The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-05-03
THE MAN WITH ONE IDEA.
How Sticking to a Single Thing Has
Brought Fame and Wealth.
Frora the Ne,o YORK World.

my son. said a certain German pro-
fessor of philology, who fonnd himself at
deaths door, after a long aud laborious
life devoted to the study of the Greek
article. MY son, take warning by my
fault. Don't attemot too much. see
now that ought to have confined myself to
the dayive case.
New Workers, who are the greatest ''scat-
terers" in the world, whether in busi ess.
literature, or the pursuit of profe sional re-
searches, may extract useful lesson
from the sublime concentratiot of the old
German SchOla who, although his devo-
ton to a single thought a ID aim was car
ried to the extreme, and early to the int
OF the ludlcrou', it nevertheless illustrates
the FOLLY of too great diffusion in any }ur-
suit.
That this is the age of special lists, when
any m2n who can do one thing better than
any other person, or even better than mos,
persons, re4ns the reward, is proven in a
THOUSAND ways, in small matters as we'll a,
In those undertakings that leave their i'm
press upon a age.
All newspa er mon know thai Oliver
Hitchcock "ade his everlasting fortune
through sticking 70 corned beef ard beans.
His lit'le undergrou restu ant became
famous all 'ver the ecu try, aud Mr. jaw.
from Wayback Center, huntei him u and
metropolis.
Coffee Pat Dolan hung his faith upon
butter-cakes of peculiar exec lence a d
mysteri Gus receipt, a d consequently ha :
become a blnated 10 dlpldar. Yet tie
gold mi e tn q 'ffee Pat W rks is Only a
little box hardly large escugl o permit Il
dozen customers to seat tnems Ives a. one
time
There Is an old fellow down on Nassau
treet who 1as grown richer tina half the
big merchants aronnd his hu nble store, a ID
all that 10 sells Is Insect pc ydar. So great
did tie fame of tue erni d-Strl er be-
come at dozen imitators sprang up in
various pa is of the city, vet without Ill
juri z the prosperity of the 'rIgilal
Goodyear was q oue-idea man, and he
haunted capitalists with his gum shoes until
they began to call hi a crank, but he
carved out for I'm elf fame and fortune
enough to fit out a dozen avera % mon.
Gov. Ames of Massachusetts, acknOwl.
edges that she colossal fortune Of his am jy
was founded upon novels III fra made
shovels and shovels, and at las the A nos
shovel led the world, when, pre- to! Ames
was rich.
Oue chap made fortune out of clothes
pins that shut uD with SPRING, but @
funny point in his cce,s is tlat tue people
never found out that his pms era intended
for the security Of the neekl wasb, bu,
misa propriatei them for paper clips ami
made run on hi in.
A Yankee be yan the manufac ure of
padlocks to fas en- dog col ars. He made no
other padlocks, but got rich all the sa ne.
Another man, who hit out the id "a the
return ball, ID stuck to that and not ing
else, amaSsed a c mpe ence.
But, perhap, the mos5 singu ar singh idea
worked III the mercantile Ii was that of
the ny-trap man, no had place of bust
nat lint ctr Ia gEt
but fly traps, and had III IN of all varieties
aud various ylas architecture e, eacl one
better than the other. He had crowds of
customer, and got rich just IN time, for
the poor fellow to whom ne sold out was
ruined by the combined effort, of the
81 gle-idea hy-paper man aid he equally
solitary idea win ow- ree man. tlese
wort les declared a rev tiutipI aga nst tie
house fly, were victorious, and retired upon
| ample fortunes.
the Original weatheT-Strio man was one
of the {. e-idea contingent, and id lie
| aged New Y rkers enc Der that he wed
W tn the Dav s. Pain Kill r an and
Railways Ready Relief man is desecrating
the face OF nature. d ito back fe cos and
| dead "alS with MS advertise <. Tuey all
got rich at The expense of their feIo "
citizens.
There is a famous downtown drug store
| whose proprietor is a uvert to the o o
| idea, and tina one idea so Ia water lie
dJles out oceans of the foamng Temperance
b verage to ir7ty lO;Sands, and it is safe
| to say thet his enormous profits are mad q
| up, fully 90 per cent, from the sales at the
| fzzinG fountain.
AL the patent medicine aud specially al
vertising firms are simply working the one
idea scheme. Eve III journalism the one
idea mal usually gets there-if he has the
n cessary q ancial backing at the start.
This was peculiarly illustrated in the old
Danbury NetCS. which, from an insignificant
ky blanket sheet, published IN an OBJ
scure town, developed INTO t mott t nous
humorous newspaper in the United States
Another weekly, without half the brains
behind the Danbury publication, got into
the id "a tnat there was something funny .
the Texas character, and worked Off old
chesrnuts by the yard, localizing all Of
them. The idea to X and t original pro-
prietors starred bank accounts.
There is only one drawback to the single
idea as applied to literary ventures, as well
as in Il lesser degree, to Commercial under
takings, and that is the ultimate certainty
of succs sful imitation. But the i,nitator
does not usually begiu to see the point until
the orr iuator Is on tle high road to fort
une, and by the time t1e oppo ition els in
way to divide up the business, the original
is able to step down and buttOi up his
pocket, leaving the imitators 20 cut o o an
others tn oats to the profit and deIectation
of the public.
Among tho professions the scope of the
specialist Is even more pronounced than
among the commerce ii branches Of mum n
indus ny. The neurologisJ, VINO studies the
nervous diseases, and no woul1 consider
hi nself insu ted If asked to prescribe for
case If measles; the uculst, WAC charges
you an outrageous feo for looking in . the
iris of your eye with a micros ;ope, a d wno
chIehy looks wise and talks IN seriously;
the aurisy and haif score Of other medical
and surg cal specialists reap tie big re- ard
OF their protest. IN, AID get most Of o
glory The dream of the new fledge1
medico is to blossom ont into a consulting
specialist, sit in MS Off g and taxe fal to )
and refuse to 60 out vi ii, Off Q ave to see
Old Money-Bags, who Is Wiling to pay
Handsomely to cleat the gentleman who Is
bound to get him sooner or later.
A reporter was in the Office Of famous
New YORK specialist in mental diseases he
o her day, wnoss lie hobby a OelIsf that
be has talent for novel writing, a ID came
in at tho ,ileld Of a long procession Of
cranky patien who 1t upo the edges OF
their cnairs and REGARDED the Il iors ia the
room as Inmates. The colOred att-nda
kept the patients going in one door and out
at another with a celebrity that appe ired
ludicrous, VIII N it was remembered that
these wild-eyed peopli came TO consult the
great authority about the most terrible
arrangement that tue human frame is heir
TO. 1t seemed as though they just
remained within the consulting room