How to Combine Profit and Pleasure—Some Truths About Trout—Stories of the Wild North—Fortunes in Furs—Nearly Five Million Skins a year—Cost of Birds for Ladies’ Hats—$25 a Day and Your Own Game Keeper—An Elephant Hunt in Africa.
How to Combine Profit and Pleasure—Some Truths About Trout—Stories of the Wild North—Fortunes in Furs—Nearly Five Million Skins a year—Cost of Birds for Ladies’ Hats—$25 a Day and Your Own Game Keeper—An Elephant Hunt in Africa.
Happyis the man who can combine pleasure and profit. Most men use the rod and gun for sport, but there are a number of persons who follow the business “professionally.” Especially in the great forests of the north are found thousands of men to whom the skins of wild beasts may be said to be meat and drink. Some of them even attain a competence and retire on their savings from the sale of furs. This is less surprising when we remember that people in the great northern wilderness spend little beyond what is needful for the bare necessaries of life.
887.Fat Quails.—The quail has been called the game bird of America, because it is found almost everywhere. Some of the best shooting is found in North Carolina and Maryland, where a hunter of average skill can bag fifty birds a day. Price, $1.75 per dozen, or $7 for his day’s sport. Hunters must consult the game laws, which differ in various States of the Union.
888.Tropical Birds.—It is estimated that the number of birds it is necessary to slaughter annually for the decoration of ladies’ hats amounts to the enormous numberof 9,250,000. These are mostly tropical birds, and are shot in the forests of Brazil, Central America and Mexico. Some are natives of our Southern States, especially of Florida. On account of the great difference in the worth of the feathers, no estimate of the value can be given, but it is said that a skilled hunter of these bright wings can easily bag $10 worth of the birds in a day.
889.Ivory.—Elephant hunting in Africa is very profitable for those who have the courage and taste for the work. Seventy-five thousand elephants are slain yearly to supply the world’s knife-handles, billiard balls, and piano keys. There are a number of persons engaged in the killing of elephants for the sake of the sport, but most hunters do so for the profit. Ivory is worth about $1 a pound, and the tusks of a male elephant weigh about fifty pounds. The average of one elephant a day is considered a good day’s work, although five or six have been taken under the most favorable circumstances. The safest plan is by means of a pitfall, as then the enraged beast is unable to attack his aggressor. The elephant hunting business is worth about $5,000,000 a year.
890.The Trout Pond.—In New England there are hundreds of fish dealers who own ponds which they have stocked with trout, and which they sell for $1 apiece; and this price they often receive even when the buyer as sportsman catches them himself. The profits of fish raising lie in the fact that fish are prolific to an extent vastly greater than any other creatures used for human food, the female sometimes laying as many as 150,000 eggs. There are owners of trout preserves who receive as high as $25 a day from sporting clubs for the exclusive use of their ponds.
891.Fabulous Prices for Furs.—Hunting and trapping in British America and in the North Woods of the United States have always been very profitable. Here is a list of the number of furs taken, with a few of the prices obtained: A good sable skin brings from $20 to $150, according to quality; 15,000 are caught yearly. Almost as valuable is the fur of the pine marten; 200,000 skins taken annually. Another high-priced skin is that of the mink; 250,000 are taken every year. The ermine is another choice fur, of which 400,000 are taken yearly. A beautiful material for robes, ladies’ sets, trimmings, etc., is the fur of the Canada lynx, of which 50,000 are taken yearly. The fur of the otter is much esteemed for caps, collars, and gloves; 40,000 taken yearly. Almost the same number of beavers are captured every year; the fur is used for caps and mufflers. Three million muskrat skins are in demand every year. Of all kinds of foxes some 200,000 find their way into our markets or are exported to Europe. The skin of the silver fox of Labrador has been sold in London for $500. The raccoon furnishes us yearly with 500,000 skins, and the badger with 50,000. We have as a summary 4,745,000 skins marketed every year, affording employment for thousands of hunters and trappers.
Unappreciated and Unappropriated Wealth in Trees—$5,000,000 Burned in Florida Forests—Reckless Waste of Timber—An Opportunity to Make a Fortune in Paper Cane—Chances in Cedar—Small Spools Help to Wind Great Fortunes—How Some People Throw Away $50,000 a Year.
Unappreciated and Unappropriated Wealth in Trees—$5,000,000 Burned in Florida Forests—Reckless Waste of Timber—An Opportunity to Make a Fortune in Paper Cane—Chances in Cedar—Small Spools Help to Wind Great Fortunes—How Some People Throw Away $50,000 a Year.
