Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1889-01-18


again.
No. said that they were, and, accord
ingly, to the hall they went, wherein were
gathered all the editors, sub-editOrs. man
ayers. sub-managers of the various depart
rneDts. clerks, and other employees, not
forgetting the tame authors, who, a pale
and mealy regiment had been marched
m thither from the HutcheS, and the
tame artists with flying hair-aud were
now being marshaled in lines by No. l,
who had gone on before. When Eustace
ana his wife and John Short got TO the top
of the hall, where some chairs had been
set, the whole multitude bowed, wherein
he begged them 20 be seated permission
which the tame authors, who sat all day
In their little wooden hutches. and some
times a good part Of the night also, did
not seem to care to avail themselves OF.
But the tame artists, who had, for the
most part, TO work standing, sat down
readily.
Gentlemen" said Eustace, first let me
introduce You to my wife, Mrs. Meeson,
who, in another capacity, has already been
not greatly TO her own proft-connected
with this establishment, having written
the best work Of fiction that has ever gone
through our printing presses" (here some
blushed and bowed) land who will,
hope and trust, write many even better
books which we shall have the honor of
giving to the world" (Applause) Also,
gentlemen, let me introduce you to Mr..
john Short, my solicitor, who, together
with his twin brother, Mr.. James Short,
brought the great lawsuit in which l was
engaged to n successful issue.
r,,,y I Iavra fp toll Won yyrbv bava
summoned you all to meet me here. First
of all, to say that / am now the sole owner
of this business. having bought out Messrs.
Addison and Roscoe" (''And good job,
too" said voice: and that | hope that
we shall work well together; and, second
ly, to inform you that / am going to total
ly revolutionze the course of business as
hitherto practiced in this establishment
(sensation); having, with the assistance
Of Mr. Short, drawn up "A scheme for that
purpose / am informed in the statement
of profits on which the purchase price Of
| the shares Of MesSrS. Addison and Roscoe
was calculated, that the average net profits
! of this house during the last ten years
have amounted to tifty-seven and frac-
| ton per cent. on the capital invested.
! Now. / have determined that in future the
! net profits of any given undertaking shall
| be divided as follows: Ten per cent. to the
| author of the book in hand, and ten per
| cent 10 the house Then, should there be
| any further profit. it will be apportiOned
| thus: One-third-Of which mOety Will
! 20 towards n pension fund-tO the en-
| plOycs of the house, the division to be az
ranged on fixed scale'-(CnOrmOus SEN
! sation, especially among the tame au-
| thorsJ; and the remainder to the author
| of the work. Thus, surprising that book
| paid cent per cent, / shall take ten per
cent, and the employees would take TWEEN
! ty-SiX and Il fraction per cent, and the
author would take siXty-four per cent"
! And here an interruption occurred. 1t
! came from No. >, who could no longer re"
strain his disgust.
"Tll resign he said-"pll resign! Nee
sons content with ten per cent, when an
| author-a mere author-gets sixty! It's
! shamcful-shamefuln'
al, you choose to resign, you can" said
| Eustace, sharply, but | advise you to
take time to think it over Gentlemen,
/ went on Eustacc, Il dare say that this
! seems great change to you, but | may as
well say at once that am no wild philan-
! thrupist ! expect to make it pay, and
! pay we'll TO begin with, | shall never
! undertake any work that / do not think
! will pay-that is, without an adequate
! guarantee. or in the capacity of a simple
| agent: and my own ten per cent Will be
! the first charge on the profits; then the
! authors ten. OF course, if speculate in
! book and buy it out and out, subject to
| the risks, the case will be different. But
with a net ten per cent certain, | am, like
! people in any other line OF business, quite
! prepared to be satisfied: and, upon those
! terms, ] expect to become the publisher of
| AL the best writer's in England, aud ! also
expect that any good writer Will in future
! he able to make IA handsome income out of
! his work Further, it strikes me that you
! will most of YOU find yourselves better Off
| at the end of the year than you do at pres
! ent" (Checrs) lone or two more mat
ters | must touch on. First and foremost
the IIutchcS, which | consider scandal
to II great institution like this, will be
Observation-Disclosures of joy from the tame
! authurSJ-"and a handsome row of brick
| chambers erected in their place, and, fur
| thcr, their occupants will in future receive
very considerable permanent addition to
their salaries" (Rencwed and delirious
| checringl Lastly. | will do away with
this system horrid system of calling
men by number, rs though they were con
viCts instead of free EugIiShmcu. Hence
forth everybody in this establishment will
be known by his own name" loud
| chcerSl
"Aud now one thing more: | hope to see
you all at dinner at PompAdour Hall this
day next week, when we will chriSten ouI
new scheme and the new firm. which,
| however, in the future rs in the past, will
be known as Mecson 4 Co, for, us we are
all to share in the profits of our undertake
ing, | consider that we shall still be a
company, and | hope a prosperous and an
honest company in the truest sense of the
word" And then, amidst II burst of pro-
lOnged and rapturous cheering, Eustace
and his wife bowed, and were escorted out
- the carriage that was waiting to drive
/ them to PompadOur Hall.
In half an hours time they were re-en-
tcrtng the palatial gates from which, less
than year before, EuStace had been
! driven forth to seek his fortune There,
ON either side, were drawn up the long
lines of mcnials, gorgeous with plush and
] powder for Mr.. Nelson's servants had
never been dischargcd) and there was the
fat butler, johnson, Mt their head, the
same who had given his farewell message
Good graciousw said Augusta, glanc-
ing up the marble steps, there are six of
those great footmen. What on earth shall
l do with them alI?"
Sack them" said Eustace, abruptly;
"the sight of those overfed brutes makes
| me sick
And then they were bowed inland I'M
der the close scrutiny of many pairs of
| eyes wandered or with what dignity they
could command to dress for dinner.
In due course they found themselves at
dinner, and such dinner! 1t took an
hour and twenty minutes to get through.
| or rather the six footmen took an hour
and twenty minutes to carry the silver
dishes in and out Never since their mar
riaGe had Eustace and Augusta felt so
| miserable.
Il don't think that Ike being so rich, 4"
said Augusta, rising and coming down the
long table to her husband. when at last
Johnson had softly closed the door. 1T
Expresses mel"
so it does me-" said Eustace, land l
. tell you what it is, Gussse," he went on,
| drawing her on to his knee: Il won't stand
having all those Internal fellows hanging
round me. shall sell this place, and go
in for something quieter"
And nj that moment rbarp rnrDe q 5raa5