Harvard University - Baker Library Historical Collections, Harvard Business School / Heard family. Heard family business records, Volume FP-4, Folder GQ-2-2, and Volume JP-2.
Mss:766 1754-1898. Baker Library Historical Collections, Harvard Business School.
"
the
house, and
tir.
Robert ••
1
Il¥••
lf
and .. Portuges8 Damed Gu.t1errez.
fbi. fellow wrote a beautiful hand but waB very 110. and could do nothing
~
write. Ee was a great favorite with Mr,COoll4ge, however. and
thi.
made
him
insufferably impertinent. Robert.
kept
the book" which wal U
much 0.8 he could
do,
aU;ho~h
he
ne a hard worker 8l1d a very rapid
pen–
man. Hie work bad been much increased fram the fact
that
all our booka,
ell:cept
the
ledger,
had
been 108t when
Wr.
CtXll1dge .al taken into
the
city in
the
prevlouB~.
In .ddition to all
bi,
new work,Roberta
had
to make up the old book. frOlll the ledger • .all
the
other
clerkl,
work:
in
the
office fell to
c\y
ehare, I got on Y817 lIell till
the
tea market
opened in November. Pravioue to
that
t1.me
I
had
only to look: after the
discharging of a dOteD or more ship. from all parte of
tha
world,
~o.t
lJ'.
however, trOll) India
nth
cotton. 1 thought
th1,
If8.8
bard enoutth.
but Due morning uncle
.
A.~tlne
went to tbe
Hong_
e.n<1
I.ttled lome
two hundred chops of Congou. This meant some twelve thousand chests of
tea
IUId
involJ ed the charter of eight or ten ships. Besides thil.
pur_
chases were going on dai17. the teas all had to
be
weighed. marked.
shipped and invoiced. In no other place in
the
world. and under no other
system than the
Hong
system, could tbil work have been done. It
lIllUIt
allO be remembered that we had none of the modern convenience. in our
office. not even a cop;rine:;
pre...
.
u1
of our letters
had
to be copied
by hand, and
Wr.
Coolidge wrote such
an
ill egible hand himself that all
hh letters
had
to be written out 1'air17 for him before the,. were lent.
WI
had
to hustle in thOle
~Il
Mr.
Coolidge
had
charge of all the import butinete of the
hOUlle:
1113
uncle bought all the teal and
llr.
Dixwell took charge of
things general17.
WI'.
Btan did noth! nC but draw hi. shar, of the coc.–
mi.eion account.
In
the course of a year, Jardine's sent
up
WI'.
Humpston,
their tea-tatter, to aid. He
ill
look at teal, but beyond saying, good,
M
rt., m,y.el
a
ee
1
ti
!
h a
e
dow
t iIl&
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II' a
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e
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h
up'\.
.,
a as
lII'UC
aa
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t
;
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a
Il a
:
h
=h e a o
xc
loa
M
ooU wae
i .
1
h .
lD
'.
~
s
.
very w
e a
e.
bc ar!iIl& e
a a
e y
lIIoat-
17,
f om wit O OD I
ia
wall
h
g ,
OD
1
l~tiD
h
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a d .e
eOlll
a
a 8l1 l
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ll' l
b
ah
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a
&
a a ::Bed a l
a a
01
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,
=ked,
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w
h s
D\
,
ying nl••• all
b
U
.
lD
is
a
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fai ly
y
I'e
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ma 1
o.
e
H
~ort ~ine
ou. I
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