The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1921-06-17

AoAiANp 49, BNNc
words of my old s~choOImaster that
June morning my class graduated.
what are you fellows going
ANt to do now? % he asked. II suppose
n%NITA every one here has several ideas
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~~Nt of what he would like to be hut.
W M tering around in his head. It's
LTG. LaLd pretty hard to decide between them
HR( on a day like this-when the hsh
IA FSS are biting up in odd Sandy
q MY advice to each one Of you
W. is to get your fishing pole and
carry the question along with you. Near the shores
of old Sandy you will find schools of ~polliwogs.
Learn a lesson from them.
These polliwogs are ON their way to froghood.
You fellows are on your way to manhood. But the
polllwogs are not in any particular hurry. l don't
think you'll find them trying to leap around and lift
their voices like frogs. AS a matter of fact they
are going to assume several different shapes be-
fore they settle down into ~frOghood. For the
present, however, they are content to go right on
being p~olliwogs.
You fellows are In the polliwog stage. Your
powers and abilities are only half revealed. Look
around before you decide what you want to be or
do. In a few years you may become aware of quail
tiles in your makeup whose existence you never
suspected. AT the same time, abilities that you
tnlnk you now possess may fade away. Take your
time. lou may save yourself from the fate Of a
misfit. You've heard OF them-the doctors are I'M
happy because they are not lawyers, the chemists
who would be of more service to the world as
newspaper men,"
L have passed on these wise words to many boys.
Apd | pass them on now with a new application
to the small-town boy who dreams of achiev-
Ing success in the city,
Ills mind Is crammed with Horatio Alger, Jr-
stun. He has read the picturesque life stories
of some of our big men who left the farm for the
city. The whistles of q locomotive among the hills
makes him yearn for the city, b~ristling with OPP
portunities. He looks upon the glistening rails
as the one avenue to his opportunity.
He Is short-sighted.
A few years ago, a big city was the place for
an up-and-coming young man. 1t needed him, and
1t was prepared to reward him with money and DO
sitioD. Today, however, the story Is reversed.
America has grown too fast" say our deep think.
ing economists and publicists. "She has spread
herself thinly over a large area. The future of
the country lies In Its undeveloped small cities
und towns"
? Are you looking for opportunity? Examine thar
little old "one-hoss'' town of yours, before you
think of buying a one-way ticket from it. There
are many ambitious, and very wise, young men
who are deliberately leaving the larger cities and
moving into towns such as yours.
A few months ago / visited a country store In a
typical small town Of the West. The owner Is a
young man. Ten years ago ne left the town and
went to Chicago for a real job" But he had not
worked long before he realized that 1t would be
many years before he could get the kind Of job
he wanted. There were opportunities for fore.
men. managers, superintendent and other
BOSSES" But they were purely administrative
jobs He wanted to create and build up a busi-
ness of his own.
The death Of his father called him home to care
for his mother, and he got a job in a general store
of the town. It was a terrible grind. The work
Itself was not back breaking. But the daily round
of little things to do-the same dull routine. hour
after hour, day after day, week after week, got
on his nerves. Weighing out a bagful of this.
wrapping up a handful of that-it was hard work
simply because 1t was not interesting.
Did this young fellow settle down and wear him.
self deeper and deeper into the rut? He did not.
He simply began to look around to see If he could
liven things up.
He suggested to the owner that he advertise.
advertise! 7" snorted the owner. What fort
Why-p'tu everyone round here kno' 8 we're
here. And open for business all the time. Ptul
And CARRYING almost anything In stock tnat theyli
ever want. Advertise! What for?
He suggested specializing. "Why not throw out
some of these slow-moving articles and put In
goods that sell more ~quicklyT
aNo" said the merchant. 1--WE depend on tho
farmers for the bulk Of our trade, and we've got
TO carry a general line-a little bit OF everything.
No-p'tu!-we1 go right on with our line OF
staples"
The next year the young man bought out the
old man and started in to be a business-builder.
His first reform was to get rid of half the stock.
Ycu know what a collection of junk the average
country general store is, with its haunting door
Of harness grease, calico, soda crackers, morse
IlnIment and cheese.
He had observed that the women did most of the
ouving. so he nodded his stores service to NEE;
their needs. He Investigated their buying habits.
He learned that those who could afford to buy
Emery patronized the large city stores, or sent
away TO the mail order houses.
The young man visited the jobbers and manu-.
facturers In the city. He brought back a large
consignment Of hats. suits, dresses and other
s8vlish things that women wear. Then he fitted
ub . special department In the space from which
- hnd thrown the gun oil and ten-Ienny nails