Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1885-04-11
THOUGHTFUL FRIENDS.


THOUGHTFUL FRIENDS.
The Two Persons Who Saved Gen. Grant
From Absolute Bankruptcy.
New York Nail and Express.
Gen. Grant and all the members of his
family have been-as might have been
xpected-very retiCent as to the priva-
tiOns and anXieties they suffered since
the failure of the firm Of Grant & Ward.
But the facts communicated to old friends
in cOfidenCe have been gradually coming
to the public, without any intentional
betrayal Of trust anywhere. So much,
however, is known, that it occurred to
the writer of the communication here
with published that a connected and
careful account Of Gen. Grants pecuni-
airy straits would be more satisfactory to
the people, and would give a juster view
of his situation and of his trials and
conduct than the more or less exagger-
ated stories that are afOat. The cOmmu-
nicatiOn which follows was written by
one whose relations with the Grants
have been and are such as to insure the
most intimate knowledge of the interest
ing facts stated. Of course the writer
prepared and furnished this COmmuniCa-
ton without the knowledge Of any
member Ofthe Grant family, and without
any solicitation on the part of any one
connected with the Mail and Express.
But so interesting a story will speak for
itself. Here it Is:
-Four days after the failure of Grant &
Ward a Mr.. Charles Wood, Of Lansing
burg, n. Y, wrote to Gen. Grant, whom
he had never seen, offering to lend him
81 900 for twelve months WithOutinterest
with option of renewal at the same rate.
He inclOsed a check for $500 'on account
of my share due for services ending about
April, 1861
t'At this time Gen. Grant had absolute
ly no money for current expenses.
Everything he owned in the world had
been invested or deposited with Grant &
Ward. About $50 in his pOcket-bOOk
and S13O in cash belonging to Mrs. Grant
was what he had to live on. The trust
fund had been invested in Wabash
securities and the company at this
uneture defaulted payment, while the
guarantOrs, the &. D. Morgan estate,
could not pay until the company had
defaulted for six months. Gen. Grant
accented the timely offer of Mr.. Wood
very gratefully"
about the same time, Mr.. Romero,
the Mexican Minister, came to Gen.
Grant, and also insisted on aiding him
with q loan of 81, 900. The General de-
clined at first to receive the money, but
Mr.. Romero left the room abruptly,
placing the amount on the table. But
for these two acts of friendship, one from
a man whom Gen. Grant had never seen,
the other from a man by no means
wealthy, the distress Of the General
would have been actual. The checks
which had been paid out a few days
before the failure were of course not met,
the payment on May 1 on the trust fund
was swallowed up by Ward, and there
was absolutely for a time no other re-
source.
Mrs. Grant, however, had a little
house in Washington which she had
bought some years before for 81 800 and
she was able to sell this in a few weeks
for Sc. 300. A check was at once sent to
Mr.. Romero for the debt to him, the
outstanding checks on Grant & Ward for
personal or family empenses were paid,
and little was left for living during the
summer. The sons had all been ruined
by the failure as absolutely as the father,
and two of them with their families were
obliged for a time to live with him.
ON this emergency the General was
asked to write q couple Of articles for the
Century Magazine. He was offered $1,000
for the two, and consented to try his
hand at literature. The articles were
written and the payment made, and
about Christmas the General was able to
pay on the DrCuulary Indebtedness 10 MS
friend. Mr.. Wood, with whom he is still
personally unacquainted. The occupa-
ton of writing interests him; the story OF
his old campaigns distracted him from
the thoughts of his Wall street troubles;
he continued to write, and finally
decided to compile his military memoirs.
The first volume Of these is complete and
the second nearly so. The work gives
details Of his early history not previously
known, and a graphic picture of life IN
Ohio before 1889, when he went to West
Point. His account of the Mexican war
is also extremely interesting, as he was
in every battle eXceDt Buena Vista, un-
der both Scott and Taylor. The nara
tive Of those campaigns, as seen by
Lieutenant who afterwards became the
fOrmOst soldier of his time, is said by
those who have seen 1t, to be fascinating
even TO unmilitary readers, while the
sketches Of the great Generals in both
Northern and Southern armies whom he
knew as subalterns is something the like
of which has never been written by such
an author in all history"