The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1904-04-02
HIS GREAT TEMPTATION.

was entertaining half dozen of his
men friends at dinner, among them
two clergymen. The talk had turn
ed on business honesty and the temp
tations that every business man met
to strain his conscience.
The strongest temptation 1 ever
had," said the host, "came to me
when was clerk in the bank where
l first began business. l was about
rs years of age at the time, and had
been with the bank for FIVE years, my
uncle before his death having been
the cashier. He was not a man of
any wealth, nor were my people, and
had worked my way through col
lege. The cashier, who had succeed
ed my uncle, was fine man, and, as
far as anyone knew. the very soul of
honor. I liked him very much, and
he had taken quite fancy to me, of
the kind a much older man has for a
young one. The bank people had
the most supreme confidence in his
integrity and honesty, and one day,
when he disappeared without a word
to anyone, the whole place was thrown
into CONSERVATION. He was bache-
lor living at a hotel, and they could
furnish no information there except
that he had left the night previously
to be out of town FOX day or two.
Investigation was at once made of his
accounts, and though the books were
found to be correct, sum in cash,
aggregating something more than
500, 900, was missing from the safe.
This loss, for business reasons, was
kept secret, but the newspapers got
the story of his disappearance, and
they made it very mysterious, for the
bank had promptly reported that his
accounts were straight. Three days
later the evening papers fared out
with the story of the suicide of the
missing cashier, which occurred dur
ing the day in an obscure boarding
house. He left no message in his
room except scrawl of note to the
Chief of Police, saying who he was,
and written so disconnectedly that no
other conclusion could be reached
than that the suicide was insane.
BY the last mail, however, the presi-
dent of the bank received letter from
the cashier, written and mailed a half
hour before he killed himself. In
this he told the president that he had
taken the money and had used it as
he thought best, and he hoped the
loss of it would not seriously injure
the banks standing or business.
There was no more beyond a brief
acknowledgement for many kind
nesses shown to him, and a statement
that he intended to take his life.
This letter, of course, the president
told no one of except the directors.
"Now we come to my part in the
floor of small boarding house which
looked out on the street, and was
separated from the sidewalk by about
four feet of areaway leading to the
basement. 1t was summer time, and
kept the two windows half open
from the top for ventilation. On the
day of the suicide 1 remained at the
bank until s o'clock in the evening.
had not been in my room since s
O'Clock in the morning, and when ]
went into it about s. 80 in the evening
I found a good-sized package on the
floor. I stumbled over it moving
about before 1 lighted the gas, and
when I picked it up / was naturally al
a loss to account for it. I went out
to make some inquiry of my landlady,
but there was no one at home, and
came back and opened the package.
l had not the faintest suspicion oi
what it contained, nor any idea how
it came there, but when / had remov-
ed the outside wrapper the whole
story was told. There was a letter,
from the cashier who had killed him.
self that afternoon, in which was in
formed that he had stolen the money.
would find it inclosed, amounting to
more than $Ioo, 900. He had no use
for it, as he was going to kill himself.
He liked me, the letter went on, and
he had thrown the package into my
room through the window, and no.
body on earth knew I had it. 1t was
mine to do with as pleased, and as
he alone knew of it, and he would
soon be dead, leaving no sign, / would
be perfectly safe in keeping it for my
own use.
Gentlemen continued the host,
''I can feel the perspiration ooze out
of me, even after all the years, when
think of how felt at that moment.
not only wanted money, but need
ed it badly, and here it was in such
an amount as I might not have after
years of struggle, and no one on earth
to know how I got it, or, in fact, tc
know that 1 had it at all. I knew
enough to know that I could handle
it without being caught, and the
temptation was such that / became SC
nervous l shivered all over and fell
so sick at the stomach had to take
drink of brandy to settle me.
1.-The brandy seemed to have q
good effect. for I pulled myself to-
gether, and before taking time tc
think about my opportunity, chucked
the package in a small handbag and
went on run to the presidents house
He had just got home from the bank,
and I bolted right in on him with my
bag in hand. I could hardly tell hin
what had come for, but I managed
it somehow, and when my story wa:
told was in such a state of COLLAPSE
he made me stay at his house til
morning. Ali the missing money wa:
found in the package, and the newspa
pers never did get the whole story
My honesty made my fortune, how
ever, for the directors and the presi
dent so appreciated my services and
my integrity SO extraordinarily tested
that was shortly afterWard promo