:^EORqE:J:^\ANSON CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY FROM Miss Charlotte Howe Cornell University Library 3 1924 031 425 808 olin.anx The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924031425808 Ready for Business; CHOOSING AN OCCUPATION A SERIES OF PRACTICAL PAPERS FOR BOYS. By GEOEGE J. MAlNTSOif, Author of " Work for TFomen." NHW YORK: FOWLER & WELLS CO., PUBLISHERS, No. 775 Broadway. 1889. COPYRIGHT BY GEOEGE J. MANSON, 1889. INTRODUCTION. Let us suppose that a boy has arrived at the age when he wants to answer for himself and friends the question : " What work shall I do ? What occu- pation shall I follow in which I can make name, and fame and money ? " And the boy sometimes, nay ofttimes, ruminating on this all-important sub- ject thinks, we will imagine, in this wise : " I'd like to be an architect or a house-builder. I wonder how I'd be pleased with such work ? Wonder if it's hard? No': I'd rather be a sea-captain. But how do boys ever get to be sea-captains ? To be a traveling salesman would be pleasant — to go all around the country and see the different cities and stay only a little while here and a little while there. Yes, that would be fine? but how do boys get to be traveling salesmen, and is it really as agreeable an occupation as I think it is ? Perhaps, to keep a store might be better. Eeally, T wish I did know what I would like to do best. I've asked father; he's a lawyer, and though they say he's great on 'authorities,' he is no authority on this matter. He just says I must think of what I want to be, and then start out. I do think, and the more I think, the less I am able to decide what I want. If I only knew some one who could give me an ii INTRODUCTION. idea at)out the good and bad features of the differ- ent occupations that I think I should like, why, I could decide very soon which one to take." If I am right in supposing there are a large num- ber of boys who think as I have just suggested, the series of sketches, presented in this book, will be found useful. My aim is to give in them what might be called an inside view of various trades and businesses which, as a rule, are attract- ive to youth, and to help the lad in either making his selection from a number of industries, or give him more light on the one which he feels sure wiU please him, but about the real nature of which he has probably only a cursory knowledge. In other words, the effort will be made to answer just such questions as a boy would naturally ask about an occupation while he was making up his mind as to whether or not he would like to enter it. On the general topic of how to succeed in life, I shall in these articles have little to say. Scores of books have been written on success, and hundreds of men, some great, but many small, have endeav- ored to tell us the secret of success'. I have read many of these works, and doubtless my young readers have perused volumes of that kind; but I have failed to find any new or short road to that goal for which we all are striving. And so, at the outset, let my young reader un- derstand that I have no new or mysterious sug- gestions to make on how he can be successfi^l. INTEODUCTION. iii Let him remember tliat in each and all of the occupations of which I shall speak, he must, if he would reach a high place in the business, work hard and be attentive, always willing to learn, steady in his habits, that he must choose good associates, and must have within him a thorough determination to work up higher. Success in any calling, it seems to me, depends on a great many conditions, among which may be mentioned tem- perament, industry, quickness to learn from your own experience and the failures of those about you, and an ever-watchful eye for opportunities to reach a better position than the one you occupy. I shall aim to make these articles thoroughly reliable. The facts in regard to each calling have been obtained, in personal interviews, from promi- nent and trustworthy persons engaged therein. These sketches, with the exception of the one entitled "The Professions," were originally pub- lished in a late volume of St. Nicholas ; a few changes have been made to adapt them to the form of a book. G. J. M. If ^t -1-^ l^j*!- CONTENTS. PAGE. An Electuical Engineer, 1 An Abchitect, 9 a commekcial traveler, 19 A Banker and Broker 28 A House Builder, 38 Mercantile Life ; a Eetail Drt Goods Merchant, 49 Boat Building, 56 A Sea Captain, 66 A Practical Chemist, 74 A JouknalisTj 83 A Retail Drug Store, 91 The Learned Professions, 101 Ready for Business; OR, CHOOSHSTG AN OOOUPATIOK AN ELECTRICAL ENGINEER. I suppose that most of my young readers have seen an electric light. If there are any that have not seen the light itself, they must have seen pict- ures of night scenes in which the light was repre- sented. Well, this particular method of illumina- tion is comparatively new ; it came into general use in the year 1878, — ^just about ten years ago, — and is therefore as old as the younger readers of this book. When it came into use it gave employment to a new class of workers ; it created a new and^ all things considered, a very good profession, one which it is well worth the while of our boys and young men to consider before they choose a vocation in life, — ^I mean, the profession of electrical engineering. ( I said the profession was a new one. This is true, but the possible uses of electricity have formed the subject of wide discussion by scientific men during the last ten j'^ears. Already we see wonderful re- sults from their discoveries, and there is no telling what these investigations, wiiich they are stiU patiently pursuing, may yet bring forth. 2 EEADY FOE BUSINESS. An electrical engineer is a man who has a thorough knowledge of the powers of electricity, so far as these are known, and the uses to which it has hitherto been put. He makes it his business to manufacture electric machines and lamps, to put them in place for such parties as desire them, and to " run " them, or see that they " go " rightly after they are put up. In England, where the light is, of course, as much in use as it is in America, there are quite a lajge number of electrical engineers. They each take contracts individually for setting up electric-light- ing " stations " in factories or large buildings, or in such public thoroughfares as private property-own- ers or town corporations may decide to have illu- minated by electricity. These engineers purchase the mechanical appliances needed in one place or another, as they see fit. They buy a steam-engine from one firm, a dynamo-machine from another, the wire of another establishment, and, after fitting up the apparatus, they teach some employee of the establishment how to use it ; and going to some other customer who has decided to have the light put on his premises, they go through the same routine with him. In our own country the business is carried on differently. Here, there are three or four large companies, each having its own peculiar style of electric light, each taking contracts on its own ac- count to furnish all the machinery and appliances needed, and each employing its own engineers to do AN ELECTRICAL ENGINEER. 3 the work. It may be said, therefore, that almost all the electrical engineers in this country are in the employ of one or another of these comiianies. The duties of an electrical engineer are after this order : If you have ever been in any of the large manu- factories in our cities, you have noticed that while the machinery may have been perfect, and the workers cheerful and industrious, the methods of lighting the establishment were generally very in- adequate. It is in just such places that the electric light is found to be the most iisef ul. Let us suppose, therefore, that our young electrical engineer goes to such an establishment, the proprietors of which have decided to substitute the electric light for the common gas. The first thing the engineer does when he goes to the factory is to "locate," or determine, the number of lamps that will be required. Then he estimates the amount and proper size of the wire that will be required to supply the lamps with the current; the size of the dynamo that will be re- quired, the amount of steam-power required to run it, — in short, he makes an estimate of everything that will be needed. He tells the proprietors of the factory the sum for which the company will con- tract to do the work. If the estimate is satisfactory, the contract is given, and our young engineer takes full charge of the work until the light is in complete working order. The engineer has, of course, ob- tained all his materials from the company with which he is connected, has employed it^ skilled 4 READY FOR BUSINESS. workmen, and, after the light is in good working order, he teaches some one, selected by the proprie- tors of the factory, how to " run " it, and that is the end of that transaction. There are two roads to take if you wish to become an electrical engineer, and at the beginning of each one of them I think I see a little sign-board, on which, in good, plain letters, is inscribed, " Hard work ! " — while far ahead the roads meet, and there, faintly outlined on another board, I see the word, " Success ! " Although this occupation of electrical engineer- ing is so new, there are three colleges in our coun- try where the theoretical part of the profession is taught, namely : The Stevens Institute of Technol- ogy, at Hoboken, New Jersey ; the University of Pennsylvania; and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. There are other schools, but these are the best known. If a young man has gone through the theoretical and partially practical training to be had in either of these institutions, he does not re- quire a great deal of actual experience in doing the work itself to fit him for undertaking almost any task pertaining to the calling. But some boys may not be able to spare the time or pay the money for this collegiate part of the training. In that case, th.ey endeavor to find em- ployment in one of the factories of the great com- panies I have mentioned. To obtain admission, however, they must be bright, they must give good promise in the taste they have for mechanical pur: AN ELECTRICAL ENGINEER. 5 suits, as well as in tteir habits, that they are suited for the profession they seek to enter. Having ob- tained an entrance, they begin as ordinary em- ployees, doing the simplest Isiiid of work or even drudgery ; then they are transferred from one de- partment to another, learning a little at each step they take; until, finally, they have a good knowl- edge of the manufacturing branch of the profession. From there they should go to the laboratory, where they obtain the scientific knowledge of the business. To know how the different parts are put together is not of itself sufficient ; they must be able to tell why they are put together in that particular way ; it is just that knowledge which makes them electrical engineers. Then they are sent out as assistants to the various electric-lighting stations or are temporarily placed in charge of plants which have just been established, and which some amateur engineer is learning how to run. Finally they may be put in charge of a lighting station, — ^that is a building from which the lighting power is furnished for the lamps in the immediate neighborhood; and lastly, they may become mem- bers of the engineering corps, and put up the elec- tric lights for people in the manner I have described. Let me enlarge a little in regard to the appren- ticeship a boy has to serve in this business. First of all, keep in mind that it is a hew occupa- tion, and in its present state, at least, it is a con- stantly advancing business. Discoveries are made in it yearly, — one might almost say monthly,. — and 6 READY FOE BUSINESS. it is being developed in so many different directions that those who are engaged in it must have very ac- tive intellects in order to keep pace with what is going on. To use the words of a very competent authority, " you will have to work hard all day and study all night." It is not like an old-established business, in which what is to be learned is known beforehand, but an occupation where your neighbor, who is a harder student than you are, may come across some highly valuable discovery or useful hint which could not be found " in the books," but is none the less valuable on that account. One part of the work is in the laboratory. It is there where the machines used in the business are " thought out," where they are designed, tested, and made ready for use. An engineer, for example, may have put so many pounds of soft iron in conjunc- tion with so many pounds of copper wire, of such a size, and he may think, from the knowledge he has at that time acquired, that they will produce such and such magnetic results. After putting them to- gether, he finds that they do not come up to the standard he has in mind, and so he has to begin all over again. " It is said, also, that the sizes of the wires used and the proportion of one part of the mechanism to another is a matter of very nice calculation, because any lack of proportion entails a constant expense in running the light, which, in a year, would amount to a considerable sum. The factory is the place where the machines are AN ELECTRICAL ENGINEER. 7 put up and run. The student, when he enters tlierej either from the college or the laboratory, follows up what he has been learning, and sees some of the practical operations of his labors. The station I have already mentioned. Though the work there is, in its way, important, a thoroughly qualified elec- trical engineer is too far advanced to stay there any length of time. He needs to go to work as a maker of the machines, and to strive to invent contrivances to make them cheaper or better. If he remained at the station, his duty would be to see that the ma- chines were taken care of, to properly make the cir- cuits with the machines, to watch them while they run, and to keep them in good condition. In considering the chances of obtaining employ- ment, it must be borne in mind that the three large electric-light companies may be said to control the business. In some cities in the United States all three of the companies are in operation, but in the smaller cities and in the towns only one company is represented, the territory on which they work hav- ing been previously bought by them. The light is being constantly introduced in new places, and, after a time, when the scientific men have found some method by Avhich it can be made cheaper, we shall doubtless have it in our houses, and shall miss the grave, quiet gasman, with the mysterious book, who comes to oui- dwellings once a month to " look at the meter." This is a good profession for a boy with a taste for mechanics, and, as I have intimated, it is cer: 9 REAbY tOR BUSINESS. tain to become a better one year by year. Starting at low wages, say from three to six dollars a week, it would seem to be a boy's own fault if he did not " work up in the business." There are a few elec- trical engineers that are now receiving five thousand a year ; but the great majority get much less than this sum. From fifteen hundred lo five thousand dollars a year would, I believe, be a fair statement of the salaries they receive. But in the present condition of things, it would seem best for a boy, or a young man bent on succeed- ing in this occupation, to identify himself with one of the three great companies, the Edison, the Brush, or Weston. Especially is this true if his principal aim is to get a large salary in the quickest possible space of time. If he goes first with one company and then with another, he can not hope to do as well ; and, indeed, he might pursue that policy to such an extent as to be looked upon as a sort of electrical tramp, in whom there dwelt no settled purpose, and who is therefore of no value. Each system has its peculiarities. Let the youth who aspires to be an electrical engineer select the one he deems the best and then master it thoroughly, — as the boys say, ^ from a to z/i AN ARCHITECT. Architects are fond of telling an amusing story which tends to illustrate the difference between house-builders and members of their own profession. It appears, that Mr. Alexander, an eminent English architect, was in a certain lawsuit under cross-exam- ination by a distinguished barrister who wished to detract from the weight of his testimony, and who, after asking him his name, proceeded : " You are a builder, I believe ? " " No, sir," was the reply, " I am not a builder ; I am an architect." " They are much the same, I suppose ? " "I beg your pardon, sir; I cannot admit that; I consider them to be totally different." " Oh, indeed '. perhaps you will state wherein this great difference exists." " An architect, sir," replied Mr. Alexander, " con- ceives the design, prepares the plan, draws out the specifications — in short, supplies the mind; the builder is the bricklayer or the carpenter. The builder, in fact, is the machine; the architect, the power that puts the machine together and sets it going." " Ohj very well, Mr. Architect," said the lawyer ; " and now, after your ingenious distinction without a difference, perhaps yo'ii can inform the court who was the architect of the Tower of Babel?" — ^to 10 EEADY FOE BUSINESS. which question Mr. Alexander made the prompt and telling rejoinder : " There was no architect, sir, and hence the confu- sion." Mr. Alexander evidently had a very good opinion of his profession, and, considering the difficulty with which success in it is attained, he was certainly just- ified in thinking well of it. For, it is only fair to say at the outset that the boy who would be a really good boss architect must go through a long training and wait patiently for years for the rewards of his study. But to the youth who can afford to " labor and to wait," and who has a proper talent for the occupation, the profession of an architect furnishes a very agreeable, lucrative, and " genteel " field for earning a living. At the age of fifteen, a boy can tell whether he is fitted by nature and circumstances to be an archi- tect. To begin with, he should have an artistic mind ; at all events, a mind that is not positively and abso- lutely mechanical in its operations. A distinguished architect informed me, much to my surprise, that he was not by nature sufficiently artistic for the pur- poses of his profession, and, in that regard, he had to rely on well-qualified assistants. On the other hand, there must be a taste for mathematics, for, while the purely artistic mind can give the architect- ural idea beauty in form, it will of itself fail in the power of construction. The boy should understand algebra and geometry ; should have learned to draw from casts and from life, and should begin to culti- AN ARCHITECT. 11 Tate Ms taste, which littfe word, as defined by Web- ster is, " nice perception, or the power of perceiving and relishing excellence in human performance ; the faculty of discerning beauty, order, conformity, sym- metry, or whatever constitutes excellence." And this effort should be directed, not only toward art, but into literature and music, also. In art, it would be well to make a special study of color. A term or two in one of the schools of technology and design would be very beneficial ; for in such an institution, coming in contact, as he will, with other pupils, and having all sorts of difficult problems forced upon his attention, his intellect will be quickened and his progress helped by the spirit of competition. But the mere fact of having graduated at such an insti- tution will be of no help to him unless he has made good use of the advantages it affords. The schools are not to blame, — ^but too many boys, while able to answer questions put to them in regard to special studies, are not able to put to practical use the learn- ing they have acquired. Such, at least, is a com- plaint often heard from practical architects. Having finished his school studies at the age of, say, seventeen, if the boy is able to spare the time and the money, he should go to Paris and there become a pupil in the School of Fine Arts. This is practically a free school. There is an initiation fee amounting to ten dollars, and dues are assessed each month to the sum of about one dollar and twenty cents of American money, — ^these dues being applied to the purchase of material for the 12 HEADY FOR BUSINESS. school. Boys and young men from all countries go there to study painting, sculpture, and architect- ure; and, it may be said, there is no part of the world where better accommodations and more in- spiring influences can be found for the study of these arts than the capital of France. To enter the architectural branch of this school, the candidate must pass an examination in ele- mentary mathematics, history, free-hand drawing, and architecture. He is obliged to obtain a certain number of "points," or good marks, as we should call them, before he can be considered a pupil. There are two classes in the architectural school, the second and first. The beginner enters the second class, and while there passes an examina- tion in mathematics, including analytical geometry, conic sections, geometry, perspective, and survey- ing. Then there is an examination in architect- ural construction, which is partly oral, and partly consists in making an original design for a building ; the student has three months' time in which to make this plan. In the meanwhile, he hears lect- ures on various topics pertaining to his studies. Aside from this, every two months there is a twelve hours' "competition," each student mak- ing the sketch of a building which, during the two months following the competition, is to be wrought out and elaborated, under the direction of a professor. These sketches are publicly ex- hibited and inspected by a committee of twenty or twenty-five of the most eminent architects of Paris. AN ARCHITECT. 