their higher worth. The world paid for the name, not for +the lecture or the truth and beauty. + +During this period I attended school for three months every summer. My +grandparents wanted to make a clergyman of me. But that sort of thing +was not in me. I was sent up to Mr. Leonard Frost, at Framingham, ten +miles distant, and lived with him. Certainly my board could not have +been more than $2 a week, and the tuition amounted to scarcely anything. +I was with Mr. Frost just three months, at a total expenditure for +educational purposes of about $25! This constituted my college +education. I was then fourteen years old; and this is all the school +education I have ever had. + +The chief game we played when I was a boy was what we called "round +ball," which has now developed into the national game of baseball. I was +quite an adept at the game, as I took great interest always in all +sports and easily excelled in them. I had also a fancy for chemistry, +and my first experiment was the result of sitting down upon a bottle of +chemicals. It cost me certain portions of my clothing, and made a +lasting impression upon me. It effectually put an end to my desire to +study chemistry further. + +About this time a sweeping change came in my life. One day I happened to +overhear my aunts talking about my future. The good ladies had come to +the conclusion that a clergyman's life was not the life for me; so they +were debating the question of sending me out to learn a trade. They said +it was evident that I would not be a clergyman, a doctor, or a lawyer; +so I must be a blacksmith, or a carpenter, or a mason. Now I did not +want to be any of these things. + +As soon as I got an opportunity I told my aunts that I did not intend to +be a carpenter, or a mason, or a blacksmith. I said I was going down to +Boston--not to the market, but to get a position somewhere. They were +astounded. They could not believe their ears. But I went. + +The city seemed bigger than ever, now that I had to face it and conquer +it, or have it conquer me. But I was not beaten before the fight. I +began walking through the streets with as bold a heart as I could +summon, and kept searching the windows and doors for any sign of "Boy +wanted." I had seen such notices pasted up in windows when I came into +the town on marketing trips. + +Finally I saw such a sign on a drug-store in Washington Street, and +walked in. I told the druggist I should like to go to work. He offered +me my board and lodging for looking after the place. I asked him what +sort of clothes he wanted me to wear, and he replied that the suit I had +on--my Sunday clothes--would do for every day. I was quite happy and +started to work. + +The first night I slept in the same building with the store, but above +it. About one o'clock in the morning the bell rang. Some one wanted the +doctor at once. I said I wasn't a doctor, and that the doctor was not +there. The messenger ran off. This was bad enough, to be routed up in +the middle of the night that way. The next day the druggist went away +from the store on some business. I sampled everything edible in the +place. I tried the different kinds of candy, and sirups, and then went +out and bought some lemonade and a dozen raw oysters. The result may be +imagined. After a few minutes of Mont Pelee, I decided that I had had +enough of the drug business. I told the druggist my decision, shut the +door, and left the store, a disappointed and lonely little fellow. + +I hesitated as to my next step. But there was the old farmhouse--and it +invited me very tenderly just then to return. I was not conquered yet, +but would fight on. I turned, as if by instinct, toward Cambridgeport, +the scene of my traffickings with the grocer. My uncle Clarke lived +there, the uncle that had brought me on from New Orleans; but I could +not make up my mind to go to him, either. The family would laugh at me. +No! I would get another place--but it would not be in a drug-store! + +Then I had an inspiration. There was the grocer named Holmes! Why not +try him? I would. So I went to the store of Joseph A. Holmes, at the +corner of Main Street and Brighton Road. To my eager inquiry, Mr. Holmes +said: "You have come just in time. We want a boy." Then he asked me what +wages I wanted. "Just enough to live on," I said. "You can live with +us," he said; "and I will give you one dollar a week." That meant $50 a +year. It was a great sum to me. I began to work at once. + +This was the winter of '43-'44, and I was fourteen. My work was to drive +the grocery wagon up to Old Cambridgeport, take orders, and fill them. I +had to get up at four o'clock in the morning to look after the horse, +just as I had done on the farm, and to get everything ready for the +trip. I had the orders of the day before to fill and to deliver at the +college. Besides, I had to work in the store after I came back from Old +Cambridgeport. In the evening I had to look after the lamps, sweep out, +put up the shutters, and do numberless other little things about the +store. The store was closed at ten o'clock at night. Then I would put +out the lights, which were old-fashioned oil lamps. + +It was a long day for a boy--or for a man. I worked eighteen hours every +day. And the laborers in the Pennsylvania coal-mines are now striking +for an eight-hour day! I had six hours of night in which to go to bed +and to find what sleep I could. This life continued for about two years. +In that time I had learned to do almost everything that was to be done +about a grocery store. I had really learned this in the first six +months. + +One of my many little duties was to make paper bags. I had to cut the +paper and paste it together. Another task was to take a hogshead of +hams, put each ham in bagging, and sew it up. Then I had to whitewash +each particular ham. That was a nice business! It went against my nature +more than any other part of my manifold labors in the store. + +Mr. Holmes was a Baptist deacon, but the only thing about him to which +my youthful taste objected was that he chewed tobacco all the time. +Yes, there was another objection. He insisted upon my joining the Bible +class in his Sunday-school. This I would not do. I could not explain it +all to him; but the Santa Claus matter had not yet worn out of my mind. + +One day at the grocery store, Mr. Holmes brought in an elderly gentleman +and said to me: "George, I want you to take this gentleman" (naming him) +"up to the college, and walk about with him." The gentleman seemed to me +to be about sixty years old. Mr. Holmes cautioned me about keeping him +out of any danger, as he was not very well. "Don't talk to him," he said +to me, "unless he wants to talk to you." + +The thing was like a holiday to me. I walked with him up to the college, +and all around, as much as he wanted to; and it never occurred to me, in +all the days I was with him in this way, to find out who he was, or to +think about it at all. + +He was John Jacob Astor, Jr., eldest son of the founder of the great +house of the Astors. He was practically an invalid. He was then in +charge of a Mr. Dowse, who generally left him to the care of Mr. Holmes, +and who, in turn, left him to me. After this, he came to New York, where +he was taken in charge by his brother, William B. Astor. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +EARLY NEW ENGLAND METHODISM + + +Before I get away from my boyhood days, I want to say something about +the manner of my rearing in the bosom of old New England Methodism. I +was reared in the strictest ways of morality, in accordance with the old +system. Grandmother told me that I must not swear, must not drink +intoxicating liquors, must not lie, must not use tobacco in any form. It +seemed to me she was stretching out the moral law a little, and that +there were fifteen, instead of ten, commandments, in the religious +scheme of Methodism. And each commandment was held up to me as an +unfailing precept that would make a man of me. I used to say to myself +that I would be fifteen times a man, as I intended to keep them all. + +But while this training was proceeding, and I was being warned against +drinking and using tobacco, there were some strange inconsistencies +going on side by side with the precepts. My old grandmother smoked what +was known as "nigger-head" tobacco, in a little clay pipe. The pipes +cost about a cent apiece. I used to cut up this tobacco for her. But as +she smoked, she lost no opportunity of impressing upon me the +dreadfulness of the tobacco habit. + +I made bold one day to ask her why it was that she smoked, and yet told +me not to smoke. She touched herself in the right side, and said, "The +doctor tells me to smoke for some trouble here." But she was a very +lovely old lady, and I would never write or speak a word that could harm +the dear memory of the mother of my mother. + +At this time, also, her father was living. I remember the old gentleman +now, in his red cap, then a wonder to me, but which afterward became +very familiar in Constantinople and the East as the Turkish fez. He was +very aged, being then well along in the eighties. Every night I used to +go up to his room and make him a toddy. He always wanted me to mix this +drink for him, as I had learned to make it exactly to his taste. He had +the rare consistency never to say anything to me about the immorality of +drinking, nor did I ever speak to him about the matter. But one day I +asked my grandmother about this "toddy." She touched her left side, and +said, "It is for something here." + +I could not understand it, but here were mysterious "somethings" in my +grandmother's right side, and in her father's left side, that nullified +the Methodist religious system and set at naught the additional +commandments, "Thou shalt not drink," and "Thou shalt not smoke." + +But the scheme of morality proved a good thing for me, and served to +guide me aright in all my wanderings about the world and up and down in +it. I think it very good testimony to the soundness and virtue of my +moral training that I have wandered around the world four times, have +lived in every manner known to man, have been thrown with the most +dissolute and the most reckless of mankind, and have passed through +almost every vicissitude of fortune, and have never tasted a drop of +intoxicating liquor, and have never smoked. I have kept all of the +commandments--those of Sinai and those of the Methodists. + +In my period of wealth and prosperity, I have entertained thousands of +men, have seen thousands drinking and drunken at my table--and under it; +but I never touched a drop of my own wine or of the wine of others. I +have paid a great deal of money for the purchase of all sorts of +tobacco, and for all sorts of pipes--narghiles, hookas, chibouks--as +presents for others; but never touched tobacco myself in any way. I have +been in every rat-hole of the world--but I never touched the rats. It is +for these reasons that I am seventy-three years young, and am hale and +strong to-day, and living my life over again like a youth once more. + +Years afterward, when I was lecturing, my cousin, George Pickering +Bemis, ex-Mayor of Omaha, and my aunt Abbie and my cousin Abbie attended +the one I delivered in Omaha, and all of them felt a little hurt by my +allusions to the old Methodists, and to my grandmother and her father. +Bemis wrote to me that they were horrified. But they forgot that what I +said of the Methodists and of my ancestors was in their praise. I was +not ridiculing them, but extolling them. I told of these incidents of my +childhood, because I was speaking of my childhood, and these were facts. +One of the strictest commandments of old Methodism was to tell the +truth. They were not satisfied with the mild negative of the Sinaitic +commandment, "Thou shalt not lie." They added a positive decree, "Thou +shalt speak the truth." That was all I was doing. I was telling the +truth about my childhood and boyhood. I have never spoken anything but +the truth in all my life. This, too, I owe to the early training in +Methodist virtues and precepts, and to the example and counsel of my +dear old grandmother. + +I could not join the Bible class, at the urgent request of the grocer, +Mr. Holmes, because I could not see the necessity of God, and no one +could ever explain to me the reason why there should be, or is, a God. I +could never recognize the necessity. Morality and ethics I could see the +necessity of, and the high and authoritative reason for; but religion +never appealed to my intelligence or to my emotions. The story of the +Prodigal Son only taught me that to be a Christian one must do something +to be forgiven for, to repent of; and I could not see the strength of +such an argument. The plain and sound "ethics" of Methodism, outside of +"faith" and "belief," always seemed to me to be higher and better than +this. + +I feel that in an autobiography I should say this much about my moral +creed and principles. Later in life the Bible got me into much trouble, +involved me in persecutions, and finally landed me in jail--all of which +I shall refer to in due season. + +Children are born savages and cheats. It is only training that makes +true and honest men and women of them. When a child of five and six, I +slept with my aunt Alice, the one who was afterward lost on the +Lexington. One night I saw a fourpence in her pocket-book. When I saw +that she was asleep, I got up quietly, went to her pocket-book where it +lay on the table and took the fourpence out of it. But I could not +retain it. It seared into my conscience. Before she woke up, I went as +quietly back to the purse and placed the fourpence exactly where I had +found it. My Methodist training saved me. + +On another occasion, my grandmother took me to Watertown to buy me a +suit of clothes. In the store I noticed, while my grandmother was +talking with the clerk, a lovely knife in the show-case. I wanted it. +All my boyish instincts went out to that knife. I had never had a +knife, and was hungry for one. I looked around, with all the inherited +cunning of savage and barbarian and predatory ancestors in a thousand +forests and for a hundred centuries. No one was observing me. Quietly, +stealthily, I went to the case. I lifted the top, took the beautiful +knife, and put it in my pocket. It was done. I had the knife, and no one +would ever be any wiser. I was safe with my spoil. But again my +Methodist-drilled conscience awoke. It made me go back to the show-case +and replace the stolen knife. I actually felt better--for a time. + +Then the appeal of nature came back stronger than before. I longed for +the knife. There was no resisting the predatory impulse. Again I stole +behind the counter, opened the case, took out the knife, and placed it +securely in my pocket. Again it had been done without chance of +detection. But again my Methodist-made conscience came to the fore. +Again it saved me from being a thief. I went back to the case, and put +the knife in its place, but with great reluctance. Still a third time I +took the knife from the case and secreted it in my pocket, and again the +Methodist conscience proved stronger than human nature, and I restored +the treasure to its proper place. I was finally able to leave the store +without the knife, and with a clean conscience. + +These are the only instances when I started to do an evil thing, and in +both of them I did not go the full length, but restored the property I +coveted. Since that time, and with these exceptions, for the entire +period of my life I have never cheated, stolen, or lied. And yet I have +been in fifteen jails. For what? + +When I was clerk in Mr. Holmes's grocery store I was in charge of the +money-drawer. I received no salary from Mr. Holmes, but took out the $1 +a week that I was allowed, and kept an account of it. I was trusted, and +did not betray in the slightest degree this trust and confidence of my +employer. Every cent that I took out of, or put into the cash-drawer was +entered upon my account-book, and I was ready at any and all times to +show exactly how my account stood with the store. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +IN A SHIPPING HOUSE IN BOSTON + +1844-1850 + + +The next change in my life, and the real beginning of my career as a +business man, was soon to come. I had got as much out of the grocery +store as it could give me, and was yearning for a change and a wider +field of labor. + +One day a gentleman drove up to the store in a carriage drawn by an +elegant team of horses, and asked if there was a boy there named Train. +Mr. Holmes thereupon called to me, and said to the strange gentleman, +"This is George Francis Train." He then told me that the stranger was +Colonel Enoch Train, and that he wanted to speak to me. + +The first thing Colonel Train said was, "I am surprised to see you, +George. I thought all your family were dead in New Orleans. Your father +was a very dear friend of mine--and your mother, too." He said, as if +repeating it to himself, like a sort of formula, "Oliver Train, merchant +in Merchants' Row." Then he continued: "He was my cousin. But we had +heard that you were all dead. Where have you been?" I told him where I +had been living for the past ten years, with my grandmother at Waltham, +and how my uncle Clarke had brought me back from New Orleans. + +After he had made a number of inquiries of me, and I had given him all +the stock of information I had, Colonel Train drove back to Boston. I +watched the retreating carriage, and brave and disturbing thoughts came +to me. + +The following day I went to Boston. I had no very definite plan of +action, but I knew that when the time and opportunity came I should find +my way, as usual. And so I went directly to the great shipping house of +Train & Co., at 37 Lewis Wharf. The big granite building seemed titanic +to my eyes then, as if it contained the whole world of business and +enterprise. When I went back to Boston years and years afterward, it +seemed only a plain, ordinary affair. At first sight of it the place was +simply ahead of and greater than anything I had seen. When I had +outgrown it, it seemed small. + +When I came up to the building, my purpose was at once clear. I walked +in and asked to see Colonel Train. The colonel shook hands cordially, +and said he was very glad to see me. "Where do I come in?" I asked. + +"Come in?" he almost gasped at this effrontery. "Why, people don't come +into a big shipping house like this in that way. You are too young." + +"I am growing older every day," I replied. "That is the reason I am +here. I want to make my way in the world." "Well," said the colonel, +smiling at me, "you come in to see me when you are seventeen years old." + +"That will be next year," I replied. "I am sixteen now. I might just as +well begin this year--right away." He tried to put me off one way after +another; but I was not to be got rid of. I was there, and I meant to +stay. + +"I will come in to-morrow," I said. Then I left, quite content with +myself and the turn my venture had taken. Of the issue I had no doubt. + +Early on the following day, I went to the shipping office, and took my +seat at one of the desks. I sat there and waited. After a little while, +Colonel Train came in. He was astonished to see me sitting there, ready +for work. + +"You here?" he stammered. "Have you left the grocery store?" "Yes, sir," +I said; "I have learned everything there is to learn there and in fact +had done so before I had been there six months. I want a bigger field to +work in." + +"You don't mean to say you have come here without being invited?" "As I +was not invited, that was about the only way for me to come," I said. +"As I am here, I might as well stay." And I settled myself in the seat +at the desk. + +Colonel Train looked at the bookkeeper sorely perplexed. But I saw that +he rather admired my persistence and bravado. I had won the first trial +of arms. + +"Well," said he, after a while, turning again to the bookkeeper, "we +shall see if we can find something for you to do." "I will find +something to do," I said. He smiled cordially at this, and said: "I will +make a man of you." "I will make a man of myself," I replied. + +Then the colonel asked Mr. Nazro, who had been the firm's bookkeeper for +many years, to try to find something for me to do. + +It so happened that the ship Anglo-Saxon had just arrived from +Liverpool, Captain Joseph R. Gordon, with goods for 150 consignees. Mr. +Nazro handed me the portage bill showing the amount to be collected from +each of the 150 consignees. The amounts were set down in English money, +and Mr. Nazro asked me to put them into American, or Federal, money. I +fancied he was setting me what would prove to be an impossible task, +just to dispose of me for all time. But he blundered, if this was his +purpose. I had had some experience of English money at the grocery +store, having often to change it into American money. + +I coolly asked Mr. Nazro what was the prevailing rate of exchange, and +he replied that it was $4.80 to the pound. "That is just 24 cents to +the shilling, two cents to the penny," I said, and went to work. It was +then noon. It would have taken some clerks a week to do the task; but I +had completed it by six o'clock that afternoon. + +When I handed the list back to him, he asked, with an astonished air, if +I had finished it. "You can see for yourself," I replied. "There it is, +all made out properly and correctly." "How do you know it is right?" +said he. "Because I have proved it," I replied. + +This little task decided my fate. Mr. Nazro told me the office hours +were from eight until six, with the rest of the time, the evenings, all +my own. + +The next morning I arrived at the office promptly, and asked Mr. Nazro +what I was to do. He handed me a package of bills. I saw they were the +bills upon which I had worked the day before, changing English to +American currency. There were 150 of them. Each was to contain the +amount that must be collected from each of the consignees. I at once set +to work on this new task, and completed it in less time than it had +taken me to change the money. I went with the bills to Mr. Nazro, and +asked what I was to do next. He gave me a collector's wallet into which +to put the bills, and told me to go out and collect the amounts due. +This was a staggerer, but I set about the difficult undertaking without +any feeling of discouragement. + +At that time Boston was a strange city to me. It is true that I had +lived on the edge of it for years; but my ceaseless work at the grocery +store had kept me from roaming over the town and learning anything about +it. The only section I was at all familiar with was the neighborhood of +the old Quincy Market, to which I had driven so many wagon-loads of +garden and farm "truck" in my boyhood days. I was as green as a genuine +countryman who had come to town for the first time in his life. I knew +not a soul in the city. But off I started, nothing abashed, with the +great wallet of bills under my arm. I intended to succeed at this task. + +I soon picked out my course through the city. I worked through street +after street, and collected as I went. I did not stop, but kept steadily +on, and in the afternoon found myself at the end of the list. I had +collected nearly every bill. + +I returned to the office and handed the wallet and money to Mr. Nazro. +Again he was astonished. He asked if I had collected all the bills, and +when I told him nearly all, he asked me for the list. I said I had made +out none, as it was not necessary. There was all the money; he could +count it, and compare with the list on his books. He was very much +surprised, but counted the money, and found it correct to a cent. I did +not need a list, I told him, because I could carry the whole thing in my +head. + +From that day to this I have done everything I have undertaken in my +own way, and have found that it was the best way--at least, for me. + +My next duty was to see that every one of the 150 consignees received +the goods that were billed to him. This gave me opportunity for meeting +a large number of important persons. Among the rest, I met Nathaniel P. +Banks, who was a Custom-House official at the time, and the great +writer, Nathaniel Hawthorne, whom I saw in the Custom-House on a visit +from Salem. He had been appointed by President Polk. Of course I knew +nothing about him at the time, although he was then writing his greatest +work, and perhaps was casting in his mind The Scarlet Letter. He had +only just begun to be famous--an interesting fact enough, but one I did +not learn till long afterward. He seemed very unassuming, and not in +very affluent circumstances. I suppose his salary from the Government at +the time was not more than $1,000 a year. + +My life in the old shipping house of Train & Co., in Boston, lasted some +four years. The first vessel that came in, after I began working with +the company, was the Joshua Bates, named after the American partner of +the famous house of the Barings. It was of 400 tons, quite a big ship +for the time. The next was the Washington Irving, 500 tons; and the +third was the Anglo-Saxon, the bills of which, on a previous voyage, I +had made out in my trial under Mr. Nazro. The Anglo-Saxon was lost the +following year--this was in '46--off Cape Sable, with several +passengers, the captain and crew escaping. After this the Anglo-American +came in, then the Parliament, the Ocean Monarch, and the Staffordshire. +All of these were famous ships in their day. + +In '48, I was at the pier one day on the lookout for the Ocean Monarch. +Although the telegraph had been established in '44, it had not been +brought from Nova Scotia to Boston, and we had only the semaphore to use +for signaling. When a ship entered the harbor, the captain would take a +speaking-trumpet and, standing on the bridge, shout out the most +interesting or important tidings so that the news would get into the +city before the ship was docked. The Persia was also due, with Captain +Judkins, and it came in ahead of the Ocean Monarch. Some three or four +thousand persons were on the pier waiting eagerly for the captain's +news. I was at the end of the pier, and saw Captain Judkins place the +trumpet to his lips, and heard him shout the tidings. And this is what I +heard: + +"The Ocean Monarch was burned off Orm's Head. Four hundred passengers +burned or drowned. Captain Murdoch taken off of a spar by Tom +Littledale's yacht. A steamer going to Ireland passed by, and refused to +offer assistance. Complete wreck, and complete loss." + +The captain shouted hoarsely, like a sentence of doom from the "last +trump." Every one was stunned. The scene was indescribable, both the +dead silence with which the dreadful tidings were received, and the wild +excitement that soon burst forth. + +I took advantage of the awed hush of the people, and rushed toward the +street end of the pier. There I leaped on my horse that was waiting for +me, and galloped off. Crossing the ferry, I went madly through +Commercial Street, up State Street, and to the Merchants' Exchange. +There I mounted a chair, and amid a great hush, shouted out the tidings, +word for word, and in almost the exact intonation the captain had used. + +One day a gentleman, looking like a farmer, came into the office and +asked to see Mr. Train. I remember that it was the 5th of October, '47. +I replied to his question that my name was Train. "I mean the old +gentleman," he said. + +I told him that Colonel Train was out of the office at the time, but +that as I had charge of the ships, I might be able to attend to his +business. But I added that I was in a hurry, as the Washington Irving +was to sail in an hour. "That is just what I am here for," said he. "I +want to sail on that ship; I want passage for England." + +I told him there was one state-room left, and that he could have both +berths for the price of one--$75, but that he must get aboard in great +haste, as everything was ready and the ship waiting for final orders. +He said he was ready, and I started to fill up a passenger slip. "What +is your name?" I asked. "Ralph Waldo Emerson," he replied. + +Then he took out of his pocket an old wallet, with twine wrapped around +it four or five times, opened it carefully, and counted out $75. I could +not wait to see whether it was correct, but threw it in the drawer, and +took him on board. + +Mr. Emerson was then starting on his famous visit to England, during +which he was to visit Carlyle. He afterward mentioned the occurrence in +his English Traits, where he said: "I took my berth in the packet-ship +Washington Irving." From the moment when I thus met Emerson for the +second time, I began to take great interest in him, read him carefully, +and have continued to read him throughout my life. He has had more +influence upon me than any other man in the world. + +We once chartered the ship Franklin to take a cargo of tar, pitch, and +turpentine from Wilmington, N. C., consigned to the Baring Brothers, +London, and return with a cargo of freight. She was about due from +England, thirty-five days having elapsed since she had started to +return. By this time I had been placed in charge of all the shipping, +and I was on the lookout for the Franklin. One day the news came by +semaphore that a large ship had been wrecked just off the lighthouse, +while coming into Boston harbor. It was not known what ship it was. The +sender of the message asked if Train & Co. had a ship due. I thought at +once it might be the Franklin, making a somewhat faster passage than we +had expected. + +The next day some of the wreckage came into the harbor, and, strangely +enough, a piece of the floating timbers bore the name Franklin on it. I +was at the pier when this discovery was made, and rushed at once to the +insurance office to see whether the policy covering the freight had been +arranged. It was all right. On the following day, to the astonishment of +all Boston, the valise of one of the officers of the Franklin was washed +ashore at Nantasket. In it were many letters, and among them were +instructions telling how "to sink the vessel off the lighthouse, as she +was fully insured." When the ship went down the captain was drowned with +the rest of the crew and the passengers. + +I saw at once that here was a case of barratry of the master, and that +the letter would jeopardize the whole affair of the insurance. It was a +matter that needed prompt and able legal work. I hastened to the office +of Rufus Choate, the most famous lawyer in New England of that time. I +hurriedly explained to Mr. Choate that we had lost a ship, and needed a +lawyer. "Will you accept a retainer of $500?" I added. He accepted it at +once, and turned to his desk to write out a receipt. I said there was +no necessity for a receipt, as the check would be receipt enough, and +hurried away. + +I then went directly across the street to the office of Daniel Webster, +who was then practising law in Boston. I was particularly anxious to +have Mr. Webster retained. I remember now the roar of his great, deep +voice as he responded to my knock with a "Come in" that was like a +battle peal. And I recall well the picture of the great man, as I saw +him for the first time. He sat at his flat desk, a magnificent example +of manhood, his massive head set squarely and solidly upon his +shoulders. He did not have very much business in those days, and the +clients that found a way to his office were few. + +"Mr. Webster," I said, "we want your services in a very important case. +Will you accept this as a retainer?" I handed him a check for $1,000. He +accepted it very promptly, and it seemed to me at the time that the +check loomed large to him. Such sums came seldom. + +One incident in the trial of the case impressed me deeply. It was the +masterly manner in which Mr. Choate examined the witnesses. He had the +reputation of being the most effective cross-examiner in New England. +Before him, in the witness-box, stood one of the owners. Mr. Choate +wanted to confuse him in his testimony as to the way in which he had +done a certain thing. He began by asking the longest and most complex +question that I ever heard. It wound all around the case, and straggled +through every street in Boston. "You say," Mr. Choate began, "you say +that you did so and so, that you went to such and such a place, that +after this you did so and so, and thus and so," and he kept on asking +him if after doing this and that if such and such was not the case, +until there was no answering the question, or understanding it. + +But Mr. Choate had tackled the wrong man for once. The man was an +Irishman, and the most nonchalant person I ever saw. Nothing seemed to +confuse him. While Mr. Choate was firing his complicated questions at +him, he sat perfectly unmoved, unshaken. He seemed to be taking it all +in. Then when the astute lawyer had finished, the witness looked at him +quietly, and said: "Mr. Choate, will yez be after rapatin' that again?" + +Bar and bench and spectators broke into roars of laughter. For once Mr. +Choate was confused. But we won the case, as was to be expected, thanks +to our matchless array of legal ability. + +We had two ships engaged in making what was known as "the triangular +run"--from Boston to New Orleans, New Orleans to Liverpool, and +Liverpool back to Boston. They were the St. Petersburg, built in '40 for +the cotton trade, and having for a figurehead the head and shoulders of +the Emperor Nicholas; and the Governor Davis, named for the governor of +the Bay State, whose son is now living at Newport. Once we were +expecting the Governor Davis to arrive at New Orleans, where the freight +rates were higher than they had been in many years--three farthings the +pound. The vessel was to be loaded with cotton for Liverpool. We were +elated at the prospect of big profits, when a telegram came from our +agent, Levi H. Gale, at New Orleans. It read: "The Governor Davis is +burned up." + +Our hearts sank. A fortune had been lost, or at least the opportunity to +make one. I went immediately to the insurance office to see that the +policies were all right, and found them in good shape. Then it occurred +to me that there might be a possibility of error in the message. Eager +with my thought, I rushed to the telegraph office and asked to have the +message repeated carefully, no matter what it might cost. After awhile +there came back what had been a terrifying message in this new form: +"The Governor Davis is bound up." The vessel was safe, and so were our +profits. + +My connection with the packet lines brought me into contact with many +prominent business men of Boston. Very often I was able to do some +little thing for them, and once a very amusing incident occurred in +connection with the attempt of Mr. Milton, of the firm of Milton, +Cushman & Co., to get some English pigs for breeding purposes. I had +charge of the catering for our vessels, and made the purchases. Mr. +Milton asked me to get him some English pigs, and I promised that we +would bring some over by the very next ship. As the vessels were out for +quite a time, we frequently carried live animals aboard for food, and +usually hogs and pigs. It so happened that on this particular trip, when +going east, one of the sows gave birth to a litter of pigs. They were +taken to Liverpool. By some mistake they were brought back and delivered +to Mr. Milton. He prized them very highly, until later on he discovered +that they were American pigs, born under the American flag on the high +seas. The mistake subjected him to much good-natured chaffing. No one +forgot the incident during the old gentleman's life. + +Of course, there was always present the temptation to do a little +business on my own account, during my connection with the Train Packet +Lines. Indeed, the desire to do this, and the experience I got in it, +were the foundations of my subsequent business success. It was +inevitable that I should have undertakings of my own. + +My first speculation was the shipment of a cargo of Danvers onions to +Liverpool in consignment of Baring Brothers. I was eager to have my +first venture turn out a success. The onions were packed carefully in +barrels, and I saw myself that they were in the best condition before +they were shipped. I felt as if I had taken every precaution, and that +I was assured of a pretty good thing. Then came the news from England: +"Onions arrived; not in good order. Debit, L3 17s. 6d." + +That was the disappointing result of my first venture. I was a loser. +Years afterward, when I was launching shipping lines between Australia +and America, I cited this little experience of mine as an example of +what might be expected by many who sent cargoes to the other end of the +world. + +My second venture proved more successful. This was the shipping of fish +on ice to New Orleans. It paid me well. But my real career as a shipper +started in quite another and different way. I am ashamed to confess how +I began this career, which made me a shipper of cargoes to the other end +of the earth. But as I was too ignorant at the time to know much better, +or, indeed, to give any thought at all to the matter, I shall, in the +interest of truth, make a full confession. I became a smuggler of opium +into China! + +It happened in this way. One of our captains, who was about to start +with a cargo for the Orient, asked me if I did not want to send over +something for sale, as he thought a good profit might be made on a +shipment of something in demand there. "What would be a good thing to +send?" I asked. "Opium," said he laconically. + +Opium meant nothing to me then. I had never thought of it in any way +other than as a marketable product and an object in cargoes. So I went +to Henshaw's, in Boston, and got three tins of opium, the best he had. +This I placed in charge of the captain, and he smuggled it into China, +and got a good price for it, to the profit of himself and me. + +But the smuggling did not end there. I had instructed him to lay in a +supply of curios, silks, and other oriental things, and bring them to +Boston. This part of the venture was as successful as the first, and I +made quite a snug little sum. It was my first considerable profit. That +was in '46-'47. + +I do not think any one in good standing in business has an idea now of +cheating the Government out of tariff duties. I had not, at that time, +the slightest idea that I was doing wrong. I felt entirely innocent of +defrauding two governments, and did not realize that I was a smuggler. +The wrong of the transaction I fully understood afterward. + +But I fear that the moral sense as to smuggling, to use an ugly term, +was not so delicate in those days. Even patriotic and good men thought +that it was not very bad to bring in articles from Europe and the Orient +without stopping to pay the duty levied by the United States. There was +no systematic attempt to defraud the Government. There was just no +thought at all, except to get in a few luxuries upon which it did not +seem worth while to pay the customs dues. I can recall a few examples +of this lax way of treating the tariff regulations. They were the acts +of men of great social and business prominence. If done to-day, they +would shock the whole country--even the Democratic and low tariff, or no +tariff, part of it. + +One day a banker, who was a famous figure in Boston, a leader in the +world of business, asked me if I could not bring over for him some +silver he had ordered sent to the Train offices in Liverpool. I +consented. Shortly after this, the steward of the Ocean Monarch told me +he had a very heavy package addressed to "George Francis Train." I +directed him to bring it into the office. Then I saw that the heavy +package was addressed, in the corner, from the shippers to this famous +Boston banker. And so, without any intent to defraud the Government on +my part, and, I suppose, without any intent on the part of the great +banker to do a distinctly wrong act, we had actually conspired to +smuggle in some exquisite silver plate for the richest banker in New +England, to save a few dollars' tariff duty! + +Once while I was in Paris, in '50, I wanted to buy some presents for the +young lady to whom I was engaged to be married--Miss Davis--who was then +living in Louisville, Ky. I called at the Paris office of a famous +American firm of jewelers, and the resident agent took me to a +magnificent establishment, where I saw the wealth of a world in gems. + +An amusing thing happened, which I shall relate before I complete the +story of this smuggling incident. I asked at once to see the most +beautiful things the shop contained, the latest, and most charming. +Imagine my surprise and horror when the young girl who was showing me +around the shop exhibited to me a package of pictures that would have +subjected me to immediate arrest and incarceration had they been found +on my person in this city. She explained to me that this was the part of +the business in her charge, and that she thought, as I was an American +and new to Paris, I wanted to get hold of some startling pictures to +carry back to the United States. + +Passing through this temptation unscathed, I finally got to the jewels +and gems of all sorts, and selected some for my betrothed. I bought +about $1,000 worth. Suddenly the agent of an American house turned on me +and said he was thinking of sending a present to his firm in New York, +and asked if I would not take charge of it and deliver it, or have it +delivered direct. Of course I did not know what this meant--that he +wanted me to get a package of jewels to his firm without paying the +tariff duty. I consented, however, before I went into the ethical +question, and brought over, perhaps, a package of splendid and costly +diamonds for one of the richest houses in the world. + +While in charge of the ships of the house in Boston I had a little +yacht, called The Sea Witch, that I used in boarding vessels in the +harbor. One day there arrived a very great man, in my opinion a tower of +strength in finance--Thomas Baring, afterward Lord Revelstoke, who +succeeded Lord Ashburton as the representative of England in this +country. I had prepared to take him on a trip around the harbor, and +everything was ready for the sail the following day, when he was +suddenly called to Washington, and sent me a note which read as follows: + + "DEAR MR. TRAIN: + + "As I leave for Washington in the morning, I regret that it will + not be possible for me to go with you on The Sea Witch to see + Boston harbor. I remember with pleasure the canvasback ducks that + you sent to me at London, and which gave me and my friends so + much pleasure. I hope to see you on my return. + + "THOMAS BARING." + +The great development of the clippers, the boats that soon made the +reputation of the United States on the seas, was due chiefly to the +discovery of gold in California. This made it necessary to send a great +number of ships to the Pacific coast, and I saw that it was essential to +the success of the trade to send large boats that could make profits on +this long voyage. + +Gold was discovered in '48. At that time our packets had attained to +the size of only 800 tons. They were considered large boats at the time, +but now would be called mere tubs. I saw that if we wanted to enter the +trade with the Pacific we should have to get larger ships. Our first +packets had been built at East Boston by Donald Mackay: the Joshua +Bates, 400 tons; the Washington Irving, 500 tons; the Anglo-Saxon, 600 +tons; the Anglo-American, 700 tons; the Ocean Monarch, 800 tons. In a +few years we had enlarged the packet clipper from a vessel of 400 tons +to one of 800 tons, or twice the size. The Ocean Monarch was regarded as +a veritable monster of the seas. + +When the gold-fever was setting the country frantic, and every one, +apparently, wanted to go to California, I said to Mackay: "I want a big +ship, one that will be larger than the Ocean Monarch." Mackay replied, +"Two hundred tons bigger?" "No," said I, "I want a ship of 2,000 tons." +Mackay was one of those men who merely ask what is needed. He said he +would build the sort of ship I wanted. "I shall call her the Flying +Cloud," I said. This is the history of that famous ship, destined to +make a new era in ship-building all over the world. + +Longfellow sent me a copy of his poem, The Building of the Ship, which +he had written to commemorate the construction of a much smaller vessel. +Not only ship-builders, but the whole world, was talking of the Flying +Cloud. Her appearance in the world of commerce was a great historic +event. + +No sooner was the Flying Cloud built than many ship-owners wanted to buy +her. Among others, the house of Grinnell, Minturn & Co., of the +Swallow-Tail Line, of Liverpool, asked what we would take for her. I +replied that I wanted $90,000, which meant a handsome profit. The answer +came back immediately, "We will take her." We sent the vessel to New +York under Captain Cressey, while I went on by railway. There I closed +the sale, and the proudest moment of my life, up to that time, was when +I received a check from Moses H. Grinnell, the New York head of the +house, for $90,000. + +The Flying Cloud was sent from New York to San Francisco, and made the +passage in eighty-six days, with a full cargo of freight and passengers, +paying for herself in that single voyage out and back. Her record has +not been beaten by any sailing ship in the fifty-three years that have +since elapsed. + +The building of this vessel was a tremendous leap forward in +ship-building; but I was not satisfied. I told Mackay that I wanted a +still larger ship. He said he could build it. And so we began another +vessel that was to outstrip in size and capacity the great Flying Cloud. + +I was desirous to name this ship the Enoch Train, in honor of the head +of the Boston house, and had said as much to Duncan MacLane, who was +the marine reporter for the Boston Post. MacLane had usually written a +column for his paper on the launching of our ships. He wanted to have +something to write about the new vessel. I told him the story of Colonel +Train's life, and that we were going to christen the new vessel with his +name. I did not consult Colonel Train, thinking that, of course, it was +all right. + +The Post published a long account of the ship, and gave the name as the +Enoch Train. When I went down to the office that morning Colonel Train +had not yet arrived, but he soon came in, walking straight as a +gun-barrel, and seeming to be a little stiff. "Did you see the Post this +morning?" I asked. "Premature," he replied. That was all he said. He +would not discuss the matter. I was nettled that he did not appreciate +the honor I thought I was conferring on him. It was not for nothing that +a man's name should be borne by the greatest vessel on the seas. I said +to myself that the name should be changed at once. The ship was to be of +2,200 tons burden, larger than the Flying Cloud and the Staffordshire, +both of 2,000 tons, and I decided to call her the Sovereign of the Seas. + +The news that we were building a still bigger ship was rapidly +circulated throughout the world. Many shipping lines wanted to buy her +before she was off the ways. Despatches from New York shipping lines +making inquiry as to price came almost daily. I invariably replied that +we would take $130,000. But this was a little too stiff a price at that +time, although the Flying Cloud had paid for herself in a single trip. I +finally sold her to Berren Roosen, Jr., of Hamburg, Germany, through the +brokers Funch & Menkier, of New York, for $110,000. She was entered in +my name, although I was at the time only nineteen years of age. I was +quite proud to have the greatest vessel then afloat on any water +associated with my name. She was sent to Liverpool. + +The California business had grown steadily, and the house of Train had +taken a leading part in it. One of the biggest of our ships was built +expressly for it, and employed on the long run from Boston to San +Francisco. This was the Staffordshire, which we had named for the great +potteries in England from which we got so much of our import freight. +She was of the same size and tonnage as the Flying Cloud--2,000 tons. We +sent her to California on her first trip under Captain Richardson, full +of freight and passengers. There were three hundred passengers, each +paying $300 for the trip around the Horn. This brought us in $90,000, +completely paying for the cost of building and equipping, with cash in +hand, before she sailed. + +The Flying Cloud and the Staffordshire were followed by about forty fast +clippers during the great gold-fever of '49. I was still in my teens, +and consider it not an insignificant thing to have accomplished the +initiation of this magnificent clipper service which revolutionized +sailing vessels all over the world, and gave to America the reputation +for building the fastest ships on the seas. + +When the California business first opened up, I was bent upon going to +the Golden Horn myself. I felt that there was to be a great development +in trade and permanent business there, and wanted to "get in on the +ground floor." But this was not to be, and my destiny detained me at +Boston to take my share in the building of fast clippers and in +developing the trade from the Atlantic side of the continent. I saw that +MacKondray & Co., and Flint, Peabody & Co., who went to California about +this time, were making fortunes out of commissions. I also saw men go +there later to become millionaires in a few years--men like John W. +Mackay, the pioneer, who died recently in London, worth somewhere +approximating $100,000,000, most of it taken out of the Comstock Lode, +the last of the "Big Four"--Mackay, Flood, Fair, and O'Brien--all of +whom are dead. But my fortunes led in another direction. I was to go +East, and not West. + +In connection with the clipper service to California, I should mention +here the beginning of the Irish immigration to this country, which +started at the time of the gold-fever. I saw that this country was very +sparsely populated, that there were vast areas entirely unoccupied, and +that there was not only room, but need, for more people. I also had an +eye to increasing our own business, as our ships were returning from +Liverpool with very few passengers. In casting about in my mind to +create business, it occurred to me that the Irish, who were particularly +restive and desirous of coming to America, might be turned into +passengers for our boats and into settlers of our waste places. + +My first step was to engage the services of as many Irish 'longshoremen +and stevedores as possible. These were always talking of their friends +in Ireland, and their friends in the old country were asking them for +information about the United States. I got the 'longshoremen and +stevedores to scatter throughout Ireland information about this country +and about the way to get here. I then set to work to arrange for giving +to the poor Irish immigrants a cheap and convenient means of passage. + +I invented the prepaid passenger certificate, and also the small +one-pound (English money) bill of exchange. To disseminate information +about the plan, I had inserted in the Boston Pilot, the Catholic organ +of the day, the following advertisement, it being a letter from the +Catholic archbishop: + + "The Boston and Liverpool Packet Line of Enoch Train & Co. have + arranged to issue prepaid passenger certificates and small bills + of exchange for one pound and upward. This firm is highly + respectable, and has established agencies throughout Ireland for + the benefit of Irish immigrants.