The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1859-02-24

only in the city, but. Throughout the country
than was judged to be either safe or advan
tageous; and finally a crash came-au1 al
awful crash it was, assure YOU
"Many of the strongest houses were obligct
to succumb confidence was lost; money BE
came scarce, and only loaned on ..frst-clas.
paper, at a high rate of interest. Such :
state ofthings can never exist long in mer.
camille community without being felt in Q
greater or less degree by every class, whether
the class be mechanic, mecantile, or profes.
sional; and the suffering that ensued wasa
ful in the extreme. The merchant, WHO
I,,.sught himself almost rich enough even t.
have dreams OF retiring upon his wealth, be-
came suddenly reduced to poverty; the ma
chanic f"',nd no labor for his hands to per-
| for,,i, and perfect stagnation ruled the hour.
81 had just taken In a partner when the
! crash came; and although had been warned
to examine my accounts closely, should not
otherwise have made so thorough an inves-
tigation into the state of my affairs, had it
not been necessary that this partner should
know my standing in the community, and
my means and capacity, before making an
engagement.
81 felt satisfied from the examination lust
mentioned, that we could stand any ordinary
pressure; but Judged it prudent and advisable
to retrench in our expenses, and curtail every
thing possible, without mourning an accusa-
ton of meanness and parsimony And your
mother will tell you how carefully studied
and contrived in our household mana .ements
and family arrangem .nts, to make both ends
meet, and little more. We dispen sed with
one of our servents, provided palmer dishes
for satisfying our appetites, examined our
wardrobes, and where garments could be made
respectable by a little mending aud repairing,
such amendments We're mlle, without much
sacrifice to our comfort, or to our sentility /;
and, in fact, so changed the order Of things
at home, as to conform as far as need be with
the change in the times, and the direfnl nee
essities Of the dangerous and trying hour
"As in prosperous times, had always been
in the habit of consulting freely with my old
friend and former employer, Mr.. Sargent so
now, as changes appeared in the financial
horizon, often sought his private room aud
held long and seriou; consultations as t.
mode of action, and seldom attemote any
extensive operation without first obtaining
his counsel and advice; for in this, felt INV
strength; and used to return to INV store
or my home. invigorated and benefited more
than can well express.
| "rhe old man had son of nh mt my are,
and though like his father in maay respects.
was somewhat wild, AMI fond of playing
pranks and practical jokes, without consd-
Ing As much as he should have done, what
results might be produced from his folly.
I'VE had one day made. as we believed.
ample provision for meeting SOM: i'm mense
sums that were due on the day ensuing;
and Mr.. Sargent, knowing from long axpe-
rience that he could trust to our punctu ,ty
and promptitudc, had agreed to lend Us ten
thousand dollars, which we much needed
and for which sum we were to receive his
check on the following morning.
pleased with the prospect Of this assist
ance, so checrfuly offered, particularly when
confidence, the grand watch word in all mcr.
chantile parlance, had become to be consid
cred at such low ebb, was surprised, on
arriving at our store the next mnrnng, tc
find on my private desk, the following note
from the man of few words
"India street, October Z 1887
"'sR: cannot let you have the amoust offered yo,
yesterday. Yours, etc. JAMES SARGENT
Surprised, astonished, and alarmed be
yond measure, rose hastily from my chair
and without one word to my partner (althougl
| saw he noticed my troubled look, / ran
or rather flew, with note in hand, to Mr.. Sar
gents Office.
II entered it, and closing the door behint
me, found the old man alone, looking AZ
sternly as he used to do when l had sold {
lot of bags of coffee or casks of sugar at tot
low price; but being now neither coffe,
nor sugar in the case this time, could onl,
wait his motions, though was not at all pre-
pared for the blast that followed
"Glancing at the note still held in m,
hand, and which agitated and shook in my
trembling fingers, he broke out in word
not loud, but deep:
SO, sir, you had large party at you
house last night, and from the line of carriag
es | saw, as l accidentally passed through
your street, it must have been JAM
"There pas a large party there replied
"Of course there was, sir, of course ther,
was-I said SO; and plenty of music, ehg
ITO this also assented, and was about 4
add something in addition to my reply, whc,
he shut me up with:
Slime times these, sir, for frivolities of thi
sort, when every body is failing, and going By
the board glad your business will admit o
it, mine won't-glad you are so prosperous
upon my word, sir; but look here, sir, whel
any money is wanted in your business, don
: come to me for it. | withdraw my offer O