The Cecil Whig., 1886-07-03
HOW 4 SHARPER ACTED,

The calm serenity that characterizes
the interior of all great banking houses
marked the physical atmosphere OF
Brown Brothers counting room one hot,
sultry day in August, 1877, when a tall,
slender, keen-eyed man, with side whis.
kers, scrupulously dressed, looking like
we'll to do Englishman of refined man.
| ners, entered, and, after looking about
him, walked to what appeared to be the
chief parsonage there, and said: "Good
morning, sir. have lfters of credit
from your house on the other side to a
considerable amount, which will be fol-
lowed by others, and, as l intend making
some extensive purchases here and in the
West, would like to establish personal
as well as financial relations with the re.
sponsible party of your house. My name
is Sandford, of Edinburg, and here is my
letter of credit"
The cashier, Mr.. Wilson, looked at the
man and for some reason was impressed
unpleasantly.
What curious faculty that is, by the
way-that subtle something" that at
taches to women, and dogs more espe.
cially-to shun this, to warm to that.
Happy, thrice fortunate, is the man gifted
with that peculiarly feminine trait, in-
tuition. 1t thrice arms him against
fraud; it opens to him million avenues
never seen or dreamed of by mere mas.
culinity. And yet everything was regu.
lar. The man was evidently gentle.
man. The letter of credit was in due
form. There could be no question about
it. 1t chimed with their advices from
their London correspondents, and tie
amount of twenty. five thousand pounds
indicated that the party was one to be
treated with consideration.
After moments hesitation, which to
an honest man would have appeared al
most an insult, Mr.. Wilson said: 81 am
pleased to see you, sir. Will you walk
in and take a seat? None of the firm
are in at present, but l can transact any
matter you wish. Your letter is fol
twenty five thousand pounds. How dc
you wish to use it?"
Taking memorandum book from his
pocket with great deliberation Mr.. Sand
ford replied: II have been in the city
| a week, and should have called earlier
had not been detained by pressing bus.
mess engagements which called me to
Yonkers and to Tarrytown, where l met
parties with whom l had been in CORE.
spondence before leaving home in refer
ence to a tract of land in tue West, fol
which l shall need an immediate cash
payment of $4,000. Having attended
to that am gong to Chicago, where
have some interests already and intend
getting more, for have great faith in
the growth of that city, and shall very
likely draw heavily upon you within the
week. would suggest that you trans
fer my letter of credit to your bank,
opening account with me, course the
more desirable, as shall remain here
certainly two years, and when subse
quent remittances come they can be
placed to my credit as in an ordinary
| bank"
Well, that all seemed reasonable
enough-and yet Wilson hesitated.
His manner was SO unusual as to at
tract the attention of the junior CLERK s
and one of them wrote on piece of pa
per and handed it to him, "What's the
matter? Anything wrong9" To this
the cashier paid no attention, but turn
ing to Mr.. Sandford said "Ail right
sir; we will do as you please. Kindly
put your name in the signature book
and, Mr.. Crane, give Mr.. Sandford {
pocket check book and show him the
signature book
This was done.
Mr.. Sandford wrote his name,