John McC----. I asked the young man in charge of the office if they
wanted a young fellow to work. He asked me what I could do, and I said,
"Anything." Now it's an old saying, "A man that can do everything can't
do much of anything."

We went down into the yard and he asked me the different qualities of
lumber and their names. I'll never forget the first question he asked
me, which was, "What's the name of that piece of timber?" I said, "Oak,"
and I was right. After testing me on the other piles he asked me if I
could measure, and could I tally? I told him I could, and he said,
"I'll give you $9.00. Is that enough?" I said that would do for a
starter, and he told me to be on hand at seven o'clock in the morning.

I delivered the few books I had left, drew my money, got a shave, bought
a leather apron, and went to bed. I was up and at John McC----'s yard at
6:30.

He was Police Commissioner then, and one of the whitest men I ever ran
up against.

I started in at my third job since I had been converted. I was at home
in the lumber yard, as I had learned the business While roughing it in
Tonawanda, Troy, Syracuse, Buffalo, and on the Lakes. And when a man
learns anything, if he isn't a fool he can always work at it again. Here
I was at a business few could tell me much about.


TESTIFYING IN A LUMBER YARD

The lumber-handlers as a rule are a free and easy set, nearly all