How They Succeeded: Life Stories Of Successful Men Told By Themselves - free ebook by Orison Swett Marden

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How They Succeeded: Life Stories Of Successful Men Told By Themselves

Orison Swett Marden

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HOW THEY SUCCEEDED

HOW THEY SUCCEEDED

MARSHALL FIELD THIS world-renowned merchant is not easily accessible to interviews, and he seeks no fame for his business achievements. Yet, there is no story more significant, none more full of encouragement and inspiration for youth. In relating it, as he told it, I have removed my own interrogations, so far as possible, from the interview. “I was born in Conway, Massachusetts,” he said, “in 1835. My father’s farm was among the rocks and hills of that section, and not very fertile. All the peo

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DETERMINED NOT TO REMAIN POOR.”

DETERMINED NOT TO REMAIN POOR.”

“Did you attend both school and college?” “I attended the common and high schools at home, but not long. I had no college training. Indeed, I cannot say that I had much of any public school education. I left home when seventeen years of age, and of course had not time to study closely. “My first venture in trade was made as clerk in a country store at Pittsfield, Massachusetts, where everything was sold, including dry-goods. There I remained for four years, and picked up my first knowledge of bu

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SAVED MY EARNINGS AND ATTENDED STRICTLY TO BUSINESS,

SAVED MY EARNINGS AND ATTENDED STRICTLY TO BUSINESS,

and so made those four years valuable to me. Before I went West, my employer offered me a quarter interest in his business if I would remain with him. Even after I had been here several years, he wrote and offered me a third interest if I would go back. “But I was already too well placed. I was always interested in the commercial side of life. To this I bent my energies; and...

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I ALWAYS THOUGHT I WOULD BE A MERCHANT.

I ALWAYS THOUGHT I WOULD BE A MERCHANT.

“In Chicago, I entered as a clerk in the dry-goods house of Cooley, Woodsworth &amp; Co., in South Water street. There was no guarantee at that time that this place would ever become the western metropolis; the town had plenty of ambition and pluck, but the possibilities of greatness were hardly visible.” It is interesting to note in this connection how closely the story of Mr. Field’s progress is connected with Chicago’s marvelous growth. The city itself in its relations to the West, was...

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AN OPPORTUNITY.

AN OPPORTUNITY.

A parallel, almost exact, may be drawn between the individual career and the growth of the town. Chicago was organized in 1837, two years after Mr. Field was born on the far-off farm in New England, and the place then had a population of a little more than four thousand. In 1856, when Mr. Field, fully equipped for a successful mercantile career, became a resident of the future metropolis of the West, the population had grown to little more than eighty-four thousand. Mr. Field’s prosperity advanc

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A CASH BASIS

A CASH BASIS

“The panic of 1857 swept almost everything away except the house I worked for, and I learned that the reason they survived was because they understood the nature of the new country, and did a cash business . That is, they bought for cash, and sold on thirty and sixty days; instead of giving the customers, whose financial condition you could hardly tell anything about, all the time they wanted. When the panic came, they had no debts, and little owing to them , and so they weathered it all right.

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EVERY PURCHASER MUST BE ENABLED TO FEEL SECURE.”

EVERY PURCHASER MUST BE ENABLED TO FEEL SECURE.”

“Did you suffer any losses or reverses during your career?” “No loss except by the fire of 1871. It swept away everything,—about three and a half millions. We were, of course, protected by insurance, which would have been sufficient against any ordinary calamity of the kind. But the disaster was so sweeping that some of the companies which had insured our property were blotted out, and a long time passed before our claims against others were settled. We managed, however, to start again. There we

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THE TURNING POINT

THE TURNING POINT

in your career,—the point after which there was no more danger?” “Saving the first five thousand dollars I ever had, when I might just as well have spent the moderate salary I made. Possession of that sum, once I had it, gave me the ability to meet opportunities . That I consider the turning-point.” “What trait of character do you look upon as having been the most essential in your career?” “ Perseverance ,” said Mr. Field. But Mr. Selfridge, his most trusted lieutenant, in whose private office

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QUALITIES THAT MAKE FOR SUCCESS

QUALITIES THAT MAKE FOR SUCCESS

“What, Mr. Field,” I said, “do you consider to be the first requisite for success in life, so far as the young beginner is concerned?” “The qualities of honesty , energy , frugality , integrity , are more necessary than ever to-day, and there is no success without them. They are so often urged that they have become commonplace, but they are really more prized than ever. And any good fortune that comes by such methods is deserved and admirable.”...

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A COLLEGE EDUCATION AND BUSINESS

A COLLEGE EDUCATION AND BUSINESS

“Do you believe a college education for the young man to be a necessity in the future?” “Not for business purposes. Better training will become more and more a necessity. The truth is, with most young men, a college education means that just at the time when they should be having business principles instilled into them, and be getting themselves energetically pulled together for their life’s work, they are sent to college. Then intervenes what many a young man looks back on as the jolliest time

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A NIGHT WORKER

A NIGHT WORKER

When I first went to see him, it was about eleven o’clock in the morning, and he was in bed! The second time, I thought I would go somewhat later,—at one o’clock in the afternoon. He was eating his breakfast, I was told; and I had to wait some time. He came in apologizing profusely for keeping me waiting. When I told him I had come to interview him, in behalf of young people, about success—its underlying principles,—he threw back his large head and laughingly said: “‘Nothing succeeds like succes

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THE SUBJECT OF SUCCESS.

THE SUBJECT OF SUCCESS.

The value of this article would be greatly enhanced, if I could add his charming manner of emphasizing what he says, with hands, head, and eyes; and if I could add his beautiful distinctness of speech, due, a great deal, to his having given instruction to deaf-mutes, who must read the lips. “What do you think are the factors of success?” I asked. The reply was prompt and to the point....

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PERSEVERANCE APPLIED TO A PRACTICAL END

PERSEVERANCE APPLIED TO A PRACTICAL END

“Perseverance is the chief; but perseverance must have some practical end, or it does not avail the man possessing it. A person without a practical end in view becomes a crank or an idiot. Such persons fill our insane asylums. The same perseverance that they show in some idiotic idea, if exercised in the accomplishment of something practicable, would no doubt bring success. Perseverance is first, but practicability is chief. The success of the Americans as a nation is due to their great practica

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CONCENTRATION OF PURPOSE

CONCENTRATION OF PURPOSE

“Next must come concentration of purpose and study. That is another thing I mean to emphasize. Concentrate all your thought upon the work in hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus. “I am now thinking about flying machines. Everything in regard to them, I pick out and read. When I see a bird flying in the air, I note its manner of flight, as I would not if I were not constantly thinking about artificial flight, and concentrating all my thought and observation upon it. It is lik

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YOUNG AMERICAN GEESE

YOUNG AMERICAN GEESE

“If a man is not bound down, he is sure to succeed. He may be bound down by environment, or by doting parental petting. In Paris, they fatten geese to create a diseased condition of the liver. A man stands with a box of very finely prepared and very rich food beside a revolving stand, and, as it revolves, one goose after another passes before him. Taking the first goose by the neck, he clamps down its throat a large lump of the food, whether the goose will or no, until its crop is well stuffed o

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UNHELPFUL READING

UNHELPFUL READING

“Did everything you ever studied help you to attain success?” “On the contrary, I did not begin real study until I was over sixteen. Until that time, my principal study was—reading novels.” He laughed heartily at my evident astonishment. “They did not help me in the least, for they did not give me an insight into real life. It is only those things that give one a grasp of practical affairs that are helpful. To read novels continuously is like reading fairy stories or “Arabian Nights” tales. It i

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INVENTIONS IN AMERICA

INVENTIONS IN AMERICA

“You have had experience in life in Europe and in America. Do you think the chances for success are the same in Europe as in America?” “It is harder to attain success in Europe. There is hardly the same appreciation of progress there is here. Appreciation is an element of success. Encouragement is needed. My thoughts run mostly toward inventions. In England, people are conservative. They are well contented with the old, and do not readily adopt new ideas. Americans more quickly appreciate new in

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THE ORIENT

THE ORIENT

“Do you think there is a chance for Americans in the Orient?” “There is only a chance for capital in trade. American labor cannot compete with Japanese and Chinese. A Japanese coolie, for the hardest kind of work, receives the equivalent of six cents a day; and the whole family, father, mother and children, work and contribute to the common good. A foreigner is only made use of until they have absorbed all his useful ideas; then he is avoided. The Japanese are ahead of us in many things.”...

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ENVIRONMENT AND HEREDITY

ENVIRONMENT AND HEREDITY

“Do you think environment and heredity count in success?” “Environment, certainly; heredity, not so distinctly. In heredity, a man may stamp out the faults he has inherited. There is no chance for the proper working of heredity. If selection could be carried out, a man might owe much to heredity. But as it is, only opposites marry. Blonde and light-complexioned people marry brunettes, and the tall marry the short. In our scientific societies, men only are admitted. If women who were interested e

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PROFESSOR BELL’S LIFE STORY

PROFESSOR BELL’S LIFE STORY

Alexander Graham Bell was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, March 3, 1847. His father, Alexander Melville Bell, now in Washington, D.C., was a distinguished Scottish educator, and the inventor of a system of “visible speech,” which he has successfully taught to deaf-mutes. His grandfather, Alexander Bell, became well known by the invention of a method of removing impediments of speech. The younger Bell received his education at the Edinburgh High School and University; and, in 1867, he entered the Un

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“I WILL MAKE THE WORLD HEAR IT”

“I WILL MAKE THE WORLD HEAR IT”

“It does speak,” cried Sir William Thompson, with fervid enthusiasm; and Bell’s father-in-law added: “I will make the world hear it.” In less than a quarter of a century, it is conveying thought in every civilized tongue; Japan being the first country outside of the United States to adopt it. In the first eight years of its existence, the Bell Telephone Company declared dividends to the extent of $4,000,000; and the great sums of money the company earns for its stockholders is a subject of curre

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A FACE FULL OF CHARACTER

A FACE FULL OF CHARACTER

When I entered Lyndhurst, she came forward to meet me in the pleasantest way imaginable. Her face is not exactly beautiful, but has a great deal of character written upon it, and it is very attractive. She held out her hand for me to shake in the good old-fashioned way, and then we sat down in the wide hall to talk. Miss Gould was dressed very simply. Her gown was of dark cloth, close-fitting, and her skirt hung several inches above the ground, for she is a believer in short skirts for walking.

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HER AMBITIONS AND AIMS

HER AMBITIONS AND AIMS

In the conversation that followed, I was permitted to learn much of her ambitions and aims. She is ambitious to leave an impression on the world by good deeds well done, and this ambition is gratified to the utmost. She is modest about her work. “I cannot find that I am doing much at all,” she said, “when there is so very much to be done. I suppose I shouldn’t expect to be able to do everything, but I sometimes feel that I want to, nevertheless.”...

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A MOST CHARMING CHARITY

A MOST CHARMING CHARITY

One of her most charming charities is “Woody Crest,” two miles from Lyndhurst, a haven of delight where some twoscore waifs are received at a time for a two weeks’ visit. Years before Miss Gould’s name became associated throughout the country with charity, she was doing her part in trying to make a world happier. Every summer she was hostess to scores of poor children, who were guests at one of the two Gould summer homes; little people with pinched, wan faces, and crippled children from the tene

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HER PRACTICAL SYMPATHY FOR THE LESS FAVORED

HER PRACTICAL SYMPATHY FOR THE LESS FAVORED

When, one day, I was privileged to meet Miss Gould at Woody Crest, I saw a hundred children scattered around the lawn in front of the stately mansion. It had been an afternoon of labor and anxiety on her part, for she felt the responsibility of entertaining and caring for so many little ones. As she finally cooled herself on the piazza and looked at her little charges romping around on the lawn, I asked her if she thought any of the little ones before her would ever make their mark in the world.

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PERSONAL ATTENTION TO AN UNSELFISH SERVICE

PERSONAL ATTENTION TO AN UNSELFISH SERVICE

Her charities, says Mr. Walsh, in the article above cited, are probably the most practical on record. She does not go “slumming,” as so many fashionable girls do, but she does go and investigate personal charities herself and apply the medicine as she thinks best. She puts herself out in more ways to relieve distress around than she would to accommodate her wealthiest friend. Not only has she always pitied the sufferers in the world less fortunate than herself, but she has always had a great des

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HER VIEWS UPON EDUCATION

HER VIEWS UPON EDUCATION

Miss Gould is well educated, and a graduate of a law school. I tried to ascertain her views regarding the education of young women of to-day, and what careers they should follow. This is one of her particular hobbies, and many are the young girls she has helped to attain to a better and more satisfactory life. “I believe most earnestly in education for women,” she said; “not necessarily the higher education about which we hear so much, but a good, common-school education. As the years pass, girl

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THE EVIL OF IDLENESS

THE EVIL OF IDLENESS

“But I don’t think it matters much what a girl does so long as she is active, and doesn’t allow herself to stagnate. There’s nothing, to my mind, so pathetic as a girl who thinks she can’t do anything, and is of no use to the world.”...

