Evening star., 1940-01-28

haltingly, for he brought bad news. Her
husband had been killed in an accident
One of the seven was sickly child. but |
there was no choice in the matter, and he
had to find work to help support the family
He went confidently out, for he was now
twelve. And that lad? Well, he was Eddie
Rckenbacker. That's his name now, but he
then signed it much more impressively; no
less than Edward Vernon Rickenbacker.
He found work here and he found work
there, but his heart was set on getting real
work in one of those oddities called an auto
mobile factory There was one in Columbus,
50 he went there and told them how good he
was and how anxious he was to work for
them; and the foreman told him how anxious
he was not to have him go to work for them.
And the foreman won. Eddie came back and
applied again; again the foreman had his way.
Then one morning he didn't have his way,
for Eddie seized broom and began to sweep
with vigor'I want to work here" he said.
"Ivegot to work here I1lwork free of charge!'
And he did work free of charge. But not
for long: nor at the end of broom handle,
either He was shifted to the stock room. He
was there when the doors opened in the
morning, and they closed on his heels every
evening.
One day the owner of the factory, during
the noon hour, passed by desk and at the
desk sat Eddie Rickenbacker. The owner
paused HIM! That was odd. When he came
closer he was even more astonished, for the
rhorfc
Il don't recognize this as part of our plant
routine said the owner, and the boy had to
blush, for it wasn't 1t was correspondence
course in engineering; the boy was making the
most of his noon hour.
The owner became interested. Must be
something to the lad. He gave him chance
to advance, and from that moment Eddie had
his feet on ladder, the rungs of which were
marked: Foreman. Assistant Engineer. Trou-
bic Man. Branch Manager.
The owner was an amateur racing driver
He thought nothing of going twenty miles an
hour. Married man, too.
He wanted a mechanic to ride with him.
The year was 1906, and it was the Vanderbilt
Cup Race, the greatest of early auto-race
classics. Headlines would scream. Names
would become famous in day. Now, who do
you think rode beside the owner in that race?
Correct! The ex-broom- -wielder; the mechanic
who did a little more than he was paid to do.
lHE end is not yet. He became racing
driver himself Right good one, too. In one
year he plucked off eight firsts
Nor was it the end yet. He became General
Pershing s chauffeur during the World War.
The habit of doing little more than he
was paid to do continued with him, and he
became an aviator and laid twenty-six enemy
ships low. He was the hero of heroes, and was
given the Croix de Guerre, the Cross of the
Legion of Honor the Distinguished Service
Cross and the Congressional Medal of Honor.
1t shows what habit will bring to you.
Today? Well, he's president of an air line
with $50 pilots working for him. 1t is lot of
responsibility to be the president of an air
line. He'd never have got into the difficulty
if he hadn't done little more than he was
paid to do. It ought to teach him lesson.
It pays in business, this Fine Art of Doing
Little More Than You Are Paid To Do; it
pays in friendship and in almost every phase
of your life.