Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1920-03-26

meet IN an Official capacity with the
members Of the Board of Commerce Al,
that it was with considerable feeling Of
regret that he was leaving the city.
As secretary, he could not have made
such a success if he had not been given
a great deal Of help by the officers ant-
the members at large, he said. There
has been some criticism but that will
be outlived in time by keeping the or
ganization together and having in mind
the broader things, the welfare of tht
community at large. Mr.. Olson said
that some people seem to feel that they
should get direct benefit from their
membership in the organization. He
branded this as a wrong attitude and
maintained that what one can put into
the organization is what he gets out Of
it. He praised the members of the
board Of directors, saying that tn
were broad minded and unselfish set
Of men, always working for ,rne welfare
Of Little Falls. In conclusion he statco
that he hoped that the =Boardtof Com:
merce would continue to function and
to do even Greatt,- y things in the future
than it has don, in the past.
The last and principal speaker was
Curtis NJ. johnson, hardware dealer of
Rush City, who is prominent figure in
this state, being member Of the state
fair board, past president Of the nation
al implement dealers association,
speaker for the state war savings de-
partment, and prominent in many other
| lines of endeavor. Mr.. johnson s
speech, which lasted fully an hour, was
regarded as one of the best ever given
in Little Falls and it contained a mes.
sage that cannot help but bear fruit,
Mr.. Johnson's subject was "The
Road to Happiness. In his opening
remarks lie Stated that the small town
has some big problems to solve and
they must be solved before the town
can experience real progress. We arc
facing crisis in this country now
men in business in the small towns must
get off the fence and get rid Of this
class hatred and jealousy. There arc
but two kinds Of people in this country
now, heroes and zeros. The big mer
of the community are members of the
civic and commercial organizations
The characteristics which made America
should be applied in our business.
| Christopher Columbus discovered
America in 1892, the speaker said, but
the kaiser did not discover this country
until our doughboys went over there in
1917. Columbus proved that the world
was round and we sent our boys over
there to prove that America is square.
! Four words, enthusiasm, ambition, op
timism and service, were pronounced
by Mr.. johnson as the stepping stones
to success. He called enthusiasm "thu
germs,' and as an illustration com
pared them with "flu germs,' saying
that the flu germs put you down and
out and the "thu germs' put you up
He added: "We must have enthusiasm
to keep on top, ambition to look ahead
and optimism to see things in the right
light. The optimist can get out in the
night and see where there is no light
whereas the pessimist is the fellow who
reaches out and puts out the light. Ser
vice is the last and greatest character
istic-service to others is what really
counts. Love your community and the
love germs will permeate the communi
ty. Get acquainted with your neigh
bor-you might like him. The speak.
er said that selfshness is killing happi
ness and success. If people are to get
| y
jealousy and distrust; these must be
cut out and then the people will get the
most out of life. The crouch must be
replaced by good cheer, the frown by
the smile.
AS means of comparing the big
man with the small man Mr.. johnson
told a story about farmer who took
a load of potatoes to town. He did
not sort the potatoes, putting the big
ones on top, but dumped them into the
wagon just as they came and started tc
town. Nature took care Of the sorting
on the way, the continual jogging caus
ing the big potatoes to work to the to-
and the small ones to go to the bot
tom. He also gave very good illus
tration Of how diplomacy may be ap
piled in business and emphasized the
need Of advertising in order to be sue
cessful. He concluded his talk by say
ing that in order to be progressive, we
must play the game and fight hard
we must work harder. -