Down came the price. Still down it came, and down every day, until in a few days these lard cornerers in the Canadian town were entirely “cleaned out” and a loss of $2,000,000 actually sustained. From that loss for ten years afterwards that town was as quiet as a country place, and its magnates felt and acted with the timorousness of poor men. CHAPTER XX. Instances of success in Ontario--A thrifty wood-chopper turns cattle dealer--Possesses land and money--Two brothers from Ireland; their mercantile success--The record of thirty years--Another instance--A travelling dealer turns farmer--Instance of a thriving Scotsman--The way to meet trouble--The fate of Shylocks and their descendants. To show the possibilities to be accomplished in Ontario, I purpose to cite some instances coming under my own observation of Ontarians who have succeeded. I take the ground, that the opportunities are as great, if not greater, in this Ontario of ours, for persons to achieve success, as in any part of the world. Certainly the Old World presents no such field for successful operations, and the only possible parallel can be found in some of the neighboring States. Of the two I would certainly give Ontario the preference, for most of those who have risen in the United States were in some way helped by their parents and friends, whereas our successful men have invariably risen from no beginnings at all, as our country emerged from the forest. Now for some instances of success: About twenty-three years ago, one who could not read came to this part of Ontario, possessing not one dollar, nor had a friend in America, but had come over from Ireland a few years previously quite alone, in order to better his condition. He began by chopping wood by the cord. Saving enough thereby, he bought a team, and then bought wood by the lump and hauled it to town to sell. Then he bought a wood lot, and proceeded to haul the cord-wood from it, which he sold to manufacturers in the towns. After a time he got his lot cleared of the wood, and put fall wheat on it, seeding the land down to clover and timothy at the same time. The next season he had unlimited quantities of grass for stock, and hay for wintering them. Then he went around the country and bought up cattle in droves, and put them on this grass. As soon as they were in condition these cattle were sold off for the Montreal market, for we had not at this time begun the business of shipping cattle to England. It is needless to add that he always bought his lean cattle at the very lowest possible figure. If some poor fellow, no matter how distant, was obliged to part with his stock by a forced sale, this man would be on hand, and invariably secure it. This cattle business coined money for him. Where he got his knowledge of the cattle business I am unable to say, but unlettered as he was, and unable even to write his own name, he seemed to take in all knowledge intuitively, as it were.