[Illustration: William Lee (Signature)]
THE BAY STATE MONTHLY.
_A Massachusetts Magazine_.
VOL. II.
MARCH, 1885.
No. 6.
* * * * *
LEE AND SHEPARD.
By George L. Austin, M.D.
For a quarter of a century the firm-name of Lee and Shepard has been
familiar to the public. During this interval of time it has been printed
upon millions of volumes, which have gone forth on their two-fold
mission of instruction and entertainment. Few publishing houses in
America have achieved a more honorable record, or have more indelibly
left their impress of good intentions and of deeds nobly done upon the
minds of increasing generations. It is of the individual members of this
firm, both of whom have grown gray in the business, that I purpose to
speak in this article. First of the senior partner of the house.
Born at the "North End," in Boston, on the seventeenth of April, 1826;
early put to school, and taken out of it at the age of eleven, at which
time he was left fatherless, the eldest of six children; with a good
mother to whisper words of encouragement in his ear, when everything in
the world and the future before him looked dark,--such was the start of
William Lee in life. Thousands before him, and since, have had the same
infelicitous experience; but how few have had the courage to overcome
the obstacles which he succeeded in overcoming? While other young men of
his age, many of them his playmates, were planning to fit themselves, by
a long course of study, for the duties of life, he was at once
confronted with the duties and burdens of life, without such advantages
as an education affords, and he met them with a manliness and a
self-reliance which now seem truly marvelous. I have often heard him
tell of these early days; but I will pass by the recollections for fear
that the recital of them might discourage many who read these lines.
After leaving school young William was offered a situation in the
bookstore of Samuel G. Drake, then located at No. 56 Cornhill. Mr. Drake
was himself a famous "book-worm," was familiar with the authorities and
the history of Boston, and, in after life, achieved a reputation as an
author. He was what one would term now an "old-fashioned bookseller,"
but what he did not know of the book trade in his day was not worth
knowing. William Lee entered his employ for two purposes--to learn the
trade and, in a very small way, to help support the family which was, in
a large sense, dependent upon him. During the three years of his
apprenticeship he showed himself an apt scholar, a patient worker, and
gifted with indomitable will and ambition.
The next two years were passed in the country. On returning to Boston he
again entered a book store, and, when eighteen years of age, he became a
clerk in the then prosperous publishing house of Phillips and Sampson,
located on Winter street. His connection with this house afforded him
increased advantages; he was no longer an apprentice filling a menial
position, but was conscious of occupying a responsible station in the
business, where his integrity and intelligence were appreciated at their
real value. He enjoyed the fullest confidence of his employers, and was
soon looked upon by them as their "best" clerk. Selling by auction,
especially in the evenings, was at that time a leading feature of the
trade, and William Lee soon became an expert in that way, as well as in
the general character of salesman to the country trade. There was
scarcely a detail in the book trade with which he did not make himself
personally familiar; he sought to post himself upon the character and
contents of every book that was kept in stock, in order that he might be
able to speak intelligently of them to his customers. This habit of
general familiarization is one which, in the lapse of subsequent years,
has proved of incalculable service to him; it is one which cannot be too
earnestly commended to the attention of all young men who are to-day
"working" up in the trade.
At the age of twenty-one William Lee was allowed a share in the
business, and three years later he accepted an equal partnership in the
house. When it is remembered that at this time the house of Phillips and
Sampson stood foremost as publishers in New England, the fact that, at
the age of twenty-four, William Lee became an equal partner in this
house is certainly striking. It bears but one explanation: William Lee
owed his remarkable success to the talent which was born and bred in
him, and to the consciousness of self-reliance, with which his
employers, first and last, had inspired him. There is nothing in this
life which will so readily develop the best qualities of manhood as a
sense of responsibility, first to the individual himself and next to
those whom he serves. Take away this sense of responsibility, every man
becomes a machine; everything that he does is mechanical.
In the firm of Phillips, Sampson and Company Mr. Lee continued as a
partner for seven years. To his energy and industry the prosperity of
the house was henceforth largely indebted. For twelve, and sometimes
fifteen hours a day, he remained faithfully at his round of duties.
In 1857 Mr. Lee's health gave way, and his physician ordered him to
relinquish all cares of business. Acting in accordance with this advice,
he sold his interest to his partners for sixty-five thousand dollars,
taking the notes of the firm for that amount. After a few months of
travel in his own country, he sailed for Europe in June, 1858, in
company with Willard Small, with the intention of spending five years on
the continent. He proved to be a good traveler; his keen observation
encompassed everything; his generous heart and the geniality of his
nature won to him many friends. Ere many months had elapsed he had
traversed England, France, Germany, Belgium, and Spain.
While he was in Paris, an incident occured, the recollection of which
has served to enliven many a social occasion. It was the exciting time
succeeding the attempted assassination of Napoleon by Orsini. Mr. Lee
always wore a long, sandy beard, and in his travels sported a soft,
broad-brimmed hat. One day, while walking about the streets, he was
arrested and taken to the Palais de Justice. Explanations and
expostulations proved unavailing. The prisoner was declared to be a "red
Republican," and, in those days, that was no joke. It was only after the
production of a passport and the interference of the United States
consul, that the authorities were induced to release their captive.
Mr. Lee was in Paris, and was on the point of making a second journey
into Spain, when the United States mail brought him a letter, conveying
the tidings of the death of both Mr. Phillips and Mr. Sampson, and the
failure of the house.
The panic of 1857 had made sad havoc with the book trade generally, and
those firms which weathered the storm were sorely pressed. Phillips and
Sampson met with heavy losses, but struggled on in the hope of
recovering lost ground. But, in 1859, the death of the senior members of
the firm seemed to paralyze its prosperity, and the worst quickly
followed.
Mr. Lee had received no warning of the impending calamity, and for the
time was much overcome by the announcement. He foresaw what it implied,
however, and at once returned to Boston, to find himself a heavy loser
by the financial disaster.
Still undaunted, he gathered up what remained of his fortune and, in
February, 1860, he became a member of the firm of Crosby, Nichols and
Company, which had purchased many of the stereotype plates belonging to
the late firm of Phillips, Sampson and Company, and which now took the
name of Crosby, Nichols, Lee and Company. But the long stagnation of
trade, succeeded by losses in the southern states, consequent upon the
political troubles of those days, bore heavily upon the new firm; and,
in the spring of 1861, Mr. Lee left the business and again trod the
streets of Boston without a dollar that he could call his own! Thus,
after twenty years of business activity, his fortune was gone, and
nothing remained for him to do except to begin life over again.
During the next few months Mr. Lee surveyed the field about him,
endeavoring to discern what could be accomplished with no other capital
save brains. A decision was soon reached, and it resulted from one of
those little incidents of life, which, although rare indeed, make life
all the more worth living. I hope I betray no breach of trust in
recalling it.
While walking down Washington street one day Mr. Lee encountered his
friend of many years.
"What are you doing now, Charlie?" he asked.
"Nothing; and I'm as poor as a church mouse," was the reply.
"But, look here, Charlie, keep up your courage. I haven't got much
myself; but I'll go halves with you. Come up to my room to-night, and
we'll talk matters over."
The friends parted, to meet again within a few hours in the glow of the
gas-light. Affairs were candidly and earnestly discussed, plans were
laid, and then and there began the firm, whose reputation has extended
wherever the English language is spoken,--the house of LEE AND SHEPARD.
It was February 1, 1862. The times were not propitious for a beginning
at any trade, but the partners were veterans in experience, and no
sooner had they shaped their plans than the public in many ways evinced
its confidence in their undertaking. Better than a large capital was the
encouragement they received from all with whom they had formerly had
dealings; and they began under the most pleasing auspices.
The firm first occupied a very old, two-storied wooden building, known
as "the old dye-house" on Washington Street, opposite the Old South
"Church."[A]
[Footnote A: On the site now occupied by the "Old South Clothing
House."]
Of course the store soon began to show its incapacity for the growing
business, just as the "old corner" had done in the case of Ticknor and
Fields, and as almost every ancient book-shop has done in the last
quarter of a century. The proprietors of the establishment were not only
their own employers, but their own employees as well. They attended to
their own book-keeping, did their own selling and buying, tied up their
bundles and packed all the cases. Early and late they shouldered their
task, and started ahead. After three years thus spent the firm moved
into the new store at 149 Washington Street, which still remains, and
which the firm continued to occupy until 1873.
At this point it is convenient to go back a number of years and recount
the principal events in the life of the junior partner of the house:
Charles A.B. Shepard.
If the boy could have had his own way, when he started in life, the
chances are that to-day he would be an American admiral. As it happened,
his early passion and proclivities were not fostered; he became a
bookseller whom all the world now knows as "Charley Shepard."
He was born in Salem, Massachusetts, October 18th, 1829, and received
his education at the public school. He was one of the brightest scholars
in his class, learned easily, was fond of books, never wearied of study,
and never forgot what he acquired. At the start he was blest with a most
marvelous and retentive memory, and a keen sense of the practical side
of life. "It was thus," as one of his friends has remarked, "that his
school days were profitable to him to a degree not common, and it was
thus that his rapidly-growing literary attainments became the
astonishment of strangers and the never failing delight and surprise of
his friends."
Mr. Shepard's father was a sea-faring man, who, however, took good care
to check every inclination towards that sort of life that existed in the
mind of his son, at a very tender age. At his business start, therefore,
the boy was forced into a channel that was not of his own choosing. At
the age of fifteen, after having previously tried his skill as a boy of
all work in the grocery business, he entered the store of John P.
Jewett, a bookseller at Salem. He remained with Mr. Jewett eleven years,
during which time he forgot all about the details of the West India
trade and instead acquired a perfect knowledge of those of the making
and selling of books. When, in 1846, Mr. Jewett removed to Boston and
opened a store on Cornhill, Mr. Shepard accompanied him, and by his
untiring energy, his close application to business and his intelligent
way of conducting the affairs of the house in general, very largely
contributed to the success which, in those days, was accounted so
remarkable. He was even then looked upon as the "hardest worker" in the
trade. He was the first to enter the store in the morning, and the last
to leave at night. To many, it seemed as if his hours were only hours
of toil; and yet, few young men of his age took life so easily as did
he, or got more enjoyment out of it. It was during Mr. Shepard's
connection with the house of John P. Jewett that "Uncle Tom's Cabin"
first saw the light. The story of its publication has so often been told
that it need not be repeated here. Mr. Shepard recalls all the incidents
associated with it as vividly to-day as though they were but events of
yesterday, and he is now the only living man that can tell them. As
everybody knows, the book bounded into success, due as much to the
shrewd advertising of the publisher as to the merits of the work itself.
It redounds to the credit of Mr. Jewett that he never hesitated to
acknowledge that whatever success he had as a Boston publisher was
largely due to his sprightly clerk, who labored literally night and day,
to master every detail of the business.
[Illustration: Charles A.B. Shepard (Signature)]
In 1855 Mr. Shepard conceived the idea of starting in business for
himself, and formed a co-partnership which was known to the trade as
Shepard, Clark and Brown. It flourished until the panic of 1857 swept
over the country. Reverses came, and the house was forced to give up.
In 1862, as I have said, the firm of Lee and Shepard was started in
business, with no other capital save that of brain and muscle. The two
partners had long and favorably known one another. While strangely
dissimilar in tastes, they yet exhibited many points in common. At the
start, both were financially poor men; they possessed no funds, but, by
virtue of their well known integrity and ability to succeed, could
readily command the little which they required to begin life anew. Mr.
Shepard, as well as Mr. Lee, had made himself indispensable to every
firm with which he had been connected. Each had a wide circle of
friends, and each was trusted by his friends. Both men had been generous
in prosperity, and their good deeds, though known only to their intimate
friends and the objects of their benevolence, were not trumpeted for
worldly admiration. Both enjoyed a wide acquaintanceship with authors,
and with books, with dealers, and with the public, and both had strong
likes and dislikes, which made them as radical in politics as they were
in personal affairs. In the firm, each has always had his own duties to
perform, on the wise plan of a fitting division of labor. Yet while each
partner seems exclusively to occupy his own field, independent of and
unrestricted by the other, it rarely happens that there are any
cross-purposes between them. The wheels of progress move on with
unswerving and unerring progress; the law of compensation which is
dominant in the establishment is always working aright.
Strangers who are for the first time brought in contract with these men,
whether socially or on matters of business, invariably detect the strong
points of conservatism which each exhibits. Mr. Lee gives one the
impression of being a well-read man, as, in fact, he is. The faculty
which he possesses of curiously gleaning the salient bits of knowledge
out of current thought and expression, is something remarkable. The
by-paths of literature are peculiarly his stamping-ground; and yet, upon
almost every subject of important character, he will chat for hours
intelligently and interestingly.
Mr. Shepard shows many of the same qualities. His brain is exceedingly
fertile of ideas, his memory perfectly marvelous, his language pointed,
easy-flowing and abounding in wit and humor. He exhibits singular
quickness at repartee; he is fond of a joke, and will give and take with
the keenest sense of enjoyment. His familiarity with standard literature
serves him many a good turn; he makes it a duty to read thoroughly or to
"dip into" every new book that is talked about. He fortifies himself,
whether for daily life or for social intercourse, with all the
intellectual weapons, so to speak, that can ever be called into play.
Still, he moves along the pathway of life thoroughly without
affectation; a "liberal education" seems to have been his by
inheritance, and he can make better use of it than most college men with
whom he is brought in contact.
It is as impossible for Mr. Shepard not to quote poetry as it is for him
to fly through the air and his facility in so doing would alone make him
a marked man. His whole soul is full of poesy, ever restless and
exuberant. I am not aware that he ever molded a rhyme, or sung a measure
of song in all his life. And yet so tenacious is his memory, so
wonderful his talent in applying the epigrammatic utterances of the
leading writers, both old and new, that a person, on being made
cognizant of the fact, finds himself puzzled. Poetry enters into even
the driest details of Mr. Shepard's business life. The signature to a
check is often audibly accompanied by some melodic couplet. Anywhere and
everywhere, and for everything that happens or may happen, the poetic
spice is rarely wanting. Mr. Shepard does not deliberately intend this
to be so; the gift rallies into utterance before he is aware of it, and
he can no more suppress it than he can turn back the roaring waters of
Niagara.
Possessed of such qualities as these, Mr. Shepard very easily finds
friends and is the centre of their attraction. Outspoken, sometimes even
to bluntness, a bitter hater of duplicity and meanness, a keen detector
of counterfeit character, on the one hand; on the other, warm in his
affections, generous to a fault, faithful to those whom he
admires,--such is the man of whom I write. No one is ever at a loss to
discover whether Mr. Shepard is his friend or his enemy.
Mr. Shepard has been intimately connected with the politics of his time.
He began as a thorough, out-and-out abolitionist; during the war he was
a stanch Republican, and a firm admirer of Charles Sumner. When the
great Senator forsook his party, Mr. Shepard chose the same course, and
to-day finds him enrolled upon the Democratic side, although, for some
years back, he has taken no active interest in any political movement of
the day.
Such, in brief, is Charles A.B. Shepard, a man better known, perhaps,
than any other among the book trade of this country, everywhere popular,
and nowhere more truly so than among those who are brought daily in
contact with him and who know him best.
The firm of Lee and Shepard removed from 149 Washington street, in 1873,
to a new building, which, replacing the one which had been destroyed in
the great Boston fire, now stands on the south-east corner of Franklin
and Hawley street. In these commodious and sumptuously-fitted quarters
the firm tarried until their removal, in January of the present year, to
their new quarters at No. 10 Milk street, adjoining the "old South."
Here they have evidently settled down to stay, perhaps for the remaining
years of their joint business life.
When they started in the "old dye-house" it was simply as booksellers.
They owned no stereotyped plates, and for some weeks had no thought of
entering into any business relations with authors. One day Mr. Shepard
chanced to make a social call upon Mr. Samuel C. Perkins, formerly
associated with Phillips, Sampson and Company, who, after their failure,
had become possessed of some stereotype plates. During the conversation
Mr. Perkins recalled the fact, and asked Mr. Shepard to take them off
his hands. The wherewithall to purchase was wanting; but Mr. Shepard,
conscious of what he was doing, decided to buy them, giving the firm's
notes in payment. These plates included those of Oliver Optic's "Boat
Club Series," in six volumes, and those of the "Riverdale Stories" in
twelve volumes. Mr. Lee approved the transaction, and the firm at once
brought out a new edition of both series. They met with a quick sale;
indeed, so wonderful was their success that the author, who was then a
Boston school teacher, was summoned and commissioned to prepare a series
of books for girls. From that time down to the present day, the pen of
"Oliver Optic" has been busily employed in behalf of the American youth.
He has produced, besides the series already named, the "Army and Navy
stories," in six volumes; the "Great Western series," in six volumes;
the "Lake Shore series," in six volumes; the "Onward and Upward series,"
in six volumes; the "Starry Flag series," in six volumes; the "Woodville
Stories," and the "Yacht Club series," each in six volumes; and two
series of six volumes each, entitled "Young America abroad." Hundreds of
thousands of copies have been sold of these books, and the demand for
them to-day is almost as large as it was ten or fifteen years ago. It is
no exaggeration to say that there is scarcely a young man or woman now
living who has not read and profitted by one or more of Oliver Optic's
stories.
Among the other successful writers whom Lee and Shepard brought into
notice was Miss Rebecca S. Clark, known the world over by her pseudonym
of "Sophie May." Her first book was "Little Prudy," which achieved a
reputation not surpassed by that of Miss Alcott's "Little Women." This
first volume was rapidly succeeded by others by the same author, which
in turn won favor, and are now grouped in the catalogue in series,
namely: "Little Prudy Series," "Little Prudy's Flyaway Series," "Dotty
Dimple Series," and "Flaxie Frizzle Stories," each comprising six
volumes. All of these books grew into the people's hearts, and ere long
the newspapers noticed them, the magazines devoted large space to
reviewing them, and the stately and sober-minded "North American
Review," in a characteristic article, from Colonel Higginson's pen was
led to say of their merits:
"Genius comes in with 'Little Prudy.' Compared with her, all other
book-children are cold creations of literature only; she alone is the
real thing, all the quaintness of childhood, its originality, its
tenderness and its teasing, its infinite unconscious drollery, the
serious earnestness of its fun, the fun of its seriousness, the natural
religion of its plays and the delicious oddity of its prayers--all these
waited for dear Little Prudy to embody them."
Such a verdict, from so exalted authority, has had its effect. The
demand for Sophie May's books has been almost unprecedented. Inspired by
her success in this line the author has also written several volumes for
older readers, and they, too, have proved successful.
Another author, who has held a prominent place in the firm's catalogue,
is Mr. George M. Baker. Although he has done much for the entertainment
of the young people in the line of story-telling, his greatest success
has been found in his series of amateur dramatic books, which have long
ago become standard. I would not undertake to mention how many "plays"
he has written; but to simply read the "mail orders" for such literature
or watch customers as they come and go from "headquarters," would
incline everybody to believe that he had produced about all that are
ever needed.
Lee and Shepard's catalogue embraces the names of a great many authors,
to even enumerate which would require much space in this magazine. Among
the more prominent I will call to mind the Rev. Asa Bullard, Professor
James De Mille, Miss Amanda M. Douglass, who has written some of the
best stories in American literature for older readers; the Rev. Elijah
Kellogg, the author of many bright and wholesome stories for youth; Mr.
J.T. Trowbridge, who is known everywhere; the "Rev. Petroleum V. Nasby,"
whom President Lincoln termed the _third_ power in crushing the
rebellion; Charles Sumner, the edition of whose works, published by this
house, was thought worthy of award at the Philadelphia exhibition;
Francis H. Underwood, who first suggested the "Atlantic Monthly"
magazine, and is one of the most genial and scholarly of American
writers; Colonel T.W. Higginson, who has produced a number of pleasant
books, and is the author of the most popular school History of the
United States ever written; B.P. Shillaber (Mrs. Partington), and a host
of other names, which the lack of space forbids me to mention.
In the making of books Lee and Shepard have shown an _originality_,
which has always been noticeable. In more ways than one, they have been
pioneers, and have set examples, which other firms have closely imitated
and followed. It was this house which first conceived the idea of
publishing serially favorite songs and poems in elegantly illustrated
form,--an idea which was at once taken up by nearly every other
publishing house in the country. These were issued in cloth binding,
and, two years ago, in the now famous "Golden Floral" style. In their
new dress these books have proved to be the most popular of their kind
ever sold on this continent.
The house has also produced other illustrated books, of artistic
excellence. Among these Miss Jerome's "One Year's Sketch Book" has been
declared to be without a rival, in its own field, while Miss Miner's
"Orchids" must needs be seen to be appreciated.
But I have reached the limits placed upon this article. I have omitted
to speak of many things of which I should like to say something. But the
warp and woof of the story are here given, and the reader will easily
discover therefrom that no secrets underly the firm of Lee and Shepard
save,--industry at home, and integrity in all their dealings with the
public.
[Illustration: Rodney Wallace (Signature)]
HON. RODNEY WALLACE.
BY REV. S. LEROY BLAKE, D.D.
[Pastor of the Calvinistic Congregational Church, Fitchburg.]
This is not a biography, it is a sketch; possibly I might say it is an
outline. At any rate the life of our subject can not be written till
other chapters are added, and the end comes. May it be long delayed.
The intense culmination of forces in the busy period of a man's life
renders it fruitful in material for a sketch. What a successful man, of
marked force of character, has done, may be an incentive and an
encouragement to others. Perhaps this was Longfellow's chief thought
when he penned the "Psalm of Life:"
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime.
The lives of great men, and conspicuously that of the subject of this
sketch, prove that, in this country, a boy need not be born with a
silver spoon in his mouth, nor with a brilliant speech on his lips, to
reach eminent success, and be held in high honor; but that the noblest
results of a life of industry and frugality, and the highest honors any
worthy ambition can crave, are within reach of the boy who has energy,
courage, integrity of purpose, and purity of character. By their native
energy some of the most conspicuous men of our time have made their way
against obstacles which would have been too much for less sturdy wills.
Whatever deficiencies there may have been in their early training were
largely atoned for by native energy and force of character. Because this
is all true of the subject of this paper, we tell the story in the hope
that some other struggling boy may take courage from his example.
HIS START IN LIFE.
Rodney Wallace was born in New Ipswich, New Hampshire, December 21,
1823, and is therefore in the full vigor of manhood. We may infer that
his boyhood was not blessed with the advantages which usually crown the
early life of so many lads, and strew their path with roses, from the
fact that at the age of twelve he left home to work on a farm for wages,
with agreement for limited opportunities for schooling. He is a son of
David and Roxanna Wallace.
