The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1868-08-06


Sturgis was ready to do his part. AS Chair
man Of the Executive Committee of the
American Association in London must within
two years have appealed to him twenty times,
and never in vain. On one side of the large,
gloomy business room, Mr.. Bates, turning
from calculations he was reviewing on his ele-
waited desk, listened to every story half impa.
tiently, and answered no, sometimes accom-
psnying the denial with a pertinent aud
humorous anecdotes; on the other side, giving
as patient attention as If the topic were dis
honored draft from China or a shipwreck OF a
cargo of indigo, Mr.. Sturgis invariably re-
plied:-''You have investigated the case and
are certain there is no deception p eyes"
"HOw much do you want, and what is it my
part to pay i' The answer was given, and a
check for the sum named instantly drawn. 1t
may have been instructive charity, but it was
unostentatious, cheerful, ready, and looked
ik the charity of principle.
Mr.. Sturgis is not far from sixty years of
age. lie is still in the prime of his powers,
and bids fair to last about twenty good years.
There is no man of greater mark on Change.
His tall figure, slightly stopping, grizzly hair,
smoothly-shaven face, fine head, keen eye,
white neckcloth, quiet dress, and afable man
ner, as he stands in his usual place at mid
day, leaning against one of the massive pillars
OF the Merchants Exchange, are as familiar as
the statue of the old Duke to the business
o.
His memory never fails him. Apparently at
perfect ease, his eye aud ear are awake to
every topic of commercial news. To stran-
ger, admitted for the first time to this great
bourse of the world, he would seem in con-
trast to the anxious faces and earnest gestures
of the crowd, to be a simple uninterested OBJ
server; and yet he returns to Bishnpgate street
at 2 o'clock fully informed of the prices Of
teas, indigo, sugars, and other staple products,
in the great markets Of the world, aud up in
that most exact of business soienoes-the days
variation in exchanges between the different
cities of Europe.
The house of the Barings was founded by
the grandfather of the first Lord Ashburton
more than 100 years ago. The father of the
same Lord Ashburton died in 1920. He then
became the head of the house, having previ-
ously married the daughter of Hon. William
Bingham, Senator from Pennsylvania in the
Fourth Congress. By this alliance came the
American business, one great source of its
wealth. The Barring family is possessed of
great cleverness, allying its eldest sons to the
best and healthiest blood of the Kingdom, and
having for five generations been represented
in Parliament and the Ministry by leading
men. Considered in both its political and
commercial relations, it is the foremost house
in Great Britain. In the agency for Govern
ment loans, it is second only to the Roths-
ehilds; in commercial transactions it is first
Cargoes from port to port of the Eastern world,
which never came within 5000 miles of Lon
don; crops of indigo, rice, cotton, and tea in
India, China, and Japan, which no member of
the firm ever inspects; ventures in purchases
and voyages to the principals in which it is a
stranger; ships ashore and ahoat, bound for
birds nests for China, or palm oil for America
or Para gum for Hamburg; enterprises for
raising sunken ships in the West Indies, or
importing silver ore from the Sierra Nevadas,
rct1iYt fhn ul,uln f,LA
Southern pole, are all creditors of the Bar
ings, whenever they can produce anything
real as security for advances. The wealth
of the house is actually great, but relatively
it is hundred fold greater. 1t is told OF
Lord Ashburton, that in the financial
crisis of 1887, which broke half the great
firms of England and shook the Bank of Eng
land TO its centre, he not only sold all his
stocks in the public funds and mortgaged his
landed estates, but also brought his plate to
the mint, to stave off the threatened insol-
vency of his house. In 1857, during two or
three days when discount was refused at the
bank to the paper of the Rothschilds and uni
versal distrust reigped whispers were in cir
culation about the Barings. Their accept
ances for the day, always due at o'clock,
were not forthcoming The city was in alarm.
A thousand rdmors ran from street to street.
Favorite stocks in CapelcOurt fell fifty per cent.
in value. Crowds of people holding bills on
ll6 urnl were assembled at the iron gateway
in Bishopsgate street. For time draft on
the Barings could not have been sold at half
its nominal value. But the connections of the
house-the Barings of landed estates-rallied
to the rescue, and at o'clock il stood on
stronger ground than it had ever before
occupied.
At the United States Legation, for the last
twenty years, whoever was its head, Mr.. Pea
body, from his position as a leading American
merchant in London, has always been fire.
quent visitor. With the late Abbot Law
renee, who himself was a successful merchant,
and whose wealth enabled him to support
state in hospitality and official duties beyond
that OF either of his predecessors or any of
cur Ministers who have succeeded him, he
formed strong personal attachment. With
Mr. Buchanan, also, he was upon terms of
close intimacy. AT one time only, which has
already been alluded to, when Gen. Sickes was
Secretary of Legation, did any GOODNESS exist
between Mr.. Peabody and the Embassy. The
Office OF Secretary, though nominally and in
salary far inferior to that of Minister, is very
important, and gives to the occupant, espe-
clally If it has been held through succession of
administrations, commanding position. He
prepares and reviews State papers, is coguizant
OF all official correspondence, is present at
diplomatic visits, is familiar with all mooted
international questions, has charge of the ma
terrell and personnel of the Legation, receives all
visitors from the United States, controls the
business pertaining to passports, conducts the
necessary intercourse with the various Con-
sulates, and, in case of the absence of his
Chief, assumes all the responsibility of the
Embassy. OF those who have successively
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