Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1894-09-15


hat or new knife or the like, used to
say at school times
$50 long, now, and don't let Wesley
Sterritt trade you out o that. Don't
swap with him at all.
No casual observer would even sus-
pect him of shrewdness-a fact which
he turned to his own advantage in
many bargain-but Wesley had, as
though Nature provided special com
pensation for the shortcomings OF per-
sonal attractions. u peculiar indiffer-
ence as to externalities, whether his
own or those of other people. He val
ued above par that which he had and
below par that which he had not; he
was always in the attitude of consent
ing to an eXchan ge rather than that of
seeking it; he never fixed price, and
never accepted one as long as there
was chance for better. He was one
of those people who could swap u
bushel of corn for bushel of corn
and profit by the transaction, main
tanning a reputation for fair measure
and inchfor-inch honesty. He re.
moved at sixteen from Flat Rock to
Shiloh. He was rapidly advanced to
forty dollars month and then to part
nership in dry goods store. He soon
became sole owner of the business.
He added line of school books and
coffins, fiourished for ten or twelve
months, insured everything and got
burned out. He went to Fairburn.
He flourished, of course. HeeXpanded,
as it were, to the limit of his oppor
tunities. His enterprise was a revela-
tion to his competitors. He had toys
for Christmas, valentines for the 18th
of February, flags for the Fourth of
July.
"A lie edlestoo sharp" some croakers
said, commenting upon Wesley Ster-
ritt's methods, intending to convey the
idea that he might some day overreach
himself-'jest a leedle bit too smart"
There were rumors that he sold
whisky-very profitable that, because
very risky, the town and county being
dry--but the grand jury aever did any
thing with it, and Wesley continued
to prosper. He attended church and
Sunday-school regularly, ingratiating
himself to degree with the denom-
ination which had most adherents in
that neighborhood. Eventually he be-
gan speculating in cotton. He sent
mysterious kilograms in cipher and re-
ceived equally mysterious answers.
The telegraph operator told all about
it, contidentially. fhe rumor was
speedily corroborated, as it could be
in none but small town where every
body knows everybody else and every
body else's business.
He don't know how to let we'll
enough alone" the neighbors said of
Wesley. He's in too big a hurry to
git rich. He's gettin' over his depth.
Fairburn held its breath awhile
the expression is semi-fgurative, of
course-in expectation ofa catastrophe,
the sudden annihilation of Wesley
Sterritt. The negroes, who heard the
white folks whispering about it, looked
for the earth to open up and literally
swallow him. There was no tinan-
cial crash, no crack of doom, no sensa-
tion of any sort. The man simply con-
tinued to prosper. The town rubbed
its eyes and looked again, to be certain
Wesley was still there, and then de-
liberately settled down to the con-
viction that he was great finan-
cier-a man who could hold his
own in conflict with the money
kings of Wall street. He came to
be regarded as an oracle in the matter
of speculative investments. No list of
trustees or directors could be complete
without his name. He was offered the
nayoralty and declined the honor. His
store burned up, fully insured--a fact
OF which some envious people and the
insurance adjuster, referring to the
similar experience in Shiloh, made
suggestive coincidence-but Wesley
collected the money and removed to
Atlanta. Some people wondered why
he didn't go on to New York at once,
instead of stopping in a smaller place,
limited field, like Atlanta. What he
should have done, or might have done,
IRE considerations foreign to the pur-
pose of this narrative, which is de-
signed simply to record what he did
do. He started business in Atlanta.
He was amply successful. He was dis
satisfied.
One evening, after good days bust
ness, he went home in a thoughtful,
silent mood. He had little appetite
for supper. His wife-yes, indeed, he
had wife! 1t is strange how natural
ly one who knew Wesley Sterritt at
this time might, in telling the story of
his life, forget to mention the ex-
istence of Mrs. Sterritt. There was
little about Mrs. Sterritt, except her
existence, to be mentioned in that
connection. Even in the account given
by her old neighbors of the marriage
the one time in her life when she
had said II will"-she was made sub.
ordinate and incidental to the consid-
Grafton of grist mill, which Wesley
was commonly said to have married,
the wife passing as sort of incum-
brance upon the property. Poor wom-
an. Her identity, except the mechan-
ical part of it. had faded away into
that of her husband-her me ntality, it
that isn't in itself too positive term,
bore to his the relation of shadow to
4.