The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1902-03-04
characteristics Of his life I'm
and in private.

I bHNlhVNS anu III private.
stories high. The establishment has a
/ floor space equal to at least six and a
/ half acres on another street near by
he had great storage warehouse, so that
all the hOOr space Of his two houses is
equal 10 at least ten acres.
He paid cash for everything.
In his monthly Auction Journal" Mr..
Rouss. using phonetic spelling-a habit
with INFUSED TO set forth some homeIy
business maxims as well as details about
prices The following are literal ex-
tracts from the January issue of the
1 Journal"
"Mony is the lever that will unerth for
L that hiden diamond. SUCSES-it is the
power that viii place L he'd and shOUl-
ders abuv yOr cOmpeers, and, insted of
/ leading L along the qagmire of the 10
/ lands, vii at one plant u upon the shin
ing heits that comand the plaudits Of
your patrons and the admiration and re
spect of yor competitors.
The Sensitiv nerve of the pOcketbook
like water. finds the loest level, and the
crowd seeking rok bottom soon setls the
qestion OF mastery
one Of the peCuliarities was to pay his
employees every night. At the close az
business at o'clock, winter and summer,
the clerks. porters and others on the pay
roll would 90 to the cashier and receive
their days wages in an envelope, so that
when MI. ROUss closed his store at night
he owed no man a dollar.
He burned his ledger years ago, and
afterward carried on his enormous busi~
/ ness. amounting TO many millions year,
with only two bookkeepers, who simply
recorded the purchases of Out-Of-tOwn
customers and credited them with the pay
when it was received.
Mr. Rouss' sight began TO fail in 1892 and
within three years il failed entirely. Then
he made an offer TO give 100000 to the
person who could restore his sight. AS
result Of the offer he received thousands
of applications by letter and in person
from quacks and fanatics, divine heal
ers, second sight seers" and others who
wanted permission to practice upon him.
Il was impossible for him 10 submit
/ himself to all the various treatments
which he thought might be worth trying.
He therefore hired another blind man.
James J. Martin. who also suffered from
the complaint that afflicted Mr.. ROuss and
who agreed 20 be a subject for expert
ments. Mr. ROuss for many months paid
Martin IS 2 week for his unique services
In October. 1900 Mr. ROuss said he was
convinced that the Creator had intended
him 10 be blind until the end OF his days
and he therefore withdrew the $1,000 eco
of5r. His face was not disfgured by his
sightlCss eyes. They were natural in ap-
pearanee save for a lack o. lustre- His
hair was snow white
Mr. Rouss a few years ago told the
story Of his life to friend in these
words
Il came to New York a poor boy. ] had
not a cent. ! slept in the parks. Now 1
have three OF four millions. That is the
whole story"
What are your pleasures ."
Il have none. ] used to 20 home at
night on a Grand Street horse car.
stood on the rear platform and threw
pennies and nickels TO the newsbOys and
bOotblacks, who used to run along after
the car Then the police captain asked
me to stop it. and Of course / did so.
That was my only pleasure in life
Mr.. Rouss told OF another Of his traits
in this way:
When one Of my statesmen cant keep
away from John Barleycorn any longer. he
goes out and spends all his money. and
comes around finally, a wreck physically
and mentally and financially. II he is q
good man when he IS In his right mind,
III take him back on his promise TO
keep straight. He cant have any money,
though. until he IS on his feet again.
He sleeps in the store. His meals are
brought in TO him. When he is in good
shape again, he gets his pay"
His public benefactions a, Winchester,
Va. were AS follows:
Forty thousand dollars for a city hall
Thirty-Gve thousand dollars for water
works.
Fifteen thousand dollars for an iron
fence around Mount Hebron Cemetery.
About $4,000 for fire apparatus and en-
CINE houses.
At least $4,000 TO the Shenandoah Val
ley Agricultural Society.
His private gifts 20 persons in and
around Winchester aggregate many thou
sands Of collars.
To the CharIestown CW. Va Fire De-
partment he gave between 5000 and So
600
Mr.. Rouss gave 100000 to the Southern
Battle Abbey. or offered 10 contribute dol
lar for dollar for any amount raised for
that purpose He contributed $4,000 TO
this.
When JohnsJown was devastated by a
flood: when Charleston was shattered by
an earthquake; when Galveston was over
whelmed by the sea. Mr. Rouss was one
Of the first to 20 to the aid Of the home
/ less and the suffering, while the bounty
/ OF his private charities no man knows.