13 The committee render judgment upon them, and award " first " or " second mention," according to the quality of the work. To become a pupil of the first class, one must have passed six exam- inations and have obtained six "first mentions" in the competitions of which I have just spoken. In the first class, there are no more examina- tions, but the contests are much more difQcult. The competitions are still public, and a jurystill gives its judgment on the work of the pupils. There is no specific time for graduation; a student graduates when he has received the re- quired number of "first mentions." It would hardly be possible, under the most favorable con- ditions, to graduate in less time than two years find six months. Many pupils remain at the school from five to eight years without being able to enter the first class. After graduating from this school, the pupil enters the office of an architect, in some European or American city, at a salary commensurate with his abilities. There he will very soon acquire a practical knowledge of his profession, and after a while will be able to open an ofiice for himself. But let us suppose that the boy could not afford to go to Paris, and that he has gi'aduated from one of the Technical Schools of Design, of which there are several in the country. What does he do then ? He enters the ofiice of an ai'chitect. In England this is considered a great privilege and has to be roundly paid for; but here no charge is exacted, 14 READY FOE BUSINESS. and the student occasionally, though only for a short time, gives his services gratuitously to his employer. His first work will be what is called '' inking." The " plan " of a building is first made in pencil, for the reason that during the progress of the di'awing erasures may have to be made. When the drawing is considered to be correct, the lines are " inked " over by the beginner with a ruling-pen. Under the direction of his em- ployer, he will also be studying books on architect- ural construction. The best book on this subject is an English work, entitled "Notes on Bailding Construction," in four volumes, three of which have been published. And here it may be said that the literature of the architect is vast. Some of the most useful books are in the French lan- guage ; hence a knowledge of that language, or at least the ability to read it, is exceedingly desir- able. The boy's progress will depend on his talent and industry. After a while he will be able to make a plan of a floor in a small house; then of several floors ; then an " elevation," which is a representa- tion of the flat side of a building, drawn with math- ematical accuracy, but without the slightest at- tention to effect ; and from that he will gradually work into details and complete knowledge. While working for his employer, and learning the theoretical part of his profession, he will not have had many opportunities, during the ordinary hours of business, to have seen work in the course AN ARCHITECT. 15 of execution. These opportunities he must seize as best he can. His office hours will not be so late that he can not, if he is so disposed, find time to visit buildings in course of erection and see how the work is being done. For the architect is a sort of clerk of the works, and is obliged to see that the plan he has made is being carried out according to the specifications. He must obtain a knowledge of all the materials used in the con- struction of a building, — the wood, the stone, the iron, the plumbing pipes and fittings. All this seems quite formidable, but it is not a severe task. The information is picked up gradually during the progress of office work, and the effort in ob- taining it will hardly be felt. The question of what wages the student M'ill have while he is in the office is a very difficult one to answer. There is no settled rate of pay for young men in such positions; the general rule seems to be to pay them what they are woi'th. One assistant may be making six or eight dollars a week, and another, in the same office, twenty dol- lars a week, both having been there the same length of time. It may be said, however, that after he has been in the architect's office for five years a young man, who has the proper talent and has been faithful to his work, should be earning from twen- ty-five to thirty dollars a week. If he has been in- dolent, he can not expect such wages. A promi- nent architect informed me that he had employed in his office men fifty years of age who were absQ- 16 READY FOR BUSINESS. lutely inaccurate in tlie simplest details of the art ; because they had never taken the pains to thor- oughly learn their profession, But the enterprising young architect will prob- ably wish to open an office of his own. To do this successfully he must secure patrons through personal acquaintances and influential friends. When he starts, he will know something in regard to what he can depend upon. He has a certain circle of friends and acquaintances. From these he ought reasonably to expect a certain number of commissions, and, if he does good work, he will be recommended from one to another, until his services are in demand. No rule can be set down in such a case any more than in regard to a law- yer's or a doctor's practice. It all depends upon the man and his surroundings. For some time, he will have to make plans of small private houses and private dwellings. When hp has become the architect of some public building, and has de- signed a structure which not only pleases his em- ployers, but attracts the attention of the general public, it may be safe to say that he is on the high road to pecuniary fortune. For drawing the plan of a house to cost six or seven thousand dollars the architect receives from three hundred to three hundred and fifty dollars ; in short, as a rule, his fee is five per cent, on the cost of the building. But upon buildings cost- ing one hundred thousand dollars or more, the price paid the architect is usually a matter of spe^ cial agreement^ AN ARCHITECT. 17 During his early yeai's, his gi"eatest expense will be for books. As already stated, the literature of architecture is extensive and, it might be added, expensive; but books the young architect must have, and many of them. His capital lies as much in his head as in his fingers, and the more he knows, the better able will he be to do his work, and the better work will he be able to do. He must be a constant student. The taste of the public changes ; new styles of building are demanded ; new ma- terials are introduced in their construction. A' few years ago, terra cotta began to be extensively used in building, and forthwith all the architects had to make a special study of that article, which, you know, plays an important part in some of the finest buildings in our large cities. The student must read also good periodicals relating to his pro- fession, and, if possible, some of the French pub- lications, which are very good. If a young man fails in making at least a good living as an architect, it seems to me it must be through his own fault. From what I have said, he must see that the full knowledge for the profession is not easily acquired. It takes time, and a long time, to become proficient in it; but this will not deter a youth whose ambition and talent lie in that direction. Some travelers," says Bishop Hall, " have more shrunk at the map than at the way ; between both, how many stand still with their arms folded ! " Once having started on your archi- tectural Journey, pursue Jti bravely, perseveringly, 18 READY FOR BUSINESS. patiently, to the end. Above all having made up your mind to be an architect, look to it that you do not like Bishop Hall's traveler, stand with folded ^rms lingering by the way-side. A COMMERCIAL TRAVELER " Here comes a missionary ! " And tlie bluflf Westerner who made the remark pointed to a slim, well-di-essed young man who jumped briskly off the train and walked quickly up the main business street toward the best hotel in the place. The young man did not look like a missionary ; he did not act as if he were one ; and his trunk, larger than the largest " Saratoga," was not, to all appear- ance, such a one as missionaries usually carry. The fact is, he was not a missionary ; he was a commer- cial traveler, sometimes called a " drummer." Some people in the West call these active gentlemen " mis- sionaries," — I suppose because they come to them from afar. The young man registered at a hotel. After he had been in the city about an hour, he found a num- ber of gentlemen, young, old, and middle-aged, who were engaged in the same general industry of dispos- ing of goods by sample. There was one man who represented the chocolate trade, another the jewelry business, another suspender manufacturing, another the paper business ; there was a manufacturer's rep- resentative, a man in the silk line, and a man who took orders for railway supplies. These were the commercial travelers, drummers, salesmen, agents, representatives, or whatever name 20 READY FOR BUSINESS. they chose to call themselves, whom he saw. He might have seen others who represented dry goods, fancy goods, domestic lace goods, imported lace goods, hardware, harness, tailors' trimmings, ladies' trimmings, fringes, buttons, shoes, books, plumbers' ware, — ^in fact, he might have seen a salesman for almost every important trade and business you can mention. This shows the scope of the occupation. The census of 1870 stated the nujnber of persons engaged in it to be 7,262 ; while, ten years later, the census of 1880 put the figure at 28,158. The future traveling salesman, at the age of about fifteen, enters the occupation he prefers, and learns the business. That is, he learns all about the " line " of goods he is going to sell, — ^the prices, the various qualities, the details of manufacture; in short, every useful fact that he can gather. If the boy, by the time he is eighteen or twenty, has gained a complete knowledge of the goods he is to sell, he starts out " on the road." After he has recovered from his surprise at seeing the countless number of brisk young gentlemen who have chosen the same occupation that he has, he will be painfully startled at one feature of the calling. He has always been taught that the young, the energetic, the pushing, active, buoyant young man is the young man to succeed and make his way in the great bat- tle of life. He is young, energetic, pushing, active, buoyant (at least he was buoyant when he started) ; but he soon finds, in spite of aU these admirable qualities, that the old men get ahead of him. Met A COMMERCIAL TRAVELER. 21 chants gaze upon our young friend coldly, but to some gouty old salesman of forty-flve or fifty they give a hearty shake of the hand, and cry out : " Wel- come, old boy, I am glad to see you ! " As Artemas Ward used to say : " Why is this thus?" Well, it is because the merchants don't know the young man ; he is just starting in ; he is " green." They like the old fellow because his face is familiar to them. These old salesmen do well, and it must be admitted that they are often a sore hindrance to the success of their younger bretbren ; but a plucky young man will not be discouraged — he will work all the harder to be successful. And here and there, too, will be found instances where, through care- less habits, or too great a reliance on social popular- ity, and too little on a thorough knowledge of his business, the older salesman will be beaten by the younger man, who has taken pains to keep himself better informed on matters relating to the trade. No general rule can be laid down as to where the salesmen travel. Generally they go over a certain territory previously agreed upon. The Eastern cir- cuit, as it is usually called, is from New York to Portland, Maine, and from Providence, E. I., to Springfield, Mass., the large towns between these places being visited on the way. The New York State circuit reaches as far as Cleveland, and includes all the important places on the line of the Erie and the Central Railroads. A salesman for the Southem circ\41i will probably cover the territory 22 READY FOB BUSINESS. from Pittsburg to New Orleans, not going west of the Mississippi River ; while a " drummer " for the Western section will start from Pittsburg and go through to Missouri, which is usually the limit of this means of trade in that direction, although trav- el is gradually reaching beyond that point. A few firms in the dry goods business now send their agents to California. Traveling is nearly always done by night. Time being very precious, the days must be given up to work. No " license " is required to sell goods, except in one or two of the Southern States, and there, through some technicality of the law, its payment, as a direct fee, is often not required. The salesman travels almost constantly through- out the twelve months of the year, though the lengtti of his tour depends in large degree upon the kind of business in wliich he is engaged. For instance, dry goods agents are sometimes away for a year at a time, going on very long trips, while the representa- tive of a jeweler will take only short journeys, and will return to New York, or the city where he has his headquarters, once in every six or eight weeks. One man, having been absent from his hearth-stone near- ly all the time for five years, remarked gravely to a friend that he thought of retiring from the business, not because he was not making money, but because he wished to get acquainted with his family. While soliciting orders, the commercial traveler, has, as a rule, enough to do to occupy his time. Sometimes it wUl happen that he has only two or A COMMERCIAL TRAVELER. 23 three firms to see in a city, and then finds himself unable to catch a train to his next destination for several hours. But such instances are rare. Salesmen start on their journeys at all times of the year, dependent upon the trade they represent and the length of the " season " they are selling for. In the winter, they are soliciting orders for goods that people will need in the summer. From July until Christmas is the busiest time for those who sell furs for the winter, and the " new styles " in spring goods, which, when they are placed in the retail store, will furnish a pleasant and inexhaustible fund of talk for our sisters and our mothers. Each par- ticular business has its "season," while in a few industries there may be as much demand at one time of the year as at another. As to the pay, or, rather, the earnings, of sales- men, the minimum amount may be placed at $800, and the maximum at $5,000 a year, though there are salesmen who make more than this. There is no other occupation, perhaps, where the earnings depend more absolutely upon the man himself. There are three methods of remuneration : 1. A man may be paid a salary. He comes to a store, and says to the firm : " I am Mr. Sellwell ; you have heard of me? Very good. Now, I wish to make a change ; and if you will pay me a salary of $5,000, I will guarantee to sell for your house — thousand dollars' worth of goods, within a year" (stating, of course, the value of the goods which he will agree to sell). 24 HEADY FOE BUSINESS. The firm may not accept his offer ; but we will say that Dhrygoods & Co. have heard of this man ; they know he is a good man to have, and they know when he comes to their house he wishes to make a perma- nent engagement ; it would be very foolish for him to say he could sell such an amount of goods and then fail to do it. In order to keep the respect of business men, if for no other reason, he would use every effort to accomplish what he had promised. And so Dhrygoods & Co. engage him. 2. A man may be paid a salary and also a commis- sion on what he sells. 3. He may not be paid any salary, but work on commission entirely. In the majority of cases, one of the first two plans is adopted. But whatever the plan may be, the price he is paid for his services depends entirely on the amount of goods he can sell. And it seems to be an axiom among business ■ men that the high-priced travelers are the cheapest in the end. Sometimes an agent will be confined to a comparatively small dis- trict, say Xew York State. He will work on com- mission, and will receive a commission on all the country orders in his district, whether they have been given to him or not. The reason for ^his is because his employer wishes the agent in every way to build up the trade of the house, and to make a thorough canvass of the places to which he is sent, instead of calling only on the best customers, which might alienate the smaller houses which he had slighted. A COMMERCIAL TRAVELER. 25 Hotel and traveling expenses are nearlj' always borne by the firm for which he is traveling. A sal- i-ied man has his salary and his expenses ; but a man working on a commission may receive a high com- mission, and pay his own expenses. A man's expen- ses, of course, vary according to the amount of his baggage and his stjde of hotel living. The matter of sample-trunks — square, double-boarded, iron- bound, monstrous affairs — ^is a large item in the expense account. If he can do so, he will endeavor always to stop at the best hotels. But sometimes, of course, he will be obliged to put up at a poorer house, and mui'mur, like Touchstone : " When I was at home, I was in a better place ; but travelers must be content." When the salesman takes an order in his book (usually a common blank book), he makes a copy of it on a printed slip about seven inches long, with some such heading as this : Order No [1] [2] 188.. [3] Please seutl tlie following goods to -W- . [5] Salesman, Terms. .[6]. . Time [7]. Sliip via. ■[8]- £9] [lor [iij 26 READY FOR BUSINESS. Espkmalion.—\. Niiiubcr of order talten Ijj- salesDiau. 2. Dateot taWng the order. 3. Name of iii-in for whom he -works. 4. Name of Arm oideriug the goods. 5. Name of ealesmau. 6. Terms of pay- ment, as 5-30 ; that is, live per cent, oflf the lilU, if paid within thirty days. 7. The time (so many months hence) within which the bill must be paid. 8. The "line "by which goods are to be shipped. 9. The number of the "lot" fiom which goods have been bought. 10. The (quantity bought. 11. The price charged. A successful salesman does his best to interest a man ; if he can induce the merchant to look at his goods, the chances are that he will make a sale. If the merchant does not buy the particular ar- ticle to which his attention has been called, he may purchase something else. Then, too, a salesman must inspire confidence in the buyer, and I suppose the best way t« inspire confidence is to have confi- dence in the goods one is selling and the work one is doing. The salesman must not be afraid, as some are in starting out, to ask a good, fair profit on his goods. And he must make a study of the moods of men. One man will say "no" when he means "yes ; " another will tell him to "call again" while he might just as well remain and make a sale. He should stick to one business. Some young men have a smattering of half a dozen occupations, but a thorough knowledge of none. His object is to sell all the goods he can, and, finally, if possible, to be- come a member of the firm for which he is working. A good salesman will heed his own work and mind his own business. He will not talk about his sales to his salesman acquaintances, or, to use a stronger term, salesmen friends. "Thy friend," says the Tal- mud, "hath a friend, and thy friend's friend hath a friend; be discreet." A COMMERCIAL TRAVELER. 27 Commercial travelers are convivial, smart, good: natured fellows. They meet one another far away from liome. Is it any wonder that they should be friendly, and lite to get together and tell stories and exchange experiences? Up to a certain point this is all well enough, but many of them get into habits that are likely to do them much harm. On long journeys such as I have mentioned, many tempta- tions must come to a young man. In the excitement and companionship to be met with in large cities, or in the dulness often experienced in small towns and villages, he will be urged many a time to become a party to that most pernicious and silly of all hab- its — ^"treating." For the sake of his health and business success, if for no better reasons, the young salesman should refuse to partake of strong drink. Let him, at the commencement of his career, firmly but good-naturedly, decline all such invitations; not in a churlish or Pharisaical way, but courageously from a simple love of decency and of the principles which should animate a true gentleman. A BANKER AND BROKER. The business of banking and that of brokerage are nearly always carried on together. A banker is a man who, like a regularly organized bank, receiyes deposits of money which he holds subject to drafts and checks. He negotiates loans. He buys bonds, stocks, and securities of all sorts for his customers. He pays the coupons of railroad and other companies. He takes charge of estates for trustees and executors and, in short, acts as the financial agent for individuals and corpora- tions. The broker buys and sells stocks and bonds of railroads and miscellaneous companies. Generally he makes a specialty of some particular stocks or bonds. There are brokers in grain, coal, petro- leum, mining stocks, flour, real estate, and almost everything that can be bought and sold. The broker does not buy the commodities in which he deals to sell them again at a profit; but he acts as the agent for people who have goods for sale. He makes his money by receiring a " commission," which is a certain proportion of the amount received for the goods. At present we will consider only bankers and brokers who deal solely in money, stocks and bonds. The boy who enters the office of a banker and broker starts at the age of thirteen or fourteen. A BANKEE AlND BROKER. 