Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1868-03-05
BaoxEu-Down MEN IN hEw foak
gvo r-hey Arc Employed.


-. e,orre.pondence Of the Troy Times
The broken-down men to whom we have
referred from the best possible help in the
oreat mercantile concerns OF this city. 4.
+. Stewart. the merchant prince, has been
for years in the habit Of picking out among
this class such assistants as he might need,
and we presume that there may be found
under his root to-dsy the wrecks of twenty
different dry goods houses that we're started
with good prospects Of success. For in
stance, that grave and dignihed gentleman
Of % years or thsreabouts, who occupies
the position Of general manager and over
locker of the wholesale warehouse, IS Mr.
Brewn, formerly dry goods Jobber oil tue
house Of Brown 4 Co, Cortlandt street.
lie 10 fret rate business man, and Stew
art knows il, and perhaps il is but an Incl
dent ia life that Brown il not Stewart, and
that Stewart 10 not Brown. As it 10, Mr..
Brown is to q certain degree Stewards lieu
tenant, and, ~ the latter 10 much engrofssd
BY the leading facts in the mammoth bust
ness, no one IL allowed to address him per
sonally until bis errand has been cornmu-
nicated 70 the lieutenant aforesaid. So, also.
this tall, fne-looking gentleman, who has
the management Of the credits. Mr.. Libby, |
who looks after all references, and without |
whose approval no man can get bill OF
goods on time, is . broken down merchant.
Twenty years ago the firm Of Hastings, |
Libby Forby struggled for wealth, but in |
vain. They snk in tho general vortex OF
commercial ruin, and Mr.. Stewart, who dis.
cerned Mr Libby's talents, has made good
use Of him. Mr.. Libby is highly gifted
business man, and has mado himself SO nee
essary in Stewards concern that, if report
be true, he has now a partnership in it.
| We might go on ard call over stewards
| check-roll and find many other similar
cases and 10, Also, We might find just such
. class Of men selling goods for Clsfiin and
other large houses. When man has once
failed in any kind Of business, it is very
seldom that he attempts 10 rscapeTate in
the same trade. He il generally sick Of
the effort. lie will work for others In that
line, bus has fear Of attempting it per
sonally again. Hence men who fail in New
York seldom get on their feet. Their Gus
toners are drummcd away by other houses,
and the current Of their business Is SO bro
ken that il seems impossible to be resusci
tated.
The custom house is great gathering Of
broken down men and, besides this, one
tinds them in every petty birth which they
can get into. Most of the insurance. Offices
are manned by this class. and in many in
stances insurance companies have been
formed for ths express purpose Of adsrding
snug harbor for some such characters.
Mos. Of the merchandise brokers are Of this
class. II a wholesale druggist fail, he Is apt
: to turn broker in drugs; if q wholesale gro
Ger fail. he will naturally turn to his own sta
Piles. We have said that men who fail in New
York seldom get on their feet again. To
!. | illustrate this statement We may call over
few names. Where WAS there = more "a
5 nous house than that OF Bowen. McNamee
L Co.. And yet the colossal business,
which required 25 years to build II up, went
in one fell swoop when that firm failed. II
. you were to look fer the head Of that great
concern, you would not find him in the
: world of silks and satins. On the other
: hand Mr. Bowen is now the publisher Of the
Independent. Among other great firms
u that have gone out of existence, we may
mention in dry goods the Moores, who were
in trrde 80 years, and who, from small be-
= eiInings, at last occupied a Broadway store
nj rent Of ST. GEO per ennum. In tho
J grocery business we might mention the
!, name Of J. k Place 4 Co.. which failed last
y fail. Thi. house was estimated IS being
. worth 81 600, 900. Their credit stood 50
high that they could purchase II bin OF
coffee ard give note for il 10 the amount
= Of 500 900, and vet now that they have
failed 1t is not probable tina, they will pay
= their creditors mach, il indeed nything.-
, Probably in n short time We will SEQ these
very Places, who oncc were merchant
= princes, running round the streets with
boxes Of samples, and taking the chances
among the legion o! merchandise brokers
To 60 back to the house Of Denison 4
y Belden, from which the Places sprung
" This concern failed few years ago, aud
although it possessed an immense trade, yet
il was never resuscitated. So also when
Simeon Draper failed although he an
nounced in his card that he would pay in
y full, vet the Herald contradlcted this as
surance, and stated that he never would
pay dollar and he never did. So also
the great banking house of Prime, Ward &
= Co. they paid nothing. When one goes
I" among the great centres Of literary activity,
y he finds the same law at work. The
. Herald, the Times. and the Tribune, have
! each their share of hacks. and broken
u down editors, and unsuccessful AUTHORS,
. who are here buried in aboricus retire
ment. Among other broken down editors
| VIC may mention JatDh6 W atsON coo, OF
j, the once hourishing Courier and Enquirer,
y who now has foreign mission. Mo.dscal
NJ. Noah, formerly Of the Evening Star, was
also one Of this class. Stepping into a
large concern some time ago, we entered
into conversation with the book keeper, q
man apparently of co, and found TO our
surprise tha5 he once was partner in a
heavy Goth importing house, whose sign
had beon familiar to us for years. A con
, seriousness OF the difficulty Of retrieving
ones fortune was uttered in the language
OF William Burger, who few years ago
was one of the heaviest wholesale dealers in
the city. After his failure, which wound
up . business experience Of 80 years, a
friend asked him how he was. The reply
was, "Too old to fail in businessr' And so
it proved. We have seen the broken mer-
chants in this city reduced to keeping
boarding houses. We knew one who made
his bread out Of model artist exhibitions,
and another. who Was once among the
greatest business men Of the day, was re-
Gently picked up in the street at night.
drunken vagrant, and As such vas taken to
the station house
An old lady in Newburyport recently
cOmplained Of her tax hill ssvio0 thu .ha