The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1920-12-25
PERsoNALlTY-PLUS.

FOL q great many years inc writer
possessed one of the most prominent
'eatures that characterized the late
Jack London, that of wander
though we confess, on a far
scale, and as 1t were, a sort
If pocket edition" However, we
'rambled some" while we were at it.
During this period of wandering
from city to city we observed
many of the many million things there
are to be encountered as we journey
through this vale of tears and Woril
Wars. We have unconsciously and
without effort retained a great many
of these impressions registered and
filed in our storeroom of knowledge.
These are classified and labeled, and
every once in a while we find ourself
reviewing the parade of these impress
sionistic facts.
Now, all of us have hobbies. Wheth-
er we admit it or not does not alter
the fact. We have them. Some are
lovers of the ponies, cars, cats, dogs,
and still others are fanciers of the
padded mitts, the ball team and the
theatre, while many idolize art and
literature. These are hobbies, yet
some are loathe to admit their guilt.
Candidly, we admit our hobby, if it
al be termed such-it is that of
Personality" But personality alone
does not arouse us as much as per
so~nality-Plus." Plus, you ask? Yes,
just that-but, plus efficiency.
Just prior to the late World War
we visited a few cities in the state of
Iowa and one day while on a shop
ping tour-we abhor shopping-we
entered a small, neat and attractive
haberdashery and among the pur-
chases made were collars. Now, there
is nothing extraordinary or exciting
about the purchase of a collar-we
have been guilty of buying several
hundreds-but here comes the per
sonality-Plus." The salesman was a
young, serious, yet alert chap, atten-
tive and courteous. Ordinarily he did
not seem to outrank other statesmen.
but on closer observation we found
that every move of hand and body
had a meaning of it's own; it signified
personality, and more, plus" This
chap had invented a sort of finger
protector for handling collars, making
it impossible to soil collars while ex.
hibiting them to the patrons. There
we found the plus" thus making
Personality Plus Efficiency, a combi-
nation hard to beat. Needless to say
that this particular establishment
soon grew to the largest of its kind
in the state.
Now, as we wander over our "home
toWn"-Kansas City, Move still reg
lister the progress of the trial of the
same spirit of personality plus. Re-
Gently we breezed into a shoe shin.
ing emporium to have our shoes pol
ished, and being still observant we
noticed the sign on the window read,
League Enterprise" This immedi-
ately claimed our interest, and upon
being comfortably seated we began
our usual tour of observation in
search of "Personality-Plus," our hob
by, and it did not take long to dis
cover the King of Personality-Plus."
n then some. A rather large indi.
Vldual held a point of vantage behind
the cash counter, hearing all-seeine
all. or course there was nothing or
even unusual in regarding a man be-
hind a counter-but wait-he nov
and every movement has a meaninp
of itsp own-Personality. Each boot
black possessed something similar 10
this movement-this movement of
ease, grace, without lost effort. I'M
hurriedly, yet with speed.
While the boy shined our shoes
our mind quickly took in all the i'm
pressions, fitted over the continent
to other establishments of this partic-
ular kind, and as the lad gave our
trouser cuffs a slight pull, ~bespeaking
a finished job, we alighted from the
stand, paid the cashier, called for a
paper, and-oh, say! you should have
seer the youngster as he extended the
paper to us-it was a revelation in
personality-plus. In other words, per-
sonality-service-efficiency Three in
one. We shall never forget the move.
ment of his handsl Nor the large in
dividual who beamed at us from be-
hind the counter. He was the center
OF personality, and the boys counter.
currents.
AS we turned to leave the graphic
nola struck up a popular selection,
and to u surprise, h~ewilderment and
later, joy, a corps Of shoe shining
rags and brushes, skillfully manipu
lated by as many boys, kept time with
the music! Shoes shined to the tune
of your favorite selection. Can yor
beat it?
We were, by this time, very much
interested in this man who was re
sponsible\ for this admirable displa,
Of efficiency and began inquiry among
our friends. We learned that he i.
a quiet, reserved, though genial sor
of fellow; intelligent in an unusua
degree; young in age, but old in tn,
service of his people. A thinker an(
writer of no mean ability who ha,
led a gallant fight for years agains
all things corrupt that oneern tn,
black race.
We shall never forget the imnres