29 He will receive three dollars a week to begin with. He will have to go down to the office early and open it; but he will not have to sweep it, as all such work is done by the janitor and his assistants. He will have to run errands much of the time, see that the cii'culars announcing the sales of stock, which are constantly coming in during the day, are put in their proper places; and he will make comparisons of stock, which means that he will see if the office account of the day's transactions agrees with the similar accounts of the firms with whom his house has had dealings. He will go often to the Stock Exchange, where he wiU famil- iarize himself with its workings. In the meantime he must be learning to write quickly a neat, clerkly hand, and to be quick at figures. A boy must be very bright to succeed in a banker's and broker's office in New York, or in any other large city. The boy will do boys' work for about two or three years, when, if he deserves it, he will be promoted to the position of clerk. He will soon acquire the rudiments of book-keeping, beginning with the simplest book, which is the one in which are entered the purchases and sales of stocks made by the house. During the day, he will make out "notices" of sales to be sent to customers. His salary wiU now be from five hundred to one thou- sand dollars a year. When he gets to be head book-keeper or cashier, he will receive from one thousand five hundred to five thousand dollars, depending on the business done by the firm. Or 30 READY FOR BUSINESS. ■ lie may be made the manager of some branch, office of the firm which is better still, and carries with it a large measure of responsibility and an excellent salary. Some one has called Wall Street "the golden artery" of the country. You might call the Stock Exchange its "pulse," for the important transac- tions had there indicate the state of the financial health of the country. The building is really on Broad Street, but there is an entrance on Wall Street, a few doors from Broadway. Enter this door and go up a flight of iron stairs ; but do not be disconcerted at the sound of what appears to be a large number of men quarreling, for they are the Tery peoi)le you are going to see. Passing through another door, you find yourself in a high gallery overlooking a long hall, or room, in which from two hundred to eight hundred men are walking about or standing in groups. At the other end of the apartment is a similar gallery. One side of the room is used by the various telegraph offices, each company having a space set apart for its own use, and a force of messengers dressed in blue uniforms. On the other side of the room there is a platform, like a pulpit, from which the chairman of the Exchange presides. The wooden floor has no covering other than the countless tiny bits of white paper, used memoranda, torn up by the brokers. Before making this visit, you have probably been told that it costs from twenty-five thousand dol- A BANKEE AND BROKEE. 31 lars to tMrty thousand dollars to get a " seat " in the Exchange. Your first thought on looMng at the scene below will possibly be, "Where are thes seats _?, " For, the only seats in the whole place are a few ranged in circular form around a number of iron standards. On the top of each standard is a sign reading, "Ohio and Miss.," "Omaha," "Lou. and Nashville," and so on. These are abbreviated names of certain important stocks; and the brokers who deal largely in any one of them may usually be found near their respective standards. A great many more stocks than are indicated by these signs, however, are dealt in each day, and the few seats around these standards will accommodate only about thirty or forty men. The fact is, the Stock Exchange grew too large to allow seating the members. Years ago there were seats, but now the term "a seat" really means the privilege of going into this room for the purpose of doing business with the other members. It is now not a very easy matter to become a mem: ber of the Stock Exchange. The membership of eleven hundred is now full, and it is only possible to get a seat by purchasing from a retiring mem^ ber, or from the heirs of a deceased member^ Then, too, an applicant must be in good health," because the Exchange carries an insurance of ten thousand dollars on the life of every member, which his heirs receive on his death. In addi- tion, to become a member, a man must be of good character, be free from debt, and fulfill certain other requirements. 32 EEADY FOE BUSINESS. Looking down from the visitors' galleriyj^ the scene strikes one as at once amusing and bewil- dering. Some men are walking apparently aim- lessly about. Others walk fast, and appear to be looking for some one. Now and then a man cries out a word or two which you can not understand, whereupon a crowd of bystanders press about him. There is a short conversation, and the crowd of men disappears as quickly as it came together. When a broker disposes of some stock, he cries out, " Sold ! " which means that the transaction is completed. Every now and then, you will notice among the men in some parts of the room what boys call "horse play," You may see a big, strong man take a small man and, after wrestling with him for a short time, quietly seat him on the floor. Other members may knock off the hats of their brother members, a kind of sport (if that is the name for it) which seems to be peculiarly fas- cinating to brokers. When these groups, or crowds, gather, you may notice that the men in the rear rows push thoSe in front of them so hard that the two or three men in the center who are doing all the talking are pressed together so close that their noses almost touch. But everyone is good- natured, and some are jolly and boisterous. And the most curious part of the scene is that all these men are at work. One peculiarity you will notice : each man carries in his hand a small memoran- dum-book or a pad of paper, on which every now and then he makes a note. A man in passing A BANKEK AND BROKER. 33 another may make an offer of a certain stock, say at 54 1-2 ; the other will say, " Give you 54 3-8." Quick as a flash it may be taken, and a sale is made that may involve thousands of dollars. All these trans- actions are done so quickly and amid so much con- fusion that you would not be apt to notice a quarter of them. "Would a boy who started in the office ever be able to enter the Stock Exchange?" some one may ask. He would, if his parents or friends bought him a seat. If he was poor, but unusually clever, it is possible that some rich man who liked to speculate in Wall Street, who had a high opinion of his ability, would offer to go into partnership with him, and let him be the active member of the con- cern. In other words, the rich man would buy a seat for the clerk, and put capital into the con- cern, and the poor young man would give in re- turn his experience and his brains. There have been a great many cases of that kind. Or a young man, after having risen to be head book-keeper or cashier of a firm, may become so valuable that he is taken into the firm as office partner. Or a clerk of popular manners, who has made a great many friends among business- men and speculators, niay be taken into a new firm for the sake of the customers he can bring in. The banker and broker must be thoroughly posted on all financial and stock matters, not only 34 KEADY FOR BUSINESS. in this country, but in foreign lands as well. He must be able to judge how current events will be likely to affect the stock and money market. He must know the inside history of all the companies in the stock of which he deals, so as to be able to give good advice to his customers who want to buy or sell. In short, he must be a financial cyclo- poedia. A great many terms have come into use in Wall Street to express the method of doing business there. Some of them sound very much like slang ; but they are very useful in enabling the brokers to express complicated ideas in very few words, and might be called a species of conversational short- hand. Every one has heard of the " bulls " and " bears " of Wall Street. The bulls are those brokers who are anxious to advance the prices of stocks. The bears, on the other hand, are those who, wishing to buy, or for other reasons, are anxious to reduce prices as low as possible. The bulls are always trying to toss prices up; the bears are always bearing down on values. This article would not be complete, did I not say a few words about the temptations of the broker's life. From the very start, the boy will be in- trusted with large sums of money to carry to the bank or to customers. He may be in an of&ce where bank-bills and shining gold are within his reach all the time; and he will be so completely absorbed in ^e subject of stocks, bonds, and A BANKER AND BEOKEE. 35 Inioney, that it will be somewhat strange if he does not soon begin to look at the getting of money as the most important business of Ufe. And when he is a little older and becomes clerk or cashier, he will be exposed to the temptation to increase his income by stock-gambling — ^"speculating," as it is called — on his own account. Such ventures are of course very hazardous, and on all accounts should be shunned,. A broker requires great strength of character to resist the temptation to get wealthy by false methods ; and a boy should think long and well before he adopts this calling. For the broker's business is at best unstable. The work is done quickly in the midst of great excitement and at " high pressure," as we say. As money comes quickly and easily to the broker, it is not so highly prized as if it were earned by the toil which produces a visible result, and it usually goes as easily as it comes. Brokers, of course, defend their own occupation. They will tell you that their services as agents in securing stocks and bonds are needed J but they will not deny that stock-brokerage would cease to be a profitable business, except to a very few firms, if people were to stop speculating in securities. Of course, there are many men in this business who have risen to wealth and to eminence as financiers, who would scorn to do a mean or dishonorable act. All honor to such men, because they must often have been sorely tempted to do wrong. I would not be unjust to this large class of men, 36 READY TOR BUSINESS. so many of whom have personal traits which we are bound to admire. They are open-handed with their means. Their word to one another is as good as a bond. In fact, a large proportion of the business transacted upon the Exchange is done without written contract, and depends solely upon the good faith of the members concerned. Their promptness to respond on public appeals for aid or sympathy is proverbial. Yet all this should have no influence upon a boy who is de- ciding whether or no he shall be a broker. — A boy may enter an ofllce that does nothing but a strictly banking business. After he has thoroughly familiarized himself with his boy's work, and has shown himself to be quick and accurate with figures, and has mastered the elements of book-keeping, he will probably be promoted from time to time, to positions of in- creasing responsibility, until eventually he may become cashier. The position of cashier in a banking-house is a very important one. He re- ceives and pays out all the money, and has charge of all the accounts. A young man has about the same chance of becoming a real banker as he has of becoming a broker,-^to be either, he must, as a rule, have money or influence; though there are not a few instances where men, by their own individual ef- forts have advanced themselves. A successful banker must be a very well informed man in regard to certain matters bearing directly A BANKER AND BROKER. 3T on his business. If he negotiates loans for cities, he should be thoroughly posted on laws bearing upon the issues of bonds in which he may wish to deal. Dealing with railroads, he should know all about railroad law and the laws governing corpo- rations generally. He must, of course, be familiar with the banldng-laws of his own State and of the United States. He must know all about the earn- ings and expenses of railroads and corporations of which he may be the financial agent, or in which his clients may be interested. He should have a general knowledge of political economy, and learn to judge of the effect on finance of pop- ular movements,. The condition pt the crops he will of course watch with keen interest. Ee- ports on these and other matters will be constantly laid before him, not only daily, but almost hourly ; for the telegraph has revolutionized the old methods of transacting business, The successful banker of the present day is in constant communication with the great financial centers aU over the world. For the banker will not confine himself to transac- tions in this country, but wiU form business con- nections with foreign countries as well. In fact, the successful banker must be a man of large brain, capable of taking broad views, be far-see- ing, cool-headed, and quick to take advantage of every opportunity offered by the constant changes and chances of business life. A HOUSE-BUILDER. I tMnk the clothier is largely responsible for keeping our American boys from choosing the call- ing of an artisan. Years ago it was not uncommon to see a lad w.ith a patch on his clothes, but nowa- days, not even poor boys wear patched clothing. An outfit is so cheap, compared with former times, and our enterpising clothing merchants keep their wares so persistently and temptingly before the public, that a boy demands a change of raiment quite as often as does his father. The boy who wishes to be a house-builder, can not, while he works^ wear fine clothes ; he cannot carry a cane and be a dandy. He may not, in the first years of his work, look as attractive as a dry-goods clerk or a book-keeper, — ^that is, from a clothes- horse point of view, — ^but I think that in his old age, if he has been found fitted for his task, and has worked hard at it, not only his cloth«s, but his whole surroundings would appear so prosperous as to sur- prise the clerk or book-keeper he may have envied in his early days. This matter of clothes seems to be the only objection I can find against a boy's learning to be a house-builder. And so, at the out- set, if he wishes to enter that occupation, let him brush this objection aside. Let him make up his mind not to heed the laughter and sneers of his fool- ish young friends, as they comment on his overalls A HOUSE-BUILDER. 39 and his dinner-pail, or twit him with "learning a trade." Let him, in fact, keep one thought in view, — ^his determination to be a house-builder; and let all his energies be bent towards its accomplish- ment. If you wish to be a house-builder, you must learn one of two trades — ^you must be a mason or a car- penter. Let us suppose you start as a mason. This should not be later than your seventeenth year. You must have a good constitution, and be able to endure fatigue and exposure. Great strength is not such a requisite as good general health and the abil- ity to bear climatic changes. The best workmen are those who have begun young. To be a successful builder, you must work in or near some large city. You might succeed by "jobbing," and occasionally have better work than that in the country; but the best place for a mason is where the people and the houses are. And you must, for the term of four years, be apprenticed to the man with whom you are to learn the trade. You will be required to sign a document called an "Ajjprentice's Indenture." This paper, so important to all parties concerned, binds the young apprentice to faithfully serve his em- ployer for a specified term of years, to be honest, in- dustrious, careful, and obedient, and to hold himself subject to his employer's orders and wishes ; it binds the employer to teach or instruct the apprentice in all the "mysteries of the craft," to provide board, lodging, and medical attendance, and to furnish a written certificate of character and ability at the close of such apprenticeship. 10 HEADY FOE BUSINESS. This paper, or " Indenture," must be signed by the employer, the apprentice, and the apprentice's par- ent or legal guardian. In former times apprentices were, I believe, oc- casionally treated rather roughly, but all that is changed now. Indeed, the system is not in vogue in some sections of the country ; and where it is en- forced it is on account of the trade-uaions, which insist that each one who enters the craft shall be thoroughly instructed. But it wiU take the same length of time to learn the trade, whether you are apprenticed or not. The young mason starts, trowel in hand, — ^his first effort being to "fill in" between the front and back rows of brick. This, of course, is quite easy, and in a few weeks he will be able to "back up" or lay brick on the back row. After learning that, he will be allowed to work on the front row. The more difficult parts of the mason's trade are the doing of fancy brick-^ork on the fronts of buildings, the "carrying up" of the corners, and bad angles. It will be some years before a young man is fully competent in all these branches. Then, as he grows older (having in mind all the time that he wishes to be a builder), the apprentice will make himself competent to lay out work from the plans of the architect. This requires a practical knowledge of arithmetic. A friend of mine is a very prosperous builder. He had only an ordinary school education, and, like many boys, carried away but few of the rules of arithmetic. When he became a "boss" A HOUSE-BUILDER. it builder, however, he was obliged continually to make calculations on the cost of work, on the price of material, and the expense attendant on great amounts of labor. He told me he could work out all the problems, in his own "common-sense way," as he called it, on half the amount of paper that his son would require, and in a much shorter space of time. His son had graduated at a public school and was considered particularly well qualified in mathemat- ics. Now, I do not mean to give my boy readers the impression that their school arithmetic should be neglected, but rather to suggest that they should often .put their school-book knowledge of that science to a practical test, so that if they become builders, or engage in any other calling where such knowledge is requisite, they will be able to easily and quickly solve such problems as may rise. After the apprentice has served his four years (having, if possible, learned, in addition to the regu- lar trade, how to set stone), he should strive to be- come a foreman for some large builder. In that position he will have charge of the men, see that they do their work according to the directions laid down, and he must keep their "time." Sometimes, when the gang of men employed is small, he him- self might be obliged to help in the more dificult work. It would be an advantage to hold such a position for four or five years, for during that time he would be engaged in large enterprises and contin- ually learning something, while he would also be making acquaintances with architects who Boight 42 EEADY FOE BUSINESS. some day, when he comes to be a contractor, be of great service to him. As an apprentice he will have' been receiving |4.00 a week during the first year, and 16.00 a week during the second. The wages during the last two years of apprenticeship are a matter of agreement between employer and appren- tice — during the third year the rate would prob- ably be $1.75 a day, and during the fourth year $2.00 a day. A journeyman mason's wages in the Ticinity of New York City are $4.00 a day. And now he is ready to be a contracting house- builder : that is, when bids are asked from builders for the construction of any building, he can send in his bid, and take his chances with others in getting the job. The contract is usually awarded to the low- est bidder. Here is the method, in detail, of building a house : A man owns a piece of ground and desires to erect one or more buildings. He goes to an archi- tect, who draws up a plan and specifications. The plan is a diagram, showing the position and sizes of the various rooms ; the specifications describe minutely the quality of all the materials to be used, from the cellar to the top story. Then a "contract," or legal agreement, is drawn, to be signed by the contractor; and this being shown to such con- tractors as desire to compete for the work, the one who makes the lowest bid, agreeing that he will sup- ply the material and do the work according to the contract, usually gets the job. Then the contractor (perhaps our young mason who has now served his A HOUSE-BUILDER. 43 time and is at last a boss builder) makes sub-con- tracts with other men ; he contracts with one for ex- cavating the cellar, with another for blue-stone, with another for brown-stone, with another for iron-work, with another for mantels, heaters, ranges, furnaces, and other things, aU of which come under the mason's contract. Another contract is given to the carpenter, who has his branch of the work to attend to. The orig- inal contractors — ^the mason and the carpenter — pursue the same course that was taken with them : they give the sub-contract to the lowest bidder. Then the work is begun. And here you will notice the value of the expe- rience which the young mason will have acquired during these four or five years he has been acting as foreman. If, as masons very often take large con- tracts, he now has a host of men under him, he must see that they do their work properly ; that they furnish good materials, and in the proper quan- tity. If he has worked as foreman for an em- ployer, on big jobs, he has been obliged to take this same oversight. Now that he is his own "boss," he has confidence in his own judgment, because it is founded on experience; and experience, you know, is said to be the best teacher. There is little more to be said about tlie mason. It may interest you to know, however, that by this time he has cast off his overalls and ceased to carry a dinner-pail. He dresses and acts like any ordinary business man. He may have an office on 44 READY FOR fiUSINESS. a business street, or he may simply have a sign oii his house, giving his name, and stating that he is a house-builder. What he has fo do now is — ^to get contracts. He will not get them by sitting still and waiting. He must make acquaintances, keep informed concerning new buildings that are to be erected in his neighborhood, "drop in" occasionally on the architects with whom he has become ac- quainted, and " see what is going on," and, above all, he must keep himself thoroughly informed as to the price of labor and the cost of the various materials and articles which enter into his con- tracts, so that he will always be able, at almost a moment's notice, to give an estimate for any work he may be asked to do. Boys who wish to learn the carpenter's trade are seldom apprenticed, but they are "bound," which is about the same thing. They begin at about the age of seventeen, and work three years with their employer. The first year they do not learn more than how to use the tools ; and it is needless to say that a boy, to succeed as a carpenter, must have a taste for mechnical pursuits, and possess consider- able bodily strength. As for work, during the first year the young carpenter might have to put up fences, set partitions, and do other rough work. In the second year he will do finer work, such as put- ting up trimmings. In the third year he completes the technical part of the knowledge required. It is much easier to learn the trade than formerly, be- cause so many articles used in building are now man- A HOUSE-BUILDER. 