The Hancock Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Ohio) 1857-1870, 1869-04-09
SELECT STORY.
THF LITTLE OLD GENTLEMAN.

! w OuiU you like 10 lOOh at the
Times, sir? Singular trial that o.
Risk Allah Bey against the DAILY
Telegraph - -lo-T "a g..
y Thes speaker was a-curious little
old man, cleanly dressed, rleanly
shaved, with short, crisp, white hair,
and face like red pippin such Il
lace as is hardly ever seen out OF
this country, and even here rarely,
save among farmers, gamekeepers,
and others who are much in the open
air, and at all seasons. This little
for he was very small indeed as to
size-this little Old gentleman was
encountered in a first-class smoking
carriage, on the Southwestern Rail
way.
SCnrious trial that before the
Lord Chief Jusliee,'i continued the
old gentleman, as If he wished to
promote further conversation. Il
was once tried for murder myself :"
wi Ia pleasant smile. Yes said
the little old gentleman, sand (loOG-
ing pleasanter than ever,) ''very
nearly hung, too. / did not get off
free. / was sentenced TO transpor-
tation for life; went through seven
years of it; and then they pardoned
me for what l had never done.
"You see," said the little Id gen
tleman, smiling more than ever, as
the five other smokers in the carriage
stared at him: "You see, | was for
many years cattle merchant In
London. My business consisted inre
ceiving from abroad--from Holland.
Germany, Normandy, or wherever !
could Iorm a connecion-oXen, COWS,
sheep, pigs, some Oh my own account,
others to be sold On commission tor
correspondents who sent their ami
mails to me for sale. The trade was
a profitable one Every beast sent
over on my account was fnll " in
sured, so that if it died on its passage
came upon the insurance company.
had very few bad debts and, taking
one thing with another, l may fully
have calculated upon realizing at
least twenty-five per cent. on my
capital every three months. In
other words, I got profit of hun
dred per cent. per annum on the
money l had commenced business
with sttEatf
"But with money comes the desire
for more. There was time before
L began to deal in cattle, when l
thought myself rich ii at the end of a
year l had couple of hundred
pounds in bank over and above my
expenses for the past twelve months.
Now it was otherwise. / lamented
that had not always an idle balance
of fifteen hundred or two thousand
pounds. / was fond of money for
moneys sake. / could not make
money fast enough for my wishes,
in the cattle trade, and therefore de |
termined to do little in the loan
and discounting way. -rr s 1
at is nearly twenty years ago,
and / have gone through deal OF
trouble since. My system was never
to put too many eggs in one pot
never to lend very much to any
single person--but to lend many
small amounts to various people.
used to answer the advertisements
of tradesmen in difficulties, and if
found that borrower had good
security to offer, would lend him
perhaps thirty or forty pounds,
taking ten pounds for the accommo
dation for a month, and much more
in proportion for longer periods
One of my clients was printer with
q small business, near what was then
called the New-road, now Marylebone
road He had often borrowed twen-
ty, thirty, and once as much as sixty
pounds from ME, and had always
repaid me to the day The security
he gave me was always the same,
the Joint note of hand of himself and
his brother, a grocer up Hackney
way. The name of this borrower
was Strange-Edward Strange. He
was in delicate state Of health, al
ways suffering from his chest, and in
severe Winters he used to be laid up
for weeks together with a bad cough
He was a widower, without children.
'sOne day Strange came to me and
said that he had veryieXcellent
offer to enter into partnership with
printer, who had been established in
business several years. The sum re-
quired to be paid for the partnership
was three hundred pounds, and he
asked me to- advance him that
amount upon the security of policy
of insurance for one thousand pounds
upon his own life. On inquiry, / L
found that years before, Strange had,
when a young and healthy man, ef-
fected an insurance upon his life .lor
i've hundred pounds, and afterwards
it to one thousand pounds.