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HER PATRIOTISM

HER PATRIOTISM

The late Admiral Philip, he of the “Texas” in the Santiago fight, regarded Miss Gould as an angel, and the sailors of the Brooklyn navy yard fairly worship her. A hustling Y. M. C. A. chap, Frank Smith by name, started a little club-house for “Jack Ashore,” near the Brooklyn navy yard. Miss Gould heard of this club, and visited it. At a glance she grasped the meaning, and, on her return home she wrote a letter and a check for fifty thousand dollars, and there sprang from that letter and check, a

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“OUR HELEN”

“OUR HELEN”

On the day of the Dewey parade in New York, Miss Gould was in front of her house, on a platform she had erected for the small children of certain Asylums. Mayor Van Wyck told Admiral Dewey who she was, and the Admiral stood up in his carriage and bowed to her three times. Then the word went down the line that Miss Gould was there, and every company saluted her as it passed. But it was when a body of young recruits stopped for a moment before her door that the real excitement began. “She shan’t m

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“AMERICA”

“AMERICA”

Miss Gould’s patriotism is very real and intense, and is not confined to times of war. Two years ago, she caused fifty thousand copies of the national hymn, “America,” to be printed and distributed among the pupils of the public schools of New York. “I believe every one should know that hymn and sing it,” she declared, “if he sings no other. I would like to have the children sing it into their very souls, till it becomes a part of them.” She strongly favors patriotic services in the churches on

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UNHERALDED BENEFACTIONS

UNHERALDED BENEFACTIONS

Miss Gould has a strong prejudice against letting her many gifts and charities be known, and even her dearest friends never know “what Helen’s doing now.” Of course, her great public charities, as when she gives a hundred thousand dollars at a time, are heralded. Her recent gift of that sum to the government, for national defense, has made her name beloved throughout the land; but, had she been able, she would have kept that secret also. The place Helen Gould now holds in the love and esteem of

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HER PERSONALITY

HER PERSONALITY

Miss Gould’s life at Tarrytown is an ideal one. She runs down to the city at frequent intervals, to attend to business affairs; but she lives at Lyndhurst. She entertains but few visitors, and in turn visits but seldom. The management of her property, to which she gives close attention, makes no inconsiderable call upon her time. “I have no time for society,” she said, “and indeed I do not care for it at all; it is very well for those who like it.” Would you have an idea of her personality? “If

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FOOTING IT TO CALIFORNIA

FOOTING IT TO CALIFORNIA

“When did you leave the farm for a mercantile life?” I asked. “I was a clerk in a store in Stockbridge for two years, after I was seventeen, but was engaged with the farm more or less, and wanted to get out of that life. I was a little over seventeen years old when the California gold excitement of 1849 reached our town. Wonderful tales were told of gold already found, and the prospects for more on the Pacific coast. I brooded over the difference between tossing hay in the hot sun and digging up

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THE DITCH

THE DITCH

“Did you discover much gold?” I asked. “Oh, I worked with pretty good success,—nothing startling. I didn’t waste much, and tried to live carefully. I also studied the business opportunities around, and persuaded some of my friends to join me in buying and developing a ‘ditch,’—a kind of aqueduct, to convey water to diggers and washers. That proved more profitable than digging for gold, and at the end of the year, the others sold out to me, took their earnings and went home. I stayed, and bought

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HE ENTERS THE GRAIN MARKET

HE ENTERS THE GRAIN MARKET

“Did you return to Stockbridge?” “A little while, but my ambition set in another direction. I had been studying the methods then used for moving the vast and growing food products of the West, such as grain and cattle, and I believed that I could improve them and make money. The idea and the field interested me and I decided to enter it. “My standing was good, and I raised the money, and bought what was then the largest elevator in Milwaukee. This put me in contact with the movement of grain. At

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MR. ARMOUR’S ACUTE PERCEPTION OF THE COMMERCIAL CONDITIONS FOR BUILDING UP A GREAT BUSINESS

MR. ARMOUR’S ACUTE PERCEPTION OF THE COMMERCIAL CONDITIONS FOR BUILDING UP A GREAT BUSINESS

“Is there any one thing that accounts for the immense growth of the packing industry here?” I asked. “System and the growth of the West did it. Things were changing at startling rates in those days. The West was growing fast. Its great areas of production offered good profits to men who would handle and ship the products. Railway lines were reaching out in new directions, or increasing their capacities and lowering their rates of transportation. These changes and the growth of the country made t

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SYSTEM AND GOOD MEASURE

SYSTEM AND GOOD MEASURE

“Do you believe that system does so much?” I ventured. “System and good measure. Give a measure heaped full and running over, and success is certain. That is what it means to be the intelligent servants of a great public need. We believed in thoughtfully adopting every attainable improvement, mechanical or otherwise, in the methods and appliances for handling every pound of grain or flesh. Right liberality and right economy will do everything where a public need is being served. Then, too, our..

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METHODS

METHODS

improved all the time. There was a time when many parts of cattle were wasted, and the health of the city injured by the refuse. Now, by adopting the best known methods, nothing is wasted; and buttons, fertilizers, glue and other things are made cheaper and better for the world in general, out of material that was before a waste and a menace. I believe in finding out the truth about all things—the very latest truth or discovery,—and applying it.” “You attribute nothing to good fortune?” “Nothing

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THE TURNING POINT

THE TURNING POINT

“May I ask what you consider the turning-point of your career?” “The time when I began to save the money I earned at the gold-fields.”...

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TRUTH

TRUTH

“What trait do you consider most essential in young men?” “Truth. Let them get that. Young men talk about getting capital to work with. Let them get truth on board, and capital follows. It’s easy enough to get that.”...

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A GREAT ORATOR, AND A GREAT CHARITY

A GREAT ORATOR, AND A GREAT CHARITY

“Did you always desire to follow a commercial, rather than a professional life?” “Not always. I have no talent in any other direction; but I should have liked to be a great orator.” Mr. Armour would say no more on this subject, but his admiration for oratory has been demonstrated in a remarkable way. It was after a Sunday morning discourse by the splendid orator, Dr. Gunsaulus, at Plymouth Church, Chicago, in which the latter had set forth his views on the subject of educating children, that Mr.

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EASE IN HIS WORK

EASE IN HIS WORK

“There is no need to ask you,” I continued, “whether you believe in constant, hard labor?” “I should not call it hard. I believe in close application, of course, while laboring. Overwork is not necessary to success. Every man should have plenty of rest. I have.” “You must rise early to be at your office at half past seven?” “Yes, but I go to bed early. I am not burning the candle at both ends.” The enormous energy of this man, who is too modest to discuss it, is displayed in the most normal mann

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A BUSINESS KING

A BUSINESS KING

And yet the business which this man forgets, when he gathers children about him and moves in his simple home circle, amounts in one year, to over $100,000,000 worth of food products, manufactured and distributed; the hogs killed, 1,750,000; the cattle, 1,080,000; the sheep, 625,000. Eleven thousand men are constantly employed, and the wages paid them are over $5,500,000; the railway cars owned and moving about all parts of the country, four thousand; the wagons of many kinds and of large number,

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TRAINING YOUTH FOR BUSINESS

TRAINING YOUTH FOR BUSINESS

“Do you believe in inherited abilities, or that any boy can be taught and trained, and made a great and able man?” “I recognize inherited ability. Some people have it, and only in a certain direction; but I think men can be taught and trained so that they become much better and more useful than they would be, otherwise. Some boys require more training and teaching than others. There is prosperity for everyone, according to his ability.” “What would you do with those who are naturally less compet

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PROMPT TO ACT

PROMPT TO ACT

In illustration of Mr. Armour’s aptitude for doing business, and his energy, it is related that when, in 1893, local forces planned to defeat him in the grain market, and everyone was crying that at last the great Goliath had met his David, he was all energy. He had ordered immense quantities of wheat. The opposition had shrewdly secured every available place of storage, and rejoiced that the great packer, having no place to store his property, would suffer immense loss, and must capitulate. He

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FORESIGHT

FORESIGHT

The foresight that sent him to New York in 1864, to sell pork, brought him back from Europe in 1893, months before the impending panic was dreamed of by other merchants. It is told of him that he called all his head men to New York, and announced to them:— “Gentlemen, there’s going to be financial trouble soon.” “Why, Mr. Armour,” they said, “you must be mistaken. Things were never better. You have been ill, and are suddenly apprehensive.” “Oh, no,” he said, “I’m not. There is going to be troubl

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FOREARMED AGAINST PANIC

FOREARMED AGAINST PANIC

The lieutenants returned, and the name of Armour was strained to its utmost limit. When all had been borrowed, the financial flurry suddenly loomed up, but it did not worry the great packer. In his vaults were $8,000,000 in gold. All who had loaned him at interest then hurried to his doors, fearing that he also was imperiled. They found him supplied with ready money, and able to compel them to wait until the stipulated time of payment, or to force them to abandon their claims of interest for the

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SOME SECRETS OF SUCCESS

SOME SECRETS OF SUCCESS

“Do you consider your financial decisions which you make quickly to be brilliant intuitions?” I asked. “I never did anything worth doing by accident, nor did anything I have come that way. No, I never decide anything without knowing the conditions of the market, and never begin unless satisfied concerning the conclusion.” “Not everyone could do that,” I said. “I cannot do everything. Every man can do something, and there is plenty to do,—never more than now. The problems to be solved are greater

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AUDIENCES ARE APPRECIATIVE

AUDIENCES ARE APPRECIATIVE

“I am always nervous in going before an audience,” she said, “but there is so much I want to tell them that I have no time at all to think of myself. I find that if the lecturer is really interested in the subject, those who come to listen usually are; and it is certainly true, as I have learned by going upon the platform, tired out from a long journey, that you cannot expect enthusiasm in your audience, unless you are enthusiastic yourself. But I think that audiences are very responsive and app

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LECTURES TO CHILDREN

LECTURES TO CHILDREN

“Children, by the way, are my most satisfactory audiences. Grown-up people never become so absorbed. It is the greatest pleasure of my lecturing to talk to the little tots, and watch them drink it all in. Indeed, I prepared my very first lecture for children, but didn’t deliver it. That episode marked the beginning of my career as a lecturer. “Do you ask me to tell you about it? My father, Richard A. Proctor, wrote, as you know, many books on popular astronomy. When I was a girl I did not read t

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A LESSON IN LECTURING

A LESSON IN LECTURING

“I have lectured a great many times since then, but my first lecture was the most trying. I am now glad that things happened as they did, for that experience taught me a valuable lesson. I learned not to commit my talks to memory, but merely to have the topics and facts and general arrangement of the lecture well in mind. By this method, I can change and adapt myself to my audience at any time; and I often have to do this. I am able to feel intuitively whether I have gained my listeners’ sympath

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THE STEREOPTICON

THE STEREOPTICON

“My stereopticon pictures of the heavenly bodies are of great help to me. They naturally add much to the interest, and are really a revelation to most of my audiences, for the reason that they show things that can never be seen with the naked eye. How my father would have delighted in them, and how effectively he would have used them. But celestial photography had not been made practical at the time of his death; it is, indeed, quite a new art, although its general principles are very simple. A

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“STORIES FROM STAR LAND”

“STORIES FROM STAR LAND”

“For the children, my first book, ‘Stories From Starland,’ was written. I tried to weave into it poetical and romantic ideas, that appeal to the imaginative mind of the child, and quicken the interest without any sacrifice of accuracy in the facts with which I deal. I wrote the book in a week. The publisher came to me one Saturday, and told me that he would like a children’s book on astronomy. I devoted all my days to it till the following Saturday night, and on Monday morning took the completed

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CONCENTRATION OF ATTENTION

CONCENTRATION OF ATTENTION

“I learned very soon after I began my work, that I must give myself up to it absolutely if I were to achieve success. There could be no side issues, nothing else to absorb any of my energy, or take any of my thought or time. One of the first things I did was to take a thorough course in singing, for the purpose of acquiring complete control of my voice. I put aside all social functions, of which I am rather fond and have since devoted my days and nights to astronomy,—not that I work at night, ex

