as full of admiration and good resolve
as he had previously felt anxiety.
Now, what is the next matter. This
time a porter is summoned. He comes
forward as if he expected rebuke.
" Oh ! I have had such a complaint re-
ported against you. You know that
will never do. You will not, I'm sure,
let that occur again." It certainly did
not occur again.
Thus, with the greatest despatch
matter after matter was settled in this
way without the " grievous words,
which stir up anger " and all who be-
longed to his office went to work as if
some one had oiled their joints.
Pictorial Bookkeeping:.
AN old trader, whose father attended
more to teaching his son the methods
of accumulating money than knowl-
edge, lived some time since in a town
in one of the Eastern States. From ap-
plication and industry, he had amassed
a property of about twenty thousand
672
COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES.
dollars; and although not able either
to read or write, he never hired a clerk,
but had always been in the habit of
keeping his own books. He had in-
vented some few pictorial characters
for the purpose of conveying his ideas
to himself and others ; they were formed
as nearly similar to the shape of the ar-
ticle sold as the nature of the circum-
stances would admit. One day a cus-
tomer of his called on him for the pur-
pose of settling his account ; the book
of hieroglyphics was handed down, and
the merchant commenced with, " such
a time you had a gallon of rum, and
such a time a pound of tea such a
time a gallon of molasses, and such a
time a cheese." " Stop there," says the
customer ; " I never had a cheese from
you or any other person I make my
own cheese." " You certainly must
have had it," said the merchant ; " it
is down in my book." The other still
denied ever buying an article of that
kind. After a promiscuous bantering
of pros and cons, upon recollection, he
informed him that he believed he had
purchased a grindstone about that time.
"It is the very thing," said the mer-
chant, " and I must have forgotten to
put the hole in the middle."
Reforming- instead of Destroying-.
AN instructive case for merchants
and others engaged in business occur-
red in Boston, where the city constable
traced a large quantity of stolen goods
to a young clerk in one of the large
wholesale stores in the vicinity of Milk
street, and in which establishment
business to the amount perhaps of a
million or more is carried on during
the year. The officer in the first place
informed the young man of his detec-
tion, and he acknowledged his crime.
He then went to a member of the firm
and informed him also of what had
taken place. The merchant seemed
troubled ; said that the boy had for
some time been with him, and to all
appearance was a faithful clerk ; that
he had sole control of a room contain-
ing one hundred thousand dollars'
worth of goods, with several lads under
him, and further stated that he paid
him three and a half dollars per week
for his services. The officer asked if
the young man did not pay nearly that
amount for board, washing, &c. The
merchant acknowledged that he prob-
ably did. He then called the clerk
down, and asked him to confess the
whole truth, which he did, with tears
in his eyes, and promises of reforma-
tion. The merchant then told the offi-
cer that he wanted time to consider as
to his course. When the officer called
again, the young man was found still
continuing at his old employment
with this difference, that his pay had
been increased to six dollars per week.
The officer asked how the boy got
along, to which his master replied,
" Admirably, admirably ; I have not
a better servant in the store." Thus
ended the matter, the young man still
continuing in his position, with the
firm intention to deserve, by his future
good character, the confidence which,
perhaps, he so little deserved by his
previous course. This conduct on the
part of the employer was thus the
means of reforming his clerk ; while
exposure and dismissal would in all
probability have destroyed him.
Getting- Rich by Bookkeeping-.
IN old times, it was the custom of
the merchants of the city of New York
to keep their accounts in pounds, shil-
lings, and pence currency. About fifty
years ago, a frugal, industrious Scotch
merchant, well known to the then small
mercantile community of that city, had,
by dint of fortunate commercial adven-
ture and economy, been enabled to save
something like four thousand pounds
a considerable sum of money at that
period, and one which secured to its
possessor a degree of enviable inde-
BUSINESS EMPLOYES.
673
pendence. His place of business and
residence were, as was customary at
that time, under the same roof.
This merchant had a clerk in his em-
ployment, whose reputation as an ac-
countant inspired the utmost confi-
dence of his master, whose frugal hab-
its he emulated with the true spirit
and feeling of a genuine Caledonian.
