"The Conscientious Clerk"
From drawing by Paul N. Craig, Omaha, Neb., 1913
A CANADIAN
BANKCLERK
BY
J. P. BUSCHLEN
TORONTO:
WILLIAM BRIGGS
1913
Copyright, Canada, 1913, by
J. P. BUSCHLEN
Dedicated
TO THE
Conscientious Clerk
DUST.
My box is full of others' cash,
My pocket full of air,
My head is crammed with cleric trash,
Layer upon layer.
I gaze upon the business mob
That throngs before my cage,
And watch their human pulses throb
In greed, fear, rage.
Yet through the vapor and the must
I often catch a smile—
As though someone had lost the lust,
And, for a while,
Regarded me, the shoveller,
As greater than the gold,
Which, after all, belongs to her—
Old Mother Mould.
PREFACE
The story herein told is true to life; true, the greater part of it, tomy own life. Also, I am convinced that my experience in a CanadianBank was but mildly exciting as compared with that of many others.
My object in publishing "Evan Nelson's" history is to enlighten thepublic concerning life behind the wicket and thus pave the way for thelegitimate organization of bankclerks into a fraternal association, fortheir financial and social (including moral) betterment.
Bank officials, I trust, will see to it that my misrepresentations areexposed.
To mothers of bankclerks who attach overmuch importance to thegentility of their Boy's avocation; to fathers who think that becausethe bank is rich its employes must necessarily become so in time; tofriends who criticize the bankclerks of their acquaintance for notsettling down—this story is addressed.
To the men of our banks who are dissatisfied with the business theyhave chosen, or someone else has chosen for them; to Old Country clerkswho come out to Canada under the impression that Five Dollars is asgood as One Pound; to bank employes in the United States, and to officemen everywhere—I am telling my tale.
Finally, I appeal to "the girls we have known." Be sure you study thesubject thoroughly before accusing that inscrutable, proud andprocrastinating clerk of yours of inconstancy.
THE AUTHOR.