It seems likely that the family is of Scotch origin. David Wallace
seemed to think so, since he dropped the spelling Wallis, and adopted
the form in which the name is now written. In 1639, Robert Wallis was
living in Ipswich, Massachusetts. Benoni Wallis, of this family, removed
to Lunenburg and there married Rebecca Morse, of Lynn, July 2, 1755. She
died in Lunenburg August 25, 1790, and he died March 15, 1792. David,
son of Benoni and Rebecca Wallis, was born October 16, 1760. He married
Susannah Lowe, and lived in Ashburnham where he died January 14, 1842.
David, son of David and Susannah Wallis, was born at Ashburnham July 14,
1797. He married July 8, 1821, Roxanna Gower of New Ipswich, where he
lived till he removed to Rindge, New Hampshire, in 1846. He died at
Rindge, May 29, 1857; and his wife died at Fitchburg, February 27, 1876.
He was the first of his family in this country to adopt the spelling
Wallace, instead of Wallis. He had eight children, of whom the subject
of this sketch was the second.
As we have said, at the age of twelve, when most lads are comfortably
cared for at home, young Wallace started out in life for himself. He let
himself to a farmer for forty dollars for the first year, with the
privilege of attending school eight weeks in the winter. It turns out
that the first forty dollars he earned were the beginning of a large
fortune, without a dishonest dollar in it, and that the eight weeks of
schooling of that winter on the farm, was the beginning of a knowledge,
gleaned here and there as opportunity offered, which fits him for
prominent positions of trust and responsibility.
At an early age, sixteen I think, he was charged with the responsibility
of driving freight teams from Rindge to Boston, returning with loads of
merchandise. In the discharge of this trust he displayed the energy,
tact, and trustworthiness which were prophecies of the man. He was
taking his first lessons in the school of business, and proved himself
an apt scholar.
Dr. Stephen Jewett was a somewhat notable physician of Rindge. His fame
in the cure of chronic and acute diseases was wide spread. He was
frequently called upon to make professional visits in Boston and other
New England cities and towns. His medicines attained a wide celebrity.
Their manufacture and sale became a large and lucrative business, and
was carried on after the death of Dr. Jewett, by his son, Stephen
Jewett, Jr. The energy which young Wallace had already shown induced Mr.
Jewett to put the whole business of selling these medicines into his
hands. He entered into this employment in 1843, at the age of twenty,
and continued in it till he came to Fitchburg in 1853. In selling these
medicines he travelled over five of the New England States. He said to
the writer that this was a good school in geography for him, for he
became acquainted with the topography of these states, and the location
of all their important places.
Such were the beginnings of a business career of great prosperity. It
was in these ways that he got his start in life, and in these lesser
employments he proved himself worthy of and equal to the greater tasks
yet before him. Here he showed the same judgment and far-sighted wisdom,
which have marked his career in the larger, more conspicuous circles of
the business world, and won him a name which is everywhere repeated with
respect, and a reputation for integrity and honest dealing which any man
might covet.
HIS BUSINESS LIFE.
In 1853 Mr. Wallace came to Fitchburg and entered upon that period
which, for convenience, I have named his business life. He formed a
co-partnership with Stephen Shepley, known as Shepley and Wallace. They
were wholesale dealers in books, stationery, paper-stock, and
cotton-waste. This firm continued under the name of Shepley and Wallace,
and R. Wallace and Co. till July 1, 1865. On this day the firm
dissolved, and the business was divided. Mr. Wallace took the department
of paper-stock and cotton-waste, which he still carries on. To what
proportions it has grown, under his management, may be judged from the
fact that the business done amounts at least to $200,000 a year.
December 31, 1864, Stephen Shepley, Benjamin Snow, and Rodney Wallace
bought the Lyon Paper Mill and the Kimball Scythe Shops at West
Fitchburg, and began the manufacture of paper under the name of the
Fitchburg Paper Company, Stephen E. Denton was taken into the firm as a
partner soon after. He had charge of the business at the mill. In July,
1865, Rodney Wallace and Benjamin Snow bought the interest of Stephen
Shepley; and the Fitchburg Paper Company was then Wallace, Snow, and
Denton. Mr. Denton died in June,1868. January 7, 1869, Mr. Wallace
bought the interest of Benjamin Snow. January 23 of the same year he
bought the interest of Mr. Denton's estate of his widow, who was at that
time residing in New York. From that date till the present the Fitchburg
Paper Company is Rodney Wallace. He retains the old firm name.
Since becoming sole owner, he has added largely to the original
property. A neat village of dwellings has grown up around his mills,
which deserves a name of its own. Wallaceville would be an appropriate
name. He has put in a substantial stone dam at great expense. In 1878 he
erected a new brick mill, with all the modern improvements, doubling the
capacity of the establishment. It is now capable of producing from
15,000 to 18,000 pounds of paper every twenty-four hours. Just across
the Nashua River is the Fitchburg Railroad. He has a freight station of
his own, where he receives all his freight and ships all his paper.
Mr. Wallace has conducted his business with rare sagacity, with
unblemished integrity, and with an eye to the welfare of his employees,
as well as to his own personal interests. If it were not like praising a
man to his face, since he still lives, many instances might be cited to
prove that it has not been his policy to get the most out of his
employees for the least possible return. But it is enough to say that he
has no difficulty in keeping men in his employ. Somehow he has hit upon
a plan by which he has kept the irrepressible conflict between capital
and labor at a distance.
Aside from his own business, which makes large drafts upon his time,
strength, and thought, he has been closely identified with numerous
other corporate and monetary interests. He has thus had a large share in
contributing to the growth and prosperity of the enterprising city in
which he lives. Its business interests, to a large degree, have enjoyed
his wisdom, and profited by his sagacity. Since 1864 he has been
President and Director of the Fitchburg Gas Company; a Director of
Putnam Machine Company since the same year; a Director of the Fitchburg
National Bank since 1866; a partner in the Fitchburg Woolen Mills since
1877; a Trustee of Smith College since 1878. He is a Director of the
Fitchburg Mutual Fire Insurance Company; a Trustee of the Fitchburg
Savings Bank; a Director of the Fitchburg Railroad; a partner of the
Parkhill Manufacturing Company. Besides these, he has had the settlement
of large and important estates, demanding time, good judgment, and
unbending integrity. We would especially note the large estate of the
late Ephraim Murdock, Jr., of Winchendon, and that of the late Hon. Wm.
H. Vose of Fitchburg. These facts speak for themselves, and show the
esteem in which Mr. Wallace is held by his fellow citizens, as a wise
counsellor, and as a man of integrity and uprightness of character, as
well as of rare good judgment in all matters pertaining to the
transaction of business. Another says, "In whatever enterprise Mr.
Wallace has been engaged, he has not only been fortunate in its
pecuniary interests, but also in the speedy command of the confidence
and respect of his associates. True moral principles have been united
with unquestioned probity, business tact, and liberal, intelligent
management." He has won a large fortune, without parting with his
honesty in earning a single dollar. As his property has increased, his
generous spirit has seen larger opportunities and at once embraced them.
He has not been among those who withhold more than is meet and tend to
poverty. Property in such hands is not a grinding monopoly, but a wide
blessing. Such men can afford to be wealthy. They represent the true
socialistic spirit, which is, that private capital should be held as a
public good.
Largely through the influence of Mr. Wallace various improvements have
been made in Fitchburg, which contribute to its attractiveness. The
business of the city is in no small degree indebted to him for
facilities with which communication can be had with the world outside.
Prominent mention may be made of the beautiful Union Railway station at
Fitchburg in securing whose erection, and in planning which, Mr. Wallace
was largely instrumental.
MR. WALLACE IN POLITICS.
Mr. Wallace has had no ambitious longings for political life. And yet
his fellow citizens would not be likely to let such a man remain wholly
out of public life. So it is true to say that whatever office Mr.
Wallace has held, has sought him. He was selectman of the town during
the years 1864, 1865, and 1867. In 1873 he was representative to the
Genral Court, to which office he was elected in the fall of 1872 by
nearly every ballot cast. He was re-nominated the next year without
dissent or opposition, but declined a re-election on account of ill
health. While a member of the Legislature he was on the Committee on
Manufactures, a position which his ability and experience fitted him to
fill.
The most conspicuous political office he has held is that of Councillor.
While holding that position he represented one of the largest and most
important districts of the State. In it are included the thriving city
of Worcester and the sister city of Fitchburg, which, with their varied
industries, needed a man of large and ripe judgment to represent them.
He served three terms, during the years 1880, 1881, and 1882, or
throughout the entire administration of Governor Long. His election was
so entirely unanimous that for the last two years he had no competitor
in the field, Democrats as well as Republicans supporting him. While on
the Council he was a member of the following important committees: on
Pardons, on Harbors and Public Lands, on Military Affairs, and on
Warrants.
At the close of Governor Long's administration he refused to allow
furthur use of his name for the office he had so ably filled for three
years. He celebrated his retirement from this position as a servant of
the public by a brilliant reception tendered to Governor Long in the
City Hall, Fitchburg, December 7, 1882. He thus gave his fellow citizens
and constituents an opportunity to look Massachusett's popular Governor
in the face and take him by the hand.
The following account of the reception, appeared in the _Fitchburg
Sentinel_ of Friday, December 8, which I quote:
"The reception tendered to Governor Long in City Hall, Thursday
evening, by Councillor Rodney Wallace and wife, was the most
enjoyable and brilliant entertainment ever given in this city,
and will be long remembered with pleasure by all who
participated. The reception was given by Mr. and Mrs. Wallace as
a compliment to Governor Long, with whom Mr. Wallace has been
associated as Councilor for three years, and to give their
friends here an opportunity to spend an evening socially with
His Excellency. Some 450 cards of invitation were sent out,
including about 700 persons, and nearly 600 were present on
Thursday evening. The storm and blizzard-like weather that
reached this city early in the afternoon prevented the
attendance of some of Mr. Wallace's business associates from
abroad. The intention was to give all a pleasant, social
evening, and the result was a full realization of the pleasure
anticipated for some days.
* * * * *
Guests were received at the west entrance over which a canopy
was erected. The steps, hall-ways and stairs were all carpeted.
The Common Council room was used as a dressing room for the
ladies, the Aldermen's room for the gentlemen, and the Mayor's
office was reserved for Governor Long and Councilor Wallace. On
entering the hall the guests were presented to Councilor
Wallace, Mrs. Wallace and Governor Long, who stood in the centre
on the east side--Messrs. Herbert I. Wallace, George R. Wallace,
Charles E. Ware, Jr., Harris C. Hartwell, James Phillips, Jr.,
B.D. Dwinnell, Dr. E.P. Miller and M.L. Gate officiating as
ushers. After the greetings the time was spent socially,
listening to the excellent music furnished by Russell's
Orchestra, fourteen pieces stationed on the stage, and many
enjoyed dancing from 10.30 till about 1 o'clock.
* * * * *
Among the distinguished guests were the following from out of
town: Councilor Joseph Davis and wife of Lynn, Councilor Matthew
W. Cushing of Middleboro, Councilor Nathaniel Wales of
Stoughton, Councilor Rufus D. Woods of Enfield,
Congressman-elect William Whiting of Holyoke, Councilor-elect
Eben A. Hall of the Greenfield Gazette and Courier, Secretary of
State Henry B. Peirce of Abington, Rev. E.A. Horton of Boston
(formerly of Leominster), Mr. and Mrs. Oscar Edwards and Prof.
Henry M. Tyler and wife (formerly of this city) of Northampton,
Dr. F.A. Harris, wife and Miss Gage, Mrs. Glover (Governor
Long's mother-in-law), William B. Wood and wife, Superintendent
John Adams (of the Fitchburg Railroad) and wife, Mr. and Mrs.
Charles H. Shepley, all of Boston; N.D. White and Mr. and Mrs.
Joseph M. White of Winchendon, John S. Baldwin of the Worcester
Spy, J.B. Hall of the Worcester Gazette, Mr. and Mrs. Charles H.
Merriam and daughter of Leominster.
An attempt to describe the hall as it appeared on this occasion
cannot be otherwise than unsatisfactory. To appreciate the
brilliant scene one must see not only the gay decorations and
the beautiful flowers and plants, but also the happy people and
the elegant and tasty dresses of the ladies, in the full light
of the extra burners placed in the centre of the hall for this
reception.
* * * * *
The entire floor was carpeted, and the hall was divided into two
sections--reception room and dining room--by pink and white
bunting. The walls of the entire hall were decorated with
draperies, cottons, pink and white buntings, etc., and festooned
with two thousand yards of laurel and hanging baskets of
flowers, while a splendid collection of pot plants, orange and
lemon trees, and growing grapes, from Mr. Wallace's private
conservatory added much to the grand effect of the designs.
The most elaborate work was in the front of the stage, at the
right of the stage and on the right and left centres of the
hall. Above all, over the stage was a gilt carved eagle
surmounting the State coat of arms. On either side flags were
festooned and ornamented with sprays of holly. In the rear of
the platform were palm trees, while in front dracinas, and
laurel, with a beautiful orange tree in each corner, each
bearing nearly twenty oranges. On the right wall of the hall,
the draperies were surmounted by four medallions representing
the elements--Air, Earth, Fire, and Water. In the right centre
was the large painting representing Crete, above which was the
motto "Amicus inter Amicos." In the foreground was a pedestal
surmounted by a bust of Ariadne, flanked on each side by growing
grapes, with two Roman altars burning incense through the entire
evening.
On the left centre wall was a large painting representing
Antium, the home of Nero and Temple of Fortuna, with the Appollo
Belvidere on a pedestal in the foreground, flanked with two
standing vases with burning incense. Above the painting was the
motto "Gaudeamus Igitur," resting on a gilt lyre and torch.
Medallions representing Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter
surmounted the draperies on this side of the hall.
One of the most admired features of the decorations was the
design on the floor at the right of the stage. A pedestal, some
ten feet high, was surmounted by a beautiful specimen of the
American eagle. On either side of the eagle was a perfect flag
made of natural flowers--violets, carnations and tube
roses--with a shield of similar flowers in the centre. The
entire pedestal was banked by pots of growing plants--including
palms, dracinas, ponisettas in full bloom, etc.
The dining room was also handsomely decorated with flags,
draperies and flowers, while the table itself was elegantly laid
with exquisitely decorated china and silver, and ornamented by
beautiful bouquets, candelabra, and epergnes. Supper was served
through the entire evening, guests entering at the right from
the reception apartment and passing through to the west side of
the hall."
The completeness of all these arrangements were largely due to the taste
and energy of his son, Mr. Herbert I. Wallace, who had the whole matter
in charge.
In 1884 Mr. Wallace was chosen delegate from this district to the
Republican Convention held at Chicago in June, which resulted in the
nomination of James G. Blaine and John A. Logan. Like most of the
delegates from Massachusetts, Mr. Wallace was in favor of Senator
Edmunds of Vermont. But when he saw that Mr. Blaine's nomination was
inevitable, he joined in making it unanimous. He did not go with those
who bolted the nomination, because it was not his first choice, but he
supported it with his purse, his voice, and his vote, as appears from
the following synopsis of a brief address which he made at a
ratification meeting, held in the City Hall, Fitchburg, July 11, 1884,
which I clip from the _Fitchburg Sentinel_ of the next day:
"Ex-Mayor Merriam, Chairman of the committee, called the meeting
to order, and said the audience had assembled to hear the report
of the two delegates to the Republican national convention. The
Chairman then introduced Rodney Wallace, who was most heartily
applauded as he arose to speak.
Mr. Wallace, who was one of the delegates from this district to
the Republican convention, said his first choice for President
was the able statesman from Vermont, Senator Edmunds, and his
second choice was President Arthur, who has given us such an
excellent administration. The Massachusetts delegation, almost
without exception, worked hard to secure the nomination for Mr.
Edmunds, but it was impossible for that convention to nominate
anybody but James G. Blaine. Nobody can describe the enthusiasm
through the entire convention for Blaine. The California
delegation bore a banner inscribed "From Maine to California,
through Iowa, all for Blaine," and, in my opinion now, Mr.
Elaine is the strongest man in the Republican party. When the
motion was made to make the nomination unanimous, not a voice
was raised against it. I believe he will be elected in November
and will give us a strong and safe administration."
The writer does not know whether Mr. Wallace considers his political
life ended. He certainly has no longing, desires, and ambitions in the
direction of public office. It is equally certain that any office which
he will consent to hold, and which the people who know him can give, he
can have without opposition.
MR. WALLACE AS A CITIZEN.
I come now to a part of my story which it is exceedingly pleasant to
relate and of which I am able to speak, to no little extent, from
personal knowledge. It is, after all, what one is as a man among men,
which speaks most for his honor, or his dishonor. What greater
significance generous deeds have, when you know that behind them is no
calculating, grasping spirit, which is figuring out how much it can get
in return, but a noble, generous, self-forgetful manhood. We have a
conviction that the conflict between labor and capital, which just now
has reached a threatening pitch of violence, might have been avoided if
employers had not in so many cases endeavored to reduce men to mere
money-making machines. As a rule strikes do not occur where laboring men
are treated with the consideration due them as free citizens. The
freedom of Fitchburg from strikes is due to the intelligence of the
workmen, and the fairness of the employers. Another says, "nothing does
more to destroy the spirit of socialism and communism and to disipate
envy than to see wealthy men devoting a part of their wealth to public
uses."
This introduces us to the most conspicuous act by which the subject of
our sketch has proved his public spirit and generosity of purpose as a
citizen. I refer to his gift to the city of Fitchburg of a beautiful
public library, which, by vote of the city government, is to be called
by his name. This act of beneficence reaches farther than appears to a
casual observer. It secures to the city, for all coming time, a
"Peoples' College," where the child of the poorest, as well as of the
richest, the toiler as well as the man of leisure, may get a very
important education. This building is to be devoted to art as well as to
literature, and we look to see it exert a refining and cultivating, as
well as an educating influence over the rising generations of our city.
Its very presence, in a most conspicuous position, in the very heart of
the city, will be educational. It will prove itself a most valuable
adjunct to the excellent course of instruction given in our public
schools.
For some years it had been in Mr. Wallace's mind to do something of this
sort. In 1881 he purchased what was known as the Ruggles property,
opposite Monument Park. In the spring of 1884, when he left for his
annual tour in the South, he placed in the hands of Judge Ware, Chairman
of the Trustees of the Public Library, a genuine surprise to his fellow
citizens. I clip from the _Fitchburg Sentinel_ of March 26, 1884, the
following account of the matter:
"Both branches of the City Council met on Tuesday evening and
transacted the following business:
The principal business was
IN JOINT CONVENTION.
Major Davis presided and announced that Judge T.K. Ware,
Chairman of the Trustees of the Public Library, had a
communication to present to the City Council.
Judge Ware said that he appeared before the Council at the
request of Honorable Rodney Wallace, who, previous to his
departure for the South, left with him the following
communication which gave him pleasure and gratification to be
able to present to the City Council:
_To His Honor, the Mayor and the City Council of the City of
Fitchburg_;
GENTLEMEN:--The subscriber has felt for a long time that a
building with proper appurtenances for our Public Library here
in Fitchburg was much needed, and makes the following
proposition, viz:
I propose to convey by proper deed to the city of Fitchburg my
lot of land situated at the corner of Main street and Newton
place, and to expend, with the advice and approval of the
Trustees of the Public Library, within the next two years, a sum
not less than forty thousand dollars ($40,000) in erecting a
building on said lot; said building to be under the care and
management of the Board of Trustees of the Public Library for
the time being, and to be used for a Free Public Library,
Reading Rooms and Art Gallery, and for no other purpose.
And it is understood that the city government, accepting these
donations for the above purposes, shall assume and bear the
current expenses of said building, grounds and appurtenances,
after the Library building shall have been completed and
furnished.
If the above proposition is accepted I shall proceed to carry
out the same as soon as it can conveniently be done.
RODNEY WALLACE.
FITCHBURG, March 17, 1884.
Mayor Davis said this act on the part of our esteemed fellow
citizen calls forth the profound gratitude of all the
inhabitants of our city. I cannot allow this opportunity to pass
without expressing my thanks, as a citizen, for the munificent
gift. May his life be long and his prosperity increasing.
The following order, introduced by Mayor Davis, was then
unanimously adopted:
_Ordered_, That the City of Fitchburg accept the donation of
Honorable Rodney Wallace to it of the lot of land on the corner
of Main street and Newton place, and the Library building to be
erected by him thereon, upon the conditions and in accordance
with the terms and provisions contained in his written
communication and proposal to the Mayor and City Council; and
places on record its profound appreciation of the public spirit
and munificence of the donor, and its recognition of the
incalculable benefits which will result to his fellow citizens
and their descendants and successors for all time from this
noble gift.
Alderman Joel said the surprise was so great and so agreeable
that words were not at his command to express the thanks he, in
common with all other members, felt for the munificent gift
presented by Mr. Wallace. He moved that a committee be appointed
to prepare and forward a vote of thanks to Honorable Rodney
Wallace for his gift. The motion was unanimously adopted, and
Mayor Davis appointed Alderman Joel, Councilmen Flaherty and
Parkhill as the committee."
From the _Sentinel_ of April 10, 1884, I clip the following:
"The following resolutions have been presented to Honorable
Rodney Wallace by the special committee appointed at the joint
convention of the two branches of the City Council, March 25:
To HONORABLE RODNEY WALLACE: FITCHBURG, Mass.
_Whereas_, the Mayor and City Council of the city of Fitchburg
have received and accepted a proposition tendered by Honorable
Rodney Wallace of this city, by the terms of which a lot of land
situated at the corner of Main street and Newton place is
donated to the city of Fitchburg, and a sum not less than forty
thousand dollars is to be expended by him, with the advice and
approval of the Trustees of the Public Library, within the next
two years in erecting a building on said lot, said building to
be used for a Free Public Library, Reading Rooms, and an Art
Gallery; therefore,
_Resolved_, That this body desires to voice and place on record
the universal appreciation on the part of our citizens of the
generosity and public spirit of the honored donor, of the
timeliness of the gift, and not less, of the wisdom and
foresight manifested in the particular mode by which the city
is made the recipient of the munificent present.
