The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1906-06-28
Character That Succeeds.

Mr.. Humphrey O'Sullivan, proprie-
tor of the Merrimack Clothing COM
pany, member of the firm of O'Sulli-
v, Brothers, and treasurer of the
- lllivan Rubber company, Lowell,
Mass, in a letter to the author, says:
You ask me to designate the traits
of character in a young man that
would prophesy success for him in the
retail business.
First and foremost, it all depends
upon the young man himself. The
ideal young man for such a career is
one who is born to succeed, who reads,
and believes that nothing can prevent
him from attaining success. His motto
is success, not ~mOney-that comes of
Grafton. Such a man you cannot
hinder.
Given an average education, not
necessarily an academic one, he will
do any kind of mental work, perform,
it wei! and bide his time. He will be
patient. Seeing the stream Of affairs
flowing in the wrong direction, he
will still be patient, set his teeth, and
say within himself, Some day l will
change the current of hat stream
When that day he needs a big
amount of practical information, an
humble spirit, and a level head, be-
cause then, for the first time, he real
ly begins his difficulty.
"A young man may inherit wealth
and education, possibly a business. If
l were he. and wished to succeed, I
would first get in touch with the
smallest details Of the business, and
work up to the Office, II / deserved
it; and after I had worked in the Of
fee, / would wait until the cleverest
man In the business was unable to at
tend to some particular duty. Then l
would happen to get beside it., do it
so much more satisfactorily to the
firm, and do 1t unostentatiously, then
reiegate myself back to my ordinary
seat in the background.
Selling Opportunity.
I'm the course of time the young
man who could thus act in an emer-
gency would be required to do it
again. The next time he would per-
form the duties as satisfactorily as
before, or more so, and again he
would retire to his place as a subor-
dinate. But when an opportunity Of
That kind occurred again he would un-
doubtedly be given an appointment to
take charge of the position.
What shall l do with my boy?
First give him an ordinary common
school education. Do not deprive him
Of a high school course. but before he
is through with that, we can deter
mine Of what metal he is made. All
that is needed to-day in business, is
a knowledge of a few things that are
taught in the high school, an. in DO
lite society; an even temper, u
teousness under all p~rovocation, a
thorough knowledge Of commercial
ism, bookkeeping, arithmetic and
grammar. History is a good auxiliary:
the knowledge Of the languages, poet
ry. and music. while they are not nee
essary, sometimes come in very
handy.
"Give me a young man, who is a
good judge of human nature, with a
high school education and a deter
mination to be a leader, and ulti-
mately I will show you the young
man who will be a success in the re-
tail, wholesale, manufacturing, or f.
nancial world. 1t does not make any
difference to what field he devotes his
energy to, except politics. and If you
ask me to pass my opinion on politics.
I simply do not know anything about
It."