wife would consent, and that Mr. Astor could see her the next morning.
Mr. Astor was punctual to the appointment, and his offer was accepted by
the good lady, who said to him, condescendingly, "I don't want to sell
the house, but we are such old friends that I am willing for your sake."

Mr. Astor used to remark with great glee that any one could afford to
exhibit such condescension after receiving double the value of a piece
of property.

Having got possession of the entire block, he commenced the demolition
of the old buildings, and on their site reared the Astor House, then the
largest and most elegant hotel in the country. This building, when
completed, he gave to his eldest son, William B. Astor.

In 1832, Mr. Astor sailed for Europe to visit one of his daughters, who
had married a nobleman, and remained abroad until 1835. In that year he
was compelled to return home by the action of General Jackson with
regard to the Bank of the United States. "He reached Havre," says Mr.
Parton, "when the ship, on the point of sailing, had every stateroom
engaged, but he was so anxious to get home, that the captain, who had
commanded ships for him in former years, gave up to him his own
stateroom. Head winds and boisterous seas kept the vessel beating about
and tossing in the channel for many days. The great man was very sick,
and still more alarmed. At length, being persuaded that he should not
survive the voyage, he asked the captain to run in and set him ashore on
the coast of England. The captain dissuaded him. The old man urged his
request at every opportunity, and said, at last, 'I give you tousand
dollars to put me aboard a pilot boat.' He was so vehement and
importunate, that one day the captain, worried out of all patience,
promised him that if he did not get out of the channel before next
morning, he would run in and put him ashore. It happened that the wind
changed in the afternoon and wafted the ship into the broad ocean. But
the troubles of the sea-sick millionaire had only just begun. A heavy
gale of some days' duration blew the vessel along the western coast of
Ireland. Mr. Astor, now thoroughly panic-stricken, offered the captain
ten thousand dollars if he would put him ashore anywhere on the wild and
rocky coast of the Emerald Isle. In vain the captain remonstrated. In
vain he reminded the old gentleman of the danger of forfeiting his
insurance.

"'Insurance!' exclaimed Astor, 'can't I insure your ship my self?'

"In vain the captain mentioned the rights of the other passengers. In
vain he described the solitary and rock-bound coast, and detailed the
dangers and difficulties which attended its approach. Nothing would
appease him. He said he would take all the responsibility, brave all the
perils, endure all the consequences, only let him once more feel the
firm ground under his feet. The gale having abated, the captain yielded
to his entreaties, and engaged, if the other passengers would consent to
the delay, to stand in, and put him ashore. Mr. Astor went into the
cabin, and proceeded to write what was expected to be a draft for ten
thousand dollars in favor of the owners of the ship on his agent in New
York. He handed to the captain the result of his efforts. It was a paper
covered with writing that was totally illegible.

"'What is this?' asked the captain.

"'A draft upon my son for ten thousand dollars,' was the reply.

"'But no one can read it.'

"'O yes, my son will know what it is. My hand trembles so that I can not
write any better.'

"'But,' said the captain, 'you can at least write your name. I am acting
for the owners of the ship, and I can not risk their property for a
piece of paper that no one can read. Let one of the gentlemen draw up a
draft in proper form; you sign it, and I will put you ashore.'

"The old gentleman would not consent to this mode of proceeding, and the
affair was dropped."

During the last twenty years of his life Mr. Astor lived in the
retirement of his family, leaving even the greater part of the
management of his estate to the hands of others. He was exceedingly fond
of literary men. Irving was his friend, and Halleck his business
manager. He died at the age of eighty-four years and eight months,
literally from old age. He was buried in St. Thomas's Church, on
Broadway.

His immense estate was left to his children, the bulk of it being
bequeathed to his eldest son. All of his relatives were made
comfortable. The village of Waldorf, his native place, received a legacy
of fifty thousand dollars for the benefit of its poor, and an amount in
land and funds equal to four hundred thousand dollars was left to
certain trustees to establish the Astor Library in the city of New York.
Besides these, several charitable and benevolent associations received
handsome donations from him.

