George Horace Lorimer - Letters from a Self-Made Merchant to His Son

Young fellows come to me looking for jobs and telling me what a mean house they have been working for.

Being the Letters written by John Graham,
Head of the House of Graham & Company,
Pork-Packers in Chicago, familiarly known
on Change as Old Gorgon Graham, to
his Son, Pierrepont, facetiously known
to his intimates as Piggy.

Boston: Small, Maynard & Company: 1903

Copyright, 1901-1902, by
THE CURTIS PUBLISHING CO.

Copyright, 1901-1902, by
GEORGE HORACE LORIMER

Copyright, 1902, by
SMALL, MAYNARD & COMPANY
(Incorporated)

Entered at Stationers Hall

Published October, 1902

Sixtieth Thousand December, 1902

Plates by
Riggs Printing & Publishing Co.
Albany, U.S.A.

Presswork by
The University Press,
Cambridge, U.S.A.

TO

CYRUS CURTIS

A SELF-MADE MAN

PAGE

I. From John Graham, at the Union Stock Yards in Chicago, to his son, Pierrepont, at Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.

Mr. Pierrepont has just become a member, in good and regular standing, of the Freshman class.

II. From John Graham, at the Union Stock Yards in Chicago, to his son, Pierrepont, at Harvard University.

Mr. Pierreponts expense account has just passed under his fathers eye, and has furnished him with a text for some plain particularities.

III. From John Graham, at the Union Stock Yards in Chicago, to his son, Pierrepont, at Harvard University.

Mr. Pierrepont finds Cambridge to his liking, and has suggested that he take a post-graduate course to fill up some gaps which he has found in his education.

IV. From John Graham, head of the house of Graham & Co., at the Union Stock Yards in Chicago, to his son, Pierrepont Graham, at the Waldorf-Astoria, in New York.

Mr. Pierrepont has suggested the grand tour as a proper finish to his education.

V. From John Graham, head of the house of Graham & Co., at the Union Stock Yards in Chicago, to his son, Pierrepont Graham, at Lake Moosgatchemawamuc, in the Maine woods.

Mr. Pierrepont has written to his father withdrawing his suggestion.

VI. From John Graham, en route to Texas, to Pierrepont Graham, care of Graham & Co., Union Stock Yards, Chicago.

Mr. Pierrepont has, entirely without intention, caused a little confusion in the mails, and it has come to his fathers notice in the course of business.

VII. From John Graham, at the Omaha Branch of Graham & Co., to Pierrepont Graham, at the Union Stock Yards, Chicago.

Mr. Pierrepont hasnt found the methods of the worthy Milligan altogether to his liking, and he has commented rather freely on them.

VIII. From John Graham, at Hot Springs, Arkansas, to his son, Pierrepont, at the Union Stock Yards in Chicago.

Mr. Pierrepont has just been promoted from the mailing to the billing desk and, in consequence, his father is feeling rather mellow toward him.

IX. From John Graham, at Hot Springs, Arkansas, to his son, Pierrepont, at the Union Stock Yards in Chicago.

Mr. Pierrepont has been investing more heavily in roses than his father thinks his means warrant, and he tries to turn his thoughts to staple groceries.

X. From John Graham, at the Union Stock Yards in Chicago, to his son, Pierrepont, at the Commercial House, Jeffersonville, Indiana.

Mr. Pierrepont has been promoted to the position of traveling salesman for the house, and has started out on the road.

XI. From John Graham, at the Union Stock Yards in Chicago, to his son, Pierrepont, at The Planters Palace Hotel, at Big Gap, Kentucky.

Mr. Pierreponts orders are small and his expenses are large, so his father feels pessimistic over his prospects.

XII. From John Graham, at the Union Stock Yards in Chicago, to his son, Pierrepont, at Little Delmonicos, Prairie Centre, Indiana.

Mr. Pierrepont has annoyed his father by accepting his criticisms in a spirit of gentle, but most reprehensible, resignation.

XIII. From John Graham, at the Union Stock Yards in Chicago, to his son, Pierrepont, care of The Hoosier Grocery Co., Indianapolis, Indiana.

Mr. Pierreponts orders have been looking up, so the old man gives him a pat on the backbut not too hard a one.

XIV. From John Graham, at the Union Stock Yards in Chicago, to his son, Pierrepont, at The Travelers Rest, New Albany, Indiana.

Mr. Pierrepont has taken a little flyer in short ribs on Change, and has accidentally come into the line of his fathers vision.

XV. From John Graham, at the Union Stock Yards in Chicago, to his son, Pierrepont, at The Scrub Oaks, Spring Lake, Michigan.

Mr. Pierrepont has been promoted again, and the old man sends him a little advice with his appointment.

XVI. From John Graham, at the Schweitzerkasenhof, Karlsbad, Austria, to his son, Pierrepont, at the Union Stock Yards, Chicago.

Mr. Pierrepont has shown mild symptoms of an attack of society fever, and his father is administering some simple remedies.

XVII. From John Graham, at the London House of Graham & Co., to his son, Pierrepont, at the Union Stock Yards in Chicago.

Mr. Pierrepont has written his father that he is getting along famously in his new place.

XVIII. From John Graham, at the London House of Graham & Co., to his son, Pierrepont, at the Union Stock Yards in Chicago.

Mr. Pierrepont is worried over rumors that the old man is a bear on lard and that the longs are about to make him climb a tree.

XIX. From John Graham, at the New York house of Graham & Co., to his son, Pierrepont, at the Union Stock Yards in Chicago.

The old man, on the voyage home, has met a girl who interests him and who in turn seems to be interested in Mr. Pierrepont.

XX. From John Graham, at the Boston House of Graham & Co., to his son, Pierrepont, at the Union Stock Yards in Chicago.

Mr. Pierrepont has told the old man whats what and received a limited blessing.

By F. R. GRUGER and B. MARTIN JUSTICE

1. Young fellows come to me looking for jobs and telling me what a mean house they have been working for.