Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1866-11-24
ObIo sStatesrlrarr,
How Donald M'Grio Bought and
5.atl Sold his Indigo. o.n ,.,.a
"A TALE OF OLD ABERDEEN.

as far as possible never commit yourself
by speaking first and on no account COM
nit yourself by speaking hastily. If these
propositions can be tolerated by the read
er,. let him read on, and know that the
hero of this little moral sketch was douce
and canny Scot, small trader, well
known In Aberdeen forty years ago. He
was shopman in promiscuous line. In
fact-why should've attempt to disguise
the trdth9-he Kept whit in London
would be called a chandler's shop. RI G
He condescended, merely Tor the conven-,
fence of his immediate neighbors, to, sell
candlesso low as a farthiDg aplece-lndeed
he would, for the nonce, furnish light so
attenuated that you might purchase two
for a farthing, and yet he had small beer
IN his emporium more attenuated still. He
also sold dying materials, among which l
might have classed his small ale, and he
had eoculus indiCus to set off against a half
penny's worth of salt, barilla against two
sheets of parliament cake for q baubee, and
indigo by the pound against Snuff by the
half ounce. ''9'.' Ho Ga
Indeed, our trustworthy friend, Donald
MGrie, had no small pride in his shop;
and the street In which he lived in the
guide aul1 town of Aberdeen. had lust so
much pride in Donald. Really Donald
was safe chiel he kept his accounts ac-
curately, both with God and man, for he
was as punctual at kirk as in his payments,
and as he allowed no long scores with his
neighbours he took care never to run in
debt by crimes of omission, which must be
some day settled before a tribunal SO
awful.
Having thus sufficiently described Dom
AIDS circumstances, we must now proceed
to narrate the first grand step that he made
towards acquiring the splendid fortune
that he so well deserved and lived so long
to enjoy. .A l..".h. '.. j." @
He was out Of indigo; that is to say, all
the indigo that he lately had, had gone ont
Of his warehouse by driblets. ThereupOn
he writes letter to house in London,
drysal er's in the most extensive line of
business, ordering "Forty zone pOns weight
of indigo;" stating at the same time that
IL there was not a vessel, they "must act
une." Such was the exact words he used.
Now, at the time this occurred, commu-
nieation between Aberdeen and London
was rare, and at the farthest, four times in
the year was the utmost extent that Donald
M'Grie and his wholesale dealers addressed
each other. There were no telegraph lines
by which Donald could have instantaneous
communication with the world over; nor,
for the matter of that, fast steam-packets
traversing the seas, nor railways the land,
nothing but those slow-sailing packets
which took time, and plenty of 1t, to make
their trips from port to port or the equally
slow stage coaches. AS have said, four
times in the year was the extent of the
communications between Aberdeen and
London. Remembering this fact. let us
proceed. The dealers were very much sur
Iprised at the extent of the order received
from Donald. The reader will not wonder
at it when he is informed that they could
never suppose for moment that vessel
could be ordered on purpose to carry forty
one pounds of indigo; so, after much scru-
tiny of the very hieroglyphical marks of
M'Grie, all the heads of the firm took it
firmly into their said heads that their cor
respondent had fairly written for forty-one
tons.
They knew very little of the man, and of
the nature and extent of his business; all,
however, that they did know was most
they had done business with
him for nearly twenty years, and had, dur
ing all that time, been extremely we'll
pleased with the punctuality of his pay
ments, added to which they had heard that
he was wealthy. Upon all these grounds
they, without hesitation, executed the
order; but, as they had not anything like
the quantity on hand, they were themselves
forced to become purchasers-in order to
fulfill the commission. Having collected
the quantity that they had supposed that
Donald had specified they shipped it for
Aberdeen, sending with it an invoice, and
also bill of lading by post.
When MGrie received this precious bill
of lading his astonishment was at once
ludcrous and stupendoHs. At length, in
order to give himself little mental relief
he determined to set it down as hoax. tor,
said he, "What on earth can the people OF
London mean by sending me forty tons
of indigoP" 1t was more than sufficient
with the then consumption, to supply
Aberdeen for guide Scotch generation
twenty+one years. However, his prudence
still prevailed over every othor operation
of his mind.
Like canny Scot, he kept his perplexity
to himself, for nothing was farther from
his thoughts than to run hither and thither
in his hand, in order to tell his
tale of wonder. and excite the stupid ex-
CARNATIONS of his neighbors. Notwith-
standing. this stoical conduct, he could not
so far command his department but those
about him remarked a definite, though
change in his whole man.. He
was nearly silent; but the activity of his
feet made up for the idleness of his tongue,
He was fldgetty, repeatedly leaving his
shop without any conceivable reason, and
returning hastily toit on the same RATIONAL
grounds. For once in his life, his neigh
bors thought that willy Donald did not
know Very we'll what he was about.
In the midst of this agitation, time and
tide, which wait for no man, brought the
vessel that bore the indigo to Aberdeen,
1t would seem that, in order to quicken
Donald's apprehensions, she had an eX-
traordinary quick passage. No sooner was
she moored, than the captain hastened to
find the merchant to whom this large and
valuable cargo was consigned. Having
gone previously to the first merchants he,
by nice gradatlons, at length arrived at the
shop OF heactual cOnsignee, honest Donald
Merle, Indeed, the skipper was as much
astonished at the minuteness of the ware
house, as M'Grie had been at the magnitude
OF his cargo, for the werehouse, had 1t con-
tanned nothing else, would not have held
one1tifth of the consignment. .s+t
After the first few introductory sentences
that made each aware of what was their
mutual business, the captain became con-
vincedathati all was right, from the quiet
conduct of Donald, who betrayed neither
emotion nor surprise, though at the same
time his very heart was melting within
him, as melts an exposed rushlight on q
sunbhiny summers day. a'gnri5. lHv.
: sand sac, sir, yell be sure yea brought
the tottle Of the torty-one tons. A huge
nous quantity, ell, sira And did ye ever
ken any one mon hae sac mickle before ?"
" "Never, Mr.. M'Grle, never. Why, sir do
YOU know that the difficulty Of getting all
heindi0o together had an effect on the