d in young men. He knew me as a boy in the
Cleveland schools. I gave him all the particulars of our business,
telling him frankly about our affairs--what we wanted to use the money
for, etc., etc. I waited for the verdict with almost trembling
eagerness.

"How much do you want?" he said.

"Two thousand dollars."

"All right, Mr. Rockefeller, you can have it," he replied. "Just give
me your own warehouse receipts; they're good enough for me."

As I left that bank, my elation can hardly be imagined. I held up my
head--think of it, a bank had trusted me for $2,000! I felt that I was
now a man of importance in the community.

For long years after the head of this bank was a friend indeed; he
loaned me money when I needed it, and I needed it almost all the time,
and all the money he had. It was a source of gratification that later
I was able to go to him and recommend that he should make a certain
investment in Standard Oil stock. He agreed that he would like to do
so, but he said that the sum involved was not at the moment available,
and so at my suggestion I turned banker for him, and in the end he
took out his principal with a very handsome profit. It is a pleasure
to testify even at this late date to his great kindness and faith in
me.

STICKING TO BUSINESS PRINCIPLES

Mr. Handy trusted me because he believed we would conduct our young
business on conservative and proper lines, and I well remember about
this time an example of how hard it is sometimes to live up to what
one knows is the right business principle. Not long after our concern
was started our best customer--that is, the man who made the largest
consignments--asked that we should allow him to draw in advance on
current shipments before the produce or a bill of lading were actually
in hand. We, of course, wished to oblige this important man, but I,
as the financial member of the firm, objected, though I feared we
should lose his business.

The situation seemed very serious; my partner was impatient with me
for refusing to yield, and in this dilemma I decided to go personally
to see if I could not induce our customer to relent. I had been
unusually fortunate when I came face to face with men in winning their
friendship, and my partner's displeasure put me on my mettle. I felt
that when I got into touch with this gentleman I could convince him
that what he proposed would result in a bad precedent. My reasoning
(in my own mind) was logical and convinc