Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1891-02-06
A GOOD BOY STORY.
Why City Boys Are Preferred to Country
Bows


Boys
This is what lawyer said about the
story that am to relate TO you: 1T is the
best boy story ! ever heard
We have had good many boys with
Us from time to time, said Mr.. Alden.
the senior member of a large hardware
establishment in Market street, Philadel-
phia, ''as apprentices 70 learn the business.
What may surprise you is that we never
take country boys unless they live in the
city with some relative who takes care Of
them and keeps them home at night, for
when country boy comes to the city to
live, everything Is new to him, and he is
attracted by every show window and unuS-
uat sight. The city boy, accustomed to
these things, cares little for them. and. if
he has a good mother. he Is Mt home and
IN bed IN due season. And we are very
particular about our boys, and. before ac-
cepting one as an apprentice, we must
know that he comes of honest industrious
parents.
But the best boy we ever had is now
with US, and a member of the firm. He
Is the one man in the establishment that
we couldn { do without. He was thirteen
years old when he was appreuticed to Us.
and he was with Us for eleven years, act
first came. we told him that for a long
time his wages would be very small. but
that If proved to be good boy, his salary
would be increased at a certain rate every
year, and, as 1t turned out. when. accord
ing to the agreement, We should have been
paying him FIVE hundred dollars a wear,
we paid him SEQ, and he had never said
word about an increase IN salary. From
the very outset he showed that he had m
interest in the business.
He was prompt in the morning, and, if
kept Il little over time at night, it never
seemed to make any difference to him. He
gradually came to know where everything
was to be found, and, if information was
wanted, it was to this boy, Frank
Jones, that every one applied The en-.
tire establishment seemed to be mapped
out IN his head. and everything in it cata-
logued and numbered. His memory of
faces was equally remarkable He knew
the name of every man who came to buy
goods. what he bought and where he
came from. used often to say to him,
Jones, your memory is worth more than
a gold mlnel How do you manage to re-
| member?"
81 make 1t my business to remember"
he would say. Il know that if ! can re-
when he comes into the store, and ask him
how things are going on where he lives, |
will be very likely TO keep him as Il cuSto-
| mer.
And that was the exact case. He made
| friends of buyers. He took the same in
| terest In their purchases as he took in the
! store. and would go to no end OF trouble
to suit them and to fulfill to the letter
| everything he promised
well, affairs went On this way until
he had been with us eleven years, when we
concluded to make him a partner. We
knew that he had no eXtraVagant habits,
that he neither used tobacco nor beer. nor
| went to the theatre. He continued to
board at home, and even when his salary
was at the very lowest he paid his mother
| two dollars week for his board He was
always neatly dressed, and we thought it
very probable that he had laid up one or
two thousand dollars, as his salary for the
las two years had been twelve hundred
| dollars. So, when we made him the offer
to become partner In the business. and
suggested that it would be more satisfact-
ory if he could put some money in the
firm. he replied:
IF ten thousand dollars will be any
object, | can put in that much ! Lave
saved out of my salary 50, 400, and my sis
ter will let me have $500.
Il eau tell you | was never more aston
ished in my life than when that fellow
said be could put in $4,000, and the most
of his own money. He had never spent a
dollar, or twenty-five cents, or FIVE cents,
for an unnecessary thing, and kept his
money Ia the bank where it gathered a
small interest. | am a great believer in
the Bible, You know, and | always kept
two placards, in big letters, up in the
store. One was this text: He that is
faithful in that which is least, is faithful
also In that which is much; and on the
other: He that is deligent in business
shall stand before kings, and not before
mean men, And Frank Jones success
was the literal fulfllment of those two
texts. He had been faithful in the small
Ter things as in the greater ones, and dill
gent in business. That kind of boy al
ways succeeds continued Mr.. Alden
A small boy of ten, who had listened to
the story with eager eyes, as well as ears,
said:
But we don t have any kings in this
country, Mr.. Alden, for diligent boys to
stand before!'
Eyes, we do, laughed Mr.. Adm" We
have more kings here than in any other
country in the world. We have money
kings, and business kings. and railroad
kings, and land kings, and merchant
kings, and publishing kings and some of
them WELD an enormous power This is a
great country for kings. Wide awake