The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1910-01-12
THRIFT The BEST START OF
/ WEALTH.

Not everyone can be rich, or wants TO be.
But everyone can, if he vii, be thrifty
which is better.
The first lesson one is given to learn
when he enrolls. in the school that quail
fies for success Is to put by O part OF his
earnings each week. The surest founda-
ton upon which to build a fortune is the
accumulated savings of months and years.
The habit Of putting money away is re-
flex in its action.
The money itself is a valuable accessory,
and the quality of mind and character
developed through this habit makes for
ultimate success. /
A skilled and ~high-salaried machinist
who, at fifty, has been forced to sell a
valuable invention for a small amount be-
cause he had no capital Of his W to float
money 1 could have made a fortune out of
that device"
He is badly mistaken. The fact that he
has reached the age Of fifty in a high-paid
position, without having saved any money
is proof positive that he has not the tenn
permanent and habits that insure success
in business enterprises.
However much money he might make,
sharper and shrewder people would get il
away from him, just as they have been
getting it away from him for thirty years
A man who cannOt withstand trivial
temptations to spend money has not in
him q stiff enough financial backbone tn
make a success OF any big business venture
The stores, the streets, the places OF
amusement, all furnish temptation to a
young man to part with his money. If
the purpose within him is not stronger
than these acknowledgements; his salary
be it large or small, will be frittered away
on unnecessary expenditures, and OppOr.
tunity will always find him e~mpty-handed.
1t is the order of mind such a course in
dicates which spells failure, not the mere
fact of being without ready means, though
the possession Of small savings has often
been the stepping stone to great success,
Ready cash is the greatest moving force
in the business world. 1t speaks with the
loudest voice. 1t clutches things with the
firmest grip. 1t commands the surest con-
ldence.
Cornelius Vanderbilt worked day and
night, saving every penny, until he had
So, 900, the nest egg about which he gath
cred n of the largest fortunes ever
amassed.
John Wanamaker's first pay was only
81 90 a week, and he walked four miles to
and from work each day to save a part OF
it, as a cornerstone for the gigantic for
tune he has built.
John ID. Rockfellow still has the little
book in which he kept account Of every
penny at a time when his salary small
than is that of any of the Is, 900 men who
work for him to-day.
Not all of us canbe Vanderbilts or
Wanamakers or Rockfellows, or want to
be; but their experiences pointout the way
to money making and housekeeping, and
most of us can, if we will go a reasonable
length in that direction.
Stinginess and greed are to be abhOrred.
They are at the one extreme, while pro-
tligancy and carelessness are at the other.
The golden mean of thrift lies halfway be-
tween.
Prudence in expediture is evidence of
what needless things you did without yes
terday.
There are philosophers who contend
that the greatest curse in the world to-day
is debt, and this curse is fed and nouliShed
by the great army of spendters who lay
not up for the futrue, who accumulate no
capital, who are prey to every human
parasite, and slaves to their W disorder
ed desires.