Thereis doubtless more money in the forests that clothe the mountains than in the metals that are buried beneath their granite and limestone backs. Much of this wealth has been squandered through lack of knowledge of its worth and because of meager facilities for its utilization. In the State of Florida alone more than $5,000,000 worth of timber has been ruthlessly burned in order to clear the ground for orange plantations. Forest wealth in the future will probably be obtained in the following ways:
892.Wisconsin Pines.—The merchantable timber in the forests of the Wolverine State, according to Government estimate, reaches the enormous amount of 41,000,000,000 feet. There are many fortunes yet to be carved out of the endless pines of this State.
893.North Carolina Tar.—Eight million dollars is the sum earned annually by the people of North Carolina from the making of tar. The pine forests that yield tar are not costly, but a large amount of acreage is required.
894.Vermont Maple Sugar.—The people of Vermont last year earned more than $12,000,000 by making maple sugar. It is one of the surest sources of revenue. The work is light, pleasant and romantic.
895.Alabama Chestnuts.—Thousands of acres of chestnut timber are wasted in Alabama because its worth is not known. The timber is felled for the tanbark, but the Commissioner of Forests estimates that in a single region $50,000 could be made annually by cutting this waste wood into railroad ties.
896.Idaho Cedar.—The finest body of red cedar on the continent exists in the State of Idaho. Red cedar is one of the most valuable of woods. Endless tracts can be purchased now for $10 an acre. It is probable that in ten or fifteen years, with better railroad facilities, the standing wood alone without the land cannot be purchased for $100 per acre.
897.Maine Birch Wood.—Nearly all the wood used in making spools for thread in this country and in Great Britain is supplied by the Maine forests. So great is the demand, and so profitable the work of felling the trees that the birch wood of this State is being rapidly consumed. A good, though long-time investment can be found in the setting out of birch trees on the waste lands of New England. A thousand acres of land, not worth $10 an acre at present, may be stocked with birch trees, which can be sold in from twenty-five to thirty years for $40 per acre. Profits, less taxes, $30,000.
898.Southern Canes.—One of the most important factors of modern civilization is paper. The United States consumes yearly about $75,000,000 worth ofpaper. From rags, which once afforded all the material for paper making, but which are now entirely insufficient, manufacturers are experimenting with all kinds of vegetable growth in search of the best paper pulp. Paper is now being made of the fiber of trees. In the Southern States there is a kind of coarse cane which affords an inexhaustible supply, with a peculiar adaptation for the purposes of paper making. Here is a hint for the benefit of the one first to seize it. A buyer who should purchase a thousand acres, or even ten thousand acres, of paper cane would soon find a profitable market.
The Magician who Makes Gold Swim—$30,000,000 in a Shoal of Cod—200 per cent. Profits in Salmon—How French Sardines are Made in Maine—Vast Money in Bivalves—John Bull, Brother Jonathan, and the Seal Fisheries—Chasing a Greenland Whale—Old Salts who Have Made their “Pile”—Why Salt Fish is Worth More than Fresh—The Greatest Reservoir of Wealth—A Leaf from a Business Ledger.
The Magician who Makes Gold Swim—$30,000,000 in a Shoal of Cod—200 per cent. Profits in Salmon—How French Sardines are Made in Maine—Vast Money in Bivalves—John Bull, Brother Jonathan, and the Seal Fisheries—Chasing a Greenland Whale—Old Salts who Have Made their “Pile”—Why Salt Fish is Worth More than Fresh—The Greatest Reservoir of Wealth—A Leaf from a Business Ledger.
Goldfloats in the air, swims in the sea, springs up out of the earth, and lies deep hid in the mountain bed. How can gold swim? In the form of millions upon millions of tiny creatures whose destruction brings gold into the pockets of their captors. Literally, the ocean is the biggest field of revenue on the planet. It is a reservoir of wealth which all the ages are not likely to exhaust. Further, the ocean, unlike the land, has not been and cannot be partitioned out among individual owners. Any man can enter upon any body of water not actually occupied by another, and appropriate all that he finds there. The following are among the most profitable of the fisheries:
899.Oregon Salmon.—The female salmon lays a thousand eggs for every pound of her weight. For salmon profits go to Oregon. Immense factories, making enormous profits, are already in the field, but there is room for more.
900.Massachusetts Cod.—Professor Huxley estimatesthe number of cod in a single shoal at 120,000,000. What do you think of that, you who pay twenty-five cents for a small codfish? A shoal of fish worth $30,000,000! Go to Newfoundland if you want to catch cod.
901.French Sardines.—So-called French sardines are put up in Maine. They have a foreign label, and command twice the price they would if it were known that they are a native product. The deception, however, is only in the name, for they are in no way inferior to the foreign brand. As an example of the enormous profits, we have it for a fact that herrings worth when fresh not more than $50,000, were put up as sardines in cans holding one pound each, and in that style they brought $770,000. This is the secret of the way some people get rich.
