Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1845-04-04
Bookkeeping. or the Rich Man In spite Of
himself,

himself.
We are indebted to friend for the follow
ing authentic anecdote of an old New York.
merchant, whose name, were we permitted tor
mention it. would sound Familiarity in the ears
of many of our metropolitan readers: sin Old
times it was the custom Of the merchants OF
the city Of New York to keep their accounts
in pounds, shllings and pence currency
About fifty years ago, frugal, industrious,
Scotch Merchant, we'll known to the then
small mercantile community of this city, had
by dint of fortunate commercial adventure and
economy been enabled to save something like
four thousand pounds; considerable sum Of
money at that period. and one which secured
to its possessor a degree Of enviable indepen~
dence. His places of business and residence
were, as was customary at that time, under
the same roof. He had clerk inhls employ
ment whose reputation as an accountant in
spired the utmost confidence of his mas;ery
whose frugal habits he emuated with the true
spirit and feeling of genuine Caledonlan. IL
was usual for the accountant to make an an
nual balance sheet for the inspection OF his
master. in order that he might see what had
been the profits Of his business for the past
year. On this occasion, the balance sheet
showed to the credit of the business six thou
sand pounds, which somewhat astonished the
incredulous merchant. 'I,canna be- said he,
we had better count up agen. l dinna think
ha' ha sac profitable bees1ess as this rep
resents.' The clerk with his usual patience
re-examined the statement, and declared that
it was "a right and that he was willing to
wager his salary upon its correctness. The
somewhat puzzled merchant, scratched his
head with surprise, and commenced adding up
on both sides Of the account for himself. 1t
| ho ri,rbt IT RI ~ MI NaiA ha
that was worth over four thousand poonds;
but We ha' made me a much richer man.
WeeI, weel. may ha' been mair successful
than had tho't, and I'll ma quarrel wi my
sell for being worth six thousand instead Az
early candle light the store was regularly clo~
! sed by the faithful accountant; and as soon as
he had gone, the sorely perplexed and incred-
uIous merchant commenced the painful task
Of going over and examining all the account
for himself. Night after night did he labor
in his solitary contingencies alone, to look
for the error; but every examination confirmed
the correctness Of the clerk, until the old
Scotchman began to believe it possible that
he was really worth sax thousand poonds.'
Stimulated by this addition to his wealth, he
soon felt desire to improve the condition Of
his household; and with that view, made pur-
chase Of new furniture, carpets. and other ell"
egancies, consistent with the position of a man
possessing the large fortune Of six thousand
pounds. Painters and carpenters were set to
work to tear down and build up; and in short
time the gloomy-onking residence in Stone,
street was renovated TO such degree as TO at
f tract the curiosity and envy of all his neigh
bors. The doubts Of the old man would still
however obtrude themselves upon his mind /;
and he determined once more to make a thor
Fl ough examination of his accounts. On dark
and stormy night, he commenced his laboFs,
with the patient investigating spirit of man
determined TO probe the matter to the very
bottom. It was past the hour of midnight
yet he had not been able to detect a single En-
ror; but still he went on. His heart beat high
with hope, for he had nearly reached the end
r Of his labor. A quick suspicion seized his
mind as to one item in the account, Eureka!
He had found it. With the frenzy of mad
man, he drew his broad brimmed white hat
6 over his eyes, and rushed into the street. The
! rain and storm were nothing to him. He hug
. ried to the residence of his clerk, in Wall
street; reached the door and seized the ham
: die of the huge knocker, with which ne rap-
: ped until the neighborhood was reused with
the loud alarm. The unfortunate clerk poI.e ed
his night-cap out Of an upper window, and
E demanded; 'Wha's there 2 Its me you dom
! scoundre y said the frenzied merchant. .ye're
! added up the gear IF our Laird among the
poonds!' Such was the fact. The addition OF
1 the yer of our Lord among the items had
r sweled the fortune of the merchant some two
: thousand pounds beyond the amount.
Knickerbocker Magazine.