THIRD ANNUAL BANQUET. 



39 



haven of his hope in forty-five days. He took the steamer, 

 which arrived here on time. Less than two years before, 

 the first steamer ever seen in St. Louis had been six weeks 

 on the way from Louisville, in 1817. Before settling here 

 Mr. Shaw made a keel-boat trip to St. Charles. That 

 point being nearer the frontier he at first thought would be 

 better for his enterprise. 



His favorite seat in the town parlor was the same arm- 

 chair with a table-leaf where he had sat in business years. 

 There he spoke with me of his early endeavors. 



He learned that tin was brought overland from Philadel- 

 phia costing nine dollars a hundred, while he could bring 

 it from Liverpool for three. He was the first hardware 

 importer by the water route, and he had his reward. As 

 early as 1824 he obtained a contract for all the hardware 

 needed in Chicago at Ft. Dearborn, and retained it for a 

 dozen years. Sugar in those times ran up every year to 

 twenty-five cents, but Mr. Shaw the first time he went down 

 the river bid off a large lot, slightly damaged,— for two 

 cents, and brought it up for one. It began to lie heavy on 

 his hands when a United States flotilla arrived with supplies 

 for posts above. They had no sugar, for the barge that 

 bore it had sunk on a snag. Thus the only sugar within 

 reach was in the store of Mr. Shaw. In fur his success 

 was as good as in sugar. The growth of the city was then 

 phenomenal, and he grew with it. Up to everything in 

 aspiration, down to everything in drudgery of detail, he 

 was naturally master of the situation. It is no marvel that 

 within one and twenty years he had made all the money 

 that a bachelor could need, and resolved henceforth to enjoy 

 his fortune. Hence in part it came to pass that 



" Of no distemper, of no blast, he died, 



But fell like ripened fruit that mellowed long, 

 E'en wondered at because he dropped no sooner." 



Starting for foreign travel he stumbled on the threshold. 

 April mud in 1840 was too much for the stage in which he 