It was usual for the accountant to make
an annual balance sheet, for the inspec-
tion of his master, in order that he
might see what had been the profits of
his business for the past ydar. On this
occasion, the balance showed to the
credit of the business some six thou-
sand pounds, which somewhat aston-
ished the incredulous merchant. " It
canna be," said he ; "ye had better
count up agen. I dinna think I ha'
had sae profitable a beesness as this
represents." The clerk, with his usual
patience, re-examined the statement,
and declared that it was " a' right,"
and that he was willing to wager his
salary on its correctness. The some-
what puzzled merchant scratched his
head with surprise, and commenced
adding up both sides of the account
for himself. " I didna think," said he,
" that I was worth over four thousand
pounds ; but ye ha' made me a much
richer man. Weel, weel, I may ha' been
mair successful than I had thought,
and I'll na' quarrel wi' mysel' for being
worth sax thousand instead."
At early candlelight, the store was
regularly closed by the faithful ac-
countant ; and as soon as he had gone,
the sorely perplexed and incredulous
merchant commenced the painful task
of going over and examining the ac-
counts for himself. Night after night
did he labor in his solitary counting
room alone, to look for the error ; but
every stage of the examination con-
firmed the correctness of the clerk,
until the old Scotchman began to be-
lieve it possible that he was really
worth " sax thousand pounds." Stim-
ulated by this addition to his wealth,
43
he soon felt a desire to improve the
condition of his household ; and, with
that view, made purchase of new furni-
ture, carpets, and other elegances, con-
sistent with the condition of a man
possessing the large fortune of six
thousand pounds. Painters and car-
penters were set to work to tear down,
build up, and beautify ; and in a short
time the gloomy residence in Stone
street was renovated to such a degree
as to attract the curiosity and envy of
all the neighbors.
The doubts of the old man would,
however, still obtrude themselves upon
his mind ; and he determined, once
more, to make a most searching exami-
nation of his accounts. On a dark and
stormy night he commenced his labors,
with the patient and investigating spir-
it of a man determined to probe the
matter to the very bottom. It was past
the hour of midnight, yet he had not
been able to detect a single error ; but
still he went on. His heart beat high
with hope, for he had nearly reached
the end of his labor. A quick suspi-
cion seized his mind as to one " item "
in the account. Eureka! He had
found it he had found it ! With the
frenzy of a madman, h*e drew his broad-
brimmed white hat over his eyes, and
rushed into the street. The rain and
storm were nothing to him. He hur-
ried to the residence of his clerk in
Wall street, and seized the handle of
the huge knocker, with which he
rapped until the neighborhood was
roused with the loud alarm. The dis-
mayed clerk poked his night-cap out
of an upper window, and demanded
"Wha's there?" "It's me, you dom
scoundrel ! " said the frenzied mer-
chant ; " ye've added up the year of OUT
Laird with the pounds" Such was the
fact. The addition of the year of our
Lord in a certain place among the items
had swelled the fortune of the merchant
to nearly two thousand pounds beyond
its actual amount.
674
COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES.
Two Clerks in a Quarrel.
SOMETHING in the way of a quarrel
once took place between two clerks
Jonas and Jonathan in a merchant's
counting house. The quarrel was of
little importance in itself, for it was
merely as to the quantity of work that
each had to do. The merchant had
given six letters to be copied. Jonas
said that each should copy three : Jon-
athan said that, as they were not of the
same length, one should copy four and
the other two. They disputed violent-
ly about it, and from words came to
blows. Jonas beat Jonathan severely,
and Jonathan vowed that he would be
revenged. In this determination he
persevered, and it was a part of his
every day's thoughts how he could in-
jure Jonas.
Jonas kept what is called the " petty
cash " in the merchant's counting room,
that is, he was charged with the pay-
ment of all the small sums for the ordi-
nary expenses of the business, and was
settled with by the merchant every
week, on his producing the accounts,
and the vouchers for payment when
any receipts were given. Jonas was
particularly careful to keep his docu-
ments in order, and Jonathan, who
knew Jonas's pride in having his cash
book right, determined to do all that
he could to embarrass and confuse
him. Whenever Jonathan could lay
his hands upon any voucher that Jonas
wanted, to show that his accounts were
regular, he took the opportunity, when
nobody was present, either to burn or
otherwise destroy it. This was a great
trial to Jonas, and especially when, on
three succeeding Saturdays, instead of
receiving the merchant's accustomed
praise, he was reprimanded for negli-
gence. Jonas protested that he had
been as careful as usual, but could not
conceive how the documents had dis-
appeared. He determined, in future,
to lock them up, instead of leaving
them under the leads of the desk, as
he had hitherto done. The next week,
all Jonas's accounts were as correct as
usual, and all the vouchers in order ?
and his tranquillity returned.
