FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   28   29   30   31   32   33   34   35   36   37   38   39   40   41   42   43   44   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52  
53   54   55   56   57   58   59   60   61   62   63   64   65   66   67   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   >>   >|  
the largest manufactories in New England, and put more than a million of dollars into the pockets of the brass makers,--"but there is not one of them that remembers _Joseph_." CHAPTER V. SUCCESS OF THE NEW INVENTION.--INTRODUCTION OF CLOCKS IN ENGLAND.--TERRY FAMILY, ETC. We went on very prosperously making the new clock, and it was admired by every body. In the year 1839, some of my neighbors and a few of my leading workmen had a great desire to get into the same kind of business. We knew competition amongst Yankees was almost sure to kill business and proposed to have them come in with us and have a share of the profits. An arrangement to this effect was made and we went on in this way until the fall of 1840. I found they were much annoyance and bother to me, and so bought them all out, but had to give them one hundred per cent. for the use of their money. Some of them had not paid in anything, but I had to pay them the same profits I did the rest, to get rid of them. One man had put in three thousand dollars for which I paid him six thousand. I also bought out my brother Noble Jerome, who had been in company with me for a long time, and carried on the whole business alone, which seemed to be rapidly improving. I made in 1841, thirty-five thousand dollars clear profits. Men would come and deposit money with me before their orders were finished. This successful state of things set all of the wood clock makers half crazy, and they went into it one after another as fast as they could, and of course run down the price very fast--"Yankee-like." I had been thinking for two or three years of introducing my clocks into England, and had availed myself of every opportunity to get posted on that subject; when I met Englishmen in New York and other places, I would try to find out by them what the prospects would be for selling Yankee clocks in their country. I ascertained that there were no cheap metal clocks used or known there, the only cheap timepiece they had was a Dutch hang-up wood clock. In 1842, I determined to make the venture of sending a consignment of brass clocks to Old England. I made a bargain with Epaphroditus Peck, a very talented young man of Bristol, a son of Hon. Tracy Peck, to take them out, and sent my son--Chauncey Jerome, Jr. with him. All of the first cargo consisted of the O.G. one day brass clocks. As soon as it was known by the neighboring clock-makers, they laughed at me, and ridic
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   28   29   30   31   32   33   34   35   36   37   38   39   40   41   42   43   44   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52  
53   54   55   56   57   58   59   60   61   62   63   64   65   66   67   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

clocks

 

profits

 

thousand

 

business

 

England

 

dollars

 
makers
 

Jerome

 
bought
 
Yankee

thinking

 
introducing
 
consisted
 

successful

 
things
 

finished

 
deposit
 

orders

 
neighboring
 

availed


laughed

 
ascertained
 

country

 

selling

 

Epaphroditus

 

bargain

 

timepiece

 

consignment

 

sending

 

venture


prospects

 

talented

 

posted

 
subject
 
opportunity
 

determined

 

Bristol

 

places

 

Englishmen

 

Chauncey


neighbors

 

leading

 
making
 

admired

 
workmen
 
Yankees
 

competition

 
desire
 
prosperously
 

remembers