268 . MR. SWINDELL. 



stroke in the right direction things soon worked 

 better. His next move was to hire a lot of men, 

 both in town and country, to call at public-houses 

 and hotels which the brewery did not serve, to ask 

 for its special brew, whether in beer, ale, or stout. 

 On being told it was not kept, they would express 

 their surprise, and declare they ' could get it just 

 above, or just below, or round the corner,' and would 

 leave for the apparent purpose of obtaining it. This 

 ingenious way of getting customers may not have 

 been novel, but it was a legitimate method of in- 

 creasing trade ; and more, it was effective, and with 

 the further help of good management, so raised the 

 value of the shares in the company that Mr. Swindell's 

 investment in it of £70,000 became a valuable pro- 

 perty. I have this statement, like most others relat- 

 ing to himself, from his own lips. 



He once bought a large wholesale ironmongery 

 business in the City, doing a large trade, for one of 

 his relations — a nephew, I believe. But this young 

 gentleman wanted to run before he could walk, and 

 kept his brougham and pair of dashing horses, visited 

 nightly theatres, casinos, and other places of amuse- 

 ment not of the most moral character, and so ruined 

 his health and fortune, and brought on a premature 

 death. A miser was once told by one of his old 

 cronies that ' his son was dissipating his fortune,' and 

 calmly replied that ' if he has only half the pleasure 

 in spending as I have had in getting it, his happiness 



