The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1885-08-28
Be Thorough.

Exchange
1t was Carlyle who said, Genius is
an immense capacity for taking
trouble,'' and George Eliot gives the
same thought in other words: Genius
is, at first, little more than a great ca
pac.ty for receiving discipline The
most successful have always been the
most painstaking. Appointment Judge
living near Cincinnati, wishing to have
q rough fence built, sent for a carpen-
Ter, and said to him:
Il want this fence mended to keep
out the cattle. There are some un-
planed boards-use them 1t is out
Of sight from the house, SO you need
not take time to make a neat Job. I
will only pay you dollar and
half"
However, afterward, the Judge, COM
ing to look at the work, found the
boards were planed and the fence fin
| ished with exceeding neatness Sup
posing the young man had done it to-
| make q costly job Of it, he said, an
grily:
81 told you this fence was to be COW
cred with vines. do not care how it
looks"
! II do" said the carpenter.
"How much do you charge?' asked
the Judge
"a dollar and half,'' said the man..
shouldering his tools.
"Why did you spend all that labor
sn the job, if not for the money?''
''For the job, sir.'
Nobody would have seen the poor
work on it."
But 1 should have known it was
there. No; I'll only take dollar and
a half" And he took it and Went
away.
Ten years afterward the Judge had
; contract to give for the building of
certain magnificent public buildings.
There were many applicants among
master builders, but one face attracted
attention. 1t was that OF the man who
had built the fence.
II knew said the judge, afterward
telling the story, I'VE should have
only good genuine work from him. T
gave him the contract and made a
rich man of him."
The Hon. Josiah Quincy was at one
| lime conversing with Daniel Webster
upon the Importance of doing even the
smallest thing thoroughly and well,
dent concerning a petty Insurance case
which was brought to hun while a
young lawyer at Portsmouth. The fee
promised was only $40. Yet. to do
his clients full justice, Webster found
he must journey to Boston to consult
the law library. This involved an ex-
pense of above the amount of his fee,
but after hesitating a little, he decided
| to To Roctnn oonc,11t ha
thorities, let the cost be what it might.
He gained the case
Years after this Webster was pass
ing throhgh the city of NeW York. An
important insurance case was to be
tried that day, and one of the counsel
had been suddenly Frustrated by ILL
ness. Money was no object and Web
ster was asked to name his terms and
conduct the case.
''It is preposterous, said he, ''to
expect me to prepare a legal argument
at few hours notice."
But when they insisted that he
should look at the papers, he consent
ed 1t was his old twenty-dollar case
over again, and having remarkable
memory, he had all the authorities in
his mind and won the case. The court
knew he had DO time for preparation,
and was astonished at the skill with
which he handled the case
$50 you see,' said Webster, AS he
concluded, Il was handsomely paid,
both in fame and money, for that jour-
ney to Boston; and the moral is, that
good work is rewarded in the end,
though, to be sure, ones self-approVal
should he enough"
Thoroughness implies attention to de-
tails, neatness and method. 4 young
man who was shrewd and exacting,
but whose business habits were care
less and unmethodical, succeeded, by
hard work and economy, in establish
ing prosperous business, but failed
and went into bankrupto, at the early
age of thirty-iive because Of his care
lessness in omitting to place note for
large amount in his bills payable.
posc NJ VoIa