The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1895-03-18
HOW HEGOT STARTED
A MERCHANT TELLS or HIS WIN
MING BY A SHOW or HONESTY.

/ ON GhS DaAlnsas Man Who Called H1m
%A Sterling. HonS@f Fellow
"You wish to know how got my
E.are In Chicago. eh? Well. / don't
| mind telling you about IL now, although
! you may not iDdorSe the means / adopt
ed "
Hare the merchant prince laughed
heartily. withdrawing his cigar for the
porpose- After moment or two he re-
sumed:
Il had come here from the country,
. RAwky farmer boy. ignorant Of the
ways Of tho world and disposed 20 re-
gard every city chap as a sharper. Be-
fore leaving home I had settlement
with my guardian. who turned over to
me $500 I'm 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 q modest
boarding hOuPe l applied myself with
diligence 70 the seeking Of employment,
IN the meantime assidCously studying
bookkeeping every evening. The 2l
years Of my life had 6cen spent upCn the
farm, and v-as utterly ignorant Of ell
business methods Rsnco sought hum.
Gle work. being wiling 10 beRin at tie
lowest rung OF lie laGjer. B1t-some
how didn't catch on. must haze heen
what IS vulgarly called an 'OrLo-y' chap
-uncoIth in speech, vulgar IN manner
ard easily Ibsshed Still p,rsevered,
Offering myself as porter, cyachmnn.
day labOrcr, gardener, helper IN grocery
Etoles-in short, any kind Of v.O4k that
demanded muscle without too much eK
porience Once in awhile / got job OF
saving wood, cutting grass and tending
garden, but ! spent fGr more than j
earned. although i lived very econora-
ically. Month after month passed In this
way until nearly One-haH Of my capital
was exhausted
my necessities led me TO much cogi-
tEtion, and having made rapid progress
In my study Of bookkeeping as well as
IN knowledge Of good English finally
concluded 10 aspire to something higher.
A prerequisite TO this step was the doff-
ing Of my old jeans suit, which lad be-
come decidedly seedy. The tailor's bill
made Q big inroad upon my diminishing
| capital, and the thought Of it set my
! teeth On edge. Out went day after day
among tho merchants, Offering my serv-
! ices ns q boOkkeeper, accountant, ship
/ ping clerk or salesman. but / found nc
takers. The market was suffering from
an oversupply Of the commodity, ana
the demand was nil
Finally decided that something
had to be done. could not and would
/ not be penniless Ia big city. am nat
urally Of q sanRuine temperament, bat
six months of enforced idleness TO one
who loves work are enough TO becloud
the sunniest temper. But soc you arc
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 lis usual
eQEanimity by the rushing in Of an excit-
cd individual, myself. holding in his
hand o small bundle and saying bro
| kenly:
! have found, sir, a package Of
money-a hundred dollars. / think
am stranger in the city and wish you
70 keep it until you find the owner
When he found breath, Mr. DaviA
] who recalled me as one who had applici
20 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 imputation
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 identifying
him-any name or address In the pack.
ARel'
/ think not, sir, Ireplied 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.
eise the fact that q gum of money had
been found, and requirrd the applicant
70 name the amount and the envelope
covering it, you could not possibly mia-
take
My importantly finally cvszcar1e ms
objections, md he took my Addless, AMI
after pronouncing me q sterling honest
fellow. bade me come around In the
E:orning
Well. that was my start In life
Mr.. Davis greeted me when / returned
In the morning most effusively.
I've been thinking over that mattel
and confess that ] admire your honesty.
There's no reason In the world why YOU
shouldn't have kept that money. Many
men who are far better OF than you
would have done 50. %
He ended by Offering me . place b.
hind one Of the counters at 90 q weak.
and five years later was his partner.
Oh. the money! A number OF par
des answered ttp advertisement, but
they couldn't prove mp, you see, for the
best Of all reasons The money waa INV
own, and Mr.. Davis finally returned IL
to me- ran not the slightest riAk and
was satisfied that the act would bring
me under the favorable notice Of Mr..
DaviA