His career has been related in these pages as an example to those who
are seeking to rise in legitimate commerce. It is the Best instance on
record of the facility with which success may be won by patient and
intelligent industry. In his capacity for grasping and carrying out an
enterprise, in his prudent and economical management of his business,
in his tact, courage, sagacity, Mr. Astor's example is one which will
lead many to success, and none to injury.

He was a thoroughly upright man, his transactions were rigidly honest;
but as a man, candor compels the acknowledgment that he was not a safe
or admirable model. He was utterly devoid of generosity. Liberal to an
extreme with his own family, he was close and hard with others. He paid
small wages to his employes and never gave more than the man bargained
for, no matter what extra service might be rendered. He carried his
economy to a degree of meanness painful to contemplate. At his death,
out of his vast estate, he left to his friend and faithful manager an
annuity of only two hundred dollars, which his son increased to fifteen
hundred.

One of his captains once succeeded in saving for him property in China
to the amount of seven hundred thousand dollars, which had become
jeopardized by the sudden death of the agent in charge of it. This
service was purely voluntary, and was one which required the greatest
skill, determination, and courage on the part of the captain, and Astor
acknowledged it, frequently saying: "If you had not done just as you
did, I should never have seen one dollar of my money; no, not one dollar
of it." This was the only acknowledgment he made, however. He was worth
ten millions of dollars, and the captain had only his pay--twelve
hundred dollars a year--and a family. At his father's death Mr. William
B. Astor sent a considerable sum to the old seaman in return for this
service.

"We have all heard much of the closeness, or rather the meanness, of
this remarkable man. Truth compels us to admit that he was not generous,
except to his own kindred. His liberality began and ended in his own
family. Very seldom during his lifetime did he willingly do a generous
act, outside of the little circle of his relations and descendants. To
get all he could, and to keep nearly all that he got--those were the
laws of his being.... He enjoyed keenly the consciousness, the feeling,
of being rich. The roll-book of his possessions was his Bible. He
scanned it fondly, and saw, with quiet but deep delight, the catalogue
of his property lengthening from month to month. The love of
accumulation grew with his years, until it ruled him like a tyrant. If
at fifty he possessed his millions, at sixty-five his millions possessed
him. Only to his own children and to their children was he liberal; and
his liberality to them was all arranged with a view to keeping his
estate in the family, and to cause it at every moment to tend toward a
final consolidation in one enormous mass."

This is the estimate of his character formed by Mr. James Parton. His
friend Dr. Coggswell presents him in quite a different light. He says:

"Mr. Astor lived to the good old age of four score and four years and
eight months. For some years previous to his death, which happened March
29, 1848, his manly form was bowed down by age, and his bodily strength
greatly enfeebled, but his mind retained much of its original Vigor and
brightness. Considering his extraordinary activity until a late period
of his life, he submitted to the helplessness of age with uncommon
resignation. When his impaired eye-sight no longer permitted him to
read, his principal relief from the wearisomeness of unoccupied time was
in the society of his friends and near relatives. All who knew him well
were strongly attached to him, and none but those who were ignorant of
his true character believed him unamiable and repulsive.

"His smile was peculiarly benignant and expressive of genuine kindness
of heart, and his whole manner cordial and courteous to every one
entitled to his respect. There was something so impressive in his
appearance, no one could stand before him without feeling that he was in
the presence of a superior intelligence. His deep, sunken eye, beneath
his overarched brow, denoted the prophetic--it might almost be said the
inspired--mind within. Although he lived many years beyond the age when
the grasshopper is a burden, and was the victim of much suffering, he
did not murmur, nor did he become unreasonable and peevish. He was not
wont to talk much on the subject of religion, or freely communicate his
views in relation to the life beyond the grave; but it can not be
doubted that such tranquility as he exhibited in his near approach to
it must have been derived from 'that peace which the world can neither
give nor take away,'"

Perhaps a medium between Mr. Parton's bitterness and Dr. Coggswell's
enthusiasm will be as correct an estimate of his personal character as
can be formed. It is a singular fact that Mr. Astor managed, in spite of
the closeness which marked his operations, in spite of the small wages
he paid, to inspire his employes with a zeal in his service that made
them willing to undertake any thing, to endure any amount of labor, for
him.

"He once lost seventy thousand dollars by committing a piece of petty
injustice toward his best captain. This gallant sailor, being notified
by an insurance office of the necessity of having a chronometer on
board his ship, spoke to Mr. Astor on the subject, who advised the
captain to buy one.

