Payette enterprise. (Payette, Canyon Co., Idaho) 1909-1935, 1914-01-01

OAANc Ivy ~ III
No one will deny the fact that Ger
mans are among the keenest business
men in the world And undoubtedly
one Of the secrets Of their success lies
in the fact that in German schools
boys are taught the practical details
of business The writer recently re-
turned from Hamburg after a years
course of education. and an outline Of
the system Of training boys in business
may be interesting
On my first days attendance / was
handed a time table on which appear
ed, set ont in formidable array. such
subjects as commercial correspond
ence, laws Of bills Of exchange. cur
rency. political economy and CONNER
cial law. none OF which at the time
conveyed much to me and raised seri-
Gus doubts in my mind as to whether
| should be able to understand and ap-
preciate what appeared to be most
abstruse subjects.
At 9 a. m. sharp on the following day
the course began, prefaced by a cOu-
pie of hours hard study. for the Ger
mans are gluttOns TO work and think
nothing Of g twelve hour day. The
first course " as called business train
ing" We worked in two spacious
rooms furnished as Offices, each room
representing different business house. !
These two firms carried on an imagi- I.
nary trade with each ether, and the I
routine adhered TO was modelled exact T!
ly on the lines Of a first class business Z
adjustment
Each firm had a director. and these (
two were the most eminent students 10 I
the academy They had subject 10 .
their management and control ccut 1
plete staff of correspondents. short
hand writers. typists. bOOkkeepers. etc +
The whole was supervised by mas
ter. to whom reference was made r
case of dispute or difficulty
On making my appearance ! was in
formed that my services We're III r.
quest as an Office boy. | was some
what taken back. not 10 say a little .
Inundated. by the lowly position a.
signed to me, and gave the master to
that | considered was [
qualified to occupy a much better post I
than that which he had chosen for NE !
He did not seem in the least perturbed /
by my remarks. but said: You have /
already made mistake-a mistake Of 4
One of the great maxims j
Of business as taught here is TO dc 4
what you are told. to do it at once and
10 1t well"
With that he handed me a pile Of I
envelopes and long list Of addresses
and told me to set TO work addressing I
them. did so. but not with q very
good grace, the master coming round 4
rom time TO tine to inspect my work,
For two solid hours plodded on until
II a. m, when the course came TO an
md Then | took the opportunity Of
,oing up TO the master again and ask
ng him If he did not really think
lad been wasting my time in what
lad been doing II
Not in the least" said he. In ]
no matter how simple or
ow difficult. there is alwa5 a coed
cal to learn. II you have paid atteD-
ION while you were working you will
ave learned something about the ge :
graphy of the German empire. for Z I
lch address contains the name of
ome important town and province in
-hich it is situated and the name Of
pine firm celebrated for some particu- G
II class OF goods"
This gave me food for reflection As T
matter Of fact, | had not paid the r
.ast attention 10 what had been
-ritiug: consequently | had failed to :
erive the benefit which il was the
laster's intention should obtain from
hat seemed TO me at the outset
lost Seuseless task. On the following
Nv | resolved to follow out the mas =
RS instructions to the letter. and
as surprised TO ind how interesting 4
lie work became.
/ continued addressing envelopes for
yo hours day for whole week. and
lie next week received promotion
] this way | went through the whOh
,utine. from office boy to director =.
I'D the experience which Obtained VI
the various capacities has proved i"
valuable to me 10 business. "a
As director had TO sign checks, die CT
te letters. enter into agreements with al
e other 6rm With reference to the ST
lie and purchase of goods. keep an 10
e on the money market. work out ar
TRACE calculations, draw up aud in
use bills Of exchange and bills of In
ding. make out periodical statements Id
affairs. allow or dispute amounts q,
lced to the debit of the firm on ac-
unit Of general average losses and :.
morally supervise everything. "
Nhile We were thus drilled in practi- va
/ work the theoretical side Of bust "
IS was not neglected Lectures were Ps
rem at fixed hours, bookkeeping and
srcautile law. Thus we enjoyed the
advantage of acquiring the Sc
cory aud practice of business at the tn
me time.-Detroit Free Press. IN