diff options
Diffstat (limited to '38265-h')
| -rw-r--r-- | 38265-h/38265-h.htm | 12805 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 38265-h/images/cover.jpg | bin | 0 -> 41449 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 38265-h/images/illus-001.jpg | bin | 0 -> 24045 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 38265-h/images/illus-002a.png | bin | 0 -> 1788 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 38265-h/images/illus-028.png | bin | 0 -> 124781 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 38265-h/images/illus-138.jpg | bin | 0 -> 26232 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 38265-h/images/illus-230.jpg | bin | 0 -> 41545 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 38265-h/images/illus-318.jpg | bin | 0 -> 30290 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 38265-h/images/illus-348.jpg | bin | 0 -> 29923 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 38265-h/images/illus-360.jpg | bin | 0 -> 35695 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 38265-h/images/illus-376.jpg | bin | 0 -> 27575 bytes |
11 files changed, 12805 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/38265-h/38265-h.htm b/38265-h/38265-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..277259e --- /dev/null +++ b/38265-h/38265-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,12805 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of My Life in Many States and in Foreign Lands, by George Francis Train</title> + <style type="text/css"> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + h1 { text-align:center; line-height:1.5; } + p.title { text-align:center; text-indent:0; + font-weight:bold; + line-height:1.4; margin-bottom:3em; } + small { font-size:60%; } + big { font-size:140%; } + + h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; +} + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; +} + + ul.decimal {list-style-type: none;} + ul.none {list-style-type: none;} + + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} + +.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; +} /* page numbers */ + +.linenum { + position: absolute; + top: auto; + left: 4%; +} /* poetry number */ + + +blockquote,.blockquot { + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 5%; + font-size: 90%;} + + +p.quotdate { /* date of a letter aligned right */ + text-align: right; + } +p.quotsig { /* author signature at end of letter */ + margin-left: 35%; + text-indent: -4em; /* gimmick to move 2nd line right */ +} + +a:link { +color: #0000ff; +text-decoration: none;} + + +.gap4 {margin-top: 4em;} +.center {text-align: center;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +.smaller {font-size: smaller;} + +.bigfont {font-size: 1.3em; font-weight: bold;} + +.ralign {position: absolute;right: 11%; top: auto;} + + +.caption {font-weight: bold;} + +.TOC {list-style-type: none;} + +.TOC p {font-size: 90%; + margin-left: 3%; + margin-right: 10%;} + +.index {list-style-type: none; + font-size: 90%; + margin-left: 3%;} + + +ul.IX {list-style-type: none; + margin-left: 3%; + margin-top: 0; + margin-bottom: 0;} + +.x-large {font-size: x-large;} + +/* Images */ +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; +} + +.figleft { + float: left; + clear: left; + margin-left: 0; + margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-right: 1em; + padding: 0; + text-align: center; +} +p.caption { + margin-top: 0; /* snuggled up to its image */ + font-size: smaller; + text-align: center; + font-weight: bold; + +} + +/* Poetry */ + + div.poem {border:none; + text-align:left; + margin: 1em auto; + } + .poem .stanza { + margin-top: 1em; + } + .stanza span + {border:none; + display:block; + line-height: 1.2em; + padding-left: 2em; + text-indent: -2em; + margin-top: 0; + } + .stanza br { + display: none; + } + + .poem .i0 {display:block; margin-left: 0em;} + .poem .i1 {display:block; margin-left: 1em;} + .poem .i2 {display:block; margin-left: 2em;} + .poem .i3 {display:block; margin-left: 3em;} + .poem .i4 {display:block; margin-left: 4em;} + .poem .i5 {display:block; margin-left: 5em;} + .poem .i6 {display:block; margin-left: 6em;} + + + h1.pg { text-align:center; line-height:1; } + hr.full { width: 100%; + margin-top: 3em; + margin-bottom: 0em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + height: 4px; + border-width: 4px 0 0 0; /* remove all borders except the top one */ + border-style: solid; + border-color: #000000; + clear: both; } + pre {font-size: 85%;} + </style> +</head> +<body> +<h1 class="pg">The Project Gutenberg eBook, My Life in Many States and in Foreign Lands, +by George Francis Train</h1> +<pre> +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 <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. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution.</p> + + + +<pre> +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/license">http://www.gutenberg.org/license)</a>. + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +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 + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS,' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://www.gutenberg.org/about/contact + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Each eBook is in a subdirectory of the same number as the eBook's +eBook number, often in several formats including plain vanilla ASCII, +compressed (zipped), HTML and others. + +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks replace the old file and take over +the old filename and etext number. The replaced older file is renamed. +VERSIONS based on separate sources are treated as new eBooks receiving +new filenames and etext numbers. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org">http://www.gutenberg.org</a> + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + +EBooks posted prior to November 2003, with eBook numbers BELOW #10000, +are filed in directories based on their release date. If you want to +download any of these eBooks directly, rather than using the regular +search system you may utilize the following addresses and just +download by the etext year. + +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext06/">http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext06/</a> + + (Or /etext 05, 04, 03, 02, 01, 00, 99, + 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90) + +EBooks posted since November 2003, with etext numbers OVER #10000, are +filed in a different way. The year of a release date is no longer part +of the directory path. The path is based on the etext number (which is +identical to the filename). The path to the file is made up of single +digits corresponding to all but the last digit in the filename. For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/GUTINDEX.ALL">http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/GUTINDEX.ALL</a> + +*** END: FULL LICENSE *** +</pre> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/38265-h/images/cover.jpg b/38265-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..9e13e0b --- /dev/null +++ b/38265-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/38265-h/images/illus-001.jpg b/38265-h/images/illus-001.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..773b74e --- /dev/null +++ b/38265-h/images/illus-001.jpg diff --git a/38265-h/images/illus-002a.png b/38265-h/images/illus-002a.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..fe173b0 --- /dev/null +++ b/38265-h/images/illus-002a.png diff --git a/38265-h/images/illus-028.png b/38265-h/images/illus-028.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..9287289 --- /dev/null +++ b/38265-h/images/illus-028.png diff --git a/38265-h/images/illus-138.jpg b/38265-h/images/illus-138.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..9e1a40d --- /dev/null +++ b/38265-h/images/illus-138.jpg diff --git a/38265-h/images/illus-230.jpg b/38265-h/images/illus-230.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1305943 --- /dev/null +++ b/38265-h/images/illus-230.jpg diff --git a/38265-h/images/illus-318.jpg b/38265-h/images/illus-318.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6b4d0a7 --- /dev/null +++ b/38265-h/images/illus-318.jpg diff --git a/38265-h/images/illus-348.jpg b/38265-h/images/illus-348.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d089077 --- /dev/null +++ b/38265-h/images/illus-348.jpg diff --git a/38265-h/images/illus-360.jpg b/38265-h/images/illus-360.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f713b18 --- /dev/null +++ b/38265-h/images/illus-360.jpg diff --git a/38265-h/images/illus-376.jpg b/38265-h/images/illus-376.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d005877 --- /dev/null +++ b/38265-h/images/illus-376.jpg |
