t, with an air of great importance, and
demanded to see the proprietor. That proprietor could very easily be
seen, as he was sitting in his office, but the stranger was courteously
met by the assistant, with the usual inquiry as to the nature of his
business. The stranger, who was a Government man, bristled up and
exclaimed, indignantly, 'Sir, I come from Mr. Lincoln, and shall tell my
business to no one but Mr. Stewart.' 'Sir,' replied the inevitable Mr.
Brown, 'if Mr. Lincoln himself were to come here, he would not see Mr.
Stewart until he should have first told me his business.'

The amount of annual sales made at this establishment is not known
outside of the circle of managers, but may be variously estimated at
from ten to thirty millions. This includes the retail department, whose
daily trade varies, according to weather and season, from three thousand
to twelve thousand dollars per day. To supply this vast demand for
goods, Mr. Stewart has agencies in Paris, London, Manchester, Belfast,
Lyons, and other European marts. Two of the above cities are the
permanent residences of his partners; and while Mr. Fox represents the
house in Manchester, Mr. Warton occupies the same position in Paris.
These gentlemen are the only partners of the great house of A.T. Stewart
& Co.

The marble block which the firm now occupies was built nearly twenty
years ago. It had been the site of an old-fashioned hotel--which, like
many others of its class, bore the name of 'Washington,' and which was
eventually destroyed by fire. Mr. Stewart bought the plot at auction for
less than $70,000, a sum which now would be considered beneath half its
value. To this was subsequently added adjacent lots in Broadway, Reade
and Chambers streets, and the present magnificent pile reared. To such
of our readers as walk Broadway, we need not add any detail of its
dimensions, nor mention what is now well known, that, large as it is, it
is still too small for the increasing business. Hence another mercantile
palace has been erected by Mr. Stewart in Broadway near Tenth street.
This is intended for the retail trade, and is, no doubt, the most
convenient, as well as the most splendid structure of the kind in the
world. After the retail department shall have been thus removed up town
the present store will be devoted to the wholesale trade.

If any of our readers should inquire what impulse moves the energies of
one whose circumstances might warrant a life of