Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1888-01-17
MISCELLANEOUS
From Monthly Auction Trade
journal for January.

caSvss absolutely nothing for mere money
passing the fftieth mile post and the Uhtton
line in the sad e%yentful,. historic EIGHTY
SEyENwith twenty years still between TO-DAY
and MT. HEBRON in WINcHEsTER-panting
with ernest enthusiasm and thirstsng for sweet
revenge on old scores in the carly years of-the
long ago, end the recent past inrthe dedly
graple with the CREDIT MONSTER and his twin
barbarian PARTNERSHIP, when this writer was
buried under a load of ten thousand in '66. and
after in rs of nearly fifty thousand-thrild
with new life by unparaleled success-wes shall
prove that CASH is KING and notthe demon of
unlimited time-that the ALMITY DOLLAR has
the tru emfatic. resonant. rhythmic ring and 1.-The
LEDGER means inevitable ruin. The hundreds
ofthousands lost WAS NoTuISG in comparison
to the precious timc-TwENrx-oNE YEARs!
The money mite go, but the sriter would give
his satanic majesty a mortgage of a million on
his soul, and start agen at zero or bslo,-tor
THAT brief but reversible stretch and scope OF
tirse in the worlds eternal whirl! -
In the last eleven years we hav delt the mon
strous. credit car titanic sledghamerstagere
q foretaste of the ominous aud pregnant utnrc
the memory of the degradation, humiliation
and Notwithstanding the bitter cup of
defeat to the very dregs, will nerr us to the
pitch of desperation, not alone to get even. but
to bury,in, oblivion the internal triplet brother
of the blugras king and his p%lutonic pard.-
Far. above MERE MONEY the honor aud fame
of lifting from utter ruin the thousands who
were wandering about the portals of 1.-The I'M
known and planting them upon the progresiv
high ground and foundation. of bullion. OF
what value the wclth in comparison TO the
glory of leading genius from the marshy sands
~oftapathy and Indifference. from the very ashes
of despair, and driving him to the top? The
million seems small when reading the silent elo-
arence of many q Letter from many an imperial
magnate and master, who catching the inspi-
ration from our monthlics, had walked from
the oblivion line to the high pinnacle of success.
You hare no time to spare. certainly not TWEEN
TY-oNE YEARS, fitting and fooling with a system
that has been tested by superb. hang-up, solid
men of vast and cOmpreHenFiv ability and
shrewdness, whca The strait plain way lay rite
before you-that steel trak along which in their
palmy days of glory sped the commercial
giants of the age just gone by, and over which
the meteoric mercantile masters of to-day ar
whirling-a mile a minit-to reach or rivalthc
record of STEWART. of CLAFLIN, of JAPFRAT!
When you touch the forticth mile post. the I'M
ayailable regrets begin to rcproach you for
waste of time and neglect of opportunity
When you strike the ffticth It is o olate to face
relentlcs adversely for most men abov the gen.
eral average, but to the few who never kno
when they ar beaten come the sad thoughts of
"what might have been had they driven
acros the near way and the quik. Tho bravcst
of the brave despair at the sixtieth, and yet
thar or mo efnrfinO from that nOiDf who fPl
up IN the eighties, ~Uictors-perhaps one of ten
thousa ID but of that number, My FATHER
WAS OSE.
,IfAfhe young mercantile stuff of this uge cd
feel and kno what the veterans of so an 60 can
tel them. beginning at 16, where the ritter
started they wd be welthy at 80, when most
young men ar trying it over agcn the second
time without anything but experience. In
thes monthly monitors coined from the pitilcs
deere of adversely, ar coilcd up in few words.
stript of theory the cold steel facts that any
tyro or novice may lern in a day that viii save
years of toll and torture. of struggle and sus-
pens. Yet behind the "ALMITY DOLLAR
CASH BEFoR DELIVERY" lay that giant leTer-
age. that other half Of te ba;le-the I" T'reMiy
flee Pen Cent system-thnt hard rule that so
few men hav the moral courage to follow I'M
finchingIy to the very fraction: How very few
vii. sci at 10 ,rhen it is apparently just IS cheap
Mt 25, and vet. in that nutshell lay the difference
between SUCCESS and FAILURE-at 90 it is Il
magical advertisement Irorth many times lis
ralue at % another cash concern with levelcr
head and more piercing inSitc may match or
beat. and in the great game of mercantile life
unlike tho faro tiger, the bottom card viii
always win.
The sterling leaders of this circular ar of little
valu to the cruIjc hundred pcrccmter and re-
turning crank. The unfair profit kills US ded
as the mother of Moses that which mite hav
advertised him into fame, but to the wide
awake. agrcsiv. progrcsiv 25 perccrtcr these
splondid specialtics ar the solid STEPPING stones
upward and onward to popularity and-thctOp.
Walk along the great thorofares of this me
tropolis, q blind man cd readily distinguish the
"clos cutting savage cash concerns" from the
"get al you can" lonesome. go-to-siccT. me
diocres. One is just where he was twenty-five
years ago. the same store, stock. force ana-cap-
ital. The spot cash fellow with his religion
boiled down in two words. UNDERBUY-UNDER-
sEL--why you wdnt kno him-whcr once stood
the little ratrap 10 by ~. thcr towers an iron
building piercing the very clouds. with an I'M
pretending sign carved into the pilUrs, some
such historic names as RIDLEY. MACY. AR
MOLD 6 CONSTABLE, ALTMAN. BLOOMING
DALE, O'NEILL. ORD S TAYLOR. Whcr -wd
thes magnificent punches of iron. ncrv and
prodigiOus audacity-thcs fellows who felt that
every item shd be n clinching. transferable adj
vertisement-thcs sterling - cash before dcliv-
cry fellows who Taught to scorn the old rotten
credit king and his old time one per cent
anttdeIuvians, wher these giants hav stood,
fallen and persisted ? These lofty monuments
to the. honor and memory of great and success
full Gusincs men that adOrn the coming cOrm-
mercial centre of the world wd never hav been
built, and thes chivalrOu3 names never hav
been engraven upon the pages of eternal time.
We have met these old timers plodiug alon"
thro life, piling up their yearly results in
round figures in stOx. lands, colatcrals. who
thot they wer getting nearer the top every
year, tho they felt the terfk pinch for rcdy
they new wei emf that the outside unavaila-
BILE asets yielded neither incom nor interest
and the ledger even les. brave fellows who had
the moral courage not alone to stop and listen
to the honest and ernest appeals of these faith
full monthly monitors, but the unf!inching res
olution to say From this day I shall adopt
your ,centy .fice-pe1- ceHt.-cosh JeJOr deliUery'
\ year had whirlcd by and one
morning q ruff. unprctcnding. clear Gus dia-
mond stood before the proprictor's desk hold
ing ont his corn stcalcr :. to shake Yes. I
did as yon Sed-I put tie knife into ereryhiing:
The nudes and the mil, hc land and securities at