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Show I General Grant's Dinner to President Diaz Eeesfflg.jJa H, It Showed, Said Mr. Ward, How Sincere Was His Friendship for His Junior Partner and Also How He Disregarded Financial Ways andjlf It i Early in April, 1SS3, Gonoral Grant informed mo that it was his desire and intention to givo a dinner to Goncral Diaz, president of Mexico, who was thon visiting Now York City. During General Gen-eral Grant's visit to Mexico on bis trip around tho world be and Goneral Diaz bocanio close fnond6, and Goneral Grant dosirod to 6bow bis appreciation of tbc cotirtesios extended to him by Goneral Diaz while in Mexico. Tho time and plaeo for the dinner was discussed botwoon us, and April 4 ' selected as tho day and tho Union League club as the place, and it was also decided to place the affair in tho hands of Dolmonico, who was instruct-I instruct-I ed to spare no expense to make it an afl'air in hooping with tho high standing stand-ing of tho 'guests. The monus were unique and most elaborate, consisting of a cover of maroon velvet, on which wore painted the flags of America nnd. Mexico. Tho first pago gavo a picture of General Diaz, tho second a colored I, map of Mexico, tho third tho ninnu of , the dinner and tho fourth a list of the guests, of which there were thirty. Among tho guests were General Diaz, Seuor Romnro, -Mexican minister; Seuor Manuel Romaro, father-in-law of tho president; I?oscoo Conkling, Mayor Flanklin Edson of Now York; Thomas Tj. James. John W. Foster, "United States . minister to Spain: Jay Gould. Kilt-sell Sage, A. It. Sullivan, Colonel i Frederick D. Grant, General Horace Porter, Clarence Seward. IT. "W. Alexander, Alex-ander, Nelson. A. Tappan. City Chain-I Chain-I bcrlnin, and others, including myself. This was my first experience at n dinner of such importance, and vou inav Test assured I enjoyed cvoiy minute of i it, with tho exception of a very few when, much fo my surprise and embar rassment, Goneral Grant called upon me for a speech. You ma3 imagine how I felt when, after listening to tlio brilliant bril-liant speeches and quick, wittv repartee of such men as Senator ConLling. Horace Hor-ace Porter, Clarence Seward. H. E. -Alexander and others, I was called upon to sneak. I I tried my best to be excused, but ,iho Goncral would not have it. I sim ply made a few remarks and sat down, or rather fell back in my chair, con- scions of having mado a poor showing in contrast with those who had come before me. It was a trying place to put a young man of my years and of no experience in public sponking, but still I always appreciated the honor shown to mo when, at the bead of the tabic, this great Gonoral, surrounded by some of the leading men of the times, , cnJled upon his junior partner for a few ' .remarks. It showed how ever thoughtful thought-ful he was and how sincero was our friendship. How often I have sat alone- and ; thought of that night, and memory has brought back the ploasuro experienced by us all in listening to the speeches ot. these gront men. cementing the 1 friendly relations that have- over siuce existed between Mexico and the United btalcs. General Grant was at his best, and so also was General Diaz, both of whom seemed to enter fully into the spirit or tho occasion. As a further illustration, however, of tho General's disregard of ways and , means, a week or so later ho handed to mo bil,!L,?niountin io something less than $2000, representing the cost of the dinner, with a request that I pay and charge to his account. This I of course did, ns I would not mar tho pleasure Ik donved from that cntortainmont by Liu least hesitation in granting him his re quest, although this, like mnivy othei domands, necessitated my procuring the funds at whatever sacrifice. "When it came to money I was expected to supply what was necessary. Real Estate Transactions. My partner, Mr. Fish, unliko Goncral Grant, had a passion for tho tlieatro and was a constant attendant at tho various plays of tho prominont actors and actresses ac-tresses of tho da', as well as the managers, man-agers, and ofton brought various ones to tho office and introduced them to mo. One day he sent to mo to come to the bank, which I did. and ho then introduced intro-duced mo to Rudolph Aronson, who at that, time was interested in tho building of tho Casino, Thirty-ninth street and Broadway. A compai- had been incorporated incor-porated and funds raised on stock, but when tho authorized stock issue had been taken and tho money expended it wa8t found it was not sufficient to carry it io complotion, so Mr. Aronson had come to Mr. Fish for financial aid and Mr. Fish sent for mo to