davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The San Francisco call., 1906-06-03

this especial room, reserved and set
aside for the quick callers is entirely
devoid of any place TO sit down. There
are elaborate tables with inkstands and
penpads, and also rolltop desks. It
would be a sacrilege TO even lean
against any OF them. This particular
magnate has learned by long and sad
experience that when once a man sits
on chair he is likely to sit there much
longer than he is wanted.
The caller is shown into this chair
less room. The magnate is here watt
ing for him with pleasant smile and
a warm handshake. He. tells his busi-
ness, naturally as brief as he can, be-
cause 1T is not the most comfortable
thing in the world to stand UP and be
verbose. The result is entirely salts
factory to all parties. The visitor goes
away quickly. He has told all he has
to say and the magnate is saved any
embarrassing remarks to the effect that
You will have to excuse me now" or
II am very busy, or words to that
effect
That is the method of the corpora
tions quick action with callers they do
not care TO have linger.
1t is not an infrequent OCCURRENCE
that Eeardless youth will SO 10 some
The San Francisco call., 1906-06-03
OF TIE swift FORTUNE IS STILL RUNNING A SAUGHT[ HOUSE

Noble p. Swift. founder Of the Swift
family business and fortunes and the last
surviving brother Of the. famous family
of Western beef packers stIH lives quietly
ano nodestty in sagamore,. down on Cape
cod where ali his lie OF. seventy Ave
Years has been spent. ::
White seldom heard Of in the great Chi
osso world, he is and has been for years
reputed TO possess as great If not a
greater fortune than any OF hfx now de
ceased brothers who were moro in tile
public eye.
I1e succeeded MS father. Captain Will
lam Swift who earned his title by dis
tinctive service IN the War OF 1872, and
his uncle, Levi Swift, who were the
pioneers in the hog and cattle trading,
driving ana butcheIing business on Cape
Cod aud in southeastern Massachusetts.
swift continues the Cape Cod business
today es he has for sixty years and 4
slaughter-house on his farm is flied
with hides and earcasses which are
butchered there every day
While Swifts supply field and his mar
k@t is a Cape Cod one almost exclusively.
and tbsre he also finds . market for
much CT the products or his extensive
farn, nevertheless the modest little
sfauEhter-house on his farm in this little
village was considered an important link
IN the rsammoth chain OF enterprises OF
the Swi-t family, for more practical rea-
sons, too. than sentiment, because IL was
their first and the birthplace Of business.
Bot ~ Sycamore, unlike the custom in
Chicago Swift personally superintends
the killing and does the dressing OF all the
cattle received there. and this week he
has been busily engaged killing and
dressing cattle for market and on Thurs
GaE he drove over his Cape Cod route,
5gxlhg and selling pigs.
'Aobfe Swift is a natural born trader"
Is the manner ia which the Cape Cod
folks refer to him. And then they add.
Well isueSs all the Swifts are natural
born Traders and always Were" And then
they get reminiscent and tell how Noble
swift has attended every auction on
Cape Coo Cor sixty years and how the
tate 'Bin" Swift, OF Sandwich, another
one of Eve brothers. would buy or trade
anything offered. doing a thriving bust
ness IN jrnk. old furniture, farm utensils,
boats snc fishgear, horses. carts, cattle
and any old thing. and the rccollections
OF iiis Yankee skill IN driving bargain
end subsequently making a big profit on
The San Francisco call., 1906-06-03
-,---.----u--.

Finally. after sitting around the bank
presidents office for four hours, during
which time he was told that the afore-
said president would probably be at
leisure in an hour, he was ushered in
through q long suite of exterior Offices
until finally he reached the personal
sanctum of the president. There he
expected to find man with a worried
look, a stream of people coming out
after seeing hin, and the president sit
ting in front of desk with a mass
of correspondents which he had not'
time TO attend to. and. in faetX every
other indication OF an extremely busy
and overworked human being.
On the contrary, what ne saw was a
dignified. pleasant man, who leaned
back in a comfortable upholstered
chair. shooting coffee beans from his
thumb and forefnger at target on the
opposite wall. which was nothing else
than the nose of reproduction OF a
celebrated painting. The caller said:
Are you busy. Mr.. President"
The president of the bank replied
''Yes. am busy, but 1 can give you a
minute. What is it?"
II is unnecessary TO add that the call
was brief one.
The San Francisco call., 1906-06-03