But this did not last long, for Jona-
than, finding that he had not succeed-
ed in his ill-natured attempt, was re-
solved to injure Jonas even more seri-
ously ; and one day, when Jonas had
gone to the docks, and had by accident
left the key in his desk, Jonathan took
a bank note out of the cash book which
Jonas had kept there, and concealed it
in another part of the desk.
Jonas came back, and put the keys
in his pocket he did not even recol-
lect that he had put them in the desk ;
but the next day, when he opened his
desk to count the money in his cash
box, the bank note was found missing.
This was, indeed, a sad discovery ; he
racked his brains to remember whether
he had made any payments that he had
not entered. He inquired of Jonathan
whether he had seen him pay any
money away. Jonathan professed to
feel for his distress, while, in fact, he
was rejoicing in it ; and he was de-
lighted, indeed, when he heard the
merchant, in his private room, severely
reproaching Jonas for his growing
carelessness. A few weeks after, Jonas,
having occasion to ransack his desk for
some papers, found the missing bank
note, and supposed that he had, by ac-
cident, stowed it away with other pa-
pers. He told his good fortune to the
merchant; the latter recommended
more caution in future.
Jonathan now tried a little bolder
game. It was Jonas's duty to take the
letters to the post office. One day, a
letter of great importance, containing
a bill of exchange for a large amount,
was missing. The merchant had, as
usual, intrusted the correspondence to
Jonas's care, and had left the city for
his country abode. Next day, the first
inquiry, when the merchant came, was,
whether said letter had been despatch-
ed. Jonas burst into tears, and said
BUSINESS EMPLOYES.
675
that the letter with the remittance was
not to be found. " What ! " said the
merchant, with extreme displeasure,
" that letter missing ? " and, quickly
scanning the floor, he saw the identical
letter at Jonas's feet, wet and dirty, as
if it had been trampled on. This had
been also Jonathan's doing. He had
concealed the letter the night before ;
he had flung it, unperceived having
himself trodden upon it under Jonas's
desk.
In this way many months passed.
Jonathan managed with so much cun-
ning as to be undiscovered in his mal-
ice ; but things went on so ill, that
finally the merchant dismissed them
both.
Years rolled by, and Jonas and Jon-
athan had become merchants them-
selves ; but nothing could eradicate
from Jonathan's mind the determina-
tion to injure, and, if possible, ruin
Jonas. And he at last accomplished
it, though his own ruin was the conse-
quence. He undermined the credit of
Jonas, by indirect insinuations as to
his affairs, by doubts and innuendos,
and shrugs of the shoulder ; and, by a
succession of unfounded reports and
malevolently expressed suspicions, Jo-
nas's reputation as a merchant suffered,
and bankruptcy took place. Some of
the statements by which Jonas had
been injured were, however, traced to
Jonathan. He was prosecuted for
damages, convicted, and his own insol-
vency followed soon.
London Trade Report.
A LONDON journal thus enters into
the facetiae of mercantile nomenclature
in its Trade Report : Beer is still flat
in your own jugs, and seidlitz powders
are on the rise everywhere. Bones are
steady, at two pence for three pounds ;
and wine bottles are in demand at five
farthings. New milk from the cow has
become dearer since the recent extraor-
dinary rise in chalk ; and as far as the
wine trade is concerned, the champagne
dealers have been playing old goose-
berry. The tea trade is looking up on
account of the unhealthy appearance
of the hedges ; and the arrival of four
barges laden with sand has produced a
powerful effect on inferior sugar. But-
ter is not so firm as it has been during
the severe weather; and the new-laid
eggs having been released from bond,
where they have remained for some
time, preserved in lime, are a good deal
lower than our last quotations. Pigs
were quite stationary when taken by
the leg, and dealers who went the
whole hog got enormous prices.
