Page:Life of Isaiah V Williamson.djvu/45

Rh taught him to be saving of everything, of clothes and shoes, as well as of the small sums of money that he earned as a boy and that they gave him from time to time.

It was under the home roof that he learned how to be careful in his expenditures, and as a little boy at home as well as a bigger boy apprenticed in a store, that he taught himself how to save. The experience and lessons of these early years were often referred to when he was a prosperous man. He used to say that before spending money it was worth while for any one to think seriously of the lot of things he could do without.

Little by little the savings of childhood, together with what was laid aside of the earnings of the seven years' apprenticeship, amounted to two thousand dollars. This is what he had to carry to the city to build his future with. It was not much money. In fact, it was less than a dollar a day for the seven years of clerking. But it included all the earlier savings. Two thousand dollars! The cornerstone of the future millionaire's life. One would say that this capital was necessary in order to accomplish what Isaiah