The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-02-22
Helping
the Boy
Succeed.
THE MANUFACTURER.
What He Is-Facts About Him-How
Best to Become One.
BY NATHANIEL C.. FOWLER JR,

DeSt 10 Become One.
BY NATHANIEL C. FOWLER JR.
Copyright, 1903, by Nathaniel c. Fow-
Ter Jr.)
He who makes something with his
own hands or by employing the hands
or others, no matter what that some
thing may be, is a manufacturer; but
manufacturers, commercially speaking,
are those who employ labor to make
commodities from the raw material, or
from material in more advanced stages,
producing more or less finished prod
uct.
The successful managing manufae-
turer, or working. head of the concern,
Is, and has to be, a business man; and
almost invariably he understands the
practice, If not the detail, of manufac-
turing. He must be, to an extent a
composite man, possessing a dual abil-
ity, that Of business management and
master of mechanics.
Occasionally one sees evidence that
mechanical proficiency is not, or does
not seem to be, a necessary require
ment; there are some successful man.
ufacturers who may be devoid of me-
chanical capacity; these men are bust
ness giants, long range manipulators.
With an exceptional power of making
up their deficiencies by proxy. by en-
gaglng those who understand what
they do not or cannot understand; but
these men are exceptions, and should
not be considered by the boy ready to
take up his life's calling.
The manufacturer is distinct from
the merchant or purely business man
in that he both makes and sells, while
the exclusively mercantile or business
man sells without making.
Technically considered, the farmer is
a manufacturer, because he is a pro-
hJ1f IN Ia ut
business or profession is entirely dis
.tinct from that of the commercial
manufacturer.
The successful merchant must know
how to buy and how to sell, to buy at
price sufficiently below the selling
point to produce a profit, selling ex-
penses considered.
The manufacturer goes further than
this. He must first know how to buy
MATERIAL second, make something
from that material; and, third, sell the
product at a profitable price above AL
COSTS
The successful manufacturer must
be more than a business man and more
or less Of a mechanic. He must be
proficient in organization and strong in
management, that he may profftably
handle his employees.
True, the large manufacturer is not
his own superintendent or foreman
nor does he work at the bench; but If
he be pronounced success, he proba-
bly, has either worked UP from the shop
or has otherwise mastered every ma
terial partAof he nlanufacturing and
knows how to handle his workmen
partly because he knows how to do
the work himself.
The great manufacturer understands,
IN q general way, at least, every de-
partment OF his business, and often is
a first class practical workman him
self.
1t is now the rule, more than the ex-
sception, for the manufacturer to re-
fuse positions of responsibility to those
who do not understand mechanical art;
and II the manufacturers sons enter
the trade, they begin at the bottom as
common Workmen, work UP step bv
step, receiving few privileges beyond
those granted to the rank and file in
the factory
= This is as it should be.
One of the great laws of success
making prohibits one from telling 9TH
ers to do what he cannot do himself.
and this e rule, broadly interpreted
seems to be fundamental and accepta-
BILE.
Large manufacturers are USUALLY
wealthy, and many of our richest men
are manufacturers. but the manufac-
tufer often takes heavy risks, and fire.
quently these risks cannot be avoided
Many a manufacturer earns a. fortune
one year and loses 1t the next, but.
With all its risk, manufacturing is one
OF the most stable of businesses. and
one of the foundation stones of com
MERGE
:. Manufacturing is a necessity. and
the making of necessities is almost In,
Varfably safer business than the pro-1
duction Of anything else.
$50 TO become a manufactures, the how
should learn manufacturing. He
should begin at the bottom Of the lad
DER, master every round as he climbs
up, always move cautiously and care
1uiiy and never attempt to get ahead
by jumps.
A common school education is abso-
lutely necessary; technical education
Of the greatest value
Inc graduate of an institute OF tech
noiogy or mechanical school has far the
greater opportunity of ultimate success
The few extra years at school are not
wasted. They are often the most nrofif
able years of all. True, the boy must
Of his age who enter the factory from
me tne common school, but at the end of a
nalf dozen or more years the broadly
e edbueated :, man ian will surely outstrip the
Education does not make the manu-
1acturer. nor does it produce the skilled
WorhLHdnp put education before the
actual experience of trade or business
gives the best grade of manufacturer. or
OF anything else. and the few great sue
cesses, who did not begin at the bottom.
VINO did not receive early educational
training. offer no proof to the contrary.
would not advise any boy to attempt
60 learn manufacturing who has not a
imiechanicaI bent; who is not handy with
MS hands, who has not creative mind,
VINO does not know how to produce
something. or to improve upon some
thing. If he has mechanical capacfty
he will succeed in the ranks; and If. be,
sides this. he possesses business sagacity
and the power of handling men. he viii
rise from the ranks and in time become
a. superintendent, a managing head or
the owner Of the business
| cannot too forcibly impress upon the
boy and his parents the tremendous adj
vantage OF liberal education This
education Will do one or two things.
First, 1t will show that the bow has 70
talent In the mechanical direction ard If
Is worth good deal to know what one
can't do: and second, if he has fll,a q hiI
fty, 1t will equip him to eventually occ11nv
commanding positions.
The boy may succeed without thfs edu-
cation but with it The chances are double
for his rapid advancement
The graduate of a hign-class technical
school seldom remains at~the bottom He
Is almost always found, a. least, hallway
between the top and the bottom; very
often near the top or at the top
The next article Of this series will he
entitled 1.-THE Teacher" and win give
facts Of value to all who contemplate en-
tor 4v.<- to NfA IL