The Monitor-register. [volume] (Woodstown, Salem Co., N.J.) 1892-1972, 1896-11-06
BOYS IN BUSINESS.
BY GEORGE E. WALSH.

BOYS IN BUSINESS.
BY GEORGE E. WALSH.
Nearly every boy who adopts a bust
ness life must start in at some time as
clerk, and learn the business gradually
through a close association with the
leading spirits of the concern. The word
''clerk" is very Indifferent term, and
generally conveys but little meaning. 1t
includes great variety of work, and
may mean young man selling candy or
groceries over the counter of country
store at a nominal salary of three dollars
a week, or trusted assistant in a great
financial institution receiving three to
five thousand dollars year salary. In
speaking Of clerks it is more to the
point to specify them as bank clerks,
statesmen, shipping clerks, general office
clerks, or some other name. In business
circles these more definite terms are used.
Young men entering business as clerks
| should consequently take note of the
modern tendency to specialize the work
in all large companies, and prepare them
selves for some particular line. When a
firm advertises for help, it is some special
line of work that it wants the new man
to perform, and the applicant who states
that she can do anything" is not the one
most likely to be accepted. 1t is we'll to
| Sfudu for IoRn ;k 81 t.
to secure a good position. A shipping
clerk is man in considerable demand
in most Of the large houses that are SELL
ing goods to retail dealers, and a compe-
tent man is needed to fill this position.
Young men from eighteen to twenty. five
are making twenty five dollars week as
shipping clerks in our large cities, and
they are in position to learn the business
pretty thoroughly. They hold respon-
sible position, and are held strictly &C.
countable for everything that leaves the
house. They are supposed to make out
the bills for goods shipped, and 10 see
that they are checked off properly and
entered upon their books. Their shipping
books and receipts must correspond to
the entries made by the bookkeepers in
their books. If goods are not properly
packed when ready for shipping, It is the
duty of the shipping clerk to see that
they are changed. He must know all of
the rail and water routes and their terms
for transporting goods, and the truokmen
and express companies must receive their
orders direct from him. In short, he is
held responsible for an accurate account
of every article that is shipped from the
warehouse.
General office clerks have inside work
entirely to perform, and they may be
little more than Office boys, or the trusted
assistant of the head of the firm. The
head clerk of large Office stands next to
the manager. He receives the instruc-
tions from the company and carries them
out in the Office. The other clerks are
under his charge, and perform their
duties at his dictation as coming through
the head of the firm. A good he ad clerk
in large establishment may receive one
thousand five hundred dollars to three
Thousand dollars year, according to the
size and Importance of the concern for
which he is working. Under him are all
grades of clerks, from the office boy at
three dollars week to the head book
keeper. In many Offices the head book
keeper and the head office clerk are one.
They perform the functions of both, and
fEd&eive good salary.
ibis leads one to the consideration of
se bookkeeper's outlook. In recent
||3years bookkeepers have been turrei out
from our business colleges by the thou
sand, and wages have consequently had a
sidE9p Formerly good bookkeeper
eb9likget thirty dollars week with COM
'EnSrative ease, and if he lost his situation
The was pretty sure to secure another
equally as good. But to-day there are so
many good bookkeepers on the market
that one frequently has great difficulty in
securing the wages that he thinks his
talents deserve. 1t is not that good wages
are no longer paid to bookkeepers, but
simply that all OF the fine positions are
takep,. and one cannot reach them at
once. A firm does not pay the high
salary to new bookkeeper that it does
to one who has been in the establishment
for years, and who understands the work.
| - kbo h,a;noae aoI od9oa
; The only sure way to secure comfort.
able berth as head bookkeeper in large
firm is to earn it through years of patien,
work and study. There are plenty
Of positions for young bookkeepers
at eight and ten dollars per week, and
, the young man just entering business
would do we'll to accept one and identify
, himself for life with some large, liberal
/ aud successful firm. If he has the true
business worth in him, he will gradually
} work up from an inferior position to thai
of chief clerk. The latter position il
frequently next to that of the junior
partners in influence, and may in somt
, concerns stand above it.
, There is nothing gained without steady
t push, energy, and wide-awake progress
] siveness. The young clerk or book
keeper who simply performs the worl
allotted to him in half hearted, me
chanioal way cannot hope to eeoure pro
motions as fast as another who throws
his whole heart and soul into hit
employers business from an unselfist
, point of view. Consider 1t as a part o.
/ your own, and work accordingly. Tht
heads of our large business concerns
work longer and harder, as rule, thar
; the clerks and subordinates. The latter
leave the Office and forget all about thu
, business at five or six O'Clock, but the
, owners may not get the worry and car'
off their minds until midnight. If thu
young clerk takes pattern after hi
employer, and not after some other CLERK
near him, he will find the way Of pro
: motion much more secure.
The bookkeeper who wishes to succeed
In large concern must not confine hit
, studies and attention to bis books. Hi
must keep these correctly and written NJ
to date each day in neat manner, but
he must take broader view of his duty
! and try to take some concern of the bust
ness in a general way. He should be il
a position to study the needs of the ofics
and to suggest new methods by which the
work could be simplified and systema
} tized. He may be able in this way t1