902.Sea Otters.—These are not so plentiful as formerly, but the increased price of the skins partly makes up for the less number of furs. A few years ago a schooner sailed from Boston to the Northern Pacific in quest of these slippery sea tenants, and in the course of three trips netted $75,000.
903.Arctic Whales.—Rivals of whale oil have reduced the price of that lubricant, but there are yet many vessels engaged in the enterprise. When we consider that the whaling industry has contributed $680,000,000 to the wealth of England, Holland, and the United States, we can see what enormous profits have been reaped by those engaged in the business. From Sandy Hook to Cape Cod, all along the coast, there are retired sea captains who have “feathered their nest” with the sales of whale-blubber.
904.Behring Seals.—Go aboard a sealing vessel. The business is very profitable. Above 1,000,000 seals of all kinds are taken yearly, a single vessel sometimes catching as many as 5,000. As these seals are taken by vessels owned and manned by legalized companies, the profits are not so subject to fluctuation as in what is called individual luck. To be a member of a sealing company you must have some capital, but the business is so profitable that it pays at least twenty-five per cent. John Bull and Brother Jonathan have had many disputes about the right to catch these seals. They are undoubtedly United States property, but England bases its rights in old treaties. However, if the catch is not restricted, the indiscriminating slaughter will soon diminish the number so that there will not be enough seals worth fighting about.
905.Sea Gold.—Though this product of the sea has no fins, it falls more appropriately under the heading of this chapter than any other. The South Sea Bubble has had a parallel in the recent excitement over golden sea waves. A clergyman, a Connecticut Yankee by the name of Jernigan, together with his brother, after many experiments, announced that they had discovered a process for extracting gold from the sea. A stock company was formed, a large capital raised, and a mill erected. But the bubble exploded with loss to all except the reverend projector of the enterprise, who is said to have made $100,000 out of the scheme. At least, a loose leaf from his ledger, which he left behind in his flight, indicates that about that sum was inveigled from the pockets of the deluded members of the “company.” However, some of them still have faith in the enterprise. It has been known to chemists for a long timethat gold is contained in sea water. The only question is whether it is in sufficient quantities to pay for the cost of its extraction. It may yet be found that what is at present regarded as a gigantic swindle contains the seeds of a profitable industry.
The American People Waste More Fortunes than Other Nations Make—The Shoreditch Experiment in England—The Tonner System of Germany—Millions in Ashes—Coal Fortunes Waiting to be Picked Up—Astonishing Possibilities in Irrigation—Tons of Tin Thrown Away Every Day—$5,000,000 Lost in Sulphur Every Year—A Fortune Waiting a Stovepipe Inventor—Enormous Waste of Gold and Silver.
The American People Waste More Fortunes than Other Nations Make—The Shoreditch Experiment in England—The Tonner System of Germany—Millions in Ashes—Coal Fortunes Waiting to be Picked Up—Astonishing Possibilities in Irrigation—Tons of Tin Thrown Away Every Day—$5,000,000 Lost in Sulphur Every Year—A Fortune Waiting a Stovepipe Inventor—Enormous Waste of Gold and Silver.
TheAmerican nation is a wasteful one. Every year by neglect, poor economy and extravagance, material is lost which if saved would be enough to make many people rich. There are fortunes in ashes, garbage, sewage, and cinder piles. Why explore new fields when the old is yet unworked? Here are a few ways in which capital can be expended with a certainty of quick and large profits:
906.Waste of Sewage.—The wasteful methods of civilization cause the destruction of by far the most valuable of all our fertilizers, which passes out of our sewers into the sea, and is lost. It is estimated that the amount in New York City alone is worth over $5,000,000 yearly. In Germany, what is known as the Tonner system saves this richest of fertilizers; and the time is ripe for some one in this country to save this enormous waste and make himself many times a millionaire in the Book of Wealth.
907.Waste of Coal Ashes.—Two hundred milliontons of coal are consumed annually in this country. About one-half of this amount goes to ashes. It is safe to say that, after all the cinders and slag have been sifted out, there are still 100,000,000 truck loads which are worse than wasted, as they threaten to hinder the free navigation of our harbor. Coal ashes have a value as a fertilizer. Even at the cheap price of twenty-five cents a load, we have an aggregate of $25,000,000 lost by this careless waste. The time will come when some enterprising firms, with means for collecting and distributing this refuse, will make fortunes by its sale to farmers and gardeners.
908.Waste of Garbage.—Shoreditch, population, 124,000, a borough of London, by a new system for the disposal of garbage, called the Dust Destructor, saved in one year $11,000, or enough to defray the expense of its electric lights. What formerly cost eighty cents a ton for barging, is now done by the new system for thirty cents. In New York City (not the Greater New York) the number of truck loads last year was 1,582,287, and it is estimated that a similar system, in place of the one which now costs the city ninety-four cents per load, would save $712,132, equivalent to the interest at six per cent. on a capital of $11,868,675, or more than sufficient to light the whole of Manhattan Island.
