The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1874-11-22
How Some Men Have Become Rich.


Parton s Last Lecture.l
Israel Rich, who left million and three
quarters year or two ago to found a col.
lege 10 Boston, began business thus: At
eighteen he came from Cape Cod to Boston
with three or four dollars in his possession,
and looked about for something to do,
rising early, walking far, observing closely,
rejecting much. Soon he had an idea. He
bought three bushels of oysters, hired a
wheelbarrow, found a piece of board
three cent pepper bsx, one or two
other things. He was at the oyster boat
buying his oysters at three in the morn
ing; wheeled them three miles, set up
his board near market, and began bust
ness. He sold ont his oysters as fast as
he could open them, at good prsfit. He
repeated this experiment morning after
morning, until he had saved $3.50, with
which Re bought a horse and wagon, and
had five cents left.
"How are you going to board your
horse - asked a stabe-keeper who wit
messed this audacions transaction.
Is am going to board him at your
stable"
"But you're a MINOR" replied the acute
Yankee. "And, mind, 1 can't trust you
more than a week" The next morning the
lad, who had established a good credit with
ably fine oysters, which he sold in the
course of the day at profit of Sl7. So he
was able to pay for his borse's board. And
| right here in the same market he continued
to deal in oysters and fish for 40 years,
became king of that business and ended by
illustration of Prof. Agassiz's theory that
the consumption of fish is serviceable to
the brain.
So Astor, on reaching New York with
his capital of seven flutes and a flew shil-
lings, goes to work beating furs for two
dollars a week, and keeps at furs until be
is able to build Aston houses and Astor lib
raries. So Grard, finding himself at Phila-
delphia during the revolutionary war,
when the town was held by the British
troops, all ordinary business being para
lyzed, falls to work bottling claret for the
English officers, and followed up that clue
till it made him the chief merchant of
founder of the great publishing house of
Edinburgh, coming out of his apprentice
ship at 10, with five shillings capital, set
up book stall with fl0 worth of books,
all bought on credit.
In those lecturing tours, which are Ear
more instructive to me than / can be in
struetive to anyone else, frequently see
immense establishments, and always visit
them when can. Nine times in ten, if /
am told their history, Lam Informed that
the founder was poor man, who began
business on next to nothing. In Chicago,
u
whole capital and credit, too, in the max
ing of one rough, strong farm wagon, the
first ever made west of the lakes. 1t was
all he could do to live while he made it,
and if he had not had the good luck to sell
it Immediately he would have been in
sorry plight. When I was there, twenty
years after, he had factory which turned
ont an excellent wagon every seven min
utes.
SECRETS OF success.
1t is essentially the same story with all
these kings of business. They learn how
to do some one thing superlatively well,
and then they keep on doing it better and
Cambria Iron works, which employ 1000
persons in making steel, rails and iron-a
great town of people, all in the service of
one company. "What is the secret of
such development of business as this Z"
a visitor asked of the president and ruling
"We have no secret. We always try and |
beat our last batch of rails. That's all
the secret we've got. and we don't care
who knows it,"
In Philadelphia Henry 'Desston s. Sons
sell five tons of saws every day-an i'm
mense quantity, for saw is very, thin and
light. Forty years ago he landed on these
shores, aged IA, with his father and sister,
and two days after landing the father died,
leaving those two orphans alone in a
strange land. He got work in a saw shop,
and by and by began business for himself
in a small cellar. The simple secret of his
prosperity is that he studied
saws to the very uttermost, both theory
and practice, and learned how to make
better saws than had ever been made be-
ore.
Why are the Rothschild the first bankers
n the world Z Because in business ca
eer of 1O2 years they have never failed to
ieep an engagement. Why is the Chemi;
al bank of New York the most solid and ]
profitable bank in America Because in
he panic Of 1887 when all other banks
leased to pay gold for their notes, that {
'ank did not and never has. When gold
vas at 2s6, if you presented one of its $50
otes at the counter and asked for it's
quivalent in gold, you got $50 in gold. r
Why is the Atna Insurance company of
Hartford the first of its kind in America 7 r
imply because after the great fires of
lew York, Sortlaud, Chicago, Boston, it
id WHAT it had undertaken and engaged :