--[Symbol: Cross]FITZPATRICK, + Archbishop of Boston." + +This advertisement, and this indorsement from a high Catholic authority, +gave a marked impetus to the flow of Irish immigrants into America. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +A VACATION TOUR + +1850 + + +In '50 it was decided that I should go to Liverpool to take charge of +the house there. I asked Colonel Train if I could not first have a +holiday, so that I might see a little of my own country. He told me to +take two months, and to see as much as I could in that time. My ship was +scheduled to sail July 25, '50. This was the only holiday I had had in +four years. + +I started for New York. After a brief stay there, I went to Cape May. My +recollections of that place, which was then the great resort of the +Atlantic coast, include a famous score I made in rolling ten-pins. This +game was my forte, and I remember that I defeated a party of +Philadelphians, scoring strike after strike, and left my score, 290, +marked up on the wall. It stood unrivaled for years. + +I hurried on to Washington from Cape May. The trip was then made by +boat, rail, and stage. As soon as I reached Washington, I called on +Daniel Webster, then Secretary of State. I was shown into his office, +gave him news of New England, and said that every one was discussing his +great speech of the 7th of March of that year. He looked at me +inquiringly. "Some are hostile toward your sentiments," I said; "but +most of the people are with you." "They are talking about it, are they?" +This was the only comment he made. + +Afterward he introduced me to his wife, Mrs. Leroy Webster, and asked if +I would like to meet the President. I was delighted, and said so. "Just +wait a moment," he said, and sat down at his desk, took a quill pen and +wrote on a sheet of blue paper, nearly a foot square, "To the President +of the United States, introducing a young friend of mine from Boston, +George Francis Train, shipping merchant, who merely wishes to pay his +respects to the president.--DANIEL WEBSTER." The large writing covered +almost the whole page. I thanked him, and started at once for the White +House. + +On arriving there, I was at once ushered into the presence of General +Taylor, who sat at his desk. The presidential feet rested on another +chair. I begged him not to rise, but to let me feel at home, and handed +him the letter from Mr. Webster. + +At his request, I seated myself opposite him, and from this point of +vantage made a hurried study of his appearance. He wore a shirt that +was formerly white, but which then looked like the map of Mexico after +the battle of Buena Vista. It was spotted and spattered with tobacco +juice. + +Directly behind me, as I was soon made aware, was a cuspidor, toward +which the President turned the flow of tobacco juice. I was in mortal +terror, but I soon saw there was no danger. With as unerring an aim as +the famous spitter on the boat in Dickens's American Notes, he never +missed the cuspidor once, or put my person in jeopardy. + +My conversation--because, I suppose, it was new to him--interested him, +and he would not let me go for half an hour. I told him the news of New +England, and about my journey to Liverpool and its object. This +particularly interested him, and he asked me a hundred questions about +the shipping business and the prospects of developing trade with +England. + +As I was about to leave, I said to him that I prized very highly the +letter from Mr. Webster, and should be very glad to be able to keep it; +"and I should prize it still more highly, Mr. President, if you would +add your autograph to it." "Certainly," he replied, and then took up a +quill pen, and wrote "Z. Taylor." He courteously asked me to call to see +him again before I left for England. + +From the White House, I went direct to the National Hotel, where I asked +to see Mr. Clay. I was shown up to his room, and soon stood in the +presence of the great Southern orator. I observed that his shirt also +bore the same marks as that of the President--stained and smeared with +tobacco juice. + +I told him that I was about to start for England, and that, as I had a +letter signed by Mr. Webster and the President, I should like to add his +signature also. "I believe that two signatures are usually necessary on +Mr. Webster's paper," said Mr. Clay with a smile. He then added his +autograph to the paper. + +Before leaving for Liverpool, I visited Mount Vernon, of course, while +in Washington, saw the Georgetown Convent, and, indeed, everything of +interest in the capital at that time. Then I went back to New York and +up the Hudson to West Point. + +My visit to West Point was especially pleasant. I comraded with the +cadets, who invited me to sleep in their tent on the campus. Among the +young fellows there at the time, who was very pleasant and friendly, was +Alfred H. Terry, afterward one of the most distinguished of our +officers. I attended the cadets' ball at Cozzens's Hotel, messed with +them, and entered into all of their sports and daily routine. I was +astonished to notice that in the morning the roar of the gun did not +disturb their slumbers, although it shook me from sleep. But the +lightest tap of the drum aroused them instantly. It was force of habit, +which, I was to learn later, enables men to sleep amid the roar of +artillery on the battlefield, or amid the howling of storms on the +ocean. In sleep, as in our waking hours, the trained and disciplined +mind hears what it wants to hear. + +From West Point I went on to Saratoga Springs. It was my first visit to +these famous springs, and I enjoyed it immensely. On the boat up the +Hudson I met a beautiful lady, Mrs. Carleton, who was with her sister. +Mrs. Carleton was the wife of a wealthy New York merchant, who had a +villa on Staten Island. I stopped at Marvin's United States Hotel. This +was fifty-two years ago, and the hotel is still there, while Marvin, who +entertained me more than half a century ago, died last year, his age +somewhere in the nineties. I enjoyed every moment of my stay at +Saratoga, for I had never seen anything of social life, and it was all +new and delightful. The enormous caravansary, with its throngs of +guests, its never-ceasing round of gaiety, and its own liberal life, +entranced me. Manners seemed less formal then at the famous spa, and the +ladies were pleased to meet any one in the most unconventional and +charming way. + +As I say, I was very unsophisticated. I knew little or nothing of the +"great world," and I was completely horrified one evening when one of +the ladies said to me in a whisper: "Can you not get me a glass of +brandy?" I had never touched a drop of brandy, whisky, or even wine, and +to have this beautifully dressed and refined lady ask me for a glass of +brandy was a decided shock to me. I understand that now, however, it is +not very uncommon for ladies to drink wine, whisky, and brandy. + +I have seen it stated in the papers recently that the waters at Saratoga +have the effect of lessening thirst for more ardent waters of a +spirituous nature. I did not happen to observe any such effect of the +waters when I was there a half century ago. Drinking was quite general, +and certainly little restraint seemed to be practised. + +I found in society, as elsewhere in the greater affairs of life, that +leadership was wanting. People stood by and waited for some one to take +the initiative. One evening one of the ladies said to me that the ball +had not been arranged for. I asked what ball, and she said the regular +season ball. For some reason, it had not been arranged by the hotel +people, and no one seemed disposed to take hold of it. I said, "It +should be arranged immediately." I saw a few of the leaders, talked it +over with them, and got them together. We brought off the ball--my first +experience in these deep waters of social life--with great success. I +had then been in Saratoga just two days. While I was there I had the +honor of meeting the social leader of Boston, Mrs. Harrison Grey Otis, +and the social leader of Philadelphia, Mrs. Rush. There were also +present at the Springs many representatives of the most prominent +families in the social life of New York. + +I saw in Saratoga the first "gambling hell" that I had ever seen, and I +was so green about such things--another tribute to my dear old Pickering +grandmother and New England Methodism--that I did not know what a +"gambling hell" was when asked if I should like to see one. While I +possess an inquisitive nature, I have found it a good rule not to ask +too many questions, until you have tried to find out things without +betraying your ignorance. I went to the "hell," and was properly +shocked. The scene suggested to me the gaming at Monte Carlo. I saw a +number of men sitting around a table playing as intently as if their +lives depended upon the fall of a card. + +My attention was attracted toward a young man, apparently of about +twenty-five, who was in a desperate plight. Agony was visibly graved in +every feature and in every line of his face. I asked who he was, and +heard the name of a distinguished family of northern New York. "What is +the matter with him!" I asked. My cicerone seemed astonished at my +stupendous ignorance. "Why, can you not see they are 'going through' +him?" he said in turn. The expressive term was sufficient even for my +unsophisticated mind. It told the whole story, like a "scare-head" in a +"yellow" newspaper. + +Then I turned from the victim to the predatory players about him. Who +were they? To my surprise, the names were those of men famous the world +over as bankers, merchants, and financiers. There was one man that +especially interested me. It was the American representative of an +English house whose commercial paper our house frequently used. I said +to myself, "I will cut his name from our list," and I did--for a time. I +learned afterward that banking was only one form of gambling. Great +financiers are often clever gamesters--players for desperate stakes, but +infinitely better players than their victims. This world of finance is a +great Monte Carlo. It was vain to entertain a prejudice against only one +of the players. + +It was now necessary for me to hurry back to Boston in order to catch +the Parliament, on which I had already engaged passage. But before +leaving America, I wanted to see something of Canada, and resolved upon +a rapid trip to Montreal, especially as I found that I could return to +New York that way almost as quickly as to go across the State. I went on +to Niagara, and then sailed for Montreal, and had the novel experience +of shooting La Chine Rapids, an Indian piloting the boat. This was a +great thing in those days, and I was amazed to see how skilfully the +Indian guided the boat in and out among the rocks, never doubtful of his +course, never touching the edges of the reefs and boulders, never +imperiling human life. I understood that for years these pilots had +guided the boats down the rapids without a single accident. + +On the boat on which I went down the St. Lawrence I met Captain +Stoddard, of the Crescent City Steam Packet, New York and Havana, and +Mr. Dinsmore, of the Adams Express Company, with the ladies of their +families. We all saw Montreal together, and some members of the party +made excursions to places elsewhere. One of these was to the famous Grey +Nunnery, the doors of which were closed to the outside world. But these +Americans, with true American spirit, expected all doors to open to +them, and would not accept the situation. + +When they told me of their failure to get into the nunnery, I said I was +astonished that the representative of a big steamboat company and of a +big express company could not get into any building they wished to +enter. "I will show you what I can do," I said. I had already taken +thought of the talismanic letter from Daniel Webster, countersigned by +the President and Mr. Clay, the three biggest men, in popular +estimation, in the United States at that time. As I shall afterward +relate, this letter did me a good turn later in Scotland, opening doors +to me that were closed to nearly all the world. It was now to serve me +well; but this was the first time I had found occasion for its service +since leaving Washington. + +I went immediately to the nunnery, where I asked to see the Lady +Superior. I told her I had visited the Convent of the Sacred Heart at +New York and Georgetown, and that I wanted to see how they compared with +this most famous convent in Canada. This did not impress her very much, +it seemed to me, and I instantly had recourse to my letter. "As you do +not know me," I said, "this letter may serve as a sort of introduction." +Then I brought out with a flourish my Webster-Taylor-Clay letter. The +doors at once flew open before me! After viewing the interior of the +nunnery, I told the Lady Superior that I had a party of friends at the +hotel who would like very much to see the building, and that if she +would permit me, I should like to bring them around in the morning. She +consented, and the next day I took the entire party to the nunnery and +we were shown through by the Lady Superior. + +My time was now running short, and I had to hasten back to New York, if +I wanted to catch the Parliament. I went by way of Lake Champlain, +Ticonderoga, and Lake George, and again saw something of Saratoga and +the Hudson. At Ticonderoga I had the good fortune to meet Bishop Spencer +of Jamaica, and his son-in-law Archdeacon Smith, and we traveled +together to Saratoga. Here we met Commodore Trescot, of the Bermuda +Yacht Club. I invited them all to dine with me at the George Hotel, at +Lake Saratoga. I was struck by the bishop's dress, for it was the first +time I had seen the black knickerbockers and the three-cornered chapeau. +I do not mention the dinner--which was not a great affair--merely for +the sake of referring to the knickerbockers or the chapeau, but because +the bishop pressed upon me a special invitation to call upon him when I +came to London. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +A PARTNER IN THE LIVERPOOL HOUSE + +1850-1852 + + +From Saratoga, I went down the Hudson to New York, and thence to Boston, +where I arrived in time to take the Parliament, Captain Brown, on the +25th of July. I had lived fast in the eight weeks of my holiday. It was +the only vacation I had had since I had begun my business life as a +grocer boy in Holmes's store, and I had worked hard during that long +period. The result was that I sprang back too far, like the released +bow, and was soon to see the effects. As my time was so limited, I had +tried to make the most of it, and had rushed from place to place, had +lived in all sorts of hotels and eaten all sorts of food. Besides, the +travel, all of which had been in a whirl of excitement, aided in +upsetting my physical system. + +A few days on the boat were enough to complete the wreck. I was as badly +shaken up as Mont Pelee, and was ill for most of the voyage. When I +reached Liverpool, I had lost thirty pounds, and had to be taken off +the steamer, and was carried to the house of Mr. Thayer, the Liverpool +partner of Colonel Train. It was two or three months before I completely +recovered. + +I had hardly reached England before I began to realize that the people +there use a somewhat different version of the English language than we +are accustomed to in America. My physician was Dr. Archer. He came to +see me one morning just after I had had my breakfast, and took his stand +immediately before the fire, with his back to it. "I am half starved," +he said. I immediately rang the bell, and when the servant came turned +to the physician and asked what he would have for breakfast. He said he +had eaten breakfast and did not want anything more. "But," said I, "you +said you were half starved; surely you must be hungry." He burst into a +roar of laughter. "I meant that I was half starved with cold." + +With this as a beginning, I began to pick up the vocabulary peculiar to +the modern English. My next acquisition was "nasty." I was informed that +a rather disagreeable day was a very "nasty" day, and that the weather +was simply "beastly." After mastering these three words, which were +entirely new to me, and adding such words as I could pick up from the +daily speech of the men I met, I was soon able to get along in some +fashion with the English of England. + +My first British holiday was spent in Scotland, where I stayed for a +week. When I was at Balmoral the Queen happened to be there. Leaving +Balmoral, I went to Braemar, on the way to Aberdeen. A number of young +students were there at the time, and I spent some moments talking with +them. Suddenly, there was a tremendous uproar and excitement, and I saw +a four-in-hand drive up. The students informed me that it was the +Premier, Lord John Russell, who had just returned from an audience with +the Queen at Balmoral. I saw there was a chance for some sport. Turning +to the students, with a smile, I said: "I wonder how his lordship knew I +had come to Braemar! I hope to have the pleasure of speaking with him." + +The students laughed satirically. One of them said: "Look heah, Mr. +Train, that sort of thing won't do heah, you know. We don't do things as +you do in America." Another suggested that I should not be treated very +civilly if I attempted to approach Lord John Russell. + +For reply, I took out a card and wrote on it: "An American, in the +Highlands of Scotland, is delighted to know that he is under the same +roof with England's Premier, Lord John Russell, and, before he goes, +would ask the pleasure of speaking with his lordship for a moment." I +carefully folded the card in the letter that had been given to me by Mr. +Webster, and afterward signed by the President of the United States and +Henry Clay. I sent the two in to his lordship. + +In a few minutes the door opened, and the secretary of Lord John Russell +came in and asked for "Mr. Train." I said I was Mr. Train. "Lord John +Russell," replied the secretary, "waits the pleasure of speaking with +Mr. Train of Boston." I followed him out of the room, to the amazement +of the young students, who didn't do things that way in England. + +His lordship received me with that easy grace and courtesy which I have +always observed in Englishmen of high rank. I told him I would not take +up any of his time, and that I merely wanted to meet him. He made me +talk about the United States, and insisted upon introducing me to his +wife. She, also, received me graciously, saying she was "always glad to +see Americans." She asked me many questions about this country and +especially about Niagara Falls. A half hour passed by before I was aware +of the time. I begged pardon for staying so long, and left. + +In my book, Young America Abroad, I have referred to this incident and +to the courteous reception I met at Braemar. When I had gone around the +world, and returned to America, and was at Newport with Colonel Hiram +Fuller, in '56, there came to me in the mail one morning a coroneted +note. It was from London, and written by Lady Russell. + +"It was so kind of you," it said, "to remember us at Braemar, and to +send us your Young America Abroad, which his lordship and I have read +with a great deal of pleasure. When you come to London, come to see +us.--FANNIE RUSSELL." + +Our Liverpool office was at No. 5 Water Street, George Holt's building. +As soon as I was able to look after the company's interests, I went down +to the office and took charge. Mr. Thayer returned to Boston, and later +to New York. This left me in complete control. At twenty years of age, I +was the manager of the great house of Train & Co., in Liverpool. + +I at once began to reorganize things in Liverpool, and to develop our +business. I put on two ships a month between Liverpool and Boston, and +arranged the James McHenry line to Philadelphia, and sent transient +ships to New York. We also had what was known as the "triangular line," +handling cotton and naval stores. + +Liverpool I found to be a great port, but very much belated. It was too +conservative, and the old fogies there were quite content to keep up +customs that their ancestors had followed without trying to improve upon +them, or to introduce new and better ones. I set to work to improve +everything in our business that was susceptible of improvement. + +I was astonished, the very first day after I reached the office, to +learn that nothing was done at night. The entire twelve hours from six +in the afternoon to six the following morning were absolutely lost, and +this in a business that requires every minute of time in the twenty-four +hours. Ships can not be delayed, held at ports for day-light, or laid up +while men sleep. The work of loading and unloading must proceed with all +despatch, if there is to be any profit in handling the business, and +ships must be sent on their voyages without loss of valuable time. I had +supposed that the English shippers thoroughly understood these simple +principles of the business in which they have led the world. + +Our vessels were very expensive, and we could not afford to lose the +twelve hours of the night. That much time meant a profit to us, and I +determined to utilize it. What was my surprise, when I went to the +proper authorities, to find that we should not be allowed to light up +the Liverpool docks at night, or to have fires on them. It was feared +that we should burn the structures and destroy the shipping and docks. +These dignified gentlemen even laughed at me for suggesting such a +foolhardy undertaking. + +I said to myself, there is always one way to reach men, and I will find +the way to reach these dignitaries. It occurred to me that I could reach +them most surely through a plea for the prosperity of the port. I went +at once to the representatives of all the American lines having offices +in Liverpool, to organize them into a combined attack on the Liverpool +port authorities. I saw Captain Delano of the Albert Gallatin, Captain +French of the Henry Clay, Captain West of the Cope Philadelphia line, +Captain Cropper of Charles H. Marshall's Black Ball line, Zerega of the +Blue Packet line, and others, and we decided upon asking the dock board +to give us a hearing. This the board very readily consented to do. + +Prior to this meeting, I went to all the American representatives and +outlined my plan of campaign. This was to say very plainly to the dock +board that unless we could have fires and lights on the docks we would +take the shipping to other ports. The captains and others were +astonished, but they agreed to let me approach the board with this plain +threat. + +I then went to the board, with all the representatives of the American +lines, and quietly told the members that we wanted fires and lights on +the docks at night, that we needed this in order to carry on our +business in our way, and that unless we could have them, we should at +once go to other ports. Abandoning a mood of amused laughter, these +gentlemen suddenly became very serious. Their hoary customs did not seem +so sacred then, and they ended by throwing a complete somersault, and +granting us full permission to light up the Liverpool docks at night. + +Of course this made a tremendous difference to all of us. We could now +load our ships at night, thus saving one half of the twenty-four hours, +which we had been losing. I understand that the Morgan combination, +fifty-two years after this, has again forced concessions from the +Liverpool dock board by threatening to take the ships to Southampton. + +Our principal freight from Liverpool at that time consisted of crockery +from the Staffordshire potteries, Manchester dry-goods, and iron and +steel, and what were known as "chow-chow," or miscellaneous articles. We +often had as many as 150 consignees in a single cargo. Our principal +business connections were the firms of John H. Green & Co. and Forward & +Co., who shipped pottery; Bailey Brothers & Co., Jevons & Co., A. & S. +Henry & Co., Crafts & Stell, Charles Humberston, and John Ireland. Our +passenger agent was Daniel P. Mitchell, 18 Waterloo Road. + +The first blunder that I made in Liverpool--and the only serious one, I +believe--was in connection with shipping emigrants to the United States. +One day a man came into the office and said he was from the estate of +the Marquis of Lansdowne, and wanted to contract for the shipment of 300 +passengers for New York. We soon came to terms, and I chartered the ship +President. We charged the Marquis from L3 15s. to L4 a head. I learned +afterward that these passengers were poor tenants of his estates. The +Marquis of that time was the grandfather of the present Marquis of +Lansdowne, Minister of War in the Salisbury cabinet. + +At that time we had to pay $2 a head for all immigrants entering the +country. I had tried to get this changed, through Mr. Webster, but had +failed. We had also to give bond that the immigrants would not become a +public charge. It proved a very expensive contract for us, as we had to +bring back many of these paupers for the old Marquis to take care of. + +When I left Boston, I had taken a partnership, one sixth interest, in +the house of Train & Co. In Liverpool I had twenty-five clerks under me, +and at one time had four ships in Victoria Docks. It may be inferred +that I conducted the business with some degree of success, as my +interest--one sixth--for the first year was $10,000. Next year, when in +London, I was invited to a grand reception given by Abbott Lawrence, 138 +Piccadilly, who was then United States minister at the court of St. +James's. That day I dined with Lord Bishop Spencer of Jamaica, whom I +had met in Saratoga, and took Lady Harvey in. This was my acceptance of +the invitation he had extended to me in Saratoga. The bishop asked if I +was going to the reception of the American minister that night, and, on +my saying that I was, asked me to accept a place in his carriage. This I +very gladly did, as I had, by this time learned a great deal about the +value of state and ceremony in English life. The sequence will show how +this worldly wisdom served me. + +At the dinner, however, I had had a very narrow escape. It was the +"closest call," as we say in the West, that my temperance Methodist +principles ever had. I was asked, as a great mark of distinction, to +taste the pet wine of the bishop. The bishop himself acted as chief +tempter of my old New England principles. He handed me a glass, saying: +"Mr. Train, this is the wine we call the 'cockroach flavor.' I want you +to drink some of it with us," and he glanced around his table, at which +were seated many titled Englishmen and women. + +What was I to do? Should I, caught in so dire an emergency, drown my +principles in the cup that cheers and inebriates? Was all my Methodism +and New England temperance to go down in shipwreck? The exigency nerved +me for the task, and I found a courage sufficient to carry me through. I +had never tasted a drop of wine, and I was not going to begin now. I +glanced about the room, and slowly raised the glass to my lips. I did +not taste the wine, but the other guests thought that I did. "We all +know," I said, "that the wine at your lordship's table is the best." +This passed without challenge, and, in the ripple of applause, my +omission to drink the wine was not observed. + +Later in the evening I went with the bishop to the American minister's +reception, and soon saw how well it was that I was in his lordship's +carriage. Had I been in a hired cab, I should have fared badly. I should +have had to wait in the long line of these vehicles, while flunkeys +called out, in stentorian tones as if to advertise all London of the +fact that you were in a hired concern, "Mr. Train's cab!" and other +flunkeys, down the line, would take up the cry, "Mr. Train's cab!" until +one would sink in a fever of chagrin. But as I came in the bishop's +carriage, I heard respectful voices announce, "Lord Spencer and Mr. +Train." + +I observed several ladies bending over an elderly gentleman, and soon +another lady asked me if I had seen the duke. As there were two or three +dukes present, I asked which one. She looked very much surprised, as if +there could be more than one duke in the world. "Why, the Duke of +Wellington!" she exclaimed. + +I now took occasion to get a good look at the venerable old man. It was +the first time, and proved to be the only time, I ever saw him. He would +not have impressed me, I think, had it not been for the light of history +which seemed, after I once knew it was he, to illuminate his face and +frame. It was the last year of his enjoyment of great renown. He died +shortly afterward. + +While in England, I availed myself of every opportunity to see the +country, and study it from every possible point of view. I may add that +this has been my invariable custom in all countries. I have gone +through the world as an inquirer and an observer of men and things. As I +had visited Scotland, I was desirous of seeing another of the islands, +Wales, so I ran down into that curious country on a vacation, in 1850. I +went to Bangor, on the Menai Straits, and hardly had got into the hotel +when a tremendous commotion in the corridors told me that some guest of +unusual importance had arrived. I asked who it was, and was informed +that it was the Duke of Devonshire. + +"That is exceedingly fortunate for me," I said. "There is no man that I +would rather see at this moment than the Duke of Devonshire." At this, +my companions--among whom were young Grinnell, of Grinnell, Bowman & +Co., whose father sent the Resolute to find Sir John Franklin, young +Russell, and young Jevons, an iron merchant--began laughing +immoderately. I wrote on a card that an American, who happened to be at +the George Hotel when he arrived, would like to see him, if it would not +be too great an intrusion upon his time. I added that it had been one of +the desires of my life to visit his famous estate at Chatsworth. + +This note I sent to the duke by a messenger. Immediately came back a +reply that the duke would be very glad to see me, and I was ushered into +his presence. He was then an elderly man, his voice tremulous and +uncertain. To make it still more difficult to converse with him, he was +deaf, but used an ear-trumpet. I succeeded in telling him that his +palace at Chatsworth was well known throughout America by reputation, +and that I should like very much to see it, while I was in that part of +Great Britain. He replied that I must certainly see it before leaving. +He then called to his secretary to bring him a blue card, and wrote upon +it a pass to enter the grounds and buildings. This was all very kind, +and I thanked him for the courtesy. + +He then completely stunned me by saying: "You must see the emperor!" I +knew that the Czar of Russia had been his guest, but it was not likely +that he was at Chatsworth at that time; so I endeavored to divine what +the duke meant. My mind ran over horses, conservatories, and dogs. + +I could not, for a moment or two, imagine what "the emperor" could be, +and was about to commit myself irrevocably to a conservatory, a favorite +horse, or hound; but before making any remark gave him an appreciative +smile which seemed to please his grace. He called for the blue card +again, and wrote on it: "Let the emperor play for Mr. Train." I learned +afterward that it cost the duke $500 to have "the emperor" play, and so +much the more appreciated his courtesy. I remarked that I had heard "the +emperor" referred to as the highest fountain in all Europe. + +As soon as I got back to Liverpool, I made up a little party to visit +Chatsworth. When we reached the station I was astonished to see almost a +regiment of uniformed servants waiting to meet us. I was even more +astounded when the head of this body-guard of retainers approached and +asked, in the most deferential manner: "When will your royal highness +have luncheon?" I saw, of course, that they were taking me for some one +else, and remarked that they were perhaps waiting for the arrival of the +Prince of Hesse-Cassel, whom I had just seen at the hotel. The prince +came up almost immediately afterward, and had the pleasure of seeing +"the emperor" play, by special authority, on my card from the duke. + +The palace is a magnificent residence, so far exceeding anything of the +kind in England at that time, that George IV. is said to have felt +offended when invited there, because his own residence was shabby in +comparison. I made the acquaintance at Chatsworth of Sir Joseph Paxton, +who the following year modeled the entire glass system of the first +Crystal Palace at London. I was to see something of the Crystal Palace +the next year. + +Six years after this, when I published my book, Young America Abroad, I +sent a marked copy to the Duke of Devonshire, and he wrote me a letter +in which he said: "I am an old man now, sixty-two, but I have not +forgotten the delightful day when I met you on the Menai Straits." + +One day, in my office in Liverpool, I received a card from the +Secretary, inviting me to the exhibition in London, and Mr. Riddle of +Boston, who was then on his way to London, asked me to be present on the +day when the Queen was to come, which was the day before the opening. I +went to London, and that was the first and the only time I ever saw +Queen Victoria. She was with Prince Albert, and they were accompanied, I +remember, by a brilliant staff. + +I recall an incident during my visit to London on this occasion which +aptly illustrates the want of suggestiveness on the part of Englishmen. +They are content to go along in old ruts, provided only they be old +enough. Frank Fuller was the contractor for the Crystal Palace, and a +problem arose, in the construction, as to what to do with a certain +beautiful and aged elm that had been an object of reverence and stood in +the way of the proposed building. It had finally been decided to cut it +down, in order to get it out of the way. + +"What!" said I, "cut it down--this exquisite tree?" Some one remarked +that the authorities did not wish to cut it down, but it stood directly +in the way of the great palace, and would have to be sacrificed. "The +palace is here for time," I said, "and this tree may be here for +eternity. Spare the tree." "But how?" they asked. They were +bewildered--did not have a thought of what to do, except to hew down the +venerable tree. "Build your palace around it," I said. This simple +device had not occurred to them, but it saved the elm. + +Mr. Fuller was so pleased by the suggestion, that he began asking me +about hotels in America, and proposed that I undertake the building of +an American hotel in London. I said that some time I should, perhaps, +try the experiment, but that for the present my shipping business would +keep me fully occupied. + +I might as well mention here, although it is not in its chronological +order, my later experience in trying to establish an American hotel in +London. It was seven years after the exhibition when the question of an +American hotel came up again. I had worked up the plan very thoroughly, +and had some of the most prominent and influential men in England as +directors of the proposed company. We had, also, obtained options on +several acres of desirable land in the Strand as a site. In the board of +directors was Lord Bury, private secretary of the Queen, son of the Earl +of Albemarle; Mark Lemon, of Punch; and others. The only obstacle to our +success was the passage of a bill through Parliament authorizing us to +occupy the land. The hotel caused a great sensation in London, and there +was much talk of it as a daring and not altogether agreeable invasion of +England by Americans. On the other hand, there was much commendation, +and George Augustus Sala, the leading editorial writer of the Telegraph, +wrote a letter in which he mentioned my name as a guaranty that the +hotel would be built and would succeed, as, he said, I had succeeded in +everything. + +Matters were well advanced, and it looked as if we should have the +hotel. I wanted it constructed along distinctly American lines, and sent +to Paran Stevens to get from him the plans of his three hotels, the +Revere House in Boston, the Fifth Avenue Hotel in New York, and the +Continental in Philadelphia. We had everything in readiness, when the +news came that the bill had failed in the House of Lords by sixteen +votes, although the House of Commons had passed it. I came as near as +that to building the first American hotel in London. Fifty years later, +the Hotel Cecil was built, a half century after I had suggested the idea +and perfected the plan. + +My experience in Saratoga had revealed to me the want of suggestiveness +and resource in men in general. They will continue doing the same thing +in the same old way generation after generation, without taking thought +for improving methods in the interest of economy, of time, and of money. +I have, from time to time, suggested a large number of little +improvements, mechanical or other devices, for which I have never taken +out patents or received a cent of profit in any way. I shall bring +together here a few of these suggestions, made at different times and in +different countries. + +I used to go to the old cider-mill at Piper's, about a half mile from +our farm. We went in an ox-cart, filled with apples. When we got to the +cider-mill, all we had to do was to pull out a peg, and the apples would +roll out into the hopper of the mill. + +When I came to New York years afterward I was astonished to notice that +there were a half-dozen men around every coal-cart, unloading the coal. +I thought of the ox-cart, the peg, and the hopper, which I had used +thirty years before. I suggested the use of a device for letting the +coal run from the cart into the cellar, but could not get any one to +listen to the proposition. Now, years after my suggestion, all of these +carts in New York and other large cities of America have small scoops +running from the cart to the coal-hole, and a single man unloads the +cart by winding a windlass and lifting the front end of the wagon. In +London they still keep up the old, clumsy, and expensive method of +unloading with sacks. The English are in some things where we were a +century ago. + +Once in London I was astonished to see a man, after writing something +with a lead-pencil, search through his pockets for a piece of +india-rubber with which to erase an error. He had lost it, and could +only smudge the paper by marking out what he had written. I said to him: +"Why don't you attach the rubber to the pencil? Then you couldn't lose +it." He jumped at my suggestion, took out a patent for the rubber +attachment to pencils, and made money. + +When Rowland Hill, the great English postal reformer, introduced +penny-postage into England, he found it necessary to employ many girls +to clip off the stamps from great sheets. I took a sheet of paper to +him, and showed him how easy it would be by perforation to tear off the +stamps as needed. He adopted my idea; and now a single machine does the +whole work. + +I noticed one day in England a lot of "flunkeys" rushing up to the +carriages of titled ladies and busying themselves adjusting steps, which +were separate from the carriage, and had been taken along with great +inconvenience. I said to myself, why not have the steps attached? and I +spoke about the idea to others. It was taken up, and carried out. Now +every carriage has steps attached as a part of the structure. + +In '50, I was with James McHenry in Liverpool, and in trying to pour +some ink from a bottle into the ink-well, the bottle was upset, and the +ink spilled all over the desk. This was because too much ink came from +the mouth. "Give the bottle a nose, like a milk pitcher," I said; "then +you can pour the ink into the well easily." Holden, of Liverpool, took +up the idea, and patented it, and made a fortune out of it. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +MY COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE--RETURN TO LIVERPOOL + +1850-1852 + + +After the first short stay in Saratoga during my vacation trip in +America, I had started for a journey West; and was soon to meet with an +experience that turned the current of my life. At Syracuse I saw a half +dozen students talking to a lovely girl, bidding her good-by. Her +appearance struck me in a peculiar way. I turned to Alfredo Ward, who, +with his wife, was traveling with me, they having just come from +Valparaiso, Chili. "Look at that girl with the curls," said I. "Do you +know her?" he asked. "I never saw her before," I answered, "but she +shall be my wife." + +I was quite ready to abandon the remainder of my Western trip, to get an +opportunity to meet this girl. Taking my grip up hurriedly, I rushed +over to the train she was on, supposing she was going to New York. I +soon discovered that she was going the other way, and ran through in my +mind the chances I could take, the risks I could run, and so took an +opportunity by the throat. I knew that I was not compelled to leave +Boston until July 25, and so I had ample time to get to my ship. + +I entered the car where the girl was, and found a vacant seat opposite +her. An elderly gentleman was with her, whom I took to be her father. I +selected the seat opposite with the deliberate purpose of making the +acquaintance of the pair at the first opportunity that occurred or that +I could create. + +My chance came sooner than I expected. The elderly gentleman tried to +raise the sash of the window, and could not move it; it had, as usual, +stuck fast. I sprang lightly and very quickly across the aisle and said, +"Permit me to assist you," and adding my youthful strength to his, +raised the window. Both he and the young lady thanked me. The old +gentleman went further and asked me to take the seat directly opposite +him and the young lady, on the same side of the car. I did so, and we +entered into conversation immediately. I continued my speculations as to +the relationship that existed between them. The gentleman seemed rather +elderly for her husband, and she too young to be married at all. He did +not look exactly as if he were her father. + +[Illustration: Mrs. George Francis Train. +From a photograph.] + +Before I could determine this question for myself, he came to my +assistance, and told me the young lady was the daughter of Colonel +George T. M. Davis, who was captain and aide-de-camp, under General +Scott, in the Mexican War, and afterward chief clerk in the War +Department at Washington. He introduced himself as Dr. Wallace, and said +that he was taking Miss Davis to her home in the West. I also learned +that they were going to Oswego, where they would take a boat. I +immediately exclaimed that I, also, was going in that direction, and was +delighted to know we should be fellow passengers. In such matters--for +love is like war--quickness of decision is everything. I would have gone +in any direction, if only I could remain her fellow passenger. + +And so we arrived at Niagara Falls together. Dr. Wallace was kind enough +to permit me to escort his charge about the Falls, and I was foolish +enough to do several risky things, in a sort of half-conscious desire to +appear brave--the last infirmity of the mind of a lover. I went under +the Falls and clambered about in all sorts of dangerous places, in an +intoxication of love. It was the same old story, only with the +difference that our love was mutually discovered and confessed amid the +roaring accompaniment of the great cataract. We were at the Falls +forty-eight hours, and before we left we were betrothed. + +Soon afterward I sailed for London, as already set forth. It was not +till '51 that I came back to America, principally for the purpose of +marrying Miss Davis and taking her back to England with me. + +I arrived in Boston shortly before the celebration of Bunker Hill Day, +which was always a great occasion in that city. General John S. Tyler +was grand-marshal of the day, and he appointed me one of his aides. It +was a time when young people were usually left out of all public +business arrangements. Only the middle-aged or old took part in anything +of the spectacular nature in this great parade. Probably I attracted a +great deal of attention, therefore, because of my youth, being then only +twenty-one. + +In truth, I felt a little flattered by the appointment, and determined +to make as good a show as possible. Having been born and reared on a +farm, I knew how to ride, so I got the stableman to give me the finest +stepper he could furnish. He found a beautiful animal, with a frolicsome +spirit, and I felt that I should prove at least a good part of the +exhibition. I was decked in a flowing red, white, and blue sash that +swept below the saddle-girths, and my horse was a proud-looking and +dainty-paced beast. With a little rehearsing of my part, I was fully +prepared. + +On the occasion of the parade, I am quite sure, I was the observed of +many observers. The spectators were let into the mystery of the +beautiful caracoling and dancing of my horse, whom I touched +occasionally with the spur in a particular way, and who acquitted +himself with great credit. The populace thought he was trying to unseat +me, or to run away, and that it was only by excellent horsemanship that +I was able to hold my seat and look like a centaur. I am ashamed to say, +at this far distance in retrospect, that it was a proud moment for me, +and that I took so much pleasure in so idle and empty a show. But youth +must be served. + +I had charge of the Colonial Governors, who were the guests of the city, +and of the President, and I escorted them from Boston to Charlestown. +There were Sir John A. MacDonald, of Canada; Governor Tilly, of New +Brunswick; the Honorable Joseph Howe, ex-Governor of Nova Scotia; and +Millard Fillmore, President of the United States. President Fillmore and +Sir John MacDonald rode on the back seat of the first carriage, and Howe +and Tilly on the front seat. Somehow, Boston seemed to regard the +colonial officials as equal to, if not a little better than the +President. I suppose this was because of the sentiment of Bunker Hill, +and because the presence of British representatives was a matter of +pride and gratification. + +But the day was to end in gloom. As I was in the midst of the gaiety and +at the height of my exultation, a messenger handed me a despatch. I tore +it open, and found that it was from a friend in Louisville, Ky., and +contained a warning. Miss Davis, to whom I was betrothed, lived in +Louisville, and I was soon to marry her there. The telegram urged me to +hasten my journey, as the report of the coming marriage had created a +great deal of bad feeling. My friend advised me to lay aside everything +and go to Louisville with all possible despatch. + +I could not imagine, at first, what this meant. It seemed to convey only +some presage of disaster. I left the gay scenes of the parade and +hurried to my room at the hotel. There I made instant preparation for a +trip to Louisville. + +Before leaving Boston, however, I learned what it was that had caused my +friend in Louisville so much concern. Some time before, there had been a +marriage of a Kentucky girl with a Northerner--the much-talked of +wedding of Bigelow Lawrence and Miss Sallie Ward. It had aroused a great +deal of bitter feeling, because of the increasing tension and friction +between the North and the South. This was none of my affair; nor did I +share the feeling on either side. Indeed, at that time, I knew little +and cared less about the sectional differences between the North and +South. The only interest I had in the South at that time was a +commercial one in our shipping business, and the more personal interest +attaching to that portion of the South that held my future wife. + +My own approaching marriage to Miss Davis had, it seems, been regarded +as of sufficient importance to arouse the same feeling that had been +created by the Lawrence-Ward marriage. My friends were manifesting much +solicitude. What most alarmed them was the fact that a number of gallant +Kentuckians were trying to marry Miss Davis themselves, and thus +patriotically save her for the South. Among these patriots were Senator +James Shields, Mexican hero of Belleville, Ill., Lieutenant Merriman of +the navy, and an officer of the army. There was, also, a suitor from my +side of the line--"Ned" Baker, of Springfield, Ill., who was afterward +United States consul-general at Montevideo. In her letters to me she had +mentioned all of these gentlemen, but I was not particularly anxious +about the matter, feeling that there was safety in numbers. But now that +my friends were interesting themselves, I thought it full time that I +should be looking after affairs myself. + +I was doomed to suffer from the inconsistency of woman. When I reached +Louisville I wrote to her, mentioning the reports sent me by friends. +This angered her. She became indignant because I had taken any notice of +these rumors, and refused to see me on that day. But on the following +day she was in a milder mood, ready to see me. This meeting put to rest +forever all doubts, suspicions, and jealousies, and my fears melted into +thin air. + +But for all this, I was determined to take no further chances with three +or four rivals, and decided that I should not again leave my affianced +bride behind me. I insisted upon an immediate ceremony, and we were +married by the rector of the Episcopal church in Louisville, October 5, +'51. Her father, Colonel George T. M. Davis, was then editor of +Haldeman's Louisville Courier. Belle Key, the famous Kentucky beauty, +whose sister, Annie Key, married Matthew Ward, who killed a Kentuckian +in a duel, was my wife's bridesmaid, and Sylvanus J. Macey, son of +William H. Macey, was groomsman. My wife was only seventeen years old. +She was very beautiful. Her picture appeared in the Book of Beauty the +following year. + +We came east from Louisville on our wedding journey, stopping at +Cincinnati, where I had a curious experience. The Burnett House was the +most popular hotel in the city at that time, and we stayed there. It had +just fitted up the first "bridal chamber" in this country, if not in the +world. Every little hotel has one now; but then such a thing was unheard +of, so far as I have been able to ascertain. At any rate, Mr. Drake, the +clerk, asked me if I did not wish to take the "bridal chamber." He told +me it was the only one in the world. As I was ever keen and