Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1910-09-07

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
o the average man the
banker Is Is thing apart,
VI sort Of superior crea-
y0D Nv ture who moves on an
other plane-always CARRIED
a TX in apparent richness, with
"a look Of prosperity, self-possessed,
shrewd. able. The rest of us simply
look up to him. that's all.
And so the boy looks up to the
bank messenger or the bank clerk
the one that comes out Of the forbid
ding portals. with black package or
a satchel in his hand and an air OF
aloofness that makes the envious
youthful observer sort of gasp.
And yet that same banker and his
messenger are not SO far above us.
after all. They are not different; it is
W" that are different-we have clothed
them in an atmosphere somewhat like
that which we draped round the man
that wore silk hat and frock coat
when we were ten or twelve and lived
in the country or small town.
Anybody can be banker! Your
boy is an ordinary boy, say. of thir-
teen to fifteen. and you have dreamed
dreams about his future. and, some
how. you have wondered if-no. he
could never be banker-a banker
is so far out of your comprehension.
So you dismiss banking and banker
from your calculations. and decide
that the youngster shall be civil en-
gineer. or school teacher. or take
a job as helper to the family grocer.
or something.
But II both you and your boy have
the right kind of nerve. you hold a
brief talk with him and then he goes
on tremblingly to ask the minister Of
the church where his mother attends
and he goes to Sunday school for q
letter telling what a nne. honorable
ambitious young fellow he is. and
how he Is bound to succeed in any.
thing he attempts Then he gets an.
other from the family doctor, and one
or two from the wise men he has seen
with his father-then he goes to the
bank itself.
And once there? Well. he finds
that 1t isn't so hard to get Job aftel
all That same aloorness that seems
to surround the banker has apparent
ly kept the boys from applying for 9
job there. as 1t has the ordinar,
grown-up individual from keeping hii
hat on when he enters the impressive
doorway. The cashier of prominent
metropolitan bank expressed to me
the other day his wonderment that his
Institution couldn't get enough boys.
They don't pay much at the start
of course-only s1s or SO month
(we're talking of big city banks). bu
this is to boy of thirteen to fifteen
and after year managing feather
duster. or pushing the lever Of coli
counting machine. or running errands
he gets $25 to $50. Then he must have
a bond, because he is messenger
and goes out collecting drafts ant
checks on other banks, ETC.; but tn,
bank furnishes this. and there is nj
bother about 1t at ALL
Then. after two years or SO, he Il
assistant or head messenger, and ma,
get as much as $125 month. An,
from there. If he Is bright enough t,
work out of the messenger rut-an,
the average boy is-he goes into tn
receiving teller's- cage. or the boob
keeping department, or the discount
or the collecting. and gets. not $125
month. but only $50 or $50 month
Quite drop in salary, 1t is true, bu
the ambitious boy will make this ten
porary monetary sacrifice-and 20
will encourage him to do so-that h
may not remain messenger all hi
life. but will open up before him a
occupational vista that has at its en-
a bank presidents chair.
His next step. maybe, is receivin
teller itself, when he will be pal
sometimes as much as $4,000 veal
or as assistant in the paying teller
booth at as much salary (the payin
teller gets more than the receiving,
and on as paying teller, then assistar
cashier, then cashier. then-vice-pres
dent. or president. or anything as bi
, as the young banker has in him.
II your boy has position as telle
; by the time he is thirty, he has gon
on pretty fast-but not more than
fairly bright young man ought to-an
by five years later. or, at the mos
!, when he is forty. he is sure to be we
, along and highly regarded in busines
, circles. Cashier at thirty-five; salar
$4,000 up referring to large cit
banks); big man-this is not at a
remarkably for the ambitious boy ca
surely get there. From there on on
is simply realizing the aims he he
formed in the meantime. through h
own initiative and your encourag
ment.
The average boy of thirteen to f
, teen has education enough to sta
him; but, If you and your boy pla
on banking for his career, he shoul
have striven little harder than ii
usual lad to get hold of arithmet
Addition and subtraction and null
plication and division-they count. ar
count big, in banking. and the your
fellow that can figure and know
ground work of arithmetic pretty we
has great advantage over the other
Bankers complain bitterly over IL
difficulty of finding boys that ca
~ .