"'But,' said the captain, 'I have no five hundred dollars to spare for
such a purpose; the chronometer should belong to the ship.'

"'Well,' said the merchant, 'you need not pay for it now; pay for it at
your convenience,'

"The captain still objecting, Astor, after a prolonged higgling,
authorized him to buy a chronometer and charge it to the ship's account,
which was done.

"Sailing day was at hand. The ship was hauled into the stream. The
captain, as is the custom, handed in his account. Astor, subjecting it
to his usual close scrutiny, observed the novel item of five hundred
dollars for the chronometer. He objected, averring that it was
understood between them that the captain was to pay for the instrument.
The worthy sailor recalled the conversation, and firmly held to his
recollection of it. Astor insisting on his own view of the matter, the
captain was so profoundly disgusted that, important as the command of
the ship was to him, he resigned his post. Another captain was soon
found, and the ship sailed for China.

"Another house, which was then engaged in the China trade, knowing the
worth of this 'king of captains,' as Astor himself used to style him,
bought him a ship and dispatched him to Canton two months after the
departure of Astor's vessel. Our captain, put upon his mettle, employed
all his skill to accelerate the speed of his ship, and had such success
that he reached New York, with a full cargo of tea, just seven days
after the arrival of Mr. Astor's ship. Astor, not expecting another ship
for months, and therefore sure of monopolizing the market, had not yet
broken bulk, nor even taken off the hatchways. Our captain arrived on a
Saturday. Advertisements and handbills were immediately issued, and on
the Wednesday morning following, as the custom then was, the auction
sale of the tea began on the wharf--two barrels of punch contributing to
the _eclat_ and hilarity of the occasion. The cargo was sold to good
advantage, and the market was glutted. Astor lost in consequence the
entire profits of the voyage, not less than the sum previously named.
Meeting the captain some time after in Broadway, he said:

"'I had better have paid for that chronometer of yours,'"

Yet he could do a kind act when he was in the humor. When he was poor
and struggling for fortune, he had a friend in the city named Pell, a
coachmaker. As he advanced in the world he lost sight of his friend. One
day a young man called on him to ask if he would sell one of his leases
which he (the visitor) then held. He replied promptly and decidedly that
he would not sell.

"But what is your name?" he asked.

"It is Pell," was the reply.

"Pell--Pell--" said the old man, hesitating a moment, "I knew a man by
that name once; he was a dear friend of mine, but I have not seen him
for years."

"That man," said the visitor, "was my father."

"Indeed," exclaimed the old man, warmly; "your father? Why, he used to
give me rides in his coaches. How I should like to see him."

Then pausing a moment, and smiling as he recalled the past to his mind,
he said:

"You shall have the lease, young man. Go home, have the papers drawn,
come here at eleven o'clock on Thursday, and I'll sign them. But don't
put in any consideration."

The engagement was kept punctually by both parties.

"Have you got the papers?" asked the merchant. "Did you put in the
consideration? Well, let it be one hundred dollars. Have you got the
money about you? Well, no matter, Bruce will keep the lease till you
come and pay. I've given you two thousand dollars, young man. Don't you
buy any more, for I sha'n't do it again. You tell your father that I
remember him, and that I have given you two thousand dollars."

Mr. Astor dearly liked a joke, and occasionally indulged in a sly bit of
humor himself. On one occasion a committee called upon him to solicit a
donation for some charitable object. The old man took the subscription
list, and, after examining it, signed it and gave the committee a check
for fifty dollars. They had expected much more, and one of them ventured
to say:

"We did hope for more, Mr. Astor. Your son gave us a hundred dollars."

"Ah!" replied the old man, dryly, "William has a rich father. Mine was
very poor."




CHAPTER III.

ALEXANDER T. STEWART.


In the year 1818, a European vessel anchored in the harbor of New York,
after a long and weary voyage from the Old World. She brought many
passengers to the young metropolis, the majority of whom came with the
intention of seeking fortunes in this land of promise.

