, 1879-03-20
Us5plcY's" LETTERS FROM hEW
YORK.
,.,,, our own regular corrcspondcntl
New YORK, March ., 1879.

New YORK, March ., 1879.
THE LAST OF THE OLD MACY FIRM.
The house of Macy is probably as
widely known as any in America, and
re reputation was won by one cent.
ii any other house sold a certain
Grade of goods at one dollar, Macy
marked his at 80 cents. Sometime
ror odditv's sake his prices wou!d
he Sl2.0l fora given article, or 1899
price at even money was as rare
asan honest politician, and this pecn
Earitv, more than any other cause,
probably, brought his store into no.
,orictv and him into a handsome for
tune. But the grim Book keeper
has been balancing accounts rapidly
with the old firm of h. II. Macy &
Co. Two years ago Mr.. Macy died
in Paris, leaving an inebrIate son on
an allowance of few hundreds an
nuaIlv. Not long aher Mr.. Laforge,
the second partner, died, and this has
now been followed by the death OF
Mr.. Valentine, the sole remaining
partner of the original firm. The
immense business now passes into
the hands Of Mr.. Webster, who came
into the firm after Mr.. Macy's death,
and suddenly find himself master Of
retail business often amounting to
$4,000 in a single day.
WET TO ORDER"
After every large dry goods fire
the smaller class Of retaileps get up
tremendous run on "wet goods from
the late tire;" and even larger houses
have done more or less in this partic.
ular line. 1t has long been a mys
terry to some people how so much
goods could be damaged in any fire
without breaking all the insurance
companies. Some other people did
not stop to speculate Intellectually,
but proceeded vigorously to financial
speculation in these goods, thinking
that materials which were damp and
dirty, without attempting to hide
their shame, must be cheap. The
recent heavy fires gave fresh impetus
to this particular trade; and though
wiseacIes blinkcd and winked aud
hinted about good chances TO work
oil unstable goods, the dear people
were blind and deaf to hints, for they
scented-"bargains !"
1t was left for an Eight avenue
lsraelte to- let this exceedingly black
cat out Of her hitherto very shady
bag. He had neither been to auc
ton and bought real wet goods; nor
pulled out his unstable merchandise.
wet II and dragged it about his floor,
and when he saw the people focking
past his store to those where the wet
goods game was being played, his
rage knew no bounds. He resolved
to give the "coup de grace" to the
whole humbug, and took his revenge
on his enterprising rivals and the
Hooking people at one swoop, by
painting huge sign for his store
front, bearing the inscription, Goods
wet to order at short notice ~
A suBTERRANEAN MONSTER.
Down beneath the pavements on
Spruce street, there is painting away,
day and night, every hour in the
year, huge iron slave, running his
giant arms out beneath sidewalks,
across streets, under massive build
ings and blocks, grinding away Sam
son-ike in his dark prison. house, a
perfect marvel Of strength, and with
out parallel OH the Continent if on
the Globe. He grips with one OF
his long fingers the Bullock presses
OF Greeley's greatest monument,
and throws off 1000 "Tribunes" an
hour from each of several presses