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A LONG TRAMP TO SCHOOL

A LONG TRAMP TO SCHOOL

“Our parents were anxious to have their children acquire at least an elementary education; and so, summer and winter, we tramped the mile and a half that lay between our house and the district school, and the snow often fell to the depth of five or six feet on the island, and sometimes, when it was at its worst, our father would drive us all to school in a big sleigh. But no weather was bad enough to keep us away. “That would be looked upon as a poor kind of school, nowadays, I suppose. The scho

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HE ALWAYS SUPPORTED HIMSELF

HE ALWAYS SUPPORTED HIMSELF

“From the time I began working in the store until to-day, I have always supported myself, and during all the years of my boyhood I never received a penny that I did not earn myself. At the end of my first year, I went to a larger store in the same town, where I was to receive sixty dollars a year and my board. I kept this place for two years, and then I gave it up, against the wishes of my employer, because I had made up my mind that I wanted to get a better education. I determined to go to coll

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THE TURNING-POINT OF HIS LIFE

THE TURNING-POINT OF HIS LIFE

“That was the turning-point in my life. On one side was the certainty of one hundred and twenty dollars a year, and the prospect of promotion as fast as I deserved it. Remember what one hundred and twenty dollars meant in Prince Edward Island, and to a poor boy who had never possessed such a sum in his life. On the other side was my hope of obtaining an education. I knew that it involved hard work and self-denial, and there was the possibility of failure in the end. But my mind was made up. I wo

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A SPLENDID COLLEGE RECORD

A SPLENDID COLLEGE RECORD

One of Mr. Schurman’s fellow-students in Acadia says that he was remarkable chiefly for taking every prize to which he was eligible. In his senior year, he learned of a scholarship in the University of London, to be competed for by the students of Canadian colleges. The scholarship paid five hundred dollars a year for three years. The young student in Acadia was ambitious to continue his studies in England, and saw in this offer his opportunity. He tried the examination and won the prize. During

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HIS CAPITAL AT FOURTEEN

HIS CAPITAL AT FOURTEEN

John Wanamaker, the boy, had no single thing in all his surroundings to give him an advantage over any one of hundreds of other boys in the city of Philadelphia. Indeed, there were hundreds and hundreds of other boys of his own age for whom anyone would have felt safe in prophesying a more notable career. His capital was not in money. Very few boys in all that great city had less money than John Wanamaker, and comparatively few families of average position but were better off in the way of world

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TOWER HALL CLOTHING STORE

TOWER HALL CLOTHING STORE

Men who worked with him in the Tower Hall Clothing Store say that he was always bright, willing, accommodating, and very seldom out of temper. His effort was to be first at the store in the morning, and he was very likely to be one of the last, if not the last, at the store in the evening. If there was an errand, he was always prompt and glad to do it. And so the store people liked him, and the proprietor liked him, and, when he began to sell clothing, the customers liked him. He was considerate

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HIS AMBITION AND POWER AS AN ORGANIZER AT SIXTEEN

HIS AMBITION AND POWER AS AN ORGANIZER AT SIXTEEN

Colonel Bennett, the proprietor of Tower Hall, said of him at this time:— “John was certainly the most ambitious boy I ever saw. I used to take him to lunch with me, and he used to tell me how he was going to be a great merchant. “He was very much interested in the temperance cause; and had not been with me long before he persuaded most of the employees in the store to join the temperance society to which he belonged. He was always organizing something. He seemed to be a natural-born organizer.

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THE Y. M. C. A.

THE Y. M. C. A.

Young Wanamaker’s religious principles were always at the forefront in whatever he did. His interest in Sunday School work, and his skill as an organizer became well known. And so earnestly did he engage in the work of the Young Men’s Christian Association, that he was appointed the first salaried secretary of the Philadelphia branch, at one thousand dollars a year. Never since has a secretary enrolled so many members in the same space of time. He passed seven years in this arduous work....

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OAK HALL

OAK HALL

He saved his money; and, at twenty-four, formed a partnership with his brother-in-law Nathan Brown, and opened Oak Hall Clothing store, in April, 1861. Their united capital was only $3,500; yet Wanamaker’s capital of popular good-will was very great. He was already a great power in the city. I can never forget the impression made upon my mind, after he had been in business but a few months, when I visited his Bethany Sunday School, established in one of the most unpromising sections of the city,

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A HEAD BUILT FOR BUSINESS,

A HEAD BUILT FOR BUSINESS,

whatever the business might be. And as for Oak Hall, he knew just what to do with it. The first thing he did was to multiply his working capital by getting the best help obtainable for running the store. At the very outset, John Wanamaker did what almost any other business man would have stood aghast at. He chose the best man he knew as a salesman in the clothing business in Philadelphia,—the man of the most winning personality who could attract trade,—and agreed to pay him $1,350 for a year,—on

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HIS RELATION TO CUSTOMERS

HIS RELATION TO CUSTOMERS

A considerable portion of the trade of the new store came from people in the country districts. Mr. Wanamaker had a way of getting close to them and gaining their good will. He understood human nature. He put his customer at ease. He showed interest in the things that interested the farmer. An old employee of the firm says: “John used to put a lot of chestnuts in his pocket along in the fall and winter, and, when he had one of these countrymen in tow, he’d slip a few of the nuts into the visitor

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THE MERCHANT’S ORGANIZING FACULTY

THE MERCHANT’S ORGANIZING FACULTY

was so great that General Grant once remarked to George W. Childs that Wanamaker would have been a great general if his lot had been that of army service. Wanamaker used to buy goods of Stewart, and the New York merchant remarked to a friend: “If young Wanamaker lives, he will be a greater merchant than I ever was.” Sometime in recent years, since Wanamaker bought the Stewart store, he said to Frank G. Carpenter:— “A. T. Stewart was a genius. I have been surprised again and again as I have gone

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ATTENTION TO DETAILS

ATTENTION TO DETAILS

Yet in all these years he has been early and late at the store, as he was when a boy. He has always seen to it that customers have prompt and careful attention. He early made the rule that if a sale was missed, a written reason must be rendered by the salesman. There was no hap-hazard business in that store,—nothing of the happy-go-lucky style. Each man must be alert, wide-awake, attentive, or there was no place for him at Oak Hall....

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THE MOST RIGID ECONOMY

THE MOST RIGID ECONOMY

has been always a part of the system. It is told of him that, in the earlier days of Oak Hall, he used to gather up the short pieces of string that came in on parcels, make them into a bunch, and see that they were used when bundles were to be tied. He also had a habit of smoothing out old newspapers, and seeing that they were used as wrappers for such things as did not require a better grade of paper. The story has been often related of the first day’s business at the original store in ’61, whe

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ADVERTISING

ADVERTISING

The first day’s business made a cash profit of thirty-eight dollars; and the whole sum was invested in one advertisement in the next day’s “ Inquirer .” His advertising methods were unique; he paid for the best talent he could get in this line. Philadelphia woke one morning to find “W. &amp; B.” in the form of six-inch square posters stuck up all over the town. There was not another letter, no hint, just “W. &amp; B.” Such things are common enough now, but then the whole city was soon ta

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BALLOONS

BALLOONS

more than twenty feet high were sent up, and a suit of clothes was given to each person who brought one of them back. Whole counties were stirred up by the balloons. It was grand advertising, imitated since by all sorts of people. When the balloon idea struck the Oak Hall management it was quickly found that the only way to get these air-ships was to make them, and so, on the roof of the store, the cotton cloth was cut and oiled and put together. Being well built, and tied very tightly at the ne

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SEIZING OPPORTUNITIES

SEIZING OPPORTUNITIES

Genius consists in taking advantage of opportunities quite as much as in making them. Here was a young man doing things in an advertising way regardless of the custom of the business world, and with a wonderful knowledge of human nature. He took commonsense advantage of opportunities that were open to everybody. Soon after the balloon experience, tally-ho coaching began to be a Philadelphia fad of the very exclusives. Immediately afterwards a crack coach was secured, and six large and spirited h

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PUSH AND PERSISTENCE

PUSH AND PERSISTENCE

“The chief reason,” said Mr. Wanamaker upon one occasion, “that everybody is not successful is the fact that they have not enough persistency. I always advise young men who write me on the subject to do one thing well, throwing all their energies into it.” To his employees he once said:—“We are very foolish people if we shut our ears and eyes to what other people are doing. I often pick up things from strangers. As you go along, pick up suggestions here and there, jot them down and send them alo

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“TO WHAT, MR. WANAMAKER, DO YOU ATTRIBUTE YOUR GREAT SUCCESS?”

“TO WHAT, MR. WANAMAKER, DO YOU ATTRIBUTE YOUR GREAT SUCCESS?”

In reply to this question when asked, he replied:—“To thinking, toiling, trying, and trusting in God.” A serene confidence in a guiding power has always been one of the Wanamaker characteristics. He is always calm. Under the greatest stress he never loses his head. In one physical particular, Mr. Wanamaker is very remarkable. He can work continually for a long time without sleep and without evidence of strain, and make up for it by a good rest afterwards. When upon one occasion he was asked to n

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HIS VIEWS ON BUSINESS

HIS VIEWS ON BUSINESS

When asked whether the small tradesmen has any “show” to-day against the great department stores, he said:— “All of the great stores were small at one time. Small stores will keep on developing into big ones. You wouldn’t expect a man to put an iron band about his business in order to prevent expansion, would you? There are, according to statistics, a greater number of prosperous small stores in the city than ever before. What better proof do you want? “The department store is a natural product,

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PUBLIC SERVICE

PUBLIC SERVICE

With the exception of his term of service as postmaster-general of the United States in President Harrison’s cabinet—a service which was marked by great executive ability and the institution of many reforms,—Mr. Wanamaker has devoted his attention almost entirely to his business and his church work. Yet as a citizen he has always taken a most positive course in opposition to the evils that threaten society. He has been forever prompted by his religious convictions to pursue vice either in the “d

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INVEST IN YOURSELF

INVEST IN YOURSELF

Mr. Wanamaker’s views of what life is for are well expressed in the following excerpt from one of his addresses to young men. In the course of his address, he related that he was once called upon to invest in an expedition to recover Spanish mahogany and doubloons from the Spanish Main, which, for half a century, had lain under the rolling waves in sunken frigates. “But, young men,” he continued, “I know of better expeditions than this right at home, deep down under the sea of neglect and ignora

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AT HOME

AT HOME

Like all other magnetic and forceful men, Mr. Wanamaker is striking in appearance, strong rather than handsome. He has a full, round head, a broad forehead, a strong nose, heavy-lidded eyes that flash with energy, heavy jaws that denote strength of will, and tightly closed lips that just droop at the corners, giving an ever-present touch of sedateness. His face is as smooth as a boy’s and as mobile as an actor’s; and, when lighted up in discussion, it beams with expression. He wears a hat that i

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VIII

VIII

Giving up Five Thousand Dollars a Year to Become a Sculptor “MY life?” queried F. Wellington Ruckstuhl, one of the foremost sculptors of America, as we sat in his studio looking up at his huge figure of “Force.” “When did I begin to sculpture? As a child I was forever whittling, but I did not have dreams then of becoming a sculptor. It was not till I was thirty-two years of age. And love,—disappointment in my first love played a prominent part.” “But as a boy, Mr. Ruckstuhl?” “I was a poet. Ever

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WORK

WORK

“What, Mr. Mills, do you consider the key-note of success?” “Work,” he replied, quickly and emphatically. “Work develops all the good there is in a man; idleness all the evil. Work sharpens all his faculties and makes him thrifty; idleness makes him lazy and a spendthrift. Work surrounds a man with those whose habits are industrious and honest; in such society a weak man develops strength, and a strong man is made stronger. Idleness, on the other hand, is apt to throw a man into the company of m

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SELF-DEPENDENCE

SELF-DEPENDENCE

“To what formative influence do you attribute your material success, Mr. Mills?” I asked. “I was taught very early that I would have to depend entirely upon myself; that my future lay in my own hands. I had that for a start, and it was a good one. I didn’t waste any time thinking about succession to wealth, which so often acts as a drag upon young men. Many persons waste the best years of their lives waiting for dead men’s shoes; and, when they get them, find them entirely too big to wear gracef

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HABIT OF THRIFT

HABIT OF THRIFT

“No one can acquire a fortune unless he makes a start; and the habit of thrift, which he learns in saving his first hundred dollars, is of inestimable value later on. It is not the money, but the habit which counts. “There is no one so helpless as a man who is ‘broke,’ no matter how capable he may be, and there is no habit so detrimental to his reputation among business men as that of borrowing small sums of money. This cannot be too emphatically impressed upon young men.”...