ready for a +novelty, I replied that of course I would. + +I had already been in a great many hotels in this country. The +prevailing rate of charge was about $2 a day, at that time. I supposed +that this splendid room would cost a little more, being a special +apartment--perhaps about $5 a day. It cost $15! But I was willing to pay +for the honor of occupying the first "bridal chamber" in the world. + +From Cincinnati, we came directly on to Boston, and stayed at the +Winthrop House, where I had been before. I soon had a conference with +the Boston house which I represented, and it was determined that I +should return to Liverpool and resume charge of the branch there, but in +somewhat different and better circumstances. I returned in '52. The ship +we sailed on was the Daniel Webster, built by Donald Mackay in East +Boston, and which I had named in special honor of my friend, the great +Daniel. Captain Howard was in command. + +The trip was destined to be eventful. Five days after leaving Boston we +ran into a heavy gale from the west. Our boat was very sturdy, and we +had no fears, but I knew that many smaller and less seaworthy ships +would suffer in such a driving storm. We were, therefore, on the lookout +for vessels in distress. + +For the greater part of the time, during the height of the gale, I stood +on the bridge closely scanning the horizon line in front. Suddenly +something seemed to rise and assume form out of the storm-wrack, and +this gradually grew into the shape of a vessel. I saw that it was a +wreck, shouted to the captain, but he, looking in the direction, could +make out nothing. My eyes seemed to be better than his, although his had +been trained by long practise at sea. He could not see much better when +he got his glasses turned in the direction I indicated, but finally he +discovered the vessel, though he did not seem desirous of leaving his +present course to offer assistance. + +I insisted that we should go to the rescue of the ship and her crew, and +he turned and said: "Mr. Train, we sea captains are prevented from going +to the rescue of vessels, or from leaving our course, by the insurance +companies. We should forfeit our policy in the event of being lost or +damaged." + +"Let me decide that," said I. "We can not do otherwise than go to the +assistance of these persons." And we went. The Webster bore swiftly down +upon the wreck, which proved to be in worse plight than I had imagined. +She was buffeted about by the waves, and seemed in peril of going down +at any moment. Men and women were clinging to her rigging, hanging over +her sides, and trying to get spars and timbers on which to entrust +themselves to the sea. The doomed vessel was the Unicorn, from an Irish +port, bound for St. John's, N. B., with passengers and railway iron. +This iron had been the cause of the wreck, for in the rough weather it +had broken away from its fastenings, or "shipped," as the sailors +express it, and had broken holes in the sides of the boat and +overweighted it on one side. + +A brig that had sighted the Unicorn before we came up had taken off a +few of the passengers--as many as it could accommodate. The Unicorn was +a small vessel, and there seemed little chance for the rest of the +passengers unless we could reach them. The sea was running very swift +and high, and it was not possible to bring the Webster close to the side +of the Unicorn. To make matters worse, the sailors had found that there +was whisky in the cargo, and in their desperation, drank it without +restraint. They were, consequently, unmanageable. They could not help us +to assist the miserable passengers on their own boat. + +There was nothing else to be done except to get into our small boats and +try to save as many passengers as possible. The captain got into one +boat and I into another, and we were rowed to the side of the Unicorn. +There we discovered that many had already perished. Dead bodies were +floating in the sea about the ship. We tried to get up close enough to +reach the passengers, but found it impossible. + +"Throw the passengers into the sea," I shouted to the captain of the +Unicorn, "and we will pick them up. We can't get up to you." In this +way, the crew of the Unicorn throwing men and women into the sea, and +our boats picking them up, we succeeded in saving two hundred. All the +rest--I do not know how many--were drowned. We finally got these two +hundred persons safely on board the Daniel Webster. + +Here we discovered other difficulties, and it seemed, for a time, as if +starvation might do the work that had been denied to the waves. There +was, also, the question of accommodations; but we solved this problem by +taking some of our extra sails and tarpaulin and rigging up a protection +for them on the deck and in the hold, so that we made them all fairly +comfortable. The problem of food was far more difficult. We simply had +no food, the captain said. There was hardly more than enough for the +crew and passengers of our own vessel, as the delay caused by the rescue +and the departure from our course had made an extra demand upon +supplies. + +Here a happy thought occurred to me. We happened to be carrying a cargo +of corn-meal. I had heard that the Irish, in one of their famines, had +been fed with corn-meal, learning to eat and even to like it. + +"Open the hatches!" I cried, with the enthusiasm of the philosopher who +cried "Eureka." The problem of food was soon solved. Two of the barrels +were cut in half, making four tubs. From the staves of other barrels we +made spoons, and from the meal we made mush which the half-starved men, +women, and children ate with great relish. They lived on it until we got +them safely landed on English soil, the entire two hundred persons +reaching port without the loss of a single soul. + +This was my first service at a rescue, and, of course, I was proud of +it. Captain Howard received a handsome medal from the Life Saving +Society of England, and the incident greatly increased the reputation of +our packets. + +On arriving at Liverpool, we went to No. 153 Duke Street, a house then +kept by Mrs. Blodgett, whose husband saw service as consul in Spain. +This house was at that time the favorite resort of American sea captains +and shipping men, and was a sort of central point for all Americans in +Liverpool. John Alfred Marsh, who had been with us in Boston, was with +me in Liverpool at this time, in the branch of our house there; and I +think he is the only man living among all of my friends of that year. He +is now connected with the Guion Line steamships. + +During the first year in Liverpool after my marriage, I had a peculiar +and interesting experience with the science of phrenology. At that time +every one was talking about its "revelations," and I became somewhat +interested in it. My interest came chiefly, however, through James +McHenry, whose line of ships to Philadelphia I had charge of. He +suggested one day that I go to a phrenologist, saying that I had a most +curious head. Up to this time, I had not taken any stock in the science, +which I set down as charlatanry and mountebankism. But he insisted, and +finally I consented to go with him to Bridges, then the most famous +phrenologist in Liverpool or in the west of England. + +Bridges astonished me so greatly by telling me things about myself that +I had supposed no one knew but I, that my interest was awakened. Still I +thought there must be something queer about the thing, and I accused +McHenry of having told Bridges something about me beforehand so that I +might be taken by surprise. McHenry so vehemently denied this that I +knew he was telling me the truth. There was nothing to do but to accept +the "chart" of Bridges as being at least sincere. + +As I like to investigate everything for myself, I determined to see what +there was in phrenology, and to have my head examined in circumstances +where there could be no question that the phrenologist had had any +information about me. So I went to London, and there consulted a still +more famous phrenologist, the octogenarian Donovan. I said to him: "Mr. +Donovan, I want you to tell me the plain truth about my head." +"Phrenology does not lie," he said. "Put down your guinea." + +I put down the guinea, and submitted to an examination. He told me +almost the same things that Bridges had said, and thus confirmed the +first chart of my head. After finishing his examination, Donovan looked +at me and said: "You will be either a great reformer, or a great pirate. +It merely depends upon the direction you take in Ethics!" + +Even this examination did not entirely satisfy me. There were still +higher authorities in phrenology, and I felt that I should not be +satisfied until I had the verdict of the highest court of appeals. I +consulted every phrenologist I could reach--a great professor in Paris, +another from Germany, and finally, I reached the highest authority then +living, the highest that has ever lived, possibly, the great Dr. Fowler, +who was then lecturing in England. + +He came to Liverpool to lecture, and I went to hear him. Fowler asked +for some one from the audience to allow him to examine his head. As he +had never seen me, I felt that I could in this way get an absolutely +impartial and unprejudiced reading. I went on the stage, and my +appearance caused a ripple of surprise, for I was known in Liverpool. +The phrenologist placed his hands on my head and exclaimed: "Jehu, what +a head!" The audience applauded, as if they thought I had a head, and +had used it to good purpose in their city. + +Beverley Tucker was American consul in Liverpool at that time, having +been appointed by President Pierce. When the famous actor and dramatist, +John Brougham, visited Liverpool, I suggested that we Americans, in +whose country Brougham had lived and done his best work, should +entertain him at a dinner at the Waterloo House. We had a large and +lively company present, and Brougham was in his best vein. I asked +Brougham for his autograph, and, at the same time, something about the +poet Willis, who was then our favorite American poet. He gave me +instantly, without apparent thought, the following verse: + + "Hyperion curls his forehead on, + Behold the poet Willis! + For love of such a Corydon, + Who would not be a Phyllis?" + +Thus have I narrated, in this and the previous chapters, the most +interesting events and experiences of my life in Liverpool. The life +there was particularly varied and altogether delightful. It was, of +course, a very busy time, but I managed to get a great deal of pleasure +out of it. There was a constant round of entertainments, and the social +life of the city was generally gay and interesting. At this period I had +two portraits of my wife and myself made. They are now in the possession +of my daughter, who keeps them in the room which she always has ready +for me in the country. + +As for my standing in the city, I may give here the opinion of Charles +Mackay, the poet, author of Cheer, Boys, Cheer, and other well-known +poems, who wrote, in reviewing my book, Young America in Wall Street, +that I "walked up the Liverpool Exchange like a Baring or a Rothschild." +I remained in Liverpool one year with my wife, and then returned to the +United States. This was in '52. The best men of Liverpool had made me +welcome everywhere, in all circles of business or of society. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +BUSINESS SUCCESS IN AUSTRALIA + +1853-1855 + + +My wife and I in returning to Boston came on a visit that we expected to +be brief. I confidently supposed I should go back to Liverpool and +continue the business of the branch house. But this was not to be. +Instead, I was soon to make a far wider departure in business fields and +methods, and to try my fortune at another end of the earth. + +When I arrived in Boston, I had a conference with Colonel Train about +conditions in England, and suggested to him that I should have a +partnership interest in the Boston house, as well as in the house in +Liverpool. To my surprise, Colonel Train was not only astonished, but +indignant. He could not understand how I had pushed ahead so rapidly, +and this swift advance was by no means pleasant to him. He felt that, in +some way, I was pushing him out of his place. + +"Would you ride over me roughshod?" he asked, almost fiercely, when I +ventured to suggest a larger partnership interest. I replied that I +thought I had given full value for everything that the house had done +for me, and that I should be able to do so in the future. After some +further discussion, in which the old gentleman was mollified, the matter +was arranged. I received a partnership interest that was equal to +$15,000 a year--and I was only twenty-two years old at the time. + +As soon as the contract was signed, and it was in my hand, I +said--because I was still nettled by the manner in which he had received +my suggestion of a partnership--"Colonel, as you do not seem to care to +take me into the firm, here is your contract"; and I tore it in two and +handed him the pieces. "I am going to Australia." + +This cool announcement astonished him. He did not know what to do. +Finally, we came to terms. It was decided that I should go to Melbourne +to start my own house with Captain Caldwell, one of our oldest +ship-captains, the house to be known as "Caldwell, Train & Co." It was +Colonel Train's view that this elderly man would act as a check upon my +youthful rashness, he having no interest in the firm but good-will +toward me and one of his captains. + +The arrangements once completed, I was eager to be about my work in the +antipodes, and prepared to sail at the first opportunity. Everything was +taken from Boston--clerks, sets of books, business forms, etc. Nothing +was left to the chance of finding or getting in Australia the material +that we might need. And so the new house of "Caldwell, Train & Co." +sailed away from Boston on the Plymouth Rock for Melbourne, Australia, +on a singularly audacious venture. + +Captain Caldwell went out in charge of the clerks, while I was to go by +a different route a little later. I went to New York and took passage +from there in the old Whitlock Havre packet, Bavaria, Captain Bailey. I +had two clerks with me, and carried, also, a large amount of office +supplies in duplicate. Duncan, Sherman & Co. had appointed me their +agent for the purchase of gold in Melbourne, which was to be shipped to +London or New York as circumstances permitted, and I had also been +appointed by the Boston underwriters their agent to represent them in +the South Seas. The outlook for business seemed especially bright. + +I have traveled a great deal since that time, but this was the longest +period I have ever been on a ship in a single voyage. We were ninety-two +days from New York to Melbourne. I have twice since gone entirely around +the world in less time. It was very dreary at times, and I had to resort +to all manner of things in order to pass the hours. These attempted +diversions were often very amusing. + +I have always wanted to do things a little differently from others, +partly because it has been more interesting to do them in a novel +manner, but chiefly because I have found that a better way than the +accepted one could be found. My desire for novelty led me to do some +curious things during this long and tedious voyage to Melbourne. One day +I was looking at the porpoises playing about the ship's bows, and it +occurred to me that I could harpoon one of them. I asked the captain if +he had a harpoon, and he brought me one. I then had a rope tied fast +about me, so that I could be lowered over the bow. I had a good chance +and let fly the harpoon, and, as luck would have it, succeeded in +getting a fine porpoise. My successful throw astonished every +one--myself more than any. The porpoise was brought aboard, and we found +portions of it very good eating. + +On another day I hooked a shark, a "man-eater," ten feet long, and this, +also, was brought aboard, but no one proposed to eat it. A little later +we passed into the zone of the albatrosses, and myriads of these +exquisite birds flew over or hovered above the ship. I was desirous to +have one of them, and resorted to stratagems learned years ago in the +days when I used to snare rabbits and net pigeons on the old farm in New +England. I baited a hook with pork, and threw it out upon the water. +Instantly a great albatross swooped down upon it and swallowed the bait. +I drew the bird on board, and found it a magnificent specimen, measuring +twelve feet from tip to tip of its wings. Of course, I released the bird +very soon. In such pastimes, we beguiled the time, until we finally +swept through the great South Seas and into Hobson's Bay, passed Point +Nepean, and anchored off Sandridge. + +I had fancied that Melbourne was not a frequented port, off the tracks +of commerce, although springing into life and prominence. Imagine my +surprise when, on rounding the point where one could sweep the expanse +of the bay, I saw before me some six hundred vessels that had reached +the port before we arrived, and all, like ourselves, attracted there by +the rumors of gold, gold, gold! For a second time within a few years, +the whole world had gone wild over a gold discovery, and was now sending +thousands of persons to Australia. Thousands more were deterred from +going only by the fear of starvation, for very few believed at that time +that Australia could feed the hungry searchers after gold, much less +give them a fortune in gold nuggets. + +Before I left Boston I had heard much about the perils of starvation in +Australia. I was told that the country produced little, and that its +scant resources would soon be overtaxed by the horde of gold-seekers. +"Starve!" I said; "why there are twenty million sheep in the island." I +was then told that man could not live by mutton alone. But I knew that, +with these millions of sheep, there was little danger of famine. + +From the anchorage at Sandridge to Melbourne the distance is about ten +miles, the Yarra-Yarra winding and twisting through the tortuous +channel. As this river is too shallow to admit ships of a greater burden +than sixty tons, all large vessels anchor at Sandridge, or Williamstown. +While the distance up the Yarra-Yarra is ten miles, across the spit of +sand it is only two. I went into Melbourne at once, secured buildings +for our cargo, and arranged for lighters to take it up the Yarra-Yarra. + +The very first thing that impressed me in Australia was the miserable +and unnecessary inconvenience of having to send everything up the +twisted channel of the Yarra-Yarra by lighters. I determined to look +into this and see what could be done. The method was too expensive and +too slow to suit me. I immediately called on the most influential men of +the city, like De Graves, Octavius Brown, Dalgetty, Cruikshank & Co., +and James Henty, and said to them: "This thing of coming by way of the +Yarra-Yarra, ten miles, when it is only two miles by land, is out of the +question. Let us build a railway to Sandridge." + +Apparently, this had not occurred to them. They had brought from England +their habits of thought, and accepted things as they found them. But I +kept at the railway suggestion, until the line was built. This was my +first experience in organizing railways. It was not my last. + +I also found that it was not possible to get suitable accommodations in +Melbourne for business. There was no building there that was large +enough. In order to get one sufficiently commodious, I had to build it. +Accordingly, we put up at the corner of Flinders and Elizabeth Streets, +opposite the railway station, the biggest structure in the city. It cost +a pretty penny. The building was 140 feet deep, 40 feet wide and three +stories high. The date, "1854," was cut in stone at the top. The edifice +cost $60,000. I imported iron shutters from England to make it +fireproof. + +It was also necessary to have a building at Sandridge, a warehouse in +which to store our goods until they were needed in Melbourne, or until +they were shipped for America or Europe. In putting up this building, I +resolved to make an experiment. This was to have the building made in +Boston, and shipped out to me to be erected at Sandridge, thousands of +miles away. If successful, the warehouse would cost much less and would +be of better material and in better style than anything I could get in +Australia. It reached Sandridge all right and was put up at the end of +the little line of railway, at a cost of $25,000. It was 60 feet deep by +40 feet wide, and six stories high. + +With a warehouse at each end of the line, with all the business credit +that I could wish, and with the best connections in the world, we were +prepared to do a big business in Melbourne. How far we succeeded may be +inferred from the fact that my commissions the first year amounted to +$95,000. + +Melbourne was a small but promising city. It had some 20,000 population +at the time of the gold-fever, and had grown tremendously in the last +two or three years, so that, in '54, it must have had something like +30,000 or 40,000 inhabitants. It was, of course, a frontier town, crude +and raw, with few of the advantages of civilization. The people were too +busy with their search for gold and profits to think much of the +conveniences or luxuries of life. The only good hotel, for instance, was +the Squatters' Hotel, at Port Philip. There was not even a merchants' +exchange, although one was greatly needed. The merchants had simply +never heard of such a thing. I arranged with Salmi Morse, who afterward +tried to introduce the Passion Play in this country, to assist him in +putting up a building that could be used for a hotel, theater, and +mercantile exchange. The hotel was the Criterion, and we had a hall in +the building for the exchange. The latter was the means of bringing +together ship captains, merchants, agents, and business men generally, +and a great stimulus was given to business. + +I was able to introduce into Australia a great many articles and ideas +from America. I brought over from Boston a lot of "Concord" wagons, of +the same type as the one that "Ben" Holliday drove across the continent, +and I told Freeman Cobb, who was then with Adams & Co., that I wanted +him to start a line of coaches between Melbourne and the gold-mines, a +distance of about sixty miles. I advanced the money for the enterprise, +and a line was established, the first in Australia, to Geelong, +Ballarat, Bendigo, and Castle Maine. These were the first coaches seen +in that continent. The coaches cost in Australia $3,000 apiece. + +I had a chaise brought from Boston for my own use. It was so light in +comparison with the great, heavy, lumbering vehicles that were in use in +all English countries, that the people there said it would break down +immediately. They had not heard of Holmes's "Wonderful One-horse Shay +that ran a hundred years to a day," and did not, of course, know the +toughness of all "Yankee" things. It didn't break down, and its +lightness and general serviceableness made it a big advertisement of +American goods. People urged me to import a great many vehicles from +America. Every ship brought out wagons of the Concord make, chaises, and +vehicles of all sorts. Our carriages and buggies attracted much +attention. They were the first vehicles of the sort that had ever been +seen in the country. I sold these at a great profit. + +A great disappointment and loss occurred, however, through the +carelessness of the American shippers, on one occasion. They had sent a +cargo of carriages, and I was certain of a large profit on the shipment. +What was my surprise and horror, on the arrival of the cargo, to +discover that the stupid shippers had sent only the tops of the +carriages! The bodies of the vehicles had actually been shipped to San +Francisco! + +A thing that greatly surprised me, in a land of Englishmen, Scotchmen, +and Irishmen, was that there were no sports in Australia. It seems more +strange now, after Kipling's fierce denunciation of the "padded fools at +the wickets and the muddied oafs at the goal." As I had always been fond +of outdoor sport, I at once introduced bowling and ten-pins, opened an +alley and organized a club which was composed of Australian +bankers--Manager Blackwood of the Union Bank, MacArthur of the Bank of +Australia, Badcock of the Bank of New South Wales, Bramhall of the +London Chartered Bank, O'Shaughnessy of the Bank of Australasia, and +Mathieson of the Bank of Victoria. I mention these names here merely for +convenience, and to bring together some of the men with whom I was +associated in social and in business life in Melbourne. They represented +some $200,000,000 of capital. MacArthur had a beautiful bungalow four +miles out of Melbourne, where he invited me to shoot. + +I found living at a hotel very dreary and very inconvenient, and decided +to have a home of my own. So I got a two-story house at Collingwood, +near the residence of Governor Latrobe, just out of the city. Here I +accommodated my clerks, also. I took the stewardess, Undine, and the +steward from one of our ships, and was able to set up quite an +establishment. The United States consul, J. M. Tarleton, and his wife, +lived with us for a time. + +After I had been in Melbourne nearly a year I was guilty of a small +piece of patriotism that has ever since seemed very amusing to me. I had +been reared in the belief that every American-born boy has a chance to +become President of the United States. I had also the idea that a child +born out of the United States was not, in this sense, American-born. My +wife expected to give birth to a child in a few months, and, like most +parents, we fully expected it would be a son. So what should I do, in +order not to rob my son of the chance of becoming President of his +country, but send the mother across the seas to Boston, that he might be +born on the soil of the United States! It was not until some little time +after this that I learned that nationality follows the parents, and that +Presidents may be born anywhere, if they are careful in the matter of +their parents. The expected boy was a girl--if I may be pardoned an +Irish bull. This was my daughter Sue, who could never be President, +unless the Woman's Suffrage movement moves along very much faster than +it has up to this time. + +I have not mentioned my partner in the Australian venture, since I said +that he and our clerks sailed away from Boston for Melbourne on the +Plymouth Rock--a curious reversal of history, for the West was going to +exploit the East, and it was singular that a vessel with the historic +name of Plymouth Rock should have been chosen to bear this new +Argonautic expedition into the South Seas. Captain Caldwell, as I have +said, was an elderly man, sober and conservative. He had been a +sea-captain for many years, and was a man of considerable experience. It +was the expectation of the Boston shippers that his conservatism would +serve as a check upon my rashness and venturesomeness. + +Captain Caldwell, however, did not like Australia, but his presence did +not prevent my plunging into whatever speculation or enterprise seemed +inviting. The country was full of chances, and I should have been +stupid, indeed, not to have availed myself of them as far as possible. +But the rough life did not suit Captain Caldwell, although he was +accustomed to roughing it at sea; and he wanted to return to America. So +I consented to his return. He went in the same ship with my wife, the +Red Jacket, which, by the way, was then to make one of the +record-breaking voyages of the world. Although he had been in Melbourne +only a few months, I gave him $7,500, which was the share belonging to +him of the estimated profit in our business. + +There was still another incident connected with this voyage of the Red +Jacket which made it memorable in my experiences. I have mentioned that +the phrenologist Bridges said, in England, some years before this, that +I should become either a great reformer or a great pirate. In Melbourne, +one day, I found myself face to face with a charge of piracy! I was +accused of trying to make away with some $2,000,000 of gold, which I had +put on the Red Jacket for shipment to London. + +It happened in this way. It was of course customary to have all bills of +lading signed by the ship's captain. But Captain Reid, of the Red +Jacket, had been arrested, at the instance of one of the passengers, and +the ship was libeled on account of a claim. For this reason, Captain +Reid had not been present to sign the bills of lading. In Boston, I had +often signed bills of lading in the absence of the captain, so I had had +no hesitancy as to my course in this emergency. I considered that I had +a perfect right to sign the bills, and so I did sign them for the +$2,000,000 in gold, putting it "George Francis Train, for the captain." + +Now, the English are a conservative people. When they see anything new +it "frights" them. They can not understand why there should ever be +occasion for any new thing under the sun. When the Melbourne banks saw +that I had signed the papers, they were scared nearly out of their +boots. They had never heard of such a procedure, and thought their +insurance was gone. + +But this was not all. The Red Jacket was the fastest clipper that had +then visited Melbourne, and it occurred to these bankers that I was +going to run off with this gold, and become a Captain Kidd or a +buccaneering Morgan. They grounded their fears upon the facts that my +wife was aboard, that Captain Caldwell, my partner and friend, was also +a passenger, and they believed that Captain Reid was on board, although +under arrest. To suspicious bankers, here was a really strong case +against me. + +In the meanwhile, the Red Jacket, with her trim sails bellied with the +wind, and sweeping along in a way of her own that nothing in the South +Seas could imitate or approach, was passing down Hobson's Bay. The +Government and the Melbourne authorities despatched two men-of-war after +her. There was no possibility of her being overhauled by these craft, +and I gave orders to make for Point Nepean. The sheriffs from Melbourne, +who thought Captain Reid was aboard, stayed on the ship, but I ordered +them put off at the Point. They were furious, but could do nothing, +since they could not act for Melbourne at sea under the Stars and +Stripes. Accordingly, they were put on a tug and taken back to +Melbourne. Immediately after the sheriffs left the boat, a little yacht, +the Flying Eagle, with Captain Reid aboard, came alongside, and the +captain was put on the Red Jacket, just outside the jurisdiction of +Australia. + +The Red Jacket caught the wind again, and showed her clean heels to the +slow-sailing men-of-war giving chase. She made the run to Liverpool in +sixty-four days. + +The authorities and the bankers of Melbourne did not like the +proceedings at all, but saw that they could do nothing. There was great +anxiety in Australia for two months and more. When it was learned that +the $2,000,000 of gold had been landed in Liverpool without the loss of +a farthing, I was heartily congratulated, although the British spirit +never forgave the taking of matters into my own hands and making the +best of a bad situation. Their conservatism had received a shock. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE GOLD-FEVER IN NEW SOUTH WALES AND TASMANIA + +1853-1855 + + +During my stay in Melbourne the gold-fever was at its height. I was +particularly interested in the mines, and went to Ballarat to see how +the British managed these things. It was while I was there, as it +happened, that the great "bonanza nugget" was discovered. I shall never +forget the impression that this discovery and its tragic ending made +upon my mind. It is a story that the world has heard many times, +perhaps, and as many times forgotten; but for one who felt its terrible +lesson stamped hot upon his heart, it is unforgettable. + +There were lucky and unlucky miners in Australia, as there have been +everywhere else in the world's gold-fields. Many found great nuggets +that contained fortunes--"infinite riches in a little room"--while many +more found nothing but infinite hardship and heart-breaking misery. +Among the army of broken men, there was a "hobo" named Hooligan who had +not found any gold, could no longer find even work, and was starving. +One day he went to the owners of a mine or shaft that had been worked +out, and asked permission to go down to try his luck. They consented. +The desperate fellow took his pick and descended to the bottom of the +shaft. In a few minutes he was worth a fortune. He had found the biggest +nugget ever taken out of the earth's treasure-house. Two hundred feet +below the surface of the ground, he had driven his pick, by merest +chance, against a lump of gold that would have transmuted Midas's wand +into better metal. + +He came up out of the shaft, knowing that he had found a pretty big sum, +but did not realize how much it was. The nugget was brought up and +weighed. It had exactly the weight of a barrel of flour, 196 pounds. He +was rich. That morning he had been a beggar, and now he was the richest +miner in the fields. They weighed the gold carefully, and told him that +he was a rich man. + +"Is--all--that--mine?" he asked, as if the words were as heavy as the +big nugget and as valuable. They told him it was. "It doesn't belong to +the Government?" "No." "All mine," he said in a whisper, and dropped to +the floor, dead. + +No one knew him. His name even was not known. He was a mere restless +wanderer upon the face of the earth, and had broken his heart over the +biggest nugget, the richest piece of gold, on the globe. And so the +nugget became the property of the Government, after all. + +Capt. David D. Porter, who was afterward admiral of the United States +navy, visited Melbourne while I was there, and I gave him a reception, +at which he met the prominent people of the colony. He was a relative of +mine. I was very proud of him then, though more so later. He was in +command of the Golden Age, which was afterward famous for the Black +Warrior incident. He invited my wife and myself to go with him in his +ship to Sydney, New South Wales. We had a delightful trip around the +island. The ship made as great a sensation in Sydney as it had made in +Melbourne. The American flag had rarely been seen above a man-of-war in +those waters. At Sydney we met Sir Charles Fitzroy, Governor of New +South Wales, as well as prominent people in civil and official life. Sir +Charles Fitzroy was a survival of the old "beau" days of the court of +the last of the Georges, and had the heavy courtesy of that time, when +everything said or done was accompanied by a low bow and a gracious +smile. He entertained us handsomely at Government House. We were also +entertained by Sir Charles Nicholson, at his beautiful country seat. I +had the peculiar pleasure, while in Australia, of fulfilling one of the +prophecies of Sidney Smith, made when he had been editor of the +Quarterly Review some forty years before. He said, I remembered, that in +half a century cargoes of tea--the luxury that England of his day and +ours regards as an infallible evidence of civilization--would be landed +at the docks of Sydney. He referred to Port Jackson, which is now +dominated by the thriving city of Sydney, and was then one of the most +promising ports of the South Seas. I was, at that time, receiving tea on +consignment from Nye, of Canton, China, called the "Napoleon of tea +trade," and it occurred to me that Australia should be a good market for +it. Three cargoes came from Canton, with instructions that if the market +at Melbourne proved unfavorable, one of the cargoes should be shipped to +Sydney. It was accordingly sent there, fulfilling the prophecy of Sydney +Smith, and opening the tea trade of that portion of Australia. + +Sir Charles Nicholson, before we were there, entertained Commodore +Wilkes, who was visiting Australia, and who afterward stirred up Great +Britain by removing forcibly from the British mail-steamer Trent the +Confederate States' agents, Mason and Slidell. I was surprised to find +in the harbor two of our old packets, the Anglo-American and the +Washington Irving, Captain Caldwell's packet, under changed names. They +had been sold to English ship-owners. + +Sydney was not a large place at this time, although it was growing fast. +It may be well to recall here that it had been founded as a penal +colony, the effects of which had not entirely passed away at the time of +my visit, although no convicts had arrived since '41, I believe. The +influence of Botany Bay had also been felt by Sydney. I was struck by +the beautiful, narrow, rock-bound entrance to the harbor. It gives to +the port many miles of seashore, and is so winding that when Captain +Cook, who discovered it, sailed in and anchored in Botany Bay, some of +his sailors reported that they saw from the masthead a large inland lake +in the interior. The "lake" proved to be only an apparent one, produced +by one of the many windings of the beautiful, sinuous arm of the sea, +eventually to hold in its embrace the fine city of Sydney. + +We returned from Sydney to Melbourne after a short but delightful visit. +Shortly after leaving port we ran into one of the most terrific storms I +have ever experienced. It was the right time of the year for gales to +appear, and this one, as is characteristic of the wild nature of the +South Seas, seemed to spring from a clear sky and unruffled waters. If +our boat had been one of the usual type of merchantmen, it must +certainly have gone down. But the Golden Age was stanch and strong. She +battled with the seas as with a human foe. In spite of her +seaworthiness, however, almost every one aboard thought she could not +withstand the repeated shock of waves that tumbled in mountains against +her bows. + +In the midst of the storm, I saw one of the most prominent and richest +merchants of Sydney coming across the deck, thrown hither and thither by +the tossings of the ship, and carrying in his hands a very heavy +package. "For the love of goodness, what have you there?" I asked in +amazement. He made no direct reply, and I thought him too much terrified +to speak, but he finally came close up to me and said: "Mr. Train, I +know you have some influence here on the ship. I have brought with me +one thousand sovereigns. They are here"--and he tapped the bag he +carried in his hands. "I want you to go with me to the captain and give +him this amount for putting me off in a small boat." "A small boat would +not live a minute in this sea," I said. "I am prepared," he replied, "to +take my chances, as it would be better there than here, for the ship may +go down any moment." I refused to go to the captain with so foolish a +request, and urged him to be calm, as the ship was stout and would +weather the storm. He could not calm himself, but fretted and fumed in +terror. As fortune favored us, the gale suddenly stopped, sweeping on +away from us as swiftly as it had come. The rich merchant soon took his +thousand sovereigns back to his room. + +I have stated already that I was the agent for Boston insurance people. +This, of course, made me somewhat solicitous about the safety of all +vessels in those waters. One morning the entire city of Melbourne was +startled by the news that a great clipper had gone down or ashore on +Flinder's Island, off Point Nepean. Later we learned that she was +ashore, and that signals of distress were flying from her masthead and +rigging. Of course, I was much alarmed, and began at once to see what +could be done to save the ship and crew. I got a tug, and was soon +taking a rescue party down Hobson's Bay. We steamed as fast as the tug's +engines would carry her through the driving seas. As we neared the +wreck, we saw that the ship was the Whistler from Boston. She seemed to +be a complete wreck, and with our glasses we could not discover any sign +of life aboard her. + +I did not give up the venture there, however, but directed the captain +of the tugboat to make directly for the island. I had a vague hope that +the crew had somehow managed to get ashore in the boats or on floating +timbers. The captain did not relish this part of his work, and his fears +were soon justified, for we very narrowly escaped shipwreck ourselves in +the wild seas. We had, finally, to wait until the waves went down a +little, before attempting to land on Flinder's Island. We got up as near +as we could, however, and then we saw signals flying from shore. We +signaled in reply, and the wrecked crew understood that we were waiting +for the sea to run less wildly before attempting to reach land. + +The wind died down slowly, and it was hours before we could approach +the coast. As soon as possible, I got out with a crew in a small boat +and went to the island. We had a most difficult time in getting through +the surf and avoiding the breakers, but we finally reached shore. There +we found Captain Brown with his wife, the ship's officers and the crew, +all alive and well. They had managed to live on shell-fish and +wallaby--the small bush kangaroos. They had not been able to take +anything from the ship, and could not, of course, reach her after she +had been abandoned. We got them all aboard the tug, and carried them +safely to Melbourne. The American consul afterward sent them all home by +way of Liverpool. This was the second rescue of shipwrecked crew and +passengers that I had made, and I felt a little too proud of it, I +suppose. + +About this time the British and Colonial Governments decided to settle +Tasmania with free emigrants. The idea was to pay the expenses of all +who wanted to go to that island, and the Governments made a contract +with the White Star Line to transport the settlers. The British +Government was to pay one half the expense, and the Colonial Government +the remainder. The contract was signed by Henry T. Wilson, manager of +the White Star Line, the sailing-ship pioneers of Morgan's mammoth +steamship combination, who sent all the papers to me at Melbourne, as +representing the company, to see that the terms of the agreement were +carried out. He also requested me to go to Hobart Town (now called +Hobart) to be there when the first ship-load of emigrants arrived to +collect the money for the passage. I immediately took steamer for Hobart +Town, and I shall never forget the pleasure of that voyage. It was a +revelation. The trip up the estuary to Hobart Town was delightful, and +the scenery, I think, was altogether the most charming I had seen in the +Southern world. At Hobart Town I was received by Mr. Chapman, a shipping +merchant, to whom I had written in advance, and he made me stay with him +at his beautiful bungalow, on the crest of a high hill, commanding a +fine view of the city. + +The emigrants arrived in excellent condition. They were the first free +settlers of Tasmania. There had not been a death aboard ship, and the +moment the newcomers arrived they were employed, for the city of Hobart +Town was very thriving, and there was an abundance of work to be done. I +again had the pleasure of feeling that in this, as in other enterprises, +I was an argonaut and a pioneer. + +I was astonished to find so many persons of prominence, especially in +the world of letters, settled in this far-away colony of England. At +Hobart Town I found the Powers, the Howitts (whose books were then +tremendously popular), and Thorne, the author of Orion. Then, as now, +this colony was regarded as the most pleasant portion of the vast +possessions of Great Britain in the South Seas. The climate and the +aspects of the country were far more pleasant than those of Australia, +some fifty miles distant across Bass Straits. + +At the time of my visit the whole world was talking about the various +efforts being made to discover the remains of the ill-fated expedition +to the North Pole that had been led by the former governor of Tasmania, +the much-beloved Sir John Franklin. He had gone to the north in 1845, +and nothing had been heard of him since. His wife was supposed to be +mourning for him in solitude. + +Curiosity led me to the house where this famous governor and adventurous +explorer had lived, and the janitor, a trusted old servant, showed me +over the building. It was one of those enormous structures which the +English build for the edification and amazement of the natives in their +colonies. I had heard and read a great deal about Sir John and the +lovely woman that was mourning his long absence, and I entered the +silent house with a feeling that I was trespassing upon a great and +unutterable grief. Imagine my astonishment--I may say, horror--to learn +that Lady Franklin, or Lady Jane, as she was generally called, had for +years lived at one end of the long house, while Sir John had lived at +the other, and that, as the story went, they had not spoken to each +other for years. She seemed certainly to have had the grace to assume a +virtue she did not possess, and apparently mourned her lost lord for +years, and spent much of her time in liberal charities. This is the +first time I have referred in any way to this unknown unhappiness of Sir +John Franklin. It was not known to many people in Tasmania at the time, +and I suppose that it is known now only to members of the two families, +the Franklins and the Griffins. + +As I had come half around the island of Tasmania, approaching Hobart +Town from the sea, I had seen nothing of the interior of the country, so +I determined--after finishing my business in Hobart Town--to cross the +island to Launceston. There is now a railway running directly across, +but at that time there was only a stage route. Stages ran every other +day. I engaged passage in the mail-coach, the same style of coach that +had been used for hundreds of years in England and Scotland, still as +rough and cumbersome as when first devised. There, too, was the old +Tudor driver and the Restoration guard. Nothing was wanting. The coach +looked to me as if it had been taken from behind the scenes of some old +comedy--a piece of stage property. + +But if the stage was antiquated and out of touch with the modern stir of +the world, the driver was not. I asked him what he thought would be the +proper thing in the way of a "tip," as I did not know the ways of +Tasmania. "That depends, sir," he said, "upon whom we are riding with." +That settled the business for me, for my tip then had to be a sort of +measure of my self-esteem. I was literally cornered, and had to give him +a big tip, in sheer self-defense. + +The road to Launceston was an excellent one, a macadam built by +convicts, and the scenery was the most beautiful I had seen in +Australasia. When I arrived at Launceston I had to get a pass to leave +the country, as it had been necessary to have a passport to enter it. +The British were very particular whom they permitted to leave Tasmania, +and whom they allowed to go there. + +Near Launceston I saw the room in which Francis, who was afterward a +member of the cabinet of the colony of Victoria and one of the ablest +and most energetic men of Australasia, had his famous and terrible fight +with a burglar. This fight has become a tradition all over the colonies +and is still recalled as one of the thrilling experiences of early days. +One night Francis heard a noise in his dining-room. He was up late, +studying in his library, and as the country was infested by desperate +convicts who had escaped from the camps, he at once went to the room to +see whether a burglar had broken in. + +Peering through the keyhole, he saw a man with a dark lantern putting +the family plate into a bag. Francis came to a decision at once as to +what to do. He would enter the room, and fight it out with the robber. +Silently opening the door, he entered, and then quickly locked the door +and threw away the key. Immediately there was a desperate fight. The +burglar finding himself entrapped, turned upon Francis and tried to kill +him with a huge knife. Francis caught his arm, and a struggle to the +death began. Several times the burglar wrenched his hand free and +slashed at Francis, but the plucky fellow did not flinch. He fought +until he had conquered the robber, threw him to the floor, and bound his +hands behind him. Francis was himself so badly cut that he was in sight +of death for weeks. + +The exploits of the convict Tracy out in Oregon remind me of a far more +terrible case in Australia that occurred while I was there. The country +was a sort of frontier, in the Western sense, from one end to the other. +It was quite possible that a desperate convict lurked in every patch of +bush, who would as soon kill you as ask for bread. But news came to +Melbourne one day that a convict had escaped in a peculiarly terrifying +manner. He was no ordinary man. He had coolly killed two jailers, or +guards, having taken from them their own weapons. Then, going to the +water, he ordered a boatman to row him out to a vessel so that he might +escape from the country. The boatman, not knowing the character of the +man he was dealing with, refused, and was shot dead instantly. The +fugitive then rowed out to the vessel in the dead man's boat, and +demanded of the captain that he take him aboard and carry him to +Melbourne. The captain refused, and he also was shot dead, and with +loaded pistol the convict then compelled the mate to take him to +Melbourne. After he landed he began a forlorn attempt to save himself +from his pursuers. + +This beginning in his career of murder was sufficiently terrible to give +the entire region a shock, when it became known that he was at large and +headed for Melbourne. He was next heard of when he reached Hobson's Bay +at Sandridge. Here he found a farmer plowing in the field. The convict +needed his horse, and shooting the farmer, rode away. Another farmer +followed him, and in turn was killed. + +By this time, of course, the whole country was aroused--even the +police--and parties were hurriedly formed to capture the murderers, for +no one at the time could believe that it was only one man who was +committing all these crimes. When he was last seen, he was heading, +apparently, for Ballarat, where, perhaps, he hoped to be joined by other +men as desperate as himself. Ballarat was about one hundred miles +distant, and a posse started in pursuit. Nothing was heard or seen of +the convict for fifty miles, when one of the party saw a man near a +squatter's hut carrying another man in his arms. This seemed to be a +somewhat curious proceeding, and the posse immediately closed in about +the man. Just as did Tracy, this man shot the leader of the party. The +others then pushed ahead and captured him before he could kill any one +else. In the hut they found nine men, tied with ropes. It was not +understood what use the convict expected to make of them. All were +uninjured. At the time of his capture, the convict had killed fourteen +men. