Lights and Shadows of New York Life

J >> James D. McCabe >> Lights and Shadows of New York Life

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"Nor is the resulting alarm entirely groundless, for that is the room
where the ferrets of the house who assume the name of Detectives, but are
more significantly called 'shadows,' are hidden from the prying eyes of
the world. A 'shadow' here is a mere numeral--No. 1, or something
higher--and obeys cabalistic calls conveyed by bells or speaking-tubes,
by which devices the stranger patron is convinced of the potency of the
Detective Agency which moves in such mysterious ways to perform its
wonders. If any doubt were left by all this paraphernalia of marvel, it
would be dispelled from the average mind when it came in contact with the
chief conjuror, who is seated in the dim seclusion of a retired room,
fortified by bell-pulls, speaking-tubes, and an owlish expression
intended to be considered as the mirror of taciturn wisdom. From his
retreat he moves the outside puppets of secretary, shadows, and
call-boys, as the requirements of his patrons, who are admitted singly to
his presence, may demand. It is he whose hoarse whispers sound
sepulchrally through the tubes, who rings the mysterious bell, and by
such complex means despatches his 'shadows' upon their errands. It is he
who permits the mildewed men in the other ante-room to be known only by
numbers, and who guards them so carefully from the general view.

"By these assumptions of mystery the chief awes the patrons of his
peculiar calling, of whom there are pretty sure to be several in waiting
during the morning hours. These applicants for detective assistance
always sit stolidly silent until their separate summons comes to join the
chief, eyeing each other suspiciously and surveying their surroundings
with unconcealed and fitting awe. One is of bluff and hearty appearance,
but his full face is overcast for the moment with an expression half sad,
half whimsical; it is plain that a conjunction of untoward circumstances
has raised doubts in his mind of the integrity of a business associate,
and he has reluctantly determined to clear or confirm them by means of a
'shadow.' Next to him is a fidgety furrowed man, bristling with
suspicion in every line of his face, and showing by his air of
indifference to his surroundings that he is a frequenter of the place.
He is in fact one of the best customers of the establishment, as he is
constantly invoking its aid in the petty concerns of his corroded life.
Sometimes it is a wife, daughter, sister, niece, or a mere female
acquaintance he wishes watched; sometimes it is a business partner or a
rival in trade he desires dogged; and he is never so miserable as when
the reports of the agency show his suspicions, whatever they may have
been, to be groundless. It is but just, however, to the sagacity of the
detectives to remark that he is seldom subjected to such disappointment.
Whatever other foolishness they may commit, these adroit operators never
kill the goose that lays their golden eggs. Beside this animated
monument of distrust is a portly gentleman, his bearing in every way
suggestive of plethoric pockets. Paper and pencil in hand, he is
nervously figuring. He makes no secret of his figures because of his
absorption, and a glance shows that he is correcting the numbers of bonds
and making sure of the amounts they represent.

"It is plain that this last is a victim of a sneak robbery, and, the
unerring scent of the chief selecting him as the most profitable customer
of the morning, he is the first visitor called to an audience. Large
affairs are quickly despatched, and it is soon arranged how a part of the
property can be recovered and justice cheated of its due. Very soon a
handbill will be publicly distributed, offering a reward for the return
of the bonds, and it will be signed by the Agency. The thief will know
exactly what that means, and the affair being closed to mutual
satisfaction, the thief will be at liberty to repeat the operation, which
resulted in reasonable profit and was attended with no risk.

