Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1882-04-12
COUNTRY BOYS.
Concerning Them in Large
Cities.

Clues.
! We never take country bows int,
cur business any more remarle {
gentleman the other day-a man whC
has large hardware business in tn,
city of Philadelphia
And why not =
Because in forty-nine cases out o
fifty they don't do we'll The excep
tion is the one who comes here under
the special protection of some one
he lives with an uncle, or aunt, or
some friend of the family, who looks
after his welfare and his habits and
keeps him from going astray. But
the average country boy, who comes
to the city and goes to live in board
ing-house, very quickly comes to grief
lie is allurcd and attracted by the
strange things which environ him; he
wants to see the sights his habits be-
come unsteady, and he is not to be
trusted. No man wants a boy in bis
business whose evenings are not WELL
spent, and to be well spent they should
largely be spent in study
Ny father, he went on, was boss
plasterer, and, aside from his own five
sons, he usually had five to six appren-
tees. These apprentices he had in his
own family, and he looked after them
precisely as he watched the boys.
Perhaps once week they would be
allowed to go out for some entertain
ment-a lecture at the Franklin Insti-
tute or something of the kind-but he
always accompanied them On the
other evenings they devoted an hour
or two to study-to drawing-to W hat
ever would be of use them in their
trade. And not one of fathers boys
has turned out badly. One Of them
is now president of bank in Kansas.
In my own business | have had
some queer experiences with boys.
We had one boy come to US about fif-
teen years ago, who began at the very
bottom-as all successful men do-in
sweeping the store, fixing fires, etc
He always managed to spend about an
hour in the store before breakfast, and
his evenings were spent there. 1t was
not long before that boy knew where
everything in the store was, and be
would remember the faces ofcustomers,
and their names, and the sort of pur-
chases they made, for months after,
and in general way he mastered the
entire inside business of the establish
ment, but he understood the general
financial value of our customers. He
saw everything, knew where every
thing was, and in multitude of in
stances prevented customers being
turned away on the ground that we
were out of such and such wares, or
did not keep them, by informing the
clerks where the desired articles were
to be found upstairs He manifested
the same interest in the welfare OF the
establishment as if it had been his
own. | don't think he had been in
school a day after he was twelve years
old except the school of business. And
just here want to say that the sue
cessful business men of the country
are not boys who have first gone
though college, Business is something
that needs to be learned as one learns
a language-from the bottom up-and
one has to begin young to be ready
for il when he reaches manhood.
Well, that boy became invaluable. His
salary was very modest at first, but
we gradually Increased it until we
paid him 81 200 We then began to
think OF taking him into partnership,
and wandered whether he had saved
any money to put into the concern.
We believed that he had been frugal,
but he had paid board regularly to his
mother, and we hardly supposed that
his savings would amount to much.
One day we called him in our private
Office and offered him partnership, add
ing that if he had any money to put in,
his profits, Of course, would be that
much greater He replied, very mod
estly, that he had no money except
what we had paid him as salary, and
If $1,000 would be any object to us,
he could furnish that amount. He had
$4,000 in bank and his sister owed
him $500, which was the sum of his
capital, the total of what his savings
had amounted to during the twelve
years he had been in onr employ. Ten
thousand dollars You may be sure
we were astonished. But he had only
told the truth in the matter. We took
him into partnership very readily, you
may be assured.
we had another boy--an appren-
tice. He was with us from about
thirteen until he was twenty one--in-
dentured until that time. Well, be
was u different sort Of boy. He new
er was on time in the morning, and
whenever wanted during the day like
as not he was on the top floor reading
novel. He took no interest in the
business-a needless, noppy fellow,
who didn't know where anything was,
and didn't care to know When his
apprenticeship expired | called him in
to my Office and said, ss | paid him
what balance ofmoncy wasdue +: James,
your time is up and you are free to go.
You've not been worth much to us,
and unless you turn over new leal
you'll never be worth much TO anybody
else. then paticularized his faults,
and ended by telling hin that he could
stay in our employ for time provided
he turned over an entirely new Leaf.
II he couldn't do that we didn't want
him around. | confess ] had no faith
in his promise, but he ageed to stay,
and agreed to turn over new leaf.
The surprising part Of the story is that
the fellow did turn over n new leaf
and from that day on became an entire
J., changed man, and one of the most
valuable men in the establishment
He is with us yet
| have thought this business mans
talk worth repeating, as the career oI
both boys is interesting and may be o.
service to some other boy, and especial