The Palatka news and advertiser., 1916-04-07
CrawfOrd's "Luck."

| NAo viz iSNiy lIIiNCu SuCSC Wcllk6u
into the dining room of the summer
hotel, it was clear to anyone that he
was a successful business mana
man of large responsibilities and
genuine strength of character. Two
men sitting at a table a short dis
tance from that to which the stran-
ger had been assigned looked at each
other.
"lou know who he is?" said one.
Crawford of the B. & C. Wood Cor
poration."
Eyes, | know him." replied his
friend. "He is the executive head
of all the dozen concerns affiliated
with the company. He's a big man
financially"
Success just naturally seems to
blow into some mems hats said the
first speaker with little bitterness.
Lucky fellow! l don't believe he
ever had worry in his life"
That's where you're wrong, old
chap! That man failed once and
lost his job twice before he finally
found himself and got his real
chance"
"By Jove! You don't mean it!
There was money back of him, how
ever, I'll wager!'
"Not cent. He built up a busi-
ness on borrowed capital, putting his
brain and vigor and youth against
the cash of an old friend. Then he
and his devoted wife, both still in
their twenties, saved and planned and
scrimped and lived small. They were
paying up a little here and a little
there, meeting this note that fell due
and that bill that was imperative,
when the panic of 1907 struck New
York"
"Well?"
"Well, then the man who had posed
as the kind and indulgent friend and
sponsor of the younger mans bust
ness venture threw off his mask He
called in on fifteen days notice all
the money he had loaned, and of
course face to face with an impossi-
BILE situation, Crawford failed-threw
up his hands!"
"Pretty rough! Didn't he save any
thing?"
"Not cent; lost everything.
Then the old scoundrel took over the
business, and he now makes about
twenty-five thousand dollars year
from it,"
"That was a blow! What did Craw-
ford do next?"
"Waited for a job, my friend.
Have you ever done that? l did
once, for three months, and every day
| found myself degenerating. 1t was
a rude shock to me, really, for I had
always thought that should keep up
experimentation linen, smooth
shave, creased trousers, and so forth
at any cost. Well, one day l
caught a real look at myself in the
glass, and that brought me to my
senses. | saw that l was carrying
the badge of failure on my cheek
and round my neck and wrists; my
nner feeling had taken that outward
'orm."
at is easier to go down the tobog-
gan slide than to come up, eh ?"
Rather! Well, l saw Crawford of
EN-, and | had friends who knew him
at that time. He was out
# work for six months-had abso-
utely nothing to do-and God knows
what frenzied moments come to
nan at such a time, but he never for
me day went unShaved or without
lean linen-and, best of all, his man
Ter was always cheerful. His wife
vas a wonder all through the time;
he helped him in every possible way,
made one cent serve for five, and
ore always the same gallant and in
onitable front"
"How old man is hep
Gust turned forty-one. Oh, yes! | :
now you'd take him for a man fif-
V years old. That's the price he
aid. His courage and self-control
Dok their toll, as they always do.
tut he's man of men, and if you
new, as l do, how sympathetic and \
,rge-minded and kind he is, you'd
ealize that that very hard expert :
nee developed in him traits that no f
mount of instant or easy success
1uld have given him." =.
"Well, the fellows who declare tina! :,
1ere's no such thing as luck could
Sc him as a good example, couldn't a
lev?" II
"They certainly could. 1t was Just
,urage that made his success-cour-
l