The Indianapolis journal., 1902-10-27
SOME OF THE new BOOKS


This volume of Letters from a Self
made Merchant to His Son. purports TO
be a collection of epistles written by John
Graham. head of the house of Graham &
Co.. pork packers in Chicago, and familiar
ly known on Change as "Old Gorgon Gra-
ham," to his son Pierrepont- The first
letter OF the series is addressed to the
young man just after he has entered the
freshman class at Harvard, and Is an es-
say OF an original sort on education. Some
men," the writer says, get an education
from other men and the newspapers and
public libraries, and some get ii from pro-
fessors and parchments; il doesn't make
any special difference how you get half
Nelson on the right thing, just so you get
It and freeze on to it, The language, II
will be noted from this brief quotation, is
the vernacular OF the street. and quite in
keeping with the business OF Mr.. Graham is
the nature OF his Illustrations All of them
are drawn from his experience In the pack
ing business. Still discoursing OF education,
he says: "You can cure a ham in dry salt
and you can cure IL In sweet pickle, and
when you're through you've got pretty good
eating either way provided you started in
with a sound ham. IL you didn I, II doesn't
make any special difference how you cured
ft-the ham tryers going 10 strike the sore
spot around the bone And IL doesn't make
any difference how much sugar and fancy
pickle you soak into fellow. he's no good
unless he's sound and sweet at the core"
A little later the sons expense account
Is before him and he takes occasion TO
recommend economy and TO warn him that
because he is the son or the old man
he is not 10 expect especial favors when
he enters the business. There is Just one
place from which a man can start for that
position tan important one IN the nrm)
with Graham q Co. IL doesn't make any
difference whether he is the son OF the old
man or OF the cellar boss-that place Is the
~ Iree In ghan ON Noe and lf
this business Is a seat at the mailing desk,
with eight dollars every saturday night.
i can't hand out any ready-made success
10 you. 1t would Go you no Sooo, ana IL
would do the house harm. There is plenty
OF room at the top here, but there Is no
elevator in the building.
The time arrives when P1errepOnt desires
TO take a postgraduate course, and the
''old man" informs him that as he is not
going TO be poet, but packer, the
place to take postgraduate course Tor
that calling Is in the packing house.
There's a chance for everything you have
learned. from Latin TO poetry, in the pack
frC business, though don't use much
poetry here except in our street-car ads.
and about the only time our products are
given Latin names Is when the State Board
OF Health condemns them. Also the
Young man wishes TO take trip TO Europe
before settling down TO business, but after
several reasons explaining why this Is
nH. fSis Connection is is only fair to tell you
that / have instructed the cashier 10 dis
continue your allowance after July is.
After Pierrepont enters the packing house
. the letters continue. sometimes being writ
ten by the "old man from his private
car sometimes from Hot Springs. some
times from New York. all containing sage
sfyice, emphasized by appropriate anec-
dotes. Eventually the young man Is pro-
noted and goes on the road" receiving
oorru unicattons from his father at points
fn Indiana and elsewhere. Humor and
common sense and the spirit Of successful
American commerce are intermingled in
these pages In q remarkable and most ef-