45 ufactured, and can be bought ready-made. The work is not as heavy as it used to be, and therefore less strength is required. After his three years' service the carpenter be- comes a journeyman ; that is, he works for "boss" builders. When he has had three or four years of such experience, he will probably wish to start for himself as a "boss" carpenter. Then he will gain considerable knowledge of the building art, and will soon be able to take contracts for building. He will commence at first on small houses and dwellings ; then gradually, as his reputation for good work be- comes known, he wiU obtain large contracts. Hav- ing once gained a good reputation, his road to for- tune is almost certain. There is one advantage that the carpenter has over the mason ': he can have his shop and be sure of a steady income all the time from job-work. On the other hand, the "boss" masons, though they do not do any "jobbing," as a rule, get larger contracts. Sometimes a contract for the whole work is given to the mason, and he em- ploys all the help needed, including the carpenter ; sometimes the carpenter gets the contract, and em- ploys the mason. In large buildings two contracts are generally made, — one by the mason for his part of the work, and the other by the carpenter for his part. The wa^es of a boy learning the trade are, during the first year, $4.00 a week ; $5.00 a week dnring the second, and $6.00 a week during the third year. The wages of journeymen carpenters fluctuate. At the 46 READY FOR BUSINESS. present time they are from $3.00 to $3.50 a day. During the past ten years they have ranged from $2.50 to $3.50. There is always plenty of work for skilled workmen. I know of men who have worked at the trade for fifteen years, and during that time have never lost a day except from sickness. I said that a mason should learn his trade in the city. In the case of a carpenter, he can learn his calling in the country, and it will be no disadvantage to him. Let him not, however, stay there more than three years ; he should then come to "town" to learn the finer branches of his craft. If he wishes to be a house-builder on a large scale, he must, of course, live in a large town or city. It might seem possible that in cities the business of house-building would soon cease to be profitable, on account of the rapidity with which the vacant spaces are built upon. Bat that is not the fact. In the first place, there is always a great deal of build- ing in the outlying districts. No American city is yet so large that it has not a vast amount of terri- tory still to be covered with buildings. Then, again, old buUdings in the thickly settled parts of the town are continually being torn down, and new ones put up in their places. Warehouses that, tenor fifteen years ago, were considered quite grand, and which show no signs of decay, are ruthlessly demolished and replaced with huge structures of marble or granite, to meet the increasing demands of trade. So a good house-builder usually finds enough to do in any large city. A HOUSE-BUILDEE. 4T One woi'd of suggestion to tlie house-builder, whether he be a mason or a carpenter : let him, in money matters, be a man of his word. If he is asked to pay a bill, never let him say that he will pay it next week when he knows he cannot pay it until tlie week after. In other words, let him be slow to make promises, but, when he does make them, let him keep them to the letter. The trades in our country, of late years, have been almost monopolized by foreigners. The Ameri- can boy, however, when he does take a trade, goes straight on to the top of the ladder. Yet the major- ity of successful house-builders here are foreigners, simply because so large a number of them become masons and carpenters. It seems as if American boys would rather be fourth-rate lawyers, or physi- cians, than earn their living by working with their hands. Only the other day I read in a New York newspaper of a young lawyer in a distant city, whom I knew some years ago when I resided in that section of the country, who literally starved to death. He made scarcely any money, was too proud to teU of his want, lived as long as he could on crackers and water, and was found one day in his office, dead from lack of nourishment. He should never have entered the legal profession, for he had no ability in that direction. As a farmer or mechanic he might have lived a long, useful, and successful life. No boy, of course, should enter a trade unless he feels himself fitted for it ; but, on the other hand, he should not, it seems to me, let the false pridii 48 READY FOR BUSINESS. against manual labor, wMch now prevails to such. a wide extent in our country, prevent Mm from en- deavoring to do better work with, his hands than in his inmost thoughts he knows that he can do with. jb.is head. MERCANTILE LIFE: A RETAIL DRY- GOODS MERCHANT. A merchant is simply a man who buys to sell again. You would not think his work was very hard, and certainly you would not believe it to be a very difficult thing to attain success in such an occupa- tion ; but, in the present day it requires more brains and energy to become a really successful merchant than probably it ever did in the history of the world. It is a favorite saying of some people when they are advising boys to engage in any particular occu- pation, that there is " room at the top." And that is a true sayiug with reference to many professions and businesses. But the whole character of mercantile life has changed very much wilhin the last quarter of a cen- tury. The stores have become palatial in size and beautifully adorned; where a score of clerks were once employed, there are now hundreds ; the amount of capital required to carry on some of these enter- prises is beyond the wildest dreams of the most visionary of the old merchants of New York. And when a small boy with nothing but good health and pluck for his capital looks up at one of these im- mense mercantile establishments, he is apt to have grave doubts of his ability to reach the "top," lihough there may be pleaty of rpom up thQ^e^ 50 EEADY FOR BUSINESS. Still lie has no need to be discouraged. Let us istart out with, him, say in a large retail dry-goods store, and note how he gets along and what finally becomes of him. We may find that the conditions for entering this mercantile life are not so bad as they seem, and that in it there is both honor and success to be won. Our boy friend will begin, of course, at the bottom, as a cash-boy in a large retail dry-goods store ; he will do more running about in a day than he ever did on a Saturday when he played base^ball. If he is a bright boy he will probably be promoted ere long to the office, where his work will be more important. In time, he may be entrusted to go " down-town " to fill an order for some goods. Then, indeed, he would be justified in having a feeling of importance. Down there, among the large wholesale houses, he will come across buyers, jobbers, brokers, agents for the big mills of New England, and agents from abroad. There, if he keeps his eyes and ears open, he may learh many a point in regard to dry-goods and gen- eral business methods. He may learn the " market " so well that, after a time, he will be assigned to the purchase of some special class of goods. Or from a cash-boy he may have been made a re- tail salesman. In that case he will quickly learn about the prices and qualities of goods. The head of his department will tell him the price, and the lady-shoppers will soon give him a great deal of information about the quality; he will rapidly ac- quire a fund of practical knowledge. DRY-GOODS MERCHANT. 51 But an active boy will not be satisfied to remain a salesman. Of his chances for advancement I shall have something to say f lu-ther on. The boy ( now a young man ) who was sent down- town to fill orders, if he is progressive, has, in course of time, been made a "buyer." His knowl- edge of goods is now so general that he is sent out to purchase all kinds of stock. The buyer is sent into the market, and is allowed to use his own dis- cretion as to what he shall buy, and what he shall pay for it. You can at once see what an important position this is. The buyer must know all about prices, not only in the present, but in the immedi- ate past. He m,ust be on the look-out for " bargains," for that is what customers are always after. He must be able to judge quickly of the quality of goods, and have an eye for color and effect so as to make a choice that will attract the attention and the pur- chases of the patrons of the establishment. And all this must be done in the great whirl and roar of the "down-town" business world, in a crowd of bright-witted men like himself, who are there on tile same errand, each quite as anxious as our friend to get excellent, beautiful, and cheap goods for his " house." While engaged as buyer for a retail house, the young man will make many acquaintances, and may be offered the position of buyer for a wholesale house. If he should accept such a situation he will find its responsibilties infinitely greater than those of the one he has just left. But it is safe to say he 52 EEADY FOR BUSINESS. will not be asked to fill such a place unless lie is a young man of great ability. It would be his duty as a wholesale buyer to go to Europe, visit the cen- ters of manufacture of the goods in which his house deals, and there select goods and contract for as much of them and at such prices as he deemed best. I have seen many of these buyers in the New York custom-house, before what is called the Board of Ee-appraisement, — ^a sort of court where testi- mony is taken as to the value of goods on which duty is to be paid, — and I do not know of a brighter, keener set of men. Their quickness and ability to judge of the quality and value of goods is almost phenomenal. They wiU examine a whole row of silks, for instance, in a few minutes, testing them by the touch, and sometimes examining them through a small magnifying glass; nine times out of ten they will tell, within the smallest fraction of a cent, what the cost price of every piece of silk is in Europe. A wholesale buyer commands a large sal- ary, say from $3,000 to $10,000 a j'ear, with fre-_ quent trips to Europe, on which all his expenses are paid. But how will a young man in a retail house be able to enter business for himself ? If he is a buyer, with a good knowledge of the business, and with good habits, he will, in many cases, have a chance of becoming a junior partner in the concern for which he works. This will be after years of ser- vice, and he can afford to wait. If he is a prudent young f eUoTVi hQ has been laying aside some of his. DKT-GOODS MERCHANT. 53 salary each year. In a few years, when lie has a chance to enter ihe firm, he has some money and something else which will count a great deal more — ability. The ability that is the result of experience, in any occupation, mercantile or professional, is of such value that it is always in demand. Look over the "help wanted" advertisements in the city dailies some morning, and you will note how many men and women are wanted in various businesses who have had " experience." Indeed, experience very often is far better capital than money. Let us suppose then that our friend has been taken in as junior partner. He gets an interest much larger in amount than his old salary ; he still buys for the house, does his share of attending to the general business, and speaks of himself, with an air of justifiable pride, as " a member of the firm." In ihe case of the young man who has become a salesman, and who aspires to have his own store, the case is different. He, taking advantage of the opportunity that has been given him, has attained to a knowledge of the business. I do not think his position to learn about goods has been quite so fav- orable as that of the buyer. Still, in one branch he has become familiar; he has, for years, been face to face with customers, of both sexes, of all sorts and conditions in life, he has acquired a knowledge of their peculiar ways, and he has been learning the art of dealing successfully with them. He has been able to save but very little money ; so he will f orna, a combination. 54 READY FOR BUSINESS. He knows other clerks who are as restive as he is, and suggests that they all go in together, and open a store of their own. May be one of the clerks will be a book-keeper ; so much the better, he will attend to the clerical part of the business. Possibly there may be a buyer who is desirous of entering the " combination " ; better still, his experience wiU be valuable. And so these young men put their money and brains together, and open a store of their own. It may not be a very large one, but it is safe to say that these active young men, representing, in their col- lective capacity, a full knowledge of tlie business, having invested all they have in the enterprise, wUl work with the heartiness that is prompted by self- interest, and that all the chances are in favor of their being successful. Again, sometimes a wealthy man, a friend of some young man, or of some such firm, who has confidence in them, may supply the capital, and let them do the work. Looked at in the proper light the chances in the mercantile world are good for the man with pluck, energy, and intelligence. In regard to " going West," opinion seems to be divided. Certainly there are chances in the West for bright young men, but it is claimed the bright young men have just as good opportunities in the Eastern section of the country. Besides a thorough and complete knowledge of the goods in which he deals — where they come from, ^ow and of what they are made, — ^the young mer- DRY-GOODS MERCHANT. 55 chant should have a good knowledge of the law as it relates to sales, contracts, warranty, notes, and the banking business. Of course he will keep thoroughly posted as to the condition of the market, the new styles of goods that are being introduced, the improved methods of manufacture, if any, brought about by novel machinery. He wiU be able to write a good business letter that can be easily understood. You might say, " Any one can do Ihis," but you would be astonished if you could know how few men are first-class business correspondents. Mercantile life includes a vast number of occu- pations, and it would take a book rather than an article to go into the details of all of them. I think it is safe to say that the course of progress in most other business is very similar to that I have sketched in the dry-goods business. BOAT-BUILDING. Boat-building is by no means one of the "lost arts," although in this age of steam and iron, the "good old days" of the ship-builders are a thing of the past. Of late years, however, there has been a marked increase in the trade, and although the work is confined principally to yachts and smaller craft the steady growth of this branch of boat- building offers excellent inducements to any young mam whose tastes lie in that direction. I know of one boy at least, now sixteen years of age, who intends to fit himself during the next fivei or six years for the occupation ; and his father, a prominent and highly successful naval architect, believes that there is a very promising future for American boat-building. I take it for granted that the future boat-builder has, as a boy, been fond of boats. He has not only taken advantage of the rivers and ponds near his house, has navigated them in scow, in row-boat or in sail-boat, but I will suppose that, from the time he has been the owner of a jack-knife, he has been a constructor of toy boats. And, as he has grown older and become the possessor of a tool- chest, or, at least, of a gauge, a mallet, a saw, a plane, and a good knife, he has wrought out mini- ature cutters and schooners, possibly a square- BOAT-BUILDING. 57 rigged ship, all of which have been much admired by his young companions. If it has been his ob- ject in life to become a boat-builder, he could not have been better employed during the hours that have not been taken up with school duties. In every business and profession there is some one object above all others sought after, upon which success may be said to depend. The orator endeavors to arouse our enthusiasm, the poet ap- peals to our sentiments, the lawyer to our reason, the clergyman to our conscience. The genius of the boat-builder lies in the one word " form." The one thing more than all others for which he aims to have a reputation is the ability to give a good shape to the mass of wood or iron coming from his hands, whether it be a man-of-war or a sail boat. And so it was good for the boy that he made boats and models of boats. He was getting, as the naval architect would say, "form impressed upon his brain." It may have been, it probably was, a bad form, an incorrect form, but it was something from which to start. At aU events, the boy has formed a speaking acquaintance with the occupation he is about to enter. I shall assume that at the age of sixteen he has finished his school studies, has a good knowledge of arithmetic and algebra, and has gone through seven books in Euclid, with special reference to being proficient in the fourth and seventh books. Two years before this, we will suppose, he has ex- pressed a desire to be a boat-builder. He has 58 READY FOR BUSINESS. made a model of some kind of a boat, and he has, as occasions have permitted, yisited such ship- yards as could be found in his vicinity, and care- fully watched the men while they were at work. At last, at the age of sixteen, he enters the office of a thoroughly competent naval architect, who either is or has been a practical ship-builder. The naval architect stands in the same relation to ship- building that the architect of houses does to house- building, with this difference, — not only does he make the plan, but very often he executes it as well The beginner will find his quarters very pleasant. The room will be light, cheerful and quiet. On the walls he wiU probably see pictures of famous yachts ot other vessels ; there will be a small library of technical books of reference, which he will have occasion to consult later on ; there may be another student witji whom he will chat now and then during the day ; or his teacher, while they are at work, may give him somei stirring bits of yachting reminiscence. I only mention this to show that there is none of that strict discipline to which the boy has been accustolned at school. The fact is, it is not needed, for, to use the language of a well-known shipbuilder, "it is a fascinating occu- pation ; it grows upon you ; and the longer you are in it, the better you like it, that is, of course, if you like boats and everything pertaining to them." The boy will at first be given the drawing of a midship, or central, section of a boat, and required to put a body to it, to give it a bow, a stern — ^in BOAT-BUILDING. 59 short, to give to the boat its form. After working in that way for a while, he will make more extended plans, until he is able to make the full design of a vessel. He wiU remain with this naval architect for the space of a year ; and, by that time, he should have acquired a very good knowledge of form. It is a fact that boys in England who choose this occupation for their life-work can more easily obtain a thorough education in it than can be had by youths in our country. In England, and in France, Denmark, and other European countries, there are schools where special technical instruc- tion is ^iven, and many of these are close to large ship-yards, where the practical work of ship-build- ing can constantly be seen. The question now arises, therefore, shaU the boy go to England and get the benefit of this instruction ? It is by no means necessary that he should go there ; but if he has begun to learn while young, he can spare the time, and his parents know whether they can spare the money which such a journey and resi- dence would entail. If he decides to go, he will remain away for three or four years. Suppose, however, it is decided that he can not go abroad. It has cost him for the year's instruc- tion he has received from the naval architect, with whom he had been studying, about $1,000 ; or, he has given his service as a draughtsman, paid $500, and during the twelve months has "picked up" such knowledge as he could without receiving any regular instruction. His case of drawing-instru- 60 READY FOR BUSINESS. ments has cost him from $50 to $250, depending on the number or instruments, the manner in which they are finished and the style of the case in which they are kept. Let us assume that he has been a full-pay pupil. His time is, of course, his own. It would be a good plan, after he has acquired some theoretical knowledge of the business, to regularly visit a shipyard and there begin to do the practical work which falls to the lot of the boat-builder; studying in the office one-half the time and working in the yard the other half. Now you will see, as I observed before, that boat-build- ing is a profession and a trade. It is possible to be simply a naval architect and only make designs for boats, but it is not advisable; it is better, by aU means, to have the practical knowledge which is obtained working among the men in the shipyard. They do not now apprentice boys as they did some fifty years ago. I have before me an indent- ure paper of a ship-builder (now alive) dated in the year 1825. In it he promises "not to waste his master's goods ; not to contract matrimony within the said term ; not to play at cards, dice, or any un- lawful game, nor frequent ale-houses, dance-houses, or play-houses, but in all things behave himself as a faithful apprentice ought to do during the said term." There are no such rules laid down nowadays. Perhaps all the boys are so good that none are needed. AU that needs to be done now is for the boy to make his verbal agreement with the owner of the shipyard, and go to work. BOAT-BUILDING. 