The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1917-04-12
Remember the Value of
Time

| while 1t is in operation. lime has nothing
to do with eternity. Time deals only
with the work of our daily lives.
A great many years ago was a railway
brakeman working upon line running
through Minnesota and Iowa. The system,
like all ether railways, was operated upon
time system. Trains left or arrived at
certain hour. From messenger boys in the
general Offices to the best engineer on the
rail, the clock reminded them of their duty.
1t was put up to them to observe the value
of Time.
One morning the general manager of the
line walked into the station at Minneapolis
and asked ticket agent when our train
left. The answer was ''9:l5" This reply
was given five minutes before the train was
to depart. The general manager took his
time in walking about the station and
talking to a number of people. He
suddenly recollected that he needed our
train and made run for the gates. The
train had left on time and he was minute
late in trying to get it.
When he protested about the matter the
answer he received from the train dispatcher
was:
| "You ordered our trains to leave on
time. If you fail to be on time it is not
the fault of the train or any one connected
with it,
The general manager recognized the
truth of the statement and had no further
complaint to make.
l have told the story merely 10 point to
the truth observing Time counts for every
thing. We naturally have so many hours
every day of our lives in which to sleep, eat
and rest otherwise. But we have also so
many hours in which to work. This work
is not all our own. Other people have to
be considered. Their time is just as
valuable as our own. All we do must be
adjusted to all they have to do.
The easiest way to do that is never to
make a promise for an appointment, an
engagement, unless we intend to keep it on
the hour. If our boys agree to be at school
at certain hour, keep the agreement. If
they agree to be at home at certain time,
be there. have in my office messenger
boy who takes certain orders every day. |
asked him not long ago if he could deliver
certain letter in ten minutes. He said he
could not. l told him he must. He still
refused, said it was impossible to do it in
that time, but added:
81 can in fifteen minutes.
The message was given him and on the
| fifteen minutes it was delivered. He knew
the time it would take to deliver the
message. how far he would have to walk,
what obstacles might come in his way. He
would not promise to do what he felt
certain could not be done.
A young clerk at one time employed by
the late Philip Armour was surprised to be
called into his employers Office on
morning and told he was discharged. He
asked for the reason and Mr.. Armour
| replied.
"You have been with me three years and
your general work is good. But cannot
| depend upon you. To me Time is money
and the care of my business, but to you
Time appears to be thing for waste. If
the time for you to be at your desk in the
morning is set for eight o'clock almost
invariably you arrive at sos or $40 am
paying you to be there at 8, but your
| ., I,
'In the year are 800 working days. Five
minutes lost each day make l, 500 minutes
gone in the year. Fifteen hundred minutes
are twenty-five hours or little more than
three working days of eight hours each. l
am paying you wages of four dollars day.
BY not being on time you are robbing me
of three days wages or twelve dollars.
There are 400 clerks in this office. If each
follows the example you set them lose in
one year $4,000. That loss is equivalent
to the interest on $50, 900 for one year at
six per cent. That is why you are losing
now position in which, if you had OBJ
served Time, you would have steadily risen
to greater responsibilities and importance.
Mr.. Armour was not man of hard heart,
and when that clerk whose senses had sud-
denly been aroused to the importance of
Time gave him firm promise he would cor
rect the evil, he was returned to his desk.
He has since risen to high position in the
firm and is noted as a man who always
keeps his engagements on the minute and
attends to his duties as clock observes its.
Not observing time strikes at other peo-
pie as we'll as the one who is careless. A
Chicago motorman on trolley car, through
inattention and neglect of his duty, lost
four minutes time on run which he should
have made in forty-nine minutes. He made
it in hfty-three. AS result he lost his own
time schedule, threw off the schedule of
over one hundred cars followin him, block
ed traffic, delayed more than 5000 people
travelling, and upset things in general
The timekeeper of the company figured
afterwards that the initial loss of these first
four minutes caused in the end a time loss
| A. of bo of