"There is also in the room a sallow, vinegary woman of uncertain years,
and it seems so natural that a man should run away from her, we are not
surprised that, being voluble in her grief, she declares her business to
be the discovery of an absconding husband. But near her is another and
truer type of outraged womanhood, a wasted young wife, beautiful as ruins
are beautiful, whom a rascal spendthrift has made a martyr to his
selfishness until, patience and hope being exhausted, she is driven to
the last extremity, and seeks by a means at which her nature revolts for
a proof of but one of those numerous violations of the marriage vow which
she feels certain he has committed. It is a cruel resort, but the law
which permits a man to outrage a woman in almost every other way frowns
upon that one, and she is driven to it as the sole method of release from
an intolerable and degrading bondage. In such cases as this might
perhaps be found some justification for the existence of private
detectives; but they themselves do not appear to know that they stand in
need of extenuation, and so neglect the opportunity thus presented to
vindicate their necessity by conducting this class of their business
with, even for them, remarkable lack of conscience. Anxious always to
furnish exactly what is desired, their reports are often lies,
manufactured to suit the occasion, and once furnished they are stoutly
adhered to, even to the last extremity. Frequently the same Agency is
ready to and does serve both parties to a case with impartial wickedness,
and earns its wages by giving to both precisely the sort of evidence each
requires. Sometimes it is made to order, with no other foundation than
previous experience in like affairs; but sometimes it has a more solid
basis in fact. Two men from the same office are often detailed to
'shadow,' one the husband and the other the wife, and it occasionally
happens that they have mastered the spirit of their calling so thoroughly
that they do a little business on private account by 'giving away' each
other. That is to say, the husband's man informs the wife she is
watched, and gives her a minute description of her 'shadow,' for which
information he of course gets an adequate reward, which the wife's man
likewise earns and receives by doing the same kindly office for the
husband. In such cases there are generally mutual recriminations between
the watched, which end in a discovery of the double dealing of the
Agency, and not unfrequently in a reconciliation of the estranged couple.
But this rare result, which is not intended by the directing power, is
the sole good purpose these agencies were ever known to serve. Lord
Mansfield, it must be admitted, once seemed to justify the use of private
detectives in divorce suits, but he was careful to cumber the faint
praise with which he damned them by making honesty in the discharge of
these delicate duties a first essential. Had he lived to see the
iniquitous perfection the business has now attained, he would undoubtedly
have withheld even that quasi-endorsement of a system naturally at war
with the fundamental principles of justice.

"The waiters in the reception-room are never allowed to state their
wants, or certainly not to leave the place, without being astonished by
the charges made by the detective for attention to their business.
Whatever differences there may be in minor matters, all these
establishments are invariably true to the great purpose of their
existence, and prepare the way for an exorbitant bill by a doleful
explanation of the expenses and risks to be incurred in the special
affair presented, dilating especially upon the rarity and cost of
competent 'shadows.' Now the principal agencies estimate for them at $10
a day, whereas these disreputable fellows are found in multitudes, and
are rarely paid more than $3 a day as wages; their expenses, paid in
advance by the patron, are allowed them when assigned to duties, as they
frequently are, involving outlay. The general truth is that these
agencies, being conducted for the avowed purpose of making money, get as
much as possible for doing work, and pay as little as possible for having
it done. In their general business of espionage they may make perhaps
only a moderate profit on each affair they take in hand; but in the more
delicate branches of compounding felonies and manufacturing witnesses
fancy prices obtain, and the profits are not computable. It is plain,
knowing of these patrons and prices, that reasonable profit attends upon
the practice of the convenient science of getting without giving, which,
notwithstanding its prosperity and antiquity, is yet an infant in the
perfection it has attained. Awkward, flimsy, transparent as they ever
were, are yet the tricks and devices of the knaves who never want for a
dollar, never earn an honest one, but never render themselves amenable to
any statute 'in such case made and provided.' To say that the
master-workmen in roguery who do this sort of thing are awkward and
transparent seems to involve a paradox; but whoever so believes has not
been fully informed as to the amazing gullibility of mankind. The
average man of business now, as always before, seems to live only to be
swindled by the same specious artifices that gulled his ancestors, and
which will answer to pluck him again almost before the smart of his first
depletion has ceased. Only by a thorough knowledge of this singular
adaptation of the masses to the purposes of the birds of prey, can we
intelligently account for the vast bevies of the latter which exist, and
are outwardly so sleek as to give evidence of a prosperous condition.
When we know that the 'pocket-book dropper' yet decoys the money even of
the city-bred by his stale device; that the 'gift-enterprises,'
'envelope-game,' and similar thread-bare tricks yet serve to attain the
ends of the sharpers, although the public has been warned scores and
scores of times through the public press, and the swindlers thoroughly
exposed, so that the veriest fool can understand the deception, we need
not be amazed at the success which attends the practice of these arts.
The truth is, that a large proportion of the victims are perfectly aware
that fleecing is intended when they flutter round the bait of the rogues;
but they are allured by the glitter of sudden fortune which it offers,
and bite eagerly with the hope that may be supposed to sustain any
gudgeon of moderate experience of snapping the bait and escaping the
barbed hook. Human greed is the reliance of the general sharper, and it
has served him to excellent purpose for many years. But some of these
operators must depend on actuating motives far different from the desire
of gain in money; and chief among them are these private detectives, who
draw their sustenance from meaner and equally unfailing fountains.

