The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1896-02-05
ESPECIAL TO THE PREss.1

ESPECIAL TO THE PRESS.J
Bowdoinham, Me-, February f. About
four miles from this village there is
large, two story farm house and until re-
Gently this comfortable dwelling has held
an assortment of articles as varied in
kind as, and greater in quantity than, the
heterogeneous mixture which made up
the contents Of Dickens's old curiosity
shop. In the house are two large connect
Ing parlors and here was a stock which
would have made creditable display by
the counters of village store. Barrels of
pork, crates of butter, piles of clothing
| andseven, it is said, agricultural imple-
| ments numbered the floor Outside, on
| the staircase was an assortment of wall
paper which left only narrow path for
those who sought to go to the upper
| story. In other rooms in the house were
| portions of the strange assortment. The
visitor could find dry goods, clothing,
| boots and shoes, groceries, watches and
cloaks, whips and harnesses, and if a
curious person went to the barn near by,
he would have found the space under the
haymows divided into store rooms and
filed with goods. On the haymows, be-
side the hay there were sleighs and plows
and harrows Sewing machines vera
among the collection. There was every
thing in short which goes to make up the
stock of the successful country trader and
this was the stock of a merchant who did
business in his dwelling house and in
way not generally followed in these days,
for he sold
ONLY FOR CASH
and he bought his goods for cash, a the
term is understood in business circles,
end of thirty days.
| 1t WAS here that Benjamin Booker
| Douglass transacted much of his large
business. He bought goods by the car
load and piled them up in his house and
barn. He also had storehouse in the
village and a general store in the neigh
boring town of Richmond. His stock was
worth five or six thousand dollars and it
was procured Isrgley from the wholesale
houses of Portland, although some of it
came from Massachusetts and New York.
| People came from miles around to trade
with Booker Douglass. They wandered
through house and barn, selected what
they wanted, paid for it and departed
Douglass also supplied smaller country
dealers and sold his wares to travelling
peddlars. His trade thrived until. as one
BOwdOinham merchant said: "He did as
much out there in the country as all of US
together here On the village street. His
reputation here was that of an honest
| man but one sharp at bargain -
That seemed to be the key note of
Booker Douglass's doings. He was as
sharp as a steel trap ''Why,' exclaimed
a Bowdoinham citizen this afternoon,
| Booker Douglass would saw the seat out
of a buggy and sell it, if any one wanted
| to buy it. He has been known to sell one
wheel of carriage
Douglass came to Bowdoinham from
the town of Bowdoin about six years ago
and his new neighbors soon learned of bis
trading propensities. At one time it was
as
DEALER IN HORSE FLESH
that he became widely known and he had
twenty or twenty five horses. At another
time he traded largely in cattle and then,
several years ago. he went into business
as general trader, having his head
quarters at his farm and doing business
in the manner already described. First
and last he bought many thousand
dollars worth Of goods and he paid for
them on thirty days time. He was a
good customer and won the confidence of
the merchants from whom he bought.
But last October and November Douglass
suddenly increased his already large stock
and shortly after the village woke up one
| morning to find that Douglass had made
| an assignment to two of his Portland
creditors. E. A. Smith, Jr., of A. F.
Smith & Co., and e. W. Cox of f. A.
| Cox & Son. Since then the failure has
| been a great topic of conversation here
and interest in it has been increased by
| the knowledge that among the creditors
are a number of Bowdoinham men.
| To some of
THESE LOCAL CREDITORS
| Douglass owes money borrowed and some
of those gentlemen, it is said, were content
with the traders personal notes as securi-
| ty for their loans. However, most of these
debts are for small amounts, none being
| over $500 and some as small as $50. All
told, his debts to his townsmen probably
do not exceed $500 or $4,000.
Since the assignment, reports of the sus-
pioions entertained by the creditors that
| all was not straight in the Douglass fail
ure have given color to local suspicious of
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