Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-02-27
A KING OF r

Nneh-Str1ve Ed Excel In something, anu
That in Your Own Line of Business-A
Rare Article.
One of the roundest, biggest, most
aristocratic words IL the language is
the word excellent. 1t is areal king of
words. To say that a thing is excellent,
is to say more than very good; it is not
only very good, but it excels.
Now every man, woman or child
worthy the name, desires to excel in
something-and this desire is the very
salt of ambitions. 1t preserves ana
adds piquancy to all other manly at
tributes. Still, salt must be used with
very much discretion. Do you know
that W. all have a certain sympathy for
any one, nj matter who he is, who
strives to excel in, no matter what?
Thus baseball men, the bicyclists and
the roller skaters-as experts always
awake in me q certain admiration.
Here IS something, say they, in which l
can excel, here IS room for me, place
and opportunity, and they take advan-
tage of it. 1 wish these young men
Sooiu Ai"So u AASLoA, ~ uo1e 1dlStdD1c
ambition-some time they may have
at present, however, they seek to
excel in what offers. I had rather see
my boy excel in legs, if he could not in
brains. Better be first in baseball, than
second in your line of work.
The world is overrun by men of me-
diocrity-fair teachers, fair clerks, fair
book-keepers, can be had by the ten
thousand, while expert men who excel
in these callings are rare, and can
scarcely be had at any price.
l was sympathizing with a young
man who had lost his position by
change of business, in his house. I'll
have had four positions offered me at
larger salary" he replied. just think
of it, four large houses desiring the
services of one young man scarcely of
age. ldoubt not you know of such
young men.
Aow ARE it is to see a young man do
his work better than he is paid for, to
keep his books not only correctly, but
neatly and legibly, to do up his bundles
nicely, or keep his goods in nice shape:
or, in a word, to do anything better
than is expected of him.
A young man is cautioned by the
home folks to ave and lay up his earn
ings nine times, when he is once advised
to keep ahead in his standing, or tech
nical reputation. To hear young mel
talk you would think hat salary wa.
the n and only object for which they
worked. Business knowledge, or pro
~fessional standing or technical accom-.
plishments they care nothing about
h,1t kswhot yuapao no | rattinS ~
Now did it ever occur to you that
what appears to be the primary consid-
Grafton with a clerk, is secondary with
his employer? Salaries are graded &C,
cording to work. fancy Ihear a hun
dred young men jump up and say
"Not with us, they amt" 1 reply,
Of course not, you are hired only tt
take the places for which good men can
not be found, but when the right mar
comes he will fix his own salary, and
you will be bounced.
Said a wholesale man to me: ''We
had rather have one mar than two, anc
give him all the salary, but we cam
find them" Said President - of the
- Railroad, to me: 81 tell my Super.
intendents to get young men for brake
men that we can push along up"
find, however, on that, as on othe1
roads, where you see one young man te
push up, you see nine scrawny, big
mouthed, impudent loafers at the
brakes. His superintendent are evi
IDENTIFY unable to find the right kind Of
men.
I advise, then, every young man who
is unappreciated, and is paid only hal
he earns, to throw up his place at once
his. services are wanted all up anddowr
the street; but be sure what you do.
An insurance man once told me his
company made him work on a salary,
for when he worked on commission he
earned too much; it scared them. A
few weeks after he was peddline
lightning-rods on commission; he found
q company with nerve enough to stand
the racket of his sales. OF course in
certain houses young men are over
worked and underpaid in many m
stances. A young man of this sort
asked for an increase of salary. When
it was refused him his mean employer
saw with delight that instead of getting
dumpy over it he went to work with
new zeal and energy. Again a refusal,
and again more zeal and work, and
again anu again, WHICH OHIy liAcu Gnt
merchant in the belief that the smaller
the salary the more work. At the erd
Of three years he went to his employer
and said he was going to leave. "No!''
said his employer, Il was going to
raise your salary the next month" The
young man went, and took with him
the best clerks, that for those years he
had been drilling, and set up for him.
self next door, and in two years bought
his employers stock at forced sale. An
exceptional case? OF course it was ex-
ceptional. Such young men are rare,
hut you see how it was done. He was
working for a larger salary than his
present salary. He worked to excel.
A young man on a small salary has
more incentive to work than he OF large
pay. A well-paid maj can afford to be
indolent; not so a man who can barely
make ends meet.
You say it is hard to excel nowadays,
with so much competition. Hard! You
are right, my boy, and hard is a light
word. There is no road SO rough, hard
and discOuraging as the road to excel.