Among them was a young Irishman who had left his home in his native land
to seek in America the means of bettering his condition. This was
ALEXANDER T. STEWART. He was the son of Scotch-Irish parents, and was
born in Belfast in 1802. Being only three years old when his father
died, his grandfather took charge of him, and proved a kind and
judicious guardian. As he was designed for the ministry by his relative,
and as his own tastes inclined him to that profession, he was given a
good common school education, and placed at college, where he made
favorable progress in his class. He was particularly successful in the
classics, and is said to retain his relish for them at the present day.

During his second term his grandfather died, and he was by this event
obliged to leave college. Abandoning the idea of entering the ministry,
he embarked for America, determined to make a fortune in the New World.
He came sufficiently supplied with ready money to insure him against
immediate want, and with letters of introduction which at once secured
him an excellent social position.

After trying in vain for some time to secure employment in a business
house, he obtained a position as assistant in a commercial school. This
he soon resigned for a similar place in a more celebrated school. His
salary here was $300, which was considered ample compensation in those
days.

Not wishing to continue in this career, however, he opened a small
retail dry goods store in New York, and began business on a humble
scale. Here he remained until the age of twenty-one, manifesting no
extraordinary business capacity, and in no way distinguished from the
many small dealers around him. Upon reaching his majority he returned to
Ireland, to look after the inheritance left him by his grandfather. The
amount which thus came to him was nearly one thousand pounds, and the
greater part of this he invested in "insertions" and "scollop
trimmings," which he shipped to America by the vessel in which he
returned. He rented a little store, on his return, at 283 Broadway, and
there displayed his stock, which met with a ready sale at a fair profit.

Without mercantile experience, and possessing little advantage, save his
own Scotch-Irish energy and courage, Mr. Stewart started boldly on what
proved the road to fortune. No young merchant ever worked harder than
he. From fourteen to eighteen hours each day were given to his business.
He was his own book-keeper, salesman, and porter. He could not afford to
employ help. Credit was hard to obtain in those days, and young
merchants were not favorites with those who had such favors to bestow.
Mr. Stewart was one of the least favored, inasmuch as he was almost a
total stranger to the business community in which he lived. He kept a
small stock of goods on hand, which he purchased for cash chiefly at
the auction sales. He was a regular attendant at these sales, and his
purchases were invariably "sample lots"--that is, collections of small
quantities of various articles thrown together in confusion, and sold in
heaps for what they would bring. He had these purchases conveyed to his
store, and after the business of the day was over, he and his wife would
take these "sample lots," and by carefully assorting them, bring order
out of the confusion. Every article was patiently gone over. Gloves were
redressed and smoothed out, laces pressed free from the creases which
careless bidders had twisted into them, and hose made to look as fresh
as if they had never been handled. Each article being good in itself,
was thus restored to its original excellence. The goods were then
arranged in their proper places on the shelves of the store, and by
being offered at a lower price than that charged by retail dealers
elsewhere in the city, met with a ready sale. Even at this low price the
profit was great, since they had been purchased for a mere trifle. For
six years Mr. Stewart continued to conduct his business in this way,
acquiring every day a larger and more profitable trade. Here he laid
down those principles of business and personal integrity from which he
has never departed, and which have led-him to the honorable position he
now holds.

"His first rule was _honesty_ between seller and buyer. His career is a
perfect exemplification of Poor Richard's maxim: 'Honesty is the best
policy,' and of the poet's declaration: 'Nothing can need a lie,' His
interest consorted with his inclination, his policy with his principles,
and the business with the man, when he determined that the truth should
be told over his counter, and that no misrepresentation of his goods
should be made. He never asked, he never would suffer, a clerk to
misrepresent the quality of his merchandise. Clerks who had been
educated at other stores to cheat customers, and then to laugh off the
transaction as 'cuteness,' or defend it as 'diamond cut diamond,' found
no such slipshod morality at Stewart's little store, and learned
frankness and fairness in representation at the peril of dismissal.
Their employer asked no gain from deceit in trade. On his part, too, in
buying, he rarely gave a seller a second opportunity to misrepresent
goods to him.

"A second innovation of the young dry goods dealer was selling at _one
price_--a custom which has also lasted without interruption, and which
has spread to all the great houses. He fixed his price, after careful
consideration, at what he thought the goods could and would bring, and
would not deviate from it for any haggling, or to suit individual cases.
Of course, he followed the fluctuations of the market, and marked his
goods up or down in accordance with it; but no difference in the price
was made to different people. Perhaps those who had some art in 'beating
down' prices were offended, but people in general were pleased.

