The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1895-03-20
OWHEGOTsTARTED
a MERCHANT TELLS or his WIN
MING BY A SHOW or HONESTY.

Catch On" he Worked . Little Scheme
en- the Bassness Man who Called Him
con secTlAng. Honest Fellow"
"You wish 20 know how got my
start in Chicago, chr Well, / don't
mind telling you about it now. although
you may not indorse the means adopt
cd. "
Here the merchant prince laughed
heartily. withdrawing his cigar for the
purpose After q moment or two he re-
/ Gumed:
II had come here from the country,
n 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 had 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 a modest
boarding house applied myself with
diligence 20 the seeking Of employment,
In the meantime Assiduously studying
bookkeeping every evening. The 2l
years Of my life had been spent upon the
farm, and was utterly ignorant Of all
business methods. Hence / sought hum
ble work, being willing to begin at the
lowest rung Of the ladder. But some,
how didn't catch on. 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 latUrer, gardener, helper I'm grocery
stores-in short. any kind Of work that
dei..2nded muscle without too much ex
peri Ice. Once in awhile got 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-hAf Of my capital
was exhausted
Ny necessities led me to much cogi-
tation, and having made rapid progress
in my study of bookkeeping as we'll 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 ! went day after day
among the merchants, Offering my serv-
ices ns a bookkeeper, accountant, ship
ping clerk or salesman, but / found nc
takers The market was suffering from
an oversupply Of the commodity, and
the demand was nil.
Finally decided that something
had to be done. could not and would
not be penniless in . big city. am nat
urally Of a sanguine temperament, but
six months Of enforced idleness TO ono
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 in his
hand q small bundle and saying bro
kenly:
4 have found. sir, a package OF
money! hundred dollars, i think
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 should leave
it in the hands Of the police.
That will not do, sir know your
reputation and can confidently leave the
sum with you / am desperately poor
and unemployed, and any imputatiou
upon my honor would kill me. Ny only
wish Is that this money may reach its
owner. You will be sure to find him.
Mr.. Davis became interested
Is there any way Of identifytl 2
him Amy name or address in the pack.
AgeT'
think not, sir, replied, but the
bills. rs you viii; see, are done ND in a
peculiar red cloth-debiege think Il is
called-and il You would merely adver.
tlse the fact that n sum Of money hal
bcen found, and required the applicant
&c name the am unit and the envelope
covering ii. you Duld not possibly mia
take
Ny importu~ . finally overcame his
objections, and ne took my address, and
after pronOuncinR ne sterling honest
fellow, bade me come around in tho
morning
Well. that -sAs my start In lifa
MI Davis greetet me when returned
In the morning most effusively.
I've been th'nking over that matter
and confess that admire your honesty.
There's no reason in the world why You
Ahouldn't have kept that money. Many
men who are far better OF than Won
would have done So"
He ended b. Offering me Q place be-
hind one Of the counters nc a6 n weak.
and tve years later was his partner.
Oh, the money! A number Of par
ties answered the advertisement, but
they couldn't prove mp you see, for the
best Of all reasons The money WA NV
own, and Mr.. Davis finally returned IL
70 me- / ran not the slightest risk and
was satisfied that the act would hrIDw
me under the favorable notice Of NJ
Dnrin -