The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-06-07
IN HOTEL LOBBIES


~ tHe college, cOmmencementS tiiVAs
are fewer fowery' addresses in these
recent years, but the number of dis
courses by practical business men OF
scholarly attachments Increases said q
professional man.
AN admirable address along practical
lines was that which Vice President
| Crockard of the Tennessee company de-
| livered on technical education last week
at the University of Alabama. And
have just been reading a characteristic
| address by Henry Clews, the distinguished
banker of New York, which he made the
other day before the faculty and students
of the State University of Kentucky al
Lexington. 1t was replete with homely
wisdom. Here are some striking ex-
tracts:
+" The Almighty has endowed every
man with two important allies. namely,
courage and conscience. The latter can
be blunted if not needed, and an elastic
conscience is worse than wooden leg.
BE cautious not to enter into any deal
or occupation when your conscience warns
You that you are treadng on dangerous
ground; but, having made up your mind
that you are in the right, press forward
with all the energy that is in you.
:" You may often be temporarily dis
ceuraged by seeing success come to the
dishonest and unworthy, but remember
that such cannot command the respect
OF their fellows. There is more in life
than filthy lucre' a contented mind
is more to be desired than great riches,
and If you are poor, be independently
poor. Andrew Carnegie says that to die
rich is to die disgraced, so guard against
that.
You are really now on the threshold
of new school-the school of Life AS
the old forest guides were taught their
wood wisdom by the rocks, the streams,
the grass, the leaves and kindred OBJ
jects. so you will learn by actual con-
tact with all the customs. rules and COM
pick situations of the business world,
what to do and what to avoid.
Many young men are disheartened
before they start in business by the fact
that so many lines of manufacture are
controlled by big corporations and
trusts As 1 have already shown, they
hear the talk of the agitator and dis
contented that poor man has no chance
in life. Let me repeat that brains will
always command a premium, and that
young men who have brains, backed by
energy, will always be in demand.
IF you hold a fiduciary position in a
bank, a mercantile business house, or
professional office, remember that the in
formation syou acquire regarding the Sc
crets and inside facts of the business OF
your employers belong to them alone and
must not be divulged or spoken of to any
one. Very often you will hear of tips
being circulated as inside information.
ploye who would give away the secrets
of the firm he works for would be UNI
scrupulous enough to lie to you. and l
warn you not to make a close friend OF
such a person. Do not think that | look
upon you as children in rendering this
piece of advice, but rather as a veteran
addressing new recruits.
Next to the unwisdom of selecting and
following bad or incompetent advisers in
matters of business, there are also GER
tain persons whom, IL you wish to do well
ana make d lOItuiC iiohSSliyb scd SAOb'S
be careful to avoid. You will not always
know them by their appearance; in fact
that is often the worse rule to go by, for
they are generally well disguised. 1t is
in their manner and conversation that
you will find them out and, that this be
the easier, | have made a collection of
their characteristics, as follows:
"'Avoid man who vilifies his bene-
factor; who unjustly accuses others or
bad deeds; who never has a good word
for anybody; who, when he drinks. habit
ually drinks alone; who boasts of the SUI
periority of his family; who talks reli-
gion downtown in connection with his
daily business; who talks recklessly
against the virtue of respectable women
who runs in debt with no apparent, inten-
ton of paying who borrows small sums
on his note or check dated ahead; who
will not work for an honest living; VINO
looks down upon those who do; who Is
always prating abut his own virtues;
who imputes bad motives to those trying
to do good; who betrays confidence; who
lies; who is honest only for policy's sake;
who deceives his wife and boasts of 1t to
others: who chews tobacco in pubic
conveyance; who gets intoxicated In pub
lie places who partakes of hospitality
and talks behind his entertainers back
who borrows money from friend ana
then blackguards the lender
with a population of 100000 which
this country now has. it is easy to ind
associates in life without selecting men
possessed OF any of these characterlstlcs
and life is the better worth living with
out them