and with this
income, he built a tiny little founda
tion of hi3 own. Out of the sixty
cents a day, he set aside a few pen
nies for the church, or for eome hun
gry family, or to drop into some hat
that was passed around In the office.
The notebook ii. which those little
philanthropic entries were made is
still in existence. It is known by
the name of "Ledger A" in the Rock
efeller family. It is a completely
worn out little notebook, with bro
ken cover and tattered page? of
faded writing, but it is one of the
most precious treasures in the Rocke
feller vaults. It has more than a
personal interest now. It has sud
denly become historic, because it re
cords thevorlgin of "the most com
prehensive scheme of benevolence in
the whole history of humanity."
The managerial instinct was so
strong in thisboy that he was not
satisfied with merely paying his share
into the .contribution boxes. By the
time he was nineteen he had ripened
into an organizer of benevolence.
He was a member of a mission
church, which was fast breaking
down under the weight of a $2000
mortgage. This sixty - cent - a - day
youth undertook to collect the
1 money, and he did it.
"That was a proud day," he said
in later years, "when the last dollar
was collected."
Little as he knew lt, the boy was
then at work upon the fulfilment of
his dream to become perhaps the
greatest getter, and the greatest giv
er, of his generation.
Later, when he became a prosper
ous man of business and large af
fairs, he still retained the habit of
organizing his giving as well as his
getting. He even' went so far as to
organize his