The evening times., 1900-02-06

fit to- try. This woman developed into
sort of factotum for her rich acquaintance.
She was, to judge from her employers
account, exceedingly well fitted for such
a position. She knew what was the mat
ter with the drainage of the house, and
told the plumber SO, and stood over him,
with calm but infiexible decision, till he set
the matter right. She knew when drSss-
makers bill was larger than 1t ought TO
be, and when a servant had been inpe.i-
nent enough to justify discharge she was
equal to the business. She Strengthened
out accounts. and disciplined servants and
dealt with obstinate landlords. In short,
wherever good temper, tact and frmness
were required, she was there.
If there were any sort of instruction
which could be depended upon to give one
this faculty of decided yet tactful man
agement, most people would hasten TO
take a course in it. There are men and
women who have a natural gift fer thls
They know what they want; they make no
fuss, but they have things their way. They
are not cheated by tradesmen, yet they
have the name of being pleasant custom
ers. They maintain discipline In tteir
households. vet their servants like them
and value their praise and re omm en- -atiCn.
Their acauaintances regard them with a
certain awe. yet delight in their friendship.
1t seems to make no difference whether
they have a chance to command or not.
Put woman of this type in the position
of housekeeper and the house will be gov
erned by her will and not that of her mis-
tress Make her a laUndress, and If she IS
only in the house for one day in the week
she will command consideration. What is
the secret of il?
part of this power, of course lies in
that mysterious thing which we call per
sonality-the magnetic Will and impressive
presence, the intuition which prevents mis-
takes But that is not ali. Such good
managers owe their success partly -
qualities that may be cultivated
One of these is truthfulness, The good
manager is usually careful to meet all OBJ
legations and keep all promises however
small, equally careful not TO make prom
ises when there is any risk of not fulfilling
them. Another element of such chaTac-
/ ter is observation-disclosures the fussy kind,
but that which works in silence. When
/ we have known person a week or a
/ month. and found that that person has
/ succeeded in all undertakings. large or
small, we have insensibly begun to acquii e
] faith in his ability. Still another qualifca-
! tion of the good manager is watchfuiness-
/ the faculty of observation which enables
! the owner 10 know all that is 10 be known
/ about a problem before attempting to han
! die it, Anyone who is scrupulously truth
! full and careful TO do justice to others, and
cautious enough not to undertake too much,
and sufficiently persistent TO carry out each
/ undertaking to its end, can become good
manager" The trouble with most people
I is that they do not try to find out the ex-
act merits of case, but are swayed by
prejudice or timidity and allow them
selves to be swindled, or attempt to defiaud
others. because they are too indolent 10 be
strictly just The same carelessness leads
them to make promises which they do not
fulfill or TO exact more than they give, OF
10 abandon plan because it is TOO much
trouble TO carry it out.