own tracks, moving around in circle
about % miles off the Atlantic coast. be-
ing sighted by no fewer than forty six
ships during her airnless wanderings.
Her range was from the Delaware capes
south TO the lonely Sargossa Sea, her
swinging round this circle occupying
about two years.ssS Size then went back and
forth through this ghostly region. and
next started off for Florida, off which
coast she was sighted twerty-three times
uy other vessels. She then made two
more circles and then went north. being
about 60 miles off Cape Cod when last
sighted. 1t is supposed she went down,
probably by being struck by another YES
sci. as she was never seen again.
The Norwegian barge Birgitte OF Grim
stead while bound from Mobile to Queens
town with pitch pine was abandoned
with all sails standing. but her bowsprit
gone and her hull leaky. On February IL
1896, her crew were taken off by the
British steamer Snowflake near the Irish
coast and for four months she drifted
To and fro across the tracks of the At
lantc passenger liners. She was sighted
no less than twenty-five times and the
British Admiralty sent out warship.
which found her and towed her to land.
This process was adopted also by the
French Admiralty with regard to the
British brig Hyaline, which had travelled
300 miles and been adrift before she got
near enough to the coast Of France to
enable warship TO secure her. She had
been several times set aflre, but refused
The San Francisco call., 1906-06-03
HOW TO fNADE THE BORE WITHOUT GIVING SEEMING OFFFNT
-

One of the most serious problems for
busy men and men OF prominence TO
solve is how not TO see people without
giving offensc
Also it Is quite as vexing a problem
and quite as serious one to find way
to get rid OF callers expeditiously.
The average caller who has succeeded
in getting an audience with some
prominent man is apt to forget how
valuable that prominent mans time is,
and TO feel no compunction or hesitancy
In nlonopolizing as much OF 1t as may
suit hle own sweet VIII.
OF course. this does not apply to the
stereotsRed ard we'll known class of
bores after they have been found ont
10 be such. An attendant or clerk with
ordinary Discrimination and discern
ment easily detects the professional
bore and keeps him away from annoy
ing his chief There are, however.
plenty Of well meaning people in busi-
ness and the professions who are bores
without knowing it. They are the
amateur kind and would be very much
offended IL they were classed as busi-
ness annoyancee. IL is against the per-
sisteucy of this kind OF people that the
busy man has to employ his ingenuity,
The San Francisco call., 1906-06-03

The corporation. rpagnate. bank presi-
dent or head OF a big mercantile house
is perforce obliged to see many people
In the course of day. Sometimes the
callers run into. the hundreds. It is.
therefore. important to limit the calls
OF those who have but little business.
and TO get rid OF them without in any
way giving offense or breaking in on
the business relations which already
exist
Many and varied are the schemes
utilized TO this end. There is hardiv a
big business Office that has not some
special method of its own of accom-
plishing this end. Perhaps one OF the
most amusing, and at lie same time
simple methods, OF all employed Is that
OF one OF the nlaEnates. He. is a very
difficult man TO sec at best, unless the
caller is personally known to him or
has some. really important business that
the secretary cannot attend to. Natu-
rally this condition frequently arises
and the magnate.s method of making
the call brief is to have the caller
shown into reception, room in which
there are no chairs 'ss
OF course. the magnate's suite nj
offices contain other reception rooms. IN
which there are plenty of chairs. but
The San Francisco call., 1906-06-03

