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Title: One Thousand Ways To Make A Living; or, An Encyclopædia of Plans to Make Money
Author: Harold M. (Harold Morse) Dunphy
Release Date: May 25, 2020 [EBook #62231]
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HAROLD M. DUNPHY, LL. B.
Graduate of the University of Michigan, 1906
Attorney at Law
ONE THOUSAND WAYS
TO MAKE A LIVING
OR
AN ENCYCLOPÆDIA OF
PLANS TO MAKE MONEY
Collated and Edited
by
Harold M. Dunphy, LL. B.
FIRST EDITION
SPOKANE, WASHINGTON
1919
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, INCLUDING THAT OF
TRANSLATION INTO FOREIGN LANGUAGES
Copyright, 1919
BY
H. M. DUNPHY
SPOKANE, WASHINGTON
IMPORTANT PUBLISHER’S ANNOUNCEMENT
The contents of this book have taken years to gather. They have been collected from every corner of this vast
continent, and in some cases from Europe. The literary style, no doubt, from the reviewer’s point of view, will leave much
to be desired. This, from the very start, was pointed out to the editor, Mr. H. M. Dunphy, who, however, determined that
his object was to give a plain, unvarnished story of how to make a livelihood, and not to produce a book of a high literary
character. His exact words every time were: “My position as editor of this work is simply to take the matter as handed in
to me from time to time, see that nothing objectionable or prohibited by the States laws is allowed to be published. So far
as the literary style is concerned, it would not be difficult for me, a lawyer of long practice, to fall into line with the
orthodox. But I prefer to give the different information just as sent in to me, with certain exceptions I have mentioned.
“I did not arrive at this decision in haste, but after due deliberation. It was a choice of altering—and placing almost
every experience I received—into literary phraseology, or allowing same to pass for publication in the language of the
people. I choose the latter.” We think Mr. Dunphy is right. This book’s aim is the people rather than the classes; although
we have no doubt it will appeal to many people of high education with slender means.
However, the language in every case is understandable by the people, so, while no excuse is offered, we think the
reviewers and the higher educated public should be given an explanation.
Not only from a business point of view, but for the betterment of the conditions of the people, we desire this work to
have a wide circulation. There is no need for people to call aloud about lack of employment if they will not consult this
book.
One way to make a livelihood has been omitted in the edition of this work, and we feel sure he will excuse us for
drawing attention to the fact. We want agents in every part of the country—and we don’t want those agents to handle the
work without proper compensation.
Write us for terms.
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PREFACE
The title of this book speaks for itself and should require no foreword from me. However, the able compiler and editor
thinks otherwise, so I gladly fall in with his wishes.
I grasp the opportunity, because I think when doing so, I can benefit a great number of my fellow-countrymen and
country-women, who to-day have the constant shadow of unemployment confronting them.
This is not a “get-rich-quick” book. It is a work to teach people how to get a livelihood. Of course, a great many
people who commence in business through reading this book, and adopting one or more of the plans, will naturally push
ahead and accumulate wealth. That, however, is not the object of the book. If it were, I certainly should not sponsor its
sale. I maintain, as all decent citizens must believe, that every soul on this planet has a right to a decent existence. But it
grieves me to see so many people, young and old, foot-sick, walking about looking for a “job,” which employers of labor
are unable to offer. If these people would only look around and try to help themselves a little, the world would be a
happier place in which to live.
There is work everywhere to be done, and this book tells how to go about it. It is a book that should be in every public
reference library in the country, for the use of those who are unable to buy it.
The various plans for making a living are set forth in such detail that they can be understood by all. They do not cater
only to the person who is out of employment, but they are also valuable to the man in business, who through competition
may find he is not doing as well as he should. They are a great storehouse of general business knowledge. I, myself, am
what people would call a “successful business man.” Yet the book is invaluable to me from the point of view of an
investor. If I had had in my possession “Protection against Fraud and Wildcat Schemes” only three years ago—and acted
upon it, I should have saved myself from entering into a bad speculation. This chapter is undoubtedly worth ten times the
price asked for the whole book.
Out-of-door folk such as farmers and market gardeners, are firm believers in the theory of luck. I suppose it is because
there is no more speculative occupation than the cultivation of the soil. Well, I don’t grudge them their theory, but I will
say this: If they will only consult this book and act upon its plans, they will find their “luck” has been increased
considerably.
But to come back to the unemployed; to the man or woman who is looking for work. It is these people I personally
wish to benefit, and it is to them I would particularly address myself. Of the sincerity of their desire for work, there is no
shadow of doubt; and since the only remedy for unemployment is employment, its discovery is the duty of man.
Well, here in this book we have it, of that I am convinced. Only co-operation must come from the unemployed. Let
them select one of the plans at once and get to business. I’m sure they will succeed if only they put their heart and soul
into it. After a little effort, if everything does not prosper at once, they must not lapse like Watts’ sluggard did: “’Tis the
voice of the sluggard, I hear him complain. You’ve waked me too soon—I must slumber again.”
That won’t do. In this life, whatever it may be in the next, if we wish to live, we must work. There will be plenty of time
for slumber later on.
And now, a final word. If there should be one person who reads this foreword and who does not believe every word I
have written, I ask one favor: Let him individually select one of the plans set forth, and give it a fair trial. I give this advice,
knowing full well that all I have written will be found to be true.
This book has my very best wishes for a large sale.
THE WAY TO WEALTH
The following article, “The Way to Wealth” was published by one of the greatest of Americans, Benjamin Franklin, in
his famous “Poor Richard’s Almanac,” in the year 1757. This article is especially strong, as it represents the observations
of Benjamin Franklin after twenty-five years of publishing “Poor Richard’s Almanac.” There is, perhaps, no other of
Franklin’s writing that won for him more reputation than the following:
“The Way to Wealth” is run in the same form as it was originally written. “The Way to Wealth” should be regarded as
the constitution of this book and should be read and followed with each and every plan.
The Way To Wealth
I have heard that nothing gives an author so great a pleasure as to find his work respectfully quoted by others. Just,
then, how much I must have been gratified by an incident I am going to relate to you. I stopped my horse lately where a
great number of people were collected at an auction of merchant goods. The hour of the sale not being come they were
conversing on the badness of the times; and one of the company called to a plain, clean, old man, with white locks: “Pray,
Father Abraham, what think you of the times? Will not these heavy taxes quite ruin the country? How shall we ever be
able to pay them? What would you advise us to do?” Father Abraham stood up and replied: “If you would have my
advice, I will give it to you in short; for a word to the wise is enough, as Poor Richard says.” They joined in desiring him
to speak his mind, and gathering around him he proceeded as follows:
“Friends,” said he, “the taxes are indeed very heavy, and if those laid on by the government were the only ones we had
to pay, we might more easily discharge them, but we have many others and much more grievous to some of us. We are
taxed twice as much by our idleness, three times as much by our pride, and four times as much by our folly, and from
these taxes the commissioners cannot ease or deliver us by allowing an abatement. However, let us hearken to good
advice and something may be done for us: ‘God helps those who help themselves,’ as Poor Richard says.
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“I. It would be thought a hard Government that would tax its people one-tenth part of their time to be employed in its
service, but idleness taxes many of us much more; sloth by bringing on disease, absolutely shortens life. ‘Sloth, like rust,
consumes faster than labor wear, while the used key is always bright,’ as Poor Richard says. ‘But dost thou love life? if so
then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of,’ as Poor Richard says. How much more than is necessary
do we spend in sleep, forgetting that the ‘sleeping fox catches no poultry,’ and that ‘there will be sleeping enough in the
grave,’ as Poor Richard says.
“‘If time be of all things the most precious, wasting time must be,’ as Poor Richard says, ‘the greatest prodigality,’
since, as he elsewhere tells us, ‘lost time is never found again, and what we call time enough always proves little enough.’
Let us then be up and doing, and doing to the purpose; so by diligence shall we do more with less perplexity. ‘Sloth
makes all things difficult, but industry all things easy; and he that rises late, must trot all day, and shall scarce overtake his
business at night: while laziness travels so slowly that poverty soon overtakes him. Drive thy business, let not thy business
drive thee; and early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise,’ as Poor Richard says.
“So what signifies wishing and hoping for better times? We may make these times better if we but bestir ourselves.
‘Industry need not wish, and he that lives upon hope will die fasting. There are no gains without pains; then help, hands,
for I have no lands; or if I have they are smartly taxed. He that hath a trade hath an estate, and he that hath a calling hath
an office of profit and honor,’ as Poor Richard says. But then the trade must be worked at and the calling followed, or
neither the estate nor the office will enable us to pay our taxes. If we are industrious we shall never starve, for ‘at the
working man’s house hunger looks in but dares not enter.’ Nor will the bailiff nor the constable enter, for industry pays
debts, while despair increases them. What, though you have found no treasure, nor have any rich relations left you a
legacy, ‘diligence is the mother of good luck, and God gives all things to industry. Then plow deep while sluggards sleep,
and you shall have corn to sell and to keep.’ Work while it is called today, for you know not how much you may be
hindered tomorrow. ‘One today is worth two tomorrows,’ as Poor Richard says; and further, ‘never leave that till
tomorrow which you can do today.’ If you were a servant would you not be ashamed that the good master should catch
you idle? Are you then your own master? Be ashamed to catch yourself idle when there is so much to be done for
yourself, your family, your country and your king. Handle your tools without mittens; remember that ‘the cat in gloves
catches no mice,’ as Poor Richard says. It is true that there is much to be done, and perhaps you are too weak-handed,
but stick to it steadily and you will see great effects; for ‘constant dropping wears away stones; and by diligence and
patience the mouse ate in two the cable; and little strokes fell great oaks.’
“Methinks I hear some of you say: ‘Must a man afford himself no leisure?’ I will tell thee, my friends, what Poor
Richard says: ‘Employ thy time well, if thou meanest to gain leisure, and since thou art not sure of a minute, throw not
away an hour.’ Leisure is time for doing something useful; thus, leisure the diligent man will obtain, but the lazy man never;
for ‘a life of leisure and a life of laziness are two things. Many, without labor would live by their wits only, but they break
for want of stock’; whereas industry gives comfort and plenty and respect. ‘Fly pleasures, and they will follow you. The
diligent spinner has a large shift; and now I have a sheep and a cow, everybody bids me good morrow.’
“II. But with our industry we must likewise be steady, settled and careful, and oversee our own affairs with our own
eyes, and not trust too much to others; for, as Poor Richard says:
“And again, ‘three removes are as bad as a fire.’ And again, ‘keep thy shop and thy shop will keep thee.’ And again,
‘if you would have your business done, go; if not, send.’ And again, ‘He that by the plow would thrive, himself must either
hold or drive.’ And again, ‘the eye of the master will do more work than both his hands.’ And again, ‘want of care does
us more damage than want of knowledge.’ And again, ‘not to oversee workmen is to leave them your purse open.
Trusting too much to others is the ruin of many; for in the affairs of this world men are saved, not by faith, but by want of
it.’ But a man’s own care is profitable; for, ‘if you would have a faithful servant, and one that you like, serve yourself. A
little neglect may breed great mischief; for want of a nail the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe the horse was lost; and for
want of a horse the rider was lost, being overtaken and slain by the enemy; all for want of a little care about a horseshoe
nail.’
“III. So much for industry, my friends, and attention to one’s own business; but to these we must add frugality, if we
would make our industry more certainly successful. A man may, if he knows not how to save as he gets, keep his nose all
his life to the grindstone and die not worth a groat at last. ‘A fat kitchen makes a lean will; and many estates are spent in
the getting. Some women for tea forsook spinning and knitting. And men for punch, forsook hewing and splitting. If you
would be wealthy, think of saving as well as getting. The Indies have not made Spain rich, because her outgoes are
greater than her incomes.’ Away then with your expensive follies, and you will not have so much cause to complain of
hard times, heavy taxes and chargeable families; for, ‘Women and wine, game and deceit, make the wealth small and the
wants great.’ And further, ‘What maintains one vice would bring up two children.’ You may think, perhaps, that a little
tea, or punch now and then, diet a little more costly, clothes a little finer, and a little entertainment now and then, can be of
no great matter; but, remember, ‘Many a little makes a mickle.’ Beware of little expenses. ‘A small leak will sink a great
ship,’ as Poor Richard says; and again, ‘who dainties love, shall beggars prove;’ and moreover, ‘Fools make feasts, and
wise men eat them.’ Here you are all got together at this sale of finery and nicks-nacks. You call them goods; but if you
do not take care, they will prove evils to some of you. You expect they will be sold cheap, and perhaps it may be less
than they cost; but if you have no occasions for them, they must be dear to you. Remember what Poor Richard says: ‘Buy
what thou hast no need of, and ere long thou shalt sell thy necessaries.’ And again, ‘At a great pennyworth, pause awhile.’
He means, that perhaps the cheapness is apparent only, and not real; or the bargain, by straightening thee in thy business,
may do thee more harm than good. For in another place he says, ‘Many have been ruined by buying good pennyworths.’
Again, ‘it is foolish to lay out money in a purchase of repentence,’ and yet this folly is practiced every day at auctions for
want of minding the Almanac. Many a one for the sake of finery on the back, has gone with a hungry belly and half
starved his family. ‘Silks and satins and scarlets and velvets put out the kitchen fire,’ as Poor Richard says.
“These are not the necessaries of life; they can scarcely be called the conveniences; and yet, only because they look
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pretty, how many want to have them! By these and other extravagances, the genteel are reduced to poverty and forced to
borrow from those whom they formerly despised, but who, through industry and frugality, have maintained their standing;
in which case it appears plainly that: ‘A plowman on his legs is higher than a gentleman on his knees,’ as Poor Richard
says. Perhaps they had a small estate left them, which they knew not the getting of; they think, ‘it is day, and will never be
night;’ that a little to be spent out of so much is not worth minding; but ‘always taking out of the meal-tub, and never
putting in, soon comes to the bottom,’ as Poor Richard says; and then, ‘when the well is dry, they know the worth of
water.’ But this they would have known before, had they taken his advice. ‘If you would know the value of money, go
and try to borrow some;’ for ‘he that goes a borrowing, goes a sorrowing,’ as Poor Richard says. And indeed so does he
that lends to such people, when he goes to get it again. Poor Dick further advises and says: ‘Fond pride of dress is sure a
very curse; ere fancy you consult, first consult your purse.’ And again, ‘Pride is as loud a beggar as want, and a great deal
more saucy.’ When you have bought one fine thing, you must buy ten more, that your appearance may be all of a piece;
but poor Dick says, ‘It is easier to suppress the first desire than to satisfy all that follow it. And it is as truly folly for the
poor to ape the rich, as for the frog to swell in order to equal the ox.’
“It is, however, a folly soon punished; for, as Poor Richard says, ‘Pride that dines on vanity, sups on contempt. Pride
breakfasted with plenty, dined with poverty, and supped with infamy.’ And after all, of what use is this pride of
appearance, for which so much is risked, so much suffered? It cannot promote health, nor ease pain; it makes no increase
of merit in the person; it creates envy; it hastens misfortune.
“But what madness must it be to run in debt for these superfluities? We are offered by the terms of this sale six months’
credit; and that perhaps, has induced some of us to attend it, because we cannot spare the ready money, and hope now
to be fine without it. But ah! think what you do when you run in debt; you give to another power over your liberty. If you
cannot pay at the time, you will be ashamed to see your creditor; you will be in fear when you speak to him; you will
make poor, pitiful, sneaking excuses, and by degrees come to lose your veracity and sink into base, downright lying; for
‘the second vice is lying, the first is running into debt,’ as Poor Richard says; and again, to the same purpose, ‘Lying rides
upon Debts back;’ whereas a free-born Englishman ought not to be ashamed nor afraid to see or speak to any man living.
But poverty often deprives a man of all spirit and virtue. ‘It is hard for an empty bag to stand upright.’
“What would you think of that prince or government who should issue an edict forbidding you to dress like a gentleman
or gentlewoman, on pain of imprisonment and servitude? Would you not say that you were free and had the right to dress
as you please; that such an edict would be a breach of your privileges, and such a government tyrannical? And yet you are
about to put yourselves under such tyranny when you run in debt for such dress! Your creditor has authority, at his
pleasure to deprive you of your liberty by confining you in gaol till you shall be able to pay him. When you have got your
bargain, you may perhaps think little of payment; but, as Poor Richard says, ‘Creditors have better memories than
debtors; creditors are a superstitious sect—great observers of set days and times.’ The days come around before you are
aware, and the demand is made before you are prepared to satisfy it; or, if you bear your debt in mind, the term which at
first seems so long will, as it lessens, seem extremely short. Time will seem to have added wings to his heels as well as to
his shoulders. ‘Those have a short Lent who owe money to be paid at Easter.’ At present, perhaps, you may think
yourselves in thriving circumstances, and that you can spare a little extravagance without injury, but, ‘for age and want
save while you may—no morning sun lasts a whole day.’ Gain may be temporary and uncertain, but ever, while you live,
expense is constant and certain; and ‘it is easier to build two chimneys than to keep one in fuel,’ as Poor Richard says; so,
‘rather go to bed supperless than rise in debt.’ ‘Get what you can, and what you get, hold; ’Tis the stone that will turn all
your lead into gold.’ And when you have got the philosopher’s stone, surely you will no longer complain of bad times, or
the difficulty of paying taxes.
“IV. This doctrine, my friends, is reason and wisdom, but, after all, do not depend too much on your own industry and
frugality and prudence, though excellent things, for they all may be blasted, without the blessing of heaven; and therefore
ask that blessing humbly, and be not uncharitable to those that at present seem to want it, but comfort and help them.
Remember Job suffered and afterwards was prosperous.
“And now, to conclude, ‘Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other,’ as Poor Richard says, and
‘scarce in that, for it is true we may give advice, but we cannot give conduct.’ However, remember this, ‘They that will
not be counseled cannot be helped,’ and further, that ‘if you will not hear reason, she will surely rap your knuckles,’ as
Poor Richard says.”
Thus the Old Gentleman ended his harangue. The people heard it and approved the doctrine, and immediately
practiced the opposite, just as if it had been a common sermon; for the auction opened and they began to buy
extravagantly. I found the good man had thoroughly studied my Almanac, and digested all I had dropped on these topics
during the course of twenty-five years. The frequent mention he made of me, must have tired anyone else, but my vanity
was wonderfully delighted with it, though I was conscious that not a tenth part of the wisdom was my own which he
ascribed to me, but rather the gleaning I had made of the sense of all ages and nations. However, I resolved to be the
better for the echo of it, and though I had at first determined to buy stuff for a new coat, I went away, resolved to wear
my old one a little longer. Reader, if thou wilt do the same, thy profit will be as great as mine. I am, as ever, thine, to serve
thee.
Richard Saunders.
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SELF-PROTECTION AGAINST FRAUDULENT SCHEMES AND WILDCAT
INVESTMENTS
Thousands of men and women, who have lost their savings of years through the skillfully manipulated schemes of men
who make a profession of robbing the unwary, might still be in comfortable circumstances had they been forewarned and
forearmed against these people by the timely advice of some one who knew the crooks and turns by which they approach
their victims with honeyed words and roseate pictures of fortunes quickly and easily made.
Women who have come into the possession of considerable sums of money, through inheritance, or as beneficiaries of
husbands, fathers or brothers, are the special objects of exploitation. It is estimated that fully 90 per cent of the women
thus provided for, lose the entire amounts within three to six months.
Many of these women succumb to flatteries accompanying offers of marriage, and willingly turn over every dollar that
some loyal and devoted husband and father has made untold sacrifices to provide. Once in possession of the money,
however, these villains usually disappear, to seek new fields and swindle other women by the same contemptible methods.
The greater part of the fraudulent schemes through which women with little savings are swindled, consists of plausible
plans for making “profitable” investments. The writer of this chapter is reliably informed that in a certain city of over
100,000 inhabitants, more than sixty-five men engage in this business.
Women, however, are not the only victims, for men are also easily persuaded to part with their savings.
The man or woman known to have acquired any considerable sum of money, or even a few hundred dollars, is skillfully
approached and asked to make an investment that is “sure to double your money in six months,” or guaranteed to pay
1,000 per cent dividends within a year, and every year thereafter, and the alluring picture thus held out is usually a
veritable gem of literary and artistic skill.
Perhaps it is a choice piece of real estate, which the owner will sell at a “great sacrifice,” as his health requires a
removal to a “milder climate.” Or it may be a block of mining or industrial stock, represented by a gorgeously engraved
certificate, embellished with an elaborate seal and is advertised as a “real snap,” as only a few dollars of additional capital
will start the enterprise to grinding out dividends. Whatever it is, there is a dazzling certainty about its future that is
perfectly bewildering to the poor investor, who is made to see him- or herself soon very wealthy. And how easy it is to
make an inexperienced woman—or man, either—believe that her or his few hundred dollars can so easily be turned into a
channel that will bring a swift and sure reward.
The bait may be a first mortgage on a piece of farm land, “worth many times the small indebtedness it represents,”
bears a high interest rate, and which, if foreclosed by the holder, would make him well to do.
Oftentimes these seductive offerings come through a friend, who offers—for a commission—to guide the faltering steps
of the investor to certain wealth, as a personal favor.
The valuable farm land is found to be upon a mountain top or in the middle of a swamp, where no one could live or
nothing can grow. It is worthless. But the mortgage, which showed some one had loaned a large sum of money on it? Oh,
that was a mortgage made for the purpose. No real money was ever loaned on it.
And the stock in that wonderful mine, almost ready to pay dividends? Why, that consists principally of a set of location
stakes, with perhaps a 10-foot hole in the ground, representing the first year’s assessment work on a very poor
“prospect.” Anybody can see that it never will make a mine.
But the industrial enterprise—that surely must have a bright and promising future. Well, maybe, but as yet it has no
equipment, no raw material, no franchise, no location—nothing but a certificate of incorporation, authorizing a few
comparatively unknown men, with no capital whatsoever, to do a certain kind of manufacturing or other business—if they
can raise a little money with which to make a start. At last, when the money is gone and it is too late, the poor investor
begins to realize what has happened. His money is lost.
It is bad enough for the one who has been thus defrauded, but it is many times worse when little children are made to
suffer. It may be that the widow should pay the penalty of her foolishness but the innocent, helpless little children are the
ones who suffer most.
How to guard against the depredations of these people, and protect one’s self, is the object of this chapter. By
following the plan here outlined, any man or woman can be assured of comparative safety. It has been successfully
employed, and has saved thousands of dollars.
First of all, you must learn to do your own thinking, instead of becoming confused by the advice that is offered you, for
no two of your friends or acquaintances will advise you alike. Use your own judgment, and carefully weigh every
suggestion.
Suppose you are approached with a proposition to invest your money. No matter how attractive the prospect may
look, adopt this as a slogan: “Investigate before investing,” and do this thoroughly, because the “snap” will not be gone
if you delay a little while. Make sure that your investigation is as complete as possible. This will not only protect you from
fraudulent and wild-cat schemes but will enable you to find a really meritorious proposition. It may cost you from $25 to
$50 as expense for investigation purposes, but this is far better than losing $5,000 to $10,000. Make it a rule to test all
propositions on which you are solicited—to never act until you have full information before you. When approached by the
person desiring you to invest tell him before going into a discussion as to the investment you wish to be informed about his
company. Copy all the following questions and submit them to him, requesting that each question be carefully answered,
and that after the answers are made they shall be signed by the corporation, individual, company or partnership. If his
proposition is all right, and he believes in it, he will gladly co-operate; but if he is doubtful whether or not it will stand the
test, he will endeavor to persuade you not to put the company to the trouble of answering so many unnecessary questions.
Adhere to your resolution to have the information first. These questions alone will eliminate nine-tenths of the fraudulent
investments and all weak propositions.