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EXPENSIVE HABITS—SMOKING

EXPENSIVE HABITS—SMOKING

“Another thing is that none but the wealthy, and very few of them, can afford the indulgence of expensive habits; how much less then can a man with only a few dollars in his pocket? More young men are ruined by the expense of smoking than in any other way. The money thus laid out would make them independent, in many cases, or at least would give them a good start. A young man should be warned by the melancholy example of those who have been ruined by smoke, and avoid it.”...

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FORMING AN INDEPENDENT BUSINESS JUDGMENT

FORMING AN INDEPENDENT BUSINESS JUDGMENT

“What marked traits, Mr. Mills, have the influential men with whom you have been associated, possessed, which most impressed you?” “A habit of thinking and acting for themselves. No end of people are ruined by taking the advice of others. This may answer temporarily, but in the long run it is sure to be disastrous. Any man who hasn’t ability to judge for himself would better get a comfortable clerkship somewhere, letting some one of more ambition and ability do the thinking necessary to run the

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THE MULTIPLICATION OF OPPORTUNITIES TO-DAY IN AMERICA

THE MULTIPLICATION OF OPPORTUNITIES TO-DAY IN AMERICA

“Are the opportunities for making money as numerous to-day as they were when you started in business?” “Yes, the progress of science and invention has increased the opportunities a thousandfold, and a man can find them wherever he seeks them in the United States in particular. It has caused the field of employment of labor of all kinds to expand enormously, thus creating opportunities which never existed before. It is no longer necessary for a man to go to foreign countries or distant parts of h

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WHERE ONE’S BEST CHANCE IS—THE KNOWLEDGE OF MEN

WHERE ONE’S BEST CHANCE IS—THE KNOWLEDGE OF MEN

“In what part of the country do you think the best chances for young men may be found?” “The best place for a young man to make money is the town in which he was born and educated. There he learns all about everybody, and everybody learns about him. This is to his advantage if he bears a good character, and to the advantage of his towns-people if he bears a bad one. While a young man is growing up, he unconsciously absorbs a vast deal of knowledge of people and affairs, which would be equal to m

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THE BOTTOM OF THE LADDER

THE BOTTOM OF THE LADDER

“What lesson, Mr. Mills, do you consider it most needful for young men to learn?” “The lesson of humility;—not in the sense of being servile or undignified, but in that of paying due respect to men who are their superiors in the way of experience, knowledge and position. Such a lesson is akin to that of discipline. Members of the royal families of Europe are put in subordinate positions in the navies or armies of their respective countries, in order that they may receive the training necessary t

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THE BENEFICENT USE OF CAPITAL

THE BENEFICENT USE OF CAPITAL

Upon this point, Mr. Mills said:—“A man can, in the accumulation of a fortune, be just as great a benefactor of mankind as in the distribution of it. In organizing a great industry, one opens up fields of employment for a multitude of people who might otherwise be practically helpless, giving them not only a chance to earn a living for themselves and their families, but also to lay by a competency for old age. All honest, sober men, if they have half a chance, can do that; but only a small perce

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THE WHOLESOME DISCIPLINE OF EARNING AND SPENDING

THE WHOLESOME DISCIPLINE OF EARNING AND SPENDING

“What is the responsibility of wealth, Mr. Mills?” “A man must learn not to think too much of money. It should be considered as a means and not an end; and the love for it should never be permitted to so warp a man’s mind as to destroy his interest in progressive ideas. Making money is an education, and the wide experience thus acquired teaches a man discrimination in both men and projects, where money is under consideration. Very few men who make their own money use it carelessly. Most good pro

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PERSONAL: A WORD ABOUT CHEAP HOTELS

PERSONAL: A WORD ABOUT CHEAP HOTELS

“How did you happen to establish the system of hotels which bears your name, Mr. Mills?” “I had been looking around for several years to find something to do that would be for the good of the community. My mind was largely on other matters, but it occurred to me that the hotel project was the best, and I immediately went to work at it. My purpose was to do the work on so large a scale that it would be appreciated and spread all over the country; for as the sources of education extend, we find mo

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THE DIFFICULTIES

THE DIFFICULTIES

she encountered at the outset:—“Distinction in the field of art is earned: it is not thrust upon anyone. The material for a great voice may be born in a person—it is, in fact,—but the making of it into a great voice is a work of the most laborious character. “In some countries the atmosphere is not very favorable to beginners. Almost any of the greater European nations is probably better in this respect than the United States: not much better, however, because nearly all depends upon strength of

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THE WORLD WAS MINE, IF I WOULD WORK.

THE WORLD WAS MINE, IF I WOULD WORK.

Hard work was his constant cry. There must be no play, no training for lower forms of public entertainment, no anything but study and practice. I must work and perfect myself in private, and then suddenly appear unheralded in the highest class of opera and take the world by storm. “It was a fine fancy, but it would not have been possible. O’Neill was a fine musician. Under him I studied the physiology of the voice, and practiced singing oratorios. I also took up Italian, familiarizing myself wit

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“IT PUT NEW FIRE INTO ME

“IT PUT NEW FIRE INTO ME

and caused me to fairly toil over my studies. I would have given up all my hours if only I had been allowed or requested. “So it went, until after several years of study , Madame Maretzek thought I was getting pretty well along and might venture some important public singing. We talked about different ways of appearing and what I would sing, and so on, until finally Gilmore’s band came to Madison Square Garden. He was in the heyday of his success then, and carried important soloists with him. Ma

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“I WAS TRAVELING ON AIR

“I WAS TRAVELING ON AIR

when I left, I can assure you. His company was famous. Its engagement had been most successful. Madame Poppenheim was singing with it, and there were other famous names. There were only two more concerts to conclude his New York engagement, but he had told Madame Maretzek that if I chose to come and sing on these occasions, he would be glad to have me. I was more than glad of the opportunity and agreed to go. We arranged with him by letter, and, when the evening came, I sang. My work made a dist

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IN EUROPE.

IN EUROPE.

“We gave seventy-eight concerts in England and France. We opened the Trocadero at Paris, and mine was the first voice of any kind to sing there. This European tour of the American band was a great and successful venture. American musicians still recall the furore which it created, and the prestige which it gained at home. Mr. Gilmore was proud of his leading soloists. In Paris, where the great audiences went wild over my singing, he came to praise me personally in unmeasured terms. ‘My dear,’ he

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“‘WHY DON’T YOU SING IN GRAND OPERA?’

“‘WHY DON’T YOU SING IN GRAND OPERA?’

“He answered; ‘let me hear your voice.’ “I sang an aria from ‘Lucia’; and, when I was through, he said, dryly: ‘You want to sing in grand opera?’ “‘Yes.’ “‘Well, why don’t you?’ “‘I need training.’ “‘Nonsense!’ he answered. ‘We will attend to that. You need a few months to practice Italian methods,—that is all.’ “So I spent three months with him. After much preparation, I made my début as Violetta in Verdi’s opera, ‘La Traviata,’ at the Teatro Grande, in Brescia.” The details of Madame Nordica’s

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THIS WAS HER CROWNING TRIUMPH

THIS WAS HER CROWNING TRIUMPH

“I wanted to sing in grand opera at Paris,” she said to me. “I wanted to know that I could appear successfully in that grand place. I counted my achievements nothing until I could do that.” “And did you?” “Yes. In July, 1882, I appeared there.” This was her greatest triumph. In the part of Marguerite, she took the house by storm, and won from the composer the highest encomiums. Subsequently, she appeared with equal success as Ophélie, having been specially prepared for both these rôles by the re

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SHE WAS INDISPENSABLE IN “AIDA”

SHE WAS INDISPENSABLE IN “AIDA”

“The same afternoon a message came for me: ‘Would I come?’ and ‘Would I do so and so?’ I would, and did. I sang ‘Aida’ and then other parts, and gradually all the parts but one, which I had longed to try, but had not yet had the opportunity given to me. I was very successful, and Sir Augustus was very friendly. “The summer after that season, I visited Ems, where the De Reszkes were. One day they said: ‘We are going to Beirut, to hear the music,—don’t you want to go along?’ I thought it over, and

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THE KINDNESS OF FRAU WAGNER

THE KINDNESS OF FRAU WAGNER

“Did you find her the imperious old lady she is said to be?” “Not at all. She welcomed me most heartily; and, when I told her that I had come to see if I could not sing there, she seemed much pleased. She treated me like a daughter, explained all that she was trying to do, and gave me a world of encouragement. Finally, I arranged to sing and create ‘Elsa’ after my own idea of it, during the season following the one then approaching. “Meanwhile I came to New York to fulfill my contract for the se

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MUSICAL TALENT OF AMERICAN GIRLS

MUSICAL TALENT OF AMERICAN GIRLS

“Let me ask you one thing,” I said. “Has America good musical material?” “As much as any other country, and more, I should think. The higher average of intelligence here should yield a greater percentage of musical intelligence.” “Then there ought to be a number of American women who can do good work of a high order?” “There ought to be, but it is a question whether there will be. They are not cut out for the work which it requires to develop a good voice. I have noticed that young women seem to

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THE PRICE OF FAME

THE PRICE OF FAME

“Permanent recognition, which cannot be taken away from you, is acquired only by a lifetime of most earnest labor . People are never internationally recognized until they have reached middle life. Many persons gain notoriety young, but that goes as quickly as it comes. All true success is founded on real accomplishment acquired with difficulty. “Many young people have genius; but they need training for valuable service. The world gives very little recognition for a great deal of labor paid in; a

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A LOFTY IDEAL.

A LOFTY IDEAL.

“My own youth was not specially marked by advantages. There were none, unless you can call a small bookcase full of books, which my home contained, an advantage. The printing-office was my school from a very early date. My father thoroughly believed in it, and he had his belief as to work, which he illustrated as soon as we were old enough to learn the trade he followed. We could go to school and study, or we could go into the printing-office and work, with perhaps an equal chance of learning; b

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ACQUIRING A LITERARY STYLE

ACQUIRING A LITERARY STYLE

“When did you find time to seriously apply yourself to literature?” “I think I did so before I really had the time. Literary aspirations were stirred in me by the great authors whom I successively discovered, and I was perpetually imitating the writings of these,—modeling some composition of my own after theirs, but never willing to own it.” “Do you attribute your style to the composite influence of these various models?” “No doubt they had their effect, as a whole, but individually I was freed

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MY WORKSHOP

MY WORKSHOP

for six or seven years,—and it was not at all a bad one. It seemed, for a while, so very simple and easy to come home in the middle of the afternoon, when my task at the printing-office was done, and sit down to my books in my little study, which I did not finally leave until the family were all in bed. My father had a decided bent for literature; and, when I began to show a liking for it, he was eager to direct my choice. This finally changed to merely recommending books, and eventually I was l

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HOW TO CHOOSE BETWEEN WORDS,

HOW TO CHOOSE BETWEEN WORDS,

after a study of their fitness; and, though I often employed them decoratively, and with no vital sense of their qualities, still, in mere decoration, they had to be chosen intelligently, and after some thought about their structure and meaning. I could not imitate great writers without imitating their method, which was to the last degree intelligent. They knew what they were doing, and, although I did not always know what I was doing, they made me wish to know, and ashamed of not knowing. The r

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THE FATE FOLLOWING COLLABORATION

THE FATE FOLLOWING COLLABORATION

“My next contribution to literature was jointly with John J. Piatt, the poet, who had worked with me as a boy in the printing-office at Columbus. We met in Columbus, where I was then an editor, and we made our first literary venture together in a volume entitled, ‘Poems of Two Friends.’ The volume became instantly and lastingly unknown to fame ; the West waited, as it always does, to hear what the East should say. The East said nothing, and two-thirds of the small edition of five hundred copies

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CONSUL AT VENICE.

CONSUL AT VENICE.

