Twenty Years of Hus'ling
men on the road. These two were Dr. Frank and Bert, who were both good
men, and perfectly reliable.
On the seventeenth of January, this same year--1884--I was married to
Miss Anna H. Emmert, of Chicago, (my present wife), having long since
been legally separated from my first, and she already married again.
My second wife had received a thorough business education, although but
eighteen years of age, and immediately began taking an interest in the
management of my office affairs; and from that time until the present
has been of incalculable help to me.
I had no knowledge whatever of book-keeping, while she was an expert;
and since my force of clerks, book-keepers and type-writers has run up
to between thirty and fifty, there has never been a time when she
couldn't more than acceptably fill any of their positions; and during
our last holiday trade in our busiest season she took the place and kept
up the work of three different employees during their temporary absence.
And this in addition to a general oversight of the entire force, which
she makes her regular line of duty.
The summer following our marriage my wife's health began failing. As I
had already become convinced that it was necessary that I should again
go on the road, I decided to buy a pair of horses and carriage and
travel with them, and let my wife accompany me. Our physician said
nothing could be more beneficial to her than such a campaign.
So after employing competent help to take charge of our office, we were
ready to start out. Soon after our decision to travel I traded a diamond
ring for a horse, harness and buggy, and not being able to buy a mate
to the animal in Chicago at a satisfactory price, we shipped our stock
of goods and horse and buggy to Grand Haven, Michigan, by boat. I also
bought a double harness in Chicago and shipped with the rig, and we
crossed on the same boat.
On our arrival there I began searching for another horse, and succeeded
in finding one to suit me, which I bought in less than ten minutes after
the owner showed him to me. I then had a pole fitted to my carriage, and
by noon of that day we were under full sail for Northern Michigan.
The first excitement I furnished my wife on that trip occurred about an
hour after our departure from Grand Haven, and, was in the shape of a
horse trade. We were traveling through a thick, heavy wood, when we met
a sewing-machine agent. I saw at once that he was driving an animal that
exactly matched the one we brought from Chicago.
I bantered him for a trade.
He stopped, and after looking over the horse I had just bought, said
he'd trade for seventy-five dollars.
"I'll give you fifty dollars."
He then offered to trade for sixty. I still offered fifty.
"Make it five dollars more, and it's a trade," said he.
"I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll wrestle you, run a foot-race, or spit
at a mark, to see whether I shall pay five dollars extra or not."
He "sized me up" for a moment, and said he guessed he'd wrestle with me;
and asked me to name my hold. I proposed "rough-and-tumble."
We then laid off our coats and took hold, and in much less time than it
takes to tell it my heels and hat were flying in the air, and a second
later I found myself sprawling in the middle of the road on my back.
After rising to his feet he was about to put his coat on, when I asked
if he was going to give up.
"Give up? Great Caesar! didn't I throw you fair and square?"
"Yes, you did that time; but the best three in five is what wins where I
came from."
"All right, sir. Three in five goes, then."
By this time we had gotten rested, and took hold again. I felt in my
bones that my five dollars was a goner, but determined to do my best,
and managed to make it pretty lively for him. Finally, however, he
landed me again squarely on my back.
While taking a rest he remarked that "side-hold" was his favorite way to
wrestle.
I told him that I also preferred "side-hold."
The fact was, I preferred almost anything for a change. I couldn't see
that I was likely to lose much, at any rate, and was glad to accept
almost anything. A moment later my wife called time, and we took
"side-hold."
For some unaccountable reason I felt more confident, and in less than
two seconds I had him on _his_ back. I then began laughing and told him
I had only been fooling with him, and asked how he'd like to divide the
five dollars and call it a draw. He was extremely good-natured, and
seemed to enjoy the sport as much, if not more, than I did, but said he
wasn't the "draw" kind; and if I expected to get any part, or the whole
of that five dollars I'd have to do some tall wrestling. I have often
thought since that the fellow must have known what he was talking about,
for when he took hold of me the fourth round, one would have thought he
was about to decide a bet of thousands of dollars.
I took in the situation at once, and the thought uppermost in my mind
was to try to save my neck, regardless of the five dollars.
I was not mistaken when I thought I saw "blood in his eye," for sure
enough he proved himself a terror, and in less time than any previous
round he again had my heels in the air and landed me on my back the
third time.
I acknowledged myself vanquished, and after paying him the fifty-five
dollars, we exchanged horses and separated on the best of terms.
A few moments later, after my wife and I had started on with our new
horse, I asked her how she liked traveling. She laughed heartily at the
absurdity of our plan for deciding the trade, and replied that with the
recreation, excitement and change of climate, she thought that I would
improve in health whether she did or not.
