something, have something," and took advantage es

He paid little attention to
To show that some of the

pecially of the last link. the whims of the people. goods of this world were needed to prove the usefulness of men, he humorously told a story of an old Negro who owned a farm on both sides of the Chattahoochee River in Georgia and Alabama.

His business grew to such proportions [said Mr. Fisher] that he employed other men to run the farm while he ferried people from one side of the river to the other. One day a white man came along and wanted to cross but had no money. The white brother said that he would pay when he returned. The wise old colored man replied, “No boss, if a man hain't got money nuff to pay his way cross dis shere riber, he ain't got no business on the other side, fur he is just as much service on one side as he is on the other."

Schemers and designing men knew that this sentiment was characteristic of Mr. Fisher's life, and whenever a new project came up they sought him. A Negro settlement was to be started in Gary, Indiana, whereupon Pastor Fisher bought a block of property which upon investigation was found to be entirely submerged in water. He took shares in a Negro mining concern which has never been heard of since. In this time of money stringency and the cost of high living, we look at a receipt for four hundred dollars "for stock issued Rev. Fisher" by a Negro coal and oil company, and today we are still smelling the fumes of cold "

gas.

This was not all, for he spent considerable money in trying to foster Negro business. He conceived an idea of a print-shop in which all churches would cooperate in having all their printing done. He invested, but no other ministers joined. He and three lay partners carried on the enterprise for about a year; his investment, however, was always an expense account, so he withdrew. The need of a first-class drug-store was prominent in his mind. Accordingly he contracted for the purchase of a two-story brick building at 2701 South State Street, opened a drug-store, and rented the second floor for offices. Having no one to look after his interests he sold the drug outfit. Rev. Mr. Fisher then let his store to the White House Candy Company. The company was not successful, and Mr. Fisher decided to refrain from further business undertakings. In all of his investments he was at least logical, if not financially successful. He did not generalize from one or more particulars, but kept putting his faith in men only to find that many deceived him. At the rate he was going, confident in the honesty of all partners in business, he could have lived to the end of time only to find that it was as easy to apply Christ's principles to business as to change flour into wheat.