I really wanted to go to Germany, that I might carry forward my studies in German literature; and I first applied for the Consulate at Munich. The powers at Washington thought it quite the same thing to offer me Rome, but I found that the income of the Roman Consulate would not give me a living, and I was forced to decline it. Then the President’s private secretaries, Mr. John Nicolay and Mr. John Hay, who did not know me, except as a young Westerner who had written poems in the ‘Atlantic Monthl

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MY LITERARY EXPERIENCE

MY LITERARY EXPERIENCE

“Do you believe that success comes to those who have a special bent or taste, which they cultivate by hard work?” “I can only answer that out of my literary experience . For my own part, I believe I have never got any good from a book, that I did not read merely because I wanted to read it . I think this may be applied to anything a person does. The book, I know, which you read from a sense of duty, or because for any reason you must, is apt to yield you little. This, I think, is also true of ev

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AS TO A HAPPY LIFE,

AS TO A HAPPY LIFE,

it was said by Mr. Howells, at the close of our interview:— “I have come to see life, not as the chase of a forever-impossible personal happiness, but as a field for endeavor toward the happiness of the whole human family . There is no other success. I know, indeed, of nothing more subtly satisfying and cheering than a knowledge of the real good will and appreciation of others. Such happiness does not come with money, nor does it flow from a fine physical state. It cannot be bought. But it is th

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HIS EARLY DREAM AND PURPOSE

HIS EARLY DREAM AND PURPOSE

Did the tired boy, peering from his attic window, ever dream of his future? He said to a youthful companion of Richford, a farmer’s boy like himself: “I would like to own all the land in this valley, as far as I can see. I sometimes dream of wealth and power. Do you think we shall ever be worth one hundred thousand dollars, you and I? I hope to,—some day.” Who can estimate the influence such a life as this must have had upon the future multi-millionaire? I asked Mr. Rockefeller about this, and f

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SCHOOL DAYS

SCHOOL DAYS

He found time, during the year 1854, to attend the sessions of the school which is now known as the Central High School. It was a brick edifice, surrounded by grounds which contained a number of hickory trees. It has long since been superseded by a larger and handsomer building, but Andrew J. Freese, the teacher, is still living. It is one of the proudest recollections of this delightful old gentleman’s life that John D. Rockefeller went to school with him. I visited him at his residence in Clev

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A RAFT OF HOOP POLES

A RAFT OF HOOP POLES

A short time afterwards, when Mr. Freese visited his former pupil at the freight dock, he found the young man seated on a bale of goods, bill book and pencil in hand. Pointing to a raft of hoop poles in the water, John told his caller that he had purchased them from a Canadian who had brought them across Lake Erie, expecting to sell them. Failing in this, the owner gladly accepted a cash offer from young Rockefeller, who named a price below the usual market rates. The young man explained that he

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THE ODOR OF OIL

THE ODOR OF OIL

It was Mr. Freese, too, who first got the young man interested in oil. They were using sperm oil in those days, at a dollar and a half a gallon. Somebody had found natural petroleum, thick, slimy, and foul-smelling, in the Pennsylvania creeks, and a quantity of it had been received in Cleveland by a next-door neighbor of the schoolmaster. The neighbor thought it could be utilized in some way, but his experiments were as crude as the ill-favored stuff itself. These consisted of boiling, burning,

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HIS FIRST LEDGER, AND THE ITEMS IN IT

HIS FIRST LEDGER, AND THE ITEMS IN IT

While in Cleveland, slaving away at his tasks, Mr. Rockefeller was training himself for the more busy days to come. He kept a small ledger in which he entered all his receipts and expenditures, and I had the privilege of examining this interesting little book, and having its contents explained to me. It was nothing more than a small, paper-backed memorandum book. “When I looked this book up the other day, I thought I had but the cover,” said Mr. Rockefeller, “but, on examination, I perceived tha

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TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS

TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS

He earned and saved ten thousand dollars before he was twenty-five years old. Before he attained his majority, Rockefeller formed a partnership with another young man named Hewett, and began a warehouse and produce business. This was the natural outgrowth of his freight clerkship on the docks. In five years, he had amassed about ten thousand dollars besides earning a reputation for business capacity and probity....

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HE REMEMBERED THE OIL

HE REMEMBERED THE OIL

He never forgot those experiments with the crude oil. Discoveries became more and more frequent in the Pennsylvania oil territory. There was a rush of speculators to the new land of fortune. Men owning impoverished farms suddenly found themselves rich. Thousands of excited men bid wildly against each other for newly-shot wells, paying fabulous sums occasionally for dry holes....

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KEEPING HIS HEAD

KEEPING HIS HEAD

John D. Rockefeller looked the entire field over carefully and calmly. Never for a moment did he lose his head. His Cleveland bankers and business friends had asked him to purchase some wells, if he saw fit, offering to back him up with $75,000 for his own investment [he was worth about $10,000 at the time], and to put in $400,000 more on his report. The business judgment of this young man at twenty-five was so good, that his neighbors were willing to invest half a million dollars at his bidding

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THERE WAS MORE MONEY IN A REFINERY

THERE WAS MORE MONEY IN A REFINERY

The use of petroleum was dangerous at that time, on account of the highly inflammable gases it contained. Many persons stuck to candles and sperm oil through fear of an explosion if they used the new illuminant. The process of removing these superfluous gases by refining, or distilling, as it was then called, was in its infancy. There were few men who knew anything about it. Among Rockefeller’s acquaintances in Cleveland was one of these men. His name was Samuel Andrews. He had worked in a disti

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STANDARD OIL

STANDARD OIL

In 1870, when Mr. Rockefeller was thirty-two years old, the business was merged into the Standard Oil Company, starting with a capital of one million dollars. Other pens have written the later story of that great corporation; how it started pipe lines to carry the oil to the seaboard; how it earned millions in by-products which had formerly run to waste; how it covered the markets of the world in its keen search for trade, distancing all competition, and cheapening its own processes so that its

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MR. ROCKEFELLER’S PERSONALITY

MR. ROCKEFELLER’S PERSONALITY

The brains of all this, the owner of the largest percentage of the stock in the parent corporation, and in most of the lesser ones, is now sixty-two years old. His personality is simple and unaffected, his tastes domestic, and the trend of his thoughts decidedly religious. His Cleveland residential estate is superb, covering a large tract of park-like land,—but even there he has shown his unselfishness by donating a large portion of his land to the city for park purposes. His New York home is no

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AT THE OFFICE

AT THE OFFICE

He arises early in the morning, at his home, and, after a light breakfast, attends to some of his personal affairs there. He is always early on hand at the great Standard Oil building on lower Broadway, New York, and, during the day, he transacts business connected with the management of that vast corporation. There is hardly one of our business men of whom the public at large knows so little. He avoids publicity as most men would the plague. The result is that he is the only one of our very wea

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FORESIGHT

FORESIGHT

The qualities which have made him so successful are largely those which go to the making of any successful business man,—industry, thrift, perseverance, and foresight. Three of these qualities would have made him a rich man; the last has distinguished him as the richest man. One of his business associates said of him, the other day:— “I believe the secret of his success, so far as there is any secret, lies in power of foresight, which often seems to his associates to be wonderful. It comes simpl

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HYGIENE

HYGIENE

At noon he takes a very simple lunch at his club, or at some downtown restaurant. The lunch usually consists of a bowl of bread and milk. He remains at the office until late in the afternoon, and before dinner he takes some exercise. In winter, he skates when possible. And at other seasons of the year he nearly always drives in the park or on the avenues. Mr. Rockefeller has great faith in fresh air as a tonic....

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AT HOME

AT HOME

The evenings are nearly always spent at home, for neither Mr. Rockefeller nor any of the children are fond of “society,” as the word is understood in New York. The children seem to have inherited many of their father’s sensible ideas, and John D. Rockefeller, Jr., has apparently escaped the fate of most rich men’s sons. He has a deep sense of responsibility as the heir-apparent to so much wealth; and, since his graduation from college, he has devoted himself to a business career, starting at the

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PHILANTHROPY

PHILANTHROPY

Mr. Rockefeller has during many years turned over to his children a great many letters from needy people, asking them to exercise their own judgment in distributing charities. While he has himself given away millions for education and charity, he would have given more were it not for his dread of seeming ostentatious. But he never gives indiscriminately, nor out of hand. When a charity appeals to him, he investigates it thoroughly, just as he would a business scheme. If he decides that its objec

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PERSEVERANCE

PERSEVERANCE

When I asked Mr. Rockefeller what he considers has most helped him in obtaining success in business, he answered: “It was early training, and the fact that I was willing to persevere. I do not think there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It overcomes almost everything, even nature.” It is to be said of his business enterprises, looking at them in a large way, that he has given to the world good honest oil, of standard quality; that his empl

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A GENIUS FOR MONEY MAKING

A GENIUS FOR MONEY MAKING

“There are men born with a genius for money-making,” says Mathews. “They have the instinct of accumulation. The talent and the inclination to convert dollars into doubloons by bargains or shrewd investments are in them just as strongly marked and as uncontrollable as were the ability and the inclination of Shakespeare to produce Hamlet and Othello, of Raphael to paint his cartoons, of Beethoven to compose his symphonies, or Morse to invent an electric telegraph. As it would have been a gross der

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“LITTLE MISS WARD”

“LITTLE MISS WARD”

The scholarly and refined atmosphere of her father’s home, which was the resort of the most distinguished men of letters of the day, was an admirable school for the development of the literary and philosophic mind of the “little Miss Ward,” as Mr. Ward’s eldest daughter had been called from childhood. Learned even beyond advanced college graduates of to-day, an accomplished linguist, a musical amateur of great promise, the young and beautiful Miss Julia Ward, of Bond street, soon became a leader

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SHE MARRIED A REFORMER

SHE MARRIED A REFORMER

Soon after the loss of her father, in 1839, Miss Ward paid the first of a series of visits to Boston, where she met, among other distinguished people who became life-long friends, Sarah Margaret Fuller, Horace Mann, Charles Sumner, and Ralph Waldo Emerson. In 1843 she was married to the director of the institute for the blind, in South Boston, the physician and reformer, Doctor Samuel G. Howe, of whom Sydney Smith spoke—referring to the remarkable results attained in his education of Laura Bridg

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STORY OF THE “BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC”

STORY OF THE “BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC”

It was in the first year of our Civil War that Mrs. Howe, in company with her husband and friends, visited Washington. During their stay in that city, the party went to see a review of troops, which, however, was interrupted by a movement of the enemy, and had to be put off for the day. The carriage in which Mrs. Howe was seated with her friends was surrounded by armed men; and, as they rode along, she began to sing, to the great delight of the soldiers, “John Brown.” “Good for you!” shouted the

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“EIGHTY YEARS YOUNG”

“EIGHTY YEARS YOUNG”

Of Mrs. Howe it may very fittingly be said that she is eighty years young. Her blue eye retains its brightness, and her dignified carriage betokens none of the feebleness of age. Above all, her mind seems to hold, in a marvelous degree, its youthful vigor and elasticity; a fact that especially impressed me as the author of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” expressed her views on the desirability of a college training for girls. “The girls who go to college,” said Mrs. Howe, “are very much in req

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THE IDEAL COLLEGE

THE IDEAL COLLEGE

Speaking of the advantages and disadvantages of coeducational institutions, Mrs. Howe said:— “While there are many advantages in coeducation, there are also some dangers. The great advantage consists in the mingling of both sorts of mind, the masculine and the feminine. This gives a completeness that cannot otherwise be obtained. I have observed that when committees are made up of both men and women, we get a roundness and completeness that are lacking when the membership is composed of either s

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THE LIBRARY

THE LIBRARY

is a place not to be passed through without thought, for, with a further store of volumes in his home, it contains one of the most costly and well-equipped scientific libraries in the world; the collection of writings on patent laws and patents, for instance, is absolutely exhaustive. It gives, at a glance, an idea of the breadth of thought and sympathy of this man who grew up with scarcely a common school education. On the second floor, in one of the offices of the machine shop, I was asked to

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A CHEMICAL NEWSBOY

A CHEMICAL NEWSBOY

“Were you a book-worm and dreamer?” I questioned. “Not at all,” he answered, using a short, jerky method, as though he were unconsciously checking himself up. “I became a newsboy, and liked the work. Made my first coup as a newsboy in 1869.” “What was it?” I ventured. “I bought up on ‘futures’ a thousand copies of the Detroit Free Press containing important war news,—gained a little time on my rivals, and sold the entire batch like hot cakes. The price reached twenty-five cents a paper before th

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TELEGRAPHY

TELEGRAPHY

“What was your first work in a practical line?” I went on. “A telegraph line between my home and another boy’s, I made with the help of an old river cable, some stove-pipe wire, and glass-bottle insulators. I had my laboratory in the cellar and studied telegraphy outside.” “What was the first really important thing you did?” “I saved a boy’s life.” “How?” “The boy was playing on the track near the depot. I saw he was in danger and caught him, getting out of the way just in time. His father was s

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HIS USE OF MONEY

HIS USE OF MONEY

“Were you good at saving your own money?” I asked. “No,” he said, smiling. “I never was much for saving money, as money. I devoted every cent, regardless of future needs, to scientific books and materials for experiments.” “You believe that an excellent way to succeed?” “Well, it helped me greatly to future success.”...

