The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-25


 and his condition, but he expressed con- fdence in his ability to sell some of the machines. AS to his honesty and trust worthiness he referred to the division su- perintendent of the railroad. Two weeks later a sample typewriter came to Cald- well, together with letter from the New
 York headquarters. The New Workers
 wrote that they had no agents in Canada
 and had sold no machines there. In fact,
 they had sold few machines anywhere.
 They had made inquiries about Caldwell and the replies were satisfactory. They
 were sending on machine. If he could sell that it would be evidence that his confidence was not unwarranted. They
 wished him good fortune and told him he
 would get 15 per cent commission on all
 sales he made.
 E Caldwell had feeling that the receipt of that letter marked a turning point in his career. It meant a chance. slim one to be sure, but nevertheless chance for escape from the slavery to which it looked as if he had been doomed. He de- termined there would be no failure this time if earnest effort and hard work meant anything. First of all he studied the machine. He had d slight knowledge of mechanics and the company had sent lot of literature explaining wherein this typewriter differed from and was better than other machines. The more Cald- well studied the machine the more be was convinced that the makers were hon est in their statements and justified in their claims. He tried first one part and then another, subjected 1t to one test and then another and each time he was more satisfied than before. Nothing could be better for this man of 40. He did not know 1t, but those tests and those trials renewed his faith in himself as much as it gave him faith in the machine and served to arouse his ambition and furnish him with a store of confidence.
 For week he devoted all of his spare time to study. of the machine and prac- tice on it. Then he started out to sell. If he could not make a sale in the little town where he lived, he believed it would be useless for him to go further. Besides it would cost him time if not money to go elsewhere. It would cost him nothing but the effort in his home town.
 The little home town boasted of one bank The owner of this bank judged a dollar so highly that he rarely let go of one unless it was sure to bring back handsome profit. He was old-fashioned and had no need of modern convenience. To this man Caldwell went with his type writer. For an hour he talked of it's merits. Then he had to go to the station to meet a train. His duties at the station ended he hurried back to the bank. The old banker was polite, but had no use for such thing as a typewriter. Caldwell pointed out the multitude of ways it could be utilized, and he surprised even him self by the ardor and eloquence with which he presented his arguments. The banker had no idea Caldwell had so much fire and spirit and said so. He even went so far as to express sorrow that he had no need for the typewriter. Caldwell never despaired. Every day for a week he worked on that man. Every argu- ment that he could conceive of he brought to bear. It did not matter that the bank had only three or four letters day It did not matter that the banker wrote a oopperplate hand of which he was espe- cially proud. It did not matter that bus mess correspondence should be typewrit- ten and that the bank should be up to date. He hammered on his arguments until at last the old banker yielded, but only on condition that John Caldwell would go back to the bank every day and typewrite the banks letters until the banker became adept enough to relieve him of the job.