_Resolved_, That we recognize the fact that a gift of this
nature will result in incalculable benefits to the community so
fortunate as to receive it, enlarging and intensifying, as it
does, all the privileges of acquiring information and securing
culture which a public library affords; providing in a most
accessible and useful form the means by which our young people
and those whose daily toil leaves them little leisure for study,
may draw to themselves the results of all past experience; and
rendering both attractive and easy to all classes of our people
opportunities of turning their thoughts from the sterner
features of their daily occupations to the amenities of life as
presented by specimens of artistic and literary merit.
_Resolved_, That while sharing in the delight of our citizens in
view of the valuable gift thus unexpectedly placed at their
service, we congratulate them even more upon the presence among
them of men whom Providence has blessed in three-fold
measure--with hearts abounding in philanthropic instincts, with
material resources ample for the gratification of such impulses,
and with that rarer gift than either, the judgment requisite to
secure for their donations the widest and most permanent range
of influence.
_Resolved_, That we cannot resist the inclination to felicitate
our honored benefactor upon the deep and abiding joy which must
be the most adequate reward for this expression of his good will
toward our city--the joy arising from the knowledge that every
home within our corporate limits will enter into the enjoyment
of his gift and that not a few of our youth will be allured from
scenes of degrading and immoral pleasure by the presence in a
most convenient location of a beautiful edifice within which are
at their disposal the graces of art and the riches of
literature.
_Resolved_, That the distinguished giver by this gift, the most
valuable ever received by this community at one time from a
single citizen, has "erected a monument more enduring than
bronze and loftier than the regal structure of the pyramids" in
the establishment of a lasting sense of gratitude within the
hearts of his appreciative fellow citizens.
ALONZO DAVIS,
JOEL JOEL,
BERNARD H. FLAHERTY,
JOHN PARKHILL,
(_Committee_)
FITCHBURG, April 1, 1884."
Although $40,000 is the lowest limit named, it should be said that the
cost of the noble pile will far exceed that sum. It was a generous and
princely act for which he will be held in lasting and greatful memory.
He will leave behind him a monument which will forever identify his name
with the intellectual and moral culture of all classes of the citizens
of Fitchburg.
On the seventh of April, the Trustees of the Public Library took
appropriate action on the gift of Mr. Wallace. The following account
appeared in the _Sentinel_ of April 8:
"At a meeting of the Trustees of the Public Library, Monday
evening, the board adopted the following resolution, offered by
Henry A. Willis, and on motion of Rev. P.J. Garrigan it was
voted to enter the same on their records, request the daily
papers of the city to publish the same, and that Rev. P.J.
Garrigan, Henry A. Willis and L.H. Bradford be appointed a
committee to present the action of the board to Mr. Wallace:
_Resolved_, That we have heard with great satisfaction of the
proposed gift by Honorable Rodney Wallace of land and a building
for the use of the Public Library, thus providing for a want
long felt by the Trustees, viz: facilities for making the
Library fully available to the people of the city, which it
never could be in its present confined quarters; that we will
fully co-operate with the generous donor in any manner desired
by him in carrying out the details of his proposed undertaking;
and that we desire here to place upon our records our keen
appreciation of the generous spirit which has moved him to
tender this munificent gift."
The new library building fronts on Main street, and looks out upon
Monument Park and the beautiful Court House of North Worcester County.
It is of Greek classic style, and is built of Trenton pressed brick. It
has sandstone trimmings. It has a frontage of seventy-four feet on Main
street, and is sixty-five feet deep. The basement is ten feet in height.
It is two stories above the basement. The library floor is sixteen feet
high. The second story, which contains the picture gallery, is ten feet
high on the outside, and thirty-two in the centre. The extreme height is
therefore fifty-eight feet. The front of the building is especially
imposing. It has a projection in the centre, twenty-five feet wide and
six feet deep, which extends the whole height of the structure and
terminates in a gable, which is surrounded by a decorated pediment. The
main entrance is approached by massive steps of granite, twelve feet
wide, flanked by heavy buttresses. At the top of the steps is the
entrance porch, eleven feet wide, six feet deep, and arched overhead.
Polished granite columns with carved capitals on either side support the
archway above. In the belt of sandstone above this arch is cut the
legend "Library and Art Building." Above this belt is a row of windows
separated by columns of brick. Above these is a sandstone belt in which
is cut the name of the donor, by vote of the City Government. The title
of the structure is therefore "Wallace Library and Art Building." Above
is a row of circular windows separated by sandstone columns with carved
capitals. The hip roof of the building is crowned by a monitor top,
which admits light into the art room below. Over the entrance is to be
the city seal, in antique and Venetian glass. The whole structure is
amply lighted by a large number of windows.
The basement provides for a store-room, a work-room, and reading-room,
which opens off Newton lane. The public will have full access to this
room. It will specially accommodate the workingmen. The late Honorable
Wm. H. Vose left $1,000, the income of which is to be used in supplying
suitable papers for this room. There are also in the basement a coal
room, and the boiler which heats the whole building. On entering the
building one stands in a large hall, on the right of which is a
reading-room for magazines, and on the left is a large reference room,
and a winding stairway by which the second story is reached. Across the
whole rear of the building is the library room, which is high enough to
admit of galleries. Ample provisions are thus made for all the possible
future needs of the city. In the second story is the art gallery. Around
it are five other rooms, which can be devoted to any of the uses such an
institution may require. When completed the inside will be finished in
hard woods, and according to modern ideas of taste and elegance. The art
gallery will be a model of its kind.
With a collection of books and of works of art to match the thought of
the donor expressed in the building the library will be a lasting
blessing to our city. A gift so timely, and so well adapted to the needs
of a city like Fitchburg, with its population of young people, could not
fail to commend itself, and win the gratitude of every right-minded
citizen. Therefore, any one who will stand in front of this building for
an hour, and listen to the remarks made by those who look up to it as
they pass, will readily learn how deep a hold on the esteem of all
classes of the citizens of Fitchburg this generous act has given Mr.
Wallace.
Lest my estimate of Mr. Wallace may seem extravagant to those who do not
know him, I add the following from the pen of Professor H.M. Tyler of
Smith College, Northampton, formerly Mr. Wallace's pastor. He writes:--
"It gives me great pleasure to send a few lines in answer to
your note, though it would be easy for a critic to say that I
have long since passed the point where I could give a
cold-blooded opinion of Mr. Wallace. I can write only from the
stand-point of warm friendship and cannot be cold in my respect
and admiration for my friend. Mr. Wallace is pre-eminently a
business man; to this the chief energy of his life has been
directed. It seems an impertinence for me to pass judgment upon
his career, but I have loved to study him in his business
habits. By his affability, correctness, and fairness in all his
work he has succeeded marvellously in attaching every one to
himself. All instinctively gravitate toward him, and never wish
to break off their association with him. I never knew a man so
master of his own ways and yet so universally popular. People
love to be influenced or even controlled by him. His office
would be the centre of any community in which he should be
placed. All men love to fasten to him their faith. He has
everywhere learned to gather friends by showing himself
friendly. His interest in the people of his own community has
been shown not merely by his public benefactions. Every one in
want of help has turned to him, and all have had a patient
hearing and generous response.
He has been associated with people of every position and among
all has been a favorite companion. Everyone has felt at home
with him. It is rarely true that a man has gained success with
so thorough a desire that his friends should enjoy what he has
gathered with him. He is thus remarkable for his prosperity, for
the use which he is making of his prosperity, for his delight in
giving pleasure to others, and for the disposition and temper
which finds its enjoyment in such rational and kindly ways.
It is not that one never disagrees with Mr. Wallace. He would
scorn the flattery which yields convictions to attempt to
please. Even when we differ he is none the less congenial. If I
have ever had the feeling that in any respect I should like to
make him over it has generally yielded to the conviction that on
the whole I could not hope to do better than has been done.
Among all the men with whom I have come in contact in places of
business responsibility and honor I do not know another to whom
I give more unqualified respect and esteem than I do to Mr.
Wallace. Cordially,
HENRY M. TYLER."
Mr. Wallace, as has appeared, was for three years associated with
Governor Long in the Government of Massachusetts. In response to a note
from me Mr. Long writes as follows:
"I am glad to know that you are writing a sketch of Mr. Wallace
for publication. If a good subject will make a good sketch your
work will be a success. He is one of the men, however, who write
their own lives, not in the pages of any autobiography, but in
their conduct and character. I have served with him in public
life, and sat with him as one of my Councilors in the Executive
Chamber, and have found him always a fund of practical good
sense, of excellent judgment, trained by great experience in
affairs, and of thorough integrity. He is a representative
Massachusetts man, the builder of his own fortune, equal to the
enterprise of acquiring wealth and position, and magnanimous in
their use and enjoyment. But I like best to recall, as I am sure
do all who know him, his generous friendship, his great public
spirit, and his good heart, of which I have witnessed many
proofs. I trust that it may be many years before his life is
taken in any other way than in such an appreciative and kindly
sketch as you will write of him.
Very truly yours,
JOHN D. LONG."
WASHINGTON, D.C., February 7, 1885.
December 1, 1853, Mr. Wallace married Sophia Ingalls, daughter of Thomas
Ingalls of Rindge, New Hampshire. She died June 20, 1871, leaving two
sons, Herbert I. Wallace and George R. Wallace. Herbert is a graduate of
Harvard in the class of 1877. George studied at the Institute of
Technology in Boston. They are associated with their father in the
management of his business. December 28, 1876 Mr. Wallace married Mrs.
Sophia F. Bailey of Woodstock, Vermont. Mr. Bailey was a member of
Congress from the district in which Fitchburg is included. Mrs. Wallace
is one of the well-known Billings family of Woodstock. Mr. Wallace lives
in a beautiful house on Prospect street, which is surrounded with
beautiful lawns and green-houses which, gratify his taste. From his
front door he can overlook the city and its varied industries in whose
development he has borne so conspicuous a part.
We are near the end of a story which it has been a pleasure to tell.
Vastly more could be told. A volume of incidents could be written. There
are precious secrets of every generous and noble man's life which no pen
may profane by giving them publicity. These are the choice treasures
reserved only for those who know him best, and live nearest his heart.
But the writer desires, as Mr. Wallace's pastor, to add the testimony of
observation and personal knowledge to the rare purity and uprightness of
character, to the generosity of spirit, to the thoughtful kindness, and
to the deep and reverent regard for spiritual things, of his
distinguished parishioner. As an example of untiring energy, of probity
of character, of cleanness of soul, of uprightness of life, of sincerity
of purpose, of firmness of moral principle, he may safely be held up as
a model for young men.
* * * * *
FITCHBURG.
BY MRS. CAROLINE A. MASON.[A]
[Footnote A: Mrs. Mason is a resident of Fitchburg. Her home, on
Rollstone Street, is shown in the "Sketch of Fitchburg." Her reputation
as a writer of verse is not confined to the State. She is the author of
the words of the familiar ballad "Do They Miss Me at Home?" and has, for
many years, contributed poetry to leading weeklies and magazines.--Ed.]
Nested among her hills she lies,--
The city of our love!
Within her, pleasant homes arise;
And healthful airs and happy skies
Float peacefully above.
A sturdy few, 'mid hopes and fears,
Her fair foundations set:
And looking backward now, through years
Of steady gain, how small appears
Her old estate!--and yet,
She dons no autocratic airs,
In scorn of humbler days,
But shapes her fortunes and affairs,
To match the civic wreath she wears
And justify her bays.
Honor and Truth her old renown:
Conservative of both,
The virtues of the little town
She holds in legacy, to crown
The city's larger growth.
Nor ease nor sloth her strength despoil:
Her peaceful farmers till,
With patient thrift, th' outlying soil,
Her trained mechanics deftly toil,
Her merchants ply their skill;
Her ponderous engineries supply
A thousand waiting needs;
Her wheels revolve, her shuttles fly,--
And ever where the prize hangs high,
Her foot, unfaltering, leads.
Her sympathies are large and sweet:
And when, at Freedom's call,
The war flags waved, the war drums beat,
She sprang, responsive, to her feet,
And freely offered all!
Alert in War, she emulates
The Arts of Peace, as well:
Religion, Order, guard her gates;
Wealth, Culture, Thrift, like happy Fates,
Her destinies foretell.
So, through the round of years, she keeps
Advancing on her Past:
Her old-time vigor never sleeps,--
And even as she sows she reaps.
God bless her to the last!
* * * * *
MAJOR GENERAL LEW WALLACE AT SHILOH.
GENERAL U.S. GRANT'S VINDICATION OF GENERAL WALLACE.--THE WALLACE AND
GRANT LETTERS AND DOCUMENTS WITH INTRODUCTORY NOTE.
BY GENERAL HENRY B. CARRINGTON.
[Author of "Battles of the American Revolution."]
It seems common to all great wars that the true version of leading
actions is rarely assured by the immediate reports of commanders. Many
causes secure to such reports substantial accuracy, but the development
of details seldom fails to show that justice to subordinates cannot be
done by the simple statement of general plans and general results. There
are historians who still claim that Arnold had no part in the battle of
Freeman's Farm, September 19, 1777; and many other battles of the
Revolutionary war lacked clear definition until nearly a century had
passed and the records were supplemented by careful examination of the
battle-fields and a more thorough scrutiny of British, French, and
Hessian archives, thereby to correct topographical data and harmonize
conflicting statements.
The case of General Fitz John Porter forcibly illustrates the difficulty
of changing public opinion, once formed, even when supplemental data
enforce military recognition of their value. The Battle of Franklin,
which secured to General Thomas the opportunity to fortify Nashville and
ultimately defeat Hood, and the battles of Stone River, Gettysburg,
Chicamauga and Monocacy, are among the actions of the late war in which
differences of statement as to positions and movements have greatly
qualified first estimates of the relations which various officers
sustained to those actions.
The battle of Shiloh, or Pittsburg Landing, has been the latest under
scrutiny. It is not the purpose to consider whether the action of the
day was influenced by the arrival of Buel's army, or by the non-arrival
of General Lew Wallace's division; nor whether General Wallace did, or
did not, march by scientific methods, when he moved for the nearest
firing. Among voluminous papers touching the civil war are the copies of
original papers received from General Wallace himself, and of present
interest. These papers received notice from the Western press at one
time, but seem to demand a more formal record, as essential factors in
the better understanding of the Battle of Shiloh.
The following outline is suggested by these documents:
1st. That the Federal line of battle, early in the morning, stretched
out from Pittsburg Landing nearly to the Purdy Road, with General
Sherman's division on the right, within about a mile of that road.
2nd. That General Wallace's division was at Crump's Landing, not more
than five miles from Pittsburg Landing; it being then uncertain which of
the two would be the objective of attack.
3d. That General Grant visited General Wallace at Crump's Landing and
ordered him to hold his command subject to orders, and then steamed
onward to Pittsburg Landing.
4th. That before 6 o'clock, A.M., the sound of firing had led General
Wallace to put his command under arms; and he was prepared to move
wherever active work should demand, even before he was ordered to be
thus ready.
5th. That he concentrated his brigades, then in three camps, into one
mass, at the forks of the Purdy Road and the road to Pittsburg Landing,
so that he might take either road, as orders should decide.
6th. That he understood the original line of battle and the disposition
of its divisions, and knew that General Sherman held the right.
7th. That the order received by him, before 12 o'clock, M., from Captain
Baxter, staff officer of General Grant, was in writing; and while
pronounced verbally, at first, the form it assumed, when reduced to
writing and subsequently delivered to General Wallace, was a direct
order to "unite with the right," and that involved the march on the
Purdy Road.
If the verbal order of General Grant to Captain Baxter, to hasten
General Wallace's Division to Pittsburg Landing, was reduced to writing
by that officer, after he noticed the early success of the Union Line,
he would have shaped the approach of the fresh division to the best
possible advantage, to join the _army_, not the precise _Landing_, if
the army was not there; since General Grant, still being on crutches
from a sprained ankle when his horse fell under and upon him, on the
fourth, was compelled to depend largely upon staff-officers for
judicious action, in exigencies which fell under their eyes, and where
his riding was greatly limited. There is full harmony of events, by
giving full credit to all the data which seem, at first, to work
conflict.
8th. That the Staff Officer who delivered the order assured General
Wallace and his staff that the Federal line was successful and driving
the enemy at every point.
9th. That a movement at that time, toward Pittsburg Landing, would have
taken General Wallaces' Division out of possible contact with the enemy,
instead of supporting, and perfecting victory.
10th. That when the Division of General Wallace moved, as it did, within
ten minutes after receipt of the orders, "impatiently waited for," it
could see the distant smoke and hear the roar of battle, and moved
directly toward the point of danger by the shortest route, with the
greatest celerity and in harmony with the order received.
11th. That the defeat of the main army, the enforced retirement of
Sherman's Division, and, in fact, the withdrawal of the entire original
line, were new conditions, to be considered, when other Staff Officers
notified General Wallace of the same; and then, the addition of his
division to the rallying army, at Pittsburg Landing, seemed to be an
important element to the very safety of that army, except as it could
lean upon the divisions of Buel, already within supporting distance.
12th. That the original advance of General Wallace's Division on the
Purdy Road, while thoroughly suited to the original conditions as they
existed when the order was delivered to him, was, of necessity, useless
and dangerous, when he found himself alone and unsupported, and that the
enemy had already swept over the position which he expected to occupy.
13th. That there was no alternative, then, but to pass around the left
of the enemy, and rejoin the army, at such expense of time or labor as
the new conditions imposed; and that this was done, at great pains and
with great celerity, without straggling or loss.
14th. That the prominent idea of withdrawing General Wallace's Division
from Crump's Landing, to support the main army in its advance, is to be
kept in mind;--whereby, confusion ceases as to the hour of the day when
the order to report at Pittsburg Landing was delivered or became
operative;--thereby, also, reconciling memories with the incidents of
the day, with no discredit to any.
15th. That every theory of supporting an advanced line, from reserves
sent forward from the base, must so bend to facts, that it may be the
best thing possible, to strengthen the right of a successful line, even
to overlapping and turning the enemy; and that such a movement has the
emphatic endorsement of standard critics, and marked experience; while a
formal movement to the rear, in order to move to the front and the
right, as if on parade, would, under conditions such as presented to
General Wallace, have been, simply, to wear out his men in marching,
with small chance for taking any part in the assumed pursuit of a
defeated enemy.
16th. That it is an unsound way of dealing with the facts of history, to
gauge the responsibilities of officers and men, of small experience, by
the rules which apply to the same officers and men after their
experience has matured; and that, when the battle of Shiloh took place,
and citizen regiments took part, with very slight knowledge of arms, it
was equally true, that the officers themselves, both regular and
volunteer, were proportionately unfamiliar with battle action on a large
scale, and that, as a matter of fact, the Generals and Colonels, for the
most part, had never seen a batallion drill, unless at West Point, much
less drilled more than a company; and their conduct and opinions, in
1861-2, are not to be measured by the ripened experience of the years
succeeding and succeeding years of reflection.
And finally, that the orders, movements, and results of the sixth day of
April, 1862, must be judged by their relations to the passing hours and
issues of that day, as practical men would act under changing
conditions, and not by any formal order, which, however appropriate at
one time, would, at any other time, defeat the work in hand. The Rules
of Evidence, recognized by Civil and Military Courts alike, are but
expressions of sound judgment of past experience; and Military Science,
so called, has no other basis than that which belongs to the wise use of
means to ends in all applied science and in all human endeavor.
Whenever, therefore, the conduct of a battle is consistent with the
conditions, as at the time understood, it is not exactly just to measure
it by the terms of any instructions inconsistent with those
conditions;--so that while an order to march to Pittsburg Landing became
necessary upon the retirement of the original line, it ought not to be
technically applied back to a time when that line was supposed to be
sweeping on to victory and only sought fresh strength to mature that
victory.
That a general action was precipitated by the Confederate forces under
General Albert Sidney Johnson and was in the nature of a successful
surprise of the Union Army, is the fact which harmonizes the reports of
officers of both armies with the incidents of the day, and fairly
distributes responsibility, without reflecting the narrow escape of the
Union Army from destruction upon any single officer or command;
especially, where all did so well, and so much is to be credited to the
fall of General Johnson and the interruption of his deliberate plan,
first to surprise, and then sweep on to victory, at whatever cost.
The Documents are as follows:
1st. Letter of Major General Lew Wallace to General U.S. Grant, February
26, 1869.
2nd. Letter of Lieutenant Colonel Ross, A.D.C. to General Wallace,
January 25, 1868.
3rd. Letter of General J.A. Strickland to General Wallace, January 24,
1868.
4th. Letter of General G.F. McGinnis to General Wallace, February 20,
1868.
5th. Letter of General Fred. Knefler to General Wallace, February 19,
1868.
6th. Letter of Captain Ad Ware, A.D.C., to General Wallace (without
date).
7th. Letter of General John M. Thayer to General Wallace, March 4, 1868.
8th. Letter of General U.S. Grant to General Wallace, March 10, 1868,
commenting upon the letters cited and suggesting their publication, in
justice to General Wallace.
[Illustration: The map of the Compte de Paris has been utilized. 1, 2
and 3 give location of Wallace's Brigades in line, perpendicular to the
river, with right at Adamsville (3), 2. Concentration of Division. 4.
Crossing at Snake creek to take the right of General Sherman. 4-5.
Countermarch to lower crossing after retirement of the right. 6. Lower
crossing which had for several days previously been under water.
Wallace's division, on the 7th, held the right of Sherman, as indicated
for the 6th, when he moved to take part in the general action.]
General Wallace to General Grant:
WASHINGTON CITY, Feb. 29, 1868.
GENERAL:
About a year after the battle of Pittsburg Landing, it came to
my knowledge, that I was suffering, in your opinion, from
erroneous information upon the subject of my conduct and
movements as commander of the Third Division of your army during
the first day of the battle named. To place myself right in your
estimation and in that of the army generally, I asked a Court of
Inquiry, by letter to the Secretary of War (Mr. Stanton) July
17, 1863. After several months, during which the application
received no attention from the Secretary, I withdrew it, by
advice of friends, General Sherman amongst others. The course I
then resolved upon, that counselled by General Sherman, was to
carry my explanation directly to you; and such continued my
intention until the battle of Monocacy, after which your
treatment of me became so uniformly kind and considerate that I
was led to believe the disagreement, connected with Pittsburg
Landing, forgotten; a result, to which I tacitly assented,
notwithstanding the record of that battle as you had made it, in
the form of an endorsement on my official report, was grievously
against me.
