The Washington herald., 1912-08-11
HOWDidYOuG
Chronicled by IRVING r. ALLEN.

DKAW lN1O(
Chro
~ CAME from the country" he began.
~ They an do" mused the Average
The Serious MN, without noticing
the interruption, proceeded. Down
homo worked IN the town bank. I ~ THE
bank. because 1t was the only one IN our
community. The folks IN our town looked on
the bank as the height Of respectabtnty. As
q clerk drawing $40 per"
"Wsekf" asked the Average Man.
Per month" re5oined the Serious Man.
A Q olsrk drawing SO per month, owing TO
my banking position. was moro highly re-
gardsd than Joe Hart, who was making 80
month cierking At the local dry goods store
Like most country boys, whose dreams are
measured By the edges Of the world rather
than the confines Of the homo town. the city
was my ooal
Saving and saving and saving. and prac-
ticalfy nothing to show for Il At the snd OF
the year. This condition nearly drove me
mad. and when . travelling bank examiner
told me Of . vacancy IN the lsrgest bank IN
Chicago. my applicatSon. addressed to the
chief olsrk, went in that night
II received Q favorable answer, my refer
sncss were looked into. and within . month
I was on my way to the city to take the
new position Three years passed, and found
me just az dissa tisfed with my position In the
caty bank ~ had been In the home snst1tu-
ton. But sli these ysars Of banking had
Destroyed my Independence, my nsrvs. ana
vas afraid 20 take Q chance, TO get out of
the banking business and start afresh IN a
new line.
However, I was making a little more
money every year and hAo . attle money
put away. Not much. though. You may Be
sure Of that
The ne1t step was marriage. met q
girl that feat oou4d not I'VE without. ana
she seemed to feel much the same way
about me- 20 We took the STEP I can't un-
derstand why har family permitted II.
suppose II was because Of the elansour the
$40 100 bank throw Over the $50 month
clerk.
Debt Opened His Byss.
II wasn't long After my marriage that
began to realize Whist hardships lay In stora
for both my wife and myself At the end
cf the nrst year owed my tailor SIS, balance
on . suit Of clothes, and could see no way
Of paying It. was ashamed to face him.
end rsmained away until . letter which
made me afraid hs would 80 to my supenors
about the matter drove mo down 30 make
my excuess
That tailor was a nne fellow He needed
the money. but when I explained the cir
cumstances he said he would walt To put
me 1t my ease. he started to talk about other
mattsrs-asked me how liked my work, and
the usual line Of small, conventional talk.
until IN tho course Of the converse ton. the
point developed that there were 500 clerks
employed In the, institution in which I
worked.
This fact struck the tailor like q blow
In the face. Why said he. II had hal,
those men for my customers. could AFFORD
to make them q SIS suit for $40 And could
pay q 10 per cent commission on that sum
TO the man who secured the business
Right here. It hit me- Will you pay me
the 10 per cent II gst the customers?'
I'm . minute said my tailor, and We
shook hands on II.
THAT night I cid some hard thinle.ns
Most Of the boys at the bank were buyins
ready made clothes for about S25 Q suit. II
] could save them % suit, get them S35
custom made garment and still make 10 per
cent for myself. we'll. here was stds money
that would easily overshadow my salary. n
/ made It 70.
'' 30 the next morning went to our chief
clerk and asked him II he had any objections
to my selling clothes to my fellow bank
clerks He demurred At FIRST. but finally gave
his permission, provided the sales were made
outside Of working hours
The nrst men sold were my chuma A
soon as they received their clothes from the
tailor, started in to work on every man In
the bank. The suits that had already been
sold under the plan were satisfactory, and
the best kind Of advertisements for work
manship and material The season was
risht-the men were Just getting ready for
their spring and summer clothes
Sold $50 Suits.
:" Instead OF 80 cuetoms rs we sold $50 thar
season and had the promise of recorders and
new sales that threatened to bring the total
to 400 euits the fexs seaeon.
Ny tailor was simply wild with delight.
He had TO enlarge his shops and faciii;ies and
the business was bound TO be permanent be-
cause the goods were made to satisfy
Av,A mi : ~ -x,.,,,