BRIGHTER DAYS
Opening with a promise of better times, which was fulfilled to a
marked degree, the year 1899 witnessed a great change in my affairs.
Again I was making money, not in such amounts as during many years
prior to my failure, but there was a steady and substantial gain
each month.
With but two employees, a stenographer and typewriter, and an
office-boy, I was kept very busy at the office. My hours were long,
and with nearly four hours each day passed in the trip to and from
the office, we decided it would be better to seek an inexpensive
home in New York.
The thought of what our housekeeping had been for the past three
years, moving each year, no maids and with scanty means, led us to
believe that boarding would be an agreeable change for all, and so
we stored our furniture and in the early spring secured pleasant
accommodations at a very reasonable price, in an apartment hotel,
the St. Lorenz, on East Seventy-second Street.
With our return to the city we renewed our former intimacy with
Mr. and Mrs. Curtice, George Todd and his wife, and a few other
friends, though we did not see as much of them as in the old days.
They had a large circle of friends and led an active social life,
while we were living very quietly, doing practically no entertaining.
There were a number of pleasant little dinners, my wife and I
occasionally attended the theatre, and we were very happy in our
improved circumstances.
The business outlook encouraged me greatly. Mrs. Slater had increased
my capital with another five thousand dollars, I was getting back
many of the old customers I had lost after the failure, and it
seemed as if a return to prosperity, which would be lasting, was
assured.
In June we went to Nyack-on-the-Hudson for the summer and in
October returned to our apartment in New York. The pleasure of our
residence there was contributed to by the society of Mrs. Slater.
Her boy had been sent to boarding-school and she took an apartment
at the St. Lorenz.
We had an experience that winter which will never be effaced from
my memory.
One evening I took my wife and Mrs. Slater to the Casino to witness
a performance of the "Belle of New York," Our seats were in the
center of the orchestra, third row from the stage. The house was
crowded, with many people standing.
The first act was over, when there came to me suddenly a feeling of
great uneasiness. I knew not how to account for it. The performance
interested me, we were conversing pleasantly, there was nothing I
could see or think of to explain the feeling, and yet it existed.
The curtain rose on the second act. I was no longer interested
and could not keep my attention on the stage. My eyes continually
wandered over the house, and after what seemed an endless time the
act was over. I then thought I would mention my feeling to my wife
and suggest leaving the theatre. This was unreasonable. The ladies
were enjoying the performance and I disliked exceedingly to spoil
their evening with what appeared to be nervousness on my part.
Again the curtain rose. I found myself irritated by the performers,
every word and action dragged so slowly in the mood I was in. I
looked at the people between us and the aisle and it was only by
strong exertion of will that I was able to keep my seat. Again I
looked around the house. Everything was perfectly quiet.
Five minutes later the folds of the curtain, one of those that open
in the center and are drawn up high on each side, on the right
of the stage, were a mass of flame; the curtain was lowered and
instantly the other side was on fire.
The panic was on. Amidst cries of fire and shrieks of women came
the rush for the exits. Instantly the aisles were choked with a
frantic, struggling crowd. A man sitting in front of my wife stepped
on the back of her seat and narrowly escaped kicking her in the
face with his other foot in a useless rush. He did not get ten feet
away.
At the instant the flame appeared Mrs. Slater said in a quiet voice,
"Do you see that, Walter"?
"Yes," I replied. "What shall we do"? she said; and I answered,
"Sit still." My wife, always brave, was urging the women around her
to sit still and keep quiet. There was nothing else to do. Either
that fire would be extinguished or we were doomed. There was no
possibility of escape through the mass of people behind us and I
realized that fact instantly.
Fortunately the people on the stage kept their presence of mind,
the firemen had the hose at work quickly, and we escaped with a
slight sprinkling from the spray.
Was there ever a clearer warning given by intuition?
The year ended bright with promise of continued prosperity. We had
enjoyed the comfort of living amid pleasant surroundings and I had
saved nearly three thousand dollars. I looked forward to commencing
again payments of interest on my moral obligations and some
liquidation of my debt to Mrs. Slater, but I wanted, if possible,
to first get a larger capital, that I might make these payments
without impairing my facilities for doing business.