909.Waste of Sulphur.—Attention has recently been called to the enormous waste of sulphur which is going on in the copper furnaces of Western mining towns. It is said that the annual waste is 128,000 tons. The price of sulphur is $32 a ton. Where is the man who will stop the pouring out of this vast quantity of poisonous vapor upon the atmosphere, save the enormouswaste of valuable material, and make for himself a gigantic fortune? The lists are open.
910.Waste of Tin.—Thousands of tons of tin cans are daily thrown in the rubbish heap. It is believed that by treatment of sulphate the tin may be recovered and again utilized. It is a question whether the same amount of money now invested in tin mines, if put to this novel use, would not be the better paying investment. It is estimated that there are two cents’ worth of tin in an average-sized can. Cans could be collected at a cost of fifty cents per hundred, or $5,000 per million. If we estimate the chemical process of recovering the tin at as much more, the total cost would be $10,000 per million cans. Worth of the tin recovered at two cents per can, $20,000. Profits, 100 per cent.
911.Waste of Heat.—In our present systems of heating, from one-fourth to one-third of the heat passes up the chimney and is lost. Could not some method be perfected by which this could be saved? It would be a great boon to the poor, who need to save every pound of coal, if this could be done. We suggest as one plan a stovepipe radiator—two pipes, open at top and bottom, traversing the vertical leg of the smoke-flue, by means of which the air of the room shall be taken in at one end and sent out at the other. There are at least 100,000 apartments heated by steam. A system which will add one-fourth to the heat of these rooms will be a material blessing. There should be millions in the invention.
912.Waste of Land.—Judge Emory, at a recent irrigation convention, stated that the arid and semi-arid lands of the United States are one-half as large as allour domain, except Alaska. It is estimated that good homes, fit for 75,000,000 to 150,000,000 people, could be made by irrigation. This system is yet in its infancy. In a few years hundreds of millions of dollars will be invested in making our desert lands “blossom as the rose,” but like all other enterprises, first on the field will be the first in fortune.
913.Waste of Gold, Silver and Iron.—The present clumsy methods of extracting the ore of metals must soon be superseded by a more economical system. To say that there are $100,000,000 worth of gold and silver in the refuse piled up around the mines would be much beneath the actual figures. The loss in iron and other metals, owing to the same cause, is utterly incalculable. The recent discoveries in magnetism point to the solution of the problem and the utilization of the waste. It is not impossible that the electro-magnet contains more gold for its fortunate inventors than all the mines of the earth will yield to operators during a single year.
Odd Ways of Making Money—Millions for Cents—How to Live Without Paying Rent—X-Rays and X-Bills—Fortunes in Old Iron—Newspapers, Like Wine, Increase in Price With Age—High Price for a Wig—900 per cent. Profit in Old Books—What the “Old Furniture Man” Makes—The Five-cent Millionaire—Profits of Peddlers—Why Pawnbrokers Get Rich.
Odd Ways of Making Money—Millions for Cents—How to Live Without Paying Rent—X-Rays and X-Bills—Fortunes in Old Iron—Newspapers, Like Wine, Increase in Price With Age—High Price for a Wig—900 per cent. Profit in Old Books—What the “Old Furniture Man” Makes—The Five-cent Millionaire—Profits of Peddlers—Why Pawnbrokers Get Rich.
Theways of making money are as multifarious as the diversity of human industry. Some men earn a fortune, some discover it, some win it, and some marry it. Every year new schemes are developed for the earning of one’s bread. Many of them are unpromising and even startling, and yet all the great industries that to-day pour wealth into the pockets of the capitalists were once derided as the folly of unpractical dreamers. There is not one of the thousand or more methods of making a living in which there is not the possibility of a fortune. The following methods are sufficiently out of the beaten track to be novel to most people, while some of them are absolutely new and untried:
914.The National Advertising Company.—Form a company of live, energetic, intelligent young men. Ascertain the extent of circulation of some of our literary magazines. For every subscriber and buyer there are at least three readers; some estimatefive. Bunch together the circulation of some of the leading periodicals, and when you are sure of a million readers, begin operations. Divide the country up into sections, with a central headquarters, and let one of a pair of your young men work each. One member of the firm remains to control the office. The magazines should be those whose circulation covers the entire country, and the advertisements you seek to gain should not be of a local but of a general character. Then you can work your field, promising that for so many cents per thousand or dollars per million, you will place the advertisements before the eyes of that number of people. Have circulars headed “Millions for Cents.” The power of numbers has a charm for most people, and few advertisers will be able to resist your array of figures.
