Akron daily Democrat. [volume] (Akron, Ohio) 1892-1902, 1899-07-26

generosity suggest that they must
drink. Business prospects are talked
over, and the stranger is warned
against certain dilapidated mercantile
establishments that are about to fail.
and for such kindness and magnanimi-
ty of caution against the dishonesty of
other business houses of course ii is eX-
pected they willard so they do-take
a drink. Other merchants lodging in
adjoining rooms find it hard TO sleep
for the clatter of decanters, and the
coarse carousal of these hail fellows
we'll met wakes louder. But they
sit not all night at the wine cup. They
must see the sights. They stagger
forth with cheeks flushed and eyes
open to let in the victims. The wings
of lost souls fit among the lights, and
the steps of the carousers sound with
the rumbling thunders of the lost.
Farewell TO all the Sanctities of home!
Could mother, sister, father, slumber-
of that night catch n glimpse of the
ruin wrought they would rend out
their hair by the roots and bite the
tongue till the blood spurted, shrieking
out, "God save himr'
Gathering Curses.
What, suppose you, will come upon
such business establishments? And
there are hundreds of them in the
cities. They may boast Of fabulous
sales, and they may have an unprece-
dented run of buyers, and the name of
the house may be terror to all rivals,
and from this thrifty root there may
spring up branch houses in other cities,
and all the partners of the firm may
move into their mansions and drive
their full blOoded span, and the fami-
lies may sweep the street with the
most elegant apparel that human art
ever wove or earthly magnificence ever
achieved. But q curse is gathering
surely for those men, and if it does not
seize hold of the pillars and in one wild
ruin bring down the temple of COM
mercial glory it will break up their
peace, and they will tremble with sick
ness and bloat with dissipations, and,
pushed TO the precipice of this life,
they will try TO hold back aud cry for
help, but no help will come, and they
will clutch their gold to take it along
from their grasp, and a voice will
sound through their soul, Not
farthing, thou beggared spiritw
And the judgment will come, and
they will stand aghast before it, and
all the business iniquities of lifetime
will gather around them, saying, do
you remember this?" and do you re-
member that?" And clerks that they
compelled to dishonesty and runners
and draymen and bookkeepers who
saw behind the scenes will bear test1-
mony to their nefarious deeds, and
some virtuous soul that once stood
aghast at the splendor and power of
these business men will say, ALIAS,
this is all that is left of that great firm
that occupied a block with their mer-
chandise and overshadowed the city,
with their influence and made right
eousness and truth and purity fall un-
der the CALLING fire of avarice and
crime"
While we admire and approve of all
acuteness and tact in the sale of goods
which a fabric or product is represent
ed as possessing value which it real
ly does not have. Nothing but sheer
falsehood can represent as perfection
boots that rip, silks that speedily lose
their luster, calicoes that Immediate
ly wash out, stoves that crack under
the first hot fire, books insecurely
bound, carpets that unravel, old fur
niture rejuvenated with putty and glue
and sold as having been recently man.
gold watches made out of
brass, barrels of fruit, the biggest ap-
pies on the top, wine adulterated with
hosiery poorly woven,
cloths of domestic manufacture shin
ing with foreign labels, imported goods
as rare and hard to get
because foreign exchange is so high
rolled out on the counter with match
less display. Imported, indeed! but
from the factory in the next street.
A pattern already questionable and
unstable palmed off as a new print
upon some country merchant who has
chase of dry goods and going home
with a large stock of goods warranted
to keep.
Tests That WOn't Stand.
Again, business men are often tempt
ed to make the habits and customs of
other traders their law of rectitude
There are commercial usages which
will not stand the test of the last day.
Yet men in business are apt to do as
their neighbors do. If the majority of
the traders in any locality are lax in
principle, the commercial code in that
honest. 1t is a hard thing to stand
close by the law of right when your
next door neighbor by his looseness Of
dealing is enabled to sell goods at a
cheaper rate and decoy your customers.
Of course, you who promptly meet all
your business engagements, paying
when you promise to pay, will find it
hard to compete with that merchant
who is hopelessly in debt to the i'm
porter for the goods and to the land
lord whose store he occupies and to
the clerks who serve him. There are
4 hundred practices prevalent in the
world of traffic which ought never to