"The third principle he adopted was that of _cash on delivery_. It is
said that his own early experience of buying on credit, and selling on
credit, drove him to this rule.

"A fourth principle with him was to conduct business as business--not as
sentiment. His aim was honorable profit, and he had no purpose of
confusing it by extraneous considerations."

While still engaged in his first struggles in his little store, Mr.
Stewart found himself called on to make arrangements to pay a note which
would soon become due. It was for a considerable sum, and he had neither
the money nor the means of borrowing it. It was a time when the
mercantile community of New York regarded a failure to pay a note as a
crime, and when such a failure was sure to bring ruin to any new man.
Mr. Stewart knew this, and felt that he must act with greater resolution
and daring than he had ever before exhibited, if he would save himself
from dishonor. To meet the crisis he adopted a bold and skillful
maneuver. He marked down every article in his store far below the
wholesale price. This done, he had a number of handbills printed,
announcing that he would sell off his entire stock of goods below cost,
within a given time. He scattered these handbills broadcast through the
city, and it was not long before purchasers began to flock to his store
to secure the great bargains which his advertisements offered them. His
terms were "cash," and he had little difficulty in selling. Purchasers
found that they thus secured the best goods in the market at a lower
figure than they had ever been offered before in New York, and each one
was prompt to advise relatives and friends to avail themselves of the
favorable opportunity. Customers were plentiful; the little Broadway
store was thronged all day, and long before the expiration of the period
he had fixed for the duration of his sales, Mr. Stewart found his
shelves empty and his treasury full. He paid his note with a part of the
money he had thus received, and with the rest laid in a fresh stock of
goods. He was fortunate in his purchases at this time, for, as the
market was extremely dull and ready money scarce, he, by paying cash,
bought his goods at very low prices.

The energy, industry, patience, and business tact displayed by Mr.
Stewart during these first years of his commercial life brought him
their sure reward, and in 1828, just six years after commencing
business, he found his little store too small and humble for the large
and fashionable trade which had come to him. Three new stores had just
been erected on Broadway, between Chambers and Warren Streets, and he
leased the smallest of these and moved into it. It was a modest
building, only three stories high and but thirty feet deep, but it was a
great improvement on his original place. He was enabled to fill it with
a larger and more attractive stock of goods, and his business was
greatly benefited by the change. He remained in this store for four
years, and in 1832 removed to a two-story building located on Broadway,
between Murray and Warren Streets. Soon after occupying it, he was
compelled, by the growth of his business, to add twenty feet to the
depth of the store and a third story to the building. A year or two
later a fourth story was added, and in 1837 a fifth story, so rapidly
did he prosper.

His trade was now with the wealthy and fashionable class of the city. He
had surmounted all his early difficulties, and laid the foundation of
that splendid fortune which he has since won. The majority of his
customers were ladies, and he now resolved upon an expedient for
increasing their number. He had noticed that the ladies, in "shopping,"
were given to the habit of gossiping, and even flirting with the clerks,
and he adopted the expedient of employing as his salesmen the handsomest
men he could procure, a practice which has since become common. The plan
was successful from the first. Women came to his store in greater
numbers than before, and "Stewart's nice young men" were the talk of the
town.

The great crisis of 1837 found Mr. Stewart a prosperous and rising man,
and that terrible financial storm which wrecked so many of the best of
the city firms did not so much as leave its mark on him. Indeed, while
other men were failing all around him, he was coining money. It had
always been his habit to watch the market closely, in order to profit by
any sudden change in it, and his keen sagacity enabled him to see the
approach of the storm long before it broke, and to prepare for it.

