The sun., 1918-08-29
SHADES OF THE OLD CUSTOM HOUSE
RO7UNDA.
Familiar Figures the Chamber That Was Forced Cn
buton-Thc Tragedy Of the Colonel the Major

House on Wall street. on whose marble
tiles the feet of countless shippers
from the rough, sunbrowned and
pilot biscuit fed captains of the live
oak clipper ships Of the early nine
teenth century of which the Dread
naught was a type, to the gold laced
and pampered navigator Of steel
ribbed floating palaces like the III
| fated Titanic-have echoed, was once
famous chamber of a famous build
ing, the memory of which Is fast fad
ing. Although scarcely eleven years
have elapsed since the Federal Gov
, eminent vacated its long time home
In the heart of the financial district,
the number of men who are able to
picture the physical characteristics of
diminishing.
If the army of capable young
women. bank messengers and clerks
who hurry in the occasional COM
pany Of a millionaire from Wall Street
into the counting room OF the National
City Bank were to have a ghostly
vision Of the steps that once led up
to this rotunda, and the procession Of
ancients who made the granite flight
the ladder to their Mecca, unfolded to
them, they might well stop in their
haste to view il with profit. The physi-
cal characteristics OF the building and
the appearance of the energetic and
capable breed of business men on
whom the changing fortunes OF time
and the havoc of disastrous war are
now turning the key Of the limbo
OF forgetfulness might even interest
them They would see here as in a
Kaleidoscope some rare bits of color
focusing the worlds commercial ac-
tivities Of a generation ago. The vary
Ing and shifting phases Of human bus
tie of past days would be thrown on
the screen OF time in a panorama
that is of more than passing interest
the reel Of a moving picture fas-
cinating with the throb Of life.
This rotunda was once--as was the
once faultlessly beautiful one Of the
new Custom House, show place. 1t
was especially so-and to a large ex-
tent regretfully so to the army Of
Uncle Sans employees-after n GER
tain Collector, 1t is presumed with the
ties at Washington, levied a forced
contribution Of 10 per cent. Of a GER
tain months pay Of every man under
him to defray the expenses Of its re-
decoration. Its floor was q tiled
mosaic OF marble, its dome that of a
mosque. In the centre Of the chamber
was column supporting a spherical
clock - which incidentally told the
truth occasionally. and was once
FORCED brazenly to fabricate time
In the face of general contradiction to
permit ship to enter so that its
cargo Of valuable imports could reap
the benefits of new tariff law. On
this clock was perched gilded eagle
with spread wings. Around the COL
umn at the extreme Of a circle. and
under the protection OF the symbol of
nationalism, were the desks Of the Col
lectors entry clerks.
In those days this little domain of
Federal authority was known as the
ring" and the men who were seated
at these desks computed the toll
merchant was to pay into the Federal
treasury on the silks OF Lyons, the
cotton stuffs of Manchester or the
hosiery of Saxony. And this circular
enclosure was at one time literally
ring" Of favorites who did not scruple
to traftic to their personal profit and
at the ultimate cost Of the sovereign
people of the United States, by whom
they had been appointed to render
specific service in the collection OF
Uncle Sans imposts.
Let me marshal for your inspection
some of the great figures in the COM
merce of those days, whose presence
was a familiar sight in this famous
rotunda; men whose names, to use a
trite phrase, were familiar household
ones to the people Of not only New
York city but of the United States:
the keen and drawn face Of Abraham
s. Hewitt, victim OF insomnia, whom
/ have heard direct in his nervous
and irritable manner a clerk who was
not doing the thing that he was there
to do to the satisfaction Of the once
great merchant and Congressman and
Mayor OF the city OF New York; James
w. Elwell OF shipping fame, who, with
his shining morning face, made this
chamber for brief space of time on
countless days a miniature flower
show by arriving to attend to his
pressing business with the United
States wearing boutonniere as big
as Savoy cabbage: John T. Terry
and Scion HUMPHREYS OF the banking
firm of the once famous war Cover
nor Edwin d. Morgan. the first of the
twain a man who, when he had a
thing TO do, even to catching a train
TO his home on the Hudson River,
would forge ahead to accomplish his
aim with resolute disregard of OBJ
stacles and an eager haste that most
district messenger boys would do we'll
to emulate: and HUMPHREYS tall, eau
tlous and reserved, but withal
pleasanter man to meet than his lean
and nervous business associate; and
George f. Gantz. whose name was a
household word as the creator OF Sea
Foam Baking Powder, It would take
the columns OF a Sunday issue OF a
New York newspaper to give them all
space,
The really colorful company in this
picture OF the old Custom House is,
Of course, maGe up OF Uncle Sans
employees. Here We will find the local
types of the comparatively provincial