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dealings in Government contracts, and he said so promptly.
He declared that his position as ex-President made it improper and impossible for a firm of which he was a member to have such dealings; and Ward assured him that there were none.
The apparent returns from the business were enormous, but General Grant knew that scores of bankers and brokers around him had made as rapid fortunes as he, and was not surprised.
He put all his available capital into the bank, and induced many of his friends and relatives to invest or deposit with it. One of his sons was a partner, another had become an agent of the firm, and their father had all confidence in their integrity and capacity.
But suddenly out of the clear sky came the thunderbolt.
On Tuesday morning, the 6th of May, 1884, General Grant went from his house in Sixty-sixth street, supposing himself a millionaire.
When he arrived at his place of business in Wall street he found that he was ruined.
As he entered his office he was met by his son Ulysses, who said at once: ‘Father, you had better go home.
The bank has failed’; but the General went in and waited awhile.
I happened to visit him that day about noon, and found him alone.
After a moment he said to me gravely enough, but calmly: ‘We are all ruined here.’
I was astounded at the news, and he continued: ‘The bank has failed.
Mr. Ward cannot be found.
The securities are locked up in the safe, and he has the key. No one knows where he is.’
He could not at that time have known the event more than half an hour.
In a few moments he got into a carriage and was driven home.
He never returned to Wall street.
The world knows that he gave up all that was his. The story of the debt to Mr. Vanderbilt into which he was inveigled is pitiful.
Ferdinand Ward went to his house on Sunday the 4th of May and represented that the Marine Bank, where Grant and Ward had large deposits, was in danger, but that speedy assistance would enable it to overcome
S. S. Scranton and Co., Hartford, 1887.
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