Smyrna times., 1889-03-20
How Young Men may Succeed.

Andrew Carnegie, in Youths Companion
and it is well that young men should
begin at the beginning, and occupy
the most subordinate position. Many
1 OF the business men of Pittsburg had a
serious responsibility thrust upon them
at the very threshold of their career.
They were introduced to the broom.
and spent the first hours of their bust
ness lives sweeping out the office.
was sweeper myself, and who do
/ You suppose were my fellOw-sweepers
David McCargO, now Superintendent
OF the Allegheny Valley Railroad
Robert Pitcairn, superintendent of the
Pennsylvania Railroad and Mr.. More
land, City Attorney of Pittsburg.
Begin at the beginning, but aim
high. l would not give a fig for the
young man who does not already see
himself the partner or the head of
| some important firm.
There are three dangers in vour
path the first is the drinking of liquor.
the second is speculation, and the third
is endorsing"
When l was telegraph operator in
Plttsburg, | knew all the men who
speculated. They were not our citi-
zens of first repute; they were regard
ed with suspicion. have lived to see
all of them ruined, bankrupt in money
and bankrupt in character. There is
scarcely an instance of man who has
made a fortune by speculation, and
Kept it. The man who grasps the
morning papers to see how his specu-
latlve ventures are likely to result un-
hts himself for the calm consideration
and proper solutions of business prob
lens, with which he has TO deal later
IN the day, and saps the sources of
that persistent success and often the
very safety of his main business. The
The thorough man of business knows
that only by years of patient, unremit-
ting attention to affairs can he earn his
reward, which is the result not of
chance, but of well-devised means for
the attainment of ends.
Nothing is more essential to Young
business men than untarnished credit.
| and nothing kills credit sooner than
the knowledge in any bank board that
a man engages in speculation. How
can a man be credited whose resources
may be swept away in one hour by a
panic among gamesters? Resolve to
be business men, but spectators
never.
The third danger is the perilous
habit Of endorsing notes. 1t appeals
to your generous instincts, and YOU
say, How can l refuse to lend nv
name only, to assist fliend ?" 1t is
because there is so much that is true
and commendable in that view that
the practice is so dangerous. If you
owe anything, all your capital and all
your effects are a solemn trust in your
hands to be held inviolate for the Sc
curlty of those who have trusted YOU.
When man in debt endorses for an
other, it is not his own credit or his
own capital that he risks, it is the
money of his own creditors There
fore, | say that if you are ever called
| upon to endorse, never do it unless
you have cash means not required for
your own debts, and never endorse
beyond those means.
Assuming that you are safe in regard
to these your greatest dangers-drnk-
ing, speculating and endorsing-the
| question is: How to rise? The rising
man must do something exceptional,
aud beyond the range of his special de-
! partment. He must attract attention.
A shipping clerk may do so by discov-
/ ering in an invoice an error with
which he had nothing to do, ard
which has escaped the attention of the
| proper person. If a weighing clerk.
he may save for the firm by doubling
! the adjustment of the scales, and hav-
! ing them corrected. Your employer
must find out that he has not got
mere hireling in his service, but
/ man; not one who is content to give so
many hours of work for so many dol
lars In return, bnt one who devotes his
spare hours and constant thoughts to
the business.
Our young partners in Carnegie
Brothers have won their spurs by
showing that we did not know half as
well what was wanted as they did.
There is one sure mark of the COM
/ ing millionaire; his revenues always
exceed his expenditures. He begins
to save as soon as he begins to earn.
| Capitalists trust the saving young
man. For every hundred dollars you
can produce as the result of hard-wOn
savings, Midas, in search of a partner,
will lend on credit a thousand; for
every thousand, fifty thousand.
II is not cnpital your seniors require,
it is the man who has proved ne has
the business habits which make capi-
tai. Begin at once to lay up some
thing. 1t is the first hundred dollars
saved which tells
And here is the prime condition of
success, the great secret concentrate
your energy, thought and capital ex-
clusively upon the business in which
you are engaged. Having begun in
one line, resolve to fight it out on that
line; to lead in it; adopt every i'm
provement, have the best machinery
and know the most about it.
Finally, do not be impatient, for, as
Emerson says: No one can cheat you
out Of ultimate success but yourselves" :"