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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