The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-06-08

on the phone and asked him II he re-
membered the proposition he had made
to him.
Yes" replied the steward. Il am
ready"
He asked Marian how much he re.
quired. Marian told him $500 The stew
ard came downtown with $500 in his pock-
ct. Marian wanted to give receipt to
him, but the steward refused 1t, saying
that If he could not trust Marian with
$500 he could not trust him with any
thing. There was man who had little
silk workshop in Broadway loft. Mar
Ian had negotiated to buy him out for
s400. That left him 800 cash. He put
that in bank. That was all his capital;
he had no credit.
In that little shop he started to make
silk cord. He worked himself and he
had one man to assist him. AS much
time as he could spare he devoted to
hustling for orders. He started on
Monday. On Thursday he had enough
orders to engage two additional men and
a girl. The following Thursday he had
rush and had to get four additional
men, That year was the biggest the
silk trade has known in 40 years.
Business poured in Marian fast
that he had to engage men to work at
night, thing never before done in the
passementarie trade, Marian bought
camp bed and slept in his little shop. lie
worked Is or 20 hours day He was
beset with troubles. He could get or
ders without number. but ii was very
hard to get silk or cotton to work with.
And it was still harder to get hands. He
would go around with the cash in his
hand and beg dealers to sell the ma
teria to him for him work Sometimes
he would get it. and sometimes he would
not. When he got it he would carry
it back to his shop in a bag slung over
his shoulder.
He advertised for operatives, but got
only 81 few. He had all sorts of chances
to make money if he could only fill his
orders. He wondered how he could get
people to do the work he wanted Then
an idea struck him, an idea so groteque
that he laughed aloud. He picked up four
sailors, and offered them work in his
shop. Sailors can do remarkable things
with their hands. With oakum or WITH
rope they can make the most fantastic
things. After Marian had given a little
instruction to them in tasse making and
in the twisting of silk cord and In passe-
mentarie work generally, they proved
good operatives.
That rush in the silk trade lasted three
and half months. All of his operatives
were paid by piece work. Some of them
earned as much as $40 week. At the
end of the rush Marian had money Ing
bank. an established business and a fair
credit. He just happened to so into busi-
ness at the beginning of the boom and
to make the most out of it that man
with his limited resources could.
But It is not booms that make busi-
ness great deal of the trade connec-
tions Marian made in those early days
he has retained He has been prudent
and has proved capable. He outgrew his
Broadway quarters long ago. Now he
has an establishment in Crosby. street
and is one of the leading men in his
line in the big city. Ite occupies two
whole floors of a loft structure. His bust
ness amounts to many thousand dollars
a year. He employs 80 hands and has
a lot of machines. He has home of
his own in New York and has his own
Yacht. He is fixed for life. lie has no
further taste for roaming or adventure.
He is a solid business man. That stew
ard Is his partner. His share of the
profits of the Crosby street business Is
bigger than the fat salary he gets in the
big hotel.
Marian visits the old home in st. John
every summer. Last year he met the
president of the college he attended.
They talked Of old times and of the boys
who were classmates with Marian and
what progress they had made in life. Not
one of them had done so well as the
wild boy who was almost incorrigible and
who roamed the sea and the land. And
none of the mothers is so proud of her
son as is the mother of Jean Marian.