61' And now a word or two as to this practical work which, will cover the second method of learning boat-building as mentioned at the beginning of my paper. The boy who has not had the benefit of any previous training with an instructor may have to commence with turning the grindstone. The tools used in boat-building are in such constant use that they grow dull very soon, and the grindstone is kept going almost the whole of the day. Besides, the work being very heavy, the men generally work in couples, so that the learner when he is not turn- ing the gi'indstone is assisting in lifting the heavy timbers that have to be used. The first tool he is generally permitted to use is the saw ; then he begins to use the adze ; then he is trusted with the ax, and helps get out the planking and timber for the frame of the ship. Then comes the difficult part of construction. The apprentice must have learned all this work with the tools (of which I am only able to make a passing mention), before he comes to the construct- ive part ; that is, the part that our pupil has been studying with the naval architect. Before the building of the ship is commenced, a small wooden model is made, to give the owner and the builder an idea of what she is going to look like. "A little model the master ■WTOugM, Wliich sliould be to the larger plan Wliat tlie clUd is to the mau " Doubtless, you have seen such models. They C2 HEADY FOR BUSINESS. .are built sometimes on a scale of a quarter of an inch, to a foot j they are made of pieces of cedar tind pine wood, placed alternately, and show the shape and whole arrangement of one side of the vessel. This model is glued, on its flat side, to a piece of board, for greater convenience in exam- ination. From this model, "life-size" plans of the ship are made with chalk on the floor of a long, wide room, like a big garret, which is used especially for this purpose. It will not be necessary to enter into a technical description of these plans. There are three of them, — the sheer plan, the half- breadth plan, and the body plan. They show the position of the different planks to be used in the construction of the ship. To gain a rough idea of these plans, take a cucumber, decide which you will call the bottom and which the top, and cut it in the middle, lengthwise, from end to end. Look into its interior and fancy that it is covered with lines, both horizontal and vertical — and that will give you a very rough idea of the sheer plan. By laying the cucumber on its side and cutting it lengthwise, you wiU have a notion of the half- breadth plan. A division in the middle (cutting it in two parts, so that you can see the whole cir- cumference) may suggest to you the body plan. This can not be made very clear, not even with drawings, because it is the most technical part of the work ; but its object is apparent. From these three plans, taken from different points of view BOAT-BUILDING. 63 the boat-builder can locate the position of every piece of plank in his vessel. So true is this that I understand it is possible to number the planks of a ship, and send them off to some distant country, where a ship-builder can construct the vessel with- out ever having seen the design. A great deal of calculation and figuring enters into this part of the work, but much of it has been made easy by the aid of a man (now dead, I be- lieve) named Simpson, the author of what are called "Simpson's Rules." These rules are incorporated in small pocket handbooks which contain, in addi- tion, a large number of tables, rules, and formulas pertaining to naval architecture. The most i^opu- lai" handbook of this character in England is said to be "Mackrow's Xaval Architect and Ship-build- ers' Assistant," and in our country, "HasweU's Engineers' Pocket-book of Tables." These, how- ever, are only aids in making calculations, and are very much like the interest tables you have prob- ably seen, which save the trouble of going through the figuring in detail. There ai'e a great many books which will be interesting and valuable to the young ship-builder. To give you some idea of their character, I copy the following from the table of contents of a recent standard work : " The displace- ment and buoyancy of ships ; " " The oscillations of ships in still water ; " " The oscillation of ships among waves;" "Methods of observing the roll- ing and pitching motions of ships;" "The struct; ural strength of ships," etc. 64 EEADY FOE BUSINESS. These titles may not at present indicate a very promising literary feast, but when the young boat- builder has mastered the rudiments of the tech- nical part of the profession, he will read and re- read such productions with as much pleasure as he now peruses the story books he gets from the library. I have not entered into the details of iron ship- building, the practical part of which the boy will learn in the same yard in which he learns to work in wood ; for it is presumed that he is going to some large yard to obtain his instruction. Indeed, in this occupation it is the practical part that is the easiest and the most interesting to young learn- ers. They are apt to slight the theoretical knowl- edge requu'ed and to long to spend their time in the shipyard with real tools, doing real work, for a real ship. With the boy who, through force of circumstances, has to enter on the life of a journey- man and earn wages, there is more excuse for hastening to that branch of the work than for the lad who is better situated in life. The journeyman wiU learn construction last and from his master. Under the plan I have suggested, the other lad will learn the general principles of construction before he goes to the shipyard ; at least he will not have to commence with turning the grindstone. His first few visits will be confined to watching the men at their work ; then he wiU gradually make him- self familiar with the use of the difi'erent tools. The journeyman will receive at first $1 a day; BOAT-BUILDING. 65 during the second year, $1.50 a day, and be grad- ually advanced until lie receives the regular wages, at the present time from $3 to $3.25 a day. It would not be advisable to make any estimate of the profits of boat-building as a business, for, no matter what they are now, by the time my young reader has started a shipyard, they may be entirely different, owing to the increase or decrease in the cost of material and labor. A SEA-CAPTAIN. If a boy thinks of following the sea for a liveli- hood, let him not start by running away from home. That will not add any pleasure to the occupation, nor tend to cheer him up in the hard work he will have to perform and the bitter experiences that wiU surely come to him during the years he is trying to work his way upward. Having decided to be a navigator, if a boy has nothing else, let him at least start with the consent and blessing of his parents or guardians, and then go to work with the determination of becoming nothing less than the captain of a ship. My young reader can get a good idea of a boy's progress in the nautical art from the experiences of a sea-captain, a friend of mine, connected with one of the large Eui'opean lines that sail from New York. I give you his story, as told to me, in his own words : "My father was a sailor, — eventually a sea- captain, — and at the age of thirteen I started on a ship as a cabin-boy. I worked my way up tiU I be-' came an ordinary seaman. " You will know how little schooling I must have had up to the age of thirteen when I say that six cents a week had been spent on my education. But while I was a cabin-boy I picked up all the knowl- edge I could from such books as lay in my way, with A SEA-CAPTAIN. 6T special reference to my chosen occupation. I used to study in the forecastle among the sailors, and my companions were not a very quiet set of fellows, I can tell you. "Finally, I became an able seaman, that is, a grown-up, able-bodied man, knowing a sailor's duties, such as splicing, reefing, steering, all about the ship's rigging, and so on. I was an able seaman for three or four years, and, in the meantime, I was always studying navigation. " This science is simple enough to a boy who has brains. He must have a thorough knowledge of the four rules of arithmetic. I have no doubt that a lit- tle algebra would be of service, but it is not reaUy necessary. " As soon as I felt myself competent, when I was about the age of twenty, I passed an examination be- fore the ' Board of Examiners' in England, of which country I am a native, and obtained a second-mate's certificate. I went on board a ship in that capacity, going on a voyage that lasted ten months. I served two years, then became a first mate, and finally got my 'master's certificate.' " During all this time I had received no tuition on shore ; all that I knew I had learned aboard ship. "Then I became connected with the steamship company who now employ me, starting as a fourth ofOxier, and finally, at the age of thirty-two, I was made commander of one of their Atlantic steamers, carrying on my first voyage a thousand passengers." That, in brief, is the nautical life of my friend the C8 READY FOE BUSINESS. Captain. It reads smoothly ; but between the lines you ought to be able to discern a great many trials, privations, and hardships. Under no circumstances is the sailor's life an easy one. In some of the occupations of which I have written in this series we have seen that wealth and influence have been of assistance to the youth in gaining success, but here a boy might have " a baxrel of money " and a whole legion of friends, and they would not benefit him one particle. He must start at the bottom of the ladder, as a boy, and doing boy's work, and much of it very unpleasant work, and he can not gain promotion except through real ability. At the outset, it would be a good idea for a boy to go on one of the United States training-ships, where young Americans are trained to be seamen. He must be between fourteen and eighteen years of age, and he wiU not be entitled to his discharge until he has gone through the whole course of instruction. He must enter the service with the consent of his parents. On board the training-ship he will sleep in a hammock instead of a bed, he will have to mend his own clothes, and learn his duty to the officers of the ship. After a while he will be transferred to what is called the flagship of the training squadron. There he will learn aU about practical seamanship, and receive instruction having reference to naval warfare. The discipline is strict, but the rules are not unreasonable. He will also study the English branches, and finally when he goes aboard a cruising-ship, he wi^l learn A SEA-CAPTAIN. 69 all about furling and reefing sails, knotting and splicing, and a great many other things that a sailor has to know. The boys hare to behave themselTes, and if a boy is persistently bad and disobedient, he may be discharged from the ship. These apprentices are paid, receiving nine dollars a month and one ration. They can be promoted to second-class apprentices, when they will get eleven dollars, and, on still further promotion, be made ordinary seamen and receive fifteen dollars a month. When the young sailor is cruising, he may be made a "petty officer," and receive still larger pay. Finally, when he has completed the period of ser- vice at the age of twenty-one, he will receive his dis- charge. If our would-be seafarer pursues this course, he will find it to his advantage-when he starts life on a European steamer. Still, he would be possessed of a great deal of knowledge in reference to naval war- fare which, in that position, would be of no use to him, and there would be very much that he would have to learn, in addition to what he already knew. Starting as an ordinary seaman, he would skip the drudgery of a ship's boy, and his promotion would be somewhat more rapid, though not remark- ably so, for on the sea you have to be thoroughly competent in one position before you can rise to a higher. Of the four officers on an ocean steamship the two senior officers keep the reckoning of the ship by observation, that is, by means of the stars, the moon, 70 EEADY FOR BUSINESS. and the sun. The third and fourth, or two junior officers, keep the dead reckoning. By this is meant the calculation of the ship's position, independently of celestial observations. The pay of the captain of an ocean steamer will be from two thousand five hundred to three thousand dollars a year. The first officer will receive about nine hundred dollars a year, the second seven hun- dred and twenty, the third and fourth four hundred and eighty dollars a year. This will be in addition to living expenses on board ship. In this connection, it may be well to say something about the pecuniary habits of seafaring men. You have heard the phrase, " He spends his money like a sailor." That saying represents the extravagant habits of some sailors in their dealings with money. They do not earn much, but they are away so long from land, where money is constantly used as a medium of exchange, and their life is so hard, that when once they get on shore, their first thought is of having " a good time " with the wages they have just received. But the example of this class of men tends to strengthen the purpose of the youth who has determined to work his way up on the nautical ladder to win an official position. Instead of being a spendthrift, he wiU save his money, and practice all sorts of little economies in the line of personal expense, not stinting himself, however, when it comes to the necessary books on navigation with which he must become familiar. While his com" rades are spinning yarns in the forecastle, he wiU be studying. A SEA-CAPTAIN. Il If you become a. saUor, you will find when you get on board ship that you are in a new world and among a class of men entirely different from those you have met, and different from what you supposed they might be. M^any of the sailors, you wiU quickly discover, are ignorant, and some of them brutal. You will note that their conversation is on low and vulgar subjects, and it will taJie all your strength of mind to resist the bad influence of the talk you will hea,r. There seems to be no help for a boy under such circumstances. He must come in contact with the men and hear their talk : let him make up his mind in advance that he wiU not allow it to corrupt his mind. He wiU find that sailors have a singular phraseology. The time a sailor spends at the wheel is called a " trick " ; he " goes " to the fore part of the ship, but he " lies aft " when he is near the stern ; he does not change but "shifts" his clothing. Water is kept in the f orehold of the ship, and sometimes when the soup is weak the sailor says that it has a good deal of the "f orehold" about it. Sailors on ocean steamers do not have much time for amusement, and their sports are not so rough as they used to be. With the short voyages now made by ocean steamers, and the strict discipline observed, there is little chance for amusements of any kind. The fact is, that sailor life, except probably on very long voyages, has got to be a very matter-of-fact sort of existence. 72 EEADT FOR BUSINESS. Yet nearly all sailors and sea-captains are preju- diced in favor of their occupation, notwithstanding the hardships they have had to endure. If you should ask the advice of one of them as to whether it would be well for you to follow the sea, in all like- lihood he would say, "It is the best life in the world." The requirements are that a boy shall have a sound body and a sound mind. He does not, of course, need much education to start with ; but edu- cation never does any one any harm, and the boy who is going to be a sailor need not neglect his studies on land simply because there have been illit- erate youths who have worked their way up to be sea-captains. The rapid progress of scientific research, and the application of some of its discov- eries to navigation, have forced sea-captains to be better informed than formerly. The knowledge required for success as a navigator is of such a prac- tical character that almost any man will be able to become possessed of it, provided he has a taste for the occupation. A boy should remember that the seafaring life is a confined existence. True, he is out on the broad ocean, but his industrial existence is limited to the ship. His ambition must stop at the position of sea-captain. Beyond that he cannot go. On the land, the field for progress in almost any employ- ment is almost illimitable, and the young man of ability, spirit, and ambition will always find some higher point which he may struggle to attain. But when you have got to be a searcaptain, you have A SEA-CAPTAIN. .T3 reached the end of your nautical rope^ All you can do is to learn a little by experience ; I say a little, because there will be few new experiences you will go through. But the life of a captain on one of the large European steamers is a pleasant one — ^for those who like the sea. He lives in good style, he is constantly meeting educated and refined people, and picking up all sorts of information. His posi- tion commands the respect of those about him, he almost invariably enjoys the best of health, and his compensation is large enough to allow him to lay something by for old age. He follows the sea as long as he is able to perform his duties. A captain — ^I believe the ablest captain — on one of our largest Eui'opean lines, is now seventy-five years old, and he shows no signs of giving up command. It must be added that this sketch refers to cap: tains of ocean steamers and not to the merchant marine. That being the case, it must be remem- bered that it is by no means easy for a boy to attain to the captaincy of a large steamer. The positions are few and far between, and he should hesitate a long time, and be very, very sure that he is right before he " goes ahead " on a seafaring life. There comes, however, a time when the old com- mander must come on shore for good. Happy will he be if he has a good home in which to "cast anchor," and a pleasant family to surround him in his last days, to whom he can relate his reminis- cences, as he waits for the summons to enter that other and distant port to which landsmen and sear men alike are all bound. A PRACTICAL CHEMIST. Curiosity has been called a " low vice," but it must be true that we owe a great deal of our knowledge of scientific matters to that very trait. Fancy the first man that ever closely examined a piece of coal. He picks it up from the ground, carefully looks at it, turns it over and over, breaks it with a stone, looks at the pieces, smells ttiem, tastes them ; he is curious, to discover just what the substance is and what it is good for. He shows a piece to his neighbor, but the neighbor does not know any more about it than does he himself. Then he tries to boil a piece, but it will not boil ; a portion is accidentally thrown into or near his wood fire, where it burns until it be- comes red, when it throws out heat. Then — lo and behold ! he has found a new kind of fuel, destined to be one of the most important and useful articles the world has ever seen. And all this, we will suppose, resulted from a man's curiosity — ^his desire to " find out." The curiosity of which the poet speaks as being a " low vice " is the inquisitiveness displayed by shallow-minded people who like to pry into the personal affairs of their friends and neighbors. When we come to pry into the mysteries which sur- round us in the natural world, it is a very different matter ; then we are well employed, and are exercis- ing our minds in the right direction. Suppose that the men and women of the past ages had never taken A PRACTICAL CHEMIST. 