"It is not upon record who bestowed a name which is more apt than
designations usually are. The word detective, taken by itself, implies
one who must descend to questionable shifts to attain justifiable ends;
but with the prefix of private, it means one using a machine permitted to
the exigencies of justice for the purpose of surreptitious personal gain.
Thus used, this agency, which even in honest hands and for lawful ends is
one of doubtful propriety, becomes essentially dangerous and
demoralizing. Originally an individual enterprise, the last resort of
plausible rascals driven to desperation to evade honest labor, it has
come to be one of associated effort, employing much capital in its
establishment and some capacity in its direction. All the large
commercial cities are now liberally provided with 'Detective Agencies,'
as they are called, each thoroughly organized, and some of them employing
a large number of 'shadows' to do the business, which in large part they
must first create before it can be done. The system being perfected and
worked to its utmost capacity, the details of the tasks assumed and the
method of accomplishment are astonishing and alarming to the reflecting
citizen, who has the good name and well-being of the community at heart.
Employed in the mercantile world as supposed guards against loss by
unfaithful associates or employes, and in social life as searchers for
domestic laxness, these two items make up the bulk of the business which
the private detectives profess to do, and through these their pernicious
influence is felt in all the relations of life. Were they however only
the instruments of rapacious and unreasoning distrust, they might be
suffered to pass without rebuke as evils affecting only those who choose
to meddle with them; but as they go further, and the community fares
worse because they are ever ready to turn a dishonest penny by recovering
stolen property, which they can only do by compounding the crime by which
it had been acquired, it is evident that they are a peril to society in
general no less than a pest to particular classes."

XXII. WILLIAM B. ASTOR.

MR. WILLIAM B. ASTOR would be unknown to fame were it not for two things.
First, he is "the son of his father," the famous John Jacob Astor.
Second, he is the richest citizen of the United States. In other
respects, he is a plain, unpretending man, who attends closely to his own
business, and cares nothing for notoriety.

Mr. Astor is the second son of John Jacob Astor, and is about
seventy-three years old. He was born in New York, in an old-fashioned
brick house which stood on the southern corner of Broadway and Vesey
street, a site at present covered by the Astor House. He received a
careful education, and upon leaving college was sent by his father to
travel through Europe. Upon his return he went into business with his
father, and it is said was even more thrifty and energetic in the
management of their affairs than the old gentleman himself. The severe
affliction of his elder brother made him the principal heir of his
father's vast estate, but he lost no opportunity of bettering his own
condition, and at the death of the elder Astor, he was worth about
$6,000,000 of his own. About $500,000 of this he had inherited from his
uncle Henry Astor, a wealthy butcher of New York. His father left him
the bulk of his fortune, which made him the richest man in America, and
since then he has devoted himself with great success to increasing the
amount of his possessions. His wealth is variously estimated at from
$60,000,000, to $100,000,000. No one but the fortunate possessor can
tell the exact amount. The greater part of this is invested in real
estate, much of which is very profitable. A large part, however, is
unimproved, and brings in no immediate return. Mr. Astor, however, can
afford to wait, and as there is no better judge of the prospective value
of real estate in New York, he rarely makes a mistake in his purchases.
He invests cautiously, allows others to improve the neighborhoods in
which his property lies, and reaps the benefit of their labors.

In person Mr. Astor is tall and heavily built, with a decided German
look, a dull, unintellectual face, and a cold, reserved manner. He is
unlike his father in many of his personal traits. He lives very simply.
His residence is a plain, but substantial-looking brick mansion in
Lafayette Place, adjoining the Astor Library. He is not very sociable,
but the entertainments given at his house are said to be among the
pleasantest and most elaborate to be met with in the city. Those who
know the family, however, give the credit of this to Mrs. Astor, an
amiable and accomplished lady, and one eminent for her good deeds.

