firms well able to stand them and there were no failures.

We had a very narrow escape from slipping up on the last of our
May deliveries.

Through some misunderstanding the London steamer by which the stuff
should have reached us. sailed without it. It was then rushed to
Liverpool and shipped by the Oceanic of the White Star Line. The
steamer arrived at New York on the afternoon of the 29th; the 30th
was a holiday, and we had to make our delivery before two o'clock
on the 3lst. Meanwhile the stuff must be taken out of steamer,
weighed up and carted to store, warehouse receipts and weighers'
returns delivered at the office and invoices made out, all of which
took much time. Through our influence with the steamer people
and the expenditure of a little money, work was carried on day and
night and the deliveries went through all right.

As our profit on that lot was thirty thousand dollars it was a
matter of some importance.

When the syndicate commenced operations in the second commodity,
a large New York firm, with foreign branches, in order to conceal
its operations requested us to act for it as a selling agency on the
Exchange, all the business being done in our name. The commissions
on this account ran into large figures and contributed materially
to my income that year.

An incident in connection with this business, showing how good
fortune was favoring us at that time, I will relate: