EMPLOYING TRAVELING SALESMEN--DEPRESSION IN TRADE--HEAVILY IN DEBT--HOW I PRESERVED MY CREDIT--I TAKE TO THE ROAD AGAIN--TRAVELING BY TEAM--DECIDING A HORSE-TRADE--MY BOOK-KEEPER PROPOSES AN ASSIGNMENT--I REJECT THE PROPOSITION--COLLECTING OLD DEBTS BY STRATAGEM. While traveling in Northern Michigan I came across a young man clerking in a dry-goods store in a small iron-mining town, who expressed a desire to go on the road for me as traveling agent. His employer said: "Oh, Bert is thoroughly honest and trustworthy, and naturally a capable fellow; but I think he is rather too unsophisticated to act in that capacity, as I don't believe he has ever visited a town of over three hundred inhabitants in his life." I replied that he was just the sort of chap I was looking for. I wanted a man who would be likely to listen to my advice and instructions, and a man of wide experience would not be apt to do so. I made arrangements with the young man to return to Chicago with me. His manner at once convinced me that he meant business, and was determined to succeed. But for all that, and with the most kindly feelings towards him, I must admit that every move he made, after arriving in the city, reminded me of myself on my first trip to New York. In fact, with the exception of the difference in ages, he was a regular Joshua Whitcomb. I felt almost obliged to lasso him to prevent him from following off band wagons and chasing fire engines around town. He was particularly fond of dime museums and the "knock-'em-down and drag-'em-out" Wild-western plays; and I saw the necessity of getting him started on the road as soon as possible, before he should become stage-struck. I had two sample-cases made, and took him on the road with me through Michigan. I took particular pains to impress upon his mind the necessity of curtailing expenses, and often reminded him that the occasional saving of 'bus and carriage fares from the hotel to the depot, when he had plenty of time to walk, would be no disgrace to him or his House. I also pointed out the foolishness of spending money with merchants in treating, or in other words, attempting to bribe them by treating, as that was something I had never yet done myself, and would not be responsible for any such expense. I fully believed that the average salesman lost as often as he gained by this practice. (I still believe it.)