Saturday 8 December 2012

1911-12-09



About fifty-five years ago, on the suggestion of a porter in a St. Louis hotel, John D. Rockefeller invested $1,000 in oil speculation. John D. had been a clerk in a country store near Cleveland, Ohio, and being prudent and saving, he took care of the pennies, and they slowly increased to dollars till the first thousand dollars was reached. He knew what amount of labor it cost to make a dollar, and he had the good judgment to save instead of squandering it. Hamilton had a few of those thrifty boys away back in the early days of its history, and some of them became millionaires, even though they did not have oil wells to draw upon as did Mr. Rockefeller. About seventy years ago, or probably earlier, when real estate could be bought in Hamilton for almost the proverbial song, Joseph Lister attached himself to a block of land in what is now the business heart of the town. By degrees he improved it as the demand form store buildings increased, till when the time came for him to pass on to the other world, he left one of the most valuable blocks of stone-front buildings occupying the east side of James street, from King William to Merrick streets. Today the rental value of that property is the foundation of independent fortunes for his family and their children’s children. This is only one case of a score that might be mentioned of how the old boys of Hamilton economized when they were starting in life. Unfortunately for some of their descendants they did not plan as wisely as their fathers, and the riches that were slowly gathered took themselves to wings and hiked out. Many of them fortunes made by the fathers have been squandered by the children, while others have been prudent and added to their patrimony.

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          When one gets started on a subject like this, the mind is apt to take wide flights, therefore, we will get back to our text. The prudent and careful business habits of John D. Rockefeller are worthy the attention of the boys who are beginning life and have their first thousand dollars to save in order to get a start. It is not at all likely that John D. ever smoked a cigarette, drank a glass of liquor, bet on the ponies or on a ball game, or ever played bridge or poker. The chances are that if he had started in life with such habits, he would never have saved that thousand dollars, and as a result, he would not have been enabled to invest in coal oil stocks. And there you are, boys, We hardly think it was John D.’s piety that was the foundation of his wealth, although it is a good thing to go to church and Sunday school in the days of one’s youth: for if he had really been a pious youth, he never would have skimmed the small coal operators during the half century that he was piling up his fortune, but would have given them a chance to get a little of the oil. David Harum said : “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, but do it to them first.” Evidently that was John D.’s golden rule in life – doing it to the other fellow first. From being a clerk in a country store fifty-five years ago down to the present time, John D. has grown to be the richest man in the world. But it must be said that while he was gobbling up all the little fellows who had engaged in the development of coal oil wells, he divided up with the people who were consumers of coal oil. This old Muser remembers that when coal oil was first introduced for consumption in Hamilton, it was called rock oil, and was vile-smelling stuff. Down to that time, the people were using candles and camphene fluid and fish oil for house lighting for it was only the rich who could indulge in the luxury of gas at $4 per thousand feet to their homes. In the year 1860, coal oil was advertised in the Hamilton papers at $1.50 per gallon. John D. and his compeers were then experimenting in extracting some of the bad smell from the oil, and in time, they built expensive refineries at Cleveland and kept on improving the quality of the stuff. From $1.50 a gallon, the price of the oil has gradually decreased till it gets got down as low as ten cents a gallon. F or this much, at least, the Standard oil company is deserving of credit. That great corporation made its millions of money out of the by-products and in crushing out the smaller companies. The United States government has now said to the Standard Oil corporation that there must be a change in the management of affairs and that a new order of things must prevail. John D. and his sons and his relatives have taken advantage of the change in its management. Andrew Carnegie once said that it was a disgrace for a man to die rich. Andrew will never end his days in a poor house even though he hands out large sums every year to build libraries. John D. is not as profligate with his wealth, and the chances are that when the death angel calls for him, the angel will take with him the richest man in the world.