[xiv]
List of Questions to Submit
1. Give full name of corporation, partnership or association.
2. If partnership, has your firm name been properly filed of record?
3. If corporation, when were you incorporated?
4. Have you paid your last annual license fee to the state?
5. What is your capitalization?
6. In how many shares is the company divided?
7. Is the stock assessable or non-assessable?
8. Do you have common or preferred stock?
9. If you have common or preferred stock, how much common and how much preferred stock have you?
10. State the object of the company in issuing these two kinds of stock.
11. What advantage has the preferred over the common?
12. What is the preferred stock selling for? Also the common? How much have you sold to date of each?
13. What are the names of the present stockholders and their addresses and how much cash have they paid for the
stock they hold?
14. If they have not paid cash—what did they give for their stock?
15. Has any stock or interest in the company been given for the promotion of the company? If so, how much or what
interest?
16. Give the names, addresses and businesses, also amount of stock held by each of the officers, trustees or directors
of said corporation or company, also did they pay cash for their stock—if so, how much? If service was rendered for
stock, what was the service?
17. Is the stock of the company paid for in full? If so, state how or in what manner it was paid for.
18. When and where do you hold your annual meetings?
19. Do your trustees meet regularly and transact their business and have they done so from the inception of the
corporation?
20. Have you a list of articles of incorporation and by-laws printed? If so, please furnish me with a copy of them.
21. Please state where I can see the minutes of your meeting.
22. Will you allow my attorney to go over the minutes of your meetings?
23. Have you real estate? If you answer yes, set forth the legal descriptions of all the real estate now owned by you,
whether in this state or in other states.
24. Is the above described property free and clear of all incumbrances?
25. If you answer no, state in detail the kind of incumbrance, amount, and date it is due.
26. Please state the present value of each piece of property and state whether or not it is improved.
27. If you answer that the land is improved, state clearly how and in what manner it is improved and set forth clearly
what the improvements are on said land.
28. What income has said lands and what is the gross expense of the property?
29. What net profit is made from land each year by your company?
30. What other assets has the company? And if there are other assets, where are they kept? Please set forth these
assets in full, their present value and whether or not they are free and clear of all incumbrances.
31. What bank or trust company do you bank with? How long have you banked with it.
32. How much have you now on hand with said bank or trust company?
33. Please give the name and address of your lawyer and how long he has represented you.
34. What salaries are paid to officers of the company?
35. What are the total debts of the company at the present time? Please state to whom they are due and how long they
have been owing.
36. Are there any judgments now on record or in existence against your company?
37. Are there any lawsuits now pending? If you answer yes, please give case number, name and address of plaintiff’s
attorney and amount involved.
38. Is there any contemplated suit against the company which you have any knowledge of? If you answer yes, state the
facts concerning it.
39. Please furnish me with a detailed statement of the affairs of the company. Showing the present income and expense
and net profit or loss made to date.
40. Have you as yet paid dividends on your stock?
41. Please furnish me with a complete statement in writing as to what your company plans to do this year and the
immediate future and what profits are reasonably possible from such operations.
42. If I invest $——, please state to what use my money will be put.
43. If it is to be used for a certain purpose, state how much of my money will go to the company and how much will go
out on commissions.
44. Will the money I have subscribed be sufficient or will other money be necessary for the company successfully to
carry out its plans? If you answer no, how much more will be necessary?
In the event of the above list of questions being answered in full, inform the salesman that you will familiarize yourself
with the report and will later call upon him to go over the matter.
First look into the reputation of the men connected with the company. Also the reputation of the trustees and officers.
Also obtain the financial standing of the large stockholders. This can be done in cities of over 50,000 by consulting
reporting companies. See some prominent merchant and find out the best reporting company in the city. Call or write the
reporting company and ascertain from them whether the above parties are good pay and whether they are the kind of men
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that are successful in carrying out plans. This report is important; it will cost you so much per name but it is well worth the
fee to you. If the majority of these men are unknown—or have a poor reputation and are bad pay—it would be
unnecessary to go further in your investigations as your chances would be very poor in such a company. Oftentimes this
investigation alone will show the promotors have suits pending against them and even judgments on record.
However, if these investigations show the above-referred-to men O. K., submit the signed report to a banker not
named as the company banker and obtain as complete a report as possible in writing from the bank and pay for the
trouble; if the bank will not give a written report obtain a verbal report and write it down later yourself. If their advice is
for or against the investment, obtain their reasons, and if none is given do not give it any thought.
Now see a lawyer and have him give you an exhaustive written report on your signed report, and pay him for it.
Remember that it is far better to pay $25 to $50 and know where your investment is to go, than take a chance of losing all
you possess. These last two reports will be very valuable to you. I suggest that they be put in writing so that when you are
alone in your home you will be able to consider more carefully their report and advice.
Now make a copy of the real property and write the assessors of the county in which the land lies for a report
concerning this land and its improvements. This information will be furnished you free of charge. If it be farm property,
they can inform you quite well the kind of land and its value and also give you what improvements, if any, are on the land
and their nature. And the same is true of city property. While the assessor’s estimate may be a little below the real value
of the land it is far better to have the land at too conservative a figure than an excessive figure.
