Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-08-22
sEcRET OF MATERIAL SUCCESS.

SECRET OF, MATERIAL SUCCESS.
Frank Irving Fletcher was clerk
in Birmingham. England. some years
ago. His salary was little more
than 4 pound week. He had ambi-
tions OF eventually making fhe equiv
alent OF Sl2 week. One day he
picked up in the street the want ad"
section OF an American newspaper
which some tourist had discarded. In
il he read that certain New York
firm wanted clerk, and offered SIS
a week for his services. Fletcher took
the next boat for America. but found
to his dismay that the place had been
taken before his arrival.
Finally he did get job. Later that
became position IA private secre-
tary. Then he conceived the idea that
he could write advertisements. He
soon convinced several small stores
that he could write bit better than
the proprietors could themselves. Sew
eral years slater he was writing for
one of the worlds greatest depart
ment stores. Then he became a free
lance. writing for any shop or syndi-
cate that would pay his price. Now
his income is said to be n little over
$3.50. 900 year. II you have read those
Simon q Co.. c. 4 j. Sloane. Tecia
Pearls, and Harrods, Ltd. OF London,
you, will understand the remarkable
power OF vivid phraseology that the
man possesses. 1t was he who coined
that famous Red Cross phrase, For
Once the Sign of the Dollar Has Be
come the Sign of the Cross"
How do you write such advertise
ments7" he was asked recently. He
said that he merely closed the door to
his private office for seven or eight
hours, and worked without Interrupt
eion until his stint was completed. But
the magazine writer for Brain
Power" who was interviewing him.
thought that the man possessed some
unknown secret of psychology, so
pressed his question. The answer was
merely this;
THE same old secret that il has al
ways been--work. Partly il consists
in having In mind an object you want
to. attain. and i'm keeping your atten-
tion on it. Partly IL consists in habit.
Partly il n having the courage to
begin. whether you have an idea in
yosr head or not. When / sit down
to my desk II is with the definite in
tention Of not stopping till I am
through. That is one reason why /
find IL necessary to work at night.
In the day you get interrupted and
have to break your rule. Not stop
ping until / am through is almost
part of my religion. y is one'of the
best possible insurances against pro-
ducing performance that falls short
of your intentions"
OF course there Is only one Frank
Irving Fletcher in the world, and there
is no man in his field who receives
even half of his yearly income. But
there are many other men at the head
of their respective professions who are
receiving huge sums of money for
their services. In every known case
these men have confessed that sue
cess came from nothing but intense
and prolonged application-work per
formed long after other men had quit
and were playing.
Now material success is not every
thing in this world. We cannot place
it on a pedestal and worship it as
some men do. There are some things
in the spiritual world which to us
seem far more important than the
mere acquiring of pyramid of gold.
Yet a certain amount of gold is nee
essary il we would pad in advance the
sharp corners of the world which we
must pass. Natural aptitude. energy
and fair break in luck, are the only
things we know that will help to ac-
quire goodly share of it. II is only
the ffifth-raters and the professional
gamblers who by some great stroke
of luck have amassed fortune, who
pretend that they possess some Cod
given talent denied others.