talk it over as a nrivato investment. I did not much favor it, but Mr. Fish nnd Mr. Aronson were so enthusiastic en-thusiastic and gave such glowing accounts of tho money to bo made in theater proporty that I finally consented con-sented to join thorn, so Mr. Fish and I invostod $100,000 in tho enterprise and took $100000 of first mortgago bouds on tho building. Tho building was built on leased ground owned by tho Bixby estate. The investment placed on my shoulders shoul-ders tho caro and responsibility- of the theater, which, though managod by Mr. Aronson, was under 1113' personal supervision, super-vision, and I was compelled to biro n I man to look after it tako the receipts nightly and pay all bills and expenses. Tins investment proved, however, to bo all right, as with Miss Lillian Russell Rus-sell as tho star, who was thon in her first success as a star and whoso salary, $500 .1 week, was for that day a high figure, wo made money nnd netted a fair income. Still, at tunes I was compelled com-pelled to furnish funds in largo amounts to carry it on. Then, too, Mr. Fish asked me to ioin in tho purchase of tho old Booth Theater Thea-ter building, which was located at Twenty-third street and Sixth avenue. Wo bought it from tho Onkes-Ames estato, of Boston, for $500,000, and after putting a mortgago of $-100,000 on the property we tore down the thoater and built the business building which is still standing. Tho ontire cost to Mr. Fish and myself over and above the mortgage was about $350,000 and I, of course, had to pay half of this, which was a severe strain on my ro-sources. ro-sources. Still I felt that this was a good investment and would provo of benefit to ns both in tho future. This ? roved tho caso, and after our failure understand tho property sold for more than $1,000,000. thus netting quito a sum to my creditors. Called Iconoclasts. Tho Booth theater in its day was, of course, tho homo of tho highest class of drama America had known, and tho enterprise was tho prido of Mr. Booth's life. When it became known that Mr. Fish and I had purchased tho property and that tho theater was to give place to a business block, we wcro regarded as iconoclasts and came in for much censure. Mr. Fish and I attonded tho last performance per-formance that was ever given in tho Booth theater. Wo sat. in a box together, to-gether, and woro moro amused than jiv ' " General Grant Called Ujpon.Me-1.fop..-a disturbed when ono of tho actors not Mr. Booth, but a member of his com-panj' com-panj' whoso name has escaped mc advanced ad-vanced to tho footlights betweon acts and in Mr. Booth's behalf bado tho audienco a last farewell, llo denounced Mr. Fish nnd myself as men of docp avarice, and predicted that our enterprise enter-prise would bo a failure. I personally built the water system in Wyandotto, Kan., at a cost of $100,000. and which after our failure netted a profit of nearly $1,000,000 to my creditors, and as much of this stock was bold by tho Marino National bank for loans made to mo porsonally it proved ono of tho most vnluablo assets to the bank, and did much toward that institution paying such largo dividends to its depositors. Then, too, through my investments in the Evening Star mine, in Leadville, tho company organized by a fow of usi and managed by my brother, I netted a profit of $100,000. Thus it may be seen that had I not been burdened with losses brought about through investments invest-ments mado by my partners that proved unprofitable, and had they, loo, made profitable investments, as woro mine, I would not havo been compollcd to borrow bor-row mouoy at such exorbitant rales, but would rather havo been a lender than a borrower. I merely stato these facts, all of which I am prepared to corroborate by documentary evidenco, simply to show that my every aim was to build up rather than tear down tho house with which I was connected. As I havo said before, I put no blame on General Grantt as ho was not. acquainted ac-quainted with business, but I do fool I should havo had moro help from thoso who, experienced as thoy were in business, busi-ness, should havo brought to tho firm tho samo share of profits that I did. Ono day Goneral Grant came into tho office and said tho Emporor of Japan had sent a prosont to him and that a deputation from that country was to be at his house that night to" mako the presentation, and askod that Mrs. Ward and I como over. Tho invitation I gladly accepted, and at about eight o'clock wc soalcd ourselves with tho family and sovernl of Goneral Grant's frionast in the parlor of his house, in Sixty-sixth 6treet where wo onjjoyod ono of the most boautiful ceromonies I over havo had tho ploasuro