The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-03-01

sentiments expressed by MT Graham,
 together with his staunch business sa- gacity, his homely philosophy, apt smile and his knowledge of human nature make
 his letters very valuable and very Inter esting Their sound sense, however, might after awhile prove monotonous,
 were the letters not permeated through and through with a sprightliness of hu- nor and satire that make them easily
 masterpiece of American wit. We readily perceive that Pierrepont possesses the tempere ment of the average American boy; with normal appetite for the men tai requirements of college life and a
 somewhat abnormal propensity for spend Ing his fathers dollars. However, MT. Graham is very unlike the average parent, and especially the wealthy parent ana herein lies the fine flavor of the work. He gradually makes q man of h.s boy, snd d got q business n an, tco, and many Tafents can learn valuable lesson in economics In the subtle way in which Mr. Graham went about 1t. These letters are suggestive and valuable to parents. as
 we'll stimulating ard inspiring to the ycrthful members Of the household, ana deserve a far more extended circulation 1h9n they havs yet achieved, extraordip- sry as their success las peen
 The book is truly American in senti-
 ment and motif, and is healthy bull
 wark against the snobbery very often
 practiced by the norveau riche.
 You'll find that education is about the l only thirE lying around loose in this
 world, and that it's about the only thing | a fellow can have as much of as he's
 willing to haul away. Everything else is screwed down sight and the screw
 driver lost
 I'm anxious that you should be a good 1 scholar, but I'm more anxious that you l should be a good man. There are two l rarts of a college education-tho part l that you get in the schoolroom from the
 professors. and the part that you get out
 side of it from the boys. That's the real 1 ly important part.
 For the first can only make you l scholar while the second can make you
 a man.
 Docs a college education pay' Does ! it pay to feed in pork trimmings at five
 cents pound at the hopper and draw out
 nice, cunning little counter sausages
 at twenty cents a pound a the other end.
 You bet it pays. Anything that trains
 a boy to think and to think quick pays;
 anything that teaches a boy to get the
 answer before the other fellow gets
 through biting the pencil, pays 1
 them. It doesn't make bright men, 1t
 develops them.
 You will never make good merchant
 of yourself by reversing the order in
 which the Lord decreed that we should
 Irocee 1-learning the spending before the
 earning Of business.
 "The boy whc does anything just be-
 cause the other fellows do 1t, is apt to
 scratch poor mans lack all his life 1 use a little common sense. caution and
 e nscience. You can stock a store with
 these three commodities when wou get
 enough of them. But you've got to be- | gin gstt'rg them young. They ain't
 catching after you tougher up bit | 'Tt's not what man does during work 1 ing hours but after them, that breaks | down his health. A fellow and his busi- ness should be bosom friends in the office 1 and sworn enemies out of 1t. clear
 mind is one that Is swept clean of busi-
 ness at six o'clock every night and isn't l opened up for it again until after the | shutters are taken down next morning.
 "I piece out from your letter that you 1 expect a few months on the other side
 will sort of put a polish on you. Seeing
 the world is like charity-it covers a null
 titude of sins, and like charity, it ought
 to begin at home.
 | "Youll hear more about Browning to the square foot In the Mississippi valley than you will find in England. And there's as much art talk the Lake front as in the Latin Quarter. It may be a little different, but it's there.
 "Remember, too that it's easier to look
 wise than to talk wisdom Say less than the other fellow. and listen more than l you talk; for when mans listening he | isn't telling on himself and he's fiatterins l the fellow who is Give most men a good
 listener and most women enough note
 paper and they'll tell all they know. | Ut doesn't make any difference how | mean and trifling the thing he's doing | may seem, that's the big thing and the
 only thing for him just then. Business is | like oil-it won't mix with anything but | business.
 q don't know anything that a young
 business man ought to keep more entirely l to himself than his dislilxes. unless 1t is his l likes. It's generally expensive to have either, but it's bankruptcy to tell about l them.
 ''To marry for money, or to marry with | cut money is a crime. There's no real lobjection to marrying woman with fortune. but there is to marrying for | tune with a woman.
 "A married nan is worth more salary l than single one, because his wife makes iir-, -s,r+h Has ant fn -A f- had