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INVENTIONS

INVENTIONS

“What was your next invention?” I inquired. “An automatic telegraph recorder—a machine which enabled me to record dispatches at leisure, and send them off as fast as needed.” “How did you come to hit upon that?” “Well, at the time, I was in such straits that I had to walk from Memphis to Louisville. At the Louisville station they offered me a place. I had perfected a style of handwriting which would allow me to take legibly from the wire, long hand, forty-seven and even fifty-four words a minute

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HIS ARRIVAL AT THE METROPOLIS

HIS ARRIVAL AT THE METROPOLIS

In this same year, Edison removed from Boston to New York, friendless and in debt on account of the expenses of his experiment. For several weeks he wandered about the town with actual hunger staring him in the face. It was a time of great financial excitement, and with that strange quality of Fortunism, which seems to be his chief characteristic, he entered the establishment of the Law Gold Reporting Company just as their entire plant had shut down on account of an accident in the machinery tha

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MENTAL CONCENTRATION

MENTAL CONCENTRATION

Recalling the incident of the Law Gold Reporting Company, I inquired: “Do you believe want urges a man to greater efforts, and so to greater success?” “It certainly makes him keep a sharp look-out. I think it does push a man along.” “Do you believe that invention is a gift, or an acquired ability?” “I think it’s born in a man.” “And don’t you believe that familiarity with certain mechanical conditions and defects naturally suggests improvements to any one?” “No. Some people may be perfectly fami

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TWENTY HOURS A DAY

TWENTY HOURS A DAY

“Do you have regular hours, Mr. Edison?” I asked. “Oh,” he said, “I do not work hard now. I come to the laboratory about eight o’clock every day and go home to tea at six, and then I study or work on some problem until eleven, which is my hour for bed.” “Fourteen of fifteen hours a day can scarcely be called loafing,” I suggested. “Well,” he replied, “for fifteen years I have worked on an average of twenty hours a day.” When he was forty-seven years old, he estimated his true age at eighty-two,

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A RUN FOR BREAKFAST

A RUN FOR BREAKFAST

Mr. Dickson, a neighbor and familiar, gives an anecdote told by Edison which well illustrates his untiring energy and phenomenal endurance. In describing his Boston experience, Edison said he bought Faraday’s works on electricity, commenced to read them at three o’clock in the morning and continued until his room-mate arose, when they started on their long walk to get breakfast. That object was entirely subordinated in Edison’s mind to Faraday, and he suddenly remarked to his friend: “‘Adams, I

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NOT BY ACCIDENT AND NOT FOR FUN

NOT BY ACCIDENT AND NOT FOR FUN

“Are your discoveries often brilliant intuitions? Do they come to you while you are lying awake nights?” I asked him. “I never did anything worth doing by accident,” he replied, “nor did any of my inventions come indirectly through accident, except the phonograph. [4] No, when I have fully decided that a result is worth getting, I go about it, and make trial after trial, until it comes.” 4 . “I was singing to the mouthpiece of a telephone,” said Edison, “when the vibrations of my voice caused

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“I LIKE IT—I HATE IT”

“I LIKE IT—I HATE IT”

“What makes you work?” I asked with real curiosity. “What impels you to this constant, tireless struggle? You have shown that you care comparatively nothing for the money it makes you, and you have no particular enthusiasm for the attending fame. What is it?” “I like it,” he answered, after a moment of puzzled expression. “I don’t know any other reason. Anything I have begun is always on my mind, and I am not easy while away from it, until it is finished; and then I hate it.” “Hate it?” I said.

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DOING ONE THING EIGHTEEN HOURS IS THE SECRET

DOING ONE THING EIGHTEEN HOURS IS THE SECRET

“You lay down rather severe rules for one who wishes to succeed in life,” I ventured, “working eighteen hours a day.” “Not at all,” he said. “You do something all day long, don’t you? Every one does. If you get up at seven o’clock and go to bed at eleven, you have put in sixteen good hours, and it is certain with most men, that they have been doing something all the time. They have been either walking, or reading, or writing, or thinking. The only trouble is that they do it about a great many th

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POSSIBILITIES IN THE ELECTRICAL FIELD

POSSIBILITIES IN THE ELECTRICAL FIELD

“You believe, of course,” I suggested, “that much remains to be discovered in the realm of electricity?” “It is the field of fields,” he answered. “We can’t talk of that, but it holds the secrets which will reorganize the life of the world.” “You have discovered much about it,” I said, smiling. “Yes,” he said, “and yet very little in comparison with the possibilities that appear.”...

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ONLY SIX HUNDRED INVENTIONS

ONLY SIX HUNDRED INVENTIONS

“How many inventions have you patented?” “Only six hundred,” he answered, “but I have made application for some three hundred more.” “And do you expect to retire soon, after all this?” “I hope not,” he said, almost pathetically. “I hope I will be able to work right on to the close. I shouldn’t care to loaf.”...

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HIS COURTSHIP AND HIS HOME

HIS COURTSHIP AND HIS HOME

The idea of the great electrician’s marrying was first suggested by an intimate friend, who told him that his large house and numerous servants ought to have a mistress. Although a very shy man, he seemed pleased with the proposition, and timidly inquired whom he should marry. The friend, annoyed at his apparent want of sentiment, somewhat testily replied,—“Anyone.” But Edison was not without sentiment when the time came. One day, as he stood behind the chair of a Miss Stillwell, a telegraph ope

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A BOYHOOD OF WASTED OPPORTUNITIES

A BOYHOOD OF WASTED OPPORTUNITIES

“Were you denied early school advantages?” I asked. “Not in the least. On the contrary, I had most abundant opportunity in that respect. “My father was a lawyer, enjoying a lucrative practice in Brookville, Indiana,—a small town which bears the distinction of having given to the world more prominent men than any other place in the Hoosier State. Not long after my birth, he was elected lieutenant-governor, and, finally, governor of the state. He, himself, was an educated man, having been graduate

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HIS BOYHOOD LOVE FOR HISTORY AND LITERATURE

HIS BOYHOOD LOVE FOR HISTORY AND LITERATURE

“But were you thus indifferent to all forms of education?” “No, my case was not quite so hopeless as that. I did not desert the schools entirely, but my attendance was so provokingly irregular and my indifference so supreme, I wonder now that I was tolerated at all. But I had one mainstay; I loved to read. I was a most inordinate reader. In some lines of literature, especially history and some kinds of fiction, my appetite was insatiate, and many a day, while my companions were clustered togethe

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A FATHER’S FRUITFUL WARNING

A FATHER’S FRUITFUL WARNING

“‘That sum, my son,’ he said, with a tone of regret in his voice, ‘represents what I have expended in these many years past to provide you with a good education. How successful I have been, you know better than anyone else.’ “‘After mature reflection, I have come to the conclusion that I have done for you in that direction all that can reasonably be expected of any parent; and I have, therefore, called you in to tell you that you have now reached an age when you must take up the lines yourself.

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A MANHOOD OF SPLENDID EFFORT

A MANHOOD OF SPLENDID EFFORT

“What effect did his admonition have on you? Did it awaken or arouse you?” “It aroused me, most assuredly. It set me to thinking as nothing before had done. The next day, I set out with a determination to accomplish something for myself. My father’s injunction rang in my ears. New responsibilities rested on my shoulders, as I was, for the first time in my life, my own master. I felt that I must get work on my own account. “After much effort, I finally obtained employment from the man with whom I

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THE REGULARITY OF THE WORK WAS A SPLENDID DRILL FOR ME,

THE REGULARITY OF THE WORK WAS A SPLENDID DRILL FOR ME,

and taught me the virtue of persistence as one of the avenues of success. It was at this time I began to realize the deficiency in my education , especially as I had an ambition to become a lawyer. Being deficient in both mathematics and grammar, I was forced to study evenings . Of course, the latter was a very exacting study, after a full day’s hard work; but I was made to realize that the time I had spent with such lavish prodigality could not be recovered , and that I must extract every possi

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SELF-EDUCATION BY READING AND LITERARY COMPOSITION

SELF-EDUCATION BY READING AND LITERARY COMPOSITION

“Had you a distinct literary ambition at that time?” “Well, I had always had a sort of literary bent or inclination. I read all the literature of the day, besides the standard authors, and finally began to devote my odd moments to a book of my own,—a tale based on the days of the crusades. When completed, it covered about three hundred and fifty pages, and bore the rather high-sounding title, ‘The Man-at-Arms.’ I read a good portion of it before a literary society to which I belonged; the member

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“THE FAIR GOD”

“THE FAIR GOD”

my first book to reach the public,—began to shape itself in my mind. The composition of this work was not, as the theatrical people would say, a continuous performance, for there were many and singular interruptions; and it would be safe to say that months, and, in one case, years, intervened between certain chapters. A few years after the war, I finished the composition, strung the chapters into a continuous narrative, leveled up the uneven places, and started East with the manuscript. A letter

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THE ORIGIN OF “BEN-HUR”

THE ORIGIN OF “BEN-HUR”

“How long after this did ‘Ben-Hur’ appear, and what led you to write it?” “I began ‘Ben-Hur’ about 1876, and it was published in 1880. The purpose, at first, was a short serial for one of the magazines, descriptive of the visit of the wise men to Jerusalem as mentioned in the first two verses of the second chapter of Matthew. It will be recognized in ‘Book First’ of the work as now published. For certain reasons, however, the serial idea was abandoned, and the narrative, instead of ending with t

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INFLUENCE OF THE STORY OF THE CHRIST UPON THE AUTHOR

INFLUENCE OF THE STORY OF THE CHRIST UPON THE AUTHOR

“I was in quest of knowledge, but I had no faith to sustain, no creed to bolster up. The result was that the whole field of religious and biblical history opened up before me; and, my vision not being clouded by previously formed opinions, I was enabled to survey it without the aid of lenses. I believe I was thorough and persistent. I know I was conscientious in my search for the truth. I weighed, I analyzed, I counted and compared. The evolution from conjecture into knowledge, through opinion a

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EARLY WORK AND WAGES

EARLY WORK AND WAGES

“Where did you begin life?” “In Dunfermline, Scotland, during my earliest years. The service of my life has all been in this country.” “In Pittsburg?” “Largely so. My father settled in Allegheny City, when I was only ten years old, and I began to earn my way in Pittsburg.” “Do you mind telling me what your first service was?” “Not at all. I was a bobbin boy in a cotton factory, then an engine-man or boy in the same place, and later still I was a messenger boy for a telegraph company.” “At small

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COLONEL ANDERSON’S BOOKS

COLONEL ANDERSON’S BOOKS

“There were no fine libraries then, but in Allegheny City, where I lived, there was a certain Colonel Anderson, who was well to do and of a philanthropic turn. He announced, about the time I first began to work, that he would be in his library at home, every Saturday, ready to lend books to working boys and men. He had only about four hundred volumes, but I doubt if ever so few books were put to better use. Only he who has longed, as I did for Saturday to come, that the spring of knowledge might

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HIS FIRST GLIMPSE OF PARADISE

HIS FIRST GLIMPSE OF PARADISE

“How long did you remain an engine-boy?” “Not very long,” Mr. Carnegie replied; “perhaps a year.” “And then?” “I entered a telegraph office as a messenger boy.” Although Mr. Carnegie did not dwell much on this period, he once described it at a dinner given in honor of the American Consul at Dunfermline, Scotland, when he said:— “I awake from a dream that has carried me away back to the days of my boyhood, the day when the little white-haired Scottish laddie, dressed in a blue jacket, walked with

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INTRODUCED TO A BROOM

INTRODUCED TO A BROOM

“As you look back upon it,” I said to Mr. Carnegie, “do you consider that so lowly a beginning is better than one a little less trying?” “For young men starting upon their life work, it is much the best to begin as I did, at the beginning, and occupy the most subordinate positions. Many of the present-day leading men of Pittsburg, had serious responsibility thrust upon them at the very threshold of their careers. They were introduced to the broom, and spent the first hours of their business life

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AN EXPERT TELEGRAPHER

AN EXPERT TELEGRAPHER

More light on this period of Mr. Carnegie’s career is given by the “ Electric Age ,” which says:—“As a telegraph operator he was abreast of older and experienced men; and, although receiving messages by sound was, at that time, forbidden by authority as being unsafe, young Carnegie quickly acquired the art, and he can still stand behind the ticker and understand its language. As an operator, he delighted in full employment and the prompt discharge of business, and a big day’s work was his chief

