The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1905-06-22
Stick TO your Last.
That's the Road to Success.
50 SAYS GOV. DOUGLAS.

Atlanta Constitution.
Gov. w. L. Douglas, of Massachu
setts, the great shoe manufacturer
gives this message to young men:
| What would you think of a shoe
maker, who, after making part of {
shoe on one last, became DISSATISFIED
and started another shoe on different
last, keeping up this method until hi
had finally sreLt all his money to-
stock and had nothing but q lot O
hall finished shoes to show for 1t
Foolish way to Go, isn't il? But III
no more foolish than for a young mar
to tackle new line OF business every
little while until he grows too old te
learn any business thoroughly.
Everything in nature is fitted to dc
one thing we'll and spend it's whole
lie doing it. You never hear of the
ant going into the honey-making bust
ness nor of the bee building ant-hills
tor a change. Each one knows
its place in the world and
sticks to it, and that is what boys must
do if they would accomplish great
things.
And remember always to keep your
ambition up to the top notch. What
ever you do, try to do it better than
the other fellow. At school make it a
point to stand at the head of your class
and at play don't be satisfied until you
can jump the farthest or throw the
straightest. Then when you enter
business life this matter of getting
ahead will become habit.
1t is possible for all you boys to be
kings, provided each fits himself to do
some one thing better than others do
it. But you must work and study and
persevere. You can't inherit king
ships from your fathers; you must
win them in competition with the
world. AS to how to 60 about this,
every boy will have to work out the
problem for himself. There is no fixed
rule for determining the capabilities Of
any boy, and the methods that will
| convert one bundle Of human material
into a successful busines man may
prove total failure when applied to
the next parcel. Boys in their dispo-
sitions and possibilities bear striking
resemblance to toads. Did You ever
| poke toad to make 1t jump? II you
did, then you know that } ou can never
| tell what direction or how far toads
will Jump until after they have been
poked. And it's the same way with
| Boys. We never know what boy can
do until after he has been tested. But
| we're sure of one thing, and that il
this II a boy chooses his last in the
light of his ability, aud sticks to 1t
through thick and thin, he'll win out
in the end.
Tie Constitution does not remember
having encountered any simpler Or lees
am blguOus directions to success than
| those given above. What is better, it
fits every ambition. The boy who
| would be successful busii, less man,
college professor, u builder of poetry or
empires, has there presented list OF
the elements he will need in his work.
It all depends upon the man.
Aud 1t is notable that Governor
Douglas does not include 'siuck" as an
Ingredient. lie, at least, gives it no
place in his vocabulary. We think
he has done his audience service
by sach omission. For the man who
relies on luck or chance and neg!ects
bis own part in the enterprise is rid
ing, generally, to sure failure. The
lucky man is the man who helps
himself, who has the knack of cGm-
pelling fortune and, after ait, ttese
things revert to- the original
proposition, for the man who has Che
knack OF compelling things is the man
Of industry and initiative. qua
We commend these holnely words
and Illustrations CT Governor Douglas
to our readers, irrespective of age or
ambition. II any one OF them is look
ing for a road to success, be had better
climb down ont of the: skies, get his
mind Oh the practical highway travel
ed by the present governor Of Massa-
chusetts.