The Dickinson press., 1888-11-10
BUSINESS SUCCESS.
THE ELEMENT OF CHANCE THAT
SETS FOR OR AGAINST MEN.

Am Example OF Row Luck May Change.
A. I. Stewards Attention to Details.
Gould's N1cthods-Commotloro Wander
bilt and His Traffic Manager.
Some of the shrewdeSt merchants in this
town will tell you that there is assuredly an
element OF chance which sets for or against;
mon in business affairs. One of the richest
men in this country before his death told the
most fascinating Of tales regarding tho play
OF chance in his experience. This was the
late Senator Miller, Of California. He was {;
man of superior business qualification, Of
pretty shrewd judgment, and far sighted, yet
when he came out cf tho army everything
t!ia, H. turned his hand TO failed, and as Il
means of support lie was obliged to seek n
government office, and Ee was rcjoced when
Grant ;,avo him the custom house ut San
Francisco. In that otlico Senator Miller
hoped 10 be able to save enough i'll the course
OF II few Years to put him OH his feet again,
bu, he found that be was sliding backward.
He could not see how OF Why, and he was
firmly impressed with the belief that he was
born under an unlucky star.
See now how luck changes, and how its
chance may shift about like weather cock.
Que day there came into Mr.. Miller's office Ii
bruy tar, with the smell of whale oil on his
clothes and the roll of u sea dog i'll his legs.
He laid on tho collectors desk IL bit of fur,
and he said that he had captured that skin
himself and knew whcro there were millions
more. Ho had n gentle proposition to make,
that the collector should charter and vctual
n ship and ''go snooks' with him i'll the
profit that ho thought would bo obtained
from selling these skins. He would not tell
in what part of the sea ho found the animals,
and his proposition was about us unbusness
like and hare lralncd as any that Mr.. Miller
had ever listened To. His business instinct
told himto dismiss the man, but us ho rubbed
hi, hand on tho fur, which was smoother than
the best silk velvet, it occurred to him to
nakc,h venture He interested some of his
friends in tho scheme and they sent the cap
tain, with great doubt rs to their sanity in
So doing, Off into tho mystery of the Polar
sen, and thus tho great Alaska Seal Fur COM
I;ny wae organized, and tho shuttlccock of
Miller, fortune shifted from che keen eas:
wind oil disappointment to the bracing west
crly winds of magnificent prosperity
The curious thing about it was that from
that day Miller never made IL business i'll
vsstncnt that WIS not profitable, although
| la many Of those which he did make he did
not bcstow one-hnf the attention und eau
| ton which lie had previously given to others
that wcre unfortunate. Senator Jones, Of
Nevada, is another of those whose experience
! leads him To believe in the doctrine OF chance
as an clement of business mems success OF
misfortune. Into tho great Hudson river
tnnncl, into his hotel properties into his
Washington Investments in fact into every
thing east Of tho Rocky Mountains which
tho senator has put his money, fate set
against him, and lie has seen millions
melt away like icicles in tho sunlight But
III u chance investment which he almost
tlDllshtlcssly nlado in mining properties in
tll" British possessions and i'll Alaska, as we'll
ns apparently worthless stock in Ne.
vadt mining property which n few years ago
lie would have seen burned up without O.
SIGH chance has brought him new fortune
The man who prcscribcs unto himself any
set Of rules, or takes as II model the career Of
may man, will be very likely to meet with u
slip up There was a. I. Stewart, who as
rribcd his success to the most patient utter-
tun I" trivial details, but if William II. Grace
undertook to run his colossal business as Stew
,, art did, lie would bo frantic in II week
Stewart not only gavo orders, but followed
them up to 500 il they We're executed. Mr.
Grace employs men who he knows will carry
out in detail the plans which he conccives
. That is also in some respects Mr. Gould's
habit. During the great southwestern strike
in which Mir. Goulds property was SC
, seriously impcrled, ho was asked why Le
seemed to rest so easily Said he: I'VE cnl
,loy Mr.. lIoxic. He keeps mo informed u
to results, and it is his business TO look after
,il, details A colossal brain racking busi
ncss it was, too, and it undoubtedly killct
, lIoxic But Mr.. Gould. had he adopted th
methods Of some successful business men
would have thought it necessary to hav'
penetrated all those details himself, and tina
. would haYo brought on neuralgia like
: liralytic shock.
: jus 50 with Commodore Vanderbilt, an,
1 we can illustrate it no better than to rcpca
ono of Chaunccy NJ. Dcpcw's stories. Sai'
!, be: 81 he commodore heard of II young mai
o who wa, 1; freight agent, and n remarkably
II brialt and successful one, on the Erie rail
road The chap lad given evidence that Ii
conlprehcr,lcl that tho business of freigh
transportation was something more thnn th
ii mere hauling Of goods from one town to NJ
$ o,h"r In his limited field tho young cha
n had shown that lo possessed genius for q
d interstate OF national traffic manager Tha
. was Just the kind of bud that the coininodo1
II wanted to blossom on the Central system
II s., he cot Jim I.utter away from the Fri
= ;,ll paid him $4,000 year as traffic nai
u ngcr of tho New York Central. Not lon
. after Euttcr took charge thcro nros
h a difficult problem, and ono il
Il volvng tho interest Of the Cel
o tlal road very greatly. Ruttt
e went To tho commodore with it, The o.
Il Ian looked ut him moment and then sai'
- Jim, what does tho Central road pay sc
= S5,ooO year for' TO manage the trait
% Department. Jim replied. DO you e12e
l. | am going to earn your salary for you:' sal
o tic commodore. Jim caught tho poin
Il turned on his heel, went away ard solvedtt
Il ,,.oi.nl. If hc hadn't solved it rightly t.
n Central road had no use for hinl." Yet thel
j. nre lots oil successful business men who "ou
4 lluv, taken it as compliment to have bee
le thus approached by Rutter had they been
So NMntlcrbilt's place.
il That great merchant prince, John Wan
is maker, OF Philadelphia, might have been
iqilor barker to this d.y had he tried to s
ricI! on lines laid down by others. Headop;'
lust one motto: ''Do ye next thing, and h
O. n,yy reached the point where the next thi!
an s,ciI, to be lepositlnS of bigger sums at T.
IN enc! Of one days business than he did the d;
u. Lclol..-New York Evening Sun.
H. Sapoleon's Hats and Overcoats.
~ OF all the historical garments which CROW
he the greet museums Of tile world, none
'cs more iamlous than the gray overcoat al
Il c..atoul OF Napoleon |, celebrated IN BE