Lights and Shadows of New York Life: or, the Sights and Sensations of the Great CityMcCabe, James Dabney
History
Lights and Shadows of New York Life: or, the Sights and Sensations of the Great City
McCabe, James Dabney
New York (N.Y.) -- Description and travel; New York (N.Y.) -- Social life and customs -- 19th century
"He knows we have entered his room, yet he continues his writing. The
only sound we hear within the sanctum is the scratch of his pen. He has
the power of concentrating all the strength of his mind on the subject of
his editorial, and will pay no attention to any question, however
important, until he finishes his sentence. If the cry of 'Fire!' should
resound through the building, Greeley would finish his sentence and ring
his bell before he would leave his room. The sentence complete, he
places the forefinger of his right hand at the end of the word last
written, seizes the handle of his pen in his teeth, and looks his
tormentor full in the face. It is a glance of inquiry, and the
questioner, intuitively conscious of this fact, repeats his
interrogation. Mr. Greeley divines the question before it is finished,
and answers it pithily and quickly. The pen is then snatched from his
mouth, dexterously dipped into his inkstand, and his fingers again travel
across his transverse sheet of foolscap like a 'daddy-long-legs' caught
in a storm. If his questioner is importunate, and insists on wasting his
time, he continues his writing, never looking up, and either answers
absent-mindedly, or in a low, impatient tone, tinged with a peculiar
boyish nervousness. If his visitor is ungentlemanly enough to still
continue his teasing importunities, a storm breaks forth, and the
uncourteous person will trot out of the sanctum with an answer ringing in
his ears that should bring a flush to his cheek.
"To Mr. Greeley time is more valuable than money or even friendship.
When busy, he is no respecter of persons. President or hod-carrier,
general or boot-black, clergyman or express-driver, authoress or
apple-woman--all are treated alike. Eminent men have left his room under
the impression that they have been deliberately slighted, while Horace
still slashed away at his inky pickets, totally unconscious of any
neglect."
Mr. Greeley's home is at Chappaqua, in Westchester County, New York,
about thirty miles from the city. He owns a fine farm of about forty
acres, which has cost him more money than he would care to tell.
Agriculture is one of his great hobbies, and he tests here all the
theories that are presented to him. His friends say that his turnips
cost him about ten dollars apiece to produce, and bring about fifty cents
per bushel in the market, and that all his farming operations are
conducted on the same principle.
[Picture: HORACE GREELEY.]
Mr. Greeley married when quite young, and has had three children. Two
daughters, aged about twenty and twelve, are living, but his son, a
bright and unusually promising child, died some years ago. Mr. Greeley
is one of the principal stockholders in the _Tribune_, and is a rich man.
He is liberal and generous to those in need, and is a warm friend to
benevolent enterprises of all kinds.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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