 During the economic crash of the 1870s, the business, which had thrived through the U.S. Civil War, went bankrupt.Between 1887 and 1888, he made a trip around the world, before moving to Shanghai, and later Hong Kong, with a letter of recommendation from John Murray Forbes.In 1879, he began working for Russell & Company in Hong Kong, then one of the largest mercantile firms in the Far East.