He at once marked down all his goods as low as possible, and began to
"sell for cost," originating the system which is now so popular. The
prices were very low, and the goods of the best quality. Every body
complained of the hard times, and all were glad to save money by
availing themselves of "Stewart's bargains." In this way he carried on a
retail cash trade of five thousand dollars per day in the midst of the
most terrible crisis the country has ever seen. Other merchants were
reduced to every possible expedient, and were compelled to send their
goods to auction to be sold for what they would bring, so great was
their need of ready money. Stewart attended all these auctions
regularly, and purchased the goods thus offered. These he sold rapidly
by means of his "cost system," realizing an average profit of forty per
cent. It is said that he purchased fifty thousand dollars worth of silks
in this way, and sold the whole lot in a few days, making a profit of
twenty thousand dollars on the transaction. Thus he not only passed
through the "crisis," but made a fortune in the midst of it.

From that time to the present day his march to fortune has been
uninterrupted. Nearly a quarter of a century ago he purchased the
property which is now the site of his wholesale store, and commenced to
erect the splendid marble warehouse which he still occupies. His friends
were surprised at his temerity. They told him it was too far up town,
and on the wrong side of Broadway, but he quietly informed them that a
few years would vindicate his wisdom, and see his store the center of
the most flourishing business neighborhood of New York. His predictions
have been more than realized.

He moved into his new store in 1846, and continued to expand and enlarge
his business every year. Some years ago he purchased the old
Ninth-Street Dutch Church and the lots adjacent to it, comprising the
entire block lying between Ninth and Tenth Streets, Broadway and Fourth
Avenue. When he found the retail trade going up town, and deserting its
old haunts below Canal Street, he erected a fine iron building at the
corner of Broadway and Tenth Street, to which he removed the retail
department of his business, continuing his wholesale trade at his old
store on Chambers Street. This new "upper store" has increased with the
business. The building now covers the entire block upon which it is
erected, and is the largest, most complete, and magnificent
establishment of its kind in the world.

Though he took no active part in politics, he was too much interested in
public affairs, by reason of his immense wealth, not to watch them
closely. He was satisfied, some time before our late troubles began,
that war must come, and quietly made contracts with nearly all the
manufacturers for all their productions for a considerable period of
time. Accordingly, when the war did come, it was found that nearly all
the articles of clothing, blankets, etc., needed for the army had been
monopolized by him. His profits on these transactions amounted to many
millions of dollars, though it should be remarked that his dealings with
the Government were characterized by an unusual degree of liberality.
The gains thus realized by him more than counterbalanced the losses he
sustained by the sudden cessation of his Southern trade.

Fifty years have now passed away since the young school-teacher landed
in New York, and he stands to-day at the head of the mercantile
interests of the New World. In the half-century which has elapsed since
then, he has won a fortune which is variously estimated at from
twenty-five to forty millions of dollars. He has gained all this wealth
fairly, not by trickery and deceit, or even by a questionable honesty,
but by a series of mercantile transactions the minutest of which bears
the impress of his sterling integrity, and by a patience, energy, tact,
and genius of which few men are possessed. Surely, then, it must be a
proud thought to him that he has done all this _himself_, by his own
unaided efforts, and that amid all his wonderful success there does not
rest one single stain upon his good name as a man or a merchant.

It is said that Mr. Stewart regards himself as a "lucky man," rather
than as one who has risen by the force of his own genius. A writer in
the New York _Herald_ relates the following incident, as illustrative of
the superstition which this feeling of "luck" has given rise to with
him: "When he kept his store on Broadway, between Murray and Warren
Streets, there sat on the sidewalk before it, on an orange box, an old
woman, whose ostensible occupation was the selling of apples. This
business was, however, merely a pretense; the main object being beggary.
As years rolled on, Mr. Stewart became impressed with the idea that the
old dame was his guardian angel of good luck, and this impression took
so firm a hold upon his mind that when he removed to Chambers Street,
he, in person, took up the old woman's box, and removed her to the front
of his new establishment. In further illustration of Mr. Stewart's faith
in the Irish traditional belief in 'lucky' and 'unlucky' persons, it may
be mentioned that, after the completion of the St. Nicholas Hotel in
this city, an undertaking in which he was largely interested, and when
the building was just about to be opened for the reception of guests,
the millionaire, standing in the drawing-room, ejaculated, 'It is now
finished; I hope its first visitors may be lucky people.'

