We had some
difficulty in placing him in his proper position and keeping him
there, which may have led him to seek an outlet elsewhere. He was
perhaps flattered by men who were well known in the community; and in
this case he was led by persons who knew how to reach him by extolling
his wonderful business abilities in addition to his mechanical
genius--abilities which his own partners, as already suggested, but
faintly recognized.
After Mr. Kloman had passed through the bankruptcy court and was again
free, we offered him a ten per cent interest in our business, charging
for it only the actual capital invested, with nothing whatever for
good-will. This we were to carry for him until the profits paid for
it. We were to charge interest only on the cost, and he was to assume
no responsibility. The offer was accompanied by the condition that he
should not enter into any other business or endorse for others, but
give his whole time and attention to the mechanical and not the
business management of the mills. Could he have been persuaded to
accept this, he would have been a multimillionaire; but his pride, and
more particularly that of his family, perhaps, would not permit this.
He would go into business on his own account, and, notwithstanding
the most urgent appeals on my part, and that of my colleagues, he
persisted in the determination to start a new rival concern with his
sons as business managers.
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