The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1920-07-20
PRoMpTNEss A VIRTUE


l like to reach the station a few
minutes early in the afternoon, and
watch the commuters running for the
trains / have been watching them
now for almost two years, and ! know
a lot of them by sight.
There are ladies and old men. infre-
quent visitors to the city, unused to
business. who arrive long before train
time. There are the regular business
men, who arrive one minute ahead.
And-just as the gate is about 60
slam-there come piling across the
station, breathless. coattails flying,
the members of Just a Little Late
Club.
used to sympathize with them at
first, supposing them to be unfortu-
mates who had missed car or lost
their watches. But after almost two
years of watch know different
The membership of the Just Little
Late Club does not change appreciab-.
ly from day to day. Night after
night it is the very same crowd of men
who have to run the last few blocks
for the train. Membership in the Just
Little Late Club is not misfortune;
it is a habit. And one of the most ex-
asperating habits in the world.
Napoleon said, sI beat the Aus
trians because they did not know the
value of five minutes"
He beat the Austrians, but he did
not exterminate them. Thousands of
their descendants and relatives still
wave-still with no appreciation Of
the value of time; still nuisance in
the business world.
There should be some way of mark
ing them. They should be compelled
to wear button or distinctive uni
form of some sort. so that the man
who makes an appointment with one
of them might be protected against
taking the appointment too seriously.
"Never be on time," said Mark
Twain. "You waste too much time
waiting for the other fellow"
He had in mind the enormous MEM
bership in the Just Little Late Club.
was lunching the other day in
hotel with a man who has much more
money than have. And a man pass
ed US who has much more than both
| of US put together.
He is a captain of other peoples
industry as well as his own. He be-
gan work twenty years ago as an of
| fee boy, and today heads one of the
great manufacturing concerns of his
city.
"a wonderful fellow" said my
friend, pointing to him. "Last year /
mad long serious of negotiations
with him about the formation of
new company. 1t was necessary for
| US to meet practically every day for
nearly three months. In all that
time he was never late but twice, and
then only for a few minutes. And
each time he sent word to me from
his Office telling me that he would be
late"
j. P. Morgan figured that every
hour of his time was worth $1,000, and
he had no patience with men who were
late for appointments, or who, when
they came to see him, did not give
him his moneys worth in exchange
for the time they took.
at is not necessary for me to live, /"
said Pompey, "but it is necessary that
be at certain point at a certain
time"
And Lord Nelson said, 4T owe all
my success in life to having been a
quarter of an hour before my time"
| hold up the record of these fa-
nous men. in the faint hope that it
may do some good. And yet, the hope
is very faint. The habit of unprompt-
ness is so very tenacious. so difficult
to break.
/ If / am fortunate enough to be IN
side when the pearly gates are closed
on the judgment-day, / shall know
what to expect Five minutes later
there will be terrific battering on
the gate st. Peter viii be surprised,
but / shall not be.
/ When the gates swing wide open
again. there they viii be-some of the
most lovable and exasperating people
i who over hved-the members of the
Just a Little Late Club-panting,
apologetic, explanatory to the last.