The business done in the vegetable
market has been limited. Potatoes
have suffered from a disease in the kid-
neys, and the growers have been fairly
beaten out of the field for want of cham-
pions. Parsley was firm at a half-penny
a sprig, and a good deal of thyme was
lost by a misunderstanding among the
principal dealers. Rhubarb was flat
during the rains, but rallied at the end
of the week on account of the fine
weather. Horseradish was in a feverish
state until the close of business ; and a
few transactions in onions under the
very eyes of some inexperienced per-
sons, produced a very powerful effect
on their mode of looking at the market
in general. Roasted chestnuts without
the coupons were uncommonly active at
first handling, but those who failed to
exercise caution in this investment
only burnt their fingers. Spanish
(nuts) were freely taken while the
owners turned their backs by some
doubtful parties in the market ; and
grapes were exceedingly sour and unsea-
sonable, at a shilling a pound, to those
who could not purchase them. Aspar-
agus is looking up, and radishes arc
taking a downward direction. Peas
were almost nothing at the opening;
and new potatoes were buoyant in the
basket, but turned out rather heavy at
the settling.
Oysters were dull at the opening,
676
COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES.
but went down rapidly soon after.
Flounders were of course flat, but to
the surprise of every one they showed
an inclination to come round toward
the afternoon, and there were one or
two transactions in whelks, but they
were of a comparatively insignificant
character. Lobsters' claws were lazy
at the opening, but closed heavily, and
those who had a hand in them would
gladly have been released if such a
course had been possible.
Very little is doing in calico, though
several extraordinary shifts are being
made by some of the manufacturers.
Inferior stuffs have not gone down since
the speech of Mr. Ferrand, but fustian
for parliamentary use is a good deal
sought after. Coarse material is much
wanted for the newspaper press, which
has had a glut of the raw article ; and
the latter is now considered so flimsy
that it may be seen through which
entirely defeats the object it is intended
for.
Money was very plentiful in the city
this morning, and the man at the cross-
ing near the bank carried off a large
sum at the clearing. Mohair stock was
not very buoyant, but gloves were easy
at eighteen pence a pair and upward.
Coats were nominally heavy, but were
found much lighter on being weighed ;
and eggs, though they looked very
promising yesterday, opened very badly
this morning, purchasers exhibiting
considerable shyness. In spices there
was very little done ; but a party suf-
fered greatly who had been keeping
too close an eye to pepper.
Improving- a Banker's Broth.
JEMMY TAYLOR, noted as one of the
sharpest and most successful, as well as
miserly, English stockbrokers of the
last century, once graciously invited two
of the clerks of a fellow banker to take
"pot luck" with him. On paying
their respects to him, therefore, at his
residence, though with no intention
to dine, these rollicking bucks found
the old boy boiling a solitary mutton
chop, in an ocean of water, to make,
what he called, some "comfortable"
broth for himself, and his boon friend,
old Daniel Dancer, whom he expected.
After some complimentary solicita-
tions, the two " benders " humorously
prevailed upon him to fetch a pot of
porter, and, while he was gone, they
threw some stray pieces of his half-
penny candles into his cookery which,
no doubt, ameliorated the scantiness of
the culinary mess, and made it more
delectable to those old hunks, who, as
appears from the sequel, devoured it
with keen appetites, cordially uniting
in their commendations of its unusual
richness.
But the next time Jemmy Taylor
met those two larks upon 'change, the
skinflint banker stoutly accused them
of theft and robbery, in stealing his
candles, and grew warm in his denun-
ciation of their knavery. The clerks,
however, immediately cleared them-
selves of the charge, by solemnly de-
claring to the perspiring miser, that
they had only committed them to the
pot, at the bottom of v/hich he would
find the wicks, if his hunger had not
swallowed them.
Jemmy was bred a weaver, but after-
ward became a banker, which " trade "
he pursued with such usurious keen-
ness, that he was not long in amassing
a fortune such as is attained by only a
few.
Apprehended Embezzlements.
CLERKS have of late years been play-
ing fast and loose to such an enormous
extent with their employers' money
and property, that it has become ex-
tremely difficult to know whom to
trust. Apprehensions have for some
time been entertained that the clerk of
the weather will be hard up next, as
having been engaged in some act of
embezzlement, his course having been
IMPROVING A JUNKER'S BROTH.
