BOOKS OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2799, 17 June 1916, Page 6

BOOKS OF THE DAY

A MERRY AND-MUCH-TRAVELLED BANKER,.. As a sories-of light and most amusing sketohes of - life r..in ; the Far East: and South America, '"A. Morry Banker in the , Far East: and Smith' America,", by-Walter H. Young, - "Taraxmca."-: (London; John . Lane), is decidedly to .be commended. The portrait of/the author "which'serves . as frontispiece' is that of a gentleman of palpably genial temperament, and the . keynote of Mr* .Young's; story, .is- one' Gf- ' unfailing cheerfulness,, not to say ; unbrokenygiaiety. The author, started lifo Jn a London banlc, tho Union, at, the' ' age of nineteen—"fit as a flea, hungry as i a hawk,'.lean, as a., whippet, and speedy as a hare"',is his'owii desoription of his ■. youthful priysiaue—afterwards, - joining tho Eastern, with" a view to getting an appointment abroad. He says: "The •social atmosphero w of the Eastern institution, was more i exhilarating tliaji that ■of the Union, and I qpickly began to feel a bit of a sahib myself. W.ljen : those recently-lassoed and unlicked Scotch i cubs, .who, on their first arrival in Lon"don: generally presented .themselves at tho bank with-father's old topper.falling , . over their . ears, and the porridge still sticking-to their mugs, returned oh fur. i lough' a few years later, : bronzed and distinguished men of. tho world, my month'simply /watered for... a foreigii ap- ' pointment.". In", due course the-cherished ■vy ambition was -realised, and: the author > .: found himself on , board .a; P. 'and 0. stoamcr,. bound for, Manjla. • . ' - . Manila in the.;eighties of the last century ■ appears:to liuvo been a verylively ' place, and our' bankei'-author certainly, did not go short of amusement. The lan. gnage, of course, presented, some difficulties- to -newcomers,;' but a.. flirtation with ono of the daughters; of the'soil, by . :.no means averse from rthe: society of the gay young English bank . clerks, soon worked- wonders'-in- the,/linguistic way. Ono of the author's a eub- : ; ; ;-cccouiitaht, fondly "imagined :he had . found a royal road to the language by tacking "o" on vto 'the.English; words, ■ opining, that it-'-thus' beoame automatically Spanish.- Says::.thei.;author:— It worked nil rißlif now and. then; when . '"frank" became- "franco": • hut when lie . eaid "coolo" for - coo, "garlico" for gar--lie, "puro" for he was absolutely out of tho picture. "Garlico" is not gar- : lio, but. a disease; "puro" is not. poverty, . but . a ; . good cigar. Idiomatic expressions ■- in English; such-as:"Fork out, old, man," can .be literally translated- by. tenedor afuera, but no Sjaniard would understand •- from ..these words that, you wanted him to .' • etump. lip.: although . 16. is true that .tene- , dor is 5 a,fork, and-that afuera means out or outside. The Spanish officials of were very hospitable to; the English and Ameri- . can residents; and :our author and his . friends ;went out a-good deal in-local ' society. '.Some of; the Spanish officials managed to line their. ppekets - very well during their stay in the islands. Of . one gentleman who-filled, for'a time, the coveted position, of. Captain General, the ' author, writes:— Handsome' Don Primo arrived in Manila .-V with--the reputation of ..being, the greatest- - jugador..(gambler) aiid,the-irioßt fascinat- : ing ihan.-in ilfidrid. Ho-.was heavily in . . debt, and it was owing' entirely to' the in- -. A fiuence.'in Court, circles,iof his despairing . creditors .that he; obtained, the appoint-, ment of .-"Virrey de las:,.lslas Filipmoi;," and :fifty, thousand- ."pesos - fuerteß". -per annum..;-'..To-obtain for,;liini;tlii3 a.ppointment,- seemed j,,to"- his,..'creditors .the- only ; possible .way,;p'f;,recoyering, the three-mil-•; - : lions of Spanish dollars- they-had on the ' ; . slate against.ihißu; Their confidence in Don Primo'B .squeezing powers were- not misplaced, for;'iri-^two-: years the gallant - general hadVpaid tttenif off, and by that time: was "getting his hand in as to-know - better to do it. _ G?welve months afterwards his account with' the Banco de Espana was a couple of millions, on. the right side.. The whole, of. this pile, .however,- . within a few months of his return, disap- '. ■ peored m the gambling clubs of -Madrid. - Jie was a good sportsman.; - >ei i^ 116 , 3 o tllor has . many good stories to tell _of the gay life led by the young bloods of the commercial community \at -: Manila. In some. cases flirtations with if • ladies led to marriage, thereupon the author philosophises thus: The Spanish song, gays of the girls of Manila:-.'.. Ay! Son divinas, las Filipinos.", / Ayell, they may be. divine when young and tender, but, alas!.some of my chums "were ■ ; ST® 6 eaon S h -to ;'.marry theso. : tender buds, , soon to discover; in the'.domestic ■ menage-.that the., lady .fopnd her fingers ;, easier to handle"than her fork, and.that after _a few .short years of -bliss those ■ graceful physical lines'became obliterated . by rolls of fat, - moTe juicy than joyous. - t? find-that it was not .. ivosita alone whom- he had married, but : also dear papa-in-law, Don Pepe Puertes ana. mamma-in»law, Dona Dolores Puertes' Barriga. a loving, but garlicky old c l°4 e , quarters. Imagine v my old pal, whom I had known as a happy bache- , lor,.along with'-Pa-and' Sla,- ; €md' sundTV sisters-in-law, cousins and aunts, and • other poor relations, squatting round the - ; family bowl of rice,- and all simultaneouslv mppmg their ; greasy fingers therein. . -;As a rule the young fellows "bached," . -as the young Jjew Zealander calls domes- '• ; 1G ,e n Sarcon, eaoh taking his weekly turn at the housekeeping department. : Comestibles were ordered from Home, on .one unforgettable occasion, owing to bad ; handwriting, Cross and Blackwell's send- - ing out a'gross of Christinas plum-pud-oings instead; of a humble? dozen," "ono hundred and forty-four brown and round , little beauties coming- rolling -in to ruin V s " l'™ nl T llanila Mr:.Youug wastranslerred to lloilo: as ;branch- manager. A second branch wiis almost simultaneously opened by another, "and'until th<?y were disillusioned - the" - leading inhabitants- ' foresaw; , a gorgeous time of banking competition—and; unlimited overdrafts. Also • - some: of .-them had somewhat peculiar ™eas. on the subject;of securities, and our. • friend -very>near to being, .badly swindled. l 4 rom."Hpilo to Koiig was . v tho author s jriove/.' At Hong ICong . acquaintance was ■made with "the ways r that are dark arid-tricks that'are vain" ... of-the'heathen Chinee, one of the most ;, . exciting stories'in'; the book'dealing with' -a clever'forgery committed on the bank, "- ■ and:'the subsequent tracking the criminal by the author, in a ; gambling ,; , den-at Jlacao. After spending three years ■;in th 6 bank at Hong Ko'ng the author , . foolishly resigned his position to Income -what, he calls'a "share pusher," and did very well until legislation was introduced making "time bargains'-', illegal which as. the author says, "ruined all the broker-wallahs, because share business on a-strictly cash basis did not produce \ enough to spay .'laundry'bills."' Home of his clients had cleaned him out, and at thirty-seven he found .himself working his -way back to the Old Country. • Arrived in London, he applied .for, and was given,;"tlic\position" of ■ inspector : for' a bank in,; York. . His account of his examination by: the directors is amusing.' They , wae "a .venerable lot of old 'codgers, the youngest rising" about' seventy-five'." The f chairman, "Mr. Methuselah/i duly crossquestipned the applicant: , ,