915.Free Rent.—Get your rent free on the same plan that some men get a building lot free. Take a large house, which, we will say, costs you $75 per month. Such a house should have at least twelve rooms, six of which should be bedrooms. These rooms should be readily sublet for $3 a week, which, allowing for the fractions over the even weeks in a month, exactly pays your rent. By means of folding-beds you can readily convert some of the remaining six into sleeping rooms. If your family is small, a parlor can be so used.
916.X-Rays and X-Bills.—The fluoroscope is a new thing. It is a great thing to see the bones of one’s hands, or keys imbedded in two inches of solid wood. You can invent many other ways of making the novelty interesting. People pay to see what is novel. With proper advertising, a really good fluoroscope exhibition should net at least $10 a night.
917.Golden Sails.—Cleopatra’s barge may not have had golden sails, but if you live along shore, especially near a summer resort, you can turn your sails into gold, and make the wind waft you money by taking parties for an outing on the water. You should get $10 for a party of six; $15 for a party of ten, etc. The requisites are a good boat, made attractive by awning and colored cushions, fishing tackle, bait, etc., and a pleasant, obliging disposition.
918.Game Preserve.—If you live far inland, you can buy at cheap rates a wild mountain or a large tract of wilderness. Around this construct a high fence and stock your purchase with game. All this will require capital, but you will find ample returns for your investment in the rates which you will charge city sportsmen for a day’s sport. These hunters care little for the money if they can have a good day’s sport. After your game preserve becomes well known, through liberal advertising, $25 a day on your investment during the season should be a very modest expectation.
919.The Junk Shop.—One of the things most in demand to-day is iron. This is the iron age. It is displacing brick for building and wood for ships. And yet how much goes to waste! Stoves, pots, kettles, rails, machinery, wagon springs, car wheels, pillars, girders, and a multitude of other forms of this valuable metal go to waste. The junk shop is a mine. Manufacturers will pay you fifty cents per 100 pounds. The fact is not generally known, but many junk dealers have become rich.
920.Old Newspapers.—Newspapers should not be sold to the ragman until they have been scissored, andperhaps not then. In New York there is a man who makes a business of preserving newspapers. You can get almost any copy of any paper for a number of years back. Copies forty years old bring as high as $20 apiece. A copy twenty years old will bring $4 or $5. Copies more than one year old and less than five sell from fifty cents to one dollar. If salable, every day increases the value of your stock.
921.The Book Stall.—Where come the books on the street stalls that sell for such marvelously low prices? From the cellars (would-be sellers) of publication houses. These are the books that will not sell at rates profitable to the publishers, and are bought up by the thousand at small rates. Many of them come from the libraries of persons deceased, and from the bookcases of men tired of carting them around in this moving age. Sold at fifteen, twenty or twenty-five cents apiece, there is a large profit in these books, for they are often bought at $10 per thousand—that is, a penny apiece. Profits at ten cents, 900 per cent. Bought at $50 per thousand, you have still 400 per cent. Pretty fair profits indeed! Let us no longer despise the old dealer in second-hand books.
922.Old Furniture.—Furniture made of the best material brings large prices. Only slightly marred, chairs and other kinds of household furniture often made of costly woods, are stored away as useless in the attic. These could frequently be purchased at very low prices, the owners being glad to get rid of them as an incumbrance. Yet a little money would make them as good as new. Five dollars expended on a chair that originally cost $50 and was repurchased in a dilapidated state for $10; it was sold by the adroit second-handdealer for $25; and the purchaser considered it an excellent bargain. The dealer’s profit was $10. Time consumed in repair, one day and a half. The man earned $6.66-1/3 per day. Some in the same line have done much better. With competent helpers and with industry in hunting up old furniture, these figures should be trebled and quadrupled.
923.Public Convenience Room.—Establish it on some prominent thoroughfare. It need not be very large. Suppose the rent to be $25 per month. Let it be understood that for five cents you will furnish materials for correspondence (pen, ink and paper), a writing desk, brushes band lacking for shoes (not the services of a bootblack), a whisk broom, a mirror, the use of a daily paper, a city directory, a large map of the city, information on points of interest concerning the things worth seeing, directions how to reach any part of the city, sofas and easy chairs for resting, and the use of a toilet room. All for five cents! You should have at least 200 patrons a day; receipts, $10. Besides, you could sell stationery, confectionery, cigars, magazines, and many other small articles in common use. The place could advantageously be established in connection with a restaurant. Do you know that some of the largest fortunes have been made from just such five-cent charges. A millionaire street-railroad magnate, being asked recently what his business was, replied: “Oh! just a five-cent business—that’s all.”
