Morning journal and courier., 1886-07-12
NO. 165.

| ing the blade of his axes, each one as care- | fully done as if it was to be sent as present | to some royal statesman, who, like the Glad | stone of our day, was fond of attacking the
 forest timber. He would plunge the whole l blade red-hot in his trough of water, and then by gradually heating and wettirg re- 1 duce the brittleness, carefully watching the l creeping down to the edge of the precise | bluish shade that told him it would cut without turning crumbling.
 An axe factory, then new enterprise, was | started at New Haven, and such was the rep utation of the axes with the A. T. stamped | on them that Asahel Towner, the humble village blacksmith, offered large sala- ry to take charge of the tempering of the new product. He yielded and removed to the city, the stipulation being that his ini- tlals were to be put on the new axes-all to be tempered by his own hands. The reputa-
 tion ouce established, the company were not
 careful to keep their contract, and the axes
 poor Asahel had never seen were turned out
 by the gross and sent all over the country.
 The moment he discovered this nothing
 would induce him to stay. He put his little
 stock of household goods on an ox-cart and
 went back to his country forge. Axes tem-
 pered by other and careless hands became
 too brittle or too soft and the factory soon
 after came to grief.
 We know of plain cotton goods both
 brown and bleached, the easiest possible
 thing to make ill cotton mill, which sold
 under 8 particular trade mark for several de-
 cades, bringing fortune to the manufac-
 turer because there was never yard of poor goods, or one with imperfect thread, sent out with the makers name. If any goods came from the loom not up to standard they were not stamped and were sold as imper- feet. When trade WAS dull and other fab rics were kept on hand these goods were al- ways wanted; and when it was brisk they would bring quarter to half cent per yard more than others of the same weight, finish and apparent quality. The difference was handsome annual dividend. The pro- ducer had reputation built on character He was thoroughly honest and people found 1t out and preferred the fabrics from his mill
 A man who is honest while it seems to be good policy, and for the sake only of what he can gain by it, is very apt to lose his re- ward even if he does not part with his repu- tation in the hour of trial; but man who is honest from principle and seeks no tempo rary advantage by a show Of equity, will find in the long that it has even a commer- cial value over and above the return it brings in the consciousness of unsWerving recti- tude. There is prevalent notion among the young men of our day that policy sits at the wheel of fortune and pours the largest grains into the shreTd mans lap regardless of the law of right and wrong. This is great mistake and those who make it are sure to come to grief. A man who will be honest at all hazards may be rich; but one who will acquire wealth as his chief desire and intends to be honest because it is good policy, has no safeguard against the tempta- lions of the times which have wrecked SO many who ran well at the first.