The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1884-07-17
Short Talk with the Boys.
BY n. QUAD.

BY II. QUAD.
Now, my lad, If you have arrived at the
age of 16 It is time you began TO think OF
trade or profession. This isn't country
In which you can live on your fathers
name for any length of time, aud even Il
you are calculating on coming into
possession of comfortable fortune at
your majority you may see the day be.
fore you are 40 that trade would clothe
aud feed you.
Ninety.nine out of every hundred
young men Of to-day must mako their
own future. What that future will be
eepends, first, how you start In. It is
easy enough to answer that you intend
to become merchant, lawyer, doctor,
editor, dentist, machinist, carpenter,
matchmaker, and 90 on, but just wait o
minute and examine yourself. Take
your horse to the blacksmith shop and
you may see the smith look over o hun.
dred ready.made shoes before hs gets one
TO iit. All arc horse shoes, but o perfect
fit is the question. Now, then, examine
yourself and seek to discover what par.
ttcular forte you have. You were born
TO fill certain place In the world. It
may be that of carpenter or 1t may be
that OF poet. Make no mistake In
starting out.
When you hear man who has moth.
ing In particular to work at wishing that
no had learned o trade, he is talking
nonsense. Ho had no fitness for one.
Had he set out to learn any of the dozen
you can manic he would have been foil.
ure. Every city has dnzana Of lawyers
and doctors who live starvation lives,
who are seldom, If ever, mentioned by
name. These men ere mistakes. They
have no heart In their professions, and
never belonged there. I can name Won
carpenters, painters, blacksmitha, wagon.
makers and others, who are out of work
half the time, end the other half Ia mostly
consumed in kicking and complaining
against the times. It 10 their own fnuIt'
They are both workmen. II Is like nut.
ting an accordeon under piano aud ex.
pecting 1t to play piano music. Had
each learned the trade he was fitted for
he would have excelled.
You have the san;e idea of being II
merchant that had at your age. It was
simply to buy and sell goods. That
seems easy enough, but the merchant
who hasn't "knack" at the business ia
doomed to certain failure. Not one out
Of fifty. clerks ever become merchants.
Probably not moro than three or four out
of fifty are fitted to do business for them
selves.
A boys idea of being o doctor Is to
visit the sick. cure them If possible and
collect fifty dollars, and the one who
answers that he 10 going to make law.
yer of himself thinks Of nothing but biz
fees and yerdicts In favor of his clients.
But, as I told you at the outset, If You
have arrived ut the age of Is or 16 it ia
time you looked matters square in the
face and had some idea of your future.
Ii you were to answer at once you would
say that You would take o profession in
preference to o trade. A profession
means several years of hard study, quite
large cash outlay and then trials and
business. It is one thing to graduate
SIS o lawyer or doctor, and quite another
to pick up clients and patients. If You
have fully decided on profession be
careful Of your first move. If You have
o largo head your grand. mother has
doubtless many times exclaimed "What
0 great lawyer this boy would make"
Don't try to make one on the nize Of
your neAd. We've got any number OF
that class in the country now, and thew
can't pay their grocers' bills. If you can
pull silver out Of your finger without
it may be aigu that you would
make great surgeon. It may also be o
sign that You are born to be butcher,
How will You know what 10 pursue3
Your own feelings are the aafest guide.
If left to your parents and to circumstan.
ces you may be forced into trade or
profession which you can never mako @
success. When you como to realize thst
you must make yOur Own way in life
your particular forte will be apt to re.
veal itself. One of the best lawyers in
Detroit was intended for the ministry
another served three years es journal
ist, but all the time feeling that ne Was
out of his element; another was forced
by his father to learn tho trade Of har.
ness maker. I know O machinist who at
first studied medicine; Of g matchmaker
Who tried to become lawyer; of O car.
pointer who threw away three yeafs of
his life trying to become o dentist.
After you have selected your profession
or trade, what then2 Strive to master
It In all its details and to excel. IF you
become carpenter don't be satisfied
when you can cav and plane and match.
Don't be satisfied with 50 per day. Make
yourgelf worth SO. Master details and
push yourself from carpenter to builder.
Don't imagine that man In search of
lawyer walks down the street and drops
in ct the frat sign hanging out. It'll
the lawyer who has climbed above his
fellows that he seeks out. If our friends
are Ill We want the best doctor. We
want the man who has made himself the
best by study and energy. The black
smith who In content 70 mend old wagons
will never iron o new one. The machin.
lst xho, stands at the lathe to do about
80 much work In ten hours need not hope
70 be better of. It is tko men who put
their heart into what they do who cue.
coed. Isl ~ q
/ can name you twenty instances In
Detroit where ekilled Workmen hayE
been taken as partners in large factories.
The clerk who Is capable, honest and
Ia bound TO win Ia higher DO.
sition. The Joiner who does his @e-ss @s:se=s
TO last for years instead Of months ia
never out Of work. There are house
painters who are satisfied to stand on q
ladder or scafoid at $3.50 per day. There
are other house painters whose energy
and enthusiasm have made them aign.
writers and decorators and raised their
wages to $40. per week. It is not 60
much what you do, but how You do it,
that brings prosperity. a. -. II,
How to KIll q Fish.
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