PREFACE 11 



my soul lias traveled high and low, now all 

 save love to me is but a name." I only cite 

 this incident as it was so typical of the place 

 and went to show that the older pioneers of 

 Silverton could start on short notice without 

 even a rehearsal. But, oh, how I loved, and 

 still love Silverton. 



I could never expect to find another such 

 community. Where else could one find a firm 

 like Coolidge and McClaine, starting in part- 

 nership without a bookkeeper. They never 

 even kept a pencil account of things. When 

 Jake McClaine saw his partner with a new pair 

 of pants on, whether he, McClaine, needed any 

 or not, he took from the store a pair just to 

 balance the books, and that was their method. 

 They played fair with each other, starting with 

 some calves they bought in the fall of the year, 

 and from that deal this firm grew and grew 

 until now, incorporated into a stock company, 

 it is one of the biggest on the Pacific Coast; 

 and when "call money" rents for big premiums 

 in New York City, money that started in Sil- 

 verton with these pioneer bankers comes in 

 large quantities to Wall Street to reap the 

 benefit of the quick loan system. But the 