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WHAT EMPLOYERS THINK OF YOUNG MEN

WHAT EMPLOYERS THINK OF YOUNG MEN

Concerning this period of his life, I asked Mr. Carnegie if his promotion was not a matter of chance, and whether he did not, at the time, feel it to be so. His answer was emphatic. “Never. Young men give all kinds of reasons why, in their cases, failure is attributable to exceptional circumstances, which rendered success impossible. Some never had a chance, according to their own story. This is simply nonsense. No young man ever lived who had not a chance, and a splendid chance, too, if he was

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THE RIGHT MEN IN DEMAND

THE RIGHT MEN IN DEMAND

“Another class of young men attributes failure to rise to employers having near relatives or favorites whom they advance unfairly. They also insist that their employers dislike brighter intelligences than their own, and are disposed to discourage aspiring genius, and delighted in keeping young men down. There is nothing in this. On the contrary, there is no one suffering more for lack of the right man in the right place as the average employer, nor anyone more anxious to find him.” “Was this you

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HOW TO ATTRACT ATTENTION

HOW TO ATTRACT ATTENTION

“How can he do that?” “Well, if he is a shipping clerk, he may do so by discovering in an invoice an error with which he has nothing to do and which has escaped the attention of the proper party. If a weighing clerk, he may save for the firm in questioning the adjustment of the scales, and having them corrected, even if this be the province of the master mechanic. If a messenger boy, he can lay the seed of promotion by going beyond the letter of his instructions in order to secure the desired re

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SLEEPING-CAR INVENTION

SLEEPING-CAR INVENTION

Although I tried earnestly to get the great iron-king to talk of this, he said little, because the matter has been fully dealt with by him in his “Triumphant Democracy.” From his own story there, it appears that one day at this time, when Mr. Carnegie still had his fortune to make, he was on a train examining the line from a rear window of a car, when a tall, spare man, accosted him and asked him to look at an invention he had made. He drew from a green bag a small model of a sleeping-berth for

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THE MARK OF A MILLIONAIRE

THE MARK OF A MILLIONAIRE

“I would like some expression from you,” I said to Mr. Carnegie, “in reference to the importance of laying aside money from one’s earnings, as a young man.” “You can have it. There is one sure mark of the coming partner, the future millionaire; his revenues always exceed his expenditures. He begins to save early, almost as soon as he begins to earn. I should say to young men, no matter how little it may be possible to save, save that little. Invest it securely, not necessarily in bonds, but in a

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AN OIL FARM

AN OIL FARM

“What,” I asked Mr. Carnegie, “was the next enterprise with which you identified yourself?” “In company with several others, I purchased the now famous Storey farm, on Oil Creek, Pennsylvania, where a well had been bored and natural oil struck the year before. This proved a very profitable investment.” In “Triumphant Democracy,” Mr. Carnegie has expatiated most fully on this venture, which is so important. “When I first visited this famous well,” he says, “the oil was running into the creek, whe

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IRON BRIDGES

IRON BRIDGES

“Were you satisfied to rest with these enterprises in your hands?” I asked. “No. Railway bridges were then built almost exclusively of wood, but the Pennsylvania Railroad had begun to experiment with cast-iron. It struck me that the bridge of the future must be of iron; and I organized, in Pittsburg, a company for the construction of iron bridges. That was the Keystone Bridge Works. We built the first iron bridge across the Ohio.” His entrance of the realm of steel was much too long for Mr. Carn

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HOMESTEAD STEEL WORKS

HOMESTEAD STEEL WORKS

His next enterprise was the purchase of the Homestead Steel Works,—his great rival in Pittsburg. In 1888, he had built or acquired seven distinct iron and steel works, all of which are now included in the Carnegie Steel Company, Limited. All the plants of this great firm are within a radius of five miles of Pittsburg. Probably in no other part of the world can be found such an aggregation of splendidly equipped steel works as those controlled by this association. It now comprises the Homestead S

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A STRENGTHENING POLICY

A STRENGTHENING POLICY

“You believe in taking active measures,” I said, “to make men successful.” Partial view of the Homestead Steel Works. “I believe in anything which will help men to help themselves. To induce them to save, every workman in our company is allowed to deposit part of his earnings, not exceeding two thousand dollars, with the firm, on which the high interest rate of six per cent. is allowed. The firm also lends to any of its workmen to buy a lot, or to build a house, taking its pay by installments.”

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PHILANTHROPY

PHILANTHROPY

“All you have said so far, merely gives the idea of getting money, without any suggestion as to the proper use of great wealth. Will you say something on that score?” “My views are rather well known, I think. What a man owns is already subordinate, in America, to what he knows; but in the final aristocracy, the question will not be either of these, but what has he done for his fellows? Where has he shown generosity and self-abnegation? Where has he been a father to the fatherless? And the cause

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“THE MISFORTUNE OF BEING RICH MEN’S SONS”

“THE MISFORTUNE OF BEING RICH MEN’S SONS”

“I should like to cause you to say some other important things for young men to learn and benefit by.” “Our young partners in the Carnegie company have all won their spurs by showing that we did not know half as well what was wanted as they did . Some of them have acted upon occasions with me as if they owned the firm and I was but some airy New Yorker, presuming to advise upon what I knew very little about . Well, they are not now interfered with. They were the true bosses,—the very men we were

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“LET THE WORK SHOW”

“LET THE WORK SHOW”

“Well, sir,” said he, rising and grasping my hand cordially, “what do you wish?” “I realize how very busy you must be, Mr. Herreshoff,” I replied, “and will try to be as brief as possible; but I venture to ask a few minutes of your time, to obtain suggestions and advice from you to young people.” “But why select me, in particular, as an adviser?” This was “a poser,” at first, especially when he added, noting my hesitation:— “We are frequently requested to give interviews in regard to our manufac

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THE VOYAGE OF LIFE

THE VOYAGE OF LIFE

“True,” said I. “But the readers of my books may not care to read of cutters or ‘skimming dishes,’ center-boards or fin keels, or copper coils versus steel tubes for boilers. They leave the choice in such matters to you, realizing that you have always proved equal to the situation. What I want now is advice in regard to the race of life,—the voyage in which each youth must be his own captain, but in which the words of others who have successfully sailed the sea before will help to avoid rocks an

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A MOTHER’S MIGHTY INFLUENCE

A MOTHER’S MIGHTY INFLUENCE

“What do you call the prime requisite of success?” “I shall have to answer that by a somewhat humorous but very shrewd suggestion of another,—select a good mother. Especially for boys, I consider an intelligent, affectionate but considerate mother an almost indispensable requisite to the highest success. If you would improve the rising generation to the utmost, appeal first to the mothers.” “In what way?” “ Above all things else, show them that reasonable self-denial is a thousandfold better for

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SELF HELP

SELF HELP

“What ranks next in importance?” “Boys and girls themselves, especially as they grow older, and have a chance to understand what life means, should not only help their parents as a matter of duty, but should learn to help themselves, for their own good. I would not have them forego recreation, a reasonable amount every day, but let them learn the reality and earnestness of existence, and resolve to do the whole work and the very best work of thorough, reliable young men and women.”...

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WHAT CAREER

WHAT CAREER

“What would you advise as to choosing a career?” “In that I should be governed largely by the bent of each youth. What he likes to do best of all, that he should do; and he should try to do it better than anyone else. That is legitimate emulation. Let him devote his full energy to his work; with the provision, however, that he needs change or recreation more in proportion as he uses his brain more. The more muscular the work, if not too heavy, the more hours, is a good rule: the more brain work,

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EDUCATION

EDUCATION

“I believe in education most thoroughly, and think no one can have too much knowledge, if properly digested. But in many of our colleges, I have often thought, not more than one in five is radically improved by the course. Most collegiates waste too much time in frivolity, and somehow there seems to be little restraining power in the college to prevent this. I agree that students should have self-restraint and application themselves, but, in the absence of these, the college should supply more c

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APPRENTICES

APPRENTICES

“Do you favor reviving the old apprentice system for would-be mechanics?” “Only in rare cases. As a rule, we have special machines now that do as perfect work as the market requires; some of them, indeed, better work than can be done by hand. A boy or man can soon learn to tend one of these, when he becomes, for ordinary purposes, a specialist. Very few shops now have apprentices. No rule, however, will apply to all, and it may still be best for one to serve an apprenticeship in a trade in which

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PREPARE TO THE UTMOST: THEN DO YOUR BEST

PREPARE TO THE UTMOST: THEN DO YOUR BEST

“Is success dependent more upon ability or opportunity?” “Of course, opportunity is necessary. You couldn’t run a mammoth department store on the desert of Sahara. But, given the possibility, the right man can make his opportunity, and should do so, if it is not at hand, or does not come, after reasonable waiting. Even Napoleon had to wait for his. On the other hand, if there is no ability, none can display itself, and the best opportunity must pass by unimproved. The true way is to first develo

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PRESENT OPPORTUNITIES

PRESENT OPPORTUNITIES

“Is the chance for a youth as good as it was twenty-five or fifty years ago?” “Yes, and no. In any country, as it becomes more thickly populated, the chance for purely individual enterprises is almost sure to diminish. One notices this more as he travels through other and older countries, where, far more than with us, boys follow in the footsteps of their fathers, generation after generation. But for those who are willing to adapt themselves to circumstances, the chance, to-day, at least from a

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NATURAL EXECUTIVE ABILITY

NATURAL EXECUTIVE ABILITY

“Granted, however, that he can find employment, how do his chances of rising compare with those of your youth?” “They still depend largely upon the individual. Some seem to have natural executive ability, and others develop it, while most men never possess it. Those who lack it cannot hope to rise far, and never could. Jefferson’s idea that all men are created equal is true enough, perhaps, so far as their political rights are concerned, but from the point of view of efficiency in business, it i

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THE DEVELOPMENT OF POWER

THE DEVELOPMENT OF POWER

“But what is his chance of becoming a proprietor?” “That is smaller, of course, as establishments grow larger and more valuable. It is all bosh for every man to expect to become a Vanderbilt or a Rockefeller, or to be President. But, in the long run, a man will still rise and prosper in almost exact proportion to his real value to the business world. He will rise or fall according to his ability.” “Can he develop ability?” “Yes, to a certain extent. As I have said, we are not all alike, and no a

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“MY MOTHER”

“MY MOTHER”

“Your mother? Why, I thought you had been a boat-builder for half a century! How old is she?” “She is eighty-eight, and still enjoys good health. If I have one thing more than another to be thankful for, it is her care in childhood and her advice and sympathy through life. How often have I thought of her wisdom when I have seen mothers from Europe (where they were satisfied to be peasants), seek to outshine all their neighbors after they have been in America a few years, and so bring financial r

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A BOAT-BUILDER IN YOUTH

A BOAT-BUILDER IN YOUTH

“You must have been quite young, when you began to build boats?” “About thirteen or fourteen years old. You see, my father was an amateur boat-builder, in a small way, and did very good work, but usually not for sale. But I began the work as a business thirty-six years ago, when I was about twenty-two.”...

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HE WOULD NOT BE DISCOURAGED

HE WOULD NOT BE DISCOURAGED

“You must have been terribly handicapped by your blindness.” “It was an obstacle, but I simply would not allow it to discourage me, and did my best, just the same as if I could see. My mother had taught me to think, and so I made thought and memory take the place of eyes. I acquired a kind of habit of mental projection which has enabled me to see models in my mind, as it were, and to consider their good and bad points intelligently. Besides, I cultivated my powers of observation to the utmost, i

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THE SUM OF IT ALL

THE SUM OF IT ALL

“The main thing for a boy is to have a good mother, to heed her advice, to do his best, and not get a ‘swelled head’ as he rises,—in other words, not to expect to put a gallon into a pint cup, or a bushel into a peck measure. Concentration, decision, industry and economy should be his watchwords, and invincible determination and persistence his rule of action.” With another cordial handshake, he bade me good-by....