A recent circumstance, however, has made it essential to my good
name, which I cannot bring myself to believe you wish to see
destroyed, to go back to my former purpose; in pursuance of
which, the object of this letter is simply to introduce certain
statements of gentlemen lately in the army, your friends as much
as mine, in hopes that the explanations to be found therein will
be sufficent to authorize you to give me a note of acquittal
from blame, plainly enough, to allay the suspicions and charges
to which I have been so painfully subjected. The statements are
in the form of extracts pertinent to the subject from letters
now in my possession, from General Fred Knefler, General George
McGinnis, Colonel James R. Ross, General Daniel MacCaulay,
Captain Ad Ware, General John A. Strickland, General John M.
Thayer, now United States Senator from Nebraska--all, of my
command, on the day in question, present with me, well known to
you, and of unimpeachable honor. I could have obtained many
others, of like import, but selected these because their authors
had peculiar opportunities for information upon points
considered of chief importance. It is possible that my
explanations of the matter would be sufficient for the purpose
in view. However that may be, it is my judgment now, that the
charges against me have gone so far, and been put in such grave
form, that public opinion may require an exoneration, though it
come from your hand, to be based upon the testimony of others.
Permit me to say, further, that as to the order you started to
me by Captain Baxter, I do not understand there is any question
of veracity between us. You tell me, that from the battle-field
you dispatched a verbal order by the officer named, to be
delivered to me, at Crump's Landing, directing me to march my
division to Pittsburg Landing by the road, parallel with the
river; and, supposing, as you did, that the order would reach me
by 11 o'clock, A.M., you reasonably concluded my command would
be on the field by 1 o'clock, P.M.
Now in all candor, if you have been, as I am informed, of
opinion that I received that order as it was given, and at the
time stated (11 o'clock, A.M.), and that for any reason, such as
personal feeling against you, or that I lost my way, or took the
wrong road, or lingered on the march, making but five miles in
seven hours, it must be admitted that you were justifiable in
any, even the most extreme judgment against me; and I must
confess that your moderation was greater than mine would likely
have been, had our positions been reversed. I do not flinch from
that conclusion, at all; but what I do say in my defence is that
the opinion and the conclusion, which is its corollary, are both
wrong, because the order admitted to have been dispatched was
not delivered to me, in form or substance, as dispatched. On the
contrary, the order I received from your messenger was in
writing, unsigned, and contained substantially the following
instructions:
"You will leave a force at Crump's Landing, sufficient to guard
the public property there; then march the rest of your division,
and _effect a junction with the right of the army_; after which
you will form your line of battle at right angles with the
river, and act as circumstances dictate."
This order was read by Colonel Ross, under circumstances well
calculated to impress it upon his memory. It was also given to
Colonel Knefler, then my Adjutant General, and by him read and
unfortunately lost. Finally, its purport, as stated by me above,
is vouched for by Captain Ware as the aide de camp. To refuse
credit to my version of its contents will be very hard, indeed,
corroborated as it is by so many gentlemen of unquestionable
veracity, and such excellent opportunity for information on the
point.
I think myself warranted now in asserting upon the credit of
the three officers just named, as well as my own, that by the
terms of the order, as it was delivered to me, the object of my
march was not Pittsburg Landing, as you intended, but the right
of the army, resting, when the battle opened in the morning, at
a point quite three miles out from the landing, on the road to
Purdy.
As a general principle it must be admitted that when you
entrusted the order to a proper messenger for delivery to me,
your responsibility ceased; but, I turn and ask you, appealing
to your experience and justice, how am I held responsible for
the execution of an order if it never reached me; or, if it
reached me, conveying an idea radically different from that
originally given? Of necessity, I was accountable for the
execution of the order, only as it was received, and if it was
not received in a form to convey your true design, but was
promptly executed, neither of us are responsible for the result.
It was not your mistake, nor was it mine.
Having established the purport, at least, of the order as it
came to my hand, the next inquiry is: "Did I proceed to execute
it, and how?"
On these heads all the letters on file are applicable. They
show, as I think, that I took measures anticipatory to the order
you gave me, personally, in your passage up the river to the
battle-field, viz: to hold myself in readiness to march in any
direction; that my brigades were ordered to concentrate at the
place most proper and convenient for a prompt execution of the
orders, whatever they might be, because it was at the junction
of two roads, one leading to Pittsburg Landing, the other to the
right of the army. To one of these points, it may be added, I
was sure of being ultimately sent, if the exigencies of the
battle required the presence of my command. They show, that
after you parted from me, going up the river, I took measures to
forward your messenger to me instantly upon his arrival (see
Colonel Ross' letters), then rode to the place of concentration,
and waited impatiently and anxiously the expected instructions;
that they came to hand about 12 o'clock (my own remembrance is
11:30 A.M.), and that the officer who brought them, also brought
the news that you were driving the enemy all along the line.
(See letters of General Knefler and Colonel Ross.) Up to that
time, therefore, I was certainly blameless.
But let me ask you to stop here, and consider the effect on my
mind and subsequent movements, of the information, thus reliably
obtained, that the battle was won. What inducement could I have
had to march away from or linger on the road to a victory? Upon
the hypothesis that the good news was true, how could I have
imagined, (had there been so much as a doubt as to the intent of
the order received,) a necessity for my command at Pittsburg
Landing?
But, proceeding. The letters further establish, that,
immediately upon receiving the order, I put my column _en
route_, to execute it.
Now comes the questions. Did I take the right road to effect the
junction with the right of the army, or one leading to Purdy,
away from the battle? Pertinent to these inquiries, General
Knefler says, that the road chosen for the movement had been
patrolled and picketted by my cavalry. By their report, if by
nothing else, I must have been posted as to its terminus. In
corroboration of this assertion please notice that General
Macaulay, General Strickland, General Thayer and General
Knefler, all allude to the fact that the head of the column was
approaching, not going away from the firing, when the
countermarch took place. Consider, further, that the most
imperative necessities of my situation, isolated as I had been
from the main army, were, to know all the communications with
that army, and to keep them clear, and in order for rapid
movement. _Not only did I know the road, but every step my
division took from the initial point of the march up to the
moment of the change of direction, was, as is well known to
every soldier in the column, a step nearer to the firing and
therefore a step nearer to the battle_. While on this inquiry,
let me add that the report of my being set right after marching
upon the wrong road has in it this much truth, and no more. When
about a mile from the position which had been occupied by the
right of the army (General Sherman's division), Captain Rowley
overtook me and told me that you had sent him to hurry me up,
and that our lines had been carried by the enemy and the army
driven back almost to the river, a very different story from the
one brought me by Captain Baxter. Captain Rowley set me right as
to the conditions of the battle, not as to the road I was
following. Colonel McPherson and Major Rawlins, the other
members of your staff, mentioned as having been sent to me, met
me after the countermarch, when my command was on the river road
moving to Pittsburg Landing.
Concerning the countermarch, I would remark that the condition
of the battle, as reported by Captain Rowley, made it prudent,
if not necessary. My column was only five thousand men, of all
arms. Reflecting upon it now, I am still of the opinion that it
did better service the next day in your new line of battle, than
it could have done, operating alone and unsupported in the rear
of the whole rebel army, where I was certainly taking it, when
"set right" by the captain.
Instead of making the change of direction, when it was resolved
on, by a countermarch, the result proved that it should have
been effected by a general right about. The former manoeuvre was
chosen, however, because I was confident of finding a cross road
to the river road long before the head of the column doubled
upon its foot. [See Colonel Ross' statement of the effort made
to accomplish that idea.]
One of the results I confidently anticipated from a reading of
the letter submitted, is, that you will be satisfied of the
wrong done me (unintentional, I believe), by Colonel Badeau,
when, in his book, he describes me as consuming seven hours in
marching five miles in the direction of the battle. The march
actually performed in that time was not less than fifteen miles,
over an execrable dirt road.
Your opinion, as advanced in your letter to the War Office,
July, 13, 1863, that General Morgan L. Smith, had he been put in
command, could have had the division in the battle by 1 o'clock
P.M., is in direct terms, based upon the condition that General
Smith received your orders as you supposed them communicated to
me. But, suppose he had not received the order as originally
given; suppose, on the contrary, the order actually received by
him had the effect to send him in another direction from
Pittsburg Landing; and suppose that, on approaching his
objective, he had found himself in the rear of the whole rebel
army, and in his judgment compelled, by that circumstance,
together with the bad fortune of our own army, to a further
movement of quite ten miles--all of which were terrible
realities in my case--I am sure you are too just a man to have
held him accountable for the hours, however precious, thus
necessarily lost.
With these remarks I place the letters of the officers named in
your hands. They will satisfy you, I think, that the exoneration
I seek will be a simple act of justice. The many misconceptions
which have been attached to my movements on that bloody Sunday,
have, it must be confessed, made me extremely sensitive upon the
subject. You can imagine, therefore, with what anxiety your
reply will be waited.
Very respectfully your friend,
LEW WALLACE.
To GENERAL U.S. GRANT, WASHINGTON CITY.
Colonel Ross to General Wallace:
CHICAGO, January, 25, 1868.
General: Having read the extract from "Badeau's Life of General
Grant," as published in the Chicago Tribune, of the twenty-fifth
of December, 1867, wherein he refers particularly to the battle
of Shiloh, and seeing the gross injustice done you, and the
false light in which you are placed before the country and the
world, I deem it my duty to make a brief statement of what I
know to be the facts in reference to your failure to reach the
field of battle in time to take part in the action of Sunday,
April 6, 1862.
I will first state the position of your command on that morning.
The First Brigade, Colonel M.L. Smith commanding, at Crump's
Landing; Second Brigade, Colonel John M. Thayer commanding, two
and one-half miles out on the Adamsville road; Third Brigade,
Colonel Charles R. Wood commanding, at Adamsville, five miles
out from the river. The first intimation you or any of your
staff had of the battle was between five and six o'clock, A.M.,
when my attention was called by one of the men on the boat on
which were your headquarters, to the heavy and continued firing
in the direction of the camp at Pittsburg Landing. You were at
once notified of this, and being satisfied that there was a
battle going on, directed me to go at once and order this
division to get ready to move at a moment's warning, and to
instruct Colonel Wood to move his baggage and camp equipage to
the river with the least possible delay, and march his command
to the camp of the Second Brigade, midway between his (then)
camp and that of the First Brigade, at the river.
After executing your order, as above, I returned to the Landing.
Soon after, you, together with your staff, went out to the camp
of the second Brigade, when the division had been ordered to
concentrate in order to be in position to take either one of two
roads, intersecting the Adamsville road from Crump's Landing to
Pittsburg Landing; one leading to Pittsburg Landing, the other
to the Purdy road from Pittsburg Landing, intersecting it at a
point not far from the right of our army under General Sherman,
as it was encamped when the battle began.
Before starting for Colonel Thayer's camp, orders were given by
you to Captain Lyman, A.Q.M., on your staff, for a horse to be
saddled and kept in readiness, in case a messenger should come
down the river with orders from General Grant to you.
Now for the order. Badeau says that a staff officer was
dispatched to General Wallace with verbal orders for him to
march by the nearest road parallel with the river. The order may
have been given verbally by General Grant to his staff officer,
but was not so delivered to you, nor did it direct you to march
by the nearest road parallel with the river. At about 11
o'clock, A.M., while at the camp of Colonel Thayer, I was
directed by you to go to Colonel M.L. Smith. I met Captain
Baxter, A.Q.M., who stopped me and handed me a paper saying, "I
wish you would take this to General Wallace." I took the paper,
read it and returned it to him, saying, I could not do so, as I
was on my way under orders from General Wallace. At the same
time I turned in my saddle, and pointed out a group of horsemen,
telling the Captain that you were among them. I went to Colonel
Smith, delivered my orders, and returning, met the Captain
again. I very distinctly remember that this order directed you
to move forward _and join General Sherman's right on the Purdy
road_ and form your line of battle at right angles with the
river; and then act as circumstances would dictate. Now the
shortest possible route by which you could reach the point
designated in the order was the one taken, viz: that one leading
from Colonel Thayer's camp (on the Adamsville road from Crump's
Landing), to the Purdy road (from Pittsburg Landing), a distance
of about five miles; whereas the distance to the point to which
you was to march as designated in the order, _via_ Pittsburg
Landing, would have been at least twelve miles. Perhaps I should
here state that this order was not signed by any one, but coming
as it did through one of the Staff Officers of the Commanding
General, could not be questioned. I would also state in this
connection, that when I met Captain Baxter first, I asked him
how things were going. He replied that Grant was driving the
enemy at all points. Had this been the case, the order as
delivered by Captain Baxter would have been all right, as we
could then have joined General Sherman as directed therein.
Within ten minutes after the receipt of the order, the troops
were on the road.
When we were about one mile from where we expected to join
General Sherman, we were overtaken by a messenger from General
Grant, Captain (since Colonel) Rowley, I believe, who informed
you that our troops had been defeated all along the line, and
driven back, till the right was within half a mile of the river,
and that the road we were on, would, if followed up, lead us
into the rear of the enemy. This being the case, it became
necessary to find some other way to form a junction with the
army. In order to do so, every mounted man attached to your
Head-Quarters was dispatched to find, if possible, some way to
get round the enemys' left without going back to the starting
point, or to find some resident to guide us by the nearest
possible route. Finally a man was found who was compelled to
act as guide. Nevertheless the march was continued as rapidly
as possible, until we joined the right of the army, just after
dark, in the position in which it lay when the battle closed for
the day. Badeau also says: "General Wallace was set right by
Captain (afterwards Colonel) Rowley, and Colonel (afterwards
Major General) McPherson, both at the time upon General Grant's
staff; that they set him right at 1 o'clock, and it took him
till seven to march five miles." It was near 1 o'clock when we
were overtaken by Rowley, but instead of having but five miles
to march, the distance could not have been less than eleven or
twelve miles. The first seen of General McPherson was when we
were met by him and General Rawlins, just as the head of the
column had reached the river road (from Crump's Landing to
Pittsburg Landing) who had come out to urge you to greater
haste. We had to march over the worst road I ever remember to
have seen. In many places it was almost impossible to get
artillery through. In my judgment the entire distance marched by
your command could not have been less than sixteen or seventeen
miles.
The above, General, are the facts relative to the movements of
your command on the day referred to, which fell under my
personal observation. I am, General, very respectively, your
obedient servant,
JAMES R. ROSS,
Late Brev. Lieut. Col. Major. A.D.C.
To MAJOR GENERAL LEW WALLACE
CRAWFORDSVILLE, Indiana.
General Strickland to General Wallace:
HEADQUARTERS FIFTIETH REGIMENT, O.V.I. }
BIG RUN TRESTLE, Ky., June 24, 1863. }
CAPTAIN J.R. Ross, for MAJOR GENERAL LEW WALLACE:
DEAR SIR: In answer to your question as to my recollection of
the circumstances and time of the moving of Major General Lew
Wallace's command to the battle of Shiloh on the sixth of April,
1862, I will submit the following statement:
I was Acting Adjutant General for Colonel John M. Thayer (now
Brigadier General Thayer), he (Colonel Thayer) being in command
of the Second Brigade, General Lew Wallace's Division. On the
morning of the sixth of April (Sunday), 1862, the Brigade
commanded by Colonel Thayer, stationed at "Stony Lonesome," was
in readiness to march at daylight, or before. We were waiting
for orders to move, when Major General Lew Wallace and staff
rode to the headquarters of the brigade, I think between the
hours of 8 and 9 o'clock; it may have been earlier. General
Wallace ordered everything in readiness to move at a moment's
notice. I received the orders directly from General Wallace. I
assured him that the brigade, upon previous orders from himself
and Colonel Thayer, was ready to move, but went again, in
person, by order of Colonel Thayer, and notified Commanders of
Regiments, Batteries, etc., to be ready at the call from Colonel
Thayer's headquarters, to move. I heard General Wallace
addressing himself to Lieutenant Colonel McCord, commanding the
First Nebraska Regiment, to say, that he had received no orders
to move and that he was waiting for orders frown General Grant's
headquarters to move. I heard General Wallace request one of his
staff to watch the road to Crump's Landing for a messenger with
orders.
At half past 11 A.M. (it might have been fifteen minutes to 12)
a person rode up to General Wallace with orders to move. I was
standing by General Wallace at the time. _The Brigade commanded
by Colonel Thayer was in motion in just ten minutes after the
order was received_. I am particular about this, because Colonel
Sanbourn, of the Twenty-first Indiana Regiment, and other
officers of the Brigade, talked over the matter in the morning.
After the order was received we moved off rapidly.
After we had marched some distance, _and were getting nearer to
the sound of musketry continually_, we were met, I think, by
Major Rawlins, Assistant Adjutant General of General Grant, and
our direction changed. From my knowledge of the country, after
the battle of Monday, I am satisfied that, if we had not changed
our direction when we did, we would have gone in behind the left
of the rebel army. After the direction of the column was
changed, I was ordered by Colonel Thayer to go to the foot of
the column, for what purpose I cannot now recollect. I think it
was at the instance of General Wallace, to change direction on a
shorter route of Wood's brigade, and when going from the foot of
the column to the head, to report to my commanding officer,
Colonel Thayer. I remember noticing all _three_ of the
_Brigades_ in _close column, marching rapidly forward_. Just at
dusk we arrived at the valley of a small stream, where the mud
was very deep. We met an orderly, there, from the battle-field,
who said we could reach General Grant's forces by making great
haste, as Berdan's Sharp-shooters were holding the road by which
we were to enter. _The column was hurried forward as fast as it
was possible for it to move_. We arrived a little after dark, on
the right of General Grant's forces, but a few yards in front of
the enemy.
Not knowing for what particular purpose you wish this
communication, I have been precise in details as to time, etc.,
as it will be remembered by most of the officers of the Second
Brigade.
I am, sir, your obedient servant,
J.A. STRICKLAND,
Colonel Commanding Fiftieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry.
General McGinnis to General Wallace:
INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, February 21, 1868.
GENERAL: In reply to your note of this date, I would say, that
being in command of the Eleventh Indiana Infantry, I was
attached to the First Brigade, Third Division, Army of the
Tennessee, commanded by you, and encamped at Crump's Landing, on
the morning of the first day of the battle of Pittsburg Landing.
At daylight of said day, our command was aroused by heavy and
continuous firing from the direction of Pittsburg Landing, which
led us to believe that a general battle was being fought. I do
not think more than twenty minutes had elapsed from the time
that the battle commenced until our whole brigade had received
orders to hold ourselves in readiness, (with three days'
rations) to march to any point required; and that point all
understood from indications would be Pittsburg Landing.
For the purpose of concentrating the division, our Brigade
marched to Winn's Farm, two and a half miles from Crump's
Landing, where the Second Brigade of the Third Division was then
encamped. The road taken by our division, after concentrating,
intersected the Purdy road (from Pittsburg Landing) at a point
near Snake Creek, and not far from the ground occupied by
General Sherman's division on the morning of the battle, being
the right of the army. _This, in my opinion, was the shortest
and most direct route to the point at which the right of the
army was resting, when the battle began_.
Orders were not received for the division to march to the field
of battle, _until about_12 _o'clock, A.M. and no time was lost
during the march_, as we moved with the utmost rapidity.
In the history of that battle, written by (Badeau) who was not
there and who could not have had personal knowledge of the facts
in relation thereto, serious and gross injustice has been done
you.
Very respectfully,
G.F. McGinnis,
Late Brigadier General U.S.A.
[General Fred Knefler's letter to General Lew Wallace corroborating the
statements made by the other members of the staff will be found on page
367--ED.]
Captain Ware to General Wallace:
GENERAL: I submit the following statement in regard to the
movement of your division, on Sunday, April 6, 1862, as far as
came under my observation.
The first intimation I had that an engagement was progressing
was about 6 o'clock, A.M. I heard firing in the direction of the
camps at Pittsburg Landing. Soon after I was ordered by you to
proceed to Adamsville, where the Third Brigade, under Colonel
Wood was encamped, with orders to have his tents, and baggage
train sent immediately to the river, and his command to march
back to the Second Brigade, which was then stationed two and a
half miles from Crump's Landing. I also ordered the First
Brigade, under Colonel Morgan L. Smith, to move out to the same
point. The Second Brigade, under Colonel John M. Thayer, was
also ordered to be ready to move at a moment's notice. I
returned to your headquarters and with you proceeded to the
above-mentioned point. At twenty minutes of 12 an order was to
you delivered, by Captain Baxter, A.Q.M., directing "you to move
your division up and join General Shermans' right," on the road
leading from Pittsburg Landing to Purdy, that being the extreme
right of General Grant's position.
Two Regiments of Infantry and one piece of artillery were left
at the camp of the Second Brigade, to protect the camp equipage
and baggage. I am, General, very respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
AD WARE, JR., A.D.C.
To MAJOR GENERAL LEW WALLACE.
General John M. Thayer to General Wallace:
UNITED STATES SENATE CHAMBER,
WASHINGTON. March 4. 1868.
At the time of the battle of Pittsburg Landing I was in command
of the Second Brigade of the division commanded by General Lew
Wallace, and, with the Brigade, was in camp two and a half miles
out from Crump's Landing, at a place called Stony Lonesome. At
dawn of the morning of April 6, 1862, I heard cannonading in the
direction of Pittsburg Landing. At an early hour I received
orders from General Wallace, through a Staff Officer, to "hold
my command in readiness to march at a moment's notice." General
Wallace came to my camp, soon afterwards, and informed me that
he was awaiting orders from General Grant to move to the
battle-field. I knew he was very impatient to receive such
orders. The Division was kept in readiness to move without
delay. At about half past 11 o'clock an officer rode up to
General Wallace with the expected order from General Grant, and,
in a few minutes, the command was on the march towards the field
of action. As we advanced the cannonading became more distinct.
As we were moving on I recollect a Staff Officer passing up the
column seeking General Wallace. Very soon we countermarched,
with the view, as I understood, of crossing to the river road
leading to Pittsburg Landing, and there reaching the right of
our army, which we reached about dark. According to my
recollection there was no halting while on the march, except to
close up the column.
While waiting in my camp for the order of General Grant to move
to the scene of action General Wallace manifested great anxiety
to move forward, and did move immediately on receipt of the
order. Very respectfully,
JOHN M. THAYER,
Late Brig. Gen'l and B'v't Maj Gen'l of Vols.
General Grant to General Wallace:
HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES.
WASHINGTON, D.C., MARCH, 10, 1868.