1"3 any interest in tlie earth, the ocean, the mountains ; had never sought for ores and minerals ; had never studied improvements in navigation; had never, when sick, ascended from the valleys and tried the health-giving breezes of the hiUs above them, — would we be as happy and comfortable as we are to-day ? No, indeed ! jSTow, the first analytical chemist must have been a man of some curiosity. Of course, he didn't know very much, and he could not be compared with the chemists we have in these days; but he went to work to discover of what elements iron, coal, tin, zinc, copper, and many other things to be met with in our daily walks of life were composed. And work of that sort is precisely what is done by the analytical chemist of to-day. You and I, when we look around the world, see hundreds — yes, thousands — of articles and sub- stances the nature of which appears to us very strange. And yet all these different articles are composed of one or more substances out of a list of sixty ; and these substances are called, by the an- alytical chemist, "elements." To illustrate : Suppose your father said to your elder sister, "Louise, you shall have a diamond ring for your birthday." She, I suppose, would say he was very kind. But suppose, before the birthday came, he should get to talking some evening about having been unfortunate in business, and should ex- press grave doubts as to whether he could keep his promise. Louise, like a good girl, would tell him 76 jftEADY POR 13USINESS. not to worry on that account ; that she could wait. Then perhaps the talk would turn on the value of diamonds, and Louise might say that there was nothing like them in the world. Her father would maintain that there was, and would tell her that, if she desired, he would bring her the substance which was composed of precisely the same simple element as a diamond, and weighing three times as much as the ring he had promised her. The next night her father would show her a ring roughly made out of charcoal, and tell her (what might perhaps be news to her) that chemists had discovered that a diamond and a piece of charcoal were composed of the same simple element — carbon. There are two kinds of practical chemistry : one is analytical chemistry, and the other synthetical chemistry. The business of an analytical cheinist is the separating or resolving of compounds into their con- stituent elements. If you gave a mineral or a chem- ical to a chemist, he could separate them and tell you of what they were composed. Suppose you gave him a piece of gypsum, and asked him to tell you what it was. By certain methods known to the profession he would discover the sulphuric acid which it contained. Then he would find lime in it," and, finding no other substance in ite composition, he would promptly tell you the piece was sulphate of lime, which is gypsum, or plaster of Paris. ; A synthetical chemist is one who takes the ele- ments of which I have spoken and from them, by I A Practical chemist. if :Tarious com'binations, builds up different sub- stances. For instance : wliil'e the analrtical chem- istry, as I have just explained, would separate gyp- sum into its elements, — sulphuric acid and lime, — synthetical chemistry would take sulphuric • acid and lime, and, by adding them together in the proper proportions, would make sulphate of lime, the com- mon name for which is plaster of Paris. "Well," you maj" say, "sujjpose the chemist can do all this, of what use is it ? " I wiU give you an instance of its usefulness. In the city where I live the young people were greatly agitated one summer on account of several persons having been poisoned by eating ice-cream. ;Xow, the analytical chemist was at the bottom of this ice-cream scare. The Board of Health had asked him to analyze some of the same kind of cream eaten by the persons who had been made sick. He made his report, stating that tho poison had been caused by the vessels in which the cream was made ; and forthwith all the people, for a time, ceased eating ice-cream. Just so, on another occasion, with soda-water. He ex- amined the soda-fountains in the drug stores, told the Board of Health that the pipes, as they were arranged, could not be kept clean, and that they were sure to develop a certain kind of poison. Peo- ple stopped drinking soda-water, the di-uggists lost a great deal of money, and were obliged to adopt new methods of serving the beverage. But let me see how useful is the work of the analytical chemist in other ways. He tells the 7,S READY FOR BUSINESS. iron-dealer how much iron there is in the ore he proposes to sell; and the same in regard to gold and silver ore. He tells you whether your coffee and your sugar are good or adulterated. The boards of health in the different cities frequently call upon him to report on the purity of the candy of which the American boys and girls are so very fond. All kinds of precious stones are subjects of his investigation. Almost all the chemicals used by the vai'ious manufacturers are sold upon the basis of their pm"ity as determined by the chemist ; and a certificate of an analytical chemist often is re- quired by the buyer before he will make a purchase. A boy who desires to enter this profession can, in the large cities, get some knowledge of its general principles in the public schools^ This, of course, must be followed by a technical training in a college or school where the subject is specially taught. Take, for instance, the School of Mines, in New York. A boy can not enter there until he is seventeen years of age. The course of instruc- tion occupies four years. The instruction is given by lectures and recitations. During the first year the student makes experiments with simple chem- icals in the laboratory, listens to lectures, of which he is obliged to take full notes, and goes through blackboard exercises and recitations. During the second and third years he analyzes more complex substances, and during the fourth year he devotes his time to laboratory work. The annual tuition A PRACTICAL CHE^UST. 79 fees are about two liundi'ed and fifty dollars. Board, including room-rent, fire and light, and washing, may be had in IN^ew York for from six dollars and fifty cents to thirteen dollars per week. The same general remarks wiU apply also to the great Institute of Technology in Boston. And now a word or two about the chances of success in the profession. Analytical chemists are employed much more generally than they were years ago. Manufacturers are making more use of them. Most of the large chemical houses em- ploy their own chemist. They are also employed at metallurgical and fertilizing works, in paint- houses, in oil-works, in sugar-refineries, in dye- works, in gold, silver, and iron works, in rolling- mills ; and a gi'eat many railroads have chemists to analyze the iron or steel rails used for their roads. Chemists as a rule receive from one thousand to twelve hundred dollars a year. This seems small when we consider to what expense a young man has been put to obtain the necessary educa- tion. Sometimes, however, in a manufacturing house where he has made himself particularly use- ful, a chemist may receive eighteen hundred or two thousand dollars, and, as superintendent of works, he might get five thousand or ten thousand dol- lars ; but such cases are very exceptional. One reason v/hy salaries are smaller in our large cities is said to be found in the number of competent chemists who hav^ come from Germany, and wha 80 READY FOR BUSINESS. are willing to work for lower wages tlian their American brethren demand. When a chemist has, after years of study and long practice, thoronghlj- qualified himself in his profession, he can give what is called "an expert opinion." This, as Sam V.'eller might say, "is an opinion as is much more valu'ble than an opinion as is not expert." In a lawsuit, for example, chemists would be emi>loyed by both sides, and an expert would receive from fifty dollars a day to twenty -five dollars an hour. If an expert exam- ined a mine, made a report on the formation, gave his views on the likelihood of its paying the people who intended to purchase it, he would be paid perhaps five or six hundred dollars and all expenses. But, remember, there are very few " ex- perts," and that those who enjoy that reputation have paid the price of long-continued study, of hard and enthusiastic labor, for the reputation they have made. A young man might obtain the best education to be afforded at a first-class col-- lege ; he might open offices fitted up in the very best of style, and, sending out his cards, "Pro- fessor Jonas Quigley, Expert Analytical Chemist," might stand at his door on the tip-toe of expectation waiting for clients until he was old and gray, with- out receiving a single call to exhibit his analytical ability. As I say^ he must work long and hard, and have a real genius for his profession, before he can hope to become au expert. A PRACTICAL CHEMST. 81 In the Far West, where there are so many mines, an analytical chemist may gain both success and money in the examination of ores ; but the great bulk of chemical work is done in the Eastern States, where there are so many manufacturing industries in which such services as he can give are in demand. The South is rich in phosphates and in metallur- gical works ; but, unless a young man has a prom- ise of special employment, the Eastern States are considered the best. In the city of New York (where so many young men, in all businesses and profes- sions, foolishly think fortunes are easily made), there is such a host of chemists, and such a con- stant struggle to get what work there is, that a beginner would probably meet with some dis- couragement. Some young men open offices, where they do a general business in assaying. They may previously have been employed in some old-estab- lished office having a large list of customers. Some of the clients of their old employer, seeing that the young men have started for themselves, may give them patronage, believing that they will thereby get the work done at a cheaper price. One very important work performed by the ana- lytical chemist — ^important for him on account of the pay he receives, and important for society in leading to the detection of a cei-tain class of crim- inals — ^is the examination of the human stomach after death, in case of suspected poisoning. This <3loubtless seems like very gloomy and unpleasant 82 EEADY FOE BUSINESS. work, but chemists say that practically there is nothing disagreeable about it. They usually re- ceive five hundred dollars for such an analysis, and they are required to testify on the trial. I have said that the pay of the analytical chemist, as a rxile, is small; but, perhaps, his profession makes up in interest what it lacks in monetary reward. His work is in a laboratory. He is deal- ing with the secrets of nature. He is performing all manner of experiments — now blowing with a blow-pipe on a bit of metal to lest its nature ; now experimenting with acids ; now weighing the tiniest amounts of matter on scales specially con- structed for such work ; and so the analytical chem- ist passes on from simple experiments to others more difficult, until, after long experience, he is able to work such wonders that to an outside ob- server he appears in his laboratory more like a won- derful magician than a professor working in accor- dance with certain known rules and laws. In this, as in every other business, there are those who will achieve prominence as well as those who will only drudge. But let it be borne in mind that it is an occupation in which both fame and fortune have been attained, and in which any young man whose heart is really in his work may, with study and perseverance, advance not only his own in- terests but those also of the profession which he has chosen, A JOURNALIST. The boy who would be a successful journalist must enter the profession with no .Tain ambition to hurry up and get his name in print, or to be called an "editor." He must make up his mind to work hard and conscientiously 3 and, after a number of years, take the position in the profes- sion to which he seems to be adapted, resting con- tent therewith. If he comes to his work with a col- legiate education, it will be well; but it is by no means necessary. Journalism, it must be borne in mind, is distinct from authorship, pure and simple. The journalist deals with the questions of the day; his knowl- edge must be on the tip of his tongue, or rather, at the point of his pen, — ^ready for use at any moment. The author, on the other hand, can sit at home, write leisurely, revise frequently, and con- sult books of reference to verify his statements. Some coUege-bred reporters are occasionally both pained and surprised at their first newspaper experiences. Such a young man may look in the morning paper for his first report, on which, you may be sure, he has taken the greatest possible pains. He has given an elaborate description of the hall, the appearance of the audience, and of the lecturer he has been sent to report. Yet he can not find his account, although he is sure he wrote a colunm. S4 READY FOE BUSINESS. "May be it's crowded out," says a brother re- porter, and then adds, " Why, no ; here it is ! It is cut down, and they've put a new 'head' on it." Yes ; there it is, away down in the corner of the third page, next to the market reports ! It makes a column — ^all but nine-tenths ! Our college-bred young friend may be very angry at such shabby treatment; but, if he is a sensible fellow, he soon gets used to it. In fact, he is compelled to get used to it. The young reporter — and reporting is nearly always the first thing a journalist does — is sent out on "assignments," as they are technically called of every possible description. Meetings, lectures, sermons, trials, weddings, funerals, crim- inal mysteries, political gatherings, investigations on all sorts of questions that agitate the public mind, — ^in short, everything of public interest comes within the province of his duty. No one has a better chance to indulge in that most proper study of mankind, — man. Before the reporter, a humble drudge though he may be, pass in the course of a few years' service a long procession of all sorts and conditions of men. He becomes acquainted with goodly minis- ters and godless infidels ; with keen men of the law and cunning criminals ; with honest virtue and smooth-faced hypocrisy. The rich, the poor, the ragged tramp, the gouty millionaire, the witty, the wise, the frivolous, the duU, the joyous, the sad, the humble, the proud, the saint, and the sinner, a^l come and go in quick review. A JOURNALIST. 85 The immortal Skakespeare could not liave seen more of real life than does a reporter on a New York newspaper iu the active pursuit of his profes- sion. Remember, I do not say that the reporter will erer approach Shakespeare in his use of what he sees. That is an entirely different matter. But he Avill certainly have the opportunity of "seeing life," as the phrase goes; seeing it in its many phases; seeing its joys, its sorrows, its hap- piness, and its misery. If he keeps his eyes open and not only sees much but sees deeply, he will find tliat what he has seen will be useful to him as an editor and a newspaper writer in after life. In the earliest stage of his career he must learn shorthand. And that reminds me of "David Cop- perfleld," and what he says about the difficulty of learning the art ; and of how, in the little room in Buckingham street, he took down in shorthand the speeches of the great men as they were read from Enfield's Speaker by good-hearted Tommy Traddles ; of the precise but kindly old aunt, "looking Tery like an immovable Chancellor of the Exchequer," throwing in the usual interrup- tions of "No!" and "Oh!" and "Hear! Hear!" of poor old Mr. Dick succeeding often "lustily with the same cry ; " and of young David following after the reader with all his might and main,— and the next day not being able to read a line of the notes he had taken the night before ! That description, pleasant and humorous as it is, has, I fear, deterred many a young man froni 80 READY FOB, BUSINESS. studying shorthand. It must be remembered that the system Dickens learned was one of the old systems, that now we have a different system (pho- nography) which is much easier, — ^but still quite hard enough. This question of shorthand is a very big question, and I have not here sufficient space to go into all the details of it. There are many good books upon phonography published, but this is not the place to recommend any particular one. Of late years there have been published some small, cheap books, which present the principles in the briefest possible space. The difference between the various " systems " is of very little practical importance. But the text-book which presents the subject in the fewest words is, by all odds, to be preferred to the ponde-rous and more expensive works. If, however, a boy has com- menced to study one of these books, let him keep on in the system he has selected, rather than begin the work all over again. If he has not commenced, let him have a talk on the subject with a good practical reporter, — one who makes, or has made, his living at shorthand reporting, and not a professional teacher of the art, who may not always be quite unprej- udiced in the advice he is willing to give. The young rejjorter should learn shorthand, notwithstanding that some of his young news- paper friends may tell him that he can succeed without it; and that, if he does learn it, he may have to work harder for the paper without receiv- ing much more pay^. There is some truth in boUl A JOURNALIST. 87 these statements; but there is no question that shorthand is an excellent crutch upon which to lean. In hard times, if a newspaper cuts down its force, the young man who knows shorthand will almost certainly be kept in preference to his asso- ciate who does not. And, in appying for a situa- tion on a city journal, the accomplishment is almost sure to be taken into account. Aside from these reasons, the conTcnience of kno^\ing shorthand can hardly be overestimated. An author or journalist by its means multiplies his power many fold; he saves time and can jot down quickly ideas or suggestions that come to him. "What should a newspaper man know?" may be asked. Everything, — or, at least, something about every- thing. The ablest newspaper men we have had in our country have not been college gradu- uates ; and whether a young man is college-bred or not, the best part of his education must be gained in the actual service of his profession. He must always read a great deal, and he must not read to waste. He must have a good general knowledge of history, science, and art; and with the social and political progress of his own country he must be thoroughly familiar. But in the early stages of his career he will find that what he needs most is quickness of apprehension, good judgment, and the power to state in wTiting, briefly and clearly, what the public wants to know on a given subject. The young man who is dull of comprehension, 88 EEADY FOR BUSINESS. who is slow to "take in" a situation, will never make a good reporter. Neither will the other young man Avho is deficient in judgment, who doesn't know what to take and what to leave ; who is A'erbose where he should be brief, and brief where he should be full and explicit in his state- ments. In the newspaper office, after a great political meeting for instance, the young journalist will begin to learn the worth of various statesmen and orators in column space. Senator Brown may be a poor man, but the city editor will say, "Give Brown in full." On the other hand. Colonel Smythe, the millionaire, may have made a speech, of which, to save the newspaper men trouble, he has had. copies made for the reporters. The city editor may say, " He is worth ten lines." The young re- porter will discover that the newspaper estimate of our distinguished men is often widely different from the estimate they have of themselves, and does not always agree with the transitory opinion of the great public. In regard to the pay of newspaper men, it would be difficult, in fact impossible, to lay down any exact rule. Reporters on the city jjapers make all sorts of wages, — say from $5 to f GO a week. The amount earned depends entirely on the ability of the man, his industry, and his acquaintance with the various editors who purchase what he has to sell. For many newspaper men are not paid a salary, but at " space rates ; " that is, so much A JOURNALIST. 89 a column. They work for several papers, writ- ing one kind of article for one paper, another kind for another, and so manage to earn a good living. It is only experienced newspaper men, however, who can trust to this method. The novice will have to connect himself with some one journal, begin at small wages, learn all he can, make him- self as valuable as possible, and so, gradually work up in the business till he can be an independent writer. I have two suggestions to make to the young reporter : the first is, that he should, while he is doing his ordinary work, make himself master of some specialty in journalism. Let him read, study, and keep thoroughly informed on art, on music, on the drama, or, most important of all, on the politics of his own and the principal countries of the world. Secondly, he should work with a definite end in view. As a rule, it wul be advisable to look away from the great cities when his ambition determines him to become an "editor." The position of managing- editor of a great city daily is daily becoming more difi&cult of attainment, because of the increasing number of journalists, and because the standard of journalism is slowly but surely being raised. Take a map and look at our great country ; think of the thriving cities, the enterprising towns, from one end of it to the other. Ponder for a moment on the intellectual progress of our people — what 90 READY FOE BUSINESS. readers e are getting to be, what a vast number of journals are now published. Some of the best papers in our country are published away from the great cities, and the standard of journalism is grow: ing higher all the time. By the time the ambi- tious reporter is able to be an editor, or to own a paper, in my opinion, he will find his best oppor- tunities in the "provinces." A lad should think long and well before he de- cides to enter journalism. At the very best, he will have to work hard; at the worst, he may, as some do, drift into shiftless habits because the ambitions of Ms early youth have not been realized. Many men seem to think, when they become writers, that they can dispense with sound business judgment and common sense, and that the world will assess them and their work by a different standard from that used for other people. But the world will do no such thing. The journalist must bring to his calling, besides ability, the same good habits that insure success in any other vocation. Those readers who desire fuller information on this interesting subject I refer to two good books. The first is an American book, written by A. F. Hill; entitled " Secrets of the Sanctum : An Inside View of an Editor's Life." The second is, " Jour- nals and Journalism : with a Guide for Literaiy Beginners," — a book published in London a few years ago. ^ A RETAIL DRUG STORE. There have been two important changes in the drug business within the past few years. In the first place, the scope of the drug store has been enlarged. In old times the term " drug store " indicated an establishment where simply drugs were kept. Now you can go to many drug stores and purchase cigars, tobacco, canes, umbrellas, tea, coffee, stationery, confectionery, and many kinds of fancy articles. Some say that druggists have been forced into selling these goods on account of the competition they have had to con- tend against in the sale of patent medicines by dry- goods establishments and book stores, and because some of their own number sell the patent, or pro- prietarj^ medicines below the regular marked price. There is much truth in this statement, but I think there is another reason to account for the practice, and that is the increased rate of rent. In former times the item of rent was not so great as it is now, and the druggist could make a good living by com- flning himself to drugs proper. Now the expense for rent is a matter for serious financial considera- tion. It is true that the business yields a large percentage of profit, but the total sales are com- paratively smaU. At one time, when the calling was confined to its legitimate sphere, the profit &2 BEADY FOR BUSINESS. was fifty per cent. Now the average rate of profit is probably twenty-five or thirty per cent. In the second place, the di"ug clerks of to-day are required to be better educated than those of former times. Many of the men — ^in fact, most of the men who are the owners of drug stores now — ^learned the business simply by working with a druggist for a greater or less period, and " picked up " their knowledge from behind the counter and at the prescription desk. Literally, they have "grown up" in the business. Some got into it accidentally. As boys, they were looking for some- thing to do, they found a situation in a drug store, staid there because they could not find any better place, gradually obtained a knowledge of the busi- ness, and have made it their life-work. At the present time, in most of the States, a drug clerk is either required to serve a certain period in a store, and to pass a satisfactory examination as to his qualifications before he can become a licensed druggist, or else he must be a graduate of a college of pharmacy. In the allusion just made to the druggists who have not been compelled to comply with these conditions, I do not mean to be understood as stat- ing "that they are all incompetent dmggists or pharmacists, for that would be untrue. Some men, under the most adverse cricumstances in any trade, business, or profession, will learn more and do better than others with every advantage. But it is not too much to affirm that, owing to this A RETAIL DEUG STORE. 