"A gentleman present, who had heard of Mr. Stewart's care for the aged
apple vendor, remarked, 'I presume, sir, you do not in reality care
about lucky or unlucky persons;' to which he immediately replied,
'Indeed, I do. There are persons who are unlucky. I sometimes open a
case of goods, and sell the first from it to some person who is unlucky,
and lose on it to the end. I frequently see persons to whom I would not
sell if I could avoid it.'"

The first incident, if true, doubtless illustrates the quiet kindness
with which Mr. Stewart watches over the poor that he takes under his
care--and they are many. He has won his success too fairly to be a
believer in mere _luck_. There is no such thing as chance in this world.
Men are the architects of their own fortunes.

One of the principal reasons of his success is the rigid system with
which he conducts his business. He has a place for every thing, and a
time for every duty, and requires the same regularity from his
subordinates. His salesmen and managers are thoroughly versed in their
duties, and the more important of them are selected with great care.
Every thing works smoothly under the master's eye, and there is a
penalty for each and every delinquency, which is rigidly exacted.

Mr. Stewart is one of the hardest workers in his establishment. His
partners relieve him of the details, but the general management of his
immense business he trusts to no other hands. His eye is on every thing.
He is familiar with every detail, though he does not take upon himself
its direction. He goes to his business between nine and ten in the
morning, stopping first at his upper store. He makes a brief but
thorough inspection here, and learns the general progress of the day,
and then repairs to his lower or wholesale store, where he remains
during business hours, and returns home between five and six in the
afternoon, stopping again at the upper store. He works hard, and is
never absent from his post unless detained by sickness.

His time is valuable, and he is not willing to waste it.

Many persons endeavor to see him merely to gratify their impertinent
curiosity, and others wish to intrude upon him for purposes which would
simply consume his time. To protect himself, he has been compelled to
resort to the following expedient: A gentleman is kept on guard near the
main door of the store, whose duty is to inquire the business of
visitors. If the visitor wishes to see Mr. Stewart, the "sentinel"
informs him that he must first state his business to him. If the visitor
urges that it is private, he is told that Mr. Stewart has no private
business. If his errand meets the approval of the gentleman on guard, he
is allowed to go up stairs, where he is met by the confidential agent of
the great merchant, to whom he must repeat the object of his visit. If
this gentleman is satisfied, or can not get rid of the visitor, he
enters the private office of his employer and lays the case before him.
If the business of the visitor is urgent he is admitted, otherwise, he
is refused an interview. If admitted, the conference is brief and to the
point. There is no time lost. Matters are dispatched with a method and
promptitude which astonish strangers. If the visitor attempts to draw
the merchant into a friendly conversation, or indulges in useless
complimentary phrases, after the matter on which he came is settled, Mr.
Stewart's manner instantly becomes cold and repelling, and troublesome
persons are sometimes given a hint which hastens their departure. This
is his working time, and it is precious to him. He can not afford to
waste it upon idlers. In social life he is said to be exceedingly
affable.

The greater portion of Mr. Stewart's immense fortune is invested in real
estate. Besides his two stores on Broadway, he owns the Metropolitan
Hotel and the New York Theater, also on Broadway; nearly all of Bleecker
Street from Broadway to Depauw Row, several churches, a number of
buildings, and many valuable lots. He resides at the north-east corner
of the Fifth Avenue and Thirty-fourth Street. Immediately opposite he is
building one of the finest residences in the world, and the most superb
in America. He owns more real estate than any man in America except
William B. Astor, and is the most successful merchant in the world.

Mr. Stewart is said to be extremely liberal in his donations to objects
which meet with his sympathy. The majority of these donations are
quietly made, as he has a repugnance to public charities. He gave
liberally to the cause of the Union during the war. During that struggle
he sent a cargo of provisions to Ireland, where much distress existed,
and then invited as many emigrants as the vessel would carry to take
passage to America in her, free of charge. One hundred and thirty-nine
persons availed themselves of his offer, and upon reaching America were
all provided with good situations by him. At present he is engaged in
erecting on the Fourth Avenue a large building, in which homes will be
provided for poor working females, at a small expense to them. It is
said that this noble project will require an outlay of several millions
of dollars. His friends--and he has many--speak of him as exceedingly
kind and liberal, and seem much attached to him.