BUSINESS EMPLOYES
677
very erratic for some time past, so
much so indeed as to have excited very
general remark. It is hinted that he
may be taken up on a charge of having
been in the habit, for years past, of
skimming the milky way and appro-
priating the cream to his own use. If
we were Saturn, we certainly should
count our rings every night to see that
none of them were missing.
Hitting the Nail on tlie Head.
CHARLES LAMB'S description of his
sensation on being emancipated from
his daily labor as a clerk in the " India
House " hits the nail on the head. He
says : " It was like passing from life
into eternity. I wandered about, think-
ing I was happy, but feeling that I was
not. When all is holiday there are no
holidays. Think of this, thou man of
sudden wealth ; and if it shall so chance
that thou hast been a tallow chandler
in thy days of usefulness, make a clause
in thy bill of sale that shall reserve to
thee the right of still assisting at the
* factory ' on ' melting days.' "
Filling- a Grocer's Order.
A CINCINNATI grocer's house, finding
out that cranberries commanded six
dollars per bushel, and under the im-
pression that the article could be
bought to advantage at St. Mary's,
wrote out to a customer, acquainting
him with the fact, and requesting him
to send " one hundred bushels per Sim-
mons," (the wagoner usually sent.) The
correspondent, a plain, uneducated
man, had considerable difficulty in de-
ciphering the fashionable scrawl com-
mon with merchants' clerks of late
years, and the most important word,
"cranberries," he failed altogether to
make out, but he plainly read, " 100
lushels persimmons." As the article was
growing all around him, all the boys in
the neighborhood were set to gathering
it, and the wagoner made his appear-
ance in due time, in Cincinnati, with
eighty bushels, all that the wagon bed
would hold, and a line from the coun-
try dealer stating that the remainder
would follow, the next trip. An expla-
nation soon ensued, but the customer
insisted that the clerk of the Cincin-
nati house should have written "fy
Simmons ".and not " per Simmons."
Kuin produced by Bad Reckoning-.
A VERY deserving trader was ruined
by his miscalculations respecting mer-
cantile discounts a subject requiring,
at all times and in every branch of com-
merce, the close and intimate knowl-
edge of an experienced accountant.
The article he manufactured he at
first supplied to retail dealers at a large
profit of about thirty per cent. He
afterward confined his trade almost
exclusively to large wholesale houses,
to whom he charged the same price,
but under discount of twenty per cent.,
believing that he was still realizing ten
per cent, for his own profit. His trade
was very extensive ; and it was not un-
til after some years that he discovered
the fact, that in the place of making
ten per cent, profit, as he imagined, by
this mode of making his sales, he was
realizing only four per cent. To 100
value of goods he added thirty per
cent., and invoiced them at 130. At
the end of each month, in the settle-
ment of accounts, amounting to some
thousands of pounds sterling with indi-
vidual houses, he deducted twenty per
cent., or twenty-six on each one hun-
dred and thirty pounds, leaving one
hundred and four net for every one
hundred pounds' value of goods at
prime cost, in .place of one hundred
and ten pounds as he all along ex-
pected.
Dexterity of Specie Clerks.
UPON an occasion when a large
amount of bank notes was required, a
678
COMMERCIAL AND BUSINESS ANECDOTES.
clerk in the Bank of England is stated
to have signed his name, consisting of
seven letters, including the initial of his
Christian name, five thousand three hun-
dred times during eleven working Hours,
and he also arranged the notes he had
signed in parcels of fifty each. It is an
interesting fact, which also may be
mentioned in this connection, that
when the hand or the head has been
for some time occupied in any kind of
special work, it cannot instantly change
its employment with full effect. The
muscles of the limbs employed have
acquired a flexibility during their ex-
ertion and those to be put into action
a stiffening during rest which renders
every, change slow and unequal in the
commencement. A similar result like-
wise takes place in any change of
mental exertion ; the attention bestow-
ed on the new subject is not so perfect
at the first commencement as it be-
comes after some exercise.
Commercial "Drummers" or Travel-
ling Clerks.
NOT an uninteresting feature of the
internal traffic of Great Britain, and the
same may apply in a good degree to
our own land, is the system commonly
termed commercial travelling. For-
merly, almost every commercial house
of any note, employed one or more
agents or clerks, whose business it was
to travel about the country and procure
custom for their principals. The sys-
tem, wherever pursued at present, is
substantially the same now as then.