In the event that the company is in possession of mortgages, have a detailed report from the county assessor’s office as
to the mortgaged property. This will give you the character of the mortgage security.
The writer in the last two years has saved more than $5,000 to his clients by checking up the property used as a
security for the mortgage.
In one case my client requested me to prepare a deed and have it ready for him at three o’clock, the time of request
being about 1:30 P. M., that he had decided to accept a $1,500 mortgage. The mortgage ran for three years—two years
having elapsed—and the interest had been paid to date. He permitted me, by way of caution, to call the county assessor’s
office, some hundred miles away, by long distance, which revealed that the land securing the mortgage was above the
snow line up in a mountain region and worthless.
Armed with the above information you are prepared to talk and question the salesman. If he is sincere he will endeavor
to answer fully your questions. After you talk with the salesman do not give your answer at once but inform him that you
will give him your final answer in two or three days.
With the various reports before you—and the salesman’s answers to your questions which you should jot down—as
judge of your own affairs decide your course of action. If your decision is to invest your money you will be an asset to the
company as you will be familiar with its workings. Oftentimes ignorant investors in a company will destroy a good
proposition.
If your decision is favorable, put away the signed report of the company, along with all the data, you have secured, and
in case the future develops that the facts stated in the company’s report is untrue, you can lay the representation made,
before an attorney and your case will be clear.
ONE THOUSAND WAYS TO MAKE A LIVING
In presenting these one thousand tried and tested plans for making a living, the author hopes and believes that he will be
the means of helping many people to better methods of earning money; by pointing out to them the occupations to which
they are better adapted, and in which their chances of success may be greatly increased.
Especially will the opportunities thus presented be welcomed by the families of those who have sacrificed their lives for
their country, and those who return from the war wounded, or otherwise incapacitated from following their former
callings.
They will find in this book many valuable suggestions for the taking up of other lines of work, and profiting by the
experiences of those who have successfully worked the various plans herein set forth.
It should be borne in mind, however, that those adopting any of the plans herein outlined must combine in the execution
of the same the elementary essentials of earnestness, honesty and perseverance, coupled with a strong will power and a
determination to win success. Let them make this their one definite aim, and they will find that what others have done, they
can do, and thereby bring to themselves and their families that much desired end—prosperity and happiness.
PLAN No. 1. WEAVING BASKETS FOR FERNS
It was the clever idea of a woman that prompted her to dig ferns out of the woods of her native state, and put them in
attractive raffia baskets woven by herself. The florists of her neighboring city gladly pay good prices for all of these she
can bring in. In the winter she fills these same baskets with holly, attaches a bow of red ribbon to the side of each basket,
and sells them as fast as she can turn them out. Other plants can be used to the same advantage in other localities.
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PLAN No. 2. PROFESSIONAL HOSTESS
A young girl who possessed a pleasing personality, but had no capital, created a profitable profession for herself by
announcing to the young mothers of her neighborhood that she would take charge of children’s parties at the low price of
two dollars for an afternoon. She arranged the menu and planned the entertainment for the youngsters, and did it so well
that she soon had all the orders she could fill.
From this small beginning, she enlarged her activities by planning parties for grown people as well, at a much higher
remuneration, and she is now receiving orders for conducting all kinds of entertainment, and it pays her well.
PLAN No. 3. A TEACHER TURNS CHAUFFEUR
One of the teachers of a Seattle school was obliged by ill-health temporarily to suspend teaching, and, for outdoor
exercise, engaged to run an auto carrying children from a distance to and from the school. She soon found this work so
healthful and pleasant that she bought a machine, carried passengers for a while at a good profit, and finally, in partnership
with her brother, an expert mechanic, went into the automobile business as a regular occupation.
Plan No. 3. A School Teacher’s Way
She makes considerable money by giving lessons to women in the management of a car.
PLAN No. 4. PAID READING MATTER FOR NEWSPAPERS
Just after the panic of 1893, when jobs were not to be had, an advertising man made a contract with a Denver daily
newspaper to conduct a column of small reading notices, on a commission of forty per cent. He went among the small
merchants who were not advertising in the display columns, and found they were willing to spend a little money each
month in that sort of publicity, though not able to advertise extensively.
He wrote attractive items for each one, and had them set up in the form of news matter. By keeping his column free
from display lines and other indications of advertising, he soon built up a very handsome column, which many merchants
were willing to patronize, as the cost was small and the results extremely satisfactory.
He also wrote special articles that looked and read exactly like news items, and even secured columns of interviews, at
regular rates, with leading business men concerning general trade conditions, thereby aiding in restoring public confidence
following that panicky period. His commissions during that year of hard times averaged forty dollars per week, and he had
made many thousands of dollars for the paper besides.
This plan is not so easy to work as it was then, as all paid articles must now be followed by the word “adv,” meaning
advertisement; and yet, even with that handicap, reading notices are still regarded by many people as more effective than
display advertisements, and the man who has a talent for writing that class of matter can still make good money by doing
so.