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II

II

Their recent Cup Defenders have made their names familiar to all, but shipping circles have long known them. The business of the firm was long confined almost wholly to the creation of boats with single masts, each craft from twenty to thirty-six feet long. In their first ten years of associated work, they built nearly two thousand of these. But they were wonderful little boats, and of unrivaled swiftness. Then they made as wonderful a success in building steam fishing yachts. Then came torpedo

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RACING JAY GOULD

RACING JAY GOULD

In July, 1883, Jay Gould was highly elated over the speed of his beautiful steam yacht “Atalanta,” which had several times met and distanced Edward S. Jaffray’s wonderful “Stranger;” but, on the twentieth of that month, his happiness, as the story is told, was very suddenly dashed. After a hard day’s work, the jaded Jay boarded the “Atalanta” and began to shake out his pin-feathers a little, figuratively speaking. But before his boat had gone far on her run to Irvington, the bold manipulator of

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THE “STILETTO”

THE “STILETTO”

The versatility of the Herreshoffs has appeared in their famous boiler improvement, and in the great variety of vessels they have built. The “Stiletto” only ninety-four feet long, over all, astonished the yachting world in 1885. On June 10, she beat the “Mary Powell” two miles in a race of twenty-eight miles on the Hudson. At one time, the “Stiletto” circled completely around the big steamer and then moved rapidly away from her. Secretary Whitney bought the “Stiletto” for the United States navy,

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THE BLIND BROTHERS

THE BLIND BROTHERS

One of the Herreshoff sisters is blind and a remarkable musician; and one brother blind who studied music in Berlin, and who conducts a school of music in Providence. Lewis Herreshoff, one of the boat-builders, is also blind. He, too, is a fine musician and an excellent bass singer, having received careful vocal training in Europe. He has fine literary taste, a very clear style, and writes for magazines, especially on boat-building and engineering. He has a large foreign correspondence, all of w

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THE PERSONALITY OF JOHN B. HERRESHOFF

THE PERSONALITY OF JOHN B. HERRESHOFF

From his boyhood, John B. Herreshoff evinced a great fondness for boats and machinery, finding most pleasure, in his leisure hours, when boys of his age usually think only of play, in haunting boat-builders’ yards and machine shops, studying how and why things were done, and reading what had been done elsewhere in those branches of industry, beyond his field of observation. At the age of eleven, he was studying the best lines for vessels’ hulls and making models and three years later he began bu

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HAS HE A SIXTH SENSE?

HAS HE A SIXTH SENSE?

He reads and understands the most delicate intonations and modulations of voices addressing him, as others read and understand facial expression. His sensitive fingers detect differences in metals, and follow, as if with a gift of perception, the lines of models submitted to him, and his mind sees even more clearly than by mere physical sight the intricacies of the most complicated machinery intelligently described to him, or over which his fingers are allowed to move. “That is a good stick,” he

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SEEING WITH THE FINGERS

SEEING WITH THE FINGERS

By the constant practice, he has, as he expresses it, learned to see with his hands, not quite so quickly, but he believes as perfectly, as he could with his eyes, and this means more than it does in the case of an ordinary blind man; for, by a touch, he can tell whether the graceful double curves of a boat’s bottom are in correct proportion, one with another, and then, by a few rapid sweeps of his hands, over all, he can instantly judge of the symmetry and perfection of the whole. Even more tha

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BROTHER NAT

BROTHER NAT

One of the brothers, who has good eyes, is a prominent chemist in New York; and one who can see is Nat the designer for the boat-building. Nathaniel G., the great yacht designer, was born in 1848. When he was not more than two years old, he was often found asleep on the sand along shore, with the rising tide washing his bare feet. Whenever he was missing, he was sought for first on the shore, where he would generally be found watching the ships or playing with toy boats. At nine years of age, he

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VALUE OF BIBLICAL AND IMAGINATIVE LITERATURE

VALUE OF BIBLICAL AND IMAGINATIVE LITERATURE

in the formation of the intellect. The men and women whom I knew first and best were those of the Hebrew world. Sitting before the nursery fire, while the snow fell softly and ceaselessly, and all the mountains round were white, and the streets of the little English town choked with drifts, I could see the camels and the caravans of the Ishmaelitish merchants, passing through the hot, sandy desert. I could see Hagar weeping under the palm, and the waters of the Red Sea standing up like a wall. M

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RENUNCIATION.

RENUNCIATION.

I was to give up father, and mother, home and kindred, friends and country, and follow where he would lead me, into a land strange and far off. Child-bearing and child-losing; the limitations and delights of frontier life; the intimate society of such great and individual men as Sam Houston, and the men who fought with him; the intense feelings induced by war, its uncertainties and possibilities, and the awful abiding in the Valley of the Shadow of Death, with the pestilence that walked in darkn

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DELIGHTFUL STUDIES.

DELIGHTFUL STUDIES.

Though I had written stories to please my children, and many things to please myself, it had never occurred to me that money could be made by writing. The late William Libbey, a man of singular wisdom and kindness, first made me understand that my brain and my ten fingers were security for a good living. From my first effort I began to gather in the harvest of all my years of study and reading and private writing. For there is this peculiarity about writing—that if in any direction it has merit,

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FIFTEEN HOURS A DAY;

FIFTEEN HOURS A DAY;

for I knew that, to make good work, I must have constant fresh material; must keep up to date in style and method; and must therefore read far more than I wrote. But I have been an omnivorous reader all my life long, and no changes, no cares of home and children, have ever interfered with this mental necessity. In the most unlikely places and circumstances, I looked for books, and found them. These fifteen years on the weekly and monthly periodicals gave me the widest opportunities for informati

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AN ACCIDENT

AN ACCIDENT

which confined me to my room, and which, I knew, would keep me from active work for some months. I fretted for my work, as dry wood frets an inch from the flame, and said, “I shall lose all I have gained; I shall fall behind in the race; all these things are against me.” They were all for me. A little story of what seemed exceptional merit, had been laid away, in the hope that I might some day find time to extend it into a novel. A prisoner in my chair, I finished the book in six weeks, and sent

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VOCATION;

VOCATION;

and, with a confidence founded on the certainty of my equipment, and a determination to trust humanity, and take my readers only into green pastures and ways of purity and heroism, I ventured on my new path as a novelist. I cannot close this paper without a few words to those who wish to profit by it. I want them to be sure of a few points which, in my narrative, I may not have emphasized sufficiently....

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WORDS OF COUNSEL

WORDS OF COUNSEL

1. Men and women succeed because they take pains to succeed . Industry and patience are almost genius; and successful people are often more distinguished for resolution and perseverance than for unusual gifts. They make determination and unity of purpose supply the place of ability. 2. Success is the reward of those who “spurn delights and live laborious days.” We learn to do things by doing them. One of the great secrets of success is “pegging away.” No disappointment must discourage, and a run

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“I WAS NOT AN INFANT PRODIGY”

“I WAS NOT AN INFANT PRODIGY”

“I was not an infant prodigy, however. My father had too much wisdom to injure my chances in that way. He made me keep to my studies in a manner that did me good. I came to America in 1845.” “Was the American music field crowded then?” “On the contrary, there wasn’t any field to speak of. It had to be made. Music was the pastime of a few. The well-educated and fashionable classes possessed or claimed a knowledge of it. There was scarcely any music for the common people.” “How did you get your st

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BEGINNING OF THE ORCHESTRA

BEGINNING OF THE ORCHESTRA

“How did you come to found your great orchestra?” “It was more of a growth than a full-fledged thought to begin with. It was in 1861 that I severed my connection with the opera and began to establish a genuine orchestra. I began with occasional performances, popular matinée concerts, and so on, and, in a few years, was able to give a series of Symphony Soirées at the old Irving Hall in New York.” To the average person this work of Mr. Thomas may seem to be neither difficult nor great. Yet while

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MUSIC HAD NO HOLD ON THE MASSES

MUSIC HAD NO HOLD ON THE MASSES

“Yes. There had been, and were then, good organizations, such as the New York Philharmonic Society and the Harvard Musical Association in Boston, and a few similar organizations in various parts of the country. I mean no disparagement to their honorable labors, but, in simple truth, none of them had great influence on the masses. They were pioneers of culture. They prepared the way for the modern permanent orchestra.” “They were not important?” “No, no; that cannot be said. It would be the gross

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WORKING OUT HIS IDEA

WORKING OUT HIS IDEA

“Did you have an idea of a permanent building for your orchestra?” “Yes. I wanted something more than an ordinary concert-room. The idea needed it. It was to be a place suitable for use at all seasons of the year. There was to be communication in summer with an open garden, and in winter it was to be a perfect auditorium.” Mr. Thomas’s idea went even further. It must be bright, comfortable, roomy, well ventilated—for a close and drowsy atmosphere is fatal to symphonic music,—it must offer to the

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THE CHIEF ELEMENT OF HIS SUCCESS

THE CHIEF ELEMENT OF HIS SUCCESS

“What,” I asked of him, “do you consider the chief element of your success?” “That is difficult to say. Perseverance, hard work, stern discipline,—each had its part.” “You have never attempted to become rich?” “Poh!” “Do you still believe in the best music for the mass of the people?” “I do. My success has been with them. It was so in New York; it is so here in Chicago.” “Do you still work as hard as ever?” I inquired. “Nearly so. The training of a large orchestra never ends. The work must be go

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XX

XX

John Burroughs at Home: The Hut on the Hill Top WHEN I visited the hill-top retreat of John Burroughs, the distinguished writer upon nature, at West Park, New York, it was with the feeling that all success is not material; that mere dollars are nothing, and that the influential man is the successful man, whether he be rich or poor. John Burroughs is unquestionably both influential and poor. Relatively poor: being an owner of some real estate, and having a modest income from copyrights. He is con

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XXI

XXI

Vreeland’s Romantic Story: How He Came to Transport a Million Passengers a Day A SHORT time ago, New York learned with interest and some astonishment, that the head of its greatest transportation system, Herbert H. Vreeland, had received from several of his associates as individuals, a “valentine” present of $100,000, in recognition of his superb management of their properties. Many New Yorkers then learned, for the first time, what railroad experts throughout the country had long known, that th

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THROWN ON HIS OWN RESOURCES

THROWN ON HIS OWN RESOURCES

The boy’s father wanted the boy to follow in his footsteps, in the legal profession, and he held out alluring hopes of the possibility of scaling even greater heights than any to which he had yet attained. Better still,—from the standpoint of the restless James,—he took the youngster with him as he made his circuit from court to court. These excursions, for they were indeed such to the boy, sowed deep in his heart the seed of a determination to become a nomad; and it was not long until he starte

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WHY HE LONGED TO BE A BAKER

WHY HE LONGED TO BE A BAKER

When I drew Mr. Riley out to talk still further of those interesting days, and the strange experiences which came to him therein, the conversation finally turned on the subject of his youthful ambition. “I think my earliest remembered one,” he said, “was an insatiate longing to become a baker. I don’t know what prompted it, unless it were the visions of the mountains of alluring ‘goodies,’ which, as they are ranged in the windows of the pastry shops, appear doubly tempting to the youth whose mot

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PERSISTENCE

PERSISTENCE

At this point I asked Mr. Riley his idea of the prime requisites for success in the field of letters. “The most essential factor,” he replied “is persistence,—the determination never to allow your energy or enthusiasm to be dampened by the discouragement that must inevitably come. I believe that he is richer for the battle with the world, in any vocation, who has great determination and little talent, rather than his seemingly more fortunate brother with great talent, perhaps, but little determi

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TWENTY YEARS OF REJECTED MANUSCRIPTS

TWENTY YEARS OF REJECTED MANUSCRIPTS

“Mr. Riley,” I asked, “would you mind saying something about the obstacles over which you climbed to success?” “I am afraid it would not be a very pleasant story,” he replied. “A friend came to me once, completely heartbroken, saying that his manuscripts were constantly returned, and that he was the most miserable wretch alive. I asked him how long he had been trying? ‘Three years,’ he said. ‘My dear man,’ I answered, laughing, ‘go on, keep on trying till you have spent as many years at it as I

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A COLLEGE EDUCATION

A COLLEGE EDUCATION

Answering other questions, the poet said:—“A college education for the aspirant for literary success is, of course, an advantage, provided he does not let education foster a false culture that will lead him away from the ideals he ought to cling to. “There is another thing that the young man in any artistic pursuit must have a care for; and that is, to be practical. This is a practical world, and it is always ready to take advantage of this sort of people: so that one must try to cultivate a pra

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RILEY’S POPULARITY

RILEY’S POPULARITY

Riley’s poetry is popular because it goes right to the feelings of the people. He could not have written as he does, but for the schooling of that wandering life, which gave him an insight into the struggle for existence among the great unnumbered multitude of his fellow-men. He learned in his travels and journeys, in his hard experience as a strolling sign-painter and patent-medicine peddler the freemasonry of poverty. His poems are natural; they are those of a man who feels as he writes. As Th

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