The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1894-09-24
HOW HEGOT STARTED
A MERCHANT TELLS OF HIS WIN
MING BY A SHOW OF HONESTY.

"Catch on" He Worked Little Scheme
on the Business Man who Called Him
'a Sterling, Honest Fellow"
lyon wish to know how got my
start in Chicago, eh? Well, l don't
mind telling you about 1t now, although
you may not indorse the means i adopt.
ed"
Here tho merchant prince laughed
heartily. withdrawing his cigar for the
purpose After moment or two no re-
sumed:
Il had come hero from tho country,
gawky farmer boy, ignorant of the
ways of the world and disposed to re-
gard every city chap as a sharper. Be-
fore leaving homo l had settlement
with my guardian, who turned over to
me 5000 in cash, all the possessions
had in the world.
THE distress Of the panic Of 1857 had
not passed, and things were awfully
dull hero. After securing a modest
boarding house applied myself with
diligence to the seeking of employment
in the meantime assiduously studying
bookkeeping every evening. The 81
years of my life had been spent upon the
farm, and i was utterly ignorant Of all
business methods. Hence sought hum
bic work, being willing to begin at the
lowest rung of the ladder. But some
how didn't catch on. l must havo been
what is vulgarly called an 'ornery' chap
-uncouth in speech, vulgar Ia manner
and easily abashed. Still persevered,
offering myself as porter, coachman
day laborer, gardener, helper in grocery
stores-in short, any kind of work that
demanded muscle without too much ex-
pericnce. Once in awhile / got "a job of
saving wood, cutting grass and tending
garden, but / spent far moro than !
earned, although l lived very oconom-
ically. Month after month passed i'll this
way until nearly oue.half of my capital
was exhausted.
My necessities led me to much cogi.
tati0n, and having made rapid progress
in my study Of bookkeeping as well as
I in knowledge of good English finally
concluded to aspire to something higher.
A prerequisite to this step was the doll
ing of my old jeans suit, which had be.
come decidedly svedy, The tailor's bill
made big iIroad upon my diminishing
capital, and the thought of it set my
teeth on edge. Ont went day after day
among the merchants, offering my serv-
ices as bookkecper, accountant, ship
ping clerk OF salesman, but l found III
takers. The market was suffering from
an oversupply Of the commodity, and
the demand was nil.
Finally ! decided that something
had to DO done. ! could not and would
not be pennilcss in a big city am nat
urally Of a sanguino temperament, hui
six months Of enforced idlenesS to on,
who loves work are enough to heclout
the sunniest temper. But sec YOU ar,
getting impatient. A change did final
~ come. One day Mr.. Davis, the heaC
of the big dry goods store on LAX,
street, was surprised out Of his usua
oquanimity by the rushing in Of IN excit
ed individual, myself, holding in hi
hand small bundle and saying bro
kerly:
l have found, sir, a package o
money! hundred dollars, | think.
am stranger in the city aud wish YOU
to keep it until You tiud the owner.
When he found breath, MIR Davis
who recalled mo as one who had apple,
to him more than once for employment
dcmurcd, insisting that | should leav
it i'll the hands Of the police
That will moi do, sir. know YOU
reputation and can confidently leave thu
sum with YOU. AN separately poo
and unemployed, and any inpututiol
, upon my honor would kill me My onl'
wish is that this money may reach 1t
owner. You will be sure to find him
MIR. Davis became Interested.
Is there any way Of identifying
him-any name or address in the pack
agc:'
thinls not, sir, Iroaliod, hut tn
bills, as you viii see, are done M in
peculiar red cloti.-Clebiege think it i
callcd-and il Yen would merely advcr
tise the fact that n sum Of money hat
been found, and required the applican
to name the amount and the envelop
covering it, you could not possibly mis-
take.
My importantly finally ovcrcame hi
objections. and ho taDk my address, am
after prOuouncing me sterling homes
fellow, babe me come around i'll tn
{ morning.
j Well. that was my start in life
Mr. Davis greeted me whrn rotuIne
in the morning most cffusively
- I've been thinking over that matte
and confess that l admire your honesty
There's no reason i'll the world why yol
shouldn't have ll,pt that money. Man
men who are far better off than yo
: would have done so,
lie ended by Offering me place be
hind one Of the counters ut So week
: and five years later | was lis partner
/. oh, the money! A number of paI
ties answered the advertisement, bu
they couldn't prove up, you see, for tn
best of all reasons Tho money was m
own, and Mr.. Davis finally returned
to mo ran not the slightest risk an
'' wn= satisfied that the act would brin
mo under the favorable notice of Nj
- Davis.
ies' E'Sf' WIS ue'Nptlpn Ill H. an
n ] am not saying that it was common,
able But ] did no one an injury, and
was the groundwork of my preset
comfortable fortune. Still / would Il,
II, advise any other young man to go I'll
Ie do likewise. Chicago Tribune
s---------
.ol Chicken on the Shell.
y In certain rather pretcntious bv
= cheap priced restaurant / witnessed
,-- scene which, though funny enough
=. the outside enloolt"r, could nor hut La,
been extremely Notifying to tho pr
Hprictor The proprietor was also n
!, cook, and he was engaged in iudusI