In the year 186.., in the old narrow office, father and son met, the
latter, a newly made partner. He had been, according to ancient custom,
a volunteer for several years in London, where he had been well
received amongst English families. But it was with strange feelings
that he entered his father's office for the first time after many years
of absence.
His horizon had widened, while here, little or nothing was changed. The
old office furniture, which had done good service for generations, was
the same, as no merchant ever thought of altering anything for merely a
greater personal comfort, but the old fashioned standup desks and the
well worn leather seats of the high office stools, did not look as
inviting as of old. His memory had mellowed and idealized their
appearance. Of course, the influence of the mother was not permitted in
the sacred precincts of the office, even most of the cleaning was done
by the youngest apprentice. But from the grey walls looked down
proudly, the models of the sailing vessels which carried their
houseflag to distant shores. During the long hours of a voyage, they
had been fashioned by captains or clever sailors, and were a constant
reminder of deeds nobly done.
Here is the "Anne Marie", a tea clipper of graceful lines, like a
swallow, which made the journey from China to London in 80 days, and
had earned, besides a good freight, a high premium for bringing the
first tea of the new crop to the epicures in London. There is the
"Katharina", much heavier in build, she took 180 days to fetch wet
sugar and hemp from Manilla. One may wonder, whether captain and crew
ever thought of the enjoyments of life, while they ploughed the sea for
6 months. Yonder, in the full light from the window is the "Nordstern",
a whaler, and underneath a picture of the crew. These wild and rough
fellows took their lives in their hands, on the perilous journey from
Honolulu to the Polar Seas. They had no regular wages, but shared in
the profits from the sale of the oil and whalebone. Their hard earned
money, however, was mostly dissipated in San Francisco, during a few
days of riotous jubilation.
After some desultory talking, the son carefully broached the following
subject: "There is the "Augusta" ready in port to sail for Baltimore,
to bring a cargo of tobacco. Pity, that the heavy Kentucky barrels fill
only half the freight room and leave so much space empty. I think,
father, we ought to fill it up with light goods, principally with
cotton."
"Cotton, my dear boy! I fancy, you must be dreaming of the old firm of
B. & F. You remember, F. told his agent, in the West Indies, to add to
the cargo of Asphalt and cocoanuts, 200 bales of cotton. His bad
handwriting led to the mistake that 2000 bales were shipped, the moment
they were afloat, the Southern Ports were blockaded, which caused an
unprecedented rise in the price of cotton, so that the last of the 2000
bales were sold at "one Thaler" per pound (equal then to three marks)."
"I do not think, father, that such luck is likely to repeat itself, but
the fact remains, that we have room empty, which easily might carry
freight, besides, I hear, that there is an increasing demand for
cotton, as several new cotton mills are being started in Germany."
"Yes, that is all very well, but think of the enormous risk of the
cotton trade. The fluctuations in prices are fabulous, recently, they
have been going down and down. My friend W. has been holding cotton for
3 years and has never seen his price back yet. A loss he will not take,
he declares 'that he will hold that cotton till he is black in the
face.'"
"That is a wrong policy, W. ought to have sold the cotton long ago,
replaced the same by a lower priced purchase, this would have saved him
charges and loss of interest, and would have cheapened his original
purchase."
"This is a new method of doing business, we--old Bremen people--stick
firmly to an enterprise, until the success is secured. That is the old
Hanseatic spirit."
"One might almost call it stubbornness, the present time requires quick
thinking and turning."
"All right, but from whom will you take the money which is required by
this modern way of doing business? The local money-broker has no spare
cash for it."
"No, father, but I can assure you, that in London people are not
adverse to assist the legitimate trade, and besides, several of the
great London Bankers come from this neighbourhood and are very well
disposed towards Bremen."
* * * * *
The "Augusta" brought, besides her cargo of tobacco, 1038 bales of
cotton, quite a big quantity for that time.