Los Angeles herald., 1906-03-04


- door, entered, and presented me With
lNSWsgI an engraved card, reading:
EUGENE DELACROIX,
General Manager,
The Universal Investment and Security Co.. ntd
25O1 to 2526 Atlas Bldg, New York, n. I.
"He says he would like to have few moments
conversation if you not too busy mur'DieO
the Young aspirant for clerical emolumehts'
Now. I had recently been a heavy loser W
wildcat enterprises, and had made up my NJ
to abiure them altogether hereafter: Du =.
st;l had a very heavy cash balance lying III Vi'
bank and drawing no interest. which worrieo n'I
considerably; and I had mentioned TO -.
friends that was looking for some iegi'i,ia'' -
vestment which would safely and pron,ap' =, o
,,lov Il could not help thinking that LII III
ebance remarks of mine had something 10 uo "''D
this present call. .lod ;nnosinp
Tla name of the company sounded lIiiposius
enouoh although entirely unfamiliar anu s;y
noration that occupied no less than I"e go.
70. 4, tho biu new Broadway builolng mus
~ ao,,.;aaroble business, even If they hau ny
- nav their rent Moreover, reasone'
osu could he no more than an mtrouuo'oiy Id
n which the company's represenoee.Ve, w. IN.
Jo,htless explain the inducements oneieo
vestors -, .dro;t Mr.. Della
60 thinking I bade the poy du .e,lv
croix at once, and to close tine o00-
behind him. L mine soon
n rasnonse to these directions OF mine' CO. CO.
found myself sitting opposite 10 oe' ,oo,,e ed
looking fellow with rich bass voice, "nt aor,
much more like an ex-prize tsnter .nan
eral manager Of financial corpoi" p.o;,tonce
e'"1 "trn., niod indeed to make your acquaintance
,. sl,;r,nlins" he began laying down his gloves
Lol,l and
tons looking mass of printed ma''er ''0iAi
inner coat pocket s,:. one,;nc re.
mark. ....:.., +ones
a. ,,r,bor ne nrospectuses of the leading lnVes0'
;,,o,+ and security companies, exhloltlng tlle
1ro6+s tn be derived from investing IN variety
of vavs running from Western farm mor'sasee
to government bonds, and specifying 'ne ia.e'
of interest varying from two to ten anu C"e''e
nor cent. The company which have the nonoi
to represent has no similar prospectus-lh ia0''
M nrnted outline of its inducements "ha'ever'
Nevertheless. we absolutely guarantee no less
than six hundred per cent. per annum upon orig
;nal investment. How and where we are apie
IN mult;nlv our capital in this truly astounding
nronortion is secret too valuable to be entrust'
ed to the realms of paper and ink
Such an absurd statement, calmly made to
a practical business man, it had never before been
nv lot to hear; and / positively wondered how
the fellow had the audacity to seem as II IN real
earnest My thoughts were evidently renecteu
in my countenance, for the manager hastily TOOK
a check-book from his pocket and filled IN and
signed a blank. 1t was for fifty thousand dol
lars, payable to bearer
might ask you to have one of your young
men take this around to our bank and return
here with the cash." he said, in perfectly
matter-of-fact tone.
Although the whole proceeding struck me as
being highly farcica1, l determined to comply with
his request especially as could see no way IN
which I stood to lose in the transaction. l. ac-
cordingly took the check out to my old and
trustworthy cashier, and bade one of the young
men accompany him an extra guard. After
they had departed 1 returned to the private Of
fice and Mr.. Delacroix and myself conversed up
on the general topics of the day L found HIM
extremely wellinformed and a pungent speaker
upon men and things, and almost regretted the
quick return Of my employe, who handed me
6fty clean treasury notes, each of the onethou-
sanddollar denomination.
I was about to pass them over to DIR. Della
croix, but he waved his hand in token of pro-
test After the cashier had quilted the room
again he said:
"My dear Mr.. Skmpkins you must know that
we have peculiar way of doing business, and
moreover. one that is entirely our own. We
allow none of our clients TO take the slightest
modicum of risk until they become entirely sat
isfied with the profits of operations. You
have now fifty thousand dollars of our money in
your hands?"
I assented with nod.
"Will you kindly give me a check for like
amount, payable to bearer? The equivalent in
cash you can hold as security for the amount OF
this check, which shall invest for that account "
Such an unbusiness-like proposition must seem
eminently ridiculous when read here in cold
type, and my own opinion of it at the time was
precisely similar 1t was exactly like the school
boy trick of calling "Heads / win, tails you lose -
Here was a man who practically offered to invest
his own money for my benefit! The exchange
of checks meant nothing more nor less than that
Yet, looking at the matter in every possible light
/ could see no chance of my being unnecessarily
involved in the matter.
During all my selfcogitation Delacroix was
perfectly unconcerned, and without any appear
ance of ostentation had arisen and was scrutin-
izing some of my little niece's water-color
sketches, which hung upon the wall.
REALLY admirable in composition for one of her
age" he commented, after / had amost uncon.
sciousy mumbled forth their origin; "a little
Opaque in treatment for the middle distance; a
common fault with beginners, no matter how
clever. You should certainly let her study abroad
when she is old enough to appreciate it,"
I looked the all over / listened to the