The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1895-03-21
HOWHEGOT STARTED
A MERCHANT TELLS or his WIN
MING BY A SHOW or HONESTY.

Afaer Many Failures I'm Atasmpea Co
-CaaeA on,- He Worked . Little Scheme
~u tho BuHEnsas Man Who Called Him
On sterling. HOnest Fellow"
"You wish to know how I got my
start I'm Chicago, eh? Well. / 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-
sumed:
II had come here from the country,
O gawky farmer boy, ignorant Of the
ways Of the world and disposed to re-
gard every city chap rs a sharper. Be
fore leaving home had q settlement
with my guardian, who turned over 70
me $500 in cash. all the possessions
had in the world
THE distress Of tho panic OF 1857 had
not passed, and things we're awfully
dull here. After securing q modest
boarding house 1 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 was utterly ignorant OF oil
business methods. Hence ] sought hum
BILE work, being willing to begin at the
lowest rung OF the ladder. But sOmo'
how didn' catch ON. must have been
what is vulRarly called an 'Ornery' chap
-uncouth in speech, vulgar in manner
l. hau f.x-r,T rod
Offering myself rs porter, coachman,
day laborer, gardener, helper in grocery
stores-in short, any kind Of work that
demanded muscle without too much ex
perience. Once In awhile got n 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 70 this step was the doff-
ing of my old jeans suit. which had be-
come decidedly scedy. The tailor's bill
made 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 as q bookkeeper, accountant, ship
ping clerk or salesman, but found nc
takers. Tho 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 sanguine temperament, but
six months of enforced iGleness TO one
who loves work are enough TO becloud
the sunniest temper. But see you are
getting impatient. A change did final
" 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. my-elf. holding In his
hand a small bundle aud saying bro
kenly:
1 have found, sir, a package OF
money-a hundred dollars. think
am a stranger in the city and wish you
]
when he found breath, Mr.. Davis,
who recalled me rs 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 youl
reputation and can confidently leave tho
sum with you / am desperately pooi
and unemployed, and any imputatior
upon my honor would kill me. My only
wish is that this money may reach IL
owner. You will be sure to find him.
Mr.. Davis became interested
- Is there any way of identifying
him-any name or address in the pack
age?'
= think not, sir, 1 replied. but tn
bills as you will see, are done mp in I
peculiar red cloth-debiege think il &
called-and if you would merely ndver
tise the fact that a sum Of money has
boen found. and requircd the applicant
20 name the amount and the envelop
covering it, you could not possibly mis-
take
My importantly finally overcame hi
objections, and he took my address. an'
after pronouncing me sterling homes
fellow, bade me come around in tn
morning.
Well. that was my start in life
Mr.. Davis greeted me when returne'
In the morning most effusively.
I've been thinking over that matte
and confess that admire your honesty
There's no reason in the world why yo'
shouldn't have kept that money. Man
; men who are far better off than yO
would have done so.
He ended by Offering me place b.
hind one Of the counters at 90 a week
2 and five years later l was his partner.
oh, the money! A number Of pal
ties answered the advertisement, bu
they couldn't prove up, you see, for th
! best of all reasons The money was IN
own, and Mr.. Davis finally returned
; I sk- l.