VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY
291
sion of the property and added to, repaired,
and rebuilt the hotel. Their limited capital
being insufficient to cover the expenses of
building and furnishing, they were com-
pelled to seek assistance, and borrowed con-
siderable sums, Samuel M. Shoemaker and
Mr. Phoebus becoming of the number of
their creditors. The management of the
hotel was unsuccessful and in the spring of
1874 the firm became bankrupt, and the
Hygeia was announced for sale at public
auction. Now it was that Mr. Phoebus'
business training and established reputation
stood him in good stead. He had kept a
wary eye upon the affairs of the hotel,
noting the errors of management, and had
estimated with keen foresight the possibil-
ities of the business. He saw that the ele-
ments of a gigantic success were there, and
that only proper management was wanted.
He had no experience in hotelkeeping, but
he had had successful experience in other
branches of business ; and having carefully-
formulated his plans he visited Baltimore,
unfolded his ideas to his friend, Mr. Shoe-
maker, and requested his financial aid in
their consummation. After his conversa-
tion with Mr. Shoemaker he returned to
Old Point with the assurance of the capital
required, and in April, 1874, he became the
proprietor of the Hygeia Hotel, retaining
still his express and other agencies. He set
out at once upon an investigating tour of
the United States, to learn all there was to
know about his business. He visited large
and small hotels in all portions of the Union.
He studied domestic economy in every de-
partment. It was a well known fact to his
employes that every minutia of that huge
establishment, the Hygeia Hotel, was famil-
iar to him. Theoretically, he knew nothing
of architecture, but it was he who built that
enormous hotel. His sole training had been
a six months' course under a house carpen-
ter, but all the internal machinery of the
house was of his device and even the drain-
age, gas, and water pipes were installed
under his direction.
The result of his labors was another un- qualified success credited to his business judgment. Constant improvements kept the Hygeia Hotel in the position of leader among the hotels of the seashore resorts, and the great caravansary, extending for a quarter of a mile along the beach, oft'ered every obtainable device and invention for
the convenience, comfort and pleasure of its
patrons. The Hygeia was conducted upon
the highest plane, for indeed no other would
have been tolerated under Mr. Phoebus'
direction. Saul he, "i can not make a para-
dise of the Hygeia, but I will make it as
nearly a home for good men and women as
1 can," and this he did, satisfactorily and
successfully catering to those who came
from the fairest walks of life. The day of
the Plygeia is past. New names stand for
the highest attainment in hotelkeeping, and,
as in other lines, a new era has come to that
business, bringing magnificence and splen-
dor almost undreamed. But Harrison Phoe-
bus rose to the heights of his calling in his
day, more, he reared the heights that he
ascended, and did he live at this time, naught
but the same result would attend his rest-
less ambition, his unwearying perseverance,
his tireless industry, and his strong self-
confidence.
Public honors were easy of access had he but heeded the expressed desires of his fel- low citizens. In the summer of 1884 his name was widely proposed by the people as a candidate for Congress, and the nomina- tion for that body was tendered him by acclamation by the Republican convention which met in Hampton on the twenty-eighth of August. He was favored by Republicans and Democrats alike, but he made his choice against a public career, announcing to his friends: "I can not be a good Congressman if I am a good hotelkeeper, and 1 can not be a good hotelkeeper if I am a good Con- gressman." He was a communicant of the Protestant Episcopal church, but in his beneficences, which were large and numer- ous, considered only need and worth, re- gardless of denominational lines.
Such are the facts one can write of Har- rison Phoebus' life. The story they tell is one of honest endeavor well and richly re- warded, yet it would require a much more detailed narrative to properly depict the sweetness and beauty of his nature. His memory recalls a gentleman who lived in peace and friendship with his fellows, whose sympathy and aid were ever extended to the needy, a man in whose word the utmost dependence could be placed. There is re- called the habit of punctuality that ruled his life, his reverence for knowledge, his natural courtliness and chivalry, his delightful reci- tation of homely poems, and the number of