Mr. Astor attends to his own business. His office is in Prince street,
just out of Broadway. It is a plain one-story building, very different
from the offices of most of the rich men of the metropolis. At ten
o'clock Mr. Astor makes his appearance here. It is no slight task to
manage so vast an estate, and to direct all its affairs so that they
shall be continually increasing the capital of the owner. There is
scarcely a laborer in the city who works harder than the master of this
office. He transacts all business connected with his estate, and is as
cold and curt in his manner as can well be imagined. He wastes neither
words nor time, and few persons find him an agreeable man to deal with.
He is perfectly informed respecting every detail of his vast business,
and it is impossible to deceive him. No tenant can make the slightest
improvement, change, or repair in his property without Mr. Astor's
consent, except at his own expense. He is accessible to all who have
business with him, but he sees no one else during his working hours. At
four o'clock he leaves his office, and sets out for home on foot. He
rarely rides, this walk being his principal exercise. He is hale and
hearty in constitution, looks much younger than he really is, and will
doubtless live to be fully as old as his father was at the time of his
death.

Mr. Astor is not regarded as a liberal man by his fellow-citizens, but
this reputation is not altogether deserved. His friends say that he
gives liberally when he gives at all. They add that he has a horror of
subscription lists and solicitors of donations, and that he turns a deaf
ear to common beggars. He makes it a rule never to give anything during
business hours. If a case interests him, he investigates it thoroughly,
and if it is found worthy of aid, he gives generously, but quietly. The
truth is, that like all rich men, he is beset by a host of beggars of
every class and description. Were he to grant every appeal addressed to
him, his vast fortune would melt away in a few years. He must
discriminate, and he has his own way of doing it.

Mr. Astor married a daughter of General Armstrong, the Secretary of War
in Mr. Madison's cabinet. He has two sons, who are themselves fathers of
families. They are John Jacob and William B. Astor, Jr. He has also
several daughters, all married. The sons reside on Fifth avenue. They
are in active business for themselves. John Jacob, the elder, is a
large-framed, heavy-boned man, and resembles his father. William B.
Astor, Jr., is a small, slim man, and resembles his mother. They are
much more sociable than their father, inheriting much of the genial
vivacity of their grandfather, who was very fond of the pleasures of
society. They are shrewd, energetic business men, and it is said are
very wealthy, independent of their father. Mr. John Jacob Astor entered
the United States Army during the civil war, and saw considerable active
service on the staff of General McClellan.

XXIII. FASHIONABLE SHOPPING.

The fashionable retail stores of New York lie chiefly along Broadway,
between the St. Nicholas Hotel and Thirty-fourth street. A few are to be
found in the cross streets leading from the great thoroughfare, and some
are in the Sixth avenue, but Broadway almost monopolizes the fashionable
retail trade of the city. All the large stores are conducted on the same
general plan, the main object of which is to secure the greatest
convenience and comfort for the purchaser, and the greatest dispatch and
promptness on the part of the employes. The leading stores of the city
have an established reputation with the citizens. They furnish a better
class of goods than can be found elsewhere, and are the most reasonable
in their prices. Furthermore, the purchaser may rely upon the assurances
of the salesman concerning the goods. The salesmen in such houses are
not allowed to represent anything as better than it really is. This
certainty is worth a great deal to the purchaser, who is often incapable
of judging intelligently of his purchase. The writer can assert, from
actual experience, that for the same amount of money one can buy at the
first-class stores a better article than is offered in the so-called
"cheap stores."

[Picture: A FEMALE SHOPLIFTER.]