to witness. Wo grouped ourselves at ono end of tho largo drawing room, and, having dono so, tho general expressed himself ns ready to receive tho royal embassy. And thon thoro entered some oight or ten Japanese, dressed in tho stylo of their country, and with them came tho royal embassador, who was to mako tho presentation. pres-entation. His robc3 woro tho most beautiful I ovor saw, being of dark silk embroi-dored embroi-dored in silver and gold and with the provorbial dragon extending tho whole length of tho back. This robe was held up by retainers, and preceding tho wearer was a pago bearing in his arms a box mado of ono of tho largest pieces of bamboo I evor saw, being at least ton inches in circumfcrcnco and about oightcen inches long. This was beautifully beau-tifully laquerod in silver and gold and was split through tho conter and had hinges and a hook and koy, and was lined with beautiful Japanese silk. At tho command of tho embassador tho box was opened nnd ho took from it a scroll from which ho read in tho Japanese Jap-anese languago the presentation mes-sago mes-sago direct from tho emperor, which was interpreted to General Grant and to which tho gouornl mado a most grntoful reply. Tho present consisted of three largo cases of very old Japanese china of a pattern much used and valued by royalty royal-ty in that country. After tho ceremony and presentation wcro ovor and wo had enjoyed tho hospitality hos-pitality of the general in tho way of an appropriate dinner and tho embassy had lcf wo all wont down Blairs to the billiard room, where tho boxos woro openod and their contents examined. It proved to be a set of china of, I should say, not less than fivo hundred of six buudred pieces, all tho same stylo and pattern, but very odd in shape aud col or. It was. indeed, a rare set, but to ray inexperienced' ujo not to compare with some of our homo products. Goneral Grant, with his usual gen-erosit-, presoutcd small sets to each of us, and I assure you I valued mine beyond be-yond mention aB not only coming, as it did, from that wonderful country, but also from the fact that it was givon to mo by General Grant, whoso first thought after receiving it was that we, his friends, should share with him in its possession. After tho failure of Grant & Ward my effects woro sold, aud among other things was this chinawaro received by General Grant and in turn presented to mc. I do not know who purchased this china at tho salo, but had it been known in what circumstancos I bad received re-ceived it and from whom it camo no doubt it would havo brought its weight in gold. Another Little Poker Incident. It was tho custom in our weekly pokor games when any member of tho party ran out of chips ho would borrow an additional $50 worth from some moro fortunate player and would hand ; tho party from whom ho borrowed the ; chips some littlo article from his 1 pocket, liko a knifo or bunch of keys. And when tho gamo was over ho would redeem it with cash. This was called a "buck," and always stood for $50 in settlement. Gonoral Grant always carried a beautiful beauti-ful gold match box which was given to him by ono of tho royal families in Europe, and which wo nil of us groatly admired and would havo givon much to possess, not so much for its intrinsic value, but ns a souvouir of our honored friend. It was tho general's custom whenever when-ever he ran out of chips to put up this match box as a "buck," which represented repre-sented his debt of $50 to whoever hud it. On several occasions when tho game came to a close tho playor who happened hap-pened to hold tho general's "bnck" would say nothing about it, hoping the genernl would forget to call for it, though its mono' value was not groat. But this was never tho ense, for though the holdor sat in silence and no suggestion was mado as to its redemption, redemp-tion, still the gonoral novor forgot, and would look around tho tablo in his jovial, quiet way and ask who had his 'buck," at tho samo time producing tho cash for its redemption. It became a universal joke with us all that some lime ono of us would get that match box, at which tho general would laugh and say he nover forgot a debt, and when ho paid the collateral must bo forthcoming. Some of Goneral Grant's Presents. A description of some of tho boauti ful presents given to General Grant on his memorablo trip around the world may bo of interest to the reader, so I will, as beat I can, try to describo some of them. Uno or the most beautilul, to ran, was a piece of ivory. I should say from twelve to fifteen inches long antf seven or oight inches wide. It was carved in a transparent laco pattern of great beauty, beau-ty, which, when