 You'll understand, then, why those who had known him through the long lean years were aghast when in 1900, after a comparatively brief period of prosperity, Milton Snavely, age 42, up and sold his entire business to the American Caramel Company. I know it seems reckless, he half-apologized, but the wise old businessmen of the community knew what had happened. They realized that, incredible as it seems, some folks are just plain afraid of success.