The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1910-10-07

they did and by the time he was
twenty-one agents have to be of full
legal age. so they can sign contracts
aspired to be sent out to deal with the
subscribers direct.
Good agents are always needed in
the telephoning business; for upon
their efforts rests to a large degree
the prosperity of the institution. They
make the business arrangements with
the telephone users for new or in
creased service. assist in preparation
OF advertisements that are designed to
cause more people to use telephones,
and generally are promoters of tho
business; also, they adjust claims,
make collections and maintain pleas
ant relationship between the company
and its customers.
1t Is readily seen, therefore, that the
successful agent must be a man Of
considerable tact and the same ability
that enables a man to get on in any
line where dealing with people is a
prime requisite.
Well, our boy has proved that he
has this ability to such an extent that
his salary of, say $12 a week when he
began, has been increased till after a
couple OF years or so he is getting as
much as $35 week, and is looked
upon as one of the best men in his
line. Then he Is made head agent of
one OF the multitude of agencies that
large companies maintain, and maybe
Is paid $4,000 year, and has under
MS direction several agents such as he
himself was short time before. His
next advance will be to the manage.
ment OF district containing several
agencies, at salary of $4,000 a year
TO $500 month. Finally, having dis.
played gr>at executive ability, as we'll
as skill as In agent, he IS given charge
OF all the agencies maintained by the
company. with several hundred men
directly under him.
In this position he is one of the off.
Gals of the institution, and Is known
as general commercial superintendent.
or general contract agent, or some.
thing similar, and his salary is several
thousand dollars a year. AS the com.
merc1al is the most important end
OF the business. and he has succeeded
In 1t. our friend is in direct line from
here to be made general manager of
the company. From there to vice.
president and then president are lost
cal steps.
1t Is not at all impossible for q
young agent to reach the MANAGEMENT
OF one OF the small agencies by the
time he is twenty.three or twenty-five
years old, and he might be manager
OF district with several agencies un.
der him before he is thirty. It re-
Quires more time, of course, to get into
the higher positions, chiefly on account
OF their scarcity. But telephone line,
are being extended to and in all parts
OF the country. so that within a com.
paratively few years practically every
village in the United States will
be in voice communication with every
other.
With every important extension
there Is need of well trained men ia
handle the business end of it, and the
man who has demonstrated his ability
In this direction as an agent, or q
manager Of agents, Is the very one
that is valuable as manager of the
extension. An extension may mean a
brand new telephone service, COVERING
a large portion of some western state
or new exchange in some city, owing
to the latter's growth and greater de-
mand for telephony. AS there are
hundreds of subsidiary telephone com
panies. as well as constant redistrict
ing of present telephone boundaries,
opportunities for your boy to get on
in what might very appropriately be
called commercial telephony are al
most unlimited.
Copyright. 1910. by the Associated Lit
erary Press)