St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1883-03-30
My Correspondent Edwards.

am flour merchant. My office and
warehouse are in South street, in BOs
ton. | buy and sell -four in the corn
exchange; | also sell it through my
correspondents, both home and abroad.
Edwards was one of my country CORE
spondents. Springfield, Mass, was
where Edwards resided.
Every man has his own peculiar bus
mess history, and have mine. Not
long ago Edwards became singularly
connected with my business career ;
and since people keep asking how it
came about, | will tell the plain truth
about it, because Edwards is silent.
From my earliest childhood desired
to be miller. There was a fascina-
ton about the rumble of the mill
stones, the endless mounting up of the
elevator cups, the perpetual sitting of
the long white bolts, and the clatter OF
the cOopers, and their barrels. 1t was
this that finally made me a -four mer-
chant.
Every one thus has his peculir taste
in early life, which in general affects
all that follow. My taste was for the
mill and flour and | have retained it all
through life.
But this taste for flour and the man
utacture of it leads sometimes to quite
unexpected results. was satisfied
with the working of the little old-fash-
Toned country mill and water-power
until | made some money. Then |
wanted a bigger, better mill, so that |
could make money faster. Some said,
$50 to Ohio :" others said, 'EMinnesota
is the best state in wheat :" but old
Bruce, who had been nearly every
where, said ''GOu go to Illinois and
you'll like it better than anywhere
else" Old Bruce was right.
| went to Illinois, and liked it so
well that | had no thought of going
elsewhere. made money on every
barrel of flour turned out of the mill
for four years. 1t was good luck. But
somehow all the luck, good or bad,
seems to come together. About this
time | invented the Invincible Bran
Duster, and that was the greatest luck
of all.
People outside of a Touring mill don't
know much about bran, and less about
the machine called the ".bran -duster.' ,
But the miller knows all about it and
he knows that it will save hundreds
and hundreds of dollars every year in
a large mill.
Our fathers thought if they separated
the flour from the bran by sitting il
through fine silk boiling cloth of Dntcl
manufacture they had done all that
could he done-flourmaking was per
feet. 1t was mistake and the bran
duster proved it.
My bran-duster was called the In
vincible Bran-Duster because it ap-
peared to clean the bran wholly from
the -four. 1t was great saving, and
millers knew it. | sold those machines
for five hundred per cent. profit, and
was not wholly satisfied then. But
when little cross-eyed Chicago man
with his pants tucked into his boots
and borrowing fine cut from every man
he met, went upstairs and down, all
over my mill, and asked questions till
| was tired out answering, | Offered
him a machine at cost to get rid OF
him.
But he didn't want machines h,
wanted to buy the patent and have the
thing in his own hands. asked tha
cross-eyed man fifty thousand dollar.
for my patent, and laughed to think
that at last he must see how bored
was.
eyes, my friend, just pay me fifty
thousand dollars, and you shall hav,
the patent and the independent forum,
it will bring you"
That's what | am going to do,
reaching for another mans fine Gu
and making very free with 1t. "Yol
fix the papers and the money is ready
for you"
have had kind feeling for Chica
go ever since. But when that littl,
cross-eyed man sat down and told m,
such long story about his wife--''th,
smartest, prettiest, best little woman
in the state"-I felt guilty. and it seem
ed somehow like | was robbing tina
nice woman. But, then, she cOuldn'
be so smart, or she never would hay,
married such a fool as he was.
| was an old bachelor then, ant
western bachelors always despise them
selves if they think they have cheate,
a woman. 1t is all right to cheat MAJ
in trade-he must look out. But
continued to have that guilty feelin,
about that cross-eyed mans wife, an,
| hoped to meet her some day. TheI
1 intended to act the part of an homes
man by her. / sent $4,000 of tn
money paid me by the crOss-eyed MAJ
to Dewey & Blossom, my New YOrl
correspondents, with instructions t
deposit in some good bank, there to re
main to nv credit until wanted. The