MY DEAR GENERAL:
Enclosed herewith, I return your letters from officers of the
Army who served with you at the battle of Shiloh, Tennessee,
giving their statement of your action on that occasion. I can
only state that my orders to you were given verbally to a Staff
Officer to communicate, and that they were substantially as
given by General Badeau in his book. I always understood that
the Staff Officer referred to, Captain Baxter, made a memorandum
of the order he received and left it with you. That memorandum I
never saw.
The statements which I now return seem to exonerate you from
this great point of blame, your taking the wrong road, or
different road from the one directed from Crump's Landing to
Pittsburg Landing. All your subsequent military career showed
you active and ready in the execution of every order you
received. Your promptness in moving from Baltimore to Monocacy,
Maryland, in 1864, and meeting the enemy in force far superior
to your own, when Washington was threatened, is a case
particularly in point, where you could scarcely have hoped for a
victory; but you delayed the enemy, and enabled me to get troops
from City Point, Virginia, in time to save the city. That act I
regarded as most praiseworthy. I refer you to my report of 1865,
touching your course there.
In view of the assaults made upon you now, I think it due to
you, that you should publish what your own Staff and other
subordinate officers have to say in exoneration of your course.
Yours Truly,
U.S. GRANT, GENERAL.
To MAJOR GENERAL L. WALLACE,
CRAWFORDSVILLE, Indiana.
* * * * *
FITCHBURG IN 1885.
BY ATHERTON P. MASON, M.D.
In the January number of this magazine appeared an excellent and
comprehensive historical sketch of Fitchburg. It is proposed in this
article to portray as briefly as possible, and by the aid of engravings,
the present condition and resources of our city.
Old Rollstone and its opposite neighbor, Pearl Hill, have witnessed the
transformation of a rude, inhospitable wilderness into a beautiful and
busy city. We of the present day, proud of our heritage, are striving to
improve it by all means within our power.
Fitchburg owes her growth and prosperity pre-eminently to those
energetic and plucky men who founded and fostered the great industries
which now constitute her life and soul. Alvah Crocker, Salmon W. Putnam,
Eugene T. Miles, and Walter Heywood, have left behind them great and
lasting proofs of their toil and perseverance. Of Rodney Wallace, who is
now in the midst of a useful and benevolent life among us, another will
speak more fully and fittingly in other pages of this magazine; nor
would we neglect to give due credit to the energetic men who are now
either carrying on business established by their predecessors, or
founding new industries which enhance the resources and good name of
Fitchburg.
[Illustration: UNION PASSENGER DEPOT]
The little river (the north branch of the Nashua) which runs through the
township, and which is formed by the confluence of several large brooks
in the westerly part of the town, first invited the manufacturer to
locate on its banks. Its water-power is still used, but steam is now the
chief motor that propels the machinery, looms and spindles that daily
pour forth products which go to the markets, not of this country alone,
but of the world.
Perhaps no place of its size can boast of a greater diversity of
industries than Fitchburg. In such an article as this attention must
necessarily be confined to the chief among them, and but few words
devoted to the description of separate establishments.
[Illustration: PUTNAM MACHINE COMPANY'S WORKS.]
Machinery takes the first rank among the manufactures of Fitchburg. The
pioneers in this business here were two brothers, Salmon W. and John
Putnam, who, in 1838, established the firm of J. & S.W. Putnam. In 1858
S.W. Putnam organized the Putnam Machine Company, which now has a wide
and enviable reputation. Mr. Putnam was President and General Business
Manager of the company until his death in 1872. Two of his surviving
sons are now actively engaged in carrying on the business, Charles F.
Putnam being President and Manager, and Henry O. Putnam Superintendent
of the department in which special machinists' and railroad tools are
made. There are six other departments devoted to special kinds of
manufacture which are superintended by able men. Mr. Putnam's two other
sons founded, in 1882, the Putnam Tool Company, located on Walnut
street, of which Salmon W. Putnam is President, and George E. Putnam
Treasurer, and is owned entirely by the Putnams. This company
manufactures machinery, railroad and machine tools. The present location
of the Putnam Machine Company, corner of Main and Putnam streets,
comprising over twenty-six acres, was purchased in 1866, and the
buildings were immediately erected at a cost of over $200,000. The works
were built from plans designed by the late President, and are arranged
with special reference to the variety of machines manufactured,
consisting of railroad and machinists' tools, steam-engines,
water-wheels, and shafting. They comprise machine shops, foundries and
forges, and rank with the oldest and largest establishments of the kind
in the United States.
The Putnams are descendants of Gen. Israel Putnam of Revolutionary fame.
[Illustration: RESIDENCE OF MRS. SALMON W. PUTNAM, WALNUT STREET]
The Fitchburg Machine Works occupy a large and convenient brick building
on Main street, near its beginning, and manufacture machinists' tools
principally. Opposite is the handsome brick building occupied by C.H.
Brown and Company, manufacturers of the "Brown" automatic cut-off
steam-engines, which have gained a wide reputation. A little further up
on Main street is located the Simonds Manufacturing Company. This
company was organized in 1868 with a capital of $150,000 and
manufactures machine knives and the well-known "Simonds" Circular Saw.
On Water street are three machine shops to be noticed. The Union Machine
Company makes paper machinery. The Rollstone Machine Company,
manufactures the "Rollstone" Lathe and other wood-working machinery. The
Fitchburg Steam Engine Company, whose business was established in 1871,
manufactures steam-engines and boilers, making a specialty of the
"Fitchburg" steam-engine, the great merits of which are everywhere
acknowledged. The company, notwithstanding its comparatively recent
organization, has a firm foothold in this country, and abroad also.
D.M. Dillon manufactures boilers and paper machinery. A.D. Waymouth and
Company, and C.W. Wilder manufacture respectively the Waymouth
wood-turning lathe and Wilder's patent lathe.
In 1866 Charles Burleigh of Fitchburg invented the Burleigh rock drill,
and the next year the Burleigh Rock Drill Company was organized with a
capital of $150,000, to make and sell this machine and the Burleigh
Patent air-compressor. These drills have completely revolutionized the
business of rock-tunneling. They were first used in the Hoosac Tunnel
and, proved highly successful. Since then they have been employed at
Hell Gate, in the Sutro Tunnel, and at various points in Europe.
[Illustration: STILES BLOCK, MAIN STREET.]
The Rollstone Iron Foundry, the Fitchburg Iron Foundry, and M.J.
Perault, manufacture castings of all kinds. W.A. Hardy operates a brass
Foundry on Water street. There is no space to indulge further in details
regarding machinery. In addition to the above are numerous individuals
and firms here engaged in the manufacture of mowing machines and
agricultural implements, boiler makers' tools, electric machinery and
apparatus, files, grist and flouring-mill machinery, hay, straw, and
machine, knives, wood-working machinery, machinists' tools, water
motors, watch tools, paper machinery and the like.
The paper manufacturing interest in Fitchburg is valuable and extensive.
The credit of successfully establishing this industry here belongs to
Alvah Crocker, who, in 1826, built a paper mill of his own. Paper had,
however, been made here to some extent previous to that time. In 1850
the firm of Crocker, Burbank and Company was formed, of which Mr.
Crocker was the head until his death in 1874. The present members of the
firm are C.T. Crocker, S.E. Crocker, G.F. Fay, G. H. Crocker and Alvah
Crocker. The firm now operates five large paper mills in West Fitchburg.
A sixth, the Snow Mill, was recently destroyed by fire. About 32,000
pounds of news, book and card paper are produced by these mills every
twenty-four hours.
In 1865 the Fitchburg Paper Company was organized. Rodney Wallace,
having purchased the interests of the other three original members of
the company, is now the sole proprietor. He operates two large and
well-equipped mills in West Fitchburg, which produce from 15,000 to
18,000 pounds of card and hanging paper every twenty-four hours.
[Illustration: CROCKER BLOCK.]
In 1864 George W. Wheelwright and Sons built a paper mill, and in 1880
the G.W. Wheelwright Paper Company was incorporated with a capital of
$100,000. The mill is located on Fourth street and produces about 7,000
pounds of news paper per twenty-four hours.
In 1884 a number of capitalists purchased the building long known as
Richardson's scythe shop, situated on Scythe-shop road, South Fitchburg,
and converted it into a paper-mill. It is now operated by the National
Paper Company and produces manilla and hanging paper.
The chair business is represented in Fitchburg by an establishment which
is one of the largest and best arranged in the world. Walter Heywood
really founded this industry here in 1844, though chairs were made in
Fitchburg on a small scale some years previously. The Walter Heywood
Chair Company was organized in 1851 and incorporated in 1869 with a
capital of $240,000. In July, 1870, the company's buildings on Water
street were completely destroyed by fire, and a lot on River street,
comprising nine acres, was immediately purchased for the erection of new
works. These buildings, each three hundred feet long, fifty feet wide
and two stories high, besides store houses, offices and sheds, were soon
ready for occupation. A private track connects the works with the
Fitchburg Railroad. The Company has a very large trade, both foreign and
domestic, and employs three hundred men. The chair stock is prepared at
the company's mills in Barton, Vermont.
[Illustration: FACTORY OF THE FITCHBURG WOOLEN MILL COMPANY.]
The manufacture of cotton and woolen goods is extensively carried on in
Fitchburg. The Fitchburg Cotton Mill is a fine brick building at the
upper end of Main street; carpet warps, batting and twine are here
manufactured. The Fitchburg Duck Mills in South Fitchburg produce cotton
duck. The Parkhill Manufacturing Company (John Parkhill, President, and
Arthur H. Lowe, Treasurer), occupies what was formerly Davis' chair
shop, situated on Circle street, and manufactures gingham. The building
has been greatly enlarged and additional buildings have been erected
since the company was organized a few years ago. Excellent goods are
manufactured and find a ready market.
The factory of the Fitchburg Woolen Mill Company, in Factory square, has
been long established and its products are well known. The company was
organized in 1843, but the factory itself has been in existence much
longer, being one of the oldest brick buildings in town. It was
originally used as a cotton mill, but in 1822 it was made into a woolen
factory. Since that date it has been enlarged several times. William H.
Vose, recently deceased, was Treasurer and Manager of this mill for
about forty years. Only a few months ago Mr. Vose wrote a concise
history of the factory since 1822, which is interesting and valuable.
James Phillips, Jr., is a prominent woolen manufacturer and operates the
three following concerns: a large woolen manufactory in West Fitchburg,
producing suitings, etc.; the Star Worsted Company, and the Fitchburg
Worsted Company, producing yarn and worsted. Mr. Phillips has met with
marked success, and his goods take high rank in the best markets. There
is a woolen mill in Rockville, a village in the westerly part of
Fitchburg, operated by James McTaggart, Jr.
[Illustration: RESIDENCE OF MRS. WM.H. VOSE, PROSPECT STREET.]
The firm of E.M. Dickinson & Company is the only one in the city engaged
in the manufacture of shoes. This firm occupies a handsome brick
factory, recently erected on Main street, next to the Simonds
Manufacturing Company, and has a large trade both in New England and the
West. In connection with E.M. Dickinson & Company, and located in the
same building, is the Sole Leather Tip Company. The Fitchburg Furniture
Company has a large manufactory on Newton Place. A number of concerns
carry on an extensive lumber business and operate establishments where
doors, sashes, blinds, and ornamental wood-work are made. J. Gushing &
Company and Washburn & Woodward operate large grain elevators and flour
mills. The first named firm occupies the "Stone Mill," one of the old
land-marks of Fitchburg. In addition to the above there are numerous
individuals and firms engaged in the manufacture of confectionery,
crackers, tin-ware, toys, soap, wood pulp, carriages, harnesses, marble
and granite monuments, bricks, beer, cigars and matches. In fine there
are over one hundred concerns here engaged in manufacturing on a large
scale, and considerably over one hundred establishments where
occupations akin to manufacturing are carried on.
But Fitchburg is beautiful as well as busy. Handsome churches, business
blocks, public buildings and private residences greet the eyes of
strangers in our streets.
[Illustration: RESIDENCE OF CHARLES T. CROCKER.]
There are eleven churches in town. The First Parish (Unitarian) Church
is the oldest. The present edifice is a plain and substantial brick
structure at the head of the upper common, and was built in 1837. In
1883 the interior was entirely remodeled and stained windows put in,
thus making a handsome auditorium. Rev. W.H. Pierson is pastor of this
society.
The First Methodist Church is on Main street, opposite the lower end of
the upper common, and was built in 1840. Rev. W.J. Pomfret is pastor.
The First Universalist Church stands on the corner of Main and Rollstone
streets, and was built in 1847. Rev. F.O. Hall is pastor. This society
proposes to erect a new church, further down town, before long.
On the opposite corner is the Calvinistic Congregational Church, built
in 1844. Rev. S.L. Blake, D.D., is pastor. In connection with this
Church is a handsome and commodious chapel.
Further down Main street, opposite the Post-office, is the First Baptist
Church, a large and imposing structure, built in 1854. Rev. I.R.
Wheelock is pastor.
A little further down, and on the opposite side of the street, is Christ
Church (Episcopal). This is built of granite and has a very attractive
appearance both within and without. The society has no settled rector at
present.
Towards the lower end of Main street is situated the Rollstone
Congregational Church, a fine brick and stone structure, built in 1869.
In connection with it is a handsome chapel, the gift of the late Deacon
David Boutelle and named after the donor. The Second Advent Chapel is on
the corner of North and Cherry streets; no pastor is at present settled.
[Illustration: MILLS OF THE FITCHBURG PAPER COMPANY.]
[Illustration: THE WALLACE LIBRARY AND ART BUILDING.]
The St. Bernard's Church (Catholic) is a costly and handsome brick and
stone edifice on Water street. Rev. P.J. Garrigan is pastor, and Rev.
D.F. Feehan is assistant pastor. In 1878 a fine Catholic Chapel (Church
of the Sacred Heart) was built in West Fitchburg, and is now under the
charge of Rev. J.T. Donohoe. There is also a very pretty Methodist
Church in West Fitchburg, of which Rev. W. Wignall is pastor.
[Illustration: WHITNEY'S OPERA HOUSE BLOCK.]
The Fitchburg Savings Bank block, on Main street, up town, is the
largest and finest in the city. It was erected in 1871, and is of brick
with a handsome and costly front of fine, white-grained granite. The
ground floor is divided into four stores, which are as commodious and
well-appointed as any in Worcester County. On the second floor are the
banking-rooms of the Fitchburg National and Fitchburg Savings Banks, the
office of the Fitchburg Mutual Fire Insurance Company, and several law
offices. The two stories above are mainly occupied by the Free Masons,
whose rooms are among the finest in the State.
[Illustration: THE "SNOW MILL," RECENTLY BURNED.]
The Safety Fund National Bank has rooms in Crocker Block, a handsome
brick and stone structure further down on Main street. The Windsor Club
(social) has attractive rooms in this block.
[Illustration: RESIDENCE OF MRS. EUGENE T. MILES, BLOSSOM STREET.]
The Rollstone National Bank has rooms in the Rollstone Bank block, a
large and fine brick and sandstone structure, on the south side of Main
street, down town. The rooms of the Worcester North Savings Institution
are also in this block, and the Odd Fellows and E.V. Sumner Encampment,
Post 19, Grand Army of the Republic, have commodious apartments in the
upper portion. The Wachusett National Bank has a brick banking house on
the corner of Main and Day streets.
[Illustration: E.M. DICKINSON & CO.'S SHOE MANUFACTORY]
Whitney's Opera House block contains the only theatre in town. The stage
is of good size and well-appointed and the auditorium neat and
attractive. Good companies appear here throughout the season, and are
well patronized by citizens of Fitchburg and neighboring towns. Other
blocks worthy of mention are Belding & Dickinson's, Coggshall &
Carpenter's, Hatch's, Wixon's (not yet completed), and Stiles'--all on
Main street, and Union and Goodrich on Day street.
There are eight hotels in the city, the Fitchburg Hotel and the American
House being the two largest.
The City Hall, on Main street, nearly opposite the Savings Bank block,
is a large brick building. The entire upper story is devoted to a large
hall, called the City Hall. It is the largest in the city. There are
about a dozen other halls of various sizes in different parts of the
city. On the first floor of the City Hall are the various city offices,
rooms of the Mayor, Aldermen and Common Council. The entire rear portion
is occupied by the Public Library, containing over sixteen thousand
volumes, which will soon be removed to the new and elegant "Wallace
Library and Art Building," now in process of completion. Mr. Wallace's
generous gift to the city is fully described in another article.
[Illustration: THE L.J. BROWN BLOCK, MAIN STREET.]
[Illustration: FITCHBURG SAVINGS BANK BUILDING.]
The Post-Office occupies the lower floor of a neat and substantial brick
edifice opposite the Baptist Church. The letter-carrier system was begun
here November 1, 1884. In the upper portion of this building are rooms
occupied by the Fitchburg Board of Trade and the Park Club (social).
Just below the Post-Office is Monument Square, in the centre of which is
a handsome soldiers' monument, designed by Martin Milmore, and costing
about $25,000. It was dedicated June 26, 1874. Four brass cannon,
procured through Alvah Crocker while a Member of Congress, stand in the
enclosure. In the rear of the square is the Court House, a stone
building of noble proportions, built in 1871.
Fitchburg is located on the Hoosac Tunnel route, and hence has extensive
railroad facilities. The Fitchburg Railroad runs eleven passenger trains
to Boston every week, day and five to Greenfield and North Adams. The
Northern Division of the Old Colony Railroad terminates here and
furnishes four trains daily to Boston, and also to the principal cities
of southern Massachusetts. The Fitchburg and Worcester Division affords
ample means of communication with our sister city. The Cheshire Railroad
furnishes four trains daily to points in New Hampshire and Vermont. A
route for the proposed Fitchburg and Manchester Railroad was surveyed
last summer. The Union Passenger Depot, used by all these roads in
common, is a commodious building and an ornament to the city. Not far
from the depot is the "L.J. Brown" store, a large and handsome building
with a brown stone front, which is certainly worthy of mention, both as
a sample of the business blocks in town, and as a memorial of the late
L.J. Brown.
Fitchburg is well provided with school houses. The High School on High
street is a large and convenient building, and was erected in 1869. Mr.
R.G. Huling has been the Principal since 1875. There are three large
Grammar school buildings in the city proper, and one in West Fitchburg,
besides a dozen or more buildings occupied by lower grades in various
localities in town.
[Illustration: THE "STONE MILL."]
There are two newspapers published here. The _Fitchburg Sentinel_
occupies the entire upper portion of one of the oldest brick buildings
in town. The structure has been raised and enlarged since it was first
built. The first number of the _Sentinel_ appeared December 30, 1838,
and on May 6, 1873, the _Daily Sentinel_ began its existence. Both are
still published and enjoy a large and increasing circulation. The
_Fitchburg Tribune_ is issued weekly. This paper has been established
only a few years, but under the present proprietor is acquiring a goodly
circulation.
[Illustration: FITCHBURG SENTINEL OFFICE.]
Our city is fortunate in possessing an abundant supply of excellent
water derived from Scott, Shattuck and Falulah Brooks. Three reservoirs,
Overlook, Scott and Marshall, were constructed at the time the
water-works were first put in operation, a dozen years ago. These are
located on the high land north-west of the city. In 1883 a fourth
reservoir was constructed and named Falulah from the brook by which it
is supplied. Overlook is the largest and most elevated, being four
hundred feet above the railroad tracks. More than eighteen miles of
service pipe are now in use, and there are over two hundred fire
hydrants at various points. The city is equipped with a fire alarm
telegraph, having thirty-one signal boxes, and maintains an efficient
and well managed Fire Department. It is thus easy to understand why
Fitchburg seldom has a fire that amounts to much.
The Wachusett Electric Light Company began to light the principal
streets in the city proper in 1883, and still continues to furnish
agreeable illumination.
The Fitchburg Gas Company, organized in 1852, has works a little below
the Union Depot and is in prosperous condition.
[Illustration: THE "HANNA MILL."]
The Fitchburg Divison of the New England Telephone and Telegraph Company
comprises this city, Leominster, Lunenburg and Westminster. There are
nearly four hundred subscribers.
The Fitchburg Roller Skating Rink is an institution very attractive to
the public and well patronized. There is also a skating rink in West
Fitchburg.
The Massachusetts Mutual Aid Society, an organization for life
insurance, was incorporated in 1875, and its members now number several
thousands.
The Fitchburg Co-operative Savings Fund and Loan Association was
incorporated in 1877. Monthly payments are made by share holders and
money loaned on real-estate.
The Worcester North Agricultural Society was incorporated in 1852, and
has extensive fair grounds and a trotting park in the easterly part of
the township.
The city owns two cemeteries. Laurel Hill Cemetery is large and has been
in use for at least seventy-five years. It occupies a hill overhanging
the river, and is truly a city of the dead overlooking the city of the
living. Forest Hill Cemetery is on the Mount Elam road, two miles south
of the city, and is of more recent origin. St. Bernard's Cemetery, in
the easterly part of the town, is owned by the Roman Catholics.
Fitchburg hospitality is well known, and Masonic or other organizations
are always sure of royal entertainment and a grand good time when they
visit their Fitchburg brethren.
Art, literature and music have always been cultivated here. Though there
is no organized art club in town, there are not a few artists here of
merit whose skill with crayon and brush is fully appreciated.
[Illustration: LAUREL HILL. RESIDENCE OF CHARLES MASON, ROLLSTONE
STREET.]
The Fitchburg Literary Club was organized some fifteen years ago. Its
membership has been large and its meetings interesting. Mr. R.G. Huling
is now the President of the club. Several writers of prose and verse
reside in town.
In proof of musical talent we refer with just pride to the Fitchburg
Military Band, G.A. Patz, Director. The band, under the faithful and
skillful management of the late Warren S. Russell, attained almost the
highest rank among the musical organizations of New England. Mr. Russell
was a most estimable man, of rare musical ability, and his death in
March, 1884, was a sad blow to the members of the band, and to the
citizens of Fitchburg as well. At his funeral, March 18, 1884, the
floral tributes from many musical organizations in New England, the
presence of Mr. D.W. Reeves, always a warm friend of Mr. Russell, with
the American Band of Providence, Rhode Island, whose members voluntarily
tendered their services for the occasion gratuitously; the great
concourse of citizens and the general suspension of business throughout
the city, showed better than any words the estimation in which he was
held. In April, 1884, Mr. Patz became the leader of the band. That he is
eminently qualified for the position is shown by the fact that the band
still maintains its high rank and bids fair to surpass in the future the
successes of the past. In the upper common is a very handsome
band-stand, erected by means of the generosity of certain citizens, and
down town in Railroad Park is another, not quite as ornamental. The band
gives a concert at each place nearly every week during warm weather, and
large audiences appreciate the music. Nor are we lacking in vocal
talent. Several of our residents, some of whom have perfected themselves
abroad, have acquired, or are acquiring, reputation as singers.
