elming anxiety to talk with me on the
subject. At last one man on the Cleveland docks told me that I might
come back after the noonday meal. I was elated; it now seemed that I
might get a start.

I was in a fever of anxiety lest I should lose this one opportunity
that I had unearthed. When finally at what seemed to me the time, I
presented myself to my would-be employer:

"We will give you a chance," he said, but not a word passed between us
about pay. This was September 26, 1855. I joyfully went to work. The
name of the firm was Hewitt & Tuttle.

In beginning the work I had some advantages. My father's training, as
I have said, was practical, the course at the commercial college had
taught me the rudiments of business, and I thus had a groundwork to
build upon. I was fortunate, also, in working under the supervision of
the bookkeeper, who was a fine disciplinarian, and well disposed
toward me.

When January, 1856, arrived, Mr. Tuttle presented me with $50 for my
three months' work, which was no doubt all that I was worth, and it
was entirely satisfactory.

For the next year, with $25 a month, I kept my position, learning the
details and clerical work connected with such a business. It was a
wholesale produce commission and forwarding concern, my department
being particularly the office duties. Just above me was the bookkeeper
for the house, and he received $2,000 a year salary in lieu of his
share of the profits of the firm of which he was a member. At the end
of the first fiscal year when he left I assumed his clerical and
bookkeeping work, for which I received the salary of $500.

As I look back upon this term of business apprenticeship, I can see
that its influence was vitally important in its relations to what came
after.

To begin with, my work was done in the office of the firm itself. I
was almost always present when they talked of their affairs, laid out
their plans, and decided upon a course of action. I thus had an
advantage over other boys of my age, who were quicker and who could
figure and write better than I. The firm conducted a business with so
many ramifications that this education was quite extensive. They owned
dwelling-houses, warehouses, and buildings which were rented for
offices and a variety of uses, and I had to collect the rents. They
shipped by rail, canal, and lake. There were many different kinds of
negotiations and transactions going on, and with all these I was in
close touch.