laid out on a blank surface or placed against tho light showed every detail of a most intricntc pnttorn. Tho most wonderful feature about this piece of ivory was that it wns so thin that it could be rolled up liko a shoot of paper without danger of cracking. Another beautiful present was a set of chessmen and board. Tho board was mado of inlaid mother of pearl, with the squares from six to seven inches wide, while the pieces were carved in ' ivory and stood from twelve to eighteen eigh-teen inches in hoight. Those wcro all carved from the solid ivory in the most delicate fashion, tho kines and aucens being portrayed in royal attire, the bishops bish-ops in thoir clerical garb, tho knights on horsoback, and tho castles or Tooks were represented by bcnutifully carved olophants and the pawns as court pnges. This sot when placed on the tablo or floor presented the most beautiful appearance ap-pearance and workmanship ever seen m this country. I remember an clophant's usk, ono of the largest thon in this country, on the surface of which wis carved a descriptive descrip-tive scene of one of tho battles of the War of tho Rebellion, with a figure of Goneral Grant easily distinguishable and recognizable. I do not romember from, whom this tusk came, but judge it was from some African dignitary. The collection of carved meerschaum pipes and cigar holders was indeed interesting. in-teresting. I nudgo tliero must have been from twenty to thirty of them, and of all shapes and sizes and of most boautuul workmanship. I remember one pipo especially. Tho bowl consisted of Goncral Grant's head carve.l in meerschaum, meer-schaum, with his army hat on, an opening open-ing in tho top of which made the bowl 01 tho pipe. A present that took my eye, and which Goneral Grant kindly gave to me. : was a small gold handled nJj with "U. S. Grant" cSirKiBi outside. Goneral Grant visitnt-S' field works in England, and iM& and his party started to wJK tho works the manager ni-Uf tiino started the making of tflu iml as the party pn8sca alon , did tho knilo. So whou thH-room thH-room of tho factory was rotmh knife was handed to n.MSiml completed and Ins namo engraSHi I valued this souvenir verv n9l carried it constantly for tlirH but unfortunately float it SV givo a liberal reward if ' tS would return it to me for iVB very highly. ' 4 Present of the Tsar.a Painted silk fans executed of the great artists and monnfi most.dclica .o and beautiful j, tortoise shell, and also fans ni feathers, ns well as the fcJ rare foreign birds wero might say, by the dozen. I '1 ho Tsar of Russia present Grant with a Russian ' sable $ reached from the neck to th? and had largo, flowing bishop', This was tho most beautiful , sablo I ever saw, and cost' an J sum. Goneral Grant never wore" felt it was too conspicuous: than have it remain unused h cut up, and it was tho good or. my wife to receive a muff this coat as a present from the 1 This she kept with the utmost til it was worn out. Then, too, came those cask' beautiful workmanship in whj presented to General Grant tho dom of cities" which he visitel wore many 'of these, and evecfi seemed to vie with the othors frS the caskets especially fitting V casion. m It would bo impossible in fiJflfl space that this article affords ft&M describe one-half of the IidJH beautiful and odd prosonfriMB tion contained, but the esteafof'ffll bo imagined when I stato thnyB four or fivo largo cases in timI play theso gifts, and even U&B wero somowhat crowded. B?tjM cut glass, works of art. books ifl and all sorts of embroi dercd'iiH and the finest laces wero tho;e.jSH To examine them carofu'ly zSM General Grant's dcscriptionB thoy camo was a great treat, a'nB that ho has passed away I feel iS bo a great privilege to the. pX tin's country if his children, wfcX sumo still possess these tvcasurSM consent to an exhibition of New; York in order that the pre'tH oration might see to whnt aiH this great general wns honorB loved by the people of the worH There is a goneral but very impression that this collection S rendered by General Grant to g If. Vandorvilt in payment of iK of $150,000 made by Mr. VaneR tho general on the ove of omvR But this to a certain degree ia'Mr General Grant, I believo, did raff!-a raff!-a few of his army relics 3p swords, guns, etc. to Mr. VasJ' who at onco presontod them toR eminent, to be kept in WashiJR relics of the war, but aside frewf iudgo this great collection Imp-kept Imp-kept intact by the Grant familMe I had many of theso be:iutifnB presented to my wife and mygtt time to time by Gener.il GrantW ing of embroidsnes, tapesfcnM works of art, but unfortunB storehouse in which I had burned and I lost them all.tH |