.. - £et us supposo, we appoint you to this m.ost, .responsible post; :wliat. is the first thing you would-do when you visited a r r s ncll ,, -• -*;WeU, eir, tho first thing I Should do would be to demand from the manager the securities payable to bearer. I jumped an inch or two off my chair when-Methuselah, trumpeting like a. rogue elephant, said viciously: "Wron~ sir." v Oh,' Lord! Iv'e lost the iob, I thought! .Still, I proceeded, and in a small, ■;humble voice, said: "I am sorry. Would you kindly tell mo what I should do; sir " . "itake a dash .for the cash," ho, said, looking round at his colleagues for applause. I coughed nervously, drop, ped my eyes, and said: "I never thought of, 'THAT,..-sir." Well,' my humility so pleased .Methuselah-that he gave me the job. The' silly old; ass was absolutely wrong, ■ and I was' absolutely right, for what will a shortage' of £50 in the till matter,-. if; .£20,000 of "bearer" securities are. missing?; . Hut, when you want a job you"' have to 'eat. humble pie.

'.Before'twelve months had passed the, author waS'off to,Valparaiso,-..there'" to. fissii.me th'a position ;'of assistant manager. ot\' the .-'Bank of: Tarapaca mid ' London, Ltd. - Two. days after-accepting-, (lie post he-was offered a - still "better : one 'in. Syd-. wy.i -JVhensyoU; have a ,good post the

world is at your feet, aud your cheek-is the knife that opens tho oyster,".'is how the author regards the chances of; life. It does not do to be over modest. Says Mr. Young: I remember an instance of a very able -man, a banker looking for employment, who practically was offered. £3000 a, year to .go to Australia. He gasped his astonishment, and told the directors the salary- -was "too much." Well, lie simply did not know how to take caro of himself, l and ho lost tho'job!' "If ho can't toko 1 caro of liis own. interests, how can he take caro of ours-'Margued the directors. Well, I was never built like that..; / . • The author's account of hi;;, long-resi-dence and - business experiences at Valparaiso, and of his trips to Bolivia and Patagonia—in which . latter country., he was greatly impressed with tho - sheepfarming industry—are just as entertaining as the story of his life in the Far East."'He'is evidently .a gentleman w'lio 'thoroughly..understands the art of making himself comfortable, a bou vivant, a keen sportsman, and a keen business man, as can be seen from his remarks upon tho devious financial practices of the South American States. The book is full of good stories, some of which, however, have just a trifle too much of a "smok-ing-room" fiauor to be suited for what is known as' "family reading."; The book contains' .a number of ..interesting ..and well-produced illustrations. (N.Z. price, Gs.)