The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1917-11-29
A THANKSGIVING ROMANCE
The Story of How Man Discovered Something
Greater Than Wealth and High Position
By Ham

NI6NNI[GI]Nl LILLIAN PULLMAN. n
HHMEENSH reached the age of forty-five
AS9EZ4BED without having experienced
yQ9ySgD any symptoms of heart-fut-
ter at the approach of the fair sex. He
had always maintained a strictly neutral
attitude towards all femininity; courteous
and fair to his women employees, and
generous when an appeal was made to
his sympathy, he possessed the respect
full confidence of ALL
Ever since his arrival as an immi-
grant, William Polman had labored for
the fulfilIment of boyhood dream of
what a man should be. He worked that
he might become independently wealthy,
without employing tactics not rigidly
honest and that he might do share
toward ameliorating the condition of
others less gifted. Now, after thirty
years of unceasing labor he had achieved
the desired end; his dream was realized.
People called him the Merchant Prince;
his mere word was considered as bind
ing as another mans bond; his business
had grown from the proverbial shoe
string until now his force of statesmen
covered territory embracing some
twenty states; splendid factories in
six cities daily added their quota of
profits to his rapidly increasing wealth.
He paid his employees the highest
wages and took more than perfunctory
interest in their welfare. No one ap-
pealed in vain to him if the cause was
honest; he had saved hundreds of men
and women from want; even the munich
pal pawn-shops that loaned money at
two per cent owed their existence to his
efforts. The state had offered to honor
him with high political positions but he
preferred to devote his time and talent
to municipal problems of sociological
nature.
Contrary to most precedents, William
Polman had achieved his ambitions with
out influential friends; he was not a
mixer; no clubs carried his name; no
automobiles honked their way through
his driveway; no butler opened the door
to admit this unassuming master of mil
lions. Ostentation was a weakness
which was unknown to William Polman.
The Merchant Prince was completely
satisfied with his business and the many
practical charities that occupied his
time. Society functions we're never
hOnored with his presence, not because
he disapproved their levity but because
he found more enjoyment in other
pursuits.
One of William Polman's business
aphorisms was, Take care of your
business and it will take care of you."
To this end he not only watched the
major operations of his big business but
also some of the details, the successful
development of which had contributed
to his success. Every morning the
credit manager brought in letters of
customers who desired an extension of
credit; other letters we're from prospec-
tive customers seeking to obtain credit.
This daily task was William Polman's
hobby: here were shaped the destinies
of many retail merchants. Often man
who had no listed credit rating needed
small stock of goods to expand his busi
ness. This credit could not be obtained
from the big houses operated on rigid
system of credits. But William Polman
took into consideration the human ele-
ment as we'll as the financial aspect of
his customers, and he possessed the rare
faculty of imbuing his statesmen with
something Of this combination of busi-
ness acumen and helpfulnesss. Many
hundreds of merchants owed their start
in business to his decision to trust them,
regardless of the state of their bank
balances. That his policy was success
full was proven by the marvelously small
percentage of ''bad debts each year
charged to the profit and loss account of
the firm. True, it meant more work,
but the compensation lay in the fact that
it helped others to get start in life.
After all, this was as much part of his
desire to succeed as to accumulate profits.