In this particular branch of trade Germans take the lead. Charles
Reiche, the New York partner, came to this country a very poor boy, and
began peddling canaries, bullfinches, and other songbirds. He made his
start in 1851 when he went to California by way of the Isthmus of
Panama, and employed natives to carry the living freight on their
backs. He marched with his men and carried a heavier burden than any
servant in the caravan. His only great competitors were the Hagenbacks,
of Hamburg. Since the death of the Reiche Brothers, the Hagenbacks have
almost monopolized the trade, supplying the menageries and zoological
gardens of the world. The Reiche Brothers left an enormous fortune made
from this humble beginning.
There is something thrilling in the thought of the lives that have been
lost, the sufferings and hardships endured, the perils encountered, and
the vast sums of money expended in the capture and transportation of
wild animals for the menageries, museums and zoological gardens.
Indeed, the business has been so exclusively in the hands of two very
quiet gentlemen, whose agencies cover nearly half the globe, that
beyond the managers of gardens and shows, only a very limited number of
persons have any conception of the extent of their operations.