Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-03-15
By HERMAN WHITAKER.
PART l.

lITF THE CUB was only our # tHe
way, J., believe the widow would
come in"
Mr. Jarvis OsEood- "oseood ~ Short.
Banking ana Farmers Loans. as per
gilt inscription on the plate glass window
closed his ledger with a bang and looked
al his partner across the office. Tall
and stopped in Mr. OsEood fiery reed hair
was associated with cold eve which
sbundanily advertised the fact that the
warmth Of feeling popularity attributed
to his coors was here entirely lacking
and as he leaned back in his chair. frowu-
ing. his lean fingers wsaved In and out in
= manner that always suggested surgeons
practice 70 those unhappy debtors upon
whom he held financial post -mortem ex-
aminations He was gnawug his thin
mustache. too-a sign ~ unusual UrI-
tatiou.
Il called around there today, he went
on. still ADDRESSING the partner. who was
short and gross as he himself was thin
and long, but ! got the usual David
thought this and David thought that and
. David believed tother' If he were only
out Of the way
Hes not,' Mr.. Short lacoulcal> an
swered
NO, he's not, and 7 suppose it is foolish
TO think of IT."
The Rubber Craze.
browning stm. Mr. Osgood picked up
pamphlet from a pile at his elbow and
began to idly turn the leaves. Embia-
zoned 'verda Rubber Company in gilt
on its back, It was one Of a thousand
that were pouring. just then. from the
presses Of the country which had been re
rarf1,- etr,tFLs hNf rIllhpT craze.
Rubber Rubber, Rubber The pro-
moter's golden tongue was belliug il fun
and free in Maine woods. swamps of Mis-
souri, the cotton fields Of the South.
Every state-almost every towu-had its
company. and as Mr. Osgood was par
ticuIarly early bird with a keen eye for
the very earliest worm, he had organized
the first in Northheld. Maine-also the
biggest and best. as he was abundantly
explained in the pamphlet
According TO this. the company held
5 600 acres Of land choicest on the 18TH
mus Of Tehuantepec. in the state of Vera
cruz. one thousand Of which carried two
year-old rubber. also the finest of its
kind
one share Of the companys stock rep
resented an acre of this land and tts
price would be used to clear. plant and
bring It TO bearing az six years old, when
The first tapping would repay the share
holder his entire outlay
A rosy proposition, but there 1t was.
worked out in plain figures, which never
Iie-so many trees to the acre, so much
rubber per tree, al such valuation
all YOU had to do was to reckon up the
profits.
Never was such an Offer The pamphlet
declared Il in bold type hroidered with
letters from eminent citizens, who knew
the firm of OsRood & short to be of spot
less reputation, and enticingly decorated
with photographs Of "our manager Mr
Meagher." posed beneath a rubber tree
II was all so complete, compact, such
marcel Of truth that there was nothing
left for the public but to believe.
"Instalment People.
And ii had believed. backing its opinion
SO strongly that the firm had been com
peIled to move into larger offices and TO
add two typists To the establishment of
one clerk which had sufriced for the easy
shaving OF farmers.
+. So far. however the investors had all
been "instalment people small fry, mere