In this land, where titles and hereditary estates do not give him the leisure and excuse for idling away his time which so many Europeans have, he is immersed in some business which is his life-work. Even when wealth flows in upon him, he seldom retires from active pursuits, to enjoy the rest which is his right, until failing health warns him that life is perhaps dependent upon his retirement. This is due entirely to the nervous, restless energy of the typical American, who is impelled by his ambition to acquire that wealth and business reputation which give us standing with other nations. Business is here the quintessence of energy, and the highway to honor and fame. So our men go on toiling and adding to their countless millions, and piling them up, for future generations to enjoy.
Politeness is the key to success.
An establishment where employers and employes are polite and attentive will command the trade of the best customers. Many employers fondly imagine that if they adopt a brusque, abrupt manner toward a customer, it will be believed that they are doing an immense business, and have no time for idle ceremony. Nothing will injure a business man more than this. We have seen a stranger enter an office where several clerks were employed, and stand abashed, waiting for some one to address him as to his business, until the delay was painful. The proper thing to do was for some one to step forward and inquire his business, and call the person whose place it was to attend to him.