[Illustration: RESIDENCE OF HENRY A. GOODRICH, HIGHLAND AVENUE.]
There are many handsome residences and fine estates in and around the
city, a few of which are represented in this sketch. It is to be
regretted that the residence of Mr. George F. Fay, of Crocker, Burbank &
Co., cannot be shown. It is in process of completion, and when finished
will be the finest in the city.
Fitchburg is situated in a pleasant valley, extending nearly east and
west, through the southern portion of which runs the little river. Main
street is just north of this stream, and, in a measure, parallel to it.
This is the principal business street in the city and from either side
of it branch off streets most of which eventually climb up a hillside.
The city tends to increase along the course of the valley mainly, though
now the surrounding slopes are fast becoming covered with dwellings. The
streets (with the exception of Main) are unpaved, but are carefully
looked after by the city and always kept in good condition. Good
sidewalks, plenty of shade trees, and the general appearance of thrift
and neatness on the part of citizens, make a stroll through the streets
of Fitchburg very agreeable. Such, at least, is the opinion of the
writer who, as a native of the place, may be allowed to express
pardonable pride in the general appearance of prosperity, neatness and
intelligence in the community.
[Illustration: THE "LYON AND WHITNEY" MILL.]
This sketch would be incomplete without some slight allusion to the
surrounding country. The most marked topographical feature in this
region is Rollstone Hill, a rounded eminence, composed entirely of
granite. It is just southwest of the city. Its top is bare rock, but the
sides are covered with a thin layer of soil, which furnishes support for
quite a forest. Several quarries are worked during warm weather, and an
immense amount of granite has been taken out without any apparent
diminution in the size of the hill. It may be of interest to state that
the Fitchburg Railroad depot, in Boston, is built of granite taken from
this hill; and there are several other large stone structures in the Hub
built of the same material. On the very summit of Rollstone is perched
"the Boulder," a round mass of rock, forty-five feet in circumference,
and weighing at least one hundred tons. The rock of which it is
composed is totally unlike any rock formation within a radius of thirty
miles or more, and it is probable that this boulder was brought to its
present position by ice. The view from the top of this hill is well
worth the slight trouble taken in ascending it. At the feet of the
observer lies the city, forming almost a semi-circle. Wooded hills arise
on all sides. Wachusett, twelve miles distant, rears its imposing pile
in the south, while Big Watatic overtops its brethren in the northwest.
Almost opposite Rollstone is Pearl Hill, which is also well worth a
visit.
[Illustration: THE "BRICK" MILL.]
There are many pleasant drives around Fitchburg, which are thoroughly
appreciated by the citizens. But we must not dwell longer upon Fitchburg
or its environs. Let those who are strangers to our city come and see
for themselves. They will be welcome.
The writer is aware that much has been omitted in this sketch which
ought to have been spoken of; but in a magazine article, intended simply
to give a general idea of the place, such must of necessity be the case.
Much space might, for instance, be most justly devoted to the business
men and merchants of Fitchburg, who, by hard work and fair dealing, have
acquired honorable names in the community. It would be quite possible to
fill several more pages with such matters, but it is probable that the
readers of the "BAY STATE" will coincide with the opinion that it is
about time to stop.
[Illustration: Fitchburg seal]
* * * * *
THE PAST AND FUTURE OF GOLD.
BY DAVID M. BALFOUR.
Gold, from the earliest times to the present day, has been regarded as
one of the most precious of metals. Next to osmium, iodium, and
platinum, it is the heaviest of metals, being nineteen times heavier
than water. Next to iron it is the most extensively diffused metal upon
our planet. It occurs in granite, the oldest rock known to us, and in
all the rocks derived from it. It is, however, much more common in
alluvial grounds than among primitive and pyrogenous rocks. Nine-tenths
of the gold which has been produced has been obtained from alluvial
beds. Gold mines are generally situated at the extreme limits of
civilization. Herodotus notes the fact and he is confirmed by Humbolt.
It is first mentioned in Genesis ii: 11. It was found in the country of
Havilah, where the rivers Euphrates and Tigris unite and discharge their
waters into the Persian Gulf. Gold is never found in mass, in veins, or
lodes; it is interspersed, in threads or flakes, throughout quartz or
other rocks. It is the only metal of a yellow color; it is easily
chrystallizable, and always assumes one or more of the symmetrical
shapes,--such as the cube or octahedron. It affords a resplendent
polish, and may be exposed, for any length of time, to the atmosphere
without suffering change, and is remarkable for its beauty. Its
malleability is such that a cubic inch will cover a surface of eighteen
hundred square feet; and its ductility is such that a cube of four
inches could be drawn into a wire which would extend around the earth.
Gold in its relative value to silver has varied greatly at different
periods.
In the days of the patriarch Abraham, it was one to eight; B.C. 1000, it
was one to twelve; B.C. 500, it was one to thirteen; at the commencement
of the Christian era, it was one to nine; A.D. 500, it was one to
eighteen; in 1100, it was one to eight; in 1400, it was one to eleven;
in 1545, it was one to six; in 1551 it was one to two; in 1600, it was
one to ten; in 1627, it was one to thirteen; in 1700, it was one to
fifteen and one-half; it held the latter ratio, with but slight
variation, until 1872, when it began to rise, and in 1876 it rose to one
to twenty; it soon afterwards gradually declined, and now stands one to
nineteen and one-half. The supply of silver beyond a legitimate demand
for financial purposes, the decrease of the export of silver to the
East, and the demonetization of silver by the principal countries of
Europe, have induced a tendency in the ratio of the two metals to again
advance. Gold was extremely abundant in ancient times. It was
plenteously furnished by the rivers of Asia. The sands of Pactolus, the
golden fleece conquered by the Argonauts, the gold of Ophir, the fable
of King Midas, all tend to show the eastern origin of gold. It was
abundant in Cabul and Little Thibet. It abounded in the empire of the
Pharaohs, as is attested by the traces of mining operations, now
exhausted, and by the multitude of objects of gold contained in their
tombs. Dennis ("History of the Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria," vol.
II, p. 50) states that "gold ornaments, whose beauty and richness are
amazing, abound in the tombs of the Etruscans, who were undoubtedly one
of the most remarkable nations of antiquity, and the great civilizers
of Italy. In a single tomb in Cerveti, fragments of breastplates,
earrings, and brooches, sufficient to fill more than one basket, were
found crushed beneath a mass of fallen masonry. A gold chain, with a
number of pendant _scaraboei_, was found in a tomb in Vulci,
transcending anything before seen by him. Bieda, Chiusi, Canosa,
Casuccini, Perugia, and Veii belong in the same category." Schlieman
("Ilios" p. 253, et. seq.) states that they had an abundance of gold,
bordering, as they did, on Phrygia, and nearly touching the valley of
the Pactolus, so famous for its auriferous sands. It was very pure and
therefore easily worked. In a tomb a single vase was found containing
eighty-seven hundred small objects of gold. Ornaments of gold are very
abundant in the tombs of Mycenae. In remote antiquity the bulk of gold
was brought by the Phenicians from Arabia, which had twenty-two gold
mines. It was the ancient El Dorado, and proverbial for its wealth of
gold in all antiquity, down to the Middle Ages. "Arabia sends us gold,"
said Thomas A. Becket. Sacred ornaments of gold abound in churches,
temples, pagodas, and tombs, throughout the Eastern hemisphere. The
Homeric poems call Mycenae a city rich in gold. Gold abounded in the
Levant, and it was obtained in considerable quantity in the island of
Siphnos, and also from Pangaeus. It was found in abundance in
Turdeltania in Spain; it was brought down by the rivers Tagus and Duoro;
and it was plenty in Dacia, Transylvania, and the Asturias. Caligula
caused his guests to be helped with gold (which they carried away),
instead of bread and meat. The dresses of Nero were stiff with
embroidery and gold; he fished with hooks of gold, and his attendants
wore necklaces, and bracelets of gold. The Egyptians obtained large
quantities of gold from the upper Nile, and from Ethiopia. Among them it
was estimated by weight, usually in the form of bulls or oxen. In the
centre of the continent, upon which so much light has been recently
thrown by Livingston, Stanley, and others, rocks are to be met with
quartz veins containing gold, and thus auriferous alluvium has been
formed. Western Africa was the first field which supplied gold to
mediaeval Europe. Its whole seaboard from Morocco to the equator
produces more or less gold. This small section of the continent poured a
flood of gold into Europe, and until the mineral discoveries of
California and Australia, it continued to be the principal supply to the
civilized world. In eastern Akim gold is said to be as plentiful as
potatoes in Ireland. The Fanti gold mines are far more valuable than
Ashanti, and the Wassaw and the Nquampossoo have gold nuggets in
profusion. The King of Gyaman became immensely rich by the product of
his gold mines; his bed had steps of gold. The French claim that they
imported gold from Elmina in 1382. The Portuguese discovered gold in
1442, upon the borders of Rio de Ouro. Mungo Park, in 1797, drew
attention to the existence of gold in the provinces of Shronda, Kinkodi,
Dindiko, Bambuk, and Barabarra. Caille, in 1827, reported an abundance
of gold in the valley of the Niger. The gold mines of Boure were first
visited by Winwood Reade in 1872. The inhabitants of Western Africa have
worked their gold fields for centuries to very little purpose. Their
want of pumps, of quartz-crushing machinery, and of scientific
appliances, has limited their labors to scratching the top soil and
nibbling at the reef-walls. A large proportion of the country is
virtually virgin ground; and a rich harvest has been left for
Occidental science, energy, and enterprise. It is fast becoming evident
that Africa will one day equal half a dozen Californias. The annual
product of gold in Africa has declined from $17,000,000 in 1471 to
$3,000,000 in 1816. Since the latter date it has gradually declined to
$2,000,000. The gold product since 1471 has amounted to $3,500,000,000.
Gold, after the discovery of America, was produced in large quantities,
principally in the Antilles, and chiefly in Hispaniola, and the western
coast of the Gulf of Mexico. America is pre-eminently the land of
metals. Gold is found in greater or less abundance throughout its
Pacific coast from Alaska to Patagonia. The New World furnishes nearly
two-thirds of the precious metals annually produced. The export of gold
from the United States since 1848 has amounted to $1,548,564,852. The
gold mines of Peru were revealed to Europe by Pizarro in 1513. The gold
mines of South America extend throughout its entire territory. Its
richest mines are about Huylas and Turma, Most of the rivers of the
Andes bring down auriferous sands. Before the arrival of the Spaniards
the Indians had gathered from the river sands large quantities of gold
in Peru, Chili, and along the whole western coast of South America.
Brazil has yielded, from 1513 to the present time, $876,000,000 of gold.
The annual product of gold, in South America, at the present time is
$8,000,000. The total product, from 1513 to the present time, has
amounted to $2,176,000,000. The gold mines of North America extend from
Costa Rica to Alaska, between the parallels 8° and 71° of North
latitude, and the parallels of 82° and 168° of West longitude, comprised
between the Caribbean sea and the Arctic ocean, and the Rocky mountains
and the Pacific ocean. The Mexican gold mines were discovered by Cortez
in 1526. Their annual product has decreased from $3,000,000 in former
times to $1,000,000 at the present time. Their total product to the
present time has amounted to $652,000,000. Gold was discovered in
California by William Marshall, on the ninth day of February, 1848, at
Suter's mill on the American fork of the Sacramento river, and the mines
extend from 34° to 40° of North latitude. Their annual product has
decreased from $81,000,000 in 1853 to $14,000,000 at the present time.
The annual product of the gold mines of Colorado, Dakota, Nevada,
Montana, Idaho, Arizona, Oregon, and other parts of the United States,
at the present time, is estimated to be $16,000,000. Their total product
has amounted to $200,000,000. The annual product of the gold mines of
British Columbia is estimated to be $2,000,000. Their total product has
amounted to $52,000,000. In estimating the gold product of California
Messrs. Hussey, Bond and Hale, of San Francisco, (Hunt's Mer. Mag., vol.
XXVII, p. 43) state,--"that there should be added to the amount
exhibited upon steamers' manifests fifteen to sixty per cent, for the
amount carried in the valises and pockets of returning passengers,
overland to Mexico, exported to Chili, and retained in California for
purposes of currency." Fenton (Tasmania, p. 430) states,--"that the
product of gold, $850,000, in Tasmania, in 1883, does not include the
value of gold which left the colony by private hands, when it is
considered that the alluvial auriferous deposits are worked by men who
are constantly on the move and who sometimes take with them, to the
other colonies, the product of their washings, without leaving behind
them any record of the weight or value of the gold thus removed." This
rule should be applied to Australia, Russia, New Zealand, and all
countries which are producers of the precious metals. The annual product
of the gold mines of North America is $32,000,000. Their total product
from 1513 to the present time is estimated to be $2,764,000,000, of
which $2,164,000,000 have been obtained since 1848. The annual product
of gold in America is $40,000,000,--more than one-third of the entire
annual product of the world. The total gold product of America, since
the hills of Hispaniola were revealed to the eyes of Columbus, has
amounted to $4,940,000,000--one-third of the product of the world since
the earliest times.
Gold was discovered in Russia in 1743, near Nertschinsk, alluvial
deposits having been observed in that year in the Ural mountains. The
mines extend over that parallelogram of the earth's surface, comprised
between the parallels of 50° and 60° of north latitude, between the
Volga and Amoor rivers. They were not generally explored until 1810. In
1816 their product was but $80,000; at the close of 1823 there was a
large development. In 1830 the annual product was $4,000,000. About that
time the deposits of Siberia were discovered, and at the close of 1840
they yielded a greater production than those of the Ural. In 1843 the
total annual product of both regions was $18,000,000. In 1853 it
attained to $36,000,000, but since that date it has gradually declined
to $22,000,000. The total product of the Russian goldmines has amounted
to $805,000,000. The annual product of gold in Europe is $24,000,000.
The total product of gold in Europe, from the earliest times to the
present day, has amounted to $4,145,000,000.
Gold was discovered in Australia by Edward Hammand Hargreaves, on the
twelfth day of February, 1851, in the Bathurst and Wellington districts,
and the mines extend from 18° to 38° of South latitude. Their annual
product has decreased from $75,000,000 in 1853 to $26,000,000 at the
present time. Their total product has amounted to $1,453,000,000. The
finest gold was obtained at Ballarat, and the largest nugget was dug up
at Donolly, and weighed 2,448 ounces, valued at $46,000. The New Zealand
gold mines were discovered by Messrs. Hartly and Reilly, on the
twentieth of August, 1861, in the Otago district, on the Molineux river,
on the 45° of South latitude. Their annual product has decreased from
$10,000,000 in 1863 to $4,000,000 at the present time. Their total
product has amounted to $176,000,000. The annual product of gold in Asia
(including Australia, New Zealand and Oceanica) is $32.000,000. The
total product of gold in Asia, from the earliest times to the present
day, has amounted $2,065,000,000.
Gold was considered bullion in Palestine for a long time after silver
was current as money. The first mention of gold as money, in the Bible,
is in David's reign (B.C. 1056) when that king purchased the
threshing-floor of Oman for six hundred shekels of gold by weight
($4,500.) The Lydians were the first people who coined money. The word
"_money_" is derived from the temple of Jupiter Moneta, where the Roman
mint was established. Croesus (B.C. 560) coined the golden _stater_,
which contained one hundred and thirty-three grains of pure metal.
Darius, son of Hystaspes, (B.C. 538) coined the _daric_, which contained
one hundred and twenty-one grains of pure metal; it was preferred for
its fineness, for several ages, throughout the East. It is supposed to
be mentioned in the Old Testament under the name of _dram_. Very few
specimens have come down to us. Their scarcity may be accounted for by
the fact that they were melted down under the type of Alexander. Next
were some coins of the tyrants of Sicily; of Gelo (B.C. 491), of Helo
(B.C. 478), and of Dionysius (B.C. 404). Specimens of the former two are
still preserved in modern cabinets. Gold coin was by no means plenty in
Greece, until Philip of Macedon put the mines of Thrace into full
operation, about B.C. 300. There are only about a dozen Greek coins in
existence, three of which are in the British Museum; and of the latter,
two are _staters_, of the weight of one hundred and twenty-nine grains
each. About B.C. 207, a gold coin was struck off at Rome called
"_aureus_," four specimens of which are in the institution before
alluded to. Its weight was one hundred and twenty-four grains.
Gold coins were issued in France by Clovis, A.D. 489. About the same
time, they were issued in Spain by Amalric, the Gothic king; in both
countries they were called "_trientes_." The "_mouton_," worth about
nine dollars, was issued in 1156. Gold coins were first issued in
England in 1257, in the shape of a "_penny_," of the value of twenty
pence; only two specimens have come down to us. "_Florins_" were next
issued in 1334, of the value of six shillings. The "_noble_" followed
next of the value of six shillings and eight pence; being stamped with a
rose, it was called the "_rose noble_." "_Angels_" appeared in 1465, of
the same value as the latter. The "_royal_" followed next in 1466, of
the value of ten shillings. Then come for the first time the
"_sovereign_," in 1489, of the value of twenty shillings. The "_crown_"
followed in 1527, of the value of ten shillings. "_Units_" and
"_lions_," were issued in 1603; the "_laurel_" 1633, and "_exurgats_,"
in 1642; all of the value of twenty shillings. The "_guinea_," of the
value of twenty-one shillings, was issued in 1663, of Guinea gold. In
1773 all gold coins, except the guinea, were called in and forbidden to
be circulated. The present sovereign was issued in 1817. The United
States "_half eagle_" was issued in 1793.
Gold, to the amount of $2,171,000,000, was obtained from the surface and
mines of the earth from the earliest times to the commencement of the
Christian era; from the date of the latter event, to the discovery of
America, $3,842,374,000 was obtained; from the date of the latter event
to the close of 1847 an addition of $3,056,000,000 was obtained; the
triple discovery of the California mines in 1848, the Australian in
1851, and the New Zealand in 1861, has added, to the close of 1884,
$5,558,626,000; making a grand total of $14,628,000,000, of which
$5,818,626,000 has been obtained since 1843. The average loss by
abrasion of coin is estimated by Professor Bowen at one-twentieth of one
per cent. per annum, and the loss by consumption in the arts, and by
fire and shipwreck, at $4,000,000 per annum. A cubic inch of gold is
worth, at 3£ 17s. 10 1-2d., or $18.96 per ounce., $193; a cubic foot,
$333,504; and a cubic yard, $9,004,608.
Gold to the amount of $1,081,000,000, is estimated to have been in
existence at the commencement of the Christian era. At the period of the
discovery of America it had diminished to $135,000,000; after that
event, it gradually increased, and in 1600 it attained to $154,000,000,
in 1700 it reached $398,000,000, in 1800 it amounted to $1,156,000,000,
in 1853 it attained to $3,332,000,000, and at the present time the
amount of gold in existence is estimated to be $8,166,000,000; which, if
melted into one mass, could be contained in the basement of Bunker Hill
Monument, which is a cube of thirty feet. Of the amount of gold in
existence $6,000,000,000 is estimated to be in coin and bullion,
$1,000,000,000 in watches, and the remainder in plate, jewelry, and
ornaments. Of the amount of gold in existence $2,374,000,000 is
estimated to have been obtained from North America, $1,739,000,000 from
South America; $1,858,000,000 from Asia (including Australia, New
Zealand, and Oceanica), $945,000,000 from Europe, and $1,250,000,000
from Africa. The amount of the precious metals now in existence is
estimated to be $13,670,000,000.
Gold, as compared with former periods, in regard to its annual product,
has attained, within the last forty-two years, to enormous proportions.
At the date of the discovery of America it was but $100,000; after the
occurrence of that event it gradually increased, and in 1800 it was
$17,000,000, and in 1853 it reached its acme, when it was $236,000,000;
it soon afterwards gradually decreased, and now it is but $98,000,000.
Gold has changed places with silver as regards coinage. Since 1726 the
gold coinage of the French mint has amounted to 11,400,000,000 francs,
of which 8,200,000,000 francs have been issued since 1850. Since 1603
the gold coinage of the British mint has amounted to £409,000,000, of
which £253,000,000 have been issued since 1850. Since 1792 the gold
coinage of the United States mint has amounted to $1,357,000,000, of
which $1,257,000,000 have been issued since 1850. Since 1664 the gold
coinage of the Russian mint has amounted to 900,000,000 roubles, of
which 630,000,000 have been issued since 1850. The twenty-five-franc
piece of France contains 112 grains of pure metal; the sovereign of
England, 113 grains; the new doubloon of Spain, and the half-eagle of
the United States, 116 grains each; and the gold lion of the
Netherlands, and double-ounce of Sicily, 117 grains each. It was
proposed, a few years since, to adopt a uniform system of coinage
throughout the world, so that the coins of one nation may circulate in
any other without the expense of re-coinage, "a consummation devoutly to
be _wished_." The gold coinage of the principal countries of the world
has increased from $77,000,000 in 1848 to $300,000,000 in 1854; in 1876
it declined to $250,000,000, since which it has continued to decrease,
and is now but $90,000,000. The gold coinage of the United States mint,
since 1849, has amounted to $1,281,420,038. In proportion as the wealth
of a country increases it requires a currency of higher value. Gold,
owing to its greater supply, and more convenient portability, is
steadily gaining in the channels of commercial exchange upon silver.
Gold, in view of the large amount which has been thrown into the
monetary circulation of the world since 1843, and the little influence
it has exercised upon the money market and prices generally, has
falsified the predictions of financial writers, a generation ago, upon
both sides of the Atlantic. The following statement will exhibit the
wholesale cash prices in the New York market, on the first day of
January, in the respective years, of six of the principal articals of
commerce:
1860. 1872. 1885.
Beef, per barrel $10.75 $10.00 $11.75
Pork, " " 16.25 14.00 12.25
Flour, " " 5.25 4.12 2.55
Rice, " 100 lbs. 3.87 8.44 5.62
Corn, " bushel .93 .81 .48
Cotton, " pound .11 3-4 .21 1-4 .11 1-4
War is the great enhancer of prices. During the Civil War in the United
States (1861-1865), the prices of the above articles were more than
doubled.
