The Northwestern recorder., 1892-12-03
KITlNG DRAFTS.

How to Become n Napoleon of Finance
Without Any Capital.
"You haven't got an \ that you could
lend me?" said the shabby man with a
six days. growth of beard.
"Wby, certainly, old fellow" replied
his friend, handing over bank note.
'But what is the matter? The last time
we met you seemed on the flood tide of
prosperity"
$50 / was," replied the other sadly.
Unfortunately my business has gone
to smash irretrievably."
''What was it?''
ooh, it was something IN a sort of
speculative line, very light and profit
able so long as it lasted. / don't mind
telling you about it, strictly in conf
dence. My occupation was what is
known as 'kiting drafts.
"Wbat on earth is that ?"
well, it is something in the way of
financiering-a method of making mon
ey by theory rather than practice. Had
it not been for an uniustitied lack of
confidence on the part of persons with
whom | had business relations | might
still be doing very we'll. Tie basis of
the whole business is credit, without
which the world could not get along,
aud all industries would have to come
to standstill. To begin with, let us
say / borrow $780,"
"Yes, that's easy enough so ia r."
ION the contrary, my dear fellow, that
is the only difficult part of the whole
performance. Once having obtained
the 500 the rest is easy enough. give
my note for the amount at sixty davs.
Now, you know that live in Baltimore
and that until recently | was employed
in one of the departments"
Eyes, certainly"
hinges to a certain extent. Just before
the note comes due | make draft in
Washington on myself in Baltimore for
an amount sufficient to cover the note
and interest. This draft / have dis
counted and with the money / pay the
note.
"Now, you observe that have got the
note out of the way. All | have to do
is to pay the draft ten days later. But
day or two before it comes due | draw
in Baltimore Oh myself in Washington
for sum large enough to cover the first
draft. This second draft | have dis
counted, paying the first draft, and
am not obliged to pay the second draft
until ten days later. pay it by draw
ing from Washington on myself in Balti-
MORE"
"But you can't keep that up indef-
nitely."
On the contrary, that was my modest
effort. 1t goes without saying that sc
long as | could keep the thing going or
that plan [ need never pay the original
SlO0. Obviously | would be that much
| ahead on the speculation"
But you couldn't live on that very
long"
"Of course not. But it was possible
for me to repeat the thing again and
again, and SO multiply my operations
Indefinitely. Inasmuch as nv notes and
drafts were always promptly paid when
they fell due my credit was necessarily
first rate. All | needed was credit to
conduct speculative business such as |
describe. Beginning in every case by
borrowing sum of money on my note,
L could pay up and vet retain the
money for an endless period by kiting
drafts to cover it back and forth be-
tween Washington and Baltimore. l
did not need to borrow the cash from
any bank, which would have required
an indorser. | got all the money | re-
quired from two or three friends in
sums of 500 or 5000. The notes | gave
them were always paid, with interest,
so that they lent me the same amounts
again and again, and [ was thus enabled
each time to start a new series of
drafts"
That was certainly great scheme" !"
Immense. Why, my dear sir, had
drafts flying so thick between here and
Baltimore that | must have added con-
sIderably to the banking business be-
tween the two cities. Ny desk at the
department was covered every morn
ing with letters from banks containing
notifications, etc. l began to feel like a
veritable Napoleon of finance. In fact,
the occupation engrossed SO much of
my attention that | had very little time
to devote to my Office duties. Conse-
quently, somewhat to my surprise, |
found myself suddenly bounced one
fine day. 1t would not have mattered
much, my speculative scheme being in
such a prosperous way, only during the
same week my Baltimore bank, for
some unaccountable reason, refused to
discount one of my drafts. | could not
procure the money otherwise at short
notice, and the result was that my en-
tire speculation fell to pieces. My
credit vanished and my drafts were pro-
tested by the score. At present sew
eral actions at law are threatening me
in Baltimore, and thatis the reason why
/ am in Washington. Much obliged 10
you for tie $40, olo man. - Washington
Star.
The Contribution Box.
'sIs that all you could raise, Brother
Huckstep ?" asked the wandering
evangelist, looking into the hat after
it had come back from a trip up and
down the aisles of the little country
church.
That's ALL" replied Deacon Huck-
hn3 I,D