Read Ebook: The Girl's Own Paper Vol. VIII No. 364 December 18 1886 by Various

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"She is doing it on purpose; she knows as well as you and I wheatears build in rabbit-holes or chalk-pits; she only wants me to scold her," said Jack.

"It is time we were at work again, Jack, or we shan't get our eight hundred washed to-day," said John, who saw Jack showed signs of going after Fairy, and wisely thought he would not see him back in a hurry if he once let him go.

So the sheep-washing began again, and Mrs. Shelley, who had brought some work with her, promised Fairy to remain till tea-time, on condition that she then accompanied her home.

"I do enjoy it so, mother," said Fairy; "it would be wicked to spend such a bright warm sunny day as this shut up in a house; it is so delicious out in this field. I wonder how much they pay those washers; it must be dreadfully hard work; they ought to pay them well."

"They give them half-a-crown for every hundred sheep, and they can wash a thousand sheep a day, but these men won't do more than finish John's eight hundred to-day."

"That leaves nearly eight hundred more for to-morrow. Oh! do let us come and have another day like this. Will you, mother?" pleaded Fairy.

Mrs. Shelley looked at the fair little face, with its great brown eyes, its dainty pink and white complexion, and the long wavy hair which veiled the slight girlish figure, and smiled and sighed--the smile was for Fairy, and the sigh for Jack--as she promised to do so if the weather were fine.

And so it came to pass that that sheep-washing was long remembered by Jack as two of the happiest days in his life, though, alas! they came to an end, as all days, however happy, must only too soon; and then came a fortnight of preparation for the great event of the shepherds' year--the sheep-shearing and the Feast of the White Ram. Jack had not much to do with the preparations, for he was upon the downs with his washed flock, but little else was talked of when he came home in the evening, and it was a very busy time for Mrs. Shelley, who had to provide supper for twelve men for five nights, the shearing beginning on the Tuesday, and ending on the Saturday, when the money earned was divided among the company. It had been a source of much anxiety to Mrs. Shelley to know where the supper was to be held. To have these twelve men in the kitchen in which she had to cook it all would be very inconvenient, and she was by no means inclined to lend the little sitting-room, which Fairy had made so pretty, for the purpose; but at last Jack suggested borrowing a tent and pitching it in the field near the house, a plan which was at once adopted. The shearing itself took place outside a barn belonging to the farmer who owned the sheep about to be shorn, and the company went round to the principal farmers in the neighbourhood, taking one each day of the shearing week. How Jack hated this business of shearing! He would have given anything to have got out of it, if he could only have done so without vexing his father; but as this was impossible, he was obliged to go on with it with the best grace he could, but he was in an irritable mood all the week. The work brought him into contact with other shepherds, with none of whom had he anything in common, and made him realise his lowly position, which in his lonely life on the downs, lost in his studies, he was apt to forget. He would long ago have given up his shepherd's calling and gone to London to seek more congenial work, if it had not been for Fairy; she was the magnet which held him in her vicinity, but he was daily becoming aware that if any of his dreams were to be realised, he must go away at once, though the time he spent on the downs was by no means wasted, since he was educating himself to the best of his ability. His idea was to try and get an appointment as usher in a school, for which in those days he was fully qualified. In teaching others he would learn himself; he would have access to books of all kinds, and he would be able in his leisure hours to pursue his favourite study of natural history. He had confided this plan to Mr. Leslie, who had promised to look out for him, and when an opening occurred to give him a testimonial. Another reason which had kept Jack at home hitherto was that Charlie was barely old enough to take his place, but during this last sheep-washing Charlie had had the care of half the flock, and had shown himself quite up to his work, which, in the summer, at any rate, was just the lazy, dreamy kind of life to suit an indolent nature like his, and Jack saw he need no longer delay his departure because there was no one to take his place. On the contrary, it would solve a difficulty, for it had hitherto been rather a puzzle to know what to do with Charlie since John Shelley only required one under-shepherd, and he did not seem to have any inclination for any other kind of work. Accordingly, all through the White Ram Jack was making up his mind to tear himself away from Fairy, in the hope of eventually winning for himself a position he could ask her to share, and the thought of the coming separation did not tend to make him happier.

