Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1888-10-25
The AUCTION Trade Journal.
OCTOBER, 1888.

Credit is the lightning express to distruc-
ton.
Along the pathway of Times sweeping
changes lay the plumed and unonored-the
great and little-al victims of King Credit
under who's trecherous lottery laws no
amount of courage, or enterprise, or genius,
or ambition cud ever hope to win in the
fierce and unequal struggle for mastery. The
Leviathan in the shackles of the ledger, is
simply game and lafng stok for the Liliput
with his triphamers under the net-spot-
twenty y-fve-pe cent laws. 1t is simply
question of little time when the OLD TIMER,
with his terifik tariff, his mamoth stok, his
coaterals, mills, farms and mule teams,
shall be driven to the jumping off plase by
the sharpshooter with his wheelbarro of led
ers-his unanserable voleys at a quik, sharp,
murderous 25 per cent, MONEY DOWN.
And the old stifneker vii never lern.
Year after year he hands over his orders to
the peripatetic periodical of unlimited time
with eternity dating, then slaping on the
oldfashiond one per cent-titer liter, as the
asets are crowding into the ledger, harder
and harder. as the duns and drafts and the
devil pres him, until the tired, worn out
wheel vii turn no longer. Do you wonder,
then, why some merchants dingdong forev-
er the threadbare sing song of hard times,
scarcity of money, keen competition, of mud
and storm, of politix, religion and fate,
ending up with the destruction of the world
by fire and birthstone All me the droery
of thes full of faith and weary Of life idiotic
ireconciables
The ritter can hardly keep his face strait
listning to thes comik, prehistoricalities
with folded arms looking up into eternal
space waiting for the Great Jehovah to com
down from the sky and "show 'em how
HARD TINES what insuferable non
sense the times ar just as u chose to have
it. Do you ever hear the cash before de-
livery unconditional with his unanserable
jaw smashers, yelping the plaintiv old yelp
of hard times? Never. the problem that
confronts him is how to get little corn pone
and little sleep, and then in the romance
OF Dreamland's fairy battles he caryes out
his stretegic manuvres for the moro. In
the busy, bristling, bustling, crowd choking
the bargain counters theirs little time to
think. les to eat. and absolutely none to
worry the Good Lord.
And yet piety swears that it was the Al
nifty and not the generals and leders and
filing force of CHARLES BROADWAY R0Uss,
lvion to the top-that it was the MYSTERY
OF MYSTERIES who's business it is to keep a
billion times billion worlds whrling thro in
finite space and not the iron rule of UN
DERBY and UNDERsEL for BULIoN. get
tired of life listning to thes counterfeit,
clever harted, huk-ful.of- Fable Faith-and-
Fiction Fellows, aud often wish ! never had
been born. Reminding me Of an angry dutch
man and old personal friend, who got into a
quarl with brother country. ! had for
gotten my academic German, and he nu it,
and kept the fire up in the Fatherland tung,
until, as he after sed, ther wasn't any words
in the German vocabulary that relieved him
as did the singing, scorching, xpresiv GUS
ing of the passionate American.
In the battle for mastery every hiden force
ads to the chances, and lesens the time, lit
ems the load and shortens the road. Cen
ius and ambition are the gliding stars, apli-
cation and perseverance, industry and hold
fast ar indispensable allies, adorn thes with
courtesy, integrity audacity, and drive your
enterprise under the twenty-five per cent
spot cash system, and success vii date from
the hour of resolution when L put your
shoulder to the wheel in perfect love with
yourself and your work.
Iron vii is everything-it was the max
er Napoleon and Washington and Lee and
Jackson. 1t braut to the lite from obscuri-
ty Girard and Hopkins and Clafin and
Stewart. 1t was nothing els but this self
| Sdlilt DOktuL iOINt tlldb hlDNt tht CnAlNh
street desperates from ashes Of absolute and
utter rnin to the very top. Napoleon at
Marengo, Washington at Trenton, Arnold
at Saratoga Lee facing the world under
Grant, Jackson at Charlottesville. What
grand, magnificent, thrilling historic pic
lures And yet in the lives Of al ther ar
hours that cal for that same stern stuff that
painted on the arcades Of time thes auful,
fadeles tragic, undying, memorable scenes.
And it is this al powerful metle that
coins heroes from comonplace, and the
want of it that crowds the dens masses Of
mediocrity down into oblivion. Many a
mercantile master has faut his way toward
the top until the hour for decision cald
forth that subtle stuf, Resolution-this is
the life of al is the turning point, one road
leads to defeat, the other to victory. And
how esy now 10 look bak over the chekered
life Of yicisitude, and note the hour when
the aspirations of life time hung quiyer-
ing in the balance. What wud we not give
to recall that ireclaimable moment? That was