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +OTHER AUSTRALIAN INCIDENTS--A REVOLUTION + + +Once I tried to be President of the United States. Before that I had +been offered the presidency of the Australian Republic. It is true that +there was no Australian Republic at that exact moment, but it looked to +thousands that there might be one very soon. There was a revolution, or, +as it should be called, a rebellion, for it was unsuccessful, in which I +had taken no part or shown any sympathy, but the revolutionists, or +rebels, offered me the chieftaincy of their government, as soon as they +could establish it. + +It came about in this way. In '54 the miners in the fields of Ballarat +and Bendigo were in a state of intense ferment. They were discontented +with existing conditions--their luck in the mines, the way they were +treated by the Government and the mine proprietors, and especially by +the utter failure of the Government to protect them in their rights +against the capitalists. The particular cause of quarrel, however, was +the licenses. + +When I went to Australia, the reader may easily believe, there was very +little feeling for, or knowledge of, the United States. I at once +undertook to spread the gospel of Americanism, and introduced the +celebration of the Fourth of July. The colonists of England have always +been quite friendly to the people of the United States, having a kindred +feeling, and all of them have been looking forward to a day when they, +too, might have a free country to claim for their own, and not merely a +red spot on the map of Great Britain. For this reason, the Australians +took kindly to the idea of celebrating the independence of the United +States, as formerly a colony of Great Britain. + +When the miners, who had heard of my "spread-eagleism," as it has since +been called, started their little revolt against the government of the +British, they thought of me and offered me the presidency of the +republic they wanted to create. In the meantime, they elected me their +representative in the colonial legislature of the miners about +Maryborough, where they held a great meeting. I could not have taken my +seat if I had desired it, and as I did not desire it, of course I +declined. The imaginary presidency I declined, also, as I neither wanted +it, nor could I have obtained it. The "Five-Star Republic," as it was +called, was not to be anything but a dream, and the "revolution" of +Ballarat was only a nightmare. + +Soon after I declined these honors, there was a terrible riot at +Ballarat. The whole mining district had risen against the Government, as +Latrobe, the governor, had made himself most unpopular by his policy of +procrastination. Everything connected with the mining fields, he seemed +to think, could as well be looked after next year as this. The +resentment of the miners had at last become uncontrollable. But, slow as +they were about redressing the grievances of the miners, the British +were fast enough in the business of protecting themselves and in putting +down disturbances with a firm and heavy hand. Latrobe waited until the +thing had almost got beyond him. He felt that he was all right with the +old "squatters," whom he understood and who understood him; but he did +not realize that the new element, the thousands of miners that had +floated in from every nation of the globe, did not understand him or his +ways. They were accustomed to having matters attended to with despatch, +and could not tolerate the slow conservatism and unchangeableness of the +English civil office. Personally he was a good man; but otherwise, he +was as I have described. + +The first fruits of the dilatory policy was the sacrifice of forty men. +Captain Wise and forty of his troops were cut to pieces by the enraged +miners, who had suddenly risen to fight for their rights. Governor +Latrobe immediately called for troops from New Zealand, Tasmania, and +New South Wales, to quell the rioters. The want of preparation of the +revolters at once became apparent, and it was known that they had sent +emissaries into Melbourne itself to buy arms and ammunition. The head of +the insurrection was James McGill, who was an American citizen. He had +disappeared from the neighborhood of Ballarat, and a reward of one +thousand pounds sterling had been offered for his capture, dead or +alive. In Melbourne there was almost a panic. Rumors were that the +forests were filled with armed men marching to the destruction of the +place. There were, it was authentically reported, 800 armed men at +Warren Heap, about eighty miles distant, who were supposed to be +meditating a raid. People hastened to secrete their jewelry, gold was +placed in vaults, the banks were guarded, and a special police force was +sworn in. + +Just as the excitement was at its height, it was reported that James +McGill was in the neighborhood of the city. I was sitting in my office +one morning, during these days of fear, when a man walked in, as cool as +if he were merely going to discuss the weather or some trifle of +business. "I hear," he said, "that you have some $80,000 worth of Colt's +revolvers in stock, and I have been sent down here to get them." I +glanced up at the man, and took him in a little more closely. It came to +me in a flash who he was. "Do you know," said I, "that there is a +reward offered for your head of one thousand pounds?" "That does not +mean anything," he said, and smiled as if it were a joke. "They can not +do anything," he added, as if to allay any fears that I might have. + +I again took him in, and thought of my $60,000 warehouse that we were +then standing in, of the $25,000 warehouse at the other end of the +railway, and of all my interests in Melbourne, under which we were +placing a powder mine, and playing over it with lighted torches. "This +will not do," I said. "You have no right to compromise me in this way." +"We have elected you president of our republic," he added. "Damn the +republic!" said I. "Do you mean to tell me that you refuse to be our +chief?" said he. "I do," I said. "I am not here to lead or encourage +revolutions, but to carry on my business. I have nothing whatever to do +with governments or politics; and you must get out of here, if you do +not want to be hanged yourself, and ruin me." I told him there was not +the slightest possibility of success, as Great Britain would crush the +revolt by sheer weight of men, if she could not beat its leaders in any +other way. + +Just then there came a rap at the door, which I had taken the precaution +to close and lock. I hurried to the door and asked who was there, and +the reply was that it was Captain McMahon, chief of police. He said to +me: "Do you know that rascal McGill is in the city? His men are at +Warren Heap, but he himself has actually come into Melbourne! I want a +dozen of those Concord wagons of yours immediately." I made a motion of +my hand to make McGill understand that he must keep quiet. Then I began +to talk rapidly with the chief of police, and took him to the farther +end of the warehouse, shutting the door of my office behind us. No more +wagons were there, for the Government had already got all I had, but I +wanted time to think. When we had looked around, and had seen that there +were no wagons, Captain McMahon left, and I hurried back to McGill. + +"Now, McGill," I said, "I am not going to betray you, but am going to +save your life. You must do as I tell you." He looked at me for a +moment, and said, "But I am not going back on my comrades." "You will +have no comrades soon, but will be in the hands of the officers +yourself, if you do not do exactly as I tell you." He finally consented +to do as I advised. + +As soon as I saw that the way was clear, I took him out into the street +to the nearest barber, where I had his hair cut and his mustache shaved +off, and then made him put on a workman's suit of clothes. We then got +into my chaise, and I drove him down to the bay and took him aboard one +of our ships that was about to sail, and told the men that I had brought +a new stevedore. McGill pitched in and worked along with the men, and +there was nothing to show that he was in any way connected with the +revolution of Ballarat, much less its leader. + +Three days later the ship sailed, and McGill went on through England to +America. This ended the whole affair of the revolution, the chase of the +leader, and my chance of being President of the Five-Star Republic! + +One day a man, wearing a jaunty silk hat, came into my office. "I see +you bring in rum from New England," said he. "How much have you on +hand?" I went over the invoices, and told him. He then asked if I gave +the same terms as other dealers in Melbourne. "Yes," said I; "cash." +"Oh, no," said he. "I get three months' time." He showed me a contract +he had just signed with Denniston Brothers & Co., of New York, +represented in Melbourne by McCullagh & Sellars, for L3,000 payable in +three months. I was astonished. The house had branches in all of the +great cities of the world. I told the gentlemanly-looking fellow who +wanted the rum that if Denniston could afford to trust him for $15,000, +I thought we could trust him for $3,000. I took pains to see, however, +that our paper bore an earlier date than that of Denniston. But this +precaution amounted to nothing against this shrewd manipulator. He gave +his name as John Boyd. + +By the end of the week, I began to grow a little suspicious, and sent my +clerk to the office of Mr. Boyd early on Monday morning. The office was +closed, and there was no Mr. Boyd there. He had gone to Sydney, and that +was the last seen of Boyd in Australia. He had "buncoed" us and +Denniston & Co. in the easiest sort of way. I really felt cheated, it +was done so smoothly. I had not got the worth of my money, as I should +have done had I been harder to deceive. There had been no sport in that. + +I next heard of Boyd at Singapore; but I was to run up against him +later. In '61, when I was giving a junketing trip to some people on the +Union Pacific road, and a party of us were on the steamboat St. Joseph +going to Omaha, a man came up to me and claimed an acquaintance. +Although more than twelve years had passed, I recognized him at once as +the John Boyd who had got the better of me in that little trade in +Melbourne. I pretended not to know him. I suppose he assumed that the +matter had passed out of my mind and that his face was no longer +familiar to me. He coolly gave me his address on a card, and when I +looked at it I saw "Noble & Co., Bankers, Des Moines, Iowa." I knew him +by his broken nose, that would have betrayed him at the ends of the +earth. + +Perhaps the thing I enjoyed most in Australia was the introduction of +American articles--"Yankee notions," the people there called them--into +Australia, even against the prejudice of the colonists. They would fight +hard against everything that was new or American, but I took a delight +in overcoming their bias, and forcing them to accept our ideas. I made a +calculation once of the things that I had introduced into Australia, and +they amounted to something like fifty. Among these were such common +things as the light wagon, the buggy, shovels, and hoes, and--wonderful +to think of when one hears and reads so much in these days of the "tins" +that the British army consumes--tinned, or canned, goods. These had not +been heard of, and I saw at once that there was a fine chance for some +profitable business. English packers could not begin to compete with us. +On one cargo that I brought in from New London, Conn., we made a profit +of 200 per cent. And now "Tommy Atkins" lives on the "tins" that we +introduced as a method of carrying provisions from one end of the world +to the other. + +I suppose that it was from a part of the returns from this profitable +shipment that the owners of the goods founded the Soldiers' Home at +Noroton, Conn., during the civil war. I must record here a curious +incident. It was in this home that a soldier carved a most elaborate +design upon a cane which he gave to me, showing in brief outline the +whole of my history. It was a wonderful piece of work, and I have kept +it as a souvenir of the regard of this soldier in the home that was +probably founded in part with the proceeds of the first great shipment +of canned goods into Australia, and of my part in introducing this new +trade into the South Seas. + +I had the opportunity of meeting some famous and curious people in +Australia. On one of the celebrations of the 17th of March, I met a +great many Irish patriots, among them Smith O'Brien, John Martin, and +Donohue. I was an invited guest, and sat down with more than two hundred +of the most prominent Irishmen of the Australasian colonies. When Smith +O'Brien was in an Irish jail in '48, I asked him for his autograph. I +have made it a point to collect the autographs of all the famous men and +women I have met, and now have, perhaps, the finest collection of +autographs to be seen in this country. O'Brien immediately wrote on a +card the following verse: + + "Whether on a gallows high, + Or in the battle's van, + The fittest place for man to die, + Is where he dies for man." + +This sentiment of the Irish poet was peculiarly appropriate for men, +who, like the patriots and "rebels" about me, were facing prison or +death at every hour. + +I shall bring together here some incidents of my life in Australia that +are not closely connected with other events there. We made some +tremendous profits in Melbourne, the sort that makes one's blood tingle, +and transforms cool men into wild speculators. I have already mentioned +the profit of 200 per cent on the cargo of canned goods. On a cargo of +flour from Boston, 7,000 barrels, we made a profit of 200 per cent, the +flour selling for L4 sterling the barrel. This flour had been shipped to +us through John M. Forbes, of Boston, for Philo Shelton and Moses +Taylor, the millionaire of New York. + +When I returned to New York in '57, during the panic, I met Taylor in +Wall Street. He must have been in terrible need of money to keep his +head above water, and he at once said to me: "Why did you charge me +7-1/2 per cent commission for handling that cargo of flour in +Melbourne?" I looked at him in astonishment. He had forgotten the +enormous profit he had made on the shipment, and remembered now only the +small matter of the commission he had been compelled to pay. + +I replied that the commission was our usual charge. He told me he was +buying up his own paper in the street, and was not in temporary +distress. "I do not think you should have charged me more than 5 per +cent commission," he said. I was disgusted at this view of a transaction +that had brought him in a profit that would have been considered +marvelous even by a usurer. "All right," I said, "I will give you the +difference now." And I gave him a check for $2,500. + +I met a large number of actors and actresses in Melbourne, for it was +quite the custom as early as that for stars of the stage, whether +tragedians like Edwin Booth, or dancers like Lola Montez, to make a +tour of the world and take in Australia on the circuit. I was astonished +to meet Booth and Laura Keene, "stranded," one day, although they had +made a successful tour in England. They did not appeal to the rough +audiences of Australia, and so did not have enough money to take them +back to the States. It so happened that I had just bought the City of +Norfolk to send to San Francisco as the pioneer of a new line, which is +now thoroughly established, and making rapid passages between the two +ports. I gave them free passage to San Francisco. Laura Keene frequently +mentioned the fact in "asides" on the stage, but I never received a word +of thanks or appreciation from Booth. Kate Hayes and Bushnell also +visited Australia while I was there, and I gave them a concert and +started them off on their tour. + +But the greatest sensation that was created in the theatrical world of +Australia during my stay was made by Lola Montez, the dancer from +Madrid. She danced and pirouetted on the necks and hearts of men. The +rough mining element went wild over her, and she had the wealth and rank +of Melbourne at her feet. One morning she burst into my office, and +called out in her quaint accent, "Is Mr. George Francis Train here? Tell +him that I am his old friend from Boston, and that I have just arrived +from San Francisco." She had called to make a complaint against the +captain of our ship, whom she wanted us to discharge for some supposed +discourtesy to her. We patched up this quarrel, and I did everything I +could to insure her a successful season in Melbourne. She had a +tremendous vogue, and danced before crowded houses. + +One night I called at the green-room of the theater to see her, sending +in my card. I had seated myself on the sofa to wait until she finished +her dancing. Suddenly the door flew open, and in rushed something that +looked like a great ball of feathers. This ball flew toward me and I was +enveloped in a cloud of lace! The bold little dancer had thrown her foot +over my head! + +My life in Australia, now drawing to a close, as I had made arrangements +for leaving there to continue my business operations in Japan, had been +very charming and profitable. Everything was novel and strange to me, +and it all made a deep and lasting impression upon my mind, which was +then eagerly receptive. + +I find, in recalling these impressions, that my first idea of Australia +still remains the most prominent one left in my memory. Australia was +truly the antipodes. Everything seemed to be reversed, a topsy-turvy +land. At Botany Bay I was astonished to find the swans were black, +thereby demolishing our beautiful ideas about "milk-white" swans. The +birds talked, screamed, or brayed, instead of singing, and the trees +shed their bark instead of their leaves. The big end of the pears was +at the stem, and cherry-stones grew on the outside of the fruit. I was +sitting one day in the garden of the governor-general when I thought I +felt some one tap me on the shoulder. Then my coat was wrenched off my +back, and I turned just in time to see it disappear down the throat of a +tame Australian ostrich, called an emu. The bird had taken me for a +vegetable. + +Sidney Smith describes the kangaroo as an animal with the head of a +rabbit, the body of a deer, a tail like a bed-post, and which, when in +danger, puts its young into a pocket in its stomach. But the most +marvelous of all the queer things of Australia, to my mind, was the +animal that laid eggs like a hen, suckled its young like a goat, and was +web-footed, like a duck. This was the duckbill, or water-mole, which the +Australians called the Patybus. + +I also saw in Tasmania, and on Flinder's Island, the race of men that +was then considered the most remarkable on the globe, the original +Tasmanian savages; and I saw, also, the most curious weapon that man has +ever invented, the boomerang. Holmes has described this weapon in one of +his humorous verses: + + "The boomerang, which the Australian throws, + Cuts its own circle, and hits you on the nose." + +I got one of the Bushmen to throw his boomerang for me. He threw it +around a tree and the missile came back toward us. I fully expected to +be sent sprawling. It dropped almost at the feet of the savage that +threw it. Even gold in that land is found where it all ends in our +country--in pockets! + +Before closing the account of my Australian experiences, I want to +record that when I arrived in Melbourne that flourishing port was in a +horrible condition for a city of its size and importance. Its streets +were such as would not have been tolerated in an American city of half +its size or one tenth its wealth. There were practically no public +works. After I had been there for some little time, a plan was put on +foot to improve the city. It moved along very slowly, as no one seemed +to know exactly what to do, or how to do it. Finally, an elaborate +program was drawn up, and all that was needed to carry it out was the +money, which would have to be borrowed. + +The chairman of the improvement committee, or whatever it was called, +came to see me to get me to undertake the floating of the necessary +loan. I suggested a number of improvements, such as fire-engines, better +office buildings, better paved streets, and new gas-works. All of these +suggestions were accepted, and I forecast the floating of the loan. They +got the money in London, and Melbourne was remodeled, so far as its +appearance was concerned, and was finally made one of the most +attractive cities in the British colonies. It now has a population of +half a million. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +A VOYAGE TO CHINA + +1855 + + +I have already referred to my purpose of going to Japan to establish a +branch business there. This idea came to me in Australia, after +Commodore Perry had opened the country to foreigners. It has always been +my desire to be first on the ground, and I saw that Japan offered the +greatest possible opportunities for trade of all sorts. I had fixed upon +Yokohama as the place in which to open our branch house. The rapid +development of that city since then, under new conditions, and the +tremendous increase of its trade with Europe and America, as well as +with India, China, and Australasia, have well justified my early +judgment. I knew we could acquire great influence in the world of +commerce, and become, perhaps, the greatest shipping house of the globe, +with branch houses at Boston, Liverpool, Melbourne, and Yokohama. + +This is as good a place as any to give the reasons for the failure of +these ambitious plans. I had gradually worked out the whole program, +giving to it hours and days of careful and painstaking examination. I +felt that the scheme was absolutely safe from every point of view. It +was big and almost grandiose; but I felt it was sure to result in vast +fortunes, in the building up of a trade that the world had never before +conceived or dreamed of, and in the development of American commerce. + +In fact, I see now that I was more than half a century ahead of J. +Pierpont Morgan. I should have formed a great shipping and navigation +business that would have dwarfed anything else of the kind in the world. +My plan was not limited to a few lines of ships between Europe and New +York. It was not confined to an Atlantic ferry. I foresaw, as I fancied, +American ships dominating the trade of all oceans. I saw the American +merchant flag in every port of the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic oceans, +and doing the carrying trade of the world. I had some such vague idea +when I introduced the fast clipper service between Boston, New York, and +San Francisco, and, again, when I organized the fast sailing-ship +service between Boston and Australia. But I did not see it all clear +before me, as I saw it in Australia. The Orient had cleared my eyes. + +Of course, my first thought was for the up-building of our house. I +wanted it to take the leading part in the stupendous task, and to +become the first house of the world. All this could have been +accomplished, except that I had to contend against the conservatism of +New England, and the very easily understood desire of Colonel Train that +his house should directly own all its ships. This was, of course, +impossible. He could not own them, but he might control them. I urged +upon him the policy of retaining a controlling interest only, and +letting others come in, bringing the capital we should need for the +greater enterprise. This was my idea of "combination," of a great +"shipping combine," more than half a century before it was undertaken, +in another way, by Mr. Morgan and his associates. + +Colonel Train's persistent demand that he should own all the ships, put +an end to the plan. It not only put an end to a grand project, but put +an end to his business. He was soon confronted with difficulties. The +business had outgrown him and his limited means, had become unwieldy and +unmanageable. As I had foreseen, it needed more men, more minds, more +money; and these were not forthcoming. And so, in '57, Colonel Train was +forced down, literally crushed beneath the weight of his own +undertakings, as Tarpeia was crushed beneath the Sabine shields. He was +the victim of his desire to own and dominate everything. + +Two years before this collapse of a great idea, I left Australia for +Japan, by way of Java, Singapore, and China, with high hopes. I had +visions, which were to accompany me for a year or two more, and then I +had to abandon them and turn my attention to other fields. From +Melbourne, I sailed on the Dashing Wave. Has it ever occurred to any one +who writes or thinks of the old days of sailing vessels, those winged +ships, that the very names of boats have changed, indicating the +transformation from romance to reality, from poetry to mere prose and +work-a-day business? In those days we had beautiful and suggestive names +for ships, just as we ought to try to find beautiful and suggestive +names for all truly beautiful and lovable things. Now we send out our +City of Paris, or St. Louis, or St. Paul, or the Minneapolis, or the +Astoria, or Kentucky, or Blaamanden, or Rotterdam, or Ryndam, or +Noordam. Then we had such names as Flying Cloud, the clipper that +shortened the distance between the ends of the world; the Sovereign of +the Seas, the Monarch of the Ocean, the Flying Arrow, the Sea Eagle. The +Dashing Wave, Captain Fiske, carried me to Batavia in twenty-six days. +We were accompanied, for a portion of the trip, by the Flying Arrow. + +At Anjer, in the Straits of Sunda, the Malays came off to the ship in +their little boats with provisions of all sorts to sell. Every one of +them had letters of recommendation, as they thought, from the English +captains and officers who had previously traded with them; but these +letters, if they could have been translated for their possessors, would +have been instantly cast into the sea and a general riot perhaps would +have followed. One of the letters read something like this: "If this +black thief brings any eggs to sell to you, don't buy them, as they are +always rotten. He may also try to sell you a rooster, but don't buy it, +as it is the same cock that crew when Peter denied Jesus." Of course +everybody on the ship roared with laughter as each letter was handed up +to us and read aloud for the edification of all. The simple Malays +guffawed loudly in their boats, thinking that we were heartily pleased +with them and their wares. When next I passed through the Sunda Straits, +Krakatoa had been at work in eruption and had completely changed the +face of the coast, and Anjer itself and the little island it stood on +were gone. + +This Dutch colony was a revelation to me in every way. I had never seen +anything at all like it in any other part of the world, and was never +again to see anything quite so quaint or so delightful. The ride from +Batavia to the hotel was full of surprises. I was accompanied by a troop +of little children, all of them pressing close up to us and crying for +"doits"--small copper coins. I scattered these little coins among them +again and again, but they could never get enough, but kept on crying, +"doit, doit!" Then the color of the trees, the rich shades of the +flowers that flourished everywhere, the beauty of the scenery--all was +a delightful surprise. I have never seen elsewhere so many or such rare +flowers. The whole island of Java, as I was soon to learn, is a vast +botanical garden, far more beautiful and rare than any that science can +create. Nature, the great horticulturist, has here done her best and +final work. The air, too, was delicious. It was perfumed by flowers, +aromatic herbs, and spices. I had never realized before what was meant +by the legends of the "Spice Islands," and I fancied that here was the +place for man to live and die. + +I drove to the residence of the governor-general at Buitenzorg, +thirty-five miles south of Batavia, which was situated in a tremendous +garden of flowers and trees. It was the most beautiful place I had ever +seen, and I am quite sure that I have never seen anything more beautiful +since. I was so delighted with Java, indeed, that I had a model of a +Javanese village made for me, and shipped it home to my wife with the +greatest care. What was my surprise, when I finally reached home, and +asked eagerly if the model had been received, to be told that nothing +had been seen of it. "Didn't something come from me from Java?" Oh, yes, +something had come, but it looked so big and uninteresting that it had +been put down in the cellar. And there my beautiful model of the +Javanese village had lain, in ignominy, for years! I restored it to its +proper position in the world, by sending it to the Boston Museum. It +was lost in the fire that soon afterward destroyed that building. + +It was in Java that I first learned to love flowers, and I have loved +them more and more every year of my life since. The natives of that +wonderful island love to strew flowers over everything, and to garland +everything with beautiful blossoms. I soon became infatuated with the +custom of carrying flowers, and adopted the boutonniere, which I +afterward introduced in Paris in '56, in London in '57, and in New York +in '58. I have endeavored to wear a spray of flowers in the lapel of my +coat every day since my visit to Java. + +There was one particularly pleasing custom, which I think should have +been long ago introduced in this country. This was the fashion of +bringing in fruit to the table covered with flowers. It is a custom that +delights three senses at once--the smell, the sight, the taste. The +first time I saw it was at the table of Mr. Whitelaw Reid, when he gave +a dinner to me and my friends. After we had finished eating, I was asked +if I did not wish for some of the fruit. I looked around and could not +see fruit anywhere. In front of me were great masses of flowers in +baskets, and I could readily detect the odor of fruits of various kinds, +but they were invisible. I had almost decided that they were outside in +the garden, and that possibly we were expected to pluck them from the +trees, which, heavily laden with their burdens, hung temptingly against +the windows. But no, the fruit was immediately before me, hidden beneath +masses of cut flowers, in trays and baskets. I thought it a beautiful +custom, and one that distinctly appeals to esthetic taste. It could well +be introduced at Newport or Saratoga, or in Fifth Avenue mansions. + +I regretted that Great Britain had lost, through a piece of +carelessness, these magnificent islands now controlled by Holland; +although the Dutch have done about as well as any other people could +have done, I suppose. I believe it was because Lord Canning did not open +his eastern mail one morning, that these islands became a possession of +Holland instead of Great Britain. + +I did not, on the occasion of my first visit, see anything of the +Achinese. But I passed, in '92, on my last trip around the world, the +northwestern end of Sumatra, and Captain Hogg, of the Moyune, pointed to +the little town of Achin, built on piles. He said that in the interior +the Dutch were still fighting the Achinese. They had then been fighting +these desperate Mohammedans--converted Malays--for thirty years. I have +since thought, having in view this prolonged struggle for freedom of the +Mohammedan Malays of Sumatra, how desperate is our undertaking in the +Philippines, where we are trying to subjugate a far larger population +of Mohammedans, the Moros of the southern islands of the archipelago. +Holland, I believe, has spent already something like 500,000,000 florins +to exterminate the Achinese. It may cost us far more to exterminate the +Moros. + +I left Batavia for Singapore on a Dutch man-of-war, Captain Fabius. We +stopped first at the island of Banka, belonging to Holland, and I saw +there the famous tin-mines, which are greater than those of Cornwall, +England. They were the property of the brother of the King of Holland. +We did not stop at Sarawak, because of the little war that "Rajah" +Brooke, afterward known as Sarawak Brooke, was carrying on there. We +arrived at Singapore just too late to meet Townsend Harris, the first +American diplomatic representative to Japan, as he had gone up to Siam. +Harris's visit to Japan was the real beginning of a new era in the trade +of the far East, and no other diplomatic mission in the history of this +country has been fraught with greater results. + +Singapore was then a port of much dirtiness and much business. All the +vessels of the world came there, and the greatest variety of cargoes +that I have ever seen. The most interesting thing I saw there was the +magnificent home of a great Chinese millionaire, who managed the largest +business in Singapore, or, indeed, in that part of the world. He had a +splendid palace, surrounded by beautiful and extensive gardens, the +whole being worthy of a king or emperor. Here he lived in the style of +some barbaric prince. This Chinaman had established in Singapore the +kind of store which we in America think we invented--the department +store. But I learned afterward when I went to China, that the department +store is common there, and had been known for hundreds, perhaps +thousands, of years. This development of the store is as old as the +civilization of the Caucasian race, and, perhaps, was known to China +ages before America was discovered. I had the pleasure of receiving an +invitation to visit the Chinaman in his palace, and was astounded by the +extensive grandeur of everything. He had a passion for animals, and +owned two tigers in cages that were the largest animals of their kind I +have ever seen. + +From Singapore, I sailed for China on a P. & O. steamer. On board I met +Dr. Parker, the new American minister to China, and my roommate was +Alexander Collie, of Manchester, England, who, during our civil war, +became the chief English blockade runner. I may as well dispose of my +experiences with Collie while I have him before me. Collie operated his +blockade-running business through the London and Westminster (Limited) +Bank. When I was in England I discovered the nature of his work, and +exposed him through correspondence in the New York Herald. This led to +the breaking down of his enterprise, and to the bank's loss of L500,000 +sterling. Collie escaped arrest by fleeing to Spain. I have never heard +of him since. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +IN CHINESE CITIES + +1855-1856 + + +At Hongkong I went to our correspondents, Williams, Anthon & Co., and +took passage in Endicott's little steamer, the Spark, for Macao, the +Portuguese port of China. Before leaving Hongkong, however, as I had +some little time on my hands, I determined to see everything that was to +be seen there. I had the remarkable experience of meeting the man who +was afterward the husband of Hetty Green. This was E. H. Green, who was +married twelve years later. He was then connected with the house of +Russell & Sturgis, our correspondents in Manila, and he joined me for +the trip to Macao and Canton. After a short stay in Hongkong, we went on +to Macao and Canton. + +We had, on this voyage, the common experiences of Chinese +waters--pirates and typhoons. At the Boca Tigris, the mouth of the +Canton, or Pearl, river, we were overtaken by the typhoon, and we had to +anchor near an island in the midst of a number of junks. These soon +proved to be pirate ships, and we were, apparently, in great danger. The +pirates immediately began to draw up about us, as if meditating an +attack. The little Spark would, of course, stand no chance in such a +contest. I did not think she could last ten minutes in a fight with +those ugly junks. + +The Chinese anchored their boats up close to the Spark, and I noticed +that a dozen of the ugliest ruffians our own sailors had ever +encountered were staring in through the cabin windows. I could not +imagine what they were looking at, and went forward to see what was +wrong. There was Mr. Green, sitting facing the window, his feet on the +table, and making faces at the crew. He was the coolest man, I think, +that I ever saw. Nothing moved him out of his imperturbable calm. The +Chinamen were scowling at him, but this did not at all disconcert him. +If he was going to be killed by these devils, he seemed to be thinking, +he might as well die in a cheerful humor. How could he know they were +not pirates in disguise? + +The pirates expected that we should fall an easy prey into their hands, +as our coal had given out, and there was no assistance within reach. We +were in a dilemma, but we attacked the woodwork of the deck, and got +enough to fire up the engines and get a head of steam, when suddenly, to +the amazement of the pirates, we steamed out and away. The storm having +subsided, the junks were soon left far behind and we reached Macao +safely. + +Macao was at that time the headquarters of the new slave trade. I went +to the top of a high hill for the purpose of looking at the barracoons, +where slaves were kept. The barracoon is, in meaning, a little barrack, +but it is, in reality, a pest-hole. Here were gathered the Chinese who +were to be sent as victims and slaves to the Peruvian islands. The +practise was to bring Chinamen from the interior by telling them of the +great riches their countrymen had found in America, which was then a +name that tempted all Chinamen of the coast regions. Many Chinamen, it +was known, had gone to America and done well, and the wretches that the +slave-dealers wanted to ship to Peru were told that they would be sent +to America. They thought they were going to California; but they were +shipped to the Chincha islands, near Callao, the port of Lima, Peru. + +As Boston was then deeply interested in the subject of slavery in the +Southern States, I wrote a description of this new slavery in the +Chincha islands, giving the names of the boats that had recently sailed +from Macao with full cargoes of slaves. I had heard of this horrible +traffic in human flesh at Singapore, but could not believe it, until I +actually saw it at Macao. Whenever the wretches mutinied, or grew +restive, they were put down in the hold and the hatches closed. The +horrors of such a position were as great as those of the infamous +"Middle Passage," made so conspicuous by the abolitionists in the +campaign against African slavery. Chinamen perished by hundreds, and +many of the survivors were maimed or invalided for life. In a single +case, some two hundred victims were smothered and died in the hold of +one of these slavers. My letters to the New York Herald were copied far +and near. It was discovered that some of the Boston people themselves +were interested in enslaving the Chinese. But the practise could not +stand the light of exposure, and so was broken up. + +We hurried on from Macao to Canton, arriving there during the Chinese +New Year. This city astonished me in a number of ways. It was dirty and +miserable beyond imagination, with narrow streets and indescribable +filth. But that it carried on a tremendous volume of trade was apparent +from a glance. The river was covered with junks and larger vessels at +Whampoa, the lower port, floating the flags of every nation. Warehouses, +the "godowns" of the foreign traders, revealed the existence of an +enormous, and profitable commerce. The word "godown," which many take to +be a "pidgin-English" word composed of "go" and "down," and signifying +putting things down in a warehouse, is a Malay word, and comes from +"gadang," meaning a place for storing articles away. The warehouses were +surrounded by high walls, in the manner of private villas and town +residences of the Chinese, and were adorned by beautiful gardens. + +There was a pretty custom, among foreign residents, to invite all +visitors to dine with them. These invitations were sent informally upon +little cards called "chits." As I was already known in the business +world there, I received a great many of these invitations. I was walking +with Mr. Green one day, when he said it was getting time to think about +dinner. "Where will you dine?" he asked. I replied that I did not know +which invitation to accept. I thought that I would take some of his +conceit out of him, by showing him that I had received a great number of +"chits," and I drew a package of them from my pocket. I remarked coolly +that I could not make up my mind what to do, as I had an _embarras de +richesses_. I counted the "chits," and there were eleven. Green, with +great nonchalance, drew out his package of "chits"; he had thirteen! + +He had a great way of taking care of himself in such circumstances. He +suggested that there was only one thing to do--to find out who, among +our intending hosts, would have the best dinner. He then took me around +to the rear of the residences, where a high wall separated the gardens +from the native city, and where I discovered that the Chinese cooks +always hung up the game, poultry, and other things they were preparing +for meals. From this array we could tell what everybody was going to +have for dinner. After a stroll through the alley, we selected the house +that had displayed behind it some lovely pheasants and salmon. "The +owner of that house shall have the honor of being our host," said Green. +I approved his choice both then and after the dinner, which was an +excellent one, at which the golden pheasants were the _piece de +resistance_. I soon discovered for myself, what I had long heard, that +the Chinese are the best cooks in the world. + +Another thing I learned about the Chinaman was that he is the most +honest tradesman in the world, and the most careful about debts. The +Chinese New Year is the season when the Chinaman wipes off the slate and +begins life over again, with a clean record. He pays up all debts, and +starts even with the world. I learned that on this anniversary the +Chinaman will sell everything he possesses, even his liberty, his +person, his life itself, to settle his debts, so that he may face the +new year with a clean conscience and a pure heart, as well as with no +bills hanging over him. + +As this was practically the first Chinese city I had seen, I was very +curious about it. It was all new ground to me, and I was eager to +explore it. I knew that this was not permitted, for six Englishmen had +been killed shortly before my arrival, for daring to venture inside the +walls of the Chinese city, which was then as much forbidden ground as +the "Pink City" of Pekin. The fate of the Englishmen only made me more +keen to get inside the walls. I thought I could take care of myself +sufficiently well. I was warned by friends not to risk the thing, but I +took all the responsibility, and went inside, while the gates were open. +I had not gone more than a few rods when I heard behind me and all +around me the wildest cries. Men ran toward me with shouts of +"Fankwai"--foreign devil; and I saw at once that I had stirred up a +hornet's nest. I looked about me, and discovered that the gate I had +come through was still open. There was a pretty fair chance, by running +fast, for getting through it before the Chinamen could head me off. This +calculation took about one-millionth of a second, and I plunged for the +gate, "like a pawing horse let go." If the stop-watch could have been +held on me, I am sure I should have established a record for a +short-distance sprint. + +The next time I visited Canton was in '70. The gates were open, and the +walls were of no avail to keep the foreign devils out. The American +merchant Nye, who was familiarly known as the Napoleon of China, because +of his gigantic enterprises, took me over the city. I had read and heard +about Chinamen eating rats, but this was the only time I ever saw the +thing done, and I could hardly believe my eyes. A Chinaman came up to +Mr. Nye and me in the street, and offered to sell us a rat, a big +fellow still alive. I asked if it was to be eaten, and the Chinaman said +it was. "But it is not cooked," I objected. "I am not going to begin on +live rats." The Chinaman said he would prepare it--the rat cooked and +served to cost me two cents. I told him to go ahead. To my surprise he +took a little stove from under his arm, lighted a fire, and in a few +minutes had the rodent roasted to a crisp. I was astonished--and +ashamed--to see how nice it looked. It did appear toothsome. I said to +the Chinaman, "Now, you can eat it." He did, and with great gusto and +smacking of the lips. So he got his rat and my two cents, also. + +But I ascertained that there is about as much truth in the common +stories in our silly juvenile literature about Chinamen generally eating +rats as there is in stories of other marvelous things in far-off lands. +I also found that there is no deadly upas-tree in Java, which was a +distinct shock to me. I had been reared, so to speak, in the fatal shade +of that upas. I had watched birds drop dead as they tried to fly across +its swath of malignant shadow; I had seen animals stricken by its fatal +exudations and writhing in agony. I saw all these things in the old New +England farmhouse, which was the headquarters of the Methodists; but in +Java, they had all disappeared. There was no upas-tree, and the +mortality among birds and animals was no greater than necessary to +satisfy the predatory natures of other animals, birds, and men. And now +to find in China that the New England stories about general rat-eating +were false, was another shock. + +But the Chinese are not as cleanly as they might be. I learned this +interesting fact in connection with my taste for Canton ginger. I had +always, from earliest childhood, been outrageously fond of this delicate +comfit. I had eaten it in great quantities whenever I got the chance; +and when I arrived in Canton, the home of this conserve, I at once +thought of it, and wanted to know more about its manufacture. I learned, +after some inquiry, that it was put up at a factory on the island of +Ho-nan, near Canton. Ho-nan is also the name of a famous Buddhist temple +on the same island. The factory, as well as most of the so-called +island, is built on piles. I had not altogether overlooked this fact +when I asked the factory people where they got the water for the sirup +of the preserves. They looked at me as if I were demented. "Water! why +we are right over the river!" Yes, they were right over the river, the +dirtiest and most villainous river in the world. The sewage of the +dirtiest city in China--which is saying about all that can be said on +the subject--is emptied into this river. I need not say that I did not +eat any of the Canton ginger then, and I have not eaten any of it since. + +I have set down my views as to the topsy-turviness of things in +Australia. I found China topsy-turvy in a different way. The Chinese +begin their books and letters where we end ours, at what we should call +the back. They read from right to left, instead of from left to right, +and, strangest of all, the men wear gowns, and the women--don't! When I +was introduced to How-kwa, a warm friend of the Russells, I advanced to +shake hands with him, but he stepped back and solemnly shook hands with +himself for me. Then he waved his hands toward the door, as if to say, +so it seemed to me, "get out of here," and I was amazed, but Sturgis +informed me that the great Chinaman was merely beckoning to me to come +nearer to him. I went up to him, by that time so impressed with the +Chinese way of doing things backward that if he had kicked at me, I +should have thought he was asking me to embrace him. We were in +How-kwa's residence, which was surrounded by the most exquisite gardens, +and were invited to partake of a cup of tea. For the first time in my +life I drank tea that cost $30 a pound. We used no sugar nor milk, of +course, as these things are considered in China to spoil good tea. The +next best tea I have drunk, I think, was the tea I got at the fair of +Nijnii Novgorod, Russia, in '57, which had been brought overland +thousands of miles across mountains and deserts, packed in little +bricks. + +Again, I found that the Chinese look backward, and not forward, and +ennoble their ancestors, instead of their offspring, and pay little +attention to the coming generation. They say that they know what their +ancestors--the dead--were, but can not foretell what the living may +become. They scull their boats in the rivers from the bow, instead of +from the stern. Their boatmen are usually women. While we fear the +water, and seek to make our dwelling places upon the rock or upon very +dry land, the Chinaman will get as near as possible to the water. In the +Canton, or Pearl, river there were, when I was there, some 100,000 +persons living on the river, in boats, or on floats, or rafts. A +Westerner would suppose children were in danger of falling into the +water. They do fall in, but their mothers have devised a method of +rescuing them without mischance. Cords are fastened to their bodies, and +when a child falls overboard, the cord, which is made fast to the boat, +prevents it from sinking too far before the mother or father catches +hold and pulls it back into the boat. + +They call all servants, male and female, "boy," which reminds me that in +the Europeanized parts of some of the Japanese cities they do the same, +and when they want to specify definitely that the "boy" is a girl, they +say "onna no boy," which means "girl-boy," or girl servant. This is, of +course, pidgin-English, the business English of the Chinese littoral. I +had an amusing experience with this pidgin-English. I had invited some +friends to dine with me, a merchant and his two sons and three +daughters, and when I asked the servant who had come, he said that the +merchant had arrived and "two bull chilo, and three cow chilo." + +Pidgin-English amused me very much, as it amuses every one who visits +China. Augustine Heard, the merchant, who was a master of this lingo, +used to interest me by reciting phrases from it, and once gave me the +following poem, which is a translation of Longfellow's Excelsior. The +translation was made by Mr. Heard. It has been published throughout the +world as an "anonymous" production: + + THE CHINESE EXCELSIOR + + That nightee teem he come chop-chop + One young man walkee, no can stop; + Maskee snow, maskee ice; + He cally flag with chop so nice-- + Top-side Galah! + + He muchee solly; one piecee eye + Lookee sharp--so fashion--my; + He talkee large, he talkee stlong, + Too muchee cullo; alle same gong. + Top-side Galah! + + Insidee house he can see light, + And evly loom got fire all light, + He lookee plenty ice more high, + Insidee mout'h he plenty cly-- + Top-side Galah! + + Ole man talkee, "No can walk, + "Bimeby lain come, velly dark; + "Have got water, velly wide!" + Maskee, my must go top-side-- + Top-side Galah! + + "Man-man," one girlee talkee he, + "What for you go top-side look--see?" + And one teem more he plenty cly, + But alle teem walk plenty high-- + Top-side Galah! + + "Take care t'hat spilum tlee, young man, + "Take care t'hat ice, must go man-man." + One coolie chin-chin he good