924.General Advice.—Here is something entirely new: Thousands of people want information, but do not know where to get it. Some write to the newspapers, some ask friends. It would be of great advantage if such persons could consult people who have moretime to look into their affairs than a newspaper editor, and who are more disinterested than friends. Let it be known that you will give tips on horse races, inside information about stock, points about the purchase of real estate, advice about law matters, suggestions about the investment of money, or any other information that may be required. Have on hand a stock of dictionaries, gazetteers, directories, encyclopedias, and world books of general information. You may charge ten cents for a simple consultation of five minutes. You can give a great deal of information in five minutes, if your questioner knows how to ask and you how to answer. Fifteen cents for ten minutes, twenty-five cents for twenty minutes, thirty-five cents for an half hour, and half a dollar for an hour. This business might be combined with the Public Convenience Room in the last number.
925.Language Classes.—Here is one on a new plan. A French teacher has hit upon the idea of combining work and play in a novel manner. The classes form a club, which meets as in progressive euchre. The game is played after the old style of authors. Upon blank white cards are written the words to be used in sentences at the table. One table has cards containing the names of clothing, another of furniture, and so on. The players remain a certain length of time at each table, and then pass to the next, each player visiting every table during the session of the club. Afterward light refreshments are served by the teacher, and the subjects announced for the next meeting. The idea is a taking one, and capable of great elaboration. An up-to-date teacher ought to have immense success with this plan.
926.Business Opportunities.—The business opportunitiesadvertised in a single New York paper average 25 a day, 200 on Sunday, or about 17,500 a year. One man claims that $10,000 can be realized in two weeks by the opportune venture of $1,000 in real estate. Another offers stock in a $10,000 mine which he is sure will shortly be worth $100,000. A third offers $5,000 for the use of $3,000 one year in mining operations. A fourth wants a backer for a new power, in which $5,000,000 will be easily realized. Most of these “opportunities” are doubtless illusive, while many are bare-faced frauds; yet among the myriads there may be some genuine chances for money-making. A shrewd man might find a bonanza in this mine of opportunities.
927.Mine Owners.—Mr. Demullers, of Jefferson County, N. Y., a few years ago went to El Paso, Mexico, as a workman. To-day he owns the most valuable turquoise mine in the world, and is known as the “Turquoise King.” One recent shipment netted him $10,000. Another man in South America is known as the “Nitrate King,” and is said to be the richest man on the Western Continent. He also was once a poor man.
928.Cattle Raisers.—Six years ago Grant Gillet was a station agent in a small town in Kansas, working for a bare living. He made an engagement as cattle feeder, and from that position worked himself up into wealth by buying and selling cattle. He actually made half a million dollars in four years, and was known as the Millionaire Cowboy. Another man this last year bought Texas cattle for $432,000, and sold them for $540,000, making $108,000 in four months. This simply shows what opportunities there are for shrewd men in the cattle business.
929.Stump Speakers.—Men of oratorical ability have an opportunity during two or three months of every year to earn considerable money in political campaigns. Both of the great parties employ the best talent, the pay depending partly upon one’s convincing logic, but mainly upon the celebrity of the speaker. The lowest compensation is $5 a night, but noted speakers have received $100, and even more, for one short speech.
930.Artistic Home Builders.—These are not speculators, but men who have built homes for their own occupancy, yet have been induced to sell by the high prices offered. We know of no less than three persons in this present year who have made $3,000 to $5,000 each in this way.
931.Cemetery Owners.—Cemetery lots have proved good paying property to those who know how to manage it. Land which costs from $1,000 to $5,000 an acre is divided up into parcels one rod or one-half rod square, and sold for from $100 to $500 a plot. Mr. Th. E. Tinsley became a millionaire through graveyard operations in Texas.
932.Glass Ball Shooters.—The names of Carver and Bogardus have become continental by reason of their skill in hitting glass balls shot out of a trap. There is hardly any kind of sport more exciting, and there is always a large class who will patronize a rifle contest. These men pocketed fortunes by the exhibition of their skill.
933.Entertainment Bureaus.—A Lecture Bureau in Brooklyn has the names of over 500 persons, embracingall kinds of talent, booked to interest and amuse its patrons. The manager, by having several engagements on every night of the week, and charging five per cent. of profits, is growing rich. There is room for a bureau of this kind in every large city.
934.Ice-Cream Manufacturers.—Ten million quarts of ice-cream are annually sold in New York, 65,000 quarts a day being the average consumption in warm weather. “It is nothing,” says a prominent maker, “for a great establishment to dispose of 35,000 quarts in one day.” An idea of the money in the business may be formed from the fact that the value of the annual output is about $3,500,000, of which fully one-third is profit.
935.Gold Hunters.—F. E. Simmons, of Montana, went to the Klondike less than a year ago. He suffered every hardship and nearly lost his life on the journey, but he returned with half a million dollars. There are a few prizes there, as in all mining districts, but the majority of gold hunters do not succeed. Yet Mr. J. Partridge, a mining expert, who has thoroughly examined the region, says the wealth of the Klondike is inexhaustible, and he predicts that $30,000,000 will be taken out next year.
