Page:The Story of the House of Cassell (book).djvu/75

 houses of the wealthy; its removal from the dwellings of the poor being considered unnecessary. During the first weeks of our stay our rest was continually disturbed by the fire-bells booming slowly through the still, clear air. I frequently got out of bed in the early hours to watch the firemen as they dragged their engines, with much toil and difficulty, through the miry streets, and shouted and urged each other on. During the day there were many volunteers to draw the engines, so that the firemen reached the scene with less fatigue, but it is evident that by day or night much valuable time must be lost by this primitive method of moving the engines from place to place."

Cassell's business placed him in close relation not alone with publishers and booksellers, but with authors and journalists, and with other and various types of trader and professional man. His letters strongly recall Dickens's earlier accounts of Uncle Sam's institutions in the time before the Civil War.

"So strong a feeling exists against exclusiveness in any form," he wrote, "that privacy is a luxury rarely to be enjoyed. There are no private offices, for instance, in the country; a man's place of business is a public thoroughfare. Beggars enter large establishments, walk round and solicit alms from each person without hindrance. In my own office I have interviews during the day with numerous unexpected visitors. An apple-woman insists upon selling me some of her fruit, and scarcely has she retired when a vendor of steel pens selects a vacant spot on your table for the display of his goods; a short interval occurs, and my quiet is invaded by a determined match-seller, and so on through the whole day. Some of my visitors who call on business are equally obtrusive and more difficult to get rid of. On one occasion a Yankee walked into my room, and after depositing some tobacco juice on the floor, seated himself at my agent's desk. I happened to be called away for a short time, and during my absence our Yankee friend observed, at one end of the room,