Gold, in the midst of its sudden plethora, was a perplexing problem to
the financial prophets of a third of a century ago. M. Michel Chevalier
(Revue des Deux Mondes, November, 1857) predicted,--"that a decline
would occur in the price of gold, equal to one-half of its former value;
that a period of peril was impending, full of inquietude, instability
and damage to a great variety of interests; that the value of gold would
be diminished, and that consequently wages and prices would be doubled;
that the duties on imports, and the interest on the debts of the
principal nations of the world, must necessarilly follow the same
course; that it would inevitably involve a re-coinage of all the
existing gold coins of the world, from time to time, in order to conform
to the price of the metal; that the value of the twenty-franc piece
would be reduced to 19 1-2, 19, 18 francs, as the depreciation
descended; and he, therefore, recommended a cessation of the gold
coinage until the lowest point of depreciation is reached; that the new
gold fields were likely to prove as productive as at first for several
generations; in no direction could new outlets be seen sufficiently
large to absorb the extra production in such a manner as to prevent a
fall in its value. It might fall until nineteen francs would correspond
only to the amount of well being which could then be obtained for five
francs." Poor man! He lived to see the utter failure of all his
predictions; to behold France become the largest coiner of gold in the
world; an exporter of the precious metals to the amount of $43,000,000
annually during a decade; the rise of the standard of gold from 15 1-2
to 18, as compared with silver, and involving a decline from 62 3-4d. to
52d. per ounce; great fear of a gold famine come upon the Directors of
the Bank of France, and also of the Bank of England; the annual product
of gold to attain its acme, four years before his predictions; its
gradual decline, until it had descended to one-half; a new gold-field
opened in New Zealand; and silver demonetized by his own country,
Germany, and the other principal countries of Europe. M. Emile de
Lavelaye (Ninteenth Century Review, September, 1881), states, "that the
present annual supply of gold is no more than sufficient to meet the
requirements of the expanding commerce of the world. The scarcity of
gold has induced so great a fall in prices that they are now lower than
in 1850. It is estimated that North America has contributed £14,000,000
of the stock of gold in the world." We have already shown that the
annual product of gold has increased, at one period, thirteen fold, and
is now, notwithstanding its rapid decrease, five fold greater than at
the commencement of the present century; that prices have not been in
the least degree affected by the increased supply of gold; and that
North America has contributed $2,374,000,000 of the stock of gold in the
world.
Gold has faithfully performed for the last forty-two years, and, in view
of its abundance and prospective increase, will continue to support its
_role_ of a fixed standard of value, and a firm basis for the bank-note
circulation of the principal countries of the civilized world, which is
evidently growing gradually metallic, as a comparative statement of the
amount of bank-note circulation issued, and the amount of specie held by
the Bank of England, the joint stock banks, and the private banks of
Great Britain the Bank of France, the State banks, and the National
banks of the United States, at different periods, will exhibit:
---------------------------------------------------------------------
1840.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
| GREAT BRITAIN. | FRANCE. | UNITED STATES.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Circulation | £34,976,524 | 220,005,695 francs. | $87,872,171
Specie | 8,751,342 | 225,406,807 " | 35,207,690
---------------------------------------------------------------------
1850.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Circulation | £34,948,765 | 481,552,000 francs. | $118,984,112
Specie | 19,843,026 | 458,820,000 " | 45,379,345
---------------------------------------------------------------------
1862.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Circulation | £39,574,862 | 725,417,563 francs. | $126,599,167
Specie | 22,917,846 | 324,915,234 " | 102,507,559
---------------------------------------------------------------------
1885.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Circulation | £37,215,968 |2,912,386,475 francs. | $112,027,858
Specie | 28,146,893 |2,065,937,158 " | 139,747,080
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Gold has robbed silver of the _prestige_ claimed for it two centuries
ago by Locke,--"that it is the instrument and measure of commerce in all
the civilized and trading parts of the world, and its normal currency."
Gold has maintained its present price for one hundred and sixty years,
while silver has declined twenty-two per cent. within thirteen. When,
owing to scarcity, gold advances in price, then we may fear, that, what
the late Mr. Bagehot use to call the "_apprehension point_," is close at
our heels. The amount of gold in existence has increased from
$1,975,000,000 in 1843 to $8,166,000,000 at the present time; while
silver, owing to the great attrition of coin (estimated by Bowen at one
per cent. per annum), has increased from $5,040,000,000 to but
$5,504,000,000, during the same period. Of the two hundred and twelve
millions of dollars of the precious metals annually produced,
ninety-eight millions are furnished by gold.
* * * * *
MY MOUNTAIN HOME.
BY WILLIAM C. STUROC.
Down in the valleys, where the grasses grow,
And waves the gold-rod and the meadow queen;
Where peaceful streamlets, with a languid flow,
Are calmly shimmering in the noonday sheen--
There may be peace, and plenty too, I ween;
But on the mountain's elephantine height,
Where thunder-drums are beat on bassy key,
And lightning-flashes glisten through the night;
And forests groan with storm-chang'd melody,
There let my home, 'mid lofty nature be--
That, near the stars, and near the sun and moon,
My eyes may gaze upon the book of space,
And learn the lyrics that are sung in tune
As rolling orbs their constant journeys trace.
* * * * *
General Knefler to General Wallace:
INDIANAPOLIS, February 19, 1868.
GENERAL. Upon reading the "Life of Grant," by Colonel Badeau, I
was much surprised to see his version of your conduct on the
first day of the battle of Shiloh. As I was present with your
command on that day, as Assistant Adjutant General of Division,
I desire to make the following statement of facts, as I can
remember them at this time:
The position of your division, on the morning of the sixth of
April, 1862, was as follows: Headquarters of the division and
camp of the First Brigade at Crump's Landing; Second Brigade,
two and a half miles from Crump's Landing, on the Purdy road, at
a place, if I remember right, called Stony Lonesome; Third
Brigade, two and a half miles from the camp of the Second
Brigade, at Adamsville, on the Purdy road, and five miles from
Headquarters of division at Crump's Landing.
When the cannonading was first heard on Sunday morning 'you
issued orders' at once, for the concentration of the division at
camp of the Second Brigade, at Stony Lonesome. The baggage, camp
and garrison equipage was ordered to Crump's Landing, and
detachments were made for its protection. "_These orders were
given before you heard from Headquarters_."
About 9 o'clock General Grant passed up on the Tigris and in
passing the boat upon which were your Headquarters, had a
conversation with you. I did not hear what was said, but you
immediately mounted, and accompanied by your staff rode rapidly
to the camp of the Second Brigade. It was, perhaps, two hours
before any order arrived. I know you were anxiously looking for
orders, and finally despatched one of your aids to ride to the
landing to ascertain if any one had arrived with orders, and
conduct him to you. Shortly after that,--it must have been 12
o'clock, M., Captain Baxter, A.Q.M., arrived with orders, and
brought the very cheering intelligence that our army was
successful. I cannot tell at this time what the particular
language was. The order was placed in my hands as Assistant
Adjutant General, but where it is now, or what became of it, I
am unable to say; very likely, having been written on a scrap of
paper, it was lost after coming into my hands; a matter which I
much regret, as I feel confident that its production now would
conclusively demonstrate that you obeyed the command contained
in it. I remember, however, distinctly, that it was a written
order to march and form a junction with the right of the army,
which was understood to be the right of the army as it rested on
the morning when the battle began. Suffice it to say, that the
division marched at once, and took the road which had been
previously ascertained as leading to the right of the army, in
the position it occupied on the morning of the sixth, and
previous to that time. The road was then patrolled and picketted
by cavalry detachments of your command. By your permission, I
was marching with the advance guard, comprised of several
companies of the Twenty-fourth Indiana Volunteers, Lieutenant
Colonel Berber, commanding. We marched very rapidly, and to
judge from the sound of the battle, we were approaching it fast.
The advanced guard had reached the crossing of Snake Creek, near
a mill, or some large building, where a bridge had been
constructed, and from that point we could see the smoke
overhanging the battle-field and distinctly hear the musketry,
when an order was received, to retrace our steps, and work our
way to the head of the column. We marched back at once, almost
to our starting place, where we found the column was marching
through the woods where there was no road (not even a trail
appeared) to save time and distance. The troops were marching
very fast, and I did not come up with you for perhaps two hours
after the advance guard received orders to countermarch.
When the column was put in motion on the river road, which must
have been after 4 o'clock, we were met by some staff officers of
General Grant, Major Rawlins and Colonel McPherson, and another
officer whom I did not know. They had some conversation with
you, and then, for the first time I learned that our troops had
been repulsed, and that we were then marching to join the right
of the army, in its new position, at Pittsburg Landing. After
some hard marching over execrable roads we reached our position
about dusk.
The road the division first marched on led directly to the right
of the army in its position as stated above, and we would have
joined it, had it not been repulsed, before 3 o'clock P.M.
Having conversed with many of the division who were present on
that day, it is the general impression that we marched between
fifteen and eighteen miles. Now, considering that we had troops
not inured to hard marching, some of them on their first march,
the condition of the roads, almost impassible, and part of that
distance through woods, without any road, at all, it certainly
ought not to be intimated that you did not do your whole duty in
endeavoring to reach the field.
I am General, very respectfully, Your obedient servant,
FRED KNEFLER.
Late Colonel Seventy-ninth Regiment Indiana Volunteers.
* * * * *
REUBEN TRACY'S VACATION TRIPS.
BY ELIZABETH PORTER GOULD.
II.
"O mamma, did'nt we have a good time at the Isles of Shoals last
summer?" said Reuben Tracy to his mother one evening last July as they
sat together on their piazza. "Did'nt the boys stare though when I told
them all about it in our geography class. Ned Bolton said that I knew
more about it than the geography did; and afterwards he asked me if I
had ever seen a mountain. How I wish I could see one and climb to the
very top of it. Oh my, would'nt I look!"
And the boy's eyes looked as though they would look to the satisfaction
of the most devoted teacher.
"Well," my boy, replied Mrs. Tracy as she drew him nearer to her in
loving admiration of such enthusiasm, "only yesterday I received a
letter from your uncle in Northampton urging me to take you and come to
make him a visit, and I thought then what a good opportunity it would be
for you to see your first mountain. Now do you know what one I mean?"
"Oh yes," answered Reuben; "but you mean two, do'nt you? Mount Tom and
Mount Holyoke. I learned that in my geography. I can see it now in my
book where it says that Mount Tom is twelve hundred feet high, and Mount
Holyoke one thousand feet high." But Bob Phelps said that there were
lots of Rattlesnakes on Mount Tom, so I should not dare to go there--but
then--"
"Visitors don't go on Mount Tom proper, as there is no accomodation for
them," interrupted Mrs. Tracy, "but on Mount Holyoke there is the
Prospect House, which your uncle said last summer was a very well-kept
house. Why, it is thirty-five years ago that I was on top of that
mountain, when, as a young girl, just a little older than you, I went
with my father and mother. A Mr. French had just taken the house. I
wonder if he is there now. He seemed determined then to do what he could
for the place. I can hear him now telling my father that a spot which
had been such a favorite one for over two hundred years must have some
superior claim upon the people of his day. I really would love to go
there again. It is one of those places which once seen is never
forgotten, and then I could'nt choose a better spot for your
introduction to a lovely mountain view. But, my child, it is getting
late and time for you to go to bed. Run along and I will write to your
uncle to-night and accept his cordial invitation."
"And tell him" added Reuben, "that I wish every boy in this world had
such a boss mother as I have. Ned Bolton says so, too;" with which
unique expression of love and gratitude he kissed his mother "Good
night" and went off to bed to dream of, well, what do you think? Of
rattle-snakes, of mountains, or even of geography? Oh, no! only nothing,
for he was a healthy boy who said he couldn't spare the time to dream.
After he had gone Mrs. Tracy sat alone for a while, thinking over this
early visit of hers, with all the precious memories which it suggested
of her own father and mother, now dead and gone. Then she thought over
the past year's intimate life which she had enjoyed with her boy, and
became more and more thankful that she had been enabled thus to get up
out of her selfish grief of the summer before--when death took her other
children from her--and empty her own life into the larger channel of
life around her. She was pleased to think of the good fruits that had
arisen from her plans for her boy's vacation trips, not only upon him
but upon other mothers who had been led to follow her example. She
thought of the Christmas week she had spent with him in Boston, where
they had enjoyed so many interesting historical sights. And in the few
weeks of the vacation which was now passing, it pleased her to recall
the delightful days which they had spent at Concord and at Plymouth. And
now, in this evening reverie, she smiled as she thought of her boy's
telling his geography class all about the Isles of Shoals. How she would
loved to have heard him--her fair-haired, blue-eyed boy, talking with
all the intensity of his nature of what he had seen. Ah! life had left
much to her yet; and she determined anew that Reuben should never want
for any of her sympathetic help, either in his sports or in his growing
student life. With this renewed determination she went into the house to
write her letter to her brother at Northampton.
She was just finishing it when her husband came in from his weekly
meeting with the city fathers. She told him all her plan, which he
heartily endorsed, and practically helped by taking out his purse and
giving her a generous sum of money for the trip, saying, "I wish, my
dear, that I could go too, but I cannot leave my business this season of
the year. But I am only too glad that I can make money enough for you
and Reuben to go. I know of no better way to invest it for the future of
our boy, God bless him!
"Ah!" replied Mrs. Tracy, her face all aglow with the joy of having her
own thought so fully met, "would that more fathers thought so! but while
some think only of a bank account, and the great majority think nothing
of any account at all, only the few know the need of a child's mind
_digesting_ money, so to speak, as it goes along."
In a few days the arrangements were completed and Mrs. Tracy and her son
left their home in Salem for Northampton. Reuben quietly enjoyed the
scenery all the way from Boston to Springfield. In the forty minutes'
ride from Springfield to Northampton Mrs. Tracy had a delightful
opportunity, which she well used, to show her boy the winding course of
a river,--the beautiful Connecticut--as they followed it first on one
side and then on the other. When Reuben spied the house on Mount Holyoke
he realized then that he saw his first mountain. On making inquiries
about the mountain with a house on it, on the other side of the river,
the conductor told him that that was Mount Nonotuck, a peak of the Mount
Tom range, which was nine hundred and fifty feet high. He also told him
that Nonotuck was the old Indian name for Northampton, which was just
then coming in sight.
On arriving at the station uncle Edward met them with his carriage to
convey them to his home on Round Hill. On their way there they passed
the fine building of Smith College, which particularly pleased Mrs.
Tracy and caused her to say, partly to herself, "Happy, happy girls to
have such privileges of college life." "What," said Reuben, "girls go to
college like boys? how funny!" When, after a moment or two of seeming
abstraction, he said: "That is what papa meant the other day when he
said that girls were as good as boys and could learn just as well as
they could, is'nt it?" But before Mrs. Tracy could answer him they had
arrived at their destination.
The next day they took a drive around the town, or rather the city,
since a short time before it had become such. Its wealth of trees was a
source of joy to them.
When they were crossing Mill River, on the old covered bridge on South
street, uncle Edward stopped and told them that this was the only bridge
on the river which was saved from the awful catastrophe of the bursting
of the reservoir at Williamsburg, ten miles from there. When they drove
off the bridge he told Reuben to notice the river as it flowed so
peacefully along, in apparent forgetfulness of its dreadful havoc of ten
years ago when about one hundred and fifty lives were lost, and
factories, houses, and churches were swept along, as so many leaves, by
the rushing torrent. He told, among other facts, how a cousin of his was
seated at the breakfast-table with his whole family--a wife, two sons,
and a daughter--when they were swept up by the waters, house and all,
and all drowned. And while he was telling these incidents, which were so
much to him, he made them more effective by driving up some little
distance through the district which had been devastated. Thus Reuben
learned of a peculiar tragedy, in a manner which no reading in itself
could so well have taught him.
They spent a day or two more in looking around the different public
institutions, the Clarke Institute for the Deaf, on Round Hill, giving
them the most interest. But in spite of these attractions, Mrs. Tracy's
keen mother-eye noticed that Reuben was getting a little impatient to
climb a mountain, that mountain "with the tunnel" as he expressed it. So
she decided to go there the first pleasant day; and as it was now the
time of full moon she proposed to remain upon the mountain all night,
much to Reuben's delight.
The next day proved to be pleasant, so they in company with Uncle Edward
and his wife started for Mount Holyoke, a distance of three miles. A
short drive brought them to the Hokanum ferry where they were to cross
the Connecticut. As they drove upon what seemed to Reuben a wharf, he,
accustomed only to the Boston ferry-boats, remarked that the boat was
not in yet. And it was not until a moment later when he found himself
moving away from the land that he discovered that he was on the boat
itself! The way in which they were being borne across the river by man's
use of the pulley and wire was a great novelty to the boy and could only
suggest to his mother the most primitive days.
It took them five minutes to cross--about eighty-five rods--after which
a short drive through a pretty country took them to the foot of the
mountain. Then following a good carriage-road they were soon at the
half-way house where Reuben at last found the "tunnel" which had given
him so much wonder.
After examining the stationary engine at the foot of the inclined plane,
in this wooden enclosure which Reuben had called the tunnel, they seated
themselves in the car and in two and a quarter minutes were landed at
the top, 600 feet higher.
Mrs. Tracy on going up felt a little fear which was overcome when her
brother informed her that Mr. French was always at the top with his
watchful eye.
"Yes, that is so," said a voice as they stepped out of the car, and Mrs.
Tracy was introduced to the same Mr. French who was so much in earnest
years ago when she visited the place to make it a success.
They talked over the intervening years, Mr. French telling her of his
improvements, how the first railroad was built in 1854, and the present
track was laid in 1867, and how more than half a million people had been
up over it.
He showed her a picture of the first house built there in 1821, then of
the one rebuilt in 1851, which was gradually enlarged, until it became
the present size in 1861, ten years later.
She was particularly interested to hear him tell of the famous people
who had visited the place, so much so, that he brought out for
inspection some of the autograph books which filled a long shelf. He
said that there were names recorded as far back as 1824. As they looked
them over they saw at the date of August 12, 1847, in bold handwriting,
"Charles Summer," with the testimony that the view from Mount Holyoke
was "surpassingly lovely."
At the sight of the clearly written name "Jenny Lind, Sweden," at the
date of July 7, 1851, Reuben exclaimed--"Oh, she was that big singer;
mamma showed me the house on Round Hill where she lived and was
married."
That he should remember this fact pleased Mrs. Tracy while his boyish
enthusiasm led Mr. French to tell a pleasant little reminiscence of her
visit there which was heartily enjoyed by them all. And that others may
have the pleasure of hearing it from him on his own premises I will not
repeat it here.
After a little further talk on the history of the place, in which Reuben
learned that it was named Holyoke in 1654 in honor of Captain Elizur
Holyoke, they began to enjoy the lovely pictures all around them.
It was fortunate for them that a heavy wind of the night before had
taken away the clouds which had for a time hidden the mountains farthest
off. Hence they were now able to see distinctly the Green Mountains in
Vermont, Wachusett and Greylock in Massachusetts, and Monadnock in New
Hampshire.
As they spoke of the many little villages which gave the human interest
to the scene, Mr. French said that they could see from there thirty-two
towns in Massachusetts and eight in Connecticut.
He adjusted the telescope so that they could easily tell the time on the
clock at Smith College. He adjusted it again and they saw the Amherst
College buildings. Another adjustment revealed Mount Holyoke Seminary at
South Hadley; and in this way they saw the Armory at Springfield, the
Insane asylum at Northampton, and other well-known buildings.
A sight of the unique Front street in Old Hadley with its four rows of
fine old shade trees led Uncle Edward to promise his guests a drive
through it before they should return to Salem.
The fine combination of meadow, river, hills and towns, as pictured
through a colored reflecting glass, was a delight indeed.
In one of the views, Reuben spied an island striped with cultivated
fields which Mr. French said was called Ox Bow; he pointed out another
called Shepard's island, which, with Ox Bow, added much to the scenery.
The winding river suggested to Mrs. Tracy how much nature loved a curve.
While Uncle Edward, who had visited the chief mountains in this land and
in Europe, said that he always came back to this mountain view as the
loveliest and the most restful of them all, although it was not the
grandest or the most awe inspiring.
So the day passed on Mount Holyoke, giving them at every moment living
pictures which no painter could equal. When the sun went down the moon
came up to give her light, and nature reveled in her beauty.
The only painful shadow for Mrs. Tracy was when she felt sad that more
of earth's troubled ones did not or could not come to drink in such
peace and rest.
But such days must come to an end. And what can follow more delightful
than a refreshing sleep on such a height. This they all had and were
ready the next morning to return to Northampton.
As Reuben was anxious to count the steps which, on ascending the day
before, he had noticed on the side of the inclined plane; he went down
that way, while the rest of the party availed themselves of the car. He,
boy-like, did not mind the extra labor and longer time which that choice
involved, so long as he found out that there were five hundred and
twenty-two steps.
As they descended the mountain from the half-way house Reuben gathered
for a souvenir some of the beautiful laurel which, in full-bloom, was
then adorning its sides.
A few days later after the promised ride to Old Hadley, three miles
distant, which was extended four miles to Amherst to give Reuben a sight
of the college where his papa graduated, Mrs. Tracy and her son returned
to Salem. Mr. Tracy was highly entertained with Reuben's account of what
he had seen, and felt more than ever that his money had been well
invested. The rest of the vacation soon passed, the boy's active mind
being profitably engaged in the interim of active, healthful sports.
And it is highly probable that by this time the geography class, with
Ned Bolton as spokesman, has discovered that "Reuben Tracy knows more
about a mountain than the geography itself!"
* * * * *
GEMS FROM THE EASY CHAIR.
Christmas. There is nothing in the deepest and best sense human which in
the truest and highest sense is not also Christian. The characteristic
feeling about Christmas, as it is revealed in literature and tradition
and association, is the striking and beautiful tribute to the
practicability of Christianity.
Sermons. It is doubtless very unjust to the clergy to suppose that they
turn the barrel of sermons to save themselves the trouble of writing new
ones. Nothing but the levity of the pews could be guilty of such a
suspicion. The preacher knows that one squeezing does not take all the
juice out of an orange; and how much jucier a fruit is a good sermon!
Moreover, the pews are so pachydermatous, so rhinoceros-skinned, that
nothing but an incessant pelting upon the same spot makes an impression.
America. Whoever has seen a self-possessed and sagacious orator handling
a tumultuous meeting as Phoebus-Appollo handles his madly plunging
steeds, has seen the symbol of popular government, and understands why
the sole fact of numerical force and brute power does not explain it. He
who watches the ocean rising into every bay and creek in obedience to
celestial attraction, sees in outward nature the law that governs the
associated life of men, and which gives the American people faith in
their own government, whether they can give a reason, for their faith or
not.