derelict Is that of the wooden bark Sid
dartha. which left Jacksonville on Jau-
uary 16. 1899, lumber laden, for Liver
pool, and became dismasted in gale,
a heavy sea then drenching her from
stem to stern; destroying all the pro-
visions and carrying away the galley.
For twenty days her crew OF twelve sub
sisted on raw potatoes. The captain had
his forehead laid open and one, eye
blinded by a blow from a staHchion;. the
boatswain had an arm brokeI;. the chief
mate and two seamen We're stricken with
serious illness. due ITO their weakened
conditions and as day succeeded day
without prospect of rescue despair settled
upon all.
Two steamers passed without sighting
her, and then the Norwegian bark Ver-
dande came by and took them of. For
nearly five months after this the derelict
drifted helplessly about the ocean. cover
ing more than 1900 miles and being re-
ported no fewer than forty-one times.
The captain of the steamer Oakmore set
her on fire in hope of ridding the seas OF
such menace. but the fire failed TO de-
StrOy her. Ultimately. after a chorus OF
complaints front steamship captains
to her obstructing the liner track 800
miles off the Irish coast. Fl. NJ. s. Melam-
pus was sent out and secured her. towing
her into Bantry Bay, where she was sub
sequently used a coal hulk
There are more than 120 dereliets
logged by the marine officers as being
adrift in. the North Atlantic at the pres
ent time, two lumber laden craft. the
Bronson Fl. and the Mary Manning. being
right in the liner track east of the Dun
more. Along the Atlantic seaboard from
the Florida Rocks to Cape Race is a pre-
cessiOn of drifting waits. At times the
American navy sends out a glinbOat 10
destroy some specially objectionable or
dangerous hulk the British Admiralty do
ing the same on the other side; but there
is no concerted policy for ridding the
ocean lanes of them and no general
crusade by these two governments.
The San Francisco call., 1906-06-03

the open, industriously at work on his
farm or at his droving, butchering and
meat-selling work.
No man can be sucgcessful farmer
unless he can Kill and dress cattle.' in
sists Swift. THAT is where the money
is found, in doing your own work. and
my advice to the farmers who are strug-
Cling along is to learn at once to kill and
dress cattle and hogs, preserve the hides.
and you see if they won't save money"
Swift says that he has pleasant recol-
lections of teh days when he drove hogs
from the market to Cape Cod, and now
often meets the old residents along the
turnpike who used to buy of him.
II was quick on my feet in those days"
says he. "and II needed man to be
pretty active to keep hundred or more
pigs in line and headed in just the direc-
ton you wanted them to 60 Once a man
came out of his house, and looking over
the drove of pigs, hundred or more in
number. said TO me: Can you put one
The San Francisco call., 1906-06-03

the steamer Queensmore. which rescued
the crew, the idea being that she would
burn SO that the seas would easily tear
her apart.
But the wood of the cargo was too wet
the fire failed and she started on her long
voyage around the Atlantic, At various
times she was seen; till she nearly
reached England; then she drove past the
French coast; next she was sighted OFF
the. Azores; later she appeared near the
equator. and finally. after eighteen
months she drifted ashore on San Bias
Island, near Colon. Isthmus Of Panama.
During. her. amazing cruise at least six
ships tried to set fire TO her. but without
avail, and Though she was burned to the
waters edge. she remained afioat
"A derelict lumber carrier with an al
most equally curious record was the Fan
ME Wolston. which was afloat for 1907
days and covered more than 5000 miles.
but her voyage. while apparently mrcll
longer than that of the Cummings, was
really not SO, because she spent much
of her time crossing and reerossing her
The San Francisco call., 1906-06-03

succor the crew and get the craft under
control.
1t was found that everybody on board
the Oakes was afflicted with scurvy fof
which five seamen had died) save the
captains wife, on whom, through sheer
pressure. of necessity much of the labor
OF working the ship fell The second and
third mates were unable to go aloft The
Chinese steward was also incapable of
sailor tasks Twelve seamen lay in their
berths helpless. The captain had been
stricken with paralysis. In the China Sea
two typhoons drove the ship out of her
course. and. though intending to round
the Cape OF Good Hope, she had to make
for Cape Horn
Another remarkable case was that of
the steamer Perthshire, off the Australian
coast in 1899, which drifted about for
forty-fiye days helplessly covering 1900
miles before being rescued. On April Is
she left Sydney for Bluff Head, a four
days voyage. On May % a schooner put
into Sydney reporting that she had
sighted the missing steamer two weeks
previously. when the Perthshire had been
adrift ten days without sighting a sail.
her propeller being broken clean off in
the tailshaft and her spread of canvas
being too limited to give her even
steeraSe way.
AS she had nearly seventy persons
aboard and was drifting north toward
some evil reefs. every available craft was
sent In quest Of her. including two war
ships, several liners and fiotilla of tugs
Eventually the steamer Tolune came upon
her before daylight on June 13, some T50
miles off her course. the Perthshire being
deserted just an hour before the Tolunes
captain had determined to abandon the
search a towline was passed and for
thirty-six hours the Tofune got her along
Then q heavy sea tore them apart and to
get them coupled again rockets, with lines
attached. had to be fired from one ship
to the other.
Another almost Incredible story of
The San Francisco call., 1906-06-03

