The Penn's Grove record., 1897-07-23

OF klu gloves ana Stretcn tneul out OF shape
and they put on all styles o
how they look, and then they sail GU
Of the store, saying. 81 will not stake it to
day" which means, 81 don't want 1t at all,
leaving the clerk amid q wreck OF ribbon.
and laces and cloths to smooth out {
thousand dollars worth of goods-not {
cent OF which didfhat "a or woman buy
OF expect to buy. Now, | call that u dis.
honesty on the part of the customer. If {
boy runs intoa store and takes q roll o
cloth of the counter and sneaks out into
the street, you oil join in the cry pell-mell
stop thief" When l SEQ you go into 1
store, not expecting to buy anything, but
20 price things, stealing the time OF the
clerk n stealing the time Of his employer
I say, too, "~Stopthiofl'
II 1 were asked which class OF persons
most needed the grace OF God amid theii
an~noyances, / would say, DRY goods
clerks" All the Indignation Of customers
about tho high prices comes on the clerk
For instance; A great war comes on. The
manufactures are closed. The people sc
of to battle. The price of goods runs up,
A customer comes into a store. Goods have
goneup. "How much is that worth?" "Adol-
lar. ""A dollarl Outrageous Adollari" Why
who Is to blame for the fact that 1t has got
to be u dollar2 Does the indignation 20
out to the manufacturers on the banks Of
the Merrimac because they have closed up1
No. Does the Indignation go out toward
the employer, who is at his country seatf
No. 1t comes on the clerk. He got up the
war. He levied the taxes. He puts up the
rents. OF course, the clerk.
Then there arc oil tho trials which come
to clerks from the treatment of inconsider-
ate employers. There are protested Chris
tian men who have no more regard for their
clerks han they lave for the scales on
vyhtnh tha a1sDura uYa HuatfrhadH olnris 10
no more han so much store furniture. No
consideration for their rights or interests.
Not one word Of encouragement from sun
rise to sunset, nor from January to Deem
Der. But hen anything goes wron9-a
streak Of dust on the counter or q box with
the cover of-thunder showers Of scolding.
Men imperious, capricious, cranky toward
their clerks-their whole manner as much
as to say, IAN the interest l have in you Is to
see what l can get out of you" Then there
are all the trials OF Incompetent wages, moi
In such times as these, when IL u man gets
half q salary for his services he ought
to be thankful, but l mean In prosper
GUS times. Some of you remember when
the war broke out aud all merchandise
went up, and merchants were made mil
lionaires in six months by the simple rise
in the value Of goods. Did the clerks get
advantage of that rise? Sometimes, not
always. ! saw estates gathered in those
times over which the curse OF God has hung
ever since. The cry of unpaid men and
women In those stores reached the Lord Of
Sabaoth, and the indignation OF God has
been around those establishments ever since.
flashing in the chandeliers, glowing from
the crimson upholstery, rumbling in the
long roll Of the tenpin alley. Such men
may build up palaces Of merchandise
heaven high, but after awhile a disaster
will come along and will put one hand on
this pillar and another hand IN that pillar
and throw itself forward until down will
come the whole structure, crushing the
worshipers as grapes are mashed in the
w~inepress.
Then there are boys ruined by lack Of
compensation. In how many prosperous
stores ii has been for the last twenty years
that boys were given just enough money
to teach them how to steali Some were
seized upon by the police. The vast
majority of instances were not known.
The head of the firm asked, where Is
George now2'' sob, he isn't here any
more A lad might better starve to death
a blasted heath than take one farthing
from his employer. Woe be to that employer
who unnecessarily puts o temptation in q
way. Thereh have been great establish
in these cities, building marble pa
laces, their owners dying worth millions and
millions and millions, who made a vast
amount OF their estate out of the blood and
and nerve OF half paid clerks. Such
men as-well, l will not mention any name.
But l mean men who have gathered up vast
estates Mt the expense OF the people who
were ground under their heel. "Oh," say
such merchants, "if you don't like it here,
then go and get a better placer As much
to say: give got you in my grip, and I
mean to hold you. You can't get any other
oh, what a contrast between those men
and Christian merchants who to-day are
sympathetic with their clerks-when they
pay the salary. acting | n this way: ''This
that 1 give o is not all my interest
In you. You are an immortal man; you are
m immortal woman. l am interested in
your present and your everlasting welfare.
I want you to understand that IL / am q
little higher up in this store l am beside
you in Christian sympathy" Go back for
ty or fifty years to Arthur Happens
store IN New York, q man whose worst
enemies never questioned his honesty.
Every morning no brought al the
clerks and the accountants and tho
weighers iuto q room for devotion.
They saug, they prayed, they exhorted:
On Monday morning the clerks we're asked
where they had attended church on the
previous day and what the INC were
about. 1t must have sounded strangely,
that voice of praise along the streets where
tle ueNOteGS Ol MuulUlOu WtIo COuutih6
their golden beads. o say, Arthur Tap
pen failed. Yes, he was unfortunate, like a
great many good men, but understand he
met all his obligations before no left this
world, and know that he died In tho peace
of the gospel and that he is before the
throne Of God to-day-foreyer blessed. III
that be failing, l wish you might all fail
My word is to all clerks, Be mightier
than your temptations. A Sandwich
Islander used to think when he slew an
enemy all the strength of that enemy came
into his w right arm. And l have to tell
YOU that every misfortune o conquer Is
so much added to your own moral power.
With omnipotence for a lever and the
throne OF God for q fulcrum you can move
earth and heaven. While there are other
Young men putting the cup of sin to their
lips you stoop down and drink out Of the
fountains Of God, and you will rise up
stroug to thrash the mountains. The
ancients used to think that pearls were
fallen raindrops, which, touching the
surface of the sea, hardened into gems,
then dropped to the bottom. l have to
tell you to-day tlat storms OF trial have
showered im~perishable pearls into many a
young mans lap. Oh, young man, while
you have goods to sell, remember you have
a soul to save. In u hospital a Christian
captain, wronged q few days before, get
deiirlous, and in the midnight hour he
sprang out Oh the hoor OF the hospital,
thinking he wos in the battle, crying:
"Come on, boysi Forward Charged" All,
he was only battling the specters of his
own brainl Blu 1t IS no imaginary conflict
into which 1 call you. young man, to-day.
There are 10, 300 spiritual foes that would
capture you. In the name of God, up and
at theml
After tho last store has been closed, after
the last bank has gone down, after the
shuttle OF the quick feet on the custom
house steps has stopped, after tho long
line of merchantmen on the sea has taken
sail of flame, after Washington and New
York and London and Vienna have gone
down into the grave where Thebes and
Babylon and Tyre lie buried, after the great
fire bells of the Judgment day have tolled
al the burning OF n worlh-on that day oil
the affairs of banking houses and stores will
come up for inspection. oh, what an open
ing OF account booksi Side by side the
clorks and the men who employ them
Every invoice made out, all the
labels of goods, all certificates
| of stock-all lists OF prIces-all private
L.arks of the firm now explained so every
body can understand them. All the maps
Of cities that were never built, but in which