The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1905-11-21
Professional Pessimist
. An Occupation osranded to mess a
. Lons-Feit Want.


-~ft8 = 1t& FfaFtAs
I've often thought that there's roou,
in town lake this for z new business
remarked the sociabie Passenger. a. the
car came 70 a forced stop in the central
., I mean. for sort Of professional
ciscourager 10 intending small snopmen.
a functionary who could put a kindly
cneck upon certain petty business enter
prlses that are foredOon1ed 70 failure.
II might not be nOney-Enaker In
fact IT would properly fail within phil
mind to class II. I'm sure IL would I'LL
a long-felt want Do you notice that
store on the Ieft-she brsnd-new looking
place with Brfghtw0Od Dairy over tbs
door, That viii serve 70 point my mean
ing. The present proprietor opened a
fortnight ago with. as You see. stock
etc. and ne may be stiIl open a fort
night from date. but he wont be 4 cent
rlener-unless is Ia experience Ellis
definite Ooliterafion Is merely Quee-
ton Of time. within a few weeks al far
thezt bell depart sadder and wiser
man. as could have told him had he
-sks7o NJ ddsiee-~nieh naturally. as We
are strangers 10 each other. ne DIDN'T
do
Il have lived in this town close upon
thirty years. and. first and last. I've
dies such as that man Il playing out
70 its dismal fnts- There are certain
business stands IN every city that al
ways have been and apparently always
win be unlucky. half the time they have
To Let notice in the window. and
the other half they are losing money
best % keep soul and body together now
II only there were some authorized re-
spcnsibie person to warn unwzry and
uniformed strangers against such traps
and sink holes. how many hard-earned
pence might Be saved Take this par
ticular stand which has had half a dozen
vacant during several months. and which
never has brought in 4 cent to anybody
unless possibly 10 the landlord That
store. with the one next il. was formerly
from various causes the business began
to shrink and shriFeI TIL the proprietor
ergies. moved up-street and crawled into
a smaller hole 70 die The store wzz
pzrutiOned - as to make Two, and a
Polish Jew ralOr-y0u see his sfEn-to0k
0ne-ha1 and Is making q bare extsteHce.
The other half vas rented hrst BY cut
rate grocer but as there are at least
three Of the same genus within sight,
All weA-establ1shed he might wei
have cut his throat as his prices After
about three months he was succeeded By
a provision dealer who sank all he cared
10 lose within sixty days A restaurant
and ice cream joint followed. TO be frozen
out six weeks later Another provision
market held the fort for two months
or more. and then there was a pro-
lOnged fnferlude Of vacancy Now we
have this bufter-and-egg man who. TO
my thinking. is the biggest ssmplet0n Of
in the same line within sight. one 81
which Is tOttering ON the ragged edge
Of ruin, while fourth has recently failed
and vanished from human ken
That is a typical case. and there are
dozens more which eouAd Be easily cited
What / contend Is that II the fellows
who rashly rent such shops would first
consult somebody who knows and Is viii
ing 10 tell them the truth. they woufd
be deal better of IN pocket, and
would Be saved an ineaneeiyable amount
Of Iret ana NotFs. ~
Let me tell YOU OF another case sxhi~n
game under my immediate notice ArounE
in a neighboring street there was :
narrow hole-in-the-wau that was r7rxr
occupied BY a pushing young fellow with
cream and lunch During the boom days
OF bicycling he made money. there being
A big and popular cycling warer0orn On
the corner. but later his trade began
to drop OF and he wisely sold out be-
fore his losses quite crippled hfrn. He
had squeezed all the juice there was IN
that orange The next man opened In
the same line. bought out the good VIII.
suppose, but the good viii wasn't good
enough for him and he stayed only q
few months OF the several others who
succeeded him not one left with a whole
SYN. At one time Two forlorn elderly
females opened sort OF notion and
variety store and kept house behind "a
months they dragged out a pathetic ca
reer that finally came 70 quiet IN
conspicuous end
The last tenant was a young man
whose mother had mortgaged her home
somewhere away in. n distant town 10
supply the money for stocking I'd the
shop in the original line. confectionery.
quick lunch etc. with the addition ae
cut flowers He started n with abound
ing courage and really deserved TO sur-
coed. 5ut as the days went BY his face
began to wear a more and more Soher
hook, while the poor old mother. who
helped him tend shop-wen. IL was fair
~ piIiful 70 see the expression that had
come into that poor. disz appointed dis
heartened Old Iady-s eyes Al. Neil. the
expected happened. and heaven knows
what became Of that uortgzged home
4 can tell you it was a positive relief
10 me. passing that place as did every
day. when a PROSPEROUS meat raarket
next door Ezxed the partition and ex-
handed 50 as 20 absorb into Itself that
one rock that threatened 20 so on in
definitely wreckiuz humble fortunes and
scattering hard-earned savings has been
removed -
Nov my idea would Be that il in
every large town there could be located
a trustworthy agenI who would give hon
est advice about these hoOd00 shops and
recount their past history TO guileiess
strangers who were being enEiced. or
were Venturing OF their own accord. into
uuwiSe business enterprises. IL would BE-
a mighty good thing for every one con-
cerned-yes- perhaps even Tor the land
lords in the long run / could I'll the
Office Of DISCOURAGE IN this city. and I
feel sure that II / could have a per
cent fee on AL the money / saved for
others annually shouldn't need any
other means OF support
But the trouble with your scheme fs~
objected his listener. that folks aren't
willing 10 pay erOakers for such advies
as YOU would give
True. hmentably true Was the re-
sponse as the car moved onward.
Queer. isn't il. how much more eager
a man Is TO pay - for a zip that wiu
enable him 10 make hundred than 70
nay I'VE for a tip which viii prevent
his losing \ hundred. II would reails
amount to the same IN tbs ed. vet F0u d
have hard Work 20 get most persons te
see II in that light Ii IS said that
experience is dear teacher. I onty wish
/ could divert some Of the tuition fees
into my pocket Prank NJ RickneIl in
Los Angeles Times.