93 condition of affairs in the past, there are now many di'uggists and old clerks who have contented them- selves with obtaining only a superficial knowledge of their calling, and have burdened themselves with no more than enough information to get along quiet- ly and comfortably. Hence, the assertion can be safely made that there is room for thoroughly com- petent, well-qualified drug clerks and druggists. Aside from the preliminary study required, it is not what may be called an easy business, at least in its early stages. It requires constant care, and, even with the best of care, money and reputation may be lost in a very short space of time, not through the fault of the druggist himself, but from the negligence, carelessness, dishonesty, or stu- pidity of his clerks. But such failures are rare, and only call for incidental mention. Xow, what will a boy do who wants to be a dmg- gist ? He should be an apt scholar, quick to learn, and should have what may be called a good tech- nical memory ; that is the ability to keep in mind arbitrary terms and phrases. A knowledge of Latin, even of the rudimentary principles of that lan- guage, woidd be found very useful, while a taste for botany would be the verj- gi-ound-work for love of the occupation, and an almost certain prophecy of success. He must have a good knowledge of the English branches, and, though he need not have a student's love for books, he must not be absolutely averse to study. These prelminaries borne in mind, let him, not earlier than at the age of sixteen. 94 EEADY FOE. BUSINESS. enter a drug store, taking for wages any sum that is offered. It will be smaU, probably not more than two dollars a week, and he will have to board him- self. But it is presumed that he lives at home, and that his parents or guardians are giving him his liv- ing while he is making his start in life. For a year or two he wiU do little more than open and sweep out the store, carry medicines to the homes of cus- tomers, learn to do up packages neatly, and, per- chance, his professional acquirements will have grown so great that he can be trusted to sell a seid- litz powder or a small cake of Windsor soap. But, no matter what he is allowed to do, he must, within two years, if he is a bright, observing boy, have gathered considerable miscellaneous information about drugs and the drug business. He is now prepared to enter a college of phar- macy. There are sixteen of these colleges, or schools, in the United States. There is a college of pharmacy at each of the following cities : Albany, New York ; San Francisco, California ; Chicago, Illinois ; Cincinnati, Ohio ; Louisville, Keiituclsy ; Baltimore, Maryland ; Boston, Mass- achusetts ; New York City, New York ; Philadel- phia, Penns3'h'ania ; Pittsburg, Pennsylvania ; St. Louis, Missouri ; Washington, D. C, and Iowa City, Iowa. And there are schools of pharmacy connected with the Michigan University, the Uni- versity of Wisconsin, and the "\''anderbilt University of Nashville, Tennessee. It will not be necessary to speak of the method A RETAIL DRUG STORE. 95 of instruction in each of these institutions. It is substantially the tame in all. The plan pursued in the Xew York College will serve to show what is done in each. The full course extends over two yeai-s, and is divided into junior and senior classes. The instruction is by lectures and practical experi- ments. In the department of materia medica, all the parts of plants and animals that are used in medicine are described, the student being taught where they come from, how they are obtained, how they are used, and the proper doses to be given. In the chemical department, all the fundamental principles of chemistry are presented and the chief compounds carefully studied, with special reference to their mode of occurrence in nature, the methods employed in their preparation, their effects upon and with other substances, the methods for deter- mining their purity, and their application in the arts. The gi-eat chemical operations are investiga- ted, and the chemistry of the metals and organic chemisti'y studied in detaU. Lectures are given on botany, illustrated by plates, diagrams, and plas- tic models. In the department of pharmacy the the student is taught how to make the finished pro- duct from the organic vegetable, or chemical. Analytical chemistry is taught, and the chemical nature of poisons, their antidotes, and the methods for detecting them. The total charge for full courses in the various departments is sixty dollars. To those who comply with the rules, and who pass a satisfactory examination, diplomas, conferring 96 EEADY FOB BUSINESS. the title of Graduate in Pharmacy (Ph. G.), are granted. The student is now, or ought to be, a good phar- macist. He has had his early experience in the drug store ; he has obtained a large amount of theoretical knowledge at the college, and has seen there many interesting experiments in the labora- tory and the lecture-room while attending college. Possibly he has kept his position in the store, work- ing during the evenings of the week, in which case he has had a great advantage, for he has had daily opportunity to make a practical use of some of the knowledge he has gained. What does he do when he gets out of coUege ? If he is favorably situated iinancially, and feels confident that he has the ability, he may open a store for himself, or enter into partnership in some concern already established. If neither of these conditions exists, he will get a clerkship in a store. Now he will receive say |12.00 a week, or more, de- pending on the location of the store and the liberal- ity of his employer ; also upon whether he is in a large city, a good-sized town, or the country. But aU the time the ambitious worker is looking forward to a store of his own. In this connection it may be weU to give a list of the number of druggists in the United States. The following table is believed to be approximately correct. The number in some of the large cities is given, as well as the* number in the State. A RETAIL DRUG STORE. 97 Alabama 265 Arkansas 365 Califoruia HH Sau Fi-aucisco 117 Colorado 125 Connecticut 282 Delaware 75 Florida 90 Georgia 278 Illinois 1819 Chicago 290 Indiana 1386 Iowa 1155 Kansas 665 Kentnclcy 666 Louisiana 257 Maine 281i Maryland 152 Baltimore 206 Massacliusetts 733 Boston 265 Michigan 974 Minnesota 412 Mississippi 306 Missouri 1236 St-Louis 161 Nebraska 321 Nevada 41 New Hampshire 161 New Jersey 538 New York 1550 New York City 572 Brooklvn 337 North Cai-oliua 200 Ohio 1400 Cincinnati 142 Cleveland 100 Oregon 103 Pennsylvania 1320 Philadelphia 464 Pittsburg 77 Bhode Island 112 South Carolina 163 Tennessee 389 Texas 635 Vermout 173 Virginia 273 Washington, D. C 119 WestVirginia 163 Wisconsin 559 Territories 205 Canada 927 'Sow, it would not seem probaMe that a drug clerk, without money of his own and with no pros- pect of getting any by gift or inlieritance, could become the owner of a store. And yet, by per- severance, ability, and energy, a great many do. The amount of capital required to start the business, of course, varies. The young apothecary might start a little store in a small town for $500. But it would look very plain indeed. There would be very modest fixtures, common shelves, no inclosed cases bordering the side walls. One authority says that no one ought to start with less capital than from $2,000 to $5,000. Another thinks $1,000 or $1,500 would be sufScient. But no rule can be laid down on this point, except that it requires more monej' in large cities, less in smaller cities and towns, and still less in villages, where, by the way, 98 READY FOR BUSINESS. the druggist often combines the functions of phar- macist and postmaster, or keeps a stock of news- papers and periodicals and a miscellaneous assort- ment of cheap fancy articles. Clerks of real ability, who have not only gained the confidence of their employers, but have estab- lished a reputation on account of their attainments, their energj', and good management, can nearly always find some responsible person who will back them in starting a store. Sometimes a nian will loan the necessary amount and take a mortgage on the business, but more often the mortgage is on the personal responsibility, the ability, and the character of the young man. This may seem a little sti-ange to the reader; it certainly seemed strange to me when I heard of it. But, after all, though the financial backer might lose his money, the young man has everything to gain by striving to be successful, and loses everything if he acts negligently or dishonestly. Here is a true story by way of illustration. A young drug clerk wrote from the Far West to a prominent pharmacist in New York, saying he would like to come to the city and enter a store. He came, but when the pharmacist questioned him personally he found that his visitor had never put up prescriptions written in Latin ; consequently, he could not get a situation. He did not know a soul in the great city, not even the gentleman to whom he had written (until he met him at his store). He sought in vain for a place, and finally found a sub- A RETAIL DilUG STORE. 90 ordinate position, wliere lie was given Ave dollars a week and had to board himself. He was a studious, pushing, active young fellow, and soon managed to attend the lectures at the College of Pharmacy. The gentleman with whom he had corresponded took an interest in him, and invited him to come to his store and assist in the manufacturng of fluid extracts. Once he showed his employer what he could do in that line. The man was surprised. " Why can't you do something of that kind for me?" he asked. The clerk said he could, and his salary (which, in the meanwhile had been slightly increased) was raised to very respectable propor- tions. He worked for a time in this way, event- ually receiving a salary of $50.00 a week ; finally he opened a laboratory of his own, and to-day he em- ploys forty or fifty "hands." And yet, when he arrived in New York he did not have a dollar, and was without influence and without friends. The successful young druggist must be a good salesman. Many of the sales of medicines, espe- cially in the city stores, are of the " patent," or pro- prietary, kind. Their name is legion. Most drug- gists keep a good-sized catalogue containing a list of the different varieties. Some of them are said to be good, and many of them are undoubtedly bad. Care in compounding prescriptions is of gi'eat importance. Two druggists may put up the same prescription, and the prescriptions will look the same to an ordinary observer, but there will be a difterence in the method of compounding them, 100 HEADY FOE BUSINESS. noticeable at once to the eye of a physician. When a doctor finds a pharmacist who understands his business, he is pretty sure to take pains to recom- mend hlni to his patients. So the di-uggist gets a good reputation, becomes better knov^oi, and gi-ows more prosperous from year to year. As the making up of prescriptions requires great care, a prescription clerk should be careful to haye " all his wits " about him. He should not suffer any interruption or engage in conversation while he is at work. In the handling of poisons, it is need- less to say he should be exceedingly cautious, for one mistake in dealing them out might cost him his reputation for life. It is proper to add, however, that the cases of carelessness of drug clerks in this particular are yearly becom.ing more rare. In many drug stores all the poisons are kept on a shelf by themselves, each bottle being plainly marked. In stores where this is done, it is claimed that mistakes are less liable to occur than in places where the bottles are put on shelves in different parts of the establishment. The young druggist will be just to his subordi- nates. Knowing that their work is hard, he wiU allow them to take respites when business is dull. He will " keep up " in his knowledge of pharmacy, by reading one or more of the journals devoted to the interests of druggists, and, having secured a good location, he will endeavor to keep it all Ms Ufe, unless, for some very good reasons, he believes p, change would be greatly to his advantage. THE LEARNED PROFESSIONS. There are three prt)fessions — ^the law, medicine and divinity — commonly called "the learned pro- fessions." According to the false notion which pre- yails among a large class of persons, it is considered more "genteel" to engage in professional life than to be an engineer, a house-builder, or a store-keeper. If you look around a little you will notice that there are hundreds of lawyers who are not able, and who never wUl be able, to make a decent living; there are a great many doctors who, as a prominent physician once informed me, ought to be guiding the plow in the fields, instead of making bad guesses as to the ailments of their fellow-men with the view of treating the same, and there are clergymen in each of the denominations who never rise to med- iocrity in their profession, and whose service, often painstaking and well-meant, is of little or no value to the community. How does all this happen ? Parents, rather than the children, are mostly to blame. As long as fathers and mothers, actuated by a sense of false pride, an ignorant and ill-regulated ambition, force their children into one or the other of the three great professions, so long will be kept up the crop of briefless barristers, doctors without patients, and ministers waiting vainly for a call. !N^o greater outrage can be perpetrat«d against a bright boy, or, 102 READY FOK BUSINESS. for that matter, a dull boy, than to persuade him that he ought be a professional man, when he shows no qualification for such a life. Of course in this, as in aU other violations of natural law, the whirligig of time brings about its own revenges, but, unfortu- nately, the punishment for such folly has to be borne largely by the boy who finds, too late in life to rec- tify the mistake, that, thanks to the advice and persuasions of his parents, he is engaged in a voca- tion for which he has very little aptitude, and which, at heart, he detests. The parents them- selves live to see the pride of their household a professional failure, the natural outcome of their own false and stupid views of life. That saying, too, of Daniel Webster's about there being "room at the top,'' in my opinion, has done quite as much injury as it has good. In the ab- stract, of course, it is ti'ue that there is room at the top in any profession or business, and there always Avill be. But because there is room there does not argue that you or I will reach the summit and oc- cupy a part of the vacant territory. There is room at the top, we will say, for first-class civil engineers, statesmen and architects, yet you and I know that we have not the slightest qualifications for the building of bridges, the science of government or the planning of large and handsome edifices. And yet, when we were boys, thanks to this Websterian saying, we might have been persuaded to enter a vocation in which all our lives, in spite of all our energy, we would have lingered at the bottom, not; 1WE LEARNED PROFESSIONS. l03 withstanding the roominess to be found in the higher altitudes. Of course, there is room at the top, room for those and only for those, who are properly equipped and qQalified to mate the jour- nej'. The boy who has a taste for mechanics, who yearns to be a civil engineer will have a chance, with hard work and well-directed zeal, of becoming a Eoebling; the eager young reader of history and biography, and debater in the village club, may turn out to be a Burke or a Jefferson, and the lad who is forever making plans of houses and reading all the books on architecture he can get out of the library, may be a second Sir Christopher Wren. Such boys, pursuing the vocation for which they are adapted, will always work upwards, and they would do so whether the Websterian maxim was dinned into their ears, or not. And, by the way, there are a great many stopping- places between the bottom and the top of human endeavor, where the modest conscientious worker, assured that he has done his best will be concent to remain, satisfied with the fair wholsomely-earned reward which all honest, well directed effort is sure to bring. These remarks seem to be called for in this place because so manj- parents are apt to persuade their boys that they ought to be doctors, lawyers or cler- gymen when the boys are utterly lacking in the en- thusiasm for such work, and which, it seems to me, must alwa3s be present in professional life, if even a moderate success is to be attained. 104 READY rOR BUSINESS. The boy who intends to become a physician should not make Ms final choice of that profession until he is twenty-one, and feels sui-e he is fitted for its duties and responsibilities. Ue must secure a good collegate education, know Greek and Latin, as many of the technical medical terms come from those lan- guages. A knowledge of French and German would also be very valuable, for, in these days, many of the best medical reviews and books are published in those languages. He spends four years at college to obtain his preliminary education, then enters the medical college, where he remains f oui" years and ob- tains a theoretical knowledge of his profession. Then he walks the hospitals for from one to three years under the guidance of an old and experienced practitioner. After this service he solicits patron- age of the public. There are in the United States three medical colleges which are recognized for their high stand- ing the world over, to wit, the College of Physicians and Surgeons, l^ew York; the college in Balti- more beari.ng the same name, and the Long Island College Hospital, of Brooklyn, New York. There are in diiferent parts of the country, similar insti- tutions which stand high in public favor, but these three rank among the first. In some of the col- leges the course of study covers four years, in others only three. A young man who has studied for a year with a doctor of established reputation, will, in the case of some colleges, have that much time deducted from the regular course he would other- THE LEARNED PROFESSIONS. 105 wise have to go through, but it is far better for a young man to take the full collegiate course, what- ever that may be. The total expense for two terms in one of the colleges I have mentioned, and which comprise the full course of study, is $2C7.00 ; bokrd will cost from f 4.(M) to f 5.00 a week, and the dozen medical text books which the student will require can be had for from §1.50 to §7.50 each. In this college (and it is a fair sample of all the leading colleges), the requirements for graduation are stated as follows : — The candidate must be twenty-one years of age, and must present satisfactory testimonials of a good moral character, and legal evidence that he has studied medicine for three years with a regu- lar physician in good standing. He must have at- tended two full courses of lectures — the last of which must have been in the college referred to. He must have pursued the study of Practical Anat- omy, to the extent of having dissected each region of the body. He must have taken one practical laboratory course in Chemistry and Urine Analy- sis. He must have taken one practical laboratory course in Normal and Pathological Histology. He must pass satisfactory examinations in Chemistry and Urine Analysis, Histology and Pathological Anatomy, Anatomy, Physiology, Materia Medica and Therapeutics, Gynecology, Obstetrics, Surgery, Operative and Clinical Surgery, and Practice of Medicine. 106 liEADY FOR BUSINESS. An old physician once told me that it takes ten years of practice before a physician can support himself handsomely. If, in the first year, the young physician earned $500.00 he ought to be satisfied ; if, after ten years' practice he has an income of $5,000.00 he niay consider he is doing well. The boy who would be a lawyer must go through a training Tery similar to that of the medical stu- dent ; he must, or rather he ought, to take a clas- sical course and then graduate at some good col- lege. The expense of his collegiate education will depend on the particular college he attends. At some the terms for the general tuition and the gen- eral expenses of the student are much more than- they are in others. The expenses of a student at a small but very good college, which I have in my mind, would be, or rather could be made only $225.00 a year, while some students in the same institution might spend as much as $1,000.00 a year. The first sum I mentioned is below the aver- age, which, perhaps, would be between $300.00 and $350.00 a year. At Harvard College, on the other hand, the average expense would be $600.00 or $700.00 a year, while some students spend (of course in foolish extravagance, and not for educa- tional purposes) five, six, and even ten times that amount of money in the same time. After attending college the boy who would be a lawyer must attend a law school, or study the profession in the ofiice of a lawyer. The term l-HE LEAENED PROFESSIONS. 