The weekly mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado County, Calif.) 1861-1862, 1862-02-22

INCIDENTS ~ HIS EARLY RY-How HE sTARTED AND
HOW HE COT RICE.
Those who suppose Mr.. AStor had an
easy time in money matters are greatly
mistaken. lie has often paid old Prime,
in Wall street, very large interest and
large commission to get long pnper dis.
counted. lie (Mr. Aston loved to tell an.
rciOteS connected with his early ditticul.
tics.
One was about bargain he made with
his brother Henry, when the latt VA
much better off than himself Tor Henry
as the owner of a butcher stall, No. 81,
in the Fly Market-valuable property in
the commencement of this century Hen
ry then lived at 81, Bowery. John, in
his financial difficulties, frequt ntly went
to Henry for loans, or for an Endorsement.
This was sort Of annoyance to Henry.
who did not like to borrow or lend t.
anybody. On one occasion John wanted
$500 very badly. He went to Henry and
asked him to lend him that SUN. "John,
will give yon 300 if yon will agree
never to ask me to loan you money, in
dorse a note or sign bond for you, or be
obligated for you in any manner whatev:
er, hereafter" said Henry. John says,
he hesilated for moment. rapidly passed
through his mind its advaniages-for
500 was 500 in those dayS-accepted
the proposition, and he never did ask
favor Of that character of his brother in
after years.
4 business acquaintance Of Mr.. Aston
one day asked him what particular trans,
actions or peculiar kind Of business gave
him his great start? Mr.. A>tnr never
| claimed any great >nga ity or INT, l.igrnc,
over his fellows. H., said, in reply, that
at one period Of his life he had accumua
ted quite n quantity al unsalabie iurS III
tni> market, such a> beavers The com.
mon tur> TINT he or his agent picked up,
VIZ: muskrat, mink. rabbit, squirrel, etc,
he could sell in this city, and ut gomi
prices. The other and costly he had IT,
Unv, but could not sell here, and they
we'e packed away in whisky casks dawn
in the cellar. lie had no correspondent
10 London to send them t., and no dis.
position to send il he had. Att,r talkir &
over the matter with his wife, thry con
ciudc'i it would he the best for himself tu
=" To London with the choicest kind OF
furS. He did so. The prospect "i Il.
lrIp Was unctItain, and To tcnnOnIiz as
much a. possible, lie went out as steer
hge passenger.
When he reached London, he found a
ready market for Ills choicest GiIrS, aud
sod them at a very high rate. He made
,at list oi such goods as he Ihuughl
would ield good profit il New York.
tnd puI chased and Shit ped them by
vessel bound hithcr. After he was thro
NMh his business. he was detained Il
couple Of weeks by the snip not being
ready To sail The idle time he4kpent III
lm'king about London, aud pic>in up all
the .inturmnatiOn pn>siI'le, especially such
aS was Likely to br Of advantage to his
bu ines> in Ne~ York. Among other ex
truordinarv places that he visited, was
the great East India House. lie visited
the ware lluuse and offices. On one &C
ca>ion he asked nnc Of the portrrs what
The name of the Governor was. The
man r, piled, giving German name very
familiar 10 Mr.. Astor. He asked his in.
tnrmant il the Governor was an English
man. He replied that he had come from
Germany when boy. Mr.. AStor deter
mined to see him-watched an OppOrtuni-
" and sent in his name. He was admit
ted. When he entered, he said to the
Governor Is not your name Wilhelm
--r Did you not 90 to school in--?'
81 did, aud n0w | remember YOU very
we'll your nunr is A>tOr? ?"
After this they had long chat and
talked over school matters. The Govern
or insisted that Mr.. AStor should dine
with him. He declined for that day, but
the next dav they met again he asked
Mr.. Astnr if there was nothing he could
do fur him. MIR. Astor said nO-he hat
bought all he wanted, he needed no cash
or credit. They met almost every day.
The Governor kept urging Mr.. AStOr to
maine sOInething he could do for him; he
asked what present would be acceptable.
Astor declined anything. Finally, they
met two days before the vessel was to
sail, aud again the Governor asked MIR.
AStor if he would accept any present he
offered him. Seeing the Governor so
anxious, he answered that he would.
w Ucu uC SullSO W Oiu IuC ONCIuOi
goodbye, the latter was greatly affected
at parting with his old German school
mate. Take these" said he, handing
him some papers, "you may find them Of
value"
One of the papers was Canton prices
current; the other was carefully en-.
crossed permit, on parchment, authOri-
zing the ship that bore it to trade at any
Of the ports nlOnOpolized by the East In
dia Company. ..u
Mr.. AStur bade his friend good. bye, and
returned to the city, never giving the
present second thought. He had no
ships, had never had any trade with the
East Indies, and never expected TO have.
He little dreamed that in that parchment
would be the foundation Of vast shipping
operations, and a trade amounting to
millions, and embracing the Pacific Ocean.
The permit was No. 66. .
When Mr.. AstOr got home he showed
theSe dOcumentR To his wife and advised