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          It was one of the dreams of the early town fathers of Hamilton that one day an artistic clock tower would be built in the center of the King street Gore , between Hughson and John streets, and in it a clock be placed that forever would mark time for future generations of Hamiltonians and be a memorial of the town council that built it. At that time, the Gore was not a thing of beauty, for it was the wood and grain market and the mecca of the town cows that strolled around that way to swipe a mouthful of hay from the farm wagons. That dream was long before the present city hall was built and its tower dedicated to the town cl9ock. The old boys that sat around the table a half century ago had many bright dreams of the future greatness of the Ambitious city which have never been realized, but in all they never planned for a city like unto what Hamilton is now. The first half of the Gore was finally rescued from being the dumping ground of the stores that surrounded it and transformed into one of the most delightful breathing spots to be found in any city on this Canadian continent; but it will not long be so, for there is a movement now on foot to convert that beautiful plot of grass and flowers and shade trees into a “public convenience” for the use of the loafers who gather there in the summertime instead of being at work earning a living for themselves and families. Tell it not in Gath, whisper it not in the streets of Askelon, that Hamilton ever selected controllers and councilors who would be guilty of even suggesting such a thing. To ruin this beauty spot, in which every decent Hamiltonian takes a pride, the people are asked to vote a bonded debt of $18,000 to pay the cost of this desecration. Thousands of dollars have been spent on improving the Gore from James to John streets; and no $18,000 more is asked to make it a vile stench!

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          The young man, as he passes through life, advances through a long line of tempters ranged on either side of him, and the inevitable effect of yielding is degradation in a greater or lesser degree. On every hand as one passes is the social temptation of going into a saloon and taking the first glass of beer or wine with a friend. Especially is the case in the holiday season, when there seems to be more freedom of action than during the other eleven months of the year. The second entrance into the saloon, and the good cheer that prevails, makes it always easier than the first, and it does not take one very long to become accustomed to the temptation and the following of it up. In Samuel Smiles’ Self-Help, we are forcefully told that contact with temptation tends insensibly to draw away from the young man some portion of the divine electric element with which his nature is charged, and his only mode of resisting it to utter and act his “no!” manfully and resolutely. He must decide at once, not waiting to deliberate and balance reasons; for the youth, like the woman who deliberates, is lost. Many deliberate without deciding: but not to resolve is to resolve. A perfect knowledge of the young man is in the prayer, “Lead us not into temptation.” How many repeat that part of the Lord’s prayer in the morning and then forget about it during the day? But temptation will come to try the young man’s strength: and once, yielded to, the power to resist grows weaker and weaker. Yield once, and a portion of virtue is gone. Resist manfully, and the first decision will give strength for life; repeated, it will become a habit.

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          In an old copy of Dickens’ All the Year Round, we came across an item that may be of sufficient interest to republish. The English national anthem of God Save the Queen – which was first publicly heard in 1745, after the defeat of Prince Charles on the fatal field of Culloden – was originally a Jacobite song, which it was dangerous to sing within hearing of the authorities. When the Jacobites spoke or sang of the king, they meant “the king over the water” and the words sung, “Send him victorious” imply clearly that the one intended was not the one already in England, but the one far away, to whom the singers were loyal in his evil fortunes. A great deal of controversy has arisen as to the authorship alike of the words and music, but no satisfactory clue has been discovered for the elucidation of either mystery. If a prize had been offered for a national anthem, expressive or patriotic, as well as dynastic loyalty, no competent critics would have awarded it to the author of the words, whomsoever he may have been. Yet this song, which grew rather than was made, is the richest jewel in the British crown, and may fairly claim to have been of more value to the house of Hanover than any standing army. God Save the King, as originally sung at Drury Lane theater, shortly after the news arrived in London that the last hopes of the Young Pretender had been crushed at Culloden, consisted of nine stanzas, or six in addition to the three which are now familiar to all of us. These three are the genuine Jacobite song, without the alliteration of a word. The remaining six were strictly Hanoverian and Whiggish, and have long since gone to the limbo that is reserved for all literary rubbish. It was a fortunate accident, if were not a profound piece of policy, by which the royal house took possession of the song of their enemies, and turned to their own glory that which was intended for their shame.

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