I soon discovered that my scheme of traveling by team was going to be
just the thing to help me sell off the large surplus of goods which I
still had on hand. I had always done the bulk of my business with
general-store merchants.
On this trip we learned that there was a general stagnation in trade,
and especially with this class of goods; and to undertake to push more
jewelry on those who then had more than they needed and more than they
could pay for, would be foolish and unbusiness-like. I also found that
my agent who had been traveling through that section, had sold to
anybody and everybody, regardless of credit-standing, or responsibility.
I quickly decided to adopt a new system of operation.
On referring to my map and commercial book I found any number of what
are termed Cross-Road stores,--that is, merchants residing and doing
business off the railroads, and in very small towns where traveling
agents were not likely to stop. I could find any number of these right
on the lines of roads where my agents had been traveling, and where I
had considerable money due me, which I was anxious to collect.
I began at once by calling on this class of trade. Business was
exceedingly dull with all of them, and as I hardly ever found a single
one who had experimented with the sale of jewelry, I found but little
difficulty in convincing the majority that the only thing they lacked to
boom their trade was a stock of my goods. At any rate, I found my sales
running four or five times as high as any one of my agents had been
making. I managed to keep in range of the larger towns where money was
due me from old customers, and would make it a point to call on them and
demand an immediate settlement of some kind. If they couldn't pay cash,
I would take notes, which could be used as trade paper with my
creditors, by endorsing the same.
About this time I received a long confidential letter from my
book-keeper, saying he had been looking over the books carefully, and
found that I was owing twenty-six thousand dollars which was past due,
besides what was not yet due; and as there wasn't a dollar in the bank,
and the majority of our customers were not prompt in the payment of
their bills, he couldn't see how I ever expected to pull through; then
after apologizing for offering me advice, suggested that I return at
once, and make a clean breast of it by making an assignment; and after
settling up for from twenty-five to fifty cents on the dollar, I could
commence on a new and firmer basis.
I replied to this letter as soon as I could get hold of pen and paper. I
reminded him that I had never thus far received an unpleasant
communication from a single one of my creditors.
In other words, I had never yet received what might be considered a
dunning letter, but on the contrary nearly every one of them had, in
one way or another, given me to understand that they had implicit
confidence in me, and were willing and glad to favor me all they could.
I also explained to him my new system of operating, and showed him how I
expected to sell goods and collect money too.
I then closed my letter by saying that in the future, if he entertained
an idea that I had got to fail in business, I wished he would kindly
keep it to himself, as there would be time enough for me to consider the
matter after my creditors had become dissatisfied; and added that as far
as I was personally concerned, I intended to stick to the wreck as long
as there was a hand-hold left; and that I'd pay one hundred cents on the
dollar if I had to collect my bills at the muzzle of a shot-gun. I then
cautioned him about keeping up my plan of letter-writing, and assured
him that at that particular stage of the game a good letter would often
take the place of a small check; and that I should depend upon him to
"hold them down," while I would keep hus'ling and turn our stock into
cash, as well as to collect up closely; and with this system properly
manipulated there would very soon be a perceptible change.
In answer to this he said he was going to treat it as a personal
letter, and intended to keep it for future reference, in case he or any
of his friends should ever get in close quarters; he believed that as I
had now hit on a plan for unloading our large stock of goods, and with
my determination and bull-dog tenacity, he felt certain of success.
This was the last time I ever heard the word "assignment" used in
connection with my business, and I hope circumstances will never bring
it up again.
My wife and I continued on through the northern part of the lower
peninsula of Michigan, and I must say, that although my business affairs
were considerably muddled, I never made a more enjoyable trip than this.
After my separation with Flo. I had often declared that I would never
marry again; and I now saw where I might have made a serious mistake,
had I adhered to that declaration. With a wife full of hope, and a
determination to do all in her power for my comfort and happiness, and a
particular faculty for working hand in hand with me, I could see a
bright future, even in the darkest days of my financial trouble.
We continued to trade horses occasionally, or at least often enough to
break the monotony; and after we had been out a few weeks, I traded
jewelry for a handsome pair of ponies, harness and carriage. My wife's
health improved rapidly; she found considerable amusement at first in
driving this team, following after me. Very often, when we would find it
convenient to do so, I would give her a case of goods and let her drive
to some distant store and make a sale while I would drive to another
town, and we would meet at still another point at night.
I agreed to give her ten per cent. on all the goods she could sell to
any new customer, and on all they would buy in the future. She made
several customers in this way, and as we are still selling them lots of
goods, they are known to our book-keepers as Anna's customers, and she
never fails to call regularly for her commissions. When she became tired