The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1898-08-27
4 BIG WAGER.
Man Who Riekad and Lost H1s
livelihood ON Q Wager.

Il 4 F.5A t+. s-fr.f - q -H
Jessph WsseisAs. ef Bsaesa Hafbor.
New RsaAllsss. Oaee Des Baakss
, rNasoEaaa with Rival 4
Tirn.
There is . man in Benton Harbor
who long ago made bet which ruined
him. Now he u pointed out by the res !
idents al one of the sights Of the town. /
..Do you see that manr said driver
to party he was taking about the
place one day not long ago. He pointed
over his shoulder to . stooping figure
that was ambling along in the shade OF
the elms and naples.
There was nothing .st AN striking
about the man. Indeed, 10 far - apr
pearances 60. he was OF such decided
mediocrity that he did not lack much I
of coming under the head Of inferiority,
and at that distance a phys;ognomist
or psychologist would have pronounced
him on the same plane mentally.
"That man doesn't cut much OF
figure in thu world nowadays" said the
driver, .but the time was when he could
buy and sell anybody in this part Of
Michigan and still have money to throw
at the birds. His name is Joseph West
lake. Back in the '7os, when the man
ufacturing and fruit industries of Ben
ton IIarbor were in their infaAcy. he
started basket and box factory. It
was run ON a small scale at first. but
as fruit raising attained greater impor-
tance he increased his facilities for
turning out baskets, and within a
couple of years the business was not
only on paying basis but yielded q
pretty fat income to the manipulator.9
'About that time another factory was
put in operation down by the river.
and so great was the demand for their
wares that both concerns could have
become rich by sticking to legitimate
business. But right there Westlake's
Unborn propensity for dabbling in
things that did not belong to'him broke
out after suppression OF three years or
more.
"He was born gambler. From the
time he was old enough to talk he was
happiest when making q bet Of some
kind, and it seemed that the bad luck
that had generally attended all his haz-
ards of fortune only served as stimu-
lus for further experiments in that line.
To be sure, his betting had never b~en
done on very extensive scale up to the
| time of his investment in the factory,
for what property he had was in his
mothers name, and the only way he
could get at it was by first obtaining
her consent, and as the old lady was
| aware of his great fault and strove to
guard against the qualification, of his
desires, that was not such an easy thing
| to do.
"His matchmaking business was in
| the third year Of its existence when the
| mania attacked him. Both factories
were going at full tilt, and there was
| considerable rivalry between the two
| capitalists as to which could turn out
the greater product. One evening West
| lake met his competitor IN a drug store
and as usual they interchanged q few
remarks relative to their work.
"'P1l bet you,' said Westlake, that
can turn out more baskets than you
can between now and the 1st of Septem.
Der. Soconfident am taratI am willing
to stake my. factory on it.
His rival had just put In some new
machinery and had taken on several
additional hands, and he knew that the
capacity of his plant had not yet been
fully tested. Westlake spoke in all ear.
nestness. and after, considering the
proposition for few moments he eaid:
"'I'll take you up on that. Let's
make it out in black and white
''They went to notary the next day
and had contract drawn up whereby
| it was agreed that the one who manu-
factured the smaller number Of baskets
should forfeit his factory to the other.
ION the 1st day Of September they
took an account Of stock, and the figures
showed that Westlake had made 1860
baskets less than the rival firm. West
lakes friends wanted him to fight the
claim, but, his disappointment had
taken all the life out of him, and he
turned over his entire factory without
the least show Of resistance. That one
disastrous bet was practically the end
Of his career, and from then on he has
been what you zee him now-a deal
weight on his mother's hands. -Chica.
go Tribune. 7 a9a +