936.Asphalt Companies.—Here is an example of the enormous profits made by these companies. In one city the mayor, suspecting the charges were exorbitant, forced them to a lower scale, when the company actually agreed to do for $1.50 per yard what they had hitherto received $2.25 for laying. This last was a living profit, but the profits over and above a fair compensationwere seventy-five cents per square yard. This is the way contractors for the government get rich.
937.Horse Jockeys.—Small men weighing not over 100 pounds have an opportunity to earn money by riding horses on the race track. As the race often depends upon the judgment, skill, and balance of the rider, the owner wants the qualities of a man in the body of a boy. Jockeys receive on different tracks from $10 to $25 for their day’s work, but riders of winners often receive presents of $10 and even more. Tod Sloan, a rider for the Dwyers, it is said, received $1,000 for a trip to the English Derby.
938.Wig Making.—In a large city where there are several theaters, you can do a good business in wigmaking. The trade is easily learned, and the goods will command prices varying from the mustache of fifty cents to the court wig for which you should receive $7 or $8. A location near a large theater is desirable. Actors are very fastidious about their make-up, and willing to pay good prices. It is said that Edwin Forrest once paid $300 for a striking wig.
939.Book Repairing.—Almost everybody has books that are out of order, and yet, strange to say, we have never heard of any one making a business of repairing books. For your outfit you need several sheets of paper of different sizes and thickness, a few strips of leather, some stout pieces of cloth, a bottle of glue, a penknife, and a pair of scissors. These can be carried in a small hand bag. Practice on your own and your friends’ books before striking out.
940.The Household Pack.—Select twenty-fivearticles most needed in a household. They should be compact, so as to go in a small box or bag. They should be such things as soap, starch, shoe blacking, shoe polish, stove blacking, cement, mucilage, matches, bluing, yeast cakes, baking powders, etc. These are articles in constant demand and consumption. They can be sold from door to door, mostly among people of limited means, and if sold cheap there is profit, because they are articles which every one wants, and many sales, even if the profits are small, mean large results. There are many peddlers who are foreigners, and having made a competence, go back to their own country to enjoy it.
941.Pawnbrokers’ Profits.—The pawnbrokers’ business has been largely given up to the Jews, but there is no good reason why it should be. Pawnbrokers make immense profits. The amount of the loan is not above one-third the value of the article. The goods are frequently not redeemed. Then there are the pawnbrokers’ sales, at which the articles command at least one-half their value. The pawnbroker gets ten per cent. or more on money loaned, and if the goods are sold he gets the difference between one-third and one-half values; that is, if an article be worth $100, the loan is $33.33-1/3. The amount realized at the sale is $50. Pawnbrokers’ profits, $16.66-2/3. This is the reason most pawnbrokers get rich.
True Stories that are Stranger than Fiction—Fortune’s Great Army—The Rise of Jay Gould—The Meteoric Career of James Fisk—Ferdinand Ward, the Napoleon of Finance—How Vanderbilt Made a Million in a Day—A Man who was Devoured by both Bulls and Bears—Some Rules for Timid Investors—John C. Eno, the Free-Lance Operator—The Wonderful Success of James R. Keene—How Daniel Drew Spelled “Door”—The Great Leiter Wheat Deal.
True Stories that are Stranger than Fiction—Fortune’s Great Army—The Rise of Jay Gould—The Meteoric Career of James Fisk—Ferdinand Ward, the Napoleon of Finance—How Vanderbilt Made a Million in a Day—A Man who was Devoured by both Bulls and Bears—Some Rules for Timid Investors—John C. Eno, the Free-Lance Operator—The Wonderful Success of James R. Keene—How Daniel Drew Spelled “Door”—The Great Leiter Wheat Deal.
Thisis a dangerous sea, strewn with wrecks, but the fascination in the thought of making a fortune in a single day ever has and ever will cast its spell upon the human mind. Some men will take great risks in the hope of glittering gains. We give a few of the most promising forms of speculation, with examples of those who have been successful with the dice of fortune.
Jay Gould was employed as a map-maker at a salary of $30 per month. He trudged over whole counties in New York State as a surveyor. A lucky hit brought him into Wall Street, where he made over $70,000,000 in forty years.
James Fisk came down from Vermont a penniless boy, but getting into the company of Wall Street men he soon amassed an immense fortune.
Ferdinand Ward, called the Napoleon of Finance, had an unequaled gift for shrewd speculation, and might have excelled all contemporaries had he chosento stick by honest methods. He made a fortune before he was arrested for “crooked ways.”
Cornelius Vanderbilt at twenty earned a living by rowing a boat between Staten Island and New York. At sixty he was proprietor of a fleet of sixty-six steamboats and owner of several railroads. He made his money in stocks. In the fluctuations of the Erie, on one occasion he made a million dollars between rise and set of sun.
