The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-10-29
TALKS ON THRIFT
Hitching to More Than You Can Pull

e'oiht'h III ANcW ELilBidnu tneTe lNeS
 farmer who trains oxen to draw heavy loads. He is an artist at training oxen to draw heavy loads, and the oxen he trains
 usually takes first prize in the pulling contests at the county fairs. He claims to have secret process, but it is sim ply a logical plan for developing pulling
 strength. While young he htches the oxen to light sled, but until they arc two years old he doesn't work. but just exercises them. When they are two years old he works them every day. Once day he hitches them to a heavy | stone in the barnyard and lets them drag it few feet Heavier stones are used and longer pulls allowed as they become stronger, and the peculiar fact is he never hitehes them to something he knows they can't drag, and they expect to move whatever he hitches them to- He never overloads.
 There's a whole lot of common sense in this farmers OK training process that ap-
 plies to human beings. Business failures are due in the main to attempting too | much; in hitching up to something you l can't pull; in acquiring a load of debt
 that is staggering; in living beyond orc S
 means. ir overbuying, overtrading, over 1 trusting.
 1 Thirty per cent of the business fail | ures are due to lack of capital, which, l in other words simply means that a l little man has hitched himself to big proposition.
 Down on Long Island builder wds l particularly successful in building uer- | tain type of house, cheap, but good He l knew to a cent how much it would cost 10 build. asld cou d sell as fast as he built. He made money. Not satisfied 1 with being a cheap and prosperous
 builder, and wanting to be in the -four l hundred of the builders, he started q uczen elaborate and costly dwellings, Here he fell down. He was out of his l clement beyond his strength. He had htched himself to load heavier than he | could move and load he was not accus-
 toned to. It almost made him bank rupt. Now he has gone back to his first l type of house, a sadder but wiser builder | Another business man had a very good year. He made money. Satisfied that he | had struck his gait" he rented an ex-
 pensive suite of offices, moved into a fashionable neighborhood, and spent his money freely. The depression of 1yl: came on and after it the war. He has | had two years of constant worry, and nas | too. hitched himself to more than he
 could draw. for when you underetaxe tc 1 pull lead, you must not only reckon l on the smooth asphalt, but the hills ant l the mud holes.
 What these men should have learned what every man needs to learn, is tc properly gauge his strength. Thrift i: l good management. It is not only mat ter of saving money, but spending il
 wisely, advsntageously, looking ahead being satisfied with modest things unti you can afford more expensive ones.
 You can be as happy in a $50 flat as ir a $500 apartment.
 Some kinds of debt are desirable help. full and necessary. Some kinds of debt are
 nerve racking and costly. Buy a home
 on the installment plan, but don't buy
 ar automobile that way. Take out 8
 life insurance policy, but don't buy more
 than you can comfortably pay for. Dresa
 we'll but pay your tailor; live well, but pay your grocer; don't hang up" one 10 pay the other-they need the money as much as you Earn largely, spend l thoughtfully. and save consistently, SC | that you may have something to spend | when your earning power is less than it | is today, and your needs, 1t may be, are greater. Develop financial strength as
 the oxen acquire physical strength-grad-
 ually. Don't gamble to get rich quick,
 nor mortgage the future to enjoy the 1 present.
 | To develop the ability to draw heavy
 loads is a slow steady process. It takes
 patience and training. While the lives
 of some great men remind us that we
 can make money by taking chances, you
 can lose it the same way. Tackle big 1 problems undertake big things. but let there be first the slow, patient train 1 ing that develops strength and reserve 1 energy. just as the farmer develops the
 strength of his oxen by years of patient dragging of stones in the barnyard. Few
 men can make S1 do the work of g, and you had better not try. Better get the l first, and only hitch up to the thing
 you know you can drag, for it may drag | you.