As I have said before, Mr. Stewart has not cared for political
distinction, but has rather shunned it. He was a member of the Union
Defense Committee during the war, and in 1866 was one of the signers of
the Saratoga address, calling on the people of the country to sustain
the policy of President Johnson. His warm friendship for General Grant
caused him to be one of the earliest advocates of the election of the
latter to the Presidency. He was a candidate for Presidential Elector on
the Republican ticket for the State of New York, but was defeated, with
his associates, by the Democracy.

His intimate relations with General Grant, together with his vast
financial experience, induced many persons to believe that he would be
offered a place in the Cabinet of the new President. These expectations
were realized by his nomination to the post of Secretary of the
Treasury, on the 5th of March, 1869, and his immediate and unanimous
confirmation by the Senate. He was about to enter upon his new duties,
when it was discovered that there existed an old and almost forgotten
law forbidding any merchant from becoming the head of the Treasury
Department. As soon as this discovery was made, Mr. Stewart expressed
his desire to withdraw from the position, and thus relieve the President
of all embarrassment upon the subject, but the latter, wishing, if
possible, to retain him in the Cabinet, urged him to delay his action,
with the hope that the difficulty might be obviated. Willing to oblige
his friend, and anxious to serve the country, Mr. Stewart consented to
do this, but finding that certain persons were seeking to make his
nomination a source of trouble to the Administration, offered either to
resign the place or to relinquish his entire interest in his business
during the period of his Secretaryship, and to donate his immense
profits for that time to the poor of the city of New York. This
sacrifice, he hoped, would render him eligible; but the President was
unwilling to accept the princely offer--the noblest ever made by any
man--and Mr. Stewart finally withdrew from the contest.

There can be no doubt that he would have been the best Secretary that
could have been placed at the head of the Treasury. His great financial
experience and his unquestioned ability were better qualifications than
those possessed by any politician in the land. Perhaps the best proof of
the satisfaction which his appointment produced in the minds of the
thinking men of the country is the manner in which the news affected
the money market. Gold fell as soon as the announcement was made.

Few strangers ever come to New York and depart without visiting
Stewart's famous store at the corner of Tenth Street and Broadway. The
lower, or wholesale store, is far more important to its owner; but it
conducts its operations exclusively with dealers, and in such a quiet
and systematic way that it seems to attract but little attention among
the masses. It is the upper or retail store that is the wonder of the
great city in which it is located.

It is constructed of iron, in the style of arcade upon arcade, and is
lighted by numerous windows. It fronts two hundred feet on Broadway, and
three hundred feet on Ninth and Tenth Streets. It covers an area of
about two acres, is five stories and an attic in height, and has two
cellars underneath. It is warmed by steam, and contains several
steam-engines for hoisting goods, running the machines employed in the
manufacturing department, and forcing water into the immense tank at the
top of the building. Six elevators and several handsome stairways
connect the various floors. Three of the elevators are used for
conveying customers up and down, and the others for hoisting and
lowering goods. The building is lighted by several thousand gas jets,
which are all set aflame simultaneously by electricity.

The various floors, with the exception of the first, are broken only by
a rotunda, which extends to the roof, and is inclosed at each floor by a
massive iron balustrade. Leaning over one of these balustrades, and
looking up or down, the sight is brilliant and attractive. Thousands of
persons are scattered about the floors making purchases. Hundreds of
clerks, salesmen, and cash boys are busy serving them, and the buzz and
hum of human voices under the vast roof sounds like the droning of a
hive of bees.

The service of this immense establishment is arranged as follows: There
is one general superintendent, with nineteen assistants, each of whom is
at the head of a department. Nine cashiers receive and pay out money;
twenty-five book-keepers keep the record of the day; thirty ushers
direct purchasers to the department they seek; two hundred cash boys
receive the money and bring back the change of purchasers; four hundred
and seventy clerks, a few of whom are females, make the sales of the
day; fifty porters do the heavy work, and nine hundred seamstresses are
employed in the manufacturing department. Besides these, there are
usually about five hundred other persons employed about the
establishment in various capacities, bringing the total strength of the
_personelle_ of the house to twenty-two hundred.

The accounts of each department are kept separate, and the sales of each
for the day constitute a separate return. These sales will average
something like the following figures:


Silks       $15,000
Dress goods   6,000
Muslins       3,000
Laces         2,000