Sharp County record., 1891-09-10

tllC COuSSlOuolCoo lHdI 'lC ildu odNNu
mani
So there are commercial exigencies.
A very late spring obliterates the de-
mand for spring overcoats and spring
hats and spring apparel of 1l sorts.
Hundreds of thousands of people say;
at seems we are going to have no
spring, and we shall go straight out Of
winter into warm weather, and we can
get along without the usual spring at
tire" Or there is no autumn weather,
the heat plunging into the cold, and
usual clothing which is a compromise
between summer and winter is not re-
uuired. 1t makes difference in the
sale of millions and millions of dollars
of goods, and some over-sanguine
young merchant is caught with vast
amount of unstable goods that will
never be salable again, except at prices
ruinously reduced. The young mer-
chant with q somewhat limited capital
is in predicament. What shall the old
merchants do as they see the young man
in this awful crisis? Rub their hands
and laugh and say: "Good for him.
He might have known better When
he has been in business as long as we
have, he will not load his shelves in
that way. Ha! ha! He will burst up
before long. He had no business to
open his store so near to ours anyhow"
Sheriff's sale! Red flag in the Window
Glow much is bid for these out-of-
fashion spring overcoats and spring
hats or fall clothing out of date? What
do hear in the way of a bid?" -Four
dollars" "Absurd; l can not take that
bid of four dollars piece. Why, these
coats when first put upon the market
were offered at fifteen dollars each,
and now l am only offered four
dollars. Is that all? Tive dollars, do
l hear? Going at that! Gone at five
dollars" and he takes the whole
lot. The young merchant goes
home that night and says to
his wife: "Well, Mary, we will
have to move out of this house and
sell our piano. That old merchant that
has had an evil eye on me ever since |
started has bought out all that clothing,
and he will have it rejuvenated, and
next year put it on the marketas new,
while we will do we'll if we keep out of
the poor house" The young man,
broken-spirited, goes to hard drinking.
The young wife with her baby goes to
her fathers house, and not only is his
store wiped out, but his home, his
morals, and his prospects for two
worlds-this and the next. And devils
make banquet of fire and fill their
cups of gall, and drink deep to the
health of the old merchant who swal-
lowed up the young merchant who got
stuck on spring goods and went down.
That is one way, and some of you have
tried it,
But there is another way. That
young merchant who found that he had
miscalculated in laying in too many
goods of one llinff, and been flung OF
the unusual season, is standing behind
the counter, feeling very blue and bit.
ing his finger nails, or looking bver the
account beel+est'-.s44 -scaes-s comN N1,ad
worse every time he looks al them. and
thinking how his young wife will have
to be put in palmer house than she
ever expected to live in, or 60 to q
third-rate boarding house, where they
have tough liver and sour bread five
mornings out of the seven. An old
merchant comes in and says; "Well,
Joe, this has been a hard season for
young merchants, and this prolonged
cool weather has put many in the
doldrums, and have been thinking OF
you a good deal of Late, for just after
started in business I once got into the
same scrapc. Now, if there i;
anything can do to helT
you out I will gladly do it, Better
just put those goods out Of sight fol
the present, and next season we will
plan something about them. l will hell
you to some goods that you can sell foi
me on commission, and / will 90 dowr
to one Of the wholesale houses and tel
them that l know you and will bacl
you up and If you want a few dollar,
to bridge over the present, can let yo,
have them. BE as economical as yo,
can, keep stiff upper lip, and remem
Der that you have two friends, God ant
myself, Good morning" The old mer
chant goes away and the young MAJ
goes behind his desk and the tears rol
down his cheeks 1t is the first time hi
has cried. Disaster made him mad a
everything, and mad at man and a
God But this kindness melts him, anC
the tears seem to relieve his brain, ant
his spirits rise from ten below to eight,
in the shade, and he comes out Of tn,
crisis.
About three years after, this younl
merchant goes into the old merchant
store and says; "Well, my old friend,
was this morning thinking over wha
you did for me three years ago. Yo,
helped me out OF nm awful crisis il
my commercial history. | learned wis
dom, prosperity has come and the pal
lor has gone out of my wifes cheeks
and the roses that were there when
tourted her in her fathers house hav
bloomed again, and my business /
splendid, and | thought ought to le
you know what saved munm In
short time after, the old merchant VIII,