Every morning he started with the rest of the Lewes company of shearers, with his father at their head, for some farm, where they spent their day in shearing the sheep, pausing about twelve and again about two o'clock to "light up," that is to sharpen their shears, eat cakes, and drink beer, the meal of the day being supper when they got back after their labours were over.

EVERY GIRL A BUSINESS WOMAN.

A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO THE WORLD OF INDUSTRY AND THRIFT.

BY JAMES MASON.

We are going now to speak about money: not, however, about how to get it, but about what to do with it after it is got. About the occupations by which money is made, we shall not at present say anything. Many of them have already been treated of in THE GIRL'S OWN PAPER.

When people have money there are three things they can do with it; they can spend it, or place it out at interest, or tie it up in a parcel and hide it away. Perhaps they do not need at the moment to spend it; in that case of the two ways that are left the only wise one is to place it out at interest.

The rate paid in the shape of interest depends on a number of things, but the main question is, will the principal be perfectly safe? If the answer be yes, then the interest in these days will certainly be low. But on this subject we shall have more to say in a succeeding article.

People who have much calculating of interest to do should invest in a book of Commercial Tables. The use of these saves a great deal of trouble. There are some short cuts, however, which every business woman should carry in her head. At 5 per cent. per annum the interest upon a pound for every month is one penny. Having seen what this comes to, other rates may be reckoned by adding to or deducting from the 5 per cent. product.

For example, 2 1/2 per cent. is one-half; 3 per cent. is six-tenths; 3 1/2 per cent. is seven-tenths; 4 per cent. is four-fifths; 6 per cent. is six-fifths; 7 1/2 per cent. is one-half more. Thus, 5 per cent. on ?30 for ten months will be ?1 5s.; 2 1/2 per cent., 12s. 6d.; 3 per cent., 15s.; 3 1/2 per cent., 17s. 6d.; 4 per cent., ?1; 6 per cent., ?1 10s.; and 7 1/2 per cent., ?1 17s. 6d.

There is something startling about the growth of money invested in this way. "A penny," says Dr. Price, "so improved from our Saviour's birth as to double itself every fourteen years--or, what is nearly the same, put out at five per cent. compound interest at our Saviour's birth--would by this time have increased to more money than could be contained in 150 millions of globes, each equal to the earth in magnitude, and all solid gold.

"A shilling put out at six per cent. compound interest would, in the same time, have increased to a greater sum in gold than the whole solar system could contain, supposing it a sphere equal in diameter to the diameter of Saturn's orbit; and the earth is to such a sphere as half a square foot or a quarto page is to the whole surface of the earth."

To show the difference between "simple interest," in which the interest does not bear interest, and "compound interest," in which it does, we give the following table, showing the time it takes for a sum to double itself at different rates:--

The really surprising difference between simple and compound interest is, however, only seen after the first few years are over. A loan of ?100 for ten years at 4 per cent. simple interest would give ?40, and at 4 per cent. compound interest about ?47. But if the loan were for a hundred years the simple interest would be only ?400, whilst the compound interest would be no less than ?4,950.

Having now said all that is necessary at present about interest, we must speak for a little on the subject of banking, for it is by means of banks that most money transactions are satisfactorily managed.

What, then, is a bank? There seems, at first sight, something mysterious about it, but it is really a simple institution. It is partly a shop and partly a left-luggage office. It is a shop for dealing in cheques, bills, notes, gold, and silver, and a left-luggage office to which we consign our spare cash to lie till called for.

You cannot go into a banker's and say, "I have come to open an account," just as you would enter a grocer's with, "Be so good as send me half a dozen tins of the best sardines." You must be introduced by someone who can vouch for your respectability, or, if not introduced, you must be able yourself to satisfy the banker that you are likely to be a desirable customer.

