The New York herald. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1920-1924, 1920-10-31
lf-Portrait of Magazine Editor

little they could actually do for the
pay received
There is lot moro under this head
but this Is enough; in tho last sentence
just quoted from the book lies the
secret of Mr.. Bok's success; he was
the exceptional man, "fated" to sue
ceed," simply because he was an In
deratigable worker, enjoyed 1t and
never was cursed with the idea that
the world was against him. He
never thought OF such thing; he
whaled along with his work, looking
for it, getting 1t out OF the way; he
was interested In II, fascinated by II,
indeed, as he saw effects following
causes, and the world carried him
on It's wave to a higher degree of sue
cess than he had dreamed Of: indeed
he didn't stop to dream. he worked.
II is true that Mr.. Box possessed
apparently as a natural gift, the in
stinct to go ahead to proceed, and
thus to succeed. When he was little
boy In Brooklyn he noticed that when
the horse cars that then ran past his
homo to Coney Island stopped to water
the horses on the long haul, the men
jumped off and got a drink of water
from cooler in a cigar store at that
point; but the women and children
couldn't DO this readily. So the bow
bought new tin pail, fixed three hooks
to the edge and hung glass cups upon
them. He filled the pail with ice
water and sold II for a cent q glass.
He found that he netted thirty cents
a pain. He carried ON this business on
Saturday and Sunday afternoons for a
while until his trade attracted COM
petition. Then the boy squeezed few
lemons In the water, added a little
sugar and sold lemonade at three
cents glass to the holiday makers,
while his competitors were still selling
water at a cent.
There is no room for list Of the in
genuities which the boy made to bring
him In a little money, ana ne Kept them
going as long as they paid well and
then impressed them into something
else. He was working to make money
needed by his family, and he never
got tired Of 1t, was always interested,
and ne kept at 1t so "everlastingly"
that he never counted his pains: he
was counting his money, and that was
what ne was after.
The story Of Mr.. Bok's boyhood coll
lection of autographs Is long and ex-
tremely interesting; the industrious
apprentice was a pitiful bungler be-
side him; he was fertile in Ideas, un-
hampered by difldence and blessed
with an instinct to try for what he
wanted, without wasting time in fore
seeing obstacles. When they came In
his way he usually Jumped over them.
and often didn't see them at all Such
simple assurance In going fearIessly
after what he wanted is not given TO
every boy, but Mr.. Box had 1t from a
tender age, and always In utter OBJ
hvion OF being a hard worker: he
liked 1t because 1t brought him what
he was after. The whole record OF his
youth Is filed with the most artless de-
tails of how he found ways to make
little more money; the story OF his
plunge In Wall Street" uncer the
aegis Of Jay Gould whose stenographer
he then was, is not less than wonder
full; but he sold out and made
money as did his Sunday school
teacher and whole string OF attentive
friends. Mr.. Box says he has never
tried his luck there since.
HIS work as editor of the Ladies'
Home Journal has been, of course. his
crowning achievement. When he went
70 Philadelphia from New York, where
he was making rapid progress as adj