Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1915-07-22
MADE GOOD AND COT HOME
Zanzibar Agent of Spice Imports
Cabled Buy Cloves"
'h"rtered Steamer TO Curry Ncssnpe
1000 Miles after Hurricane Ind
swept Isinnd-It Won Him RE-
lease and Promotion,

several years ago a young man walked
i"'o the office Of the largest ivory and
Sp'ce importing house in the United
states. lie was looking for clerksh,p.
III que course he was admitted 10 III,
presence Of the senior partner. Now thu
senior partner had curious way of test
ing a young man whose General amman.
ance was promising His plan was ~
OFFER something entirely unexpecteda
''ahce 10 make good in n position that
the applicant nayer anticipated HI<
decision was determined by the manner e.
which the applicant ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
or not he showed alcrtaess to arasp tb.
opportunity. In this instance the senio.
partner offered the young man tho nos,.
ton of supercargo on a ship 1oadod Wit,
cotton goods schC o. SAT- for NADIA.
'Fascar within Is hours The voun, man
hardly knew whore Madauasca- was ant
had almost no idea of the duties of a
supercargo.
Bat these considerations ne sv-e,,+ as,5o.
for he saw his opportunity. He accepted
the position So the young man Went :,
NADIA gascar and sold the cotton goods =,
such advantage that he was appointed
by cable the firms agent in Zanzibar.
II was place of great responsibility, On
his judgment depended the organization
Of caravans into central Africa to search
for ivory the maintenance Of friendly re-
latons with Arab chiefs, including the
famous Tppo Tih, and the purchase oc
the annual Zanzibar Glove supply for
America Zanzibar was then virtually
the only clove-producing spot on the globe.
The young man found the business oe
the firm disorEauzed because capabis
I men could not he induced to stay IN tho
deadly climate of Zanzibar BY careful
| living he preserved his health and.
thanks to his hard work he was evertti-
ally gratified TO see the name # his firm
again rank high in that part Of the world
But AS years went by tho natural long
ing to he called home grew within him.
/ His success, however, was tho very thing
that seemed to defeat that object HI
firm expressing their complete confidence
in him. said not ii word about his return
on leave or pcrmanentlv And he. appre-
ciatnc that confidence at it's full worth.
never limited at either.
1 1T last came his opportunity and his
reward For three days Zanzibar was
swept by Il terrible hurricane. Much OF
! the city was destroyed. wreckage vas
piled upon the larbor beach, and nearly
every tree on the island was torn UP by
the roots The last fact was the al-im-
portant one when the American agent
crawled out from his shelter The Glove
groves had been ohliterated and for threa
years there would not be another full
Glove crop in the world market. Clearly
his duty was to get the news to his firm.
But the cable between Zanzibar and
/ Alden had been severed by the storm
If he waited for the small steamer the
news would become public. and OF littls
ADVANTAGE to the firm. Amid a still howl-
ling gale he crept dow to the harbor
front. There he saw that single tramr
steamer had kept afloat. The idea flash
ed into his mind to charter her to carry
| his message to Aden. where telegraph
/ connection could he made with New
York. BY his handkerchief tied TO a stick
he attracted the steamers notice. Then
| by the marine signal code he contracted
with the captain to run to Alden with a
message to his firm Of Just two words:
''Buy cloves" 1t vas one of the oostlieso
messages ever dispatched, for It was tina
only cargo of a steamer chartered II
make fun speed over a course of 2,rI
miles
Some days later the firm in New YORK;
received the message. To them its ex-
treme brevity was sufficient in the light
Of the confluence they had come to place
in their Zanzibar agent. They ala not
pause TO question, but bought cloves IN
New York. London and Parls--all this
cloves on the market They had hardly
completed the operation when news cana