sily. In the months of June and July the weather was
extremely hot. The army of General Grant had quartered in and around
the town during the preceding winter. The larger portion of the town
inside of the levee, had been covered with water to the depth of
several feet. Much of the refuse of the army, including some dead
animals, had been left upon the surface of the ground. Sickness was
general among the inhabitants. Health was the exception. We had our
quarters upon the levee, and before a long time had passed we
organized a mess with General Strong, the officer in command at that
point. For myself I drank only tea and water from Iowa ice. With this
drink and a moderate diet, I preserved my health. It was our fate
each evening to witness and endure a collision of the thunder showers,
one coming down the Mississippi, and the other down the Ohio.

Late in the afternoon we had the benefit of a trip upon a Government
boat up the Ohio as far as Mound City. Once of a Sunday we made a
trip to Columbus, Kentucky, then in command of General Quimby, of New
York. We there met General Dodge, afterward a member of Congress from
Iowa and subsequently a successful railway operator.

At Columbus we had a collation on the boat, where speeches were made by
officers and civilians, in support of the war and for emancipation.
On our return to Cairo, we were met by the customary evening shower, an
unwelcome attendant upon a steamboat excursion.

My acquaintance with Mr. Dana gave me a high opinion of his business
habits and faculties, and when General Grant became President and I was
in charge of the Treasury, I urged the President to appoint Mr. Dana
collector of the port of New York. The President had already selected
Mr. Grinnell, but whether he had communicated the fact to Mr. Grinnell
I never knew. Moreover, the President had formed an unfavorable
opinion of Mr. Dana, arising from some intercourse during the war.
Consequently, my advice was unavailing. The President said, however,
that I might offer him the post of chief appraiser of the port of New
York. The offer was declined; and from that time forward Mr. Dana was
the President's bitter enemy. As another result, there was no further
communication between Mr. Dana and myself. Once I saw him upon a
steamer, but we did not recognize each other. In the year 1887, in
consequence of a paragraph in the New York _Sun_ in which my name was
mentioned, not unkindly, I wro