Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-08-08
ABOUT THE BOYS, FUTURE.

ABOUT THE BOYS FUTURE.
Now, my lad, if you have arrived at
the age of sixteen it is time you began
to think of q trade or profession. This
isn't q country in which you al live on
Jour fathers name or money for any
length Of time, and ever if YOU are cal
culating on coming into possession of a
comfortable fortune at your majority you
may see the day before YOU are lorty
shat q trade would clothe and feed you.
Ninety-nine out OF every hundred
young men of to-day must make their
, own future. What that future will be
depends, first, upon how you start in.
interd to become q merchant, lawyer,
> doctor, editor, dentist, machinist, car
penter, Matchmaker, and so on, but
gust wait q minute and examine your
SELF. Take your horse to the black
smith shop and you may see the smith
look over u hundred ready-made shoes
before he gets " to fit. All are horse
shoes, but q perfect fit is the question.
Now, then, examine yourself and seek
to discover what particular forte YOU
have. You were born to fill a certain
place in the world. 1t may be that of 4
carpenter or it may be that of a poet.
Make no mistake in starting out.
When you hear a man who has moth
ing in particular to work at wishing
that he had learned q trade, he is talk
ing nonsense. He had no fitness for
one. Had he set Il to learn any of
the dozen you an name he would have
been Il failure. Every city has dozens
of lawyers and doctors who live starva-
ton ;lves. and more or less preachers
and artists who are seldom, if ever,
mentioned by name. These men are
mistakes. They have no heart in their
professions, and never belonged there.
l can nanc you carpenters, painters,
blacksmiths, Wagon-makers and others,
who are II of work half the time, and
the other half is mostly consumed in
kicking and complaining against the
times. 1t is their nwn fault. They are
botch workmen. 1t like putting an ac-
Gordon under a piano and expecting it
to play piano music. Had each learned
the trade he was fitted for he would
have excelled.
You have the same idea Of being u
merchant that / had at your age. It
was simply TO buy and sell goods. That
seems easy enough, but The merchant
who hasn't the "knack" for the bust
ness is doomed to certain failure. Not
one out of fifty clerks ever become
merchants. Probably not more than
three or four out of fifty are fitted to do
business for themselves.
A boys idea OF being 4 doctor is to
visit the sick, cure them if possible, and
collect fifty dollars, and the one who
answers that he is going to make q
lawyer of himself thinks of nothing but
big fees and verdic1s in favor OF his
clients.
But. as | told you at the outset, if YOU
have arrived at the the age of fifteen or
sixteen it is 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
a profession in preference to a trade.
A profession means several years OF
hard study, quite a large cash outlay
and then trials and rebutls to get Il start
in business. 1t is one thing to graduate
as a lawyer Or . doctor, and quite
another to pick up clients and patients.
II yoa have fully decided on a profess
sion be careful Of your first move. Ii
You have a large head your grand
mother has doubtless many times OK
claimed: what a great lawyer this
boy would make" Don't try to make
n on the size Of your head. We've
got any number of that class in the
country now, and they can't paw their
grocers' bills. II you can pull a silver
out OF your finger without winkinr it
may be a sign that you would make a
great Surgeon. 1t may also be a sion
thai you are born TO be a butcher.
How will you know what to pursucp
Your own feelings are the safest guide,
II lett to your parents and to circum-
stances you may be forced into a trade
Or profession which you can never
make a success. When you come to
realize that you must make your w
way IN life your particular forte will
lie apt to reveal itself. One of the best
LAWYERS in Detroit was intended for the
ministry another served three wears
as a journalist, but all the time FEELING
that nc was out OF his clement: anothrT7.
was forced by his father to learn the
trade OF harness-nakcr. l know a
machlnlst who at first studied medicine.
oI q matchmaker who tried to become
Il lawyer: OF a carpenter who threw
away three years OF his life trvinr r.
become Il dentist.
Alter you have selected YOUR nrofav-
sion or trade, what :hcno Strive m
master 1t IN all it's details and TO excel
II you become q carpenter, don't be
satisfied when you can saw AMI n1ono
ana match. Don't be satisfied WITH
Two collars per day. Make yourself
"o,'' 'hfee dollars. Master details
anu push yourself from carpenter to
builder: Don imagine that a man in
sealch OF a lawyer walks down street
anu ant drop; in at the first sign hanging