The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1874-11-05
SELF.CONTROL A NECESSITY.
why Business Men Succeed and WHY
They Do Not.

Why Business Men Succeed and why
They Do Not.
Before man can be king of bust.
ness or king of men, says Parton in
his new lecture, he must be monarch oi
himself. A great part of the secret OF
being able to control others is self
control. 1 remember Robert Bonner
pointing out person going by the
office of the Ledger and saying "I
worked by the side of that man for
years setting type, and very good
workman he was. Do you want to know
the reason why he is still journeyman
printer and am not ?" I did want to
know the reason. "Well," said he,
" the reason is this He used to buy
fivedollar pantaloons, and as soon as
they began to look shabby he cast them
aside but I bought coarse, strong
three-dollar ones and wore them out
That's the reason"
There is great deal in merely being
able to feel money in your pocket, and
not spend it. / must own that it is a
very rare gift with the literary class. L
have known q young writer, in receiv-
ing $50 for an article, invite friend to
dine with him at DeImonicos, and or.
der two bottles of Sc wine. Such men,
whatever their talents, usually remain
drudges and slaves all their lives. The
simple reason, in fact, why property
always and everywhere gets into such
enormous masses, is that it is the ma
ture Of the strong to husband their re-
sources and themselves, and it is the
nature of the weak to squander both.
If you want to test young man and
ascertain whether nature made him for
a king or subject, give him a thou
sand dollars and see what he will do
with it. If he is born to conquer and
command, he will put it quietly away
till he is ready to use it as opportunity
offers. If he is born to serve, he will
Immediately begin to spend it in graft
tying his ruling propensity. That pro-
pensity may be, usually is, perfectly
innocent. In my youth, for example,
books were my temptation, and many
fierce tussle l have had with it while
before the window of a book
seller. The first time in my life that /
ever had two dollars all at once, L in
stantly bought Shakespeare with it.
Knowing my weakness, used to leave
order not to be surprised into buying
a book; but feeling that this was base
cowardice, a contemplate avoidance
of the enemy, I afterwards made it
point always to have money in my
pocket. Often have courted tempta-
tion, standing long before q window,
gazing upon some particular book that
had been longing to possess for many
and then stalking away with a
proud consciousness that mi ght have
bought it and didn't. But, in my
case, this was not strength, but mere
vulgar ,aeoeSsity. Tho sb.e GAO. "Ae
they who really might lawfully and
indulge an expensive taste,
and yet can wait till they can indulge it
with absolute safety.
In the stray counties of Pennsyl-
Vania, now enjoying the fifth genera
ton of solid prosperity, they build a
stone barn before they build house of
stone; and though the houses are
usually good enough, the barns are
generally better. "To be thus is
nothing," says the strong man, "but to
be safely thus" This feeling is very
powerful in men who conquer the
NOilu ~ 10 WCdh Ill Ul1C IucA Of0E WuOll
the victory is gained. Christophe,
black emperor, used to say, "Put q
bag of coffee in the mouth of hell, and
4 Yankee would be sure to go after it"
Of course he would why not? The |
happiness Of human being rests upon
5hree pillars First, clear conscience;
second, good health third, sound pc
,uniary condition. If that bag of cot
lee is necessary for the attainment of
that third main stay of happiness, let
Us by all means go where it is to be
found.
OF course there is such q thing as
going too far for your bag of coffee.
Some men do really forget that, after
al, business is only means to an end.
Their minds run entirely to business.
A Harvard professor told me that he
went down to one of the beaches on the
New England coast to bathe one stormy
day, but those in charge refused to let
him go in on account of the dangerous
swell. On his way back he expressed
MS disappointment and indignation to
the driver of the omnibus. "Well,"
said the driver, " I'll tell you how it is.
We don't like to have strangers come
down here and get drowned. 1t hurts
The beach" This man evidently had
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