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The Once and Future C&F - Captain Whiley’s Enterprise
Adee: I like it this way – they bid up our best coffee. I think most of this bunch are hooked on the stuff – I know I am. Anyway, I am sure they will find us a spot upstairs. [Looks up.] Oh wait, that’s him. Captain Whiley. Whiley: Mr. Adee. Adee: Hey, how’s it going? This is Mr. Bush. Let’s get a table. [They settle into their seats.] Bush: How long have you been back in the city? Whiley: Just a few months. It is good to be back. It is amazing how much the city has grown — there must be more than 100,000 people here now. Adee: It might even be a few more than that. More people show up every day. New York is really bursting at the seams. I was just reminding George that the last time you lived here you were in the Army. Whiley: I kind of miss it. In the Army, people have to do what you tell them. Not so much at home. Bush: I recall a rumor that you fought at the Battle of Fallen Timbers under “Mad Anthony” Wayne.
Whiley: No one called him that – unless they were looking to get flogged. Adee: But you were there? Whiley: It was four years of brutal preparation followed by forty minutes of chaos – a long time ago. I don’t really like to talk about it. Bush: But you stayed in the army for a while? Whiley: Twenty years. Mostly on the frontier – I spent a lot of time at Fort Mackinac before coming east. Bush: Where is that? Whiley: Michigan – we were protecting the fur trade. And then I moved here to Fort Jay which was kind of a mess so we demolished it and built Fort Columbus. We were concerned that the British might make a run at New York so we also fortified the Battery and Bedloe’s Island. I met most of my investor group during that time – a lot of them did business with the Army. Bush: So when did you retire from the army? Whiley: About 11 years ago. It was time. That is a young man’s game.
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