It was after dark and I had just gone around the corner to engage
quarters for the night when this occurred. Returning, I saw the young
policeman attempt to move the team, but as he didn't know how, they
wouldn't budge a peg, whereupon he arrested my driver and took him away.

Another policeman tried to coax me to drive the team down to the police
station. I said, "No, sir, I will not." He couldn't drive the team to
the station, and I wouldn't, and so there we were. To arrest me would
make matters worse, for the team would be left on the street without
any one to care for it. Finally the officer got out of the way, and I
drove the team to the stable. He followed, with a large crowd tagging
after him. Soon the captain of the precinct arrived, called his man off,
and ordered my driver released.

It appeared that there was an ordinance against allowing cattle to be
driven on the streets of New York. Of course, this was intended to apply
to loose cattle, but the policemen interpreted it to mean any cattle,
and they had the clubs to enforce their interpretation. I was in the
city and couldn't get out without subjecting myself to arrest, according
to their view of the law; and in fact I didn't want to get out. I wanted
to drive down Broadway from one end to the other, and I did, a month
later.

All hands said nothing short of an ordinance by the board of aldermen
would clear the way; so I tackled the aldermen. The _New York Tribune_
sent a man over to the City Hall to intercede for me; the _New York
Herald_ did the same thing. And so it came about that the aldermen
passed an ordinance granting me the right of way for thirty days, and
also endorsed my work. I thought my trouble was over when that ordinance
was passed. Not so; the mayor was absent, and the acting mayor could not
sign an ordinance until after ten days had elapsed. The city attorney
came in and said the aldermen had exceeded their authority, as they
could not legally grant a special privilege.

Then the acting mayor said he would not sign the ordinance; but if I
would wait until the next meeting of the aldermen, if they did not
rescind the ordinance, it would be certified, as he would not veto it.
Considering that no one was likely to test the legality of the
ordinance, he thought I would be safe in acting as though it were
legal. Just thirty days from the time I had the bother with the
policemen, and having incurred two hundred and fifty dollars of extra