Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1890-06-14
THEY'RE NOT ALL WISE.
Silent Men May Forge to the Front, bu
They Often Fall When Forced to Speak.

Silent Men May Forge to the Front, but
They Often Fall When Forced to Speak.
The silent man buildeth better than
he knoweth. He acquires wealth, rep
utation and the odor of sanctity. His
forte is keeping quiet. He is the orig
inal of the poet who said: "Silence is
golden"
But Sir Boyle Roche, the author OF
that famous Irish bull about the man
who put his foot in it every time he
opened his mouth, plainly outlived
the ultimate fate of the silent man.
For that is the invariable fate of near
ly all the men whose entire reputation
rests on the rocky foundation of 81
lence. Lucky he who has already
achieved competence on the strength
of his silence.
In nine cases out of ten he talks toe
much when he talks at all. He gives
himself away, SO to speak. He makes
a braying donkey of himself; his rep
utation vanishes into thin air. Every
body says: Il always knew he was a
fool" And everybody goes compla-
Gently about his business, and the fate
of the silent man is sealed. Nobody
can forgive him for once having made
a fool of himself, because nobody can
forgive him for having made fool OF
everybody else for many years.
And still the silent man waxeth fat
and prosperous. He is one of the
towers of strength in any community
When all the other men have had
their little say, more or less eloquently
and to the point, the silent man alone
has not spoken. All eyes turn to him
for refutation or confirmation of what
has been said. But it is not his cue to
speak. He has his reputation for SUI
perior wisdom to maintain, and hence
he keeps his mouth shut. And every
man about him thinks: What super
Tor man he is.
However, as was remarked before,
there is generally day when he is
found out. To illustrate: Several years
ago a young man went to the general
Office of one of our leading railroad
companies in town. He was the bearer
Of strong letters of recommendation
from an old friend of the manager in
a small rural town. The letters re.
ferred especially heavy to the discre-
tion-''unusual for his years"-of the
young man, ON his marvellous capac-
ity for keeping his mouth shut. The
manager, who had been on the look
out for just such young man, at once
gave him berth in his private office.
He prospered amazingly, for all that
was required of him was to exercis.
his natural housekeeping his mouth
shut. The manager swore by him.
Other men in the office caught the in.
lection. Every clerk came to look
upon Mr.. Tytelipps-let us call him
Tytelipps for short-as phenomenon,
as model young man. Everybody
marveled how this country bred young
man had acquired so much wisdom.
Thus Mr.. Tytelipps rose, step by step,
and his salary with him. One day he
was indicted into high and response
bic position, commanding an almost
princely remuneration.
For little while it was all right.
He continued TO keep his mouth shut.
But there was turn in the tide. AT
a directors meeting some information
and suggestions bearing on the better
working of the department whose
head Mr. Tytelipps had shortly be-
come, was called for. Mr.. Tytelipps' as
sistant, a man who had grown gray in
the service of the company and who
knew all the ms and outs of the de-
partment to a r Out who had the mis-
fortune to once in awhile talk too
much), was sick at home. So Tyte-
lpps himself had to respond. And
when the questions had been fired at
him and the board was waiting to be
enlightened, Tytelipps shook his head
sagely, coughed and hemmed and
hawed. That didn't 60" lie had to
do some talking. Then the directors
unanimously came To the conclusion
that Tytelipps was monumental ass
and ought to be bounced. And he
was bounced not long after. At least
he was reduced to the ranks. But he
couldn't stand this long. He went,
and when last heard from he was ped
ding matches or apples or something,
Chicago Herald