to burn, and she was merely hulk when
secured.
These cases refer to craft which are
tenantless on the ocean. but there are as
many instances on record of waits which
retain their crews. Perhaps the most
remarkable of all these was the skysail
clipper T. r. Oakes, the first American
iron square rigger ever launched She
enjoys the distinction of being one of the
very few vessels ever posted at Lloyd's
as. missing ard subsequently showing up
She left Hongkong on July 4. 1896. for
New York, for which voyage the usual
time was about 100 days. She was out
more than 25o days. and not reinsurabIe
her agents having given her up as lost
and the relatives of her master, Captain
e. w. Reed. and his wife who was on
board with him, had gone into mourning
Then on the two hundred and sixtieth
day, March 22. 1897. she brought up In
New York, having been towed in by the
oil tank steamer Kasbek, which came
upon her 800 miles east of Sandy Hook
the steamer being outward bound from
Philadelphia.
In trying to take her in tow the hawser
caught in the steamers screws and
jarnmed it. rendering her helpless The
fOakes was equally helpless, her crew be-
ing stricken down by scurvy. and the
two ships barely escaped collision there
being only boats length between them
when the wind drove them apart The
steamer was helpless for eight hours.
during which period the Oakes was driven
out of sight by storm. The Kasbek's
engineer had to force out her shaft by
means of wooden plugs The hawser
was worked clear of the propeller and
then the steamer started off in quest of
the .Oakes, sighting her again some hours
later In worse storm which lasted for
two days. during which time it was i'm
possible TO send a boat to her, but the
steamer lay by her till the weather
abated and then took effective steps to
The San Francisco call., 1906-06-03

In the spring sold the young lamb and
from the proceeds Of the sale got money
enough to buy other sheep in the village
and In this way he soon had established
profitable business
He was too young. however to go into
the cattle market at Brighton TO buy in
competition With the older buyers who
assembled there, although he was an ex-
ceilent judge of cattle and pigs and could
hove been relied upon even at that time
to make good trades
When about seventeen years of age he
made his first purchase Of pigs in the
Brighton market and started to drive
them home over the road. There were
no railroads to Cape Cod in those days
and the only way to get the pigs I'd Cape
Cod was to drive them. over the road
Swift says that from the very begin
ming he made II d point to sell the latest
pigs at the start OF. the long Journey, as
they Were all sold by weight and would
be more likely to- bring better prices than
The San Francisco call., 1906-06-03

The most common dereliets are lumber
carrying vessels of wooden build. and
moderate size which meet bad weather.
become dismasted, and having no steam
power are helpless waits in the Atlantic
fairway, sometimes drifting about for
months. If not for years, because their
buoya:nt eaFgoes will. Rot let them sink.
= One of these, the Alma Cummings, an
American schooner from Boston. made. a.
record voyage OF fifty-fouf days. during
which: she. covered 5000 miles and was
sighted fifty. times. She was caught in
blizzard off Cape May in February; 1896.
and her pasts and rigging were carried
overheard. the jagged stumps of
the spars batterfhg her sides
apart. The seas swept every
thing overheard; looded: her hull and
cabin. drehel1ed her foodstufrs with brine
and. formed a coating over the deck three
feet thick The wretclred crew. the
being an soaked. could. not make
a tire 10 warm themselves until they fired
q rife into a can of kerosene and that get
the hull ON fire and the blaze attracted
The San Francisco call., 1906-06-03