Upon entering a first-class dry-goods store in New York, a stranger is
impressed with the order and system which prevail throughout the whole
establishment. The heavy plate glass door is opened for him by a small
boy in entering and departing. If the weather be stormy and the visitor
has a wet umbrella, he may leave it in charge of the aforesaid boy, who
gives him a check for it. He can reclaim it at any time by presenting
this check. As he enters he is met at the door by a well-dressed
gentleman of easy address, who politely inquires what he wishes to
purchase. Upon stating his business, he is promptly shown to the
department in which the desired articles are kept, and the eye of the
conductor is never removed from him until he has attracted the attention
of the clerk from whom he makes his purchase. All this is done, however,
without allowing him to see that he is watched. This espionage is
necessary to guard against robbery. The city merchants are greatly
annoyed, and are often subjected to heavy loss, by professional
shoplifters, who throng their stores. The shoplifters do not constitute
the only thieves, however. Women of respectable position, led on by
their mad passion for dress, have been detected in taking small but
costly articles, such as laces, handkerchiefs, etc., from some of the
principal houses. Such matters have usually been "hushed up" through the
influence of the friends of the offender. The opportunities for theft
are very great in the city stores. Hundreds of small articles, many of
them of considerable value, lie within easy reach of the customers, and
all the employes are obliged to exert the greatest watchfulness. Private
detectives are employed by the principal houses, and as soon as a
professional shoplifter enters, he or she is warned off the premises by
the detective, whose experience enables him to recognize such persons at
a glance. A refusal to profit by this warning is followed by a summary
arrest.

The salesmen are not allowed to receive the pay for their sales. They
take the purchaser's money, make a memorandum in duplicate of the sale,
and hand both the papers and the money to a small boy who takes it to the
cashier. If any change is due the purchaser, the boy brings it back.
The articles are also remeasured by the clerks who do them up in parcels,
to see if the quantity is correct. The purchase is then delivered to the
buyer, or sent to his residence. Thus the house is furnished with a
check on all dishonest salesmen, and at the same time acquires accurate
knowledge of their labors in their respective departments.

The small boys referred to are called "cash boys," and are now a
necessity in a well regulated establishment. Good, steady cash boys are
almost always in demand. Intelligence commands a premium in this
department, and a bright, well recommended lad will generally be taken on
trial. He starts out with a salary of $3 per week. If he shows
capacity, he is promoted as rapidly as possible. The highest salary paid
to a cash boy is $8 per week, but one who earns this amount does not stay
long in this position. He is soon made a salesman, and may then go as
high in the house as his abilities will carry him. These boys generally
have a bright and lively appearance. Besides acting as cash boys, they
are sometimes sent on errands, they attend the doors, and do sundry other
useful acts. They are strictly watched, and any improper conduct is
punished with an instantaneous dismissal. They generally belong to
respectable families, and live at home with their parents. Many of them
attend the night schools after business hours, and thus prepare for the
great life struggle which is before them. Such boys are apt to do well
in the world. Many, however, after being released from the stores,
imitate the ways of the clerks and salesmen. They affect a fastness
which is painful to see in boys so young. They sport an abundance of
flashy jewelry, patronize the cheap places of amusement, and are seen in
the low concert saloons, and other vile dens of the city. It is not
difficult to predict the future of these boys.

The principal retail dry goods stores of New York are those of A. T.
Stewart & Co., Lord & Taylor, Arnold, Constable & Co., and James McCreery
& Co.

The house of A. T. Stewart & Co. is the best known to persons visiting
the city. Indeed there are very few Americans who have not heard of and
longed to visit "Stewart's." It is, besides, the largest and most
complete establishment of its kind in the world. It occupies the entire
block bounded by Broadway, Fourth avenue, Ninth and Tenth streets. The
principal front is on Broadway, and the public entrances are on that
street and on the Fourth avenue. The Ninth street entrances are reserved
exclusively for the employes of the house. Many persons speak of the
edifice as a "marble palace," but this is incorrect. It is constructed
of iron, in the style of arcade upon arcade, and its fronts are so
thickly studded with windows that they may be said to consist almost
entirely of glass. It is five stories in height above the street, and
above the fifth story there is an interior attic not visible from the
sidewalk. Below the street there is a basement and a sub-cellar, so that
the monster building is really eight stories in height. There is no
attempt at outward display, the fine effect of the edifice being due to
its vast size and its symmetry. The interior is as simple. The floors
are uncarpeted, the shelves are plain, as are the counters and the
customers' seats. The centre of the building is occupied by a large
rotunda extending from the ground floor to the roof. All the upper
floors are open around this rotunda. Two flights of massive stairs lead
to the upper floors, and there are three handsome elevators for the use
of customers who do not care to make the journey on foot. Three other
elevators on the Ninth street side are used for carrying goods. Each of
the floors covers an area of about two acres, so that the whole
establishment, including the cellar, occupies sixteen acres of space.