186 WALL STREET AND THE WILDS 



sippi, his shooting of Colonel Vick, or the hap- 

 penings in the wild days of his prominence in 

 San Francisco. 



The history of two boats of the Brazil Mail 

 fleet, the Erie and the Ontario, illustrates the 

 precarious character of steamship investment at 

 that time. These boats had been built for a Bos- 

 ton company at a cost of eighteen hundred thou- 

 sand dollars for transatlantic service. The com- 

 pany was broken up and the Erie and On- 

 tario, which had never made a trip, were offered 

 for sale. A committee of the owners called on 

 Garrison and he bid them a million dollars for 

 the boats, which they declined. After vainly 

 seeking to effect a sale elsewhere, the committee 

 again came on from Boston and told Garrison 

 that they had decided to accept his offer of a mil- 

 lion. "That offer isn't open," was his reply. 

 "Plow much will you give?" "Six hundred 

 thousand dollars." This bid was rejected with 

 scorn. Not long afterward the committee re- 

 turned to New York, and a similar conversation 

 ensued, ending with Garrison's bid for the two 



