Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1898-12-16

MOSES JACKSON & GO.
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Experiences Of a Unique Firm That
Pro pered by Following
Yankee Methods.
M. QUAD. -oopvrtont ,Sss

Moses Jackson had been born ant
reared on farm, and as soon MS h,
was able to todde about he was SET I,
work. /: was work, work, work, ant
the hardest kind of work, until he cam,
OF age. Then he bought a little farm
and began for himself. In time he got
married and in time children came tc
worry and bless him by turns, but il
was always the same old routine OF
hard work and poor living. Gin the Gay
tkat he was IS years old, Moses
jackson went to the nearest village tc
buy n hoe. His wife had aslted him tc
crop into the Office of the Gazette
and bring home bundle of old papers
for the pantry shelves. lie found the
editor alone, and the paper about TO
suspend for the want of patronage.
The editor noted the farmers wrinkled
face, bent back and discouraged look.
and after some general talk he said
Look here, Moses, you are fool and
am ditto. You are grubbing your life
out for a bare living, and | am dead
broke because the people here don't
appreciate brains, Let's go into part.
nership."
They sat and talked for an hour, and
the result was an article in the next
weeks Gazette which created talk all
over the county within three DAYS. and
within week had been copied all over
the state. There was n spring on the
Jackson farm which hardly anyone
but the owner knew of, and il was an
nounced that the waters of this spring
were sure cure for all kinds of skin
diseases. The editor gave half dozen
names and told dozen lies in the ar
ticle, but people afflicted with skin dis
eases did not stop to question his YER
acity. The paper had been off the press
day when they began driving up to
the jackson farm. They wanted that
water in bottles, jugs, kegs and bar
rels, and the old farmer was on hand
TO sell 1t to them at certain price. In
side OF fortnight he was shipping
spring water to points 400 miles away.
While he was busy at the spring his
wife was busy in the house. Scores
and scores of people were willing to
pay 80 cents for dinner, and before
the rush was over scores and scores of
others also paid so cents apiece for the
privilege of sleeping on clean straw in
the barn.
By and by there came the sanitarium
man. He was ready to pay $4,000 for
The poor old farm, worth at the best |
ess than thousand, but he wanted |
an analysis of the spring waters first.
The analysis pricked the bubble, and a
week later the rush had ceased. Moses
Jackson went down to see the editor of
.he Gazette and figure with him. As
hey figured they chuckled.
Moses, our firm has taken in So, 900
Il cash. Figure out the expenses and
We divide $1,000. You still have YOUR
arm left, and l may tell you that the
ia"etts has put on $50 new subscrib-
rs, afd is now entering upon boom
With big B. Go home and hoe corn
nd say nothing. In about two weeks
ur trap will be ready again"
There were plenty of people who said
was 100 bad that things turned out
wrong for the farmer, but there
'ere no tears in his eyes over the re-
crt Of the chemist on that spring.
retty soon his neighbors noticed a
tfange woman around his house, but
efore they had time to ask questions
he Gazette came out with a two-col-
mn article and explained all. The
TRANCE woman was Mother Clark"
ne great locator of mines by means
witch hazel rod. Through the me-
lum OF that rod she had located
'ores OF gold, silver, lead, coal and
'pper mines all over the country.
he Gazette lied from start TO finish.
Ut 1t was lie which every reader 8
Sallowed with avidity and wanted ,
ore Mother Clark" happened 10
passing through the counts and as
lie witch hazel rod kept pointing to @,
oses Jacksons farm, she had stopped /
ten him that great wealth Law
lried beneath the surface. It might ,
gold or it might be coal, but it was ,
ere for sure.
Again there was a rush for the Jack I
N farm. People who had skin dis \
sec had failed to find relief through n
e spring waters, but that had moth O
g to do with ledges of iron or LAYERS v
coal. The newspaper article was k
'pied far and wide, and men Travelled I
D miles to see that divining rod at I
'rk. Every day for ten days the old b
walked over the fields at +
wv pace with that rod balanced on !,
r finger. Moses followed her and v
lerever the rod dipped he stopped d
d drove a stake into the ground. r,
hen she had finished he had a stake
every acre. She wasn't suro
lelher 1t was iron or coal under his 81
I'd, but rather leaned to coal. There A.
re scores of dinners again at 20
ats apiece. and scores more silent in
barn. While men were tumblino in
e. each other to secure options on H.
farm until shafts could be sunk. II
zen different farmers we're impa- d,
ntly waiting for Mother Clark" to m
over their fields. Her terms were II,
dollars per hour, and owing to the
ntal and physical exhaustion she
uid walk but two hours per dav. NJ
zen she had worked" half a dozen a.,
mers she had call to 20 west and We
editor of the Gazette sent word is
Moses Jackson to come down and 81.
some more figuring. When a line
been drawn and the figures added
the editor said: W
Moses, we haven't done quite as
as hoped, but there Is no kick
ming to us. We have sold three on We
rs at $4,000 each, and with the out ne
work of your slster-in-law, profit LIE
meals and so forth ~ ~ Gs,...- - -