The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-05-02
family has its own well furnished home,
and we have never had strike"

| family has its own well-furnished home,
/ and we have never had strike"
POINTS FOR BUSINESS MEN.
did you get your whole business
| education in your fathers factories? q
I asked.
NO." replied Gen. Gary. "For near
| ly year I was in the employ Of Tom
| Wilson, who was Baltimore importer
and merchant. He died, leaving several
| millions of dollars, and was during his
| life noted for his shrewd business sense.
| Father arranged with Mr.. Wilson that
I should work for a time in his count
| ing house. When I went there the old
man told me that father had given ME
| to him for a year that he might teach
| me business. I replied that I was
| anxious to learn all I could. Well, I got
my first business lesson the second
! day. I was set to copying letters. At
that time Mr.. Wilson did big business
| with South America and other coun-
| tries. shipping his cargoes in sailing
| vessels. In our correspondence we al
ways sent number Of duplicate let
| tiers by different ships to avoid the dan
| ger Of loss. My first work was the
| copying Of such letters. At the close
Of the day found that I had made
several mistakes in my copy, so when
came back the next morning l
brought steel ink eraser with me to
scratch them out. This eraser was
lying on my desk when Mr.. Wilson
came in. He asked me what it was
for. I told him. Whereupon he took
| it UP and put 1t away, saying that there
| should be no mistakes to scratch out.
| That taught me one lesson.
| HOW TO SAY NO"
ri remember another lesson which
| "a
| later" continued the postmaster gen.
eral. ''In addition to other things we
did large discounting business. Those
were the days Of high interest rates.
Eight, 10 and II per cent were not I'M
common, and Mr.. Wilson sometimes
discounted from $4,000 to $4,000 Of pa
per in day. He would get discount
! of 2 per cent or more; and by indors-
| ing the notes could turn them into the
banks and at 6 per cent get all the
money he wanted. Upon the day re-
ferred to an old note broker came into
| the office with a large bundle of notes
which he wanted discounted. Just at
that time, however. Mr.. Wilson did not
have the money, and he had to refuse.
AS the man came in he called me to
him and asked me to sit down and
listen while he talked. He then chat
| ted to the man about number Of
things outside Of the business in hand
| showing an interest in him and his
| affairs, and though he did not take the
brokers' notes I could see that the man
| departed happy. though 1t must have
been great dispointnent to him to
have failed in making the sale. As
| soon as the man left Mr.. Wilson said:
My boy, I suppose it surprised you
! that called you here to listen to what
must have seemed trifing talk. did
SO to show you that there is more than
one way of saying mo" II you are
careful you can do so without losing
your friends. and that Is what have
| done with that man today"
| .'Do you believe in boys being sent
| to college as a. preparatory training
for business. Gen. Gary?" asked.
mo, I think it takes too much time"
| replied Gen. Gary, "and that a great
less knowledge. I don't think bust
ness man needs Greek or Latin. IF he
has a good English education, and, If In
addition a little French and German.
he is far better off. If boy is to be a
professional man it is different. He
should then have the best Of college
educations. The thing is to study your
boy. and to train him for what he Is
| to do"
HOW BUSINESS IS CHANGING.
"But does not business change in
methods from year to year? I asked.
yes" replied the postmaster general.
'The business Of today is not what 1t
| was twenty years ago. I don't think
| the chances of the average man are
as good as they have been. I doubt
whether we will again have the wages
and the opportunities Of fortune-mal1-
ing which we have had during the past
thirty years. The world is continually
growing smaller. The telegraph has
anninlated time and the railroad and
the steamboat have almost conquered
space. Look at the changes! When
was young the London merchant sent
his ship to India for it's cargo. When
he did SO he knew that 1t would be
| six months il, going and six months in
! returning by the way of the Cape Of
Good Hope and he waited year for
| the result. The merchant OF today
| takes notion at 4 o'clock p. m. that he
wants 100000 bushels Of India wheat.
| He writes q eablegram and sends it to
the Office and goes home to his wife and
| family. When he returns to his bust
| ness the next day he finds reply stat
| Ing that the wheat has been purchased
/ and Is now being loaded. Twenty
/ eight days later 1t is at the London
! dock, having steamed there via Suez
canal. Such things - this have