After trying in vain for some time to secure employment in a business
house, he obtained a position as assistant in a commercial school. This
he soon resigned for a similar place in a more celebrated school. His
salary here was $300, which was considered ample compensation in those
days.
Not wishing to continue in this career, however, he opened a small
retail dry goods store in New York, and began business on a humble
scale. Here he remained until the age of twenty-one, manifesting no
extraordinary business capacity, and in no way distinguished from the
many small dealers around him. Upon reaching his majority he returned to
Ireland, to look after the inheritance left him by his grandfather. The
amount which thus came to him was nearly one thousand pounds, and the
greater part of this he invested in "insertions" and "scollop
trimmings," which he shipped to America by the vessel in which he
returned. He rented a little store, on his return, at 283 Broadway, and
there displayed his stock, which met with a ready sale at a fair profit.
Without mercantile experience, and possessing little advantage, save his
own Scotch-Irish energy and courage, Mr.
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