The Savannah morning news., 1900-09-26
A Case Of Greek Meet Greek.

II was a case OF Greek meet Greek"
ore day back IN the eighties whsn Presi-
dent Charles ". Morse. OF the American
Ice Co but then only minor millionaire
la the shippng-tow-b oat-ics combination
ran up against Dr. john C. L'Engle. Of
jacksonville, Fla. says tho New York
Commercial. The doctor was fitted for the
practice Ct medicine some time IN the ante
bclium days, but for many years he has
been In the wholesale and retail drug busl-
ness in florida. which was the original
source Of his wealth. The latter. however
has come TO him In numerous ways not
the least OF which Is the ownership and
operation Of tow-boa;s and other vessels
Socially. In a business way and In al
most every other relation with his fellows
Or. L'Engle Is good deal OF an autocr.;t.
His family was among the old Fresh
Huguenots. who settled in South Carolina.
ard u had become social and cofnmc--
cial power IN Florda as long ago as 1850
Better educated by far han the average
Floridian OF his age-the middle sixties
or older-and with better breeding. more
means and stronger individuality than
most men with whom he came into con-
tact. the doctor IN the years that follow
ed the surrender was sort OF oracle in
Duval and Nassau counties
lie was shrewd and far-seelug. and gen
orally successful IN all business ventures
The peop'e there . rs'sted In numbering
the delightfully."- French llnguais In his
name. and what Or Lee-augle" said
or did generally went" But with the
rapid influx q educated Northern men.
many OF them with means or independence
and most OF them unhampered by South
ern provinciahstn. DR. l. Engle gradually
ceased 20 be an Oracle-"there were
others"-aud II dent sweeten his temper
a BIT or dislodge hts prejudices.
one November night he had a loaded
schooner caught by the early forming ice
In the kcnnebec river up IN Maine The
mercury was falling, and another day
would tie the vessel and her cargo up for
the winter. In his predlcament the cap
tain wired L'Engie at Jacksonville for
Instructions. the latter replying: Get
her out 10 sea az any reasonable cost"
This was the future ice Kings" oppor-
tunlty. Ills company owned al the tow
boats on the river. so the captain had to
employ one OF them TO break up the thin
ice and pun the schooner out into clear
water n was the work OF only a few
hours and Morse charged $500 for a.. Cap
tain and owners at first refus a TO pay, but
Morse clapped libel on the vessel. and
they had TO put up the cold cash before he
would let the schooner 20 20 sea. soon
correspondence followed. in the course Of
which Morse took occasion TO tell L'Engle
that up Ia my country here business Is
often a matter OF dog eat dog
A year later Morse had a schooner In
The ST. johns River bound for Jackson
vile. In 'warping" around a point she
broke and lost her howser. and was In
d1uger OF drifting ashore. whtn one or
L'Enele's tugs FASTENED to her assistance
pulled her out OF danger and supplied
her with n hawser. The bill for this SER
vice was 1900 Morse's captain protested
and wired TO Maine for instructions "I'n
see 'em In HI FIRST" was the response
Other kilograms followed. and then Morse
discovered that his creditor was L'Englo
PAY the fifteen hundred and get away
quick" came over the wire from Morse.
when he found into whose clutches the
vessel had fallen
when T. Englo had the 81. 200 safe in bank
he walked deliberately 20 the telegraph
ofilce and sent this collect" message 10
Morse:
Dog cat dog down here too. John C.
l. Engiel'
After that the two became fast friends
They are too much alike TO be enemies
long.