Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1905-02-24
TO WIN SUCCESS.
Il Is Necessary to Be Prepared For
All EMERGENCIES.

II Is Necessary to Be Prepared Fol
All Emergencies.
l said to a young man the othel
day: What is your ambition-wha
do you mean to do with your life?"
He replied: II mean to be presi'
dent of the United States"
Have you begun to get ready FOL
it?" asked, because, you know. Il
will require a great deal Of prepara'
tion."
Yes" he said, II have" And from
what he told me Of his work, his
studies, his associations, and his ef'
forts at becoming equipped for JUS
this thing, I shouldn't be at all sur.
prised to see him at the head Of the
nation fifteen or twenty years hence
His ambition means nothing; that he
has already begun to prepare himself
by hard work for this great response
bility means everything.
Each mans present position Is ar
index Of just how strong and practi-
| cal nave ueeH Ills choi - " SSe ei~~N'
for better work.
|
Success is never Of spontaneous de-
velopment. 1t is plant which grows
from a seed Buried in darkness and
obscurity it slowly and surely puts
out tiny sprouts and sends down
sturdy roots, then come stem, branch
es, leaf and, last of all. the blossom.
Only an expert florist can determine
plants value before the blooming
season; the ordinary person Is not sure
whether it is a flower or "a common
weed.
And so 1t Is with the worlds sue
cessful people. They are all around
us, In various stages Of development
Most Of US do not realize what they
are until blossoming time. They
amaze us, with "a wonderful invention
or a discovery in science, or master
piece in literature or a revolution in
business methods. We, applaud the
last stage, We admire the beautiful
flower, but we do not always appre-
ciate the terminating period. We. say
he was born under a lucky star" OF
with a silver spoon in his mouth
that he is a genius; that 1t is queer
how some people have everything In
the world and others nothing, all the
time forgetting the season Of prepara-
ton, the plant which was carefully
nurtured till 1t should develop suffi-
cient strength and age to burst into
| flower.
In a western railroad camp, young
civil engineer bent every night over
his books, diagrams and drawings
His companions played poker and
rallied him on his studiousness. They
were satisfied that the days work was
satisfactorily finished-they were run
ming lines for a great transcontinental
railroad and the prospect Of long job
relieved them of care for the future.
But the studious young engineer
worked on over his books and his
drawings. He had an idea The arid
region over which they had Travelled
could be made into thrifty farming
land If only water could be gotten to
it. He spent the long evenings mas
tering the principles Of irrigation. He
studied water systems and methods OF
cribbing and examining the soil and
the streams. He figured out the ex-
penses of gigantic canals and ways to
make them supply water to the larg-
est acreage. He did his work during
the day with all the more faithfulness
and enthusiasm because Of his study
at night.
Hardly fifteen years from this time
he was known as the greatest irriga-
ton expert Of America. He was called
upon to inspect irrigation systems all
over the west and commanded as high
as 5000 a day for his services. Today
| he is the author of several works on
the science Of irrigation, and his name
Is known to every young engineer who
aspires to succeed in this profession
They respect what they call his "ge-
MUS" but they say william Hammond
Hall was lucky in the time Of his birth
He got a hold on the west when II
was new" forgetting that there were
dozens of young engineers who. with
him, had the same opportunity and
whose names are not known, who are
probably today looking for Jobs"
William Hammond Hall was not
lucky and he was not a genius. He
merely saw his opportunity and used
his spare time getting ready to do
himself that which he knew would be
done by some one some day.
If he had not prepared for this work
he could not have done It, no matter
how many opportunities he might
have had.
|
In a great crisis the man who has
prepared beforehand is the one who
slips into the breach, and his name
goes down in history as that Of an
illustrious citizen.
Lincoln as a youth said: "The op-
portunity may come, will be ready
| In business it is the man who is
prepared for more than he is doing
who is given the promotion, who sees
and seizes the opportunity.
Eight years ago w. ]. Bryan electri-
fed the country with a great speech
in the Democratic convention, which
won him the nomination for president
People said it was a wonderful burst
of oratory, an inspiration. The truth
is that Bryan had been working on
that speech a long time. That fol
hours before he delivered it he was
rehearsing in a small back bedroom
in an obscure little hotel. The situ-
alton was understood and the whole
thing carefully planned.
A young man was an assistant on q
magazine. His position was insight
ficant, his salary small. He seemed
however, to have none but office hours
for he was always at the office. He