Rutland herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1823-1847, 1845-04-10
From the Kniekcrboek et)
BOOK KEEPING.
on I'M


BOOK KEEPING.
RICH MAN ~ sPiTE or HIMSELF
We are indebted 10 friend Tor the FOL.
lowing su,hcn,le anecdote Of an old New
York merchant whose name, were we
permI,icd 10 mention 1t would sound ia
milisfly TO tho car Of msny Of our mo,rop.
oliian readers In old tunes 1t was the
cusom OF The merchants Of The city Of New
York TO keep their accounts in pounds sh'l
Ilngs and pence currency. Almost 6hy
years ago, "a frugal, industrious Scotch mer-
chant, well known 10 the small mercantile
community Of this city, had by dint OF for.
tune commercial adventure and economy
boeo able to save something like four thou
sand pounds u considerable SUN Of mon.
ey, 4, that period, aud one which secured to
It's possrssor degree of enyable indepcn.
dencc. His place Of business and residence
we're, rs was Customary at ,ha, time, under
the same roof lie had clerk in hi.
employ whose reputation as an accountant
inspired the utmost confidence Of his master,
whose frugal habits he emula,cd with the
true spirit and feeling OF genuine Caledo.
man II was usual Tor the nccoun,an, to
make an annual balance sheet, for the in
spcctlon Of his master, in order that he
might see wha, had been The profits Of his
business the past year On this occasion
the be balance sheet showed TO tho credit
9TH" hus,u,ss SIX thousaGl pounds which
some " Aal ustOn.shcd the incr, duons mer.
chant 1t Gamma be said he We had bet
ter count up agcn. dinnn think la had
sne profitable bccsncss rs this represents
The clerk with his usual patience rrcxum.
med the Statement aud declared that 1t was
"a night and that he was willing 10 wager
his salary on IT'S correctness. The some.
villa, puzzled merchant scralc hod his head
with surprise, and commenced ndIing up
the account for himself # proved right
4 did M think said he, that | was worth
over four thousand pounds bu' yc ha
madc ne n much richer man Well wecl
| may hn' been malr successful than had
/ thought, md III ma quarrel wi mvscl for
beng worth sax thousand instead -
/ Al earl Y candle.lIght the store was rcen.
latl closed by the faithful accoun tanr and
as soon as he bad gone, the sorcIv pcrplcx
cd and ncrclulious mcrchan, commrnced
the painful task Of going over and cxmnin.
ing all the accounts for himself Night af
ter nigh, did he labor alone. to look for the
error but every examination confirmed the
correctness ot,he clerk until the old Scotch.
man began TO believe it possible that he was
really worth sax thousand pounds S,iul.
ula,ed By this addition Of his wealth, he soon
felt desire to improve the couluion Of his
household md with that view, made pur.
chase Of new furniture. carpets. and Other
elegnnccs consistent wilha position Of mar
possessing the large fortune DISK thousand
pounds Painters and carr enters wcr,
set TO work TO tear down and build up anC
in short time the gloomy looking resi-
dcnce IN Stonestreet WINS renovated To sucl
degree as to attract the ruriosl,v &envy 4
all his nclghbors. The doubts Of the oil,
man, however, would sliI oLlrudc them
selves upon bis mind and he determine
onos more to make thorough examination
Of his accounts
On a dark and stormy night he com
monced his labors, with the patient invest
gazing spllit OF man determined to prob
the matter to the very bottom It was pas
the hour Of midnight, yet he bad not bee
able 10 detect single error but sill h
wen on. His heart bca, high with hope
: for he had nearly reached the end of his Ia
Dor. A quick suspicion seized his min
as To one iiem in the account EaTtka
lie had found ii With the frenzy Of
mailman, he drew his broad brlmed hat
yer his eyes and rushed into the street III
rain and storm were nothing 10 him. Il
hurried 10 the residence Of his clerk i
Wall street reached the door, and seize
the handle Of the huge knocker with whic
: he ripped until the whole ncichborhoo
: was aroused with loud alarm Tho cler
- .brgu his head out os the window an
= enquIred who IS there lis m
ye dom scoundrel said The lrlcnzcd me
: cham 'te're addrd up The year Of ou
:, Latrd among me pooadS = Such was tn
- fact The addition Of the year Of our Lor
among items had svclIed the fortune Of h
|, merchant some two thousand pounds bcyon
. Is actual amount
JOHN JACOB ASTOR.
} IL 20 .o,o II IL, N,