Life — January 28, 1886 — page 6: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

62 OLD NEW YORK. A HISTORY OF MANHATTAN ISLAND—DUTCH, ENGLISH, AMERICAN AND RESTORATION OF THE ENGLISH IN 1880, CHAPTER VII. CLOSE OF THE FIRST SETTLEMENT. O retain his hold upon the In- dians who have ever exhibited a characteristic fickleness, it became necessary for Block to do something to inspire their respect. He, therefore, purchased a section of prop- erty in the neighborhood of Wall Street, for which he promised to pay seven heaps of wampum when his ship came in—and until this day it has not been sighted. Upon this land he erected a row of flat houses, fronting on Broad- way, which he and his friends occupied after renting the ground floor to Indian traders for business purposes. He charged a rental sufficient to cover all the risks thus as- sumed, and it is a noticeable fact that the cost of the whole row was covered by one week’s rent. This investment of the Captain's had the desired effect, and so great was the respect for the landlord, amongst his ten- ants and neighbors, that upon the eve of his departure he was enabled to borrow the whole national debt, giving only his word for security. This degree of respect was no doubt due to the fact that the new houses were the only ones the Indians had ever seen with two stories and a cellar; and that any man should be so en- dowed with wis- dom as to keep leaks out of a roof, seemed to them _ indicative of strong influ- ence with the Great Spirit. True to his Nationality, Block imparted t to his houses an element of mystery, by refusing to allow the Indians access to the cellars. He kept in them what whiskey he had managed to save from the wreck, and he fully understood that the Manhattanese would be unreliable tenants did they but know this. LIFE To insure the observance of his commands, the Captain awed the Indians into obedience by informing them that the cellars were the abode of the Great Spirit, which indeed was | the truth to a certain extent, and which they implicitly be- | lieved when they perceived smoke percolating up through the | coal hole, and listened to the unearthly yells which sometimes emanated there from when the settlers wished to drown their sorrows in the cup, It was also found that this Great Spirit act of Block's was | profitable, as the Indians endeavored frequently to propitiate him by gifts of great value, which they dropped through the coal hole upon occasions when they needed help, little sus- pecting into whose hands their votive offerings fell. This subterfuge continued for months, and the coal hole dividends were the most profitable of all their investments until an untoward incident cast suspicion upon it. Pachamie How, an influential resident of the town, think- ing that in some way he had incurred the Great Spirit’s dis- pleasure, fasted for three days, and at the conclusion thereof dropped a superb pair of hand-painted knee breeches into the coal hole. It so happened that Block was going through his devotions below stairs at the time, and so overcome was he by the richness of the gift that he tried the breeches on, forgetting in the excitement of the moment either to remove them or to put over them the four or five additional pairs he usually wore. Having business in the Clam Exchange the next afternoon, he repaired thither, and the first person he met was the devout Pachamie, who immediately recog- nized on Block’s legs his recent propitiatory gift. Of course there was a discussion on the subject. A general massacre of the foreign element was only avoided by Block's intima- CAPTAIN BLOCK COLLECTING HIS RENT. comicbooks.com