For convenience, and partly, too, as a protection against fraud, bankers are in the habit of supplying their customers with books containing forms of cheques. When a book of cheques is exhausted, a new one is supplied on the presentation of a form which, when filled up, may resemble the following:--

JEMIMA BOUNCER.

Each cheque bears a penny impressed stamp, and a book of cheques is supplied at the price of the stamps--a book, say, of twenty-five costing two shillings and a penny.

Cheques may be in one or other of two forms. The first form is--

No. 478953. LONDON............188... THE COSMOPOLITAN BANK, 14, Marketjew-street, E.C.

Pay..................or Bearer.................. ?...............

The other form is precisely the same, except that instead of the word "Bearer" it has the word "Order."

As an example of a cheque with the particulars filled in, take the following:--

No. 536212.

LONDON, 19th November, 1886. THE COSMOPOLITAN BANK, 14, Marketjew-street, E.C.

?9: 13: 4. ALICE M. LITTLEPROUD.

Cheques payable to order are certainly safer than those payable to bearer. And they have another advantage. In the event of receipts being lost or mislaid, they supply evidence that the money was received by the person to whom it was owing.

A cheque payable to bearer can be made payable to order by drawing the pen through "Bearer," and writing "Order" above it. A cheque payable to order can also be made payable to bearer by scratching out "Order" and putting "Bearer" above it; but in this case you must put your initials to the alteration.

If in crossing the cheque you add the words "Not negociable," that is another safeguard. These words "warn all whom it may concern that they accept the cheque subject to the liability of being compelled to refund its value should it prove to have come improperly into the possession of any person from whom their own title is derived." This makes a cheque as secure against the wiles of the dishonest as anything in this world can be.

The filling up of a cheque should be done very carefully, and the style of signature should be always the same. The figures in the body of a cheque must be in words, and should be written close together, so that there is no room left for the fraudulent to improve on the amount. Cases have frequently occurred of "ty" being added to six, seven, and nine, to make them read sixty, seventy, and ninety, and a "y" being given as a tail to eight, to multiply eight by ten, is quite a common trick. As a protection, the words "Under ten pounds" are sometimes written upon a cheque that lends itself to this sort of roguery.

No. 213,551

On the back of each counterfoil some people are in the habit of writing the balance they have at the moment in the bank. This has some advantages, and is certainly a check to extravagance.

Though cheques are usually made out on engraved forms, you may write a cheque on a sheet of note-paper should a cheque-book not be at hand. In that case, remember to put a penny stamp on it, and to cancel the stamp by writing on it the date and your initials.

Keep your cheque-book always under lock and key. If you leave it about, it only puts temptation in the way of people to abstract a blank form and make free with your signature. Should your book ever be lost or stolen, give notice at once to the bank.

Lodging money is one of the easiest of business operations. You go to the bank, and fill up a slip, headed, say--

THE COSMOPOLITAN BANK, 14, Marketjew-street.

............18...

Below this heading you enter the particulars of the sum you are going to lodge:--Bank-notes, so much; coin, so much; cheques and bills , so much; total, so much. You hand this slip over to the teller with the money, and the whole thing is done. No receipt is given, and it says a great deal for the perfect machinery by which banking is conducted that one never hears of a mistake, or that any customer ever thought his confidence taken advantage of. We speak here of the method in the best London banks. In the provinces and in some London establishments the form of procedure varies a little.

When you send money to your banker by post, you should write with it somewhat as follows:--

Receipt of this will be acknowledged by the manager, thus:--

In this book you must never make an entry yourself. It should be left at regular intervals at the bank to be "made-up," that is to say, for all the sums received and paid to be entered in it. The pass-book is really a copy of the bank ledger. When received again from the bank it should be gone over carefully to see that all the entries are just as they should be.

Current accounts, as a general rule in England, do not bear any interest, in other words, the banker pays nothing for the use he enjoys of any balance left in his hands. Unless the balance is large he thinks he does enough in taking the trouble of keeping the account. In Scotland interest is usually given on current accounts, but it is only a slight advance upon nothing.

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