good sales as I could. If not better, and
that is how they started their. business
career.
When they decided to branch out and
start in business / thought that it would
be just as well for me to remain at home
on the farm, and ! did So" said Swift,
'and have been here ever since as ac-
lively engaged in business today as ever.
4 stopped driving hogs over the road
when the hog cholera affected the hogs
1t was hard work, walking hundred
or more miles. and crossing and recross-
ing the turnpike hundred times, driving
refractory pigs from Brighton to Cape
Cod, but / have found that hard work
never killed any one; It's play that makes
mems lives shorter" Swift declares that
he meant by this that men who work
hard should not keep late nights at play
Swift has always made it a rule to re-
tire early and to be up with the sun
He does not use tobacco in any form,
and never has. He has lived his life in
The San Francisco call., 1906-06-03

after they had waddled one hundred miles
or more over the dusty roads. THE
Cape Codders liked the lean pigs better
any way" says Swift, "and by selling the
fat ones first we had just what our GUS
toners wanted when we got to the cape
end Of our Journey
Swift's brothers, Nathaniel and GUS
tavus. accompanied him to the market
at Brighton and helped to drive the pigs
to the cape soon after he started in the
business
'"They were good boys says Swift.
land l started them right into the busi-
ness Of selling the pigs by sending them
farther down on the cape with the few
that were left when we reached here
II knew as long as remained with the
boys that IL any one wanted to buy
pigs. why the boys would refer them
to me. In this way they would never get
a chance to show what was in them. and
SO L sent them down on the cape several
trips and found that they could make as
The San Francisco call., 1906-06-03

the transaction arc we'll known by the
Older residents
Noble, Swift drove meat wagon to the
Sandwich: village for a period OF over
forty years. and to the. older residents
there he is well and favorabiy known,
He was but eight years OF age when
he made mis- first trip to. the cattle mar
kets at Brighton, going with his uncle,
Levi. Swift: He saw even at that early
age that there was money made in buy
ing and selling cattle on the hoof. and
while he was a scholar in the village
school he began to trade in sheep.
His initial trade was made with one of
his ne5ghbors who had some sheep to sell.
Swift got the amount necessary to buy
a sheep and when returning from school
one afternoon brought the sheep home
with linn.
His father was surprised enough when
ne saw his young son coming home tow
ing sheep behind him. The young man
kept the sheep throughout the winter ard
The San Francisco call., 1906-06-03

of these pigs in my pen?' Yes l. re-
piled, IN put il down the chimney OF
your house if you want me to-.
The man bought the pig, wondering
how could catch the one that he had se-
lected from the hundred. started for
the pig and it seemed as if il was deter
mined that 1 should not catch it,
1.-The man who wanted to buy the pig
stood looking on, believing, evidently that
1 was not going to succeed in catching the
pig. and I had a rough and tumble fight
of IL in the middle of the road before T.
got rome tied around its hind Leg.
T.. c. Swift. whose death occurred in
Boston recently, also received the fun
damental principles of business that fitted
him for the responsible position that he
held at the head of the business at Chi
cago. on Cape Cod, although he was not
actively engaged in driving pigs and
cattle as We're his other brothers.
When he was ready TO start cut in the
world TO make his fortune his brothers
Nathaniel and Ghstavus had established
the packing business, but he was an I'M
portant factor in the success that the
brothers achieved before they died.
William Swift another of the brothers.
never engaged in the beef business. and
another brother was lost at sea when a
young man, the vessel on which he sailed
never having been heard from after she
left port.
Noble Swift has given away vast sums
of money quietly and unOstentatiOusly.
For years when he drove his provision
wagon not a poor family. deserving or
not deserving, in the accepted sense OF
term went hungry while Noble Swtfts
Swifts wagon made it's rounds
Nothing could induce Noble Swift to
live elsewhere than on his old farm The
old home where he had lived alone for
>nEariy all of the forty years since his
8ffe died Is not the old Swift homestead.
however. The old Swift home was de-
stroyed by fire nearly dozen years ago.
He has two sons and one daughter.
II have lived more than the al
l0tted threescore and ten. says
swift. "and have worked hard
all my days" Swift is hale and
hearty and in full possession OF
his faculties and as active as a person
many years younger He loves TO be at
work and keeps busily engaged about his
farm or the slaughter-housc. and seems
destined TO live for many yeas He has
always taken an active interest in the
affairs of his town and enjoys the highest
~~-~sct of his friends and fellow towns
men,