Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1915-12-08
KEEP YOUR EYES
ON MAN AHEAD
Watch Him and Step Into His
Shoes Advice of Bank
President

Keep your eye on the man head
there's something the matter. If you
don't step into his shoes when the
switch comes there's something
wrong.-Frank Q. Wetmore.
Chicago, Dec. S.--Frank o. Wet
more. vice-president of the First Ma
tional Bank of Chicago, who is slated
to succeed the retiring president,
James 3. Forgan on January 1, re-
turned from New York the most sur
prised banker in Chicago as he him
self expressed it.
II sat across the table at break
fast from Rush c. Butler of the As
sociation of Commerce. said Mr.
Wetmore, and, believe me, ] had no
idea what he was talking about when
he offered congratulations.
THE first inkling / had that I was
TO succeed Mr.. Forgan was when Mr.
Butler showed me the morning paper
was interested, of course, but still
a trihe in doubt.
when l walked into the bank my
mother was waiting at the telephone
TO talk to me. | received her con-
gratulations, also.
Is "Excusably Proud"
"Of course, L am delighted and
proud. 1T is an honor of which any
man might excusably be proud. There
will be more work, of course, but I
am not afraid of work. Work is the
first essential to happiness. L had
idle.
Il don't know what to say to the
people who want to know how / gain
ed my success. 1t all seems so simple
so elemental. 1t is all just working
| hard at the job, keeping your eye on
l,N1a Ia
1 But the big word is 'work'-constant,
unremitting attention to business. |
/ have worked in every department of
this bank and have worked hard in
all of them.
: 81 am glad my mother was among
the first to congratulate me 1t is fine
to have heard her voice on the wire
telling me that she is proud of me"
| The slightly gray vice-president
who is only 40 years old and who
plays an astonishing game of golf, ac-
cording to men who have played
against him, smiled at the telephone
| near his elbow.
! Wonderful invention. eh?" he re-
marked
There aren't many radical changes
| in an institution of this kind" said
Mr.. Wetmore. "The man behind is
always in training to take the place of
the man ahead-and that's the way
1t goes.
THAT has been my philosophy in
| business. Keep your eye on the man
ahead. When he goes forward and
lyou don't there's something the mat
ter. If YOU don't step into his shoes
when the switch comes there's some
| thing wrong.
"Mr. Symonds-Henry r. Symonds
who was cashier in 1886, gave me
my first job in this bank. I was a
messenger. 1t would not be profitable
TO go into all the details of my career
with the bank. 1t is enough to say
that | always had my eye on the man
ahead and ] kept climbing as fast as
] could.
Started as Messenger Boy
II have been successfully mes
senger, bookkeeper. assistant cashier,
cashier and president 1t has
been fairly long road, but pleas
ant one. ] have lived along the way
and enjoyed the journey. The new
position has its anXieties, but ! have
/ my faith and my ability to work.
What more could any man ask?"
Here's an object lesson for the bud
ding financier.
James B. Forgan has to confess, in
announcing his retirement from the
presidency of the First National Bank
at the age of 63, that he can't read a
stock ticker.
THE way to get rich is by saving
small sums" said MIR. Forgan, mot
by plunging into speculation. What
money l have was built on my early
savings. | never speculated in my
life. l know nothing whatever OF
gambling. I will confess that to-day
| cannot read the brokers' ticker in
ligently."-Chicago Journal.