The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1900-08-13
THE SELF.MADE MAN

The Topic Of United States Senator
Nathan B. Scott, of West Virginia.
Timely Advice to the Young Men;
of To-day.
& United States Senator Nathan 3.
Scott. OF this city. has branched out In
to the field Of literature, and contrib
utes a timely article on 1.-THE Self.
Made Man to a Sunday newspaper
syndicate. which appeared yesterday.
Says Senator Scott: n \
Looking back over a life that was
started with no more valuable assets In
hand than a sound constitution and
practical advice from those who had
fought the battle and won It, am i'm
PEELED to say, calmly and without quail
tlcation, that I can not see how any
man of ordinary ability and possessed
OF m answering determination to sue
coed. can make n failure of his fight for
the object OF his ambition. The Idea
Of flood-tide which leads to fortune
and which must be seized at a psyche
logical moment or lost forever is at
variance with my experiences. which
have taught me that only the persist
cnt following of principles that are the
groundwork OF success can lead to TINT
fortune which Shakespeare so gayly
sings OF as to be found at the right end
OF a fioodtlde.
The work Of building O successful ca.
reer begins at the beginning, where
everything else does. What folly to
say that the young man must SOW his
wild oats to insure his settling down to
the more sensible season Of life. When
I 80 back to the days when / was seek
Ing road tc fortune In the west, / see
myself adhering firmly to the determin-
alton born OF good advice that have
referred to, to make each year an i'm
provement on the preceding one. finan-
cially and every other way. II I found
out that the earnings of the current
month were not sufficient to purchase
n needed pair of shoes or n new suit.
then the old shoes and the old suit must
needs do more service until the funds
were In such shape to Justify. the eX-
,penditure without danger to the princi-
pie that had laid down never to go be-
You'd my current means: This was my
simple plan for winning wealth. I
knew of no mlle-a-minute road to
riches. know of none now. My av-
enue to fortune Is by way of n steady
climb. up the ladder, up and up. never
swerving. never hesitating to look down
never doubling success for moment,
using judgment, certainly, but ever
sticking to the Initial determination to
make truth and honesty. Us well as in.
dustry, the agents by which the goal Is
to be reached. ,r
have no sympathy with the young
man who is everlastingly waiting for,
his chance to come along. De assured
that he who Is left Mt the bottom OF the
ladder while others climb has not made
the effort that Is necessary to success.
He is of the variety of employe who Is
unhappy II he arrives FIVE minutes
ahead OF time. and who looks at the
clock persistently for half an hour be-
fore the days work Is supposed to
close, for fear he remains few Sec
onds after regular. hours. The young
man who cultivatcs this clock studying
habit may make up his mind that time
will travel on and find him at last the
same Victim OF what he terms "misfor-
tune" rs he remains at the present.
What II recognition OF merit seems slow
coming? 1t is an established principle
that only by making his employers in
terests his own can q young man hope
to succeed In any business.
Neither have any patience with the
suggestion that times are harder now
than when such one was a boy" II
times have changed In one respect they
have in another. When was n boy It
might have been easier to acquire for
tune without college education or nm
education OF any kind, for the splendid
educational system now In vogue in
this country had not been established.
and learned youths were rarer than
t1..,, L., l.
lie school, the high school and the coll
lege. But II the way to success has
been made narrower and less easy to
travel through the increased compeu-
tion and the greater number of trav-
elers who nre pushing and jostling each
other In the race for wealth, the COM
petItors have been enabled to make the
start far better equipped than they
were In the days that SO many young
men are In the habit OF referring to as
easier than the present for the nmbi-
tious ones seeking wealth. Knowl-
edge to-day Is far more valuable than 1t
WINS In my day Of beginning, but rs It is
far easier to acquire 1t than then, condl-
lions In the general struggle Of life
are about equali2ed, rs they always Will
be. There were young men a-plenty
in the days of my youth who talked In
the same strain us he OF to-day who be-
walls the fact that the avenue to sue
cess Is not quite the same rs It was
fifty years ago. These are the men who
set m example for their own want OF
energy and persistcncy. They have
been prominent In NIL ages. and they
Will continue to occupy the Insignificant
position they have always occupied on
the ladder that so mony climb with
apparent ease. They nre the rank and
file OF humanity. They may not be con-
tent with their lot. On the contrary,
they are forever bemoaning their futc,
and Wishing for what they have not the
courage and Industry TO win. u They see
others spring out OF the ranks and taxi
ing honorcd and envied positions, but
they fail to see, or fail to admit, that
these get there only by their own pluck,
integrity and industry.
nm sometimes asked my Views on
marriage. ] firmly believe that no hap
pier thing cnn bcfull young nun than
an carly mnrriuge-providcd OF COURSE,
that he picks n suitable hclpmcet. The
danger line between youth and man.
hood Is safely passed By tho young man
who marbles His ambitions IRE helped
by realization TINT the one he loves
Is to be benefited by his SUCCESS or IN.
1ured by his failure. Man. Ia no pccul-
ihrly constituted that ne works best
when he knows that the nest Mt home In
the center around which His ambitions
circulate. II he ID rightly constituted.
lie begins life with the object OF ono
day marrying and establishing home.
even though he may not have chosen
the ono whom he will make queen OF
that home,
! do not want to be understood. Of