Two days later a telegram reached the little office:
S.S. J. P. Walsh cleared to-day for Buffalo. Three hundred and ten thousand bushels. Last boat out. KENNEDY.
[1] See Appendix—Par. 7.
[2] See Appendix—Par. 8.
[3] This resolution was confirmed at a meeting of the shareholders, February 5th, 1907.
CHAPTER VIII
A KNOCK ON THE DOOR
Every man is worth just as much as the things are worth about which he is concerned.—Marcus Aurelius.
That big shipment to Buffalo, along with several others which were placed in the East with the market recovering, relieved the situation greatly. Also, the Scottish Co-Operative Wholesale Society's Winnipeg office decided to stand by the farmers' co-operative marketing venture and risked disapproval to buy some of the young company's wheat; not only that, but the farmers' company was allowed the regular commission of one cent per bushel on the purchase and the cheque paid in to the bank amounted to $58,298. This friendly co-operation the farmers were not quick to forget and they still speak of it with gratitude.
It began to look as if the struggling farmers' agency might worry through the winter after all. The strain of the past few months had told upon the men at the head of the young organization and especially upon the provisional President, who felt keenly the responsibilities of his office. Of a sensitive, high-strung temperament, E. A. Partridge suffered reaction to such a degree that at times he became almost despondent.