THE SPIRIT OF DAN BROCK By Arup N. Garson | Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 | Clara Frodahl & Nils Garson Page | HOME | |
| Page 7 into one note at the bank, giving a chattel mortgage as security. The banker hesitated at first to increase the line, but the pro-offered security was an inducement, so the loan was granted. But Dan's farm machinery was wearing out. New machinery was purchased from time to time, and Dan's name was again affixed to conditional sales notes. At the end of another interest period Dan was faced with not only a large land mortgage, but also with a sizeable chattel mortgage and a litter of implement notes. Something was decidedly wrong. Of course Dan knew it wasn't his fault. Wasn't he the best posted man in the whole community? His assemblyman had told him Wall Street was the underlying cause. Next to Wall Street Dan decided his cows were to blame. Purebred, high testing cows was the answer, so he left Wall Street to his assemblyman and sold his entire herd at auction, and bought back purebred stock at prices averaging 50% above his old herd. It meant an increase in the chattel mortgage, but he thought, and his banker hoped, that bigger cream checks would cut down the increase. Now Dan felt good. But somehow the interest and taxes came around as usual. And as usual, for some unexplainable reason, there was no money with which to meet them. There was always some note coming due on each cream pay day that took most of the check. Dan became desperate. A call was made at the bank, with demand for more credit. This time the banker refused, so Dan went to the banker across the street, promising to take all his business over there, check account and all, if he could have the loan. The banker hesitated, but finally agreed to help out "temporarily" with a reasonable sum if Dan would give him part of his business. The deal was made, and Dan had two checking accounts, overdrawing at two banks. Checks were returned unpaid. Dan was furious. He would show those hirelings of Wall Street that he could get along without them. He would get a farm loan big enough to take care of ALL his obligations. The loan agent was very accomodating, even suggested that the loan be made big enough to build a new barn. Something different from those skinflint bankers . The size of the new loan was somewhat staggering. Dan hardly dared compare it with the amount of his original mortgage. It seemed hardly possible that |