San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1896-01-19

OF business rivalries and with the
prevalent disposition to take ad
vantage of every move on the
ches,-board Of trade, it is indis
pensible that each firm keep itl
business so to itself that its trade
rival cannot take advantage Of it'
proposed movement. This is SC
apparent that 1t requires no argu
ment.
| Business secrets are not for the
world, any more than the secrets
OF the family are. There is in this
statement nothing to suggest thai
the transactions are not legitimate
These transactions are the out
growth Of good business calcula.
tions, wise judgment and deep
study on the part of those who
originate them. Surely these PEG.
pie have right to whatever bene.
fit their trade can derive from the
operations that are undertaken as
the result Of this study and wise
understanding of the conditions Of
trade. They have a right to ex-
pect that those in their employ
will consider this and be governed
by 1t. They will have no room for
the employe who does not. They
will naturally suspect the reckless
talker as the one most likely to
give them away, and he will drop
to the rear or be discharged. His
LIES opportunity gone, because he
did not button his lip.
Not only ia 1t necessary that the
reticence which is approved OF
good horse sense be cultivated, but
it is equally as necessary that the
wisdom of expression be cultivated.
While silence Ia silvern, words fifty
spoken are the true golden apples,
hard to find but of inestimable
value when discovered. The ad-
monition is not to 'seal your lips"
or "sow them up" but to button
them. The cautious countryman
used always to have his pockets
buttoned, so that their contents
would be more secure az he came
into the thronged streets and
mixed with the crowd. His pock-
cts were not sewed up, only but.
toned. This, An order that they
might be opened or closed at his
own discretion.
This is just what the LIGHT
preacher counsels his hearers this
morning to do. Put a button hole
on one lip and then SOW a button
on the other and they will be
ready to be opened or closed at
your own will. This is, of course,
stating the question figuratively,
not literally, but the meaning OF
the illustration is most plain. The
wisdom Of the advice is not to be
successfully questioned. There is
no man who has won success in
trade who will tell you that ad-
herence to this rule is not indis.
pensible to success. Even the law
yers and preachers, who make
their living by their tongues, will
tell you that it is as much what
they do not say as what they do
that makes for their success in
their chosen profession.
T; The value Of buttoning your lip
will be seen when you realize how
important it is that every man
fully understands the what not to
do of life, as we'll as the what to do.
When Powers, the great American
sculptor, told the gawkey who,
loafing around him one day as he
was finishing some beautiful crea-
ton, asked: "Mr. Powers, is that
hard; it don't look so?" ooh mo-!
all that you have to do is to take a
chunk of marble and knock off
what you do not want" he gave
good illustration of the subject of
our discourse. Powers knew what
to leave on that marble block and
what to take off it in order to Sc
cure just the perfect figure that
his genius designed, and Of which
he had a mental picture.
The young man or woman who
buttons the lip properly and
unbuttons it wisely has made a