Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-08-05
his customers paid him at equally infre-

his customers paid him at equally infre-
Quent intervals.
His books had been run fairly well as
far as routine went. but they hadn't been
really balanced in three or four or five
years. because he kept locked secret book
of paper and notes which he had out, and
he never allowed his employees to stick their
noses into that part of his business.
He always intended to balance his books.
but kept putting 1t off day after day and
month after month until they were in a
pretty snarl. Then he called me in: and as
he and l were old acquaintances. he turned
the secret book and all else over to me
without hesitation.
We'll. inside of two days l knew two
things; one was that for two years my man
had been selling his manufactured product
for less than it cost him to make it up, and
in some cases for less than the raw ma
terial cost him. And the second thing was
that he had been blowing the capital. and
that. what with the paper that he had
af1oat and the bills for material, he had
just two thousand dollars between himself
and failure, instead of being worth, as he
thought. anywhere from fifty to eighty
thousand dollars.
Il locked the doors of the Office and told
him. For a moment he gasped. and the
sweat came out his face. Then he
whistled Then he said: If l can get I'M
limited credit for another year. l can stave
things off and maybe win out Yes an
swered /; but how are you going to get the
credit? You cannot dare show any one
these books, and you cant get more credit
without a showdown.
Cant II? said he. You just watch me-
SON.
Branching Out, Indeed.
Three days afterward I went into his Of
fee and there the biggest wall was 4
mighty blue print showing the plans for II
vast factory. In the corner of it was Y
beautiful watercolor depicting the factory
building. 1t a sumner.
"'What's th!so" 1 asked
why that's the new factory that the
boss is going to put up said the cashier.
1.-The boss came in at that moment and
winked at when he saw me looking at
the plans. In his private office he said
You know where I'm going to build that?
In the block at so-and-so.'
"'Where did you get the money! I asked
admiringly.
Tut. tut said he. Don't you know
that we were two thousand dollars to the
good? Well. with twelve hundred of 1t
bought a years option on that land. And
the other eight hundred 1 paid for those
plans. The architect worked day and night
on them
But you can't take the option up and
you can't raise money enough to buildr
gasped I.
"Son. son. said he. indulgently L
AidNtH tie 1diLltSt iittiltiOU VI fulfilling
But now you've spent the two thou
sand, | insisted How are you going to
pay off your people tomorrow"
MY dear boy said he. it was bread
cast on the waters. I invited the cashier
of the bank to meet me today in the office
here and accompany me to luncheon. The
plans had just been hung. OF course he
them, and of course he asked me all
about it,. But 1 wouldn't tell anything
couldn't afford to. That made him hungry.
He began to throw out hints about his
bank. wanted to know whether I'd decided
yet on the question of financing the thing.
and SO on Well. told him the honest
truth that I hadn't given it a thought
That impressed him. and. to be brief. 1 Dor
rowed ten thousand before you came in
The factory was so immense, and the
property selected for the site was SO we'll
known. that the thing soon became the
subject OF talk everywhere. People who
had about made up their minds to refuse
farther credit till they. got look-in at the
books FASTENED to change their minds, be-
cause they feared to lose the business of
man who was about to branch out so
stupendously. 1t was the old story over
again. Arouse a mans greed and he shuts
his eyes almost willfully to patent facts.
Anybody could have found out for the ask
ing that our hero had only an option on
that land. But apparently nobody ever
did.
Winning on the Thin Bluff.
AT any rate. before the year was over
he had been elected a director in the bank
a bank. by the way. whose directorate WAS
made up of artistocrats of the most ex-
elusive type 1t queer enough to see
this fellow sitting among them. chewing 10
bacco and splitting it without extreme re-
gard, and cursing like a pirate-for you
must know that his manners were beastly.
'He didn't know any different. but he
couldn't have done better had he done it by
design. for the aristocrats used to whisper
to each other: Rude and uncutiva ted. but
sterling, bluff manners. None of the hypo-
critic or make-believe about him Sort of
diamond in the rough you see.
We'll. he got them. one by one. When
they had let themselves into various
schemes of his good and--deep he calmly
told them the whole truth. and kindly eX-
planned that unless they helped him out
he would bust and that he would take
good care 10 have their company. The poor
old innoccnts We're Mortified. and. by Jove.
they actually built new factory for him.
On the strength of that he sold his old one
and made a nice pile. The innocent pur-
chaser stood to be badly stuck, by the way.
but he got smashing big order by sheer
luck and actually won out.
The two factories are part of a great
trust now and the diamond in the rough
Is practically the whole thing. He froze
his aristocratic sde-partners out long ago
even froze them out of their own bank.
And 1t was all done on n bogus blue print.
We'll by George, your business isn't SO
unromantic after an said the soldier and
the correspondent and the sailor
n,oof Thai Moot, jS ITninh hited