The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1900-07-12
HIS START IN LIFE.
Keep Plugging Away is tho Advice
of Man Who is Now q Million

Keep Plugging Away is tho Advice
of a Man Who is Now a Million
aire.
New York Sun: 1.-THE point Is" sald
man who is worth million or more,
that no3matter how black things may
look, man wants to keep plugging
away; he doesn't want to lie down. No
matter how little he may get for his
work. that little'is better than nothing,
and one thing leads to another. If you
are around among people when things
are happening. why. you are Just as
likely 70 be struck by lightning as any
body else. AS matter OF fuct, got
my own real start In life out Of the
poorest job l ever had, as far as pay
was concerned, witch / had taken
rather than sit still and do nothing.
Things had turned about so that I
was outSof work. I was a. youngster
then OF twenty. i walked the town and
went Into Offices, md stopped where l
. saw work going on in the street. and
asked Tor something to do. and l an
swered the advertisements in the news
papers: and finally the best thing
could do, apparently, was to take this
job without any actual pay, the induce
ment being 'bourd, with prospect Of
advancement. The job was barking
for q steamboat at a summer resort,
and the prospect OF advancement was to
n place as deckhnnd on the boat. Not a
very profitable job, but took 1t. !
had made 1t poit oil my life to keep
ADDING, and II thought had better do
this than nothing. 5S
g And 1t wasn't q bad job. by any
means. so far. as simple comfort was
concerned. I got enough to eat and
sod food. and It was outdoor work. md
easy. l had good lungs. and 1t was a
cinch for me to stand on the wharf and
shout the name Of the boat, and tell
about the, roundish made, and the at
fractions: but 1t was clear to me from
the start that want going to be pro-
noted to a deckhand The deckhnnds
were, all husky young fellows. who liked
their work. and they oil stuck to It
rtghtithroush the season, and stayed
on the wharf; and as far as could see.
right up to the last day, all was going
to get out OF 1t was my board, plus the
general benefit Of those months spent in
the, open air; and then on the last day
that the boat ran this little thing hap
pened that set me up for life.
"1t"was In. September, u windy, blus-
terry. sottfof day. not much of day to
so sailing in and pretty much oil the
folks had gone from our place, anyway.
and so9there were not many people to
go, land they didn't shove the gangplank
out with just the elaborate care they
commonly displayed-they just ran the
end or 1t up on the strtugpiece. because
1t would only stay there minute for
the few people that were going, and
that was. enough. But with that wind
there was a little bit of sea on there,
the bout rolled n9little, and pulled the
end OF the gangp1ank OF the strinspiece
an dropped q little girl. about eight Or
nine years old, that was just going
aboutd with her father and mother just
Tor one last sail before they went away.
Wen, now, | Jumped into the water
and helped the little girl until some one
could reach down from the wharf and
get her. Really, It wasn't anything to
DO. was u strong swimmer and q
god healthy Gimp, and It wasn't nny
more for me to pick up that little girl
than 1t would have been to pick I'm 4
bundle In the street But do you know,
the chllds parents looked at 1t differ
entity? They did. for fact: they
thought it7was 4 fine thing for me to
do. and of course tht old man wants me
to come and see him when come back
to the city, which, Of course. do. And,
Tor a fact. the rest was like what you
read in story books and in stories in
the newspapers. He was good man.
for sure. and you can bet your bottom
dollar that l did the very best that
knew how for him: and that was the
wayI got started.
Now, there was what you call q
chance. an opportunity; but l never
would have got the chance II hadn't
been around where something was do
ing. would f? That's the point, you
want to keep plugging away at some
thing. Don't go on in the woods and
lie down where anybody won't sec sou,
Eut keen In the sWimr"