St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1894-10-11
9l1isrrIlanu.
HOW HEGOT STARTED
MERCHANT TELLS OF HIS WIN
MING BY A SHOW OF HONESTY.

the Business Man Who Called Him
I ga Sterling, Honest Fellow"
You wish to know how got my
start in Chicago, eh? Well, I don't
mind telling you about it now, although
you may not indorse the means adopt
ed .
Here the merchant prince laughed
heartily, withdrawing his cigar for the
purpose. After moment or two he re-
Eumed:
i had come here from the country,
a gawky farmer boy, ignorant of the
ways of the world and disposed to re-
gard every city chap as a sharper. Be-
fore leaving home I had a settlement
with my guardian, who turned over to
me $500 in cash, all the possessions
had in the world.
The distress of the panic of 1857 had
not passed, and things were awfully
dull here After securing modest
boarding house [ applied myself with
diligence to the seeking of employment,
in the meantime assiduously studying
bookkeeping every evening. The 21
years of my life had been spent upon the
farm, and [ was utterly ignorant of all
business methods. Hence l sought hum
BILE work, being willing to begin at the
lowest rung of the ladder. But some
how [ didn t catch on. l must have been
what is vulgarly called an 'ornery' chap
-uncouth in speech, vulgar in manner
and easily abashed. Still [ persevered,
Offering myself as porter, cOachman,
day laborer, gardener, helper i'll grocery
stores-in short any kind of work that
demanded muscle without too much ex-
perience. Once in awhile l got a job Of
saving wood, cutting grass and tending
garden, but | spent far more than
earned, although [ lived very econom-
ically. Month after month passed in this
way until nearly one-half of my capital
was exhausted.
my necessities led me to much cogi-
tation, and having made rapid progress
in my study of bookkeeping as well as
in knowledge of good English [ finally
concluded to aspire to something higher.
A prerequisite to this step was the dOff-
ing of my old jeans suit, which had be-
come decidedly seedy. The tailOr's bill
made a big inrOad upon my diminishing
capital, and the thought Of it set my
teeth on edge. Out l went day after day
among the merchants, offering my serv
ices as a bookkeeper, accountant, ship
ping clerk or salesman, but [ found no
takers. The market was suffering from
an Oversupply Of the commodity, and
the demand was nil.
Finally I decided that something
had to be done. I could not and would
not be penniless in big city. am nat
urally of a sanguine temperament, but
six months of enforced idleness to one
who loves work are enough to beclOud
the sunniest temper. But [ see you are
getting impatient. A change did final
ly come One day Mr.. Davis, the head
Of the big dry goods store on Lake
street, was surprised out of his usual
equanimity by the rushing in of an excit-
ed individual, myself holding III his
hand a small bundle and saying bro
kenly:
80 I have found, sir, a package of
money-a hundred dollars, I think. I
am stranger in the city and wish you
to keep it until you find the owner.
when he found breath, Mr.. Davis,
who recalled me as one who had applied
to him more than once for employment,
demurred, insisting that I should leave
it in the hands of the police.
reputation and can confidently leave the
sum with you. I am desperately poor
and unemployed, and any imputation
upon my honor would kill me. My only
wish is that this money may reach its
owner. You will be sure to find him.
Mr. Davis became interested.
1" is there any way of identifying
him-any name or address in the pack
age?'
s. I think not sir, replied, but the
bills, as you will see, are done up in
peculiar red cloth-debiege I think it is
called-and if you would merely adver-
tise the fact that sum of money had
been found, and required the applicant
10 name the amount and the envelope
covering it, you could not possibly mis-
take ,
My importantly finally overcame his
objections and he took my address, and
after pronouncing me sterling honest
fellow babe me come around in the
morning
We'll. that was my start in life.
Mr.. Davis greeted me when I returned
in the morning most effusively.
I've been thinking over that matter
and confess that l admire your honesty.
There's no reason in the world why you
shouldn't have kept that money. Many
men who are far better off than you
would have done so.
He ended by offering me place be-
hind one of the counters at Sc week,
and five years later was his partner.
oh, the money! A number of par
ties answered the advertisement, but
they couldn t prove up, you see, for the
best of all reasons. The money was my
own, and Mr.. Davis finally returned it
to me- l ran not the slightest risk and
was satisfied that the act would bring
me under the favorable notice of Mr..
Davis.