Having said this much in connection with my business career, I deem it unnecessary to enter into further details, as it would no doubt, prove irksome to the reader and I merely said as much to show that I always felt interested in worthy characters that I had associated with me in business, never caring much for a great accumulation of wealth, until it was too late.
Had I made the accumulation of money my main object, I no doubt could have been among the rich men of Dallas, the most of whom accumulated their fortunes in speculative channels. Had I engaged in speculative channels in real estate, I would certainly have made money and had the good judgment to quit before it was too late, wherein many of my friends and acquaintances failed.
My business always outgrew the amount of my capital and as a result I always owed the banks and other creditors and it was a fixed principle with me as long as I owed a dollar, that nothing I had really belonged to me and therefore I had no moral right to take money out of my business to put into speculative channels in real estate.
Before closing my business record in Dallas, I must pay a deserved tribute to L. Rector Cabell, who entered my service to study and learn machinery. I am able to say, although young and without business experience, he soon proved himself efficient in cotton gin machinery, and one of the most loyal and honest men in my employ, carefully guarding my business interests—just like his honored father, General W. L. Cabell, and devoted sister, Mrs. Kate Cabell Muse, in behalf of the U. C. V. organization. After leaving my service, Rector accepted a position with the engineering department in Havana, Cuba, where he has been engaged since, and is now receiving a handsome salary.
CHAPTER XXXV
The Confederate Veterans’ Home.
In connection with my personal history I will take the liberty of referring to my connection with the organization and work in behalf of the United Confederate Veterans’ Association.
I realized that only by a combined effort of the old soldiers could we perpetuate our true history and especially take care of the indigent and needy old comrades, when sick and in distress. While associated with the Keating house, the Confederate Home at Austin was started by John B. Hood Camp of Austin and maintained by soliciting public contributions, as the State was prohibited by the Constitution to contribute anything towards its maintenance. Realizing the necessity of everybody interested doing all they were able to do and my own ability at the time being very limited, I conceived the plan of requesting donations by factories, whose machinery we were handling, of certain machines they were manufacturing as parts of a complete cotton gin outfit. In line with this I wrote a letter to each one of our factories, setting forth the condition of our Confederate Home and asking contributions of such parts as they manufactured, for a complete 3-60 saw gin outfit. These factories were all located in the North and East, but their response was prompt and cheerful. I had a sixty-horse power boiler, contributed by the Erie City Iron Works; a 3-60 saw gins and elevator by the Eagle Cotton Gin Company of Bridgewater, Mass.; a Thomas steam cylinder press by the Thomas Manufacturing Company of Little Rock, Ark., and Mr. Keating gave me a fifty-horse power Erie City Iron Works engine; a four-ton Chicago scale, by the Chicago Scale Company and a magnificent Schuttler wagon by the Peter Schuttler Wagon Company of Chicago, the whole worth about thirty-five hundred dollars.
I immediately notified Governor Ross of this handsome donation by Northern factories, giving him a full list of the donors, and he wrote a personal letter of thanks to each of the parties.
Cotton gin machinery, at this time, was rarely bought for cash, always sold on long time credit, which of course did not meet the urgent needs of the Confederate Home. In conferring with General Cabell and other prominent members of the Camp, we decided on a plan of having a drawing for this machinery, selling tickets at one dollar, believing we could raise a large amount of money in this way, as outside of a chance of drawing the machinery was the further inducement that the dollar paid for the ticket would afford relief to our needy Confederate Home. I then went to work actively, after first conferring with some of the best legal talent of the city, as to whether such a drawing was permissable by law. As it was by them held entirely within the law, taking the position that a drawing for charity was not a lottery, but a drawing for profit is a lottery, I had no hesitancy in permitting my name used in connection with it.
About this time we had an exciting contest for the Governorship of the State between Attorney General Hogg and Judge George Clark of Waco. On the policies of each, our comrades of the Camp were divided. While our Confederate Constitution prohibits the discussion of politics in the meetings of our Camp, still the members were not prohibited from expressing their views outside. The Clark element of the Camp insisted before we proceeded in this drawing to write Attorney General Hogg, asking his opinion on the legal status of such proceedings, hoping that he would rule adversely, thereby making himself very unpopular in the State. Knowing Hogg’s disposition on such ruling and believing he would express a radical view on the same, I did my best to keep the matter from reaching his ears, but all to no purpose.