National Republican., 1884-08-02

salary i WAS ablo to lay by little money.
We used TO call this her dowry"-hero he
bowed again in tho direction of his wife
for she was an orphan, alone in the
world, and kept herself on her slender
earnings as schoolmistress.
"Throo or four sons of members OF tho
| firm were in the business, SO that /, being
without capital, had little or no chance OF
evenoattaining to q partnership. There
were, of course, men with much larger
salaries than my own, but they wcrc
| older by twenty years. and waiting for
dead mons shoes is bad work. | plainly
saw that marriage was for me out Of the
question as long as l staid with Marston
u Co. Accordingly, whom l was about
26, and had saved close upon G100, went
to the head of the firm ainl explained my
case. l told him felt rs far as the bust.
ness and the treatment received went,
perfectly satisfied, but that was
anxious to push my, fortune so that
might settle in life. Old Mr.. Marston
was extremely kind. He told me they
were greatly pleased with me, and that
they would do anything in reason rather
than lot me 20, but that certain infgangi-
BILE conditions Of promotion existed that
/ could not DO put ovor the heads of my
seniors, and that although he was willing
to increase my salary to tho utmost limit
consistent with my services--ho could
not on any account ovorstop tho limit
| explained that the increase he Offered
| would not meet my viows, and that had
determined to leave as soon as q substitute
for me was supplied.
"AIr. Marston then asked me what /
proposed doing | remember, as though
| it was but yesterday, the mixture OF
pride and humiliation l felt when i told
him that l intended starting in business
for myself.
"'May / ask he said, what business
you intend starting in2'
Something the same as | have been
at l said, feeling still more uncomfort-
able.
"'Ohp ho cried, with q smile, you are
going to bo a rival of oursp
| No, no. / hastened to say. Il intend
buying and selling on commission, and
wish to know, sir, if may count on you
as one of my patrons
"'You may count on me- said he, cor.
daily, doing all for you l may fairly do
Young Bayliss,' he added, gravely, if you
want a hundred or two you have but to
say the word. You can pay mo back just
as you please
~ thanked him most sincerely, and
told him that for my present purposes ]
wanted little or no capital, except just
what would keep me going until had
| got my scheme into operation,
"'And,' he said, may l ask what ex.
actly is your schemeY
well, SIR l said. Il imagine / am q
good judge of fancy logs
so they tell me, 80 they tell me,
oaid he, and that is the reason we are
sorry to lose you
And my notion Is, that If go about
here and there / may be able to find logs
which tho owners want to sell, and which
| my judgment tells me are good value for
the money asked. And, sir, when / asked
| you to help me with your patronage /
meant that. supposing | came across a
piece of timber which l believed would
cut up well, would you. buy upon my
judgment and SO put the commission for
tho sale in my wayT
IA very good idea for you, indeed,
said the old man. A very good notion,
indeed. understand you have made no
mistakes up to this, and | have no doubt
that we shall be able to do good deal
with you. Of course, you know all things
of that kind must be done through Mr..
Watkins, the master Of the yard
"I have already spoken to Mr.. Wat
kins. sir, and he says that, with your
permission, he will be glad to help me p
SIN month l loft Marston & Co., and
found myself free to do as / pleased, and
with about ESQ in my pocket. 1t SO
happened that the first day of my liberty
and the first day of the Easter vacation
were the same. l thought that after ten
years close application to business, l
| owed myself little holiday. and there
| fore 1 went to Jane and told her had
| determined to do nothing until the vaca-
| tion was over. l often look back to those
first days of independence, and think
| that in them began the great happiness
and prosperity which has seemed to in
crease, hour by hour, ever since.
When James school reopened / went to
work with oil the vigor of hope and de-
termination. For the first year was
moderately successful. j sold to Mr.
Marston several pieces which turned out
to his satisfaction, but at tho end of tho
twelve months my financial position had
not improved. had made no moro
money than if / had remained in the
yard. / felt sobered, but not discour-
aged. l was sevcn-and-twonty, Jane,
and-twenty; and l thought it time
we married, but 1 could not conscien-
tously ask her to share my small and
now uncertain income, and had deter
mined from the beginning that she should
give up school teaching when she became
my wife.
! AT this time tho art of veneering was
perhaps at its height, and for the benefit
of anyone here who knows nothing oil
that art, may say 1t is simply that OF
covering what may call base wood with
what may call precious wood. Logs OF
mahogony, walnut, satinwood, rosewood,
| and 30 on, are cut into thin leaves about
tho eighth of an inch thick and glued
down on base wood. In tho process OF
cutting half tho wood Is lost; but suppos.
ing an inch thickness Is required, you can
have, at tho expense of q quarter of an
inch of mahogony and seven. ighths OF
an inch of common wood what seems to
be inch mahogony. Quarter of an inch
and seven-oighths of an inch would bo, OF
course, an inch and an eighth, but the
odd eighth flies from the circular saw in
mahogony sawdust.
''It was In selecting logs which might
DO prohtably cut into veneer l attracted
attention at Marston's yard. 1t WAS on
my Judgment in this matter / started in
life on my own account. My plan was
simple. I wandered from place to place,
| from sale to sale, from yard to yard, spy
ing out likely-looking pieces and bringing
news OF them to manufacturers.
'In the course of my wanderings i
naturally came into contact with men
employed in nearly overy wholesale tim
ber yard in London. Among these was a
workingman named John Fraser, who
had always struck me as one possessed OF
a shrewd knowledge Of timber. As with
me he could give no reason for the con-
clusions at which he arrived. Hc simply
said: Il like it, or Il don't,' Buy IT, or
Lot il alone; Il think it will turn out
WELL or Il am sure it is no good
81 cannot explain how it was, but
felt drawn toward this man Fraser, and
whonovor l went to where he was em-
ployed i made it point to meet him and
ha' chat 1t will not seem like boast
irE on my part If say | was better
judge of logs than he. 1t is the simple
truth. In my experience he rarely hest.