night, + He talkee, "My can go all light"-- + Top-side Galah! + + T'hat young man die; one large dog, see, + Too muchee bobbly findee he. + He hand b'long coldee, all same like ice, + He holdee flag wit'h chop so nice-- + Top-side Galah! + +When I was ready to start for Japan, I had made up my mind to visit +Shanghai on the way, and was about to start, when Canton merchants, +native and foreign, tried to dissuade me. They told me it would be +terribly disappointing, and that I would regret wasting any time there. +They did not know my nature, and that this sort of thing merely +stimulated my curiosity and hardened my determination. + +I took passage in the P. & O. boat, the Erin, Captain Jameson, and +supposed, of course, that I should have a state-room. But I was to meet +with another Chinese surprise. A great Chinese mandarin, going from +Hongkong to Shanghai, had engaged the whole cabin. I was very desirous +to see this great personage, and soon had the opportunity. It is my +practise, when at sea, to take exercise by walking rapidly up and down +the deck, thus covering many miles a day. I was taking my daily exercise +the day when the mandarin came on board ship, and every time I passed +the cabin I noticed that he followed me with his eyes. And so we kept it +up for some time, I walking as unconcernedly as I could, and the great +mandarin watching my movements as curiously as if I were some strange +animal. + +After a while he called the first officer, and asked what I was doing. +"Walking up and down the deck," he was told. "But why does he do it? Is +he paid for it?" The officer told him it was for exercise. "What is +that?" asked the Chinese great man. This was explained to him, but he +could not understand why any one wanted to walk up and down, and do so +much unnecessary work. The Chinese are not averse to work; indeed, they +are one of the most industrious people on the face of the earth, but +they do not do unnecessary work, having, I infer, to do as much +necessary work as is good for them. And this great dignitary pointed to +me with scorn and said: "Number one foolo." I hardly need explain that +"number one," throughout the far East, means the superlative degree. + +This mandarin was the great Li Hung Chang, who had been summoned by his +emperor to save the country from the terrible Tai-ping rebellion. He +was on his way from Canton to Shanghai. He there called in the splendid +services of three great foreigners--the Frenchman, Bougevine, the +American, Ward, and the Englishman, "Chinese" Gordon; but it was largely +and chiefly due to the stubbornness and genius of Li that the empire was +saved to the Manchus, at a cost, it is estimated, of twenty millions of +lives. + +When we reached Woosung there were six armed opium ships for cargoes of +opium from Calcutta and Bombay, which the English were forcing upon the +Chinese, much as we should force rum on the Mexicans, and make them pay +for it. The English and Americans were reaping fortunes in the most +unholy traffic the world has seen--and it will never be forgotten in +China, or anywhere else, that England went to war with China to force +China to permit the shipment of opium into that country to ruin millions +of lives and impoverish millions of families. I feel heartily ashamed of +myself for having once smuggled a little of this horrible drug into +China. But I found that many Americans and Englishmen were devoting +themselves to the trade as a regular business. + +In Shanghai I was the guest of Russell & Co., who were then represented +by Cunningham and G. Griswold Gray. The fighting in the great rebellion +was still raging--it was not put down until after Gordon recaptured +Nanking--and when I was in Shanghai the Chinese authorities kept the +gory heads of rebels hanging from the walls as an example to all who +contemplated opposing the Manchu rule. These hideous trophies of the war +were the most impressive things that I saw in Shanghai. + +Dr. Lockhart, the missionary, acted voluntarily as my dragoman and guide +in Shanghai, and showed me things in the city that I could never have +discovered for myself. In one of the squares I noticed a monument 150 +feet high, which, I was told by Lockhart, had been built by the poor +people of China in commemoration of an old lady, who had been the Helen +Gould of her day. Each of the subscribers had contributed cash equal to +one tenth of a cent. + +Some really splendid virtues of the Chinese impressed me deeply. I liked +and admired them the more I saw them. I have already said that they are +the most honest people on the globe. It seems to me an extraordinary +thing that this race, the world's highest type of honesty, should be the +only race to which we are inhospitable. The Chinese were far ahead of +Europeans in many ways for centuries. If they have fallen behind now, it +may be only because Europeans are rushing hastily through their brief +civilizations, while China, having enjoyed hers for ages, is content to +watch us rise, flourish, and decay, as we watch the passing generations +of the forest and the field. + +They invented and used the things that we regard as almost the highest +products of our civilization. They had used the mariner's compass for +centuries before we had it; they invented printing perhaps a thousand +years before Gutenberg; they invented gunpowder, which they had used in +war and every-day life; they had the best paper ever seen long before +the rest of the world had any, and the outside nations have not yet been +able to duplicate theirs; they invented the newspaper, and have the +oldest journal in the world, the Pekin Gazette; they discovered the +Golden Rule, unless that honor belongs to the Greek, Thales; they +developed philosophy--the highest system of the world, in +Confucianism--before the Greeks, and, of course, long before the +Germans; and they were the first people of the world to appreciate +education. + +Moreover, as Mr. Wu, the great Chinese minister at Washington, has so +often pointed out, they were democratic long before Thomas Jefferson, +and long before the Greeks had invented the word "democracy," or had +discovered the idea of a democratic state or city. I had been taught +that the hard-headed and practical Scotch had invented the macadam road, +naming it from a canny Scot of that name; but I found a macadamized road +in China three or four thousand years old, and long enough to wrap +around the British Isles. The Chinese have long preceded us, and they +may long survive us, nullifying all the "imperialism" and +"expansionism" of Europe and America, which would cut her into fragments +as the spoil of the world. + +While I was in China, on this first visit, and on the several occasions +of my later visits, I gave much thought to the vast population of that +country. I have come to the conclusion that the population is less than +half, probably less than one-third, of what it is generally estimated to +be. I notice that the Chinese viceroys have recently made an estimate of +their respective provinces, at the command of the emperor, and that the +total reaches the enormous figure of 425,000,000. I do not believe that +there are 200,000,000 people in the entire empire, and I should prefer +estimating the population at something between 150,000,000 and +175,000,000. + +I found that China is not a densely populated country, as is generally +supposed. The seashore is fairly crowded, and the impression one gets +from seeing the surface of the water covered at Canton with rafts and +floats on which more than 100,000 persons live, is that the inhabitants +must swarm in the same degree over the face of the land. This is not the +case. Even the coast is merely fringed with people. Back in the interior +there are no such dense masses of population. All accounts that I can +read of the interior, from Father Huc down to Mr. Parsons of New York, +bear me out in this. I can not see where there are more than +175,000,000, or 150,000,000, people in that empire. The reports of the +slaughter in the Tai-ping rebellion, of some 20,000,000 people, would +seem to indicate a population of at least 200,000,000 or 250,000,000; +but these figures were greatly exaggerated, as all such things are in +China. All statistics are nothing but guesswork, and the bigger they are +the better people like them. + +I engaged passage in the Greta, which was to go to Shimoda and Hakodate, +Japan. My objective point was Yokohama, where it was my purpose to +establish a branch of the house of Train & Co., Melbourne. My Australian +house was not connected with Colonel Train's Boston and Liverpool packet +firm. At this time, however, the English and Russians, who were not as +good friends then as they are now, were fighting, and the little war +completely upset all of my plans. I could not get to Yokohama at all, +and did not visit Japan until several years later. I had, therefore, to +give up my passage in the Greta, and turn my face from Japan. Just at +this point, Augustine Heard invited G. Griswold Gray, of Russell & Co., +and me to go to Fu-chow, on one of his sailing ships, the John Wade. + +[Illustration: George Francis Train dictating his autobiography in his +room in the Mills Hotel.] + +This trip I very willingly made, as I wanted to see everything of China +that was possible; but it was more adventurous than I had expected. As +we were sailing down the China coast, a typhoon struck us, and over +went sails and masts. Our pilot from Shanghai was immediately in +difficulties, as the pilot from Fu-chow, whom we had just picked up, did +not understand the pilot we had brought from Shanghai. I had the utmost +difficulty, owing to my inadequate mastery of pidgin-English, in +establishing communication between these essential elements of our +little crew. We had, finally, to get into a boat and make our way up the +River Min for forty miles in the dark. It was a very trying experience, +as the river was absolutely unknown to me; the darkness was +"unpierceable by power of any star," and the river was treacherous in +itself for small boats. To make matters worse, it was infested by junk +pirates. This latter danger I had got somewhat accustomed to, as almost +every inch of Chinese water was, in those days, the field of operations +for these pirates. The other nations of the world had not yet adopted +effective means for getting rid of them as the United States got rid of +the Algerian and Tripolitan plunderers. + +We arrived at Fu-chow, after a harassing night on the river. Almost the +first thing to greet my curious eyes, as they were sweeping the horizon +for wonders in that land of wonders, was the old suspension bridge, +which the Chinese assert was built in the fourteenth century. It proved +to be as much of a curiosity as the Chinese wall in the north. At +Fu-chow I was a guest in the house of the Russells. Immediately upon +landing, Gray, Heard, and myself took sedan chairs for a tour through +the city. + +On this occasion I had my first opportunity to appeal to the American +flag for protection. As we were passing through a very narrow, but +important street, our coolies were suddenly set upon and overturned. We +scrambled out of the chairs, and asked what was the matter. We learned +that the viceroy was also passing through the thoroughfare, and that +everything and everybody had to give way for his retinue. My companions +at once stepped out of the way, but my blood was up. I resented being +upset in the street, like so much refuse, in order to have the filthy +thoroughfare cleared for the passage of a mere Chinese viceroy. + +I had a small American flag in my pocket, carefully wrapped about its +little staff, and I took it out with a great deal of display and waved +the tiny emblem around my head. I dared the Chinese servants of the +viceroy to touch me or to interfere with my right to pass through the +streets of Fu-chow. This had its effect. I noticed at once that the +Chinese in the street, who recognized the colors of the United States, +fell back from me, our coolies got up out of the dirt, and once more +took hold of the poles of the chairs. The viceroy passed on, pretending +not to have noticed the incident, and in a few minutes the way was clear +again. + +Fu-chow was the black-tea port of China at that time, and it had been +opened just two years before. It was astonishing at what a rapid pace +business of a certain kind swung along in the coast cities of the Far +East. In two years several of the Canton houses, representatives of the +great shipping and other business concerns of the world, had opened +branch offices in Fu-chow. Commercial life there was intensely active +and very prosperous. + +From Fu-chow I went on down the coast to Hongkong, this being my second +visit there. I noticed at Swatow several ships loaded with Chinese +slaves destined for the Chincha guano islands of Peru. My destination +was Calcutta, so we did not have much time to explore the Chinese coast, +much as I should have liked to do so. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +TO INDIA AND THE HOLY LAND + +1856 + + +I sailed from Hongkong on Jardine's opium steamer, Fiery Cross. As the +course we took had been gone over by me in the voyage to Hongkong from +Singapore, I was not especially interested in it until we had passed the +Straits and got into Indian waters. The Andaman Islands, where dwells +one of the lowest races of mankind, interested me greatly. We saw only a +little of these curious people, the Veddahs, but I learned of a very +interesting custom followed by the widows of the islands to commemorate +their deceased husbands. This consists in wearing the skull of the dead +man on the shoulder as a sort of ornament and memento. It is considered +a delicate way of perpetuating the memory of the husband. + +I had a letter of introduction from Robert Sturgis to George Ashburner, +at Calcutta, and the moment I arrived Mr. Ashburner insisted upon my +becoming his guest. I spent three days with him, and have never partaken +of such luxurious hospitality elsewhere. It is only man in the Orient +who knows how to live fast and furious and get every enjoyment out of +his little span of life. I was surrounded by a retinue of servants, who +stood ready to answer every beck and call. Service in India being highly +specialized, there was a servant for everything. I had a little army of +fourteen serving men, four of whom carried my chair, or palanquin, with +a relay, a man to serve me specially at table, a punka man, and a man +for every other detail of living. + +There was something to do and to see every moment of the time. I was +taken to all the show-places of the city. The first sight shown to me +was the famous Black Hole, where John Z. Holwell and one hundred and +forty-six men were incarcerated in a dungeon twelve feet square. One can +not escape being told the horrible story, if he visits Calcutta, and I +suppose that every one hears the narrative with added adornment, after +the true Hindu style. The special point of the story that was thrust at +me was the orgy and heavy sleep of the rajah, while his servitors were +trying to arouse him to answer the screams of the dying men in the Hole. +In the morning, after the rajah had had his beauty sleep, he was told of +the little difficulty the English had in breathing in the foul and heavy +air of the dungeon, and he ordered them released; but death, lingering, +and as heavy-handed and heavy-hearted as the brutal prince, had already +released most of them. + +One is glad to be told for the ten thousandth time, after hearing this +ghastly tale, of the clerk Clive leaving his ledgers and pens and +leading an army to crush the wretches at Plassy. But, like most things +of the kind, the horrors of the Black Hole have been exaggerated, until +sympathy, palled, refuses longer to be torn and bled over imaginary as +well as real terrors. There have been many worse catastrophes, and of a +nature that should appeal more strongly to the heart. Men, women, and +children have gone down in flood and pestilence, free from any stain of +wrong, which can not be said of the victims of the Black Hole. We can +not forget altogether that they were in India not of right, but as +conquerors, and that they were originally, at least, in the wrong. But +the sufferers in the Johnstown flood, the thousands who died in the +Lisbon, Krakatoa, and Martinique disasters, and other thousands that go +down in ships at sea--these innocent victims demand sympathy much more. + +It seemed that most of my sight-seeing in Calcutta was to be limited to +horrible things. Indeed, the visitor is often hurried from horror to +horror, as if he were in some "chamber of horrors" in a museum. I was +taken to the burning ghaut, where dead bodies are cremated. I saw some +five hundred little fires, which were so many pyres for the dead. I had +heard much of the burning of live women in order that they should +accompany their dead masters, and out of sheer curiosity asked the guard +if there were men only in the fires. For answer, he took a long hook, +thrust it into one of the fires, pulled it back and on its prongs +brought the charred leg of a man. Immediately birds of prey (adjutants) +pounced down upon the smoking flesh and bore it away. These birds are +the scavengers of Calcutta, and the special guardians of the ghaut. +Cremation is a great economy in India. It costs only half a cent to burn +a body. + +Another horror shall complete this gruesome part of my story. Being very +fond of shrimps, one day I inquired, in a moment of forgetfulness--for +it is a safe rule not to ask the source of anything in the East--where +and how they got these shrimps. I was taken to the fishing grounds in +the mouth of the river, and there saw millions of these prawns flocking, +like petty scavengers, about the dead bodies that continually float down +the Ganges. Human flesh was their favorite food. This was enough for me. +I stopped eating shrimps in India, as I had stopped eating Canton ginger +preserves in China. + +On the second day of my stay in Calcutta I received cards to the +reception given by Lord Dalhousie to Lord Canning, the new +Governor-General. Lord Dalhousie, the retiring Governor-General, was +dying. In fact he had been dying for months. I shall not go into any +description of the exceedingly brilliant reception. It made an +ineffaceable impression upon me because of the grouping on that occasion +of some of the most splendid of the British administrators and of some +of the most daring of their enemies, who were even then plotting +revolution and bloodshed. I was introduced to both the passing and the +coming Governor-General and to General Havelock, afterwards the gallant +fighter at Lucknow. I had the rare privilege of seeing these three men +talking amicably with the great Nana Sahib, the leader of the Hindus at +Cawnpore. + +The voyage from Calcutta to Suez was almost devoid of incident. We put +into Madras, a barren, flat, and dismal place, to take on passengers, +and then sailed for Point de Galle, Ceylon. At this place I saw, for the +first time, elephants employed in carrying and piling heavy timbers. +They go about their task with an intelligence that is nearly human, +lifting heavy teak timbers and placing them in regular order in great +piles. I had not before supposed that any animals possessed so much +sense. + +Coming down to Aden, two thousand miles from Galle, sleeping with the +bulkhead open opposite my berth, one night I felt something slap me in +the face. As I was all alone, I did not know what to make of it. There +was no light, and I could not see. As soon as I fell asleep another +slap came. I had heard about the insects of the tropics, but had no idea +they were of such size as to cause these slaps. In the morning, I found +out what had been the matter. Nine flying-fish lay dead in my berth. + +At Aden, the most barren and gloomy place I have ever seen, we went out +to the cantonments, which must have been built thousands of years ago. +We hurried up the Red Sea to Suez, and then crossed over by land from +Suez, eighty-four miles, to Cairo, with six hundred camels in the +caravan. We had coaches carrying six passengers. I have a good idea of +what the Sahara Desert is from having seen this desert between Suez and +Cairo. Just before we reached Cairo, there was a cry from one of the +coaches for us to look up at the sky. There were masts, minarets, and +the whole city, in fact, painted on the sky. It was my first sight of +the mirage I had heard so much about. We were then half-way from Suez to +Cairo. + +I put up at Shepheard's Hotel, and immediately arranged to go out to the +pyramids, ten miles from Cairo. Fifty donkey boys rivaled one another to +get my custom. My donkey started off, and the first thing I knew he was +rolling over me in the sand. He had stepped in a gopher-hole, and down +he went. Travelers now go out in trolley-cars, eat ice-cream and drink +champagne under the shade of the pyramids, and a splendid hotel stands +alongside the Sphinx. + +In going up the pyramids it took three Arabs, two to push and one to +pull, to get me to the top. When we got half-way up, an Arab wanted more +bakshish. I talked to him pretty loud in something he didn't understand, +and he consented to take me farther. The top of the pyramid of Ghizeh +has been taken away, and the pyramid is now about fifteen feet square at +the summit. I made up my mind, the moment I saw the pyramids, that these +gigantic blocks were not stone, but had been produced by one of the lost +arts in preparing concrete. It occurred to me, as the pyramids were +hollow to the base, that they had been storehouses for grain, and were +not built as tombs for the Rameses and Ptolemies. Humane kings had built +them, I thought, in order to employ labor in time of dearth. + +As all travelers are told, it was said that a man would go down one +pyramid and come up on another in so many minutes. I had seen such a +number of "fakes" in my travels that, as I could not tell one Chinaman +from another, how should I be able to tell one Arab from another? When +this trick was done for me I thought it did not follow that the man on +the other pyramid was the man who had been with me. + +I was surprised when I left Cairo to find a modern railway, that had +been built by Said Pasha. We took the train for Alexandria. At +Alexandria we took passage for the Holy Land. The Rev. J. R. MacFarlane, +chaplain of Madras, wanted to see Jerusalem and landed at Joppa, or +Jaffa, which has become famous for Napoleon's massacre. + +In going through the Valley of Sharon, we saw orange and lemon groves, +and fruits of all kinds. It was a lovely valley, but all of a sudden we +struck into the most desolate country I had ever seen--a mountain, a +desert, a wilderness of rocks, ravines and canyons. There were rocks to +the right, rocks to the left, and rocks everywhere. My dragoman had +a mule and I a donkey. One of these mules had irreverently been +named Christ and the other Jesus. To the perfect horror of the +clergyman--until he understood that the men could say nothing else in +English--the names of the donkeys were spoken with every crack of the +whip all the way to Jerusalem. The lashing of those donkeys became a +medley of seeming profanity. + +A few weeks before, several people had been killed by the Bedouins on +the desert. Every one was talking about the dangers of the journey. +After we got over this wild district, through the Valley of Jehoshaphat, +we came upon a plateau and saw Jerusalem in the distance. Beautiful is +that city for situation. Said my companions, at the same instant, "There +are the Bedouins!" A half dozen horsemen were coming from the direction +of Jerusalem. We feared danger, but Abram the dragoman showed no fear. +These men were really not dangerous, being only "barkers" for the hotels +of Jerusalem. Neither my companion nor myself had any idea that they +were employes of that kind. + +One asked if we would go to "Smith's" near Mount Calvary, to "Jones's" +near the Via della Rosa, or to another house on the site of Solomon's +Temple. MacFarlane said, "Don't notice these people. Leave it to the +dragoman." He decided that we should go to Smith's. From that time, +until we left, for three days, I saw nothing but humbug and tinsel, +lying and cheating, ugly women, sand-fleas and dogs, from Joppa through +Ramlah. The one lovely place was an oasis where we stopped for luncheon. +Of course this was a long time before Mark Twain went there and wept +over the tomb of Adam. + +In going through the Valley of Jehoshaphat, up the Mount of Olives, of +course I was impressed with what survived of my Biblical education. New +England training was still strong in me. The women of Bethlehem, +carrying baskets on their heads, with flowing robes of calico, were very +beautiful and healthy-looking; but when I got to Bethlehem, and with my +farm and cattle experience looked for stalls and mangers, I was, of +course, disgusted at being taken down two flights and shown an old wet +cave as the place where the Saviour was said to have been born. I have +kept the morals of the old Methodists, I hope, but my superstitious +notions were disappearing every minute I spent in Jerusalem. + +Being in the Holy Land, all the stories I had heard in boyhood came back +to me. I thought of Moses's life. I had been taught to obey his +commandments, but as a child I saw that he had broken in his own life +those which say, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not commit +adultery--had told Aaron, his brother-in-law, to make a golden image, +and had got up a trust by means of which he might get all the gold. +"Thou shalt do no murder," says the law--but he killed an Egyptian and +hid him in the sand. "Thou shalt not commit adultery "--but he committed +that sin. + +And so on to the end. These commandments were taught by the man who had +broken every one of them himself. Aaron, who wished to be included in +the gold-corner into which Moses had refused him admittance, sought to +make money in some other way, and said, "If we are going for forty years +into the wilderness, we shall want salt provisions," and so bought up +all the hogs he could find, without letting Moses into the corner. Then +Moses spoiled the whole game by the law that no Jews should eat pork! In +the Holy Land these things all came into my mind. You can imagine how I +felt sixteen years after, when arrested and detained for six months in +the Tombs for quoting three columns of the Bible (about which I shall +speak later). + +At night I wanted my clergyman companion to gain an idea of night scenes +in the East. To make sure that we should not be disturbed, I went to the +chief of police for a guide to show us Jerusalem by candle-light. We +went into a dark alley, back of Mount Calvary and the Via della Rosa, +when the man's movements became suspicious. I could not see why a +policeman should be so careful where he went. My object had been to see +the demi-monde of Syria. + +When we got to the door, the policeman tried to shut the door, but I put +my foot in the way. I asked MacFarlane if he was armed. He said he had a +Madras dagger. MacFarlane was already in the room and I drew him out. +"Those are Bedouins," said I; "I could see their pistols and swords." +Intuition told me they were murderers. Sixteen persons had been killed +in Nablus in '55-'56. The chief of police was the head of the gang. I +immediately saw our consul, and there was a meeting of representatives +of the foreign powers, and the whole traffic was exposed. In our case +they found the men, and after we left they were executed. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +IN THE CRIMEA + +1856 + + +The voyage from Joppa to Constantinople was a succession of surprises, +from Latokea to Lanarca, Cyprus, Rhodes, and Smyrna. At Beyrout we were +the guests of a pasha, the leading man of the place. Henry Kennard, +banker, of Heywood, Kennard & Co., of London, who had joined us in +Jerusalem, went with us through Syria and was going as far as the +Crimea. MacFarlane was still with our party. We had a day off in +Beyrout, and went up to Lebanon, inland, where the cedars seem to +antedate the olive-trees in the Garden of Gethsemane. + +When we got to Smyrna we entered a beautiful bay, somewhat like that of +Rio Janeiro, and I went out on the fortified hill that overlooks the +city. I saw from the hill that troops were marching on parade, and went +off alone to see them. I was told to let my donkey go his own way. He +brought me to a place where were about one hundred stone steps, almost +perpendicular. I had a little hesitation about going down these steps, +but he seemed to know what he was about, and I could do nothing with him +but hang on his back. I expected him to tumble, and that would have been +the last of me. He didn't miss a step, however, but took me safely to +the bottom. I thought of General Putnam's stone-step ride. If he had +only had a Turkish donkey he would have missed being a hero. + +My donkey seemed to know more than I about the streets of Smyrna, and I +gave him the rein. He took me past the sentinels to the parade ground, +as he appeared to know the password, and across the parade, which was +against regulations. When we arrived at the center of the ground, he +began very peculiar operations, as if he had been with Barnum. Here was +a donkey that would have made a fortune for a circus. The soldiers were +coming up in platoons, when the donkey began to stand on his hind feet, +and then on his fore feet. The roar of the advancing regiment convinced +me that I was in a tight place. I got off his back and walked alone on +the opposite side, and then escaped through a gate. I have never heard +of the obstinate animal since. + +From Smyrna to Constantinople we passed among famous Greek +islands--Rhodes, and Chios, where twenty-two thousand Greeks were killed +by the Turks--but we had not time to stop at any of them. At +Constantinople I preferred to take passage in a transient steamer, +instead of waiting for the Government boat. I stopped here only to see +our minister, Carroll Spence, of Baltimore, and then hurried on through +the Marmoro Strait and the Bosporus, and into the Black Sea, and there +found an immense fleet of transports, from the port of Sebastopol. I was +delighted to see alongside of one another three of our Boston clippers, +built by Donald Mackay in East Boston, that had brought French troops +from France: the Great Republic, Captain Limeburner, the Monarch of the +Seas, Captain Gardner, and the Ocean Queen of clippers, Captain Zerega. +Ships filled the little bay, bows and sterns touching the shore on one +side and the other. Not one could have got out in case of fire. + +We immediately got horses to go out to Balaklava, and there I was glad +to meet my old friend, Captain Furber, of the Black Ball Line and the +Ocean Clipper, who gave me a state-room and all the courtesies of his +ship. He had come for the French. Kennard went with the British. Horses +and attendants were furnished me by the French generals free of cost. + +My object in going to the Crimea was to speculate in munitions of war, +which I supposed would be sold for a mere bagatelle. But the armies took +their material away with them--English, Russian, Turkish, French, +Sardinian--so there was no chance for business there. The British +troops were in rags and tatters. Their new uniforms had not arrived, +and their shoes were worn out. I went on board one of the clippers and +spoke about the shoes not having arrived. "What!" exclaimed the captain; +"I am loaded with shoes! I have been here six months." "Have you +notified the commissary?" "Yes." What could I do? All this was afterward +described by "Bull Run" Russell. He was then the correspondent of the +London Times, and so exposed the mismanagement of the war that ships +were sent with provisions, uniforms, and everything, after the war was +over. + +Through the courtesy of French officers, I visited the city of +Sebastopol, a ten-mile journey from Balaklava, and saw the +twenty-one-gun battery, the Redan, and the Malakoff, and, of course, the +ruin of the famous city. I could see the masts of the ships at the +entrance of the bay, the fleet that had been sunk by the Russians to +block the channel. Here they had crossed in the night to the Star Fort +on the opposite side, which was strongly fortified. It would have been +almost impossible for the allied armies to interfere with the Russians. +They had made up their minds to fight it out to the end. + +The French zouave commander got up a banquet for me with twenty of the +officers of all the armies--Turkish, French, English, Sardinian, and +Russian. I did something to stir up the battle spirit again, and +several times almost got them fighting over the table, especially when I +asked some question that brought a reply from the zouave general of the +Ninety-sixth regiment of Algiers. He rose and said to the Englishmen who +had disputed his word: "You were asleep at the Alma, you were late at +Inkerman, late at Balaklava, ran from the Redan and at Chernaya." This +of course roused the English officers, and we had to pour oil on +troubled waters. + +There were two princes among the Russians, and of course they were +delighted to see the allies fighting among themselves. They helped me in +stirring up the quarrel. I made them admit that Todleben's earthworks +were a new feature in war--baskets of earth used for forts on the inside +of Sebastopol, put up impromptu, and holding these armies so long at +bay. In the Redan it was complete slaughter, two thousand persons being +killed. MacMahon in the Malakoff saw at once that it was not a close +fort, and said, "J'y suis, j'y reste." Speaking of MacMahon, a very +singular thing has been suggested. Put together a half dozen faces of +French notables--MacMahon, de Lesseps, Alexandre Dumas (_pere et fils_), +Victor Hugo, President Faure, and add my portrait, and you could hardly +tell which was which. + +Tennyson has given to the charge of the Light Brigade at Balaklava the +power of his name and genius, but that fight has been a terribly +exaggerated affair, so far as massacre was concerned. Only one third was +killed, with nearly one half the horses. In our civil war, where a +million men were killed, at the cost of a billion dollars, from the +firing into Sumter to Appomattox, on both sides, there were many charges +where the slaughter was proportionately greater than that. Take +Pickett's charge at Gettysburg, where a whole division was mowed +down--or Custer's command (with Sitting Bull, in the Black Hills), all +massacred, with the exception of one man. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +HOME ONCE MORE AND THEN A RETURN TO EUROPE + +1856 + + +From the Crimea I returned to England and thence to America. Wilson, of +the White Star Line, wished to construct the largest clipper ever built +in England. It was to be called the George Francis Train, as I had had +in my consignment or in my charge the fastest four clippers in the +world--Flying Cloud, eighty-six days from New York to San Francisco; +Sovereign of the Seas, which stood in my name at the custom-house (2,200 +tons), which made three hundred and seventy-four miles under sail in one +day, a thing never known before by a sailing ship; the Red Jacket, built +at Rockland, Maine; and the Lightning, built by Donald Mackay at East +Boston, which sailed from Liverpool to Melbourne in sixty-three days; +but I declined the White Star honors. + +The day after my arrival in New York, in July, '56--I had been away +since February, '53--the Herald had sixteen columns, about three pages, +from me in one issue, an amount of space I think that no correspondent +before or since has had--either from India, China, or Japan. I had +arrived ahead of my own mail. The members of the present staff of the +Herald have no idea that the man whom they have looked upon as a lunatic +was sufficiently sane to make a big sensation in their paper in July, +'56. The present James Gordon Bennett was then only fifteen years old. +Frederick Hudson had entire charge of the paper under the elder Bennett. +Mr. Bennett, wishing to put his son ahead, pensioned Mr. Hudson, who +went into the country to live, and, in crossing a railway track, was +killed. Mr. Bennett gave me a very kind reception. He asked if I desired +to go to Congress. "No," I said. "Don't you want to publish books?" +"Yes, but I am going abroad now, as I am not through with my business in +Australia." + +Here, at twenty-seven years of age, I had traveled over the world, and +had had these great business experiences. I had been called, as a +sneering term, "Young America." I kept the name, and used it afterward +in all my newspaper work. But Freeman Hunt, of the Merchants' Magazine, +who edited my books, changed it to An American Merchant in Europe, Asia, +and Australia, thinking the title Young America not dignified enough. +This book was a series of letters from Java, Singapore, China, Bengal, +Egypt, the Holy Land, the Crimea, England, Melbourne, Sydney, etc. It +was published in '57 in New York and London. + +From New York I went to Boston, and escaped my first opportunity of +going to jail by giving bail bond for $80,000. George B. Upton +represented my house in Boston and was in Europe. He was traveling at +the time, and his people instructed him to have me arrested for any +interest the Barings might have, through open credits, in our firm. +Colonel Enoch Train and Donald Mackay signed the bond. The claim was +that I had made a lot of money, and had not given to others what was +their due. I had never used the Barings' credit out in Australia, and +returned to them $50,000. So far as Upton was concerned, I had paid my +partner, Captain Caldwell, $8,000 in cash, when he went home in the Red +Jacket only a few months after his arrival in Melbourne. This was my +first false arrest and legal prosecution. From this time for many years +I kept getting into jail, for no crime whatever. + +After looking over the accounts in the books for '57, Upton came the +next year to me in New York, just as I was going abroad, and said, "We +are in a tight place in Boston." Imagine my astonishment when he asked +if I was willing that any little account coming to me should be placed +to my credit, and used to help him out. Considering that I had been +arrested for $80,000, I thought this peculiar. He gave me a credit for +L500 on the Barings, however; it seems that $6,000 had been sent to me +by the house in Melbourne while I was away. Inasmuch as I have never +since inquired how my account stood with Upton, I should like to have +his son look at the books, and see what may be due me. + +In '56 I took my wife and baby Sue to Paris. I had observed in Europe +that the Germans were more far-sighted than we in learning many +languages. The bright German boy in a country town is taught French and +English, and then sent to Bremen or Hamburg to get the practical +education of merchants in great shipping houses. Afterward, he is sent +to England to find out other modes of doing business. Then perhaps he +establishes a house in New York. I found that German merchants, all over +the world, were far ahead of ours, because of their practical training +and mastery of languages. Seeing, in my travels around the world, that +the German was everywhere, I determined to learn languages, and went to +Paris for that purpose. + +We took rooms at the Grand Hotel de Louvre, in the Rue de Rivoli, and I +at once went to Galignani, of "The Messenger," to find teachers. Under a +Catholic priest, I studied Italian and French at the same time, which +may account for my having a little of the Italian accent in my French. I +have never known an Italian who was able to master the French accent. I +also learned Portuguese and Spanish. This gave me the four Latin +languages. I had, in '48, studied German under Gasper Buetts, who came to +America during the Revolution of '48 with Carl Schurz. German texts and +pronunciation I had to practise every day, but as I have never had a +fancy for that language, I have not kept it up. I sent my sons to +Frankfort-on-the-Main to learn German, and afterward to Seelig's College +in Vevey, Switzerland, in '71, to learn Italian and French. My daughter +Sue was sent to Stuttgart, and she is thoroughly acquainted with both +German and French. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +MEN I MET IN PARIS + +1856-1857 + + +My life in Paris seems now like a romance to my memory. I was +twenty-seven, and thought I had seen all the world, but discovered how +little I knew, compared with others whom I met. I found, as in all these +foreign cities, that notables in society and in public life often did +not know one another. At Count Arthur De La More's, of the Orleanist +staff, I found the greatest hostility toward the Emperor. One day we +were sitting in the entresol, at his rooms on the Rue de Rivoli, +opposite the Tuileries, and he asked me whether I could see that man +walking on the veranda of the Tuileries. I said I could, to which he +replied: "Could one of your sharpshooters pick him off from here?" I +looked up with surprise, and thought I saw the future assassin of the +Emperor, but said nothing. I told him some of our men like Daniel Boone +and David Crockett could have picked off a squirrel as far as they could +see it. It was a little while after this that the Orsini bomb was fired +at the Emperor. This was because Napoleon, though a member of the +Carbonari, had "gone back on" the order; but his life was spared. + +Prince Galitzen of Russia gave me a dinner at the Cafe Philippe, where I +met some of the Russian nobility. These men were the cleverest I have +ever seen. All were good linguists, artists, statesmen, soldiers, men of +the world. At Prince Czartoryski's I met leading Poles, who were still +revolutionists, plotting against Russia. One of these, a man of about +eighty, said to me: "In my teens I went to St. Petersburg, saw Alexander +and told him the condition of Poland. I asked him what he was going to +do. He asked me what I should recommend. 'There are two ways of +governing Poland,' I said; 'through interest or through fear.' Fear was +the policy adopted. When I was forty, I again went to St. Petersburg. +Nicholas was Czar, and he repeated the same question. I again answered, +'through interest or through fear.' When I was sixty I met another +Emperor, and the same question was put to me, and I made the same reply. +Poland is partitioned," he added; "and we are now only a memory." + +At Leon Lillo's I met many Spaniards of the nobility and the ruling +family. I still think that Lillo was the son of Queen Cristina, by her +husband the Duke of Rianzares, a common soldier, of physical beauty, +whom she had taken from the ranks and made a Duke. I used to meet him at +Lillo's. Cristina, who was then probably the richest woman in the world, +had bought Malmaison, the palace of Josephine. It was through this +connection that I met Salamanca, the Spanish Rothschild, her banker. I +shall speak later of how I got the funds to build the Atlantic and Great +Western Railway, connecting the Erie Railway with the Ohio and +Mississippi Railway. + +At the Marquis del Grillo's I met his wife, the great Italian +tragedienne, Ristori, whom I had seen on the stage in "Elizabeth." I met +leading men of the Second Empire at the house of the Count de Rouville, +including Persigny, the Foreign Minister, Count de Morny, the Minister +of War, Walewski, Prince "Plon-Plon," and Mocquard, private secretary to +the Emperor. At Triat's Gymnase I met the men who afterward organized +the Commune. At the house of Mrs. Winfield Scott, who was then living +in Paris, I met many Americans, and at Castle's I saw "Bohemia." + +Meeting all these different persons, distinguished in the great world of +Paris, I was gaining the knowledge that would make me a walking library +of political affairs in Europe. This made up for the loss of a college +career. Practical experience and observation were my university. + +That year, '56-'57, was a very important time in my life in many ways. I +received an invitation to a ball at the Tuileries, engraved in the +usual style, on a card a foot square, and bearing the enormous seal of +the Second Empire. For the first time in my life I appeared in borrowed +plumes. I hired what I call a "flunkey" suit, and paid forty-five francs +for it. In this I was presented. It was not a civil nor a military suit, +but a sort of mongrel affair, that served me as a court costume. Of +course, my wife appeared in proper evening dress. There were four +thousand persons present, the highest in the society of Paris, military +and civil--ambassadors in their regalia, regimental officers in their +different uniforms, and the aristocracy in their robes. There were also +Algerian officers. Although the Tuileries was very large, the four +thousand guests found themselves in much crowded rooms. + +During this reception and ball I suddenly felt some cold substance going +down my back. Putting my hand to my neck, I found there a cupful of +ice-cream that an Algerian officer had dropped, with the usual "Pardon, +monsieur." I assured him it was all right, but the ice-cream gave me a +decidedly boreal feeling. + +The ball was in the usual court style, and I shall not undertake to +describe it. After some time had passed, all at once there was silence, +instead of the terrible hum. It was the presage of something important, +I felt sure. The wax candles in the chandeliers burned brilliantly, and +we were all on the _qui vive_ to know what was coming. Looking toward +the great folding doors at the end of the hall, a lady appeared. It was +the age of crinoline, and she must have had a circumference of eight +feet. She was the Emperor's favorite, the Countess Castiglione. The +sensation she made was tremendous. + +I should mention that before this happened I had been presented to the +Empress. We were all ranged in diplomatic order for presentation, and +when it came my turn she seemed particularly courteous, saying in +English to me: "You speak French very fluently." To this I replied: +"When I am able to speak French, your Majesty, as well as you speak +English, I shall be willing to trust myself in that language. In the +meanwhile let me ask you to talk as you prefer." All those presented +seemed surprised to see me talking with the Empress, as it was, I +believe, unusual for a foreigner and a newcomer to be thus honored. She +was very gracious, and made me feel as much at home as if I had been in +my own family. The introduction of the crinoline had been made by the +Empress before the birth of the Prince Imperial. Anti-Imperialists had +been busy gossiping about the coming event, and intimated that it was +impossible the Emperor could become the father of a child. + +After the Countess Castiglione appeared in such dare-devil fashion, in +the presence of the whole court, the Empress appeared in much different +mood. The next day she went to England, and became the guest of the +Queen for three weeks. + +The Italian war was then going on, and I was desirous of mastering the +Italian language, in order to carry out certain contracts I had made +with the Emperor. McHenry was my partner, and I had written to him that +the Emperor wanted a half dozen steamers immediately. The French needed +the boats for the transport of provisions. McHenry was in London, and in +my letter I told him there was no doubt that the war would eventually be +won by France and Italy. This was just after the great battles of +Magenta and Solferino. He sent me back this despatch: "La paix est +signe." You can imagine my surprise. It shows that the most careful of +men sometimes make mistakes. + +Mr. Seward, afterward Secretary of State, was in Paris in '56-'57, and I +showed him as much of Paris as I dared. There were certain places to +which I did not feel authorized to take him, but I managed to make him +see a great deal of Paris that would have been sealed to him had he +undertaken to go about this microcosmic city without a guide. + +Mr. Seward astonished me very much one day by a remark showing his +detachment from the great world of European thought and power. I said +to him: "Mr. Seward, how would you like to see M. Lamartine?" "Which +Lamartine?" he coolly asked, as if there could be more than one. "Why, +Alphonse de Lamartine," said I. "There is only one Lamartine in France +or in the world." He asked if I knew him. I replied that Lamartine gave +receptions twice a week, and that I had attended them during the winter. +As there was a reception that day, I asked Mr. Seward if he cared to go. +He very gladly accepted the invitation, and we went together. + +Lamartine, it will be remembered, married an English lady, a most +charming, lovely woman; but he had never learned to speak English. He +was like Hugo in this respect, and thought it was not worth while to +struggle through the intricacies and difficulties of the spelling and +pronunciation. But Madame Lamartine spoke French very fluently and +accurately. + +I have observed as an invariable rule, from one end of the world to the +other, that if one person addresses another in a language the second +person does not understand, the talker thinks he can make himself +understood by simply bawling out his sentences like a town-crier. Mr. +Seward was no exception to this common frailty among mankind. When he +saw that Lamartine did not understand his English, he placed his hand +over his mouth, and shouted into M. Lamartine's ear. The great Frenchman +smiled at each discharge, but could not reply. At last I said, "Mr. +Seward, M. Lamartine is not deaf, but he does not understand English. If +you will permit either Madame Lamartine or myself to interpret for you, +there will be no difficulty." Mr. Seward continued to shout for some +time, but finally broke down. Madame Lamartine and I then translated his +remarks to Lamartine. After this we got along finely, and a most +delightful conversation followed between the two men. + +It had been my intention, when I came to Paris, to go on to Australia; +but as I passed through the various countries of Europe I saw that the +shadow of panic and failure rested upon all. I had, indeed, completed +many arrangements for going back to Melbourne, and I had got a letter of +credit from the representative in London of the Bank of New South Wales +for L20,000; but the project fell through, because of the panics and +disasters of the year '57. + +In '58--I may mention at this place--I had a few months' leisure on my +hands, and decided to give my wife and her stepmother, Mrs. George T. M. +Davis, a trip about Europe. We traveled through France, Italy, Austria, +and Germany. At Leghorn we went to witness a spectacular exhibition of +the storming of Sebastopol. It was a magnificent spectacle, realistic in +the extreme. No one was astonished, when, at the very point where the +city was taken and the fort blown up, a terrific burst of light +appeared. Instantly thereafter we discovered that the explosion had been +too real. The theater was ablaze. Of course there was a wild rush for +the doors. Panic followed, and while we were crushed and trampled in the +press, we got off finally with only severe bruises. The official report +next morning gave the casualties as forty killed and one hundred +injured; but the Government suppressed the facts. The dead and injured +far outnumbered these figures. + +We had an experience in Naples which illustrated the every-day use of +words by the English that to us are offensive. We were aboard one of the +dirty little steamboats that were found in that part of the +Mediterranean, and, as the weather was somewhat rough, the bilge water +had been shaken about in the night, and a terrible odor pervaded every +nook of the vessel. An English nobleman was aboard, and in the morning, +wishing to say something agreeable to my wife's stepmother, he said: +"Madam, didn't you observe a dreadful stink in your state-room last +night?" The blood of all the Pomeroys was fired by this supposed +indelicacy. "Sir!" Mrs. Davis retorted, stepping back with great +hauteur. I immediately advanced and said, "My dear madam, the gentleman +meant no harm. The English prefer that 'nasty' word to something more +refined and less shocking. He meant no insult." The Englishman +explained; but the lady was not appeased. + +At Rome I was astonished to find a delegation awaiting me. I could not +make out what it meant, when I was hailed as a "liberator." There were +many "liberators" in the Italy of those days; and I supposed they +mistook me for Mazzini, or Garibaldi, or Orsini, or some other leader of +the people. "Whom do you think I am?" I asked. "Citizen George Francis +Train," they said. This was too much for my credulity. What was worse +still, they asked me to go with them. I did not know just where they +expected me to go, or what they would expect me to do when I got there. +Things were pretty black in Italy just then, and I did not desire to be +mixed up in "revolutions," or liberty movements, or conspiracies. +However, they assured me that it would be all right, and I consented to +go. I went through a dark alley, to their meeting place, and was told +more things about the revolution than I cared to know or to remember. It +was not a healthful kind of knowledge to carry about Italy with one. + +But the curious thing about the affair was that here, as everywhere, +these people regarded me as a leader of revolts--Carbonari, La Commune, +Chartists, Fenians, Internationals--as if I were ready for every species +of deviltry. For fifteen years five or six governments kept their spies +shadowing me in Europe and America. + +From Italy we passed into Austria. At Vienna we had the opportunity, +through the courtesy of some friends near the court, of witnessing a +splendid celebration by the Order of Maria Teresa, which was the most +gorgeous and most beautiful spectacle I think I have ever seen. We soon +returned to London, and then came to America, where I was to resume work +on projects and enterprises here. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +BUILDING THE ATLANTIC AND GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY + +1857-1858 + + +The great project of a connecting railway between the Eastern and the +Middle Western States had been in my mind for some years. Queen Maria +Cristina's fortune, which was then the greatest possessed by any woman +in the world, seemed to me to offer a solution of the problem. I had no +idea, of course, of attempting to use her fortune in any schemes of my +own and for my own interest, but I saw at once that I could utilize her +idle wealth to the tremendous advantage of the United States and, at the +same time, render a service to her. + +The Queen had had a large quantity of funds in the old United States +Bank that President Jackson smashed, and James McHenry, who was +connected with me in many enterprises, learned that she had taken as +securities some coal lands in Pennsylvania. I saw the Duke of Rianzares, +the guardsman Fernando Munoz, whom Maria Cristina had fallen in love +with and made a grandee of her kingdom, and finally married in '44. He +had his headquarters at Lillo's in the Square Clary, and he introduced +me to the Queen's secretary, Salerno. I suggested to the Spaniards the +advisability of hunting up these coal lands of the Queen. McHenry had +already made arrangements for me to go to America with her assistant +secretary, Don Rodrigo de Questa, who did not know a word of English. +The preliminaries were arranged, and we set out for Liverpool and +America. + +One of the first of many difficulties into which poor de Questa fell +because of his ignorance of English occurred the first day out from +Liverpool. The Spaniard, with a fatuous assumption common to Europeans, +thought that whenever he failed to find the exact word he wanted in +another tongue than his own, all that was necessary was to use French. +The Spaniard asked the steward to get him some fish for breakfast. He +knew the Spanish word would not answer, and could not think of the +English word, though he had tried to master it for some time. He then +fell back upon the French, and asked for "poisson." Of course, the +steward thought he wanted poison, and reported the matter to +headquarters, thinking suicide was contemplated. + +De Questa would have had serious trouble but for the thoughtfulness of +the steward, who remembered that I was traveling with him and came to +me for advice. "When did he ask for poison?" I inquired. "At +breakfast-time," said the steward. "Oh, then, he merely wants fish," and +I explained as well as I could to an English steward the meaning of the +French word. + +The English of the ignorant classes look upon French very much as a +clergyman does upon profanity, or as a missionary regards the muttered +charms and incantations of a "voodoo" priestess. De Questa finally got +his fish, but he had long before lost his appetite. This adventure +discouraged him so much that he refused thenceforth to try to convey in +English, Castilian, or French, any of his desires concerning food, but +resorted to the primitive sign language. When he wanted eggs, he would +flap his arms together and cackle like a hen that has just laid an egg. +The steward who, perhaps, had never seen two square inches of +countryside in his life, thought he was imitating a rooster and laughed +until he almost had a fit. De Questa nearly starved. He had, at last, to +eat whatever he could find, without trying to seek what he wanted. I +explained to him that roosters did not lay eggs! + +Our destination was Philadelphia. It was there that the Spaniards who +were living upon Queen Maria Cristina's property had their headquarters. +I found two of them, Christopher and John Fallon, living in fine houses, +with something of a court about them. They had control of about forty +thousand acres of coal lands belonging to the Queen. This large tract +was situated at a place to which the Fallons had given their name, +Fallonville. I at once consulted several of the best lawyers of +Philadelphia, among them William B. Reed, later Minister to China, and +was advised to go immediately to the lands and see what had been done +with them. I made an appointment with John Fallon, and we went out to +the mines. I can not now recall exactly where they were, but I remember +that we passed through a wilderness, after leaving the train that took +us from Philadelphia, and that we had a very long drive in carriages. A +railway track had been built through the forest to the mines, and it +seemed to me about fifteen miles long. I appeared to John Fallon as a +foreigner who was interested in mines and in coal lands in particular, +but not, of course, as representing the Queen. + +As soon as I returned to Philadelphia and reported what I had learned, +my lawyers advised me to go back to Paris and report to the Queen. De +Questa and I, therefore, returned as soon as possible. McHenry met me in +London, and we went on to Paris together. We had a conference with Lillo +and with Don Jose de Salamanca, the Queen's banker, and it was decided +that the Queen should take active possession of her immense property at +once. I saw that there was a great deal of money in the land, and that +there was a fine opportunity for the Atlantic and Great Western Railway, +if I could in some way get the use of a portion of this vast coal +domain. + +I saw also that my connection with the affair had already given me a +lever with which I could work to some purpose upon Don Jose de +Salamanca, and that this was the best card to play. + +As soon as possible I went to his banking office and asked for a +conference. I had learned enough, in my dealings with bankers and +financiers, to know that you must approach them on the right side, from +the side of money, and not from that of a mere wish. Accordingly I wrote +on my card that I wished to propose a loan of $1,000,000. I really came +as a borrower, but circumstances permitted me to play the role of the +lender. I was admitted at once, but if I had asked outright for a loan I +should have been shown the door. As soon as I was in his presence I +said, without preface: "I have no cash in my pockets, nor would you wish +it if I had; but I want to show you something." + +"I understood that you wanted to lend me a million," said the Spaniard. +"I do not see the million." + +"You will, when I explain," I said. "I want to use your credit." (I knew +that he had none in London and that he could do nothing there.) "I +propose to deposit with you $2,000,000 of the bonds of the Atlantic and +Great Western Railway for $1,000,000 of your notes." + +I knew that the bait of a credit in London would affect him, as the +Spanish bankers had long tried in vain to establish their credit in the +financial metropolis of the world. + +"Where is this property?" he asked. + +I drew a diagram of the property for him, explaining its location and +its relation to other properties and enterprises. I told him of the Erie +Railway, ending at Olean, and the Ohio and Mississippi Railway from +Cincinnati to St. Louis. "There is no connection between these two great +highways," I said, "and a highway that will connect them will prove a +fortune-maker to every one associated with the project." I explained +that there were only four hundred miles between the two, and how I +purposed filling in this gap. Between the two ends of the completed +railways lay three wealthy States. This road has since been reorganized +under the name of the New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio, or as it is +colloquially called, the "Nyp. and O." Near Olean now exists a town that +has the name of my Spanish friend, Salamanca. + +My arguments touched Salamanca, but did not capture him. They paved the +way, however, for his complete capitulation a little later. My next step +was to go to London and confer with the Kennards, famous bankers of +that city. We arranged that a nephew of the Kennards, a son of Robert +William Kennard, then a member of Parliament, and an engineer of note, +should accompany me to America and go over the entire ground of the +proposed route. + +We came to New York in October, '57, and shortly after we arrived had a +conference at the St. Nicholas Hotel, in Broadway, with the men who were +most interested in the proposed road. Maps were exhibited, and the plans +fully explained. We then left for Olean, where we were met by the +contractor in charge of the road, whose name was Doolittle, by Morton +the local engineer, and by General C. L. Ward, the president of the +road. The whole party took wagons for Jamestown, forty miles away. At +this point we were met by a committee appointed to take care of us and +to show us what had been done, and what could be done. This was the +program throughout, as we passed on from point to point. Among the men +who met us at Jamestown was Reuben E. Fenton, who had just been elected +Representative in Congress from that district, and was afterward +Governor and United States Senator. The line of the road was followed as +far as Dayton, Ohio, where it was proposed to connect with the Cleveland +and Cincinnati Railway. + +At Mansfield there was a great gathering in honor of the occasion. The +committees of the three States--New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, were +present, and there was speech-making. I made a speech, which is printed +in full in "Spread-Eagleism," published in '58. Judge Bartley, afterward +famous on the Federal bench, was chairman of the meeting. I asked if +there were not some one present from Ohio who could give us a clear +statement as to what we could expect. Judge Bartley called on "Mr. +Sherman." A tall, spare man arose. It was John Sherman. He made a speech +that was clear, direct, and forcible. Among the other speakers were +Robert E. Schenck, of "Emma Mine" fame, who had been elected to Congress +recently, and Senator Benjamin F. Wade. + +Just before the close of the meeting I introduced Thomas Kennard, the +civil engineer, and told the crowd that the road was to be built, and +that it would be aided by the money of Queen Maria Cristina of Spain and +the great Spanish banker, Salamanca. + +I made a report in London of the work accomplished in America, and at +once began to purchase material for the road. I sought out Mr. Crawshay +Bailey, then a member of Parliament, and a great Welsh iron-master, and +he invited me to dine with him and his wife. He had just married a +charming young lady. At dinner, I found that Mrs. Bailey spoke French +very fluently and that Mr. Bailey did not understand a word of it. So I +asked permission of the iron-worker to carry on a conversation in French +with Mrs. Bailey. This delighted him very much, for he liked to see that +his wife was mistress of a language of which he did not know a single +word. This subtle flattery of his judgment and taste so pleased him that +I was able to close a bargain with him for 25,000 tons of iron at $40 +the ton--$1,000,000--pledging for the debt bonds of the Atlantic and +Great Western Railway, at two to one. This was the first great purchase +made after the panic of '57. + +My second purchase was made from the Ebwvale Company, of Wales. Through +Manager Robinson I negotiated for 30,000 tons of iron at $40 the +ton--$1,200,000--pledging bonds of the road at two to one, as with +Bailey. + +I have already spoken of Salamanca, the Spanish Rothschild, and how I +had tried to obtain his notes for $1,000,000. I finally succeeded in +getting this loan, pledging $2,000,000 bonds of the road as security. At +this time, no Spanish securities had been negotiated in Lombard Street +for years. It was highly necessary for me that these notes of Salamanca +should be negotiated. I went to Mathew Marshall, Jr., of the Bank of +London. He was the son of the old Mathew Marshall who had signed the +notes of the Bank of England for fifty years. I asked him what $50,000 +of the notes of Salamanca would be accepted at by the bank. He replied +that they would not be accepted at all. "No Spanish paper can be used in +London," he said. + +I then had recourse to a scheme that I had previously worked out with +some degree of elaboration. I asked Marshall if he would not oblige me +by telling me, as a friend, what sixty-day bills of the kind I held +would be worth if they could be used. He said they should be handled at +six per centum. I telegraphed immediately to McHenry, in Liverpool, as +follows: "Marshall will not touch this paper under six per cent. Will +Moseley" (the big financier there) "do it for five?" McHenry answered +that Moseley would not handle it for less than Marshall's rate, but +would take $50,000 at six per centum. + +Upon the strength of this, four hundred miles of railway were built, +through three great States, opening up a vast territory, and bringing in +fortunes to a large number of men. My arrangement with McHenry was that +I was to receive L100,000 as commission. No papers were signed, but I +asked McHenry to give me a paper settling $100,000 on my wife, Willie +Davis Train, which was done. After the road was built, Sir Morton Peto +came over from England with some London bankers, on McHenry's +invitation. McHenry believed in playing the part of a prince when it +came to giving an entertainment, and he invited the visitors to a +banquet at Delmonico's, then at Fourteenth Street and Fifth Avenue. It +cost him $15,000. + +As I had not yet secured my commission, I thought this was a good time +to collect it, and instructed my lawyer, Clark Bell, now of No. 39 +Broadway, to present and press my claim. McHenry was so afraid he would +be arrested while these moneyed men were with him that he settled at +once, giving me his notes at four months for the balance due. Gold was +very high at this time, being $1.90, and as the notes were on London, I +found they could be negotiated through McHenry's agents, McAudrey & +Wann. It happened that these agents had lost some $7,000 on information +that I had given to them about the result of the battle of Gettysburg; +so I agreed to reimburse them for the loss, if they would cash the notes +at once, which they did. + +This was in '66, and a singular thing happened. When the notes fell due +in London on the 6th May, that comparatively small amount of gold +precipitated something of a panic in the unsteady market of the day. +Everything went with a crash. Moseley, the banker of Liverpool, failed +for a large sum; Lemuel Goddard, of London, followed with a loss of as +much more; Lunnon & Company failed for a greater amount; McHenry for +some millions; Sir Morton Peto for other millions; and Overend, Gurney & +Company for another large amount. This showed to me the real +shallowness and insubstantiality of the great world of finance. It is +built upon straw and paper. The secret of its great masters and +"Napoleons" is nothing but what is known among other gamblers as +"bluff." + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +A VISIT TO RUSSIA + +1857 + + +The year '57 was a memorable period in my life in many ways. The great +panic of the time swept away my ambitious projects as if they had been +so many dreams and visions. My contracts in Italy were destroyed by the +peace of Villa Franca, and my Australian plans were defeated by the +panic. I was therefore ready to take up anything that looked promising; +but, as I had nothing immediately on hand, I took advantage of the +enforced leisure to see more of England and the continent of Europe. + +I was in Liverpool at the time the Niagara arrived there for the purpose +of laying the Atlantic cable, and suggested giving a banquet to Captain +Hudson and Commander Pennock, who was my cousin, and to the other +officers, at Lynn's Waterloo Hotel. This old landmark, the resort of +American ship-captains for many years, was torn down long ago. At this +time a letter came to Captain Hudson from the Grand Duke Constantine, +of Russia, who had arrived at Dover in his yacht, the Livadia, thanking +him for granting permission for three Russian officers to witness the +laying of the cable. + +In this little incident I saw an opportunity for visiting Russia in a +semi-official capacity, enabling me to see that country to much better +advantage. I said to Captain Hudson that I should like to carry his +answer to the Grand Duke. He replied that no answer was required, and +that, besides, the Grand Duke had returned to St. Petersburg. I assured +him that strict courtesy demanded an acknowledgment of the letter, and +that it would make no difference to me about the Grand Duke being in St. +Petersburg, as I expected to visit that city. So I persuaded him to let +me take an answer to the Russian Prince. I suggested the phrasing of the +letter. The Grand Duke was informed that I was visiting Russia for the +purpose of seeing the Nijnii Novgorod fair, and that the United States +was always glad to do anything that helped to repay Russia for her long +friendship. + +I immediately started for London, where I called on the American +Minister, George M. Dallas. Mr. Dallas was very courteous, but he +evidently wanted to have the opportunity of handing the letter to the +Grand Duke himself. He offered to see that the communication was +expeditiously and properly transmitted. "But," I said, "I desire to take +it in person." I next called on John Delane, who was long the editor of +the London Times, and he asked me to write him some letters from Russia. +Then I left London for The Hague. + +I met at The Hague Admiral Ariens, to whom I had been introduced by +Captain Fabius of the Dutch man-of-war, some years before, at Singapore. +From Holland I went through Germany, visiting Stettin, where I saw the +beginnings of those great ship-yards that are now sending out the +greatest and fastest vessels on the seas. I took a steamer from Stettin +for St. Petersburg. + +At the Russian capital I called at once on our minister, Governor +Seymour, of Connecticut. Mr. Seymour made the same suggestion that Mr. +Dallas had made. He wished to transmit the letter to the Grand Duke. But +I was not to be deprived of the final triumph of my schemes. I told the +Minister that I had come all the way from Liverpool, and that it was my +purpose to hand the letter to the Grand Duke, if I had to travel all +over the Russian empire to do it. I was informed that it was not the +season for seeing this high official, as he had left the city and was at +his country residence, at Strelna. + +My answer to this was, in true Yankee fashion, "Where is Strelna?" I was +told that it was just below Peterhof. Then I was advised not to try to +see the Grand Duke on that day, as it was Saturday. I resolved to go at +once to Strelna, without regard to official days, as I had long since +discovered that the only way to do a thing of this sort was to do it +straightway. I got a fast team, and was taken out to the Grand Duke's +palace. + +I found the residence situated in the midst of an immense forest park, +and sentinels guarded every avenue of approach. These stopped me at +every turn, but at every challenge I showed the letter to the Grand Duke +and told my errand. I was passed on and on, until I was inside the +palace itself. Here I was met by a gentleman in the long frock coat the +Russians affect, with his breast covered with military orders. He +offered, as soon as I told him my errand, to take the letter to the +Grand Duke; but I merely said that it was my purpose to hand it to him +in person. I now began to fear that it would require some little time to +get into the presence of this high dignitary. I expected to be put off +for several days, and then to end up against a secretary or an +aide-de-camp, who would finally have me meet some one very near the +Grand Duke, but not the Grand Duke himself. + +I was at last shown by this military-looking gentleman into a reception +room of the most spacious proportions. I sat down and prepared to wait +for a secretary or aide-de-camp, when, suddenly, the door flew open, +and, with a rapid step, a handsome, delicate-looking gentleman advanced +toward me. I rose, and again went through the tiresome explanation that +I had a letter for the Grand Duke, which I should like to hand to him +in person, and so on, and so on. I expected to receive the reply that +this gentleman would be greatly pleased to relieve me of the trouble, +and was prepared to answer rather severely that I wished to hand the +letter to his Grace myself. He said, with a gracious smile, which played +like a dim light over his pale features, that he would see that the +Grand Duke received the letter. "But," I said, "I must hand it to him +myself." "Is it necessary?" he asked, with his faint smile. "It is," I +replied as firmly as I could. + +He stepped back a little, and said, with a bow, "I am the Grand Duke." I +almost sank into the chair with surprise. As soon as I recovered my +composure, I handed him the letter, which I now felt to be a very small +affair for so much ceremony and trouble. + +While I was waiting for the Grand Duke to read the letter, two great +dogs came into the room, from different directions, and immediately +began fighting. The Grand Duke said something in Russian, which showed +that he at least knew how to speak commandingly. The great beasts, with +drooping tails, slunk from his presence like whipped children. + +The Grand Duke Constantine was a younger brother of the Czar, and was a +man of many accomplishments. He spoke with ease and grace seven +languages, and his English was quite as grammatical and exact as my +own. The Grand Duke, as soon as he had read the letter, called in his +aide-de-camp, Colonel Greig, and said that the colonel would see to it +that all my needs were attended to immediately, and expressed the wish +that he might see me on my return from Nijnii. "I should like to know +what you, as an American, think of Russia." + +Colonel Greig took me to the residence of his mother, the widow of +Admiral Greig of the Russian navy, who lived just opposite Kronstadt. We +were driven over in a troika, or droshky, with one horse trotting in the +middle and one on each side, in full gallop. It was the most +delightfully exhilarating drive I had ever taken, and I still think that +the troika is the most attractive of all vehicles. At the Greigs' I was +treated with the utmost consideration, and was a guest at a banquet the +first night I was there. When I came to prepare for this function, I +remembered that I had no change of clothes with me, as I had come out +from St. Petersburg in a great hurry. + +In this dilemma, I turned to Colonel Greig and explained that it was not +possible for me to attend the banquet as I had no dress clothes with me. +He looked me over, and replied: "I think we are about the same size. +Suppose you try one of my suits?" I accepted the offer at once, and +found that his suit fitted me as well as my own. The banquet was a great +affair, with a vast concourse of "skis," "offs," "neffs," and so +on--little tag-ends of words by which one may tell a Russian name, even +if it were possible not to tell it from its general appearance and sound +without them. + +After a few days at the Greigs', I left for Moscow, where I was received +by Prince Dombriski, brother-in-law of the Emperor. The old city of +Moscow impressed me more than any other city of Europe. It seemed to +belong to quite another world and to a different civilization. There is +something primitive and prehistoric about it--elemental in its +somberness and in its grandeur. I was astonished to find in the Kremlin +a portrait of Napoleon at the battle of Borodino. + +In going from the capital to Moscow over the straight line of railway, I +heard much of the way that the Czar Nicholas had built the road. It is +said that he summoned to him his chief contractor and engineer, +Carmichael, and asked him to make specifications for the line as +arranged for between the two cities. The Czar confidently expected that +he was being deceived about all matters of this kind, and was prepared +for fraud in this enterprise. Carmichael drew up elaborate +specifications, which Nicholas saw at once were entirely too elaborate, +and gave abundant room for "pickings." He turned to Carmichael and asked +if the specifications were all right. Carmichael assured him they were. +"All right, then," said Nicholas, "I shall turn them over, just as they +are, to Major Whistler." The Major was the uncle of the famous artist +of to-day. Whistler built the road on Carmichael's specifications, and +made a fortune, which has been the foundation of a half dozen family +estates--the Winans, Harrison, Whistler estates, et al. + +I observed a peculiar effect of the direct method of the Czar in +building a straight road to Moscow. All the big cities and even the +prosperous and important towns had, without exception, been left at +varying distances from the line of railway. At the little stations on +the route the Russians would get off and get hot water in samovars and +make tea, each of them carrying a supply of tea in bricks, with square +loaf sugar in their pockets. + +Nijnii Novgorod I found a wonderful city. There, on the "Mother" Volga, +as the Russians call it, I saw the origin of all the world's fairs and +expositions, in this great fair, at which the nations of a world unknown +to Europe and America assemble for traffic and barter. More than +100,000,000 rubles, or, roughly, $50,000,000, change hands in six weeks. +There the traveler, who is too indolent or too poor to see the remote +tribes of the earth, may have all these strange and outlandish races +come to him, on the banks of the Volga. It was a marvelous experience to +me, and I considered it as well worth a trip around the world to see +Nijnii Novgorod alone. + +Some time afterward, when I was in England, I received a letter from +Baron Bruno, the Russian Ambassador, enclosing a letter from Colonel +Greig, the aide-de-camp of the Grand Duke Constantine. He said that the +Grand Duke had read my book, Young America Abroad, with interest. The +Grand Duke, he said, was greatly pleased with my descriptions of Russia, +with my exposure of the Crimean fiasco, and with my predictions as to +the future development and greatness of the country. He added that the +Russian Government would like to have me visit the region of the Amur, +Petropauloffski and Vladivostok, and to make a report of the prospects +of far-eastern Siberia. + +The Government proposed to make all the arrangements for me, so that I +could travel in luxury and leisure; but I could not then undertake so +extended an enterprise, besides I have ever preferred to follow my own +ideas rather than those of others. I desired to pursue original lines of +investigation, to go over new routes of travel and of trade, to explore +corners of the world that had not been worn into paths by the myriad +feet of travelers. I have always felt hampered in trying to carry out +the suggestions of others. I have found that there is but one course for +me, if I am to succeed, and that is to follow my own counsel. I must be +myself, untrammeled, unfettered, or I fail. If I had gone to Eastern +Siberia for the Russian Government, I might have succeeded in the way +the Government expected; but the chances, I consider, would have been +against me. If I had gone there at my own motion, I might have created a +sensation by exploiting that vast and magnificent region, which must +soon play a tremendously important part in the history of the world. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +BUILDING THE FIRST STREET-RAILWAYS IN ENGLAND + +1858 + + +In '58, when I visited Philadelphia on business of Queen Maria Cristina, +of Spain, I observed the network of street-railways in that city, which +then, perhaps, had the most perfect system of surface transportation in +the world. I was struck with the idea of the great convenience these +railways must be to business men and to all workers, and wondered why +London, with so many more persons, had never had recourse to the +street-railway. At that time there was not an inch of "tramway," or +street-railway, in Great Britain, or anywhere outside of New York and +Philadelphia. I stored the idea up in my mind, intending to utilize it +some day, when I returned to England. + +Before undertaking the work of constructing street-railways in England, +I was called upon to do a little financiering for my father-in-law, +Colonel George T. M. Davis. Colonel Davis came to me in London and +wished me to assist in organizing the Adirondack Railway in upper New +York. He had been introduced to Hamilton and Waddell, who had a grant +from the New York legislature of 600,000 acres in the Adirondacks; but +nothing could be done at that time. Later, in '64, I organized the +Adirondack road, and met General Rosecrans and Cheney, of Little Falls, +at the Astor House, for the purpose of building the railway. I +subscribed $20,000 for myself and $20,000 for my wife, and got a large +sum from my friends. A large party of us went in carriages from the +United States Hotel, Saratoga, through the country along the proposed +route to Lucerne. George Augustus Sala, who was visiting this country at +the time, was with us, also Dr. T. C. Durant, president of the Credit +Mobilier, and J. S. T. Stranahan, of Brooklyn. This was the beginning of +the Adirondack road, of which Colonel Davis was the president when he +died in '88. My plan was to build the road through the entire forest to +Ogdensburg, but it was never carried out. This was four decades before +the millionaire colonists began flocking in there, the Huntingtons, +Astors, Webbs, Rockefellers, Woodruffs, Durants, et al. + +My first efforts in introducing street-railways in England were made in +Liverpool. I chose this city because I had been long associated with it +and because, as it was the leading seaport of the world, I had a false +idea that it was progressive. But I was soon set right as to this +estimate of Liverpool. I recalled, in the hour of discouragement, the +great difficulty I had had years before, in '50, in getting the +municipal government to permit us to have lights and fire on the docks +at night, in order to facilitate the handling of the very traffic that +was the basis of the city's prosperity. Now, when I proposed the laying +of a street-railway, I found the leading men of the city just as narrow +and just as hopelessly behind the times as they had been in the matter +of improving shipping facilities. They would not consider the +proposition at all. + +But this did not stop my efforts nor dampen my ardor. I felt that the +plan would succeed somewhere in England, and I began to look about to +see where the best chances of success might be found. All through the +year '58 and into '59 I was at work upon my original plan. I had made +every possible arrangement for the immediate construction of a railway, +if I could only get some municipality to grant the necessary permission. + +Finally, it occurred to me that the man I wanted was John Laird, the +progressive and energetic ship-builder, the man who afterward built the +Alabama and other Confederate craft, and who was at the time chairman of +the Commissioners of Birkenhead, just across the Mersey opposite +Liverpool. Surely, thought I, here is a man with enterprise enough to +appreciate this thing, which means so much for the working people and +all business men. So I went to Mr. Laird, and after a long conference +with him, I made a formal request to the Commissioners for permission to +construct a surface railway, or "tramway," as it is called in England. +My proposition was to lay a track four miles long, running out to the +Birkenhead Park. I offered to lay the road at my own expense, to pave a +certain proportion of the streets through which the line passed, and to +charge fares lower than those then charged by the omnibuses. If the line +did not then satisfy the city authorities, I was to remove it at my own +expense and to place all the streets affected in as good order as when +the road was begun. + +I found Mr. Laird as liberal-minded as I had expected, and with his +influence, the Board of Commissioners consented to let me make the +experiment. I went to work at once, and the road was pushed through with +great despatch. I felt that it ought to get into operation before the +'buses and other transportation companies stirred up too much +opposition. As soon as the working people found how comfortable and +cheap the new mode of conveyance was, I felt sure they would stand up +for it so strongly as to defeat the efforts of the omnibus men to tear +up the line. + +The "tramway" proved a success from the start, and became as popular as +I had expected. It was crowded with passengers at all hours of the day. +The road is there to-day; and I learned a curious thing in connection +with the line only recently. Twelve years ago the cashier of the +restaurant in the Mills Hotel No. 1, Mr. Bryan, was the manager of the +street-railway I had built in Birkenhead forty-two years ago. + +Another incident of this period I should record here. I invited to +Birkenhead most of the leading journalists and writers of London, having +in view, of course, an intended invasion of the great metropolis. While +these men were together I suggested the organization of a literary club, +and this suggestion was the germ from which grew the Savage Club of +London. My speech at the opening of the first street-railway in the Old +World will appear in my forthcoming book of speeches. + +As soon as I had completed my work in Birkenhead, I went to London, and +opened a campaign for "tramways" in that metropolis of 4,000,000 people. +It was a complex business from the first, and I had to make a study of +the government and the conditions, and, above all, of the prejudices of +citizens. The first step was to apply to every parish, for the parish +there is our ward, and something more, for it has a far greater measure +of home rule. Each parish had to grant permission for any tramway that +was to invade its ancient and sacred precincts. + +The greatest difficulty was the one I had most dreaded from the +start--the opposition of the 'bus men. There are, or were at that time, +6,000 omnibuses in the streets of London, and in every one of the +drivers, and in every one who was interested in the profits of the +business, my tramway project had an unrelenting foe. I found that the +influence of these men was tremendous, because they reached the masses +of the people in a way that I could never hope to do. Their efforts were +unremitting. They worked upon the different parish governments, upon the +people at large, upon the municipal government, and upon Parliament +itself. I believe they had sufficient influence to have carried the war +even into the cabinet and to the throne. + +However, as I shall soon relate, the opposition of the 'buses did not +prove to be as terrible in the end as I had feared. The heaviest blows +came from a higher source. The "people," in England, as elsewhere, seem +very powerful at first, in the beginnings of all enterprises. To oppose +them would seem to be inviting destruction. But in the end it is found +that the real power is lodged elsewhere, and whenever this real power +wants a thing done, the "people" do not exist. The fiction that they do +exist disappears at once in the clear atmosphere of "exigency." + +The first of these real powers that I had to attack was the Metropolitan +Board of Aldermen. I appeared before the board with a carefully prepared +model of the tramways I proposed. It was a sort of public hearing, and +I was very closely questioned about the plans of operating the road, the +effect its presence in the narrow streets would have in interfering with +traffic, the danger of accidents, and so on. There was present a noble +lord who, I saw, was fighting desperately against the project. He eyed +me closely and made sharp interrogations. When he wished to be +particularly effective, as is the manner of Englishmen of his class, he +would drop his monocle, then readjust it carefully, with many writhings +and twistings of his eyebrows, and, when the single glass was properly +adjusted, half close the other eye and concentrate the full blaze of the +monocle upon his victim. If the victim survives this, so much the worse +for him, for he will then be subjected to a long drawl and to "hems" and +"haws" that would shatter the composure of a Philadelphia lawyer. + +We soon took up the problem of laying the tramway up Ludgate Hill, where +the street is exceedingly narrow. His lordship fixed me with his +glittering monocle. I saw from which direction the firing would come. +After readjusting his monocle, so as to get the range better, he said: + +"May I--ah--ask a question, Mr.--ah--Train?" When an Englishman wants to +be sarcastic, and ironical, and cutting, he finds the means readiest to +his mind in a pretended forgetting of your name. + +"That is what I am here for, my lord," I replied, as graciously as +possible. + +"You know, of course, how very narrow is Ludgate Hill. Suppose that when +I go down to the Mansion House in my carriage, one of my horses should +slip on your d--d rail, and break his leg--would you pay for the horse?" + +This produced a sensation, for the English love a lord even more than we +plain Americans do. As soon as the stir had ceased, I replied, in a +voice that carried to the ends of the hall: + +"My lord, if you could convince me that your d--d old horse would not +have fallen if the rail had not been there, I certainly should pay for +it." This retort caught the audience so happily that the tide swept +around my way, to the discomfiture of the noble lord. The hearing +resulted in my obtaining permission to lay a tramway from the Marble +Arch at Oxford Street and from Hyde Park to Bayswater, a distance of one +or two miles. + +I soon built other lines, also: one from Victoria Station to Westminster +Abbey and the Houses of Parliament, and another from Westminster Bridge +to Kennington Gate on the way to Clapham. These were constructed on my +patent of a half-inch flange. + +The omnibuses, defeated in this part of the fighting, resorted to +peculiar but effective tactics. As soon as I laid a portion of my +tracks--which was done upon the same terms under which I had put down +the line in Birkenhead--the 'bus drivers tried in every possible way to +wreck their vehicles on the rails. They would drive across again and +again and take the rails in the most reckless way, in order to catch and +twist their wheels. They were very often successful, and there were many +accidents of this sort. The excitement increased greatly with every foot +of track laid down. But the people, as in Birkenhead, were tremendously +in favor of the tramway. It was such a convenience to them that they +sided with me in the fight. The 'bus drivers and companies and the +aristocracy were against me--the one because my trams interfered with +their business, the other because they owned their private conveyances, +and did not like to drive across the rails. I dressed conductors and +drivers in the uniform of volunteers, to which many soldiers objected. +In the meanwhile the cars were crowded with passengers at all hours, +there being throughout the day a rush such as is seen in New York only +in what we call the "rush hours." + +In all this excitement and press of travel, accidents were, of course, +unavoidable. I dreaded one, as I felt it would be the crucial point. It +might turn against me the popular feeling, now so strongly setting in my +direction, for the "mob" (so called) of London is fully as excitable and +as ungovernable as the "mob" of Paris, and its prejudices are more +deeply intrenched. Finally, the dreaded accident came. A boy was +killed, and I was arrested for manslaughter. + +In order to appease public feeling, I paid the expenses of the boy's +funeral, and did everything that could possibly be done to pay, in a +material way, for his death. The accident was entirely unavoidable, and +the tramway was not responsible for it, but there was a great deal of +feeling, chiefly due to the agitation of the 'bus drivers. Sir John +Villiers Shelley, member of Parliament, a relative of the poet, who was +chairman of the Metropolitan Board of Works and the representative of +the omnibus people, led the fight against me. We had a terrific +struggle. The bill to authorize the tramways had gone to Parliament, and +this was now defeated by a few votes. I had six of the ablest lawyers of +England to represent me (through Baxter, Rose & Norton, solicitors), but +the influence of the 'bus men, aided by the sentiment in certain +quarters against me on account of my speeches in favor of the American +Union, was too strong for me, and I had to abandon the fight in London. + +I then went to the Potteries in Staffordshire, and there, after renewing +the same kind of fighting that I had had in London, in every new town I +undertook to lay railways in, I succeeded in building seven miles of +track through the crockery-making country. Those tracks are there +to-day. + +My failure in London, which was to have been expected, must be set off +by these successes in Birkenhead and in Staffordshire. I am entitled to +the credit of laying the first street-railways in England, having to +overcome the most formidable of all the enemies of progress--British +prejudice. I afterward went to Darlington, where Stephenson had built +his first railway, from Stockton to Darlington, in '29, the year of my +birth, and I constructed a tramway there to connect the two steam +railways through that town. + +My life, therefore, spans the entire railway building of the world. The +first railway was built the year I was born, and since that time, in a +space of seventy-three years, more than 200,000 miles of railway have +been constructed in the United States alone. In much of this great work +I have had some share. I suggested the railway that connects Melbourne +with its port, and mapped out the present railway system in Australia +thirty-nine years ago; I organized the line that connects the Eastern +States with the great Middle West--the Atlantic and Great Western +Railway; and I organized and built the first railway that pierced the +great American desert, and brought the Atlantic and Pacific coasts into +close touch and led to the development of the far West. + +I may mention here, also, that I built a street-railway in Geneva, +Switzerland, which is still in use; and one in Copenhagen, which proved +that there was at least something sound in "the state of Denmark." +Other railways, as in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia, suggested by me, +have been changed from horse to trolley lines. I also suggested the road +in Bombay, India, which was the first railway in all Asia, now extended. + +It may be of interest to record that when I began building +street-railways, I sent to the United States and got the plans of the +Philadelphia roads and of the New York Third Avenue line. It was +therefore upon the models of American roads that these foreign railways +were constructed. + +It is sometimes said that it is remarkable that little is known of my +connection with these great enterprises--for they were great, and +epoch-making. But my achievements in England, in the pioneer work of +building street-railways, is a matter of recorded history. An account of +my work there will be found in a book by Dr. Albert Shaw, editor of the +Review of Reviews, Municipal Government in Great Britain, as well as in +other books that deal with the industrial life of the period. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +ENGLAND AND OUR CIVIL WAR--BLOCKADE RUNNING + + +I have referred already to the antagonism felt toward me in certain +English quarters because of my speeches in favor of the Federal American +Union in the hour of its danger. Love of country was always stronger in +me than love of money, and I let slip no opportunity to defend the cause +of the Union and to prove to the English of the upper classes that they +were mistaken in supposing that the Confederacy could succeed. Those who +were not in England at this period, when the South was in the first +flush of its success, and when it seemed likely that England and France +would go to the assistance of the South, merely to strengthen themselves +by weakening the power of the United States, can not appreciate the +extent or the power of British sympathy for the Confederacy. The element +in England that took sides with the South was tremendously influential. +I had already felt its power in a personal way through the defeat of my +street-railway projects. + +As soon as I observed the trend of British opinion, I went into public +halls and spoke in favor of the Union, and tried to show that right and +might were both on the side of the North, and that, no matter how many +successes the South might win in the beginning of the war, it would +inevitably be crushed beneath the weight of the rest of the country. I +did not confine myself to speeches of this sort. I attacked the men who +were trading on the war by sending blockade runners into Southern ports +in violation of the rules of war. And so I was in some relation with +Lord John Russell on the one hand and Emperor Louis Napoleon on the +other, in the critical days of the Mason-Slidell affair and the +discussion of "belligerent rights" of the South. + +Before taking part in this desperate effort to stem the tide of British +opinion, and to defeat the efforts of British traders to make money by +selling merchandise to the South contraband of war, I placed my wife and +children on board a steamer for New York, in order to remove them from +troubled scenes. This fight was to cost me the opportunity of making a +fortune of perhaps $5,000,000, by upsetting my street-railway projects. + +I may mention here that in '58, during the Italian war, I bought the +London Morning Chronicle for the French Emperor, paying $10,000 for it, +and putting Thornton Hunt, son of Leigh Hunt, in editorial charge, at a +salary of $2,000 a year. It was a daily paper; and as the Emperor +wanted a weekly also, I arranged for him the purchase of the London +Spectator at the same price, and put in Townsend (I think that was the +name) as editor, at a salary of $2,000 a year. When the war was over, +these papers of course passed out of our hands, and the Chronicle made a +most savage attack on me in the tramway discussion, taking the part of +the omnibus drivers. It again attacked me for my exposure of blockade +running from British ports. I had given the names of the men interested, +the marks of the cargoes, and the destination of the shipments, in a +letter that I wrote to the New York Herald. These men thought they had +assassinated the United States Republic. + +The feeling against me was so intense at one time that I anticipated an +attempt to kill me. Strong influences were brought to bear upon me to +stop a paper that I had established in London, with my private +secretary, George Pickering Bemis, as manager, for the purpose of +disseminating correct news and views about the civil war. Secretary +Seward, by the way, sent $100, through his private secretary, Mr. J. C. +Derby (who was afterward connected with the house of D. Appleton and +Company, and wrote his recollections under the title, Fifty Years Among +Authors, Books, and Publishers), to assist in keeping up this journal. +The intense strain wore upon me to such an extent that I had an attack +of insomnia, and almost lost my senses at times. I would not go armed, +but relied for defense upon a small cane that I carried under my arm, so +grasped by the end in front as to enable me to whirl it about instantly +in case I should be attacked from the rear. + +In August, '62, I observed that a vessel called the Mavrockadatis was +acting suspiciously, and came to the conclusion that she was a blockade +runner. I believed that she was loaded with supplies for the +Confederates, and that as soon as she was clear at sea she would make +for a Southern port or for some rendezvous with a Confederate ship. I +determined to frustrate this design, and took passage on her for St. +John's, Newfoundland, which I supposed was only her ostensible +destination. Of course, I registered under an assumed name, taking the +name "Oliver" for the occasion. + +As it turned out, I was wrong. The vessel kept on her course as +represented, and we arrived at St. John's, Newfoundland, instead of at a +Southern port. This broke up my program, as I had intended, immediately +upon reaching a Southern port, to go direct to Richmond and see if +anything could be done to end the war. As I may not have occasion again +to refer to this plan, which I had had in mind for some time, I shall +speak of it here. I had arranged with the President and with Mr. Seward +to go to Richmond to see what could be done. + +My idea was that the Southern leaders were in complete ignorance of the +power and resources of the North; they had fancied, because of the great +military reputation of Southern soldiers, that it would be comparatively +easy to beat Northern troops in the field; and that, in the last event, +England and France would come to their assistance. I felt confident of +convincing Jefferson Davis and other Southern leaders that all these +views were erroneous. I thought it would be a simple thing to prove that +they could not count on the assistance of either England or France, as +these two nations would not unite, and neither would undertake the task +alone. I also thought I could give them such evidence of the great +resources of the North, both in men and means, that they would recognize +the uselessness of the struggle. Another view I had in mind was that I +could impress the Southerners with the suggestion that, in the event of +their abandoning the contest at that stage, they could obtain far better +terms than the victorious North would be content to offer after a long +and harrowing war. But this was not to be. Stanton heard of our plans, +and sent Montgomery Blair to negotiate with the Southern leaders, with +what result is too well known. + +I landed in Newfoundland, instead of in the South, as I have said, with +all my immediate plans thwarted. But I took up the course of my life +exactly at the point where I stood. I was in Newfoundland just one day, +and I wrote a history of that Crown Colony from the information I +gleaned in this brief visit. I shall republish it some day. I observed +in St. John's, as I have observed elsewhere, that people are fashioned +by their occupations. These people were physically the creation of +fisheries. I noted the tomcod married to the hake, and the shark wedded +to the swordfish. The fish of the sea, which they ate and upon which +they lived and had their being, were all represented in their features, +from the sardine to the sperm whale. + +From St. John's, Newfoundland, I went to Boston, by way of St. Johns, +New Brunswick, stopping at Portland, Maine, for a brief visit. At +Portland I was met by B. F. Guild on behalf of Curtis Guild, owner of +the Boston Commercial Bulletin, which had just been established. Guild +published my Union speeches, and must have spent $1,000 a week--the +Bulletin was a weekly paper--in advertising them and my other writings. +I published my History of Newfoundland in his paper, receiving for it +$10 a column, the only pay I have ever received from a newspaper or +other periodical for my work. I saw recently a notice of the death of B. +F. Guild, at the age of eighty-nine. I had no idea he was so old. + +I found that I had returned to my country the most popular American in +public life. I was greeted everywhere by vast concourses of people, who +cheered me and demanded speeches about the situation in England and my +experiences there. At Boston I was met by a tremendous gathering, and it +looked like a procession as we went up State Street to the Revere House. +I was placed in the rooms that had been occupied by the Prince of Wales, +now King Edward, on his visit to Boston two years before. + +I was not long in Boston before I got into trouble by trying to +enlighten the people with regard to the war. There was a great +assemblage in Faneuil Hall, where Sumner was to speak, and I went there +to see what was going on. Sumner was not a very effective speaker before +mixed audiences, and could not have stood up for twenty minutes in the +halls of London, where the greatest freedom of debate is indulged in, +and where every speaker must be prepared to answer quickly and to the +point any question that may be hurled at him, or to reply with sharpness +and point to any retort that may come from the crowd that faces him. + +I was very much astonished, therefore, to hear Sumner challenge any one +in the audience to confute his arguments. I knew, of course, that the +gantlet thus lightly thrown down was a mere oratorical figure, but in +England it would have been taken up at once, and Sumner would have been +routed. The temptation was too much for me. I rose, to the apparent +astonishment and embarrassment of the orator and of the committee on the +platform, and said: "Mr. Sumner, when you have finished, I should like +to speak a word." The cheering that greeted my acceptance of the +gaily-flung challenge was cordial. + +As soon as Sumner had finished I climbed to the platform. There I had +the greatest difficulty with the committee, which seemed determined to +suppress any attempt to reply to the hero and god of the upper classes +in Boston. The moment I began to talk the committee signaled to the +band, and the music drowned my voice. When the band stopped I started +again, but the committee endeavored to stop me. I acted as my own +policeman and cleared the platform, when another rush was made upon me, +and all went tumbling from the stage. I was then arrested and taken to +the City Hall. The crowd seemed decidedly with me, although the utmost +it knew as to my sentiments was that I was opposed to making instant +abolition of slavery a condition precedent to putting an end to the war +(that is, on Lincoln's platform, Union, with or without slavery). + +In a few minutes there was a crowd of some thousands of people about the +City Hall demanding loudly that I be set at liberty. I quieted the +people by sending word to them that I was preparing a proclamation to +the American people. This proclamation, entitled "God Save the People," +was published by Guild in the Bulletin--and I should like to get a copy +of it, as I have lost my own. This arrest did not interfere with me very +much. + +I made a contract with Guild to lecture in the North and West, and my +first lecture was given in the Academy of Music, New York. The general +subject was the abolition question, as it related to the war between the +States. At this meeting Cassius M. Clay, of Kentucky, was made chairman, +but the audience did not like that, and a big cabbage was thrown to the +stage from the gallery. I then took charge of the meeting myself, and +walking to the edge of the stage, said: "I see that you do not like Mr. +Clay; but he should have a fair chance. If Mr. Guild will arrange for a +meeting at Cooper Institute to-morrow night, I will debate with Mr. +Clay, and you can then fire at me cabbages or gold dollars, as you like. +I propose the following subject for the discussion: American Slavery as +a Stepping-stone from African Barbarism to Christian Civilization; +hence, it is a Divine Institution." Mr. Clay accepted. + +The next evening, at Cooper Institute, there was a large audience that +packed the hall from door to stage; $1,300 were taken at the box-office. +The papers on the following morning gave from two to four columns of the +discussion, and the London Times considered it sufficiently important, +even to Englishmen, to give a long account and editorial comments. It +said that the honors of the debate had been with me, and gave a specimen +of my repartee, which, it said, had swept Mr. Clay off his feet. + +Mr. Clay had referred in his speech to an interview he had had with +President Lincoln, who was then hesitating as to issuing the +Proclamation of Emancipation. Mr. Clay said, "I told the President that +I would not flesh my sword in the defense of Washington unless he issued +a proclamation freeing the slaves." My reply was: "It is fair to assume +that, in order to make Major-General Cassius M. Clay flesh his sword, +the President will issue the proclamation." There was loud laughter at +this. The President did issue his proclamation three months after this. + +I received a postal card the other day from Clay, who is now a +nonagenarian, in his armed castle in Kentucky. + +I was in Washington after this debate, which occurred in September, '62, +and was warmly received by the President and members of his cabinet. I +had heard very much, of course, about the freedom of speech of Mr. +Lincoln, and was not, therefore, astonished to hear him relate several +characteristic anecdotes. In fact, three of the most prominent men in +the United States at that time were striving to outdo one another in +jests--the President, Senator Nesmyth of Oregon, and Senator Nye. + +Mr. Seward invited me to a dinner at his residence, the historic house +where later the assassin tried to kill him, where General Sickles killed +Philip Barton Key, and which in more recent years was occupied by James +G. Blaine. Most of the members of the cabinet were present. I was asked +to describe some of the scenes of my recent travels, and told about +Chinese dinners, to their great amusement. Afterward I told them a story +then current about Wendell Phillips, the abolitionist. Phillips was once +in Charleston, South Carolina, and returned late to dinner at his hotel. +As he approached the door, it was held open by a negro slave. Phillips +said haughtily that he had never permitted a slave to wait on him, and +that he would not do so now. "How long have you been a slave?" asked Mr. +Phillips. The negro replied: "I ain't got no time to talk erbout dat +now, wid only five minits fur dinner." Mr. Phillips told the slave to +leave the room, that he would not let him serve him at the table; he +would wait on himself. "I cain't do dat, suh; I is 'sponsible for de +silber on de table, suh!" + +Loud laughter greeted this story. In the very midst of the uproar the +door was burst open, and Secretary Stanton appeared, his face white with +emotion. In a choking voice, that was scarcely audible and would not +have been heard had not every nerve in our bodies been strained to catch +the momentous words we expected, he said: "A battle is raging at +Antietam! Ten thousand men have been killed, and the rebels are now +probably marching on Washington!" + +There was a hush, and we told no more stories that night. It is +remarkable that almost all the great battles hung long in the scales of +victory. Neither side knew whether it had won until some time after the +fighting had ceased. It was so at Antietam, and had been so in the case +of Bull Run or Manassas. The true tidings came in slowly. + +I took no part in the war on the battlefield, because as soon as I +looked into the causes of the war and its continuance, I saw that it was +a contract war. I came back to this country fully expecting to serve. I +had been assured of a high commission; but could not conscientiously +take part in a struggle in which thousands of lives were being +sacrificed to greed. Such was my honest belief, and such was my course. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +BUILDING THE UNION PACIFIC RAILWAY + +1862-1870 + + +When the Englishmen tore up my street-railways in England, I made a +speech in which I told them I would build a railway across the Rocky +Mountains and the Great American Desert which would ruin the old trade +routes across Egypt to China and Japan. I pointed out then that this +route would be far shorter in time than the old route, and that Europe +would soon be traversing America to reach the Orient. This was no new +idea, sprung at the moment in a feeling of resentment. I had suggested +this route across America ten years earlier, at Melbourne, Australia. + +New York, then as now, we Americans regarded as the starting point of +all great enterprises, and to New York I came. I called at once upon +leaders in the world of finance--Commodore Vanderbilt, Commodore +Garrison, William B. Astor, Moses H. Grinnell, Marshall O. Roberts, and +others, and frankly told them of my plans. One of them said to me: + +"Train, you have reputation enough now. Why do something that will mar +it? You are known all over the world as the Clipper-Ship King. This is +enough glory for one man. If you attempt to build a railway across the +desert and over the Rocky Mountains, the world will call you a lunatic." + +And this was all that I received from these gentlemen! Not a word of +encouragement, not a cent of contributed funds--only the warning that +the world, like themselves, would call me a madman. + +Unaffected by this cold reception, I kept steadily on with my task, and +proceeded to organize the great railway. Congress granted the necessary +charter in '62. It authorized the building of a road from the Missouri +River to California, with an issue of $100,000,000 of stock and +$50,000,000 of bonds--to be issued in sections, the first section to be +at the rate of $16,000 a mile; and the last at $48,000 a mile, with +20,000,000 acres of land in alternate sections; and $2,000,000 to be +subscribed, ten per centum to be paid into the State treasury at Albany. + +My friends in Boston took the stock, but I failed to get the cash to go +ahead with the road in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and New York. At this +point, when matters looked a little dark, an idea occurred to me that +cleared the sky. It made the construction of the great line a certainty. +In Paris, a few years before, I had been much interested in new methods +of finance as devised by the brothers Emile and Isaac Perrere. These +shrewd and ingenious men, finding that old methods could not be used to +meet many demands of modern times, invented entirely new ones which they +organized into two systems known as the Credit Mobilier and the Credit +Foncier--or systems of credit based on personal property and land. The +French Government had supported these systems of the Perreres, and Baron +Haussmann had resorted to them in his great undertaking in rebuilding +and remodeling the French capital, making it the most beautiful city of +the world. I determined upon introducing this new style of finance into +this country. + +I found that a bill had been passed in Pennsylvania in '59, for Duff +Green, granting authority for the organization of the "Pennsylvania +Fiscal Agency," which, on examination, I saw could be used for my +purpose. I bought this charter for $25,000. The bill had been +"engineered" through the Pennsylvania legislature by a man named Hall, +and others of the Philadelphia Custom-House. In order to make it +suitable for our uses, I wanted its title changed, and asked to have the +legislature change the title to "Credit Mobilier of America." The matter +went through without trouble, and I paid $500 for having this done. When +I happened to mention to William H. Harding, of the Philadelphia +Inquirer, that it had cost me $500 to have the title of the charter +altered, he told me he could have had it done for $50. I did not know +as much of the ways of legislation in Pennsylvania then as I did later. +The sum I paid for the charter was made up from $5,000 cash and $20,000 +of the bonds of the Credit Mobilier. I was to have $50,000 for +organizing the company. I think it worth while to call attention here to +the fact that this was the first so-called "Trust" organized in this +country. + +Having failed to raise the money elsewhere, I went to Boston, and there +succeeded in launching the enterprise. My own subscription of $150,000 +was the pint of water that started the great wheel of the machinery. I +give here--for it is a matter of historic interest, since the building +of this road marked the opening of a new era in the United States--the +list of the subscribers who were my copartners in the undertaking: + + Lombard and friends $100,000 + Oakes and Oliver Ames 200,000 + Sidney Dillon $100,000 + Cyrus H. McCormick 100,000 + Ben Holliday 100,000 + John Duff 100,000 400,000 + ------- + Glidden & Williams 50,000 + Joseph Nickerson 100,000 + Fred Nickerson 50,000 + Baker & Morrill 50,000 + Samuel Hooper and Dexter 50,000 + Price Crowell 25,000 + Bardwell and Otis Norcross 75,000 400,000 + ------ + Williams & Guion 50,000 + William H. Macy 25,000 + H. S. McComb, Wilmington, Del. 75,000 + George Francis Train, through Colonel George + T. M. Davis, trustee for my wife and children 150,000 300,000 + ------- ---------- + $1,400,000 + +[Illustration: Home of George Francis Train from 1863 to 1869, +No. 156 Madison Avenue, New York.] + +I had offered an interest in the road to old and well-established +merchants of New York and other cities--the Grays, the Goodhues, the +Aspinwalls, the Howlands, the Grinnells, the Marshalls, and Davis, +Brooks & Company; and even to some of the new men, like Henry +Clews--agreeing to put them in "on the ground floor," if I may use an +expression from the lesser world of finance. But they were afraid. It +was too big. Only two of them, William H. Macy and William H. Guion, +would take any stock. + +There was a meeting of the stockholders in Gibson's office in Wall +Street, for the purpose of electing a board of directors. By this time +the importance of the road had become recognized, and there was an +active desire on the part of the chiefs of the trunk lines leading to +the West to obtain control of the charter. They had their +representatives there, and I saw from the first that an attempt would be +made to capture the Union Pacific Railway as a trophy of one of these +powerful Eastern lines. Fortunately, as I perfectly well knew, they were +not quite powerful enough, in the circumstance, even with a united +front, to accomplish their purposes. + +William B. Ogden was in the chair, and a hasty calculation convinced me +that probably $200,000,000 were represented by the men gathered in the +little office. Of the great trunk lines represented I can recall now the +Baltimore and Ohio, the Pennsylvania, and the New York Central. It was +from the forces of the last that the lightning came. + +As soon as the meeting had been called to order, and the purpose of it +stated by the chair, a gentleman arose and began speaking in a wheezy, +squeaky voice. But he had a way of saying what he wanted, and of saying +it shrewdly, adroitly, and very effectively. I could see that he was +accustomed to win in the Shakespearian way--"by indirections find +directions out." He said that as everything was ready for the election +of a board, he would suggest that the chair should appoint a committee +of five which should then name a board of thirty members. I saw that +this was an adroit move to put one of these big roads in control of the +committee and, of course, in control of the Union Pacific. The chair +immediately named five men, three of whom were representatives of the +New York Central. + +I turned to a gentleman sitting next me and asked who was the +wheezy-voiced man who had just taken his seat. "That is Samuel J. +Tilden," said he. + +Matters now went as I had foreseen. Of course, the three New York +Central men on the committee named a New York Central board of +directors. They thought they had quietly and effectively bagged the +game. But I held in my pocket the power that could overturn all their +schemes. In fact I had offered the presidency of the road to Moses +Taylor, founder of the City National Bank, now controlled by Mr. +Stillman, and to A. A. Low, father of the present Mayor of New York. But +both had laughed at me, thinking it absurd that I should presume to have +so much power. I then made up my own list of officers, and named John A. +Dix as president, and John J. Cisco as treasurer. Afterward I made a +short speech, in which I said that I held the control of the road in my +hands. + +The vote was called for by the chair, and out of the $2,000,000 of stock +represented, the New York Central influence cast $300,000 and I the vote +of $1,700,000. This completely surprised those present, and they left +the office as rats fly from a sinking ship. I was indignant, and +shouted: "You stand on the corners of Wall Street again and call me a +'damned Copperhead'; but don't forget that I kicked $200,000,000 worth +of you into the street!" And that is the reason why they called me +"crazy"! + +I went out West in the autumn of '63 to break ground for the first mile +of railway track west of the Missouri river. None of the directors was +with me; I was entirely alone. I made a speech at Omaha in which I +predicted that the road would be completed by '70, and in which I +forecast the great development of Omaha and the Northwest. This speech +was printed all over the world, and I was denounced as a madman and a +visionary. I had, every one said, prophesied the impossible. And yet +every word of that speech was true, both as to its facts and as to its +prophecies. I give here a few extracts from it, as it was published in +the Omaha Republican, December 3, '63, and as it has been republished in +that paper and others many times since: + + America is the stage, the world is the audience of to-day. While + one act of the drama represents the booming of the cannon on the + Rapidan, the Cumberland, and the Rio Grande, sounding the + death-knell of rebellious war, the next scene records the booming + of cannon on both sides of the Missouri to celebrate the grandest + work of peace that ever attracted the energies of man. The great + Pacific Railway is commenced, and if you knew the man who has + hold of the affair as well as I do, no doubt would ever arise as + to its speedy completion. The President shows his good judgment + in locating the road where the Almighty placed the signal + station, at the entrance of a garden seven hundred miles in + length and twenty broad. + + * * * * * + + Before the first century of the nation's birth, we may see in the + New York depot some strange Pacific railway notice. + + "_European passengers for Japan will please take the night + train._ + + "_Passengers for China this way._ + + "_African and Asiatic freight must be distinctly marked: For + Peking via San Francisco._" + + * * * * * + + Immigration will soon pour into these valleys. Ten millions of + emigrants will settle in this golden land in twenty years. + +I had predicted that the railway would be completed in '70. On May 10, +'69, the "golden spike" was driven at Ogden, Utah. Among the papers +throughout the world that had ridiculed me as being mad or visionary +because of my speech at Omaha in '63, was the Hongkong Press, which +said that it was generally thought in China during my visit there in +'55-'56 that I was a little "off," and that this speech, which predicted +a railway across the Rocky Mountains, clearly proved that I was both +visionary and mad. On my journey around the world in '70, after the +completion of the Union Pacific Railway, I stepped into the office of +the Hongkong paper and asked for the editor. When he came out, I asked +him to show me the file of his paper containing my Omaha speech. He +brought it out, and we turned to the column. "Do you know Train?" he +asked me. "Why, I am Train," I said, "and it seems that you did not know +me in Hongkong in '55-'56. I have just come through the Rocky Mountains +over that road." + +The tremendous importance of the Union Pacific Railway is now too well +known to need any further comment here from me. It is enough to say that +it was through my suggestion and through my plans and energy that this +mighty highway across the continent, breaking up the old trade routes of +the world, and turning the tide of commerce from its ancient eastern +tracks across the wide expanse of the American continent, was created. + + NOTE.--Albert D. Richardson in his once famous book Beyond the + Mississippi, writing of the development of Omaha and the + Northwest, due to the building of the Union Pacific Railway, + says: "Here was George Francis Train, at the head of a great + company called the Credit Foncier, organized for dealing in lands + and stocks for building cities along the railway from the + Missouri to Salt Lake. This corporation had been clothed by the + Nebraska legislature with nearly every power imaginable, save + that of reconstructing the late rebel States. It was erecting + neat cottages in Omaha and at other points west. + + "Mr. Train owned personally about five hundred acres in Omaha, + which cost him only one hundred and seventy-five dollars per + acre--a most promising investment. He is a noticeable, original + American, who has crowded wonderful and varied experiences into + his short life. An orphan boy, employed to sweep the + counting-room, he rose to the head of a great Boston shipping + house; then established a branch in Liverpool; next organized and + conducted a heavy commission business in Australia, and + astonished his neighbors in that era of fabulous prices, with + Brussels carpets, and marble counters, and a free champagne + luncheon daily in his business office. Afterward he made the + circuit of the world, wrote books of travel, fought British + prejudices against street-railways, occupying his leisure time by + fiery and audacious American war speeches to our island cousins, + until he spent a fortune, and enjoyed the delights of a month in + a British prison. + + "Thence he returned to America; lectured everywhere; and now he + is trying to build a belt of cities across the continent. At + least a magnificent project. Curiously combining keen sagacity + with wild enthusiasm, a man who might have built the pyramids, or + been confined in a strait-jacket for eccentricities, according to + the age he lived in, he observes dryly that since he began to + make money, people no longer pronounce him crazy! He drinks no + spirits, uses no tobacco, talks on the stump like an embodied + Niagara, composes songs to order by the hour as fast as he can + sing them, like an Italian improvisatore, remembers every droll + story from Joe Miller to Artemus Ward, is a born actor, is + intensely in earnest, and has the most absolute and outspoken + faith in himself and his future." + + [At the time Richardson saw me at Omaha, in '64, another noted + journalist, William Hepworth Dixon, editor of the London + Athenaeum, called on me, traveling with Sir Charles Dilke, who was + writing Greater Britain. I introduced him to Richardson.--G. F. + T.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE FAR WEST + +1863-1870 + + +Very much of my work that has aided most in the development of this +country was done in the great region of the Northwest, then a wild +country, trackless and uninhabited except by savages. Of course, the +chief achievement in the West was the building of the Union Pacific +Railway, which led up to the inception and construction of other +railways and to the present prosperity of the entire section. + +But this enterprise was merely a beginning. I looked upon it only as the +launching of a hundred other projects, which, if I had been able to +carry them to completion, would have transformed the West in a few +years, and anticipated its present state of wealth and power by more +than a full generation. One of my plans was the creation of a chain of +great towns across the continent, connecting Boston with San Francisco +by a magnificent highway of cities. That this was not an idle dream is +shown by the rapid growth of Chicago, which owes its greatness to its +situation upon this natural highway of trade; and to the development of +Omaha, which owes its prosperity directly to the Union Pacific Railway +and to the other enterprises that I organized in the West. Most of these +plans were defeated by a financial panic, by the lack of cooperation on +the part of the very people who were most interested in their success, +and by events which I shall describe in the following chapters of this +book. Some of them succeeded, however, and I was able to accomplish a +great deal of work that has gone into the winning and making of the +West. + +When I went out to Omaha to break ground for the Union Pacific Railway, +on December 3, '63, there was only one hotel in that town. This was the +Herndon House, a respectable affair, now U. P. headquarters. I was +astonished that men of energy, enterprise, and means had not seized the +opportunity to erect a large hotel at this point, which had already +given every promise of rapid and immediate growth. But what directly +suggested to me the building of such a hotel on my own account was a +little incident that occurred at a breakfast that I happened to be +giving in the Herndon House. + +I had invited a number of prominent men--Representatives in Congress, +and others--to take breakfast with me in this house, as I desired to +present to them some of my plans. The breakfast was a characteristic +Western meal, with prairie chickens and Nebraska trout. While we were +seated, one of those sudden and always unexpected cyclones on the plains +came up, and the hotel shook like a leaf in the terrible storm. Our +table was very near a window in which were large panes of glass, which I +feared could not withstand the tremendous force of the wind. They were +quivering under the stress of weather, and I called to a strapping negro +waiter at our table to stand with his broad back against the window. +This proved a security against the storm without; but it precipitated a +storm within. + +Allen, the manager of the Herndon, and a man with a political turn of +mind, saw in the incident an assault on the rights of the negroes. He +hurried over to the table and protested against this act as an outrage. +I could not afford to enter into a quarrel with him at the time, so I +merely said: "I am about the size of the negro; I will take his place." +I then ordered the fellow away from the window, took his post, and +stayed there until the fury of the storm abated. Then I was ready for +Allen. + +I walked out in front of the house and, pointing to a large vacant +square facing it, asked who owned it. I was told the owner's name and +immediately sent a messenger for him post-haste. He arrived in a short +time, and I asked his price. It was $5,000. I wrote out and handed him a +check for the amount, and took from him, on the spot, a deed for the +property. + +Then I asked for a contractor who could build a hotel. A man named +Richmond was brought to me. "Can you build a three-story hotel in sixty +days on this plot?" asked I. After some hesitation he said it would be +merely a question of money. "How much?" I asked. "One thousand dollars a +day." "Show me that you are responsible for $60,000." He did so, and I +took out an envelope and sketched on the back of it a rough plan of the +hotel. "I am going to the mountains," I said, "and I shall want this +hotel, with 120 rooms, complete, when I return in sixty days." + +When I got back, the hotel was finished. I immediately rented it to +Cozzens, of West Point, New York, for $10,000 a year. This is the famous +Cozzens's Hotel of Omaha, which has been more written about, I suppose, +than almost any other hostelry ever built in the United States. It is +the show-place of Omaha to this day. + +The completion of the Union Pacific Railway in '69 was the occasion of +my visit to California and Oregon. In San Francisco I gave a banquet to +men prominent in finance and politics, and took occasion to refer to the +efforts that had been made there, as it seemed to me, to aid the +seceding States. I was making a response to the toast of "The Union," +and had said that if I had been the Federal general in command in +California at the time, I should have hanged certain men, some of whom +were present. This was pretty hot shot, and I did not wonder at the +resentment of the men to whom I referred. I was astonished, however, by +the terrific scoring I received from the city press the following +morning. I read the reports of, and the comments on, my speech as I was +making preparations to have my special car taken back East that +afternoon. I was very indignant, but did not know exactly what to do. + +Just at this moment a man approached me and said that he would like to +have me deliver a lecture that evening in the theater. He was the +manager, Mr. Poole. I saw my opportunity, and accepted, refusing, +however, his proffer of $500 in gold, and agreeing to take one-half the +gross receipts for a series of lectures. I delivered twenty-eight +lectures to crowded houses, and took in, for my share, $10,000 in gold. +I did not spare my critics, but flayed them alive. + +My lectures made me the most conspicuous man on the Pacific coast, and I +received despatches of congratulations, or invitations to deliver +lectures and speeches, almost every hour of the day. I accepted a +five-hundred-dollar check to go to Portland, Oregon, to make the +Fourth-of-July oration, and the Gussie Tellefair was sent to meet me and +take me up the Columbia in state. The oration was delivered to a big +audience of Oregonians, trappers and mountaineers, some of them wearing +the quaintest garb I had ever seen. + +I mention this visit to Portland because it afforded me opportunity for +doing several things of importance. I visited the famous Dalles of the +Columbia river, and while there saw the Indians spearing salmon. I asked +what they were doing, and was told that they were laying in their supply +for the winter. I went to the place where the braves were spearing the +fish and asked one of them to let me try my hand at the fish-spear. +Having accustomed myself a little to throwing the harpoon, I found that +I could manage the Indian's weapon quite skilfully, and succeeded in +landing 200 salmon in two hours. Of course the fish were running in +swarms, but this two hours' work would have brought me $1,000 if I could +have taken the catch to New York. + +I was the first white man, I believe, that had taken salmon out of the +Columbia, and it then occurred to me, if the Indians could lay up a +supply of fish for the winter, why could not white men do the same +thing? I thereupon suggested the canning of salmon, which has since been +developed into so large an industry and has made the Quinnat salmon the +king-fish of the world, putting Columbia salmon into almost every +household of civilization. + +Another fact may be recorded here. My Fourth-of-July oration had been +such a success that I was asked to make another speech at Seattle, on +Puget Sound, which was then a struggling village. I was accompanying a +delegation or committee from the East that was looking for a good place +for the terminus of the Northern Pacific Railway, which had been +projected after the great success of the Union Pacific. When we passed +the point where Tacoma now stands, I was attracted by its appearance and +said: "There is your terminus." The committee selected the spot, and +Tacoma was founded there. + +An amusing incident closed this part of my journey. I went from Seattle +to Victoria, British Columbia, and was astonished to find the town in +the wildest commotion. Troops were at the docks, and the moment I landed +I observed that the greatest interest was taken in me. At last, as they +saw me walking about alone, one of the officials came up and said: "Why, +are you alone?" "Of course," I replied. "Did you expect me to bring an +army with me?" I said this in jest, not knowing how closely it touched +his question. He then took me aside and said, "Read this despatch." I +opened the despatch and read: "Train is on the Hunt." + +I saw what it meant, and how the good people had been deceived. The Hunt +was the vessel I came on, and the telegraph operator at Seattle, knowing +that I had been with the Fenians and had been stirring up a good deal of +trouble in California, thought he would have some fun with the +Canadians. The people of Victoria were on the lookout for me to arrive +with a gang of Fenians! + +I did not smile, but determined to carry the joke a little further. +Walking into the telegraph office, I filed the following cablegram for +Dublin, Ireland. "Down England, up Ireland." The jest cost me $40 in +tolls, but I enjoyed it that much. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +THE SHARE I HAD IN THE FRENCH COMMUNE + +1870 + + +My participation in the Commune in France, in the year '70, was the +result of chance. I arrived at Marseilles at a very critical time in the +history of that city. It was the hour when the Commune, or, as it was +styled there by many, the "Red Republic," was born. I was on a tour of +the world, the voyage in which I eclipsed all former feats of travel, +and circled the globe in eighty days. This served Jules Verne, two years +later, as the groundwork for his famous romance Around the World in +Eighty Days. The whole journey had been eventful, but I shall write of +that in a later chapter. + +The French Empire had fallen and the Republic had risen within the +period of my swift flight; and now one of the darkest and most desperate +enterprises known in history was afoot--the attempt to transform France +and the world into a system of "communes," erected upon the ruins of all +national governments. + +I arrived at Marseilles on the Donai, of the Imperial Messagerie line, +October 20, '70, and went at once to the Grand Hotel de Louvre. Imagine +my astonishment when I was received there by a delegation, and, for the +third time, hailed as "liberator." The empty title of liberator--so +easily conferred by the excitable Latin races--had become rather a joke +with me. The Australian revolutionists who wanted to make me President +of their paper republic, were in earnest, and would have done something +notable, had they ever got the opportunity, with sufficient men behind +them; but the Italians I had not felt much confidence in, nor had I any +desire to work for their cause. + +The acclaim with which the people in the streets of Marseilles received +me, at first jarred upon my sensibilities and seemed an echo merely of +the little affair in Rome. However, I was soon to be convinced of the +deep sincerity of these revolutionists, and was destined to take an +active and honest part in their cause. It is remarkable how a slight +incident may turn the whole current of one's life. It had been my +intention to proceed as rapidly as possible to Berlin, and take a look +at the victorious Prussian army; but here I was at the very moment of my +arrival on French soil, involved in the problems and struggles of the +French people, as precipitated by the Prussian army, having for their +object the undoing of much of the work of the German conquest. + +When the revolutionary committee hailed me as "liberator," I thought +they had mistaken me for some one else, and asked the leaders if they +had not done so. "No," they said; "we have heard of you and want you to +join the revolution." It seemed that they had kept track of my rapid +progress around the world, and told me they knew when I was at Port +Said, and had prepared to receive me as soon as I landed in Marseilles. + +"Six thousand people are waiting for you now in the opera-house," they +said. + +"Waiting for me?" I asked, incredulous. "How long have they been +waiting, and what are they waiting for?" + +"They have been assembled for an hour; and they want you to address them +in behalf of the revolution." + +"Well," said I, making a decision immediately, "I can not keep these +good people waiting. I will go with you." I had decided to trust to the +inspiration of the moment, when I should stand face to face with that +volatile French audience. + +From the moment I entered the opera-house, packed with excited people +from the stage to the topmost boxes, I was possessed by the French +revolutionary spirit. The fire and enthusiasm of the people swept me +from my feet. I was thenceforth a "Communist," a member of their "Red +Republic." I felt this, as soon as I joined that cheering and ecstatic +mob--for it really was a mob then, and mobs have been the germs of all +great national movements in France. + +A committee of some sort, prepared for the occasion, immediately seized +hold of me, and we marched, or rushed, through the crowd, down the +aisle, and up on the stage. About 250 persons, the more important movers +in the agitation, I suppose, were standing, all cheering at the top of +their voices. As I was placed upon the stage, in front of the audience, +there came a burst of cheers of "Vive la Republique!" "Vive la Commune!" +and many were shouting out my name with a French accent and a nasal "n." +It was irresistible. I stepped to the front of the stage and tried to +speak, but for several minutes could not utter a word that could be +heard a foot away, the din of the shouting and cheering was so +overwhelming. + +When the shouting ceased, I told the people that I was in Marseilles on +a trip around the world, but as they had called upon me to take part in +their movement, I should be glad to repay, in my own behalf, a small +portion of the enormous debt of gratitude that my country owed to France +for Lafayette, Rochambeau, and de Grasse. I repeated a part of the +"Marseillaise," which always stirs Frenchmen to the depths, and a few +verses from Holmes's poem on France-- + + "Pluck Conde's baton from the trench, + Wake up stout Charles Martel; + Or give some woman's hand to clench + The sword of La Pucelle!" + +I also urged that France should not yield an inch of her territory to +the rapacious Prussians. + +The excitement of the hour carried everything before it, and the crowd +outside, numbering at least 20,000, finally was joined by the 6,000 +inside, and the whole mass, making a grand and noisy procession, +escorted me to my hotel where I had taken the entire front suite of +apartments. The next morning I was waited upon by a committee of the +revolutionists. They said they wanted a military leader, and that +Cluseret was the man for the place. He would be able to lead the forces +of the Ligue du Midi. + +Cluseret was then in Switzerland, where he had taken refuge after the +troops drove him out of Lyons at the orders of Gambetta. He was the +Gustave Paul Cluseret who had taken part in our Civil War, serving on +the staffs of McClellan and Fremont, and who later was Military Chief of +the Paris Commune. We sent to Switzerland and invited General Cluseret +to join us in Marseilles. To our surprise he sent word that he would +need a force of 2,000 armed men! This settled Cluseret, as far as I was +concerned. + +A few days later a card was brought to me in the hotel bearing the name +"Tirez," and the statement that M. Tirez occupied room 113 in the same +hotel. I went up to this room, and there found a splendid-looking fellow +with a great military mustache. "Are you M. Tirez?" I asked. "I am +General Cluseret," he said. "I thought you wanted 2,000 armed men?" I +said. "You can probably give me more than that number," he said, with a +smile. "You seem to be in command of everything and everybody here." "We +shall see," I said. I asked him to go to the Cirque with me that +evening. + +There were at least 10,000 men in this gigantic amphitheater. I made a +short speech and said I wanted to give them a surprise. "You want a +military leader. I have brought you one. Here is your leader--General +Gustave Paul Cluseret." He was greeted with tremendous cheers. + +We at once organized military headquarters and prepared to take +possession of the city. In this effort we were aided by the liberal +views of the prefet, M. Esquiros, a republican, and later by the +incapacity of the new prefet appointed by Gambetta, M. Gent. The next +day we marched to the military fortifications with a great mass of men. +General Cluseret and I were arm in arm as we entered the gates. I +observed the officer in charge of the guns at the entrance about to give +an order, which I knew meant a volley that would sweep us into the next +world. I sprang forward and seized the officer by the arm. "Come to see +me at the hotel," I whispered in his ear. The order to fire was not +given, and we filed into the fortifications and took possession in the +name of the Commune--the "Red Republic." + +The following day 150 of the Guarde Mobile came to the hotel and +demanded General Cluseret. I told the officers he was not present, but +they insisted upon invading my rooms. I then told them that they would +not be permitted to cross the threshold alive. I was armed with a +revolver, and three of my own secretaries were armed in the same way. I +said to the chief officer at the door that there were four men inside +and we would shoot any one who tried to enter; we thought we could kill +at least two dozen of them. The Guarde held a short council outside, and +I soon heard their military step resounding down the hall. They had +given up the search for Cluseret. + +The next morning I saw from my window an army marching down the street. +I thought it was our army, and went out on the balcony and began +shouting "Vive la Republique!" and "Vive la Commune!" with the people in +the street; but there was an ominous silence in the ranks of the troops. +They did not respond to these revolutionary sentiments. Then I saw the +new prefet, M. Gent, Gambetta's man, in a carriage, with the army. +Suddenly I heard a shot, and Gent dropped to the bottom of the vehicle. +Some one had tried to kill him, but missed, and the prefet did not care +to be conspicuous again. + +The troops came to a halt directly in front of the hotel, and I saw that +the officers were regarding with anger the flag of the Commune that +floated from the balcony. Orders were given, and five men, a firing +squad, stepped from the ranks and knelt, with their rifles in hand, +ready to fire. I knew that it was their purpose to shoot me. I do not +know why, but I felt that if the thing had to be, I should die in the +most dramatic manner possible. There were two other flags on the +balcony, the colors of France and America. I seized both of these, and +wrapped them quickly about my body. Then I stepped forward, and knelt at +the front of the balcony, in the same military posture as the soldiers +below me. I then shouted to the officers in French: + +"Fire, fire, you miserable cowards! Fire upon the flags of France and +America wrapped around the body of an American citizen--if you have the +courage!" + +An order was spoken, too low for me to catch, but the kneeling soldiers +dropped their rifles, and then rose, and rejoined the ranks. Another +order was shouted along the line, and the troops marched on down the +street and out of sight. + +The attempted assassination of the prefet had an unexpected effect upon +public opinion in Marseilles. It turned the mercurial Frenchman against +the Commune. I advised General Cluseret to go at once to Paris. I even +purchased a gold-laced uniform for him. His subsequent history, as +military leader of the Commune in Paris, his capture, trial, release, +and retirement to Switzerland, are well known. + +At this time I believe the tide of war might have been turned in favor +of France by some swift movement like those of which the mobile Boers +made good use in South Africa, perhaps by an attack on the rear of the +German armies. France was filled with German soldiers, but Germany was +unguarded; and I believed then that a body of light horsemen, say, like +the Algerians, might have created such a diversion by a rapid raid to +the rear that it would have forced the Germans back to the Rhine, or +even to Berlin. I was astonished by the tremendous amount of munitions +of war, and by the masses of troops that were still available in the +south of France. Leadership, and not troops, was what France lacked. + +I left Marseilles for Lyons, after the troops tried to shoot me in the +balcony of the hotel, and was accompanied by Cremieux, one of the +leaders of the Ligue du Midi. As we left Marseilles, a man, wearing +conspicuously the ribbon of the Legion of Honor, entered our +compartment. I at once set him down as a spy, and began talking with +Cremieux in a loud voice. My estimate of his character was justified in +an unpleasant way at Lyons. No sooner had we entered the suburbs of that +city than our friend left the compartment and got off the train. + +When the train came to a stop in the station, I sprang out of the +compartment with Cremieux, and was confronted by six bayonets. Both of +us were placed under arrest. Immediately I remembered the little slip of +paper in my pocket which might betray Cluseret, if found, and I seized +it hastily and put it into my mouth. The officer of the squad of +soldiers rushed forward to stop me, but it was too late. The slip had +gone. I had swallowed it. + +"That was the address of General Cluseret!" shouted the officer. + +"Of course," said I. "And it has gone to a rendezvous with my +breakfast!" + +The soldiers took Cremieux and myself to the Bastile, in Lyons, and I +was detained there for thirteen days. When I went into the cell I was +very tired and sat up against the wall and leaned my head against it. In +a moment I detected the breathing of a man very near me, and perceived a +crack in the wall, against which a spy in the adjacent cell was +inclining his ear to catch any incriminating words that might pass +between Cremieux and myself. It was the old trick of the Inquisition; +but it did not serve the purposes of these late players of it. + +My secretary, Mr. Bemis, who came on from Marseilles by a later train, +could not find me in Lyons. He spent a week in looking for me. At the +end of that time my wife, who was in New York, telegraphed to the +American legation at Paris asking if the report were true that I had +been killed. It had been currently reported in America that the soldiers +had shot me in Marseilles. Mr. Bemis went immediately to the Guarde +Mobile, which was in sympathy with the Commune, the organization from +which General Cluseret had been driven by Gambetta. The Guarde sent a +deputation of 150 officers to the prefet of the city, who ordered my +immediate release. Gambetta was appealed to, and he directed that I be +sent to him at Tours by special train. + +To Tours I went in style. I had been poisoned in the Lyons Bastile, and +was ill, in consequence, having lost thirty pounds of flesh in thirteen +days. I was met at Tours by Gambetta's secretary, M. Ranc, afterward a +deputy, who told me I could see the Dictator at four o'clock. "Why not +now?" I asked. "Because it is not possible for M. Gambetta to work until +he has had his dinner." I found that these French officials were as fond +of their dinner as English officials. At the appointed hour M. Ranc took +me to the palace of the prefecture, and I was admitted at once to +Gambetta's presence. + +I found everything in confusion. The prefecture was filled with men who +had been waiting for the Dictator's pleasure. In the first ante-rooms I +saw men who had been waiting for three weeks; in the next rooms were +those who had waited for two weeks; and in the third rooms I found +officers of the army and navy, who had waited one week. As I passed in +among these throngs with an air of self-possession, they took me for +some grand personage, and I heard whispers that I must be the ambassador +from Spain or the Papal Nuncio. + +Gambetta was seated at his desk in a large and handsomely furnished +room. He made not the slightest sign of being aware that I was present. +He did not even turn his face toward me. I did not learn until afterward +that the distinguished Italian-Frenchman had one glass eye, and could +see me just as well at an angle as he could full-face. But I grew tired +of standing there silent, and was already weary from my long +incarceration. I decided, after taking in this strange character, then +at the top of the seething pot of French politics, that the best course +for me was to put on a bold front. + +"When a distinguished stranger calls to see you, M. Gambetta, I think +you might offer him a chair." + +The great man smiled, and motioned me to a seat with considerable +graciousness. I took a chair, and said: + +"M. Gambetta, you are the head of France, and I intend to be President +of the United States. You can assist me, and I can assist you." + +He looked at me with a curious regard, but did not smile. + +"Send me to America, and I can help you get munitions of war, and win +over the sympathy and assistance of the Americans." + +I knew, of course, that he was going to send me out of France in any +event, and I wanted to discount his plan. + +The Dictator smiled again, and said: "You sent Cluseret to Paris, and +bought him a uniform for 300 francs." + +"You are only fairly well informed, M. Gambetta. I paid 350 francs for +the uniform." + +"Cluseret is a scoundrel," he said. + +"The Communards call you that," I replied. + +He ended our interview by saying a few pleasant words, bowing me out of +the room, and sending me out of France forthwith. + +I went straight to London, then to Liverpool, and sailed for New York in +the Abyssinia, which, curiously enough, was afterward the pioneer ship +on the line of boats between Vancouver and Yokohama, it having been +bought by the Canadian Pacific. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +A CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT + +1872 + + +I have passed a great many days in jail. A jail is a good place to +meditate and to plan in, if only one can be patient in such a place. +Much of my work was thought out and wrought out while living in the +fifteen jails of which I have been a tenant. It was in a jail in Dublin, +called the Four Courts' Marshalsea, that a feeling of confidence that I +might one day be President of the United States first came into definite +form. It was in this prison, also, that I planned Train Villa, which was +to be built in Newport. As my life in that Villa, which in its day was +one of the most famous and luxurious in America, was a sort of prelude +to my campaign for the Presidency, I may fitly say here what I have to +say about it in this book. + +[Illustration: Train Villa, George Francis Train's summer home in +Newport from 1868 to 1872.] + + +I had long wanted a handsome residence by the sea, and so, when I had +nearly completed the work done in connection with the Union Pacific +Railway, and there seemed to be ahead of me a period of comparative +leisure, I projected this house. My plans were made before I was in +the Dublin jail. My wife built the Villa, or began work on it, while I +was still in the Marshalsea. The lot on which it stands embraced some +two and a half acres in the most delightful region of Newport. In order +that my boys might have an opportunity for sport at home, I had a +building put up for billiards and bowling. This was, I believe, the +first residence in Newport that had a special place of this kind, +although of course, many had billiard tables. A fine cottage was also +built for my father-in-law, Colonel George T. M. Davis. This cottage was +sold recently for $50,000, to the Dolans of Philadelphia. + +The Villa itself must have cost $100,000, but the truth is, I have never +known how much money was lavished upon its building and adornment. I was +called rich and had never, at any time, given a thought to the mere +details of money. What I wanted I got. In those days that was the +substance of my economic system in personal matters. We lived there in +manorial style, entertaining so lavishly and freely that the Villa +became a free guest-house for all Newport. I also recollect that my +living cost me more than $2,000 a week. Now I manage to live on $3 a +week in the Mills Hotel, or Palace, as I call it. Here I am more +contented than I was at Newport. I seem to be saving $1,997 a week. We +turned out, in Newport, six carriages when we went driving; but this was +a display that I always set my heart against. It seemed to be mere +wastefulness. + +Since my occupancy, Train Villa, as it is called to this day, has been +rented by some of the most prominent persons in the fashionable world. +Among those who have lived in it are the Kernochans, the Kips, Governor +Lippitt of Rhode Island, some of the Vanderbilts and the Mortimers. At +the present time, it is occupied by George B. de Forest. It was formerly +rented for $5,000 for three months or the season. It never paid us two +per centum on its cost, and finally was sold by the trustee, Colonel +Davis. + +The Villa was once turned into a jail, although I was not the captive in +that instance. In the famous Credit Mobilier case, in '72-'73, a man, +who was my guest at the time, was arrested, and, as the Credit Mobilier +men then in Newport could not give bail in the sum of $1,000,000, as +demanded, an arrangement was made with the sheriff by which the Villa +temporarily became a jail, where my guest was confined. + +So full of confidence was I that I could be elected President in '72, +that I telegraphed from San Francisco that I would reach Newport on a +certain day, and wished arrangements made for a "Presidential" banquet. +Although this banquet was not the end of the campaign, it was the last +flourish of trumpets in my Presidential aspirations. + +My political career in fact was brief. My intention was to have it +extend through at least a Presidential term; but the people would not +have it so. Prior to '69, '70, '71, and '72, I had taken no active part +in politics, although I had been interested in various campaigns and in +many great public questions of the day. I have already referred to the +offer made to me by the revolutionists in Australia to make me their +President. That was, perhaps, the first time that anything political +ever entered my life. The offer was by no means a temptation to me and I +refused to consider it, without a single poignant regret. + +In '65, the Fenians, after I had espoused the general cause of the +Irish, as of the oppressed of every country, asked me to attend their +first convention, which was to be held in Philadelphia. They wished me +to address them. This I did, but I took no active part in the work of +the convention or of the faction. I had already attended the Democratic +Convention in Louisville in '64, when I held a proxy from Nebraska, and +had hoped to have General Dix nominated for President and Admiral +Farragut for Vice-President, but I was not permitted to take my seat. + +While I was in the Four Courts' Marshalsea, in Dublin, in '68, James +Brooks, of the New York Express, sent word to me that the Democrats in +convention were willing to nominate Salmon P. Chase if I would consent +to take the second place on the ticket. This did not suit me at all, and +I sent a despatch to Brooks that I would take the first place only, and +that as Chase was my friend, he could take the second place. This put an +end to the negotiations. + +But the seed of ambition had been sown, even before this, and it +germinated in the old Irish prison. As soon as I got out of that jail, I +began my campaign for President of the United States, and in '69 started +on a program that involved 1,000 addresses to 1,000 conventions. It +seemed to me that, with the effect I had always had upon people in my +speeches and in personal contact, and with the record of great +achievements in behalf of the progress of the world, especially with +regard to the development of this country, I should succeed. I supposed +that a man with my record, and without a stain on my reputation or +blemish in my character, would be received as a popular candidate. + +I had not the slightest doubt that I should be elected; and, with this +sublime self-confidence, threw myself into the campaign with an energy +and fire that never before, perhaps, characterized a Presidential +candidate. I went into the campaign as into a battle. I forced fighting +at every point along the line, fiercely assailing Grant and his +"nepotism," on the one hand, and Greeley, and the spirit of compromise +and barter that I felt his nomination represented, on the other. + +In the year '69 I had made twenty-eight speeches in California, and +eighty on the Pacific coast. I also made a trip over the Union Pacific +Railway, on the first train over that line, and made addresses at many +places throughout the country. The following year, '70, I seriously set +myself to the task of appealing to the people directly for support, and +began a series of public addresses on the issues of the day. But this +year's work was interrupted by my trip around the world in eighty days, +which consumed the end of the year, from the 1st of August to Christmas. + +In '71 I fought hard from January to December, making the total of my +speeches to the people 800, and having spoken directly, up to that time, +to something like 2,000,000 persons. Of course, my campaign was made on +independent lines entirely. I was not the nominee nor the complaisant +tool of any party or faction. I made my race as one who came from the +bosom of the people, and who represented the highest interests of the +people. It was just here that failure came. I thought I knew something +of the people, and felt confident that they would prefer a man of +independence, who had accomplished something for them, to a man who was +a mere tool of his party, a distributor of patronage to his friends and +relatives, or to one who was a mere stalking-horse. But I was mistaken. +The people, as Barnum has said, love to be humbugged, and are quite +ready to pay tribute to the political boss and spoilsman. + +A remarkable feature of my campaign was that, instead of scattering +money broadcast, to draw crowds or to win votes, I made a charge for +admission to hear my addresses. I spoke to audiences that paid to hear +me talk to them in my own behalf and in theirs. In three years of active +work--with the interruption of my trip around the world in '70--I took +in $90,000 in admission charges. In spite of these charges, I spoke to +more people and had greater audiences to listen to me than any other +speaker during that heated campaign. + +There was another remarkable thing about my campaign. I possessed +tremendous power over audiences. So long as I could reach them with my +voice, or talk with them or shake hands with them, I could hold them; +but the moment they got out of my reach they got away from me, and +slipped back again to the sway of the political bosses. + +I saw that my chance of getting the nomination was lost long before the +assembling of the Liberal Republican Convention of '72 in Cincinnati. I +was not astonished by the result of that convention, except that I did +not expect the nomination of Greeley, which I considered as a piece of +political treachery, a deliberately calculated movement in the interest +of Grant. But I still felt, vainly, indeed, some hope that the people +would see the futility of supporting Greeley, and of placing me at the +head of the ticket. + +I can recall now the scenes in the Convention Hall when Carl Schurz +nominated Horace Greeley. Outside of some cheering on the part of those +who were party to the trickery, the nomination was received with ominous +stillness. Suddenly, from out of the gallery, near where I was seated, +there came a thin, quavering, piercing voice, like the cry of a seer of +the wilderness or a wandering Jeremiah: "Sold, by God, but the goods not +delivered!" + +The words sounded then like a pronouncement of doom; but it proved not +to be so. The "deal" was carried out, and the "goods" were delivered. +Grant was elected, and Greeley, betrayed, retired, a heart-broken man. + +Before I close this chapter on the Presidency, I wish to record here one +distinct service which I believe I rendered this city and the country +during my campaign. It was I, and not the New York newspapers, that +first exposed the so-called "Tweed Ring." I began the fight against this +ring of corrupt politicians, single-handed, and kept it up for more than +a year before any New York paper or any other journal took up the issue. +The New York papers, in fact, refused to publish my speech exposing this +gang of public plunderers, and it was published in the Lyons, N. Y., +Republican on April 22, '71. The speech itself was made long before +Tweed had been accused of misuse of public funds. + +While I was on the platform, a voice asked me "Who is the ring?" I had +been attacking the "ring" in every public utterance in New York. I +replied: "Hoffman, Tweed, Sweeney, Fisk, and Gould." Later, in the same +speech, I said: "Tweed and Sweeney are taxing you from head to foot, +while their horses are living in palaces," and then, using, for effect, +some of the methods of the French Commune, I cried: "To the lamp-post! +All those in favor of hanging Tweed to a lamp-post, say aye!" There was +a tremendous outburst of "ayes." + +In other speeches I went into details and gave the sums of which the +people of New York had been plundered, and the amounts that had been +paid in bribes to obtain influence in stilling public suspicion, and to +buy immunity from exposure and opportunity for further theft. + +So my campaign for the Presidency was not entirely in vain. It was +something that seemed unavoidable, toward which I seemed pressed by +circumstance and fate; and I can rest in the consciousness that it +accomplished some permanent good. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +DECLARED A LUNATIC + +1872-1873 + + +I had hardly got out of the Presidential race before I got into jail +again. I passed easily from one kind of life to the other. In fact, the +last thing I did in connection with my political campaign had been the +indirect cause of getting me into the Tombs. The Tombs has the honor of +being the fourteenth jail that has given me shelter for purposes of +meditation. + +In November, '72, I was making a speech from Henry Clews's steps in Wall +Street, partly to quiet a mob, when a paper was thrust into my hand. I +glanced at it, thinking it had to do with myself, and saw that Victoria +C. Woodhull and Tennie C. Claflin had been arrested for publishing in +their paper in Brooklyn an account of a scandal about a famous clergyman +in that city. The charge was "obscenity," and they had been arrested at +the instance of Anthony Comstock. I immediately said: "This may be +libel, but it is not obscenity." + +That assertion, with what I soon did to establish its truth, got me +into jail, with the result that six courts in succession--afraid to +bring me to trial for "obscenity"--declared me a "lunatic," and +prevented my enjoyment of property in Omaha, Nebraska, which is now +worth millions of dollars. + +From Wall Street I hurried to Ludlow Street Jail, where I found Victoria +C. Woodhull and Tennie C. Claflin in a cell about eight by four feet. I +was indignant that two women, who had merely published a current rumor, +should be treated in this way, and took a piece of charcoal and wrote, +on the newly whitewashed walls of the cell a couplet suggesting the +baseness of this attack upon their reputations. It is sufficient to say +here that public feeling was so aroused that these women were soon set +free; but I got myself deeper and deeper into the toils of the courts. + +[Illustration: George Francis Train with the children in Madison +Square.] + +In order to prove that the publication was not obscene, if judged by +Christian standards of purity, I published in my paper, called The Train +Ligue, three columns of quotations from the Bible. Every verse I used +was worse than anything published by these women. I was immediately +arrested on a charge of "obscenity," and taken to the Tombs. I was never +tried on this charge, but was kept in jail as a lunatic, and then +dismissed, under the ban of declared lunacy, and have so remained for +thirty years. Although the public pretended to be against me, it was +very eager to buy the edition of my paper that gave these extracts +from the Bible. The price of the paper rose from five cents a copy to +twenty, forty, sixty cents, and even to one dollar. In a few days it was +selling surreptitiously for two dollars a copy. + +I was put in Tweed's cell, number 56, in "Murderers' Row," in the Tombs, +where at that time were twenty-two men imprisoned under the charge of +murder. I made the twenty-third inhabitant of that ghastly "Row." It is +remarkable that not one of these men was hanged. All were either +acquitted, or tried and sentenced and got off with varying terms of +service. + +It was not a select, but it was at least a famous, group of men in +"Murderers' Row." Across the narrow hallway, just opposite my cell, was +Edward S. Stokes, who had killed James Fisk, Jr. Next to me were John J. +Scannell and Richard Croker, both of whom have been prominent in the +city administration in later years. There was, also, the famous Sharkey, +who might have got into worse trouble than any of us, but who escaped +through the pluck and ingenuity of Maggie Jordan. Maggie happened to be +about the same size as her lover, and changed clothes with him in the +cell. The warden, one morning, found he had a woman in his cage instead +of Sharkey. This was the last ever heard of Sharkey, so far as I know. + +My chief purpose in jail was not to get out, but to be tried on the +charge of obscenity. I had been arrested for that offense, and +determined that I would be either acquitted or convicted. But I have +never had a trial to this day. I do not believe that any court in the +land would face the danger of trying to convict a man of publishing +obscenity for quoting from the standard book on morality read throughout +Christendom. + +However this may be, I was offered a hundred avenues of escape from +jail, every conceivable one, except the honest and straightforward one +of a fair trial by jury. Men offered to bail me out; twice I was taken +out on proceedings instituted by women; but I would not avail myself of +this way to freedom. Several times I was left alone in the court-house +or in hallways, or other places, where access to the street was easy, +entirely without guards, in the vain hope that I would walk off with my +liberty. I was discharged by the courts; and I was offered freedom if I +would sign certain papers that were brought to me, but I invariably +refused to look at them. In all cases I merely turned back and took my +place in the cell, and waited for justice. + +In '73 I was finally taken before Judge Davis in the Court of Oyer and +Terminer. William F. Howe, who died this year, was one of my counsel, +and Clark Bell was another. Howe took the ground, first, that obviously +there could be nothing obscene in the publication of extracts from the +Bible, and, second, if there were, that I was insane at the time of the +publication. The judge hastily said that he would instruct the jury to +acquit me if the defense took this position. Mr. Bell then asked that a +simple verdict of "not guilty" be rendered; but the judge insisted upon +its form being "Not guilty, on the ground of insanity." This verdict was +taken. + +I rose immediately, and said: "I protest against this whole proceeding. +I have been four months in jail; and I have had no trial for the offense +with which I am charged." I felt that I was in the same plight as Paul. +The Bible and the Church, surely, could not condemn me for quoting +Scripture; and I had appealed unto Caesar; but Caesar refused, out of +sheer cowardice, to hear me and try me. I was not even listened to when +I made this protest, and I shouted, so that all must hear me: "Your +honor, I move your impeachment in the name of the people!" + +The sensation was tremendous. "Sit down!" roared the judge. He evidently +thought that I would attack him. An order committing me to the State +Lunatic Asylum was issued, and I was taken back to the Tombs. But I did +not go to the asylum. Another writ of habeas corpus took me out of jail, +and I at last turned my back on the Tombs--a lunatic by judicial decree. +I hope that the courts, inasmuch as I am their ward, and have been for +thirty years, have protected me in my rights, and have safeguarded those +interests in Omaha where some millions of dollars depend upon the +question of my sanity. + +The moment I was taken out of the Tombs, I went down town, had a bath, +got a good meal, put on better clothes, and bought passage for England. +I went to join my family at Homburg, as my sons were then in Germany, +studying at Frankfort. + +This Woodhull-Claflin affair had far-reaching effects. Besides leaving +me for thirty years in the grip of the court, it affected many other +persons. I shall refer here only to one of these, the publisher of a +newspaper in Toledo, who printed some of the matter that I had printed +in New York. He was prosecuted, and his paper and press were seized. The +poor fellow asked me to lecture in his interest. I could not do this, +but helped him to raise some money to buy a new printing-press. This was +in August, '83, when I was at Vevay, Switzerland. + +A worthless piece of paper eventually fell into the hands of another +man, who proceeded to prosecute me, and, with the assistance of the +courts, kept me in the Charles Street Jail, Boston, for some time. I was +arrested for this old debt of another man, and was refused the +constitutional relief of habeas corpus by Judge Devins and five other +judges of Massachusetts. The amount of the debt had steadily increased, +and was $800 in '89. Finally, I went before Judge McKim, and he at once +dismissed the case as groundless. + +This brought my jail experiences to a close. Was it fitting that Boston, +where I had lived and worked; where I had devised the building of the +greatest ships the world had known up to that time; where I had +projected and organized the clipper-ship service to California, and +opened a new era in the carrying trade of the world, and where I had +organized the Union Pacific Railway to develop the entire West and draw +continents nearer together, should put me in jail for a petty debt that +I did not owe, as in some sort an evidence of its gratitude? + +My prison experience has been more varied than that of the most +confirmed and hardened criminal; and yet I have never committed a crime, +cheated a human being, or told a lie. I have been imprisoned in almost +every sort of jail that man has devised. I have been in police stations, +in Marshalseas in England and in Ireland, in common jails in Boston, in +the Bastile of Lyons, in the Prefecture at Tours as the prisoner of +Gambetta, Dictator of France, and in the famous old Tombs of New York. I +have used prisons well. They have been as schools to me, where I have +reflected, and learned more about myself--and a man's own self is the +best object of any one's study. I have, also, made jails the source of +fruitful ideas, and from them have launched many of my most startling +and useful projects and innovations. And so they have not been jails to +me, any more than they were to Lovelace: + + "Stone walls do not a prison make, + Nor iron bars a cage; + Minds innocent and quiet take + That for an hermitage." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +AROUND THE WORLD IN EIGHTY, SIXTY-SEVEN, AND SIXTY DAYS + +1870, 1890, 1892 + + +I went around the world in eighty days in the year '70, two years before +Jules Verne wrote his famous romance, Le Tour du Monde en Quatre-vingts +Jours, which was founded upon my voyage. Since then I have made two +tours of the world, one in sixty-seven and a half days, and the other in +sixty. The last voyage still stands as the record trip in circling the +globe. + +I have always been something of a traveler, restless in my earlier +years, and never averse to visiting new scenes and experiencing new +sensations. In Australasia I had improved every opportunity to see the +new world of the South Seas, and later had visited every part of the +Orient that I could by any possibility reach during my various journeys +in that portion of the globe. Europe I had traversed quite thoroughly, +from the Crimea to Nijnii Novgorod, from the Volga to the Thames, from +Spain to Finland. When I left Australia it was my intention to +establish a great business in Yokohama, and, when that had been done, I +intended to pass on across the Pacific, thus girdling the globe; but my +first effort to go around the world was prevented by the war in the +Crimea, and so I turned back and came home, as already described, by way +of China, India, Egypt, and Europe. + +The desire for travel possessed me mightily in '69, just after the +golden spike was driven at the completion of the Union Pacific Railway, +by which California and New York were made nearer one another by many +days of travel. The circumference of the globe had been shrunken. I +wanted, naturally, to be the first man to utilize the great advantage +thus given to travel by making the quickest trip around the world. + +After closing my lecture tour on the Pacific coast in the spring and +summer of '70, I prepared for such a trip, carefully calculating that it +could be made within eighty days, even with the inevitable losses due to +bad connections at different ports. I wanted to take my sons, George and +Elsey, with me, but, at the last moment, they were prevented from going. +I found out only a few days ago, when accusing my daughter Sue of +keeping them in Newport, that their mother had given them ten golden +eagles each not to go. I sailed from San Francisco August 1, '70. On the +same ship was Susan B. King, whom I found in San Francisco waiting to +sail, as she was tired of the way her affairs were going in New York and +wanted a long trip for rest and recreation. She had $30,000 with her, +which she said she would try to invest profitably on the voyage. She was +then quite an old woman, as the world generally estimates age. + +I made Yokohama in very good time, and went immediately to the Japanese +capital, the new seat of the Emperor, Tokyo. I may record here a very +curious thing. I believe I was the last man--the last foreigner, at +least--who had taken part in an old national custom of Japan, by which +persons of opposite sex bathe together, without bathing suits. It was +then considered, in that land of good morals and fine esthetic sense, +that no impropriety was involved in this custom. Manners and customs +there were open and free as in Greece, when Athens was "the eye of +Greece" and the center of the world's civilization. I went to one of the +public baths to experience a decidedly new sensation. I was allowed to +bathe with old men and women, young men and maidens--and no one, except, +perhaps, myself, felt any degree of embarrassment or false modesty. + +But the fact that a foreigner was bathing in this way with Japanese +women and girls made something of a stir in Tokyo that had been +unexpected by me. It seems that, a short time before, some Englishmen +had gone into one of the public baths and made themselves very +offensive. This had taught the Japanese that they could not trust the +foreigner, and they had already nearly decided to exclude foreigners +from their baths, or to separate the sexes. My experience was, +therefore, the last, as I believe. After this the sexes were not +permitted to bathe together. + +I observed that the Japanese used small paper packages for tea, thus +making it convenient to handle tea. I then recalled the custom of the +Chinese in compressing tea for transportation by caravan to the great +Fair of Nijnii Novgorod. Here was an opportunity, I thought, and I +suggested to Susan B. King that she might invest her $30,000 to good +purpose in sending to New York a cargo of tea put up in little paper +packages, and that, if she wanted to try it, I would give her letters to +men in Canton who could arrange the matter for her. She undertook the +scheme, and I wrote a description of it for Anglin's Gazette, in +Yokohama. The tea was shipped to New York, and was handled at the +Demorest headquarters. The tea was in half-pound and pound packages. +This was long before Sir Thomas Lipton employed this method of putting +up teas. + +At Saigon, in French Cochin-China, I met the United States ship Alaska; +and from that port sailed on a ship of the Messagerie Imperiale line for +Marseilles. The remainder of the voyage was uneventful, except for the +diversion just before we left Singapore of hearing the news of the fall +of the Second Empire, the defeat of Louis Napoleon at Sedan, and the +establishment of the republic. + +I have already recorded, in the chapter on the Commune in France, my +arrival at Marseilles and my experiences in the brief period of my +visit. After I had been arrested and liberated, and had had my interview +with Gambetta at Tours, I passed on rapidly to New York, and finished my +tour of the world inside of eighty days. + +My second trip was made in the year '90. I planned it while I was in +jail in Boston for a debt that I did not contract. There had been some +note-worthy efforts on the part of newspaper writers to make a +record-breaking trip, and Miss Bisland had gone around in seventy-eight +days, while Nellie Bly had succeeded in making the voyage in +seventy-three days. I proposed to Col. John A. Cockerill, of the New +York World, who had sent Nellie Bly on her trip, to make the circuit in +less time; but he did not care to upset the World's own record. I then +telegraphed to Radebaugh, proprietor of the Tacoma Ledger, that if he +would raise $1,000 for a lecture in Tacoma, I would make a trip around +the world in less than seventy days. He told me to come on. + +As I started West, to sail on the Abyssinia, I received message after +message from Radebaugh. Instead of the $1,000 I had asked for, $1,500 +had been subscribed by the time I reached Chicago, and at St. Paul it +had gone up to $3,500. I soon reached Tacoma, and lectured there to an +immense audience, taking in $4,200, the largest amount ever paid for a +single lecture--and sailed out into the Pacific March 18th. I was +accompanied by S. W. Wall, editor of the Ledger. Lafcadio Hearn, the +distinguished writer, was on the same ship, on his way to Japan. He was +so ill that he did not leave his state-room during the voyage. + +We made Yokohama in sixteen days, and the moment I landed I telegraphed +to the American legation at Tokyo to get me a passport. It had always +taken three days to get a passport, but I said that I must have this at +once, and I got it. In seven hours I was on the way to Kobe, overland, +three hundred miles across Japan. I caught the German ship for Nagasaki, +from which point, after a short delay, I sailed for Hongkong. In a trip +of this kind, of course, one sees little of interest. It is a mere +question of rushing from vessel to vessel the moment you get into port, +or of catching trains, or of chartering boats to bridge gaps, or of +haggling with ship-captains or railway managers about getting extra +accommodations at very extra prices. + +My longest delay was at Singapore, where I lost forty hours. The next +longest loss of time was in New York--wonderful to relate--where I was +delayed thirty-six hours, although four railways were competing for the +honor of taking me across the continent on a record-breaking journey. I +arrived on Saturday, and had to charter a special car--which cost +$1,500--and could not get away until Monday morning. I was near being +delayed a day at Calais, France, but succeeded in chartering a boat to +take me over the Channel. As this boat carried the British mails, I was +relieved of the expense by the British Government. + +At Portland I met with a most annoying delay of five hours, due entirely +to mismanagement. This most unexpectedly lengthened out my tour at the +very end, and so angered me that I refused to attend a banquet the +people had prepared for me. I pushed on to Tacoma as soon as I could get +anything to carry me, and arrived there exactly sixty-seven days, +thirteen hours, two minutes, and fifty-five seconds from the time I had +started. The actual time of traveling was fifty-nine days and seven +hours. Seven days and five hours had been lost. This was then the +fastest trip around the world. It has been beaten since by myself. + +As I had started on my second trip from a Pacific coast point, there was +a good deal of rivalry among the growing towns in that section with +regard to the honor of being the starting-point of my third trip in '92, +in which I eclipsed all previous records. I had already announced that +this could readily be done, as the Pacific steamships were very much +faster than they had been at the time of my former voyage, and as the +connections at various ports were much better. Sir William Van Horne +had also written that he wanted me to make another tour of the world, +using one of the fast ships of the Canadian Pacific road, the famous +Empresses, that soon would be put on the line to Yokohama. The new town +of Whatcom, on Puget Sound, in the extreme northwest of Washington, +raised the amount necessary for the trip, and I made my start from that +point, catching the Empress of India from Vancouver. + +An account of this voyage would necessarily be only a panoramic glance +at a narrow line around the world. I made Yokohama in eleven days, was +at Kobe, Japan, in thirteen, and at Shanghai in fifteen. Here I had some +difficulty in finding a fast steamer for Singapore, but succeeded in +getting aboard a swift German boat, the Friga, which put me in Singapore +in time to catch the Moyune, the last of the fast tea ships, and on her +I sailed as far as Port Said, through the Suez Canal. At Port Said I +boarded the Ismaila for Brindisi, Italy. Then I again rushed across +Europe, and caught the Majestic at Liverpool for New York. I found a +distinguished company on board, including Ambassador John Hay, D. O. +Mills, Lady Stewart, Mrs. Paran Stevens, and Senator Spooner. + +[Illustration: Dinner in the Mills Hotel given by George Francis Train.] + +I arrived in New York in good time, had a very slight delay in +comparison with that of my second voyage, and went flying across the +continent to Whatcom. The entire trip, giving a complete circuit of +the globe, was made in sixty days. + +To these three trips I attach no more importance, I hope, than is fairly +their due. In each of them, in succession, I had beaten all previous +records of travel; and this was something in the interests of all +persons who travel, as showing what could be done under stress, and as a +stimulus to greater efforts to reduce the long months and days consumed +on voyages from country to country. But they were, as I consider them, +merely incidents in a life that has better things to show. One of these +voyages, the one in which I "put a girdle round the earth" in eighty +days, has the honor of having given the suggestion for one of the most +interesting romances in literature. This, at least, is something. + +But I give this brief account of my voyages, at the end of my +autobiography, chiefly because I regard them as somewhat typical of my +life. I have lived fast. I have ever been an advocate of speed. I was +born into a slow world, and I wished to oil the wheels and gear, so that +the machine would spin faster and, withal, to better purposes. I +suggested larger and fleeter ships, to shorten travel on the ocean. I +built street-railways, so that the workers of the world might save a few +minutes from their days of pitiless toil, and so might have a little +leisure for enjoyment and self-improvement. I built great railway +lines--the Atlantic and Great Western, and the Union Pacific--that the +continent might be traversed by men and commerce more rapidly, and its +waste places made to blossom like the rose. I wished to add a stimulus, +a spur, a goad--if necessary--that the slow, old world might go on more +swiftly, "and fetch the age of gold," with more leisure, more culture, +more happiness. And so I put faster ships on the oceans, and faster +means of travel on land. + +My own rapid tours of the world are, therefore, typical of my life. Thus +an account of them seems to round it off fitly with a "Bon voyage" to +every one. + + + + +INDEX + + + Achinese, subjugation of the, 178. + Aden, visit to, 208. + Adirondack Railway, 260. + American Merchant in Europe, Asia, and Australia, an, 222. + Andaman Islands, 204. + Anglo-American, the, 72, 144. + Anglo-Saxon, the, 55, 58, 72. + Anjer, visit of the natives at, 174. + Antietam, Battle of, 282. + Ariens, Admiral, 251. + Around the world tours, 331. + Around the World in Eighty Days, 301, 331. + Ashburner, George, 204. + Astor, John Jacob, Jr., 44. + Atlantic and Great Western Railway, 237, 269. + Australia, begin business in, 127; + gold-fever in, 130, 141; + outlaws of, 152, 156; + railway system of, 269; + rebellion in, 156. + Austria, travels in, 233. + + Bailey, Crawshay, and Atlantic and Great Western Railway, 244. + Balaklava, visit to, 217. + Balmoral, visit to, 92. + Banka, tin mines of, 179. + Banking and gambling compared, 86. + Banks, Gen. Nathaniel P., 38, 58. + Baring, Thomas, visit to America, 71. + Bartley, Judge, 244. + Bastile at Lyons, a prisoner in the, 310. + Batavia, Java, beauty of, 175. + Bemis, Emery, 37. + Bemis, George Pickering, 8, 48, 273, 311. + Bennett, James Gordon, 222. + Beyrout, visit to, 215. + Birkenhead, tramways in, 261. + Black Hole of Calcutta, 205. + Blockade running, 272. + Bly, Nellie, trip round the world, 335. + Bombay, India, railroad in, 270. + "Bonanza nugget," the, story of, 141. + Boomerang, the, 169. + Booth, Edwin, in Melbourne, 166. + Botany Bay, 144. + Bougevine, Gen., in China, 196. + Bowling, skill in, 79; + in Australia, 135. + Braemar, meeting with Lord John Russell at, 92. + Bridges, the phrenologist, 122. + Briticisms, 91. + Brooke, "Sarawak," 179. + Brougham, John, visit to Liverpool, 124. + Bunker Hill Day, 112. + Bury, Lord, 105. + Bushnell, the actor, in Melbourne, 167. + + Cairo, land trip from Suez to, 209. + Calcutta, visit to, 204. + Caldwell, Captain, partner in the Australian house, 127, 136, 223. + California, discovery of gold in, 71. + Canada, visit to, 86. + Canning, Lord, Governor-General of India, 207. + Canton, visit to, 182, 185. + Cape May, in 1850, 79. + Carleton, Mrs., meeting with, 83. + Castiglione, Countess, 230. + Ceylon, visit to, 208. + Chatsworth, visit to, 102. + China, visit to, 180; + population of, 190. + Chinese, civilization of the, 197; + customs of the, 190; + honesty of the, 187. + Choate, Rufus, retained in the Franklin case, 62. + Chronicle, London, purchase of the, 272. + Cincinnati, honeymoon trip to, 116. + Civil War in the United States, England and the, 271. + Claflin, Tennie C., arrest of, 323. + Clarke, John, Jr., 7, 9. + Clay, Cassius M., debate with, 279. + Clay, Henry, calls on, 81. + Cluseret, Gen. Gustave Paul, summoned from Switzerland, 305. + Collie, Alexander, 180. + Collingwood, home at, 135. + Commune, the, 301. + Constantine, Grand Duke, meeting with, at Strelna, 251. + Constantinople, visit to, 216. + Cook, Captain, in Botany Bay, 145. + Copenhagen, tramway in, 269. + Cozzens's Hotel, Omaha, 296. + Credit Foncier, 285. + Credit Mobilier of America, 260, 285, 316. + Crimea, in the, 217. + Cristina, Queen Maria, and Atlantic and Great Western Railway, 227, + 237. + Crystal Palace, 103, 104. + + Dalhousie, Lord, Governor-General of India, 207. + Dallas, George M., 250. + Daniel Webster, the, 117. + Darlington, England, tramways in, 269. + Davis, Col. George T. M., 110, 116, 259. + Delane, John, editor London Times, 251. + Delmonico's, McHenry's $15,000 dinner at, 246. + De Morny, Count, 228. + De Questa, Rodrigo, and Atlantic and Great Western Railway, 238. + Derby, J. C., 273. + Devonshire, Duke of, meeting with the, 101. + Dinsmore, Mr., meeting with, 87. + Dombriski, Prince, received by, 255. + Donohue, Irish patriot, 165. + Donovan, the phrenologist, 122. + Drinking by women in 1850, 83. + Dublin, imprisonment in, 314. + Duckbill, the Australian, 169. + Durant, Dr. T. C., president of Credit Mobilier, 260. + + Elephants as carriers, 208. + Emerson, Ralph W., lecture at Waltham, 39; + engages passage for Europe, 60. + Emigration, Irish, to America, 76; + of the Landsdowne tenants, 97; + to Tasmania, 148. + "Emperor, the," fountain at Chatsworth, 102. + England, first impressions of, 90; + introduction of tramways in, 259; + and the Civil War in the United States, 271. + Excelsior, the Chinese, 193. + + Fallow, Christopher and John, 239. + Fenton, Reuben E., 243. + Fillmore, Millard, President, 113. + Fiske, Stebbins, 13. + Fitzroy, Sir Charles, Governor of New South Wales, 143. + "Five-Star Republic," the, of Australia, 157. + Flowers, love of, 177. + Flying Cloud, the, 72, 221. + Flying-fish, experience with, 208. + Fowler, the phrenologist, 123. + France, travels in, 233. + Franklin, wreck of the, 61. + Franklin, Sir John, house in Tasmania, 150. + Frost, Abigail Pickering, 10. + Frost, George W., 14. + Frost, Leonard, 39. + Fu-chow, visit to, 200. + Fuller, Frank, builder of Crystal Palace, 104. + Fuller, Col. Hiram, 93. + + Gambetta, interview with, 311. + Gambling at Saratoga in 1850, 85. + Geneva, Switzerland, tramway in, 269. + Georgetown Convent, visit to, 82. + Germany, travels in, 233. + Ginger, preparation of Canton, 190. + "Godowns," 185. + Golden Age, the, and Black Warrior incident, 143. + Gold-fever, in California, 71; + in Australia, 130, 141. + Gordon, "Chinese," 196. + Governor Davis, the, 64. + Grant, U. S., election to the presidency, 321. + Gray Nunnery, Montreal, visit to the, 87. + Greeley, Horace, nomination of, 320. + Green, E. H., in Hongkong, 182. + Greig, Colonel, entertained by, 254. + Guild, B. F., editor of Boston Commercial Bulletin, 276. + + Harris, Townsend, 179. + Havelock, General, 208. + Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 58. + Hayes, Kate, in Melbourne, 167. + Heard, Augustine, author of The Chinese Excelsior, 193, 200. + Henry, voyage to Boston on the, 7, 16. + Herald, New York, in 1856, 221. + Hill, Rowland, English postal reformer, 108. + Hobart Town, Tasmania, visit to, 149. + Holmes, Joseph A., secure employment with, 42. + Hongkong, visits to, 182, 203. + Hooligan, finder of the "bonanza nugget," 141. + Horsemanship, 112. + Hotel scheme for London, 105. + Howe, Joseph, ex-Governor of Nova Scotia, 113. + Howitt, William and Mary, 149. + Hudson, Captain, 249. + Hudson, Frederick, 222. + Hunt, Thornton, made editor of London Morning Chronicle, 272. + + Imprisonment, 314, 334. + India, visit to, 204. + Inventions, 106. + Irish immigration to America, 76. + Italy, travels in, 233. + + Japan, leaves Australia for, 168, 171; + trip abandoned, 200. + Java, visit to, 174. + Jerusalem, visit to, 211. + Joppa, visit to, 211. + Joshua Bates, the, 58, 72. + + Kangaroos, Sidney Smith on, 169. + Keene, Laura, in Melbourne, 166. + Kennard, Thomas, and Atlantic and Great Western Railway, 243. + King, Susan B., 332. + Krakatoa, volcano of, 175. + Kremlin, at the, 255. + + Lachine Rapids, shooting the, 86. + Laird, John, and the Birkenhead tramways, 261. + Lake Champlain, visit to, 88. + Lake George, visit to, 88. + Lamartine, Alphonse de, meeting with Seward, 232. + Lansdowne, Marquis of, 97. + Latrobe, Governor, 158. + Launceston, Tasmania, visit to, 151. + Lawrence, Abbott, United States Minister, 98. + Lawrence, Bigelow, marriage to Sallie Ward, 114. + Leghorn, explosion at, 233. + Lemon, Mark, 105. + Lexington, burning of the, 10, 36. + Lightning, the, 221. + Ligue du Midi, the, 305. + Li Hung Chang, meeting with, 195. + Lillo, Leon, 227; + and Atlantic and Great Western Railway, 238. + Lincoln, President, and emancipation, 280. + Liverpool, take charge of business in, 79, 90; + business facilities of, 94; + return to, after marriage, 117; + introduction of street-railways, 260. + London, visits to, 98, 104; + introduction of tramways, 263. + Lyons, imprisonment at, 310. + + Macao, visit to, 182. + MacDonald, Sir John A., 113. + MacFarlane, Rev. J. R., companion in the Holy Land, 211. + McGill, James, Australian outlaw, 159. + McHenry, James, 94, 108, 121, 231; + and Atlantic and Great Western Railway, 237. + Mackay, Charles, author, 125. + Mackay, Donald, 72, 223. + Mackay, John W., 76. + MacMahon, Marshal, in the Crimea, 219. + Madras, visit to, 208. + Marriage, 109. + Marseilles, in the Commune, 301. + Marsh, John Alfred, 121. + Marshall, Matthew, Jr., and Atlantic and Great Western Railway, 245. + Martin, John, Irish patriot, 165. + Marvin, the hotel-keeper, 83. + Mavrockadatis, the, trip to Newfoundland on, 274. + Melbourne, Australia, begin business in, 127; + in 1854, 133; + public improvement in, 170. + Methodism, New England, 21, 45. + Mirage, a, 209. + Montez, Lola, in Melbourne, 167. + Montreal, visit to, 86. + Morse, Salmi, 133. + Moscow, visit to, 255. + Mount Vernon, visit to, 82. + Munoz, Fernando, 237. + + Nana Sahib, 208. + Naples, visit to, 234. + Napoleon, Emperor Louis, 272; + hatred of, 226. + New Orleans, yellow fever at, 2. + New South Wales, gold-fever in, 130, 141. + New York, to sell Flying Cloud, 73; + vacation in, 79. + Niagara Falls, visit to, 86, 111. + Nicholson, Sir Charles, 143. + Nijnii Novgorod, visit to, 256. + Noroton, Conn., Soldiers' Home in, 164. + + O'Brien, Smith, Irish patriot, 165. + Ocean Monarch, the, 72; + burning of, 59. + Omaha, development of, 294. + Opium trade, 67; + English, in China, 196. + Otis, Mrs. Harrison Grey, meeting with, 84. + Outlaws, Australian, 152. + + Palestine, visit to, 211. + Paris, first visit to, 224, 226. + Parker, Dr., United States Minister to China, 180. + Parliament, the, trip to Liverpool on, 90. + Paxton, Sir Joseph, meeting with, 103. + Pennock, Commander, 249. + Peto, Sir Morton, 246. + Philippines, war in the, 178. + Phillips, Wendell, and the negro, 281. + Phrenology, experiences with, 121. + Pickering, Rev. George, 1, 21. + Pickering, Judge Gilbert, 23. + Pickering, Maria, 1. + Pidgin-English, 185, 192. + Pigeon-netting, 30. + Pirates, Chinese, 182, 201. + Plymouth Rock, the, trip to Melbourne on, 127. + Point de Galle, Ceylon, visit to, 208. + Porter, Capt. David D., visits Melbourne, 143. + Portland, Ore., speech at, 297. + Presidential aspirations, 314. + Pyramids, trip to the, 209. + + Railway building, in Australia, 131, 269; + Atlantic and Great Western Railway, 237, 269; + English street-railways, 259; + Union Pacific Railway, 269, 283. + Red Jacket, the, 221; + the incident at Melbourne, 138. + Rhoades, Sallie, 24. + Rianzares, Duke of, 227, 237. + Richardson, Albert D., Beyond the Mississippi, 291. + Ripley, George, 38. + Ristori, meeting with, 228. + Rome, hailed as "liberator" in uprising my 235. + Rumford, Count, 38. + Rush, Mrs., meeting with, 84. + Russell, Lord John, meeting with, at Braemar, 92; + and the Civil War, 272. + Russia, visit to, 249. + + St. Petersburg, visit to, 251. + St. Petersburg, the, 64. + Sala, George Augustus, 105; + in America, 260. + Salamanca, Jose de, Spanish banker, 228; + and Atlantic and Great Western Railway, 240. + San Francisco, lectures in, 296. + Saratoga, visit to, 83. + Savage Club of London, organization of the, 263. + Schenck, Robert E., 244. + Scotland, visit to, 92. + Seattle, speech in, 299. + Sebastopol, visit to, 217. + Seward, William H., in Paris, 231; + and the Mavrockadatis incident, 274; + in Washington, 281. + Seymour, Thomas H., Minister to Russia, 251. + Shanghai, visit to, 194. + Shelley, Sir John Villiers, 268. + Sherman, John, 244. + Ships, naming of, 174. + Singapore, visit to, 179. + Slave trade, Chinese, 184, 203. + Smith, Archdeacon, meeting with, 88. + Smith, Sidney, on kangaroos, 169; + prophecy in regard to Sydney, Australia, 143. + Smuggling, 67. + Smyrna, visit to, 215. + Sovereign of the Seas, the, 74, 221. + Spectator, the London, purchase of, 273. + Spence, Carroll, 217. + Spencer, Bishop of Jamaica, meeting with, 88; + dinner with, in London, 98. + "Spread-Eagleism," 244. + Staffordshire, introduction of tramways in, 268. + Staffordshire, the, 74. + Stettin, visit to, 251. + Stevens, Paran, 106. + Stoddard, Captain, meeting with, 87. + Street-railways, first English, 259. + Strelna, meeting with Grand Duke Constantine at, 251. + Suez, visit to, and land trip to Cairo, 209. + Sumner, Charles, speaks in Boston on the war, 277. + Swans, black, 168. + Sydney, visit to, 143. + + Tai-ping rebellion, 196. + Tasmania, visit to, 148; + gold-fever in, 130, 141. + Taylor, Moses, 166. + Taylor, President, introduced to, 80. + Tea, Chinese and Russian, 191, 334. + Temperance, 47, 99. + Ten-pins, skill in, 79; + in Australia, 135. + The Hague, visit to, 251. + Ticonderoga, visit to, 88. + Tilden, Samuel J., and Union Pacific Railway, 288. + Tilly, Governor, of New Brunswick, 113. + Tombs, imprisonment in the, 324. + Train, Ellen, 5. + Train, Col. Enoch, 52, 126, 223; + failure of, 173. + Train, Josephine, 3. + Train, Louisa, 9. + Train, Louise, 5. + Train, Oliver, 1, 7. + Train Villa, Newport, 314. + Tramways. See Street-railways. + Trescot, Commodore, meeting with, 88. + Tucker, Beverley, consul in Liverpool, 123. + Tweed Ring, exposure of the, 32. + + Unicorn, the wreck of, 118. + Union Pacific Railway, 269, 283. + Upas-tree, fable of the, 189. + Upton, George B., 223. + + Verne, Jules, Le Tour du Monde en Quatre-vingts Jours, 301, 331. + Victoria, Queen, 92, 104. + Vienna, visit to, 235. + + Wade, Benjamin, 244. + Wales, visit to, 101. + Waltham, Mass., homestead at, 1, 19, 21. + Ward, Frederick Townsend, in China, 196. + Ward, Alfredo, 109. + Ward, Gen. C. L., 243. + Ward, Sallie, marriage to Bigelow Lawrence, 114. + Washington, vacation trip to, 79. + Washington Irving, the, 58, 72, 144. + Webster, Daniel, letter from, 80, 87, 92; + retained in the Franklin case, 63; + Secretary of State, 80. + Wellington, Duke of, 100. + West Point, visit to, 82. + Whistler, Major, 255. + Willis, N. P., John Brougham on, 124. + Wilson, Henry T., 148. + Winslow, Henry A., 10. + Woodhull, Victoria C., arrest of, 323. + World tours, 331. + + Young America Abroad, 93, 103, 257. + Young America in Wall Street, 125. + + + + + * * * * * + + + + +Transcriber's note: + +Punctuation has been corrected without note. + +page 280: "nonogenarian" changed to "nonagenarian" (who is now a +nonagenarian, in his armed castle in Kentucky). + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MY LIFE IN MANY STATES AND IN +FOREIGN LANDS*** + + +******* This file should be named 38265.txt or 38265.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/8/2/6/38265 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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