PLAN No. 5. VACANT LOTS KEPT CLEAN
Here is the case of a woman who, though having only a few hundred dollars, had a lot of foresight and energy, and
these qualities enabled her to originate a plan that paid.
Thousands of vacant lots in her city were covered with weeds that were an eyesore to their respective neighborhoods,
and detracted from their appearance when shown to prospective purchasers. She went to the agents for these lots, made
contracts with them under which she was to keep them clean of weeds the entire season for $3 per one hundred feet
frontage, bought a mowing machine with her $100, and went to work. She also contracted to mow the lawns of a large
number of people, hiring thirty men at $1.50 per day to do the work, and charging $2 per day for the work done by each
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man. The profits of her first month’s work paid for her mowers and her advertising, but after that all the profit was hers.
The summer’s work, after paying all expenses, including her own board and clothes, netted her $1,200. The next season
she contracted to keep the weeds from city lots that aggregated 2,000 acres, at $3 per one hundred feet frontage, plowed
those lots all up, sowed them in wheat, kept fifty men employed, mowed more lawns, cut and threshed her wheat, and
found she had made $11,000, with good prospects of making a great deal more the next year.
And all she had to start on was a few hundred dollars and a plan.
PLAN No. 6. MINT CULTURE
No capital, and but little space, is required for growing mint on a profitable scale. One woman, who is making and
saving money for the education of her children, goes at it in a very methodical manner. She lays out her ground in beds
with walks between, and each variety is given a separate bed. Each bed has a border of sage or other herb plants that
find a ready sale. The soil should be loose and fine, and well fertilized, to obtain the best results. She not only supplies
customers in her nearest town, but, as her business increases, is shipping a great deal of it to the city markets, where it is
in constant demand from hotels, cafes, druggists, candy makers, etc. What she does not sell, she utilizes at home in the
making of candy, delicious sweets and aromatic vinegars. Crystallized and candied mint leaves, mint sprays, mint vinegar
and other products of this herb are much sought after, and to the resourceful person who has a taste for this class of work
there is a mint of money in mint.
PLAN No. 7. CLIPPING COLLECTION
The woman who has a taste for literary or club work can turn many an honest penny by starting a small clipping bureau
of her own.
One lady who made a success of this, both socially and financially, procured some large envelopes, and put all the
clippings she made from magazines, newspapers, etc., on any one subject, into one envelope, duly labeled, until she had
accumulated an extensive variety. Realizing that material for papers to be read at the meetings of women’s clubs are
always eagerly sought for, she specialized on those subjects that engrossed the attention of club women, particularly
biographical sketches, entertainments, plans for special holidays, and table decorations, place cards, games, amusements,
etc. Then she let it be known that for a small fee, she would furnish the material for properly entertaining the club, and
found her clippings in constant demand.
This is a good plan, that can be carried out with considerable profit, and one that requires no capital to start or operate
it.
PLAN No. 8. A ONE-COW DAIRY
Here is how a lady who knew her business made a lot of pin money from what she called her “One-Cow Dairy.” There
were three in the family and their available capital consisted of an excellent cow, with an average butter production of one
pound per day the year round, besides supplying the family with plenty of milk and cream. They also had a small cream
separator, which cost considerable to begin with, but more than paid for itself, even with the output of a single cow, as it
insured clean milk, more and better cream, and required less work as well as but little space.
For a butter worker, they had a ten-gallon V-shaped barrel churn, also a four-gallon stone jar for holding the cream,
and a good pair of balance scales. Her husband built a dairy, 8x12 feet, with cemented floor, on the shady side of the
house, covering it with vines, thus assuring a cool place always. She bought an iceless cooler, made entirely of galvanized
iron, which is placed outside for holding the cream, and in which, the night before churning, she puts two pails of water, to
preserve an even temperature. She sells her butter the year around, to regular customers, at forty cents per pound, and
has demands for more than she can produce.
When the cow is about to go dry, she puts away, in brine, strong enough to float an egg, all the butter the family will
need for that period, and having tied the pieces of butter up in muslin thoroughly sterilized, it keeps as fresh and sweet as
the day it was made.
The total cost of establishing her dairy, exclusive of the separator, was $26.25, and with the present equipment she is
ready to add one or two more cows to her dairy, whenever she finds those that are as good as the one she already has.
She will thus be at but little additional expense, while greatly increasing her revenue.
PLAN No. 9. WRITING BUSINESS LETTERS
Many good business men write very poor business letters, and anyone having a taste and a talent for this class of work
can make the writing of such letters a permanent and profitable profession. A former newspaper man in a western city
took it up, and found in it a much larger income than even the liberal salary he had formerly received.
Living in a town of about 50,000 inhabitants, and having a rather extensive acquaintance, he called upon a number of
the leading merchants and offered to come at a certain hour each day and dictate the answers to all letters received from
out-of-town customers. As most of these firm...