* * * * *
NATIONAL BANK FAILURES.
BY GEORGE H. WOOD.
Occasionally the attention of the daily press of the country is called
to the provisions of the National Banking Law by the announcement of the
failure of some national banking association, and immediately it teems
with comments, and recommendations as to amendments which should be made
to render the law effective. These recommendations and comments usually
show the most lamentable ignorance, both as to the actual existing
provisions of the law and its practical working, and as regards banking
matters generally. In the case of the failure of the Middletown National
Bank of New York, the advice which has been given in the columns of the
press seems of itself to be sufficient, if it had been given sooner, to
have prevented the disaster. The Directors have been blamed, very justly
too, for they looked on while their President run them into all its
difficulties, and as usual the Bank Examiners have been held responsible
for the disaster. Some have even gone so far as to suggest that a
provision be added to the National Banking Laws punishing Examiners who
do not detect irregularities in the banks which they examine.
The provisions of the National Bank Act as they now stand are as
perfect, theoretically, as they can be drawn, to protect both the
depositors and the stockholders. The law provides for the publication of
sworn reports, from time to time, of the condition of each national
bank. These reports must be sworn to by the President, or Cashier, and
their correctness must be attested by the signatures of at least three
Directors. These reports are required five times a year and it is
impossible to see how, if the Directors do their duty fully and
honestly, any delinquency on the part of the officers of the bank can
fail to be detected by them. Under the law, the stockholders elect the
Directors, at least five in number. The officers of the bank are elected
or appointed by the directors and are subject to them. Thus far the
protection the Act provides is based upon what, so far as financial
matters are concerned, is one of the great controlling influences of
human nature, _viz_: self-interest. The stockholders, in order to
protect themselves, are expected to elect Directors who will look out
for the interests of all.
The sworn reports made to the Comptroller of the Currency are published
in the newspapers where the banks are located, and a copy sent to that
officer that he may know that the law in this respect has been complied
with. The stockholders can inspect them at any time as they appear, and
can note any changes which occur in them from time to time. The
stockholders are also at perfect liberty to make any inquiries that they
may deem fit, in any direction which their intelligence may suggest to
them.
In addition to the protection which the law gives to the stockholders,
and also to the depositors, by requiring the publication of reports of
the condition of the national banks, Bank Examiners are provided in the
law; these Bank Examiners are appointed by the Comptroller of the
Currency, and make their examinations at any time that he may deem fit.
A Bank Examiner to afford perfect security for the real merit of his
examination, has a disagreeable duty to perform. He enters a bank, which
by all the world is supposed to be well conducted and solvent, and to be
managed by honorable men, respected and looked up to by the whole
community. His position, however, is that of a Censor, and it does not
permit him to assume what the world supposes. On the contrary, to make a
good examination, he must take nothing for granted, and quietly act on
the ground that something is wrong. "Suspicions are the sinews of the
mind" in this case, and an examiner without them cannot expect to detect
mismanagement or defalcation. The position requires tact as well as
technical skill--tact not to offend unnecessarily or disturb friendly
relations, and skill to bring to light all that should be
discovered--and undoubtedly requires a high class of mind in the one
that fills it _well_. Bank examinations are not the only security
provided in the law, and it is ridiculous to assert that the Directors,
stockholders and depositors should throw aside or neglect to use all the
other means which the law provides to enable them to protect themselves,
and rely entirely upon the Government examinations, which in the nature
of things must depend for success on the sagacity of one individual.
The framers of the National Bank Act, while they did all that they could
to protect the depositors and stockholders of national banks, as has
been seen, were still not perfectly sure but that failures might
sometimes occur. This feeling doubtless arose from a knowledge on their
part of the weakness of human nature, and of the imperfections of
systems of Government. That they felt in this way, is indicated by the
fact that they have provided, also, a method of protecting, as far as
possible, the depositors of national banks that _do_ fail. They have
provided for the appointment of receivers and for a distribution, under
Government control, of such assets as can be collected from the wrecks
of the failed banks. The stockholders of such banks are subject to the
penalty of being compelled to contribute, if the deficiency in the
assets requires it, an amount not exceeding the par value of the shares
of stock held by them in addition to the amount already invested in such
shares, to the fund necessary to pay depositors. This of itself would
seem sufficient to be careful and place a live Board of Directors in
charge of a large fund, considering the manner the stockholders of the
Pacific National Bank of Boston kicked and squirmed when this provision
of the law was applied.
The experience of the past has been that bank officers have concealed
all their operations from the proprietors, and when failures have
occurred everybody has been astonished. As an additional safeguard to
meet this secrecy an organization has just been perfected in New York
which is a step farther in commercial agencies than has ever been
attempted. From one of their printed circulars it is ascertained that
they propose to keep in pay a corps of detectives and other agencies,
"as a check upon defalcations and embezzlements by bank Presidents, and
Cashiers and other officials." But it is not exactly clear who will
watch the detectives.
* * * * *
ELIZABETH.
A ROMANCE OF COLONIAL DAYS
BY FRANCES C. SPARHAWK, Author of "A Lazy Man's Work."
CHAPTER XI.
UNWELCOME NEWS.
June was doing its best to make the world content. Little clouds floated
through the blue sky, like the light sighs of a mood that must find some
expression, and the air for all its softness was invigorating, it was so
full of life and purity. This day, like many another, needed only to
bring as fair hopes to the lives of those who looked into it as it did
to the nature it overbrooded to make the faces its light breezes fanned
as bright as the skies were, with only shadows of expression to give the
brightness new beauty. But no such light was on Elizabeth Royal's face
as she sat at the open window of her room with a piece of delicate
embroidery in her hands. Her future had not opened out into life; the
winter had killed its buds of promise.
After all, Stephen Archdale had not gone to England. His father and
Governor Wentworth had insisted that it was much wiser to send an older
and a better business man. "Do you want to make the best of your case?"
the Colonel had asked incisively when Stephen hesitated. And the young
man had yielded, though reluctantly. It would have been so much easier
for him to be away and to be doing something. But at present he must
think only of doing the wisest thing.
Elizabeth had not seen him; he had written to her father once, and had
promised to write again as soon as he had the slightest news. He had
tried his best to be cheerful, and had sent her a message that
endeavored to be hopeful; but she saw that courtesy struggled with
despair. She knew that they need never meet; but if this thing were
true--she could not believe it--but if it were true, then happiness was
over. Life in a June day has such possibilities of happiness; and that
morning her eyes grew so misty that she took a few wrong stitches in her
work, and as footsteps drew near the room, perceived this and began to
pick them out with nervous haste. She had not finished, however, when
Mrs. Eveleigh came in. As Elizabeth had expected, her first remark was a
comment.
"What! another mistake, my dear? You know you made one only yesterday,
and you can work so beautifully when you give your mind to it. It is a
bad plan to have such a dreamy way with one. For my part, I should think
you would have had enough of doing things in dreams and never knowing
what they will end in. You would better wake up for the rest of your
life."
As Elizabeth had heard the same remark numberless times before, its
effect was not startling. In silence she went on picking out her
stitches.
"Why not say you think so, too? It would be more dutiful in you,"
continued Mrs. Eveleigh.
"You take care that I am waked up," returned Elizabeth. "You don't leave
one many illusions."
"I hope not. What is the use of illusions?"
"Yes, what?"
"Well, Elizabeth, it is not I that have disturbed them this time; you
must thank him for that."
"Him?"
"Yes, he has come. I have just been leaning over the banisters, and saw
him come in." Elizabeth did not look dreamy now. "He did not come
forward at all in the modest, charming way of the other one, which you
know irresistably wins hearts," went on Mrs. Eveleigh; "he marched along
straight into the parlor and asked to see you, just as if he owned the
house and all that was in it. So he does own somebody in it, I am
afraid, poor child."
The girl's face was white, her violet eyes looked black and shadowed by
heavy lines.
"Is it--?" she began.
"Oh, yes, my dear, it is your husband. He has come to claim you, no
doubt. If he cannot get the wife he wants, he will have somebody at the
head of his table. And, then, my dear, you know you are an heiress, not
a person of no account."
"Nonsense," returned the other; "the marriage is not proven. He may have
come with news."
At this moment a servant brought up Archdale's card. On it he had
written a line begging to see her. Elizabeth showed it to her companion.
"See," she said, "you are mistaken. Probably we are free, and he wants
to tell me of it first,--first of anyone here, I mean. That is not
arbitrary, nor as you said, at all."
"Very well, dear; only, don't crow till you are out of the woods. Would
you like to have me receive him with you?"
Elizabeth hesitated.
"No. I thank you," she said. "You are very kind, but perhaps it would be
better to go by myself."
"As you like." And Mrs. Eveleigh's pride laid a strong hand upon her
swelling curiosity, so that with an indifference well acted she sat down
to her work. But as she lost the sound of Elizabeth's step on the stairs
she rose again and looked breathlessly over the banisters, trying to
catch the greeting that went on in the room below. But either through
accident, or because the girl knew the character of her companion, the
door closed behind Elizabeth, and Mrs. Eveleigh heard nothing. If she
had done so, the greeting was so simple that she would have gained from
it no clue of what was to follow. Archdale came forward, bowed low, and
held out his hand to her as simply as Katie's husband might have greeted
Katie's friend, and possibly have brought her some message. Elizabeth
felt this as she laid her hand in his for a moment, a smile of relief
and anticipation came over her face; and in reply to his question she
answered: "Yes, we are all well, thank you." It was after the first
moment that the embarrassment began, when at her look of hope and
questioning his eyes fell a moment, and when raised again gave no answer
to it. Both realized then how hard fate had been to them. But even yet
Elizabeth would not quite give up the cause. She steadied herself a
little by her hand on the back of the chair before she sat down in it,
asking with the smile still on her lips, but not spontaneous as before.
"You have brought good news?"
"No," he said. "I am afraid you will not call it good news." He looked
away as he spoke, but after a moment turned toward her, and their eyes
met. Each read the meaning in the other's face too plainly to make
reserve as to the real state of things possible. "The cause of all this
cruel delay is explained at last," he went on. "The Sea-Gull on her way
back to England was wrecked. All Bolston's papers are lost. He had a
fever brought on by cold and exposure, and after he had lain for weeks
in an Irish inn, he waked into life with scarcely his sense of identity
come back to him. He writes that he has begun to recover himself,
however, and that by the time we send the papers again, new copies, he
shall be able to attend to the business as well as ever. For our work,
he might as well be at the bottom of the sea."
Elizabeth turned pale.
"When did you learn this?" she asked.
"A fortnight ago. I ought to have told you of it before, but I hated to
pain you."
She looked at him firmly. Then smiled a little through her paleness.
"Yes, it does pain me," she said. "But I don't despair. We are not
married, you and I, Mr. Archdale, and I wish Katie would throw aside her
nonsensical scruples. What matter whether Mr. Harwin was a minister? Why
will she not let it go that it was all fun, and marry you? I think she
ought."
"I think so, too," he said. He did not add his suspicions that Katie was
acting upon the covert suggestions of his father which had so disturbed
her conscience that she declared she must be satisfied that the whole
thing was a falsehood of Harwin's.
"I wish we could find him," said Elizabeth.
"So do I", answered Archdale under his breath. She looked at him quickly
and away again, feeling that her last wish had not been a wise one.
"Yet" pursued Archdale, "you see that if Harwin's story is false, the
whole matter drops there, and that would make it simpler, to say the
least of it. Katie does not like the idea of having the court obliged to
decide about it. She says it seems like a divorce."
Elizabeth flushed.
"Do I like it?" she said. "But anything is better than this."
"Yes," he answered, then seemed as if he would like to take back his
frank confession. She smiled at him.
"Don't try to soften it, Mr. Archdale. We both mean that. You speak
honestly because you are honest and understand what I want, too; because
you are wise enough to believe in the absurdity of this whole affair."
"You did not think it absurd at first," he answered.
"I was overwhelmed. I had no time to consider."
"No," he said, "only time to feel."
"Don't speak of that day," and she shuddered. "If I were to live a
thousand years, there never could be another so horrible."
He had risen to go. He stood a moment silent. Then:
"You are so reassuring," he said. "Yet, how can either of us be assured?
Perhaps you are my wife."
"Never," she said, and looked at him with a sudden coldness in her face.
"If a minister has married us," he answered, "nobody has yet unmarried
us."
The gravity of her expression impressed him.
"God has not married us," she said. "I shall never admit that." There
was a moment's silence. "Poor Katie!" she added.
"Yes, poor Katie,--and Mistress Royal."
Elizabeth smiled sadly.
"You remember that?" she asked. "It would not be strange if you forgot
everybody but Katie, and yourself."
"It would be strange if I forgot you, since you are,--what you are."
"I foresee," she answered, "that we shall be good friends. By and by,
when you and Katie are well established in your beautiful new house I
shall visit you there; Katie invited me long ago, and you and I are
going to be good friends."
CHAPTER XII
PERPLEXITIES.
Although Elizabeth had been so brave before Archdale, yet as soon as he
had gone she sank into her chair and covered her face with her hands, as
if by this she could shut out the visions of him from her mind. She
lived in the land of the Puritans, and Indiana had not been discovered.
She knew that those words which ought to have been so sacred but which
she had spoken so lightly were no longer light to her, but that in the
depths of her heart they weighed like lead and gave her a sense of guilt
that she could not throw off. Even if they proved nothing in law, they
had already brought a terrible punishment, and if,--if--. With a low cry
she started up. Life had grown black again. But she was not accustomed
to give way to emotions, still less to forebodings. In a few moments she
went back to her embroidery, and to Mrs. Eveleigh.
Archdale left Mr. Royal's house with a new comprehension of the woman he
had married in jest. Somehow, he had always considered that Katie and he
were really the only sufferers. Young, petted, rich, and handsome, it
had not come forcibly home to him before, however much his courtesy
might have assumed it, that this young woman whom, though he thought she
did well enough, he had no high opinion of, could actually suffer in the
idea of being his wife. But he saw it now through all her brave bearing,
and his vanity received its death-wound that morning.
Three days afterwards he was at Katie's home; he tried to feel that he
had the old right to visit her. "Your friend is so brave," he said, "she
puts courage into me. Katie, why don't you feel so, too?"
"Ah!" said the girl looking at him tearfully, "how can you ask that? It
is she who has the right to you, and I have not."
"She wants it as little as mortal can," he answered. "I think except as
your betrothed she does not even like me very well, although she was so
kind when I came away." And he repeated Elizabeth's parting prophesy.
"She and I are the two extremes," returned the girl. "If Mr. Harwin is a
minister, it will seem to me, as I told you, just as if you and
Elizabeth had been divorced."
"Nonsense, love, you cannot separate what has never been joined
together." He kissed away the tears that brimmed over from Katie's eyes.
Yet as he did so, he was not sure that he had the right to do it, for
the shadow of another woman seemed to come between them. He had
confessed his dread to Elizabeth, but to this girl it was impossible; to
her he must be all confidence. How different were these two women toward
whom he stood in such peculiar relations, betrothed to one, possibly
married to the other. If this last were true which of them would suffer
the more? A week ago his imagination would not have seized upon
Elizabeth's feelings at all; now he was convinced that it would be no
less hard for her than for Katie; hard through her friendship and her
pride. But this one's tender little heart would break. After all, it was
only of her that he could think. The waiting was growing unendurable.
Yet he felt that his father was right when he said that the easiest
way, the shortest in the end, was to prove if possible that Harwin's
story of his vocation was fabricated. Indeed, there was no case for
appeal to the Court unless that were established. Let that fall through,
and the lovers were free to marry.
"Have you heard" he asked after a time, "that Sir Temple and Lady Dacre
have written that they are coming to visit us,--us, Katie? You remember
they had an invitation to our wedding,--they shall have another,
dearest,--and could not come then, but they propose paying us a visit in
our own home at Seascape where they suppose we are living now, you and
I. I told you about my staying with them in England and asking them to
visit me when I was married. I was thinking then of my chances of being
engaged to you, Katie."
"Yes, you told me of them," she said, and after a pause added, "You will
have to write them the truth."
"It is too late for that to do any good. They follow close on the heels
of the letter; that is, by the next ship."
"Then I suppose Aunt Faith will take them, either at your father's, or
at Seascape. Which will it be, Stephen?"
"That house! It can never be opened until you do it, Katie; you know
that well enough."
The girl sighed. Yet with all the sadness of her lot it was delightful
to be loved and mourned over in this way; mourned over, and yet perhaps
not lost.
"I don't know about that being the best way," she returned slowly. "You
know Stephen, Uncle Walter is peculiar, and you could not entertain your
guests yourself; you would not have freedom. Really, it would not be
quite as nice for you."
"Always thinking of me," he cried. "It seems now that the only freedom I
care about is the freedom to make you my wife, Katie."
"Yes," she sighed again and was silent a moment. Then she said, "But
Stephen, if Aunt Faith is there, you know it won't be like anybody else,
and you can show them the house I am going to have. Do you believe
that?" she broke out suddenly. "Do you really believe that? This
uncertainty is killing me--don't imagine that I could not wait for
years, I am not dying for you, Stephen; I should not do such a thing, of
course. But not to know! I must know soon; life is unendurable under
such a strain."
"Poor little girl, she was not made, surely, to bear suffering," thought
Archdale. And he went away assured that she was most of all to be
pitied, that she was least protected from the North wind which was
blowing against them all three. As to the house, she should certainly
have her way about it. He saw that she was sacrificing her own feelings
for him. She did not understand that it was making matters a great deal
harder, she thought that she was making it pleasanter for him. Well, she
should have the satisfaction of believing she had done so. It did not
occur to him that the girl had taken the most effectual way of awaking a
sentimental interest in the persons who were imagining that they were to
be her guests. Katie was one of those people who illustrate the use of
the velvet glove, for in spite of her sprightliness, she was considered
the gentlest little creature in the Colonies.
CHAPTER XIII.
OVER THE THRESHOLD.
Florence, Lady Dacre, with her hand on Archdale's arm walked across the
plank from ship to shore, her husband on the other side of her and her
maid following with Sir Temple's valet, who was devotedly carrying all
the bundles, and interspersing his useful attentions with auguries as to
the "hignorance of the Hamerican Colonies." Lady Dacre walked on with a
light step, and eyes that took note of every thing.
"So, this is Boston?" she said. "I have always wanted to see it. You
will think me in fun, but really, do you know, it has an odd sort of
aggressive look to me! We imagine a certain humility in Colonies, but
your people are more English than Englishmen. That is your carriage,
there on the pier? How kind in you to come for us. And that is your
coachman? Now, even he has a look that, on the whole, he is as good as
you."
"He does not feel so," returned Archdale, smiling.
"Oh, no, I suppose not; it must be the exhilirating air that gives
people that appearance. Such a sky as there is to-day! Do you have
beautiful weather like this all the time?"
"No, sometimes we have a thunder shower."
Sir Temple laughed.
"Good enough for you, Florence," he cried. "What are you so absurd for?"
"For fun. I suppose you know Governor Shirley?" she added after an
instant.
"Slightly. But he is an intimate friend of Mr. Royal,--one of my
father's friends."
"Ah! yes. Well, what is the difference?"
"Then, last year," said Sir Temple, "we met some people in London." He
named several whom Archdale knew.
"And there are two others here now," cried Lady Dacre, "or perhaps I
ought not to say two persons, but one and his shadow. People call him a
reckless sort of a fellow--the man, not the shadow,--but I think him
charming. It is Mr. Edmonson, the best whist player I ever saw."
"And Lord Bulchester?"
"Ah! you know them. Perhaps we are going to meet them at your house?
That will be delightful."
"Lady Dacre has a perfect passion for whist," explained her husband.
"You will certainly meet them there if they will do me the honor to
become my guests," returned Archdale. Then something that he had heard
came back to him, and brought a sudden frown to his face, but it was too
late to retract. So, after he had made his friends comfortable at an
inn, for they were to dine before starting on their journey, he wrote
his invitation and dispatched it by his servant with instructions to
bring back an answer. "If the rumor I heard is true, he will not
accept," he said to himself.
[TO BE CONTINUED.]
* * * * *
FIFTH AVENUE HOTEL,
MADISON SQUARE, NEW YORK.
The Largest, Best Appointed, and Most Liberally Managed Hotel in the
City, with the Most Central and Delightful Location.
HITCHCOCK, DARLING & CO., Proprietors.
* * * * *
BARNES' BRIEF HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES.
FOR SCHOOLS.
MORE EXTENSIVELY USED THAN ANY OTHER AMERICAN SCHOOL HISTORY.
Its claims to superiority are thus referred to:--
1. Brevity. The text, other than appended national documents and the
census of 1880, makes but 303 pages; and is within the most limited
period allowable for instruction in American history.
2. Comprehensiveness. Has the pith of all large histories. See example,
"English explorations," pages 34-39.
3. Arrangement. By six epochs; each followed by a chronological summary,
a list of choice reference and reading books, and a sketch of national
territorial development during the epoch considered.
4. Footnotes. With biographies of persons referred to in text. See
Columbus, page 20; Raleigh, page 36; Putnam, page 108; Lafayette, page
119; Franklin, page 127; Pulaski, page 129; Jackson, page 175; Adams,
page 154; Buchanan, page 196; Garfield, page 300.
5. Dates. Given in text, and associated with that and the footnotes.
6. Impartiality. All sectional, partisan, or denominational views are
avoided.
7. Maps. Elegant, distinct, and colored. See "Early discoveries," page
18, and pages 100-149, etc.
8. Illustrations. Numerous, well suited, and artistic.
9. Questions. At back of book, respecting each epoch.
10. Historical Recreations. Questions that bring out the historic
biography, and especially fix characters, events, and places, in the
minds of youth.
_A complete index closes the volume_.
Copy mailed, for examination, on receipt of $1.00.
_A.S. BARNES & CO., Nos. 111 and 113 William St., New York City._
* * * * *
A POPULAR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATED
In One Superb Royal Octavo Volume of 800 Pages, Illustrated with 320
Wood Engravings and 14 Steel Plates.
From the discovery of America to the accession of President Arthur.
(_A choice Reference Book for Teachers in the use of Barnes' Brief
United States School History_.)
OUTLINE.
PART I. Mound Builders; Colonial Settlement; Explorations; Conflicts;
Manners; Customs; Education; Religion, etc. etc. Political differences
with Great Britain.