FIRST DAYS IN WALL STREET 33 



splicing a rope in a block-and-fall hoistway for 

 freight. When afterwards the splicing mysteri- 

 ously gave way and some damage was done, I 

 felt that the finger of suspicion should point at 

 the rigger whose work I had done. 



Quarter day was a busy time with me, for 

 there were many small tenants, and I still hold 

 in grateful remembrance the few whose checks 

 always awaited my first call. There were others 

 with whom it was a game to compel me to climb 

 those interminable stairs as often as possible, for 

 there were no elevators then. They reminded me 

 of an Andover classmate who had compiled a cal- 

 endar of excuses fitted to every day of the year, 

 and covering all possible infractions of the rules. 

 The head of a certain express company was so 

 fertile in excuses that were patently false that I 

 prefer toting my own grip to-day to trusting it to 

 his successor. 



When stores, lofts, or rooms became vacant, it 

 was often not easy to rent them, and references 

 had to be pretty bad to induce us to let a pro- 

 posed tenant get away. 