John C. Eno was called the free-lance operator. He was one of the boldest manipulators of stocks, and acquired an immense fortune.
Perhaps the most striking success was that of James R. Keene, who made $9,000,000 in three years.
Others who have won their fortunes in Wall Street are Russell Sage, William Belden, George I. Seney, Henry Villard, William H. Vanderbilt, William R. Travis, C. P. Huntington, and Daniel Drew.
Of the last named it may be mentioned—to show how little a college education has to do with success in business—that he was very illiterate, possessing only a scanty knowledge of grammar, and even of spelling. It is related that on one occasion he told his cashier that he would set the safe lock on the word “door.” When the cashier wanted to open the safe, he tried “door” in vain. Knowing his employer’s queer methods of spelling he tried varieties on “door,” such as “dore,” “doar,” etc., but all in vain. At last he was obliged to go to the hotel and awake his employer, who had gone to bed. “Uncle Dan’l” was quite crusty at being awakened, and told his cashier again that he had set the safe on the word “door.” “But how do you spell ‘door’?” inquired the cashier. “Why,” said “Uncle Dan’l” tartly, “any fool can spell ‘door.’ You’d better get out of the business if youcan’t spell, and I’ve a mind to discharge you on the spot. How do I spell ‘door?’ Why, ‘d-o-a-r-e,’ of course!” The next day, however, on reflection the old man relented, and concluded not to discharge his trusted employee for so trivial a blunder.
A rule for speculators is: “Don’t invest on professional advice.” Your advisers have “an ax to grind.” A man once ordered a broker to buy 1,000 shares of Erie when the price was 94; it immediately dropped, and he ordered it sold when it was 92-1/2. In half an hour he returned and ordered it bought again. It had then gone up to 95. After consulting again with “friends,” he again ordered it sold. The market then was down to 90. He came back the fifth time and said: “I consulted one man who told me to buy; then another who told me to sell. I understand that one is called a bull and the other a bear. I don’t know much about these names, but I do know that I have been a jackass.”
A much safer plan is to follow the lead of shrewd speculators. In Wall Street you should reverse the advice given to the disciples concerning the Pharisees. Christ said, “Do as they say, but not as they do.” But with speculators the direction should be, “Do as they do, but not as they say.”
The chief form of speculation is in stocks. These stocks may be railroads, mines, wheat, corn, cotton, wool, tobacco, oil, gas, coal, and, in fact, almost any industry where capital has constantly vacillating values. We have room to mention only a very few:
942.City Bonds.—These are generally among the best securities for investment. The element of speculation comes in when they are bought below par in the belief of an early rise. A sharp Yankee bought $100,000 of defaulted bonds of the city of Houston, Texas, forced a settlement at par, and doubled his money.
943.Colonial Trade.—We have the very best authority for the information that the trade in our newly acquired territory, the Philippine Islands, will be worth one billion dollars annually under American development. Here is an immense opportunity for every form of profitable speculation. Cuba, Porto Rico, and Hawaii, also, are inviting fields, and there is no doubt that the next decade will witness the making of many fortunes in those islands, and the foundations of hundreds of others. Now is the time to begin, as those earliest in the field will have the first chance to buy up depreciated stocks and lagging industries.
944.The American Tobacco Company.—One of the most vacillating stocks lately has been that of the American Tobacco Company. In January of the current year—1898—Mr. J. R. Keene purchased 80,000 shares at $90. September 26th, fearing the market was about to decline, he began to sell, and in two days had completely unloaded at figures ranging at $145 to $139. He cleared about $1,500,000 in the two days.
945.Collapsed Railroads.—For a capitalist there are few more promising fields than the buying up of collapsed or run down railroads. Mr. George I. Seney accumulated a large fortune by purchasing at a little more than nominal figures bankrupt or embarrassed roads, and by thorough equipment, and by connection with more prosperous roads, soon put them in a paying condition. If you can get one end of a small road into a large city, or if you can arrange to make it the feeder instead of the rival of a large road, it will be almost certain to yield abundant returns.
946.Wheat Margins.—Fortunes are daily madeand lost in wheat. Everybody has heard of the great Leiter deal. Joseph Leiter often made $100,000 in a single day. In ten months he rendered things lively in every great center of the world, and in this period of less than a year he actually made $4,500,000. True, he lost it again, but the fact that one could corner such a fortune in so short a time shows what may be accomplished with courage and capital. The safest rule for small and timid operators is to follow in the wake of these bold speculators, but not too far. It may be laid down almost with the certainty of a logical premise, that, when a man of vast resources and thoroughly familiar with the field enters the market, he is bound to win at first, but bound to lose if he presses things too far, because the tremendous stress produces at last reactionary conditions which no manipulator and no combination of speculators are able to face. It does not matter so much whether you are a bull or a bear, if you can perform the difficult feat of holding yourself in.