er and
bang of hammered iron and human voices raised to a pitch of wild phrensy made the excitement fear- fully wearing. The calling of a stock was sometimes as the flinging of a carcass to a mixed pack of raven- ous hyenas, wolves, or other bloody or bell owing- beasts. Then it behooved them to be quick ; for often an instant of time was thousands of dollars for and against certain interested ones. The fashion of their buying and selling was no less senseless than it was infernal ; but such a thing as questioning the manner of their calling never occurred to them. On the contrary it was their pride, their glory.
- ' One of the wealthiest stock-brokers of San Fran-
cisco to day," writes one, " formerly peddled potatoes along the same streets where he can now count his own buildings by the dozen. Another well-known resi- dent, then a lawyer, now a judge in one of the courts, worked for several weeks as cook in a restaurant. Overhearing one of the patrons of the place complain that he could not find a lawyer to take up a case he had in court, he profi:ered his services, took off his apron and went before the court, won the case, charged a fee of $200, and was retained for two other cases before leaving; the court-room. A certain col- lege professor who went out from New York in '49, while working with a shovel on the public streets, overheard a Frenchman trying to arrange some busi- ness with a wealthy real-estate dealer. Neither of them could understand the other. The professor leaned upon his shovel and explained the meaning of the Frenchman. The matter was arransfed in a moment. ' Drop that shovel and take off your over- halls. You 're just the man I want,' bluffly said the real-estate man ; and the next morning the professor commenced his career as business interpreter at twenty dollars a day."
Once in a while a staid old merchant from Boston or New York, braved the dangers and disgusts of the voyage, to look after some consignment or other busi-
Cai,. Int. Poc. 22