107 of tuition in a law school is for two or three years, and the price varies according to the location and the reputation of the Liw school. It is best for a young man to go to the law school of the State in which he expects to practice, be- cause many of the lectures relate to the statute law of the State in which the sciool is located. If the boy is a resident of New York, and expects to eventually settle down in that State to practice his profession, he would naturally attend either the Columbia College Law School, or the Univer- sity of the City of New York; if he expected to practice in Massachusetts and New England, he would go to Harvard; if he was going to settle down in Connecticut, he would attend Yale College. If he intended to open an office in the West, in one of the many States or Territories which have adopted the Civil Code of Procedure of New Y''ork, he would go through Columbia College Law School. The boy who, after careful and serious consider- ation, determines to become a clergyman, wiU have to take the preparatory classical course before en- tering college. After graduating from college he will enter a theological seminary for the pui-pose of studying the special branches peculiar to his pro- fession. If he is going to be a minister of the Presbyterian Church he will naturally go to a sem- inary controlled by Presbyterian influences, like the Union Theological Seminary, of New York ; if he is a Congregationalist he will attend the seminary at 108 READY FOR BUSINESS. Andover, Mass., or New Haven, Conn. ; if he is an Episcopalian he will enter the General Theological Seminary, in New York City. It would not be pos- sible to give even an approximate estimate of the expense of a theological student's education, for the reason that the rates of the different colleges vary very much. The expenses of a student at Har- vard would probably be double what they would be at New Haven, and the expense at New Haven would be nearly double what it would be at Prince- Lon, or mosi any other college in the country. In some of the theological seminaries there is no charge for tuition, the principal expense of the student being for his board, which, when taken in ''mess," after the manner of military men, will average between |3.00 and |4.00 a week. The question as to how long a time it will take the theological student to get his education is an im- portant factor to be considered in choosing this pro- fession, after the graver and vital question of fitness for such work is carefully considered. It will take a bright boy two or three years to prepare for col- lege, the collegiate course will cover four years more, while the theological seminary will demand three years, making, in all, ten years spent in ob: tabling the necessary education. WORK FOR WOMEN. By GEO. J. MANSOK, the Author of "Ready for Business, Price 60 cents. Mr. Manson has a fine faculty of reporting facts, a gift far more unusual than one would think, considering the amount of effort ex- erted in this direction. He jjrepared himself for the writing of this volume by personal investigations in many directions, and has con- veyed the information so derived, in a clear and lucid style. At this time, when multitudes of women are endeavoring to be self sustain- ing, articles of this character have an immediate and practical val- ue which malies them worth preserving. — N. V. Christian Union. It suggests, in distinct chaptere, a great variety of occupations for women, who are compelled to earn their own living, with brief notes on minor occupations. — N. Y. Observer. It will be far more useful than most books of its class. It gives distinct directions where to find the best schools, or the best manuals from which to learn the dlQerent occupations enumerated — N. Y. Nation. The chief value of the book consists in the fact, that its supposi- tions are based upon a knowledge of what has really been achieved by women working in the departments mentioned, and there is euougli of practical detail to make the volume of substantial use to the many women who, from necessity or choice, have decided to make an independent living. — Cincinnati Courier. The number of women who are supporting themselves, or who want to support themselves, is so rapidly growing that there is a large class anxious for trustworthy information respecting different kinds of employment. WorTc for Women covers the field very well, and gives an exceedingly fair idea of the most important avocations now open to the sex. — Brooklyn Union. The authors object is to open up the various forms of industi-y now accessible to women, with descriptions of the nature of the work and the success which women have attained in it. This is just tlie volume many intelligent young women, graduates from our schools, are looking for to answer the often-asked question, "What shall I do ? Opportunity for teaching is not open to me. I have not a taste for it. I am fond of affairs and business. "Where can I secure some form of active and remuner'ative industry?" This little volume answers the question. — Times-Herald, Boston. George I. Hanson's Work for Women — is a hand-book which will be found specially serviceable to women who want to know what to do. It tells of a number of occupations now open to women, and makes practical suggestions as to their requirements. It will sur- prise most readers to know that so many fields of labor are available to women who are obliged to earn a livelihood. — Evangelist. By mail, postpaid on receipt of price, 60 cents. Address, FOWLER & WELLS CO., Publishers, 775 Broadway, N. Y. Every-Day Biography. Containing a collection of nearly 1,400 brief BiogTaphies, ar- ranged for Every Day in the Year, as a Reference for the Teacher, Student, Chautauquan, and Home Circles. By Amelia J. Calver. A large volume, nearly 400 pages, handsomely bound ; price, $1.50. "Author's Days," now a recognized and, in some instances, a required regime of school exercises, and "Memorial Days" so fre- quently occurring in Chautauqua programmes, demands a conve- nient directory for daily consultation. The biographical sketches given, though brief, have been care- fully compiled from authentic sources, and are intended to give individual notoriety in a nutshell. The nearly 1,400 names here found represent sovereigns, rulers, statesmen, founders of colleges, institutions, etc., besides pioneers in every art, science, and profession. Would you know, for in- stance, wliat persons of eminence were born on the 13th of Februaiy, turn to the page on which that date occurs and you will find Cot- ton Mather, Thad. Kosciusko, Nahum Mitchel, Peter Cooper, Abraham Lincoln, C. E. Darwin, B. J. Lossing, Geo. H. Vreble, U. S. N., C. M. Talleyrand, each of these having a short sketch, in- dicating the nature of his distinction. To Chautauquans it will prove invaluable, since every week will bring some name to mind prominent in that universal study, which the Alpliabetical Index here given will show. The prominent features of the book are its arrangement as a birthday reference, wherein is found from one to eight eminent people for every day in the year, and in addition to this, the bio- graphical sketches aim to compass their work as workers and think- ers, while for each day these are arranged in chronological order. A very full index is given, alphabetical and analytical. This work will be found n, valuable addition to any library or collection of books. Agents wanted to introduce this, and take orders for it, Sent by mail, postpaid, on receipt of price, |1.50. Address, EOWLER & WELLS CO., Publishers, 775 Broadway, New York. ^ GREAT BOOK FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. "CHOICE OP PURSUITS; or, What to Do and Why," Describing Seventy-five Trades and Professions, and the Temperaments and Talents required for each; With Portraits and Biographies of many successful Thinkers and Workers. By Nelson Sizer, President of the American Institute of Phrenology; author of "Forty Years in Phre- nology;'' " How To Teach According to Temperament and Mental De- velopment," etc. Price, $1.50.' This work, " Choice of Pursuits," fills a place attempted by no other. Whoever has to earn a living by labor of head or of hand can not afford to do without it. NOTICES OF THE PKESS. " ' Choice op Puksuii's; or. What to Do and Why," is the title of a remarkable book. The author has attained a deserved emiQence as a phrenological deliu- eator of character. We have ^ven it a careful reading and feel warranted in saying that it is a book calculated to do a vast deal of good," — Boston Common^ wealth. " It presents many judicious counsels for the conduct of life. The main pur- pose of the writer is 1x> pre vent mistakes in the choice of a profession. His re. marks on the different trades are often highly original. The tendency of this volume is to increase the reader^s respect for human nature,"— ivew York Tribune. " The design of this book is to indicate to every man his own proper work, and to educate hun for it, Theauthor^s observations are sound.** — Albany Evening JoumcH. **We like this book; we wish people would read it; we wish editors and preachers would read it. One very great evU which this book is well calculated to mitigate is tiie tiunbling of people into pursuits for which they have no gifts. The hints are many and really valuable." — Newark Daily Journal. The most important step in life is the selecting of the pursuit for which one's faculties, temperaments, and education best adapt him. The young man or woman who makes the right selection is guaranteed thereby a happy and successful career. What a contrast between one who has se- lected rightly and one who has not; one is a blessing to himself, his family, and the world; the other, either a machine-like workman, having no inter- est in what he is doing, or is a load to his friends and a burden on the community. Many people with talents, the exercise of which would place them in the front rank of some of the higher callings, are living in ob- scurity, filling some menial place, which they dropped into by chance or accident, ignorant of the talents with which God has endowed them. Let every man, woman, and youth read this book and profit by it, and under- take only that which they can do best. The author was fully qualified for his task, having been engaged wholly and actively as editor and lecturer, and in the practical application of mental science to every-day life for forty years, affording opportunities for making the fullest observations and original investigations on the hu- man mind and its capacity. The book is handsomely boimd in extra muslin, with gilt and ink stamps. Price, by mail, postpaid, $1.50. Address fOWLEB & WELIS CO., Pnblisherg, 775 Broadway, Kew Torlj. PHYSICAL CULTURE. For Home and School. Scientific and Practical. By D, L. Dowd, Professor of Physical Culture. 322 12mo. pages. 300 Illustra- trations. Fine Binding. Price $1.50. CONTENTS. Physical Cultue, Scientific and Practical, for the Home and School. Pure Air and Foul Air. Questions Constantly Being Asked : No. t. Does massage treatment strengthen muscular tissuef No. 2, Are boat-racing and horseback-riding good exercises 7 No. 3. Are athletic sports conducive to health t No. 4. Why do you object to developing with heavy weights t N o. 5. How long a time will it take to reach the limit of development f No. 6. Is there a limit to muscular development, and is it possible to gain an ab normal development? No. 7. What is meant by being muscle bound f No. 8. Why are some small men stronger than others of nearly double their size 1 No. 9. Why is a person taller with less weight in the morning than in the evening f No. 10. How should a person breathe while racing or walking up-stairs or up-hill f No. 11. Is there any advantage gained by weighting the shoes of sprinters and horses ? No. IS. What kind of food is best for us to eat 1 No. 13. What form of bathing is best ? No. 14. How can I best reduce my weight, or how increase it T No. 15. Can you determine the size of one's lungs by blowing in a spirometer ? Personal "Experience of the Author in Physical Training. Physical Culture for the Voice. Practice of Deep Breathing. Facial and Neck Development. A few Hints for the Complexion. The Grraceful and Ungraceful Figure, and Improvement of De- formities, such as Bow-Leg, Knock-Knee, Wry-Neck, Round Shoulders, Lateral Curvature of the Spine, etc. A few Brief Rules. The Normal Man. Specific Exercises for the Development of Every Set of Muscles of the Body, Arms and Legs, also Exercises for Deepening and Broadening the Chest and Strengthening the Lungs. These 34 Specific Exercises are each illustrated bya full length figure (taken from life) showing the set of muscles in contraction, •vv^iich can be developed by each of them.] Dumb Bell Exercises. Ten Appendices showing the relative gaia of pupils from 9 years of age to 40. All who value Health, Strength and Happiness should procure and read this work ; it will be found by far the best work ever written on this important subject. Sent by mail, postpaid, on receipt of price. $1.50. Addresi, Fowler & WeUs Co., Publishers, 775 Broadway, New York. :Pz?o±- ID- Ij- JDcd-s?^<3W& HOME EXERCISER. THIS IS IN EVERT WAT THE BEST APPAR.VTUS FOH PHTSICAL CULTURE EVER DEVISED. 1. It ta.kes up but six inches square of floot room. 3. It is not unsightly. 3. It is noiseless. 4. It can not get out of order. 5. Can be adapted instantly to the use ot any one over four years of age. 6. No other apparatus is necessary. 7. The work on the " Exerciser " is the most fas« clnating form of exercise ever devised, 8. Especially adapted to bring about the cure of biliousness, dyspepsia, constipation, and, above all else, weak lungs, or even the first stages of con- sumption. 9. By its means one can strengthen any part of the body at will, and then, having brought up the weak parts, can go on with a harmonious develop- ment of the body. The "Exerciser" is accompanied with a book of instructions, entitled "Physical Culture for Home and School, Scientific and Practical," 822 12mo. pages, 80 illustrations, by Prof. D. L. Dowd, giving the most scientific and interesting method of Physical Culture ever devised. If the " Exerciser " be attached to the window- casing it can be covered from sight by the curtalr when not in use. The change from one attach men t to another is almost instaneous. There are over 30 different movements given for the " Exsrciser." The weight used can be varied according to the strength of the user from 3>^ lbs. to 15 or more. Valuable as is the " Exerciser » in itself, its value is increased ten-fold by the method given for its use. This method teaches how to develop every muscle in the body. Termsfor »' Exerciser" and book, $8.00. Nickle-Plated,*$12.00. Address all orders to Fowler & Wells Co., 775 Broadway, New Tor^. HOW TO LEARN PHRENOLOGY. We are frequently asked: In what way can a practical knowledge of Phrenology be obtained ? In answering this we must say, that the best results can be obtained by taking a thorough course of instruction at the American Institute of Phrenology; but where this is not practical, the published textbooks on the subject should be carefully studied. To meet the wants of those who wish to pursue the subject personally and become familiar with the application of the subject to the various sides of life, we have ai ranged the following list of books, called THE STUDENT'S SKT : Brain and Mind'; or, Mental Sci- ence Considered in Accordance with the Principles of Phrenology and in Relation to Modern Physi- ology. Illustrated. By H. S. Drayton, A. M., M. D., and Jas. McNiEL, A. M. f 1.50. Forty Tears in Phrenology; Em- bracing Recollections of History, Anecdotes, and Experience.$i.5o. Mow to Read Character. A New Illustrated Handbook of Phre- nology and Physiognomy, for stu- dents and examiners, with a Chart for recording the sizes of the different organs of the brain in the delineation of character; with apward of one hundred and seventy engravings. $1.25. Popnlar Physiology. A Familiar Exposition of' the Structures, Functions, and Relations of the Human System and the preser- vation of health. $1.00. The Phrenological Bust, show- ing the location of each of the Organs. Large size, $1.00. New Physiognomy; or, Signs ot Character, as manifested through temperament and external forms, and especially in the " Human Face Divine. With more thar one thousand illustrations . $;.oo Choice of Pnrsnits ; or, What t« do and Why. Describing seventy- five trades and professions, and the temperaments and talents required for each. Also, how to educate on phrenological princi- ples — each man for his proper work; together with portraits ard biographies of many successful thinkers and workers. $1.75. Constitution of Man; Considered in relation to external objects. The only authorized American edition. With twenty engravings and a portrait of the author. $1,25. Heads and Faces and How to STUDY THEM. A manual of Phre- nology and physiognomy for the people. By Nelson Sizer and H. S. Drayton. Oct., paper,4oc This list is commended to those who wish to pursue the subject at home, and to those who propose to attend the Institute. Either of the above will be sent on receipt of price, or the complete " Student's Set," amounting to $14.65, will be sent by express for $10.00. Address, FOILER & WELLS CO, PnHlisliers, W Broadway, New Tort Men and Women Differ in Character. No.l. No. 2. No. 3. No. 4. [Portraits from Life in " Heads akd Facbs."] James Farton. No. 5. Emperor Paul of Russia. No. 9. GeDeral Napier. A.M. Rice. No. 6. George Eliot. No. 10. Otho the Great. Wm. M. Evarts. No. 7. King Frederick the Strong. No. 11. African. General Wisewell. No. 8. Prof . George Bush. IF YOU WANT SOMETHING that will interest you more than anything you have ever read and enable you to understand all the differences in people at a glance, by the " Signs OF Character," send for a copy of HEADS AND FACES; How to Study Them. A new Manual of Character Reading for the people, by Pi'of . Nelson Sizer, the Examiner in the phrenological office of Fowler & Wells Co., New York, and H. S. Drayton, M.D., Editor of the Phrenological Journal. The authors know what they are writing about. Prof. Sizer having devoted nearly fifty years almost exclusively to the reading of character and he here lays down the rules employed by him in his pro- fessional work. It will show you how to read people as you would a book, and to see if they are inclined to be good, upright, honest, true, kind, charitable, loving, joyous, happy and trustworthy people, such as you would like to know. A knowledge of Human Nature would save many disappointments in social and business life. This is the most comprehensive and popular work ever published for the price, 35,000 copies having been sold the first year. Contains 200 large octavo pages and 250 portraits. Send for it and study the people you see and your own character. If you are not satisfied after examining the book, you may return it, in good condition, and money wiU be re- turned to you. "We wiU. send it carefuUy by mail, postpaid, on receipt of price, 40 cents. in paper, or $1 in cloth binding. Agents wanted. Address FOWLER & WELLS CO., PuWishers, 775 Broadway, Hew York. ITEW PHYSIOGlilOMY; OR, SIGNS OF CHARACTER. A.S manifested in Temperament and External Forms, and especially in the Hnman Face Dirine. By SAMUEL E. WELLS. I A comprehensive, thorough, and practical work, in I ■which all that is known on the subject is Systemized, I Explained, Illustrated, and Applied. Physiognomy is r shown to be no mere ianciful speculation, but a con- \ sistent and well-considered system of Character-read- ing, based on the established truths of Physiology and Phrenology, and confirmed by Ethnology, as well as /^ by the peciiliarities of individuals. It is no abstraction, T^_J but something to be made useful; something to be o practiced by everybody and in all places, and made an efficient help in that noblest of all studies — Man. It is readily understood and as readHy applied. The following are some of the leading topics dis- cussed and explamed : Previova S^atema given, includiag those of all ancieatand modem writers. Getterat JPrtnciplea of Fiiysiogrnomy, or ttie Physiological laws on which ctiaracter- reading is and must be based. Temperamenta, — ^The Ancient Doctrines — Spurzheim^s Description — The new Clas- sification now in use. Praelical M'huatognomff.—Qenera.l Forms of Faces— The Eyes, the Mouth, the Nose, the Chin, the Jaws and Teeth, the Cheeks, the Forehead, the Hair and Beard, the Complexion, the Neck and Ears, the Hands and Feet, the Voice, the Walk, the Laugh, the Modeof SHAXiNa Hands, Dress, •to., with illustrations. «rA»olog-iy.— The Races, Including the Caucasian, the North American Indians, the Moogolian, the Malay, and the African, with their numerous subdivisions ; also National Types, each illustrated. Phtfaioffnama •IppUed—To Marriage to training Children, to Personal Improve- ment, to Business, to Insanity and Idiocy to Health and Disease, to Classes and Pro- fessions, and to Character-Reading gen erally. Utility of Physiognomy. Animal Tupea.—Or&ieB of Intelligence, Instinct, and Reason — Animal Heads and Animal Types among Men. Oraphomane^. — Character revealed in Hand- writing, with Specimens— Palmistry. " Lineof Life " in the human hand. Character'Readinff. — More than a hun- dred noted Men and Women introduced— What Physiognomy says of them. The eireat «««•«».— How to be Healthy and How to be Beautiful — Mental Cosmet- ics — very interesting, very useful. Jiriatolle and St. M'aul,--k Model Head ^Views of Life — Illustrative Anecdotes — Detecting a Rogue by his Face. No one can read this Book without intereat, without real profit. " Knowl- edge is power,'' and this is emphatically true of a knowleoge of men — of human character. He who has it is "master of the situition; and anybody may have it who will, and find in it the " secret of success" and the road to the largest personal improvement. Price, in one large Volume, of nearly 800 pages, and more than 1,000 en- gravings, on toned paper, handsomely bound in embossed muslin, $5; in heavy calf, marbled edges, $8; Turkey morocco, full gilt, $10. Agents do well canvassing for this work. Address FOWLEK & WELLS CO.. Publishers. 775 Broadway, New York.