New-York tribune., 1922-12-02
Young BosweH
HderUieWS
Jonathan Abbey

BECAUSE hs IL one Of the few old
school merchants ieft.
he doss bnsinsss without eerd iniez
files GHd adding riachiHss.
he bought the chain stretched acycss
The Hudson during fkc RsUolutior.
~ has been IN basiHess dres 1880.
he hsf q Tore collection of ship't
nodsis.
Young Bosrell stopped az the corner
81 Pearl end Fletcher streets as fhe
elevated reared BY orsrhead. HE attsH-
tioH wds attracted by sign, "West-
Minister imp0riiHg and Trading Com
parry, General Merciaudise."
To 90 through ne door h % drop
IgfR back many vears. Bozes of tea,
ships iHstrumsnis. shirts. shost. laH-
ieras, borometers and tobacco wers piled
il confusion IN q room barely Gs large
a. he cabin Of schooner, wi,h ship's
m0dsls hanging from the ceiling. There
sgGs an odor Of Tar end -oGce and ihs
smsli of the ssc. Almost Juyied bsklHd
q pile Of boTcs iras a dcfk, whcro JoHa-
thdn Abby, hat on tho back Of his head,
IN a boiled shirt and old fashioned
erevai. eat adding up the columns Of
iodosr.
Young Boswell SEQ you have some
ship models for sale.
JONATHAN ABBEY -Nopel They're
not for sale. / don't bother about tho
store much any more. You see, my
bro her Westminster and ! were part
nsrs for ffy.siI years. and since he
died last summer I've kind OF lost in
tcrost. That's long tlmo TO be to-
gether.
10 rose and oGsred Young BospeH a
choice pipe from his rack.
JONATHAN ABBEY-Those are real
sAilor-made models. not turned out in a
factory. That full rieger clipper up
there Is the Sea King. You notice
she's fully manned, wi women IN hoop
Ak rts walking the deck She took the
prize AZ the Crystal Palace here In 1855.
And those are Sou Sea boats, steered
from the bow, and these nre models OF
Chinese Junks made on porcelain bases,
and that's the phantom ship that ap.
pears 20 shipwreeked sailors.
Young Boswcll-And you don't sell
them?
JONATHAN ABBEY-.Nopel But I've
had offers from collectors. We've had
Il lot Of things moro interesting here
n our time. We bought the historic
chain that they sire ehed across the
North River as they used 10 call Il, 20
keen 'he British fee. from getting up
70 West Point.
And then we bought the electric ligh,
tower az He'll Gaze that vas co-demr ed
back in the nine'ies becsuse he pilots
sid the bright light hurt their eyes
Westminster and me purchased the
schooner Nanderer and sold her 20
a religious society from Maine called
Tie Holy Ghost and Us They sailed
70 Europe and they made a great num-
Der Of converts In France. ] don't know
what kind OF sect they were. but / was
,old they had 10 dsband for moral rea-
sons, though / wouldn't be certain. And
then We were part owners Of one Of the
cup racing Shamroeks which broke up
here In the harbor. Her s'eel mast m
ands down IN Battery Park. They use
:; for flagstaff.
But that was years ago. my lad. I'm
an old man. I'm seven y.one and West.
minister would have been seventy hree
II he was alive. After the Civil War
he and ] bought abou, q hundred thou
sand swords and cutlnsses from he gov
ernment. We hauled them from Gov
ernor's Island on a tugboat. People saw
about the sals IN the papers-and DO
you know We had hundreds Of letters
from soldiers relatives from all over
he country asking us II any OF tho
swords had their uncles or brothers or
some ones name on it, because they
would ike 20 hang Il In their cosy cor
ner7' As II we could look through all
those swordsl And then In 1870 We
Ard - romance s sthl alive in thdt
s,uGy lille shop on Peayl Street.