The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1905-09-20
TALES OF THE ROAD.
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+ Because Of the interest and inquiry
aroused by the publication, in The
Saturday Evening Post, of the earlier
. chapters Of Tales of the Road,
: Charles n. Crewdson, the author, re
ceived from a certain literary editor
a note the substance Of which was tle
question: who are you, anyhow %
Here is the answer which he receiv-
ed:
As a small boy I ran wild among the
paw paw patches and the dog-wood
blossoms Of Kentucky, my native
state. Like every small boy, went
fishing and fell in the creek. Was
captain Of the tnird nine. A travel
ing man friend took me, at the age OF
Is, from picking worms off Of tobacco
plants. and carried me to the City-St.
Louisiana get me a job as a stock
boy.
Worked for a wholesale house for
$4,000 a month-not $500 a week.
Paid $3.50 a week for board and 40
cents for washing. The rest / spent.
From that day to this I've hoed my
own row without help.
For three years 1 shaved and half
starved on a stock boys salary. OnC
day the Old Man gave me a job on the
road in a territory in which five men,
in the five years, had fallen down.
Perhaps the job was given me TO XIII
me off But I won out At the end Of
the first year they wanted to fire me-
but I sold my services again for sec
ond year For six years l Travelled
/ in the middle west for this firm and
my salary grew bigger each year.
At the end OF that time, which was
the year of the Worlds Fair at Chi
cago, I came to the city by the lake
and saw the red roofs of Dr.. Harper's
university. A friend Of mine, whom
I shall ever hold close to my heart,
advised me to go there l went, but
to do this I had to throw away a
large business, which then, at the
age Of % or "A, paid me a handsome
salary In order that / might go to
The university, l cut down my salary
to 100000 a year, enough to get me
through school. The Ola Man would
not give me a contract for longer
than one year. because he said Books
and business do not go together,
and added that / would fall down. ]
did not. 1 gave up every inch of my
old territOry-One of the reasons be-
ing that l sold goods for the marked
price to customers who placed conf
dence in me, and sold them at lower
figures to others who did not follow
that plan. l felt like a thief.
In my new territory I succeeded Ia
even greater measure than l ever did
befOTe, at the same time carrying
on full work in the University. Two
OF my good friends asked me, in
1895, TO take a trip with them to Eu-
rope. Fond of adventure, l Joined
my two friends and in Europe found
my souls awakening The $4,000 /
spent on that fOur-mOnths trip was
the best $4,000 1 ever invested. On
bicycles we hiked it across Germany,
down the Rhine country, through
Switzerland and into Italy. Several
tines since I have visited the old
wOrld-in 1899 going as far as Egypt
and taking with me a young wife. As
the years have passed a small boy
and a baby sister have come to us.
Abroad l saw many things of inter
est that began to write about them
and before I realized it l was con |
lilDuLlu5 70 q SODAly uuAuBCL VI AACL- !
rOpolitan newspapers throughout the
United States For a while 1 hela the I
notion that a business mar was a lit
tie looked down upon. Therefore I /
secured a license to practice law but /
when I took a sharp look at young /
lawyers 1 met l saw That many of them I
wore trousers with bottoms frayed. |
while travelling men always wore good /
clothes. SO I-have stuck to the road, |
spending my leisure months either in !
travel or writing.
The TALES of the Road have been
more or less an accident To be sure,
for seventeen years I jOtted down
every striking business experience.
The springing of these was acciden-
tai. One day, in conversation with
an editor friend, l chanced to relate
some Of my business experiences.
That's just the stuff The saturday
Evening Post is looking for" said he
Inside of as hours I was writing the
first chapter of Tales of the Road"
There if you wish to know, l have
told you all about myself